Acer Aspire 3 (A317-53) review – 17-inches of budget computing

As we’ve said numerous times, all manufacturers have their top dogs and premium notebooks that epitomize the complexity and ingenuity of their R&D departments. However, their best sellers reside in the budget category. The same can be said about Acer, whose arguably best-selling device is the Aspire 3.

Today, we’re going to provide some insight on the Aspire 3 (A317-53), which is a 17-inch notebook with quite some potential. It’s worth saying that the competition in its price range is pretty fierce. Both Lenovo and HP have impressive offerings in the face of the IdeaPad 3 (17″, 2021) and the 470 G8, respectively, so we are looking forward to doing some comparisons in the future.

Until then, let’s focus on Aspire 3, which we have with us, and see what is special about it. Starting with the specs sheet, we can see that you get Tiger Lake options, which means we are off to a good start.

You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/acer-aspire-3-a317-53-%d0%b0317-53g/

Contents


Specs Sheet

Acer Aspire 3 (A317-53 / А317-53G) - Specs

  • BOE NV173FHM-N49 (BOE084E)
  • Color accuracy  5.0  4.1
  • HDD/SSD
  • up to 2000GB SSD + up to 1000GB HDD
  • RAM
  • up to 36GB
  • OS
  • Windows 11 Home, Windows 10 Pro, Windows 11 Pro, Windows 10 Home
  • Battery
  • 36.7Wh, 2-cell
  • Body material
  • Plastic / Polycarbonate
  • Dimensions
  • 403.5 x 263.7 x 20.9 mm (15.89" x 10.38" x 0.82")
  • Weight
  • 2.50 kg (5.5 lbs)
  • Ports and connectivity
  • 1x USB Type-A
  • 2x USB Type-A
  • 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps)
  • HDMI
  • Card reader
  • Ethernet LAN
  • 10, 100, 1000 Mbit/s
  • Wi-Fi
  • 802.11ac
  • Bluetooth
  • 5.0
  • Audio jack
  • 3.5mm Combo Jack
  • Features
  • Fingerprint reader
  • Web camera
  • HD
  • Backlit keyboard
  • optional
  • Microphone
  • Digital Microphone
  • Speakers
  • 2 Stereo Speakers
  • Optical drive
  • Security Lock slot
  • Kensington Lock Slot

All Acer Aspire 3 (A317-53 / А317-53G) configurations

#CommissionsEarned

What’s in the box?

Inside the package, you will see the mandatory paperwork and a 45W power adapter.


Design and construction

When we look at the design of the Aspire 3, we see the familiar pattern from the last couple of years. It appears that Acer hasn’t done much, but to be completely honest, it looks good for a 17-incher. With that said, the body is entirely made out of plastic. Its lid is quite bendy but on the other hand, the base seems to be reinforced on the inside, making it fairly resistant to flex. In terms of dimensions, the laptop weighs 2.50 kilos and has a profile of 20.9mm, which is okay for this form factor.

Expectedly, the lid cannot be opened with a single hand. On the other hand, the bezels around the matte display are pretty slim, or at least look slim at this screen size. Thankfully, you get a Web camera in the top bezel, but it lacks a privacy shutter. Not that we expected to see one.

Interestingly, the back of the lid has a couple of tiny rubber feet, which grip the surface and lift the backside of the base from the ground.

This provides more breathing space for the fan, as well as a slightly more comfortable typing posture. Speaking of which, the keyboard has a bit of short travel and inconsistent feedback. Ultimately, we don’t find it super comfortable for prolonged typing.

In addition to that, the touchpad is a bit slow to respond, and the tracking is not the most accurate out there. On the bright side, its surface is smooth enough.

Here, the speakers are firing downwards, through a couple of cutouts on the bottom panel. Cool air is drawn through a grill also located on the bottom panel, while the hot air is exhausted from the back. By the way, once we take a look at the inside, we’ll see that there is a honeycomb pattern beneath the base, which greatly increases the structural strength of the chassis.

Ports

On the left side, we find a charging plug, a LAN port, an HDMI connector, as well as two USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) ports. Switch sides, and you will see a security lock slot, a USB Type-A 2.0 port, and an audio jack.


Disassembly, upgrade options and maintenance

To take this laptop apart, you need to undo a total of 14 Phillips-head screws. After that, pry the bottom panel with a plastic tool, starting from the back two corners.

Inside, we see a ton of free space. But more importantly, there is a 43Wh battery pack. It lasted us for about 10 hours of Web browsing, or 6 hours of video playback. To take the battery out, you first need to unplug the connector from the motherboard. Then, undo the two Phillips-head screws, holding it in place.

Memory-wise, there is one SODIMM slot, which enables you to expand the RAM soldered to the motherboard. As for the storage, you get an M.2 PCIe x4 slot. In addition, there is space for a 2.5-inch SATA device on the left, but we can’t be 100% sure about that.

In terms of cooling, we see something quite common with one heat pipe, a heat sink, and a fan.


Display quality

Acer Aspire 3 (A317-53) is equipped with a Full HD IPS screen, model number BOE NV173FHM-N49 (BOE084E). Its diagonal is 17.3″ (43.94 cm), and the resolution – 1920 х 1080. Additionally, the screen ratio is 16:9, the pixel density – 127 ppi, their pitch – 0.1995 x 0.1995 mm. The screen can be considered Retina when viewed from at least 69 cm (from this distance, the average human eye can’t see the individual pixels).

Its viewing angles are comfortable. We have provided images at 45 degrees to evaluate quality.

Also, a video with locked focus and exposure.

The maximum measured brightness is 303 nits (cd/m2) in the middle of the screen and 285 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 6580K (average) – almost matching 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 48% Brightness (White level = 142 cd/m2, Black level = 0.12 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 – 1170:1.

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 Aspire 3 (A317-53)’s color gamut coverage.

Its display covers 50% 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 in factory condition and also, with the “Design and Gaming” profile.

Below you can compare the scores of Acer Aspire 3 (A317-53) with the default settings (left), and with the “Gaming and Web design” profile (right).

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 = 17 ms

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 Aspire 3 (A317-53)’s display doesn’t use PWM for brightness adjustment. This makes it comfortable for long working periods, without being harmful to your eyes in this aspect.

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 Aspire 3 (A317-53) configurations with 17.3″ BOE NV173FHM-N49 (BOE084E) (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.

In addition to receiving efficient and health-friendly profiles, by buying LaptopMedia's products you also support the development of our labs, where we test devices in order to produce the most objective reviews possible.

Office Work

Office Work should be used mostly by users who spend most of the time looking at pieces of text, tables or just surfing. This profile aims to deliver better distinctness and clarity by keeping a flat gamma curve (2.20), native color temperature and perceptually accurate colors.

Design and Gaming

This profile is aimed at designers who work with colors professionally, and for games and movies as well. Design and Gaming takes display panels to their limits, making them as accurate as possible in the sRGB IEC61966-2-1 standard for Web and HDTV, at white point D65.

Health-Guard

Health-Guard eliminates the harmful Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) and reduces the negative Blue Light which affects our eyes and body. Since it’s custom tailored for every panel, it manages to keep the colors perceptually accurate. Health-Guard simulates paper so the pressure on the eyes is greatly reduced.

Get all 3 profiles with 33% discount


Sound

Acer Aspire 3 (A317-53)’s speakers produce a sound of decent quality. However, there are deviations across the entire frequency spectrum.


Drivers

All drivers and utilities for this notebook can be found here: https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/support-product/8901?b=1

Battery

Now, we conduct the battery tests with the 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. Here, the 43Wh battery lasts for 9 hours and 35 minutes of Web browsing, or 6 hours and 4 minutes of video playback.

In order to simulate real-life conditions, we used our own script for automatic web browsing through over 70 websites.


CPU options

Currently, this laptop is offered with a Core i3-1115G4, Core i5-1135G7, or Core i7-1165G7 processor. Additionally, there should be some Pentium and/or Celeron offerings out there.


GPU options

In addition to the integrated solutions, you can pair the notebook with a dedicated GeForce MX450 graphics card.


Gaming tests

cs-go-benchmarks

CS:GOHD 1080p, Low (Check settings)HD 1080p, Medium (Check settings)HD 1080p, MAX (Check settings)
Average FPS98 fps68 fps32 fps

DOTA 2HD 1080p, Low (Check settings)HD 1080p, Normal (Check settings)HD 1080p, High (Check settings)
Average FPS102 fps63 fps38 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 i5-1135G7 (15W TDP)0:02 – 0:10 sec0:15 – 0:30 sec10:00 – 15:00 min
Acer Aspire 3 (A317-53)3.72 GHz (B+55%) @ 81°C @ 48W3.25 GHz (B+35%) @ 82°C @ 38W2.81 GHz (B+17%) @ 74°C @ 28W
HP 470 G83.09 GHz (B+29%) @ 79°C @ 31W2.60 GHz (B+8%) @ 80°C @ 24W2.42 GHz (B+1%) @ 78°C @ 18W
Dynabook Tecra A50-J3.77 GHz (B+57%) @ 97°C @ 52W3.22 GHz (B+34%) @ 87°C @ 36W2.82 GHz (B+18%) @ 76°C @ 28W
Dynabook Tecra A40-J3.74 GHz (B+56%) @ 96°C @ 51W3.21 GHz (B+34%) @ 86°C @ 36W2.91 GHz (B+21%) @ 77°C @ 28W
HP ProBook 430 G83.32 GHz (B+38%) @ 97°C @ 35W2.74 GHz (B+14%) @ 89°C @ 24W2.29 GHz (B-5%) @ 75°C @ 17W
Acer Swift 3 (SF314-511)3.15 GHz (B+31%) @ 91°C @ 34W2.89 GHz (B+20%) @ 91°C @ 28W2.69 GHz (B+12%) @ 91°C @ 25W
Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 (13.5)3.80 GHz (B+58%) @ 80°C @ 46W3.62 GHz (B+51%) @ 89°C @ 43W1.99 GHz (B-17%) @ 60°C @ 13W
ASUS VivoBook 15 OLED K5133.39 GHz (B+41%) @ 83°C @ 40W3.28 GHz (B+34%) @ 91°C @ 37W2.96 GHz (B+23%) @ 85°C @ 28W
MSI Summit E13 Flip Evo3.65 GHz (B+52%) @ 96°C @ 45W3.31 GHz (B+38%) @ 96°C @ 47W3.03 GHz (B+25%) @ 96°C @ 29W
Dell XPS 13 9310 (2-in-1)3.36 GHz (B+40%) @ 99°C @ 41W3.16 GHz (B+32%) @ 99°C @ 37W1.92 GHz @ 72°C @ 16W
Dell XPS 13 93103.15 GHz (B+31%) @ 100°C @ 40W2.73 GHz (B+14%) @ 100°C @ 30W1.65 GHz @ 73°C @ 15W
Dell Vostro 14 54023.02 GHz (B+26%) @ 99°C @ 29W2.61 GHz (B+9%) @ 99°C @ 25W2.00 GHz @ 76°C @ 15W
MSI Modern 15 (A11X)3.59 GHz (B+50%) @ 94°C @ 44W3.45 GHz (B+44%) @ 95°C @ 40W3.18 GHz (B+33%) @ 91°C @ 34W
Lenovo ThinkBook 14s Yoga3.52 GHz (B+47%) @ 94°C3.24 GHz (B+35%) @ 94°C2.63 GHz (B+10%) @ 75°C
Lenovo Yoga 7 (14)3.34 GHz (B+39%) @ 94°C2.97 GHz (B+24%) @ 94°C2.39 GHz @ 75°C
Acer Aspire 5 (A514-54)3.54 GHz (B+48%) @ 87°C2.01 GHz @ 66°C2.03 GHz @ 67°C

There are two things we want to note here. Firstly, the laptop manages its CPU temperatures pretty well, and always stays well above the base frequency, which is great. And secondly, we were kind of perplexed by the fact that the Core i5-1135G7 here runs at 48W for the first 10 seconds of the test. Why is that weird? Well, because the charger is rated at 45W. And if we account for the display, and the other hardware that needs the energy to run, this laptop’s power adapter is pushing way over 60W at this time. This shouldn’t be a problem, because the power limit quickly drops to 28W, which is a far better suit. And we know that the charger is able to do that, because we monitored the capacity of the battery, and it never changed during our stress test.

Comfort during full load

You will be happy to hear that the generally simple-looking cooling solution is actually very efficient. The noise levels were far from too loud during extreme workload, and the fan can be barely heard in normal use. Also, the maximum temperature of the keyboard never exceeded 36°C.


Verdict

Ladies and gents, we are happy to tell you that the Aspire 3 (A317-53) is one of the best large-screen budget-oriented notebooks if you are looking for performance in day-to-day tasks. Okay, it is not meant for gaming, nor for heavy computational load, but the Tiger Lake processors inside are both pretty powerful, while the cooling solution is bang on. It means that the device can maintain the higher 28W power limit for long periods of time, without exceeding 74°C. How about that!

Indeed, there are some low points as well. For example, the input devices are not great. Its keyboard has a relatively short key travel, while the feedback is inconsistent. Unfortunately, it lacks a backlight, but the biggest drawback here is definitely the touchpad. While its size is okay, the responsiveness is definitely something that needs improvement.

In addition to that, the Aspire 3 loses heavily to the HP 470 G8 when it comes to portability. The latter is 1mm thinner, and nearly 500 grams lighter, making it feel less clunky while setting new standards for the budget laptop world. However, we have to praise Acer for the solid structure of the base.

Acer Aspire 3 (A317-53)’s 17-inch IPS panel has a Full HD resolution, comfortable viewing angles, and a good contrast ratio. Its backlight doesn’t use PWM for brightness adjustment, which makes it good for long periods of use. Unfortunately, it covers only 50% of the sRGB gamut.

On the other hand, we can observe the obvious, which is the lack of a USB Type-C port of any kind. Not to mention the absence of an SD card slot. These are some key features to miss, and we really doubt that users are going to enjoy this.

At the end of the day, it is good that the laptop offers some upgradability, and has good performance and cooling figures. This is really important, but in this price range, some things have more weight. We will wait for the screen tests to be done, but until then, we can sense that the Aspire 3 (A317-53) is not what a winner looks like.

You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/acer-aspire-3-a317-53-%d0%b0317-53g/

Pros

  • 1x SODIMM, 1x M.2 PCIe x4, 1x 2.5-inch SATA (optional)
  • Surprisingly good performance and cooling
  • Strong chassis


Cons

  • Not the best input devices
  • No SD card reader
  • Lacks a USB Type-C port

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Robert
Robert
1 year ago

I saw one at Best Buy for $300 and it had an SD slot. Your issue with a proprietary charge cord has merit and it would be helpful if you explained your concern so that all readers would understand your legitimate concern.