Maximum PC - USA (2022-04)

SUSTAINABILITY is an undeniably tricky

issue for the PC hardware industry.

Mining the resources needed to

manufacture computer components has

a significant environmental impact, and

those components are shipped around the

globe in pollution-spewing cargo ships

and heavy goods vehicles. Then there’s

the energy usage; powerful PCs glug

down electricity and spew out heat, with

crypto mining proving to be a significant

contributor to global CO 2 emissions.

One eco-friendly laptop isn’t going to fix

everything, but that doesn’t mean it can’t

try. Acer has pulled out all the stops to

produce its first super-green computer,

the Aspire Vero. Every aspect of the Vero’s

design has sustainability in mind—the

outer casing is made of post-consumer-

recycled (PCR) plastics and the keycaps

are 50 percent PCR. The chassis is paint-

free to reduce manufacturing pollution.

Even the packaging uses recycled paper

and cardboard.

Partnering up with UK-based charity

Ecologi, Acer is ensuring that 100 trees

are planted for every Vero sold, carbon-

offsetting the production process. They’re

also running a program that allows you to

donate your old device when you register

your Vero, at which point they will clean

and repair it before sending it off to tech

non-profit Computers 4 Charity.

There are a few other small design

choices here that are meant to reinforce

the ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ mantra. The

R and E keys are highlighted in yellow

and reversed, which feels a little like

posturing, but we can let it slide thanks

to the use of standardized screws for

Mean, green, eco machine

Acer Aspire Vero

8

VERDICT Acer Aspire Vero

GREEN THUMB Sustainably

designed and manufactured;

decent all-round performance; solid

speakers.

OIL SPILL Poor display; keyboard isn’t

great; a bit heavy for our liking.

$799, acer.com

SPECIFICATIONS

CPU Intel Core i7-1195G7

Graphics Intel Iris Xe Graphics

RAM 16GB DDR4 @ 3200MHz

Screen 15.6-inch 1080p IPS LCD screen

Storage 512GB M.2 NVMe SSD

Ports

1x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack,

1x HDMI 2.0, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1

Type-A, 1x USB 2.0 Type-A, 1x

USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C, 1x RJ45

Connectivity Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0

Weight 3.97lbs

Size 14.3 x 9.4 x 0.7-inches

easy access to the component panel on

the underside. Upgrading or repairing

the Vero is easier than most laptops; no

soldered memory here, so replacing the

drive or RAM is a cinch.

In terms of build quality, the Aspire

Vero feels solid—perhaps not the most

robust laptop we’ve reviewed, but

durable enough. The hinge is sturdy,

and despite the all-plastic chassis,

we’d wager that the Vero could handle

a few knocks. The trackpad is large and

glossy, clicking feels responsive, and a

fingerprint scanner nestles in the upper-

left corner. The integrated speakers

have a surprising amount of oomph, with

good maximum volume and audio clarity,

which is ideal for video conferencing.

WELL CONNECTED

Connectivity is decent for an all-

rounder laptop, with three USB-A

ports, one USB-C (though, sadly, it isn’t

Thunderbolt-enabled), gigabit ethernet,

and HDMI output as well as a Kensington

lock slot. The Vero also has Wi-Fi 6 for

high-speed wireless internet, which is

a nice bonus. There’s no SD card slot,

however, so photographers might want to

look elsewhere.

Where the physical design starts to

fall down is the display. It’s a run-of-the-

mill 1080p IPS panel with a matte finish;

no touchscreen here. The maximum

brightness is lackluster, making it difficult

to use outside or in brightly lit rooms,

and color reproduction isn’t particularly

impressive either. The keyboard is also a

weak point, with a little too much spring

for our liking and uneven backlighting.

Now sustainability is great, but we’re

a PC hardware magazine, so sooner or

later we had to turn our eyes to the Vero’s

performance. On paper, its specs are

good: there’s a four-core, eight-thread

Intel Core i7-1195G7 CPU with Iris Xe

integrated graphics, backed up by 16GB

of DDR4 memory and a 512GB M.2 SSD.

The i7 processor performs well in single-

core and multi-core workloads, and Iris

Xe still impresses us; it’s a significant

step up from Intel UHD Graphics, and

while it won’t beat any modern discrete

GPU, the Vero is well-equipped for some

light gaming at lower settings. Thermal

performance is excellent, with only minor

heat and noise generated at load.

The Vero is marketed as a multipurpose

laptop and lives up to that ideal. The

SSD speed was slower than we’d hoped

but fast enough that it shouldn’t cause

problems, provided you aren’t routinely

transferring huge files. Battery life was

also decent, with Acer adding VeroSense,

a dedicated power management app that

includes an Eco+ mode in addition to the

usual Eco, Balanced, and Performance

battery profiles.

We were impressed with the Aspire

Vero, both in terms of its performance

and its eco-minded design ethos. It’s not

perfect, but we’d like to consider this a

blueprint rather than the final image of

a sustainable laptop. Hopefully, other

manufacturers will follow suit. Props to

Acer for taking the first necessary steps.

–CHRISTIAN GUYTON

Our notebook zero-point is the HP Spectre X360, with an Intel Core i7-8565U, Integrated Intel UHD Graphics 620,

and 8GB of DDR4-2400. Rise of the Tomb Raider is tested at 1080p at the highest graphical profile.

BENCHMARKS

ZERO-

POINT

Cinebench R15 Multi (Index) 561 911 (62%)

CrystalDisk QD32

Sequential Read (MB/s) 3,100 2,280 (-26%)

CrystalDisk QD32

Sequential Write (MB/s)^557316 (-43%)

3DMark: Fire Strike (Index) 1,062 3,598 (239%)

Rise of the Tomb Raider (fps)^5 16 (220%)

PCMark 8 (index ) 2,543 4,512 (77%)

Battery Life:

Movie Playback (mins)

840 745 (-11%)

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

in the lab

82 MAXIMU MPC APR 2022