Acer is a computer brand familiar to Malaysians. They come with a wide selection of devices for a wide variety of uses, from basic productivity in the office and home to gaming laptops that are also powerful enough to be used as professional creativity machines.
We recently had the opportunity to test one of Acer's latest entry-level productivity laptops, the Acer Swift Go 14 AMD, a computer powered entirely by AMD's series of processing chips as well as graphics chips.
Acer Swift Go 14 AMD
14″ FHD (1920×1080) IPS screen, 60Hz
AMD Ryzen 7 7730U CPU
AMD Radeon GPUs
RAM 16GB LPDDR5-5200
Internal Load 512GB M.2 2242 PCIe Gen4
1080p Primary Camera
I/O 1x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1
2x USB-C 4.0
1x HDMI 2.1
Battery 71 Wh (4 Cells)
65W charging
SIM/Telephony None
WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/6e
Audio Jack Yes
Waterproof None
Scan System Windows Hello face scan
Sale Price Starts at RM3199 (AMD Ryzen 5)
Design
Acer Swift Go 14 AMD comes with a 14-inch IPS screen display with a resolution of 1920×1080 with a refresh rate of 60FPS, where you can also choose to get an OLED screen display with a resolution of 2.8K if you want it.
It's just that with most laptops these days coming with almost bezel-less display designs, it's a little disappointing that this computer's display still has a relatively thick forehead and chin for a modern laptop.
The frame of this laptop is made of aluminum alloy, and this allows this laptop to come with a weight as low as 1.25KG and with a thickness of only 14.9mm. This Acer Swift Go 14 AMD can be made into a thin and light productivity laptop that can be taken anywhere.
In terms of I/O options this laptop is loaded with 2x USB4 which can be used to charge the laptop using a 65W charger, 2x USB 3.0 Type-A and 1x HDMI 2.1 which can be used to connect this laptop to a larger screen display if is required.
Unfortunately if you need a card reader, you will have to buy it separately as this laptop does not come with any built-in card reader.
As part of Acer's plan to use as many recycled materials as possible in the laptop's construction, Acer used OceanGlass recycled glass for the laptop's touchpad.
In the meantime, this laptop packaging box is also made from 100 percent recycled paper and no plastic material is used in it.
Specifications
As said before, Acer Swift Go 14 AMD is fully powered by AMD components. This includes the use of the AMD Phoenix CPU, which is the AMD Ryzen 7 7730U loaded with eight physical cores and 16 power threads operating at a base speed of 2.0GHz and a Turbo Boost of 4.5GHz. It also comes with 16GB of LPDDR5 memory and has PCIe 4.0 SSD storage.
In terms of graphics capabilities, the AMD Radeon Vega graphics processing chip is loaded into the processing chip and comes with eight computing units with a speed of 2.0GHz, which I would say is powerful enough to run a handful of modern games at Full HD resolution on moderate settings. and low.
To cool these components, the Acer Swift Go 14 AMD is also equipped with a TwinAir cooling system, which combines two cooling fans, a copper heat pipe and also a ventilation chamber through the keyboard of this laptop which then drains heat from the ventilation chamber in front of the display. screen.
Here I feel a little strange why the heat is channeled in front of the display part because exposure to hot air for a long time can cause damage to this display. But maybe because this processing chip only uses a maximum power of 28W, they don't worry about this.
Meanwhile, this laptop also supports WiFi6E connection, so if you have at least one WiFi6 router, you can take advantage of a very fast wireless internet connection through this laptop.
User Experience
In terms of productivity and daily leisure such as browsing websites, writing daily articles, editing photos and short videos, including watching YouTube videos and so on, this Acer Swift Go 14 AMD can do it without any problems.
For daily tasks like I mentioned earlier, this laptop can do it without issues like the keyboard part or the display getting hot, and if I lower the display brightness to around 50 percent, which I usually do, the battery life of this laptop is also seen lasts quite a while, for around 7 to 8 hours on a full charge.
The laptop is also loaded with a 1080p resolution camera, and although I rarely used it during this review, I can say that the quality of the video processing displayed is quite good, and with only a small amount of lag shown.
One thing I didn't expect from this laptop was its ability to run modern video games. In the two weeks I've been using this laptop, I've managed to finish Diablo IV's narrative campaign.
I was able to run the game with a combination of medium and low settings that could run the game at Full HD resolution with a refresh rate of around 30FPS. Yes, there was a slight lag that was noticeable when I played the game, but overall, my experience wasn't too bad.
Yes, this laptop can run computer games using the built-in graphics processing chip, but I have to advise you that there is a probability that there are games that this laptop cannot run.
Even after I updated all the necessary software, the laptop still issued a warning saying that the game I was trying to run was not supported (perhaps officially) by this laptop's processing chip. Surprisingly when I turn off the warning, the computer game (Diablo IV) can still be run without any problems.
Can Play Diablo IV
If there's ever a time when this laptop will get hot, it's when I'm playing computer games. This to me is something that is not so surprising especially when the GPU component of this laptop has to work hard to move the necessary graphics frames, but it is not so bad that I can't touch the keyboard part.
Benchmark Test
These are some of the benchmark tests we ran to test the capabilities of this laptop.
PCMark
CrystalDiskMark
Battery
Another aspect that I really like about this Acer Swift Go 14 AMD is that it has a battery life which for me is quite long. With the display brightness set at 50 percent, I can use this laptop for 7 to 8 hours on a single full charge.
I would not try to run computer games on battery power because the gaming performance of this laptop requires a constant power supply for it to function properly.
What's In The Box
As a measure to reduce the use of unnecessary materials, the box packaging of Acer laptops has recently been seen with minimal packaging and accessories that do not take up space.
Acer Swift Go 14 AMD x1
USB Type-C 65W charger x1
Closing
Acer Swift Go 14 comes in a variety of configurations, but this AMD model to me is seen as a breath of fresh air for users who are seen wanting something different from the rest.
In terms of productivity, this Acer Swift Go 14 AMD has no problem helping you complete your daily tasks. It's also thin and light enough to carry in your backpack and if you already have a 65W charger that you use to charge your smart device, the same charger and USB Type-C cable can be used to charge this laptop as well.
At a price tag of RM3999, the price tag of this laptop powered by AMD Ryzen 7 7730U chip is a bit expensive, but if you want a more wallet-friendly option, it offers with AMD Ryzen 5 7530U processing chip and slightly lower memory and storage configuration as well are offered in the local market.
Pros:
The laptop is fully powered by AMD
Powerful enough for productivity and leisure tasks
Light, thin and easy to carry anywhere
Long battery life
Can be charged using a USB-C charger
Cons:
The screen display has a chin and a thick forehead
Hinges that are too tight
The location of the ventilation chamber is strange
No SD card reader