Acer Enduro Urban N3 (EUN314-51) review – a robust device for your outdoor needs

Acer is delving into a completely different section of the market with its latest device. This specific section is not very well explored by most manufacturers, and potentially leaves a lot of revenue uncharted. We are talking about the adventurer type of people. Those who need a more resilient device, and don’t want to babysit their laptop, when they are out and about.

No matter if you are aggressive, careless, or just clumsy, the Enduro Urban N3 might just be the notebook for you. It combines adequate hardware, reportedly good battery life, and a rigid structure. This laptop is part of a very exquisite club of water and dust-tight products. Although Acer state that their device is water-proof, you should take that with a pinch of salt, because the IP rating of this machine is 53. This means, it has very good dust protection, and water protection against spraying water. To ensure this happens, the ports are sealed by caps, which need to be removed to access the I/O. Additionally, there are a couple of drains, mainly coming from the keyboard, which relocates the water through the case, and out of the machine. Also, Acer mentions a water-proof fan.

As for the hardware, you get Tiger Lake chips from Intel, with the top-spec option including the Core i7-1165G7. Also, you can configure your device with up to the GeForce MX450.

You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/acer-enduro-urban-n3-eun314-51w-eun314-51wg/

Contents

Specs Sheet

What’s in the box?

Inside the package, we found some paperwork, as well as a 65W power adapter.

Design and construction

Obviously, this laptop is built like a tank. Interestingly, the green version is very reminiscent of a military vehicle. Its lid has a striped surface, while all of the edges feature a rubberized material. Although the laptop features only plastic in its build, it is structurally sound, and we found almost no flex from the lid and the base. In terms of measurements, the Enduro Urban N3 has a profile of 21.95mm and weighs 1.85 kg.

Its lid opens with a single hand, and on the inside, you will see a Gorilla Glass cover with an antimicrobial coating. However, a slight setback of the all “endurance” tuning is that the bezels around the 14-inch display are pretty big. Ultimately, this results in a laptop that is pretty much the same size as a 15-inch machine. On the other hand, you get an HD Web camera above the screen.

Next, there is the base. Once again, we are met by industrial design and a keyboard that has a backlight. Now, the input devices are definitely not the strong point of this machine. Unfortunately, the key travel is a bit short, and the feedback is on the soft side. On the bright side, there is almost no keyboard deck flex.

After that, there is the touchpad. Once again, the dedicated buttons have very short travel. And weirdly enough, the touchpad is responsive, but sometimes it doesn’t register an input.

On the bottom panel, you will find the fan vent, as well as the speaker cutouts. And on the back, you get the exhaust grill.

Ports

One of the key features of this laptop is its water and dust protection. This is why all of the ports are hidden underneath rubber insulating caps. They are easy to pop off with a finger and stay firmly shut, so you don’t need to worry. On the left side, you get the charging brick, an HDMI connector, two USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) ports, a Thunderbolt 4 connector, an SD card reader, and an audio jack. Then, on the left, there is a single USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) port.

Disassembly, upgrade options and maintenance

There are 13 Phillips-head screws you need to undo to open the bottom panel. After that, pry it with a plastic tool, and remove it from the chassis.

The battery here has a capacity of 54.6Wh.

In terms of upgrade options, we see two RAM SODIMM slots, for up to 64GB of dual-channel memory in total. As for the storage, you get one M.2 PCIe x4 drive slot.

Last but not least, there is the cooling solution. It comprises a single heat pipe, a heat sink, and a fan that is water-proof.

Display quality

Acer Enduro Urban N3 (EUN314-51)’s display has a Full HD IPS panel, model number XR140EA6T A0 (STABB81). Its diagonal is 14″ (35.56 cm), and the resolution – 1920 х 1080. Additionally, the screen ratio is 16:9, the pixel density – 157 ppi, their pitch – 0.161 x 0.161 mm. The screen can be considered Retina when viewed from at least 56 cm (from this distance, the average human eye can’t see the individual pixels).

It has comfortable viewing angles. We have provided images at 45 degrees to evaluate quality.

Also, a video with locked focus and exposure.

The maximum measured brightness is 473 nits (cd/m2) in the middle of the screen and 450 nits (cd/m2) average across the surface with a maximum deviation of 13%. The Correlated Color Temperature on a white screen and at maximum brightness is 7680K (average) – colder than the 6500K optimum for sRGB.

In the illustration below you can see how the display performs from a uniformity perspective. The illustration below shows how matters are for operational brightness levels (approximately 140 nits) – in this particular case at 25% Brightness (White level = 141 cd/m2, Black level = 0.1 cd/m2).
Values of dE2000 over 4.0 should not occur, and this parameter is one of the first you should check if you intend to use the laptop for color-sensitive work (a maximum tolerance of 2.0 ). The contrast ratio is good – 1040:1.

To make sure we are on the same page, we would like to give you a little introduction to the sRGB color gamut and the Adobe RGB. To start, there’s the CIE 1976 Uniform Chromaticity Diagram that represents the visible specter of colors by the human eye, giving you a better perception of the color gamut coverage and the color accuracy.

Inside the black triangle, you will see the standard color gamut (sRGB) that is being used by millions of people on HDTV and on the web. As for the Adobe RGB, this is used in professional cameras, monitors, etc for printing. Basically, colors inside the black triangle are used by everyone and this is the essential part of the color quality and color accuracy of a mainstream notebook.

Still, we’ve included other color spaces like the famous DCI-P3 standard used by movie studios, as well as the digital UHD Rec.2020 standard. Rec.2020, however, is still a thing of the future and it’s difficult for today’s displays to cover that well. We’ve also included the so-called Michael Pointer gamut, or Pointer’s gamut, which represents the colors that naturally occur around us every day.

The yellow dotted line shows Acer Enduro Urban N3 (EUN314-51)’s color gamut coverage.

Its display covers 85% of the sRGB/ITU-R BT.709 (web/HDTV standard) in CIE1976.

Our “Design and Gaming” profile delivers optimal color temperature (6500K) at 140 cd/m2 luminance and sRGB gamma mode.

We tested the accuracy of the display with 24 commonly used colors like light and dark human skin, blue sky, green grass, orange, etc. You can check out the results at factory condition and also, with the “Design and Gaming” profile.

Below you can compare the scores of Acer Enduro Urban N3 (EUN314-51) with the default settings (left), and with the “Gaming and Web design” profile (right).

The next figure shows how well the display is able to reproduce really dark parts of an image, which is essential when watching movies or playing games in low ambient light.

The left side of the image represents the display with stock settings, while the right one is with the “Gaming and Web Design” profile activated. On the horizontal axis, you will find the grayscale, and on the vertical axis – the luminance of the display. On the two graphs below you can easily check for yourself how your display handles the darkest nuances but keep in mind that this also depends on the settings of your current display, the calibration, the viewing angle, and the surrounding light conditions.

Response time (Gaming capabilities)

We test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “black-to-white” and “white-to-black” method from 10% to 90% and vice versa.

We recorded Fall Time + Rise Time = 34 ms – a very slow panel.

After that, we test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “Gray-to-Gray” method from 50% White to 80% White and vice versa between 10% and 90% of the amplitude.

Health impact – PWM / Blue Light

PWM (Screen flickering)

Pulse-width modulation (PWM) is an easy way to control monitor brightness. When you lower the brightness, the light intensity of the backlight is not lowered, but instead turned off and on by the electronics with a frequency indistinguishable to the human eye. In these light impulses, the light/no-light time ratio varies, while brightness remains unchanged, which is harmful to your eyes. You can read more about that in our dedicated article on PWM.

Acer Enduro Urban N3 (EUN314-51)’s backlight uses PWM for all brightness levels except for the maximum. Although the pulsations have a relatively high frequency, we monitored a low fill coefficient below 140 nits, which can be noticed by the more sensitive users. However, if you use our Health-Guard profile, you can set the brightness level to its maximum, and then use the slider in the profile control, to manage your brightness levels without any flickerings.

Blue light emissions

Installing our Health-Guard profile not only eliminates PWM but also reduces the harmful Blue Light emissions while keeping the colors of the screen perceptually accurate. If you’re not familiar with the Blue light, the TL;DR version is – emissions that negatively affect your eyes, skin, and your whole body. You can find more information about that in our dedicated article on Blue Light.

Buy our profiles

Since our profiles are tailored for each individual display model, this article and its respective profile package are meant for Acer Enduro Urban N3 (EUN314-51) configurations with 14.0″ XR140EA6T A0 (STABB81) (FHD, 1920 × 1080) IPS.

*Should you have problems with downloading the purchased file, try using a different browser to open the link you’ll receive via e-mail. If the download target is a .php file instead of an archive, change the file extension to .zip or contact us at [email protected].

Read more about the profiles HERE.

Sound

Acer Enduro Urban N3 (EUN314-51)’s speakers produce a sound of good quality. Its low, mid, and high tones are clear of deviations.

Drivers

All of the drivers and utilities for this notebook can be found here: https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/support-product/8904?b=1

Battery

Now, we conduct the battery tests with Windows Better performance setting turned on, screen brightness adjusted to 120 nits, and all other programs turned off except for the one we are testing the notebook with. This device’s 54.6Wh battery pack lasts for 8 hours and 37 minutes of Web browsing, and 6 hours and 17 minutes of video playback.

CPU options

We were able to find versions of this device, equipped with the Core i3-1115G4, Core i5-1135G7, and Core i7-1165G7.

GPU options

In addition to the integrated graphics, there is the GeForce MX330 and the GeForce MX450.

Gaming tests

CS:GO	HD 1080p, Low (Check settings)	HD 1080p, Medium (Check settings)	HD 1080p, MAX (Check settings)
Average FPS	123 fps	85 fps	68 fps

DOTA 2	HD 1080p, Low (Check settings)	HD 1080p, Normal (Check settings)	HD 1080p, High (Check settings)
Average FPS	94 fps	74 fps	50 fps

Temperatures and comfort

Max CPU load

In this test we use 100% on the CPU cores, monitoring their frequencies and chip temperature. The first column shows a computer’s reaction to a short load (2-10 seconds), the second column simulates a serious task (between 15 and 30 seconds), and the third column is a good indicator of how good the laptop is for long loads such as video rendering.

Average core frequency (base frequency + X); CPU temp.

Intel Core i7-1165G7 (15W TDP)	0:02 – 0:10 sec	0:15 – 0:30 sec	10:00 – 15:00 min
Acer Enduro Urban N3 (EUN314-51)	3.27 GHz (B+17%) @ 95°C @ 35W	2.95 GHz (B+5%) @ 94°C @ 29W	2.68 GHz @ 94°C @ 24W
ASUS ExpertBook B1 B1500	3.70 GHz (B+32%) @ 89°C @ 51W	3.21 GHz (B+15%) @ 93°C @ 36W	3.12 GHz (B+11%) @ 93°C @ 34W
Dell Latitude 15 7520	3.49 GHz (B+25%) @ 76°C @ 39W	3.18 GHz (B+14%) @ 91°C @ 33W	2.09 GHz @ 77°C @ 15W
Lenovo ThinkPad T15 Gen 2	3.65 GHz (B+30%) @ 99°C @ 49W	3.42 GHz (B+22%) @ 99°C @ 41W	2.37 GHz @ 73°C @ 20W
Dell Latitude 14 5420	3.80 GHz (B+36%) @ 98°C @ 51W	3.27 GHz (B+17%) @ 98°C @ 35W	2.78 GHz @ 96°C @ 26W
Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Pro (14)	3.90 GHz (B+39%) @ 85°C @ 61W	2.57 GHz @ 69°C @ 26W	2.37 GHz @ 57°C @ 20W
HP Pavilion 14 (14-dv0000)	3.08 GHz (B+10%) @ 91°C @ 40W	2.79 GHz @ 89°C @ 29W	2.13 GHz @ 71°C @ 18W
Acer TravelMate P4 (TMP414-51)	2.99 GHz (B+7%) @ 94°C @ 33W	2.66 GHz @ 93°C @ 27W	1.86 GHz @ 68°C @ 16W
ASUS ZenBook Flip S UX371	3.48 GHz (B+24%) @ 90°C @ 43W	2.79 GHz @ 90°C @ 27W	1.95 GHz @ 69°C @ 14W
Acer Swift 3X (SF314-510G)	3.74 GHz (B+34%) @ 95°C @ 45W	3.45 GHz (B+23%) @ 95°C @ 37W	3.09 GHz (B+10%) @ 85°C @ 28W

Well, this device’s processor definitely runs hot. Interestingly, it happens to be in no man’s Land, because we’ve seen larger devices with worse cooling, and smaller laptops with a better one.

Real-life gaming

NVIDIA GeForce MX330	GPU frequency/ Core temp (after 2 min)	GPU frequency/ Core temp (after 30 min)	GPU frequency/ Core temp (cooling pad)
Acer Enduro Urban N3 (EUN314-51)	1372 MHz @ 70°C	1199 MHz @ 70°C	–
Dell Inspiron 15 5501	1030 MHz @ 67°C	924 MHz @ 67°C	–
Lenovo Ideapad Flex 5 (14)	1531 MHz @ 91°C	1405 MHz @ 93°C	1709 MHz @ 72°C

When graphics load is in question, the GPU uses a 70°C threshold. This is why we see such a big difference between the clock speeds at the beginning, and at the end.

Comfort during combined load

During extreme workloads, the laptop tends to be pretty loud. Thankfully, the keyboard doesn’t warm up too much.

Verdict

Chances are high that most people wouldn’t be particularly interested in this device. It is clunky, mate of plastic, and to some – not very visually appealing. However, we do find some charm in it, especially because of the industrial-looking design, as well as the reminiscence of military equipment. And come on, who wouldn’t like their notebook to be water-resistant (to some extent), and be able to withstand some drops and impacts.

Additionally, the hardware inside is pretty capable and provides a decent amount of performance. One would argue, that they could have put something more powerful in a chassis this thick, but we all know where the thickness comes from. One thing, which was a bit disappointing was the battery life. On its official Web page, Acer states up to 13 hours of battery life. However, we were able to extract a bit more than 8 hours and a half of Web browsing, as well as 6 hours and 17 minutes of video playback. As you can tell, this is a fairly low-intensity load, which doesn’t speak well of the optimization of this machine.

Acer Enduro Urban N3 (EUN314-51)’s IPS panel has a Full HD resolution, comfortable viewing angles, high maximum brightness, and a good contrast ratio. Additionally, it covers 85% of the sRGB color gamut. Unfortunately, it uses PWM for all brightness levels, until the maximum. Thankfully, our Health-Guard profile completely eliminates the issue.

Another great thing about the Enduro Urban N3 is that Acer doesn’t charge you a premium for all of the protection they installed on it. Also, you get decent upgrade options, and the port selection is nice. The latter includes a Thunderbolt 4 connector, as well as a full-sized SD card slot, so apparently, the manufacturer has made good use of the real estate.

If we have to be honest, this laptop does the job it is intended to do. Although we weren’t able to durability-test this machine, we are pretty confident that it will deliver on most of the promises and it definitely provides some confidence when handled.

You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/acer-enduro-urban-n3-eun314-51w-eun314-51wg/