Even with all of the options available, finding a low-cost, durable business laptop that is still packed with some helpful functions for day-to-day usage may be difficult. Furthermore, if you want a laptop with gaming capability, your options are pretty limited.
However, there are certain exceptions, and the Acer Aspire 7 gaming laptop is one of them. This laptop costs less than Rs 60,00 and is equipped with an AMD Ryzen 5000-series processor, an Nvidia GTX 1650 GPU, and sufficient storage.
I’ve been using this laptop as my daily driver for a few weeks now, and the amount of value it gives in this price range has pleasantly surprised me.
Acer Aspire 7 Gaming Laptop Specifications
- Processor AMD Ryzen 5 5500U (2.1 GHz base clock, up to 4.0 GHz max boost clock, 8 MB L3 cache, 6 cores)
- Graphics card Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650
- RAM: 8 GB DDR4-3200
- Storage capacity of 512 GB PCIe NVMe SSD
- 15.6-inch FHD IPS anti-glare display.
Acer Aspire 7 Gaming Laptop Performance
On paper, the Acer Aspire 7 gaming laptop has an impressive set of characteristics. Despite not being based on the latest Zen 3 architecture, the Ryzen 5 5500U provides noticeable performance improvements over the previous Ryzen 5 4500U CPUs.
This laptop’s Ryzen 5 5500U CPU starts at 2.1GHz and has a maximum turbo frequency of up to 4GHz. To begin, this chip supports hyperthreading, which means that more threads can operate on each core to improve performance. This enables it to perform well in both benchmark programmes and day-to-day usage.
This laptop can handle gaming with reasonable performance when coupled with the Nvidia GTX 1650 GPU. But, before we get into gaming performance and see what kind of frame rates you can get, let’s take a quick look at the benchmark results.
We tested a range of benchmark programmes on the Acer Aspire 7 gaming laptop, and it provided consistently excellent scores.
Using 3DMark’s Time Spy test, we pushed the GTX 1650 GPU to its limits, and it managed a score of 3638, outperforming the more expensive Lenovo Legion 5i with a 10th gen Intel Core i5-10300H and the similar GTX 1650. In fact, the Aspire 7 outperformed virtually all of the GTX 1650-equipped laptops we’ve tested so far.
When I ran the PCMark 10 extended test, the Ryzen 5 5500U showed a significant performance boost. It outperforms not just its predecessors from the previous generation, but also some Intel CPUs in the same price range.
The Aspire 7 gaming laptop received a score of 5168, outperforming the Lenovo Legion 5i, which had a score of 4091 and was powered by a 10th generation Intel Core i7-10750H CPU. I also received incredibly high Cinebench R20 benchmark results.
The Ryzen 5 5500U performs the Cinebench R20 multi-thread test at 3.6GHz, providing it considerable wiggle space before hitting its maximum turbo frequency. The CPU operates at 1.8Ghz exclusively to save power while doing the multi-thread test on battery power.
On Cinebench R20, the Aspire 7 gaming laptop scored 3063 points, which is greater than many of the PCs we’ve tested under Rs 1 lakh. We noticed similar results with various programmes, and the Aspire 7 gaming laptop performed admirably on our internal scoring sheet.
The Nvidia GTX 1650 was being pushed to its limits. The CPU utilisation, on the other hand, stayed at 70%, indicating that there was sufficient headroom to be pushed further with, say, a better GPU.
Acer Aspire 7 Gaming Laptop Thermals
The majority of our testing was done in temps ranging from 24-28 degrees Fahrenheit, and the laptop kept rather cool throughout. Regardless of the test, the laptop’s temperature remained much below permitted levels. I played GTA V for almost 4 hours straight to see if the GPU could handle the load, and it stayed very cool despite being at its maximum.
During the testing, I saw no signs of thermal throttling, which is always a good sign with gaming laptops that don’t have a huge chassis with complicated cooling systems. Both the CPU and GPU worked wonderfully, with temperatures hovering around 70 degrees Celsius throughout the test.
The keyboard deck did get a little warm to the touch after a while, but it was never unpleasant to operate. The fans also turn on when you start a resource-intensive task, such as a game, and this can be controlled using the AMD Radeon software.
The massive apertures in the bottom lid allowed the fans to pull in as much fresh air as possible, while hot air flowed out of the vents on the back and sides of the laptop.
When using a gaming mouse, the hot air coming out of the right side of the laptop caused some pain for me, but I don’t consider it a severe issue that is specific to this laptop.
Acer Aspire 7 Gaming Laptop Display
The Acer Aspire 7 gaming laptop’s 15.6-inch display offers a native resolution of 1920×1080 pixels. It has a matte finish that eliminates hash reflections and is easy on the eyes. It has a 1361:1 contrast ratio and a peak brightness of 268.3 cd/m2.
As you can see, the brightness of the display is on the low side. Anything less than 300 cd/m2 is considered poor and may cause difficulty seeing outside, especially in direct sunlight. This is important to consider considering this laptop is mostly intended for indoor use. My testing yielded an average CCT value of 7447K, indicating that the colour temperature is on the cool side.
Another consideration is that the display can only handle a refresh rate of up to 60Hz, which is insufficient for a gaming laptop.
Given the inexpensive price, I’m ready to ignore it for this one, however gamers may be unhappy because most games require 144Hz to run well. And the fact that the GTX 1650 GPU in the laptop can push a lot of titles beyond 60FPS would have made it more appealing and straightforward to recommend.
That is not, however, my primary criticism of the presentation. I obtained a DeltaE colour deviation of 6.21 using the Portrait Displays C6 HDR2000 colorimeter, with maximum DeltaE values reaching 20.59. Not only does the laptop fail to meet the goal of DeltaE values less than 4, but certain colours, such as Blue, are significantly off.
All of this suggests that the display on the Acer Aspire 7 gaming laptop is unsuitable for color-sensitive work. Despite the fact that the laptop’s performance may allow for the use of image and video editing software, I highly advise against using this display for any professional work.
In fact, I recommend using an external monitor even for routine media consumption such as watching videos, movies, and TV shows. You’ll receive far better results, and it’ll be a wise investment in the long term.
Acer Aspire 7 Gaming Laptop Battery Life
According to the company, the Acer Aspire 7 gaming laptop has a 3-cell 48Whr battery with a possible runtime of up to 11.5 hours.
Although we were unable to repeat similar findings during our tests, the laptop nevertheless has a rather long battery life. The Ryzen 5 5500U has a maximum TDP of 25W and a 7nm design that makes it more battery-friendly.
I tested the laptop’s battery life with PCMark 10’s battery benchmark and obtained some positive results. On PCMark’s Modern office test, which simulates battery life for everyday work, the Aspire 7 lasted 5 hours and 9 minutes. It outlasted both the ASUS TUF Gaming A15, which runs the Ryzen 7 4800H, and the HP Omen 15 2020, which runs the Intel Core i7-10750H.
I supplemented the PCMark test with some real-world laptop usage. As previously indicated, I used the Aspire 7 gaming as my primary notebook for a few weeks, and the laptop often endured me for more than 5 hours at maximum brightness. That’s a fantastic grade for a gaming laptop. In instance, the ASUS TUF Gaming A15 lasted only about 2 hours throughout our tests.
Naturally, your mileage may vary depending on the sort of work you will be performing on a daily basis on the laptop.
I was pleasantly surprised that I didn’t have to go for my charger as frequently with my usage, which includes researching and generating content for the website, web surfing, Bluetooth music listening, seeing some YouTube videos and Twitch streaming, and so on.
This leads me to believe that the Aspire 7 gaming laptop may also be your go-to for a day of class, for example.
The Acer Aspire 7’s keyboard, trackpad, and I/O
The Acer Aspire 7 gaming laptop includes a backlit chicklet keyboard with a number pad. Because there are no brightness adjustments for the backlight, it is merely a basic white light that may be turned on and off.
The keys are flat and smooth, with adequate space between them. The keys feature a short stroke and a defined pressure point, making them a delight to press.
It’s a great nice keyboard with responsive keys and more travel than I expected. There is no audible click, unlike those with shallow or mushy keys, but you can feel them function. It’s quite easy to get used to, and it’s a fantastic typing keyboard. If you do not intend to get a specialised gaming keyboard, it is also perfectly enough for gaming.
On this chassis, Acer has managed to provide us with a plethora of ports. On the left side, there are two USB 3.0 Type-A connectors, one USB Type-C port, an HDMI output, and an Ethernet socket. It’s worth mentioning that this device’s Type C connection does not enable DisplayPort over USB-C or Power Delivery 3.0.
On the right side, there is a port, a headphone/microphone jack, and a power connector. As you can see, there are a lot of ports here, however there is no SD card reader, which would have been a nice addition.
The Acer Aspire 7 Gaming Laptop’s Design and Build Quality
Given the budget, it’s hardly unexpected that the chassis is entirely made of plastic. It doesn’t, however, have a cheap vibe to it. Of course, it isn’t as good as many other laptops in this price range from competitors, but this isn’t a deal breaker for me. At 2.15Kg, it’s hardly the lightest computer in the world, but it’s travel-friendly and relatively portable.
In terms of looks, the Acer Aspire 7 gaming laptop is a standard device. It’s not going to turn heads, but that doesn’t make it a bad choice.
Despite the obvious flex on the lid and the large dips you’ll experience if you push too hard on the keyboard deck, the laptop is well-made and has no major stability issues. It has a reasonable build quality and should be OK if not abused.
Verdict
To summarise my assessment, the Acer Aspire 7 does a lot of things well. For Rs 57,000, you’re essentially getting a very useful laptop that’s ideal for day-to-day tasks and has FHD gaming capabilities. On the other hand, Acer might have used a better display on this laptop.
It’s significantly uncalibrated out of the box, doesn’t have enough brightness for outdoor use, and has a limited 60Hz refresh rate that left me wanting more. Apart from that, I have nothing to complain about. Yes, it isn’t an ultraslim laptop, and it isn’t cosmetically appealing, but it makes up for it in terms of performance and value.