Acer Aspire 5 A515-51G-53V6 Laptop Review

In old science fiction films, protagonists loved voicing commands to inanimate objects and humanoids, and hey presto, they got fulfilled. In contemporary times, voice-based commands to steer multiple aspects of life are very much a reality, as you can behold in the Alexa-enabled Acer Aspire 5 A515-51G-53V6 laptop. From smart homes to customized playlists, there’s a lot that Alexa can drive for you — all of it straightforward to embrace in the newest offering from the Acer family.

Interestingly, this 15.6” laptop priced at an incredible $576.96 also boasts of great power and brilliant imagery. It promises to be a beneficial companion for students and anyone looking for efficient performance on-the-go. Do these claims hold their own or fizzle out underneath the glamour?

Behold The New Aspire

One of the latest members of the Aspire series, this 4.41-lbs laptop looks imposing and stylish. It comes in a stunning obsidian black color and measures 10.3 x 15 x 0.8 inches. The look and feel is attractive without being heavy duty. Indeed, it is reasonably convenient to carry the Acer Aspire 5 A515-51G-53V6 in a backpack. The design is robust too, and you can lug the laptop around without worrying it will give way under stress.

Alexa, You Rockstar!

The hallmark of this beauty is definitely its support for Amazon Alexa — an intelligent voice assistant that helps you with things that matter. For example, if you want to get your favorite book read out loud, all you need to say is “Alexa, read me a bedtime story”. Or, well, words to that effect.

Alexa smoothly follows voice instructions to achieve an array of goodness: play songs from Amazon Music, control the lights and devices in your smart home, read books using Audible, and check your calendar, for instance. At the risk of imitating those excited guys from the dated science fiction films, it indeed is delightfully easy to get a lot done this way.

If you’ve been worrying about reduced system performance because of this razzmatazz, you needn’t. The laptop prides itself in this unique endeavor to up your productivity with voice support, and it gets the job done with zilch impact on performance.

A Processing Paean

Yes, this one deserves a paean of its own for packing immense processing strength in its compact (and affordable) body. This Acer Aspire is powered by an eighth-generation Intel Core i5-8250U processor running at 1.6GHz. However, you can Turbo Boost this up to as much as 3.4GHz. The RAM and storage statistics are also fair: 8GB (DDR4 RAM) and 256GB memory (SSD) on a Windows 10 Home base.

Overall, this is a highly reliable and fast configuration and succeeds in delivering smooth performance for all your day-to-day needs. The booting time, particularly, is super fast. The loading times for your apps/programs are also impressive. If you seek an upgrade for more intensive tasks, this laptop makes it easy for you. There is a nifty little compartment door, so all you’ve to do is remove the cover and replace the storage and/or memory components.

A slight dampener is the battery backup: lasts up to seven hours on the four-cell, 3220 mAh battery. While the juice isn’t extraordinarily sweet, it should suffice for the majority of your day.

Display, Graphics & Sound

This territory turns out to be a colossal surprise package — and a pleasant one at that. For a portable, affordable laptop, the Aspire 5 A515-51G-53V6 shows an enviable commitment to graphics quality.

It supports a full High-Definition display with NVIDIA GeForce MX150. The graphics coprocessor has 2GB dedicated memory. The display is wide, fully backlit (LED) and has an expansive 1920 x 1080 resolution. The result is a gorgeous rendering of colors, and enough clarity to distinguish between even minute details. The Acer Color Intelligence technology is especially noteworthy; it adjusts gamma and saturation to give you accurate colors and brightness. There’s zero compromise with your viewing experience as you browse through pictures or playback videos.

Talking of videos (and games), the Aspire 5 also nurtures its sound system lovingly. Compliance with Acer True Harmony ensures that you get high-fidelity, rich and precise audio. There are two stereo speakers, and they work well with different audio needs — movies, games, social media or video calling.

Accessibility & Connectivity

True to its mission of facilitating the needs of the on-the-go population, especially students and working professionals, the Acer Aspire 5 has excellent device support. You can avail of the high-speed USB 3.1 port — Type C — and experience data transfer speeds as thrilling as 5 Gbps. It also has two USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports and an HDMI port (supporting HDCP). That’s ample support for collaboration and sharing, both during work and play.

Typing on this machine is a pleasure, courtesy of the sleek and comfortable keyboard. The keyboard is wholly backlit too, which means lighting conditions are not a deterrent for your important tasks.

Connectivity-wise, the laptop fares quite well. It supports Bluetooth 4.0 and 802.11ac Wi-Fi standards in two bands (2.4GHz and 5GHz). There is a built-in High Definition webcam with a resolution of 1280 x 720, so you can stay connected with family, peers and colleagues. The webcam supports High Dynamic Range which accentuates the calling experience.

• Keep reading: Acer Aspire 5 A515-51G-515J Laptop Overview

Judgment Day

So far so good, but does the Acer Aspire 5 A515-51G-53V6 laptop justify its keep? Well, let’s recapitulate what you’re getting for $576.96.

Buy From Amazon

Efficient processing, check. Vivid graphics and display, check. Suitability to partner with students and people who value mobility? Yep. A personal assistant who responds to your voice? Oh yes.