Customer Ratings & Reviews

I got this laptop for my boyfriend and he loves it.

The laptop does well rarely lagged for anything.:)

One of the main reasons I purchased the laptop was the keyboard backlight, I use it at work in low lighting some times. The light only stays on for 30 sec if no key strokes, even when AC is plugged in Looked for a way to disable timer, Contacted Acre and they there is nothing I can do that is how that model is designed. To top it off the red key are almost impossible to see unless it is very bright in the room. To late to return. Also if you are going to be gaming better make sure you have an outlet near, battery last 1 hr if your lucky.

I've had the opportunity to use the laptop for about a week now. The performance of this machine is great for regular tasks, and the laptop worked well as a gaming laptop. The included SSD is a significant improvement for any gamer over a standard hard drive, and 8GB of RAM is sufficient at this price point. The laptop was able to run Plex really well, so I could stream my video collection off of a NAS that I have in the house. Even during gaming, the laptop never got too hot. There were a few small things that I did not like about the laptop, but they were not a huge deal for me. Battery performance was just ok, but since I intend to use the laptop at home in most situations, it will likely be plugged in most of the time. I also was not a big fan of the touchpad, as the built in buttons are not all that responsive for gaming. I will likely continue to use my gaming mouse, and I imagine most other gamers will choose the same. Overall though, the Acer Nitro 5 is a good mid-range gaming laptop that performs well at tasks that most users would do, and is a great laptop for the price.

After about 1 month, I went to open the lid and the bottom casing broke at the hinges. It has always been a little hard to open. So now I have to hold the bottom case so as not to further damage the case.

It worked well for about 3 weeks (Christmas 2018), then I couldn't get it to boot. Diagnosed by Geek Squad as needing to have windows 10 reinstalled. I had bought two of them as gifts and the other is working fine.

Acer’s line of home computing electronics continues to consistently show itself to be a contender amongst other well-known, popular brands. And this Acer - Nitro 5 15.6" Laptop - Intel Core i5 - 8GB Memory - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti - 256GB Solid State Drive PC is no exception. Unboxing the machine was a joy. Everything was packaged well. The exterior surface of its chassis, along with the sleek shape of this laptop, mirrors the appearance of many higher-end devices of this type. It looked like what it is - a gaming laptop. And then you open up the lid. Awesomeness! This Acer Nitro Gaming Laptop looks amazing! It looks to be much more expensive than it is. The black and red color scheme - so cool! The keyboard is backlit red; even the touchpad is outlined in red. And for gamers, the WASD keys are highlighted. Fun times! Although I routinely use a peripheral keyboard and mouse with my laptops, I did find the backlit keypads on this Acer to be positioned well for comfortable typing or game play. I really was excited to just start using this machine, and see what the in-game graphics were gonna look like. And so, I immediately set about installing World of Warcraft. Downloading the game did seem to go pretty fast, considering the size of the file, yet I was still able to surf the net and update Windows while the game was installing, with no problem. Once I was in game, the beauty of this Acer Nitro 5’s Full HD 1080 graphics was there to behold. Watching the intro cinematic, which I’ve seen many times before, was a true pleasure. Details I’d not noticed before, shone through in bright, crisp, clear color. I didn’t notice any lag or sluggishness while playing the game, either. Always a good thing when it comes to gaming computers. One feature I particularly wanted to mention was Acer NitroSense. This console allows you to monitor the laptop’s CPU/GPU temperatures, customize its power plan, and adjust the fan controls. But it is the CoolBlast Technology which really caught my attention. When engaged in extended, heavy gaming, you can turn CoolBlast On which will increase the maximum fan speed and thereby cool down the machine, decreasing its heat output. A downside, or lacking, found in most of the computers I’ve owned, has always been the sound quality. But this Acer surprised me. I didn’t have to crank the volume up to its highest level 100, in order to simply hear the game. No exterior speakers were needed, at least for my purposes. The sounds of gaming effects, character’s voices, the music - was full, deep, and rich; even ambient sounds seemed more real and true. Be aware, as with some other laptops produced these days, there is no DVD drive. However, the included zippered sleeve made to fit this size laptop, was an unexpected and much-appreciated bonus. The instruction booklets were straightforward enough and simply following them as stated, was enough to get you up and running in a fairly short length of time. Even those who may not have much experience setting up a new computer, should have no trouble at all. Just let the machine do its thing, and make sure to take the time to get all those Windows updates done, and you’ll be good to go. Overall, I was really quite impressed with not only the look of, but also more importantly, the performance of this Acer Nitro 5 laptop. And for the affordable cost of this machine, you’re assuredly getting your money’s worth. This brand is definitely one to consider when purchasing a home computer.

I love this machine. It is a little bulky like any other gaming laptop but it is fast considering it is only an i5 (8th gen though!) with 8gb of RAM. Fortnite Epic settings, 60FPS. WoW highest settings, no hiccups. I even tried remote play for PS4--- graphics wise--- well, it's wireless so it will be choppy but it is very able. I know I should not have done this, but I opened the bays for storage and memory-- it is easily upgradeable! There is an extra slot for RAM and there is ready space for another SSD. Gaming-wise, this machine is great. I use an i7 16gb with Intel graphics 620-- and it is pretty fast for regular applications. This machine is even faster. Just a word of caution though, battery only lasts a little over 3 hours. But-- if you are gaming, you will always want it plugged in anyway. No issues with this machine. I REALLY love it.

On the surface (no pun intended), the 2018 version of Acer’s Nitro 5 Gaming Laptop feels different. That would be, of course, due to the brushed aluminum lid, whereas most other manufacturers are still using 100% plastic cases. Mind you, the remainder of the case is plastic, but is quite sturdy…again, moreso than most other “budget” laptops. With the latest trend in LED backlit keyboards, Acer doesn’t disappoint. The entire keyboard has a pleasant red backlighting, while the W, A, S, & D keys have a heavy red outlining, thus making them stand out more than the remainder of the keyboard (a plus for gamers). Additionally, while somewhat smaller than a traditional “full size” keyboard, this is a full keyboard, complete with numeric keypad. Another nice feature…something more laptop manufacturers are starting to do…is the offset trackpad, which is slightly to the left, completely aligned with the spacebar. Unfortunately, the key’s travel distance leaves me wondering, as the keypress depth is on the shallow side. Another negative for the keyboard is the arraignment of certain keys, such as the placement of the “up” key to the immediate right of the right “shift” key, as well as the power button being placed in the upper right-hand corner (immediately to the right of the “End” key, and above the “-“ key). Turning the laptop over reveals easily-accessed covers for upgrading the RAM & storage (either HDD, or SSD). Overall, despite certain “design flaws”, the design is very nice, and doesn’t scream “this is a gaming laptop”. The IPS display is an improvement over the original 2017 model (from what I understand, later 2017 models have the same LCD display as the 2018 model, but they will lack other upgrades, such as the 8th-Gen CPUs). The display does appear to be slightly brighter in the center area, when compared against the brightness of the edges, but, on the bright side (ok, pun intended, this time), not only can the display be calibrated, but one source I came across, Trusted Reviews, even offers a download of the calibrated color profile (https://ultrabookreview.com/color-profiles/Acer%20Nitro%205%20AN515-52%20FHD.icm). While not the brightest, or most accurate, display on the block, it will be more than adequate…and, for the price, you can’t go wrong. Finally, getting to what this laptop is designed for…gaming…let me quickly cover the primary specs: CPU, RAM, GPU, and storage. The 2018 Nitro 5 comes with Intel’s 8th-Gen CPUs, in the case of this particular model, the Core i5-8300H, which is a Quad-Core 2.3GHz (up to 4.0GHz w/ Turbo) CPU with HyperThreading. In real-world performance, it can outperform Intel’s 7th-gen Core i7-7700HQ (2.3GHz, max 3.8GHz), and for a lower cost. While this configuration only comes with 8GB of 2666MHz DDR4 RAM, it can be upgraded to 32GB (only 1 of the 2 slots is populated…replace the single 8GB SODIMM with two 16GB SODIMMs). While I haven’t actually opened the case (yet), I’d assume, based on the fact that this configuration contains an M.2 SSD, the base configuration contains a physical HDD, and the “high-end” configuration contains M.2 SSD & HDD, that one can add an HDD or SSD, increasing storage capacity. Again, this is only an assumption, but a highly probable one. Switching over to the GPU, while the GTX 1050 is the “base” GPU in Nvidia’s ‘10’ series, remember that this is the “Ti” version, thus it performs considerably better. Upon checking some in-game framerates against a desktop running a 7th-Gen i7-7700HQ w/ GTX 1050 Ti, the 2018 Nitro 5 with “only” a Core i5 & 1050 Ti outperformed the i7 by a few FPS. I can’t say much for sound quality, or battery life, but mostly because I connect to external speakers, and because I rarely use the battery (it’s used as more of a “desktop replacement”, and is rarely “mobile”). FINAL VERDICT: Sure, you can go spend well over $1K on a mid-range gaming laptop, or a few (or several) thousand on a high-end model, but most of us can’t afford that. Additionally, the great majority of “real gamers” prefer powerful desktops over laptops. For the rest of us…the “casual” gamers, who occasionally play more CPU/GPU demanding games, the Acer Nitro 5 will be an excellent choice. This laptop would be a finalist…and, quite possibly the winner…in a “Best Bang for the Buck” gaming laptop competition. In short, you can’t go wrong. Disclaimer: This product was provided free, or at reduced cost, for the purpose of reviewing the product. Nevertheless, the above review, be it positive, negative, or anywhere in-between, is a 100% honest review, and the price paid played absolutely no part in my review.

Bought this laptop a year and a half ago. The hinge on the bottom left started breaking a few months ago and the screen started dimming in that corner as a result, conveniently right after the warranty expired. A quick look online shows that this is a common problem experienced with this laptop. Took it to best buy and called Acer and both provided absolutely no support. Don't be attracted by the good specs alone, the actual materials for the laptop are complete garbage.

I’ve learned a huge lesson from having a gaming laptop like this. She WILL fall apart. It’s all cheap plastic and honestly isn’t the sturdiest computer. My laptop gradually fell apart due to the two hinges that is only connecting the screen to base of the computer. however it works so well! Like a dream honestly. I’m writing this review to bring awareness to these cheaply made laptops. Listen to the reviews and save your dollar. Please. Try an msi or a razer even

This isn't the best for storing information, it is however very nice to have when traveling and would like to play an online game with not much to download on to the pc.

The laptop was nice enough but the keyboard only stays lit for 30 seconds at a time. You can't adjust the length of time it stays lit. That's ridiculous.

I only had this laptop for a little over a year and it blew 2 motherboards. The first was replaced by the manufacturer within the first year under warranty and the second blew the day the warranty ended. It played games fine when it worked but they wanted as much as a new laptop would cost to fix it, so I'm not going to get it fixed. I'll be going with a more reliable brand. Don't waste your money on Acer.

Was lured in by the great specs and price. But, it just didn't seem to live up to expectations. Also ran hot, which I k ow degrades performance. Returned for a Dell.

I bought this as a gaming computer but none of the games out today play well on this computer. The quality of graphics and speed just aren't up to par.

We bought this laptop for our organization just over a month ago, and we severely regret this purchase. We had asked a BestBuy representative to recommend a reliable but economical machine that would meet the minimum requirements of the software we need to run, and this was one of two units (both Acer) that he recommended. Multiple keys have stopped working on the laptop's keyboard, and this machine just does not offer the reliability and performance that we need for the presentation software we use. We had numerous issues with stalling during presentation of videos. We are now trying to return this unit, but we're outside of the narrow 15-day window (because we don't use it on a daily basis, we weren't aware of the severity of its issues until after the return window closed), so now we're facing the possibility that if BestButy doesn't make this right, we're stuck with a $700 inferior, defective machine. Wishing we would have just bought a Macbook from the get-go. We've used those in the same application for years without all these trouble this one has given us in a month.

Laptop has terrible hinges mechanism. Had to buy new hinges and back cover. Softwarewise is good but hinges are terrible.

Good specs at a bargain price. Quality just isn't there. Keyboard, shell, other features just seem a bit cheap.

The right click on mouse is not working correctly. This is usually used when gaming and not school work