This review is an in-depth comparison of the 2018 Acer Predator Helios 300 and the new generation from 2019. Both laptops are well known for the best price-to-performance ratio out there, but buying which one actually pays off better? In this review, you will find the answer, so before you buy take a few minutes to read this comparison to the end and make a wise choice.
General Info
| Helios 300 2019 | Helios 300 2018 | |
| $ | CHECK PRICE | CHECK PRICE |
| Series | Predator Helios 300 | Predator Helios 300 |
| Brand | Acer | Acer |
| Type | Gaming Laptop | Gaming Laptop |
| Weight | 2.7 Kg | 2.5 Kg |
| OS | Windows 10 Home 64 Bit | Windows 10 Home |
| Display | 15.6 Inch | 15.6 Inch |
| Type | Laptop | Laptop |
If it comes to design the 2018 model is black with red accents. The lid is made of metal – it has a brushed aluminum texture, 2 red lines, the Predator logo in the middle, and a nice-looking strip on the top. The deck is metal with brushed aluminium texture as well, and around the edges of the laptop, you can find silver trim. The bottom is made of plastic that feels very solid. On the back, it has one massive red exhaust, but actually, only one side is functional.
The new generation keeps the same theme and builds quality with a few minor changes. You have a metal lid, this time with a matt texture. The lines on the lid are blue and the logo in the middle has a blue stroke which is backlit. The deck is metal with a matt texture and you can find the same silver trim as in the old model, but only on the front of the laptop. The bottom is made of plastic that feels solid, but not as much as in the old model. The back in the new Predator looks awesome. we love the triangular exhausts with blue heat sinks inside.
Display
| Helios 300 2019 | Helios 300 2018 | |
| Display Type | Anti-glare | IPS Display |
| Display Size | 15.6 Inches | 15.6 Inches |
| Display Resolution | 1920 x 1080 Pixels | 1920 x 1080 Pixels |
| Display Touchscreen | No | No |
| Colour | Abyssal Black | Obsidian Black |
The display in 2018 Predator is a 1080p 144Hz IPS panel with a 7ms response time. The G-Sync is not available here, but the display is fairly smooth and fast enough for gaming nowadays. The 2019 model has also a 1080p 144Hz IPS panel, but with a 3ms response time. Despite it doesn’t support G-Sync we find it one of the smoothest and fastest 144Hz panels that we’ve seen so far. It’s better than older Predator’s display with no doubt, but it’s actually competitive to the display of $600 more expensive Asus Scar 3.
The colour accuracy is almost the same for both laptops, however, the older model has warmer tones and it’s slightly dimmer, while the new model looks like it’s calibrated perfectly since the colours look more real. It can reproduce 97% of the sRGB colour gamut, 75% of AdobeRGB, and the brightness is 315 nits. For the 2018 model, the SRGB colour coverage is 98%, 76% for AdobeRGB, and the brightness is 300 nits.
Specification
| Helios 300 2019 | Helios 300 2018 | |
| Processor Name | Intel Core i7-9750H (9th Gen) | Intel Core i5 (8th Gen) |
| Graphics | NVIDIA Geforce GTX 1660 Ti | NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1650 Ti |
| Dimensions | 390 x 266 x 26.75 mm | 390 x 266 x 26.75 mm |
| RAM | 16 GB DDR4 RAM | 8 GB DDRR RAM |
| Storage | 1 TB / 256 SSD | 1 TB / 256 SSD |
OK, let’s quickly mention other configurations and prices of both laptops. There is not much of it for the 2018 model. You can get it with GTX 1050Ti, GTX 1060, and various storage and RAM options. we’ve got the configuration with GTX 1060 which costs $999 and from time to time it goes on sale for 899, so we think that it’s a good option if you’re tight on the budget.
However, we highly recommend saving up a few bucks more to buy the new generation. You can choose between the GTX 1660Ti, RTX 2060, or RTX 2070 Max-Q. It’s also available with different storage and RAM options. The most popular $1200 model is what we’ve got here and as we know from the previous generations.
Performance
| Helios 300 2019 | Helios 300 2018 | ||
| Clockspeed | 4.5 Ghz | 2.3 Ghz | |
| Graphic Processor | GeForce | GeForce | |
| Processor | GTX 1660 Ti | GTX 1650 Ti | |
| Graphic Ram | 6 GB | 4 GB |
Alright, let’s talk about the performance where things get interesting. It is certain that the new model will perform better since it comes with a more powerful CPU and GPU, but the results of our tests clearly show that it has no limitations while the older model can not use its full potential due to performance loss caused by thermal throttling. The 2019 Predator is insanely fast right out of the box thanks to an efficient cooling system which allows maintaining the maximum 4GHz multi core clock speed for i7-9750H and 1.94GHz for GTX 1660Ti while gaming. The 2018 model ran at 3.6 to 3.7GHz on the i7-8750H and 1.85GHz on GTX 1060.
Multimedia
| Helios 300 2019 | Helios 300 2018 | ||
| Web-cam | 720p HD Webcam | HD Webcam | |
| Speakers | Dual Speakers | Built-in Dual Speakers | |
| Microphone Jack | Yes | Yes | |
| Wireless Lan | IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac | IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac | |
| Bluetooth | v5.0 | v5.0 | |
| Memory Slots | Yes | Yes | |
| HDMI Ports | Yes | Yes | |
| Ethernet Ports | Yes | Yes |
If it comes to sound the new model is the winner. It has noticeably more bass than the 2018 model and many other gaming laptops. we were surprised how clear was the sound. On stock settings it has a lot of detail and depth, but if you want you can equalize it in Waves MaxxAudio software. The older Predator on stock settings sounds more flat compared to the new generation, but you can use the Dolby Audio software to equalize it a bit.
Battery
| Helios 300 2019 | Helios 300 2018 | |
| Battery Cell | 4 Cell | 4 Cell |
| Battery Type | Lithium-Ion Polymer | Lithium-Ion Polymer |
| Power Supply | 180 W AC Adapter | 135 W AC Adapter |
| Battery Life | Upto 7 hours | Upto 7 hours |
As for the battery life we managed to use the old model for 4 hours and 10 minutes when browsing the web and doing light productivity work. When the gaming battery died after 1 hour. The new model has been significantly improving if it comes to battery life – it ran 6 hours when light work, and 1,5 hour when gaming.
Which is better!
Alright, it seems to be everything that you need to know to wisely choose one of these laptops, but before we finish let us share our closing thoughts. So if it comes to the old model we think that despite high temperatures it’s still a very good choice if you can’t really save up $200 more for the new generation. It’s very hard to find a laptop with GTX 1060, i7-8750H processor, 16 gigs of RAM, and 144Hz display for only $1000. And if you are lucky you can grab it for $900 on sale.
Since the new model comes with more powerful hardware now, the 2018 Predator became a budget option which still offers much more than other brand’s gaming laptop in this price point. It has a premium metal build, excellent display and it performs fast enough to play current AAA titles on high settings at smooth 60 frames per second.
On the other hand, we have a new generation which is basically much better in every aspect. It costs $1200, but you can get it for only 1000 when it’s on sale. Besides the price, the biggest advantage of the 2019 Helios 300 is the performance.
