Working out of a cafe or a co-working space? The portable and capable Acer Swift Go 14 may just be the laptop you'll need. It has a vibrant OLED screen, good battery life, and solid performance.
Quick specs
- 14-inch (2,880 x 1,800 pixels) OLED (90Hz) screen
- Intel Core i7-13700H with 16GB RAM and 1TB SSD
- 2x Thunderbolt 4, 2x USB Type-A, HDMI, microSD card reader, audio jack
- 1.32kg
The Acer Swift Go's 1,440p webcam is a pleasant surprise. It produces clear images, even in a dimly-lit cafe. It also has useful features like automatic framing that keeps you in focus when you move. But Acer could still do more here. A physical privacy shutter for starters. Or perhaps facial recognition. To be fair, the fingerprint sensor, which is integrated with the power button, works pretty well, despite being smaller and thinner than I would have liked. The quality of the webcam really drives home the point that the Swift Go 14 is designed for mobile workers. And at 1.32kg, I can certainly see myself bringing this portable notebook around everyday.
The top-selling point of the Swift Go 14, according to Acer's marketing, is the OLED screen. It's a looker, for sure. Lush, bright, with deep blacks (VESA DisplayHDR True Black 500 certified), and a crisp 2.8K resolution that makes for sharp text and icons. Bezels are narrow. The glossy finish also fooled me into thinking it's a touchscreen. The 90Hz refresh rate makes scrolling webpages a smooth affair. Acer also sells a 16-inch version of the Swift Go with a 3.2K screen and 120Hz refresh rate. Minor grouses: The keyboard is shallow, while the touchpad could be larger. Connectivity-wise, the laptop has a good mix of ports: Two USB-C (also used for charging), two USB-A, HDMI, and a microSD card slot. It also comes with Wi-Fi 6E, which was recently approved for use in Singapore.
The Swift Go uses the latest Intel 13th-gen H-Series processor. This 14-core chip runs great for everyday computing tasks. You can get a bit more performance from the Acer's 45W chip compared with the 28W version found in other laptops, such as the Asus Vivobook 15X OLED. For example, the Acer scored 6,093 in PCMark 10, while the Asus managed 5,561. Just don't expect to play AAA games on it. Battery life is also excellent. The Swift Go lasted around eight hours in a video playback test at maximum brightness. For mixed usage (blend of web browsing, document editing, and online video streaming), you can expect between six and seven hours of uptime.
At S$1,698, the Acer Swift Go 14 offers good value for its price. Yes, it can look rather bland, but this may be a good thing in an office setting. It's handy, and its aluminium body looks like it can take some knocks. Not to forget that the webcam is definitely one of the better ones in a laptop. There are also cheaper Swift Go models equipped with the latest AMD processors. However, they come with 1080p LCD screens instead of OLED. You can buy the Swift Go from Acer, Lazada, and Shopee.
Note: Review unit provided by Acer.
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