acer swift x16
MSRP $1,600.00
“Acer Swift
Pros
Superfast productivity performance
good midrange creativity performance
good price
Exceptional OLED display
solid build quality
Shortcoming
keyboard is not the best
Battery life is below average
little fat
If you’re looking for a large laptop for creative work, you’ll find many options. Of course, the MacBook Pro will be the first one you come across. But not everyone wants a Mac or has the cash to afford one.
Acer’s latest is the Swift X16, which technically fits into the company’s thin and light category while promising performance good enough for less demanding creators. And even though the Swift X16 isn’t that thin or light, it’s a relatively affordable option for this performance. As it turns out, the Swift
Specifications and configuration
| acer swift x16 | |
| DIMENSIONS | 14.03 x 9.82 x 0.85-1.06 inches |
| weight | 4.25 pounds |
| processor | amd ryzen 7 7840hs AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS |
| GRAPHICS | Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 |
| to hit | 16 GB |
| Display | 16.0-inch 16:10 WQXGA (2560 x 1600) IPS, 165Hz 16.0-inch 16:10 WQXGA+ (3200 x 2000) OLED, 120Hz |
| storage | 1TB SSD |
| touch | No |
| ports | 2 x USB-C USB4 1 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 1 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 1 x HDMI 2.1 1 x 3.5mm audio jack 1 x microSD card reader |
| wireless | Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 |
| webcam | 1080p |
| Operating System | windows 11 |
| Battery | 76 watt-hours |
| price | $1,250+ |
Acer offers two configurations of the Swift X16 (SFX16-61G to refer to the specific product). The entry-level model comes in at $1,250 for an AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS CPU, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 GPU, and a 16.0-inch WQXGA IPS display running at up to 165Hz. For $1,600, the CPU is upgraded to a Ryzen 9 7940U, the GPU to an RTX 4050, and the display to a WQXGA+ OLED panel up to 120Hz.
The HP Envy 16 is slightly more expensive at $1,750 for an Intel Core i7-13700H, the same amount of RAM and storage, and a faster RTX 4060 GPU. However, you’ll have to pay a lot more with HP for an OLED display, and even then, it’s not as sharp or colorful as Acer’s option.
not really thin and light
As mentioned in the introduction, Acer includes this laptop in its Swift lineup, which generally focuses on being thin and light. However, the Swift It’s not that heavy, but some other 16-inch laptops with similar specs are thinner. For example, the HP Envy 16 weighs 5.12 pounds but is only 0.78 inches thick, while the Dell XPS 15 weighs about 4.23 pounds but is 0.71 inches thick. The 16-inch MacBook Pro is also thinner at 0.64 inches thick.
The Swift It’s not as stiff as the XPS 15, but it’s close, and it feels more durable than the Envy 16. Only the plastic display bezels spoil the overall high-end quality feel.
Aesthetically, the Swift X16 is designed entirely with a gray color scheme broken only by the black keyboard. The lines are aggressive, especially on the back where the bottom edge of the display is quite angular. The XPS 15 and Envy 16 are both more attractive laptops, but the Swift X 16 is fine too. Just a little duller than something like a MacBook Pro.
However, I didn’t like the keyboard. The keycaps are a bit small and the spaces are a bit tight, mainly to fit in a numeric keypad which I don’t think is likely to be in high demand on a modern laptop. The switches were also quite loose, which is a shame because they were quite loud.
A little tighter action and I’d consider the keyboard closer to the XPS 15. However, Apple’s Magic Keyboard remains the best on modern MacBook Pros. The Swift
Connectivity was good with lots of modern and legacy ports. However, this is an AMD machine, so it doesn’t have Thunderbolt 4 support. Wireless connectivity was up to date.
Finally, the webcam runs at 1080p and is fine for general videoconferencing needs. There’s no infrared camera for Windows 11 facial recognition support, but the fingerprint reader embedded in the power button does a good job.
more than competitive performance
My Swift It runs between 35 and 54 watts, making it a strong competitor to Intel’s 45-watt chips. My review unit also equipped an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 running Nvidia’s Studio drivers.
In our benchmarks, the Swift X16 was competitive with laptops running the Intel Core i7-13700H and Core i9-13900H. This was especially evident in our Handbrake benchmark which encodes a 420MB video to H.265 and the Cinebench R23 benchmark. The Swift Even with just the RTX 4050, the Acer was theoretically competitive with laptops running faster GPUs.
Overall, the performance is a strength. The Swift The Swift X16 is no more than an entry-level gaming laptop, but it manages around 80 frames per second Fortnite At 1200p and epic graphics.
| geekbench (single/multi) | handbrake (seconds) | Cinebench R23 (single/multi) | pugetbench premiere pro | |
| acer swift x16 (Ryzen 9 7940 HS/RTX 4050) | Hair: 1,840 / 11,741 Complete: 1,893/11,681 | Child: 64 Complete: 64 | Child: 1,793 / 16,407 Complete: 1,799/16,760 | hair: 567 Complete: 568 |
| Dell Inspiron 16 Plus (Core i7-13700H/RTX 4060) | Child: 1,812 / 12,309 Complete: 1,773/12,693 | Child: 74 Complete: 79 | Child: 1,855 / 12,480 Complete: 1,867/13,535 | hair: 606 Complete: 627 |
| HP Envy 16 (2023) (Core i9-13900H/RTX 4060) | Child: 1,997 / 12,742 Complete: 1,992/12,645 | Child: 73 Complete: 75 | Hair: 1,944 / 15,596 Complete: 1,954 / 15,422 | hair: 544 Complete: 608 |
| MSI Prestige 16 Studio (Core i7-13700H/RTX 4060) | Child: 1,880 / 6,951 Complete: 1,903 / 11,945 | Child: 139 Complete: 80 | Child: 1,797 / 7,959 Complete: 1,921/13,647 | hair: 460 Complete: 521 |
| Dell XPS 15 (9530) (Core i7-13700H/RTX 4070) | Child: 1,787 / 11,978 Complete: 1,830 / 11,769 | Child: 79 Complete: 76 | Hair: 1,865 / 13,386 Complete: 1,868/13,927 | N/A |
| Dell XPS 17 (9730) (Core i7-13700H/RTX 4070) | Child: 1,901 / 12,654 Complete: 1,928/12,911 | Child: 79 Complete: 71 | Child: 1,933/13,384 Complete: 1,912 / 15,462 | hair: 568 Complete: 614 |
Not surprisingly, the Swift X16 didn’t get great battery life. It has a 76-watt-hour battery, which is on the low end for a large laptop, and its OLED display consumes power. But these results aren’t terrible for a machine that can handle tough tasks, although the larger power brick will weigh you down if you’re mobile.
| Web browsing | Video | |
| acer swift x16 (Ryzen 9 7940HS) | 6 hours 28 minutes | 7 hours 48 minutes |
| Dell Inspiron 16 Plus (Core i7-13700H) | 9 hours 8 minutes | 7 hours 36 minutes |
| HP Envy 16 (2023) (Core i9-13900H) | 5 hours, 56 minutes | 7 hours, 47 minutes |
| Dell XPS 15 (9530) (Core i7-13700H) | 9 hours 43 minutes | 11 hours 46 minutes |
| Dell XPS 17 (9730) (Core i7-13700H) | 4 hours 46 minutes | 5 hours 17 minutes |
A top-tier OLED display
Most OLED displays are equally excellent, looking great out of the box with dynamic colours, plenty of brightness and deep, inky blacks. The high-resolution version of the Swift X16 is no different. It also benefits from a faster 120Hz refresh rate that makes Windows 11 run much smoother, which is more common on recent displays.
According to my colorimeter, the Swift X16’s panel is one of the best we’ve tested. It was brighter than all the others, though not by much, and its blacks were perfect with the incredible contrast we’ve come to expect from technology. With near-perfect scores of 100% sRGB, 99% AdobeRGB and 100% DCI-P3 coverage, it stood out in its colors. Its accuracy was excellent even at a deltaE of 0.70, well below the 1.0 mark, where the human eye can no longer tell the difference. Note that my colorimeter would not return a contrast ratio value, which is the case with many OLED displays. But with perfect blacks, there’s no doubt that the Swift X16’s display has the same deep contrast as other OLED panels.
It’s a great showcase for productivity workers, creators, and media consumers. Acer offers a lower-resolution IPS panel running up to 165Hz on the lower-powered base model, but it’s worth the extra money for the OLED panel alone.
| Glow (nits) | Difference | srgb gamut | AdobeRGB gamut | accuracy delta (lower is better) | |
| acer swift x16 (OLED) | 406 | N/A | 100% | 99% | 0.70 |
| dell inspiron 16 plus (IPS) | 308 | 1,510:1 | 98% | 76% | 1.19 |
| HP Envy 16 (2023) (IPS) | 395 | 1,010:1 | 97% | 73% | 1.01 |
| dell xps 15 9530 (OLED) | 358 | 24,850:1 | 100% | 96% | 1.31 |
| dell xps 17 9730 (IPS) | 501 | 1,570:1 | 100% | 100% | 1.33 |
| MSI Prestige 16 Studio (mini-LED) | 455 | 3,140:1 | 98% | 82% | 3.46 |
| apple macbook pro 14 (XDR) | 511 | 34,450:1 | 100% | 89% | 1.13 |
The two stereo speakers are on the front bottom of the chassis, and they’re surprisingly weak. That is, they produce a minimal amount of sound even when turned all the way up. The mids and clears are high and there’s a touch of bass, so it’s good. But if you want to entertain a group of people, you’ll need external speakers.
Another competent option for light creativity
The Swift Creators will have to spend a lot more to get better performance, but for everyone else, the Swift X16 is an affordable option.
It also offers enough quality to justify its premium price, and its OLED display is great. The Swift X16 is a solid choice in the growing field of 16-inch laptops.