Acer's new Swift Edge Laptop was announced today and will be released on Friday, featuring AMD processors.
Acer 's Swift Edge clamshell, announced today, is a gentle reminder of the so-called Intel tax . The computer offers a larger screen with more accurate display technology and pixels than a similarly priced Acer Swift 5 ultralight model . The other big difference between the two laptops is that the new Swift Edge opts for AMD Ryzen 6000 processors , while the Swift 5 uses Intel's 12th-generation processors .
Acer is launching the Swift Edge in the US this Friday with a Ryzen 7 6800U, which packs eight cores, 4MB of L2 cache, 16MB of L3 cache , and a 2.7GHz clock speed that can be boosted to 4.7GHz. Combined with 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 1TB of PCIE 4.0 SSD storage, it will have an MSRP of $1,500.
That's the same MSRP the Swift 5 has at the time of writing and when we reviewed it in July. For that price, you get an Intel Core i7-1260P with four performance cores (2.1-4.7 GHz), eight efficiency cores (1.5-3.4 GHz), and 18 MB of L3 cache , plus the same RAM and storage specs as the aforementioned Swift Edge.
The Swift Edge and Swift 5 also have a similar port selection: two USB-C ports (though the Intel computer's ports are Thunderbolt 4 certified and operate at up to 40 Gbps, instead of the Swift Edge's 20 Gbps), two USB-A ports ( USB 3.2 Gen 1), an HDMI 2.1 port, and a 3.5mm jack.
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However, the Swift Edge could have a notable advantage when it comes to the display. It features a 16-inch, 3840x2400 non-touch OLED display, compared to the 14-inch, 2560x1600 IPS touchscreen on the Swift 5. The OLED display features 100 percent DCI-P3 color coverage, up to 500 nits of brightness, and VESA DisplayHDR True Black 500 certification. In our review of the Acer Swift 5, we recorded 541 nits and 83.1 percent DCI-P3 coverage.
Of course, there's more to a laptop than its spec sheet. We'll need to take a closer look at things like build quality (the Swift Edge has a magnesium alloy frame), audio, webcam, and display in action. But an early look at these specs suggests that you can upgrade elsewhere if you're interested in an AMD over an Intel one.
And there's good reason to be interested. Our Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 review tested an equally capable Ryzen 7 Pro 6850U (the Swift Edge will eventually be offered in the US with that CPU, an Acer spokesperson confirmed to Ars Technica ) and found the performance impressive, including generally stronger battery life and integrated Radeon 680M graphics compared to Intel's 12th-gen mobile chips. The Swift Edge won't necessarily be as powerful as a $1,900 business-focused ThinkPad , but the Ryzen 6000 has the potential to be exploited by Acer.
Just as there's often a so-called Intel tax on computers, there's usually an OLED tax on battery life. Acer claims the Swift Edge's 54Wh battery can last up to 10.5 hours of video playback, eight hours of web browsing, and 7.5 hours on the MobileMark 2018 benchmark. Those are better numbers than the smaller Swift 5 with its 56Wh battery (14, 14, and 7.5 hours, respectively).
See also: AMD: Can it make a better laptop with a 10-hour battery?
Acer’s Swift Edge is a new addition to Acer’s Swift line of thin and light clamshells, which includes the Swift 5 flagship ultralight and the Swift X AMD and Swift X Intel , which include two dedicated graphics cards. The Swift Edge continues a trend we’ve seen in recent years, as AMD chips have increasingly found their way not only into more laptop models, but into more premium designs. The “Edge” moniker could also help AMD shake off the reputation that many consumers have for its chips as a budget alternative to Intel.
The Swift Edge launches this Friday for $1,500 as described above (SKU SFA16-41-R7SU). It should eventually start at a Ryzen 5 6600U and go up to 32GB of memory, but an Acer spokesperson told Ars that it may not sell those configurations in the US.
Source: arstechnica.com
