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MagyarAcer Swift 3 SF314-41 Laptop Review: A stylish and slim Ryzen subnotebook with plenty of power and battery life in the tank
The Acer Swift 3 SF314-41 is a sleek and slim 14-inch laptop, several siblings of which we have already reviewed. Most recently we have covered the Swift 3 SF314-54, a version with an Intel Pentium Gold 4417U processor. By contrast, our current review unit has an AMD Ryzen 5 3500U onboard. We shall compare the device not only against its sibling but also other comparable laptops like the ASUS VivoBook 14 X403FA, HP 14, Huawei MateBook D 14 W00D and Lenovo IdeaPad S340-14IWL.
Since the SF314-54 and SF314-41 share the same case, connectivity, input devices and speakers, we shall not cover them in this review. Please see our SF314-54 review for our thoughts on these areas.
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Height | Size | Resolution | Best Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 82.7 % | 11/2019 | Acer Swift 3 SF314-41-R8HZ R5 3500U, Vega 8 | 1.5 kg | 18 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1080 | |
| 84.6 % | 05/2019 | Huawei MateBook D 14 W00D-53010GXL R5 2500U, Vega 8 | 1.5 kg | 16 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1080 | |
| 84.8 % | 06/2019 | Lenovo Ideapad S340-14IWL-81N70056GE i7-8565U, GeForce MX230 | 1.6 kg | 17.9 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1080 | |
| 83.7 % | 09/2019 | Asus VivoBook 14 X403FA i5-8265U, UHD Graphics 620 | 1.3 kg | 16.5 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1080 | |
| 81.9 % | 06/2019 | HP 14-dk0008ng R7 3700U, Vega 10 | 1.5 kg | 20 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1080 | |
| 82.9 % | 09/2019 | Acer Swift 3 SF314-54-P2RK Pentium 4417U, HD Graphics 610 | 1.6 kg | 17.95 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1080 |
| SD Card Reader | |
| average JPG Copy Test (av. of 3 runs) | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (14.9 - 193.9, n=26, last 2 years) | |
| Lenovo Ideapad S340-14IWL-81N70056GE (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-41-R8HZ (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| HP 14-dk0008ng (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-54-P2RK (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| Asus VivoBook 14 X403FA (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| maximum AS SSD Seq Read Test (1GB) | |
| Lenovo Ideapad S340-14IWL-81N70056GE (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (16.3 - 239, n=26, last 2 years) | |
| HP 14-dk0008ng (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-41-R8HZ (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-54-P2RK (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| Asus VivoBook 14 X403FA (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
Display - An Acer laptop with a dark screen
The Swift 3 has a 14-inch IPS panel that operates natively at 1920x1080. While the screen provides a good contrast ratio of 1,664:1, its average peak brightness is too low at 218.7 cd/m². We consider anything beyond 300 cd/m² good, so the Swift 3 falls well short of expectations here. The device also reduces its peak luminosity when running on battery power, but deactivating AMD Radeon Vari-Bright prevents this from happening.
Unfortunately, the screen flickers at 250 Hz when set at 10% brightness and below. This frequency is low enough to cause some people health issues like eyestrain and headaches.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brightness Distribution: 75 %
Center on Battery: 212 cd/m²
Contrast: 1664:1 (Black: 0.14 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 5.9 | 0.55-29.43 Ø5.2
ΔE Greyscale 4.8 | 0.57-98 Ø5.4
62% sRGB (Argyll 1.6.3 3D)
39% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 1.6.3 3D)
42.85% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
61.8% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
41.43% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Gamma: 2.06
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-41-R8HZ IPS, 1920x1080, 14.00 | Huawei MateBook D 14 W00D-53010GXL IPS, 1920x1080, 14.00 | Lenovo Ideapad S340-14IWL-81N70056GE IPS, 1920x1080, 14.00 | Asus VivoBook 14 X403FA IPS, 1920x1080, 14.00 | HP 14-dk0008ng IPS, 1920x1080, 14.00 | Acer Swift 3 SF314-54-P2RK IPS, 1920x1080, 14.00 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display | 6% | -7% | -1% | -5% | -7% | |
| Display P3 Coverage | 41.43 | 44.26 7% | 38.41 -7% | 40.85 -1% | 39.53 -5% | 38.62 -7% |
| sRGB Coverage | 61.8 | 65.1 5% | 57.8 -6% | 61.1 -1% | 59.1 -4% | 58.1 -6% |
| AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage | 42.85 | 45.73 7% | 39.68 -7% | 42.25 -1% | 40.84 -5% | 39.9 -7% |
| Response Times | -18% | 3% | 3232% | 0% | -9% | |
| Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 38 ? | 42.4 ? -12% | 36 ? 5% | 40.8 ? -7% | 38 ? -0% | 43 ? -13% |
| Response Time Black / White * | 27 ? | 32.8 ? -21% | 27 ? -0% | 27.2 ? -1% | 27 ? -0% | 28 ? -4% |
| PWM Frequency | 250 ? | 198.4 ? -21% | 24510 ? 9704% | |||
| Screen | 3% | -9% | -5% | 15% | 9% | |
| Brightness middle | 233 | 287 23% | 260 12% | 250 7% | 269 15% | 258 11% |
| Brightness | 219 | 276 26% | 250 14% | 236 8% | 257 17% | 252 15% |
| Brightness Distribution | 75 | 86 15% | 87 16% | 78 4% | 89 19% | 90 20% |
| Black Level * | 0.14 | 0.25 -79% | 0.29 -107% | 0.27 -93% | 0.2 -43% | 0.16 -14% |
| Contrast | 1664 | 1148 -31% | 897 -46% | 926 -44% | 1345 -19% | 1613 -3% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 5.9 | 5.4 8% | 6.29 -7% | 5 15% | 3.68 38% | 5.1 14% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 22.8 | 18.1 21% | 14.77 35% | 20.7 9% | 7.36 68% | 19.99 12% |
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 4.8 | 3.1 35% | 4.65 3% | 2.4 50% | 1.69 65% | 2.5 48% |
| Gamma | 2.06 107% | 1.99 111% | 2.73 81% | 2.05 107% | 2.49 88% | 2.5 88% |
| CCT | 6589 99% | 6769 96% | 7331 89% | 6697 97% | 6406 101% | 6829 95% |
| Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998) | 39 | 41.8 7% | 37 -5% | 38.9 0% | 38 -3% | 37 -5% |
| Color Space (Percent of sRGB) | 62 | 64.6 4% | 58 -6% | 61 -2% | 59 -5% | 58 -6% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated * | 5 | 4.51 | 4.3 | 4.8 | ||
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | -3% /
-0% | -4% /
-7% | 1075% /
603% | 3% /
9% | -2% /
4% |
* ... smaller is better
Display Response Times
| ↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
|---|---|---|
| 27 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 16 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 11 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows relatively slow response rates in our tests and may be too slow for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 60 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (22.3 ms). | ||
| ↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
| 38 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 20 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 18 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.25 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 46 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is similar to the average of all tested devices (35.2 ms). | ||
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
| Screen flickering / PWM detected | 250 Hz | ≤ 10 % brightness setting |  |
The display backlight flickers at 250 Hz (Likely utilizing PWM) Flickering detected at a brightness setting of 10 % and below. There should be no flickering or PWM above this brightness setting. The frequency of 250 Hz is relatively low, so sensitive users will likely notice flickering and experience eyestrain at the stated brightness setting and below. In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 18889 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 3846000) Hz was measured. | |||
Our review unit had acceptable colour accuracy upon delivery. We measured a Delta E 2000 variance of 5.9 that, while being higher than our ideal value of less than 3, is on par with most of our comparison devices. The display in the Swift 3 does not suffer from a blue tint either, but its colour-space coverages of 39% for AdobeRGB and 62% for sRGB are too low to use the device for professional colour work. Again, the Swift 3 has roughly the same colour-space coverages as our comparison devices.
The display in our review unit also has stable viewing angles, making the device readable from practically any angle. Readability outdoors is a different story, though. The low maximum brightness comes into play here, making the device tricky to read on a sunny day. Effectively, Acer has restricted the Swift 3 to being used indoors because of the screen that it has included.
Performance - A Swift 3 powered by Ryzen
The Swift 3 offers enough power for most office and internet applications, while the dual-channel RAM helps the device get the most from its CPU and integrated GPU. Our test device currently retails for almost 600 Euros (~$669), but prices start at 450 Euros (~$502) for other configurations. Acer also sells Intel-powered versions under the SF314-54 series.
Processor
The Ryzen 5 3500U in our review unit incorporates four Picasso cores and is based on AMD's Zen+ microarchitecture. The APU also has a 2.1 GHz base clock that it can boost up to 3.7 GHz when needed. The processor supports simultaneous multithreading (SMT) too, allowing it to execute up to eight threads at the same time.
Our review unit briefly runs at between 3.2 and 3.3 GHz in multithreaded benchmarks like Cinebench R15 Multi 64Bit, before dropping to around 2.9 or 3 GHz. CPU speeds also fluctuate between 1.6 and 3.7 GHz in single-threaded tasks. By contrast, the Swift 3 initially operates at 2.4 GHz in multithreaded benchmarks when running on battery power, before speeding up to between 3 and 3.1 GHz. The Ryzen 5 3500U generally runs at between 1.3 to 2.4 GHz in single-threaded tasks too, but we noticed that it would occasionally spike to 3.7 GHz, for some reason.
We also checked how well the APU utilises its turbo clock speeds on mains power by running a CB R15 Multi 64Bit benchmark on a loop. We left the loop running for around 30 minutes, during which scores decreased slightly by the fifth run-through, after which they stabilised. In short, the APU can continually use its turbo clock speeds, but not at full capacity.
| Cinebench R15 | |
| CPU Single 64Bit | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (74.5 - 267, n=77, last 2 years) | |
| Lenovo Ideapad S340-14IWL-81N70056GE | |
| Asus VivoBook 14 X403FA | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-41-R8HZ | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 5 3500U (131 - 147, n=18) | |
| Huawei MateBook D 14 W00D-53010GXL | |
| HP 14-dk0008ng | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-54-P2RK | |
| CPU Multi 64Bit | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (234 - 2497, n=86, last 2 years) | |
| Lenovo Ideapad S340-14IWL-81N70056GE | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-41-R8HZ | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 5 3500U (482 - 682, n=19) | |
| Asus VivoBook 14 X403FA | |
| Huawei MateBook D 14 W00D-53010GXL | |
| HP 14-dk0008ng | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-54-P2RK | |
| Cinebench R10 | |
| Rendering Single 32Bit | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (2.24 - 10028, n=11, last 2 years) | |
| Asus VivoBook 14 X403FA | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-41-R8HZ | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 5 3500U (4542 - 4565, n=4) | |
| HP 14-dk0008ng | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-54-P2RK | |
| Rendering Multiple CPUs 32Bit | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (12.5 - 46007, n=11, last 2 years) | |
| Asus VivoBook 14 X403FA | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-41-R8HZ | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 5 3500U (13249 - 17578, n=4) | |
| HP 14-dk0008ng | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-54-P2RK | |
| Cinebench R20 | |
| CPU (Single Core) | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (159 - 738, n=81, last 2 years) | |
| Asus VivoBook 14 X403FA | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-41-R8HZ | |
| Huawei MateBook D 14 W00D-53010GXL | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 5 3500U (317 - 372, n=15) | |
| HP 14-dk0008ng | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-54-P2RK | |
| CPU (Multi Core) | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (376 - 5782, n=80, last 2 years) | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 5 3500U (1063 - 1540, n=15) | |
| Huawei MateBook D 14 W00D-53010GXL | |
| Asus VivoBook 14 X403FA | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-41-R8HZ | |
| HP 14-dk0008ng | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-54-P2RK | |
| Geekbench 3 | |
| 32 Bit Multi-Core Score | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (last 2 years) | |
| Asus VivoBook 14 X403FA | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-41-R8HZ | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 5 3500U (9503 - 13145, n=4) | |
| HP 14-dk0008ng | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-54-P2RK | |
| 32 Bit Single-Core Score | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (last 2 years) | |
| Asus VivoBook 14 X403FA | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-41-R8HZ | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 5 3500U (3258 - 3478, n=4) | |
| HP 14-dk0008ng | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-54-P2RK | |
| Geekbench 4.1 - 4.4 | |
| 64 Bit Multi-Core Score | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (15240 - 40196, n=17, last 2 years) | |
| Asus VivoBook 14 X403FA | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-41-R8HZ | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 5 3500U (10099 - 12171, n=11) | |
| Huawei MateBook D 14 W00D-53010GXL | |
| HP 14-dk0008ng | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-54-P2RK | |
| 64 Bit Single-Core Score | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (3460 - 7522, n=17, last 2 years) | |
| Asus VivoBook 14 X403FA | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-41-R8HZ | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 5 3500U (3400 - 3924, n=11) | |
| Huawei MateBook D 14 W00D-53010GXL | |
| HP 14-dk0008ng | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-54-P2RK | |
| Geekbench 5.0 | |
| 5.0 Multi-Core | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (3749 - 11260, n=20, last 2 years) | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-41-R8HZ | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 5 3500U (2599 - 3244, n=8) | |
| 5.0 Single-Core | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (663 - 1738, n=20, last 2 years) | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-41-R8HZ | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 5 3500U (772 - 913, n=8) | |
| Mozilla Kraken 1.1 - Total Score | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-54-P2RK (Edge 44) | |
| Huawei MateBook D 14 W00D-53010GXL | |
| HP 14-dk0008ng (Edge 44) | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 5 3500U (1101 - 1693, n=14) | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-41-R8HZ (Edge 44) | |
| Asus VivoBook 14 X403FA (Edge 44) | |
| Lenovo Ideapad S340-14IWL-81N70056GE | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (449 - 2322, n=81, last 2 years) | |
| Octane V2 - Total Score | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (39503 - 91064, n=33, last 2 years) | |
| Lenovo Ideapad S340-14IWL-81N70056GE | |
| Asus VivoBook 14 X403FA (Edge 44) | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-41-R8HZ (Edge 44) | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 5 3500U (19083 - 32938, n=11) | |
| HP 14-dk0008ng (Edge 44) | |
| Huawei MateBook D 14 W00D-53010GXL | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-54-P2RK (Edge 44) | |
| JetStream 1.1 - Total Score | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (256 - 348, n=5, last 2 years) | |
| Lenovo Ideapad S340-14IWL-81N70056GE | |
| Asus VivoBook 14 X403FA (Edge 44) | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-41-R8HZ (Edge 44) | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 5 3500U (106.9 - 208, n=13) | |
| HP 14-dk0008ng (Edge 44) | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-54-P2RK (Edge 44) | |
| Huawei MateBook D 14 W00D-53010GXL | |
* ... smaller is better
System Performance
The combination of a Ryzen APU, 8 GB of dual-channel RAM and an NVMe SSD ensures that the Swift 3 offers nimble and fluid system performance. Our review unit has more than enough performance for office and internet applications, an impression that system performance benchmarks like PCMark underline. We also encountered no performance issues during our tests.
| PCMark 8 Home Score Accelerated v2 | 3566 points | |
| PCMark 8 Creative Score Accelerated v2 | 3551 points | |
| PCMark 8 Work Score Accelerated v2 | 4633 points | |
| PCMark 10 Score | 3907 points | |
Help | ||
| PCMark 8 - Home Score Accelerated v2 | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (4467 - 5285, n=7, last 2 years) | |
| Lenovo Ideapad S340-14IWL-81N70056GE | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 5 3500U, AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) (3316 - 4235, n=13) | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-41-R8HZ | |
| Asus VivoBook 14 X403FA | |
| Huawei MateBook D 14 W00D-53010GXL | |
| HP 14-dk0008ng | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-54-P2RK | |
Storage Devices
Acer has equipped our review unit with a Western Digital SSD, a picture of which we have included below. The PC SN520 that Acer has included offers 512 GB of storage, although only approximately 442 GB is free once the space required for installing Windows 10 has been taken into account. Overall, the SSD achieves good transfer speeds and consistently outperforms SATA III drives, which are limited to around 600 MB/s.
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-41-R8HZ WDC PC SN520 SDAPNUW-512G | Huawei MateBook D 14 W00D-53010GXL SK Hynix SC313 HFS256G39TNF | Lenovo Ideapad S340-14IWL-81N70056GE WDC PC SN520 SDAPNUW-512G | Asus VivoBook 14 X403FA Intel SSD 660p SSDPEKNW512G8 | HP 14-dk0008ng Samsung PM871b MZNLN128HAHQ | Acer Swift 3 SF314-54-P2RK Kingston RBUSNS8154P3128GJ | Average WDC PC SN520 SDAPNUW-512G | Average of class Subnotebook | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CrystalDiskMark 5.2 / 6 | -47% | 19% | 3% | -48% | -46% | 10% | 69% | |
| Write 4K | 134.3 | 72.3 -46% | 160.8 20% | 130.8 -3% | 90.6 -33% | 47.96 -64% | 138.5 ? 3% | 160.7 ? 20% |
| Read 4K | 43.56 | 30.77 -29% | 50.5 16% | 55.1 26% | 33.17 -24% | 17.62 -60% | 44.2 ? 1% | 61.5 ? 41% |
| Write Seq | 1434 | 468.1 -67% | 1458 2% | 962 -33% | 483 -66% | 479.4 -67% | 1265 ? -12% | 2518 ? 76% |
| Read Seq | 1448 | 518 -64% | 1447 0% | 1634 13% | 511 -65% | 940 -35% | 1237 ? -15% | 2130 ? 47% |
| Write 4K Q32T1 | 239.1 | 214.2 -10% | 406.5 70% | 343.5 44% | 170.7 -29% | 169.9 -29% | 404 ? 69% | 433 ? 81% |
| Read 4K Q32T1 | 327.6 | 241.1 -26% | 476.8 46% | 339.7 4% | 235 -28% | 224.5 -31% | 421 ? 29% | 507 ? 55% |
| Write Seq Q32T1 | 1456 | 482 -67% | 1458 0% | 984 -32% | 496.5 -66% | 492.1 -66% | 1491 ? 2% | 2937 ? 102% |
| Read Seq Q32T1 | 1734 | 537 -69% | 1743 1% | 1858 7% | 534 -69% | 1516 -13% | 1741 ? 0% | 3986 ? 130% |
Graphics Card
The Radeon RX Vega 8 handles graphics tasks, which AMD integrates within the Ryzen 5 3500U. The GPU supports DirectX 12 and can reach 1,200 MHz, while it also supports eight compute units (CU). The Swift 3 performed as expected in 3DMark benchmarks and even outperforms the NVIDIA GeForce MX230 found in the IdeaPad S340-14IWL. The GPU benefits from operating in dual-channel mode too.
The GPU incorporates a hardware decoder as well, which relieves the processor of the resources required to stream or playback videos. Hence, you should have no issues with streaming videos on the Swift 3.
| 3DMark 11 Performance | 4019 points | |
| 3DMark Ice Storm Standard Score | 64530 points | |
| 3DMark Cloud Gate Standard Score | 13168 points | |
| 3DMark Fire Strike Score | 2146 points | |
| 3DMark Time Spy Score | 828 points | |
Help | ||
| 3DMark 11 - 1280x720 Performance GPU | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (583 - 16904, n=68, last 2 years) | |
| HP 14-dk0008ng | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-41-R8HZ | |
| Lenovo Ideapad S340-14IWL-81N70056GE | |
| Huawei MateBook D 14 W00D-53010GXL | |
| Average AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) (1668 - 4317, n=44) | |
| Asus VivoBook 14 X403FA | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-54-P2RK | |
| 3DMark | |
| 1920x1080 Fire Strike Graphics | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (436 - 12349, n=72, last 2 years) | |
| Lenovo Ideapad S340-14IWL-81N70056GE | |
| HP 14-dk0008ng | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-41-R8HZ | |
| Huawei MateBook D 14 W00D-53010GXL | |
| Average AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) (1095 - 2901, n=41) | |
| Asus VivoBook 14 X403FA | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-54-P2RK | |
| 1280x720 Cloud Gate Standard Graphics | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (3441 - 65911, n=57, last 2 years) | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-41-R8HZ | |
| HP 14-dk0008ng | |
| Lenovo Ideapad S340-14IWL-81N70056GE | |
| Huawei MateBook D 14 W00D-53010GXL | |
| Average AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) (7309 - 19399, n=37) | |
| Asus VivoBook 14 X403FA | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-54-P2RK | |
| 2560x1440 Time Spy Graphics | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (517 - 4773, n=69, last 2 years) | |
| HP 14-dk0008ng | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-41-R8HZ | |
| Average AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) (523 - 790, n=23) | |
| Asus VivoBook 14 X403FA | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-54-P2RK | |
Gaming Performance
Typically, integrated GPUs are not powerful enough to play modern games. However, the Radeon RX Vega 8 can even play recent titles like GRID 2019, Total War: Three Kingdoms or FIFA 20, although only at 768p and low graphics settings. The Swift 3 has no issues with playing older titles like BioShock Infinite on the high preset at 768p, though, while you may be able to increase the resolution to 1080p in less-demanding games like Dota 2 Reborn, Diablo 3, Sims 4, Team Fortress 2 or League of Legends, for example.
| low | med. | high | ultra | |
| BioShock Infinite (2013) | 117.3 | 67.2 | 53.4 | 18.4 |
| Total War: Three Kingdoms (2019) | 41.7 | 10.2 | 6.5 | |
| Ghost Recon Breakpoint (2019) | 17 | 9 | 9 | |
| GRID 2019 (2019) | 39.1 | 18.5 | 13.6 |
| BioShock Infinite - 1366x768 High Preset | |
| Lenovo Ideapad S340-14IWL-81N70056GE | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (last 2 years) | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-41-R8HZ | |
| Average AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) (17.2 - 68, n=16) | |
| HP 14-dk0008ng | |
| Asus VivoBook 14 X403FA | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-54-P2RK | |
Emissions - A quiet & cool subnotebook
Fan Noise
The Swift 3 never ran loudly during our tests. The single fan usually operates quietly or is off at idle, but it can reach 30.9 dB(A) under these conditions. During the stress test, we measured the fan reaching 36.6 dB(A), which is not overly loud.
Noise Level
| Idle |
| 30.4 / 30.9 / 30.9 dB(A) |
| Load |
| 36.3 / 36.6 dB(A) |
 | ||
30 dB silent 40 dB(A) audible 50 dB(A) loud |
||
min:  , med:  , max:  Audix TM1, Arta (15 cm distance) environment noise: 30.4 dB(A) | ||
Temperature
The Swift 3 does not get too hot either. Surface temperatures on our review unit never exceeded 40 °C during our tests, while the palm rest remained cool even during our stress tests. The whole device averages at around 25 °C when idling too.
We also ran a stress test comprised of FurMark and Prime95 to see how the Swift 3 performed under extreme load conditions. Initially, the system could keep the APU at between 2.4 and 2.7 GHz, but it gradually downclocked to 1.4 GHz after an hour's stress testing. This is 700 MHz below its base clock, for reference. Likewise, the GPU initially fluctuated between 600 and 800 MHz, before eventually dropping to 200 MHz. Please note that our stress tests push devices to their limits and do not represent how the Swift 3 would perform in resource-heavy tasks like gaming.
(+) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 37.1 °C / 99 F, compared to the average of 35.9 °C / 97 F, ranging from 21.4 to 59 °C for the class Subnotebook.
(+) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 39.6 °C / 103 F, compared to the average of 39.5 °C / 103 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 25.2 °C / 77 F, compared to the device average of 30.7 °C / 87 F.
(+) The palmrests and touchpad are cooler than skin temperature with a maximum of 30 °C / 86 F and are therefore cool to the touch.
(±) The average temperature of the palmrest area of similar devices was 28.3 °C / 82.9 F (-1.7 °C / -3.1 F).
Speakers
Acer Swift 3 SF314-41-R8HZ audio analysis
(-) | not very loud speakers (69.1 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 17.6% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (13.3% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(±) | higher mids - on average 5.1% higher than median
(±) | linearity of mids is average (12.7% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 2.3% away from median
(±) | linearity of highs is average (9.2% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (21.3% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 74% of all tested devices in this class were better, 4% similar, 22% worse
» The best had a delta of 5%, average was 18%, worst was 50%
Compared to all devices tested
» 60% of all tested devices were better, 8% similar, 32% worse
» The best had a delta of 3%, average was 20%, worst was 65%
Power Management - Low consumption & good runtimes
Power Consumption
The Swift 3 does not consume much energy when idling, with our review unit fluctuating between 5.7 and 9 W. Power consumption peaked at 42.4 W during our stress test, but the device averaged 40.1 W under sustained load. Acer includes a 45 W power supply in the box, so at no point should it stop charging the Swift 3.
| Off / Standby | 0.19 / 0.4 Watt |
| Idle | 5.7 / 7.6 / 9 Watt |
| Load |
40.1 / 42.4 Watt |
   
| |
Battery Life
The Swift 3 has a 48 Wh battery, which lasted 8:17 hours in our practical Wi-Fi test before it needed recharging. We conduct this test by running a script that simulates the load required to render websites, while we set the display to approximately 150 cd/m² and leave the device on the Balanced Windows 10 power plan. While the Swift 3 lasts longer than the class average here, it falls well short of what something like the ASUS VivoBook 14 X403FA achieves.
| Battery Runtime - WiFi Websurfing | |
| Asus VivoBook 14 X403FA (Firefox 69, Ubuntu 19.04) | |
| Asus VivoBook 14 X403FA (Edge 44) | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-54-P2RK (Edge 44) | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (258 - 1144, n=78, last 2 years) | |
| Huawei MateBook D 14 W00D-53010GXL | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-41-R8HZ (Edge 44) | |
| HP 14-dk0008ng (Edge 44) | |
| Lenovo Ideapad S340-14IWL-81N70056GE | |
Pros
Cons
Verdict
The Acer Swift 3 SF314-41 impressed us during our tests, not least because of its sleek and slim metal chassis. Its Ryzen 5 3500U APU provides more than enough performance for office and internet applications too, while its integrated GPU is powerful enough for some light gaming. Moreover, our review unit remained quiet and cool even during our stress tests, which push devices to their limits.
The Swift 3 SF314-41 is a largely successful 14-inch subnotebook. A brighter display and more complete I/O would have made for a more-rounded system, though.
An NVMe SSD also ensures that the device runs quickly and smoothly. You could swap the SSD for a larger or faster drive should you wish to, but doing so would require disassembling the device. The Swift 3 has a good keyboard too, while having the option of backlighting is always welcome. The device should last a full workday on a single charge.
The 14-inch 1080p display is a mixed bag, though. While the IPS panel boasts stable viewing angles, a matte finish, a good contrast ratio and reasonable colour accuracy, it is too dim for our liking. Even a 600-Euro (~$669) laptop should offer more here. Its colour-space coverage is also rather low.
We also have a minor gripe with the USB Type-C port that Acer has included. While we like that the company has included one at all, the omission of DisplayPort or Power Delivery support feels like a missed opportunity. The latter should be a given on a compact laptop like the Swift 3, as it would allow it to be charged using a universal power supply rather than a proprietary one. Notwithstanding, the Acer Swift 3 SF314-41-R8HZ is a solid 14-inch subnotebook that has plenty going for it.
Acer Swift 3 SF314-41-R8HZ
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11/04/2019 v7
Sascha Mölck
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