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Aspire 5 15
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Stealth 17
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What we think

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The PerfectRec laptop team Learn more
Updated January 12, 2024·

If you're looking for a budget-friendly option for general use, the Acer Aspire 5 15 offers solid performance for everyday tasks like web browsing, office applications, and media consumption, with its relatively lighter build making it more portable. However, if you require a laptop with significantly higher performance for tasks like 3D modeling, machine learning, gaming, or engineering software, the MSI Stealth 17, while more expensive, provides powerful hardware to smoothly handle these intensive tasks, and although it is heavier, it still remains portable for a high-performance gaming laptop. Keep in mind that battery life typically decreases with more powerful hardware. 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 MSI Stealth 17
  • Very good for general use
  • Excellent for engineering and design
  • Excellent for gaming and AI
  • Very good for software development
  • Very good for content creation
  • Very good overall display quality
  • Good overall build quality
  • Best in class speakers
  • Excellent keyboard

Key differences

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General Use

7.5
Aspire 5 15
Stealth 17
8.7
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
275.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
384.0 nits
7.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
5.5 Hours
7.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
7.7/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
6.4/10
The MSI Stealth 17 is very good for general use, while the Acer Aspire 5 15 is good.

Gaming and AI

6.1
Aspire 5 15
Stealth 17
9.1
2.4/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.7/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
7.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
8.0/10
The MSI Stealth 17 is excellent for gaming and AI, while the Acer Aspire 5 15 is only fair.

Engineering and Design

6.6
Aspire 5 15
Stealth 17
9.4
6.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.5/10
2.4/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.7/10
16.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
The MSI Stealth 17 is excellent for engineering and design, while the Acer Aspire 5 15 is only fair.

Content Creation

7.3
Aspire 5 15
Stealth 17
8.8
6.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.5/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
16.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The MSI Stealth 17 is very good for content creation, while the Acer Aspire 5 15 is good.

Software Development

7.3
Aspire 5 15
Stealth 17
8.5
6.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.5/10
16.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
7.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
The MSI Stealth 17 is very good for software development, while the Acer Aspire 5 15 is good.

Screen Quality

6.2
Aspire 5 15
Stealth 17
8.6
15.6in
SIZE
17.3in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
275.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
384.0 nits
The MSI Stealth 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.

Battery

7.0 Hours
Aspire 5 15
Stealth 17
5.5 Hours
The Acer Aspire 5 15 has 7 hours of battery life. The MSI Stealth 17 has 5.5 hours of battery life.

Portability

Good
Aspire 5 15
Stealth 17
Fair
15.6in
SIZE
17.3in
3.9 lbs
WEIGHT
6.1 lbs
0.7in
THICKNESS
0.7in
The Acer Aspire 5 15 has good portability, while the MSI Stealth 17 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.

Build Quality

6.5
Aspire 5 15
Stealth 17
7.8
The MSI Stealth 17 has good build quality, while the Acer Aspire 5 15 has only fair build quality.

Cost

$480
Aspire 5 15
Stealth 17
$3,899
Product image
Product image

$0

$1,000

$2,000

$3,000

$4,000

The Acer Aspire 5 15 has a price of $480 and the MSI Stealth 17 costs $3,899.
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How the Acer Aspire 5 15 and the MSI Stealth 17 compare to other laptops

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Spec Comparison

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Acer Aspire 5 15MSI Stealth 17
Acer Aspire 5 15MSI Stealth 17

GENERAL

Price
$480
$3,899
Release Date
May 1, 2023May 1, 2023
Overall Dimensions
14.2'' x 9.4'' x 0.7''15.7'' x 11.2'' x 0.79''
Weight
3.97 lbs6.17 lbs
Width
14.21"15.65"
Depth
9.4"11.16"

INTERNAL

Processor
Intel i5-1335UIntel i9-13900H
RAM
16 GB64 GB
DDR Memory Version
55
RAM Slots
02
Storage
512 GB2048 GB

BATTERY

Battery Life
7 Hours5.5 Hours
Battery Capacity
50 Wh99.9 Wh

SCREEN

Diagonal Size
15.6"17.3"
Display Technology
IPSIPS
Resolution
1920 x 10802560 x 1440
Refresh Rate
60Hz240Hz
Display Brightness
275 nits384 nits

RELIABILITY, APPEARANCE & ACOUSTICS

Build Quality Score
6.5/107.8/10
Portability Score
7.8/106.5/10
Gaming Laptop Appearance
NoYes
Premium Business Laptop
NoNo
Fan Noise Score
7.5/108/10

HARDWARE FEATURES

Keyboard Quality Score
7/109/10
Speaker Quality Score
6/109.5/10
Webcam
1080p1080p
Fingerprint Reader
NoYes
Backlit Keyboard
YesYes
Number Pad
YesYes

CONNECTIVITY

USB Type-A
22
USB-C ports
12
USB-C Charging
YesYes
Display Outputs
23
Thunderbolt Version
44

Shopping

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Acer Aspire 5 15

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Dig into reviews and images

NotebookCheck

Sascha Mölck | November 2022
"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."

MSI Stealth 17

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Dig into reviews and images

NotebookCheck

Mario Petzold | April 2023
"The MSI Stealth 17 Studio is a laptop with a quiet RTX 4080 for almost every occasion. The MSI Stealth 17 Studio is equally capable of high-level media processing and playing current games. It remains pleasantly quiet, even if a few percentage points of power have had to be sacrificed in the process. But, it is not quite perfect: To some extent, the Stealth 17 is well thought out. It packs tons of graphics power and high-end components in a slim case. The laptop's cooling system can be set such that, noise-wise, it doesn't even reach low volume. However, small flaws cloud otherwise exceptionally positive impressions."

Get a great deal on the Acer Aspire 5 15 or the MSI Stealth 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 MSI

MSI, also known as Micro-Star International, is a Taiwanese technology corporation. MSI is known for their wide range of gaming devices. Their series include the entry-level Cyborg/Thin and Sword/Katana series, the mid-range Bravo/Delta and Crosshair/Pulse series, and their high-end Vector, Raider, Stealth, and Titan GT series. At every performance level, MSI offers a variety of devices with varying balances between performance, battery life, weight, and price, making them a solid option to consider at every price point.

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About the laptop team

Joe Golden, Ph.D

CEO and Laptops Editor
Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.

Jason Lew

Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Jason is a staff expert and software engineer that has been making laptop recommendations for 7 years and moderates one of the largest laptop subreddits.

Chandradeep Chowdhury

Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Chandradeep is a staff expert and software engineer and expert in televisions and monitors. He’s been making monitor recommendations for ten years.

Craig Russell

Laptops Expert
Craig is a UK-based laptops expert. Craig works in IT, where he recommends and supports laptops and PCs for clients and has been recommending laptops on Reddit for five years.

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