Acer Predator Helios 500 is a very, very capable laptop!
In fact, I'd even say that it is a PERFECT laptop for any kind of use, in 2019. No matter if you are planning to Game on it, or to play games as well as start streaming on Twitch at the same time. Or perhaps you want a laptop for 3D animation, editing videos, or any kind of content creation, it has got your back.
Anyways, without further ado, let's get into why Acer's Predator Helios 500 is the Best Gaming Laptop in 2019.
Display
Let's first talk about its display!
The 144Hz, Full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution display that supports G-Sync is one of this laptop's main features.
It has good color accuracy too, which would come in handy for tasks like Video Editing and 3D animation, or any kind of creative work you'll be doing on its screen, that requires you to add and monitor precise color changes.
Even playing games will be that much enjoyable, when you'll experience real-life colors while gaming on this laptop, thanks to that beautiful 17.3 Inches of IPS Panel.
Unlike Predator Helios 300, or any other laptop for that matter, that has a 60Hz display, you'll experience all the High Frames up-to 144fps on this display. Which I've heard is quite an experience!
Processor
Now, the Predator Helios 500 offers you two options here.
Either you get an 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-8950HK that has 6 Cores and 12 Threads. Its base frequency is 2.90 GHz, and it boosts up-to 4.80 GHz.
Also, you can overclock this processor! (Stable at 4.89 GHz - Tested!)
The second option is, the AMD Ryzen 7 2700, which has 8 Cores, instead of 6 with the Intel's i9, and 16 Threads.
So which one to pick out of these two options?
Well, in my opinion, if you are leaning more towards Content Creation and Streaming, get the Ryzen processor. But, if you will GAME more, and content creation is a secondary and isn't that important for you, then for sure go with the i9 processor.
If both of these things have the same level of importance in your case, I'd still say that get the i9 version. Only focus towards AMD if content creation is the main purpose of you thinking to buy this laptop.
Graphics Card
I'm not sure if it is only me, or everyone else gets goosebumps and gets excited about GPUs too!
Well, the GPU it has, is the legendary GTX 1070, with 8GB of GDDR5 memory.
It's an awesome GPU for playing almost all the games at 1920 x 1080 full HD 1080p resolution with Ultra settings, and with over 100fps!
You can easily be using this CPU and GPU combo and not worry about upgrading for the next 3-4 years!
Above are the Frames per Second stats of this laptop with some of the high-end and popular games played today!
RAM
Seeing how the rest of the specs of this BEAST are top-notch, here it lacks, in my opinion. I think they should've only had the option of 32GB of RAM, instead of 16GB as base and 32GB as the upgrade.
Still, 16GB of DDR4 RAM is pretty decent for playing games, I'd say.
But, when something like Adobe After Effects and some 3D application will be used on this laptop, the only limiting factor would be its 16GB of RAM. Because everything else is perfect!
I wouldn't say that this should change your decision, if you were thinking to buy this laptop. The 32GB option is still available, if you want to double your RAM and future-proof yourself.
Storage
For storage, they have provided us with two options once again.
You can either opt for 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD, or a 2TB of Hybrid Drive.
If you are confused between these two options, and don't know or are unsure of which one to pick, I'd say, get the SSD version if you do not want to compromise on SPEED!
Personally, I've stopped using any kind of traditional or hybrid drives from these past few years, they just do not perform as well as these SSDs do. I've always loved to upgrade whenever there was an option!
Battery
The Helios 500 has a 4-cell Li-Ion Battery inside. It is 4,810 mAh, in case you want to compare it with your mobile phone. Although, being a beast of a laptop, this is not going to come even close to 2,500 mAh battery of a smartphone.
Because the total battery life they've mentioned, is 3.5 hours, which probably is going to be even less than that, as always.
But, the good thing is, that every Gaming Laptop out there is that way. They all have battery life that ends up eventually satisfying no one.
Besides, running a GAMING laptop on battery power isn't a smart thing to do, anyways, in my opinion. So sit back, relax, and plug your laptop into the wall, and enjoy an endless ride of high performance gaming!
Extras - Gimmicks? 🤔
- WAVES MaxxAudio®
I personally haven't experienced this, to be honest. They say this is "Designed for headphone use, Waves Nx recreates what you hear for a 360° surround sound experience, whether it is movies, games, VR—you name it." So, if you hear anything special or extra-ordinary, please share your thoughts with everyone else.
- 144Hz Refresh Rate Display
Now THIS is not a Gimmick, that is for sure! In fact this is one of Helios 500's main features. Everyone loves more pixels, more frames per second, and more Hertz in their display! The more hertz there are, the smoother everything looks.
- Predator Sense
Predator Sense is included in all of Acer's laptops. I am not sure what is the reason of their mentioning it in the main highlights of the Predator Helios 500. Perhaps they unlock more features as you upgrade your laptop. Please let me know if you have the right answer, in the comments down below.
- 16.8M RGB Color Options
I am not sure about this one either. They haven't mentioned if it is a feature of the Keyboard of the laptop, or the display. Please share your thoughts on it, if you like.
- AeroBlade™ 3D Cooling
Even if it is a Gimmick, I'd still be interested in seeing what it does, because Gamers do anything and everything possible to reduce heat as much as possible, which results in slowing down your Processor and GPU, if not controlled.
- Killer DoubleShot™ Pro
Now this could be useful, to me personally. Because this feature allows you to control which program is using the internet most. What program is set to priority mode, and which one do you want to limit from accessing the internet and wasting your data.
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