The Swift 5 does have a fingerprint reader, though, and while the shape is unusual-it’s rectangular, not square like most Windows laptops-it seems accurate enough and can almost instantly wake the PC from standby. Jared Newman / IDGĪ privacy shutter and branding-free bezel would have been nice. Unlike many other high-end laptops these days, the Swift 5 offers no privacy shutter or keyboard switch for its camera and microphones. Despite Acer’s boast of “super high dynamic range” on its webcam, it’s still just blurry, grainy 720p camera that turns shadowy images into indistinct blobs. Microsoft’s Precision Touchpad drivers are on board, supporting gestures such as three-finger swipes to show the desktop or task view, three-finger taps to search, and four-finger swipes to move between desktops. The trackpad, meanwhile, is typical of what you’d find on most premium Windows laptops: The surface feels super-smooth under your fingers, but the clicking mechanism is on the stiff side, especially as you move further up the trackpad. Press the number-lock key, and you’ll get access to a numeric keypad. It’s could be a handy feature for the Excel wizards among us, but because the number lock key has no indicator light, some folks might get tripped up if they press it by accident. The sole nitpick here is with the Swift 5’s number-lock key, which turns the right side of the keyboard into a number pad when pressed. The laptop’s sturdy chassis keeps the keys from feeling mushy when pressed all the way down. There’s a teeny bit of wobble around the edges of each key, but they give off a satisfying bump and have a decent amount of travel. Keyboard and trackpadĪlthough it only weighs 2.31 pounds, the Acer Swift 5 is thick enough to have room for a solid keyboard. It’s not a bad display overall, but we expected better from a laptop at this price point. To my eye, it also doesn’t offer quite enough contrast out of the box, necessitating a few tweaks in Intel’s Graphics Command Center software. The Swift 5’s hinge lifts up the keyboard when it’s resting on a flat surface.Īs for the display itself, it offers a peak brightness of 350 nits, which is just a little above average at a time when we’re seeing premium laptops with 500-nit panels and Dolby Vision HDR. Acer uses a drop hinge that dips about a half-inch below the laptop’s frame when the screen is fully unfolded, propping up the keyboard at an angle as you type. The Corning Gorilla Glass branding at the top-left corner is a little tacky, but at least you know it can withstand an errant scratch or two. Slick design also extends to the Swift 5’s display, which has extra-slim borders around its 1080p touchscreen. The surface has an unusual fine-grained texture as well, and Acer says it’s applied an antimicrobial coating that you won’t have to wipe down as often.Īir vents beside the hinges help the Swift 5 stay cool and quiet. Acer also plans to sell a “safari gold” option. Instead of the usual dull grays, our review unit came in a subtle green hue (with less-subtle gold accents on the keys and hinge). It’s not super-obvious, but the Swift 5’s magnesium chassis comes in a greenish gray.Īcer also deserves some credit for its inspired color choices. Still, the laptop feels sturdy, with little noticeable flex on or around the keyboard. Like a lot of other extremely light laptops, the Acer Swift 5 uses a magnesium alloy chassis instead of standard aluminum to keep its weight down. While we’re used to proprietary chargers for workhorse gaming laptops, needing one for an ultraportable is a bummer. Even with a 65W USB-C charger, the Swift 5 delivered much slower framerates for 3D graphics. One caveat, though: While the Swift 5 can draw a charge over USB-C, you’ll need to use Acer’s included barrel charger to get the best gaming performance. It also boasts Intel’s “Evo” branding, which highlights laptops that get nine hours of “real-world” battery life at 1080p resolution and can charge to four hours of usage in 30 minutes. The main attraction is vastly improved integrated Iris Xe graphics for gaming. The Acer Swift 5 includes HDMI output and a pair of USB-A ports (one on each side).Īlthough you’ll still find lots of laptops with 10th-generation Intel processors in late 2020, the Swift 5 is among the first with an 11th-generation chip.
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