Verdict
The Acer Aspire 3 is an okay crummy Windows laptop for basic tasks . While it is a more affordable option , it offers meagre functioning and a disappointing Full HD presentation . With that in nous , it is at least jolly well - build up , and offer a solid amount of connectivity for attach lots of outside devices . The battery sprightliness is n’t the best though , so this is a laptop that picket in comparison to the rival .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The Acer Aspire 3 has often been a middling Windows laptop computer for a buy price , and the 2022 version look to run with that ‘ steal ’ sobriquet , at least in terms of some of its specs .
It ’s power by a dual - core Intel Core i3 - 1115G4 central processing unit , and do with 8 GB of RAM which can be user - upgraded , as well as a 512 GB SSD and a 15.6 - inch Full HD display .
price at £ 499.99 in this Intel configuration mean it is n’t an expensive laptop computer , but rather a more affordable Windows pick that ’s plan to go toe - to - toe with a mountain of splendid Chromebooks .
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I ’ve been test this Acer Aspire 3 Intel variation for the last few weeks to see if it ’s one of thebest Windows laptopsin its price bracket that we ’ve test .
Design and Keyboard
The Acer Aspire 3 is entirely pliant . It have a gray , textured polish and feels reasonably sturdy in hand . There are no creaking or unwanted noise under function to paint a picture it would be cheaply construct , either . From a distance , you might call it good - looking .
A weighting of 1.7 kilogram means it ’s on the gravid side for a laptop of its sizing , although it is still portable enough to sling into a traveling bag when you go on your travels . It also is n’t the thickest of laptop computer , although it remains slender enough to be in - keeping with modern laptop computer design in 2024 .
On that note , for a laptop of its Mary Leontyne Price , the port wine pick that the Aspire 3 offer is excellent . The left hand house a pair of USB 3.0 USB - A ports , as well as HDMI out and an Ethernet sea dog , as well as a small connector for the superpower brick .
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On the right hand side comes a slower USB 2.0 USB - A port , a earpiece jack and Kensington lock . The lack of a dedicatedUSB - Ci a little puzzling , but that ’s the only noticeable skip .
The close - full size keyboard is well-off to employ for extended geological period , and feels solid for a laptop at this Mary Leontyne Price . It ’s haptic and does n’t feel spongelike or empty , as some cheap laptop keyboards can . The trackpad is of a fairish sizing and is quite reactive , although its buttons are n’t quite as crisp as the keyboard ’s scissor - touch off key .
As for its packaging , the Aspire 3 is in - keeping with Acer ’s environmental commitments , coming with no plastic wrapper or anything of the sort . The laptop comes in a paper bag with cardboard cut-in agree it in place , while the charging brick is contained with its own cardboard compartment . The only piece of plastic in sight is the three - pin hoopla protector , but otherwise , there is n’t any here .
Screen and sound
The Acer Aspire 3 utilises a sensible showing for the monetary value , although it is provoke with the same issues as its harbinger . As much as Acer ’s textile suggest an IPS panel , the horrible shift in demarcation when move the jury back and off advise this is more of a TN - case screen , which would make sense as a more low-priced laptop .
The Full HD resolution is perfectly hunky-dory for productiveness workloads , and it offered some decent output when viewing the likes of the latest Grand Tour special and some YouTube message from the late Watches & wonderment exhibition . consider angles were okay , although there is a drastic alteration in contrast when viewing from too uttermost of an angle .
As for its colour insurance coverage , my colorimeter measure a adequate 62 % of thesRGB colour space , while the Aspire 3 also mustered only 46 % of the more specialistDCI - P3space . This means that colour may not appear as innate on the screen as they do in real life . The screen is fair dull with a peak brightness of 200.4 nits , which is well below the 300 - nit average . The meagre 0.29 is meagre also stand for you ’re not getting dazzling contrast here .
The speakers offer a decent amount of loudness , although as is distinctive for more affordable laptop computer speaker , they do sound quite thin . They do n’t offer much in the way of bass part or top - terminal and are mostly full of mids .
Performance
Compared to its contemporaries , the Acer Aspire 3 tender quite an funny mix of specs . For its processor , it sticks with an eleventh Gen Intel Core i3 - 1115G4 mainframe , which features two cores , four threads and a encouragement clock of 4.1GHz . This is by no agency the best laptop chip available , and its benchmark result try such .
In Geekbench 6 , its multi - core mark is contemplative of the fact this C.P.U. only has two sum , although its individual - ribbon functioning is at least in line with more expensive laptops with slightly more modern processors such as theMicrosoft Surface Laptop Go 3 , which is perhaps a more important metric of performance with some applications .
Elsewhere , it is n’t telling in Cinebench R23 either with unimpressive result that show up the pitfalls of a dual - marrow central processing unit in 2024 . The three - figure 3D Mark Time Spy also provide that the Aspire 3 is n’t a laptop computer designed with intensive workload in mind , especially with the want of a distinct GPU .
However , it ’s worth commit things into perspective , as bench mark are only one side of the story . In daylight - to - Clarence Day task such as web browsing and writing articles in Google Docs and elsewhere , the Aspire 3 feel reasonably nippy and was dead suited to more productiveness - based workloads . It performed well for unaccented project , and by using Windows , it is n’t as modified with its use of goods and services vitrine as with Chromebooks and ChromeOS , for example .
The 8 GB of RAM inside is okay for these clean work load , although you could kick upstairs it to 16 GB ofRAM , a feature article which Acer makes a fair number of both on the website and on the small dagger on the bottom right of the keyboard deck .
For the terms , a 512GBSSDis also fantastic , considering more affordable laptops unremarkably scant out with 128 GB or less . It also offer okay velocity with assess read of up to 3039.94MB / s and writes of 2181.04MB / s , providing quick enough boot times and accession to data file .
Software
Out of the box , the Acer Aspire 3 ships with full - fertile Windows 11 , as opposed to offering the restrictive Windows 11 S , which is becoming more commonplace on more low-priced Windows laptops . Windows 11 is a clean and satiny bone to expend , and with it , the Aspire 3 mat up nippy and responsive in standard chore such as start the Start fare , searching for apps , or trawling through the File Explorer .
The welfare of proper Windows 11 over the -S variant is the fact you could put in apps from anywhere , and you are n’t restricted to just using Microsoft Edge for browse and the Microsoft Store for installing apps . As much as Windows 11 is passably clean however , it comes with some unnecessary apps including ExpressVPN , McAfee and some introductory games .
Acer also bundles some of its own software on top , including AcerSense which allows for twist readjustment , updating and a flying overview of how much of the system ’s resource are being used . It also comes with Acer JumpStart , which put up a shortcut to the Acer web site when open and also serves periodic pop - up advert .
Battery Life
Even at its low-toned price , the battery life of this Acer Aspire 3 is n’t the most impressive . genus Acer rates it to last for up to nine hour on a single charge , although in dialling the brightness level down to halfway and running the PC Mark 10 bombardment test , the Aspire 3 send a answer of 5 hours and 43 minutes , which is n’t the good . office is at least delivered reasonably rapidly with a 45W power brick direct 82 minute to charge the Aspire 3 .
You ’ll get a daytime ’s Charles Frederick Worth of piece of work out of the Aspire 3 with some hypermiling and somewhat lower brightness , although you will want to keep a courser nearby when the battery gets low . The fact there is n’t any cardinal backlighting is at least a positive point from the perspective of decreasing that runtime even further .
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Should you buy it?
For a laptop computer at this price , the Acer Aspire 3 offers one of the best embrasure selections I ’ve seen in a long clip with everything from networking to display and more covered off .
Where this dual - core Aspire 3 falls down , especially compared to the challenger , is with its battery spirit . In some case it ’s less than one-half of some of the competition , so if battery sprightliness is a top priority , there are good laptops useable .
Final Thoughts
The Acer Aspire 3 may not be one of thebest laptopsout there that we ’ve test , but for its stand for purpose of basic workloads with the tractableness of full - fat Windows , it does a sensible problem . It looks in effect with a silvery charge card finish that also feel inflexible , while the extensive port choice is fantastic at this price .
However , it also sheer a lot of corner with a mediocre video display with iffy viewing angles and color truth , even for less intensive work load . Its Intel Core i3 - 1115G4 processor is lacking for anything more than basic web browsing , while the battery life falls behind a lot of the likewise - priced challenger .
Speaking of rivalry , for the £ 500 request Leontyne Price , you could also turn over deep into the Chromebook grocery and foot out some far better all - round choices , include Acer ’s ownChromebook Plus 515 . At roughly the same price , you may sacrifice on port wine selection , but you get a nipper processor with more cores , a backlit keyboard and a much better overall show . The sacrifice there is with ChromeOS , but if it ’s something you may live with , it is a better overall choice . For other options , check out our list of thebest Windows laptops .
Trusted Score
How we test
Every laptop we survey goes through a series of uniform handicap design to gauge primal thing including build calibre , performance , screen door quality and battery life .
These include conventional synthetic benchmarks and scripted test , plus a series of literal - world checks , such as how well it runs popular apps .
FAQs
The Acer Aspire 3 here arrive with a dual - essence Intel Core i3 - 1115G4 , but other Intel and AMD models are available at motley prices .
This Acer Aspire 3 offers a content of 512 gigabyte , although it can be had with 256 GB as well .
Test Data
Full Specs
