Acer Aspire 5 A515 in review: A look at a Tiger Lake laptop

Whether it was equipped with a dedicated graphics card, a 14-inch display or Ryzen APU, the Acer Aspire 5 has always proved itself to be a very good device for office and everyday applications. Acer is hoping to continue this trend with its new version of the Aspire 5, A515-56-511A.
The manufacturer has placed its bets on the current Tiger Lake CPU that has an integrated Xe graphics unit, 16 GB of RAM and a 1-TB SSD. Equipped with these features and a price of around $630, the notebook will have to compete with the competitors listed below. You can also add further devices from our database to the comparison at the end of every section.
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possible competitors in comparison
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Height | Size | Resolution | Best Price |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
81.4 % | 02/2021 | Acer Aspire 5 A515-56-511A i5-1135G7, Iris Xe G7 80EUs | 1.9 kg | 18 mm | 15.60" | 1920x1080 | |
84.7 % | 01/2021 | Honor MagicBook 15 4500U R5 4500U, Vega 6 | 1.5 kg | 17 mm | 15.60" | 1920x1080 | |
81 % | 12/2020 | Dell Latitude 15 3510 NK2MC i3-10110U, UHD Graphics 620 | 1.9 kg | 18 mm | 15.60" | 1920x1080 | |
86 % | 01/2021 | Lenovo ThinkBook 13s-ITL-20V90003GE i5-1135G7, Iris Xe G7 80EUs | 1.3 kg | 14.9 mm | 13.30" | 1920x1080 |
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Case
The Acer Aspire 5 is wrapped in solid plastic and made with good workmanship. Only the display cover is made of aluminum, which provides the 15-inch display with good stability. The base unit is heavy enough to let you open the device with one hand. The maximum opening angle is around 140 degrees. The open display lifts the back of the base unit up slightly.
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The Acer Aspire 5 weighs around 1.9 kg, which is not heavy, although our comparison field also includes even lighter devices. The dimensions are average.
Connectivity
Acer decided not to take any new risks in terms of port selection and has made no changes compared to the predecessors. Even the GigabitLAN port remains available while the device still lacks an SD card reader.
Communication
Apart from the cable-based LAN connection, the Acer Aspire 5 also supports data connections via Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0. While connected to our reference router Netgear Nighthawk AX12, the office notebook reached an average speed of 1328 MBit/s when receiving and 1422 MBit/s when sending data. This result is very good and positions our test unit at the top of our comparison table.
Networking | |
iperf3 transmit AX12 | |
Acer Aspire 5 A515-56-511A | |
Lenovo ThinkBook 13s-ITL-20V90003GE | |
Average Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 (49.8 - 1775, n=324) | |
Average of class Office (87 - 1598, n=49, last 2 years) | |
Dell Latitude 15 3510 NK2MC | |
Honor MagicBook 15 4500U | |
iperf3 receive AX12 | |
Acer Aspire 5 A515-56-511A | |
Average Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 (136 - 1743, n=324) | |
Average of class Office (100 - 1716, n=49, last 2 years) | |
Lenovo ThinkBook 13s-ITL-20V90003GE | |
Dell Latitude 15 3510 NK2MC | |
Honor MagicBook 15 4500U |
Webcam
Acer has equipped its Aspire 5 with a widely used but low-resolution 0.9 MP webcam. The image quality is accordingly meager with the picture being blurry and too light even under good lighting conditions.


Accessories
The Aspire 5 comes with an AC adapter but no other accessories. However, Acer does offer a wide range of compatible notebook accessories on their website.
Maintenance
The Acer Aspire 5 A515 can be opened up after removing all screws from the bottom of the base unit. Lifting the cover off is particularly difficult towards the front. Doing so will give you access to the storage device and RAM module, although the latter is divided up into one fixed 8-GB module and one exchangeable RAM module.
Warranty
Acer gives buyers of the Aspire 5 a warranty period of 24 months.
Input Devices
Keyboard
The keyboard of the Acer notebook is suitable for regular typists. The keys might be on the small side, but they feature a very crisp pressure point and are easy to use. The keyboard also includes a physical number pad and various special function keys instead of adding them to existing keys in the form of secondary functions. The one-tier keyboard backlighting ensures that most letters can be read clearly in bad lighting conditions. However, the space bar was left out in our test model and the lighting turned off after a short period, something that we could not change.
Touchpad
Display
The display of the Acer Aspire 5 A515 consists of a 15.6-inch IPS panel with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. Its brightness is on par with its competition at 255 nits and with a brightness distribution of 84 percent.
Acer does not use PWM to regulate the display's brightness, which users with sensitive eyes with be pleased to hear.
|
Brightness Distribution: 84 %
Center on Battery: 285 cd/m²
Contrast: 877:1 (Black: 0.325 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 4.23 | 0.55-29.43 Ø5.2, calibrated: 3.75
ΔE Greyscale 2.51 | 0.57-98 Ø5.4
57% sRGB (Argyll 1.6.3 3D)
36% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 1.6.3 3D)
39.6% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
57.5% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
38.32% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Gamma: 2.57
Acer Aspire 5 A515-56-511A LG Philips LGD065A, IPS, 1920x1080, 15.60 | Honor MagicBook 15 4500U BOE0872, IPS, 1920x1080, 15.60 | Dell Latitude 15 3510 NK2MC Dell 156CL05, IPS, 1920x1080, 15.60 | Lenovo ThinkBook 13s-ITL-20V90003GE InfoVision M133NW4J R0, IPS, 1920x1080, 13.30 | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Display | 13% | 6% | 74% | |
Display P3 Coverage | 38.32 | 43.51 14% | 40.78 6% | 68.1 78% |
sRGB Coverage | 57.5 | 64.5 12% | 61.3 7% | 97.2 69% |
AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage | 39.6 | 44.95 14% | 42.15 6% | 69.2 75% |
Response Times | -29% | -2% | -6% | |
Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 37 ? | 38 ? -3% | 43 ? -16% | |
Response Time Black / White * | 28 ? | 36 ? -29% | 28 ? -0% | 27 ? 4% |
PWM Frequency | 5152 | 250 | ||
Screen | -5% | -15% | 59% | |
Brightness middle | 285 | 272 -5% | 262 -8% | 369 29% |
Brightness | 255 | 259 2% | 236 -7% | 334 31% |
Brightness Distribution | 84 | 85 1% | 86 2% | 83 -1% |
Black Level * | 0.325 | 0.17 48% | 0.31 5% | 0.14 57% |
Contrast | 877 | 1600 82% | 845 -4% | 2636 201% |
Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 4.23 | 5.3 -25% | 4.92 -16% | 2.02 52% |
Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 7.94 | 18 -127% | 15.83 -99% | 3.05 62% |
Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated * | 3.75 | 3.8 -1% | 4.34 -16% | 1.08 71% |
Greyscale dE 2000 * | 2.51 | 4 -59% | 3.47 -38% | 2.34 7% |
Gamma | 2.57 86% | 2.03 108% | 2.4 92% | 2.44 90% |
CCT | 6626 98% | 7338 89% | 6680 97% | 6552 99% |
Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998) | 36 | 41.2 14% | 39 8% | 63 75% |
Color Space (Percent of sRGB) | 57 | 64.1 12% | 61 7% | 97 70% |
Total Average (Program / Settings) | -7% /
-3% | -4% /
-9% | 42% /
54% |
* ... smaller is better
Our measurements confirm that the Aspire 5 A515's display has a relatively low contrast ratio of 877:1 and an increased black value of 0.325 nits. This means that the colors do not appear well defined and black content has a slight gray cast.
Our CalMAN analysis also shows that the panel displays content with fairly balanced colors ex works. The DeltaE 2000 deviation is slightly increased at 7.94, but this can be lowered to 3.75 by calibrating the screen. You can download our ICC file from this page (a bit further up, next to the graphic displaying the panel's brightness distribution).
Display Response Times
↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
---|---|---|
28 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 16 ms rise | |
↘ 12 ms fall | ||
The screen shows relatively slow response rates in our tests and may be too slow for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 65 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (22.3 ms). | ||
↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
37 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 19 ms rise | |
↘ 18 ms fall | ||
The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.25 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 44 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is similar to the average of all tested devices (35.1 ms). |
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
Screen flickering / PWM not detected | |||
In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 19046 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 3846000) Hz was measured. |
Performance
Acer has directed its Aspire 5 A515 at office users and has equipped its notebook with the suitable hardware. While the available processors range from Tiger Lake to Ryzen CPUs, the choice of graphics units is limited to the internal GPU of the chosen processor or, in some configurations, the Nvidia GeForce MX350.
Processor
Our test configuration of the Acer Aspire 5 is equipped with an Intel Core i5-1135G7. This processor belongs to Intel's Tiger Lake generation and offers four cores that clock at rates between 2.4 and 4.2 GHz and can work up to eight threads simultaneously. Its performance depends on the set TDP and cooling. While the former is fairly generous with up to 64 Watt short-term and up to 28 Watt in general, the benchmark results do not reflect this configuration.
The Cinebench R15 single-core result positions our Intel Core i5-1135G7 at the front of our comparison field. The multi-core result, on the other hand, remains below our expectations. The performance is rather meager during our continuous load test as well, although at least it remains stable throughout after a small drop at the beginning.
A look at the Lenovo ThinkBook 13s with its Core i5-1135G7 shows that with the right configuration the processor is able to achieve multi-core performance that is 28 percent higher than that of our test unit and only starts approaching the performance level of the Aspire 5 as time goes by. Our temperature development and power consumption results discussed below show that the maximum power consumption of the Aspire 5's CPU is 37 Watts. The CPU heats up to a maximum of 84 °C, which indicates that a focus on low temperature development is to blame for PL2 not being reached.
Cinebench R15: CPU Single 64Bit | CPU Multi 64Bit
Blender: v2.79 BMW27 CPU
7-Zip 18.03: 7z b 4 -mmt1 | 7z b 4
Geekbench 5.4: Single-Core | Multi-Core
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2: 4k Preset
LibreOffice : 20 Documents To PDF
R Benchmark 2.5: Overall mean
Cinebench R20 / CPU (Single Core) | |
Acer Aspire 5 A515-56-511A | |
Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (375 - 527, n=62) | |
Average of class Office (114 - 764, n=133, last 2 years) | |
Honor MagicBook 15 4500U | |
Dell Latitude 15 3510 NK2MC |
Cinebench R20 / CPU (Multi Core) | |
Average of class Office (323 - 5079, n=133, last 2 years) | |
Honor MagicBook 15 4500U | |
Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (979 - 2382, n=62) | |
Acer Aspire 5 A515-56-511A | |
Dell Latitude 15 3510 NK2MC |
Cinebench R15 / CPU Single 64Bit | |
Average of class Office (80.1 - 284, n=128, last 2 years) | |
Acer Aspire 5 A515-56-511A | |
Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (141.4 - 205, n=61) | |
Lenovo ThinkBook 13s-ITL-20V90003GE | |
Honor MagicBook 15 4500U | |
Dell Latitude 15 3510 NK2MC |
Cinebench R15 / CPU Multi 64Bit | |
Average of class Office (160.8 - 2492, n=132, last 2 years) | |
Honor MagicBook 15 4500U | |
Lenovo ThinkBook 13s-ITL-20V90003GE | |
Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (431 - 941, n=65) | |
Acer Aspire 5 A515-56-511A | |
Dell Latitude 15 3510 NK2MC |
Blender / v2.79 BMW27 CPU | |
Dell Latitude 15 3510 NK2MC | |
Acer Aspire 5 A515-56-511A | |
Average of class Office (246 - 3895, n=135, last 2 years) | |
Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (499 - 1044, n=60) | |
Honor MagicBook 15 4500U |
7-Zip 18.03 / 7z b 4 -mmt1 | |
Acer Aspire 5 A515-56-511A | |
Average of class Office (2059 - 6687, n=134, last 2 years) | |
Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (3924 - 4921, n=62) | |
Honor MagicBook 15 4500U | |
Dell Latitude 15 3510 NK2MC |
7-Zip 18.03 / 7z b 4 | |
Average of class Office (4226 - 55049, n=133, last 2 years) | |
Honor MagicBook 15 4500U | |
Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (14745 - 24873, n=62) | |
Acer Aspire 5 A515-56-511A | |
Dell Latitude 15 3510 NK2MC |
Geekbench 5.4 / Single-Core | |
Acer Aspire 5 A515-56-511A | |
Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (1147 - 1428, n=58) | |
Average of class Office (531 - 1974, n=127, last 2 years) | |
Honor MagicBook 15 4500U | |
Dell Latitude 15 3510 NK2MC |
Geekbench 5.4 / Multi-Core | |
Honor MagicBook 15 4500U | |
Average of class Office (1150 - 11744, n=127, last 2 years) | |
Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (3475 - 5472, n=58) | |
Acer Aspire 5 A515-56-511A | |
Dell Latitude 15 3510 NK2MC |
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2 / 4k Preset | |
Honor MagicBook 15 4500U | |
Average of class Office (0.63 - 14.5, n=133, last 2 years) | |
Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (3.57 - 7.6, n=57) | |
Acer Aspire 5 A515-56-511A | |
Dell Latitude 15 3510 NK2MC |
LibreOffice / 20 Documents To PDF | |
Honor MagicBook 15 4500U | |
Average of class Office (23.6 - 210, n=133, last 2 years) | |
Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (44.2 - 62.9, n=60) | |
Acer Aspire 5 A515-56-511A | |
Dell Latitude 15 3510 NK2MC |
R Benchmark 2.5 / Overall mean | |
Dell Latitude 15 3510 NK2MC | |
Average of class Office (0.4244 - 2.07, n=134, last 2 years) | |
Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (0.619 - 0.727, n=59) | |
Acer Aspire 5 A515-56-511A | |
Honor MagicBook 15 4500U |
* ... smaller is better
System Performance
The PCMark 10 benchmark for the Aspire 5 equipped with an Intel Core i5-1135G7 also results in an average value. However, system performance is very smooth during everyday use with programes starting quickly and files being accessed without delay.
Find out what performance levels other notebooks can reach in comparison in our CPU benchmark list.
PCMark 10 Score | 4527 points | |
Help |
DPC Latencies
DPC Latencies / LatencyMon - interrupt to process latency (max), Web, Youtube, Prime95 | |
Dell Latitude 15 3510 NK2MC | |
Acer Aspire 5 A515-56-511A | |
Lenovo ThinkBook 13s-ITL-20V90003GE | |
Honor MagicBook 15 4500U |
* ... smaller is better
Storage Devices
Acer has equipped our test configuration with a 1-TB SSD which reaches very good read and write rates in the storage benchmarks.
Find out what performance other storage devices reach in our tests in our HDD/SSD benchmark list.
Acer Aspire 5 A515-56-511A Micron 2210 MTFDHBA1T0QFD | Honor MagicBook 15 4500U WDC PC SN530 SDBPNPZ-512G | Dell Latitude 15 3510 NK2MC Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe | Lenovo ThinkBook 13s-ITL-20V90003GE Samsung PM991 MZALQ256HAJD | Average Micron 2210 MTFDHBA1T0QFD | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
CrystalDiskMark 5.2 / 6 | 4% | -9% | -36% | 6% | |
Write 4K | 86.8 | 161.1 86% | 150 73% | 184.3 112% | 148.7 ? 71% |
Read 4K | 66.4 | 49.92 -25% | 61.8 -7% | 39.9 -40% | 68.5 ? 3% |
Write Seq | 1851 | 1799 -3% | 458 -75% | 211.3 -89% | 1675 ? -10% |
Read Seq | 1707 | 1978 16% | 1881 10% | 1319 -23% | 1710 ? 0% |
Write 4K Q32T1 | 542 | 392.5 -28% | 338.4 -38% | 220.5 -59% | 442 ? -18% |
Read 4K Q32T1 | 589 | 506 -14% | 447.3 -24% | 255.9 -57% | 614 ? 4% |
Write Seq Q32T1 | 1960 | 1806 -8% | 1563 -20% | 221 -89% | 1944 ? -1% |
Read Seq Q32T1 | 2227 | 2460 10% | 2422 9% | 1202 -46% | 2120 ? -5% |
AS SSD | -15% | -87% | -57% | 3% | |
Seq Read | 2023 | 2091 3% | 1971 -3% | 1425 -30% | 2012 ? -1% |
Seq Write | 1781 | 1658 -7% | 1130 -37% | 114 -94% | 1826 ? 3% |
4K Read | 61.9 | 43.46 -30% | 51.3 -17% | 36.8 -41% | 62.5 ? 1% |
4K Write | 128.7 | 141.9 10% | 119.7 -7% | 117.1 -9% | 146.4 ? 14% |
4K-64 Read | 904 | 589 -35% | 585 -35% | 238.5 -74% | 900 ? 0% |
4K-64 Write | 976 | 1028 5% | 495.5 -49% | 125.7 -87% | 1039 ? 6% |
Access Time Read * | 0.064 | 0.107 | 0.159 | 0.09075 ? | |
Access Time Write * | 0.031 | 0.047 -52% | 0.22 -610% | 0.037 -19% | 0.0312 ? -1% |
Score Read | 1168 | 842 -28% | 833 -29% | 418 -64% | 1164 ? 0% |
Score Write | 1283 | 1335 4% | 728 -43% | 254 -80% | 1368 ? 7% |
Score Total | 3053 | 2598 -15% | 1962 -36% | 834 -73% | 3136 ? 3% |
Total Average (Program / Settings) | -6% /
-6% | -48% /
-52% | -47% /
-48% | 5% /
4% |
* ... smaller is better
Disk Throttling: DiskSpd Read Loop, Queue Depth 8
Graphics Performance
The internal graphics unit Intel Iris Xe is responsible for displaying image content in the Aspire 5 A515. This is available in two versions; our test unit features the stronger version with 96 EUs. Our 3DMark results are slightly below average but are still better than those of an internal Radeon RX Vega 6, for example.
Find out how other graphic units compare in our GPU benchmark list.
3DMark 11 - 1280x720 Performance GPU | |
Acer Aspire 5 A515-56-511A | |
Average Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (2246 - 6286, n=91) | |
Average of class Office (599 - 11538, n=124, last 2 years) | |
Honor MagicBook 15 4500U | |
Dell Latitude 15 3510 NK2MC |
3DMark | |
1280x720 Cloud Gate Standard Graphics | |
Average Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (6361 - 30894, n=82) | |
Acer Aspire 5 A515-56-511A | |
Average of class Office (5681 - 46247, n=113, last 2 years) | |
Dell Latitude 15 3510 NK2MC | |
1920x1080 Fire Strike Graphics | |
Lenovo ThinkBook 13s-ITL-20V90003GE | |
Average Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (1560 - 5127, n=93) | |
Average of class Office (712 - 8114, n=123, last 2 years) | |
Acer Aspire 5 A515-56-511A | |
Dell Latitude 15 3510 NK2MC | |
2560x1440 Time Spy Graphics | |
Lenovo ThinkBook 13s-ITL-20V90003GE | |
Average Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (743 - 1511, n=90) | |
Average of class Office (242 - 2886, n=121, last 2 years) | |
Acer Aspire 5 A515-56-511A |
3DMark 11 Performance | 5300 points | |
3DMark Cloud Gate Standard Score | 14427 points | |
3DMark Fire Strike Score | 2935 points | |
3DMark Time Spy Score | 1202 points | |
Help |
Gaming Performance
The internal graphics unit in our device is suitable for older games and less demanding titles. Users will also have to reduce the graphics settings and resolution to play these games smoothly.
Our GPU gaming list indicates what performance you can expect from individual titles.
The Witcher 3 | |
1024x768 Low Graphics & Postprocessing | |
Average Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (33.5 - 92.2, n=84) | |
Average of class Office (8.4 - 149, n=111, last 2 years) | |
Honor MagicBook 15 4500U | |
1366x768 Medium Graphics & Postprocessing | |
Lenovo ThinkBook 13s-ITL-20V90003GE | |
Average Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (21.8 - 56.9, n=88) | |
Average of class Office (7.82 - 89, n=108, last 2 years) |
Dota 2 Reborn | |
1280x720 min (0/3) fastest | |
Average of class Office (14.8 - 142.1, n=134, last 2 years) | |
Honor MagicBook 15 4500U | |
Average Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (14.8 - 134.4, n=91) | |
Acer Aspire 5 A515-56-511A | |
Dell Latitude 15 3510 NK2MC | |
1366x768 med (1/3) | |
Honor MagicBook 15 4500U | |
Average of class Office (10.9 - 127, n=134, last 2 years) | |
Average Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (10.9 - 119.5, n=91) | |
Acer Aspire 5 A515-56-511A | |
Dell Latitude 15 3510 NK2MC |
Final Fantasy XV Benchmark - 1280x720 Lite Quality | |
Average Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (8.32 - 42.1, n=86) | |
Average of class Office (5.32 - 72, n=126, last 2 years) | |
Acer Aspire 5 A515-56-511A | |
Honor MagicBook 15 4500U |
Far Cry 5 | |
1280x720 Low Preset AA:T | |
Average of class Office (3 - 95, n=38, last 2 years) | |
Average Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (14 - 61, n=43) | |
Lenovo ThinkBook 13s-ITL-20V90003GE | |
Honor MagicBook 15 4500U | |
Acer Aspire 5 A515-56-511A | |
1920x1080 Medium Preset AA:T | |
Average of class Office (1 - 46, n=36, last 2 years) | |
Average Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (9 - 28, n=40) | |
Lenovo ThinkBook 13s-ITL-20V90003GE | |
Acer Aspire 5 A515-56-511A | |
Honor MagicBook 15 4500U |
low | med. | high | ultra | |
Dota 2 Reborn (2015) | 74.1 | 47.4 | 32.4 | 30.9 |
Final Fantasy XV Benchmark (2018) | 25.6 | |||
X-Plane 11.11 (2018) | 46.1 | 33 | 30.6 | |
Far Cry 5 (2018) | 27 | 14 |
Emissions
System Noise
The cooling fan of the Aspire 5 is hardly audible during everyday use and produces a steady sound under load that does not have high frequencies or other uncomfortable elements to it. This makes the Acer notebook suitable for calm environments, although the touchpad does make a bit of a clatter.
Noise Level
Idle |
| 24.5 / 24.5 / 26.4 dB(A) |
Load |
| 32 / 39 dB(A) |
![]() | ||
30 dB silent 40 dB(A) audible 50 dB(A) loud |
||
min: ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Temperature
The temperatures on the inside of our Aspire 5 increase to up to 84 °C during our one-hour stress test. The clock rates drop to 1.2 and 2.1 GHz by the end of the test , which is below the base rate. As we do not expect users to reach this level of load during every day use, users should not experience issues related to high temperatures.
(+) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 33.6 °C / 92 F, compared to the average of 34.2 °C / 94 F, ranging from 21.2 to 62.5 °C for the class Office.
(+) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 30.1 °C / 86 F, compared to the average of 36.7 °C / 98 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 24.1 °C / 75 F, compared to the device average of 29.5 °C / 85 F.
(+) The palmrests and touchpad are cooler than skin temperature with a maximum of 23.6 °C / 74.5 F and are therefore cool to the touch.
(+) The average temperature of the palmrest area of similar devices was 27.8 °C / 82 F (+4.2 °C / 7.5 F).
Speakers
Acer Aspire 5 A515-56-511A audio analysis
(-) | not very loud speakers (68.8 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 22.5% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (9.6% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 1.5% away from median
(+) | mids are linear (3.6% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 4.4% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (6.7% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (17.8% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 31% of all tested devices in this class were better, 8% similar, 61% worse
» The best had a delta of 6%, average was 20%, worst was 51%
Compared to all devices tested
» 37% of all tested devices were better, 8% similar, 55% worse
» The best had a delta of 3%, average was 20%, worst was 65%
Apple MacBook 12 (Early 2016) 1.1 GHz audio analysis
(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (83.6 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(±) | reduced bass - on average 11.3% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (14.2% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 2.4% away from median
(+) | mids are linear (5.5% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 2% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (4.5% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(+) | overall sound is linear (9.3% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 4% of all tested devices in this class were better, 1% similar, 95% worse
» The best had a delta of 5%, average was 18%, worst was 50%
Compared to all devices tested
» 3% of all tested devices were better, 1% similar, 96% worse
» The best had a delta of 3%, average was 20%, worst was 65%
Energy Management
Power Consumption
Our measurements confirm that the Acer Aspire 5 has a relatively low energy consumption with an average rate under load of 30.1 Watt. That is the lowest consumption in our comparison field.
The included AC adapter has a rated output of 45 Watt and is large enough to ensure sufficient power delivery at all times.
Off / Standby | ![]() ![]() |
Idle | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Load |
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Acer Aspire 5 A515-56-511A i5-1135G7, Iris Xe G7 80EUs, Micron 2210 MTFDHBA1T0QFD, IPS, 1920x1080, 15.60 | Honor MagicBook 15 4500U R5 4500U, Vega 6, WDC PC SN530 SDBPNPZ-512G, IPS, 1920x1080, 15.60 | Dell Latitude 15 3510 NK2MC i3-10110U, UHD Graphics 620, Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe, IPS, 1920x1080, 15.60 | Lenovo ThinkBook 13s-ITL-20V90003GE i5-1135G7, Iris Xe G7 80EUs, Samsung PM991 MZALQ256HAJD, IPS, 1920x1080, 13.30 | Average Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs | Average of class Office | |
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Power Consumption | -2% | -4% | -15% | -16% | -15% | |
Idle Minimum * | 3.3 | 3.9 -18% | 3.6 -9% | 3.5 -6% | 4.45 ? -35% | 4.22 ? -28% |
Idle Average * | 8.4 | 7.4 12% | 6.6 21% | 6.1 27% | 7.36 ? 12% | 7.44 ? 11% |
Idle Maximum * | 8.9 | 8.2 8% | 9.7 -9% | 8.7 2% | 9.28 ? -4% | 9.27 ? -4% |
Load Average * | 30.1 | 34.6 -15% | 38 -26% | 46 -53% | 35.4 ? -18% | 38.2 ? -27% |
Load Maximum * | 45.4 | 43.6 4% | 45 1% | 66 -45% | 60.5 ? -33% | 57.3 ? -26% |
Witcher 3 ultra * | 35.2 | 45 |
* ... smaller is better
Battery Life
Our practical Wi-Fi test lasts almost seven hours with this Acer notebook. This is a good result, although notebooks with significantly lower battery capacities also manage to keep going this long.
Acer Aspire 5 A515-56-511A i5-1135G7, Iris Xe G7 80EUs, 48.85 Wh | Honor MagicBook 15 4500U R5 4500U, Vega 6, 42 Wh | Dell Latitude 15 3510 NK2MC i3-10110U, UHD Graphics 620, 40 Wh | Lenovo ThinkBook 13s-ITL-20V90003GE i5-1135G7, Iris Xe G7 80EUs, 55 Wh | Average of class Office | |
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Battery Runtime | 5% | 12% | 25% | 20% | |
WiFi v1.3 | 416 | 570 37% | 465 12% | 645 55% | 572 ? 38% |
Load | 122 | 88 -28% | 115 -6% | 123.6 ? 1% |
Pros
Cons
Verdict
The Acer Aspire 5 A515 with Intel's Tiger Lake CPU fulfills our expectations. Its performance is more than sufficient for office applications and the device can also display simple or older games at reduced graphics settings thanks to Intel's integrated Xe GPU. The port selection is good and workmanship is satisfactory. Even maintenance is possible to a certain extent.
The new Acer Aspire 5 with Tiger Lake continues to be a decent office notebook for everyday use.
The real question is what differentiates this Aspire 5 from other Aspire 5s? The other models we have tested are equally suitable for the intended area of use. The processing performance doesn't benefit particularly from the use of the current Tiger Lake CPU. However, the internal Xe graphics unit does provide a small boost compared to devices with internal UHD or Vega GPUs. If you are only planning on using office applications, you will be just as happy with this configuration as with the Ryzen version Acer Aspire 5 A515-43-R6WW.
Acer Aspire 5 A515-56-511A
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01/28/2021 v7
Mike Wobker