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Review Acer Aspire S7-191 Ultrabook

Acer has been struggling for market shares with a few, more or less successful devices since the beginning of the ultrabook era. However, a steady development could be observed. The manufacturer is undoubtedly motivated. HP ENVY TouchSmart 4-1218tu Ultrabook Battery

Alongside the 13 inch Aspire S7-391, Acer now sends its 11 inch Aspire S7-191 into the fight against the exclusive contenders. With a market value ranging from EUR 1300 to EUR 1600 (depending on the configuration) and interesting features, such as the aforementioned 11.6 inch Full HD IPS touchscreen, but also a clip-on battery, which extends the internal battery capacity of 28 Wh by additional 28 Wh when docked, the slim silver unit wants to attract potential buyers. The other components is solid ultrabook fare: In addition to Intel's Core i7 3517U from the Ivy Bridge generation and 4 GB of DDR3 RAM, a 256 GB SSD storage device is installed. It also awakens eager anticipation because it is a RAID 0 array comprised of two 128 GB SSDs. HP ENVY TouchSmart 4-1220tx Ultrabook Battery The Aspire S5 was designed in a similar concept and was extremely fast.

However, the competition is well-prepared: Asus supplied a very solid ultrabook with its ZenBook Prime UX21A and Apple's MacBook Air has always been a market leader. Both devices feature a good 11.6 inch screen and the Asus even comes with a similar Full HD IPS screen like in our model. If you are looking for a touchscreen in the ultra-portable segment, Asus' VivoBook S200-E, Dell's XPS 12 Convertible or even the bigger Aspire S7-391 might cater to your needs. HP ENVY Dv4 Battery

Like the 13.3 inch Aspire S7, our 11.6 inch model is clad in a very elegant dress. Unlike its bigger brother that was still comprised of magnesium, aluminum and Gorilla Glass II, our test device is based on an aluminum unibody - at least that is how Acer names it. The slim ultrabook does not look like it has been made of one cast because the base plate is magnesium. HP ENVY Dv4t Battery

The S7's high price range is noticed immediately. Its surfaces feature a very velvety feel. The lid's brushed surface with a diamond pattern is compelling. The display is behind a touchscreen made of rigid, but glossy Gorilla Glass II. The other surfaces are velvety yet sleek. A nice side effect is that they have a higher resistance for grime and fingerprints than others. HP ENVY Dv4z Battery

As fragile as the slim 12.2 millimeter casing's clear lines and minimalistic design may look, so rigid and stiff it proves to be in every situation. You will likely be astonished about how light (1.08 kg without secondary battery) the laptop seems the first few times when picking it up. However, the experienced portability became natural for the tester after a while. You no longer think about how or where you should pick it up because it does not matter. HP ENVY Dv4-5200 Battery No creaking noises are heard and nothing warps. The tester often found himself carrying the wide-opened device from one room to another with the left hand while surfing on the Internet via gestures with the right, like a tablet. In the other room, the Aspire S7 was again placed on the table or the lap and used in the usual "laptop" mode, i.e. the keyboard and touchpad were used for navigating. This switch is just as automatic as it is easy. Nothing out of line tears us from the single task - it simply works. HP ENVY Dv4-5300 Battery

This is also because the two tiny display hinges have two stops. The lid can be opened smoothly up to an opening angle of approximately 95° before the second, firmer stop takes effect. The hinges provide a higher resistance from this point in order to keep the display firmly in position during touch use, which works flawlessly. The small Aspire enables flexible options for almost every work position with its maximum opening angle of approximately 145° - including the tablet-like use as described above. HP ENVY Dv4-5214tx Battery

The slim device also reaps in some criticism. Docking the secondary battery is still fairly easy when you have found out how. However, removing it usually ends up with cursing the manufacturer. Both securing screws frequently cannot be removed as easily and the user is usually then faced with a fiddly task.

Performance

Our test device features the configuration for around EUR 1500. It sports a swift, energy-efficient Core i7 3517U (2x 1.9 GHz, Turbo up to 3 GHz) including an integrated graphics accelerator (Intel HD Graphics 4000) and a 256 GB storage device. HP ENVY Dv4-5213tx Battery The latter is certainly a special feature of our little Aspire S7 because it is a fast RAID 0 array of two 128 GB SSDs from Lite-On. It subjectively displayed extremely short booting times in various tests and will very likely also show a good (system) performance in the benchmarks. The DDR3 working memory features a standard capacity of 4 GB.

The competition usually only offers a single solid state drive and will likely be a bit inferior in the write and read rates. If you want a touchscreen in a portable but less expensive device, you will have to be content with the much slower Core i3 3217U (2x 1.8 GHz) in Asus' VivoBook S200E. Dell's XPS 12 Convertible test device sported the faster Core i7 3667U (2x 2 GHz, Turbo up to 3.2 GHz), but most of the named competitors will likely use the same processor as in our test device as the maximum. HP ENVY Dv4-5304tx Battery

The initial situation for our comparison test has been explained. Now we will look at whether the slim and elegant device can meet the high expectations placed on it.

The Core i7 3517U inside our Acer Aspire S7 is now actually the standard Ivy Bridge CPU in expensive ultrabooks. We do not say this with disfavor, but with a quite positive undertone. This energy-efficient ULV processor from Intel is the second fastest of its kind with a TPD of only 17 W. HP ENVY Dv4-5305tx Battery In addition to a default clock of 2x 1.9 GHz via different technologies, e.g. Hyper Threading (every CPU core can process two threads at the same time) and Turbo Boost up to 3.0 GHz, it offers everything that an ultra-portable heart might desire in terms of performance (more information here). Thus, it is possible to do virtually everything up to HD video editing with our test device. An exception would be demanding games.

We ascertain the processor's performance in computing tasks as well as the Turbo Boost's functionality via Cinebench R11.5. The Aspire S7-191 did quite a good job here. HP ENVY Dv4-5306tx Battery

Although the Aspire S7 slightly lagged behind the identically equipped competition (including the bigger sister model) in the multi-core benchmark, it had a marginal performance advantage in the single-core benchmark. Its Turbo Boost proved to be more efficient and almost never deviated from the maximum frequency with just below 3 GHz. We conclude that the disadvantage in multi-core calculation compared with the equally fast sister model is because our little Aspire S7 gets a bit warmer than the bigger sister model when both processor cores are loaded and which consequently can maintain the maximum Turbo rate without a longer break. HP ENVY Dv4-5302tx Battery All told, we are very satisfied with the processor's performance.

System Performance
We ran our test device through PCMark 7. In addition to the processor, it is particularly the storage device that contributes to the ascertained system performance. This allows conclusions about the test device's total application performance in routine use because tasks such as image editing, word processing, Internet surfing, video playback and even a 3D acceleration sequence are simulated and assessed. HP ENVY Dv6 Battery

Like the bigger sister, the little Aspire S7 is compelling in terms of performance. It scores a bit poorer than the previously mentioned 13.3 inch version and Asus' Taichi 21 in PCMark 7's total rating. Our Aspire especially lagged behind in the productivity rating.

However, a good overall result was achieved as can be seen below. The ultrabook could surpass its slim main contender, the ZenBook UX21A, by 15% as well as the equally swift MacBook Air 11 by 19%. HP ENVY Dv6t Battery

Gaming Performance
Most games can be played as long as they are not very hardware hungry, such as Battlefield 3. However, they usually only runs smoothly in low settings.

The Aspire S7 range is no exception here, although it usually renders the sequences faster than the named contenders. For example, Anno 2070 could still be played fairly smoothly with 20 frames per second in medium details and a resolution of 1366 x 768 on our test device. Asus' Taichi 21 using the same processor (Core i7 3517U / HD Graphics 4000) only managed jerky 13 fps. In return, the 13 inch sister model managed 22 fps with the same hardware owing to the somewhat better cooling. HP ENVY Dv6z Battery

The surface temperatures on both the top and the bottom never noticeably surpassed 30°C during normal use (browsing, Office, etc.). Almost all (im) possible working positions are imaginable owing to the cleverly placed vents and the opening angle of approx. 145°. The ultrabook also makes a good impression when used on the lap.

When the laptop is fully loaded for a longer period, like in our somewhat unrealistic stress test, merely the base's middle upper area heats up extremely to an average of 47.6°C. HP ENVY Dv6-7300 Battery However, this is not distracting because neither the knees nor the fingers touch this area (a gap of about 3 cm is between the key bed and display hinge). The cooling system is beneath that. This design appears well-considered despite the resulting temperatures. We also did not observe throttling, so a reduction of the CPU clock during full load. The clock rate remained stable at its default clock of 2x 1.9 GHz, like in the sister model.

Energy Management

Power Consumption

HP ENVY X2 Battery With 6.2 up to exactly 10 watts, the Aspire consumes a bit more power in idle than the average of comparable, small 11.6 ultrabooks. The ZenBook Prime UX21A is the leader of energy efficiency here with a very low power consumption of 4.6 to 9.6 watts.

However, our test device belongs to the leaders of energy savers with a power consumption of mere 33 watts during full load. There is not a big difference among the exclusive contenders though.

Battery Runtime

Hp 632113-151 Battery Acer's idea to simply detach a part of the battery capacity is certainly interesting. It was only possible to design the casing this small and slim without accepting losses in hardware or cooling performance by leaving 4 power cells (28 watts) outside of the chassis. A 28 Wh, non-removable battery is also installed in the ultrabook. This equals a capacity of 56 Wh alongside the secondary battery.

Hp HSTNN-F10C Battery Runtimes that are quite comparable with the 11 inch competition are achieved when the battery is inserted. The battery lasted for 1 h 49 min in BatteryEater's Classic test in full load and enabled Wi-Fi. It was even 11 h 4 min during low load, so BatteryEater's Reader's test using maximum energy saving settings (disabled wireless modules, minimum brightness). The ultrabook had to be reconnected to the mains after 4 h 7 min when we surfed on the Internet with a brightness close to 150 cd/m² via Wi-Fi. These are all average rates for compact ultrabooks. Hp HSTNN-I93C Battery However, their batteries usually have a 10 Wh lower capacity. The device does not really manage the available resources extraordinarily well.

The secondary battery has to be removed to carry the little silver ultrabook around in its charcoal black leather sleeve. The battery capacity is consequently reduced by 28 Wh if it is to be left at home. Mere 2 h 30 min were then possible without the clip-on battery in the standardized Wi-Fi test. This is not awe-inspiring for an ultrabook's overall impression. The competition is also slim and manages runtimes identical to the Aspire but without a secondary battery. Hp HSTNN-IB2P Battery

What is an ultrabook? Is it a slim, rigid and as small as possible chassis including sufficient runtimes, performance or even a touchscreen with 1920 x 1080 pixels? Acer wants to fuse all these qualities in the Aspire S7-191. However, the mass of features first have to be compressed in a 12.2 mm height and an 11.6 inch casing.

This often involves developing interesting ideas. Leaving out half of the battery capacity, which can be docked via a secondary battery when required, adds flexibility and an agreeable slanted position for typing. Hp HSTNN-LB2P Battery However, we were not completely happy with the implementation. Contenders with an identical, if not somewhat longer runtimes, e.g. Asus' ZenBook Prime UX21A, are a few millimeters higher, but the entire battery runtime fits into the included sleeve. Also, the fiddly mounting of the secondary battery, which will likely soon infuriate some gentle-mannered natures, is needless.

The screen also leaves mixed feelings. Technically, a very good, focused and contrast-rich Full HD screen based on state-of-the-art IPS technology is installed. However, the ideal brightness rates (approx. 400 cd/m²) are only available where we do not need them - namely at the mains. Hp QK641AA Battery You have to cope with just below 190 cd/m² when on the move and that will usually not be able to defy the reflections on the screen in most light conditions.

The touchscreen works properly, but we like the one in the 13.3 inch Aspire S7 more because it can be opened further and lies evenly on the table. It is possible to play a group game that way.

Of course, we are complaining on a high level because the Aspire S7 does a lot of things very well. The flawless, rigid and light aluminum unibody casing, the very compelling application performance and the cooling system that always enables consistent speeds without interruptions or slowing down with its twin fans. Hp VH08 Battery It also stays fairly quiet in everyday use, with exception of gaming.

If you do not need a touchscreen, you will find less compromising ultrabooks in the aforementioned ZenBook as well as in the somewhat slower, yet still great MacBook Air 11. They do not exhibit as many discrepancies or rouse as many questions. They are also EUR 100 - EUR 300 cheaper. If you simply want an affordable, portable laptop with a touchscreen, Asus' VivoBook S200E is available for a competitive price of around EUR 550, but its performance is weaker. Hp VH08XL Battery

If you are looking for the ultimate versatile 11.6 inch ultrabook, you will have to make compromises in the one or other area. Not only our test device underpins that in this price range, but also the contenders listed in the right column.

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