The Acer Swift 3 laptop isn’t the flashiest device or the most powerful, but id does offer real value for the buck. In fact, what the Swift 3 lacks, it makes up for in functionality. For office and college use, this mainstream laptop uses an 11th generation Intel Core i7 CPU with Intel Iris Xe Graphics to get the work done without complications. And, if you’re always on the move, the over 15 hours of battery life is a boon.
Plus, it’s priced aggressively, which should excite most budget-savvy shoppers. However, with speakers located on the bottom of the laptop, you don’t expect an audio experience that you can’t call immersive. However, when you consider the great performance, newer components and battery life, the Acer SF314-59-75QC is certainly one of the best laptops around.
Acer Swift 3 specs
Design
Acer picks on the Apple MacBook Air in designing this year’s Acer Swift 3. A minimalist design with a thin, lightweight aluminum chassis that feels familiar, especially if you’ve used earlier Acer Swift 3 models. It sports a matte-silver finish with a polished Acer logo on the back, and the rest of the laptop exudes luxury with the metallic chassis.
It weighs 2.7 pounds and measures 12.7 x 8.6 x 0.6 inches, making the device surprisingly portable without a flimsy feel. The SF314-59-75QC features a 14-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080) display, that, while not the brightest in the market, is more than enough for most common tasks., You can binge on Netflix for hours on end, and you an even view it in direct sunlight.
As for ports, the 2020 Acer Swift 3 14 packs a USB 2.0, a USB 3.0, and a USB-C Thunderbolt 3 port, alongside an HDMI port and headphone/mic jack. Like the Acer Swift 5, this one lacks an SD card reader or optical drive, but that’s not a feature most users need to use nowadays.
Keyboard & Touchpad
The Swift 3’s island-style keyboard has responsive, chiclet keys and a Windows Hello-enabled fingerprint scanner. For some, the keyboard is fairly cramped, but at this price point, we can say the experience is one of the best you can get around. Again, being a 14-inch laptop, the keys are well spaced and the black keys are backlit with soft white for better visibility.
Below the keyboard is a good size touchpad that responds well during everyday, general use. It handles Windows 10 swipes and you can get away with basic gaming sessions, including Stellaris and Civilization VI, but anything above that, you’ll need a separate mouse or gamepad.
Acer SF314-59-75QC performance
The Acer Swift 3’s 11th Gen Intel Core i7-1165G7 processor, 8GB RAM and 256GB NVMe SSD storage are a perfect match for everyday computing tasks at home, office or college. As configured, it can handle a deluge of 31 Google Chrome tabs (sis playing 1080p YouTube videos) without a glitch. It’s worth noting that the laptop’s fans start kicking when you pull the 23rd Chrome tab, but its barely audible. So, if you’re constantly leaving too many tabs open for your own good – the Swift 3 will easily handle your resource heavy habits.
With Intel’s Iris Xe graphics card, the Swift 3 can handle basic games like Dirt 3 at over 44 fps, and you can use it for basic graphics tasks hustle free. Otherwise, intensive gaming won’t be a good idea, just stick with less-demanding tasks, like basic photo editing and video editing.
If you need to play games on the move, you can check out our Editors’ Choice for budget gaming laptops, the Acer Predator Helios 300, that features a 10th Gen Intel Core i7-10750H processor and Nvidia’s RTX 2060 graphics card.
Battery Life
The biggest improvement we’re seeing over last year’s Acer Aspire E15 comes in the battery department. Apparently, even last year’s Swift 3 didn’t have a battery that crossed the 10-hour mark. Acer claims that the SF314-59-75QC can last up to 16 hours on a single charge, but in real-world use, you can get away with 13 hours 41 minutes. That’s almost double the HP Pavilion 15, that features almost similar hardware and rings the same price.
Bottom Line
The 2020 Acer Swift 3 isn’t the fastest ultraportable to beat the Dell XPS 13 or the Apple MacBook Pro, and it weighs a few ounces to be considered the lightest. However, it undercuts its closest competitors by offering the same hardware and features, without being too expensive.
Its screen makes it one of the most attractive laptops to work on, especially if you’ll be doing lots of document work on this laptop. Combine that with all day battery life and the powerful 11th Gen Core i7 processor, and you have a reliable gadget that’s immensely attractive. All said, if you’re looking for a reliable multitasker, you can go wrong with the Acer Swift 3 SF314-59-75QC laptop.
Last update on 2021-07-30 at 17:13 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Acer Swift 3 Intel Evo Thin & Light Laptop, 14" Full HD, Intel Core i7-1165G7, Intel Iris Xe Graphics, 8GB LPDDR4X, 256GB NVMe SSD, Wi-Fi 6, Fingerprint Reader, Back-lit KB, SF314-59-75QC
$724.99 in stock
6 used from $631.83
