Acer's New Predator Gaming Laptops Bring The Boom With Arrow Lake And RTX 50 GPUs
We're about a month removed from the most recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES) event in Las Vegas, where Acer made a splash with a bunch of product announcements. Apparently it had even more on tap. Announced today, Acer is expanding its Predator Helios Neo lineup with a couple of brand new gaming laptop lines featuring the latest CPU and GPU hardware from Intel and NVIDIA, respectively, along with some premium display options.
The new laptop lines include the Predator Helios Neo 18 AI and Predator Helios 16 AI. Both lean into the AI angle (largely served by the capabilities of Blackwell and Arrow Lake), because what doesn't these days, and they're similar overall except for the display size and type.
Starting with the smaller of the two, the Predator Helios 16 AI sports a 16-inch screen with four display options. The most premium of the bunch is an OLED panel, while the other three of the LCD variety. Here's what we're looking at...
- OLED: 2560x1600, 240Hz, 400 nits, 100% DCI-P3
- LCD: 2560x1600, 240Hz, 500 nits, 100% DCI-P3
- LCD: 2560x1600: 180Hz, 400 nits, 100% sRGB
- LCD: 1920x1080, 180Hz, 400 nits, 100% sRGB
The Predator Helios Neo 18 AI, on the other hand, also offers four display options, but in the 18-inch form factor and culminating in a mini LED screen. They are as follows...
- Mini LED: 2560x1600, 250Hz, 100% DCI-P3
- LED: 2560x1600, 240Hz, 500 nits, 100% DCI-P3
- LED: 2560x1600, 165Hz, 300 nits, 100% DCI-P3
- LED: 1920x1200, 165Hz, 300 nits, 100% sRGB
Every display features NVIDIA G-SYNC and Advanced Optimus support and a 3ms response time, save for the OLED display, with has a 1ms response time (and probably even faster, given how OLED works). All of them also have a MUX switch.
Due to the size difference, Acer is pitching the Predator Helios Neo 16 AI as being "ideal for gamers and professionals on the go," and the Predator Helios Neo 18 AI as a "great desktop replacement option." Marketing aside, however, the internal makeups are the same, from what we can tell.
Both the 16-inch and 18-inch Predators come with Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX and Core Ultra 7 255HX processor options, as well as GeForce RTX 5070 Ti and GeForce RTX 5070 discrete GPU options. For RAM and storage, these laptops come with up to 64GB of DDR5-6400 RAM and up to 2TB of PCIe 4.0 solid state drive (SSD) storage.
Connectivity is similar as well. The Predator Helios Neo 16 AI features Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.4 (or above) for wireless chores, plus Killer Ethernet E3100G, Thunderbolt 4 Type-C, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, dual USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, and HDMI 2.1 ports. You'll also find a 3.5mm combo audio jack and a microSD card reader on these laptops.
The I/O arrangement is nearly identical on the Predator Helios Neo 18 AI, except the Bluetooth version is 5.3 (or above).
According to Acer, the "Predator Helios Neo AI line focuses on delivering affordable price points zeroing in on select key components." For these models, that translates to a starting price of $1,899.99 for the Predator Helios Neo 16 AI, which will be available in May, and $2,199.99 for the Predator Helios Neo 18 AI, which will release in June.
