The Acer Swift 3 thinks a cool look is worth some extra cash

Acer’s Swift 3 thin-and-light consumer laptop could be called a crowd-pleaser, if only because you can currently buy models ranging in price from $650 and up, with abundant in RAM and storage, as well as both AMD and Intel CPUs. With the upgraded unit unveiled Wednesday at Acer’s next@acer event in New York, the company’s raising the bar in all respects: a cooler look—and a higher price ceiling. 

The Swift 3 we saw costs—are you sitting down?—$1,798. But don't panic: Acer will continue to offer a long list of configuration options that should help you get this laptop down to a range that fits your budget. Whatever the features inside, you'll enjoy an all-metal chassis with a brushed finish, and colors including gold, silver, blue, and rose. 

Features and specs: Choices galore

CPU: A mix of 7th-gen and 8th-gen parts: 

• Intel Core i7-8550U
• Intel Core i5-8250U
• Intel Core i3-8130U
• Intel Core i3-7130U
• Intel Core i7-7020U

The Core i7-8550U and Core i5-8250U are both quad-core parts, while the rest of the CPUs are dual-core. But the only reason to care about quad-core is if you’re working on CPU-intensive tasks like video or content creation. For mainstream applications, dual-core will do just fine. 

Memory: 

Storage: 

• Hard drives in 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB capacities
• Up to 512GB SATA 6Gbps SSD
• Up to 512GB NVMe PCIe Gen3 8Gbps in up to four lanes

Display: Your choice of 15.6-inch display with IPS technology, one with an FHD resolution (1920x1080), the other with UHD (3840x2160). Note the latter will take a toll on graphics performance and battery life, because it’s pushing four times as many pixels.  

Graphics: In addition to Intel’s integrated HD 620 and UHD 620, you may also choose Nvidia’s GeForce MX150, which suffices for 720p gaming at medium to high settings.

Connectivity: For a laptop this slender it’s pretty good, including one USB-C, three USB-A, an SD card slot, and a full HDMI port. You also get 802.11ac/a/g/b/n Wi-Fi supporting 2x2 MIMO technology. 

Dimensions: 14.1 x 9.56 x 0.67 inches

Weight: 3.74 to 3.96 pounds, depending on the configuration

Clearly the Acer Swift 3 is offering a lot of choices and a great new look. Lower-end models will likely have prices well below $1,000, if the current lineup is any indication. We’ll let you know if we hear more about prices and availability.