Acer Swift X evaluate: Peak efficiency
Acer Swift X specs
Worth: $1,069
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800U
GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti
RAM: 16GB
Storage: 512GB NVMe PCIe SSD
Show: 14-inch, 1080p IPS (16:9)
Battery: 9:11
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2
Dimension: 12.7 x 8.4 x 0.7 inches
Weight: 3.1 kilos
Acer’s Swift X has a easy purpose to pack the quickest elements within the smallest chassis. It accomplishes this by efficiently combining a strong AMD processor with discrete Nvidia RTX graphics in a surprisingly slim bundle. Velocity, portability and endurance at a aggressive value, what else does one want?
Digging deeper reveals a number of bones Acer buried to maintain the value down. Whereas its chassis is manufactured from aluminum, the no-frills Swift X feels much less premium than its opponents and the plastic touchpad and show bezels aren’t serving to. Nor are the mounds of apps pre-installed on this $1,000 laptop computer. I additionally want extra consideration was paid to the audio system and that the 720p webcam was one thing you might use for streaming.
Do you have to purchase the Swift X? That relies upon. It definitely is not for everybody — there are too many low factors for this to be the “In the event you might solely purchase one laptop computer” reply. Nonetheless, if you might want to run demanding duties and want a laptop computer that will get the job carried out with out getting in the way in which, the Swift X is price contemplating.
Acer Swift X value and configurations
Speak about a worth choose. The Swift X will get you top-of-the-line specs at a extra affordable value than competing laptops. Sure, it is a premium product demanding a premium value, however I anticipated a a lot larger MSRP after glancing on the specs.
There is just one configuration obtainable on the time of writing. It comes with a 14-inch, 1080p show together with an AMD Ryzen 5800U CPU, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti GPU — all for $1,069.
Acer Swift X design
This does not really feel like a flagship premium product. One thing right here is…missing. The Swift X is manufactured from aluminum however does not really feel as luxurious as, say, the HP Envy 14. Let me clarify.
The Swift X is manufactured from steel, however the pearlescent coating Acer utilized to the floor provides off plasticky vibes. And whereas I am glad Acer is taking part in with colours (the Swift is available in Steam Blue, Prodigy Pink and our evaluate unit’s less-exciting Safari Gold), the laptop computer lacks thrives, like a chrome-trimmed touchpad. Additionally on the deck is a retro, strip-style fingerprint sensor, and a distracting vent close to the hinge. Search for on the show and you may see that the skinny bezels surrounding the panel are manufactured from low-cost plastic.
These compromises lead to a bundle that does not really feel as deluxe as its friends, however bear in mind, they had been made so Acer might use top-of-the-line elements with out charging a fortune. For all my complaints, there is no such thing as a deal-breaking fault to the Swift X’s design, and I’ve no worries about its sturdiness — I did not discover any flexing when urgent on the lid and keyboard, and the hinge is reassuringly stiff.
I’ve even come to understand a number of the sensible particulars of the design, just like the lip on the entrance edge that makes the lid simple to elevate and the way the again of the deck raises a number of levels while you open the lid, making it extra snug to sort on. So whereas the design is not precisely inspiring, it’s no less than useful.
Acer wanted some further house to pack a discrete GPU into the Swift X’s body which reveals in its 12.7 x 8.4 x 0.7-inch dimensions and three.1-pound weight. This makes the Swift X about the identical dimension because the HP Envy 14 (12.3 x 8.8 x 0.7 inches, 3.3 kilos), 12.3 x 8.8 x 0.7 inches) however thicker than the Lenovo Yoga 9i (2.6 x 8.5 x 0.6 inches, 3 kilos).
Acer Swift X ports
Being barely thicker than its rivals helps the Swift X pack a number of further ports into its chassis. On the left facet is a USB 3.2 Kind-C port, a headphone jack, an HDMI 2.0, a USB 3.2 Kind-A enter and an influence jack.
Over on the precise facet is a second USB 3.2 Kind-A port alongside a Kensington lock slot and a headphone/mic jack.
Lacking from this assortment of I/O is a card reader for photographers and videographers. And I want there have been a second USB-C port for connecting to fashionable devices whereas charging the Swift X. After all, Thunderbolt is lacking due to the AMD processor.
Acer Swift X show
The 14-inch, 1080p IPS show on the Swift X is nice. That is no 4K or OLED display screen, however the matte panel is nice for productiveness work (in case you’re OK with a 16:9 facet ratio) and is shiny and colourful sufficient for watching your favourite reveals or motion pictures.
As a lot as I wanted I might watched the energetic House Jam: A New Legacy trailer on an OLED panel, the Swift X’s show reproduced correct and punchy colours. Whereas these hues did not precisely pop off the display screen, Foghorn Leghorn’s scarlet crimson comb and wattle and Daffy Duck’s pumpkin orange invoice had been extra saturated than I anticipated from a matte show. The 1080p panel was additionally sharp sufficient for me to see small strands of fluff protruding of Bugs Bunny’s felt-like fur.
The panel reached our minimal coloration and brightness preferences, however did not dare go any larger. As an illustration, the panel lined 74% of the DCI-P3 coloration gamut, falling under the 83% class common and the Envy 14 (83%) and almost matching the Yoga 9i (76%).
Most panel brightness reached 303 nits, simply above our 300-nit decrease restrict and under the Envy 14 (362 nits), Yoga 9i (334 nits) and the typical (389 nits).
Acer Swift X keyboard and touchpad
Typing this evaluate on the Swift X’s keyboard was pleasant as soon as my fingers acquired used to the considerably shallow key journey. Key presses had been registered immediately and every key and quantity that appeared on display screen was preceded by a nice audible “click on.”
Satisfactory key spacing makes up for small keys, though the miniature arrow and shortcut keys will probably be tough for these with sausage fingers like my very own. Different minor complaints embody inconsistent keyboard backlighting and the ability button being situated on the keyboard, making it simpler to by chance press.
And now we get to the tragic twist on this story. I can overlook poor aesthetics, however there is no such thing as a excuse for chopping corners on one thing as essential because the touchpad. It is not that the touchpad does not work correctly — it responded rapidly to my swipes and Home windows 10 gestures — my drawback is that it is manufactured from Mylar, a elaborate title for plastic and the identical materials I criticized in my HP Envy 13 evaluate. Put bluntly, the fabric feels low-cost and fingers do not glide as effortlessly as they do on glass.
Acer Swift X audio
Speaker high quality tends to be a low precedence on Acer laptops and that is the case with the Swift X. The twin-firing audio system situated on the underside panel sounded congested they usually handed that symptom on to Slenderbodies’ lead singer Aram “Max” Vehuni once I listened to the indie-pop duo’s “mirror.”
Clogging up the soundstage was the various instrumentation, which merged right into a cacophony of drum hits and synthesizers. I then switched to Thrice’s “Robotic Tender Exorcism” and the refrain instructed me all I wanted to know — Swift X homeowners ought to hearken to music via headphones or earbuds.
Acer Swift X efficiency
Do not be shy Swift X, now’s your time to step into the highlight. Powered by an AMD Ryzen 5800U CPU paired with Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti graphics, the Swift X is a efficiency monster amongst its moveable friends.
We’ll spotlight its graphics prowess within the subsequent part and focus for now on the AMD chip, which is paired with 16GB of RAM on our unit. Working my typical workload on the Swift X was like handing a bodybuilder a 10-pound weight and asking for 15 reps. The Swift X scoffed, loading 25 Google Chrome tabs in a flash. I watched YouTuber Kai W discuss movie pictures, streamed Billie Eilish’s new album on YouTube Music, and poked round on Twitch to find that Apex Legends continues to be a large hit. The Swift X carried my internet shopping curiosities with out even a flicker of lag.
On the Geekbench 5.3 general efficiency, the Swift X scored an impressive 7,954, crushing the Envy 14 (4,761, Core i5-1135G7), the Yoga 9i (5,321, Core i7-1185G7) and the class common (3,566).
It is not simply the CPU and GPU serving to the Swift X outperform its rivals — Acer outfitted this laptop computer with a blazingly fast 512GB NVMe SSD. It duplicated a 25GB multimedia file in simply 26 seconds for a switch fee of 1,050 megabytes per second. In a dash competitors, this made its rivals, the Envy 14 (305 MBps) and Yoga 9i (692.3 MBps), appear to be velocity walkers.
The Swift X wanted solely 8 minutes and 5 seconds to transform a 4K video to 1080p decision utilizing the Handbrake app. That’s in a special league than the Envy 14 (13:20), the Yoga 9i (14:24) and the class common (17:21).
Acer Swift X graphics
Slim and light-weight — it should be time to begin speaking about built-in graphics, proper? Maintain on one second! The Swift X is not like these different ultra-thin laptops as a result of deep inside its stomach is an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti GPU, a chip able to taking part in the newest video games at easy body charges.
The Swift X flexed its muscle groups in our graphics check, taking part in Sid Meier’s Civilization VI: Gathering Storm at a silky easy 67 frames per second, which narrowly tops the Envy 14 (63 fps, GTX 1650 Ti) and crushes something with built-in graphics together with the Yoga 9i (25 fps).
Its dominance continued in our artificial check, through which the Swift X scored 8,827 on the 3DMark Hearth Strike benchmark, nicely forward of the Envy 14 (7,423) and the Yoga 9i (5,014).
Acer Swift X battery life
Placing a discrete graphics card in a skinny chassis is normally a recipe for brief battery life. However not this time. The Swift X lasted for a formidable 9 hours and 11 minutes on the Laptop computer Magazine Battery Take a look at, which includes steady internet shopping over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness.
The Acer could not match the Envy 14 (9:51) and powered down about an hour earlier than the Yoga 9i (11:15) and the class common (10:58).
Acer Swift X webcam
Who did summary expressionism greatest, Pollock or the Swift X’s 720p webcam? OK, perhaps I am being harsh right here. The selfie I snapped in my dimly lit workplace is not that unhealthy, however my goodness does the smearing of particulars in my face make it look extra like a portray than a photograph. Acer, after all, is not the one offender utilizing dreadful webcams, however the Swift X lands someplace close to the underside.
Our (oft-given) recommendation? Purchase your self an exterior webcam for essential conferences and convention calls.
Acer Swift X warmth
The Swift X’s aluminum surfaces did a great job of dissipating sizzling air as we performed a 15-minute 1080p YouTube video throughout our warmth check. The toastiest location was the underside panel, which reached 96 levels Fahrenheit, only one diploma above our consolation threshold. The components your pores and skin touches, the touchpad and keyboard, warmed to solely 83 and 90 levels, respectively.
Acer Swift X software program and guarantee
Oh Acer, please give up with the bloatware. Positive, it may be rapidly uninstalled, however does it actually must be taking over treasured space for storing within the first place? There may be Reserving.com, ExpressVPN, some privateness threat dashboard from a startup referred to as FigLeaf (actually, Acer?), and GoTrust ID, a means to make use of your telephone for login authentication (one thing we strongly discourage).
Let me take a sip of water as a result of there’s extra. Amongst Acer’s in-house apps are JumpStart, which frustratingly redirected me to Acer.com; Paperwork, which added to my frustration by merely opening the File Explorer to 2 pre-downloaded PDFs; and Acer Authorized Info, which I am certain customers are desirous to learn. These might’ve been neatly packaged in Care Heart, the app you need to hold round as a result of it is the place you possibly can see system well being and obtain new updates and drivers.
Oh, and earlier than I overlook: Evernote, Hearts Deluxe and a pair of content material creation apps are additionally pre-installed on the Acer Swift X to associate with your customary Home windows 10 Dwelling software program.
The Swift X comes with a one-year guarantee. See how Acer fared in our Tech help showdown and Finest and Worst Manufacturers particular studies.
Backside line
Who does not like a great mashup? The Swift X is one-part gaming laptop computer, one-part ultraportable. Putting an AMD Ryzen 5000 CPU and Nvidia RTX 3050 Ti within the Swift X was a stroke of genius. And even higher, these elements do not take a lot of successful to battery life because the Swift endured for greater than 9 hours on a cost. Acer then went a step additional by pricing the ultra-portable at round $1,000, making it cheaper than its direct opponents.
For some folks, speedy efficiency and top-notch graphics in a conveyable and comparatively inexpensive laptop computer is sufficient purpose to purchase the Swift X. Others, nonetheless, will have a look at the complete bundle and discover some tears within the wrapping. The Swift X’s plastic touchpad and show bezels aren’t as much as the premium laptop computer requirements of 2021, and the piles of bloatware will make you roll your eyes and discover ways to uninstall Home windows 10 apps.
If you would like a 14-inch laptop computer with a extra premium design and discrete graphics, think about the HP Envy 14. If built-in graphics do not trouble you, the Lenovo Yoga 9i is one other glorious 14-inch choice. That mentioned, in case you want probably the most energy within the smallest footprint, the Swift X is, for now, one-of-a-kind.
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