宏基 Aspire S7-191 超级本测评

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.

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.

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. 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.

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.

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.

Acer installs a very high-end, 11.6 inch screen that clearly sticks out from the mass with its colorful and viewing angle stable IPS technology and a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels (1080p). However, Asus' ZenBook Prime UX21A, Dell's XPS 12 Convertible and Asus' Taichi 21 feature identical specs on paper. Other paragon ultrabooks, such as the MacBook Air 11, only provide a 1366 x 768 standard resolution and cheaper TN technology. In return, they are partly significantly less expensive.

So, quality has its price. But does the glossy screen in our test device justify 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. 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.

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. All told, we are very satisfied with the processor's performance.

The system owes its good performance to the storage device as described above. To be more exact, we are dealing with two SSDs with a capacity of 128 GB each, which come from Lite-On. They are connected in a RAID 0 array in the Aspire S7-191. The resulting 256 GB array is also to ensure high-performance in this case, like in its sister model.

And in fact, although the small Aspire slightly lags behind its sister model, the AS SSD benchmark verifies a top performance for our storage device. The "weak point" is the ascertained 4K read rate of about 17 MB/s - which, for example, represents the speed of opening programs or operating system booting times in real life. However, this score is put into perspective when looking at the competition or at conventional hard disks, which usually achieve a 4K read rate of below 1 MB/s.

However, our test device achieved top ten rates in the other test parts. The SSD array is extremely potent, as the CrystalDiskMark results also show (left screenshot).

The higher dropout likelihood of a RAID 0 array should also be mentioned.

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. 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.

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. 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. 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. 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.

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.