When I heard the Acer Nitro V 16 was under $1,000, I knew I wanted to test it out. When the price dropped to $629, I sat up in my chair. Gaming laptops built with the latest components don’t usually come that cheap, especially one powered by Nvidia's RTX 5050 graphics card.
There has to be a catch, right? There are certainly issues, including a 135-watt power adapter that can drain the battery while gaming. Despite the shortcomings, the Nitro V 16 is still one of the best cheap gaming laptops you can buy if you're on a tight budget.
It Ain't Pretty
Photograph: Luke Larsen
The Acer Nitro V 16 has an old-school PC gaming laptop design, but it’s not as over-the-top as gaming laptops of the past. It’s certainly not portable, though, weighing 5.4 pounds and nearly an inch thick; you won't want to lug this thing around everywhere. It's right around the same size as the Alienware 16X Aurora.