Acer Aspire 5 A515: At First Glance
Everyone loves a cheap laptop that can deliver at least enough performance for its value. The Acer Aspire 5 A515 is one cheap laptop that many have claimed they can’t get enough of.
This laptop is not the most exciting you will come across. It doesn’t have the latest mind-blowing hardware nor a luxurious build.
However, it fits almost perfectly for a good budget purchase. Its 15.6-inch display and dual-core AMD Ryzen processor makes it worthy of consideration.
Acer Aspire 5 A515: Design, Dimension, and Weight
The build quality of the Acer Aspire 5 A515 is simple. It is mostly plastic but its lid covering is a smooth brushed metal finish with just the company’s name engraved on it.
Furthermore, it measures 363.4 x 247.5 x 17.95 mm and weighs 1900 g, so it is not too heavy. It is light compared to many budget laptops of its range.
The keyboard is a typical Acer keyboard, although its keys are slightly smaller than other 15-inch laptop’s keys. But due to the small-sized keys, the keyboard has enough space to feature a number pad.
In addition, the keyboard is backlit. However, the trackpad feels a little soft but it’s okay for the price.
Also, the Acer Aspire 5 A515 display can open 360 degrees flat. But it is not touchscreen.
Lastly, it features a fair selection of ports. It has a power connector, Gigabit Ethernet port, and 1 HDMI port. The laptop also has 1 USB 3 port, 2 USB 2.0 port, headphone jack, and a Kensington lock.
The Acer Aspire 5 A515 scores a 7 for its good simple build.
Acer Aspire 5 A515: Processor (CPU) Performance
Acer equipped the Aspire 5 A515 with a dual-core AMD Ryzen 3 3200U processor. The processor has a base frequency of 2.60 GHz but can clock to a maximum frequency of 3.50 GHz.
A dual-core CPU works just fine for most daily computing tasks. Hence, the Acer Aspire 5 A515 works well with daily computing tasks.
Moreover, Acer Aspire 5 A515 is capable of handling regular document editing, web browsing, emailing and video streaming on YouTube. It provides acceptable performance for most computing needs except for highly demanding tasks.
It also comes with full Windows 10, unlike many budget laptops that come with Windows 10 in S mode. Therefore, Acer Aspire 5 A515 offers the flexibility to carry out operations without the limitations of Windows 10 in S mode.
The Acer Aspire 5 A515 scores an 8 in this CPU review because it is fast enough for a laptop of its range.
Acer Aspire 5 A515: Memory (RAM) Performance
The Acer Aspire 5 A515 comes with 4 GB of RAM. Generally, it is preferred that a laptop comes with a minimum of 8 GB of RAM. Therefore, the laptop’s 4 GB is a bit unappealing.
Nevertheless, the Acer Aspire 5 A515 still runs at a manageable speed. It didn’t have any major problem running about 8 browser tabs opened.
However, you should not pile up too many browser tabs. This is because the laptop’s efficiency begins to reduce when it’s running too many heavy computing operations.
As long as you don’t overwork the laptop, it works just fine. Hence, it scores a point of 7 in this review.
Acer Aspire 5 A515: Storage Options and Performance
The Acer Aspire 5 A515 comes with a 256 GB SSD. This is enough for your files, photos, music, and games.
SSDs are very fast drives but they are relatively expensive, compared to HDDs.
Therefore, it is impressive that Acer equipped the Aspire 5 A515 with a Solid-state drive despite how cheap the laptop is. Its storage capacity of 256 GB is also okay for its price.
However, when you begin to install large programs and save more files, it starts getting full quickly. An external drive will come in handy in situations likes.
Nevertheless, it scores a 7 in this review because its storage is manageable.
Acer Aspire 5 A515: Graphics Card Performance
The Acer equipped the Aspire 5 A515 with an AMD Radeon Vega 3 graphics. The graphics card is integrated into the CPU and shares the system memory.
Also, the laptop has a base GPU frequency of 300 MHz that can be boosted up to 1200 MHz.
However, the laptop doesn’t offer an exceptional gaming experience with modern games. This is because of the Integrated graphics card it uses with no dedicated memory.
Furthermore, the laptop finds it difficult to render the latest AAA games properly. Most of the time, the laptop stutters while playing these high-end games.
its Vega 3 graphics can only handle casual games. Moreover, you will need to change the gaming settings to the lowest in order to get playable frame rates while playing intensive games.
The Acer Aspire 5 A515 scores a 6 in this review because it doesn’t perform excellently in terms of gaming.
Acer Aspire 5 A515: Battery Life and Performance
The Acer Aspire 5 A515 features a 3-cell Lithium-ion battery.
On most occasions, you don’t get good battery life with budget laptops. Acer Aspire 5 A515 is not an exception in this regard.
This laptop lasted for up to 6 hours on a battery life test. That is an hour short of the advertised time frame of 7 hours.
Although the Acer Aspire 5 A515 might not be very spectacular in terms of battery life, it is, however, on par with many laptops of its range.
If you are gaming or doing any other graphical intensive operation, the battery life will run down faster than if you are performing less intensive computing tasks.
The laptop scores a 7 in this review because of its short but manageable battery life.
Frequently Asked Questions
For its price range, it is. The Acer Aspire 5 A515 is a mid-range laptop that offers almost all you’d want in a budget laptop. It offers a good performance for daily computing operations all at an affordable price.
No, it doesn’t. However, the Acer Aspire 5 A515 features a much better screen than that of its previous model. Its display is designed with IPS technology.
Yes, it does. The Acer Aspire 5 A515 features a 720p HD Camera. However, like most laptops, it tends to be a little bit off in terms of image quality when there isn’t enough lighting.
The laptop’s battery lasts for about six hours. The battery life of the Acer Aspire 5 A515 is a bit manageable because of how affordable it is. If you dim the display a little and keep to light web-browsing and little tasks, you could get longer battery life.
Of course, it does. The Acer Aspire 5 A515 is equipped with an AMD Radeon Vega 3 Graphics card.
Conclusion
The Acer Aspire 5 A515 packs a lot of value. It offers all the things needed for basic computing tasks. Therefore, its price to performance ratio is excellent.
Finally, there aren’t many obvious downsides to the laptop, and neither does it perform in any spectacular way. However, it is a good-budget laptop.
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