detailedReviews: detailedReviews 1: content: As typical of high end computers, main components such as CPUs and GPUs will often garner the most attention especially with new hardware/product launches. It is certainly no surprise, therefore, that computer enthusiasts will savor any possibility of an upgrade that will increase their current level of performance. However, in the past, top-end hardware often meant sacrificed portability as a result. Fortunately, in recent years, that tradeoff has improved quite substantially; any modern 14 or 16’’ model no longer carries a 7-10lbs prerequisite (though they certainly still exist if weight is not an issue). Thus, I was excited about testing the recently launched Acer Helios Neo 16s AI, especially given the excitement regarding its value and slim design. As configured, this particular model features the recently launched Ultra 9 275HX 24 Core CPU, 16 GB DDR5-6400 MHz, 1 TB M2 Gen 4x4 SSD, and an Nvidia GeForce 5060 mobile with 8 GB GDDR7.
Starting with the design of the Neo 16s, it is certainly impressive from a physical perspective. At less than 0.74 inches thick, and clocking right at 5lbs, the Neo 16s has nice sturdy build; most impressively, you can lift open the screen with ease while the main chassis does not shift or move. Additionally, the brushed aluminum body also feels quite impressive and smooth to the touch. As for connectivity, the Neo 16s should have everyone’s needs covered. Starting at the back of the unit, you will find a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port (10Gbps), one Thunderbolt 4 over Type-C, an HDMI 2.1 port, and lastly the DC jack for the included 230w power supply. In addition to the main power jack, both Type-C ports can charge the unit. Switching over the left side of the unit, there is an Ethernet 2.5G port as well as a USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A (5Gbps) and a micro SD card slot. Lastly, on the right side of the laptop there is a pair of USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A (10Gbps) ports (the left furthest port supports device charging). Additionally, the Neo 16s features a vibrant 2600x1600 OLED 240 Hz display. Interestingly, while the panel is listed as glossy, in actuality it is closer to resembling a semi-glossy panel as it isn’t just pure glass like other laptops. Surprisingly, it still gives off that vibrant contrast that glossy is known for.
For my performance tests, I wanted to focus on an out of the box experience, though as with any OEM installation, there are several tweaks that need to be applied. While keeping changes to a minimum, I did uninstall McAfee anti-virus and Acer QuickPanel, disabled all the startup executables, and set most of applications to never run in the background. For monitoring, I used a combination of HW Info 8.28, HW Monitor 1.58, and CrystalMark 8.0.6. Lastly, keep in mind the results I listed here are what I have personally observed; your results and experience will differ, but at least this will give you some basic idea on what to expect. Lastly, I used the Turbo profile found in the included Predator Sense software.
Before I get into my synthetic benchmarks, I first wanted to begin with the testing of the RTX 5060 GPU. While criticism of the recent mid-range GPU offerings is no doubt warranted, the good news is that it is at least strong enough to push the native 2600x1600 resolution being offered here; conclusively, however, you should expect most of the 8 GB of video ram to be used in whatever game you run. Upon firing up Rise of the Tomb Raider (2016), I wanted to compare the in-game benchmark with my RTX 3070 mobile found in my previous laptop. I set the game to the Very High preset, with DLSS and film grain set to off. The anti-aliasing is marked accordingly below:
RTX 5060 (FXAA): 141.92 FPS (Peak) / 109. 76 FPS (Syria) / 95.32 FPS (Valley) / 116.00 FPS (Overall)
RTX 3070 (FXAA): 116.15 FPS (Peak) / 85.77FPS (Syria) / 71.23 FPS (Valley) / 91.35 FPS (Overall)
RTX 5060 (2x SSAA): 95.83 FPS (Peak) / 69.58 FPS (Syria) / 65.59 FPS (Valley) / 77.44 FPS (Overall)
RTX 3070 (2x SSAA): 85.62 FPS (Peak) / 64.48 FPS (Syria) / 61.48 FPS (Valley) / 70.88 FPS (Overall)
With HW Info 8.28, RAM usage seemed to settle anywhere in the 6.8-7.3 GB range, while GPU temperature was around 81-88c. Connectively, the CPU was around 70-75c with occasional spikes up to around 90c. Accordingly, the GPU package was around 100-115 watts. Lastly, loading up the first level of the game on 2x SSAA, there were some occasional dips below within the 48-58 fps range when the weather affects kick in about midway up the mountain, but it quickly rebounds past 70 fps for the rest of the scene. As a side note, given how difficult this scene was on past GPUs, the performance is quite stellar (for reference, my old Maxwell based 970M GPU was around 20-30 fps at this same point on 1080p).
Switching to my CPU synthetic tests, I ran Cinebench R23 and CPU-Z 2.15 against the previous generation Ultra 9. The results are as follows:
Cinebench R23: Ultra 9 275HX - Single: 2,178/ Multi: 32,631 (24 Cores / 24 Threads)
Cinebench R23: Ultra 9 185H - Single: 1,815/ Multi: 19,705 (16 Cores / 22 Threads)
CPU-Z 2.15: Ultra 9 275HX - Single: 850.5/ Multi: 15,605.6 (24 Cores / 24 Threads)
CPU-Z 2.15: Ultra 9 185H - Single: 758.0/ Multi: 9,129.3 (16 Cores / 22 Threads)
Next, I wanted to benchmark the included internal M2 drive. According to HW Info, the SSD is listed as an SK Hynix Model: HFS001TEJ9X125N. Using CrystalMark 8.0.6, the results are as follows:
Sequential Read Q8T1: 6,864.27MB/s / Sequential Write Q8T1: 5,765.59 MB/s
Sequential Read 4K Q1T1: 66.84 MB/s / Sequential Write 4K Q1T: 139.17 MB/s
Overall, performance of the laptop is quite good, however, there are a few nagging concerns that have ultimately lead to mixed feelings. While the hardware is where I expected it to be, including the high thermals that often accompany such hardware, I cannot excuse the OS installation bloat and some problems that I initially encountered. Before I speak to the OS, I first wanted mention that the Neo 16s initially did not power on when I first received it, despite checking several times the adapter physically clicked into the power jack. Luckily, the power adapter uses the same tip as an older Nitro 5 I had so I was able to rule out that the adapter was not DOA; thus, I continued to try and power on the laptop to no avail. However, luckily I had a spare 130w USB Type-C charger lying around so I gave that a go and miraculously the laptop powered on! Subsequently, after powering on the laptop and configuring the OS, the included adapter finally registered and began to charge the computer. Certainly, this is probably an isolated incident, but nonetheless it was worth mentioning.
The second issue I wanted mention is upon the first boot of the OS, given the 16 GB RAM, you will boot at roughly 40-45% usage right off the bat. Once you connect to the internet and start heavily browsing, you may see usage upwards in the 70-75% range at any given point, though the good news is that you can upgrade the memory. Acer lists that 32 GB as the maximum, but various websites have 64 GB listed as maximum supported; unfortunately, I did not have any spare SO-DIMM modules for me to personally test the RAM capacity. As for storage, after updates/drivers, your installation will sit quite hefty at around 88 GB. Fortunately, there is a spare secondary M2 slot for an extra drive; the currently used slot could also be upgraded to a higher capacity. However, a word of caution: Acer has configured the Neo 16S as a RAID device, which means you will need the Intel VMD controller driver before the Windows installation will see your drive if you are going to fresh install! Unfortunately, the BIOS does not give provide an Intel VMD BIOS setting, so you cannot revert this drive back to an AHCI type configuration!
The third issue I wanted to mention was that HDR videos on YouTube began to exhibit a prevalent stutter that did not arise until after my second day of use; initially disabling VRR seemed to fix it briefly, but it eventually came back. While this is a known issue, it seems most prevalent in 24H2 installs but it can affect any version; the cause of the issue is still unknown. The last issue I would like to mention is that there is something on this installation that is pegging the P-Cores. While sitting offline, P-Core load is usually anywhere from 10-30%, with elongated durations of 20-30%. While this doesn’t seem like a lot, this is not normal as 1-2 cores are boosting to 5.5 GHz causing 60-70c idle temps. Additionally, it seemed this was affecting the System process (ntoskrnl.exe) as I was experiencing 5-7% load instead of its typical 0.1-1% load on the CPU. Furthermore, I tried to install the Intel Extreme Utility so I could look into lowering the CPU voltage, but I could not get it installed nor is there an XTU option in the BIOS. Regardless, something within Acer’s install is causing an issue; even removing all startup/services does not fix the pegging of the P-Cores. As a computer enthusiast, I don’t think I have ever been as frustrated with an out of box installation as this one. Nonetheless, I usually clean install my desktops/laptops anyway, but for those who aren’t as familiar in proactively managing their machines, I strongly advise you keep my observations in mind.
In conclusion, the Acer Helios Neo 16s is a mixed experience that features impressive hardware and exceptional value that is inhibited by a troublesome installation. Despite my issues, it still featured a slick design, strong CPU/GPU performance, and a stellar OLED display! In addition, I was also excited that you can upgrade the memory and add in a second SSD. While you may have a different experience than I did, there is certainly room for improvement. With that said, the Helios Neo 16Ss may fulfill your needs but only if you are aware that you will need to spend significant time configuring the laptop to your personal preference.
marketplace: google
source: google
sourceLogo: https://i.flash.tech/a/rs:fill:300:400:0/g:sm/plain/s3://flash-creatives/images/merchants/google
starRating: 3
title: Impressive design, strong performance, but OS issues
detailedReviews 2: content: So after a couple of months of going back & forth between buying & returning gaming laptops, some for actual software or hardware issues and a couple of them just because I didn't end up liking for often several reasons, i have finally landed here!! I could probably write pages on the likes and dislikes amoungst the other laptops I've tried in comparison to this one but it would take entirely too long. I'll just say finally a gaming laptop that has everything i was looking for plus some. Features a OLED beautiful & bright display, It says 165hz display in the description but when i went into the display settings, it actually shows running at 240hz for the refresh rate... Which is a bonus!!... It goes over 300 nits for the display brightness, has 32gb Ram, 1 tb storage, RTX 5070ti, with an Ultra 9 series 2 processor or the 275HX variant. Plus has a premium feel build quality, full keyboard & a slim sleek design!. Also I cant forget to mention the great port selection it has in comparison to the others ive tried......I've paid more for other "comparable" gaming laptops... Alienware, MSI,Asus, older predators....just to name a couple lol...but they always came with some kind of compromise whether it be the screen quality/resolution or a lower processor or a lower overall nit brightness or only 16gb of ram or a lesser gpu or poorer port selection or combos of. I suppose there really is no "perfect" gaming laptop but this one just packs it all! Definitely recommend over the new Asus Rog Strix G16 with the FHD display which also happens to be more expensive (at the time of this review) if display immersion is your thing. Along with a recommendation over the MSI Stealth A16 AI (Amazing build & display, but had to return for what came to be a known glitching screen issue for that model). The Asus was the last laptop i had before exchanging it for this one and im glad i decided to exchange it.... Acer is killing the game with this one and for the price point in comparison to some of the others (at the time of this review), it is an all around, more complete & excellent package without all the compromises!
marketplace: google
source: google
sourceLogo: https://i.flash.tech/a/rs:fill:300:400:0/g:sm/plain/s3://flash-creatives/images/merchants/google
starRating: 5
title: Beautiful OLED, great specs, excellent value
detailedReviews 3: content: This 16" Acer Predator is actually a nice gaming laptop for what it offers at the price point. Decent gaming performance, beautiful OLED, UPGRADABLE RAM and storage options are just some of the excellent points.
In the box is the Helios Neo, a nice cloth bag, 230W power brick and some quick start paperwork.
I love the look with hinges not being at the furthest rear of the chassis and feels a little more stable then the traditional look.
I/O is plentiful with with 3x USB 3.2 A ports, 2 USB C ports (1 being Thunderbolt 4 other is 3.2), headphone jack, ethernet port, a micro SD slot and HDMI 2.1.
The 240hz OLED screen is gorgeous with perfect blacks and with a 240hz refresh rate screen, buttery smooth performance at a resolution of 2560 x 1600.
CPU is Intel Ultra 9 275HX paired with a laptop 5060 Nvidia GPU. 1TB NVMe is good and if you need more storage, there is a 2nd slot for you to add another. 16GB of DDR5 RAM but luckily NOT soldered! Too many others make their laptops hard to upgrade, but mad props to ACER for this. You can upgrade the RAM up to 64GB if you want, but 32 in my opinion is the perfect amount.
Performance is actually not bad considering you are getting the RTX 5060 and I haven't experienced any issues while gaming. I did upload the best Time Spy benchmark mine could do. Most games I played on High or Medium settings with no issues and decent to high FPS. No AAA titles for max or ultra as it will start to struggle.
The built in speakers are actually quite nice and will do the job if you don't have headphones.
The reason I removed a start was for 2 things.
1st being heat. Yes the laptop is super nice and compact and really thin, but that comes with poor heat dissipation. The laptop gets warm fast and gets almost to the point of hot where it is uncomfortable. If using it on a desk, you should be fine though.
2nd is noise. Because of the heat, the fans kick on a lot and are LOUD. Even with over-the-ear headphones on, when at a quiet point in a game or video, you can hear them easily.
Even with the loss of the star, you can't beat the price to performance the Helios Neo offers though. The positives outweigh the negatives by a good margin. If you want something portable and are fine gaming on Medium and sometimes High settings, then this laptop is perfect for you.
marketplace: google
source: google
sourceLogo: https://i.flash.tech/a/rs:fill:300:400:0/g:sm/plain/s3://flash-creatives/images/merchants/google
starRating: 4
title: Gorgeous OLED, upgradeable, but runs hot/loud
detailedReviews 4: content: I recently picked up this laptop and honestly it felt like a great deal for the price. It’s fast, handles games on high settings like a champ, and the RTX 5070 Ti is an absolute beast. I’ve had an overall great experience with performance whether it’s gaming or multitasking this thing handles it smoothly.
That said, there are a few drawbacks worth mentioning. The build quality could be better. The chassis is plastic and feels like it wouldn’t survive even a small drop without cracking. I get it though, at this price point some compromises are expected.
The biggest issue for me has been the touchpad and keyboard. The touchpad glitches out constantly. It becomes inaccurate or unresponsive to the point where it's almost unusable. It’s frustrating because everything else about the machine works so well. I didn’t get the warranty, big mistake on my part, so I’ll have to take it to a local shop and see if they can fix it.
Battery life could also be better. You’re most likely going to get around an hour and a half to two hours unplugged with just light usage. If you’re gaming, expect maybe 45 minutes to an hour tops, and performance is greatly reduced while running on battery power.
So would I recommend this laptop? Yes and no, It’s powerful, fast, and a solid choice for gaming. But be aware you might run into some hardware quirks. I’m not sure if my touchpad problem is a one-off or a common issue, but it’s worth keeping in mind. And definitely don’t skip the warranty.
marketplace: google
source: google
sourceLogo: https://i.flash.tech/a/rs:fill:300:400:0/g:sm/plain/s3://flash-creatives/images/merchants/google
starRating: 3
title: Powerful but with build and touchpad issues
detailedReviews 5: content: Picked up this gem at Best Buy today. I initially went in to purchase a different gaming laptop at almost a similar price point. Upon looking at their inventory through the app when I was there, i noticed this laptop was available but not out for display. I asked the customer service rep about it and they werent even aware that they had it in stock themselves. So he was shocked. Looked it over and youre getting some amazing value here. OLED screen, which by the way, looks gorgeous. 16" screen, 240hz display, 32 freaking gigs of ram and 1TB SSD. This was a winner. Opened it up at home, installer some games to test drive and all work flawlessly. The games were Warzone, Elden Ring, Red Dead Redemption, League of Legends, and WoW, all which were on MAX settings. It did get a bit hot at first but after running all the windows updates, it cooled off. It has all the ports you will need including an ethernet port for all you hardwired freaks like me. 3 USB connections, HDMI, and well pretty much everything youll need to rock and roll. Only time will tell of how long the quality of this product will last since Im not familiar with Acer as much (I have a Lenovo Legion desktop) but it seems like a well built product and definitely feels premium. I have the total gech protection for 2 years so im not too worried. Overall, a fine purchase!
marketplace: google
source: google
sourceLogo: https://i.flash.tech/a/rs:fill:300:400:0/g:sm/plain/s3://flash-creatives/images/merchants/google
starRating: 5
title: Amazing value, gorgeous OLED, handles games well
detailedReviews 6: content: Reviews seem to be limited at the time of writing. This laptop provides great price to performance. But there is a reason its 1899.99.. this laptop form facter is different. While thin, the cooling vents make it have a larger surface area than you may think. This makes accessories and backpack fitment more challenging. The build quality is nice though. The 275HX CPU in this form factor is a monster if you need cores, the H series chips in similar formfactors get annihilated. The 5070 ti is fantastic for games and data science. The memory is upgradeable which is a huge plus for those that need 64 or 96Gb. The screen is beautiful but glossy and may not be bright enough for viewing in brighter environments. Two M.2 storage slots. Ports are adequate for this price. The cooler and fans actually arent that bad and do a pretty good job. The power brick is very manageable in size. I think its 230W? Keyboard is good, but the trackpad has too much texure in my opinion which causes to much friction. I used this laptop for a few days but some things i just couldn't get over. One, the speakers are horrendous. The two speakers only cover mids and you have to play with the equalizer to get them somewhat acceptable. If you dont always wear headphones, this might really disappoint you. Secondly, the software is straight up bad. I dont understand why these big companies can't make a basic interface like the community made gHelper for asus. Acer locks down the CPU so undervolting is currently impossible via software. The Nvidia 5070 ti is great, but it's capped at 115w max graphics power or MGP.. that 115 includes the dynamic boost. You are absolutely buying a power limited 5070 ti and it shows. Maybe a 10-15% difference than full power 5070 ti laptops. It does do great in my opnion for the form factor though. If the software suite was just simple and the speakers were increased to 4 from a measly 2 and half decent, I may have kept it. It was so close!
marketplace: google
source: google
sourceLogo: https://i.flash.tech/a/rs:fill:300:400:0/g:sm/plain/s3://flash-creatives/images/merchants/google
starRating: 4
title: Great price-performance, but software and speakers lacking
detailedReviews 7: content: I bought this computer less than 2 months ago. Three days after it arrived, it suddenly shut down (like if from overheating). It was quite strange, it is a very powerful gaming laptop, RTX 5070Ti, I was playing Dragon's Dogma 2 and not in ultra quality and always with the fps and temperature on the screen. It shut off with no warnings, no errors, just pump! No lights or anything. I had to unplug the charger to get it working again. The next day I did a little research and updated the BIOS from the official website to the latest version, and no more problems until now, one month after the last problem, playing Red Dead Redemption 2 I just had the same problem as before. A sudden shutdown. This time, I heard the fan go very loud even though temperatures were below 68°C. The fan becomes very powerful when temperatures are below 68°C. I had to disconnect the charger again in order to restart the PC . Right now, it's a very difficult situation because the return period has already expired and the product is defective. Furthermore, the BIOS is locked.
marketplace: google
source: google
sourceLogo: https://i.flash.tech/a/rs:fill:300:400:0/g:sm/plain/s3://flash-creatives/images/merchants/google
starRating: 1
title: Sudden shutdowns due to overheating issues
detailedReviews 8: content: Good with some compromises, amazing for up to intermediate gamers. This is my second one after I had to swap out my first one in less than 24 hours (thank you Best Buy Total otherwise I would have been stuck)—see Unfixable Cons below. I damaged the first one doing a simple unscrewing of the bottom plate.
Pros:
- Price – you can’t beat this price for the on-paper specs it has. You also get what you pay for, and there are weird limitations to the laptop’s power. More below.
- Screen is stunning. Crystal clear, super crisp, vibrant color, looks better than Retina in my opinion. For 240 Hz, which is plenty for me, this OLED screen is flawless, uncompromised and best in class.
- Size & aesthetics: it’s not stunningly lightweight, but not too heavy either. However, it is stupidly thin for a gaming laptop and very portable. Takes up slightly more room than the 16” Macbook Pro. This laptop is top notch looks with pretty lights and clean design, and it will turn heads. Some reviewers say the plastic on the back looks cheap. I simply disagree. This is a cool looking laptop.
- Numpad and keyboard – I love how this 16” laptop packs in a comfortable-to-use numpad. The key layout is really excellent, too. All keys are a full size, no awkward half keys. Full arrow keys, too.
- Performance – I’m running the GPU hungry game Black Myth: Wukong at well over 60 fps, even higher on my 1440p monitor. No tearing, no bottlenecking, super smooth, and gorgeous ray tracing. Though I describe many compromises below, Acer did NOT compromise on performance. It’s a beast performer on Turbo, and you will be able to run most games at ultra settings at HD resolutions at 1080p and 1440p. The 5070ti is capable of 4k performance, but I haven’t tested this.
- HDMI and Thunderbolt display support. I recommend not using a dock for video and using HDMI to USB-C direct to the laptop for best results.
Fixable cons / annoyances:
- Boot startup noise – Sounds like a running circular saw crashing through your window. If you’re setting up your laptop for the first time, you’re going to hear it a lot, and if your computer restarts in the middle of the night in another room, it will wake you. Turn it off immediately in BIOS.
- Bloatware – I recommend installing a clean copy of Windows, but be aware, you will need to backdoor the Intel RAID drivers during the installation. May be difficult for an intermediate Windows user. I opted to keep PredatorSense which is downloadable from Acer’s website, and actually has useful tools. Also, it comes with Windows 11 Home, so have a license ready if you require Pro.
- Heat – This thing gets REALLY hot. I recommend the Razer laptop cooling pad RC21-02300. Keeps it just a little warm during gaming sessions, cold to the touch during regular use.
- Hard drive replacement / expansion – don’t even think about upgrading the paltry 1 TB this comes with (I guess “you get what you pay for”). Your upgraded drive will have to be a secondary drive and will only be recognized by Windows (see cons for Linux note). I wanted to upgrade my main boot drive, and I had a painful time trying to backdoor the Intel drivers to make this work.
Unfixable cons:
- Modifying – This is the HARDEST laptop I’ve had to modify yet. This laptop does not have easy access panels for upgrading the SSD or memory. Ten torx screws hold down the bottom plate, one of them stripped with no effort, and I warped the aluminum cover because that was the only option I had to remove the stripped screw. You’ll need a special screwdriver which I luckily had and a pry tool. The hard drive and the RAM are underneath thermal tape that is stuck on there pretty good, so use caution when removing. The nvme expansion slot exists, but it’s covered by the RAM’s thermal tape. Be very careful when taking apart, modifying and upgrading this laptop. Not novice friendly.
- No Linux – it is difficult to load Intel RAID drivers during a Windows Live USB installation. It is impossible with Linux. If you enjoy dual booting or maining Linux, you can’t do it with this laptop. Period. Alternative ways are running Linux on an external hard drive or running it through a virtual machine, but it is impossible to install and run on board. Comment if you know a way because I certainly don’t.
- FINGERPRINT MAGNET!! Looks like I eat nothing but fried chicken with how easy I get prints on the body.
- USB-C ports are only on the back of the unit. It’s awkward to reach around to find your USB-C port. I have a dock with front facing USB-C ports so I don’t mind. If I didn’t have that, this would be really annoying.
- Battery is butt. You might get an hour on a full charge and with eco settings. Realistically, you’ll get 45-ish minutes with average use. This is largely due to the inability to change refresh rates on the laptop screen, so your battery will heavily power the GPU. No way you’re doing any gaming without this thing plugged in to power. Wattage is limited to the GPU and CPU on battery, and thus games will run at abysmal framerates. I don’t know who out there is getting 3 hours of life, but that’s completely absurd. As this is my second unit, both units battery life was just horrible, so I doubt I have a defective battery.
- Speakers are the cheapest, tinniest laptop speakers I’ve ever heard since the 90s. All treble, zero bass, zero depth. You’ll need headphones or external speakers. The speakers do get nice and loud, but the louder it gets, the lousier the quality is. If quality onboard speakers are a must, pass this laptop up. You’ll hate these speakers.
Recommended based on the performance, aesthetics, and screen alone. It’s a great laptop if you’re mostly working and gaming at home. Not recommended if you need the complete experience to be quality. I won’t return it, but I can’t say I’m blown away by my experience. 3/5
marketplace: google
source: google
sourceLogo: https://i.flash.tech/a/rs:fill:300:400:0/g:sm/plain/s3://flash-creatives/images/merchants/google
starRating: 3
title: Great performance and screen, but modification difficult
detailedReviews 9: content: This laptop is the best Gaming laptop that I’ve tried from ACER and it’s a great laptop. It’s more for people who want those specs but want a cheaper lighter alternative that might have those specs but cost a pretty penny as well
Specs
Intel core ultra 9 275HX
16GB or DDR5 Memory
1TB SSD
240hz OLED screen QHD
Nividia 5060 8GB GPU
For the price and what you get this is a great laptop. It comes with a 230 watts power brick which isn’t that heavy and quite small. Build wise it’s fine but it’s an aluminum lid but otherwise plastic. The keyboard is soft feeling but quite good which is the first I can say for an ACER gaming laptop. It also has a num pad which is a nice thing to have but not a must. The 240HZ panel is nice and colorful but to be honest I think it should have been 1080p because the GPU is only a 5060. Would be much easier to reach 240hz with a 1080p screen. Otherwise the screen is great for gaming and viewing content. It gets bright enough considering it’s OLED. Quite easy to get into the machine as well to upgrade the storage and ram
marketplace: google
source: google
sourceLogo: https://i.flash.tech/a/rs:fill:300:400:0/g:sm/plain/s3://flash-creatives/images/merchants/google
starRating: 4
title: Great value, nice panel, easy to upgrade
detailedReviews 10: content: The Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI Gaming Laptop for (2025)
I’ve been using the Helios Neo 16S for a few days now, and overall, it’s a solid machine—especially if you're into gaming or need something beefy for AI workloads.
Unboxing & First Impressions:
The packaging felt premium. It came with a sleek Predator-branded sleeve, which was a nice touch. Lifting it out of the box, I was genuinely surprised by how thin and lightweight it is for a gaming laptop being just over 5 pounds and under 20 mm thick. Ports for Days: One of the things I appreciate is the range of ports the laptop comes with. There are USB-C, Thunderbolt 4, HDMI 2.1 ports. It’s got just about everything you'd want. I tend to use a ton of peripherals and never felt short on options. The built in Wi-Fi 6E worked fine, but I do wish it supported Wi-Fi 7 to really future proof it.
Note – The wireless card is socketed so that also can be upgraded in the future.
Also worth noting; it’s easy to expand RAM and storage. I popped in another SSD and bumped up the memory without a hitch.
Performance & Gaming:
This thing is fast. The Intel Ultra 9 275HX Processor is an absolute beast. 24 cores and it clocked well over 5GHz under load. I threw some heavy games and AI models at it, and it didn’t flinch. The dedicated NVIDIA RTX 5060 GPU is no slouch either—8GB of GDDR7 VRAM handled high frame rates and workloads with ease. Plus, it’s got serious AI horsepower if that’s your thing.
Display & Build:
Now, the OLED screen? Chef’s kiss. Bright, super smooth at 240Hz, and colors are just stunning. Whether I’m gaming or watching movies, it’s gorgeous. The keyboard’s nice too, with RGB zones and decent key travel. The glass trackpad is off-center to leave room for the numpad—which I didn’t think I needed but actually used a lot. That said, the speakers… meh. Not great at all. Tinny, no real bass. If audio matters to you, just go straight to headphones.
A Few Quirks:
The refresh rate is stuck to 240Hz, even when it’s on battery. I really hope that gets patched soon as the battery will drain fast without being able to downclock to 60Hz. The Windows Hello IR Camera for logging in is hit-or-miss. It works, however can be temperamental at times. The laptop came with a bunch of Acer bloatware. This took some time to clean up.
Final Thoughts:
If you want a gaming laptop that’s light, powerful, and has a knockout display, the Neo 16S should be on your radar. Sure, it’s got some minor annoyances, and most are fixable or just the usual trade-offs. For what you’re getting, it’s a great deal.
marketplace: google
source: google
sourceLogo: https://i.flash.tech/a/rs:fill:300:400:0/g:sm/plain/s3://flash-creatives/images/merchants/google
starRating: 5
title: Solid machine for gaming and AI workloads
