Customer Ratings & Reviews

The Acer Nitro 5 Gaming Laptop is a solid entry level system that will meet the needs of most light to moderate gamers. Note that most serious gamers are going to be looking for a desktop OR will need a much higher end gaming laptop. The Nitro 5 does a good job of balancing portability and gaming capabilities without really excelling at either. The Nitro comes nicely packaged in a solid black box with the laptop, power adapter, and this is the second time that an Acer laptop has come with a surprise! This time, a neoprene case was included which was a thoughtful addition even though I prefer more storage space and will use my own case. It's a small thing, but I give Acer props for including it. Build quality is nice, but not the best I've seen. It definitely looks like a gaming laptop with sharp angular designs and red accents. The lid has a black brushed plastic finish while other surfaces are a classic matte black finish. This is fine, but I would've preferred a pattern design or some other type of finish that would've made it look and feel a little more premium other than just on the outside. Something else to note is that my experience is the finish is a fingerprint/smudge magnet. One annoying design feature is the power cable placement right smack in the middle of the right side. This is odd and really annoying for me. Performance wise, this laptop has a 2.4GHz quad-core latest generation (9th gen) Core i5 processor with 8 GB of RAM (expandable up to an impressive 32 GB) and a dedicated and less impressive NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 with just 3GB of memory. This particular card is at the very bottom of NVIDIAs GeForce series, but it is still capable of handling most of your AAA titles so long as you lower the graphics settings. There is also plenty of power to satisfy the needs of most users. Note that if you are a power/hardcore gamer, you will not be satisfied with this particular system. Acer has a wide range of Nitro 5s with varying specs. So if this system isn't quite enough for you, one of the others might be a better option. Personally, I'd recommend looking for a system with AT LEAST double the SSD storage. This model does have an spare m.2 slot so you can expand your onboard memory or just buy the system with the memory you know you're going to need up front. This laptop, while being designated a 'gaming' laptop, will do all of the daily tasks that any other laptop will. Windows, web browsing, Office, etc. So this is a great option for a high school or college student. (Parents, this would be a great gift for that recent high school graduate heading off to college-especially at this price point!) It'll handle almost any game that you throw at it with good performance. It'll also pack up nicely and give your student an impressive laptop to take notes on in class. The battery life on this system isn't spectacular, but it will easily get you 5-6 hours with light use (non-gaming or graphics intensive). In conclusion, the Acer Nitro 5 is a decent laptop that handles both everyday tasks as well as being capable of modest gaming so long as you can be content without maxing out the graphics settings. It's size makes it big enough to be enjoyable, but small enough to be easily stowed away in your backpack (or the included case!). So after you're done doing your homework, you can switch to gaming with your friends without any delay. I'd recommend this for anyone who doesn't want to drop a fortune on a custom gaming system, but wants the flexibility to enjoy modern games with their friends. Pros: *Size *Design (with some caveats like the power cord placement) *Price *Performance (based on price) Cons: *Keyboard feels a bit soft *Small SSD.

Love this laptop. Super quick to load and the processor is amazing. The graphics are wonderful. It's only downfall (why I gave it 4 and not 5 stars) its the speakers are lacking. Can't really hear much on them. I'm hoping there is a fix for that.

This laptop is great! It is good for playing games and just for everyday use. My one gripe is that the battery life isn't the best? It probably lasts around two hours unplugged while I'm gaming/using it. Other than that, it's awesome.

Camino computers have more juice than regular every day use computers. But they are more expensive. This fellow here falls midway. Not as fast as a real gaming computer but definitely much better than a regular one. Likewise with the price.

Small enough to fit in hotel safe. Separate number pad. Backlit keypad. Hidef screen. I5 processor (needed more than I3, but don't need I7 and its cost). 256 SSD. 8GB ram expandable. Great price at $550.

My son plays on this laptop everyday. When he played on any other device, he would experience freezing and delays. Not with this laptop. He is extremely happy. Great graphics and sound. Would recommend.

This laptop can play most any general game. However, the screen is dark, and there is no way to make it brighter, which makes some games too dark to play. Also the keyboard back-light turns off after a few seconds and will not light up until you stroke a key. While this may save some pennies on electric, it's a hassle if you game in the dark like I do. A third issue I noticed was the SSD isn't large enough for any serious gaming. Your SSD quickly fills up with just the basic programs leaving you with space for only a handful of games loaded onto the computer. I would avoid buying this laptop, it's simply not worth the money .

It is a great laptop to play videogames that dont require a beefy system and you can even play current generation games on low-medium settings, would really recommend to buy for an accessible price. Great value

It's been a while since I've purchased a laptop (16 years or so!), but the amount of value in this laptop for the price is surreal. I went to Best Buy with my sister because we figured it was time for us to have a laptop for work/meetings that were newer and faster than the ones provided by our work. So we had a low budget laptop in mind that could do word documents, excel spreadsheets, web browsing, etc... Looking at the options at Best Buy, we were looking at laptops without dedicated (discreet) video cards due to what (I thought) would push us to the $1000+ range that was much more than I wanted to spend. When we saw that ACER Nitro 5 was less than $700, I began to think that it was only $80 more than a Samsung (that had no dedicated video card) and I realized that we could get a current generation processor (i5 9300H), 8 GB of memory (what you really need for most applications now-a-days... thanks Google Chrome! :D ) AND a GTX 1050 video card (hello possibility of gaming!). So, as you can probably see, we ended up buying 2 of these laptops due to the pure value and while the build quality isn't as good as more expensive laptops, it is stellar what you get for $680... Keep in mind, this is the GTX 1050 model and there are different versions with different internal components. After just a few days, this laptop has done everything we have thrown at it. It has outperformed anything we had at work and its still a pretty small form factor. It's pretty amazing that two of these laptops came out to the same price (After tax) that my HP Laptop I bought from Best Buy back in 2002 that provided a similar experience (for the time)... Pros: Great, current 9th generation, i5 CPU. 8 GB Memory (Expandable to more) 256 GB NVME SSD (additional expansion slot for another NVME drive) 2.5" Drive bay (empty that can be expanded upon) GTX 1050 video card! Backlit Keyboard (although it only comes in red for the theme) Great 1080p Screen Excellent Battery Performance in Power Save mode (5 to 7 hours) Cons Build quality leaves a bit to be desired (but is in line for the price) No RGB lighting (red only) Finger print magnet In closing, it blows me away the amount of STUFF you get for $680 (before tax)... absolutely stunning.

It has had great performance so far. It was easy to set up, and easy to use. I haven't had any problems. I would recommend.

This laptop is a really good product. It runs games just fine. Installed gta 5, call of duty, fortnite and paladins. They all run great can't complain at all. I did have an extra 1tb SSD which I added to the laptop which gives it that extra space to put games in. I would suggest extra memory if you plan on downloading a lot of things but if not this is an excellent product. I also did catch it on sale which made it even better. Overall pretty good laptop that runs the games I have put on it great. I would suggest this if your looking for a gaming laptop on a budget. I have had no issue with this laptop.

I absolutely love this laptop. Super fast booting. It's great for every day use. 8 added extra hard drive and memory stick. Work like a charm. Recommended

Presentation This review is for the Acer Nitro 5, 15.6” gaming laptop. The unit came securely packaged and included a protective sleeve – which is a nice touch Acer! I’ve owned several Acer laptops in the past 10 years and they’ve not changed up their product packaging construction in all those years. Like the old saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. The Obsidian black case looks sleek without being pretentious and the displays hinge action is solid & smooth. I wasn’t expecting great things from the keyboard at this price-point but in truth, this is one the best keyboards I’ve experienced with an above average amount of key travel. The red back-lighting is not my favorite but it is nicely implemented and key light uniformity is great. The track/touch pad is also not some run-of-the-mill or basic grade device. It has great tactile feel, smooth response and solid corner click action. Another nice surprise at this price point. There are plenty of USB ports, including a USB-C type and a full-sized Ethernet port. Another nice touch for us geeks. Overall, this gaming laptop initially comes across as another quality product from Acer. Initial Setup Setup was simple and straightforward. I actually went with the voice guided (Cortana) Windows 10 setup routine for the first time ever and it was quick, pleasant & painless. Being that this unit has a NVME SSD – setup time was speedy, coming in at just under 20 minutes. Who wouldn't like that? Internal Configuration My particular model number is AN515-54-54W2 and is comprised of – Intel Core i5, 9th generation – 9300H Nvidia GTX 1050 (non-Ti version) with 3GB of DDR5 RAM 8GB (single DIMM) of DDR4 memory [with an open secondary bank slot] 256GB NVME SSD system drive 1080p IPS display panel with a matte finish The bottom panel of this laptop is easily removed and all of the snap latches have positive engagement without being a bear to work with or exhibiting any sense of fragile construction. I’ve removed the panel twice now, with confidence, and nothing broke off in the process. You can’t say that about a lot of laptops out there. The beauty of this gaming laptop starts with the fact that you can easily upgrade it yourself. You can add a second RAM DIMM to boost your memory to 16GB of DDR4. There’s a second NVME slot just waiting for another SSD. And since this 9300H platform is Intel Optane ready, you can either add an Optane stick to improve overall performance or install a large capacity standard NVME device – for superfast secondary storage. But it doesn’t stop there. There is also a 2.5” drive bay in addition to the dual NVME slots. So you can put a hybrid HDD (which I wouldn’t recommend these days…) or a 2.5” SSD for even more added storage – for something like a Steam or Origin game library. My recommendation would be to add that Optane turbo cache stick to the second NVME slot and then throw a 1TB (or more…) 2.5” SSD drive from Toshiba or Samsung – as isolated storage. This not only keeps the primary drive uncluttered and reduces solid state wear cycles, but it keeps games & media off-to-the-side in case you ever decide to upgrade that primary SSD. Think imaging (drive cloning) efficiency. ; ) All-in-all, at this price point – this entry level Nitro 5 laptop is built really solid and has a ton of flexibility. Not what most would expect at a sub-800-dollar price point. Another equally valuable facet to this laptop is the inclusion of the three important Acer applications - Nitro Sense, Care Center and Network optimizer. All three of these apps enable functional tweaking, performance boosts, diagnostics and maintenance. And they all work without throwing Windows error Events into the Reliability Monitor. No small feat these days. Trust me on this. Upon receiving my Nitro 5, I immediately open the bottom and installed a 2.5” Samsung Pro into the drive bay to provide a place to direct my Steam game installations. Acer was also gracious enough to include the required 2.5” mounting screws and interface cable. Outstanding! The drive upgrade was simple, painless and effective. I installed two games that I consider good demo examples for entry level gaming rig evaluations: Call of Duty WWII Quake Champions… Both of these games are relatively current, game engine tech and can be demanding on mismatched CPUs and GPUs or simply put – on machines not up to the task. No, they are not BF1 or BF5 caliber games – but they are graphically intensive as well as taxing on storage subsystems. Performance Apart from being a pretty peppy machine under boot-up and normal every day, pedestrian type stuff – the Nitro 5 at this entry build level is remarkably good, dare I say excellent – coming in well under 800 dollars. Keep in mind, this is just the plane jane GTX 1050 graphics module, not the coveted Ti version. I also connected up a Logitech G502 Spectrum gaming mouse for my game trials as it’s the right stallion for the job. I chose Quake Champions as it is an online, cooperative shooter and a good vehicle to test for network latency – as it relates to gameplay – and also because it has outstanding visuals. I went with WWII for it’s equally awesome visuals and the demands it can place on the CPU/GPU subsystems. Quake Champions loaded quickly and allowing ‘auto detection’ to do its thing, it configured for Medium graphics settings. Gameplay was smooth and responsive. When I forced manual setting to High, it remained smooth & responsive and continued to hit 60 fps without any hint of glitching or screen tearing. Now keep in mind, these game trials are done ‘plugged in’, not while operating on the battery… for obvious reasons. WWII also ran great but auto detection initially set graphics at Low. Anyone that knows this game knows just how atrocious the loading phases can be along with the excessive cut-scene dramatics. But to my surprise, all the cinematics were relatively smooth on such a data hog of a game. Actual game play was again surprisingly smooth and responsive – again for this caliber of machine – I was truly shocked. Even after I forced the settings to Normal, gameplay and graphics remained solid. I didn’t attempt to push the video settings any higher as everything already looked fantastic on the 15.6” display. Both games looked great on the 1080p panel – even at the lower initial settings. That’s just a win all the way around, the way I see it… * As a side note, I did discover that the BIOS in this platform has some quirks that potential buyers should be aware of up front. Namely, there is no selectable Boot Option table. This can be problematic with 32-bit/non-UEFI utilities – so be prepared. And don’t freak out. The fact that there isn’t a customary Boot order Option section doesn’t mean this laptop won’t boot from a USB thumb drive – it just needs to be a UEFI formatted/configured device. I consider this to be an oversight, but perhaps AMI streamlined things per Acer’s request. I guess we will never know for sure… Summary Overall, I am highly impressed with the Acer Nitro 5 – at this entry level configuration. It’s no slouch. And it’s worthy of the category title – “Gaming Laptop”. For those on a strict (initial) budget but wanting upgradeability options down the road – this laptop may be just the right rig for you. It’s Optane ready. Has a worthy Nvidia GPU. You can open her up with ease and add various combinations of storage. You can upgrade the memory. And it looks good doing it all. I’ll say it again – I’m shocked at the value proposition here, as this sub 800-dollar computer is solidly constructed across all components and its chassis design, and its ‘as is’, out-of-the-box base configuration does provide justice to game play & gaming performance. It just doesn’t feel or come across as a budget offering. Pros: Ease of setup. Nice aesthetics. Quality keyboard and track/touch pad integration. All the right ports and in the right numbers. Expandable/upgradeable with ease. And it actually comes with useful and reliable software utilities. It can game. Cons: Other than the BIOS quirk I mentioned – none really – not at this price point. I can strongly recommend the Acer Nitro 5 – even at this entry level configuration. No doubt about it. It’s a gamer rig… Nice job Acer !

It has plenty of storage and a good amount of RAM to start out. It isn't that good for heavy gaming or having like 10 windows open but it gets the job done.

Easy to use, setup etc...graphics great, speed great, lighted keyboard is a plus, lightweight, long battery life, Overall very happy with this purchase of this laptop.

Great system for warcraft and many steam games.I have owned this laptop for over a month already upgraded to 1tb ssd and 16gig of ram This thing is fast.

Where should I start this little computer is the best I started working from home and Needed a new laptop Very fast and has enough storage for all my needs.

Have to admit we needed another Laptop for work and for the price, speed and easy use of this machine, it was a perfect replacement for our older model!

Switched from Console to PC gaming couple weeks ago and this laptop made it so easy. It’s faster and overall just better. I’ll never go back to console.

I had the luck of snagging this bad boy on sale for a steal. Needed a new laptop cause the old one wasnt cutting it anymore and my sone needed a dependable computer for his class stuff since he is now home. Thought to myself "If I'm gonna shell out money for a new one might as well get one that i can use for gaming too!" lol I run Modern warfare with little to no issues as long as your settings are lined up with your RAM. Recommend Upgrading RAM after a while just so you can get the best this laptop has to offer. Also seperate mouse cause the one this one has is good but noticed it sticks sometmes. Other than that... GET IT!!!