Acer Swift 7: a 14-inch ultra-thin laptop

Presentation

Acer is extremely proud of its Swift 7, and there is something: its ultra-portable is only 8.98 mm thick. The Taiwanese manufacturer can thus boast of having in its stable the lightest PC in the world (the Swift 5) and now the thinnest. The closed PC is no thicker than a smartphone. Visually, it's impressive.

The question remains whether Acer has preserved performance and user comfort.

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Construction

In terms of design, Acer has chosen to combine the sobriety of black aluminum with overhead lines, especially at the level of the hinge which leaves light under the screen.

Overall, the Swift 7 leaves an excellent impression. Its finish is impeccable. Only regret, the difficulty to open the PC with one hand, the notch for the fingers being too fine to be used easily, and the keyboard part too light not to systematically lift. Minor details that do not affect the excellent construction of the computer.

The Swift 7's connections go to the essentials. Finesse forces, the PC does not have any USB Type-A port, but two Thunderbolt 3 compatible USB Type-C ports as well as a mini-Jack port. Small appreciable bonus, the presence of a SIM card port for 4G.

The keyboard is very good, with keys that resist well, offering a fairly short but acceptable stroke. Note the presence of a fingerprint reader on the side. The trackpad has no mechanism or haptic feedback. Thus, no click is felt under the fingers of the user who will have to get used to tapping the inert surface with one or two fingers (for the left click). Confusing at first, but ultimately usable without problem.

The Swift 7 does not have a fan or air vents, but it does have a processor designed for passive cooling (an Intel Core i7-7Y75). During our usual test protocol (Unigine Heaven benchmark for one hour), the PC reached the temperature of 39 ° C above the keyboard and under the chassis. A well-managed temperature with little disruption to use. Of course, the computer does not emit any noise.

Ultimately, the Swift 7 is an impeccably finished computer that deserves its status as an ultra high-end PC. If the logically limited connectivity and the trackpad will confuse some users, the rest is unquestionably a success.

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Screen

The Swift 7 is equipped with a 14 inch IPS screen with a definition of 1,920 x 1,080 px. Acer bet on thin edges while leaving a large space below the tile to place the webcam. Thus, the screen / facade ratio is 74%, which is in the current average. Note that the screen is touch, but the hinge does not tilt 360 degrees. It is simply possible to lay it flat. The choice of touch is therefore a bit strange on the part of Acer.

contrast 1485: 1 Delta E 2.3 temperature 6900 K

Once the screen passed under the lens of our probe, we discover excellent results. The contrast is thus 1485: 1 and allows a good vision of the shades of gray. The average delta E is 2.3 and this good colorimetry is confirmed to the eye. The temperature is close to the video standard (6,500 K) and stands at 6,900 K. Finally, the brightness rises to 308 cd / m² maximum, which allows you to work outdoors despite a bright screen.

Finally, it should be noted that the remanence is 21 ms, which is high but has little importance for a computer that is not dedicated to games.

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Performances

The Acer Swift 7 is equipped with an Intel Core i7-7Y75 processor supported by 8 GB of RAM. Acer here preferred to favor finesse rather than power.

In terms of pure performance, the Acer Swift 7 is thus far behind the other flagship ultra-portable on the market, like the Lenovo Yoga 920, the Swift 5 (still at Acer) or the MacBook Air of 2016, while logically hoisting itself above the last Galaxy Book equipped with a Core m3. Relatively low power, especially for a computer sold quite expensive (€ 2,000). Nevertheless, it will fulfill its mission very conveniently for office automation, as well as internet browsing or reading movies.

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Mobility / Autonomy

We have already mentioned the impressive finesse of the Swift 7 (8.98 mm), its weight is also appreciable, since it weighs 1.2 kg. Acer accompanied its PC with a leather pouch to protect it while traveling. Needless to say, it is extremely easy to transport and only takes up space in a bag.

On the autonomy side, the Swift 7 is very convincing. During our usual test protocol (Netflix in Chrome, brightness set to 200 cd / m², headphones plugged in and backlight off), it went out after 8:42. This is far from the record autonomy of the market, but it remains at the top of the basket, especially if we take into account the finesse of the computer.

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Audio

The audio part of the Swift 7 is doing admirably well. Almost a miracle given its finesse. Its speakers are placed under the keyboard, on the sides of the chassis. They are therefore dependent on the surface where this laptop is placed. Despite an obviously limited power, they deliver a very correct and well balanced sound. The voices are thus intelligible and listening to music is possible on an occasional basis. Dolby software is preinstalled on Windows and appreciably balances the sound when it is activated ... provided, paradoxically, to leave the equalizer flat and to leave all the sound processing options "off".

All this is accompanied by a headphone jack which offers appreciable sound. It should however be noted that it offers enough power for mobile headsets but not for hi-fi monitoring headphones a little too greedy.

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Conclusion

Acer designed the Swift 7 to make it the thinnest laptop in the world. To achieve this result, the manufacturer had to make some concessions, especially on power, connectors and trackpad. Nevertheless, it does admirably by delivering a model that is very pleasant to use and with impeccable finishes. The Swift 7 is not just a technical demonstration, it is also an excellent computer.

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