Acer Swift X 14 (2023) vs Lenovo LOQ 15 (2023): Which mid-sized laptop is for you?

Both of these mid-sized laptops will deliver excellent power for tasks and even gaming.

Acer Swift X 14 (2023)

$1026 $1100 Save $74

The Acer Swift X 14 offers up to 13th-generation Intel Core processors, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050, 16GB of RAM, and comes with an option for a 120Hz 2.8K OLED display. If you’re looking for a solid all-around laptop, make sure to put this Acer on your radar.
Pros

Powerful hardware

Good for gaming and productivity

120Hz OLED
Cons

Limited configurations
Lenovo LOQ 15

Lenovo’s LOQ 15 comes with your choice of Intel or AMD processor, up to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU, up to 16GB of RAM, and an FHD IPS display. This versatile laptop is great for gamers and those looking to get some work done without breaking the bank.
Pros
- Premium hardware
- Good for gaming
- Intel and AMD choices

So, you’re looking for a new laptop, and naturally, you’ll want one of the best laptops within your budget. The best Acer laptops are excellent contenders for your money, but Lenovo’s been in the game for a long time, too. Acer’s Swift X 14 laptop has something for everyone, from gamers to professionals, but Lenovo’s LOQ 15 also offers up a slew of competitive specs and features, so which should you go with? Not to worry, because in this article we’ll tell you everything you need to know about choosing between a Swift X 14 and a LOQ 15 laptop.

Price, availability, and specs

The Acer Swift X 14 is here, and you can pick one up from your favorite retailer, starting at $1,099 and going up to $1,499 for the OLED model. With the Swift X, you’re getting a choice between a 13th-generation Intel Core i5 and i7 CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 or 4050 GPU, 512GB and 1TB of storage, and either a 14.5-inch OLED or IPS display, depending on which model you opt for.

The Lenovo LOQ 15, which is available on Lenovo.com and other retailers, currently starts out at $990 and scales up depending on your configuration. With the LOQ 15, you’re getting a choice between an AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS or an Intel Core i5 or i7 13th-generation processor, up to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060, up to 16GB of RAM, up to 1TB of storage, and a 15.6-inch IPS display. As you’d expect, how you kit out your LOQ will radically change its price above that starting price.

	Acer Swift X 14 (2023)	Lenovo LOQ 15
Brand	Acer	Lenovo LOQ
Color	Steel Gray	Gray
Storage	Up to 1TB SSD	Up to 1TB SSD
CPU	Up to 13th-generation Intel Core i7-13700H	AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS or up to 13th-generation Intel Core i7-13700H
Memory	Up to 16GB RAM	Up to 16GB RAM
Operating System	Windows 11	Windows 11
Battery	Up to 76Wh	60Wh
Ports	2x Thunderbolt 4, 2x USB Type-A, HDMI, 3.5mm combo audio jack, microSD card reader	1x HDMI 2.0, 2x USB-C 3.2, 1x USB-A 3.2, 3.5mm audio combo jack, Ethernet
Camera	1080p Full HD webcam with AI noise reduction	FHD with dual microphones
Display (Size, Resolution)	14.5-inch, 16:10 aspect ratio, up to 2.8K OLED, 120Hz refresh rate,	15.6-inch, FHD, IPS, 144Hz
Weight	3.31 pounds (1.5kg)	5.3 pounds (2.4kg)
GPU	Up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 (50W)	Up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060
Form	Clamshell	Clamshell
Dimension	12.7x9x0.7 inches (322.58×228.6×17.78mm)	14.2×10.42×1 inches (359.6×264.77×25.2mm)
Network	Wi-Fi 6E + Bluetooth 5.1	Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0
Speakers	Stereo speakers	Stereo speakers
Price	Starting at $1,100	Starting at $789.99
Model	Swift X 14 (FSX14-71G)	Lenovo LOQ 15

Design

Rear angled view of the Acer Swift X 14 facing left over a green gradient background

The Swift X 14 sports a fairly traditional clamshell look with nothing in the way of vibrant colorways or ostentatious graphics. But thanks to its clean, minimalist look and flat edges, it manages to feel sleek and modern. The design language here is generally more in line with something like a ThinkPad as opposed to something like a MacBook, but if you don’t mind a slightly harder, boxier aesthetic, there’s a lot to love. Coming in at 3.31 pounds, this laptop may not be the lightest one ever built, but it’s certainly not going to break your back carrying it around anytime soon.

When it comes to the LOQ 15, we’ve got another traditional clamshell design and no vibrant colorways or other touches to mention. The LOQ sports more of a soft, rounded look, and when coupled with its fairly muted gray aesthetic, it’s not an especially breathtaking piece of kit. But if you don’t love the more angular feel of a laptop like the Swift above or a ThinkPad, this is a solid alternative. However, the LOQ balloons up to 5.3 pounds, which can be pretty heavy if you’re thinking about carrying this laptop with you everywhere you go.

The Swift X can feel slightly more modern in terms of design, but this comes down to personal preference. What isn’t preference is how much heavier the LOQ is over the Swift, so if weight is a primary concern for you, you’ll likely prefer the Swift.

Display

The Swift X 14 gives you a choice between its two different displays. You can opt for a 14.5-inch 16:10 IPS display with a 2560×1600 resolution and 120Hz refresh rate, or you can go with the OLED 2880×1800 display, which has a 120Hz refresh rate and HDR support with 500 nits of maximum brightness. The OLED panel is the easy choice here for anybody who prioritizes image quality.

With the LOQ, you’ve only got one choice: a 15.6-inch IPS display with a 1920×1080 resolution and a 144Hz refresh rate alongside a maximum brightness of 350 nits. For gamers, this isn’t a bad choice, as you’ll get a high refresh rate coupled with a resolution that won’t require too much horsepower to output consistently at that 144Hz cap. For productivity, though, an FHD display may look a little pixelated when it comes to scrolling through text.

The best blend of features and performance comes with the Swift’s OLED panel.

If you’re looking for the highest refresh rate possible, the display on the LOQ is the top choice, and if you’re looking for the best image quality, the OLED panel on the Swift is for you. Otherwise, the best blend of features and performance comes with the Swift’s OLED panel.

When it comes to built-in webcams, both laptops offer 1080p cameras. These will definitely get you by in a Zoom meeting, but you won’t be impressing anybody with your camera quality, as with most laptops. Either way, you will likely get a serviceable webcam experience.

Performance

Two Acer Swift X 14 laptops over a red and orange gradient background. One laptop has the lid open at roughluy 30 degrees and is facing left, while the other is open at about 70 degrees and facing right

In terms of hardware, both the Swift X 14 and the LOQ 15 have a lot of overlap. With the LOQ, you can opt for an AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS, but otherwise, you’ll get up to a 13th-generation Intel Core i7-13700H. With the Swift, you just get your choice of CPU up to that same 13th-generation Intel Core i7-13700H. On average, you can expect similar performance out of a 7840HS as you can from a 13700H, but you’ll have a slight edge in single-core performance with the Intel models and a slight edge in multi-core performance with AMD. Outside of the CPU, you get up to 16GB of RAM on both machines.

You can expect both to be powerful, performant machines capable of gaming and productivity tasks.

However, these laptops start to differ when it comes to the GPU. For the LOQ, you get your choice of GPU, depending on which CPU you select, from an RTX 3050 up to an RTX 4060. With the Swift, you get a choice between an RTX 3050 and an RTX 4050. At the top end, the LOQ will offer up more GPU horsepower, which is definitely a meaningful difference considering the Swift runs at a higher resolution than the LOQ. However, since the LOQ’s display caps out at 1080p, you may not need all the power of a 4060 for every game.

In general, if you want the most GPU power you can get for gaming, the LOQ is going to be your best bet; otherwise, you can expect both to be powerful, performant machines capable of gaming and productivity tasks. Slight differences in CPU and GPU aren’t likely to make a night and day difference here, so you can’t really go wrong performance-wise.

Battery life

We haven’t tested out the batteries of either of these laptops ourselves just yet, so we can’t give you official numbers. However, since the Swift X 14 has a 76Wh battery and the LOQ has a 60Wh battery, you can expect better battery life out of the Swift. This is especially true if you opt for a 4060 on your LOQ as compared to a 4050 on the Swift. Though, of course, battery life will always be very dependent on what you do on your laptop. It’s also worth noting that the Swift’s GPU tops out at a 50W power draw, while the LOQ starts out at 70W and tops out at 115W, so the latter can take more of a toll on battery life.

In general, we wouldn’t expect more than a handful of hours of battery life with any laptop if you’re doing an intense task like gaming. Considering the Swift has both a bigger battery and a GPU that draws less power, you can expect the Swift to outperform the LOQ in terms of battery life. With some light web browsing on either, battery life will extend past a handful of hours, but we’d recommend bringing a charger with you for both.

Which is right for you?

Like with any laptop purchase, a lot of this comes down to personal preference and what you’re looking to do with your laptop. Both the LOQ 15 and the Swift X 14 are easily capable of browsing the web, gaming, and a variety of different productivity tasks, so you can’t really go wrong.

However, considering its better display, better battery life, and overall lighter weight making it a bit more portable, we’d generally recommend the Acer Swift 14 of the LOQ 15. If you only plan to game on your laptop, don’t mind 1080p and just want the highest FPS, and will use it mostly at home, the LOQ can definitely be the better choice, but for most folks, the Swift X 14 will likely serve them the best out of the two laptops in question.

TWo Acer Swift X 14 laptops, one with the lid open at roughly 30 degrees and seen from the right, and the other with the lid open at about 70 degrees and seen at an angle from the left

Acer Swift X 14 (2023)

Winner

$1026 $1100 Save $74

The Acer Swift X 14 offers up 13th-generation Intel Core processors, up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050, 16GB of RAM, and comes with an option for a 120Hz 2.8K OLED display. If you’re looking for a solid all-around laptop, make sure to put this Acer on your radar.

With a powerful 13th-generation Intel Core processor, up to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU, 16GB of RAM, and the option for a 120Hz OLED HDR display, whether you’re looking to game, surf the internet, or get your work done, this laptop is an excellent choice. When you add in a sleek design and a meaty battery, there’s little to be disappointed by, regardless of who you are, so make sure to put this machine on your radar.

Lenovo LOQ 15

Runner-up

Lenovo’s LOQ 15 comes with your choice of Intel or AMD processor, up to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU, up to 16GB of RAM, and an FHD IPS display. This versatile laptop is great for gamers and those looking to get some work done without breaking the bank.