Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 Gaming Laptop 13th Gen Intel Core i7 Processor (16 GB/1 TB SSD/Windows 11 Home/NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 4050) PHN16-71, (16") WUXGA Display

I upgraded from a ryzen 3 2200u laptop from 2018 so this CPU is almost 10 times faster in multicore benchmarks as compared to my last laptop. My basic work flow involves lots of CAD and FEM based applications which requires lots of CPU power specially multi-core performance as all these apps are hyper-threaded. Came today and working great so far. Will outline my observations based on different aspects of this laptop.CPU:- Its fast. very fast. The geekbench 6 scores are almost within 95-97% of M2 Pro CPU in Macbook Pro 2022 which costs about 2 lakhs.Display:- Very good. big screen helps a lot in design based works. its is also not reflective.heat:- It has only gotten a bit warm but not overly hot in my use cases. I am not going to play games on it so cant comment on that.Webcam:- Totally disappointed. In the amazon advert it was showing FHD camera but its a 720p crap. The quality is really bad. also no slider to close it.battery:- Well i had kept my expectation at a minimum as I bought it as a portable desktop replacement (I have a dual CPU 44 core, 256 GB ram workstation in office already) when i travel. I expected it to last 2-2.5 hours only but to my surprise even with this heavy configuration its giving me 4-5 hours of battery while doing moderate task(setting up the laptop, installing multiple applications). I feel it can give 6-7 hours on very light workload which is way more than I expected.What i liked the most:- Lots of connectivity options including 3 USB A ports and 2 thunderbolt 4 ports and 1 Full size HDMI port, RJ45 and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. This laptop is simply functional.What I didn't like:- Very bad quality webcam. Speakers are not that impressive but i mostly use headphones so not much of an issue.Will update after a month of uses.Update:- After 3-4 days of general uses there are some observationsBattery:- Was curious and hence run various battery tests to see how it actually performs.Case 1:- Prime Video movie at best quality at 30% brightness(which is actually quiet good for indoor uses) and speakers at 25% volume battery came down from 79 to 60 hence it can play up to 5 hours of video streaming over wifi.Case 2:- Turned off wifi and blutooth and run a 1 hour 1080P 2.5 GB local video clip at the same settings as in last case. battery was down from 84 to just 74. that means it could easily play up to 9 hours of offline video. that is really amazing considering the screen size and CPU. way more than what i expected when i decided to go intel instead of AMD. I was confused between this and HP omen 16 (6800h and 3070ti) which was slightly cheaper at 115000 Rs during the sale. I am so glad i went for this one as i don't play games and for my current workloads it is such a snappy system.In general workloads with wifi on browsing it lasts on average 5 - 6 hours. I dont charge it beyond 85 unless i have to work on heavy modelling works where heavy cpu power is needed. wish there was a switch to turn off battery charging at 85 like in some laptops in this price range.edit:- it does have a battery limiter option inside acer care app. it even works when laptop is off to limit the charge at 80%.edit after 2 weeks.- Laptop was freezing sometimes totally with only mouse working. Looked online and found out that this problem was occurring with all 40 series NVIDIA GPU based laptops. with the latest driver update on 30 May the problem is gone. Also comparing this side by side to my old laptop the importance of a high refresh rate screen becomes apparent. It just feels a lot smoother.

It's been a year now and it works smoothly. The battery life, screen display size, performance and everything else is perfect.

Laptop is good

Good product, good delivery experience

Update:- It has been 2 months, and Acer support has not yet fixed my laptop; they don't even know the cause of the issue. This has been the worst customer support experience I have ever encountered from any company. I have only used my laptop for 10 days, and since then, it has been in their service center. They haven't resolved the problem or provided a replacement. It's evident they don't care about their customers. To make matters worse, their support team and engineers have further worsened the laptop's condition.In conclusion, I strongly advise against choosing Acer; you should consider other companies to avoid risking your hard-earned money_________________________________Screen:Some people may underestimate the resolution of 1980x1200 pixels, but it's important to consider the screen size. This 16-inch laptop offers a pixel density of 142PPI, which is noteworthy (for reference, a 28-inch 4K monitor only has a PPI of 157). If you're looking to play games at high FPS in max. settings, this display is perfect for you.Processor:In my opinion, the i5 13th generation version is the best choice as it surpasses the power of my desktop CPU, the Ryzen 7 5800X. This was quite surprising to me. With this powerful processor, you can perform tasks ranging from 4K video editing to playing AAA title games.Graphics:I opted for the RTX 4050 over the RTX 3060 because of the RTX 4050's superior temperature management and the advantages of DLSS3.Thermals:This laptop boasts exceptional thermal performance. However, in turbo mode, the fans can become quite loud, so it may be necessary to use headphones.Speakers:As expected, laptop speakers are not usually outstanding, and unfortunately, the speakers on this laptop are subpar. They lack sufficient volume, especially when the fans are running at maximum RPM (around 6500-6900 RPM). In such cases, external speakers or headphones are recommended.Pros:- The trackpad is highly responsive and enjoyable to use.- Minimal to no screen bleeding.- Impressive 165 Hz refresh rate.- Brightness of 400 nits.- Battery life during normal use is excellent compared to other gaming laptops.- The combination of the i5 13th gen processor and RTX 4050 graphics is perfect for 1920x1200 resolution. You can play games at maximum settings and still achieve high FPS.- The laptop's thermal management is exceptional.- The RGB keyboard adds a nice aesthetic touch.- Two thunderbolt ports, which is a great feature.Cons:- The speakers are notably poor and lack sufficient volume.- The CPU fan produces a high-pitched sound at idle (1700 RPM), which can be quite annoying, especially in quiet environments.- I am currently experiencing an issue with my laptop. After closing the lid and reopening it after 3-5 minutes, the display does not turn on. I am in communication with Acer customer support, but they lack technical expertise. Even though they offer on-site warranty service, their engineers are not knowledgeable about the issue, and they have asked me to visit their service centre for further inspection. Therefore, it is important to thoroughly test the device during the replacement period, as claiming warranty service can be quite challenging.