Price When Reviewed

$1,299.99

Best Prices Today: Acer Swift Edge 16

$1299.99

Modern laptops are normally skinny, however there exists a poorly outlined class that takes portability to a different stage. Ultraportables, tremendous thin-and-lights, ultrabooks: no matter you name them, these machines are svelte sufficient to dip beneath three kilos even when packing a 16-inch show. This historically comes paired with a sky-high price ticket, however Acer’s Swift Edge 16 brings the idea to a extra palatable worth. 

Looking for extra choices? Check out PCWorld’s roundup of the best ultraportables proper now.

Acer Swift Edge 16: Specs and options

The Acer Swift Edge 16 veers away from the Intel processors present in equally sized Acer laptops (in addition to these from many rivals) and as a substitute opts for AMD’s Ryzen 7 7840U. It’s an eight-core, 16-thread processor with a Boost Clock as much as 5.1GHz. AMD’s Radeon 780M graphics, with 12 compute cores and a most clock of two.7GHz, tags alongside. 

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7840U
• Memory: 16GB LPDDR5
• Graphics/GPU: Intel Iris Xe
• Display: 16-inch 3200 x 2000 120Hz OLED
• Storage: 1TB SSD
• Webcam: 1080p 
• Connectivity:  2x USB-C, 2x USB-A 2.1, 1x HDMI, 1x MicroSD, 1x 3.5mm audio jack
• Networking: WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2
• Biometrics: Fingerprint reader
• Battery capability: 54 watt-hours
• Dimensions: 14.1 x 9.7 x .51 inches
• Weight: 2.71 kilos
• MSRP: $1,299.99

There’s two variations of the Acer Swift Edge 16 in circulation. They differ in each CPU and show: the mannequin I examined had AMD’s Ryzen 7 7840U and a 3,200 x 2,000 OLED, whereas the choice mannequin provides a Ryzen 7 7735U and a 4K IPS show. They’re in any other case an identical and share an MSRP of $1,299.99. 

Acer Swift Edge 16: Design and construct high quality

IDG / Matthew Smith

Acer’s laptops lean in direction of bland design with an unbranded, minimalist look. The Swift Edge 16 turns that as much as 11, exchanging the corporate’s typical gray-silver metallic end for a deep metallic black. It’s not a lot to take a look at, and it’s not attempting to be. Shoppers who need a modern, fashionable laptop computer might want to look elsewhere.

The Swift Edge 16 is the tremendous thin-and-light in Acer’s lineup, and it comes with a selected set of perks and issues. It feels insubstantial and tends to flex when dealt with, which makes the laptop computer really feel fragile. But this additionally makes the laptop computer extra moveable, because it has a profile of simply .51 inches, and weighs a mere 2.71 kilos. That rivals LG’s Gram 16, which is thicker at .66 inches however lighter at 2.61 kilos. Most 16-inch laptops weigh 3.5 to 4.5 kilos.

It can be good if Acer delivered each glorious construct high quality and portability in a single package deal, however that’s an unfair expectation. Competitors that construct related machines (like LG’s Gram 16) additionally battle to ship inflexible, sturdy design in a 16-inch laptop computer that suggestions the size beneath three kilos. Those who need a extra substantial laptop computer ought to look in direction of the Acer Swift Go 16—however if you’d like portability, the Edge 16 is sensible.

Acer Swift Edge 16: Keyboard, trackpad

IDG / Matthew Smith

The Swift Edge 16’s massive show provides ample room for a spacious, comfy keyboard format that finds room for a numpad. The left-side Tab, Caps Lock, Shift, and Control keys are barely smaller than they could possibly be, and the numpad keys are extra slender than others, however the format nonetheless works. I felt instantly at dwelling. It in all probability helps that Acer makes use of the same format throughout all its 16-inch productiveness laptops—for those who attempt one, you’ve tried all of them.

Key really feel is much less alluring, nevertheless. The versatile chassis permits vital wobble when typing at excessive speeds and results in a hole, squishy expertise. It’s not all unhealthy information, nevertheless. Key journey is cheap and the bottoming motion feels taut. A keyboard backlight comes normal, but it surely’s fundamental, offering simply two brightness choices. 

The touchpad is a minor drawback. It feels fast and responsive however measures a mere 5 inches extensive and barely greater than three inches deep. That’s reasonably small for a 16-inch laptop computer in 2023, and it could possibly make Windows’ multitouch gestures really feel cramped. It’s not a horrible expertise, however many 16-inch laptops supply extra space.

Acer Swift Edge 16: Display, audio

IDG / Matthew Smith

Acer provides two show choices within the Swift Edge 16: a 3200×2000 120Hz OLED and a 3840×2400 60Hz IPS LCD. The mannequin I examined had the OLED show and confirmed glorious efficiency.

The Swift Edge 16’s OLED delivers an infinite distinction ratio and deep, inky black ranges that produce convincing shadows in darkish scenes. Streaming reveals, motion pictures, and video games profit immensely from this trait because the show’s distinction attracts your eye into the image. 

Color efficiency is great, too. The show can deal with 100% of sRGB and DCI-P3, in addition to 97 p.c of AdobeRGB. These are excellent figures effectively past one of the best LCD shows. The Lenovo Slim Pro 9i’s Micro-LED display, for example, delivers 97 p.c of DCI-P3 and 86 of AdobeRGB. Put merely, the Edge 16’s OLED show seems to be vibrant and alluring.

Brightness is respectable, too, with a most sustained luminance of 372 nits in SDR, which will increase to 522 nits in HDR. This is a weak spot of OLED, which may’t obtain the 400 to 500 nits widespread to an LCD show. However, the Edge 16’s brightness is okay in most conditions. The show’s brightness solely feels dim when utilized in a vivid, sunlit room, the place the show’s shiny end permits loads of glare. 

I additionally just like the 120Hz refresh fee. Though usually touted as a characteristic for players, an enhanced refresh fee could make Windows appear and feel extra responsive in day-to-day use. 

All of this provides as much as a beautiful show that’s arguably the Edge 16’s greatest characteristic. There’s only one wrinkle: this show is accessible in many different 16-inch laptops, together with different Acer fashions, so its strengths aren’t benefits over the competitors. Still, it’s an ideal show—customers upgrading from a five-year-old laptop computer are in for a deal with.

The Edge 16’s audio system, however, are disappointing. They’re weak, tinny, and battle to deal with any film or soundtrack that dares to pair highs and mids alongside beefy bass (which, let’s be sincere, is most fashionable music). External audio system or headphones are a necessity. 

Acer Swift Edge 16: Webcam, microphone, biometrics

You’ll discover a 1440p webcam crammed into the Acer Swift Edge 16’s prime bezel. It gives nice sharpness and good colour replica for a laptop computer webcam, although it continues to battle with publicity in mixed-lighting situations. The strong webcam is paired with a decent microphone array that readily picks up my voice whereas obscuring many repetitive background noises. Most equally priced laptops now supply related options, however the Edge 16 is a strong alternative for those who spend a number of time on Zoom.

A fingerprint reader is hidden within the laptop computer’s energy button. It does the job however, like most fingerprint readers, it’s simply fooled by mud, grime, or a slight dampness to the consumer’s fingers, all of which may make it unreliable.

Acer Swift Edge 16: Connectivity

IDG / Matthew Smith

Two USB-C ports line the Acer Swift Edge 16’s left flank. Both can deal with USB Power Delivery, and each present DisplayPort out, so each can be utilized to energy the laptop computer or connect with a USB-C monitor. Acer ships the laptop computer with a compact 65-watt USB-C energy adapter. 

Thunderbolt 4, which is discovered on rivals just like the LG Gram 16, is lacking from the Swift Edge 16. I don’t discover this particularly vital, although. Thunderbolt 4’s knowledge capabilities are good to have, however extra mandatory on laptops in a better efficiency tier. 

The USB-C ports are paired with two USB-A ports, HDMI-out, a 3.5mm audio jack, and a microSD card reader. That’s a flexible array of connectivity and helps all kinds of units. Ethernet is the one bodily port lacking, however its absence is widespread amongst new laptops in 2023. Owners can nonetheless entry wired Ethernet, if wanted, with a USB adapter.

Wireless connectivity consists of the same old duo of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi 6E, which is true of just about all laptops bought in 2023. The Swift Edge 16’s Wi-Fi sign was strong and dependable in my testing, and Wi-Fi speeds hit a excessive of as much as 945 Mbps. That’s as excessive as doable on my dwelling’s Gigabit Internet connection.

Acer Swift Edge 16: Performance

Acer leans on AMD’s Ryzen 7840U, an eight-core, sixteen-thread processor. This comes paired with Radeon 780M graphics, essentially the most highly effective model of AMD’s built-in graphics, which has 12 compute models. 16GB of RAM and 1TB of PCIe strong state storage spherical out the {hardware}. Acer’s determination to make use of AMD units it aside from many competing laptops.

IDG / Matthew Smith

PCMark 10, a holistic system benchmark, begins the Acer Swift Edge 16 off with a powerful rating of 6,494. Surprisingly, this defeats Acer’s costlier Acer Swift Go 16, and comes near Samsung’s costlier and highly effective Galaxy Book3 Ultra. It’s a really favorable end result for the Swift Edge 16 that reveals it could possibly sustain with laptops bought for a whole lot extra.

IDG / Matthew Smith

Cinebench R15, a short-duration multi-threaded CPU benchmark, additionally delivers a powerful results of 2,007. This is barely behind the Intel Core i7-13700H within the Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra and Acer Swift Go 16, however forward of older AMD and Intel processors. This benchmark reveals the Swift Edge 16 can ship snappy efficiency in workloads that final a number of seconds or minutes—duties like picture enhancing or compressing or decompressing information.

IDG / Matthew Smith

Handbrake flips the script, nevertheless. The Swift Edge 16 struggled on this check, transcoding a roughly two-hour film into an Android-friendly 1080p video file in simply over half an hour. The Swift Edge 16’s drawback is sustained efficiency. It begins robust, however the processor’s clock speeds steadily decline all through the check on account of thermal limits. That’s unhealthy information for those who want a laptop computer for long-duration CPU workloads, like encoding movies and CPU-heavy PC video games.

IDG / Matthew Smith

We’re again to excellent news in 3DMark, because the Swift Edge 16 achieved a Fire Strike rating of two,952. That’s not aggressive with a devoted GPU like Nvidia’s RTX 4050, because the Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra reveals, but it surely’s forward of alternate options laptops with built-in graphics. The Swift Edge 16 isn’t a gaming laptop computer, however it could possibly deal with most fashionable titles at 1080p decision and low to medium element. 

The Swift Edge 16’s total efficiency is robust for the class. It gives good CPU efficiency in short-duration workloads and higher GPU efficiency than most laptops with built-in graphics. This provides as much as a quick, versatile laptop computer that’s succesful, although not distinctive, in most conditions. Acer’s modest $1,299 price ticket sweetens the deal. LG’s Gram 16, the one 16-inch various to realize a lighter weight, can be priced at $1,299—but it surely has an Intel Core i7-1360P processor with Intel Iris Xe built-in graphics and ships with half as a lot storage. 

Acer Swift Edge 16: Battery life

The Acer Swift Edge 16’s efficiency might need you questioning: what’s the catch? 

Simple. Acer settled for a small, 54 watt-hour battery. That’s a lot smaller than the 80 watt-hour battery within the LG Gram 16 and, inevitably, it results in unimpressive battery life. 

I recorded roughly seven hours of battery life in PC World’s normal battery check, which loops a 4K video file of the brief movie Tears of Steel. I noticed related outcomes from my day-to-day use of the laptop computer. Six to seven hours of endurance appears the norm even in modest workloads like internet shopping and Microsoft Word.

That’s not terrible, but it surely’s behind the curve. Many Windows laptops ship higher battery life. 

Acer Swift Edge 16: Should you purchase it?

The Acer Swift Edge 16 is a strong tremendous thin-and-light that pairs a big, attractive 16-inch show with moveable design that rivals the burden of LG’s superlight Gram 16. Remarkably, Acer achieves this at a lower cost level with out sacrificing efficiency. Boring design and disappointing battery life maintain the laptop computer again from stardom, however its rivals steadily undergo in these areas, too. That makes the Swift Edge 16 an alluring worth decide.