TESTED ACER SWIFT 5 (2020)If you refuse to carry over 1kg of laptop, the
2020 version of Acer’s Swift 5 could be the
slinky all-rounder you’ve been waiting for
QLaptops are pretty light these
days, but there’s always room
for improvement – and the 2020
evolution of the Acer Swift 5 has
found it. You lose a bit of stiffness,
but this 990g charmer has just
about everything you could ask
for from a modern Windows laptop.QThe 14in IPS LCD panel is a
touchscreen and it looks great.
Blacks are deep, colours rich, and
hardly any laptops with this power
at this price are any sharper. The
Microsoft Surface Pro 7 is, but you
get lots more for your money here.QThe keys have decent travel and
tactile feedback, and are backlit
with two brightness levels. What’s
not so good is the fingerprint
scanner – as on most Windows
machines, it refuses to work half
the time – and a trackpad that’s
plastic rather than glass. The
speakers are weak too.QThere are no big compromises
on performance. Our 10th-gen
Core i5 model had 8GB of RAM
and a 256GB SSD. This is the
entry-level UK spec, but it’s far
from entry-level hardware and
runs Windows 10 perfectly. It’s
also effectively silent.QSerious about gaming on your
laptop? Buy the Core i7 version
and you get one of Intel’s Iris Plus
GPUs, which bridges the gap
between dedicated hardware
and bog-standard built-in stuff.The ultra-light new Acer Swift 5 sacrifices very little for its sub-1kg weight. Its screen
is great, the keyboard is fine, connectivity is more versatile than many and raw
performance beats the MacBook Air. Even the battery lasts a full day, just. So
where’s the catch? Shrug off the superficial and only the trackpad could do with
a level-up... but that’s one reason it’s closer to £800 than £1000.This pocket
battleship can
outgun most
£1000 rivals
Andrew WilliamsHolding out for a kilo
STUFF SAYS An ultra-light laptop that doesn’t dump everything to stay slinky ++++,
Screen 14in 1920x1080 IPS
touchscreen CPU Intel Core
i5-1035G1 RAM 8GB OS
Windows 10 Home Storage
256GB SSD Connectivity USB-3,
USB-2, USB-C, HDMI, Wi-Fi,
Bluetooth Battery life Up to 12.5hrs
Dimensions 318x210x15mm, 990gQ Have-a-go kilo
Acer also aims for practicality
with the screen. This is a 14in
IPS LCD touchscreen panel of
1080p resolution, and the slim
surrounds mean you couldn’t
really fit in much more without
making it a bigger laptop.Q Working-class kilo
The real-world practicality of
the Swift 5 is off the charts. Its
footprint is small, the low weight
is brilliant for portability and the
connections cover all the basics.
As well as a full suite of USBs, you
get a full-size HDMI output.from £710 / stuff.tv/Swift5Tech specs
Last
action kilo
The 54Wh battery is
better than the latest
Dell XPS 13’s, and good
for 9hrs’ streaming or
a full fun-packed
day of typing.