Skip to main content

These new Acer laptops will be among the first to ship with Windows 11

Acer has announced a slew of new laptops, all of which come with Windows 11 preinstalled. The three new laptops hit three distinctive audiences — there’s the budget-friendly Aspire Vero, the productivity-focused Swift 5, and the gaming-centricd Nitro 5.

Windows 11 won’t begin rolling out as a free update to PCs until 2022, making laptops like these the easiest way to get your hands on a system with Windows 11 on it.

Recommended Videos

Aspire Vero

Acer Vero laptop.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The Acer Aspire Vero is the more eco-friendly of the bunch, focusing on sustainability as a a design goal. Acer says the chassis and keyboard are made from post-consumer recycled plastic and the packaging is 100% recyclable. In fact, the “R” and “E” keys are colored yellow to reinforce the “Review, Rethink, Recycle, and Reduce” concepts. The entire chassis is also easily accessible for quick repairs or upgrades. Clearly, this is a product that Acer wants people to keep for a while and then properly recycle when it’s time to upgrade.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

The specs underneath that eco-friendly material are pretty decent as well. You can choose up to an 11th-gen Intel Core i7 processor with Iris Xe graphics, 16GB of RAM, and up to 512GB of SSD storage. It also features a 15.6-inch 1080p screen and comes with a decent compliment of ports including a USB -C, two USB 3.2, and an HDMI out.

While the Aspire Vero starts at $700, that lower-priced particular model (which has a Core i5 processor) won’t be available until later this month. The more expensive Core i7 model will be available tomorrow for $900.

Acer Swift 5

2021 Acer Swift 5 laptop.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The more productivity-focused Swift 5 is the latest in Acer’s Ultrabook line. Like the Vero, the Swift 5 also carries an 11th-gen Intel Core i7, plus it’s rated for up to 17 hours of battery life. Unlike the Vero, the Swift 5 sports a touchscreen covered in Gorilla Glass with an antimicrobial layer. The rest of the keyboard is likewise covered in an antimicrobial solution. Speaking of the display, it has a 1080p resolution, brightness up to 340 nits, and covers 100% of the sRGB color spectrum.

The Swift 5 will start at $1,100 and be available starting tomorrow.

Acer Nitro 5

2021 Acer Nitro 5 gaming laptop.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The Nitro line has always been Acer’s gaming lineup, and is usually priced competitively with other budget gaming laptops. Since it’s gaming-focused, the Nitro 5 brings additional features such as 144Hz displays and Thunderbolt 4 for connecting to external docks and GPUs. There’s also a choice between a 15-inch or 17-inch 1080p screen.

Spec-wise, the Nitro 5 comes in either Core i7 or Core i5 flavors, with up to 16GB of RAM and up to 1TB of SSD storage. However, the GPU options are especially interesting. There’s a choice between either an RTX 3050Ti or an older GTX 1650. Even though the Nitro 5 is more budget-oriented, it’s surprising that Acer would keep the same GPU as its older Nitro 5 models. However, a GTX 1650 is still more than enough for most e-sports titles.

The Nitro 5 will available in mid-October, with the 15-inch model going for $770 and the 17-inch model priced at $1,200.

David Matthews
Former Digital Trends Contributor
David is a freelance journalist based just outside of Washington D.C. specializing in consumer technology and gaming. He has…
Microsoft won’t back down on Windows 11’s biggest hurdle
The Surface Pro 11 on a white table in front of a window.

Microsoft has reaffirmed that it will not lower the minimum hardware requirements for Windows 11, solidifying the need for a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 and a compatible CPU. This decision leaves many older PCs ineligible for the upgrade. Microsoft emphasizes that these standards are vital for improved security and performance.

As per a recent blog post titled “TPM 2.0 – a necessity for a secure and future-proof Windows 11,” Microsoft reaffirmed its decision not to relax Windows 11’s strict hardware requirements. TPM 2.0 is a hardware-based security feature that protects sensitive data and ensures secure boot processes. Microsoft argues that such measures are nonnegotiable as the company continues to address rising cybersecurity threats. The minimum requirements include a list of approved CPUs, starting from AMD Ryzen 2000 and Intel 8th Gen processors, that offer advanced security features and better performance efficiency.

Read more
Windows 11 Recall finally arrives, but with one new problem
Recall screenshot.

The Windows 11 Recall feature has been troublesome since its announcement. Now that the feature is available in a testing capacity, it is still causing users some issues.

Tech reviewers testing the feature have observed that Recall will now fail to save the snapshots that allow the function to work. CNBC noted that it may take “several minutes” for a snapshot to save, which may leave delays in the AI processing. Tom Warren of The Verge, noted on Bluesky that snapshots were not saving at all in his experience.

Read more
Firefox has a new tactic to win the web browser wars
The Firefox iPhone app.

The browser wars continue to heat up. Firefox is exploring a new way of hooking people on its browser faster, instantly setting it as your default web browser upon installation.

The experiment uses an attribution campaign to set Firefox, which remains a contender for one of the best web browsers, as the default web browser without requiring the extra step of changing your default browser in Windows. When you download the browser, Firefox will become your default web browser when using the set_default_browser campaign.

Read more