Who would have thought, now we have more choices to buy & use electronics that are more environmentally friendly. Starting from the level of accessories, to laptops such as through the Acer Aspire Vero line. If previously collaborated with National Geographic, now comes the Acer Aspire Vero 14 which is smaller, but better.
Appearing in new colors, the message that is carried is still the same: to present a device that is more environmentally friendly, safe for long-term use, while bringing performance that is not inferior to other standard laptops in its class. To ensure this, even the Acer Aspire Vero 14 has brought the Intel Evo standard, which is generally found in premium ultrabooks.
Even though the manufacturing process uses special materials, the price of the Acer Aspire Vero 14 is very competitive. Is this environmentally friendly laptop suitable for the daily needs of you? Check out the full review below.
Design
Simple, and similar to the National Geographic edition of the Acer Aspire Vero that we reviewed yesterday. The difference is, this time the Acer Aspire Vero 14 comes in a smaller dimension, and appears in Marianna Blue, aka blue. Still made from used recycled plastic (PCR), without the painting process, and feels quite sturdy.
Even though it’s a little thick, the Acer Aspire Vero 14 is still quite portable thanks to its weight which is still around 1.5 kg. Even though the shape is standard, not a few people who see it are amazed—perhaps because of the interesting color pattern. And of course, I was even more amazed when I found out that the design was made more environmentally friendly, right down to the packaging, aka the box.
Because it carries a strong sustainability message, the design of the Acer Aspire Vero 14 is also designed to be easy to upgrade and fix. The lower body cover can be removed easily with standard screws, and the components inside are not difficult to remove, such as SSD, battery to speakers.
You also won’t find a label sticker on the inside, because the words Intel Evo have been printed directly onto the plastic body, to save material and emissions. When the screen is open, the lower body will be slightly raised, so that air circulation is better. It’s just that, you can’t open it with one hand and you can’t open it 180 degrees.
Screen
In our opinion, the Acer Aspire Vero 14 screen is the most standard. As the name implies, the dimensions are 14 inches, full HD resolution and use a 16:9 ratio. The panel used is IPS type, has a color coverage close to 100% sRGB, and the brightness level is just okay outdoors—helped by the panel that uses a matte surface.
Because the body is quite large, the four sides of the bezel are still quite thick. If you more often use a laptop for streaming or running two applications side by side, the screen ratio of the Acer Aspire Vero 14 still feels just right. The viewing angle is also very safe thanks to the IPS panel type.
While other laptops in its price class already use 2K resolution panels or even OLED, Acer’s focus on this section is indeed different. Namely, use a screen whose panels are 99% recyclable, according to the main focus of the special line that he is building. Quite impressive, considering that panel parts are generally difficult to recycle.
Ports & Connectivity
In a way, the benefit of the Acer Aspire Vero 14’s slightly thick body is the completeness of the ports it carries. There is one USB-A 3.2 port on the right, while the rest are quite complete on the left; DC-in, USB-C with Thunderbolt 4 standard, HDMI, USB-A 3.2 and audio combo jack. Yes, unfortunately there is no SD or microSD card slot.
Between the two sides of the port, the Acer Aspire Vero 14 has a keyboard that is similar to the previous variant. Namely the letters R & E are printed facing left, to emphasize the recycling message on the Aspire Vero line. For typing, quite comfortable and easy to get used to. Complete with an indicator light on the caps lock key and a two-level backlit lamp.
Oh yes, the power button is integrated into the keyboard and is not made any louder than the others. But don’t worry, because if you accidentally press it for a short duration, it won’t make the Acer Aspire Vero 14 go into sleep mode. While the fingerprint sensor is classified as classic, it is on the touchpad. The dimensions are indeed small, but classified as very accurate and instant.
As usual, the Acer Aspire Vero 14’s touchpad uses material from recycled marine plastic waste, and is called OceanGlass because it feels smooth and comfortable like glass material. The dimensions are not that big, but enough to input more than one finger gesture.
More Features
Even though the appearance of the Acer Aspire Vero 14 looks standard, the microphone and webcam setup that is on the top bezel of the screen is different. In the middle, there is a webcam with a fairly high resolution, namely 2.1MP, which has a wide viewing angle and is quite high-quality thanks to the Temporal Noise Reduction technology, which can improve facial images even in low light conditions.
Likewise, the two microphones on the left and right sides of the Acer Aspire Vero 14 webcam are supported by AI Noise Reduction and Acer Purified Voice technology so that the user’s voice can be heard more clearly without being disturbed by the surrounding crowd. For the speakers themselves, there are two and are placed at the bottom of the body. The quality is standard, not so loud, but at least the sound isn’t distorted even at 100% volume.
Because it already has the Intel Evo standard, the Acer Aspire Vero 14 is supported by Wi-Fi 6, plus Bluetooth which already supports Intel Swift Pair for instant connection to accessories such as the latest TWS earphones. Since the beginning, you have used Windows 11 complete with Microsoft Office Home & Student 2021 license for free.
Performance
This section is classified as surprising us from the start. The reason is, the Acer Aspire Vero 14 not only carries the latest processor from Intel, but also embeds the Intel Evo standard at the same time. The unit that we reviewed uses the Intel Core i5-1235U, aka the 12th generation, which brings increased performance as well as power efficiency thanks to the new CPU architecture.
The CPU is combined with an Intel Iris Xe GPU, 8GB LPDDR4x dual channel RAM (which unfortunately has been soldered), and 512GB SSD NVMe Gen 4 storage (upgradeable). The Intel Evo certification ensures that the Acer Aspire Vero 14 will always be responsive, including supporting instant wakes of less than one second. The existence of a Thunderbolt 4 port also allows you to connect a 4K monitor.
The performance of the Acer Aspire Vero 14 is very sufficient for office application use, as well as light photo and video editing. If you use it to access lots of tabs in the browser or lots of documents, at most the RAM capacity will be used more than 80%, but not to the point where the laptop crashes. The cooling system is quite okay, it’s quiet and doesn’t feel hot even on the top of the keyboard.
The performance and power consumption of this laptop can also be adjusted via a practical software called VeroSense. Starting from performance mode, to Eco+ mode which can save maximum power consumption, making the Acer Aspire Vero 14 battery last much longer.
Battery
The Acer Aspire Vero 14 has a battery capacity of 53Whr, which is quite large in its class. Combined with an Intel processor that is more power efficient, plus the use of VeroSense, the battery life of this laptop is classified as very satisfying. You can even use it to work outside all day without a charger.
In our tests to run office applications, activate Eco+ mode, always connect to Wi-Fi and with a screen brightness of 50-70%, the Acer Aspire Vero 14 battery can run for approximately 10 hours and still have 10-20% remaining. The alias is in accordance with the Intel Evo standard, plus fast charging support via a 65W USB-C type charger adapter.
The advantage, you can use the charger for other devices that use USB-C. The drawback is that the USB-C port is exhausted, because there is only one. So if you want to charge while still being able to use the port, you have to add a dongle, or buy a conventional charger separately (because the DC-in port is still provided). At least there is a flexible option to charge the Acer Aspire Vero 14.
Conclusion
Overall, this newest Acer laptop offers quite a lot of advantages. With a price tag starting at IDR 10 million, you can get a device with Intel Evo certification, has an attractive (and environmentally friendly!) design, features supporting the WFA work system such as a good microphone & webcam, plus a full selection of ports. The biggest drawback is the thick bezel, as well as the mediocre screen and speakers.
Buying an Acer Aspire Vero 14 laptop doesn’t mean you will get a device that has weak durability, or has slower performance and so on. In fact, Acer can match the main feature offering of this laptop with other laptops in its class. Making it very competitive with other “conventional” laptops.
Acer Aspire Vero 14 Specifications
General
| Device Type | Laptops |
| Model / Series | Acer Aspire Vero 14 (AV14-51) |
| Released | October 21, 2022 |
| Status | Available |
| Price | USD $699 |
Platform
| Processor | Intel® CoreTM i5-1235U |
| VGA (Graphic Card) | Intel Iris Xe Graphics (80 EU) |
| RAM (Memory) | 8 GB LPDDR4X Dual Channel (on-board) |
| Storage | 512 GB SSD NVMe Gen4 (Upgradable) |
| Operating System | Windows 11 Home (preinstalled with Microsoft Office Home Student 2021) |
Body
| Dimensions | 328.67 x 223.57 x 17.90 mm, 1,5kg |
| Display | 14” Full HD, 100% sRGB, IPS Display, Acer ComfyView, 99% Recyclable |
| Battery | 56WHr 3-cell Up to 16.5 hours USB-C charging (/DC-in) Fast charging (30 mins for 4 hours use) |
Connectivity
| Webcam | FHD with Acer Temporal Noise Reduction (TNR) solution |
| Bluetooth | 5.3 |
| Wi-fi | Wi-Fi 6E |
| NFC | x |
| I/O Interface | 1X Thunderbolt 4 2X USB 3.2 port (1X with offline charging features) Headphone/speaker jack HDMI® 2.1 port with HDCP support USB 3,2 Type-CTM with Fast Charging USB Type A |
Other
| Audio | Acer PurifiedVoice™ technology with AI noise reduction in dual built-in microphones. Features include far-field pickup, dynamic noise reduction through neural network, adaptive beamforming, and pre-defined personal and conference call modes. Compatible with Cortana with Voice. Acer TrueHarmony™ technology for lower distortion, wider frequency range, headphone-like audio and powerful sound. |
