Acer Predator Helios Neo 14 review

Acer has been making laptops for an age, and the pedigree reveals on this inexpensive 14-inch machine. For a worth of simply $1,249.99, the Acer Predator Helios Neo not solely provides you a well-built system with a good display, but it surely additionally incorporates considered one of Intel’s newest Core Extremely 7 CPUs.

From the value and specs checklist to the construct high quality, I’ve checked out this machine from each angle, and it’s a robust contender. It’s not flawless, don’t get me improper. There are a number of infuriating lower corners, that are considerably anticipated at this worth, however I’m nonetheless impressed by what Acer has managed to realize with the Neo 14. It may not be the perfect gaming laptop computer on the market up to now, but it surely’s well-rounded nonetheless.

So who’s this for then? Nicely, the core spec alone provides us a substantial amount of perception on that entrance. Acer’s picked up considered one of Intel’s Core Extremely 7 155H chips. These newest Meteor Lake laptop computer chips have among the greatest AI tech Intel has out there, paired alongside a high-performing and environment friendly processor structure.

Acer’s Predator line has all the time been a well-equipped and trendy product stack, and the Helios Neo 14 is not any totally different. It’s glossy but potent. Gaming but skilled. What I’m searching for right here, although, is a laptop computer that blurs the strains between gaming and professionalism. It must be versatile, stable sufficient for gaming, but succesful sufficient to render, work in Photoshop, or edit video on the fly.

Specs

Acer Predator Helios Neo 14 specs:

The spec of the Predator Helios Neo 14 is stable for the $1,249.99 asking worth. The Core Extremely 7 155H is a very good inclusion, utilizing Intel’s newest Meteor Lake structure, and providing you with six high-powered P-Cores, eight power-efficient E-Cores, and two additional low-power E-Cores – that’s 16 cores in whole, and the six P-Cores are the necessary ones for gaming.

These cores can enhance as much as a clock pace of 4.8GHz, so it’s not precisely a slouch within the processing world, no less than if it’s suitably cooled. The one distinction between this CPU and the Extremely 9 line is a few extra professional-oriented security measures, which actually don’t actually serve a lot goal right here.

A further plus is the Nvidia GPU. The Neo could be specced as much as an RTX 4070, however my evaluation pattern has a 120W 8GB RTX 4060 as a substitute. It’s actually an okay GPU for the value. The inner spec is an identical to the RTX 4060 desktop variant, though the TDP is way decrease. Nonetheless, it’s greater than able to dealing with gaming at 1080p with first rate settings, with the added bonus of Nvidia’s Body Technology tech and Nvidia DLSS 3 actually spicing up your body charge.

You additionally get a decent-sized SSD, with 1TB providing you with sufficient space for storing to put in a number of of the newest video games, and it’s a PCIe 4.0 NVMe drive as nicely, so it’s moderately fast.

Then there’s the reminiscence, the Achilles heel of this Helios. You solely get 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM which runs at a pace of 6,400MHz, and nearly provides you adequate reminiscence for gaming. However the greatest fake pas? It’s soldered, so what you get is what you get, there’s no likelihood of upgrading sooner or later – and that dents this machine’s lifespan.

Options

The Predator Helios Neo 14’s actual speaking level although is its show, which is a little bit of an oddity. With a 3,072 x 1,920 decision, on a 14.5-inch display, you get a pixel density of round 249.84 PPI. For comparability, a regular 32-inch 4K monitor will provide you with 139.87 PPI.

This display will not be solely critically sharp, but it surely refreshes at 165Hz as nicely, and is paired with incredible IPS tech. Coloration accuracy is absolutely very good with this display, and whereas it doesn’t fairly pop like an OLED or mini-LED display, it nonetheless seems to be punchy – Spiderman Throughout the Spiderverse seemed nice after I watched it on this machine.

Ghosting was just about non-existent (there was a contact of it on lighter blue assessments, however you actually do should be searching for it), and total it’s a pleasure to make use of. It’s not wherever close to the caliber of the OLED screens we’re beginning to see on numerous mid-range gaming laptops now (the Lenovo Legion Slim 5 has one as normal), but it surely’s nice for an IPS show.

It has Nvidia G-Sync in-built as nicely, which synchronizes the display’s refresh charge with the GPU’s body charge output, decreasing tearing and stuttering. Whereas the decision is somewhat odd for such a small display, it’s a prime show that’s actually well-calibrated. Regardless of being an IPS display, the picture by no means seems to be washed out – if something it’s somewhat too vibrant at prime settings – it did give me a contact of eye-strain at full brightness within the late evenings.

Apart from the display itself, there’s not an enormous quantity else to write down residence about. Wi-Fi is dealt with by Killer, and also you do get Wi-Fi 6E as normal. There’s no wired Ethernet port, although, so should you fancy a wired hook-up, you’re going to have to succeed in for the dongles. There’s a webcam, but it surely’s positively common, and there’s no fingerprint reader both. Likewise, the audio system are okay, however they’re not excellent. You’ll wish to use a headset if doable.

One final notice and it’s on that guarantee. Acer is protecting all elements and labor on that entrance – you simply have to ship it or carry it into considered one of Acer’s restore outlets and the corporate will get the remainder sorted for you. Should you do ship it to Acer, the corporate will ship it again freed from cost, however carry-in requires assortment. That’s not too shabby, though it’s a disgrace there’s solely a single 12 months of protection.

Design

On the floor, the Neo 14 is a reasonably well-rounded laptop computer, but it surely’s very depending on the value. For $1,249, its soft-satin black plastic chassis is greater than enough, there’s some light RGB lighting on the again close to the Predator brand, and also you additionally get a reasonably common RGB keyboard plus trackpad, however that’s about it.

It’s not glamorous, daring, or in your face, and in lots of ways in which works to its benefit. Its skinny bezels and glossy design allude to the ability inside it. Typically this machine prices round $1,499, although, and at this worth there are higher offers elsewhere.

The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14, for instance, provides you a 14-inch OLED display and is recurrently out there for $1,599. At this worth, the Acer’s black plastic chassis isn’t fairly sufficient in comparison with the Asus’ CNC-machined aluminum alloy chassis both. Sure, the Acer has sharp edges, tight strains, and skinny bezels, however that’s not sufficient if you’re taking a look at a worth that prime.

Prices apart, the Acer’s ports are managed comparatively nicely. It’s a disgrace it lacks an Ethernet port, however the truth the connections are all positioned on both the suitable or left aspect has allowed Acer to give attention to constructing out the cooling air flow on the rear of the unit, and that basically does translate nicely to efficiency.

Not solely are there vents on the rear, however in addition they run alongside the rear half of every aspect, which provides the Helios loads of respiratory room. It does characteristic a full-fat DC connector as nicely, which is technically reversible, but it surely’s additionally fairly blocky and really simple to knock, or unintentionally catch on the aspect of a desk.

On account of all that epic cooling, the Acer Helios Neo 14 is impressively quiet, even below load. The fan curves are dialed in nicely, and though it’s nonetheless preferable to make use of a headset should you’re buried deep in some late-night gaming periods to drown out the fan noise, it’s a clean expertise below mild load.

One of many greatest downsides by far is the reminiscence state of affairs. On the one hand, using LPDDR5X is a great transfer. It’s environment friendly, fast, and has loads of capability. However, it requires soldering to the motherboard itself, which successfully eliminates any risk of upgrading it later down the road.

Now that’s wonderful for the overwhelming majority of individuals, but it surely’s an enormous blow should you’re a tinkerer seeking to stretch out the lifetime of this machine, notably if you solely get 16GB as normal on this configuration. That’s sufficient for gaming, however we suggest 32GB for future-proofing and for a clean expertise should you wish to have a lot of functions and browser tabs open on the similar time.

Benchmarks

As for efficiency, the Acer Helios Neo 14’s cooling system is doing the gaming gods’ work right here. That is truly the highest-performing Core Extremely chip I’ve seen to this point in a gaming laptop computer with this way issue, even beating out two 16-inch gaming laptops within the course of – the Alienware M16 R2 and MSI Stealth 16 AI Studio A1V.

That alone is spectacular, notably provided that this laptop computer has a much smaller footprint than each these 16-inch juggernauts. In Cinebench 2024, it scored 988 factors within the multi-core take a look at, close to sufficient on par with the Alienware’s 981. It even (simply) pipped it on single-core efficiency as nicely, managing a svelte 105 factors to 104.

Apparently, nonetheless, this doesn’t all the time translate to top-tier gaming efficiency. With its RTX 4060 GPU, the Acer delivered some some comfy body charges at 1080p. For instance, it averaged 58fps in Complete Warfare: Warhammer 3 at Extremely settings, and it even averaged 63fps in Cyberpunk 2077 on the Extremely ray tracing preset, due to some assist from DLSS 3 upscaling and body era.

Nevertheless, the Lenovo Legion Slim 5 is a sooner machine right here, regardless of additionally having an RTX 4060 and 16GB of 6,400MHz DDR5 reminiscence. For instance, the Lenovo averaged 75fps in Cyberpunk 2077 on the similar settings, and 72fps in Complete Warfare: Warhammer 3.  The one main distinction between these two machines is the processors, with the Slim 5 operating an AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS. The Acer continues to be succesful at 1080p, after all, however the Lenovo is faster.

Each of these laptops additionally massively wrestle at their native resolutions, and the state of affairs is way extra pronounced for the Predator Helios Neo, provided that its decision is so excessive. In truth, video games are virtually unplayable on excessive presets at this decision. Cyberpunk for example, with DLSS 3 upscaling and AI body gen on, solely averaged 12fps. Complete Warfare did a bit higher, crusing in at 29fps, however that’s nonetheless removed from playable, and it did have some critical dips alongside the best way to that time.

In case you are seeking to sport on this technique, realistically you’re restricted to 1080p, and we suggest dialing among the extra fashionable options again a contact, or leaning into DLSS by adjusting the preset to be extra performance-oriented than high quality.

It’s a disgrace, as a result of that display is simply superior. Nonetheless, even when it was outfitted with an RTX 4070, plus 32GB of DDR5 reminiscence, this laptop computer would nonetheless wrestle at its native decision, in the same method to the Alienware M16 R2, and that machine solely has a 2,560 x 1,600 decision.

Battery

One saving grace for the Helios Neo 14 comes within the type of its battery life, and it actually punches above its weight in that regard. Someway, Acer has managed to cram in a 76WHr battery into this laptop computer, and it completely dominates throughout each of our PCMark 10 benchmarks. At 50% brightness, it lasted for a clean 100 minutes in our gaming take a look at, going from 100% to three% within the gaming take a look at, and it lasted an enormous 401 minutes in Trendy Workplace.

For comparability, it outperformed virtually each different laptop computer I’ve examined right here at within the workplace take a look at, and the gaming take a look at is equally was solely crushed by MSI’s Stealth 16 AI Studio A1V. These are nice outcomes if you wish to use this laptop computer on the transfer.

I used the Acer Predator Helios Neo 14 for round one week as my every day driver, benefiting from it for a bit of sunshine gaming in Dave the Diver, and Gwent (don’t choose me), together with a contact of Netflix, YouTube, and Spotify, it may virtually all the time final an entire day within the workplace.

Worth

The Acer Predator Helios Neo 14 worth normally provides good worth for the spec on provide. On the time of writing, it goes for $1,249.99 on Amazon, and it ticks all of the packing containers in terms of necessities. You’ll be able to usually get RTX 4060 gaming laptops for much less cash, however not with a Core Extremely 7 CPU and such an excellent display.

On the draw back, it’s somewhat bit dearer outdoors the US, with the UK equal of this spec at the moment costing £1,299 on Amazon, and solely coming with a 512GB SSD and a Core Extremely 5 125H CPU, quite than a 1TB SSD and Core Extremely 7 CPU. Even so, this isn’t a horrible worth for the construct high quality, design, and display high quality on provide.

Nevertheless, typically this laptop computer’s worth creeps as much as the £1,500 stage, and at that time we suggest both going with a sooner machine with out soldered RAM, such because the Alienware M16 R2, or an OLED laptop computer such because the Lenovo Legion Slim 5.

Verdict

So then, is the Helios Neo 14 any good? Assuming you possibly can choose it up for $1,249, then sure, it’s an excellent purchase. The construct high quality is first rate, the characteristic set is ok, the display is nice, and the CPU is quick for the cash. The pairing of an RTX 4060 with such a excessive display decision is somewhat outlandish, but it surely does claw again some important factors in terms of battery life and normal 1080p gaming clout.

Is it excellent? No, its plastic chassis wants work, and the soldered reminiscence critically dents the longevity of this machine. It additionally very a lot is determined by pricing as as to if you’re going to get an excellent deal or not. Should you’re searching for a finances gaming laptop computer that in any other case covers the necessities, although, the Acer Predator Helios Neo 14 is a good inexpensive machine at $1,249.99.