Acer TravelMate TMX349-G2-M-5625 Laptop Review

The casing matches the already tested Skylake CPU model. It is entirely manufactured from sturdy, anthracite-toned aluminum with a matte finish. The laptop can be opened one-handedly and the screen can be rotated 180 degrees. A rubberized screen frame makes for keeping a small distance between the screen and the base unit. There is no maintenance flap, but opening up the case completely goes with ease and allows for access to all components. 

The quality remains to be exemplary in the new version: the casing is torsionally rigid and there is no creaking. The slim cover is not as rigid, but neither is that the case with comparable devices.  

Size and weight remain unchanged compared to the Skylake version. Except for the IdeaPad, the competitors with almost identical casing measures are significantly heavier at 1.7 kg (3.75 lbs) and 1.9 kg (4.19 lbs), respectively. 

For its slim size, the TMX349 is sufficiently equipped. While on the left side there is USB 3.0 and USB 3.1 (Type-C), on the right side there is only USB 2.0. Via the HDMI port the screen can be extended to a 4K monitor. We tried using an Aukey adapter but the Type-C port could not output a display signal. The ports are spaced sufficiently, so the HDMI port and the USB port can easily be used at the same time.

The card reader was not improved upon and remains slow. During our standard test with a reference memory card (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) it reached similarly low transfer rates of 24 MB/s as in our last review. Writing speed has increased to 26 MB/s.

The new TravelMate utilizes an Intel Wi-Fi module (7265) supporting 802.11 a/b/g/h/n/ac Wi-Fi. In our test the device managed to maintain a stable connection with good transfer speeds between two stories of a building. As in the predecessor, neither an RJ45 port nor 3G are on board. The integrated HD webcam offers 1.3 megapixels (1.280 x 720) and 30 fps. Color reproduction is very pale but the camera fulfills its purpose, more should not be expected.

While Acer ships the TravelMate with a three-year warranty with an included pick-up service and a special Travelers' Warranty in Germany, U.S. customers must settle for a one-year limited mail-in/carry-in warranty. Please see our Guarantees, Return policies and Warranties FAQ for country-specific information.

The Intel Core i5-7200U replaces the i5-6200U (Skylake). The new Kaby Lake processors compute around 10% faster than the Skylake units of yesteryear. This is mostly achieved through higher clock speeds. The employed i5-7200U has a base clock speed of 2.5 GHz and is able to boost up to 3.1 GHz, a value that was reached by last year´s top-end i7 Skylake unit. The clock speeds of the current i7-model are likely to have increased by 10%, as well. This effect is verified by our measured values. The ThinkPad E470 that employs the same processor is on the same clock-speed level as the old X349. 

The processor constantly runs at the maximum clock speed of 3.1 GHz during the Cinebench R15 loop. A speed slump cannot be observed, although the fans do become quite audible. When idling or during normal usage the fans remain mostly inactive.

In battery mode, there is no CPU-throttling, either. Only when the graphics unit is employed simultaneously does the CPU throttle down to 2.9 GHz.

System performance was improved, but during Cinebench it could not quite keep up with the ThinkPad E470. It seems as if the devices cannot fully utilize their full potential, although clock speeds remain at a constantly high level and do not throttle. When using office applications these slight differences should not show. PCMark values give a similar impression. The TravelMate cannot quite keep pace and falls back in the field when compared to its direct competitors. The new TravelMate is ahead of its top-end i7-predecessor in Work Score and Home Score. 

It must be stressed, though, that these small differences, while evident in benchmark tests, are hardly noticeable during everyday use. Thus, the perceived working performance is convenient at all times.

Concerning mass storage, the device is at its best. The utilized Intel SSD allows for sequential reading of 1134 MB/s and outperforms the competition with ease. These values impress and can usually only be seen in laptops of a higher price range. This is mostly thanks to the SSD´s PCIe 3.0 connection. Normally, devices in this range, e.g. the competitors, have SSDs on a SATA-III level and reach typical speeds of 400-500 MB/s. The predecessor exhibited reading speeds of 400 MB/s and was the fastest by comparison, already back then. Admittedly, the SSD does not differ that much from its competitors, but it is ahead or at least at the same level in most tests. We cannot say a bad word about the SSD speed, it is very good.

For home and office applications the memory and the mass storage are among the most important components and Acer did not fail to utilize them exceptionally well. This strategy pays off.

The Acer TravelMate is not built for gaming and is only available with Intel integrated HD Graphics 620. It can only be used for older titles or for low-end games. This seems reasonable as a more performant graphics card would require more energy and drain the battery quicker. The laptop can be seamlessly connected to a 4K display during which the graphics card accesses the working memory as it has no memory of its own. Thanks to the generously large RAM this does not pose any difficulties. Compared to its Intel HD Graphics 520 predecessor, the performance was improved, but clock frequency remains the same.

With a few outliers to the upper and lower limits, the TMX349 performance is leveled with its identically equipped competitors. What was true for the Skylake generation remains true now: gaming should rather be avoided. GPU clock speed remains at a low but constant level thanks to the good ventilation system. The laptop is still not going to turn into a gaming system. Only those titles with low requirements or those which are set to low quality are playable. Battlefield 4 and current games like Rise of the Tomb Raider work, but they are not really enjoyable. The loud fan noise under load adds to this notion.

When playing games while the laptop is on energy-saving mode, the graphics card throttles to 450 MHz and the performance drops down to two-thirds. 

In practically relevant environments, i.e. home and office, the system noises are conveniently low. The fan is mostly inactive or spins almost inaudibly at around 30-31 dB (A). Under full load the fan becomes subjectively louder but does not get annoying. At a constant full load the fan might become annoying, though, as the noise will be permanently audible. 

Aside from the fan, no other sources of unwanted noise could be found. There is no beeping or squeaking and the fans exhibit no mechanical irregularities that could potentially be the cause of disturbing noises, as was reported for the predecessor device.

Frequency diagram in comparison (checkboxes above can be turned on/off!)

Power consumption was moderately improved from the Skylake model. Idle values for the Lenovo and HP competition are almost 1.5 Watts below the values for the TravelMate. However, under full load they do draw more power than the TMX349, which is probably due to their dedicated Nvidia graphics cards. When demand is high, the GPU does require more power than the old Skylake model. The power adapter with 45 Watts nominal power output is sufficiently sized.

The new processors not only increase the performance of the machine but also the battery runtime. The battery capacity of 48.9 Wh remains the same. 

The laptop lasts almost one entire business day on Wi-Fi and medium brightness. For working weeks involving workdays with longer hours, the user should not forget their power supply. Otherwise, overtime work can only be done with partial online abstinence.

In our Wi-Fi test the TravelMate keeps well ahead of the competition, although when idling it falls behind. Acer has some potential for improvement here, but a battery runtime of 14 hours is still a very respectable value. The practically more relevant value is the Wi-Fi usage. Here, the TMX349 offers one hour more usage than the competition. 

Under load, the higher energy consumption of the graphics unit becomes evident. In comparison to its predecessor, the runtime drops 20 minutes down to 1.5 hours. With this, the TMX349 comes in last in our group of test devices.

A script simulates connecting to websites during our Wi-Fi test. The "Balanced" energy profile is activated, energy-saving options are turned off and the display is set to 150 cd/m².