Sometimes , I get two laptops to survey that are similar in aim and differ mostly in the chipsets that power them . I reviewed theAcer Swift 14 AIbuilt around the Intel Lunar Lake chipset and lauded it for its great battery life , and now Acer has send me the AMD interlingual rendition that promises libertine performance from the AMD Ryzen AI 9 chipset .
They ’re not selfsame , but they ’re close to the same toll and close to the same size of it . Choosing between them come down to which is more important to you : battery life or performance . The AMD interlingual rendition of the Swift 14 AI is going to please those who require the fast simple machine , while still propose surprisingly upright longevity .
Specs and configuration
Acer offers two versions of the Swift 14 AI . Both are build around the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 chipset and a 14.0 - inch FHD+ ( 1920 x 1200 ) IPS display . For $ 1,200 ( presently on sale for $ 1,000 ) , there ’s 16 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD . Upgrading to 32 GB of RAM brings the price to $ 1,300 .
That places the Swift 14 AI just on the edge of premium territory today . you’re able to get some in force laptops for less than $ 1,000 , peculiarly those progress around the Qualcomm Snapdragon X. reckon on sales , you’re able to also get other laptop with the same AMD chipsets for around the same price , such as theHP OmniBook Ultra 14that ’s currently $ 900 on sale with a 512 GB SSD but a higher - Ra 2.2 K IPS display .
Design
It ’s rare that I review a laptop computer today that does n’t share the same kind of minimalist design . The Swift 14 AI has an all - metal silver chassis with no bling . It ’s attractive enough , with a sweeping boundary along the side of the chassis with a blockier rearward edge , but it wo n’t stand out . It ’s not the best - front laptop I ’ve retrospect , but I wo n’t fault its aesthetic . The OmniBook Ultra 14 calculate better , as does theMacBook Air M3 , but it ’s not a dealbreaker .
The Swift 14 AI is solidly build as well . There ’s just a picayune bending in the lid under a pile of pressure , but that ’s rightful of the MacBook Air as well . The keyboard deck and anatomy are full-bodied , and overall , I feel convinced that the laptop will leave year of authentic service .
In term of its size , the display bezels are flimsy enough that the laptop computer ’s breadth and deepness are okay . Acer borrowed the inverse notch housing the webcam and other electronics from Lenovo , which helps keep the top bezel as thin as possible . The AMD version is compact than the Intel interpretation , belike to provide more air flow yield the hotter - running chipset . At 3.0 pounds , the Swift 14 AI is about average among 14 - inch laptops .
Keyboard and touchpad
The AMD reading ’s keyboard is somewhat unlike from the Intel edition ’s . This one is a standard island keyboard , but the keycaps are slightly smaller and there ’s more spacing in between keys . I liked the other one better , in part due to the switches that were weak and spiffy than this one . It ’s fine , but I ’d place it a few rungs behind the best , such as Apple ’s Magic Keyboard and the keyboard HP uses on its OmniBook lineup .
The touchpad is a mechanical interpretation and it works OK . Its push clicks are confident and sanely restrained . It has an unusual light-emitting diode symbol in the upper - right wing quadrant that ’s presuppose to illume up when AI features are enabled , but I did n’t see it in action at law . The display is touch - enable , which I prefer .
Connectivity and webcam
There ’s plenty of connectivity , with a commixture of modern and bequest ports . This is an AMD laptop computer , so there ’s USB4 rather than Intel ’s Thunderbolt 4 measure , but that ’s fine . You ’ll get most of the same benefits . Wireless connectivity is fully up - to - date .
The webcam is higher resolve than the new banner of 1080p , get along in at 1440p , and backed by a very dissolute Neural Processing Unit ( NPU ) that runs at 45 Yamaltu operations per 2nd ( TOPS ) and exceeds the Microsoft Copilot+ requirement of 40 TOPS . That ’s where the Ryzen AI 9 get down its name , and the Swift 14 AI fully supports all current AI feature with faster and more efficient on - machine processing . Those features remain of questionable time value , in my ruling , but if that ’s important to you , the Swift 14 AI has you embrace .
Performance
The Ryzen AI 9 365 is a 10 - core/20 - thread chipset run at a default 28 watts and ramp up to 54 W TDP . It ’s draw a bead on at multicore functioning , using an AMD Zen 5 architecture that has all performance core . Generally , those core group are n’t as fast on an individual basis as more recent chipsets like the Qualcomm Snapdragon X and Intel Core Ultra Series 2 . But , their multicore public presentation run to be very skilful .
This is just what you ’ll find in the comparison radical . The Acer Swift AI 14 is very fast in each of our multi - core benchmarks , include the Handbrake test that shows off central processor performance . But , it does n’t stand out in its single - core performance . The Radeon 880 M integrated graphics are slower than the graphics on almost every competitive chipset .
The Acer Swift AI 14 is a fast laptop computer that will make the most demanding productivity users well-chosen . Gamers and Divine will desire to search elsewhere , which is the caseful with every laptop that does n’t have a discrete GPU .
Battery life
The Ryzen AI 9 chipset is aimed more at carrying out than efficiency , although AMD ’s laptop computer chipsets have always been comparatively effective . But , the AMD version of the Swift AI 14 has a larger battery than the Lunar Lake version at 75 watt - hours compare to 65 W - hours . And , both of the laptops I go over had FHD+ IPS displays . So , Acer did some work to balance the AMD version ’s length of service against its high operation .
And , indeed , the Swift 14 AI did well this time around . It manage over 14 hours and our vane browsing test and 18.5 hours in our video recording iteration test . That ’s much better than previous - generation AMD and Intel chipsets and is competitive with the new round of Windows laptops generally . These final result are good enough to probably cater all - day assault and battery life running typical productivity chore .
Display and audio
There ’s just one display alternative with the Swift 14 AI , a 14.0 - in 16:10 FHD+ ( 1920 x 1200 ) IPS control panel running at 60Hz . I like crisp text , so the resolving is a footling low for me , but most users will find it to be honorable enough . The refresh charge per unit is becoming a bit pedestrian when 120Hz and fast displays are becoming more common , but again , it belike wo n’t count all that much to anyone looking for a productivity laptop . For such a user , this display is pretty good .
According to my colorimeter , this is a pretty high - caliber IPS dialog box . It ’s very bright at 445 nit and the line is excellent at 1,700:1 . Our standards have been nit and 1,000:1 , but most laptop display today are much good . color are more medium at 100 % of sRGB , 76 % of AdobeRGB , and 77 % of DCI - P3 . Some IPS display are better , but that ’s less common , and for the best colour , OLED is the expert option . Color accuracy was good at a DeltaE of 1.58 ( less than 2.0 is good for productiveness use ) .
This is a good display that all but creators will enjoy . Audio is okay , with dual speakers that put out audio that ’s loud enough and undecomposed enough for arrangement sounds and YouTube video . You ’ll need earphone for anything else .
Faster and still long-lasting
The Intel variation of the Swift 14 AI has better assault and battery life , in keep with the elementary focus of the Lunar Lake chipset . But , the AMD adaptation is importantly faster and it still nonplus great bombardment life . For anyone who require to cleave the difference , this version of the Swift 14 AI is a great pick .
It ’s well - built , somewhat attractive , and does n’t have any major flaws that stomach out against the challenger . If you get it on sale , then it ’s a solid choice among the 14 - inch laptop rival . At its list price , it ’s not quite as much of a bargain , but it ’s still easy enough to commend .
