Acer Swift 5 review: The grass is always greener

Acer chose Swift 5 as its Windows 11 launcher, and it was a safe bet. With a starting price of $1,100, up to 1TB of memory, a good port selection, and a more prominent keyboard and webcam, it will suit many laptops should be just fine.

But “just fine”seems less pleasant when looking at alternatives that do the best they can. With similarly priced options offering slightly more CPU, graphics and even SSD performance than the Swift 5, the eye can easily start to wander.

Lean, green harvester

The Swift 5 only meets the above specs if you get one of the antimicrobial-coated configurations that are only available in Acer’s hazy green hue. You can get a machine in gold with a more expensive configuration, but it will not have anti-microbial properties.

So what exactly is the antimicrobial action? Acer told me that 98 percent of the device is coated with an antimicrobial coating that is resistant to bacteria. He focused on high-contact areas, including the hinge, touchpad, keyboard, and fingerprint reader.

The coating is made from silver ions, which research has shown can result in a 99.9% reduction in bacteria, according to International Standards Organization test protocol 22196, which creates methods to test the “antibacterial activity of antibacterial-treated plastics and other non-porous materials. surface of products. More specifically, ACS Applied Bio Materials describes silver ions as being able to “easily adsorb to most biomolecules (DNA, membrane protein, enzymes, or intracellular cofactors) of bacteria, inactivating their function.”Coating complies with EPA and Biocide Regulations. Besides Swift 5, you can find Acer’s anti-microbial feature on several PC lines.

It’s hard to check what it’s worth as we don’t have a microscope to compare bacterial levels with or without silver ion. But I believe that the coating can bring some peace of mind to the cleanliness. Because let’s be real: keyboards and touchscreens are nasty.

The only obvious downside is that this feature resulted in an aggressively tagged logo on the top bar of the Swift 5 screen.

The phrase “Corning Gorilla Glass Antimicrobial” is already a long name that I have to look at every day, and a couple of trademark symbols make it even more intrusive to the look of the PC.

This branding is also meant to remind you of the display’s durability and scratch resistance. Compared to a similarly priced 14-inch Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro I had on hand, the Swift 5’s overall lid (not just the glass) felt thinner and gave more when flexed intentionally.

However, I would be remiss if I did not return to the “green fog”. It’s accentuated with an extra touch of gold on the crisp lettering on the keyboard, Acer and DTS audio logos on the deck, port lettering on the sides and on the hinge (which has a subtle “SWIFT”stamp) and a reflective Acer logo on the body. lid.

The case itself is made from magnesium-lithium and magnesium-aluminum alloy, which, according to Acer, “is 2-4 times stronger than standard aluminum alloys at the same thickness, but weighs 20-35% less.”The Swift 5 I’m reviewing weighs 2.31 pounds (1.05 kg) and is 0.59 inches (1.5 cm) thick. By comparison, the IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro, which is advertised as using aluminum, is 0.57-0.67 inches (1.45-1.7 cm) thick and starts at 2.87 pounds (1.3 kg).

For durability, the body of the clamshell uses micro-arc oxidation. It creates a hard layer “nearly impervious to scratches, corrosion and other forms of wear and tear,”says Acer. However, in the hands of the body feels down to earth, light and slightly rough. There is some concession in putting pressure on the PC, but only a small one. The surface is indeed sandy enough to avoid damage, but it is also far from invincible. This cheaper texture is hard to beat, even if it supposedly promotes durability.

The port selection includes at least one of everything I would like to see in such a machine. The left side of the Swift 5 has an HDMI 2.0 port (not 2.1), a USB-A port that you can use to charge other devices when the computer is turned off, Thunderbolt 4, and a power adapter hole. When the adapter is plugged into the outlet, a small strip of silver connectors protrude, allowing the handle to wiggle slightly as it is moved. I’m afraid the connection may loosen over time and the simple, thinner rubber cable plugged into it doesn’t make me feel any better.

Moving to the right side of the machine, you’ll find another USB-A port and a 3.5mm jack located next to a Kensington lock, taking up space I’d rather make room for a second USB-C port.