One of the laptops we got to check out from CES 2024 is the Acer Swift X 14 – which you haven’t read, can click here. Moving on to Acer’s Gaming Division, they have the Predator Helios 18 and while it isn’t anything too fancy per se – here’s what we noticed when we had the time to play with it. Here’s the Predator Helios 18 First Look.

CES 2024 Predator Helios 18 First Look

Improved Design Cues

For the most part, the Predator Helios 18 looks almost identical to its predecessor – but there are some improved design cues which we noticed. For one, the Predator Logo RGB is a lot different and they have gone for this futuristic line-style light, which also happens to be multi-colour capable.

Following that, at the bottom, we also notice a new RGB setup with this infinity mirror feel to it – one of the nicest I have seen in a laptop and very beautiful as you’d find on the tail of a tasteful supercar.

The keyboard has some layout changes and in fact, it has a more squared-off key design – which many might find enjoyable to play games and type on.

An 18-inch Mini-LED Display?

Not the first time we have seen a Mini-LED Display on a Predator laptop, however, if we were to recall – this is kind of the first Helios to tout one. What you see here is an 18-inch monstrosity with a 16:10 aspect ratio MiniLED display with a crazy 250Hz refresh rate. It does seem like a delight to play games on but not the kind of laptop I’d wanna bring everywhere I go – given how heavy it is as well. But that 18” display sure is ready to immerse gamers into their choice of games.

MagSpeed and MagClick is Back

We don’t quite remember which Predator laptop it was to tout the MagClick switches – in fact, it’s the one with the slidable keyboard back in 2019. After that, we have not seen the MagClick keyboard make its appearance on any other laptop. Until this Predator Helios 18 happened. As always, it’s only the WASD keys that are swappable, however, you can switch between, what Acer calls it the “Race themed” – MagSpeed or the “Tactical” MagClick. Which most definitely is going to depend on the type of games you play.

Hardware

As for the hardware, and given how thick this laptop is – it comes in hot and loaded with the latest 14th Generation Intel Core i9 Processors, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 and so on. Not sure what the storage configuration and RAM is going to be – but if it’s the same as the Helios we checked out a while ago – then expect either a choice between RAID configuration and DDR5 RAMs.

Conclusion

Big gaming laptops seem to be the trend once again – which is why we see the Predator Helios 18 in existence. While it isn’t many users’ cup of tea, there’s always a niche this laptop aims to please. It sure is heavy for us, but again to that certain someone, it’s the raw firepower they’d want to bring anywhere they go. So, this laptop may not be for me, but it’s made for that certain someone who screams at the top of their lungs while they win the game in all that glory. If you are looking for something small, and tactical – Predator made the Helios Neo 16 – which you can read about here.


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