The Acer Nitro 5 17 offers a larger screen, more storage, and a more powerful GPU, which is ideal for gaming and engineering tasks; however, it is heavier and has shorter battery life, making it less portable. The ASUS Zenbook 14X, on the other hand, has a high-quality OLED display with better color accuracy and is lighter with slightly longer battery life, making it more suited for general use and portability, but it has less storage and a less powerful GPU, which may not be optimal for intensive gaming or engineering tasks. Both are similarly priced and come with 16 GB of RAM. 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
Very good for engineering and design
Good for gaming and AI
Good battery life
Advantages of the ASUS Zenbook 14X
Very good portability
Very good keyboard
Key differences
Gaming and AI
7.7/10
6.5/10
7.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
3.9/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2880 x 1800
360Hz
REFRESH RATE
90Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
No
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
7.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.5/10
The Acer Nitro 5 17 is good for gaming and AI, while the ASUS Zenbook 14X is only fair.
The Acer Nitro 5 17 provides a better gaming and 3D experience with its more powerful Nvidia RTX 3080 graphics and higher screen refresh rate of 360 Hz, while the ASUS Zenbook 14X, with its Nvidia MX550 graphics and 90 Hz screen refresh rate, offers competent, albeit less optimal, gaming and 3D capabilities.
Screen Quality
8.2/10
8.3/10
17.3in
SIZE
14.0in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2880 x 1800
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
OLED
360Hz
REFRESH RATE
90Hz
307.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
339.0 nits
The Acer Nitro 5 17 has a better screen than the ASUS Zenbook 14X for gaming and AI, and content creation, while the ASUS Zenbook 14X has a better screen for general use, and engineering and design.
For general use, a laptop like the ASUS Zenbook 14X with high resolution and brightness provides crisp and vibrant visuals, making it excellent for browsing, document work and watching videos. In engineering and design, the same laptop's wider color gamuts ensure precise color reproduction, essential for professional photo editing and CAD work. However, for gaming and 3D, the lower refresh rates on both the Acer Nitro 5 17 and ASUS Zenbook 14X may result in less smooth visuals, which could detract from the high-speed, immersive experience gamers typically seek.
Portability
Fair
Very Good
17.3in
SIZE
14.0in
5.9 lbs
WEIGHT
3.0 lbs
0.9in
THICKNESS
0.6in
The ASUS Zenbook 14X has very good portability, while the Acer Nitro 5 17 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
7.2/10
7.8/10
The ASUS Zenbook 14X and Acer Nitro 5 17 both have good build quality, though the ASUS Zenbook 14X has somewhat better build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$830
$777
$400
$600
$800
$1,000
$1,200
$1,400
The Acer Nitro 5 17 has a price of $830 and the ASUS Zenbook 14X costs $777.
The Acer Nitro 5 17 and ASUS Zenbook 14X are both good for general use.
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
8.0/10
7.7/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.9/10
7.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
3.9/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Acer Nitro 5 17 to be very good for engineering and design, while the ASUS Zenbook 14X is good.
The Acer Nitro 5 17, with its robust AMD Ryzen processor and high-end Nvidia RTX GPU, excels in CPU and GPU-dependent engineering tasks, but is less portable due to its larger size and weight. In contrast, the ASUS Zenbook 14X offers a vibrant OLED screen and reasonable performance with its Intel processor and Nvidia MX GPU, making it better suited for design work where screen quality is paramount, all in a more portable package.
Content Creation
7.8/10
7.6/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.9/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2880 x 1800
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
OLED
The Acer Nitro 5 17 and ASUS Zenbook 14X are both good for content creation.
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
7.4/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.9/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2880 x 1800
7.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.0/10
The ASUS Zenbook 14X and Acer Nitro 5 17 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.
Battery
6.0 Hours
5.5 Hours
The Acer Nitro 5 17 has 6 hours of battery life. The ASUS Zenbook 14X has 5.5 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.
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How the Acer Nitro 5 17 and the ASUS Zenbook 14X 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."
"With the Zenbook 14X, Asus has a 14-incher in its range that is - mostly - a joy to use. First, there is the colorful OLED panel with 3K resolution that displays the sRGB and DCI-P3 color spaces. The Zenbook is also at the forefront in terms of workmanship, input devices and connections with 2x Thunderbolt 4 ports and a generous keyboard layout. A pleasure to use, the Zenbook 14X is a solid, very well-built subnotebook that sits well on the table. A runtime of five hours, however, is below average for a high-end subnotebook nowadays. The OLED screensaver causes increased power consumption when in idle mode."
Get a great deal on the Acer Nitro 5 17 or the ASUS Zenbook 14X
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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About the laptop team
Joe Golden, Ph.D
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Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
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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.
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