Acer Swift 14 AI review: A humble laptop with lengthy battery life

The Acer Swift 14 gets a slight rebrand for the fall of 2024—it’s now the Acer Swift 14 AI. Like its predecessor, the new model is a thin-and-light Windows laptop that tries to deliver good performance at a mid-range price. Though it suffers a few flaws, like a mediocre display, it delivers on that promise. 

Further reading: Best laptops 2024: Premium, budget, gaming, 2-in-1s, and more

Acer Swift 14 AI: Specs and features

The star of the Swift 14 AI’s spec sheet is undoubtedly Intel’s Core Ultra 7 258V, which is part of Intel’s new Core Series 2 lineup. It sits high in the product stacks and, in this incarnation, comes paired with 32GB of LPDDR5x.

• Model number: SF14-51T-75AF
• CPU: Intel Core Ultra 7 258V
• Memory: 32GB LPDDR5x
• Graphics/GPU: Intel Arc 140V integrated graphics
• NPU: Intel AI Boost (47 TOPs)
• Display: 14-inch 16:10 1,920 x 1,200 IPS touchscreen
• Storage: 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 solid state storage
• Webcam: 1440p 30fps camera with physical privacy shutter and IR camera for Windows Hello login
• Connectivity: 2x Thunderbolt 4 / USB-C, 2x USB-A, 1x HDMI-out, 1x 3.5mm combo audio jack
• Networking: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4
• Biometrics: Fingerprint reader, facial recognition 
• Battery capacity: 63 watt-hours
• Dimensions: 12.3 x 8.71 x 0.63 inches
• Weight: 2.95 pounds
• MSRP: $1,299.99 MSRP 

However, a few other specifications leap out. The laptop has an IPS touchscreen instead of an OLED display. Though obviously helpful for touch input, this decision hints that display quality will be a weakness. As an apology, the laptop packs a ton of future-proof connectivity including two Thunderbolt 4 / USB-C ports and Wi-Fi 7. 

Acer Swift 14 AI: Design and build quality

IDG / Matthew Smith

Acer’s Swift laptops tend to strike an unassuming profile on a desk, and the Swift 14 AI is no exception. When closed, the laptop is marked only by a small holographic Acer logo and an odd symbol in the upper-left corner, which appears to be part of Acer’s new AI branding. Otherwise, the Acer Swift 14 AI could easily be mistaken for any number of mid-range Windows laptops released in the past few years.

What the laptop lacks in flair, it makes up for in rigidity. Opening the laptop causes minimal flex in the display lid, and the lower chassis feels solid when picked up from a corner. This laptop doesn’t have a unibody design, and some flex can be found if you press firmly in the center of the keyboard. However, the same is true of many competing Windows laptops.

The Swift 14 AI is rather thin and light, as it measures roughly 0.6 inches thick and weighs just under 3 pounds. While neither number is record-setting, the Acer Swift 14 AI feels noticeably lighter than competitors like the Dell Inspiron 14 and HP Omnibook Ultra 14. The Asus Zenbook S 14 has Acer beat, however; the Asus is under 0.5 inches thick and weighs less than 2.5 pounds.

Acer Swift 14 AI: Keyboard, trackpad

IDG / Matthew Smith

The Acer Swift 14 AI’s keyboard, like the rest of the laptop’s design, doesn’t make much of an impression. It has a conventional layout with color-coordinated, island-style keys. As is usually true of laptops that take this approach, the color of the keys doesn’t precisely match the surrounding laptop, which cheapens the look.

But when it comes time to bang out an e-mail (or novel), the keyboard proves up to the task. Key travel is acceptable, and each key activates with a definitive snap. It’s not a leader, but it does the job. Keyboard backlighting is standard, as well, which is typical at this price point.

The touchpad is less impressive. Though responsive, it only measures about five inches wide and three inches deep. That’s (at best) mediocre for a laptop in 2024, and the smaller touchpad’s modest size is noticeable when the Swift 14 AI is compared to alternatives like the Asus Zenbook S 14 or Apple’s MacBooks. 

Acer Swift 14 AI: Display, audio

IDG / Matthew Smith

Display quality is a weakness of the Acer Swift 14 AI. It has a 14-inch screen with a modest resolution of 1920 x 1200, using an IPS panel instead of a newer, more impressive OLED or mini-LED option. The absence of these higher-end technologies is somewhat surprising, as Acer often includes them in other models, and it’s not great news for image quality.

The display looks fine in productivity apps like Word and Excel. However, when it comes to gaming or watching movies, the lack of contrast and color vibrancy is noticeable compared to an OLED display. Acer doesn’t market this laptop as an entertainment machine, but shoppers should be aware that if you want the best visual experience for games or movies, this might not be the right choice.

On the plus side, the display is a touchscreen, which can be handy if you’d rather not use the touchpad. The display hinge also rotates 180 degrees, allowing the screen to lie flat on a surface. Together, these features make the laptop easier to use in cramped spaces or in unusual positions, like when reclined on a couch or crammed into an airplane’s economy class.

The Acer’s modest display performance is echoed in its audio quality. The built-in speakers sound clear at lower volumes but become muddied and harsh as the volume increases. They’re adequate for listening to a podcast or attending a video call, but they’re not ideal for music, movies, or games.

Acer Swift 14 AI: Webcam, microphone, biometrics

The Acer Swift 14 AI has a decent webcam with a maximum resolution of 1440p (though, by default, the camera app still records at 1080p). The image is sharp for a webcam but can’t avoid classic webcam issues, like difficulty dealing with low-light situations that can lead to a grainy or over-exposed look. Still, it’s perfectly fine for Zoom calls. The same can be said of the microphone array, which picks up clear audio at acceptable volume.

Acer ships the Swift 14 AI with a software utility to control features like portrait blur and microphone noise cancellation. It feels a bit redundant, though, since Windows already provides controls for these features. A physical privacy shutter is included to block the webcam when it’s not in use.

The laptop has both a fingerprint reader and an IR camera and allows biometric login via Windows Hello with either (or both). That’s notable. While many laptops have one or the other, it’s less common to see both. Personally, I prefer Windows Hello facial recognition, but the fingerprint reader can be the better choice if you like to keep the webcam’s privacy shutter active. 

Acer Swift 14 AI: Connectivity

IDG / Matthew Smith

Acer provides a good range of connectivity with the Swift 14 AI. It includes two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports, both of which support DisplayPort video output and power delivery for charging the laptop. These are joined by two USB-A ports, an HDMI output, and a 3.5mm combo audio jack. This selection makes it easy to connect both modern USB-C devices and older USB-A peripherals. The only physical port that’s missing is Ethernet, but this is typical for most thin and light competitors.

Wireless connectivity is also solid, as the laptop supports both Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4—the latest versions of each standard. While most routers and wireless devices have yet to adopt these standards (which limits their immediate impact), they help future-proof the laptop’s wireless connectivity.

Acer Swift 14 AI: Performance

This review covers the Acer Swift 14 AI with Intel Core Ultra 7 258V. However, Acer also sells the Swift 14 AI with the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite. They’re not identical:  the Qualcomm-powered model has a better 1600p 120Hz touchscreen and larger battery, though half as much RAM. Still, they look extremely similar and sell at a similar price (the Intel model has an MSRP of $1,299.99, while the Qualcomm model is $1,199.99). 

IDG / Matthew Smith

There is just one wrench in the works: Qualcomm’s hardware doesn’t play nice with every benchmark in our test suite, and PCMark 10 is among them.

Personally, I’ve found that Qualcomm’s app support—both in terms of new native apps, and those that run through emulation—is excellent. But gaps remain, and the uncertainty that brings can be off-putting.

Placing that aside, the Acer Swift 14 AI with Intel’s Core Ultra 7 258V had a good showing. It beat many recently tested laptops with an overall score of 7,173. HP’s OmniBook Ultra 14, an especially strong performer with AMD’s Ryzen AI 9 HX 375, is the only comparable system that leaves the Swift 14 AI in the dust.