I spent days testing Acers new 16-inch laptop and sadly AI remains just a gimmick

Date:
Tue, 27 Jan 2026 09:50:19 +0000

Description:
The Acer Aspire 16 AI certainly looks like a premium laptop but how does it perform?

FULL STORY ======================================================================Acer Aspire 16 AI: Two-minute review

The Acer Aspire 16 AI is a large laptop promising powerful AI features in an elegant body. It certainly looks the part, thanks to the premium materials
and finish, as well as the impressively thin chassis. Its also surprisingly light for a laptop of this size, which further improves its portability.

However, the price paid for this litheness is the somewhat flimsy build quality, falling below the standards of the best laptop constructions. Theres a fair amount of flex to the chassis, while the lid hinge doesnt offer the greatest stability although it at least managed to stay planted while I typed.

There are a good number of ports on the Aspire 16 AI, including two USB-C and two USB-A ports. However, the former are located closest to you, a choice I usually lament since it means your power adapter has to cross over with any cable you have plugged in to the USB-A port. Its also a shame that the card reader is only fit for microSDs.

For day-to-day use, the Aspire 16 AI is very capable. It can handle light productivity and 4K streaming without missing a beat. However, the included
AI features are disappointing: theyre either too basic in their functionality or fail to work altogether.

Gaming also proved to be a lackluster experience. Its shared memory GPU can just about handle AAA titles on the lowest settings, and even then you wont exactly be treated to the smoothest frame rates. (Image credit: Future)

Under these kinds of intensive workloads, the Aspire 16 AI can generate a
fair amount of heat, but thankfully its concentrated underneath, towards the back. Coupled with the hushed fans, the Aspire 16 AI remains comfortable to use in such scenarios.

The display in my review unit, with its OLED technology and 2048 x 1280 resolution, provided a crystal-clear image, rendering colors vividly and delivering high brightness levels. This latter aspect is especially useful
for combating reflections, which can be quite prominent.

Thanks to the spacing and satisfying feel of its keys, the keyboard on the Aspire 16 AI is easy to use. However, the number pad keys are too small for
my liking, and I wished there was a right Control key, as I find this useful for productivity purposes.

The touchpad is smooth and large, which helps with navigation, but it can get in the way when typing. Also, the one in my review unit felt loose and
rattled when clicking, making it awkward to use and suggests signs of poor quality control.

Battery life is somewhat disappointing, and isnt a patch on that of the smaller 14 AI. In fact, many of its key rivals can outlast it. I only managed to get roughly nine hours from it when playing a movie on a continuous loop.

On the face of it, the Aspire 16 AI might look like good value, but it doesnt deliver enough to justify its cost. Its slender form and mostly great display arent enough to make up for its drawbacks, while other laptops at this price point offer more complete packages. Acer Aspire 16 AI review: Price & Availability $649.99 / 799.99 / AU$1,499 Available now in various configurations Better value rivals exist

The Aspire 16 AI starts from $649.99 / 799.99 / AU$1,499 and is available
now. It can be configured with various processors, including Intel and Qualcomm (ARM) chips, with a couple of storage and RAM options to choose
from.

Unfortunately, there are better value laptops out there with more power and performance, better suited to heavier workloads. The Apple MacBook Air
13-inch (M4) is one such example. Starting prices arent as low, but theyre similar to the higher spec models of the Aspire 16 AI. They also have excellent build quality, making them a better value proposition all things considered.

If you want to stick with Windows, the Asus TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition is another alternative. Again, its similarly priced to the higher-spec variants of the Aspire 16 AI, but offers much better gaming performance, chiefly thanks to its AMD Radeon RX 7600S GPU. Its no surprise we think its one of the best cheap gaming laptops around right now. Value: 3 / 5 Acer Aspire 16 AI review: Specs Acer Aspire 16 AI Specs

Acer Aspire 16 AI Base Config

Acer Aspire 16 AI Review Config

Price

$649.99 / 799.99 / AU$1,499

949 (about $1,280, AU$1,960)

CPU

Qualcomm Snapdragon X X1-26-100 (8 cores), 3GHz

AMD Ryzen AI 7 350, 2.0GHz (8 cores)

GPU

Qualcomm Adreno GPU (shared memory)

AMD Radeon 860M (shared memory)

RAM

16GB LPDDR5X

16GB LPDDR5X

Storage

512GB PCI Express NVMe 4.0 (M.2)

1TB PCI Express NVMe 4.0 (M.2)

Display

16-inch WUXGA (1920 x 1200) 16:10 ComfyView (Matte) 120Hz, IPS

16-inch WUXGA+ (2048 x 1280) OLED, 16:10, 120Hz

Ports and Connectivity

2x USB-C (Thunderbolt 4), 2x USB-A, 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x headset jack, 1x microSD, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4

2x USB-C (Thunderbolt 4), 2x USB-A, 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x headset jack, 1x microSD, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4

Battery

65Wh

65Wh

Dimensions

14 x 9.8 x 0.6 inch / 355 x 250 x 16mm

14 x 9.8 x 0.6 inch / 355 x 250 x 16mm

Weight

3.4lbs / 1.55kg

3.4lbs / 1.55kg Acer Aspire 16 AI review: Design (Image credit: Future) Brilliantly thin and light Not the sturdiest Touchpad issues

Thanks to its minimal design, the Aspire 16 AI has sleek looks. The low-shine metallic lid also adds to its elegance, befitting its premium price tag.

Its pleasingly light and slender, too, making it more portable than you might expect for a 16-inch laptop. The bezel for the display is minuscule as well, which helps to maximize its full potential.

Theres a satisfying click when you close the lid on the Aspire 16 AI, something I havent encountered on any other laptop before. The hinge also allows for the screen to recline all the back by 180 degrees, something Im always happy to see.

However, lid stability isnt the best, as its prone to wobbling, although, thankfully, it remains stable while typing on the keyboard. The overall construction of the Aspire 16 AI isnt especially impressive, either, with the chassis having a fair amount of flex. (Image credit: Future)

Worse still, the touchpad in my review unit had a horrible rattle, as if some part was loose at the bottom section. Its possible this issue is confined to my review unit alone perhaps it had been passed around several journalists before it got to me but the issue still doesnt speak highly of its build quality or Acer's quality control.

Theres a varied selection of ports on the Aspire 16 AI, spread evenly across both sides. On the left are two USB-C ports, one USB-A port, and an HDMI
port. However, I found it inconvenient that the USB-C ports are placed
nearest to you, since one has to be used for the power adapter; I much prefer the thick cable for this to trail from the back of the laptop, rather than from the middle, as it does with the Aspire 16 AI.

On the right youll find another USB-A port, followed by a combo audio jack
and a microSD card reader. Its a shame the latter cant accommodate standard
SD card sizes, but this is a small grievance. Design: 3.5 / 5 Acer Aspire 16 AI review: Performance (Image credit: Future) Good productivity and streaming performance Poor for gaming Useless AI features

The Aspire 16 AI offers great general performance. It takes light
productivity in its stride, from word processing to spreadsheet creation, and multiple browser tabs didnt cause a problem for me, thanks to the 16GB of RAM in my review unit. Streaming 4K content is well within its grasp, too. I experienced little buffering or slow down, providing a seamless viewing experience in the main.

However, despite what Acer claims, the gaming performance of the Aspire 16 AI is quite poor. With its shared memory, the AMD Radeon GPU didnt handle AAA titles very well. When I played Cyberpunk 2077 with the default Ray Tracing: Low preset and resolution scaling set to Performance mode, I was getting
20fps on average not what youd call playable.

The best I could achieve with the game was about 38fps, but that was at the lowest possible graphics preset and the resolution dropped to 1080p. This at least made it playable, but if youre expecting to get even moderately close
to the performance of the best gaming laptops , youll be sorely disappointed.

During my playtime, the Aspire 16 AI generated a fair amount of heat. Fortunately, this was heavily concentrated underneath and at the back, thus steering clear of any parts you might actually touch. Fan noise is also pleasantly subdued.

As when I tested the 14 AI, the AI features the Aspire 16 AI sports are disappointing. The centerpiece appears to be Acer LiveSense, a photo editing and webcam suite with very basic functionality, not to mention a poor UI and frequent glitches.

For more AI features, youll have to download Acer Intelligence Space, the brands hub. Contrary to when I tested the 14 AI, I managed to install it successfully. However, it didnt get off to an auspicious start, as a dialog box warned me that I had insufficient memory resources, explaining that it needed 6.5GB free and a total of at least 16GB to execute smoothly. (Image credit: Future)

I proceeded anyway and was greeted with a clear user interface that revealed the various AI apps I could install. However, a large portion of them seem to be incompatible with the Aspire 16 AI, and those that are were once more very limited in their functionality.

On a more positive note, the 2K OLED display in my review unit was as clear and as vibrant as you might expect. The very shiny coating can cause
prominent reflections, but these can be mitigated by the screens brightness values (especially if you disable the change brightness based on content setting).

The keyboard feels premium, too, thanks to the subtle texture and tight fit
of the keys themselves. Theyre also light, tactile, and reasonably spaced, although perhaps not to the extent of other laptop keyboards. I didnt find this aspect to be a problem when typing, but I did while gaming, as it made adopting the WASD more uncomfortable for me.

At least the number pad doesnt eat into the layout space. However, contrary
to many full-sized laptop keyboards Ive experienced, its the number pad
itself that feels cramped, with its keys being too narrow to be used easily. Another small but notable gripe I have with the keyboard is the absence of a right Control key, which can be frustrating when performing productivity tasks.

The touchpad performs well enough, with its large and smooth surface making for easy navigation. However, thanks to the aforementioned rattle in its bottom portion, clicks felt unpleasant. It can also get in the way while typing: on occasion, the palm of my thumbs would activate the cursor,
although thankfully not clicks or taps. Performance: 3.5 / 5 Acer Aspire 16
AI review: Battery Life (Image credit: Future) Average battery life 14 AI battery life much better Other rivals are better, too

The battery life of the Aspire 16 AI isnt particularly impressive. It lasted just over nine hours in our movie playback test, which is a middling result. This is a far cry from the time achieved by the 14 AI, which lasted over
twice as long, making the Aspire 16 AI even more disappointing by comparison.

Whats more, plenty of its rivals can beat this score, including the Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch, which managed over 17 hours, and the Asus TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition, which lasted 11 hours. Battery Life: 3.5 / 5 Should I buy the Acer Aspire 16 AI? Acer Aspire 16 AI Scorecard

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Value

Starting prices are low, but climb up the specs and the value starts to diminish.

3 / 5

Design

Build quality isnt the best, but its impressively thin and light. It looks good, too.

3.5 / 5

Performance

Everyday tasks are dispatched without a hitch, but it cant cope well with heavier demands, such as gaming. The display is very good, though.

3.5 / 5

Battery Life

Only average, and the smaller 14 AI absolutely obliterates it on this front.

3 / 5

Total

The Aspire 16 AI is a capable workhorse, but its poor GPU, underwhelming AI features, and suspect build quality result in a middling machine.

3 / 5 Buy the Acer Aspire 16 AI if...

You want a large and bright display
The 16-inch OLED on my model looked great, its powerful backlight can
overcome its reflective nature.

You want something portable
Despite its large size, the Aspire 16 AI is impressively light and thin, making it easy to carry around. Don't buy it if...

Youll be running graphics-intensive apps
The Aspire 16 AI could barely handle AAA gaming at modest settings, saddled
as it is with a shared memory GPU.

You want a super-sturdy machine
Theres plenty of flex in the body, and the seemingly broken touchpad on my particular unit was disconcerting. Acer Aspire 16 AI review: Also Consider

Asus TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition
If youre after more graphical power but dont want to spend more for it, the TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition might be the solution. It comes equipped
with an AMD Radeon RX 7600S GPU, which is capable of handling AAA titles smoothly, although you may have to forgo Ray Tracing. Read our full Asus TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition review .

Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M4)
Unusually for an Apple product, this MacBook Air is actually a great budget pick if youre after a powerful machine, being among the best laptops for
video editing for this reason. Its sumptuous design and display are
additional feathers in its creative cap. Read our full Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M4) review . How I tested the Acer Aspire 16 AI Tested for several days Used for various tasks Plentiful laptop reviewing experience

I tested the Aspire 16 AI for several days, during which time I used it for various tasks, from productivity and browsing to streaming and gaming.

I also ran our series of benchmark tests to assess its all-round performance more concretely, and played a movie on a continuous loop while unplugged to see how long its battery lasted.

I have been using laptops for decades, and have reviewed a large and varied selection of them too, ranging in their form factors, price points, and intended purposes. First reviewed: January 2026 Read more about how we test



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/computing/windows-laptops/acer-aspire-16-ai-review


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