Acer Predator Helios 300 PH315-52 [PH315-52-55SB] (NH.Q54EU.017)

Predator

Models of the Predator series from Acer have gained fame as well-made gaming laptops with the right priorities. The Acer Predator Helios 300 PH315-52 that came to our test confirms this status: it is a fairly powerful laptop with an excellent gaming display (Full HD, 144 Hz, 3 ms response speed), a noisy but efficient cooling system, a comfortable keyboard and a performant filling. In our case, we are talking about a bunch of eight-core Core i5 with an RTX 2060 graphics card, 16 GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD. By the standards of 2020, this is an adequate laptop hardware that “knocks out” a stable 60 FPS even in such demanding toys as Death Stranding, RDR2 and Assassin's Creed Odyssey. This is even better than the usual Core i7 and GTX 1660 laptops, since the influence of the processor on FPS is now minimal, and the RTX 2060 pulls more cheerfully in games.

Comfortable, powerful and cool

The appearance of the model looks old-school and will appeal to those who yearn for the classic gaming design: here you will find thick chopped lines of the body, and large air ducts in the spirit of racing cars, and zonal key illumination with a dedicated WASD block. Plus, the hull itself is assembled like a tank, and you can hit it like that. Coolers work as they should, effectively removing excess heat from hot components. However they make noise, be healthy, but these are the realities of gaming laptops, you can still find a powerful, quiet and cold model at the same time. Well, a set of ports, including 4 USB (one of them USB-C), HDMI and miniDisplayPort will allow you to easily connect any peripherals or an external monitor.

Uneven illumination and increased power consumption

The disadvantages of the model include a noticeable uneven display backlight and increased power consumption, which leads to several unpleasant moments. When powered by a built-in battery, the Predator Helios 300 resets the processor frequencies to last longer, and under high load, the battery is discharged even when connected to the network. Fast charging here would definitely not hurt, but alas, it is not. All in all, despite its shortcomings, the Helios 300 is a worthy purchase candidate.