I’ve been looking at Windows laptops for a long time, trying to choose a model that’s not too expensive, but one that’s fairly compact, has powerful hardware, and a matte display with good color rendition.
An additional bonus may be the ability to run more recent games and not have battery life calculated in Jobbut at least in few hours.
It seems that such a laptop has been found: I have an Acer Aspire 5 A514-56M in my hands, which I just finished press photos with and then fired up the newest Helldivers II for some fun and to give some democracy to beetles.
In general, the number “5” in the Acer Aspire model range corresponds to left middle class laptopsbut in my copy on the desktop computer it is capacious Intel Core i7-1355U, 16 GB of RAM and a fast 512 GB SSD drive.
If I were asked to recommend a compact and productive laptop, I would refer to the Acer Aspire 5 A514-56M: this is an excellent work machine that can also run the latest games in acceptable conditions. We’ll tell you more about it later, see:
Aluminum, plastic and matte screen
The aluminum cover does not collect fingerprints.
The laptop lid is designed with a pleasant, slightly rough texture. Fingerprints are practically invisible, but dust is attracted (surprisingly) quite well.
There are no bright elements or lights, just a laconic Acer logo. And not in the center of the lid, but in the upper part. The lid does not bend under your finger, you can carry your laptop in it without fear.
The laptop can almost be opened with one hand.
Hiding under the lid 14″ WUXGA screen with know 1920×1200 ideas made using technology IPS and with brightness 250 cd/m2.
Personally, I was pleasantly surprised by the viewing angles – the picture is not distorted even when viewed almost from the side. Color rendering and saturation are also not satisfactory.
The frames around the screen are plastic, and a smart camera is built into the upper part. 2 MPwhich is more than enough for video calls.
The screen is juicy, color rendition is good.
The keyboard has a panel, which is nice. The keys are pressed quite softly, without loud “clacking”. The keyboard block practically does not flex under your fingers, although there is none here, only plastic.
I liked the touchpad – responsive, large enough and without false initiatives. I caught myself thinking that this laptop is convenient to use without a mouse, which is very rare among similar models from other manufacturers.
On the sides of the case you can find several useful ports:
● left – Thunderbolt 4, USB 3.2, HDMI and charging socket
● right – USB 3.2, Mini-jack for headphones, Kensington lock slot
There are also two LEDs on the right that indicate the operating status of the laptop.
The lid can be opened at a corner approx. 135 degrees, and it raises the body, increasing the air flow to the bottom to cool the internal parts. Plus, the keyboard rises slightly: it’s convenient to select texts.
The bottom cover of the case is also aluminum, with holes for air circulation. The dimensions of the Acer Aspire 5 are: 31.8 x 22.6 x 1.8 cm closed, weight – 1.48 kg.
The laptop is not the thinnest or lightest, but it cools well under high loads. Considering its filling, cooling does not play any role in its performance.
What kind of filling, you ask? But let’s take a look:
Powerful processor, lots of RAM
Plastic frame around the screen.
There are several configurations of the Acer Aspire 5, but I’m talking about the one I got. So, the heart: 10-core Intel Core i7 1355U Raptor Lake with stopping point 1.7 GHz.
RAM 16 GB DDR5 4800 MHz It is soldered onto the reserve board and its volume cannot be increased. But it’s not necessary – this volume is quite enough.
Built-in graphics Intel Iris Xe graphics supported. There is support for DirectX 12 and OpenGL, so there are no problems running modern games.
Comfortable keyboard and large touchpad.
Acer Aspire 5 is equipped with a battery capacity 45 Wh, which is enough for an honest 5-8 hours of work. The laptop comes with a charger with a capacity 45.1 Wbut you can also charge the device via the Thunderbolt 4 connector.
There are several coolers installed inside the case, which only begin to make noise during gaming sessions. While working with a graphics editor, watching videos and films, as well as researching on the Internet, the fans behave calmly and do not disturb themselves. rustling.
Work? Or maybe it’s better to play?
So, with such a processor, kitchen RAM and a rather new approach in terms of integrated graphics, how does this laptop cope with games?
But you know, it does a great job!
This season everyone signed up for space marinesSo the first thing I did was install Helldivers 2 and play around a little with the game settings to achieve the beauty and smoothness of the picture.
As a result, we were able to achieve success in 40fps, with drawdowns of up to 30 during particularly fierce battles. Yes, these are not the reference 60, but the laptop is not positioned as a gaming laptop, firstly, and secondly, Helldivers 2 literally just came out, that is, the most fresh.
It is clear that older games, such as the Acer Aspire 5, can be easily played with a high signal level. graphonyso the third Witcher took place on it – a nice thing.
For the order of runs and synthetic tests, the results are below:
It seems that this is the first working laptop in my memory that can also handle almost any game. Even though the video card is built-in, it has always been considered to measure literally “typewriters“
This is what progress has been achieved with Acer.
General impressions, pros and cons, price.
For democracy.
The Acer Aspire 5 is purchased primarily for students for whom mobility is important, but at the same time they want the laptop to be powerful enough and not fit too much into their pocket. In this regard, the Aspire 5 A514-56M model is corrected.
If you are already an adult, but your work is related to texts, the Internet, image editing or drawing, and in your free time you want to remember your youth and play Counter Strike 2, this laptop is also ideal for you. Especially if you do not have a desktop computer or it is constantly occupied by household members.
The main thing is the price. My copy of Acer Aspire 5 now costs 96,670 rubles, but there are cheaper options with an Intel Core i3 processor and increased RAM. Yes, such new toys will no longer be used, but everything that came out before 2017 is easy.
As for work, any Acer Aspire 5 model can handle all everyday tasks with ease. So I recommend it, the best option up to 100 thousand rubles today.
📸 All photos in the article:
Source: Iphones RU
I am a professional journalist and content creator with extensive experience writing for news websites. I currently work as an author at Gadget Onus, where I specialize in covering hot news topics. My written pieces have been published on some of the biggest media outlets around the world, including The Guardian and BBC News.
