The NPD Group has released the entire North American sales data of January 2021. With the players spending around $4.7 billion on games, and also for the additional content and hardware, the numbers were huge significantly year-on-year. That’s up 44 percent compared to January in last year. Coming to the hardware, Nintendo Switch sold the most units, but the PS5 tops the chart in terms of revenue generated. Meanwhile, this January has made the biggest hardware sales since the Wii heyday of 2009 and 2010.
On the software front, the big titles of 2020 largely dominated the chart, including Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The most interesting story is Cyberpunk 2077, which slips down to #18 following the unstable December release of the game. The other big news is Hitman 3, which was released on January 20 but missed the charts entirely. NPD didn’t get any digital sales from IO Interactive so that you can assume the reason, but even considering them, Hitman 3 should have made a spot in the top 20. Though IO Interactive has informed that Hitman 3 is already profitable, so maybe some percentage of the game’s sales were digital or the game is performing well in Europe and the other regions outside of North America.
Here are the top 20 games of January according to NPD:
In this march 2021, there is an ongoing preview that has looked at the Netflix originals that will surely be making their way onto Netflix internationally. There are many more series and movies in the updating mode on Netflix.
Netflix is one of the well-known and best platform to watch all kind of movies and series online. We also have an extended 2021 and beyond preview with a long list of every series and movies that are currently under development.
Here is a list of the top show available on Netflix Originals to Netflix in March 2021:
16. Sky Rojo
Netflix Release: 19th March
It is a Spanish show. In the third part of this show, we will see Alex Pina will return to Netflix. It is a high-octane series that depicts the three sex workers who have fled from their pimp to get freedom. It has confirmed that eight-episode will be a drop in this March.
15. Country Comfort
Netflix Release: 19th March
This series is featuring with Katherine McPhee and Eddie Cibrian. The story is about a young country singer who has taken a job as a nanny that may help to get back her life on track.
14. Struggle Alley
Netflix Release: 15th March
It is a Turkish drama that has belonged to OGM Pictures and has set to an impoverished part of Istanbul and also has to get the help of the one man who has attempted to help out while giving the care for homeless children and one child.
13. Yes Day
Netflix Release: 12th March
If you had seen Jim Carrey’s movie Yes Man then you will also like this new comedy movie. The story is about two parents who have gone out on their way to fulfill every wish of their kids by telling yes.
12. Paradise PD (Season 3)
Netflix Release: 12th March
It is also an interesting web series. The third season of this interesting adult sitcom has going to come back.
11. Dealer
Netflix Release: 10th March
It is a French new thriller series that has dropped and came with Nicolas Lopez and Ange Basterga. The story is about a director who has created a new music video by shooting a notorious drug dealer but in the end, he has involved in a gang war.
10. Last Chance U: Basketball (Season 1)
Netflix Release: 10th March
We already have known that Last Chance U has covered the American Football Teams but recently they have turned their focus on March’s upcoming basketball. It also has confirmed that eight episodes have to go to drop in this series.
9. Marriage or Mortgage (Season 1)
Netflix Release: 10th March
The story of this shoe is based on a couple who has pitched their dream weddings and dream houses and it has down to them to select which one they had preferred.
8. StarBeam (Season 3)
Netflix Release: 9th March
The story of this series is based on an eighth-year small girl named Zoey who has the superpowers that can enable her to save the day at all times. She also can even fight with antagonists by throwing star beams. She is also able to fly and can attack the villains by using a bubble.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjgwD61xooU
7. Bombay Rose
Netflix Release: 8th March
It is a Hindi animated movie on Netflix. The director is Gitanjali Rao. This is an interesting animated movie of 1 hour and 30 minutes that will be launched finally on Netflix in March 2021.
6. Monster
Netflix Release: TBD
It’s a long time that this show has released but finally after three years of premiering at the Sundance Film Festival, Monster will be going to drop on Netflix in coming March 2021.
5. Sentinelle
Netflix Release: 5th March
It is also a French film. The story of this film is based on the military action that has featured the film stars Olga Kurylenko who has played the lead role of a soldier in this film. There she will hunt down the man who has hurt her sister.
4. Pokémon Journeys: The Series (Part 4)
Netflix Release: 5th March
Since our childhood, we all know about the Pokémon animation. Ash Catch’em and his Pikachu which is more famous in this animation world. It has informed that it is only available to Netflix in the United States.
3. City of Ghosts
Netflix Release: 5th March
This show has depicts as very quitter and gentler to the kids. The series has belonged to Elizabeth Ito who is famous mostly for her adventures role in time.
2. Moxie
Netflix Release: 3rd March
After two years ago it will be Amy Poehler’s directorial debut with Netflix and has returned on her second feature film in March 2021 with the launching of Moxie written by Jennifer Mathieu. The story is about a teen who has organized a revolution of a feminist at the high school.
1. Word Party (Season 5)
Netflix Release: 2nd March
The Jim Henson Company has returned with the fifth season of word party on Netflix. This pre-school series is very helpful to the kids that can help the kids to learn vocabulary from five animal friends.
LeBron James holds many records because of legendary longevity in the league. While still being a candidate for the MVP title in his 18th season, it often leads to records involving scoring, assists or wins.
On Friday, with his fourth turnover against the Memphis Grizzlies, James reached a total of 4,525 for his career. That breaks Karl Malone’s long-standing league record of 4,524.
LeBron James is now the all-time leader in turnovers. That can happen when you have the ball more than anyone in NBA history. pic.twitter.com/xZlMc75TSs
Functionally, James has played point guard for most of his career. Handling the ball that often almost inevitably leads to turnovers. It also leads to assists. Despite having nearly the same number of turnovers, James has almost twice as many assists in his league career as Malone had. His assist-to-turnover ratio is significantly better. Malone’s turnovers, are harder to explain considering how rarely he controlled the ball compared to James.
James averages 3.5 turnovers per night for this career. Considering how often he controls the ball and how much longer he is likely to play, James is probably going to set a record that is never again touched in NBA history.
In his 18th season, ‘King James’ has shown no signs of slowing down. He has been putting up MVP like numbers and currently, is the frontrunner for winning the prestigious award for the fifth time. James is averaging a mind-blowing 25.6 points, 7.9 rebounds and 7.9 assists per game, to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to an impressive 21-6 record.
In 2021, there are tons of free PC games available in the market. But the challenge is you have to find those ones from the ocean-like collection. So, we are here to guide you regarding the best free PC games that you can try out.
We have started our list with some of the most popular games on PC. Go through the list and the other categories to find out the best fit for you
Best Free PC Games: Free-to-play
This list contains the F2P games which are worthy of your time. You don’t have to spend a single penny for these games. These frequently receive updates, so you can continue with these ones for years.
Valorant
The tactical shooter from Riot makes a direct challenge to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive with a hero-driven spin. This game is available on the official website of Riot for free of cost. Valorant is a 5v5 competitive shooter game that you can enjoy for hours. Along with the aim, you have to learn the different agents carrying different kinds of abilities. The game makes its money from offering weapon skins.
Call of Duty: Warzone
Call of Duty: Warzone had started life as a side mode of Modern Warfare, but has grown to its own battle royal game with over 85 million players. 150 players can fight against each other in online multiplayer combat. The game is available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Fortnite
Allowing 100 players in the player-versus-player game, it offers Star War characters, Marvel Superheroes, and much more. Fortnite receives frequent updates, and that’s why the game feels fresh. Play solo, duo, or squad and dive into your favorite locations on the map.
Hearthstone
Hearthstone is a turn-based digital card game, set in the Warcraft universe. Players have to select one hero from one of ten classes and all classes contain unique cards and abilities, which are known as hero powers. The target of the player is to reduce his opponent player’s health to zero.
Path of Exile
Here you have to explore the large outdoor areas, caves, or dungeons. Battle with the monsters and complete the quests to receive experience points and equipment. The fans of Diablo 2 should definitely try this game. We could see Path of Exile 2 in 2022.
Best Free PC Games: Classics
StarCraft: Blizzard sells a shiny remaster these days, but if the original’s well enough for South Korea, then it’s well enough for us. You are going to get the sci-fi strategy experience from beginning to end.
The Dark Mod: The Standalone game contains a huge variety of user-made stealth levels, from the tightly contained ones like Thief’s Den to the more open variety of Return to the City.
The Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall: Like the Elder Scroll series, this game takes place on the fictional continent of Tamriel. Here you’ll be able to travel between High Rock and Hammerfell. The game contains over 15,000 cities, villages, towns, and dungeons for the player to explore.
Beneath a Steel Sky: This game is a 2D adventure game played from a third-person perspective. You have to interact with the environment with a point and click interface. Collect a different kind of item throughout the environment and solve puzzles to progress more.
The Operative: No One Lives Forever: The first-person shooter video game having stealth gameplay elements was developed by Monolith Productions. The game was set in the 1960s. You have to approach with a stealth strategy to evade guard dogs, security cameras, and other obstacles.
Best Free PC Game: Puzzle
Transmute!: In the puzzle game, the player will play as a wizard, who is able to transform themselves into a different object. You might turn into a boat to sail the open sea or turn into a key to open any kind of lock. You will go through a fantasy gorgeous world.
Cube Escape: The developer Rusty Lake has made this locked room puzzle world with a strange atmosphere. You have to use your brain to get yourself out from each one.
Corrypt: The game starts as a normal block-pushing game which leads to one where you’ll have to reshape the world by using magic you can reprogram the state of the government.
Counterfeit Monkey: It’s a fiction adventure puzzle game by Emily Short, and was released in 2012. Players have to solve puzzles containing letters from the names of objects. The game is free to download and you can play in your favourite interactive fiction interpreter.
The Republia Times: In this game, you are the editor of a newspaper in a totalitarian state. You have to decide each day, which stories to run, and how much space should be given to them which could impact your paper’s popularity and the government’s approval with the general populace.
Mirror Isles: Mirror Isles is a PuzzleScript game. It is basically a top-down, Sokoban-style puzzler where you need to hop between islands by using magic mirrors to swap places with your reflections.
Best Free PC Games: Horror
No Players Online: In the game, the player will have to play with his team to capture the flag and return to their base of the map to earn score points.
We Are Broken: An Interactive fiction dark game where the vampire is in front of you and want to know where the human resistance hideout is. You can experience a dark and cruel world with cutting music and visual that makes you scary.
Sentient: Sentient is a mysterious first-person horror game. Listen to the voice which will tell you to do things inside the miserable little cell. Answer the binary yes/no questions.
Bleakshore: This game is from the PS1 era of 3D graphics. The chilling adventure and wilderness are waiting for you, where a shadowy figure stalks you across the landscape.
Faith: Faith leads you into feeling secure with its retro aesthetic before it exceeds its limitations in one shockingly scary moment.
House of Abandon: This story is of a person, who is playing a text adventure that takes a sinister turn. House of Abandon is a standalone game, later it received a remastered version named Stories Untold.
Best Free PC Games: Action & Platformers
1Boss1Battle1Button: This challenging rhythm game is going to put you against a scary Picasso-faced monster, and your only hope of survival is a single button. You can jump, crouch and dodge the coming attacks with certain beats by pressing the button in time.
N 2.0: This game features some simple controls and a minimalist aesthetic. The target is to provide entirely quick and precise control.
The Last Tango: The player will play as two spies, dancing throughout a variety of deadly spots. Pass through the traps, dodge the attacks, and take down the enemies with an elegant twirl.
Eggnogg+: Trap and press the blades of your opponent and force them into a pit of spikes or stab enemies in the legs. Disarm your enemies and run them with a surprising attack.
Cuckoo Curling: This game is a four-player game that combines every rule of curling with Connect Four. You can enjoy the game with your friends and can play in local or online multiplayer.
First Cut: The game is based on one-on-one sword duel but in 2D vision which offers feudal Japan-themed duels against some fine and beautiful pixel art.
Best Free PC Games: Story & Adventure
The Doll Shop: Mixing horror with romance, The Doll Shop will take you to a small village, which is being gone through a relentless snowfall. It brings a sinister story involving creepy handmade dolls.
The Supper: The story of the game depends on an act of revenge that brings to mind Sweeney Todd. You will play the character of a tavern owner, who will serve special three dishes to a trio of horrible pirates.
Lockheart Indigo: Lockheart Indigo is a sci-fi detective game that feels similar to a JRPG. The character will arrive at a vast mansion to solve the mysterious murder of its former owner.
Deltarune: Chapter 1: This comes with catchy tunes, memorable characters, and emotive dialogue despite being a fraction of the size.
Little Party: The sweet and simple story of a mother who tries to reconnect with her daughter. It’s a quiet gentle game about rekindling the lost relationship.
Eternal Home Floristry: A tale of a hitman who gets taken in at a flower shop while he recovers from his wounds. The game’s ability to face tough topics through the act of gentle flower arrangement is exceptional.
The Herbalist: The story is of a traveller who is searching for a mysterious herb. You can experience here a strange world trying to interpret symbols, in the hope of finding the plant you need.
Haunted Cities: There are three volumes available worth of Haunted Cities to savour. You are wrong if you are thinking of these as horror games. The name is selected seeing the atmosphere of the game such as Silent Hill.
Olav and the Lute: This adventurous game is set in a post-apocalyptic world, with a cracking central mechanic.
Best Free PC Games: Strategy
Dwarf Fortress: A little bit complex game of colony management that is still under development after 18 years of its original inception. Build your own fortress and try to help your dwarves survive, or experience the adventure as a single hero against a deeply generated world.
Tiny Islands: Create the maps of some little islands in the sea by placing houses, beaches, even waves as random cards are dealt out to you. But placement is the final thing, as each icon has its own set of rules.
Brogue: This game is developed by Brian Walker and it’s a free roguelike video game. You can navigate through the dungeons. The interface, character graphics, and design have been praised for their beauty and simplicity.
Terra Nil: The story begins at the extreme end of civilization, which lets you breathe life back into a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Your target is to construct devices to clean the earth and to regrow green trees and plants.
Best Free PC Games: Chill and Relaxing
Toripon: The game character is stuck in his flat and instead of friends, the company is lots of birds. You just have to sit and explore your apartment, exploring every corner and every crevice for your feathered friends.
Bernband: Being an alien in an alien city is not bad at all. Go for a nice walk, flying cars around you, someone is rapping in the parking area. All this will give you a feeling of a real chill city.
Lieve Oma: Lieve Oma will take you on a relaxing journey through an autumnal wood on the hunt for mushrooms. The granny follows steadily behind and teaches you which mushrooms are good to eat and other life lessons.
Forest Are For Trees: A mind-expanding exploration game, where you have to walk through the forest. It is a walking simulator, but when you make contact with a tree, something funny happens. Inside every tree, you’ll find another forest filled with ghostly trees.
Best Free PC Games: Comedy and Oddity
Everything Is Going To Be OK: The game is developed by Nathalie Lawhead. The game contains several animations, vignettes that describe the developer’s personal experience with trauma, depression, and anxiety.
Pet the Pup at the Party: At a house party, you have run out of small talk, and before anyone observes that how awkward you are, you have to find a pooch and pet it.
Head Over Hooves: My Heart Bleats for You: An apocalyptic dating simulator where you have to make a goat fall in love with you and then have to sacrifice it to save our world from eternal damnation.
Alfonso’s Bowling Challenge: It is a funny, silly, free browser game that is about bowling and absolutely nothing else. You need to lift and slide a bowling ball around a bunch of cluttered stages.
The Book Of Beasts and Buddies: An interactive monster game filled with different creatures. Each page will take you to the brief Pokemon-inspired encounter.
Cooldog Teaches Typing: It’s basically a typing game where you can boost your typing skills by playing. You are going to appreciate the gentle method of Cooldog.
Stick Shift: The creator of the game, Robert Yang says, “Stick Shift is an autoerotic night-driving game about pleasuring a gay car.” This game is a funny one that also offers food for thought.
Skeal: It’s a small game and gonna give you a few good laughs over about five minutes. You’ll get a downhill skiing experience in the game.
Orlando City recently improved its Brazilian contingent as the 2021 Major League Soccer season is set to begin in April.
On Saturday, a report on the club’s official website announced that Alexandre Pato joins the club on a one-year deal after terminating his contract with São Paulo last August. He will join the Lions pending the receipt of his P-1 Visa and ITC.
Pato has been without a team since August after parting ways with Sao Paulo in Brazil, where he made 20 appearances since 2019 and scored five goals.
“We are very excited to welcome Pato to Orlando. He’s a veteran player who has featured at some of the top clubs around the world and has a proven track record at the international level. The experience that Pato brings with him will be invaluable to the Club”, said Luiz Muzzi, Orlando City EVP of Soccer Operations.
The 31-year-old playmaker started out his professional career at Sport Club Internacional of Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, Brazil’s top-flight, climbing from the club’s U20 squad to the First Team in January of 2006. Since then, he has played for many top clubs, including Serie A’s AC Milan, English Premier League’s Chelsea FC and Brazil’s Sport Club Corinthians Paulista and São Paulo FC.
The experienced centre forward has won five club trophies in his career so far, including the 2006 FIFA Club World Cup and the 2007 Recopa Sudamericana with Internacional, the Italian Scudetto and the Supercoppa Italiana in 2011 with AC Milan, and a second Recopa Sudamericana in 2013 with Corinthians.
Across all competitions with his previous clubs, Pato has a total of 398 appearances, 160 goals scored and provided 48 assists to date.
Pato, whose given name is Alexandre Rodrigues da Silva, also has 10 goals in 27 appearances with the Brazilian national team, including two goals in friendlies against the United States of America (2010 and 2012).
Pato could be a great pick-up for the Lions for the money. The club could make use of another veteran attacker, who can make spot starts, come off the bench in games, and help mentors Daryl Dike and Derek Dodson.
The Cupertino giant is known to make some announcements in March every year, and it seems this year will be no exception as well. Apple is all scheduled to launch the next-gen iPad Pro, especially after great success with the launch of both iPad Air and iPad 8th Gen.
As per the reliable Apple tipster Jon Prosser, the Cupertino is scheduled to launch the 2021 iPad Pro in Mach, i.e. next month. We already know the previous iPad Pro was a great one and as Notebookcheck rightfully points out, Apple keeps 18 months gap between iPad Pro releases, so a March launch is just an educated guess as of now.
Also, if Apple launched new iPad Pro, it should have significant performance, which means a new chip and we have got no leaks about a new Apple SoC. So, a March release seems most unlikely as Apple will also implement 5G on next-gen iPads obviously.
However, the launch rumours of the much speculated AirTags seem more of a possibility because it has been leaked multiple times last year. Everyone assumed Apple would launch it alongside the iPhone 12 series, although it was delayed and a March release of it seems more likely to us.
Its just start of the leaks and rumours before March 2021, as generally Apple always has announced some great product in the Spring season to rejoice, so we do hope it again brings something exciting.
As we have faced many challenges in the last year due to terrible COVID-19 which is now in a little bit of control so it will be a good idea to spend this valentine’s day inside our home and stay safe by avoiding the festive crowd.
If you think that sitting at home on valentine’s day is not good then there Is a good idea to spend your day at home by watching a romantic film with your beloved ones. There have many fantastic films to watch this valentine’s day.
Here is a list of the top 10 movies to watch on Valentine’s Day:
10.Hitch
On this valentine’s day, Hitch is one of the desired films you should definitely watch. The story is based on a date doctor who has broken his own rule after meeting with the woman who is definitely the one. Will Smith has played the lead role in this film.
9.To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before
It is Netflix’s original movie that is featuring Lana Condor and Noah Centineo. The story of this film is very cute and cringe-worthy, if you have not watched this film then you should definitely watch this.
8.Blue Valentine
The story of this film is based on two modern couples, the role is playing by Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams who have traveled through time to the golden days of romance with the expectation that they will be falling back in love again.
7.Someone Great
If you are extremely single or in a deep relationship then this Netflix original romantic film will remember you about the most important people in your life is friends.
6.About Time
This film is also a love drama that depicts a man who has learned to travel through time and utilizes his skill to bring the woman into his dreams.
5.The Notebook
This film is one of the best romantic love stories that you should watch on this valentine’s day. The story is about Allie and Noah who have turned apart due to war and class.
4.Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, and Before Midnight
The story is about the on-screen love chemistry between Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy who depict the backdrop of this romantic trilogy that has seen very easy in the eyes too.
3.Pride & Prejudice
This story of this romantic film is based on the 2005 version in which Matthew Macfadyen’s Mr. Darcy has stride along the dappled meadow to say Keira Knightley’s Elizabeth Bennet that she had bewitched his body and also the soul.
2.The Big Sick
This is also an interesting love drama film that is based on a real-life story that depicts a man who has stood on his girlfriend’s side while she has been suffering from a mysterious illness.
1.The Princess Bride
It is also one of the romantic films to watch on this valentine’s day. The story of this film is very romantic and there is also a romantic adventure in this film.
Elon Mask’s automobile company, Tesla already entered into our India last month. It registered the Indian arm as a Bengaluru company and also setup the research and development center there. Now, time for the next step.
Tesla Motors will open its electric can manufacturing unit in Karnataka. The Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa declared this in a statement and it appreciated the benefits Karnataka received from the Union Budget. Mr. Yediyurappa said, “American firm Tesla will open its electric car manufacturing unit in Karnataka,”
He also announced that an industrial corridor, neighboring Bengaluru will be established in Tumkur and an amount of Rs.7,725 crore will be spent for this.
Looking for a great budget laptop for your work, education or even media consumption with long battery life? To get one is tough, but not now, AMD’s Ryzen 4000U processors have rocked the market with its super-efficient Zen 2 cores and have proved itself much better in performance and efficiency.
That’s the reason why in 2020 we saw a record-breaking sales of these AMD-powered notebooks, however, getting one was a tough job. With the launch of the next-gen Ryzen 5000 mobile processors, the prices of these 2020 laptops are more lucrative. That’s why we will explore why you should definitely look out for the Acer Swift 3 with Ryzen 5 4500U inside it.
Specifications
Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 4500U hexa-core processor with max turbo up to 4.0Ghz | RAM: 8 GB of onboard LPDDR4 system memory
Display: 14″ display with IPS (In-Plane Switching) technology, Full HD 1920 x 1080, high-brightness Acer ComfyView LED-backlit TFT LCD
Graphics: AMD Radeon Graphics
Storage : 512 GB, PCIe Gen3 8 Gb/s up to 4 lanes, NVMe SSD
OS: Windows 10 Home 64-bit | Warranty: One-year International Travelers Warranty (ITW)
Design & Build
This is a thin and light laptop then look no further as this laptop weighs just 1.2 kg along with only 15.9 mm thickness. The laptop looks modern with slim bezels, and the silver colour looks classy, although it’s made out of some mixed plastic & metal, it still feels light yet premium.
Actually, for the price, being such light, you can’t ask anymore, overall the build quality is adequate for daily use. Also, a 180-degree hinge is a nice touch to stretch the display at the most it can.
Display
The Acer Swift 3 features a 14-inch IPS LED-backlit TFT LCD Full HD display with 1920 x 1080 resolution with 82.73% screen to body ratio. The show is very compact due to the thin bezels, but lacks colour accuracy, covering 56% of the sRGB colour gamut and comes with 250 nits of peak brightness.
The tone of the display is on the yellowish side, and with that amount of brightness, it is suitable for indoor usage only. You have to use the laptop in 70% brightness at least actually to work on it, and the good thing is that there’s no Backlight bleeding or PWM flickering. The viewing angles are also great for watching anything at any angle.
Overall, for daily usage, the Acer Swift 3 is a great laptop and I enjoyed watching Netflix or YouTube at night without any hiccups but at 100% brightness. So, you can use the laptop for media consumption as well but you cannot do any professional task due to the lack of color accuracy, however, for normal usage the display is adequate.
Performance
It features the 6 core and 6 threaded AMD Ryzen 5 4500U APU with 2.3GHz base clock speed and up to 4.0 GHz boost clock speeds. It is an ideal APU for light to medium end workloads and can well be used for professional works like coding, video editing, and other tasks as well.
Mostly for daily usage or even work, the Ryzen 5 4500U is adequate enough and is really cool most of the times. Its so efficient that you hardly hear the fans spinning and draws very less TDP as per your workloads, giving you a really good battery life.
In Geekbench, the Ryzen 5 4500U inside the Swift 3 puts up a healthy single-core score of 1080 points and 4099 points in multi-core. This makes the laptop 16 faster than the Intel Core i7-10510U in multi-core, which is found in laptops in this range and when compared to a newer Core i5-1135G7, the scores seem very close.
In Cinebench R20, the 4500U comes with a score of 1850 points in multi-core and 448 points in multi-core.
In Cinebench R23, the 4500U again scores a good score of 4030 points in multi-core and 1151 points in single-core.
In PCMark 10, you have a healthy score of 4195 points, which is good enough for a budget laptop that is meant for daily work and normal usage.
In CPU-Z benchmark also the Ryzen 5 4500U puts up a score of 453.1 points in single-core and 3108 points in multi-core, adequate for basic work and light productivity.
Acer has optimized the laptop to be used mostly for basic work and save battery life, even at 25W with performance mode on. The laptop hardly reaches or sustains the peak clock speeds, which is a disadvantage of Renoir but that hardly matters if you are not pushing the APU to its peak everyday.
With the integrated Vega 6 iGPU clocked at 1500 MHz, you can handle most of the graphical with ease, better than an MX230 dedicated GPU, also can handle casual 1080p gaming at low settings. The laptop also features a faster 8GB LDRR4 RAM which is great for a Ryzen system with integrated Vega graphics.
Also, it comes with fast 512 GB PCIe Gen3 NVMe SSD for faster boot speeds and overall performance. The Hynix SSD inside does have some good speeds, not the fastest, but at this price, the NVMe SSD inside it goes up to 2278 MB/s while read and 1061 MB/s during write.
Upgradability and Cooling
Talking of RAM, the 8GB LDRR4 RAM is slaughtered onto the motherboard and you cannot upgrade it. However, you do have an extra NVMe slot for a future storage upgrade and as you see, Acer has put in a lot of effort to keep the laptop cool and quiet, ideal for everyday use.
Connectivity
For connectivity, it’s great to see Acer including Wi-Fi 6 AX200 support and Bluetooth 5.0. The Wi-Fi 6 on the laptop too performs really well to handle heavy downloads at consistent speeds and stays connected to the Wi-Fi always and switches between network intelligently.
The Bluetooth 5.0 on this laptop works well, you can connect multiple devices easily to the laptop be it headphones, Bluetooth keyboards or mouse. Using earbuds paired with laptop is a great experience while answering calls and video conferences.
For ports, we have an HDMI port, 1x USB Type-C port with DC-in, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 port with power-off charging, 1x USB 2.0 port.
Gaming
Obviously, this is not a gaming laptop but as we know, the integrated Vega graphics can help you to do basic gaming. So, you can easily play any title on it with 720p graphics, and the graphics performance can be improved when you upgrade your RAM.
In games like FIFA 21, CS GO, GTA V, you get 50-60FPS at 1080p, which is great for casual gaming on-the-go. eSports titles are great as you get good framerates and you can play any new triple-A title at lowest 720p settings.
Audio & Webcam
You have stereo speakers with Acer’s proprietary software that is fairly loud, not very loud, but listening to songs or watching movies is adequate. The headphone jack also provides a good quality output and can be further tuned with DTS Audio Processing software.
The 720p webcam, however, is not the best that you can expect for its price and it could have been a bit better, it is just ok for video calls.
Battery Life
The Swift 3 features a 48 Wh 3-cell Li-ion battery on the battery front, which, according to Acer, shall last up to 12 hours, which might surprise you, but yes, these AMD Zen 2 based APUs are very efficient. The 7nm goodness is reflected in both its performance and power consumption.
In real-world, the laptop gives a good battery life of an average of over 8 hours and sometimes you can stretch to even 10+ hours. This kind of battery life is just unimaginable at this price, even the Asus VivoBook Flip 14 with Ryzen 7 4700U doesn’t give this kind of battery life, kudos to AMD for making such efficient chips.
Keyboard & Trackpad
The Acer Swift 3 comes with full-size FineTip backlit keyboard, and at this price, many manufacturers skip the backlighting. The strength of the light is great, but there’s no option to control it, which is why when you keep it on at night, it drains a lot of battery. There’s a Fingerprint Reader for security, and it works most of the time perfectly.
The keyboard has a fair amount of key travel, and I like the clicky feel of it, a great keyboard overall to type upon. The trackpad is not the largest but still accurate enough for daily usage or work, but it is better to use a dedicated mouse.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
Great overall performance with Ryzen 4000 APUs
Very thin and lightweight
Great battery life with fast charging
Good connectivity & Audio
Stays quiet & easy to carry
Decent trackpad and keyboard
Comes with a lot of good software licenses for free
Cons:
Poor webcam
Peak brightness is low
Not very colour accurate display
No upgradeable RAM slot
You get a few useless applications pre-installed
Verdict
The Acer Swift 3 with Ryzen 5 4500U has not aged though its a 2020 laptop and whether it is work or normal day-to-day usage, at ₹ 60k, this is a great one. With 6 Zen 2 cores inside it, you get superior performance along with superb efficiency, and the battery life is indeed the best at this price range.
Obviously, everything has its good and bad, so even though it has some bloatware installed, you have Office Home and Student 2019 license along with 100GB Dropbox storage for a year. On the connectivity front, you have Wi-Fi 6 and all the necessary ports.
Also, Acer Swift 3 is a right choice for travellers who need a thin and light laptop without worrying about the battery life, mostly with one full charge you are suitable for the day, or even a half an hour charge gives 4 hours of battery life.
Overall this is a great mid-range laptop with the powerful AMD Ryzen 5 4500U, decent display, and long battery life. This laptop can do the job for many people who want a good budget laptop, and it’s much better than the Core i5 options in this price range.
Buy from here: https://amzn.to/3gZvPof, Note: The laptop gets discounted to ₹ 56k on Amazon during sales and at that price, you cannot ask for better.
IPL Governing council directed all the IPL franchises to spend a minimum of 75% of their total player purse.
The Indian Premier League (IPL 2021) auctions for the 14th edition of the league are knocking at the door. In the meantime, when all the franchises are busy making their auction strategies, BCCI has shot off a new directive to the IPL franchises. According to reports, IPL Governing Council instructed all the IPL franchises via mail to spend 75% of the total player purse.
The decision has a mixed reaction among the franchises. Some of the franchises including KingsXI Punjab, who is sitting on 53.2 Cr player purse, are upset with the decision.
BCCI official said, “All teams have to spend minimum amounts and we have kept the threshold levels at 75% of the 85 Cr player purse as the minimum amount that franchisees will have to spend. This has been the norm with IPL Auctions in past as well.”
In IPL, all the franchises were given 85 Cr to build a team. Now they are directed by BCCI to spend a minimum of 63.75 Cr on buying the players. If any team spend less than this amount, then BCCI will take the deficit as the penalty. No franchise will now be able to play MONEYBALL like strategy.
Each franchise will need to have a minimum of 18 players in the squad with an upper limit of 25. No team can have more than 8 overseas players in the squad as is the norm with IPL over the last few years.
Kings XI Punjab, Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore can be impacted financially by this new directive.
