New Acer Predator Helios is a killer gaming laptop with 5G

(Image credit: Acer)

published 28 May 2021

The Acer press event delivered some welcome presents for gamers this week, with serious upgrades to both its Predator Trion and Helios gaming laptops, as well as new desktop machines and monitors. While many of the new models offered pretty standard upgrades in processing and battery life, the Predator notebooks seemed to push the boundaries a little further.

The Predator Triton 500SE (special edition) is designed to be a laptop for both work and play – or as Acer puts it, ‘Millennial professionals and enthusiasts.’ Under the deck, it features top-level specs: 11th gen Intel Core i9 processor, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, 64GB RAM. On the outside, however, it looks pretty conservative, with its dark grey chassis and thin 19.9mm profile.

It does squeeze an impressive 12-hour battery life into that casing, along with up to 4TB high-speed PCIe storage. The screen is also a 16-inch WQXGA (2560x1600) 240Hz display with 3ms response.

Meanwhile, the Predator Helios 500 looks more like the Triton’s wildly irresponsible friend. This thing lights up like a mobile disco, with RGB light strips on the front, sides and back as well as per-key RGB lights under the keyboard. These can be set to audio sync or mimic modes for optimum effect.

It features up to an overclockable 11th Gen Intel Core i9 processor, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 and 64GB RAM as well as both SSD and HDD drives for storage. There are also swappable MagForce and racing keys to provide pressure-sensitive control. The 17.3-inch screen comes in a choice of full HD, QHD and a 4K version, with mini-LED display, 120Hz refresh, 3ms response and 512 backlight zones.

The Helios 500 also comes in a 5G version, to provide broadband-speed connection even when away from home. Alternatively, there is the Predator Connect X5 5G CPE router and Connect D5 5G dongle that you can connect your machine to for 5G connectivity.

The Predator Triton 500SE is available in the US in June, priced from $1749 and across Europe in July priced £2145/EUR2499. The Helios 500 is available in the US in August, priced from $2499 and across Europe in June priced £2145/EUR2499.

Also released were three gaming monitors: the 28-inch Predator X28, the 37.5-inch Predator X38S and the huge 42.5-inch Predator CG437K S. The CG437K S now includes two HDMI 2.1 connections to support console gameplay from the PS5 and Xbox Series X, with variable refresh rate up to 144Hz and 1ms response time.

The Predator X28 is available in August, priced $1299.99/£1029/EUR1199. The Predator X38S is available in September, priced $1999.99/£1888/EUR2199. The Predator CG437K S is available in November, priced $1799.99/£1373/EUR1599.

As T3's Editor-in-Chief, Mat Gallagher has his finger on the pulse for the latest advances in technology. He has written about technology since 2003 and after stints in Beijing, Hong Kong and Chicago is now based in the UK. He’s a true lover of gadgets, but especially anything that involves cameras, Apple, electric cars, musical instruments or travel.