Acer Swift 5 SF514-54T [SF514-54T-70R2] (NX.HLHER.002)

Slim, light, fast

Until recently, Acer's Swift family was a mixed bag, with conventional 15-inch laptops side by side with premium laptops and miniature convertible ultrabooks. In 2019, the manufacturer found the desired direction and the right audience who are looking for a good ultrabook for a reasonable price. In this case, we are talking about an excellent touch screen with good colour reproduction (coverage of 95% of the sRGB space), a miniature and strong body, a capacious battery (lasts 10 – 12 hours) and a powerful engine, which consists of a Core i7 processor, 16 GB of RAM, a fast 1024 GB SSD and integrated UHD Graphics G1. And all this for a price just over a thousand evergreens.

Blurring the lines between laptops and ultrabooks

If we talk about the form factor, then we have an interesting and somewhat unusual sample. It weighs a little less than a kilogram, and the thickness of the case is only 15 mm, thanks to which it asks to join the ranks of ultrabooks. On the other hand, the 14-inch screen and body width make it similar to traditional 15-inch laptops. Acer's designers pulled off an interesting trick by using magnesium-lithium for the lids and magnesium-aluminium for the work surface, which resulted in a weight of 0.99 kg. The material turned out to have an interesting texture, reminiscent of matte back covers in iPhones of recent years. Especially in golden blue. However she collects fingerprints bless you, so you will have to wipe the laptop regularly. Surely, the minimized bezels around the display played a role in lightening the laptop, thanks to which it looks as modern as possible.

Thunderbolt, fast charging, Wi-Fi 6 and fingerprint reader

Despite the miniature size, Acer engineers did not look for simple ways and stuffed it well. The laptop is equipped with a very good set of connectors, including audio output, HDMI and a trinity of USB ports, one of which supports Thunderbolt. Of the connection modules, the Wi-Fi 6 receiver catches the eye, which may not be useful now, but will definitely play a role in the future. I was also pleased with the cooling system: at a minimum load, the fan did not seem to turn on, and the rest of the time the laptop worked absolutely quietly. The keyboard with a two-level stand and a classic touchpad turned out to be normal. They don't excite, but they don't annoy either. But the fingerprint scanner periodically freezes and requires a second touch. With all the pluses, it's easy to turn a blind eye to this.