The Acer Swift 3 is a budget-friendly option that’s highly portable with decent performance suitable for general use. With its lower price, it offers solid battery life and a lightweight design, making it suitable for everyday tasks and carrying around. On the other hand, the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro is more expensive but delivers higher performance, especially for 3D tasks, machine learning, gaming, and demanding engineering software. It features a superior graphics card but is heavier and less portable. Choose the Acer for affordability and everyday use, or opt for the Lenovo if performance in specialized tasks and a larger, higher-resolution display are top priorities. 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 Lenovo Legion Pro 5
Very good for engineering and design
Very good for gaming and AI
Very good overall display quality
Good speakers
Very good keyboard
Key differences
Gaming and AI
6.3/10
8.4/10
3.7/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.9/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
8.7/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.5/10
The Lenovo Legion Pro 5 is very good for gaming and AI, while the Acer Swift 3 is only fair.
The Lenovo Legion Pro 5 is better suited for gaming and 3D applications because it has a powerful Nvidia RTX 4070 graphics card and a high screen refresh rate of 165 Hz, making games look smoother and more realistic. In contrast, the Acer Swift 3, while capable, is limited by its Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics and a standard refresh rate of 60 Hz, which provides a less immersive gaming experience.
Engineering and Design
7.1/10
8.5/10
7.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.3/10
3.7/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.9/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Lenovo Legion Pro 5 is very good for engineering and design, while the Acer Swift 3 is good.
The Acer Swift 3 is equipped with an Intel i5 CPU and integrated graphics, suitable for lighter engineering tasks and design work, while the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro, with a more powerful AMD Ryzen 7 CPU and Nvidia RTX GPU, is better suited for intensive engineering applications that require high processing power and complex graphical computations. Although the Swift 3 offers more portability, the Legion 5 Pro excels in tasks demanding robust performance at the expense of greater weight and size.
Screen Quality
6.8/10
8.0/10
14.0in
SIZE
16.0in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
309.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
340.0 nits
The Lenovo Legion Pro 5 has a better screen than the Acer Swift 3 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, and software development.
For general use, the Acer Swift 3's screen provides clear visuals and good brightness, making it comfortable for daily tasks, while the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 offers enhanced sharpness and brightness, improving the viewing experience further. In engineering and design, both laptops have displays capable of accurate colors, but the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 may have a wider color gamut, which is vital for precise color work. However, for gaming and 3D applications, both laptops fall short, as they likely lack the high refresh rates required for smooth motion rendering, which is key in fast-paced visual environments.
Battery
12.0 Hours
3.5 Hours
The Acer Swift 3 has 12 hours of battery life. The Lenovo Legion Pro 5 has 3.5 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
16.0in
2.7 lbs
WEIGHT
5.6 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.9in
The Acer Swift 3 has very good portability, while the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Cost
$500
$1,120
$0
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
The Acer Swift 3 has a price of $500 and the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 costs $1,120.
The Lenovo Legion Pro 5 and Acer Swift 3 are both good for general use.
The Acer Swift 3, with sufficient CPU and RAM for everyday tasks, offers a balance of screen quality, light weight, and long battery life for enhanced portability, making it suitable for general use. In contrast, the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro, while also equipped with ample CPU and RAM, boasts higher screen resolution and gaming-grade graphics, yet it is heavier and has shorter battery life, positioning it for users who need more power for intensive tasks but can sacrifice portability.
Content Creation
7.6/10
7.8/10
7.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.3/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Lenovo Legion Pro 5 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
7.6/10
7.6/10
7.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.3/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
7.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
The Lenovo Legion Pro 5 and Acer Swift 3 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
7.4/10
7.4/10
The Acer Swift 3 and Lenovo Legion Pro 5 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 Lenovo Legion Pro 5 compare to other laptops
"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."
"It doesn't quite match its Legion Pro 7i sibling as an Editors' Choice winner, but Lenovo's AMD-powered Legion Pro 5 Gen 8 is a stylish, well-built gaming laptop with solid performance at both 1080p and its sharper native resolution. It's cheaper than some comparably equipped machines and better than some similarly priced ones. That's a recipe for success, even without its frequent availability of discounts or sales. A brighter screen and longer battery life would be nice, but even as is the Legion Pro 5 earns a solid recommendation."
Get a great deal on the Acer Swift 3 or the Lenovo Legion Pro 5
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 Lenovo
Lenovo is a Chinese technology company, and one of the largest personal computer vendor. They are well known for a variety of technology products, including laptops. Their consumer series include their entry level IdeaPad and LOQ series and mid-to-high-end Yoga and Legion series. On the business-oriented side, their series include their entry-level ThinkBook series and mid-to-high-end ThinkPad series. Lenovo laptops offer strong performance for reasonable prices, and are often on sale.
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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