Inside Acer Swift 3 (SF316-51) – disassembly and upgrade options

Acer has hopped on the 16-inch hype train. However, probably to keep the profile slim, they have omitted the SODIMM slots, so there are no memory upgrade options.

Check out all Acer Swift 3 (SF316-51) prices and configurations in our Specs System or read more in our In-Depth review.


1. Remove the bottom plate

The disassembly process here starts with the removal of 12 Torx-head screws. Then, pry the bottom panel starting from the hinge gaps, and remove the panel away from the chassis.


2. Battery

Before you do anything else, unplug the 60Wh battery from the motherboard.


3. Мemory and storage

Unfortunately, despite its large footprint, this notebook’s memory is soldered to the motherboard. It is offered with up to 16GB of LPDDR4X RAM. On the other hand, there is one M.2 PCIe Gen 4 slot for storage upgrades.


4. Cooling system

Last, but not least, there is the cooling solution. You get two heat pipes, leading to a very long heat sink. Then, two medium-sized fans blow the heat away from the device.

Check out all Acer Swift 3 (SF316-51) prices and configurations in our Specs System or read more in our In-Depth review.

Acer Swift 3 (SF316-51) in-depth review

It seems like the popular Swift 3 series has grown bigger and more diverse. Last year we were really impressed by the Swift 3X, which combined the latest Tiger Lake CPUs with the in-house DG1 dedicated graphics card from Intel. However, let's leave the past alone, and focus on today, when we have the 16-inch Swift 3.Yes, Acer is hopping in the 16-inch trend train, and we can't help but enjoy that. To be precise, the screen size is 16.1 inches, it has a 1080p IPS panel, which supposedly provides full sRGB coverage. This is good news for content creators, but we have to check these claims f[...]

Pros

  • 16.1-inch screen with 98% of sRGB coverage and accurate colors (when our Gaming and Web design profile is present)
  • No aggressive PWM
  • Up to 15 hours of Web browsing on battery
  • Almost all-metal built with a lid leverage system
  • Fingerprint reader
  • PCIe Gen 4 support
  • Wi-Fi 6, and dual M.2 SSD support

Cons

  • Soldered memory
  • No SD card reader
  • CPU stays hot under load
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