Acer Swift 3 Core i3 (2020) Review:
Acer Swift 3 Core i3 (2020) is a budget laptop that outperforms other laptops in its price range.
The Swift line of laptops proves that just because a machine is cheap doesn’t mean it can’t be a great computer, too. However, even the best budget laptops come with more limitations than their more expensive siblings, and the Acer Swift 3 is no exception.
- The Acer Swift 3 Core i3 (2020) (512GB Silver) is available on Amazon for US$708.72
Some of its predecessor’s flaws have been inherited, such as the weak-sounding, downward-facing speakers.
Nevertheless, the performance and battery life have been upgraded compared to its predecessor, without affecting the price. Swift 3 won’t quite match what we saw in our Dell XPS 13 (2020) review, but it will give you a very close comparison for a fraction of the price.
The Swift 3 is an excellent choice if you need an Ultrabook form factor for a reasonable price, particularly if your budget is tight. With a price near its MSRP, it’s likely to remain on our best laptop list for a while longer.
Price and availability of the Acer Swift 3 (2020)
- What is the price? Starting at $499 (approximately £405, AU$765)
- When will it be available? The Acer Swift 3 Core i3 (2020) is now available.
- Where can you purchase it? Acer Swift 3 Core i3 (2020) is available in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia
Our review unit was the $699 Swift 3 (2020) model, which features an Intel Core i3-1035G1 processor, 8GB of DDR4 RAM, integrated Intel UHD graphics, and a 512GB M.2 PCIe SSD.
Swift 3’s cheapest configuration, available for $499 (about £405, AU$765), has an AMD Ryzen 5 3500 processor, 4GB of DDR4 RAM, and AMD Radeon Vega 8 graphics.
The $799 version of the Acer Swift 3 comes equipped with a 10th Gen Intel Core i3-1035G4 CPU, 8GB of DDR4 SDRAM, and an M.2 PCIe 512GB SSD with Intel Iris Plus graphics.
Even at higher configurations, the Acer Swift 3 (2020) is still cost-efficient compared to competing Ultrabooks, such as the ThinkPad line from Lenovo or the ZenBook 13 from Asus.
Design of the Acer Swift 3 (2020)
- Aesthetically pleasing
- Weightless
- Display only in 1080p
The Acer Swift 3 maintains Acer’s minimalist design aesthetic. The thin, lightweight aluminum chassis is reminiscent of Apple’s MacBook Air and should be familiar to anyone familiar with Acer’s Swift 3 lineup.
This glossy matte-silver laptop comes with a polished Acer logo on the back, which is about as flashy as it gets – and that’s just what some users want. You will have to provide the personality yourself, of course.
With dimensions of 12.6 x 8.5 x 0.6 inches and a weight of 2.7 pounds, the Swift 3 is incredibly portable without feeling flimsy. Once our cat became bored with the box and decided to investigate the power cable, she dragged the open running laptop from a three-foot-tall desk to the hardwood floor and bolted it, leaving no visible or detectable damage to the exterior or internals of the laptop.
While this is not a test you should perform on your machine, it is good to know that the Acer Swift 3 has a chance of surviving in the real world.
In addition to chicklet keys, the island-style keyboard is compatible with Windows Hello and features a fingerprint sensor. The keyboard may appear cramped to some, but the keys are still well-spaced for a laptop of this size, and the black keys are backlit by soft white LEDs for better visibility.
For everyday, general use, the trackpad has good size and responds well. Stellaris and Civilization VI ran fine on it as well, but anything more than that would require a separate gamepad or mouse.There are three USB 2.0, one USB 3.0, and one USB-C Thunderbolt 3 port on 2020’s Swift 3 as well as an HDMI port and a headphone/mic jack. An Ultrabook these days usually does not have SD card readers or optical drives.
The color profile of the display doesn’t stand out necessarily, but it meets the minimum requirement of a modern 1080p display. Its bezels along the sides and top aren’t the thinnest or thickest currently available. The bottom bezel is the biggest, but it isn’t horrible.
With a 14-inch display, the screen size always feels appropriate for the overall size of the laptop, so you never feel cramped. With Chrome or Microsoft Word, it is possible to have two application windows open side-by-side on the screen with minimal horizontal scrolling.
The built-in microphone and webcam work well but are modest in quality. Although neither is good enough for Twitch streaming, professional YouTube broadcasting, or anything along those lines, they are perfectly adequate for teleconferencing through Zoom or similar for work-related purposes.
Performance of the Acer Swift 3 (2020)
The Acer Swift 3 performs significantly better than last year’s model in our benchmark tests for its CPU, GPU, and battery.With the Acer Swift 3, you won’t find much to complain about in terms of video playback and general use. While running a Udemy course in one tab and a Slack channel in another, Swift 3 was able to run the notoriously resource-hogging Chrome seamlessly.
It seemed to struggle when trying to run several advertising-heavy tabs, but that’s something that can be said of most systems, and — really — it’s a problem far greater than that of a single Acer laptop.
Additionally, the Acer Swift 3 2020 was able to handle some light gaming through Steam without any issue, and it kept a steady frame rate through Stellaris’ midpoint, but when that end-game crisis hits and the Intel UHD Graphics GPU is trying to track 200+ corvettes and destroyers weaving between a couple of dozen capital ships shooting lasers and fusion torpedoes, the fans will kick in and you will notice a noticeable lack of responsiveness.
For a system with 8GB of RAM, the Swift 3 handled multimedia content creation pretty well. It was fairly smooth to load up Photoshop and do basic photo editing with a dozen or so open files.
Battery life of the Acer Swift 3 (2020)
In our battery life test, where we looped a 1080p video, the Swift 3 ran for 7 hours and 6 minutes, about the same as older models. But on the PC Mark 10 test, the Swift 3 ran for 6 hours and 12 minutes on performance mode with a balanced power profile and made it eight hours on modest battery saver mode.
Even under duress, the Swift 3 runs comfortably and never gets noticeably warm, and its fans are efficient and whisper-quiet while actively cooling the whole system.
It is most likely that you will notice any build-up of heat on the bottom back of the laptop if you’re gaming or editing video while lying in bed with the laptop on your legs. Then as well, it will not be as uncomfortable as it might be for some.
One of the Swift 3’s shortcomings is its speakers. It sounds somewhat flat because the audio from the laptop is tinny and lacks low-end. If you’re working on a report or a project while listening to Spotify, it’s fine, but on high volume, it’s barely audible a room or two away.
The Swift 3 must be placed on a flat surface with no obstructions or tablecloths to muffle it. Sitting the Swift 3 on a bed muffles the sound significantly thanks to its downward-facing speakers. As with many laptops over the years, the Acer Swift 3 is no exception, but this is a problem that should have been addressed by now.
Features of the Acer Swift 3 (2020)
The webcam and built-in microphone are both functional, if modest. They are neither good enough for Twitch streaming, professional YouTube broadcasting, or anything else along those lines, but they are more than adequate for teleconferencing through Zoom or similar for work purposes.
