Acer Predator Helios 300 Gaming Laptop, Intel Core i7-9750H, GeForce GTX 1660 Ti, 15.6" Full HD 144Hz Display, 3ms Response Time, 16GB DDR4, 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD, RGB Backlit Keyboard, PH315-52-710B

GAMING: Witcher 3 - I can comfortably (with turbo mode ON, otherwise GPU hit 90+ C) play on maximum/high settings, with the GPU (and CPU) being well within acceptable range. Very smooth game play (At least 60fps, although I don't know how to get an FPS counter in it [Steam FPS counter doesn't work in it]). OW/BL2/Other FPS - No turbo mode required, maximum settings, easily hits 144fps. TV/YOUTUBE/MUSIC: Screen is great, obviously. Sound is fine. WORK/SCHOOL: It is quite on idle, but a bit of noise with multiple tabs/Word docs. open - but with a professor talking or other students typing, was never a concern. But sometimes I did feel a bit obnoxious in the library. But only a bit. With earbuds in, can't hear any laptop fan noises (with turbo on, ofc, it's a different story). BUILD QUALITY AND KEYBOARD: I can hold and handle the laptop anyways I want - it's that solid. Feels premium to me. It does, as shown in Jarrod's video, get your grubby finger prints all over it, and plus the kind of gamery (still low key) logo on the front + the big vents, PLUS the bit of fan noise, it may not be for you if you're doing office work in a very quite environment, around other people. The KEYBOARD is fantastic! It is sturdy, with zero noticeable flex. I do a lot of typing, and coming from the great Mac keyboard, this keyboard is still GREAT. Dedicated turbo key is nice, when I use it (looking at you, Witcher 3). Keyboard/laptop does have some sharp edges and very infrequently do need to shift my wrists (but again, it's really not a problem). Trackpad is, like the videos show, sufficient, but not very good. BATTERY: I only game with it plugged in, and have not had any problems yet. When I take it with me to class, I get it to like 50% ish after a 2hr class, with multiple tabs (whatsapp, amazon, gmail, and of course word docs) open. To be very safe, I would say three hours of use without battery, but even that is probably on the lower end. CAMERA: It's fine, lol. Nothing special. Gets Zoom done fine. OVERALL: Great laptop for both gaming and work. Easily hits 144fps, great laptop (no flex), sturdy build, decent charge. But, like every gaming laptop, can be rather loud, has a bad trackpad, beefy charger, slightly gamery look. A lot of good competition out there now (Razorblade 15, new HP Omen 15, Lenovo Legion, etc), but the keyboard on the Helios 300 is the best, so it seems to me. Also, it has the most reviews so is the most reliable at the moment. Very satisfied with my purchase. You will be too.

The value of this laptop can't be understated. There are no real weaknesses here. The only notable problems people may have with it are the fan noise while gaming and the lack of "silent" fan operation when not gaming. You won't notice the idle whirl of fans unless you are in a completely silent room with no music or headphones in play. Besides that, the gaming performance is top-notch. Handles all games on high with zero problems at 60+fps. The notoriously poorly-optimized Cyberpunk ran at medium-high for me with 60-70fps. Solid. The trackpad is good, well-positioned. The keyboard has good travel and is fairly quiet. I bought this primarily for the keyboard and screen, which most laptops are bottom-tier these days on both fronts. The numberpad is nice, I wish there was a way to fit the 0 key two-wide, but that's not important, just typist quirks. The screen is plenty bright for any indoor situation, does fine outside under indirect sun, thanks to the lack of glossy coating. The 144hz is nice for older games or some buttery-smooth indy sidescrollers. The weight of this laptop is obvious, but not unbearable. I like the fact that this laptop doesn't feel cheap. The plastic shell on the bottom is hard and strong. If I dropped this thing like a complete fool, I think it would survive 2-3 feet without a break--maybe a chip or dent. Overall, for me, this laptop is unbeatable in this price range. With the reviews of higher-end laptops, it sounds like you'd be wasting money for 5-10fps difference if you look at. Remember, there's only so much you can do within the power limits of a laptop.

Overall, I'm super pleased with this laptop, and I am also really glad I went with the model that has the 16GB DDR4 RAM and the 512GB SSD storage space. The screen has great resolution, basically anything I've done on it is super fast, and for the price point, you're getting a lot of laptop. I'd heard that there were newer models of gaming laptops coming out later in Spring/Summer 2020, but with everything going on, I didn't want to wait, and I'm glad I found the Helios 300. Be wary of which version you are getting though, make sure you've done your research and you've grabbed the laptop with the specs you're wanting, otherwise you're going to have to upgrade this down the line. A solid plus to this computer is how up-gradable it is. There is an extra bay for a full sized SSD drive, so I certainly plan to get at least a 1TB drive to put in it. However, this does sacrifice the battery, and it certainly shows. This thing does not have much battery, and if you're using the neat RGB function on the keyboard, running the fans, and playing a game, the laptop is going to drain really fast. This isn't a major problem for me though, as I usually play plugged in, I just need the flexibility of moving around the house that a laptop can give over a desktop. One last thing, the 'turbo' fans on this thing are very, very loud. Not something I'd have on in the general living area of our house, but it does seem to keep the components cool!

EDIT 2/14/23: Still going strong today. I wonder if anyone is still looking at reviews for this? Regardless, I think I would happily buy a Helios again based on my experience with this one. EDIT 9/4/2021: Wanted to say that this is still going strong a year later. For the price, it was (still is) definitely an unbeatable computer. The newer Helios models have RTX instead of GTX like this one but this computer is more than enough for me. EDIT 6/9/2020: Little late on the update! The second machine I received has been fine. It can render videos quickly and has better battery life than I expected. EDIT 4/3/2020: I received the replacement and at least got through the setup with no problem. I’ll update this again in a month as my final statement on this product. If it has any issues at all, it’ll be getting returned and I’ll never buy Acer again. I can say that the screen is beautiful, the sound is great, and the keys have a lovely soft type to them. The real test will be in how it works though so I will be putting it through the real test this month with intensive video editing and gaming. Check back for an update! I got this, plugged it in to charge a while, then sat down to set it up. No problems as I went through the Windows 10 setup until... The screen went black. The port where the power source was plugged in wasn’t lighting up. Just a total brick. Completely puzzled! I wrote in to Amazon CS and a replacement is already on the way and I’ll be returning this one. I really hope this was just one stroke of bad luck because for the few moments I got to see the screen and type on the keyboard, it was a lovely experience. REALLY hoping for better luck with the replacement. It’s due to arrive Saturday. Predator came so highly recommended that I’m willing to give the replacement a chance because I was thrilled with the look but i can’t really use a paperweight that’s quite that expensive.

I have been looking for a laptop that can handle some gaming needs for a while. The laptop was in my amazon list for a long time and I finally pulled the trigger at the start of the Covid-19 outbreak. Pros: Gaming- This is what this computer is made for. It seemingly can handle most gaming tasks at recommended settings Screen- The screen is really nice but I do wish it was a little brighter. However, the screen quality seems top notch in my limited testing of the unit. Keyboard- The keyboard seems really nice. Button feel nice and typing on the laptop is nice and easy. Form Factor- Surprisingly, the computer is relatively slim and lightweight considering the amount of power the unit has. Cons Battery Life- The battery drains quick. This should be expected considering the computer is relatively high-powered and designed for gaming. Design- I hate the design of the computer. It really screams "GAMING" with the design. I wish it was more subtle because I am a working professional and I don't like the design. Sound- HOLY MOLY this unit gets really loud and hot! Just playing WoW for about 10 minutes and it starts to cook and the fans get loud. If turbo is enabled then it is insanely loud. Heat- When I purchased this machine I fully anticipated it to get hot but the heat near your fingers is really warm. Right above the function buttons near the turbo button gets extremely hot. Speakers- Sub par and hugely disappointing. Do not get this computer if you need quality built in speakers. Overall, I do like this machine and it does exactly what I needed it to do. The screen is amazing and the performance is really strong and I feel like it will handle most games you throw at it with ease. I got this machine to supplement my gaming tower and to have ease of access when I want to play games anywhere in the house. If the cons don't bother you then this machine is great and an awesome value.

I received the laptop a couple weeks ago, and so far it's great! I'm relatively familiar with computers but by no means a whiz, and I'm a moderate to heavy gamer. Pros: -Love the feel of the keyboard, very quiet and able to adjust the backlight colors in 4 separate zones -Powerful fans keep the laptop cool even during heavy gaming -So far can run everything I need -Beautiful screen display quality -Decent speakers, great audio quality with headphones -PredatorSense is a helpful interface for controlling temperatures, performance, lighting, etc. -The built in numeric keypad is a huge plus -3 USB slots unlike a lot that only come with 2 -USB-C slot + HDMI as well -Easy to add additional storage -Webcam is great quality Cons: -Screen casing is plastic and I can see why some reviewers have had issues with it bending/breaking easily -Bevel on the screen is a little thick given that it's a modern laptop -Power plug in is located in the middle of the left side, a little odd and out of place in my opinion -Fans are definitely loud even when using basic applications, but not obnoxious and definitely not noticeable with decent headphones -Speakers are located on the underside so sound can be a bit muted if on the wrong surface -A bit bulkier than other laptops but to be expected with all of the hardware it's packing and the sturdy base design Overall, can't believe how much I got for $1,200. This thing is a beast and can handle everything I throw at it, with some very minor setbacks that aren't worth the extra $1,000+ you'd pay for something "better."

This little laptop is a Beast.. actually, a “Predator.” Out of the box it is ready to go. 16 GB Ram in Dual Channel, the 1660ti is far more powerful than I thought it would be. The backlit keyboard does indeed have four zones to control the color... I prefer the wave pattern. The Screen is crisp and very color accurate. There is minimal bleed, and it is indeed has a silly fast response time. I game a lot... it plays my game at max settings with no need for turbo, and without hitting temps over 70C. The only real weakness this laptop has is a small battery. I knew about this when I bought it, so it is not surprising to me, or a game changer. Honestly, gaming laptops should be used for gaming when plugged in anyway.. am I right? Get this laptop while you can. It has the power to tear through games at high settings all day long.

This is a great laptop, I first ordered an ASUS Tuf and returned it due to it not starting up. After further research, I decided to spend the extra few hundred dollars on this laptop. Out of the box, downloaded games such as Call of Duty, Fortnite, Overwatch and Rainbow Six Siege and all work excellent. I bought a hard wire for the internet thinking I would need it to prevent lag for gaming, but have not once needed to connect the cable and the cable is still in its box....................ONE THING: I do want to point out is that this laptop will get HOT fast for gaming. It does have the turbo fan, which is much needed, and the turbo helps cool down the laptop, but the turbo feature is loud. I just recently ordered a fan pad and still waiting for that to come in. The only suggestion is if you order this laptop (GREAT LAPTOP AND FAST) I would suggest ordering a cooling pad also. This way you can have it cooled down maybe more quietly without having to run the Turbo fan on the laptop. I have no regrets ordering this laptop. VERY, VERY PLEASED with its performance and would recommend to anyone looking to game. I bought the 512Gb for the extra space. I hope this laptop lasts me a while cause it is AWESOME!!!

This is first time in my life I am reviewing something and also the first time in my life I order something online over a $1000 value, and also the first time I order something from Amazon and have no regret, I got my order 12 days before the promising time, so huge thanks to Amazon my machine is all good and I am happy with your service. I have nothing to say about Helios 300 because I did my 6 months research before getting this machine so all good, highly recommend to those who have a little small budget. Thank you for reading this long review :)

Runs games like Deep Rock Galactic, Metro Exodus and GTA V on max settings with ease. Only problem I had with this laptop though is the MaxAudio Driver that comes with the laptop and a few of the audio settings. I found a fix for this, but whenever I went into YouTube and started playing a video, the audio driver would turn on my web camera which isn't really necessary and a bit weird. I fixed this by ticking the option to not allow any external apps to use my webcam. I also had to find out how to disable "enhanced audio" that came default with it because it sounds horrible. It was pretty frustrating having to look all of this up as I hadn't had any of these problems in the past with new laptops. Other than that though this laptop is great.

6 years ongoing working without any issues

Product delivered as described, good value!

This laptop really give me hard time. Randomly shut down with or without Blue Screen. Hanging at gameplay like few minutes after start up and restart again. I was told that it's under international warranty but can't go to the local service center for repair. They told me to send it back to USA or Canada. My opinion, don't buy Acer predator and this will be my LAST Acer product.