Acer Aspire Lite Ryzen 5 5500U Review After Months of Usage

The Acer Aspire Lite Ryzen 5 AL15-41/51 has been gaining a lot of attention just because of what it is offering at a competing price.

We have bought the 16GB variant of this laptop for Rs 35000, which we think is a great deal.

You can also get the 8GB variant for Rs 33000 and upgrade the RAM later.

No matter what, the question is, Is the Acer Aspire Lite Ryzen 5 a good laptop? Should you buy it over other laptops?

Well, we are about to find that in this Acer Aspire Lite Ryzen 5 review.

Main Highlights

Before jumping into review, have a look at what this laptop has to offer.

The on-paper specifications are pretty good, especially the CPU and build.

Yes, some features might feel unimpressive, but we can’t judge things without using them in real life.

Hence, if you are planning to buy this laptop, make sure to check the real-life review. Don’t judge it by just on-paper specifications.

Acer Aspire Lite Ryzen 5 Review

Box Content

• Acer Aspire Lite Laptop
• Power cord
• Adapter
• User Manual Booklet
• Microfiber cloth
• Two screws for inserting HDD

Build Quality

The company has emphasized the metal build.

When we took the laptop out of the box, we immediately noticed that the laptop had a solid metal build.

From every angle, the laptop feels premium and well-built.

However, you must know that the bottom base and the bezels around the display are made of plastic.

Although the laptop is made of metal, minor flex is present on the top panel and around the keyboard. However, it’s not that alarming.

There is no gap between the display and the side frames, which is commendable.

The entire laptop has a matt finish, ensuring it doesn’t attract fingerprints and smudges that easily.

So overall, you won’t have any complaints regarding the build quality, as the laptop feels premium.

Verdict: The Acer Aspire Lite has one of the best build quality, especially for the price. It feels sturdy and premium. However, you should not expect it to be as premium as high-end laptops.

Build Quality Rating: 4.2★

You might also like these Best Ryzen 5 Laptop under 35000 & 40000.

Looks and Design

The Acer Aspire Lite has an appealing look thanks to the slim bezels and smaller form factors.

The bottom bezel is significantly larger, but that doesn’t spoil the beauty that much.

Most laptops in this segment come with larger bezels, which look outdated. However, the Acer Aspire Lite has more modern and up-to-the-market looks.

The aluminum part is in grey, and the plastic part is in black. So, the combination of grey and black looks attractive. 

It won’t be wrong to say that this laptop looks more expensive.

The design also plays a vital role in enhancing the overall look.

This laptop has a clean and elegant design, which looks professional and well-suited for office and student use.

The keyboard layout is also good and convenient to type on.

Despite having a 15.6-inch display, this laptop weighs only 1.59 kg, which is lightweight for such a laptop. It means you can carry this laptop easily.

Verdict: The Acer Aspire Lite has a modern look and elegant design. It’s an ideal design for office professionals and students. Also, the laptop is easily portable.

Looks and Design Rating: 4.2★

Display

The display is the most controversial part of this laptop. Many are complaining that the laptop has a TN panel, which is below average for general use.

So, what’s the reality? Is the display quality really that poor?

Well, let’s come straight to the point.

Yes, the display has some issues, but it’s not poor by any means.

Because of the FHD resolution, the text and images look sharp, and there is no pixelation at all.

Even the colors are good. Yes, they look slightly washed out, but that’s quite normal for an anti-glare display.

You can easily perform all your tasks and watch content on this display.

The problem comes when you look at the display from different angles. There are significant color shifts when looking from up and down. However, this color shift is not that significant from side angles.

That’s the only issue with this display.

Is it a deal breaker?

No, it’s not a big deal breaker for office users or students. However, if you care the most about colors, then yes, it’s a deal breaker.

However, you must know that nearly all the laptops in this segment come with similar TN panels. If you want an IPS display on a reputed laptop, you have to spend Rs 40000 or more.

Also, if you have never used high-end displays, you will find the display manageable.

Overall, the display quality on the Acer Aspire Lite is good. If you work by sitting in front of the laptop, then you won’t have many complaints about it.

Verdict: The Acer Aspire Lite might not have the best display, but that holds true for other laptops, too. Yes, the viewing angles are poor, but if you don’t look from extreme angles, then it’s a good display for everyday use.

Display Rating: 3.9★

Also, check these laptops under 45000.

General Performance

The primary reason for buying this laptop is its performance, and it’s an area where you won’t have any problem with this laptop.

Yes, the Ryzen 5 5500U CPU is old, but you can’t deny that it is one of the best CPUs under Rs 35000.

It has 6 Performance Cores and 12 Threads that handle everyday tasks smoothly.

Also, the laptop has NMVe Gen 3 SSD and DDR4 RAM.

We have bought the 16GB RAM variant, but you can get the 8GB variant and add more RAM later.

In everyday use, the apps open quickly, and multitasking is a breeze.

Here is the booting and shutdown time.

• It takes 19 seconds to boot completely.
• The shutdown time is 7 seconds.

We know booting time is on the higher side, but it’s acceptable.

In general use, we have found no fan noise or heating issues.

You can easily use this laptop for coding and designing. Software like Android Studio runs smoothly on this laptop.

Moreover, you can do mediocre level of video editing, too.

Note that while performing intensive tasks like video editing, the laptop heats up a little, but that’s quite normal.

Overall, this laptop does an excellent job of performing everyday tasks. Most users will be happy with the output.

Verdict: The Acer Aspire Lite Ryzen 5 5500U delivers an excellent performance. If you occasionally perform heavy tasks, this laptop can handle that, too. So, the general performance is one of the best under 35k.

Performance Rating: 4.3★

Gaming Performance

The Acer Aspire Lite is not a gaming laptop, but you can still play casual games.

The integrated AMD Radeon graphic card is capable of handling casual games with ease.

We have tried to run some games, and here is what we got.

• Volarant: 1080p, Low Setting, 100 FPS Average
• GTA V: 1080p, Normal Setting, 40 FPS Average
• CS Go: 1080p, Low Setting, 75 FPS Average
• Apex Legend: 720p, Low Setting, 35 FPS Average
• RDR 2: 720p, Low Setting, 35 FPS Average

Note that these games were played on the 16GB RAM variant. On the 8GB variant, you might see a slight fluctuation in FPS.

From the above data, it’s clear that this laptop can handle games at lower settings.

However, if you expect seamless gameplay at higher settings, then you will be disappointed.

So, should you buy this laptop for gaming?

If gaming is your highest priority, then this laptop isn’t for you.

But if you play casual games, then this laptop won’t disappoint you.

Verdict: The Acer Aspire Lite is not for heavy gaming. It is well-suited for casual gaming sessions because the integrated GPU is not that powerful.

Gaming Performance: 3.7★

You might also like these Best Display Laptop under 50000.

Audio Quality

The Acer Aspire Lite has dual bottom-firing speakers. The audio quality from these speakers is good out of the box.

They are decently loud and ideal for watching movies and listening to music.

However, the bass is not rich, which many users will not like.

To customize the audio, you can install the Nahimic app from the Microsoft Store. After reducing the bass and enhancing the vocals and trebles a bit, you will get a good audio experience.

Also, the speakers get slightly louder after making some customizations.

Note that the loudness fills a small size room easily.

Overall, the audio quality and loudness are good. It’s not the best, but surely not the worst.

Verdict: Most users generally prefer using earphones or external speakers. Even if you don’t, the speaker’s output from Aspire Lite won’t disappoint you. It’s serviceable while not being rich and detailed.

Audio Rating: 3.9★

Battery Life

Battery life is another area people are concerned about.

The laptop has a 36Wh battery, which is relatively small, especially for a 15.6-inch laptop.

Despite its smaller battery size, we observed decent battery endurance during real-life testing.

Our primary tasks involve internet use, requiring us to have 7 to 12 tabs open simultaneously.

Under these conditions, we achieved around 4.5 hours of battery life at 70% brightness.

Reducing the brightness to approximately 50%, suitable for indoor conditions, extended the screen-on time to over 5 hours.

However, when using resource-intensive websites or applications, the battery percentage drops significantly.

During gaming sessions, the battery lasted only 2 hours.

To summarize, we got:

• 4.5 to 5 hours of battery life with normal use.
• 3.5 to 4 hours with medium to heavy use.
• 2 hours during gaming.

These figures indicate that the overall battery life is decent and certainly not as bad as some people suggest.

Note that the mentioned data may vary based on your usage pattern, but overall, the battery life is acceptable.

Nevertheless, it could have been even better if Acer had included a larger battery, but unfortunately, that’s not the case with this laptop.

Verdict: The battery life holds up well for everyday tasks. If you keep the laptop connected to the internet and use it consistently throughout the day, you can expect it to last approximately 4.5 hours, needing two charging sessions per day.

Battery Rating: 3.8★

Ports Selection

The Acer Aspire Lite has all the necessary ports for everyday use.

It has a USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type A, Two USB 2.0 Type A, one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, HDMI, RJ-45, an Audio combo jack, and a Micro SD card reader slot.

You might have seen the SIM slot, but note that it’s not functional. You can’t insert any SIM in this slot.

Also, you can’t charge the laptop using a Type-C port. It’s just for data transfer.

For wireless connectivity, you get Bluetooth 5.1 and Wi-Fi 5.

One advantage of having three USB ports is that if you connect a wired keyboard and mouse to the laptop, you are still left with one USB port for other use.

Verdict: Yes, you can’t charge the laptop using the Type-C port, but still, the given ports are convenient enough for everyday use.

You might also like these Best Ryzen 5 Laptops under 50000.

Other Things to Know

• The laptop doesn’t come with MS Office, which is the biggest deal-breaker for those who use MS Office apps in daily life.

• The laptop doesn’t have a fingerprint scanner and a backlit keyboard.

• It takes 1 hour 45 minutes to fully charge the laptop.

• You can upgrade the RAM up to 32GB, which is a huge plus if you want to upgrade the RAM in the future. However, upgrading the RAM yourself can void the warranty. So, it’s better to take the laptop to Acer Store for upgradation.

• The wire of the adaptor feels slightly cheap.

So, these are the important points you should know before buying this laptop.

Pros and Cons of Acer Aspire Lite Ryzen 5 5500U

Modern looks and design
Solid build quality
Good display quality with good colors
Excellent performance for the price
Ideal for casual gaming and video editing
Upgradable RAM and Storage
Decent battery life on normal use
Lightweight

Poor viewing angles
No backlit keyboard or fingerprint scanner
Average battery life on slightly heavy use
No MS Office

Overall Rating: 4.0★

Final Verdict: Should You Buy Acer Aspire Lite Ryzen 5 5500U?

The Acer Aspire Lite has both good and bad things. Now, it depends on you what matters to you the most.

If you are okay with the cons, the Acer Aspire Lite is one of the best laptops under 35000.

The Ryzen 5 5500U, solid metal build, modern design, decent display, and all other features make it a worth buying laptop.

So, if your budget is under Rs 35000, then you can surely buy the Acer Aspire Lite Ryzen 5 5500U.

Acer Aspire Lite Ryzen 5 5500U FAQs

So, this is our honest Acer Aspire Lite Ryzen 5 5500U review.

If you still have any doubts, feel free to ask us in the comment section.

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Also, do share your thoughts if you agree or disagree with this review.