Acer’s Helios laptops are gaming designs in the classic sense: big, chunky, and chock-full of high-power parts. The newest models of the Predator Helios Neo AI line don’t break with that tradition, upgrading to the latest Intel processors and newest Nvidia graphics cards. They’ll arrive in a few months in 16-inch and 18-inch flavors.
Acer calls the Predator Helios Neo 18 AI (good grief, what a name) a “desktop replacement” design, i.e. technically portable as long as you lift with your legs. The 18-inch chunkster weighs just a hair under 7.5 pounds, that’s 3.3 kilograms if you live in a civilized country. For that workout you’re rewarded with a choice of Ultra 7 255HX (20-core) or Ultra 9 275HX (24-core) processors from Intel, either an RTX 5070 or 5070 Ti from Nvidia, and “up to” 64GB of RAM and 2TB of storage.
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The screen is obviously on the bigger side at 18 inches, but oddly tops out with a 2560×1600 mini-LED display at a speedy 250Hz. The base model comes with a more utilitarian 1200p resolution and 165Hz, which should still look silky-smooth on all but the most visually splendiferous of games. The battery is a 90 watt-hour model, and despite being roomy, I wouldn’t expect it to last very long at all if you’re blasting through a session of Deliverance II.
That big body has plenty of room for ports: double USB-C plus HDMI and a barrel charger on the back, two USB-A on the right, and a third USB-A, Ethernet, MicroSD, and headphone jack on the left. Note the large rear lip, the better to handle its cooling system with “5th Gen AeroBlade 3D Fans” and liquid metal thermal grease. Finally rounding out the spec list is a rather ho-hum 1080p webcam, but it does have infrared for Windows Hello.
The Predator Helios Neo 18 AI (deep breath) is scheduled for release in North America in May with a starting price of $2,199.99. It’ll hit Europe, the Middle East, and Asia the following month starting at 1,799 euros.
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If you want something a little more portable — not that much more portable, but less hernia-inducing — the Helios Neo 16 AI tips the scales at “just” 2.7 kilograms (a little under 6 pounds). Specs are identical for the most part, with the obvious exception of the 16-inch screen. It’s offered with an OLED panel at the top end, again 2560×1600, and a hair slower at 250Hz. The base model LCD is 1920×1200, but a little faster at 180Hz.
Ports and layout are the same too, and Acer impressively managed to cram a nearly full-sized keyboard onto the 16-inch model. The 90 watt-hour battery is the same size, but again, don’t expect this thing to win any endurance races if you’re gaming. It’s hitting the market a little faster: April in North America for $1,899.99, May in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia starting at 1,699 euros.
