Acer’s Gaming lineup – Nitro, Predator Triton, Predator Helios (in-depth specs, info, and prices)

When talking about gaming laptops, we cannot skip Acer. It is a “founding father” of the industry, with its Predator brand being one of the most well-known logos and names.

While sometimes they try to cheapen out on materials, they always bring their A-game when it comes to performance, giving us high-powered laptops with the latest tech from Intel, AMD, and NVIDIA.

Today we are presenting you with their 2021 gaming lineup, with detailed specs, reviews, and all the information you need to know about them.

Contents


Acer Nitro – Nitro 5 (AN517-54), Nitro 5 (AN517-41), Nitro 5 (AN515-57)

Acer Nitro 5 (AN517-54)Acer Nitro 5 (AN517-41)Acer Nitro 5 (AN515-57)
CPUIntel Core i5-11300H
Intel Core i5-11400H
Intel Core i7-11370H
Intel Core i7-11800H
AMD Ryzen 7 5600H
AMD Ryzen 7 5800H
AMD Ryzen 7 5900HX
 Intel Core i5-11300H
Intel Core i5-11400H
Intel Core i7-11370H
Intel Core i7-11800H
GPUGeForce GTX 1650
GeForce RTX 3050 (75W)
GeForce RTX 3050 Ti (75W)
GeForce RTX 3060 (95W)
GeForce RTX 3070 (100W)
GeForce GTX 1650
GeForce RTX 3060 (95W)
GeForce RTX 3070 (100W)
GeForce RTX 3080 (100W)
GeForce RTX 1650
GeForce RTX 3050 (75W)
GeForce RTX 3050 Ti (75W)
GeForce RTX 3070 (100W)
Display17.3″ Full HD, IPS
17.3″ Full HD 144Hz IPS
17.3″ QHD 165Hz IPS
17.3″ Full HD IPS
17.3″ Full HD 144Hz IPS
17.3″ Full HD 360Hz IPS
17.3″ QHD 165Hz IPS
15.6″ Full HD IPS
15.6″ Full HD 144Hz IPS
15.6″ QHD 165Hz IPS

Acer Nitro 5 (AN517-54)

This Nitro 5 combines a big 17.3-inch screen with all the gaming power that you need thanks to NVIDIA’s RTX Ampere GPUs. While it is far from perfect it is a great budget option with its ample upgradeability, which should increase its lifespan.

The cooling, however, definitely needs some rethinking, with the laptop performing not in the way we expected when compared to other notebooks with the same Core i7-11800H.

Acer Nitro 5 (AN517-53/54) in-depth review

The worldwide expansion of the Nitro series continues with full power. The success of these devices is undoubtful - in most scenarios, these machines aren't top-notch in every category but they provide great bang for their buck. The Acer Nitro 5 (AN517-54) is a typical device that belongs to the Nitro 5 family - its powers are hidden in its shell.The Acer Nitro 5 (AN517-54) can be picked with some Tiger Lake H45 CPUs and NVIDIA Ampere GPUs. Finally, we can say goodbye to the old and hot 14nm Comet Lake-H-based devices. The new CPU options are 10nm products and while they aren't as efficien[...]

Pros

  • It has two RAM SODIMM slots and two M.2 drives, besides the 2.5" SATA drive bay
  • Optional RGB backlight
  • Decent price tag
  • Has a lot of GPU options

Cons

  • Lacks an SD card reader
  • The cooling could be better


Acer Nitro 5 (AN517-41)

The second laptop in the Nitro 5 series swaps out the TIger Lake H45 CPUs for the Zen 3-based Ryzen 5000H series. This gives you, the consumer a lot more options. The AMD laptop also manages to deliver better displays, with up to an FHD panel with a 360Hz refresh rate, which would make shooters feel smoother than ever.

It also has the proper power under the hood to back that display up, with up to a Ryzen 9 5900HX and an RTX 3080. As with all other Nitro laptops, the design is pretty outdated, still relying on the Red and Black aesthetic. With the AMD chips, the cooling performs much better, being able to rival laptops such as the ROG Strix SCAR 17.

Acer Nitro 5 (AN517-41) in-depth review

The Acer's Nitro series is very popular because these machines offer decent hardware at a reasonable price. Of course, as you may expect, there are better laptops with the same hardware and they come with better build quality and features, but in most cases, their price is heftier compared to the Nitro series. The main focus here is gaming performance without too many bangs and whistles and that leads to a good price / performance ratio.Speaking of which, the Acer Nitro 5 (AN517-41) is a big 17.3" laptop that can be configured with mouth-watering hardware. The AN517-41 devices can be foun[...]

Pros

  • It has two RAM SODIMM slots and two M.2 drives, besides the 2.5" SATA drive bay
  • Optional RGB backlight
  • Lack of PWM (AUO B173HAN04.9)
  • Comfortable viewing angles and good contrast ratio (AUO B173HAN04.9)
  • Decent gaming comfort

Cons

  • Lacks an SD card reader
  • Slow response times, despite the 144Hz refresh rate (AUO B173HAN04.9)
  • Covers only 51% of sRGB (AUO B173HAN04.9)
  • Plastic build


Acer Nitro 5 (AN515-57)

The smallest laptop of the Nitro bunch brings a more compact 15.6-inch form factor with several display options with a varying refresh rate.

The laptop is Intel-powered, but unlike its bigger brother, its cooling and CPU perform much much better, reaching clock speeds of nearly 3.90GHz, which is very close to the Legion 5i Pro, a laptop a lot more expensive than this one. All in all, if you want an Intel-powered gaming rig, this is the one to go for if you’re on a budget.

Acer Nitro 5 (AN515-56/57) in-depth review

The popularity of Acer's Nitro series is undeniable. The main reason for this is the fact that these devices combine decent hardware with a reasonable price tag. The Acer Nitro 5 (AN515-57) is a typical representation of what you can expect from a new Nitro laptop - every year the laptops get some refresh treatment. Expectedly the improvements for the new devices take place under the shell of the notebooks. The looks of this particular device seem (almost) unchanged compared to what we saw last year.In short, the refreshed AN515-57 devices can be configured with Intel Tiger Lake 45H and NV[...]

Pros

  • Great price tag for what it is
  • Nice keyboard with decent travel, clicky feedback, and an optional RGB backlight
  • Two M.2 slots with RAID 0 support and a regular SATA port
  • The display doesn't flicker at any brightness level (Innolux N156HRA-EA1)
  • Has a good contrast ratio and comfortable viewing angles (Innolux N156HRA-EA1)
  • 144Hz display option
  • Can maintain high CPU and GPU clocks and has god thermals during stress
  • Noise levels are an improvement compared to the previous-gen devices
  • Thunderbolt 4 support

Cons

  • Lacks an SD card reader
  • Covers only 53% of sRGB (LG LP156WFC-SPD5)


Acer Predator Triton – Triton 300 (PT315-53), Triton 300 SE (PT314-51), Triton 500 SE (PT516-51s)

Acer Predator Triton 300 (PT315-53)Acer Predator Triton 300 SE (PT314-51)Acer Predator Triton 500 SE (PT516-51s)
CPUIntel Core i7-11800HIntel Core i7-11370H
Intel Core i7-11375H
Intel Core i7-11800H
Intel Core i9-11900H
GPUGeForce RTX 3050 Ti (85W)
GeForce RTX 3060 (105W)
GeForce RTX 3070 (110W)
GeForce RTX 3080 (110W)
GeForce GTX 1660 Ti
GeForce RTX 3050 Ti (85W)
GeForce RTX 3060 (90W)
GeForce RTX 3060
GeForce RTX 3080
Display15.6″ Full HD 144Hz IPS
15.6″ QHD 165Hz IPS
14.0″ Full HD 144Hz IPS16.0″ QHD+ 165Hz IPS
16.0″ QHD+ 240Hz IPS

Acer Predator Triton 300 (PT315-53)

One of the few laptops that we have no review for, the Triton 300 is a mid-range offering that brings the latest tech from Intel and NVIDIA. The Core i7-11800H outright stole the show, kicking to the curb one of its main competitors, the Ryzen 7 5800H, and being very competitive against the Ryzen 9 5900H.

How this exact laptop performs will be tough to guess, but rest assured we will be bringing you detailed information if we ever get it for a detailed review. n the GPU front, you can pick GPUs from every part of the market, with the budget-conscious RTX 3050 Ti as well as the RTX 3080.


Acer Predator Triton 300 SE (PT314-51)

This notebook is a special one, as it showcases the evolution of Gaming laptop design among one of the more stubborn manufacturers, which has kept their gamer-y looks despite all others around them succumbing to the minimalist trend, which isn’t bad at all.

The Triton 300 SE comes in an aluminum shell, with a Predator badge and decent hardware, which includes two Tiger Lake H35 processors which perform well, albeit not at the level of proper H-series chips from AMD or the 45W compatriots from Intel. The 90W RTX 3060 is a good middle ground between thermal efficiency and power, which needs to be considered heavily with a notebook of this size. It also comes with a great display with professional-grade color coverage and accuracy.

Acer Predator Triton 300 SE (PT314-51s) in-depth review

Usually, the purely gaming brands allow themselves to experiment. This is how the 14-inch Alienware and Razer laptops were born. However, last year, ASUS was one of the mainstream manufacturers that stepped into the seemingly uncharted small gaming laptop territory. And dare we say it was a success. And now, Acer is keen on exploring this space as well with their Predator Triton 300 SE (PT314-51s).Its main advantage over the 14-inch Zephyrus is the even less intrusive design. And if it wasn't for the Predator logo, one could never tell that this laptop is aimed at gamers. When we look at [...]

Pros

  • Industrial design
  • 1x SODIMM + 1 M.2 PCIe x4
  • No PWM (Sharp LQ140M1JW49)
  • 98% sRGB coverage and great color accuracy thanks to our Gaming and Web design profile (Sharp LQ140M1JW49)
  • Thunderbolt 4 support

Cons

  • Lacks an SD card reader
  • The laptop gets loud and very warm when gaming
  • Slow pixel response time (Sharp LQ140M1JW49)


Acer Predator Triton 500 SE (PT516-51)

The bigger brother to the Triton 300 SE, the 500 SE brings more powerful hardware both CPU and GPU wise, featuring up to a Core i9-11900H and an RTX 3080. What you can expect from it is a mix of gaming and content creation. The laptop has two 16-inch 16:10 display options with a QHD+ resolution.

Acer doesn’t say anything about the specifications of the panels, but we are sure they will be ready for professional color-sensitive work. The design here uses simple shapes but has some aggression to it, which you can see by just looking at the heat vents on the sides and the rear. The lid also has an interesting 2-tone finish with a small predator logo on top.


Acer Predator Helios – Helios 300 (PH315-54), Helios 300 (PH317-55), Helios 500 (PH517-52)

Acer Predator Helios 300 (PT315-54)Acer Predator Helios 300  (PT317-55)Acer Predator Helios 500 (PT517-52)
CPUIntel Core i5-11400H
Intel Core i7-11800H
Intel Core i7-11800HIntel Core i9-11980H
GPUGeForce RTX 3060 (105W)
GeForce RTX 3070 (110W)
GeForce GTX 3050 Ti (95W)
GeForce RTX 3060 (130W)
GeForce RTX 3070 (140W)
GeForce RTX 3070 (140W)
GeForce RTX 3080 (165W)
Display15.6″ Full HD 144Hz IPS
15.6″ QHD 165Hz IPS
17.3″ Full HD 144Hz IPS
17.3″ QHD 165Hz IPS
17.3″ Full HD 360Hz IPS
17.3″ 4K 120Hz IPS

Acer Predator Helios 300 (PT315-54)

Similar to the Triton laptops, their Helios brethren feature the same hardware. The difference between them is that Helios units don’t care that much about portability, instead opting to deliver the best possible performance.

However, the 15.6-inch Helios 300 is nowhere near as powerful as the two other Helios devices that we will talk about. The RTX 3060 and RTX 3070 that it has come with way lower TDPs, which will definitely affect performance.


Acer Predator Helios 300 (PH317-55)

This Helios was the only one that we managed to review this year. It brings very powerful hardware, with the top model featuring an RTX 3070 with a 140W TDP, which showed up big tie during the tests, rivaling laptops such as the ASUS ROG Strix G15 and the Legion 7 (16) from Lenovo.

In terms of cooling, the CPU got pretty warm, reaching a temperature of 99°C in the later stages of our stress testing. The GPU was also on par with other models, while also keeping the temperature reasonable. The laptop has other appealing features, such as a color-accurate screen which covers 96% of the sRGB color coverage.

Acer Predator Helios 300 (PH317-55) in-depth review

Acer produces one of the three most popular gaming brands in the laptop world. Besides Alienware and ROG, the Predators are among the most recognizable gaming devices on the market. And today, we have the latest 17-inch notebook from the marque - the Predator Helios 300 (PH317-55). Although it might seem largely unchanged from last year, the device packs a lot of power. So much, in fact, that it is on the verge to put the behemoth Helios 700 from last year to shame.This is not because of something revolutionary from Acer, however, but mostly thanks to what Intel and NVIDIA managed to do. [...]

Pros

  • Thunderbolt 4 + HDMI 2.1
  • Decent performance on paper
  • 2x SODIMM, 2x M.2 + 2.5-inch SATA drive slot
  • 96% sRGB coverage and accurate color representation with our Gaming and Web design profile
  • 144Hz display has quick pixel response times

Cons

  • Lacks an SD card reader
  • GPU warms up pretty quickly during gaming
  • No MUX switch
  • Unimpressive battery life


Acer Predator Helios 500 (PH517-52)

This is the big hitter for Acer. The Helios 500 brings everything that you would need from a gaming laptop, and more, including a Core i9-11980HK and an RTX 3080 with a TDP of 165W.

The only problem that could arise, is if the cooling isn’t appropriate for the hardware, which could make the laptop a dud, unable to reach its full potential. If Acer has done their homework right, you can have a powerful gaming machine, which can also double as a workstation, thanks to the Core i9 and the plenty of CUDA cores inside the RTX 3080.

Acer Predator Helios 500 (PH517-52) in-depth review

Forget about low-cost, budget-oriented devices. Here we go big. The device we have with us has all the bells and whistles, including an overclockable Core i9-11980HK, and an RTX 3080 with a 165W TGP. In recent years, gaming laptops have shrunk massively, when compared to their relatives from 5 years ago. We are seeing sub 2-kilo devices with a lot of power.However, what will happen if you combine the abilities of modern hardware with enough space for decent cooling? Well, the Predator Helios 500 (PH517-52) is what happens. It is an abomination of aggressive gaming looks, tons of RGB light[...]

Pros

  • Loaded with RGB
  • A ton of fast, high-res display options
  • Monstrous cooling
  • 97% sRGB coverage and accurate color representation with our Gaming and Web design profile
  • Fast refresh rate with quick pixel response times
  • PWM-free
  • Analog trigger-like WASD options
  • Top tier GPU supports 165W TGP
  • 2x SODIMM + 2x M.2 PCIe x4 + 2.5-inch SATA
  • Great input devices
  • Has a MUX switch

Cons

  • Poor battery life
  • Quite pricey
  • Bulky chassis
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