Acer’s Nitro 5 laptop has never been a technical or design showcase, but it has changed a bit for 2021. It now has a slightly finished look that shares all the red details (apart from the red keyboard) of the hinge. What’s more impressive is that it’s getting major upgrades in the graphics, processing and display departments.
For CES 2021, Acer has announced that a 15.6-inch and 17-inch version of the Nitro 5 will be released with support for the latest Intel 11th Gen Core H35 series processors or AMD’s Ryzen 5000 series CPUs (up to the Ryzen 9 5900 HX). They all have the option to upgrade to Nvidia’s RTX 3080 graphics chip, or whatever you go with the processor.
In terms of display quality, the size of the Nitro 5 can be set with a 1440p screen with a fast refresh rate of 165Hz or a 1080p screen with a 360Hz refresh rate. If you get the Intel version with an 11th processor, the Nitro 5 will support Thunderbolt 4.
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However, on the launch day in February, you will not have many options. In the US, Acer is launching a single variant for $ 749.99 with a 15.6-inch IPS screen with a 60Hz refresh rate, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600H processor, Nvidia’s GTX 1650 graphics chip, 8 GB RAM and a 256 GB NVMe SSD. That’s $ 100 more if you want the 17-inch version. There will also be models of the Nitro 5 available with the tenth generation Intel processors, more than those built with the 11th generation processors.
Acer has not yet shared the official US prices for other configurations, but does mention that models coming to other regions with AMD Radeon R7 graphics or the RTX 3060, with a 512 GB NVMe SSD added, cost € 1,299. We’ll have to wait and see what the final price will be for the Nitro 5 with the 11th generation Intel processors and Nvidia’s high RTX 3080.
No matter what variant you are interested in, Acer has announced that each variant is usable for memory and storage. By removing the bottom of the Nitro 5, you will find support for two NVMe SSDs and one 2.5-inch SATA SSD (a total of three slots for expandable storage) and up to 32 GB of RAM. Acer uses Intel Wi-Fi 6 chips for all models, along with Killer-branded Ethernet.