The Acer Swift 3 is a budget-friendly option that's lightweight and offers a good balance of performance and battery life for general use, making it ideal for students or professionals on the go. It has a touchscreen display with decent color accuracy and a backlit keyboard, which enhances usability. However, its gaming and engineering capabilities are limited due to the integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics.
On the other hand, the Lenovo LOQ 16i, while slightly more expensive, delivers superior performance for gaming, 3D rendering, and machine learning tasks thanks to its dedicated Nvidia RTX 4050 graphics card. It also has a larger, higher refresh rate display with better resolution, though it lacks a touchscreen. The LOQ 16i is heavier and has a shorter battery life, but it's still portable enough for occasional travel. It's a better choice for those who need more graphical power for intensive tasks but don't want a bulky gaming laptop.
In summary, choose the Acer Swift 3 for its portability, touchscreen, and suitability for everyday tasks. Opt for the Lenovo LOQ 16i if you prioritize performance for gaming and engineering tasks and can compromise a bit on portability and battery life. 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 LOQ 16i
Good for gaming and AI
Good overall display quality
Very good keyboard
Key differences
Gaming and AI
6.3/10
7.5/10
3.7/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.0/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1200
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
8.7/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
7.0/10
The Lenovo LOQ 16i 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
7.1/10
7.9/10
7.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.9/10
3.7/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.0/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Lenovo LOQ 16i and Acer Swift 3 are both good for engineering and design, though the Lenovo LOQ 16i is somewhat better.
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
6.8/10
7.2/10
14.0in
SIZE
16.0in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1200
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
309.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
329.0 nits
The Lenovo LOQ 16 has a better screen than the Acer Swift 3 for general use, and gaming and AI.
PerfectRec’s screen quality scores take into account various important factors that are relevant for different use cases.
Battery
12.0 Hours
6.0 Hours
The Acer Swift 3 has 12 hours of battery life. The Lenovo LOQ 16 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
16.0in
2.7 lbs
WEIGHT
5.7 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
1.0in
The Acer Swift 3 has very good portability, while the Lenovo LOQ 16i has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Cost
$500
$1,360
$0
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
The Acer Swift 3 has a price of $500 and the Lenovo LOQ 16i costs $1,360.
The Acer Swift 3 and Lenovo LOQ 16i 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
7.6/10
7.5/10
7.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.9/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1200
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Acer Swift 3 and Lenovo LOQ 16i 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
7.5/10
7.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.9/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1200
7.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.0/10
The Acer Swift 3 and Lenovo LOQ 16i 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 LOQ 16i 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 LOQ 16i 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."
"Gaming laptops with an RTX 4060 are available starting from about 1,000 Euros (~$1,060), even in 16-inch format. For the supposedly affordable Lenovo LOQ 16 (1,500 Euros, ~$1,591), the manufacturer particularly saves in the equipment and materials compared to the more expensive Legion series. In addition, the LOQ is slightly heavier and more bulky. What remains is anything but a laptop full of difficult compromises. Instead, this is a more than solid gaming laptop that focusses on the 3D performance.Q is slightly heavier and more bulky."
Get a great deal on the Acer Swift 3 or the Lenovo LOQ 16i
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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Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
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