I tested Acer Nitro 18 AI gaming laptop, and it looks like great value considering its spec — but I found some issues that might spoil your fun

Acer Nitro 18 AI: Two-minute review

The Acer Nitro 18 AI is a large gaming laptop with a spec that looks capable of handling the latest and greatest AAA titles with assuredness. Like many in this sector, the Nitro 18 AI has a functional appearance, with little fanfare on display. The RGB backlighting of the keyboard is about the only lively element of its design.

Although it’s undeniably large, I was pleasantly surprised by how thin the Nitro 18 AI is. What’s more, the rear protrusion, common on many large gaming laptops, is quite restrained, while many of its sides are unsullied by further juts.

However, this isn’t a laptop that’s easy to carry around: the Nitro 18 AI weighs a considerable amount, which, coupled with its 18-inch diagonal, makes it a lot less portable than the best gaming laptop models.

I also found the build quality underwhelming. Materials don’t strike me as premium, while the chassis and the lid can be flexed a little too easily for my liking. What’s more, the touchpad in my review unit appeared to be faulty, sometimes failing to register clicks and taps, and other times the left click was stuck held down.

With the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Laptop GPU equipped in my review unit, the Nitro 18 AI took AAA gaming in its stride. Titles such as The Outer Worlds 2 and Cyberpunk 2077 ran with impressive frame rates, even with maximum settings applied.

What’s more, the Nitro 18 AI did an admirable job of keeping cool. Even its hottest parts could only be described as lukewarm. What’s more, fan noise, while noticeable, was much quieter than some others in this class, even when Performance mode was selected in NitroSense, Acer’s utility app. Naturally, Turbo mode increased fan volume considerably, but again, compared to its rivals, the Nitro 18 AI remained relatively hushed.

However, I did experience some issues with general performance. Apps and windows occasionally froze, and one of the 3DMark gaming benchmarks I ran crashed before it could complete.

Also, a Windows security update failed to install even after multiple attempts, which again is concerning. I hope these issues will be fixed with future updates from Acer or elsewhere but when you pay this much for a device, you don’t expect to run into such problems.

The WQXGA resolution of the display is suitably sharp for its 18-inch spread. Content is rendered with sufficient vibrancy, although it looks a little less vivid than what the best displays in this price range can manage. Reflections can make themselves known on occasion, too, although in the main I found the brightness levels sufficient to retain clarity.

Whether you’re gaming or typing, the keyboard on the Nitro 18 AI is a joy to use. The keys are comfortably spaced, while their snappiness and tactility make them feel satisfying. There’s also a good selection of shortcuts on the top row, although the omission of an Fn Lock shortcut is a baffling and inconvenient choice.

The price point of the Nitro 18 AI is commendable considering what’s on offer here, but I’m not sure it equates to the best value gaming laptop around, considering its drawbacks. There are plenty of alternatives with similar specs, and while they might be more expensive, they could be a more worthwhile proposition for you.

Acer Nitro 18 AI review: Price & Availability

• Starts from £1,899 (about $2,500 / AU$3,840)
• Available in the UK
• Reasonable price for the spec

The Acer Nitro 18 AI starts from £1,899 and is available in the UK and the EMEA region. US availability is yet to be announced.

Various configurations are possible, but they’re confined to a fairly narrow spectrum. Most aspects are binary choices: you can have a Ryzen 7 or 9 CPU, an RTX 5070 or 5070 Ti GPU, 16GB or 32GB of RAM, and 1TB or 2TB of storage.

Oddly, the pricing appears to be much the same across all models, since their various specs tend to even out: for instance, the model with an RTX 5070 Ti and 16GB costs the same as the model with an RTX 5070 but 32GB of RAM.

Regardless, the cost of the Nitro 18 AI is quite reasonable compared to its rivals. Other gaming laptops with RTX 5070s can be significantly more expensive. An Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 with similar specs, including the same RTX 5070 Ti, costs considerably more, although it’s arguably one of the best thin and lightweight gaming laptops around right now. Acer’s other large gaming laptop, the Predator Helios 18 AI, is also dearer, although I found this to be a superior machine in most areas when I tested it.

• Value: 3.5 / 5

Acer Nitro 18 AI review: Specs

Acer Nitro 18 AI review: Design

• Surprisingly thin
• Quite heavy, though
• Poor quality in places

True to many gaming laptops, the Nitro 18 AI adopts a rather utilitarian aesthetic, with its all-black finish doing little to remedy this fact. However, the RGB backlighting of the keyboard does add some levity to proceedings.

Unsurprisingly, such a large machine eats up a lot of desk space, but it's not as bulky as you might expect. In fact, the Nitro 18 AI is relatively thin for a laptop of such proportions, and the rear bulge, common on many high-end gaming laptops, is pleasingly truncated.

Aside from this, there are no other protrusions that spoil the flat planes of any side, either. Even the two long rubber bars underneath that constitute the ‘feet’ are surprisingly shallow compared to others in this class.

It is, however, about as heavy as you might expect. This really isn’t a laptop I’d be keen to ferry around in my backpack all day. Yet despite its weight, the Nitro 18 AI doesn't feel as solid as you might hope. The base and lid have a fair amount of flex to them, while the display hinge fails to prevent small amounts of wobble.

What’s more, the materials used all over the Nitro 18 AI don’t feel particularly premium. The button in the top-left for switching fan modes is a particular lowlight, as it feels decidedly cheap and awkward to press.

Thankfully, the keyboard feels more upmarket. There are a good number of Fn and other shortcuts available as well, although I wished there was one for the Fn lock, as is common on many laptop keyboards. For reasons beyond me, you have to go into the BIOS to toggle this function, which means restarting the Nitro 18 AI every time you want to do so.

Given the sheer amount of real estate, you would expect there to be plenty of ports on the Nitro 18 AI and so there is. There are three USB-A ports and two USB-C ports (which support external display connections), as well as HDMI, RJ-45, headset, and microSD ports.

On the whole, the placement of all these interfaces is sensible. The three USB-A ports are spread across both sides, while the two USB-C ports, HDMI and power adapter connections can all be found on the rear. The headset jack is nice and close to the user as well.

However, I was a little dismayed by the close proximity of the two right-side USB-A ports, which could cause issues if you have particularly bulky peripheral connections. Also, it’s a small shame the card reader only accepts the microSD format – although many gaming laptops don’t get any form of card reader.

• Design: 3.5 / 5

Acer Nitro 18 AI review: Performance

• Impressive AAA performance
• Relatively cool and quiet
• General performance issues

My Nitro 18 AI review unit was one of the top-spec models, equipped with an RTX 5070 Ti. As expected, it was composed when dealing with the demands of modern AAA titles.

Frame rates hovered around the high 70s and low 80s when I played The Outer Worlds 2 at its highest preset, with Hardware Ray Tracing, DLSS Frame Generation, and DLSS Quality upscaling enabled. Changing this latter setting to Balanced mode made little difference.

When playing Cyberpunk 2077 at the highest Ray Tracing: Ultra preset with Balanced DLSS upscaling, I saw around 30fps on average, with occasional rises to the low 40s. Turning on Frame Generation boosted these figures to between the high 50s and low 70s.

Heat was kept impressively low throughout, with the keyboard and most of the base remaining relatively cool. What’s more, fan noise is impressively suppressed, even when NitroSense’s Performance mode is selected.

It was just about quiet enough to hear audio clearly through speakers, which certainly isn’t something I can say about many gaming laptops. The volume of the fans inevitably soars when Turbo mode is selected, but even here, the Nitro 18 AI is impressively muted compared to the competition.

The display of the Nitro 18 AI has a 2560 x 1600 resolution, which offers plenty of sharpness on the 18-inch space. Colors are reproduced accurately enough, although they lack the same level of vibrancy seen on some of the best gaming monitors. Reflections can also show on occasion, but for the most part I found they could be outshone by the maximum brightness setting.

I do have some concerns about the general performance of the Nitro 18 AI, though. I encountered some freezing of everyday apps, such as Windows Explorer and the Chrome browser. Also, 3DMark’s Fire Strike gaming benchmark crashed midway when I ran it, something I haven’t experienced before when testing a gaming laptop. What’s more, a Windows 11 security update repeatedly failed to install, even after multiple attempts and restarts.

It’s possible the above issues are OS related and can be rectified with future Windows or BIOS updates. But the fact remains that I experienced them, and they’re troubling for a powerful and expensive gaming laptop such as Nitro 18 AI.

Less easy to rectify, though, is the dire touchpad. Clicks frequently registered of their own accord, and worse still would remain held down. Conversely, there were also plenty of times when clicks and taps failed to register at all. All this led me to believe that my particular touchpad was faulty, and further testament to the lackluster build quality of the Nitro 18 AI.

Thankfully, the keyboard fared much better. I found the layout comfortable thanks to the spacing of the keys, and their sufficient travel and dampening made them satisfying to use. However, while they don’t quite match the best gaming keyboard units for tactility, they’re just as snappy, thanks in part to their light actuation.

• Performance: 3.5 / 5

Acer Nitro 18 AI review: Battery Life

• Reasonable longevity
• Quick to charge

The Nitro 18 AI has a large 90Wh battery inside, which provides the Nitro 18 AI with a reasonable amount of stamina, relatively speaking. When I ran a movie on a continuous loop, it lasted five hours, which beats the three achieved by Acer’s other 18-inch model, the Predator Helios 18 AI – even though this had a larger 99Wh battery.

However, the Nitro 18 AI lags behind the Medion Erazer Beast 18, which lasted six hours. It is, however, quick to charge, taking just two hours to fully replenish.

• Battery Life: 3.5 / 5

Should I buy the Acer Nitro 18 AI?

Buy the Acer Nitro 18 AI if...

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Acer Nitro 18 AI review: Also Consider

How I tested the Acer Nitro 18 AI

• Tested for several days
• Used for gaming and other tasks
• Plenty of gaming laptop experience

I tested the Acer Nitro 18 AI for several days, during which time I used it for gaming and general entertainment.

I played various AAA titles, including The Outer Worlds 2 and Cyberpunk 2077. Additionally, I ran our series of benchmark tests, designed to assess the overall performance of gaming machines.

I've reviewed many gaming laptops before, varying in their specs, form factors, and price points. I've been PC gaming in general for over a decade and have used many systems and components in that time, too.

• First reviewed: February 2025
• Read more about how we test