CES 2018 | Acer Swift 7 hands-on: the thinnest laptop in the world?

The new Acer Swift 7 (SF714-51T) which Acer announced as the thinnest notebook in the world two days ago has been unveiled at CES. We have already examined it, if briefly, and uncovered a few unusual details.

According to Acer, the CPU is cooled passively, which is not surprising in light of the low height of only 8.99 mm (~0.35 in). The device is 1 mm (0.04 in) thinner compared to its predecessor. It is also somewhat heavier due to the display being 14" large instead of 13.3 inches. Positive: the keyboard comes with a backlight.

Due to the extreme thinness, the Acer Switch 7 feels more like a tablet with its aluminum case leaving a high-quality impression. The same goes for the hinge, which appears slightly delicate though and also has an unusually large distance from the display. The touchpad is also unusual, since it cannot be clicked physically. As in Dell's XPS models, the webcam is in the center below the display.

While we were unable to verify the battery capacity ourselves, Acer specified that the SF714-51T is supposed to last one hour longer than its predecessor (its battery life Acer previously specified as up to 10 hours).

At least in the beginning, the device is only planned with the Intel Core i7-7Y75, 8 GB of RAM, and 256 GB of storage. At a later point, there should also be a version with twice the RAM and storage. In terms of connectivity, the two USB Type-C ports are USB 3.1 Gen 1 and not Thunderbolt compatible. Acer also emphasizes its claims of mobility with an installed LTE modem.

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