Video: Acer Aspire Switch 11 V Review

My last Acer review was of the rather chunky and very traditionally designed Aspire V15 whereas this review is of a device at the opposite end of the spectrum the two-in-one Aspire Switch 11 V. The Switch 11 V is an update to the Switch 11 which I reviewed last year and at the time I liked for its design and reasonable price. The Switch 11 is a tablet with an attachable keyboard which includes an extra hard drive in it, all the connectors are on the tablet part so aside from the extra storage there is no comprise when using it in tablet mode. The tablet can be mounted on the keyboard like a traditional notebook or you can reverse the screen round for presenting on.

Let’s start with the specs. The unit I have for review has an Intel Core M (5Y10c) processor, 4GB RAM, 64GB SSD and a 500GB spinning drive in the keyboard. Connectivity includes MicroUSB port, MicroHDMI, SD card slot, power and headphone. The keyboard has an additional USB 3 port on it and it comes Switch 11 comes with Windows 10 Home.

The 11.6 inch screen runs at 1920 x 1080 and is clear, bright and works well even in bright sunlight. There is a fairly large bezel on the screen adding to the overall size (see my pictures). The tablet and keyboard together weighs 1.5 KG with a large part of that being the base which contains the harddrive, the tablet part weighs around 760g. While the tablet is fairly thin at about 1cm the addition of the keyboard does make it feel a bit clunky at 2.1cm. There is a 5MP rear camera with a 1MP front facing camera.

The Switch 11 is plastic with an aluminium top which gives it a more of a premium feel than the Switch 10 which felt a little cheaper.

First using it as a tablet I found the Switch to be well balanced and doesn’t feel heavy. The Windows button on the Switch 10 was on the front but on the Switch 11 it moves to the side along with the power and volume buttons. With Windows 8.1 I felt you need a Windows button but with Windows 10 the button can be on the screen all the time so you don’t really need a Windows key at all so I don’t mind the relocation of the Windows button.

The tablet snaps to the keyboard via a couple of magnets and had a satisfying snap as it connects. As most of the weight is in the screen it is a little top heavy but not enough to be unstable when tapping the screen in tablet mode. The keyboard is not going to win any awards but it good enough for basic typing on, there is quite a bit of travel with the keys which I don’t really like but it does the job. The trackpad works well and it supports two finger scrolling.

The Switch 11 is quick and responsive navigating around Windows 10 but as the Core M processor is fanless where is some throttling back to keep it cool. It does get a little hot when charging and when playing a game like Minecraft. From time to time it seemed to slow right down when playing a game but there are no hissing sounds like there are with my Surface Pro 3. For day to day task on the go the processor will be fine but I wouldn’t want to do any video editing on it or large photo rendering.

As with all devices battery life is very dependent on what you do with it. For light browsing I found I was getting about 4 hours which to be honest I expect it to be better, when playing Minecraft it was around 2 hours.

One other downside is as seems to be the norm with many Windows devices it comes with lot of bloatware including McAfee AV.

Overall I like the design and at around £450 (at John Lewis) it is a reasonable price, £400 would get you a Surface 3 without a keyboard which a much more elegant device but when you add the price of a keyboard is going to cost a lot more than the Switch 11.

Here is my video review: