One of the more interesting pieces of hardware announced during Acer’s annual Global Press Conference was the Swift 5 (SF514-55, SF514-55 G). The latest version is more than just a pretty ultrathin-and-light laptop, it has a special feature that should prove useful in today’s post COVID-19 world.
The 14” Full HD IPS touchscreen display supports multi-finger gestures and has a brightness rating of 300 nits. The display also has 72% of the NTSC colour gamut. It boasts narrow-bezels that are only 2.61mm thick, giving it an impressive 90% screen-to-body ratio.
Acer boasted that it has added an Antimicrobial solution on top of the display’s Corning Gorilla Glass as well as on the chassis of the laptop. The company claims the coating is specially formulated to suppresses the growth of bacteria on the touchscreen through the use of silver-ions.
It should be noted Acer’s press release has a foot note stating that the antibacterial coating does not protect users or provide any direct or implied health-benefit.
Acer claims the Swift 5 (with a 40Whr battery) will weigh less than 1kg but they didn’t provide an exact number in grams. Adding to that, it measures just 14.95mm thin, making it one of the lightest notebooks in its class. The body is made from high-grade magnesium-lithium and magnesium-aluminium.
The laptop comes powered by Intel’s upcoming 11th Gen Core processors with powerful integrated graphics that are based on the new Xe architecture. Alternatively, you can opt for a GeForce MX350 GPU instead if you require more graphical performance.
The Swift 5 can be configured with up to 16GB LPDDR4X RAM while the storage can be topped up to a 1TB PCIe Solid State Drive (SSD). Acer also offers the Swift 5 with a larger 56Whr battery that the company claims is able to last up to 12 hours. In addition, it can be fast-charged to provide 4-hours of use with just 30 minutes of charging. This variant is slightly heavier at 1.05kg, but it remains lightweight and portable.
The Swift 5 benefits from dual-band Intel Wi-Fi 6 connectivity and Bluetooth 5.0 to connect with all your peripherals devices.
You get a variety of ports including USB-C, Thunderbolt 4 and USB 3.2 Gen 2 for fast data transfer and power delivery. You also don’t have to worry about passwords as the Swift 5 comes with a built-in fingerprint reader to help you sign in.
Acer offers the Swift 5 in either Safari Gold or Mist Green and it runs on Windows 10 Home. The company specified that the Swift 5’s specs will differ depending on model and the region it is sold.
Acer has not released the details on the Swift 5’s availability and pricing in Malaysia. It did however detail three markets: North America; Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) and China will be getting the laptop in October. The pricing in each region is as follows :
North America – USD 1,000 (about RM 4,275)
EMEA – EUR 1,099 (about RM 5,307)
China – CNY 6,999 (about RM 4,230)
Editor’s Note: The title of this article has been changed for further clarity.
