Acer Spin 5 Review: An Affordable All Aluminum 2-In-1 Laptop

UL’s well-known 3DMark benchmark suite features tests that target different types of computing devices. We opted for the Cloud Gate, Sky Diver, and Night Raid tests since they are light-duty 3D graphics and gaming benchmarks that are well-suited to thin and light laptops. We also have plenty of comparison data for Cloud Gate and Sky Diver. Sky Diver is a bit more strenuous, but still well within the limits of our test group. Night Raid is UL's newest addition targeting DX12.

3DMark Benchmarks 3D Benchmarking

Our graphics workloads start off near the bottom of the barrel for Cloud Gate as anticipated. The Spin 5 really only beats out the low-power Core i7-8500Y found in the HP Spectre Folio. As more of the silicon is lit up to handle rendering graphics, the Spin 5's thermal solution simply cannot keep up.

Sky Diver ramps up the graphical intensity slightly, but the result is the same.


Since Night Raid is the newest release, we have not yet built up a database of figures to compare to. It scores at least on par with the Acer Swift 3 that uses integrated graphics, though neither is going to be equipped for any heavy-duty gaming.

GRID Autosport Benchmarks Real-World Benchmarking

GRID Autosport is a cross-platform racing simulation developed by Codemasters. After the luke-warm reception of GRID 2, due to its less than realistic racing model, the Codemasters team set out to improve GRID Autosport's handling and environment rendering to make it feel like more of a true racing simulator. The game is based on Codemasters' EGO engine that has an amped-up physics and damage system that adds to the immersion and realism. Codemasters also tuned its graphics engine to perform well over a wide variety of mainstream systems, so it makes for a good watermark in a medium-duty graphics workload. It also happens to be billed as "optimized for integrated Intel HD Graphics", which is something you don't see everyday.


While GRID is indeed "optimized for integrated Intel HD Graphics," the results for 1080p with High Image Quality are far from playable. Users will need to dial back settings significantly to achieve the kind of framerates a racing game needs for fluid motion. We are not put off by these results though. The Acer Spin 5, like other Intel HD equipped ultrabooks, is not intended for gaming.

For our final tests, let's examine battery life, acoustics, and thermals...