Beneath the hood, the system options appropriately high-end specs, together with an Intel Core Extremely 9 288V CPU, 32 GB of RAM, a 1-terabyte strong state drive for storage, to not point out graphics courtesy of a cellular Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 GPU. This is among the most decked-out laptops I’ve examined thus far, and efficiency was strong, although surprisingly and disappointingly not even near record-breaking on any benchmark I threw at it (together with productiveness and AI duties).
Outcomes had been typically according to high-end business- or creative-focused laptops of latest classic, however with the additional advantage of having the ability to deal with video video games. That mentioned, even the graphics didn’t overly dazzle me: Framerates simply weren’t as spectacular as I’d hoped for, contemplating the RTX 5070 GPU. The Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI I just lately examined supplied roughly double the gaming efficiency of the Triton, with a lower-end graphics card.
It is nonetheless a delight to make use of. The keyboard is responsive, and I loved working with the touchpad as soon as I turned the haptic response stage to most, which makes it extra intuitive to faucet and click on on. The OLED display is extremely shiny—close to the brightest within the discipline—and the six-speaker audio system can actually crank out the sound. At shut vary, it was painfully loud as soon as I pushed it above 30 p.c.
Low Energy
{Photograph}: Chris Null
On the draw back, a battery lifetime of 6 hours, 50 minutes (taking part in YouTube at full brightness) might be marginal for creatives, although you’ll be capable to stretch that with cautious energy administration techniques (which may also assist tone down the reasonably loud fan). The unit can be shockingly gradual in addition.
A much bigger drawback could be a weird subject I encountered whereby the laptop computer—idling after finishing some benchmarks—acquired scorching. After which hotter and warmer and warmer. Finally, the unit was so scorching to the contact that I measured it with a laser thermometer. The underside of the laptop computer hit a scorching 144 levels earlier than I lastly shut every part down. That’s not simply scorching sufficient to burn you; it’s scorching sufficient to trigger third-degree burns. Acer didn’t have any clarification for the problem however, like me, was completely satisfied the problem didn’t return for the rest of my testing after a reboot.
At $2,500, Acer is asking rather a lot for a machine that performs properly however not so properly that it’s exemplary. The inclusion of discrete graphics necessitates that value hike—a minimum of partly—however the entire bundle nonetheless feels prefer it’s priced at too excessive a premium. The superb Razer Blade 14, for instance, may not be as flashy because the Triton, however it may well ship the identical if not higher efficiency. You may have cash left over to purchase a pleasant Wacom pill too, if that is what you are after.
