Buying an affordable laptop can be a complete minefield, and even a machine that looks good on paper can be very disappointing when put to the test.
Usually, the first compromise you often have to make is system performance, which can really limit what you can do on the device. However, The Avita R5 14” laptop seemingly has power, portability ports and a reasonable price.
I hadn’t heard of the US brand Avita so I honestly wasn’t expecting much. After putting it through its paces I was very pleasantly surprised with the performance of this entry-level laptop, but it does come at a cost.
The Avita Pura 14 R5 looks relatively modern, sleek, and thin. The cache is textured and I thought it had a brushed metal body at first, but I quickly realised that it was plastic.
The Pura R5 comes in a gunmetal grey that is all business but looks smart, with a small subtle Avita logo on the lid as well as under the screen.
In terms of dimensions, there’s a depth of 221mm, height of 150mm and a width of 333mm. The laptop is very lightweight at only 1.3 kilograms, which makes it easy to carry around if…it wasn’t for how fragile body felt.
While the hinge wasn’t loose, there was a little bit too much give. It actually creeks when you move it or grip the device too tight, and it didn’t feel secure.
The screen is a decent sized 14 inches wide 16:9, IPS high definition display. It features a small bezel except at the bottom, making it good but not exceptional.
The matte screen gives minimum glare and is easy to view from all angles but it’s not very bright and it does, unfortunately, make colours look flat and washed out, with films, photos and games appearing rather dull.
The keyboard is a nice island-style, reminiscent of a MacBook. It felt comfortable, well-spaced and had little travel on the keys. It was easy to write on, with a slight texture adding a nice little grip to the keys. Unfortunately, it’s not backlit but for this price that seems fair.
The trackpad is a decent size, clicky if a little inconsistent. Sometimes it was oversensitive and other times it wasn’t very responsive at all, which made me switch over to a mouse.
The built-in stereo speakers are located underneath the case and the sound comes through the keyboard, meaning I had to contend with quieter and often muffled, tinny audio output, especially when the fans kicked in. The sound quality was poor with little bass, so headphones are essential for this computer.
Specifications
- CPU: 2.10 GHz AMD Ryzen 5 3500U
- Screen: 14″ 1920 x1080
- Memory: 4Gb RAM
- GFX: AMD Radeon Vega 8 Graphics
- OS: Windows 10
- Storage: 256GB Hoodisk SSD, (expandable micro SD slot)
Using an AMD Ryzen 5 processor and Vega 8 graphics instead of an Intel counterpart is the standout feature of this laptop, giving it a serious boost in power when compared to its competitors in this price range.
The 4Gb RAM in this machine is fine for simple jobs like watching videos, word processing and social media, but is lacking for tasks such as video editing, photo retouching and high-end gaming.
The solid-state drive is disappointingly slow, especially considering the speed on the processor.
The 7.6V 4830mAh battery performance is utterly average for this class of windows laptop. Avita claims the battery will last 8 hours, but I got around 7 hours of standard use and under 5 hours constant video playback and gaming.
The Avita features a decent array of ports including two USB-A 3.0 ports, a USB-C 3.0 port, a micro SD slot, for expandable memory, HDMI port and 3.5mm audio jack.
A basic 1 megapixel, 720p webcam is featured in the top of the screen’s upper bezel, allowing you to make video calls.
Bluetooth 4.2 is also included, allowing you to connect to your favourite devices which is useful you using a wireless mouse or headphones.
The Pura R5 handled multitasking well for a budget machine due to the 2.10GHz AMD Ryzen 5 3500U Quad-core with 8 threads.
While it’s definitely not a cutting edge gaming machine, I was using multiple tabs with minimal impact. The Avita is a good system for basic productivity, word processing, mild photo editing and some lower-spec games making it ideal for students.
Gaming
One the gaming side of things, Minecraft ran well without issues, although the fan would kick in hard to counteract how much heat the computer was generating.
I was impressed I was able to run BioShock Infinite on High settings with consistent framerates over 30 frames per second which was great even for an older game.
Wasteland 3 ran on lower settings with some stuttering but was playable. Unfortunately, Resident Evil 2 Remake did not fare as well, the game limped and shuddered along to the point where it was essentially unplayable.
Downloading and installing programs took a surprisingly long time despite using an internet connection over 150Mbps.
Verdict
The Avita Pura R5 14 is a great budget machine for students and really punches above its weight, packing powerful performance and a using number of versatile ports.
Despite the light weight, it definitely suits a more sedentary lifestyle and won’t stand up to any rough and tumble, meaning you need to be careful when out and about with it, especially if it’s knocking around in a bag.
It offers great value for money, but that brilliant performance comes at a cost.
The display and build quality are its weakest points, but the Ryzen 5 CPU is the main feature of this system giving it an edge over other budget models.
The Avita Pura R5 14 Inch Laptop is available now for £449.99 from Studio
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