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04 Jan

Garmin Vivomove Sport Review: Hidden Screen, Obvious Talents

January 4, 2022
Posted by Samson

Garmin Vivomove Sport real hands.

Garmin Vivomove Sport in the test: the fashionable smartwatch with a hidden display

RRP $ 179.00

"The fashionable Garmin Vivomove may have a hidden screen, but once you put it on, the watch's extensive technology and health tracking talents are evident."

benefits

Looks like a fashion watch
Screen completely hides when not in use
Gesture control is reliable
Comprehensive health and activity tracking

disadvantage

OLED screen has a low resolution
Battery life just average

Garmin's new Vivomove Sport for 2022 is literally a hybrid smartwatch as it has physical pointers that move around the watch face and a screen that stays completely hidden until needed. It's the opposite of the Fitbit Versa 3, which is its biggest competitor and will appeal to anyone who finds the Fitbit's boring design off-putting. The good news is that it's not just the design that I like about the Vivomove Sport, as I found out.

draft

The Garmin Vivomove Sport is very good at disguising its hybrid smartwatch status as the small OLED screen is completely hidden until needed. When I say whole, I mean it too. I challenge you to look at the photos with the screen off and tell me there is one at all. I really like this approach, especially as more and more hybrid smartwatches are increasingly integrating active e-ink screens, where the design is away from the "watch" and much closer to the "smartwatch".

Garmin Vivomove Sport screen. Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Not like this here, and it looks great for that. The dial is simple, with Garmin branding stamped on it, six hour markers, and some redundant chronograph-style markings on the bezel. The surface has a subtle vinyl record finish that is barely noticeable if you don't look closely while the baton hands are silver. There is no second hand, no buttons on the case and no crown.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

The case is made of fiber reinforced polymer (which Garmin has used on other models, including the Fenix range) and has glass over the dial with a very slight curve around the edges. It feels smooth and warm, but it can get greasy. It's attached to a simple rubber strap, which on my test device is black, but you can also get the Vivomove Sport in Ivory, Cocoa or Cool Mint. The Vivomove Sport is very light and comfortable to wear at just 34 grams. I wore it 24 hours a day for five days with no irritation or overnight problems or even the need to adjust the strap because it got too hot or sweaty.

Garmin Vivomove Sport Screen. Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

I like the design. It's very understated, but the simplicity means it goes with anything, especially black, and the 40mm case size is modest and fits most wrists. You won't make a statement with the Vivomove Sport, but because of the hidden screen you won't advertise wearing a smartwatch either. It just looks like a pretty ordinary fashion watch. This is exactly what a good hybrid smartwatch should be and ideal for anyone who doesn't like the sportiness of a fitness band or the geekiness of a full touchscreen but understands the need for a screen to increase its utility but doesn't want to see it all the time.

Screen and menu

Garmin's decision to hide the screen works from a design perspective, but what if it's on? It activates when you raise your wrist or double-tap the glass to view the time, battery status, and date information. You also tap the glass skillfully to operate the menu system, so Garmin can do without buttons on the case and it is an accurate and reliable system. Swipe the screen to view steps, heart rate, health data, and more. The pointers automatically rotate out of the way when you look at these screens.

Garmin Vivomove Sport step count.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Garmin Vivomove Sport Body Battery data.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Garmin Vivomove Sports Heart Rate.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Long press the screen to open the exercise menu, where you can quickly activate a walking, running, cycling, weight training, yoga, meditation or swimming session. Dig deeper and you'll find more detailed health functions like VO2 Max, blood oxygen and fitness age, as well as some settings for the watch. The on-screen options may seem small, but they're actually easy to find and press with your finger due to the accuracy of the watch's touch-sensitive glass.

Unfortunately, the OLED screen is bright, but not very high-resolution with only 72 x 154 pixels. The information displayed is noticeably blurry, almost like it's a little blurry or the glass is smeared, and it looks out of place next to the physical pointers and markers on the dial. It doesn't affect functionality or readability, but it's distracting and looks cheap.

Software and app

I used the watch with the Garmin Connect app connected to a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 before it was released, and it's compatible with iOS too. I didn't have any connection issues and syncing was flawless. It lacks some features like the Google Assistant or the Siri integration you'll find on competing models like the Fitbit Versa 3.

Garmin Vivomove Sport screen.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Garmin Vivomove sports cleats.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Garmin Vivomove Sport.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Notifications are delivered reliably, but the screen is small. So don't expect anything other than basic information. Tap the incoming notification and you'll get more details, but it's of little use as a message spans multiple screens. The notifications work exactly the way you want them from a hybrid smartwatch: as a prompt to make a decision whether to pick up the phone or not.

By default, the vibrating alert isn't very strong, but exploring the settings menu can make it longer for the buzz, although battery life suffers. This is not the only customization option as many aspects of the watch can be changed from within the app, from the watch face to the exercise options displayed to gesture control options to the orientation of the hands.

The Garmin Connect app is colorful to look at and quick to use. It's packed with information and data, but I found it to be often tightly presented and awkward to find. A slide-in menu offers even more options, and navigating through it can be confusing and time-consuming. It's definitely for the data junkie, and I've rarely found anything that gives me advice on what to do with the data or how to make improvements. Instead, Garmin urges you to be motivated to participate in Community Challenges, either pre-generated or created with friends.

The Vivomove Sport may not be an expensive Garmin sports smartwatch, but with Connect it's definitely still comprehensive enough to be used by both casual coaches and serious athletes. There are features like adding details about your shoes and bike, saving routes you have run regularly and then navigating with Garmin's PacePro pacing system, as well as the ability to create custom workouts for the watch. All of your statistics, from sleep to stress to heart rate, are visible on individual screens with historical data for up to a year.

It's as complex as you want it to be, and if you only want to record a workout or two a week it's as ready to do so as it is all more strenuous.

Health tracking

I've followed workouts with the Vivomove Sport and the Apple Watch Series 7 together, and the Garmin returned significantly higher values than the Apple Watch. The average heart rate during Vivomove Sport was about 10 beats per minute higher, which probably had an effect on calorie burning, which was usually 50 or 60 kcal higher as well. When comparing Garmin's sleep tracking with the Oura ring, neither of the two agreed on the timing of the sleep phases, but were almost identical for heart and respiratory rates.

Garmin Vivomove Sport training mode.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Garmin Vivomove Sport training mode.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Garmin Vivomove Sport GPS mode.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Neither of these are medical devices so results will always vary, but in my experience, the Apple Watch tends to match most other wearables in terms of activity tracking and heart rate. I am using the Garmin Vivomove Sport before its official announcement and with a special version of the Garmin Connect app, so adjustments to the watch's firmware and algorithms can be made after its release.

What else? There is menstrual cycle and pregnancy tracking, a way to manually log fluid intake, GPS tracking with your phone, various security features including emergency location sharing, and some mindfulness style relaxation features. Garmin's Body Battery is an unusual addition that might come in handy, but it's not implemented very well. It assesses your energy levels to understand if it is a good time to exercise or to make an effort in general. I didn't find it helpful in everyday life, mainly because you have to look for your battery level in the app. The Oura Ring has a similar Readiness Score, but it appears first thing in the morning on the app's home screen, making it more helpful for planning your day.

The Vivomove Sport covers my basic health needs very well, with a lot of leeway even for the more enthusiastic athlete

The touch-sensitive glass and the quick and easy activation of exercise tracking are welcome, as the process can often be a frustrating combination of keystrokes on hybrid smartwatches. Not so here, and by swiping the small screen, you can also see live heart rate and calorie consumption data. The Vivomove Sport covers my basic health monitoring needs very well and also offers plenty of leeway for the more enthusiastic exerciser, but the accuracy can benefit from some tweaks.

battery

Connected to an Android smartphone and with notifications as well as all-day heart rate monitoring, a few recorded training sessions and overnight sleep, the Garmin Vivomove Sport's battery lasted five days before it needed to be charged. You charge the battery with a proprietary cable included in the scope of delivery.

Charge the Garmin Vivomove Sport. Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

I didn't turn on blood oxygen monitoring for sleep, which would likely further reduce usage time, but with these settings it is in line with Garmin's expectations for battery life. It's longer than a full-fledged smartwatch like the Apple Watch, but less than very energy-efficient smartwatches like the Huawei Watch GT 3. Five days of use is good, but given the Vivomove Sport's small screen, I would have liked to have had it longer.

Price and availability

The Vivomove Sport is priced at $ 179 and is available now from Garmin's online shop.

Our opinion

The subtle design that goes with everything and the real hands make the Garmin Vivomove Sport an excellent hybrid smartwatch for everyday use.

The precise gesture controls and the bright OLED screen make it quick and easy to use, it works with Android and iOS and the Garmin Connect app is full of data. On the less positive side, the five-day battery life is decent but not overwhelming, and the OLED screen's low resolution is distracting, but the area that is most worrying is the tracking accuracy. Discrepancies between the Vivomove Sport and other smartwatches indicate that there may be too many reports and an update is needed to optimize performance.

I've worn the Garmin Vivomove Sport for 10 frustration-free days at the time of writing. I only had to charge it once, it tracked my activity and sleep, reliably delivered notifications, looked great on my wrist and didn't get uncomfortable. Definitely recommended for the reasonable price of $ 179.

Is there a better alternative?

Garmin's Vivomove Sport's biggest competitor is the Fitbit Versa 3, valued at $ 230. Throughout my time, I've been reminded how convenient and easy the Versa 3 is to use, traits it shares with the Garmin watch. However, I prefer the design and the real hands of the Vivomove Sport by far, and it's significantly cheaper, but I think the Versa 3 is even more comfortable to wear 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

If you want a hybrid smartwatch with real pointers on the dial, the best alternative is the $ 195 Skagens Jorn HR, which has an e-ink screen behind the pointers. It shows as much information as the Garmin Vivomove Sport, but is not as easy to use and has no touchscreen. However, it is more customizable, and the design and materials used make it more desirable.

For a hybrid watch with a digital screen, we recommend the Casio G-Shock GBD-200 for $ 149 or its surf-oriented brother, the $ 180 GBX-100NS. Both come with basic fitness tracking and notifications, as well as all of the durability you'd expect from the brand. If you're still considering a full smartwatch, here are the best models right now.

How long it will take?

The Vivomove Sport has a water resistance of 50 meters and is suitable for swimming, while the plastic housing should prove to be durable. Garmin is a well-established company so there shouldn't be a problem with the Connect app continuing to work for years to come.

The Vivomove Sport allows you to grow if your exercise routines or needs or interests change too, making it a safe buy even if you are just starting out with tracking and are unsure of what the future will bring. It's not a high fashion piece so it should look fresh in a couple of years, and the 20mm strap is on quick release pins so it can be easily replaced if it breaks. You get the Vivomove Sport for three or more years.

Should you buy it?

Yes. It's a great alternative to a Fitbit, with a more watch-like design and a reasonable price.

Editor's recommendations

03 Jan

Blog

Perfect Wall Sit , Benefits & Variations

January 3, 2022
Posted by Samson

ONE Wall seat is a common exercise for strengthening the quadriceps muscles. It is also known as the jetliner position. This exercise can be characterized by two right angles formed by the body, one at the knee and the other at the hip. Sitting against the wall is one of the most intense workouts for the quadriceps and can be very painful at times. Armed forces also use this exercise as a disciplinary measure. This exercise is also used as a strengthening exercise in many sports such as ice hockey, small boat racing, etc. It is also known as the Devil's Chair. Make sure to learn these exercises from professionals before performing them to avoid injury.

Today in this article we are going to talk about different types of this workout and also explain how to do it. If you love to gather information about workouts, this article is for you. Before we move on to a perfect wall seat, let's discuss the benefits of this workout.

Benefits of Wall Sit

1.Tons and strengthens

Just like hammer curls, help strengthen the biceps, and this workout will help strengthen the legs and quads. It also helps in burning fat.

2. Increases endurance and strength
This training helps us to activate the slowly twitching fibers of our leg muscles. In this way, it helps us increase our stamina.

3. Improves posture
When we sit against the wall, we focus on keeping our entire back against the wall as we open our chests and bring our shoulders back. And doing this exercise regularly improves our posture and changes our walking style.

4. Improves nuclear power
By contracting your abs while doing this workout, you can increase your core strength.

How does a perfect wall seat succeed?

You can do this exercise anywhere. All you need is a flat wall. The exerciser should lean their body against the wall with their legs firmly on the floor, shoulder-width apart. There should be a minimum of 2 feet between the leg and the wall (the distance between the leg and the wall depends on the height of the exerciser). Once the exerciser comes to the above position, he should slowly go down, keeping his back against the wall, until he bends his leg and forms a perfect right angle, because if not, it won't be a right angle. If it does not form a right angle, there will be less stress on the quadriceps and the effectiveness of the exercise will be lost.

The exerciser's knee should always be above the ankle and their back should always be in contact with the wall. The exerciser should hold the position for at least 30 seconds to a minute (it can even lengthen if the person is already exercising). You should rest for a minute if doing more than two repetitions. Repetitions and timing depend on the strength of the exerciser. You can practice this exercise daily and by increasing the timing you will gain more strength and endurance. If the exerciser has knee or kneecap pain, stop immediately to avoid injuring themselves. If the trainee is already exercising, they can hold a dumbbell during this exercise to increase the intensity. Very few people are injured during this exercise. Even so, we've mentioned some common mistakes so that you don't get injured:

. Thighs not parallel to the floor

. Knees that protrude past the ankles

. Weights on toes

. End down instead of up

What is the wall seat variant that works every muscle in your body?

Our professionals have added some wall seat variants to help you increase your upper and lower body strength as every muscle in your body is involved.

. Standard wall seat

. Wall sitting with biceps curl

. Wall seat with hip adduction

. Push out wall seat with medicine ball

. Single leg wall seat

. Wall seat with side elevation

. Wall seat with overhead press

The bottom line

If you are interested in increasing leg and core strength, this article is perfect for you. Follow all instructions step by step to avoid knee injuries.

frequently asked Questions

1. Can we get abs by doing? this workout?

No, you can't get abs by sitting against the wall; it only increases nuclear power.

2. Is this workout aerobic or anaerobic?

It's a simple, bodyweight aerobic exercise that requires only a stopwatch to keep track of time and a wall to lean against.

3. Duh this exercise make your thighs big

No, increasing the size of your thighs does not help; it tightens your thighs and increases strength and endurance.

01 Jan

Blog

Acer Swift 3 16 Review: Old School Package, But Decent Value

January 1, 2022
Posted by Samson

An Acer Swift 3 16 laptop sits on a desk, angled to the right.

Acer Swift 3 16

RRP $ 1,000.00

"The Acer Swift 3 16 is a bit old school, but it is good value for money."

benefits

Excellent productivity performance
Solid battery life
Above-average premium display
Thin and light
Attractive price

disadvantage

The display has an old school 16: 9 aspect ratio
Touchpad buttons are difficult to press
Build quality is a little below average

Acer's Swift 3 line has produced some excellent laptops, with the 14-inch AMD Swift 3 topping our list of the best budget laptops. The company has expanded the product line over the years to offer 13.3-inch, 13.5-inch, 14-inch, and 15.6-inch models that are a solid combination of thin and light design and offer attractive prices. Now Acer has added a 16-inch model, the largest display yet, and hopes to offer the same value as the rest of the line.

I have a $ 1,000 configuration with a 35-watt Core i7-11370H 11th CPU. And indeed, the final spec, aspect ratio, is what immediately disappoints about the laptop. Most manufacturers are moving to larger 16:10 or 3: 2 displays, and 16: 9 seems like an anachronism. Overall, it's a nice laptop with good performance and battery life, but the display keeps it from getting any better.

draft

The first thing you'll notice about the Swift 3 16 is how wide it appears, especially if you've used other 16-inch laptops with larger 16:10 displays. A year or two ago the design would have been fine, but now the laptop seems to take up too much horizontal space on a desktop.

It's not that deep, of course, but taller displays that are deeper also allow more keyboard deck space for things like larger touchpads. Acer made good use of the space, and more on that below, but the form factor just feels a bit strange compared to other modern large-screen devices.

It's not bad for a $ 1,000 laptop loaded with the components from the Swift 3 16, but it could be better.

Compared to another 16-inch laptop with a 16:10 display, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 4, the Swift 3 16 is 14.48 "versus 14.13" wider, but 9.1 "versus 9 .99 inches less deep. It's also thinner at 0.63 inches versus 0.7 inches and lighter at 3.75 pounds versus 3.99 pounds. The Swift 3 16 has display bezels similar to the Lenovo, which means they're relatively small on the top and sides, but with a more prominent chin.

The MSI Summit E16 Flip has similar top and side bezels, but an even bigger chin on the bottom, and it's slightly lower than both laptops while being about the same width as the Lenovo. It's thinner at 0.67 inches and slightly heavier at 4.4 pounds. The Swift 3 16 is nice and thin and light for a laptop with such a large display, only the width stands out too much.

An Acer Swift 3 16 laptop sits on a desk, showing its back, tilted to the right.

In terms of build quality, the Swift 3 16 is made of aluminum, but suffers from some sagging in the lid and significant sagging in the keyboard deck and lower chassis. It's not bad for a $ 1,000 laptop loaded with the components from the Swift 3 16, but it could be better. The Samsung Galaxy Book Odyssey is another new laptop that is made of aluminum and suffers from a lack of rigidity. You have to look at something like the Dell XPS 15 or the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 4 to get a machine with a solid feel.

Aesthetically, the Swift 3 16 comes in a Steel Gray shade that looks like a light black, and blends in with the minimalist movement with simple lines and angles and zero bling. Even the edges are not beveled and apart from the Acer logo on the lid, there is no chrome to be found. The Samsung Galaxy Book Odyssey is similarly minimalist with a dark color scheme and chrome logo on the lid, and only a few additional moldings make it stand out. The Swift 3 16 is an attractive notebook, only very conservatively designed. My only real complaint about its appearance is that the bezels are plastic, which makes it look a little cheaper than it would otherwise.

On the left side of the Acer Swift 3 16 there is a proprietary charging port, a USB-C 3.2 port with Thunderbolt 4 support, a full-size HDMI 2.0 port, and a USB-A 3.2 port.

On the right side of the Acer Swift 3 16 there is another USB-A 3.2 port and a 3.5mm audio jack.

Connectivity is solid. There's a proprietary charging port, a USB-C 3.2 port with Thunderbolt 4 support, a full-size HDMI 2.0 port, and a USB-A 3.2 port on the left. It would have been better to add a second USB-C port and use that for charging rather than the proprietary power port, an anachronism that requires carrying an extra piece with you when so many USB-C chargers are typically available.

On the right side you will find another USB-A 3.2 port and a 3.5 mm audio jack. That's a good combination of current and legacy connections, with the only glaring omission being the lack of an SD card reader. Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1 provide wireless tasks.

power

The Acer Swift 3 16 points directly at the camera.

The Swift 3 16 can be configured with either an 11th generation Intel Core i5-11300H or a Core i7-11370H, both 35-watt, 4-core / 8-thread CPUs. They lie between the U-series processors, which are geared towards thin and light laptops, and the faster 45-watt 8-core / 16-thread CPUs of the H-series. My test device used the Core i7-11370H along with 16 GB of RAM and a 512 GB PCIe solid state drive (SSD) and it lived up to expectations. The Core i5 configuration with 8GB of RAM is only $ 870, almost a budget price.

It should be noted that the lack of discrete graphics and the small number of cores and threads make this more of a simple work laptop than a developer's workstation despite the display size.

Acer got very good performance out of the CPU.

Despite the inferior components for a laptop of this size, Acer has managed to get a decent performance out of this system.

In Geekbench 5, the Swift 3 16 was the third fastest in our comparison group and came fourth in Cinebench R23. In many cases, the Swift 3 16 punched above its weight class over these other machines.

For a more realistic test, I ran our Handbrake test, which encodes a 420MB video as H.265. It is impressive that the Swift 3 16 could keep up with the Samsung Galaxy Book Odyssey with a 6-core / 12-thread Core i7-11600H, but lagged behind the ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 4 and the Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 .

In the PCMark 10 Complete test, the Swift 3 16 finally took fourth place behind the same devices.

These are solid results and indicate that the Swift 3 16 is a fast performer for productive users. Again, it won't be suitable for demanding creative uses, but for everyone else, but it does show that in some cases the difference between a 35-watt chip and a 45-watt chip is not as great as we often assume .

	Geekbench (single / multiple)	Handbrake (Seconds)	Cinebench R23 (single / multiple)	PCMark 10	3DMark time spy
Acer Swift 3 16 (Core i7-11370H)	1.613 / 6.119	151	1,568 / 5,806	5.491	1.911
Samsung Galaxy Book Odyssey (Core i7-11600H)	1,478 / 5,366	151	1.601 / 8.571	5,989	N / A
Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro (Core i7-11370H)	1,578 / 5,957	202	1,514 / 5,544	5,149	1,888
Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 (Ryzen7 5700U)	1,184 / 6,281	120	1,287 / 8,013	5.411	1,247
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 (Core i7-1165G7)	1,327 / 5,201	N / A	1,469 / 4,945	5,147	1,776
Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio (Core i7-11370H)	1,321 / 5,131	179	1,304 / 5,450	5,091	4,266
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 4 (Core i7-11800H)	1,520 / 7,353	106	1,519 / 10,497	6.251	6,691

However, the Swift 3 16 is tied to Intel's built-in Iris Xe graphics, and there's no getting around that. It is not intended as a gaming laptop or video editing tool. That makes it unusual for larger laptops, which usually come with separate graphics and can run light games.

The Swift 3 16 scores well in the 3DMark Time Spy test for an Intel Iris Xe machine and beats the other machines with integrated graphics. Still, it couldn't keep up with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti from Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio or the RTX 3060 from the ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 4. I ran Fortnite and saw 24 frames per second (fps) at 1080p and epic graphics, a few fps faster than most of the other Iris Xe laptops we tested, but nothing special.

display

The display of the Acer Swift 3 16.

As already mentioned, the Acer Swift 3 16 has a 16.1-inch Full HD IPS display with a 16: 9 aspect ratio. That makes it very wide, which is great for putting two windows side by side but not great for showing vertical information where a taller display would have been desirable. Even so, this was a pleasant display while working on this test in terms of brightness, colors, and most importantly, contrast. Subjectively, I found it to be at least as good as most of the premium displays I've tested.

According to my colorimeter, the display is a bit above average for a premium panel that is not aimed at creative people. Colors were slightly wider than average at 77% AdobeRGB and 100% sRGB, and they were very accurate with a Delta E of 1.11 (1.0 or less is considered excellent). The brightness was good at 334 nits, above our threshold of 300 nits, and the contrast was excellent at 1,530: 1 for an IPS display. In comparison, the display of the Samsung Galaxy Book Odyssey – a 15.6-inch panel on a laptop that was partially aimed at creative people – was only 48% AdobeRGB and 65% sRGB, accuracy at 2.37, brightness (which was better) at. much worse 350 nits and a contrast of only 800: 1.

I would have liked a much higher resolution and a larger aspect ratio for the display of the Swift 3 16, but the overall quality is beyond dispute.

The MSI Summit E16 Flip's 16-inch 16:10 IPS had wider colors than the Swift 3 16 at 89% AdobeRGB and 100% sRGB, and they were just as accurate at 1.12 and the brightness was higher at 482 nits. However, the contrast is 1,140: 1, which is good for an IPS display, but does not show as deep blacks as the Swift 3 16.

I would have liked a much higher resolution and a larger aspect ratio for the display of the Swift 3 16, but the overall quality is beyond dispute. This is a good display for productivity users, and again it is great for setting two windows side by side. The colors aren't wide enough for creative professionals, but that's not the goal of this laptop.

Two downward facing speakers provide audio, and the Swift 3 16 joins several laptops I recently tested that emit surprisingly low volume. At least these laptops had clear sound while the Swift 3 16 is kind of distorted. Mids and highs are muddy and there is little to no bass. Sound quality isn't a forte, and you'll need headphones for almost anything.

Keyboard and touchpad

Acer Swift 3 16 keyboard and trackpad. Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

Because of the very wide display, there is plenty of horizontal space for a keyboard, and Acer makes use of most, but not all, of all. The key spacing is excellent, the keycaps are large, and there is a rather small number pad that could have been bigger with a bit of space on each side of the keyboard. The key switches offer plenty of wiggle room, with only a slightly abrupt punch-through movement that affects the overall precision of the keyboard. It's a few steps behind the best like those in the HP Specter line and Dell's XPS laptops.

The touchpad is large and takes up most of the available space on the palm rest. Its surface is comfortable to swipe and, as a Microsoft Precision touchpad, it copes well with the multitouch gestures of Windows 11. The only problem is the buttons take a lot of force to press until I gave up on them and just tapped the touchpad instead. If you prefer to use physical buttons, these won't make you happy. Unfortunately, the display cannot be touched, which I always miss.

A fingerprint reader in the upper right corner of the palm rest provides Windows 10 Hello support for passwordless logging. It worked quickly and reliably after a few attempts to register a finger. There's a button to turn off the microphone, but no way to turn off or block the webcam for privacy reasons.

Battery life

Close-up of the Acer Swift 3 16's webcam.

The Swift 3 16 only has 58 watt hours of battery inside, which is not much for a laptop with a 35 watt CPU and a 16.1 inch display, even in Full HD. I wasn't expecting the best battery life.

However, I was pleasantly surprised. The Swift 3 16 lasted 8.75 hours in our web browser test, which ran through a number of popular and complex websites. We like to see 10 hours on this test, but almost nine hours is good enough. The Samsung Galaxy Book Odyssey lasted 10.5 hours, while the Samsung Galaxy Book shut down after 8.3 hours.

However, it depends on the battery capacity, which is why the Dell XPS 15 lasted more than nine hours with 86 watt hours and a power-hungry OLED display. In our video test replaying a local 1080p movie trailer, the Swift 3 16 lasted for 13 hours, a much stronger score that was still behind the 14.3 hours of the Galaxy Book Odyssey but well ahead of the 11 hours of the Galaxy Book . The XPS 15 OLED lasted 11 hours in this test as well.

I also ran the PCMark Applications battery test which is the best indicator of productivity battery life and the Swift 3 16 lasted 9.5 hours. This is also a decent score and promises all-day battery life. The Galaxy Book Odyssey was stronger with 11.8 hours, while the Galaxy Book also did better with almost 11 hours. The XPS 15 OLED fell behind by just eight hours. In the PCMark Gaming battery test, which shows how hard a laptop runs on battery power, the Swift 3 16 lasted an average of 1.75 hours.

Overall, the Swift 3 16 has a decent battery life that can leave you with an hour or two for a full working day. This is a somewhat surprising result in view of the small battery, but somehow Acer managed to tease out an above-average longevity.

Our opinion

You really can't knock to get a big 16-inch laptop with great productivity performance and good battery life for $ 1,000. That is the Acer Swift 3 16 in a nutshell. My biggest complaints about the laptop are its sub-par build quality and its 16: 9 display, which makes it feel too wide.

The keyboard is sufficient and the touchpad is large, but Acer has to loosen the keys a bit. If you're looking for a large format machine for productivity with a little creative work, the Swift 3 16 is a strong candidate.

Are there alternatives?

The Surface Laptop 4 15 offers a thinner and lighter body, albeit with a slightly smaller display, and offers similar performance with its own discrete GPU. However, it is much more expensive.

You could also consider the HP Envy 15. It costs roughly the same money and offers superior performance, albeit with less battery life. The display can also be superior if you go for the OLED option (which, of course, costs more).