Promo €2199 Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 PHN18-71-004, powerful 18″ 2.5K 165Hz i7-14700HX RTX 4070 SSD 2 TB RAM 32 GB multimedia gaming laptop
Our review of the Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 PHN18-71-004 (NH.QR5EF.004)
A very large, comfortable 18-inch multimedia gaming laptop, theAcer Predator Helios Neo 18 PHN18-71-004 (NH.QR5EF.004) to the very large 2TB RAID 0 SSD storage that boosts responsiveness is powerful thanks to its good amount of 32GB RAM and its hybrid Intel Core i7-14700HX Raptor Lake Refresh processor that accelerates processing. This is also the case for the high-end GeForce RTX 4070 ray tracing NVIDIA Ada Lovelace graphics card suitable for recent games. This versatile black High Definition High Fidelity Windows 11 laptop designed for gaming and creating is also equipped with a backlit keyboard and connectivity including USB-C Thunderbolt 4 and Wi-Fi 6E.
Features of the Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 PHN18-71-004 (NH.QR5EF.004)
| Screen(s) | 18” QHD 2.5K LED IPS 165Hz 16/10 100% DCI-P3 Low Blue Light (2560×1600, Anti-Glare/Matte) |
| Processor | Intel Core i7-14700HX Raptor Lake Refresh (20 cores: 8P 2.1 GHz / 8E 1.5 GHz, 55W) |
| Installed RAM (max) | 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR5 5600MHz (64GB), 2 slots (occupied) |
| Graphics card | NVIDIA Ada Lovelace GeForce RTX 4070 8GB GDDR6 dedicated (2080MHz, 140W), Intel Iris Xe integrated into the processor and Optimus |
| Storage | 2 TB SSD: 2 x 2 TB SSD (NVMe PCIe 4.0 x4) in RAID 0 |
| Connectivity | 2 USB 3.2 (Gen2) + 1 USB 3.2 (Gen1) + 2 USB-C Thunderbolt 4, HDMI 2.1, microSD card reader |
| Network | Wi-Fi 6E ax (2×2, Killer 1675i), Bluetooth 5.3 + Gigabit Ethernet (2.5 Gb/s) |
| Backlit keyboard | Yes |
| Numeric keypad | Yes |
| Windows Hello | – |
| Audio system | 2 Nahimic speakers |
| Operating system | Windows 11 64bit |
| Announced autonomy / Battery | 3 hours / Li-Polymer 4 cells 90Whr (330W adapter) |
| Weight / Dimensions (mm) | 3.4 Kg / 404 x 311.6 x 27.1-29.1 |
The Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 PHN18-71-004 (NH.QR5EF.004) vs. the competition
The Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 PHN18-71-004 (NH.QR5EF.004) is currently listed in promotion at Acer France and offers a configuration/price ratio attractive for its category where it is one of the least expensive to offer in such a large format an SSD storage of such a large capacity as well as RAM with a processor (also recent) and a graphics card as powerful, a screen with such a high frequency and definition with such faithful colors but also Windows provided.
If the Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 PHN18-71-004 (NH.QR5EF.004) does not meet all your criteria, you will find on our guide Gaming laptop other configurations to play with a similar budget. With the same budget, favor the model that has the most powerful graphics card, it is the one that will have the most impact on performance.
Need a student laptop? Check out our guide
Chassis, connectivity, screen of the Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 PHN18-71-004 (NH.QR5EF.004)
It adopts a clearly gamer look with its thick black design with angular lines and connectivity positioned partly at the back.
Its cooling is ensured by 2 AeroBlade 3D 5th generation fans, 5 heat pipes and air vents.
The connectivity integrated into this multimedia creator gaming laptop will delight demanding users in this area because it consists of 2 USB-C Thunderbolt 4, Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 6E ax wireless modules for communicating and connecting remotely, Ethernet and audio ports, a practical HDMI video output for easy connection to a TV or monitor for example, but also 3 USB 3.0 (compatible with USB 2.0) ensuring transfers up to 10 times faster than USB 2.0 if USB 3.0 peripherals are connected.
When the keys are difficult to discern, turning on the chiclet keyboard backlight is a good option.
Gamers will appreciate that the screen adopts a frequency of 165Hz because it clearly improves the overall fluidity including in games compared to the standard 60Hz.
As a bonus, thanks to its IPS DCI-P3 specifications, the screen benefits from wide vertical and horizontal viewing angles as well as color accuracy well above average.
Creators will appreciate this, especially since the screen adopts a 2.5K definition higher than Full HD, ideal for High Definition content, while its 16/10 format displays more information on the height than the classic 16/9.
As it is coated with an anti-reflective coating, the screen also ensures better visibility than a glossy panel in a bright environment (e.g. outdoors).
Performance, battery life of the Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 PHN18-71-004 (NH.QR5EF.004)
The Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 PHN18-71-004 (NH.QR5EF.004) may appeal to those with a substantial budget looking for a versatile, high-definition, high-fidelity multimedia laptop that is powerful in creation and gaming and offers a large storage capacity.
It benefits from a 2TB SSD storage solution combining 2 SSDs configured in RAID 0. Demanding users will therefore be satisfied to install and store quantities of software, games and files including their possible personal creations.
This SSD storage provides great responsiveness and fluidity on a daily basis.
It contributes to a rapid arrival on the online gaming maps, as well as game/software launches, processing and start/stops.
Because in addition to being shock-resistant, energy-efficient and silent, an SSD is fast.
The SSD goes very well with the heart of this laptop, providing great overall power that is incomparable with that provided by the vast majority of models on the market.
Demanding users will indeed be interested in finding a nice amount of 32 GB of RAM that accompanies a high-end processor, the Intel Core i7-14700HX Raptor Lake Refresh with 20 hybrid cores housing the Iris Xe graphics module.
The power of this core is particularly well revealed in areas that are greedy for RAM and CPU resources using multicores, such as video editing, 3D rendering or photo editing. Under this type of work, multimedia processing is indeed carried out faster than if we were dealing with a classic Quad/Hexa/Octo Core and 16/24 GB DDR4/5.
The processing is all the faster as it is accelerated by the dedicated GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card on board. And this is the case with software that uses GPU computing power, such as Vegas, the Adobe suite or VSDC.
So creatives will appreciate the GeForce RTX 4070 ray tracing. And gamers too.
Because it is a high-end dedicated NVIDIA Ada Lovelace graphics card thanks to which you can play recent games despite the fact that the 2.5K definition requires more graphic calculations than Full HD, which implies a lower number of fps.
It turns out that the GeForce RTX 4070 is used by NVIDIA Optimus technology to perform graphics processing deemed too heavy for the Iris Xe.
While viewing HD photos and videos is possible with either, the Iris Xe is favored as much as possible by Optimus even though its performance is much weaker.
Because the Iris Xe is energy efficient, which improves autonomy.
This nevertheless represents the weak point of this configuration since it is limited to approximately 3 hours of battery operation in light use.
Let's temper what could be a disappointment: the thickness and heaviness of this multimedia gaming laptop clearly do not make it intended to be transported often. But rather for mainly sedentary use (e.g. at home), while being more easily transportable than a desktop PC.
In any case, depending on needs, Optimus automatically switches in real time between the Intel Iris Xe and the GeForce RTX 4070.
Finally, expect some heating and noise under heavy load (e.g. games, processing) from this versatile multimedia gaming laptop, which can be combined with a ventilated support to limit its temperatures (remember to check the dimensions carefully!).
