Acer Aspire S5 - Aiming High

Aiming High

Last year, the first official Ultrabook (the 2011 Samsung Series 9 didn’t count) that reached us was the 13-inch Acer Aspire S3. It showed consumers what to expect from Ultrabooks in general. It was thin, light and generally a good notebook to have. It did have its flaws, but we felt that they were only apparent because Acer was trying to keep the price low.

Fast forward to the present timeline and Acer now has a premium edition of the Aspire S3 - the Acer Aspire S5. With a slightly refreshed design, this 13.3-inch notebook features a much newer internal platform running the Intel Ivy Bridge processor (Core i5-3317U) and its associated features. Storage is now downsized to just 128GB, but it's a true SSD drive and not a standard hard drive, nor a hybrid drive. That would directly translate to a better user experience thanks to its improved access times and much faster data transfer rates. Will the hardware upgrades automatically make the Aspire S5 a better machine than the more basic Aspire S3? That's what we intend to find out over the next few pages.

Familiar But Better

The new Aspire S5 looks different from the S3 due to a difference in color and design style, but otherwise, overall handling felt familiar. This time round, the S5 follows the design principles seen on the multimedia Acer Aspire M3 notebook. The S5 has the same soft curves at all the edges, and also an aluminum lid which makes the notebook feel robust. The rest of the notebook has a pretty sturdy magnesium alloy build. At 15mm (thinnest point is 11mm), the S5 is slightly thinner than most Ultrabooks in the market.

So not only does the Acer Aspire S5 look better and sleeker than the basic Aspire S3 Ultrabook model, it's also lighter at 1.2kg as compared to the 1.33kg of the latter notebook. From the looks (and feel) of it, Acer seems to be delivering on its promise to focus on bringing high quality products to the market. This is further confirmed when you open its lid (held by fairly tight hinges) and inspect its roomy interior. Immediately, you will be greeted by a very large clickable trackpad, which consumers will likely be fond of. The feel of the clickpad is very similar to the S3 as it's got that satisfying click, an important feedback for consumers when using a clickpad.

Complimenting the nice clickpad, the notebook's keyboard is a decent companion. There isn’t any flex on the keyboard housing, because it's made of fairly thick magnesium alloy. The chiclet keys are springy (though a bit wobbly) and they aren’t as shallow as the keys on other sleek Ultrabooks. Even so, we thought more rigid keys and better key travel would have made the typing experience an even better one.

A Neat Trick

If it's your first acquaintance with the Aspire S5, you probably must have noticed that there's a severe lack of ports and connectivity throughout the exterior of the machine. You can look all over the machine, and all you will find is a power switch on the left underside of the machine, which is accompanied by a card reader slot. On the right is an audio jack, and that's all.

So, where are all the usual connectivity options? Well, here is where the Acer Aspire S5 will show off one of its neatest tricks. Once you hit the Magicflip button on the top right corner (as seen in the photo), you will hear a pretty loud buzzing noise. Don’t be alarmed as that’s just the Magic Flip opening and revealing a few of the most desired ports. This photo will reveal where exactly are the extra ports located and thus, the Magicflip feature:-

You'll find a full-sized HDMI port (not the miniaturized variety), dual USB 3.0 ports, followed by the biggest surprise on an Ultrabook - a Thunderbolt port. The Thunderbolt port is currently one of the fastest, but most elusive port you can find on a Windows based notebook. That's because adoption rate of this new format is slow, due to its prohibitive high costs and the accompanying peripherals. Still, this gives the notebook quite a big advantage in capabilities/versatility and you can get yourself a new Thunderbolt compatible display or portable hard drive to take advantage of its blazing speed.

While the Magicflip is a neat party trick (both in reality and metaphorically speaking), we're not quite sure of its practicality. After all, these ports are probably going to be often used and hiding them in this fashion could be annoying to some. Furthermore, as a mechanical part, it’s best not to overuse it because no one can vouch for its reliability in the long run. The only way to find out is to get one and try it for yourself.

One smaller observation of the Magicflip is that it raises the notebook ever so lightly, but in our actual usage, the raised notebook didn't lend itself to be a better usage experience. In fact, we hardly felt the difference.

Avoidable Disappointment

For such a small machine, the speakers on the Aspire S5 are quite usable. It isn’t enough to start a party going, but watching Youtube videos personally and not having to strain your ears is definitely possible. The screen is however the only real weakness of the notebook - a low resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels and a glossy screen. It's quite disappointing considering that the rest of the Aspire S5 is actually quite impressive. We can only hope that the next generation of the Aspire Ultrabooks will ship with a better screen. Better yet, we hope Acer hears our pleas and introduce higher resolution screen options for a marginal fee.

Performance and Benchmarking

Last year’s Acer Aspire S3’s performance didn’t manage to impress anyone. If anything, it’s exactly as you’d expect an Acer notebook to perform - mediocre. However, this time the Acer Aspire S5 came to us with a pretty formidable weapon in its arsenal - an SSD drive instead of a cheaper hybrid mechanical drive. As you’d have likely seen from our previous reviews, an SSD adds a tremendous boost in performance, both in benchmarks and in real-world usability. The quality and the internal configuration of the SSD also plays a role in determining the notebook’s overall performance.

We’ve gathered data from a few other notebooks to highlight the Acer Aspire S5’s performance. First off is the Samsung Series 9 which is one of the thinnest, lightest and sexiest notebooks in the market right now. It’s specs are quite similar to the Acer Aspire S5, and it also packs an SSD. The Intel Ivy Bridge Reference Ultrabook also has fairly similar components, save for a slightly faster Core i5 processor. The Sony Vaio T and the HP Envy 4 are thrown into the mix to give you an idea of how discrete graphics (Envy 4) and a hybrid drive (Vaio T) would affect performance. This would give you some fodder to help decide the best configuration for your next Ultrabook. 

When it comes to graphical performance, the Aspire S5 performs as expected, with the benchmark being the Intel Reference Ultrabook. The differences between those notebooks using Intel HD Graphics 4000 are quite negligible, and isn’t a cause for much concern. You'd run older, less intensive games with no problems (Left for Dead, Team Fortress 2... etc) at low settings. Just don't expect to be running the latest games, because portability is the Utrabook's forte, not power and gaming.

If you need more graphical power than the S5 can deliver, you can always take a look at HP’s discrete graphics packing Envy 4 notebook. However, even that's not powerful enough for mid-range level of graphics performance. So if you're core concern is gaming on the move, you'll need to consider more powerful notebooks from the larger Ultrabooks like the Acer M3 or others compared in the linked review.

As for overall performance, you can see how much an SSD improves a notebook’s scores in PC Mark 7. Its scores are on par with the reference notebook, and pulls ahead of the Samsung Series 9, likely due to a well performing SSD unit. In practical usage however, most consumers would be hard pressed to discern the difference in speed between the Acer Aspire S5 and Samsung Series 9 notebooks.

Battery Life and Portability Index

Much of an Ultrabook’s worth is dependent on its battery life. The more work you can squeeze out of the notebook while on the go, the better it is to bring it along with you. In terms of specifications, the Acer Aspire S5 is closest to the Intel Reference Ultrabook, and the Samsung Series 9. The Vaio T is an Ultrabook with a hybrid mechanical drive, while the HP Envy 4 is an Ultrabook with discrete graphics. 

Our battery tests are done using Futuremark’s Powermark benchmark. It’s run on the “balanced” setting, which simulates opening and closing of different programs like browsers and word editors. To make it more balanced, the benchmark also throws in some 3D rendering and managing photos and videos.

From our test runs, the battery capacity of the HP Envy 4 is the highest, despite the fact it has a discrete graphics engine. The notebook also a battery capacity nearly double of the other compared machines and that has helped it garner a good battery mileage. Here, the Acer Aspire S5 didn’t fare too well (168 minutes), even though it doesn’t have a 400nits screen (Series 9), a mechanical drive (Vaio T) or discrete graphics (Envy 4). That’s because its battery capacity is the smallest of the lot, likely a conscious decision by Acer to keep the weight of the notebook in check.

While the overall battery life seems a tad 'limited', it proves that it has fairly low power consumption, at a decent 12.5 watts. With low demand on its small battery, coupled with its weight, volume and battery life - elements crucial for deriving the portability index ratio - the Acer Aspire S5 even manages to outrank the Intel Reference Ultrabook in terms of portability. Not too shabby at all.

Can’t Escape Compromises

Like any notebook, the Acer Aspire S5 isn’t perfect in all departments. It scores well in the portability, design, build quality, handling and usability departments, but didn’t live up to expectations in the battery life and value department. As an overall package however, the Acer Aspire S5 is quite attractive. While it doesn’t best some of the Ultrabooks (or the Macbook Air) out in the market, it does come close.

One of the major issues holding it back is its glossy screen with an outdated screen resolution at just 1366 x 768 pixels. These days, the fight to stay relevant in the Ultrabook space is getting increasingly competitive, and giving users a standard resolution screen just won’t cut it anymore. At the very least, Acer should offer higher screen resolution options if they feel their target buyers are still receptive to old-school resolutions.

Sure it does get many aspects right like its nice magnesium alloy build, but for the price Acer is charging for an Aspire S5, consumers can get notebooks that match it with similar components, but come with better screen quality. It's also not without its niggling issues like the placement of the power button. Located in an unexpected spot at the sloping left side of the notebook, it doesn't make it as easily reachable and the button is quite small. 

The mechanical Magicport which hides the ports, is something we’re seeing for the first time in this form of implementation is both a pro and con. It's nice to know that you can tuck away your unused ports for a sleeker notebook profile, but it's also a bane when those very same ports are often used like USB. The button to engage and disengage this feature is a soft button type which requires the notebook to be powered unlike a true mechanical switch where the notebook's state doesn't matter. To add on, the mechanical function of the Magicport brings with it a certain level of uncertainty in terms of long term reliability with the effects of wear and tear in the future.

Much to Love

Of course, there are other things that we love about the S5 such as the inclusion of a Thunderbolt port, which gives users vastly speedier transfer rates between Thunderbolt compatible devices. This makes the Aspire S5 the first Windows equipped Ultrabook to boast of a Thunderbolt port. Also impressive is the robust build of the machine. Everything from the lid, keyboard housing and trackpad gives users an assurance that it can take quite a bit of abuse. We hope to see Acer adopt this level of quality for their future products, and disassociate itself from the 'cheap' feel that plagued its older generation of products. Not that it's wrong when you've better price points, but having a mixed portfolio gives users choice and a better appreciation of the brand's efforts.

Our review unit was an Intel Core i5 processor with 128GB SSD which costs S$1798. That’s slightly more expensive than an all-aluminum, equivalent specced Apple Macbook Air ($S1688, with a better 1440 x 900 pixels resolution screen). So if you want a thin and light notebook to accompany you on your travels, the Acer Aspire S5 is good, but it isn’t the most logical choice. There is also a more expensive model, that comes with a Core i7 processor and a 256GB SSD which costs about S$2098. This S5 variant compares more favorably against a S$2088 Macbook Air, but still loses out from the screen resolution point of view. The Acer's plus points would then be its design, build, more ports, including Thunderbolt. Whereas Apple's machine has a wider general appeal and a better screen.

There's no real right or wrong option here in whichever choice you make, but paying a premium for an Acer machine would have been a much more palatable choice had Acer paid more attention to the screen it chose to fit the Aspire S5 Ultrabook.

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