Acer Nitro 5 GTX 1650 Entry Level Gaming Laptops may not have the extra power that medium-level and high-end gaming laptops have, but if you’re just looking for the best laptop to play Sims 4 and other graphically-safe video games, then you’ve found a friend with the Acer Nitro 5 GTX Laptop. It may not be one of the absolute best gaming laptops on the market, but it’s a system that’ll deliver for its price-point.
Why We Like It – Acer Nitro 5 GTX 1650
The Acer Nitro 5 GTX 1650 trades in an AMD Ryzen processor, typical of a budget gaming laptop so far as I’ve seen, for a Intel Core i5 processor. The 8GB of RAM allows for optimal performance even with multiple windows open, and the graphics card makes playing low-mid level graphics a breeze.
- Excellent Port Availability
- Great Keyboard
- User-Controlled Fans
- Poor Battery Life
- Screen Lid Made of Plastic
- Really Bad Trackpad
Power/Performance
Acer Nitro 5 GTX 1650 Budget Gaming Laptops contain an Nvidia GeForce GTX graphics card, an Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of DDR4 RAM, and a 512GB NVMe SSD. If you’d prefer an Intel Core i7 processor, check out the Acer Predator Helios 300 GTX 1660 TI. While gaming performance is still good on the Acer Nitro 5, it’s still a budget gaming laptop. It’ll run Sims 4 smoothly, but stuff like Titanfall 2 and many other current AAA games may struggle to find footing.
Related: If you want something with more consistent frame rates, then you might like the Acer Nitro 5 AN515 review.
Battery
Like most gaming laptops, the Acer Nitro 5 doesn’t have very good battery life. It clocks in at about three hours and twenty minutes which falls short of the average of about four hours most gaming laptops, like the MSI GF63 Thin, have. Still, it’s not too bad, and you should be able to get a solid gaming session out of the laptop. Keep in mind that this can be extended if you’re just using it for work or turn some settings, such as the brightness, down.
Ports/Expandability
The amount of ports on hand is a string selling feature for the Acer Nitro 5. It contains one USB Type C port, one USB 3.0 port, two USB 2.0 ports, an HDMI port, an SD card reader, an Ethernet port, a headphone jack, and Kensington lock slot. Connectivity options are always great for both stay-at-home and on-the-go gaming, and you can check out the Lenovo Ideapad L340 Gaming Laptop for another example of this.
Related: If you’re looking for a laptop to play League of Legends or World of Warcraft, then you’ll love our Acer Nitro 5 i5 9300H review.
Build Quality
The red trimmings look very cool, and the display hinges feel sturdy and secure. But the screen lid is made of cheap plastic. But a big win for the Acer Nitro 5 is the keyboard. It’s fast, responsive, and doesn’t experience much missed presses or accidental presses making it great for work and play. But on another sad note, the trackpad isn’t anything special, and is in fact downright frustrating to use whether you’re gaming or just doing some work.
Value
The laptop is capable of 720P-1080P full hd ips display with 30 frames per second for clear, consistent gaming as long as those games aren’t newer AAA titles. I’m not saying it can’t play them, you’ll just have to scale down the settings to get them running smoother. The wi fi capabilities are 802.11ac Gigabit LAN, and bluetooth is available too although this may drain the battery faster than you’d like. The fans are also user-controlled, which is nice to see in a laptop of this price.
Acer Nitro 5 GTX 1650 Wrap Up
The shortcomings of the Acer Nitro 5 are pretty apparent. After all, it’s a buffet-level gaming laptop. Still, as long as you’re not trying to play graphics-heavy AAA games you’ll do just fine. The trackpad may be a bit of an issue if it needs to double as a work laptop, but if you’re primarily using it for casual gaming purposes this setback can be avoided altogether.
