Acer Aspire Switch 10 Hybrid Review

Name: Acer Aspire Switch 10 Hybrid Review
Brand: Acer

by Joshua Gulick — Thursday, November 13, 2014, 12:00 PM EDT

The flagship benchmark in Futuremark’s catalog, 3DMark is a popular choice for testing everything from gaming PCs to mobile devices. Of course, the technology differences between a game PC and a smartphone are significant, so 3DMark has a separate test suite for each device category.

Futuremark 3DMark Ice Storm Extreme

Simulated Gaming Performance

Intended for tablets and smartphones, 3DMark Ice Storm runs separate tests to measure graphics and CPU performance. The test is cross-platform, running a modified DirectX 11 engine on Windows-based devices and OpenGL ES 2.0 on iOS and Android systems. We use the Ice Storm Extreme option, which ups the resolution to 1080p and pushes tablets and smartphones harder.

Gaming isn’t meant to be the Aspire Switch 10’s strong point, so its scores aren’t a surprise. The 2-in-1 lands well below more powerful systems and trails some tablets that are getting to be a bit long in the tooth, like the 2013 version of the Google Nexus 7. Even so, the Switch 10 looks to have slightly better gaming chops than the recent Dell tablets we tested.

Tags: Acer, Aspire, Hybrid, switch, convertible, review, Bay Trail, Windows 8.1, 2in1

Joshua Gulick

Josh cut his teeth (and hands) on his first PC upgrade in 2000 and was instantly hooked on all things tech. He took a degree in English and tech writing with him to Computer Power User Magazine and spent years reviewing high-end workstations and gaming systems, processors, motherboards, memory and video cards. His enthusiasm for PC hardware also made him a natural fit for covering the burgeoning modding community, and he wrote CPU’s “Mad Reader Mod” cover stories from the series’ inception until becoming the publication editor for Smart Computing Magazine. A few years ago, he returned to his first love, reviewing smoking-hot PCs and components, for HotHardware. When he’s not agonizing over benchmark scores, Josh is either running (very slowly) or spending time with family.