ACER Swift 7 Thinnest and Lightest Laptop

ACER Swift 7 Thinnest and Lightest Laptop

ACER Swift 7, the thinnest and lightest laptop, beating Apple's 12-inch Macbook when it comes to portability. This laptop is a pound lighter than iPad Pro with Apple's Smart Keyboard being attached to it. But in all these new aspects, is it worth the price? Let's find out!

Basic Specs:

Display: 14-inch (1920x1080) IPS touchscreen

Processor: 1.3GHz Core i7-7Y75 (Kaby Lake)

Graphics: Intel HD 615

Memory: 8GB LPDDR3

Storage: 256GB NVMe SSD

Security: Fingerprint reader (Windows Hello)

Ports: 2 USB 3.0 Type-C, 3.5mm headphone jack

Wireless: 802.11ac, Bluetooth

Cameras: 720p HD camera (front-facing)

Battery: 45.8Wh

Operating system: Windows 10 Home

Dimensions: 12.9 x 9.3 x 0.35 in. (8.98 mm)

Weight: 2.54 pounds (laptop); 3.10 lb with power brick; 3.56 lb with brick and sleeve

Colors: Black, White

Price: $1,699 MSRP

If you are looking for a laptop that is easy to carry, especially if you are the kind of person that is on-the-go, or even for a student, ACER stepped up the game in tech by releasing this Swift 7 laptop. ACER also emphasizes that they used magnesium-lithium and magnesium-aluminum alloy used in making this Swift 7 are lighter and stronger than aluminum alone and having the same thickness. Also, the cover is matte with a single LED to indicate its battery life. Swift 7 display has 14-inch 1080p screen, a 1.3GHz Core i7 processor, 8gb or 16gb ram 256gb to 512gb ROM. There are also two USB-C ports and a headphone jack. They also included a three-port dongle adapter with USB-A, another USB-C and an HDMI port. The LCD touchscreen panel is protected by Gorilla Glass. But if you are expecting to have it to a level like a Retina display, it is not. But it is not that bad at all. Since Swift 7 is being marketed as the thinnest ultrabook, they really did a good look on it is thin but there's still a noticeable area as it is kind of wobbly when being open or closed, or even being fully reclined to being perfectly flat. When being viewed on the side, Swift 7 has its limits as the thickest portion of the chassis is unable to take a USB type-A port.

For the sound and speakers, Swift 7 is supported by Dolby Audio. So it is required to have external speakers or headphones if you want to achieve the “bang” sound. For fingerprint reader, there is quite an issue to it as some users of this laptop doesn't recognize their fingerprints, making them re-key their finger to it. But there's a catch, ACER managed to have a chassis with a 45-watt battery, the CPU, motherboard, and SSD. If you are a minimalist and wanting to have an aesthetic feel, this laptop is perfect for you.

Keyboard and typing experience which is somehow very poor in performance. The landing areas for the keys were too small which makes it very uncomfortable especially if you have big hands. Function keys are scattered within first and second rows. Delete key is just as small and Backspace next to it. It's not surprising but a bit disappointed even if the laptop is designed for being thinness, I believe ACER could have done it better. Also, the touchpad precision is totally a mess and disappointing, and its glassy features remind me of like the Surface devices.

For the camera, ACER made it's webcam down to the body of the laptop and pops-up when it is used. If you are worried about being watched, this camera is blocked when not in use. But the downside, if the camera is used, has a nose cam effect. Not very great in dealing with video chatting either.

For the performance: Swift 7 is like owning a notebook but with a processor. The challenge is that Swift 7 is no match with tablets like Microsoft's Surface Pro 6. Swift 7 easily gets heat up during large file transfers but is cool when using it on a daily basis. If you are a gamer, then this laptop is not for you.

Final Verdict and Price-wise Review:

ACER really reached out to their goal in making this Swift 7 the thinnest and lightest laptop in the market, making it very portable as possible. If you are the type of person that is on-the-go, this made me really appreciate that they had heard and made this laptop possible. But for the cons, ACER disappointed me especially with the keyboard, the webcam, and its performance as they could have done it better. Price-wise? This laptop is a NO for me. I'd rather settle for another laptop with weight as the performance is better, build having a quality, long-life battery, and a usable webcam with the same price as Swift 7.