The 10 Best Acer Laptops

Editor's Notes

December 23, 2020:

Acer's current lineup offers both budget-friendly and high-performance machines. The Spin 311 and Chromebook 715 are great choices for Chromebooks, and the Aspire 3 offers passable processing power at a low price for a Windows machine. On the other end of the spectrum, the TravelMate P6 is ideal for traveling professionals, the Predator Helios 300 and Predator Triton 500 have excellent gaming hardware, and the supremely interesting ConceptD 3 Pro has one of the best displays on the market, while the Spin 5 is one of the highest-resolution 2-in-1s currently available at its price point.

By far the most interesting, and easily the best value, though, is the Acer Swift 3. Its powerful Ryzen CPU, sleek and light construction, and bevy of advanced features make it an almost unheard-of bargain for its cost.

September 05, 2019:

Acer's reputation has increased significantly in the last few years as their reliability and quality control have gotten much better. If you're in the market for an affordable and useful laptop, they're a great choice. You'll notice, though, that their naming conventions are somewhat inconsistent, as models like the Aspire 5 come in wildly different configurations and at very different prices. If you're going for the ultimate in affordability and insist on using Windows 10, the AMD version of the Aspire 5 is a great the way to go. It's only a few hundred bucks and the hardware inside it is actually pretty impressive. For just a couple hundred more, you can go with the Ryzen-equipped Aspire 3, which is just about as cost-effective but simply offers more processing power. If you're cool with using Chrome OS, their Chromebook is particularly inexpensive, but the operating system itself can be a little restrictive.

If you're willing make a decent investment, there are several great options to choose from. We particularly like the LTE version of the Swift 3, as very few laptops right now have integrated 4G modems. If you want to play games, it's awfully hard to beat the Helios 300 for the price, and the Spin 3 and 5 are fantastic convertible 2-in-1s that make media consumption especially easy.

If you're okay with dropping notably more cash, there are good options for you as well. The Switch 7 Black is their latest detachable, and it's a bit surprising how much power they've packed into it. Incidentally, this research was done and note written on a Switch Alpha 12, which is a 3-year-old detachable with a 6th-gen Intel CPU, and it's still going strong after many months of full-time use; newer models have improved on it with better heat dissipation and slightly increased battery life, but the battery is still a bit limiting, in part because of the super-high-resolution screen. And if you want the most power you can possibly get, the Triton 500 is built around some of the most advanced graphics and processing technologies yet developed, but again, you will pay for the high-quality hardware.