Swiftly Go Anywhere
The Acer Swift Go offers a conventional design with outstanding display performance
The Acer Swift Go 14 may seem like a boring laptop design in 2023, but it makes up of tried-and-tested design elements, plus new practical features. At 1.3kg, it feels heavier than it appears, but the full aluminium body makes the laptop feel extremely hardy. At 14.9mm, it is also not that thin, but the advantage is the ability to fit full-sized connection ports. In fact, the Swift Go 14 has aplenty – two USB Type-A ports, an HDMI port, a 3.5mm headset jack, and even a microSD slot. It is also future-proof with the inclusion of two Thunderbolt 4 ports that support 40Gbps.
The black keyboard is another sensible choice as the backlight illuminates the key labels better than a light-coloured material. The touchpad is not as generously big, but the size makes it less likely to come in contact when typing. One must be mindful of the power button at the top right corner of the keyboard as it might be mistaken as the delete key. One quick tap is all it takes to put the laptop to sleep. But thanks to the fingerprint reader built onto the power key surface, logging back in is just as instant.
The webcam is loaded with 3.7 megapixels that can capture up to 2560×1440 still images, while videos can go up to 1440p 30fps. The image quality is one of the better built-in webcams we have reviewed, with good contrast and details. The Microsoft Camera app also includes additional effect options like automatic framing, eye contact, and background blur.
Perhaps the webcam preview looks good because of the brilliant OLED display of 2880×1800 resolution that can display cinema-grade 100% DCI-P3 wide colour gamut and True Black HDR500, which makes working on the laptop very pleasurable. It also helps when the glass panel is not very reflective. Overall performance is speedy and battery life is above average. The laptop runs quietly and only gets very hot during charging.
Ironically, the laptop is not comfortable to be used on the lap, no thanks to the pointy leg stub. Watching movies lack the audio impact as the stereo speakers sound flat without much bass feel even when the speakers are supported by DTS Audio Processing. Using external speakers is a must to complement the gorgeous display screen.
Rating: 4/5
We Say: A smooth-performing laptop that balances size and connectivity with good visual performance.
From S$1,698
www.acer.com/sg-en
Technical Specifications
Operating System Windows 11
Processor 13th Generation Intel Core i7-13700H 2.4GHz (up to 5.0GHz)
Graphics Intel Iris Xe Graphics
Display 2880×1800 OLED 90Hz 400 nits DCI-P3 100%, HDR500
Memory 16GB LPDDR5
Storage 1TB PCIe NVMe Gen 4 SSD
Connectivity Bluetooth 5.2, Wi-FI 6E 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax, HDMI 2.1, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, 2x Thunderbolt 4 USB4 (40Gbps), microSD slot, headset jack
Fingerprint Reader Yes
Battery 65Wh
Dimensions 14.9 x 312.9 x 217.9 mm
Weight 1.32 kg
