Acer Swift 5 (Intel 11th Gen, 2022) review | Laptop Mag
Our Verdict
Acer's Swift 5 is back with the aforementioned lightweight, even so durable design and vastly more powerful internals thanks to its Intel Evo makeover.
For
- Unbelievably lightweight
- First-class performance
- Stellar bombardment life
- Gorgeous pattern
- Affordably priced
Against
- Irritating keyboard layout
- Weak speakers
- Excessive bloatware
Laptop Mag Verdict
Acer's Swift 5 is dorsum with the aforementioned lightweight, yet durable pattern and vastly more powerful internals thanks to its Intel Evo makeover.
Pros
- +
Unbelievably lightweight
- +
Excellent operation
- +
Stellar battery life
- +
Gorgeous pattern
- +
Affordably priced
Cons
- -
Irritating keyboard layout
- -
Weak speakers
- -
Excessive bloatware
- -
Acer Swift 5 (Intel 11th Gen, 2022) specs
Price: $1,299
CPU: Intel Core i7-1165G7
GPU: Intel Iris Xe
RAM: 16GB
Storage: 1TB SSD
Display: 14-inch, 1080p touchscreen
Bombardment: 13:37
Size: 12.6 x 8.2 x 0.vi inches
Weight: 2.31 pounds
Picking the Acer Swift 5 upwards for the first fourth dimension feels similar there's some kind of a magic pull a fast one on being played on you equally its weight simply does non marshal with the size of the object you are holding in your mitt. You would almost think information technology'due south hollow inside and all the same, y'all accept the remarkable new Intel Evo design, meaning this thin and light laptop is capable of delivering considerably more than performance than before.
Paired with a brilliant 1080p panel, upwards to 1TB of storage and 16GB of RAM, all for $one,299 for the top-end model, the Acer Swift 5 is a remarkable achievement and a portable laptop that seems to avoid virtually every trade-off once associated with the sparse-and-light laptop category.
Acer Swift 5 price and configuration options
My review model of the Acer Swift v is priced at $1,299 and comes with an Intel Core i7-1165G7 processor, Intel Iris Xe Graphics, 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD.
This is the elevation-tier configuration; the base of operations option starts at $999 and includes an Intel Core i5-1135G7 CPU, Intel Iris Xe graphics, 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. Stepping upward to $1,099 gets you an Intel Core i7-1065G7 CPU, Intel Iris Plus graphics, 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. The final configuration goes for $one,149 and offers the Intel Cadre i7-1065G7 CPU, an Nvidia GeForce MX250, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. All four variants are bachelor in either Mist Green or Safari Gold.
Acer Swift 5 pattern
I'll get to the overall look of the blueprint in just a moment, only it's impossible to not draw attending to the mystifying weight of the Acer Swift 5. Information technology's really slightly heavier than Swift 5 (2020) that was released this spring, at ii.3 pounds compared to 2.two pounds, just at 12.six x 8.ii 10 0.six inches, it's still smaller and lighter than most of its competitors, similar the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (2.iv pounds, 12.seven x 8.5 x 0.6-inches), Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 (two.9 pounds, 12.one x viii.8 x 0.6 inches) or the new MacBook Air (2.8 pounds, 12 x 8.4 10 0.vi inches).
Whatsoever time y'all have a device that feels much lighter than it looks, your first thought is that it isn't going to exist very durable. And yet,ut the magnesium-alloy structure of the Swift 5 seems to evade this business concern. Acer indicates that it offers somewhere between ii to iv times the strength of traditional aluminum alloys at roughly 20% to 35% of the weight. Trying to flex the Swift 5, you can feel the rigidity. Featherweight though it may be, this laptop feels like it will concord up to the riggers of travel or the occasional drop while moving it effectually the house or role.
The Mist Green color of my review unit reads as greyness in a lot of lighting weather, just brilliant lite or a more careful inspection does reveal its slightly greenish hue and the pearlescent stop gives it a little more intrigue. Both the sleeky Acer logo and the matte athwart hinge at the back of the laptop feature a bronze cease that gives the Swift a little more personality than your typical monochrome device.
Opening the lid requires two hands; there'south no avoiding that lifting a reasonably sturdy hinge on a laptop that weighs this little is going to cause the whole chassis to elevator with it. The interior is much of the aforementioned with a bronze/gold accent colour used for the symbols on the keyboard and the logos.
The built-in fingerprint sensor is only below the cursor keys and color-matched to the chassis, but slightly recessed then information technology's easy to find. I accept just 1 odd complaint about the interior of the Swift 5: there's an "Antimicrobial Corning Gorilla Glass" logo on the bezel at the top-left corner and it draws my heart for some reason. I'd probably get over information technology eventually (or I'd find a style to comprehend it up) but why include information technology at all?
The Swift 5 is a gorgeous piffling laptop that you can sideslip into a handbag and barely discover it. The build quality feels fantastic and the few little extra touches really help to sell it equally a premium laptop.
Acer Swift v ports
For those who don't capeesh the forced migration to USB Blazon-C, the Acer Swift v is here for you with an assortment of ports that volition support all of your legacy gear while also giving you a sense of taste of what the time to come has to offer with its Thunderbolt 4 port.
Along its left side, y'all will find a DC-in charging port, HDMI 2.0, a USB Type-A port (USB 3.2 Gen one) and the aforementioned USB Blazon-C Thunderbolt 4 port.
Turning to the right side, things are a little more minimal: just a Kensington lock port, another USB Type-A port (USB three.2 Gen 1) and a combo headphone/mic jack.
I long ago fabricated the move to USB Type-C for most things, merely I still love having the option of at least one USB Type-A every bit information technology invariably is still required past some of my peripherals. Nevertheless, I would definitely trade the second Type-A port for some other USB Type-C at this betoken. Despite the bounty of ports, y'all may nevertheless find you need something like an RJ45 Ethernet port or a full-size SD card reader, in which case, you tin leverage that Thunderbolt 4 ports power with a USB Type-C hub.
Acer Swift v brandish
The Swift 5's xiv-inch, 1920 x 1080-pixel display produced a sharp and vibrant image. While information technology doesn't deliver 4K or a high refresh rate, it has a solid 1080p experience that won't disappoint. The bezels aren't the slimmest we've seen, merely pretty thin forth the edges and what remains at the elevation and bottom certainly doesn't brand the Swift v expect dated. While the Swift v isn't a 2-in-one, it does feature a touchscreen display that is excellently responsive.
Watching the trailer for the upcoming Jackie Chan and Arnold Schwarzenegger pic Iron Mask, the Swift 5 display captured every exquisite detail equally you leap from the deep carmine of the British uniforms, to the colorful robes of the Chinese nobility and the nearly crystalline blue structure of the dragon'south eye.
Our colorimeter wasn't quite as impressed by the Swift v brandish, showing that the panel covers 75% of the DCI-P3 color gamut. That'due south non a bad result past any means, only it is behind the Surface Laptop 3 (85.nine%), the MacBook Air (eighty.ix%), and the category average of 80.8%. My take is that, viewed by itself, it is yet a vibrant display, just when held upwardly to others, you lot can see some of the dial is lacking.
Brightness isn't a massive strength for the Acer Swift 5, which peaks at 350 nits, but that's a solid result and puts it on even basis with its competitors. The MacBook Air (366 nits) has a slight edge, while the Surface Laptop iii (348 nits) is almost identical and the category average slightly eclipses all of them at 386 nits.
Acer Swift five keyboard and touchpad
Typing on the Swift 5 keyboard feels smashing. Given its thinness, you don't take an abundance of central travel, but it offers just enough and the keys are springy and responsive. Still, the layout on the Swift 5 drove me nuts for a few reasons and while I'm certain I would get used to it over fourth dimension, at that place might exist a scrap of a learning curve with some of the key placements.
Past far, the near irritating for me is the cursor cluster; the frequency with which I plant myself accidentally hit page upward or folio downward rather than my intended cursor central was maddening. I'm besides not a fan of the inline power button, which is surrounded by the delete and backspace primal.
In terms of actual typing speed, I averaged 80 words per minute with 96% accurateness on the 10fastfingers.com typing test with the Acer Swift 5, which is a little slower than my electric current average of 86 wpm. I think within another week or so I'd be up to speed with it; the slightly reduced size versus my typical keyboard is possible the source of my slowdown.
On a more artful notation, the gold lettering does really pop on the dark keys, then if you aren't a touch typist, never fear, yous'll exist able to pick everything out easily. The backlighting is fine, although on the atomic function row keys you get a off-white amount of light drain.
Turning to the touchpad, the four.1 x 2.vi-inch surface is sufficiently big to execute any of the Windows 10 gestures. I didn't have whatsoever issues with responsiveness when information technology came to either gestures or basic navigation and,if you adopt, you always accept the touchscreen to fall back on. My solitary complaint regarding the touchpad on the Swift 5 is that information technology's a flake more recessed than I would like, I feel like it might be prone to catching textile in it over time, but that's largely a personal preference and not a real trouble.
Acer Swift five audio
The Acer Swift v uses a pair of lesser-firing speakers and while I'll credit them with avoiding distortion throughout the range, they are incapable of producing even a hint of bass. The output isn't stellar either, but it was able to fill up my 18 x 12-human foot testing space reasonably when pushed to 100% volume.
I listened to "The Adults Are Talking" by The Strokes and this proved to be merely most the right pairing for what the Acer Swift 5's speakers tin reproduce. It handles the vocals and guitar riffs without issue, so depending on your musical preferences, you might be fine. Alternatively, plan to hook the Swift 5 upwardly to a good Bluetooth speaker or wireless headphones when you lot want quality audio.
Acer Swift 5 functioning
The Intel Core i7-1165G7 processor paired with 16GB of RAM and Intel Iris Xe Graphics admittedly tore through all of the normal challenges I throw at a laptop. Firing upwardly over two dozen Google Chrome tabs, including two YouTube videos running at 1080p and a pair of Twitch streams didn't cause a stutter or dropped frame. Despite Intel'south assertions most its Iris Xe Graphics, which are absolutely impressive, I still wouldn't tell you to go out and purchase the Swift 5 for its gaming performance.
With that said the Swift five managed to impress again with its Geekbench 5.2 overall functioning test, with a multi-core score of 5,895. This was simply behind the MacBook Air (5,962), but well above the Surface Laptop 3 (4,791) and the category average (4,178).
Our Handbrake video transcoding examination, which requires the laptop to convert a 4K video to 1080p resolution, was also well ahead of the curve for the Swift 5, finishing in thirteen minutes and 55 seconds. While the MacBook Air (ix:15) trounced this consequence, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon (eighteen:29) and the Surface Laptop 3 (24:55) put information technology back in perspective.
The Acer Swift five'south 1TB SSD is no slouch either, managing a 1,141 MBps transfer rate in our 5GB file transfer test. Again, Apple tree wrecks the curve for the form with the MacBook Air (two,897.8 MBps), while the Surface Laptop 3 (541.4 MBps), the ThinkPad X1 Carbon (997.9 MBps) and the category average (780.nine MBps) all reveal that the Swift five lives up to its name when it comes to SSD speed.
Acer Swift 5 graphics
The Intel Iris Xe in the Swift 5 isn't upward for playing demanding games at high settings, simply it's vastly more than capable than its predecessor in this regard, and holds up well in its category. If y'all are expressionless set on gaming, yous aren't going to observe anything this thin and light, simply some of the best gaming laptops in this price range are reasonably portable and will evangelize much better gaming operation.
The Acer Swift 5 managed only 33 frames per 2nd on Sid Meier's Culture VI: Gathering Storm (1080p, Medium), just crossing our 30-fps playability threshold. This was narrowly behind the MacBook Air (37 fps), but miles beyond the ThinkPad X1 Carbon (viii fps) and ahead of the 28 fps category average.
Acer Swift 5 battery life
If the incredibly low weight is its vivid opening, the battery life on Acer Swift 5 is the encore that will bring thunderous applause. Depending on your usage, the Acer Swift 5 could get yous through at to the lowest degree one and possibly two days on a unmarried charge.
It lasted 13 hours and 37 minutes in our official battery test, which involves continuous Spider web surfing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness. This puts information technology well ahead of the Surface Laptop 3 13-inch (9:17) and the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (ten:45), coming in behind only the new MacBook Air (M1, 2022) (fourteen:41), but that's certainly good company to keep.
Acer Swift 5 camera
Despite its thin bezels, the Acer Swift 5 gives y'all a pinnacle bezel webcam and that'southward virtually the but positive thing I take to say nearly information technology. It will serve you just fine if you lot have no other option, but it is completely incapable of treatment anything without vivid light and, even and then, you are going to see a off-white amount of visual noise.
This should just serve as a reminder that if you lot demand to do a lot of video conferencing or video chat via your laptop, selection upwardly an external webcam. No one builds a webcam into a laptop that is the equal of even a relatively inexpensive external choice.
Acer Swift 5 rut
I rarely heard the fans on the Acer Swift 5 come on; the five exhaust panels at the bottom and two large exhaust panels that are concealed behind the rotating hinge in the back all exercise their chore incredibly well. During my time with the Swift 5, I never noticed it feel anything more than than slightly warm to the affect.
Our testing, which involves playing a 15-minute, 1080p video and so taking temperature readings on various parts of the laptop, confirmed my anecdotal feel. On the Swift 5, the touchpad remained at a reasonable 78 degrees Fahrenheit; the keyboard was simply slightly hotter at 81 degrees and the underside was the toastiest at 87 degrees. All were well beneath our 95-degree comfort threshold.
Acer Swift five software and warranty
The Acer Swift 5 ships with Windows ten Home and a somewhat unfortunate corporeality of bloatware. While I realize that this is how manufacturers manage to continue prices downward on laptops, it is e'er a chip irritating to start fresh with a brand new laptop and have to spend some time emptying out the clutter.
The Acer Swift 5 comes with a one-yr limited warranty. You can run into how Acer fares in general on this front in our Tech Back up Showdown and All-time and Worst Brands special reports.
Bottom line
The Acer Swift 5 is a joy to employ. While it starts with the tremendous portability, the remarkable functioning and flexibility with its touchscreen make it just a wonderful all-purpose laptop. The bombardment life is really but the icing on the cake; fifty-fifty when I left it away from the charger for a solar day, I had plenty of juice to spare.
The keyboard is probably my biggest complaint with the Swift 5; I merely don't like the condensed layout equally it's too prone to causing typing errors, which isn't adequate given my line of piece of work. However, I doubtable I could adjust to information technology over fourth dimension, and for many, it may not be an issue at all. If you are looking in this roughly $one,000 price range and value portability, the Swift 5 deserves to exist about the top of your list.
Source: https://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/acer-swift-5-intel-11th-gen-2020-review
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