Acer Predator Helios 300 G3-572 Review: A Gaming Monster

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Acer Predator Helios 300 G3-572: At First Glance

A lot of laptop companies claim that their computers are fantastic deals, but Acer actually does puts its money where its mouth is. 

Acer does not have a lengthy history of producing dedicated gaming laptops. However, they have created some incredible “Predator” gaming laptops.

Most of these Predator laptops aim at delivering high-end gaming performance. One of them is the Acer Predator Helios 300 G3-572.

Do you want more details about the ability of this gaming laptop? Please read on.

Acer Predator Helios 300 G3-572: Design, Dimension and Weight

For the design, the Helios 300 G3-572 has an aggressive design which is understandable because it is a gaming laptop. Therefore, the first time you set your eyes on it, it does not hide the fact that it is a gaming laptop.

Moreover, the Predator Helios 300 G3-572’s body is built from both aluminum and plastic. The metal part is the lid and the interior meanwhile, the plastic covers the bottom and sides too.

Its exterior, which is mainly black metal has a matte finish. Also, the metal lid has a big Predator logo and is flanked by two red strokes that are backlit.

At the back of the laptop below the lid, you will find dramatic air vents that also have red lines. Likewise, the top of the lid has a small plastic bumper that feels cheap.

When you raise the lid, you will find the 15.6-inch, FHD display, surrounded by bezels. The top bezel has the Acer logo on its left side, there is also a Predator logo on the bottom bezel.

Furthermore, the 15.6-inch matte screen with a Full HD display on this Predator is sharp but can be dull under sunlight. The brightness level of 226 nits is lower than what one would expect for a gaming laptop.

However, the screen brightness is not bad enough to cause issues.

Also, viewing angles are good on the Predator Helios 300 G3-572’s IPS panel. Colors are also accurate and there are no severe uniformity issues.

Furthermore, the backlight intensity barely shifts across the screen. Overall, the Predator Helios 300 G3-572’s display is passable.

However, we’ve seen other gaming laptops with better colors and uniformity. Proceeding to the camera, there is a 720p resolution HD webcam just above the screen.

Its image quality is just on average like the cameras we see on many other gaming laptops. Nevertheless, it is good enough for making conference and video calls.

For audio sound, the Predator features two built-in speakers and one microphone. The treble sound produced by the speakers is muddy and the bass is weak.

For a nice sound and a better gaming experience, it is recommended to use a gaming headset.

Proceeding to the keyboard area, firstly, the Predator’s keyboard has a sturdy base and that’s a good start. Furthermore, the keys are very quiet and consistent.

However, they’re soft and have very little key travel, which means they are not firm enough for fast-paced gaming. The quietness is also a result of the short key travel.

For clarity, key travel is the distance between the key at rest till when it hits the base. Furthermore, the keyboard is also backlit, it has red LEDs, but there’s only one brightness level to choose from.

Also, the backlight does not activate by sliding your fingers across the trackpad, but by pressing a key. Meanwhile, some people might find it frustrating and annoying to do this.

However, the keys have decent size and space except for the NumPad keys and the directional keys which are narrower. Moving to the trackpad, a large trackpad sits beneath the keyboard.

Also, the touchpad is accurate and spacious and responds to Windows 10 gestures. You will have no problem pinching to zoom or swipe.

Next up in this design section is the port selection on the Predator Helios 300 G3-572. As expected of a good gaming laptop, the Predator has a good number of ports.

On the left side, you have an ethernet jack, an HDMI output, a USB Type-C port, and also an SD card slot. Similarly, on the right side, there are two USB 2.0 ports and a headphone jack.

Another important feature of the laptop is a dual-fan cooling system. However, the cooling fan does only a little to reduce heat unless it is increased to the maximum.

Moving over to the dimension and weight of the Predator Helios 300 G3-572, this gaming laptop weighs 2,700 g. For the dimension, it measures 390 x 266 x 26.7 mm (W x D x H).

Comparatively, it is slightly heavier than the Lenovo Legion Y520 which weighs 2540.12g. For its dimension, the Lenovo Legion Y540 measures 383.54 x 254 x 30.48 (W x D x H).

In conclusion, gaming laptops are not known to be very sleek or have a very attractive look and the Acer Predator Helios 300 G3-572 follows this trend as well.

Also, like many other gaming laptops, the Acer Predator Helios 300 G3-572 is a bit big in size. In other words, it prioritizes performance over looks.

Hence, Acer Predator Helios 300 G3-572 achieves a rating of seven in this design review section.

Acer Predator Helios 300 G3-572: Processor (CPU) Performance

In terms of processor, Acer Predator Helios 300 G3-572 comes with an Intel Core i7-7700HQ. This processor has a base frequency of 2.80 GHz and a maximum frequency of 3.80 GHz.

To add to that, this processor has a 6 MB cache memory. That being said, it’s important to note that the Intel Core i7-7700HQ processor is considered a high-end processor.

Thus, as a high-end processor, it is fast and carries out tasks swiftly. Again, it has enough power to perform efficiently at any task.

Now that I have introduced the processor, let me also share the performance of the Predator Helios 300 in a Geekbench 4 benchmark test. First of all, Geekbench is a benchmark tool that measures a laptop’s processor performance.

The benchmark works by running real-world workloads on the cores of the processor. Meanwhile, a higher score from the benchmark test denotes a better processor performance.

Therefore, in the Geekbench 4 overall performance test, the Predator Helios 300 G3-572 reached a score of 13,587 points. Thereby, completely surpassing the mainstream average of 10,675 points.

Not only that, but the Predator Helios 300 G3-572 also performs better than three of its major competitors. Speaking of these competitors, one of them is the Lenovo Legion Y520 which scored 13,037 points in the same benchmark.

There is also the ASUS Strix GL553VD which scored 12,253 points. Finally, there is the MSI Leopard Pro GP72VR-7RFX with 12,147 points.

In summary, the Acer Predator Helios 300 features a high-end processor that delivered a great performance on the Geekbench benchmark. Therefore, it will be fair to give it a rating of eight out of ten in this CPU review section.

Acer Predator Helios 300 G3-572: Memory (RAM) Performance

The Acer Predator Helios 300 comes with 16 GB memory on its double DDR4 SDRAM slot. Interestingly, 16 GB is not the maximum memory that the laptop supports.

The laptop supports a maximum memory of 32 GB. Hence, if you’re a user who desires a lot of memory for heavy tasks then you have nothing to worry about.

This means that you can insert an extra RAM in the second RAM slot. For the purpose of this article, I will highlight the performance ability of the 16 GB memory on this Acer gaming laptop.

However, before we talk about the performance, you should note that with 16 GB of memory, the laptop has great multitasking abilities. Ideally, the laptop should comfortably open 30 Chrome tabs while also streaming videos from Netflix without any lag.

Meanwhile, the laptop can switch between these opened tabs and applications concurrently without slowing down which is an impressive performance.

To further prove the performance abilities of this laptop’s 16 GB memory, let me discuss its performance in a PCMark 8 test. The PCMark 8 benchmark test calculates the general productivity of a laptop.

Additionally, the PCMark 8 test contains test modules that simulate various tasks like video conferencing, application startup, and web browsing. Meanwhile, a higher score represents a better performance in the PCMark 8 test.

Therefore, according to the PCMark 8 test result, the Acer Predator Helios 300 G3-572 scored 5,055 points. Impressively, when compared to the Lenovo Legion Y520, the Acer Predator Helios 300 G3-572 performed slightly better.

To be more specific, based on the same PCMark 8 test result, the Lenovo Legion Y520 scored 5,052 points.

In conclusion, the Acer Predator Helios 300 G3-572 offers a big memory capacity. Also, it offers an option for upgradability.

Not only that, the laptop performed better than the competitor I pitched it against in the PCMark 8 benchmark test. Hence, I will be rating the Acer Predator Helios 300 G3-572 nine out of ten in this section of this review.

Acer Predator Helios 300 G3-572: Storage Options and Performance

In the aspect of storage, the Acer Predator Helios 300 G3-572 presents two options to choose from. You can either purchase the Acer Predator Helios 300 G3-572 with SSD or HDD storage.

The HDD storage option allows a maximum storage capacity of 1 TB. On the other hand, the SSD model only supports 256 GB maximum storage capacity.

The choice of storage option you get depends on the kind of tasks you will perform on the laptop. Additionally, the Acer Predator Helios 300 also comes with an SD card for storage expansion.

It is important to note that this review is based on the Acer Predator Helios 300 with 256 GB SSD storage. As it is popularly known, SSD storage usually offers a faster storage performance than HDD.

However, HDDs provide larger storage space. Therefore, if you prioritize space over speed, then it is best for you to purchase the Acer Predator Helios 300 with an HDD storage option.

To further discuss the ability of the Acer Predator Helios 300 with 256 GB SSD, I will share its CrystalDiskMark benchmark test result. The CrystalDiskMark benchmark test seeks to measure the overall performance of a laptop’s storage.

Specifically, the benchmark determines how slow or fast a computer’s storage is by measuring the sequential write and read speed. Similar to the previous benchmarks we have discussed in this review, a higher score in the CrystalDiskMark benchmark also means better performance.

Therefore, based on the CrystalDiskMark test result, the Acer Predator Helios 300 has a sequential read speed of 553.1 MBps. Additionally, it has a sequential write speed of 136.1 MBps.

To clarify, “sequential read” is a term that describes a computer operation that occurs when you open a file for example. On the other hand, an example of a “sequential write” is when you save a file.

In comparison, the Acer Predator Helios 300 has a slower read and write speed than the ASUS Strix GL553VD. Speaking of which, the ASUS Strix GL553VD had a read and write speed of 1500.20 MBps and 577.8 MBs respectively.

In summary, the Acer Predator Helios 300 G3-572 offers two decent storage options. Therefore, I will rate it a nine out of ten in this storage review section.

Acer Predator Helios 300 G3-572: Graphics Card Performance

When it comes to graphics, the Acer Predator Helios 300 G3-572 comes equipped with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 graphics card. This GPU has a base frequency of 1506 MHz and a maximum frequency of 1708 MHz.

Additionally, the graphics card has a 6 GB GDDR5 dedicated VRAM. For a graphics card with a very high dedicated VRAM, you can expect the Acer Predator Helios 300 G3-572 to deliver a great gaming performance.

Of course, this is not the best gaming laptop in the market. However, its performance is just a little below the best, and that speaks so much about how powerful this laptop is.

Specifically, this laptop will comfortably play all kinds of high-end games with this graphics card. For example, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 is able to play Days Gone at a frame rate of 65.4 fps (frame per second).

In addition to the fast frame rates, the game also loads swiftly, and you will barely notice any lag. Furthermore, the gaming performance is uninterrupted, responsive, and smooth.

While these are impressive, the performance of Acer Predator Helios 300 G3-572 on the 3DMark 11 test is even more remarkable. Moreover, the 3DMark 11 is a benchmark test tool that measures how a computer can render 3D graphics.

Once again, a higher score in the 3D Mark 11 benchmark denotes better performance.

Based on the test results, the Acer Predator Helios 300 G3-572 scored a whopping 10,571 points. Comparatively, the ASUS Strix GL553VD underperformed with just 7,883 points.

In conclusion, the Acer Predator Helios 300 G3-572 offers the kind of performance you would expect from a gaming laptop. Therefore, I will rate it a nine out of ten in this graphics review section.

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Acer Predator Helios 300 G3-572: Battery Life and Performance

For the battery, a 4-cell 3220 mAh Lithium Polymer battery powers the Acer Predator Helios 300 G3-572. For this battery, Acer advertised a battery life of up to 9 hours.

However, the laptop had to be put through some battery tests to verify this claim. Therefore, I checked the laptop’s battery performance in a test that involved browsing the web continuously over Wi-Fi.

From the test, the laptop lasted longer than I expected. To that end, it lasted 6 hours and 48 minutes.

Although that is less than the mainstream average of 7 hours, many gaming laptops tend not to even come close to that. For instance, the Lenovo Ideapad 11S only lasted for 5 hours 52 minutes on the same battery test.

Overall, the Acer Predator Helios 300 G3-572 battery life of 6 hours and 48 minutes is really decent. However, it is not up to the 9 hours of battery life that Acer claimed.

Notwithstanding, the Acer Predator Helios 300 G3-572 deserves a nine out of ten rating for its battery performance.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

As earlier stated, the Acer Predator Helios 300 G3-572 is an incredible gaming laptop that is in a budget range. Meanwhile, there are a few obvious areas where Acer did not meet our expectations such as the weak set of speakers used.

Another downside of the laptop is the dual-fan cooling system that does only a little to reduce heat unless increased to the maximum. Yet, while those are notable flaws, they are not total deal-breakers.

To resolve these setbacks, you can buy a good pair of gaming headphones as well as a desk fan for the laptop.

However, the main focus here is that this gaming laptop loads some power that’s enough to handle major demanding games. The laptop also boasts a beautiful color reproduction, which adds to its stunning display.

Therefore, the Acer Predator Helios 300 G3-572 may not be the best gaming laptop in the market, but it is worth every dollar.

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