Wednesday, October 28, 2020
The Acer TravelMate P6 delivers surprising battery life and a colorful display, but does it compete with the business laptop sector's heavy hitters?
It's tough to compete in a business world filled with popular workhorses from Lenovo (ThinkPad), HP (EliteBook), and Dell (Latitude), but that's exactly what Acer is doing with its TravelMate P6. It's a 14-inch laptop that promises a slew of sought-after features for those who are often on the move, who are harder on their devices than usual, and who are in front of their laptop for extended periods of time. I've been using the TravelMate P6 as my go-to device to see what it's all about and, ultimately, whether or not it's worth a buy in a market heavily focused on competing brands.
14-Inch Business Ultrabook
Acer TravelMate P6
Bottom line: The Acer TravelMate P6's battery life, connectivity, audio, and display stand out, but you might dislike the keyboard and some of its outdated aesthetics. It's nevertheless a worthwhile competitor to more popular business laptops from Lenovo, Dell, and HP, and you can usually find it at a more affordable price.
Pros
- Good audio
- Generous connectivity
- Thin and lightweight
- Great battery life
- Colorful, bright display
Cons
- Better keyboards elsewhere
- Chunky bezel and camera setup
Acer TravelMate P6 at a glance
Acer supplied Windows Central with a review unit of the TravelMate P6. It has inside a 10th Gen Intel Core i7-10610U vPro processor (CPU), 16GB of dual-channel DDR4 RAM that can be upgraded, and a 512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe solid-state drive (SSD) that can also be upgraded after purchase. The 14-inch display is set at an FHD resolution and has a matte finish.
This is a business-oriented laptop with extra MIL-STD-810G durability certification, extra security features, and the option for LTE connectivity and a Smart Card reader in some models. For the moment, at least in the U.S., mobile connectivity doesn't seem to be an option. This review model can be had from Walmart for about $1,331. If a Core i7 is overkill for your needs, you can instead check out a Core i5 model with 8GB of RAM and 256GB SSD for about $987.
Here's a breakdown of the exact specs found in the TravelMate P614-51-G2-75A5 review model.
| Category | Spec |
|---|---|
| OS | Windows 10 Pro |
| Processor | 10th Gen Intel Core i7-10610U vPro 4 cores, 8 threads Up to 4.90GHz |
| RAM | 16GB DDR4 Dual-channel Upgradeable |
| Graphics | Intel UHD Graphics |
| Storage | 512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD Western Digital SN520 |
| Display | 14 inches 1920x1080 (FHD) 16:9 aspect ratio IPS, non-touch |
| Ports | Thunderbolt 3 Two USB-A 3.1 (Gen 1) HDMI 2.0 microSD card reader Ethernet 3.5mm audio |
| Audio | Top-firing speaker bar Acer TrueHarmony Four microphones |
| Wireless | Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 Bluetooth 5.0 |
| Camera | Front-facing 1080p Privacy shutter |
| Keyboard | Backlit |
| Touchpad | Precision |
| Security | Kensington lock slot IR camera Fingerprint reader |
| Battery | 60Wh |
| Dimensions | 12.8 x 9.06 x 0.65 inches (325.12mm x 230.12mm x 16.51mm) |
| Weight | 2.43 pounds (1.10kg) |
Easy to carry
Acer TravelMate P6 design and features
The TravelMate P6 is primarily made up of a magnesium-aluminum chassis, which helps keep the weight down without sacrificing durability. It's not uncommon for modern Ultrabooks to employ this makeup, and the P6 has undergone MIL-STD-810G and 810F durability tests to prove its resilience. Weighing in at 2.43 pounds (1.10kg), it's easy to snap the lid shut and tuck the laptop under an arm or into a bag when you need to head out.
The laptop is quite sleek at just 0.65-inches (16.51mm) thin. Sitting closed, the lid is set forward a bit on its hinges, revealing the speaker bar that rests between keyboard and display. The laptop's rear edge has an exhaust port that's mostly for show (only about a third is actually utilized), and the bottom of the chassis has a sizable intake for the single fan.
It's thin, but for a 14-inch laptop, the P6 has a fairly large footprint. There's lots of extra space above and to the sides of the keyboard, with an equally large chin and bezel around the display. Business laptops aren't usually the most aesthetically pleasing. Even with that in mind, the P6 still looks a tad outdated.
The chunkiness is made slightly more evident by the relatively large camera setup above the screen. Whereas most companies are employing a discrete privacy shutter, Acer takes full advantage of the available space with a chunky slider and boxy IR camera. Logging in with Windows Hello facial recognition is snappy (the fingerprint reader built into the power button is just as responsive), but it's all just a bit clumsy. If the camera's picture was amazing, I might not mind as much, but even with a 1080p resolution, I didn't see much difference from the 720p norm on business devices.
Acer's TravelMate P6 holds onto the ports you need the most, including Ethernet and USB-A.
I was expecting average sound from the top-firing speakers but was pleasantly surprised when I played some music. They're not exceptionally loud or bass-y, but the audio is clear and undistorted even with volume maxed out. The design allows the lid to be closed without muffling audio (if you have a setup with an external display and accessories and don't have other speakers). Still, the open design means the speaker grille tends to pick up detritus. Not a big deal but something to watch out for.
A business laptop is expected to have generous connectivity, and in that regard, the TravelMate P6 is a success. Physically, it has Thunderbolt 3, HDMI, two USB-A, 3.5mm audio, and a microSD card reader, plus there's a dropjaw Ethernet port. That's a point for Acer, since many competing laptops are going the way of a proprietary adapter or simply ditching the port altogether. Note that the microSD reader isn't very fast, maxing out around 25 MB/s read and write speeds. If you're working with large files, an external reader is recommended.
The P6 includes Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 abilities, setting it up well for the future. There's also reference to a Nano-SIM slot in some documentation, though it doesn't appear that an LTE-enabled configuration is currently available in many markets.
Rounding out the laptop's design is its keyboard and touchpad. The former uses Acer's chiclet design, which is dividing. Some like the small keys and small, offset font, but for me, it's not a typing experience I want to prolong. Yes, travel is decent, and keys have a smooth press, but there are far better options out there if you foresee long days of typing. The ThinkPad's keyboard is legendary at this point, and Dell and HP are no slouches either.
The Precision touchpad gets the job done, and its extra bit of width is appreciated. Tracking is smooth and precise; the only flaw is that it feels a bit loose when clicking in some spots. This didn't interfere at all with clicking and pointing, but it's something to keep in mind.
Respectable color and contrast
Acer TravelMate P6 display
The review model of the TravelMate P6 has a 14-inch non-touch FHD display with a matte finish. It seems like there is an option for a touch display in some models, though none I could find at the time of writing. There's also no option for some of the higher-end display options we see in other business laptops, specifically privacy filters and low-watt panels (though battery life isn't an issue, as explained below). The laptop appears to have room for a boxier aspect ratio, but this one is stuck at 16:9 with a thick bezel.
Testing color accuracy and brightness with a Datacolor SpyderX Pro, the P6's display returned 100% sRGB, 78% AdobeRGB, and 81% DCI-P3. As for brightness, it was able to hit 367 nits and went as low as 33 nits. Combined with the matte finish on the display, you shouldn't have many issues working in well-lit areas. Overall the picture is respectable, and unless you really need the precise color in other gamuts for specialized work, it should do you well for most scenarios.
All-day life
Acer TravelMate P6 performance and battery
Some of the best Windows laptop options out there have impressed us with AMD Ryzen performance, and it has taken some of the shine off of Intel's mobile CPU lineup. The TravelMate P6 packs Intel hardware only, with 10th Gen Core i5 and Core i7 options available. These are available with and without Intel vPro management, depending on your needs.
Performance is still steady, and I had no issues with word processing, heavy web browsing, photo editing, video-conferencing, and streaming. The review unit has the beefier Core i7 chip, so nothing less was expected. With 16GB of dual-channel RAM, you'll be fine even for Photoshop, but you can upgrade later on if you wish. One module is soldered, but the other is accessible for some DIY work. The same holds true for the M.2 SSD; it can be upgraded after purchase.
Here are some synthetic benchmarks to see how the TravelMate P6 stacks up against some other laptops we've recently reviewed.
Geekbench 5
Geekbench 5.0 (CPU) (Higher is better)
| Device | CPU | Single core | Multi core |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acer TravelMate P6 | i7-10610U | 1,268 | 4,169 |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Yoga (Intel) | i5-10310U | 1,036 | 3,311 |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X13 (AMD) | Ryzen 5 PRO 4650U | 1,102 | 4,780 |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga (Gen 5) | i7-10610U | 1,194 | 4,008 |
| Lenovo ThinkPad T14s (AMD) | Ryzen 7 4750U | 1,135 | 5,782 |
| Lenovo ThinkPad T14s (Intel) | i5-10310U | 1,143 | 3,734 |
| Acer Swift 3 (Intel) | i7-1065G7 | 1,302 | 3,891 |
| Acer Swift 3 (AMD) | Ryzen 7 4700U | 1,131 | 4,860 |
| Acer Spin 3 (SP314-54N) | i5-1035G1 | 1,185 | 3,524 |
| HP ENVY x360 | Ryzen 5 4500U | 1,100 | 4,564 |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14 | Ryzen 5 4500U | 1,087 | 4,570 |
| Surface Laptop 3 15 | Ryzen 5 3580U | 769 | 2,720 |
| Lenovo ThinkPad L13 Yoga | i5-10210U | 1,069 | 3,754 |
| Lenovo Yoga C640 | i3-10110U | 1,015 | 2,111 |
| Lenovo Yoga C740 14 | i5-10210U | 1,094 | 3,767 |
| Samsung Galaxy Book Flex | i7-1065G7 | 1,317 | 4,780 |
| Dell XPS 13 (9300) | i7-1065G7 | 1,284 | 4,848 |
| Surface Laptop 3 15 | i7-1065G7 | 1,336 | 4,893 |
| HP Elite Dragonfly | i7-8665U | 1,125 | 2,942 |
| Surface Laptop 3 13.5 | i5-1035G7 | 1,177 | 4,413 |
| HP Spectre x360 13 | i7-1065G7 | 1,006 | 3,402 |
The Core i7-10610U holds its own against other Intel chips but doesn't compare to AMD Ryzen 4000 performance. Integrated Intel UHD Graphics also don't compare to Radeon Vega.
PCMark
PCMark 10
| Device | Score |
|---|---|
| Acer TravelMate P6 | 4,188 |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Yoga (Intel) | 3,819 |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X13 (AMD) | 4,849 |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga (Gen 5) | 4,170 |
| Lenovo ThinkPad T14s (AMD) | 4,659 |
| Lenovo ThinkPad T14s (Intel) | 4,214 |
| Acer Swift 3 (Intel) | 4,135 |
| Acer Swift 3 (AMD) | 4,861 |
| Acer Spin 3 (SP314-54N) | 3,674 |
| HP ENVY x360 | 4,755 |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14 | 4,759 |
| Surface Laptop 3 15 (AMD) | 4,006 |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 14 | 3,202 |
| Surface Book 3 15 | 4,393 |
| Lenovo ThinkPad L13 Yoga | 4,899 |
| Lenovo Yoga C640 | 4,008 |
| Lenovo Yoga C740 | 4,941 |
| Samsung Galaxy Book Flex | 3,924 |
| Dell XPS 13 (9300) | 4,524 |
| Surface Laptop 3 15 (Intel) | 4,604 |
| Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 | 4,554 |
| HP Spectre x360 13 | 4,261 |
| HP Elite Dragonfly | 3,716 |
| LG gram 17 | 4,157 |
PCMark does a good job of testing how well a laptop's components work together to complete common work. You can again see how far AMD is ahead. As for Intel-based systems, nothing out of the ordinary here.
Cinebench
Cinebench (R20) (Higher is better)
| Device | CPU | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Acer TravelMate P6 | i7-10610U | 1,288 to 1,380 |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Yoga (Intel) | i5-10310U | 1,334 to 1,363 |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X13 (AMD) | Ryzen 5 PRO 4650U | 2,368 to 2,380 |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga (Gen 5) | i7-10610U | 1,319 to 1,364 |
| Lenovo ThinkPad T14s | Ryzen 7 4750U | 3,064 to 3,070 |
| Lenovo ThinkPad T14s | Core i5-10310U | 1,273 to 1,402 |
| Acer Swift 3 (Intel) | Core i7-1065G7 | 1,229 to 1,236 |
| Acer Swift 3 (AMD) | Ryzen 7 4700U | 2,391 to 2,428 |
| Acer Spin 3 (SP314-54N) | Core i5-1035G1 | 1,329 to 1,479 |
| HP ENVY x360 | Ryzen 5 4500U | 2,053 to 2,100 |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14 | Ryzen 5 4500U | 2,388 to 2,397 |
| Lenovo ThinkPad L13 Yoga | Core i5-10210U | 1,137 to 1,442 |
| Lenovo Yoga C640 | Core i3-10110U | 924 to 929 |
| Lenovo Yoga C740 15 | Core i7-10510U | 1,415 to 1,613 |
| Lenovo Yoga C740 14 | Core i5-10210U | 1,450 to 1,535 |
| LG gram 17 | Core i7-1065G7 | 1,079 to 1,199 |
| Acer Swift 5 (SF514-54T) | Core i7-1065G7 | 1,361 to 1,400 |
| Lenovo ThinkPad P53 | Xeon E-2276M | 2,686 to 2,701 |
Running the CPU-intensive Cinebench multiple times in a row can determine how well a system deals with heat. There's plenty of room inside the laptop, and despite the single fan and heat pipe, the laptop does OK under load.
SSD
CrystalDiskMark (Higher is better)
| Device | Read | Write |
|---|---|---|
| Acer TravelMate P6 | 1,732.06 MB/s | 1,433 MB/s |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X13 (Intel) | 2,542.45 MB/s | 427.26 MB/s |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X13 (AMD) | 3,588.86 MB/s | 2,347.23 MB/s |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga (Gen 5) | 3,567.26 MB/s | 2,984.70 MB/s |
| Lenovo ThinkPad T14s (AMD) | 2,885.92 MB/s | 2,717.17 MB/s |
| Lenovo ThinkPad T14s (Intel) | 3,527.77 MB/s | 2,982.44 MB/s |
| Acer Swift 3 (Intel) | 1,641.39 MB/s | 1,033.82 MB/s |
| Acer Swift 3 (AMD) | 2,161.99 MB/s | 1,214.84 MB/s |
| Acer Spin 3 (SP314-54N) | 1,630 MB/s | 885 MB/s |
| HP ENVY x360 | 1,530 MB/s | 864 MB/s |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14 | 2,199.10 MB/s | 1,017.07 MB/s |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 14 | 3,405 MB/s | 1,512 MB/s |
| Lenovo ThinkPad L13 Yoga | 3,188.82 MB/s | 1,685.61 MB/s |
| Lenovo Yoga C640 | 1,906.78 MB/s | 970.69 MB/s |
| Samsung Galaxy Book Flex | 3,376 MB/s | 2,983 MB/s |
| Dell XPS 13 (9300) | 3,000 MB/s | 1,217 MB/s |
| HP Spectre x360 (Optane) | 2,092 MB/s | 515 MB/s |
| Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 | 2,400 MB/s | 1,228 MB/s |
| HP Elite Dragonfly (Optane) | 2,124 MB/s | 548 MB/s |
| Lenovo Yoga C740 | 3,408 MB/s | 2,982 MB/s |
| LG gram 17 (2020) | 3,477 MB/s | 2,900 MB/s |
The SSD here certainly isn't the fastest, and a laptop this price might be expected to have something a bit faster. The hardware could change depending on availability, and you can always upgrade with your own SSD after purchase.
Battery life is the standout feature of the TravelMate P6. Testing with PCMark 10's Modern Office battery rundown — with Windows 10's "Better Performance" setting and screen brightness at 40% — the 60Wh battery lasted a whopping 14 hours and 18 minutes. This test uses common productivity tasks interspersed with idle time, so this number will drop if you're on a tight deadline and aren't taking any breaks. You'll also see a drop if you have screen brightness cranked up and have the Windows 10 power plan cranked up. However, in most cases, you're not going to have to worry about the P6 powering down on a long-haul flight, and you shouldn't have to carry an AC adapter with you if you're heading to the office.
Lots of competition
Should you buy the Acer TravelMate P6?
Who it's for
- Anyone who needs all-day battery life and more
- Anyone who prefers a matte display with ample brightness
- Anyone who requires extra security features
- Anyone who's looking to spend between $1,000 and $1,400
Who it isn't for
- Anyone who dislikes small chiclet keys
- Anyone who prefers a more modern look
- Anyone who needs AMD performance
Compared to some popular competition, the Acer TravelMate P6 generally comes in at a lower cost. You can check out a model with Core i5 CPU, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB SSD for about $987 at Newegg. A model with a Core i7 CPU, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB SSD costs closer to about $1,331.
Looking at Lenovo's ThinkPad lineup (of which there are many), an X1 Carbon with 10th Gen Intel Core i5 CPU, 16GB of RAM, 512GB SSD, and 14-inch FHD display costs about $1,000 after a big (and common) discount. RAM, however, is soldered, the battery is smaller, and you'll need an adapter for Ethernet. If the X1 Carbon isn't heavily discounted like it is at the time of writing, the TravelMate P6 might be quite tempting.
As for Dell's Latitude collection, specifically the 14-inch 7410 models, the P6 easily has it beat in terms of cost. Prices start around the $1,600 mark and offer many of the same features. As for HP, something like the 14-inch EliteBook 840 G7 starts at about $1,255 for a model with 10th Gen Intel Core i5 CPU, 4GB of RAM, and a 128GB SSD. It's clear that if you're on a tight budget, the TravelMate P6 is going to make a lot of sense.
The P6's display is colorful, and its brightness combined with a matte finish means hardly any glare when working in well-lit areas. The look in some areas is a bit outdated — especially the chunky bezel and camera setup — but it's thin and light enough that you won't mind bringing it with you when you leave the office. Connectivity is generous, speakers are good, and though I didn't particularly enjoy the keyboard, the keys have ample travel and a satisfying click.
And perhaps most importantly, battery life is exceptional, meaning you can work a lot longer without stressing about where you're going to plug in. And for those reasons, the TravelMate should live up to its name whenever we return to normal life.
14-Inch Business Ultrabook
Acer TravelMate P6
Big battery in a thin laptop
The Acer TravelMate P6 is a worthy alternative to some of the big business laptop brands out there. It has great battery life, a colorful screen, and the performance expected from 10th Gen Intel Core CPUs. It might not be quite as premium as the competition, but the price makes up for the difference.
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