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Nitro 5 15
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Creator Z16P
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What we think

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The PerfectRec laptop team Learn more
Updated January 10, 2024·

The Acer Nitro 5 offers good performance for its lower price and is suitable for gaming, but the MSI Creator Z16P, while more expensive, provides superior performance, particularly in tasks like 3D and machine learning, thanks to its better graphics card and processor. The MSI also has a higher quality display with touch capability, better build quality, and comes with a larger battery, potentially offering longer use between charges. If portability is a concern, both laptops weigh roughly the same. The Acer is a solid budget-friendly gaming option, whereas the MSI is geared towards professionals who need higher performance for creative and engineering tasks. 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 5 15
  • The Acer Nitro 5 15 has no clear advantages over the MSI Creator Z16P.
Advantages of the MSI Creator Z16P
  • Very good for engineering and design
  • Very good overall display quality
  • Very good overall build quality
  • Good portability
  • Very good speakers

Key differences

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Screen Quality

6.9
Nitro 5 15
Creator Z16P
8.3
15.6in
SIZE
16.0in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
144Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
262.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
394.0 nits
The MSI Creator Z16P has a better screen than the Acer Nitro 5 15 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.

Portability

Fair
Nitro 5 15
Creator Z16P
Good
15.6in
SIZE
16.0in
5.5 lbs
WEIGHT
5.2 lbs
1.0in
THICKNESS
0.7in
The MSI Creator Z16P has good portability, while the Acer Nitro 5 15 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.

Build Quality

7.2
Nitro 5 15
Creator Z16P
8.0
The MSI Creator Z16P has very good build quality, while the Acer Nitro 5 15 has good build quality.

Cost

$780
Nitro 5 15
Creator Z16P
$1,300
Product image
Product image

$0

$500

$1,000

$1,500

$2,000

The Acer Nitro 5 15 has a price of $780 and the MSI Creator Z16P costs $1,300.
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Key similarities

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General Use

7.6
Nitro 5 15
Creator Z16P
7.8
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
262.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
394.0 nits
5.5 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
5.0 Hours
8.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.0/10
6.3/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
7.2/10
The MSI Creator Z16P and Acer Nitro 5 15 are both good for general use.

Gaming and AI

7.5
Nitro 5 15
Creator Z16P
7.6
7.3/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.4/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
144Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
Yes
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
7.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
7.7/10
The MSI Creator Z16P and Acer Nitro 5 15 are both good for gaming and AI.

Engineering and Design

7.9
Nitro 5 15
Creator Z16P
8.3
8.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.2/10
7.3/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.4/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers MSI Creator Z16P to be very good for engineering and design, while the Acer Nitro 5 15 is good.

Content Creation

7.5
Nitro 5 15
Creator Z16P
7.9
8.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.2/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The MSI Creator Z16P and Acer Nitro 5 15 are both good for content creation.

Software Development

7.4
Nitro 5 15
Creator Z16P
7.6
8.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.2/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
8.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.0/10
The MSI Creator Z16P and Acer Nitro 5 15 are both good for software development.

Battery

5.5 Hours
Nitro 5 15
Creator Z16P
5.0 Hours
The Acer Nitro 5 15 has 5.5 hours of battery life. The MSI Creator Z16P has 5 hours of battery life.

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How the Acer Nitro 5 15 and the MSI Creator Z16P compare to other laptops

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Spec Comparison

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Acer Nitro 5 15MSI Creator Z16P
Acer Nitro 5 15MSI Creator Z16P

GENERAL

Price
$780
$1,300
Release Date
May 1, 2023June 1, 2023
Overall Dimensions
14.2'' x 10.7'' x 1.06''14.1'' x 10.2'' x 0.75''
Weight
5.51 lbs5.27 lbs
Width
14.19"14.13"
Depth
10.67"10.18"

INTERNAL

Processor
Intel i5-12500HIntel i9-12900H
RAM
16 GB16 GB
DDR Memory Version
55
RAM Slots
22
Storage
512 GB1024 GB

BATTERY

Battery Life
5.5 Hours5 Hours
Battery Capacity
59 Wh90 Wh

SCREEN

Diagonal Size
15.6"16"
Display Technology
IPSIPS
Resolution
1920 x 10802560 x 1600
Refresh Rate
144Hz165Hz
Display Brightness
262 nits394 nits

RELIABILITY, APPEARANCE & ACOUSTICS

Build Quality Score
7.2/108/10
Portability Score
6.4/107.2/10
Gaming Laptop Appearance
YesNo
Premium Business Laptop
NoNo
Fan Noise Score
7.5/107.8/10

HARDWARE FEATURES

Keyboard Quality Score
8/108/10
Speaker Quality Score
7/108.8/10
Webcam
720p1080p
Fingerprint Reader
NoYes
Backlit Keyboard
YesYes
Number Pad
YesYes

CONNECTIVITY

USB Type-A
31
USB-C ports
12
USB-C Charging
YesYes
Display Outputs
22
Thunderbolt Version
44

Shopping

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Acer Nitro 5 15

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Dig into reviews and images

NotebookCheck

Sascha Mölck | June 2022
"The Acer Nitro 5 is a fast QHD gaming notebook. The Nitro 5 is a well-balanced gaming laptop for just under US$ 2400. A Core i7-12700H CPU and a GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Laptop GPU enable QHD gaming at high to maximum settings, accompanied by fast PCIe-4-SSD (1 TB) and 16 GB of RAM. Acer delivers a solid QHD gaming notebook with the Nitro 5 AN515-58. However, the laptop is not completely free of shortcomings. The CPU and GPU can work at consistently high clock rates. The laptop heats up noticeably under load, but not excessively. Noise development is on the usual class level. Once again, however, Acer needs to improve the fan control."

MSI Creator Z16P

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Dig into reviews and images

NotebookCheck

Mario Petzold | June 2022
"There's almost nothing left to be desired with the MSI Z16P. The creator laptop offers enormous performance resources for image editing, video editing, rendering, and more. All this is presented on a precalibrated, adequately sized, and high-resolution display. Its color space, refresh rate, and panel technology are also perfectly suited for a device that specializes in video reproduction and editing."

Get a great deal on the Acer Nitro 5 15 or the MSI Creator Z16P

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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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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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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