Acer Swift 3 Review
Acer Swift 3 is a 14in laptop for the special persons, not those who like wasting money for something like a MacBook Pro. As compared to 13in small computers, Acer swift 3 screen is a bit large. In this Acer Swift 3 review, you will find details of battery life, ports, display, performance, sound, and other features.
Buy Now on AmazonIt feels great when you see such a high-end laptop at a low price with amazing features. Acer Swift 3 is thin and lightweight as well as its pleasant.
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This laptop appears to be a great competitor to its powerful rivals in the market. Moreover, it is lightweight, thin and affordable, therefore it seems a perfect fit for students.
Acer Swift 3 Review Specs
CPU | 1.6 GHz Intel Core i5-8250u |
Bluetooth | Bluetooth 4.0 |
Card Slots | SD memory reader |
Display Size | 15.60 |
Graphics Card | Intel HD Graphics 620 |
Hard Drive Size | 256 GB SSD |
Hard Drive Type | M.2 PCIe 3.0 SSD |
Highest Available Resolution | 1920 x 1080 |
Native Resolution | 1920×1080 |
Operating System | Windows 10 Home |
Ports (excluding USB) | HDMI |
Ports (excluding USB) | Headphone/Mic |
Ports (excluding USB) | Kensington Lock |
Ports (excluding USB) | USB Type-C |
Ports (excluding USB) | SD card slot |
Ports (excluding USB) | USB 3.1 with Type-C |
Ports (excluding USB) | SB 3.0 |
Ports (excluding USB) | USB 2.0 |
RAM | 8GB |
Size | 14.6 x 10 x 0.7 inches |
Touchpad Size | 4.2 x 3.0 |
Wi-Fi | 802.11ac |
Acer Swift 3 Laptop Review Pros & Cons
Pros | Cons |
Aluminum Construction | Dim Display |
Strong 8th Gen core performance | Excessive bloatware |
Acer Swift 3 Price
The most impressive thing about Acer Swift 3 is its price. The Swift 3 price starts at £499 or $668.72 (currently discounted to £449 from Acer). At this feature, you can get a Core i3 CPU and 128GB SSD.
Buy Now on AmazonObviously, these specs won’t amaze you, but we have seen different metal laptops with Full HD IPS screens and keyboard backlights at this price.
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Acer introduced a slightly more expensive Swift 3. It has a Core i5 CPU and 256GB SSD. But, you will have these specs with the 6th-generation Core processor.
The latest model comes with a 7th-generation chip and the starting price is £649.99. There is a 1-year warranty of all the Swift 3s and you can also return to the Acer at your own price.
Acer Swift 3 laptop Design
Swift 3 is the expensive “all-metal” laptop and it is an upgraded version of legendary Acer S 13, which has a plastic lid.
The keyboard, the lid and even the silver parts area around the screen contain aluminum. Overall, the Acer Swift 3 laptop gives you a plastic look.
These laptops have a clean-look and we can regard them as stripped-back laptops. In these laptops, there are no flashy textures or embellishments to make it recognizable, whereas the black hinges divert attention.
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Now Acer also makes the gold version of swift 3s along with black/gold. Acer has nailed it, though.
The Acer Swift 3 remains hard and the keyboard is exceptionally strong. While the bottom joint isn’t perfect, there are no disturbing gaps. This is a mid-range laptop design with a perfect outlook.
Swift 3 is thin and light, its weight is 1.5Kg, so you can easily put it into your bag and carry out all day. Similarly, 18mm thickness is slim but not ultra-slim like current standards.
Swift 3 Ports and Connectivity
Acer probably fits in full-size slots and connectors tiny ones that need adapters for more options. On the right side of the laptop, there is a USB 2.0, headphone jack, Kensington lock, and full-size SD slot.
On the left side of the laptops, there is a cylindrical power socket and USB 3.0, USB-C 3.1 and full-size HDMI ports.
This is an excellent “cover all bases” array for all the persons. In these laptops, there is no Ethernet port.
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A fingerprint scanner remains next to the keyboard that can be used in Windows 10, while you need to log in with the pin or password.
Keyboard And TrackPad
The keyboard is also exceptionally good for the money especially its backlit. You can easily type in dark rooms, with the sub-key LEDs that shine through every character after you press the key.
Buy Now on AmazonWhen you use the keyboard, it provides a good feel. Because the distance between the keys is well-defined. Moreover, you will be more comfortable to type for a long period of time.
As seen in the Acer 13, it’s one of the most nicer keyboards ever in a mid-range portable laptop.
The trackpad is one of the amazing components of this luxury laptop, its surface contains plastic rather than the textured glass.
Having plastic material, the trackpad performs exceptionally well and it’s smooth. Moreover, it provides a glass-like feel while clicking. It is large enough to help you in performing your operations with ease.
Acer Swift 3 Screen
The display looks much better than the MacBook Air because it uses a Full HD IPS panel. It’s probably sharp and won’t have any problem with the contrast in any direction.
Core I series laptops are more expensive but they still use TN screens because the character display can be changed after viewing angle by just a few degrees. The contrast is exceptional.
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At 1051:1, it’s better than a lot of £1000+ or $1300+ laptops. The screen is much better at coping with reflections than glossy ones.
It’s not a touchscreen but you can bend it at 180 degrees. That is another amazing feature of flexibility.
The major problem with the laptop is its glossy display because maximum brightness is not good at 195cd/m2. Bright laptops manage 350cd/m2, so the Swift 3 brightness is below par.
The other major problem with the laptop is color. It covers just 55.6 percent of the sRGB standard and 38.6 of Adobe RGB.
Acer Swift 3 looks absolutely attractive with its amazing look the solid resolution, the great contrast, and the IPS panel technology.
Performance
All the version of the Acer Swift 3 has Intel Core i-series processor. In these laptops, built-in latest Kaby Lake generation chipsets are responsible for solid performance.
But the model, I am writing about, includes Skylake generation, Core i5-6200U rather than i5-7200U.
In Core i5-6200U a dual-core chipset clocked at 2.3GHz. These chips are used in several inexpensive machines and also provide excellent power and response. The i5-7200U is a 2.5GHz chip which boosts 3.1GHz speed and also 15-20 percent faster.
The use of SSD rather than a hard drive is necessary for the good speed of Windows 10. Swift 3 feels like a slim small computer, whose price is increasing day by day.
You will also see an increase in the price of the cheaper Core i3 version of Swift 3 too. The main difference between them is the Turbo frequency.
Our test model scored 2594 in PC Mark 8, the performance is excellent as compared to that of Acer Swift 7. Because this machine uses a y-series processor for minimum energy and heat use.
Those laptops, in which integrated graphics are used, are not for gaming purposes.
When you can play a year you will adjust the resolution of the laptop at the minimum level. But if you play a game every day so you can put the dedicated chipset in the chunkier laptops and that is better for you to play the games.
At the resolution of 720p, Thief (2013) runs at 21.3fps and it is very low than the typical one. The frame rate drops down to 5.2fps at 1080 resolution.
However, Alien Isolation operates very fast, having an average of 29.98fps at 720p and delivering the playable game at 1080p.
The visuals are turned up and it operates with an average of 13fps, which is probably not good.
The users were shocked because the Acer Swift 3 stay under pressure with less fan speed, moreover, without it the laptop becomes too hot.
The Acer Swift 3 comes with small fans. The laptop produces high pitch noise as the fan spins quickly but most of the time it doesn’t produce noise.
Sound Quality
The major problem of these laptops is their screen but the quality of sound has little issues too. Most of the other laptops’ sound quality is excellent but these laptops’ sound quality is not good.
The voice of sound is thin, with no bass and weak mid. The maximum sound of these laptops is limited, that’s why the laptop produces vibrations.
The speaker of these laptops looks comprehensive than the laptop itself but it is placed on the edge of the underside.
Battery Life
Acer Promises that the battery timing of these laptops is more than 10 hours and you can use continuously use it without any problem.
Playing a 720p video on loop at 120cd/m2 and power of this laptop is approximately 61 percent high, the laptop lasts for approximately 10 hours. That is the great performance of these laptops.