What are the differences between Acer’s Nitro 5, Helios 300, and Triton 500 gaming
laptops? Acer have sponsored this video so that I can compare them against each other,
show you the differences, and help you decide which one is right for you.
These are differences in specs, the Nitro 5 is more of an entry level to mid range option.
The Helios 300 is the next step up, then the Triton 500 is at the top of the three, with
the highest specs available despite being in a slimmer package.
In the specific configurations we’re looking at today, all three have the 9th gen Intel
core i7-9750H processor with Nvidia graphics. My Nitro 5 and Helios 300 both have the GTX
1660 Ti so should perform similarly, while my Triton 500 has the RTX 2080 Max-Q, however
all three are available with different options. All three have dual channel memory and storage
of varying amounts, as this can differ based on what you’re buying.
The build quality definitely improves as we step up over the models. The Nitro 5 is pretty
much all plastic, the Helios 300 has a metal lid and interior but plastic base, while the
Triton 500 is all metal.
In terms of dimensions, the Nitro 5 is the widest, followed by the Helios 300, then Triton
500. The Helios 300 isn’t quite as deep as the Nitro 5 and Triton 500, however the
difference is very small there. The biggest difference is in the height, the Nitro 5 is
the thickest, followed by the Helios 300, while the Triton 500 is one of the thinnest
gaming laptops currently available.
As for weight the Nitro 5 is around 2.2kg, the Helios 300 was over 100g heavier, and
this is with its 2.5” drive removed to match the Nitro, while the Triton 500 was just a
little lighter than the Nitro 5 despite being far more powerful.
All three laptops have precision touchpads, I’d say they were pretty much the same with
a slight edge to the helios and triton. The touchpad on the Triton 500 is around a centimeter
shorter in height, and this seems to be because it’s got air vents above the keyboard to
help with cooling, which pushes the keyboard down a little. I had no problems using it,
so that seems like a fair compromise, but we’ll see how thermals go soon.
In terms of keyboards the Triton and Helios were similar to use and I had no problems
with either, however the Helios does have a numpad while the Triton does not. The Nitro
5 keyboard was ok, but the presses didn’t feel quite as nice as the Helios or Triton.
The Nitro also has a numpad like the Helios, but it’s only available with red key lighting.
The Helios and Triton have RGB as an option, and both of mine had this.
All three laptops have 15.6” 1080p screens, in my case the Nitro 5 is 60Hz while the Helios
300 and Triton 500 step up to 144Hz, which is a nicer option for gaming, but there are
different options with each. The Triton 500 also has G-Sync, although it’s only available
with the 2070 and 2080 models and not the 2060 version, which is a nice bonus as you
also get smoother tear-free gameplay. Additionally, this means we get better performance when
compared to Optimus, however we have the option of swapping to optimus mode through the predator
sense software after a reboot to improve battery life.
Here’s what we’ve got for the I/O on the left, with the Nitro on the bottom, Helios
in the middle, and Triton on top. The Helios and Triton both have an air exhaust vent on
the left, but none for the Nitro. Here’s the right side, so all have one USB Type-C
port, however the Triton is the only one to use Thunderbolt 3. The Nitro 5 still has a
USB 2 port, and is the only one without a mini DisplayPort, so I/O is a little better
on the Helios, and best on the Triton.
Underneath they’ve all got air intake vents towards the back, though the Triton looks
a little cleaner design wise in my opinion, not that you’ll really be looking there
much.
Here’s what we’re looking at inside. Both the Nitro 5 and Helios 300 have 2 M.2 slots,
a 2.5” drive bay and same battery, however the cooling of the Helios looks a little better
as it’s better utilizing the available space, but we’ll compare temperatures soon. The
Triton 500 on the other hand has an extra fan for cooling, but the motherboard is upside
down, which I guess must be some requirement for it to be on the thinner side, so upgrades
there are more involved. It’s still got 2 M.2 slots and 2 memory slots on the other
side, but no 2.5” drive bay due to the larger battery.
As for battery life, the Nitro 5 and Helios 300 have the same size battery. Despite both
of mine having the same specs, the Helios lasted longer which I suspect is due to it
being undervolted by default as this would result in it using less power. The triton
500 didn’t quite last as long as the others, but still more than 5 hours outside of gaming,
with the best result during gaming.
I’ve also tested the Triton 500 with and without the Nvidia discrete graphics enabled,
and as expected we’re getting better battery life with optimus enabled. It’s great that
you’ve got the option to swap between the two.
You might have noticed that the Helios 300 and Triton 500 both have a turbo button above
the keyboard, basically this increases the fan speed and overclocks the graphics to further
increase performance. You can also make these changes through the predator sense software
with a few simple clicks, but this is a nice simple shortcut. The Nitro 5 on the other
hand only lets you raise the fan speed, by default the Nitro sense software doesn’t
support overclocking to improve performance, however you can of course do this yourself
with software like MSI Afterburner too, it’s just a little more work.
Let’s see what differences we’re looking at in terms of temperatures and performance.
By default, the Helios 300 has a -0.125v undervolt on the CPU and the Triton 500 has a -0.1v
undervolt. There’s no undervolt by default on the Nitro 5, but you can of course add
one with software like Throttlestop. I’m only looking at stock results here, if you
want detailed results for each laptop with different settings you can check my full reviews
linked in the description.
All testing was done with the same ambient room temperature of 21 degrees Celsius, and
I’ve used max fan speed on all three and turbo mode enabled for the Helios and Triton
for best results. The same stress test was run, a combination of the Aida64 CPU stress
test and the Heaven GPU benchmark. The Nitro 5 had the hottest GPU temp, but the CPU of
the Helios was a little hotter in spite of its default undervolt. Interestingly the Triton
500 had the coolest CPU temperature despite it also being the thinnest, I guess because
of the extra third fan, the GPU is expected to be higher than the 1660 Ti as it uses more
power.
These are the clock speeds during the same tests. The CPU clockspeed with the Helios
300 is higher than the Nitro 5 due to the stock undervolt, and the Triton 500 is very
close as it’s got a similar undervolt. The speed of the 2080 Max-Q is lower compared
to the 1660 Ti, but it seems to get its power from the higher CUDA core count and extra
VRAM.
Here’s how hot the keyboard area actually gets while running these same worst case stress
tests. The Nitro peaks at the high 40s and was the warmest to the touch, though not hot.
The Helios 300 is in the low 40s, so quite a bit cooler comparatively. The Triton 500
was similar in the worst hotspot, although most of it was on the cooler side.
I’ve used Cinebench to test out the CPU only performance, both the Helios 300 and
Triton 500 were better than the Nitro 5 out of the box as they’re tuned well with the
default CPU undervolt in terms of multicore performance, however single core performance
was similar between all three.
Next let’s see how they actually perform in a few games. Keep in mind that both my
Nitro 5 and Helios 300 have the same specs, however the Helios 300 is undervolted and
overclocked by default, so we expect it to perform better out of the box.
These are the results of Shadow of the Tomb Raider with the game’s built in benchmark
tool at max settings. This test tends to be GPU heavy, and despite turbo mode overclocking
the Helios 300 it was performing the same as the Nitro 5, however the Triton 500 had
a large 37% lead due to the superior graphics.
Fortnite was tested with the same replay on each machine, so the results are comparable.
Again very close together on the Nitro 5 and Helios 300 as they’ve got the same hardware,
but the Triton 500 was scoring higher 1% low results than even the averages from the other
two.
Rainbow Six Siege was tested with the games benchmark, again the 1% low from the Triton
500 was higher than the averages from others, with much higher average frame rates.
Control saw a similar difference in the ratios between them in terms of average FPS, although
the 1% low with the Triton 500 wasn’t quite as large here.
I think in many regions the Nitro 5 maxes out with GTX 1650 graphics, which will be
much more popular as it’s cheaper. Based on my own testing the GTX 1660 Ti is around
50% faster than the GTX 1650, so based on that alone you might want to consider the
Helios 300 if you need the extra power.
Storage options will vary based on what you select when buying, but these were the speeds
I was getting with the different models that were installed in my units. All three laptops
have 2 M.2 slots which is great, but you can only install a larger 2.5” drive in the
Nitro or Helios.
As for pricing differences, if you’re here in Australia, Acer have some deals going on
between the 24th and 31st of December on the Nitro 5 at Harvey Norman, and if you don’t
already have PUBG for some reason you can get that for free with select purchases. Check
out the links in the description for more information, as well as for up to date pricing
for different regions.
So to conclude, the Acer Nitro 5 is a great gaming laptop in terms of value for most people
and comes in at a lower price point. It’s available with low to mid range specs and
is a good choice if you’re working with a more limited budget but still want to play
games.
Next up was the Acer Helios 300, the laptop that recently won best value gaming laptop
in my best laptops of 2019 video. It depends on the specs you get, but the Helios 300 is
a great mid to high end gaming laptop. It’s tuned better out of the box when compared
to the Nitro, the CPU is undervolted by default and you’ve got the option of enabling turbo
mode, which overclocks the graphics to boost performance. The Helios also has slightly
better I/O, it’s got an additional mini DisplayPort output, and it drops the USB 2.0
port in the Nitro 5 for newer USB 3. The Helios also has the option of an RGB keyboard, if
that’s your thing, while the Nitro’s is only red. Build quality is also a step up
with the Helios, with a more metallic body.
After that there’s the Acer Triton 500, which basically just starts showing off with
all the bells and whistles such as Thunderbolt 3 and the option of higher specs, G-Sync in
the 2070 and 2080 models, all while being in a super thin and portable package with
an even better all metal build. Although the battery is larger than the others, it’s
not lasting quite as long due to the higher specs.
There’s an extra fan to help with cooling, but the upgrade process is a little more involved.
All three are solid options, it just comes down to your budget and what features and
performance you’re after.
So with all of that in mind, which gaming laptop would you pick? The Acer Nitro 5, Helios
300, or Triton 500? Let me know down in the comments, and if you’re new to the channel
consider getting subscribed for future comparisons and tech videos like this one.