Acer Aspire Nitro 7: Review

There’s nothing better than the Acer Aspire Nitro 7 for serious gaming. The Intel Core i7-9750H processor, 16GB of RAM, and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 graphics card power this laptop’s 15.6-inch full HD IPS display. It boasts a 512GB solid-state drive (SSD), a lighted keyboard, and a lengthy battery life. The Acer Aspire Nitro 7 is a wonderful option for gamers looking for a laptop that can run the latest games thanks to its elegant design and powerful specifications.

Acer Aspire Nitro 7 Specification

Pros

• Built to last and looking fantastic in black, with a quick
• Silent keyboard that includes a NumPad and 4-zone RGB lighting
• An IPS display capable of displaying 144 frames per second
• Simple to disassemble and improved version

Cons

• No fingerprint scanner
• No credit card slot, or USB-C video or charging
• Default settings produce extremely high internal and external temperatures, making this version of the 10th generation i7 the slowest available.

Design

The Acer Nitro series piques my interest. They’re like undetected gaming laptops. Not in a manner that would persuade anyone. If you bring in your Nitro 7, your coworkers will be impressed and say things like, “Hey, nice gaming laptop.” No one will be fooled by the odd pentagonal shape of the bottom and top. In contrast to Acer’s Predator series, the Nitro 7 is subdued and polished. The chassis is an understated black, unlike the flashy red vent covers and highlights of the Predator series. Acer’s logotype is engraved into the brushed metal lid, which is another great feature. Unlike the lids of Predator laptops, this one doesn’t say “Predator” or “Nitro,” and it doesn’t have that strange Transformers-looking logo. Acer comes off looking professional. Still, I find the Nitro 7’s aggressive nature, as well as the unusual design of its lid, to be unappealing. However, there isn’t much else to mock. Being under an inch thick is impressive, as it’s not often seen in low-cost gaming laptops, although it does result in thermal throttling, as we’ll see.

Mechanical and optical mice

This Nitro 7 series from Acer is available with either a red or an RGB keyboard, just like the Nitro 5 series, and we have the latter RGB model, which is typically reserved for more expensive configurations. The 4-zone RGB illumination, homogeneous LEDs, and relatively low brightness of this model are reminiscent of the keyboard found on the Helios 300 series. Like many Acer keyboards, this one lacks a visible Caps Lock symbol.

When it comes to the actual typing experience, most of you will probably find this satisfactory. The feedback isn’t as soft as I recall it being on the earlier Nitros, which is a welcome change. In my opinion, it will become more comfortable over time. The power button or key is in the corner, and there is a complete set of main keys, full-size arrows, and a narrower NumPad part to the right.

Screen

Acer spared no expense in equipping the Nitro 7 with a high-quality IPS FHD display that supports a refresh rate of 144 Hz and has respectable response times. With its wide viewing angles, fine contrast, and accurate colors, this panel is a great option for gaming and general use, despite its relatively low brightness (just over 300 nits). Again, that’s unexpected given that the same panel was used in our review unit for the Nitro 5 and measured almost 400 nits of brightness. The blacks, however, are deeper in this version.

Equipment and efficiency

With an Intel Core i7-10750H CPU, 32 GB of DDR4 3200 MHz RAM, 1 TB of storage, and dual graphics (Nvidia RTX 2060 dGPU and Intel UHD within the Intel platforms, with Optimus), the Acer Nitro 7 2020 AN715-52 model we tested was a top-end configuration. Keep in mind that the BIOS version on our evaluation device is 0.14, the Nitro Sense version is 3.01.3016, and the GeForce Game Ready 456.38 drivers are all from early September 2020. Our findings should be somewhat similar to what you get with the retail devices; however, some details may alter with future software upgrades.

Performance

Good to go, right? The build quality and screen on the Nitro 7 are both excellent, in my opinion. Those are obviously the features Acer cared most about. However, as we consider its performance, the value argument becomes more dubious, especially considering its $1,200 price tag. Our testing unit of the Nitro 7 was fitted with an Intel Core i7-9750H processor and an Nvidia GTX 1650 graphics card, the latter of which is a small upgrade above the GTX 1050 Ti. Throttling is the core issue with the CPU. We have examined several laptops with the Core i7-8750H and many with its predecessor, the i7-8750.