Acer’s new Swift Edge 16" OLED laptop is a half-inch thin, 2.5lbs, and setting records

Acer Swift Edge (SFA16-41-R7SU)
(Image credit: Daniel Rubino)

What you need to know

  • Acer has announced the brand new Swift Edge (SFA16-41-R7SU) Laptop.
  • The Swift Edge has a magnesium-aluminum chassis that is only 2.58 pounds and 0.51-inch thin.
  • It has a 16-inch (16:10) OLED 3840 x 2400 display with a 60Hz refresh rate and 100% DCI-P3 color range.
  • The laptop has already won two design awards.
  • It goes on sale today at Costo starting at $1,499 with an AMD Ryzen 7 68000U octa-core CPU.

Acer is no stranger to making thin laptops that are also elegant looking. Heck, a few of us here at Windows Central used to have the 2014 Acer Aspire S7, which is still crazy thin in 2022.

Well, Acer is back at it with the new Swift Edge (SFA16-41). It packs a 16-inch, 16:10 OLED display with a fantastic 3840 x 2400 resolution (283 PPI) and weighs just 2.58lbs (1.17kg).

That 2014 Aspire S7 was only 13.3” and weighed 2.8lbs (1.3kg) by comparison.

Pretty crazy stuff, and that doesn’t even mention the longer battery life and much more powerful AMD Ryzen CPU.

Acer Swift Edge (SFA16-41-R7SU) has a very minimal design with just a modest logo. (Image credit: Daniel Rubino)

To achieve the super thin 0.51 inches height (12.95mm) and light chassis, Acer went with a sturdy magnesium-aluminum (Mg-Al alloy) chassis instead of relying on plastics. The laptop, when closed, isn’t much thicker than your average 2022 smartphone.

The rest of the specs are just as impressive. The Swift Edge (SFA16-41) can be configured with a variety of AMD Ryzen 6000 processors ranging from the Ryzen 5 6600U (hexa-core) up to the Ryzen 7 PRO 6850U (octa-core), all with AMD Radeon Graphics and Microsoft Pluton security.

The Acer Swift Edge (SFA16-41-R7SU) has a spacious keyboard and large touchpad. (Image credit: Daniel Rubino)

RAM goes up to 32GB of dual-channel LPDDR5 and a zippy PCIe 4.0 SSD in either 512GB or 1TB sizes.

Ports are plenty as well, with two USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 2, two USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 1, HDMI 2.1 with HDCP support, and a headphone/mic jack. Connectivity is standard fare with the latest Wi-Fi 6E (2x2 MU-MIMO) and Bluetooth 5.2.

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Header Cell - Column 0 Acer Swift Edge SFA16-41-R7S
OSWindows 11 Home/Pro
ProcessorAMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850U (4.7GHz), Octa
Row 2 - Cell 0 AMD Ryzen 7 6800U (4.7GHz), Octa
Row 3 - Cell 0 AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 6650U (4.5GHz), Hexa
Row 4 - Cell 0 AMD Ryzen 5 660U (4.5GHz), Hexa
RAMUp to 32GB of dual-channel LPDDR5
GraphicsAMD Radeon Graphics
Storage512GB or 1TB
Row 8 - Cell 0 PCIe Gen4, 16 Gb/s, NVMe
Display16.0" display with OLED (non-touch)
Row 10 - Cell 0 WQUXGA 3840 x 2400 / 16:10
Row 11 - Cell 0 Certified by True Black HDR 500 (500 nits)
Ports2x USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 2, 2x USB Type-A Gen 1
Row 13 - Cell 0 HDMI 2.1 / Headphone & Mic
AudioDTS Audio / Acer Purified Voice / Acer TrueHarmony
WirelessBluetooth 5.2, Wi-Fi 6E
CameraFHD webcam 1920 x 1080 resolution (Blue Glass Lens)
SecurityMicrosoft Pluton support
Row 18 - Cell 0 Fingerprint reader w/ on-host matching
Battery54WHr 3-cell
Dimensions14.04 (W) x 9.54 (D) x 0.51/0.55 (H) inches
Row 21 - Cell 0 356.7 (W) x 242.3 (D) x 12.95/13.95 (H) mm
Weight2.58 lbs (1.17kg)
ColorOlivine Black
AvailabilityOctober 6, 2022 (North America)
Price$1,499

But really, it’s all about that 16-inch display, which has an impressive 92% screen-to body-ratio.

Hitting 400 nits of brightness, the Acer CineCrystal screen has a color gamut of 100% DCI-P3, certified True Black HDR 500 (500 nits peak), and TÜV Rheinland Eyesafe display certifications.

All display, baby. (Image credit: Daniel Rubino)

Acer has won two design accolades, including Red Dot 2022 and a 2022 Good Design award, which is noteworthy.

Acer sent us a production-ready unit, and it is a sight to behold. It’s like what LG has done with the Gram series, but with AMD, an improved full HD web camera, and DTS Audio. The sizeable 54WHr battery should deliver decent battery life, especially when combined with AMD’s efficient CPUs.

Acer Swift Edge (SFA16-41-R7SU)

Acer Swift Edge next to an iPhone 13 Mini (Image credit: Daniel Rubino)

Typing on the keyboard is a joy, and the touchpad is quite large. But carrying it around and tossing it to someone is really fun since it’s so light. Opening it up, you get a wall of OLED goodness, which will be excellent for watching movies or editing photos.

Acer Swift Edge (SFA16-41) Price and Availability

(Image credit: Daniel Rubino)

The Acer Swift Edge (SFA16-41) will be available in October in North America, starting at USD 1,499.99; in EMEA, starting at EUR 1,499; and in China, starting at RMB 7,999.

The first Swift Edge model being sold in N. America is the Swift Edge SFA16-41-R7SU. It will be available starting today, Oct 7, at Costco. It features a Ryzen 7 6800U processor, 16GB RAM, and 1TB SSD. It is priced at $1,499.99.

Exact specifications, prices, and availability will vary by region.

Daniel Rubino
Editor-in-chief

Daniel Rubino is the Editor-in-chief of Windows Central. He is also the head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft since 2007, when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, laptops, next-gen computing, and watches. He has been reviewing laptops since 2015 and is particularly fond of 2-in-1 convertibles, ARM processors, new form factors, and thin-and-light PCs. Before all this tech stuff, he worked on a Ph.D. in linguistics, watched people sleep (for medical purposes!), and ran the projectors at movie theaters because it was fun.