Acer Swift 7 review: Unbelievably skinny, if not always speedy

The Acer Swift 7 jumps into the lead position in the latest PC arms race towards ever-thinner systems, by slipping in under the magic 10 mm mark.

7.8

Acer Swift 7

The Good

This is an insanely thin 13-inch laptop, in an eye-catching gray-and-gold design with an extra-wide touchpad. It has one of Intel's newest CPUs.

The Bad

The tiny keyboard keys don't feel especially premium, and this isn't the fastest slim 13-inch in the bunch. The 1,920x1,080-pixel screen doesn't support touch, and the only ports are USB-C.

The Bottom Line

It's hard to argue with a 13-inch laptop under 10mm thick. The Acer Swift 7 wins on that front, but other laptops offer more power and features while adding just a few millimeters of bulk.

It's a good reminder that there's nothing as exciting as some solid competition between PC makers. Companies compete to hop on the latest bandwagon, hoping to not get left behind on whatever the next shift in computer design is. Sometimes it's hybrid hinges or 4K screens. Other times it's a literal race to the bottom, as PC makers compete to offer the least expensive product that will hold a charge and at least open a web browser, as seen in wave after wave of $300-or-less Chromebooks (or long before that, netbooks).

One current trend I can get enthusiastically on board with is the recent run of ultra-thin laptops that pack reasonably mainstream power into ever-smaller bodies.

First teased a few months ago as one of the first laptops to make use of Intel's new seventh-generation Core i-series CPUs, the Acer Swift 7 ended up being more interesting than the minor processor update it was promoting. At 9.98 mm thick, this 13-inch laptop with a Core i5-7Y54 CPU is, according to Acer, the slimmest on record (or at least the thinnest standard clamshell laptop).

Sizing up the competition

Its main competition is the very similar HP Spectre, as well as the recent Asus ZenBook 3, and even Apple's 12-inch MacBook. Still, before we get caught up in shaving tenths of a millimeter off these things, note that the Swift 7 and Spectre are both just about 10 mm thick (9.98 mm and 10.4 mm), while the ZenBook 3 is pretty close, at 11.9 mm thick. That's a very small difference, and you'd be hard-pressed to notice, even when they're sitting next to each other. All three of those Windows laptops manage to be so slim in part because of what they leave out. All are locked to relatively unimpressive 1,920x1,080-pixel-resolution displays, and all lack a touchscreen.

The 12-inch MacBook is a relatively hefty 13.1 mm in comparison, and while it lacks a touch screen, it does have a higher resolution display, which carries Apple 's Retina designation. And what about the granddaddy of thin laptops, the MacBook Air ? A positive behemoth, at 18 mm thick.

Even more so than the HP Spectre, which it closely resembles, the Acer Swift 7 has caught the attention of many visitors to the CNET Labs in the past few weeks. Its black-and-gold design is striking, and when opened on a table, the incredibly thin body draws the eye. The interior is highlighted by an extra-wide touchpad, not as large as the new MacBook Pro's pad, but still larger than the HP Spectre or ZenBook 3, and which partially makes up for smallish keyboard keys that don't have an especially premium feel and lack the usual backlighting.

With only a pair of USB-C ports for both charging and accessories, plus a headphone jack, this is also another nail in the coffin of multiport laptops. Previously, that concept had been limited to outliers such as this and the 12-inch MacBook, but now that Apple has gone all-USB-C in the new mainstream MacBook Pro , look for that to quickly become the new standard. And, get ready to bring a handful of dongles with you for any non-wireless connectivity that's required.

With limited ports, a standard-resolution non-touch display and a performance that's fine for everyday use, but not exactly zippy, the Swift 7 is selling itself more on style than substance.

But at $1,099 in the US for a low-voltage Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM and a 256GB solid-state hard drive, it's very reasonably priced for such a cutting edge design. (It's AU$1,999 in Australia and £1,299 in the UK.) Heck, that's only $100 more than a standard (and slightly out-of-date) 13-inch MacBook Air, although the Air still includes standard USB ports and even an HDMI output. Similar configurations of the HP Spectre and ZenBook 3 cost about the same (online prices shift quickly these days), so the choice between them is largely down to feel and personal design preference.

Swift, if not always speedy

The first handful of systems with Intel's seventh generation of core i-series CPUs are starting to trickle out, but those initial parts are mostly lower-power versions intended to fit into very small systems such as this, while reducing the need for active fan cooling and also respecting the need for decent battery life. The Core i5-7Y54 here is essentially an updated version of what Intel previously called its high-end Core M chip.

The result is that that Swift 7 isn't the swiftest laptop in our super-slim roundup. Still it's fine for everyday web surfing, media playback and even basic office work. We said the same of the 12-inch MacBook, which has a similar Intel Core M processor, although neither is ideal for heavy duty, all-day, every day use, especially if you're working with a lot of high-res photos and videos.

Despite the efficient processor, there isn't much room for a battery in such a slim body, and the Swift 7 ran for 6 hours and 54 minutes on our streaming video playback test, which is OK, but not especially impressive. The other super-slim Windows laptops were comparable, but Apple's 12-inch MacBook ran for more than three hours longer.

Making every millimeter count

If you want the absolute thinnest 13-inch laptop possible, for now, then this is your winner. Even better, the price is decent. The HP Spectre costs a little more, and isn't quite as thin, but it has a faster processor and I liked its keyboard better. Of course, a 12-inch MacBook offers a different take on slim if you'd rather run MacOS than Windows 10.

Whatever your preference, one thing super-slim laptop shoppers are going to have to get used to is the USB-C port problem, so make sure to save some room in your extra-slim laptop bag for a few dongles if you plan on hooking up any USB keys or outputting to an HDMI display.