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What we think
The PerfectRec laptop team Learn more
Updated January 10, 2024·
The Acer Swift Edge 16 is more portable and offers a high-resolution OLED screen, which is great for media consumption and general use. It also has a longer battery life. If your primary need is a lightweight laptop for work and everyday tasks, with moderate performance for occasional creative or engineering work, this could be the right choice. On the other hand, the Lenovo Legion 5 17" has a more powerful processor and superior gaming graphics with dedicated ray tracing and DLSS capabilities, making it more suited for intensive gaming, 3D rendering, or engineering software, albeit at the cost of less portability and shorter battery life. Choose the Acer for portability and screen quality or the Lenovo for gaming and performance-intensive tasks. 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 Edge 16
- Very good for engineering and design
- Very good for content creation
- Very good overall display quality
- Very good portability
- Good battery life
Advantages of the Lenovo Legion 5 17"
- Good for gaming and AI
- Good speakers
- Very good keyboard
Key differences
General Use
7.9
7.2
3200 x 2000
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
OLED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
383.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
305.0 nits
7.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
4.5 Hours
6.7/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
8.8/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
5.8/10
The Acer Swift Edge 16 and Lenovo Legion 5 17" are both good for general use, though the Acer Swift Edge 16 is somewhat better.
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.
Gaming and AI
6.7
7.4
4.0/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.5/10
3200 x 2000
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
8.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.5/10
The Lenovo Legion 5 17" is good for gaming and AI, while the Acer Swift Edge 16 is only fair.
The Acer Swift Edge 16, with its AMD Radeon 780M GPU and a screen refresh rate of 120 Hz, is built for a balance of mobility and performance in gaming and 3D tasks, while the Lenovo Legion 5 17" leans more toward raw performance with an Nvidia RTX 3060 GPU and a higher refresh rate of 144 Hz, but it's less portable due to its larger size and weight. Both have quality screens and capable CPUs, but the Lenovo offers a slightly better gaming experience due to its higher refresh rate, at the expense of being heftier and less easy to carry.
Content Creation
8.1
7.2
8.8/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
3200 x 2000
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
OLED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Acer Swift Edge 16 is very good for content creation, while the Lenovo Legion 5 17" is good.
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
7.9
7.0
8.8/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
3200 x 2000
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
6.7/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
The Acer Swift Edge 16 and Lenovo Legion 5 17" are both good for software development, though the Acer Swift Edge 16 is somewhat better.
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.
Screen Quality
8.8
7.3
16.0in
SIZE
17.3in
3200 x 2000
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
OLED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
383.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
305.0 nits
The Acer Swift Edge 16 has a better screen than the Lenovo Legion 5 17" for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, software development, and content creation.
The Acer Swift Edge 16 provides clear and vivid displays for general activities and detailed work in engineering thanks to its high-resolution screen and wide color coverage, but it falls short for 3D applications due to a lower refresh rate. Conversely, the Lenovo Legion 5 17" offers a decent visual experience for everyday tasks and professional design with adequate resolution and color reproduction, but it also lacks the high refresh rate that's crucial for immersive 3D experiences. For both engineering and general use, screen resolution and color accuracy are critical, and while both laptops deliver in these areas, gamers and 3D designers should consider models with faster screen refresh rates to ensure fluid motion and responsiveness.
Battery
7.0 Hours
4.5 Hours
The Acer Swift Edge 16 has 7 hours of battery life. The Lenovo Legion 5 17" has 4.5 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
Poor
16.0in
SIZE
17.3in
2.7 lbs
WEIGHT
6.5 lbs
0.5in
THICKNESS
1.0in
The Acer Swift Edge 16 has very good portability, while the Lenovo Legion 5 17" has poor portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Cost
$820
$1,200
$400
$600
$800
$1,000
$1,200
$1,400
$1,600
$1,800
The Acer Swift Edge 16 has a price of $820 and the Lenovo Legion 5 17" costs $1,200.
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Key similarities
Engineering and Design
8.1
7.6
8.8/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
4.0/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.5/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Acer Swift Edge 16 to be very good for engineering and design, while the Lenovo Legion 5 17" is good.
The Acer Swift Edge 16 stands out for engineering and design use due to its high-resolution OLED screen which provides excellent color accuracy and detail for visual tasks, powered by AMD's Ryzen and Radeon combination which is competent for computational and graphical tasks. Meanwhile, the Lenovo Legion 5 17" includes a dedicated Nvidia RTX GPU alongside an Intel CPU, bringing robust performance suited for graphics-intensive engineering software, though its increased weight and larger size reduce portability compared to the sleeker Acer Swift Edge.
Build Quality
7.2
7.4
The Lenovo Legion 5 17" and Acer Swift Edge 16 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 Edge 16 and the Lenovo Legion 5 17" compare to other laptops
Spec Comparison
 |  | |
| Acer Swift Edge 16 | Lenovo Legion 5 17" |
GENERAL | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | |||
$820 | $1,200 | ||
Release Date | |||
Release Date | May 1, 2023 | October 1, 2021 | |
Overall Dimensions | |||
Overall Dimensions | 14.1'' x 9.7'' x 0.51'' | 15.7'' x 11.4'' x 1'' | |
Weight | |||
Weight | 2.73 lbs | 6.57 lbs | |
Width | |||
Width | 14.08" | 15.7" | |
Depth | |||
Depth | 9.68" | 11.41" | |
INTERNAL | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Processor | |||
Processor | AMD Ryzen 7 7840U | Intel i7-11800H | |
RAM | |||
RAM | 16 GB | 16 GB | |
DDR Memory Version | |||
DDR Memory Version | 5 | 4 | |
RAM Slots | |||
RAM Slots | 0 | 2 | |
Storage | |||
Storage | 1024 GB | 256 GB | |
BATTERY | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Battery Life | |||
Battery Life | 7 Hours | 4.5 Hours | |
Battery Capacity | |||
Battery Capacity | 54 Wh | 80 Wh | |
SCREEN | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Diagonal Size | |||
Diagonal Size | 16" | 17.3" | |
Display Technology | |||
Display Technology | OLED | IPS | |
Resolution | |||
Resolution | 3200 x 2000 | 1920 x 1080 | |
Refresh Rate | |||
Refresh Rate | 120Hz | 144Hz | |
Display Brightness | |||
Display Brightness | 383 nits | 305 nits | |
RELIABILITY, APPEARANCE & ACOUSTICS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Build Quality Score | |||
Build Quality Score | 7.2/10 | 7.4/10 | |
Portability Score | |||
Portability Score | 8.9/10 | 5.8/10 | |
Gaming Laptop Appearance | |||
Gaming Laptop Appearance | No | Yes | |
Premium Business Laptop | |||
Premium Business Laptop | No | No | |
Fan Noise Score | |||
Fan Noise Score | 8/10 | 6.5/10 | |
HARDWARE FEATURES | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Keyboard Quality Score | |||
Keyboard Quality Score | 6.8/10 | 8.5/10 | |
Speaker Quality Score | |||
Speaker Quality Score | 6.5/10 | 7/10 | |
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 | 4 | |
USB-C ports | |||
USB-C ports | 2 | 2 | |
USB-C Charging | |||
USB-C Charging | Yes | Yes | |
Display Outputs | |||
Display Outputs | 3 | 3 | |
Thunderbolt Version | |||
Thunderbolt Version | N/A | 4 | |
Shopping
Acer Swift Edge 16
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Dig into reviews and images
PCWorld
Matthew S. Smith | October 2023
"The Acer Swift Edge 16 is a solid super thin-and-light that pairs a large, gorgeous 16-inch display with portable design that rivals the weight of LG’s superlight Gram 16. Remarkably, Acer achieves this at a lower price point without sacrificing performance. Boring design and disappointing battery life hold the laptop back from stardom, but its rivals frequently suffer in these areas, too. That makes the Swift Edge 16 an alluring value pick."
Lenovo Legion 5 17"
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Dig into reviews and images
NotebookCheck
Sebastian Bade | February 2022
"The Lenovo Legion 5 17 is a current-gen 17-inch gaming laptop and equipped with the latest AMD CPU and a powerful GPU, that manages to reach its full potential. The AMD Ryzen 5 5600H is a very good choice for this laptop and able to maintain its performance level for long periods of time. Our test model only falls behind consistently in a direct comparison with its competitors that are often equipped with eight cores and 16 threads. Despite this, the Legion 5 17 leaves an excellent impression and is almost able to keep up with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 mobile GPU in synthetic benchmarks."
Get a great deal on the Acer Swift Edge 16 or the Lenovo Legion 5 17"
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.
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