Acer Announces New Aspire, Swift Laptops

Acer introduced new members of the Aspire and Swift laptop series during its announcement-filled event in New York.

We'll start with the Aspire laptops. Acer divided the products into three categories in a press release: the "family-and-student focused" Aspire 1 and Aspire 3, the "practical and mainstream" Aspire 5, and the "top-of-the-line" Aspire 7. It's not hard to figure out how the company decided on those categories. The Aspire 1 is restricted to Intel Celeron or Pentium processors and integrated graphics, the Aspire 3 adds Intel Core processors but is still limited to integrated graphics, the Aspire 5 ditches non-Core processors and adds "the latest Nvidia GeForce graphics," and the Aspire 7 is equipped with an Intel Core processor and "up to" a GTX 1060 for the graphics department. Of those, only the Aspire 5 and Aspire 7 are likely to handle even moderately graphics-intensive games without noticeable problems, or simply offer a decent amount of power while you're on the go.

A similar trend can be found with the laptops' memory and storage. The Aspire 1 offers 4GB of DDR3L memory and up to 64GB eMMC storage; the Aspire 7 boasts up to 32GB of DDR4-2400 memory and up to a 512GB M.2 SSD and 2TB HDD. (The Aspire 3 and Aspire 5 reside in between those extremes.) It's clear that most of these don't offer a whole lot of power.

But the new Aspire products aren't supposed to be powerhouses--they're supposed to offer acceptable performance on a budget. That's why the Aspire 1 starts at $219, the Aspire 3 at $299, the Aspire 5 at $449, and the Aspire 7 at $799. The company didn't share details about various configuration options, so we don't know how much it will cost to bump up the processor or expand the storage, but it did say the entire Aspire lineup will make its North American debut in June. We expect to learn more about these new laptops as we get closer to that release window.

The new Swift 1 and Swift 3 tell a similar story. The former is limited to Intel Celeron or Pentium processors and integrated graphics. The latter boasts an Intel Core processor and, in a twist, either integrated graphics or "Nvidia GeForce" graphics. What exactly that means is unknown; Acer didn't offer much information about the Swift's configuration options. They still manage to differentiate themselves from the Aspire series with Full HD (1920 x 1080) IPS displays even on the base models, thin-and-light chassis, and a variety of color options ("Pure Silver, Luxury Gold, and Sakura Pink").

Acer said a Swift 3 Special Edition will also be available. This model is defined by "a top cover with Vibrant Corning Gorilla Glass, providing the unique flexibility to customize the top cover with photorealistic images that are highly durable and damage-resistant." It appears to be otherwise identical to the 14" Swift 3.

The Swift 1 starts at $329 and the Swift 3 starts at $599. Both will be released in North America in June.