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Updated January 10, 2024·
For intense engineering tasks, 3D rendering, machine learning, or gaming, the Dell G15 5520 is the better option as it has a superior graphics card suitable for such demanding uses. However, it's heavier and bulkier, making it less portable compared to the Acer Swift 3. The Swift 3, being more affordable and lighter, offers good general-use performance and longer battery life, ideal for everyday tasks and carrying around. The Swift 3 also has a touchscreen, which the Dell G15 does not, adding a level of convenience for certain users. If your priority is portability and value, go for the Acer Swift 3, but if you need top performance for specialized tasks and can handle less portability, then the Dell G15 5520 is the way to go. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs and product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars and the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Advantages of the Acer Swift 3
- Very good portability
- Very good battery life
Advantages of the Dell G15 5520
- Very good for engineering and design
- Good for gaming and AI
- Good overall display quality
- Very good speakers
- Very good keyboard
Key differences
Gaming and AI
6.3
7.7
3.7/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.3/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
8.7/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.7/10
The Dell G15 5520 is good for gaming and AI, while the Acer Swift 3 is only fair.
PerfectRec’s Gaming and AI Score strongly emphasizes graphics processing capability, while also taking into account other factors that impact suitability for gaming and AI work.
Engineering and Design
7.1
8.2
7.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
3.7/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.3/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Dell G15 5520 is very good for engineering and design, while the Acer Swift 3 is good.
PerfectRec’s Engineering and Design Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for graphic design and 3D rendering work.
Screen Quality
6.8
7.1
14.0in
SIZE
15.6in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
309.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
251.0 nits
The Dell G15 5520 has a better screen than the Acer Swift 3 for gaming and AI, and software development.
The Acer Swift 3 and Dell G15 5520 have panels with sufficient resolution and brightness for general usage, offering clear images and visibility in different lighting conditions, which is why they're rated well for that aspect. For engineering and design tasks, where accurate color representation is essential, both laptops provide decent coverage of color gamuts ensuring that the colors displayed are true to life, although they may not cover the professional color spaces completely. However, they fall behind for gaming and 3D because they lack high refresh rates, which are pivotal for smooth motion and fast-paced visuals, although their resolution and panel types are acceptable.
Battery
12.0 Hours
6.0 Hours
The Acer Swift 3 has 12 hours of battery life. The Dell G15 5520 has 6 hours of battery life.
Battery life estimate is based on a mix of common use patterns. More portable and higher performing laptops tend to have less battery life.
Portability
Very Good
Fair
14.0in
SIZE
15.6in
2.7 lbs
WEIGHT
5.5 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
1.0in
The Acer Swift 3 has very good portability, while the Dell G15 5520 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Cost
$500
$1,000
$200
$400
$600
$800
$1,000
$1,200
$1,400
$1,600
The Acer Swift 3 has a price of $500 and the Dell G15 5520 costs $1,000.
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Key similarities
General Use
7.7
7.9
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
309.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
251.0 nits
12.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
6.0 Hours
7.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
8.9/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
6.3/10
The Dell G15 5520 and Acer Swift 3 are both good for general use.
PerfectRec’s General Use Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for general productivity, web browsing, streaming, video calls, and running a wide variety of apps and programs.
Content Creation
7.6
7.9
7.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Dell G15 5520 and Acer Swift 3 are both good for content creation.
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, video editing and other content creation tasks.
Software Development
7.6
7.5
7.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
7.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
The Acer Swift 3 and Dell G15 5520 are both good for software development.
PerfectRec’s Software Development Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for software developers.
Build Quality
7.4
7.4
The Acer Swift 3 and Dell G15 5520 both have good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
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How the Acer Swift 3 and the Dell G15 5520 compare to other laptops
Spec Comparison
 |  | |
| Acer Swift 3 | Dell G15 5520 |
GENERAL | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | |||
$500 | $1,000 | ||
Release Date | |||
Release Date | May 1, 2023 | May 1, 2022 | |
Overall Dimensions | |||
Overall Dimensions | 12.6'' x 8.3'' x 0.63'' | 14.1'' x 10.7'' x 1.06'' | |
Weight | |||
Weight | 2.76 lbs | 5.55 lbs | |
Width | |||
Width | 12.6" | 14.06" | |
Depth | |||
Depth | 8.3" | 10.74" | |
INTERNAL | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Processor | |||
Processor | Intel i5-1240P | Intel i7-12700H | |
RAM | |||
RAM | 16 GB | 16 GB | |
DDR Memory Version | |||
DDR Memory Version | 4 | 5 | |
RAM Slots | |||
RAM Slots | 0 | 2 | |
Storage | |||
Storage | 512 GB | 1024 GB | |
BATTERY | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Battery Life | |||
Battery Life | 12 Hours | 6 Hours | |
Battery Capacity | |||
Battery Capacity | 56 Wh | 56 Wh | |
SCREEN | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Diagonal Size | |||
Diagonal Size | 14" | 15.6" | |
Display Technology | |||
Display Technology | IPS | IPS | |
Resolution | |||
Resolution | 1920 x 1080 | 1920 x 1080 | |
Refresh Rate | |||
Refresh Rate | 60Hz | 165Hz | |
Display Brightness | |||
Display Brightness | 309 nits | 251 nits | |
RELIABILITY, APPEARANCE & ACOUSTICS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Build Quality Score | |||
Build Quality Score | 7.4/10 | 7.4/10 | |
Portability Score | |||
Portability Score | 8.9/10 | 6.4/10 | |
Gaming Laptop Appearance | |||
Gaming Laptop Appearance | No | Yes | |
Premium Business Laptop | |||
Premium Business Laptop | No | No | |
Fan Noise Score | |||
Fan Noise Score | 8.8/10 | 6.8/10 | |
HARDWARE FEATURES | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Keyboard Quality Score | |||
Keyboard Quality Score | 7/10 | 8.5/10 | |
Speaker Quality Score | |||
Speaker Quality Score | 6.5/10 | 8.8/10 | |
Webcam | |||
Webcam | 1080p | 720p | |
Fingerprint Reader | |||
Fingerprint Reader | Yes | No | |
Backlit Keyboard | |||
Backlit Keyboard | Yes | Yes | |
Number Pad | |||
Number Pad | No | Yes | |
CONNECTIVITY | |||
|---|---|---|---|
USB Type-A | |||
USB Type-A | 2 | 3 | |
USB-C ports | |||
USB-C ports | 2 | 1 | |
USB-C Charging | |||
USB-C Charging | Yes | No | |
Display Outputs | |||
Display Outputs | 3 | 2 | |
Thunderbolt Version | |||
Thunderbolt Version | 4 | 4 | |
Shopping
Acer Swift 3
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Dig into reviews and images
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."
Dell G15 5520
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Dig into reviews and images
Rtings
Olivier Martin, Ryan Lim, and John Peroramas | April 2023
"The Dell G15 (2022) is a 15.6-inch budget gaming laptop, and is great for gaming. You can configure the laptop with powerful Intel 12th Gen. CPUs and various NVIDIA dedicated GPUs, all of which deliver a smooth gaming experience at 1080p. There's also a QHD 240Hz display option if you want better visuals, though you'll have to pair it with the top-end NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti to get good frame rates. It doesn't get overly hot or loud under load, and there's no noticeable throttling on the CPU or GPU. Unfortunately, the 120Hz panel has a slow response time, causing noticeable ghosting, and it doesn't support variable refresh rate."
Get a great deal on the Acer Swift 3 or the Dell G15 5520
About Acer
Acer is a prominent Taiwanese electronics brand which makes a wide range of laptops, with multiple product lines catering to personal use, gaming, and business use. They are renowned for having exceptional value for money, as they frequently offer good specifications at a lower price than other manufacturers.
About Dell
Dell is a highly recognizable American technology company, and is one of the largest personal computer vendor by market share. Their laptops are very popular for both personal and professional use, and they also own the Alienware brand which makes mid to high end gaming laptops. Their premium XPS range of laptops offer great build quality and portability, while Latitude and Precision laptops are known for reliability, repairability and performance for business users.
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