After Intel’s announcement of its new 11th-gen processors, plenty of manufacturers have been eager to update their devices to the new chipset.
One such company is Acer, whose latest Swift 5 and Swift 3 laptops are among the first devices making the step up to the ‘Tiger Lake’ processors.
The new Swift 5 was announced back in June, but Acer never confirmed which processor would be included. The reveal of the 11th-gen chips yesterday paved the way for the company to make this announcement.
We also know rough price and availability dates for the devices. The Swift 5 will start at US$999.99 (approx. £752), with the Swift 3 starting at US$699.99 (approx. £527), with both available from November.
The other big news is the Swift 5’s inclusion in Intel’s Evo platform, described on the company’s website as “a new class of premium laptops”. In addition to having the latest ‘Tiger Lake’ processors, eligible devices must also provide excellent battery life and charging speeds, as well as offering Wi-Fi 6 and Thunderbolt 4 support.
These strict criteria mean you can expect a solid experience when picking up any device from the Evo platform, including the recently announced Samsung Galaxy Book Flex 5G.
Acer has also indicated that it’s working on getting certification for the Swift 3.
However, aside from the new processors, both laptops are sporting only minor changes from their predecessors.
The Swift 5 is renowned for its extremely lightweight design, but at 997g it’s slightly heavier than the previous model. In exchange, the 14in touchscreen can get a bit brighter, now with a maximum of 340 nits.
On the Swift 3, you can choose from a 13.5in or 14in screen. Interestingly, the larger screen size is also more affordable, although this is likely due to the abilities of the processor and RAM on offer. Expect the 14in model to come with an i5 processor, with i7 available on the 13.5in variant.
Author: Anyron Copeman, Senior Staff Writer
As the resident expert on Windows, Senior Staff Writer Anyron’s main focus is PCs and laptops. Much of the rest of his time is split between smartphones, tablets and audio, with a particular focus on Android devices.