Acer updates Swift X 14 & 16 with latest Intel, bringing performance prestige at a fair price

Acer has utilised CES 2022 as the platform to reveal the 2022 updates to its Swift X 14 and Swift X 16 models: confirming the use of Intel’s latest 12th Gen processors inside.

That’s an interesting shift away from the AMD Ryzen innards of the 2021 Swift X 14 model, while the Swift X 16 even goes as far as offering Intel Arc discrete graphics too (the 14 retains Nvidia, offering the RTX 3050 Ti instead).

All of which points towards one very clear thing: both the 14-inch and 16-inch Swift X models are powerful machines, ready for gamers and creatives alike when it comes to graphics prowess.

Both machines have a redesigned keyboard with air intake to improve thermal performance, ensuring your wrists won’t get too hot and that performance can maintain a high clock rate too.

As you can see from the picture up top, the 14-inch model comes in fetching red or green finishes; the 16-inch model, meanwhile, goes for a more subdued gunmetal-like grey – as you can see in our hands-on pictures of the larger device here.

By shifting the screen aspect ratio to 16:10 (from 16:9) these power laptops are now slightly smaller than their predecessors too: the 14 is 1.4kgs, the 16 just 1.7kgs, meaning even the larger screen size is acceptably portable.

The Acer Swift X 14 will be available from March, starting at £999 in the UK; the Acer Swift X 16 will be available later, from April, starting at £1099. Higher-spec SKUs will inevitably cost more, but that still spells good value for money – marking these machines as ideal purchases for, say, creative students.