USB Type-C port supporting:USB 3.2 Gen 2 (up to 10 Gbps), DisplayPort over USB-C, USB charging 5 V; 3 A, DC-in port 20 V; 65 W In our file transfer test, the Acer Swift 3 copied 5GB of files at a rate of 462.7 megabytes per second, for a total of 11 seconds, which just barely makes it past the category average of 409.6 MBps. Once again, this crushed the HP Envy 13, which has a rate of 363.5 MBps. To measure the battery life, we reduced the brightness down to around 50% and ran the PCMark 10 battery benchmark, which simulates various office tasks until the battery tank is empty. The Swift 3 brings all-day battery life and more to the plate. This means you will be able to run around all day and not worry about having to search for an outlet. When we ran the Laptop Mag Battery Test, which consists of continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness, the Acer Swift 3 lasted for 14 hours and 48 minutes, which crushed the ultraportable average (12:45). The HP Envy x360 came in second with a runtime of 11 hours and 23 minutes. The MacBook Air finished third (9:31) and the Surface Pro 7+ is, again, in last place (8:49). Acer Swift 3 heat We estimate Windows 11 support will end in October 2031. However, this laptop may be compatible with a future version of Windows that gets support beyond this date

Our review unit outpaced the ultra-portable laptop average (15:02) during the Handbrake video-editing test, taking 12 minutes and 59 seconds to transcode a 4K video to 1080p. However, the HP Envy x360 crushed everyone by transcoding the same footage in just 8 minutes. The MacBook Air scored solidly at 9 minutes and 15 seconds. Microsoft Surface Pro 7+, on the other hand, scored a slow 23 minutes and 41 seconds. The Acer Swift 3 has a pair of tinny speakers located on the underside of the chassis. These stereo speakers aren’t nearly loud enough for my liking and the bass is awful. Whether you’re playing Mozart or Slayer, music comes across sounding whiny and metallic. It’s fine for Zoom calls and YouTube videos but that’s about it. Acer Swift 3 SF314-57 (2020) review: Performance and battery lifeREAD NEXT: Our favourite laptops for every budget Acer Swift 3 review: Performance and battery life In our 4K media benchmark, the Swift 3 performed roughly as expected, reaching an overall score of 87, beating the 75 achieved by the Core i5-powered Acer Swift 5 (2019). As the chart above indicates, the Swift 3 is no match for the Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 and Dell XPS 13 (2020), both of which use a Core i7-1065G7 and 16GB RAM. But all these laptops are bested by the Honor MagicBook 14, which hit 109 in the 4K media test with its AMD Ryzen 5 3500 and 8GB RAM. The AMD Acer Swift 3 flew by the Intel model (7:31), as well as the 7:56 category average. Meanwhile, the HP Envy 13 (11:11) just barely beat the Acer Swift 3 by two minutes. Acer Swift 3 (AMD) review: Webcam Its 14-inch display features a relatively thin bezel, even with the top one housing a handy webcam. Unfortunately, this isn’t a flip-down panel, and nor is it a touchscreen. The Acer Swift 3 is the sensible choice. Unlike the latest Dell XPS 13 or Microsoft Surface Laptop, it won’t inspire the awe and jealousy of your colleagues. It’s the laptop you buy if you want a competent, well-made machine that gets the job done, without breaking the bank.

The speaker system can’t quite match the display for quality, though, despite carrying DTS certification. To start with there’s not a lot of volume on offer: at 1m distance, I measured an average of 71dB from a pink noise source and 72dB with peaks of 79dB from a music source. That’s pretty average. There’s not much in the way of bass, either, although the definition is good and there’s no break-up even at maximum volume.The Acer Swift 720p webcam is standard and performs well. Like most webcams, the color is a little off in tone and the details are grainy, especially if the lighting isn’t right. If you need better quality, I suggest purchasing an external webcam. However, the Swift 3's camera will be sufficient for Zoom and Google Meet calls. Acer Swift 3 software and warranty The key travel is rather shallow but that’s a criticism I could make of almost every laptop of this class and it never gets in the way of the speed or feel of typing. Given the compact dimensions of the Swift 3, it’s no surprise that the function and arrow keys are half-height affairs. Other than that the layout is both standard and fault free.

Except for the plastic bottom cover, the Swift 3 is made entirely from aluminium and feels very solid. It looks smart, too, thanks to the all-over matte effect silver finish, which seems to be impervious to fingerprints. The Aspire does an excellent job of dissipating heat. I popped open 30 tabs in Google Chrome, all playing various Full HD YouTube videos while working on a document and there was no discernible rise in temperature.

Affordable, compact, well made and with an excellent display, the latest Acer Swift 3 has no real weaknesses

Battery life is measured under specific test settings and conditions pursuant to MobileMark 2018. Actual battery life may vary considerably by specifications, depending on product model, configuration, applications, power management settings, operating conditions, and features utilized. Performance variation also arises based on components in use, which includes but is not limited to the processor, RAM capacity, storage, display, resolution, etc. The Swift 3’s IPS display was pretty good for working and unwinding with some content on Prime Video and Disney+. Colours are decent and the viewing angles are marvellous. An aspect ratio of 16:9 is also rather standard, and some may argue it’s a little behind the curve as modern ultrabooks are using a squarer 16:10 ratio for newer-style apps and browsing. The Micron 1TB SSD that shipped with my review machine had fast sequential write speeds, too, at 3,127MB/sec while the sequential read speed of 3,110MB/sec was only meaningfully beaten by the Samsung Galaxy Book 3.