Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 AI (2026) vs Helios 18 AI (2026)

Please select specific configurations for the laptops to get a more accurate comparative review
Display
CPU
Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus
GPU
RAM
Storage

Review

Evaluation of Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 AI (2026) and Helios 18 AI (2026) important characteristics
Performance
System and application performance
Gaming
Performance in popular 3D games
Display
Viewing angle, color accuracy, brightness
Battery Life
Potential battery life in light and average use
Connectivity
Ports, webcam and other interfaces
Portability
Design, materials, durability and usability
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Primary usage:

Value for money (Beta)

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Key Differences

What are the key differences between the notebooks
Advantages of the Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 AI (2026)
  • Easier to carry: weighs 200 grams less (around 0.44 lbs)
Advantages of the Acer Predator Helios 18 AI (2026)
  • Higher screen refresh rate: 250 versus 165 Hz
  • Can run popular games at about 70-96% higher FPS
  • Performs significantly better (up to 78%) in 3DMark Steel Nomad Lite
  • Around 47% better multi-core CPU performance in the Cinebench 2024 test
  • Features a a little bigger (~9%) battery – 99.9 against 92 watt-hours
  • Provides 233% higher max. screen brightness: 1000 vs 300 nits

Tests and Specifications

Comparison table of test results and technical specs

Case

Weight 3.3 kg (7.28 lbs) 3.5 kg (7.72 lbs)
Dimensions 401 x 307.9 x 28 mm
15.79 x 12.12 x 1.1 inches
400.96 x 307.9 x 17.3-29.55 mm
15.79 x 12.12 x 0.68-1.16 inches
Area 1235 cm2 (191.4 inches2) 1235 cm2 (191.4 inches2)
Screen-to-body ratio ~76.1% ~76.1%
Side bezels 6.7 mm 6.6 mm
Colors Black Blue
Material Middle: Plastic
Bottom: Plastic
Top: Aluminum
Middle: Plastic
Bottom: Plastic
Transformer No No
Opening angle - 160°
Size comparison
Cooling solution
Cooling system Active Active
Vapor chamber No No
Liquid metal Yes Yes
Number of fans 2 2
Noise level (max. load) - 50.3 dB

Display

Size 18 inches 18 inches
Type TFT LCD Mini LED
Refresh rate 165 Hz 250 Hz
PPI 168 ppi 168 ppi
Aspect ratio 16:10 16:10
Resolution 2560 x 1600 pixels 2560 x 1600 pixels
HDR support - Yes, HDR10
Sync technology G-Sync G-Sync
Touchscreen No No
Coating Matte Matte
Ambient light sensor No No
Display tests
sRGB color space - 100%
Adobe RGB profile - 90.1%
DCI-P3 color gamut 100% 100%
Response time 3 ms 3 ms
Max. brightness

Battery

Capacity
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Fast charging Yes Yes
Charging via USB (Power Delivery) Yes Yes, 140 W
Charging port position Bottom Bottom
Charge power 330 W 400 W

CPU

CPU name
Base frequency 2.4 GHz 2.7 GHz
Turbo frequency 5.3 GHz 5.5 GHz
Cores 20 (8P + 12E) 24 (8P + 16E)
Threads 20 24
L3 Cache 30 MB 36 MB
Integrated GPU Arc Graphics (4-Cores) Arc Graphics (4-Cores)
Fabrication process 3 nm 3 nm

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Cinebench 2024 (Single-Core)
Cinebench 2024 (Multi-Core)

Graphics Card

GPU name
TGP 115 W 175 W
Nvidia Optimus Yes, Advanced Optimus Yes, Advanced Optimus
Type Dedicated Dedicated
Fabrication process 4 nm 4 nm
GPU base clock - 975 MHz
FLOPS 18.4 TFLOPS 42 TFLOPS
Memory size 8 GB 16 GB
Memory type GDDR7 GDDR7
Memory bus 128 bit 256 bit
Memory speed ~24 Gbps ~28 Gbps
Shading units (cores) 3328 7680
Texture mapping units (TMUs) 104 240
Raster operations pipelines (ROPs) 48 96
GPU performance 18.4 TFLOPS 42 TFLOPS

GPU Benchmarks

Steel Nomad Lite Score
Blender GPU 4019 7688
Solar Bay 60492 120684
Expected FPS based on average performance across 9 popular games. Details

RAM

RAM size
Channels 2x8 GB 2x8 GB
Clock 6400 MHz 6400 MHz
Type DDR5 DDR5
Upgradable Yes Yes
Total slots 2 4
Max. ram size 64 GB 192 GB

Storage

Storage size
Bus PCI-E Gen 4.0 (4x) PCI-E Gen 5.0 (4x)
Storage type SSD (M2) SSD (M2)
Channels 1x1024 GB 1x1024 GB
Upgradable Yes Yes
Total slots 2 3
NVMe Yes Yes

Sound

Speakers 2.0 6.0
Power 2x2W -
Dolby Atmos No No
Microphones 2 3

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard v6E v7
Bluetooth v5.4 v5.4
Fingerprint No No
Infrared sensor Yes Yes
Optical drive No No
Webcam Above the display Above the display
Webcam resolution 1920 x 1080 1920 x 1080
Ports
USB-A 3x USB 3.2 3x USB 3.2
USB Type-C 2x USB 4.0 2x USB 4.0
Thunderbolt Thunderbolt 4 Thunderbolt 5
HDMI 1x HDMI 2.1 1x HDMI 2.1
DisplayPort No No
VGA No No
Audio jack (3.5 mm) Yes Yes
Ethernet (RJ45) Yes Yes
SD card reader Yes Yes
Proprietary charging port Yes Yes

Input

Keyboard
Keyboard type Mechanical Mechanical
Numpad Yes Yes
Backlight Yes Yes
Touchpad
Size - 15.2 x 9.0 cm
Surface Plastic Glass
Windows Precision Yes Yes
*Disclaimer! Ports, speakers, display, and other specifications can vary depending on the laptop's specific configuration or region.

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