At CES 2018, Acer showcased three new laptops: the AMD-powered Nitro 5 gaming laptop, the elegant and ultra-lightweight Swift 7 and a revamped Chromebook 11 with a USB Type-C port for those on a tighter budget.
Below, I’ll outline each laptop and give you an idea of what to expect, including the laptop's UK release date, price and specifications.
READ NEXT: What to expect at CES 2018: All the key trends, rumours and announcements ahead of CES
Acer Nitro 5 hands-on: The AMD gaming laptop
Acer Nitro 5 UK release date and price
The Nitro 5 starts at a price of £899 in the UK and will be available from April 2018. The laptop will also be available in North America from $799 and in Europe from €1,099.
Acer Nitro 5 specifications
Acer has chosen to use AMD’s Radeon RX560 GPU as the basis for its new gaming laptop and it also comes equipped with the latest AMD Ryzen mobile processor. There’s up to 32GB of DDR4 RAM at your disposal with an SSD of up to 512GB for storage. It also has a 15.6in Full HD screen, with an IPS panel, which runs at 60Hz.
As for connectivity, there’s a dual-stream 802.11ac wireless adapter built in and plenty of physical ports, including an SD card reader, three USB Type-A and one USB Type-C ports, plus 3.5mm headphone/mic and Ethernet ports.
Acer Nitro 5 design
The Nitro 5 is built for gamers who aren’t looking for a laptop with an aggressive design, such as those found on Acer’s Predator range. Its black chassis – finished in an attractive carbon weave on the lid and topped off with red accents dotted around – will still appeal to gamers, it's just not quite as in your face as many.
The laptop’s hinge allows for wide adjustment, and it can tilt back to a degree, but it doesn’t adjust as far back as the Swift 7 (see below). The Nitro 5’s keyboard looks great, all backlit in bright crimson and the trackpad sits off centre, right under the spacebar.
Acer Nitro 5 early verdict
The Nitro 5 takes a different approach from your traditional gaming laptop. Its design isn't aggressive and overall it's surprisingly affordable for those looking to game at 1080p. With AMD-powered graphics and a Ryzen processor, it’ll be interesting to see how the laptop fares against its rivals when it comes to performance and battery life.
Click here for more pictures of the Acer Nitro 5
Acer Swift 7 hands-on: The world’s thinnest laptop now with 4G LTE
Acer Swift 7 UK release date and price
The Swift 7 will be available from February 2018 with prices starting at £1,479. In the US and Europe, prices will start at $1,699 and €1,699 respectively.
Acer Swift 7 specifications
The new Swift 7 has a 14in Full HD touchscreen IPS display, topped with Corning Gorilla Glass and, as with previous Swift laptops, it can be tilted back to a rather extreme angle. It has improved connectivity over the last model, though, with a nano-SIM card slot and support for 4G data speeds.
The laptop also supports eSIM technology, which means you can download and activate a network profile directly to your laptop without having to worry about a physical SIM card. Other connectivity specifications include 802.11ac Wi-Fi with 2x2 MIMO and Bluetooth.
As for performance, the Swift 7 comes equipped with a seventh-generation Intel Core i7 processor, 256GB of PCIe SSD storage and 8GB of LPDDR3 RAM.
Acer Swift 7 design
Acer claims the Swift 7 is the world’s thinnest laptop and the numbers certainly make eye-opening reading. Its aluminium chassis measures an astonishing 8.98mm with the lid closed and it's ludicrously light as well. Around the sides of the laptop there are scattered two USB Type-C ports, a 3.5mm headphone jack and a nano-SIM tray, although there are no HDMI or USB Type-A ports.
Unusually, the laptop has a fingerprint sensor and this is located by the left side of the backlit keyboard. It has a pretty big trackpad as well, but with effective palm rejection, you won't need to worry too much about activating it by accident.
Acer Swift 7 early verdict
With an ultra-thin design, 4G capabilities and an Intel Core i7 processor, the Swift 7 is one to look out for. It might be a tad expensive, but if you’re looking for a laptop you can sling in a bag without feeling too much of a weight penalty, the Swift 7 could be the laptop for you.
Click here to see more pictures of the Acer Swift 7
Acer Chromebook 11 hands-on: A Chromebook with a dash of style
Acer Chromebook 11 UK release date and price
The Chromebook 11 will be available from £259 and will come to the UK in March 2018. In the US and Europe, prices start at $249 and €249.
Acer Chromebook 11 specifications
The Chromebook 11 comes in two different variants: one with a touchscreen (CB311-8HT); one without (CB311-8H). Both have 11.6in IPS displays, stereo speakers and a pair of USB-Type C ports.
Elsewhere, there are two USB-Type A ports, a 3.5mm headphone jack and a microSD card reader. For wireless you get a 2x2 MIMO 802.11ac Wi-Fi adapter and Bluetooth 4.2. Powering the laptop is an Intel Celeron processor, 2GB of RAM and 16GB or 32GB of eMMC storage.
Acer Chromebook 11 design
The Chromebook 11 looks fantastic. It has an attractive textured plastic blue shell and a lightweight, compact design. Just like the Swift 7, the Chromebook 11's display can be folded all the way back so it lies completely flat.
Acer Chromebook 11 early verdict
On first impressions, the Chromebook 11 looks to be a solid low-cost laptop. Its conservative specifications keep the price down, its range of connectivity is impressive for a Chromebook, and it looks great.
Click here to see more pictures of the Acer Chromebook 11