We have received the brand-new Acer Aspire 5 A514-52G laptop from Mumbai. We unboxed it, reviewed it and here is our review. In the review of this Mi laptop, we’ve ensured to give you a detailed and unbiased information that you’ll find nowhere else. So, let’s get started.
Technical Specification: Acer Aspire 5 A514-52G
- CPU: 1.6GHz Intel Core i5-10210U | 10th Gen | 4 Cores
- GPU: Dedicated NVIDIA MX350 2GB GDDR5
- RAM: 8GB DDR4 | 2400MHz | Dual channel | Expandable to 12GB
- Storage: 512GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD | An empty slot for HDD also.
- Display: 14-inch FHD | IPS and Anti-glare panel | 242 Nits
- Battery: 48Wh Li-ion | 4 Cell | Approx 7 hrs on YouTube
- Wireless connectivity: 802.11ac Wi-Fi | Bluetooth 5.0
- Weight: 1.6 Kg (3.53 lbs)
- Laptop dimensions: 32.8 x 23.6 x 1.8 cms
Where to buy?
Build Quality
The Acer Aspire 5 A514-52G laptop has all-plastic build. Despite not made of metal, it’s pretty solid enough to withstand the flex. The design is more advance than classic. It really attractive but not much when compared to Acer Swift 3 SF314-57 or Mi Notebook 14 Horizon.
The smooth matte silver finish surface of this laptop attracts the fingerprints. But, to be frank, it’s very easy to clean using a micro-fiber cloth. In addition, I have noticed no change in surface colour. In some laptops of white base, the surface reflects yellowish after so much of use. But, that’s not the case with this one.
Dimensions and Weight
The dimensions of this Acer Aspire 5 A514-52G are 12.9-inch in width, 9.3-inch in depth, and 0.7-inch in height. In addition to that, I have also measured the weight using Propert’s weighing scale. The weight is
- For laptop only: 1.6 kg (3.5 lbs)
- For laptop + Accessories: 1.84 kg (4 lbs)
Why I’ve checked such weight? It’s because to give you an idea about total weight you may need to carry while travelling. This is nearly an average lightweight laptop when compared to other laptops under Rs 60,000 price.
Display
The Acer Aspire 5 A514-52G laptop comes with a 14-inch FHD display. It has IPS panel and 60Hz refresh rate. The display is surrounded by almost 8.5mm thick side bezels, which is a bit out-design. In addition, the screen contrast ratio is 763:1, which is a bit lower than the recommended value of 1000:1. And, it also delivers good viewing angles because of IPS panel.
Here, the need to G-Sync is worthless to consider because this laptop comes with an NVIDIA MX series GPU. It’s not a dedicated gaming laptop but it can fulfil your gaming needs certainly.
In addition, I have measured the colour reproduction of the screen using Spyder 5 PRO. And, below are the results for SRGB, AdobeRGB, NTSC results.
As you can see that the SRGB is average good but the rest two colour gamut are not up to the mark. That clearly indicates that this Acer laptop is not made for professional photo and video editors. But, it is perfectly good for office-level tasks and students.
See in the below chart where this laptop in the comparison of other laptops of nearly similar prices.
You can see our Acer laptop is 2nd highest, but that shouldn’t be proud moment for us.
In addition to that, I have also tested the brightness of this laptop.
The Acer Aspire 5 A514-52G’s display has reached 241.8 nits at 100% brightness, which is at too low. The value for display nits we recommend is at least 290-300 for easy content visibility in the direct sunlight.
When display nits are compared with other nearly same priced laptops, this one’s display has a middle position, which is okay in comparison but not good according to our recommendation.
Furthermore, when I intentionally moved the screen up and down, I found a little bit of flex there. But, to be honest, I didn’t found any problem.
In addition, the hinge runs mostly along the base and allows you to turn the display at 180-degree right back to the keyboard. Also, whenever I have tried to open it with one finger, I have lifted the base. That reflects the uneven distribution of weight across the hinge.
Keyboard
The chiclet keyboard of this Acer Aspire 5 A514-52G laptop has a plastic island. But, to be frank, I have not noticed any problematic flex when I have pressed it down using fingers. Even during aggressive typing, I haven’t faced any kind of issue.
The keys are flat and have luckily white background and black fonts on it. We mostly recommend this kind of structure for keyboard at LaptopRadar.In.
The keyboard has a zonal white colour backlit on the keyboard. That’s pretty helpful. The same-priced laptops like Mi Notebook 14 Horizon come with no backlit – pretty awkward.
When it comes to the typing experience, it’s pretty good. I have typed paragraphs and found the keys were travelling a consistent 1.5mm distance down with tactile feedback. However, you will find the keys a bit noisy but not much when compared to the mechanical keyboards.
In addition, like many Asus and Acer laptops, the power button is placed next to the Delete key. But, that’s not a problem during typing since you’ve to long-press the power button to execute the function assigned to it.
In addition to that, there are 6 keys which most awkwardly placed. And, you will often make the wrong press accidentally. Those 6 keys are 4 arrow keys and Page Up/Down keys.
Overall, the keyboard is quite a lot better than other laptops under Rs 60K price. You can compare the quality with Acer Swift 3 SF314-57‘s keyboard.
Touchpad
The touchpad of the Acer Aspire 5 A514-52G laptop is made of all-plastic. It is smooth, accurate, and responsive. And, it uses Windows Precision drivers also you to offer you much gesture control. Furthermore, the touchpad is almost 4.1 x 2.55 inches big.
In addition to that, it doesn’t click down anywhere. It has two separate buttons for it like Acer Swift 3 laptop. For gaming needs, you will need to buy a dedicated wired mouse for that.
RAM
Acer has equipped 8GB of 2666MHz DDR4 single channel RAM to offer you smooth multitasking. In addition, out of 8GB, 4GB is soldered, so you can’t upgrade it. But, you can upgrade the rest 4GB to 12GB – that’s pretty outstanding.
In addition to that, below I have compared the RAM of other laptops of Rs 60,000.
- Mi Notebook 14 Horizon: 8GB DDR4 | 2666MHz | Single Channel | Not upgradable (read the full review)
- Acer Swift 3 SF314-57: 8GB DDR4 | 2400MHz | Dual channel | Upgradable up to 32GB (read the full review)
- Dell Inspiron 3593: 8GB DDR4 | 2666MHz | Single channel | Upgradable up to 16GB (review)
- Asus VivoBook S14 S403JA: 8GB LPDDR4X | 3733MHz | Dual channel | Not upgradable (review)
- Lenovo Ideapad S340 81VV008TIN: 8GB DDR4 | 2666MHz | Dual channel | Not upgradable (review)
- Lenovo IdeaPad S145: 8GB DDR4 | 2400MHz | Single channel | Upgradable to 12GB
- HP 14s DR1009TU: 8GB DDR4 | 2666MHz | Dual channel | Upgradable to 16GB
- Dell Inspiron 14 3493: 8GB DDR4 | 2666MHz | Single channel | Not upgradable
- Acer Aspire 3 A315-23: 8GB DDR4 | 2666MHz | Single channel | Upgradable to 12GB
CPU and GPU Performance
The Acer Aspire 5 A514-52G is powered by an Intel Core i5-10210U processor and NVIDIA MX350 graphics. In addition to that, Acer has also provided 512GB of large SSD storage to let you open and edit heavily faster.
CPU and GPU Benchmarks
To check the performance CPU, I have conducted the Cinebench tests. The cinebench score represents the CPU’s performance.
As you can see in the above image, there’s no effect of the cooling pad on the laptop’s performance. During the Cinebench R20 test with and without a cooling pad, the CB single and multi-core scores are 415 and 1187, respectively.
But, 0.15v CPU undervolting has raised the score to 1267, which is too huge. Such a big increment in multi-core score shows an outstanding increment in performance. Here, the cooling pad is completely useless in performance increment. So, better not to buy it.
In addition to that, see below where this Acer Aspire 5 A514-52G is when compared to other laptops of a price of nearly Rs 60,000.
Look at our laptop, it has achieved quite a good position.
In addition, I have also checked Geekbench 5 benchmark performance.
In a test by Geekbench 5, the Acer Aspire 5 A514-52G has achieved 1061 score on single core and 3789 score on multi core. See where it’s when compared with other laptops under Rs 60,000.
So, the Geekbench 5 score comparison has revealed the satisfactory things about Acer Aspire 5 A514-52G laptop.
Now, what do these scores tell?
It tells the performance of the laptop. The higher the score, the higher the performance. Here, you have to consider the multi-core score. Take note that, Geekbench doesn’t put an excessive load on the CPU like Cinebench R20. And, Geekbench considers mainly productivity tasks like emailing, browsing, multitasking, etc, to evaluate the hardware.
And, these ways cannot give you an idea about the cooling solution. Because tiny tasks don’t make much stress on the CPU. Hence, If the laptop has a higher Geekbench multi-core score means its capability for productivity is much better. But, at the same time, information about thermal throttling and the cooling solution will remain unanswered by this tool.
Average CPU and GPU Clock Speeds
The Acer Aspire 5 A514-52G laptop has an Intel Core i5-10210U chip that has a base speed of 1.6GHz and can be overclocked to 4.2GHz.
The average CPU and GPU clock speeds were measured by performing the stress test using AIDA64 tool. The average of 3 runs is in the below image.
As per the above image, there’s no noticeable improvement in clock speed even after the use of a cooling pad. But, the CPU undervolting has changed the CPU speed considerably. The speed has raised from 2886MHz to 3312MHz.
But, take a note that CPU undervolting is not for office use, it’s for gaming need.
Furthermore, as Acer Aspire 5 A514-52G is not a gaming laptop, I don’t have to check it for TDP as it isn’t required here. I would have done it if this was a gaming laptop.
Video Editing performance
In this test, I have exported the 16 minutes and 13 seconds long video in YouTube 4K H.264 preset using Adobe Premier CC. And I have repeated the same test 4 times further to show you the average result.
It took almost 23 minutes and 20 seconds. Let’s compare it with other same price laptops.
So, the position is 2nd but not impressive. Also, it’s worth to mention that this laptop was nearly smooth during video editing.
Thermal Performance
I’ve performed the thermal performance test using AIDA64 tool to check whether CPU Undervolting and/or a cooling pad is useful in temperature reduction or not.
So, the use of cooling pad during the stress test has just reduce the temperature by 1 degrees Celsius. But, the CPU undervolting has made the reduction of 4 degrees Celsius.
It pretty clear that don’t buy cooling pad for this laptop. That’s the only outcome of this test.
Furthermore, in the following chart, I have compared the temperatures of laptops measured during stress test at an auto fan.
The position of our Acer laptop in temperature comparison is okay the temperature isn’t impressive. It should be below 80. Such temperature directly reflects the impressive thermal management and its efficiency.
In addition, I have also checked for laptop’s exterior temperature.
- At idle: Keyboard and palm rest were cool – at mid 30 C.
- During stress test at auto fan: Palm rest was cool and Keyboard was at mid 45 degrees C. The exterior above the function keys was hot.
- With the use of cooling pad: I found similar results to just above test.
Noise Emitted by Fans
At idle, the fan was silent. Although compared to other laptops under Rs 60K price, it’s bit noisy. But, during stress test at auto fan, the noise level was gone crazy.
Camera and Microphone
The 720p camera and microphone are placed at the top bezel of the display. I have tested both and found that both have worst quality to offer. I have rated both 3 out of 10. In addition, under the price of Rs 60K, I expect the camera to support Windows Hello unlock. But, I’m disappointed.
Here is the position of Acer Aspire 5 A514-52G when compared it other laptops of Rs 60,000 price.
So, our dear Acer Aspire laptop is at last bench when it comes to camera and microphone quality.
Speakers
The 2 down-firing speakers are been equipped at the front corners of both sides underneath the laptop. They are below-average in sound quality at maximum volume-level and a bit tiny with a little bass present.
Digitech Sound level meter has measured 77dB of sound level while watching YouTube.
So, you can see that our Acer laptop needs improvement in speakers.
As you can see, Lenovo IdeaPad S145 has loudest speaker whereas Acer Swift 3 SF314-57 has to improve the loudness.
Ports
On the right side, there are the following ports from left to right.
- 1 3.5mm Audio/combo jack
- 1 USB 2.0
- 1 Kensington lock
On the left side, there are the following ports from left to right.
- 1 Power input
- 1 Ethernet (RJ-45)
- 1 HDMI 2.0
- 2 USB 3.1 Type-A Gen-1
- 1 USB Type-C Gen-1
Here the USB Type-C port is able to transfer the data at 5Gbps. And, it is only used for data transfer.
When it comes to back, there’s nothing except air exhausts. The bottom of the laptop has three belts of air intake vents. The bottom-right part is directly above the fan to suck the fresh air to keep the laptop internals cool.
Battery
The Acer Aspire 5 A514-52G has 48Wh capacity battery.
It has lasted for 83 minutes during the continuous stress test and for 426 minutes while watching YouTube videos at 50% of screen brightness, keyboard backlightings off, and background apps disabled.
Storage
Let me tell you that this Acer Aspire 5 A514-52G has a 512GB of PCIe-based SSD storage. In addition, it has one empty slot for HDD where you can add your own hard disk.
I have measured its speed and performance of SSD storage only using CrystalDiskMark. CrystalDiskMark is a tool most popular for the measurement of storage’s performance.
You can see that it’s too fast at reading and writing. The reading speed is almost 2175MB/sec and writing speed is almost 1795MB/sec.
Gaming Benchmarks
I have played the following games for exactly half an hour and the benchmarks in terms of FPS were measured for the maximum-settings.
- Shadow of the Tomb Raider
- Far Cry New Dawn
- GTA V
- Fortnite
- Overwatch
- Crysis 3
- CS:GO
Final Thoughts
The Acer Aspire 5 A514-52G laptop comes with a pretty solid plastic build. The design is 50% classic and 50% modern. It’s average lightweight. The display is good for office-level jobs and students but disappointing for professional content creators. In addition, I’m also worried about brightness levels. The keyboard is pretty tactile and has backlit. And, also resists the flex maximum possible, which is great. The touchpad is pretty smooth, responsive, and accurate, and precision-enabled. The big amount of RAM let you perform multitasking smoothly. In addition, you can upgrade it also. The benchmarks testing have revealed laptop’s impressive performance. And, possible increment if you do CPU undervolting. The camera and microphone quality is pretty disappointing. I don’t recommend this laptop for video conference. The speakers are require a bit improvement. The 512GB of SSD storage is really very fast. This laptop has quite good thermal management and internals. Overall, it’s pretty good laptop for programmers under just Rs 60,000 in India.