This Acer is probably the best value laptop on the market. It has an RTX 5060, but also one major problem

As part of Black Friday, Alza is dropping the price of the gaming laptop Acer Nitro V 16 AI from the original 31,990 CZK to 24,990 CZK. It is one of the cheapest laptops with Nvidia RTX 5060 and an AMD Ryzen 5 240 processor on the Czech market. According to foreign reviews (WIRED, CNET), it offers an excellent price/performance ratio, but it has two major compromises – a throttled GPU at 85 W instead of the full 115 W, and a 135W adapter that is not enough to keep the battery charged when gaming at maximum performance. For 25,000 CZK, however, it can still be an interesting offer.

RTX 5060 at lower wattage: What it means in practice

The Acer Nitro V 16 AI has an RTX 5060 8 GB on paper, which sounds great. The problem is that the GPU runs at 85 W instead of the maximum 115 W. On the other hand, there are even worse variants of laptops with this card. Some only have a 65W version, which is really weak, like this Lenovo LOQ. CNET directly tested it against a Lenovo Legion 5i (RTX 5060 at 115 W, but costs 5,000 CZK more).

In Guardians of the Galaxy (1080p, High), Acer averaged 133 fps, while the Lenovo with full RTX 5060 at 115W had 195 fps. That’s a 47% difference. In Shadow of the Tomb Raider (1080p, Highest), Acer was at 143 fps, Lenovo at 172 fps – a 20% difference. In Assassin’s Creed Shadows (1080p, High), however, Acer was even the fastest with 62 fps, but only just ahead of Lenovo with 61 fps.

Adapter problem: Battery drains during gaming

WIRED discovered a second major problem: the 135W adapter is not enough to keep the battery charged when gaming in Performance or Turbo mode. In games like Cyberpunk 2077, the battery drains even when the laptop is plugged in. Only when the system automatically switches to Balanced mode (when the battery drops to 40%) does charging work.

WIRED writes: “That’s bad. Acer shouldn’t sell a product that can’t do the things buyers expect. If it can’t provide a higher wattage adapter, it should at least disable Turbo mode or add a warning.” CPU-heavy games like Marvel Rivals don’t have a problem, but AAA titles with high GPU load do.

The positive? The difference between Balanced and Turbo mode is only 5-6% in performance, which most gamers won’t even notice. And Turbo mode is noisy, so you probably won’t want to use it anyway. But it’s about principle – for 25,000 CZK, you’d expect a laptop to handle full performance without compromises.

What works well?

But we don’t only have bad news. The 16″ WUXGA (1920×1200) display with 180Hz is great for gaming. It’s not 4K, but for an RTX 5060 at 85 W, Full HD+ is the ideal resolution. 300 nits brightness is average, 45% NTSC color coverage isn’t super great either, but it’s sufficient for gaming.

Ports: USB-C 3.2 Gen 2, 3× USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, HDMI 2.1, microSD slot, Ethernet, audio jack. Thunderbolt 4 or USB4 are missing, but it’s not critical for gaming. The keyboard has backlighting and a numeric keypad. The touchpad is surprisingly good according to WIRED.

What’s missing or weak

Both reviews agree on the weak points:

• Speakers – weak, lacking bass. DTS:X Ultra sounds good on paper, but the hardware isn’t sufficient
• Webcam – 720p, low quality
• Display has poor color coverage – WIRED writes: “It’s been a while since I’ve tested such poor color coverage. It’s not for creative work.”
• No biometrics – neither IR camera nor fingerprint reader

Who is it for

The Acer Nitro V 16 AI for 24,990 CZK makes sense if:

• You game at 1080p/1200p – RTX 5060 at 85 W is sufficient with upscaling
• You want the best price/performance – for 25,000 CZK, it’s still a solid deal
• You need a 16″ display – larger than the usual 15.6″
• Gaming is your priority – not creative work (poor color coverage)

Conversely, it doesn’t make sense if:

• You want maximum RTX 5060 performance – for more money, you can get a Lenovo Legion with a full 115 W
• You need a laptop for video editing – color coverage is poor
• You expect a premium experience – speakers, webcam, and display are average

Conclusion: A good deal with compromises

The Acer Nitro V 16 AI for 24,990 CZK is probably the best value laptop in this price category, but it’s not a perfect product. The throttled RTX 5060 at 85 W and the 135W adapter that isn’t enough to keep the battery charged are major compromises. But for 25,000 CZK, you get a 16″ display with 180Hz, decent cooling, and performance sufficient for 1080p gaming with upscaling.

If you have a budget of 25,000 CZK and want the largest possible screen size with an RTX 5060, this is a reasonable choice. Just be aware of the compromises.

What do you think of this laptop?