The 2022 model of the Acer Swift 5 is one of the most striking-looking laptops I’ve seen in quite a while.
The ‘misty green’ matte finish is a sight to behold, and contrasts nicely with the classy gold edging on the chassis. It looks like a luxury item, and much design care has gone into this model, from the slight shark fin curve on each side that allows for under-machine ventilation, to the subtle ‘SWIFT’ insignia on the gold-edge of the laptop lid that recalls a European sporting vehicle. The keys sink nicely into the body of the laptop, while the Acer branding is subtle and clean. It’s light, too, weighing just 1.2kg.
But while aesthetics are important, it is, after all, just casing. Luckily, the Swift 5 is a beast under the hood. It sports a 12th Gen Intel Core i7-1260P CPU, Intel Iris Xe graphics, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB SSD.
The screen is the most immediately impressive element, a 14-inch, 2560 x 1600-pixel, Gorilla Glass display, with a 16:10 resolution, and a bright 2.5K display.
Videos play with remarkable clarity, the contrast between blacks and whites is notable, compared to other laptops I’ve tested recently, while beautifully bright colours (such as those on a rosella bird video I watched) jump out of the screen. The screen boasts 457 nits of brightness, which surpasses the majority of premium laptops.
While this laptop adheres to minimalist design principles, it thankfully doesn’t carry this over to the input options. Two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a HDMI, and a USB-A 3.2 port sit on the left-hand side, while a headphone jack, another USB-A port, and even a K-Slot (for if you want to add bike-lock type protection) sit on the right-hand side.
The webcam is a crisp 1080p, and also utilises noise-reduction software to sharpen the image even further. This is a surprising upside for this laptop, given that a lot of competitors sport 720p snappers, even in 2022.
The Swift 5 also sports dual fans, dual D6 heat pipes, that support multiple cooling modes, and an air inlet keyboard that expels 10 per cent more heat than other keyboards. It is true that the machine didn’t heat up as much as other fruit-related laptops I could name, but hot keys have never been of great concern to me. The base is usually where the heat is at its worst, and to this end, the Swift 5 stays relatively cool.
The audio is the only element that is lacking on this laptop. Part of this is where the speakers themselves are sitting: at the base on the monitor, squeezed in front of the hinge. This gives a muffled quality to the sound depending on what angle you have the screen at, which only gets worse when you crank the volume. Speaking of, the maximum volume isn’t very loud – even when listening to newly mastered music, it lacks a certain heft. This isn’t too surprising, given this is a laptop, but you’ll find yourself opting for headphones more often than not – which isn’t ideal for some.
The other downsides to this machine, aside from the aforementioned speaker volume, are firmly in the realm of nitpicking.
There’s a lot of annoying pop-ups when setting up the computer. “Savings for ACER customers!” are available if you wish to purchase Norton, while a persistent pop-up reminds me I’ve got Microsoft Xbox Game Pass. $10 off Forge Of Empires, anyone? All these notifications (read: ads) can be dealt with, and are a minor gripe, but setting up a new system is already a painful task, and these constant pings add to the hassle.
Another minor issue: the gold-coloured letters on the ‘misty green’ keys are hard to read in low light settings, especially those who aren’t touch-typists, or wear glasses. Other than this the keyboard is nicely placed, the OceanGlass touchpad is responsive without being overly-sensitive, and it’s made from ocean plastics, which gives Acer major green points.
As I said, these are minor concerns. The Swift 5 is a spectacular machine, impressive to look at, ergonomically sound, and sporting one of the best non-4K screens I’ve seen. At less than $1,200, this is a beauty. 9.5/10
PROS
An amazingly clear and bright screen, in 16:10 ratio.
A beautiful-looking machine
Plenty of firepower under the hood.
CONS
The keys are hard to see, even with the F11 backlight on
The speakers aren’t the best, especially when playing sub-par audio to start with.
This isn’t a gaming machine – although it doesn’t pretend to be
