Greek mythology's Helios may be the Sun God, but Acer's Helios 300 aims to be the god of portable gaming. The thin and light philosophy is abandoned in Favour of power, connectivity, and efficient cooling. It costs $2099 and includes a 1440p monitor, an Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti graphics card, and a 12th Gen Intel processor. This laptop is definitely worth taking a closer look at if you're looking for a powerful gaming laptop you can take with you and don't mind its larger size. 

Features and Design 

At a reasonable price, the Acer Predator Helios is a capable gaming laptop. Although it's big, Acer makes the most of its size with performance parts, excellent connection, and plenty of cooling. The model we received has the following specifications. 

• Model: Acer Predator Helios 300 

• Display: 15.6-inch IPS (3ms), 300-nits 

• Resolution: 2560 x 1440, 240Hz 

• Processor: 12th Gen Intel Core i7-12700H 

• Graphics: Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti 8GB 

• Memory: 16 GB LPDDR5, 4800 MHz (upgradeable to 32GB) 

• OS: Windows 11 Home 

• Storage: 1 TB NVMe SSD 

• Webcam: 1080p 

• Ports: 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C with PD, Thunderbolt 4 and USB charging, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 with Power Off Charging, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1, 1 x HDMI 2.1 w/HDCP support, 1 x Mini Display 1.4, 1 x RJ45 Ethernet, 1 x headset combo port, 1 x Kensington Lock 

• Connectivity: Killer Ethernet E2600 10/100/1000, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2 

• Battery: 90 wHr 

• Dimensions: 14.15 x 10.88 x 0.98 (WxDxH) 

• Weight: 5.73-pounds 

• Price: $2099.99 

Acer's 15.6-inch laptop fits a whole numpad on the deck despite its size. It works well if you want to use the laptop for work and also functions as a gaming macro pad. The additional keys cause everything to move slightly to the left and make each button slightly smaller, but getting used to it is easy. The keys have decent travel at 1.8mm and are tactile. 

Performance 

A variety of technologies housed inside the chassis enable the Helios 300 to compete with desktop computers, which is a major accomplishment for a gaming laptop. With its combination of a 12th-Gen Core i7-12700H processor, Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti, 16GB of DDR5 RAM, and 1TB NVMe SSD, it is capable of handling the demands of contemporary games. 

Performance, like any gaming laptops, is about more than just technology. Thermals are also important, and the Helios adds a third element—its 1440p display—to the equation. Higher resolutions have a higher operating cost yet produce better photos. 

Battery Life 

The 90 WHr battery of the Acer Predator Helios 300 is sizable. If you intend to bring your rig to work or school, you'll need to adjust certain settings because running one with strong hardware and loads of RGB will drain even the largest battery.  

Software 

The Acer Predator Helios 300 ships with a variety of software meant primarily for personalizing the computer and producing content, but it also contains some bloatware. Predator Sense is the most crucial programme; it allows you to change the laptop's performance mode, personalize the lighting, check system performance and temperatures, build performance presets for specific games, and access other loaded programmes. 

Predator Sense is simple to use and navigate. Each part includes an own tab with easy-to-use buttons and toggles for setting adjustments. Even the performance mode tab has a useful tooltip that describes the variations between the settings. Even as a seasoned laptop gamer, I found it difficult to quickly distinguish between "intense" and "turbo" modes, so having that explained in more detail was beneficial. (Turbo is, incidentally, overclocked.) Strangely, the Quiet performance mode—which ought to be the most power-efficient preset—can only be enabled when the device is plugged in. 

Fan settings can also be changed through the app; however, this feature is far less useful. It has been noticed that every tweak essentially forces the fans into varied degrees of loudness because the standard settings are well-tuned. By adjusting these parameters, you might be able to reduce temperatures by one or two degrees, but since there is already plenty of headroom, bespoke fan curves can be safely left to tinkerers and hobbyists.