Acer Swift 3 Sf315-41: “Forever” is a long wait, but it’s actually how far you have to go to find a decent mobile processor from AMD. In other words, one wonders if AMD has ever made a truly competitive laptop chip. Yes, AMD’s mobile processors based on the Bobcat core were fine for budget devices, but Intel’s dominance was even stronger in laptops than it already was in desktops. This is evident in the Intel chips which dominate our selection of the best gaming laptops.
Or at least until Ryzen comes along and shows just how complacent Intel has become. But that was just the office, right? It’s mobile, and Ryzen has finally made that transition to laptops, and we can finally tell you if it’s as much of a game-changer in the portable market as it has already proven to be on the desktop. Well, that was the plan, courtesy of the Acer Swift 3. On paper, it’s the perfect system for weighing the pros and cons of the latest mobile processors from AMD and Intel.
Indeed, it is one of the few laptops offered with AMD Ryzen and Intel Core processors. Yes, the variables remain, including the motherboard, but the really critical parts like the screen, chassis, and battery are shared by both variants, providing as level playing field as ever.
Table of Contents
Acer Swift 3 (SF315-41) review
It’s here! Ryzen has finally arrived in the crowded world of portable devices. Acer Swift 3 is the name of the lucky hardware that can take advantage of the Ryzen 7 2700U’s heartbeat. A laptop meant to appeal to people who need consistency from their work device and like the sleek looks of Swift-series devices, but also want to enjoy light to medium gaming, powered by the new integrated Radeon RX GPU Vega 10. built into the Ryzen 7 2700U APU.
The Zen architecture inside the Swift 3 (SF315-41) powers a 1080p IPS display with a glossy finish and ultra-durable Corning Gorilla Glass. The storage device is a fairly fast 512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD from (wait for it) Intel. Swift 3 has 8 GB of DDR4 RAM with speeds of 2400 MHz, which, by the way, shares both the central processor and the graphics. All of this comes in a sleek brushed aluminum body and at a pretty reasonable price.
Specs Sheet
- CPU
- AMD Ryzen 7 2700U
- GPU
- AMD Radeon RX Vega 10
- Display
- 6”, Full HD (1920 x 1080), IPS
- HDD/SSD
- 512GB SSD
- RAM
- 8GB DDR4, 2400 MHz
- Dimensions
- 371 x 255 x 18.8 mm (14.61″ x 10.04″ x 0.74″)
- Weight
- 00 kg (4.4 lbs)
- Body material
- Aluminum
- Ports and connectivity
- 1x USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps), Sleep and Charge
- 1x USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps)
- HDMI
- Card reader SD / SDXC
- Ethernet lan
- Wi-Fi 802.11ac (2×2 MIMO)
- Bluetooth 4.0
- Audio jack
- Features
- Fingerprint reader
- Web camera 720p HD Webcam (+ SHDR support)
- Backlit keyboard
- Microphone
- Speakers
- Optical drive
- Security Lock slot
- Corning Gorilla Glass
Retail package
Except for the device, which has been carefully placed in a white anti-static bag and surrounded by cardboard for transport, the package includes user manuals and charger; Take it out of the basic white bag. We’d also like to point out how small and portable the charging unit is, roughly the size of a standard iPad charger.
Design and construction
Acer Swift 3 has the premium look that an all-aluminum device should give. The brushed-but-shiny silver paint job is easy on the eyes but, unsurprisingly, attracts fingerprints the way candy attracts an innocent child who isn’t even hungry. Overall, the device seems very sturdy and shows no signs of twisting.
Additionally, we like the weight of the device, which isn’t the lightest at two kilos, especially when you mention the thickness -18.8mm, but it feels solid -, a feeling you like because this laptop is going to carry plenty of pace inside backpacks or bags. The hinge is quite tight and it’s hard to open the lid with one hand. This, on the other hand, gives the advantage of a very stable screen, which will not move even if you live in the most seismic regions of Japan.
Display quality
Acer Swift 3 (SF315-41) comes with a FullHD IPS panel, with BOE serial number NV156FHM-N48. The screen size is 15.6 inches with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. With an aspect ratio of 16.9 and a pixel density of 142 pixels per inch, the screen becomes “Retina” from a distance of at least 60 cm.
The maximum brightness value we measured was 233 cd/m2 in the center of the screen and 221 cd/m2 on average across the entire surface, with a maximum deviation of 19%. Color temperature on a white screen is 6000K, a bit warmer than standard sRGB (6500K), which is not bad. When going to gray scale, the temperature keeps the same value.
Color reproduction
Next, we look at the color coverage of the sRGB color gamut (this is the internet and HDTV standard). We also include the color reproduction limits of the human eye via the “CIE 1975 Uniform Chromaticity Diagram” which gives us an idea of the range and accuracy of colors your device sends to you. Inside the dark gray triangle, we find the standard colors used by the Internet and digital television: rec 709/sRGB.
Used by millions around the world, colors in the sRGB gamut are the most common and their accurate reproduction is vitally important to display quality.
In addition to sRGB, we put the Adobe RGB range, used in professional cameras, DCI-P3, used by film studios. We also include UHD Rec.2020, which is difficult to achieve with current displays. Finally, we put the Pointer range, which consists of the natural colors that usually appear around us.
The yellow dotted line shows the coverage of Acer Swift 3 (SF315-41), which is about 49% of sRGB/ITU-R BT.709 (Web/HDTV standard) in CIE1976.
Response Time (Gaming capabilities)
The graph below is dedicated to gamers and illustrates the pixel response time from black to white and back, from 10% to 90% and back.
We recorded fall + rise time = 33 ms.
PWM (Screen flickering)
Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) is an easy way to control monitor brightness. When you dim the brightness, the light intensity of the backlight is not reduced, but rather turned off and on electronically with a frequency indistinguishable to the human eye. In these light pulses, the clear/no light ratio varies, while the brightness remains unchanged, which is harmful to your eyes. You can
The screen brightness of the Acer Swift 3 (SF315-41) is not PW modulated only in maximum brightness mode. However, the high frequency of the pulsations considerably reduces the negative effect, when they are present.
Blue light emissions
Installing our Health-Guard profile not only eliminates PWM, but also reduces harmful blue light emissions and keeps screen colors noticeably accurate. If you are unfamiliar with blue light, the TL version; DR is: Emissions that negatively affect your eyes, skin, and entire body. You can find more information about this in our dedicated Blue Light article.
Conclusion
The panel used in the Acer Swift 3 (SF315-41) has an IPS matrix with Full HD resolution, comfortable viewing angles and a good contrast ratio. The downside here is the poor color gamut.
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