Acer Spin 3 vs Acer Swift 3

In this post we will compare Acer Spin 3 vs Acer Swift 3 to find out the the best budget entry level laptop.

Acer Spin 3Acer Swift 3
Buy NowBuy Now
ProsPros
Clean aesthetics, decently built overall,
Gets a convertible touchscreen,
Fast keyboard, but noisy and shallow,
Performs well and runs cool with daily use,
Gets updated speakers and an OK camera,
Big battery and long battery life,
Competitively priced in its segment.
Very well built,
Slim and light for a 14-incher,
gets an IPS screen,
Decent keyboard and excellent trackpad,
Fast hardware and it performs smoothly with all sorts of tasks,
Good wireless performance,
efficient,
Long battery life,
well priced,
Especially in the US
ConsCons
All plastic construction, some parts flex a fair-bit,
Chunky and heavy for a modern convertible,
The shallow keyboard needs time to get used to, and lacks backlightning,
Dim and uneven display,
The fans are active all the time, even with basic use
Dim screen;
The speakers distort on a desk;
Some ugly design elements and some sharp edges on the bottom

SPECIFICATION

MODELAcer 14″ Spin 3 Multi-Touch 2-in-1 LaptopAcer Swift 3
Operating SystemWindows 10 Home (64-Bit)Windows 10 Home (64-Bit)
Performance
CPU1.6 GHz Intel Core i5-8265U Quad-Core1 GHz Intel Core i5-1035G1 Quad-Core
Maximum Boost Speed3.9 GHz3.6 GHz
L3 Cache6 MB6 MB
Memory TypeDDR4LPDDR4
Total Installed Memory8 GB8 GB
Memory Configuration8 GB1 x 8 GB
Memory Slot TypeNot ApplicableNot specified
Buffered MemoryNoNo
ECC MemoryNoNo
Graphics TypeIntegratedIntegrated
GPUIntel UHD Graphics 620Intel UHD Graphics

DISPLAY

DISPLAYAcer 14″ Spin 3 Multi-Touch 2-in-1 Laptop Acer Swift 3
Panel TypeIPSIPS
Size14″14″
Aspect Ratio16:916:9
Resolution1920 x 10801920 x 1080
TouchscreenYesYes
Maximum BrightnessNot specifiedNot specified
Adaptive Sync TechnologyNoneNone

Storage and Expansion

Storage and ExpansionAcer 14″ Spin 3 Multi-Touch 2-in-1 Laptop Acer Swift 3
Total Installed Capacity1 TB256 GB
Solid State StorageNot Applicable1 x 256 GB M.2
Hard Disk Storage1 x 1 TB 2.5″ SATA (rpm unspecified)Not Applicable
Optical DriveNoneNone

I/ O

I/ OAcer 14″ Spin 3 Multi-Touch 2-in-1 Laptop Acer Swift 3
Ports2 x USB Type-A (USB 3.1 / USB 3.2 Gen 1)
1 x USB Type-A (USB 2.0)
1 x USB Type-A (USB 2.0)
1 x USB Type-A (USB 3.1 / USB 3.2 Gen 1)
USB Type-C Ports Not Applicable 1 x Thunderbolt 3 (Supports DisplayPort and 45 W Power Delivery)
Display1 x HDMI1 x HDMI
Audio1 x 1/8″ / 3.5 mm Headphone/Microphone Input/Output1 x 1/8″ / 3.5 mm Headphone/Microphone Input/Output
Built-In Speakers22
Built-In MicrophonesNot specifiedNot specified
Media Card Slots1 x SD (Unspecified Type)None

Communication

CommunicationAcer 14″ Spin 3 Multi-Touch 2-in-1 Laptop Acer Swift 3
Ethernet NoneNone
Wi-FiWi-Fi 5 (802.11ac)Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)
MU-MIMO SupportNot specifiedNot specified
Bluetooth5.05.0
GPSNoneNone
NFCNoNo
WebcamUser-Facing:User-Facing

Battery

Battery Acer 14″ Spin 3 Multi-Touch 2-in-1 Laptop Acer Swift 3
Battery ChemistryLithium-IonLithium-Ion
Capacity3-Cell: 5170 mAh3-Cell: 4200 mAh
Maximum Runtime16 Hours10 Hours

Keyboard & Mouse

KeyboardAcer 14″ Spin 3 Multi-Touch 2-in-1 Laptop Acer Swift 3
KeyboardNotebook KeyboardNotebook Keyboard with Backlight
Pointing DeviceTouchPadTouchPad

General

General Acer 14″ Spin 3 Multi-Touch 2-in-1 Laptop Acer Swift 3
SecurityNot ApplicableFingerprint Reader
Power Supply45 W65 W
AC Input PowerNot specified
Dimensions13.2 x 9.1 x 0.8″ / 335.28 x 231.14 x 20.32 mm12.6 x 8.5 x 0.6″ / 320.04 x 215.9 x 15.24 mm
Weight3.75 lb / 1.7 kg2.62 lb / 1.19 kg
Warranty LengthLimited 1-Year WarrantyLimited 1-Year Warranty

DETAILED REVIEW:

DESIGN

Acer Spin 3:

The design of the Acer Spin 3 feels nice and premium. The overall built quality is decently good. The hinges of the laptop are quite nice and quite sturdy as well. The main highlight of this laptop is that it’s a 2-in-1 convertible laptop and it can bend all the way to 360-degree. You can use this laptop in several modes like traditional laptop mode, reverse laptop mode, tent mode, and the tablet mode.

Acer Swift 3:

The design of the laptop is sleek and minimal and the even the quality is great. This laptop is made of magnesium alloy and it also does not flex much. The laptop is pretty light weight as well. The aesthetics of the laptop are really nice and you can use the laptop even if you are a student or a working professional. Overall the laptop looks really neat and the build quality is also nice as well.

KEYBOARD & TOUCHPAD

Acer Spin 3:

Here, we have a chiclet style keyboard with a regular layout and well spaced keys. The typing experience is OK but not that good as the keys are little soft and it has a bit of short stroke and hence we don’t get accurate feedback. However, if you are already used to this kind of keyboard then your accuracy will be in check over time. However, it does not have a backlighting which is pretty disappointing.

Here, we get a plastic touchpad with precision drivers. The size of the touchpad is pretty average and it works average as well. The physical clicks are cranky and loud and the entire surface clatters when clicked a bit hardly.

Acer Swift 3:

The typing experience on these keyboard is really good. The key travels are short and you can type comfortably at first use. However the space between the keys are little too much. The keyboard also has the backlit functionality which is very convenient when working in low lighting conditions. The layout of the keyboard is a little regular and the keys are also decent as well.

The touchpad is quite smooth and precise as the touchpad has got the windows precision drivers. It handles all the gestures pretty well. This touchpad is much better than other touchpad at this price point.

DISPLAY

Acer Spin 3:

Here, we have a 14-inch IPS Full HD LED backlit screen with multi-touch functionality. The resolution of the screen is 1920 x 1080p. So on this screen the content will look really good. Even the pixel density is also high and you can do any activity on this laptop and the content would look really good. The display has very thin bezels which then gives very good screen to body ratio of around 78.9% which is a lot for a laptop.

Acer Swift 3:

Here, we get a 14-inch 1080p IPS screen and it does not support touchscreen. The screen has got slim bezels on the side. However, the bottom bezel is a slightly thick and the top bezel is a little slim as well. The screen colors are not that accurate and the screen brightness is good. This laptop is not that good for the high end color editing work as it’s just 50% Adobe RGB and 67% sRGB which is fine for if are just browsing youtube and netflix. The quality of the web camera is also pretty good.

SPEAKERS

Acer Spin 3:

On this 2-in-1 convertible laptop we get dual speakers with stereo setup and the position of the speakers is selected in such a way that the speakers would always be facing the front so that you get a loud and clear audio. This speakers also comes with the feature of smart amplification.

Acer Swift 3:

Here, the speakers are located at the bottom of the laptop. The sound quality of these speakers is not that as the speakers are located at the bottom of the laptop. Although the speakers are fairly loud but they are not very clear as they are seriously maffled by the chasis. If you want to watch videos with nice audio than I would recommend you to where a pair of headphones.

PERFORMANCE

Acer Spin 3:

On this laptop we have a Intel eight generation core i7-8565U processor and this is a whiskey lake processor. This processor is a four core and eight thread processor. It has the base clockspeed of 1.8 GHz and it can turbo boost upto 4.6 GHz. Overall the performance of this laptop is really good.

Acer Swift 3:

On this laptop we have got a 2.5 GHz Intel core i5-7200U processor, integrated with Graphics 620 and 8GB DDR4 RAM with 256GB SSD. The Acer Swift 3 runs very smoothly while using windows, browsing the web, opening the programs and you can even do bit of photoshop which is really nice. The SSD here is not the fastest but it still way better than the laptop’s with traditional hard drive. Overall the performance of the laptop is nice but not as nice as the Acer Spin 3.

BATTERY

Acer Spin 3:

Acer claims that the laptop can run upto 12 hours in a single charge but according to my testing it can only last upto 8 hours with a single charge which is still nice as you don’t need to charge the battery while you are working. Even if you want to charge the laptop then you also have the fast charging which would charge your laptop in a matter of some minutes.

Acer Swift 3:

Acer claims that this laptop can also lasts for 12 hours. But that’s not true as the Acer Swift 3 lasts for somewhere around 5 to 6 hours which is not even close at all in my experience. Hence, the battery life over here is fairly average.

PORT SELECTION

Acer Spin 3:

On the left side of the laptop we have got USB 3.1 Gen 1, SDcard reader, USB 2.0, a stylus and stylus charging dock, a power button and a charging input. While on the right side of the laptop we got a USB 3.0 port, an HDMI port, a kensington lock and an audio jack.

Acer Swift 3:

Here, we have a two USB 3.0 port, one USB 2.0 port, one USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C, one HDMI port, one headphone jack, SD card slot.

WEIGHT & DIMENSIONS

Acer Spin 3:

The Acer Spin 3 is lighter than Acer Swift 3 as Spin 3 weights 3.7 pounds/ 1.68 Kgs. The dimensions of this laptop are 12.9 x 9.4 x 0.8 inches.

Acer Swift 3:

It weights around 1.45 kg/ 3.20 pounds and the dimensions of the Acer Swift 3 are 12.6 x 8.5 x 0.63 inches.

WHICH ONE YOU SHOULD BUY?

The Spin 3 is a laptop with nice performance. The ability to change the laptop into tablet mode and the decent power makes this laptop a great option to pick. However, the plastic body is a bit heavier, and lacks USB-C but other than this the Acer spin 3 is a great laptop to buy. But on the other hand the performance of the Acer Swift 3 is a bit bad than Spin 3. The battery life of the Acer Swift 3 is not even close to Spin 3 which is bad. The Acer Spin 3 has the better speakers and better battery life as well.

For me the Acer Spin 3 is best laptop to buy as it is the most value for money laptop.

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