The new Acer Aspire 5 A515-46-R3UB has a lot of expectations to fulfill, as its predecessor has been the best budget laptop for two years in a row, owning a top spot in our best laptop list. The Acer Aspire 5 checks all boxes for students participating in remote or in-persons learning this year, and is perfect candidate for anyone looking for a budget, do-it-all laptop for the home-office.
Updated with quad-core AMD Ryzen processors, this more than competent laptop provides all the power you’d want for a day-to-day laptop. With the Aspire 5 A515-46-R3UB, Acer has proven once again that economy machines are the ay to go for budget shoppers. And, as long your needs don’t include complexities like video editing or designing, this might just be the best laptop for you.
Acer Aspire 5 Specs
- Laptop Class: Multimedia, Personal, Student
- Processor: Quad-Core AMD Ryzen 3 3350U (2.10 GHz – 3.50 GHz)
- Display: 15.6-inch, 1,920 x 1,080 (1080p)
- Graphics: Integrated AMD Radeon Vega 6
- RAM: 4GB DDR4 (Expandable)
- Storage: 128GB SSD (Expandable)
- Operating System: Windows 10 Home (S Mode)
- Extras: Fingerprint reader, Backlit Keyboard
Price and Configurations
The Acer Aspire 5 comes in a range of configurations, both with 11th-generation and the latest AMD Ryzen architecture. We’re reviewing the AMD Ryzen-based model that starts for ~$400 (or even less depending on where you’re buying it), with an AMD Ryzen 3 3350U processor, 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD storage and Windows 11 Home in S mode.
- Powerful Productivity: AMD Ryzen 3 3350U delivers desktop-class performance and amazing...
- Maximized Visuals: See even more on the stunning 15.6" Full HD display with 82.58%...
- Backlit Keyboard and Fingerprint Reader: Biometric fingerprint reader and Windows Hello...
Other configurations include the Acer Aspire 5 A515-45-R3SU with an AMD Ryzen 7 5700U processor, 8GB RAM and 512GB SSD, but you also have other models with Intel processors. All models in the Acer Aspire 5 line have a 15.6-inch 1920 x 1080-pixel display, some even have backlit keyboards.
Design and Features
As with all other Aspire 5s, the A515-46-R3UB looks like a long-lost MacBook cousin – not the same solid construction per se, but you wouldn’t say it looks ugly. It’s fairly thin with subtle understated styling, making it pleasing to the eye without being overly flashy.
When closed, the lid is firmly held down to the chassis, and the smooth surfaces look great, but premium ultrabooks like the Dell XPS 13 and Asus ZenBook 13 look even better. The first thing you realize when you open the lid is the minimal black bezel surrounding the display. Next, you’ll drink in the full backlit Chiclet-style keyboard which sits above the touchpad, snuggled into a silver deck.
On the touchpad, there’s a fingerprint scanner compatible with Windows Hello that allows you to lock and unlock the laptop with your fingertip. Measuring 14.31 x 9.86 x 0.71 inches and weighing 3.99 pounds, the Acer Aspire 5 A515-46-R3UB is slightly heavier and larger than the HP 15-dy2024nr (14.11 x 9.53 x 0.71 in; 3.75 pounds), but shares the same footprint as its predecessor, the Acer A515-43-R19L (14.31 x 9.74 x 0.71 in; 3.97 pounds).
Ports
For a budget laptop, connectivity is decent, albeit with a few omissions. On the left side, there’s a Gigabit Ethernet port, a full HDMI, two USB 3.0, and a single USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C port. You’ll need these ports to connect your external storage devices, given then that this Aspire 5 comes with measly 128GB storage.
There’s an additional USB 2.0 port on the right side and a combo audio jack. Sadly, Acer didn’t include a built-in card reader, meaning you’ll need an adapter to access memory card from your digital camera or smart phone.
Display
Nowadays, a 1080p display is pretty standard on budget laptops, and the 15.6-inch display keeps that tradition. It will get the work done, though the matte screen sometimes catches a glare from external light. It averages 259 nits, is a bit dim, but is brighter than competing models – the Asus VivoBook 15 and Lenovo Yoga C740, with 247 nits and 251 nits, respectively.
Nevertheless, the IPS screen is fine for working at night-time work, but very bright light may make the Aspire 5 screen a bit uncomfortable. The screen’s color saturation is more intense, and helps boost the vibrancy of dull scenes. You’ll enjoy watching movies and surfing the web on the Acer Aspire 5, but if you’re looking at photo editing and media creation, you might need an external monitor with better color reproduction.
Keyboard And Touchpad
The Aspire 5’s chiclet keyboard is full-size, has a number pad on the right side for seamless data entry. The keyboard is comfortable enough for typing, and going by the massive build, small hands will find this keyboard even more comfortable for multitasking. You can use it in a dark room, thanks to the subtle backlighting, just like you have on Apple’s MacBook Pro laptops.
For the touchpad, Acer strives to give the trackpad the same aluminum finish as the chassis. There’s no fingerprint reader embedded into the touchpad, but you might have to turn off the multitouch gestures, as the touch-drag-mechanism can be too fussy to use. Surprisingly, there’s a Function key that turns off the trackpad, especially when you’re in serious typing sessions.
Performance
The Acer A515-46-R3UB we’re reviewing packs the same features as the Acer Aspire 5 A515-46-R14K that we reviewed last year, but instead of Windows 10 Home (S Mode), it features the latest Windows 11 Home (S mode). Like its predecessor, this year’s model of the Aspire 5 is a workhorse that will handle day-to-day productivity tasks and some more.
It’s capable of handling all your daily emails, YouTube movies on the bright 15.6-inch screen, documents and school work. In fact, this Aspire 5 straddles the niche between budget office laptops and college machines, as it delivers well on both at no extra cost, with a robust feature set that’s hard to beat at this price point.
- TAKE IT ANYWHERE – With its thin and light design, 6.5 millimeter micro-edge bezel...
- REVOLUTIONARY ENTERTAINMENT – Enjoy ultra-wide viewing angles and seamlessly perform...
- IMPESSIVE GRAPHICS – The Intel Iris Xe Graphics gives you a new level of performance...
It uses an integrated GPU, while siblings like the Acer Aspire 5 A515-56-50RS use the newer Intel Iris Xe graphics, but you can still get away with basic media creation and editing, as well as casual games on games like Minecraft. Anything above casual will be marred with delays, if you must run modern games and run mid-high media creation, the Lenovo Ideapad Gaming 3 is a good choice.
As aforementioned, the Acer Aspire 5 A515-46-R3UB comes with a 48Wh 3-cell battery, that Acer claims can last up to 10hours on a single charge. However, in real-world use with the screen brightness at 150 nits, the laptop lasts around 7 hours 48 minutes, which is pretty good for a budget laptop.
Verdict – A good budget workhorse
If you’re looking for a college or work laptop that won’t cost the earth, but which isn’t compromised with cheap build quality and dated hardware, then the Acer Aspire 5 is a great choice.
The range of configurations available means there’s a good chance you’ll find an Aspire 5 model that perfectly suits your needs and budget – while the model in this review has the limitations of Windows 11 Home in S mode, there are options to get an Aspire 5 with the full version of Microsoft’s latest operating system.
Battery life is particularly good, so if you want an inexpensive laptop that can dependably last a full day without needing to be constantly plugged into a power socket, the A515-46-R3UB is definitely worth considering.
On the Acer Aspire 5 A515-46-R3UB, however, the combination of a pleasing 1080p display, light travel weight, and a palatable price mean that the laptop’s main drawbacks are issues to weight instead of reasons not to buy.
That said, if you’re looking for a big-screen machine for basic tasks or college and have around $400 on the table, the Acer Aspire 5 A515-46-R3UB is a proper way to spend your cash.
Last update on 2025-04-22 at 17:08 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API