The factor that stands out for many people when it comes to gaming is the frankly, outrageous prices of constructing that leisure mobile. For occasion, some gaming laptops will value you north of 4 grand… Names like (*16*), Razer, Lenovo Legion and Corsair come to thoughts. What Acer has finished with the Predator Helios Neo 16 is supply one thing succesful, mobile and reasonably priced with out forcing customers to settle for a pile of compromises.
Some of that affordability comes via providing decisions within the SKUs for sure {hardware} choices, however on the finish of the day, should you’re shopping for a gaming laptop computer, you’re possible to be effectively conscious of the sacrifices you’re making within the identify of funds.
So, what’s it?
There are a number of choices, however the evaluation unit is the 4K mannequin with all the trimmings. So, after all, I gave it an honest exercise with just a few video games.
There’s a few factors that actually want to be highlighted right here, beginning with the followers. If you’re going to wind this factor up and let it be the beast that it’s… except for the gaming, you’re additionally going to take pleasure in some important fan noise. By my measure, a peak of round 75db of fan noise is audible down the hall at my home.
So, should you’re going to be smashing it with some heavy obligation gaming, I’d advocate getting your self a very good set of headphones to higher immerse your self within the gaming expertise.
Hardware and Design
The Predator Helios Neo 16 is effectively adorned with some spectacular specs, inside Australia that embody:
- A thirteenth Gen i7 13700HX Processor
- An Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 video card that features 8GB of reminiscence
- A 16-inch WQXGA monitor that runs 16 x 10 ratio and 165Hz refresh
- 16GB or 32GB (SKU dependent) of DDR5 reminiscence
- 512GB or 2TB SSD storage
- Plenty of connectivity: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi 6, MicroSD Car Reader.
I’m actually a bit stunned, and admittedly upset that there wasn’t the forethought to embody at the least Wi-Fi 6e and ideally Wi-Fi 7. You’re not going to purchase a machine like this and never need it to carry out on the peak capabilities of your community, and also you’ll need it to final some time too… So lasting lengthy sufficient to see a router improve most likely isn’t out of the query. I used an Ethernet cable into my community and that labored a deal with, however not everybody has spent the money and time I have on a top quality house community and networking gear.
That apart, because the specs point out, it’s a little bit of a efficiency machine and the display screen is — significantly as a laptop computer show — fairly gorgeous. The greatest downside I had with it was the battery life which wasn’t nice — the most effective I managed was a bit over 5.5 hours — in desktop functions, however should you’re doing something processor or graphic intensive might be lower than two hours of run time.
The charger is admittedly hefty, very similar to others I’ve checked out not too long ago, the charger is almost as huge as my foot. It’s additionally fairly heavy, so it’s not one thing I need to carry round day to day to make certain I get a day’s price of use out of the laptop computer. To be brutally sincere, although, I wouldn’t purchase one thing this dimension to be a conveyable, daily-use unit. Thankfully, should you’ve acquired a robust sufficient USB-C charger, that can do the job for you, too, on the Thunderbolt ports.
The look of the laptop computer is slick, with an edge to it that clearly tells the consumer that it’s not your customary laptop computer. It’s acquired a effectively rounded and glossy (albeit chunky) look to it, however the hinge for the display screen does really feel a a bit an excessive amount of like plastic and fragile. I really feel like that’s probably an issue for somebody who takes their laptop computer with them in all places. If you’re extra possible to both depart your machine in situ and even use it as a desktop substitute — Thunderbolt dock is your buddy right here — then it’s going to undoubtedly be wonderful.
If you’re trying on the Helios Neo 16 for normal “work” versus gaming there’s a few stuff you’ll want to know. The keyboard has a pleasant contact to it, however I discovered the place and sensitivity of the contact pad a bit irritating. I ceaselessly knocked the contact pad and relocated my mouse or cursor which is annoying should you’re a contact typist like I’m. With an exterior mouse, and disabling the contact pad should you’re utilizing your laptop computer in a desktop surroundings, it’s completely wonderful although.
Daily use: Work and Entertainment – it’s a double act
So, I’ve already talked about that this can be a fairly chunky laptop computer that weighs in at 2.6kg so it’s actually not one thing you need to be lugging round with you should you’re a street warrior.
Getting again to the machine itself and the consumer expertise, there are lots of good issues occurring with this. It’s fast and dependable with velocity, it boots rapidly, and the display screen is an absolute delight, making even prolonged work or gaming classes straightforward in your eyes.
Of course, the display screen delivers an excellent consumer expertise, however with out high quality sound to again it up, that have will lose its shine. It’s unfair to count on a laptop computer to have the identical audio high quality you might get from a very good high quality set of gaming audio system, bookshelf audio system or studio screens. For a laptop computer, there’s loads of quantity right here to do the job should you don’t need to use headphones. You’ll get some acceptable high quality — for a laptop computer — audio in addition to the outright quantity, with moderately clear mid-range and crisp high-range audio; bass is missing, although.
It’s very succesful for gaming!
My testing time was a bit restricted via household occasions, however the time I had with the Helios Neo 16 impressed me. When you fireplace up a sport, every thing kicks into gear and the enjoyable begins. This can be the place a number of the software program that Acer has built-in comes into play, permitting customers to push a button and simply swap efficiency modes that improve CPU efficiency, fan speeds and general consumer expertise.
In my expertise, although, leaving this on automated was completely acceptable in day-to-day use. Only often did the followers wind up after I didn’t need or count on them to based mostly on the workload of the machine. As I famous earlier, my testing time was extra restricted than I might have preferred however I did get some gaming in. I had an opportunity to run a few racing video games, Counter-Strike 2 and a little bit of Diablo IV.
Regardless of what I used to be operating, I used to be getting a constantly excessive body charge and dependable efficiency. So a lot so, that if I had restricted area accessible, I’d be joyful to have a Predator Helios 16 as my main gaming machine.
Is the Predator Helios Neo 16 a very good purchase?
Like any little bit of tech we take a look at, whether or not or not it’s a very good purchase or price having. That’s going to be dependent in your desires and wishes from the {hardware}, the funds you have accessible and different elements; just like the bodily area you have accessible. For me, a gaming laptop computer isn’t one thing I want however this has really made me contemplate whether or not or not I ought to contemplate it as an alternative of changing my gaming PC that’s on the finish of its life cycle.
At the time of publishing this evaluation, the Helios Neo 16 has been decreased from its regular RRP of $3,499.00 to $2,299.00. At that value, actually, it’s an excellent purchase and I’m doubting my choice to buy a desktop machine.
The look of the laptop computer is slick sufficient to be appropriate in a working surroundings, however has sufficient aptitude to additionally slot in among the many gaming customers. I can see lots of customers who play video games and dabble in content material creation utilizing a machine like this to cowl all their wants whereas remaining considerably mobile. It’s a extremely succesful machine, so should you’re searching for one thing with lots of bang on your buck, it’s price leaping on the present particular.