Glass-topped ultrabook delivers performance, style
Acer is swinging for the fences with the new $1,499 Acer Aspire S7-392-6411 Ultrabook. The second generation of the company's S7 series sports some welcome updates, such as improved battery life, a better keyboard and a fourth-generation Intel Core i5 processor. But the Aspire hasn't ditched the aspects of the S7 we loved, namely the super-slim, all-white chassis and the 1080p touch-screen that continues to turn heads. The end result is a home run for Ultrabook shoppers.
It's hard to believe, but we're getting close to the one-year mark in
the Windows 8 era. Microsoft's still-controversial operating system was
released in October 2012, and that was long-enough ago that we're now
seeing the second generation of some of the initial-launch-period
Windows 8 laptops and hybrids.
One of my favorite early Windows 8 laptops was the Acer Aspire S7, and it quickly became a favorite for much of the rest of our PC-savvy staff as well. The
original S7
scored points by being a new-from-the-ground-up ultrabook, rather than an existing Windows 7
product updated with new software. The new version, the S7-392-6411,
essentially identical on the outside, remains one of the thinnest,
slickest-looking ultrabooks available, highlighted by a white minimalist
chassis and a lid covered with Gorilla Glass.
Since then, we've seen many thin, touch-screen laptops with high-end processors and 1080p screen resolutions, including the
Sony Vaio Pro 13
and the
Samsung Ativ Book 9
, plus impressive hybrids such as the
Lenovo Yoga 13
. Despite the increase in competition, this remains a
great, eye-catching design, thanks to the bold white-and-silver design
(a nice break from the dark palette of most laptops) and the Gorilla
Glass lid, which promises strength and a lighter overall weight.
The
new Aspire S7 moves to Intel's latest fourth-generation Core i-series
processors. The 2012 version we tested had a previous-gen Core i7 chip
for $1,649, while the 2013 model has a Haswell-generation Core i5 for
$1,399.99, which includes a 128GB solid-state drive (SSD) and 8GB of
RAM. That's a premium price, especially for a Core i5 laptop,
considering a 13-inch MacBook Air starts at $1,099, but it's competitive with similar Sony and Samsung ultrabooks.
This
is a hard laptop not to like, and even though the basic design is about
10 months old, it still feels very cutting-edge, at least visually. The
$1,399.99 price is still a bit of a reach, especially considering that I
don't love the keyboard and touch pad, but it's also very portable and
reasonably powerful, and will look great at a coffee shop.
Design and features
Aside from moving a few ports around and the absence of the words "Professionally tuned" stamped above the keyboard, this is essentially the same Aspire S7 design we liked so much last year. It's very thin and light, although the glass-covered lid feels a bit top-heavy. You may recall that the original HP Envy Spectre (from early 2012) had a similar design, putting glass both on the back of the lid and the wrist rest. Here it's just the lid, which is good, as it never really worked on the wrist rest.
Aside from moving a few ports around and the absence of the words "Professionally tuned" stamped above the keyboard, this is essentially the same Aspire S7 design we liked so much last year. It's very thin and light, although the glass-covered lid feels a bit top-heavy. You may recall that the original HP Envy Spectre (from early 2012) had a similar design, putting glass both on the back of the lid and the wrist rest. Here it's just the lid, which is good, as it never really worked on the wrist rest.
Of
course, this isn't an all-glass laptop (which sounds like a crazy idea,
but I bet someone will eventually pitch one). The rest of the body is
aluminum over a plastic base, and the entire thing has a MacBook-like
feel. White (behind the glass surface on the back of the lid) and silver
is an unusual, but not unheard-of, color combination these days. Most
laptops, apart from MacBooks, tend to be matte or glassy black, with
maybe a little gray or some red accents thrown in. Just by being
different the Aspire S7 achieves an upscale look that stands out.
The
keyboard has flat-topped, island-style keys that sit in a gently
sloping, indented keyboard tray. The keys feel deeper than the original
S7's, based on my memory of that system, making for a less error-prone
experience -- but it may just be that my tolerance for shallow ultrabook
keyboards has grown with repeat exposure. One thing I miss is having a
separate row of Function keys; instead those functions are mapped as
alternates to the numeral keys. It's an odd omission, as there's plenty
of room at the top of the keyboard for an additional row.
The
large touch pad has a great surface with just enough friction, but
multitouch gestures are a bit finicky. Interestingly, this version has a
Synaptics touch pad, rather than the Elan model on the original S7 from
2012. Side by side, I'd say this new S7's touch pad is more responsive,
but it still pales in comparison with what you get from a MacBook.
One
highlight of the system is the 1,920x1,080-pixel-resolution, 13.3-inch
display. Despite some touch-screen laptops making their lids slightly
thicker, the lid here still seems very thin, and is perfectly flat, not
convex at all. The screen has decent off-axis viewing and while it's
glossy, it's not overly reflective.
The screen hinge is designed
with touch-screen use in mind. It acts like any other laptop hinge from
the closed position to about 120 degrees or so. After that, the hinge
stiffens considerably, so tapping and swiping on the screen results in
less shaking or movement under your fingers. It's a small feature, but a
clever one for Windows 8 laptops.
| Features | Acer Aspire S7 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Video | HDMI and Mini DisplayPort | ||
| Audio | Stereo speakers, combo headphone/microphone jack | ||
| Data | 2 USB 3.0, SD card reader | ||
| Networking | 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth | ||
| Optical drive | None |
Acer Aspire S7-392-6411
Windows 8 (64-bit); 1.6GHz Intel Core i5-4200U; 8GB DDR3 SDRAM 1,600MHz; 128MB (Dedicated) Intel HD Graphics 4400: 128GB SSD
Connections, performance, and battery
On a small laptop, you're going to give up a certain number of ports and connections, but at least the new S7 has two video outputs, HDMI and Mini DisplayPort. You also get a couple of USB 3.0 ports and an SD card slot, but no Ethernet jack, which would be tough to fit into the slim body.
On a small laptop, you're going to give up a certain number of ports and connections, but at least the new S7 has two video outputs, HDMI and Mini DisplayPort. You also get a couple of USB 3.0 ports and an SD card slot, but no Ethernet jack, which would be tough to fit into the slim body.
Battery life is where the advantage of Intel's Haswell chips is really felt. The Acer Aspire S7 ran for 7 hours and 14 minute sin our video playback battery drain test, about 50 minutes longer than the pre-Haswell S7 we tested in 2012. That's not at great compared with the 12-plus hours you'll get from a 13-inch MacBook Air, but it's a solid number for a 13-inch ultrabook.
Heat
Acer outfitted the S7 with a new thermal system designed to keep the laptop at a cooler temperature. Comprised of a pair of high-speed thermal fans, the TwinAir system uses one fan to pull in cool air, while the other blows out hot air.
After 15 minutes of streaming a full-screen Hulu video on the S7, the notebook's touchpad measured a cool 79 degrees Fahrenheit. The space between the G and H keys and the S7's undercarriage were slightly warmer, at 84 and 85 degrees, respectively. All of these measurements are below our comfort threshold of 95 degrees. Nevertheless, the previous S7 registered a cooler 75, 80 and 80 degrees in the same locations.
Toward the back of the S7, near the hinge, we measured a toasty 101 degrees, but it wasn't uncomfortable in our lap.
Looking
at the frankly ludicrous price tag, one might be forgiven for
mistakenly thinking that a dedicated graphics chip powered the Lenovo
ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch, but in a laptop this thin all the
pixel-pushing has been left to that Intel Core i7 processor. It does a
good job and performs better than most Ultrabooks, meaning that even the
latest games are within its limitations, if you don't mind sacrificing
some graphics performance.
