ⓘ Acer
Swift Air 14: The screen has a 180° hinge.
Acer’s Swift Air 14 is taking aim at the MacBook Neo with a lightweight aluminium chassis, a 14-inch 120 Hz display, and a starting price of $699. A modern but limited port selection and an ambitious 19-hour battery claim make it a compelling budget ultraportable.
Acer has just announced a new range of portable computers, including the Swift Spin 14 and the Swift Air 14. The latter is an ultra-light model with a starting price of $699.
Positioned as a direct competitor to the Macbook Neo ($684 at Amazon US), the Swift Air is powered by Intel’s budget Core Series 3 “Wildcat Lake” hexacore processors, with buyers having the option between the Core 5 and Core 7. This is accompanied by 512 GB SSD and 8 GB of LPDDR5 RAM, both of which are expandable up to 1 TB and 16 GB, respectively. The aluminium chassis is available in green, pink, purple and grayish blue. The 14-inch screen has a resolution of 1920 x 1200, a brightness of 350 nits, and a refresh rate of 120 Hz. Although not the best screen specs, aside from the 120 Hz refresh rate, the panel purportedly offers 100% sRGB color space coverage.
Ports are scarce, but nevertheless up to date and should suffice for all but the most demanding users: two Thunderbolt 4 Type-C ports and one USB-A 3.2 port. Wi-Fi 6E is also on board. Lastly, the 70 Wh battery promises “up to 19 hours” and “up to 16 hours” of video playback, though it remains to be seen whether Acer’s marketing claims hold up to real-world testing.
Jacob Fisher – Translator – 2845 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2022
Growing up in regional Australia, I first became acquainted with computers in my early teens after a broken leg from a football (soccer) match temporarily condemned me to a predominately indoor lifestyle. Soon afterwards I was building my own systems. Now I live in Germany, having moved here in 2014, where I study philosophy and anthropology. I am particularly fascinated by how computer technology has fundamentally and dramatically reshaped human culture, and how it continues to do so.