Expert’s Rating
Pros
- Sleek, sturdy design
- Sharp OLED display screen
- Pleasantly tactile keyboard
- Good battery life
Cons
- AI options nonetheless missing
- Some keyboard keys too cramped
- Too many pre-loaded apps
Our Verdict
The Acer Swift 16 AI is a succesful machine with an enormous, stunning display screen, however its AI chops are nonetheless unproven.
Price When Reviewed
This worth will present the geolocated pricing textual content for product undefined
Best Pricing Today
Price When Reviewed
$1,199.99
Best Prices Today: Acer Swift 16 AI
$1199.99
Acer is all in with AI computer systems, having now launched half a dozen machines with the AI oomph to qualify for Microsoft’s in-development Copilot designation. The largest of them thus far is the Acer Swift 16 AI, which sports activities a stunning 16-inch OLED display screen and the newest Intel Lunar Lake CPU.
This laptop computer is skinny and light-weight with a beautiful show and ample connectivity choices. The keyboard and trackpad are stable, however the reasonably pointless LED AI indicator. However, there are sooner computer systems on the market for a similar value, and the AI options may very well be extra strong. It’s good for the MSRP however even higher if you will discover it on sale.
Further studying: Best laptops 2025: Premium, budget, gaming, 2-in-1s, and more
Acer Swift 16 AI: Specs and options
Acer has used a number of totally different chipsets for its AI PCs, and a few machines have a number of choices throughout the assorted SKUs. The Acer Swift 16 AI, nevertheless, performs it straight with an Intel Lunar Lake CPU, paired with 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. There are not any different variations of the machine, which is offered at Best Buy, nevertheless it does have an expansive OLED display screen, which is an enormous step up from the IPS shows on Acer’s cheaper AI PCs.
- CPU: Intel Core Ultra 7 256V
- Memory: 16GB LPDDR5X
- Graphics: Intel Arc 140V
- Display: 16-inch 2880×1800 OLED
- Storage: 1TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD
- Webcam: 1440p IR Webcam
- Connectivity: 2x USB-C (Thunderbolt 4, 40Gbps), 2x USB-A (5Gbps), 3.5mm audio jack, HDMI 2.1
- Networking: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4
- Battery capability: 70Whr, 65W charging
- Dimensions: 14.02 (W) x 9.92 (D) x 0.58-0.69 (H) inches
- Weight: 3.37 lbs (1.53 kg)
- MSRP as examined: $1,199.99
The Acer Swift 16 AI is a reliable laptop computer for all of your common computing and productiveness wants.
Acer Swift 16 AI: Design and construct high quality
IDG / Ryan Whitwam
Given the big footprint, I used to be stunned how skinny and light-weight the Acer Swift 16 AI is. It’s at all times a balancing act with bigger laptops, however Acer threaded the needle pretty nicely right here. The machine is barely half an inch thick, and the whole chassis is aluminum. However, the steel physique isn’t very thick. There are locations like across the fan grilles the place you may see the body flexing a bit an excessive amount of, however the construct high quality is noticeably improved versus the smaller Acer Swift 14 AI.
When closed, the Acer Swift 16 AI seems to be elegant in an industrial manner. The flat black lid is freed from branding, save for a small acer brand and the AI “dots” badge in reverse corners. The fringe of the machine is flat the place the ports are, nevertheless it tapers alongside the remainder of the physique, making it straightforward to select up this sizeable laptop computer. It’s not too arduous to wrestle right into a bag, although, weighing in at 3.37 kilos. That’s a bit lower than the common 16-inch laptop computer.
The hinge on this machine feels applicable for its $1,200 value level. The laptop computer stays closed securely, nevertheless it solely takes one hand to open the display screen, which swings easily into place. There’s a small lip across the digital camera that helps open the laptop computer, too.
The rear fringe of the show body has ft that enhance the rear of the laptop computer just a few millimeters, giving it a slight incline that makes typing extra comfy. The digital camera lacks a privateness shutter, which I’d prefer to see at this value. The 1440p webcam helps Windows Hello biometric login, and the video high quality is sweet however not higher than the 1080p cameras on most laptops.
The Acer Swift 16 AI has a wide selection of ports, together with two USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 4, in addition to two legacy USB-A ports. There’s additionally a full-sized HDMI port and a headphone jack. I don’t love that each USB-C ports are on the left facet, that means the charging cable needs to be on that facet. The proper facet has only one USB-A and the headphone jack.
Acer Swift 16 AI: Display and audio system
IDG / Ryan Whitwam
The Acer Swift 16 AI seems to be nice, nevertheless it’s not fairly the showstopper it may very well be. The 2880×1800 decision may be very sharp at regular viewing distances, and the contact response is quick and exact. It additionally helps an optionally available 120Hz refresh fee if you would like smoother animations on the expense of battery life.
As an OLED, the colours are beautiful if barely unrealistic. You also can allow HDR content material on this show, nevertheless it may not pop fairly such as you anticipate. The brightness tops out at 340 nits, which is a bit on the low facet for HDR. It is, nevertheless, a superb bit brighter than the LCDs and IPS screens you usually see at this value. The brightness is sweet sufficient to be used in all indoor settings, however the extremely reflective display screen makes outside use questionable.
The audio system are on the underside close to the entrance, a standard location for audio system on notebooks. They sound good at low and mid quantity ranges, however there’s distortion and little or no bass if you crank it up. They’re very common for a laptop computer in 2025 despite the DTS audio certification.
Acer Swift 16 AI: Keyboard and trackpad
IDG / Ryan Whitwam
The high quality of Acer laptop computer keyboards varies massively throughout its product line. In the case of the Acer Swift 16 AI the typing expertise is total superb. The keys are steady, quiet, and fairly tactile. The energy button is within the far higher proper nook, and regardless of the dearth of any visible identification, it’s additionally a fingerprint sensor. It’s very correct however sluggish like all Windows Hello biometrics.
Most of the vital keys are a superb dimension, however I don’t take care of having the up and down arrows crammed right into a single key unit. There is a full quantity pad on this machine, nevertheless it’s fairly squished. These keys are solely about 75 p.c as large because the alphas, which makes it arduous to depend on muscle reminiscence to enter numbers on the pad. It’s nonetheless higher to have it than not, given the ample floor space of this laptop computer.
The trackpad doesn’t take full benefit of all that room. It’s a bit on the small facet, although it’s sturdy and correct. The total really feel of the trackpad, in addition to the clicking mechanism, are an enormous step up from the Arm-based Acer Swift 14 AI, which felt fairly off to me.
The trackpad has the identical light-up AI brand within the nook as the corporate’s different AI-branded laptops. It blinks if you entry AI options. It’s completely pointless, however you may flip it off within the Acer settings.
Acer Swift 16 AI: Performance
Acer masses its PCs with extra software program than most PC distributors—that has the potential to be good, nevertheless it’s largely dangerous. There’s the McAfee suite, just a few settings apps, a photograph editor, a set of third-party video games, and a number of other customized AI instruments. It will take a bit to clear away the bloatware, however even Acer’s software program gained’t get a lot use.
On one hand, I applaud Acer for really bundling AI instruments on its AI laptops. On the opposite, they don’t work very nicely. Apps like Acer Assist and VisionArt load an AI mannequin domestically to offer a chatbot and background technology, respectively. The mannequin is about 5GB gigabytes in dimension, so it’ll go away you with little or no free reminiscence on this 16GB system.
The mannequin output can be extraordinarily sluggish, and I wasn’t impressed with the chatbot’s capabilities or the dearth of choices within the wallpaper app. It’s additionally odd that these instruments don’t use the Lunar Lake chip’s NPU—all of the AI work is completed on the GPU. Acer says it’s planning to enhance the on-device fashions quickly, which is able to embrace help for operating them on the NPU.
The common system efficiency with the Core Ultra 7 is sweet. While Intel’s newest chips aren’t perfect for closely multithreaded functions, the GPU is among the many greatest you’ll see in need of a devoted chip. Thermal efficiency can be good, however Acer’s default energy state is a bit slower than competing machines. When in high-performance mode, the laptop computer does get noticeably louder. It’s whisper-quiet in Normal mode.
To provide you with a greater concept of how the laptop computer performs, listed below are our customary benchmark assessments.
IDG / Ryan Whitwam
PCMark 10 is designed to check a machine throughout quite a lot of metrics like internet looking, video chat, and picture enhancing. The Acer Swift 16 AI simply bests Meteor Lake chips right here, however its default efficiency tuning makes it barely slower than different Lunar Lake-based machines with a rating of 6,539. The newest AMD Ryzen chips are additionally operating forward on this system benchmark.
IDG / Ryan Whitwam
Cinebench is a CPU-focused take a look at that exhibits how a PC handles heavy however transient multi-core workloads. More CPU cores grant greater scores in Cinebench and cooling doesn’t matter very a lot. With Intel’s transfer away from hyperthreading, the Core Ultra 7 doesn’t do as nicely on this take a look at, citing the rear with even the Meteor Lake TravelMate P4 forward. However, switching to the Acer efficiency mode boosts the rating to about 10,000, which is extra consistent with competing laptops.
IDG / Ryan Whitwam
The Handbrake take a look at is just like Cinebench in that it exhibits how a pc handles multithreaded duties, however this can be a longer-duration take a look at the place thermals matter extra. While we don’t have any considerations with the laptop computer’s thermal efficiency, the eight-core/eight-thread design retains this machine close to the underside of the heap. Switching to efficiency mode does shave just a few hundred seconds off the encode, however AMD’s AI 300 components run away with this one.
IDG / Ryan Whitwam
Our principal gaming take a look at is 3DMark Time Spy, a graphical benchmark that focuses on GPU efficiency. This isn’t a gaming laptop, however Intel’s newest iGPUs are fairly good. Here, the Acer Swift 16 AI is close to the highest at 3,988, besting even the Ryzen AI 9 with its Radeon GPU. The Acer Swift 16 AI is quick sufficient to play easy fashionable video games or titles which can be just a few years outdated at decrease settings.
Acer Swift 16 AI: Battery life
The Acer Swift 16 AI sports activities a 70Wh battery, which is common for a laptop computer of this dimension. It costs over USB-PD by way of both of the USB-C ports, with a peak velocity of 65W. That’s customary for productiveness laptops nowadays. The machine comes with a clunky charger, however we examined extra compact third-party choices, all of which charged the Acer Swift 16 AI simply as nicely.
IDG / Ryan Whitwam
The Acer Swift 16 AI will final you a whole work day after which some. To quantify that, we ran our customary battery rundown take a look at, which consists of taking part in a 4K video on a loop at set brightness till the machine dies. The Acer Swift 16 AI lasted 1,053 minutes (about 17.5 hours), which may be very aggressive. The show was within the default 60Hz mode for this take a look at—switching to 120Hz will cut back battery life.
Acer Swift 16 AI: Conclusion
Like its smaller incarnation, the Acer Swift 16 AI is a reliable laptop computer for all of your common computing and productiveness wants. Acer is attempting as arduous as any OEM to justify the AI hype with options like Acer Assist. However, even all this effort doesn’t assure a superb AI expertise. Microsoft’s Copilot+ options are nonetheless barely there in Windows 11.
Beyond all of the advertising, the Acer Swift 16 AI is quick sufficient for nearly everybody with a Core Ultra 7, however I want Acer made this laptop computer in a Core Ultra 9 variant. Even then, the machine’s multithreaded efficiency could be missing. If you’re going to be enhancing video, an AMD-based machine is your greatest guess proper now.
While this laptop computer shares rather a lot with the 14-inch Acer AI PC, it seems to be nicer. The step as much as an OLED display screen, with its vibrant colours and deep blacks, is appreciated as nicely. The keyboard is a delight to make use of, and it’s good to see a full quantity pad, even when the keys are a bit cramped.
The $1,200 MSRP feels barely excessive for what you get, significantly when machines just like the HP Omnibook Ultra usually promote for across the similar value. The Acer Swift 16 AI has dropped under $900 on sale, which is a steal. If you occur to catch it on sale for just a few hundred off, this can be a nice buy.