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Acer’s Swift Edge clamshell announced today is a friendly reminder of the so-called Intel tax. The PC offers a larger screen with more expensive display technology and pixels than a comparably specced Acer Swift 5 ultralight for the same price. The other major difference between the two laptops is that the new Swift Edge opts for AMD Ryzen 6000 processors, while the Swift 5 uses Intel 12th Gen CPUs.
Acer is releasing the Swift Edge in the US this Friday with a Ryzen 7 6800U, featuring eight cores, 4 MB L2 cache, 16 MB L3 cache, and a clock speed of 2.7 GHz that can be increased to 4.7 GHz. Combined with 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 1TB of PCIE 4.0 SSD storage, it has a suggested retail price of $1,500.
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That’s the same MSRP that 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 (2.1-4.7GHz), eight efficient cores (1.5-3.4GHz), and 18MB L3 cache, plus the same RAM and storage specifications as the aforementioned Swift Edge configuration.
The Swift Edge and Swift 5 also have a similar port selection: two USB-C ports (although the Intel PC ports are Thunderbolt 4 certified and operate at up to 40 Gbps, rather than the Swift Edge ports’ 20 Gbps), two USB-A ports (USB 3.2 Gen 1), one HDMI 2.1 port and a 3.5mm jack.
Sharon Harding
However, the Swift Edge could have a remarkable, well, edge when it comes to the screen. It has a 16-inch, 3840×2400 OLED non-touch display, compared to the 14-inch, 2560×1600 IPS touchscreen on the Swift 5. The OLED display is specified with 100 percent DCI-P3 color coverage, up to 500 brightness and VESA DisplayHDR True Black 500 certification. In our Acer Swift 5 test, we recorded 541 nits and 83.1 percent DCI-P3 coverage.
Of course, there’s more to a laptop than just the spec sheet; we should take a closer look at things like build quality (the Swift Edge has a magnesium alloy chassis), audio, the webcam and the screen in action. But an early look at those specs shows you can upgrade elsewhere if you’re interested in an AMD CPU rather than an Intel processor.
And there’s a good reason for that. Our Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 review tested an equally specced Ryzen 7 Pro 6850U (the Swift Edge should eventually be offered in this US with this CPU as well, an Acer rep confirmed to Ars Technica) and found impressive performance, including an overall longer battery life and integrated Radeon 680M graphics compared to Intel’s 12th generation mobile chips. The Swift Edge won’t necessarily be as powerful as a $1,900, business-focused ThinkPad, but Ryzen 6000 has potential for Acer to tap into.
Just as there is often a so-called Intel tax on PCs, there is usually an OLED tax on battery life as well. Acer claims that 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 claims with its 56 Wh battery (14, 14 and 7.5 hours, respectively).
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Acer’s Swift Edge is a new addition to Acer’s Swift lineup of thin and light clamshells, including the ultra-light flagship Swift 5, and Swift X AMD and Swift X Intel, both of which include dedicated graphics cards. The Swift Edge continues a trend we’ve seen in recent years as AMD chips increasingly find their way into not just more laptop models, but more advanced designs. The nickname “Edge” may also help AMD shake a reputation that has made many consumers view its chips as a budget alternative to Intel.
The Swift Edge will launch this Friday for $1,500 as specified above (SKU SFA16-41-R7SU). It should eventually start at a Ryzen 5 6600U and go up to 32GB of memory, but an Acer rep told Ars it may not sell these configurations in the US.
