Mid-range laptops are no longer about serving some of the features of budget laptops and a sprinkling of the stuff we usually would see in the more expensive laptops. Things have changed—with better specs, smooth performance and a certain amount of future-proofing very much a part of the package, Acer’s latest A15 notebook, priced at Rs.50,990, shows that you don’t need to spend a lot for a powerful laptop these days.
Design: Rugged and good-looking
The first thing that is noticeable about the A15 is the fabric-like finish on the lid. This looks classier than plain plastic. More importantly, it feels a lot more rugged and well built. Clearly, Acer hasn’t tried to cut cost by using flimsy plastic material as is common in-mid-range laptops. The laptop’s weight (2.4kg) can be a bit of an issue though but with a laptop of this screen size, portability is always an issue.
Display: Big and non-reflective
The 15.6-inch screen size makes it perfect for office work, entertainment and gaming. Though the screen resolution isn’t very high (1,366 x 768p), the non-reflective matte finish ensures it can be used outdoors or in brightly lit rooms without any annoying reflections. The text isn’t as sharp as we would have liked, but the colours look bright. The screen size and the ability to handle colours well when viewed sideways makes it easy for three or four people to work together on a document or for friends to watch a movie without the colour shift phenomenon spoiling the view when sitting at an angle to the screen. We expected a Full HD screen though, and this resolution is a big miss.
Keyboard: Small keys but full keyboard
The laptop offers a full-fledged (meaning) spill-resistant keyboard. The size of each key is a bit small, but there is ample spacing between them to ensure you don’t end up mistyping. They are not backlit, and that is a glaring omission, at this price. The touchpad is not wide enough though, and that takes some getting used to if you use multi-touch gestures regularly.
Performance: Powerful and runs the latest Windows OS
The Acer F15 is powered by a Intel Core i5 processor with 8 GB of RAM. There is a dedicated NVIDIA GeForce 920M (2 GB) graphics card for games and graphic-intensive tasks. The troika works efficiently and handled some games and HD movies with ease. It provides 1TB of storage which is on a par with any high-end laptop and will come in handy for accommodating movies and games. It runs on 64-bit Windows 10 operating system with the usual Windows app such as Microsoft Edge Browser, Cortana, and you can use MS Office Productivity Suite (Word, Excel, Powerpoint) free for a month. We tested its six-hour battery life with continuous video playback, which could easily translate into all-day battery life if you are using this for working on documents.
Verdict
There is no doubt that the Acer F15 is a solid mid range notebook, in terms of the performance as well as design. Its closest rival is the Asus A555LF (Rs.48,999), as it packs in almost similar configuration and performance. However, it is not as solidly built and has a slightly inferior display compared to Acer F15.
