I'm a big advocate for 14-inch gaming laptops, especially in recent years with globetrotting travels to events like IFA in Berlin, where Acer had previously made a bizarre decision to market its last-gen Acer Nitro V 14 to "women and casual gamers." Thankfully, that unusual notion has been rightfully left in the dust, as the new Nitro V 14 AI joins a range of entry-level gaming laptops with 15, 16, and even 17-inch variants unveiled at CES 2025 in Las Vegas.
The Nitro V 14 AI is set for a June release as a refreshed 16:10 budget gaming laptop with what Acer calls a "pearl-like finish" (a fancy way of saying white.) Prices for the US aren't currently set in stone, but €1,299 for Europe hints at a $1,299 MSRP since cost-shifting conversions don't generally happen for those across the pond.
AMD-powered Nitro V AI gaming laptops
As the name implies, the new 'AI' Acer Nitro laptops are powered by processors with built-in NPUs (Neural Processing Units) dedicated to handling local AI processing. The Nitro V 14 AI has options for AMD's cutting-edge "Krackan Point" Ryzen AI 5 340 or Ryzen AI 7 350 APU (SoC,) expanding the Ryzen AI 300 range, with the same options available on the Nitro V 16 and 17 AI that stick with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 graphics.
The odd one out is the Nitro V 15 AI, opting instead for AMD "Hawk Point" Ryzen 5 8645HS or Ryzen 7 8845HS chips, which have been around for a while. Either way, the most significant difference across the Nitro V range (besides the size and weight of each) is the choice of display tech. Only the 14-inch variant misses an option for 180Hz refresh rates but lists 165Hz configurations, which is plenty smooth enough for modern gaming at anything over 144Hz.
'Non-AI' Acer Nitro V 15 runs on Intel
Somewhat of a loner, Acer also announced a 'non-AI' Nitro V 15, which carries a confusingly similar label but a differing spec sheet as it runs on Intel chips instead of AMD. More importantly, it uses either a standard Intel Core 5 210H or 7 240H processor, which don't include NPUs but can still process AI workloads directly on the CPU just like any other chip.
Just like the Nitro V AI laptops, Acer says pricing for the non-AI Nitro V 15 "will be announced closer to availability." It gives me the impression that it'll end up on the cheaper side as it sticks with 1080p resolution options, but that's not out of character. Acer Nitro gaming laptops have remained some of the ultra-budget picks for a few years now, and these new models seem to stick with the theme.
Based on the Nitro V 15 from last year, it wouldn't be unreasonable to expect this new model to cost slightly more than $999.99 due to the increased RAM and storage space over the minimum 8GB/512GB from last time. The European pricing does, unfortunately, hint at a disappointing '€1,299 = $1,299' conversion, but we'll have to wait and see. Personally, I'd like to see Acer keep it below a thousand dollars if it wants to compete with upcoming powerful gaming handhelds.
