Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 (PHN16-71) review – clever blend between Nitro’s affordability and Predator’s power


Temperatures and comfort, Battery Life

Max CPU load

In this test we use 100% on the CPU cores, monitoring their frequencies and chip temperature. The first column shows a computer’s reaction to a short load (2-10 seconds), the second column simulates a serious task (between 15 and 30 seconds), and the third column is a good indicator of how good the laptop is for long loads such as video rendering.

Average P-core frequency; Average E-core frequency; CPU temp.; Package Power

Intel Core i7-13700HX (55W TDP)0:02 – 0:10 sec0:15 – 0:30 sec10:00 – 15:00 min
Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 (PHN16-71)1.87 GHz @ 3.65 GHz @ 83°C @ 157W3.16 GHz @ 2.93 GHz @ 89°C @ 133W0.77 GHz @ 3.41 GHz @ 74°C @ 80W
Acer Nitro 17 (AN17-71)3.78 GHz @ 3.01 GHz @ 76°C @ 157W3.75 GHz @ 3.01 GHz @ 85°C @ 157W3.12 GHz @ 2.48 GHz @ 68°C @ 100W
Acer Predator Helios 16 (PH16-71)2.16 GHz @ 3.66 GHz @ 85°C @ 157W2.38 GHz @ 3.47 GHz @ 94°C @ 156W1.30 GHz @ 3.62 GHz @ 75°C @ 115W
HP Omen 17 (2023, 17-ck2000)3.49 GHz @ 2.86 GHz @ 66°C @ 130W3.48 GHz @ 2.80 GHz @ 74°C @ 130W3.10 GHz @ 2.44 GHz @ 76°C @ 100W

Unfortunately, the Predator Helios Neo 16 (PHN16-71) performs really weirdly in the CPU temperature test. Similarly to the “regular” Helios 16, its Performance cores don’t really like the Prime95 stress load, while the E-cores are running pretty fast.

Real-life gaming

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060GPU frequency/ Core temp (after 2 min)GPU frequency/ Core temp (after 30 min)
Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 (PHN16-71)2475 MHz @ 76°C @ 96W2475 MHz @ 75°C @ 95W
Dell G16 76302520 MHz @ 71°C @ 107W2520 MHz @ 73°C @ 107W
Acer Nitro 17 (AN17-71)2610 MHz @ 68°C @ 100W2610 MHz @ 69°C @ 101W
ASUS Zenbook Pro 14 OLED (UX6404)2337 MHz @ 80°C @ 90W2327 MHz @ 82°C @ 90W
MSI Katana 17 (B12V)2246 MHz @ 74°C @ 83W2273 MHz @ 73°C @ 84W
ASUS ROG Strix G16 (G614, 2023)2490 MHz @ 68°C @ 99W2490 MHz @ 69°C @ 99W
Acer Predator Helios 16 (PH16-71)2550 MHz @ 68°C @ 98W2550 MHz @ 68°C @ 98W
Lenovo Legion Pro 5 (16″, 2023)2625 MHz @ 70°C @ 100W2625 MHz @ 74°C @ 99W

As you can see, the Neo is also slightly behind its Helios 16 brother in gaming. Enabling the “Turbo” function equals the same results as the Helios 16, but the fan noise is extremely loud, and not very pleasant.

Gaming comfort

As you can see from the IR image below, the keyboard doesn’t get too warm. Its hotspot is right below the Arrow keys and sits at about 39°C. In addition, you can clearly see that the top vent is supplying plenty of air to the fans since it remains relatively cool at all times.

Battery

Now, we conduct the battery tests with the Windows Better performance setting turned on, screen brightness adjusted to 120 nits and all other programs turned off except for the one we are testing the notebook with. This device’s 90.6Wh battery pack lasts for 5 hours and 21 minutes of Web browsing, or 4 hours and 50 minutes of video playback on a single charge.



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PHVM_BR
PHVM_BR
10 months ago

This has a 4060, not a 4050!

wilton
wilton
6 months ago

I find the upgrade option weak, 2 nmve, are both now filled what is the max capacity they will hold (some have what can only be described as bios limits), for that matter can they take 80mm? Also what about the RAM, what is the max speed or capacity. The only really upgradable parts of a laptop should be properly investigated. Thanks for the effort though

Zander
Zander
3 months ago
Reply to  wilton

The page on best buys says the max ram is 32 gigs.