The Acer Swift 3 the intel model and the intel model of the Swift 3 is more expensive at 1100 dollars, it’s Acer’s more premium version of the laptop. They’re also to be a cheaper version which retails for 680 dollars. The big difference is that it houses an AMD CPU.
General Info
Acer Swift 3 INTEL | Acer Swift 3 AMD | |
Brand | Acer | Acer |
Model | Swift 3 INTEL | Swift 3 AMD |
Weight | 1.2 Kg | 1.2 Kg |
OS | Windows 10 | Windows 10 |
Display | 13.5 Inch | 14 Inch |
Colors | Steel Grey | Steel Grey |
Now whether you go with Intel or AMD the look and feel are very similar. It’s using a metal alloy which is super thin aluminum that pretty much feels like plastic but it’s not. And it’s superlight 2.7 pounds making this very easy to carry. On the left-hand side, you have your HDMI port, USB 3.0, USB type-c. And the only difference being that the intel model gives you a thunderbolt 3 port. From a design standpoint, you do have this nice curved edge with the AMD model whereas the intel version is just more of your traditional style. On the other side, you have another USB port, audio jack, and, of course, a noble lock.
Specification
Acer Swift 3 INTEL | Acer Swift 3 AMD | |
Processor | Intel Core i5-1035G4 (10th Gen) Intel Core i7-1065G7 (10th Gen) | AMD Ryzen 5 4500U AMD Ryzen 7 4700U |
Graphics | Intel Iris Plus | Radeon Vega 6 Radeon Vega 7 |
RAM | 8/16 GB LPDDR4x RAM | 8/16 GB LPDDR4x RAM |
Storage | 512 GB / 1TB | 256/512 GB / 1TB |
Performance
Acer Swift 3 INTEL | Acer Swift 3 AMD | ||
Clockspeed | 3.7 Ghz | 2.3 Ghz | |
Graphic Processor | Iris Plus | Redeon | |
Processor | Iris Plus | Vega 6/7 |
So performance is where the AMD model completely shines like this 680 dollar laptop with the 4700 you almost doubles the performance of the 10th gen i7 intel processor inside of here. And if you do something like compiling code and you’re a developer you’re gonna see almost double the performance on the AMD model. The eight cores in here are just much better suited than the four cores that are inside of the intel variant. Even when it comes to graphics that integrated vega 8 outperforms the iris plus in the intel model.
Display
Acer Swift 3 INTEL | Acer Swift 3 AMD | |
Display Type | IPS | IPS |
Display Size | 13.5 Inches | 14 Inches |
Display Resolution | 2256×1504 Pixels | 1920 x 1080 Pixels |
Display Touchscreen | No | No |
Dimensions | 302.25 x 233.68 x 16mm | 322.6 x 218.4 x 18mm |
Now the display is one area that defers between these laptops like if you go with the AMD model you’re basically sticking with 16 by 9, this is more of a traditional type of display that we’re used to. Fantastic for watching movies but not the best for productivity, we’d prefer 16 by 10 or even 3 by 2. This is a matte display so it doesn’t showcase reflections so it’s great outdoors but it’s not a great display. This is one area they had to cut in order to reduce the price like you don’t want to be using this monitor or display to do content creation on whether using photoshop or any sort of design work. The color accuracy is just not that great same with the brightness.
Multimedia
Acer Swift 3 INTEL | Acer Swift 3 AMD | ||
Web-cam | HD 720P Webcam | HD 720P Webcam | |
Speakers | Dual Stereo speakers | Dual Stereo speakers | |
Microphone Jack | Yes | Yes | |
Wireless Lan | Intel Wi-Fi 6 802.11 ax | Intel Wi-Fi 6 802.11 ax | |
Bluetooth | Yes 5.0v | Yes 5.0v | |
Sd Card Reader | Yes | 2 Slots |
Speakers sound better on the more affordable option maybe it’s because there’s a little slit here so the sound has more area to penetrate outwards compared to where as the intel model, they’re stuck at the bottom front and sound quieter at max volume compared to the AMD version.
Battery
Acer Swift 3 INTEL | Acer Swift 3 AMD | |
Power Supply | 56 Wh | 50 Wh |
Battery Type | Li-Ion | Lithium-Ion Polymer |
Battery Life | Up 8-10 Hour | Up 8-10 Hour |
You do have a smaller battery in the AMD version is about 48 watt-hours but this is only using a 1080p display and we were getting about 11 hours and 15 minutes before needing to charge.
Which is better!
Here’s the bottom line the intel model grants you thunderbolt 3, a 3 by 2 aspect ratio with a higher-res display but you have to put up with PWM flicker, and you get slightly better battery life. Whereas the AMD model doesn’t have PWM flicker gives you faster SSD speeds and significantly better performance. We think for $400 less most people are better off going with the AMD version of the Acer Swift 3.