Acer has plenty of innovative devices to show off this year, including its FreeSense smart ring and AI translation earbuds, but one thing that I didn't expect to catch my eye is its new lineup of premium creator laptops.
Coming in two flavors, the latest Acer Swift X 14 (2025) laptops first drew me in with their impressive slate of specs, including the selection of AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 or Intel Core Ultra 9 285 CPUs, RTX 5070 GPU, 32GB of DDR5 RAM and up to 2TB for storage. Oh, and that stunning 14.5-inch 3K (2880x1800) OLED touchscreen is a welcome sight.
For creators and even gamers, what's not to like? But it wasn't until I tried out the Swift X 14 that I realized it offers more than just powerful internals. This laptop boasts a nifty trick right on its touchpad that many designers, photo editors, artists and even doodlers will appreciate.
Revealed at Computex 2025, Both Swift X 14 models come with a large haptic touchpad that supports a stylus. It's a simple idea, but one that goes a long way when drawing or editing images in Photoshop, designing 3D models or creating a masterpiece in Microsoft Paint.
We've seen many laptops with brilliant creator-friendly tools, like the Asus ProArt P16 and its handy DialPad, but the Swift X 14 evolves the touchpad for new ways to create — effectively turning it into a canvas. With the power it packs, could it be in the running for one of the best laptops for video editing? Possibly, but after my brief hands-on, it's certainly one for creators to keep an eye on.
Acer Swift X 14: Specs
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | Acer Swift X 14 | Acer Swift X 14 AI |
Starting price | €1,799 | €1,799 |
Display | 14.5-inch 3K (2880x1800) OLED touchscreen | 14.5-inch 3K (2880x1800) OLED touchscreen |
CPU | Up to Intel Core Ultra 9 285 | Up to AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 |
GPU | Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 | Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 |
Memory | Up to 32GB | Up to 32GB |
Storage | Up to 1 TB SSD | Up to 1 TB SSD |
Webcam | 1080p w/ IR | 1080p w/ IR |
Ports | 2x Thunderbolt 4, 2x USB-A, HDMI, MicroSD | 2x USB-C, 2x USB-A, HDMI, MicroSD, headphone jack |
Size | 12.69 x 8.95 x 0.71 in | 12.69 x 8.95 x 0.71 in |
Weight | 3.48 lbs | 3.46 lbs |
Drawing with style(us)
Let's get this out of the way; Acer's creator-focused laptop comes in two models — the Acer Swift X 14 and Swift X 14 AI. The only real difference between the two is that the former sports an Intel chip while the latter with an "AI" moniker comes with AMD. Otherwise, you're getting the same sleek, minimalist laptop no matter what you choose.
More importantly, both laptops come with sizable haptic touchpads with Corning Gorilla Glass and MPP 2.5 tilt-enables stylus support. While I used Acer's own stylus during my time with the Swift X 14, it means any stylus can be used on the laptop's touchpad. Being able to choose your own digital pencil is always a welcome option.
Once I put pen to, er, touchpad in Paint, it felt extremely smooth to glide over the surface to draw a line. But once I lifted the stylus off, I realized I had completely lost track of where the cursor was to continue my drawing.
"Well, that's a massive oversight," I thought, as not being able know where the cursor will be placed on screen as you draw on the touchpad defeats the purpose of sketching anything.
However, this wasn't the case. By hovering the stylus over the touchpad, you can see where the cursor is onscreen and drag it to where you want. This way, I could pinpoint where I wanted to draw, only touching the touchpad's surface with the tip of the stylus when I want to input an action.
It's not the same as directly drawing on a touchscreen (which the Swift X 14 doesn't offer due to the screen only supporting finger-based touch), so it took me some time to get used to it. But once I got the hang of it, I could easily doodle a quick smiley face.
Interestingly, this isn't the only Acer laptop arriving that supports a stylus on its haptic touchpad. Just like the Acer Predator Triton 14 AI, the haptics delivered tactile feedback so I knew when something was being pressed down.
I couldn't imagine using this method to jot down notes, as it isn't intuitive enough since I had to keep adjusting the cursor via the touchpad. But I can imagine this would come in handy for sketching or touching up images in apps, thanks to the accuracy and smooth precision the touchpad offers with the stylus.
As with the Acer Swift 14 AI I reviewed, the company has nailed the lightweight design with its Swift lineup, and that's no different for the new Swift X 14 laptops. However, these latest creator laptops take it up a notch with a unique feature that designers can utilize.
Bringing Nvidia into the fold
Compared to the previous Swift X 14 sporting an RTX 4050, Acer delivers a significant graphics boost with its latest creator laptop. Now that it boasts up to an RTX 5070 (with the latest Nvidia Studio Drivers right out the box), you can expect faster AI-driven tasks when video editing and make the most out of bringing photos to like in apps like Photoshop.
As we've tested, an RTX 50-series GPU can do wonders for content creation, and having that sort of power in a creator-focused laptop means the graphics card can be used for more than just gaming.
I wasn't able to test its abilities during my time with the Swift X 14 (Microsoft Paint isn't exactly demanding...), but considering it can also access DLSS 4 for accelerated graphics processing, power users will get a kick out of its speed.
One feature that's yet to be tested is Nvidia's NIM (Nvidia Inference Microservices) through its Project R2X, letting users build AI agents and streamline workflows in various programs. That includes creator-focused apps, meaning it can be used as a guide to work out how to edit a background in a photo or used to autonomously work through video editing tasks.
How will this perform on Acer's Swift X 14? It's still up in the air, but once we get to test this laptop out, we'll get a better gauge on how it all works.
Outlook
The Acer Swift X 14 and 14 AI are set to be available this July in Europe, with prices starting at €1,799. There's no word of official release dates or prices for the rest of the world (tariffs may be to blame), but if RTX 50-series gaming laptop prices are anything to go by, expect the laptops to be around the $1,999 / £1,999.
I still need more time to try it out, but once I got the hang of navigating the stylus around its touchpad, I was drawing away with ease. For now, it looks like the Swift X 14 and 14 AI are already looking to be a great shout for those creators on the go.
Only getting to grips with drawing with tech? You'll want to try out this Meta Quest VR app that taught me how to draw.
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