I Can’t Tell if Acer’s New ‘Predator’ Laptop Is Better for Gamers or Working Stiffs
In the end, graphic-obsessed gamers only really care about maximizing frame rates. But that’s not all gaming laptops are good for. If you ignore the blinking RGB lights most gamer devices stuff into every crevice, they pack high-end CPUs and GPUs built for intensive graphics processing—handy for artists or AI developers. Whereas there are plenty of workstation laptops with high-end specs built for working stiffs, Acer said screw it and gave us a business-centric laptop that looks like a gamer’s dream device, even if it packs features players couldn’t give a fig for.
Business in the streets, gaming the sheets
The Acer Predator Helios 18P is the latest in the company’s tank-like high-end mobile gaming rigs. The new 18-inch laptop packs extra features that would leave most gamers scratching their heads. It’s rocking Intel vPro, the chipmaker’s business security and management suite. Along with up to a whopping 192GB of ECC memory—a type of RAM that can correct small memory errors (which is important for those working on servers or other critical data infrastructure)—the Predator Helios 18P contains up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX CPU and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 mobile GPU. That CPU and GPU combo offered stellar performance in super-heavy laptops like the MSI Titan 18 HX. The extra business-specific bits and bobs plus the optional up to 6TB of storage would simply be extraneous to anybody who intends to supplant their gaming desktop with a device that’s slightly more portable.
See Acer Predator Helios 18P at Amazon
Announced at IFA 2025, there’s no price or availability yet, but I can’t imagine combining a gaming laptop with a business laptop (normally two of the priciest PC options available today) will make the Predator Helios 18P cheap. At least it will make your games look nice with a 4K mini LED display, though it only runs up to a 120Hz refresh rate. The laptop weighs in at 7.7 pounds, so all you suits with gaming ambitions should start your forearm exercises early. Business types may need to disable all those fancy lights while plugging away in the office, but for work-from-home setups, the Predator Helios 18P could be your one and only PC.
Acer Swift 16 Air weighs just over 2 pounds
If you were looking for something on the opposite end, Acer’s new 16-inch Swift 16 Air seems too light to be real. Despite the Apple-like name, the Swift 16 Air weighs in at less than 1 kg, or 2.18 pounds. That’s easily one of the lightest laptops of this size available. It’s more frisbee-like than the 2.7-pound 13-inch MacBook Air and is somehow even lighter than the ultrathin Asus Zenbook A14 that first debuted at CES 2025 earlier this year. That laptop was one of the lightest in its class, but Acer’s Swift 16 Air, with its magnesium-aluminum shell, has a larger wingspan and still will barely feel like anything in your backpack.
You can toss the Swift 16 Air around to your heart’s content, but eventually you’ll need to open it up and use it. The notebook either comes with a 60Hz IPS LCD screen or a 120Hz AMOLED display. The IPS is the lighter of the two options, while the AMOLED version clocks in at 2.43 pounds. Inevitably, you’ll want the OLED not just for the deeper blacks and better contrast, but for the higher 2,560 x 1,600 resolution. The Swift 16 Air features up to an AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 CPU and 32GB of RAM. All that sounds pretty standard for today’s light laptops. Even though the laptop is thin at 16.5mm, there’s still a fair number of ports, including two USB-C, one USB-A, HDMI, and a headphone jack.
It’s still a very thin and light design, and that will demand some trade-offs. The Acer Swift 16 Air’s 50Wh battery seems paltry compared to the Zenbook A14’s 70Wh battery. Acer said the Swift 16 Air gets 13 hours of battery life in video playback tests. Real-life experience long ago taught us that real use—even completing regular browsing tasks—will deplete the battery sooner.
That battery life will be one of the biggest concerns for anybody thinking of dropping their money on a new laptop. Unfortunately, Acer isn’t ready to share any details about when people in the U.S. can buy the Swift 16 Air or how much it will cost.
gizmodo
