Why this 16-inch Acer is the ideal ThinkPad replacement (especially at this price)

ZDNET’s key takeaways

• The Acer Swift 16 AI is frequently priced at $1,250.
• Its 16-inch OLED show, well-designed light-weight type, and marathon battery work collectively to create a laptop computer that feels extra premium than its worth would counsel.
• Its audio system, nevertheless, go away a lot to be desired, and it has its justifiable share of bloatware.

jul / 2025

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Acer’s Swift 16 AI is a skinny and lightweight laptop computer with a beautiful OLED show, good full-sized keyboard, and Intel Core Extremely 7 or 9 “Lunar Lake” processor beginning at $1,200: a aggressive worth for a tool that feels extra premium than you’d anticipate. 

I have been commuting with the Swift 16 AI for the previous two weeks, and it is turn into a shock favourite of the 12 months. It stands out as a great-value ultraportable that is as versatile as it’s succesful and has improbable battery life. 

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The Acer Swift 16 AI encompasses a minimalist bodily construct, with an all-over, metallic matte black coating that appears lots just like the LG Gram Professional 16. Its full-sized keyboard and beneficiant choice of I/O make it sensible for a wide range of makes use of, and the bodily type is smooth and well-designed. 

The configuration I examined had an Intel Core Extremely 7 256V, 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM, and a 1TB SSD — a versatile loadout that may perform a little little bit of all the things. It is notably well-suited as a piece gadget with Wi-Fi 7 and a responsive, very comfy keyboard with a slight upward tilt because of Acer’s hinge design. 

I used to be completely happy to see that each USB-C ports assist Thunderbolt 4, which is nice for folk who need their exterior screens. In any other case, you additionally get an HDMI port that helps as much as 8K decision. The webcam can be surprisingly good, with 1440p decision for a crisp picture throughout video calls. 

The shiny, 3K OLED show at 120Hz is likely one of the laptop computer’s strongest options. It is a crisp and vibrant picture that appears improbable whether or not you are gaming, modifying video, or simply working in productiveness software program. Regardless of its very skinny clamshell design, I skilled little or no display wobble — one of many first issues I search for after I see a show this skinny. 

You may as well get some surprisingly good gaming efficiency out of this laptop computer with the Intel Arc GPU, so long as you are not pushing the boundaries on top-tier titles. I ran a handful of my standard Steam titles, and though it isn’t a gaming laptop computer, it feels aggressive and responsive, solely stuttering with texture shaders turned as much as max. 

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The one factor is that the show is extremely shiny — we’re speaking near-mirror standing. You have to to regulate it when you’re in an workplace or someplace with overhead lighting, one thing I discovered myself doing fairly regularly. If you happen to’re sitting together with your again to a brilliant window, it turns into borderline unusable. 

That mentioned, the show seems to be improbable in any other case, so I might nonetheless suggest this laptop computer to most customers until you are particularly searching for a tool to make use of outdoor or aren’t a fan of a shiny show. 

One other critique I’ve of this laptop computer (which is an inevitable results of its worth level) is its speaker system, which isn’t nice. Whereas it is true that laptop computer audio system are infamously missing in bass and depth, this one takes that status and runs with it.

Normally, I might say it is a trade-off I do not thoughts, however it is a bit of a bummer that the sound is so shallow when the gaming efficiency is so good. If you happen to’re somebody who all the time has a pair of headphones on, nevertheless, this would possibly not be a difficulty. 

In the end, the Acer Swift 16 AI’s strengths outweigh its drawbacks. On the subject of on a regular basis use, the efficiency is there, and as a transportable 16-inch laptop computer, it is well-designed and straightforward to commute with. 

The battery can be a banger. The laptop computer has a really skinny type issue, however nonetheless manages to slot in a big 20Wh battery with a 65-watt cost. Relying on how you utilize it, you may get a number of days of use on one cost, and it ranks up there with different environment friendly gadgets I’ve examined this 12 months such because the Asus Zenbook A14, Microsoft’s Floor Laptop computer, and the Dell XPS 13 with the Snapdragon X Elite chip. 

Throughout our commonplace video playback check, I bought almost 18 hours of video playback on one cost. On the subject of utilizing this laptop computer for work, you may simply final by way of the work day and into the subsequent, until you are pushing it with extra demanding workloads. Like all the different Lunar Lake-powered gadgets I’ve examined this 12 months, energy drain drops to a trickle when it isn’t in use. 

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The Intel Core Extremely 7 chip generates little to no warmth throughout on a regular basis use, however pushing it with heavier job hundreds and plugging within the charger will lead to temperature will increase. 

Notably, the charging course of appears to be hotter through the first half-hour, or under 30%, then tapers right down to a a lot cooler temperature at greater battery percentages. Additionally, once you begin or cease charging, the laptop computer emits a chirp. All that mentioned, it costs very quick and may strategy 100% in about an hour in Balanced Mode. 

Past gaming, this laptop computer makes for a reliable laptop computer for creatives with its quick refresh fee and wonderful show. The 16GB of RAM would possibly restrict high-end workloads with giant video recordsdata or 4K rendering, however it’s in any other case a pleasure to work on.

Evaluating this laptop computer to some friends, we see very shut (with one an identical) benchmarking scores to Dell’s XPS 13 with the identical Intel Core Extremely 7 “Lunar Lake” chip. 

ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation

The Acer Swift 16 AI is a improbable worth and a sleeper hit from Acer’s lineup. The underside line right here is that for round $1,250, you are getting a 16-inch OLED show at 120Hz and 3K decision, a smooth, minimalist construct, full suite of I/O, and a marathon battery. These components alone work collectively to make a sensible, succesful most important driver that may do a little bit of all the things. 

As a piece laptop computer, it feels premium and highly effective, regardless of the subpar audio system, which is a tradeoff I am keen to take. 

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Why the Acer Swift 16 AI will get an Editors’ Selection award

We have awarded the Acer Swift 16 AI our Editors’ Selection award primarily for its options, {hardware}, and construct high quality relative to cost. The “Lunar Lake” Intel Core Extremely 7 processor future-proofs this laptop computer with commendable efficiency, and its bodily construct feels extra premium than its worth level would counsel. 

In the end, it is a superb selection for anybody wanting a beautiful show paired with improbable battery life. Beginning at $1,250, it is already a worth, and when you can catch it on sale, it is even higher.