Acer’s Swift 5 is a Great Portable Laptop That’s Missing a Modern Edge

Acer’s Swift 5 laptop computer has stood for years as a compelling worth decide within the premium ultraportable laptop computer phase. You might typically discover one with higher specs on the similar or a cheaper price than different flagships just like the XPS 13 or Lenovo Yoga 9i. The latest Swift 5, now with an up to date design and sooner parts, competes with these fashions extra immediately. At $1,549, the Swift 5 is swimming alongside the massive fish, however this era manages to maintain its head above water because of some sensible updates.

I can’t discover a lot fault with this method, which is among the many quickest in its class and pairs that pace with a lovely chassis and a helpful array of ports. It isn’t excellent, by any means: the audio system are weak, there’s a great deal of bloatware, and a shallow keyboard and stiff touchpad buttons hamper the expertise. None of these are deal-breakers, and but, the Acer Swift 5 isn’t the primary laptop computer I’d suggest on this worth class. That’s not as a result of it does something improper, however moderately, as a result of it doesn’t lead in any class nor does the chassis really feel as premium as these of some rival machines. That mentioned, if you would like a simple moveable pocket book, the Swift 5 is a superb selection.

Elegant design, loads of ports

This is, by far, probably the most good-looking Swift 5. Previous fashions had an inexpensive, insubstantial feeling and lacked among the elegant design components discovered on laptops just like the Yoga 9i or HP Spectre x360 14. Acer made some sensible refinements to an current platform right here, including anodized gold plating alongside the sides, an accent that offers the Swift 5 an opulent look. I additionally just like the inexperienced and gold coloration scheme (Acer calls it Mist Green; Steam Blue can be accessible), a singular but refined pairing that extends from the lid to the deck, and even the touchpad and keyboard.

The Swift nonetheless doesn’t really feel fairly as strong as others on this class. That’s partly all the way down to it not having a unibody design just like the MacBook Air or Razer Blade 13, which means there’s a seam between the underside panel and deck. The different purpose is that the Swift 5 makes use of a mixture of aerospace-grade aluminum (prime cowl) and magnesium alloy (backside), the latter of which Acer says toughens the chassis. In my opinion, it does so on the expense of getting considerably plastic-feeling surfaces. The excellent news is that the construct high quality is nice—the tolerances are all tight, the hinge feels stiff, and there isn’t any creaking or cracking.

The Swift 5 affords a beneficiant choice of ports for its measurement. On the precise is a USB 3.2 Type-A enter subsequent to a 3.5mm headphone jack and a Kensington lock slot. On the alternative aspect are two Thunderbolt 4 ports (I want these have been cut up on either side), an HDMI 2.1, and a second USB Type-A enter. Speaking of measurement, the Swift 5 measures 12.2 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches and weighs 2.7 kilos.

Bright, high-res show

Acer equips the Swift 5 with a 14-inch, 2560 x 1600-pixel (WQXGA) IPS touchscreen with a 16:10 side ratio. The show seems nice. Text and high-res photos are detailed and sharp because of the sturdy pixel density.

Colors, although not as spectacular as what you get on an OLED or mini-LED panel, are punchy and correct. Helping every thing shine is the display screen’s spectacular 515 nits of most brightness, which make it potential to see this very shiny panel on a sunny day.

Some options fall simply quick

The backlit keyboard is pretty customary, the type of factor you anticipate from an ultrathin laptop computer. Key journey is shallow and never notably tactile. That mentioned, my palms felt proper at house on the normal structure, so my above-average 114-word per minute at a 95% accuracy consequence on a standardized on-line typing check got here as no shock.

I want these keys have been springier, and I urge Acer to relocate the ability button from the top-right nook to forestall customers from by chance powering off the system when reaching for the “delete” key. That energy key doubles as a fingerprint sensor, which proved very dependable in my testing.

Gold trim across the touchpad provides some class to the design, and the graceful OceanGlass (product of ocean-bound plastic waste) floor felt buttery easy in opposition to my fingertips, successfully imitating an actual glass floor. Erratic swipes have been exactly tracked and I didn’t run into any issues executing gestures like three-finger swipes as much as change home windows. My solely grievance is the stiffness of the left and proper clickers—they require a bit an excessive amount of drive to press and make an obnoxiously loud “click.”

A fast phrase on the webcam: Acer makes use of a 1080p sensor with temporal noise discount. The image high quality is fairly good. Visual noise was stored to a minimal in my dimly lit workplace and the digital camera captured wealthy, correct colours. What isn’t so good are the Swift 5’s audio system. They sound OK however don’t get loud sufficient to pump out room-filling audio. And I’m not shocked–the Swift has twin, bottom-firing audio system in a world the place quad audio system (usually top-facing) have gotten the norm.

Uncompromised efficiency

Armed with an Intel Core i7-1260P CPU and 16GB of RAM, the Swift 5 did an admirable job of powering my workload. I used the system for over per week and didn’t run into too many issues; at the very least, not after cleaning this factor of bloatware. Webpages and apps loaded rapidly and not using a trace of sluggishness. Even my tragically poor tab administration didn’t pose a problem for the Swift 5, which chugged alongside as I opened dozens of Chrome tabs. There have been just a few lengthy pauses when opening new net pages as others labored within the background, and the followers usually broke my meditative silence at seemingly random intervals. To its credit score, the system stayed cool all through my testing.

On the Geekbench 5 general efficiency benchmark, the Acer Swift 5 scored an impressive 9,585, narrowly topping the Yoga 9i (9,516), and demolishing the Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 (6,643) and Spectre x360 16 (4,441). Apple’s MacBook Air with an M1 processor scored a 7,441 and even the MacBook Pro 13 with M2 (8,603) couldn’t outdo the Acer.

It took the Swift 5 4 minutes and 36 seconds to render a 3D picture utilizing the Blender app, a time that places it forward of the Yoga 9i (6:00) on par with the MacBook Pro 13 (4:36), however behind the Asus ZenBook 14X OLED Space Edition (3:26). Laptops we reviewed with last-gen specs wanted double-digit occasions to perform this job.

Also pretty fast is the Swift 5’s 1TB PCIe SSD, which wanted 8 minutes and 56 seconds to transform a 4K video clip to 1080p utilizing the Handbrake app. While that simply edges out the Yoga 9i (9:02), it falls nicely wanting the Samsung Galaxy Book (6:05). The Surface Laptop 4 (8:49) and MacBook Air (8:52) have been in a digital tie with the Swift.

This being an ultra-portable laptop computer, the Swift depends on built-in graphics and doesn’t have the muscle to interchange a correct gaming rig. When working the Civilization VI benchmark at 1080p, the laptop computer’s Iris Xe graphics notched 53 frames per second. That’s playable, and even forward of the ZenBook 14X OLED (44 fps), however proves the Swift to be no match for extra intensive video games.

Falling quick on battery life

The Swift 5 lasted for 7 hours and 36 minutes on our battery check, which entails video playback with the display screen set to 200 nits. That result’s moderately disappointing contemplating the Surface Laptop 4 (12:21), Yoga 9i (8:41), and Spectre x360 16 (8:48) stayed powered for a number of further hours.

The earlier Swift 5 was lauded for its prolonged runtimes, so we’re presently rerunning the battery check and can replace this text if our outcomes change. When your battery runs out, Acer reckons you get 4 hours of juice from a half-hour cost. That is, if the frustratingly quick energy twine even reaches your USB-C charging port.

Should you purchase the Acer Swift 5?

As nice as this laptop computer is, the reply isn’t a definitive “yes.” That’s as a result of, at $1,549, the Swift 5 performs in the identical league as the superb Lenovo Yoga 9i, HP Spectre x360 14, and the brand new Dell XPS 13 (not but reviewed). Talk about powerful competitors.

Would I select the Swift 5 over these fashions? Probably not. While it doesn’t have any main drawbacks, this Acer loses just a few factors for its weak audio system, lobs of bloatware, and a design that appears nice however doesn’t really feel as costly as others. I’m additionally not an enormous fan of the keyboard and the loud, stiff touchpad clickers cheapen the expertise.

If you aren’t bothered by these shortcomings, then the Swift 5 is a genuinely nice possibility that delivers excellent efficiency and a shiny, high-res show in a sublime chassis.