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 observations
Battery:- 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.

i have been using this laptop for all my works and games for the past year and i had no problem with it so far, great performance for this price.

Monitor: quality is good, can enjoy very high quality movies with 10bit rate (need to change bit rate in setting to 10bit, since for the sake of power saving its at 8bit by default). Also the max brightness of monitor is perfect too.

Gaming: Is doing a good job and since it has 40 series graphic card, with the help of DLSS and Frame Generation can play most AAA games at +90 frames, and for competitive games like call of duty, PUPG, Dota2 etc can play easily at 165 frame rate.

Fans: the fans are very strong and at full speed make a lot of noise BUT drop temperature a lot on CPU & GPU. i enjoy the quiet mode of it at night since it doesn't make any sound at all. (if you live in hot places, better buy a cooling pad)

It has a lot of ports and very good potential and space to increase RAM and SSD for future.
The build is sturdy and cool, have been happy for my purchase so far for the past year.

I’ve been using the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 for a couple of months now, and overall, it’s a solid gaming laptop with a few minor drawbacks. Here’s my breakdown:

Pros:

1. Powerful Performance: With its Intel Core i5 and NVIDIA RTX 4050, this laptop handles most games and demanding tasks effortlessly. Even newer titles run smoothly on high settings.

2. Display Quality: The 16-inch WUXGA display is sharp, vibrant, and with a 165Hz refresh rate, it makes gaming and media consumption a delight. The colors really pop, and everything looks crisp.

3. Cooling System: The cooling is pretty impressive. Even during extended gaming sessions, it doesn’t overheat too much, which is a major plus compared to other gaming laptops I’ve tried.

4. Solid Build Quality: It feels durable and well-built. The keyboard is comfortable to type on, and the RGB lighting adds a nice touch.

5. Price for Performance: Compared to other gaming laptops in its range, you get great specs for the price. It feels like good value for the performance you get.

Cons:

1. Battery Life: Like many gaming laptops, the battery life isn’t great. Don’t expect to get more than 3-4 hours of light use without being plugged in, and even less while gaming.

2. Portability: It’s a bit bulky and heavy. If you’re planning to carry it around regularly, you might feel the weight.

3. Fan Noise: While the cooling is good, the fans can get quite loud during intensive tasks or gaming, which can be a bit distracting if you’re in a quiet environment.

4. Speakers: The built-in speakers are average at best. You’ll definitely want to use headphones for a better audio experience.

Conclusion: If you’re looking for a high-performance gaming laptop and can deal with the average battery life and weight, the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 is a fantastic option. It offers excellent gaming performance, a great display, and solid value for its price.