Acer Aspire 3 (A317-54) review – affordable, powerful, but unrefined

As usual, Acer is a key player in the 17-inch affordable notebook market. Today, we are going to tell you everything about the Aspire 3 (A317-54). In a nutshell, it is a large device with a rather low weight, reasonably high performance, and fair price.

This is thanks to Intel’s 12th Gen processors, which not only offer a good power capacity, but also great efficiency. Especially the Alder Lake U-series, which we find in this particular notebook.

In addition to that, we are happy to see a 1080p IPS display, although you shouldn’t expect accurate color representation. After all, we are talking about an everyday media consumption machine – not one that is meant for content creation.

But let’s take a quick look at the changed design before we pop the bottom panel open to see what you can expect for the future in terms of upgrades.

You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/acer-aspire-3-a317-54/

Contents


Specs Sheet

Acer Aspire 3 (A317-54 / A317-54G) - Specs

  • Innolux N173HCE-E3C (CMN176F)
  • Color accuracy  7.1  3.7
  • HDD/SSD
  • up to 1000GB SSD
  • M.2 Slot
  • 1x 2280 M.2 PCIe 4.0 x4 + 1x 2280 M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4  See photo
  • RAM
  • up to 16GB
  • OS
  • Windows 11 Home, No OS, Linux
  • Battery
  • 40Wh, 3-cell, 40Wh, 42Wh
  • Body material
  • Plastic / Polycarbonate
  • Dimensions
  • 402.1x 265.9 x 20.90 mm (15.83" x 10.47" x 0.82")
  • Weight
  • 2.23 kg (4.9 lbs)
  • Ports and connectivity
  • 3x 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
  • Backlit keyboard
  • Microphone
  • Speakers
  • 2x Stereo Speakers
  • Optical drive
  • Security Lock slot

What’s in the box?

This notebook’s packaging features some paperwork, as well as a 45W charger.


Design and construction

Acer has created a 17-inch laptop, which weighs only 2.23 kg. Its 20.9mm profile makes the laptop even more appealing. All of that is painted in silver. Well, with the exception of the bottom panel, which is black, or graphite.

Ultimately, the entire machine is made out of plastic – one of the main reasons for its low price. However, the material doesn’t feel cheap at all. This shouldn’t give you illusions about the structural integrity of the device, though. It still bends like crazy – both the lid
and the base.

Expectedly, the lid can’t be opened with a single hand. Its hinges are too stiff, so you will need to secure the base with the other hand. On the bright side, there are a couple of rubber feet, which grip the surface and lift the backside of the base from the ground.

This provides a tad more comfort when typing, as well as more breathing room for the cooling fan. In terms of looks, the side bezels are thin, while the top and bottom ones are thick. The former also houses the HD Web camera.

Moving to the base, we see a keyboard, which is paired with a NumPad. It doesn’t have a backlight, has a short key travel, and has non-uniform feedback. The board doesn’t really have good support beneath it, as a group of buttons actuates when you press one of them.

Unfortunately, the touchpad also gives us mixed feelings. It has a smooth surface, and the feedback is generally good. However, the tracking feels sluggish, but about 70% of the time. Otherwise, it is fast. Pretty awkward.

On the bottom panel, you will find the speaker cutouts, as well as the ventilation grill. Hot air, respectively, is coming out of the back of the base and is essentially aimed towards the bottom of the display.

Ports

Looking at the sides, we see the power plug, a LAN port, an HDMI connector, and two USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) ports on the left, as well as a security lock slot, and another USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) port on the right.


Disassembly, upgrade options, and maintenance

To access this laptop’s internals, you need to undo 14 Phillips-head screws. Then, just pry the bottom panel with a plastic tool and remove
it from the chassis.

Here, we find a 42Wh battery pack. It lasts for 9 hours of Web browsing, or 6 hours of video playback. To take it out, unplug the connector from the motherboard, and undo the two Phillips-head screws, keeping the battery in place.

In terms of memory, you get two SODIMM slots for dual-channel RAM. Storage-wise, there are two M.2 PCIe x4 slots, one of which supports Gen 4 SSDs.

Last but not least, there is the cooling. It comprises two heat pipes, a heat sink, and a fan. Unfortunately, the VRMs are not being cooled.


Display quality

Acer Aspire 3 (A317-54) is equipped with a Full HD IPS panel, model number Innolux N173HCE-E3C (CMN176F). Its diagonal is 17.3″ (43.94 cm), and the resolution is 1920 х 1080 pixels. The screen ratio is 16:9, and we are looking at a pixel density of – 127 ppi, and a pitch of 0.2 х 0.2 mm. The screen turns into Retina when viewed at distance equal to or greater than 69cm (27″) (from this distance one’s eye stops differentiating the separate pixels, and it is normal for looking at a laptop).

Viewing angles are comfortable. We offer images at 45° to evaluate image quality.

Also, a video with locked focus and exposure.

The measured maximum brightness of 261 nits in the middle of the screen and 246 nits as an average for the whole area, with a maximum deviation of 9%. The Correlated Color Temperature on a white screen is 6300K – a bit colder than 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 – 1400:1.

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. 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 (A317-54)’s color gamut coverage.

Its display covers 55% 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 see the scores of Acer Aspire 3 (A317-54) with the “Gaming and Web design” profile.

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 = 22 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.

The backlight of the Acer Aspire 3 (A317-54) doesn’t use PWM to adjust its levels of brightness. This means the display is comfortable for use, without presenting any excessive eye strain 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.

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 49.9 GU).


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 (A317-54) configurations with 17.3″ FHD IPS Innolux N173HCE-E3C (CMN176F).

*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 (A317-54)’s speakers produce a sound of okay quality. Not only do we find deviations across the entire frequency spectrum, but the sound is really quiet even at maximum volume.


Drivers

All drivers and utilities for this notebook can be found here: https://www.acer.com/us-en/support?search=Aspire%20A317-54&filter=global_download&suggest=a317-54;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 42Wh battery lasts for 9 hours and 10 minutes of Web browsing, or 5 hours and 50 minutes of video playback.


CPU options

This device can be found with Alder Lake-U processors. Our configuration is equipped with a Core i7-1255U.


GPU options

The non-G version of this notebook is equipped with an integrated graphics card.


Gaming tests

cs-go-benchmarks

CS:GOHD 1080p, Low (Check settings)HD 1080p, Medium (Check settings)HD 1080p, MAX (Check settings)
Average FPS141 fps122 fps68 fps

DOTA 2HD 1080p, Low (Check settings)HD 1080p, Normal (Check settings)HD 1080p, High (Check settings)
Average FPS132 fps90 fps55 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 i7-1255U (15W TDP)0:02 – 0:10 sec0:15 – 0:30 sec10:00 – 15:00 min
Acer Aspire 3 (A317-54)3.58 GHz @ 2.68 GHz @ 70°C @ 43W3.53 GHz @ 2.47 GHz @ 74°C @ 37W2.92 GHz @ 2.26 GHz @ 69°C @ 28W
HP EliteBook 860 G93.23 GHz @ 2.57 GHz @ 85°C @ 41W3.09 GHz @ 2.46 GHz @ 86°C @ 38W1.82 GHz @ 1.58 GHz @ 57°C @ 16W
HP 15 (15-dw4000)3.19 GHz @ 2.42 GHz @ 69°C @ 40W1.90 GHz @ 1.49 GHz @ 57°C @ 17W1.91 GHz @ 1.49 GHz @ 56°C @ 17W
Lenovo ThinkPad E15 Gen 43.44 GHz @ 2.63 GHz @ 78°C @ 43W2.98 GHz @ 2.24 GHz @ 75°C @ 36W2.15 GHz @ 1.57 GHz @ 70°C @ 23W
MSI Modern 15 (B12M)3.63 GHz @ 2.68 GHz @ 78°C @ 44W3.63 GHz @ 2.65 GHz @ 86°C @ 44W3.26 GHz @ 2.40 GHz @ 85°C @ 35W

Only rivaled by the MSI Modern 15 (B12M), the Acer Aspire 3 (A317-54) beats every other notebook we’ve tested with the Core i7-1255U. Both in terms of short bursts, or long extreme loads.

Comfort during full load

Thankfully, the single fan doesn’t produce too much noise in this scenario. Not only that, but it’s also reasonably cool on the outside.


Verdict

The one major advantage of this laptop is its price. Besides that, there is the cooling, which is able to perfectly tame the Core i7-1255U. Indeed, this is not the most pretentious CPU when it comes to heat output, but it is pretty powerful itself.

After all, the Aspire 3 manages to sustain it at 28W in long extreme workload scenarios. In addition to that, we are happy with the upgradeability. There are two SODIMM slots, which fit the easily accessible DDR4 memory. Not only that, but two M.2 PCIe x4 slots are taking care of your storage – one of them even supports Gen 4 SSDs.

Acer Aspire 3 (A317-54)’s IPS panel has a Full HD resolution, comfortable viewing angles, and a good contrast ratio. Furthermore, it doesn’t use PWM for brightness adjustment. However, the 55% sRGB color coverage means that the picture is not really vibrant.

As you can see, this device isn’t limited when it comes to new tech. Well, it actually is, unfortunately. There is no trace of a USB Type-C connector of any sort. No Thunderbolt, no Power Delivery, nothing!

Also, the keyboard and the touchpad are mediocre at best. The former lacks a backlight and comes with short key travel and non-uniform feedback. At the same time, the touchpad is slow to respond most of the time, with an occasional moment of brilliance.

The battery life isn’t spectacular too. While it will give you 9 hours of single-threaded Web browsing, it will drain in less than 6 hours if you watch offline movies.

We also experienced a lot of body flex, both from the lid and from the base. The build quality is not great, with the exception of the dimensions, which are impressive for a 17-incher.

With that said, the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 (17″, 2022) is a significantly better notebook. You can expect an in-depth comparison of these machines in the near future.

You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/acer-aspire-3-a317-54/

Pros

  • 2x SODIMM, 2x M.2 PCIe x4 (one supports Gen 4 SSDs)
  • Surprisingly good performance and cooling
  • Good price
  • No PWM (Innolux N173HCE-E3C (CMN176F))


Cons

  • Not the best input devices
  • No SD card reader
  • Lacks a USB Type-C port
  • Unimpressive build quality
  • Only 55% sRGB coverage (Innolux N173HCE-E3C (CMN176F))

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PHVM_BR
PHVM_BR
1 year ago

Is i5-1235U or i7-1255U in your tested unit?
The benchmarks are confused, now showing i5, now i7, now showing iris xe g7 with 80eus now 96eus…