Acer Switch Alpha 12 SA5-271-57QF

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Reviews for the Acer Switch Alpha 12 SA5-271-57QF

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The Acer Switch Alpha 12 SA5-271-57QF is Acer’s attempt to rival the Microsoft Surface. It aims to offer the same tablet-first convertible experience but at a significantly more competitive price tag. The Switch Alpha 12 generally delivers solid performance and will meet most Windows fans' tablet and laptop needs. There are no vents or fans on the Switch Alpha 12, because it's the first water-cooled 2-in-1 on the market. Competitors who use Intel's low-power Core M CPUs, including the HP Spectre x2, also avoid fans, but do not need water cooling, because their less powerful processors don't generate as much heat. The 2.3-GHz Intel Core i5-6200U CPU, 8GB of RAM and 256GB SSD of the Switch Alpha 12 make it a fine productivity machine. The Switch's integrated HD 520 graphics card cannot handle demanding games like Overwatch or The Witcher, but casual games and watching videos will be just fine. The front of the device boasts a 12-inch, 2160 x 1440 display surrounded by a thick bezel. The touch screen on the Switch Alpha 12 is bright and produces vivid, beautiful colours, but it's slightly on the warm side. The panel reproduces an excellent 101 percent of the sRGB colour gamut, which is higher than the category average of ultraportable notebooks (90 percent).

The bottom of the tablet features magnets that connect to the keyboard cover, which can be laid flat or propped up at an angle. When paired with the keyboard cover, the Alpha 12 measures 11.5 x 7.9 x 0.6 inches and weighs 2.8 pounds. Without it, the dimensions shrink to 2 pounds and 0.4 inches in thickness. For the Switch Alpha 12, Acer opted for a Surface-inspired 2-in-1 design that combines a tablet, a kickstand and a keyboard. The kickstand pulls away from the aluminum rear of the device, which features a brushed look and Acer's logo, as well as a 5-megapixel camera. The Switch Alpha 12 has a fair share of some useful Acer utilities, which are mostly focused on the cloud. Acer Portal lets users organize files that are created in abFiles and abPhoto. Recovery Management assists in making backups and restoring data, while Quick Access lets user access features such as Bluelight shield and adaptive brightness. The Switch Alpha 12 has the most useful combination of ports of any 12-inch convertible. Its right side is home to a headphone/microphone combo jack, a USB-3.0 port, a USB Type-C port, a power jack and a microSD card slot. The addition of a USB 3.1 port that can be used to power devices, transfer files or attach the device to an external monitor is another nice bonus. The accompanying full-size USB-3.0 port makes the Switch Alpha 12 significantly better connected than many competing convertibles.

Hands-on article by Jagadisa Rajarathnam

Series: The Acer Aspire Switch Series is a series of portable and hybrid laptops. The design of the laptop models is stylish thanks to their attractive looking aluminium lids. The hinge of the Windows systems allows users to flip, rotate and even detach the screen from the keyboard in a snap. Each model in the Switch Series has different processors ranging from 1.33 GHz Intel Atom Z3745 up to Intel Core i5-6200U processors. There are also different options for the graphic card ranging from Intel HD Graphics up to Intel HD Graphics 5300.

In terms of storage, Acer offers two different options; 32 GB and 64 GB. There are 10.1-inch and 12-inch models. The displays are Full HD, IPS and they provide good contrast and colors from all viewing angles. In addition, they are protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3 for additional damage and scratch resistance. The tablet part of the laptop has a USB 2.0 port, a micro HDMI port and a headset jack, while the keyboard dock has an additional USB 2.0 port. The weight of the laptop starts from 1.05 kg up to 1.6 kg depending on the model the user selects.

Intel HD Graphics 520: Integrated GPU (GT2) with 24 EUs found on some Skylake CPU models (15 W ULV series). Modern games should be playable with these graphics cards at low settings and resolutions. Casual gamers may be happy with these cards. » Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Graphics Cards and the corresponding Benchmark List.
6200U: Skylake-based ULV dual-core processor for thin notebooks and ultrabooks. Offers an integrated HD Graphics 520 GPU and is manufactured in 14 nm.» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Processsors.
12":

This screen diagoal is quite large for tablets but small for subnotebooks. Some convertibles are also represented with that size.

Large display-sizes allow higher resolutions. So, details like letters are bigger. On the other hand, the power consumption is lower with small screen diagonals and the devices are smaller, more lightweight and cheaper.

» To find out how fine a display is, see our DPI List.
1.3 kg:

This weight is typical for big tablets, small subnotebooks, ultrabooks and convertibles with a 10-11 inch display-diagonal.

Acer: The company was founded under the name of Multitech in Taiwan in 1976 and renamed to Acer or Acer Group in 1987. The product range includes, for example, laptops, tablets, smartphones, desktops, monitors and televisions. Gateway Inc. and Packard Bell also belong to the Group and sell their own laptops.

While Acer still had the third largest global market share in the notebook segment in 2008, it ranked 6th in 2016 with a market share of 6% after they had continuously lost market shares.

There are dozens of Acer laptop reviews per month, the ratings are average (as of 2016). Gateway, which has an own laptop line-up, has also belonged to the Acer Group since 2007.

80%: This rating is not convincing. The laptop is evaluated below average, this is not really a recommendation for purchase.
» Further information can be found in our Notebook Purchase Guide.

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