The Acer Swift 14 AI impressed with its exceptional battery life, powered by Intel’s Lunar Lake chipset. Now, Acer aims to replicate this success with the Swift Go 14 AI, leveraging Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Plus platform for even greater affordability. This 14.5-inch laptop boasts a higher-resolution display and a distinct design, offering impressive battery life that rivals Apple’s M3 MacBook Air. While not the absolute best laptop available, the Swift Go 14 AI presents a compelling option for users prioritizing battery longevity and solid performance without breaking the bank.
Specifications and Configuration
The Acer Swift Go 14 AI currently offers a single configuration, available exclusively through the Acer web store. Priced at $1,000 (currently on sale for $800), it features the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus chipset, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and a 14.5-inch QHD+ IPS display.
This sale price makes it a highly competitive option. A hypothetical 512GB model could potentially be even more budget-friendly. Comparable Qualcomm-based laptops, like the Lenovo IdeaPad 5x 2-in-1, are priced similarly but offer a smaller, lower-resolution FHD+ OLED display. The Intel Lunar Lake-powered Acer Swift 14 AI starts at a significantly higher $1,200 with an FHD+ IPS display. While premium alternatives like the Surface Laptop 7th Edition can sometimes match this price on sale, they often come with less storage.
| Feature | Acer Swift Go 14 AI |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 12.30 x 8.80 x 0.67-0.74 inches |
| Weight | 3.05 pounds |
| Display | 14.5-inch 16:10 QHD+ (2560 x 1600) IPS, 120Hz |
| CPU | Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100 |
| GPU | Qualcomm Adreno |
| Memory | 16GB |
| Storage | 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD |
| Ports | 2 x USB4, 2 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, 1 x 3.5mm headphone jack |
| Camera | 1440p with infrared camera for Windows 11 Hello |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 |
| Battery | 75 watt-hour |
| Operating System | Windows 11 on Arm |
| Price | $1,000 |
Design and Build Quality
The Swift Go 14 AI shares a similar footprint with the Swift 14 AI, despite its larger 14.5-inch display. However, it’s noticeably thicker and heavier. Its design is more aggressive, featuring prominent vents beneath the lid, suggesting enhanced performance capabilities. Similar to Lenovo’s approach, Acer incorporates a reverse notch to minimize the top bezel while avoiding Apple’s display notch.
Acer Swift Go 14 AI rear view showing lid and logo.
Aesthetically, it falls short compared to some recent 14-inch laptops, such as the HP OmniBook Ultra Flip 14. The Swift Go 14 AI’s sweeping side curve clashes with the sharper lines on the rear chassis, lacking the cohesive flow of the Swift 14 AI’s design.
The all-aluminum construction is robust, exhibiting no flex or twisting in the lid, keyboard deck, or bottom chassis. This level of build quality has become increasingly common, even in laptops priced below $1,000, echoing the sturdy construction of the IdeaPad 5x 2-in-1.
Keyboard and Touchpad
The keyboard is adequate, though the keycaps are slightly smaller than ideal. Key spacing and layout are comfortable. However, the key switches feel somewhat spongy, contrasting with the snappier switches of the Swift 14 AI and the superior keyboard of the OmniBook Ultra Flip 14.
Acer Swift Go AI 14 top down view showing keyboard and touchpad.
The touchpad is sufficiently large and functional. While haptic touchpads like those found on Apple MacBooks are preferable, they are not yet common in this price range. Unlike the Swift 14 AI, the Swift Go 14 AI lacks a touchscreen. The touchpad features an LED indicator for AI feature usage, though it remained inactive during testing.
Webcam and Connectivity
The Swift Go 14 AI offers a good selection of ports. Two USB4 ports provide fast connectivity, complemented by two legacy USB-A ports. An SD card reader is absent, a trend observed in many modern laptops. Wireless connectivity is cutting-edge with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4.
Acer Swift Go 14 AI left side view showing ports.
Acer Swift Go 14 AI right side view showing ports.
The webcam boasts a 1440p resolution, exceeding the current 1080p standard. The Qualcomm chipset integrates a powerful 45 TOPS NPU, surpassing Microsoft’s Copilot+ requirement of 40 TOPS. This ensures efficient and performant on-device support for all Copilot+ AI features.
Performance
The Swift Go 14 AI is powered by the 8-core Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100, running at 3.2GHz with a single-core boost to 3.4GHz. While less powerful than the 12-core Snapdragon X Elite, it outperforms the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V in the Lunar Lake lineup. Its Adreno GPU, running at 1.7 TFLOPS, is slower than the Elite Adreno.
Acer Swift Go 14 AI rear view showing vents.
Benchmark results demonstrate strong CPU performance, exceeding other Lunar Lake laptops but trailing the Snapdragon X Elite-powered HP OmniBook X. GPU performance lags behind the competition. The M3 MacBook Air leads in single-core performance and trails slightly in multi-core performance.
| Laptop | Cinebench R24 (single/multi) | Geekbench 6 (single/multi) | 3DMark Wild Life Extreme |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acer Swift Go 14 AI | 107 / 716 | 2413 / 11388 | 3231 |
| Acer Swift 14 AI | 121 / 525 | 2755 / 11138 | 5294 |
| HP OmniBook Ultra Flip 14 | 116 / 598 | 2483 / 10725 | 7573 |
| HP Spectre x360 14 | 102 / 485 | 2176 / 11980 | N/A |
| Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition | 109 / 630 | 2485 / 10569 | 5217 |
| Asus Zenbook S 14 | 112 / 452 | 2738 / 10734 | 7514 |
| HP OmniBook X | 101 / 749 | 2377 / 13490 | 6165 |
| MacBook Air | 141 / 601 | 3102 / 12078 | 8098 |
Battery Life
Both Qualcomm and Intel have prioritized efficiency, addressing the battery life gap between Windows laptops and Apple’s Silicon MacBooks. The Swift Go 14 AI excels in web browsing and video playback tests, promising multi-day battery life with typical usage. This marks another achievement for Acer, following the impressive battery performance of the Swift 14 AI.
Acer Swift Go 14 AI side view showing lid and ports.
While the M3 MacBook Air remains competitive, the Swift Go 14 AI demonstrates that long battery life is achievable on Windows platforms.
| Laptop | Web Browsing | Video | Cinebench R24 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acer Swift Go 14 AI | 15 hours, 29 minutes | 21 hours, 38 minutes | 1 hour, 42 minutes |
| Acer Swift 14 AI | 17 hours, 22 minutes | 24 hours, 10 minutes | 2 hours, 7 minutes |
| HP OmniBook Ultra Flip 14 | 11 hours, 5 minutes | 15 hours, 46 minutes | 2 hours, 14 minutes |
| HP Spectre x360 14 | 7 hours, 9 minutes | 14 hours, 22 minutes | N/A |
| Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition | 14 hours, 16 minutes | 17 hours, 31 minutes | 2 hours, 15 minutes |
| Asus Zenbook S 14 | 16 hours, 47 minutes | 18 hours, 35 minutes | 3 hours, 33 minutes |
| Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 | 14 hours, 21 minutes | 22 hours, 39 minutes | N/A |
| HP Omnibook X | 13 hours, 37 minutes | 22 hours, 4 minutes | 1 hour, 52 minutes |
| Apple MacBook Air | 19 hours, 38 minutes | 19 hours, 39 minutes | 3 hours, 27 minutes |
Display and Audio
The Swift Go 14 AI features a 14.5-inch QHD+ (2560 x 1440) IPS display with a 120Hz refresh rate, a significant upgrade from the Swift 14 AI’s 14.0-inch FHD+ 60Hz display. The increased sharpness is noticeable, and colors and brightness are excellent.
Acer Swift Go 14 AI front view showing display and keyboard.
Recent improvements in display technology are evident in the Swift Go 14 AI. It achieves a brightness of 407 nits and a contrast ratio of 1,270:1, exceeding typical standards. Color coverage is broad, encompassing 100% of sRGB, 80% of AdobeRGB, and 82% of DCI-P3, with a good DeltaE of 1.61. This display strikes a good balance between visual quality and battery life.
The audio quality, however, is less impressive. The downward-firing speakers are adequate for casual use, but headphones are recommended for a richer audio experience.
Conclusion: A Compelling Value Proposition
The Acer Swift Go 14 AI may not be the most visually appealing laptop, but its attractive price, especially when on sale, makes it a compelling option. For $800, users get a well-built, fully configured laptop with a very good display. More importantly, it offers solid performance for productivity tasks and exceptional battery life. While app compatibility on Windows on Arm should be considered, it is less of a concern than in the past. If you can overlook the less-than-stellar design, the Swift Go 14 AI is a worthy contender.
