Acer Swift 5 2022 (SF514-56T) specs
Worth: $1,549
CPU: Intel Core i7-1260P
GPU: Intel Iris Xe
RAM: 16GB
Storage: 1TB SSD
Show: 14-inch, 2560 x 1600
Battery: 11:24
Dimension: 12.2 x 8.4 x 0.59 inches
Weight: 2.65 kilos
It took six months, however the Acer Swift 5 is the primary laptop computer of 2022 that compelled me to stay an Editor’s Alternative badge on its proverbial chest. Spectacular battery life, a svelte design, a tactile keyboard, and zippy efficiency scores are crucial options I search for whereas reviewing laptops, and the Swift 5 met — and even surpassed — my expectations.
The refreshed Acer Swift 5 comes with a brand new twelfth Gen Intel Core i7 CPU that outperforms its rivals. It additionally has a pointy, alluring and vibrant 2.5K show. As a cherry on prime, it has a refined, refined design scheme and a light-weight chassis — I imply, what’s to not love?
Nonetheless, nothing is ever actually good — c’est la vie! Whereas the Swift 5 is among the greatest laptops, it does have just a few questionable weak spots that, relying in your wants, might make you rethink buying it.
Acer Swift 5 (2022) value and configurations
The Acer Swift 5 I examined prices $1,549 and comes with a twelfth Gen Intel Core i7-1260P CPU, Intel Iris Xe graphics, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and a 14-inch, 2560 x 1600-pixel show. The brand new Swift 5 is available in two colours: Misty Inexperienced and Steam Blue. Acer informed us that you would be able to buy this mannequin by way of its official retailer (opens in new tab) by late June. It can even be out there on Amazon by the tip of July.
As of this writing, there’s just one twelfth Gen CPU-packed configuration out there, however should you don’t thoughts securing the last-gen Swift 5 mannequin (it earned a 4.5-star score and an Editor’s Alternative badge on account of its 13-hour battery life), you may snag one for $999 with an Intel Core i7-1165G7 CPU, 16GB of RAM, a 512 GB SSD, and a 14-inch, 1080p show at Walmart (opens in new tab) or Adorama (opens in new tab).
Acer Swift 5 (2022) design
The refreshed Swift 5 is, for sure, essentially the most enticing pocket book I’ve seen this yr. Acer claims that it has an “beautiful design,” and whereas many OEMs are likely to exaggerate with eye-catching buzzwords and alluring verbiage, the Taiwan-based firm is correct on the cash.
The aerospace-grade aluminum chassis is cloaked in a wealthy, luxurious Mist Inexperienced shade. However what actually caught my eye are the gorgeous gold accents, which may be discovered on the perimeters that home the ports — and the protuberant hinge that sports activities the phrase “SWIFT” in a subdued grey font. The anodized cowl, in line with Acer, resists put on and corrosion, and options the Acer insignia stamped with gold, lustrous lettering.
Open the lid and also you’ll discover extra of that Misty Inexperienced goodness all through the deck. Nonetheless, I’m not thrilled in regards to the poor distinction between the keys and the letters (the dull-yellow characters atop the dark-green keyboard isn’t simple on the eyes). It’s not a dealbreaker for contact typists, however hunt-and-peck typists could also be turned off, particularly if they’ve any imaginative and prescient impairments.
Inexperienced advocates will dig the OceanGlass touchpad, an eco-friendly facet of the deck that consists of ocean-bound plastic waste. The underside of the chassis is manufactured from magnesium-aluminum and options 4 ft to maintain the chassis off flat surfaces; there’s additionally a big vent and two audio system (I’ll delve into audio high quality later).
The Swift 5 has dimensions of 12.2 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches and it weighs 2.7 kilos. Rivals such because the Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen 7 (12.5 x 9.1 x 0.6 inches, 3.1 kilos) and the Samsung Galaxy Ebook 2 Professional 360 (14 x 9 x 0.46 inches, 3.1 kilos) are barely heavier than the Swift 5, however the latter is slimmer.
Acer Swift 5 (2022) ports
Inquisitive about which ports the Swift 5 provides? Effectively, on the left aspect, there are two Thunderbolt 4 ports, an HDMI port and a USB 3.2 Gen 1 Sort-A port. On the appropriate aspect, you’ll discover one other USB 3.2 Gen 1 Sort-A port, a Kensington lock slot and a headset jack.
Want extra ports? Try our greatest USB Sort-C hubs and greatest laptop computer docking stations pages.
Acer Swift 5 (2022) show
The Acer Swift 5 comes with a 14-inch, WQXGA, 2560 x 1600-pixel, Corning Gorilla Glass show. Opening the lid, I may already inform that it sports activities a 16:10 facet ratio. It seems to be taller than the standard 16:9 laptop computer display, providing extra vertical display actual property.
Watching content material on the Swift 5’s beautiful show was an absolute pleasure. I fired up the Black Adam trailer and textures, specifically, have been placing on this panel. For instance, actor Dwayne Johnson’s tattered, threadbare hooded cape appeared damn-near tangible. It was as if I may attain by the display, contact it, and really feel its coarse, burlap potato sack-esque materials. Even water appeared sharper than normal; the display captured the delineation of every ripple and bubble, making puddles appear extra conspicuous and salient. Hell, I may even make out the refined solar spots that speckled Pierce Brosnan’s brow. To prime all of it off, the show emanates colours with wealthy, well-saturated hues.
The outcomes from our colorimeter matched my expertise with the Swift 5’s panel. It coated 93.3% of the DCI-P3 shade gamut, beating the common premium laptop computer (91.1%). It additionally eclipsed the Galaxy Ebook 2 Professional 360 (87.5%), however the Yoga 9i Gen 7 bested the Swift 5, which was anticipated. In spite of everything, the Lenovo convertible has a 2.8k OLED show.
The Swift 5 additionally supplies extra brilliance than its rivals. With 457 nits of brightness, the Acer laptop computer outshone the common premium laptop computer (437 nits), the Yoga 9i Gen 7 (352 nits) and the Galaxy Ebook 2 Professional 360 (373 nits).
Acer Swift 5 (2022) keyboard and touchpad
The Swift 5’s island-style keyboard sports activities a dual-tier backlight, enabling you to faucet on F11 to regulate the keyboard’s backlight to your liking — or flip it off altogether. I desire to maintain it on as a result of, as talked about, the distinction between the dark-yellow characters and the forest-green keys is low, making it troublesome to see the letters and symbols.
I examined the Swift 5 keyboard utilizing the 10FastFingers.com typing evaluation, and my fingers went flying. There was no habituation interval; my fingers swiftly bought right into a rhythmic groove whereas typing on the keyboard. I managed 89 phrases per minute, which is quicker than my 85-87 wpm common.
The small touchpad, sporting dimensions of 4.1 x 2.6 inches, is adorned with a refined gold trim that follows the general theme of the chassis. It feels divine. I examined Home windows 11 gestures, together with two-finger scrolling and three-finger tabbing — they have been all effectively responsive.
Acer Swift 5 (2022) audio
Acer Swift 5 comes with twin, bottom-firing audio system that received’t win any trophies for award-winning sound; the audio high quality is the epitome of mediocre.
I listened to “As It Was” by Harry Kinds, and whereas Kinds’ snappy vocals sounded first rate, the tune was barely tinny because the cymbals and drums kicked in. I additionally listened to Unhealthy Bunny’s “Me Porto Bonito” and encountered an analogous metallic tone, however solely after the reggaetón beat dropped. Total, the Swift 5 sounds OK and it’s not a dealbreaker except you’re a stickler for premium-sounding audio system.
I checked out the DTS Audio Processing app, which provides three presets that try to enhance sound: Music, Motion pictures and Video games. Try is the operative phrase right here. The Music preset was the best-sounding profile, however this was on by default, so the DTS app didn’t actually do a lot to reinforce the so-so audio high quality.
On prime of that, the audio system may very well be a tad bit louder. Even at max quantity, the music didn’t get as loud as anticipated; it couldn’t fill the area in my giant testing room. This isn’t a giant deal should you don’t care to have blaring audio system, however should you encounter a low-volume YouTube channel or a Twitch stream, for instance, you’ll probably wrestle to compensate for the poor amplification — even should you improve the Swift 5’s quantity to its apex.
Acer Swift 5 (2022) efficiency
Don’t mess with the Swift 5! It might seem to be an unassuming pocket book with a Misty Inexperienced coating, but it surely packs loads of punch. Outfitted with a twelfth Gen Intel Core i7-1260P processor and 16GB of RAM, the Swift 5 adroitly juggled 35 Google Chrome tabs, together with three YouTube movies and two Twitch streams enjoying concurrently. I fired up a recent Google Doc and started typing to see if it will crack underneath strain, however there have been no slowdowns.
On the Geekbench 5.4 total efficiency take a look at, the Swift 5 scored a whopping 9,859, rocketing previous the common premium laptop computer (5,956). The Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen 7 and the Samsung Galaxy Ebook 2 Professional 360 sport the identical CPU because the Swift 5, however they served up much less spectacular scores: 7,150 and 9,043, respectively.
Now, let’s check out how briskly the Swift 5 can transcode a 4K video to 1080p utilizing our HandBrake benchmark. It took the Acer laptop computer solely 7 minutes and 36 minutes to finish the duty, which is far quicker than the common premium laptop computer (10:38), the Yoga 9i Gen 7 (12:18) and the Galaxy Ebook 2 Professional 360 (9:34).
In keeping with our file switch take a look at outcomes, the Swift 5’s 1TB SSD took 16 seconds to duplicate a cache of 25GB of mixed-media recordsdata for a price of 1,673.1 megabytes per second, beating the common premium laptop computer (973.7 MBps). The Swift 5 additionally outpaced the 1TB SSDs inside Yoga 9i Gen 7 (1,506.8 MBps) and the Galaxy Ebook 2 Professional 360 (761.6 MBps).
Acer Swift 5 (2022) graphics
The Acer Swift 5 comes with built-in Intel Iris Xe graphics, so no, don’t hassle working graphics-intensive duties on it (e.g., resource-heavy gaming and enhancing); it doesn’t have the wherewithal to deal with them.
Out of curiosity, we examined how effectively the Swift 5 would do on the Sid Meier’s Civilization VI: Gathering Storm (1080p) benchmark. The Acer laptop computer notched 26 frames per second. This falls wanting the common premium laptop computer (50 fps), however to be honest, lots of the laptops in our information assortment have devoted GPUs. A fairer comparability can be to stack the Swift 5 towards the Yoga 9i Gen 7 and Galaxy Ebook 2 Professional 360; each have Intel Iris Xe graphics. The Lenovo 2-in-1 hit 23 fps whereas the Samsung convertible managed 25 fps. Each have been this near surpassing the Swift 5, however they simply couldn’t recover from that 26 fps hump.
Acer Swift 5 (2022) battery life
The Swift 5 knocked it out of the park within the earlier sections. Will the Acer laptop computer proceed to shine in the case of battery life? Type of.
On the Laptop computer Magazine battery take a look at, which consists of steady net browsing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness, the Swift 5 lasted 11 hours and 24 minutes. That is longer than the common premium laptop computer (10:29) and the tragic Yoga 9i Gen 7 (8:06). Nonetheless, the Swift 5 couldn’t take out the Galaxy Ebook 2 Professional 360. If the Swift 5 may have survived for one more 35 minutes, it may have outlasted the Samsung convertible, which caught round for a whopping 11 hours and 59 minutes. Wow!
Acer Swift 5 (2022) webcam
Surprisingly, the Swift 5’s webcam isn’t half unhealthy. It has a 1080p shooter, which made me breathe a sigh of aid as a result of the laptop computer market has been clinging on to 720 cameras for much too lengthy.
Acer claims that this webcam sports activities temporal noise discount, a characteristic I’ve seen whereas utilizing it on the Digital camera app. In comparison with selfies I’ve taken on different laptops, the photographs I took on the Swift 5 are barely sharper and clearer. It renders colours effectively, too, choosing up the refined blonde streaks in my hair and the gold calligraphy on my shirt.
If you would like one thing extra appropriate for video conferencing, take a look at our greatest webcams web page.
Acer Swift 5 (2022) warmth
Acer boasts that the Swift 5, because of its “high-performing” twin followers, expels as much as 10% extra warmth than different keyboards. We will’t duplicate Acer’s experiment to find out if this declare is true, however in line with our thermal testing, the Swift 5 is one cool cucumber.
After streaming a 15-minute video, the underside hit 93 levels Fahrenheit. The middle of the keyboard and the touchpad measured 88 and 80 levels Fahrenheit, respectively. The readings managed to not cross our 95-degree consolation threshold, which is spectacular. It’s value noting that our lab tester found that the most popular area of the chassis is on the rear, simply above the vents; it climbed to 96 levels. Sure, it surpassed our 95-degree margin, however not by a lot.
Acer Swift 5 (2022) software program and guarantee
I don’t normally get aggravated once I fireplace up a laptop computer for the primary time, however the Swift 5 had too many pops up for my tastes, from Norton prompting me to “run a wise scan” to Acer asking whether or not I’d be inquisitive about feeding it diagnostics information. I even bought a Dropbox advert asking whether or not I used to be inquisitive about a cloud area supply. I simply wish to be left alone!
There’s loads of Home windows 11 bloatware on the Swift 5, together with Disney+, Hearts Deluxe, Norton Safety Extremely, ExpressVPN, Spotify, Easy Solitaire, Easy Spider Solitaire, Easy Mahjong and Spades. Nonetheless, there are some helpful apps, too, that can attraction to hobbyist editors corresponding to Cyberlink’s PhotoDirector and PowerDirector.
There are handy Acer-branded apps on board, too, together with the Acer Care Middle, which helps you to delete junk recordsdata, replace drivers, run checkups for battery well being, and extra.
The Swift 5 comes with a one-year restricted guarantee. See how Acer carried out on our Tech Assist Showdown and Greatest and Worst Manufacturers rating.
Backside line
The last-gen Swift 5, full of an eleventh Gen Intel CPU, blew us out of the water with its 13-hour battery life, stellar efficiency, enticing design, and palatable price ticket. Now, the current-gen Swift 5 is $200 extra, however the minor value hike is value it. It’s bought a quicker SSD, zippier efficiency, spectacular video transcoding, breakneck file-transfer speeds — and it nonetheless manages to be light-weight and pleasing to the attention with a beautiful dark-green-and-gold shade scheme.
The one grievances I’ve with the Swift 5 is its weak audio system and annoying bloatware apps. Apparently, once I checked my colleague’s evaluate of the last-gen Swift 5, he identified the identical points. If Acer can handle to make its preinstalled apps much less irksome, and outfit the Swift 5 with a dual-speaker system with extra “oomph,” the Swift 5 may very well be legendary.
