All rights reserved. We’ve reviewed all the available Helios 300s over time, and this article gathers our thoughts on the most recent 2020 model, the 15-inch Predator Helios 300 PH315-53. Other alternatives, like the Alienware m15 R2, have yet to offer the RTX 2080 Super or 10th-gen Intel hardware.It all looks good at a glance, but does it hold up to scrutiny?Like the laptops it emulates, the Acer Predator Triton 500 is a reserved, though not entirely subtle, laptop. Luckily, Acer’s Predator Sense software lets you tweak the lighting color, brightness, and pattern to your desire.The touchpad isn’t much to talk about. Yes, fine, most mobile gamers deploy gaming mice for better control. So, what kind of monster did Acer place in this thin-and-light chassis?I started my rounds by firing up 3DMark, a trusty benchmark we’ve used for over eight years. You’ll continue to see great game performance for at least three years, and the laptop should run the newest games at medium settings for over five years.Yes. Senior Editor, Still, it resists this better than most laptops. This is a little better than the Alienware m15 (2019), which endured for one hour and 49 minutes. The Triton 500 holds up fine on your lap for everyday tasks like email and YouTube videos. That’s serious kit, and it puts the price tag at $2,600 as-tested.No one is going to call $2,600 “affordable,” but it’s $400 less than a Razer Blade 15 with nearly identical hardware (but half as much RAM). Asus and MSI also offer 300Hz displays on select models.The Triton 500 delivers its audio from a row of speakers just above the keyboard. That said, the image itself looks great for gaming and general use, with spectacular contrast and support for 100 percent of the sRGB spectrum. The Core i7-10750H has filtered down to laptops that sell for half as much as the Triton 500.The Triton 500 hit a score of 1,190 in Geekbench 5’s single-core test, and 5,805 in the multi-core test. A detailed […] Sign in.
It’s not the best in every category, but the combination of strong 1080p image quality and a 300Hz refresh rate gives it an angle that most gamers will appreciate.You should know, however, that the Triton 500’s display is not unique. Hell, just mousing around the desktop feels great.
Keep your eyes peeled around every corner. Its results were promising. It all works well and looks reasonably slick, which is more than I can say about certain competitors (I’m looking at your, MSI).
Key travel is plentiful, and keys bottom out with a firm yet forgiving action that provides just the right degree of ‘click.’ It’s easily on par with the Razer Blade 15 and Alienware m15 R2, neither of which have a lackluster keyboard.Key travel is plentiful, and keys bottom out with a firm yet forgiving action.Per-key RGB backlighting is standard on all current Predator Triton 500 models. I measured a contrast ratio of 1,060:1, which beats the Alienware M15 R2, and non-OLED versions of the Razer Blade 15. But hot damn, I love it.Acer sent us the highest-end Triton 500 on offer, loaded with every feature you could ask for. Better yet, it pulls it off in an incredibly portable form factor. Is it perfect? I felt comfortable immediately. Though dimmer than competitors, the display is enjoyable in everything but full, direct sunlight.As I said, I love the decisions made here, and I enjoy the display. Everything looks super-crisp.The screen isn’t especially bright, topping out at 275 nits in our test. MSI gaming laptops often deliver great performance at the expense of so-so design. Neither score is impressive compared to the alternatives. Razer’s Blade 15 offers a similar display option.