Customer Ratings & Reviews

I recently snagged the **Acer Predator Helios 18** during a fantastic sale and grabbed the RTX 4090 version for $2,400 (down from $3,000!)—an absolute steal, especially since it was cheaper than the RTX 4080 version at the time. Here's my review of this powerhouse: **Overall Score:** 8.5/10 **Would Recommend (especially on sale)** --- **Pros** 1. **Stunning Mini LED Display** The screen is jaw-droppingly bright and vivid. I find myself using it at only 50–70% brightness because anything more feels like overkill. It's sharp enough to challenge the sun—not that I plan on gaming outside, but you probably *could* with this display. 2. **Top-notch Performance** This machine runs like a dream. In Performance mode, I hit consistent **55–60 FPS on demanding games** like *Horizon Forbidden West* and over **120 FPS with frame generation enabled**. While Turbo mode adds marginal improvements, the fan noise becomes a bit much, so Performance mode strikes the perfect balance. Temps are manageable, and I recommend propping up the back for better cooling. 3. **Great Keyboard & Trackpad** - The original keyboard feels excellent, though I don’t recommend swapping the “mag keys” for the included caps—they’re awkward and slowed my typing down. Stick with the original setup! - The trackpad is sturdy and oversized. The deep “clunk” when pressed is oddly satisfying. It's perfect for everyday use outside of gaming. --- **Mids** 1. **Software Woes** The bundled software is a mixed bag. It comes with some bloat (e.g., McAfee) that’s easy to remove, but **Acer's PredatorSense** software can be hit-or-miss. I encountered issues after installing updates—eventually requiring a system rollback to fix it. When it works, the RGB controls and system monitoring are excellent, but troubleshooting can be frustrating. 2. **Stock RAM/Storage** 32 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD are decent, but for the price and the amount of pre-installed software, I'd expected more. Upgrades are on my to-do list. --- **Cons** 1. **USB-C Charging Issues** The laptop struggles to perform when powered via USB-C. With a 100W USB-C charger, it lagged badly—almost as if it were on the verge of shutting down. Stick to the original charger for optimal performance. 2. **Heavy & Bulky** At 7 lbs (plus 3 lbs for the charger), this isn’t a laptop you'll casually toss in a bag. It's a tank, and investing in a heavy-duty backpack is a must for portability. 3. **Abysmal Battery Life** With just 2 hours of web browsing or light tasks, this isn't a device for extended on-the-go use. The powerful CPU drains the battery at lightning speed, even in Eco Mode. --- **Final Thoughts** The **Acer Predator Helios 18** is a behemoth—a true mobile desktop replacement that delivers insane gaming performance. For its price, especially on sale, it outperforms many competitors in its class. However, it's not for everyone. If you need something lightweight and portable, consider alternatives like the Asus G14 or G16. If you crave **maximum power, an incredible screen, and high FPS in demanding games**, this laptop won't disappoint. For me, it’s a great balance of performance and value—a no-brainer at $2,400. Sure, it's not perfect, but it’s a beast where it counts, and I’d absolutely recommend it on sale.

I originally bought the Acer Predator Helios 18 with a 4080. I didnt think the 4090 version was worth the price increase. However, bestbuy has a typo on this one. I found that out while looking at the questions and answers. I took a gamble, and brought the one i had back, and exchanged it for this. The receipt actually calls it Acer Predator Helios 18 Neo, where as the 4080 didnt have Neo in the name. Sure enough on the box, for LCD, it has 18" WQXGA IPS 250 HZ DDS Mini LED. This is my first experience with this type of display. And i absolutely love it. The no back light bleed, absolute blacks, and HDR, really is gamechanging. I left a more indepth review on the 4080 version. So really it all still stands. Acers build quality is excellent. I feel these laptops are the best bang for buck. From what Ive seen, the 4090 has actually been running cooler than the 4080. If theres any overheating, itll be from the CPU. Which will top 90C while installing games. Though by manually controlling the CPU fan to about 4000 rpm, it alleviated those hot temps.. bringing it down to a more modest 79C. I also have a cooling pad now too. This laptop rocks. No ifs ands butts about it. Pictures dont do the display justice. They have more bloom in the pic than what im seeing in person. I was skeptical because people mentioned blooming on miniled, but it is so negligible from what im seeing. It seems that on dark screens the monitor makes my mouse and white text more grey than white. I wonder if this is intentionally to minimize any blooming. Idk, all i do know, is this thing is magnificent. And for just about the same price as my friends desktop 4090.. i got this. Which will keep me well occupied while on shift at the firehouse. Yippie kai yay. I am blessed beyond words

I've been playing around with this laptop for a while now. Overall, it's been good. I've been able to play games I wouldn't have dreamed of with my old PC. The screen is large enough, and it is great for playing games. Pros: 1) Large screen, nice for gaming. 2) Performance is good enough for most desktop replacements. 3) I like the keyboard lights and the replaceable keys. 4) It is a nice looking laptop and feels sturdy. Would I drop it open, no. If I dropped it closed I feel like it would live to see another day. The main cons and the reason this didn't get 5 stars: 1) I read the reviews saying the fans were loud. I thought people were exaggerating a bit. They weren't. It's basically a Boeing 747 taking off constantly. I've had people leave the room due to the noise it makes. I'm planning on getting a good cooling pad because it's basically wear a headset and F everyone else if you want to hear and enjoy your game. 2) Battery life. Again I read the reviews and didn't expect much. Gaming laptops have a bad battery life, I get it. I guess I just expected more than an hour on the higher performance modes. It has to be plugged in or it's done. In summary, if you don't care about the noise or battery life, it's good. Would I pay the full $2999 price? No. On sale for $2399, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

I own a desktop with a 4090 and 5800x3d, hooked up to an LG C2 42 inch TV, but sitting too long in my chair at my desk hurts back my after sitting for long and I wanted something more portable. This is my first time using a Mini-LED screen and I'm pretty impressed, coming from OLED the blacks obviously aren't as good, but they're still really good. I would say the brightness and no risk of burn-in is a positive that mini-LED has over OLED. I really love the Panel, it looks amazing. I'm a big fan of the touchpad and keyboard. The touchpad is really big and smooth. It hasn't taken me long to get used to and it's pretty comfortable playing Paradox games like CK3 and Victoria 3 with it. The Keyboard is also a good size. The swappable WASD keys are pretty neat and I like the full size arrow keys. I haven't played too many games yet, but I've tried Crusader Kings 3, Victoria 3, and Yakuza 0, all of them have been perfectly smooth and I can almost get to steady 200 fps in Yakuza 0 at ultra settings. I've added a 2TB SN850X SSD and upgraded the RAM to 64GB, it was a very easy process, just make sure you get a hex screwdriver if you don't already have one. The only downside, and the reason I'm giving it four stars instead of five, is that the cooling in turbo mode isn't the best. The 14900HX constantly throttles when playing games in turbo mode. I ended up buying a IETS GT600 cooling pad and that solved the issue completely. No more thermal throttling and the temps have dropped by more than 20 degrees Celsius when running the GT600 at full speed. The fans of the laptop and cooler are both pretty loud at high speed, but I don't care about the noise. I play games with headphones on and I always have a fan and an air purifier running in my room so it doesn't bother me. I bought this laptop on sale for $350 off, it's a great deal for having such a nice screen, a 4090, and a 14900hx, other laptops with the same specs and often worst screens are 1000-2000 dollars more. I would definitely recommend this laptop, as long as you don't mind buying a cooling pad and don't care about loud fan noises it's been perfect so far.

Got this beast to have some portable power on par with my desktops. Was surprised to find that it beat my 4090 even beat my dekstops rtx 3090 as laptops 4090 is weaker than the desktop 4090. So far, it's chewed through everything I've thrown at it. It couldn't keep up with my i9 13900k desktop cpu though. Sound is just okay, not a lot of bass. Plenty loud enough though. Haven't tested the battery life much as it'll be plugged in most of the time for gaming, but you don't buy these for battery life. Posted my 3dmark comparisons. Cooling is an issue though. I bought a laptop cooler for those scores, as without the CPU will cook itself. And I want this system to last a few years. I bought a Llano cooler, but there is another competitor out there at about the same price. Basically, this is a great laptop for the price that I got it. It was on sale for 2,399 when I got it, which is what prodded me to pick it up.

This laptop not gonna lie is nice the screen is really good and bright. However I had to return it do to a major issue. I had this for a total of 5 days and only played 2 games on it before it stopped working. I had upgraded the storage with 2 Samsung 990 pros. So the pc was working great I played a game and decided to shut it down so I could take it upstairs to transfer some files to it later. Once i went to boot it back up it wouldn't power on. Im not a novice when it comes to trouble shooting so I tried a hard reset and did get it to boot fine. Once i shut it down it did the same thing. So i did a drive swap back to the original and another reset and it did the same exact thing. Updated the bios same issue. So as a last resort i let it set overnight with both motherboard batteries disconnected ram and ssd removed with the same result. Over all i was happy with the performance but was not happy about having power issues. Maybe i just got a lemon it happen. I had an upcoming 3 week work trip and had to leave without my entertainment not happy. I ended up buying a razer blade 18 but wouldn't arrive until i already left

Great laptop for the price with 4090, the screen is amazing with mini led tech. Down side is the built in speakers but you always can get a set of speakers.

The best value high end system this year. 250hz Mini LED. Great if you need the power and don't need the portability of a 16. One star taken away due to the locked nature for undervolting the CPU. I don't personally have a need for it but this is something customers want and Acer should unlock this feature. The fans do cool the system well under all loads, the noise is not high pitched or something I've had issue with while gaming. I wear headphones while gaming. For DAW use the this system is quieter than my thin laptop I used to work with

*** Summary *** The 2024 Acer Predator Helios 18 is an extraordinary gaming machine! From its understated somber-looking design and restrained RGB lighting, one might think it’s just a beefy corporate workstation laptop, but it couldn’t be farther from the truth. Packed with the latest and greatest from Intel and Nvidia, the Helios 18 offers a top-class gaming experience similar to desktops in a portable form-factor. It’s not just great for gaming either – it’s also fantastic for everything else, like watching movies, listening to music, video and photo editing, browsing the Net, and “real-life” work like spreadsheets and PowerPoints. Its only true weakness is the battery life but that’s totally normal and expected in the realm of ultra high-end gaming laptops. Overall, I truly believe it’s worth every penny, and I would easily recommend it to friends and family. It’s a 5 Star Win~! _____ *Pros: -Super-duper fast. It’s one of the fastest laptops in the world right now. -The 2560x1600 mini-LED panel is well-calibrated, crisp, bright, and has low latency. -The 250Hz refresh rate provides excellent motion clarity and tear-free gaming. -Plenty of ports (USB-A, USB-C, HDMI, RJ45 ethernet, microSD) = no need for dongles. -The keyboard is pleasant to type on with good feedback, quick uptake, and low noise. -Very large MS Precision Touchpad with a smooth surface and responsive and accurate tracking. -Per-key RGB backlighting. -Has full-size arrow keys! -One-button toggle mode for different performance modes. _____ *Neutral: -Despite being 1080p, the webcam is kind of grainy, especially in low-light situations. -The speakers don’t get very loud, and the soundstage range is a bit lacking. So, use headphones or speakers. _____ *Cons: -None === Design, Build Quality, and Useability === I’ve gone through my fair share of gaming laptops over the years – seven within the past six years to be exact – and the 2024 Acer Predator Helios 18 takes the cake as the best-balanced, most performant, and easy-to-live-with gaming laptop I’ve ever owned. One big contributing factor has to do with its size – thanks to its 18” 16:10 2560 x 1600 screen, the view is very spacious, good not just for gaming but also for browsing the internet and reading stuff online, watching movies, and doing some occasional document and spreadsheet work. Besides the size, the display is also very crisp and clear, bright, and color-accurate (100% sRGB and 100% DCI-P3). Acer put in a big and nicely spaced keyboard with full-size arrow keys and a number pad to the right, and I love it! It’s very easy to type very fast on this keyboard, and the keys are tactile and responsive, non-mushy, and they have quick uptake and relatively low noise. The keys are individually lit with customizable RGB lighting via the PredatorSense app, which is easy to figure out and use. Extra WASD keys are included in the box – the MagClick and MagSpeed variants – and I like the MagClick ones better because they provide a mechanical keyboard feel with some added tactility. The Microsoft Precision Touchpad is huge – I measured 6” wide x 3.5” high (15cm x 9cm) – and it’s a pleasure to tap, pinch, and scroll on. The surface is smooth, and it does a great job keeping grime away. To make my dongle-hating life easier, the Helios 18 comes with all the ports I need – 3x USB-A, 2x USB-C Thunderbolt 4, 1x HDMI, 1x microSD, 1x Ethernet, and 1x audio. Both USB-C ports are located on the back, and if I could have had it my way, then I would’ve added one more USB-C to the left side and swapped it out with the USB-A port. Being an ultra-high-performance desktop-replacement, the Helios 18 is understandably heavy at about 7.1 lbs. That is not a negative, though, for a laptop of this class, since Acer packed the machine with the latest and greatest components that money can buy with a beefy cooling system to prevent system meltdown. Speaking of presence and looks, I appreciate that Acer didn’t go RGB crazy with this thing and kept the lighting restricted to the keyboard, lid logo, and the stripe on the rear, which is customizable via the PredatorSense app. The Helios 18 doesn’t scream premium and luxe due to its heavy use of plastic, but it’s not a bad-looking machine at all – it’s kind of like those sleeper cars that are much more potent than they appear to be. With that said, I’m satisfied and content with the overall looks, build quality, and design choice of the Helios 18. === Gaming Performance === As expected from a machine that has the Intel Core i9 14900HX CPU (24 cores, 32 threads), 32GB of DDR5-5600MHZ RAM, 16GB GeForce RTX 4090, and a 1TB NVME hard drive, the 2024 Predator Helios 18 is an absolute performance champ. It just churns through the latest PC games like butter even at Maximum or Ultra graphic fidelity settings with Ray Tracing turned on, such as Alan Wake 2 (avg 60 fps), Horizon Forbidden West (avg 130fps), Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty (avg 100fps), and Baldur’s Gate 3 (avg 135 fps). Granted, at max settings, the newest games won’t even get close to the 250fps marker made possible by the 250Hz, 3ms display, but they still achieve more than 60fps, which makes for a smooth, stutter-free, and tear-free experience. Older games, such as Counter Strike and Left 4 Dead 2, however, can hit triple-digit frames easily, which is great for competitive gamers. The mini-LED display can get very bright thanks to HDR support, and it also takes advantage of Nvidia G-Sync, which provides a buttery smooth and tear-free experience. With a setup like this, the Helios 18 is pretty future-proof, and you should get years of gaming enjoyment out of it. === Is the Helios 18 good only for gaming? === Not at all! Although the powerful CPU and GPU inside the Helios 18 drive the high-performance gaming experience, the Helios 18 is packed with other goodies that enable it to be a good daily driver. The 32GB of RAM makes the Helios 18 an excellent multitasker, and the speedy NVME drive makes everything you do on the machine a fast and joyful experience. The 18” display is great for watching movies and office work (think long spreadsheets), and the latest Wi-Fi 7 chip makes Internet browsing and file transfers super-fast (provided you have a Wi-Fi system already). At our home, we have a TP-Link Deco BE16000 Wi-Fi 7 system, and my download and upload speeds are SUPER fast and stable. The keyboard is spacious, the keys are comfortable to type on and low-noise with a quick uptake, and the full-size arrow keys with the number pad next to it make life easier and simpler. The huge Precision Touchpad is lovely, and it’s completely responsive and accurate to my three- and four-finger custom gestures as well as the usual taps and swipes. The 1080p webcam is definitely serviceable but I found it to be a bit too grainy in low-light settings. The speakers were a bit disappointing as well, lacking some soundstage range, and the volume didn’t get as loud as I wanted. Fortunately, I have a nice noise-cancellation headset that I can connect via Bluetooth that solves the fidelity and volume issue. If you’re a dongle-hater like me, then you’ll appreciate Acer for including lots of ports. When you’re not gaming, you can place the Helios 18 under the Quiet or Balanced mode, and the machine will become whisper-quiet and distraction-free, not different from regular, thin-and-light non-gaming laptops. Acer did a great job creating a well-balanced laptop that can handle everything very well, and I’m very content. === What’s upgradeable on the Helios 18? === Thankfully, the Helios 18 can be upgraded with more RAM, a newer Wi-Fi chip, and up to two NVME drives. My unit came with one NVME slot occupied with a 1TB SK Hynix drive. 1TB, however, just isn’t enough for all of my favorite games so I’ve already added a 4TB Lexar NVME drive. To get the bottom panel off, you just need to remove all the screws and use a thin plastic pry tool to pop it off === Is it worth the coin? === Yes! For sure, $3,000 is no small change, but like the saying goes, you do get what you pay for. And to be fair, in the case of the 2024 Helios 18, Acer offers more value than most other competitors for the same component configuration. You may chalk that up to Acer using less premium build materials or having less RGB, but the truth is, the Helios 18 offers a great bang for your buck for a machine that is super performant with years of serviceable life built in. As mentioned before, it’s not just good for gaming – it’s an excellent all-rounder that can handle everything else equally well thanks to its big spacious screen, comfortable keyboard, huge responsive touchpad, and fast Wi-Fi 7. To sum it up, it’s completely worth the coin, and I give it a full 5 Stars.

I like the power of laptop but in 2 days of use button “Tab” started to click by its own and nothing helped so I just change it and w8ting for new one.

Nice, smooth performance, bright display, heavy but recommended

Just wanna win the 400 to write a review, I ain’t never win anything

I love it! It has a big screen and the graphics are awesome.

This Acer laptop is an absolute beast. I honestly didn't expect Acer to have this kind of quality based on past experience with the brand. It is solidly constructed, from something as simple as the hinges to the keys on the keyboard. It packs the power of a traditional gaming pc into a laptop frame. The picture quality is crisp, with no lag noticed while in game. This was expected, as the graphics card is one of the best on the market right now and because it has an i9 processor.The keystrokes are satisifingly clicky. The track pad works better than the ones on other laptops I've owned, although I mostly use a Bluetooth mouse. I love that you can change the color patterns on the backlit keyboard. The only downsides that I've encountered is that it tends to run hot and its super heavy. This is somewhat expected, because of the components. It would be uncomfortable to have directly on your lap. To remedy this, I use a lap desk. I've played Electrican Simulator with no lag, blur or other image quality problems. I plan to play some fps games to really test out its capabilities.

I recently purchased this Acer Predator Helios 18. It is a powerhouse gaming laptop that delivers top-tier performance with its Intel Core i9 processor and NVIDIA RTX 4090 GPU. The 18-inch Mini LED display with a high refresh rate ensures stunning visuals and smooth gameplay. It also features an advanced cooling system, keeping temperatures in check even during intense gaming sessions. The RGB backlit keyboard, solid build quality, and extensive port selection make it a fantastic choice for serious gamers and content creators alike. If you’re looking for a high-performance gaming laptop with a large, immersive display, the Predator Helios 18 is a top contender.

Acer is not usually an ultra-premium brand but this laptop is amazing. It has excellent cooling, a beautiful mini-LED screen, a solid build and has an RTX-4090 all for under $3,000. I have games on RDR2, Dying Light 2, Callisto Protocol all with ultra settings and get easily 80-100+ fps in each. Setting the cooling to Max is really loud but not an issue with noise cancelling headphones. Performance cooling is adequate for most games. This laptop also has a MUX switch and Advanced Optimus. Only complaints are that 1TB drive is pretty small for a $3,000 laptop and there are no biometrics to login (fingerprint, facial recognition, etc.) but bought a $20 fingerprint reader online. 10/10 would recommend to anyone looking for high end gaming or replacing a desktop.

If you can get this on a deal under 2.5k usd then I guess this is going to be a good deal. Its been over a month since I got this laptop and it has been performing well. In its stock condition it comes with 32gb and 1tb hdd. Which is more than enough if you have a decent internet. For those who want more storage it does have a free ssd slot(m2.nvme gen4). I have played cod4, forza, train sim and aoe iv definitive at highest settings and it does hold up well. As for cons, weight, conflicting reports on ram compatibility and the high noise of fan are the main concerns. This is not a mobile friendly device and more or less serves as a desktop replacement.

The 2024 Acer Predator Helios 18, equipped with the powerful NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card with 16GB of video RAM, Intel i9 14th Gen (14900HX), 32 GB of DDR5 RAM, and a blazing-fast mini LED 1000 nits 250Hz display, is a true powerhouse that takes gaming to new heights. This laptop is designed for serious gamers and those that want to have the fastest machine without paying more than they have to. The addition of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card ensures that this laptop can handle the most taxing games and applications without breaking much of a sweat. Whether you're playing Call of Duty, The Finals, or exploring virtual worlds in Fallout 76, the RTX 4090 delivers stunning graphics and smooth gameplay, and I am blown away. I no longer have to compromise on quality to get a good frame rate, on Call of Duty DMZ with the graphics on Ultra, I was easily pulling 95 FPS without a hitch and up to 120 FPS and zero lag. Wi-Fi 7 is supported with this laptop, but I only have Wi-Fi 6 at home, and I was not able to test out the speed, still I was pulling over 500 MB speeds from my 500 MB fiber connection. The NVidia G-Sync 18-inch display of the Predator Helios 18 is a wonderful to look at. With a WQXGA (2560 x 1600) resolution and a 250Hz refresh rate, the display offers incredibly sharp visuals and buttery-smooth gameplay. The high refresh rate ensures that every frame is displayed with precision, making fast-paced games look incredibly fluid and responsive. In terms of design, the Predator Helios 18 is my first Acer gaming laptop and has a sleek and aggressive look that is sure to appeal to gamers. The “infinity’ lip on the back has a cool RGB affect that is not over the top, and the remaining RGB effects are not crazy but tasteful in my opinion. The laptop is built with high-quality materials that feel premium and durable, and the addition of customizable Magkey 3.0 keycaps for the WASD keys is great. You are given two additional sets in the box with a tool to swap them out. The MagClick keys simulate mechanical keys and the MagSpeed glow a bit brighter than the rest of the keys to really stand out. I personally like using a full mechanical keyboard, but the MagClick keys provide the best experience for me when I am using the keyboard on trips. Weight will be a big limiting factor for this laptop though, it is heavy and add the 330-Watt power supply and it’s not back pack friendly at all (nearly 8 lbs total), but that is the small price to pay for this power and I don’t mind it at all, I think of this as desktop replacement that you can travel with if you need to. The near full-sized keyboard boasts at 10-key on the right and a huge track pad. Typing on this is fantastic and to me it just feels right, everything is right where I would expect it to be and the track pad, is easy to use and very responsive and smooth. Performance-wise, the Predator Helios 18 is unmatched. The combination of the powerful RTX 4090 graphics card, high-end processor, and ample RAM ensures that you can run even the most demanding games and applications without any lag or stutter. The laptop also features advanced cooling technology to keep temperatures in check during intense gaming sessions and although the fans will get loud while in turbo mode or during taxing gaming sessions, the laptop itself stays cool to the touch. I have had laptops where the keyboard hits 120 degrees while you are playing, and you simply can’t play with a system like that. All this good stuff, but there are some not so good about this laptop. For one, the battery life is pretty terrible. I found that mine will discharge (on the quiet setting) at a rate of 1% just about every minute. This means that you will be lucky to get 2 hours and that was not even playing any games. I did have the screen brightness all the way up and the RGB lighting on at the time. Another downside is the speakers are not good out of the box. I didn’t play around with any software to see if I could improve them, but from the factory, they are not good. Overall, the new Acer Predator Helios 18 is a top-of-the-line gaming laptop that offers fantastic performance, stunning visuals, and a sleek design. If you're looking for the ultimate gaming experience in a laptop form factor, the Predator Helios 18 with this set up is the one to beat!

The Acer Predator Helios 18 Gaming Laptop is like no other gaming laptop I’ve ever owned. It’s big, really BIG at 18” and a little over 7 lbs. but it is an absolute game changer…see what I did there! This is an impressive machine for gaming, but is also a powerfully spec’d laptop for anyone looking to write code, use as a work system or for just cruising the internet…but clearly it’s built for gaming…and Acer does not disappoint. Unboxing & Setup: As mentioned, this machine is big, shipping weight is close to 16 lbs. and there is a box in a box in another box…so it’s secure. In the box is the laptop, a charging cord, the 330W charging block, Magkey 3.0 swappable WASD keys, a protective cover and warranty paperwork and user’s manual. Windows 11 is included and at start up there were a few updates that ran, but all and all it was only a few minutes from opening the box to logging into my Battle.net account. First Impressions: The Predator Helios 18 is an impressive machine that feels very sturdy and well built. I’ve owned other Acer laptops and the same high-quality build shows through. There is a full size keyboard and numeric keypad. The RGB effects are included in the backlit keyboard as well as the Predator logo and the infinity bars across the back edge of the screen hinge. The keyboard backlighting is full keyboard and individual key as well. I really like the tactile feel of the keyboard, it’s sits perfectly between too light and too snappy. The addition of the swappable WASD keys is also a really cool feature and is a differentiator in keyboard technology in my opinion. The trackpad is a good size and is slightly offset to the left to align with the keyboard. It’s responsive and predictable with just the right amount of tactile feedback. I’ve started using this system daily and when not gaming, it’s an easy system to use for the office, creativity or just watching movies. The speakers are adequate but I’ve found myself on headphones more than not. My Bluetooth mouse connects and operates perfectly. Specs & Performance: This is the area where the Predator Helios really shines, it boasts a stacked list of specs from Intel, NVIDIA and more. The Intel Core i9-14900HX processor paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 graphics GPU delivers outstanding gaming performance, multitasking power and creative capabilities. As is the norm these days, NVIDIA and Intel take advantage of AI technology to enhance performance of their respective hardware and also provides a bit of futureproofing of the Predator laptop. The 32GB DDR5 dual channel RAM and 1TB SSD storage compliments the already impressive list of specs for this machine and support even the most memory-hungry games on the market. The 18” (diagonal) WQXGA 250Hz panel with Mini LED technology delivers vibrant colors and smooth visuals. Whether you’re exploring virtual worlds or binge-watching your favorite shows, the display won’t disappoint. Battery life is not great, and I didn’t expect it to be. While gaming it’s always on AC power, but if I need to put a spreadsheet together while sitting on the couch, there’s plenty of juice to handle that and more. The 330W power brick is a bit on the heavy side, so you won’t want to move it around unless it’s really needed. There are so many other impressive attributes to this laptop like Acer’s PredatorSense 5.0 control panel that provides performance stats, system customization and also allows for RGB customization…although this piece was being controlled by Windows Dynamic Lighting out of the box. There’s also the Magkey 3.0 WASD replaceable keys that add game-changing customization to the WASD keys. WiFi 7 support, AI-Assisted noise reduction and 5th Gen AeroBlade 3D fans to keep the systems temps regulated and ensuring peak performance while gaming or putting heavy loads on the system. Final Thoughts: For me the Acer Predator Helios 18 is going to be my desktop replacement gaming and daily driver computer. It is BIG, but that size is fantastic for gaming, creating or watching videos. It’s an impressive system that is absolutely loaded with all top-end hardware, includes AI technology, runs quietly and stays cool while gaming and can tackle any non-gaming task I’ve thrown at it. This is not a system for everyone, but it will certainly fill the needs for a large swath of gamers and those wanting a highly spec’d machine for doing everything else…I would highly recommend this monster! Pros: • Perfectly spec’d with top-end Intel and INVIDIA processors • 18” display is large and well-balanced for gaming performance & watching videos • Build quality is top notch and this machine feels like it will last a lifetime • RGB effects add to the gaming experience yet aren’t overdone • AeroBlade 3D fans perform well and run relatively quietly • Overall keyboard/key feedback is great for gaming and daily use • Swappable Magkeys 3.0 provide additional gaming WASD customization • Multiple outputs including USB-C, HDMI, ethernet and USB-A • 250Hz refresh has been a big upgrade from my previous gaming system • I liked the placement of the power cord on the back edge of the system Cons: • Ethernet port should be placed on the back edge with power and USB-C ports

I have had this laptop for around 5 days as I write this. I can say that this is definitely a desktop replacement for me. My old desktop has a GTX 1080 and stuck on Windows 10. There doesn’t seem to be anything that the RTX 4090 can’t handle on this laptop. The I9 processor is the best there is today and is very fast, even if at 2.2 GHz. The hardware is great, the software, not so much. I ran into several issues with the Microsoft store that really put a huge damper on the experience, personally. I was really hoping that Microsoft would have a better online experience, considering this laptop comes with 1 month of Xbox GamePass. If you plan on using their store front, use caution and have patience. Maybe use Steam instead. The other software issue I ran into several times the first couple of days was with the Predator Sense software that Acer includes. While a very handy app that controls several important functions like fan speed & CPU/GPU scaling from quiet to what Acer has labeled as Turbo. The app also shows the rpm’s of the fans of the cpu & gpu in real time, along with customization of the keyboard, which can also be connected to different modes for the fans as well. There were several instances of needing to reboot until Predator sense finally started to work. The keyboard is very comfortable to type on and looks really cool with the different effects. The last big item I want to mention, is the 18" screen with a resolution of 2560x1600. I personally think the games look great but can also be used in 4K resolution on a TV/monitor that supports it. Just know that playing in 4K will make the fans go "Turbo". The refresh time is also very doable at .5ms and for games I played, was fine. For the record, the games played were Lies of P, Elden Ring, Star Wars Survivor, Diablo IV & Starfield. This laptop gives you full graphical options @144 MHz for all of them.