At its ‘ Next@Acer ‘ conference in Taipei on 23 June, Acer announced plenty of additions to its ever-expanding hardware portfolio.
Among them was a refresh for the Swift 5, the company’s ultra-lightweight clamshell laptop. At 997g, it’s a slight increase over last year’s model , although remains one of the most portable devices in this form factor.
Although Acer is yet to confirm which Intel processors will power the Swift 5, it’s looking like it might be the first ultra-light laptop to sport a Tiger Lake chipset.
Intel announced the new processor in 2019, but so far this has been limited to more heavy-duty devices. Officially, the Swift 5 comes with ‘next-gen Intel Core processors with powerful integrated graphics based on Intel’s new Xe architecture’, which opens the door for it to adopt Tiger Lake.
Combined with Nvidia GeForce graphics and up to 16GB of RAM, this should help Acer to take performance to the next level.
In my short time with the device, it was able to handle multi-tasking and some more complex processes without any issue. I’d have confidence in it coping with my daily workflow without a problem.
Another area I was impressed with is the 14in touchscreen panel. Despite only having a Full HD (1920×1080) resolution, colours were extremely accurate with a good level of detail.
It’s able to reach a solid maximum brightness of 300 nits, although this wasn’t quite enough to ensure good outdoor visibility.
Another area crucial to portable laptops is battery life. While I didn’t have enough time to test this fully, the 40Wh and 56Wh options should ensure you get through a full day’s usage. It’s worth noting that the latter pushes the weight slightly over 1kg, although it’s still among the lightest laptops around.
The Swift 5 will start at $999.99 in the US, although UK pricing is yet to be confirmed.
Elsewhere, Acer also announced two new models of the Chromebook Spin, its convertible laptop running Chrome OS.
The more affordable Spin 311 starts at just £269.99, and aims to offer a great everyday option for those who primarily use web browsing and word processing to remain productive.
Powered by a MediaTek MT8183 processor, it comes with just 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. It’s good news, then, that the latter can be expanded via the microSD card slot.
Acer is touting up to 16 hours of battery life on the Spin 311, while the adjustable hinge offers 360 degrees of flexibility.
However, despite being targeted to business users, the larger Spin 713 is arguably a more exciting device.
It comes sporting an unusual 4:3 aspect ratio, making it much more squared-off than the 16:9 we’ve become accustomed to on laptops. The usual range of 10th-gen Intel processors are here, but you’ll probably want to upgrade from the baseline i3-10110U (£599.99) for something more powerful.
Again, I wasn’t able to fully test the Spin 713 in the short time I had with it, but it looks like an accomplished device on first impressions. The wide range of ports and 360 degree hinge makes it well-adapted for presentations, while 10 hours of battery life and fast charging still makes it a rare breed among convertibles.
The Acer Swift 3 is expected to be available in July, before both models of the Chromebook Spin arrive in September.
While consumer laptops are Acer’s primary focus, the company also makes gaming hardware under the ‘Predator’ moniker. Here’s everything you need to know .
Author: Anyron Copeman, Mobile Editor, Tech Advisor
Anyron is Mobile Editor at Tech Advisor, where he’s been a mainstay of the editorial team since 2019. In his current role, Anyron is responsible for all smartphone, tablet and mobile network coverage on the site. A BA Journalism graduate, he has experience with a wide range of consumer tech products and services, including smartphones, tablets, foldables, wearables and more.
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As per usual, Acer is holding its ‘next@acer’ conference to unveil a range of new products. You can tune in right here for new Windows laptops, Chromebooks, Predator gaming machines and a lot more.
Acer normally holds this event a little earlier in the year in New York but plans changed with the aim to hold the GPC (global press conference) at Computex 2020 in Taipei instead. Due to the coronavirus, that tech show was cancelled and now the event is purely online like others have been during lockdown.
Nevertheless, it looks like Acer still has a wave of new products so join the live stream to get all the news as it happens.
How to watch the next@Acer live stream
You can watch live on 23 June at 2pm if you’re watching from the UK so that’s 9am ET in New York.
The YouTube stream is above so sit back and enjoy the show.
What new products will Acer announce?
Prepare yourself for a lot of new devices because Acer doesn’t hold back at these events. Typically there are flagship laptops, budget laptops , monitors , gaming PCs and Chromebooks . Plus smaller items like peripherals.
Similar to rival brands, we imagine Acer will be refreshing its various product lines to the latest 10th-gen Intel processors and Nvidia GeForce RTX Super graphics cards. There could also be some AMD versions, which are becoming more common.
The show’s tagline is Rock, Paper, Scissors which, going by teasers, appears to be related to durable, lightweight and sharp designs. Acer says that “Each one represents a different product line.”
See what you can gather from Acer’s teasers:
👊 Rock hard… #NextAtAcer pic.twitter.com/m7dw5sp9iI — Acer UK (@AcerUK_Official) June 17, 2020
✋…ultralight… #NextAtAcer pic.twitter.com/vpmVwQgf4y — Acer UK (@AcerUK_Official) June 17, 2020
✌️…sharp designs. All being revealed at #NextAtAcer 23.06.2020. Reserve your place: https://t.co/ZYV1MF5Xlc pic.twitter.com/yQi1YSHcuX — Acer UK (@AcerUK_Official) June 17, 2020
One rumour is that Acer will announce a new version of its Thronos gaming cockpit. It’s a somewhat insane device that you’d probably expect to find in an arcade rather than your home. We’re interested to see what Acer does with it though, and whether it comes to the UK.
Author: Chris Martin, Managing Editor, Tech Advisor
Tech Advisor Managing Editor Chris got his break as a reporter at infamous site The Inquirer and has been with us for more than 12 years. With a BA degree in Music Technology, audio is his specialism, but over the years he has reviewed all kinds of gadgets, from smartwatches to mesh Wi-Fi to coffee machines.
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