Best Acer laptop 2023

The Acer Swift 3 (2021) is not only our favourite Acer laptop right now, but it’s also one of the best mid-range laptops money can buy.

At just 1.14kg, we found this 14-inch laptop to be incredibly portable. While its silver shell may appear a little plain to some, the metal and plastics used in its build also make this feel like a well-built laptop. We found the keys to be responsive with a good level of tactility. The fact it’s backlit is an added bonus, although the backlight itself did look a little patchy, with some keys seeming to be more lit up than others.

Inside, the Swift 3 is powered by an AMD Ryzen 5 5500U processor that, during testing, powered through basic productivity tasks and shined during our benchmark tests, beating off the likes of the Surface Laptop Go in more intense tasks. Its integrated Vega 7 graphics allowed us to engage in some casual gaming, and handled lighter workloads well. We also found the 1TB SSD to be reasonably speedy, and the capacity for a laptop this price is also generous, with a lot of the competition opting for 256GB or 512GB drives.

For its display, Acer hasn’t gone with anything too fancy for the Swift 3, opting for the tried-and-tested formula of a 14-inch FHD (1920×1080) IPS panel. The colours on offer looked good, and 300 nits of quoted brightness also made sure images look vibrant. As an IPS display, we also found the viewing angles here to be superb.

The Swift 3’s battery life also proved to be great during testing. In running our PC Mark 10 Modern Office benchmark, we found the Swift 3 to last for just shy of 11 hours. This means you’ll be able to get through a working day comfortably and have a fair bit of juice to spare.

Reviewer: Reece Bithrey
Full review: Acer Swift 3 (2021) review

The Acer Swift X (2022) is a great pick, coming in as a great productivity or educational device. We loved the large display, which comes in at 16-inches, and it scored 428.45 nits in our display tests, which is well above the 300-nit average found on most laptops.

Since this laptop weighs in at 1.7kg, it’s not the most portable device available, and you will feel it in your backpack. However, the large design means that it features a wide array of ports, including two USB-C ports – both of which support Thunderbolt 4 – two USB 3.2 ports, an HDMI 2.0 port as well as a 3.5mm audio jack. This meant that our reviewer didn’t have to worry about dongles while at work, and the Thunderbolt 4 support means that you can connect it to another display, so you can work on multiple screens with ease.

Plus, the 12th-generation Intel Core i7-1260P processor fared very well, handling large workloads and multiple applications with ease. And since it comes with an Intel Arc discrete GPU, it can handle heavier graphical workloads better than most other productivity laptops, meaning that it can be used for entry-level gaming or content creation.

We also found that the battery was reliable, with the Swift X managing just under 10 hours in the PCMark 10 Battery Test. Our reviewer found this serviceable for the workday, and since discrete GPU laptops usually have a really poor battery life, it’s great to see the Swift X not succumbing to this pitfall.

Reviewer: Gemma Ryles
Full review: Acer Swift X (2022) review

Acer also makes some of the best Chromebooks money can buy today, and the Chromebook Spin 713 is the very best one we’ve tested in recent years.

A lot of this comes from the fact its display is excellent. The Spin 713 sports a 13-inch Quad HD panel which, during testing, offered lovely detailed images and vibrant colours. In addition, the panel here features an unusual 3:2 aspect ratio, which offers more vertical space than a standard 16:9 aspect ratio – Acer says you get up to 18% more space.

Our review sample was packed with a 10th generation Intel Core i3 processor that offered a speedy performance for basic tasks during testing. However, the capacity of the 128GB SSD is a little stingy compared to Windows laptops in the same price bracket.

The Spin 713 looks the part with a darker, almost space grey-style metal shell that feels excellent, being both smooth to the touch and durable. At 1.5kg, this is a little bulkier than some other more compact laptops we’ve tested, but the sublime build quality is definitely worth the extra weight. The port selection is also decent, with a blend of legacy and current offerings including USB-A, USB-C and HDMI all represented in fine form.

Similar things can also be expressed for the Spin 713’s battery life. During testing, we found it to last for 12 hours when looping a 1080p test. This means you’ll be able to comfortably get through a working day without any hitches, and even if you do forget to bring your charger into the office, you won’t have to worry about your laptop battery going flat with the Spin 713.

Reviewer: Reece Bithrey
Full review: Acer Chromebook Spin 713

The Acer Nitro 5 (2022) is a mid-range gaming laptop that excels at 1080p gaming. It may lack flashy features such as a QHD/4K resolution, but it offers fantastic value for the basics.

Packed with an Intel Core 12th Gen chip and a selection of Nvidia GPUs, it’s got all the specs needed to play absolutely any PC game with a smooth performance. Our review unit features an RTX 3070 Ti GPU and was able to play Horizon Zero Dawn at 82fps, and Rainbow Six Siege at 263fps. That latter result shows the Nitro is able to make the most out of the 165Hz refresh rate if you want buttery smooth motion.

But while the performance is excellent, there are some drawbacks to the Nitro. It’s extremely heavy at 2.5Kg, and isn’t the best looking laptop in the world with chunky styling. Our tests showed battery life to be poor too, hammering home the point that this isn’t a good option for on-the-go use.

But it’s easy to forgive this laptop’s shortcomings when the performance is so good, and significantly cheaper than other options such as the Razer Blade 14. If you want a gaming laptop made by Acer, this is a superb option.

Reviewer: Reece Bithrey
Full review: Acer Nitro 5 Review

The Acer Swift Edge is the lightest laptop on this list, weighing in at only 1.17kg despite its 16-inch display. Our reviewer could hold it easily with one hand and claims you can barely feel it in a backpack, making it the ideal choice for anyone who needs to transport their device from their home to the office.

But one of the best features of this laptop is easily the screen; boasting an OLED and 4K display, watching TV was a complete joy. Our reviewer noted how many colours popped on this display, bringing more nuance and depth to TV shows and giving new life to movies that are particularly dark, like the infamous Solo: A Star Wars Story, especially when HDR was turned on.

The large display is also perfect for working on, as the 16:10 aspect ratio means you can work with multiple tabs open at once without the screen feeling too cluttered. Unfortunately, this laptop does not have the best performance, coming in as less powerful than some other 16-inch devices on the market (such as the LG Gram 16 2022), but we still found that it was more than serviceable for most productivity work that isn’t too demanding.

Moreover, the impressive port selection meant that we didn’t need to worry about dongles during the workday, furthering the case that this is a great productivity device. Overall, while this laptop does have some downfalls, if you’re after a lightweight 16-inch device that packs a great screen that can be used for both work and play, the Acer Swift Edge is the perfect laptop for you.

Reviewer: Gemma Ryles
Full Review: Acer Swift Edge Review

If it’s a powerhouse laptop you’re after to edit the likes of photos and videos, the Acer Concept D Ezel 7 is one that should be on your radar.

It features a clever hinged display that you can tilt forwards and position for up-close working. The screen itself is one of the best LCD panels we’ve seen in a laptop with OLED-levels of contrast, as well as some immense colour accuracy. With a colorimeter in hand, we measured it to be nearly 100% coverage of sRGB, DCI-P3 and Adobe RGB. Intriguingly, the display also works with a stylus and features the same digitizer tech that’s present in some of Wacom’s high-end drawing tablets. This means the Ezel 7 is a fantastic choice for illustrators too, given the stylus support and the responsive nature of such a light stylus.

At 2.5kg, this is a heavy laptop, but that results in terrific build quality with a sturdy metal outer frame. The port selection of the Ezel 7 is also brilliant, with support for HDMI out as well as Thunderbolt 4, Ethernet, and DisplayPort. The only iffy thing here is that the keyboard on the Ezel 7 is a little shallow compared to the Ezel 3 Pro and it also has a garish and dim orange backlight.

Under the hood, the Ezel 7 packs an awful lot of power with both a Intel Core i7-10875H processor and an Nvidia RTX 2070 Max Q GPU that we found to offer an incredible performance for professional workflows. Some may complain that its hardware is now a generation or so old, but it should still be perfectly fine for content creation workloads. The Ezel 7’s SSD also proved to be speedy in our tests, and we also found this laptop’s thermal performance to be decent enough, even if the fans can spin up at times.

Reviewer: Andrew Williams
Full review: Acer ConceptD Ezel 7 review

If having an environmentally friendly laptop is of paramount importance, the Acer Aspire Vero should be on your shortlist.

It’s composed partially of PCR (post-consumer-recycled) plastics. This means the Vero offers quite the eye-catching grey frame with flecks of different shades of green dotted around the chassis. There’s no doubt it’s a fantastic looking laptop, as well as one we found to be pleasingly sturdy too. A weight of 1.8kg also means it carries plenty of heft, but remains just light enough for us to sling into a bag with no trouble. This isn’t the thinnest of laptops either, but it does mean the Vero has a generous port selection that includes everything from USB-C to HDMI and Ethernet. The keyboard on offer here is responsive and tactile, while featuring great backlighting, too.

Inside, the Vero packs a great set of components for a mid-range laptop, including Intel Core i7-1195G7 CPU, alongside Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics, 16GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD. All of these components resulted in a snappy performance, as we found the Vero to perform well in the benchmark tests, as well as during day-to-day use, too. The SSD’s read and write speeds also proved to be quick during testing and made for one of the snappier mid-range laptops we’ve tested; its 512GB capacity is pretty big, although looks to be the largest storage option you can opt for with the Vero, which may not be enough for some.

Acer hasn’t sprung any surprises with the Vero’s display – it’s a plain and simple 15.6 inch FHD display that we found to offer great colours and also to be of a good size for day-to-day tasks. The brightness did fall short of our 300-nit target, which meant this laptop is ideally best for indoor working only.

The battery life with the Vero was a little underwhelming by comparison to the rest of the package. In testing, it lasted just shy of 7 and a half hours, which falls short of the 10-hour target you can usually expect to get from a mid-range machine like this one. You’ll be able to get through a working day just about with the Vero, but for anything longer, you may want to keep it plugged into the mains.

Reviewer: Reece Bithrey
Full review: Acer Aspire Vero review

The Acer Chromebook Vero 514 is a solid Chromebook that offers a gorgeous design. The chassis is composed of PCR (post-consumer recycled) plastics that create a speckled grey and green design across the entire body. Not only does this help the Chromebook Vero 514 stand out from the crowd, but it also makes it one of the most eco-friendly options on this list. 

The company claims that it used recycled ocean-bound plastics for the trackpad, with the aforementioned PCR plastic making up 30% of the chassis and 50% of the keycaps and audio speakers. The laptop packaging is even made of recycled paper, cardboard and other natural fibres. 

Turning towards the performance, we thought that this offered a lot of grunt for a Chromebook. It packs an Intel Core i3-1215U, which allows it to feel especially nippy for the light computing tasks ChromeOS is designed for. While this laptop is not as powerful as some other Acer devices, like the Acer Swift X (2022), it’s ideal for those who don’t have particularly heavy workloads, like students or those with jobs that require Word processing applications. 

It features a 14-inch screen with Full HD (1080p) resolution. It is also a touchscreen display, meaning that you can easily scroll through documents and files using just your finger. Our tests showed it to offer up excellent viewing angles, and thanks to the IPS technology, it has a solid brightness with a quoted level of 300 nits. 

And when it comes to the battery, the Chromebook Vero 514 is no slouch; it managed to last 11 hours and 28 minutes in a video loop test when the brightness was turned down to half. This is more than enough juice in the tank to get you through an entire working day without needing to worry about a charger and makes it an ideal laptop to take on the go, especially since it only has a weight of 1.4kg. 

All in all, there are more Acer laptops on the market if you’re after something that packs a lot of power. But if you’re interested in a device that can get you through a standard working day, and want to help save the environment in the meantime, the Acer Chromebook Vero 514 is definitely the laptop for you. 

Reviewer: Reece Bithrey
Full Review: Acer Chromebook Vero 514