Acer Spin 5 SP515-51GN (i7-8550U, GTX 1050, 8 GB) Convertible Review

The Wi-Fi module from Qualcomm is responsible for wireless communication (this module supports the IEEE 802.11ac standard and Bluetooth). The maximum data transfer rate is claimed to be 867 MBit/s. In practice, the Acer Spin 5 SP515 achieves a data transmission speed of 604 MBit/s and a data reception speed of 489 MBit/s. This is no perfect result, however, even with these transfer rates large amounts of data can be transferred without any problems. Over the course of our Wi-Fi test, the connection was stable and we observed no unwanted connection drops. Those who would prefer to rely on a wired connection will have to get a USB adapter, because the Acer Spin 5 SP515 does not offer an Ethernet port.

Acer has equipped the Spin 5 SP515 with a fingerprint reader, which is located in the upper left corner of the touchpad. With the help of the setup wizard, you can easily log into Windows with your fingerprints in no time. A Trusted Platform Module (TPM 2.0) and a Noble Wedge Lock are also provided. Our device also comes with a test version of Norton Security.

The Acer Spin 5 SP515 is equipped with a 6-line chiclet-style keyboard, which is lowered somewhat into the upper side of the chassis. With a size of 15 x 14 millimeters (0.59 x 0.55 in), the keys of our review device are somewhat smaller than those of the competing devices, although they still offer enough space for typing. The alphabetic keys should not be any smaller than this. With 12 x 14 millimeters (0.47 x 0.55 in), the keys of the adjacent numeric pad prove to be somewhat smaller, which reflects poorly on the design. The function keys as well as the arrow keys (up and down) take some getting used to and can often be missed. We also like the legibility of the key markings, which can be illuminated by way of a backlight for work in dark environments. The backlight can be turned on or off. It is not dimmable. The typing experience is pleasant. The operating pressure is easily perceivable, although it could have been somewhat firmer. During fast typing, the noise is quite subdued. Only the space bar is “rattly” and quite audible during operation.

The touchpad, which is rather a ClickPad, fits well with the overall color scheme and is accented visually with the silver chamfered edges. The touchpad’s surface area measures 10.7 x 7.9 centimeters (4.2 x 3.1 in), which is a good size. However, not all of the input area is usable, because the fingerprint reader, in the upper left corner of the touchpad, takes up an area of 1.5 x 1.5 centimeters (0.59 x 0.59 in). However, this cutback of the usable area does not prove hindersome in everyday use. The touchpad registers inputs very well, even at the edges/corners. In the bottom area, there are the input buttons, which have a very quiet click and are therefore not overly audible.

Because the Acer Spin 5 SP515 is equipped with a 15-inch touch screen, its display can be used as an input device, as well. During the review, the screen impressed us with the precise and fast recognition of the inputs. Multitouch inputs are also registered and recognized without any problems. There is also the Acer Active Stylus in the box with the Acer Spin 5 SP515. The active stylus enables precise navigation through the menus. With this stylus, creativity does not get in the way. Whether it be paintings or short notes, the Acer Active Stylus performs exceptionally well.

Our review device comes equipped with an AU Optronics IPS panel with great viewing angles. The display measures 15.6 inches diagonally and offers a resolution of 1920x1080. This corresponds to a pixel density of 141 PPI. In terms of the brightness, we expected more from the Acer Spin 5 SP515. According to the specification sheet, the panel should have a brightness of 250 cd/m². However, during our measurements, the display could only achieve a brightness of 224 cd/m², which is the worst result, when compared to the competing devices. For a device in this price range, the panel should have a brightness of 300 cd/m² at the very least, because the versatility of a convertible is going to be affected considerably by such a low brightness. What we like very much is the really low black value (0.12), which, in spite of the subpar brightness, still makes for a great contrast ratio (1842:1). With 89%, the brightness distribution cannot be classified as bad. However, when compared to the Lenovo Yoga 720, our review device is clearly beaten. Acer utilizes a panel that does not use PWM for brightness control, therefore there is no flickering. Screen bleeding is no problem and is only visible in completely dark scenes. The very low clouding does not lead to any limitations during normal use.

Under normal lighting conditions, the picture quality is good. The very good contrast ratio leads to saturated colors. Likewise, black looks like black. The display exhibits no washed-out or blanched colors. The average DeltaE-2000 deviation for the grayscale (3.4) and the colors (4.12) is only slightly above the target value of 3. The display does not suffer from a bluish cast, straight of the box. As always, we have linked and made available for download the appropriate ICC profile. The Acer Spin 5 SP515 receives some criticism on account of its color space coverage, which is anything but good. With 58% of sRGB and 37% of Adobe RGB, this is, by far, the worst result. Therefore the device cannot be recommended for professional use. 

Our review device is the top model, which is based on an Intel Core i7-8550U with 8 GB of DDR4 RAM. The Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 is used as the graphics accelerator. This GPU can handle even demanding games. The combination of the SSD for the operating system and a conventional HDD rounds off a good overall package. For a convertible, the performance of the built-in components is more than sufficient. However, lower-priced devices, which are based on the Intel Core i5-8250U, forgo a dedicated graphics card. Here, the Intel UHD Graphics 620 is solely responsible for image rendering. 

The Intel Core i7-8550U is an energy-efficient quad-core processor, which is based on the Kaby Lake architecture. The TDP here amounts only to 15 watts; nevertheless the SoC offers four physical cores and 8 threads (due to Hyperthreading). The base clock is 1.8 GHz, and, depending on utilization, it can be increased up to 4.0 GHz. What is essential here is the cooling unit, which must cool the processor effectively, so that the clock rate can be maintained over long periods of time. The performance can fluctuate considerably from device to device, which is the case here. The Dell Inspiron 17 can maintain its clock rate over a prolonged period of time before it starts to throttle down. For a short time, the SoC draws 44 watts, which benefits single-core performance. In comparison, the Microsoft Surface Book 2, which is based on the Intel Core i7-8650U, is the fastest device here.

You can find additional benchmarks for the Intel Core i7-8550U here.

The system performance of the Acer Spin 5 SP515 is very good. This is supported by the benchmarks that we have conducted. Therefore, our review device takes first place in this discipline by a wide margin. It goes to show that the built-in components here are very well-suited to each other. During our time with the device, the interplay between a fast SSD and a conventional HDD managed to make a great subjective impression. After a few seconds, the system is ready for use and we did not observe any long loading times.

As has been mentioned time and time again, our review device is equipped with an SSD and an HDD. The operating system is located on the fast 256 GB flash-based storage device. What we are dealing with here is an Intel SSD from the 600p series that comes in an M.2-2280 form factor. Acer provides an M.2 slot with PCIe speeds. This is where the high transfer rates come from. With the help of “AS SSD”, we measured the data transfer rates and, in the process, determined that the transfer rates partially exceed the manufacturer's claims. With 577 MB/s, the sequential write speed is somewhat higher than what Intel claims (540 MB/s). A somewhat different picture evinces itself in terms of the read rates, which, with an average of 1401 MB/s, are in very good order, but fall somewhat behind when compared to the manufacturer's claims (1570 MB/s). We are also pleased with a 4K read rate of 32 MB/s, which benefits the boot-up times. The hard drive disk comes from Seagate and has a storage capacity of 1 TB. The HDD spins with 5400 rotations per minute, hence the average data transfer rate of just 77.2 MB/s. With 90 MB/s, comparable hard drives achieve a somewhat better result.

The case temperatures that we measured while idling are very good. However, under full load, the Acer Spin 5 SP515 behaves very differently. Here, we measured the case temperatures of up to 50.9 °C (~124 °F) on the upperside of the chassis. We have measured similarly high case temperatures with both the Lenovo Yoga 720 and the Dell Inspiron 17. The combination of a processor, a dedicated graphics card and a compact build takes its toll, because, during our stress test, the processor was throttled down to 500 MHz. 96 °C (~205 °F) was the highest temperature that we observed during our stress test of the Intel Core i7-8550U. Almost as soon as FurMark and Prime95 were launched the clock rate of the processor began to steadily decline. The heat coming off of the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 contributes significantly to this, because both components are cooled together via two heatpipes. A separate cooling solution for each component would probably have been more effective. We did not observe any throttling when only the CPU was utilized. In this scenario, the CPU operated constantly at 1.9 GHz and reached a maximum temperature of 91 °C (~196 °F). The continuous utilization has a negative impact on 3D performance. In a new 3DMark 11 benchmark run, the result drops from 6753 points to 6180 points.

Acer has placed both speakers above the keyboard, so that the sound could escape from the case unimpeded. When the Acer Spin 5 SP515 is used in tablet mode, the speaker openings can get occasionally covered up. This can cause the audio to sound somewhat muffled. The maximum volume of the speakers with small membranes was measured at 70.7 dB(A). This is not especially loud; however, it is sufficient, thanks to high-treble sound reproduction. Bass is a foreign word for the Acer Spin 5 SP515, because it is almost completely missing. The pre-defined audio profiles in the “Dolby Audio” utility do not change much. However, speech is reproduced distinctly and intelligibly, therefore Skype sessions are not a problem. For external speakers, the convertible offers a 3.5-mm audio/microphone jack on the right side of the device.

The manufacturer claims eight hours of battery life (based on a MobileMark 2014 benchmark). In the course of our benchmarks, this claim could only be confirmed during idle operation. The soldered-in 48-Wh battery died after 12 hours and 39 minutes. In our practically-oriented Wi-Fi test, a single full battery charge managed to keep the Acer Spin 5 SP515 running for a good 6 hours. In the test, the brightness was reduced by 3 levels, which corresponds to a display brightness of 150 cd/m². A look at the comparison chart below shows that our review device cannot keep up with the competition. To be fair, the competing devices have batteries with larger capacities (up to 75 Wh). The 3D performance is not hampered when the device is running on battery power. The result in 3DMark 11 is almost identical to when the device is plugged in.