Acer Swift 14 AI Review: Long-Lasting but Basic Copilot Plus PC

7.3/ 10
SCORE

Acer Swift 14 AI

Pros

Outstanding battery life
Competitive NPU performance from Intel Core Ultra Series 2 chip
Display is basic but bright
Crisp, 1440p webcam

Cons

Plastic display bezels look cheap
No OLED display option (yet)
Terrible sound from underpowered speakers

The Acer Swift 14 AI is a Copilot Plus PC based on an Intel Lunar Lake mobile processor from the chipmaker’s second-gen family of AI chips, and Acer is really pushing the AI angle. It has added an “AI” suffix to the product name and slapped what it calls an “AI Activity Indicator” on the touchpad that lights up briefly when you hit the Microsoft Copilot key. It all seems a bit desperate.

The Swift 14 AI offers a next-gen neural processing unit to handle AI tasks, but I don’t need to be hit over the head with its AI capabilities when nearly every other laptop being released right now has a similarly capable CPU. Adding AI to its name and an illuminated icon to the touchpad doesn’t make it any more AI-equipped than another Copilot Plus PC based on a Qualcomm Snapdragon X or AMD Ryzen AI chip.

The Acer Swift 14 AI is the second Intel Lunar Lake laptop I’ve tested, following the Asus Zenbook S 14. These two 14-inch laptops are strikingly similar, from using the same Intel Core Ultra 7 258V CPU and offering a generous 32GB of RAM to coming wrapped in a trim, all-metal enclosure. The biggest difference between the two is with the display, and it’s not to Acer’s advantage. The Swift 14 AI features a basic 1,920×1,200-pixel IPS panel, and the Zenbook S 14 serves up a 2.8K OLED display. While it’s true the Swift 14 AI costs $100 less than the Zenbook S 14, that’s not enough of a price break to sacrifice the superior picture you get with the higher-resolution OLED display.

Acer Swift 14 AI SF14-51T-75AF

Price as reviewed	$1,300
Display size/resolution	14-inch 1920×1200 IPS LCD
CPU	Intle Core Ultra 7 258V
Memory	32GB LPDDR5-8533
Graphics	Intel Arc 140V
Storage	1TB SSD
Ports	2 x Thunderbolt 4, 2 x USB-A, HDMI 2.1, combo audio jack
Networking	Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4
Operating system	Windows 11 Home 24H2
Weight	2.97 lbs (1.35 kg)

The Acer Swift 14 AI (model SF14-51T-75AF) I reviewed is a fixed configuration that sells for $1,300 at Acer and can sometimes be found on sale for $1,100. It features an Intel Core Ultra 7 258V CPU, 32GB of RAM, integrated Intel Arc 140V graphics and a 1TB SSD. The display is a touchscreen with a 1,920×1,200-pixel resolution. Acer says some Swift 14 AI models will feature OLED displays, but they have yet to start shipping.

You can’t customize the Swift 14 AI, but Acer sells a variety of configurations based on competing AI processors from AMD and Qualcomm. A similar model to our Intel-based test system, for example, costs $1,200 with an AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 CPU, and you can also find Qualcomm-based configurations for around the same price. There’s also a bevy of Swift Go 14 AI models that are largely distinguishable from the Swift (non-Go) 14 AI units. I’m currently testing the Swift Go 14 AI (SFG14-01-X006), and it looks nearly identical to the Swift 14 AI; only the venting along the back edge is different. It’s all a bit confusing and overlapping with Acer’s various Swift 14 laptop lines.

For our international readers, the situation is clearer. A single Swift 14 AI model with a Snapdragon X CPU is available for £1,200 in the UK and AU$2,199 in Australia.

Acer Swift 14 AI turned to show lid — Matt Elliott/CNET

Acer Swift 14 AI performance

The Swift 14 AI performed well in lab testing if you keep in mind that Intel’s Core Ultra Series 2 chips are designed to deliver a balance of performance and efficiency. As we saw with the Asus Zenbook S 14, the Swift 14 AI struggled on the Geekbench 6 multi-core test, trailing Qualcomm-based Copilot PCs and the M3 MacBook Air. It also finished behind previous-gen Intel Core Ultra laptops because Intel’s Core Ultra Series 2 CPUs lack hyperthreading in an effort to maximize efficiency. We saw similar results on the multicore Cinebench 2024 test, but the Swift 14 AI did a bit better on the single-core test.

With second-gen Intel Arc graphics, the Swift 14 AI performed well on the 3DMark Time Spy test compared with previous-gen Core Ultra laptops. Snapdragon X-based laptops must use emulation to run this test since an Arm version hasn’t been released yet, which explains the poor results for such systems on this test.

The Core Ultra 7 258V qualifies as an AI processor because it has an NPU capable of 48 TOPS, and the GPU adds 67 TOPS for a total of 115 TOPS. (See our TOPS explainer for more on this AI metric.) On Procyon’s AI Computer Vision benchmark that measures integer math proficiency for AI workloads, the Swift 14 AI’s score was in line with the NPU performance from the Asus Zenbook S 14 and laptops with Snapdragon X chips. We’ve just started using this test and have limited comparison numbers for it, but we did run it on the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra, which has a previous-gen Core Ultra 9 processor. The Swift 14 AI’s score was 3.5 times higher than that of the Galaxy Book 4 Ultra, which is a big leap in AI ability in just one generation.

The Swift 14 AI also offers a big leap in battery life from previous-gen Intel laptops. It ran for more than 22 hours on our YouTube streaming battery drain test, which is on par with the lengthy runtimes we’ve been seeing from other Copilot Plus PCs based on Qualcomm’s efficient Arm-based Snapdragon X processors.

Acer Swift 14 AI Intel stickers — Matt Elliott/CNET

Overboard AI branding

The Swift 14 AI’s all-aluminum chassis is a gun-metal blue color that helps to distinguish it from the silver and gray laptop horde, but it’s still pretty plain looking. The aluminum enclosure is rigid and compact, but the design is not entirely made of metal. My least favorite part of the design is the plastic bezel that frames the display. They lend a budget feel to the overall look; a laptop that costs north of $1,000 ought to have edge-to-edge glass on the display instead of cheap, plastic bezels.

At just under 3 pounds, the Swift 14 AI makes for an easy travelmate, but other similarly sized laptops are even lighter. The 14-inch Zenbook S 14 is made from a unique material that Asus calls Ceraluminum (a mix of ceramic and aluminum). It’s extremely rigid and light — it weighs just 2.6 pounds and is appreciably lighter than the Swift AI 14. And Apple’s ultraportable, the M3 MacBook Air, weighs just 2.7 pounds.

The keyboard is OK; I wish it had a firmer response and a little more travel. Other than the goofy AI indicator, the touchpad is a standard-issue mechanical one. While it lacks the lively and customizable haptic feedback you get with Microsoft’s admittedly more expensive Copilot Plus PC, the Surface Laptop 7, it’s one of the better mechanical touchpads I’ve used this year. The click response has the right amount of travel, and the clicks are quiet, not clacky.

Acer Swift 14 AI touchpad with AI indicator — Matt Elliott/CNET

The squiggly “AI Activity Indicator” design in the upper-right corner of the touchpad is meant to impress upon you the fact that the Swift 14 AI is a modern AI laptop. The logo is painted on the touchpad, and it lights up in a short pattern when you hit the Copilot Plus key. It feels very gimmicky, but at least you can disable the lighting effect in the AcerSense app.

The display is a basic 14-inch IPS panel with touch support. It lacks the strong contrast and vibrant colors of an OLED, but it’s not the worst IPS display out there. It’s a step up from the dim IPS panels found on budget laptops, which you can and should expect from a laptop that costs $1,300. It hit a peak brightness of 391 nits in my tests with a Spyder X Elite colorimeter, which is more than sufficient for any indoor environment. With the nearly 400-nit brightness combined with the display’s matte finish and wide viewing angles, you can even use the Swift 14 AI outdoors without too much degradation of the picture.

Color performance was pretty good, with the display covering 100% of the sRGB space. Of the larger gamuts, the Swift 14 AI managed to hit 82% of AdobeRGB and 85% of P3.

Acer Swift 14 AI display — Matt Elliott/CNET

With just a pair of underpowered stereo speakers, the Swift 14 AI is limited as an entertainment laptop. Its sound suffices for hopping on Zoom calls and watching YouTube videos, but you’ll want headphones for music playback because there is only the slightest hint of a bass response. I would also suggest headphones or an external speaker for watching shows and movies if you want to clearly hear dialogue and feel the effects. The four-speaker array on the Asus Zenbook S 14 offers fuller sound.

Speaking of Zoom calls, the Swift 14 AI’s webcam is excellent. It’s a 1440p camera that produces a crisp, well-balanced image. It has a physical privacy cover, so you can be assured it’s off and not recording when you aren’t using it. It also has an IR sensor, so you can use facial recognition for easy, secure logins. The power button offers a second biometric option; it integrates a fingerprint reader.

Acer Swift 14 AI ports — Matt Elliott/CNET

Is the Acer Swift 14 AI a good laptop?

While the AI branding is a bit much, and the plastic display bezel is a bit of a bummer, the Swift 14 AI — with its Intel Core Ultra Series 2 processor that delivers a next-gen NPU and incredible battery life — is a good, if basic example of a Copilot Plus PC. The problem for Acer is the Asus Zenbook S 14 supplies a superior OLED display inside a lighter and more rigid Ceraluminum shell for just $100 more. Advantage: Asus.

The review process for laptops, desktops, tablets and other computerlike devices consists of two parts: performance testing under controlled conditions in the CNET Labs and extensive hands-on use by our expert reviewers. This includes evaluating a device’s aesthetics, ergonomics and features. A final review verdict is a combination of both objective and subjective judgments.

The list of benchmarking software we use changes over time as the devices we test evolve. The most important core tests we’re currently running on every compatible computer include Primate Labs Geekbench 6, Cinebench R23, PCMark 10 and 3DMark Fire Strike Ultra.

A more detailed description of each benchmark and how we use it can be found on our How We Test Computers page.

Geekbench 6 (multi-core)

Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7441 13471HP OmniBook X 14 13428Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 13159HP Spectre x360 14 (2024) 12897Lenovo Slim 7i (14IMH9) 12128Apple MacBook Air 13 (M3) 12063Acer Swift Go 14 AI (SFG14-01-X006) 11490Asus Zenbook S 14 10948Acer Swift 14 AI (SF14-51T-75AF) 10918