I own both the laptops - Helios 300 (i7 12700H, RTX 3070Ti) and the Neo 16 (i7 13700HX, RTX 4060) and I disagree with most of the points mentioned here. First off, comparing a 3070Ti vs a 4060 is in itself a flawed argument. Its another matter that a 4060 manages to hold its own and, in most cases, even exceed the 3070Ti's performance...that, in itself, is a praiseworthy feat. Gaming performance: In particular, the gaming performance comparison done here is with DLSS and Ray Tracing both turned off. Why?? Why would anyone buy a 40 series laptop and turn these 2 pathbreaking technologies off?? Conclusion: In games that do support DLSS and Ray Tracing, the Helios Neo 16 beats the Helios 300 hands down. Especially in games that support DLSS 2 and DLSS 3, you can't imagine how good the games look! Battery: Unless you are doing hardcore gaming on battery power (which I doubt anyone does), you won't get any noticeable difference in battery capacity. I ran a test simultaneously on both laptops (played LOTR extended version movies back to back, LOL) and the Helios 300 lasted only 11min more than the Neo 16. Considering the bigger screen of the Neo 16, and the fact that the peak brightness of the Neo 16 is much higher than the Helios 300, I think its a good trade-off. CPU performance: Much better than what Jarrod's numbers denote. For instance, I did several simultaneous x265 test encodes on both laptops at exactly the same settings (Mode: Quality, Preset: Slower, on Staxrip) and the Neo 16 outperformed the Helios 300...Every Single Time. Just another instance of "test figures" not really translating to real-world performance, eh? Also, GPU encoding on the 4060 using Nvenc simply blows the mind! The cooling on the Neo 16 is much improved than the Helios 300, and is significantly quieter under normal cooling. Turn up the cooling to Turbo mode, though, and it gets quite loud too...but then, you can power through several hours of intense gaming with ease. All in all, you buy a new laptop for the generational updates you get. In this case, you get the RTX 40 series capabilities, which is huge leap forward compared to the RTX 30 series. This simple fact outweighs most of the negatives mentioned here. Also, the argument that you are getting a 1 year old laptop at a lesser price than a new laptop...I mean, c'mon! Isn't this how technology works? Take it from someone who has used (and abused!) both laptops for a significant amount of time - the Neo 16 is better than the Helios 300. End of story.
Interesting.. I'm planning on either buying this laptop or the Helios 300 3060, which one do u think I'll be better off buying overall?? Would appreciate ur opinion ASAP🙏
do you notice the drop in color gamut performance between these the older and newer model, the neo 16 aparently has almost 30% lower dcip-3. My only concern is that the display may look flat like my 2021 tuf did.
Despite the performance loss from last year, I feel the fan noise alone makes this years Neo a worthy upgrade. Helios went from being one of the loudest gaming laptops to one of the quietest.
I think the slightly lower performance in the framerate testing is the direct result of the Neo having a larger screen. The older model's gpu is driving a smaller 2560x1440 screen whereas the Neo is pushing out 2560 x 1600. That's about 10% more pixels which is roughly equal to the percentage difference in the frame rates between them. At the moment the Neo is also cheaper than I can find the older model.
I think this is a better buy for the price compared to Lenovo LOQ 15 as well as the Nitro 5 (unless with the 3060) especially in the South-East Asian region. The battery too is quite bigger compared to the Legion & the Nitro
@@replymeasappI got the same model, and I'm pretty happy with it. Only big downside of the 4050 model is the 6gb vram prevents effective use of raytracing in the latest games (Darktide for instance) while using higher settings. However, you can max out settings in older games like Crysis Remastered and get good fps. 60-80 in Crysis Remastered with everything set to highest. 120 solid with dips to maybe 80 in Darktide with high settings no RT
Jarrod, 13500HX version of this device is infact a value for money offering, considering the specs and the performance it brings to the table compared to its counterparts in terms of pricing.
I bought this laptop for 860$ in Best buy with i5-13500hx and RTX4050. And the thermals are so good and cpu temps never went beyond 80. In eco moode i get 5 hrs of battery life which is good for gaming laptop i would say
idk if it's the time or the region but the Helios 300 is more expensive (1750USD) than the Neo 16 (1500USD), and i do prefer newer models over older models just for the extended dirver support
Here in Malaysia the Helios 300 (2022) with an rtx 3060 and an i7-12700h with 16gb cost RM7579 (1622 USD) while the Helios neo 16 with the rtx 4050 and the i5-1300HX with 8GB RAM is RM4484 which is (960USD). There's a huge difference here in Malaysia and the Helios neo 16 might be the one for me.
the one u r getting @960$ comes with i5 processor ,500gb ssd, rtx4050 and 8gb ram thats why its cheaper ...the laptop shown in this video comes with i7 processor, 16bg ram and 1tb ssd and rtx 4060
@@Vitaminprotein7 nah man the one I'm talking is the one with i5 13500HX and 16gb ddr5 ram 1tb storage I think 🤔 and rtx 4050 maxed out one and it's fucking 1300 dollars
@@shoryasingh1192 I was talking to that Malaysian guy.. And the unit which u r talking about i5processor, 16gb ram, rtx4050 comes with 500gb ssd in India with a price tag of 1lakh around
@Arnav-iu6oy so far so good....I do stuff like video rendering and all, and the device is pretty lit...my one almost never goes above 80 degrees....the thermals are pretty good. As for the games, I don't know much...since I don't do that very often
@replymeasapp i haven't faced any cons with mine...I don't think you will regret what it delivers at the price point. Unless, you do love any other laptop at maybe, a different price point.
Unfortunately newbie buyers don't understand that it's not a fair representation to include frame gen FPS results on such a graph, so we just don't go there.
Hey there thanks for the vid! I recently purchased this laptop with the i5 13500HX and RTX 4050 configuration for around 80,000 Rupees (Roughly 950 dollars). At this pricepoint i could not find anything near to this, at least here in India.
@@arnabchowdhury7229 not noticeable in regular usage. I actuallly havent seen the screen go full black lol. There is a review from notebookcheck if you are interested to look at it in detail. They have the rtx 4060 version as well as the one i got, the rtx 4050 + i3 13500HX version
And please share the problems u might have faced.I think predator sense sucks and installing more games makes it a little by mili seconds slower while booting or doing anything. Is it I or u too facing it.Please let me know
@@priyangshukashyap73 Hey man, I recently installed a new SSD in the 2nd slot and the boot times have actually improved by a lot! The only issue im facing at the moment is some minor hangs after closing valorant. I dont know why it is happening but what ive seen is its due to the nvidia boost / drivers, but it happens rarely. Predator sense im not using anyways since I am happy with the balanced preset and run all games on it.
Waiting for mine to come in. Will be here Wednesday. The one I ordered from best buy has the 1080p camera. Ordered a Samsung 980 2tb m.2 to go with it.
While playing a game it died and not turning on again, tried to remove power etc. it’s totally dead and only 5 months old, I don’t recommend Acer at all
After watching both your videos for this model, I think it really depends on the country ur in. Here in our country (Philippines) the entry helios neo 16 (i5 4050) I got costs 1275 usd. While the last year’s helios 300 (i5 3060 assuming this is the counterpart for the 4050 with both 6gb of vram) costs 1310 usd. So it is actually cheaper here 😅. Think I could also disable LCD overdrive and lower refresh rate to increase battery life. Its just through their respective settings. Our charger brick also is a 230W brick instead of the 330W so more lighter and logical lol. Our camera, according to the acer PH website also said that its 1080p. Overall, both laptops are great, but it all comes down to the price and performance ratio which varies between countries. I got my neo 16 cheaper than the ratio of prices in your country. What are your thoughts though? Thank you Jarrod 😁
How's the temperature while playing games? I'm contemplating buying the helios 16 i9 4070 or legion 5i pro i7 3070 ti. The legion is more expensive by 107. 67 USD (Php 6k).
@@raspberry8455 I am in the Philippines as well, and just recently bought this laptop for 106.000 PHP (approx 1900 USD) - this variant includes an Intel i9 13900HX, 32GB DDR5 5600mhz, and a Geforce RTX 4070, plus you're getting a free Predator gaming chair as well as a mouse and keyboard bundle. I personally think that its the best value your money.
@@raspberry8455fps games average around 70-80 on performance mode wjich for me is decent. Im not sure on AAA games. U can go back at jarrods video for temps on this model.
Neo 16 is not giving proper performance because of less wattage usage in games in future updates it will go to 140 tgp usage and then it will become a beast laptop
Hi Jarrod! I have concern regarding with this laptop model, do you recommend it over other rtx 4060 laptop? Actually i'm eyeing on other brands that have the same gpu but different cpu like aorus, msi and asus tuf. (All of the 4 brands i mentioned have the same price here in my country, that's why i'm taking a hard time choosing from those 4) It seems that Ryzen 7 7735hs processors tends to run hot and has higher temperatures compared to 13th and 12th gen intel. Does this predator helios neo 16 really improved compared to previous models? That i wouldn't worry about build quality and other issues in the long run? Considering it also has Liquid Metal, i'm kinda worried if it will pumpout sooner or later. (Don't wanna waste money and i'm under a budget + i prefer 4060 gpus) Thanks Jarrod!
7735HS is Zen3+, so probably more comparable to 12th gen, personally I wouldn't care about heat in a specific model, I'd just look at the performance difference. 4060 can run most games pretty well today.
If the power brick is not worth it to use, then what power consumption is needed for this laptop to run smoothly? Planning to use type c as charging. Thanks!
i got it with i5 13500hx rtx 4050 and its a beast rtx 4050 laptop without any doubt. i have no issues with it except the heavy weight. thermals and battery backup are pretty good. i don't know what is happening with you with this model. maybe you should try the i5 13500hx with rtx 4050 model.
I just got this laptop myself, Year End Sales Promotion, RM 3,969 ($849.35), which is a steal for me. It's the Intel Core i5 13500HX and RTX 4050. Considering I got a good deal out of it, I'm not complaining, honestly.
@@noobgenji I normally play my games in either Balance mode or Performance mode (there are four settings when plugged in: Quiet, Balance, Performance, and Turbo). I played Cyberpunk 2077 in Balance mode, and the fans aren't that loud, and the temperatures are great (hovering around late 70c to 80c-ish, but that would depends on the games you're playing and the graphical setting you set. I generally play medium to high, on some occasion ultra) but with performance mode the fans are a tad bit loud but you gain extra performance due to that and cooler temperature, however the upper part of the keyboard above can get a little warm after a few of hours of gameplay.
@@BangJeann I can't remember since I've uninstalled the game some time ago, but I played with high settings with DLSS set to quality and frame generation on, I can comfortably get more than 60 fps. I think around the 70, 80, 90-ish mark. But just so you know you can max out that game and play it comfortable with no problem at all so you don't have to worry about it. But I tend to play games in Balanced mode because I don't like loud fans, but with performance, expect some FPS boots.
Where I live, helios 300 still costs a bomb and the neo 16 is just way cheaper. Despites all the downgrades mentioned here, it is no brainer not to go for a cheaper one. I just hope it turns out well in the long run, that's all.
come on :) i bought the cheap version with 13900hx and 4070 (1700 euro). It's a gaming NB, I don't care about endurance. Always. I've never used the internal speakers on any NB. Neither has the keyboard. And not even the camera :) True, I don't care about LCD brightness either, I have 2x 32" G7 monitors. So I appreciate the double sided ssd and usb-C extra ;)
Most of this problems are not real problems for the audience this laptop is for. I buy a gaming laptop because i plan to game on it. I will never game whithout the battery plugged in, so battery life doesnt matter to me. RGB doesnt matter to me, weight doesnt matter to me, as i know what im getting, and if i wanted a lightweight easy to carry to work pc, none of the gaming laptops would be my pick. One very underated addition is the quiet mode for the neo. I always felt ashamed for the few times i took my helios 300 to the library and was always looked frown upon because even on iddle it is realy loud. The quiet mode, and the less gamy design, is something gamers like me would truly enjoy as it would blend much better into situations where we are not gaming and need just a normal laptop. Overall, this laptop is getting too much hate for no real reason. Its not the first time a previous 70ti outpaces a future gen 60. Everyone knows newer tech costs more even if it isnt necessarily better.
I purchased a Helios Neo 16 nine months ago. Last week, my Samsung 2TB ssd failed. I only use engineering software and don't game. Before the failure, the air coming out of the enclosure openings was warm since purchase but not hot. Anyways, Acer only replaced my SSD since it was under warranty, and couldn't find out the cause. It seems few people have had SSD issues with this model and received "no bootable device" error like me. Could you please advise whether I should use a heatsink for my SSD this time to avoid its failure? If yes, can you recommend a heatsink and thermal pad that would fit in this laptop? I purchased a Crucial 2TB with heat sink, but it didn't fit. Or if necessary, I am willing to just buy a new SSD that comes with a heatsink. By the way, the new SSD they Acer installed for me is Micron.
I don't know understand why the Helios Neo is being compared to the Helios 300. Surely the Helios 300 has been replaced by the Helios 16? I assume this years Legion 5 pro is a down grade on last years legion 7?
What’s the difficulty? He’s doing so, because of the current prices. People take this stuff way too personal. People looking for one in such a price window may find the 300 a better buy.
@nSquared75 sure, let me explain where im coming from, Jarrod himself already highlighted the helios 300 has been replaced by the helios 16/18 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-8esGS5Gr5NE.html . and they are not my words......they're his. so my question is genuine not personal.
Jarrod is comparing the high tier helios 300 from 2022 from a budget version of it. The Acer Helios 16 is the equivalent to the high tier helios 300, not Acer helios neo 16. Acer helios 300 2022 = Acer Helios 16/18 The acer helios NEO 16, Is a new branch of the helios series, a new budget helios series in contrast to the nitro 16/17 series.
@@realnapster1522yep exactly, that's why I was wondering why does he keep comparing neo 16 to the Helios 300 3070ti that has thesame features as the Helios 16.
I'm back not really happy after getting 2 days ago, I guess it can keep you warm if your heater ever goes out in the vehicle. Just watching another movie, damn got a heat warning. I'm damn bloody mad mate.
My new Acer Helios Neo 16 freezes completely twice a day, randomly, even when just casually browsing. The only way out is to hold down the power button to shut off and restart. Any idea what the issue could be? This is happening in both Windows 11 and Windows 10 (I installed in another SSD).
Yeah that's not normal, if it is happening through clean Windows installs my guess is either on a hardware issue, or maybe the overclock to the GPU predator sense is applying is not stable. You could try MSI Afterburner to remove the OC after selecting the higher performance mode. If it's stable, then I'd try and return it because that's annoying to deal with.
Its due to nvidia 40 series driver problem. I bought the same laptop a month ago. The problem went away when I updated to latest nvidia drivers recently
@@alokrawat7532 536.23 version 6/14/23 solved it for you? I have this driver, it still freezes randomly 2 times a day avg, that too when in a near idle kind of state.
Ive got mine freezing as well, its a month old and they dont want to RMA it since its past the 7days policy. still trying to do sorts of troubleshooting though ive done already a lot. it doesnt freeze on my other games though, just a select few, maybe its the ndvidia driver
At the rtx4050 price range, helios Neo16 has the same features as the LOQ15 but better. -cheaper in my region -13th gen cpu -better keyboard (tested them both) -bigger screen -higher refresh rate -better upgradability -noise is now actually equal tothe LOQ -con: that chonky charger Only thing better in LOQ15 is the speaker 😂
@JarrodsTech i m confused between buying Acer Helios Neo 16 2023 165 Hz Display/i9-13900HX/RTX 4060 8GB Graphics/16 GB DDR5 5600 MHz RAM/512GB SSD vs Lenovo Legion Pro 5i 2023 165 Hz Display/i7-13700HX/RTX 4060 8GB graphics/32GB DDR5 4800 MHz RAM/1 TB SSD which one would be better to buy plz recommend me between one of these two thanks #JarrodsTech
Would the Helios 16 non neo with 4080 and 13900hx be a solid option for 2300 bucks? I heard it has liquid metal leaking issues but not sure if this is true.
Hi Jarrod, I am confused for legion 5i pro 2022 i7 12700h rtx 3060 and legion slim 5i 2023 i5 13500h rtx 4060 , which should I buy , I need for content creation and gaming , their prices are same here in India, Please reply??
Just bought my laptop early june and im getting a blue screen with an error code saying WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR. Its a hardware issue apparently but idk whats going on.
3070ti is 256bit and 4060 is 128bit , thats the reason 3070ti peforms a slightly better than 4060 in 1440p and above . but in 1080p 4060 shud perform better and its future proof too
At 1080p it doesn’t but one can say it’s on par. There’s no “future proofing” on budget laptops. If you’re referring to Frame Gen, well FSR exists. 3.0 will also offer Frame Interpolation for nVidia cards.
No sorry, we've only got time for 2023 models going forward. HP didn't send any models last year because they didn't want to for some reason, and they were too expensive for us to buy to review. This should change this year though.
In my opinion this cons were not that major honestly. I guess the price is worth it considering its screen is brighter and the fan noise is reduced. The battery life, weight, webcam, RGB keyboards doesn't really matter much because it's a gaming laptop. It's not supposed to be carried regularly so I guess its fine 😅
here in the philippines the predator helios neo 16 i7 RTX 4060 variant is more cheeper than the predator helios i7 RTX 3060.. predator helios neo 16 i7 RTX 4060 variant is 86k pesos while the predator helios i7 RTX 3060 is 92k pesos.. just convert it into $$ neo 16 is more cheaper here
Got one, but the speaker quality is garbage, my s24 ultra sound output is better, done tweaking but still below standard for me. other than that everything is great. My Zenbook 14 oled - sounds output is awesome HP pavillion - sound ok also My Dell XPS 2011 sound better than Helios Neo 16 Helios neo 16 sound like an entry level mobile phone speaker. Disappointed on this. Better use external speaker. Again ang pangit ng speaker quality para sa akin
Please talk about the HORRIBLE BARREL PLUG on Acer gaming laptops. I just bought a Helios 16 with the 4080 so not the neo, and I Imagine is the same plug, it keeps coming unplugged with the lightest movement. I can never have this on my lap in bed, sometimes even while on the table it can not stay charged because the power comes unplugged so easily. Acer dropped the ball hard
The real bottleneck is the Predator Sense program. The thing is completely broken both 2023 and 2024 versions. You have to keep resetting your laptop just to make it work but when the laptop sleeps or heaven forbid lid down it stops working. It defaults to "Battery Mode." even when you unplug and plug the ac adapter, sure it says its in AC mode but none of its features are working. Acer acknowledges this but they only give you the usual "Reinstall/Update/Etc" spill which I did but it never permanently fixes the problem.
Jarrod Disappointed by you that you don't know difference between "Helios Neo and Helios". This is not a true helios 300 its a tone down version of that with nitro body and Predator screen so ofcourse they will not give all bells and whistles with this model that why it says NEO.... Disappointed...
There's literally a timestamp in the main channel video talking about the differences between them, so I'm disappointed you didn't watch that 😔 I can't go into everything here, this channel is shorter quick videos. IMO I don't care if it's not the proper Helios when it costs more than a 300 right now.
I got it yesterday and this piece of shit is having thermal issues. The CPU hits 100 degrees Celsius lowering the performance. It does not hit even close to 4.5 GHz not to mention the 5 on i7 13700hx
I bought the predator helio neo 16 i7 13th gen, rtx 4050 variant. There is a lenovo LOQ ryzen 7 variant with rtx 4060 in competition with this one as well. Same price segment.
@@abdur9918 power throttle, current throttle, few micro stuttering during gaming, high temperature at high settings, undervolting is locked and cannot undo it.
Now who's giving same performance specs in this budget no 1....which laptop company is giving type c brick for charging laptop no one.... atleast they are giving good budget nd maximum features gaming laptops...did acer should give 240hz type c charging,4090,with metal body...watch Lenovo Asus Dell what are they giving 12th gen 11th still in 2023...with 4050...nobody is matching their price now PPL have to adjust...watch hp omen selling ddr4 12th gen same price is that ok with 300nits crazy man😅😅😅
Since you tested both laptops, I did really like the Helios Neo Keyboard though, is the last year keyboard the same touch and feel? If they are, I can grab the older model then.
Anyone had issues with audio? For example, mic recordings. I sound very muffled when I play back my recordings. My mic is brand new and so is the laptop. My gut is telling me this laptop is faulty 😢
Go for predator if you're a casual gamer who doesn't mind top graphics and just want a future proof laptop Otherwise if youre a hardcore gamer then buy Nitro (but remember to buy a 16gb ram stick cuz the laptop only has single channel 16gb Ram inbuilt)
Update on this:got mine few days ago and it's phenomenal! The thermals are one of the best but sometimes it does crash while playing heavy games cuz fsr the dropbox app messed up the nvidia mux switch but thts easily fixable by disabling Dropbox processes or by clicking on use only discrete GPU while on ac power apart from that this laptop will easily last 3-4 years at this rate
Hi All, I've ordered a helios neo 16 i7 13700hx 16 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD, RTX 4050 6GB 140W laptop for around 1139 USD. Is it worth or do I go for Asus ROG i5 13450hx 16 GB RAm, 1 TB SSD, RTX 4050 6 GB 140W laptop for around 1239 USD. How good is the performance of this i5 Asus compared to i7 Acer? Please someone help out. Im buying for the first time.
@@JarrodsLaptops I also have another question. Do u I should get this rtx 4060 with i7 13gen or the previous model with rtx 3070ti , i7 12gen . The screen of that one is QHD with 240 Hz display. Great in every aspect but then again 40 series have frame generation and can outperform 3070ti with it . Also the 4060 where i live is 100$ cheaper
