While many companies have started to find ways to improve their product manufacturing process without affecting the ecosystem, Acer took its green goals to the next level and recently unveiled its new Aspire Vero laptop, built using PCR materials. We got a chance to try out the new laptop and here are our thoughts about it.
Design
Acer’s commitment to preserving the goodness of mother earth begins with the new Acer Aspire Vero. And unlike the traditional laptops that use normal plastics, the new Vero is made of PCR plastics that are meant to be eco-friendly and more sustainable while helping to reduce landfill waste. PCR plastics are made from post-consumer resins.
Acer mentions that 30% of the new Vero laptop is made of PCR plastics, which helps to save about 21% C02 emissions. This includes the top and bottom panels, the screen bezel, the operating space, and the palm-rest portion. And just because the laptop is made of PCR plastics, the look and feel of the laptop do not disappoint at all and are unique in their own way. The light gray color of the laptop and its dotted pattern will certainly get the attention of others around you.
The main chassis of the laptop isn’t the only one made of plastics. The keycaps are also made of 50% PCR plastics, and let me tell you that I had a good typing experience while writing this review and other editorial jobs. The keyboard feels as premium as the ones found on other Acer laptops. And if you haven’t noticed, the “R” and “E” are printed in a mirror fashion. Don’t worry, it’s not a manufacturing error. It’s Acer’s way of reinforcing the importance to use PCR plastics. The letters are focused on three factors: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. The trackpad is spacious to move with its smooth surface and there is also a fingerprint scanner on the top-left side of the trackpad.
Acer mentions that the chassis of the Vero is paint-free which helps to lower the impact of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC). The main display of the laptop features a 15.6-inch IPS display with FHD resolution. The color temperature of the display produces a cool white effect by default.
The laptop does not fall short when it comes to ports and connectivity. On the left side of the laptop, you will find an RJ45 port, a full-size HDMI port, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, one USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C port, and the power connection. On the right side, there is another USB 2.0 port and a headphone jack, along with indicators for battery and drive loading status and a Kensington lock.
Apart from the fact that the chassis mainly consists of PCR, the laptop is built to be durable and weighs about 1.8kg. As a part of the design, the laptop features engravings such as the “Intel Core” on the left side and the “Post Consumer Recycled” logos on the right side of the work area. Although, I suspect that these punched-in engravings may collect dust and dirt easily in the long run. There is also the engraving of Aspire Vero on the front right side of the laptop. Acer also ensured that the Vero is easily repairable or upgradable, thanks to the use of standard screws that holds the laptop.
The laptop also has yellow-colored rubber feet on the rear side. The Vero isn’t the only thing that Acer aimed to contribute to the green cause. The packaging is made of recyclable materials. The main box is made of 85% recycled paper, the included laptop bag and keyboard sheet are made of 100% recycled plastic, and the plastic bag that is used to cover the laptop charger is replaced with a paper sleave.
Specs & Performance
While the laptop is primarily focused on using PCR materials, the hardware doesn’t fall short when it comes to performance. Inside the laptop is the Intel i7-1195G7 Tiger Lake-based 4-core/8-thread processor with Intel Iris iGPU. And supporting the processor is 16GB of Samsung-based DDR4 RAM and a 512GB PCIe SSD from Kingston.
The laptop comes with Windows 11 out of the box. For high-speed internet, the laptop features the Intel AX201 WiFi 6 module. During our time with the laptop, the Vero performed well for most of our daily tasks. Web browsing is smooth and 16GB of RAM is quite sufficient. The processor is one of the latest in the market and the high-seed SSD helps to load applications and files faster.
We also ran some benchmarks that include the PC Mark 10 Extended, 3D Mark, CrystakDiskMark, GeekBench 5 CPU and GPU tests, and Cinebench R23.
Benchmarks
Battery
Acer has equipped the Aspire Vero with a 3-cell Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) battery that is capable of a maximum run time of 7 hours (according to the official website). We ran the PC Mark 10 Extended battery test and the laptop lasted for about 7 hours and 14 minutes. The test included several programs such as work and excel loading, slight gaming, web browsing, video calls, and more.
The laptop comes preinstalled with an application called the VeroSense, which is used to optimize the performance and battery consumption of the device. There are four modes that can be chosen: Eco+, Eco, Balanced, and Performance.
Verdict
Acer’s ambitions toward a greener future have begun with the launch of the Aspire Vero laptop. The laptop features a chassis that is made of 30% PCR which should help reduce the C02 emissions. The 15.6-inch IPS display with FHD resolution is fantastic for its colors and viewing angles. Even the keycaps are made of PCR materials and the keyboard is fun to type with. The design of the laptop is durable enough to handle day-to-day situations and the dotted pattern and the grey color is unique when compared to normal laptops.
There are enough connectivity ports onboard to connect your accessories and external storage devices. The performance of the laptop is also good, thanks to the inclusion of the Intel 11th gen Tiger Lake processor, 16GB of RAM and a 1TB PCIe SSD with Windows 11 installed. The laptop also is able to last about half a day of use and the VeroSense application helps to optimize the battery life. We hope to see more laptops and products from Acer under the Vero series portfolio.
