Acer TravelMate P2 (TMP215-54) review

Acer’s TravelMate lineup is often being overlooked by business customers in favor of the ThinkPads of Lenovo and Latitudes of Dell. However, in our opinion, this is purely out of popularity and image, and not because of the lack of quality from the Acer devices.

Today, we’re going to review the TravelMate P2 (TMP215-54). It is a 15-inch business notebook, which sits at the bottom end of the price spectrum. Acer sells it with Alder Lake-U processors.

Ultimately, there is nothing too shiny about its design. This means that the manufacturer is looking for something flashy. Instead, they want you to get the feel of a robust device, that will help you do whatever you need in your job.

The 15W processors from this generation are really powerful, but the laptop isn’t meant for heavy workloads. So, if you need a device for massive data crunches, 3D models, or civil engineering calculations, you might need something with more raw power.

You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/acer-travelmate-p2-tmp215-54/

Contents


Specs Sheet

Acer TravelMate P2 (TMP215-54) - Specs

  • Innolux N156HCA-EAB
  • Color accuracy  4.1  3.1
  • HDD/SSD
  • up to 1000GB SSD + up to 1000GB HDD
  • RAM
  • up to 32GB
  • OS
  • Windows 10 Pro, Windows 11 Pro, No OS, Windows 11 Home
  • Battery
  • 50Wh, 3-cell, 54.6Wh, 56Wh, 4-cell
  • Body material
  • Plastic / Polycarbonate
  • Dimensions
  • 359.7 x 245.25 x 19.9 mm (14.16" x 9.66" x 0.78")
  • Weight
  • 1.70 kg (3.7 lbs)
  • Ports and connectivity
  • 1x USB Type-A
  • 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps), Sleep and Charge
  • 2x USB Type-A
  • 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps)
  • 1x USB Type-C
  • 4.0, Thunderbolt 4, Power Delivery (PD), DisplayPort
  • HDMI
  • 2.0
  • Card reader
  • MicroSD
  • Ethernet LAN
  • 10, 100, 1000 Mbit/s
  • Wi-Fi
  • 802.11ax
  • Bluetooth
  • 5.2
  • Audio jack
  • 3.5mm Combo Jack
  • Features
  • Fingerprint reader
  • optional
  • Web camera
  • HD / FHD
  • Backlit keyboard
  • optional
  • Microphone
  • 2x Microphones with Acer Purified Voice
  • Speakers
  • 2x Stereo Speakers, Acer TrueHarmony
  • Optical drive
  • Security Lock slot
  • Kensington Lock

All Acer TravelMate P2 (TMP215-54) configurations

#CommissionsEarned

What’s in the box?

Inside the packaging, there is the mandatory paperwork, a 45W power adapter, and a bag of 2.5-inch SATA drive accessories.


Design and construction

As we mentioned before, the laptop is not exactly eye-catching. It has an all-plastic body, which has a rough finish. It weighs 1.70 kg and has a profile of 19.9mm, which makes it pretty portable for a 15-incher.

Unsurprisingly, the structural integrity of the machine is not on a very high level. This is especially the case with the lid, which is super flexy. Thankfully, the base features some internal chassis support.

Its lid can be opened with a single hand. Once you do that, you will notice a large bottom bezel, as well as thin side ones. Above the matte panel, you can see an optional Full HD Web camera with a privacy shutter, and an IR face recognition scanner.

Now, let’s take a quick look at the base. It comprises the speaker grills, followed by the backlit keyboard. There is no mention of spill resistance, but it features a NumberPad. Also, we are pretty happy with the typing experience – it has decent key travel and clicky feedback.

We are not going to lie – Acer has done a great job with its new touchpad. Instead of the small unit from last year, the device has been given an OceanGlass surface. It is not an actual glass. Instead, Acer uses ocean-bound plastic, which is almost indistinguishable from glass.

This gives it a super smooth finish, which bodes well with the super responsive tracking. In addition to that, there is a fingerprint reader embedded in the surface. Thankfully, the entire space around it is usable.

Turn the laptop upside down, and you will find the ventilation grills. They supply cool air to the single fan, which blows the heat out of the heat sink from a vent on the back of the base.

Ports

On the left side, there is a charging plug, a LAN port, an HDMI 2.0 connector, a Thunderbolt 4 connector, and a USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) port. On the right, you will find a security lock, two USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) ports, and an Audio jack. Furthermore, there is a MicroSD card slot, located on the front side of the machine.


Disassembly, upgrade options, and maintenance

To take this device apart, you need to undo 13 Phillips-head screws. Then, just pry the bottom panel with a plastic tool, and remove it from the chassis.

Inside the notebook, we find a 54.6Wh battery pack. It lasts for 10 hours and 30 minutes of Web browsing, or 7 hours and 30 minutes of video playback. To remove it, you only need to unplug it from the motherboard.

Here, you get two SODIMM slots, which work with DDR4 memory. Storage-wise, there is one M.2 PCIe x4 slot, as well as a 2.5-inch SATA drive bay. Thankfully, Acer provides all the needed accessories and a cable to install such a drive.

This device’s cooling comprises a single heat pipe, a heat sink, and a fan.


Display quality

Acer TravelMate P2 (TMP215-54) is equipped with a Full HD IPS panel, model number Innolux N156HCA-EAB (CMN15E7). Its diagonal is 15.6″ (39.62 cm), and the resolution is 1920 х 1080 pixels. The screen ratio is 16:9, and we are looking at a pixel density of – 142 ppi, and a pitch of 0.18 х 0.18 mm. The screen turns into Retina when viewed at a distance equal to or greater than 60cm (24″) (from this distance one’s eye stops differentiating the separate pixels, and it is normal for looking at a laptop).

It has comfortable viewing angles. We offer images at 45° to evaluate image quality.

Also, a video with locked focus and exposure.

The measured maximum brightness of 256 nits in the middle of the screen and 245 nits as an average for the whole area, with a maximum deviation of 16%. The Correlated Color Temperature on a white screen is 6490K –pretty much matching the optimal for the sRGB standard of 6500K.
In the illustration below you can see how the display performs from a uniformity perspective. In other words, the leakage of light from the light source.

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. The contrast ratio is good – 1370:1.

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 TravelMate P2 (TMP215-54)’s color gamut coverage.

Its display covers only 56% 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 TravelMate P2 (TMP215-54) 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 = 25 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.


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 TravelMate P2 (TMP215-54)’s backlight doesn’t flicker at any brightness level. This makes it comfortable for long work periods, without introducing any additional eyestrain 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 Blue light, the TL;DR version is – light 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.

Gloss level measurement

Glossy-coated displays are sometimes inconvenient in high ambient light conditions. We show the level of reflection on the screen for the respective laptop when the display is turned off and the measurement angle is 60° (in this case, the result is 52.0 GU, which is not too glossy).


Buy our profiles

Since our profiles are tailored for each individual display model, this article and its respective profile package are meant for Acer TravelMate P2 (TMP215-54) configurations with 15.6″ FHD IPS Innolux N156HCA-EAB.

*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 TravelMate P2 (TMP215-54)’s speakers produce a sound of good quality but with low maximum volume. In addition, there are deviations across the entire frequency spectrum.


Drivers

All drivers and utilities for this notebook can be found here: https://www.acer.com/us-en/support?search=TravelMate%20P215-54&filter=global_download&suggest=travelmate%20p2;0

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. Our configuration is equipped with a 54.6Wh battery pack. It lasts for 10 hours and 30 minutes of Web browsing, or 7 hours and 22 minutes of video playback.


CPU options

We were able to find this device with the Core i3-1215U, Core i5-1235U, Core i5-1245U, Core i7-1255U, and Core i7-1265U.


GPU options

Respectively, the graphics options comprise only integrated solutions. To get the maximum out of it, you should use dual-channel memory.


Gaming tests

cs-go-benchmarks

CS:GOHD 1080p, Low (Check settings)HD 1080p, Medium (Check settings)HD 1080p, MAX (Check settings)
Average FPS79 fps64 fps34 fps

DOTA 2HD 1080p, Low (Check settings)HD 1080p, Normal (Check settings)HD 1080p, High (Check settings)
Average FPS96 fps61 fps33 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 P-core frequency; Average E-core frequency; CPU temp.; Package Power

Intel Core i5-1235U (15W TDP)0:02 – 0:10 sec0:15 – 0:30 sec10:00 – 15:00 min
Acer TravelMate P2 (TMP215-54)3.67 GHz @ 3.09 GHz @ 90°C @ 55W2.83 GHz @ 2.55 GHz @ 85°C @ 33W2.59 GHz @ 2.44 GHz @ 84°C @ 28W
HP EliteBook 650 G93.26 GHz @ 2.80 GHz @ 89°C @ 45W2.63 GHz @ 2.39 GHz @ 91°C @ 32W2.25 GHz @ 2.15 GHz @ 79°C @ 24W
Dell Latitude 15 35302.97 GHz @ 2.60 GHz @ 87°C @ 34W2.64 GHz @ 2.43 GHz @ 88°C @ 30W2.37 GHz @ 2.29 GHz @ 80°C @ 25W
HP 470 G91.43 GHz @ 1.39 GHz @ 54°C @ 15W1.43 GHz @ 1.39 GHz @ 57°C @ 15W1.44 GHz @ 1.39 GHz @ 64°C @ 15W
HP EliteBook 640 G93.27 GHz @ 2.77 GHz @ 90°C @ 45W2.53 GHz @ 2.32 GHz @ 90°C @ 30W2.32 GHz @ 2.17 GHz @ 74°C @ 24W
HP EliteBook 840 G93.09 GHz @ 2.75 GHz @ 83°C @ 46W2.73 GHz @ 2.46 GHz @ 89°C @ 37W1.58 GHz @ 1.67 GHz @ 61°C @ 17W
Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen 43.28 GHz @ 2.77 GHz @ 84°C @ 44W3.18 GHz @ 2.77 GHz @ 90°C @ 44W2.49 GHz @ 2.28 GHz @ 77°C @ 28W
HP Pavilion Plus 14 (14-eh0000)2.85 GHz @ 2.43 GHz @ 77°C @ 39W2.34 GHz @ 2.10 GHz @ 75°C @ 29W1.84 GHz @ 1.79 GHz @ 65°C @ 20W
Lenovo IdeaPad 5 (15″, 2022)3.60 GHz @ 3.08 GHz @ 73°C @ 55W3.44 GHz @ 2.95 GHz @ 88°C @ 51W2.80 GHz @ 2.49 GHz @ 69°C @ 35W
Lenovo ThinkPad L14 Gen 33.20 GHz @ 2.77 GHz @ 83°C @ 44W3.10 GHz @ 2.71 GHz @ 94°C @ 43W1.89 GHz @ 1.95 GHz @ 72°C @ 20W
Acer Aspire Vero (AV14-51)3.63 GHz @ 2.87 GHz @ 84°C @ 55W2.73 GHz @ 2.36 GHz @ 81°C @ 33W2.49 GHz @ 2.23 GHz @ 79°C @ 28W
MSI Modern 14 (C12M)3.17 GHz @ 2.69 GHz @ 77°C @ 45W3.10 GHz @ 2.61 GHz @ 81°C @ 45W2.69 GHz @ 2.45 GHz @ 78°C @ 35W
Dell Latitude 15 55303.57 GHz @ 3.02 GHz @ 94°C @ 52W2.03 GHz @ 2.09 GHz @ 76°C @ 21W2.24 GHz @ 2.19 GHz @ 64°C @ 23W

So, the 45W power adapter can squeeze more power. In the first 10 seconds, the Core i5-1235U maintains a power draw of 55W. Then, it fades down to 28W at the end of the test, which is still pretty respectable. Yes, the temperatures are not super low, but you have the option to use one of three power presets. They can be toggled by the “Fn” + “F” combination. In addition to that, we observed some coil whine during load, which can be a little annoying.

Comfort during full load

On the bright side, the warmest spot on the keyboard is slightly cooler than 40°C. Furthermore, it is not too loud (since you can hear the coil whine through the fan noise).


Verdict

The TravelMate P2 (TMP215-54) is not an eyecatching device. However, the manufacturer has done the best it can to make up for the unimpressive looks. We are talking about a great port selection, including a MicroSD card reader, a Thunderbolt 4 connector, three USB Type-As, and more.

Not only that, but the keyboard and the touchpad combination is pretty good. Gone is the small unit from last year, at the expense of a new, bigger one, that is more friendly towards the environment. Acer state that it uses its OceanGlass technology.

Essentially, this is plastic, collected or “bound” to the ocean. The optional fingerprint reader and IR face recognition scanner are a great complement to the TPM 2.0 module and the privacy shutter.

While Acer still uses 768p TN panels for this machine, we are happy to report that our Acer TravelMate P2 (TMP215-54)’s IPS panel has a Full HD resolution, comfortable viewing angles, and a good contrast ratio. Its backlight doesn’t use PWM for brightness adjustment, but unfortunately, the screen covers only half of the colors found on the Web.

The battery life is good for light Web browsing – 10 hours and 30 minutes. Watching HD videos offline will drain it a bit faster, though – 7 hours and 30 minutes. And if you are working, don’t forget your charger.

Inside, you will find two RAM SODIMM slots for up to 32GB of DDR4 memory in dual-channel mode. Also, there is an M.2 PCIe x4 slot for fast SSDs, and a 2.5-inch SATA drive bay. Thankfully, you get mounting accessories inside the box.

Generally, this machine has everything to suit all your business needs, with one major flaw – it can’t pour you coffee. If you are willing to do that yourself, and you don’t mind the low-budget build, then this is a great laptop for you.

You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/acer-travelmate-p2-tmp215-54/

Pros

  • Good upgradability with two SODIMMs, M.2, and SATA ports
  • Great keyboard and touchpad
  • No PWM (Innolux N156HCA-EAB (CMN15E7))
  • Optional fingerprint reader + IR face recognition scanner
  • Decent performance (despite 45W charger)
  • Wide port selection with Thunderbolt 4 connector and MicroSD card slot


Cons

  • Covers only 52% of sRGB (Innolux N156HCA-EAB (CMN15E7))
  • Low-budget build

 

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John W
John W
1 year ago

The Innolux N156HCA-EAB always uses low-frequency PWM in all laptops that I have seen in store windows and have been able to test them with my own eyes. They fail even the simplest pencil test at low screen brightness. Previously, LaptopMedia has repeatedly assured that some panels do not have low-frequency PWM, but in practice, it turned out that specific laptop models flicker with it. Therefore, the method of presenting the material – when the panel is shown on the site separately from a specific laptop model, is initially false and misleads inexperienced readers. Check everything with a pencil test… Read more »

Valex
Valex
1 year ago
Reply to  John W

I have N156HCA-EAB panel. No any low-frequency PWM!

John W
John W
1 year ago

And of course, it’s shameful to install such an IPS panel with 45% NTSC in 2022, against the backdrop of the overall price of a laptop. A panel with 72% is easy to buy for $70-90 (buy LG – always 100% Flicker Free) at retail and only 1 hour of work to replace it yourself! And wholesale it costs 2 times cheaper! Only the exorbitant greed of manufacturers makes such a shame with color reproduction possible. Why do all smartphones have 90% sRGB+ (even $100 models) and laptops that people sit at for hours and work have such shameful color… Read more »

Sławomir
Sławomir
2 months ago

Hello, very interesting review.
I have a question about installing an additional 2.5 SSD drive. Where is the connector on the motherboard to which such a disk can be connected? I don’t have a service manual and it’s hard for me to locate this connector.
Thank you