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When considering the Acer Swift 7 from a value perspective, you’re frankly left with a conundrum. That’s in part due to the components on offer for the price, but also thanks to how the system performs in a key area: battery life.
Coming back to the MacBook comparison, the Swift 7 goes for a flat fee of $1,099 (£999, about AU$1,449), which gets you a 13.3-inch, 1080p IPS display, a dual-core, 1.2GHz Intel Core i5-7Y54 (Kaby Lake 7th generation) processor, 8GB of memory and 256GB of SATA solid-state storage in an all-aluminum laptop without keyboard backlighting.
Now, take the stock, $1,299 (£1,249, AU$1,999) 12-inch MacBook. A 2,304 x 1,440-resolution Retina display, 8GB of RAM and a 256GB PCIe flash drive accompany a dual-core Intel Core m3 (Skylake 6th generation) processor. However, where the MacBook offers expectedly snazzy keyboard lighting, it houses just one USB-C Thunderbolt 3 port to the Swift 7’s two USB-C (3.1) ports.
One final difference here is the storage on offer. The Swift 7’s SATA-based SSD is a bit slower than the MacBook’s PCIe-based flash drive, despite being equal in capacity. This means somewhat slower read and write speeds from the Swift 7 against the MacBook.
So, with such heavy pros and cons in either direction, which is the better value depends entirely upon your individual needs and what you want out of a laptop. And, this isn’t even getting into the performance end of the equation.
Here's how the Acer Swift 7 performed in our suite of benchmark tests:
3DMark Cloud Gate: 4,549; Sky Diver: 2,708; Time Spy: 240; Fire Strike: 594
Cinebench CPU: 211 points; Graphics: 32 fps
Geekbench 3 Single-Core: 3,017; Multi-Core: 5,484
PCMark 8 Home: 2,438
PCMark 8 Battery Life: 4 hours and 19 minutes
Battery Life (TechRadar movie test): 5 hours and 41 minutes
While everyday performance with the Swift 7 was practically flawless, the use of a low-power Kaby Lake Core i-series processor helps keep it in league with close rivals in benchmarks – both of which employ last-generation Core m chips – not ahead of them.
This is a good example of Kaby Lake’s more incremental upgrades aimed at efficiency. So, it’s not rare to see the MacBook with a Core m5 oust the Swift 7 in Geekbench 3, for instance.
That said, again, everyday tasks on the Swift are performed without issue and, frankly, with joy in the face of the IPS display. Video meetings are even a delight, thanks to voice enhancements the included Dolby Audio software provides and the sharp webcam.
However, for the price, what we do take a bit of issue with is the battery life.
Battery life
The Swift 7’s smartphone-sized, 2,770mAh battery lasted for just 4 hours and 19 minutes in the typically brutal PCMark 8 battery test, and just another hour and 22 minutes in our local video playback test. Compare that 5 hours and 41 minutes to the 7 hours and 10 minutes boasted by Apple’s MacBook in a similar test.
In this subcategory of ultra-thin luxury Ultrabooks that has emerged over the past year or so – not coincidentally following the first 12-inch MacBook – few, if any, have been able to match the MacBook’s battery life. It’s funny how this exact same dynamic occurred with the MacBook Air’s early rivals…
All in all, the Swift 7 is an impressively-designed little laptop that, admittedly, cuts some serious corners to present a cheaper, comparable alternative to the, frankly, exuberant MacBook. If you crave that experience for less cash, just know what deal you’re getting into.
We liked
The Swift 7 is one of the best-designed Windows laptops of this year, but cuts a few too many corners to offer itself up as the foil to an ultimate rival. That said, we thoroughly enjoyed our time using the Swift 7 with its snappy inputs and excellent feel – so much so as to make up for those shortcomings somewhat. Using the Swift 7 simply feels good.
We disliked
That said, we wish we could actually use the Swift 7 for longer than around five to six hours, two hours fewer than Acer’s promise. Plus, the lack of keyboard lighting might seem superficial, but it’s a nicety we’ve come to expect on laptops costing more than a grand.
Final verdict
Like we said, the Acer Swift 7 is one of the most gorgeous laptops of the year already, but it cuts a few too many corners to offer up a more affordable laptop in vein of the 12-inch MacBook. Some might be inclined to think that, with a better screen, battery, keyboard and storage, that the MacBook is actually worth the $1,299 in comparison, and it’s tough to argue with them.
But, for the right user seeking a MacBook-like experience without paying the hefty premium, they might be able to overlook the warts and enjoy this otherwise beautiful device. Besides, five to six hours battery life is longer than most flights in the US at least.
