Swift laptop lives up to its name

What is it?

The Acer Swift Go 14 laptop lives up to its name during conventional working activity. The experience begins with booting up and getting ready to work: it’s swift!

The device showed no signs of slowing down when accessing multiple browser tabs, a large Excel spreadsheet, and additional background apps. The smooth performance is attributed to its 13th Gen Intel CoreT i7-13700H 2,4GHz processor and 16GB of installed RAM.

The overall responsiveness makes for a solid work experience. The fans occasionally sped up during system updates, but the resulting low volume noise was not disruptive. During general use and while updating, the laptop maintains reasonable temperature levels, remaining warm but not hot.

The laptop features a power button with a built-in fingerprint scanner, so powering up and logging in is done at the press of a button. Upon opening the laptop, the screen housing lowers, providing a slight lift that angles the keyboard.  

An outstanding OLED display delivers vivid colours and depth, enhanced by its 90hz refresh rate and large screen-to-body ratio. Not only are still images great to look at, but watching videos is so much more enjoyable. The 1440p QHD webcam captures great visuals. However, it lacks a physical cover that can be slid over the webcam for security and privacy.

Powerful speakers produce clear audio quality and are capable of loud volumes if desired.

The touchpad feels great when moving the mouse around, but the click buttons under the pad are somewhat uncomfortable to use. However, while typing, the quiet keyboard makes for a pleasant experience. The keys are backlit and have a comfortable feel to them.

During our testing, with the device set to full brightness in an office environment, the fully charged battery drained to 20% after approximately 4 and a half hours of almost constant use. At this point, battery saver mode was automatically enabled, and an alert notified us that it had about an hour of battery life remaining.

Two Thunderbolt USB Type C ports are available for charging, along with two USB-A ports, an HDMI port, MicroSD card reader, and a 3.5mm audio jack input. The device supports Bluetooth and Wi-Fi 6E.

What does it cost?

The Acer Swift Go 14 (i7 13700H, 16GB, 1024 GB SSD, 14” OLED) is available at a recommended retail price of R26,999 at shopacer.co.za, but prices may differ depending on specifications.

Why does it matter?

When working from a laptop on the go, or during load shedding, productivity can be hindered by slow processors, or limited battery life. The Acer Swift Go 14 offers a remarkable productivity experience, despite having a somewhat limited battery life. As a bonus, its display provides for a pleasant work or entertainment experience.

What are the biggest negatives?

• Touchpad click buttons are uncomfortable.
• Somewhat underwhelming battery life.
• Expensive, but justifiably so.

What are the biggest positives?

• Fast.
• Vibrant display.
• Powerful audio.