Acer Swift 5 (2019)
This sub-1kg 14in laptop packs a great screen but it’s not the fastest or longest-lasting machine
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PRICE SF514-54T, £750 (£900 inc VAT) from microsoft.com/uk
Acer’s Swift series has always prioritised portability over power and its 2019 iteration of the Swift 5 is no exception. At 990g, it’s among the lightest 14in laptops around, but it still finds room for Intel’s tenth-generation Core processors: either the Intel Core i5-1035G1 or the i7-1065G7.
Acer sent us the Core i5 version, backed by 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. As the G1 suffix in the processor’s name reveals, it includes Intel’s mediocre UHD Graphics; these only produced 32.1fps in the undemanding GFXBench Car Chase test at 1080p. If you want Intel’s more powerful Iris Plus graphics, which push 50fps in the same test, opt for the Core i7 chip.
The Swift didn’t live up to its name in our benchmarks, scoring a mediocre 75, which would have been better but for the below-par SSD: this produced sequential read speeds of 1,199MB/sec and write speeds of 666MB/sec.
Perhaps the Swift 5’s biggest flaw, however, is battery life: it only lasted 6hrs 22mins in our video-rundown test. The good news is that it’s quick to recharge, returning to 40% if you plug it in for half an hour, and note you can use the Thunderbolt USB-C port for charging so you don’t need to rely on the bundled Acer power adapter.
Both connectors sit on the laptop’s left-hand side, along with HDMI and a USB 3.1 port. On the right, there’s a 3.5mm audio jack input and a USB 2 port, giving plenty of options should you want to plug in a mouse, charge a phone or connect external storage.
It’s also good to see 802.11ax Wi-Fi in place courtesy of Intel’s AX201 card.
Considering the Swift 5’s compact design – it’s 319mm wide and 14.8mm thick – that’s a decent amount of connectivity. And it looks good: the metallic blue version has smart bronze detailing, and we like the white version too. Nor is it all cosmetic: the magnesium-lithium and magnesiumaluminium chassis is tough enough to withstand bumps.
With an 86.4% screen-to-body ratio, the bezels surrounding the 14in screen are minimal. On either side of the screen, they’re practically nonexistent, while the top bezel is only thick enough to accommodate the laptop’s built-in 720p webcam. Alas, the Swift 5 doesn’t support Windows Hello, but a reliable fingerprint scanner sits below the bottom right-hand corner of the keyboard.
The Swift 5’s chiclet keyboard is spacious, so I never felt my fingers were short on typing space. It’s quiet too. The only odd key placement is that of the Home/PgUp and PgDn/End keys, which are directly above the right and left arrows, with no gap in between. And the touchpad is as unremarkable as it is effective.
Much more remarkable? The Swift 5’s 16:9 1,920 x 1,080 IPS touchscreen.
“The 16:9 1,920 x 1,080 IPS touchscreen covers 94.2% of the sRGB colour space with respectable colour accuracy”
It covers 94.2% of the sRGB colour space with respectable colour accuracy (it has an average Delta E of 2.24), while a semi-matte finish means you won’t suffer the glare and reflections of a glossy screen. And a maximum brightness of 311cd/m2 is bright enough to work in most conditions other than full sun.
The Swift 5’s two stereo speakers aren’t nearly as impressive. They’re housed on each side of the base as it curves upwards towards the laptop’s front corners. As such, the audio travels down into your desk or lap, blocking out some of the sound.
But that’s a minor criticism. The bigger questions are whether you can live with the disappointing battery life and if you want more power. Note that the Swift 5 comes in more powerful specifications, right up to a Core i7 version with 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD and GeForce MX250 graphics. That costs £1,300 from Acer’s online store.
The problem for this laptop is its tough competition. If you can live with a bit more weight then you should consider the HP Envy 13 ( see issue 303, p57), which offers more power for less money. And if you can afford it, the new Dell XPS 13 ( see our “Best of CES 2020” feature on p26) is yet another tempting alternative.
SPECIFICATIONS
Quad-core 1GHz Intel Core i3-1035G1 processor Intel UHD graphics 14in 1,920 x 1,080 touchscreen IPS display 256GB SSD 8GB LPDDR4 RAM Full HD webcam 2x2 MIMO 802.11ax Wi-Fi Bluetooth 5 Thunderbolt 3 USB-A 3 USB-A 2 HDMI 56Whr battery Windows 10 Home 320 x 211 x 15mm (WDH) 990g 1yr RTB warranty