Acer Nitro 5 AN515

Acer's 15.6-inch gaming laptop is powered by a Ryzen 7 5800H APU and a GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU. Our configuration variant is available for just under 1,700 Euros (~$1,993). Among the competitors are devices like the Asus ROG Strix G15 G513QY, the Aorus 15P XC, the MSI GF65 Thin 10UE, the Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA506QR, and the Razer Blade 15 Base Edition 2021.

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The entire case of the Nitro 5 is made of matte black plastic. Apart from the RGB key lighting, the wine-red area between the rear air vents and the red "Nitro" logo on the hinge cover add some color. The smooth surfaces of the chassis prove to be quite susceptible to fingerprints. There is no maintenance hatch, and the battery is firmly built into the device.

The laptop doesn't exhibit any major weaknesses in terms of workmanship. The gap dimensions are accurate, and there are no material protrusions. The base unit can be twisted a bit, but the whole situation is kept within limits. On the other hand, the lid could be more rigid. Moreover, applying pressure on the lid's back doesn't lead to alterations in the display. The hinges keep the screen firmly in position, and a one-handed opening of the lid is possible. The maximum aperture angle is about 150 degrees.

In terms of dimensions and weight, there aren't many differences between most of the devices in our comparison field. The Razer Blade 15 stands out as the most compact device, and the MSI GF65 Thin 10UE has the lowest weight.

The Nitro 5 comes with three USB-A ports (2x USB 3.2 Gen 1, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2) and one USB-C port (USB 3.2 Gen 2). The latter doesn't support Power Delivery or DisplayPort via USB-C. Consequently, there's only one video output with the HDMI connection. A memory card reader isn't available, either.

The WLAN chip (MediaTek MT7921) supports the 802.11ax standard and offers Bluetooth 5 functionality. The data rates determined under optimal conditions (no other WLAN devices nearby, short distance between laptop and server PC) lag behind the chip's capabilities. The tests were repeated with time intervals - without any changes in the final result. We suspect a driver problem. Moreover, wired network connections are handled by a Killer E2600 Gigabit Ethernet controller. It performs its tasks smoothly.

The webcam (0.9 MP) generates images with a maximum resolution of 1280x720 pixels. There are problems with color accuracy. With a deviation of almost 12, the target (DeltaE less than 3) is clearly missed.

The laptop comes with the usual documents: A quick-start guide and warranty information. In addition, a short ribbon cable including a SATA connector is also included, which would be required to install a 2.5-inch storage drive. The corresponding mounting frame is already integrated inside the laptop.

After removing all screws on the bottom of the device, the bottom cover can be lifted off with the help of a flat spatula or a joint smoother - the bottom cover sits quite tightly in its place in some sections. You will then have access to the SSD, the WLAN module, the RAM, the battery, and the fans.

Acer provides the 15.6-inch device with a two-year warranty. Extending the warranty to three years costs just under 100 Euros (~$117).

The backlit chiclet keyboard consists of differently shaped keys: The concave main keys (letters, number row), and the remaining flat-shaped keys (function keys, numeric keypad). The resistance provided by the keys could be crisper in our opinion. Moreover, the keyboard yields a bit during typing. This didn't prove to be bothersome, though. All in all, Acer delivers a keyboard that's suitable for everyday use here.

The smooth surface of the multitouch-capable ClickPad (about 10.6 x 7.8 cm) makes it easy for fingers to glide on it. It also responds to inputs in the corners. The pad has a short travel and a clear pressure point.

While the matte 15.6-inch display (2560x1440 pixels) delivers a good average brightness (304.4 cd/m²), the contrast (652:1) is too low. We consider values beyond 1,000:1 to be good. The 144 Hz panel offers quick response times. We didn't detect any PWM flickering.

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Out of the box, the display shows a very decent color reproduction and only just misses the target with a color deviation of 3.11 (DeltaE less than 3). It doesn't suffer from a blue tint. The AdobeRGB (67%), sRGB (96%), and DCI-P3 (66%) color spaces aren't completely mapped.

In comparison: 54 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 18875 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 3846000) Hz was measured.

The viewing-angle stable IPS panel is legible from any position. Outdoors, reading the display is possible when the sun isn't shining too brightly.

With the Nitro 5 AN515-45, Acer has a 15.6-inch gaming laptop in its lineup that brings every modern game smoothly onto the screen.

The preinstalled NitroSense software offers various performance profiles and allows the user to adjust the two fans. We ran all benchmarks using the performance profile "High Performance" and enabled the automatic fan control. The performance profiles correspond to the standard Windows 10 profiles.

The CPU part of the Ryzen 7 5800H APU (Cezanne) consists of an octa-core processor that operates at a base clock speed of 3.2 GHz. An increase up to 4.4 GHz is possible via Turbo. Simultaneous multithreading (two threads per core) is supported.

The Cinebench R15 benchmark's multithread test is processed at 3.6 to 3.8 GHz (plugged in) and 2.5 to 3.3 GHz (battery power), respectively. The single-thread test is always run at 3.4 to 4.4 GHz.

We verify if the CPU Turbo is also consistently used when plugged in by running the Cinebench R15 benchmark's multithread test in a continuous loop for at least 30 minutes. Turbo is used at a moderate extent.

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The fast and smooth system has enough computing power for all common application areas. Gaming, video editing, and image processing don't pose a big challenge for the Nitro. This is complemented by good PCMark results.

Acer equips the laptop with two single-sided 8 GB RAM modules (DDR4-3200) that have relatively slow transfer rates and memory timings. Among the laptops that we've tested so far with this CPU-GPU combination, memory ranks in the lower range of the table.

On average, the low values can lead to a drop in gaming performance of up to 10%. Replacing the memory modules with models with better timings could slightly increase gaming performance further.

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The standardized latency monitor test (web browsing, 4K video playback, high-load Prime95) didn't reveal any irregularities in the DPC latencies. The system seems to be suitable for real-time video and audio editing. This assessment is based on our test device running the latest software available at the time of testing. Future updates could lead to improvements or even to worse performance.

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An NVMe SSD (M.2-2280) from Western Digital serves as the system drive. It provides 1 TB of storage space and delivers good transfer rates. In addition, the laptop offers room for a second M.2-2280 SSD (NVMe) as well as a 2.5-inch storage device (SATA slot and screws are in the box, and the mounting frame is found inside the laptop).

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The actual performance of an RTX 3000 GPU depends on a few factors: The cooling, the memory configuration, and the maximum TGP that a laptop manufacturer chooses within the limits defined by Nvidia. Acer allows the GeForce RTX 3070 laptop GPU (overview of all RTX 3070 laptops including their TGPs) a maximum TGP of 85 watts.

The GPU delivers benchmark results that are clearly below the average RTX 3070. Consequently, there's room for improvement: A firmware update increases the TGP to 100 watts and brings the results closer to those of an average RTX 3070. The new maximum TGP can be maintained over a prolonged period of time (see our The Witcher 3 test).

The RTX 3070 can access fast GDDR6 graphics memory (8,192 MB). The Vega 8 graphics core that's integrated into the processor is active, and the laptop works with Nvidia's Optimus graphics-switching solution.

The laptop displays all modern games smoothly onto the screen. The full screen resolution (2560x1440 pixels) and high to maximum quality settings can usually be selected. The frame rates are below average in comparison with the RTX 3070. In many cases, the Nitro has to admit defeat to a nominally weaker RTX-3060 laptop like the Razer Blade 15 Base model.

The frame rates increase by up to 10% after installing the previously mentioned firmware update. An overall performance increase can't be observed, though. Even after executing the update, the Nitro 5 isn't able to outperform the Blade 15.

In order to verify whether the frame rates remain largely constant over a prolonged period of time, we let the game The Witcher 3 run for about 60 minutes at Full HD resolution and maximum quality settings. The character is not moved. A drop in frame rates wasn't found.

Noise development is at a normal level over the entire load range considering the hardware installed here. The fans run at low speeds in everyday use and are barely audible. From time to time, they come to a halt. The maximum sound pressure level is 49.1 dB(A) - determined during the stress test. The laptop produces slightly less noise during gaming.

Noise Level

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Our stress test (Prime95 and FurMark run for at least an hour) is performed by the CPU and GPU at 3.7 GHz and 1,590 MHz, respectively. The stress test represents an extreme scenario. With this test, we check whether the system remains stable under full load.

The laptop heats up noticeably under load, but not excessively. During the stress test, the 50 °C (~122 °F) mark is exceeded at three measuring points. The temperatures remain within the green range in everyday use.

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The stereo speakers produce a decent sound that lacks bass. We recommend headphones or external speakers for a better sound experience.

(±) | speaker loudness is average but good (75.5 dB)Bass 100 - 315 Hz(-) | nearly no bass - on average 33.4% lower than median(±) | linearity of bass is average (12.8% delta to prev. frequency)Mids 400 - 2000 Hz(+) | balanced mids - only 3.4% away from median(±) | linearity of mids is average (8.6% delta to prev. frequency)Highs 2 - 16 kHz(±) | higher highs - on average 5% higher than median(±) | linearity of highs is average (7.3% delta to prev. frequency)Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (25.1% difference to median)Compared to same class» 87% of all tested devices in this class were better, 4% similar, 9% worse» The best had a delta of 7%, average was 19%, worst was 132%Compared to all devices tested» 71% of all tested devices were better, 6% similar, 22% worse» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 26%, worst was 134%

(±) | speaker loudness is average but good (74 dB)Bass 100 - 315 Hz(-) | nearly no bass - on average 22.4% lower than median(±) | linearity of bass is average (10.8% delta to prev. frequency)Mids 400 - 2000 Hz(+) | balanced mids - only 2.4% away from median(+) | mids are linear (5.9% delta to prev. frequency)Highs 2 - 16 kHz(±) | higher highs - on average 5.8% higher than median(+) | highs are linear (5.6% delta to prev. frequency)Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (20.1% difference to median)Compared to same class» 66% of all tested devices in this class were better, 7% similar, 27% worse» The best had a delta of 7%, average was 19%, worst was 132%Compared to all devices tested» 44% of all tested devices were better, 9% similar, 47% worse» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 26%, worst was 134%

All in all, the Nitro's power consumption is at a normal level over the entire load range considering the hardware installed here. We register a maximum power consumption of 14.6 watts in idle usage. Competitors like the Razer Blade 15 and the Aorus 15P XC require considerably more energy.

The stress test and our The Witcher 3 test let the Acer laptop's energy consumption rise up to 164 watts and an average of 134 watts, respectively. This makes the AN515 one of the more frugal laptops in our comparison field. The following diagram illustrates the laptop's rather constant power consumption during our the Witcher 3 test and the stress test. The power adapter's nominal capacity is 180 watts.

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The 15.6-incher achieves runtimes of 5:40 hours and 6:53 hours in our Wi-Fi test (accessing websites using a script) and video test (short film Big Buck Bunny (H.264 encoding, Full HD) running in a loop), respectively. During both tests, the laptop's power-saving features are disabled, and the display brightness is set to about 150 cd/m². The wireless modules are also disabled for the video test.

Within our comparison field, the Nitro 5 is among the laptops with the lowest battery capacities. Nevertheless, the device delivers decent battery life. However, it doesn't come close to the excellent rates of the two Asus laptops. The two machines benefit from their 90 Wh batteries.

The compact Nitro 5 performs decently overall, but it delivers below-average frame rates compared with the RTX 3070 laptops that we've reviewed so far. The reason for this: Acer opted for a TGP at the lower end of the allowed range - 85 watts. The GPU performance can be slightly increased via a firmware update.

Acer has a solid gaming laptop in its lineup with the Nitro 5 AN515-45.

No problems arise in terms of performance development. The CPU and GPU can work at consistently high clock rates. The laptop heats up noticeably under load, but not excessively. Noise development is in line with the class standard. Installing the firmware update should cause a slight increase in heat and noise development.

The display (QHD, IPS, 144 Hz) offers stable viewing angles, a good average brightness, a matte surface, fast response times, decent color reproduction, and good color-space coverage. The contrast is too low, though.

An alternative to the Nitro 5 could be the Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA506QR. It's on par with the Nitro in terms of performance and price, but it offers much better battery life.

At the time of writing, you can find the Acer Nitro 5 AN515-45 on Amazon (Ryzen 7 5800H, GeForce RTX 3070, 16 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD, QHD 165 Hz IPS display, Windows 10 Home) at $1,699.99.

Acer Nitro 5 AN515-45-R1JH- 2021-08-1408/14/2021 v7Sascha Mölck