Acer Swift Go 14 (SFG14-73) review: ultraportable laptop with Intel Core Ultra 7 155H and OLED display

Acer has updated its laptop lines, with current models running on new processors Intel Core Ultra of the Meteor Lake family. Some models, not only of the top series, have OLED displays. Today, Mezha is reviewing the new Acer Swift Go 14 (SFG14-73) with Intel Core Ultra 7 and a 14-inch display. The company has improved a lot compared to the previous generation of the laptop.

Acer Swift Go 14 (SFG14-73) specifications

Package contents

Acer packs and bundles almost all of its laptops in the same way, and the Acer Swift Go 14 is no exception. It’s a standard small mustard-colored box with the model name and basic information.

Everything is also minimalistic inside. The package includes the laptop itself, a 100W power supply, a power cable, and documentation. Given the compact size of the laptop, you won’t have any problems with a backpack or carrying case.

Design and construction

The prefix Go in the names of Acer models means that this is a slightly simplified, more affordable version. Also, all Go models are united by a rather calm design, which is inherent in “working” models, not image solutions. This is the case with Acer Swift Go 14. Although the company still tries to insert some interesting little things. In this case, it’s the backlit Swift logo at the bottom of the touchpad.

The case is almost entirely made of light gray metal. It has a matte finish, but not the best quality: prints are still slightly visible. The metal is quite thick, the lids practically do not bend, and the Acer Swift Go 14 does not lend itself to twisting. The laptop feels sturdy and reliable.

The top lid is decorated with a small Acer logo at the top. The lid has a small protrusion in the middle to help you open the laptop comfortably. On the inside there is a webcam with an indicator, a physical curtain and two microphones. The frame around the perimeter of the screen is the only plastic part of the Acer Swift Go 14.

The laptop is easy to open with one hand, with two hinges holding the display unit well and almost no wobble. The maximum opening angle is 180°. In the open position, the laptop rests on two rubber feet on the back edge. This allows you to place the work surface at a slight angle to the table for better air circulation. It’s a familiar and often used solution.

The layout of the bottom lid of Acer Swift Go 14 is quite standard. There are four rubber feet that prevent the laptop from slipping on the table, lots of ventilation holes, and speakers. One of the less typical elements is a reset button in a small hole (actually, a battery disconnect). It can be useful in extreme cases.

With dimensions of 312.9×217.9×14.9 mm and a weight of 1.32 kg, carrying it around every day won’t be a problem. The design may seem boring to some, but it is still a working tool in the first place. Moreover, the case itself is made of high quality.

Connectors

Despite its compact size, the Acer Swift Go 14 has a surprisingly good set of ports On the left side, there is HDMI 2.1, two USB4 Type-C ports supporting Thunderbolt 4, Power Delivery and DisplayPort, as well as a full-size USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A that supports charging gadgets when the laptop is turned off.

On the right side is a MicroSD card slot, a 3.5mm headphone jack, another full-size USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, a Kensington Lock slot, and two LED indicators.

The laptop has all the necessary modern connectors, and there are places to connect an external screen, peripherals, and a drive. The only thing missing is the RJ-45 network port, although it’s generally very rare in modern ultraportable models.

Display

Acer Swift Go 14 is equipped with a 14-inch OLED display with a resolution of 2.8K (2880×1800 pixels) and an aspect ratio of 16:10. The pixel density is approximately 242 PPI. The refresh rate is 90 Hz and the pixel response time is 0.2 ms. The peak brightness in HDR mode is said to be 500 cd/m², and the screen has DisplayHDR 500 certification. Color coverage is 100% of the DCI-P3 color space.

As in the vast majority of modern OLED displays, a glossy coating is used. Thus, outdoors, the screen will catch glare from bright light sources. But, given the specifics, the anti-reflective coating significantly spoils the OLED picture. First of all, the contrast and black color. There were no complaints about the screen during use. It has a high margin of brightness and a very juicy picture.

The maximum brightness in manual mode was 386.89 cd/m². The color gamut is really much wider than the sRGB color space. There is a slight emphasis on cold shades, the color temperature is close to 7500K.

In the proprietary Acer Sense application, the display settings include only the BluelightShield blue filter.

Platform, performance and software

Intel Meteor Lake processors are responsible for the performance of the new Acer Swift Go 14. In the configuration under review, it is Intel Core Ultra 7 155H. It is manufactured using Intel’s process technology 4 (7 nm) and contains a configuration of 16 cores. 6 productive cores operating at 1.4-4.8 GHz, 8 energy-efficient cores at 0.9-3.8 GHz, and 2 energy-efficient cores at 0.9-2.5 GHz. It supports up to 22 computing threads. The standard TDP level is 28 W with the possibility of a short-term increase to 115 W.

An integrated accelerator based on the Arc architecture is responsible for graphics. It has 8 Xe cores and a frequency of up to 2.25 GHz. There is a separate Intel AI Boost NPU for processing AI and machine learning operations. There is 32 GB of LPDDR5X-6400 RAM at . No upgrade is provided, the memory is soldered on the motherboard. The laptop is equipped with a fast Intel Killer Wireless Wi-Fi 7 1750x and Bluetooth 5.3 wireless adapter.

Synthetic benchmarks show that the Acer Swift Go 14 is quite productive for an ultraportable model. First of all, in the processor tests, although the new integrated Arc graphics also has a significant performance boost compared to previous Intel solutions.

In the maximum performance mode of the PCMark office benchmark, the laptop scores 7018 points, which is an excellent result for an ultraportable model.

It’s worth noting that the result is only slightly lower when operating on battery power in the same mode.

The drive is a fairly fast M.2 NVMe SSD Micron 2550 with a PCIe Gen4 x4 NVMe interface. The speed of reading information is about 5170MB/s, writing – 4700 MB/s

The new integrated Intel Arc graphics are quite suitable for not very heavy games. So Acer Swift Go 14 can be played for fun sometimes. We are not talking about high/ultra settings or ray tracing. But at low-medium settings with FullHD resolution you can get a decent framerate. Deus Ex Mankind Divided with medium settings and a resolution of 1920×1200 averages 60 FPS. Hitman with similar settings is 80-90 FPS:

Acer Swift Go 14 uses the Acer Sense app for all settings. The set of settings is quite standard: performance modes, system updates, diagnostics, charging modes, the aforementioned blue filter setting, and so on. In addition, there is the Acer PurifiedVoice Console, which is responsible for noise reduction based on machine learning. And the Killer app for network settings.

Heating and stability of operation

Acer Swift Go 14 has an active cooling system that works quite efficiently. Under prolonged loads, the components do not heat up to more than 80° and the system works stably. Only in the beginning can there be a short-term performance drop while the cooling system is adapting.

But the cooling system is loud. At maximum speed, the noise level is higher than usual in ultraportable models. Of course, this is not the level of gaming laptops, but it can be a little annoying in the office. On the other hand, the laptop is practically inaudible under minimal load.

Sound, webcam and security

Acer Swift Go 14 has stereo speakers typical of ultraportable laptops. They have a good volume margin, but the quality is not very good. There are practically no low frequencies, and at high volume there are noticeable sound distortions. There is support for DTS:X virtual surround sound.

The laptop is equipped with a very good webcam, which is especially useful nowadays, given the massive popularity of video conferencing. It has a QHD 1440p resolution and a physical shutter. TNR (Temporal Noise Reduction) and Acer PurifiedView technologies based on machine learning are provided to improve the image and sound. And the microphones have Acer PurifiedVoice 2.0 noise reduction technology.

For quick unlocking, Acer Swift Go 14 has a fingerprint scanner in the power button. It’s quite a standard solution that works quickly and accurately.

Keyboard and touchpad

Acer Swift Go 14 is equipped with an island-type keyboard. The manufacturer does not specify, but according to our own feelings, the key travel is 1.4-1.5 mm, which is very good for an ultraportable model. The keyboard is practically silent, but it is pleasant to use, the keystrokes are informative and moderately soft. There is a white backlight with two brightness levels.

The layout is typical for ultrabooks: no additional number pad. The row of function keys has a reduced height. The row ends with the power button with a built-in fingerprint scanner. Enter and Backspace are single-level, and both Shift and Delete keys are long. The navigation block is not separated from the other keys in any way. The left and right arrows are of standard size, while the up and down arrows are halved in height. There were no problems during use, and it takes a minimum of time to get used to it.

Most current Acer models that are not part of the top line are equipped with OceanGlass touchpads. It is made of ABS polymer and recycled plastic. Presumably, the company has refined it: the coating is even more similar to glass, and the finger slides perfectly. And the size has increased compared to the previous generation. Sensitivity and positioning accuracy are also at a high level. There is an additional mode for media control.

Battery life

Acer Swift Go 14 has a 65 Wh battery. It is claimed that this is enough for 13 hours of work. Fast charging is supported. Thanks to the bundled 100W power supply, the laptop recharges the battery really quickly.

In standard office mode, the laptop lasted about 7-7.5 hours. At the same time, the screen brightness was at 50%, a browser with a bunch of tabs and Photoshop were used. That is, not bad, but not enough for a working day.