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It may seem strange that Acer chose to pair an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 with a powerful 12th Gen Intel chip. We were also surprised by the price, which was around £1,686. These days, we don’t recommend laptops with RTX 3060s that cost much more than £1,000. Much to my delight, the Predator Helios 300 (PH317-56-79UB) I was sent has an impressive 140W GPU under the hood. It works much better with the 14-core, 20-thread Intel CPU Acer chose from Intel’s 12th Gen lineup.
The deadly hardware team of the Acer Predator Helios 300 didn’t quite convince me that it was worth the price, but the addition of a fast, high-capacity SSD, 16GB of dual-channel DDR5 memory, and a smooth 1440p screen makes the configuration look a lot better for the price. You’ll need to change a few settings to get the most out of that 1440p screen with a refresh rate of 165Hz. Even right out of the box, it’s easy to see that this laptop has the potential to get those frame rates high enough in a number of 1080p games.
Acer Predator Helios 300 review: Design

The Acer Predator Helios 300 looks sleek, with a two-tone black exterior and aluminum on the lid. The lid has a small Predator logo in the middle of the top, and the front edge of the bottom has a light bar that makes it look more like a gaming PC. When you open the laptop, you can see that it has a per-key RGB keyboard.
The 15.6-inch screen has a thick plastic frame around it, and the Predator logo is in the middle of that plastic frame. Aluminum is used for the palm rest, and the edges of the touchpad have a nice polish. There is a grille for airflow above the keyboard and a turbo button for instant overclocking.
On the left side of the laptop, there is a Kensington lock slot, an Ethernet port, a USB Type-A port, and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. On the right side, there are two more Type-A ports, one of which can charge the laptop even when it is turned off. Even though the Predator has ports on both sides, most of them are in the back, between two vents. You can get this laptop from it official website.
Acer Predator Helios 300 review: Display and Audio
When you open it up, you’ll see a beautiful QHD panel display that doesn’t let you down. Each game looks its best thanks to the bright colors and crystal clear screen. The refresh rate of 240Hz doesn’t hurt, either. It has nice, thin bezels that give us a lot of screen space, but there’s no way to cover up the webcam when it’s not being used.
The keyboard is nice and big, has a numlock pad, and has enough space between keys to prevent most typos. The RBG backlight is beautiful because it changes colors as you type. Overall, this isn’t as cheap as the best cheap gaming laptops, but it’s also not so high-end that most people can’t afford it, especially with the basic settings.
Keyboard and Touchpad

Because the Acer is so big, it has a good keyboard layout with a number pad, full-size cursor keys, big function keys, and per-key RGB LED lighting that you can change. But once you get past the light show, it’s just a normal place. The keys have a lot of travel and a solid base, but they feel a bit soft.
The best gaming keyboards are snappier. It’s not a disaster, but the keyboards on the MSI and Alienware are better and crisper. Don’t even try to use the trackpad. It’s small and the buttons feel soft. It’s about as far as you can get from a gaming mouse. If you want to play the best games, you should connect a USB rodent instead.
Acer Predator Helios 300 review: Software
The Helios has room for buttons that can be used to start its PredatorSense customization software and overclock the GPU with just one click. Just to the right of Backspace is a PredatorSense button that gives you quick access to power modes, fan options, and lighting presets. There are buttons above that for Play/Pause, Next Track, and Previous Track.
On the far left, above the function row, there is a silver button called “Turbo” that speeds up the GPU and turns up the fans at once. It’s not easy to use. It’s in an odd place, not in the middle of the deck or the typing area, and it feels about an inch too narrow. Its glass surface made it easy to move my fingers, but the buttons were hard to use.
Acer Predator Helios 300 review: Battery Life

Since the keyboard is bigger, you might have guessed that the Helios isn’t exactly thin and light. It’s 14 inches wide, 11 inches deep, and almost a full inch thick. It also weighs 5.73 pounds and comes with a huge power adapter that weighs two pounds by itself. It has a big 90 wHr battery, but you’ll still need to bring a charger if you want to use it for more than a few hours.
It can be charged via USB, so a high-wattage GaN charger will do the job and take up much less space. Part of the reason for the short battery life is that the hardware doesn’t use as little power as it could, but the main reason is that the screen is so good. The 1440p (2K) IPS display on the Helios is a big plus. It is bright and full of colors. It looked great for games and movies.
Price and Availability
The Acer Predator Helios 300 is a cheap gaming laptop that falls in the middle of the pack. But it still has gaming flair, is well made, and is small enough to take anywhere, as long as you’re willing to carry the heavy thing. It is also the least expensive option. We reviewed the Lenovo Legion 5i Pro at a similar price.
Model doesn’t seem to be available anymore, and to get the same CPU and GPU as Acer, you’d need 32GB of RAM and 2TB of SSD storage, which would bring the price up to $2,599. The best thing about the Helios is probably its great screen, which has a great color gamut for a gaming laptop, especially one without OLED. The 1440p resolution and 240 Hz refresh rate are a good mix for games with a lot of graphics and games with a lot of action.
Acer Predator Helios 300 review: Conclusion
The performance of the Predator Helios 300 2022 generation is much better than that of earlier models, making it a competitive gaming device in the mid-tier market. In the most recent update, Acer made the power settings higher and the thermal module better to handle them.
The laptop isn’t as cool as it used to be, but since the CPU loads up to 50% faster and the GPU loads up to 30% faster, I don’t mind that the parts are running hotter and the fans are running louder. Also, the Quiet profile solves both of these problems while reducing the abilities of previous generations.
Aside from the specs, the 2022 Helios 300 has a redesigned screen, one of the market’s best keyboards, and many connectors. With a 90 Wh battery and some minor design and ergonomic changes, you should keep an eye on this in the coming months.
Acer Predator Helios 300 Ratings