If you’re in a tight budget, then buying a laptop could mean making a lot of compromises. But this Acer Aspire 1 A114-32-C1YA model brings a nice twist to that. This laptop costs around $300, but it doesn’t compromise on everything possible. If anything, it takes after its predecessor in delivering value for money.
This laptop is aimed at students and light users who don’t need a lot of power. It is strictly not meant for mid-range and heavy users as the laptop is not equipped to handle their needs. This laptop does have its share of compromises, but for the price can you find a better deal? Is this laptop the right choice for your budget and can it justify the price? Let’s find out in the full review below.
- Intel Celeron N4000 Dual-Core Processor (Up to 2.6GHz)
- 14" Full HD (1920 x 1080) Widescreen LED-backlit Display
- 4GB DDR4 SDRAM Onboard Memory & 64GB eMMC
Design
For a budget laptop, the Acer Aspire 1 A114-32-C1YA model comes with a pretty good design. The laptop comes in a dark gray color that has a nice look to it with the Acer logo in the middle of the lid. The primary construction material is plastic but at this price, there are no other options.
The laptop is also portable which is nice. With dimensions of 9.65 x 13.5 x 0.71 inches, this device weighs at 3.64lbs which is a lot lighter than other laptops in the same size category. Usually, low-end laptops come with a DVD writer which takes up some space. Here, that’s not that case and it helps in shedding some weight.
The keyboard we have here is a chiclet-style one and comes with a good layout. The keys have decent travel and you can type on this without losing any of your accuracy or speed. The keyboard can get noisy when you’re typing fast, but that’s just it. Also, you don’t get a dedicated number pad for crunching numbers.
Working in the dark with this laptop is going to be a challenge as you don’t have a backlit keyboard. The touchpad on this laptop is a precision one and comes with full support for all Windows OS gestures.
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Display
The display on the Acer Aspire 1 A114-32-C1YA is a 14″ FHD display that comes with a TN panel. The pixel density of this display is excellent as we are dealing with a smaller display. The sharpness in image quality is very useful when browsing the web and reading magazines online. You will also enjoy consuming media on this display.
Color accuracy is a bit of a problem with this display as we’re working with a TN panel. The contrast ratio is not great by any means and you can see that certain colors are more washed away than others. The viewing angles are not that good either. If you want to view something, you’ll get the most accurate colors only when you are right in front of the laptop.
The speakers of the laptop almost share the same story. The sound quality is average and this is expected from a budget laptop. If you want a better sound, then we recommend getting a good earphone to make the most of the situation.
Processing Power
The processor that runs the Acer Aspire 1 A114-32-C1YA model is an Intel Celeron N4000 processor. This is a dual-core processor from Intel that is made for entry-level devices like this one. The processor comes with a base clock frequency of 1.1GHz and has a cache memory of 4MB.
The performance of the processor is adequate for light users and elementary students. You will be able to run your everyday apps like web browsers, office apps, and other simple applications.
The processor can handle video streaming, simple online games, and even a bit of photo editing without any issues. With a max clock speed of 2.6GHz, you should not have a problem with any of your daily routine tasks.
The memory department on this laptop comes with 4 gigs of DDR4 SDRAM. This is the bare minimum and you will be fine if don’t run many apps at the same time. You can, at best, run two to three applications together before slowing down the laptop’s performance.
When you open several tabs in your browser, you can see that performance takes a hit stating how low the memory is. But this is a very cheap laptop and we can’t complain much.
Storage
If you haven’t figured out that we’re dealing with a budget laptop till this point, the storage will make things clear for you. We get 64 gigs of flash storage, and that’s it. Out of this, the operating system itself will take a good chunk leaving you with around 40 gigs at best for proper operation.
The good news here is that the laptop comes with an SD card slot. You can add up to a maximum of 128 gigs through this port that will come in handy. The speed of the storage is going to suffer but that’s better than having no space.
Graphics
The Acer Aspire 1 A114-32-C1YA does not come with a discrete graphics card. The integrated graphics card here is the Intel UHD 600 graphics card and it does an okay job when it comes to handling your graphics need.
You won’t be able to play mid-range of high-end games, but running those simple online games will be no problem. If you’re searching for a serious gaming machine, then this one here is not the answer you’re looking for.
Connectivity
The connectivity options on this Acer Aspire 1 A114-32-C1YA laptop is what you’d expect from a budget device. There are a couple of USB 2.0 ports and a USB 3.0 port that is a lot faster when it comes to data storage. You can find an HDMI port that allows you to connect this laptop to projectors and high-res displays. There is an Ethernet port and an SD card slot as well.
You also get wireless connectivity options like WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity. With 802.11ac WiFi, you won’t even need to use the Ethernet port as you can get high internet speeds without wires.
Battery Life
Acer says the Acer Aspire 1 A114-32-C1YA laptop can last for about 6.5 hours which is more or less true. For light users, we found you can even squeeze 7 hours of battery life depending on the user habits.
Web browsing, video streaming, and other everyday tasks run fine without eating up the battery life. Since most target users love doing this, this laptop won’t disappoint them in terms of battery life.
Charging the laptop can also take around 2 hours and 15 minutes which is a bit slower than other laptops. Overall, nothing extraordinary in the battery department.
Acer Aspire 1 A114-32-C1YA Review – Summary
The Acer Aspire 1 A114-32-C1YA comes with a few good things that you just find in a laptop in this price range. It has a full HD screen and comes with impressive battery life. The performance of the laptop is also adequate for the target users. If you’re looking for a reliable and affordable laptop, then this one is a very good choice.