Verdict
The Acer Swift Edge 16 is a wonderful laptop computer for individuals who crave energy in a light-weight chassis. It might not provide a luxurious design however the mild construct manages to pack in wonderful productiveness efficiency, succesful inventive chops and a few fundamental gaming power. Quirks like overly keen followers, woeful audio system and a unusual trackpad might put some off, although.
Professionals
- Impressively well-rounded efficiency
- Vibrant and wealthy 3.2K OLED show
- Impressively light-weight
- Prime-tier port choice
Cons
- Odd trackpad click on
- Poor audio system
- Keen followers
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16-inch 3.2K OLED display screenA big display screen with implausible image high quality due to the excessive decision and excellent distinction that OLED offers. -
Light-weight design:Regardless of having a big 16-inch display screen, this laptop computer weighs simply 1.23kg, making it impressively moveable. -
Assist for Wi-Fi 7The brand new Ryzen chip permits help for the newest wi-fi customary, so long as you have got a suitable router.
Introduction
The Acer Swift Edge has been an attention-grabbing gadget ever since its inception in 2022. Acer’s higher-end thin-and-light machines typically shirk fashionable appears to be like however the Swift Edge 16 goals to be on the leading edge. Even, if that doesn’t imply added luxurious.
The Swift Edge hit the market as Acer’s reply to the LG Gram vary, providing high-end productiveness capabilities in a big-screen but remarkably mild mixture. What’s extra, Acer is providing this for a much-reduced worth than LG’s Gram lineup, beginning at £1299.99.
Regardless of a worth that not solely undercuts the LG Gram however loads of different rivals, the specs on provide look promising, with an AMD Ryzen 9 7840U chip, 3.2K OLED display screen, 16GB RAM and a 512GB SSD all packed in.
So, what’s the catch?
Design and Keyboard
- Impressively light-weight, however some might view it as cheap-feeling
- Small keys with pleasing journey and suggestions
- Nice vary of ports
The design of the Acer Swift Edge 16 is a little bit of a blended bag, and it’s largely going to come back down to private tastes and necessities.
On first look, it’s a stealthy and trendy laptop computer that shirks Acer’s fame for some slightly underwhelming and out-of-date appears to be like on a lot of its machines. The Olivine Black coating is an intriguing one, showing black on first view however weaving in an appealingly slight inexperienced tone.
What’s prone to divide potential consumers is the construct high quality. The magnesium-aluminium chassis permits the low 1.23kg weight and, at 12.95mm, the sides of the gadget really feel sturdy. Nevertheless, there may be fairly a little bit of flex, significantly within the centre portion of the underside half of the gadget. It’s not one thing that bothered me in day by day use however I do know many view it as a benchmark of high quality design.
This gadget feels low-cost up in opposition to the likes of the Asus or MSI rivals on this class, but it surely doesn’t match as much as the MacBook Air, Dell XPS 13 Plus or Samsung Galaxy Ebook 3 360.
It is likely to be a sacrifice you’re keen to make for the stunningly skinny and light-weight design, although. I discovered this laptop computer an absolute pleasure to maneuver round, whether or not that was simply transferring from room to room or on a commute – you’ll simply want a bag sufficiently big to suit the 16-inch footprint.
Regardless of its thinness, there’s a terrific keyboard on the Acer Swift Edge 16. My solely qualm is the keys are slightly small and I’d be up for sacrificing the quantity pad to offer them some added actual property.
Nevertheless, the typing expertise is robust, providing a stunning quantity of journey and a few joyous suggestions that feels significantly rewarding once you’re in full circulate. The trackpad is well-sized however I discovered the press slightly odd, feeling shallow and having a high-pitched sound. It doesn’t vastly have an effect on the general expertise, which is a responsive one.
Proper aspect ports, closed
Proper aspect ports, open
Left aspect ports, open
Left aspect ports, closed
As soon as once more going in opposition to the skinny design is the spectacular port choice, coming in at 2x USB-4 Kind-C, 2x USB-A 3.2, HDMI 2.1, a headphone jack and a microSD card reader. It’s a terrific vary that matches the efficiency capabilities of this gadget, throughout productiveness and creativity. There’s no Thunderbolt 4, after all, with it wielding an AMD chip.
A full-size SD card reader is the one enchancment that may’ve been good to see featured. Wi-Fi 7 is onboard to make the most of when you’re an early adopter with a supporting router, in addition to Bluetooth 5.1.
Acer, a model usually eager to tout its sustainability efforts, doesn’t provide up any claims on its Swift Edge 16 product pages on this regard. Publish-consumer recycled plastics are a staple in lots of different Acer choices however the magnesium-aluminum chassis on provide with this gadget doesn’t seem to accommodate any.
Show and Sound
- Crisp and vibrant 3.2K OLED
- Very poor audio system
The show of the Acer Swift Edge 16 is completely a excessive level, impressively packing in a 16-inch 3.2K 120Hz OLED panel for underneath £1300. The decision provides loads of element and, that element, alongside a 16:10 decision makes it ideally suited for working throughout a number of home windows. Movies and flicks look crisp and vibrant, with reflection from a shiny panel being the one factor that hinders a terrific viewing expertise.
My show benchmarking exams backed this up too, coming in at a stable 371.1 nits of brightness and 6900K white visible color temperature – that means it’s a tad on the cool aspect. The distinction is what you’d count on from an OLED, with particular person pixels in a position to be turned off making for that crisp color. When it comes to accuracy, you get 100% sRGB, 95% Adobe RGB and 100% DCI-P3. As such, this show will nicely serve creatives utilizing this for photo-editing and the like.
The display screen itself might not hinder the viewing expertise of the Acer Swift Edge 16 however the audio system do their greatest too. They’re simply the worst side of this laptop computer. I’d greatest describe them as harsh, with a scarcity of readability within the lows and a small quantity of oddly unnatural bass. The closest comparability I could make is with some mid-range cell phones. It’s lower than customary and is lightyears behind the likes of the MacBook Air and Dell XPS 13 Plus.
Efficiency
- Dominates productiveness workloads
- Succesful for creators and a few mild gaming
- Inconsistent followers
My Acer Swift Edge 16 assessment pattern was outfitted with the brand new AMD Ryzen 9 7840U (with Radeon 780M graphics) chip, 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD storage. This mix impressed me all through my testing. In my typical use – demanding productiveness tasking – the Acer Swift Edge 16 by no means faltered, working easily irrespective of what number of Chrome tabs I threw at it. Multitasking didn’t section it both. Should you’re after a productiveness machine with baggage of headroom then this gained’t disappoint.
The one qualm I had throughout my day by day use was that the dual set of followers would repeatedly kick up once I wouldn’t essentially count on them to throughout lighter workloads. It was removed from a constant challenge however I used to be generally left puzzled earlier than they returned to regular. This was additionally regardless of the chassis not often feeling overly heat, with essentially the most warmth rising from simply above the keyboard, however there was by no means any discomfort.
However, you may actually ask extra of the Acer Swift Edge 16. Having a look on the benchmark outcomes above, you may see it both edged forward of key rivals with Intel chips or older AMD choices or, in terms of multi-core capabilities, completely dominated. As such, there’s extra to make the most of.
This laptop computer can comfortably delve into inventive work, throughout photograph and video enhancing. It doesn’t fairly match as much as the M2 MacBook Air, with that gadget scoring 299 in our PugetBench Premiere Professional check and the Acer coming in at 202. However, not like key Home windows rivals, it may possibly do extra than simply dabble in enhancing, this thin-and-light laptop computer will go well with editors with fundamental to intermediate 4K calls for.
The gaming capabilities don’t surge forward of the competitors in the identical method however nonetheless provide greater than what you’ve anticipated from a skinny and lightweight machine. At Low settings, Full HD and utilizing AMD’s Tremendous Decision upscaling characteristic, I managed to squeeze 30fps out of Cyberpunk 2077. Such efficiency is a robust indicator that the Acer Swift Edge 16 will comfortably run fundamental video games, like Rocket League, whereas additionally with the ability to fastidiously delve into extra demanding titles, be it at Low settings or requiring a reined-in decision.
Software program
- AI Home windows Studio results
- Not burdened with a great deal of bloat
Like its design, the Acer Swift Edge 16 was impressively light-weight by way of bloatware, with no bundled-in web safety pestering you from the off and little else too. What you do get is Acer’s Purified Voice, for cleansing up the audio out of your microphone on calls, and Temporal Noise Discount, for tidying up your digicam visuals. Each present a neat increase.
In the same vein, this chip from AMD provides Ryzen AI, which works with Home windows Studio results. The collaboration means that you can allow Computerized Framing, Eye Contact and Background Results. These work nicely and are helpful to have natively slightly than needing to tweak settings throughout Zoom, Groups, Google Meet and the like. The Computerized Framing might be helpful for individuals who like to maneuver a couple of bit as they current whereas Background Results make blurring out any undesirable visuals simple. The Eye Contact works nicely but it surely’s a characteristic that I nonetheless discover slightly creepy.
The webcam itself is impressively specced, providing a 1440p decision. I anticipated to be knocked off my ft, with many laptops sporting 720 or 1080p choices, however I wasn’t. The element is robust however not stunningly so, and the visuals are a bit cool. It’s additionally odd that regardless of having these new webcam options onboard Home windows Hey facial login isn’t supported. However, you do get fingerprint login by integration within the energy button, which works seamlessly.
Battery Life
- A satisfactory 8-hours of battery life
- Fast recharging
Battery life is a brand new entrance on the skinny and lightweight laptop computer battlefield, with loads of laptops managing to soar above the 11-hour mark now.
Sadly, the Acer Swift Edge 16 isn’t a kind of laptops. Trying on the spec sheet, it’s to be anticipated with Acer solely managing to pack a 54Wh cell into this modern chassis. Our PCMark 10 battery benchmarking check, which I carried out on the 60Hz refresh charge, confirmed upwards of 8 hours.
Nevertheless, once I pushed it by way of required intensive productiveness efficiency, I used to be typically getting lower than 5 hours. You’ll be able to count on even much less when you determine to go for having this show at 120Hz on a regular basis, however that may really feel like overkill for a lot of duties you perform on this machine.
Fortunately, the 45W charger means you may speedily prime up the 54Wh battery again to 100% in not far more than an hour. And, USB-C being the first charging port makes that every one the extra handy.
Newest offers
Must you purchase it?
Should you crave productiveness and artistic energy in a light-weight chassis
The Acer Swift Edge 16 is the perfect bundle for individuals who need a well-sized and vibrant show in a light-weight chassis. You might be additionally greeted by baggage of productiveness efficiency and powerful creator capabilities.
If you need luxurious design and high quality audio
For some, a greater than £1200/$1200 beginning worth could also be too excessive a worth to pay for a tool that doesn’t really feel luxurious. The flex on the underside half of the chassis might deter some as nicely. Those that place any worth on audio system ought to keep away from too, as they’re significantly dangerous.
Remaining Ideas
It isn’t a crowded part of one of the best laptop computer market however the Acer Swift Edge 16 completely leads the best way within the 16-inch light-weight laptop computer stakes.
It’s acquired a shocking 3.2K OLED show that appears nice it doesn’t matter what you throw at it. Then, it’s backed up by some spectacular efficiency courtesy of the AMD Ryzen 9 7840U chip. Productiveness is dominated by this chip, whereas it additionally provides creatives loads of juice for some 4K enhancing.
It primarily falls down on high-end design and speaker high quality, making rivals just like the Dell XPS 13 Plus, MacBook Air 15-inch and Samsung Galaxy Ebook 3 360 simple to advocate in its stead, as they excel in these areas.
Nevertheless, save for the MacBook Air, many Home windows rivals can’t match up by way of the bang to your buck you get with the Swift Edge 16. And, you’ll even be giving up the bigger show and refreshingly light-weight. The Acer Swift Edge 16 will not be for everybody however, for the appropriate particular person, it would knock it out of the park.
How we check
Each laptop computer we assessment goes by a collection of uniform checks designed to gauge key issues together with construct high quality, efficiency, display screen high quality and battery life.
These embrace formal artificial benchmarks and scripted exams, plus a collection of actual world checks.
We used as our most important laptop computer for not less than every week.
Examined the efficiency by way of each benchmark exams and real-world use.
We examined the display screen with a colorimeter and real-world use.
We examined the battery with a benchmark check and real-world use.
FAQs
The Acer Swift Edge 16 has a 120Hz show. You’ll be able to change between 120Hz and 60Hz to protect battery life, because the 120Hz choice doesn’t provide a dynamic choice to cut back the refresh charge when it isn’t wanted for the content material on display screen.
Trusted Critiques check information
PCMark 10
PugetBench for Premiere Professional
Cinebench R23 multi core
Cinebench R23 single core
Geekbench 5 single core
Geekbench 5 multi core
Geekbench 6 single core
Geekbench 6 multi core
3DMark Time Spy
CrystalDiskMark Learn velocity
CrystalDiskMark Write Pace
Brightness (SDR)
Black stage
Distinction ratio
White Visible Color Temperature
sRGB
Adobe RGB
DCI-P3
PCMark Battery (workplace)
