Acer's laptop lineup is looking a bit different in 2023. There are two new products under the popular line of lightweight and thin Acer Swift laptops: the Swift Go 14 and the Swift Go 16. These new laptops have options for a 16:10 aspect ratio OLED screen and Intel's new 13th-generation CPUs, potentially making them a great laptop for anyone who wants an everyday device with a color-accurate screen. However, while one option is on sale now, we're still waiting for the other. In the meantime, here's what you need to know.

Acer Swift Go 14 and Acer Swift Go 16: Specs

The Acer Swift Go 14 and 16 are actually quite similar, as you can see from the specs below.

Acer Swift Go 14 and Acer Swift Go 16: Pricing and availability

The Acer Swift Go 14 is currently on sale, but the Acer Swift Go 16 has yet to become available. The Acer Swift Go 16 is set to become available in North America in June, starting at $800. The smaller Acer Swift Go 14 is already listed on Acer's website, and the pricing there starts at $900. It appears, however, that the models with the OLED screen are not yet available; you can only see models listed with IPS displays.

What's new with Acer Swift Go 14 and Acer Swift Go 16?

The Acer Swift Go lineup is completely new, so there's a lot to look forward to. However, we'll highlight three areas: the OLED screen, 13th-generation Intel chips with enhanced performance and cooling, and special software features in the webcam powered by Intel's new Movidius VPU with a dedicated AI engine.

OLED screen

The highlight feature of the Acer Swift Go lineup is the OLED screen, which isn't standard and only comes on top-tier models. As we've explained in the past when talking about the best OLED laptops, OLED displays are much more vibrant, so they're great if you want to watch videos in the best quality or do a lot of creative work like photo editing.

Generally, colors in content like videos, photos, and even webpages will look much more accurate on an OLED screen. For example, Acer claims you get 100% of the DCI-P3 color gamut and a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio with the OLED models. This means the high-end variants are better for content creation when compared to the traditional LCD screen you'll find on the other Acer Swift Go models. We haven't tested Acer's claims yet, but we'll update you when we have more results.

You'll also get the most out of the 16-inch OLED panel with 3.2K (3200 x 2000) resolution on the Acer Swift Go 16 and the 2.8K (2880 x 1800) panel on the Acer Swift Go 14. Whether you get OLED or LCD on your laptop, you'll get an impressive 90% screen-to-body ratio.

You'll also want to note the refresh rates on these screens. The Acer Swift Go 16 has a 120Hz screen, which makes on-display content seem smoother. The Acer Swift Go 14, meanwhile, has a 90Hz panel. These faster refresh rates benefit scrolling on webpages and even day-to-day use of Windows 11.

13th-generation Intel CPUs and enhanced thermals

The Acer Swift Go laptops will also get new Intel chipsets. You'll find that both the Swift Go 14 and Swift Go 16 offer configurations with Intel's 13th-generation CPU lineup — either the U-series or H-series CPU, which come with an added 10% productivity boost over the last Intel 12th-generation CPUs. Oh, and all processors come with Intel's new Movidius VPU, which will unlock the camera features we get into in the next section.

Acer also tweaked the thermals inside these laptops. Both feature Twin Air Cooling, which is specially designed to help dual fans dissipate heat in a more efficient and controlled manner. It also helps boost thermal performance by 60.7% compared to a single fan, according to Acer. The company also claims this helps keep the laptop cool to the touch in the long run because the laptop's dual copper heat pipes and air inlet keyboard can expel 10% more heat than a standard laptop keyboard.

Of course, being powered by 13th-generation Intel CPUs, you'll get the Intel Unison software. This lets you connect your iPhone or Android device to your PC to make calls and send texts.

Special webcam features

Both Acer Swift Go laptops sport a 1440p webcam, which is higher quality than the typical 1080p webcam you'll find on most other laptops. The more interesting thing is how it integrates with the Intel Movidius VPU. Thanks to that technology, you can enjoy features like background blur, auto framing, and alerts about eye contact, even when the lighting is low. This should make the Acer Swift Go a great laptop for web conferencing.

Where can I buy the Acer Swift Go 14 and Acer Swift Go 16?

Acer is currently only selling the Acer Swift Go 14; the Acer Swift Go 16 won't be available until June. The Swift Go 14 is currently listed at Acer.com starting at $900. This is for a model with the Intel Core i7-12700H CPU, a 14-inch IPS touch screen, 16GB RAM, and a 512GB SSD. A higher-end $1,400 model with the same CPU and a 2560 x 1600 resolution touchscreen is also available, but with added 1TB storage. Typically, once there's more stock available, Acer's website will also link out other retailers, like Best Buy, and Amazon, that sell Acer products.

Acer Swift Go

The Acer Swift Go is Acer's newest lightweight and think laptop. The laptop has options for a great 16:10 aspect ratio OLED display and Intel's new 13th-generation CPUs under the hood. It looks to be a great everyday laptop for most people. 

$800 at Acer

FAQ

Q: Does the Acer Swift Go have a good webcam?

Yes, Acer is using a 1440p webcam on all models of the Acer Swift Go, which is of higher quality than the typical 1080p webcam on other laptops. You should look a little extra sharper on your calls because of the jump in resolution. Of course, an external webcam is still great to consider, too, if you want to look even better.

Q: Does the Acer Swift Go have 5G?

No, consumer laptops like the Acer Swift Go don't tend to have 5G. If you want 5G, you can use your cellphone as a hotspot or also buy a cellular hotspot service from your carrier. If you absolutely need 5G built into your laptop, there are other 5G laptops you can consider. Unfortunately, you won't get one from Acer.

Q: Does the Acer Swift Go have good battery life?

Acer hasn't revealed any battery claims to us, so we can't make any guesses just yet. Just know that OLED laptops tend to consume a lot of energy, and this laptop is using a power-hungry H-series Intel CPU, so we don't expect the best battery life.

Q: Does the Acer Swift Go have Thunderbolt?

Yes, the Acer Swift Go has Thunderbolt ports. Thunderbolt 4 technology lets you connect to a certified docking station, monitor, or external solid-state drive. Thunderbolt 4 also offers a bi-directional bandwidth of 40Gbps to help speed up file transfer rates. Another benefit of Thunderbolt 4 is support for PCIe tunneling, which lets you connect external dedicated GPUs to your laptop.

Q: Does the Acer Swift Go run Linux?

No, but if you want to run Linux, you can try to dual-boot it or replace Windows 11 using installation media. This does come with the risk of hardware like the trackpad or display not working. It's better to virtualize Linux using software like Oracle Virtualbox or running the Windows Subsystem for Linux on top of Windows 11.