Acer Swift Go 14 (2024) Review – OLED Ultraportable Laptop

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The Acer Swift Go 14 (2024) is a sleek and powerful ultraportable laptop featuring a stunning 14″ OLED display, the latest Intel Core Ultra 7 processor, and a robust set of features.

This review looks at the SFG14-72-709U model, and there are several versions available including a newer SFG14-73 version which appears to have some minor differences such as WiFi 7.

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Specification

Display: 14″ WQXGA+ 2880 x 1800 OLED panel, 90Hz refresh rate, 16:10 aspect ratio, 100% sRGB color gamut, 99% DCI-P3 gamut, 380 nits brightness
Processor: Intel Core Ultra 7 155H (Intel 4 process) 16C/22T, 4.8 GHz max turbo frequency, 28W base power
Graphics: Intel Arc (8 Xe-cores)
RAM: 16GB LPDDR5X RAM (non-upgradable)
Storage: 1TB SSD (2x M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0, 1x free)
Audio: Down-firing stereo speaker system
Battery: 65 Watt-hours with 65W charging. Up to 11.5 hours maximum run time.
Keyboard: Chiclet backlit keyboard, 1.4mm travel
Security: Windows Hello-certified fingerprint login, TPM 2.0
Webcam: QHD (1440p) camera
I/O Ports: 2x Thunderbolt 4 (Power Delivery, DisplayPort), 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x microSD reader, 1x 3.5mm combo audio jack
Network: WiFi 6E & Bluetooth 5.1
Dimensions, Weight: 14.9 x 312.9 x 217.9 mm (H x W x D) & 1.3 kg

Design

The Swift Go 14 sports an aluminum chassis with a minimalist aesthetic. It doesn’t have the premium look and feel that alternative options have, but it is more affordable than most.

Measuring just 14.9mm thin and weighing 1.3kg, it is highly portable for a 14-inch laptop. The build quality feels solid with no noticeable flex.

Port selection is excellent, with two Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB-A ports, HDMI 2.1, a microSD card reader, and a headphone jack. The Thunderbolt 4 ports support power delivery and DisplayPort for connecting external monitors. You can also use a Thunderbolt 4 hub such as the Ugreen Revodok Max 213, which can help convert the laptop into a multi-monitor workstation with 2.5GbE wired ethernet.

The speakers are downwards firing. I used them for a proctored online exam, and I found that they were not the best but were still perfectly usable.

Opening the laptop up reveals a second M.2 slot for NVMe drives, which is always welcome as you can significantly expand storage without messing around with imaging the OS to a new drive. The WiFi module is also accessible so you can easily upgrade this to WIFi 7. As this is an Intel laptop, it should accept the Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE200 module.

One downside is that the RAM is soldered. 16GB of RAM should be enough for most people, but if you want the 32GB variant, then you will have to pay quite a large premium.

Display

The Swift Go 14’s highlight is its gorgeous 14-inch 2.8K OLED display. The screen is incredibly sharp and immersive with a 2880×1800 resolution, 90Hz refresh rate, and 16:10 aspect ratio. It covers 100% of the sRGB color gamut and 99% of the wider DCI-P3 gamut, making it suitable for color-critical work. The 500-nit brightness is sufficient for most indoor environments.

While gamers may prefer a higher refresh rate on their display, this is not really designed for gaming, and I find that 90Hz is excellent for anything that you are likely to do on this laptop.

OLED technology delivers perfect blacks, high contrast, and wide viewing angles. HDR content, in particular, looks stunning thanks to the display’s ability to light up individual pixels.

Keyboard

The chiclet keyboard has 1.4mm of key travel, which is decent for a laptop this thin. The keys have a satisfying tactile bump and are backlit for low-light use.

The glass trackpad is large and responsive, and it has Microsoft Precision drivers for accurate tracking and multi-touch gestures. The integrated fingerprint sensor works reliably for Windows Hello authentication.

Performance

Powered by Intel’s latest Core Ultra 7 155H processor, the Swift Go 14 delivers excellent performance for its class. The 16-core/22-thread CPU boosts up to 4.8 GHz and is built on the efficient Intel 4 process. It is paired with 16GB of fast LPDDR5X RAM and a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD.

Real-world performance is snappy, with the laptop handling demanding workloads like 4K video editing and large numbers of Chrome tabs with ease. The 90Hz display makes everyday use feel fluid and responsive. The dual-fan cooling system keeps temperatures in check, with the fans only becoming audible under sustained heavy loads.

For the below benchmarks, I have listed previous reviews for Time Spy and PCMark to give some idea of how this compares with older laptops.

3DMark Time Spy

Acer Swift Go 14 (2024): 3413 (CPU: 6261 GPU: 3160)
Acer Swift Edge 16: 2856 (CPU: 6875 GPU: 2589)
Acer Swift 5 2022: 1596 (CPU: 6212 GPU: 1411)
Acer Aspire Vero: 1607 (CPU: 4493 GPU: 1444)
Acer Swift 3X: 1890 (CPU: 4408 GPU: 1717)
Matebook 13: 1276 (CPU: 2673 GPU: 1169)

While the CPU doesn’t appear to have an advantage compared to older laptops I have reviewed, the GPU has significantly improved, and this should be capable of some light gaming.

PCMark

Acer Swift Go 14 (2024): 6100 (Essentials: 8775 Productivity: 7771)

Acer Swift Edge 16: 4878 (Essentials: 8541Productivity: 7614)
Acer Swift 5 2022: 4991 (Essentials: 8631 Productivity: 6451 )
Acer Aspire Vero: 5030 (Essentials: 9279 Productivity: 6812 )
Acer Swift 3X: 5014 (Essentials: 9468 Productivity: 6846 )
Matebook 13: 3970 (Essentials: 8759 Productivity: 7224 )

3Dmark: Additional Tests

3Dmark CPU Profile:
Storage Benchmark: 1958
Steal Nomad Light Score: 2536

Geekbench

GeekBench 5:
Acer Swift Go 14: 1,575 (single-core); 11,384 (multi-core)
Acer Swift Edge 16: 1,858 (single-core); 7,704(multi-core)
Acer Swift 5 2022: 1,681 (single-core); 9,097 (multi-core)
Acer Swift 3X : 1,426 (single-core); 5,581 (multi-core)

Geekbench 6:

Acer Swift Go 14: 2,129 (single-core); 11,851 (multi-core)

For the 1TB PCIe Gen4 SSD, you get decent read/write speeds of 4941MB/s and 4617MB/s.

Battery

Acer rates the 65 Wh battery for up to 11.5 hours of use. In my testing with mixed productivity workloads and the screen set to 200 nits, I averaged around 9 hours on a charge. Heavier tasks like video editing will drain the battery faster, but getting a full day of work done away from an outlet is feasible.

The included 65W USB-C charger tops up the battery quickly, going from zero to 50% in about 30 minutes.

OS and Software

The Swift Go 14 comes with Windows 11 Home out of the box.

As usual for Acer, there is quite a lot of bloatware, though with the growing amount of bloatware in Windows, it is becoming difficult to tell who is to blame.

Things like McAfee and various Acer applications such as AcerSense, Acer LiveArt and more are installed.

Unlike phones, you can remove any of these apps, including the Acer-branded ones.

Price and Alternative Options

The model I was sent is the SFG14-72-709U. The only place I can find with this exact listing is Currys, with the laptop priced at £1,099.

The Acer Store has the NX.KSGEK.002 variant with 32GB of RAM and 2TB of storage for £1,399.99.

Using the Currys website to find similar alternative options, there is:

Lenovo Yoga 7 14″ 2 in 1 Laptop
RAM: 16 GB DDR5 / Storage: 512 GB SSD

ASUS Zenbook 14 UX3405MA
Intel Core Ultra 7 155H Processor
RAM: 16 GB / Storage: 1 TB SSD

ASUS Zenbook S 13 OLED 13.3″
RAM: 16 GB DDR5 / Storage: 1 TB SSD

HP ENVY x360 14-fc0502na 14″ 2 in 1 Laptop
Intel Core Ultra 7 155U Processor
RAM: 16 GB DDR5 / Storage: 1 TB SSD

The Lenovo Yoga 7 is probably the best alternative option from the above. It is around the same price but benefits from a 2-in-1 design. However, the OLED display has a lower resolution, there is less storage, and it weighs more.

Overall

The Acer Swift Go 14 is an excellent ultraportable laptop that nails the fundamentals – performance, display quality, keyboard, battery life – while adding compelling features like OLED and Thunderbolt 4. The Core Ultra 7 155H processor delivers a significant performance boost over previous generations without sacrificing efficiency.

There are very few downsides. The 16GB of RAM is soldered and not user-upgradable, and the down-firing speakers are merely average. But these are minor niggles considering this laptop undercuts options from other brands with a similar spec.

Summary

Overall, the Swift Go 14 is easy to recommend for anyone seeking a premium Windows ultraportable. The combination of portability, performance, and display quality is tough to beat at this price point.