Acer does its best to alleviate this problem by offering the AcerSense app (which features a custom “a” key on the top row of the keyboard). The app allows you to switch from discrete to integrated graphics and set certain screen settings such as adaptive brightness and colors. Choose a profile, run system diagnostics, and most importantly, tune performance as needed. Four performance levels are available, ending with “Silent” on the low end. You might think that the CPU will slow down to the point where the fan won’t work at all, but that’s not the case. In silent mode, the fan still runs periodically, but at a slightly slower pace. Silent Machine also had an approximately 40 percent impact on graphics performance, and a 25 percent impact when running typical apps.
The Swift X is power-hungry, so you charge it through one of the USB-C ports, but you’ll need to use the 100-watt charger that comes with the device. I trickle charge it using a common low wattage adapter, but it never reaches full capacity, even when powered off.
Photo: Christopher Null
Don’t get me wrong. There are a lot of good things about laptops. Ports are adequate for a machine of this size, including two USB-A ports and two USB-C ports (one used for charging), a full-sized HDMI port, and a microSD card slot. The keyboard is fine, if unobtrusive, and slots gently into the chassis, and the touchpad is spacious without being uncomfortably large. The understated dark metallic gray design is professional and modern.
Weighing 3.4 pounds and measuring 25 millimeters thick at its widest point, it’s not the smallest machine, but those numbers aren’t outrageous for a laptop that squeezes discrete graphics into a 14.5-inch package. .
Photo: Christopher Null
But what is the purpose? Overall stability isn’t ideal, and I encountered some strange visual issues during my week with the system, including flickering images. Battery life is just over 7.5 hours, which isn’t that long, but it’s worse than many competing laptops. Performance is good overall, but there are plenty of devices on the market that far outperform this system, including Acer’s own Nitro 17. Sure, it’s a much larger laptop, but it has 50% better graphics performance and is $450 cheaper. .
The Swift X 14 has some positive aspects, but it’s a little hard to decide who exactly it’s suitable for. Maybe you’re a casual gamer or a graphic designer who’s always on the go and needs to pack light. That may be a possibility, but the Swift doesn’t offer enough performance to justify its lavish $1,700 price tag, and the annoyingly noisy fan and thermal issues make it even more likely. isn’t it.
