The keyboard options four-zone colour backlighting, tunable via Acer’s intensive PredatorSense system, which controls every thing from battery charging particulars as to whether you need to customise the brand displayed because the laptop computer boots. It’s out there through a devoted key above the slim numeric keypad. The opposite bespoke key on the machine is the Mode key, discovered above the highest left of the keyboard. This shifts amongst 4 completely different efficiency/fan operation modes when plugged in; two of those modes can be found when operating on battery energy.
Because of the numeric keypad, the keyboard and touchpad are shifted fairly far to the left. This could be a case the place you may adapt to the structure over time, however I discovered it powerful to work comfortably when pushed this far to at least one aspect, particularly when utilizing the arrow keys, which spill over into each the keyboard and keypad areas.
Ports are distinctive and could be discovered on each side and the rear of the machine. These embrace two USB-C ports (one with Thunderbolt 4 help), three USB-A ports, a full-size HDMI port, a full-size Ethernet jack, and a microSD card slot. You’ll want to make use of the separate energy jack and 230-watt A/C adapter to energy the machine. (The adapter itself is heavy however not significantly giant, weighing 1.1 kilos.)
The display screen is likely one of the brightest I’ve seen in years, and whereas the audio system aren’t significantly nuanced, they’re not less than a lot loud. Sadly, they have to be, as a result of when the fan kicks in, which is usually, this can be very noisy.
Laptop Crash
{Photograph}: Chris Null
Put collectively the entire package deal, and also you’ve acquired efficiency to spare on just about something you may throw at this technique. The Helios set data almost throughout the board on my battery of benchmarks, together with (by far) one of the best GPU-related scores I’ve seen so far, handily beating the MacBook Professional M4 Professional by 50 p.c on the Geekbench 6 GPU check whereas almost doubling graphics efficiency over programs outfitted with the final technology of GeForce laptop computer GPUs.
