This iteration of the Predator Helios 300, announced at CES 2022, features a revamped chassis design that may help address some of the fan noise issues experienced with previous models. And even if it doesn't, the promise of access to the RTX 3080 may make it an attractive option for many amid the ongoing GPU shortage.
Of course, comparisons to the best gaming laptops can only be made by trying them out; here's what we know so far about the Acer Predator Helios 300 (2022).
The 17.3-inch Acer Predator Helios 300 (2022) will be available in Europe, the Middle East, and China in February and in the US in March starting at $1,749.
A smaller 15.6" model of the Helios 300 (2022) will also be available in Europe, the Middle East, and China in February, but will not be available in the US until May 2022 with a starting price of $1,649.
Both sizes will be available in a variety of configurations through Acer's website and select third-party retailers.
According to Acer's official description, this iteration of the Predator Helios 300 has been redesigned to give it a "cleaner" look.
The keyboard itself is also backlit with mini-LEDs, and RBG lighting can be customized on a per-key basis; the PredatorSense key allows the laptop's fan to switch between four preset modes, but there is also a Turbo button, which Acer claims to maximize the fan and all related settings for optimal gaming performance.
Both sizes of the Acer Predator Helios 300 (2022) will ship with IPS displays with resolutions up to QHD (2,560 x 1,440 pixels) at refresh rates up to 165 Hz.
This is a pretty solid display for portable gaming, and the high refresh rate will be a boon for those who prefer to play games at higher frame rates. The Predator Helios 300 features an impressive GeForce 30 Series GPUs and a 12th generation Intel CPU, so it should have no problem achieving high frame rates for most games.
With the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti or RTX 3080 GPU options, it should be able to achieve high frame rates in even the most demanding games.
The 2022 Helios 300 can also be equipped with up to a 12th generation Intel Core i7 CPU, 32GB of DDR5-4800 RAM, and up to 2TB of SSD storage.
Previous Helios 300s had decent port arrays, and the 2022 model appears to be much the same.
On the right side of the 2022 Helios 300 is an Ethernet jack, a USB-A port, a Thunderbolt 4/USB-C port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. On the left side, along with an HDMI output and an SD card reader, there is another pair of USB-A and USB-C ports that provide options for output to an external display or to retrieve files from a memory card.
Acer does not (yet) promise battery life for the 2022 Helios 300, even during gaming or less demanding activities.
However, being a large gaming laptop with top-of-the-line components, one should not expect too much from the Helios 300 in terms of battery life. Most gaming laptops can last from 90 minutes to three hours on a single charge when gaming, and the Helios 300 will probably fall within that range. The 2020 Helios 300 with older components (including a 10th-generation Intel Core i7 CPU and Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 GPU) lasted roughly 3.5 hours in our battery tests.
Acer's 2022 Predator Helios 300 looks to be a minor but meaningful upgrade over previous versions, with a lightly redesigned chassis and some under-the-hood upgrades.
These upgraded internals will make or break the Helios 300's performance, as this hefty black gaming machine (which weighs 5-7 pounds, depending on the size you buy) will not win any awards for its portability. However, the 2022 Helios 300 will be in high demand upon launch, thanks to the ongoing GPU shortage that has made cards like the RTX 3080 very hard to find. [Of course, we won't know how Acer's Helios 300 (2022) gaming laptop will handle the demands of daily work and play until we test it first hand. Stay tuned.
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