Laptop is in a weird spot where it's named as a Predator so the most premium version of a gaming laptop but
thin and performance limited like a non-gaming laptop. Then it weight just 2.2kgs but the charger is half that.
It's a weird hybrid thing where most people would rather buy a full fledged proper heavy gaming laptop or
buy one of those newer thin laptops with good enough dGPU for porability. This laptop is in a very weird spot
and maybe that's something you're after.
This is not a laptop for hardcore performance chasing gamers. Look elsewhere if you
want that.
Good to see a different take on a laptop design where everything has been spread out in a square shape and
thinned down with metal parts all over.
OLED screen and low weights are a big win but that thin design comes at a cost: The cost of performance.
CPU performance is quite weak due to bad thermal design from 10-20% lower than other 275HX and can safely
be called a 255HX in performance.
There are a lot of CPU problems that can be solved by just limiting the CPU performance harshly, we just
don't have the data of what will happen if this is applied. All I want to say is don't expect the
performance you see online to be your real expereince.
To use the laptop in a reasonable fan noise performance mode which will limit the CPU+GPU to only 120W, 35W+85W in balanced or more CPU or more GPU heavy.
The 255HX 5060 suffers from the same problem and just like this laptop can't push more than 120W total even though they are lower tier CPU/GPU. Everything points to the fact that this model is incapable of running 275HX+5070 in this chasis and something lower like the 255HX+5060 which I have not yet looked into, might need to be checked.
Who is this laptop for? Someone who needs portability, good OLED display, light gaming, so someone who is in design but AI took your job anyways so does it even matter.
You can't use the CPU and GPU together to their full potential, either you use GPU only tasks or CPU only tasks and need to move the laptop from time to time...
I was wrong. The 255HX 5060 has the exact same problems. I think it's for no one, that's it.
If it's lower tier 255HX 5060 variant is avaialble, this one is not needed because it clearly can't perform like that. I guess this was a complete waste of time and I should look into the 255HX 5060 variant of this laptop actually.
Cautions: VVI before you buy
The only reason to get this machine is simply if it starts costing around other 255HX/8940/8945HX 5060 laptops with an OLED screen.
There are many reasons not to buy an Acer
especially in countries like India where you can't return in
and certainly never to buy it without three years ADP (which they don't give)
and even less reason to buy
them without extended warranty(which they don't give if you don't directly buy at inflated price from them).
Note for India: Acer India only gives extended warranty as of
writing this, only when you buy it
directly from them and not from Amazon/Flipkart in India.
The fan sounds irritatingly high pitched loud that will be a deal breaker for many. Please take a listen to
it before making your decision. It's not the loudness which is to be expected but it's the high pitched
whining sound that just can't be ignored.
Body although being metal and thin and light is a bit too soft so you have to use it carefully to ensure it
lasts long.
If your house isn't grounded properly, any metallic laptop will shock you.
OLED on this is very reflective so you should use it indoors or adjust environment so you get diffused light on the laptop screen.
It's mandatory to prop the laptop up while gaming. The GPU otherwise might hit a bottleneck, the CPU is hitting it in all cases anyways.
Turbo mode you have to use as in performance mode the GPU is limited to 80W.
Extra Notes/To confirm later/FAQ for people who can't find something on it.
Please comment on youtube video if you have more.
For some reason in Excel test this particular 275HX performs better than other laptops' 275HX when it
fails in all other tests. Need more data on this to give a final report.
CPU & GPU stress test caused the GPU to only be near 90W. This is very surprising as we have seen higher
values in other laptops.
Since the CPU and GPU are so heavily thermally limited, a
After you buy it and you can't return it.
Check Acer Mega Blog and if you can still get extended ADP
directly from Acer, get it. It will also have some other questions that people have from time to time, do
go through it.
Remember you don't have a very powerful machine, it's heavily thermally restricted meaning if you push it too much, bad stuff will happend. Try some tuning I did for Lenovo laptops and limit the temperatures harshly on the CPU mainly but also on the GPU and be happy with what game you
Pros/Cons
Pros
Many great things to say about the laptop's body:
Body is very very thin.
Plenty of ports(5 USB ports is great) including a micro SD Card slot.
Rare feet at the bottom provides good resistance to the laptop and also slight elivation.
Laptop can also be closed and opened with one hand quite easily.
Top Cover is made of metal which feels great and even has a slightly business like vibe ignoring the
logo.
The bottom is also made of metal and also has large intaake vents for air.
No sharp edges
The laptop weight 2.150kgs which is light considering it's a 16" gaming laptop.
CPU
Out of the box set at 85/140W
Since single core performance didn't require a lot of power/thermal management the single core scores
are pretty good.
GPU
5070:
Is full powered 5070 at 115W
Display: OLED Display
Narrow Bezels.
100% DCI-P3, 240Hz, 1600p, 16" OLED. Lot of things to love here.
Even though it's only 400nits, it's still pretty good when used normally.(It's an OLED glare display
so it will feel lower than a same IPS panel)
Two RAM and Two SSD slots.
Neutral
Neutral-Good
Keyboard feels pretty good.
Touchpad's tacticle feedback is quite decent.
Included SSD has great speeds and also has thermal module on it which causes the low temperatures on the
drive.
Neutral-Doesn't Matter
Usable camera and microphone.
Logo lights up on the back and RGB keyboard.
Forget battery life
Neutral-Bad
Laptop can't be opened to full 180°C mainly if someone plans to use the laptop with an external keybaord
while trying to keep the screen close(Very wierd case, I know).
Large Arrow keys and no large 0 numpad key
Power key on keybaord is a bad choice as in the long run fixing the power key will mean replacing the whole
keyboard.
Laptop sound is sort of muffled and cardboard boxy sound.
Wrist area gets slightly warm.
Cons
Fans have a high-pitched irritating whine rather than a more acceptable whoosing sound seen in other
laptops. This will be be a deal breaker for many as people expect loud noises butt not irritaing loud
noises.
Some bad things about the build however:
The rigidity of the device is quite poor. It twists easily and makes creaking sounds.
275HX CPU peforms 22% better in other laptops and even is beat by 255HX on other laptops.
Even the 8940HX is 11% better than the 275HX on this. The 9955HX performs 28% better.
275HX being an Intel CPU drops to 88% of it's perofrmance when compared to it's short burst score.
Taking long term tests into account this CPU in other laptops can perform 25% better which is not
something to overlook. At this point calling it a 255HX might be better.
275HX heats upto 105°C while playing a CPU heavy game like CS which might be fine for the CPU but not
for the components
beside it.
1% lows in CPU heavy games is too low to have a stable experience. I have to find some reviewer who
actually plays games properly to point this out but I saw it in the given data.
GPU:
For some reason this 275HX 5070 can be beat in Forza Horizon 5 by ROG Strix' 255HX 5060 and the
Legion Pro 7 with 275HX 5070 is 32% faster with the exact same specs.
The same behaviour is repeated with Delta Operations and the 1% are so low that it feels stuttery to
play. Enabling DLSS gets rid of some issues but brings it's own issues.
Trying to enable DLSS on Battlefield 6 High, in just the training area adds stuttering and jitterness
that is horrible to play with. This is even worse when going on Ultra.
Even though these are GPU heavy games it's actully the thermal throttling CPU that is causing the
bottleneck as the GPU is running at it's full clocks. I put it in GPU section because people should
not assume that GPU heavy games are fine with a lower tier CPU or a CPU not performing as it should.
Specs/Thermals
275HX 5070 Stress Tests.
CPU Only: CPU starts at 150W at ?W and then drops to around 90W and after 10mins of CPU only stress test
the CPU was 98°C
CPU GPU both: CPU consumes only 30W and stays near 74°C. 5070 is 77°C at just 90W??? This is surprising and
confusing because we have seen the 275HX overhating in other laptops but this never affected the GPU power
draw. This needs to be checked in details.
35W + 85W in Performance mode. You have to use Turbo Mode to use the GPU in full.
GPU only stress tests:
105W 79°C 2.2Ghz
80W 75°C 2.8Ghz
Benchmarks
CPU
275HX:
R23(10mins run): 2217 30207 (Same CPU can go as high as 37000 in other systems.)
R15:
Starts at 5133 drops to 4516 so abut 12% performnace lost in longer tests.
Other Review:
R20: 860 13456
R23: 2225 34539
C2024: 136 1873
GPU
5070:
3D Mark Timespy Graphics: ~14,000
Gaming
Note: 1% is probably due to the struggling CPU that's why I included it.
CPU Heavy: 1080p Average 1%
CS2: 280 122
DOTA2: 218 95
APEX: 191 149
LOL: 477 251
CPU Heavy: 1440p Average 1%
CS2: 198 104
DOTA2: 215 95
APEX: 139 110
LOL: 421 146
GPU Heavy: 1080p Average 1%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 167 79
Cyberpunk 2077 117 79
Mount & Blade 2 209 109
Monster Hunter: Wildlands 157 65
Assassin's Creed: Shadow 64 46
GPU Heavy: 1440p Average 1%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 114 55
Cyberpunk 2077 77 62
Mount & Blade 2 136 94
Monster Hunter: Wildlands 110 46
Assassin's Creed: Shadow 57 47
