Products
Acer Swift 3 14 (2020)
Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 15 (2019)
Tested using Methodology v0.8.2
Updated Oct 29, 2025 02:49 PM
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Tested using Methodology v0.8
Updated Oct 29, 2025 02:49 PM
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Size
14"
Operating System
Windows 10
Size
15"
Operating System
Windows 10
Our Verdict
Acer Swift 3 14 (2020)
Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 15 (2019)
The Acer Swift 3 14 (2020) and the Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 15 (2019) are very similar Windows laptops. The Surface 3 provides a better user experience because it has a larger, sharper, and brighter display, as well as a much better keyboard, touchpad, and webcam. However, it doesn't have as many ports as the Swift 3, and its battery life is significantly shorter. Performance-wise, the Swift 3 can handle much heavier workloads because it has a newer and more powerful CPU, and it doesn't throttle as much under load. Both laptops have biometrics; the Surface uses facial recognition, while the Swift 3 uses a fingerprint sensor.
Variants
- Swift 3 14 (SF314-59-5790) (Aqua Blue - i5/8GB/512GB)
- Swift 3 14 (SF314-59-50KQ) (Pure Silver - i5/8GB/256GB)
- Swift 3 14 (SF314-59-52BZ) (Pure Silver - i5/8GB/512GB)
- Swift 3 14 (SF314-59-5166) (Pure Silver - i5/8GB/512GB)
- Swift 3 14 (SF314-511-70TU) (Pure Silver - i7/16GB/512GB)
- Swift 3 14 (SF314-59-7567) (Pure Silver - i7/16GB/512GB)
- Swift 3 14 (SF314-59-75QC) (Pure Silver - i7/8GB/256GB)
- Swift 3 14 (SF314-59-73UP) (Pure Silver - i7/8GB/512GB)
- Swift 3 14 (SF314-511-7412) (Pure Silver - i7/8GB/512GB)
- Surface Laptop 3 15 (V9R-00022) (Matte Black - Ryzen 5/16GB/256GB)
- Surface Laptop 3 15 (VGZ-00022) (Matte Black - Ryzen 5/8GB/256GB)
- Surface Laptop 3 15 (VFL-00022) (Matte Black - Ryzen 7/16GB/512GB)
- Surface Laptop 3 15 (V9R-00001) (Platinum - Ryzen 5/16GB/256GB)
- Surface Laptop 3 15 (V4G-0001) (Platinum - Ryzen 5/8GB/128GB)
- Surface Laptop 3 15 (VGZ-00001) (Platinum - Ryzen 5/8GB/256GB)
- Surface Laptop 3 15 (VFL-00001) (Platinum - Ryzen 7/16GB/512GB)
Main Differences for
School
School
Threshold
School
7.8
7.5
Battery
9.4
6.1
Webcam & Microphone
3.6
8.7
Build Quality
7.5
9.5
Touchpad
6.8
8.7
Ports
8.0
4.5
Geekbench 5 (Synthetics)
8.1
4.9
Full Comparison
Design
Style
Style Photo
Form Factor
Traditional (Clamshell)
Traditional (Clamshell)
Build Quality
7.5
9.5
Build Quality Photo
Hinge
6.9
9.1
Hinge Photo
Range
180°
140°
Stability
Good
Good
One Finger Lift
No
Yes
Portability
8.9
8.5
Dimensions Photo
Size
14"
15"
Thickness
0.6" (1.6 cm)
0.6" (1.5 cm)
Width
12.8" (32.4 cm)
13.4" (34.0 cm)
Depth
8.6" (21.9 cm)
9.6" (24.4 cm)
Volume
69.3 in³ (1,135.3 cm³)
74.3 in³ (1,216.9 cm³)
Weight
2.6 lbs (1.2 kg)
3.4 lbs (1.5 kg)
Charger Size
8.2 in³ (135.0 cm³)
6.9 in³ (112.5 cm³)
Charger Weight
0.4 lbs (0.2 kg)
0.6 lbs (0.3 kg)
Serviceability
6.5
4.3
Internals Photo
Ease Of Access
8.0
4.5
RAM Slots
0
0
Storage Slots
1
1
Replaceable Battery
Yes
Yes
Replaceable Wireless Adapter
Yes
No
In The Box
In The Box Photo
Display
Screen Specs
Display Photo
Resolution
1920 x 1080
2496 x 1664
Aspect Ratio
16:9
3:2
Pixel Density
157 PPI
199 PPI
Panel Type
IPS
IPS
Touch Screen
No
Yes
Screen-To-Body Ratio
80%
81%
Refresh Rate
5.9
6.9
Motion Blur
Refresh Rate
60 Hz
60 Hz
Variable Refresh Rate
No
FreeSync
Contrast
7.9
7.7
Contrast Photo
Native Contrast
1,720 : 1
1,589 : 1
Brightness
6.7
8.0
Maximum Brightness
279 cd/m²
401 cd/m²
Minimum Brightness
17 cd/m²
4 cd/m²
Reflections
7.3
6.2
Reflections Photo Off
Reflections Photo Max
Screen Finish
Matte
Glossy
Total Reflections
5.66%
5.9%
Indirect Reflections
4.91%
0.572%
Calculated Direct Reflections
0.75%
5.33%
Black Uniformity
7.7
7.5
Black Uniformity Photo
Uniformity (Std. Dev.)
0.925%
1.022%
Horizontal Viewing Angle
6.7
6.4
Horizontal Viewing Angle Video
Horizontal Chroma Picture
Color Washout From Left
26°
26°
Color Washout From Right
25°
29°
Horizontal Hue Picture
Color Shift From Left
39°
24°
Color Shift From Right
41°
31°
Horizontal Lightness Picture
Brightness Loss From Left
27°
33°
Brightness Loss From Right
27°
31°
Black Level Raise From Left
60°
60°
Black Level Raise From Right
60°
60°
Gamma Shift From Left
32°
19°
Gamma Shift From Right
30°
28°
Vertical Viewing Angle
6.2
6.1
Vertical Viewing Angle Video
Vertical Chroma Picture
Color Washout From Below
24°
25°
Color Washout From Above
26°
22°
Vertical Hue Picture
Color Shift From Below
37°
24°
Color Shift From Above
36°
25°
Vertical Lightness Picture
Brightness Loss From Below
27°
28°
Brightness Loss From Above
28°
24°
Black Level Raise From Below
45°
45°
Black Level Raise From Above
40°
45°
Gamma Shift From Below
25°
22°
Gamma Shift From Above
27°
19°
Out-Of-The-Box Color Accuracy
6.7
9.9
White Balance Screencap
Gamma Curve Screencap
Color Screencap
Avg. White Balance dE
4.38
1.53
Avg. Gamma
2.11
2.18
Avg. Color dE
2.89
0.72
Avg. Color Temperature
6,388 K
6,613 K
Color Gamut
8.6
8.3
Gamut SDR
sRGB xy
99.97%
99.6%
sRGB uv
99.91%
99.08%
Adobe RGB xy
78.17%
74.38%
Adobe RGB uv
86%
85.14%
Gamut HDR
DCI P3 xy
78.92%
74.16%
DCI P3 uv
84.07%
79.51%
Rec. 2020 xy
56.68%
53.22%
Rec. 2020 uv
61.53%
57.96%
Flicker
10
10
Flicker Graph
Flicker-Free
Yes
Yes
Flicker Frequency
No Flicker
No Flicker
Flicker Active Below
0%
0%
Interface
Keyboard
7.2
8.1
Keyboard Photo
Typing Quality
7.0
8.0
Numpad
No
No
Backlighting
On / Off
Adjustable
Key Switch Actuation Graph
Operating Force
61 gf
64 gf
Actuation Force
34 gf
38 gf
Pre-Travel
0.90 mm
0.92 mm
Total Travel
1.33 mm
1.42 mm
Touchpad
6.8
8.7
Touchpad Photo
Tracking Quality
7.0
9.0
Size
10.9 in² (70.3 cm²)
13.7 in² (88.6 cm²)
Material
Plastic
Glass
Dedicated Buttons
No
No
Speakers
7.8
6.9
Frequency Response Plot
Max Volume
76 dB SPL
70 dB SPL
Standard Error @ Normal Vol. (65 dB)
5.0 dB
5.5 dB
Slope @ Normal Vol. (65 dB)
0.1
1.4
Bass Extension (Low-Frequency Ext.)
364 Hz
250 Hz
Treble Extension (High-Frequency Ext.)
16 kHz
14 kHz
Dynamic Range Compression @ Max Vol.
1.0 dB
3.2 dB
Webcam & Microphone
3.6
8.7
Webcam Video Sample
Video Quality
3.0
9.0
Resolution
720p
720p
Position
Top Center
Top Center
Privacy Cover
No
No
Face Unlock
No
Yes
Connectivity
Ports
8.0
4.5
Ports Photo
USB-A Ports
2
1
USB-C Ports
1
1
Thunderbolt
Thunderbolt 4
No
USB-C Charging
Yes
Yes
USB-C Display Out
Yes
Yes
HDMI
2.0
No
DisplayPort
No
No
3.5mm Jack
Combo mic/headphone
Combo mic/headphone
Card Reader
No
No
Ethernet
No
No
Proprietary Port
No
Surface Connect
Security Lock
Yes
No
Wireless Communication
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)
Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac)
Bluetooth
5.0
5.0
Configuration
CPU
Brand
Intel
AMD
Model
Core i5-1135G7
Ryzen 5 3580U
Core Count
4
4
Thread Count
8
8
GPU
Brand
Intel
AMD
Model
Iris Xe Graphics G7
Radeon Vega 9 Graphics
Dedicated/Integrated
Integrated
Integrated
VRAM Size
N/A
N/A
RAM
Capacity
8 GB
8 GB
Modules
1 (Soldered)
2 (Soldered)
Type
LP-DDR4X
DDR4
Speed
4,267 MHz
2,400 MHz
Storage
Advertised Capacity
512 GB
128 GB
Usable Capacity
460 GB
74 GB
Drive 1
SK Hynix HFM512GDJTNI-82A0A
SK Hynix HFM128GDGTNG-87A0A
Drive 1 Type
SSD
SSD
Drive 2
No 2nd Drive
No 2nd Drive
Drive 2 Type
No 2nd Drive
No 2nd Drive
Performance
Geekbench 5 (Synthetics)
8.1
4.9
Geekbench Image
CPU Single-Thread
1,409 points
478 points
CPU Multi-Thread
5,340 points
3,073 points
GPU Compute
15,232 points
11,953 points
Cinebench R23 (CPU Rendering)
8.4
6.9
Cinebench R23 Photo
Single-Thread
1,368 points
945 points
Multi-Thread
5,092 points
3,905 points
Blender (3D Rendering)
5.9
4.4
Blender Image
CPU Render Time
7.8 min
9.4 min
GPU Render Time
N/A
11.2 min
GPU Render Time (Optix)
N/A
N/A
Basemark GPU (Game Scene)
5.1
3.9
Basemark Image
Overall Score
16,155
9,566
Storage Drive Performance
9.0
8.2
Storage Performance Image
Sequential Write Speed
933.8 MB/s
409.3 MB/s
Sequential Read Speed
1,181.1 MB/s
1,156.1 MB/s
Random Write Speed
106.7 MB/s
49.9 MB/s
Random Read Speed
55.6 MB/s
31.6 MB/s
Battery
9.4
6.1
Capacity
56 Wh
46 Wh
Battery Life (Web Browsing)
13.8 hrs
6.6 hrs
Battery Life (Video Playback)
12.2 hrs
5.8 hrs
Battery Life (Gaming)
2.1 hrs
2.7 hrs
Charge Time
2.3 hrs
2.3 hrs
Borderlands 3
1.1
1.4
Borderlands 3 Graph
Avg. FPS
7 fps
9 fps
1% Low
1 fps
4 fps
0.1% Low
0 fps
2 fps
1% Low Delta
1,253 ms
140 ms
0.1% Low Delta
2,224 ms
334 ms
Avg. FPS On Very Low
36 fps
48 fps
Civilization VI
4.6
3.7
Civilization VI Graph
Avg. FPS
22 fps
19 fps
1% Low
16 fps
10 fps
0.1% Low
14 fps
6 fps
1% Low Delta
18 ms
50 ms
0.1% Low Delta
25 ms
117 ms
Avg. FPS On Minimum
82 fps
76 fps
Avg. Turn Time
7.96 s
9.21 s
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
6.7
5.5
CS:GO graph
Avg. FPS
88 fps
52 fps
1% Low
36 fps
26 fps
0.1% Low
30 fps
20 fps
1% Low Delta
16 ms
19 ms
0.1% Low Delta
22 ms
31 ms
Avg. FPS On Low
134 fps
99 fps
Counter-Strike 2
CS2 Graph
Avg. FPS
1% Low
0.1% Low
1% Low Delta
0.1% Low Delta
Avg. FPS On Low
Shadow Of The Tomb Raider
3.0
1.9
SOTTR Graph
Avg. FPS
19 fps
12 fps
1% Low
3 fps
3 fps
0.1% Low
1 fps
1 fps
1% Low Delta
290 ms
313 ms
0.1% Low Delta
871 ms
928 ms
Avg. FPS On Lowest
37 fps
23 fps
Thermals And Noise
7.7
7.3
Keyboard Temps Picture
Keyboard Temp While Idle
27 °C (80 °F)
32 °C (89 °F)
Keyboard Temp Under Load
45 °C (112 °F)
45 °C (113 °F)
Fan Noise While Idle
25.0 dBA
25.0 dBA
Fan Noise Under Load
43.0 dBA
46.0 dBA
Power & Fan Control App
No
No
Performance Over Time
8.6
6.3
Performance Over Time Graph
Performance Over Time Image
CPU Temp (Cinebench)
72 °C
66 °C
CPU Perf. Loss (Cinebench)
9% loss
10% loss
GPU Temp (Heaven)
69 °C
61 °C
GPU Perf. Loss (Heaven)
0% loss
12% loss
Additional Features And Software
Software
Operating System
Windows 10
Windows 10
Additional Software
Yes
Yes
Extra Features
RGB Illumination
No
No
Touch Pen
No
No
Secondary Display
No
No
Biometrics
Fingerprint Sensor
Face Recognition
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Acer Swift 3 14 (2020)
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Acer Swift 3 14 (2020) vs Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 15 (2019): Main Discussion
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