With its dynamic curves and RGB lighting on the front, sides, and back, the Acer Predator Helios 500 reminds me of the Lamborghini Hybrid Sián Roadster. It looks and feels incredibly powerful and is full to the brim with the ability to rule video games. Under its tough appearance is an overclockable 11th Gen Intel Core i9 processor, an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU, and up to a fierce 64GB of RAM to help you beat the fools who want to fight you.
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Users can choose from three 17.3-inch displays, each of which offers a different gaming experience that players should enjoy. The AUO AmLED technology is used to power a 4K Mini-LED 120Hz panel. The other choice is AUO’s rapid FHD 360 Hz display with a quick 3 ms response time, which should make images look as smooth as butter. The last choice is a QHD panel with 2560 x 1440 pixels and 165Hz, which is right in the middle of the other two.
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Prices and options for the Acer Predator Helios 500
The Predator Helios 500 will be released in August 2021, and its starting price will be $2,499.99.
The pre-production unit we got our hands on had a powerful 11th Gen Intel Core i9-11980HK CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 GPU, 32GB of RAM, a 2TB PCIe M.2 SSD, and a 17.3-inch FHD 360Hz display. Helios 500 starts at $2,499.99 and comes with an 11th Gen Intel Core i7-10800H CPU, 32GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 GPU as the first choices.
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Acer Predator Helios 500 design
The Acer Predator Helios 500 is a gaming laptop that can replace your PC and should be able to handle anything you throw at it. The Predator logo is lit up on the dark purple metal lid to tell you that this is a gaming warrior ready to blow up. The Helios 500 feels like the Lamborghini of tanks because it is made of rock-solid plastics all over.
Acer’s 3D fan system has exhaust ports on the side and back to let air move and keep the system cool. The silver exhaust pipe in the back is lit up with a bright blue light, making it look like it’s ready to break any speed limit. Near the front of the unit, there are side lighting effects and a front lightbar that can be changed with the PredatorSense programme.
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When you open the Helios 500’s lid, the realistic 17.3-inch, 1080p at 360Hz display meets your eyes. The bezels aren’t as thin as I’d like, but they’re not too big and don’t ruin the experience. I would suggest having a wipe or cloth nearby because the unit does pick up fingerprints easily.
When you’re done picking your lighting, look down at the deck and you’ll see a huge full-sized keyboard with matte black chicklet-style keys with white font and fully customizable RGB lighting. The RGB-encased touchscreen seems small for such a big deck, but it works well, and the two mechanical buttons below it are clicky.
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The Predator Helios 500 is big and in charge. It is 15.7 inches long, 12.56 inches wide, and 1.38 inches thick, and it weighs 8.59 pounds. Weight and size are typical for a 17-inch laptop, but if you want to compare, the Origin EON 17-X is a little lighter and has similar features.
Ports on the Acer Predator Helios 500
The Predator Helios 500 has a lot of ports, which gives you a lot of ways to join. On the left side, there are a Mini Display port, an HDMI port, a USB-Type A port, and two USB-C Thunderbolt ports.
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Acer Predator Helios 500 display
I got my hands on a Predator Helios 500, which had a 17.3-inch FHD 1920 x 1080 pixels at 360Hz monitor. With a nice frame and a thin bezel, it made watching videos feel very real. I watched the trailer for Marvel’s future Eternals movie in FHD, and the screen showed colours that were rich, crisp, and consistent.
Angelina Jolie swings her spear around as the dark blue drapes come down in the Eternals trailer. The Helios 500 did a great job of recreating this scene.
Since this is just a hands-on unit and we haven’t had our master testers put it through any measures yet, we don’t have brightness or colour scores to share yet, but we will once we get a full review unit.
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Acer Predator Helios 500 music
The Helios 500 has two speakers that face forward. They are on either side of the front lightbar. I listened to “That’s What I Like” to the Bruno Mars Mix that I found on YouTube. The speakers are loud enough and lively enough that they filled my small room with clear sound. But they don’t have any bass or thump.
The device does come with the DTS Sound Unbound app, which is meant to improve the way you listen to music. Sadly, the lack of bass made the sound bad no matter which sound profile I chose from Music, Voice, Movies, Strategy, RPG, Shooter, and a Custom choice.
The keyboard and touchpad on the Acer Predator Helios 500
The Predator Helios 500 has a full-sized keyboard in the style of a chicklet. Bright RGB lights are used. Using the PredatorSense program, you can change how the keyboard lights up. For gaming, the WASD and PredatorSense keys stand out in bright blue.
The deck is huge, but it’s easy to type on because the keys have good travel. Even with my huge hands, I was able to type quickly and accurately.
I tried out the 10fastfingers test and got to 92 words per minute, which is about the same as my rate of 75 to 90 wpm.
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The touchpad feels small for such a big deck, but it works well with Windows 10 movements like swiping with two fingers to scroll, pinching to zoom, and tapping with three fingers. The two buttons under the touchpad are easy to press and work well.
Graphics and speed of the Acer Predator Helios 500
The Helios 500 comes with an 11th Generation Intel Core i9-11980HK CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 GPU, 32GB of RAM, and a 2TB PCIe M.2 SSD. As I threw everything I could think of at it, I was sure I could hear it laughing at me. I opened 45 tabs in the Firefox browser, and many of them were playing YouTube videos. You’d think I was giving it Sour Patch Kids and spoonfuls of sugar, though, because it didn’t seem to care that I was trying to confuse it.
We weren’t able to run any benchmarks on the unit we had in our hands, but we just reviewed a gaming laptop with similar specs, so there’s no reason to think the Predator Helios 500 won’t do well when tested. It also has one of the best GPUs on the market, so I expect it to handle video and photo editing jobs without breaking a sweat.
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Webcam for Acer Predator Helios 500
The Predator Helios 500 camera has a 1080p resolution at 60 frames per second and Temporal Noise Reduction. I noticed a change right away with this webcam. It’s a huge step up from the 720p laptop webcams we’re used to. Even when there isn’t much light, the picture is very clear because of Temporal Noise Reduction. The colours are rich and bright, and the colouring is very accurate whether you’re taking photos or videos. With this camera, Acer really hit the mark, so props to them.
Software for the Acer Predator Helios 500 and the guarantee
The Acer Predator Helios 500 comes with Windows 10 Pro and doesn’t have a lot of unnecessary software. The Killer Control Center is one of my favourite apps because it gives users many ways to control how applications are used. It lets you choose which programmes get the most system resources. You could choose to give Adobe Premiere more resources while giving your browser less. It’s pretty useful and makes sure that what you’re working on or playing has the power it needs to help you reach your goals.
You will find apps like Microsoft Solitaire Collection, Skype, and Spotify, as well as the DTS Sound Unbound and Ultra apps, ExpressVPN, the Firefox browser, and Norton Security Ultra. You will also find the Acer Care Center, which gives you important information about your laptop and lets you adjust and check on its parts.
The Acer Predator comes with a guarantee that covers it for only one year. You can look at how Acer did in our Tech Support Showdown and list of the best and worst brands.
Outlook
Even though I haven’t tried any games or scores on the Predator Helios 500, I’m still sure it will be a great gaming laptop and a good one for watching movies and playing music. With a design that will make your friends jealous and a powerful Intel 11th Gen Core i9 CPU combined with the latest Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 GPU, the Helios should smash opponents like Thor in a blood rage while throwing Mjollnir at helpless enemies.
