Acer Nitro 14 review: Proof that gaming laptops don’t have to bankrupt you

IDG / Chris Hoffman

IDG / Chris Hoffman

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    </div></figure><p class="imageCredit">IDG / Chris Hoffman</p></div>

The Acer Nitro 14 includes an eight-core AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS CPU. AMD launched the Ryzen 8000 CPUs back in December 2023. It’s not one of AMD’s latest Ryzen AI CPUs that are just rolling out, but it’s a solid CPU with reasonable gaming performance, as we’ll see in the benchmarks.

The Nitro 14 also includes an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU, 16GB of LPDDR5X memory, and a 512 GB solid-state drive. It’s a reasonable package for gaming on a budget, but Acer doesn’t provide any configuration options: This is the one hardware configuration available.

Since that’s the case, it’s worth flagging that the 512 GB SSD may be a little on the small side in a world where some games are coming in at over 100 GB each. I prefer having some extra space to work with, as the uninstall-a-game-to-make-room shuffle can get annoying.

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS
• Memory: 16 GB LPDDR5X
• Graphics/GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060
• Display: 14.5-inch 1920×1200 IPS display with 120Hz refresh rate
• Storage: 512 GB PCIe Gen4 NVMe M.2 SSD
• Webcam: 720p webcam
• Connectivity: 2x USB Type-C (One USB4 Full Function, one USB 3.2 Gen 2), 2x USB Type-A (USB 3.2 Gen 2), 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x combo headphone jack, 1x microSD card slot, 1x DC power in, 1x Kensington lock slot
• Networking: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3
• Biometrics: None
• Battery capacity: 76 Watt-hours
• Dimensions: 12.77 x 10.16 x 1.03 inches
• Weight: 4.4 pounds
• MSRP: $1,299 as tested

Acer Nitro 14: Design and build quality

IDG / Chris Hoffman

            <div class="lightbox-image-container foundry-lightbox"><div class="extendedBlock-wrapper block-coreImage undefined"><figure class="wp-block-image size-large enlarged-image"><img decoding="async" data-wp-bind--src="selectors.core.image.enlargedImgSrc" data-wp-style--object-fit="selectors.core.image.lightboxObjectFit" src="" alt="Acer Nitro 14 closed" class="wp-image-2434213" width="1200" height="904" loading="lazy" /></figure><p class="imageCredit">IDG / Chris Hoffman</p></div>

    </div></figure><p class="imageCredit">IDG / Chris Hoffman</p></div>

The Acer Nitro 14 has a classic-looking design. This 14.5-inch laptop is all black – except for the silver Nitro logo on the lid and below the screen and the orange plastic fins on the back of the machine. It’s a little chunky, but not hugely so. At 4.4 pounds, it’s on the heavy side compared to some other 14-inch gaming laptop.

This laptop’s chassis is made entirely out of plastic. There are no metal components here, as there are on some more expensive laptops. That’s one of the ways Acer is keeping costs down.

You don’t need the fanciest, most expensive laptop to have a great gaming experience, and this machine proves it.

While plastic doesn’t feel as “premium” to the touch as metal, the build quality feels good and sturdy. There’s no weird flex to the laptop’s chassis. The hinge action is particularly solid and smooth, and it’s easy to open the laptop with a single hand.

The laptop’s cooling system also works well. Hot air is directed out both sides of the laptop, as well as the back. While gaming, the hot air spraying out the sides of the laptop wasn’t particularly intense, and it wasn’t annoying on my mouse hand — a problem that many other gaming laptops do have.

The Acer Nitro 14’s keyboard deck does get a little hot while running intensive games, but not unusually so. However, most of the heat stays in the middle of the keyboard. The WASD area stayed very reasonable to the touch.

Acer Nitro 14: Keyboard and trackpad

IDG / Chris Hoffman

            <div class="lightbox-image-container foundry-lightbox"><div class="extendedBlock-wrapper block-coreImage undefined"><figure class="wp-block-image size-large enlarged-image"><img decoding="async" data-wp-bind--src="selectors.core.image.enlargedImgSrc" data-wp-style--object-fit="selectors.core.image.lightboxObjectFit" src="" alt="Acer Nitro 14 keyboard" class="wp-image-2434219" width="1200" height="904" loading="lazy" /></figure><p class="imageCredit">IDG / Chris Hoffman</p></div>

    </div></figure><p class="imageCredit">IDG / Chris Hoffman</p></div>

The Acer Nitro 14 includes a full-size keyboard with three zones of LED backlighting. Out of the box, the keyboard is configured to animate between different colors, and it looks great if you’re a fan of the rainbow LED gamer aesthetic. (Of course, you can configure the backlight however you like).

Like many other parts of this laptop, the keyboard feels fine. It’s not an unusually snappy keyboard, and you won’t rave