The Acer Swift 3 14 (2022) is a 14-inch Windows ultraportable laptop. It's available with an Intel Core i5-12500H or Core i7-12700H CPU and up to 16GB of memory and 1TB of storage. There's only one display option: a 90Hz OLED panel with full sRGB and DCI P3 coverage and near-full Adobe RGB. Ports include two USB-As, two USB-C/Thunderbolt 4s, an HDMI 2.1, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. It has Wi-Fi 6E wireless connectivity, a 1080p webcam, and a 56WH battery. The power button has an integrated fingerprint sensor for quick logins. You can see our unit's specifications and the available configuration options in the Differences Between Variants section below.
Our Verdict
The Acer Swift 3 2022 is good for school use. It feels well-built and is very portable. Its OLED display looks incredibly sharp, gives you enough screen real estate for multitasking, and gets bright enough for use in well-lit settings. Although the keyboard feels spacious and tactile, it can be tiring to type on over an extended period due to its short key travel. It's available with Intel 12th Gen. H-series CPUs, which can handle nearly every type of workload; however, you can only get this laptop with integrated graphics, so it isn't ideal for students in technical fields that require lots of GPU processing power. Unfortunately, the battery lasts only around six hours of light use.
- Thin and light design.
- Sharp and colorful OLED display.
- CPU can handle demanding workloads.
- Excellent 1080p webcam.
- Battery lasts around six hours of light use.
- OLED display susceptible to permanent burn-in.
The Acer Swift 3 2022 is mediocre for gaming. Although its Intel 12th Gen. CPU can handle demanding tasks like gaming, you can only get this laptop with integrated graphics, which aren't powerful enough to provide smooth gameplay in graphically intensive games. As for the display, it has a 90Hz refresh rate and a decent response time but doesn't support variable refresh rate to reduce screen tearing. On the upside, it has tons of ports for peripherals and external monitors, and it doesn't get overly hot or loud under load.
- CPU can handle demanding workloads.
- Wide port selection includes Thunderbolt 4 and HDMI 2.1.
- Fast SSD.
- Low fan noise.
- No VRR support to reduce screen tearing.
- No dedicated GPU.
- CPU throttles under load.
- OLED display susceptible to permanent burn-in.
The Acer Swift 3 2022 is good for media consumption. It's very portable, and its battery lasts around six hours of video playback. Its OLED display produces deep, inky blacks and has full DCI P3 coverage, making it well-suited for viewing HDR content. You may have to calibrate the screen to get the best viewing experience, though, as the colors are very oversaturated out of the box. The speakers get fairly loud but sound slightly unnatural, with very little bass.
- Thin and light design.
- Battery lasts over six hours of video playback.
- Sharp and colorful OLED display.
- OLED screen produces deep, inky blacks.
- Speakers sound unnatural and lack bass.
- OLED display susceptible to permanent burn-in.
The Acer Swift 3 2022 is good for use as a workstation. Its Intel 12th Gen. CPU performs well and can handle demanding tasks; however, it's only available with integrated graphics, so it isn't suitable for anything that requires lots of GPU processing power. However, its OLED display is well-suited for color-critical work as it has full sRGB and DCI P3 coverage as well as near-full Adobe RGB coverage. It has a fast SSD for quick file transfers and plenty of ports, including two Thunderbolt 4 and an HDMI 2.1 port. The CPU throttles under load, but the laptop doesn't get overly hot or loud.
- CPU can handle demanding workloads.
- Wide port selection includes Thunderbolt 4 and HDMI 2.1.
- Fast SSD.
- Low fan noise.
- No dedicated GPU.
- CPU throttles under load.
- OLED display susceptible to permanent burn-in.
The Acer Swift 3 2022 is good for business use. It feels well-built and is easy to carry around, thanks to its compact design. Its OLED display looks incredibly sharp, provides enough space for split-screen multitasking, and gets bright enough to combat glare. The keyboard feels spacious and tactile but can cause fatigue over an extended period as the key travel is very short. As for the touchpad, it's small but responsive to all movements and gestures. Its Intel 12th Gen. CPU can easily handle productivity tasks like text processing, web browsing, spreadsheets, and presentations. It has a great 1080p webcam for video calls and a wide port selection that includes two Thunderbolt 4 and an HDMI 2.1 port. Unfortunately, the battery lasts only around six hours of light use.
- Thin and light design.
- Sharp and colorful OLED display.
- Wide port selection includes Thunderbolt 4 and HDMI 2.1.
- Excellent 1080p webcam.
- Battery lasts around six hours of light use.
- OLED display susceptible to permanent burn-in.
Changelog
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Updated Nov 01, 2024:
Added mention of the Acer Swift Go 14 (2024) as an alternative with longer battery life in the Battery section.
- Updated Dec 07, 2023: Converted to Test Bench 0.8.2.
- Updated Nov 03, 2023: Converted to Test Bench 0.8.1.
- Updated Apr 28, 2023: Review published.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the Acer Swift 3 14 laptop (model SF314-71-51NN) with an Intel Core i5-12500H CPU, 8GB of memory, and 512GB of storage. The CPU, memory, and storage are configurable; you can see the available options in the table below. Our review applies only to variants with a model number starting with 'SF314-71'. There's another Swift 14 laptop with a model number starting with 'SF314-512'; however, it's very different as it has a 16:9 display and uses Intel 12th Gen. P-series CPUs and DDR4 RAM. As such, we consider it a separate model.
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You can see our unit's label here.
Popular Laptop Comparisons
The Acer Swift 3 14 laptop is very good overall. It stands out for its high-quality OLED display and excellent CPU performance. However, its battery life is very short, and the quality of the keyboard and touchpad isn't as good as other laptops in its class.
For more options, check out our recommendations for the best laptops, the best laptops for college, and the best business laptops.
The Acer Swift 3 14 (2022) is better than the Acer Swift 3 14 (2020). The 2022 model has a sharper and brighter OLED display, a significantly better 1080p webcam, and a wider port selection with the addition of a second USB-C and HDMI 2.1 support. It's also available with faster Intel 12th Gen. CPUs that can handle more demanding tasks. However, its battery life is much shorter at around six hours of light use, while the 2020 model lasts over 13 hours.
The Apple MacBook Air 13 (M2, 2022) is better than the Acer Swift 3 14 (2022) for most uses. The MacBook Air is more portable and feels more premium overall. It also has a brighter display, a more comfortable keyboard, a much larger touchpad, and longer battery life. However, the Swift 3 14 has an OLED display that produces deeper blacks, and its 90Hz refresh rate makes the system feel more responsive and snappy. Port selection is much better on the Swift 3 14, as the MacBook Air is limited to only two USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 and a MagSafe charging port.
The Acer Swift 3 14 (2022) and the Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 (2022) are both very good productivity laptops. The Surface Laptop 5 is a more premium model with a sturdier build, and it provides a better user experience with a more comfortable keyboard, a larger and more responsive touchpad, and a better webcam. On the other hand, the Swift 3 14 has a nicer 90Hz OLED display and a wider port selection. The Swift 3 14 is available with faster Intel 12th Gen. processors and doesn't throttle as much under load, but its battery life is shorter than the Surface Laptop 5's.
The Acer Swift 14 (2023) is slightly better than the Acer Swift 3 14 (2022) for most uses. The Swift 14 has longer battery life and faster Intel 13th Gen. CPUs. The two available displays on the Swift 14 get brighter to combat glare; however, neither is as sharp as the Swift 3 14's OLED display. The Swift 14's displays also have a lower contrast ratio, resulting in blacks that look gray in dim settings, and they only have full sRGB coverage, while the Swift 3 14's OLED panel has full DCI P3 and near-full Adobe RGB.
Test Results
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