There’s a new Swift in town. | Image: Acer
Acer has announced updates to its Swift consumer line. The big news is that the Swift 5, its consumer flagship, has finally moved from a 16:9 aspect ratio screen to the taller and roomier 16:10. It’s the latest of many premium flagship products to take this jump.
Apart from the aspect ratio, the new 14-inch Swift 5 looks fairly similar to previous Swift 5 models we know and love. It’s gotten a bit heavier (2.65 pounds, to the previous 2.31). It now comes with a 2560 x 1600 display, whereas last year’s model was only available in 1920 x 1080.
Inside, the Swift has been bumped to Intel’s 12th Gen Core processors. It can be configured with up to 16GB of RAM and 2TB of storage. That’s a high amount for such a small device — last year’s model maxed out at 1TB.
Image: Acer
Keyboard is backlit with an “air inlet design” that expels heat.
This Swift also has a fingerprint sensor (like last year’s model) and an FHD webcam, which Acer says will leverage “Temporal Noise Reduction” technology. This sort of processing can lead to an improvement in image quality but doesn’t always, so we’ll provide more insight with our full review of the device.
The new Swift 5 will be available in North America in June, starting at $1,499, which is a bit more expensive than last year’s base configuration. Devices are also coming to Europe, the Middle East, and Africa in March (starting at €1,799) and to China in April (starting at RMB 9,999).
There’s a new Swift 3 on its way as well. This device, which is more budget-oriented, has also been bumped to 12th Gen processors, though it still has the 16:9 aspect ratio. It will start at $849.99 in North America, €1,199 in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and RMB 5,499 in China.