How to open Acer Predator Helios Neo 14 (PHN14-51) – disassembly and upgrade options

Undo the 9 Torx-head screws securing the bottom panel.
Turn over the laptop and pop the hinge cover.
Carefully pop the rear step by step by inserting a thin plastic tool between the plate and the base.
Flip the device upside down and pry the sides and the front to remove the bottom panel.

More info: We found a metal shroud with a cooling pad for the NVMe on the inside of the bottom panel.

Battery Removal

Detach the battery connector from the motherboard.
Undo the two Phillips-head screws securing the battery.
Lift the battery to remove it from the device.

Note: The device uses a 76Wh battery, providing approximately 9 hours of video playback.

Memory Information

Note: The device can be configured with 16 or 32GB of LPDDR5x-6400MHz soldered (non-upgradable) memory in dual-channel mode.

Storage Upgrade

Locate the single M.2 slot compatible with 2280 Gen 4 NVMe drives.
Remove the preinstalled SSD, if any, and the thermal pad beneath it, if present.
Install the new SSD in the slot. Note that Acer claims the slot is for single-sided SSDs only.

Hint: Don’t forget to check out our Top M.2 SSDs Performance Rankings for insights on the best storage options available.

You can buy compatible SSDs here: Buy from Amazon.com (#CommissionsEarned)

Wi-Fi Card

The Wi-Fi card is positioned below the left fan.

Cooling System Overview

The cooling system includes two fans and a pair of long thick vector heat pipes shared between the CPU and GPU.
There is an additional smaller heat pipe dedicated to the video card.
The system is complemented by four heat sinks and two large heat spreaders.
Ensure all cooling components are clean and free of dust for optimal performance.

Acer Predator Helios Neo 14 (PHN14-51) in-depth review

We were quite impressed by the Nitro 14 (AN14-41) since it offers tons of power for a 14-incher. Now, it's time to test the more premium sibling of this machine which is called Acer Predator Helios Neo 14 (PHN14-51). This time around, the Helios version is powered by Intel Meteor Lake-H CPUs. These chips are efficient but they aren't as punchy as the Raptor Lake-H / HX CPUs which are a better complement to GPUs as fast as the GeForce RTX 4070 which is the most powerful graphics card for this Acer series. Still, considering the device's limited internal space, a 28W processor offers an optimal [...]

Read the full review

Pros

Great performance for a 14-incher
Covers 94% of the sRGB gamut and has accurate colors when our "Design and Gaming" profile is applied (BOE0C65)
165Hz refresh rate + 3072 х 1920 resolution (BOE0C65)
No PWM (BOE0C65)
High max brightness of 452 nits (BOE0C65)
Snappy pixel response times (8 ms) (BOE0C65)
MUX switch + Nvidia Advanced Optimus + G-SYNC
Modern port selection - 2x Thunderbolt 4 plus 2x Gen 2 Type-A connectors
Good keyboard and touchpad
Long battery life given the powerful hardware (~9 hours of video playback)
Solid base
The CPU and the GPU can maintain high clocks during long full loads (3.70 GHz for the P-cores / 2514 MHz for the GPU core)
The fans aren't extremely aggressive in "Turbo" mode
Great "Performance" mode - much less noise + 100W GPU TGP
Fast and well-cooled SSD (1TB SK Hynyx HFS001TEJ9X125N)