For general use and staying within a budget, choose the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14; it's less expensive and offers solid performance with good portability. If you need higher performance for gaming, 3d rendering, or engineering tasks, and are okay with a higher price and less portability, opt for the Lenovo Legion 7. The Legion 7 also has a larger, higher-resolution display and superior battery life, making it a better choice for intensive tasks despite being heavier and less easy to carry around. The Acer is more cost-effective for everyday tasks and is lighter, making it more convenient for mobility. 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 Lenovo Legion 7
Good for general use
Very good for engineering and design
Good for gaming and AI
Good for software development
Very good overall display quality
Very good overall build quality
Very good speakers
Excellent keyboard
Key differences
General Use
6.5/10
7.9/10
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
250.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
469.0 nits
8.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
6.5 Hours
6.2/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
8.1/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
7.0/10
The Lenovo Legion 7 is good for general use, while the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 is only fair.
The Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 is fair for general use because it offers modest computing power with its lower-tier processor, less RAM, and a lower resolution screen which may not be as vivid, but benefits from being lightweight and having silent operation due to its fanless design.
Gaming and AI
5.8/10
7.8/10
3.6/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.4/10
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
10.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.5/10
The Lenovo Legion 7 is good for gaming and AI, while the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 is poor.
The Lenovo Legion 7 offers superior gaming and 3D performance, primarily due to its Nvidia RTX 3070 graphics card and a higher screen refresh rate of 165Hz, compared to the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14's Intel UHD Graphics Xe and 60Hz refresh rate. While the Acer may be sufficient for casual play, the Lenovo's GPU and refresh rate are much better suited for intensive gaming and smooth visuals.
Engineering and Design
5.9/10
8.2/10
3.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
3.6/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.4/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Lenovo Legion 7 is very good for engineering and design, while the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 is poor.
The Lenovo Legion 7 offers greater performance for engineering and design due to its more powerful AMD Ryzen processor, substantial RAM, and high-end Nvidia RTX 3070 GPU, which are crucial for intensive tasks and software, complemented by a higher resolution screen that benefits design work. In contrast, the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14, while more portable and versatile as a 2-in-1 device with silent operation, has a less capable Intel i3 processor and integrated graphics, less RAM, and a lower resolution screen, which makes it less suitable for demanding engineering applications.
Content Creation
7.0/10
7.9/10
3.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Lenovo Legion 7 and Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 are both good for content creation, though the Lenovo Legion 7 is somewhat better.
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
7.6/10
3.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
6.2/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
The Lenovo Legion 7 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
8.3/10
14.0in
SIZE
16.0in
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
250.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
469.0 nits
The Lenovo Legion 7 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.
The Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14's screen may not provide the sharpness and color accuracy required for detailed engineering work or the high refresh rates needed for smooth gaming, but its resolution and brightness are adequate for everyday tasks. In contrast, the Lenovo Legion 7's superior resolution and color gamut cater well to the precision needs of engineering and design professionals, although its lower refresh rate falls short for fast-paced gaming. Both laptops have strengths in general use due to their panel types and brightness levels, but their gaming performance is limited by screens not optimized for the highest refresh rates.
Battery
8.0 Hours
6.5 Hours
The Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 has 8 hours of battery life. The Lenovo Legion 7 has 6.5 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
5.5 lbs
0.7in
THICKNESS
0.8in
The Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 has very good portability, while the Lenovo Legion 7 has good portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
6.2/10
8.5/10
The Lenovo Legion 7 has very 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
$1,500
$0
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
The Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 has a price of $418 and the Lenovo Legion 7 costs $1,500.
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 Lenovo Legion 7 is a fast 16-inch gamer with 165 Hz display. The new Lenovo Legion 7 is a very good gaming notebook that, despite its comparatively compact compact 16-inch case, does not have to do without the most powerful components. Thanks to good cooling, no compromises are made in terms of performance. Both the Core i9-12900HX and the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti perform at a very high level."
Get a great deal on the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 or the Lenovo Legion 7
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 Lenovo
Lenovo is a Chinese technology company, and one of the largest personal computer vendor. They are well known for a variety of technology products, including laptops. Their consumer series include their entry level IdeaPad and LOQ series and mid-to-high-end Yoga and Legion series. On the business-oriented side, their series include their entry-level ThinkBook series and mid-to-high-end ThinkPad series. Lenovo laptops offer strong performance for reasonable prices, and are often on sale.
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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