THERE’S a saying that “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, but ACER’s recent update of its popular Swift 5 laptop completely blows that theory out of the water. Updated internals, a sleeker design and a greater commitment towards sustainability have all made the refreshed ACER Swift 5 a welcome improvement of a popular workhorse device.
Right out of the box, the Swift 5 surprised me with its lightweight 1.2kg design. I also appreciated the feel of its self-described “aerospace-grade aluminium chassis” which felt resolutely solid, yet was not bulky at all.
One new design development was its eco-friendly OceanGlass touchpad, which is made from ocean-bound plastic and is a symbol of the brand’s commitment to increasing the sustainability of its products.
The gold-plated accents at the sides, the hinge and the ACER logo also added a subtle touch of class, which I appreciated. The review unit I received was Mist Green, which in reality is a lot more grey than green, but it nonetheless fit with the more sophisticated look that the company is going for. In terms of ports, the ACER Swift 5 has two Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, a HDMI port, a Kensington lock port – for added security in business use – and a headset jack.
Setting up the ACER Swift 5 was a rather painless affair, taking just under 10 minutes between pressing the power button – which has a built-in fingerprint reader – to reaching the home screen. The device comes with Windows 11 and Microsoft Office Home and Student 2021 pre-installed, and is powered by the new 12th Gen Intel® Core™ i7 CPU and 16GB of RAM, with a 1TB drive.
Its display is a 14”, WUXGA 1900x1200p Corning Gorilla Glass panel, with slim bezels at the sides to maximise view space. I fired up a video to test it, and was instantly surprised by how crisp and clear the images were. In addition, the device’s speakers were top-notch, and can project the sound of everything from music videos to movies with little blowback, should you choose to utilise them instead of using headphones.
Another thing I enjoyed was how tactile the keys were. As someone who is currently using a PC and riding the modified keyboard trend, the ACER Swift 5 reminded me of how enjoyable the softer, more compact laptop keyboard can be. The keyboard has a dual-tier backlight, which I found could be adjusted by pressing the F11 key, which helps when typing in different lighting conditions.
Performance-wise, I was extremely happy with the speed and efficiency of the device. It could handle a regular day’s work, which often means having multiple tabs open, occasionally with something streaming in the background. Battery life was also pretty good, with a full charge able to last the entire day, even with long stretches of typing and video streaming.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed using the ACER Swift 5, and it makes the perfect device for those looking for a more efficient and performance-driven upgrade from their existing laptops.
The review model I tested is the mid-tier variant and is priced at RM5,699. Thebase model of the ACER Swift 5 is priced at RM4,699 and comes with the same WUXGA 1900x1200p display, 12th Gen Intel Core i5 CPU and 8GB of RAM, with a 512GB drive, while the high-end variant is the same as the mid-tier, but comes with a WQXGA 2560x1600p panel and is priced at RM6,599.
The ACER Swift 5 is available for purchase at the ACER eStore, as well as ACER’s official stores on Shopee and Lazada. Those who make their purchase by Sept 30 will be able to get a free Sleeve Case, a backpack as well as RM120 of Touch n’ Go credit.
