Acer Aspire 5 (A514-56M) review – compact and light laptop with PWM-free display
If you are on the hunt for a compact, light, and powerful laptop for office and home tasks that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg, the Acer Aspire 5 (A514-56M) should possibly be on your shortlist. The notebook isn’t expensive and it has a display with a 16:10 aspect ratio which is more comfortable for work because the pannel is taller.
The machine can be configured with Intel Raptor Lake U CPUs which are efficient and don’t require significant cooling. The manufacturer has used some clever tricks to keep the processor temperatures as low as possible. This includes the well-known lever hinge and an air-inlet keyboard.
At least for now, the device is offered with just one display model but since it’s an IPS variant with 1200p resolution, it seems enough for this kind of price tag. The absence of TN panels is something that we highly admire.
You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/acer-aspire-5-a514-56m-a514-56gm/
Contents
- Specs, Drivers, What’s in the box
- Design and construction
- Display quality, Health impact (PWM), Sound
- Buy our profiles
- Performance: CPU, GPU, Gaming Tests
- [eBook Guide + Tools] How to MAX OUT your Laptop
- Temperatures and comfort, Battery Life
- Disassembly, upgrade options, and maintenance
- Storage performance
- Verdict
Specs, Drivers, What’s in the box
- Display
- 14.0", FHD+ (1920 x 1200), IPS
- HDD/SSD
- up to 1000GB SSD
- M.2 Slot
- 1x 2280 PCIe NVMe 4.0 x4 See photo
- RAM
- up to 16GB
- OS
- Windows 11 Home, No OS
- Battery
- 50Wh, 53Wh
- Body material
- Plastic / Polycarbonate, Aluminum
- Dimensions
- 317.5 x 226.06 x 17.78 mm (12.50" x 8.90" x 0.70")
- Weight
- 1.48 kg (3.3 lbs)
- Ports and connectivity
- 1x USB Type-A
- 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps)
- 1x USB Type-A
- 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps)
- 1x USB Type-C
- 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps), Thunderbolt 4, Power Delivery (PD)
- HDMI
- 2.1
- Card reader
- Ethernet LAN
- 10, 100, 1000 Mbit/s
- Wi-Fi
- 802.11ax
- Bluetooth
- 5.1
- Audio jack
- 3.5mm Combo Jack
- Features
- Fingerprint reader
- optional
- Web camera
- FHD
- Backlit keyboard
- Microphone
- 2x Microphones
- Speakers
- 2x Speakers
- Optical drive
- Security Lock slot
- Kensington Lock
All Acer Aspire 5 (A514-56M / A514-56GM) configurations
Drivers
All drivers and utilities for this notebook can be found here: https://www.acer.com/us-en/support/product-support/Aspire%20A514-56M/downloads?suggest=A514-56M;1
What’s in the box?
The package contains the laptop itself, a 65W barrel plug adapter, and the mandatory paperwork.