Over the last few years, green products have gained prominence, so the Acer Aspire Vero, the world’s first “Green” laptop made from recycled plastic, is an exciting proposition. Being eco-friendly is great and all, but how does it stack up against the current generation of laptops?
What is the price of going green? It depends on the person you ask. For some, it’s expensive; for others a priceless necessity. For me, it’s the latter, especially since we are now in the worst climate crisis in our lifetime with no end in sight.
Design: 4/5
Having heard of eco-friendly tech, I have been excited about the Acer Aspire Vero since its launch.
The Aspire Vero chassis is made from 30% Post-Consumer Recycled (PCR) plastic. Despite the plastic material, it is solid, and the textured finish feels good to the touch.
Opening the device, you’ll be greeted by the 15.6-inch FHD IPS display, which is 99% recyclable. The Aspire Vero touts a full-sized backlit keyboard, though the Numpad looks cramped. The keycaps are also made from 50% PCR plastic with the R and E keys highlighted and mirrored to represent Acer’s RE concepts of “Review, Rethink, Recycle and Reduce.” Below the keyboard is the trackpad with the fingerprint reader.
The engraved “Intel Core” and “Post Consumer Recycled” on the body is a great touch. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind seeing it more on other laptops rather than the usual Intel and Nvidia stickers. “Acer Aspire” is also engraved on the base of the Vero.
Port selection on the left side of the device includes the three-pin power adopter, an RJ45 ethernet port, HDMI, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, and a USB 3.2 Type C port. On the right are a Kensington lock, a USB 2.0 port, and a 3.5mm audio jack. You can also find the LED notification lights on the right of the device.
Also worth mentioning is the Vero’s packaging, which is all-recyclable and re-usable. Even the charger box can be converted to a laptop stand with just a few folds.
Hardware: 4.5/5
The Acer Aspire Vero has surprisingly impressive specifications. First, it runs on Intel Core i7-1195G7 with Iris Xe graphics, so you’re all set with this processor and graphics combo. For memory, the review unit had 16GB of RAM from 8GB of onboard DDR4 and another 8GB of dual-channel SODIMM DDR4 RAM. For storage, we had a 512GB NVMe SSD.
I have to give props to Acer’s decision to equip the Aspire Vero with regular screws on the base, so users can easily access the internals for future upgrades, whether to add more RAM or storage.
In terms of benchmarks, the Aspire Vero performed surprisingly well. The Core i7-1195G7 scored 1563 points and 5746 points in single and multi-core in Cinebench R23. Geekbench pegged its CPU at 1611 for single-core and 5339 for multi-core. PCMark10 yielded a 5137 with 9494 in Essentials, 6909 in Productivity, and 5610 in Digital Content Creation. Lastly, it had 13 361 for 3DMark Night Raid, but only 1589 for 3DMark Time Spy and 3514 for 3DMark Fire Strike.
In the spirit of forcing non-gaming laptops to game, I ran Valorant and Dota 2 on the Aspire Vero, and it did all right. I got 90 to 130 frames in Valorant on basic high settings and 40+ fps on Dota 2 in the highest settings as well.
User Experience: 4/5
Before I move on to the laptop, I need to mention that the Aspire Vero is running on the new Windows 11 OS. It’s not that different from Windows 10, but the new Start Menu and screen UI did need some getting used to (as of all new things). But I have to commend Acer for having Windows 11 on the laptop instead of Windows 10. I know many people will be trying to upgrade to the new OS when it comes out, and based on initial reviews, it isn’t as easy as downloading and restarting your PC.
OS aside, the Acer Aspire Vero is great performance-wise. Working on the device was smooth and easy. The keyboard felt great to type on, though the Numpad could have been done without. The track was pretty good as well. The fingerprint reader was fast and accurate.
On the software side, the Acer VeroSense does a good job of regulating the laptop’s fan and energy consumption. There are four settings: Performance, Balance (which is what most people will need), Eco, and Eco + in case your battery needs some more juice. It must be noted that fan noise ramps up during Performance mode since fans will be running at top speed.
Virtual conference calls were also decent on the laptop. Mic pickup was alright, and the built-in AI noise suppression did its job.
The Vero is a good enough laptop, allowing for some compromises. First, the display on Acer Aspire Vero is satisfactory but not something to write home about. But the thing that I found disappointing were the speakers. Maybe it’s the material or just a lack of better speaker hardware, but audio quality sounds a bit hollow and soft despite the max volume.
Lastly, there’s the heft. The Acer Aspire Vero weighs 1.8kg, not the heaviest laptop but not the lightest either. If you need to lug the device in your backpack the whole day, you might end up with a few body aches.
Value: 4.5/5
According to Acer, the new Aspire Vero will start at PHP 41,999 — a sweet bargain. Despite being a green laptop, it does not compromise on performance and price.
What’s Hot:
- A true “green” laptop
- Windows 11 built-in
- Performance was pretty good for the price
What’s Not:
- Display and speakers are pretty mediocre
Bottomline:
The Acer Aspire Vero is a great laptop and an even greater initiative.
Specifications:
- Display: 15.6″ IPS Full HD 1920 x 1080, Acer ComfyView LED-backlit TFT LCD display. 16:9 aspect ratio, 45% NTSC color gamut, Wide viewing angle up to 170 degrees, Mercury free, environment friendly
- Processor: Intel® CoreTM i7-1195G7 processor
- Graphics: Intel Iris Xe Graphics
- RAM: 8GB on board DDR4 memory, 8GB SODIM DDR4 memory
- Storage: 512GB NVMe PCIe Gen3 SSD
- OS: Windows 11 Home
- Connectivity: Intel Wireless Wi-Fi 6 AX201, Gigabit Ethernet (RJ45), Bluetooth 5.1
- Ports: 1x USB Type-CTM port: USB 3.2 Gen 1 (up to 5 Gbps), 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports with one featuring power-off USB charging, 1x USB 2.0 port, 1x HDMI® 2.0 port with HDCP support, 1x 3.5 mm headphone/speaker jack, supporting headsets with built-in microphone, 1x DC-in jack for AC adapter, 1x Ethernet (RJ-45) port, 1x Kensington lock
- Battery: 48Wh 3-cell Li-ion battery
- Features: Acer Purified.Voice technology with AI noise reduction in dual built-in microphones, Acer TrueHarmony technology, VeroSense, Fingerprint reader, Firmware Trusted Platform Module (TPM) solution
- Weight: 1.8kg
- Dimensions: 363.4 x 238.5 x 17.9mm
Reviewed by Gabriel Pe.
Also published in GADGETS Magazine November 2021 issue.