Acer Aspire 5 2023 Review: The Budget Champion

Suppose you are either a student or a newbie looking for an affordable, reliable everyday driver laptop. In that case, the Aspire series from Acer has always been one of my first recommendations since they always offer solid specs for a reasonable price. As this year’s no one else, let’s talk about the great, the bad and the ugliest in Aspire 5 Acer Aspire 5 (2023) in this review. Before we start, here’s a brief overview of what Aspire 5 offers regarding specs.

Acer Aspire 5 2023 (A515-58) Specifications:

• Design and Construction: Aluminium lid/plastic chassis, 362.9 (W) x 237.8 (D) (H) x 17.9 (H) millimetres, 1.8 kg

• Display 15.6-inch display with IPS technology, Acer Comfyview (matte)

• Resolution: FHD (1920 x 1080 pixels)

• Keyboards: Chiclet keys

• Processor 13th Generation Intel Core i5-1335U

• Graphics Intel Iris Xe

• RAM: 8GB LPDDR5

• Storage: Storage: 512GB NVMe SSD

• Connection: WiFi 6E, AX201 Bluetooth 5.1

• I/O Ports: 2x USB Type-A, 1x combo audio jack, 1x HDMI 2.1

• Batterie: 50Wh. AC power adapter: 65W

• What’s in the box? Laptop power adapter, laptop start guide

• Price: Rs. 87,000

Intel’s Core i5-1335U powers my machine along with 8GB of RAM and 512GB of SSD is priced at $600 in the US and around 55000 INR in India as well as NPR 85000 in Nepal. If you’re looking for something less expensive, you can find it here. There is an alternative Core i3 variant, but it prefers this Core i5 for future-proofing.

Acer Aspire 5 2023 (A515-58) Review:

• 362.9W + 237.8D 337.8D x 17.90-mm, 1.8 kg

• Aluminium lid and plastic chassis

Design

The first step is to let me begin with the layout. Similar to other notebooks with budget prices, Acer has cut some corners about the construction and design of its Aspire 5. It comes with a plastic chassis with an aluminium-clad top and a thick bezel across the front (similar to last year’s). The laptop has some flex around the edges, but it is not a significant issue.

Fortunately, the problem that was “the gap” between the screen and the plastic bezels in the previous model hasn’t been happening anymore. It’s excellent for Acer to resolve its blunders with the more modern Aspire 5.

Keyboard and Trackpad

Then there is some Keyboard flexibility, but it is not evident in the day-to-day work. However, Keyboards have this grippy texture, and some may consider it offensive. But I did not mind it, as you become accustomed to it after a while. My unit needed more backlight. So if you work in dark environments or later at night, purchasing a model with the backlight feature is best.

However, Acer has added a number pad for people addicted to cranking numbers on their laptops. The trackpad is excellent for the money also. It’s comprehensive, centred and compatible when using multi-finger gestures. It’s not just quick but also precise.

Display

• 15.6″non-touch matte FHD panel

• A 45% NTSC 220 Nits of brightness

The display is likely to be one of the weaker aspects of this laptop. This laptop comes with a 15.6″ screen, an IPS panel with just 45 per cent NTSC colour coverage and 220 Nits of brightness.

It should perform well with everyday tasks such as watching videos or browsing the internet; however, I wouldn’t recommend it for graphic designing or colour correction functions. Additionally, its poor angles of view and low brightness of the max make it hard to use outdoors.

I would have loved it I’d also loved it if Acer could have offered a more significant 16:10 ratio to give me that additional screen space. This tiny bit in the vertical area can be an advantage when reading long codes or a book.

Webcam and Speaker

For the speakers that they are, they are excellent as well. They are fairly loud and do not distort even at high volumes. However, because they are down-firing, they don’t sound highly open or robust, but they are quite affordable. The webcam is suitable for conference calls or work calls. You shouldn’t have issues with Zoom, or Meet calls if you’re in an area that is a well-lit room.

Performance

• Intel Core i5-1335U CPU (10C/12T with up to 4.6GHz)

• Incorporate Intel Xe graphics (80 EU)

• 8GB DDR5 RAM, 512GB PCIe Gen 4 SSD

Let’s look at the most exciting feature of this Acer Aspire 2023: the performance. The Aspire 2023 is driven by the most recent Intel Core i5-1335U CPU. The processor may offer a slight improvement in performance over the i5-1235U from previous generations (5 per cent growth); however, it is pretty capable. It also performs in a close match against the M2 Mackbook Air in Cinebench R23, even beating the Mac’s single-core score.

So, you’ll likely have no problems with your daily tasks. In my work environment, which includes several Chrome tabs, Photoshop in the background, and Microsoft Word, I didn’t see any lag or stutter on this particular computer, which is perfect for a budget-friendly laptop.

The fans were also quiet during the entire process, and it was a nice benefit. Be sure to consider that these fans will be thunderous when playing games or doing any heavy task, such as light editing videos.

For coding and other programming tasks, the i5 13th generation is also an excellent option for students studying IT and beginners in programming. It could run with no difficulty running a few C projects while having ChatGPT and Stack Overflow running in the background.