01 Sep
Blog

Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7 Review: The AMD Ryzen 4000 Flagship

Lenovo Ideapad Slim 7 review 01

"The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7 is a genre-bending laptop that does anything hard to beat for its price."

  • Incredible performance

  • Tiny footprint

  • Record battery life

  • Can handle light games

  • The screen is a little dark

  • Small palm rests

Disorder. It's not a word I idly use, but what AMD's Ryzen 4000 processors have been doing over the past eight months fits the definition. These chips offer the performance you previously paid dearly for, both in size and price.

So far, however, few laptops have been designed from the ground up to use these chips.

The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7 should always be an example of how disruptive Ryzen 4000 can be. After many months of delay, the time has finally come to attempt a seemingly insurmountable task – being a laptop that can be ultra-slim, extremely powerful, and extremely affordable at the same time.

Have AMD and Lenovo just done the impossible?

design

The IdeaPad Slim 7 revolution is not broadcast high. It's not ugly, but it's also not attention grabbing. It's not far from Lenovo's current crop of conservative, dark gray laptops with rounded edges and an all-metal chassis. The design alone makes it difficult for you to pick this out of the wide range of similar looking laptops from Lenovo. It's reportedly offered in a possibly more eye-catching "Orchid" color option, but I haven't set my eyes on it yet.

In a sense, that's a shame. The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7 surpasses our traditional laptop categories in many ways. This is a tiny laptop. It's only 0.58 inches thick, thinner, and slimmer than the MacBook Air. It weighs only 3.1 pounds and fits the 13-inch MacBook Pro – and yet has an 8-core processor like the gigantic MacBook Pro 16 -Inch. That is the unique offering of this fascinating laptop.

The 13-inch MacBook Pro is possibly the best size comparison. The IdeaPad Slim 7 is a little smaller in almost every dimension, if not by much, and even has the larger 14-inch screen. More importantly, these two laptops share a 25-watt processor. That's 10 watts more power than your standard 13-inch laptop, which contributes to the unique performance of these laptops.

You'll find a healthy selection of ports on the sides of the laptop. On the left side, the IdeaPad Slim 7 has two USB-C ports, HDMI and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. On the right side, the IdeaPad Slim 7 offers two USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports, the power switch and a micro SD card slot.

Since this is an AMD laptop, you won't get Thunderbolt 3, a proprietary Intel technology. However, USB-C is still a versatile port. Each USB-C port can be used for charging, connecting to a monitor, transferring files, and connecting peripherals. You can't power an external graphics card, but these ports are very powerful for this laptop.

My only real complaint is that you can't charge the laptop from the right as both USB-C ports are on the left. It defeats the point of USB-C's versatility.

performance

A 25-watt, 8-core processor in a small laptop is a fascinating requirement, but only if it can actually deliver significantly better performance. I started my tests with Geekbench 5 and Cinebench R20, two benchmarks that can give a comprehensive picture of the CPU's performance. The IdeaPad Slim 7 particularly impressed with its multi-core performance. Amazingly, Geekbench 5 Multi-Core was only 9% behind the much larger Dell XPS 15 with its 45-watt eight-core processor. In the meantime, it was 23% ahead of the 13-inch MacBook Pro (with a 10th generation Core i5) and 16% ahead of the Acer Swift 3 (with the Ryzen 7 4700U). No laptop in this size class has the cores and threads that fit the IdeaPad Slim 7.

For a more realistic test, I encoded a 4K video in Handbrake, with performance limited to the CPU. Here, too, the IdeaPad Slim 7 and its Ryzen processor with eight cores knocked out the competition. It even beat some 45 watt six-core laptops like the HP Envy 15 or the Asus ROG Strix G15.

(pullqutoe) For a laptop of this size, the IdeaPad Slim 7 belongs to its own performance category. (/ pullquote)

The only place the IdeaPad Slim 7 can't really compete with these larger laptops is in video editing. Normally I wouldn't try Premiere Pro on a laptop this small, but I had to try the IdeaPad Slim 7. It took an hour and 18 minutes to export a two minute 4K project to ProRes 422. The higher clock speeds and discrete graphics of larger laptops like the Dell XPS 15 or MacBook Pro 16-inch help them finish the same test in well under 10 minutes.

This does not mean that the IdeaPad Slim 7 cannot be used for content creation workflows at all. If you are working with lower resolutions, less demanding codecs, or lighter applications, the IdeaPad Slim 7 should work just fine. It's just not a real replacement for one of those larger laptops. If portability isn't important, even a cheap gaming laptop like the Dell G5 SE can handle video editing far better than the IdeaPad Slim 7 for roughly the same price. For a laptop of this size, however, the IdeaPad Slim 7 belongs to its own performance category.

Interestingly, Lenovo also sells an Intel version of the IdeaPad Slim 7. But here's what you get: It's $ 150 more expensive, has half the memory, and only has a quad-core CPU. The only thing the Intel model has on its side is the Nvidia MX350 discrete graphics card, but AMD's built-in Radeon graphics outperform it. There's no reason to buy it through the AMD model.

Apart from the Intel variant, Lenovo does not offer any configurations. That could change in the future, but for now, this model with 8GB of RAM and 512GB SSD is the only option. I really wish a 16GB model was offered to pair it better with the high-core processor.

Game performance

You can play games on this laptop! Yes it's true and it's kind of a miracle. The Ryzen 7 4800U comes with eight Radeon graphics cores. This is easily the best discrete graphic I've ever seen on a laptop. It holds great promise for the future of AMD's Radeon graphics.

In the 3DMark Time Spy benchmark, it is 29% faster than the Dell XPS 13 with its integrated Intel Iris Plus graphics. It even outperforms discrete entry-level graphics such as the Nvidia MX350 in the Asus ZenBook Duo. The result is decent low-end performance in modern games.

These are easily the best discrete graphics I've ever seen on a laptop.

Take Fortnite, for example. As long as you keep the graphics settings at medium or below, the games play pretty smoothly. You'll find it hard to get up to 60 frames per second (fps) without tweaking the 3D resolution slider a bit. For the first time, however, Fortnite can be played without any problems with built-in graphics.

A less GPU-dependent game like Civilization VI will perform even better. The IdeaPad Slim 7 struggled to keep up with the Ultra settings, but averaged 45 fps on Medium. That's still a long way from what 15-inch laptops with discrete graphics can do, but again, you can play Civilization VI without having to resort to low graphics settings. This is really impressive for a laptop with no games.

The only real competition the IdeaPad Slim 7 has in this form factor is the GTX 1650 version of the Razer Blade Stealth. While you can get better frame rates on this computer, it's also far more expensive.

Keyboard and touchpad

This keyboard is not my favorite. The trip feels very short and the buttons have a muddy bottom effect. I prefer the Dell XPS 13, MacBook Air, or HP Specter x360. It didn't take me long to get used to it, however, and I like the curved shape of the keycaps.

The keyboard backlight doesn't have its own key, but Fn + Space is a solid replacement. The backlight is very bright – to the point where I would like a lower brightness setting.

My main problem with the keyboard is its location. The keyboard is farther from the screen than most laptops to make room for the speakers and ports. The result is less space for the touchpad and palm rests underneath. If you have small hands you're fine, but those palm rests were too small for me so I had to dig the edges of the chassis into my palms. It's not a comfortable position to type in for a long time. Laptops like the Samsung Galaxy Book Flex also suffer from this problem.

The touchpad performs better and offers a smooth tracking surface and enough space for swipes and gestures with two fingers. The click feels solid, although it's a little louder than I'd like it to be.

Battery life

When comparing AMD with Intel, there was no clear winner in terms of battery life. Until now. I don't know if it's the big 60 watt battery or the efficient 7 nm processor, but the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7 is an absolute champion when it comes to battery life. This can disappear from the wall all day – and a few more.

In our lightest test of repeating a local video file until it died, the IdeaPad Slim 7 lasted over 18.5 hours. This is one of the best times I've seen on a laptop that isn't a Chromebook or ARM-based laptop.

The real record was set in our web browsing test. The IdeaPad Slim 7 lasted over 16 hours here, which was only surpassed by the Qualcomm-powered Lenovo Flex 5G. That's an insane lifespan for a load.

As my daily driver, I found that the IdeaPad Slim 7 could easily survive a whole working day despite my heavy multitasking, music streaming and countless open apps.

Display and speaker

If the IdeaPad Slim 7 has one notable flaw, it is the screen. It uses a 14-inch 1080p panel that does the job, but not with a lot of grace. The screen is a bit dark and only reaches 247 nits. This is both the 300 nit threshold that I like to see in laptops and the result of strong glare. When watching a movie with dark scenes, the first thing to do is to turn off any light in the room. The contrast is the only bright spot at 1,370: 1.

The display is also a slight shade of green, although it is adequate in terms of gamut and color accuracy. Unfortunately, a 4K 100% AdobeRGB model for professionals is not offered.

I was pleasantly surprised by the speakers. You're right on the keyboard deck, pointing at your ears – which does wonders for the clarity of the audio. These still don't replace a decent bluetooth speaker, but for the occasional music or video watching, they get the job done.

Our opinion

The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7 may not be the true flagship AMD wants. Its screen is lackluster and the design is far from remarkable. Thanks to its fantastic performance, long battery life and impressive integrated graphics, the IdeaPad Slim 7 surpasses the possibilities of small laptops.

Are there alternatives?

There are many Ryzen 4000 laptops out there that aren't as powerful as the IdeaPad Slim 7 but are available at a cheaper price. The most obvious option is the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14, which is not as powerful but is a lot cheaper. The HP Envy x360 13 is another good example of a cheaper AMD laptop with a little less performance.

If you're willing to pay a few hundred more dollars, the Dell XPS 13 is a better designed laptop. Performance and battery life can't quite keep up with the IdeaPad Slim 7, but the small form factor and better display make it worth the additional cost.

How long it will take?

The IdeaPad Slim 7 should last at least three or four years, which is normal for laptops. Due to the limited configuration options, you may want to upgrade the memory or memory yourself in the future, but everything is soldered up.

Lenovo offers a standard one-year warranty. You are on your own past.

Should you buy it?

Yes. It's the best laptop you can buy under $ 1,000.

Editor's recommendations




06 Jul
Blog

HP Envy x360 13 Review: AMD Ryzen Cranks Up the Value

HP Envy x360 13 Ryzen Review 01

HP Envy x360 13 review: AMD Ryzen 4000 increases the value

"The HP Envy x360 13 is a midrange laptop that doesn't compromise despite its low price."

  • Slim and attractive

  • Superior typing experience

  • Excellent performance

  • Balanced port selection

  • Well built

  • Battery life delays

  • Pen not included

Better performance at a lower price? Laptops aren't usually sold like this, but that's exactly what the new HP Envy x360 suggests.

The HP Envy line has played the second violin after the company's premium Specter laptops. It was the option in the middle area and has always led to corner cuts. No more.

The new Envy x360 13 with Ryzen 4000 CPUs is a typical example of this and promises better performance than the corresponding Specter at a lower price. I looked at an $ 860 configuration with a Ryzen 5 4500U CPU, 8 GB RAM, a 256 GB solid-state drive (SSD), and a low-power, Full HD display (1,920 x 1,080).

Although not perfect, I knew that as soon as I held the Envy x360 in my hands, my expectations for a laptop at this price had to change.

design

The Envy x360 13 is an all-metal laptop made of punched aluminum in the elegant color Midnight Black, which is also available with the Specter x360 13. The difference is that the Specter is made of aluminum, but you won't see the difference. Hold them side by side. The build of the Envy x360 exudes quality and thanks to some reductions in the Envy bezel, both feel very small for 13-inch laptops.

Compared to competitors in its price range, the Envy x360 stands out. The materials are far better than a laptop like the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14 made of plastic (and much larger). Although this laptop is about $ 200 cheaper, it uses the same Ryzen 5 processor and has the same 2-in-1 functionality.

The Envy x360 is also fairly thin and light. At 0.65 inches, it's thinner than the Specter x360 at 0.67 inches and at 2.92 inches, slightly heavier than 2.88 pounds. The Envy x360 is smaller than the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5, which is 0.82 inches thick and 3.3 pounds. And compared to the previous version of the Envy, HP has done a remarkable job by squeezing more computers into a thinner case – the Envy definitely intervenes in the Specter x360's space when you look at the overall design.

As a 2-in-1 device, the Envy x360 feels robust in all four modes – clamshell, tent, media and tablet. The hinge works smoothly, but holds the screen in place with little wobble when you move it. It's not quite as tight as the Specter x360, but it's better than the IdeaPad Flex 5. Again, the delta between the Premium Specter x360 and the Envy x360 is smaller than expected in the middle.

The HP Envy x360 13 isn't nearly as extravagant as the gem-cut Specter, but it's still an attractive laptop. Let's call it elegant rather than luxurious – its lines are clean and streamlined, giving it a coherent design that looks great from every angle. Compared to the boring Lenovo Flex 5 14 Ryzen, the Envy is the more sophisticated laptop.

Connectivity is about what to expect from a thin and light machine. There are two USB-A 3.1 ports to support older devices that are easy to get, as well as a microSD card reader and a USB-C 3.2 port (which charges the laptop despite the proprietary connector).

performance

AMD's Ryzen 4000 chips were very impressive. Every laptop we tested with the CPU, including some budget models, performed much better than the 10th generation Intel alternatives. Whether you're talking about Ice Lake or Comet Lake, there's a Ryzen 4000 chip that does it – you need to jump on 45-watt Intel parts to get better performance.

The HP Envy x360 13 also performed well, though not as quickly as some other Ryzen machines. In Geekbench 5, for example, 1,101 points were scored in the single-core test and 4,485 points in the multi-core test. This is comparable to the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 with the same Ryzen CPU from 1,096 and 4,543. In comparison, the Acer Spin 3 with a 10th generation Intel Core i5-1035G1 scored 1,215 and 3,615 points, which is slightly faster in single-core mode and much slower in multi-core mode. The Specter x360 13 with a Core i7-1065G7 scores 1,164 and 3,981 points and makes the Envy the faster sibling.

The Envy x360 13 isn't the fastest Ryzen 4000 system, but it still beats most Intel systems.

When switching to our handbrake test, which encodes a 420 MB video as H.265, the Envy x360 13 took just under three minutes. It's quick, even though the IdeaPad Flex 5 was 16 seconds faster. I tried HP Performance Mode in the Command Center utility and found that the IdeaPad only takes five seconds less time. Compare these results to laptops like the Microsoft Surface Book 3 13 with a Core i7-1065G7 that took about four and a half minutes. Note that the Acer Swift 3 with the Ryzen 7 4700U was only about 10 seconds faster, which means that the Ryzen 5 4500U is a good sweet spot for this kind of performance. When comparing the Envy x360 with the Specter x360, the Envy was even a full minute faster, even when the Specter was running in performance mode.

The Envy x360 13 may not be the fastest Ryzen 4000 system we've tested, but it still beats most Intel systems. You will find it great for demanding productivity work and even for some creative apps if necessary. Just don't plan on gaming – you get performance that is little better than Intel's new Iris Plus graphics and far less than a discrete GPU.

display

HP equipped my test device with its energy-saving 400-nit Full HD IPS display (1,920 x 1,080). This is an upgrade of $ 50 over the standard-performance 300-nit Full HD display. You can spend $ 60 more on the latest HP screen technology that hides the screen from the sides. I like the display that HP chose for the Envy x360 13. It is bright at 399 nits and has a large contrast at 1110: 1 (we like to see a contrast at 1000: 1 or more). The color gamut is only average at 71% sRGB and 96% sRGB – for premium laptops – and the accuracy is not the best at 2.26 (1.0 or less is considered excellent).

This is much better than the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 with an accuracy of 47% AdobeRGB, 63% sRGB and 3.0. This display was also weak at 242 nits and suffered from poor contrast at 770: 1. The display alone is one reason why you want to spend the additional $ 200 on the Envy x360 13 over its Ryzen 4000 competitor.

The Envy's display isn't quite as good as some other laptops. For example, the Full HD display of the Dell XPS 13 Clamshell had better colors at 77% AdobeRGB and 97% sRGB, more accurate colors at 1.53 and a higher contrast ratio of 1440: 1. At 377 nits, however, it was not quite as bright can get the same display as the Envy of the Specter x360 13, and the premium device also offers a 4K OLED display with absolutely spectacular colors and contrasts. This is a checkbox that the Envy x360 cannot tick.

I enjoyed this display in everyday use. It was bright enough and the contrast made black text stand out against a white background. Colors may not be good enough for professional photo and image editors, but they don't prevent me from viewing pictures or viewing Netflix.

After all, the speakers shooting down were surprisingly loud without distortion. That was a nice surprise. The bass was missing, but the mids and highs were clear, and I could rely on the speakers when I listened casually. I pulled out my headphones for action films and music – but that applies to almost all laptops with the exception of Apple's MacBooks.

Keyboard and touchpad

The keyboards of the HP Specter x360 laptops are my second favorite behind Apple's fantastic new Magic keyboard on the latest MacBooks. They have plenty of travel and nice big keycaps well spaced, and the mechanism has a click that avoids any hint of bottoming. I can type on these keyboards as quickly as I can on any other keyboard, including Apple's. Why do I mention the more expensive Specter keyboard? Because as far as I can tell, the Envy x360 is exactly the same keyboard. HP has again removed a key differentiator between these two computers.

The Envy x360's touchpad is also similar to that of the Specter, although its surface is not quite as smooth. However, it does support Microsoft's Precision Touchpad protocol, so multi-touch gestures work perfectly. Interestingly, I prefer the click of the Envy touchpad to that of the Specter – it's softer and more confidence that a button was actually pressed.

The Envy x360, of course, has a touch display that's 2-in-1, and it works almost always. It also supports the latest pen protocol from Microsoft, which promises a longer battery life (up to 30 days) and a more natural tilt function for the 4,096 pressure sensitivity levels. And yes, you guessed it, that's something the Specter doesn't have – even though the pen isn't included in the Envy.

Finally, next to the arrow keys, there is a fingerprint scanner in the keyboard that works perfectly. However, Windows Hello about facial recognition is not included, as is the case with more expensive laptops. The Envy x360 has a privacy screen for the webcam. Unlike the Specter, however, it is a physical cover that is activated by pressing a special key on the keyboard. It is neat to see how the cover appears when you press the button.

There is also a special button to mute the microphone, another data protection function that has been taken over by the Specter line.

Battery life

The jury is not yet sure how efficient the Ryzen 4000 is, but it looks like the Intel chips haven't hit yet. The Envy x360 13 has a battery life of 51 watt-hours and a low-power display that has given some other laptops a spectacular battery life. Still, the results of envy weren't at the top of our list.

In the web browser test, which is the best indicator of how long the battery is performing typical productivity tasks, the Envy lasted just over nine hours. That's a good score, but well below the 12 hours of the Dell XPS 13. The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5, which lasted almost eight hours, was outperformed.

The Envy lasted almost four hours in our demanding Basemark web benchmark test. This is also a strong score, but was solidly beaten by the 4.7 hours of the XPS 13. The IdeaPad Flex 5 lasted only eight minutes less. In our video test, which replayed a local video clip, the Envy lasted 13 hours compared to the 14.5 hours of the XPS 13 and the 11 hours of the IdeaPad Flex 5. This is the only test in which the low-power Display demonstrated its worth.

Overall, the Envy x360 13 is likely to give you full-day productivity as long as you don't put too much strain on the Ryzen CPU. I suspect the 10th generation Intel CPUs are a bit more efficient than the Ryzen 4000 series, but I can't prove that – we still don't have enough data.

Our opinion

The HP Envy x360 13 creates a mystery for HP. It's faster than the more expensive Specter x360 13 and almost as well built. If you're not looking for a 4K display, I can't give a good reason to spend more on a Specter. That's a relatively high praise for the Envy and makes it a great 2-in-1 device at a medium price.

The Envy really doesn't have many weaknesses, although battery life wasn't the greatest strength and it's a shame that the pen isn't included. It's simply a well-designed 2-in-1 device that meets the needs of most people who want to spend around $ 1,000 on a machine. You can even configure up to $ 550 if you really want to save costs.

Are there alternatives?

The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 is a close competitor and costs around $ 200 less. It has the same Ryzen CPU and slightly faster performance. However, the battery life is not that long and the screen quality is lower.

The Lenovo Yoga C640 is another great option from just $ 600. The Intel Core i3 is a pretty big step back in terms of performance, but in return you get a significantly better battery life.

The HP Specter x360 13 offers improved aesthetics and the ability to configure a 4K display. As configured (though with a slower Intel CPU and 512 GB of memory), it's about $ 300 more expensive, and adding the 4K display adds another $ 200 to the price.

How long it will take?

The Envy x360 13 is built well enough to last as long as you need it, and its performance will keep up for years to come. By integrating Thunderbolt 3, you can connect modern peripheral devices. However, the 1 year warranty is typical and disappointing.

Should you buy it

Yes. The Envy Envy x360 13 is a slim, well-built and fast 2-in-1 device that feels far more valuable than the price suggests.

Editor's recommendations




08 May
Blog

Acer Swift 3 (2020) Review: Eight-Core Ryzen Laptop For $650

acer swift 3 2020 review ryzen

"The Acer Swift 3 with Ryzen 4000 is the most powerful budget notebook to date."

  • Solid build quality

  • Top performance

  • Great value for money

  • Comfortable keyboard

  • Mediocre touchpad

  • Weak display, narrow color gamut

Cheap laptops are not nice. However, if they are just as powerful as more expensive laptops, the lack of subtleties can be forgiven.

But what if a cheap laptop was more powerful than these expensive laptops? How much more powerful

That describes the Acer Swift 3 for $ 650. He is one of the first to use the new Ryzen 4000 processors, which offer eight cores and eight threads. Intel eight-core laptops typically cost over $ 2,000. Will the Swift 3 introduce a new era of performance for affordable laptops?

performance

The key figure is the level of awareness of the 3rd generation AMD Ryzen 7 processors. This is what sets it apart from the standard Intel tariff. Eight cores across the board are no joke – that's twice as much as a competing 10th generation Intel chip. You'll need to switch to an Intel Core i9 laptop like the Dell XPS 15 to get eight cores that aren't used in such small laptops.

This is a small laptop. It has a 14-inch screen, weighs just 2.65 pounds, and is 0.63 inches thick – not much bigger than the new 13-inch MacBook Pro. And yet it has the same core count as a 16-inch MacBook Pro for $ 2,799.

Why is the core count so important? Four more cores should theoretically turn this otherwise modest piece of magnesium into something far stronger. More cores mean better performance on key tasks where most inexpensive laptops aren't particularly good. Applications in the Adobe Suite are a good example. They often use as many processor cores as they are fed.

I tested this with handbrake video encoding. The Acer Swift 3 completed transcoding a 4K movie trailer in just 2.5 minutes. This is 50% faster than the Intel version of the same laptop. That's what you get with four additional cores. It's even 21% faster than the XPS 13, a laptop that I praised for how hard it squeezes its quad-core processor.

That doesn't mean it can compete with other 8-core laptops. The Core i9 in the 16-inch MacBook Pro encoded the video 24% faster than the Swift 3. The Ryzen 7 4900H in the ROG Zephyrus G14 was 33% faster.

There are two reasons. The first is that the Acer Swift 3 uses the Ryzen 7 4700U, which is only a 15-watt part. Lower thermal design performance means less scope for performance. That alone explains why a slightly larger laptop with a 35-watt processor like the Asus Zephyrus G14 performs better. The Ryzen 7 4700U also does not have simultaneous multithreading. Most 8-core competitors have this, which means that their 8 processor cores act as 16 virtual cores.

I haven't tested the Ryzen 7 4800U with its 16 threads yet, but this isn't an option with the Swift 3. Instead, Acer sells a model with the Ryzen 5 4500U with six cores for $ 20 less. Although it has 8 GB of RAM to match the Ryzen 7 model, it only has 256 GB of SSD storage compared to the 512 GB in my test device. Therefore, the $ 20 upgrade is worthwhile.

Acer's built-in Radeon graphics are powerful compared to Intel's Iris graphics. I played Rocket League in 1080p with the quality settings (the middle settings of the game) at almost 60 frames per second. They are a big improvement over the built-in graphics of the past few years, but they don't turn the Swift 3 into a gaming laptop.

Display, keyboard and touchpad

A $ 650 laptop has to compromise somewhere – there's no getting around it. The biggest compromise of the Acer Swift 3 is the display.

It's a 14-inch 1080p screen that's disappointing in every way. The color gamut is limited to only 64% of the sRGB color gamut, and the colors are inaccurate. It does not completely ruin the experience of moving, nor does it hinder the completion of the work. It becomes a problem when you work with colors, be it photography, video editing, or graphic design.

What good is fast video editing if you can't trust the colors on your screen? For this reason, the Swift 3 is not ideal for photography or videography. These apps may run, but if you need to connect an external monitor for accurate colors.

The screen is also dark. The maximum brightness is only 233 nits. Even many inexpensive laptops have screens with more than 300 nits. This is a problem when using the laptop in a bright environment.

The other big compromise is appearance. The Acer Swift 3 is not ugly, but it has all the obvious problems with inexpensive laptops. The lower bezel is chunky and covers the screen with textured black plastic. The lid and keyboard deck have the wrong aluminum look and the case is covered with stickers, the removal of which is not fun. Even the backlight under the keyboard is a bit off. The white light is pretty bright, but there is no light under the space bar, which is a little strange.

Then there's the touchpad, which was my biggest hurdle when I tried to use the Swift 3 as my daily driver. It is made of plastic, does not run very smoothly and has a loud click mechanism. It's what I'm used to from a touchpad on a laptop under $ 800.

However, it is slightly larger than some other inexpensive laptops and supports Windows Precision gestures. It doesn't focus on the laptop either, which takes some getting used to.

Switching to the keyboard is one of the most enjoyable aspects of Swift 3. There's a lot to travel around without the keys feeling mushy. The buttons have a nice bottom-out action and the layout feels pleasant. The fingerprint scanner is located on the right under the arrow keys, but there is no Windows Hello IR camera.

Battery life, connections and bloatware

Battery life is another area where affordable laptops often suffer. The Acer Swift 3 is not particularly good in this area. It takes just under eight hours of easy use, but in my daily routine it took less than six hours. You can get more with more expensive laptops like the Dell XPS 13 or even the ZenBook 13 UX333.

However, the performance is good enough for a laptop of this price. In fact, the Ryzen 7 model outlasts the Intel version by 45 minutes.

Port selection is another disadvantage of cheaper laptops. There is a lot of variety here, but the ports are not the most modern. You get a single HDMI port, two USB-A ports and a single USB-C port. Unfortunately, it is still powered by a proprietary barrel connector because the USB-C connector does not support power throughput. A version of the Intel 3-based Swift 3 offers Thunderbolt 3 support, although it only costs $ 700.

Bloatware is finally available. It is in effect as if to remind you how much you have received. Removal is not difficult, but it's a bit irritating between Norton, ExpressVPN, Farm Heroes Saga, GoTrust ID, and Acer's proprietary apps.

Our opinion

Eight cores in a $ 650 laptop seem too good to be true. It is not. The Acer Swift 3 is by far the most powerful, affordable notebook ever and beats Intel laptops that are twice as expensive. The display quality is the main weakness, but I was surprised at how much value Acer could put in this affordable 14-inch laptop.

Are there alternatives?

The Acer Swift 3 is one of the first to support AMD's new Ryzen 4000 processors, but it won't be the last. From ThinkPads to gaming laptops, everything is equipped with these eight-core chips, although the Swift 3 is the cheapest model that has been announced so far.

Other laptops in this price range are the Dell Inspiron 14 5000 and the Lenovo IdeaPad 5 14-inch, but none have the performance that the Swift 3 Ryzen Edition offers. A good alternative is the Dell G3, which offers a better graphics card for games and can configure up to six cores. However, it is a much chunkier laptop and has a far worse battery life.

After all, Chromebooks offer good value in this price range. They're not as powerful and can't run the same applications, but an option like the Pixelbook Go starts at $ 649, has a far better screen, and incredible battery life.

How long it will take?

The Acer Swift 3 is a fairly robust laptop with current components. It should take four to five years before it shows its age. However, Acer's limited one-year warranty doesn't help you much in this regard.

Should you buy it

Yes. The Acer Swift 3 dominates the competition when it comes to absolute performance.

Editor's recommendations