ACER

Swift Edge: The all-in-one ultraportable laptop for office work

Laptops have been relatively boring for a long time now, and if something catches your eye, it must be worth it. Personally, I don't really like working on a laptop, because it's usually a model with a small screen and low performance, and if you want a bigger and more powerful one, you're dragging a heavy and bulky device with you. That's why I only use the laptop on the road, where there is no other option. However, after a long time, I was pleasantly surprised to unbox Acer's new product, the Acer Swift Edge ultrabook. I knew I was buying a 16" laptop, so I expected it to be big, heavy, and cumbersome. But the opposite is true. A device with a thickness of 14 mm, a weight of just over a kilogram and a beautiful 4K 16” OLED display. And marvel at the world, 2× USB-C, 2× USB-A and full-format HDMI. This is called a business laptop for travel, but only people for whom a laptop is an essential companion on frequent business trips, especially by plane, can confirm this. You need to pack as light as possible and make efficient use of available space. However, you want to have enough comfort and performance at work.

Not so long ago, the weight of the new Acer Swift Edge barely fit 13 or 14″ laptops. However, the light weight and compact dimensions would be a bit too much for a good working tool. The OLED panel is one of the biggest designs of this model. On such a large screen it can be fully used throughout the day and thanks to the high resolution of 4K you have much more space for your projects. The OLED panel technology covers the DCI-P3 HDR color space, the color rendering is excellent, they are vivid and the contrast is perfect. Very low latency (only 0.2ms) will please occasional gamers.

This time, the AMD Ryzen 6800U processor takes care of the unit. It works with a configurable TDP range of 15 – 28 W and has 8 physical cores and 16 threads with HyperThreading technology. The base clock is 2.7 GHz, but in turbo mode it can reach 4.7 GHz for a short period of time, especially when running on battery power. The processor has significantly higher performance compared to the previous generation Ryzen 5800U. This, of course, affects TDP configuration and cooling options. Advantages of the new processor include support for the modern PCIe 4 bus, USB 4 (40 Mb/s) and LPDDR5 memory. The built-in 1TB SSD with an average transfer speed of 4879MB/s read and 3760MB/s write also benefits from this. The processor has integrated Radeon 680U graphics.

Sure, the Swift Edge isn't a gaming laptop, but at least in full HD mode, it lets you play most modern games in slightly limited detail. When working with applications, the performance will be enough for you, and processing photos or graphics is an experience on this amazing screen. It's worse with video. If you are processing videos for social networks in full HD resolution, then there is no problem here, but when working with 4K material it takes your breath away. Also, many programs work with GPU acceleration and are optimized for NVIDIA graphics. However, it has to be taken into account and it is a rate of extreme portability. During normal work or watching videos, the laptop is almost silent, but when high performance is required, the fans are noisy, although you can hear the whistling of air more than the fans themselves.

The screen has enough brightness range to work both day and night, which partially eliminates the screen's glossy surface, even if you can't completely avoid the distracting glare.

As I already mentioned, the thickness of the notebook when closed is only 14 mm, while 11 mm falls on the base. Thanks to that, full-format ports — HDMI and a pair of USB-A — fit here. In addition to them, there is also a pair of USB-C connectors that support video streaming and charging. The supplied 65W USB-C power adapter is also compact, measuring 56 x 56 x 28 mm and weighing 196 grams.

The chassis construction is a combination of magnesium and aluminum, which makes it very rigid, with no signs of bending. The manufacturer claims that it is twice as resistant as aluminum. This also applies to the top cover. The battery with a capacity of 54 Wh will keep the device working for about 10 hours during office use. I find that satisfying. At high load, of course, it will be less.

The keyboard has enough lift for its size and is generally easy to work with. With a 16″ diagonal, you already have a numerical keyboard, which, unfortunately, does not happen here. The keys are backlit in white, and the top right, reserved for calling, also contains a fingerprint sensor. Here I have to praise the manufacturer again, it is second to none the best fingerprint sensor on the market.

Under the keyboard, you'll also find a 14.5 cm touchpad with gesture support.

The new Acer Swift Edge brings a new perspective to ultrabooks. Of course, even it didn't avoid a lot of compromises and there are some mistakes too, but if you need an office laptop for frequent business trips with an amazing big OLED screen and a very thin and light design, then you are at the right address. In addition, the relatively affordable price will also please you, which, although not low, will pleasantly surprise you due to the characteristics of the device.

PROS AND CONS:

+ Portability, image quality, connectivity, processing, fast charging, sufficient endurance

- Weaker performance, missing numeric keypad on keyboard

by: mundophone