The main feature of the flagship line of laptops Acer Swift 7 is the minimum thickness of the case. The first model was released in 2016 and the review can be read on our website. The latter was announced at CES 2019 in January. As practice shows, an impressive time passes between the announcement and the real output on the market. So what is relevant at the moment is Acer Swift 7 (2018), which has already gone on sale and arrived at the editors gg. About him and talk. Compared with the first model, the case has become even thinner: 8.98 mm versus 9.98 mm, and the screen has become larger. Although the differences and innovations do not end there.
What is it?
Acer Swift 7 (2018) is the flagship ultra-thin metal notebook with a 14-inch IPS touch display, a modest but energy-efficient 7th generation Intel Core i7-7Y75 processor, 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB PCIe NVMe.
What makes him interesting?
Acer Swift 7 (2018) Review: Ultrabook Smartphone-2 Thick
The company claims that Acer Swift 7 (2018) is the thinnest laptop in the world, at least it was at the time of the announcement last year. And perhaps it is now: the updated Swift 7 (2019) is a bit overweight. The body is made of metal, the screen has increased compared with the first model from 13.3 to 14 inches. This is a touchscreen IPS with a resolution of 1920×1080 and a protective glass. The insides are not much different from its predecessor: inside, the 7th generation Intel Core i7-7Y75 dual-core, modest in performance, does not require active cooling (but the configuration with i5 has disappeared), 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB SSD Now with a faster PCIe NVMe interface instead of SATA. Acer promises that from one charge the laptop will work 10 hours.
What is included?
Acer Swift 7 comes in a black box of hard cardboard with the model name and embossed in the video of the laptop in profile. In the box – the laptop itself, carrying case, power supply, power cable, docking station with HDMI 1.4, USB3.0, Type-C and instructions
How does it look and qualitatively assembled?
Acer Swift 7 (2018) Review: Ultrabook Smartphone-11 Thick
Externally, the Acer Swift 7 (2018) looks very cool and expensive: a very thin all-metal body with a very nice and beautiful matte black paint. According to tactile sensations, a high-quality alloy is used: nothing bends, the laptop feels solid and very reliable. On the top cover – only the Acer logo. Matte color looks very stylish, prints remain but they are not too visible on such a coating.
In profile, the notebook has a wedge-shaped shape, with a smooth cut, which creates a visual effect of “sharp edges.” The minimum thickness did not allow the installation of full-sized connectors. There are only two USB Type-C for charging and connecting peripherals and a 3.5mm audio jack:
How convenient is it to use?
Hinges allow you to open the laptop at 180 °, the display is very securely fixed in the desired position. But open the lid with one hand will not work. The keyboard layout was very unusual. A number of function buttons are missing as such, it is combined with a digital number. A part of the first row of letters was combined with additional functions, in particular, with mute, keyboard backlight and wireless interfaces. The tilda with the letter “e” is now next to the shortened Caps Lock, and in its place is Esc. The backspace is also short, next to it is Del. PgUp and PgDn buttons are combined with Home and End and are located next to the block of arrows. So the layout takes some getting used to. A fingerprint scanner is placed to the left of the keyboard, next to the Tab. No problems with him
he buttons themselves turned out to be successful: in spite of a relatively small move, they are pleasant and convenient to use. Appeared lights, which was not the predecessor
The touchpad is elongated, with a comfortable glass coating and very good sensitivity. Multitouch and gestures are supported, it is convenient to use it. Although there is one “but”: it is deprived of clicks as such. That is, only a single and double touch for the left and right mouse clicks, respectively
How good is the screen?
Acer has installed a 14-inch IPS-touchscreen display with a resolution of 1920×1080. It is protected by Gorilla glass, which, of course, will glare in the sun, which is not suitable for everyone. Otherwise, the screen makes the most pleasant impression. Brightness is enough, the picture is rich and juicy
The colorimeter showed that the maximum display brightness is 312.985 cd / m2. The black field brightness is 0.293 cd / m2, and the static contrast is 1068: 1. The display is calibrated very well: the indicators are close to the reference values, the bias towards the blue shades is minimal, and the color coverage is close to the sRGB color space
As regards the internals of the Acer Swift 7 (2018), the minimum difference from its predecessor: the processor is the same 14-nanometer 2-core Intel Core i7-7Y75 processor from the Kaby Lake family with a clock frequency of 1.3 GHz (and up to 3.6 GHz in the Turbo Boost mode) with Intel HD Graphics 615 graphics. This is an energy efficient processor that is very modest in performance and does not require an active cooling system. It complements the 8 GB of RAM LPDDR3. Wireless interfaces: Wi-Fi 802.11 AC (2×2) and Bluetooth.
The laptop is suitable for working with documents, web surfing and video. For more complex tasks, performance will not be enough: for example, a laptop is already becoming “thoughtful” if you open a browser with a decent amount of tabs and Photoshop. In performance tests, it demonstrates the corresponding results.
The speed of work is not record, but at a very good level, significantly higher than that of SATA models. Up to 1650 MB / s when reading and up to 815 MB / s when writing
There is no active cooling system in the laptop, it works absolutely silently. At the same time, even at maximum loads, the processor temperature does not rise above 75 °, the processor is not throttling. Of course, miracles do not happen and the body itself is slightly heated in the upper part of the working surface, but during operation it is not felt
The Acer Swift 7 (2018) is powered by a 36 W * h battery or 4 580 mA * h, which should be enough for 10 hours of battery life. Battery Eater dealt with the battery for 2.5 hours at maximum brightness and load. In real conditions, when working with a browser, documents, basic photo editing and playing music (with a constant connection via Wi-Fi and brightness slightly below average), it takes about 7.5-8 hours, which is very good for such a thin laptop.
For the sound meets two small speakers on the bottom of the case. In general, they are enough to watch the video, provided that the laptop is on the table. The stock volume is modest, but enough for a small room. To adjust there is a Dolby Audio application. In addition to it, from the pre-installed software there is Acer Care Center for monitoring and updating and Acer Quick Access with quick switches for display settings and wireless interfaces
The bottom line
If you regard the Acer Swift 7 (2018) as an image premium laptop (this is exactly how it is positioned by the manufacturer), then everything turned out in the best possible way: a stylish appearance, metal body, minimum thickness and excellent assembly. Add to this the high-quality IPS-screen, long battery life, system stability, even with long-term maximum loads and absolutely silent operation thanks to the passive cooling system. But if you come up from a more practical point of view, some keyboard issues with a non-standard layout, a touchpad without a click and a very modest performance, cause, especially considering the price tag of 60,000 UAH.
6 reasons to buy Acer Swift 7 (2018):
-Excellent assembly, materials and design;
- compact dimensions;
-quality display; - long battery life;
- stable operation of the system at maximum load;
- silent passive cooling system.
3 reasons not to buy Acer Swift 7 (2018):
- controversial keyboard and touchpad;
- modest performance;
- high price.