Acer Swift 14 AI review: does the ARM platform have a right to live?

Almost half a century has passed since the first x86 processors appeared. It would seem that no force can compete against the representatives of modern CPU titans: Intel and AMD. However, the rules of the game are changing, and now we have an unusual, and to some extent revolutionary, ARM laptop — Acer Swift 14 AI (SF14-11-X6V5) based on Snapdragon X Plus.

Specifications of Acer Swift 14 AI (SF14-11-X6V5)

Screen	14.5″, 2560 x 1600 IPS 16:10, 120 Hz, 400 nits, matte
Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus X1P-64-100 (10 cores (6P + 4E), 3.4 GHz, 4 nm, 2024)
RAM	16 GB LPDDR5 (Dual Channel, 8448 MHz)
Drive	1 TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 WD PC SN5000s SN5000S SDEQNSJ-1T00-1014 QLC
Video card	Ardeno GPU
Wireless interfaces	Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be), Bluetooth 5.4
Wired interfaces	2 x USB 3.2 (Gen1, Type-A) + 2 x USB Type-C (40 Gbps) Type-C to HDMI adapter 1 x 3.5 mm combined audio jack
Power supply	65 W; Type-C
Battery	75 W*h, 4 cells, lithium-ion
Weight	1.35 kg
Dimensions	32.3 x 23.6 x 1.7 cm

Package and packaging

The laptop arrived for review in a neat and convenient box, which is conventionally divided into several compartments. Opening it, we see the top compartment with documentation and a mini-box for the adapter Type-C-to-HDMI. The second compartment contains the laptop itself. To the right of it is a separate compartment for a 65W power supply and power cable.

The box itself is made of recycled pulp and is recyclable. On the side, you can find basic information about the laptop and its serial number. In addition, you can see an interesting logo on the front with the words AI PC. We will talk about it a little later.

Design, ergonomics and materials

The Acer Swift 14 AI (SF14-11-X6V5) arrived for review in a solid Steel Gray color. In my opinion, this is one of the most practical options because it does not collect fingerprints.

The case is made of aluminum alloy, which is not surprising given the price of the laptop. On the back of the display is the Acer inscription, as well as the AI PC logo, which we have already seen on the box.

Acer Swift 14 AI (SF14-11-X6V5) is 17 mm thick and weighs 1.3 kg. In general, the laptop is well-built, although the central area of the keyboard begins to bend under excessive pressure. This is typical for many laptops and there is nothing critical about it.

The laptop opens easily with one finger, its hinges are wide and look solid. When you open the laptop, they shift the display downward and slightly raise it above the surface. The advantage of this solution is better air access from the bottom of the case. In addition, the laptop opens 180 degrees. This would be very convenient when using a touchscreen display, which unfortunately is not available in this instance.

The laptop is fixed on the surface thanks to two rubber inserts that prevent it from slipping during operation.If you look closely, the frame around the screen is made of plastic. Against the background of the overall design, this somewhat stands out from the functional composition because a glossy glass surface would look much more harmonious.

Wired and wireless interfaces

Acer Swift 14 AI (SF14-11-X6V5) is equipped with two ports USB 3.2 (Gen1, Type-A), located on different sides of the laptop. I am glad that Acer did not follow the trends in which less and less space is allocated for the classic Type-A interface. In my case, I connected a keyboard and mouse to them.

On the left side, we can find two USB Type-Cs with USB 4 support, and I connected an external SSD to one of them. But the second Type-C was mostly occupied by connecting an additional monitor via a special bundled adapter. The device is also charged via Type-C.

Keyboard and trackpad

The laptop is equipped with a low-profile chiclet keyboard with single-zone backlighting and two-stage brightness. It has a medium volume when typing, so you won’t be uncomfortable with the sound. The only exception is the echoing sound of the space bar.

On the left, next to Fn, the classic Ctrl key is located in its standard place. On the right, near the cursor control keys, following general trends, the manufacturer has placed the Microsoft Copilot call button. In the Windows settings, you can reassign it to launch another program, but for some reason, it is not allowed to simply return the classic right Ctrl function to it.

In the upper-right corner is the Power button, which is not very well-placed. You can accidentally press it instead of Del if you work with text without an additional keyboard, thereby unnecessarily triggering a dialog box to shut down the systemWe also have access to the proprietary AcerSense key, which calls up proprietary software.

After working with text for a few days, you’ll come to the conclusion that you’re unlikely to want to use the built-in keyboard all the time because the keystrokes is not clear enough and feels a bit jelly.

The Acer Swift 14 AI (SF14-11-X6V5) comes with a large touchpad (126 x 78 mm) with a pleasant tactility. It is moderately sensitive and recognizes standard gestures in Windows 11 without any problems. The touchpad has a designer light indicator built in that signals the activity of artificial intelligence. This is a rather smart move for the developers to visualize the fact of AI usage for the user once again.

Acer Swift 14 AI display (SF14-11-X6V5)

This model is equipped with a matte 14.5-inch IPS display with a resolution of 2650 x 1600 pixels. The aspect ratio is 16:10, and the refresh rate is 120 Hertz. Unfortunately, the display is not touch-sensitive in this configuration, although such versions exist on other models.

Thanks to the ComfyView anti-glare coating, the laptop is comfortable to work with even in direct sunlight if you experiment with the angle of inclination. The display matrix is identified by the AIDA64 program as HKC9122.

The manufacturer claims 100% sRGB color coverage and 400 nits of brightness. DCI-P3 falls a little short of 70%, so don’t expect any serious work with images and graphics. But for average scenarios it will be enough. Colors are generally pleasant, although there is uneven backlighting around the edges. You can also notice a significant gradient in the transition between white and black.

Camera and sound

Finally, the seemingly endless supply of HD matrices has run out in suppliers’ warehouses. The Acer Swift 14 AI (SF14-11-X6V5) boasts a QHD 1440p webcam with a mechanical shutter. It is characterized by «noise» even in medium light, which is not surprising for optics of this class.

The laptop tries to smooth out these shortcomings with Acer’s proprietary PurifiedView utility, which uses the capabilities of the built-in NPU. At this point, we see the AI indicator on the touchpad start to shimmer with white light.

This way, the output is a picture that looks like it’s been through a beautification filter. This can be corrected by increasing the «Sharpness» parameter. Also, the classic artifacts of AI processing are noticeable in the dynamics: ghosting effect, blur, and strange bifurcation of the pupils. I did not notice any obvious benefit from «Neuroenhancement». Post-processing from the webcam was performed by some software before, using little power from the CPU and video card.

Acer Swift 14 AI (SF14-11-X6V5) supports DTS-X technology, which generates spatial sound. This adds better detail in a variety of audio modes. For this, you will need additional high-quality headphones or a separate audio system.

Overall, the sound in the laptop is of average quality: it’s loud, with good detail in the high and medium frequencies, but lacking in bass. It’s enough for basic everyday use.

Proprietary software

In the Acer Swift 14 AI (SF14-11-X6V5), we can find the branded Settings Center, which has five main tabs: «Get Started», «Check», «Personal Settings», «App Center», and «Experience Zone». Here, we can monitor and control the temperatures of the main components.

It also selects the performance mode and displays the battery status. There are only a few functions in the personal settings: the system usage mode, enabling eye protection, and turning off the touchpad backlight effect when the AI is working.

As you can see, there are very few functions and settings. At the very least, there is a lack of more diverse settings and an elementary limitation of the battery charge to extend its life. I hope that in the future the manufacturer will continue to develop its proprietary software, bringing it to an acceptable level.

Acer Swift 14 AI (SF14-11-X6V5) performance and benchmarks

Just a few years ago, we could not imagine that anyone would be able to seriously compete with the seemingly eternal titans in the laptop processor market. However, Microsoft first tried to «make friends with» Windows with ARM back in 2012. Until recently, processors with this architecture were the prerogative of Surface laptops.

The Acer Swift 14 AI (SF14-11-X6V5) has the following processor Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus X1P-64-100. It is made using the 4 nanometer process, contains 6 productive and 4 energy-efficient cores. The volume of the first level cache is 2.8 MB, and the second level is — 36 MB. Unlike the latest representatives of the usual x86 architecture, Oryon does not have a third level. At maximum load, the processor frequency reaches 3.4 GHz. Depending on the selected mode («Productive», «Optimal», «Energy Efficient»), the value of the base frequencies is adjusted. You will hardly notice the difference between the first two, but in the energy-saving mode, performance drops by about a third.

The TDP of the processor is 40 W, which makes it equally comparable to competitive solutions from Intel (Core Ultra 7 256V, Core Ultra 7 258V) and AMD (Ryzen AI 9 365). Moreover, they are also used in the Acer Swift AI series.

The test results of Acer Swift 14 AI (SF14-11-X6V5) do not differ depending on the power supply method. That is, it makes no difference whether the laptop is powered by the charging adapter or the built-in battery.

The Google Octane 2.0 plus score was measured first in the ARM browser, and then on Chrome x86 running in compatibility mode. This was done to understand how significant the difference in performance is when executing «non-native code». As you can see, in the single-core test, the performance in x86 compatibility mode drops by half, and in MultiCore — it actually quadruples.

Browser tests of WebXPRT 4 and Speedometer 3.0 show good results. The interesting thing is that Core Ultra 7 258V is about 20% faster than ours Snapdragon X Plus X1P-64-100 in the single-core Octan 2.0 test and at the same time loses 20% in the multicore test. 

I also tried to run the CPU-Z test in both versions: native — ARM and x86 compatible. In this case, you can clearly see how much performance we lose when using classic applications. In both modes: SingleCore and MultiCore, we observe an eightfold drop in performance in x86. Consider this aspect if you are going to work in demanding software packages that do not have ARM versions.

If we run the CPU-Z benchmark in energy-efficient mode, even then, we get results at the level of a conventional desktop Ryzen 5 3600, which is more than enough for routine office tasks.

In Cinebench R23, for some reason, the processor didn’t want to work at full capacity. It dropped frequencies to 2.52 GHz and was loaded to a maximum of 75%. At the same time, it did not reach a temperature that could be attributed to throttling. We will consider this a bug in the optimization of the test program.

There was no such problem in Cinebench 2024, and the laptop worked stably. In the multicore test, it almost caught up with the Apple M1 Max, and in the single-core test it even overtook the desktop Ryzen 7 5800X. So fans of synthetic numbers will be satisfied. Nevertheless, some practical applications, such as D5 Renderer, even refused to run, complaining about non-compliance with system requirements.

Since AIDA64 doesn’t have its own ARM version, you shouldn’t trust its performance, although I’ve posted a screenshot of the memory test in the gallery. During a long hour-long stress test in AIDA64 The Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus X1P-64-100 heated up to no more than 75 degrees, while dropping the frequency to 2.5 GHz.

Memory in Acer Swift 14 AI (SF14-11-X6V5) operates at lightning fast frequencies — 8448 MHz. But in 2024-2025, you should install at least 32 GB of RAM because even Windows 11 ARM without running programs takes up as much as 8 gigabytes of memory. Therefore, the user is left with very little for their work needs.

And finally, it’s time to check out the famous artificial intelligence technologies. According to the manufacturer, the peak speed of the built-in NPU is 45 TOPS (Trillions of Operations Per Second). Looking ahead, this figure reminded me of a situation when your car has 300+ horsepower, but at the start, the road is slippery and you have front-wheel drive. You step on the gas, and the wheels simply cannot grip the surface. All the power of the iron horse dissolves into slipping and puffs of smoke.

It is the same with the NPU, it has a lot of «powers» under the hood, but it cannot yet realize them. This is not through any fault of its own, but because software developers have not yet learned how to work with it.

Benchmark	Result
CPU-Z, Single (ARM Balance)	675
CPU-Z, Multi (ARM Balance)	6639
CPU-Z, Single (ARM Energy effective)	492
CPU-Z, Multi (ARM Energy effective)	4321
CPU-Z, Single (x86)	79
CPU-Z, Multi (x86)	779
AIDA64 Cashe and Memory Benchmark, Mb/S (x86)	Read – 119 770 Write – 44 626 Copy – 63 595
Speedometr 3.0 (ARM Balnce)	24,1
Octane 2.0 Plus (ARM Balance)	Octan Score – 79 559 Multi Score – 551 662
Octane 2.0 Plus (x86)	Octan Score – 40 606 Multi Score – 127 319
GeekBench 6 (ARM Balance)	Single Core – 2397 Multi Core – 13 034
GeekBench 6 Opne CL Score (ARM Balance)	20 836
WebXPRT 4 (ARM Balance)	260
Cinebench 2024 (ARM Balance)	Single Core – 104 Multi Core – 729

Thanks to the indicator on the touchpad, we can visually assess when the neural processor is actually active. I have seen it work in only two scenarios: when processing images from the built-in webcam during online meetings, and during the GeekBench AI test. Moreover, its peak utilization was no more than 70% and was uneven even in the synthetic test.

The program for offline image generation Amuse v.2.3.2. simply crashed to the desktop without warning after entering the promt, and Fooocus doesn’t work with anything but discrete solutions from NVIDIA. The only one that agreed to function at least somehow was LM Studio, and it used only the properties of the CPU without NPU.

In our copy of the Acer Swift 14 AI (SF14-11-X6V5) there was The WD PC SN5000s is a fast 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD with PCIe 4.0 bus support. With a 70% full partition, it showed excellent read and write performance in various modes.

The Qualcomm Adreno is not a gaming core, so its task is simply to display images on our display. I tried to run some games and in most cases I was met with a fiasco. They either didn’t launch, showed low FPS, or worked incorrectly. In addition, it is quite problematic to monitor the usual indicators on ARM. FPS Monitor refused to work, MSI Afterburner worked with varying success, but demonstrated only the frame rate, and not in all projects. But the good old FRAPS did not get confused and confidently showed yellow numbers in the corner of the screen.

Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus X1P-64-100 + Ardeno GPU
Game	Average FPS
Cyberpunk Phantom Liberty (1080p, Low, FSR — Ultra Performance)	25
The Witcher 3: NextGen (720p, Low)	42
Horizon Zero Dawn (720p, Low, FSR Quality)	25
Genshin Impact (720p, Low, FSR Quality)	38
GTA 5 (720p, Low, FSR Quality)	41
Counter-Strike 2 (720p, Low)	51

If you’re going to play CyberPunk 2077, The Witcher 3, or Silent Hill 2 Remake on Acer Swift 14 AI, I recommend looking at Intel and AMD-based configurations. After all, even running Counter-Strike 2 on the minimum settings at 720p in the «fight to the death» mode, I became easy prey for local shooters. Endless stators and friezes made it impossible to even aim at the enemy

Battery life, temperatures, and noise

Most future buyers of ARM laptops have high hopes for high battery life, low heat, and, as a result, quiet operation of their future device. And here I have two pieces of news for you: one good and one bad. Which one to start with? Probably, traditionally, with the worst.

If you think that your Windows laptop will work for 20 hours without recharging while being as cold as ice and as quiet as your cat’s breath, you’re in for a surpriseI used the Acer Swift 14 AI (SF14-11-X6V5) for a few days in my classic work scenarios. They didn’t include anything out of the ordinary: browsing, slow image processing in Photoshop 2024, and a bit of resource-intensive specialized software. In this mode, the laptop worked for 5 hours and 23 minutes in balanced mode and medium screen brightness with the power saving mode turned off.

At first I thought it was the result of downloaded and installed system updates. The second time I got a similar result.

When the CPU temperature reached 47°C in optimal mode, the cooling system started. The rustle of the turbines is not loud, this indicator reached 45 decibels at a distance of 30-40 centimeters from the keyboard. Temperatures rose to 74-75 degrees Celsius, and the heating of the case at the hottest point near the keyboard unit was about 44-46 °C under prolonged load. The room temperature did not exceed 23 °C during the measurement.

And now it’s time for the good news. In a YouTube test with optimal mode and medium brightness, the ARM architecture demonstrated excellent optimization, allowing the laptop to last 14 hours and 25 minutes. This is a bit more than models powered by Intel AI processors, let alone AMD, can afford.

I ran the next test in the energy-saving mode. I will say in advance that I liked it the most. Along with sufficient performance, the fans almost never turned on. In this scenario, I got exactly what I hoped to see, so to speak, «in the default» mode: silence, low heating performance, and energy efficiency The temperatures in this case did not rise above 56 degrees Celsius. Acer Swift 14 AI (SF14-11-X6V5) was able to provide 8 hours and 35 minutes of continuous office work. If it is maximally loaded, then it will be able to last about 1 hour and 40 minutes.

Charging from 0 — 80% takes 1 hour and 10 minutes, with the energy meter showing a consumption of up to 66 watts. To reach «the coveted hundred» full charge, we need a little less than two hours

The laptop’s 75 Wh lithium-polymer battery is located in the classic bottom of the laptop. The cooling system is implemented in the form of two turbines with a common heat pipe that blow hot air up to the display.

Experience of use

I’ve been using the Acer Swift 14 AI (SF14-11-X6V5) for seven days, trying to cover a wider range of user scenarios. I’ll admit that I’m a fan of devices that are as versatile as possible and support a variety of operating systems, including Linux.Looking into the BIOS, I hoped to see an option to boot from a flash drive, but there was no such choice. When I tried to select a bootable device in the selection menu, the laptop refused to see the flash drive despite all the manipulations.

I also lacked a separate HDMI port, so connecting to an external monitor left me with three free USB ports. If I put the laptop on charging, the choice was limited to only two available Type-С.

Sometimes I had a strange déjà vu experience, as if I were testing some Linux build in which some random events periodically occurred or something was not working correctly. For example, my favorite SVP interpolator and frame rate monitoring did not work. Nevertheless, the vast majority of classic x86-compatible software functioned without any problems, including Photoshop and office applications.

I was pleasantly surprised that the x86 drivers for my keyboard and the software for controlling the external monitor were installed correctly. However, it could only work at a maximum of 120 Hertz through the proprietary Type-C-to-HDMI adapter, even though my monitor supports 180 Hz according to the specifications.I was never able to play it fully, but it is not positioned for such purposes. The old GTA: San Andreas also refused to run on such hardware, although it runs perfectly on Intel’s seven-year-old integrated graphics.

I liked the laptop’s energy-efficient mode, which is quiet and offers sufficient performance and battery life. And once again, I will praise the long work while watching videos on YouTube. I was also pleased that the Google Drive application is finally fully functional on the ARM platform

Price and competitors

Acer Swift 14 AI (SF14-11-X6V5) can be purchased at a price of UAH 56999. It doesn’t have many competitors, as ARM-based devices are still quite an exotic product. Most of them are not officially sold in stores at all, so prices may vary downward.

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 14Q8X9 offers a glossy OLED with a resolution of 2944×1840 pixels and better contrast, albeit at a lower frequency. As a bonus, it supports Dolby Atmos, HDR10, Dolby Vision, and DisplayHDR 600 True Black, which will be appreciated by multimedia content lovers. It is also equipped with a 12-core X1E-78-100 processor and a glass-coated touchpad.Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7441 offers a smaller battery capacity, only 54 Wh, but tries to compensate for this with fast charging. It has the same processor as our Acer and the same amount of RAM. Its screen supports a frequency of only 60 Hz, which will not appeal to fans of smooth animation.

And the last opponent — HP EliteBook Ultra G1q 14 also offers a display with a lower frequency and brightness. Like the two previous laptops, it has a touchscreen. It also has a more efficient processor Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100 and a better webcam, but it costs significantly more than the Acer Swift 14 AI (SF14-11-X6V5).