Acer Predator Helios 18 2024 laptop review: New hardware for the 18-inch gamer

[Redaktion]

18-inch laptops are slowly but surely becoming less of a niche product. Alongside MSI, Asus and Alienware, Acer also has suitable products on offer. We have put the latest version of the Predator Helios 18 through its paces.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Acer-Predator-Helios-18-2024-laptop-review-New-hardware-for-the-18-inch-gamer.808564.0.html

[NikoB]

How lazy is the author if he didn't even update the PL1/PL2 data in the original German version?

With an 18" screen, there is again a bad non classical full keyboard with a broken numpad. Again, saving on matches, everything was done not for the sake of ergonomics and comfort of the owner, but for the sake of reduction in cost and unification with models of a smaller diagonal.

The 4090(which is 1.5 times weaker than the desktop version) at 2.5k in this laptop is no longer capable of delivering stable 60fps+ in some games.

Despite the heaps of space, the ports are located very close to each other, which creates problems when connecting devices and cards.

A laptop with mediocre PL2/PL1 (for this Intel SoC vs another models) is very noisy. However, its performance is mediocre compared to other models.

They didn't even mention the price.

[Neenyah]

The 4090(which is 1.5 times weaker than the desktop version) at 2.5k in this laptop is no longer capable of delivering stable 60fps+ in some games.

In quite literally one game in the test, yeah, the same badly optimized game where the desktop RTX 4090 struggles to do the same in native. That's why there is DLSS and everyone but you is aware of its existence.

[NikoB]

DLSS is a scam - a crutch designed to hide the fact that NVidia cards are not capable of drawing high-quality graphics in the native resolution of modern screens with 60fps+ in High/Ultra(as studio) quality.

[lmao]

thing doing what it is supposed to do can't be a scam

[NikoB]

thing doing what it is supposed to do can't be a scam

And this is written by a stupid bot, who in another thread, with the tenacity of a sheep, denies the usefulness of the AMD autocalibrator in the sRGB space according to EDID data from the screen panel, which Intel and Nvidia do not have, to their complete shame for more than 16 years...

[lmao]

denies the usefulness of the AMD autocalibrator

where did I ever mention color accuracy in the context of discussing this function

lmao why are you double-downing on being an idiot, you've already forgot you've admitted it is not calibrator?
nice detail about nikob - he always bitches on every display for not being <2 deltaE and at the same time he is using AMD image enhancer that completely SHITS on his display color accuracy.
so guy really thinks his display is magically calibrated by amd driver lmao

[dryopenclub]

Let me first say that I'm a big fan of notebookcheck and pretty much read and watch all your gaming laptop-related articles and videos. And of course the staff here are wayyy better at this stuff than me.

But I think there are serious problems with the performance benchmarks achieved by the 2024 Helios 18 in this article, and you should have tried to either find out the problem or call it as a manufacturing defect.

There is no reason for the 14900HX here to only score 26k+ in Cinebench R23 and the RTX 4090 to only score 18800 in Time Spy Graphics. Even my Helios 16 with 4080 achieves 28k/30k in Cinebench R23 single-pass/10-minute run, and 18700 in Time Spy Graphics. In fact, the Helios 18 from your 2023 review outperforms this one entirely.

I agree that a drop in performance in sustained workload (such as the R15 sustained load test) is expected, due to it not having vapor chambers, having poor software and thermal control, and not being undervoltable. But that much of a drop in your review is unexplainable. I am pretty sure that my Helios 18 has no problems sustaining 157W for CPU-only workloads or 230+W in long gaming sessions.

I will admit that the Helios 16/18 has poor speakers, that Predator Sense has bugs (I have keyboard RGB permanently turned off but some restarts it will turn on until I shutdown the computer. Sometimes Predator Sense reports temperatures wrongly), and that the machine has problems with heat management. But this review makes the Helios look extremely bad. So is it a problem with your testing or a problem with Acer QC?

[NikoB]

dryopenclub, If you compare the noise levels in a 3D load, the old model with 13900+4080 is 3 times louder (59dBA), versus 48 for this one, despite the fact that it has a hotter 4090, which is also much faster. You have to pay for everything.

But in the load on the processor only, you are right - there is some inexplicable problem. Performance is lower and noise is higher. It is not normal. The author did not indicate the exact consumption levels when measuring in the CBR15, so it is unknown what PL1 was during the test of the new model.

This is the problem with reviews - a lot of authors do not follow standardized, formalized testing protocols, disrupting the overall picture.

[Igorzjeh]

Something is wrong with your testing model.

I have Helios 16 with this spec and in CS2 on QHD more than 300fps.

There is no reason why this device should have lower results than the rest of the tested models. You should redo the test with a new device.

[Neenyah]

Something is wrong with your testing model.

I have Helios 16 with this spec and in CS2 on QHD more than 300fps.

Something is off, I agree, but in regard to CS2 1440p - they are testing it in almost maxed settings at 1600p. Desktop 4090 is averaging less than 400 fps with the same preset and way more powerful CPU (7950X3D) at 1440p. But yeah, their numbers are weird; 234 for 1080p high is some 2.5x less than what it's supposed to be. That would be about expected for their 1600p maxed preset (instead of 156.6). The whole game is also optimized like crap though.

[lmao]

they actually state in the article it was gutted at least by 10% because fan noise is unbearable

As the 18-inch laptop is extremely loud in turbo mode (>60 dB when gaming), all measurements were carried out in performance mode. The determined speed and emission values are therefore only comparable with its predecessor to a limited extent.

[Martin Wieden]

Does the laptop have windows hello?

[Polaris1983]

The 4090 desktop vs laptop versions should more apporoately be compared to the laptop 4090 to the desktop 4080 (not the 4080 super) for better raw performance data comparisons here. This laptop is about 1 grand USD cheaper than its competition so I do expect cutbacks in terms of performance here. If you really want the uncapped version of a gaming laptop then Asus and XMG clevo based water cooled laptop tops are the only options as MSI laptops get way too hot still to run games at 4k or 1440p on max for a long time without using a cooling pad to play games on as a desktop replacement still as they overheat way too quickly mainly due to the cpu eating top so much power as intel cpus are power hogs vs the amd counterparts here for laptops. Acer to me is more like buying an HP OEM gaming laptop here just more upscale for an OEM.

[FourEyes]

Does the 2024 Helios 18 allow the user to undervolt or overclock?