Acer has announced new gaming laptops and desktops at its next@acer global press conference. For the mobile gamers, Acer has unveiled the new Predator Helios 500 and a Special Edition Helios 300 gaming laptop. The Helios 500 comes with support of up to 8th Gen Intel Core i9+ processors whereas the Helios 300 Special Edition gets some upgrades in both the design and performance department with a distinctive white chassis and some bumped up specs like a display with 144Hz refresh rate. Both laptops are VR-Ready and come with ‘advanced’ thermal technologies for keeping the temperatures low during extended gaming sessions. The Predator Helios 500 gaming notebooks will be available in North America from June starting at $1,999 (Rs 1,37,000 approx).
Acer Predator Helios 500, Helios 300 Special Edition specifications
Staring with the Predator Helios 500, the laptop features up to 8th Gen Intel Core i9+ processors and GeForce GTX 1070 GPU, both of which are also overclockable. The laptop comes with Intel Optane memory, along with NVMePCIe SSDs, Killer DoubleShot Pro networking, and up to 64GB of memory for handling even the most resource demanding games and also live streaming them, the company says. It comes in options of a 4K UHD or FHD IPS 17.3-inch displays with 144Hz refresh rates and supports Nvidia G-Sync technology on both the built-in display and external monitors. For connectivity, it sports dual Thunderbolt 3 ports and HDMI 2.0 ports that support up to three external monitors. For audio, it is equipped with two speakers, a subwoofer, and it supports Acer TrueHarmony and Waves MAXXAudio technology.
For keeping the Helios 500 cool while gaming, Acer has equipped it with their proprietary AeroBlade 3D metal fans, and five heat pipes that are said to distribute cool air to the machine's key components while simultaneously releasing hot air. The PredatorSense app will allow users to control the fan speeds and monitor the notebook's vitals from one central interface, including overclocking, hotkeys, temperature, lighting, and fan control. Appealing gamers, the backlit RGB keyboard offers four lighting zones with support for up to 16.8 million colours and the laptop features anti-ghosting technology, which can be set up via five dedicated programmable keys.
Coming to the Helios 300 Special Edition, the Acer's budget-friendly gaming line laptop has received a makeover with an all-white aluminum chassis accented with gold trim. There are also upgrades in the hardware department as the Helios 300 Special Edition (PH315-51) features a 15.6-inch full-HD IPS display that now supports 144Hz refresh rate. It is powered by up to an 8th-generation Intel Core i7+ processor, coupled with GeForce GTX 1060 graphics, up to a 512GB PCIe Gen 3 NVMe solid state drive, and up to a 2TB hard disk drive. It sports up to 16GB of RAM that can be upgraded to 32GB.
The Helios 300 SE also comes with Intel Optane memory, along with Gigabit Ethernet for wired connectivity and Gigabit Wi-Fi, provided by the Intel Wireless-AC 9560, for delivering up to 1.73Gbps throughput when using 160MHz channels (2×2 802.11ac, dual-band 2.4GHz and 5GHz). The notebook includes two of Acer's 0.1 mm all-metal AeroBlade 3D fans, which same as the Helios 500, can also be controlled with Acer's PredatorSense app that offers toggling between three usage modes – Coolboost, Normal, and Silent.