Acer right now has two gaming lineups, the more reasonable one is its Nitro and the one for professional level gamers falls under the Predators arrangement. While we have just inspected Acer’s most moderate gaming portable workstation, the Nitro 5, it is this the Predator Helios 300 (click link to view it on Amazon) that interests us more. The Helios 300 is another section into the gaming tablet classification and a standout amongst the most discussed gadgets right now. The explanations behind that are many, including its moderately reasonable sticker price to its overclocking capacities.

Best of all, even with such top of the line equipment, the Helios 300 is a standout amongst the most reasonable machines in its class. Things being what they are, has Acer traded off elsewhere to cut the cost down?

Build and Design

At first glance the thing to see about the machine is the outline and in the event that you consider gaming system in a similar value classification, this is an attractive laptop. The decision of red and dark shading subject is getting to some degree repetitive, yet considering how it is being utilized here, the outline can be called reviving. The thing is, the Helios 300 does not look plain or basic, at any rate similar to its top and back are concerned. The top has a brushed aluminum board on a plastic casing that looks great, while keeping flex to a base. The red plastic additions might not have backdrop illumination, but rather they do look great and give it a particular look.

What’s more, the metal top and console deck are additionally made out of metal sheet, which is set over a plastic base. The nature of plastics utilized does not feel as high review as the Dell Inspiron 7567 Gaming or the Lenovo Legion Y520, yet despite everything it feels great to touch. You additionally get two upkeep hatches at the back, one conceals a 3.5-inch SATA dock, which is used by the 1TB HDD. The other one is for the RAM spaces and one can extend upto 32GB of DDR4 RAM.

Overall the plan of the Helios 300 is strikingly like the Nitro 5 we inspected before. It has similar port selection and keyboard like set up. Nonetheless, for the Helios 300, Acer has included a metal console deck and another top cover. This adjustment in feel is reflected in the higher sticker price.

Connectivity and ports

On the connections side, you get every one of the fundamentals a gaming portable workstation of this sort ought to have. Beginning from the left, we have a gigabit ethernet jack, USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C port, HDMI out, USB 3.0 port and SD card peruser. The correct side of the machine has the power port, two USB 2.0 ports and a mouthpiece/earphone jack combo. You likewise get Bluetooth as Qualcomm made gigabit Wifi connector.

While this is great, I would have valued the system even better if every one of the three USB ports bolstered the USB 3.0 standard. In addition, the USB Type-C port ought to have been Thunderbolt good. However all in all they still have a good selection and to cut back on price corners have to be cut.

Display

While Acer has compromised on the connections (ports etc) part, I am alright with their decision of display The beautiful 15.6-inch IPS LCD board on the machine isn’t super brilliant, yet it is sufficiently great to be seen inside. It is likewise not exceptionally intelligent because of the matte covering. The display is preferred over most other same level gaming machines tested since 2017. Colour differentiation in this system seems optimal for its built and no issues were seen while playing games. The GTX 1060 in this machine is sufficiently skilled for higher frame rates. Most games appeared to run smoothly at 60fps with no issues.

Keyboard and Touchpad

The console format here is the standard chiclet style. Keys are not totally level and are somewhat curved. Acer has kept up the standard key size for most keys, with the numpad keys crushed out on a level plane and with littler best line keys. They have short travel yet clear weight focuses. While individual keys, and in addition the console format, may set aside some opportunity to get used to, once you do get ready, the writing background is very great.

That being stated, Acer could have made a superior showing with regards to with the easy route keys. For instance, the volume control and shine controls are situated on the bolt keys, which could have been effortlessly remapped to one of the exhaust “fn” keys. In addition, Acer has included home, pg up, pg dn and end keys to the numpad also for accommodation, however I trust the tablet could have managed without them.

The red backdrop illumination satisfies the gaming style, and is sufficiently splendid to be noticeable under diminish lighting, which is something worth being thankful for. It doesn’t have a two stage diminishing component however and you can either turn it on or off. Acer could have added RGB backdrop illumination to the console, yet it is again an additional element to have and not a need. The edge of the console deck is somewhat sharp for my enjoying and dive into the client’s wrist while utilizing the tablet.

The touchpad is very great and easy to utilize. Instead of utilizing Synaptics or some other outsider touchpad mapping drivers, Acer utilized Windows’ accuracy touchpad. The touchpad tracks well, is exact and sufficiently substantial to be utilized with your thumb. In any case, that is something most tablets in this class accomplish.

Performance

The Helios 300 has all the correct equipment to fulfill the requests any gamer’s requests. The tablet is controlled by an Intel Core i7-7700HQ processor, has 8GB of DDR4 RAM and a capable NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 GPU. For capacity you have a blend of 1TB HDD from Toshiba and a 128GB SSD from Intel. The 15.6-inch IPS LCD bolsters 1080p determination and is bolted at 60Hz.

This consolidates to offer an average 1080p gaming background over a wide range of gaming titles in medium/high settings. In the event that you discover the power lacking, you can overclock the GPU a bit from the Predator Sense application. This increases the casing rates and the in-diversion realistic execution, however the distinction isn’t exceptionally extraordinary. All things considered, now and again you may require only those additional casings to hit the sweet spot, which ought to be conceivable with the overclocking usefulness. In any case, the expansion is execution is discernible in manufactured benchmarks.

The RPM of the two exhaust fans at the back are also adjustable with the three presets offered in the Predator Sense app. However, you can just turn on CoolBoost, which will dynamically change the RPM of the fans depending on the workload.

If we reiterate all these gaming capabilities into numbers, graphic intensive games such as Battlefield 1 and Dishonored 2 ran at 60fps at the highest settings. If you are into more casual games such Dota 2 or Path of Exile, expect the frame rate counter hitting above 150fps consistently, even after long gaming sessions. The cooling copes up with all this gaming well, but the laptop does get a little hot above the top row of keys.

We recorded temperatures going up to 45 degree celsius ideal over the F4, F5, F6 keys, which we are not extremely upbeat about, but rather since it doesn’t meddle with the gaming execution in any capacity, most clients ought to approve of it.

The portable PC additionally has a double speakers, which are conventional, best case scenario. It certainly does not have a subwoofer, yet in any event stereo sound quality is clear and with no mutilations, unless you raise the volume to max. Be that as it may, what is important is the sound quality by means of earphones and that is very great as the tablet underpins Dolby Atmos. It is a not an Acer elite element here, but rather despite everything it makes a difference as in amusements it gives a superior feeling of where the sound is originating from.

Battery Life

Gaming portable PCs don’t have great battery life contrasted with ordinary office tablets, and the Helios 300 is no special case either. It figures out how to offer 4-5 hours of screen on-time on battery life relying upon the measure of workload you have. For instance, on the off chance that you are gorging through the new GOT season, you may need to discover the charger after the third scene.

Also, don’t expect magnificent gaming execution on battery, as the portable workstation utilizes a little 48whr battery. With this you can play recreations like Dota 2 or Limbo on battery, however not for over two hours. Our PCMark battery test recorded a maximum screen on time of 13 hours and 9 minutes, which isn’t awful considering the particulars.

Verdict

Generally, I think the Acer Predator Helios 300 is a decent section level gaming system for the cost, yet unquestionably not the best out there. It has an alternate flavor to it, considering how the console and touchpad are or how all around upgraded the show is out of the case. Its execution is additionally at standard with most tablets in this classification and if 1080p gaming at 60fps is all you require, the Helios 300 with the GTX 1060 will carry out the activity fine and dandy.

How does it compare to others?

The Acer Predator Helios 300 with the GTX 1060 is evaluated at a little over a $1000. You can get comparatively other laptops at a similar cost or even less. In the event that you would prefer not to spend to such an extent, the HP Omen 17 is a flawlessly decent alternative as well.