The stylish multimedia all-arounder from Acer is not new to us. Three devices from the same series—the Swift 3 SF315-51G-57E5, Swift 3 SF315-51G-55Z9, and Swift 3 SF315-41-R4W1—have already been put through testing. The test system we are using right now has a Radeon RX 540 graphics card and a Raven Ridge APU. Its rivals include gadgets like the Asus VivoBook 15 X542UF, the HP Pavilion 15-cc107ng, and the Lenovo IdeaPad 320-15IKBRN.
We won’t go into great depth on the chassis, features, input devices, display, and speakers because we have already evaluated a few Swift 3 models that are structurally identical to our current test unit. The review of the Swift 3 SF315-41-R4W1 has this information.
Acer Swift 3 SF315-41G
Technical Specifications
| Processor: | AMD Ryzen 5 2500U |
| GPU: | AMD Radeon RX 540 |
| OS: | Windows 10 |
| Display: | 15.60 inch FHD 1920 x 1080 pixels |
| RAM: | 16 GB SSD |
| Hard Drive: | 512 GB NVMe SSD + 2 TB 2.5″ HDD |
| Speakers: | Dual Stereo Speakers |
| Dimensions: | 14.59 x 10.04 x 0.74 inches |
| Weight: | 4.85 lbs |
| Colors: | Silver |
| Battery | 48 Wh |
pros and cons
Pros
- Slim light & Portable
- Nice Display
- Decent Performance
- Loaded with NVMe-SSD
Cons
- Gaming Performance Below its Competitors
- Display is Reflective
Acer Swift 3 SF315-41G Review
Display
Inside the Acer Swift 3 SF315-41G, Acer put a reflective 15.6-inch screen with a 1920×1080 native resolution. It’s ok that the contrast ratio is 979:1. The Swift compares more favorably to the other devices we have pitted it against in terms of brightness (253.8 cd/m2). However, all of these gadgets’ brightness values—including the one we’re using now as a test—turned out to be inadequate. Values exceeding 300 cd/m2 are regarded as favorable.
The display shows the screen flickering with a frequency of 1471 Hz at brightness levels of 90% and lower. Even for those with sensitive eyes, this high frequency should not result in headaches or other eye issues.
The Swift 3 SF315-41, the model’s sibling, also has a built-in display (BOE CQ NV156FHM-N48), which we have already reviewed. The measured values do, however, vary a little. This should be anticipated: Even when built in the same way, two screens are never completely identical to one another.
At 1471 Hz, the display’s backlight flickers (Likely utilizing PWM) Brightness settings of 90% and lower show flickering. Above this brightness setting, neither flickering nor PWM should be present.
The majority of PWM-sensitive users shouldn’t experience any flickering because the frequency of 1471 Hz is relatively high.
In contrast, 53% of all tested devices do not dim the display using PWM. A measurement of 19504 (minimum: 5; maximum: 3846000) Hz was made to determine whether PWM was present.
Design & Built
The Acer Swift 3 SF315-41G has a screen size of 15.6 inches, making it significantly larger than its predecessor, which had a screen size of 14 inches. It opens up to reveal a screen lid, keyboard surround, and base made entirely of metal, and it has a fantastic appearance for having such components. When you open it up, you will see that it has a display with a resolution of 1920 by 1080 inches, a regular keyboard in the island layout, a deck made of brushed aluminum, and a fingerprint reader. The screen is well supported by the silver hinge, which, despite appearances (which can sometimes be deceiving), appears to be quite sturdy.
The Acer Swift 3 features a lightweight profile that comes in at 4.6 pounds, making it lighter and thinner at 0.7 inches than its competitors. This must be another thing that the Acer Swift 3 has going for it. When compared to the Lenovo Flex 5, which weighs just over 4.4 pounds and is 0.8 inches thick, the Acer Aspire E 15 E5-575G-57D4 weighs 5.2 pounds and has a thickness of 1.2 inches.
Keypad & Touchpad
The island-style keypad is organized thoughtfully and has a pleasant feel to it. Because it has such a short travel distance of only 1.2 millimeters, it isn’t as sparky as some of its competitors, but it is durable due to the metal deck that resists flexing. It is not impossible to type faster than 104 words per minute, which is not a terrible rate at all.
Its touchpad has dimensions of 4.2 inches by 3.0 inches, which indicates that it is roomy and responds well to motions. For example, you can access Cortana by tapping your finger on the touchpad. Despite the fact that the vocals aren’t precisely matched, the speakers are good and powerful enough to fill a little area with sound.
Performance
Acer provides a 15.6-inch multimedia all-arounder with the Swift 3 SF315-41G, which has sufficient processing power for all common use cases. In a limited way, the specialized graphics unit makes gaming possible. The cost of our test device is 900 Euros, or roughly $1050. There are further variants with varied features that start at about 680 Euros ($795). The Swift 3 51G line, which is identical in design and uses Intel processors and dedicated Nvidia graphics cards, expands this product line.
Acer provides a 15.6-inch multimedia all-arounder with the Swift 3 SF315-41G, which has sufficient processing power for all common use cases. In a limited way, the specialized graphics unit makes gaming possible. The cost of our test device is 900 Euros, or roughly $1050. There are further variants with varied features that start at about 680 Euros ($795). The Swift 3 51G line, which is identical in design and uses Intel processors and dedicated Nvidia graphics cards, expands this product line.
We evaluate if Turbo is constantly active by performing a continuous loop of the Cinebench R15 multi-thread test for 30 minutes. The findings decrease by just over 33% from the first to the fourth cycle, after which they remain steady. At this point, Turbo is no longer operational. It operates at 1.9 GHz. As a result, the notebook is not appropriate for ongoing CPU computation.
In Cinebench benchmarks, the processor produces results that are comparable to those of Intel’s Core i5-8250U, however, it does poorly in Geekbench and browser benchmarks. Turbo is either hardly or completely inactive during these testing.
System
Everything works perfectly. Nothing went wrong for us. The notebook has more than enough processing power to handle all common use cases. Limited gaming is possible thanks to the dedicated graphics unit.
The benchmarking performance of PC Mark was excellent. Despite the fact that the Swift 3 SF315-51G, a sibling model, performs better overall because of its Core i5-8250U processor and GeForce-MX150 graphics card. In daily use, this benefit is intangible. It only becomes noticeable when high CPU or GPU performance is required for an extended period of time.
This is reflected in the Cinebench R15 loop, where the Core i5-8250U consistently achieves higher scores (between 527 and 530 points) than the AMD processor in our test system (between 414 and 420 points). In actual use, the Nvidia graphics card performs better than the AMD equivalent. The SF315-51G we tested gives higher performance for every euro spent because it is currently priced the same as the SF315-41G.
Gaming & Graphics
A GPU from the Polaris generation is the Radeon RX 540. It can operate at up to 1.124 MHz and supports DirectX 12. We were able to verify this figure while doing the GPU benchmarks. The GPU, however, is slower than AMD’s suggested 1219 MHz maximum speed. Thermals are the cause of Acer’s reduction in maximum speed. The 2048 MB GDDR5 graphics RAM is accessible to the GPU. The 3D Mark benchmark results are comparable to the GeForce MX150 graphics card from Nvidia.
The Swift 3 has two AMD models installed, combining the Radeon RX 540 graphics card with the integrated Radeon RX Vega 8 GPU. A graphics-switching solution is created by the two GPUs (Enduro).
The Swift 3 SF315-41hardware G’s can provide a fluid gaming experience in a variety of titles. In most cases, HD resolution (1280×720 pixels) and medium-quality settings result in playable frame rates. Higher settings are possible in games with low hardware requirements. Many performance-hungry blockbusters from 2017 and 2018 are not actually playable, like “Assassin’s Creed Origins” and “Final Fantasy XV.”
In terms of benchmarks, the Radeon RX 540 graphics unit is comparable to Nvidia’s GeForce MX150 GPU, but actual gaming results are less obvious. The frame rates attained are in the range of a GeForce MX130 and MX150.
Connectivity
The Swift 3 includes practically all of the ports you’d need yet has a small design. A headphone jack, two USB 3.0 ports, one of which supports power-off charging, and an HDMI output are all located on the left side of the device. A Kensington lock slot, a USB 2.0 port, and an SD card slot are all located on the right side.
It does not have an Ethernet connector, but dual-band 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.0 can be used to connect wirelessly. Other features include a fingerprint reader and a front-facing webcam. The Acer Swift 7 doubles that memory even though it has a 7th Gen CPU and a 13-inch screen, and the system’s 256GB solid-state drive (SSD) is comparable to other systems in this category, including the ASUS ZenBook UX330UA-AH54.
Battery
In our real-world Wi-Fi test, the Acer Swift 3 SF315-41G achieves a running time of 6:41 hours. The workload of visiting online pages is simulated in this test. With “Balanced” as the active profile, the display brightness is adjusted to roughly 150 cd/m2. After 6:06 hours, the Acer machine finished our video test. We gauge video playback time in this test. In order to do this, we play the short movie Big Buck Bunny (H.264-encoding, 1920×1080 pixels) repeatedly. During this time, the radio modules are turned off, the power-saving power plan is in effect, and the display brightness is set to 150 cd/m2.
Overall, the Swift 3’s battery life is respectable. Despite having batteries with equal capacity to the Swift 3 SF315-51G, it performs much worse. It’s easy to identify the cause of this: Compared to its Intel counterpart, the SF315-41G uses more energy both at rest and when under light loads.
FAQ’s
The Acer Swift 3 is generally considered to be a good-budget laptop. It offers solid performance and features for its price point and has received positive reviews from users and tech reviewers. However, like any product, it may not be perfect for everyone, and it’s always a good idea to read multiple reviews to get a well-rounded understanding of a product before making a purchase. So, it’s an answer to Why is Acer Swift 3 a good laptop.
The Acer Swift 3 can come with either an HDD (hard disk drive) or an SSD (solid state drive). The specific model and configuration that you are looking at will determine whether it has an HDD or SSD.
An SSD is faster, more reliable, and more expensive than an HDD. It also consumes less power and generates less heat. An HDD is slower and less reliable than an SSD, but it also tends to be cheaper.
It’s important to check the specs of the specific model of Acer Swift 3 you are looking at in order to determine whether it has an HDD or SSD.
Yes, it is possible to upgrade the SSD on an Acer Swift 3, as long as the laptop has a removable SSD. Some models of the Acer Swift 3 have a removable SSD, which would allow you to replace it with a larger or faster SSD. However, other models may have the SSD soldered on the motherboard, which would make it difficult or impossible to upgrade.
Conclusion
The multimedia all-purpose computer from Acer has an AMD Raven-Ridge APU, which provides more than enough processing power for all common use cases. A limited amount of gaming is possible with the dedicated GPU. However, in order to achieve playable frame rates, cautious resolution and quality settings must be chosen. This is especially true of contemporary titles.
A responsive system is ensured with an NVMe-SSD. Although it would require opening the case, exchanging the SSD is an option. The keyboard made a fantastic first impression on us. The lighted keyboard is a plus. Overall, battery runtimes are respectable. Acer offers a multimedia all-arounder with certain flaws in the Swift 3 SF315-41G.
With stable viewing angles, superb color accuracy, and a high contrast ratio, the Full HD IPS display excels. As with the sibling models, Acer should be criticized for depending on a reflective display. Another feature that the Swift 3 has in common with its sister models is a sluggish memory card reader. To set itself apart from its rivals, Acer gave the laptop a Type-C USB 3.1 gen 1 connector when it could have easily been a gen 2 port.
Overall, the Acer Swift 3 SF315-41G made a nice impression, but in the end, it must yield to the Swift 3 SF315-51G, which features a Core i5-8250U processor and a GeForce MX150 graphics chip. The latter offers longer battery life and higher gaming performance. Additionally, the SF315-41G is unable to gain a price advantage. Currently, both Swift 3 variants cost about 900 Euros (about $1050).
