The Acer Swift Go 14 offers good general use performance and is lighter and more portable, making it suitable for everyday tasks and travel. However, if you require a laptop for more demanding processes like engineering applications, 3D rendering, or machine learning, the Lenovo Legion 5 17" with its higher-end GPU and larger screen would be a better fit despite being heavier and usually more expensive. The Legion also has a gaming laptop appearance, a higher screen refresh rate beneficial for fast motion, and better performance scores for intensive applications. 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 Go 14
Excellent portability
Good battery life
Advantages of the Lenovo Legion 5 17"
Good for gaming and AI
Good overall display quality
Good speakers
Key differences
Gaming and AI
6.4/10
7.4/10
3.7/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.5/10
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
8.7/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.5/10
The Lenovo Legion 5 17" is good for gaming and AI, while the Acer Swift Go 14 is only fair.
The Lenovo Legion 5 17" leads in gaming and 3D performance primarily because it houses a more powerful Nvidia RTX 3060 graphics card and offers a higher screen refresh rate of 144Hz compared to the Acer Swift Go 14, which uses an integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics card and has a lower 60Hz refresh rate. Additionally, while both have similar quality IPS displays, the Lenovo's dedicated GPU paired with the smoother screen can render games and 3D applications more effectively, providing a superior visual experience for those specific tasks.
Software Development
7.6/10
7.0/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
8.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
The Acer Swift Go 14 and Lenovo Legion 5 17" are both good for software development, though the Acer Swift Go 14 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
6.8/10
7.3/10
14.0in
SIZE
17.3in
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
300.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
305.0 nits
The Acer Swift Go 14 has a better screen than the Lenovo Legion 5 17" for software development, and content creation, while the Lenovo Legion 5 17" has a better screen for general use, gaming and AI, and engineering and design.
The Acer Swift Go 14 likely has a display with decent resolution and brightness, making documents and web pages look clear and vivid, which suits general use and engineering tasks that require accuracy in color representation, but its lower refresh rate hampers gaming where fluid motion is crucial. The Lenovo Legion 5 17", despite its name linking it to gaming, may have good resolution and color accuracy for general tasks and color-critical work in engineering and design but falls short in gaming experiences due to a subpar refresh rate. For both, the limitations in gaming and 3D work stem from their screen refresh rates being lower than what's preferred for those fast-paced, visually demanding activities despite having adequate resolution and color accuracy for other professional uses.
Battery
8.0 Hours
4.5 Hours
The Acer Swift Go 14 has 8 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
Excellent
Poor
14.0in
SIZE
17.3in
2.7 lbs
WEIGHT
6.5 lbs
0.5in
THICKNESS
1.0in
The Acer Swift Go 14 has excellent portability, while the Lenovo Legion 5 17" has poor portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Cost
$793
$1,200
$400
$600
$800
$1,000
$1,200
$1,400
$1,600
$1,800
The Acer Swift Go 14 has a price of $793 and the Lenovo Legion 5 17" costs $1,200.
The Acer Swift Go 14 and Lenovo Legion 5 17" are both good for general use.
The Acer Swift Go 14 offers great portability, with a lighter build and longer battery life, making it suited for those on the move, while its smaller screen and touch feature support comfortable browsing and media consumption. In contrast, the Lenovo Legion 5 17" has a larger screen and superior graphics performance, which is better for immersive entertainment and heavier workloads, but it's less portable due to its heavier weight and shorter battery life.
Engineering and Design
7.2/10
7.6/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
3.7/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.5/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Lenovo Legion 5 17" and Acer Swift Go 14 are both good for engineering and design.
The Acer Swift Go 14 offers a decent balance for engineering and design, with its capable CPU, sufficient RAM, and integrated GPU that's suitable for less demanding graphics tasks, plus it boasts a higher resolution touchscreen for detailed work, all in a lightweight and portable frame.
Content Creation
7.6/10
7.2/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Acer Swift Go 14 and Lenovo Legion 5 17" 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.
Build Quality
7.4/10
7.4/10
The Acer Swift Go 14 and Lenovo Legion 5 17" 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 Go 14 and the Lenovo Legion 5 17" compare to other laptops
"The Acer Swift Go 14 is a surprising machine. Its performance, display, and battery life leave little to be desired from a device at this price. You might think it’d be cheaper given the “Go” in the name, or thinner given its close competition with thin-and-light laptops, but it manages to strike a decent enough balance between its capabilities and hardware to really stand out as an exceptional value."
"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 Go 14 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.
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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