Acer Nitro 5 vs Lenovo Legion 5 (2021): Which Gaming Laptop Should You Buy?

Gaming laptops are expensive since they offer portability with the ability to play AAA games at decent settings. Enter the Acer Nitro 5 and Lenovo Legion 5. These two are reasonably priced gaming laptops that can rival some of the more expensive models from other brands. They come with impressive specs and they are cheaper than other gaming laptops with comparable configurations. So which one should you get? We compare the two to find out.

Acer Nitro 5 vs Lenovo Legion 5 Comparison Chart

Design

The Acer Nitro 5 has a more gamer aesthetic to it than the Lenovo Legion 5.

Looking at the two, it’s easy to tell that the Acer Nitro 5 is a gaming laptop due to its style and red/black color combination. The Lenovo Legion 5, in contrast, has a more minimalistic look to it, aside from its “LEGION” branding at the top left. It can easily pass as a work or business laptop with its design.

Size-wise, the two laptops are similar. The 15.6-inch Acer Nitro 5 measures 14.3 x 10 x 0.94 inches and its 17.3-inch variant’s dimensions are 15.9 x 11 x 0.98 inches. On the other hand, the 15.6-inch Lenovo Legion 5 measures 14.3 x 10.2 x 1 inches while the 17.3-inch variant’s dimensions are 15.7 x 11.41 x 1 inches.

As for their weight, the Acer Nitro 5 15.6-inch models start at 5.07 lbs while the 15.6 Lenovo Legion 5 models start at 5.5 lbs. The Lenovo Legion 5 is a bit heavier, but ultimately, the difference is not that great. Both are quite bulky and not as light as other gaming laptops.

The keyboard of the Acer Nitro 5 has a less-than-ideal red on black lettering that can make it hard to see which key is which. In contrast, the Lenovo Legion 5 keyboard has a much nicer white on black lettering. They are both decent, but nothing special. The keys are mushy, similar in feel to full-sized desktop membrane keyboards. One nice thing about the keyboard of the Lenovo Legion 5 is that the keys are spaced out very well, specifically, the directional keys,.

Display

Both the Acer Nitro 5 and Lenovo Legion 5 have 15.6″ and 17.3″ screen options.

When buying a gaming laptop, it’s important that you at least have the option of getting a high refresh rate display and in this regard, the two brands did very well. Acer Nitro 5 laptops have various panel options that range from 60Hz – 165Hz. Similarly, the Lenovo Legion 5 also has varying panel options that range from 60Hz to up to 240Hz. Of course, configurations with high refresh rate displays will cost more than those with the standard 60Hz.

As for their display’s resolution, the Lenovo Legion 5 only has 1080p screens on its 15.6 and 17.3 inch models. In contrast, the Acer Nitro 5 has 1080p 15.6 models and 1440p 17.3 inch models.

The displays for both the Acer Nitro 5 and Lenovo Legion 5 have around 300 nits of brightness. Contrast ratio is decent and acceptable, but could be better. Indoors, you won’t have a problem with either laptop as they can get bright enough, however, when used outdoors, they can be hard to use.

Interested in more laptop comparisons? Click here

Gaming Performance and Cooling

The Lenovo Legion 5 has better cooling and performance than the Acer Nitro 5.

Since there are various configurations available for both the Acer Nitro 5 and Lenovo Legion 5, gaming performance will depend largely on which CPU, GPU and how much RAM your unit will have, and more importantly, the laptop’s cooling solution. That said, the Lenovo Legion 5 laptop fared slightly better than the Acer Nitro 5 when it comes to cooling due to its better layout.

The fans in both laptops are always spinning, even when doing light work. On the Lenovo Legion 5, the fans can go up to around 43dB when playing taxing games and when idle, the fans go down to around 30dB. When playing games on high-performance mode on the Acer Nitro 5, the fans can go up to 41dB and down to 33-34dB when idle.

When it comes to software, the Acer Nitro 5 comes with the Nitro Sense application that gives you access to keyboard settings, battery settings, power profiles and more. Acer has various apps for different functions such as system updates and more. On the Lenovo Legion 5, the Lenovo Vantage app allows you access to the power profiles, battery settings, system updates and more. Having only one app to control almost everything on the Lenovo app is definitely a better approach than Acer’s. With Acer laptops, you get more bloatware.

Battery Life and Connectivity

The Acer Nitro 5 is limited by its 58Wh battery while the 60Wh and 80Wh battery options of the Lenovo Legion 5 allows it to run longer.

As far as battery life goes, the Lenovo Legion 5 is able to run longer than the Acer Nitro 5. With the Lenovo Legion 5, you have the option of getting either a 60Wh or 80Wh battery while the Acer Nitro 5 only has a 58Wh option. The higher capacity battery of the Lenovo Legion 5 gives it an edge during gaming and typical daily use such as browsing and media consumption.

When it comes to connectivity, both laptops support WiFi 6 and they come with built-in Bluetooth 5.0. As for their ports, the Acer Nitro 5 has 1x USB-A 3.2 gen 2, 2x USB-A 3.1 Gen 1, 1x USB-C 3.2 gen 2 (data only), HDMI 2.0, LAN, headphone/mic combo and Kensington Lock.

The Lenovo Legion, on the other hand, has 1x USB-C 3.1 (data and DP), 3 x USB-A 3.1 Gen 1, HDMI 2.0, LAN, headphone/mic combo and Kensington Lock. You’ll have plenty of ports to plug in peripherals such as a mouse, controller, external HDD, etc. on both laptops. It is worth noting that the Acer Nitro 5 has a USB-A 3.2 gen 2 port while the Lenovo Legion 5 only has 3.1 gen 1 USB ports.

Verdict

With better cooling, performance, software and battery life, the Lenovo Legion 5 is the better than the Acer Nitro 5.

Both the Acer Nitro 5 and Lenovo Legion 5 offer great value, however, the Lenovo Legion 5 offers better cooling, performance, battery life and it has less bloatware out of the box, so it is our recommendation. The Acer Nitro 5 is not a bad deal, especially if you like its gamer aesthetic, but if you are after the best value for your money, the Lenovo Legion 5 should be your pick.

FAQs