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When looking for the best laptops, a few brands will constantly appear on various lists. Companies like HP, Dell, and Acer all make fantastic devices, and thus, they're almost always at the top of our recommendations. Usually, though, those lists all have devices from different brands, so if you have one brand you really like, it can be hard to find what you're looking for. To help with that, we've rounded up the best Acer laptops you can buy today in a few different categories. This way, you should be able to find something that suits your specific needs.
Acer makes great laptops in all kinds of segments. Whether it's premium thin-and-light devices, unique form factors for creators, powerful gaming rigs, or even affordable Chromebooks, you're sure to find something you like here. Let's get started.
Best overall: Acer Swift 5
The 2022 Acer Swift 5 is one of the most beautiful laptops we've tried this year, and with powerful specs and a great display, it's a very well-rounded machine. We have no problem considering it one of the best Acer laptops you can buy today.
First things first, the Acer Swift 5 is powered by 12th-generation Intel Core processors, specifically from the P series. You can go up to a Core i7-1260P, which gives you 12 cores, 16 threads, and boost speeds up to 4.7GHz, so you get a lot of performance for all kinds of tasks. This processor has integrated Intel iris Xe graphics, and the laptop is backed up by 16GB of RAM and 1TB SSD, though other configurations are also available. This makes for a great premium experience across the board, and you probably will never feel restricted in terms of performance.
Something else that's fantastic with the Acer Swift 5 is the display. This laptop comes with a 14-inch panel, and it adopts the increasingly popular 16:10 aspect ratio. This taller screen makes for a fantastic canvas for productivity, with more space to see what you're working on without scrolling. On top of that, it comes in a very sharp Quad HD+ (2560 x 1600) resolution, so everything looks crystal clear. The screen also supports touch and reaches up to 425 nits of brightness, so it's still visible outdoors.
Above that display is even more good news in the form of a 1080p webcam. Acer has updated to a higher-resolution sensor with temporal noise reduction, and it shows, you get pretty great image quality from this camera. Unfortunately, there's still no Windows Hello facial recognition (as with most Acer laptops), but there's a fingerprint reader if you want a more convenient way to unlock your PC.
The design is one of the best things about the Acer Swift 5, though that's obviously a subjective matter. The surfaces of this laptop are "mist green", a shade of dark grey with green undertones, and that's complemented by gold accents along the edges of the laptop, the trackpad, and on the key labels. It makes for a very premium-feeling look that's beautiful but not overly flashy. The laptop weighs just 2.65lbs and measures 14.9mm thin, so it's also a very portable machine, especially for an aluminum laptop.
And as for ports, you get a pretty great selection. Two Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB Type-A ports, HDMI, and a headphone jack ensure you have all the basics covered, while also giving you room for expansion with Thunderbolt docks.
There's no doubt the Acer Swift 5 is one of the best laptops the company makes, being well-rounded in just about every way. It's an easy recommendation, though it is a bit pricy.
Acer Swift X
The Acer Swift 5 is a thin and light laptop with a premium design, high-end specs, and a great display.
Best convertible: Acer Spin 5
If you want something that you can use as a laptop and as a tablet, then the Acer Spin 5 is the one to go for. This is a premium convertible with solid specs and a great screen that will give you a great experience. It's very similar to the Acer Swift 5, except it's a convertible.
First off, the Acer Spin 5 is powered by Intel's 12th-generation Core processors, up to a Core i7-1260P. As we mentioned above, that's a processor with 12 cores, 16 threads, and boost speeds up to 4.7GHz, plus it includes Intel Iris Xe graphics to help with some lightweight GPU tasks. That's also paired with 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD for storage, so performance-wise, this is just as great as the Acer Swift 5.
In many ways, the same can be said for the display. It has a 14-inch panel with a 16:10 aspect ratio, and it comes in Quad HD+ resolution. It's a very sharp display that looks great, and the tall aspect ratio makes it even more suitable as a tablet for drawing and taking notes. And that's the core difference from the device above: Besides supporting touch input, this panel supports a pen, which is included with the laptop, so taking notes by hand becomes much easier.
The webcam is also great on the Acer Spin 5, being a Full HD sensor with temporal noise reduction. Acer is oddly reluctant to include Windows Hello facial recognition in its laptops, so you'll still have to make do with a fingerprint reader.
The design is where the Acer Spin 5 distinguishes itself from the Swift 5. Instead of a dual-tone look, it's just a single-color laptop, and it comes in a slightly tinted shade of silver. It still looks and feels premium, albeit not as unique. It's also just over 17mm thick and it weighs 2.87 pounds, which is still fairly thin and light for an all-metal convertible of this size. We should also note that the laptop is designed to store the included pen in a dedicated garage, so you don't have to worry about losing it.
Finally, the port selection on the Acer Spin 5 covers all the bases. You get two Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB Type-A ports, HDMI, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a microSD card reader. That's a very good supply, with room for expansion thanks to Thunderbolt.
All in all, the Acer Spin 5 is a fantastic laptop all around, and certainly one of the best in the company's lineup. It looks and feels premium, it has great performance, and it offers the versatility you can only get from a convertible. If you're interested, you can check it out below.
Acer Spin 5
The Acer Spin 5 is a premium convertible with a thin and light design, top-tier performance, and a great display.
Best with an OLED display: Acer Swift 3 OLED
If you're looking for a machine with a beautiful OLED display that isn't overly expensive, Acer's Swift 3 OLED is the laptop for you. It's a powerful laptop with a sharp OLED screen, but it's also decently affordable, so you can get a fantastic experience without spending obscene amounts of money.
Starting with performance, the Acer Swift 3 OLED is quite different from its non-OLED siblings, featuring a 45W 12th-generation processor. This model comes with an Intel Core i5-12500H, though other models are also available. But even with this, you're getting a total of 12 cores and 16 threads boosting up to 4.5GHz, which will already give you a lot of CPU performance. As with most Intel CPUs, it includes Iris Xe graphics built-in, and this model also comes with 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD, so you're bound to have a solid experience.
What really makes this laptop shine is its display, though. It's a 14-inch OLED panel, meaning you get things like true blacks, vivid colors, and higher contrast ratio. It comes in a very sharp 2880 x 1800 resolution for a 16:10 aspect ratio, and it even has a 90Hz refresh rate with 0.2ms of response time. That's not all, either; DisplayHDR 500 True Black certification and 100% coverage of DCI-P3 round out the specs for this screen. It's a truly beautiful display, and we're glad to see more OLED panels in laptops. Plus, with the tall aspect ratio, it's perfect for getting work done.
Above that display is a Full HD MIPI webcam with temporal noise reduction. Acer is keen on offering great webcams with its latest laptops, which is an ongoing theme for most of this list. Again, no Windows Hello facial recognition is offered, so a fingerprint reader will have to do.
Design-wise, the Acer Swift 3 isn't all that unique, but it does look premium. It's an aluminum laptop, and despite its powerful specs, it comes in at just 17.9mm of thickness and weighs 3.09lbs, so it's still decently portable. It's available in either Steel Gray or Luxury Gold colorways, both of which are subdued, which you may or may not like.
Finally, the port setup is well-rounded, with two Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB Type-A ports, HDMI, and a headphone jack. That's solid for a 14-inch laptop, especially considering there's probably a lot of internal space needing to be used to accommodate the 45W CPU. Most Acer laptops seem to still offer a great selection of ports despite their size.
OLED displays are not the most common on laptops, but the Acer Swift 3 OLED is a standout example, and we believe it's one of the best you can buy right now. You can check it out below if you're interested.
Acer Swift 3 OLED
The Acer Swift 3 OLED is a powerful laptop with 45W Intel processors and a stunning OLED display
Best gaming laptop: Acer Predator Triton 500 SE
Now we're getting into fun territory, and for the gamers out there, the Acer Predator Triton 500 SE is a beastly laptop. It's powerful, but it still has a sleek look with just enough flair to make it feel unique without being obnoxious. We had a lot of good things to say in our review of it.
Let's start with performance, and the Predator Triton 500 SE comes with Intel's 45W processors, up to a Core i9-12900H. This is a powerful 14-core, 20-thread processor that can boost as high as 5GHz, and it's the most powerful laptop on this list. Backing that up, you get up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti graphics card with 16GB of video memory meaning you can run just about any modern game at high settings and enjoy smooth frame rates (more on that in a second). Rounding things out, you can get up to 32GB of RAM and 2TB of SSD storage, making this a beastly laptop all around.
That's not all that's great about this laptop, though. The display on the Predator Triton 500 SE is a large 16-inch IPS panel, and it comes in a tall 16:10 aspect ratio, which is a bit unusual for gaming laptops. This is a great aspect ratio for productivity, and it works well for games, too, but it's not very common. To make things even better, this is a very sharp Quad HD+ (2560 x 1600) display, and it also has a super-smooth 240Hz refresh rate, providing a great balance of sharpness and fluidity in games. It also makes this a great laptop for getting work done if you need to.
Of course, if there's one kind of laptop that often neglects the webcam, it's gaming laptops, and this is no different. It's another 720p webcam (that's the minimum required for Windows 10 laptops), and there's no Windows Hello support. What you do get is a fingerprint reader built into the touchpad, so you can use that to unlock your laptop more easily.
Despite all the power crammed inside, the Predator Triton 500 SE still manages to be under 20mm thick, though it can't disguise its hefty 5.29-pound weight. Still, for a high-end gaming laptop, that's not bad, and in terms of looks, the Triton 500 SE is very sleek. There are no excessive angular designs or obnoxious RGB lighting. The keyboard is RGB backlit, but it mostly only shines through the key labels, so it's still subtle enough to be pleasant.
Thanks to its beefy design, the Acer Predator Triton 500 SE also has space for a lot of ports. You get two Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB Type-A ports, HDMI 2.1, Gigabit Ethernet, a headphone jack, and a full-size SD card reader, all evenly distributed on both sides of the laptop to make setting up easier. In terms of wired connectivity, this is one of the best laptops from Acer, and one of the best in general.
If you want a powerful gaming rig that's still somewhat portable, the Acer Predator Triton 500 SE is an easy recommendation.
Acer Predator Triton 500 SE
With powerful Intel processors, range-topping RTX graphics, and a fantastic display, the Predator Triton 500 SE has everything you could want in a gaming laptop.
Best business laptop: Acer Travelmate Spin P4
While pretty much any laptop can be used for work, proper business laptops still have benefits thanks to features like Pro Windows licenses and extra security. If you want something you can use in a professional environment, the Acer Travelmate Spin P4 is one of the best laptops in the company's lineup. Of course, it comes with Windows 10 Pro, and you can upgrade to Windows 11 Pro for free. We should mention that a refresh with 12th-generation processors is coming sometime soon, so you may want to wait for that.
The current model is powered by up to an Intel Core i7-1165G7 processor, though currently, only the Core i5-1135G7 variant is available. This is still a powerful processor, though, with four cores, eight threads, and boost speeds up to 4.2GHz, plus Iris Xe graphics. In addition to this, you get 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. That amount of RAM isn't going to give you the very best multitasking experience, but it's still good, and 512GB of storage is enough for a lot of documents and other files.
The display on the Travelmate Spin P4 is a 14-inch display with a 16:9 aspect ratio, and it comes in Full HD (1920 x 1080) resolution. It's a fairly standard format, but that doesn't mean it's a bad display. It's an IPS panel, and it's protected by Corning Gorilla Glass, reinforcing that this is a premium laptop.
Above the display, there's once again a 720p webcam, and just like the others we've seen so far, there isn't any facial recognition support for Windows Hello. However, the camera does have a privacy shutter, something business laptops tend to have for users with special concerns about their privacy. While there's no Windows Hello camera, you do get a fingerprint reader for secure and easy login.
The Travelmate Spin P4 is designed to fit into business environments, so it looks decidedly subdued but classy. It comes in a stealthy black color, and the Acer branding looks different on the lid, so it's a bit more professional. In terms of portability, the Travelmate Spin P4 weighs 3.3 pounds and measures 17.99mm thin, so it's clearly not meant to be extremely portable. However, it is designed to meet the MIL-STD-810H standard for impact resistance, plus it should survive drops and water (to a reasonable extent). It's meant to be durable, something business users will likely appreciate.
One thing business laptops are good at is connectivity, and the Travelmate Spin P4 delivers. It includes one Thunderbolt 4 port, two USB Type-A ports, HDMI, RJ45 Ethernet, and a headphone jack. That covers just about every need you could have, including wired internet connectivity. The biggest problem here is that all the ports except the headphone jack are on the same side, so things may get cramped if you want to use them all simultaneously. In theory, a model with LTE support should also be available, but we couldn't find it available for sale.
With a durable and professional design, a healthy supply of ports, and a Windows 10 Pro license, the Acer Travelmate Spin P4 is one of the company's best business laptops, complete with the versatility of a convertible.
Acer Travelmate Spin P4
For users who need a professional laptop, the Acer Travelmate Spin P4 delivers with a durable design, great connectivity, and solid performance.
Best for creators: Acer ConceptD 5
Some laptops need power for gaming, but others need it for professional reasons. If you're somebody that needs a laptop to handle advanced content creation, the Acer ConceptD 5 is the best choice for you right now.
Indeed, this is a powerful laptop, featuring an Intel Core i7-12700H processor with 14 cores and 20 threads, paired with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti graphics card that should make quick work of all kinds of creative workloads, whether you're editing video or rendering 3D scenes. In addition, this configuration includes a massive 32GB of RAM that makes multi-tasking and heavier workloads much easier. You'll also get a 1TB SSD that should be able to store quite a few projects.
The display is also a big factor with creator laptops like this, and the Acer ConceptD 5 has that in spades. It has a large 16-inch IPS panel with a 16:10 aspect ratio and a very sharp 3072 x 1920 resolution. The screen also covers 100% of DCI-P3, and it has a rated color accuracy of Delta E < 2, so it's ideal for color-sensitive work like image or video editing. Above that display, you also get a Full HD 1080p webcam, ensuring you look your best during video calls and online meetings. Sadly, there's no facial recognition support, but you do get a fingerprint reader on the touchpad for Windows Hello.
Design-wise, the Acer ConceptD 5 is fairly simple, but that's probably for the best, It comes in an all-black chassis, and while there's no RGB, the keys are backlit in a soft amber color that looks unique without being obnoxious. The laptop as a whole weighs 5.29 pounds and it's 19.81mm thick, which isn't exactly light, but it's about what you might expect for a powerful machine like this.
As for ports, there are a lot of them. With two Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB Type-A ports, HDMI, RJ45 Ethernet, a headphone jack, and a full-size SD card reader, there isn't a lot more you could ask for. It's one of the most complete setups on this list.
The ConceptD 5 does miss out on the cool convertible design of the ConceptD 3 Ezel or ConceptD 7 Ezel, but Acer hasn't updated those models in a long time. This is still a very capable machine, and certainly, the best laptop Acer makes for creators right now.
acer conceptd 5
The Acer ConceptD 5 is a powerful laptop with a sleek design and a color-accurate display, ideal for creative professionals.
Best budget laptop: Acer Aspire 3
Not everyone can afford to buy a high-end laptop, but buying an affordable laptop doesn't mean you have to deal with a bad experience. The Acer Aspire 3 is one of the company's best budget laptops, and for under $600 (at writing time), you get a lot of value here.
Performance-wise, the Acer Aspire 3 is powered by an Intel Core i5-1235U, which is a 10-core, 12-thread CPU with boost speeds up to 4.4GHz. That's a fairly powerful processor for a laptop at this price, and it should give you a great experience for all kinds of daily tasks, whether it's just browsing the web or writing up documents. It's also got 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD, which is a fairly capable combination of specs that's gonna give you a solid experience all around. Of course, you shouldn't expect the exact same performance as expensive premium laptops would give you, but it's a solid laptop all the same.
The display on the Acer Aspire 3 is a 15.6-inch IPS panel, and it comes in Full HD (1920 x 1080) resolution. It's a fairly standard display, but it's still sharp, and it should give you a solid experience for both work and media consumption. There are no bells and whistles like touch support here, as you'd expect of an affordable laptop like this.
Above the display, there's a 720p webcam similar to what we've seen on some other laptops, and once again, there's no Windows Hello support. This time, there's no fingerprint reader, either, which isn't uncommon for laptops at this price.
The design of the Acer Aspire 3 is as basic as it gets. This is mostly a plastic laptop, though the top of the lid is made from aluminum, and it looks fairly clean and sleek, but not very exciting. It is fairly thin, though, measuring 19.8mm. It also weighs 3.92 pounds, so it's not terribly light, but it should be easy enough to carry to school.
As for ports, there's a decent supply, albeit there's no USB Type-C port, which is odd to see in 2022. You get three USB Type-A ports, HDMI, Ethernet, and a headphone jack. While the lack of USB Type-C might give you some pause, this does include a decent supply of ports that should handle most peripherals you'd want to use.
There are lots of different variants of the Acer Aspire 3 laptop with different specs and prices, but we found this to be the best one you can buy at a price that's considered budget. You can buy this model below.
Acer Aspire 3
If you want a solid laptop at an affordable price, the Acer Aspire 3 delivers with modern specs all around.
Best Chromebook: Acer Chromebook Spin 714
The Acer Chromebook Spin 714 is the successor to one of our most praised Chromebooks ever, the Spin 713. While it cuts back in some ways, it also makes some very welcome improvements, and it's still a fantastic choice if you want one of the very best Chromebooks around.
For starters, it's been upgraded with the latest 12th-generation Intel Core processors, specifically a Core i5-1235U with 10 cores and 12 threads that's capable of boosting up to 4.4GHz on its performance cores. Just like before, the integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics can also help with some light 3D rendering for lightweight games. Additionally, you get 8GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD storage, which should give you everything you need to cruise through Chrome OS smoothly without any issues.
The change in name from Spin 713 to Spin 714 actually refers to the display, because Acer has moved from a 13.5-inch panel to a larger 14-inch screen, while also switching from the 3:2 aspect ratio to the more common 16:10 format. This is slightly wider, but it may feel more natural to many people. Acer did cut back on the resolution, bringing it to Full HD+ (1920 x 1200), but this is still a very sharp screen, and since this is a convertible, it supports touch and pen input (plus, the pen is even built into the laptop itself!). At the top of the screen, the webcam has been upgraded from a 720p sensor to a 1080p one, so you should look that much clearer during video calls or online classes.
On the design front, the Acer Chromebook Spin 714 uses a premium aluminum chassis, and it also manages to look less boring than its predecessor. Instead of the classic silver, this model comes in Slate Blue, a dark, almost black shade, but with a bit more personality. A silver configuration also exists, though. The total weight comes to 3.09 pounds, which is fairly light for an aluminum convertible.
Coming around to the ports, we're looking at a pretty good setup with two Thunderbolt 4 ports, one USB Type-A port, HDMI, and a headphone jack, providing solid coverage for all the needs you might have. For a relatively light and thin laptop, it's not bad at all.
Acer Chromebook Spin 714
The Acer Chromebook Spin 714 is one of the best bang-for-the-buck Chromebooks, with solid performance and a premium design.
That wraps up what we'd consider the very best Acer laptops you can buy today, ranging from lightweight everyday laptops to powerful gaming rigs. We chose the Acer Swift 5 as the best overall because it's a stunning laptop with a thin and light design, in addition to packing powerful processors and a great display. Of course, if you have more specific needs, there are plenty of other options that might be more tailored to you.
Are you not an Acer kind of person? No worries — check out our lists of the best HP laptops, or maybe even the best Lenovo laptops if that's more your speed.
