Acer Aspire C24-963-UA91 Review

All-in-One machines like the Apple iMac and the Microsoft Surface Studio 2 have changed the AIO market, moving everything towards higher prices over the pasts couple of years, but the Acer Aspire C24-963-UA91 takes a pleasingly affordable approach instead. While its closest competitors cost over a grand, this machine remains affordable but it still manages to tackle mainstream home and office tasks with ease.

And, it looks great while doing so. It rocks the latest components including a 10th Gen Intel Core i3-1005G1 processor, 8GB system memory, and 512GB SSD storage. For the price, it’s a nice AIO to have in your business or home office, especially if you’re looking for a futuristic machine on a tight budget.

Did Acer cut corners to deliver such an amazing system at a very reasonable price? Let’s see.

Design

The Acer Aspire C24 line sports a thin and slim profile, thanks to the 10^th Generation Intel Core i3-1005G1, a mid-range processor for mainstream laptops. So, with such a processor, it’s possible to pack laptop performance in a thin desktop chassis, and still deliver powerful performance just like you’d find on a laptop with the same specs.

It has a gorgeous, but incredibly thin border (‘bezel’ is the right name here) on the top and sides to a point that they are barely visible when staring from across the room. The bottom bezel is fairly wider than the top and sides, with a silver accent that matches the stand that attaches the display to the Aspire C24’s base.

A hinge connecting the back of the screen to the base arm lets you rotate the screen slightly – up to an angle of 45 degrees. It doesn’t support height and swivel adjustments, but we’re satisfied with the level of adjustment it offers, as it provides a vantage point when the Aspire C24 is placed on a kitchen counter or surface.

Screen

The 24-inch screen is a Full HD IPS model without touch, but it’s as good as anyone can expect for an affordable all-in-one. For a screen this size, I consider a full HD (1920-by-1080) resolution to be on the lower end of what is acceptable, although it is now the norm even on competing budget AIOs like the Asus V272UA-DS501T. It would be better if Acer offered a 4K option (even at a higher price) since most of us would readily buy into a display that looks just as good as the surrounding pixels.

The screen’s matte finish, bright backlighting, and in-plane switching (IPS) technology make the display exquisite, offering wide viewing angles and does a nice job reducing glare from ambient light.

In addition to the omission of a 4K option, the lack of a touch screen may not go down well with most prospective owners. While we didn’t anticipate for both features at this price range, at least a higher-price configuration would be better.

Ports

The display is so thin, it lacks room for a webcam. As such, the only reasonable option is an external webcam that hooks to one of the USB ports but lets you take not-so-good videos and photos. All of the Aspire C24’s features are located on the back, typical of all-in-ones and monitors. The most notable feature is the location of the built-in speakers and a pair of USB 2.0 points on the upper-back panel, making it an easier connection point for the webcam.

On the back panel, next to the stand dock is another pair of USB 3.1 ports, an HDMI-out port, and a Gigabit Ethernet port as an alternative to the built-in 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.3. Also, the slim profile doesn’t allow for an optical drive, meaning you’ll have to do with an external DVD drive. Others include an audio port and a Kensington-style locking slot. Also bundled into the package are a wireless keyboard and mouse.

Performance

The model we’re reviewing has a Core i3-1005G1 processor. It’s a 10^th Generation Ice Lake chip, although it’s been superseded by the upper-mid-range i5-1035G1 with four cores, it still gets better Turbo speeds than its 8th Gen Intel Core i3-8130U and i3-8145U precursors.

The CPU is joined by 8GB of system memory, 512GB SSD storage, and Acer uses the integrated Intel UHD Graphics 620 chipset. The specification is fine – on par with most mid-range laptops that also drive 1080p screens.

The Aspire C24-963-UA91 is designed for day-to-day computing tasks, including web browsing on several tabs, running Office applications, running a few apps simultaneously, and for media consumption. It’s not cut for photo and video editing, complex content creation, and other intensive tasks or for playing the latest games.

The new Core i3-1005G1 will be increasingly popular in the coming months. If you need a little more power, it may be worth checking out the 27-inch Acer Aspire C27-962-UA91, which features a 10^th Generation Intel Core i5-1035G1, Nvidia GeForce MX130, and 12GB of RAM. The upper-mid-range CPU and graphics card readily offer a bigger boost to computing power for proper work applications than you’re getting from the midrange chip in our review unit.

Still, the Core i3-powered Acer delivers enough power for day-to-day use on paper – and, using the Aspire C24 in real-world application is equally satisfying.

Bottom Line

The Acer Aspire C24 (2020 model) looks the part, with a metal-effect plastic design that’s eye-catching and a physical design that’s smart and looks subtle. It’ll look great at home in an office or the living room, and the build quality is nice. The screen is good, too. It’s got solid contrast and color accuracy, which means, it has the muscle to handle web browsing, basic media tasks, and some light work.

If you need an affordable all-in-one with the latest specs, then the Acer Aspire C24-963-UA91 certainly fits the bill. For a reasonable price, you’re getting a beautiful screen and a build quality to handle general-purpose home and office life.