Test: Acer Aspire ES 14

Laptops in this day and age are invaluable. Mobile to mobile, place to place, the generation of today are settling for smaller screens. PC building is left for the more dedicated gamer. For those who prefer consoles or smaller devices, finding a good laptop is a more important duck hunt. For this, we reviewed the Acer Aspire ES 14, a budget laptop that, despite its lack of amazing features, holds up as a device for working on the go.

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• Enough with cookie cutter designs. If there’s one thing Acer laptops have got going for them, it’s their unique form factors. The first thing you notice about the Acer Aspire ES 14 is its 3D-printed finish. Move over, gloss; the Aspire ES 14’s matte finish provides a pleasant feel while on the go. Further, its diminutive weight makes the laptop a breeze to carry around from point to point. For its price, the laptop feels and looks better for its price range. It’s a treat for the mobile worker.

• Clickety clack. The Aspire ES 14’s keyboard adds a satisfying click with every keypress. Also, without an accessible area below the keyboard, it’s easier to clean without pushing and pulling dirt from underneath every key.

• Decent graphics, but lackluster sound. The laptop carries a 14-inch HD CineCrystal LCD. Despite lacking support for larger resolutions, this screen is perfect for showing presentations and watching a quick movie in between meetings. However, its sound capabilities have room for improvement. As with other Acer laptops, the main speakers are located at the bottom of the device. You can give up listening to perfect audio if you’re not on a completely flat surface. Stick to earphones with this one.

• Above average (but not perfect) performance. Equipped with an Intel Celeron quad-core processor without a dedicated video card, I didn’t have big expectations for this device’s performance. It did blow me away, however. Office functions were expectedly perfect for performance. What I didn’t expect, though, was great performance for intensive programs like Photoshop and Lightroom. Despite not having a sponsored video card, the Acer laptop was still able to work these programs with hardware acceleration to boot. Gaming was, of course, another story. Given its lower specs, it didn’t handle even older games well, such as the 2011 sleeper hit, Dark Souls. The frame rate was atrocious, to say the least. Leave the gaming to more capable machines.

• Variety of choices. Based on my research, the Aspire ES 14 laptop has a variety of options to choose from. While we tested the more affordable package, there are higher variants to fill out other usages.

• Getting through (most of) the day. The battery can reliably power through a consistent six to seven hours of use, depending on the type of apps used. If you plan on being on-the-go for the whole day, I suggest bringing a charger, which shouldn’t be a problem as the battery charges quick enough for power breaks.

• Competitive price. For its specs, the Aspire ES 14 carries a P14,490 price tag, which makes it an affordable and attractive option for mobile workers.

VERDICT

The Acer Aspire ES 14 is a great laptop for on-the-go use. While it lacks the power that other devices have, mobile users will love the Aspire ES 14 for its mobility and performance that covers the essentials and then some.