Acer Aspire Vero (2023) Review: Every Step Counts

This is the Acer Aspire Vero and yes, if you’ve been following the channel, you’ll know that we took a look at this before. But just like any other laptop, this gets a well needed refresh and the one we have here, it’s the 14-inch model. We tried it out, put it through its paces and all we have to say is that this is not just value for money but you can also play your part and save the planet. Of course, one step at a time.

Saving The Planet

So we’ve covered the Vero before and certainly, overall, there really isn’t that much changes. You’re still going to get a 100% recyclable packaging made mostly out of recycled paper and the laptop soft cover and sheet are also made from 100% recycled plastic. To add on, the sleeve to protect the power adapter during shipping also makes use of cardboard and this entire compartment can be reused to make a laptop stand.

Again, it isn’t a fancy unboxing experience for sure but if you’re someone who wants to take that effort to go green, even just a little, it’s still a pretty pleasant unboxing experience.

Design

We then talk about the Vero itself and you’ll instantly notice the unique look and feel of the chassis. The last time around, we took a look at the grey and that wasn’t too bad. But here we have the blue and we’ve got to say, we do very much prefer this colourway.

And remember, this actually isn’t paint but rather the colour of the plastic itself. So it’s pretty unique in a way. And of course, where the green effort comes in is the fact that this chassis is made up of 30% PCR materials. According to Acer, that would be the top and bottom cover, the screen bezel and the operating surface. The keycaps themselves are also made up of 50% PCR materials and the OceanGlass Touchpad makes use of ocean-bound plastic.

To remind you of all of that, you’ll find the PCR text on the bottom corner of the operating surface and the R and E keys will have that font mirrored to remind you of the 3 R(s). Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

After using the Vero for about 3 weeks, we’ve really got to say that the build quality is rather great and doesn’t fall short as compared to any other laptop that makes use of similar plastics. The 14-inch variant also has a manageable weight of 1.5kg which makes it much more portable as compared to the 15.6-inch variant.

Will this chassis stand the test of time? Absolutely, there’s no reason to doubt that.

Display & More

As for the display, you’re of course getting a 14-inch panel.

It’s a regular IPS panel which sports a resolution 1,920 x 1,080 running at 60Hz and covers 100% sRGB while having a max brightness of about 300 nits.

This is a display that’s pretty much par for the course. It isn’t amazing in any aspect but it’ll still be great for general usage, content consumption, a little bit of content creation and even gaming. We do however find that that 300 nits brightness is still a tad low even though it already is an upgrade from the previous 15.6-inch. 400 nits would’ve been welcome.

As for the camera and microphone, they aren’t spectacular in any way but for the price, it certainly gets the job done and at the very least, it’s Full HD.

The same can be said for the speakers as well. They are located on the bottom, firing downwards and they sound… mediocre at best. Again, gets the job done but that’s about it.

The keyboard and touchpad on the other hand however, are probably the best parts about this laptop.

The keyboard is honestly fantastic. They feel great with just the right amount of key travel and are really comfortable to use for long periods of time. The keys do feel a little more cushioned compared to others and they do have a much lower tone. In keyboard terms, they do have more of a thock than a clack. The touchpad is of a decent size and the glass texture is just as great as any others that aren’t derived from the ocean. There’s also a fingerprint reader in the top left corner for easy and fast authentication.

Now with this refresh, you do of course get new specifications and that also comes with a new set of ports.

Specifications

In terms of specs, you’ll be getting an Intel Core i7-1255U, 16GB of LPDDR4X RAM and a 512GB PCIe Gen4 SSD. And so for ports, we’re talking two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, a Thunderbolt 4 port, a 3.5mm headphone/mic combo and HDMI 2.0. But under the hood, you’ll also be getting WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2

Now WiFi 6E might be quite the huge upgrade depending on your setup. Not only will you be able to achieve faster speeds overall but more importantly, you’ll get access to the 6GHz band with a compatible router and if your ISP supports it.

And again, you’re getting all of that in a laptop that’s really really affordable. Have we talked about price yet?

As configured, this Acer Aspire Vero will set you back S$1,498 or US$899.99. Though you will usually find sales and at the time of filming this review, you can get it for S$1,298.

Performance

Now the performance is great too, no issues on that front. Pretty capable scores in Cinebench R23 and you can even play Valorant at 1080p high settings while achieving over 140 frames per second. You needn’t worry about temperatures either, all well under control.

But lastly, battery life. Battery life would certainly be one of the main concerns when considering getting a laptop to be your daily driver. This is yet another strong suit for the Vero. In Eco Mode using VeroSense, we could get just about 10 hours of average use in a real world scenario with that 56Wh battery. A day of use without the charger, no issues at all.

And that’s really what sums up the Acer Aspire Vero.

It’s a laptop that does everything pretty well at a price that’s really affordable. Now you might argue how green can you really get with a laptop of all things and to a certain extent, you’ll be right. But at the end of the day, we simply have to do our part and if this is something that would help towards that goal in one way or another while being able to cater to the wishes of a consumer… why not?

Every step counts.