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Nitro 5 15
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Stealth 18 AI Studio
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What we think

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The PerfectRec laptop team Learn more
Updated March 22, 2024·

If you're looking for a more affordable option that can handle everyday tasks and some gaming, consider the Acer Nitro 5. It's less costly and offers decent performance for its price, but it may have a shorter battery life and heavier build, making it less ideal for travel. On the other hand, the MSI Stealth is more expensive but designed for top-tier performance in 3D work, machine learning, and gaming. Its sleeker build and potentially longer battery life make it more portable but come at a higher cost. Consider your primary use and whether mobility or high performance is your priority. 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 Stealth 18 AI Studio.
Advantages of the MSI Stealth 18 AI Studio
  • Very good for general use
  • Excellent for engineering and design
  • Very good for gaming and AI
  • Very good for software development
  • Very good for content creation
  • Very good overall display quality
  • Very good overall build quality
  • Good battery life
  • Very good speakers

Key differences

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General Use

7.6
Nitro 5 15
Stealth 18 AI Studio
8.4
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
262.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
305.0 nits
5.5 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
6.0 Hours
8.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
6.3/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
6.0/10
The MSI Stealth 18 AI Studio is very good for general use, while the Acer Nitro 5 15 is good.

Gaming and AI

7.5
Nitro 5 15
Stealth 18 AI Studio
8.9
7.3/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.7/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
144Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
Yes
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
7.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
7.5/10
The MSI Stealth 18 AI Studio is very good for gaming and AI, while the Acer Nitro 5 15 is good.

Engineering and Design

7.9
Nitro 5 15
Stealth 18 AI Studio
9.1
8.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.6/10
7.3/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.7/10
16.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
The MSI Stealth 18 AI Studio is excellent for engineering and design, while the Acer Nitro 5 15 is good.

Content Creation

7.5
Nitro 5 15
Stealth 18 AI Studio
8.5
8.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.6/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
16.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The MSI Stealth 18 AI Studio is very good for content creation, while the Acer Nitro 5 15 is good.

Software Development

7.4
Nitro 5 15
Stealth 18 AI Studio
8.2
8.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.6/10
16.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
8.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
The MSI Stealth 18 AI Studio is very good for software development, while the Acer Nitro 5 15 is good.

Screen Quality

6.9
Nitro 5 15
Stealth 18 AI Studio
8.4
15.6in
SIZE
18.0in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
144Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
262.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
305.0 nits
The MSI Stealth 18 AI Studio has a better screen than the Acer Nitro 5 15 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.

Build Quality

7.2
Nitro 5 15
Stealth 18 AI Studio
8.0
The MSI Stealth 18 AI Studio has very good build quality, while the Acer Nitro 5 15 has good build quality.

Cost

$780
Nitro 5 15
Stealth 18 AI Studio
$2,900
Product image
Product image

$0

$1,000

$2,000

$3,000

$4,000

The Acer Nitro 5 15 has a price of $780 and the MSI Stealth 18 AI Studio costs $2,900.
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Key similarities

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Battery

5.5 Hours
Nitro 5 15
Stealth 18 AI Studio
6.0 Hours
The Acer Nitro 5 15 has 5.5 hours of battery life. The MSI Stealth 18 AI Studio has 6 hours of battery life.

Portability

Fair
Nitro 5 15
Stealth 18 AI Studio
Fair
15.6in
SIZE
18.0in
5.5 lbs
WEIGHT
6.1 lbs
1.0in
THICKNESS
0.9in
The Acer Nitro 5 15 and MSI Stealth 18 AI Studio both have only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.

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How the Acer Nitro 5 15 and the MSI Stealth 18 AI Studio compare to other laptops

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Spec Comparison

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Acer Nitro 5 15MSI Stealth 18 AI Studio
Acer Nitro 5 15MSI Stealth 18 AI Studio

GENERAL

Price
$780
$2,900
Release Date
May 1, 2023March 1, 2024
Overall Dimensions
14.2'' x 10.7'' x 1.06''15.8'' x 11.4'' x 0.94''
Weight
5.51 lbs6.15 lbs
Width
14.19"15.75"
Depth
10.67"11.4"

INTERNAL

Processor
Intel i5-12500HIntel Core Ultra 9 185H
RAM
16 GB32 GB
DDR Memory Version
55
RAM Slots
22
Storage
512 GB1024 GB

BATTERY

Battery Life
5.5 Hours6 Hours
Battery Capacity
59 Wh99.9 Wh

SCREEN

Diagonal Size
15.6"18"
Display Technology
IPSIPS
Resolution
1920 x 10802560 x 1600
Refresh Rate
144Hz240Hz
Display Brightness
262 nits305 nits

RELIABILITY, APPEARANCE & ACOUSTICS

Build Quality Score
7.2/108/10
Portability Score
6.4/106/10
Gaming Laptop Appearance
YesYes
Premium Business Laptop
NoNo
Fan Noise Score
7.5/107.5/10

HARDWARE FEATURES

Keyboard Quality Score
8/108.5/10
Speaker Quality Score
7/108/10
Webcam
720p1080p
Fingerprint Reader
NoYes
Backlit Keyboard
YesYes
Number Pad
YesYes

CONNECTIVITY

USB Type-A
32
USB-C ports
12
USB-C Charging
YesYes
Display Outputs
23
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."

Get a great deal on the Acer Nitro 5 15 or the MSI Stealth 18 AI Studio

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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