The Acer Aspire 3 A315-44P is one of the more affordable laptops with serious productivity power under its belt. You could spend the same amount elsewhere and score a better display, but most of those alternatives come with previous-generation components and underwhelming performance metrics. And while the Aspire 3 laptop has remained unchanged over several generations of hardware; it at least gets refreshed components with every release.
Acer sells a bunch of versions of the Aspire 3. Our review model is the Aspire A315-44P which has a 15.6-inch FHD display, AMD Ryzen 5 7520U processor, 8GB RAM, and 512GB NVMe SSD storage. For the price, that’s enough firepower for everyday productivity tasks and home entertainment. More-capable laptops come in just above it in price, like the Acer Aspire 5 (2024 model) and Asus ZenBook 14 OLED, which offer better performance and boast premium designs.
As for the Aspire 3, it remains that one effective, simple budget laptop that’s available at a very low starting price. When the priority is getting a machine that works at a budget price, this Acer checks those boxes.
About the Aspire A315-44P
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 5500U
- Graphics: AMD Radeon
- RAM: 16GB LPDDR5
- Storage: 512GB SSD
- Display: 15.6-inch 1920 x 1080 LCD display
- Wireless connectivity: Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.1
- Weight: 2.9kg
- Size: 36.29 x 1.99 x 24.13 cm
The Acer Aspire 3 has a 15.6-inch Full HD (1080p) IPS screen, an AMD Ryzen 5 processor, 16GB RAM, and 512GB storage, which should be enough for most users, but the sub-£500 makes it even more incredible value.
With the Aspire 3, Acer once again proves that budget machines are the way to go. And, as long as your needs don’t include a whole lot of video editing or designing, this might be the best laptop for you.
What We Like
Solid performance for the price
The AMD Ryzen 5 5500U is a capable processor when it comes to performing essential daily tasks such as web browsing, handling office productivity, college assignments, and streaming videos and movies. The AMD Ryzen 5 chip was launched in January 2021 as part of the Ryzen 3 lineup, using the Zen 2 (Lucienne) architecture with Socket FP6, 6 cores, and 12 threads and operates at 2.1GHz by default, but can boost up to 4 GHz as needed.
On this Aspire 3, the processor is paired with 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD storage, and AMD Radeon graphics to deliver decent productivity performance, provided you remain within the basic threshold. Again, at this price, you’re buying a laptop for basic-medium tasks, such as web browsing and web browsing. This might be as well a productivity workhorse, delivering better performance than budget laptops such as the SGIN laptop, as it can multitask better, all thanks to the Ryzen 5 processor and generous memory
The Aspire 3’s integrated Radeon graphics won’t win any awards either, with 3DMark scores that generally leave it in the “less than 15fps” category. But to be fair, 3DMark uses very high graphics settings, so it should be applied on machines with dedicated graphics. Still, you can get some casual gaming done on this laptop now and then.
A comfortable keyboard and touchpad
The Acer Aspire 3 has a decent keyboard, but the keyboard is just passable. The keys are like those found on many budget laptops, they often have more travel than those of some ultra-premium notebooks and have a slightly hollow feel.
Acer offers some good keyboards, and this one isn’t too bad at all. Thanks to the spare space on the keyboard deck, the A315-44P easily fits in a NUM pad. There’s no keyboard backlight here though.
Almost all-day battery life
All the longest-lasting Windows laptops I’ve used over the last couple of years have had AMD Ryzen processors under the hood. However, the Acer Aspire 3 doesn’t belong in that category, its battery life is merely OK despite using one of them.
It lasts up to 7 hours and 43 minutes in general productivity, but eight hours and some more is precisely what I look for in a work laptop. For a budget laptop, this is very OK, since we’ve seen premium laptops like the Asus ZenBook Pro 14 OLED last less than the Acer Aspire. Even so, this is still respectable compared to some other budget laptops out there, it lasts longer than some Chromebooks in the same price range.
And while most laptops now use USB-C for charging, the Acer Aspire 3 uses a power adapter with a cylindrical adapter.
What we don’t like
Not-so-bright display
The display on the Acer Aspire 3 is pretty basic, though that’s expected with a budget laptop like this. It’s an LCD with a 1080p resolution and a 60Hz refresh rate, which is fine for the price. It doesn’t have the best viewing angles, but it will get the job done.
There’s also a built-in webcam, but it isn’t the best you can find in a laptop – after all, 720p is pretty basic and can’t compare with 1080p available in more expensive laptops.
Simple, plastic construction
For the latest Aspire 3, Acer prioritized performance and specs over design. That means you should be contented with the plastic construction and not look forward to an aluminum shell and very lightweight profile.
However, for its price, the Aspire A315-44P looks decent. It’s an all-plastic case that looks like it could be aluminum from a distance, or even up close. I find it sturdy enough for daily commute, and it has no signs of being poorly made. It’s on the lighter side for 15.6-inch laptops, weighing 2.9kg and measuring 1.99-inch thick. While it’s a little heavy to be ideal for everyday portable use, it will fit easily in a backpack for offsite meetings and university lectures.
Should you buy the Acer Aspire 3 A315-44P?
Yes, it’s a decent all-purpose laptop for work and college at a low price
The Acer Aspire 3 A315-44P is a competent everyday laptop that delivers decent predictivity performance; boasting an AMD Ryzen 5 processor, lots of RAM, and fast SSD storage, but its display would be brighter. The Aspire 3’s MSRP is extremely affordable, but spending a few hundred more can snag you a laptop that’s roughly twice as quick in CPU performance and with a brighter IPS display.
Shoppers considering this laptop may want to look at alternatives like the Asus Vivobook 15 OLED X1505VA with a 13th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB RAM, and 1TB PCIe SSD storage. However, if you’re on a tight budget, the Aspire 3 remains decent value as it can handle browsing and office/college tasks with surprisingly little difficulty, and its battery can last you a day at work or school.
However, when you’re already spending £450, it makes sense to jump up to £500 by either saving or financing. With that, you can get the Acer Aspire 3 A315-59 – with a Core i7 processor, 16GB RAM, and 512GB SSD storage, or better still, the Asus VivoBook 15 OLED recommended above.
Recommended Configuration
ASUS Vivobook 15 OLED X1505VA 15.6" Full HD OLED 400nits Laptop
£579.51 in stock
The Review
Acer Aspire 3 A315-44P Review
The Acer Aspire 3 A315-44P is a solid do-it-all laptop that provides decent performance at a low price. It’s great for work or college, but its display doesn’t get as bright as the competition.
PROS
- Smooth everyday performance
- Workday-long battery life
- Competitive starting price
- Spacious keyboard with number pad
CONS
- Lackluster display
- Top configuration is outclassed
Review Breakdown
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ARS SCORE
