Knowledgeable’s Score
Professionals
- Spacious keyboard with quantity pad
- HD webcam
- Forged video playback efficiency
- First rate enterprise app efficiency
- Workday-long battery lifestyles
Cons
- Deficient gaming graphics efficiency
- Fundamental 1080p show
- Small 128GB garage power
Our Verdict
The Acer Aspire 3 represents a sensible set of trade-offs. It’s simply one of the crucial best-built laptops we’ve examined for less than $500, with robust development and a spacious keyboard and trackpad. Whilst it gained’t give avid gamers a lot pleasure, it’s a lots competent paintings system that’ll make you glance and sound excellent on Zoom calls.
Within the crowded box of economic system laptops, there’s no scarcity of inexpensive and but a dearth of high quality. The Acer Aspire 3 displays up effectively on this class, wearing easy, low-profile styling, a full-size keyboard entire with a bunch pad, and a large display screen that’s a excitement to videoconference on. Whilst there’s no scarcity of trade-offs for the low $400 value level, Acer has made even handed choices to provide a system that will provide you with a number of bang for quite couple of dollars.
In search of extra choices? Take a look at PCWorld’s roundup of the best laptops for college students.
Acer Aspire 3: Specifications and lines
Modestly spec’d with a 2.4GHz AMD Ryzen CPU, 8BG of RAM, and a 128GB solid-state power, the Aspire 3 is not any workhorse, however packs sufficient punch to get issues performed on the cheap. You’ll to find an HDMI port for connecting to exterior presentations and a unmarried USB-C port for hooking up more moderen equipment and units.
- CPU: Quad-core 2.4GHz AMD Ryzen 7320U
- Reminiscence: 8GB
- Graphics/GPU: AMD Radeon
- Show: 15.8-inch LED-backlit LCD
- Garage: 128GB
- Connectivity: 1 HDMI Port, 2 USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, 1 USB 3.2 Gen 2 Kind-C port
- Networking: IEEE 802.11ax Wi-Fi
- Biometrics: None
- Battery capability: 40 watt-hour
- Dimensions: 0.74 inches x 14.3 inches x 9.4 inches
- Weight: 3.97 kilos
What’s lacking from those specifications that it’s possible you’ll leave out? An SD card reader could be great, as would a 2nd USB-C port. Getting via with simply a type of goes to be a drag every so often, however you’ll be able to at all times plug in an adapter so as to add extra.
The Aspire 3’s giant keyboard with quantity pad is a pleasure to kind on.
PCWorld / Robert Strohmeyer
Acer Aspire 3: Design and construct high quality
Weighing in at slightly below 4 kilos, the Aspire 3 isn’t precisely light-weight, however in change for possibly an additional quarter-pound of lift weight, you get a large 15.8-inch sufficient room for that full-width keyboard. As any individual who lives and dies via the spreadsheet I’m a sucker for a bunch pad on my keyboards, so getting one on such an inexpensive system is lovely candy. This keyboard feels somewhat strong underneath the hands, with out an excessive amount of flex or jump in heavy typing. That issues, as a result of price range machines incessantly sacrifice chassis construction to chop prices, and the effects can really feel flimsy or even result in jump at the observe pad, inflicting the mouse cursor to dance across the display screen. However no such fear in this Acer; it’s if truth be told a excitement to kind on.
In entrance of that broad keyboard, we discover a quite spacious 3-inch via 5-inch touchpad. In contrast to the ones of alternative Acer laptops we’ve attempted, this trackpad feels company and easy to touch, and responds with a decisive, however quiet, click on. We discovered it tracks neatly with each single-digit and multi-touch gestures.
Despite the fact that moderately cumbersome at more or less 3/4 of an inch in thickness, the Aspire 3 makes room for a wholesome array of ports. All the laptop computer seems to be and feels considerably extra strong than maximum different sub-$500 laptops we’ve examined. It’s a system have compatibility for a running grownup, now not an affordable, plastic child’s pc. Our simplest important criticism with the construct high quality is that the display screen wobbles just a little once we transfer it round whilst open, quite than sitting company. This implies the webcam symbol will wobble throughout use in case you transfer the instrument, which we skilled in our trying out.
Acer Aspire 3: Show and audio
Acer’s price range laptops, together with the Aspire 5 we reviewed last year, have lengthy stood out for his or her 1080p presentations. The Aspire 3 comes in a similar fashion geared up, even though because the marketplace advances the contest is bringing the similar answer to their price range strains as neatly, so it not stands proud from the group in this entrance. That mentioned, in case you’re purchasing a laptop computer in 2023, 1080p is the bottom answer a purchaser will have to settle for, since 768p slightly suits most current internet pages of their local answer. Responsive internet design is good and all, but when your 15-inch laptop computer display screen triggers a minimized format with the browser window maximized, it’s possible you’ll as neatly be surfing on an iPad Mini.
The Aspire 3 places you squarely within the appropriate answer vary for present units, however as I mentioned, that’s the naked minimal we’d need at this level. General, we appreciated the glance of the Aspire 3’s show for films and video. Colour high quality was once respectable, even though unremarkable, and vibrant sufficient for comfy use in complete solar.
A couple of small, downward-pointing audio system kick out somewhat loud audio that we discovered neatly tuned for video conferencing and YouTube movies, however just a bit tinny for any track with a lot bass.
Acer Aspire 3: Webcam and microphone
In videoconferencing assessments, the Aspire 3 blew away our expectancies for an economic system laptop computer. The HD webcam produced crisp, blank video and the mic picked up and filtered voices from the background noise fairly neatly.
Facet via facet with a Macbook Professional, we in particular appreciated the Aspire 3’s low-light webcam efficiency. Supplied with Temporal Noise Relief, the high-def cam cleans up differently grainy low-light video and will increase the publicity ranges to ship a vibrant, crisp symbol that outperforms many of the different integrated webcams we’ve attempted, even on a lot pricier computer systems.
In a similar way, the mic cleans up in-room audio with Acer PurifiedVoice device that filters out noise and sends transparent, crisp sound in your recipient. For a pc on this value vary, that’s announcing so much. General, with its symbol and voice seize high quality, we’d quite leap on a Zoom with the Acer Aspire 3 than with some machines at quadruple the fee.
On its left facet, the Aspire 3 has a DC energy portm a USB-C port, a full-size HDMI port, and a USB-A port.
PCWorld / Robert Strohmeyer
Acer Aspire 3: Connectivity
One upside of a larger laptop computer is the capability for a large number of helpful connectors. Alongside the left facet you’ll to find the DC in, a unmarried USB-C port, a full-size HDMI port, and a USB-A port. At the proper, you get a Kensington lock port, some other USB-A, and a headphone jack. What you don’t get at this value is a 2nd USB-C port, which is changing into commonplace on higher laptops at the present time, or a card reader slot.
For many customers, this supplement of ports might be lots and getting each a USB-C and a complete HDMI port on a $400 laptop computer isn’t dangerous. When you do want to learn an SD card, you’ll be able to at all times plug an adapter into one of the crucial USB ports.
The best facet of the Aspire 3 gives a Kensington lock port, a USB-A port, and a headphone jack.
PCWorld / Robert Strohmeyer
Acer Aspire 3: Efficiency
When you’re spending $400 on a laptop computer, you will have to mood your efficiency expectancies significantly. With its Quad-core 2.4GHz AMD Ryzen 7320U procedure and Radeon graphics, the Acer Aspire 3 is not any exception, turning in respectable efficiency in fundamental enterprise duties, however significantly sub-par effects for graphics and gaming.
In terms of enterprise productiveness efficiency, the Acer Aspire 3 is middle-of-the-pack for inexpensive laptops.
PCWorld / Robert Strohmeyer
Our PCMark 10 take a look at measures the system’s efficiency in on a regular basis administrative center duties starting from phrase processing and spreadsheets to video conferencing. The Aspire 3 gave a middle-of-the-pack efficiency of four,284 in a box of somewhat pricier machines we’ve examined in fresh months, significantly outperforming the three,902 rating of the Intel-equipped Aspire 5 we examined remaining 12 months. It is a excellent factor as a result of this system is constructed to attraction to university and small-business customers. When you’re searching for an inexpensive laptop computer for back-to-school within the fall or want to change an ageing paintings system on the cheap, this efficiency signifies a tight funding.
For films and video playback, the Aspire 3 once more outperforms different price range methods we’ve examined. On our multi-thread Cinebench 15 take a look at, the Aspire 3 got here in on the best of the pack of economic system laptops with a rating of one,925. At the single-thread Cinebench take a look at, its rating of 435 beat out the others we now have a end result for.
The Acer Aspire 3’s video efficiency in our Cinebench take a look at is much better than different price range laptops we’ve examined.
PCWorld / Robert Strohmeyer
As with the all-threads take a look at, the video playback efficiency at the Aspire 3 beats out similar economic system laptops we’ve examined.
PCWorld / Robert Strohmeyer
The place the Aspire 3 falls very quick, even towards different reasonable laptops we’ve examined, is its gaming graphics efficiency. In our 3DMark TimeSpy 1.2 take a look at, this system was once downright pitiful with a rating of 584, not up to part that of the Aspire 5. Whether or not that is appropriate or now not depends upon how you are feeling about gaming, in fact. When you’re purchasing this to put in writing or surf the internet, you gained’t care. But when it is a scholar laptop computer, let’s simply say you gained’t have to fret about video games distracting you from find out about time.
The Aspire 3 is not any gaming laptop computer, with the bottom 3-d rating in any of our fresh budget-laptop assessments.
PCWorld / Robert Strohmeyer
Acer Aspire 3: Battery lifestyles
Battery lifestyles was once yet another sure efficiency for the Aspire 3. In our assessments taking part in again a film on repeat till the battery died, it averaged about 8 hours of lifestyles persistently. That’s with regards to a complete paintings day and in case you’re now not taking part in video continuously and possibly take a lunch destroy, it will have to be greater than sufficient to get you in the course of the day. If you want to price up, the Aspire 3’s tiny charging brick is among the maximum compact round, so it slips into your bag with out taking on an excessive amount of house.
Acer Aspire 3: Must you purchase it?
In a global the place price range constraints power compromises, the Acer Aspire 3 represents a sensible set of trade-offs. It’s simply one of the crucial best-built laptops we’ve examined for less than $500, with robust development and a spacious keyboard and trackpad. Whilst it gained’t give avid gamers a lot pleasure, it’s a lots competent paintings system that’ll make you glance and sound excellent on Zoom calls. When you’re out there for a fundamental enterprise laptop computer or back-to-school pc, you’ll wish to take a more in-depth glance.
