Thunderbolt 3 is one of the most understated technologies in the world of laptops. The interface - popularised by Apple as the standard connector on iMac, Mac Pro, MacBook and MacBook Pro ranges - is physically compatible with USB Type-C, but offers transfer rates of up to 40Gbps.
You can also daisy chain Thunderbolt 3 devices and even connect external graphics cards. Sadly, vendors are usually not very vocal about TB3 support and we had to dig deep to find the most affordable Thunderbolt 3 laptop on the market.
Meet the Acer Swift 3 (SF314-57-59EY), handed four-stars by our reviewer, who described it as “an excellent ultrabook for the masses, made better thanks to its accessible price, thin and lightweight design, and pretty decent battery life.”
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At just under 1.2kgs, this is a very light 14-inch laptop, powered by an Intel Core i5-1035G1 CPU with 8GB memory and a 256GB NVMe drive.
Other than the TB3 connector, it has a fingerprint reader, Wi-Fi 6, a large battery and an ultra-thin all metal aluminum chassis. There’s no Windows 10 Pro (only Home), but this doesn’t mean it's not a great business laptop.
Add in a Thunderbolt 3 docking station and you have pretty much the perfect work from home setup - especially if you want your laptop to power two 4K monitors.
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Bear in mind
- If this product is unavailable in your region, you may need to use a specialist parcel forwarding service to take advantage of the deal.
- If you've found a cheaper product with equivalent specifications, in stock and brand new, let us know and we'll tip our hat to you.
