Acer is no stranger in the laptop market, generally offering affordable laptops that are nevertheless well designed and packing a wallop when it comes to performance. When it comes to any line of laptops, it can be tough to decide exactly what you need once you start looking at processors (CPU), RAM, storage, and graphics cards (GPU), which is why we've rounded up the best of what Acer has to offer right here to help you choose.
Premium notebook
Acer's Swift 5 brings a premium notebook with a portable design to the table. It weighs just 2.2 pounds (0.99 kg) and is just 0.6 inches (15.2 mm) thick. It has a 15.6-inch FHD touch display, a full workday of battery life, and it brings excellent performance with up to an 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8565U CPU, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD.
Best value
Acer's Aspire E 15 is likely to give you the best return on money spent. It has inside up to an 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8550U CPU, 8GB of dual-channel RAM, a 256GB solid-state drive (SSD), and a discrete NVIDIA MX150 GPU for a bit of extra gaming or editing performance. That means you get decent performance and all-day battery life.
Thin and light
Acer's Swift 7 is just 0.35 inches (8.9 mm) thin, making it the thinnest 14-inch laptop on the market. As long as you don't mind sacrificing some performance with an Intel Y-Series CPU, you're getting a stunning 13.3-inch FHD display, fingerprint reader for Windows Hello, LTE connectivity, 8GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD.
Best 13-inch convertible
If you prefer the versatility of a convertible laptop, the Acer Spin 5 is a stellar choice. The 13.3-inch 1080p touch display rotates around to be used as a tablet, and you get strong performance from an 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8550U CPU, 8GB of DDR4 RAM, and a 256GB SSD.
Best gaming
The price might at first seem daunting, but the Triton 500 packs up to an NVIDIA RTX 2080 Max-Q GPU, 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8750H CPU, 16GB of DDR4 RAM, and a 512GB PCIe SSD. Altogether this is insane performance, and games will look stunning on the 15.6-inch FHD display with 144 Hz refresh rate and slim bezel.
Budget gaming
If you'd like to game but the Triton 500 is out of reach, the Helios 300 is a great choice that's far more affordable. You still get an 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8750H CPU, 16GB of DDR4 RAM, and a 256GB PCIe SSD. The NVIDIA GTX 1060 GPU won't match up to the RTX 2080, but it still brings respectable performance for most modern games.
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All of the Acer laptops in our roundup will be solid buys based on your individual needs, but we don't blame you if you're still scratching your head about a final decision.
Thanks to the combined price and hardware, Acer's Aspire E 15 is no doubt the best value you'll find. Intel Core i5 models are the cheapest option, and you can upgrade to a Core i7 model that costs just a bit more if you need more power. With either CPU, you're still getting 8GB of dual-channel RAM, a 256GB SSD, and a discrete NVIDIA MX150 GPU for some extra graphics horsepower when gaming or multimedia editing. It comes with a solid mix of legacy and modern ports (plus an optical drive), it has a full keyboard with number pad, and the battery life will get you through a workday without needing a charge. As long as you don't mind its size, you'll find it's a versatile, durable option.
On the other hand, if you are concerned with the size of your laptop and prefer something that's thin and light, Acer's Swift 5 is likely already on your shortlist. It's one of the lightest 15.6-inch notebooks around, yet it packs impressive performance and strong battery life that will get you through a workday. Ports include HDMI, two USB-A, and USB-C for versatile connectivity, it has a large Precision touchpad, and there's a fingerprint reader built into the palmrest. The display caps out at 1080p, but there's almost no bezel and you get touch functionality. If you're looking for something that will fit easily into a backpack to be carried to the office or cafe, the Swift 5 will make a great choice.
