Think portable PC monitor and something pretty puny probably comes to mind. What you're probably not imaging is folding contraption with dual 24-inch 1080p displays. What you probably didn't think of is the extraordinary Acer PD243Y E Portable Monitor.

It's immediately obvious that the term "portable" is being used pretty liberally by this unusual dual-screen monitor. You're not going to be slipping it into a small bag with your 13-inch thin-and-light laptop.

However, it is much more compact and transportable than a typical 24-inch PC monitor, let alone a pair of them. So, it's not designed to be taken to the coffee shop, even if that isn't actually out of the question if you could put up with the attention you'd surely attract.

Instead, the Acer PD243Y E Portable Monitor makes more sense for someone wanting, perhaps, to take an additional screen with them on a long trip or for work presentations, that sort of thing. And for those kinds of remits, the basic ergonomics make sense. But what about the features and performance? Time to find out.

Acer PD243Y E: Design and features

• Surprisingly portable for a dual 24-inch display
• Clever hinge and ergonomics
• No USB-C power delivery

We'll come to the performance of the Acer PD243Y E Portable Monitor's dual 24-inch panels momentarily. But the real novelty here involves packaging them into something relatively portable.

OK, you're not going to sling this dual-24-inch contraption into your shoulder bag. But Acer has done a good job of keeping the chassis compact and the bezels slim. All told, it weighs in at 4.4kg, which really is pretty impressive given the sheer amount of screen on offer.

The ergonomics are clever, too. The two screens are attached via a sturdy hinge which folds around over 300 degrees. Combined with a kickstand on the lower panel, you can arrange the displays in a variety of configurations, including vertically stacked or tent mode. The latter setup could be handy for making presentations and screen sharing.

Incidentally, the displays automatically reorient in Windows when you fold into tent mode and both panels run off a single USB-C connection. However, all of that only applies to Windows. Support for Apple Macs is more limited. A MacBook Air, for instance, can only drive one external display, so won't output to both panels.

Speaking of connectivity, there's a single HDMI input and two USB-C ports. Either of later can be used for powering the displays via the included adapter or video input. Sadly, however, neither provides power-out. So, you can't, for instance, hook up a laptop via USB-C and both drive the display and keep the laptop charged.

That's a bit of a pity because it increases cable clutter. You'll need two power adapters, one for your laptop and one for this display, for long-duration use. What's more, all the ports are located on one side of the lower display. Ideally, at least one USB-C on the other side to give you more cable management options would have been welcome.

Acer PD243Y E: Performance

• Relatively low resolution
• No HDR support
• Good viewing angles

Dual 24-inch displays undeniably provide a huge amount of physical screen real estate in the context of a portable monitor. But usable screen space also depends on resolution, and here the Acer PD243Y E Portable Monitor is less impressive.

The 24-inch panels are native 1080p or 1,920 by 1,080 pixels. That kind of resolution would be pretty low spec these days on a 15-inch laptop, let alone panels this size, even if the comparison with conventional desktop monitors is probably more apt.

Anyway, the point is that, physically, these screens have plenty of space to run two app windows per panel and thus four across the two displays. But because of the relatively low resolution, you may find limitations in that regard. You only have 960 horizontal pixels each for two two app windows on one panel, for instance.

But whatever your metric, 1080p certainly isn't a huge resolution when applied to a 24-inch in terms of pixel density, too. That means fonts look pretty rough and the image detail just isn't terribly sharp.

In other regards, these displays are tolerable but inferior to what you'd expect from a conventional display, be that a desktop monitor or laptop panel. Peak brightness is 250 nits, which means they struggle a bit in really bright ambient light, and there's no HDR support at all.

That said, they do support 100Hz refresh and so feel fairly responsive, and the basic calibration is decent. Thanks to IPS panel tech, the viewing angles are good too, which will be appreciated for presentations and screen sharing.

Acer PD243Y E: Final verdict

There's a lot to like about the Acer PD243Y E Portable Monitor. It's surprisingly portable for something that offers dual 24-inch displays making it usable in a pretty wide array of contexts.

The ergonomics and build quality are good, too. The hinge and kick stand offer a wide range of configuration options both for personal use and for presentations or screen sharing. In those regards, this dual-screen monitor could be an extremely useful tool. The connectivity on offer via HDMI and USB-C is reasonable, too.

The quality of the panels is mostly acceptable, too. OK, the IPS panels only hit 250 nits, and there's no HDR support. But the colours and calibration are good enough for a portable monitor setup.

What isn't so impressive is the 1080p-per-panel resolution. It somewhat limits the utility of the Acer PD243Y E Portable Monitor in terms of multitasking and it definitely has an obvious impact on image clarity and text crispness.

If this display was 1440p per panel it would make for a pretty fantastic proposition for all round usage, including productivity work. As it is with dual-1080p, the appeal is narrowed somewhat. As a device for presentation and screen sharing, 1080p will often be just fine. But if you were hoping to use this dual-display contraption for, say, video editing or day trading while travelling, the low resolution is a bit of a pity.

For more displays, we've reviewed the best business monitors and the best portable monitors.

Handheld gaming continues to grow year on year, with new hardware entering the fray to improve performance results in games — and with Computex 2026 well underway, it's time for PC enthusiasts to get excited.

There have already been several hardware announcements from the likes of Asus, Acer, OneXPlayer, and more, which means there's plenty for consumers to consider when picking out their next device.

Fortunately, Intel has been hard at work on its Panther Lake processor lineup and has delivered the powerful Arc G3 Extreme, which uses 14 cores and 14 threads and 12 Xe GPU cores, delivering some of the best performance on any handheld gaming PC we've seen thus far. However, it's not all just about power and performance.

Several other manufacturers have taken the time to fine-tune the handheld gaming experience, to improve visual enjoyment, comfort, and more — and here, we'll look at the best handheld gaming PCs that have been unveiled at Computex 2026.

1. MSI Claw 8 EX AI+

MSI has gone back to the drawing board after releasing the Claw 8 AI+ and Claw 7 AI+, and now, unveiled the all-new, powerful handheld, the Claw 8 EX AI+. While the display is effectively untouched, the processor is now the Intel Arc G3 Extreme, a significant step up from the Claw 8 AI+'s Core Ultra 258V.

Intel claims the G3 Extreme is 44% faster than the Core Ultra 258V at 1080p with 2x upscaling (i.e., from 540p), at 35W, and, notably, 42% faster than one of its rival chips, the AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme.

As a bonus to a monumental performance leap coming from the Core Ultra 200V series is its XeSS 3 upscaling compatibility, alongside Multi-Frame Generation, and access to Windows 11's Xbox Mode. Intel is the latest competitor to join Nvidia in utilizing Multi-Frame Generation technology, as AMD has yet to roll this out for Radeon GPU users.

With XeSS 3 upscaling, Multi-Frame Generation, and an overall raw performance boost, accompanied by better ergonomics for comfort, the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ may end up being the best of the bunch among handhelds this year — however, its price could make or break it, especially if the rumored $1,500 figure is legitimate.

2. OneXPlayer 3

One-Netbook certainly isn't a mainstream manufacturer like MSI, but its new OneXPlayer 3 handheld is definitely a strong competitor to the Claw 8 EX AI+, and, on paper, in some cases arguably better.

The OneXPlayer 3 is a 3-in-one handheld gaming PC that supports AI, gaming, and productivity, and features the same Intel Arc G3 Extreme processor found in the Claw 8 EX AI+. However, it outshines MSI's device with a bigger, more immersive 8.8-inch 144Hz OLED display that is both VRR and HDR enabled.

Users have two storage options via microSD and mini SSD, while its battery has a capacity of 85 Wh. That latter might mean the handheld ranks among those with the best and longest-lasting battery life, but we'll need to see how it performs in real-world testing.

Without a doubt, this is a device that will be able to tackle any game thrown at it and provide exceptional visual quality while doing so. There's no information on its launch date nor its price, and yet again, the latter will likely be the defining factor in its potential success.

3. Asus ROG Xbox Ally X20

Doubling down on the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X's impressive features, Asus revealed the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X20 to celebrate the ROG brand's 20th anniversary. More importantly, the X20 comes with a larger 7.4-inch OLED display with 1,400 nits of peak brightness, bundled with the ROG XReal R1 Edition 20 gaming AR glasses.

It's quite clear that Asus has prioritized visual improvements over performance or power, so it's hard to describe this as a 'mid-generation' upgrade, in the same way the Asus ROG Ally X was compared to its non-X counterpart.

The Xbox Ally X20 also features a rotatable D-pad, labeled a 'Transforming D-pad', which should cater to fighting game players when using the handheld, thanks to optimization for diagonal inputs.

The major downside is that Asus isn't currently selling this as a standalone device, and since the ROG XReal R1 Edition 20 gaming AR glasses retail for $849, the bundle will likely be priced at or around $2,000.

4. Acer Predator Atlas 8

Just like the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ and the OneXPlayer 3, the Acer Predator Atlas 8 is powered by Intel's Arc G3 Extreme, with power-ready capabilities that can bolster performance in several games for users.

Its design takes after the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X (and the new ROG Xbox Ally X20), just as MSI has, with controller-like handles that cater to comfort for those long gaming sessions. The adjustable triggers on the Lenovo Legion Go S handheld are easily one of my favorite features for any handheld, and fortunately, that's included here with the Atlas 8.

The only missing element is an OLED display for greater immersion, so it sits in a very similar ballpark as the Claw 8 EX AI+, with the only difference being the latter's comfier design.

In the same vein as all of Computex's handheld announcements, the Atlas 8 hinges on its price tag, and based on the current market conditions, thanks to the RAM crisis, it looks like it may be priced well above $1,000. Acer has confirmed that this will launch in October 2026, so price information shouldn't be too far off.

Portable monitors tend to have two problems. They're usually low quality displays and also low resolution. Give it up, therefore, for the new Acer PE160WUT. It's a 16-inch portable monitor with not only 2.8K native resolution, but also OLED panel technology.

That's a pretty good start, but add 120 Hz refresh and touchscreen functionality into the mix and this compact display is a seriously appealing proposition. It promises an external monitor solution that's at least as good, if not better, than the built-in display of most premium laptops.

There's also the tantalising prospect, albeit without official support, of adding touchscreen functionality for Apple MacBook laptops. Apple, of course, doesn't do touchscreen MacBooks. And it's all wrapped up in a fairly slick, slim-bezel chassis that's surprisingly light.

As with the entries in our guide to the best portable monitors, the Acer PE160WUT should also be widely compatible with most modern PC laptops. It connects via USB-C primarily, though it does have HDMI fall-back connectivity, too.

Just note that this is not a battery-powered display. It takes power via USB-C, so when you are away from mains power it will be drawing energy from your laptop's battery.

Acer ProDesigner PE160WUT: Design and features

• Compact and light
• 2.8K OLED display
• No integrated battery

Imagine detaching the display from a 16-inch laptop and you'll get a pretty good idea of the look and feel of the Acer PE160WUT. Just like a lot of laptops, it has slim bezels on three sides of its display, plus a slightly larger chin.

For the most part, it's about as thin as a laptop lid, too. The exception is a thicker section on the bottom third on the rear of the chassis. This houses the electronics, connectivity and hinged kickstand.

The latter allows the Acer PE160WUT to sit pretty comfortably on any flat, firm surface, though it's less useful for, say, propping the display up on your laptop. All told, this portable monitor comes in at just 0.65kg, making it conspicuously light and pretty portable. If you're already carrying a laptop and power supply, this extra monitor is a pretty plausible addition in pure portability terms.

Of course, a big part of the reason why it's so light is the lack of a built-in battery. The display is powered via USB-C and designed to take that directly from a laptop. If that's a boon for portability, it's not so great for battery life away from the mains.

Of course, the main attraction is the 16-inch OLED display. With a native resolution of 2,880 by 1,800 pixels, it offers a pixel density of around 212 DPI. That's a little lower than the 224 DPI of a MacBook Air or 254 DPI of a MacBook Pro. But it's still pretty decent.

What no MacBook can offer, of course, is OLED panel technology or, indeed, touchscreen tech. That's a combination several PC notebooks include, of course. But by any reasonable metric, this is a highly specified portable display.

Acer ProDesigner PE160WUT: Performance

• Bright and vivid OLED panel
• Smooth 120 Hz refresh
• Not quite as crisp as you'd hope

The 2.8K native resolution, 120 Hz refresh and OLED panel tech set up some pretty lofty expectations. The Acer PE160WUT doesn't quite nail all of them.

There's a lot to like, starting with the punchiness and vividness of the OLED panel. With a rating of 350 nits full screen, it gets plenty bright enough. But to that it adds OLED's usual advantages of perfect per-pixel lighting and outstanding pixel response speed.

This isn't a gaming panel, but the 120 Hz refresh makes it feel very slick and responsive, too. Those aspects are a real treat. Even LCD panels with full-array local dimming can't come close to matching the lighting precision of OLED.

However, there are some limitations, too. For starters, the brightness isn't adjustable in the otherwise nicely calibrated sRGB or Adobe RGB presets, which is a pity. You might want to ramp it up in some ambient light conditions and the default user mode isn't terribly well calibrated.

Short of DIY calibration, a work around is to run the panel in HDR mode, in which setting SDR content is actually well calibrated. But that brings us to two further snags. First, the HDR performance is underwhelming.

Acer doesn't provide detailed specs, but it very much looks like HDR brightness is capped at the panel's 350 nit full-screen brightness, or thereabouts. What's more, running in HDR mode consumes additional power. And power consumption is a definite issue with this monitor, which again does not have its own integrated battery and takes power over USB-C, typically from a laptop.

By way of example, with this OLED panel connected to an Apple MacBook Air with both the MacBook's screen and this panel set to half brightness, the combination consumed 10% of the MacBook's battery in just 15 minutes.

And the MacBook running on its own? 15 minutes of comparable running eats up 2% of battery life. In other words, there's a heavy battery life penalty of using this display. And that's in SDR mode. HDR would be even worse.

Speaking of connecting a MacBook, the touchscreen functionality only has limited, clunky support to the extent that it's not really usable. Meanwhile, the highest properly DPI-scaled resolution is 1,400 by 900 pixels, which is a little low for a 16-inch panel. It will run at the full 2,880 by 1,800 native, of course, but at that setting fonts and icons are absolutely tiny. For the record, in Windows the touch functionality works pretty well, aided by the nippy 120 Hz refresh.

But the biggest issue is the screen's anti-glare coating. It's matte and quite coarse with some distinctly visible sparkle. It definitely detracts from the crispness and precision of the display. Fonts and text, for instance, look a little soft and blurry as a consequence. It's not a total deal breaker, but this little OLED panel deserves a much better anti-glare coating.

Acer ProDesigner PE160WUT: Final verdict

There's a lot to like about the Acer ProDesigner PE160WUT. It's certainly novel to have an OLED panel in a portable monitor like this. The 2.8K resolution and 120 Hz refresh are likewise exactly what you'd want to see. Too many portable monitors are low resolution and low refresh.

It's also very compact and lightweight. At just 0.65kg, it really is plausible to chuck this thing in your bag with whatever laptop you have. And in terms of image quality, there are plenty of pros. The Acer ProDesigner PE160WUT is pretty punchy, with great colours and generally very good calibration.

OK, the HDR performance disappoints. But for colours and contrast, this display will beat most laptop panels. Add in the touchscreen functionality and you have a compelling proposition, albeit the touchscreen feature really only works well on PC laptops, rather than Apple MacBooks.

The one real issue, then, is the screen's coarse anti-glare coating. It definitely compromises the precision of the image quality and detracts from what is otherwise a very sweet little portable OLED panel. It's also worth bearing in mind that the lack of an integrated battery means that your laptop's battery will take a hammering when using this display away from the mains.

All that said, the Acer ProDesigner PE160WUT retains plenty of appeal. Even with the overly coarse anti-glare coating, it's still one of the best portable monitors we've seen.

For more displays, we've reviewed the best business monitors and the best 5K and 8K monitors.

Acer has a track record for doing things a bit differently. The new Acer ProCreator PE320QXT PC monitor is no exception. This 32-inch beast has something no other 6K panel we've yet seen can match, namely full touchscreen functionality.

Of course, the 6K native resolution is pretty special all on its own, even if in this case 6K means 6,016 by 3,384 pixels and thus slightly fewer than the likes of the LG UltraFine 6K Evo 32U990A, which clocks in at 6,144 by 3,456 pixels. Nevertheless, you still get an epic pixel density of 219 DPI. That's far higher than the circa 140 DPI typical of the best 4K monitors in the 32-inch form, and even the 163 DPI of 27-inch 4K models.

6K resolution and touchscreen support aside, the specifications are largely in line with expectations for the IPS panel technology used here by Acer. Long story short, the pros and cons of IPS are all present and accounted for, including good viewing angles and colour accuracy, but limited contrast and HDR capability compared to OLED technology and likewise mediocre pixel response.

Given there are no currently available 6K OLED displays, this monitor therefore poses mostly the same conundrum as competing 6K LCD monitors. If you want the pixel density of 6K, you can only currently have that courtesy of IPS rather than OLED panel tech. The exception is that touchscreen twist.

Acer ProCreator PE320QXT: Design and features

• Sturdy hinge for touch input
• Big, ugly bezels
• Good connectivity

The touchscreen functionality of Acer ProCreatorPE320QXT has fairly extensive implications for ergonomics, and it's not all good news. For starters, the bezels are fairly chunky, giving it a slightly dated appearance.

Then there's the stand and hinge. One the one hand, it's engineered to support tilting the display across a wide range from vertical to nearly flat to accommodate the touch functionality and, in that regard, it provides good stability. On the other, the hinge only allows for minimal height adjustment when viewing the display normally, and no swivel or pivot into portrait mode.

Then there's the plastic screen cover which lends the panel a glossy finish. That could be problematic in terms of reflectivity for any creative pros who prefer matte anti-glare coatings.

As for connectivity, the Acer ProCreator PE320QXT has you pretty well covered. Along with the usual DisplayPort and HDMI interfaces, there's USB-C with 90W of power delivery, plus a two-port USB-A hub.

It's worth noting that the preferred method of connectivity is USB-C, as that streamlines support for the touchscreen capabilities via a single cable. That said, it is possible to use the supplied USB-A to USB-B cable to connect the display to devices that lack USB-C in order to enable the touch interface.

Speaking of which, the Acer ProCreator PE320QXT comes bundled with an input stylus, though the panel's capacitive touch interface can also be used with old fashioned finger prods and swipes. Finally, on the features front, is the 8MP webcam with an integrated mic array.

Acer ProCreator PE320QXT: Performance

• Strong color coverage in DCI-P3
• Punchy 6K visuals but lots of light bleed
• Integrated webcam

Ostensibly, touch input is this monitor's defining feature. But the 6K resolution is also pretty special. Notably, most other 6K monitors currently available use an LG-sourced IPS Black panel. However, as the Acer ProCreator PE320QXT's very slightly lower resolution implies, there's something slightly different going on here.

In fact, Acer has opted for the competing AU Optronics panel. It's essentially the same type technology as the LG IPS Black item found in the LG UltraFine 6K Evo 32U990A. But because AU Optronics tends to price its products more aggressively, monitor models with this panel as opposed to the LG alternative are typically a fair bit cheaper.

Other than the resolution, the main difference is slightly lower static contrast, coming in at 1,500:1 versus the LG's 2,000:1. In practice, you'd be hard pushed to notice the difference. In neither case is contrast a strong point, especially compared with an OLED panel. Thanks to the HDR 600 certification, there is plenty of punch on offer, but also plenty of light bleed.

In part, that's thanks to the fact that this monitor lacks proper full-array local dimming. But if light bleed is something all displays of this type suffer from, there's one flaw that's very specific to the Acer ProCreator PE320QXT. As a consequence of the touch input layer in the panel, there's a very slight degradation of the image quality.

It's most noticeable on close inspection of fonts and texts, lending them a very slightly jagged appearance. How much of a problem this is — and, indeed, if you even notice it — is ultimately a subjective matter. However, given high pixel density and the crisp visuals that implies are core to the Acer ProCreator PE320QXT's appeal, this flaw is definitely worth noting.

As for the touch functionality itself, well, it's accurate and responsive enough, albeit the 60Hz refresh rate means that there's more latency than touch displays with 120Hz and higher refresh rates. That said, driving a 6K monitor at very high refresh rates poses bandwidth issues and likely explains the 60Hz spec. We also had issues with USB-C connectivity with our review unit which made using the touch interface with a Mac impossible. Hopefully, Acer will release a firmware to iron out USB-C connectivity issues.

All that said, color accuracy is definitely a strong point with the Acer ProCreator PE320QXT particularly well calibrated in DCI-P3 mode when connected to Apple Mac computers. For what it's worth, the HDR mode is well calibrated, too, though without full-array local dimming, this monitor's HDR capabilities are ultimately pretty notional.

As for the integrated webcam, it has good basic image quality that's superior to most laptop webcams and also offers a physical shutter for reliable security. However, its optics result in a very wide field of view. It does offer an autoframing feature which crops in pretty effectively. However, that comes at quite a loss of image quality.

Acer ProCreator PE320QXT: Final verdict

We've seen displays based on LG's 6K technology before. But Acer has opted for an alternative panel from AU Optronics that allows a lower price point. That's particularly impressive given that the Acer ProCreator PE320QXT includes full touchscreen functionality.

The snag is that the touch interface comes with some compromises. Firstly, the ergonomics aren't great for normal use, thanks to limited height adjustability and added panel reflectivity. The big bezels make the display look a little clunky and dated, too.

The touch layer in the panel also very slightly impacts image quality, which is a pity given that one of the key attractions here is ultra-crisp image quality from the 6K resolution and ultra-high pixel density.

We also had issues with the monitor's USB-C interface which we'd like to see addressed before this monitor can be recommended without a major caveat. In other regards, this is an impressive display with good connectivity and factory calibration.

Moreover, if you want the combination of 6K and touch support, this Acer represents one heck of a deal. But, ultimately, we'd probably rather see Acer offer this panel without touch support and with a conventional chassis and stand but at an even lower price. Now that would really be something.

For more displays, we've reviewed the best business monitors and the best 5K and 8K monitors.

• Acer Connect M6E 5G delivers 28 hours of active use without frequent charging interruptions
• Its IP68 rating ensures protection against dust and temporary water immersion
• Wi-Fi 6E and 2x2 MIMO reduce congestion in crowded environments

Acer has launched a mobile Wi-Fi device in the UK to address uneven access to stable internet connections across both dense cities and remote regions.

Available starting at £199.99, the Acer Connect M6E 5G is built for business travellers, event production teams, and hybrid workers who cannot rely on spotty public Wi-Fi or fragile consumer hotspots.

This device enables seamless movement between environments by eliminating manual provider switching, particularly during travel or field operations.

Built for durability and extended use

The M6E is engineered to survive conditions that would destroy most consumer networking gear.

Its IP68 rating means the unit is completely dustproof and can withstand submersion in up to 1.5 meters of water for 30 minutes.

An 8,000 mAh battery provides up to 28 hours of active use, allowing a full day of productivity without hunting for power outlets - and when it runs out of power, it supports fast charging via USB-C port, which minimizes downtime between work sessions.

"The Acer Connect M6E 5G is more than a convenience; it’s a productivity insurance policy," says Darren Calow Business Development Manager of Accessories & Gadgets at Acer UK.

"For the nomad worker or the event team operating in high-pressure environments, it provides the freedom of a private, secure, and ultra-fast 5G bubble that fits in a pocket."

On the connectivity front, the M6E leverages Wi-Fi 6E technology, including the 6 GHz band and 2x2 MIMO to reduce network congestion in crowded environments.

The device can support up to 20 connected devices simultaneously, enabling entire event teams to stay online through a single unit.

The device supports both physical SIM and virtual SIM technology, eliminating the need to swap cards when crossing borders.

It also supports SignalScan, which enables it to automatically identify and connect to strong 5G signals across 135 countries.

A rugged mobile router with a 28-hour battery sounds ideal on paper, but the real test lies in how well it performs in the specific environments Acer markets it for.

NFC touch-to-connect allows Android users to bypass password entry, offering a practical convenience when onboarding clients or colleagues who need immediate network access.

Security features include WPA3 encryption, built-in firewalls, and VPN support, helping protect sensitive data when operating across public mobile networks.

This device is designed for professionals who cannot afford connectivity failures during critical moments.

However, at £199.99, the M6E costs significantly more than a standard power bank paired with a basic hotspot.

So, whether the ruggedization and all-day battery justify the premium depends entirely on how often users actually find themselves working in puddles.

Acer Swift Edge 14 AI: 30-second review

Having recently covered the TravelMate P6 14 AI, the Acer Swift Edge 14 AI seems like a remarkably similar design, until you investigate the details.

All brands have a version of the thin-and-light laptop market where every machine looks broadly the same: aluminium lid, backlit chiclet keyboard, 14 inches of 1080p, and the manufacturer's brand at the top of the bezel. However, the Acer Swift Edge 14 AI dares to be different.

Built around Intel's Lunar Lake platform, the Swift Edge 14 AI packs a Core Ultra 7 258V processor into a magnesium-aluminium chassis that comes in under 990g. That alone is enough to make most carry-on bags significantly lighter, but Acer has also fitted a 14-inch 3K OLED panel treated with Corning Gorilla Matte Pro. That’s not typical, and positions this hardware with creatives in mind.

The Lunar Lake architecture also brings several surprises with it. The eight-core hybrid design drops Hyper-Threading entirely, pairing four Performance cores against four Low-Power cores, all built on TSMC 3nm. Since Intel chose to run its own foundries for many processors, the results are much better.

The memory subsystem is on-package LPDDR5X running eight 16-bit channels wide. Regrettably, these types of memory installations mean they cannot be upgraded, but they do deliver bandwidth that most discrete memory configurations cannot match.

The review system had 32GB, and that’s all it will ever have.

Graphics duties fall to the Intel Arc 140V with 64 Xe2 execution units, a significant step up from the iGPU silicon Intel was shipping two generations ago. It will not make a games enthusiast happy, but for photo editing, light video work, and the kind of AI-accelerated tasks the machine is specifically marketed towards, it holds its own convincingly.

The port selection is genuinely commendable for a machine this thin: two Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports, full-size HDMI, and a headset jack. The one notable omission is a MicroSD slot, which feels like it should be standard on a creative-leaning portable at this price.

With an official cost of around $1499 / £1399, the Swift Edge 14 AI is priced to compete with some very capable alternatives. Whether or not it wins that competition depends almost entirely on how much the display and the weight matter to you. If both matter a lot, this deserves a serious look.

There are a few wrinkles in the off-white finish of the Acer Swift Edge 14 AI, but overall, it offers a stellar hardware combination at a price few of the best business laptops can match.

Acer Swift Edge 14 AI: Price and availability

• How much does it cost? From $1500/£1400
• When is it out? Available now
• Where can you get it? Direct from Acer or online retailers

The laptop is available direct from Acer's US shop, as well as Amazon.com. In the UK, I'm seeing it available from Amazon.co.uk and Currys.

The UK model reviewed here has the part number NX.JG4EK.008 ships with the Core Ultra 7 258V, 32GB LPDDR5X, and a 1TB SSD for an RRP of £1,399. At the time of writing, Currys has it available for £1,399, which shifts the value proposition considerably. At that price, rivals start looking rather less compelling.

I have seen it for £1100 on Amazon.co.uk, but how long that deal will last is debatable.

In the USA, the American market equivalent (NX.JM6AA.002) with the same CPU, memory and storage sells for $1499.99 on Amazon.com, the same price as it is directly from Acer.

Direct competitors include the Asus Zenbook A14, which is half as much in the USA, using a Snapdragon X Plus processor, a lower-resolution OLED panel and half the RAM capacity. But due to the platform, that machine can’t run Intel X86 natively.

The MSI Prestige 14 AI Evo lands in a similar territory to the Acer in the UK, but maybe £250 cheaper. However, that’s for one with only a Core Ultra series 1 CPU.

If you are prepared to stretch a little further, the Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 on the same Lunar Lake platform costs noticeably more and brings additional enterprise features that most home and small-business users will not need. With the same spec as the Acer, it’s £1595.99 in the UK, and $1,759 in the USA.

It’s interesting that most of the machines that undercut the Acer Swift Edge 14 AI do so either by using an older-generation processor or by using IPS panels instead of the OLED in the Acer.

Therefore, it might not be cheap, but it represents decent value for money.

• Value: 4 / 5

Acer Swift Edge 14 AI: Specs

Acer Swift Edge 14 AI: Design

• Magnesium-aluminium chassis, sub-1kg weight
• OLED display with Corning Gorilla Matte Pro treatment
• Great port selection
• No MicroSD or SIM card slots

Pick up the Swift Edge 14 AI, and the first thing you register is the weight, or rather the lack of it. At just under a kilogram, it sits in the hand more like a hardback novel than a laptop, and Acer has managed that without resorting to the flex-heavy thin plastic shells that cut corners on cheaper machines. The magnesium-aluminium build feels solid, with only the very slightest give under deliberate pressure on the lid.

Acer describes the finish as Stellar White, and the aesthetic is deliberately clean. The lid carries only a small Acer logo and the Swift Edge badge on the opposite side of the lid, which gives it an understated quality. The hinge action is smooth with some light resistance; it can be opened one-handed, and the lid can sit flat at 180 degrees if needed.

At 12.9mm thin, the Swift Edge 14 AI is noticeably slimmer than a lot of its competition. The side ports are arranged sensibly: both Thunderbolt 4 ports and the HDMI sit on the left alongside a USB-A port, while the other USB-A port and the 3.5mm combo jack are on the right. This keeps the more frequently used connectors on one side for desk use. The full-size HDMI is a genuine convenience. Although it is possible to convert a Thunderbolt port to HDMI or DisplayPort, if you need more screens.

The keyboard is a backlit scissor-switch design with a reasonable 1.3mm of travel. Key spacing is generous for a 14-inch chassis, and the layout avoids the cramped cursor cluster that plagues thinner machines. There is a Copilot key, as expected for a Copilot+ PC, and a fingerprint reader is built into the power button. A separate IR camera above the display handles Windows Hello facial recognition with reasonable speed.

My only reservation about that camera is that, for the cost of this hardware, I’d have liked to see one that could do 4K, and not the 1440p limited one that Acer installed.

The trackpad is glass-surfaced, well-sized, and supports Windows Precision gestures throughout. It does not click anywhere near the top edge, which is a minor irritation if you are a corner-clicker by habit, but the tracking accuracy and palm rejection are both good.

Where the design really earns its place is with the display. The OLED panel, manufactured by BOE (model NB140B9M-T10 as confirmed by the hardware data), is a 14-inch 2,880 x 1,800 unit at a 16:10 aspect ratio, running up to 120Hz.

Acer has fitted Corning's Gorilla Matte Pro glass, which is notable because most matte treatments on OLED panels visibly degrade colour saturation and blacks. Gorilla Matte Pro is designed to minimize that effect, and to the naked eye, it succeeds. The panel retains deep blacks and vivid colours while cutting reflections to a level where even outdoor use in the shade is genuinely comfortable. At 313.8 x 218.8mm, the footprint is compact for a 14-inch machine, partly because the bezels are thin all around.

There are plenty of things to like about the design of this laptop, and relatively few issues to address. It lacks a MicroSD card slot, and for whatever reason, Acer doesn’t have a SIM card variant yet, but in most other respects, this has almost everything that most laptop users would like in their hardware.

• Design: 4.5 / 5

Acer Swift Edge 14 AI: Hardware

• Intel Core Ultra 7 258V on TSMC 3nm
• On-package LPDDR5X 8-channel architecture
• Arc 140V GPU with 64 Xe2 execution units

The Lunar Lake platform that underpins the Swift Edge 14 AI is significantly different from the Meteor Lake and Raptor Lake generations that preceded it, and those differences matter more on paper than they might initially suggest.

The Core Ultra 7 258V uses a hybrid core design of four Performance P-cores and four Low-Power LP-cores, and none of these uses hyperthreading. Intel dropped it across the board for this generation to prioritise per-core efficiency over everything else.

The result is a chip that delivers eight threads from eight physical cores, which is a departure from the twelve-thread configurations of older 12th and 13th-generation machines. In practice, this rarely matters because most everyday workloads are not thread-saturated, and the efficiency gains are tangible in both thermals and battery life.

The processor is produced using TSMC's 3nm node, the same process used by Apple for its current M-series silicon. This places Lunar Lake at the leading edge of Intel's efficiency story, and the power figures confirmed during testing bear that out. The platform was drawing just over 4 watts at idle, with individual core temperatures sitting in the low-to-mid thirties Celsius. The thermal design of the Swift Edge 14 AI relies on a single fan with a heat pipe arrangement, and under light use, it is effectively silent.

Another high point of Lunar Lake is that it places the LPDDR5X in much closer integration to the other parts of the system, using a non-upgradable Memory on Package (MoP) design. While previous Intel chips capped out at 6400 MT/s, the LPDDR5X-8533 used here offers lower latency and higher performance for AI and GPU operations.

The downside of using this memory model is that the RAM cannot be upgraded.

The GPU is Intel's Arc 140V with 64 Xe2 execution units boosting to 1,950MHz. This is a meaningful step up from the 96 EU Xe graphics in Meteor Lake and offers DirectX 12 Ultimate support, hardware raytracing, and Intel's XeSS upscaling.

It draws from the on-package memory pool and can handle Lightroom adjustments, DaVinci Resolve colour grading on 4K footage at reasonable resolutions, and light 3D viewport work without complaint. Gaming is possible at reduced settings in less demanding titles, but anyone expecting discrete GPU performance will be disappointed.

The NPU within the Lunar Lake SoC is rated at 48 TOPS, clearing the 40 TOPS threshold that qualifies the machine as a Copilot+ PC. This unlocks features including Windows Studio Effects on the webcam, Live Captions, and the broader Copilot+ feature set. Connectivity is handled entirely by Intel silicon: the Wi-Fi 7 module (identified in hardware data as device 0xA840) and Bluetooth 5.4 controller (0xA876) are both integrated into the Lunar Lake PCH, eliminating the third-party wireless card that most laptops require.

Storage comes via a 1TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 SSD, which is accessible (with effort -- nine screws secure the base panel) for replacement. Buyers who anticipate needing more storage should consider that at purchase time, since adding a second drive is not included.

While this, like almost all laptops these days, has limited upgrade potential, the system is honed to deliver a good user experience and performance suitable for a wide range of tasks.

• Hardware: 4 / 5

Acer Swift Edge 14 AI: Performance

For my comparison, I originally considered the Acer TravelMate P6 14 AI, but that’s an almost identical platform to the Swift Edge, and the numbers didn’t tell much of a story.

Instead, I chose the Dell Latitude 9450 to show what a major upgrade the 200-series machines are over the previous 100-series.

What we are seeing here is a major ram in power efficiency, and what that provides for both thermal ranges and clock speeds.

With CPU-Z confirming a package power draw of around 4 watts at idle and temperatures in the mid-thirties, the Swift Edge 14 AI is evidently conservative with its thermal budget when nothing demanding is happening. Under load, the picture is more nuanced.

Acer configures a sustained PL1 power limit of 30W and a short-burst PL2 of 37W, taking it slightly above Intel's reference values, suggesting a high degree of confidence in the cooling solution. In extended workloads such as video encoding or large RAW batch processing, the fan becomes audible. It is not aggressive, but it is present, which is worth noting for anyone planning to use the machine in quiet environments.

Per-core clock speed data captured during testing shows the P-cores reaching 4,500MHz on a single boosting core, with the LP-cores running independently up to 3,700MHz on their own tasks. Intel Thread Director dynamically distributes work between the two pools, and in practice, scheduling is handled sensibly. Background tasks migrate to LP-cores and stay there unless priority changes, conveniently.

When you consider that the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V has significantly fewer cores than the Core 7 Ultra 165U, it consistently delivers more compute, AI and GPU performance across the board.

The Arc 140V GPU proves its worth in tasks that conventionally required discrete silicon. Export times in Adobe Lightroom Classic with AI Denoise applied are substantially faster than equivalent Iris Xe workloads from the previous generation. DaVinci Resolve colour work on 1080p footage runs smoothly, though complex node stacks at 4K are probably asking the machine to work too hard. If you need to edit a 4K video, then consider something with a discrete GPU onboard.

In the same vein, games are possible but best treated as an occasional bonus rather than a primary use case. Older titles at 1080p with reduced settings run acceptably, while current AAA releases are better left to machines with discrete GPUs.

Battery life is one of the more compelling parts of the Swift Edge 14 AI's pitch. The 65Wh cell is substantial for a machine this light, and the efficiency of the Lunar Lake platform means it goes a long way. I should say that the Acer TravelMate P6 14 AI lasted another 2.5 hours, but its performance numbers overall were lower. Nearly 18.6 hours is still a great result, and should get even the most dedicated worker through a whole day.

The 100W USB-C charger in the box is fast enough to recover a meaningful charge during a short break, recovering 37% in just 30 minutes from zero charge.

These days, I always test laptop displays with a DataColor Spyder X2 calibrator, but the OLED panel on this machine does not work well with the software's analysis. Where it revealed that the panel has a superb 100% of P3 Gamut, it couldn’t work out the contrast or Gamma levels at all.

The OLED panel's brightness peaks at levels that make indoor use comfortable under practically any overhead lighting condition, and the 120Hz refresh rate keeps scrolling and cursor tracking smooth throughout. The Gorilla Matte Pro screen treatment does what it claims, keeping outdoor reflections manageable without noticeably impacting the OLED's characteristic contrast.

One detail that’s missing from my data chart is the weight of these machines, and that’s remarkably telling. The Acer is under 1kg, and the Dell is closer to 1.5kg.

Overall, on an Intel machine, the Acer Swift Edge 14 AI delivers top-drawer performance.

• Performance: 4.5 / 5

Acer Swift Edge 14 AI: Final verdict

The Swift Edge 14 AI is the machine you reach for when the weight of a laptop has started to feel like part of the problem rather than part of the solution. At under a kilogram, it genuinely changes how you think about carrying it, without requiring any of the structural compromises that thinner, lighter machines sometimes hide.

The display is the obvious headline. A 3K OLED panel at 120Hz with Gorilla Matte Pro glass is not something you find at this price point very often, and it delivers on the promise in everyday use. The anti-reflective treatment is genuinely effective rather than token, which matters if any of your work takes place anywhere other than a controlled office environment.

Under the surface, the Lunar Lake architecture brings a memory subsystem that competes well on bandwidth against more expensive configurations, a chip that handles sustained workloads without melting its surroundings, and enough AI headroom to qualify for the full Copilot+ feature set. The Arc 140V GPU is not a gaming chip, but it is an effective creative tool, and the distinction is worth drawing.

The compromises are real and should not be minimised. The memory cannot be upgraded, ever. The webcam and speakers are both average for the asking price. There is no MicroSD slot. If any of those limitations are dealbreakers, they should be assessed honestly before purchase.

For buyers who want a genuinely portable machine with an exceptional display, solid real-world performance, and a port selection that does not require a dock, the Swift Edge 14 AI makes a strong case.

Should you buy a Acer Swift Edge 14 AI?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

This week, things were a little quieter as we await the reveals of Samsung Unpacked next week, but that's not to say it was boring.

YouTube went down, Apple teased its next product event, and Discord rivals crashed under the weight of new users fleeing to their platforms.

To catch up on this and more, scroll down for our recap of the week's seven biggest tech news stories.

7. The Discord exodus started

Discord has inadvertently spoiled its reputation over the last week, with an announcement that it will be introducing its strict age verification plans to its users globally, after the UK’s updated Online Safety Act. It unsurprisingly sparked outrage among Discord users, who fled to multiple alternative social platforms, so much so that it gave one in particular, Stoat, server capacity issues.

It comes after a plethora of users took to unsubscribing from the platform’s Nitro service, with many looking to force Discord to rethink its strategy. Unfortunately, Discord is yet to make any adjustments to its verification plans set for March, and has only issued an update to its initial press release, providing extra ‘clarification’ for those plans.

• Read the full story: So many Discord users are flocking to this alternative platform that it keeps crashing

6. We tested the weirdest e-bike so far

AI really is finding its way into everything, as this week we tried Acer’s ebii 20 — an e-bike with AI features aimed to enhance the rider’s experience.

There is something to be said for the security protection and AI pedal assistance, but the hub motor lacks the power most would expect from an e-bike in this price bracket.

It also has poor weight distribution, and made some annoying ticking and white noise sounds while we were testing it — likely because we didn’t outfit the bike with a SIM card — which led to frustrations that meant we could only award it three-and-a-half stars in our review.

• Read the full story: I tested Acer's very weird AI-powered e-bike for a whole month

5. Movie studios fought back against AI clones

Netflix and Paramount might be battling over which of them will buy Warner Bros., but for now, the trio, and some other Hollywood studios like Disney, are allies in pushing back on Seedance 2.0 — a new AI video generator from ByteDance (the TikTok owner).

That is because they all claim the platform is using their characters and IP without permission.

Several Seedance videos have gone viral recently, including one starring Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise in a fight scene, with dialogue that sees Pitt accuse Cruise of killing Jeffrey Epstein — with the Screen Actors Guild of America (SAG-AFTRA) calling the video "unacceptable".

The Chinese company has since said it will take steps “to prevent the unauthorized use of intellectual property and likeness by users."

• Read the full story: Netflix, Disney, and Warner Bros. threaten legal action over Seedance 2.0 videos

4. We dissected the new Game of Thrones trailer

Thankfully, this week we didn’t need AI to get excited about one major entertainment property, as the trailer for House of the Dragon season 3 dropped.

With last season's finale suggesting that the Targaryen Civil War will finally take center stage this season, its first teaser, which you can watch above, is a thoroughly explosive one.

Unfortunately, the one thing we’re still missing is an official release date. It’s coming sometime in June, but precisely when is still a mystery for now.

• Read the full story: Our House of the Dragon season 3 trailer breakdown

3. Ring defended its leaked plan to “zero out crime”

Privacy has been a huge theme this week – and Discord (see above) wasn’t the only company that shot itself in the foot. Ring also had to defend itself from accusations that it’s planning to create an opt-out system that borders on mass surveillance.

A leaked email from Ring founder Jamie Siminoff poured gasoline on a controversy that was sparked by the company’s Super Bowl ad for its ‘Search Party’ feature. That feature is designed to help lost dogs, but the email said it could lead to a “future where we are able to zero out crime in neighborhoods”.

That understandably didn’t go down too well with privacy advocates – but Ring told us that it’s standing firm, despite the backlash.

• Read the full story: Ring says its leaked plan to ‘zero out crime in neighborhoods’ doesn’t mean mass surveillance

2. YouTube went down in a very rare outage

We’re getting pretty used to outages on X, which went down twice this week – but seeing YouTube go offline is a more panic-inducing rarity. Well, that unfortunate incident happened on Tuesday night when YouTube gave millions of people a taste of what life was like before 2006.

The 90-minute outage hit every part of YouTube – from the website and app to YouTube Music and TV – and was caused by an innocent “issue with our recommendations system”, according to Google. The experience made many realize how dependent they’ve become on the video-sharing site, which is so culturally significant it’s now an exhibit at London’s V&A museum.

• Read the full story: YouTube was down – here’s what caused the huge global outage

1. Apple announced a big March event

We might currently be gearing up for Samsung’s upcoming Unpacked next week, but not wanting to be left out of the conversation, Apple has teased a showcase for March 4 — and it could be a doozy.

As ever, the company is keeping tight-lipped about what product launches we might see at the event, with nothing specific mentioned in the press invite itself; however, there are suggestions from leaks and speculation that it’ll have a wide range of products to announce.

This could include new MacBook Pros, the iPhone 17e, a new iPad Air, and possibly a new Mac Studio. We’ll have to wait and see what gets announced, but if you’re an Apple fan looking to upgrade your tech, you might want to wait a week or so to see what Apple has up its sleeves.

• Read the full story: 5 things to expect at Apple's big event on March 4

• Acer and Asus have run into legal issues over patents in Germany
• This has led to laptops from these PC makers no longer being sold
• On top of that, German buyers can't access the local websites of these companies for their support needs with existing products

The situation with Acer and Asus laptops in Germany due to a legal issue over patents appears to have gotten worse, with a new and head-scratching development pertaining to getting support for PCs bought from these companies.

Tom's Hardware noticed that German tech site ComputerBase highlighted the problem whereby the German websites for both Acer and Asus are now unavailable – and what's more, it's tricky to even find a workaround to swerve those blocks in that country.

This follows a legal ruling in Germany in a case which has seen Nokia taking both PC makers to court over their use of HEVC (a widely used video-compression standard). There are issues with how much Acer and Asus have paid for the use of this tech in their products — which are covered as SEPs or standard-essential patents — with Nokia believing the two companies haven't contributed enough, and the German courts agreeing.

This affair has been colorfully described on Reddit as a "tire fire of monstrous proportions", and it has led to a block on sales of Acer and Asus laptops in Germany, and seemingly a knock-on effect in support. Even though Asus has previously stated: "All after-sales services in Germany remain fully operational, and existing customers will continue to receive uninterrupted support in full compliance with the current court order. Asus is evaluating and pursuing further legal action to reach a fair resolution as soon as possible."

After-sales support clearly isn't available from the Asus German site, and neither can German buyers of the firm's laptops access Asus sites in other regions. So, for example, if someone in Germany tries to access the Asus US site, they will still be blocked (redirected to the walled-off German local site, in fact).

Tom Guide's points out that using a VPN to set yourself as appearing to be from another country won't work to access the German Asus website either — it's blocked at a global level.

You can still access Asus sites in other countries via a VPN from Germany, of course, which is the main workaround a lot of folks will doubtless be using.

However, as ComputerBase notes, it's still possible to visit the Chinese Asus site from Germany via a Google search (without a VPN). Obviously, you'll need to use a translated version of the website, but at least you can access something. Other reports on Reddit indicate that the Macedonian Asus website may also work for VPN-less German people.

For Acer, ComputerBase highlights the Taiwanese Asus website as functional for those in Germany (with no VPN).

Finally, note that some German people do seem to be able to actually access the Asus website in the country — but they're seemingly in the minority. In most cases, it's blocked.

Analysis: a frustrating situation that needs to be swiftly resolved

This is an unpleasant situation for German consumers, of course. While given the legal dispute, it's understandable why sales — or rather, further shipments of Asus and Acer PCs, as this won't affect laptops on shelves already — might be blocked, but the same should not hold true for support.

It's bewildering, frankly, for people to have bought hardware that's still under guarantee — and support — to suddenly not be getting a service they've paid for already. German people shouldn't have to be scurrying off trying to find alternative obscure regional Asus websites that work for them, or be forced to download and use a free VPN (if they don't already have one), to get basic support.

If you run into a problem with your laptop that needs, say, a new driver download, or some kind of update, it's absolutely not okay to be unable to access that support just because of a legal dispute. One that has nothing to do with the transaction you entered into with a notebook maker.

Especially as Asus has said that existing buyers will receive "uninterrupted support" which clearly isn't happening. Is this a consequence of the legal team at Asus instituting some caution-first policy regarding the patent case? Is it an oversight? I don't know, and we can only guess — another possibility is that maybe the injunction's wording is particularly broad, as Tom's Hardware theorizes. Whatever the reason, it's a perplexing situation to put it mildly.

Yes, it's a Germany-only problem, and that country does have a stricter stance with complex patent issues like this. But it's still a move that should worry all consumers in terms of how the basic rights in terms of receiving support for an expensive tech purchase have seemingly been put aside — at least for the moment.

Hopefully we'll hear more from both laptop makers on the situation before long, because this needs resolving.

Acer Aspire 16 AI: Two-minute review

The Acer Aspire 16 AI is a large laptop promising powerful AI features in an elegant body. It certainly looks the part, thanks to the premium materials and finish, as well as the impressively thin chassis. It’s also surprisingly light for a laptop of this size, which further improves its portability.

However, the price paid for this litheness is the somewhat flimsy build quality, falling below the standards of the best laptop constructions. There’s a fair amount of flex to the chassis, while the lid hinge doesn’t offer the greatest stability – although it at least managed to stay planted while I typed.

There are a good number of ports on the Aspire 16 AI, including two USB-C and two USB-A ports. However, the former are located closest to you, a choice I usually lament since it means your power adapter has to cross over with any cable you have plugged in to the USB-A port. It’s also a shame that the card reader is only fit for microSDs.

For day-to-day use, the Aspire 16 AI is very capable. It can handle light productivity and 4K streaming without missing a beat. However, the included AI features are disappointing: they’re either too basic in their functionality or fail to work altogether.

Gaming also proved to be a lackluster experience. Its shared memory GPU can just about handle AAA titles on the lowest settings, and even then you won’t exactly be treated to the smoothest frame rates.

Under these kinds of intensive workloads, the Aspire 16 AI can generate a fair amount of heat, but thankfully it’s concentrated underneath, towards the back. Coupled with the hushed fans, the Aspire 16 AI remains comfortable to use in such scenarios.

The display in my review unit, with its OLED technology and 2048 x 1280 resolution, provided a crystal-clear image, rendering colors vividly and delivering high brightness levels. This latter aspect is especially useful for combating reflections, which can be quite prominent.

Thanks to the spacing and satisfying feel of its keys, the keyboard on the Aspire 16 AI is easy to use. However, the number pad keys are too small for my liking, and I wished there was a right Control key, as I find this useful for productivity purposes.

The touchpad is smooth and large, which helps with navigation, but it can get in the way when typing. Also, the one in my review unit felt loose and rattled when clicking, making it awkward to use and suggests signs of poor quality control.

Battery life is somewhat disappointing, and isn’t a patch on that of the smaller 14 AI. In fact, many of its key rivals can outlast it. I only managed to get roughly nine hours from it when playing a movie on a continuous loop.

On the face of it, the Aspire 16 AI might look like good value, but it doesn’t deliver enough to justify its cost. Its slender form and mostly great display aren’t enough to make up for its drawbacks, while other laptops at this price point offer more complete packages.

Acer Aspire 16 AI review: Price & Availability

• $649.99 / £799.99 / AU$1,499
• Available now in various configurations
• Better value rivals exist

The Aspire 16 AI starts from $649.99 / £799.99 / AU$1,499 and is available now. It can be configured with various processors, including Intel and Qualcomm (ARM) chips, with a couple of storage and RAM options to choose from.

Unfortunately, there are better value laptops out there with more power and performance, better suited to heavier workloads. The Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M4) is one such example. Starting prices aren’t as low, but they’re similar to the higher spec models of the Aspire 16 AI. They also have excellent build quality, making them a better value proposition all things considered.

If you want to stick with Windows, the Asus TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition is another alternative. Again, it’s similarly priced to the higher-spec variants of the Aspire 16 AI, but offers much better gaming performance, chiefly thanks to its AMD Radeon RX 7600S GPU. It’s no surprise we think it’s one of the best cheap gaming laptops around right now.

• Value: 3 / 5

Acer Aspire 16 AI review: Specs

Acer Aspire 16 AI review: Design

• Brilliantly thin and light
• Not the sturdiest
• Touchpad issues

Thanks to its minimal design, the Aspire 16 AI has sleek looks. The low-shine metallic lid also adds to its elegance, befitting its premium price tag.

It’s pleasingly light and slender, too, making it more portable than you might expect for a 16-inch laptop. The bezel for the display is minuscule as well, which helps to maximize its full potential.

There’s a satisfying click when you close the lid on the Aspire 16 AI, something I haven’t encountered on any other laptop before. The hinge also allows for the screen to recline all the back by 180 degrees, something I’m always happy to see.

However, lid stability isn’t the best, as it’s prone to wobbling, although, thankfully, it remains stable while typing on the keyboard. The overall construction of the Aspire 16 AI isn’t especially impressive, either, with the chassis having a fair amount of flex.

Worse still, the touchpad in my review unit had a horrible rattle, as if some part was loose at the bottom section. It’s possible this issue is confined to my review unit alone – perhaps it had been passed around several journalists before it got to me – but the issue still doesn’t speak highly of its build quality or Acer's quality control.

There’s a varied selection of ports on the Aspire 16 AI, spread evenly across both sides. On the left are two USB-C ports, one USB-A port, and an HDMI port. However, I found it inconvenient that the USB-C ports are placed nearest to you, since one has to be used for the power adapter; I much prefer the thick cable for this to trail from the back of the laptop, rather than from the middle, as it does with the Aspire 16 AI.

On the right you’ll find another USB-A port, followed by a combo audio jack and a microSD card reader. It’s a shame the latter can’t accommodate standard SD card sizes, but this is a small grievance.

• Design: 3.5 / 5

Acer Aspire 16 AI review: Performance

• Good productivity and streaming performance
• Poor for gaming
• Useless AI features

The Aspire 16 AI offers great general performance. It takes light productivity in its stride, from word processing to spreadsheet creation, and multiple browser tabs didn’t cause a problem for me, thanks to the 16GB of RAM in my review unit. Streaming 4K content is well within its grasp, too. I experienced little buffering or slow down, providing a seamless viewing experience in the main.

However, despite what Acer claims, the gaming performance of the Aspire 16 AI is quite poor. With its shared memory, the AMD Radeon GPU didn’t handle AAA titles very well. When I played Cyberpunk 2077 with the default Ray Tracing: Low preset and resolution scaling set to Performance mode, I was getting 20fps on average – not what you’d call playable.

The best I could achieve with the game was about 38fps, but that was at the lowest possible graphics preset and the resolution dropped to 1080p. This at least made it playable, but if you’re expecting to get even moderately close to the performance of the best gaming laptops, you’ll be sorely disappointed.

During my playtime, the Aspire 16 AI generated a fair amount of heat. Fortunately, this was heavily concentrated underneath and at the back, thus steering clear of any parts you might actually touch. Fan noise is also pleasantly subdued.

As when I tested the 14 AI, the AI features the Aspire 16 AI sports are disappointing. The centerpiece appears to be Acer LiveSense, a photo editing and webcam suite with very basic functionality, not to mention a poor UI and frequent glitches.

For more AI features, you’ll have to download Acer Intelligence Space, the brand’s hub. Contrary to when I tested the 14 AI, I managed to install it successfully. However, it didn’t get off to an auspicious start, as a dialog box warned me that I had insufficient memory resources, explaining that it needed 6.5GB free and a total of at least 16GB to execute smoothly.

I proceeded anyway and was greeted with a clear user interface that revealed the various AI apps I could install. However, a large portion of them seem to be incompatible with the Aspire 16 AI, and those that are were once more very limited in their functionality.

On a more positive note, the 2K OLED display in my review unit was as clear and as vibrant as you might expect. The very shiny coating can cause prominent reflections, but these can be mitigated by the screen’s brightness values (especially if you disable the ‘change brightness based on content’ setting).

The keyboard feels premium, too, thanks to the subtle texture and tight fit of the keys themselves. They’re also light, tactile, and reasonably spaced, although perhaps not to the extent of other laptop keyboards. I didn’t find this aspect to be a problem when typing, but I did while gaming, as it made adopting the WASD more uncomfortable for me.

At least the number pad doesn’t eat into the layout space. However, contrary to many full-sized laptop keyboards I’ve experienced, it’s the number pad itself that feels cramped, with its keys being too narrow to be used easily. Another small but notable gripe I have with the keyboard is the absence of a right Control key, which can be frustrating when performing productivity tasks.

The touchpad performs well enough, with its large and smooth surface making for easy navigation. However, thanks to the aforementioned rattle in its bottom portion, clicks felt unpleasant. It can also get in the way while typing: on occasion, the palm of my thumbs would activate the cursor, although thankfully not clicks or taps.

• Performance: 3.5 / 5

Acer Aspire 16 AI review: Battery Life

• Average battery life
• 14 AI battery life much better
• Other rivals are better, too

The battery life of the Aspire 16 AI isn’t particularly impressive. It lasted just over nine hours in our movie playback test, which is a middling result. This is a far cry from the time achieved by the 14 AI, which lasted over twice as long, making the Aspire 16 AI even more disappointing by comparison.

What’s more, plenty of its rivals can beat this score, including the Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch, which managed over 17 hours, and the Asus TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition, which lasted 11 hours.

• Battery Life: 3.5 / 5

Should I buy the Acer Aspire 16 AI?

Buy the Acer Aspire 16 AI if...

Don't buy it if...

Acer Aspire 16 AI review: Also Consider

How I tested the Acer Aspire 16 AI

• Tested for several days
• Used for various tasks
• Plentiful laptop reviewing experience

I tested the Aspire 16 AI for several days, during which time I used it for various tasks, from productivity and browsing to streaming and gaming.

I also ran our series of benchmark tests to assess its all-round performance more concretely, and played a movie on a continuous loop while unplugged to see how long its battery lasted.

I have been using laptops for decades, and have reviewed a large and varied selection of them too, ranging in their form factors, price points, and intended purposes.

• First reviewed: January 2026
• Read more about how we test

• Acer’s Ryzen AI Max+ 395 AI workstation is aimed at creators and developers
• Veriton RA100 specs closely match those of rival Ryzen AI Max+ systems
• Pricing will likely determine Acer RA100 success in an increasingly crowded market

At CES 2026, Acer introduced several new models to its Veriton desktop range, covering mini PCs, towers, and all in one systems aimed at business and advanced users.

The lineup includes the Veriton 2000 Large Tower and refreshed Veriton All In One desktop series, both powered by Intel Core Ultra processors and designed for office environments and SMBs.

Acer also announced the Veriton RA100, a compact Windows 11 Copilot+ PC for AI workloads, built on the Ryzen AI Max+ 395 processor with Radeon 8060S graphics, a 50 TOPS NPU, and up to 60 TFLOPS of GPU compute.

Ryzen AI Max+ 395 power

Memory support reaches up to 128GB of four channel LPDDR5X, with storage configurations going up to 4TB via an M.2 2280 SSD.

That combination targets workloads such as local AI models, generative applications, 3D design, and content creation without depending on cloud services.

The system sits in a smart, compact chassis measuring 203mm x 192mm x 70mm, keeping it firmly in mini PC territory despite the workstation label.

Connectivity includes Wi Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, and 2.5G Ethernet, alongside USB 4 Gen3 Type C ports, USB 3.2 Gen2 Type A, USB 2.0, HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort, audio jacks, and a front card reader.

Selectable power modes allow users to tune performance, thermals, and noise for office tasks, multitasking, or heavier AI workloads.

RA100’s specification closely mirrors the growing number of Ryzen AI Max+ 395 powered mini PCs already on the market.

These systems, from brands such as HP, GMKtec, Corsair, Beelink, Bosgame, and Framework, all use the same processor, offering near identical core hardware.

Differences tend to come down to chassis design, port layouts, cooling approaches, and brand positioning, rather than compute capability.

That essentially leaves pricing and system tuning as the main points of difference.

The Veriton RA100 looks great, and will doubtless benefit from Acer's brand recognition, but unless it's keenly priced against these rivals, it risks blending into an already crowded field of similar mini PCs.

TechRadar will be extensively covering this year's CES, and will bring you all of the big announcements as they happen. Head over to our CES 2026 news page for the latest stories and our hands-on verdicts on everything from wireless TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops, smart home gadgets, and the latest in AI. You can also ask us a question about the show in our CES 2026 live Q&A and we’ll do our best to answer it.

And don’t forget to follow us on TikTok and WhatsApp for the latest from the CES show floor!

• The era of true 16:9 6K monitors is expanding beyond single flagship models
• Acer adds a creator-focused 6K screen with broad connectivity but skips KVM support
• Ultrawide 21:9 panels still aren’t the same as full 20-megapixel 6K displays

High-resolution desktop displays are starting to move beyond 5K, with more manufacturers committing to panels that deliver a full 20 million pixels.

At CES 2026, Acer introduced the ProDesigner PE320QX, a 31.5-inch monitor with a native 6016x3384 resolution and a true 16:9 aspect ratio.

That detail matters, because many displays marketed as 6K spread fewer pixels across ultrawide 21:9 panels instead.

Generous port selection but no KVM

Those ultrawide business monitors often top out around 5120x2160 or similar. They look wide and sharp, but they don’t hit the full pixel count or workspace creators expect from a proper 6K display.

The PE320QX does, matching the resolution used by Apple’s Pro Display XDR. It runs at 60Hz and supports HDMI, DisplayPort, and USB-C without limiting resolution to a single input.

Color coverage is aimed squarely at creative work. The panel reaches 99% Adobe RGB and 98% DCI-P3, using an 8-bit plus FRC approach to display 1.07 billion colors.

Brightness is rated at 400 nits normally, rising to 600 nits in HDR mode. VESA DisplayHDR 600 certification is included, although it isn’t a mini LED or OLED panel.

Acer quotes a 4ms gray-to-gray response time and a dynamic contrast figure that relies on backlight control. Viewing angles are the usual 178 degrees in both directions.

Connectivity includes HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 2.1, two USB4 ports with up to 100W power delivery on the input side, plus USB-A and USB-C for peripherals.

There’s also a built-in webcam and speakers, but no KVM switch. That will be a disappointment for users juggling multiple systems.

The PE320QX joins a small but growing group of true 6K monitors, including Dell's UltraSharp, LG's 6K UltraFine with Thunderbolt 5, Asus' ProArt 6K, and Clarity's 6K Touch touchscreen model.

There's no word on pricing or availability for the PE320QX, but the Asus ProArt Display PA32QCV, released last year, sells for $1300, so expect to pay north of that for the new model.

TechRadar will be extensively covering this year's CES, and will bring you all of the big announcements as they happen. Head over to our CES 2026 news page for the latest stories and our hands-on verdicts on everything from wireless TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops, smart home gadgets, and the latest in AI. You can also ask us a question about the show in our CES 2026 live Q&A and we’ll do our best to answer it.

And don’t forget to follow us on TikTok and WhatsApp for the latest from the CES show floor!

Acer announced a rather large selection of new laptops, displays, and accessories at CES 2026. But there are a few you’ll want to check out either virtually or in-person in Vegas.

Since there were no major updates on the desktop ecosystem, Acer’s laptops had a real chance to stand out alongside the company’s new gaming monitors.

Acer Swift Edge 14 AI

The Acer Swift Edge 14 AI is a smaller version of last year’s new Swift Edge 16, which is just as thin and durable as the 2025 version due to its stainless steel and magnesium alloy chassis. But the new Swift Edge 14 AI weighs under 1kg and is just 13.99mm thick, making it one of the thinnest and lightest laptops on the market.

When I was able to hold the Swift Edge 14 AI in my hands, I was paranoid about breaking the laptop, given just how thin and light the laptop is. However, as hard as it is to believe, both Swift Edge laptops meet the MIL-STD-810H durability standards, so it's hardly fragile.

Acer has upgraded the Swift Edge 14 AI and Swift Edge 16 AI for 2026 with Intel Core Ultra 9 388H chipsets and up to 32GB of memory and 1TB of SSD storage, along with 3K, 120Hz OLED touchscreen displays. But the real selling point is the multi-control touchpad for easier media, conferencing, and presentation tools.

Predator Helios Neo 16S AI

The Predator Helios Neo 16S AI is an ultra-slim gaming laptop with an 3K OLED display, Intel Core Ultra 9 386H processor and discrete Nvidia RTX 5070 graphics. Measuring just 18.9mm thick, it's one of the thinnest gaming laptops on the market.

While many gamers prefer chunkier, high-performance gaming laptops, I’m personally more inclined to slim, portable gaming laptops since I have a desktop or two for use at home. The sheer portability factor of Acer’s Triton 14 AI made it one of my favorite laptops from 2025 for good reason, and the Helios Neo 16S AI is a similarly powerful, portable laptop. However it’s got a more powerful CPU and a larger screen for more immersive gaming.

Predator X34 F3 monitor

Acer didn’t slouch on monitors either, with two new gaming displays that come with remotes to change settings without fiddling with keys on the back or underside of your monitor, so you’ll have no trouble orienting them in any direction or stacking them together.

While Acer did have two new Predator monitors, the Predator X34 F3 features a stunning QD-OLED panel that makes it shine compared to the XB27U F6. The X34 also hits a max refresh rate of 360Hz with a latency of 0.03ms which is impressive for a 34-inch curved QD-OLED display.

• Acer has revealed a range of new products at CEs 2026
• The main announcement is a fresh line of laptops featuring the new Intel Core Ultra Series 3 processors
• Other reveals included an esports monitor and a Predator-branded e-scooter

The ball is rolling on CES 2026, and that means lots of new hardware reveals. It's an exciting time of year for us here at TechRadar, and it looks like Acer hasn't disappointed, with a range of new products coming in hot.

Leading the pack are several new laptops equipped with Intel's new 3rd-gen Core Ultra CPUs, including the Aspire AI, Swift AI, Swift Edge AI, Swift Go AI, and several new gaming laptops in the Predator and Nitro ranges. Yes, those have 'AI' tacked onto the end of the product name for no good reason, too.

I'm only gently chiding Acer for this, though, as it's become common practice across multiple laptop brands in recent years to include 'AI' in the name. In my inquiries, nobody has been particularly forthcoming about why they're doing this, but it's likely a combination of desire to demonstrate these new laptops' AI capabilities (thanks to the new Intel Core Ultra 300 chips powering them, which boast superior AI performance compared to the previous 200 generation) and pressure from Microsoft to champion Copilot, its AI assistant that now comes baked into Windows 11.

Overall, though? I have to say that these new laptops look good. The Aspire and Swift models come in both 14- and 16-inch display sizes, with the super-premium Swift Edge 14 AI weighing in at less than 1kg with a thickness of 13.95mm, making it one of the thinnest and lightest laptops in its performance class. The new Predator Helios Neo 16S AI is also impressively thin and light for a gaming laptop, packing an RTX 5070 GPU but with a chassis less than 19mm thick.

New visuals

The reveals didn't stop there, though. New monitors are up next: we saw two gaming-focused models under the Predator brand, one curved and one esports-oriented (with a ludicrous '1000 Hz dynamic mode' for maximizing your framerate), along with another gaming monitor from the Nitro family, which offers a 27-inch 5K panel. Meanwhile, digital creatives were served by the new ProDesigner PE320QX, which delivers a stunning 6K resolution and 1.07 billion color support.

Elsewhere in the display space, we saw a new projector, the Vero HL1820. Side note: did you know Acer makes home cinema projectors? I did, but several of my coworkers didn't! As part of the eco-friendly Vero product line, it's constructed with a chassis composed of 50% post-consumer-recycled materials.

There was also a host of connectivity products, primarily some new routers, including the Predator Connect X7S 5G CPE: a wireless router that uses 5G and 4G connectivity to deliver lightning-fast Wi-Fi 7 connectivity for gaming and streaming wherever you may go. Peripherals were included too, with the new Predator Cestus 530 gaming mouse and Galea 570 headset.

Get scootin'

The most unusual reveal, however, was the Predator ES Storm Pro E-scooter. Described as a 'performance-focused e-scooter designed for varied urban conditions', it features a foldable aluminum frame, ten-inch tubeless tires, and of course, RGB lighting. It's a Predator-branded product, after all.

Now, this isn't the first electric scooter Acer has produced; the ES series has been kicking around for a little while now, so it's not surprising to see Acer wheel out a new one at an event like CES. What is surprising is that this model proudly bears the Predator branding. I don't know if there's a lot of crossover between the PC gaming and e-scooter markets, but clearly Acer thinks so.

With IPX5 water resistance and a riding range of approximately 60km on a single charge thanks to regenerative braking technology, it certainly looks pretty sweet. But I don't really know a damn thing about e-scooters, so that's just about all the analysis I can offer on this particular product reveal!

• Acer Chromebook Plus Enterprise 714 uses Core Ultra 5 processors with Intel Graphics
• Acer Chromebook Plus Enterprise 514 offers Intel Core 7 options and PCIe Gen4 SSDs
• Both Acer Chromebook Plus Enterprise models support up to 16 GB of LPDDR5X memory

Acer has unveiled the Chromebook Plus Enterprise 714 and Chromebook Plus Enterprise 514, both business laptops designed for cloud-first workplaces.

The devices incorporate Google's Gemini AI tools as a priority, and are built to handle demanding, AI-assisted workflows.

Both run ChromeOS with Chrome Enterprise Upgrade unlocked from the start, giving administrators built-in management tools and enterprise-grade security.

Balancing portability, performance, and durability

The Chromebook Plus Enterprise 714 is powered by Intel Core Ultra 5 processors, while the 514 offers configurations up to the Intel Core 7 series.

Both systems use Intel Graphics, support up to 16GB of LPDDR5X memory, and include PCIe Gen4 solid-state storage.

Acer clearly wants these machines to challenge traditional mobile workstations in performance, although ChromeOS remains a limiting factor for heavy software users.

The Acer Chromebook Plus Enterprise 714 has a slim, lightweight aluminum chassis built to military-grade standards, measuring roughly 17mm thick and weighing around 1.32kg.

This device features a 14-inch WUXGA display with optional touch support and a sturdy aluminum body weighing under three pounds which also carries MIL-STD 810H certification for shock resistance and reinforced hinges designed for prolonged use.

Its QHD webcam with “Temporal Noise Reduction” and triple-microphone array aims to improve clarity during virtual meetings.

The Chromebook Plus Enterprise 514 variant keeps the same 14-inch form factor, includes anti-glare coating, and supports Full HD or QHD webcams.

It measures slightly thicker at about 19mm but maintains the same focus on durability and portability.

Battery endurance is a highlight, with Acer quoting up to 20.5 hours for the 714 and up to 17 hours for the 514.

Both use Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.3 for connectivity and include multiple USB ports, HDMI, and Ethernet on the higher-end model.

Acer’s Earthion mission influences the build, with EPEAT Gold certification, Energy Star compliance, and an OceanGlass touchpad made from ocean-bound plastic.

Management through ChromeOS enables centralized deployment, while Cameyo integration lets users run Windows and Linux applications virtually.

Fingerprint readers and webcam shutters enhance privacy, and the ChromeOS environment provides round-the-clock administrative control.

These are among the most powerful Chromebooks Acer has produced, however persuading IT teams to adopt them may prove difficult because many enterprises remain tied to Windows-based ecosystems that support a wider range of legacy software.

IT decision-makers will likely view them as secondary devices rather than replacements for full workstations.

Acer’s new hardware delivers impressive polish, yet its success will depend on whether businesses truly embrace ChromeOS beyond lightweight, web-centric roles.

Acer Aspire Go 15: Two-minute review

The Acer Aspire Go 15 is an affordable Windows laptop with a spec that should prove capable enough for everyday use.

Considering its 15.6-inch form, it has a sleek and slender body. It’s also quite thin and light, which makes it easier to carry around than expected. The light silver finish and minimal aesthetic also imbue the Aspire Go 15 with some style, although there are a few unsightly angles that mar its appearance somewhat.

It isn’t built to the same high standards as the best laptops, much less many of the best Ultrabooks, either. The materials aren’t premium, and its construction isn’t as reassuringly solid as I would’ve liked. The lid isn’t the most stable, either, and its downward protrusion means it lifts up the rear of the unit when opened beyond 90 degrees, which is a design choice I’m not particularly fond of due to its impractical nature.

On a more positive note, there’s a decent selection of ports, including three for USB-A, one for HDMI cables, and one for Ethernet connections. There’s only one USB-C port, though, and no SD card reader.

The everyday performance of the Aspire Go 15 is very good, handling light productivity and entertainment workloads with speed. However, more intensive tasks such as gaming fare worse, given that it lacks a dedicated GPU. Light gaming is still possible, though, and both fan noise and temperatures are kept to a minimum.

One of the most disappointing aspects of the Aspire Go 15 is its display. Its grainy finish can be distracting, while colors can look a little washed out in some cases. Worse still is the restrictive viewing angle, with images and scenes becoming totally obscured when the display is set even slightly beyond optimal bounds.

The battery life of the Aspire Go 15 is quite good, though, lasting close to 12 hours during our movie playback test. However, there are quite a few rivals that can outlast it, such as the Dell 14 Plus.

Considering its price, the Aspire Go 15 represents a very good value, offering a more affordable alternative to the best Windows laptops that cost a good bit more. There are also better-performing Chromebooks for less money, such as the HP Chromebook Plus 15.6-inch, which also has a better display, but if you can live with its display, the Aspire Go 15 is one of the best budget laptops going and well worth adding to your shortlist.

Acer Aspire Go 15 review: Price & Availability

• Starts from $299.99 / £299.99 (about AU$450)
• Base models have weak specs
• Review model is still well-priced, though

The Aspire Go 15 starts from $299.99 / £299.99 (about AU$450) and is available now. A range of Intel and AMD CPUs are available to choose from, while RAM and storage capacities range from 8GB to 32GB and 128GB to 1TB, respectively.

This is a good starting price for a Windows laptop, but for this outlay, you’ll have to settle for a weak spec. My review model was considerably more powerful than the base model, and priced closer to some strong rivals.

However, it still undercuts other affordable Windows machines, such as the Dell 14 Plus. We found this laptop to be an excellent value, though, thanks to its fast performance and enduring battery life, while its light design even makes it a worthy alternative to some of the best MacBooks.

If you’re willing to look beyond Windows machines, the HP Chromebook Plus 15.6-inch is another enticing proposition. This is cheaper than the Aspire Go 15, but has a stronger performance and a superior display that doesn’t suffer from the same issues. No wonder we think it’s one of the best Chromebooks around right now.

• Value: 4.5 / 5

Acer Aspire Go 15 review: Specs

A wide selection of spec configurations are available, with both Intel and AMD processors. There is a mix of PCIe 3.0 and 4.0 SSDs depending on the spec, so some drives will run slower than others, and that's not always immediately apparent when looking at retailer specs sheets.

It also doesn't include the latest Wi-Fi and Bluetooth standard, but Wi-Fi 6 is fast enough for most people's needs, while the inclusion of an Ethernet port is welcome.

Overall, for their various price points, these are about the specs one should expect.

• Specs: 3.5 / 5

Acer Aspire Go 15 review: Design

• Reasonably light and thin
• Lacking solidity
• Odd lid design

The Aspire Go 15 is a basic but smart looking laptop, with extraneous details kept to a minimum. The light silver finish of my review unit helped to impart some elegance, too, although a few unsightly juts and angles spoil its otherwise smooth contours. While the Aspire Go 15 is quite wide, it’s relatively light and pleasingly thin, which makes it easier to carry around than you might imagine for a 15.6-inch laptop.

Build quality isn’t exactly the greatest, though, with cheap looking – and feeling – plastics that flex to an inauspicious degree. Thankfully, the keys feel more premium: they’re solidly fitted and have a prominent texture that’s satisfying to touch.

The lid is also better made than the rest of the unit, featuring a solid yet smooth hinge mechanism. I welcomed how thin it was, too, although I was less keen on its bottom protrusion. This causes the rear of the Aspire Go 15 to lift off ground when opened to angles beyond 90 degrees – a deliberate design choice but one that feels unintuitive and can result in loose fabrics and other materials underneath the chassis getting caught, which isn’t ideal.

There was a reasonable selection of ports on my Aspire Go 15 review unit. I welcomed the three USB-A ports, spread across both sides for added convenience. There was also an HDMI port and an ethernet port: increasingly rare sights on modern laptops, and again ones I was glad to see. There’s only one USB-C port, though, and no SD card reader, both of which are mild shames.

• Design: 3.5 / 5

Acer Aspire Go 15 review: Performance

• Great general computing performance
• Some light gaming is possible
• Relatively cool and quiet

For everyday tasks, the Aspire Go 15 is very capable. It can handle light productivity, from word processing to spreadsheet creation, without much if any slowdowns. It also had no problem streaming 4K content. I didn’t experience any midway buffering pauses or stuttering, for example.

However, the viewing experience is marred by the quality of the display. It has a noticeably grainy finish, which can be distracting at times. Colors can also look washed out.

What’s more, the display darkens considerably if the angle isn’t set just right, to the point of near-total blackness sometimes. Thankfully, once you’ve found the optimum position, there are next to no reflections visible on screen.

Since there’s no dedicated GPU installed in the Aspire Go 15, it isn’t particularly great for creative and gaming workloads. Cyberpunk 2077 is playable on the lowest preset, but naturally, you’ll have to make do with some rough visuals and uninspiring frame rates.

The game is even passable on Medium settings and upscaling, but you’ll have to contend with even lower frame rates and more input lag, rendering the experience less than enjoyable.

Mercifully, though, I experienced little fan noise from the Aspire Go 15 during such intensive workloads, never elevating above a faint whir. It also stayed commendably cool, with certain portions of the body reaching lukewarm temperatures only.

Another highlight of the Aspire Go 15 is its keyboard. The aforementioned keycap texture helps them feel more tactile, as does the surprising amount of dampening of the switches, despite their short travel and very low profile.

What’s more, they’re snappy and responsive, which only improves their typing prowess. And despite featuring a number pad, the layout doesn’t feel cramped. Those number pad keys are relatively small, though, but they’re still eminently usable. So overall, if you’re looking for one of the best laptops for writing, the Aspire Go 15 could well be a contender for you.

The touchpad is less pleasant to use, though. While it’s smooth enough for easy gestures and swiping, it’s not as large as those in other 15-inch laptops, which compromises its navigation abilities. Also, clicks and taps lack feedback and even rattle at points, which further hampers their functionality.

• Performance: 4 / 5

Acer Aspire Go 15 review: Battery Life

• Reasonable longevity
• Rivals can far outlast it, though

The battery life of the is quite impressive. It managed to last close to 12 hours when playing a movie on a continuous loop. It’s also quick to charge, taking about two hours to fully top up.

The HP Chromebook Plus 15.6-inch achieved a similar score. However, others in this sector can outlast it by quite some distance, including the Dell 14 Plus, which lasted over 13 hours when we ran a similar test.

• Battery Life: 3.5 / 5

Should I buy the Acer Aspire Go 15?

Buy the Acer Aspire Go 15 if...

Don't buy it if...

Acer Aspire Go 15 review: Also Consider

How I tested the Acer Aspire Go 15

• Tested for several days
• Used for a variety of tasks
• Plentiful laptop reviewing experience

I tested the Acer Aspire Go 15 for several days, using it for working, entertainment, gaming, and general browsing.

I also connected various peripherals to it, and ran our series of benchmark tests to assess its overall performance. I also tested its battery life by playing a movie on a continuous loop until it expired.

I have plenty of experience testing all kinds of laptops, from everyday workhorses to high-end specialist machines. I’ve also reviewed Chromebooks and other computing devices, such as tablets.

• First reviewed: October 2025
• Read more about how we test

• Acer Predator Helios 18P AI fused gaming laptop design with workstation power
• ECC memory slows things down while inflating the laptop’s retail cost
• vPro processors add security features with zero benefits for higher frame rates

Acer has introduced a new system that blurs the line between traditional gaming laptops and professional workstations.

The Predator Helios 18P AI, unveiled at IFA 2025 in Berlin, is marketed not just as a gaming machine but also as a “local AI workstation.”

By combining features usually reserved for enterprise-class systems with the aesthetics of a gaming laptop, Acer appears to be testing whether gamers and professionals will embrace the same machine for different reasons.

A gaming look with workstation and enterprise internals

The Predator Helios 18P keeps the traditional gamer styling. RGB lighting, sharp lines, and the Predator branding leave no doubt about its target audience.

Yet, under the hood, Acer has fitted technology more familiar in enterprise machines. Buyers can equip the laptop with Intel’s vPro processors and ECC memory.

These hardware combinations usually appear in mobile workstations rather than in consumer gaming models.

The company also lists support for up to 192GB of ECC memory, something unusual in gaming laptops.

On paper, the system sounds powerful. The Predator Helios 18P AI offers up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX with vPro, paired with Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 5090 Laptop GPU.

Storage reaches as high as 6TB of PCIe Gen 5 SSD capacity, and connectivity includes Thunderbolt 5, Wi-Fi 7, and Killer Ethernet.

The display is an 18-inch Mini-LED panel with a 3840 x 2400 resolution, 16:10 aspect ratio, and refresh rates up to 120Hz.

Yet, despite these specifications, the decision to use ECC memory and vPro CPUs introduces some questions.

ECC ensures data integrity, important for professional workloads and some business laptops, although unnecessary for gaming.

The inclusion of vPro raises similar questions, as it offers manageability and security functions for IT departments but brings no performance increase over standard CPUs.

vPro chips are no faster than their non-vPro equivalents, and ECC memory runs slower than standard RAM.

That means while the machine looks like a flagship gaming laptop, it could actually deliver less gaming performance than competitors with cheaper, non-ECC setups.

The Predator Helios 18P AI is priced as a premium product, starting at €4,499 in Europe.

For that cost, buyers are essentially paying for enterprise-level features in a gaming frame.

This raises the question of whether Acer is trying to shift high-end gaming laptops toward the workstation market, presenting them as multipurpose AI machines rather than pure gaming rigs.

Via Toms Hardware

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• Acer TravelMate X4 14 AI unveiled at IFA 2025 with Intel Core Ultra processors
• Weighs 1.27kg, offers up to 32GB memory, 1TB storage, and OLED display option
• Features Wi-Fi 7, Thunderbolt 4 ports, and 65Wh battery rated 12 hours

Acer has taken the wraps off a number of new products at IFA 2025, including the TravelMate X4 14 AI, lightweight Windows 11 Pro laptop aimed at small and medium businesses.

The Copilot+ PC (model TMX414-51) is powered by Intel’s Core Ultra Series 2 processors, with options ranging up to the Core Ultra 7 258V, and can reach up to 115 TOPS of overall performance.

Graphics come from integrated Intel Arc, with configurations including Arc 130V and Arc 140V.

Advanced hardware and modern processors

“As AI is becoming increasingly important in modern business workflows, small and medium businesses need devices that integrate intelligent tools, robust security, and mobility,” said James Lin, General Manager, Notebooks, Acer.

“The TravelMate X14 AI was designed to deliver just that, powered by the latest Intel Core Ultra processors and Copilot+ PC experiences, offering professionals a lightweight yet durable solution crafted to accelerate productivity and collaboration from anywhere.”

The business laptop weighs 1.27kg and measures 15.9mm thick. It meets MIL-STD 810H testing standards covering vibration, humidity, and temperature extremes.

The system is available with up to 32GB of LPDDR5X memory and up to 1TB of PCIe Gen4 SSD storage.

The 14-inch screen is available in two versions. Buyers can choose an IPS WUXGA display with 120Hz refresh and 100% sRGB coverage, or an OLED WUXGA display with 120Hz refresh, 500 nits peak brightness, 100% DCI-P3 color, and VESA DisplayHDR True Black 500 certification.

Both panels use a 16:10 aspect ratio. An FHD webcam with IR support is included, paired with a built-in shutter for privacy.

Acer has also included UserSensing 2.0, which dims and locks the screen when the user steps away. Other security features include a discrete TPM, Acer ProShield Plus, and support for a Kensington Nano lock. The laptop also carries TCO and EPEAT compliance.

Mark Linton, Vice President, Windows + Devices at Microsoft, said, “The Acer TravelMate X14 AI demonstrates what’s possible when advanced hardware and modern processors come together. With powerful performance, enhanced security, and unique AI experiences, it’s an ideal choice for today’s professionals looking to upgrade to a PC that prioritizes portability and performance.”

Connectivity includes Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB-A ports, HDMI 2.1, an audio jack, and a Gigabit Ethernet jack.

The 65Wh battery supports fast charging and is rated at up to 12 hours of use under MobileMark 2025 testing.

The laptop also integrates Acer PurifiedView 2.0 for improved video calls, along with PurifiedVoice 2.0, DTS:X Ultra Audio speakers, and a triple microphone array.

There's no word on pricing or availability yet - but we should know more soon.

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• Acer debuts Chromebook Plus Spin 514 powered by MediaTek Kompanio Ultra 910
• Convertible Chromebook delivers AI features, dual display choices, durable design
• Enterprise Plus edition adds business upgrade for security, management, and deployment

Acer introduced the Chromebook Plus Spin 514 at IFA 2025, its first Chromebook powered by the MediaTek Kompanio Ultra 910 processor with an integrated neural processing unit.

Highlights of the new convertible laptop include on-device AI features, multiple display options, and a durable design.

“We are excited to introduce our first Chromebook with the MediaTek Kompanio Ultra processor, unlocking a new level of AI-powered capabilities that streamline multitasking, content creation, and productivity on an Acer Chromebook,” said James Lin, General Manager, Notebooks, Acer Inc.

Enterprise Plus

The Spin 514 can be configured with up to 16GB LPDDR5X RAM and 256GB UFS storage. It has a 70Wh battery capable of up to 17 hours of use.

The 14-inch touchscreen comes in WQXGA+ 2880x1800 at 60Hz and 340 nits or WUXGA 1920x1200 at 120Hz and 300 nits.

Both options include Gorilla Glass, anti-fingerprint protection, and a 16:10 aspect ratio.

The MIL-STD 810H compliant chassis weighs 1.36kg and measures 15.5mm thick.

There are two USB-C 3.2 Gen2 ports, two USB-A 3.2 Gen1 ports, and a headphone jack. It supports Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4.

The webcam is available in 5MP or 1080p, and comes with a blue-glass lens, privacy shutter, and AI-assisted lighting and noise reduction.

Alongside the consumer edition, Acer also launched the Chromebook Enterprise Plus Spin 514.

This business laptop comes with the Chrome Enterprise Upgrade that unlocks centralized device management, stronger security, and simplified deployment, allowing companies to manage fleets of Chromebooks, enforce IT policies, and provide employees with secure remote access.

The Enterprise Plus model offers the same hardware as the standard edition, including the MediaTek Kompanio Ultra 910 processor with an Arm Immortalis-G925 MC11 GPU.

The Chromebook Plus Spin 514 will be available in October starting at $699.99 in North America and €699 in EMEA.

The Chromebook Enterprise Plus Spin 514 will be available in October in EMEA starting at €879. No word on USA pricing.

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I’m currently in Berlin for IFA 2025, where I watched Acer unveil its upcoming lineup of computing tech – and its presentation included a teaser for the world’s first official Panther Lake PC (powered by Intel’s upcoming chip series).

Unfortunately, that laptop was sealed behind a cabinet, which I was politely but firmly instructed shouldn’t be moved when I attempted to shift it to get a better photo.

However, I was able to get up close and personal with the rest of the lineup, and while we’ll have to reserve full judgment until we’ve properly tested these new devices, there are three devices I really want to highlight as ones to watch from the event.

The productivity-focused amongst you will want to check out the Acer Swift 16 Air. Similarly named to the aforementioned Panther Lake laptop, this Windows 11 machine is instead powered by (in the top configuration) an AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 processor with AMD Radeon 860M graphics, with up to 32GB of RAM, and 1TB of SSD storage.

But what makes this laptop stand out for me is that the model outfitted with an IPS display comes in at just 0.99kg – which, even having picked the thing up, sounds ridiculous. It’s like picking up a toy, or as if Acer had forgotten to include a battery – but this is a fully functional (and sizable) laptop.

The AMOLED display version is 1.1kg, but even so this heavier option is still one of the lightest laptops we’ve seen, especially for models with a screen larger than 14 inches.

If you’re more of a gamer, then keep your eyes on the Acer Nitro XZ403CKR monitor, which is set to drop at the start of next year.

This widescreen curved monitor measures 39.7-inches – just over 1m if you prefer metric – and boasts a 5K (5120 x 2160) resolution with a 180Hz refresh rate and a 1ms VRB and 0.5ms GTG response time. If you’re wiling to drop to WFHD resolution (2560 x 1080) then you can bump that refresh rate up to 288Hz.

It’s big, but not ridiculously so – it looks like an ideal replacement for a two-monitor setup if you wish you could spread one app across your whole screen real estate.

Unfortunately it won’t come cheap at $999.99 / AU$1,899 (we’re waiting for official UK pricing), but if you’re after the ultimate gaming setup and can afford to splurge a little, this could be the monitor you’ve been waiting for.

Rounding things out is the limited-edition Acer Predator e-bike I saw. Inspired by the brand’s gaming line, this bike boasts a 750W motor, a max speed of 45km/h (around 27.9mph), and a max range of 75km (about 46.6 miles).

What I loved was that it even incorporates the RGB lighting look synonymous with gaming tech, thanks to its colorful pedals and front suspension which glisten with a rainbow of yellow, pink, and blue.

It’s not Acer’s first electric mobility machine – it’s made a handful of scooters before, for example – but this entry really looks to combine the aesthetics of its gaming tech with the practicality of an e-bike in a way that I loved.

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• Acer Veriton GN100 uses Nvidia GB10 superchip with 128GB memory and 4TB storage
• Compact design under 1.5kg still delivers 1 PFLOPS of FP4 AI performance
• Two linked systems scale to handle AI models with up to 405 billion parameters

Acer has announced the Veriton GN100 AI Mini Workstation, a compact desktop built on Nvidia’s GB10 Grace Blackwell Superchip.

It is designed to run large AI models locally, with the option to scale workloads further by linking two systems together.

The Veriton GN100, revealed at IFA 2025 in Berlin, delivers up to 1 PFLOPS of FP4 AI performance through a combination of 20 Arm-based CPU cores, CUDA cores and fifth-generation Tensor Cores.

Up to 405 billion parameters

The device comes with 128GB of unified LPDDR5x memory and 4TB of self-encrypting NVMe storage.

Despite its diminutive 150mm x 150mm footprint, and sub-1.5kg weight, the Veriton GN100 is intended to deliver server-class compute power in a mini PC form factor.

The system includes Nvidia’s AI software stack and DGX Base OS, with support for commonly used developer tools such as PyTorch, Jupyter and Ollama.

Acer says this will allow developers, researchers and students to prototype, fine-tune and test large language models directly on the system, reducing reliance on remote cloud infrastructure and helping lower operating costs.

With an Nvidia ConnectX-7 SmartNIC installed, two Veriton GN100 units can be linked to scale workloads further, allowing processing of AI models with up to 405 billion parameters.

This will make it possible to work with even larger training sets and experiments without requiring immediate access to data center hardware.

Connectivity includes four USB 3.2 Type-C ports, HDMI 2.1b, Ethernet, Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.1.

Security features include a Kensington lock and local execution of AI models to help protect sensitive data.

Acer has set pricing for the Veriton GN100 at $3,999 in North America and €3,999 in EMEA, with availability varying by region.

Acer is just the latest PC maker to launch a Nvidia DGX Spark clone, following in the footsteps of Asus, HP and Dell, and MSI.

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• Acer Swift Air 16 IPS model weighs just 990g, making it lighter than a Big Mac meal
• Offers AMD Ryzen AI 300 processors with Radeon graphics and up to 32GB memory
• The lightweight device features a small 50Wh battery with quoted 13 hours of video playback

Acer has announced the Swift Air 16, a 16-inch Copilot+ PC laptop that weighs less than 1kg. The company presented the device at IFA 2025 in Berlin as part of its thin-and-light Swift family.

The Swift Air 16 is powered by AMD’s Ryzen AI 300 Series processors paired with integrated Radeon graphics.

The magnesium-aluminum alloy chassis helps place the new device among the lightest laptops available.

Lighter than a Big Mac meal

Two display options are available. Users can choose a 2880 x 1800 AMOLED panel with 120Hz refresh and 100% DCI-P3 color support, or a 1920 x 1200 IPS display with 60Hz refresh. Both share the same 16:10 aspect ratio.

Acer says the IPS version, with a slim profile of just 15.9mm, comes in at a little under 2.2lb / 990g, while the AMOLED model is slightly heavier at 1.1kg.

The lighter model weighs less than a McDonald’s Big Mac meal, which with the burger, medium Coke and fries comes in at about 2.27lb / 1030g in the United States.

Memory is offered up to 32GB of LPDDR5, with storage up to 1TB PCIe Gen4 SSD.

The laptop also features a 2MP IR camera with privacy shutter, dual microphones, and stereo speakers.

Connectivity includes two USB-C ports, one USB-A port, HDMI 1.4, Wi-Fi 6E, and Bluetooth 5.4.

Acer has fitted the Swift Air 16 with a disappointingly small 50Wh battery, which is less than those in some competing large-screen ultrabooks.

The company lists a maximum of 13 hours video playback, although actual figures will depend on workload and configuration so you might end up tethered to a wall outlet for more time than you might like.

Cooling is handled via a dual fan system with twin heat pipes, while the camera supports infrared facial recognition through Windows Hello.

The Swift Air 16 will be available in EMEA markets from November starting at €999, with variations by region.

It will be available in a choice of four color finishes: silver, blue, gray, and white.

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Acer Nitro V 15 Intel: Two-minute review

The Acer Nitro V 15 Intel is yet another gaming laptop from the esteemed brand that promises high-end performance for a relatively modest outlay.

It has a fairly muted design for the most part, although the variegated lines and Nitro symbol on the lid hint at its potential. It’s quite bulky and reasonably heavy, but still manages to be more portable than some of its rivals. This is also helped by the omission of a rear ventilation bulge common on many gaming laptops.

It’s not as well built as the best gaming laptops, though. It employs less-than premium materials in places, and the flex of the chassis doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. In the main, though, it’s perfectly acceptable, and the important aspects, such as the keys and the lid hinge, are engineered to a higher standard.

Most of the ports you'll typically find on a gaming laptop are present and correct on the Nitro V 15 Intel, although they’re loaded on the left-hand side; all you get on the right is a headset jack and a USB-A port. I would’ve liked to have seen a few more here for versatility’s sake, but this is a minor gripe.

The performance of the Nitro V 15 Intel isn’t exactly off the charts, but it’s more than sufficient for solid 1080p gaming. You’ll get around 60fps or above with high – if not the highest – settings selected in AAA titles.

The display impressed me with its vibrant colors and deep blacks. Reflections can get in the way, but its maximum brightness does just about enough to mitigate the worst of them. It’s a small shame, however, that the lid doesn’t open all that wide, which limits its viewing angles.

There’s also a fair amount of fan noise, even when gaming at modest settings, although it’s still mostly tolerable. The Nitro V 15 Intel also generates plenty of heat, which can be a little disruptive as it makes its way to the space bar and even up to the display, which is less than ideal.

With its relatively low starting price, the Nitro V 15 Intel makes for a tempting proposition. However, there are some other great budget picks at this end of the market, including its bigger sibling, the Nitro 16. And if you don’t need the latest tech, the MSI Katana 15 (2023) is another admirable 1080p performer. But the Nitro V 15 Intel can stand proud alongside these as another reasonably priced gaming laptop worth the money.

Acer Nitro V 15 Intel review: Price & Availability

• Starts from $899.99 / £849.99 (about AU$1370)
• Available now
• Budget end of the market

The Nitro V 15 Intel starts from $899.99 / £849.99 (about AU$1370) and is available now. It can be configured with an RTX 5050 or 5060, an Intel Core i5 or i7 of the 13th generation, and 512GB or 1TB of storage.

This is good value for a gaming laptop with an RTX 5000 series GPU. It does face some stern competition at this price point, however – chiefly from its larger counterpart, the Nitro 16, which we think is the best budget gaming laptop around right now, and it has a larger display (albeit slightly).

If you don’t need the latest components, the MSI Katana 15 (2023) is another strong alternative with a reasonable price tag. It does have a few flaws, such as its poor trackpad and middling battery life, but there are worse areas to have made sacrifices.

• Value: 4 / 5

Acer Nitro V 15 Intel review: Specs

Acer Nitro V 15 Intel review: Design

• Minimal design
• Reasonably thick and heavy
• Well-made keyboard

The Nitro V 15 Intel adopts a fairly minimal aesthetic for a gaming laptop. About the only indication of its leanings is the multicolored linear pattern on the lid, which adds a small amount of interest to its appearance.

It’s a somewhat bulky, blocky unit and it weighs a considerable amount, although there are certainly thicker and heavier examples in this class. It also lacks the rear bulge for cooling purposes common on many gaming laptops, which improves its portability.

The materials employed throughout the unit don’t strike me as being among the most premium, feeling a little cheap compared to those of the competition. There’s also some flex to the enclosure for the keyboard and trackpad, but not to a disconcerting extent.

Thankfully, the lid hinge seems built to a higher standard, opening with ease and offering sufficient stability. It doesn’t open very wide, though, since the bottom of the lid hits the underlying surface if you take it even slightly past 90 degrees.

The keys are also a highlight in terms of build quality. They’re smooth to the touch and comfortably proportioned, as well as being generously spaced apart. And despite the inclusion of a number pad, the overall layout doesn’t feel cramped.

One strange omission, though, is an FN lock shortcut. For some reason, this function is buried in the BIOS settings, which is very inconvenient – especially given there are no dedicated media control keys (they’re bound to the F row as secondary inputs).

There are four rubber feet underneath the Nitro V 15 Intel that provide adequate grip and support, and raise the chassis from the surface by a small amount – although perhaps not by enough for optimal airflow.

You’ll find most of its ports on the left-hand side. The rear-most is the power port, followed by the ethernet and HDMI ports, and in turn two USB-A ports and one USB-C.

On the right there’s only a USB-A port and a headset jack. I would’ve preferred a better balance between the two sides – perhaps more USB-A ports on the right for connecting various peripherals, but this is a small gripe.

The power brick that comes with the Nitro V 15 Intel is pleasingly small, while the cable that runs from it to the laptop is relatively long, which makes it better suited to a wider variety of setups.

• Design: 3.5 / 5

Acer Nitro V 15 Intel review: Performance

• Runs AAA titles at very high settings
• Maximum settings not attainable
• Vivid and bright display

With the RTX 5060 equipped in my review unit, the Nitro V 15 Intel performed quite well, if not blisteringly so. When I played Cyberpunk 2077 with the Ray Tracing: Low preset (which the game chose by default), I got somewhere in the region of 60-70fps. I’m sure many gamers are happy to play at these rates (myself included), but those looking for figures in the hundreds will be disappointed.

The display does a commendable job of rendering colors vibrantly; there are no washed-out tones here, as there are on other LCD displays. There's also plenty of contrast, with blacks being particularly impressive in their richness. Reflections can be prominent, but thankfully there’s enough brightness to combat the worst offenders.

A fair amount of fan noise accompanied most of my play time, but it was nothing a good pair of headphones or the best PC gaming headsets couldn’t mask. As expected, heat was also generated, which can make its way to the keyboard, even after a short time, and concentrating mostly around the space bar. Here it exceeded temperatures on the edge of my comfort zone.

Also, since there’s no large protrusion behind the lid, the vents are placed in front of the display, which can lead to heat radiating onto the display. This isn’t exactly the best place for it to go, and I would be concerned about the long-term effects on the screen.

As for the keys, I found their lack of dampening and surprising resistance can make them uncomfortable to game with, leading to fatigue when using the WASD keys for long periods. However, their clicky feel and short actuation point makes them snappy and responsive, which in turn makes them ideal for typing as well as gaming (their aforementioned size and spacing also help in this regard).

The trackpad, however, frequently got in my way while typing, registering unintentional swipes even when I made marginal contact with the palm of my thumb.

• Performance: 4 / 5

Acer Nitro V 15 Intel review: Battery Life

• Middling longevity
• Quick to charge

The Nitro V 15 Intel has a reasonable, if not spectacular, battery life. It managed to last six and a half hours during our movie playback test, and one hour and 37 minutes in the PCMark gaming battery test, neither of which are class-leading scores.

Having said that, there are certainly gaming laptops with worse batteries, and thankfully the Nitro V 15 Intel is very quick to charge, taking about an hour and twenty minutes to totally replenish.

• Battery Life: 3.5 / 5

Should I buy the Acer Nitro V 15 Intel?

Buy the Acer Nitro V 15 Intel if...

Don't buy it if...

Acer Nitro V 15 Intel review: Also Consider

How I tested the Acer Nitro V 15 Intel

• Tested for a few days
• Used for gaming, work, and browsing
• Plentiful gaming experience

I tested the Nitro V 15 Intel for a few days, during which time I used it for gaming, working, and general browsing.

I played AAA titles and ran our series of benchmarks that test gaming and productivity performance, storage speeds, and battery life.

I’ve been PC gaming for over a decade, and have experienced various machines and components during that time. I’ve also reviewed a number of laptops previously, including other Acer and gaming-oriented models.

• First reviewed: August 2025
• Read more about how we test

Acer Aspire 14 AI (2025): Two-minute review

The Acer Aspire 14 AI (2025) is a mid-range laptop with AI capabilities that aim to streamline advanced tasks without compromising processing power.

It looks smart and sleek with its minimal design. The blue colorway of my review unit also added an element of vibrancy to proceedings, offering something a little different from the usual black and silver finishes.

It’s also very light and thin, which makes it easy to use and carry around. The bezel around the screen is very small, too, which helps to maximize the size of the display.

The materials feel premium enough, especially the keys, but it’s not the sturdiest unit. There’s a considerable amount of flex to the lid and chassis, falling some way short of the best laptop constructions.

As you’d expect given its name, there are various AI features in the Aspire 14 AI (2025). However, there aren’t as many as you might think, with the flagship app appearing to be Acer LiveArt – a disappointingly basic image editing suite.

The AI apps run fairly smoothly in the main, though, and the Aspire 14 AI (2025) performs everyday tasks quite well, from productivity and browsing to streaming. However, it can succumb to the occasional slowdown and lag, and doesn’t handle 4K content particularly well. More strenuous tasks, such as gaming, are beyond it, as you might expect given the middling GPU it’s saddled with.

What’s more, there’s a pretty consistent fan noise, even during moderate workloads, which increases the harder the Aspire 14 AI (2025) is pushed. I also noticed a strange rattling sound at times, which was slightly concerning.

The display is more impressive, providing plenty of sharpness and brightness. Colors are rendered quite well, too, although they’re not the most vivid, with some of its rivals achieving greater saturation.

The keyboard is mostly pleasant to use, thanks in no small part to the sizable and generously spaced keys. The trackpad is smooth enough, but taps and clicks lack consistency and feedback.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the Aspire 14 AI (2025) is the battery life. It lasted 22 hours in our movie playback test, which trounces most of the competition, even at the top end of the market.

Ultimately, the Aspire 14 AI (2025) ends up being a somewhat underwhelming laptop considering its price tag. You might be better off paying a little more to have a laptop with a better design and overall performance.

Acer Aspire 14 AI (2025) review: Price & Availability

• Starts from $699.99 / £699 / AU$1,399
• Well-priced for the spec

The Aspire 14 AI (2025) starts from $699.99 / £699 / AU$1,399 and is available now in the US, UK, and Australia in various finishes. It can be configured with 512GB or 1TB of storage.

On the face of it, this is a reasonable price for a laptop with this spec. But it does face some stern competitors who, despite being a bit more expensive, might represent better value, all things considered.

Take the Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch, which starts at $899.99 / £1,039 / AU$1,498, and while it has a similar everyday performance to the Aspire 14 AI (2025) and a marginally shorter – but still impressive – battery life, it’s built to a higher standard and more enjoyable to use in our view.

Similarly, there’s also the Dell 14 Plus. Again, this is more expensive than the Aspire 14 AI (2025), but its everyday performance is better – although it still can’t handle the most intensive workloads, like video editing and AAA gaming. It too has an impressive battery life, although it’s still not quite as enduring as that of the Aspire 14 AI (2025).

• Value: 3.5 / 5

Acer Aspire 14 AI (2025) review: Specs

Acer Aspire 14 AI (2025) review: Design

• Very thin and light
• Flimsy build quality
• Poor AI features

The Aspire 14 AI (2025) is very portable, even for a 14-inch laptop, thanks to its light and slender frame, free from any bulges or protrusions. This also adds to its sleek appearance. The dark blue colorway of my review unit suited it very well, and helped distinguish it from the monochromatic homogeneity of the sector.

The lid is easy to open, yet offers sufficient stability. Pleasingly, it also reclines all the way back by 180 degrees, making it versatile for various stands and setups.

Instead of four feet, the Aspire 14 AI (2025) features two long bars running across its width, with the rear one being taller than the front. They don’t provide as much grip as more traditional rubber feet, but they suffice for keeping the Aspire 14 AI (2025) stable while in use. What’s more, some may find this lack of traction preferable, as it makes the laptop easier to slide around on a given surface.

Build quality is good in places, such as the keyboard, with the plastics looking and feeling premium. I also appreciated the very thin bezel around the screen, which serves to maximize the full real estate.

However, there’s a considerable amount of flex to the chassis and the lid, which is somewhat disconcerting. It’s probably not one to take on more extreme adventures – it’s certainly no match for the best rugged laptop units in this regard – but it should suffice for basic travel.

As for software, the Aspire 14 AI (2025) is mercifully free from bloatware – although that statement largely depends on how you feel about AI features. Thankfully, those that are installed are unintrusive and only there if you need them.

The included AI features of the Aspire 14 AI (2025) are mainly confined to image and video editing, courtesy of Acer LiveSense. This app has some very basic image editing and webcam effects to play around with, but to call this an AI feature is a stretch. Its generative features boil down to buttons that open Microsoft's Copilot app instead.

If you want more AI offerings from Acer than those preinstalled, you’ll have to download Acer Intelligence Space, which acts as a hub for its suite of AI apps. However, I couldn’t get this to install on my unit, with the app failing to appear once the installer had finished running.

As a side note, if you’re looking to install third-party apps, keep in mind that the Aspire 14 AI (2025) uses an ARM processor, so you may run into compatibility issues. Check with the software provider where you can to determine suitability for the architecture.

There’s a well-judged selection of ports on the Aspire 14 AI (2025). It features two USB-C ports, both of which employ the Thunderbolt 4 standard. These are both located on the left-hand side, in front of the HDMI 2.1 port and USB-A port, which may prove inconvenient for certain setups, since you’ll need to connect the power adapter to one of them.

On the right you’ll find a USB-A port, followed by a headset jack and a microSD slot. It’s a shame there isn’t at least one more port on this side, but this is a minor complaint.

• Design: 3.5 / 5

Acer Aspire 14 AI (2025) review: Performance

• Reasonable workaday performance
• AI apps eat memory
• Noisy even under moderate loads

The performance of the Aspire 14 AI (2025) is good, if nothing spectacular. It can handle most everyday tasks, including word processing, spreadsheet editing, and video streaming, although 4K content can result in significant pauses for buffering. There were also a few occasions where it was a little sluggish, such as when waking from sleep.

The AI apps and features run well enough, although they do tend to eat up a considerable amount of memory, despite the 16GB of RAM on board. Models with more would be preferable to deal with such workloads on a regular basis.

Even under moderate loads, the fans of the Aspire 14 AI (2025) are audible. The noise isn’t too loud or shrill, but it’s still noticeable and unexpected. The volume does increase with heavier tasking, though – but at least the unit remains cool throughout.

I also noticed a strange rattling sound at times, as if some part was loose and vibrating. Pressing the offending area fixed the issue temporarily, but this speaks further to the less-than-stellar build quality of the Aspire 14 AI (2025).

Intensive tasks are beyond the Aspire 14 AI (2025). It doesn’t handle gaming very well, even when playing moderately demanding titles with modest settings. I encountered severe stuttering and lag when playing Counter-Strike 2 on the Medium preset, rendering it virtually unplayable; this certainly isn’t a device to replace the best gaming laptops.

The 1920 x 1200 display is sharp and renders colors quite well, although it’s not the most vibrant you’ll ever see. It has high levels of brightness, too, which helps to keep reflections at bay.

The keys are large and generously spaced, which makes them easy to type with. They lack the feedback and satisfying feel of the best laptops for writers, and the omission of a number pad might deter those after maximum productivity, but for basic note taking and essay writing, the keyboard should suffice.

The trackpad manages to stay out of the way while typing for the most part, with it refraining from registering palm contact. It’s smooth and pleasingly large, but the taps are a little inconsistent, and the click feels quite nasty and lacks feedback, making it awkward to use for constant navigation around documents and web pages.

• Performance: 3.5 / 5

Acer Aspire 14 AI (2025) review: Battery Life

• Incredible longevity
• Beats all the competition

The battery life of the Aspire 14 AI (2025) is very impressive. During our movie playback test, it managed to last an incredible 22 hours – a few hours shy of Acer’s 28-hour claim, but this is forgivable given there are very few rivals that can match this kind of endurance.

It trounces even more premium laptops, such as the Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M3) (the best student laptop in our view), which only managed a little over 14 hours. The Microsoft Surface Laptop managed just over 17 hours, while the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus lasted over 18 hours.

• Battery Life: 5 / 5

Should I buy the Acer Aspire 14 AI (2025)?

Buy the Acer Aspire 14 AI (2025) if...

Don't buy it if...

Acer Aspire 14 AI (2025) review: Also Consider

How I tested the Acer Aspire 14 AI (2025)

• Tested for a few days
• Used for various tasks
• Plenty of laptop reviewing experience

I tested the Aspire 14 AI (2025) for a few days, using it for productivity, entertainment, and general browsing.

I did plenty of typing and content streaming, and even tested its gaming credentials. I also ran our series of benchmarks to assess various aspects of its performance, and made sure to use as many of its in-built AI apps and features as I could.

I have reviewed many laptops before, ranging in their price points and usage types. I’ve also used them consistently for decades for all manner of tasks.

• First reviewed: August 2025
• Read more about how we test

Acer Predator Helios 18 AI: Two-minute review

The Acer Predator Helios 18 AI is a top-tier gaming laptop with a phenomenal spec that’s sure to whet the appetites of even casual gamers. Despite what lurks inside, its exterior is remarkably restrained. At 18 inches, it's obviously very large, but the black finish and lack of branding keep its profile reasonably low. However, that large rear protrusion and ostentatious RGB lighting give away its intentions.

I think Acer has done well to keep the Predator Helios 18 AI as slender as possible. Of course, this is all relative given the size of the laptop we’re dealing with here, but it’s impressively thin for the most part, although it thickens at the rear.

Build quality is also excellent, equaling the best gaming laptops in this regard. Premium materials are employed everywhere, and the hinge for the lid is smooth and easy to operate, while offering plenty of stability once set.

The keyboard is tactile and snappy, and the generous spacing of the keys makes it easy to type and game on the Predator Helios 18 AI. The number pad somewhat compromises the layout, though, with the space bar paying the highest price; it’s a little too short for my liking.

On the other hand, the large trackpad does a fine job of not interfering while using the keyboard, with accidental contact failing to register in my experience. It’s also very smooth and accurate, should you wish to use it over one of the best gaming mice.

Considering its mighty spec, the Predator Helios 18 AI performs as well as you might expect. Cyberpunk 2077 and Doom: The Dark Ages ran with aplomb, each delivering fps figures in the hundreds with maximum graphics settings, including those for ray tracing.

You will have to endure constant fan noise when gaming, but thankfully this isn’t egregious when the default Balanced mode is selected in the Predator Sense app. The Predator Helios 18 AI also generates a fair amount of heat, which can spread to the sides and the keyboard after a while. Again, though, this isn’t bad enough to cause an issue.

The biggest price you’ll have to pay for all this performance is… well, the price. Starting at $3,000, the Predator Helios 18 AI is incredibly expensive. I struggle to think who’ll need such a large and powerful laptop, and be willing to pay this much for one.

Of course, the entire gaming laptop market is a premium one, but there are better value alternatives out there if you don’t need an 18-inch display and triple-digit frame rates, such as the excellent Razer Blade 16 (2025) or the MSI Katana 15 (2023), the latter of which we think is currently the best budget gaming laptop around.

Acer Predator Helios 18 AI review: Price & Availability

• Starts from $2,999.99 / £3,499.99 / AU$7,299
• Hugely expensive
• Better value alternatives

The Predator Helios 18 AI starts from $2,999.99 / £3,499.99 / AU$7,299 and is available now. It comes with spare WASD and arrow keys, as well as a thermal pad upgrade kit for the RAM.

You don’t need me to tell you what an eye-watering sum this is. It’s understandable considering the spec, and my review unit was even more outlandish, equipped with a 3840 x 2400 display and 192GB of RAM(!).

Prices are similar to the Razer Blade, which performs similarly too. If you want something that’s even better value, the MSI Katana 15 (2023) is, in our view, one of the best budget gaming laptops around, if you’re happy to game at 1080p.

• Value: 2.5 / 5

Acer Predator Helios 18 AI review: Specs

Acer Predator Helios 18 AI review: Design

• Large but surprisingly thin
• Relatively understated
• Excellent build quality

Given its large display size, the Predator Helios 18 AI is a reasonably understated gaming laptop. The rear bulge that extends beyond the lid hinge gives it some distinction, and the RGB lighting can light up the whole unit like a Christmas tree if you want it to (the bar that runs along the front edge and wraps around the side is especially striking). But switch this off and you’ll struggle to tell it apart from the best business laptops.

It’s quite bulky, although I think the Predator Helios 18 AI does an admirable job of keeping its dimensions contained considering the beastly components that lay within. The front end is reasonably thin, but thickens as it moves towards the back. This increased size does allow for larger vent openings, though, so it’s a worthy sacrifice to improve cooling performance.

The overall build quality is hard to fault. All the materials that are used look and feel premium and durable. The lid is also impressively smooth to operate yet remains sufficiently stable when set in position.

Underneath you’ll find three feet that run across the width of the Predator Helios 18 AI, and they provide plenty of grip on desktop surfaces. They also raise the chassis from the surface by a significant degree, again allowing for improved ventilation.

There are plenty of ports on the Predator Helios 18 AI. On the left, you’ll find an ethernet and a USB-A port, as well as an SD card slot and a 3.5mm audio in/ out jack. On the right are two more USB-A ports, which is a sensible location considering this is where you’ll likely be connecting external peripherals.

On the rear are two USB-C ports, an HDMI port, and a large power cable port. As you would imagine, the power supply is large, but unfortunately the cable running from the brick to the jack end is quite short. Owing to my setup, this meant I had to keep the brick on my desk rather than placing it on the floor, which was quite the inconvenience.

• Design: 4 / 5

Acer Predator Helios 18 AI review: Performance

• Fantastic AAA performance
• Vibrant and sharp display
• Some fan noise and heat

Gaming with the Predator Helios 18 AI didn’t get off to a particularly auspicious start. When I ran Cyberpunk 2077 for the first time, the game’s benchmark function recorded a disappointing 42fps, with the maximum 3840 x 2400 resolution and Ray Tracing: Ultra preset selected.

Some tinkering with the graphics settings resulted in modest improvements to performance, but it wasn’t until after restarting the game a couple of times that things suddenly improved: I started getting about 100fps, even in busy in-game environments, without lowering the resolution or any other graphical settings.

Similar figures were achieved when I played Doom: The Dark Ages, although I did have to change the DLSS mode from Auto to Ultra Performance to get there. Thankfully, this made no discernible difference to the image quality.

And on that front, both games looked fantastic on the WQUXGA display. Colors were accurate and vibrant, if very slightly washed-out. This is a common issue on many IPS displays, but here the effect did little to detract from the awesomeness of the visuals.

The ultra-high 3840 x 2400 resolution in my review unit offered incredible levels of sharpness, while the high response times resulted in super-smooth gameplay. It’s also capable of very high brightness levels, which helps to keep pesky reflections at bay.

Fan noise is constant when gaming on the Predator Helios 18 AI, but I didn’t find it distractingly loud. The volume increases considerably if you set the Predator Sense profile to Performance mode, though – then you’ll really need one of the best PC gaming headsets to drown out the noise.

The Predator Helios 18 AI does a good job of keeping temperatures down. Its underside doesn’t get too hot, although over time heat leaks out of both sides, which can be a little distracting for your mouse hand. After a couple of hours of gaming, I noticed the bottom of the keyboard became quite hot, too, especially around the space bar.

It wasn’t hot enough to make using the keyboard a problem, though. And what’s more, the keyboard on the Predator Helios 18 AI is great to game with. The keys are clicky but damped enough to make them tactile.

They’re a little on the small side (although they’re generously spaced apart), owing to the inclusion of the aforementioned number pad. This compromises the layout somewhat – especially the space bar, which isn’t as long as I would’ve liked, and therefore somewhat awkward to hit with my left thumb.

The trackpad on the Predator Helios 18 AI is large and very smooth, making it easy to use. Mercifully, it also appears unaffected by contact with the sides of your palms, meaning it won’t accidentally register movements while your hands lean over it to use the keyboard.

• Performance: 5 / 5

Acer Predator Helios 18 AI review: Battery Life

• Large 99Wh capacity
• Underwhelming longevity
• Quick to charge

The battery life of the Predator Helios 18 AI isn't particularly impressive. Despite its 99Wh capacity, it lasted just under 90 minutes PCMark10's battery test for gaming scenarios.

This makes it considerably worse than the Razer Blade 16 (2025), which managed about an hour more, but much better than the MSI Katana 15 (2023), which didn’t even last one hour.

Charging the Predator Helios 18 AI back up to full is a surprisingly quick process, though – and given the size of the power brick, you would hope it would be.

• Battery Life: 3.5 / 5

Should I buy the Predator Helios 18 AI?

Buy the Acer Predator Helios 18 AI if...

Don't buy it if...

Acer Predator Helios 18 AI review: Also Consider

How I tested the Predator Helios 18 AI

• Tested for a few days
• Played AAA games
• Extensive PC gaming experience

I tested the Predator Helios 18 AI for a few days, during which time I played games such as Cyberpunk 2077 and Doom: The Dark Ages, both AAA titles that provide stern tests for rigs owing to their demanding, cutting-edge graphics.

I also ran TechRadar’s series of benchmarking tests, including a battery test where I played a movie on a continuous loop until the Predator Helios 18 AI shut down.

I have been PC gaming for over a decade, and during that time I have experienced a number of systems and components. I have also reviewed laptops previously, as well as copious amounts of gaming hardware.

• First reviewed: July 2025
• Read more about how we test

• Get free Google AI Pro tools with select Acer Chromebook Plus models
• AI, storage, and video creation tools are completely free for one full year
• Offer includes 2TB storage and premium Gemini model access

If you're considering buying a new Chromebook, Acer has just come up with a compelling reason to look at its Plus range.

For a limited time (between now and February 1, 2026), select Acer Chromebook Plus models come bundled with $240 worth of Google AI services.

The eligible models are the Acer Chromebook Plus 514, 516, and Spin 714. The Google AI Pro plan unlocks access to Gemini 2.5 Pro, 2TB of cloud storage, and AI features inside Gmail, Docs, and other Google services.

Making AI tools more accessible

While you get a full free year of the Google AI Pro plan, it's worth mentioning that a $19.99 monthly subscription kicks in after the promotional period, so you’ll need to remember to cancel it if you don’t want to face ongoing charges.

Users also get NotebookLM, which helps with organizing and synthesizing research, and Flow, a video tool built to help with cinematic story creation. Flow is powered by Google’s Veo 3 Fast model, included as part of the same plan.

NotebookLM allows more depth in user sessions, offering five times the number of notebooks, queries, and source references compared to its free version. It’s aimed at making research and writing more manageable for students, professionals, or content creators.

The Chromebook Plus Spin 714 sports Intel Core Ultra processors and up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM. It includes a convertible form factor and stylus support.

The 514 (CB514-5H) offers up to an Intel Core 7 chip, paired with up to 16GB of LPDDR5X memory and 512GB of storage. The 514 (CB514-6H) runs on an Intel Core 3 N-series processor and also supports up to 16GB of RAM and 512GB NVMe SSD.

For those who need more screen space and power, the Chromebook Plus 516 includes up to an Intel Core 7 processor, 16GB of LPDDR5X memory, and 512GB of internal storage. All models support either Wi-Fi 6E or Wi-Fi 7 and come equipped with high-resolution QHD displays.

All of the Chromebook Plus devices also come with Google’s built-in AI tools, like Magic Eraser and AI-enhanced video calls.

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Acer Nitro 14: Two-minute review

The Acer Nitro 14 is the latest compact gaming laptop from the Taiwanese hardware company looking to bring a (largely) affordable solution to an otherwise premium form factor, with a couple of considerations made towards its design and hardware.

While the Acer Nitro 14 doesn't stand among the best thin and light gaming laptops or the best gaming laptops in general, it does offer solid performance, decent enough value for money, and a respectable battery life that makes it worth considering if you can find the machine discounted in 2026.

The main trade-off with a smaller machine as opposed to a more traditional 15-inch and 16-inch model is the choice of graphics cards inside this 14.5-inch gaming laptop. Armed with either an RTX 4050 or RTX 4060 (even during the arrival of the newer RTX 50 series laptops), it's something of a harder sell in 2026 considering it's also more expensive than many different alternatives.

Turning to the performance, the Acer Nitro 14 largely achieves 60fps in 1080p gaming when using its RTX 4060 configuration (the model we received for review). Demanding games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Red Dead Redemption 2 are solid, but factoring in the age of these games, it's not the most telling sign for the things to come in the future. The 8GB GDDR6 VRAM and 128-bit memory bus are (just barely) enough for now, but what does that mean for PC gaming in the next few years?

Design-wise, the Acer Nitro 14 is solid but far from exciting. On the positive side of things, it has a sleek enough, primarily plastic frame and a bright RGB keyboard. However, getting your hands involved is where the cracks begin to show. The membrane keyboard is on the mushier side of things, and the trackpad is frankly poor. You'll be better off getting a wireless gaming keyboard and a proper mouse for navigation, and be sure to prop the rig up to aid airflow (it gets hot - more on that later).

The deck is somewhat stacked against the Acer Nitro 14. It's not a terrible gaming laptop by any means. However, it also doesn't excel in any particular way, meaning it's worth investing in another similarly priced (or cheaper) alternative instead.

Acer Nitro 14: Price & Availability

• How much is it? Starting from $1,099 / £1,199
• When is it available? It's available now
• Where can you get it? You can get it in the US and the UK

One of the biggest deciding factors for considering the Acer Nitro 14 is its price point. The RTX 4050 variant (the weakest of the lot) is available for $1,099 / £1,199 in the US and the UK, respectively. Our review unit is the RTX 4060 model, which carries an MSRP of $1,249 and an RRP of £1,299. However, it's worth pointing out that this machine has enjoyed regular discounts in the two territories since its launch near the end of 2024, so you may get a better deal by shopping around.

Straight off the bat, we recommend going for the RTX 4060 version as opposed to the RTX 4050 variant, as the former will be much more capable of gaming in 1080p. With that said, $1,249 / £1,299 for an RTX 4060 laptop is on the pricier end of things, especially in 2025 when the RTX 50 series launch is imminent, with budget Blackwell devices on the horizon.

We then need to look at how the Acer Nitro 14 compares to other small-factor gaming laptops. It's worth noting that 14-inch models are (generally) pricier than their more standard 15-inch equivalents. The similarly priced competition includes the Asus TUF Gaming A14, Gigabyte 14 Aero OLED, and the HP Omen 14 Transcend, all of which can be picked up for around the same price with an RTX 4050 or 4060 configuration in 2026.

The Acer Nitro 14 is definitely on the budget end for a smaller laptop, and leagues cheaper than leading models like the Razer Blade 14. However, its otherwise-aggressive pricing is sure to weaken over time, because it's about to be replaced by more capable hardware, making purchasing it right now less than ideal unless you've found an aggressive discount.

• Value: 3 / 5

Acer Nitro 14: Specs

Two configurations of the Acer Nitro 14 are available in the US and UK; one features an RTX 4050 and the other has an RTX 4060 inside. The key difference between the two variants is the available VRAM of the mobile graphics processor, with the former having 6GB GDDR6 memory on a 96-bit bus and the latter having 8GB GDDR6 memory on a larger 128-bit bus. Depending on region, you'll have the choice of either the AMD Ryzen 5 8645HS or the AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS processor.

Outside of the GPUs on offer, the hardware inside of the Acer Nitro 14 is solid. Both Ryzen 8000 series processors are fast and responsive for gaming, productivity, and AI workloads, however, you are paying a premium on the smaller 14-inch form factor considering the lower-end graphics solution here.

It's very common to find much more capable RTX 4070 gaming laptops for around the same price (or cheaper), such as the Asus TUF Gaming A16, Acer Predator Helios Neo 16, Lenovo LOQ 15, and MSI Katana A15 AI in 2026. You'll note that these machines are all a touch larger, at either 15-inch or 16-inch, so be wary of the premium attached to going more compact.

• Specs: 3 / 5

Acer Nitro 14: Design

• Average build quality
• Primarily plastic construction
• Lacking trackpad and keyboard

The most immediate thing about the Acer Nitro 14's design is the size of the display itself. As its name denotes, it's a 14.5-inch gaming laptop, which is fairly lean in terms of weight; it's less than one inch thick and is 2kg / 4.4lbs in heft. It's far more the sleekest or slimmest gaming laptop in the form factor, for that kind of thing, you're better off looking at the Razer Blade 14 (0.7-inch thick at 1.84kg / 4.05lbs), but then you're going to pay double for a device of a similar spec.

Then we get to the style of the Acer Nitro 14, which is so-so. The manufacturer has prioritized function over form here with its primarily plastic construction and (fairly) dull IPS LCD display. While the 1200p resolution and 16:10 aspect ratio are nice additions, filling up the bezel, it's let down by a peak brightness of only 300 nits with no HDR to speak of. It's not entirely unexpected in a laptop of this range, but it is disappointing considering that games and media won't pop much on this panel. The 120Hz refresh rate is nice, and about what you'll top out of in certain lesser-demanding games; any higher would have been wasted on this lower-end rig.

While the keyboard looks particularly fetching with its multi-zone RGB lighting, actually using it is another story. It's spongey with a lacking tactile feel and one of the cheapest-feeling and acting trackpads that I've used in some time. While fit for purpose, they detract from the user experience. Instead, I would recommend pairing the PC with one of the best gaming keyboards and the best gaming mouse at the very least, but you'll likely also have a Bluetooth (or USB) gamepad, too.

• Design: 2.5 / 5

Acer Nitro 14: Performance

• Achieves 60fps in 1080p
• CPU is held back by the GPU
• Gets loud and hot under load

The Acer Nitro 14 is a decent performer in 1080p for gaming and general computing applications. However, it's unlikely to blow you away with its just-respectable performance prowess. Starting with gaming, the laptop did fine in demanding games such as Cyberpunk 2077, Total War: Warhammer 3, and Red Dead Redemption 2, with average framerates in ultra/high settings above the 60fps mark. This is due to the RTX 4060 and its 8GB GDDR6 VRAM; if you are thinking of going for the cheaper RTX 4050 variant (with 6GB GDDR6 memory), then you're unlikely to achieve 1080p and 60fps with the sliders maxed out.

The 120Hz display is more likely to be useful when dropping down the settings or playing less demanding PC games, though. That's because I observed 132fps in Total War: Warhammer 3 on Low (showing the process of CPU-bound games backed by the Ryzen 7 chip), and it was a similar story in Cyberpunk 2077 on Low (83fps). Despite still being visual showcases for hardware, the titles are older now, with the games being released a handful of years ago. You may struggle to achieve 60fps in 1080p in today's games in 2026.

Synthetic benchmarks tell the story of the AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS's prowess inside of the Acer Nitro 14. The processor has eight cores (16 threads) and a maximum boost clock of 5.1 GHz, which is how we can see the strong performance in the likes of Cinebench R24 and Geekbench 6. It's a Ryzen AI chip with its own NPU rated at 16 TOPS, so Microsoft Copilot comes pre-installed (even with a dedicated key on the board). Gamers are unlikely to get much use out of this, but the NPU should be respectable enough for AI workloads.

To get the most out of the RTX 4060 mobile graphics processor, I recommend using Nvidia DLSS's upscaling and Frame Generation technology where supported. It'll downscale the picture to 720p and then blow the image back up to 1080p, but it's likely going to be a difference between a playable framerate and a less-than-ideal one. This is evidenced by Cyberpunk 2077 struggling to hit 60fps with "Psycho" RT functionality enabled.

While the Acer Nitro 14 is far from the noisest or hottest gaming laptop I've tested, it certainly lets its presence be known. Acer has confidently backed its "Liquid Metal Thermal Grease" for the heatsink on the CPU to the motherboard, and while the core temperatures are about average, you'll still see upwards of 70° and 80° when moderately gaming (or doing other hardware-intensive tasks).

It's not a problem that's unique to the laptop, but it's more common in 14-inch models, given their more compact design. I recommend using a laptop riser or a dedicated cooling pad to ensure top performance, and never to use it in bed (or on any plush surface) that covers the rear fans.

• Performance: 3 / 5

Acer Nitro 14: Battery Life

• Acer claims up to nine hours
• Windows estimated up to three hours
• Around two hours of media playback and less for gaming

The battery life of the Acer Nitro 14 is nothing special, but it's far from the worst I've seen from a budget gaming laptop. The company claims around nine hours of general use, but you certainly won't see a lifeline like that either gaming or consuming media.

Windows estimated just under three hours when on battery power with the machine idle or lightly in use, with activities such as web browsing. Dimming the screen and enabling battery saving mode might get you to the claimed rates, but it seems situational. When on battery power, the laptop lasted just under two hours in our battery test with media playback and just under this when gaming.

It's disappointing, considering the compact size of the Acer Nitro 14 means you would probably want it in your bag to kill time when not working or at school. However, carrying around the bulky charger kind of kills that idea. Again, this isn't an issue unique to the laptop, as many gaming laptops struggle with their battery, but it also doesn't buck the trend either.

• Battery Life: 3 / 5

Should you buy the Acer Nitro 14?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Acer Nitro 14: Also Consider

How I tested the Acer Nitro 14

• Tested for over a week
• Industry-standard benchmarking
• Used in real-world applications

I tested the Acer Nitro 14 over a week, benchmarking the machine with our suite of industry-standard synthetic benchmarks and gaming performance to see what it was capable of before deciding on my verdict.

I've been a hardware editor for over five years and a PC gamer for much longer. In my career, I've reviewed dozens of laptops over the years and have experience with all kinds of machines, of which I've weighed the Acer Nitro 14.

• First reviewed April 2025

• Acer ProCreator PE0 offers 6K OLED visuals, but concerns about panel longevity persist
• Unique 240Hz refresh and 0.01ms response blend speed with professional color accuracy
• Acer Creator Hub software allows fine calibration and seamless multi-monitor setup control

Acer has introduced the ProCreator PE0, a high-end portable monitor designed to compete with Apple’s $4,999 Pro Display XDR, but at what appears to be a more affordable price point.

This supposedly business monitor features a 6K resolution panel (6016 × 3384), matching the specification of Apple’s Pro Display XDR.

The display uses QD-OLED technology, combining quantum dot and OLED features. It supports true 10-bit color depth, VESA DisplayHDR True Black 600 certification, and ultra-high contrast.

Uncommon speed specs for a professional monitor

Acer states that the PE0 is Calman Verified and factory-calibrated to Delta E <1, with support for 99% DCI-P3 and 99% Adobe RGB color gamuts.

These are professional-grade metrics, making it a strong contender for users seeking the best monitor for Mac Mini, particularly those working in photography or color grading.

The panel also offers a 240Hz refresh rate and 0.01ms response time, specifications rarely found in professional monitors that prioritize image fidelity over speed.

Acer promotes this as enabling “fluid motion” for creative tasks, though such specs are more commonly associated with gaming displays.

The PE0 also supports AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and Nvidia G-SYNC, which may help reduce screen tearing and improve visual stability during video playback.

That said, concerns remain around OLED panel longevity and the potential for image retention, especially in static-use cases like photo editing or layout design.

Real-world performance will ultimately depend on factors like long-term calibration stability and panel uniformity, areas where Apple’s Pro Display XDR has set a high bar.

A standout feature of the PE0 is its built-in Smart Dial remote, which lets users adjust on-screen settings like brightness and volume without reaching behind the monitor.

It also supports Acer’s Creator Hub software, MPP 2.0 tilt-enabled styluses, and touchscreen functionality.

As of writing, the ProCreator PE0's price has not been announced.

However, other models in the series - such as the PE320QXT, PE270XT, PE320QK X, and PE160WU - are priced at $1,999.99, $1,099.99, $1,499.99, and $599.99, respectively - so we'd expect the PE0 to follow a similar pricing structure.

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• Acer’s portable monitors blend portability and touchscreen tech
• Acer’s VisionCare targets comfort, but 100Hz refresh rate benefits are questionable
• MacBook Pro users may find these monitors lacking native macOS optimization

Acer’s new line of portable monitors introduces some unexpected features, especially in models like the PD163QT and PD243Y E.

While portable displays typically focus on minimalism and basic connectivity, these Full HD (1920x1080) panels go a step further with wide viewing angles, aiming for more versatile use in multitasking.

These monitors can fold up to 315°, a feature designed to improve collaboration and presentations. The PD163QT also adds touch functionality, a rare feature in this category.

Dual-display setup with single-screen monitors

Although marketed as supporting dual-screen setups, each monitor contains only one display panel. The reference to “two Full HD displays” pertains to using the PD163QT and PD243Y E together, rather than a single device offering two screens.

The PD243Y E features a 100Hz refresh rate and flicker-free technology, though the practical benefits over a standard 60Hz screen for typical office tasks are unclear. At best, it may slightly reduce eye strain during prolonged use.

Acer also includes its VisionCare technology for eye comfort, signaling an expectation of extended usage.

For Apple users, none of these models appears to be optimized for macOS. While they function as general-purpose external screens, they may not be the best monitors for MacBook Pro users who prioritize native aspect ratios and accurate color reproduction.

The PM191Q E is another portable model featuring an ultra-thin profile and adjustable kickstand. It supports Full HD resolution and a refresh rate up to 100Hz.

All of these monitors are portable, flexible, and VESA wall-mountable, but none exceed 1080p resolution, a common limitation in this segment.

In parallel, Acer has launched its ProCreator Series, aimed at creative professionals. The series includes 4K and 6K monitors that support Delta E<1 color accuracy and a wide color gamut.

These high-end models also include touch functionality, split-screen tools, and integrated webcams. Models like the PE320QXT and PE270XT offer specifications suited to the premium business monitor category.

The new lineup is priced between $180 and $1,999, with prices varying by model and region.

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• Chuwi GameBook promises elite performance at a price lower than premium gaming laptops
• Ryzen 9 9955HX with 32 threads powers this gaming and creator machine
• RTX 5070 Ti with 12GB GDDR7 makes this a serious contender for 4K gaming

Chuwi, a company better known for budget devices than flagship powerhouses, has unveiled its latest effort to break into the high-performance segment: the GameBook 9955HX.

Promoted as a laptop for coders, gamers, and professional creators, this new model is powered by the AMD Ryzen 9 9955HX processor, a Zen 5-based chip featuring 16 cores and 32 threads, with a boost frequency of up to 5.4GHz. It also includes a large 64MB L3 cache and a configurable TDP that can peak around 55W.

As of the time of writing, the device's price remains undisclosed - however, given Chuwi’s history of undercutting bigger brands, it’s reasonable to expect this model to be priced lower than similar offerings from MSI or Asus.

Chuwi GameBook 9955HX

For graphics, the GameBook 9955HX integrates the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Laptop GPU, based on the latest Blackwell RTX architecture, making it well-suited for video editing and graphics-intensive tasks.

The GPU offers 12GB of GDDR7 VRAM, a 140W TGP, and supports features such as full ray tracing, DLSS 4, and Multi Frame Generation.

Chuwi says this setup can deliver up to 191 FPS in 1440p gaming with ray tracing enabled, and 149 FPS at 4K, placing it firmly in the performance laptop category.

For creators working with AI-accelerated tools, advanced 3D rendering, or video post-production, this could prove to be a top contender, provided its cooling system and thermal management are up to the task.

The display is a 16-inch 2.5K IPS panel with a 300Hz refresh rate, 100% sRGB color coverage, and a 16:10 aspect ratio. Peak brightness reaches 500 nits, though claims regarding color accuracy have yet to be verified through independent calibration tests.

Internally, the GameBook comes equipped with 32GB of DDR5 RAM at 5600MHz, upgradeable to 64GB, and a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD. Storage expansion is supported via two M.2 slots, one of which supports PCIe 5.0, offering a level of future-proofing not typically seen in Chuwi’s lineup.

Connectivity includes Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, a 2.5Gb Ethernet port, two USB-C ports (supporting 100W and 140W power delivery), three USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports, HDMI 2.1, and Mini DisplayPort 2.1a. There's also a 3.5mm audio jack, DC-in, and a Kensington lock slot.

Other features include a full-sized RGB-backlit keyboard, a 2MP IR webcam with a privacy shutter, a 77.77Wh battery, and stereo speakers. The laptop measures just over 21mm thick and weighs 2.3kg.

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• 22-inch foldable 3K portable monitor will cost $2,500 when it launches in 2026

All around, the monitor world has continued to flourish. People want better displays to work on, create on, game on, and consume on, and the prices continue to rise. So, it's worth noting when I find a budget monitor that I don't hate. Not everyone, in fact, very few, needs the biggest and best display.

Even with what I do, I barely need a high-resolution display. I could get most of what I do done on a 1080p screen if needed, or if the budget required it. There are quite a few drawbacks for choosing this kind of display, like screen quality in both picture and frame, the speakers sound like someone whispering into a soup can, but at the same time, if it gets the job done, and saves me a ton of money, why wouldn't I consider it?

And with that in mind, it's not hard to recommend the Acer Vero B247Y as one of the best business monitors for anyone looking for a budget display.

Acer Vero B247Y: Unboxing & first impressions

I'm not going to lie, I didn't expect much when I started unboxing the simple cardboard box that held the Acer B247Y monitor.

But once I opened it up, I noticed it had a DisplayPort cable, an HDMI cable, a power cable, a stand, and some nice documentation. I could put it all together before I realized what I was doing, and I was using it after mere moments of unboxing.

The monitor is incredibly light, so light that it doesn't make sense. Once I got this display on my desk, I pretty quickly threw it on a VESA mount monitor arm to get it positioned right where I wanted it, then I got to work using the display.

While it may feel like the exact monitor (probably not), my mom grew up on a corner desk littered with receipts connected via VGA to a tower pc that weighed more than I did, but it's not half bad when you consider the price.

Acer Vero B247Y: Design & Build Quality

The display build quality is mediocre despite the realization that this monitor can be found for under $100. It's super lightweight, which is great for moving it around, but it does not feel premium.

In fact, it feels like if I sneeze or cough too aggressively, it might fall down, which is why I added it to my monitor arm. The black plastic frame looks cheap, but it hides the cheap factor quite nicely since it's matted black.

The port layout is simple and easy to use. No frills, no add-ons, just video in. Sometimes, that's all you want, and with this guy, that's all you get.

Acer Vero B247Y: In use

Jokes aside, this monitor is good enough to get some business work done. I of course wouldn't use it for graphic design or much creative work, if any, but for Slack, documents, email, browsing the internet, Excel sheets, and so on, this display gets the job done for cheap. Especially if this monitor is not frequently used, sits in a high-traffic office area where it could get damaged, or if you are simply just working on basic tasks and don't require 4K at all.

Plus, since it's so cheap, you can spend that money on accessories, a better computer, or just simply save it for something else.

Moving on, I wouldn't recommend using this display for playing any audio of any kind. It's actually comical to me that they even tried adding speakers to this, coming in with a whopping two 2W speakers. I tried taking a video call through this and the speaking voices were terrible, music is worse, and I didn't dare try any sort of mixing audio levels for a video or project through this.

If you're looking for a simple monitor to get business work done that won't break the bank, then this is a monitor you should consider. It's a good budget option. But, if you're going to expect it to be great for gaming, consuming high-resolution content, color grading, or anything like that, I would look elsewhere.

Acer Vero B247Y: Final verdict

If you find yourself looking for "any monitor" within a budget, you should check out the B247Y as your budget solution.

It's great for budget setups, secondary setups, your old tower pc that just needs a display, a server display, replacing the monitor you just broke and don't want to pay for a replacement for, or for displays you are worried are going to quickly break for one reason or another.

Bump up the resolution with our round-up of the best 5K and 8K monitors for professional use.

• Acer, a company best known for computing components, is releasing a new health-tracking smart ring
• The Acer FreeSense Ring comes in Rose Gold or Black, and will pack 'AI enhanced' wellness insights
• Acer hasn't announced a price of the ring, but it has said there will be no additional subscription fee

Acer has announced the Acer FreeSense Ring, a new health-tracking smart ring offering 'AI enhanced' wellness insights.

It was unveiled at this year's Computex conference in Taipei, and we don't yet know how much the Ring will cost, or when it will go on sale – but we do know that it won't come with any additional subscription fees.

With two color options, Rose Gold (a matte finish) or Black (gloss finish), the Ring will be available in sizes 7-13. It'll weigh between 2-3g, and Acer says it's "crafted from ultra-light titanium alloy."

Even the best smart rings have a plastic interior to better accommodate the sensor array, and we imagine that will also be the case here. It's waterproof-rated at 5ATM, which means it's shower- and swim-safe, but likely not suitable for diving.

The Acer FreeSense sounds a lot like other smart rings from Oura and Samsung, specifically in terms of the data it collects. A press release from Acer states that "the ring tracks vital physiological metrics such as heart rate, heart rate variability, blood oxygen levels, and sleep quality.

"The data points are analyzed through a companion mobile app, which generates personalized wellness insights and provides suggestions. With features such as sleep stage analysis and continuous tracking, the Acer FreeSense Ring helps encourage proactive health management and lifestyle awareness."

Back in the health & fitness ring

Acer has released smartwatches and fitness trackers in the past with its Acer Leap range, but none of those devices ranked among the best fitness trackers of the era, and never really caught on. With smart rings now a rapidly growing category of health device, this could prove to be a second chance for Acer in the health space.

Acer is also the latest of several smart-ring manufacturer to make a point of the fact that its device doesn't require an additional subscription, as a key selling point to differentiate it from the likes of the Oura Ring 4. With so many health and fitness services now requiring a subscription, it's refreshing to see more companies embracing the one-time-purchase philosophy.

Acer is already busy at Computex this year – in addition to the FreeSense Ring it's also announced a pair of earbuds specifically for translation, a new range of electric bikes, and computing equipment.

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With Computex 2025 now just a few days away, we can expect a whole host of new PC hardware announcements soon – and fortunately, Acer has already made a start on that, with its new Swift and Aspire laptops ready to hit the market for consumers as early as June and, in the case of the ones below, July.

While there are plenty of new Acer devices coming your way, we've cherry-picked a few in particular that stand out the most; the Acer Swift X 14, Swift X 14 AI, the Swift Go 16 AI, and the Acer Aspire 16 AI (Intel).

All of these new laptops share similar specifications, such as processors that are built to provide great performance in a number of scenarios including gaming – most importantly for AI workloads as Copilot+ PCs. But here are the four main things you need to know about Acer's new laptops...

1. Acer's Swift X 14 AI, Swift Go 16 AI, and Aspire's 16 AI laptops will all have OLED displays

Yet again, OLED is getting the attention it deserves, and Acer is using OLED panels across a wide range of its new laptops – fortunately, all of these cherry-picked laptops are among them.

The Acer Swift X 14 AI will feature an OLED 14.5 WQXGA+ (2880 x 1800) touchscreen display, which will also take advantage of the VESA DisplayHDR True Black 500 certification. It's ideal for accurate image quality with deep blacks, with a minimum of 500 nits in brightness.

The Acer Swift Go 16 AI will fare slightly differently, with a 16-inch OLED WUXGA+ (2048 x 1280) display. It uses a lower-resolution panel, but to compensate for the difference in graphics capabilities (which I'll get into soon).

With the Acer Aspire 16 AI, only one of the configurations features an OLED (2048 x 1200) display; unlike the Swift X 14 AI, it won't be touchscreen but its IPS configuration will.

2. All of them will be powerful gaming machines, especially the Swift X 14 AI

I must note that these aren't gaming laptops, as they're made for creators using tools like Copilot+. However, both processors and GPUs (including iGPUs) are powerful enough to yield great gaming performance.

The Acer Swift X 14 AI will be the most powerful among the group; configurations up to Nvidia's RTX 5070 (the laptop GPU, including Nvidia Studio Drivers) and AMD's Ryzen AI 9 365 processor will be available, which are both capable of great performance in demanding creative AI workloads, or gaming. Its non-AI counterpart (Swift X 14) will feature up to Intel's Core Ultra 9 285H processor.

While the Swift Go 16 AI and Aspire 16 AI won't feature any discrete GPUs, they'll both be powered by (depending on the configuration) Intel's Core Ultra 7 258V – the same processor and Arc 140V iGPU featured in the MSI Claw 8 AI+ handheld gaming PC, known for its great gaming performance.

3. The Swift Go AI models are among the thinnest and lightest Acer laptops

While it packs a powerful processor, fast Wi-Fi 7 connectivity, and an OLED display, Acer claims the Swift Go (its 14-inch model in particular) is "as light as 15.9mm and as light as 1.39kg". To put it simply, this means it will be one of Acer thinnest and lightest laptops, easy for travel and packing – even with its 14-inch screen size.

It's a similar story with the Swift Go 16 AI. While it's not exactly as thin or light as its counterpart, it only weighs 1.6kg, which shouldn't be enough of a noticeable jump in weight.

They will both also take advantage of an "all-day battery life", ensuring you don't miss a beat during productive and creative workflows, and will have a 64Wh battery that should last a claimed 16 hours (likely with adjusted brightness levels or settings).

4. They will be available starting from July going into August

These new Acer laptops in particular will arrive as early as July; the Acer Swift X 14 AI (and Swift X 14) will be available in Europe in July, starting at €1,799 – prices in North America and Australia are yet to be announced, but that converts to around $2,015 / £1,515 / AU$3,140.

Unlike the Swift X 14 AI, the Acer Swift Go 16 AI will be available in Europe in August, starting at €1,299 – again, prices in North America and Australia have not been announced, but that converts to about $1,455 / £1,095 / AU$2,270)

In similar fashion, the Aspire 16 AI (Intel) will be available in Europe in August, starting at €1,099 as the cheapest of the group – there is again currently no word on prices in North America and Australia, but that equates to around $1,230 / £925 / AU$1,920.

It's worth noting that each laptop's price will vary depending on the chosen configuration, which ranges in processors, GPU, RAM, storage, and display.

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• A new listing on a Swiss retailer shows Acer's Radeon RX 9060 XT 8GB GPU at $566 based on currency conversions
• AMD is expected to unveil the Radeon RX 9060 series at Computex alongside partner cards
• The price may be a placeholder, but GPU price inflation may see the price become a reality

The current GPU market is filled with inflated prices for both Nvidia and AMD cards, which may spell bad news for the potential success of upcoming 8GB GPUs — and it looks like that might soon be the case for Team Red.

As reported by Wccftech, the Acer Nitro Radeon RX 9060 XT 8GB GPU has been listed on a Swiss retailer at $566 (around £430 / AU$880), converted from Swiss Franc. This comes alongside the 16GB model listed at $620, and both GPUs are expected to be unveiled at Computex 2025, which starts on May 20.

It's important to highlight the strong possibility that these prices are placeholders; this previously happened with the launch of the Radeon RX 9070 XT, which revealed a $699 launch price via Micro Center. Fortunately, that was indeed a placeholder, as it launched at $599, but that didn't last very long due to retailers raising prices significantly.

However, if the $566 price for the 8GB model is legitimate (or at least close to this figure), AMD and its partners could be in for an uphill struggle to convince consumers that this is a GPU that’s worth buying in 2025. These days, 8GB GPUs are simply not powerful enough to tackle demanding triple-A games, and PC gamers have voiced those frustrations with Nvidia's recent RTX 5060 Ti 8GB variant.

It's worth noting that Wccftech highlights that these prices are most likely placeholders, since they also include listings for RX 9070 XT GPUs above the retail price. Regardless, the current state of the GPU market will likely push prices up to absurd levels, and Best Buy’s GPU listings are a prime example of this.

If the retail price for the 8GB GPU is anywhere close to $500, it will be dead on arrival

I don't need to stress how underpowered 8GB GPUs are in 2025, as the negative consensus surrounding Nvidia's RTX 5060 Ti makes that clear. These GPUs don't pack enough VRAM to handle the heavy load that comes from games today, and I don't think anyone will be willing to overpay for a GPU that underperforms.

I'm confident that the $566 purported price (based on price conversions) is a placeholder, but that doesn't make me feel much more confident - that's because the trend of partner cards and their prices indicates that it may possibly cost much more after launch.

This happened with the Radeon RX 9070 XT, which you’ll now struggle to find at its $599 retail price. While nobody should be paying over $599 for a GPU that's supposed to be mid-range, the RX 9070 XT is at least a worthwhile GPU. Potentially, the same may not be said about the RX 9060 XT 8GB GPU, but I’m hoping it performs well.

This should be a warning for AMD and its partners; do not price any upcoming 8GB GPUs anywhere close to these prices, because I can almost guarantee that they will be dead on arrival...

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• Businesses can claim full refunds if Acer devices’ hardware fail under warranty in the first year
• Claims follow tight rules - hardware faults, warranty repair, and proper business registration
• Vero and SpatialLabs devices are covered - this isn’t just for budget business gear anymore

Acer has revealed a new offer that could reshape customer expectations across the business laptop and computing space.

Under the Acer Reliability Promise, customers in the EMEA region who purchase qualifying professional devices by the end of 2025 can receive a full refund of the original purchase price if the device experiences a hardware fault within the first year and is repaired under warranty.

Eligible categories include Chrome and Windows Pro devices, as well as select business monitors and projectors. Notably, products featuring Acer’s Vero sustainability technology and SpatialLabs 3D capabilities are also included, indicating that the offer isn’t limited to entry-level business models.

How does this new policy work?

The invoice date counts as Day 1, and buyers have 30 days to register their purchase. Up to 20 products per business are eligible, and the purchase must be for a new product made within the 2025 calendar year.

Any claim must be filed within 30 days of the product being repaired under warranty. The fault must be hardware-related and resolved by an Acer-authorized repair center. Software issues, external component failures, misuse, or accidental damage are excluded.

This offer is not available to individual consumers and is aimed exclusively at VAT-registered professionals and companies. To make a claim, customers must provide matching business credentials and bank details. The refund applies only once per product and is based on the net purchase price, excluding VAT and accessories.

By offering what is essentially a one-year satisfaction guarantee, Acer is challenging industry norms and prompting competitors to reassess their own warranty policies.

If widely adopted, this model could raise quality standards and build greater trust across the business tech sector.

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Acer PD3 Dual-Screen Portable Monitor: Two-minute review

While we already have a round up of the best portable monitors you can find, Acer aims to shake up the rankings with its Acer PD3 Dual-Screen Portable Monitor. This device, similar in fashion to other portable monitors, is small, lightweight and can be folded up to be taken with you on the go.

However what sets the Acer PD3 Dual-Screen Portable Monitor apart is the fact that it has two connected monitors, as the name suggests, for those who need the extra screen space.

One of the first things I noticed when unboxing the Acer PD3 Dual-Screen Portable Monitor is that the device is actually quite heavy, weighing in at over double that of my MacBook Air. Coming in at 2.33kg (5.14 lbs), it definitely isn’t too heavy to take on the go, but it’s by no means the lightest thing in your backpack and very well may make your bag quite hefty when combined with your current laptop.

The Acer PD3 Dual-Screen can be opened up like a laptop and used either horizontally or vertically. Initially I was worried the stand would be quite flimsy, but it's stable and holds up the device perfectly fine. In terms of design, the Acer PD3 dual-screen is very sleek and simple. Contained in a black, metal chassis, the device is simple and blends in seamlessly with any set up.

At 2.45cm (0.96in) thick, the device is quite chunky when compared to other laptops and portable monitors on the market. However, it’s worth noting that it's not this thick all the way around, with a large chunk of the monitor being quite thin, which makes it feel somewhat slimmer than it is.

The ports on the monitor are actually located underneath the stand, meaning the stand has to be pulled out in order to access them. While this isn’t the biggest deal in the world, it’s somewhat frustrating at times as you don’t always need to have the stand pulled out to have the monitor stood up.

Despite being an LCD panel, the Acer PD3 Dual-Screen Portable Monitor looks absolutely fantastic with a great range of colors and blacks. However one downside is the 250 nits screen, which isn’t the brightest, particularly when using the device on the go in different lighting environments. My laptop, which I used in conjunction with this monitor, has a screen brightness of 500 nits which makes the monitor appear even less bright in comparison.

With each screen coming in at 1920 x 1080p, it seems perfect as I didn’t have to worry about screen sizes and ratios changing when plugging my laptop in - which has the same resolution screen.

When using the Acer PD3 Dual-Screen Portable Monitor, it sufficed perfectly fine. It was easy to use, essentially just being plug and play with it syncing up to my laptop practically instantly.

It’s worth noting that the device can be VESA mounted - and while I didn’t mount it myself since I used it mainly on the go, it’s interesting that you can add it to a single monitor arm for a dual screened display, saving you even more space on your desk if needed.

It was easy enough to chuck the Acer PD3 Dual-Screen Portable Monitor in my bag and use it in different locations but I will say it wasn’t something I was comfortable pulling out while on a long train journey or in a coffee shop. The device itself is pretty large and looks quite elaborate so I didn’t find myself using it often when away from a desk. It was fine enough to take to my workspace, where it’s normal to use multiple screens.

However, considering the Acer PD3 Dual-Screen requires its own power outlet to work, it's not something which would be very easy to use on the go anyway. It comes with its own 45W power adaptor which plugs into the device via USB-C. This was frustrating as it meant I also needed to ensure I had the power supply with me when taking the device, which adds even more weight to my bag.

Acer PD3 Dual-Screen Portable Monitor: Price and availability

• How much does it cost? $449.99 / £469.99
• When is it available? Available now
• Where can you get it? Available in the US and UK

While quite pricey, the Acer PD3 Dual-Screen Portable Monitor is definitely a more premium option when it comes to these devices. At just under $450 (£469.99), it’s much more expensive than alternative portable monitor options like the AOC 16T3EA portable monitor which costs $129 / £187. However, the AOC 16T3EA is a single screened monitor, whereas the Acer PD3 is dual-screened.

Alternative dual-screen options like the Uperfect Portable Monitor come in at a similar price point to the Acer PD3, at around $449.99 / £449.99. This places the Acer PD3 Dual-Screen Portable Monitor an average priced option for the functionality, but it’s currently hard to judge as there aren’t many alternatives on the market just yet.

Acer PD3 Dual-Screen Portable Monitor: Specs

Here are the specs for the Acer PD3 Dual-Screen Portable Monitor at a glance.

Should I buy the Acer PD3 Dual-Screen Portable Monitor?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if... 

Acer PD3 Dual-Screen Portable Monitor: Also consider

How I tested the Acer PD3 dual-screen monitor

I spent a few weeks using the Acer PD3 dual-screen monitor alongside my laptop as a secondary display. I attempted to use the device on the go and take it to different locations with me.

I primarily used the device for working and productivity purposes like editing photos, responding to emails and writing articles. I also used the monitor to watch videos and movies to see how well it displayed different colours.

I’ve tested a range of different displays, monitors and portable devices over the years.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed April 2025

• Three distinct lines of Chromebooks are coming from Acer
• Prices range from €329 (about $430 / £275) to €729 (around $800 / £610)
• Availability begins in May, with some coming later in July, 2025

Acer has announced seven new Chromebook laptops in its extensive lineup of affordable productivity and media machines.

Announced in a press release, the Acer Chromebook Plus and Acer Chromebook Plus Enterprise devices have been described as being the "ideal choice for tech lovers, young professionals, students and teachers".

All seven of the newly announced Acer Chromebook models have Google AI built-in, and it's claimed the machines feature "double the speed, memory and storage" when "compared to previous models".

Prices range from €329 (about $430 / £275) to €729 (around $800 / £610) with the Acer Chromebook Tab 311 at the lower end and the Acer Chromebook Plus Enterprise 514 at the upper end of the spectrum. Availability begins in May through to July 2025, with official US and UK pricing and availability likely to be revealed closer to the time.

Starting with the Acer Chromebook Plus range, it includes three new laptops, all with Intel Core Ultra processors inside. The mainstream offering is the Acer Chromebook Plus 514, with an Intel Core 3 N355 processor, a 14-inch WUXGA display and a 1080p webcam. A version is also available with an Intel Core 7 processor, a QHD (1440p) webcam and a claimed 17 hours battery life.

The Acer Chromebook Plus 516 utilizes a 16-inch WUXGA display, with a 1080p webcam, and Google AI inside. All three models come with 12 months' worth of Google Gemini Advanced, 2TB of cloud storage, and other benefits of Google One's AI Premium Plan as standard.

Acer's Chromebook Plus Enterprise range also comes in three configurations; the Enterprise 514 is available with either an Intel Core 3 N355 or Intel Core 7 processor, a 14-inch display, and the choice of either a 1080p or QHD (1440p) webcam.

The Acer Chromebook Plus Enterprise 516 also features an Intel Core 7 processor, a 16-inch WUXGA screen, and a QHD webcam. The biggest difference appears to be the weight and thickness when compared to the Plus range, being 3lbs (1.4kg) in weight and less than 18mm (0.7 inches) thick.

The last of the newly announced Acer Chromebooks is the revised Tab 311 model. Unlike the other models, it isn't powered by an Intel Core Ultra CPU but the tried-and-true MediaTek Kompanio 520 processor, with 128GB storage, and up to 8GB LPDDRX memory.

Despite the lower-end specs, it features a 10.95-inch IPS WUXGA display, so it will look the part with its humble specs that are more than enough for the web-based workloads of the Google ecosystem.

Chromebooks are becoming more powerful

Acer's latest lineup could be fast enough to rival some of the best Chromebooks available in 2025, especially those models utilizing an Intel Core Ultra 7 processor. Traditionally, Chromebooks are lower-end, affordable laptops for kids, students, and professionals as ChromeOS is exclusively web-based, meaning there's not necessarily a need for the horsepower defining MacBooks and Windows-based x86 machines.

With that said, the utilization of Intel Core Ultra processors means that Acer's latest Chromebooks will be substantially faster in web browsing, media playback, word processing, and other productivity tasks in contrast to the older Intel Celeron and MediaTek processors we usually see in machines costing $300 / £300 to $700 / £700 from other manufacturers.

With the rough pricing revealed alongside the availability, it's looking like Chromebooks as viable alternatives to Windows and Mac machines will offer up more competition. From the specs provided, they sound like good value, but we won't know how they perform and compare to their competition until we go hands-on later in the year.

For how RAM-intensive Chrome (and Chromium browsers) can be, it sounds like a little more power is long overdue. While they're unlikely to rival the best laptops and best ultrabooks, they sound like solid offerings for the wallet-conscious consumer wanting value for money.

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Acer Swift 14 AI: Two-minute review

With so many laptops hitting the scene at the moment, Acer has thrown it’s hat in the ring with the Acer Swift 14 AI. This mighty laptop has swept me off of my feet almost immediately and could very well be a contender for one of the best laptops on the market right now.

Boasting a gorgeous OLED screen, I was stunned by the visuals I was getting when watching videos or editing pictures. You also get a great battery life which will last you all day when working and with some juice left in the tank afterwards. While it didn’t live up to the 17 hours claimed by Acer, it came in pretty close at 14 hours. I took some issues with the design because it just felt a bit clunky, but this is something that you likely wouldn’t notice unless you were specifically looking for issues.

Coming in at $1,199 / £899 / AU$1,899 (currently on sale in the UK), this laptop is on the pricier side, with similar alternatives also coming in around this price point. However, when factoring in the sale price, I am genuinely gobsmacked that you’re able to get a laptop of this quality in terms of both hardware and performance, for less than £900 ($1,200).

Acer Swift 14 AI: Price and availability

• How much does it cost? $1,199 / £899 / AU$1,899
• When is it available? Available now
• Where can you get it? Available in the US, UK, and Australia

The Acer Swift 14 AI comes in at $1,199 / £1,199 / AU$1,899, which is definitely not a budget-friendly option when it comes to laptops, however you get some very good specifications for this price point. You can currently pick it up in most regions. It’s on sale at Currys in the UK at the moment, with the Intel edition sitting at a much more affordable £899. On the US side of the map, you can pick it up on sale at Amazon, Best Buy, Newegg, and other similar retailers.

Alternatives on the market include the Asus Zenbook A14, which has similar specs and also features an OLED screen. It sits at a higher price point of $1,399.99, though. Another alternative is the Apple MacBook Air 2024 edition, which features the M3 chip and comes in at $1,199. This makes the Acer Swift 14 AI a great option to pick up while it's on sale, but it’s still decent value when it's not.

Value: 5 / 5

Acer Swift 14 AI: Specs

You can get an Intel or a Qualcomm version of the Acer Swift 14 AI. In the UK these are the same price, however the sale over at Currys only applies to the Intel version, which does make the Qualcomm one more expensive. Elsewhere in the world, you’ll also spend more on the Qualcomm edition as it can deliver more power. All of the rest of the specifications are the same.

As of right now, you can’t configure these specifications, however considering everything other than the processor is identical it doesn’t seem like you’d need to. The Acer website does state that this laptop comes with up to 32GB of RAM suggesting that other configurations may be in the works.

Acer Swift 14 AI: Design

When first unboxing the Acer Swift 14 AI, I was somewhat underwhelmed. While it is housed in a high quality and sturdy chassis, it doesn’t have any particular flare in terms of design. It weighs in at 1.28kg (2.82 lbs), which is definitely lightweight, but not the lightest option on the market with the Asus Zenbook 14 coming in at under a kilogram (2.2 lbs).

Something that particularly irked me when using this laptop was the fact that the edges weren’t rounded off properly which made it feel a bit clunky. You’ll also find a slightly thicker bezel around the webcam which again subtracts from the sleekness of the design. However, the Acer Swift 14 AI is 1.49cm (0.59 inches) thick, which keeps it slimline. It’s easy to stick in a backpack or sleeve and take on the go with you.

You get two USB-C ports, either can be used for charging. You also get two USB-A ports which is greatly appreciated. As someone who uses a range of peripherals, whether it be a USB headset, keyboard, mouse or extra monitors, I found there were enough ports for me to use this laptop as part of my workstation, just about. You also get an HDMI port.

The chassis of this laptop is made of metal rather than plastic like some other lightweight alternatives making for a more premium feel. The keyboard is very low profile, making for satisfying key presses. You’ll find that the keys are the same texture as the rest of the laptop too rather than being made from plastic which again contributes to the higher quality feeling.

Design: 4 / 5

Acer Swift 14 AI: Performance

Using the Acer Swift 14 AI did feel like a bit of a step down from the Asus Zenbook A14 I just tested, however at £200 less this is to be expected. Using it on the go wasn’t as satisfying as my typical MacBook Air despite it being a similar size and weight, with it feeling more clunky when putting it in my bag.

When booting up the laptop, I was stunned by the screen. The 2K OLED panel is gorgeous and makes for a fantastic experience when watching videos or movies. For creatives who design graphics or video assets, seeing the screen bring your creations to life through color is amazing. With most laptops being able to deliver great performance, they now have to stand out with other features and the OLED screen does a great job of this.

While this laptop isn’t made for intensive tasks, I still put it to the test. Things like basic photo and video editing on Abode Photoshop and Adobe Premiere Pro worked absolutely fine, and while Premiere Pro did feel a bit sluggish, it was by no means unusable. Taxing 3D animation is certainly off the table here but using this laptop for standard everyday productivity is perfectly fine.

I was sure to try multitasking here too, with a range of programs open at once and to my surprise, it functioned quite well even with just 16GB of RAM. Even being in a video call while also creating a PowerPoint and watching a video, the laptop didn’t stutter at all. This felt like a decent upgrade from my old Macbook Air which immediately starts whining when I open a second Chrome tab.

Even when using this laptop on the go, it stayed very quiet which was great. One of my biggest fears is booting up my MacBook on a train and its begins to sound like a rocket taking off, and I never had to worry about that with the Acer Swift 14 AI.

Of course you get the benefits of CoPilot+ with this laptop too but for me this is no longer a standout feature and instead just expected.

Performance: 5 / 5

Acer Swift 14 AI: Battery life

When using the Acer Swift 14 AI in my day to day life I found that the battery life was pretty impressive. It wasn’t a device you could go days without charging by any means, but you could certainly get through a full workday and still have some battery left over at the end of the day.

Acer claim that this laptop boasts 17 hours of battery life and our testing came in pretty close…but no cigar, at 14 hours of continuous video playback - which is obviously not how many people will be using their device on a day-to-day basis.

Battery life: 4 / 5

Should I buy the Acer Swift 14 AI?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also Consider

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How I tested the Acer Swift 14 AI

I spent two weeks using the Acer Swift 14 AI as my every day laptop for work and leisure. I was sure to use the device all day for my typical work day, and then also watched videos, movies and browsed social media on it in the evenings. I took it on the go with me to different locations where I needed to work to see how it would feel outside of my workstation. As well as using it every day I also benchmarked the laptop using a range of different benchmarking software.

First reviewed February 2025

Another year, another spate of tech hardware companies trying to entice gamers over to the dark side – by which I mean, trying to convince them that 3D display technology is the Next Big Thing in gaming. I’ve never been a fan; I shelled out for a Nintendo 3DS expecting a wild new dimension of gaming, only to spend my entire time with the handheld in 2D mode.

Acer’s still trying to crack this particular nut, having launched its SpatialLabs glasses-free 3D tech a few years back. At the IEM Katowice esports tournament in Poland last week, I got to enjoy some hands-on time with its latest Predator SpatialLabs View 27 monitor – and, although the tech has certainly improved since its earlier iterations, I’m still not convinced.

When most people hear the phrase ‘3D’, they think of a pair of chunky glasses (or perhaps the even older red-blue paper spectacles). SpatialLabs doesn’t work the same way as ‘conventional’ 3D displays; instead, it works by utilizing eye-tracking cameras to perfectly mesh two rendered images together on a stereoscopic display, creating a three-dimensional effect that shifts to remain effective even if you move your head – unlike Nintendo’s clunky handheld.

Gaming in three dimensions

Does it work? Yes, actually – while I’m not going to give you the spiel about graphics that ‘leap out of your screen’ or whatever, the Predator SpatialLabs View 27 does provide a good sense of physical depth, both for individual objects and wide scenes. I got to play some of Street Fighter VI’s World Tour mode on it, and it looked great; exploring Metro City (no, not the one from Megamind) demonstrated a tangible depth of field to the streets and the legions of random pedestrians I could challenge to a fistfight. I think some games might benefit from this tech more than others, and Acer has a list of supported titles if you’re curious.

Regardless of the game you play, though, there are a few glaring issues with using SpatialLabs for gaming. For starters, it’s liable to cause eye strain for some users – I certainly found this to be the case after just five minutes of getting my ass handed to me by Chun-Li, and I’ve heard similar reports from colleagues who have tested previous SpatialLabs devices. Considering that many gamers (totally not me) are known to spend multi-hour binges at their desktops, it feels like a migraine waiting to happen.

The other major problem with SpatialLabs – and basically any glasses-free 3D gaming solution – is that it tanks performance. There’s no good way to put this: stereoscopic 3D requires the real-time rendering of two full-resolution frames, which means that you’re going to struggle to achieve high frame rates in games unless you're packing some of the absolute best gaming hardware,

My esteemed colleague over at TechRadar Gaming, Dash Wood, struggled with exactly this problem when he reviewed the Acer Predator Helios 300 SpatialLabs Edition back in 2023. Despite being a relatively powerful gaming laptop, it struggled significantly once the 3D mode was turned on, and even the newer 2024 model (which uses an RTX 4080 GPU) is locked to a 2K resolution at 60Hz in 3D mode while running in 4K in 2D.

3D vs VR

I’m willing to give Acer a pass on the eye-strain point. Although it feels like 3D has been around forever, this sort of glasses-free tech is still a relatively fledgling technology. Some people struggle to use VR for extended periods of time, and while I used to feel this way, the technology has advanced enough that I’ve become more comfortable with strapping on my headset and picking up my motion controllers for some Beat Saber or Pistol Whip in lieu of going to the gym.

However, as I thought about this, a thought occurred to me: why does anyone still think 3D is the future of gaming when virtual reality exists as it does today? VR is still improving too, but faster than 3D displays are. I can attest to the extreme difference between a first-gen Oculus Rift and Apple’s Vision Pro headset; it’s night and day, a far greater leap than I feel Acer’s Predator SpatialLabs View 27 makes over a 3D TV from the 2000s like Sony’s first 3D Bravia, even if it’s managed to ditch the bulky glasses. Why would I want to use a screen that gives a kinda-sorta-three-dimensional effect when I could put on a Meta Quest 3 and be fully immersed in a rendered world that appears to surround me completely?

Sorry, Acer, and sorry to everyone else who is hard at work on 3D displays right now – I just don’t think the gaming sphere will ever truly embrace 3D when VR exists. Mind you, there are other valid uses for this technology – Acer highlights the value of its SpatialLabs displays to professionals like architects and 3D asset designers (and prison dentists, according to a conversation I had with Acer PR), so it’s probably not about to die out anytime soon. Still, I think it might be time for SpatialLabs to shift focus away from gamers, and take serious aim at the enterprise space.

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• Acer CEO warns customers will see laptop prices rise from March 2025
• 10% rise follows news of tariffs imposed by Trump administration
• The tariffs apply to products imported from China

The chairman and chief executive of Acer, one of the world’s biggest computer manufacturers, has warned a 10% price rise is coming to US customers ‘by default’ as a result of President Trump’s tariffs on imported Chinese goods.

In an interview with The Telegraph, CEO Jason Chen confirmed price adjustments for customers will be added on Acer laptops to reflect the tariff, noting “we think 10pc probably will be the default price increase because of the import tax. It’s very straightforward.”

The tariffs are applicable on items imported from China, but don’t apply to products that left before February 2025, so it could be a few weeks before the prices rise to reflect this. Since electronic goods make up a significant portion of Chinese imports, and most Acer products are manufactured in China - it's likely many products across the industry will be affected.

Customers bear the brunt

The move was pretty widely predicted in the industry, with the CEO of the Consumer Technology Association recently warning the tariff plan would be ‘devastating’, reminding that tariffs are not paid for by either country involved, “they're paid for by the consumers that are paying for a tax”.

Whilst 10% may not seem like a lot, Acer laptops can often sit between $2,000-$3,000, meaning customers will see hundreds of dollars added to their bills.

Acer is not the only company to manufacture their products overseas, in fact almost 80% of laptops and 40% of all tech products imported into the US are made in China and will be affected by these tariffs one way or another - so Americans can expect to see their pockets hurt in the near future.

Some firms may use the tariffs as an excuse to raise prices beyond 10%, but many companies have not yet confirmed how they expect their products to be affected.

Chen confirmed that Acer is looking into the possibility of “different supply chains beyond China”, and that “one of the options” was an American manufacturing line.

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This is a hands-on review to give you the chance to see what the Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 AI (2025) is all about as soon as possible. Stay tuned as we'll be expanding and upgrading this hands-on review very shortly with more info.

At the Intel Extreme Masters esports tournament in Katowice, Poland, Acer has unveiled a pair of new gaming laptops: the Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 AI and Helios Neo 16 AI. I got to spend some hands-on time with the larger of these two new laptops, and I have to say, I’m impressed.

The Predator Helios Neo 18 AI is, unsurprisingly, a seriously chunky machine. The display is a gorgeous 18-inch QHD+ Mini-LED panel that looks stunning, and the large form factor means that it also packs a full-scale RGB keyboard and a metric ton of ports - something I always like to see on a laptop. It weighs in at a hefty 3.3kg (7.3 lbs) - granted, not the heaviest gaming laptop I’ve ever seen, but comfortably into ‘desktop replacement’ territory.

Meanwhile, the Helios Neo 16 AI is a little more svelte, with an optional OLED configuration available for its 16-inch display and a package weight of 2.7kg (6 lbs), making it a little more portable (though still fairly hefty). Otherwise, it looks like someone hit the 18-inch model with a shrink ray; it’s very similar but a little smaller. There’s also the 16S, which was previously unveiled at CES and offers a slightly slimmer overall design (the ‘S’ stands for ‘slim’).

These 'Neo' models were introduced a little while back, acting as a sort of middle ground between Acer's premium Predator gaming laptop line and the more affordable Nitro series. While they’re not exactly what I’d call affordable (more on that below), they are very fairly priced for the hardware on offer. I'm pleased to say that Acer hasn’t skimped on design quality to reduce the pricing; it’s purely a cap on the internal specs, as these laptops only go up to an RTX 5070 Ti while the ‘non-Neo’ Acer Predator Helios 18 AI can be configured all the way up to an RTX 5090.

Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 AI: Price and availability

While we don't yet have full pricing information for the Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 AI, I can confirm that it will start at $2,199.99 in the US with a launch scheduled for sometime in May. The 16-inch version will start at $1,899.99, and is expected to launch a month earlier in April.

Now, it's important to mention that these are base configuration prices, meaning that you'll only be getting an RTX 5070 GPU, Core Ultra 7 255HX CPU, and a relatively standard 1200p LED display. Other configuration details are still up in the air; we know that both laptops can be configured with up to 64GB of RAM, but not the baseline amount, which is likely 16GB or 32GB. It's likely that opting for the more powerful configurations will jack that price up a fair bit, especially the Mini-LED display option.

However, these are still very reasonable starting prices, especially for an 18-inch laptop. The Helios Neo 18 AI's closest competitor will likely be the ROG Strix G18 from Asus, which already starts at $2,299.99 in the US - and that's for the RTX 4070 model.

Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 AI: Design

The build quality on show here is a notable step up from the first-gen Neo laptop design, which I noted was ‘quite robust’ but not exactly the best-constructed laptop I’d tested in my Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 review last year. The keyboard and trackpad in particular feel a bit more sturdy, which is nice.

The Helios Neo 18 AI (and its 16-inch sibling) both retain the same excellent port selection seen in previous models, however, with basically everything you could possibly ask for: USB-A, USB-C, HDMI, Ethernet, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and even a microSD card slot. Anyone wanting to use this laptop for double duty across gaming and professional creative work should be well-served here (as well as by the respectable internal specs). Some of these ports, including the HDMI out, are located on the rear edge of the chassis, which helps keep some of your cables out of the way.

The keyboard is a fairly straightforward affair; customizable RGB backlighting is par for the course with gaming laptops, and the larger scale of the Neo 18 AI means that Acer has seen fit to go with a full-size key layout that includes a numpad. Key spacing is good and there's a reasonable amount of travel, meaning that typing feels comfortable. You've also got dedicated keys for both the Microsoft Copilot AI assistant in Windows and the Acer PredatorSense system tweaking software (which comes preinstalled), as well as a separate button above the keyboard that activates 'turbo mode' for gaming.

Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 AI: Performance

Acer sadly (but unsurprisingly) didn't let me sit and download a ton of benchmarks to run on the Helios Neo 18 AI, but based on the spec sheet, both the Neo 18 AI and Neo 16 AI are powerful without going completely overboard.

The GPU can be either an RTX 5070 or RTX 5070 Ti, with a choice between 2nd-gen Intel Core Ultra 7 or Ultra 9 HX chips. System RAM is configurable up to 64GB of DDR5, and storage can be up to a 2TB SSD (with an extra M.2 slot for user upgrades).

One notable missing feature is Wi-Fi 7 support, with these Neo laptops instead opting for Wi-Fi 6E - likely a small cost-cutting measure by Acer, and one that personally doesn't bother me. Considering the RJ-45 port and Intel Killer Ethernet E3100G support, combined with the fact that this laptop is an absolute tank that almost certainly needs to remain anchored to a wall outlet for serious gaming, you should probably just be using a wired internet connection for the best experience anyway.

Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 AI: Early verdict

I was pretty pleased with the Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 (and the Neo 16, too) - it feels like a smart move from Acer to have an option specifically for the midrange, ideal for users who don't want to shell out for an ultra-premium laptop from the likes of Razer or Asus's ROG line, but have enough cash to afford something a bit more heavyweight.

It would be nice to see more of a shift towards thinner form factors in gaming laptops (something that the 16S model does achieve), but that doesn't seem likely to change anytime soon; not with Nvidia's GPUs still bringing the same sort of power and cooling requirements to the table. That's a reasonable tradeoff for performance, though - and after all, any 18-inch laptop is going to spend most of its time acting as a desktop replacement system anyway. In short, I'm excited to see more - we'll be doing a full review of this gaming laptop once Acer starts to send out test units, so watch this space.

First reviewed February 2025

How we test

While this is a review, it's important to bear in mind that it's only a hands-on account based on my limited time with the device at IEM Katowice 2025. As such, there aren't any concrete performance figures to speak of, and there's the possibility that there may be specific flaws (or benefits!) that I may have missed. It's also possible that the product may be changed in some way before release, which may render parts of this hands-on review incorrect.

When reviewing laptops and tablets, I spend as much time as possible using the device as if it were my own: I'll browse the web, watch videos, and create content. Ideally, we also run a variety of benchmarking software to stress-test the hardware, and keep track of component temperatures and battery life while doing so. I also pay close attention to the weight, profile, and build quality of the device itself, as well as rigorously testing any moving parts such as keys, buttons, and touchpads.

Read more about how we test

Acer Predator X32QFS review: Two-minute review

The Acer Predator X32QFS (or X32QFSbmiiphuzx to give it its full jargon name) is a superb do-it-all gaming monitor. Its fabulous 4K IPS mini-LED panel is a joy to use no matter what game or task is on screen, and it always displays colors crisply, brightly, and with punch.

A big factor to address right from the off is that this gaming monitor is unavailable in the US - which is a huge shame. For those that can potentially buy it, however, priced at £899.99 / AU$1,099 it’s a premium monitor. However, its position as more affordable than other premium screens such as the Alienware AW3225QF and the Samsung Odyssey OLED G8 means it will be tempting for those looking to save up and splash out for a monitor that can do everything well.

An understated gaming monitor in its design, there are no overt ‘gamer’ flourishes adorning the monitor apart from its curved, silver stand. Otherwise, it’s a monitor that will melt into any home office or productivity setup - despite being a gaming beast under the hood.

The juice under said hood is based around the excellent mini-LED IPS 4K panel that sports 1,152 local-dimming zones, as well as gaming specs that include a 150Hz refresh rate, a 0.5ms response time, and HDMI 2.1 capability. It goes further though, channeling that do-it-all characteristic elsewhere in its feature set as it also offers 99% Adobe RGB and 99% DCI-P3 color coverage and a peak brightness of 1,000 nits.

On top of that, the screen has enough ports to keep you well covered and sets itself up beautifully for being the center point of a multi-gaming machine setup. I’ve had my RTX 3090-powered gaming PC and PS5 plugged into it for a couple of months now and it’s a dream for both.

Gaming on PC is a wondrous sight - especially if you have a beefy enough machine to enjoy the 4K resolution - and games from Control to Frostpunk 2 draw you in on the X32QFS, treating you to enormous and immersive pictures and experiences.

The Acer Predator X32QFS also proves itself a worthy contender as a dedicated monitor for PS5 or monitor for Xbox Series X and was a brilliant companion to my PS5 Slim and PS5 Pro during testing. The HDMI 2.1 capable screen means you can tap into the best of Sony’s games on its newest, most powerful console while using it as an everyday PS5-presenter for games like Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Sniper Elite: Resistance, and Botany Manor has been a treat for the eyes.

However, it’s not just gaming that it excels in. Everyday work tasks from spreadsheets to writing documents are a joy and feature no text fringing or other frailties; while image work on the screen is also a pleasure with punchy, accurate colors and lovely contrasts. It’s even great for watching TV, films, or catching up on sports highlights.

Drawbacks are few, but one in particular is quite a shame: the monitor is not available in the US. This is a UK-focused release from Acer which is disappointing, if not only because the monitor exudes such a high level of quality. There’s also no remote or control hub which would be a nice touch for a monitor of this price, and some of the settings can be a bit of a drag to re-input all the time.

Away from those gripes, the fact that the Acer Predator X32QFS can do everything so well means it’s an easy screen to recommend for multi-purpose use, with gaming at the center of it. I think it goes a very long way to justify the price tag, and if you’re a UK gamer looking for a high-quality 4K 32-inch screen that’s in between premium OLEDs and affordable panels, then this is it.

Acer Predator X32QFS review: Price and availability

• List price: £899.99 in the UK
• No US availability
• UK-specific variant of the X32

The elephant in the room with the Acer Predator X32QFS is that it has no availability in the US. In something of a classic Acer style, this screen appears to be a sub-variant of a model, the X32, in this case. For full clarity, this means that you may come across different monitors also labeled as an ‘X32’ in your region. However, models with this particular variant's full name, the Acer Predator X32QFSbmiiphuzx, are the one exactly like my review unit. In practice, the result of this means that this version of the X32 is not available to US folks, though another variant may be.

Where it is available in the UK (for £899.99 at Overclockers), the price does pitch the X32QFS as something of a premium screen. In terms of other 4K 32-inch screens, it comes in at nearly twice the price of one our favourites in the Gigabyte M32UC, but it’s worth noting it comes in cheaper than super-premium OLED gaming monitors such as the Alienware AW3225QF, Samsung Odyssey G8, and LG 32GS95UE-B.

I think the X32QFS goes a long way to justify its price tag, and it being in between the likes of the M32UC and those OLED monitors means it’s pitched quite well price-wise. Positioned as offering something more than the affordable models, but a cheaper alternative to OLEDs - without any of the concerns that OLED brings - is a solid spot to inhabit. The performance of the monitor only serves to reinforce this price positioning and value proposition too.

Acer Predator X32QFS review: Specs

Acer Predator X32QFS review: Design and features

• Super 32-inch IPS Mini-LED screen
• 4K; 150hz refresh; 1ms response
• Plenty of ports for multi-device setups

Keeping it simple, the Acer Predator X32QFS is a 32-inch 4K Mini-LED monitor with a very plain design. The aesthetic is very subtle and understated, and there are no ‘gamer vibes’ present, especially when mounted on a monitor arm which I have it set up with. Some of the typical angular aesthetic that gaming monitors have can come from the stand, so removing that has, in effect, toned down the style of the screen. If you fancy using that, however, its curved steel look is still attractive.

Looking a bit more closely, the top and the sides have narrow bezels, while the bottom one, housing the ‘Predator’ badge is slightly wider. Inside the chassis is an IPS Mini-LED panel with 1,152 locally dimming zones that offer deep blacks and vibrant, lush colors.

The Acer Predator X32QFS’s gaming specs are robust and certainly great for those looking for a crisp and smooth 4K experience. Rated for 150Hz, the refresh rate will cover those looking to get 4K at 144Hz on PC, and, naturally, means that a PS5’s or Xbox Series X’s maximum of 120hz is well catered for too. The 0.5ms response time also keeps things speedy for those looking to play online or competitively.

Elsewhere, specs-wise, there’s AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, 99% Adobe RGB, 99% DCI-P3 color space ratings, VESA DisplayHDR 1000 rating, 1,000 nits of peak brightness, and a color depth of 1.07 billion.

In terms of what’s lacking, there’s no remote control or separate hub for settings which is a shame, and perhaps not quite befitting of a screen that costs nearly a thousand pounds in the UK.

The monitor’s port selection is plenty good enough too. Sporting two HDMI 2.1 ports, a DisplayPort 1.4, a single USB-C (that can provide 65w of power delivery), an audio jack port, and two USB-A ports (with the accompanying USB upstream port) there’s enough for multi-device setups as well as the incorporation of a sound bar and USB devices too thanks to its upstream connection of the latter kind. The addition of a KVM switch in the screen is welcome too.

Acer Predator X32QFS review: Performance

• Fantastic gaming images and performance
• Particularly perfect for PC, PS5, and PS5 Pro
• Wonderful specs and HDR presentation

Simply put, the X32QFS has performed brilliantly for me in every single way I have used and tested it. From games on PC as well as PS5 and PS5 Pro, to everyday work use, the monitor is just dreamy.

In terms of gaming, I enjoyed the screen most when using it with the PS5 Slim I have set up in my home office, and the PS5 Pro which I reviewed with the monitor at the end of last year. The X32QFS is HDMI 2.1 capable, so using a current-gen console with it can really unleash a machine’s abilities. This was the case with the likes of Horizon Forbidden West on PS5 Pro, with the game’s Balanced mode providing a supreme experience on the X32QFS.

Elsewhere, Alan Wake 2 was a sheer joy to behold, while the likes of Sony first-party games like The Last of Us Part 1, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, and Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart, shine incredibly brightly on the X32QFS. PlayStation 4 games also look the part on the X32QFS so those still rocking Sony’s last-gen console can have great confidence in this screen presenting their games beautifully too - they were for me on both PS5 and PS5 Pro.

For PC gaming (via DisplayPort) the screen is a joy once more. Offering an excellent amount of screen real estate for games - without ever being too overwhelming - like Frostpunk 2 and Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War 3 - the amount of the barren snowy land of the former, and the bleak battlefield of the latter that you can take in all at once, and in great detail, is exquisite. Games like Control are also a delight on the monitor on PC, with the atmospheric Federal Bureau of Control building a joy to immerse myself in.

The experience I’ve had gaming on the X32QFS goes some way to cement my belief that a 4K 32-inch monitor is the sweet spot for PC and console setups; especially for those gaming PCs that are beefy enough to play nice with the resolution.

For day-to-day work, the screen is bright, punchy, and crystal clear no matter if I’m deep in research and writing, swimming the spreadsheet waters, or even putting together custom images and doing light graphic work. The 32-inch screen is big enough for me to split it in two manually with windows too, without feeling cramped.

The brightness is a great quality in the screen in particular, with there being plenty of it, and thus enough to find the right amount for you, along with its HDR capability too. The baked-in settings are useful too, though I found the best settings for me were the ones making the most of the monitor’s brightness and HDR, and have had both on, with max brightness enabled and HDR color space selected for almost all of my use after testing the modes.

Backing all of this up further is the color accuracy. Offering 99% Adobe RGB and 99% DCI-P3, the monitor will have you covered if you’re using it for graphic work as well as gaming, serving up a treat for the eyes no matter its deployment.

While the Gigabyte M32UC comes in cheaper still and performs very well, and the likes of the Samsung Odyssey G8 can offer a bit more for pure gaming given the OLED panel and superb feature setup, the X32QFS is a tremendous alternative for a cheaper price, even more so if you’re afraid of OLED burn-in too. On that note, my testing didn’t throw up any other, albeit mainly-OLED-type concerns such as text fringing (where text can appear to have a shadow or blurry color around it).

In practical day-to-day use, some of the settings wouldn’t be ‘remembered’ by the monitor and would revert every time I booted up my PC. This is a small gripe but one I noticed happening relatively frequently despite tinkering in the settings. Also speaking practically, I’ve been able to hook up my PC, the PS5, a soundbar output, and utilize the USB ports on the monitor with no issue, as well as mount it on my Secretlab monitor arm and deploy a BenQ monitor bar on its top too.

It’s this ‘great at everything’ characteristic that makes the Acer Predator X32QFS an easy recommendation to make. It can turn its hand to anything and do a terrific job, and I’m looking forward to relying on its excellence for PC and PS5 gaming, as well as the demands of work going forward.

Should you buy the Acer Predator X32QFS?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Acer Predator X32QFS review: Also consider

If you’re still not convinced about the Acer Predator X32QFS, or it’s not available in your region, then check out these alternative monitors.

How I tested the Acer Predator X32QFS

• Tested over the course of multiple months
• Used almost daily for work and gaming
• Tested with an RTX 3090-powered PC, PS5 Slim, and PS5 Pro

I’ve had the pleasure of using the Acer Predator X32QFS monitor for a few months now, using it almost every day for work, and several times a week for gaming. I’ve used it all day for work, from writing to managing spreadsheets and making work calls and communications, testing the screen in both light and dark modes constantly.

I have my RTX 3090-powered gaming PC connected to the monitor, a Yamaha SR-C20A soundbar for sound output when playing my connected PS5 Slim console, and I have made use of the USB ports on the monitor too to great effect. I tested the monitor on its own stand initially, but largely when connected to my Secretlab Magnus Pro gaming desk with the Secretlab monitor arm.

I’ve played a variety of PC games and PS5 games to test the screen out. On PC, I played Frostpunk 2, Control, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 3, and A Total War Saga: Troy; while on PS5 and PS5 Pro, I tested Alan Wake 2, Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, The Last of Us Part 1, and Part 2 Remastered, and Horizon Forbidden West and Zero Dawn Remastered, as well as PS4 games such as Doom (2016) and Infamous Second Son.

I also tested the PS5 Pro extensively with the monitor when reviewing Sony’s latest console, and found it to provide excellent performance, opening up the extra modes in some of Sony’s first-party games, wonderfully, and presenting them beautifully.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed October 2024 - February 2025

• Acer PD1520Us offers 30,000 hours of lifespan for business and entertainment needs
• Supports full HD 1080p resolution and 4K compatibility
• The LED light source eliminates warm-up times, offering instant on/off functionality

Acer has unveiled PD1520Us, a compact ultra-short throw (UST) projector, tipping the scales at just 740 grams, making it potentially the smallest of its kind.

Though compact, the PD1520Us can project 100-inch images from just a few centimeters away. It's also mercury-free, making it a strong, environmentally-friendly alternative choice for a business projector, especially as UST adoption continues to gather momentum among businesses.

It also delivers full HD 1080p resolution with 4K compatibility and boasts a 30,000-hour lifespan. It features autofocus and auto 2D keystone correction, ensuring sharp, distortion-free images. Connectivity options include HDMI 2.0, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and support for iOS and screen mirroring.

Instant use and eco-friendly functionality

This UST projector eliminates the need for warm-up or cooling periods by being powered by an LED light source, offering instant on/off functionality.

For added convenience, Acer offers a 5200mAh battery kit, providing up to two hours of portable operation. The projector also integrates a smart platform, allowing users to install apps and access a wide range of content directly.

Priced at €699, the PD1520Us will hit EMEA markets in March 2025, with optional add-ons like the €99 battery kit and a €199 interactive module.

In case you missed it, CES 2025 saw a raft of UST projector announcements, including JMGO's O2S Ultra, which is also vying for the title of the world's smallest UST projector.

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You can usually be confident of aggressive pricing from Acer, and it doesn’t disappoint here. The next cheapest 4K screen, BenQ’s PD2706U, costs £399, while the BenQ BL2790QT costs £270 and includes a mere 1440p panel. No contest, surely?

In some ways, no. Photographers or film lovers who love detail will appreciate the level of detail on show here, and if you have good eyesight and devour spreadsheets – or tend to work with two windows side by side – the same is true for business use.

Technically, this is a superior panel too, as it’s a true 8-bit display that uses FRC to increase color coverage to 1.07 billion colors. The BenQ BL2790QT, by contrast, is a 6-bit panel with FRC taking its color range to 16.7 million colors. In reality, there’s little between them: the Vero covers 75% of the DCI-P3 space to the 73% peak of the BenQ, and both offer similar levels of (excellent) color accuracy.

Whites look whiter the higher you push the brightness, but this increases power consumption: at 200cd/m² the Vero wanted 20W, pushing up to 24W at full brightness of around 280cd/m², though head to the OSD and you can activate Max Brightness to take it to a searing 420cd/m². That’s 70cd/m² more than Acer claims.

Switch to HDR mode and the display will boost the contrast between black and white in films and games. And while it offers only a 60Hz refresh rate, the 4ms response time and AMD FreeSync support keeps action looking smooth. With a mediocre set of speakers inside, though, you’ll want to take advantage of the 3.5mm jack sitting next to two HDMI inputs and one DisplayPort at the rear. That’s your lot: there’s no USB-C here, no USB hub and no RJ45 port.

The stand is nice and solid, with a huge 165mm of height adjustment and a phenomenal amount of movement: up to 35° tilt and very nearly 360° of swivel. We also like the OSD, with a trio of shortcut buttons (two of which can be reassigned) and a mini joystick for speedy control.

One final note on the Vero branding. This marks out Acer’s most environmentally friendly products, and here that boils down to the use of more recycled plastic than a typical monitor. That’s a worthy move, but ideally we’d be looking for an EPEAT Gold rating rather than Silver, and some design tweaks to make it easier to repair and recycle at the end of life.

But let’s not be too critical. Only Eizo is truly leading the way here, and that’s reflected in the price of its monitors. You may not get much in the way of frills, but a good-quality IPS panel with a 4K resolution is hard to argue with at £269.

We also ranked the best monitors for dual set-ups.

Acer Predator controller: one-minute review

The Acer Predator controller is more than a little disappointing given the brand’s track record of producing high-quality gaming hardware. It’s apparent that this is one of Acer’s first forays into the realm of gaming controllers, as the Predator is pretty bare-bones for what it offers in terms of features. That, and its overall build quality, leaves something to be desired.

Much of this could be forgiven if it wasn’t for the Predator’s retail price. It comes similarly priced to some of the best PC controllers and best Nintendo Switch controllers, including the GameSir Tarantula Pro and the 8BitDo Ultimate. But unlike those, the Acer Predator hardly does anything to stand out from the crowd.

Don’t expect remappable buttons, trigger locks, or even basics like a good overall build quality here; the Predator’s closest analog is probably the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller. And even there, Nintendo’s official pad has the Predator beat on both build and battery life.

This isn’t to say the Acer Predator isn’t at least worth a look. It still gets plenty of things right. Hall effect sticks allow for a controller that could last you years, and it does support Switch-friendly features like gyro aiming for games like Splatoon 3. It is a bit lamentable that the Predator requires AA batteries to be used wirelessly, but both Bluetooth and 2.4GHz connectivity are supported here and overall battery life is pretty decent at around 20 hours on average.

In summary, if you’re after a simple, no-frills controller similar to the official Nintendo Switch option, the Acer Predator might just be for you. However, when its peers are handily one-upping it in terms of design, features, and performance - often at the same price or less - it probably shouldn’t be at the top of your list.

Acer Predator controller: Price and availability

• £69.99 (around $87.99 / AU$139.99)
• Purchasable from Acer’s website in certain regions
• Limited overall availability, with the controller seemingly not available in the US

While the Acer Predator controller seems to be unavailable (at time of writing) in the US, it is available for £69.99 in the UK and can be purchased from Acer’s own website. Unlike most other third-party controllers, availability (at the time of writing) appears to be extremely limited. The controller isn’t listed at retailers like Amazon, Argos, or John Lewis in the UK. Moreover, Acer itself doesn’t have a store page for the controller in the US or Australia.

In terms of price, the Acer Predator is fairly competitive when you consider that many other top controllers fall within that £60-£70 price bracket. As mentioned, though, it’s not the most complete feeling controller out there when compared to other pads in this range. It would have been a more attractive purchasing option, I feel if it came in at £10 or even £15 cheaper than its current retail price.

Acer Predator controller: specs

Acer Predator controller: design and features

• Simple, but nonetheless eye-catching sci-fi-esque livery
• Lacking in build quality in comparison to its competitors
• D-pad and triggers feel noticeably spongy

Starting off with the positives, I really like the aesthetic touches on the Acer Predator controller. It’s emblazoned with cool sci-fi-looking patterns that definitely lend it some unique identity, but it’s understated enough to not stand out in a garish way. The bumpers up top also offer a soft, tactile clicky feel. Thumbsticks also feel great here with a comfortable amount of concavity for your thumbs to firmly rest on.

Other aspects of the controller don’t fare as well. The d-pad and face buttons have an overly mushy feel. It doesn’t help that the former is extremely basic and rather flat in design which did make for an occasional mispress during gameplay. Triggers, meanwhile, did grow on me after some time, but these are fairly wide and offer an unsatisfyingly spongy feel. A pretty mixed bag overall, then, in terms of buttons and modules.

It’s also worth noting that the Acer Predator’s 2.4GHz dongle is not separate in the box. Rather, it’s housed within the controller’s onboard battery compartment. So make sure you’re taking that out first before inserting any AA batteries if you’re planning to use it wirelessly on PC.

It’s a slightly strange choice for a controller, and it does take a little bit of wrestling to release it from the controller’s slot. But it does at least offer a safe way to store the dongle to prevent you from losing it when not in use.

Acer Predator controller: performance

• Hall effect thumbsticks make for a long-lasting controller
• Well-developed rumble that offers a robust and impactful play experience
• Battery life is decent but may vary depending on your battery brand of choice

Design issues aside, the Acer Predator does perform admirably as a controller, with few notable faults. Despite the pad feeling outdated in some aspects, I’m grateful for the inclusion of Hall effect sticks first and foremost. This will make for a long-lasting gamepad that’s resistant to stick drift issues. On that front alone, the Predator is worth considering if you’re tired of cycling through controllers on a semi-regular basis.

What surprised me most here is the Predator’s incredibly effective rumble tech. It’s not exactly haptic feedback a la the PS5’s DualSense wireless controller, but it feels significantly less flat than many other controllers in this regard.

Playing action-heavy titles like Wuthering Waves, Zenless Zone Zero, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, I was really impressed with the impactful register of sword swipes and other special abilities. It’s a well-rounded vibration that successfully adds a good layer of immersion to whichever game you’re playing. However, you still may wish to switch off vibrations for competitive play as I do feel such a strong rumble could disrupt things like aim or other desired inputs.

The Acer Predator controller also matches many of its peers on compatibility and connection types. It works with Nintendo Switch, PC, and mobile devices (both Android and iOS) and supports 2.4GHz and Bluetooth for wireless connectivity, as well as USB-C for wired connections. Switch compatibility is an especially big plus here, as I feel the Acer Predator makes for a decent alternative to the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller.

Battery life is also pretty decent overall. Acer’s own website states you’ll get around 25 hours here, but this will of course vary based on the AA battery brand used. The controller comes with a pair of Energizer AA batteries included in the box. With these, I managed to get around 20 hours of playtime before needing to swap them out. Again this will vary based on brand and the types of games you play, but this is an overall decent number that means you shouldn't have to swap out batteries too often.

Should I buy the Acer Predator controller?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider...

If the Acer Predator is proving to be a hard sell, refer to the table below in which we compare its specs to two other great controllers.

How I tested the Acer Predator controller

• Tested for one week
• Platforms tested: Nintendo Switch, PC
• Compared to the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller and 8BitDo Ultimate

I tested the Acer Predator controller over the course of a week, hopping between PC and Nintendo Switch. By doing this, I was able to test multiple connection types from 2.4GHz to Bluetooth and wired, while also sampling a wide range of excellent games including Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Astral Chain, Zenless Zone Zero, and Wuthering Waves.

While certainly far from the best controller I’ve ever tested, it did eventually somewhat win me over thanks to its broad compatibility, strong rumble tech, and impressive battery life - even if I’m not personally a fan of having to rely on AA batteries for wireless play.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed January 2025

We’ve seen a wide range of new tech announced and showcased at CES 2025, including everything from gaming handhelds to electric scooters. The star of the show has certainly been AI, and the new Acer Aspire Vero 16 takes full advantage all while being encased in a blend of post-consumer recycled plastic and a brand-new oyster shell material.

Acer has stated that the Acer Aspire Vero 16 is committed to carbon neutrality for its entire life cycle. On top of using bio-based materials, it uses an easy to fix design in order to ensure that repairing is an option before replacing.

Price and availability

The Acer Aspire Vero 16 is set to release in April in the US at $799.99 and then later on in Q2 in Europe at €1,199. These are starting prices which will fluctuate based on the specifications you’re looking for.

It’s definitely one of the more affordable options on the market, especially in the US. However, regional pricing puts it at a much higher price point elsewhere.

Design

When first laying-eyes on the Acer Aspire Vero 16, I think its quite clear that it’s made from recycled material due to the color and design. It looks pretty, with a marbled green chassis encasing the entire device including the trackpad. As well as recycled plastic, the chassis is also made from oyster shell material, making it carbon neutral and 100% recyclable.

Unfortunately, when holding and using the Acer Aspire Vero 16, it feels like cheap plastic. The casing has quite a light and fragile feel to it, and I wouldn’t entirely trust the Vero 16 in my backpack without an extra layer of protection like a case or sleeve - and even then, it’s a risk.

Despite being cased in plastic, the Acer Aspire Vero 16 is actually a bit heavier than I was expecting. It weighs in at 3.97 lbs (1.8kg), which isn’t the most lightweight option out there, but isn’t too heavy for you to transport to and from work or keep with you on the go either. Just be sure to pack it up snug and secure.

The Acer Aspire Vero 16 measures in at less than 2cm and despite being so slim, it still comes packed full of ports. You get to take advantage of two Thunderbolt ports, as well as a USB-A port, an HDMI 2.1 port and an audio jack.

You get an LCD display panel on the Vero 16, which is 1920 x 1200 pixels. Despite not being OLED, the screen is actually very bright and vibrant. It looks absolutely stunning but did leave me wanting slightly more in terms of resolution, however at this price point you can’t complain too much.

Specifications

Performance

Picking up the Acer Aspire Vero 16 allows you to take advantage of up to an Intel Core Ultra 7 255H processor paired with Intel Arc graphics as well as 32GB of RAM. This machine offers absolutely insane performance, especially for its price point. Regardless of what you’re intending to use it for, it offers a high level of performance for a wide range of productivity and creativity tasks.

Of course, having this processor means you get to take advantage of a range of AI features including Copilot+ to help you speed up the process of everyday tasks. But as AI slowly takes over the laptop space, this is becoming more common.

With a 65Wh battery you’ll get a decent battery life out of this laptop. Acer states it’ll run approximately 10.5 hours, allowing you to get through a work day and then some on a full charge.

Early verdict

Overall the Acer Aspire Vero 16 is an amazing laptop, providing you with great performance at a low price point. As if that wasn’t already good enough, you get a clean conscience as the casing is made from 70% recycled materials and is gorgeous.

One downside is the material feels quite cheap, but this can easily be looked past when you consider all of the other benefits which are on offer. It’s somewhat frustrating that the regional pricing of this laptop makes it less affordable outside of the US and I hope Acer can adjust this prior to the laptop’s release in April.

If there was any period where gamers could be spoilt for choice with gaming hardware, it's looking like 2025 could be it. And that's because CES 2025 included reveals and previews of PC gaming hardware with Nvidia's new RTX 5000 series GPU lineup stealing the spotlight. However, I'd argue that handheld gaming PCs have been the biggest highlight of the event.

It's undeniable that Valve sparked new life into the handheld gaming scene when it launched the Steam Deck in 2022, with competition growing rapidly each year - we've seen mid-generation upgrades from Asus with the ROG Ally and Valve's Steam Deck with an OLED variant.

While we await news on successors to the Asus ROG Ally X and Steam Deck OLED, the announcements from the likes of Lenovo, MSI, and Acer have been enough to leave me very excited for handheld gaming PCs this year. So, here's my pick of the best handheld gaming PCs at CES 2025.

1. MSI Claw 8 AI+

While this was technically announced last December, the MSI Claw 8 AI+ had a significant presence at CES 2025 - and rightly so, because from what I've seen so far, this is shaping up to be one of (if not the) best handheld gaming PC of recent times.

MSI's first attempt with the Claw A1M used Intel's Core Ultra 7 155H processor, which wasn't received well. This time around, MSI is using the more efficient Intel Core Ultra 7 258V (which uses the Intel Arc 140V integrated GPU), providing both stronger battery life and performance in games based on MSI's claims at 17W and multiple previews.

ETAPrime showcased the Claw AI 8+ running CD Projekt Red's graphically demanding Cyberpunk 2077 with the ray tracing ultra preset enabled using Intel's XeSS upscaling method - and the frame rate remained around 40fps consistently.

It's available for pre-order on MSI's storefront in the US for $899.99, while there is unfortunately no news on UK and Australia availability or pricing.

2. Lenovo Legion Go S

The original Lenovo Legion Go is another example of a new handheld gaming PC not quite getting it right the first time. It originally boasted a 1600p display and used AMD's Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor. While that hardware is certainly powerful (the Z1 Extreme is also used in the Asus ROG Ally), it wasn't enough to handle the 2560x1600 resolution, forcing gamers to knock the resolution down in-game.

In comes the Lenovo Legion Go S, which is a mid-generation upgrade, and it now uses a 1920x1200 120Hz VRR 8-inch display, plus 32GB of RAM. It will have multiple configurations, allowing you to choose between SteamOS or Windows 11 - and it comes with either the Ryzen Z2 Go or Z1 Extreme chip.

While the lower display resolution and screen size might seem like a negative, it will serve players well with both processors likely capable of handling the 1200p resolution with relative ease.

The Windows 11 Z2 Go models (16GB or 32GB) are now available for pre-order at Best Buy starting at $729.99 shipping this month, with the SteamOS models launching in May. Meanwhile, the Legion Go 2 is slated to release sometime this year using the new Z2 Extreme, but it's still just a prototype for now.

3. Acer Nitro Blaze 8

I'd love to have put the Acer Nitro Blaze 11 here, as I think it will be the bigger hit for Acer, but it's just way too big for a handheld gaming PC. It's also priced at $1,099 which is absurd for a handheld gaming PC. Fortunately, the alternative to this is the Acer Nitro Blaze 8, which may still end up having the same performance issues as the original Lenovo Legion Go due to its ambitious (for a handheld) 1600p display, but it's far more portable and comfortable to hold.

Using the same specifications as its larger counterpart, it will utilize AMD's Ryzen 7 8840HS processor which has the same Radeon 780M iGPU seen in the Z1 Extreme, an 8.8-inch 144Hz display, and 16GB of RAM. This appears to be Acer's attempt to catch up with current handhelds, but it may lose out to the likes of the Legion Go S and MSI Claw 8 AI+ with their more recent components.

Either way, this is set to be an impressive handheld option for gamers, available in Q2 this year starting at $899, in the midst of what looks like a great year for all handheld PC enthusiasts.

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At this point it’s unusual for a major tech industry event to pass by without a new handful of handhelds – and while the Nintendo Switch 2 might still be just a twinkle in Nintendo’s eye, the PC gaming handheld market is booming.

The latest company to hop aboard this particular gravy train is Acer, bringing its budget Nitro gaming brand to the fore with the new Nitro Blaze 8 and Nitro Blaze 11, officially showcased at CES 2025 this week. Acer is somewhat late to the handheld PC party, with Valve’s Steam Deck ostensibly kicking off proceedings back in 2022 and other manufacturers already entering their second generation, such as Lenovo with the Lenovo Legion Go S, which was also revealed at this year’s CES.

I’ve been holding out hope for an Acer entry into the handheld PC hall of fame for a while now, partly just because I like Acer’s hardware; I’ve long been a fan of the Swift laptop line, and the Predator and Nitro gaming brands have a good track record when it comes to delivering strong performance at reasonable prices. But after seeing what Acer had on show at CES, I’m not entirely convinced…

A monster handheld

Now, we already knew Acer had a handheld in the works, but that was the Nitro Blaze 8 – the Blaze 11 was a CES surprise. The Blaze 8 (which, frankly, should be called the Blaze 9 since it has an 8.8-inch display) looks like Acer’s spin on the traditional gaming handheld formula, with specs that are broadly similar to competitors like the Lenovo Legion Go and Asus ROG Ally X.

But the Blaze 11? That’s got a humungous 10.95-inch 1600p display and will cost you $1,099 (around £1,000 / AU$1,740) – a steep price of admission for a product in a market where the $500 mark seems to be the ideal price point.

An 11-inch display on a handheld is, quite frankly, a bit nuts. Just look at that press shot up top: does that really look comfortable to use? How heavy is it in the hands? Going from something like a Steam Deck or the featherweight Switch Lite to this chunky boy is certainly going to require some adjustment. And despite its massive screen, the Nitro Blaze 11 only packs a 55Whr battery (possibly to keep the overall weight down a bit), compared to the 80Whr battery in the ROG Ally X.

How big is too big?

11 inches is… pretty darn big. (You in the back, stop giggling.) That’s almost the screen size of the laptop I’m writing this review on (a 13-inch HP Spectre x360), and I don’t have to physically grip that by both sides to use it.

I will say this in Acer’s defense: like the Nintendo Switch or Lenovo Legion Go, the Blaze 11 has removable controllers (which I will refrain from calling ‘joy-cons’) that slot into place on either side of the main unit, which itself has a kickstand to let you use it as a sort of portable gaming display. While this is a feature I’ve largely snorted at in the past – I’ve literally never used my own first-gen Switch in this configuration – I’ll admit that it makes more sense with a bigger screen. As seen in Acer’s promo images, the Blaze 11 also comes with a separate connector that can transform those two not-joy-cons (sorry) into a singular gamepad for a better experience.

Still, with so large a screen and so high a price tag, I do have to seriously question the practicality of the Blaze 11 against simply buying a traditional gaming laptop. I’ll reserve my full judgment until I’m able to properly review this odd, beefy device myself; but right now I have to say that this might be the strangest design choice I’ve seen Acer make for a long time.

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Another major tech industry event, another wave of new handheld gaming PC reveals - this time the slick Lenovo Legion Go S and the hilariously enormous Acer Nitro Blaze 11, which both debuted this week at CES 2025.

However, I’ve been waiting for a different company to throw its hat into the ring: arguably one of the most enduring and important PC gaming brands, Razer. Sure, Dell has also been AWOL since its Alienware Concept UFO handheld was shown off five years ago, but I think Razer could be the one to watch. Somehow, the snake-themed gaming company has yet to reveal - or even discuss the possibility of - a handheld PC of its own, despite some recent exploration of similar avenues.

What I’m referring to here is the Edge, a gaming handheld that we weren’t entirely convinced by in our Razer Edge review. Despite packing a 6.8-inch AMOLED screen and Razer’s trademark premium build quality, it ran Android, making it essentially a sort of very fancy Google Play gaming tablet.

That’s not what I want, Razer. I want to see your take on a proper gaming handheld. I don’t mind if it’s a Windows-based system or one that uses SteamOS, like Lenovo’s latest offering, I just want to be able to download and play my gargantuan list of unplayed Steam games on a handheld that feels ridiculously expensive.

The Edge of possibility

See, for all its failings, there was no denying that the Razer Edge was a high-end device. It’s become Razer’s signature, visible in everything from the Blade laptop series to its wide range of peripherals. Sure, you’ll pay top dollar for a piece of Razer hardware, but you can rest assured that it’ll feel top dollar.

I’m not saying that other PC gaming handhelds feel cheap, to be clear. I own an Asus ROG Ally, and it’s a great device. Others, like the Zotac Zone… less so. But I’m certain - based on reviewing a whole host of Razer kit over the years - that a Razer handheld would feel fantastic in my hands.

Hot on the heels of CES’s multiple handheld PC reveals, I reached out to Razer for a comment, only to be told that there are no current plans for a Razer handheld PC. The closest you’ll get right now is the new PC Remote Play feature for the Razer Nexus app, which lets you stream games from a PC with Razer Cortex installed to your Android or iOS device of choice - a nifty feature, but not what I’m truly looking for.

Still, never say never. As handheld gaming PCs rise in popularity, Razer might decide to enter the fray. The company is no stranger to experimental hardware - one glance over the weird and wonderful Razer Concepts page is proof of that. The question is, what would they call such a device… the Razer Dagger, perhaps? The Stiletto? If you're listening, I charge by the hour for consultation, by the way, Razer...

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• Acer launches the Nitro Blaze 11 starting at $1,099 (around £1,000 / AU$1,740)
• It will utilize AMD's Ryzen 8840HS Processor with 8 cores and 16 threads
• Uses a huge 10.95-inch 1600p 120Hz screen

Acer is set to breathe new life into the handheld gaming PC scene with the Nitro Blaze 11 - which will feature AMD's Ryzen 8840HS processor, using the Radeon 780M integrated GPU packed with 12 RDNA 3 cores, starting at $1,099 (around £1,000 / AU$1,740).

With a huge 10.95-inch 1600p 120Hz display, the Nitro Blaze 11 will compete with the likes of Asus' ROG Ally and more notably the Lenovo Legion Go. The Legion Go is well known for its 8.8-inch screen, a large display size for a handheld - now, the Acer Nitro Blaze 11 takes it a step further with a bigger screen and detachable controllers similar to the Legion Go or Nintendo Switch.

Thanks to the 8-core Ryzen AI Processor, players will be able to enjoy games at higher frame rates using AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution (potentially FSR 4, once that gets revealed). Acer's new device also promises fast-charging capabilities, allowing you to dive back into action in no time via a USB 4 Type C port. This will come in handy considering the 55Wh battery - smaller than some competitors, and a potential point of concern given the comparatively massive display.

It doesn't stop there, as the Blaze 11 comes with up to 2TB of Gen 4 NVMe storage, alongside a front video camera for calls and streaming - this will be ideal for Discord users and content creators, also pushing the device's capabilities towards work usage.

Launching alongside the Nitro Blaze 11 is the Nitro Blaze 8, with the same processor, and a smaller 8.8-inch 144Hz screen starting at $899 / around £800 / AU$1,590.

Is an 11-inch screen too big for a handheld gaming PC? Is it too expensive?

Considering the Lenovo Legion Go's 8.8-inch 1600p display, the 10.95-inch screen (at the same resolution) from Acer's Nitro Blaze 11 is set to blow it out of the water. As I've stated previously, besides the Steam Deck OLED, the Lenovo Legion Go was the best handheld gaming PC looking purely at display quality and size.

While we wait for Lenovo's successor to the Legion Go (rumored to feature an OLED screen), I believe Acer has undoubtedly taken the lead in this department. Acknowledging this, an 11-inch display surely has to be the limit as far as handheld gaming PCs go. Any bigger and you're effectively breaking into the territory of laptop screen sizes. After all, 13-inch laptops are commonplace, and the Blaze 11 certainly looks a bit comically oversized in Acer's promo shots.

The only concern here is whether the Ryzen 8840HS processor will be able to handle the 1600p resolution - the same issue was present with the Legion Go, with downscaling to 1200p or lower a necessity for great performance in most games with the Z1 Extreme chip found in Lenovo's handheld.

While I might be happy to see such a massive display for a handheld device, the price is certainly not something to boast about - $1,099 for a handheld gaming PC will likely make many potential buyers wonder why they shouldn't just opt for a gaming laptop desktop PC instead. Personally, I'm just hoping the performance and battery life live up to the price tag.

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Hot on the heels of the Lenovo ThinkVision 27 3D I reviewed last month comes Acer’s spin on the same concept. Both are 27in 4K monitors that can jump between 2D and 3D modes, allowing developers to view creations on demand. No need for special glasses or VR goggles; just render and go.

It’s a marriage of hardware and software, and I’ll tackle the hardware first. One pivotal inclusion is a pair of eye-tracking cameras; here, they sit in the top bezel rather than the bottom (Lenovo’s choice), and they work equally well. The second hardware component is a 3D lens that sits above the panel and projects pixels to the left and right eyes as needed. A 3D engine built into the monitor’s electronics takes control of what’s beamed where.

While Lenovo includes a fine pair of speakers in the ThinkVision, they’re nothing compared to the duo beneath the main body of the SpatialLabs 27 View Pro. These provide superb stereo separation in normal use, but their skills come to the fore when you activate Acer’s aptly named Immerse Audio app. This plants you straight into the action, with the only missing direction being from behind you.

The 3D experience

Acer supplies an app called SpatialLabs Experience Center Professional with this monitor, and it’s your direct route to activating 3D effects. The main menu offers you three options: SpatialLabs Go, SpatialLabs Model Viewer and SpatialLabs Player.

SpatialLabs Player is the simplest, as its role is simply to let you turn side-by-side videos into stereoscopic 3D. A YouTube search will bring up a bunch of example videos that have been shot at two angles – one for the left eye, one for the right – and you’ll be impressed by the effects, if not the plotlines. Most of the best videos are ads.

With few movies created in 3D, SpatialLabs Go is there to turn 2D content into 3D in real-time.

It’s designed to work across all apps, so long as they’re in full-screen view, and weirdly that includes Teams, Google Meet and Facebook. But the obvious examples are photos and videos.

I rarely found the effect compelling, but it works best when the engine can clearly detect what’s up close and what’s in the background. Bokeh effects are great, for example, while your shots of the Grand Canyon will look flat even if you head into the settings to maximize the 3D effect.

Super models

In reality, nobody is going to buy this monitor unless they create or view 3D models for professional reasons. Acer, like Lenovo, imagines that its core audience will be architects, 3D developers and CAD designers, which is why it has created plugins for a wide range of 3D software. At the time of writing, this list consists of 3ds Max, Fusion 360, Blender, Inventor, Cura, Revit, SketchUp, Navisworks, ArchiCad, Rhino 3D, Solidworks, form Z, Zbrush, CDB and Bentley iTwin. You can also export scenes from any 3D software that includes an Unreal Datasmith exporter plugin.

You can view pre-made models directly using the SpatialLabs Model Viewer, which is effectively an integration with Sketchfab. Open Model Viewer and you can view a bunch of pre-selected models and maneuver them as if they were sitting in front of you. You can also play around with lighting and backgrounds to add to the realism.

There’s especially good news for Maya users, who can use PiStage to transform their model into 3D while still being able to edit the original file in Maya. So you could work on two screens: one for editing, one for viewing. You’ll need a heavyweight workstation to cope with this, though, while all the other tasks only need a moderately powerful system. For example, my ageing Surface Book with an Nvidia GTX 1650 coped fine, I just needed to wait a few seconds for processing the image.

If you want to know more, there’s an excellent Q&A about the SpatialLabs 27 View Pro online at tinyurl.com/358acerfaq, while the user guide, currently stretching to 56 pages, is at tinyurl.com/358acerguide.

What, no games?

You’ll notice that I haven’t mentioned games yet. Ironically, developers can design 3D games on the SpatialLabs 27 View Pro but they can’t play them. That’s because Acer wants gamers to buy the Predator SpatialLabs View 27, which includes Acer’s TrueGame software: this allows you to launch supported games to run in 3D. The Predator is due out later this year at an estimated price of £2,199.

I most recently tried TrueGame on Acer’s Predator Helios 3D laptop, and although there are some misses it still blows my mind months after I first saw 3D games in action with my own eyes. You can view the list of currently supported games at tinyurl.com/358truegame.

There is some good gaming news. Thanks to SpatialLabs Go, you can play games that create a side by side view themselves. One example of that is Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and when I hooked up the Chillblast The Karve it created a smooth, solid 3D landscape. It looks great, but whether playing games in 3D is worth the hoop jumping and GPU demands is another question entirely.

Flat switch

Naturally, this is a nice 4K monitor in its own right. With a gamut that stretches across 89% of the DCI-P3 color space in its default mode and with an average Delta E of 0.56, it performed well in our technical tests. It hit 501cd/m² at its peak, far above Acer’s stated maximum of 400cd/m², and a peak 160Hz refresh rate is not only great for games but also gives Windows a solidity when you move apps around.

Text looks sharp thanks to that 4K resolution, and if you switch the color temperature to Normal then whites look Persil white, too. As with the Lenovo, the 3D lens overlay shows itself as minuscule grey dots on pure white backgrounds, but I soon stopped noticing this. And I never failed to appreciate the levels of detail in photos or 4K videos.

I’m less impressed by Acer’s on-screen display, which is far less sophisticated than Lenovo’s offering (which also works over USB to avoid fiddling with physical buttons). It relies on a joystick and three separate buttons tucked round the back, but it’s easy to hit the wrong one. There are plenty of options, including presets for sRGB and DCI-P3 that lock you down to those color spaces.

Connectivity options

If you’re looking for a cable-free environment, again choose Lenovo. On the ThinkVision, a single USB-C cable is all you need to activate the 3D mode, and it can deliver 100W of power to your laptop, too. That’s a great technical and design achievement because the 3D engine inside the monitor produces heat, and heat affects colour accuracy; the simpler choice is to use an external power brick to remove a heat source, and that’s exactly what Acer chose to do. This means the View Pro’s USB-C connector doesn’t deliver any wattage to a connected laptop.

But many designers rely on a desktop workstation, and they can benefit from 3D effects over the HDMI or DisplayPort so long as they also connect the supplied USB-A to USB-C cable (the Lenovo screen works in exactly the same way, contrary to my original review, but with the benefit of an extra HDMI port). Doing so also gives you access to two USB-A ports on the rear, but these aren’t easy to reach.

You can use the VESA mount – great for medical settings – but most people will stick to the supplied flexible stand. This provides a decent 33° of backwards tilt, 45° of swivel on either side and 150mm of height adjustment. There’s no portrait mode as found on the ThinkVision, nor is it as good looking or well built as its rival, but there’s one final extra in Acer’s favour: it comes with a hood, which reduces ambient light.

Do we have a winner?

Acer has got much right with the SpatialLabs 27 View Pro, even if there are few areas where I can declare it the outright winner compared to Lenovo’s effort. One distinct plus is its speakers, while its integration with 3D creation software is significantly ahead of what Lenovo offers. I don’t like the fact that TrueGame isn’t bundled. Are game creators meant to buy one SpatialLabs 3D screen to design on and another to play on? Isn’t it simply mean not to bundle the software when you’re charging people this much for a monitor? I would have also liked the reassurance of a three-year warranty rather than the typical one year, not to mention a powered USB-C port.

As with its rival, we don’t yet have a confirmed release date or price. Acer estimates the former as late summer/ Q3 and the latter as £2,599. This beats Lenovo’s price by £101, which is welcome, but your final decision may well depend on exactly what 3D software you use.

We've also ranked the best dual-screen monitors.