Photo: Cheryl Kahla/The Citizen News
We took the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 gaming laptop for a test drive recently, and there’s no denying its gaming pedigree.
Here’s how the gaming laptop measured up.
The black cover with laser-etch design and distinctive blue exhaust vents reflect its gaming-oriented spirit.
It’s quite large, as most Predator devices are, but the 36mm thickness was robustly built to dispel heat – always a plus.
Unfortunately, the lid was a fingerprint magnet but our overall impressions was that is a sturdy gaming laptop with a crisp display.
It’s quite heavy too – clocking in at 2.58 kilogrammes, but still lighter than one would expect from a 16-inch laptop.
The power brick is also hefty– about 1.22 kilogrammes.
The 16-inch Mini LED display offers an unparalleled visual treat, and clocking in at around 400, it’s bright enough too.
We loves us a laptop with a decent nit offering.
Coupled with a 240Hz max refresh rate and a 2 560 x 1 600 resolution, your gaming experience will be stellar, trust us.
This immersive display showcases deep blacks and vibrant colors which elevate your HDR gaming and video experience.
The Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 is powered by (up to) 13th Gen i7 processor, as well as a Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU, and 16GB RAM.
Its fast 512GB SSD and the wonder of DLSS 3 upscaling and Frame Generation enable it to run AAA games at 60fps in native 1440p.
Should you opt for the pricier RTX 4080 model, expect an astronomical leap in performance (but also a bigger hole in your wallet.)
Remember that 36mm thickness? It’s put to good use with the placement of ports.
On the left side, there’s an Ethernet, USB 3.2, 3.5mm audio jack, and a MicroSD card reader – a testament to Acer’s gaming-focused content creators’ commitment.
Meanwhile, the right side houses two USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports and Power-off charging for peripherals.
You’ll find two additional Thunderbolt 4 USB Type-C ports on the rear of the device.
This strip also includes an HDMI 2.1 for 4K120Hz video output, and the AC power port.
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This is where the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 truly shines, thanks to the NVIDIA GPU and the LED screen.
Gaming is immersive, and the battery life, while not extraordinary, provides enough juice to get you through a (short) load shedding outage.
I managed just short of seven hours on one charge, but admittedly, I didn’t push it as hard as I usually do, with my standard test of a gazillion open browser tabs and such.
The full-size keyboard boasts a numpad and a dedicated Predator Sense 4.0 button which leads you to Acer’s software hub.
In this Hub, you can quickly change profiles, adjust lighting, overclock, and manage fan profiles.
Easily switch between Silent, Balanced, Performance, and Turbo modes.
The touchpad is a nice and large, offering a responsive and smooth user experience
Meanwhile the keyboard’s key caps offer enough key travel to make typing a breeze.
I’m nothing if not consistent about my love for key travel…
And the blue WASD trim is visually-pleasing too.
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The Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 is, without doubt, a powerful machine that’s worth every penny.
It delivers an impeccable balance of performance and design, even if the fingerprint stains are exceptionally hard to clean.
Despite its cons – the noise in turbo mode, its heft, and okay-ish battery life – it still remains an attractive choice for gamers and content creators alike.
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