Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI review: An OLED steal

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The Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI is a 16-inch gaming laptop with solid hardware for a reasonable price. But if you’re looking for a true “AI laptop,” this isn’t it. The neural processing unit (NPU) is too slow to handle Microsoft’s Copilot+ PC AI features nor is it ready to run the most current AI tasks. Many buyers don’t realize that modern “AI laptops” often fall short of Microsoft’s advertised standards.

Like other gaming laptops rebranded as AI laptops, this machine would excel at GPU-based AI tasks, but no more than any other gaming laptop. With 12 GB of VRAM, the Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti GPU here isn’t ideal for local AI models. (For example, OpenAI’s new gpt-oss-20B model is intended for GPUs with at least 16 GB of VRAM.)

Moving beyond the AI branding, this is a fine laptop — if we treat it as a gaming laptop and not an AI laptop. And this OLED display at less than $2,000 is extremely impressive. So, for the rest of this review, I’ll just treat it like a gaming laptop.

Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI: Specs

The Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S is a 16-inch gaming laptop with a blazing-fast 24-core Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU, a current-generation Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti GPU, 32 GB of RAM, and a 1 TB SSD. That’s the Best Buy-exclusive configuration we reviewed, and it retails for $1,899. The RAM and storage are end user-upgradable, too. All you have to do is remove the bottom cover.

• Model number: PHN16S-71-98RF
• CPU: Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX
• Memory: 32 GB DDR5 6400 MHz RAM
• Graphics/GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 12GB
• NPU: Intel AI Boost (up to 13 TOPS)
• Display: 16-inch 2560×1600 OLED display with 240Hz refresh rate
• Storage: 1 TB PCIe Gen4 SSD
• Webcam: 1080p webcam
• Connectivity: 2x USB Type-C (1x Thunderbolt 4, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 10Gbps), 3x USB Type-A (2x USB 3.2 Gen 2, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1), 1x HDMI 2.1 out, 1x Ethernet, 1x microSD card reader, 1x combo audio jack, 1x DC power in
• Networking: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.4
• Biometrics: IR camera for facial recognition
• Battery capacity: 76 Watt-hours
• Dimensions: 14.06 x 10.9 x 1.01 inches
• Weight: 4.8 pounds
• MSRP: $1,899 as tested

Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI: Design and build quality

IDG / Chris Hoffman

The Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI is a 16-inch gaming laptop that lands somewhere between the thinnest gaming laptops and the chunkiest ones. At just under five pounds, it’s still plenty portable for a gaming laptop. It’s all black, aside from a reflective Predator logo on the lid and a silver logo on the keyboard tray. The good news is that there’s no “AI” logo anywhere on this machine.

While Acer doesn’t specify the materials in its reviewer’s guide, the lid appears to be made of a black aluminum, with much of the rest of the machine made of a black plastic. It feels solid. The hinge also feels nice and smooth, and it’s easy to open with a single hand.

While the keyboard lights up with multicolored LEDs if you want it, the rest of the machine in its “Obsidian Black” color scheme is restrained, and it could pass for more of a professional laptop than a gaming laptop. There are no light bars or other effects elsewhere on the laptop. That silver “Predator” logo below the keyboard marks it as a gaming laptop, however.

It’s a solid laptop. It feels sturdy, and the plastic finish doesn’t feel cheap. At an inch thick, it’s a reasonable thickness for a gaming laptop. But it doesn’t feel quite as luxurious to the touch as an all-metal laptop chassis.

Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI: Keyboard and trackpad

IDG / Chris Hoffman

The Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI has a full-size keyboard complete with a number pad (there’s plenty of room for it) and four zones of RGB LED backlighting. That customizable backlighting lets you set up colorful effects without the cost of including more expensive per-key RGB backlighting.

With 1.5mm of key travel, this is a standard membrane-style chiclet keyboard on a gaming laptop of this size. There’s plenty of room for enough key travel to make the keyboard feel nice without any extra tricks. It feels fine — not mushy — but it doesn’t feel as unusually snappy as when manufacturers go the extra mile to include a mechanical keyboard or one with extra actuation force.

The trackpad is a good size, smooth, and responsive. The surface isn’t as smooth as a glass touchpad, and there’s perhaps a little more friction than on some other trackpad finishes I’ve used recently — plus the click-down action lands with a bit more of a “thunk” than a “click” — but it’s fine. It’s a standard touchpad, but nothing that stands out against its competitors. I game with a mouse, anyway, and I’d be happy using this while I wasn’t gaming.

Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI: Display and speakers

IDG / Chris Hoffman

The Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI has a 16-inch 2560×1600 OLED display with a 240Hz refresh rate and up to 400 nits of brightness (peaking a bit higher in HDR mode.) It supports HDR and Nvidia G-Sync, too.

The display looks great — I’m a sucker for a good OLED. I’m excited to see an OLED with such a high refresh rate, too. For years, it felt like you had to pick between OLED or a high refresh rate on a gaming laptop. You can get displays that are brighter or even higher resolution on a gaming laptop, but this one looks good with the deep blacks you’ll find on an OLED.

While this is very nice OLED, it’s not the best one I’ve seen. While playing Doom: The Dark Ages, the blacks on this OLED display looked nice and deep, but these aren’t the vivid colors and high brightness I normally see on an OLED-powered laptop. In a lot of ways, it reminds me more of a good IPS display. That’s not a surprise due to that 400 nits brightness.

The blacks are nice and deep, but the colors aren’t as vivid as I see on brighter OLEDs. As an OLED, it’s a little glossy and prone to reflections, and that can be an issue in a bright room, more brightness usually helps overpower these reflections.

I test the speakers on every laptop I review by playing Steely Dan’s Aja and Daft Punk’s Get Lucky. The Helios Neo 16S AI’s two stereo speakers delivered plenty of volume. They did a better job in Get Lucky than in Aja with its precise instrument separation.

But the upper midrange was a little harsh, especially at higher volume settings — something that really comes through in sounds like the singing in Get Lucky‘s chorus. I found the upper midranges fatiguing after just a few minutes in Doom: The Dark Ages, too. I don’t like the way the speakers sound, and I would really want to use headphones while gaming.

Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI: Webcam, microphone, biometrics

The Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI has a 1080p webcam that looks fine for a gaming laptop. In fact, I’d say it’s on the better side for a gaming laptop, though the color and general image quality aren’t up there with business laptops optimized for video conferencing.

Since Acer is pushing AI features for the webcam and microphone, it’s worth noting that the “PurifiedView” button in the PredatorSense app’s “Experience Zone” just opens Windows Studio Effects webcam settings — you’ll get these particular effects (automatic framing, eye contact, and background blur) on basically any laptop with this NPU. And you’ll get more on a Copilot+ PC that delivers extra features.

The microphone setup was on the quiet side and not particularly high-quality. That’s normal for gaming laptops, but Acer markets this as a three-microphone setup for crystal-clear voice quality. You’ll probably be using an external microphone, anyway. This machine has Acer Purified Voice features you can tweak in the PredatorSense’s “Experience Zone,” and they’re an improvement over no effects. However, stronger microphone hardware would deliver a better voice input experience than these trendy AI effects do.

You don’t need an “AI laptop” for background noise removal, anyway.

This machine has an IR camera for facial recognition with Windows Hello, so you can sign in with your face. As usual on modern laptops, it works well.

Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI: Connectivity