Acer's answer to the Surface Pro 4 lands in Malaysia

Revealed earlier at their Global Press Conference in New York, Acer has finally brought the new Switch Alpha 12 and Aspire S 13 laptops to Malaysia. The good news? They’re pretty good value.

Acer Switch Alpha 12

Leading the pack is the Acer Switch Alpha 12 — an impressive liquid-cooled 2-in-1 laptop that is powered by a 6th generation Intel Core i Processor. It’s also got a beautiful 12-inch QHD (2160x1440p) touch-sensitive display.

I was quite impressed with this particular device when I first saw it in New York. It had a great build, an excellent keyboard and a reasonable price which made it a great challenger to the Microsoft Surface Pro 4.

The fact that it had a fanless liquid cooling is also a plus because it makes the tablet completely silent and more resistant to dust build-up over time.

Acer has brought three variants of this tablet to Malaysia and the prices are as follows:

Intel Core i3-6100U processor, 4GB of DDR3L RAM, 128GB SSD — RM2,499
Intel Core i5-6200U processor, 8GB of DDR3L RAM, 256GB SSD — RM3,499
Intel Core i7-6500U processor, 8GB of DDR3L RAM, 256GB SSD — RM4,499

That’s incredible value considering the price includes a keyboard and an Acer Active Stylus. An entry-level Microsoft Surface Pro 4 (Intel Core M3 processor) with a keyboard costs RM4,269. On the other hand, if you choose to pick up an Acer Switch Alpha 12, you can get an Intel Core i7 processor with 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD for only RM4,499 — that’s only RM230 more for a whole lot more power.

However, it’s worth noting that only the bundled keyboard with the i7 model will come with backlight. The others will not.

Acer Aspire S 13

Next up is the ultra-portable, ultra-slim 13-inch Acer Aspire S 13 laptop. It’s designed to be a great workstation on the go, weighing in at only 1.3kg, with a thin 14.58mm edge.

In terms of performance, you get a 6th Generation Intel Core i5-6200U processor and a choice of either 4GB or 8GB of RAM. The Aspire S 13 also comes with a 13.3-inch full-HD IPS panel that performs incredibly well under sunlight thanks to its matte finish.

It’s mostly constructed of plastic but has a nice textured finish to the top of the laptop. Acer’s Aspire 13 comes in two specifications:

4GB of DDR3L RAM, 128GB SSD — RM2,799
8GB of DDR3L RAM, 256GB SSD — RM3,399

For more information on these two devices, check out our hands-on with them.

Alongside these two products, Acer also launched the Aspire R 15, a 360-degree convertible laptop with prices starting from RM2,699 (Pricing and specs here), the Aspire E 14 with prices starting from RM2,199, Aspire E 15, RM2,399 (Pricing and specs here) and Aspire F 15 with prices RM2,699 (Pricing and specs here) laptop plus the ultra-thin (6.6mm thin) R1 series monitors (Pricing and specs here).

The Aspire E, F and R1 monitor are already available while the Aspire S 13 will be available starting this week. The Switch Alpha 12, on the other hand, will only be arriving starting next week but Acer did not provide an exact date.

For more photos, head on over to our gallery.

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Acer Switch Alpha 12