Acer Predator Helios PH317 (17.3-Inch, 2017)

Cool game-centric design ; Great battery life for a gaming laptop ; Solid CPU and GPU performance ; Three set GPU speeds

Nasty gap between screen and base ; Speakers mounted on the bottom

On a whole, this is a great gaming machine for $1,300. There’s plenty to love at this price point, including means to overclock the GTX 1060 for increased performance. It’s attractive and easy to carry, and the battery is insanely good for a laptop...

144Hz screen ; Strong gaming performance ; More affordable price point

Gaudy, plastic design ; No DisplayPort ; Not-so-great battery life

Just make sure to always bring the charging brick with you, because the Helios 300 isn’t a $2,000 road warrior. It’s an affordable gaming laptop — and a damn good one at that.

Great 1080p gaming performance ; Powerful hardware for the price ; Comfortable design ; Easy to upgrade storage and RAM

Dim display ; Only 256GB storage capacity ; Lid is a fingerprint magnet

The screen isn’t dark enough to dissuade, though, and it’s the only semi-issue of note in the Acer Predator Helios 300. This is a great notebook.

Easily upgradable; Strong performance; Vivid display ; Uncomfortable touchpad; Give in the lid ; The Acer Predator Helios 300 is a powerful, relatively affordable machine with easily upgradable parts.

Uncomfortable touchpad; Give in the lid ; The Acer Predator Helios 300 is a powerful, relatively affordable machine with easily upgradable parts.

The Acer Predator Helios 300 is a powerful, relatively affordable machine with easily upgradable parts.

great price-to-performance ratio ; fast Wi-Fi ; Nvidia Optimus ; great battery life ; IPS panel

not a lot of ports ; poor sound quality ; limited maintenance options ; slow SSD with coil whine ; screen bleeding

Even though Acer has cut a lot of corners to get the price down (slow SSD, few ports, poor sound quality), the Predator Helios 300 is still a great device. All in all, the 17-incher is an exciting offer for price-conscious gamers. The battery life also...

easily recognizable ; light weight ; slim design ; GeForce GTX 1060 with 6 GB VRAM ; fast Intel Core i7-7700HQ ; good input devices ; 512 GB SSD ; matte display with good viewing angles ; high system performance ; low power consumption ; great port...

sound system is below expectations ; high temperatures under load ; cooling fans make high-frequency noise under load ; cooling fans difficult to clean ; only one free 2.5-inch slot available ; could offer more ports

The Acer Predator Helios 300 is a great entry-level device for gamers. The 17-inch device is equipped with a fast Intel Core i7-7700HQ, and the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 is a solid foundation for playing current games in the native resolution of 1080p....

Fairly portable (thinner and lighter than the competition);Decent keyboard and touchpad;Good IPS panel with wide sRGB coverage and high maximum brightness;Good battery life for a 17-inch gaming laptop

Unsatisfactory build quality;Poorly designed cooling system (high inner and outer temperatures during load)е;The screen uses PWM from 0 to 99% brightness (our Health-Guard profile fixes that);Only one USB-A 3.0 connector

The Acer is a well-made machine with good balance, especially considering the £1,300 price. The GTX 1050 Ti is a solid 1080p gaming chip, the Core i7 processor is fast, and the screen is solid.