Acer Nitro 18 AI (AN18-61) review

A 2025 Nitro 18 with a 99Wh tank and top-band task axes

The Acer Nitro 18 AI (AN18-61) from 2025 asks $1,440 and carries a Ryzen AI 7 350, an RTX 5060 8GB and 32GB of RAM. Reliability reads 92 — 74% above the gaming-class median, top quartile — and the battery reads 99Wh, 39% above median, the huge band. The task axes read gaming 89 (top), modeling 92 (top), CAD 92 (top), photo 90 (top), office 87 (top). The one low-band axis is portability at 0 — the floor of the scale, the standing number for an 18-inch chassis.

Endurance plus receipts

Six green flags — Overwatch, GTA V and Rainbow Six Siege recommended; Premiere Pro and Photoshop minimum; VS Code recommended — pair the 5060's tier with claims. A 99Wh cell in a gaming body is rarer than the class median suggests, and reliability 92 is among the best readings in this batch. The AI 7 350 engine reads performance 75.6 (high), calibrated for a balanced 2025 platform.

The two named concessions

Portability 0 records the format: 18-inch machines live at desks, and this one is no exception. Memory at 32GB against a 64GB class median is the sheet's watch-out — half the class standard, binding for heavy multi-app sessions. Value reads 62.4 (mid): fair for the tier, with the 5060 a rung below the SCAR-class GPUs at the same ticket.

No depreciation anchor

No launch anchor is attached. The class rate reads 20% per year; at one year old the steepest drift is ahead, so the sheet carries the case.

Where it sits against the shelf

The $1,440 row is ASUS-heavy in this batch — the SCAR 16 G635 sells one GPU tier up at the same money, and the Zephyrus seats sell carry. This seat's argument is the battery-plus-reliability combination: 99Wh and 92 against the row's usual endurance readings. Buyers choosing inside the row pick graphics tier (SCAR), format (Zephyrus) or endurance (this) — the sheet states each trade honestly.

Bottom line

At $1,440 the Nitro 18 AI is the endurance seat of the premium row: 99Wh, reliability 92 top-quartile, five task axes in the top band and a full six-flag sheet — with portability 0 at the format's floor and 32GB the named memory concession. For a desk buyer who games long unplugged sessions, this is the row's best-evidenced answer; for carry or top-tier graphics, other seats argue better.