Video: Acer Aspire 5 Review

In this video I take a look at the Acer Aspire 5 notebook. The Aspire 5 is a midrange device starting around £400 for the Intel Core i3 version going up to £700 for the i7 edition, my review unit is the slower Intel Core i3 version.

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First up here are the specs:

• Intel Core i3
• 15.6 inch screen running at 1920 x 1080
• 8GB RAM
• 256GB SSD
• 2.2 KG weight
• Windows 10 Home
• Ports: Ethernet, USB C, 1 x USB 3.0, 2 x USB 2.0, Headphone, HDMI, SD Card

The case has a textured plastic feel with an elegant looking hinge, it feels more like a premium device than a budget laptop but it is a little on the chunky side and with the weight coming in at 2.2kg it is a little on the heavy side.

The 1920 x 1080 screen is clear and bright and isn’t reflective at all. I know some people don’t like glossy screens (personally I don’t mind them) and if you are one of them this would be a good display for you. It has good colour reproduction and not at all washed out, overall an impressive 1080p display.

The Aspire 5 comes in a range of processor options ranging from an Intel Core i3 to a Core i7. The review model I am testing is an i3 so probably a bit under powered for heavy video editing tasks but with 8GB RAM and a 256GB SSD even the i3 device feels snappy and fast. Apps load quickly and there is no lag switching tabs in Microsoft Edge or task switching. This is performance is probably down to a combination or the 8GB of RAM and 256GB SSD and this should be great for productivity and for things like basic video editing.

I liked the keyboard on the Aspire 5, there is no bounce when typing something budget laptops seem to suffer and there is a number pad which should please Excel users. There is also a precision touchpad which has gesture support.

The audio output isn’t particularly loud and there isn’t a lot of bass but its fine for watching videos and listening to music.

Overall it’s a competent all round machine, it would be great for working with Microsoft Office. It would probably be ok for basic video and photo editing, if you want to do more advanced tasks then the Core i5 or i7 editions would be worth looking at. Personally I prefer lightweight notebooks so this is a bigger and heaver device than I like but the screen size and number pad will appeal to productivity users.

Here is my hands on look at the Acer Aspire 5: