Acer has revealed its newest laptops, the Swift 5 and Swift 3, the former of which is designed for executives and mobile professionals and the latter for mobile users. Both come with 12th Gen Intel Core processors, touchscreen displays, and all-day batteries.
The new Acer Swift 5 (SF514-56T) premium laptop comes housed in a CNC-machined unibody chassis and the 12th Gen Intel Core processor featuring up to 12 cores with Intel Iris Xe graphics. At just 1.2 kg in weight thanks to aero-space grade aluminum, it comes in a 14.95 mm thin package with 16 GB dual-channel LPDDR5 memory and up to 2 TB of PCIe Gen 4 SSD storage.
The Swift 5 features Windows Hello built into a fingerprint reader on the power button in order to provide more convenient and secure logins. From there, Cortana with Voice functions as a personal productivity assistant. The laptop has also been Intel Evo-verified as meeting key experience targets such as instant wake from sleep and offering 10 hours of real-world battery life. In a pinch, a 30-minute charge yields over four hours of battery.
The laptop’s OceanGlass touchpad has been made from ocean-bound plastic waste, providing sleek glass-like tactile feeling. The touchpad, meanwhile, has a Microsoft Precision Touchpad certification and supports multi-finger gestures.
The Acer Swift 5 features a WQXGA (2,560 x 1,600) touchscreen display, with thin bezels on all four sides of the screen, allowing for a 92.22% screen-to-body ratio. A 16:10 aspect ratio offers more vertical real estate than the traditional 16:9 aspect ratio so you can see more of a document or spreadsheet before needing to scroll. The display is made with a layer of Antimicrobial Corning Gorilla glass that is both tough and embedded with ionic silver to protect the surface.
Acer says the Swift 5 is a particularly good choice for those working from home or out and about taking many conference calls. Its FHD MIPI webcam leverages Acer’s Temporal Noise Reduction (TNR) technology to provide high-quality video feedback even when in low-light conditions, while technology like Acer PurifiedVoice with AI Noise Reduction ensures your voice comes through loud and clear. The laptop also comes with Wi-Fi 6E for enhanced overall connectivity.
The backlit keyboard features an air inlet design that expels 8-10% more heat than a standard keyboard, while an upgraded TwinAir dual-fan system and D6 heat pipes further increase airflow and thermal efficiency. Tailor this cooling performance to suit the task currently at hand by pressing “Fn+F” to cycle between three usage modes: silent, normal, and performance.
It comes with a pair of Thunderbolt 4 ports, HDMI 2.1 port, and two USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports (one of which can be used to provide power to devices even when the laptop itself is turned off).
Meanwhile, the 14-inch Acer Swift 3 (SF314-512), available in three colour-washed designs, also has the 12th Gen Intel Core processors and up to 2 TB of SSD storage. It features a bright 16:9 QHD or FHD touch display and an FHD webcam with Acer’s TNR technology for better video calls. It also features Wi-Fi 6E, DTS Audio, and USB Type-C, USB Type-A, and HDMI 2.1 ports.
The Swift 3 can be fast charged, yielding four hours of battery life off a single 30-minute charge. The Swift 3 also comes equipped with Acer’s TwinAir dual-fan cooling system, which offers a 65.8% improvement over the thermal performance of a single fan alone.
“Intel and Acer have a long history of co-engineering to deliver amazing laptops,” says Josh Newman, Vice President and General Manager of Client Computing Group Mobile Innovation. “Now, more than ever, our engineers are focused on the experiences that matter most with the Intel Evo platform, powered by 12th Gen Intel Core processors.”
Both computers will be available in June, the Acer Swift 5 in North America starting at US$1,499 and the Acer Swift 3 starting at US$850.