The Acer Swift Edge is a fierce answer to Apple’s latest M2 MacBook Air models, an ultra-thin and ultra-lightweight laptop equipped with super-speedy components and a gorgeous display. The understated design and variety of physical ports make this a powerful productivity machine, held back only by a keyboard that really ought to be bigger.
Pros
- Incredible display
- Solid all-rounder performance
- Super thin and light Good selection of ports
Cons
- Keyboard is annoyingly cramped
- Battery life is just okay
- Speakers should be better at this price
Two-minute review
Oh boy, this one’s exciting. The Acer Swift Edge is a laptop we’ve been waiting to review for a while now. It’s not actually that often that a laptop manufacturer releases an entirely new product; we’re frequently found comparing new models to their predecessors, be it the latest Dell Inspiron laptop or one of Lenovo’s new IdeaPads.
But lo and behold the: Swift Edge, a new move for Acer’s long-running line of Swift laptops. What makes the Edge different? Well, it sets a new bar for Acer’s premium products, and whatever anyone says, it’s very clearly designed to be a competitor to the Apple MacBook line.
Sure, Acer hasn’t claimed this directly in any of its promotional material for the new laptop, but come on - the new chassis is ultra-thin, made of a reinforced aluminum alloy that allows the casing to be lighter than previous Swift laptops without sacrificing durability. From there, we’ve got a glorious 16-inch 4K OLED display and a powerful new AMD Ryzen CPU powering it. We know from some behind-closed-doors conversations with Acer that at one point during development, the team's placeholder name for the Edge was the ‘Swift Air’. Sound familiar?
"Its super-sleek design makes it as portable as a laptop this size gets, and it’s got something to please just about every type of user."
Much like Apple’s now-omnipresent MacBooks, the Swift Edge isn’t aimed at one particular group of potential customers. On its website, Acer touts it as ‘designed for productivity, creativity, and security’, a deliberately broad statement that highlights the flexibility of the Edge; its super-sleek design makes it as portable as a laptop this size gets, and it’s got something to please just about every type of user.
Want to edit photos or create digital art? The stunning color reproduction and contrast of the OLED screen have got you covered. Need number-crunching power for multitasking? It’s got 16GB of RAM and a high-speed processor for you. Got video meetings you need to attend on the go? A 1080p webcam and AI-assisted background noise reduction for the microphone will sort you out.
Most ultrabooks are smaller than the Swift Edge; the 16-inch display mounted atop this slender laptop is immediately reminiscent of the 16-inch MacBook Pro. In fact, only one of the laptops featured in our best ultrabooks ranking has a bigger screen – most cap out at 15.6 inches.
In our time with the Acer Swift Edge, we really grew to love it despite a few minor foibles. Even considering the missteps Acer has made here (including a just-average battery life and an odd choice of keyboard layout), this is an exceptionally strong showing for a new breed of Swift laptop, and we can’t wait to see how Acer improves on it next time around.