14 DECEMBER 2019|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE 382
CUTTINGMILLIMETRESOFFthe thickness
of laptops has beenatarget forultraportable
laptopsforsome years. The crownforworld’s
slimmest laptop has passed between the major
computer makers and spawned subcategories
of other slim laptop types, such as the world’s
slimmest gaming laptop.
At the recent IFA2019 consumer electronics
show in Berlin (see page 100forour full
report),ComputerShopperwitnessedAcer
reveal what it claims is the “world’s slimmest
14in laptop”int he form of the redesignedSwift 5.
While theSwift 5from 2018 wasfarfrom achunkymachine,2019’s
model measuresamere 14.95mm thick, and it’s light as well at 990g.Yet
despitethis svelteframe,its till managesto fit in aUSB-C port with
Thunderbolt3compatibility,abrace of USB Type-Aports, an HDMI
connection,Kensington lock anda3.5mm headphone jack. It also has a
14in display, running an acceptable if not razor-sharp 1,920x1,
resolution, and slim bezels help the displaylook larger than it really is.
Under the chassis, you’ll findafairly standard 8GB or 16GBof RAM,
and storage thattops out at 512GBof PCI-E SSD space.
However,there are two interestingfactors. The first is that theSwift 5
can be specced with Nvidia’s GeForce MX250,adedicated graphics card
that, whilefarfrom agaming-grade GPU, should handle some more
graphically demanding tasks with better aplomb than laptops stuck with
regular integrated GPUs in theform of Intel
UHD graphics accelerators.
The second is the Intel Core i7-1065G
processor.That’s the second most powerful
CPU in Intel’s new 10-nanometre (nm)
10th-generation laptop processor line-up.
Not only does it bringaquad-core processor
to aslim machine,ita lso offers the performance
gains and powerefficiencies Intel has extracted
from its new 10nm process node.We’ve yet to
properly see such chips in action, but the Core
i7-1065G7 can apparently hit 3.5GHz across allfour of its cores, which is
no meanfeat foralaptop chip withabase thermal design powerof 15W.
TheCPUcomeswithIntel’snewIrisPlusintegratedgraphicsaccelerator,
which promisesasignificant hike in graphical performanceover Intel UHD,
although in theSwift 5the GeForce MX250 was on graphics duty.
Battery lifeiss et at 12.5 hours, which is pretty goodforalaptop that
doesn’tfeel as though it has muchof abattery pack inside it.Afull test
will reveal if theSwift 5lives upto Ac er’s claimsof electrical endurance,
but the Ice Lake chipstouted improved powerefficiency over the older
eighth-generation Core laptop CPUs, soover 10 hoursof battery lifein
regular use isn’t beyond the realmsof practical possibility.
Acer is not only keeping the laptop slim, but also giving itawallet-
friendly price that starts at €899 (£812); not badforasvelte14in laptop,
although we’ll reserve judgment until we’ve given itafull review.
SAYWHAT?
Acer reveals world’s ‘slimmest ever laptop’
5GISHERE,but it’s only reallyavailable in a
limited numberof smartphones. And those
phones, such as the OnePlus7Pro 5G and
Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, are flagship devices
with expectantly high prices.
As such, while 5G networks are being rolled
out and expectedto cover more cities and areas
as 2020 comes around, there isn’tavast
numberof smartphones accessibleto all that
can tap intothe speeds and bandwidth the
next-generation network promises and seems
to be delivering sofar.
But Qualcomm hopesto be the firm that
helps turn that around.At IFA2019,the chip
maker noted that it will be bringing its 5G
modem chipsto its 6- and 7-series Snapdragon
system-on-a-chip ranges.
If you currently wantaQualcomm chipset
that supports 5G, you needto have an SoC from
the high-end 8-series, notably the Snapdragon
- Unsurprisingly,you’ll find suchachip in
phones that costover £1,000 in the caseof the
Galaxy S10 5G and come atamonthly
cost of £79 on an EE contractforthe
OnePlus7Pro 5G.
However,Qualcomm’s planto bring
5G modem chipsto its mid-range
chipsets,found in the likesof Nokia
smartphones, is setto change that.
Qualcomm didn’t saywhen we
can expectto see 5G modems pop up
in 6- and 7-series Snapdragon chips.
But we wouldn’t be surprisedto see a
suiteofa ffordable phones with 5G
compatibility early next year.
There still remains the issue that 5G
contracts could still be pretty pricey
even if cheaper 5G phones arrive.
However,asm ore 5G networks roll out
and 5G coverage expands, we can expect
competition between thetelecoms
providersto heat up and thus result in
better-priced dealsforpeople aftera5G
phone and contract.
Qualcomm aims to bring 5G to the masses
SAYWHAT?
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