The Acer Switch 3 is the most recent budget laptop from Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Acer, a producer whose 2017 exploits incorporate a $9,000 gaming laptop along with the world's thinnest Ultrabook.
With that history, anyone may have anticipated Acer to go all in with their second project, something that they did not actually set out to attain, but came fairly close regardless. The Switch 7 may be Acer's flagship laptop, however the Switch 3 is a more affordable, more viable version of that.
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The Switch 3, for all intents and purposes, is entirely geared for shoppers looking for a bargain. Making the best of a 12.2-inch, 1920 x 1200 display, a 0.6-inch thick framework and 2.8 lbs (1.3kg) of heft, It could be tough to frame the Acer Switch 3's aesthetics as anything other than standard. At least as far as first impressions go.
Have a look inside, however, and you will come across a pair of burly components that feel right at home inside the all-aluminum chassis of the Acer Switch 7.
Price and availability
The Acer Switch 3 came out in just $439 (roughly £450, AU$560) that is a far more wallet-friendly option in comparison with the Core-toting Switch 5, that will be available for about $799 (roughly £600, AU$1,050).
The Pentium architecture implies it is pricier than Atom-based opponents, such as the similarly-specced Lenovo Miix, although not by far, and the performance increase is significant.
Design
As soon as you get this hybrid in your palms, 1 thing becomes immediately clear: Acer's engineers have done a superb technology endeavor. It is weighty, it is strong, and it is built incredibly well. The device feels as though it's been made of quality components and materials, and it feels as though it will not fall apart the moment you knock it onto something.
Even the added keyboard pay, clad in a sturdy textured cloth that will not remain fairly for long, has a stability that you would not expect at that price point. It evolves through the typical magnetic strip you will see on other hybrids, with another hinged magnet that attaches to the base border of the screen and angles the keys as you're typing.
Acer's selection of screen, a very colorful 1,920 x 1,200 IPS panel, has capable viewing angles as well as at 12.2-inches corner-to-corner, remarkable pixel density. Its bezels are apparent but inoffensive. Perhaps you will say they're useful, taking into consideration the keyboard riser.
A lot of the Switch 3's power comes in the rigid metallic framework running around its border, which extends to a u-shaped stand, technically flexible to just about any angle. Technically.
Deeper angles decrease the immunity -- those pesky laws of physics and leverage -- and without any notching or locking, you are pretty much stuck to the full 165 levels if you are putting it horizontal for drawing. We found that this totally okay, but your private tablet tastes may vary.
Performance
The design genius is continuing inside the casing. To get a device that is entirely passively cooled, the Switch 3 does not ever seem to get unbearably sexy, even if the Pentium N4200 strikes boost mode and brings its full 2.5GHz.
While that Pentium structure provides the Switch 3 a marginally thicker profile compared to typically slender Atom-based devices -- also adds a chunk into the cost -- it is not that tough to see why it is totally worthwhile.
You are not going to be gaming on this particular device, but also for whatever else it feels as though it's lacking electricity. Web browsing is quick, overall Windows operation typically snappy, and screen drawing about as lag-free since it might possibly be.
There's nothing outstanding and nothing in our benchmarks, bar the PCMark battery life test, that's particularly disappointing. Under light weight, enjoy our picture evaluation, the Switch 3 plays well.
In this system the benchmarks truly don't tell the story, however. If you get a sub-$500 tablet computer and anticipate it for a performance powerhouse, you have seriously misjudged the machine you were looking for.
Middling performance that's slick enough to impress for the cost, however? That's a triumph, and also the Switch 3 never feels near sluggish.
General assessment
Yes, there are problems. But they're small ones. For all of us, and for a lot of you, the Switch 3 is going to perform just enough to justify a buy, especially considering that it is half the cost of its key competitor. This might not turn the tablet market on its mind, but it has absolutely changed our perspective of it.
