About two weeks ago, Acer announced the Swift X 16 laptop, built for design students, creators, and anyone who needs a powerful Windows PC that also doesn’t weigh a ton. The computer also features AMD’s latest processors ranging from the Ryzen 5 7535H up to the Ryzen 9 7940H, with options for NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 or the newer RTX 4050.
Display: 16" 3.2K AMOLED, 120Hz
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7840HS
GPU: GeForce RTX 4050
RAM: 16GB LPDDR5
SSD: 512GB PCIe 4
Ports: 2x USB Type-C, 2x USB Type-A, HDMI
Weight: 4.19 lbs (1.9kg),
Starting price: $1,250 (with OLED: $1,599)
Availability: July 2023 (North America)
Acer sent me an early-production version of the Swift X 16, and it has the Ryzen 7840HS, which up until now, was not known to be an option for this laptop. That processor is based on the Zen 4 architecture with 16 threads of hyperthreading and 8 cores with a 3.8GHz base clock that shoots up to an impressive 5.1GHz (single-core boost).
Besides that new processor, which sits just below the top-tier R9 7940HS, Acer packs this laptop with a gorgeous 16-inch 3200 x 2000 (3.2K) OLED display with DisplayHDR True Black 500 and an RTX 4050 Laptop GPU making this a likely contender for one of the fastest non-gaming laptops around. There’s also 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM to keep things zippy.
The whole package weighs 4.19 lbs (1.9kg), which gives it some decent heft, but the weight matches the size of the laptop.
Of course, you’re probably asking me just how fast this 45-watt Ryzen 7840HS is compared to, say, Intel’s latest 13th Gen H-series chips. Unfortunately, being an early production model, Acer requested I don’t do any benchmarking with it just yet as some of the drivers need to be finalized, which seems fair. So let’s just say it’s very responsive and, so far, seems to get good battery life, thanks to the relatively large 76 WHr battery, which is a lot considering the GPU and 3.2K OLED display.
16-inch WQXGA+ 3200 x 2000
OLED high-brightness (400 nits)
Acer CineCrystal 16:10 aspect ratio
DCI-P3 100% color gamut
120Hz refresh rate / 0.2 ms
Certified True Black HDR 500
TÜV RHEINLAND Eyesafe display
The rest of the laptop is no slouch, either. There’s a decent 1080p webcam that can do some studio effects, DTS:X Ultra Audio with two front-facing speakers, and up to 2 TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD. There’s also a solid array of ports, including two Type-A, two Type-C, HDMI 2.1, microSD, a headphone jack, and a traditional barrel charger to keep up with RTX 4050.
Design-wise, Acer keeps things minimal with a silver-gray colorway that looks metal but is likely a composite of some type.
Being on the more premium end for Acer, the display opens one-handed, and that screen is really the star of the show here, being 16 inches at such a high resolution with OLED, 120Hz refresh, and HDR abilities. It is glossy but not too reflective, either. The keyboard and touchpad are traditional designs for Acer, which means a great typing experience, mainly since this also includes a number pad, which many people will be happy about (and this is very likely to make our best laptops with number pad buyer's guide).
If you don’t need a 3.2K OLED or want to save money, Acer also offers a WQXGA 2560x1600 display option.
Besides the redesigned TwinAir Cooling for all this processing, Acer lets you toggle different fan speeds using Fn + F, jumping from Silent, Normal, Performance, and Turbo Mode. Being able to run silently is going to be a great option when in a quiet room and when you’re not pushing the Swift X 16 to its limits.
Overall, the Acer Swift X 16 could be a contender for a more budget-friendly power-house laptop for creators and those who want performance without dropping $3K to get there.
The Acer Swift X 16 launches in North America in July 2023 with a starting price of $1,250 (IPS). Configured with an RTX 4050, Ryzen 9, and 3.2K OLED the price is $1,599. The laptop will make its way to China and Europe in May and June, respectively.
