The Acer Nitro 5 17 is a lower midrange, significantly less expensive option compared to the high-end Razer Blade 18 which is often significantly more expensive. If budget is a concern and you want reasonable performance for general use and gaming, the Acer might be suitable, but the Razer Blade 18 offers more power, particularly for tasks like 3D rendering and engineering, with its superior main processor, double the RAM, and a newer generation graphics processor. The Razer also has a larger and higher-resolution display but comes at the cost of shorter battery life and a higher price. Both laptops are not particularly portable due to their large screens and weight, with the Razer being slightly heavier. 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 battery life
Advantages of the Razer Blade 18
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 build quality
Best in class speakers
Excellent keyboard
Key differences
General Use
7.8/10
8.5/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
307.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
524.0 nits
6.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
4.0 Hours
7.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
6.0/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
6.1/10
The Razer Blade 18 is very good for general use, while the Acer Nitro 5 17 is good.
The Razer Blade 18 is preferred for general use over the Acer Nitro 5 17 due to its more powerful CPU and double the RAM, which offer smoother multitasking and faster performance. Additionally, the Razer's superior screen quality, with higher resolution and brightness, appeals to those prioritizing display clarity, although it may affect portability and battery life negatively compared to the Acer, which is lighter and offers longer battery life.
Gaming and AI
7.7/10
8.9/10
7.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.9/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
360Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
7.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
7.2/10
The Razer Blade 18 is very good for gaming and AI, while the Acer Nitro 5 17 is good.
The Razer Blade 18 surpasses the Acer Nitro 5 17 in gaming and 3D capabilities primarily because of its more advanced GPU and higher screen quality, including a greater resolution and color accuracy. While both have high refresh rates important for smooth gameplay, the Razer Blade 18's stronger CPU also contributes to its excellent performance in intensive tasks.
Engineering and Design
8.0/10
9.3/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.9/10
7.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.9/10
16.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
The Razer Blade 18 is excellent for engineering and design, while the Acer Nitro 5 17 is very good.
The Razer Blade 18 stands out for engineering and design use due to its higher RAM capacity, top-tier Intel processor, and superior graphics card, alongside a higher-resolution screen which all contribute to better performance and visual clarity. In contrast, the Acer Nitro 5 17, while providing substantial processing power with its Ryzen CPU and high-quality graphics card, has less RAM and a lower screen resolution, which may limit its capability in more demanding tasks, although it does score slightly better in portability.
Content Creation
7.8/10
8.6/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.9/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
16.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Razer Blade 18 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
8.5/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.9/10
16.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
7.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
The Razer Blade 18 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
8.9/10
17.3in
SIZE
18.0in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
360Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
307.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
524.0 nits
The Razer Blade 18 has a better screen than the Acer Nitro 5 17 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
The Acer Nitro 5 17 offers a bright, high-resolution display that benefits everyday tasks and detail-oriented work in engineering and design, though its color range may not be as wide. Meanwhile, the Razer Blade 18 combines a similar high-resolution with a wider color gamut, enhancing visual accuracy for engineering and design professionals. However, both laptops have lower refresh rates, which makes them less ideal for gaming and 3D applications where smoother motion and faster screen updates are crucial.
Battery
6.0 Hours
4.0 Hours
The Acer Nitro 5 17 has 6 hours of battery life. The Razer Blade 18 has 4 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.
Build Quality
7.2/10
8.5/10
The Razer Blade 18 has very good build quality, while the Acer Nitro 5 17 has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$830
$10
$0
$200
$400
$600
$800
$1,000
$1,200
$1,400
The Acer Nitro 5 17 has a price of $830 and the Razer Blade 18 costs $10.
"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."
"Razer made a powerful laptop in the Blade 18, showing off a beautiful and fast display and the same high-quality build we’ve come to expect from this product line. It’s also quite expensive, which is hardly a surprise, but bears repeating even in this price range. It’s pricier than the Scar 18 despite an inferior GPU and half the storage, so you really have to want the Blade 18’s design to justify the cost."
Get a great deal on the Acer Nitro 5 17 or the Razer Blade 18
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 Razer
Razer is an American-Singaporean technology company. Razer is best known for their Blade series laptops, well known for their strong performance and sleek design. Although Razer charges a premium price tag for their laptops, buyers can expect a stealthy laptop with clean fit and finish and strong performance. All of their models offer great portability and build quality compared to other gaming laptops.
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.
By the numbers
380
Laptops evaluated
48,640
Laptops stats compiled
13
Proprietary Laptops ratings developed
111,195
Recommendations made
24,093
Consumer hours saved
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.