Oh! Packed with delicious internals that can handle triple-A gaming, the Acer Nitro 5 blew me away. This is a sub-$1000 gaming laptop, so naturally I didn’t want to get my hopes up.
However, the Nitro 5 is possibly one of the Best cheap gaming laptops. in the market. It’s even better than the MSI Cyborg 15 – another cheap gaming laptop I reviewed recently.
The Acer Nitro 5 outperforms similarly priced rivals.
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon/Mashable
But of course, the Nitro 5 is a budget laptop, which means Acer had no choice but to make some compromises that may put you off. That being said, let’s dive into what I love and hate about the Acer Nitro 5.
Acer Nitro 5 price and specifications
The Acer Nitro 5 in this review costs just $999. You can find it at Newegg and comes with the following specifications:
Intel Core i7-13620H processor
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU
16GB RAM
1TB SSD storage
15.6-inch 1080p display with 144Hz refresh rate
What I love about the Acer Nitro 5
I love gaming laptops that look good in both environments: a stunning entertainment room and inside a stuffy corporate office. The Acer Nitro 5 meets those requirements.
The design is fire.
Call me a snoozefest all you want, but I can’t stand gaming laptops that look like “gaming laptops.” You know, the monstrosities that simply have too much stuff on the chassis, lid, and keyboard. I want game — not having a fucking 80s party on the keyboard. The last thing I want are distracting features (I’m looking at you, RGB lighting) that break my concentration during gameplay.
Acer Nitro 5 has an attractive design.
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon/Mashable
The Nitro 5 has the perfect balance between fun and serious. It has a cool cover that looks like Wall-E rolled over it, leaving futuristic footprints on the cover. At the top center, you’ll find an iridescent “N” that gives the Nitro 5 its edge. However, it’s not riddled with per-key RGB lighting that you can find on more expensive gaming laptops, which I’m not complaining about. The Nitro 5 keeps it simple with white backlighting.
Easy access to the Nitro Sense app using the keyboard
By simply tapping the “N” key, you can access the NitroSense app.
The NitroSense app opened on the Acer Nitro 5.
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon/Mashable
This nifty software will probably be your most visited app; allows you to modify the system to your liking before starting games. For example, you can adjust the fans based on your workflow and tasks. Before launching into light work (e.g. web browsing), you can use the NitroSense app to activate one of the following two modes:
Quiet: Restricts fan speed to reduce noise levels.
Balanced: recommended for daily and standard use
While gaming (or immersed in any other task that stresses the CPU and GPU), you can activate Performance mode. Another way that you should take into account is ecological; This allows you to squeeze as much battery life as possible.
Performance is very good
I’ll go more into this in later sections, but I ran the Cyberpunk 2077 benchmark on the Acer Nitro 5 and it exceeded my expectations.
Cyberpunk 2077 on Acer Nitro 5
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon/Mashable
As mentioned at the beginning, I reviewed the MSI Cyborg 15, which is the same price as the Nitro 5, and the Acer laptop crushed its competitor like an eggshell.
Wide selection of ports
Acer offers an excellent array of I/O options on the Nitro 5. On the left, you’ll find the power port (DC in), an Ethernet port, HDMI 2.1, two USB Type-A ports, and a USB Type-C port. (Thunderbolt 4). On the right, you’ll find another USB Type-A port, a headphone jack, and a Kensington lock slot for security purposes.
I could use an extra USB-C port, but the Acer Nitro 5 is a sub-$1,000 gaming laptop, so I’ll take what I can get.
What’s ‘eh’ about the Acer Nitro 5?
You can’t be ambitious with your beer budget, but there’s one particular element of the Acer Nitro 5 that I’m wildly indifferent to.
The exhibition will not win any trophies.
I appreciate the screen’s 144Hz refresh rate, which means you’ll get smooth visuals that will benefit you while playing fast-paced games. For example, while shooting enemies in death loopI felt a sense of greater responsiveness and fluidity.
The Acer Nitro 5’s screen is not colorful, but this is not surprising.
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon/Mashable
However, the 15.6-inch, 1080p display is nothing to write home about. While playing Cyberpunk 2077, color richness seemed average, which is normal for a sub-$1,000 gaming laptop. Hey, you can’t have your cake and eat it too, right?
Strong AF, but this is not out of the ordinary.
Some games will test the limits of your CPU and GPU, and when that happens, the Nitro 5’s dual-fan system will kick in to keep its powerful internal components cool.
The Acer Nitro 5 sounds like a plane taking off when pushed to its limits.
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon/Mashable
Yes, they do a great job of keeping the Ntiro 5 cool, but if I didn’t know any better, I’d mistake them for a leaf blower. However, it’s worth noting that this is normal for most gaming laptops. If you want a quieter experience, take the Lenovo Legion 9iwhich has a unique thermal solution, if you don’t mind spending an extra $3,000, of course.
The sound is fine
Cheap laptops often get a bad reputation for offering quiet, tinny audio. After releasing Dua Lipa’s “Houdini” on Spotify, the snappy tune sounded stifled in the Nitro 5’s two-speaker setup, as if someone had placed a stereo inside a small closed box.
However, it doesn’t bother me too much because many gamers use headphones to pair with their laptops anyway. And the positive side is that the sound is quite loud.
Quiet keyboard, but could click more
To assess how comfortable I am with a new keyboard, I use the live chat typing test. On my everyday laptop, the M2 Pro MacBook Pro, I type at a speed of 82 words per minute (WPM).
The Acer Nitro 5’s keyboard has its ups and downs.
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon/Mashable
However, on the Acer Nitro 5, I type at 75 words per minute. What I love about the Nitro 5’s keyboard is that it’s quiet. If a killer was out to get you and all you had in your hand was the Nitro 5, you could probably get away with emailing someone for help without alerting the intruder. Additionally, there is a full-size numeric keypad, a useful addition for some gamers.
But the keyboard click could be improved. The keys are a little too soft for my taste, but this is not a deal breaker. It is also worth noting that the touchpad is not the smoothest, but again, this is a minor flaw.
What I don’t like about the Acer Nitro 5
While I’m indifferent to the richness and color accuracy of the Nitro 5’s display, I don’t like the Nitro 5’s dim 250-nit display.
The screen could be brighter.
While playing Cyberpunk 2077I found myself wanting to turn the screen up to a brighter setting, but was disappointed to find that it had already reached the maximum level.
Battery life is normal.
Like most gaming laptops, the Nitro 5 doesn’t save much power.
‘Cyberpunk 2077’ running on Acer Nitro 5.
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon/Mashable
I would suggest keeping the Nitro 5 plugged in. I experienced the laptop shutting down in just over an hour while gaming. Cyberpunk 2077 – and I couldn’t save my progress. (Scroll down to see our recorded runtime for the Acer Nitro 5.)
The chassis attracts fingerprints
My Nitro 5 is every criminal investigator’s dream.
The Acer Nitro 5 has a chassis that attracts fingerprints.
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon/Mashable
Acer Nitro 5 Geekbench and 3DMark scores
Acer Nitro 5 earned a multiple score of 12,797 (Performance Mode) in the Geekbench 6 test, which tests the prowess of the CPU. Compare this to the equally priced MSI Cyborg 15, which scored a 12,075.
The Acer Nitro 5 also crushed the MSI in 3DMark’s Time Spy benchmark, which tested the Nitro 5’s 4050 GPU. It awarded a score of 8,670outperforming MSI 6,907 figure.
How well does ‘Cyberpunk 2077’ run on Acer Nitro 5?
I like to see a minimum of 60 frames per second in my games, and the Acer Nitro 5 achieved an impressive average of 92 frames per second about him Cyberpunk 2077 reference point (preset height). After activating DLSS, a feature designed to double the frame rate with AI enhancement, it jumped to a 122 frames per second.
On the other hand, the MSI Cyborg 15 could only muster 54 frames per second in Cyberpunk 2077. With DLSS enabled, it went up to 113 frames per second.
Acer Nitro 5 battery life
As mentioned above, the Nitro 5’s battery life is not very good. Yes, the battery life of most gaming laptops is short, but that doesn’t make them any less disappointing. we execute the PCMark 10 Battery Test (Gaming Version) on the Nitro 5, and it barely lasted 1 hour and 29 minutes.
The battery life of the Acer Nitro 5 is quite short.
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon/Mashable
However, this is better than its rival, the MSI Cyborg 15, which only survived for 1 hour and 1 minute.
Final thoughts
The Acer Nitro 5 is the best budget gaming laptop I’ve tested so far. You can handle Cyberpunk 2077, One of the games with the most graphics on the market, like a champion. It even beats the MSI Cyborg 15, which shares similar specifications.
However, as expected, a gaming laptop priced under $1000 will have some drawbacks. In the case of the Nitro 5, that means losing a bright screen, a vivid display, per-key RGB lighting, and more.
If you’re just looking for a gaming laptop that ditches all the bells and whistles for impressive gaming performance, the Nitro 5 is the one for you.
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Gaming
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