Sporting the largest touchpad I’ve ever seen, this ambitious laptop is better in theory than in practice.The Acer Swift 16 AI features two USB-C ports, an HDMI port, and a USB-A port on the left side. On the right side, you’ll find another USB-A port, a microSD card slot, and a headphone jack. While the variety of ports is not impressive, it would have been more convenient if Acer had distributed the USB-C ports on both sides, allowing for charging from either side.
The Swift 16 AI boasts a top-tier 16-inch OLED touchscreen display. With a resolution of 2880 x 1800, a 120 Hz refresh rate, and near-perfect color saturation, the display is impressive. Like most OLED laptops, it features a glossy, highly reflective screen that reaches a maximum brightness of 315 nits, as per my tests. Although it’s not as bright as IPS or mini-LED displays, the compromise in brightness is made to achieve the unparalleled contrast that only OLED can offer.
The full-size keyboard and oversized touchpad are the standout features of this laptop. The touchpad, in particular, is the largest I’ve ever seen. While it may seem a bit unusual, I appreciate when manufacturers utilize as much space as possible on a product. However, the touchpad might not appeal to everyone and could potentially discourage some from purchasing this laptop.
On larger laptops like the Swift 16 AI, which include a number pad to the right of the keyboard, the touchpad is usually positioned below the keyboard, making it visually off-center. This design can look strange, and some 16-inch laptops, like the MacBook Pro, the Dell XPS 16, and most gaming laptops, avoid this by excluding the number pad. Acer, however, has chosen to expand and center the touchpad, effectively utilizing the space below the keyboard, retaining the number pad, and addressing the aesthetic issue common in full-size laptops.