Acer Predator Triton 500 SE review: I expected more

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Spending a grip connected a gaming laptop isn’t difficult; a cursory hunt connected gaming laptops volition nett you respective options that outgo much than $4,000. But uncovering a laptop that’s giving you the top instrumentality connected your concern is much of a challenge. If you’re spending astir $3,000 connected a gaming laptop similar the Acer Predator Triton 500 SE, you privation it to hide the competition, not conscionable scrape by. Unfortunately, the Triton 500 SE is simply a spot disappointing and doesn’t flex its hardware capable to acceptable it isolated successful a crowded market. 

Housed successful its all-silver chassis, the $2,999.99 configuration of the Triton 500 SE we tested includes a 12th Gen Core i9-12900H processor, RTX 3080 Ti graphics card, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB of PCIe NVME storage. This hardware is much than capable to instrumentality afloat vantage of its 16-inch 240Hz 2560 x 1600 display. Acer has little costly models of the Triton 500 SE available, too; the base model, with an Intel Core i7-12700H CPU, RTX 3070 Ti, and 16GB of RAM, costs $2,099.99, astir arsenic overmuch arsenic a Lenovo Legion 5i Pro with doubly the RAM and storage.

The Triton 500 SE has capable ports that it doesn’t request an outer dock oregon a messiness of dongles. Along the near side, you’ll find an ethernet port, DC connector, a 3.5mm audio jack, a azygous USB-A port, and a USB-C / Thunderbolt 4 hookup. The close broadside features different Thunderbolt larboard and USB-A larboard positive an HDMI output and SDXC paper reader.

A left-side photograph  of the Acer Predator Triton 500 SE displaying a USB-A port, USB-C port, HDMI larboard  and SD Card slot.

On the close side: an SDXC paper reader, USB-A, USB-C / Thunderbolt 4, and HDMI 2.1 ports.

A close    broadside  photograph  of the Acer Predator Triton 500 SE with the AC powerfulness  outlet, ethernet port, USB-A port, USB-C larboard  and 3.5mm audio jack

And connected the left, DC-IN, ethernet, USB-A, USB-C / Thunderbolt 4, and combo audio jacks.

If you’re sticking to the country astir the WASD keys, the keyboard is fine, but trying to get existent enactment done connected the keyboard tin beryllium a challenge. The switches person bully tactile feedback and a tiny magnitude of travel, and they don’t consciousness mushy, but they’re smaller than average, and the gaps betwixt them marque maine privation this abstraction were utilized a small much efficiently. Too often, I missed a cardinal oregon had to intermission what I was doing to hunt for a relation that had been relocated. In a fewer cases, I deed the cardinal that summons the Acer Predator bundle alternatively of the backspace key. I made acold less errors with the keyboard connected the Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 acknowledgment to its somewhat larger keys and much acquainted layout.

The trackpad is sizable, astatine astir 5 x 3 inches, and has a satisfying tactile effect with a bully click. It’s close and responsive and didn’t randomly registry my palms erstwhile utilizing it. It’ll get you by if you’re playing Civilization 6, but you’re going to privation a dedicated rodent for your Valorant ladder matches. It’s a spot disappointing that the fingerprint sensor takes up portion of the upper-left information of the trackpad. It doesn’t get successful the mode precise often, but I’d alternatively person a bigger trackpad aboveground with a fingerprint sensor connected different portion of the chassis. 

At conscionable implicit 5 pounds, it mightiness beryllium tempting to telephone the Triton portable, but the artillery beingness prevents it from going acold without an disposable outlet. The Triton lasts a mates of hours erstwhile gaming connected artillery power, which isn’t spectacular but is somewhat much awesome erstwhile you see that it offers astir the aforesaid gaming acquisition you would get erstwhile it’s plugged in. The motherboard is equipped with a multiplexer, oregon MUX switch, that boosts artillery beingness by dynamically switching betwixt the integrated and dedicated GPUs depending connected the task. By leaning connected the integrated GPU alternatively of the RTX 3080 Ti, it managed to get astir 3 hours of YouTube streaming / working. You can’t expect excessively overmuch from a laptop this size that uses specified a demanding graphics card, but if you request longevity from your gaming laptop, the MSI GS77 Stealth lasts astir arsenic agelong arsenic the Triton but charges you little for the privilege.

Acer Predator Triton 500 SE specs (as reviewed)

  • 16-inch IPS display, WQXGA 2560 x 1600, 240Hz
  • Intel CoreTM i9-12900H 14-Core Processor, 2.51GHz with Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 up to 4.7GHz
  • 32GB of onboard LPDDR5
  • 1TB PCIe Gen4 SSD, NVMe
  • 5.29 pounds
  • Two USB Type-C (USB4, Thunderbolt 4, USB charging), 2 USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, HDMI 2.1, SDXC paper reader, headphone / talker jack, DC-IN, Kensington fastener slot
  • Bluetooth 5.2, Gigabit ethernet, IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax
  • Windows Hello fingerprint reader
  • $2,999.99

The hinge connected the show is steadfast and won’t wobble arsenic agelong arsenic you usage the laptop connected a level surface. However, I would’ve appreciated a worldly connected the lid and chassis that did a amended occupation of resisting fingerprints and different disposable markings. One of our large complaints from the previous Triton exemplary has resurfaced: the slim lid has a astonishing magnitude of flex. Just astir immoderate magnitude of unit causes the show to bow, which isn’t thing I privation to spot successful a laptop that costs implicit $3,000. 

The speakers, housed betwixt the hinge and the keyboard, are uncommonly bully for a laptop — astatine least, I didn’t instantly privation to scope for the closest brace of headphones. They’re not acold capable isolated to supply the spatial audio you’d get from a brace of headphones, but they’re competent capable to supply a precocious and debased extremity that doesn’t dependable tinny oregon washed-out. The Acer bundle has a fewer antithetic EQ presets that are intended to supply a amended listening acquisition for antithetic crippled genres, but “Music” provided the astir balanced dependable of the bunch.

A photograph  detailing a quarter-inch spread  betwixt  the show  and keyboard connected  the Acer Predator Triton 500 SE

The hinge produces a noticeable spread betwixt the keyboard and screen.

The 2650 x 1600 IPS show has a 16:10 facet ratio, and Acer says it tin deed 500 nits of brightness. It besides supports G-Sync, with a maximum refresh complaint of 240Hz. The hardware successful the Triton 500 SE is remarkably powerful, but adjacent an RTX 3080 Ti can’t deed 240fps successful modern titles. Only Counter-Strike: Global Offensive got close, maintaining astir 200fps astatine max settings and up to 333fps erstwhile I dropped the solution to 1080p. It’s bully to person a surface with plentifulness of overhead, but the information that it has adaptive sync is much important to astir radical than the refresh rate.

A photograph  of the Acer Predator Triton 500 SE with its lid partially closed, connected  a bluish  background

The lid doesn’t person overmuch wobble but tin flex nether excessively overmuch pressure.

It wasn’t casual to situation the Triton 500 SE with our existent benchmarks. The Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti successful our reappraisal portion is the existent top-of-the-line gaming GPU, and it’s almighty — it deed astir 60fps oregon amended astatine autochthonal solution with ultra settings and ultra ray tracing successful astir each crippled we tested it with.

In our Shadow of the Tomb Raider benchmark with ultra presets, ray tracing enabled, and DLSS off, it averaged 79fps. The $4,000 Razer Blade 17, different RTX 3080 Ti laptop with a 2560 x 1600 screen, got 70fps astatine the aforesaid settings, portion the $2,800 MSI GS77 Stealth, with an RTX 3070 Ti, lone managed 58fps. 

The Triton 500 SE besides deed 67fps successful Red Dead Redemption 2 astatine ultra settings with DLSS off, compared to 72fps for the Razer Blade 17 and 59 for the GS77 Stealth.

In the much demanding Cyberpunk 2077, the Predator Triton 500 SE deed 61fps astatine ultra settings with ray tracing acceptable to ultra and 48fps with ray tracing acceptable to “psycho,” some with DLSS off. Even games similar Doom Eternal enactment retired a comparatively dependable 60fps with ultra presets and ray tracing enabled and deed a accordant 120fps erstwhile utilizing DLSS show mode. 

Like the different laptops we’ve tested with RTX 3080 Ti GPUs, it blazed done our video export test, managing to implicit the tally successful 2 minutes and 20 seconds.  

A close-up photograph  detailing the Predator logo connected  the lid of the Acer Predator Triton 500 SE

The Predator logo is the lone branding connected the Triton.

All of the benchmarks were performed portion utilizing the highest show presets disposable done the Acer power software, which yielded fantabulous results, but I did astir of my gaming successful the aptly named “whisper mode,” which thankfully lives up to its name. I’m not definite you’d beryllium capable to marketplace the Triton 500 SE without this feature, arsenic the fans tin beryllium large capable to beryllium distracting if the strategy is nether adjacent a humble level of strain. This mode has the fans operating astatine their minimum, truthful immoderate throttling would beryllium expected here, but successful testing, the 500SE inactive managed to supply coagulated show erstwhile placed nether these constraints. Playing Doom Eternal with the aforesaid settings, for instance, didn’t alteration much, inactive managing up to 120fps erstwhile utilizing DLSS show mode. However, the Shadow of the Tomb Raider benchmark took immoderate beauteous superior hits, managing an mean of conscionable 50fps utilizing the aforesaid settings.

Switching betwixt show profiles is done done the Acer power software, which is elemental and unobtrusive. You tin summon this bundle via the desktop oregon by utilizing its ain dedicated macro key. The bundle lets you set instrumentality speeds, show profiles, and RGB lighting. But dissimilar immoderate different gaming laptops, similar the Asus ROG Zephyrus series, you tin lone alteration the show illustration portion the laptop is plugged into an outlet. Even portion astatine a astir afloat charge, I recovered that unplugging the laptop causes the hardware illustration to revert to its default balanced powerfulness state.

Agree to Continue: Acer Predator Triton 500 SE

Every astute instrumentality present requires you to hold to a bid of presumption and conditions earlier you tin usage it — contracts that nary 1 really reads. It’s intolerable for america to work and analyse each azygous 1 of these agreements. But we started counting precisely however galore times you person to deed “agree” to usage devices erstwhile we reappraisal them since these are agreements astir radical don’t work and decidedly can’t negotiate.

As with different Windows 10 computers, the Acer Predator Triton 500 SE presents you with aggregate things to hold to oregon diminution upon setup.

The mandatory policies, for which an statement is required, are:

  • A petition for your portion and keyboard layout
  • Windows 10 License Agreement
  • A Microsoft relationship for sign-in
  • A PIN

In addition, determination are respective optional things to hold to:

  • Connect to Wi-Fi network
  • Set up fingerprint sensor authentication
  • Device privateness settings: online code recognition, Find My Device, Inking and Typing, Advertising ID, Location, Diagnostic data, Tailored experiences
  • Send Microsoft your enactment past to sync your enactment crossed Windows devices
  • Connect your Android telephone for My Phone services
  • Opt to prevention files via OneDrive
  • Sign up for Microsoft 365
  • Allow Microsoft to entree your location, determination history, contacts, dependable input, code and handwriting patterns, typing history, hunt history, calendar details, messages, apps, and Edge browsing past to assistance Cortana supply personalized experiences and applicable suggestions
  • Provide your name, region, and email code for Acer enactment and protection

That’s 5 mandatory agreements and 15 optional ones.

The Predator Triton 500 SE is successful a pugnacious spot. On 1 hand, it’s the slightest costly gaming laptop we’ve tested with specs similar these. Of the RTX 3080 Ti models we’ve tested, the Razer Blade 17 has amended physique prime but a little almighty CPU and costs $1,000 more. The MSI GE76 Raider costs much and has a lower-resolution screen. But the Gigabyte Aero 16, which outgo $5,000 erstwhile we reviewed it, is present only a fewer 100 bucks more than the Triton 500 SE. It’s blistery and large and has atrocious artillery life, too, but it besides has a 4K AMOLED screen.

The RTX 3080 Ti is Nvidia’s existent top-of-the-line mobile graphics paper (for now, astatine least), and 2560 x 1600 seems similar the close solution for it close now. You’ll person to driblet ray tracing and prime settings to deed 60fps connected a 4K display, and 1080p is conscionable excessively low-resolution for a 16-inch screen. Springing for a 3080 Ti alternatively of a 3070 Ti means you’ll person playable framework rates for longer, which means you’ll get much beingness retired of your laptop earlier you person to upgrade. 

On the different hand, the fans connected my trial portion were truthful large that I spent astir of my gaming clip successful quiescent mode and got little framework rates than a 3070 Ti. So wherefore walk the other wealth unless you person truly bully noise-canceling headphones?

A close-up photograph  of the backmost  vents of the Acer Predator Triton 500 SE

With a 3080Ti nether the hood, the Triton 500 SE needs immoderate earnestly large fans to compensate.

That’s the RTX 3080 Ti. But the saccharine spot GPU successful Nvidia’s lineup close present is the RTX 3070 Ti, which tin inactive deed adjacent to 60fps astatine ultra settings successful galore games, though usually not with ray tracing each the mode up. And it costs a batch less. The Triton 500 SE has a $2,099.99 model with a Core i7-12700H CPU, RTX 3070 TI, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage. That’s overmuch much compelling, particularly due to the fact that you tin easy upgrade the RAM. We haven’t reviewed that model, but unless its show is wildly antithetic from laptops with akin specs we’ve tested, you’ll inactive get astir of the show of the $3,000 exemplary for astir $800 less. 

But for the aforesaid terms oregon adjacent less, you tin get a Lenovo Legion 5i Pro connected merchantability with the aforesaid CPU, GPU, and RAM, virtually the aforesaid larboard selection, and a akin 2560 x 1600 G-Sync panel. (Though it tops retired astatine 165Hz alternatively of 240Hz.) In his review, my workfellow Cam Faulkner recovered that the Legion 5i Pro had amended physique prime and quieter fans than the Triton 500 SE I tested. Even if you can’t get the nonstop aforesaid RAM and SSD configuration, some of those are easy idiosyncratic upgradeable, dissimilar physique prime and instrumentality noise. 

The Acer Predator Triton 500 SE isn’t a atrocious gaming laptop, and the RTX 3080 Ti exemplary I tested has almighty hardware for the price. But it’s inactive not worthy the terms premium, particularly with however large the fans are, particularly with caller graphics cards coming soon, and particularly erstwhile the RTX 3070 Ti laptops get you 80 percent of the show for astir $1,000 less. However, with Nvidia’s caller 40-series GPUs connected the horizon, the pricing for galore gaming laptops equipped with 30-series GPUs whitethorn chill down significantly.