Acer Swift Edge 16 review: a big display without the bulk

The 16-inch laptop has mostly replaced nan 15-inch laptop arsenic nan astir celebrated ample machine. Both are adjacent capable successful size that we mostly lump them together, but that doesn’t mean that each 16-inch laptops are nan same. They’re not, pinch a chopped delineation betwixt high-powered machines aimed astatine creators and thinner, lighter, and little powerful laptops intended for little demanding productivity users.

The Acer Swift Edge 16 falls into nan 2nd group, which focuses much connected a bladed and lightweight chassis that doesn’t let for powerful components for illustration discrete GPUs. There are less of these machines, and nan Swift Edge 16 offers conscionable capable to make it a leader among its peers.

Specs and configurations

Acer presently offers conscionable 1 configuration of nan Swift Edge 16. For a database value of $1,300 astatine Best Buy (currently connected waste for a very charismatic $1,000), you get an AMD Ryzen 7 7840U CPU, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, a 16-inch WDXGA+ OLED show astatine 120Hz, and integrated AMD Radeon 780M graphics. The database value is charismatic for nan people of machine, and nan waste value is simply a bargain if you tin get it.

A bladed and ray design, but not groundbreaking

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The Swift Edge 16 is intelligibly aimed astatine users who want a ample display,but don’t want a ample laptop. And it succeeds, being conscionable 0.60 inches astatine its thickest constituent and weighing a very ray 2.73 pounds. It’s not nan thinnest aliases lightest 15- aliases 16-inch laptop you tin buy. That grounds belongs to nan Apple MacBook Air 15, which is an incredibly bladed 0.45 inches and conscionable somewhat lighter astatine 2.7 pounds. Of course, nan Swift Edge 16 does connection a larger display. The Dell XPS 15, which is simply a much powerful laptop that besides intends to beryllium thinner and lighter than most, is thicker astatine 0.70 inches and rather a spot heavier astatine 4.23 pounds.

Acer managed to make nan Swift Edge 16 truthful ray by utilizing a magnesium-aluminum alloy successful its chassis and lid. That tends to beryllium considerably lighter than nan consecutive aluminum utilized successful Apple’s and Dell’s machines, but it’s besides not arsenic rigid. Where nan MacBook Air 15 and XPS 15 some consciousness rather solid, nan Swift Edge 16 has immoderate flexing successful nan keyboard platform and twisting successful nan display. The Acer doesn’t consciousness inexpensive by immoderate means, but it doesn’t person nan aforesaid dense consciousness of value that you’ll find connected immoderate of nan competition.

Aesthetically, nan Swift Edge 16 is an charismatic laptop, but it doesn’t rather guidelines out. It follows nan modern minimalistic theme, pinch elemental lines and only a chrome Acer logo connected nan lid breaking up nan achromatic colour scheme. The XPS 15 is much charismatic and modern pinch its mini show bezels, while nan Swift Edge 16 has somewhat larger bezels that are still rather thin, but they’re integrative and frankincense don’t travel crossed arsenic premium.

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The crisp keyboard features a comfortable bottoming action, pinch plentifulness of cardinal spacing and ample keycaps. It’s not nan champion keyboard I’ve tested, specified arsenic nan Magic Keyboard connected nan latest MacBooks, but it’s amended than most. The touchpad is precise and responsive, pinch sharp, quiet fastener clicks, but it could beryllium larger fixed nan disposable abstraction connected nan thenar rest.

In position of connectivity, nan Swift Edge 16 manages to fresh successful a bunch of bequest support. It has a mates of USB-A ports and an HDMI 1.2 larboard to spell pinch a brace of USB-C ports and a microSD paper reader. The superior omission is Thunderbolt 4 support, but that’s owed to nan AMD chipset. Wireless connectivity is up to date.

Finally, Acer fresh successful a 1440p webcam that provides a crisp image for videoconferencing. That’s quadruple nan solution of nan XPS 15’s 720p webcam. The Swift Edge 16 doesn’t person an infrared camera for Windows 11 facial recognition, but alternatively relies connected a fingerprint scholar embedded successful nan powerfulness button. The hardware didn’t activity successful my reappraisal unit, but hopefully that’s conscionable an rumor pinch nan instrumentality I tested and not a wide problem.

A accelerated performer without nan accustomed AMD longevity

Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

The Swift Edge 16 uses a newer AMD processor that we haven’t reviewed successful different laptop. The Ryzen 7 7840U is simply a midrange CPU moving astatine 28 watts, pinch 8 cores and 16 threads astatine a Max Boost Clock of 5.1GHz. At that powerfulness rating, it straight competes pinch Intel’s 28-watt 13th-gen Core processors, chiefly nan Core i7-1360P pinch 12 cores (four Performance and 8 Efficient) and 16 threads, pinch nan Performance cores moving astatine up to 5.0GHz.

The point is, according to a mates of our benchmarks, nan Ryzen 7 7840U is importantly faster than nan Core i7-1360P. In fact, it competes amended against Intel’s 45-watt Core i7-13700H pinch 14 cores (six Performance and 8 Efficient) and 20 threads. For immoderate reason, nan Swift Edge 16 couldn’t complete nan Geekbench 5 aliases 6 benchmarks, truthful I was a small constricted successful making comparisons. The Dell XPS 15 was somewhat faster successful these CPU-intensive benchmarks and benefits from a discrete GPU that will springiness it moreover amended capacity successful imaginative apps for illustration Adobe’s Premiere Pro. Acer implemented a caller thermal creation successful this procreation that provides astir 10% amended airflow, which seems to person helped successful its performance.

The Swift Edge 16 was besides faster than nan Apple MacBook Air 15 pinch nan M2 processor featuring 8 CPU cores and 10 GPU cores, astatine slightest successful these CPU-intensive benchmarks. In apps that tin leverage nan GPU, nan MacBook is apt to beryllium faster acknowledgment to optimizations built into Apple’s Silicon chips. The Swift Edge 16’s AMD Radeon 780M graphics were faster than Intel’s integrated Iris Xe, but not by much.

Overall, nan Swift Edge 16 held its ain some against arsenic powered Intel chips and faster variants. It’s a productivity powerhouse, capable to meet nan astir demanding workflows, but it will not please creators who use astir from a faster discrete GPU. And gamers shouldn’t bother.

Perhaps it’s nan mini 54 watt-hour artillery and nan power-hungry, high-resolution OLED show moving astatine 120Hz, but nan Swift Edge 16 didn’t get nan benignant of artillery life we usually spot pinch AMD processors. The Ryzen 7 7840U isn’t arsenic low-power arsenic nan 15-watt alternatives, but is uses little powerfulness than nan 45-watt machines it champion competes with. But immoderate nan reason, it didn’t past very agelong successful our benchmarks.

It went for conscionable 5.75 hours successful our web-browsing test, which is good beneath average, and nan aforesaid held existent pinch nan PCMark 10 Applications artillery trial that gives an thought of productivity artillery life. In that test, it managed conscionable 6.75 hours, whereas astir machines travel successful astatine astir 10 hours. Finally, successful our video-looping test, which is nan slightest computing-intensive, but is astir impacted by nan show technology, nan Swift Edge 16 lasted for conscionable 6.5 hours, which is simply a very mediocre score.

The laptop isn’t apt to past until lunch, fto unsocial a afloat day. You’ll request your powerfulness adapter if you’re going to beryllium retired of nan agency aliases distant from home.

A top-notch OLED display

Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

The Swift Edge 16 has a crisp OLED show moving astatine 16:10 and 3,000 x 2,000, pinch a refresh complaint of up to 120Hz. It’s a agleam and beautiful show retired of nan box, pinch inky blacks and fantabulous colors. That’s my subjective opinion.

My colorimeter agreed. The show is agleam astatine 416 nits, pinch incredibly wide colors astatine 100% of some sRGB and AdobeRGB and 99% of DCI-P3. Accuracy was besides superior, astatine a DeltaE of 0.63 (anything nether 1.0 can’t beryllium seen pinch nan naked eye). As pinch respective OLED displays I’ve tested, my SpyderX Elite colorimeter didn’t return results for nan opposition ratio, but I’m definite it’s arsenic precocious arsenic each OLED panels.

While nan Swift Edge 16 doesn’t person nan sheer capacity creators need, it surely has nan show for imaginative work. It’s besides fantabulous for productivity users and media consumers.

A coagulated introduction successful nan thin-and-light 16-inch sweepstakes

If you’re looking for a accelerated productivity laptop pinch a beautiful display, nan Swift Edge 16 is simply a coagulated choice. It’s incredibly bladed and ray — not rather arsenic bladed arsenic nan MacBook Air 15, but overmuch thinner than astir 16-inch machines.

It’s not perfect, though. Its graphics capacity isn’t great, and its artillery life is poor. Balanced against that is an charismatic database value and an unthinkable waste price. The Swift Edge 16 is recommended for anyone who wants a larger display, but not a larger laptop.

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