The Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 is more budget-friendly with a lighter and more portable design, suitable for general use with average battery life and decent performance for its class. However, the Gigabyte Aero 16 stands out with significantly better performance for 3D rendering, machine learning, and engineering tasks thanks to its powerful processor and high-end graphics card, along with a superior OLED screen and a larger, faster storage option. The tradeoff with the Aero 16 is its higher price and weight, making it less portable but more suited to demanding applications and gaming. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs and product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars and the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Advantages of the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14
Very good portability
Advantages of the Gigabyte Aero 16
Very good for general use
Very good for engineering and design
Good for gaming and AI
Good for software development
Very good for content creation
Very good overall display quality
Good overall build quality
Very good keyboard
Key differences
General Use
6.5/10
8.0/10
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
OLED
250.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
368.0 nits
8.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
7.0 Hours
6.2/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
8.1/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
7.1/10
The Gigabyte Aero 16 is very good for general use, while the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 is only fair.
The Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 offers a lower-tier CPU and integrated graphics, less RAM, a lower-resolution IPS screen, and less storage, which are adequate for basic tasks but may lag behind in multitasking or demanding applications. On the other hand, the Gigabyte Aero 16 provides a high-end CPU and discrete graphics, ample RAM, a high-resolution OLED screen with better color coverage, and significantly more storage, enhancing its capability for more intensive tasks whilst sacrificing fan noise and weight for portability.
Gaming and AI
5.8/10
7.8/10
3.6/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.8/10
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
10.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.7/10
The Gigabyte Aero 16 is good for gaming and AI, while the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 is poor.
PerfectRec’s Gaming and AI Score strongly emphasizes graphics processing capability, while also taking into account other factors that impact suitability for gaming and AI work.
Engineering and Design
5.9/10
8.6/10
3.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
3.6/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.8/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Gigabyte Aero 16 is very good for engineering and design, while the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 is poor.
PerfectRec’s Engineering and Design Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for graphic design and 3D rendering work.
Content Creation
7.0/10
8.2/10
3.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
OLED
The Gigabyte Aero 16 is very good for content creation, while the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 is good.
PerfectRec’s Content Creation Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for photo editing, video editing and other content creation tasks.
Software Development
6.9/10
7.9/10
3.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
6.2/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
The Gigabyte Aero 16 is good for software development, while the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 is only fair.
PerfectRec’s Software Development Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for software developers.
Screen Quality
6.2/10
8.4/10
14.0in
SIZE
16.0in
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
OLED
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
250.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
368.0 nits
The Gigabyte Aero 16 has a better screen than the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
For general use, the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14's fair screen quality stems from an adequate resolution and brightness, but it might lack the crispness and vibrancy seen in higher-end displays like that of the Gigabyte Aero 16, which boasts a very good screen with higher resolution and brightness making content sharper and more vivid. For engineering and design tasks, the Aero 16 excels with an excellent screen that covers a wider range of colors, vital for precision work, while the Aspire 3 might struggle to show subtleties in hues due to lesser color coverage. However, for gaming and 3D, despite both having lower refresh rates which hinder smooth motion portrayal compared to specialized gaming laptops, the resolution and panel quality of both laptops still provide a satisfactory visual experience, albeit not optimized for high-frame-rate gaming.
Battery
8.0 Hours
7.0 Hours
The Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 has 8 hours of battery life. The Gigabyte Aero 16 has 7 hours of battery life.
Battery life estimate is based on a mix of common use patterns. More portable and higher performing laptops tend to have less battery life.
Portability
Very Good
Good
14.0in
SIZE
16.0in
3.3 lbs
WEIGHT
5.0 lbs
0.7in
THICKNESS
0.8in
The Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 has very good portability, while the Gigabyte Aero 16 has good portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
6.2/10
7.8/10
The Gigabyte Aero 16 has good build quality, while the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 has only fair build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$418
$1,260
$0
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
The Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 has a price of $418 and the Gigabyte Aero 16 costs $1,260.
Olivier Martin, Ryan Lim, and Yannick Khong | November 2023
"The Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 is okay for school use. It feels reasonably well-built, and its compact design makes it easy to carry around. The battery lasts around seven hours of light use, so you only have to plug it in for a short time to get through a typical school day. The overall user experience is so-so; the display looks sharp but dim, and the touchpad is fairly responsive, albeit small."
"The Gigabyte Aero 16 is a workstation laptop for light gaming. It's design is still muted, with a silver chassis alongside a black keyboard and trackpad that provides some contrast. The Gigabyte Aero’s full-size chiclet-style keyboard is enjoyable to type on thanks to its snappy feel and responsiveness. The 4K+ AMOLED display is good, but it could be better. It doesn’t handle true black very well and suffers from strong reflections and glare. The Gigabyte Aero excels at productivity performance and can keep up with other gaming laptops in 1080p. But it has very few ports and its refresh rate leaves a bit to be desired."
Get a great deal on the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 or the Gigabyte Aero 16
About Acer
Acer is a prominent Taiwanese electronics brand which makes a wide range of laptops, with multiple product lines catering to personal use, gaming, and business use. They are renowned for having exceptional value for money, as they frequently offer good specifications at a lower price than other manufacturers.
About Gigabyte
Gigabyte is a Taiwanese computer hardware manufacturer. While Gigabyte mainly focuses its business on desktop hardware, Gigabyte is known for its value-oriented G series laptops, thin and light Aero series, and performance-oriented Aorus series. Gigabyte laptops offer a strong value proposition to compete with mainstream alternatives.
This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec laptops team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest laptop information and makes it digestible for you.
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