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00:00Hey, how's it going? Dave2D here. So this is the Nitro Spin 5. This is the 2-in-1 convertible
00:08from Acer that's supposed to be able to do everything. Work, play, media consumption,
00:13everything because it's a 2-in-1 hybrid device that has a GTX 1050 in it, like the entry
00:18level gaming card, and it's coupled with a Kaby Lake R CPU, so like a quad core 8th generation
00:24CPU. So it's not like super powerful, but it's kind of like an entry level hybrid laptop
00:28that doesn't cost too much money, but should be a good fit for a lot of different people.
00:33So this thing's build quality is quite good. It's actually better than I thought it would
00:36be for the price. It's fully aluminum with a brushed finish up top, and even the keyboard
00:40deck is aluminum. Now the design is actually something I like. You don't see like colored
00:44hinges very often. I don't love the color red, but I do like the fact that they colored
00:48the hinge and the chamfered edge. I do wish it was a different color instead of red, like
00:51if this was blue it would look awesome, but I do like the design. One thing about the
00:56build though is that the hinge is quite stiff, and I'm not sure if they've done this with
00:59purpose, like maybe there's some intent to this because when it's in the different modes
01:03like tent mode or presentation mode, maybe it's kind of beneficial to have a stiff hinge
01:07for tapping the screen, but when you're just kind of flipping it around to put it into
01:10the different positions, it is stiff. Alright, this thing is a 2-in-1 device, so theoretically
01:15it can be used as a tablet. The thing is, it's a very big device, right? 15-inch tablet
01:21feels kind of ridiculous to begin with. It's not comfortable to hold it like that. Like
01:24even in the 10 seconds I've been holding this, it's like, it's a bit of a workout, but it
01:28can be used in tent mode and presentation mode quite nicely. Now getting into the inside
01:32is actually pretty easy. It's a few screws, and when you're in there, you can upgrade
01:35the two drives, so there's an M.2 drive and a 2.5-inch bay. It's kind of strange to see
01:39a thinner 2-in-1 device like this to have a swappable hard drive, but that's kind of
01:43nice. The RAM, however, is soldered on, which is unfortunate because otherwise you'd be
01:47able to upgrade this thing quite a bit. Okay, the battery is 50 watt-hours. It's not particularly
01:52large, and I just kind of thought the battery life wouldn't be very good because it's a
01:5515-inch screen, 50 watt-hour battery, but it's actually pretty good. 7.5-hour battery
01:59life for the screen at 250 nits. Now the charger they supply is a barrel plug, but it's actually
02:04a smaller adapter. It's only 90 watts, so you could actually power this whole laptop
02:07through USB-C. So the keyboard and the trackpad are both good. They're, like, not amazing
02:11or anything, but good. Backlighting on the keyboard with a decent layout and a number
02:15pad, and I find the keystrokes to be... they're okay. Nothing like... it's not like super
02:19tactile or anything. It's like an average keyboard. The trackpad is a plastic surface.
02:23It does have a fingerprint sensor, which is nice, but I found that the tracking to be...
02:27I want to say laggy. Like, that's just not the right word. I don't know how to describe
02:30it. It just feels a little bit different, as if it wasn't using Windows Precision Drivers,
02:34but it is. The button mechanism and the gestures work nicely. The port selection is pretty
02:39good. We get a bunch of USBs and a full-size SD slot. Okay, the screen looks pretty good.
02:44When it comes out of the box, it has a bit of a greenish hue to it, but once you calibrate
02:48it, it looks good. Color gamut is decent, and so is the brightness. I kind of wish it
02:51was a little bit brighter, because it is a two-in-one device. You might be using this
02:54thing outdoors more frequently, but yeah, decent screen, especially for the money. I
02:58was expecting a much worse screen, considering this is a $1,000 device. It's a touchscreen,
03:02and it also supports a pen. Acer makes one. It's kind of, like, the Active Stylus or something
03:06like that, but it doesn't come with the product. You have to purchase it separately. Now, the
03:09stiffer hinge that I mentioned before is actually nice when it comes to pen input in laptop
03:14modes. It's just the screen doesn't wobble very much. There are two speakers and a sub
03:18underneath. They sound good, not amazing or anything, but it doesn't have much bass, despite
03:23having that sub. Performance is solid. It's a Kaby Lake-R, so a four-core CPU coupled
03:28with a GTX 1050, and it's not a combination you see very often. Most companies are sticking
03:33this GPU with a more powerful CPU, but it actually works nicely with this. You're getting
03:37pretty good frame rates in games. Like, you can hit 60 frames per second for most of the
03:40light to moderately demanding games if you drop the quality a bit. Now, the thermals
03:44on this thing are, well, they're not amazing. I wish that they were better. They're acceptable
03:49because it is a 2-in-1 device. They're not trying to be, like, ultra-hardcore gaming.
03:53It does throttle when you benchmark. Not when you're playing games. It's definitely not
03:56noticeable when you're playing games, but if you benchmark or if you're running stress
03:59tests, there are some thermal limitations. I think the problem comes from the heat pipes.
04:03We've seen this design before on other Acer laptops where the CPU and the GPU run in series
04:07like this, and it's just not the best way to cool it, but it is cost-effective. And
04:11because it's only a 15-watt CPU, it doesn't put out crazy amounts of heat. They can kind
04:14of get away with it. Now, something I noticed that if you play your games kind of like in
04:19this weird way where you use the laptop kind of in presentation mode and you have an external
04:23mouse and keyboard, the thermals are actually a little bit better. You don't need to play
04:26like this, but you can, and it's actually a lot more comfortable than it may seem. I
04:30mean, the screen's a little bit closer. It's just a little bit of a different experience.
04:34The webcam up top, 720p, it's not particularly good, but this is what it looks like. The
04:38fans are quiet on idle and not too loud either when it's on load. So overall, this laptop
04:44or the hybrid two-in-one device is very good for a lot of people. Now, it's not built for
04:49like hardcore gaming. I feel like with the red accents and stuff and the way that they
04:52market it, it might kind of con someone to thinking that this is somehow a really hardcore
04:57gaming laptop. It isn't. It's a great kind of hybrid device that's good for a lot of
05:00people. I think it's good for people like students or just someone who wants to have
05:04the versatility of the two-in-one device for casual or moderate gaming. And if you want
05:09something that has like tent mode or presentation mode for media consumption, this is great.
05:13But if you want something that's like tablet mode, you want to be able to use this thing
05:16in your hand all the time, this is way too big for that. I think for most people, it
05:20wouldn't be comfortable as a tablet. Okay, hope you guys enjoyed this video. Thumbs if
05:23you liked it. Subs if you loved it. See you guys next time.
05:30Transcribed by https://otter.ai