Acer is decent at making good gaming laptops. However, the last year’s Predator Helios 300 by Acer was meh.
So with the 2022 refresh, Acer did make some welcoming changes that improved the Helios 300 and made it quite recommendable. Though, like everything, it’s far from perfect, we will also take a deep dive into its weaknesses.
Specs at Glance
CPU: Core i7 12700H | GPU: RTX 3060 130W | RAM: 16GB | Display: 16” 1920×1080 165Hz | Storage: 512GB SSD | Battery: 90Wh | OS: Windows 11
Chassis & Design
Acer has toned down the design this year with the Predator Helios 300. Acer removed the light bars and any RGB on the lid and made it look minimal by featuring this two-tone grey look.
I honestly quite prefer this look; the design looks simple and clean from the rear when the laptop is opened and in use.
And the lack of RGB on the lid of the chassis gives it somewhat of a formal look, making it a suitable laptop for formal meetings.
In case you are wondering, no, you cannot customize the color of the Predator logo, the logo lights up with the backlit of the IPS display.
As for the finish of the chassis, Acer decided to go with this dark blue metal chassis with a brushed finish.
As you might expect, the Acer Predator Helios 300 is also a fingerprint magnet, and it’s quite easy to get smudges on it. This seems to be a common theme among laptops with metal chassis, such as the Asus TUF Dash 15. But if that bothers you, buy a skin for it.
Despite having an all-metal chassis, there’s noticeable flex on the keyboard deck and the lid.
Though the hinges of the lid feel solid and sturdy, there’s a slightly noticeable wobble when you are typing on the keyboard, but nothing I would consider a deal breaker, honestly.
What is a dealbreaker for me is the weight of the Predator Helios 300, weighing around 5.51 lbs (2.5kg), which is slightly heavier than the 2021 model, which weighs around 5.07 lbs (2.3kg).
So if the weight is a big concern for you, something like the Asus TUF Dash 15 might interest you.
I/O Ports
The I/O ports are fairly decent on the Predator Helios 300. It has three USB 3.2 Type-A ports, a single Thunderbolt port, an ethernet jack, an audio combo jack, HDMI 2.1 port, and a mini DP port.
I would have liked it if they had given us another USB-C port instead of the mini DP port as I would see myself using that much more than the DP port.
One thing to note is that on the USB C port, the video passes through the iGPU, whereas the HDMI 2.1 port connects directly to the dedicated graphics card.
One nice addition to the 2022 model of the Predator is that it now supports USB-C charging, which was previously absent from the 2021 model.
As for wireless comms, it’s up to date with WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2, so there is nothing to worry about.
Keyboard & Touchpad
Keyboard
The keyboard on the Acer Predator Helios 300 is nothing amazing, but it’s fine for the most part. The keys give off a clicky sound, though the keyboard doesn’t feel as satisfying as you might imagine.
The lack of travel in the keys doesn’t give off the satisfying bump from the keyboard, which you would usually find in competitors like the Asus Scar series or the Lenovo Legion series.
In terms of RGB, it’s perfect. Thanks to the per-key RGB backlit, you can customize almost every aspect of the keys in the Predator Sense software.
Also, I am usually concerned when manufacturers directly integrate the power button into the keyboard. However, to turn the system down, you must hold down the power button for 3 seconds. So you shouldn’t worry about accidentally hitting the key.
So the keyboard is fine for the most part on the Predator Helios 300.
Touchpad
Considering the premium price tag of the Predator Helios 300, I would have imagined the touchpad on this laptop to be good. But it disappointed me a lot.
To start off, the touchpad feels loose, and the clicking feedback is just awful on it. As for the surface of the touchpad, it doesn’t give off the premium feel of a glass touchpad. Also, the off-center position of the touchpad is quite annoying too.
Speakers & Webcam
Speakers
The speakers are nothing amazing, either. They are mediocre at best, producing clear mids with very little bass. These speakers would be fine for casual zoom calls or watching a youtube video.
But honestly, I would just recommend using headphones with the Predator Helios 300 as it gets quite loud under load.
Webcam
The webcam is a significant upgrade from the 2021 Predator Helios, with a 1080p webcam this year. It produces relatively detailed, sharper images in good lighting. However, the lack of Windows Hello sucks. So keep that in mind.
Display
The Acer Predator Helios 300 has a pretty good display for content consumption and color-sensitive creative work.
Though we have the baseline 1080p 165Hz panel, it’s still pretty good. The contrast could have been better, but the overall vibrancy of the display feels nice.
It comfortably covers the entire sRGB color spectrum and 84% of Adobe RGB. Though it’s not the most accurate display out there, it’s still quite accurate for color-sensitive work.
Compared to the competition, like the MSI GL66 or the Asus TUF Dash 15, the Predator Helios 300 offers a much better display. Thanks to its color accuracy and vibrancy.
One thing that bothered us about the Predator Helios 300 is its average brightness of around 315 nits. This makes the display fine for indoor use. However, we can’t imagine using this outdoors on a sunny day.
Performance
CPU
The Core i7 12700H has provided the Helios 300 2022 with a huge performance uplift compared to the previous Helios 300. In Geekbench 5, we see an 11% improvement with a score of 1795 while being 37% faster than last year with a score of 16560.
Moving over to Cinebench R23, we noticed a similar trend here, a 17% increase in performance in the single core score, achieving 1831.
And in the multi-core benchmark, we see a 30% increase in score, achieving 16560. Intel brought significant improvement to the Alder Lake architecture, and the results speak for themselves.
The Acer Predator Helios 300 is an amazing machine for gaming and other multi-threaded workloads such as code compiling, video editing, or music production.
GPU
Though we went with the baseline RTX 3060 variant, thankfully, Acer included a beefy 130W variant of the RTX 3060.
And this explains the excellent performance of the Predator Helios 300. We checked the performance of the Predator Helios 300 in 1080p at high settings, and we weren’t disappointed.
In old triple titles like GTA V and Far Cry 5, the Predator Helios averaged well above 100FPS, allowing you to utilize its 165Hz display.
And when it comes to newer demanding titles, The Acer Predator Helios 300 wasn’t a slouch either.
In Cyberpunk 2077, it averaged around 70-80FPS, and in the new Resident Evil 4 Remake, it provided a consistent 90FPS gameplay.
Valorant players would also have fun with the Predator Helios 300, with the game averaging around 170-190FPS. Making it perfect for playing FPS games.
Though we should mention that the Predator Helios 300 got noticeably loud under load, and if you really want to turn up the fan noise, you could do so by pressing its Turbo button.
But note that surprisingly any performance improvement with the Turbo mode is negligible, so I recommend you don’t use it to minimize fan noise.
Overall the Predator Helios 300 did provide us with an amazing performance for its price, and its hard for us to recommend it for that alone.
Battery
The battery life is a significant improvement from the old Predator Helios 300. The old Helios 300 struggles to last around even 4 hours, whereas the 2022 Helios 300 manages to last around 5 hours, which is pretty solid considering the beefy hardware inside it.
And, of course, under load, the Predator Helios 300 last around an hour. If you need a gaming laptop with decent battery life, you might consider something like the Asus TUF Dash 15, which lasts around 6 hours with ease of casual use.
Expandability & Upgradability
The Acer Predator is what you expect from a gaming laptop regarding upgradability. Thankfully, it has dual M.2 SSD slots and dual RAM slots.
Though the last year, Helios 300 did have a SATA drive bay, we much appreciate its removal in the 2022 model in exchange for better and bigger battery life.
Conclusion
So the Acer Predator Helios 300 is a solid gaming laptop in 2023 with amazing performance and a beautiful display in a stealthy-looking chassis. However, it provides that, along with minor annoyances such as its hefty weight, bad trackpad, and keyboard. So if you are willing to compromise on this, you wouldn’t be disappointed.
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