Acer Swift Edge (SFA16-41)

A punchy 4K OLED screen and bags of power, but mediocre battery life diminishes its appeal

- TIM DANTON

Imagine a posse of Acer directors gathered round an LG Gram 16 (see issue 336, p46), nodding in approval. "Right," they tell the product team, "make something equally slender, equally robust, equally light, but give us an edge!" That edge is the screen. Where LG sticks with IPS technology and a 2,560 x 1,440 resolution, Acer plumps for a punchy 4K AMOLED panel. In fact, it's higher even than 4K, with 2,400 vertical pixels rather than 2,160.

It's a vivid panel, covering 99% of the DCI-P3 gamut with excellent accuracy; I measured an average Delta E of 0.3. Games look particularly good, and the speakers - while not my top choice for music due to a lack of depth - are more than strong enough to enjoy action films. The DisplayHDR 500 True Black certification is another plus point, but in general the screen peaks at 369cd/m².

Where the LG Gram 16 wins my vote is for day-to-day work, as it produces cleaner whites; if you shift your head from straight-on then you'll notice the screen's colour shift with you. The LG's other slight advantage for workers is its (marginally) superior keyboard. A combination of shallow travel, minimal cushioning and a rattle when I hit down hard meant I never found myself enjoying it. My patience was further tried by the nagging updates to extend the 30-day Norton trial.