Acer and Lenovo are not new among tech-savvy communities as both brands are some of the biggest brands you can find everywhere. With more choices provided by each company, various customers’ needs, and demands can be met. Even if you are on a budget, there is nothing to be worried about because they will always have something that suits you. The Acer Aspire 5 and Lenovo IdeaPad 5, specifically, may be the ones for you if you have slightly tight budgets.
Similarities
Display
The Acer Aspire 5 and Lenovo IdeaPad 5 share many common characteristics. Some obvious similarities are the 15.60-inch display size with a high-quality IPS LCD. Other than that, the two laptops also run on Windows 10 Home and deliver the industry standard full HD 1080p with 1,920 by 1,080 pixels. The refresh rate is 60Hz.
Performance
Both laptops have quad-core Intel Core i3 processors which can be upgraded to quad-core Intel Core i7 when necessary. As for its RAM, both have between 8 GB and 16 GB of memory. Both laptops also have enough storage to run and process the operating system with 256 GB of SSD storage for Lenovo IdeaPad 5 and 128 GB of SSD storage for Acer Aspire 5.
If that is not enough, you should know that the two laptops have dedicated graphics cards that is Nvidia GeForce MX450. With MX450, gaming smoothness is better than the usual integrated graphics processors. When talking about cooling systems, one should not be worried because both laptops, Lenovo IdeaPad 5 and Acer Aspire 5 have active cooling systems with one fan for each. However, it should be reminded that there is no vapour chamber for both.
Connectivity
Now that the working culture has changed, buying a laptop also means buying a decent web camera because most people have spent their time working from home. With these two laptops, the webcam resolution is 1,280 by 720 pixels also known as standard HD delivers good picture and audio quality. Although no optical drive is available, there is a standard 3.5 mm plug for audio jack and proprietary charging port on each laptop.
In terms of connectivity, Lenovo IdeaPad 5 and Acer Aspire 5 have Wi-Fi 6 that builds off the old framework that is the 802.11ac technology. Wi-Fi 6 works better in congested, high-density areas and supports an increased capacity of devices. Additionally, there are four USB ports allowing USB devices to be connected and transfer digital data over USB cables. The types of USB ports provided are USB-A, USB Type-C and HDMI.
Differences
Design
What makes the Lenovo IdeaPad 5 different from Acer Aspire 5 is that it has thinner bezels at 6 mm while the bezel for Acer Aspire 5 is 9 mm. With Lenovo IdeaPad 5, you will get a much larger screen size which may be an important component for some now that bezel-less displays are becoming more common. As for the screen-to-body ratio, Lenovo IdeaPad 5 also has a higher percentage around 80.6% compared to Acer Aspire 5 around 77.4%. With a much larger screen-to-body ratio, Lenovo IdeaPad 5 will certainly look more premium and appeal to future buyers. Another feature of Lenovo IdeaPad 5 is the SD card reader and fingerprint reader. If you prioritize sound, consider Lenovo IdeaPad 5 as well because it has Dolby Atmos that works well with any pair of headphones.
Battery Capacity
Another plus point for Lenovo IdeaPad 5 is that it has a larger battery capacity at 57Wh which Lenovo claims can deliver up to 20 hours of life. In comparison, Acer Aspire 5 only has a 48Wh battery that can only last about 6 hours. Moreover, Lenovo IdeaPad 5 has a USB power delivery which is way more powerful and safer.
Other Features
On the other hand, Acer Aspire 5 offers some benefits too which include an old school UBS-A port that remains significant up to today. The Acer laptop has a port for Ethernet too which connects computers and other network devices in a physical space. The display also has support for touch input which makes it more convenient for its users to touch the screen straightaway rather than using the usual pointing device. Weight-wise, Acer Aspire 5 weighs 1.65 kg that is 0.5 kg lighter than Lenovo Ideapad 5.
Price
When talking about price, the range of prices for both laptops is the same, starting from $600. Of course, the higher the price, the higher the specifications will be. Both laptops have a few similar specifications but there are also some differences that make them appeal on their own. While some may be attracted to the Lenovo IdeaPad 5’s features like the speaker, battery life and fingerprint scanner, some might prefer the traditional laptop ports and the slightly lighter Acer Aspire 5. Therefore, it is best to go through again what are your real interests and what exactly do you need from a laptop because it is an investment, and you will use the laptop for quite some time.