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Acer Swift 3 and Swift 1 are stylish ultraportables for the masses

The two thin-and-light laptops sport premium touches like metal chassis and fingerprint readers and up to 10 hours of battery life.

Headshot of Joshua Goldman
Headshot of Joshua Goldman
Joshua Goldman Managing Editor / Advice
Managing Editor Josh Goldman is a laptop expert and has been writing about and reviewing them since built-in Wi-Fi was an optional feature. He also covers almost anything connected to a PC, including keyboards, mice, USB-C docks and PC gaming accessories. In addition, he writes about cameras, including action cams and drones. And while he doesn't consider himself a gamer, he spends entirely too much time playing them.
Expertise Laptops, desktops and computer and PC gaming accessories including keyboards, mice and controllers, cameras, action cameras and drones Credentials
  • More than two decades experience writing about PCs and accessories, and 15 years writing about cameras of all kinds.
Joshua Goldman
2 min read

Acer's Swift 7 laptop is the world's thinnest at the moment, measuring just 9.98 mm thick. The downside to that is it doesn't offer a lot of processing power, and it starts at around $1,000. With the new Swift 3 and Swift 1, the bodies get slightly thicker, but it pays off in performance potential and price.

The brushed-metal Swift 3 starts at $600 (about £465 or AU$800) and is available in 14- and 15.6-inch sizes each with 1,920x1,080-pixel IPS displays. Specs include:

  • Seventh-gen Intel Core i3, i5 and i7 processors
  • Integrated Intel graphics or optional Nvidia GeForce graphics
  • 4GB or 8GB of memory
  • 128, 256 or 512GB SSD or 500GB or 1 or 2TB HDD
  • Fingerprint reader with Windows Hello support
  • 2x2 802.11ac MU-MIMO Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0
  • High dynamic range webcam
  • USB 2.0 and 3.0 Type-A ports and a USB 3.1 Type-C
  • SD card reader, HDMI out and headphone/mic jack
  • Optional backlit keyboard

With all of the component options, there's a greater chance you'll find something that meets both your performance and price needs. Plus, they're only slightly thicker than the Swift 7 at 17.95 mm) with a weight that starts at 3.9 pounds (1.8 kg).

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If those are too big or perhaps too pricey, the Swift 1 is a 13.3-inch laptop with a full-HD IPS display and a metal chassis that measures 0.7-inch (15 mm) in height and weighs 2.9 pounds (1.3 kg). These are strictly budget-minded systems, though, with Intel Pentium or Celeron processors, 4GB of memory and integrated graphics. Prices start at $330, which converts to approximately £255 or AU$440.

The new Acer Swift 3 and Swift 1 series will be available in June.