The new Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 occupies an intermediate place between the high-end Predator line from Acer and the funds Nitro line. With the Nitro lineup, Acer usually opts for fewer options, comparatively decrease construct high quality, and entry-level gaming {hardware}. However, the Predator line has all the benefits, wonderful construct high quality and shows, in addition to high-end {hardware}. With the brand new Predator Helios Neo 16, Acer hopes to fill the hole with a laptop that compromises on among the advantages, however presents top-of-the-line {hardware} for an inexpensive funds.
The variant we’re comes with a thirteenth Gen Intel Core i7-13700HX paired with the brand new NVIDIA RTX 4050 pocket book GPU. There are thirteenth Gen Core i5 variants, in addition to variants with higher-end GPUs, together with the RTX 4060 and 4070. Additionally, all GPUs are configured with the very best TGP values, so that you get essentially the most out of them. Contemplating the specs, priced at Rs 1,24,990, the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 is an efficient deal on paper, however is it value your cash? Learn the complete evaluation to seek out out.
Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 – Building and design
Let’s begin with development and design. The Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 does not look gamer just like the Nitro, but it surely certain appears to be like the a part of a gaming laptop. Some might recognize a extra muted gaming aesthetic, particularly in the event that they use the laptop in a extra skilled work surroundings.
The general shade of the laptop is matte black with turquoise accents. The similar turquoise will be seen across the WASD frames and arrow keys. Within the middle of the lid is a shiny Predator brand. It does not mild up or something, and it is really fairly onerous to see clearly on matte black. Likewise, you even have a bunch of cryptic numbers and crosses on the aspect of the lid, and a grid on the opposite aspect. It is really a puzzle that Acer has placed on the quilt, should you clear up it, you possibly can most likely apply to Acer for a reward.
By way of construct high quality, Acer has chosen a mixture of aluminum and plastic for the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16. The show cowl is fabricated from steel and could be very sturdy, whereas the remainder of the physique is fabricated from plastic. The mixture of plastic and steel is sensible given what Acer goes for, and we actually cannot fault the construct high quality, aside from the show, which bends greater than we might like. Nonetheless, the show itself stays very secure and stable with nearly zero wobble.
The laptop has a 16-inch show and weighs round 2.6 kg, which is a bit heavy for a gaming laptop. Then once more, you additionally get a barely larger-than-usual show on this laptop.
The Predator Helios Neo 16 is supplied with chiclet keys, similar to these discovered within the Nitro sequence of gaming laptops. We have talked about earlier than that we actually like the texture of the Nitro keyboard, and that also holds true. There’s respectable journey and suggestions, making for an excellent general experience with the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 keyboard. You get 4-zone RGB lighting for the keyboard, however not the per-key lighting that is reserved for higher-end Predator laptops, however RGB is a small sacrifice to chop prices. The touchpad is barely off middle to the left, which doesn’t forestall it from typing. Nonetheless, you are most likely going to make use of the mouse whereas enjoying and can disable the touchpad solely. When you do want to make use of it, the touchpad is fairly correct.
Enter/output choices
The Acer Predator Helios 16 has a wide array of I/O ports. You’ve got two Thunderbolt 4 ports, an HDMI 2.1 port, and a charging port behind the laptop’s show. The left aspect of the laptop has an RJ45 Ethernet port, a USB-A port, a microSD card reader, and a 3.5mm combo port. On the proper aspect you have got two extra USB-A ports and a Kensington lock. We could not ask for a greater choice of I/O choices on this worth vary.
Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 – Show
Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 comes with two show choices with a decision of 1920×1200 and 2560×1600. As you possibly can see, these are 16:10 facet ratio shows, so you have got a bit extra display to work with. The variant we obtained had a WUXGA or 1920×1200 show. Although it is the cheaper of the 2 show choices, you continue to get round 400 nits of peak brightness, which is nice; we examined round 382 nits on common. You additionally get nearly 100% sRGB protection, we examined 99.6 % and 83.2 % DCI-P3 protection, which is nice. This makes the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 a fairly stable laptop for content material creation.
Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 – Thermals
The Acer Predator Neo 16 does an important job thermally, particularly should you think about it a gaming laptop. Not solely does the temperature stay low, however even the noise degree can be under common. The highest temperature we recorded was the processor, which reached round 70 levels Celsius throughout the stress check. Each the CPU and GPU within the Acer Predator Neo 16 use Acer’s AeroBlade 3D followers for cooling, they usually each share six warmth pipes. Whereas the underside of the laptop will be fairly heat, floor temperatures largely keep across the 25-degree mark, corresponding to across the palm and touchpad, aside from the WASD cluster, which reaches 32 levels Celsius, and the middle of the laptop, which reaches round 36 levels Celsius.
Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 – Efficiency
At this level, we got here to the efficiency. As we talked about within the introduction, Acer did not maintain again with the {hardware} within the Neo 16, so we have now the newest thirteenth Gen Intel Core i7-13700HX processor paired with the brand new NVIDIA RTX 4050. Though the RTX 4050 is the bottom second choice within the new RTX 40 line , is actually not inferior and similar to the RTX 3060 GPU for laptops in relation to gaming efficiency.
Beginning with the artificial GPU benchmarks, ala 3DMark, we examine the 4050 to considered one of our top-performing 3060 laptops from final yr, the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 16IAH7, which additionally incorporates a Twelfth-gen Core i7.
You’ll be able to see that the 4050 beats the 3060 in nearly each 3DMark check, aside from a number of the place the outcomes are very shut.
As for the efficiency we’re utilizing PCMark 10 for, we’re evaluating the identical two laptops once more, this time pitting the thirteenth Gen Core i7-13700HX within the Predator Helios Neo 16 in opposition to the Twelfth Gen Core i7-12700H within the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3.
No surprises right here, the newer processor wins. Coming to the Cinebench R23 check, we discovered that the single-threaded efficiency of each processors could be very related, however the Core i7-13700HX edges out the Core i7-12700H in multi-threaded efficiency.
(*16*)
This development additionally holds in our encryption and decryption checks, for which we use WinRAR and 7-Zip, the place the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 is leagues forward.
OZP
Neo 16 is supplied with 16 GB of DDR5 reminiscence with a clock frequency of 4800 MT/s with assist for as much as 32 GB. We examined the RAM pace utilizing the AIDA64 reminiscence check and it’s positively one of many quickest RAMs we examined this yr.
Storage
This additionally applies to the built-in NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD, which is without doubt one of the quickest in its worth phase. Within the CrystalDiskMark NVMe SSD check, we noticed learn speeds of round 7000MB/s and write speeds of round 5000MB/s.
Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 – Gaming efficiency
Lastly, we come to the efficiency of actual video games. We use a mixture of GPU- and CPU-intensive video games to guage how effectively the Acer Predator Helio Neo 16 performs in real-world video games. As we talked about in the beginning of this part, the RTX 4050 actually has its benefits. We once more examine it to the RTX 3060 within the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3.
The RTX 4050 outperforms the RTX 3060 in each single gaming check. Definitely, the RTX 4050 is the brand new finest GPU for entry-level gaming laptops. After all, this specific mixture within the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 is incredible and shouldn’t have any drawback with any fashionable title, at the very least for the subsequent yr.
Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 – Verdict
Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 is a really engaging gaming laptop. It presents a high-end gaming laptop at a really cheap funds. You may lose a number of options right here and there, however actually, who wants RGB lighting for each key or an OLED show if you’re getting the very best {hardware} round? The mixture of the thirteenth technology Intel Core i7-13700HX and the NVIDIA RTX 4050 is sufficient to deal with most fashionable video games at excessive settings with ease. Each the CPU and GPU scored incredible leads to our checks, and that is mixed with a shiny WUXGA IPS 165Hz show, wonderful general construct high quality, an honest keyboard and surprisingly respectable battery life, for a gaming laptop that’s. Priced at Rs 1,24,990, we actually would not name this laptop an affordable or funds gaming laptop, however we will safely say that you’re getting the very best bang in your buck.
