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Here's how the Avita Liber 14 performed in our suite of benchmark tests:
3DMark Sky Diver: 3,251; Time Spy: 325; Fire Strike: 771
Cinebench CPU: 322 points; Graphics: 28 fps
Geekbench 4 Single-Core: 3,649; Multi-Core: 6,275
PCMark 8 Home: 2,592
PCMark 8 Battery Life: 3 hours and 18 minutes
Battery Life (TechRadar movie test): 7 hours and 55 minutes
In an era where quad-core CPUs are increasingly finding their way into thin and light laptops, the Avita Liber’s mere dual-core Intel chip makes for relatively modest performance. Even more of an issue is the mere 4GB of RAM. In reality, it’s enough for light web browsing and document. But anything more than that may see you running out of memory at the cost of performance.
It’s also worth noting that it’s an 8th Gen Intel chip, so supports hardware acceleration for the latest video codecs. That’s relevant because it means you don’t rely on the CPU cores for decoding high resolution video. Not that the screen is capable of showing it, but this laptop will decode 4K video no problem.
Speaking of the screen, it’s about what you’d expect at this price point. It’s moderately bright, with accurate colors and very good viewing angles, albeit the glossy screen cover introduces some reflectivity.
Likewise, in practice, that SATA rather than PCI-E SSD is fast enough. What we’re not convinced by is that it will be big enough with Windows installed, you have just 94GB left over to play with from the 128GB SSD. The MicroSD slot allows for some cheap, if not exactly speedy, expansion. But at this price point we’d prefer to see a 250GB-plus drive.
Battery life
As for battery life, the Avita Liber survived for 475 minutes or seven hours and 55 minutes in our HD video playback test.
That’s decent, but someway short of the claimed 10 hours. That said, the modest 36Wh specification of the battery was always going to limit outright longevity.
Verdict
Stepping into the competitive laptop market is a very tall order. Avita has got a lot right with the Liber 14, but we’re not totally convinced it’s enough.
The bright colorways and friendly packaging and instructions will please mainstream buyers. But the specifications and performance are ultimately a little patchy.
Certainly, we’d like to see a larger SSD and more RAM. Likewise, slimmer bezels would make for both a more contemporary look and a smaller chassis. Finally, better battery life would sweeten the deal.
It’s by no means a bad first effort, the Avita Liber. It’s a decent all round thin-and-light laptop. But, for now, there’s better value to be had elsewhere.
