Acer Predator Helios 300 G3-571 review – the mid-range Predator gaming laptop

37 Comments

  1. Brian

    May 19, 2017 at 11:05 am

    Did this model really come with a thunderbolt 3 port? Acers says the helios 300 does not have thunderbolt 3.

    • Andrei Girbea

      May 20, 2017 at 4:48 am

      Sorry, that was a mistake on our end,this laptop only get an USB Type-C gen 1 10 Gbps port, so there's no TB3.

      • Danny

        May 25, 2017 at 4:40 am

        Can you connect an external display via this port?

      • Andrei Girbea

        May 25, 2017 at 5:27 am

        Yes, but is not going to support 4K at 60 Hz. You can however use the HDMI 2.0 port for that, as far as I can tell.

  2. mystiq

    May 20, 2017 at 7:28 am

    thanks for the review, andrei, can you show us interlnal component pic like thermal and fans

    • Andrei Girbea

      May 20, 2017 at 2:03 pm

      Not this time, sry, wasn't allowed to open it up.

      • mystiq

        May 27, 2017 at 11:11 am

        okay, so the cooling system on helios 300 was very bad ?

  3. johnsahiz

    May 21, 2017 at 12:54 pm

    I wish manufacturers made less models but of better quality.

    You can check whats inside here:
    youtube.com/watch?v=EhbzjRCKQSk

    The sound is slightly worse because speakers are not put towards the front :(

    So, let's recap:
    gets hotter than the VX, gets louder than the VX, it's not lighter than the VX… why should one get the helios (with a 1050ti) instead of the VX? Not even the screen looks better: the VX with IPS scores around 55% sRGB, same blacks/contrast, and doesnt use PWM (so less color accuracy but neither of them would be good for photo editing, so…)

    The Helios only make sense if you want the 1060, but on that level more reliable brands could be considered. Acer so far made a meh impression at gaming laptops… look at the predators: bulky, super heavy and… CPU reach 100°C after 15 min of CoD. But hey, you can replace the DVD drive with a third fan that does absolutely nothing! :D (true story)

    • Andrei Girbea

      May 21, 2017 at 4:03 pm

      Heh, so not the same speakers, that's why they sound poorer. I agree there's little reason to get the 1050Ti over the VX15, although we don't know how much this Helios is going to cost and that could make a difference. The price for the 1060 variant in the US is pretty hard to beat at $1099 though. If willing to spend $100-$200 more there are better options, but at that price range I don't think there are. Well, except some options on sales, of course.

      I don't agree with your general remark on the Predators though. The Predator 15 and 17s aren't bad choices, for the budget. Repasting helps a lot, although some might argue that the triangular CPU base might not be the best idea and one of the reasons of those high CPU temps. Yes, you can find overall better laptops if you're willing to spend a little more on the Alienwares and perhaps the Asus ROGs, but I guess Acer went on the competitive pricing route and had to cut some corners to get there.

      • KAMALESH BHARADWAJ

        September 20, 2017 at 3:05 am

        Hi
        How does this laptop fare against Acer Nitro 5 ? Both are available @India with 1050Ti, 128 ssd and i5 7th gen for nearly same price.

        Need to decide.

      • Andrei Girbea

        September 20, 2017 at 6:24 am

        They're very similar, the choice between them is a matter of taste and which design lines you like better. The panels on the Helios should be a little brighter as well.

  4. Jason LIn

    May 23, 2017 at 7:35 pm

    Assuming my budget was high enough to purchase the Acer V15 Nitro Black Edition, should I go for that laptop instead of this laptop?

  5. Morcen

    May 28, 2017 at 3:35 am

    Should I choose this laptop or Lenovo legion Y720?

  6. Ojas

    June 1, 2017 at 1:37 am

    What should I do if I have purchased the Helios 300.

  7. Watson

    June 5, 2017 at 10:16 am

    Which one do you think is better, this or the MSI GS63VR Stealth, if price was not an issue?

    • Andrei Girbea

      June 5, 2017 at 3:30 pm

      The MSI is a thinner and lighter laptop. I'd probably pick it over the Helios, but the GS63 has some quirks as well, read our review here: https://www.ultrabookreview.com/12557-msi-gs63vr-review/

      • Watson

        June 5, 2017 at 4:24 pm

        How about the older Predator 15 with similar specs?

        microcenter.com/product/478220/Predator_15_G9-593-72VT_156_Gaming_Laptop_Computer_-_Black

      • Andrei Girbea

        June 6, 2017 at 5:08 am

        That one is chubbier and heavier, but runs cooler and gets better speakers. Not sure about the screen on that particular version, you should read some reviews. Overall, if portability is not a main concern, I'd probably get that one over the Helios.

  8. Paul De Leon

    June 6, 2017 at 11:24 am

    I'm kinda hard to choose from
    this 1060 helios vs asus gl553 1050ti vs dell inspiron 7567 1050ti.
    can you give me your suggestions? thanks

    • Carlos

      June 29, 2017 at 11:50 pm

      Same question here! Those 3 plus the Y520 1050Ti. Which is the best choice?
      About predator helios drivers, i'm reading many complainings…

  9. Oliver

    June 17, 2017 at 5:53 am

    What's the screen refresh rate??

  10. Doctor Spaghetti

    June 22, 2017 at 12:45 pm

    Could you tell me if it is compatible with a wacom pen and touch? This laptop seems to have everything I need but I want to make sure it can run my drivers and whatnot! I'll be back with more questions as I am really looking into this device.

    • Andrei Girbea

      June 22, 2017 at 12:53 pm

      It should work fine with any USB connected Wacom tablets that support Windows.

      • Doctor Spaghetti

        July 8, 2017 at 9:01 pm

        Alright! Thank you!

  11. Lagrange

    August 8, 2017 at 1:39 pm

    I was wondering what did you take into consideration while creating that custom display profile?

    I don't know much about that sorta thing but, I guess you that's the closest you managed to get it to sRGB standards?

    Only asking this because I plan on using this laptop for basic Adobe editing software and gaming, and can't actually afford an external monitor at the moment.

    Thanks!

    • Andrei Girbea

      August 8, 2017 at 3:18 pm

      The custom profile display is what the Spyder4 creates with a calibration run. As far as I understand, it tries to bring gray levels and colors as close as possible to a standard. If you plan to use this professionally, you'll probably want to buy your own calibration device. I'd go for an X-rite i1, those are better than the Spyder.

  12. Ryan

    August 20, 2017 at 11:49 am

    what kind of fans does this use?

  13. Prithvijit Majumder

    October 14, 2017 at 3:15 am

    A total DISAPPOINTMENT from Acer. As with the lowest graphics settings I am getting FPS below 120.

    My benchmark for testing is by playing Counter Strike : Global Offensive.

    I am getting 80 ~ 120 FPS with the game graphics settings as Aspect Ratio – 4:3, Resolution – 800×600, Rest of the Visual settings as lowest.

    I tried to overclock the CPU and GPU but the FPS is still dropping below 100.

    I have also disabled the GameDVR settings for MS – Xbox.

    Such an over-rated laptop but actually is a shit-box.

    Please don't buy this. It's a total waste of our hard earned money.

  14. MarioWagant

    October 31, 2017 at 9:28 am

    I just have bought brand new Helios 300 (i7 , 16GB, gtx1060, M.2 + hdd). Unfortunately U didn't wrote info that batery is getting low while playing when pluged to electric supply. Around 20% for every hour of play.
    Its HUGE info for gamers because after 4 hours this laptop is useless for gaming pluged in to electic supply!
    Info confiremd in Acer Service. They didn't even want 2 see it just reply with that info.
    I've got different gaming laptops but never seen something like this.
    Athout laptop iś great even its loud like hell!

    • Andrei Girbea

      October 31, 2017 at 2:26 pm

      Hah, that didn't happen on my unit and shouldn't happen on any laptop. The Helios comes with a 180 W charger and that's plenty enough to power an i7 + 1060. I find it hard to believe Acer Service actually acknowledge that as a known issue.

  15. Potato Master

    November 29, 2017 at 4:45 pm

    What is The screens refresh rate???

  16. Shekhar

    March 3, 2018 at 8:07 am

    Acer Predator Helios 300 and Lenovo Legion Y720 which one is better for 3d modeling softwares?
    Is ther any better option under 1300$?

  17. Yuwin

    October 23, 2018 at 9:35 am

    Sir i had acer predator helios 300 G3-571, it is posible to intall the SSD VNAND PRO 970 NVMe M.2?

  18. MJ

    December 8, 2022 at 5:43 am

    Are you sure this has a bluetooth? I tried to connect wireless headphones and I could not; no bluetooth option appeared on control bar. I ran the troubleshooter and it said that I did not have bluetooth on the computer and needed to get an wireless adapter.

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