Thin, lightweight, fast and optimized for a wide variety of uses, the elegant and innovative Swift 7 SF713-51-M51W is Acer’s current flagship ultrabook.
Review
When I first had a look at this notebook, I couldn’t believe how thin it was. I believe this is the thinnest laptop I’ve ever seen, not to mention it’s as lightweight as it gets. The Acer Swift 7 SF713-51-M51W is distinctly luxurious looking, effectively combining the gold tones with the all-black upper lid and screen bezel.
What I found different about this laptop is the fact that, while competing with giants like the Dell XPS series or the ASUS ZenBook series, this model from Acer is the only one who has been equipped with a true modern mobile oriented processor. Therefore, unlike laptops which feature i5 and i7 units, the Swift 7 should have absolutely no overheating issues and should manage resources more efficiently while on battery power.
And you can tell they’ve really made few compromises. Battery life is excellent for what’s arguably the thinnest laptop you can buy today, performance ratings are great, as well as build quality in general. Aesthetics aside, I truly believe the Acer Swift 7 to be one of the finer ultrabooks to be launched this year, so far.
Performance
Starting with the processor, we can immediately notice Acer’s intentions with the Swift 7 SF713-51-M51W. It comes equipped with a Intel Core i7-7Y75 processor. Looks exotic, right? Well, this line of processors has been specifically designed to be used in ultra-thin, ultra-portable devices, where space and efficient power management matter the most.
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As such, performance ratings are closer to a traditional mobile i5 processor than to an i7. Still, this dual core CPU has a base clock speed of just 1.3 GHz, with a maximum of 3.6 GHz when in turbo mode, 4 megabytes of cache and a thermal design power of just 4.5 Watts, nearly three times less than that of a Intel Core i7-7500U unit.
Benchmark tests results have placed the i7-7Y75 in the mid-range mobile processor category, and I think that’s a fair way to look at it. Using the Acer Swift 7 to get demanding tasks done (think illustrations, coding, photo and video editing) won’t strain the CPU as much, since it still has enough power reserves.
As expected from a $1300 device (price available at the time of this review), the available system memory it comes with should prove to be roomy enough for most users. The Acer Swift 7 SF713-51-M51W is fitted with 8 gigabytes of LPDDR3 memory, which will allow you to handle large data sets, run multiple tasks at once and use memory intensive programs without hiccups.
Storage space is perhaps this model’s biggest surprise. At first, when I had only seen the price tag and the way it looks, I was fully expecting half of the capacity Acer is actually offering. As it stands, the Acer Swift 7 SF713-51-M51W has a 512-gigabyte SSD. This amount will surely please most users who were maybe constrained by the 128GB and 256GB drives most mid-range ultrabooks have had installed in recent years.
Graphics and display
The gold-colored ultrabook doesn’t have a dedicated video card. I’m sure you were already aware of that. It comes with an integrated Intel HD Graphics 615 video card, which is the 620’s younger sister. It’s almost as good as entry level discrete graphics card. However, it will perform well under normal use, like using Photoshop or streaming full HD content on YouTube.
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Acer’s Swift 7 SF713-51-M51W has a 13.3 inch ActiveMatrix TFT Corning Gorilla Glass 4 screen with an IPS CineCrystal FHD (1920×1080) display. It produces superbly rich and vivid colors, which are viewable from almost any angle. Plus, with the Acer Color Intelligence feature, certain optimizations like adjusting gamma, saturation and brightness in real time only add more to an already breathtaking experience.
Interface and connectivity options
I wouldn’t necessarily call this notebook’s I/O options as expansive, as it lacks some ports I’m used to seeing in many other different devices, such as an HDMI, or a USB 3.0 port. Here are the available interface options:
- 2 x USB-C ports
- 1 x COMBO audio jack
- 1 x Media card reader
That’s all. It’s true that you can use the USB-C ports as bridges to a host of other ports, like the USB3.0, HDMI, or Display ports, but as the technology hasn’t matured yet, low adoption rates mean you’ll have to also purchase dongles. This is, perhaps, the only palpable drawback I’ve come across of when reviewing the Acer Swift 7 SF713-51-M51W.
Connectivity options are great. Acer have fitted the newest wireless technology, so you can enjoy up to 3 times faster transfer rates and better connectivity than older generations of Wi-Fi cards.
- Dual-Band 2×2 MU-MIMO 802.11ac
- Bluetooth 4.0
Portability and battery life
I can’t possibly fault this notebook when talking about portability stats. This is what it has been built for. The Swift 7 SF713-51-M51W boasts a height of just 0.4 inches, making it the thinnest ultrabook to date. Also, it weighs just 2.48 pounds, which is considered as extremely lightweight for a 13.3 inch device.
It’s important to have a look at battery life within the context of improved portability. Acer have compromised a bit in this area to make their flagship ultrabook thinner than ever. I think it has paid off, because the tradeoff doesn’t seem that big to me.
A full charge will last up to 9 hours of moderate use, meaning you’ll get more than a day’s worth of battery life from this razor thin device.
All these add up to an integral experience of owning and using a stunning, high-performance, ultra portable piece of technology.
Conclusion
Perhaps this is a subjective viewpoint, but I do honestly believe that the Acer Swift 7 SF713-51-M51W may offer the acclaimed XPS and ZenBook series a run for their money. It’s on par with the two popular series in terms of performance and portability. And what it does lack in the form of battery life, it makes up for by having the slimmest, most streamlined notebook body I’ve ever seen.
Therefore, I think the Swift 7 is an ideal ultrabook for traveling professionals, avid travelers, home office users and folks who want to own a different premium device than what’s already on the market for years.
