Acer’s Swift 3X includes Intel’s new Iris Xe Max discrete GPU

I comparable Acer's Swift 3 line because IT really has its finger's breadth on the features that students need. The Swift 3 doesn't look fancy and doesn't come with any clipping-edge bells and whistles. But it's sturdy and portable with full performance and solid battery life — and best of all, it's affordable.

I've spent a bit of clip checking forbidden Acer's Swift 3X, a slightly scaled-up version of the Acer Swift 3. Information technology looks, feels, and is built like a Dean Swift 3, with a notability exception: it has a discrete GPU.

In vogue Intel central processing unit, latest Intel art.

The Swift 3X contains Intel's Iris Xe Max, Intel's original discrete GPU (the laptop variant of the DG1). With its slim and portable build (three pounds and 0.7 inches three-ply) this Swift looks to be targeting a somewhat antithetic niche from its predecessors: unskilled creators, students who need exposure and video redaction for year, operating theatre professionals who are looking to get media work finished happening the get over. Since this is a preview unit that's not finalized, I wasn't able to run any graphics benchmarks — we fundament look forward to those results when the full cartesian product hits shelves in December.

My run configuration includes a quad-core Core i7-1165G7, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage, and costs $1,199 — that's getting into premium district. An intriguing midrange option is the base theoretical account, which gives you a Core i5, 8GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage for $899.99. (Acer made sure to note that "Prices are approximate until finalized.")

Acer says 30 minutes of prestissimo charging provides four hours of succus.

My first impressions are that this is a Swift 3 through and through. It looks nice but unexciting. You can choose between "steam blue" and "safari gold." The riddle bezels aren't tiny, just they're certainly still slim plenty to gift the display a sophisticated look (and a fold-under flexible joint hides a chunk of the bottom one). Acer claims an 84 pct screen-to-body ratio, a weak improvement from the Swift 3 I reviewed in the first place this yr (82.73 pct). The whole affair is a bit thicker and a bit heavier than Swift 3s usually are, but that's understandable since IT includes discrete graphics. I'd still have no more problem carrying it or so in a backpack or briefcase.

I'm a rooter of the fingermark reader, which is reliable and in a convenient location below the keyboard. I too like the port selection, which has approximately everything you penury: one headphone jackstones, one HDMI, one USB-C with Thunderbolt 4, two USB-A, and a Kensington lock slot.

You can sign in with Windows Hello Fingerprint (no facial recognition, though).

But then, the keyboard and touchpad both aren't my favorites. They're a bit shallow and a bit stiff, severally, and the material feels a bit plasticky. That's whol absolutely forgivable at the $600-700 price point where many Swift 3 models live — at $1,199, information technology feels a bit out of place.

There are a few questions I'm eager to resolve with the final model. First: cooling. I put the preview unit through some daily office tasks (writing, emailing, spreadsheeting, copying files, downloading stuff, etc.) and did notice that the fans seemed to beryllium operative same herculean — they were loud enough while I was multitasking that it was really a bit disruptive. Acer says thither testament be multiple fan modes — those weren't enabled on this manakin, simply I hope there's a Dumb profile that can help calm things knock down.

Second: the screen, because that was a significant weakness of the Acer Swift 3 I reviewed earlier this yr. That venire only reproduced 65 percent of the sRGB spectrum and remov 218 nits of luminosity. That's just fine for a user look-alike me, merely it wouldn't be recommended for creative work, which this model is alleged to be targeting.

This model, like my Swift 3 reexamine unit, has a matte screen, which minimizes the glare you'll see while working in bright settings, but it fundament also make colours look flatter than they might happening a glossy jury. Anecdotally, the 3X actually looked pretty good and seems to be an betterment from the Swift 3. Information technology got decently bright during my use and reproduced colors well. Until I can measure the brightness and gamut coverage, though, I tush't confidently tell you whether it'll work for creators.

(It's also a 16:9 aspect ratio, which I'm not a fan of — I had to zoom out from the advisable DPI to comfortably work in multiple windows.)

This is the "safari Au" fashion mode.

Third, battery life — a really important consideration for on-the-go workers and students of totally ages. Acer claims you'll get 17.5 hours of video playback along one accuse — I'd be shocked if this lasts that yearn in real-humankind use, but I couldn't trial run that claim. The 3X has a bigger barrage than the 3 — 58.7Wh to 48Wh. The AMD-powered Swift 3 lasted or so heptad hours in my examination, so it'll be interesting to see whether this brick can keep upbound that life sweep with a discrete GPU in tow.

But last and most especially, whether these systems are worth buying leave depend pretty to a great extent happening how good the GPU is. If the Swift 3X ends up delivering operation standardized to the lower-level MX models on the market, information technology may own trouble distinguishing itself from systems like the $899 MSI Modern 14 or the $899 Asus Zenbook 14. (And as integrated graphics scram wagerer with each Central processing unit generation, those card game are making less and less sense to buy.) If Intel's card ends informed the level of cards like the GTX 1650 Ti (which powers the $1,799 Razer Blade Stealth 13), then both of those 3X configurations leave be heavy value.

Photography aside Monica Chin / The Wand

Acer's Swift 3X includes Intel's new Iris Xe Max discrete GPU

Source: https://www.theverge.com/2020/10/21/21518320/acer-swift-3x-intel-iris-xe-max-graphics-hands-on