When we last saw the Acer Swift 3 in July 2020, it was an ultraportable laptop with a 13.5-inch screen and a boxy 3:2 aspect ratio that made us say it was cool to be square. The Swift 3 changes direction with the 2021 model, which has a 14-inch screen with the more common and rectangular 16:9 ratio. This makes us miss last year’s taller view and less scrolling.
If you don’t mind the wider screen or want it because you watch a lot of movies on your laptop, there’s a lot to like about the new Swift 3, from its all-metal body and Thunderbolt 4 support to its long battery life and reasonable price.
Specifications
- Processor Intel Core i7-1165G7
- Processor Speed 2.8 GHz
- RAM (as Tested) 16 GB
- Boot Drive Type SSD
- Boot Drive Capacity (as Tested) 512 GB
- Screen Size 14 inches
- Native Display Resolution 1,920 by 1,080
Where to get Acer Swift 3 Intel Evo?
The Swift 3 has an Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 512GB solid-state drive. It has a 14-inch screen. The processor in our system is upgraded to a Core i7, and the amount of memory is doubled. Even though having a 512GB SSD in the base model is nice (256GB is getting tight), it makes the $300 upgrade less appealing because it doesn’t give you any more storage. All of the models have a non-touch screen with full HD resolution (1,920 by 1,080 pixels) and a 16:9 aspect ratio.
The Swift 3 looks like a silver study. The aluminium case has a silver top, silver keys on the keyboard deck, and a silver bottom panel. The matte black plastic bezels around the screen are the only parts of the laptop that aren’t silver. It all comes together to make a simple, if one-note, style that looks good in a boardroom or a coffee shop.
The metal frame is sturdy. The screen is well protected because the lid is rigid, and the keyboard deck feels firm. The chassis doesn’t bend much, and the display hinge doesn’t cause the dreaded screen wobble. This Swift 3 is 0.63 inches thick, 12.7 inches wide, and 8.4 inches deep. It weighs 2.71 pounds. Because the screen aspect ratio is different, this Swift 3 is wider and shallower than the Swift 3 we tested last year. This year’s model weighs a little more than last year’s model, which weighed 2.62 pounds, but it is still very portable (and lighter than the 2.8-pound Dell XPS 13).
The keyboard is comfortable, and the shallow travel makes the keys feel quick and responsive without being as stiff as an older “butterfly” keyboard on a MacBook. The biggest problem is that the cursor arrow keys are too small. The up and down arrows share a single key, and the left and right arrow keys are only half as tall because Acer put the Page Up and Page Down keys on top of them. Before you stop hitting the wrong keys, you’ll have to get used to it.