Overall, the Acer Spin 5 SP515 offers great multitasking capabilities, plenty of ports, and a durable build. All for a fairly reasonable price. It’s one of the reasons we consider it to be one of the best 2 in 1 gaming laptops. Battery life could be better, but is 45 minutes less than average really all that bad? We’ll leave that up to you. If you want more product recommendations, then check out the best 2 in 1 gaming laptops here.
Why We Like It – Acer Spin 5 SP515
The Acer Spin 5 SP515 offers plenty of power under the hood. The combined powers of the RAM and CPU make multitasking a breeze and the GPU makes playing your favourite mid-level games a breeze. A true 2 in 1 laptop in every sense of the phrase.
- Great for Multitasking
- Plenty of Ports
- Bright, Colorful Screen
- Poor Battery Life
- 256GB Hard Drive Isn’t Conducive to Gaming
- Runs Hot
Power/Performance
The Acer Spin 5 SP515 is armed with an Intel Core i7 processor, an Nvidia GeForce GTX1050 GPU, and 8GB of RAM. The GTX1050 is pretty common among 2 in 1 laptops, even the Acer Nitro 5 Spin has it, and it should be able to play your low to mid-level games with ease. And with the RAM and processor combination, the Acer Spin 5 is primed for multitasking too.
Related: If you’re looking for another choice laptop, check out our Acer Predator Triton 500 RTX 2060 review
Battery
You would think that the battery life on the Acer Spin 5 would be good, but unfortunately it only ranks at about seven hours and 15 minutes. This is good if you plan to use it for a purely gaming laptop. But if you’re using it as a 2 in 1 as intended it falls short of the average by about 45 minutes. Please try out the Asus Zenbook Gaming if you’re looking for something that can last longer.
Ports/Expandability
The left side of the laptop is where you’ll find the power jack, an HDMI output, USB C port, and a pair of USB 3.0 ports. On the right is a headphone jack, an SD card reader, a USB 2.0 port, and a Kensington lock slot. For a 2 in 1 laptop this is actually quite a bit of port support and is always welcome. Of course not everybody needs all these ports, so check out the Microsoft Surface Book 2 Gaming if you want something more minimalist.
Related: For a laptop with an AMD processor read our Acer Swift 3 gaming review
Build Quality
While the laptop does look like a big slab of metal we still give it a plus because, well, it is metal and not plastic. And despite this, the laptop only weighs three and a half pounds. Not too shabby. The keyboard is very good as well. Resembling the MacBook keyboards, there’s plenty of travel between keys which are also clicky and comfortable. The 256GB SSD hard drive is more than enough for work but is very restrictive for gaming.
Value
The 1080P full HD touch screen display is great for a mainstream laptop panel. It’s bright and, when compared to most of the competition, quite colorful. The speakers are located on the top panel and work great with highs and mids. The bass, unfortunately, does tend to fall just a tad flat. The laptop does tend to get on the hot side too. Be aware if you’re gaming with it on your lap.
Acer Spin 5 SP515 Wrap Up
When not being used for work, the Acer Spin 5 SP515 can handle your gaming needs without worry. Just be careful because the laptop tends to run hot. The 256GB does seem restrictive for gaming, but it should be more than enough if you plan to use it more for work than anything else.
