Acer Swift X (14-inch) hands-on review

We were lucky to get a sneak peek at the Acer Swift X (14-inch) and spent some time with it before the official production version ships out. Unlucky us, though, it already has some issues that I hope get fixed before launch.

So far, the Acer Swift X (14-inch) impresses with its stylish exterior, solid specs, and a sharp display. However, the speakers are outstandingly bad, and the keyboard leaves a lot to be desired.

Hopefully, the final production unit fixes some of these issues, but until then, we’ll have to wait and see if it’s worthy of landing on our best laptops page.

Acer Swift X (14-inch) price and configurations

The Acer Swift X (14-inch) model we were provided is an early sample, so things might be a little different when the final production version comes around. However, the model we have is outfitted with an Intel Core i7-1260P CPU, an Nvidia GeForce 3050 Ti GPU with 4GB of VRAM, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and a 14-inch, 2240 x 1400 display.

We don’t have official pricing yet, but the Acer Swift X (14-inch) should be available sometime in June.

Acer Swift X (14-inch) design

Pulling the Acer Swift X out of its box was like pulling the ribbon off a deep green Aston Martin. Its bold and luxurious design makes me feel like I had to put on a suit and tie just to keep up. The green lid is accompanied by a glossy Acer logo — it’d be nice if the company used a different font for its premium machines like HP.

However, the interior immediately soured my love for the design. Its dull gray deck matches every other laptop in its class. Although, the super-thin bezels and nearly non-existent bottom bezel somewhat makes up for it. And thankfully the webcam is actually placed on the top bezel.

At 12.3 x 8.4 x 0.7 inches and weighing just under 3.1 pounds, the Acer Swift X feels incredibly light and thin in my hands. The Dell XPS 13 (11.6 x 7.8 x 0.6 inches, 2.8 pounds) is lighter and thinner by comparison, and while the Acer is still lighter than the MacBook Pro 14 (12.3 x 8.7 x 0.6 inches, 3.5 pounds), it’s not as thin.

Acer Swift X (14-inch) ports

There are a decent number of ports on board the Acer Swift X.

On the left there’s two Thunderbolt 4 ports, an HDMI port and one USB Type-A port, while the right side holds room for a Kensington lock slot, one USB Type-A port and a headphone jack.

If you need more ports, check out our best laptop docking stations and best USB Type-C hubs pages.

Acer Swift X (14-inch) display

The Acer Swift X’s 14-inch, 2240 x 1400 display is certainly sharp and decently bright, but it could be more colorful. Of course, it’s hard to say whether it’s good or not when we don’t have proper benchmarks or pricing to see what you’re getting for your money.

I watched the Jurassic World Dominion trailer and the greenery around the dinosaurs looked sharp and lush, but it could have popped if there was a bit more color. Despite that, the display was bright enough to capture the details in Bryce Dallas Howard’s face in a relatively dark room. Although, in another scene, the shadows on each character’s face were darker than they should have been. However, since this is a pre-production model, the final product could offer the vividness I’m looking for in addition to deep contrasts and crisp details. 

Acer Swift X (14-inch) keyboard and touchpad

Typing on the Acer Swift X’s keyboard was relatively comfortable, but not at all satisfying. The keys were shallow and didn’t require much pressure to click.

I hit 78 words per minute on the 10fastfingers.com typing test, which matches my current wpm average. The keys are well spaced, but there’s not enough elevation to make them distinct. It almost feels like I’m typing on the deck itself.

Despite that, the touchpad is smooth and comfortable to use. I even like the sharp clicks it provides. Although, the design isn’t as premium as I’d like, essentially when compared with similarly specced HP notebooks, like the HP Spectre x360 13 (2021).

Acer Swift X (14-inch) audio

Wow, this is bad. I wanted to turn the laptop off once I started listening to the Acer Swift X’s bottom-firing speakers.

I listened to Emily Finchum’s “Bones,” and the vocals sounded like they were being suffocated by a pillow. The higher notes were distorted and sharp enough that it hurt to listen. There’s no semblance of bass or any balance to any of the lows, mids, and highs. The speakers are just a mess, and there’s no software that can help it. Hopefully, this will be rectified in the final version of the Swift X. 

Acer Swift X (14-inch) webcam

Since the Acer Swift X has a 1080p webcam, it beats half of the laptops out there with 720p shooters, but it’s still not good enough.

There was a ton of grain in my test shot and I couldn’t make out the text on the hat hanging up behind me. The colors were decent, however, as it captures the blue and pink in my shirt quite well. Meanwhile, the contrast balance made a portion of my face pure white, and I hope that won’t be the case in the production models.

Acer Swift X (14-inch) software and warranty

The Acer Swift X comes with the Acer Care Center, which is the only relevant app, as it features spec information, checkups, tuneups, updates, and recovery management for your laptop.

There’s some Windows 11 bloatware, like Forge of Empires and Simple Solitaire.

The Swift X comes with a one-year limited warranty. See how Acer performed on our Tech Support Showdown and Best and Worst Brands ranking.

Bottom line

We can’t provide a definitive opinion on the Acer Swift X (14-inch) just yet, but so far I’m more disappointed than I am impressed. It has a nice display and design, and so far the keyboard isn’t the greatest and the speakers are straight up bad. 

However, the Swift X has a lot of unknowns in the performance arena. Plus, since this is a pre-production model, there’s a chance that the things I’ve taken issue with here will be vastly improved in the laptop’s final version. But we’ll just have to wait for the ultimate version of the system to land at our testing facility. 

Stay tuned for the official review.