Acer Aspire 3 Review, Price, Full Specs, and Test Score

Nowadays, laptops are becoming expensive, but Acer has launched its new Aspire 3 on the market at a very low price. Its current price is $400 for the base model and goes up to $500 for a version with more storage and a slightly faster processor.

If you need a laptop for everyday tasks like school or work and don’t want to spend much money, the Acer Aspire 3 is a good choice. Nothing is unique about it, but it gets the job done without emptying your wallet.

In this article, we will consider whether its price is cheap but how is its performance. We will test its capabilities in multitasking, daily life, and gaming, making it easier for you to decide whether this budget-friendly laptop is good for you.

Acer Aspire 3: Key Features

Model Name	Acer Aspire 3
Processor	AMD Ryzen 3 7320U Quad-Core
Frequency/Core	2.4 GHz (4M Cache, up to 4.1 GHz, 4 cores, 8 Thread)
RAM	8 GB LPDDR5
Storage	256 GB, PCIe Gen4, 16 Gb/s, NVMe
Graphics Card	AMD Radeon
Display	39.6 cm (15.6″) Full HD 1920 x 1080
Operating System (OS)	Windows 11 Home
Weight	1.78 kg (3.92 lbs)
Battery	40 Wh, Lithium Ion (Li-Ion)

Acer Aspire 3: Full Specifications

Processor (CPU)

Processor Model Name	AMD Ryzen 3 7320U Quad-Core
Processor Speed	2.4 GHz- 4.1 GHz
Cores	4
L3 cache	4M Cache

Video Card

Graphics Processor	AMD Radeon Graphics
Graphics Memory Capacity	System Shared
Graphic Type	Integrated
Memory Type	LPDDR5
GPU Frequency	1900 MHz

RAM

Memory Capacity	8 GB
Memory Type	LPDDR5
Frequency	5500 MHz
Memory Slots	2

Storage

Storage Capacity	256GB
Storage Type	SSD (M2)
Drive Interface	PCI Express
Channels	1x256GB
Total Slots	1

Display

Screen Size	15.6 inches
Screen Resolution	1920 x 1080 pixels
Refresh Rate	60 Hz
Display Screen Type	TN LCD
Display Screen Technology	LCD
HDR support	No
Touch Input	No
Coating	Matte
Maximum brightness	250 nits
Contrast	642:1
sRGB color gamut	55%

Battery

Capacity	3 Cell, 40 Wh
Full charge time	1:20 hr
Battery type	Lithium Ion (Li-Ion)
Removable	No
Fast charging	Yes
USB power delivery	Yes
Charging connector location	Left
Charging power	3-pin 45 W AC adapter
Charger weight	N/A

Frame

The weight	1.78 kg (3.92 lbs)
Dimensions	14.29 x 9.35 x 0.74 inches
Square	862 cm2 (133.6 inches2)
Screen-to-body ratio	~77.9%
Side frames	8.8 mm
Colors	Pure Silver
Transformer	No
Screen opening angle	120°

Thermal Management

Cooling type	Active
Evaporation chamber	No
Number of coolers	1
Noise level	35.6 dB

Sound

Audio Chip	N/A
Audio Format	2
Speaker Power	2
Dolby Atmos	No
Max. volume	70.7 dB
microphones	1

Communications

WiFi version	v6
Bluetooth	v5.2
The fingerprint scanner	No
Drive	No
Webcam	Above the display
Webcam Resolution	1280 x 720

IO and Ports

USB-A	3x USB 3.2
USB Type-C	1x USB 3.2
Thunderbolt	No
HDMI	1x HDMI
display port	No
VGA	No
Audio port (3.5mm)	Yes
Ethernet (RJ45)	No
card reader	No
Separate charging port	Yes

Keyboard and Touchpad

Key type	Island
Numeric block	Yes
Backlight	No
Key travel	1.8 mm
Surface	Plastic
Windows Precision	Yes

Benchmark

Test	(Single-Core)	(Multi-Core)
Geekbench 5	1004	3678
Cinebench R23	998	4684

Price and Availability

The Acer Aspire 3 is a budget laptop with the base version currently priced at $400. The computer also has the option of more storage and a slightly faster processor, which costs $500. Its price is not the cheapest because, in this price range, you get laptops like Dell Inspiron 15, Asus Vivabook, and Lenovo Ideapad Slim available in the market.

If I talk about this price, it is for the US, but if you live outside the US, you should visit Acer’s official or e-commerce website and check its price in your country. Also, keep in mind that the price keeps decreasing with time. I have mentioned the price at the time when I wrote this article.

It is affordable, making it an ideal laptop for daily work as Acer has tried to make it good value for your money.

You can buy this laptop from Acer’s official website or Amazon. Also, you can easily find it both online and offline.

Acer Aspire 3: Performance

Processor

Acer has used an AMD Ryzen 3 7320U processor in this laptop, which works at 2.4 GHz and can work faster up to 4.1 GHz if needed.

This processor is perfect for this budget laptop. The processor is the brain of the computer, and it needs to be good. This processor is perfect for this laptop at this price range, as it easily handles everyday tasks. However, the ASUS ivoBook 15 X505ZA processor, which comes with this specification, performs even better.

Cores and Threads

This laptop has 4 cores and 8 threads to perform eight tasks simultaneously. It also has a 4M L3 cache, which helps it work faster.

Its CPU is built using only a 6-nanometer process. Due to this, its battery life is also good, and the laptop runs for a long time without charging.

Frequency

The base frequency of this budget laptop is 2.4 GHz, and the turbo frequency is 4.8 GHz. The frequency of any laptop determines how many times the CPU accesses and processes data within the RAM cells each second.

This frequency is perfect for this computer but low for modern games. Due to this, this laptop runs very smoothly and works as much as possible without stopping.

Graphics Card

It has an AMD Radeon graphics processor. AMD Radeon is a brand of graphics processing units (GPUs) developed by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). These GPUs handle images, videos, and graphical tasks well.

It has integrated graphics memory, which is shared with the system memory. It shares it with the system’s main memory (RAM) for graphics-related tasks. While shared memory is flexible, it may not be as high-performance as dedicated VRAM.

The GPU operates at a frequency of 1900 MHz. Due to this, it processes data faster, which allows images and videos to be presented quickly.

Display

The screen size of the Acer Aspire 3 is 15.6 inches and comes with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, which delivers sharp and detailed images and refreshes at a rate of 60 Hz for smooth visuals.

It uses TN LCD technology, which makes its screen even better, and features a matte coating to reduce glare. It has a maximum brightness of 250 nits and a contrast ratio of 642:1.

Design and Build Quality

The laptop weighs only 3.92 pounds, which is neither too heavy nor too light. It features a 15.8-inch full-width keyboard that feels quite solid under the fingers without much flex or bounce when typing.

It’s great to have a keyboard like this for such a budget laptop as it is on par with competitors like the HP Pro, which comes with twice the budget. It also comes with a massive 3-inch x 5-inch touchpad that feels firm and smooth, doesn’t make noise when clicked, and tracks well with single-digit and multi-touch gestures.

It has a lot of ports and connectivity due to which its thickness is relatively more. Its dimensions are 14.29 x 9.35 x 0.74 inches. It feels solid compared to all the laptops under a $500 budget, like the Dell Inspiron 15, Asus Vivabook, and Lenovo Ideapad Slim.

Battery

This AMD Ryzen 5 laptop has a 40 Whr Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) battery, which supports fast charging. Its battery usually lasts for about 8 hours, but when doing heavy work with its screen brightness increased, it lasts for about 5 hours. But its competitors’ laptops, like Lenovo Ideapad, have a longer battery life.

The battery life of any laptop depends on how it is being used. Battery life is affected by continuous watching of videos and excessive browsing.

Adapter

The laptop comes with a 45W power adapter, fully charging it in 1 hour 30 minutes. This laptop can also be charged via third-party USB-C, but it charges it slowly.

Ports and Connectivity

It has three USB-A ports and one USB Type-C port, each compatible with USB 3.2 for data transfers and external peripherals. It lacks a Thunderbolt 4 port but has an HDMI port to connect to an external display.

However, it does have a 3.5mm audio port for headphones or external speakers. Yet, this device does not feature an Ethernet (RJ45) port or card reader.

Operating System and Software

This budget laptop has Windows 11 Home with lifetime updates, which works on 64-bit architecture. Nowadays, it is common to have Windows OS on all laptops as they provide a good interface, making it easy to operate.

Everyday Use For Multitasking

Multitasking:

There is some problem in doing multiple tasks simultaneously on this 256GB SSD because its cache size is minimal.

Its processor is fine, but it becomes slow in multitasking. Still, it easily does limited multitasking like Google Chrome, Microsoft Word, Notepad, etc.

Making Presentations:

It lacks modern dedicated graphics cards. Instead, Acer has equipped it with integrated graphics, which works well for tasks like creating presentation slides. However, for more graphics-intensive tasks, it has some limitations.

Internet Browsing and Streaming:

Heavy web browsing on this laptop shows slight slowness. Opening lots of web browser tabs causes some minor delays.

Despite having 8 GB RAM, this laptop faces some problems in web browsing. Background web pages refresh frequently, causing blockages.

Video Conferencing and Online Meetings:

It has a 720p webcam above the display with a resolution of 1280 x 720, along with a digital microphone that indicates when the camera is active. These features make video conferencing and online meetings possible, although the webcam’s picture quality isn’t exceptional.

Gaming

The laptop’s Radeon 610M integrated GPU, based on AMD’s RDNA 2 architecture, has only two GPU cores. As a result, the Aspire 3 struggles to handle modern, graphically intensive games like Valorant and Cyberpunk 2077.

As this laptop is designed for everyday work and according to its budget, it has a CPU and GPU, which are not very powerful, so its performance is absolutely useless for gaming.

Programming (Coding)

Beginner-level programming, like C, C++, etc., can be done easily on this laptop, and there is no problem in doing it, but it cannot handle high-level programming like machine learning web development.

Since this laptop is designed for daily tasks, it can only run entry-level programs.

What’s Good in Acer Aspire 3 

Affordable Price

Acer has managed to keep this laptop at an impressively affordable price, coming in at under $500 for everyday use. This laptop is an excellent choice in the budget-friendly range.

Lightweight and portable

It is thin and light, which looks quite attractive, and is also portable, which you can carry easily.

Enough storage options

Even in such a low-priced laptop, the 256GB SSD card makes it even better and provides more storage than average.

What’s Bad in Acer Aspire 3

Graphics Performance

The integrated graphics may struggle with high-end graphics tasks such as gaming.

Webcam Quality

The webcam’s quality isn’t suitable for clear pictures or high-quality video calls.

Build Quality

The plastic build may not be as durable and is susceptible to scratches.

Final Words

The Acer Aspire 3 is an affordable, everyday laptop. It doesn’t handle fancy games or heavy tasks well but is excellent for regular stuff. It has a good processor and enough memory to handle daily tasks efficiently.

It is also lightweight and easy to carry, convenient for people on the go. It also has enough space to store files.

FAQs