Computing - Organizer

6:00 pm | August 23, 2022

Editor's Note

• Original review date: August 2022
• Still on sale
• Launch price: $549 / €599 / AU$599
• Official price now: $499 / £470 / AU$230

Update: February 2024. While these computer speakers were first released almost two years ago, they remain some of the best computer speakers you can buy in 2024. This is because there are few PC speaker systems that offer discrete 5.1 surround sound - so if you want immersive audio and aren't impressed with virtual surround offered by some soundbars and headsets, this is still a great choice. You can also get full 5.1 surround sound via a USB connection, which can be a lot more convenient that using older audio connections. The price has also dropped since launch, making these much better value (though still pricey for computer speakers).

The SteelSeries Arena 9 speaker system is an anomaly among computer speakers, though it shouldn’t be. While 5.1 (and the more robust 7.1) speaker systems have been standard in home theaters for a long time now, PC gamers have had a very limited selection of options to pick from. Most computer speakers are typically either a 2.0 or 2.1 system, meaning you get just a left and a right speaker, sometimes with a subwoofer thrown in.

Considering all the gaming headsets out there emulating surround sound to varying degrees of success, it’s surprising that the SteelSeries Arena 9 only has a few surround sound capable rivals among all the computer speakers out there. Of course, just having surround sound isn’t enough. That three-dimensional audio has to sound good as does the stereo performance. And, the speaker system’s utility needs to meet gamers’ needs.

So, how well does it do that? The short answer is pretty close to excellent. The long answer is a bit more nuanced. But, it’s still pretty close to excellent.

SteelSeries Arena 9: Price and availability

How much does it cost? $549 (€599, AU$599)
When is it available? Available August 23rd
Where can you get it? Available in the US, UK, and Australia

When comparing the SteelSeries Arena 9’s price of $549 (599€ / AU$599) to other 5.1 systems, remember that most of them are meant for home theaters. Klipsch has more than a few sets for example that cost about half. But, unlike the Arena 9, they’re generally not powered speakers so you’ll also have to invest in a receiver as well, not to mention find a place to put that receiver in your PC desk setup.

And, when considering other computer speaker systems like the Logitech Z906, which goes for $399 (399€, AU$649), the Arena 9 has a leg up just from being a newer release, having launched in August of 2022. Digital audio inputs for the Z906 are limited to optical audio (no USB), a port that you won’t find on a lot of computers, especially gaming laptops. And, you miss out on features like Bluetooth as well.

Value: 4 / 5

SteelSeries Arena 9 at a gaming desk setup — (Image credit: Future / James Holland)

SteelSeries Arena 9: Design

Lots of speakers and lots of connectivity on hand
RGB lighting is bright but limited

For whatever reason, PC speaker brands like to shape their speakers in a somewhat cylindrical, almost alien egg-type shape. And, the SteelSeries Arena 9 speakers, not including the subwoofer, are no different. All the speakers also come in matte-black hard plastic enclosures, traits they share with just about every other computer speaker.

There are a total of 6 speaker cabinets in the Arena 9 setup. A dual-driver center speaker, as well as two tiltable front speakers, form the main part of your audio experience. A downward-firing subwoofer provides that extended low-end. And, two rear speakers, one for the left and one for the right, turn the system into a surround sound experience. The rear left and right speakers are all wall-mountable as well. Since this is a 5.1 system, make sure you have a place to put those rear speakers. Otherwise, you won't be able to take advantage of that surround sound.

The SteelSeries Arena 9 also comes with a control pod that provides almost all of your interactivity with the speaker system. It has two buttons on its circular OLED display to either go back in a menu or accept an entry (or press enter) as well as an enclosure that also functions as a scroll or volume wheel. It’s through this control pod that you can adjust the volume on-the-fly, choose audio inputs as well as pair Bluetooth devices, play around with EQ, and select some RGB lighting effects.

You do have some EQ on hand through the control pod but you can only cycle through six different presets. You have the usual options like bass boost, bass cut, or a high-mid boost appropriately called “Excite”, among others. You can customize one custom setting where you can adjust a 10-band EQ. For more EQ fine-tuning, you’ll have to go through the SteelSeries GG Engine and its Sonar add-on (discussed below) which we highly recommend.

When it comes to RGB lighting, the Arena 9 is not going to give you the most nuanced light show. There are only 4 lighting zones in total and those are only individually customizable on certain settings. The front left and right speakers each have RGB trim around their base as well as a large single zone on the upper back part of their enclosures.

And, while they get plenty bright, you can’t do a deep dive as you would with other gaming peripherals. There are just four lighting settings available: Steady, Breathe, Color Shift, and Visualizer. You can pick up to six colors for the first two settings, adjust the speed for Breathe and Color Shift, and adjust the brightness on all of them. You can individualize colors and even effects a little further through the SteelSeries GG Engine. Though the RGB lighting could be a bit more robust, the Visualizer setting which is essentially reactive lighting is pretty cool.

Lastly, connectivity on the Arena 9 is just about everything a gamer needs. Not only is USB connectivity on hand with an included cable, but also optical audio and optical audio passthrough, Bluetooth, and an Aux 3.5mm input if you need to go analog (or plug in a different source). There’s also a headphone jack on the control pod that lets you switch from speakers to headphones. You can use the control pod’s menu to go between the two without having to unplug anything.

Design: 4.5 / 5

SteelSeries Arena 9: Performance

The sound quality is impressively detailed and fun to listen to
The app is very customizable and powerful once you've updated it

It doesn’t matter what speakers or headsets can do if they don’t sound good. Luckily, the SteelSeries Arena 9 is not only plenty loud but it has a fun and engaging sound quality. It’s not quite audiophile level as there’s a mid-high boost which makes everything sound more exciting but also a little too rich in that frequency range. To be fair though, it’s mostly noticeable with music. Regarding the rest of the frequency range, the bass is powerful. Since the subwoofer has a physical dial on the back, you can adjust the bass response to your heart’s content. The mids are generally well-balanced outside of that mid-high boost mentioned above. And, the highs are nice and crisp.

While listening to music such as the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s new single provided a robust and powerful sound, it wasn’t until loading Kena: Bridge of Spirits that we realized how detailed the sound quality is. The game has a lot of interesting high-end audio information and the speakers let us hear every chime and twinkling sound as clear and detailed as any time we struck down an enemy.

When considering a 5.1 sound system, the sound stage and the resultant sound imaging have to be on point. And, the Arena 9 does a generally fantastic job of immersing us into whatever media we’re consuming or playing. We were able to get full three-dimensional audio in Cyberpunk 2077, Kena: Bridge of Spirits, and Psychonauts 2 to name a few. Elements were easy to pinpoint whether they were NPCs or environmental elements. However, unlike virtual surround sound, you must be aware of your speaker placement. Going back to Kena: Bridge of Spirits, we were moving the camera in circles while standing in one spot. While doing so, the rush of a waterfall would transition from one speaker to another but disappear for brief moments. Once we adjusted the rear speaker placements (they weren’t pointed directly at our ears), we achieved a seamless speaker-to-speaker transition.

However, we did have one issue with the surround sound aspect of the Arena 9s that was easily fixed with a firmware update. The only way we could achieve audio from all the speakers with anything other than games was to use the "upmix" feature. It's a great sounding feature that sends the audio from the front speakers to the rear for an immersive and overwhelming experience. Unfortunately, it's still a stereo image. To fix the issue, we had to delete and reinstall the SteelSeries GG Engine.

Why mention this? If you already have SteelSeries products, just be aware that you might have to go through a similar process to get the Arena 9s to show up on your app. Otherwise, you won't be able to get certain media in 5.1 surround sound and you won't be able to use some of the features of the SteelSeries GG Engine and the Sonar Add-on without losing that surround sound functionality.

And, the Sonar Add-on is worth the trouble. It offers a parametric EQ, something that you don't generally find in consumer EQ products and apps. If you're not familiar, parametric EQs are very customizable and therefore very powerful for shaping audio to your taste. With the one in Sonar, you can boost or cut frequencies by up to 12 decibels and at whichever frequencies you want. You can also control how wide or narrow a boost or cut is via a Q control. There is a “Smart Volume” setting which compresses the audio signal so nothing is too loud or quiet, a great feature when using the speakers late at night.

Even without the Sonar add-on, the SteelSeries GG Engine offers plenty of customizability including a 10 band EQ with presets mirroring the ones available through the control pod, the ability to adjust when the RGB lighting and LED on the control pod turn off, toggle the upmix feature, and even adjust the volume of all the individual speakers.

Performance: 4.8 / 5

Should I buy the SteelSeries Arena 9?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

SteelSeries Arena 9: Report card

First reviewed August 2022

How we test

We pride ourselves on our independence and our rigorous review-testing process, offering up long-term attention to the products we review and making sure our reviews are updated and maintained - regardless of when a device was released, if you can still buy it, it's on our radar.

Read more about how we test

SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless

6:00 pm | August 15, 2022

Author: admin | Category: Computer Gaming Accessories Computers Computing Gadgets Gaming Computers | Tags: ANC | Comments: Off

Editor's Note

• Original review date: August 2022
• No new version out
• Launch price: $349 / £329 / AU$649
• Official price now: $349 / £329 / AU$649

Updated: January 2024. The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless remains one of the best PC gaming headsets on the market, even almost two years after its initial release. Many gaming headsets have tried to offer its impressive feature set that includes multi-device-and-platform connectivity and a swappable battery, but very few have matched its luxurious comfort and none have surpassed its excellent sound quality. In fact, if it wasn't for its high price tag, we'd put this at the very top of the list. And unfortunately, it has yet to go down in price, though you might find it discounted at some online retail stores. The rest of this review remains as previously published.

SteelSeries Arctic Nova Pro Wireless: One-minute review

The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless launch might be one of those defining moments in gaming peripherals history. Ladies and gents, we might just be looking at the future of gaming headsets right now – a dual-purpose, multi-connectivity hybrid that comes with everything you want from the best gaming headset: a detailed sound, immersive soundstage, a long battery life, and off-the-charts comfort.

While we might be a little biased – this author has long been a fan of the Arctis line’s excellent audio quality – there’s no denying the ambitious undertaking that SteelSeries has successfully implemented in this wireless gaming headset.

Admittedly, some design elements need tweaking such as that secondary button on its base station that works only 25% of the time and the slightly confusing, non-intuitive physical controls on the headset. But, considering that this is the whole gaming headset package, those barely spoil all the fun you’re getting.

Not that this whole do-it-all thing hasn’t been done before. Another personal favorite, the Astro A50, did it first. But, the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless takes the A50, slaps on some hi-res audio to rival the Audeze Penrose, and tops it all off with elements you’d see on a pair of noise-canceling headphones.

The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless is quite literally the one gaming headset that does it all. How could you want anything less?

SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless: Price and availability

How much does it cost? $349 (£329, AU$649)
Where is it available? Available now
Where can you get it? Available in the US, UK, and Australia

All that doesn’t come cheap. The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless will cost a pretty penny – $349 (£329, AU$649) to be exact. And, if you want to customize it with the Nova Booster Pack, which comes in Cherry Red, Lilac, Mint, and Rose Quartz, you’ll have to pay an extra $34 / £29.

That isn’t surprising. Flagship SteelSeries gaming headsets have always sat around that price range. And, so does the competition. However, you’re getting a lot more value for your money with the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless.

The Astro A50, for example, costs $299 (£349, AU$489), and that’s without the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless’ Bluetooth connectivity and wider frequency range. Meanwhile, the Audeze Penrose will set you back $299 (£299, AU$399) but doesn’t have its multi-device connectivity, comfort level, and active noise cancellation.

Value: 3.8 / 5

SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless on a white table next to a Switch — (Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)

SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless: Design

Beautiful gaming headset-cum-headphones design
Multi-platform, multi-device connectivity
One of the most versatile headsets we've tested

The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless boasts a beautiful, elegant look, luxurious fit and comfort, and all-around connectivity. And, despite its fiddly controls and perhaps ear foams that could be a little more breathable, this is one of the best-designed headphones we’ve tested.

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SteelSeries Arctic Nova Pro Wireless — (Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)

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It’s relatively lightweight at 337g and comes with plush ear cushions draped in soft-to-touch leatherette, a floating ski headband that’s thinly padded, and earcups that have a lot of swivel to fit different head shapes. Overall, you’re getting an incredibly comfortable gaming headset with good enough hold and size that fits most heads. We only wish that the leatherette is a lot more breathable than it is.

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That design is a classier, more accessible, and toned-down version of a gamer’s aesthetic, in an attempt to go for a more all-purpose look so you won’t be embarrassed about wearing it as Bluetooth headphones in public. A good example of this is the mic boom, which seamlessly tucks away inside the left earcup while still offering mic functionality.

It isn’t the first gaming headset to implement this hybrid design approach – Razer’s done something similar as well – but SteelSeries has done such a good job with it. It looks just as great as a pair of headphones as it does a gaming headset, and we can’t wait to take it with us on our next vacation.

SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless and base station on a gaming mat — (Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)

Luckily, it comes with two Fuji lithium-ion batteries that are swappable and offer 22 hours of battery life per. You slot one in the right earcup behind a removable (and customizable) magnetic plate, then swap it out for the other when it runs out of juice.

Both batteries need charging? Pop one in the built-in battery charging slot in the base station, keep the other in the headphones to charge via the USB-C port behind the left earcup magnetic plate, and charge simultaneously. Easy peasy. SteelSeries has also added fast charging for good measure, so you’ll get three hours of play after 15 minutes of charging.

SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless on a white table — (Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)

Sadly, the controls are confusing and non-intuitive. You’ll likely need to memorize that part of the manual first before you can use them seamlessly. And, even then, there’s still a lot to be desired.

There are two separate on/off buttons, for example, for when you’re using Bluetooth and when you’re using wireless connectivity. Simply turning the headset off using the power button doesn’t mean you’re turning it off completely. If Bluetooth is on, it’ll keep its current connection and still play music from that source. Meanwhile, the wireless base station has a second button that only works 25% of the time.

Speaking of the base station, it gives the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless its multi-platform, multi-device prowess, which when coupled with its Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity, makes it perhaps the single most versatile headset on the market right now.

The base station allows it to be connected to two sources wirelessly and simultaneously. But, you also do not need it to use the headset, thanks to the Bluetooth and the 3.5mm wired connection that it also offers. Connect it to a mobile device via Bluetooth or a 3.5mm cable, and you can use it as a pair of standalone headphones you can take with you on hikes, during your commutes, or on a long-haul flight.

Nifty, right?!

Design: 4.6 / 5

SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless: Performance

Hi-res audio with 10Hz to 40KHz frequency range
Amazing, detailed audio
ANC not very good, sadly

With a frequency range of 10Hz to 40KHz, the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless delivers a little more sub-bass and high-res audio.

Sound quality is, therefore, exquisite here, giving us deep bass with a lot of rumble even at under 75% volume, a beautifully-present treble with a lot of detail, and well-represented mids. That’s whether we’re playing a game like Sable whose sound elements are very much a part of and vital to your gaming experience, listening to Florence and the Machine’s “Dance Fever,” or watching the movie, “Prey.”

We’ve tested gaming headsets that have a much wider soundstage. The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless still delivers a great soundstage. More importantly, thanks to its 360° Spatial Audio feature, its sound imaging is very much on point. We really feel the movements of the different game and movie elements when using it, whether it’s a bear chasing the main protagonist in the woods or background game characters moving from left to right.

SteelSeries Arctic Nova Pro Wireless next to a Switch with its mic retracted — (Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)

The mic, which still works when stowed away, is clear and crisp when retracted. Guaranteed, you’re coming out loud and clear whether you’re chatting with your friends on Discord or hopping on a quick call with your colleague via your smartphone. Unfortunately, noise rejection is only available for Windows 10/11. As in our experience, the person on the other end of that phone call will hear even the hum of the AC in your apartment.

The ANC is not very good. It’s effective in drowning out noises like the sounds of distant traffic or your AC. However, it’s not as good if you’re trying to block out all the noise. That’s ok for the most part as the audio to an extent takes care of the rest. However, if you plan on using this on the plane, it isn’t going to block out the sounds of those engines.

Performance: 5 / 5

Should I buy the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless?

SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless on a white table next to the Switch — (Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless: Report card

First reviewed August 2022

How we test

Read more about how we test

HP Pavilion Plus 14 review: burns twice as bright for half as long

9:30 pm | August 2, 2022

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Laptops Windows Laptops | Tags: Battery Life, CPU, RAM | Comments: Off

Editor's Note

• Original review date: August 2022
• Launch price: Starts at $799 / £799 (around AU$1,120)
• Target price now (updated model): Starts at $999 / £899 (around AU$1,490)

Update – August 2024: The HP Pavilion Plus 14 might have missed out on a spot amidst our ranking of the best laptops when we originally reviewed this model, but two years on, I've got good news and bad news.

The good news is that an updated model featuring the new Intel Core Ultra 5 chip is now available, which (while I haven't personally tested it) should provide better battery life than previous iterations thanks to that chip's improved power efficiency. The short battery life was the main failing of the Pavilion Plus 14 when we reviewed it, and some quick online research shows that reviewers concur that battery performance is a lot stronger in the new model.

The bad news is that this new model is unfortunately a bit more expensive - although you can still find older models with Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen chips for under $800 in the US. Sadly for our friends down under, it appears that the Core Ultra model is not available at all in Australia at the time of writing - so Aussies may be better off looking for something different.

Original review follows.

HP Pavilion Plus 14: Two-minute review

The HP Pavilion Plus 14 is an upgrade from the original Pavilion 14 and is meant to be a decently priced low-ranged laptop for those who need a dedicated work machine.

It comes with a pretty solid screen size, which is complemented by the thinner bezels that give you more screen real estate. Its OLED touchscreen display is responsive and features an impressive picture quality that makes anything displayed through it crystal clear and sharp, which alone is worth the slightly higher price tag.

This feature shines when paired with the webcam, which is crisp and clean when sitting through Zoom meetings, but it’s a shame the webcam doesn’t come with a mechanical privacy shutter though, since nowadays its pretty much a necessity.

The keyboard and touchpad are quite good as well, one of the few work laptops that have wide keys suited for those with thicker fingers or shaky hands. We found it extremely rare to have typos thanks to the wide spacing between keys, and the touchpad provides you with more than enough space to comfortably move around, making it very accessible for those who might have more limited mobility or coordination in their hands.

Thanks to the 12th-gen Intel Core i7 CPU, the HP Pavilion Plus 14 has some impressively high performance compared to many other budget-to-midrange laptops, consistently outscoring them by sometimes wide margins.

It’s an incredibly fast laptop that balances multiple CPU-intensive tasks like a champ. It even ran Sid Meyer’s Civilization VI benchmark well, netting over 60 FPS on the highest settings. Of course, it won’t be able to play titles like Hitman 3 smoothly but you’re not buying this laptop for that purpose anyway; as a general performance machine, this might have easily qualified as one of the best HP laptops going – or even one of the best Ultrabooks overall.

However, the worst aspect of this laptop by far is the battery life, and it absolutely drags this laptop down. At most, while running our HD movie test, it lasted just under 5 hours, and lasted a little while longer in our productivity test. For a gaming laptop this would be ok, but for a low-end machine whose job it is to last a full day of work or school? This is atrocious, especially considering that for the price, we're expecting something far more substantial.

HP Pavilion Plus 14: Price and availability

An HP Pavilion Plus 14 on a desk playing Civ VI — Despite itself, the HP Pavilion Plus 14 is not bad at playing casual or light-duty games – just make sure to leave it plugged in. (Image credit: Future)

How much does it cost? MSRP is $799 (about £640 / AU$1,120)
When is it out? It is available now
Where can you get it? You can get it in the US, UK, and Australia, though not all configurations are available in all regions.

The HP Pavilion Plus 14 is available now in the US, UK, and Australia and starts at $799 / £829 in the US and UK, and at AU$2,699 in Australia.

HP Pavilion Plus 14 Key Specs

Here is the HP Pavilion Plus 14 configuration sent to TechRadar for review:

CPU: Intel Core i7-12700H
Graphics: Intel Iris Xe Graphics
RAM: 16GB
Screen: 14-inch diagonal, 2.8K (2880 x 1800), OLED, 90 Hz
Storage: 1TB PCIe SSD
Ports: 2 USB Type-A ports, 2 USB Type-C, 1 headset (headphone and microphone combo) port, 1 HDMI 2.1 port, 1 SD-card slot
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2
Camera: HP True Vision 5MP
Weight: 3.09 pounds (1.4 kg)
Size (W x D x H): 12.34 x 8.83 x 0.72ins | 313.4 x 224.3 x 18.3mm
Battery: 51WHr

The entry-level configuration for the US will get you an Intel Core i5-1240P processor with integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics, 8GB RAM, 256GB PCIe NVMe SSD storage, and a 14-inch 2240 x 1400p IPS display, with a max brightness of 300 nits. The UK starting configuration is essentially identical, though it gives you a 512GB PCIe SSD.

The starting configuration in Australia, which is also the only configuration, is identical to the one we reviewed, specs listed at right. It will set you back $1,219 in the US and AU$2,699 in Australia.

The highest-spec configuration costs $1,329 in the US will get you an Intel Core i7-1255U, an Nvidia RTX 2050 GPU with 4GB dedicated video memory, 16GB RAM, 1TB PCIe SSD and a 2.8K OLED display with 400 nits brightness and Wi-Fi 6E instead of Wi-Fi 5 or Wi-Fi 6.

In the UK, the highest spec is slightly different, in that it reduces the SSD to 512GB and, strangely, comes with Windows 11 Home in S Mode.

For the hardware on offer, this is pretty decent, especially at the low end, though the more expensive OLED display, as pretty as it is, is a big driver of the increase in price here. HP's main rival, Dell, has a new Inspiron 14 Plus that comes in at $1,299 (about £1,040 / AU$1,820), and it has more or less the same specs as the HP Pavilion Plus 14 model we reviewed.

There are some key differences, though, in that it comes with a 2240 x 1400p IPS display instead of an OLED panel and only has 512GB SSD storage. What it does have over the Pavilion Plus 14, though, is a 64WHr battery, which means that it will likely get a much longer battery life than the Pavilion Plus 14 — especially if it doesn't have an OLED panel to power — though we haven't reviewed the Inspiron 14 Plus so we cannot say for certain.

That said, the HP Pavilion Plus 14 would seem to win out on specs here, making it a pretty decent value, but as we'll get to later, the battery life is really this laptop's Achilles' heel and keeps it from competing with the best laptops on the market. While you're weighing up costs, consider how HP promo codes can help you save.

Value: 3.5 / 5

HP Pavilion Plus 14: Design

A quarter standing on its edge against the HP Pavilion Plus 14 to show the thinness of the laptop. — The HP Pavilion Plus 14 is light and thin, just one of its many design successes. (Image credit: Future)

Fantastic OLED screen
Excellent, wide keyboard
Great port selection

The chassis is lightweight but feels surprisingly sturdy for a lower-end work laptop, and reasonably has some heft to it despite the lower weight. It’s still thin and light enough to be comfortably portable in most bags. The silver color is common among even the best laptops these days but is still appealing and sleek.

Opening it up, the OLED screen really shines, giving anything displayed through it a gorgeous high-quality picture. This makes sense, since it complements the 2.8k display and even sports some nice and thin bezels that grant some roomy screen real estate.

An HP Pavilion Plus 14 on a desk — (Image credit: Future)

Its port selection is quite good, with two USB Type-C and two Type-A ports, an HDMI 2.1 port, an SD card slot, and one headset jack. The HDMI 2.1 is a pleasant surprise in particular, as normally it’s a 1.4 on work machines. The HP Pavilion Plus 14 is clearly a well-balanced machine that can handle most tasks and connect to a wide range of devices.

The keyboard of the HP Pavilion Plus 14 — The keyboard is rather comfy since the keys are well-spaced. (Image credit: Future)

It even enhances what would be an otherwise average webcam image, pairing well with the program that augments your image based on lighting. The latter is a handy little feature that lets you adjust how you look through the webcam in real-time, a feature that we didn’t know we needed until now.

The keyboard is one of our favorites so far in a work laptop, with a well-sized trackpad and wide and well-spaced out keys that make typing a breeze with barely any typos. There’s also a toggle for backlighting, another great feature for those late-night work sessions. It was a joy using it and having to switch back to normal-sized keys felt like a huge downgrade.

Design: 4 / 5

HP Pavilion Plus 14: Performance

A close up of the Intel Inside sticker on the palm rest of the HP Pavilion Plus 14 — This laptop isn't Intel Evo-certified, which is otherwise known as a red flag for battery life. (Image credit: Future)

Great for work and casual-to-light gaming
Sound quality is fine

The HP Pavilion Plus 14 is in a very weird niche, as it functions incredibly well as a work machine. It has an excellent screen that’s perfect for video calls, a great roomy keyboard and trackpad, all complemented by the powerful i7 CPU and 16 GB of RAM that supports it.

Benchmarks

Here's how the HP Pavilion Plus 14 performed in our suite of benchmark tests:

3DMark Night Raid: 14,892; Fire Strike: 4,201; Time Spy: 1,690
Cinebench R23 Multi-core: 12,430 points
GeekBench 5: 1,741 (single-core); 8,856 (multi-core)
PCMark 10 (Home Test): 5,641 points
Battery Life (TechRadar movie test): 4 hours and 34 minutes
PCMark 10 Battery Test: 5 hours and 10 minutes
Civilization VI (1080p, High): 67 fps; (1080p, Low): 22 fps

But these same features also make it well-balanced for some casual gaming, at least with lighter games. When running various benchmarks, we found that this laptop scores higher (sometimes significantly higher) than other similar laptops in its class running comparable hardware. For a dedicated work machine, the Pavilion 14 Plus clearly has the chops to game in a more-than-normal capacity for this sort of computer.

When we ran the Sid Meier's Civilization VI benchmark test, we found the game ran at an impressive 67 FPS on max settings. Playing it, the title ran incredibly smooth with no noticeable hiccups or hangs. Other casual-to-light-duty games ran just as well, making it a work laptop well-suited for play at the end of the day.

The CPU can also adjust itself to the task that needs the most attention. While we didn’t always explicitly notice the switch in performance between every single task, it did feel like every task was optimized.

The sound quality for the HP Pavilion Plus 14 is good but not great, despite the fact that it comes with dual speakers. Still, it’s quite good for the kind of laptop it is, though it doesn’t have the most complex sound. But when it comes to voice and video chat, the sound quality is more than high enough. Ventilation is a bit below average; it tends to warm up quickly but the heat doesn’t progress into an uncomfortable range.

Performance: 4.5 / 5

HP Pavilion Plus 14: Battery life

An HP Pavilion Plus 14 on a desk with a spreadsheet on its screen — That fancy OLED is a massive power-hog, as is Intel Alder Lake, so not a good matchup against a 51WHr battery if you want to work away from an outlet for more than a few hours. (Image credit: Future)

Absolutely terrible
Rival laptops in its class last much longer

This battery is the worst battery we’ve tested for a work laptop in a long time. As we said before, the HP Pavilion Plus 14 has unusually high benchmark scores compared to its competitors and even performs well with some modern games.

But it seems that this tricked the Pavilion Plus into thinking it’s a gaming laptop or something and so it spiked its own battery life in response. This battery cannot last past the four-and-a-half-hour mark in our HD movie test, and PCMark 10’s battery test showed a five hour and 10 minute result, which makes it extremely difficult to perform as a work laptop unless you keep it charged up at an outlet regularly.

This is owing to the two-fold problem of high-end hardware, like an OLED display and Intel Alder Lake Core i7, and its rather meek 51WHr battery, which is almost guaranteed to run dry in no time flat.

Sacrifices have to be made for price, size, and weight, sure. But a work laptop is supposed to last, and this one does not. Having such a poor battery life for a machine that’s meant to carry you through a work day is rather inexcusable.

Battery Life: 1 / 5

Should you buy an HP Pavilion Plus 14?

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HP Pavilion Plus 14: Report card

First reviewed August 2022

How We Test

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Acer Predator Helios 300 (2022)

6:00 pm | August 1, 2022

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Gaming Computers Gaming Laptops | Tags: CPU, RAM, UK, US | Comments: Off

Editor's Note

• Original review date: August 2022
• Launch price: Starting at $1,200 (about £960 / AU$1,740)
• Target price: Starting at $700 / £700 / AU$1,000

Update – September 2024: The Acer Predator Helios 300 from 2022 is a lot less available than it was when it launched, but you can occasionally find a few configurations online.

While the Predator Helios 300 from 2022 was one of the best gaming laptops going when it was released, there are definitely better option available with more updated specs that are cheaper, like this Acer Predator Helios 16 available at Amazon for less than $1,000.

As such, this model will only be worth picking up if it is well below $1,000/£1,000/AU$1,500, but if you can find it for a great price, this is still one of the best laptops for gaming on a budget that you'll find.

Original review follows.

Acer Predator Helios 300 (2022): One minute review

As far as more premium options go, the Acer Predator Helios 300 (2022) embodies most of what you’re looking for in a gaming laptop. It’s simple yet has a well-designed chassis, with gorgeous RGB keyboard backlighting, outfitted with some strong tech, and even comes with a Turbo button.

It’s a hefty fellow, though, with a weight of five and a half pounds. It’s not the heaviest gaming laptop out there but it’s one that’s difficult to carry around.

Its price reflects its quality, but it’s worth splurging on if you have the money since this is definitely one of the best Acer laptops for gaming, and Acer has a few excellent gaming laptop lines, honestly, so there's stiff competition.

The inside tech proves its quality, with the model we received sporting an Intel Core i7-12700H CPU and an Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti GPU, though you can upgrade it even further. So not only will it run any of the best PC games you throw at it, but it will run them well at fast frame rates on the highest settings.

Naturally, there’s a tradeoff for such excellent graphics and that’s the absolutely abysmal battery life, which barely lasts three hours. This is definitely a laptop that you need to keep plugged in, especially for intense gaming sessions.

The selection of ports on both sides and on the back of the laptop is one of the best we’ve seen. There are four USB ports alone, with several other mainstays such as the HDMI port, an SD card reader, an audio jack, and even a Kensington Slot for added security.

Opening it up reveals a gorgeous QHD panel display that doesn’t disappoint, with each game looking its absolute best between the vibrant colors and crystal clear display. And the 240Hz refresh rate certainly doesn’t hurt either.

Its bezels are nice and thin, giving us some significant screen real estate, though there’s no manual webcam shudder to cover it up when not in use. The keyboard is nice and roomy, includes a numlock pad, has plenty of key space to avoid most typos, and the RBG backlight is positively stunning as it changes colors on the fly.

All in all, this isn't as cheap as the best cheap gaming laptops, but it's not so premium a piece of kit that it is out of reach of most people, especially with the starting configurations. This might be a gaming laptop you end up saving up for over the next few months, but in the end you won't be disappointed with the performance, even if there are some more affordable options that might provide a better value.

Acer Predator Helios 300 (2022): Price and availability

An Acer Predator Helios 300 (2022) sitting on a wooden table in a commissary — The Acer Predator Helios 300 (2022) is definitely the kind of gaming laptop that will really appeal those who love the Gamer™ aesthetic. (Image credit: Future)

The price can get pretty steep as you improve the specs
Limited availability outside of US and UK

The Acer Predator Helios 300 is a fairly premium gaming laptop that starts out pretty affordable at $1,200, with the rig we received priced at $2,100 (about £1,760 / AU$3,091). The laptop does come with a lot of features and some excellent specs, especially as you move up the configuration stack, making it more than worth the cost. And honestly, compared with the best gaming laptops it's competing against, this pricing isn’t actually very steep. It could be more affordable once you factor in any eligible Acer promo codes around right now.

However, it’s rather difficult to purchase it outside the US or the UK, as the laptop isn’t currently available in Australia and other regions. Those living in territories that don’t have this laptop may have to import it from the US or UK, which would bump up the price of an already expensive gaming laptop quite a bit.

Value: 4 / 5

Acer Predator Helios 300 (2022): Design

Sleek and sexy
Great port selection
Amazing display and keyboard

The Acer Predator Helios 300 is the kind of gaming laptop that looks and feels like what you’d imagine one to be. Though it’s admittedly much sleeker and sexier than the bulky and boring budget laptops, it’s still weighty and thick — not the type of machine you can haphazardly sling over your shoulder in even the best backpack.

Spec Sheet

Here is the Acer Predator Helios 300 (2022) configuration sent to TechRadar for review:

CPU: Intel Core i7-12700H
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti
RAM: 16GB DDR5
Screen: 15.6-inch, QHD IPS, 240 Hz
Storage: 1TB
Ports: 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 1 x Thunderbolt 4, 1 x power port, 1 x HDMI 2.1, 1 x SD Card Reader, 1 x Combo Jack, 1 x Kensington Slot
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2
Camera: 1080p
Weight: 5.51 pounds | 2.5 kg
Size (W x D x H): 14.1 x 10.9 x 1.02 inches | 36 x 28 x 2.6 cm

Its port selection is excellent, with three USB 3.2 Type-A ports, a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C that doubles as a Thunderbolt 4, an additional power port with a charger that comes with it, an HDMI 2.1 port, an SD card reader, a combo jack, and a Kensington Slot which should honestly be a security standard for any gaming laptop. No matter what your specific needs are, the Acer Predator Helios 300 has it covered.

The display is just as impressive as you’d expect for a modern gaming laptop, as it’s a QHD IPS screen with a 2560 X 1440 resolution and 240Hz refresh rate. You can see the quality while playing graphically demanding games, as gameplay is buttery smooth and the vibrancy of the colors is as clear as can be, making this one of the best 15-inch laptops for gaming that you're going to find.

This also translates to the webcam, which also offers full HD resolution — perfect for streaming gaming sessions. Unfortunately, there’s no mechanical blind to cover said webcam which is a little disappointing but nothing close to a deal-breaker.

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The keyboard is well-built as well, with keys that have good width and are spaced out enough to avoid accidental typos and double-key presses. The trackpad is also a nice size, though it could stand to be a bit bigger. But the real showstopper is the RGB lighting that’s integrated into each key and allows for some incredible light shows on your keyboard, and you can customize the lighting as well if you prefer something more solid over the default rainbow colors.

Design: 5 / 5

Acer Predator Helios 300 (2022): Performance

Top-shelf gaming performance
Excellent air circulation
Turbo button instantly activates overclocking

For a premium gaming laptop, performance is king, or why else would you spend the big bucks for one in the first place? And the Acer Predator Helios 300 absolutely blows nearly every benchmark out of the water, nearly matching or even surpassing most of the other premium laptop models including top-tier picks from the likes of Alienware.

Benchmarks

Here is how the Acer Predator Helios 300 (2022) performed in our suite of benchmark tests:

3DMark: Night Raid: 36,199; Fire Strike: 20,334; Time Spy: 10,263
Cinebench R23 Multi-core: 16,497 points
GeekBench 5: 1,763 (single-core); 12,231 (multi-core)
PCMark 10 (Home Test): 7,704 points
PCMark 10 Battery Life: 3 hours and 5 minutes
Battery Life (TechRadar movie test): 2 hours and 41 minutes
Total War: Warhammer III (1080p, Ultra): 76 fps; (1080p, Low): 212 fps
Cyberpunk 2077 (1080p, Ultra): 51 fps; (1080p, Low): 92 fps
Dirt 5 (1080p, Ultra): 44 fps; (1080p, Low): 175 fps

This is due to its excellent specs including a 12th-gen Intel Core i7 and RTX 3070 Ti, as well as DDR5 RAM. And with the ability to step up to an RTX 3080, you’re getting some top-tier specs like those we saw in our a Razer Blade 15 review but at a much better price point.

If the standard performance isn’t good enough, the Helios 300 (2022) also supports G-Sync and, thanks to its Nvidia Ampere mobile GPU, ray tracing and Deep Learning Super Sampling. There’s even a special Turbo button above the keyboard which can be activated at any time and which puts both the fans and GPU and CPU into overclocked mode.

This works along with the PredatorSense software that’s automatically included with the laptop and which lets you customize RGB lighting, overclocking settings, and fan settings.

The Turbo button is especially useful as it allows you to instantly improve the already impressive air circulation and near-instantly cool down an overheated laptop, while simultaneously bumping up its performance.

Ultimately, no matter how graphically intense or poorly optimized your AAA game of choice is, the Helios 300 (2022) will chew it up and spit it out with ease.

If you need it to also balance non-gaming tasks for work or school, this is absolutely a solid choice for that as well. It's not going to have the portability of the best student laptops out there, obviously, but it'll be great for those who need some downtime after long nights writing up papers in the library.

Its powerful specs are more than sufficient for juggling multiple tasks like movie streaming, video calls, editing documents, and more, and the dual speakers deliver superb sound quality that’s perfect for listening to Spotify or your music streaming service of choice while working on an assignment.

Performance: 5 / 5

Acer Predator Helios 300 (2022): Battery life

The Windows 11 battery monitor panel on an Acer Predator Helios 300 (2022). — Aaaaaand this is where the Helios 300 gets tripped up. (Image credit: Future)

Terrible battery life
Charge time is average at best

With all the positives of the Acer Predator Helios 300, there has to be at least one real negative, and in this case, it’s the battery life.

As powerful as this gaming laptop is, it shows in the absolutely abysmal battery life, which is almost a throwback to the desktop replacements from five or six years ago that wouldn't last an hour idling away from an outlet.

While not quite that bad, the Helios 300 (2022) scrapes by just to reach three hours in the PCMark10 battery test but falls even shorter than that disappointed timein our looped HD movie test. This is one laptop that must be plugged in at pretty much all times, which means if you’re carrying this around you cannot be far away from an outlet, adding even more weight to your backpack from the sizeable power adapter.

Battery Life: 1 / 5

Should you buy an Acer Predator Helios 300 (2022)?

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Don't buy it if...

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Acer Predator Helios 300 (2022) Report Card

First reviewed August 2022

Dell XPS 17 (2022)

2:40 am | July 26, 2022

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Laptops Windows Laptops | Tags: Battery Life, CPU, RAM, Total War | Comments: Off

Editor's note

Original review date: July 2022
Newer Dell XPS 17 with updated components now out
Launch price: $1,749 / £2,099 / AU$3,999
Target price: $1,599 / £1,599 / AU$2,999

Update: January 2024. The model we reviewed here is almost two years old now, but it still remains one of the best laptops you can buy. This is because its powerful components are still very good, and the slim and light design remains one of the best you'll find on a 17-inch laptop, which can often be big and bulky due to their larger screens. This particular model is no longer sold directly by Dell, but can be found at other retailers, often with a nice price cut that makes it better value. Dell has also released more modern models of the XPS 17, so if you fancy getting this larger laptop with even more powerful components, you've got that option as well. The rest of this review remains as previously published.

Dell XPS 17 (2022): Two minute review

If the Dell XPS 17 looks familiar, that’s because it is. Physically, this revised 2022 model is a dead ringer for last year’s XPS - and the one from 2020, too. But that’s no bad thing given this is one of, if not the slickest and sleekest laptops around.

What actually is different can be found inside, most notably Intel’s latest 12 Gen CPUs. Our review unit is rocking the Intel Core i7-12700H, which packs six performance cores plus eight efficiency cores and turbos up to 4.7GHz.

Honestly, it ought to be enough CPU for even the most demanding users, making it one of the best laptops around for productivity and business users. But if you really insist you can pay extra - and an awful lot extra because the upgrade typically forces more expensive components in other areas - for Dell to stick in a Core i9-12900K, which has the same core count but peaks at 5GHz. We wouldn’t bother, since you’ll barely feel the difference, if at all.

Dell XPS 17 (2022) Key Specs

Here is the Dell XPS 17 (2022) configuration sent to TechRadar for review:
CPU: Intel Core 17-12700H
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050
RAM: 32GB DDR5
Screen: 17-inch 3,840 x 2,400, 500 nits
Storage: 512GB NVMe SSD
Ports: 4 x USB-C with Thunderbolt 4, 1 x 3.5mm combo jack, 1 x SD card reader
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2
Camera: 720p with IR
Weight: 4.79 lbs | 2.17 kg
Size (W x D x H): 14.74 x 9.76 x 0.77 ins (375 x 248 x 20 mm)
Battery: 97WHr

Elsewhere, one thing the XPS isn’t is an out-and-out gaming laptop. Our configuration runs an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 GPU with 4GB of graphics memory. It’s dandy for a spot of casual gaming and will also add some welcome grunt to GPU-accelerated productivity and content creation apps. But it’s not a 4K powerhouse, nor is the RTX 3060 chip offered as an upgrade, which it ideally would need to be given the specification of the XPS’s screen.

Indeed, we’ve got the optional upgrade panel which packs 3,840 by 2,400 pixels - more than standard 4K thanks to the taller 16:10 aspect ratio. It’s a stunner of a screen rated at a punchy 500 nits and with 100 percent coverage of the Adobe RGB gamut, so it’s fully capable of content creation workflows. It also supports HDR, but isn’t a new-fangled mini-LED panel, so keep expectations in check. The HDR experience is OK rather than eye-popping.

The screen looks all the better thanks to those signature Dell XPS slim bezels on all four sides. It’s a design feature that keeps this two-year-old design looking bang up to date, and also minimizes the laptop’s overall footprint. It’s not just the screen that stands out, so does the sound quality. The XPS 17 really packs an audio punch, with remarkably dynamic sound including decent bass, good stereo separation and strong volume.

Rounding out the best bits of this revised 2022 model of the Dell XPS 17 is battery life of over 10 hours during light workloads, which is outstanding for this big a beast. On the other end of things, this isn’t anywhere close to being as portable as the best Ultrabooks, but no 17-inch laptop will ever score very highly in that regard.

But if you do take it with, you can genuinely get a day’s work done away from the mains, which makes it one of the best student laptops for anyone about to head off to uni in a couple of months.

So whether you're a student, a content creator, or just want a gorgeous device, the Dell XPS 17 (2022) retains its place as possibly the best Dell laptop ever made that's not called the XPS 13.

Dell XPS 17 (2022): Price and availability

A Dell XPS 17 (2022) on a table — (Image credit: Future)

Starting price looks appealing
Quickly gets pricey with options

The Dell XPS 17 (2022) kicks off at $1,749 in the US, £2,099 in the UK and AU$3,999, the apparent discrepancy outside of the US accounted for by a higher spec base CPU. Anyway, if that’s not exactly cheap, things only get worse when you add upgrades.

The gorgeous UHD+ touchscreen, for instances, adds $300 / £300, doubling the RAM to 32GB will sock you for $150 / £200 and the 1TB SSD costs an extra $100 / £100. All told, as configured here, you’re looking at $2,749, £2,599 in the UK and AU$4,798 down under.

Value: 3.5 / 5

Dell XPS 17 (2022): Design

Super slim bezels
Gorgeous build quality

The design of the Dell XPS 17 (2022) is a dead ringer for last year’s model and the year before, but we're grateful for that.

The XPS is super sleek and beautifully built, with the main chassis and screen cover in machined aluminum and the palmrest in carbon fiber. It still looks modern too, thanks to ultra-slim bezels on all four sides of the display. And that despite still squeezing in a 720p webcam up top with Windows Hello facial recognition support.

The chassis is very solid and the keyboard bed fairly stable, though a little flex is present. The large trackpad is about as good as it gets on a Windows laptop. Only Apple’s MacBooks do trackpads better.

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Of course, this is still a big machine weighing in at well over 2kg and measuring in excess of 14 inches across, but that's the case with all of the best 17-inch laptops; they're simply never going to be compact. That said, the slim bezels ensure about as small a footprint as possible and ensures that if you've got to have something this large you at least get the absolute most out of its size.

The XPS 17 is about as haulable as 17-inch laptops get, with the possible exception of the featherweight LG Gram 17, which is slightly wider in terms of footprint but much lighter at 1.35kg.

If we do take issue with the XPS’s proportions, it’s how they map to the port selection. On the one hand, the quartet of USB-C ports all support full Thunderbolt 4 functionality with power delivery and DisplayPort alt mode, which is great.

There’s also a full-sized SD card slot and an audio jack. But that’s it. There’s no USB Type-A, no full sized HDMI socket nor a LAN port, but that's the price you pay for the slick looks and chiselled chassis sides.

Design: 4.5 / 5

Dell XPS 17 (2022): Performance

Grunty 12th Gen Intel CPUs
Good cooling
Not a true gaming laptop

With six performance cores and eight efficiency cores, the XPS 17’s Intel Core i7-12700H has as many cores as the top Core i9 processor from Intel’s latest 12th Gen Alder Lake CPU family. It just runs at slightly lower clockspeeds, but not that you’d notice.

As CPU performance goes, this laptop has everything you could ask for. It’ll tear through everything from video encodes to 3D renders with ease. Alder Lake’s world-beating single-core performance also guarantees that this laptop feels snappy in day-to-day tasks like web browsing.

Indeed, with fully 32GB RAM, you’re rarely going to run out of memory, which makes multi-tasking a breeze. With that much RAM, swapping application data to the SSD will hardly ever happen. Even if it does, there’s a fast PCIe Gen 4.0 SSD ready to minimise the performance hit of disk swapping. Overall, it really is a very speedy machine, this XPS 17.

Benchmarks

Here is how the Dell XPS 17 (2022) performed in our suite of benchmark tests:

3DMark Night Raid: 27,398; Fire Strike: 11,908; Time Spy: 5,439
Cinebench R23 Multi-core: 17,747
GeekBench 5 Single-core: 1,682; (Multi-core) 13,725
PCMark 10 (Home Test): 6,810
Battery Life (Techradar movie test): 10:14
Total War: Warhammer III (1080p, Ultra): 48 fps; (1080p, Low): 121 fps
Dirt 5 (1080p, Ultra): 44 fps; (1080p, Low): 96 fps

If there is an exception, it involves graphics performance and gaming. As tested, our review unit runs Nvidia’s GeForce RTYX 3050 mobile GPU with 4GB of video memory. It is a big step up over plain old integrated graphics, to be sure. As our benchmarks show, you can get playable frame rates at 1080p in modern games. But only just. It’s not a truly high performance gaming GPU.

You can optionally go for the RTX 3060, which will improve your frame rates. But even that GPU isn’t nearly powerful enough to play games at the XPS’s native 4K-plus screen resolution. Even Nvidia’s fastest mobile GPU, the RTX 3080 Ti, is only just capable of that.

Anyway, the point is that the XPS is certainly up for some casual gaming. But if gaming is one of your top priorities and you can afford this class of laptop, we’d recommend going with one of the best gaming laptops instead with at least an RTX 3070 GPU, something which is certainly available at this price point.

Performance: 4 / 5

Dell XPS 17 (2022): Battery Life

Impressive battery life for a large machine
Full workday battery life is doable

Large powerful laptops like the Dell XPS 17 (2022) used to be nailed-on certainties for awful battery life. Not these days. In light workloads like watching video and web browsing, you can expect over 10 hours of battery life. That’s true all-day performance.

Admittedly, if you do anything remotely demanding, that number will tumble dramatically, despite its ginormous 97WHr battery. But this certainly isn’t one of those old-school desktop replacement rigs that had you worrying about battery life the moment you unplugged from the outlet. This thing has legs.

Battery Life: 4 / 5

Should you buy a Dell XPS 17 (2022)?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

Dell XPS 17 (2022): Report Card

First reviewed July 2022

How We Test

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Acer Predator Orion 3000 (2022)

2:05 pm | July 18, 2022

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Gaming Computers Gaming PCs | Tags: CPU, RAM, UK, US | Comments: Off

Editor's Note

• Original review date: July 2022
• New model is out with updated components
• Launch price: $1,449 / £1,099
• Official price now: $1,449 / £1,099 (with new components)

Update: February 2024. We originally reviewed this model of the Acer Predator Orion 3000 almost two years ago, and we were so impressed that it went straight to the top of our best budget gaming PCs guide. Now in 2024, it is still in that list, but it has slipped down a few places, thanks to some more modern gaming PCs coming out. However, it remains a great budget buy, especially if you're looking for a compact gaming PC to play on. If you can find the model we reviewed here with the same components, you should be able to get it for a very good price as well. If you like the look of this machine but want more modern components, the good news is that Acer has released new models with 13th generation Intel processors, giving you a bit more future-proofing while keeping the same affordable price.

Acer Predator Orion 3000: One-Minute Review

The Acer Predator Orion 3000 desktop PC presents newer players with one of the best and most affordable opportunities to make their mark in the PC gaming scene. After all, there’s a reason why it sits comfortably at the top of TechRadar’s list of the best budget gaming PCs.

Acer’s latest Predator Orion 3000 line-up offers gamers the ability to choose from several mid-tier configurations that now include a 12th Gen Intel processor, an Nvidia RTX 30-series graphics card, and up to 64GB of DDR4 RAM, all packed neatly into a compact micro ATX case.

Understandably, this PC series makes a few compromises in terms of its components that can only be described as cost-saving measures. For example, although the Orion 3000 features both HDD and SSD storage, the most basic configurations tend to include just 256GB of the latter. Similarly, the Predator Orion 3000 series also features DDR4 RAM as opposed to the newer industry standard of DDR5.

Still, minor shortcomings aside, the hardware featured as part of the Acer Predator Orion 3000 series lends itself well to the average gamer. Plus, the PC is relatively easy to upgrade, should the need or desire to do so ever arise.

Acer Predator Orion 3000 desktop gaming PC on a desk with RGB lighting turned on. — (Image credit: Future)

Acer Predator Orion 3000: Price and Availability

Starting at $1,449 / £1,099
Available now from the Acer store and third-party retailers
You can buy it in the US, UK and worldwide

Spec Sheet

Here is the Acer Predator Orion 3000 configuration sent to TechRadar for review:

CPU: 12th Gen Intel Core i5-12400F (2.50 GHz)
Graphics: Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti
RAM: 16GB DDR4
Storage: 256GB M.2 SSD + 1TB HDD
Optical drive: N/A
Ports front: 1 x USB-A 3.1, 1 x USB-C, 1 x headphone jack and 1 x microphone jack
Ports back: 2 x USB-A 3.1, 4 x USB-A 3.0, 3 x analog audio jacks, 3 x DisplayPort, 1 x HDMI, Ethernet
Operating system: Windows 11 Home
Connectivity: Intel Killer E2600 Ethernet, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.0
Weight: 21 pounds (9.5 kg)
Size: 15.4 x 15.2 x 6.9 inches (392 x 386 x 175 mm)

The Acer Predator Orion 3000 gaming PC series can be found on sale in the US, UK, and worldwide, with a range of slightly varying configurations available depending on each gamer’s individual needs.

The latest iteration of the Orion 3000 series features the new Intel Alder Lake chipsets. The starting configuration is priced at $1,449 / £1,199 and includes a 12th Gen Intel Core i5 CPU, an Nvidia RTX 3060 GPU and 16GB of RAM, as well as 256GB of SSD and 1TB of HDD storage. Pricier variations allow users to opt for either an Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti or 3070 for the GPU and a 12th Gen Intel Core i7 processor for the CPU.

The configuration that TechRadar reviewed is a slightly more powerful model available in the UK for £1,299 (approximately $1,600 in the US). The Predator Orion 3000 arguably presents one of the best values for money especially when you take into account its decent gaming performance and esports-ready hardware. It could be even better value if any currently available Acer promo codes bring the price down more.

Price and Availability: 5/5

Acer Predator Orion 3000 desktop gaming PC shown side-on on a desk with RGB lighting turned on. — (Image credit: Future)

Acer Predator Orion 3000: Design

Neat, compact design
Configurable RGB lighting
Loud cooling fans

The Acer Predator Orion 3000 features the classic gaming black-and-RGB design within the confines of a compact micro ATX chassis.

At the front of the case, you’ll find a single USB Type-C port, alongside a Type-A USB 3.1 and two 3.5mm headphone and microphone ports. The PC’s back panel contains all the basic ports you can expect from your average gaming computer: four 3.0 USB Type-As, two 3.1 USB Type-As, and three analog audio ports. The back of the Nvidia RTX 30-series GPU allows gamers to connect their favorite display through either HDMI or DisplayPort.

In terms of software, the PC comes with a pre-installed version of Acer’s PredatorSense, which gamers can use to monitor internal temperatures, control the cooling fans and configure the RGB lighting system. It should be noted that on full blast, the PC’s cooling fans are extremely loud almost to the point of being distracting, even when using headphones on near-full volume.

In terms of hardware and affordability, the Acer Predator Orion 3000’s closest competitor would likely be the latest HP Omen product range, which can typically be found on offer for a similar price. However, it should be noted that in terms of design, the Predator Orion 3000 is the likely winner in the match-up.

The HP Omen comes equipped with a full ATX case, which – despite its slight upgradability advantage – will wind up taking up much more desk space. Another key aspect within the match-up is that the HP Omen series often receives criticism for its uninspiring design – something the Predator Orion 3000 excels at with its sleek appearance.

Design: 4/5

Acer Predator Orion 3000 desktop gaming PC shown from the rear. A Snorlax Pokemon plushie sits next to it. — (Image credit: Future)

Acer Predator Orion 3000: Performance

Great gaming performance
Decent CPU benchmarking results
Minimal SSD storage on cheapest configurations

Benchmarks

Here is how the Acer Predator Orion 3000 performed in our suite of benchmark tests:

3DMark: Night Raid: 50,215; Fire Strike: 22,948; Time Spy: 10,381
Cinebench R23 multi-core: 11,164 points
GeekBench 5: 1,436 (single-core); 7,537 (multi-core)
PCMark 10 (Modern Office): 7,160 points
Total War: Warhammer III (1080p, Ultra): 78 fps; (1080p, Low): 246 fps
Cyberpunk 2077 (1080p, Ultra): 76 fps; (1080p, Low): 115 fps
Dirt 5 (1080p, Ultra): 98 fps; (1080p, Low): 219 fps

Although the Acer Predator Orion 3000 can be considered an affordable option, this certainly doesn’t mean that it compromises on gaming performance as much as you would expect from a budget PC. Thanks to the inclusion of an Nvidia 30-series graphics card, the Predator Orion 3000 is capable of coasting through even the most graphically intensive games such as Cyberpunk 2077 and Total War: Warhammer III, consistently hitting over 70 fps on both titles on Ultra settings.

The Acer Predator Orion 3000’s performance in our usual benchmarking tests exceeded expectations too. For example, our review unit’s duo of Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti and Intel Core i5 processor achieved 7,160 points in the PCMark 10 test. This meant that the Predator Orion 3000’s hardware scored higher than 93% of other PCs and placed higher than the average premium gaming PC from two years ago.

Overall, given the wide range of configurations available for purchase, the Acer Predator Orion 3000 line-up is perfectly capable of catering to most players looking to break into the world of PC gaming. Despite its lack of DDR5 RAM across the series and its base models including just 256GB of SSD storage, both are arguably minor shortcomings and can be easily overlooked considering the product’s reasonable price.

Although those on the lookout for more premium hardware would likely benefit from exploring other options, this gaming computer is a solid choice for those looking to balance a decent gaming performance with a more than palatable price range.

Performance: 4/5

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

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First reviewed July 2022.

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Acer Predator Orion 3000 (2022)

2:05 pm |

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Gaming Computers Gaming PCs | Tags: CPU, RAM, UK, US | Comments: Off

Editor's Note

• Original review date: July 2022
• New model is out with updated components
• Launch price: $1,449 / £1,099
• Official price now: $1,449 / £1,099 (with new components)

Acer Predator Orion 3000: One-Minute Review

Acer Predator Orion 3000: Price and Availability

Starting at $1,449 / £1,099
Available now from the Acer store and third-party retailers
You can buy it in the US, UK and worldwide

Spec Sheet

Here is the Acer Predator Orion 3000 configuration sent to TechRadar for review:

Price and Availability: 5/5

Acer Predator Orion 3000: Design

Neat, compact design
Configurable RGB lighting
Loud cooling fans

The Acer Predator Orion 3000 features the classic gaming black-and-RGB design within the confines of a compact micro ATX chassis.

Design: 4/5

Acer Predator Orion 3000: Performance

Great gaming performance
Decent CPU benchmarking results
Minimal SSD storage on cheapest configurations

Benchmarks

Here is how the Acer Predator Orion 3000 performed in our suite of benchmark tests:

Performance: 4/5

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First reviewed July 2022.

How We Test

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HP Victus 15 review

7:27 pm | July 5, 2022

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Gaming Computers Gaming Laptops | Tags: Battery Life, CPU, RAM, US | Comments: Off

Editor's Note

• Original review date: July 2022
• Launch price: Starts at $599 (about £490 / AU$865)
• New models now out

Update – September 2024: The 2022 model reviewed here is now pretty outdated - especially when it comes to the graphics card. The good news is that since we reviewed this model, HP has continued to launch updated HP Victus gaming laptops, which remain some of the best cheap gaming laptops money can buy.

The most recent model, the HP Victus 16, was released earlier in 2024, and while its starting price is a bit higher than the Victus 15, it still represents brilliant value for money. Its graphics card is the RTX 4050, an excellent budget GPU that punches well above its weight thanks to DLSS 3.0 upscaling, and it's a marked improvement over the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 that comes with the Victus 15 from 2022.

So, while you might still find this model selling for temptingly low prices at some retailers, I would recommend spending a bit more on the Victus 16 - you'll get a much better gaming experience without having to spend the kind of money some of the best (and most expensive) gaming laptops demand.

Original review follows.

HP Victus 15: Two minute review

The HP Victus 15 is what you should envision when you think about what a budget gaming laptop should be.

One of the latest models in HP’s growing lineup of low-cost gaming machines, the Victus 15 starts off extremely affordable without compromising too much on specs and only moderately increases in price as the specs climd higher. It's certainly a no-frills option that lacks a lot of refinement, but you at least get three simple colors options (mica silver, performance blue, and ceramic white) for the chassis, so it's not a bad looking laptop either.

Jump to

Price and availability
Design
Performance
Features
Should I buy?
Also consider

The Victus 15 is sturdy and a bit chunky, so bags that aren’t made to carry around larger gaming laptops will have a harder time fitting it. The HP Victus 15 has a good assortment of ports and its 15.6-inch display is pretty good for the price, with solid viusuals and resolution even in higher settings, and the 144Hz refresh rate is surprisingly good.

The bezels are perfectly fine but nothing particularly noteworthy, and the webcam is pretty clear, so it’ll treat you well during streaming sessions. The keyboard is just as basic as its laptop's exterior and there’s no key backlight, which makes gaming in the dark a bit harder. On the plus side, there is a tenkey numpad on the right. Meanwhile, the keys are a good size and would be easy to type on but are a bit too smooth, which can trip you up occasionally and result in more typos.

The Victus 15 comes with either an AMD Ryzen 5 or an Intel Core i5 for the CPU and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 mobile GPU, the latter of which really helps keep the price down. Despite the lower spec, it runs graphically intensive games pretty smoothly, even if it doesn't play something like Cyberpunk 2077 at Ultra settings very well.

Its battery life is similar to many of the other best gaming laptops, which is to say not great at all. If you’re lucky, you can keep it alive for about four and a half hours but it’s much safer to simply keep it on the charger. Its charge time is fairly decent at least so you won’t be waiting too long if you stick with the out-of-the-box charger, but it might be worth investing in a USB Type-C charger if you need something faster.

For those looking for the best cheap gaming laptop that brings a great gaming experience at a seriously affordable price, the HP Victus 15 is one to check out for sure. Though it’s simple in design and a bit bulky, its specs will run nearly any title in your Steam library at 30 FPS at least, as well as balance other work or school-related tasks.

HP Victus 15: Price and availability

An HP Victus 15 on a desk — (Image credit: Future)

Excellent price
Limited availability outside the US at this time

The HP Victus 15 starts at an incredibly low price of $599 (about £490 / AU$865) in the US with the lowest specs. The price increases with additional upgrades like an AMD Ryzen 7 or Intel Core i7, an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU, 16GB memory, or a 512 GB SSD, with the highest price coming in at about $1,200 (about £980 / AU$1,730). Don't forget to take a look at HP promo codes available to potentially save more.

In the UK and Australia, this laptop appears to have very limited availability at this time, and we aren't sure if or when it will become available in those regions. We've reached out to HP for clarification and will update this review if we hear back from the company.

Value: 4 / 5

HP Victus 15: Design

An HP Victus 15 sitting on a desk — (Image credit: Future)

Hefty and well-built
Solid display and keyboard
Good port selection

If you need an exterior that’s made of sturdy material and has a solid weight, then the HP Victus 15 is definitely up your alley. At five pounds, it has some heft to it which is great since it can take quite a beating, but it can also be a downside when you need to carry it around. This is a laptop that, thanks to both its weight and size, will most likely challenge the bags of most users.

HP Victus 15 Key Specs

Here is the HP Victus 15 configuration sent to TechRadar for review:

CPU: Intel Core i5-12450H
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650
RAM: 8GB
Screen: 15.6-inch FHD IPS LED Display, 144Hz
Storage: 512GB SSD
Ports: 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 1 x Power port, 1 x HDMI 2.1, 1 x SD Card Reader, 1 x Combo Jack, 1 x Ethernet port
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2
Camera: 720p
Weight: 5.06 pounds (2.3 kg)
Size (W x D x H): 14.09 x 10.04 x 0.93 ins | 357.89 x 255.02 x 23.6 mm

An interesting feature of the HP Victus 15 is that it’s partially made of post-consumer recycled and ocean-bound plastic, uses water-based paint, and has wholly recycled packaging.

Yet the recycled parts don’t seem to impact the all-around quality of the laptop’s build. The paint job is well-done and of good quality, which is rather disappointing considering how basic the three color choices are.

There are a good range of ports including two USB Type-A ports, a Type-C port, an Ethernet port, an SD Card slot, an HDMI port, and a combo jack. It makes for a versatile laptop that is not only great for gaming but for work-related tasks as well.

The display itself is 1080p, and it looks great when playing on High and Ultra settings with other graphical features enabled, especially thanks to its 144Hz refresh rate.

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The bezels offer decent screen real estate but aren’t particularly thin or efficient in terms of preserving screen space. Its webcam is unfortunately 720p HD, and though it’s not the best resolution it still gets the job done.

It displays your face clearing while streaming during a gaming session, as well as for video meetings. There’s no backlight for the keyboard, which otherwise is a very simple and sensible one with a good sized trackpad, limiting gaming to well-lit areas.

Design: 4 / 5

HP Victus 15: Performance

The Intel and Nvidia stickers on the HP Victus 15 — (Image credit: Future)

Can play most demanding games just fine
Good ventilation for heat disipation
Works great as a school or work laptop

Though it’s a budget gaming laptop, the HP Victus 15 takes air circulation seriously, with a dual-fan setup and a much larger air vent at the bottom of the laptop than in previous models. Even during more intensive gameplay segments, it barely generated any real heat.

In terms of gaming performance, this is a budget laptop and as such there are certain concessions to be made when dealing with lower specs. For instance, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Laptop GPU that the lowest spec HP Victus 15 laptops are outfitted with only comes with 4GB VRAM.

During our test run with Dirt 5, both benchmark and normal gameplay, error messages would occasionally pop up to warn about the VRAM getting too low. And this was despite the game itself running at 30 FPS on the highest setting and at around 75 FPS on the lowest.

HP Victus 15 Benchmarks

Here is how the HP Victus 15 performed in our suite of benchmark tests:

Cinebench R23 Multi-core: 10,082
3DMark Night Raid: 30,805; Fire Strike: 8,935; Time Spy: 3,645
GeekBench 5 (single-core): 1,596; (multi-core): 6,897
PCMark 10 (Home Test): 6,361
PCMark 10 Battery Life: 4:33
Battery Life (TechRadar movie test): 4:14
Total War: Warhammer III (1080p, Low): 82 fps; (1080p, Ultra): 34 fps
Cyberpunk 2077 (1080p, Low): 48 fps; (1080p, Ultra): 24 fps
Dirt 5 (1080p, Low): 76 fps; (1080p, Ultra): 31 fps

The issue of low VRAM didn’t show up in other test runs with titles like Cyberpunk 2077, Total War: Warhammer III, and Hitman 3. On the lowest setting Cyberpunk ran at 48 FPS, which sounds bad but the game still looks and runs impressively. But you definitely won’t be maxing out your settings on this title.

Total War: Warhammer III runs at about 34 FPS on average at Ultra and 82 on Low, so if this kind of game is more your jam you can feel free to crank up the settings, but Medium is where you’ll get the best balance of framerate and graphics.

Hitman 3 was a true surprise, considering how demanding it is to run. During our test, we were able to crank up the setting to the second-highest preset and the VIctus 15 still ran above 60 FPS on average. This machine loves Hitman 3 and it shows.

The HP Victus 15 performed below other gaming laptops in the standard benchmarks like Cinebench, Geekbench, PCMark10, and 3DMark. But there wasn’t a huge discrepancy between those scores despite the machine we tested running far less powerful tech compared to other budget laptops.

In other non-gaming related tasks, the HP Victus 15 performs well. It’s able to juggle multiple tasks like streaming movies, voice/video conference calls, editing documents, and more. If you’re looking for a well-balanced laptop, this is a good option.

Performance: 4 / 5

HP Victus 15: Battery life

An HP Victus 15 running Excel and using up its battery — (Image credit: Future)

As with many gaming laptops, the battery is the worst aspect by far and the HP Victus 15 is no exception. In both our battery tests, the laptop only lasted a little over four hours, which is half of a full work day. When we used it for non-strenuous daily tasks, it lasted about the same amount of time. For gaming the battery dies much faster, which would limit sessions to maybe two hours at most.

However, its charge time isn’t bad when using the charger it comes with, taking around an hour to get to a little over 60% charged. That time would be faster if using a USB Type-C charger, and something we’d recommend if that option is available.

Battery Life: 2 / 5

Should I buy an HP Victus 15?

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First reviewed July 2022

Acer Nitro 5 (2022) review

8:00 pm | June 23, 2022

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Gaming Computers Gaming Laptops | Tags: CPU, HD, RAM, Total War | Comments: Off

Editor's Note

• Original review date: June 2022
• Launch price: Started at $999 / £1,099 / around AU$1,600
• Target price now (updated model): Starts at $999 / £999 / AU$1,500

Update – July 2024: Acer's Nitro budget gaming brand is still truckin', though the humble Nitro 5 is no longer the star of the show as new Nitro 16 and Nitro 17 laptops have now arrived on the scene.

The exact Core i5 model from 2022 reviewed here is no longer available to buy directly from Acer (although it can still be found at some third-party retailers), though there are newer models still available - hence the lack of a significant price drop in the above target pricing. The current-gen configuration comes with a newer Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 graphics card, making it a straight upgrade without a bump in price; always a welcome sight.

While the Nitro 5 isn't the best laptop on the market, it was never trying to be. Instead, it aims to be the best cheap laptop - and indeed, for a while in 2022 it occupied the 'best budget' spot on our ranking of the best gaming laptops. It might be starting to show its age a bit now, but the Acer Nitro 5 is still a solid choice of gaming machine for buyers on a budget.

Acer Nitro 5 (2022): Two minute review

The Acer Nitro 5 (2022) is an excellent option for anyone looking for a budget gaming laptop, considering how the current market demand for more affordable gaming PCs and laptops has soared in recent months.

For the most part, the Nitro 5 is one of the best cheap gaming laptops around thanks to its great performance, offering a well-rounded gaming experience for its price point. In terms of specs, the Acer Nitro 5 sports some beefy specs for a budget machine, which means it runs most games at 30 FPS at least with maxed-out settings and much higher under more reasonable settings.

Jump to

Price and availability
Design
Performance
Battery Life
Should I buy?

The screen is a 15.6-inch display with thin bezels to maximize the space but unfortunately no anti-glare, which means it’ll be that much harder to game when you’re outside in direct sunlight. The keyboard is simple but smooth and easy to use, with wide keys and a tenkey numpad on the right side. It’s also backlit for easy gaming in the dark or dimmer lighting. The touchpad is also smooth and very responsive with no noticeable input delays.

The chassis feels solid and well-built and while it’s not thin and lightweight by any stretch of the imagination, it’s still lighter than many other bulkier gaming laptops and relatively easy to carry around. It’s also well ventilated, using a dual-fan and four-exhaust setup to keep the temperatures low.

Its battery life is easily the worst feature, as it runs out of power in about four hours with regular, non-gaming use. The cable it comes with is a very slow charge, so you’ll have to splurge for a fast charging one yourself to take advantage of the built in Thunderbolt 4 support. The second worst is the 720p webcam with an average-at-best clarity, but unlike some other budget laptops you at least have one built in.

It supports Wi-Fi 6E, which means a much faster internet connection whether at home or on the go. This is a great option for streaming games when you can’t tether your laptop, though it does hinge on whether the Wifi used supports it.

The Acer Nitro 5 is a well-rounded gaming laptop that has some solid performance falling right in line with its competition, except when it comes to its below average battery life. Though not the sexiest, it’s fairly portable with a large screen size and very affordable as well, which is a definitely a bonus nowadays.

Acer Nitro 5 (2022): Price and availability

An Acer Nitro 5 sitting on a desk — (Image credit: Future)

How much does it cost? Starting at $999/£1,099
When can you get it? It is available now in the US and UK.
Where can you get it? You can get it in the US through Best Buy, and in the UK through the Acer online storefront.

The Acer Nitro 5 is available in the US through Best Buy and in the UK through the Acer online store, with Australian availability yet to be announced. The configuration on offer features a 12th-Gen Intel Core i5-12500H, Nvidia RTX 3050 Ti dedicated graphics, 16GB DDR4 RAM, and a 512GB PCIe SSD. Look out for any Acer promo codes that could bring the cost down.

Value: 4/5

Acer Nitro 5 (2022): Design

A very no-frills, sturdy design
Well-designed and practical keyboard

When you think of the best gaming laptops, the first thing that pops in your head might be one on the thicker side, with a simple black metal exterior, and a bezel that’s thin but nothing out of the ordinary. In other words, a fully functional design that does little to stand out. And the Acer Nitro 5 fits that to a T.

Spec Sheet

Here is the Acer Nitro 5 (2022) configuration sent to TechRadar for review:
CPU: Intel Core i5-12500H
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti
RAM: 16GB DDR4
Screen: 15.6-inch IPS, FHD, 144Hz
Storage: 512 PCIe SSD
Ports: 3 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 1 x Thunderbolt 4, 1 x power port, 1 x HDMI 2.1, 1 x SD Card Reader, 1 x Combo Jack, 1 x Kensington Slot
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2
Camera: 720p
Weight: 5.51lbs | 2.5kg
Size (W x D x H): 14.19 x 10.67 x 1.06 ins | 360.4 x 271.0 x 26.9 mm
Battery: 57WHr

It has a sturdy and high quality build that’s fitting for a gaming computer. It has a good amount of heft to it, so you’ll definitely feel its weight if you carry it around with you, but its size isn’t excessive enough to cause genuine stress either. As long as you have a good quality laptop bag with some decent space, it doesn’t take up too much room and won’t overburden you either.

If there’s anything about the Acer Nitro 5 that stands out, it’s the keyboard. The keys are black with a white outline, lay mostly flat, and are wider than a standard keyboard’s keys. This gives it a very distinctive look that may be visually polarizing but serves a more practical purpose, which is to make typing on them much easier for those who have thicker fingers or generally shaky hands.

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The smooth and flat surface also means it’s easier for fingers to glide from key to key, which is extremely important when in an intense gaming session that requires fast input. There’s also a numlock pad on the right, putting number keys in an easy to reach position.

The thin bezels are somewhat notable, as they help to maximize the screen real estate while also preventing the screen itself from having to increase in size and make the whole laptop larger and clunkier.

Its port selection is standard but in a good way, with a nice variety of ports and slots to suit most needs. There are three USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-As and one Type-C, an HDMI port, an SD Card Reader, a headphones jack, and a Kensington Slot for added security. It also comes with a Thunderbolt 4 port, which is excellent for fast charging though you’ll have to purchase the cable yourself.

Design: 3/5

Acer Nitro 5 (2022): Performance

Performs well graphically for its configuration
Good quality HD screen

One of the most important yet underrated features of any gaming laptop is the circulation. No matter how cutting edge the specs are, if the airflow is terrible your PC is heading down to crash town. But the Acer Nitro 5 has a solid setup which includes dual-fan cooling, quad exhausts located on each side, and even an upper air intake situated above the keyboard. This translates to a very well cooled machine that hasn’t overheated in the countless hours I played around with it.

Benchmarks

Here is how the Acer Nitro 5 performed in our suite of benchmark tests:

3DMark: Night Raid: 35,782; Fire Strike: 13,238; Time Spy: 5,831
Cinebench R23 Multi-core: 11,085 points
GeekBench 5: 1,691 (single-core); 8,596 (multi-core)
PCMark 10 (Home Test): 6,536 points
PCMark 10 Battery Life: 2 hours and 31 minutes
Battery Life (TechRadar movie test): 3 hours and 56 minutes
Total War: Warhammer III (1080p, Ultra): 52 fps; (1080p, Low): 130 fps
Cyberpunk 2077 (1080p, Ultra): 76 fps; (1080p, Low): 135 fps

In terms of performance during a gaming session, it runs most graphically demanding titles pretty smoothly. We tested it using both Total War: Warhammer III and Cyberpunk 2077 and without any of the magic of ray-tracing and integrated graphics, both games are able to maintain about 30-50 FPS in Ultra settings and between 70-130 FPS in Low settings. And considering that this laptop’s benchmarks are actually a bit higher than two of the other budget competitors, it makes sense that it’s able to hold its own.

Complementing the visuals is a competent sound setup made of dual 2W speakers. While not groundbreaking in any way, the music and sound effects are immersive and support the graphics well. The keyboard is smooth, responsive, and feels satisfying to use; not to mention the red backlight is always a nice touch, especially during late night gaming sessions.

Also complementing the visuals is the 15.6-inch QHD screen, with a resolution of 2560 X1440. This is further supported by the 165Hz refresh rate and 3ms response time, meaning that not only do the graphics look nice but the visuals are crisp and smooth.

The webcam is nothing to write home about, as it’s a substandard 720p resolution that looks okay but not super crisp and clear. It’s good for Zoom meetings and will manage during streams, but don’t expect anything polished either.

All around this laptop performs pretty well for a budget machine, passing nearly every benchmark handedly. Framerate is better than you’d expect from the hardware it has, which is no doubt the CPU carrying its full weight. It has a great circulation setup, which no doubt contributes to its overall performance, and the sound supports the visuals perfectly with no breakups or other quality issues.

Performance: 4/5

Acer Nitro 5 (2022): Battery Life

Does not last long at all
Has a Thunderbolt option for charging

If there’s one thing that weighs down the Acer Nitro 5 and it’s the abysmal battery life. Even under normal working conditions the battery can’t seem to go past a few hours before needing a recharge, and the charge time itself is rather slow. Do yourself a favor and buy a Thunderbolt 4 charger instead.

When we ran a standard 1080p movie test, which involves looping a movie at normal settings until the battery life runs out, the battery didn’t even make it to the four hour mark before dying. The results of the PC Mark 10 Battery Life benchmark were a bit more surprising, as the laptop matched its two competitors pretty closely with its score of 6536. This is despite the other two laptops having a battery life of at least eight hours.

Battery life: 1/5

Should I buy an Acer Nitro 5 (2022)?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

First reviewed June 2022

Acer Aspire 5 (2022) review

4:31 pm | June 14, 2022

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Laptops Windows Laptops | Tags: CPU, RAM, UK, US | Comments: Off

Editor's Note

• Original review date: June 2022
• Newer Aspire 5 with 13th-gen Intel CPUs available now
• Launch price: $600 / £450 / AU$1,399
• Official starting price now: $549 / £599 / AU$1,199

Updated: January 2024. It's been a year and a half since we reviewed this version of the Acer Aspire 5, and you can now snap up a few different configurations (which vary between regions) equipped with newer 13th-gen Intel processors. You can still snap this exact model up from retailers like Amazon - where it's now a fair bit cheaper than the latest version - and we still think the Aspire 5 is one of the best cheap laptops out there, regardless of version. The rest of this review remains as previously published.

Acer Aspire 5: Two-minute review

When looking at Acer’s website, you could be forgiven for thinking that the Acer Aspire 5 is an expensive, high-end laptop that includes a 12th generation i7 processor and powerful GeForce graphics card. But, as we’ve found with Acer in the past, the company’s website tends to just focus on its top-of-the-range models, and leaves you to find out about other options that might be available.

In this instance, it turns out that the Aspire 5 is available with a wide range of different models and specifications - in fact, there are more than 60 different configurations listed on Acer’s US website, including 17.3-inch and 15.6-inch displays, with both Intel and AMD processors. And, if you search long enough, you may even find the entry-level 14-inch version of the Aspire 5 that we review here, which is based on an older 11th generation i5 processor.

That’s clearly not the powerful laptop “for accelerated photo and video editing performance” that Acer promises, but if you judge the Aspire 5 on its own merits then it undeniably is one of the best cheap laptops for routine web browsing and productivity tasks.

Spec Sheet

Here is the Acer Aspire 5 configuration sent to TechRadar for review:

CPU: Intel Core i5-1135G7 @ 2.4GHz
Graphics: Integrated Iris Xe
RAM: 8GB DDR4
Storage: 512GB PCIe SSD
Screen: 14-inch, 1920x1080 resolution
Ports: 1x USB-C, 3x USB-A (3.2), 1x audio, 1x HDMI, 1x Gigabit Ethernet
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0
Camera: 720p
Size: 0.71 x 12.9 x 8.8 inches (18 x 327.7 x 223.5mm)
Weight: 3.75lb (1.7kg)

Acer Aspire 5 laptop on a desk, lid closed — (Image credit: Future)

Acer Aspire 5: Price and availability

Around $600 in the US, and £450 in the UK
Available now in the US and UK, with limited availability down under
Wide range of models, some from Acer, some from online retailers

Acer’s pricing and sales information can also be a bit confusing. Some of the models listed on its web site can be bought direct from Acer, while others are sold through online retailers and high street stores - such as Currys in the UK - so you may need to search around online if there’s a specific model that you require.

As mentioned, we tested an Aspire 5 model with 14-inch screen, which also includes Windows 10 Home, a quad-core i5-1135G7 processor running at 2.4GHz (up to 4.2GHz with Turboboost), along with 8GB memory and 512GB solid-state drive. Acer’s US web site actually lists two different prices for that specification - $669.99 or $599.99, depending on which web page you look at.

You can’t buy that model direct from Acer in the UK, although it is available from a number of online retailers for around £450.00. Australia, oddly, just gets a single Aspire 5 model with a larger 15.6-inch display and i7 processor for AU$1399.00.

Value: 4/5

Acer Aspire 5 laptop keyboard viewed top-down — (Image credit: Future)

Acer Aspire 5: Design

Bright 1080p display
Wi-Fi 6 and Gigabit Ethernet
Just one USB-C

You’re not going to get cutting-edge design at this price level, and the Aspire 5 has a fairly conventional clamshell design, with chunky borders around the edge of the screen that look a little dated. Acer’s website - unclear as ever - indicates that it’s available in a variety of colors, but the models sold on its website all seem to just be either black or silver.

It gets the basics right, though, with a sturdy chassis that should be able to cope with a few bumps in a backpack or bag when you’re traveling. And while it’s no ultrabook, the Aspire 5 only weighs 1.7kg and measures 18mm thick, so it’s perfectly portable when it needs to be. The keyboard feels firm and comfortable for typing, and there’s a fingerprint sensor on the trackpad for security. The only real weakness here is the thin L-shaped power connector, which sticks out from the side of the laptop and looks a little vulnerable.

The 14-inch screen only provides 1920x1080 resolution, but it’s bright and clear, with good viewing angles. We’re also pleased to see that it has a matte finish that helps to reduce glare and reflection. The 720p webcam is a bit basic, but the image quality was better than we’d expected - it gets a bit grainy if the light is low, but some decent daylight produces an image that’s sharp enough for video calls.

The built-in speakers are a bit feeble, though. The sound is fine for just watching some videos on YouTube, but if you want to listen to some decent music then you’ll need to plug some headphones or speakers into the audio socket on the right-hand edge of the laptop. However, connectivity is a bit of a mixed bag, with just a single USB-C port, and three USB-A (3.2) for connecting peripherals and other devices. Thankfully, the Aspire 5 does include Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 for wireless connectivity, with Gigabit Ethernet also available for wired networks, and HDMI for an external display.

Design: 3.5/5

Side-on shot of Acer Aspire 5 laptop showing ports — (Image credit: Future)

Acer Aspire 5: Performance

Respectable performance for office software
Casual gaming only

Benchmarks

3DMark: Night Raid: 12,300; Fire Strike: 3,015; Time Spy: 1,280
Cinebench R23: Multi-core - 4,800
GeekBench 5: 1,417 (single-core); 4,440 (multi-core)
PCMark 10: 4820 points
PCMark 10 Battery Life: 6 hours, 35 minutes
Battery Life (TechRadar movie test): 6 hours, 37 minutes

Rather than the i7 processor and GeForce graphics that Acer boasts about on its website, this entry-level model is equipped with a more modest i5 processor, with integrated Iris Xe graphics. Even so, it still provides respectable performance for a laptop in this price range, with a score of 1,417 for single-core performance and 4,440 for multi-core. For real-world applications, the PCMark 10 test suite gives the Aspire 5 a score of 1280, which qualifies as a perfectly respectable ‘office laptop’. Admittedly, that score leaves it just below the halfway mark in the PCMark 10 results tables, but that’s not bad going for an i5 laptop in this price range, and the Aspire 5 will be fine for web browsing and running productivity software such as Microsoft Office.

The Aspire’s integrated Iris Xe graphics won’t win any awards either, with 3DMark scores that generally leave it in the ‘less than 20fps’ category. But, to be fair, 3DMark does use very high graphics settings, so if you don’t mind turning the graphics quality down a little you might even be able to get a bit of casual gaming done every now and then.

Performance: 3.5/5

Acer Aspire 5: Battery Life

6.5 hours for movies
6.5 hours for productivity software

Acer’s website goes typically overboard, boasting up to 10 hours of battery life for the Aspire 5. In fact, our tests recorded very similar scores of just over 6.5 hours for both playing movies and the applications-based PCMark test suite.

Even so, that’s not too bad for a low-cost laptop such as this, and if you’re not using wi-fi then the Aspire 5 should give you a full day’s work when you’re on the move.

Battery life: 4/5

Should you buy the Acer Aspire 5 (2022)?

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First reviewed June 2022

How We Test

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