Acer Swift 3 14 inch A lightweight, high-performance ultraportable

The Acer Swift 3 in the 14-inch version is powered by an AMD Ryzen 4000 series mobile processor. That might not mean much to you if you don’t follow the world of processors, but basically, these chips AMD are faster than competing Intel processors that dominate the market, and they cost less. This means that models like the Swift 3 remain affordable while still delivering the performance of a more expensive laptop.

According to the shops, with 1.2 kg on the scale, this ultraportable is incredibly light for a 14-inch that can be found at less than 900 euros. Acer Swift 3 Its chassis is aluminum-magnesium, its keyboard is backlit, and its fingerprint reader is very responsive. It is compatible with the latest Wi-Fi 6 standard. Its autonomy, which we evaluated at 8 hours during our tests, is good, and the fast recharging is done either via the supplied adapter or via USB-C.

All the 14-inch version configurations have the same Full HD screen, the same connections, the same keyboard, the same touchpad, and the same 8 GB of memory soldered to the motherboard. The only variations are storage and processor.

The display is correct, nothing more. It’s not exceptionally bright, which can cause legibility issues outside (the same can be said of many laptops). Fortunately, its matte finish minimizes glare much more than a glossy coating, but the colors are comparatively bland. This is not a laptop that we recommend to anyone who wants to do video or photo editing.

Acer Swift 3 combines

In the end, this Acer Swift 3 combines a beautiful palette of assets, at the top of which comes its Ryzen processor, followed by its light design, its good performance and autonomy, and its reasonable price. The best old TV is ultraportable easy to recommend for a large audience looking for an efficient and inexpensive machine. With a similar profile, we also find The Yoga Slim 7, which offers an excellent performance-autonomy ratio. For those whose budget is a little tighter, we can count on the Honor Magic book 14 with its excellent value for money in this size of the screen.

On which another side, two rubber pads in the width direction are responsible for raising the device to allow the ventilation grid to do its job. In the sides, we can see the speaker holes. On the left, a first Thunderbolt 4 USB-C port will also act as an input for power alongside a MicroSD card reader. 

The same type of Thunderbolt 4 USB-C connector on the device’s right, just next to the jack. It’s not much, but we console ourselves with the adapter’s presence and tell ourselves that the multi-port hubs are accessible.

Nothing changes on the keyboard, the same layout and texture a bit rough for the wrists. Only the Intel sticker changes for that of the new Evo certification, which indicates that the machine meets the criteria of thin, autonomous, and efficient PCs of the processor manufacturer.

A Chassis screen ratio

The whole is sober, not flashy but pleasant, with a chassis-screen ratio that has nothing to envy to the competition and a 16:10 format that we find on other models and adapts more to multimedia than to work at height. The display on the 13.4-inch screen offers an FHD + definition of 1920×1200 pixels. Also, note that the screen is not bright and bright enough for work, even in bright light conditions.

In hand, with its 1200 grams, it moves without difficulty and without the hinge moving an inch from the position in which it place. In short, the XPS 13 9310 is the same as the XPS 13 9300. And without the Intel sticker, it is impossible to differentiate them when they are side by side.

The features also remain, including an infrared camera that allows you to use facial recognition via Windows Hello. Very responsive, this means of authentication is our favorite. It works very well in all circumstances, even in dim light.

Those who prefer to use another way can also opt for the fingerprint, thanks to the sensor hidden under the power button. The best online bank even very swift. In the event of failure, the 4-digit PIN code (or Microsoft password) takes over. On the software side, nothing to report except the MacAfee security suite’s presence that we can only accept, the option not even being deactivated when purchasing on the Dell site. Uninstallation remains possible once the PC is started.

But it is above all the performance of this new 11th generation Intel processor that interests us. Unfortunately, it will be difficult to compare them with the previous edition that we tested, an Intel Core i5-1035G1 with 8 GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD.

New 8th Gen Intel Core i3 processor

Here we have an Intel Core i7-1165G7 model, 16 GB of RAM, and a 512 GB SSD. Better graphics performance on paper thanks to the Intel Iris Xe GPU of Tiger Lake processors. This confirms the Novabench score with good progress at this level. It is less felt at the processor level. But it still holds the pole position of all 13 inches tested so far.

We also submitted the machine to the Geekbench benchmark. It obtained scores of 1556 points for the Core sign. Five thousand seven hundred thirteen for the multi-core and 17601 for the GPU. The other exciting value. It is that of our autonomy test, which we always carry out. With a screen set to 50% brightness. Best security cameras Which are nothing with a capacity of 500 nits like here. And 40% of audio volume ( quite powerful, by the way). The computer connects to WiFi and runs a Netflix series on a loop through the Microsoft Edge browser.

As a result, our Dell XPS 13 2021 got the second-best place of all computers tested with 14h endurance. Only 30 minutes long but with lower performance. On the other hand. The ASUS ZenBook 14 UX425EA. Which lasted 13 hours. Is approaching very close to the account. So it can be a good alternative. To stay more on the 13-inch. But this time in a 3: 2 format with a higher screen. You have to turn to the Surface Laptop 3 13.