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Acer Aspire 5 A515-52G-55VZ (NX.H14SA.001) review

Acer Aspire 5 A515-52G-55VZ (NX.H14SA.001)

CHOICE Expert Rating

67%
What is the CHOICE Expert Rating?
Good points

Good Points

  • Very good Wi-Fi performance (52 megabytes per second)
  • Matte screen
  • Full-sized HDMI port
  • Full-sized SD card slot
Bad points

Bad Points

  • Very narrow vertical viewing angles that can make the screen very hard to view unless the angle is perfect
  • Two out of three built-in USB ports are USB 2.0, leaving only one USB 3.0
  • Keyboard was noticeably bouncy and rattly while typing
  • Low screen resolution
  • Keyboard not backlit

Type

Ultraportable
Ultrabook
Tablet mode
Operating system
Windows 10 Home

Recommended products

Recommended
Not recommended
Recommended for tablet use

Test results

CHOICE Expert Rating
67%
Performance score
61%
Tablet use score
N/A
Ease of use score
75%
Battery life score
64%
Display score
67%
Audio score
50%
Wi-Fi score
88%
Storage write-speed (MBps)
467
Storage read-speed (MBps)
525
Wi-Fi speed (MBps)
52
Average battery life – heavy usage (hours)
5:53
Charging time to 80% full (h:min)
1:38
Expert tester comments
At 1.6kg and 15.6 inches, the Acer Aspire 5 A515-52G-55VZ is a highly suited desktop dwelling laptop rather than a mobile tool. It's a hit-and-miss unit that has good under-the-hood specs, but less than good build quality, display characteristics. A low screen resolution (1366 x 768), narrow viewing angles (especially vertically), and only one built-in USB 3.0 port (the other two are USB 2.0) are shortcomings that really stood out. Note: This laptop's performance is not directly comparable to current products due to it being tested with an older version of our benchmark.

Sustainability

Shop Ethical rating
C
Warranty (years)
1
Replaceable battery
Not collected
Replace/upgrade RAM
Not collected
Slots for additional RAM
Not collected
Replace/upgrade storage
Not collected
Slot for additional storage
Not collected
Replace/upgrade Wi-Fi
Not collected
Country of origin
Not collected

Related products

Availability
Discontinued model

Cost

Price
$1,098.00

Specifications

Screen size (inches)
15.6
Native screen resolution (pixels)
1366 x 768
Processor (CPU) type
Intel Core i5-8265U
CPU frequency (GHz)
1.6
RAM (GB)
8
Video graphics type
NVIDIA GeForce MX130
Storage capacity (GB)
256
Available user space (GB)
201
Storage type
SSD
Wi-Fi version
5
Weight of laptop (kg)
1.6
Weight of power supply (kg)
0.3
Size (mm, H x D x W)
22 x 248 x 363

Features

Screen finish
Matte
Touchscreen
USB-C
USB 2.0 ports
2
USB 3.0 ports
1
USB 4 as USB-C port
0
USB-C (USB 3.2 Gen 1 or 2, not Thunderbolt 3 or 4) ports
1
Thunderbolt 3 or 4 (as USB-C) ports
0
SD card slot (full-size)
SD card slot (micro)
HDMI port
Gigabit ethernet port
Rear camera
Backlit keyboard levels of brightness
0

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