The Acer Nitro 5 17 is tailored for gaming and intensive tasks due to its powerful graphics card and processor; however, it comes with a shorter battery life and is heavier, making it less portable. On the other hand, the ASUS Zenbook S 13, while not designed for heavy gaming or engineering software, boasts a longer battery life, a high-resolution OLED screen, and is significantly lighter and more portable, making it a better fit for general use and mobility. It also has double the memory, which is advantageous for multitasking and productivity applications. 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 17
Good for gaming and AI
Advantages of the ASUS Zenbook S 13
Very good for general use
Very good for software development
Very good for content creation
Best in class portability
Very good battery life
Very good speakers
Very good keyboard
Key differences
General Use
7.8/10
8.6/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2880 x 1800
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
OLED
307.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
365.0 nits
6.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
11.0 Hours
7.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.0/10
6.0/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
9.5/10
The ASUS Zenbook S 13 is very good for general use, while the Acer Nitro 5 17 is good.
The ASUS Zenbook S 13 excels in general use due to its high-quality OLED screen, superior portability, and longer battery life, making it ideal for users needing a lightweight and long-lasting laptop for everyday tasks. In contrast, the Acer Nitro 5 17, while offering a larger screen and comparable storage and RAM, falls short on the portability and battery life front, but still remains a suitable choice for general use with its capable CPU and decent screen quality.
Gaming and AI
7.7/10
6.5/10
7.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
3.7/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2880 x 1800
360Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
No
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
7.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
7.5/10
The Acer Nitro 5 17 is good for gaming and AI, while the ASUS Zenbook S 13 is only fair.
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.
Content Creation
7.8/10
8.5/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2880 x 1800
16.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
OLED
The ASUS Zenbook S 13 is very good for content creation, while the Acer Nitro 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
7.4/10
8.3/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
16.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2880 x 1800
7.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.0/10
The ASUS Zenbook S 13 is very good for software development, while the Acer Nitro 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
8.2/10
8.1/10
17.3in
SIZE
13.3in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2880 x 1800
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
OLED
360Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
307.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
365.0 nits
The Acer Nitro 5 17 has a better screen than the ASUS Zenbook S 13 for gaming and AI, while the ASUS Zenbook S 13 has a better screen for general use, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
For general use, the Acer Nitro 5 17's larger screen with decent resolution and brightness makes it comfortable for everyday activities, while the ASUS Zenbook S 13 provides a sharp image and excellent portability due to its smaller size and light weight. In engineering and design, the ASUS Zenbook S 13 excels with its higher color accuracy, benefiting professionals who need precise color representation; the Acer Nitro 5 might not match up in color accuracy but still performs adequately. For gaming and 3D tasks, both laptops fall short due to poor refresh rates, which means they won't provide as smooth an experience for fast-paced visuals required in these applications.
Battery
6.0 Hours
11.0 Hours
The Acer Nitro 5 17 has 6 hours of battery life. The ASUS Zenbook S 13 has 11 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
Fair
Best in Class
17.3in
SIZE
13.3in
5.9 lbs
WEIGHT
2.2 lbs
0.9in
THICKNESS
0.4in
The ASUS Zenbook S 13 has best in class portability, while the Acer Nitro 5 17 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Cost
$830
$1,400
$0
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
The Acer Nitro 5 17 has a price of $830 and the ASUS Zenbook S 13 costs $1,400.
The ASUS Zenbook S 13 and Acer Nitro 5 17 are both very good for engineering and design.
The Acer Nitro 5 17 is equipped with a strong CPU and high-end GPU, making it suitable for demanding engineering and design software, but its larger size affects portability. The ASUS Zenbook S 13, while more portable and with a high-resolution OLED screen for crisp visuals, offers a less powerful GPU which might not be ideal for GPU-intensive tasks despite its ample RAM.
Build Quality
7.2/10
7.6/10
The ASUS Zenbook S 13 and Acer Nitro 5 17 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 5 17 and the ASUS Zenbook S 13 compare to other laptops
"The Acer Nitro 5 17 is a solid mid-range gamer. The Nitro 5 does not belong to the top group of RTX 3070 notebooks: Compared with the RTX 3070 notebooks tested so far, the computer delivers below-average frame rates - this is due to the 100-watt TGP. The GPU performance can be increased a bit with a firmware update. The device scores with a high level of CPU performance. Throttling is not a concern. CPU and GPU can produce their performance constantly. The laptop heats up moderately under load. The noise development is on the usual class level."
"The Asus Zenbook S 13 is the slimmest OLED ultrabook worldwide struggles with annoying fans. The new Zenbook S 13 leaves us with mixed feelings, particularly since last year's model was so good. Asus has completely reworked the device, making the laptop noticeably slimmer. The result also looks good and the case makes a great impression, particularly also in terms of the stability. The new plasma ceramic surface feels great, and there are no problems with fingerprints. In addition, it now includes some of the known connections such as an HDMI port and a regular USB-A connection, which is a good achievement in such a slim device."
Get a great deal on the Acer Nitro 5 17 or the ASUS Zenbook S 13
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 ASUS
ASUS, a Taiwanese electronics brand, is one of the largest personal computer vendor by market share. The majority of their laptops are targeted towards personal use or gaming. Their most popular product lines include the budget-friendly VivoBook, more premium ZenBook, and their TUF and ROG gaming laptops, the latter of which has a reputation for excellent gaming performance.
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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