Acer - Acer Swift 3 314-41-R1X6

Acer

Acer Swift 3 2019: a powerful Ryzen 5 processor for an affordable PC

Aprox. 809€

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The Acer Swift 3 is one of the best value for money laptops on the market. The PC of the Taiwanese brand is available today with a Ryzen 5 series 3000 processor from AMD. Does the user gain by changing it?

Our review

Presentation

In the Swift range, we ask for the 3. If the Swift 7 offers all the manufacturer's expertise and the Swift 5 puts on its lightness, the Acer Swift 3 is a 13-inch ultraportable which wants to offer a correct experience for a price affordable , that is to say less than 600 €. It is thus positioned on the mid-range PC market and targets an audience seeking neither performance nor premium appearance. A segment on which many manufacturers are already betting, such as HP with its Pavilion or Asus with its Vivobook.

The previous models of the Swift 3 which have passed through our labs represent one of the best value for money on the market. This new model, updated, has a version with an AMD Ryzen 5 3500U processor. A configuration still rare today, since manufacturers generally favor Intel processors, leaving only crumbs to AMD. For example, the LDLC site offers for sale 32 laptops with an AMD processor, against 603 with an Intel processor.


Construction

The Acer Swift 3 adopts a visually successful brushed aluminum chassis which gives the product a premium appearance, despite its somewhat sad gray. The solid chassis, which does not bend under the fingers, has the merit of being a master key. However, it should be noted that it marks easily, the shiny aluminum edges were scratched after only a few transportations in a bag.

The metal hinge, but protected by a plastic cover, incorporates ventilation grilles, which are also found under the chassis. The screen, which is not tactile, can however be placed at 180 °, which allows it to be tilted at will and to find the perfect position in bright light, without being limited by a screen which blocks itself.

The Acer Swift 3, like the other models in the range, has a fingerprint reader next to its keyboard that works with Windows Hello. If its presence is to be welcomed, it must however be pointed out that it is so narrow that it does not serve it, the user is sometimes forced to do it several times to properly place his finger on the reader in order to access his office .

Acer has also included more or less useful preinstalled software, either of its own, or the fruit of its partnerships. Thus, the user ends up with the Booking application or the Norton antivirus, by default. Acer also offers its Care Center, present on all its products, which allows you to manage your computer at a glance for less experienced users via a simple interface. It is possible, thanks to this software, to know the space that remains on the computer, to update Windows or even to establish a recovery point. Quite possible things to do in Windows 10 without this software, but it has the merit of grouping everything together and making these actions simpler.

The keyboard fulfills its contract by offering a pleasant resistance under the fingers and a correct placement of the keys. For example, the enter key is well placed on the right of the keyboard and covers two levels, which is practical. It is also backlit on one level and has no numeric keypad, which is understandable on a 14-inch model. Only small disappointment, the space between the relatively large keys (4 mm) serves the typing quality and requires time to adapt to the user. The trackpad is correct and responds well to user requests, especially in the case of two-finger scrolling. The only disappointment lies in the mechanical click a little too rigid.

The connectivity of the Acer Swift 3 is complete for a computer of its class. It has on its edges a USB Type-C 3.1 port, a USB Type-A 2.0 port, two USB Type-A 3.0 ports, an HDMI port, an SD card reader and a microphone / headset port, in addition to a power port . Acer therefore offers correct connectivity, although we can however regret the absence of an RJ45 port, which is always useful.

The Swift 3 can be easily opened using a precision screwdriver with a star head. However, it is only possible to change the SSD (512 GB on our test model) to M2 format and only a 4 GB strip only. The other bar is inaccessible and cannot be changed. Pity.

The chassis of the Swift 3 does not heat much. During our usual test protocol (Unigine Heaven benchmark for one hour), the temperature of the ventilation grilles located in the hinge rose to only 42 ° C. The location of the user's wrists when he writes is spared by the heater, which is to be welcomed. This relative freshness is not offset by an annoying noise, since our measurements indicated a breath measured at 39 dB, very discreet, even inaudible in a slightly noisy room, especially as it is regular. This good management of heating is due to an efficient and well thought out cooling system.


Screen

The Acer Swift 3 is equipped with a 14 inch IPS non-touch screen with a definition of 1,920 x 1,080 px. The manufacturer has not bet on particularly thin edges for his computer, which gives a front screen ratio of 78%, or in the market average between 75% and 80%. The webcam therefore manages to find its place on the upper edge of the screen.

Once passed under the lens of our probe, the screen of the Swift 3 delivered correct measurements, without however shining. The contrast was thus measured at 1,175: 1, which is a relatively good score on a laptop. If the blacks lack depth, the whites are bright. The color temperature was measured by us at 6,240 K, which is very close to the video standard of 6,500 K. The screen does not draw towards blue or red. On the other hand, the respect for colors leaves something to be desired, with an average delta of 5.5. Here, the greens, blues and purples displayed on the screen are in fact little respected, which is inconvenient for the processing of photos, for example.

The maximum brightness also leaves something to be desired, since it is 259 cd / m², which, without being awful, is very average. It is however counterbalanced by a matte slab not very prone to reflections. It will therefore be possible to work outdoors with the Swift 3 if the light is not too bright. Finally, the remanence calculated on the PC screen is 19 ms; it's starting to get a little high. The user will then have to deal with "fuzzy streaks" during movements on the screen, which will slightly hamper the most demanding.


Performances

The Acer Swift 3 SF314-41-R1X6 is equipped with an AMD Ryzen 5 3500U processor (4 cores, 8 threads, base frequency of 2.1 GHz and turbo frequency of 3.7 GHz), supported by 8 GB of Dual channel RAM and 512 GB M2 SSD. Solid configuration on paper.

During our usual test protocol (photo, video, audio compression or 3D calculation), the Ryzen 5 of the Swift 3 delivered the results we expected from it. With its index of 80 on our scale of values, it is thus placed at the level of laptops equipped with an Intel Core i5, like the Dell Inspiron 14, for example. It is also analogous to other PCs on the market with a Ryzen 5, such as Huawei's Matebook D 14. A power that will sit with the user wishing to run software greedy in computing.

Note that the Swift 3 is equipped with an AMD Radeon Vega 8 graphics card. While it is modest, it does have the merit of running very low-power games by making graphic concessions. During our tests, Overwatch, for example, revolved around 40 fps in 720p with graphics set to medium, while Fortnite stayed the course of 30 fps with the same settings.


Mobility / Autonomy

The Acer Swift 3 has been designed as a very mobile computer, without going into ultra-thinness or ultra-lightness like the Swift 5 or Swift 7. It thus adopts dimensions of 22.8 x 32.3 x 1.8 cm and weighs 1.43 kg, reasonable weight for this type of product. It will be easy to carry it in a bag all day. A fact reinforced by the small size of the food, which weighs only 160 g.

On the autonomy side, the Swift 3 is doing well. During our usual test protocol (Netflix in Chrome, backlight off, headphones plugged in and brightness set to 200 cd / m²), it lasted 8 h 38 min, a very good score. Thus, it will be possible to take the Swift 3 all day leaving the charger at home, and this, without worrying about the lack of battery.


Audio

The speakers of the Acer Swift 3 are placed under the chassis, on the sides. The sound delivered by the PC is mediocre, accentuated in the treble and producing nasal voices. Acer has included software, Acer True Harmony, which makes the sound less skimpy, but which tends to create an unpleasant box effect. This means that the chassis vibrates when the volume is high.

The headphone jack offers a power of 120 mVRMS, which is comparable to what smartphones offer. The user will be able to connect all the mobile headsets on the market without difficulty. There should be a problem with current handling when the volume is above 96%, which causes problems with dynamics or distortion.


Conclusion

Acer has found an excellent balance between price and quality on this Acer Swift 3. Although it is not free from defects, it nevertheless offers a very correct experience. The presence of a Ryzen 5 processor has the merit of changing from the eternal Intel processor and of diversifying the offer. In 2019, the Acer Swift 3 is still the PC with the best value for money on the market, and will convince those who are not necessarily looking for a premium PC.


Specifications