Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Acer Swift 5 Ultra-Thin & Lightweight Laptop 15.6” FHD IPS Touch Display in a thin .23" bezel, 8th Gen Intel Core i5-8265U, 8GB DDR4, 256GB PCIe NVMe SSD, Back-lit Keyboard, Windows 10, SF515-51T-507P

Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2019

I bought this computer to replace an old Asus laptop. It had all the features I was looking for at a reasonable price. The reviews had me a little worried because of the mention of how hot the laptop ran. I don't know why others had a problem with heat. Mine has been running cool. Honestly, no heat. The older Asus I had always ran hot - hot, hot. The Acer is cool by comparisson.
Love the features. The touch screen is easy to use. The back lit keyboard is very convenient - and it is beautiful! Yes, it is light weight. In fact, if I had any to say that might be possibly even the little bit of a bother, is that it is so light that you have to hold the bottom of the the laptop to open it up. If you just lift the top, you'll pick up the computer. Ah - the price of elegance!
Note that it doesn't have a disk drive - if that is important to you. But, it is fast, so much faster than my old laptop. If you have to work, you might as well work on a computer you love.

42 people found this helpful

Helpful

Jordy

One of the lightest laptops out there

Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2020

Verified Purchase

This laptop is crazy light. My mom wanted the lightest laptop as her first laptop because she wants to keep it on her lap in bed. The ~2.2lbs acer swift 5 makes my other laptop (~3.5lbs) feel like a brick! It's super light. I've only used it for the simplest tasks, so I can't comment on putting it under a heavy workload. But the screen is nice quality in my opinion. The main thing I wanted to stress is how incredibly light it is, and with a 15" screen to boot! The keyboard and everything works fine. People try to knock these laptops because they have a plastic feeling and they say it's poor build quality. It may not have a premium texture that aluminum gives, but it works fine just the same.

Word of Warning:
Acer laptops have a lot of bloatware. I made sure to uninstall whatever I could after I booted it up, especially the norton antivirus or whatever it came with. That stuff can really bog your computer down and cause the fan to whirl. The Windows Defender that comes stock with all windows computers is fine. Also make sure to do all the windows updates that are necessary for it (which could take a few hours). After that you should be golden.

12 people found this helpful

Helpful

George

Light as a feather, huge screen, insane value

Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2020

Verified Purchase

This is an amazing value. The screen is huge - like a gaming laptop - but it's insanely light. This time around, I wanted the lightest laptop I could afford that had the keyboard feature I needed (see below). As many have mentioned, it feels like an empty case. It's lighter than my friend's Macbook Air, and feels kind of miraculous. Here are some thoughts.

Screen. The screen is vivid and bright. Truly lovely colors. As others have mentioned, it's shiny, so you can get some glare. I've noticed it only a few times while watching videos, and changing the angle a bit solved the problem. Not a big deal. I haven't noticed glare while doing anything else. It's a touchscreen, which I don't care about. I might eventually end up using the touch screen feature. Nice to know it's a possibility. The size is what it's all about. I use a laptop only when I have to because I'm much more productive and comfortable with a large screen. This one takes away 90% of the pain. It's not 27", but it's a huge productivity/comfort upgrade from my old one.

Trackpad. I hate trackpads, but I don't hate this one. I have a mouse attached, but sometimes I find myself using the trackpad without thinking. It's smooth, comfortable, and some smart programmer got the speed, acceleration, and whatever else goes into the "feel" just right. Unexpected plus.

Speed. All I can say is I never experience delays. I don't do any video editing or gaming. Anything faster than this would be wasted on me. Watch out though, it was slow when I first used it because it has a lot of housekeeping to do. I freaked out a bit when complicated web pages took three or four seconds to load, but you don't need to worry. It had to download updates, initialize things for their first use, etc. The next day it was fine. As I said, at this point everything is so quick and smooth that I wouldn't even be able to tell if it were faster.

Keyboard. First the good (and very important to me). There are dedicated arrow keys as well as page-up, page-down, home, and end keys. I'm a writer, and I always use these keys to navigate documents and select text (holding shift), so that's non-negotiable for me. I lucked out big time that this fantastic value laptop has that feature. Other than that, the keyboard isn't great, but I didn't expect miracles from something this light and thin. It's adequate. It's why I took off one star. Not that the keyboard is bad in any way, I just think five stars should be for something that gets everything right. I used to buy Lenovos because they have very good keyboards. But I couldn't afford a Lenovo this light with such a big screen. Now that I've used the Acer, I see I made the right decision. A small annoyance was that you have to hold down Fn for the function keys. The default action is adjusting brightness, volume, and other laptop stuff. That's probably best for most people, but I use alt-F4 to close windows all the time, F2 to rename files, F5 to reload web pages, and occasionally F11 to make the browser window bigger, so this was not good for me. Luckily, you can easily flip things so that the function key is the default and brightness, etc. requires the Fn key. You just change an option in the BIOS. Google for instructions.

Fingerprint reader. Forget about it. It's finicky. It will eventually recognize your finger, but it can take many tries. It's not worth using. It would have been cool if it worked, but a fingerprint reader wasn't on my need list or even my want list.

Appearance. As others have noted, it's dull and boring. Fine. I don't care. One thing that bothers me is that the bottom has bubbles around the cut outs, like warts. It looks terrible. I was going to send it back, but the hassles of packing it up and exchanging it weren't worth it. It's on the bottom and I'll never see it. It still bothers me a little, and is part of the reason for losing a star.

Cr*pware. It comes loaded with cr*pware. If that's part of what makes it so well-priced, then I'm all for it. It didn't take long to clear it all away with the free, open-source BCUninstaller Bulk Cr*p Uninstaller. Not an issue.

Bottom line: Great purchase. I've highlighted the drawbacks, but that's only because I thought it would be helpful to a prospective buyer. Overall, I love this laptop. When I started researching the purchase, I never imagined I could afford something this light with such a large screen. It looks and performs like something double the price. It's a crazy good deal. Many thanks to the good people at Acer for pulling off this engineering feat.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

C W

Lightweight, great computer

Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2020

Verified Purchase

I’m really loving this computer. It’s fast, extremely lightweight and beautiful picture. Long battery life and doesn’t seem to get very hot. My only complaint is the fingerprint reader often doesn’t work and I have to enter my PIN. Regardless, I would purchase this laptop again and highly recommend it for those of us on the go. It is light as a feather!

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Kina

Best 15” laptop UPDATE

Reviewed in the United States on July 25, 2020

Verified Purchase

This laptop is so light I thought the box was empty. It’s very nice for a 15” laptop. The fingerprint reader works very well for me. I have no complaints, it’s been only a week but I love it thus far. I have only charged it once since I got it (it was fully charged out the box). And I’ve been using it daily for Netflix, YouTube and browsing. So battery life at the moment seems pretty great.

Update: Couple months after purchasing, laptop is still amazing. I love it. As you can see in the pictures attached; the top started to develop some very annoying and worrisome bumps/seeds for me. I don't know how they got there as I place my laptop in it’s bag as soon as I’m done with it. Maybe it’s the material: I don’t know. Does anyone have this problem or knows what could be the cause?

One person found this helpful

Helpful

CaliMW777

I LOVE THIS ACER!!

Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2020

Verified Purchase

This laptop is awesome. I love how lightweight it is. I did purchase MS Office 365 for $69 since I need it for excel, and word.
The screen is perfect for me. I'm not sure what all the complaints are about.
The battery life is wonderful! I've not charged it at all overnight and still had 8 hours battery life left.
The speed so far has been great but I don't do much as far as downloading or videos. I don't game at all.
I do admit when I first turned it on and it was charging it did get very hot. I did have it on my sofa arm, so that may be why. But I did remove many of the unnecessary Apps too. I have not had any overheating issues except that one incident.
I am not a tech guru so this is all I can contribute. For me it's a great purchase!
I ended up paying $725. I got the Amazon store card and the promotion included a $60 gift card that I used immediately.

Update to lower rating from 5 to 3!
The keyboard keys defects are an issue.
A few months after owning it the power key stop working. I watched a YouTube video on how to pop the key cover off. Put it back on and it functions again.
So no issues with it for a year. So after having the laptop just over one year, I open it and the power key cover is off. Again I play around and self fix and get it to snap back. So now I notice while typing the A key is acting stuck.
I am not heavy handed or abusive. I don't bang my keys. I actually type old school from learning on a typewriter back in high school with the fingers always on the main keys. So these issues make me question the quality of Acer products.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

JOHN Q

Piece of junk

Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2021

Verified Purchase

I realize Acer is more of an "economy" brand. But, with how computers are made nowadays, I don't think that expecting just 2 years of normal performance is too much to ask. The warranty is only for 1 year. The battery went bad after 13 months. They want $600 to repair it. That's insane. That's the cost of the entire new laptop. I have had numerous issues with this laptop since day one - slow processing speed (regular use, not gaming or giant programs), internet connectivity issues, glitching/freezing, bluetooth is spotty, and the battery will just refuse to start once a week even though it is fully charged. I have to manually reset the battery routinely. Do not buy Swift 5 or any Acer. Total garbage.

Helpful

Brad K

Super computer!

Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2019

Verified Purchase

I've been using this laptop for about 10 days and love it! I opted for the i5 model and it's super fast. The 256GB SSD is good sized and blazing fast! Boots up in about 5 seconds and is ready to go. Laptop runs cool and is silent. It only weighs 2.2 lbs which is crazy light for a 15.6", but feels solid and sturdy. Well built for sure. I don't really care about or use the touchscreen, but it works well. The full HD IPS screen is so clear and crisp, even at angles. It's glossy but I don't see any glare issues at all. The touchpad is glassy smooth like my MB, and works perfect. The down firing speakers work fine, but do wish they were on top for better sound. The backlit keyboard and fingerprint reader are great. Typing is a pleasure and the keys work perfect. There are plenty of ports for me, and it charges up pretty quick. The battery life has been really good for such a light laptop. About 8 hours of solid use. I was looking for a fast and super light 15.6" laptop for under $1,000 and this fits the bill. Acer has a real winner here!

13 people found this helpful

Helpful

nom de plume

Loaded with Bloatware. Once corrected, it's a solid performer that's incredibly light.

Reviewed in the United States on February 23, 2020

Verified Purchase

I was somewhat irritated with the amount of bloatware that was on the computer when it arrived. I'd expect it on a laptop in the $350 range, but not at this price.

The internet describes many ways to get rid of the bloatware. For me, I reinstalled Windows 10 as soon as I connected the laptop to the internet. I followed the instructions on Microsoft's site for "Reinstall Windows 10 Using Installation Media" and choosing the "Keep Nothing" option. Other than Windows 10, none of the other applications that came with the computer are of value. The MS Office 365 programs included on the laptop are not free versions; they are the same free trials that anyone can obtain by visiting the MS Office site.

If you decide to go with the Reinstallation route, here are some tips that will hopefully save you time....

Reinstallation requires the unique product key for the specific license of Windows 10 that was shipped on your computer. This makes sense - otherwise anyone could get Windows 10 for free. Unfortunately, I spent around 2 hours on the phone with Acer, and then Microsoft, to determine my Windows 10 product key.

- The product key wasn't in any of the documentation provided by Acer, nor was it on a sticker on the underside of the laptop. I called Acer, and after lengthy hold times and conversations, tech support told me they didn't have that information (!) and I would need to contact Microsoft. You can skip speaking with Acer and obtain the phone Microsoft's number (and the information Microsoft will need) by holding down the Windows key on your keyboard and pressing "R".

- I called the number and went through the phone tree around 6 times, each time entering the 54-digit code that was provided by the laptop when I pressed [Windows]-[R]. Each time, I was told my 54-digit code was invalid.

- I then systematically worked my way through the phone tree branches until I reached a human being. I provided the representative with the 54-digit code, and, like the automated system, they told me it was invalid.

- I pushed back, saying that either Acer is selling computers with pirated versions of Windows 10, or something else is wrong. They eventually were able to talk me through finding my product key by entering commands at the command prompt.

- From there, I returned to Microsoft's site for the Windows 10 reinstallation instructions, and the rest of the process worked as it should.

Aside from the few hours I spent "fixing" things, the laptop has performed well. But Acer loses a star for being lazy and/or cheap.

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

Trevor

The Good, The Bad, The Mediocre...

Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2020

Verified Purchase

The Good
Weight - Wow, this laptop is light.
Display - I was worried about negative reviews about the gloss and reflectivity, but this hasn't been a problem for me. I think the screen looks great!
TPM - I had no idea this laptop had TPM which is nice because I can encrypt and not have to worry about pre-boot PIN/Passwords.

The Bad
The Arrow Keys - Left and Right are big buttons and Up/Down are little. I never press the correct button. (See picture)
Fingerprint Reader - This is almost worthless. If I am lucky I get a good reading a third of the time. C'mon Acer!!!
Backlit Keyboard - There is no way to control the brightness and the timeout is 30 seconds with no way to keep it on. People on forums have been asking for a BIOS update to address this but still nothing.
Fit and Finish - The casing on the laptop has a lot of imperfections and what I think is overspray. It's weird. (See pictures)

The Mediocre
Battery Life - I thought for sure I would get more! I get about 4 hours in real life.
Function Keys - I expect to be able to swap functionality from function keys to F keys from either software or a key on the keyboard. Nope, not on this laptop - set in the BIOS.
Hyper-Threading - I turn Hyper-threading off on almost every system I use and there is no where in the BIOS to do it. WTF Acer!!!

Overall, this laptop is worth $750. At first glance I thought, woah, I really got a ton of value for $750, but the weird keyboard layout, the backlit keyboard nonsense and the fit and finish concerns make this feel like driving a Hyundai instead of a Honda. The laptop is fully functional, but I think almost every person that uses the laptop is going to find some type of quirk that is annoying.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star

Acer Swift 5 Ultra-Thin & Lightweight Laptop 15.6” FHD IPS Touch...

›

Customer reviews

Customer reviews

Acer Swift 5 Ultra-Thin & Lightweight Laptop 15.6” FHD IPS Touch Display in a thin .23" bezel, 8th Gen Intel Core i5-8265U, 8GB DDR4, 256GB PCIe NVMe SSD, Back-lit Keyboard, Windows 10, SF515-51T-507P

Top positive review

Top critical review

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

From the United States

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

Questions? Get fast answers from reviewers

Acer Swift 5 Ultra-Thin & Lightweight Laptop 15.6” FHD IPS Touch... › Customer reviews

Customer reviews

Acer Swift 5 Ultra-Thin & Lightweight Laptop 15.6” FHD IPS Touch Display in a thin .23" bezel, 8th Gen Intel Core i5-8265U, 8GB DDR4, 256GB PCIe NVMe SSD, Back-lit Keyboard, Windows 10, SF515-51T-507P

Top positive review

Top critical review

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

From the United States

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

Questions? Get fast answers from reviewers

Acer Swift 5 Ultra-Thin & Lightweight Laptop 15.6” FHD IPS Touch...

›

Customer reviews