Choose the Acer Swift Go 14 if you're looking for a more affordable and lighter laptop with a decent battery life, suited for general use and some light engineering tasks. It's also got a good balance of performance and portability for everyday tasks. However, if your work involves intensive engineering, 3D rendering or machine learning, and cost is less of a concern, the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2, with its powerful processor, high RAM, and dedicated graphics card, will handle those tasks more efficiently, though it's heavier and less portable. Both have good screens with touch capability, but the Surface offers a higher resolution and refresh rate, which can be beneficial for detailed work and smoother visuals. 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
Advantages of the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2
Very good for general use
Very good for engineering and design
Good for gaming and AI
Very good for software development
Very good for content creation
Good overall display quality
Very good overall build quality
Very good speakers
Key differences
General Use
7.7/10
8.3/10
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
2400 x 1600
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
300.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
503.0 nits
8.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
8.0 Hours
8.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.0/10
9.0/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
7.5/10
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 is very good for general use, while the Acer Swift Go 14 is good.
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
6.4/10
7.7/10
3.7/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.5/10
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
2400 x 1600
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
8.7/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.7/10
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 is good for gaming and AI, while the Acer Swift Go 14 is only fair.
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 has superior gaming and 3D capabilities primarily because it has a dedicated Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU, which outperforms the integrated Intel Iris Xe GPU in the Acer Swift Go 14. Additionally, the Surface Laptop Studio 2 offers a higher screen refresh rate, contributing to a smoother visual experience, which is especially beneficial for gaming and 3D applications.
Engineering and Design
7.2/10
8.7/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
3.7/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.5/10
16.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 is very good for engineering and design, while the Acer Swift Go 14 is good.
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 surpasses the Acer Swift Go 14 with a significantly more powerful CPU, a high-end dedicated GPU, and considerably more RAM, all of which are crucial for demanding engineering and design tasks. Additionally, the Surface offers a higher resolution screen which enhances screen quality, all of which justify its less portable and heavier build compared to the more portable but less performance-oriented Acer Swift Go 14 with its integrated graphics.
Content Creation
7.6/10
8.4/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
2400 x 1600
16.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 is very good for content creation, while the Acer Swift Go 14 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
7.6/10
8.2/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
16.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
2400 x 1600
8.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.0/10
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 is very good for software development, while the Acer Swift Go 14 is good.
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
7.9/10
14.0in
SIZE
14.4in
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
2400 x 1600
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
300.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
503.0 nits
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 has a better screen than the Acer Swift Go 14 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
The Acer Swift Go 14 offers a solid balance of resolution and brightness, making it suitable for browsing, documents, and media, but its limited color gamut restricts its effectiveness for precision color work in engineering and design, and its lower refresh rate diminishes the gaming and 3D experience. On the other hand, the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 excels with a higher resolution and brightness, along with a wide color gamut, enhancing the visual precision essential for professional engineering and design tasks, but like the Acer, it falls short for gaming and 3D due to a refresh rate that's not tailored for such high-frame-rate demands. For customers interested in general use and design work who prioritize screen quality and high color accuracy, the Surface might be the better choice, but neither laptop is ideal for gaming enthusiasts who seek fluid motion and quick screen responses.
Portability
Excellent
Good
14.0in
SIZE
14.4in
2.7 lbs
WEIGHT
4.4 lbs
0.5in
THICKNESS
0.8in
The Acer Swift Go 14 has excellent portability, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 has good portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
7.4/10
8.5/10
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 has very good build quality, while the Acer Swift Go 14 has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$793
$3,300
$0
$1,000
$2,000
$3,000
$4,000
The Acer Swift Go 14 has a price of $793 and the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 costs $3,300.
"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 new Surface Laptop Studio with its foldable display is supposed to replace the old Surface Book and the overall impression is good after our review. The build quality and the materials are top-notch, the performance utilization of the two components is solid and the device does not show any major flaws in terms of display or speakers, either. The folding mechanism leaves a sold impression as well, but it remains to be seen how it will hold up over the years. The so-called presentation mode is also not ideal since it covers the whole keyboard."
Get a great deal on the Acer Swift Go 14 or the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2
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 Microsoft
Microsoft is an American technology corporation. Microsoft is best known for their Windows operating system and Surface laptop series. The Surface Laptop is their standard notebook offering, while their Surface Go, Surface Pro, and Surface Studio are their 2-in-1/tablet offerings in order of increasing capability. Although Microsoft charges a premium price tag for their laptops, buyers can expect a well integrated and packaged device since Microsoft develops the Windows operating system.
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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