Hands-on: Acer Swift X packs the power of AMD and RTX 30 Series into a 3lb portable monster

Acer Swift X Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central

The PC industry has been riding the Ultrabook wave for many years now with super thin and calorie-free laptops. Merely the tradeoff is performance, with less powerful CPUs and the lack of discrete GPUs found in gaming laptops and workstation rigs.

The new Acer Swift X is an answer to that – an in-between laptop that is still super light ane.39 kg (3.06 lbs) merely tin can besides deliver some serious ability when needed. With a Zen 3 AMD Ryzen 7 5800u, new RTX 3050 Ti graphics, and a 14-inch display, the Acer Swift 10 is that sugariness spot.

Here's what this laptop is all virtually in our easily-on.

Acer Swift X: AMD, NVIDIA, and a make clean design

The Ryzen vii 5800U came merely a few months agone and is the more powerful of the two Ryzen seven U series. The 15W scrap features eight cores, 16 threads, 20MB of cache, and peaks at iv.4Ghz. The NVIDIA RTX 3050 Ti, meanwhile, was only appear earlier this month. The RTX 3050 Ti is a serious GPU, as it almost doubles the functioning of the GTX 1650 while also adding in DLSS to the mix.

Swift X Sfx14 41g Source: Acer

Category	Acer Swift X
Processor	Up to AMD Ryzen vii 5800U
RAM	Upwardly to 16GB RAM
Graphics	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti
Storage	Up to 2TB K.2 PCIe SSD
Display	fourteen inches 1920x1080 (FHD) IPS, 300 nits, 100% sRGB
Ports	USB-C HDMI Ii USB-A 3.5mm audio
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 6
Security	Fingerprint reader Kensington lock slot
Battery	59Wh Up to 17 hours
Dimensions	0.7 inches thin (17.9mm)
Weight	3.06 pounds (ane.39kg)
Cost	From $900
Availability	June (NA)

The Swift Ten itself combines all that ability into a laptop that is calorie-free and relatively thin (17.9 mm, or 0.7 in) chassis. It's not a gaming laptop (although it can undoubtedly game), but it is instead aimed at "professionals" who want a "make clean-looking notebook" that is powerful enough for real work and not but light productivity. Basically, creative pros like photographers, video editors, or even those crunching a lot of data.

Because the Ryzen seven 5800U is built on AMD'southward new Zen 3 cadre architecture, it should result in very practiced battery life (up to 17 hours) despite all those cores. Of course, the unit nosotros have on hand is a pre-production sample, so we are brash not to run benchmarks due to forthcoming driver optimizations.

The Swift Ten's 14-inch and 16:9 brandish are interesting. While it is merely total HD, it does feature a satisfying 85.seven% screen-to-body ratio and 100% sRGB color gamut. Perhaps the only downside is the max 300 nits of brightness below average for laptops these days (though information technology'due south OK for indoor utilise).

Being an AMD-based laptop, the lack of Thunderbolt iv is not too surprising, only you lot become a fast Type-C port, and there is Wi-Fi half-dozen onboard.

Acer Swift X Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Cardinal

The Swift 10 likewise wouldn't exist an Acer laptop with some humble bragging about its fan technology. To keep things cool and quiet, this laptop has a fan with "50-nine 0.3 mm blades and a pair of D6 copper estrus pipes to optimize its thermal efficiency." Not bad. But wait, there'due south more equally "an air inlet keyboard pattern expels around 8-ten% more heat than a standard keyboard, and a stereo ring with an inclined aeroplane sitting along the superlative of the fan delivers upward to a 5-10% improvement in airflow."

Of form, there are the usual effects of Acer cost-cut similar bottom-firing speakers, which are merely OK sounding, no IR for Windows Hello, mediocre webcam, and the usual reliance on thin metal to keep down the weight. But Acer'south keyboards are too quite skillful and what you become hither is a very compact but powerful laptop, which is yet non too common.

Acer Swift X: Gallery, pricing, and availability

But fifty-fifty those drawbacks take a back seat when you hear about the $900 starting price. Of course, that probably won't exist the maxed-out version nosotros accept here, but in that location is no doubt if yous're on a upkeep and need ability, the Acer Swift X should exist considered.

The Acer Swift 10 (SFX14-41G) volition be available in June starting at 899.99; in EMEA in Summer 2022 starting at 899 EUR; and in China in Q3'20, starting at RMB 6,499.

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