The Acer Swift 14 AI is the latest laptop to dramatise Intel ’s newLunar Lake chip , which promise a serious startle in battery life to battle the sovereignty of the MacBook and the newcomer to the Windows world , the Snapdragon X Elite .
Acer has joined in with the Swift 14 AI , a Modern automobile based on Intel ’s efficiency - pore Lunar Lake chipset . It matches a sane price with olympian battery lifetime to make for a compelling option . Does that make it one of thebest laptops ? Well , the display is n’t as peachy as some , but if you ’re not marital to OLED , then you ’ll find a lot to like here .
Specs and configuration
Acer tender two configuration of the Swift 14 AI , both have 14.0 - inch FHD+ IPS video display . For $ 1,200 , you get an Intel Core Ultra 7 256V , 16 GB of RAM , and a 1 TB SSD . For $ 1,300 , there ’s a slightly fast Core Ultra 7 258V and 32 GB of RAM .
That makes the Swift 14 AI a pretty priced laptop . TheHP OmniBook Ultra Flip 14uses the same Intel chipsets and is more expensive at list , coming in at $ 1,450 for a slower Core Ultra 5 226V , 16 GB of RAM , and a 512 GB SSD . But , HP often has its laptops on sale , and when configured to Acer ’s high - end specs , the OmniBook is slightly more expensive at $ 1,400 but that include a higher - solution 2.8 K OLED show .
TheAsus Zenbook S 14is another similar machine that ’s more expensive at $ 1,500 also with a 2.8 1000 OLED video display .
Design
The Swift 14 AI wield to range the business between today ’s more common minimalist designs and something a bit unlike . It does so through the use of a rounded rear chassis edge and sides that incorporate a curving design . It ’s still just a sinister white-haired colorway with minimal bling bling , so it ’s a conservative invention . But it manage to stand out a little more than some . The OmniBook Ultra Flip 14 andMacBook Air M3both have their own attractive styles , and it ’s down to personal tastes if the Swift 14 AI manages to be as good - looking .
In terms of its build quality , the Swift 14 AI is a miscellaneous base . It ’s made of aluminium , and its bottom chassis and keyboard deck are both substantial enough . The lid is a bit flexible , however , something that the MacBook Air M3 share but the OmniBook Ultra Flip 14 does not . It ’s fine , but not the right I ’ve reviewed lately .
In improver , the Swift 14 AI is a little thick than many recent machine , and much more so than the MacBook Air M3 that ’s one of the slight laptop computer ever made . It ’s fair light , and its bezels are reasonably tenuous so the overall sizing is private-enterprise . Interestingly , Acer borrowed Lenovo ’s reverse notch to domiciliate the webcam and other electronics , forefend Apple ’s more controversial display notch .
Keyboard and touchpad
The Swift 14 AI has a distinctive island keyboard with somewhat little keycaps compared to what I ’m used to but great spatial arrangement and a standard layout . The switches are light and whipping , and I plant the keyboard comfortable while I was typing this critique . It ’s up there with the best , include Apple ’s Magic Keyboard and the OmniBook Ultra Flip 14 ’s excellent variation .
The touchpad is reasonably sized , although there ’s room on the palm relief for a few more millimeters . It ’s mechanical with quiet chink , but more laptop computer are admit tactile versions that are even quieter and tolerate clicking along the entire control surface . tactile touchpads , like the excellent version you ’ll find on the OmniBook Ultra Flip 14 and Apple ’s entire MacBook batting order , render more customization option and are just a lot more pleasant to utilise . One strange characteristic is an result symbol in the upper - right quarter-circle that lights up when Microsoft Copilot AI features are set off .
The display is skin senses - enabled , which is a good thing . Overall , input pick are fine .
Connectivity and webcam
Connectivity is very beneficial , with a mix of Thunderbolt 4 and bequest ports . I ’d care to have seen an SD card reader , but that ’s my only real ill . Wireless connectivity is fully up - to - date .
The webcam is a 1440p adaptation that has a number of Acer utility to optimize video and audio timbre . There ’s a riotous neural processing social unit ( NPU ) running at 47 Yamaltu operation per second ( TOPS ) , which is more than the 40 summit want for Microsoft ’s Copilot+ personal computer initiative . As more AI features roll out , the Swift 14 AI will be ready to run them with sufficient on - gadget execution and good efficiency .
An infrared television camera provides support for Windows 11 Hello facial acknowledgement , and it ’s reliable and fast .
Performance
The Intel Lunar Lake melodic line of chipsets is aim square at efficiency , supervene upon the old Meteor Lake 15 - watt Core Ultra S - series chipsets with 17 - watt Core Ultra Series 2 chipsets . They ’re all 8 - core/8 - yarn parts execute at various clock velocity , and they all expend the latest Intel Arc unified graphics . For the Swift 14 AI , that means the Intel Arc 140V that falls somewhere between the previous contemporaries and entering - level discrete graphics .
In our benchmark , the Swift 14 AI is fast enough but not the fast in its class . The Qualcomm Snapdragon X chipsets , also aimed at efficiency , are also profligate . Apple ’s M3 chipset , which will be supplant by the M4 in the MacBook Air in other 2025 , comes in the midsection , although its GPU cores are immobile than each of the thin - and - light Windows competitors .
The Swift 14 AI is debauched enough for demanding productivity drug user , although gamers and creators will require to bet elsewhere .
Battery life
Intel ’s Lunar Lake chipsets are aimed at efficiency much more than performance . As we can see , performance is fine but nothing to write home about . But so far , while Lunar Lake laptops still have n’t been loosely as efficient overall as Apple ’s MacBook card , they ’re much good than former Windows laptop . miserable stamp battery aliveness is no longer a reason to skip Windows .
The Swift 14 AI was a very strong performing artist even among their immediate Intel challenger , in spite of hold a 65 W - hour battery that ’s no larger than some other automobile . In fact , outside of our most demanding Cinebench R24 battery tryout , the Swift 14 AI is essentially as efficient as the MacBook Air M3 . It ’s a very telling carrying into action that ’s in all probability aided by the FHD+ information processing showing as compared to the OLED display in a few equivalence machine .
Display and audio
The Swift 14 AI ’s 14.0 - inch 16:10 IPS display run at FHD+ ( 1920 x 1200 ) , which is n’t quite as sharp-worded as I like to see in a display this size . It ’s probably OK for most people , and it does add the benefit of being more mogul - efficient than the higher - res organic light-emitting diode displays on many laptop I ’ve critique late . Subjectively , the exhibit was shining and colorful and overall a courteous enough IPS display .
My colorimeter found it to be above - average for IPS technology , which is a skilful thing because that average is a wad better than it was just a few years ago . The video display is brilliant at 408 nit , way above our service line of 300 nit that postulate to be adapt upward at some point . Contrast is also excellent at 1,340:1 , better than our previous banner of 1,000:1 . Colors are slightly spacious than most information processing displays at 100 % of sRGB , 81 % of AdobeRGB , and 84 % of DCI - P3 , compared to most IPS panels that come in at around 75 % of both AdobeRGB and DCI - P3 . Color accuracy is very good at a DeltaE of 1.35 ( anything less than 2.0 is great for productiveness use ) .
It ’s a good showing for most users . It wo n’t be the good for originative work or HDR video , but for everything else it will be more than desirable .
The audio quality is just OK , with two down - firing speakers . Sound is tacky enough and mids and high gear are clear , but bass is lacking . You ’ll want a good set of headphones or Bluetooth speaker unit for music and streaming .
Is the Acer Swift 14 AI worth it?
The Swift 14 AI is a well - built and attractive laptop with honorable enough performance and a sensible — but not especial — price . Its battery life story is the standout feature , with efficiency that ’s among the good Windows laptop we ’ve tested .
However , it owes that battery life history at least partly to the IPS presentation . It ’s not a forged screen , but it lacks the asperity and direct contrast of modern organic light-emitting diode displays . That ’s the one tradeoff to consider , but if electric battery life is your main concern , the Acer Swift 14 AI is a solid alternative .
