Acer's quiet Nitro 17 laptop reviewed: The RTX 4060, perfectly configured

The iridescent "N" on both the lid and below the display give away the Acer Nitro 17's gaming credentials. In addition, there are a few small color accents, but that's it. The search for LED lighting effects or colorful, stand-out elements on the sleek, plastic case, ends in vain.

The lack of metal components doesn't detract from the device's robustness. The case doesn't flex, can only be twisted minimally and, likewise, noises cannot be coaxed from it either. In addition, the display frame can only be bent slightly. The screen remains stable when being lifted or moved and can be opened to an angle of over 150°. Everything seems neatly put together.

At the same time, Acer's laptop is heavy and really big. Even among the 17-inch machines, it's hard to find another model that is thicker. Compared to its already big predecessor, the Acer Nitro 517, a few millimeters have been added. As seen in the previous gen model, the large cooling makes its presence felt. The laptop also continues to put weight on. Out-and-about, almost 4.3 kg have to lugged around as the PSU is also really heavy at 1.2 kg.

While criticism of its predecessor was justified for not having a card reader or a second USB-C port, the Acer Nitro 17 does everything right. All of the video outputs, including Thunderbolt 4, USB-C with DisplayPort support and HDMI, can be found on the rear of the device. On the left and right of the laptop, we have USB-A ports. Both of the right-hand ports even allow 10 Gbit/s, which is sufficient for, among other things, fast USB sticks and many portable SSDs.

It's a mystery why the card reader is only a microSD variant as there is more than enough space for a bigger one. The LAN port would also like to have managed 2.5 Gbit/s instead of only 1 Gbit/s. For the quality and price, the Acer Nitro 17's selection of ports is absolutely fine. The quantity and performance thereof should fit the task, regardless of the application scenario.

The WLAN module, for which we ascertained the expected results, is without critcism. However, Wi-Fi 6E is not on board, meaning multiple, overlapping networks will result in a considerable reduction in bandwidth.  

The basic HD camera is sufficient for undemanding video calls although the low resolution is apparent to the receiver. The strong color deviations we measured resulted from the camera's good brightening function. It adapted quickly to changing lighting conditions and delivered good-quality images, even in low light.  But, this is by no means really ideal and we would still recommend grabbing an external camera. 

Likewise, the microphone does its job satisfactorily. The sound is recorded at a consistent volume and can be easily heard both from varying distances and in multiple directions of speech. However, when adjusting the volume, it's difficult to ignore the tinny undertone and slight distortions.

With the 13th generation of the Intel Core i7 (Raptor Lake) and the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060, most current games are playable at the display's native QHD resolution, but with a few limitations here and there. As long as your demands are not set too high, the gaming laptop will provide great entertainment for quite some time.

In addition to our review candidate, there are currently a few other variants of the Nitro 17 available that come with either the Intel Core i5-13500H or the i7-13700H as well as the RTX 4050 or an RTX 4060. Current titles should easily be playable with the lowest spec model, albeit at Full HD. 

With the Intel Core i7-13700, the Acer Nitro 17 has gone for a very powerful but not superlative CPU. Its design largely corresponds to the predecessor, the i7-12700H with six performance and eight efficiency cores making a total of 20 threads. The cache has also remained the same size. In contrast, the clock rate has seen a slight improvement from 4.7 to 5.0 GHz.

Other gaming laptops can fall back on a better-specced CPU, for example, the Intel Core i7-13700HX. However, that means the cooling has to be done right. For instance, a Medion Erazer Defender P40 began our CineBench R15 continuous loop with 10 % better values but was neck and neck after the second run. In the end, the Nitro 17 was almost 20 % better. In this regard, the continuous performance is on an impressively high level.  

Conversely, for many processes and tasks, the power available for a short time counts. In this respect, the i7-13700H is powerful for a mobile CPU but it is left standing by the 7th generation AMD processors or even the "HX" series Intel models. A similar picture emerged when it came to single-core performance. Being limited to 115 watts instead of up to the 157 watts seen in the "HX" series prevents better results. In addition, in "Performance" mode, a sudden reduction in power consumption takes place which explains the below-average results in this area. However, regarding the gaming rating, this doesn't play a decisive role. 

You can find further information and measurement data in our CPU benchmark list.

When surfing the internet, creating, rendering and more, the performance remains consistently high. Waiting times are short and loading processes, the installation or de-installation of programs don't present the system with any particular problems. In terms of the PCMark and CrossMark scores, there seems to be a slight advantage to using the balanced mode. The low heat production as a result of the limited power consumption during repeated load, really shows its advantages. This means this processor even manages to sit noticeably above the values we recorded in all our tested i7-13700H processors.