1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:07,600 You could point at almost any major category in tech these days, TVs, 2 00:00:05,120 --> 00:00:11,599 phones, computers, and you could make the argument that the pace of 3 00:00:09,120 --> 00:00:17,680 technological advancement has slowed and they've gotten boring. But here's one 4 00:00:14,559 --> 00:00:19,920 that's really exciting. Sub $1,000 5 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:24,240 gaming laptops these days, compared to even models from a couple of years ago, 6 00:00:22,080 --> 00:00:30,640 are amazing. And the new generation of Nvidia graphics cards is a big part of 7 00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:32,719 the reason. So, the GTX 1650 mobile GPU 8 00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:37,360 is actually priced the same as the outgoing 1050Ti, 9 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:41,360 but it's got a fair bit more power under the hood. So, if you're a cheap gamer or 10 00:00:39,680 --> 00:00:45,680 even just someone who cares about getting good value for your dollar, we 11 00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:51,280 think you should give the Acer Nitro 7 and especially the Nitro 5 a really good 12 00:00:49,120 --> 00:00:57,520 look. So, let's talk about what they did right and what they left out to keep 13 00:00:54,399 --> 00:01:05,840 these budget beasts affordable. 14 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:11,920 The look of the Nitro 5 is a bit divisive. Although the overall feel of 15 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:16,240 the machine is pretty good, and I appreciate the much smaller bezels, the 16 00:01:14,320 --> 00:01:22,640 red accents on the keyboard and the trackpad along with loads of plastic 17 00:01:19,280 --> 00:01:24,720 make the Nitro 5 look a bit toylike. Its 18 00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:29,200 better endowed cousin, the Nitro 7, improves on this a bit with a slightly 19 00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:33,439 more premium screen backing and less red, but it still falls into the trap of 20 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:38,240 looking like something that a high schooler might think looks pretty dope. 21 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:42,320 On both models, you'll find heaps of I/IO. They've got four USB ports, 22 00:01:40,479 --> 00:01:46,799 including one type-C, along with headphones, full-size HDMI, and 23 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:53,200 Ethernet, which you thankfully won't need too often since unlike the Zephris 24 00:01:49,280 --> 00:01:55,920 G502, the 2019 Nitro lineup includes 2x2 25 00:01:53,200 --> 00:02:00,399 Wi-Fi cards by default. Of course, those are minor details. And after that intro, 26 00:01:58,079 --> 00:02:06,960 what everyone wants to know is what kind of performance we can squeeze out of an 27 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:10,080 $800 laptop. Well, good news. The GTX 28 00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:13,760 1650 put on a really good show, easily 29 00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:16,480 doing out 60 fps at 1080p in every game 30 00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:21,920 we tried without sacrificing too much eye candy. Compared to the GTX 1050Ti, 31 00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:26,400 we're actually looking at about a 20% improvement across the board. Now, 32 00:02:24,640 --> 00:02:31,200 that's not enough to make for a completely different experience from 33 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:35,680 last gen, but it is definitely noticeable. So games that previously 34 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:39,599 were best played on medium settings can now comfortably be set to high. Those 35 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:44,160 frames don't matter though if there isn't a good display panel to show them 36 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:48,959 on. And at first it seemed like the Nitro 7 was going to come away with an 37 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:53,599 easy win here. Its 8-bit panel is brighter, has richer colors, and maybe 38 00:02:51,519 --> 00:03:00,000 even higher contrast than the 6-bit panel found on the Nitro 5. But it turns 39 00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:04,879 out the Nitro 5 has an ace up its sleeve. When we tried overclocking the 40 00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:10,239 display panels using custom resolution utility, the Nitro 7 tapped out where 41 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:12,400 most laptops do, slightly above 60 Hz. 42 00:03:10,239 --> 00:03:18,480 The Nitro 5, on the other hand, just kept going and going all the way up to a 43 00:03:14,959 --> 00:03:20,720 whopping 90 hertz. Now, I don't want to 44 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:25,519 guarantee that your Nitro 5 will be able to display that many frames per second. 45 00:03:22,879 --> 00:03:31,040 This is way beyond the official spec, and Acer could be sourcing panels from 46 00:03:28,239 --> 00:03:35,519 multiple vendors. But on ours, games like Overwatch or Rainbow Six Siege 47 00:03:33,360 --> 00:03:40,159 appear noticeably smoother for a tangible competitive advantage. Now, if 48 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:44,799 you've got a mixed workload that includes some hobbyist level photo or 49 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:49,840 video editing, the Nitro 7 would still be a better bet. But if you primarily 50 00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:53,599 plan on gaming, in our mind, the Nitro 5 is the clear choice here. Above the 51 00:03:51,840 --> 00:04:00,000 screens, you'll find a webcam, which Acer brands as super high dynamic range. 52 00:03:57,599 --> 00:04:05,120 It looks a little something like this. I wouldn't exactly describe it as super, 53 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:07,680 but hey, at least they've got one. Zing, 54 00:04:05,120 --> 00:04:12,319 Asus. Uh, what's more impressive though is the speakers, which got pretty loud 55 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:16,400 and have a nice full sound. You know, that's another thing that has really 56 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:19,919 improved a lot on budget gaming laptops, right? Actually, Dell had really good ones a 57 00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:24,320 while ago, but they got worse. Okay, well, back to performance. If you 58 00:04:22,320 --> 00:04:29,120 do plan on using either of these for content creation or professional 59 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:32,240 purposes, the internal displays on either of them might not be perfect for 60 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:36,720 that, but there's always the option of hooking up to an external one for color 61 00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:42,639 critical work. So, we checked it out. The i5 processor in our Nitro 5 was very 62 00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:48,560 well behaved. It turboed up to about 4 GHz, settling in at 3 GHz on all four 63 00:04:45,840 --> 00:04:53,440 cores. That is well above base clock. But the i7 model was actually pretty 64 00:04:51,280 --> 00:04:58,240 disappointing. When we put it under an allcore load, the thermals were fine, 65 00:04:55,840 --> 00:05:03,520 but it immediately ran up against a power limit and settled in below its 66 00:05:00,639 --> 00:05:09,600 base clock at 2.4 GHz when hit with a demanding load. Now, thanks to its two 67 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:11,759 extra cores and its higher boost, it's 68 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:16,000 still the better processor out of the two. But if we're going to call out 69 00:05:13,919 --> 00:05:20,400 Apple for underbuilding their machines, then Acer needs to expect the same 70 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:23,680 treatment. Silver lining, um, at least this lack of adequate power delivery 71 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:27,120 means that neither laptop gets exceptionally loud under load. Both 72 00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:32,880 laptops are equipped with the same keyboard, and it's fine, just like it 73 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:36,800 was 2 years ago. But in light of recent competition, we think that Acer needs to 74 00:05:35,120 --> 00:05:42,080 seriously think about upgrading their keyboards across the entire lineup. It's 75 00:05:39,759 --> 00:05:46,800 still not terrible, but the keystrokes are a bit on the heavy side with very 76 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:52,720 little in the way of tactility. So, if you're able to justify the price jump to 77 00:05:48,639 --> 00:05:54,240 a Zephris G502 or an Alienware M15, your 78 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:57,520 fingers will thank you when you're writing long emails about why you 79 00:05:56,000 --> 00:06:02,960 couldn't finish your assignment because you were busy gaming. As for the 80 00:05:59,840 --> 00:06:04,720 trackpad, it's also fine. Fortunately, 81 00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:09,120 Acer is using the Windows precision drivers, but the chassis flex around the 82 00:06:07,039 --> 00:06:13,680 trackpad makes the clicks feel a bit mushy. Again, an area where I'll accept 83 00:06:11,919 --> 00:06:18,560 it today, especially at this price point, but Acer needs to consider 84 00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:20,639 improving it for next year. The 55watth 85 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:24,000 battery found in the Nitro 5 and 7 is about what you'd expect in this price 86 00:06:22,080 --> 00:06:27,840 range. And since the components aren't too power- hungry, and actually the 87 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:31,759 screens on both are a bit on the dim side, you can actually use the Nitro 5 88 00:06:30,160 --> 00:06:36,479 away from the wall for close to eight hours if you're just surfing the web, 89 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:38,880 with the Nitro 7 coming in closer to 7. 90 00:06:36,479 --> 00:06:44,000 Both laptops feature great upgradability with easy access to RAM, two M.2 drive 91 00:06:41,759 --> 00:06:48,479 slots, and space for a 2 and 1/2 in drive. So, we love this because it means 92 00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:52,880 you don't have to sweat it when you don't have a ton of money today. So, you 93 00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:56,960 select an 8 gig RAM 128 gig storage option hoping that you'll have more 94 00:06:54,800 --> 00:07:01,360 money when you finish your program and you can expand it later. So, then with 95 00:06:59,039 --> 00:07:07,120 that in mind, should you actually buy either of these laptops? Well, the $830 96 00:07:04,479 --> 00:07:10,880 price tag on the Nitro 5 is really hard to complain about. And if you want a 97 00:07:08,639 --> 00:07:15,680 game on a budget, the 90 Hz display overclock will give you a surprisingly 98 00:07:13,039 --> 00:07:19,360 good experience if you get a golden unit like ours. So, that one is coming out of 99 00:07:17,919 --> 00:07:25,280 this review with a full-blown recommendation. As for the Nitro 7, 100 00:07:22,400 --> 00:07:29,440 although the panel is better, it's a tougher cell given that the i7 model 101 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:33,280 struggles with performance crippling power issues. Now, it's possible that 102 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:37,759 everything else at this price point will have the same problems. So, I'm going to 103 00:07:35,280 --> 00:07:41,039 end up saying, "Well, pick your poison." But, I kind of doubt it, and we're going 104 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:45,520 to know for certain soon enough when Dell sends over their new G3. So, thanks 105 00:07:44,160 --> 00:07:50,080 for watching, guys. If this video sucked, you know what to do. But if it was awesome, hit like, get subscribed, 106 00:07:48,720 --> 00:07:53,599 or maybe consider checking out where to buy the stuff we featured at the link 107 00:07:51,759 --> 00:07:56,960 below. Also down there is our merch store, which finally has the stealth 108 00:07:55,280 --> 00:08:02,400 hoodie, this one that I'm wearing right now, and our community forum, which you 109 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:02,400 should totally join.