The Acer Swift 3 (2021) is a top-notch selection for your college-sure student, with all-day battery life, brief performance, and more.
The Acer Swift 3 (2021) is a more cheap Ultrabook that has been modified to work with the Intel Evo platform. This entails some significant under-the-hood improvements, particularly in terms of battery life.
The laptop doesn’t quite fit into the same affordable pricing category as earlier Swift 3 models, so it’ll have to compete with HP’s Envy series, which includes the significantly more attractive Envy x360 15 (2021). It even compares favorably to the M1 MacBook Air and the Dell XPS 13. That’s a tough market to get into, but the Acer Swift 3 offers a few features that help it stand out, even if it doesn’t win out in the end.
You can also check out our reviews of the Acer Aspire 5, Acer Predator Helios 300, and Acer Chromebook Spin 311.
Acer Swift 3: Price and availability
The Acer Swift 3 (2021) is now to be had withinside the United States in a number of configurations, ranging from $709 (about £585, AU$1,095) for an Intel Core i5-1135G7 version with 8GB of reminiscence and 512GB of the garage to $709 at a discounted price (about £735, AU$1,370) for an Intel Core i7-1165G7 version with 16GB of reminiscence and 512GB of the garage.
These new fashions are but to be launched withinside the United Kingdom.
Acer has additionally broken up the Swift 3 (2021) portfolio into variants, one with a 13.5-inch show with a three:2 factor ratio and the alternative with a 16.1-inch show and a 16:nine factor ratio.
Acer Swift 3: Design
The Acer Swift 3 (2021) is a silver, all-metal, ultra-skinny pc that immediately competes with the 13-inch MacBook Air. Its profile and pricing are identical. It’s clear that Acer is in search of to carve out a spot for itself withinside the market.
The silver lid of the unit is included with steel flecks and has a chrome Acer emblem withinside the middle whilst closed. This pc isn’t always openly appealing or flamboyant.
However, it does have a positive enchantment way to the fashionable accents Acer has applied to differentiate the Swift 3. The Acer Swift 3 (2021) may be without problems opening the way to the well-designed despair at the front.
The Acer Swift 3 (2021)’s 14-inch FHD display screen is enclosed in a skinny bezel with chrome accents whilst you open the lid. The ordinary 720p HD webcam is snuggled within the bezel above the middle of the display.
As you appear down, you may word the backlit chiclet-fashion keyboard, which has matte silver keys focused on the deck.
A fingerprint scanner well suited to Windows Hello is placed simply beneath the keyboard at the right, permitting you to fasten and free up the pc together along with your fingers.
I become amazed to peer that Acer did now no longer encompass a digital digicam shutter to offer the person a little privacy. The palm resting at the deck is a superb size, and the touchpad is relatively left of the middle underneath the keyboard.
The Acer Swift 3 (2021) is barely lighter than the MacBook Air, measuring 12.7 x eight.four x 0.6 inches and weighing 2.6 kilos (2.eight kilos and 12 x eight.four x 0.6 inches).
Both are substantially lighter than the HP Envy x360 15, which weighs 4.42 kilos and measures 14.1 x nine.6 x 0.seventy four inches. The Microsoft SurfaceBook Pro 7+ is our lightweight winner, measuring 11. five x 7. nine x 033 and weighing most effective 1.8 pounds.
Acer Swift 3: Ports
The Acer Swift 3 (2021)contains all of the ports that most college students and others who work with them would need to connect to their peripherals. On the right, there’s a 3.5 blend audio port, a USB-Type A port, and a Kensington lock slot.
A USB-Type A port, an HDMI port, and a Gen 3.2 are all included. On the left, there are two USB-Type C Thunderbolt 4 ports and a power adapter port.
Acer Swift 3: Display
The display on the Acer Swift 3 (2021) could save it. It’s a brilliant display with a pleasant anti-glare coating. We’ve used it regularly outdoors in broad light, and unlike with dimmer or glossy screens, we never struggle to see what we’re doing.
The bottom-firing speakers are among the best we’ve ever heard in a laptop, and they go loud enough without sounding unpleasant or tinny.
A couple of USB-A ports (one on each side) are welcome additions, and the USB-C port on the left, which can also serve as a Thunderbolt 4 port and provide power, opens the door to real connectivity.
It’s also nice to have the option of using a barrel adapter or USB-C for power. On a thin-and-light laptop, a full-size HDMI connector isn’t often standard, but Acer offers one.
We’d accept the Acer Swift 3’s plainness if it were a true mid-range laptop, but because of its strong internals, Acer has priced it closer to the HP Envy x360, Asus Zenbook 13, and Dell XPS 13 and failed to make a proportional upgrade to the exterior.
Acer Swift 3: Performance
The Acer Swift 3 (2021)’s performance may be able to compensate for its aesthetics. That unattractive upward-facing exhaust vent could be the same factor that propels it ahead of comparably equipped Ultrabooks with more beautiful construction, such as the Dell XPS 13. (Late 2020).
In fact, despite both laptops being powered by the same processor, the Acer Swift 3 (2021) outperformed it in every single one of our performance tests.
More: The Best Laptops of 2022
The Acer Swift 3 (2021) did extremely well in our tests. Single-core performance is excellent for a laptop, and multi-core performance is also excellent, albeit the Ryzen 7 5700U offers better multi-core performance because of its additional cores.
When the Acer Swift 3 flexes its muscles, the fans start up a little, but it’s nothing like the screaming that gaming laptops make with their cooling systems.
The narrative of 2020 and 2021, on the other hand, continues with the Acer Swift 3 (2021), a Windows 10 Ultrabook that falls short of the M1 MacBook Air in terms of performance and appearance, while it isn’t quite up to par in terms of port diversity.
The benchmarks, on the opposite hand, are not the whole picture. The battery’s overall performance varies. We’ve spent quite a little time with the Acer Swift 3 (2021), and we have got observed that it regularly stalls and feels unresponsive, on occasion failing to load software after which throwing up many times of it numerous seconds later.
It’s now no longer the main flaw, and it does not occur each minute, however, it is a non-stop loss of responsiveness that we failed to see on numerous laptops that certainly finished worse in benchmark tests.
Acer Swift 3: Audio
The sound pleasant of the Acer Swift 3 (2021) earned it a few points. The audio is crisp, with a little intensity withinside the decreased frequencies.
Although it isn’t always a bass thumper, the 2 audio systems accomplished a very good process of manufacturing wonderful bass, mid, and excessive notes. In a medium-sized space, the audio system had been loud sufficient to be heard clearly.
The DTS-tuned audio system additionally achieved properly once I placed on a few Thelonious Monk, beginning with Monk’s Dream Album, with the one’s cute horns, snare drums, and that magic this is Monk’s hands dancing throughout the ebony and ivory keys just like the Gandalf of Jazz piano that he became.
The Acer Swift did this type of cute process reproducing every and each candy note, I grabbed my lady friend for a fast dance.
While looking at The Matrix trailer, the audio system properly reproduced all of the unique sound effects, and my favorite part, became the inflection in Neil Patrick Harris’s voice while he says “We don’t use that phrase here.”
The Acer Swift 3’s typical audio reveal is brilliant for a person who can use the pc to entertain themselves even as touring or in a dorm room. With alternatives for movies, music, games, and a configurable EQ option, the DTS software program package deal capabilities with an easy and easy-to-use setup.
Acer Swift 3: Keyboard and touchpad
The 14-inch Acer Swift 3’s backlit chiclet-style keyboard isn’t the biggest, and I was a little concerned because of my obnoxiously enormous hands. The clicky keys, on the other hand, had a great amount of travel between them, which helped me type faster.
When I took the 10fastfingers.com test, I got a score of 78 words per minute with 86 percent accuracy, which is really good considering I have thick hot Italian sausage fingers that aren’t always the most nimble.
When accessing webpages or documents, the 4.2 x 2.7-inch touchpad is responsive. Windows 10 movements such as two-finger swipes and three-finger taps are easy to accomplish on a smooth surface. When utilizing the right or left clicks, the bottom corners provide firm feedback and are quite clicky.
Acer Swift 3: Battery life
The Intel Evo certification at the Acer Swift 3 (2021) is properly deserved. It plays admirably in our battery lifestyles checks, lasting 14 hours and 31 mins in PCMark 10 Battery Life and slightly scraping with the aid of using in our video playback take a look at.
The hole among the 2 rankings has us scratching our heads, as we might assume the 2 checks to healthy up extra care if the film playback did now no longer pop out on top.
However, we can place our issues on relaxation due to the fact our non-public use of the Acer Swift 3 (2021) has placed the battery to take a look at in actual lifestyles, and it has accomplished admirably.
Because of the anti-glare display, the Acer Swift 3 (2021) may be used without having to turn the brightness up to 100% all of the time, which helps save battery life.
Even if we spend the entire day writing, editing, reviewing, and YouTubing on Chrome with way too many tabs open, the laptop doesn’t leave us seeking a power outlet by lunchtime.
Acer Swift 3: Outlook
Acer’s Swift 3 (2021) isn’t a game-changing laptop. It has a nice look to it, with some interesting chrome accents. The Intel Iris Xe GPU on the 11th Generation Intel Core i7 CPU will provide respectable performance and rendering, but it will not blow you away.
In assessment to a lot of its ultrabook competitors, the Acer Swift 3 (2021) makes successful overall performance extra affordable. It’s a quick Windows PC with a reliable show and battery.
However, it is available in an unappealing bundle that appears horrible, feels even worse, and is perhaps the maximum liquid-prone we have got ever seen.
You can acquire a decent, budget-friendly ultra-thin laptop and travel companion that won’t slow you down for just $729.99. However, if you go all out, you’ll be looking at around $1,000, which is reasonable given the features and performance you get.