The Acer Aspire 5 17 is less expensive than the Dell XPS 13 Plus and comes with a larger screen, making it suitable for general use and productivity tasks where portability is not a primary concern. Its battery life is decent, but it may not be the best choice for tasks that demand top performance, such as intensive engineering or graphics work. On the other hand, the Dell XPS 13 Plus is a more premium device with a higher price, boasting a smaller but higher resolution OLED touchscreen, a more powerful processor, and significantly more RAM. It is more portable and offers better performance for engineering and 3D tasks. The XPS 13 Plus also features a higher quality build, keyboard, and better color accuracy on its screen, making it well-suited for professionals who need power and portability. Give Feedback
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Advantages of the Acer Aspire 5 17
The Acer Aspire 5 17 has no clear advantages over the Dell XPS 13 Plus.
Advantages of the Dell XPS 13 Plus
Very good for general use
Very good for engineering and design
Very good for software development
Very good for content creation
Very good overall display quality
Very good overall build quality
Excellent portability
Very good battery life
Best in class speakers
Excellent keyboard
Key differences
General Use
7.3/10
8.4/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
OLED
266.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
374.0 nits
7.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
10.0 Hours
7.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
7.3/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
9.1/10
The Dell XPS 13 Plus is very good for general use, while the Acer Aspire 5 17 is good.
PerfectRec’s General Use Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for general productivity, web browsing, streaming, video calls, and running a wide variety of apps and programs.
Engineering and Design
6.7/10
8.2/10
6.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.9/10
3.7/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
3.8/10
8.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
The Dell XPS 13 Plus is very good for engineering and design, while the Acer Aspire 5 17 is only fair.
The Dell XPS 13 Plus stands out for engineering and design due to its higher-end CPU and four times the RAM of the Acer Aspire 5 17, which crucially improves performance for demanding tasks. It also features a superior OLED touchscreen with higher resolution and color accuracy, making it ideal for precision work, whereas the Acer has a more modest screen and hardware, trading off high performance for better portability and affordability.
Content Creation
7.2/10
8.3/10
6.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.9/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
8.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
OLED
The Dell XPS 13 Plus is very good for content creation, while the Acer Aspire 5 17 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
7.2/10
8.3/10
6.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.9/10
8.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
7.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
The Dell XPS 13 Plus is very good for software development, while the Acer Aspire 5 17 is good.
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
17.3in
SIZE
13.4in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
OLED
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
266.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
374.0 nits
The Dell XPS 13 Plus has a better screen than the Acer Aspire 5 17 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
The Acer Aspire 5 17's screen provides enough resolution and brightness for everyday tasks and work-related engineering software usage, but its limited color gamut and lower refresh rate may not satisfy those using color-sensitive applications or seeking immersive gaming experiences. The Dell XPS 13 Plus offers a higher-resolution display and excels in color accuracy and breadth, making it ideal for precision in engineering and design applications where subtle color differences matter. However, despite its better resolution and color performance, the XPS 13 Plus falls short for gaming and 3D applications, as its refresh rate isn't high enough for the smooth visuals that these activities often require.
Battery
7.0 Hours
10.0 Hours
The Acer Aspire 5 17 has 7 hours of battery life. The Dell XPS 13 Plus has 10 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
Excellent
17.3in
SIZE
13.4in
4.6 lbs
WEIGHT
2.7 lbs
0.7in
THICKNESS
0.6in
The Dell XPS 13 Plus has excellent portability, while the Acer Aspire 5 17 has good portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
6.5/10
8.5/10
The Dell XPS 13 Plus has very good build quality, while the Acer Aspire 5 17 has only fair build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$700
$1,849
$0
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
The Acer Aspire 5 17 has a price of $700 and the Dell XPS 13 Plus costs $1,849.
The Dell XPS 13 Plus and Acer Aspire 5 17 are both only fair for gaming and AI.
The Dell XPS 13 Plus, with a higher quality OLED display and a more powerful CPU, offers crisper graphics and smoother performance in gaming and 3D applications than the Acer Aspire 5 17, which, despite its larger screen, has a lower resolution IPS display and a less capable CPU. However, both laptops share similar integrated graphics capabilities and the same screen refresh rate, which places constraints on their gaming and 3D performance when compared to laptops with dedicated GPUs and higher refresh rates.
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How the Acer Aspire 5 17 and the Dell XPS 13 Plus compare to other laptops
"The Acer Aspire 5 17 laptop shows the expected strengths in the test. Besides the usual high build quality, the configuration convinces in most benchmarks and tests. The combination of CPU, GPU, and RAM is absolutely sufficient for the everyday office and browsing tasks of a laptop. It also renders the odd game passably if the requirements aren't too high. We liked the matte display in the test as well as the fairly manageable dimensions despite the screen size. It can also be used outdoors, even if it's certainly not a laptop designed for mobility."
"The XPS 13 Plus is powerful, but has its drawbacks. Dell did not only update the processor generation, but also decided to offer two completely different models from now on. The XPS 13 Plus gets the faster Intel Alder Lake-P chips, and the Core i7-1260P in our review unit offers good performance figures. However, the device once again shows the problems of the current Intel CPUs, because the high performance requires a lot of power. This affects the battery runtime as well as temperatures, so the new model (even with the Optimized power profile) is louder than the older model."
Get a great deal on the Acer Aspire 5 17 or the Dell XPS 13 Plus
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 Dell
Dell is a highly recognizable American technology company, and is one of the largest personal computer vendor by market share. Their laptops are very popular for both personal and professional use, and they also own the Alienware brand which makes mid to high end gaming laptops. Their premium XPS range of laptops offer great build quality and portability, while Latitude and Precision laptops are known for reliability, repairability and performance for business users.
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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