Acer Swift Go 14 (2024) Review

About the Acer Swift Go 14 (2024)

The Acer Swift Go 14 AMD edition is a productivity laptop that comes in three configurations. The cheapest configuration is $699 and comes with a Ryzen 5 8645HS processor, 8GB of memory, and a 512GB SSD. We tested the $899 configuration, which has a Ryzen 7 8865HS processor, 16GB of memory, and a 1TB SSD. Both versions have a 60Hz, 1,920 x 1,200 IPS touchscreen display.

The most expensive configuration is $999 and uses an older Ryzen 7 7840U processor, 16GB of memory, and a 1TB SSD, but upgrades the display to a 90Hz, 2,880 x 1,800 OLED panel.

There are also models with an Intel Core Ultra 5 125H or Intel Ultra 7 155H processor, 8 to 16GB of memory, and 512GB to 1TB of storage between $799 and $999.

Acer Swift Go 14 (2024) specs

• Price as configured: $899.99
• Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS (8-cores, 3.8GHz standard clock speed, 5.10GHz max clock speed, 16MB cache)
• Graphics: AMD Radeon 780M integrated graphics
• Memory: 16GB LPDDR5X at 6400MHz, soldered
• Storage: 1TB M.2 2280 PCIe NVMe SSD
• Display: 14-inch 1,920 x 1,200p at 60Hz IPS touchscreen display, 100% sRGB color gamut, 400 nits (rated), 418 nits (measured), 1612:1 contrast (measured)
• Ports: 2 x USB-C 4, 2 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, 1 x HDMI, 1 x microSD, 1 x 3.5mm headphone/microphone jack
• Webcam: 2560 x 1440p at 30fps
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax; Bluetooth 5.3
• Battery: Li-Polymer 53 Whr battery
• Weight: 2.76 pounds (1.25 kilograms)
• Dimensions: 12.32 x 8.6 x 0.59 inches
• Warranty: 1-year limited hardware warranty
• Special features: Kensington lock

What we like

Stellar performance for the price

The Swift Go 14 provides a stellar level of performance for most tasks. It doesn’t break benchmarks, but it consistently scores among the best productivity laptops overall. Thanks to the AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS processor’s single core performance, the Acer Swift Go 14 easily keeps up with similarly priced laptops like the 2024 Dell XPS 14, the HP Pavilion Plus 16t, and the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus.

Laptops with Arm processors, like the 2024 Dell XPS 13 9345 and Lenovo Slim 7x, especially have trouble keeping up with the Swift Go 14.

In both Geekbench 6 and Cinebench R23’s single core benchmarks, the Acer Swift Go 14 placed about 20th in our rankings with a score of 2505 points and 1719 points, respectively. The other laptops listed all scored between 2430 points (HP Pavilion Plus) to 2799 (Dell XPS 13) in Geekbench.

In Cinebench, the laptops all scored within 50 points of each other with the exception of the Dell XPS 13 and Lenovo Slim 7x, which performed significantly worse owing to Qualcomm processors inside with a relatively new processing architecture.

As for multicore performance, the Swift Go 14 does just as well. While good single core performance makes simpler tasks like web browsing snappy and responsive, good multi core performance helps you multitask better and run more complex programs like 3D modeling simulations.

Once again, the Acer Swift Go 14, Dell XPS 14, HP Pavilion Plus 16t, Dell Inspiron 14 Plus, and HP Envy 16 all scored within 1000 points of each other on both Geekbench 6 and Cinebench R23’s multicore benchmarks, while the Qualcomm-based laptops lagged behind. (The Acer Swift Go 14 scored 11984 points on Geekbench 6 and 14571 points on Cinebench.)

In real-world testing the Acer Swift Go 14 is fast. It rendered the Blender BMW test scene in just over 3 minutes (189 seconds), about as fast as the Dell XPS 14 and HP Pavilion Plus 16t and 20 seconds slower than the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus. Sorting our sample Excel spreadsheet took about 35 seconds (the others took between 30 and 40 seconds, respectively).

I’d only recommend that you look for more powerful (and more expensive) laptops than the Acer Swift Go 14 if you’re confident you’ll spend a lot of time on tasks like video editing or physics simulations.

The integrated graphics performance is just as impressive as the processing performance. It scored among the top ten productivity laptops scores for 3DMark’s Night Raid benchmark with 29084 points. It beats out both competing Intel-based and Qualcomm-based laptops by at least 2000 points—you’d have to invest in a discrete graphics card if you want better gaming performance.

The Acer Swift X 14 and HP Pavilion Plus 16t both have discrete graphics from Nvidia, and they leave the Swift Go 14’s integrated graphics in the dust with scores of 50381 and 48679 points respectively (that’s almost double the score).

For reference, this means that the Acer Swift Go 14 can handle small 3D modeling files and older 3D games like Fortnite at 60 frames per second (fps) refresh rate, but a newer game like Baldur’s Gate 3 will be taxing on the system (even the entry level discrete graphics on the Swift X 14, Dell XPS 14, and Pavilion Plus 16t only barely scrape by here). A gaming oriented laptop like the Lenovo Legion Slim 5 or Acer Nitro 16 would better fit those needs.

A solid trackpad and keyboard

The 2024 Acer Swift Go 14’s body provides a comfortable experience to work with. The keyboard has a good amount of tactile feedback without being too harsh, the trackpad takes multitouch gestures well (although the mouse acceleration is not the most consistent), and the sturdy, mostly-metal chassis’ 0.59-inch thin form factor make the Swift Go 14 easy to travel with.

On the sides, the Swift Go 14 comes with more ports than most laptops. These days, it’s rare to see laptops with more than 4 ports, but the Swift Go 14 has 2 USB-C 4 ports, 2 USB-A 3 ports, a full-sized HDMI port, a microSD port, and a 3.5mm jack. If only it had an ethernet port, it’d be the perfect assortment for most use cases.

For video calls, the Swift Go 14 delivers with a 2K resolution webcam that’s crisp, smooth, and vibrant. The only downside is the refresh rate could be 60fps instead of 30fps.

What we don’t like

The display is dated

I don’t think the Acer Swift Go 14 has a bad display, but it’s unremarkable in a space where fast, high-resolution OLED displays are becoming the new norm. The good: the Swift Go 14’s IPS panel measured at 418 nits of max brightness—bright enough to work in sunlight. Additionally, the display covers the full sRGB color gamut and boasts great color accuracy to boot. It’s definitely good enough to get the job done.

However, that’s all you really get. The 1,920 x 1,200 resolution display is not as sharp as the 2K and above displays on the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus, HP Pavilion 16t, or Lenovo Slim 7x. The low resolution, paired with the 60Hz refresh rate, means the laptop isn’t the most comfortable to use for very long times (2-plus hours) if you have issues with motion sensitivity.

Battery life is just alright

At about 7 hours, the Acer Swift Go has enough battery life to limp along a work day before needing a recharge, but that’s it. The average productivity laptop (such as the Dell XPS 14) lasts about 9 hours on a charge, and the best laptops in the category like the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x and MacBook Pro 14 M2 Pro last about 20 hours.

To test battery life, we simulate the workload of an average day by setting the display brightness to 200 nits, set the battery and performance settings to optimize battery life over performance, and then cycle through about 20 web pages from a full charge until it runs out of battery.

Should you buy the Acer Swift Go 14 (2024)?

Yes, it does an astonishing job for the price.

The 2024 Acer Swift Go 14 doesn’t aspire to beat premium productivity laptops with sleek designs and displays fit for fine art, but it doesn’t hold out on essential design choices, either. This $900 laptop has a thin metal chassis, a great keyboard and trackpad, a 2K webcam and a processor that easily beats others in its price range.

The 1,920 x 1,200p IPS display is bright and color accurate, but it might not have enough pixels for anyone doing delicate visual work. An OLED display with full coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut and HDR certification would be a better pick, and several laptops like the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x, MacBook Air 13, and Asus Zenbook 14X OLED cram a display like it without costing a whole lot more than the Swift Go 14.

Meanwhile, the Acer Swift X 14 and HP Pavilion 16t make great alternatives to the Acer Swift Go 14 if you’re looking for something with discrete graphics. If you know you need exceptional battery life, multiple displays, or another specific feature, you should check out the best laptops for a variety of our favorite models.

When held against the Dell XPS 13, 14, and Inspiron Plus; HP Envy 16 x360 and Pavilion 16t, and Lenovo Yoga Pro laptops, the Swift Go 14 delivers better performance and an exceptional price to go with it. Simply put, this is a laptop made for generalists on a budget who need something fast and reliable.