Acer vs Dell Laptop – Which Brand is Better In 2024

Last Updated/Fact Checked on December 12, 2023 by Irslan

Purchasing a laptop from a reputable brand can be wholesome, but at the same time, it can be pretty confusing. If you have selected a PC of comparable specifications from Acer and Dell, but you’re confused about which one to trust, this comparison can be worth a lot.

Note:
If you're here it means that you are looking for new laptop to buy. In that case, you should check our guide about how often to buy a new laptop and what things to consider when buying a new laptop? 

Suppose you have to choose between Acer Vs Dell Laptop. I have extensively researched and compared these brands from multiple angles.

Dell is always a good choice because of its premium build quality with high-performance machines. In contrast, Acer also produces machines with decent performance, but the build quality is inferior to its competitor. The laptops are less expensive than its rival, a potential reason for poor build quality. 

Let’s dive deep into the detailed specs game. We will look at this from every possible degree:

Comparison of Acer and Dell: Technical Specifications

It takes work to ditch one brand for another when both have an excellent reputation in the consumer market. However, by comparing the flagship devices on technical specifications ground, we can land to a conclusion. 

Better Design & Durability

Dell XPS Laptop
Dell XPS 15

With a simple and orthodox approach to design, both these brands have a standard range of designs with no significant changes across their variants. Compared to other laptop brands, they prefer to avoid reinventing the wheel. Just minute tweaks in the design with substantial changes in its component are what they practice.

With that being said, the flagship from Dell, XPS 15 is just a continuation of its previous models, with a silver exterior and black keyboard. It has an additional color option of a Frost exterior with an Arctic white interior. Its weight is only 4.22 lbs, making it a very compact device. 

Acer Spin 5
Acer Spin 5

On the other hand, Acer Spin 5 is designed differently, with a 360-degree convertible touchscreen. It weighs 2.87 lb, making it easier to carry. One major drawback of the convertible screen is the vulnerability to breaking easily.

Unlike other laptops of this brand, it has an Aluminium chassis instead of plastic. Both are simple and eye-catching, but I suggest Dell has a better design and decent looks with a sturdy feel and enhanced durability as all of its laptop’s chassis are metallic. 

Premium Build Quality

Dell has superior build quality than Acer, which is one of the reasons these laptops are pricey. Its competitor is famous for offering a vast range of notebooks at unexpectedly low prices. It is where Acer compromised on its quality by incorporating plastic in the laptop’s chassis instead of metal. It is essential to mention that Acer’s high-end laptops, however, have good build quality. 

On the other hand, Dell uses a premium metal case that gives a premium look and lasts longer than its rival. They are more durable, and each product has a 12-month warranty, which I am sure you won’t use because of its longevity. Substandard materials sometimes result in poor quality even when the prices are the same as other brands. If you want a solid-quality laptop, Dell should be your first choice. If you are more interested in saving a few bucks, you can only go with Acer. 

360 Degree Convertible vs Touch Screen Display

The screen size and resolution matter a ton when buying a laptop. Comparing the top contenders from both brands, Spin 5 2024 has a 14” touch screen with a resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels with a 360-degree hinge, as it is convertible. It is a WQXGA display with an 88% of screen-to-body ratio. The touch display is operated with a stylus that comes with the laptop by default. Spin 5 has a 60Hz refresh rate, which is optimum for regular use. 

Likewise, the XPS 15 has a 15.6” OLED screen with a resolution of 3456 x 2160 pixels at a refresh rate of 60Hz. The display in this laptop is also a touchscreen, but this one is not convertible. The colors are vibrant, with 500 nits of peak brightness in HDR mode. This machine has an infinity display with an amazing screen-to-body ratio of 93%. The significant difference in these two displays’ resolution and screen-to-body ratio makes Dell the winner for better display. 

Performance

Both these machines perform graphics-intensive tasks excellently. The Spin 5 is an Intel Core i7 with Intel Irix Xe Graphics, with no dedicated graphic card. This is, however, a  powerful performing unit. It can also support up to 16GB of RAM and 1 TB of SSD storage. It has full I/O ports with 2 USB Type-C Ports, 2 USB Type-A 3.2 Gen ports, an HDMI, an SDXC port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. 

In contrast, the XPS 15 from Dell has a 12 Gen Intel Core i7 12700 H CPU with Nvidia RTX 3050 Ti GPU. It can support up to 16 GB of RAM and 512GB SSD with the additional slot. The XPS doesn’t have a full package of ports, as it misses out on an HDMI port. The presence of a dedicated graphics card ensures a flawless experience while playing games and editing stuff. I will always choose a laptop with a dedicated GPU unit and won’t consider a minor price difference.

Battery

Dell laptops perform outstandingly when it comes to battery backup. Acer, in this regard, needs to possess a better reputation. With that being said, the XPS 15 has an 86W Li-ion battery that lasts up to 7 hours on continuous web surfing. While editing photos on Adobe Lightroom, and some light video editing, this laptop gave me 4 hours and 40 minutes of backup. This backup is impressive for a touchscreen laptop. 

In contrast, the Spin 5  has a 4-cell 56W battery. But surprisingly, this laptop’s battery is impressive, with around 9 hours of battery life on web browsing and movie playback. The backup is reduced to 5 hours with gaming, but remember that you can’t run heavy graphics games on this machine. The battery backup of both PCs is almost in the zone. 

We also have covered a lot of things about different brands and general laptop-related topics. Check the following articles:

Pros and Cons

No matter how good a brand is, there is always room for improvement. Below are the widespread pros and cons of the mentioned brands. 

Pros of Acer Laptop
  • Very budget-friendly, a laptop is available on almost any budget.
  • Majority of the laptops have decent battery life.
  • The gaming laptops with lower prices perform exceptionally well, the same as expensive brands.
  • as A Complete I/O port package, so there is no need for docking.
Cons of Acer Laptop
  • Poor build quality, most laptops are made of plastic
  • Poor customer support as the servers are mostly down.
  • Because of compromised quality, laptops are not as durable
Pros of Dell Laptop
  • Superior quality with sturdy designs.
  • Excellent customer support
  • Creative, sleek designs that suit every need
  • Better security powered by encryption.
  • Dell is good at innovation.
Cons of Dell Laptop
  • Some models are bulky and not suitably portable
  • The lower-end models emit more blue light that potentially damages the eyes.

Which Brand is Better for Gaming?

Both brands have a lineup of gaming devices. The Acer’s Predator series and Dell’s Alienware are traditional gaming laptops. 

In the former, the Predator Triton 500 SE is a powerful machine with Intel’s Core i9 12900H process and a dedicated Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti GPU. It supports up to 32GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD Storage. It has an exquisite display of 16 inches with 2560 x 1600 resolution and a maximum refresh rate of 240Hz; all these specs are ideal for a great gaming PC under the price tag of $3000 only. 

On the other hand, the Dell Alienware M17 R5 is a famous gaming device loaded with the latest AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX CPU accompanied by Radeon RX 6850M XT GPU with 12 GB GDDR6 graphics memory. It has a fantastic display of 17.3 inches with a resolution of 3840 x 2160 at a refresh rate of 120Hz. It can support up to 32GB of RAM and up to 1TB SSD. The design specification is ideal for gaming fanatics. It is bulky with 7.3lbs weight, but it is not an essential factor for a gaming laptop. 

Note:
Now you would might have a question "Are gaming laptops good for everyday use?". Well we have discussed this in details, check this article.
You can also check out that how to upgrade a laptop for gaming?

You might have a question about other brands and whether they are good for gaming or not. Well, check out the below article, I’m sure them will answer your question:

Acer vs Dell – Final Verdict

There is the main difference between these two brands. One is focused on budget-friendly devices, while the other doesn’t compromise on quality and may be at high prices.
Acer is good for people looking to buy laptops with decent performance at a fraction of the cost, though the device’s build is not very impressive.
On the other hand, Dell has sturdy quality with durable devices and outstanding performance. Its sleek designed laptops with long-lasting batteries are a treat for mobile people. The XPS 15 has additional features like a discrete GPU, enhanced touchscreen display, and durability, making it the number one choice.