26 APRIL2020|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE386
WEIGHING LESS THAN1kg, theSSSwift 5isthe
lightest 14in laptop on the market;
although that’s not all
surprising, considering the
Swift series’ tendency to
prioritise portability over power.
Nonetheless, it’s also fully up tooodateinthe
CPUdepartment,withachoiceofthelatest
10th-genIntelchipsavailable.Ourreview
modelhastheCorei5-1035G1,alonnngwith
8GBofRAManda256GBSSD,butyoucan
alternatively upgrade to aCore i7- 111 065G7
withadedicatedGeForceMX250GGGPU.
FEATHER FORECAST
What’s immediately striking abouttttheSwift 5
isn’tjusthowlittleitweights,butalllsohhhow
spatiallyeconomicitis.Itmeasuresamere
319x211x14.8mm and no part of the design
is superfluous, resulting in it weighing just
990g. It’s so light that you really need to
hold it in your hand to appreciatethe lack
of heft. The downside is that it can feel a
little flimsy in places, but even so the
magnesium alloychassis proved resistant
to knocks and scrapes.
There are even plenty of connectivity
options, an increasing rarity on ultraportables.
The leftedge houses one HDMI, full-size
USB3 and Thunderbolt 3-enabled USB Type-C
port each, while the right side adds a3.5mm
audio jack and aUSB2 port. It can even
support Wi-Fi 6, although of course you’ll
need acompatible router as well.
It’s also good to see afingerprint reader
next to the keyboard; the webcam doesn’t
support Windows Hello,sothis gives you a
biometric alternative to apassword or PIN.
The keyboard itself is pretty good, with
well-judged spacing between the keys andaaaa
relatively quiet action.
The only odd keyplacementisthat of thhhhe
Home/PgUp and PgDn/End keys, which are
ACER Swift5
★★★★★
£799•From http://www...currys.co.uk
WINDOWS10 ULTRAPORTABLE
directly above the right and leftarrows, with
no gap in between. While this makes some
logical sense,the buttons are quitesmall,so
you have to be pretty precise with them or
you’ll end up pressing aneighbouring key.
The touchpad is by no means spectacular
or innovative,and it has no need to be,
insteadddsimplllyallllllowinganeasyglllidddeofffyour
fingerswithoutanystickingorresistance.
Whenpressedin,thepadrespondswitha
satisfying spring and avoids ever feeling
spongy or heavy.
The Swift 5’s 1,920x1,080 IPS displayisalso
fairly respectable.Itcovers arespectable
94.2% of the sRGB colour space with high
accuracy,and while its maximum brightness
of 311cd/m^2 isn’toutstanding, it’s bright
enough to work in most conditions other
than full sunlight. The matt finish helps see
off reflections, too.
It’s also atouchscreen, and tapped inputs
work like acharm. It’s responsive across all
10 of its touchpoints, so if you’re particularly
dextrous you can perform all sorts of
onscreen gymnastics.
KEEPING UP
With the CPU’s 1GHz base clock and middling
four cores, you wouldn’t expect this basic
Swift 5model to set the world alight on
performanccce. Regardless, it scored 75 overall
in our 4K beeenchmarks. That’s just one point
behind the most recent Huawei MateBook X
Pro (Shoppeeer377), which we tested with a
previous-geeenCorei7chip.
That’s reeelatively nippyfor an i5 laptop,
then. Applicccations boot and load quickly,
and we nevvver felt any sluggishness with
multitasssking either.The only minor issue is
theSSSwift 5’s 256GB SSD: its sequential
reaaadspeed of 1,199MB/s is fast in
general terms, but also
substantially slower than that of
the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 (page 18)
and the MateBook XPro.In
termmmsofwritespeed, however,the
Swift 5matttched up to its competitors much
more closellly, coming in at 666MB/s.
PerhapstheSwift5’sbiggestflaw,
however,isbattery life. In ourvideo rundown
test it lasted only 6h 22m, well behind most of
its lightweight rivals. The MateBook XPro,
Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 and MicrosoftSurface
Laptop 313.5in (Shopper385) all managed
between eight and just over nine hours, so
you’’’llllllbbbenoticeabbblllymorerellliantonthhhe
powercablewithAcer’slaptop.
Shouldyourunoutofjuice,chargingthe
Swift5forhalfanhourwhileturnedoff
restored 40% of the battery in testing.
Charging forthe same length of time with
the laptop on and undertaking some light
processes at 60% brightness restored the
battery to 30%.
ONTHE LIGHTTRACK
The Acer Swift 5has alot going forit, with
its elegant, ultra-lightweight build being the
pièce de résistance.The incorporation of a
10th-generation Core i5 in alaptop of this
size andweight is something we’ll probably
get to see more of in 2020,but that doesn’t
make what Acer has achieved with the Swift 5
any less impressive.
There are some flaws. Battery lifeisalittle
disappointing and SSD performance is slower
than we’d like,but if you’re looking fora
strong all-round ultraportable with great
connectivity options, this won’t let you down.
AndyWhite
VERDICT
This maybeone of the lightest lappptopsever,but
theSwift5oftenpunchesaboveitttsweight
SPECIFICATIONS
Windowsoverall
Multitasking
Battery life
0% -50 Reference + 50 + 100
See page 84 forperformancedetails
PROCESSORQuad-core1GHzIntel Core i5-1035G1•
RAM8GB•DIMENSIONS319x211x14.8mm•WEIGHT990g
- SCREEN SIZE14in•SCREEN RESOLUTION1,920x1,080•
GRAPHICSADAPTORIntelIrisPlus Graphics•TOTAL
STORAGE256GBSSD•OPERATINGSYSTEMWindows10
Home•WARRANTYOneyearRTB•DETAILSwww.acer.
com•PART CODESF514-54T
6h 22m
75
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