Acer Aspire 7 Casual Gaming Laptop, 15.6" Full HD IPS Display review

Acer Aspire 7 Casual Gaming Laptop, 15.6" Full HD IPS Display review

Acer Aspire 7 Casual Gaming Laptop, 15.6" Full HD IPS Display review

Pros+matte IPS screen
+Full HD resolution
+NVMe SSD
+HDD
+good system performance
+okay battery life
+two maintenance hatches
+backlit keyboard

Cons-dim display with a poor contrast ratio
-coil whine
-USB-C port cannot double as the DisplayPort output

CPU	Intel Core i7-8750H
GPU	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti
RAM (Memory)	16 GB RAM
Screen Size	15.6 inches (39 centimeters)
Screen Resolution	1920 x 1080 pixels (1080p FHD)
Weight	5.18 lb (2.35 kg)
Dimensions (L x W x H)	26.16 cm x 38.1 cm x 2.29 cm 10.3 in x 15 in x 0.9 in
Brand	Acer
Series	Acer Aspire
Model Number	A715-72G-71CT

Learn more about the Acer 7A715-72G-79R9

ModelBrandAcerSeriesAspire 7ModelA715-72G-79R9Part NumberNH.GXCAA.004
Quick InfoColorBlackOperating SystemWindows 10 Home 64-bitCPUIntel Core i7-8750H 2.20 GHzScreen15.6" IPSMemory8 GB DDR4Storage256 GB SSDGraphics CardGeForce GTX 1050 TiVideo Memory4 GB GDDR5CommunicationGigabit LAN and WLANDimensions (W x D x H)15.00" x 10.30" x 0.90"Weight5.29 lbs.Other FeaturesFingerprint reader
CPUCPU TypeIntel Core i7 8th GenCPU Speed8750H (2.20 GHz)Number of Cores6-core ProcessorCore NameCoffee LakeCPU L3 Cache9 MB
DisplayScreen Size15.6"TouchscreenNoWide Screen SupportYesDisplay TypeFull HDResolution1920 x 1080PanelIPSRefresh Rate60 HzLCD FeaturesIPS ComfyView
Operating SystemsOperating SystemWindows 10 Home 64-bit
GraphicsGPU/VPUNVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 TiVideo Memory4 GBGraphic TypeDedicated Card
StorageSSD256 GB
MemoryMemory8 GB
Optical DriveOptical Drive TypeNo
CommunicationsLAN10/100/1000MbpsWLAN802.11ac Wireless LAN
Input DeviceBacklit KeyboardBacklit
GeneralStyleStandardTypeGaming & EntertainmentUsageConsumer
PowerAC Adapter135-watt AC adapterBattery4-cell lithium ion, 3320 mAh
Dimensions & WeightDimensions (W x D x H)15.00" x 10.30" x 0.90"Weight5.29 lbs.

The Aspire 7 comes with a hexa-core Coffee Lake CPU and Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 1050 Ti GPU. Therefore, it is faster than the predecessor model (Aspire 7 A715-71G) that we previously reviewed. Our current review device has good hardware: IPS screen, SSD, HDD, and 8 GB of dual-channel RAM. The competing devices include: The HP Pavilion Gaming 15, the Dell G3 15 3579 and the Lenovo Legion Y730-15ICH.

Because both the A715-72G and the A715-71G are identically built, we shall skip the sections that deal with the case, connectivity, input devices and the speakers. You can find all the appropriate information in our review of the Aspire 7 A715-71G.
Acer Aspire 7 A715-72G-704Q (Aspire 7 A715 Series)
Processor
Intel Core i7-8750H (Intel Core i7)
Graphics adapter
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti (Laptop) - 4096 MB, Core: 1493-1620 MHz, Memory: 1752 MHz, GDDR5, 128 bit wide bus, Nvidia 417.71, Optimus
Memory
8192 MB

, DDR4 2400, dual-channel, two RAM slot (both occupied)
Display
15.6 inch 16:9, 1920 x 1080 pixel 141 PPI, LG Philips LP156WFC-SPP1, IPS, glossy: no
Mainboard
Intel HM370
Storage
Intel SSD 760p SSDPEKKW256G8, 256 GB

, + Toshiba MQ04ABF100 (1 TB, 5400 rpm)
Weight
2.35 kg ( = 82.89 oz / 5.18 pounds), Power Supply: 565 g ( = 19.93 oz / 1.25 pounds)

Display - IPS screen with a poor contrast ratio

The 15.6-inch display of the Aspire 7 has a native resolution of 1920x1080. Both the brightness (247.7 cd/m²) and the contrast ratio (500:1) are too low for a device in this price range. Here, we expected to see a contrast ratio of more than 1000:1 and a screen brightness of at least 300 cd/m². Things do not look any better when it comes to the rest of the competition. Positive: The screen does not suffer from PWM flickering.
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
To dim the screen, some notebooks will simply cycle the backlight on and off in rapid succession - a method called Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) . This cycling frequency should ideally be undetectable to the human eye. If said frequency is too low, users with sensitive eyes may experience strain or headaches or even notice the flickering altogether.

Right out of the box, the DeltaE 2000 color deviation of the display is 4.75. Therefore, it is not very far from the desired value (DeltaE less than 3). The display does not suffer from a bluish cast. The screen cannot fully cover both the AdobeRGB color space and the sRGB color space. It can only cover 36% of AdobeRGB and 57% of sRGB.

By means of our color profile, the color reproduction can be improved. However before downloading it, you should make sure that your laptop has the same display model (manufacturer + model number) as our review device, because otherwise our color profile can result in worse color reproduction. Displays from different manufacturers can often be found within notebooks from the same model range.

Display Response Times
Display response times show how fast the screen is able to change from one color to the next. Slow response times can lead to afterimages and can cause moving objects to appear blurry (ghosting). Gamers of fast-paced 3D titles should pay special attention to fast response times.

Acer has equipped the A715-72G with an IPS panel with stable viewing angles. Therefore, the screen content can be read from any position. The display brightness is only sufficient for indoor use. Outside, the screen is readable only when the sun does not shine too brightly.

Performance - Good enough for years to come

The Aspire 7 A715-72G is a 15.6-inch multimedia notebook. It is powerful enough for such usage scenarios as playing 3D video games and consuming media content. Our review

Processor

The Aspire A715 comes with a Core i7-8750H. It is a hexa-care (Coffee Lake) CPU from Intel with a TDP of 45 watts. The CPU represents the best compromise of energy efficiency and performance and therefore is a good choice for the Aspire 7. The processor has a base clock of 2.2 GHz and a boost clock of 3.9 GHz for six cores, 4 GHz for four cores and 4.1 GHz for one/two cores.

In the multi-core section of the Cinebench R15 benchmarks, the processor operates at 2.8 to 3.9 GHz. In the single-core benchmarks, the CPU runs at 3.9 to 4.1 GHz. This is the level of performance that we see when the laptop is plugged in. When it is running on battery power, the clock rates sink to 2.2 GHz.

We check if the Turbo boost can be used over an extended period of time by running the Cinebench R15 multi-core benchmark in a continuous loop for 30 minutes. The results drop by less than 10% after the first benchmark run and then stay consistently on the same level. The Turbo boost is utilized.

Opening the laptop reveals the well-known brushed aluminum interior that’s fairly robust – pressing the plate doesn’t give in under pressure but it’s a big fingerprint magnet. Compared to the Aspire 5, however, the Aspire 7 introduces much better input devices. The keyboard features a similar key travel but with better tactile feedback overall, better feeling plastic and slightly concaved keycaps for extra comfort while typing. The touchpad, on the other hand, still comes as a little stiff but it’s definitely better than the one introduced on the Aspire 5 – it’s a bit more accurate, less jumpy and has a fingerprint reader in the upper left corner.

The overall build quality of the Acer Aspire 7 (15-inch) is on par with the competition and even puts to shame significantly more expensive laptops out there. It’s pretty robust, feels nice in the hand and has above average input devices even though the weight isn’t really impressive.

The notebook is pretty easy to disassemble and offers easy access to the internals. There are two small service lids for changing the 2.5-inch HDD and both RAM slots but if you need to dig a little deeper for the M.2 SSD or the battery, you will have to remove the whole bottom cover.

The laptop supports the standard 2.5-inch drive and an M.2 SSD as well. You can find the latter right next to the memory slots.

RAM

As we already mentioned, the RAM slots are two and each supports up to 16GB of DDR4-2400 RAM but our unit arrived with just 8GB of RAM.
Other components

The Wi-Fi adapter is next to the cooling fan and it’s Qualcomm Atheros QCNFA344A.

The battery is rated at just 48Wh so we don’t expect much.
Cooling system

THe cooling system is fairly simple – two cooling fans and two shared heatipipes.
Color reproduction

To make sure we are on the same page, we would like to give you a little introduction of 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 in 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 display covers just 51% of the sRGB color gamut, which means that half of the web-based and HDTV colors are missing.

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.

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.

Acer Aspire 7 Casual Gaming Laptop, 15.6" Full HD IPS Display review

Response time

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

We recorded Fall Time + Rise Time = 34 ms.
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.

We detected PWM from 0 to 99% brightness but the frequency of the emitted light is high and reduces the negative impact.

1x USB Type-A 3.0 (3.1 Gen 1)
2x USB Type-A 2.0
1x USB Type-C 3.0 (3.1 Gen 1)
HDMI
VGA
Card reader SD, SDHC, SDXC
Ethernet lan
Wi-Fi 802.11ac
Bluetooth
Audio jack
Features
Fingerprint reader
Web camera 720p HD
Backlit keyboard
Microphone
Speakers
Optical drive
Security Lock slot

System Performance

The combination of the Core i7-8750H, 8 GB of dual-channel-enabled RAM and an NVMe SSD creates a very responsive system. We did not encounter any problems. The hexa-core CPU will not become obsolete for years to come. The dedicated graphics card is powerful enough to be able to run the latest games smoothly. The PCMark results show the system to be quite well-rounded.

Storage Devices

The Aspire 7 features an NVMe SSD from Intel. It comes in the M.2-2280 form-factor and has a capacity of 256 GB. Only 203 GB thereof is available to the user. The rest of the storage space is occupied by the recovery partition and the Windows installation files. NVMe SSDs achieve significantly faster transfer speeds than SATA-III models, because they are connected via PCI Express 3.0 x4.

In addition to the SSD, there is also a 2.5-inch hard drive (1 TB, 5400 rpm) inside the Aspire 7. Therefore, users of the Acer notebook should not run out of storage space. While the HDD can be accessed via a maintenance hatch, to replace the SSD you will have to open up the case.

Graphics Card

The Aspire 7 comes with Nvidia’s dedicated GeForce GTX 1050 Ti. It is a Pascal-based mid-range GPU. It features 4 GB of GDDR5 memory, supports DirectX 12 and it has a core clock of up to 1620 MHz. The results in the 3DMark benchmarks are on the normal level for this kind of GPU.

Nvidia’s Optimus technology is supported. In everyday use and when running on battery power, the UHD Graphics 630 is utilized. Nvidia’s GPU is used when gaming.

Gaming Performance

The Acer laptop is powerful enough to be able to run all current games smoothly at 1080p and on medium to high settings, and in some case even on the highest settings. Quality settings/resolution will have to be reduced in very graphically demanding titles to achieve high frame rates.

We use the video game The Witcher 3 to check if the frame rates can be maintained consistently over an extended period of time. For this, we run the game on the highest graphics settings at Full HD resolution (1920x1080) for one hour. Over the entire run of gameplay, the player-controlled character stands still. We did not observe any frame rate drops.

Emissions - Coil whine

System Noise

The Aspire 7 does not produce too much noise for a device with such powerful hardware. When idle, the fan often stands still, which leads to silent operation - except when the 2.5-inch hard drive is being accessed. Under full load, the fans spin up. During the stress test, we measured a sound pressure level of 43.8 dB(A).

Temperature
The Aspire 7 during the stress test

The Acer laptop completes our stress test (Prime95 and FurMark running continuously for at least one hour) with different results. When plugged in, the CPU runs at 2.4 to 3.9 GHz. Here it spends most of the time at 3.2 GHz. The GPU runs at full power. However, when running on battery power, the CPU is throttled down to 800 MHz and the core clock of the GPU fluctuates between 800 MHz and 1.6 GHz.

The notebook does not become excessively hot. During the stress test, the 40 °C (104 °F) mark is exceeded at several measurement points. In everyday use, the temperatures always stay well within reasonable bounds. The stress test is an extreme case scenario, which is very unlikely to occur in real life. We use it to test system stability.

Energy Management - Nothing unusual

Energy Consumption

We did not encounter any issues in terms of energy consumption. When idle, we measured a maximum power draw of 8.5 watts - a good result. During the stress test, the energy consumption peaked at 134 watts. The 135-watt AC adapter should provide enough energy to charge the device. There should not be any problems with stability.

Acer Aspire 7 Casual Gaming Laptop, 15.6" Full HD IPS Display review

Battery Life

In our practically oriented Wi-Fi test, the Aspire 7 achieves a battery runtime of 6 h 23 m. In this test, we simulate loads that are consistent with surfing the Internet. The “balanced” power plan is selected, the display brightness is set to 150 cd/m² and the energy-saving functions are switched off. In our video test, the Acer laptop lasts for 6 h 1 m. We conduct this test using the short film titled Big Buck Bunny (H.264; 1920x1080). The communications modules are disabled, the energy-saving functions are turned on and the display brightness is set to 150 cd/m².

The A715-72G offers somewhat longer battery runtimes than the identically built

Verdict

The Acer Aspire 7 A715-72G-704Q, provided courtesy of: Acer Germany

The Aspire 7 A715-72G is a 15.6-inch multimedia notebook that is suitable for gaming. The built-in Core i7-8750H will not become obsolete for quite a long time. The GeForce GTX 1050 Ti is capable of running all the latest video games smoothly.

Acer’s all-rounder left a good impression, but it is not free from flaws.

Despite powerful hardware, the notebook is basically silent when using office applications and browsing the Internet. The Acer laptop does not get very hot. An NVMe SSD creates a very responsive system. The A715 offers plenty of storage space. In addition to the SSD, the Aspire 7 also features a 1 TB hard drive. The battery runtimes are more than okay for a notebook with this much power. Moreover, Acer’s notebook also has a good keyboard with a backlight

The 15-inch Aspire 7 appears to offer pretty much the same user experience as its bigger 17-inch sibling with one notable difference – the screen. Surely, the IPS panel here is greatly appreciated but compared to the 17-inch IPS display, this one is quite disappointing. It lacks half of the sRGB color gamut and its maximum brightness isn’t enough for comfortable outdoor use, for example. So if image quality is your top priority, you will be better off with the 17-inch version.

In any other aspect, however, the notebook is pretty close to the bigger version. It offers rather good build quality, comfortable keyboard and decent touchpad. We are also surprised by the cooling design, which isn’t very effective in other machines but appears to be enough to support the Core i5-7300HQ and GTX 1050 combination in this one. Oh, and let’s not forget the amazing price/performance ratio the Aspire 7 series offer – it’s really hard to come by such cheap and powerful notebook.

As expected, battery life isn’t its strongest suit due to the low capacity but web browsing runtimes are decent. And if you are looking for something more enduring, try notebooks with Intel’s ULV processors or opt for the cheaper Aspire 5 version. In any case, we can still recommend the 15-inch Aspire 7 based on the tests we ran, although it’s not as impressive as its 17-inch variant. It’s just that the screen doesn’t allow us to give it an excellent score..