Acer Swift 3 Ryzen (2020) Review
Acer Swift 3 Ryzen Available in 13-, 14-, and 15-inch screen sizes, Swift 3 is one among Acer’s more-affordable, instead of the flagship, offerings. But the newest Swift 3 ultraportable (starts at $799.99; $1,099.99 for the Costco model we tested) may be a surprisingly premium piece: Priced $350 below a comparable Dell XPS 13, it joins that Editors’ Choice in shunning the quality 16:9 screen ratio. In the 13.5-inch Acer’s case, the panel features a squarer 3:2 ratio that the corporate says gives you 18 percent more vertical height for web and text scrolling. It’s well equipped with 16GB of RAM, a 512GB NVMe solid-state drive, and Thunderbolt 3 and HDMI ports, and lighter than the Dell at 2.62 pounds. Only a Core i7 processor that performed more sort of a Core i5 in a number of our benchmarks keeps it from being an Editors’ Choice itself.
Acer Swift 3 Ryzen (2020) Specs
| Laptop Class | Ultraportable |
| Processor | Intel Core i7-1065G7 |
| Processor Speed | 1.3 GHz |
| RAM (as Tested) | 16 GB |
| Boot Drive Type | SSD |
| Boot Drive Capacity (as Tested) | 512 GB |
| Screen Size | 13.5 inches |
| Native Display Resolution | 2256 x 1504 |
| Touch Screen | No |
| Panel Technology | IPS |
| Variable Refresh Support | None |
| Screen Refresh Rate | 60 Hz |
| Graphics Processor | Intel Iris Plus Graphics |
| Wireless Networking | Bluetooth, 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) |
| Dimensions (HWD) | 0.63 by 11.9 by 9.2 inches |
| Weight | 2.62 pounds |
| Operating System | Windows 10 Home |
| Tested Battery Life (Hours:Minutes) | 17:30 |
Comparison
With Dell XPS 13 and Apple MacBook Pro 13, we compared the Swift 3’s performance thereto of the Microsoft Surface Laptop 3, which not only has an equivalent CPU but an equivalent 13.5-inch screen resolution and 3:2 ratio, and therefore the Asus ZenBook 13, the sole ultraportable here with an Nvidia discrete GPU rather than integrated graphics. you’ll see the competitors’ basic specs below.
The Swift aced our most vital test for everyday use, Its integrated graphics are unsuited for serious gaming, although Intel’s Iris Plus graphics are better for casual gameplay than the chipmaker’s older UHD Graphics is. As I hinted above, the unit’s Core i7 chip fell short in one or two number-crunching synthetic tests, but that’s not a deal-breaker—you won’t mistake it for the knowledgeable workstation, but it’s fine for everyday spreadsheets.
Is Acer suitable for students?
Students will appreciate that it all feels pretty durable, especially for an ultraportable. the highest and bottom covers are aluminum, and therefore the palm rests are magnesium-aluminum. There’s some flex within the screen and keyboard, but not enough to form me worry about battering it around in my backpack. There also are sturdy pads on rock bottom to stop slipping.
There’s no touchscreen, and therefore the display doesn’t flip around to tent or tablet shape (though it can lay flat if need be). If you’re starting high school or college this year, it’s worth considering whether you’d prefer a tool with which you’ll take notes or draw diagrams.
Acer Swift 3 Ryzen Review
There’s an influence plug, an HDMI, a USB-A, and a USB-C on the left; on the proper, there’s a headphone jack, another USB-A, and a Kensington lock slot. If you’re not a lover of Acer’s brick, you’ll charge with the USB-C port also. One thing which may be nice to possess is an SD slot, but I’ll forgive that omission because this device is clearly not meant for creative work.
That brings me to the display, which is that the biggest compromise you’ll be making if you select the Swift 3. In testing, the 1920 x 1080 panel reproduced an underwhelming 65 percent of the sRGB spectrum and only hit 218 nits of brightness. For work and entertainment needs, that result’s okay, though it rules the Swift out for anyone who must do artistic work or wants their videos to seem as gorgeous as they will.
It does create problems with outdoor use, though. the Aspire 5 gets slightly brighter with similar sRGB results, while Lenovo’s IdeaPad 5 achieves over 300 nits (though color reproduction is slightly worse).
The other hindrance is that the 16:9 ratio, which makes multitasking a pain. As someone who usually stacks multiple windows side by side, we nearly always needed to zoom bent see everything we needed to directly. There are a couple of Swift 3 models with 3:2 displays that are a touch costlier but worth considering if you think that you’d enjoy extra screen space.
The bezels are fairly unobtrusive, measuring 5.5 millimeters on the edges, giving the entire thing a contemporary and professional look. Acer claims an 82.73 percent screen-to-body ratio. and therefore the finish is matte, which mitigates the consequences of glare in bright settings at the expense of some contrast.
The keyboard is on the shallow side, there’s a pleasant click thereto (and it’s even backlit). The touchpad is additionally fine and supports precision gestures, but it requires the touch of a firm press. The webcam is grainy, but it produces a serviceable picture. There’s no face recognition, One handy feature is that the integrated fingerprint reader, which is below the keyboard. It’s both fast (it takes but a second to authenticate) and quite reliable.
Finally
Swift 3 is ok but not great in almost every category. But if there’s one area where the device is punching above its weight class, it’s performance. That’s no surprise since AMD’s Ryzen 4000 series has spent much of this year redefining the results we should always expect from budget and mid-range products.
Swift 3 review sample is an eight-core AMD Ryzen 7 4700U 2.0GHz processor with Radeon graphics also as 512GB of storage and 8GB of RAM . Acer still features a $399 Core i3-8130U model on its website, but the most cost-effective listed Ryzen 4000 option is $619 and comes with a six-core Ryzen 5 4500U, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD. There are Intel options also, including a $679 configuration with a Core i5-1035G1.
This configuration should be fine for any similar load of faculty or work. But don’t think you even need these specs to urge an excellent experience. We’ve seen fantastic results from the six-core Ryzen 5 4500U, which performs comparably to a Core i7.
Anyone eyeing the Swift 3 can accompany one among those models The first complaint is that the speakers aren’t great. Audio is thin, even compared to other laptop speakers, with bass and percussion very muted.
