Acer Nitro 5: a well-balanced gaming laptop for playing in Full HD

Presentation

If the Predator series represents the ultimate of Acer in gaming laptops, the brand offers other series for gamers. Indeed, the Taiwanese manufacturer also sells more modest gaming PCs through its Nitro line, including the Nitro 5 AN515-54. If it deserves its "gaming" designation thanks to its Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti graphics card, it does not have the Predator chassis or their latest innovations.

These sacrifices allow the computer to be sold cheaper than its counterparts (less than € 1,000 for this model), intended for those who are looking for a PC to play without (too much) breaking the bank. Note that not all Nitro 5 variants are necessarily delivered with a copy of Windows 10. For example, our test version was simply delivered with a Linux system installed by default. Those wishing to use Windows will need to obtain a license and install the system and the drivers on their own. Something not necessarily complicated, since Acer makes all the pilots available on its official website.

Is the Acer Nitro 5 a consistent choice for a gaming PC? This is what we determine below.

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Construction

With the Nitro 5, Acer still sought to make the "gaming" side of the product through its design. Its chassis mixing aluminum and plastic sports aggressive angular lines, with ventilation highlighted behind the screen. All this is supported by a notched surface with the most beautiful effect on the screen cover. Finally, the mixture of black and red, added by small touches on the hinge or the keys, reinforces this aspect "game".

Acer has not done too much, however, the PC remaining sober compared to its counterparts playing the game thoroughly. For example, no ostentatious LEDs play spoilers. A PC which will not therefore denote in a meeting room, Acer having found the right balance.

The Nitro 5 goes to the basics. No fingerprint sensor or webcam compatible with Windows Hello, for example. Acer offers dedicated software in its PC, the Nitro Sense, accessible directly by a key on the keyboard. If it is not as complete as the Predator Sense dedicated to the range of the same name, it still allows you to juggle between different modes (energy saving, balanced or high performance) and to increase or reduce the blowing fans.

The Nitro 5 chiclet keyboard does not spark, but remains very correct for use in play or writing. If the stroke of the keys is a little long, we appreciate the mechanical resistance neither too hard nor too soft. Their layout is also an example, with a large Enter key on two levels and a numeric keypad slightly spaced from the rest to avoid any confusion during writing sessions. Note that the keyboard is backlit in red only, and this, on five levels. The trackpad is less convincing, with an unpleasant surface and a slightly dry mechanical click. Likewise, it reacts badly to manipulations with two fingers, such as when scrolling a web page. The user is often forced to repeat it twice.

Regarding connectivity, Acer gives its Nitro 5 everything it needs. On the edges, we therefore find a USB 3.0 Type-C port, two USB 3.0 Type-A ports, a USB 2.0 Type-A port, a Mini DisplayPort port, an HDMI port and a jack port. We also appreciate the presence of an Ethernet port, essential for a gaming PC. The Acer Nitro 5 has Wi-Fi 6 (11ac) and Bluetooth 5.0.

It is possible to disassemble the Acer Nitro 5 very easily with a Phillips screwdriver. The two RAM modules (4 GB each) can easily be changed, to place two 8 GB modules, for example - for a total of 16 GB. It also offers two slots for SSDs in M.2 format (l one being unused on our configuration) as well as a space for an SSD or hard drive in 2.5 inch format (the connector is supplied in the box). It is therefore possible to have three storage units on this computer, which is rare and interesting.

On the consumption side, no surprise, the Acer Nitro 5 being in line with its category. At rest, it consumes only 16 W, but increases to 152 W during a game session. During our tests in video encoding, we measured a consumption of 107 W.

The PC of Acer will not satisfy lovers of silence, since in full play it gives off a sound level of 49 dB in balanced mode on Nitro Sense (and 55 dB with the fans pushed to the bottom). A player with a helmet will not pay attention, but the nuisance will quickly become unbearable for those around him. Why so much noise? To avoid overheating of the chassis, which dissipates the heat of the components very correctly. During a half-hour session on Assassin's Creed Odyssey, the CPU rose on average to 92 ° C while the GPU (a GTX 1660 Ti) reached an average of 77 ° C. In these conditions, the chassis only reaches 44 ° C on the surface between the keyboard and the screen, and 45 ° C on the ventilation grille at the rear. The hot air is well contained and does not interfere with the user's wrists while playing with the fingers on Z, Q, S, D.

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Screen

The Acer PC has a matte IPS panel with a size of 15.6 inches and a definition of 1,920 x 1,080 px. Acer did not bet on thin edges, but the screen / front ratio remains entirely acceptable, since it was measured by us at 76%. If the vertical edges are thin, those at the bottom and top of the slab are thicker. Finally, note that the panel has a refresh rate of 60 Hz on our model, but that some versions of Nitro 5 offer 144 Hz refresh.

Acer has chosen a very average quality panel on this PC. It certainly has strong points, such as a correct contrast for a PC screen measured at 1,330: 1 or a very fair temperature of 6,890 K. The latter approaches 6,500 K of the video standard and when a blank page is displayed, the panel does not draw towards red or blue. But that does not save the rest. Respect for colors is unfortunately not there, with an average delta E measured at 6.7. The colors displayed are thus far from the actual colors, light greens being fluorescent on the panel, for example.

With a reflectance of 25%, the matt slab is not too subject to reflections. However, with its brightness of only 262 cd / m², it will be impossible to use the Nitro 5 outside in good weather. But it's the afterglow that disappoints the most. From 24 ms, it is high, especially for a PC dedicated to the game. During sudden movements on the screen, whether during a film or a game of Call of Duty, unpleasant blurred streaks will spoil the experience.

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Performances

The Acer Nitro 5 AN515-54 tested has an Intel Core i5-9300H processor (4 cores, 8 threads) etched in 14 nm and with maximum frequency at 4.1 GHz. This processor is accompanied here by 8 GB of RAM (2,666 MHz in dual channel) and an SSD in M.2 format of 256 GB. As we saw above, it is very easy to expand the storage on this PC, 256 GB can be a bit tight for storing several games, videos or even photos galore.

No surprise when it comes to the performance of the Core i5-9300H, a chip that manufacturers are now used to integrating into their products - and which they therefore master. During our tests, the Nitro 5 reached the index of 75 on our scale of values. It shouldn't be ashamed of models with a Core i7, even if it is logically less powerful. The good management of the heating of the components, if it is done to the detriment at the expense of the noise pollution, allows to reach a high frequency in full work. For example, we found an average of 3.2 GHz during a video encoding session on Handbrake, which is high. All software operations, even the most demanding, will therefore be operable and fast on this Nitro 5.

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Games

Equipped with an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti graphics card with 6 GB of memory, the Nitro 5 has no problem running large games smoothly in 1080p, and it easily proved this in our tests. For example, in a game that draws on both the CPU and the GPU like Assassin's Creed Odyssey, we measured 45 fps. Other less greedy games have exceeded the sacrosanct cap of 60 fps while having the graphics pushed to the maximum.

If we compare the Nitro 5 to the Asus ROG Strix G531 spent in our labs and also equipped with a GTX 1660 Ti, our test of the day is slightly above. This is explained by the frequency of the GPU, which reached the average of 1.8 GHz (against 1.7 GHz for the Asus). A difference that allows you to take a few images per second. Our tests were carried out with the "balanced" profile of the Nitro Sense software. With the "high performance" mode, the GPU gains 100 MHz, which slightly increases performance. For example, Assassin's Creed Odyssey gains 5 frames per second, which is not negligible. The Nitro 5 will therefore be enough to fully enjoy the games of the moment. It will however be necessary to make a cross on the technology of raytracing, RTX cards being more suitable.

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Mobility / Autonomy

As a gaming PC, the Nitro logically does not rely on mobility. It weighs 2.2 kg on the scale. If it is transportable, it will still have the solid vertebrae to move it daily in a backpack. To this must be added the imposing 706 g diet, almost compulsory given the low autonomy of the product.

Gaming PCs rarely have good battery life and the Nitro 5 is no exception. It is even mediocre in this area. During our usual test on Netflix launched via Chrome (screen brightness set to 200 cd / m² and headphones connected), it went out after 4 h 19 min. It is not much, even for a computer of this category. This will be enough to start a movie or two, but beyond that, you will need to find a power outlet. This laptop is ultimately quite sedentary.

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Audio

As usual on brand PCs, MaxxAudio software is preinstalled (or automatically downloaded during a Windows installation) on the Nitro 5. We strongly recommend leaving it activated with the default settings. It allows you to save furniture by adding beneficial low mids. However, this addition has unfortunate consequences, such as the appearance of a box effect that shakes the chassis and an audible dynamic compression. Note also that the location of the speakers, at the front under the chassis, is not ideal. Indeed, with such a positioning, the surface on which the PC is installed influences the sound quality.

The headphone jack, meanwhile, presents a really annoying bug. Probably because of the always present processing of MaxxAudio even when it is deactivated, the frequency response measured by us knows an amplitude of 4 dB. Too bad, because this is the only big defect of a rather correct headphone jack.

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Conclusion

The Nitro 5 is a good gaming PC, Acer having taken care of its copy with regard to the performance part. However, it does not avoid some pitfalls. Its screen, for example, deserved to be more neat, as well as its autonomy. But we have here a PC which holds the road and which will satisfy those which wish to play without breaking the bank and are ready for that to make some concessions.

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