The Gigabyte A5 offers a solid balance for gaming and general use with its Nvidia RTX 3060 graphics card, and it's also more affordable. You get a decent battery life but with a standard display quality and size. On the other hand, the Gigabyte Aero 17 is pricier but provides top-notch display quality with its Mini LED panel and a powerful performance that's suitable for engineering tasks and intensive gaming, supported by the Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti and an advanced processor. It's heavier, and battery life is shorter than the A5, highlighting a tradeoff between portability and high-end features. 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 Gigabyte A5
Good portability
Good battery life
Very good speakers
Advantages of the Gigabyte Aero 17
Very good for general use
Very good for engineering and design
Very good for content creation
Excellent overall display quality
Very good overall build quality
Very good keyboard
Key differences
General Use
7.3/10
8.1/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2160
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
Mini LED
281.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
368.0 nits
6.5 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
5.5 Hours
7.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
7.0/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
6.6/10
The Gigabyte Aero 17 is very good for general use, while the Gigabyte A5 is good.
The Gigabyte A5 is a suitable choice for general use with its capable AMD Ryzen 5 CPU, ample RAM, and a quality IPS screen, offering a balance of performance and good battery life in a relatively lightweight package. However, the Gigabyte Aero 17, while less portable due to its larger screen and heavier build, provides superior performance with a more powerful Intel i7 CPU and higher-end GPU, alongside a high-resolution Mini LED display that excels in screen quality, making it an excellent fit for demanding software and media-rich tasks.
Gaming and AI
7.1/10
7.9/10
7.3/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.8/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2160
144Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
6.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.5/10
The Gigabyte Aero 17 and Gigabyte A5 are both good for gaming and AI, though the Gigabyte Aero 17 is somewhat better.
The Gigabyte A5, equipped with an Nvidia RTX 3060 and a 144Hz screen refresh rate, offers good performance and fluid visuals for gaming and 3D applications, while the more advanced Gigabyte Aero 17 features a more powerful Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti and a Mini LED display with higher screen quality, but with a slightly lower refresh rate of 120Hz, providing better overall visual fidelity and rendering capabilities for intense gaming and 3D work.
Engineering and Design
7.3/10
8.8/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
7.3/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.8/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Gigabyte Aero 17 is very good for engineering and design, while the Gigabyte A5 is good.
The Gigabyte A5, with its AMD Ryzen 5 processor and RTX 3060 graphics card, offers sufficient power and screen quality for engineering and design tasks, but the Gigabyte Aero 17 surpasses it with a more advanced Intel i7 processor, a superior RTX 3070 Ti graphics card, and a higher resolution Mini LED display which provides exceptional screen color and brightness, making it very suitable for more demanding engineering and design work. While both have good levels of RAM and similar portability due to weight and size, the Aero 17’s premium screen and components contribute to its higher standing for intensive workloads, albeit usually at a higher price point.
Content Creation
7.3/10
8.4/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2160
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
Mini LED
The Gigabyte Aero 17 is very good for content creation, while the Gigabyte A5 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
7.0/10
7.9/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2160
7.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
The Gigabyte Aero 17 and Gigabyte A5 are both good for software development, though the Gigabyte Aero 17 is somewhat better.
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
7.2/10
9.2/10
15.6in
SIZE
17.3in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2160
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
Mini LED
144Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
281.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
368.0 nits
The Gigabyte Aero 17 has a better screen than the Gigabyte A5 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
The Gigabyte A5 offers suitable screen sharpness and brightness for day-to-day tasks, while the Aero 17's superior clarity and brightness enhance user experience in everyday use. For engineering and design, the Aero 17's wider color gamuts provide more accurate color representation critical for detailed work, outshining the A5's more modest coverage. However, for gaming and 3D applications where smooth motion is key, both laptops fall short due to lower refresh rates, despite their resolution and panel types being serviceable.
Build Quality
7.2/10
8.0/10
The Gigabyte Aero 17 has very good build quality, while the Gigabyte A5 has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$830
$2,071
$0
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
$3,500
The Gigabyte A5 has a price of $830 and the Gigabyte Aero 17 costs $2,071.
The Gigabyte A5 has 6.5 hours of battery life. The Gigabyte Aero 17 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.
Portability
Good
Fair
15.6in
SIZE
17.3in
4.6 lbs
WEIGHT
5.7 lbs
1.0in
THICKNESS
0.9in
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Gigabyte A5 to have good portability, while the Gigabyte Aero 17 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
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How the Gigabyte A5 and the Gigabyte Aero 17 compare to other laptops
"Ignoring price, the Gigabyte A5 has a hard time against the similarly fast competition. Besides the loud noise in 3D mode (performance mode), the high temperature development of the components should be mentioned on the downside. Despite the relatively thick case, the laptop gets very warm and loud under load, which does not exactly speak for the cooling system. The plastic surfaces look rather cheap and also tend to rattle. In most other disciplines - be it the input devices, the screen, the connectivity or the battery runtime - the Gigabyte laptop does not stand out from the crowd, neither positively nor negatively. However, those who primarily pay attention to the price-performance ratio will get a pretty good offer with the Gigabyte A5."
"Not only is the Aero 17 a very good laptop for gamers but also for content creators. With the upgrade to the Intel Core i9-11980HK, Gigabyte particularly improved the system performance. In addition, the hardware package is rounded by the extremely fast SSD and 32 GB of working memory in dual-channel mode. Compared to the predecessor, the battery life is reduced only moderately, and the 4K display also basically keeps its good qualities."
Get a great deal on the Gigabyte A5 or the Gigabyte Aero 17
About Gigabyte
Gigabyte is a Taiwanese computer hardware manufacturer. While Gigabyte mainly focuses its business on desktop hardware, Gigabyte is known for its value-oriented G series laptops, thin and light Aero series, and performance-oriented Aorus series. Gigabyte laptops offer a strong value proposition to compete with mainstream alternatives.
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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