Review: Acer’s Swift 5 is an affordable ultralight with notable sacrifices

Enlarge / Acer's 2022 Swift 5 laptop. (credit: Scharon Harding)

Specs at a glance: Acer Swift 5 (SF514-56T-797T)
Screen	14-inch 2560*1600 60 Hz IPS touchscreen
OS	Windows 11 Home
CPU	Intel Core i7-1260P
RAM	16GB LPDDR5
Storage	1 TB PCIe 4.0 SSD
GPU	Intel Iris Xe (integrated)
Networking	Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2
Ports	2x USB-C (Thunderbolt 4), 2x USB-A (3.2 Gen 1), 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x 3.5 mm jack
Size	12.22 x 8.4 x 0.59 inches (310.5 x 213.3 x 14.95 mm)
Weight	2.65 lbs (1.2 kg)
Battery	56 Whr
Warranty	1 year
Price (MSRP)	$1,500

The Acer Swift 5 ($1,500 MSRP) may not be your dream ultralight laptop, but it's not a bad one. You won't squeeze the most performance out of the Swift, and its touchpad still bothers me after weeks of use. But with perks like a good port selection and a strong keyboard, the laptop is worth a look if you want to save some money. Even though there are some compromises, it's a decent option with a lower price tag than similarly specced alternatives.

Table of Contents

• Colorful design
• Wobbly touchpad
• Satisfactory keyboard
• Performance
• Benchmarks
• Graphics performance
• Cooling
• Battery life
• Display
• Audio and webcam
• You can probably do better
• The good
• The bad
• The ugly

Colorful design

The Swift 5 is priced lower than other ultralights with 12th Gen CPUs, a fact that is apparent when you hold it. According to Acer, the chassis is made from 6053 aluminum alloy with a 75 HV hardness and anodization to fight degradation (its gold accents are double-anodized). But instead of a luxurious metallic-like finish, like Lenovo's Yoga 9i carries, it looks and feels like lightweight plastic that can still fall victim to scratches.

Subtle texturing helps the design, though, and prevents the laptop from feeling too slippery during use. The keyboard showed subtle flex when I typed aggressively, and that flexing became more apparent when I pressed down on the keyboard.

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