In true Acer fashion of offering competitively priced notebooks, the new Aspire 5 A515-54G-73WC is a great alternative to more costly ultrabooks. Especially if you’re not that interested in looks over function. This laptop ticks all the boxes required for a modern laptop, at least performance-wise.
Review
This model is almost identical to the Aspire 5 A515-54-51DJ laptop I’ve previously reviewed in depth.
Now, I’m always trying to avoid a snobbish tone when talking about a certain product’s design choices. Especially if they’re rather sub par. I won’t criticize Acer’s take on this particular Aspire 5 model. All I’ll say is that it could have been better. It could have presented itself as more attractive, and at least more polished. Of course, an all-black body isn’t a sign of cheapness. On the contrary, the Acer A515-54G-73WC has some serious hardware specs hidden under that monotone chassis.
Specifically, I love the fact that they’ve fitted it with an i7 processor, 512-gigabyte storage capacity and 12 gigabytes of RAM. This makes it ideal for folks who need a device that’s a bit understated and sits right in the middle between those affordable ultrabooks, such as its smaller sibling, the Aspire 5 A515-54-51DJ, and more sophisticated devices.
This model has a dedicated video card, but don’t expect too much out of it. The NVIDIA GeForce MX250 is a low-end GPU, marginally better than an integrated Intel UHD option. Sure, you’ll be able to enjoy more games than you would have with the aforementioned Intel, but still, AAA+ releases will be rather difficult to play. At least at decent framerates.
In my opinion, the Acer A515-54G-73WC is a bit on the heavier side, weighing around 4.2 pounds. For such a thin device, I think this is somewhat impractical to carry around all day, especially since there are lighter alternatives, like the ASUS Vivobook S15 S532FA-DB55, or if you find yourself traveling a lot, a smaller screen device, such as the Acer Swift 3 SF313-51-86QH.
So, who is this laptop for? I think it’s a good choice if you want a desktop replacement, to use it as a home entertainment center, as an all-rounder office device, or as a STEM student desktop. Below, you’ll find the full spec sheet:
Acer Aspire 5 A515-54G-73WC specs
- Processor: Intel Core i7-8565U (quad-core, 1.8 GHz up to 4.6 GHz, 8 MB cache, 15 W TDP)
- Memory: 12 GB DDR4 SDRAM
- Storage: 512 GB PCIe NVMe SSD
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce MX250 (2 GB DDR5 VRAM)
- Display: 15.6″ Full HD LED-Backlit IPS LCD
- Interface: 1 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C / 2 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A / 1 x USB 2.0 Type-A / 1 x HDMI
- Networking: Gigabit Ethernet / Dual-Band 802.11ac with MU-MIMO Wi-Fi / Bluetooth 4.2
- Battery: 4-Cell Li-Ion 3220 mAh battery pack (up to 9 hours battery life)
- Weight: 4.19 lb
- Dimensions: 14.3″ x 9.9″ x 0.7″
- OS: Windows 10 Home
- Other features: Backlit keyboard
