Acer has long been developing the Swift X 14 line of compact but productive laptops, which also promise a high-quality screen, a comfortable keyboard, touchpad, and good battery life. I decided to check whether this is true during a three-week usage experience, and in this article I will share my impressions and observations.
Acer Swift X 14 (SFX14-72G) specifications
| Model | Acer Swift X 14 (SFX14-72G) |
| Display | OLED, 14,5”, 2880×1800 resolution, 16:10 aspect ratio, 120 Hz frequency |
| Processor | Intel Core Ultra 7 155H |
| RAM | 32 GB LPDDR5X-6400 |
| Storage | 1 TB |
| Graphics. | NVIDIA GeForce 4060 (8 GB) |
| Ports | HDMI, USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, 2×Thunderbolt 4, 3.5 mm combination jack, microSD |
| Wireless modules | Wi-Fi 6E + Bluetooth 5.3 |
| Camera | 1080p |
| Audio | Speaker system with 2 speakers and microphone |
| Keyboard | Island keys with white backlighting |
| Battery and power supply | 76 W-h, power supply 100 W |
| Dimensions | 322×228×17,9 mm |
| Weight | 1.5 kg |
| Recommended price | 87 599 UAH |
Design, materials and usability
Right out of the box, the Acer Swift X 14 gives the impression of a utilitarian device for work, a gray model with sharp edges and a minimalist display cover with a small Acer logo.
With a diagonal of 14.5 inches, the laptop cannot be called very thin, but given the package and the case made of thick aluminum plates that do not push through either in the display area or around the keyboard, the weight of 1.5 kg can be called light. In addition, thanks to the relatively thin bezels around the screen, the model is compact. Its dimensions are 322.79 x 228.12 x 17.9 mm.
The lid of the Acer Swift X 14 display unit has a limited opening angle, but I can't say that it was not enough for me. In addition, the screen can be opened with one hand, but the hinge is quite tight and fixes the lid well in any position.
Despite the generally modest design, I liked the Swift X14 for its practicality: in addition to the glossy display, the metal of the case does not collect fingerprints and resists scratches well.
The keyboard in the laptop is of the island type, but it is slightly recessed into the body so that the keys do not touch the screen surface. Indeed, when using the Swift X 14, I have never seen the buttons leave fingerprints on the display, as sometimes happens even in expensive models.
The keys themselves are very comfortable, they have a springy stroke, they are well spaced and have good stability when pressed. In my experience, this is one of the most comfortable keyboards I've ever used in a laptop. Despite the fact that it looks as simple as possible, and you just don't expect it.
The keyboard layout is generally standard for Acer, with the top row occupied by function keys that allow you to quickly adjust the volume, screen brightness, and more. In particular, you can call up the proprietary AcerSense utility, which allows you to change performance settings, display color gamut, and update drivers.
There is also a power button with a fingerprint scanner embedded in it. It is quite fast and allows you to log in to your account in just a couple of seconds.
Not everyone may like the twin up/down navigation buttons in the laptop layout, but I hardly ever use them, so I didn't even notice it at first. In addition, the right Ctrl key now acts as a call to the Copilot chatbot, which is not useful for everyone. I haven't found an option to reassign this button back to Ctrl, I think the versions that will be on sale will already have it repainted to Copilot.
The trackpad in the Acer Swift X 14 is made of recycled plastic that was caught from the ocean, so the touchpad even has its own name, OceanGlass, and is found in other models of the manufacturer.
By modern standards, it's not very large, but it works well, accurately detects the position of your fingers and "understands" gestures. The main period of my use of the laptop was during the active phase of power outages, so I hardly ever worked at home at my desk with a monitor connected and didn't use a mouse, and there was no need, because the trackpad completely replaced it.
The webcam in Acer Swift X 14 is centered above the display and has a Full HD resolution. The quality of the module itself is absolutely no different, but it supports "studio effects" in Windows 11, which are AI-based features that allow the camera to blur the user's background more effectively, automatically crop the image on your face, and create the illusion that you are looking directly at the camera, not the screen.
In Swift X 14, these effects are powered by Intel's Neural Coprocessor Unit (NPU), which doesn't overload the CPU and therefore consumes less battery power.
But more interesting, in my opinion, is Acer's PurifiedVoice 2.0 option, which also uses artificial intelligence and three built-in laptop microphones to cut out extraneous noise. It forms a directional beam in front of the Swift X 14, capturing only the user's voice, while the sound from other parties is actively suppressed. It works really well and comes in handy if you don't have headphones at hand.
The two speakers built into the Swift X 14 are located on the underside of the case, they are very loud, even provide volume, but have neither good detail nor bass, which means that they are suitable for watching videos without any problems, but for music it is better to wear headphones.
As for connectivity, all the ports in the laptop are located on the sides, which is quite convenient. On the left is HDMI 2.1, USB 3.2 Gen 2 with the ability to use it to charge other devices even when the laptop is turned off, two USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports with support for charging via PowerDelivery up to 100 watts, and a 3.5 mm headphone and microphone jack.
On the right side, you can find a Kensington lock, USB 3.2 Gen 1, and a microSD card slot.
I liked the fact that the laptop has two USC-B ports and two USB 3.2 ports, which are also well spaced. But a slot for SD memory cards in this model, in my opinion, would be more relevant.
In general, despite the not-so-expressive design, the Acer Swift X 14 turned out to be a practical and, most importantly, comfortable laptop for everyday use.
Display and speed of operation
One of the main features of Swift X 14 is its display. This is a 14.5-inch OLED panel with an aspect ratio of 16:10, a resolution of 2880×1800 pixels (2.8K), a refresh rate of 120 Hz, a response time of 0.2 ms, a peak brightness of 500 nits, 100% coverage of the DCI-P3 color space, as well as DisplayHDR TrueBlack 500 and Calman Verified Delta E<2 certifications.
This is a very high-quality display with excellent color reproduction, deep blacks, and enough brightness to work indoors. You can also work outdoors, but not in direct sunlight, not so much because of the screen's brightness as because of its glossy finish, which catches glare well.
Above the display of the Acer Swift X 14 is also a light sensor that automatically adjusts the brightness of the screen. In the proprietary AcerSense utility, you can also change color profiles by selecting AdobeRGB or sRGB instead of DCI-P3. You can also create a custom color profile by calibrating the display.
The laptop screen is perfect for both regular work and photo or video editing.
The hardware platform of the Acer Swift X 14 is based on an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor with 16 cores, 1.4 to 4.8 GHz, and integrated Intel Arc graphics. It is complemented by 32 GB of LPDDR5X-6400 RAM and a 1 TB Samsung fast drive.
Even this configuration would have been enough for good performance, but Acer decided to add a mobile discrete NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 graphics card with 8 GB of memory. This approach greatly expands the laptop's capabilities and can be used for more complex tasks, such as rendering and gaming. We'll talk more about the latter, but the laptop renders really fast, showing good results in the Cinebench 2024 test.
However, you shouldn't expect high performance when running on battery power, as like all x86 systems, the laptop needs power to deliver maximum performance.
Acer Swift X 14 comes with Windows 11 Home with a typical set of software that can be expanded with your own software. For me, it's primarily the Chrome browser, Notion, Spotify, and Affinity Photo for image editing. Since the laptop system has generally productive components, everything works very quickly. Acer does not position the model as a gaming laptop, but it is easy to play on it, for example, when I had the opportunity, I played Diablo 4. Not at the maximum graphics settings, but the average ones were quite enough for a comfortable game.
Other features of the Acer Swift X 14 platform include the Intel Killer 1675i Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 module with Bluetooth LE support. This is not the newest, but a proven solution that allows the laptop to quickly connect to Wi-Fi networks and accessories, keeping the connection stable and fast. Recently, some manufacturers have been increasingly installing Wi-Fi modules from MediaTek in their systems, which take some time to "wake up" after switching on, and this is often downright annoying. Intel's solution "wakes up" instantly, meaning that you can connect to Wi-Fi as soon as you open the lid of your laptop.
Heating and battery life
The laptop uses an active cooling system with a single cooler, and there are a large number of ventilation holes on the bottom of the case.
This is generally enough to keep the laptop from getting too hot. In particular, the system stability test in AIDA64 shows trottling when the cooler has not yet had time to spin up, while the processor temperature does not exceed 75.9 degrees Celsius, which is a good result.
At maximum load, for example, during rendering, the laptop body heats up quite noticeably in the upper part above the keyboard, but the area around it and the touchpad remains barely warm. This also speaks to the efficiency of cooling, but it is worth noting that at such moments the fan is very clearly audible. The laptop really can't be called very quiet. Even when working on battery power in the browser, mail, and documents, you will occasionally hear it, albeit at minimum speed.
The Acer Swift X 14 has a 76 Wh battery, which is enough for 8-9 hours of work in office mode, which is also confirmed by the PCMark 10 test. This is not a record, but a good indicator for a productive x86 system.
The Swift X 14 is charged by a fairly compact 100W power supply, which allows you to charge a fully discharged laptop in 1 hour and 25 minutes.
To summarize
The unassuming appearance of the Acer Swift X 14 hides a productive system with a good set of components, a high-quality screen, and a comfortable keyboard and touchpad. The model is quite versatile and is well suited for office or creative work with the ability to be distracted by games from time to time. At the same time, it has a good battery life, but you should take into account the noisy operation of the cooling fan in demanding tasks.