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With a capable Core i7 CPU, Intel's new discrete graphics, and a brilliant full HD screen that shrugs off glare from ambient light, Acer's Swift 3X is an ambitious ultraportable laptop that would be stellar if not for a few design missteps.
Razer Book 13 review: A slick laptop with a disappointing keyboard
There s a lot to like about Razer s productivity laptop, unless you like typing. Credit: Jared Newman / IDG
The Razer Book 13 is a classic example of why you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.
This is a gorgeous laptop to behold a sharp-edged slab of aluminum with a 16:10 display, slim bezels, and a generously-sized trackpad. It has Intel’s latest 11th-generation Core processor, face recognition, and not a trace of pre-installed bloatware. At a glance, you might think it commands every penny of its asking price.
And then you start writing on it, and the whole experience comes squishing down on its mushy, imprecise, low-travel keyboard. The Razer Book 13 could be a pretty good high-end laptop, but it’s hard to recommend for anyone who spends a lot of time typing.
Need a large-screen laptop that converts into a tablet? Dell's Inspiron 15 7000 2-in-1 is a good-value desktop replacement. Just mind the bulk and the merely ordinary port selection.
Acer Swift 3X design impressions
On the whole, the Acer Swift 3X nails the vibe it’s going for. This is a small, light, affordable, and long-lasting laptop targeting on-the-go content creators.
Acer
Those characteristics have rarely melded before, as content creation laptops have typically cost and weighed more due to their need for discrete graphics chips. The Iris Xe Max
is a discrete GPU, but it’s basically identical to the integrated Xe graphics in Intel’s Tiger Lake chips. The Xe Max, however, is split out and paired with 4GB of its own low-power LPDDR4X memory, rather than the usual higher-power GDDR5 or GDDR6. That upgrade, though somewhat modest, means Xe Max can be used in smaller, cheaper laptops like the Swift 3X. We’ll dive deeper into the capabilities of Intel’s discrete GPU and Deep Link technology later.