The Acer Nitro 16 is a more budget-friendly choice with a strong processor and a mid-tier graphics card, making it suitable for general use and moderate gaming; it also boasts a high-resolution display with a good refresh rate for crisp visuals. In contrast, the Gigabyte Aorus 17H, while more expensive, offers a more powerful graphics card and a larger, though lower-resolution, screen with an exceptionally high refresh rate which enhances gaming experiences. Considering the larger display and increased power, battery life may be lower, and it is also slightly heavier, potentially impacting portability. If budget is a concern, the Acer Nitro 16 offers substantial capabilities for its price, but if you're looking for top gaming performance and a larger screen, the Gigabyte Aorus 17H is the better option, assuming you're okay with the added cost and reduced portability. 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 Nitro 16
The Acer Nitro 16 has no clear advantages over the Gigabyte Aorus 17H.
Advantages of the Gigabyte Aorus 17H
Very good for content creation
Very good speakers
Key differences
Gaming and AI
8.0/10
8.7/10
8.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.6/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
165Hz
REFRESH RATE
360Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
Yes
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
7.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.5/10
The Gigabyte Aorus 17H and Acer Nitro 16 are both very good for gaming and AI, though the Gigabyte Aorus 17H is somewhat better.
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.
Screen Quality
8.3/10
8.3/10
16.0in
SIZE
17.3in
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
165Hz
REFRESH RATE
360Hz
494.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
351.0 nits
The Acer Nitro 16 has a better screen than the Gigabyte Aorus 17H for general use, and engineering and design, while the Gigabyte Aorus 17H has a better screen for gaming and AI, and software development.
For general use, the Acer Nitro 16's display provides crisp visuals and bright colors due to its high resolution and panel quality, making it pleasant for everyday tasks like browsing and watching videos. When it comes to engineering and design work, the same qualities, along with a wide color gamut, ensure that professionals can see accurate colors and fine details, vital for precise work. However, the laptop's lower refresh rate means that for gaming and 3D rendering, where fast, fluid motion is key, it falls short compared to displays optimized for those purposes.
Battery
9.0 Hours
6.0 Hours
The Acer Nitro 16 has 9 hours of battery life. The Gigabyte Aorus 17H has 6 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.
Cost
$1,050
$2,270
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
$3,500
The Acer Nitro 16 has a price of $1,050 and the Gigabyte Aorus 17H costs $2,270.
The Gigabyte Aorus 17H and Acer Nitro 16 are both good for general use.
The Acer Nitro 16 offers a higher-resolution screen and greater screen quality with a sharp display that's suitable for a variety of tasks, while the Gigabyte Aorus 17H provides double the storage capacity and a larger screen, although with a lower resolution, making it also versatile for general use. Despite both having similar high-quality CPUs and RAM, the Acer is slightly more portable due to its smaller screen size, but both have enough battery life and manageable weight to be useful for mobile use, appealing to users needing a balance between performance and portability.
Engineering and Design
8.2/10
8.6/10
7.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
8.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.6/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Gigabyte Aorus 17H and Acer Nitro 16 are both very good for engineering and design.
The Acer Nitro 16 is equipped with a high-resolution 16-inch display which is beneficial for detailed engineering and design work, and with a powerful AMD processor and Nvidia RTX 4070 GPU, it handles demanding applications well. The Gigabyte Aorus 17H, on the other hand, offers a larger 17.3-inch screen with a high refresh rate advantageous for smooth visual rendering, and with an Intel i7 processor and an even more robust Nvidia RTX 4080 GPU, it delivers exceptional performance for complex engineering simulations and designs.
Content Creation
7.8/10
8.0/10
7.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Gigabyte Aorus 17H to be very good for content creation, while the Acer Nitro 16 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
7.7/10
7.5/10
7.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
8.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.0/10
The Acer Nitro 16 and Gigabyte Aorus 17H are both good for software development.
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.
Portability
Fair
Poor
16.0in
SIZE
17.3in
5.9 lbs
WEIGHT
5.9 lbs
1.1in
THICKNESS
1.1in
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Acer Nitro 16 to have only fair portability, while the Gigabyte Aorus 17H has poor portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
7.4/10
7.4/10
The Acer Nitro 16 and Gigabyte Aorus 17H both have good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
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How the Acer Nitro 16 and the Gigabyte Aorus 17H compare to other laptops
"Video editing, rendering and, of course, gaming represent the Nitro 16's core competencies with a Ryzen 7 7735HS and GeForce RTX 4070 providing the necessary power. Both chips run at consistently high clock speeds. A fast PCIe 4 SSD (1 TB) provides the required storage space and ensures short loading times. With the Nitro 16 AN16-41, Acer has a well-specced, mid-range gaming laptop in its portfolio."
"Overall though, it’s *lots of swearing* fast, seriously. For work, rendering, gaming, it doesn’t matter, this is a true weapon of performance that’s going to run rings around most high-end desktop systems. If you absolutely have to game at ultra-high refresh rates on the go (but within thinking distance of a plug socket), this is the ticket. I can’t see such an extreme being that appealing to everyone, but if you take your gaming seriously, or even professionally, there’s nothing else out there that comes close that you can still fit in your backpack and travel with."
Get a great deal on the Acer Nitro 16 or the Gigabyte Aorus 17H
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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