Acer Aspire 17 2024 laptop review: Weak dGPU and a disappointing display

The verdict on a product is oftentimes greatly dependent on its price. A very good example of this is the Aspire 17 A17-51GM-70LZ from Acer, which currently has an asking price of around $1,150. The 17-inch device could be a good multimedia laptop or a successful allrounder—had the manufacturer only given it a fitting display. The installed full-HD panel which uses IPS technology is unfortunately disappointing in almost every way. Its small color space and low color fidelity in particular result in a pale and unrealistic picture. There's still some room for improvement in other categories, too. For example, the laptop's sound quality and fan control leave a lot to be desired. The latter is too erratic in idle mode and can become quite loud under load in relation to the performance on offer.

This brings us to the main problem of the Aspire 17: Its GeForce RTX 2050 often has too hard a time setting itself apart from speedy iGPUs like the Arc Graphics 140V/130V or the Radeon 890M/880M these days. In any case, users with gaming ambitions will be much better off with an RTX 4050, which generally performs on a higher class level (for "non-gamers", on the other hand, iGPUs are easily sufficient). Advantages of the Aspire 17 include its moderate temperature development and Thunderbolt 4 port. Its upgrade options aren't bad either thanks to 2x SO-DIMM and 2x M.2. Its battery life is still solid, although more would have been possible with a larger battery.

The competition includes other 17-inch multimedia laptops around the 1,000-dollar mark. For the benchmark tables, we have primarily chosen laptops with iGPUs to show the differences in performance and to clarify the question of whether a dGPU is worthwhile at all.

The Acer Aspire 17 A17-51GM-70LZ costs around $1,150 but at the time of writing, it isn't available to purchase from major online retailers in the USA.

The model we tested—which bears the name A17-51GM-70LZ—features a GeForce RTX 2050, an Intel Core 7 150U, 2x 8 GB DDR4-3.200 RAM and a 1-TB NVMe SSD. Its 60-Hz display has a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels and an aspect ratio of 16:9. Somewhat unsurprisingly, Acer has selected Windows 11 Home as its operating system. Price-wise, the 17-inch device currently comes in at around $1,150, which we consider to be quite high for the total package and impression it left.

In terms of quality, the laptop's case is a bit of a mixed bag. While its lid is made from metal, the base unit consists of plastic. The latter also isn't terribly stable in places (e.g. at the height of the rear ventilation grilles) and gives way accordingly when more pressure is applied. In addition, the case tends to rattle from time to time, which also detracts from its total quality impression. The device's hinges are set quite tightly, so you'll need two hands to open it. Its finish, on the other hand, gives no cause for criticism.

Thanks to its low height of 1.8 cm, the Aspire 17 looks quite slim despite its generous footprint. Its 2.2 kg weight only offers limited portability.

Ports

The 17-inch laptop comes with a reasonable selection of connections. While the right side houses an audio jack, a USB A 3.0 port, an RJ45 Gigabit LAN port and an opening for Kensington locks, the left-hand side features a (very thin) power connection, an HDMI 2.1 output, a USB A 3.0 port and a USB C 4 port, which also supports DisplayPort 1.4 and Power Delivery in addition to Thunderbolt 4. To achieve a better connectivity rating, the 17-inch device could have done with a second USB-C port and a card reader, for example. The distribution of all the ports, on the other hand, is quite nice. As they are located at the back of the two side panels, you can use an external mouse without any (space) problems.

Under the hood, the laptop uses a Wi-Fi 6 wireless module from Intel. In the case of the Aspire 17, the AX211 delivers mediocre results (sending) to very good results (receiving).

You shouldn't expect too much from the 2 MP webcam. As with most laptops, it lacks image accuracy and, above all, color fidelity. It doesn't have a cover.

The laptop comes with a few information booklets and a compact 90-watt power supply unit (just under 440 grams including cable).

After removing 11 Phillips screws, the base of the case can be levered out of its anchoring and you can access the laptop's inner workings. Two RAM banks and two M.2-2280 slots are praiseworthy in times of more and more soldered-on components. The wireless module and battery can also be replaced if necessary.

Acer mainly uses cardboard for its packaging. The laptop is wrapped in a fabric cover, and the power supply unit is in a plastic film (materials marked accordingly).

The device is covered by a standard 12-month warranty in the United States.

The touchpad performs slightly better than the keyboard. Its fairly smooth surface ensures your fingers glide over it nicely, and its dimensions of 12.6 x 7.8 cm are appropriate. Its multi-touch gestures work smoothly over long distances. However, we would have liked a slightly less rickety mechanism for the click areas. Acer has integrated a fingerprint sensor into the upper left corner as a security feature.

The Aspire 17's biggest weakness by far is its inferior display, which should have no place in this price range whatsoever.

The CPU and GPU's performance is sometimes more in the entry-level range and at times more in the mid-range. If its 16 GB RAM should one day no longer be sufficient for you, the RAM can be easily replaced. Nothing stands in the way of you expanding its mass storage either.

The Core 7 150U is a relatively frugal model from the Raptor Lake generation, and is equipped with two performance cores (including hyper-threading) and 8 efficiency cores (without HT), resulting in a total of 12 threads. Acer uses 28 watts as PL1 and 55 watts as PL2 when it comes to its TDP. The 150U's speed is roughly in line with the Core Ultra 5 226V inside the Acer Swift 14, which we also recently tested. According to the performance rating, a Ryzen AI 9 365 (Asus ZenBook S 16) performs 30% better and a Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 does more than 60% better (Asus VivoBook S 14).

In terms of system performance, the Aspire 17 landed in last place among the comparison devices, which is partly due to its use of DDR4 RAM instead of DDR5 RAM (see AIDA64 table).