[rwp-review id=”0″]
No matter how lightweight they make devices, it’s still a pain in the ass lugging multiple devices around. Alas, they still haven’t invented a cybernetic third arm we could strap on to help us carry round the tablets, laptops, smartphones, swegways and more we often find ourselves taking everywhere. However we are starting to see devices merge into one another, with phablets and 2-in-1 laptops. Yeah, even I’m bummed they didn’t call them Laplets.
As far as 2-in-1 laptops go, the Acer Aspire R14 is one of the better ones out there; here’s why.
Design and hardware
The Aspire R14 measures 342 x 246 x 18 mm and weighs just under two kilos. It’s quite a pretty looking product, using metal for the lid cover and for the inside while the sides and underbelly of the R14 are plastic. An aluminum bezel flanks the interior and trackpad, complementing the dark colour of the R14.
The large hinges means you can rotate the screen a full 360 degrees, allowing you to utilise it as a laptop, a stand, tent or tablet. The hinges themselves are quite smooth, but not flimsy, being quite smooth when you angle them over the first 90 degrees but they tighten up beyond that, to ensure the laptop lid will stay in space, all down to Acer’s “dual torque” hinge. The sturdiness of the R14’s lid means you won’t shirk away from using it in a stand or tent mode. Furthermore the weight of the R14 means you can carry it around in tablet mode, as I have done, for quite a lengthy period of time before your arm starts to feel numb.
The keyboard is just off centre on the inside of the laptop, leaving a lot of space above it and not that much space for your palms to rest on. As a result my wrists chafed constantly on the aluminum bezel and I had to remove the Jawbone UP3 I was using since it kept getting caught on the laptop’s edge. Unfortunately my version of the R-14 (there are quite a few which I’ll discuss at the bottom of this article) didn’t have a backlit keyboard which was a sore point. However the keyboard does have the extra 6th row of function keys, but they’re quite miniscule. Typing on the R14 wasn’t a great experience mostly due to the fact that the keys don’t travel much; they have a very shallow impression. However you can get used to it quite quickly though your typing speed may suffer slightly.
The trackpad sits just beneath the keyboard but don’t worry, not once did I activate it when accidentally brushing my palm against it while typing and this can be attributed to the Palm Rejection Technology incorporated into the trackpad. It’s large but not grossly so and was quite accurate and responded well to taps and gestures such as scrolling and so forth.
The Acer Aspire R14 also comes with two USB 3.0 ports, a USB 2 port, a HDMI port, an audio jack, an SD card reader, a webcam and a USB type C port. Also on the right side of the laptop is a physical volume rocker, something you would expect to see on smartphones instead of laptops.
Display
The display is where I’m torn. Acer did a good job choosing a decent IPS screen for the R14, with it being Full HD and having 1080p resolution, though it isn’t spectacularly sharp. Since it is a touchscreen laptop, the display is glossy and despite the “Zero Air Gap”, a minimisation of the space between the glass on top and the actual panel, the display is incredibly reflective; when using it in tablet mode I found myself often unwittingly reading a person’s lips when I tilted the screen towards them. What makes it worse is the fact that the display is quite dim despite being on 100% brightness, meaning you’ll even have difficulties eliminating glare when on the DUbai Metro. While the “Zero Air Gap” is being touted as being able to enjoy superb clarity even in sunlight, this is going to be a laptop you can only use indoors.
Surprisingly the contrast is quite good and so is the colour accuracy as well as the viewing angles; you can still clearly see what’s on the screen even if a reflection of someone is superimposed on it.
The touchscreen is also quite responsive and highly accurate though my fingers did leave quite a few fingerprints behind
Performance
I was reviewing the Skylake i7 version of the Aspire R14 (there’s an i5 model and a dual core one as well) that comes with 8 GB of DDR3L RAM and 256 GB worth of SSD storage. The Core i7-6500U clocks in at 2.50 GHz though it can be nudged up to 2.60 GHz. The skylake processor is incredible and as a result performs flawlessly when putting the laptop through everyday antics and when I decided to download Steam onto it and proceeded to play some not-to-intensive games, it performed remarkably well. Multitasking is possible including loading a few videos on YouTube at 1080p and toggling between fullscreen for them doesn’t lag it horrendously like it did for the Toshiba Chromebook 2 I reviewed.
The Intel HD 520 graphics chipset integrated with the Skylake processor is what makes games like Team Fortress 2 and Heroes & Generals run great; it’s quite the upgrade from the normal Intel HD 5500 integrated graphics you see on the previous generation of Broadwell processors. It should be noted however that the R14 is not meant for gaming so don’t expect to get 60 frames-per-second on power thirsty games.
However there is one drawback that hamstrings the R14: bloatware. Yes that dreaded name that tech enthusiasts talk venomously about. The R14 has a lot of bloatware, most of which is Acer apps such as the Acer Portal and the Acer Care Centre, most of which run in the background, meaning you’re never fully utilising all that the Aspire R14 can deliver.
Connectivity wise, there’s Wireless AC and Bluetooth 4.0 on this computer. Acer went for an Intel 7265 wireless module and well made antennas, hidden in the small plastic frame at the top of the lid. The laptop can maximize my connection right near the router, and the signal strength and speed remain solid at 30 feet with 2 walls in between. There’s also the added Multi-User MU-MMIO technology that claims to double performance though I’m a bit dubious about that; If anything I got quite a few random disconnects from the WiFI despite being only a few feet away from the router.
Audio
The Aspire R14 has two speakers placed on the underbelly of the laptop, one on each side and while the sound on them is decent, it isn’t great. Certainly audiophiles are going to be groaning. Furthermore it comes out quite muffled, something you’ll only notice when you lift the laptop up a bit; the change in clarity is quite noticeable. Sadly the Dolby Audio technology and the Acer TrueHarmony Plus doesn’t deliver. However an interesting feature is the reversible audio channels that switch speaker positions depending on the laptop’s position.
Battery
The Acer Aspire R14 comes with a 3,220 mAh lithium ion battery capable of powering the laptop for upto 9 hours depending on your usage. Having it on idle with the WiFi switched off churned out about 12 hours of use with heavy usage giving out about 5 hours which is quite impressive.
Conclusion
The Acer Aspire R14 is in my opinion a solidly built laptop that has a lot of great features and is ideally suited for people who want a decently built 2-in-1 laptop but don’t want to spend more than AED 5,000. The switching between using a laptop and tablet was flawless, with the OS recognising which mode I was in (even the tent mode) and as a result I often unplugged the laptop at the end of the day to carry it over to the sofa, flip it into a tablet and YouTube from the comfort of the couch. The stand mode even made itself useful when I was cooking!
The dim screen does make it unusable outdoors and the shallow keyboard will take some time to get accustomed to but other than those flaws it’s a great device.
You can get the 1080p, i7 version of the R14 for about AED 3,300 though the i5 version is only AED 2,500. If your pockets are tight, the 1366 x 768p, i3 version is only AED 1,800.
