Acer Swift 3
Acer Swift 3
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GENERAL USE: Good—7.2/10
GAMING/AI: Fair—6.0/10
ENG/DESIGN: Fair—6.5/10
SOFTWARE DEV: Good—7.3/10
CONTENT CREATION: Good—7.4/10
PORTABILITY: Very Good—8.9/10
BATTERY: Very Good—8.8/10
OVERALL SCREEN QUALITY: Fair—6.9/10
OVERALL PERFORMANCE: Fair—6.2/10
SIZE: 14"
The Acer Swift 3 is a budget-friendly option with an Intel i5 processor and integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics, which offer decent general performance but may struggle with heavy 3D rendering, machine learning, or intensive gaming. With 8 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage, it's suitable for everyday tasks and moderate multitasking. Its IPS display provides good color accuracy and viewing angles but isn't designed for high-end color work. The laptop is lightweight and portable with a 14-inch screen, which makes it suitable for on-the-go use while offering a battery life that should last through a day of typical usage. The build quality and heat management are good, and fan noise is kept low. It lacks a dedicated number pad but has a backlit keyboard and a fingerprint reader, enhancing convenience and security. The laptop supports USB-C charging and includes a variety of ports such as USB-C, Thunderbolt 4, and HDMI. Overall, if you're looking for a portable laptop for general use and some light media editing or casual gaming, the Acer Swift 3 could serve you well. However, for demanding engineering tasks, you might need to look at laptops with more powerful processors and dedicated graphics cards. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Evaluation
Pros
- Lightweight and portable design
- Backlit keyboard with fingerprint reader
- Good general use performance
- Decent screen color coverage
- USB-C charging capability
Cons
- No hardware ray tracing or DLSS
- Limited for 3D/machine learning tasks
- No ethernet port available
- Lower battery life compared to some competitors
Ratings by Category
Battery Life:4.7
PerfectRec’s Battery Life rating is based on hours of battery life in typical usage scenarios.
Portability:4.7
PerfectRec’s portability rating takes into account the volume and thickness of the laptop as well as its weight.
Operating Noise:4.6
PerfectRec’s Operating Noise Score is based on fan noise measurements. Laptops with a fanless design, such as Macbooks, receive the maximum score.
Content Creation:4.2
PerfectRec’s Content Creation Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for photo editing, and video editing work.
In addition to a strong emphasis on overall performance, this score also places very high importance on screen quality. Heat management, storage, keyboard and speaker quality are also incorporated, with fan noise rounding out this score.
Build Quality:4.2
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, chassis rigidity, and overall reliability. Our assessment of build quality includes many details that are difficult to quantify. Our laptop experts use their best judgment to produce the final score.
General Use:4.1
The Acer Swift 3 is fair for general use because it has adequate main processor and RAM for everyday tasks and maintains good heat management, ensuring comfort during use. It also offers a balance of reasonable battery life and high portability, making it a practical choice for users needing mobility without frequent charging.
Software Development:4.1
PerfectRec’s Software Development Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for software development.
In addition to a strong emphasis on overall performance, this score also places very high importance on screen quality. Heat management, storage, keyboard and speaker quality are also incorporated, with fan noise rounding out this score.
General Use Screen Quality:4.0
The general use screen score is based on the screen technology, contrast ratio, resolution, brightness, color gamut and color accuracy. This score does not take into account specialized display features for specific use cases, such as high refresh rate for gaming.
Keyboard Quality:4.0
The Keyboard Quality score is based on the PerfectRec experts’ assessment of tactile feedback, typing comfort, keyboard reliability and typing noise.
Engineering & Design:3.5
The Acer Swift 3 has a decent processor and integrated graphics, sufficient for lighter engineering and design tasks, but may struggle under heavy workloads like 3D rendering due to lack of a dedicated GPU and modest RAM. Additionally, while the screen quality is acceptable with a good sRGB coverage, it falls short in color accuracy in professional design environments as seen in the limited DCI-P3 and Adobe RGB coverage, which are important for color-sensitive work.
Gaming & AI:3.1
The Acer Swift 3's gaming and 3D capabilities are limited because it has an integrated Intel Iris Xe GPU, which doesn't perform as well as dedicated gaming GPUs, and it also has a standard screen refresh rate of 60Hz, which is less smooth compared to higher refresh rates found on more gaming-focused laptops.
Full Specs
GENERAL | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | |||
| Price | $521 | ||
Release Date | May 1, 2021 | ||
Overall Dimensions | 12.7'' x 8.4'' x 0.63'' | ||
Weight | 2.65 lbs | ||
Width | 12.7" | ||
Depth | 8.35" | ||
INTERNAL | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Processor | Intel i5-1135G7 | ||
RAM | 8 GB | ||
DDR Memory Version | 4 | ||
RAM Slots | 0 | ||
Storage | 512 GB | ||
BATTERY | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Battery Life | 12 Hours | ||
Battery Capacity | 48 Wh | ||
SCREEN | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Diagonal Size | 14" | ||
Display Technology | IPS | ||
Resolution | 1920 x 1080 | ||
Refresh Rate | 60Hz | ||
Display Brightness | 309 nits | ||
RELIABILITY, APPEARANCE & ACOUSTICS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Build Quality Score  | 7.4/10 | ||
Portability Score | 9/10 | ||
Gaming Laptop Appearance | No | ||
Premium Business Laptop | No | ||
Fan Noise Score | 8.8/10 | ||
HARDWARE FEATURES | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Keyboard Quality Score | 7/10 | ||
Speaker Quality Score | 6.5/10 | ||
Webcam | 720p | ||
Fingerprint Reader | Yes | ||
Backlit Keyboard | Yes | ||
Number Pad | No | ||
CONNECTIVITY | |||
|---|---|---|---|
USB Type-A | 2 | ||
USB-C ports | 2 | ||
USB-C Charging | Yes | ||
Display Outputs | 2 | ||
Thunderbolt Version | 4 | ||
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NotebookCheck
Sebastian Jentsch | February 2022
"With the Swift 3, Acer delivers a 14-inch laptop with a sleek, slim metal chassis. The latter is of high quality and sturdy enough for everyday use, which is a real plus point among the 700-Euro (~$798) models. A new feature is Thunderbolt 4 in the Type-C format for peripherals or even displays (DisplayPort via Type-C). Unfortunately, a card reader is still missing, and the RAM is completely onboard, so there are no upgrade options here. Acer's 14-incher is affordable, yet it does everything most would want from a truly mobile laptop: Long battery life, a great display, quality, sufficient ports, light weight, and low noise and heat emissions."
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This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec laptops team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest laptop information and makes it digestible for you.
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