Investing in the best gaming laptop in 2023 does not have to mean blowing a huge hole in your wallet. There are many notebooks available that will provide you with a great gaming experience for less money, particularly if you do not need to game at ultra-high settings. You can easily choose something more affordable with higher-end specs or something inexpensive with lower-end specs depending on the kinds of PC games you like to play. More options from leading manufacturers of gaming laptops are also becoming available as CES 2023 gets underway.

Acer has improved its gaming laptops in 2022 by releasing a new and better version of Nitro 5, which featured a different design and many interior changes, along with high power limits for its hardware. This improved Nitro 5 was aimed at the mid-range Lenovo Legion and ASUS Tuf notebooks and had a higher price point. But it also ventures into the territory of the well-known Predator lineup with laptops like the Helios 300. Can it provide further features and performance to rationalize its higher cost, or will the Nitro 5 be more worthwhile after its 2022 refresh?

Today we will go over a general comparison of the Acer Helios 300 and the Acer Nitro 5. The Acer’s Predator and the Nitro 5 are two of the most impressive and most wanted gaming notebooks in the mid-budget segment, Helios 300 and Nitro 5 with the price of Rs. 276,800 and Rs. 229,999 respectively. In this article, we will check out whether this price hype, the Helios is considerable or not.

We have taken into consideration the Predator Helios equipping Intel’s i7, 12 Generation chip, and the Nitro 5 with the latest Ryzen 6000 series processor which seemed to be a much-needed comparison with a price height of around Rs. 46000 in the Predator Helios.

Design

Both laptops have a strong and durable profile and weigh 2.4kg (Helios 300) and 2.7kg (Nitro 5). As a result, they follow a typical pattern among gaming notebooks that are not particularly concerned with portability. They both have a plastic surface. While the Helios 300 offers a combination of black and blue components, the Nitro 5 has red color traces. Both models have colored LED lighting on their keyboards.

Display

Beginning with the display, both the laptops provide you the basics with a 15.6 inch full HD display and with 144-hertz reference rate but looking closer, the maximum brightness of 257 nits, an sRGB color coverage of 61.4% in the Nitro 5 is both quite disappointing. The screen’s average color accuracy is badly adrift too. So, the Predator takes the winning side in the display department.

Processor

The Nitro 5 equips the latest AMD Ryzen 5 5600H processor. This chip has 6 cores and 8 threads, providing a base clock speed of 3.3 gigahertz and up to 4.2 gigahertz turbo boost clock built under AMD’s Zen 3 architecture. This chip is based on the latest 7-nanometer fabrication. On the other hand, the Predator comes with Intel’s i7 10870H chip packs 8 cores and 16 threads with a base clock speed of 2.2 gigahertz and up to 4.8 gigahertz boost clock speeds. Build on Intel’s comet lake architecture, this chip is based on a 14-nanometer fabrication process. With the price difference, we expect more performance in the Intel i7 and the Predator but that is not the case here. The latest Ryzen 5 equipped with the Nitro 5 provides an equally good performance.

GPU

The GPU of both laptops is equipped with the newly launched RTX 3060 cards. This card is an ampere architecture notebook card based on an 8-nanometer manufacturing process with a 6GB memory capacity clocked at 14 gigahertz. Sometimes, the laptop’s peak GPU performance is influenced by the CPU coupled with it so it becomes important to know about the combined performance rates of these notebooks to know which processor and GPU combinations perform better luckily based on FPS tests with different games, it was found that both the notebooks showed close results with a very minimal boost in the Nitro 5.

Speed and Connectivity

Compared to the Predator’s i7 chip with up to 10% boost in the single-core performance but due to two additional CPU cores. Intel i7 and the Predator Helios 300 provide up to 10 percent boost in the multi-core performance but surprisingly, the latest Ryzen chip in the other gives you a higher overall CPU score based on different benchmark test results.

Nitro and Predator did not fall behind in terms of connectivity. Using Intel's Killer connectivity viable alternatives, the former and the latter both provide faster and better connectivity along with lower latency. Although Killer WiFi 6 and Killer Ethernet connections are now available on the most recent Nitro 5, Bluetooth is still slightly out-of-date i.e. Bluetooth 5.0. The same variety of connectivity options is available on Predator laptops, and some models, like the Helios 500, even support an optional 5G connection. The most recent Bluetooth 5.2 has already been incorporated into new Helios 300 models.

Input/Output Ports

The ports on Acer gaming laptops are flexible and varied, so you will never be stuck for choices. There are at least two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports on both the Acer notebooks, for display, quicker data transfer, and rapid charging of your laptops, and yet USB-A is still supported. Additionally, an HDMI port is present for the HDMI displays. The SD card reader found on Predator laptops is what Nitro 5 is missing.

Memory and Storage

Both notebooks serve the basics with a good 16GB of RAM and 1TB hard drive combined with 256GB SSD storage. The Helios 300, like the Nitro 5, has a hybrid storage feature that combines a 128GB SSD with a 1TB HDD in some editions. Another option is to have the computer shipped with only the SSD and keep the extra slot for other storage. It is important to note that both laptops rely on SATA or NVMe SSDs. Those seeking optimum performance should pay close attention to the storage technology provided by the notebook.

Battery

The Nitro 5 packs a 57.5-watt-hour battery which lasts around six to seven hours on average while the Acer Predator packs a 59-watt-hour battery which would last around seven hours. Sadly, both the laptops equip less fulfilling battery capacities for the price which might drain out quickly on heavy tasks but can get your work done unusually. Finally, there are not much thermal or noise issues in either notebook but the Helios showed quite high temperatures on heavy loads which were expected due to usual issues with the Intel chips and the metal build of the notebook.

Final Verdict

Acer, a Taiwanese manufacturer has introduced two notebook series namely, the Nitro 5 and the Predator Helios 300 in Pakistan, which offer outstanding performance and an amazing gaming environment at a mid-range cost. Although Nitro is intended to be an entry-level laptop, the most recent of its release outperforms entry-level systems and can compete with Predator Helios 300 in regards to performance at the mid-top level. Overall, the Nitro 5 screen is a bit on the weak side and the battery life is verging on the dismal but other than that it is hard to fault the Nitro 5 when it offers such impressive performance at such a low cost. On the other hand, the Predator Helios brings you an all-rounder device with a downside of less serving battery capacity but considering the price-to-performance ratio, the Acer Nitro 5’s stunning performance coupled with the joy of costing you Rs. 46000 less, would be a better option. If you are looking for performance, display quality, and cool designs but cannot afford expensive gaming laptops like the MacBook Pro, the Acer Predator series will indeed satisfy all of your needs at affordable prices.

So which of these two gaming laptops would you pick, Acer Nitro 5 or Predator Helios 300?

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