When looking for the best laptops, a few brands will constantly appear on various lists. Companies like HP, Dell, and Acer all make fantastic devices, so they're almost always at the top of our recommendations. But if you're looking for a specific brand, some laptops can sometimes fly under the radar, even though they're still fantastic. And if you're a fan of Acer's offerings, we've rounded up some of the best options you can buy today right here.
Acer makes great laptops in all kinds of segments. Whether it's premium thin-and-light devices, powerful gaming rigs, or even affordable Chromebooks, you're sure to find something you like here.
Our top Acer laptop picks in 2023
Acer Swift 14
A beautiful lightweight laptop for almost anyone
The Acer Swift 14 is a productivity laptop with a striking dual-tone design and the latest 13th-generation Intel H-series CPUs. It's plenty fast, it looks great, it has a sharp display, and even a 1440p webcam, which is very rare in a laptop.
- Very fast 13th-gen H-series Intel Core processors
- Sharp Quad HD+ display with a 16:10 aspect ratio
- 1440p webcam with noise reduction
- Solid port selection
- Battery life suffers due to the processor choice
- No Windows Hello facial recognition (though there is a fingerprint reader)
The Acer Swift 14 is the follow-up to the Swift 5 of years past, and it's still the pinnacle of Acer's laptops overall.
This year, the Acer Swift 14 is more powerful than ever, featuring a 13th-generation Intel Core i7-13700H processor, with 14 cores and 20 threads. That's a fairly uncommon processor for an ultrabook, but it does mean performance should be great, though it will impact battery life somewhat. It also comes with 16GB of RAM and up to a 1TB SSD, making for a great experience overall.
The display is also fantastic. This laptop comes with a 14-inch panel that has a 16:10 aspect ratio, and it packs a very sharp Quad HD+ resolution, so everything looks crystal clear. It's pretty much the only configuration available, which isn't a bad thing because it looks great. Above that display is a 1440p webcam, a legitimately rare feature in laptops. That makes this one of the best webcams around, though it lacks Windows Hello support (you get a fingerprint reader for that, though).
Design-wise, the Acer Swift 14 is pretty much the same as last year's Swift 5, and that's not a bad thing. It uses a mix of dark green surfaces with golden accents, and it looks great, on top of simply being unique. It's also a very thin laptop, and very light, at 2.65 pounds, making this a great machine for portability. As for ports, we're looking at two Thunderbolt 4 ports, USB Type-A, HDMI, and a headphone jack, which is a better setup than most premium 14-inch laptops.
There's no doubt the Acer Swift 14 is one of the best laptops the company makes, with a great combination of specs and features across the board. You can't really ask for much more here.
Acer Spin 5
A versatile form factor with high-end specs
The Acer Spin 5 is a convertible laptop with 12th-generation Intel processors, as well as other high-end specs. It has a more subdued design than the Acer Swift 14, but it has a touchscreen with pen support, and it even includes a garaged stylus for easy access.
- Sharp Quad HD+ display with touch and pen support
- Garaged stylus with 4,096 levels of pressure
- High-end performance
- It no longer has the latest processors available
- Hard to find at most retailers
- Not quite as good-looking as its clamshell counterpart
If you're looking for something a bit more versatile, the Acer Spin 5 is a convertible version of the Swift 14, and the two have a lot in common. It hasn't been refreshed for 2023, yet, but the 2022 model is still very good.
First off, the Acer Spin 5 is powered by Intel's 12th-generation Core processors, up to a Core i7-1260P, which has 12 cores and 16 threads, capable of delivering very good performance in day-to-day tasks. It may actually yield better battery life than an H-series processor, too, so that's a potential benefit over the Swift 14. That's also paired with 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD for storage.
When it comes to the display, the Acer Spin 5 is nearly identical to the Swift 14. It has a 14-inch panel with a 16:10 aspect ratio and Quad HD+ resolution, so the viewing experience is very good right off the bat. Since it's a convertible, this model also supports touch and pen input, and there's even a stylus built right into the laptop, with 4,096 levels of pressure, so it's pretty good for writing and drawing. Above the display is a 1080p webcam, which is always nice to see, though not quite as good as the one on the Swift 14. Windows Hello support comes via a fingerprint sensor, as with most Acer laptops.
The Acer Spin 5 doesn't look as unique as the Swift 14, however, opting for a single-color chassis that's a bit more subdued. However, it's still thin and light, weighing just 2.87 pounds. It still has a good selection of ports, too, including two Thunderbolt 4 and two USB Type-A ports, HDMI, a headphone jack, and a microSD card reader, similar to the clamshell model above.
All things considered, the Acer Spin 5 is a fantastic laptop, as you'd expect from a convertible counterpart of the Swift 14.
Acer Swift Edge
Lightweight and with a stunning screen
At just 2.4 pounds of weight, the Acer Swift Edge is an incredibly lightweight laptop when you consider it's packing a large 16-inch display. The display uses a stunning OLED panel and paired with high-end AMD processors and a solid port selection, it makes this an easy recommendation.
- Super-sharp Ultra HD+ OLED display
- Incredibly light at just 2.4 pounds
- High-end AMD Ryzen 7 6800U processor
- Newer processors are starting to appear
- No USB4 support
OLED displays are becoming more and more common in the laptop space, and Acer's most recent attempt knocks it out of the park. The Acer Swift Edge not only features a fantastic OLED panel but also some top-tier specs and an ultra-light design.
Let's start with those specs. The Acer Swift Edge is powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 6800U processor, which is already fairly uncommon. This powerful CPU gives you 8 cores and 16 threads, so you can count on great performance for everyday tasks. It also includes 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD, so you're set up for a great experience across the board.
The display on the Acer Swift Edge is one of its main draws, however. This is a 16-inch panel with a tall 16:10 aspect ratio, and it comes in a super-sharp Ultra HD resolution (3840x2400). On top of that, as we've mentioned, it's an OLED panel, so it looks absolutely fantastic for work and watching movies. It also covers 100% of DCI-P3, so it's simply a great display all around. Above that display, there's a Full HD webcam, so the video quality should be solid for video calls and meetings.
Something else that makes the Acer Swift Edge special is that it's incredibly light, and Acer says it's the lightest 16-inch laptop on the market. Indeed, at 2.4 pounds, you're not going to find 16-inch laptops lighter than this one, and the 13.95mm thickness is equally impressive. The laptop comes in a dark green colorway called Olivine Black, so it's subdued without being overly boring.
Finally, in terms of ports, we're looking at two USB Type-C ports, two USB Type-A ports, HDMI, and a headphone jack. For a laptop this thin and light, that's a great selection of ports, and it's hard to ask for more.
All in all, the Acer Swift Edge is a fantastic laptop, and for everything it offers, it's very reasonably priced.
Acer Predator Helios 16
Beastly performance with a sleek design
The Acer Predator Helios 16 is a powerful gaming laptop with 13th-gen Intel Core HX-series processors and up to GeForce RTX 4080 graphics. It can run the most demanding games without issue, and it has a sharp and smooth display.
- 24-core Intel processor and Nvidia GeForce RTX 40 series graphics
- Quad HD+ display with up to 240Hz refresh rate
- Plenty of ports
- More powerful models get pretty expensive
- No Windows Hello support
One market where Acer does an especially good job is gaming, and the latest Predator Helios 16 is an easy one to recommend.
It's already packing the latest goods, including 13th-gen Intel Core HX-series processors, which means you get up to 24 cores and 32 threads (with the Core i9-13900HX). The laptop also comes with up to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU, so you have a ton of power to run all the latest games without issue. It also comes with up to 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD.
You'll also have a great display to enjoy your favorite games on. The 16-inch panel comes in Quad HD+ resolution and it has a 165Hz refresh rate in the base model, though you can upgrade to a 240Hz panel if you get a more powerful GPU. A 250Hz Mini LED model is also planned, but not available yet. There's a 1080p webcam atop that display, which is always nice to see in a gaming laptop. Unfortunately, Windows Hello support is missing altogether here.
Being a powerful gaming laptop means portability is secondary, and with a starting weight of 6.39 pounds, that holds true here. But the Predator Helios 16 looks fairly sleek, and it's accented by per-key RGB lighting and a light strip at the back. It also packs a ton of ports, including two Thunderbolt 4 connections, three USB Type-A ports, HDMI, RJ45 Ethernet, a headphone jack, and even a microSD card reader. It's a great setup all around, as is typical for gaming laptops.
It can get fairly expensive if you want a high-end model, but the Acer Predator Helios 16 is an easy laptop to recommend to anyone who's serious about gaming at the highest settings.
Acer TravelMate Spin P4 (2022, Intel)
A subdued laptop for getting work done
The Acer TravelMate Spin P4 is a capable business laptop with 12th-generation Intel processors and a 16:10 display that's ideal for productivity. It's also a convertible, and it even has a stylus built in.
- Versatile design with a built-in stylus
- Solid performance with 12th-gen Intel processors
- Windows 10 Pro license included
- No longer packing the newest processors
- No option for a sharper display
While pretty much any laptop can be used for work, proper business laptops still have benefits thanks to features like Pro Windows licenses and extra security. If you want something you can use in a professional environment, the Acer TravelMate Spin P4 is one of the best laptops in the company's lineup.
The latest model is powered by up to an Intel Core i7-1260P processor, which gives you 12 cores and 16 threads, so you get great performance for day-to-day tasks, though battery life might not be the best because of the 28W TDP. In addition, you can get up to 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD, based on the current configurations available.
The display on the TravelMate Spin P4 is a 14-inch panel with a 16:10 aspect ratio — a big upgrade over the previous model — and it comes in Full HD+ resolution. It's an IPS panel, protected by Corning Gorilla Glass, and feature touch and active pen support. The webcam is still a 720p sensor, which isn't ideal for video quality, but it should suffice if you don't use it that frequently.
The TravelMate Spin P4 is designed to fit into business environments, so it looks decidedly subdued but classy. It comes in a stealthy black color, and it weighs 3.48 pounds so it's not the lightest laptop out there, but it's still decently portable. Plus, it's designed to meet the MIL-STD-810H standard for impact resistance, so it's meant to be durable and reliable. As for ports, you get two Thunderbolt 4 and two USB Type-A ports, plus HDMI, RJ45 Ethernet, and a headphone jack. A very good supply of ports for such a small laptop.
With a durable and professional design, a healthy supply of ports, and a Windows 10 Pro license, the Acer TravelMate Spin P4 is one of the company's best business laptops, complete with the versatility of a convertible.
Acer ConceptD 5
Powerful performance and a color-accurate display
The Acer ConceptD 5 is a powerful laptop with top-notch specs and a color-accurate display, ideal for photo and video editors and anyone with color-sensitive work that requires a lot of power. It comes in a subdued design that fits well in a work environment, too.
- Powerful Intel processors and Nvidia graphics handle content creation gracefully
- Large display with Delta E < 2 and 100% coverage of DCI-P3
- Sleek design makes it usable in a work environment
- Somewhat pricy
- No longer packing the latest specs
Some laptops need power for gaming, but others need it for professional reasons. If you need a laptop to handle advanced content creation, the Acer ConceptD 5 is the best choice for you.
Indeed, this is a powerful laptop, featuring an Intel Core i7-12700H processor with 14 cores and 20 threads, paired with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti graphics card that should make quick work of all kinds of creative workloads, whether you're editing video or rendering 3D scenes. In addition, this configuration includes 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD.
The display is also a big factor with creator laptops like this, and the Acer ConceptD 5 has a large 16-inch IPS panel with a 16:10 aspect ratio and a very sharp 3072x1920 resolution. The screen also covers 100% of DCI-P3, and it has a rated color accuracy of Delta E<2, so it's great for color-sensitive work like photo and video editing. Above that display, you also get a Full HD 1080p webcam, ensuring you look your best during video calls and online meetings. Sadly, there's no facial recognition support, but you do get a fingerprint reader on the touchpad for Windows Hello.
Design-wise, the Acer ConceptD 5 is fairly simple, but that's probably for the best. It comes in an all-black chassis, and while there's no RGB, the keys are backlit in a soft amber color that looks unique without being obnoxious. The laptop weighs 5.29 pounds, which isn't exactly light, but it's about what you might expect for a powerful machine like this. It has a lot of ports, too, with two Thunderbolt 4 and two USB Type-A ports, HDMI, RJ45 Ethernet, a headphone jack, and a full-size SD card reader, there isn't a lot more you could ask for.
The ConceptD 5 has yet to be refreshed for 2023, but this model is already plenty powerful for any creative professional.
Acer Aspire Vero 15-inch
A solid, eco-friendly laptop that doesn't break the bank
The 15-inch Acer Aspire Vero comes with 12th-generation Intel Core processors and other solid specs, packed into an eco-friendly chassis using recycled plastics. It also has a lot of ports, so it can connect all your peripherals, and it even has a 1080p webcam.
- Solid performance with a 12th-gen Intel Core i5
- Eco-friendly and upgradeable design meant to reduce waste
- 1080p webcam, rare at this price point
- Plastic design may feel a bit cheap
- The keyboard isn't the most comfortable
High-end laptops can get ridiculously expensive, but you don't have to spend a fortune to have a good experience with your laptop. The Acer Aspire Vero is a great example of that, and it's also surprisingly affordable.
Inside the Acer Aspire Vero are 12th-generation Intel processors, up to a Core i7-1255U, though our focus here is on the Core i5-1235U model. That version gives you a 10-core, 12-thread CPU that already delivers great performance. It also has 8GB of RAM and a large 512GB SSD, which is very nice to see at this price.
The display is unremarkable, but it's within expectations for a laptop in this price range. It's a 15.6-inch panel with a regular 16:9 aspect ratio, and it comes in Full HD resolution. That won't be the sharpest display, but it's more than good enough for basic use. Above that display is a 1080p webcam, which is also very nice to see for a laptop this affordable.
A big focus for the Acer Aspire Vero is the eco-friendly design, featuring an unpainted chassis made of recycled materials, showing speckles throughout the surface of the laptop and resulting in a fairly unique look. Many parts of the laptop use recycled materials, including ocean-bound plastics used for the touchpad. The R and E letters are printed backward, which can be somewhat distracting, but if you can get over that and the somewhat squeaky keys, you should be okay with this laptop.
Rounding things out with ports, you get one Thunderbolt 4 port, plus there are three USB Type-A ports, HDMI, Ethernet, and a headphone jack. It's a surprisingly complete setup, and the inclusion of Thunderbolt support is especially interesting considering the price.
The Acer Aspire Vero is a great laptop for the price, covering all the basics you could ask it to. It has great performance, a solid display and webcam, and a unique environmentally-friendly design. We've reviewed the 14-inch model, if you'd like to learn more about it.
Acer Chromebook Spin 714
One of the fastest ChromeOS laptops, for a reasonable price
The Acer Chromebook Spin 714 is one of the best Chromebooks on the market, with 12th-gen Intel Core processors and a 14-inch display with a 16:10 aspect ratio, all for a relatively affordable price. It's also a convertible, so it has some extra versatility.
- 12th-gen Intel Core processors deliver great performance on ChromeOS
- Solid display with Full HD+ or Quad HD+ options
- 1080p webcam
- No biometric authentication
The Acer Chromebook Spin 714 is one of the very best Chromebooks on the market, even when you consider other brands. If you want a ChromeOS laptop from Acer, this is the one for you.
For starters, it comes with 12th-generation Intel Core processors, up to a Core i7-1260P, though a model with a Core i5-1235U also exists. Both models should perform great on ChromeOS, but you'll get better battery life with the latter. Additionally, you get 8GB of RAM and up to a 512GB SSD for storage.
Coming from the Acer Chromebook Spin 713, this new model has a larger 14-inch display with a 16:10 aspect ratio, which is a bit wider. The base model has Full HD+ resolution, but the top-tier configuration goes up to Quad HD+, which is even better. Since this is a convertible, it supports touch and pen input (plus, the pen is even built into the laptop itself). At the top of the screen, the webcam has been upgraded from a 720p sensor to a 1080p one, so you should look that much clearer during video calls or online classes.
On the design front, the Acer Chromebook Spin 714 uses a premium aluminum chassis, and it comes a subdued, but fairly unique Slate Blue colorway, which helps it stand out from the sea of silver laptops on the market. Coming around to the ports, we're looking at a pretty good setup with two Thunderbolt 4 ports, one USB Type-A port, HDMI, and a headphone jack, providing solid coverage for all the needs you might have. For a relatively light and thin laptop, it's not bad at all.
It's hard to recommend any other Chromebook when this model exists, so if you're in the ChromeOS ecosystem, this is definitely one you should pick up.
Best Acer laptops in 2023: The bottom line
While we're already a few months into 2023, Acer has been somewhat slow in upgrading its laptop lineup with refreshed models, so you'll notice that many of these still have 12th-generation processors. However, these are all still fantastic choices if you want an Acer laptop. The Acer Swift 14 takes the cake due to having the most recent processors with fantastic performance, a beautiful design that's also lightweight, a great display, and a rare 1440p webcam. It's the complete package, and it definitely earns its recommendation.
Acer Swift 14
The Acer Swift 14 is a productivity laptop with a striking dual-tone design and the latest 13th-generation Intel H-series CPUs. It's plenty fast, it looks great, it has a sharp display, and even a 1440p webcam, which is very rare in a laptop.
If you want something cheaper, the Acer Aspire Vero is a much cheaper alternative that doesn't make as many compromises as you might expect. It still has solid performance and good connectivity, and while it lacks a more premium build quality, the eco-friendly design also helps make it more interesting. Considering the price, it's definitely great to see an effort to be more sustainable.
Are you not an Acer kind of person? No worries — check out our lists of the best HP laptops, or maybe even the best Lenovo laptops if that's more your speed.