The Acer Aspire 5 is a more budget-friendly option that offers solid everyday performance and good battery life. If you're looking for a laptop for general use like web browsing, office work, or watching videos, and portability is important to you, this might be the right choice. However, the Gigabyte Aero 17, while significantly more expensive, offers a larger, higher-resolution screen with superior display technology, more powerful processing capabilities, and a high-end graphics card, making it better suited for intensive tasks like 3D design, video editing, machine learning, and gaming. It is also heavier and has a larger form factor, which might affect its portability. Choose the Aero 17 if you need top performance and are willing to invest more, while the Aspire 5 should suffice for more basic, everyday tasks at a lower cost. 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 5 15
Good portability
Good battery life
Advantages of the Gigabyte Aero 17
Very good for general use
Very good for engineering and design
Good for gaming and AI
Very good for content creation
Excellent overall display quality
Very good overall build quality
Good speakers
Very good keyboard
Key differences
General Use
7.5/10
8.1/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2160
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
Mini LED
275.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
368.0 nits
7.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
5.5 Hours
7.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
7.7/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
6.6/10
The Gigabyte Aero 17 is very good for general use, while the Acer Aspire 5 15 is good.
The Acer Aspire 5 15, with its efficient CPU and ample RAM, ensures smooth general use and good battery life making it highly portable; its standard screen quality is adequate for everyday tasks, which coupled with its lightweight design, favors users who prioritize mobility and battery longevity. In contrast, the Gigabyte Aero 17 offers a powerful CPU, superior RAM support, and high-resolution Mini LED display suitable for more demanding tasks, but this comes with the cost of reduced battery life and portability due to its larger size and weight, making it ideal for users who need high performance and screen quality over mobility.
Gaming and AI
6.1/10
7.9/10
2.4/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.8/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2160
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
7.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.5/10
The Gigabyte Aero 17 is good for gaming and AI, while the Acer Aspire 5 15 is only fair.
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
6.6/10
8.8/10
6.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
2.4/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.8/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Gigabyte Aero 17 is very good for engineering and design, while the Acer Aspire 5 15 is only fair.
While the Acer Aspire 5 15 with its Intel i5 processor and integrated graphics is capable of handling some engineering and design tasks, the Gigabyte Aero 17, equipped with a more powerful Intel i7 CPU and a high-end Nvidia RTX GPU, is better suited for demanding engineering applications and makes no compromises on screen quality with its higher resolution Mini LED display. However, with a heavier build and less battery life, the Aero 17 trades off portability and longer unplugged usage for that top-tier performance and screen clarity.
Content Creation
7.3/10
8.4/10
6.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2160
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
Mini LED
The Gigabyte Aero 17 is very good for content creation, while the Acer Aspire 5 15 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
7.3/10
7.9/10
6.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2160
7.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
The Gigabyte Aero 17 and Acer Aspire 5 15 are both good for software development, though the Gigabyte Aero 17 is somewhat better.
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
9.2/10
15.6in
SIZE
17.3in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2160
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
Mini LED
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
275.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
368.0 nits
The Gigabyte Aero 17 has a better screen than the Acer Aspire 5 15 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
The Acer Aspire 5 has a fair screen that suits basic tasks due to its decent resolution and brightness, but it lacks the wide color gamut and high refresh rates required for more specialized uses. The Gigabyte Aero 17 boasts an exceptional display with high resolution, brightness, and extensive color ranges, making it ideal for engineering and design professionals who rely on color accuracy. However, for gaming and 3D applications, the Aero 17 falls short as it does not offer the high refresh rates needed for smooth visuals and gameplay.
Battery
7.0 Hours
5.5 Hours
The Acer Aspire 5 15 has 7 hours of battery life. The Gigabyte Aero 17 has 5.5 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
Good
Fair
15.6in
SIZE
17.3in
3.9 lbs
WEIGHT
5.7 lbs
0.7in
THICKNESS
0.9in
The Acer Aspire 5 15 has good portability, while the Gigabyte Aero 17 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
6.5/10
8.0/10
The Gigabyte Aero 17 has very good build quality, while the Acer Aspire 5 15 has only fair build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$480
$2,071
$0
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
$3,500
The Acer Aspire 5 15 has a price of $480 and the Gigabyte Aero 17 costs $2,071.
"The Acer Aspire 5 15 is a good value office laptop with reasonable battery life. The combination of slim exterior, relatively low weight (approx. 1.7 kg) and 8 hour real-life battery runtime makes the Acer Aspire a truly mobile laptop. The modest Tiger Lake processor supports this area and simultaneously ensures an affordable price point. The Aspire produces little noise and stays cool. The screen (FHD, IPS) might not win any prizes but is entirely appropriate for the price."
"Not only is the Aero 17 a very good laptop for gamers but also for content creators. With the upgrade to the Intel Core i9-11980HK, Gigabyte particularly improved the system performance. In addition, the hardware package is rounded by the extremely fast SSD and 32 GB of working memory in dual-channel mode. Compared to the predecessor, the battery life is reduced only moderately, and the 4K display also basically keeps its good qualities."
Get a great deal on the Acer Aspire 5 15 or the Gigabyte Aero 17
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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