The new Acer Helios 300 is almost like the bigger brother of the Acer Nitro 5, but what
are the differences between these two gaming laptops and which should you get? In this
detailed comparison I’ll look at pretty much everything to help you decide if it’s
worth paying more money for the Helios 300 or if the Nitro 5 is enough.
Let’s start off with the differences in specs between the two units I’m testing
with. Both are pretty similar, they’ve got the same Intel i7-9750H CPU, Nvidia GTX 1660
Ti graphics, and 16GB of memory in dual channel. Both have M.2 NVMe SSDs, my Helios 300 happens
to have a 256GB one while my Nitro 5 has a 512GB one, but this will vary based on where
you’re buying. Both have a 15.6” 1080p screen available with either 144Hz or 60Hz
refresh rates, and both have gigabit ethernet, 802.11ac WiFi and Bluetooth 5 for network
connectivity.
Both laptops are available with different specs though, you can find examples and updated
prices linked in the description.
Both have black lids, matte black aluminium for the Helios with blue accents around the
predator logo in the middle, and matte black plastic with a subtle logo in the center and
a textured triangle finish towards the sides for the Nitro 5. Build quality of both machines
was good, however the Helios 300 definitely felt better, it had more metal on the exterior
while the Nitro 5 was all plastic.
In terms of weight my Helios 300 was a little heavier, but it’s not a fair comparison
as it had a 2.5 inch drive installed. With the 180 watt power brick and cables for charging
included the Helios was only a little over 80g more, so without that drive it’s probably
a bit lighter.
As for size differences the Nitro 5 is just a little bigger in every dimension, not really
by a noticeable amount but the Helios 300 was thinner.
As for screen differences both of my laptops had 1080p 60Hz IPS panels, so expect different
results with the 144Hz options that most people are likely to buy for gaming. The results
were very close in terms of colour gamut, though the Helios 300 had an edge in brightness
and contrast ratio, no major differences though. Neither laptop has G-Sync or the ability to
disable Optimus.
Backlight bleed was pretty similar, both had minor patches around the edges, but I didn’t
actually notice this when viewing darker content, but results will vary between laptops and
panels.
Both had some screen flex, however I found the Helios 300 a little more rigid, probably
due to the metal lid while the Nitro 5 is plastic.
Although they have thin screen bezels, both were able to keep the 720p camera up the top.
The camera looks alright and the audio sounds ok.
The 720p camera is about average, it looks ok but still a bit blurry, and the microphone
sounds about average too.
The keyboards were very similar in terms of layout, both have accented WASD and arrow
keys, with a shortcut in the top left corner of the numpad for accessing the control panel
software, while the power button is up the top right. As I didn’t use both side by
side I can’t directly compare keyboard usage, but from what I remember they were quite similar.
Here’s how typing sounds to give you an idea of what to expect.
The Nitro 5 only has red backlighting, while my Helios 300 had a 4 zone RGB keyboard, however
not all of them have this, it seems that most regions only sell it with a blue keyboard,
so you’ll have to check when buying what it’s actually got. All secondary functions
on all keys are lit with both laptops though.
The Helios also has a dedicated button to enable turbo mode above the keyboard on the
left, more on this later.
Both touch pads use precision drivers, were smooth to the touch and worked well, I can’t
really recall any differences between them in terms of usability.
There was some flex while pushing down on both, a little more from the Nitro 5 which
isn’t surprising given the all plastic build, however I never actually noticed this when
using either of them day to day.
Both machines show up fingerprints quite easily, but were easy to clean due to the smooth surface.
The I/O is quite a bit different in terms of layout, on the left both have a kensington
lock, gigabit ethernet, and two USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A ports. The Nitro 5 also has a HDMI
2.0 output and USB 3 Type-C port, while the Helios has an air exhaust vent, power input,
and 3.5mm audio combo jack.
On the right the Nitro 5 just has its 3.5mm audio combo jack, USB 2.0 Type-A port, power
input and air vent, while the Helios 300 has a USB 3 Type-C port, no Thunderbolt in either
machine, a third USB 3 Type-A port, mini DisplayPort 1.4 and HDMI 2.0 outputs.
On the back both just have air exhaust vents, however the Nitro 5 only has fans on one side,
as we’ll see soon, otherwise there’s nothing on the front of either machine.
For those not keeping track, the I/O is quite similar, however the Helios 300 is better
overall. Not only does it have air vents on both sides for additional cooling, it’s
also got a mini DisplayPort output which the Nitro 5 is missing. Both have three USB Type-A
ports, but one of the Nitro’s is 2.0 while the Helios is all USB 3.
Underneath the designs are kind of similar, with vents for air intake towards the back,
rubber feet in similar positions, and the speakers are found towards the front on the
left and right corners.
I didn’t listen to them side by side so can’t directly compare them, but going by
the recordings I have they sounded extremely similar. Maybe the Helios was a little clearer,
the max volume was similar in any case, and the Latencymon results with the Nitro 5 were
significantly better compared to the Helios 300.
The Helios 300 also plays this sound by default on boot.
You can turn it off through the predator sense software or in the BIOS though, the Nitro
5 has no boot sound.
Speaking of the BIOS, here’s a super quick run through of each of them, both are quite
basic and locked down with not really many advanced options available to the user.
The bottom panels can be removed by taking out 10 Phillips head screws for the Helios
and 11 for the Nitro 5. Both machines offer similar features, they’ve both got two M.2
slots, a 2.5 inch drive bay, WiFi card, two memory slots, and same battery down the bottom.
Where they differ is in the cooling design, but we’ll look at thermals soon.
Both laptops have the same 58 watt hour battery, and I’ve tested both machines with the screen
brightness at 50%, background apps disabled, and keyboard lighting off. Despite them both
having the same sized battery, the Helios 300 was lasting longer both in and outside
of gaming.
Now let’s take a look at thermals. Both laptops were tested in an ambient room temperature
of 21 degrees Celsius with the same settings, so this should be as close as we can get to
an apples to apples comparison.
By default out of the box the Helios 300 has a -0.125v undervolt applied to the CPU while
the Nitro 5 does not. In the upcoming tests I’ve tested the Helios 300 with turbo mode,
so max fan speed, and the Nitro 5 with its fans set to maximum, though it doesn’t explicitly
have different performance modes like the Helios. Basically both are set with the best
settings that each laptop offers out of the box.
With the Helios, turbo mode maxes the fan speed, raises CPU power limits, and overclocks
the graphics. The Nitro 5 sees no such changes, however I’ve included results with the Nitro
5 both at stock, but also with the same CPU undervolt and GPU overclock that the Helios
300 has to see how it compares in an even playing field. I’ve tested thermals of both
machines in much more depth than what we’ll cover here, so check the full reviews linked
in the description for more information.
These are the CPU and GPU temperatures while under stress test. I’ve got both the Aida64
CPU stress test with only stress CPU checked, and the Heaven benchmark at max settings at
the same time to fully load the system. The Helios was slightly warmer when it came to
CPU temperature, however the Nitro 5 was warmer on the GPU.
These are the clock speeds for the same tests just shown. The Helios 300 is coming out ahead
here, it’s able to hit higher clock speeds which probably explains the slightly warmer
CPU, and higher GPU clock speeds were also hit, perhaps in part due to the cooler temperatures
which GPU boost prefers.
These are the TDP values in watts reported by hardware info. We can see that the Nitro
5 is capped to a 45 watt limit, however the Helios 300 is able to surpass this, which
explains the warmer CPU and higher clock speed. Meanwhile both 1660 Ti’s are reaching their
80 watt limit.
These are the power limits set by each machine, in turbo mode the Helios is able to get 11
watts higher than the Nitro.
Here’s what we’re looking at in terms of Cinebench R20 scores from both machines.
Even when we apply the same undervolt to the Nitro 5 that the Helios 300 has by default
it’s almost 500 points behind. This is because the Nitro 5 has that 45 watt limit on the
CPU, which applies both in CPU only workloads like this, but also combined CPU and GPU workloads
such as gaming, meaning that in pretty much all workloads the Helios 300 will see better
CPU performance.
As for the areas where you’ll actually be putting your hands, at idle the nitro 5 was
a little warmer, but 30 is pretty average in this test, the helios is just cool. When
gaming with the fans on the default auto speed the Nitro 5 was warmer. With the stress tests
running and same fan speeds the Nitro 5 is again warmer, then with the fans at max speed
the Helios 300 is a fair bit cooler compared to the Nitro. Let’s listen to those fan
speeds and see why this is the case.
At idle both laptops were still audible, the Helios was a little louder though. When gaming
with the fans on auto speed the Helios was again louder, and then with the fans at maximum
the Helios was still a bit louder. Both laptops do however give you the option of customizing
fan speed, so the louder Helios could be an advantage, if the fans go faster it gives
you more headroom within which to adjust.
Overall there aren’t too many differences in terms of thermals, but it seems that the
Helios 300 has a slight advantage. The CPU is a little warmer in my tests, but I think
that’s a good thing in this instance as it has a higher power limit, resulting in
higher clock speeds and better performance, while the GPU remains cooler with higher clock
speeds compared to the Nitro.
Next, let's compare some games. As both laptops were tested at different times different Nvidia
drivers were in use, but I’m not expecting too big of a difference due to this. I’ve
also included results with the Nitro 5 both at stock, and while undervolted and overclocked
so that we can attempt a more apples to apples comparison with the Helios 300 for someone
that’s willing to tweak it a little. The main differences between them in this customized
state is that the Helios 300 has a higher CPU power limit under combined CPU and GPU
load and higher fan speeds.
Battlefield 5 was tested in campaign mode. I’ve got the Helios 300 results in the top
bar, which is with turbo mode enabled, then the Nitro 5 in the two bars below. The middle
bar represents the custom settings I put in place for the Nitro 5, so same CPU undervolt
and same GPU overclock as the Helios out of the box, though as discussed earlier the Helios
300 does still have a higher CPU power limit. The bottom bar shows the Nitro 5 at stock
out of the box settings, as I thought it would be useful to show the difference these changes
are making, especially if you don’t plan on customizing your Nitro 5. In this test
with our custom settings in place the Nitro 5 was ahead of the Helios 300 both in average
FPS and 1% low, however this game has seen a number of improvements lately and my Helios
results are older.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider was tested with the built in benchmark, and with the custom
settings in place on the Nitro 5 it was actually slightly ahead of the Helios 300, though with
both at stock the Helios 300 was 4% faster.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey was also tested with the built in benchmark, and this is a
fairly CPU heavy test. The 1% low with the Nitro 5 and custom settings actually dropped,
so not sure if this was preventing it getting adequate power or what, however the average
frame rate was slightly ahead of the Helios 300, though all average results are within
1 FPS anyway.
Fortnite was tested using the replay feature, and as I tested the Nitro 5 after the Helios
I didn’t use the exact same replay file as the game updates frequently, however I
did perform the same pass through the game so it should still be quite comparable. In
this test the Nitro 5 was able to catch up to the Helios 300 in terms of average frame
rate, however the 1% low of the Helios was still 9% ahead.
Dota 2 was tested playing in the middle lane. In this test the average frame rates were
all extremely comparable, however the Nitro 5 was seeing higher 1% lows, and more so once
applying the customizations.
CS:GO was tested with the Ulletical FPS benchmark, and was a win for the Helios 300. We can see
the slight improvement the customizations made with the Nitro 5 weren’t enough to
catch up to the Helios 300 in this test.
Overwatch was tested in the practice range with the exact same pass through in all tests.
Interestingly the 1% low from the Nitro 5 was a fair bit ahead of the Helios 300, although
the Helios 300 was slightly ahead when it came to average FPS.
Far Cry New Dawn was tested with the built in benchmark, and although the custom settings
give the Nitro 5 a little boost, the Helios 300 was still 5% ahead in terms of average
frame rate.
The Witcher 3 is a fairly GPU demanding game, and there was basically zero difference for
the Nitro 5 between stock and custom settings, while the Helios 300 was 8% ahead.
Ghost Recon Wildlands was tested with the built in benchmark, and was another game where
the customized Nitro 5 was able to outperform the Helios 300, granted not by much, just
like most other differences many of these aren’t going to significantly affect actual
game play between machines.
Rainbow Six Siege was tested with the built in benchmark, and the average frame rate with
the Nitro 5 went above the result from the Helios 300, however the 1% low performance
did go back just a little.
DOOM was tested as a Vulkan title to see if it behaved any differently, however the results
were similar to many other games, with the Nitro 5 at stock behind the Helios 300, but
the modifications were enough to give it the lead.
Strange Brigade was also tested with Vulkan, but with the built in benchmark this time.
Technically the Helios 300 was still ahead of the modified Nitro 5, however the difference
is extremely close, margin of error stuff.
On average over these 13 games tested when we compare the stock out of the box results
from the Helios 300 against the stock results from the Nitro 5 we’re seeing the Helios
getting 5.2% higher average FPS at the highest setting presets. The results look good for
the Helios, it’s beating the Nitro in every single game in terms of average frame rate,
that is until we apply the same CPU undervolt and GPU overclocks to the Nitro 5 that the
Helios 300 has by default. When we do this the Nitro 5 was now ahead in more titles,
however when actually looking at the overall average there’s almost zero difference.
I found these results quite interesting, the Nitro 5 with the custom settings was closer
to the Helios 300 than I expected. As the Nitro 5 has the lower 45 watt power limit
on the CPU I thought this would result in it coming out behind, however that didn’t
really seem to matter here.
I’ve also got the overall scores for the 3DMark Fire Strike and Time Spy benchmarks.
Like the games, the custom settings with the Nitro 5 are closing the gap, though the Helios
300 did still have a slight lead in both tests.
I’ve tested storage with Crystal disk mark. My Helios 300 came to me with a 256GB NVMe
SSD while the Nitro 5 came with a 512GB NVMe SSD, though storage sizes will vary. With
the specific drives that my machines had, the Helios 300 was faster, though smaller.
My Helios 300 also came with a 1TB drive installed, and these are the results from that.
For updated pricing check the links in the description, as prices will change over time.
In the US the Helios 300 with these specs goes anywhere from $1100 to $1200 USD, but
also goes on sale for $1000 from time to time.
The Nitro 5 with 1660 Ti I’ve tested here doesn’t actually appear to be sold in the
US currently, making a direct comparison difficult. This means that if you do want 1660 Ti level
performance the Helios 300 is going to be your option between the two, and this difference
alone probably makes choosing it worthwhile. The highest GPU available in the Nitro 5 in
the US seems to be the 1650 currently. The conclusion from my 1650 vs 1660 Ti video was
basically that it’s often going to be worth paying a little extra for 1660 Ti performance,
as it’s significantly better when compared to the 1650.
Here in Australia the 1660 Ti Nitro 5 is $2000 AUD, while the Helios 300 is $2200 AUD, so
10% more money to get the Helios. Let’s summarise the differences and discuss which
is worth it.
Although both laptops have a clear gaming design aesthetic, personally I prefer the
blue look of the Helios 300 over the Nitro’s red. The Nitro is also more plastic, giving
an edge in overall build quality to the metal Helios, and the Helios is also slightly smaller
in every dimension.
Out of the box the Helios 300 performs better than the Nitro 5 in games, it’s tuned quite
well. Not only does the CPU come undervolted, but turbo mode also overclocks the graphics
and raises the power limit of the CPU. In most games it was possible to even the results
by manually applying the CPU undervolt and GPU overclock to the Nitro 5, so if you’re
willing to manually make these changes yourself the overall performance is quite similar - at
least when using a Nitro 5 with same specs.
For CPU only tasks where the GPU isn’t used though, the Helios still has an advantage
of higher CPU power limit. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to increase this on the Nitro
5, meaning CPU workloads should perform better on the Helios, as we saw in Cinebench.
There wasn’t that big of a difference when it came to thermals, the Helios was a bit
warmer on the CPU, though this was due to the higher power limits just discussed which
does result in better performance, otherwise the GPU was cooler and hitting higher speeds.
The fans in the Helios did get a little louder, however you can customize the fan speed of
both laptops.
Although both of my laptops had a 60Hz screen, 144Hz is an option too. Comparing the 60Hz
variants that I tested though, both were very similar. There were many more similarities,
including similar keyboards, granted the Helios does have the option of RGB lighting, similar
touchpads and similar speakers.
The Helios 300 had slightly better I/O, including a mini DisplayPort 1.4 output, and it drops
the USB 2.0 Type-A port present in the Nitro 5 for USB 3. Despite having the same size
battery, the Helios lasted slightly longer, both in and outside of gaming.
In terms of upgradeability they were essentially the same, both have two memory slots, two
M.2 slots, single 2.5 inch drive bay and WiFi card.
In the end I think these are some decent improvements for 10% more money, at least with the same
spec configs I’ve got here. If you just care about out of the box game performance,
the Helios 300 is the better pick as you can just press the turbo button and forget about
it, otherwise you can save some money with the Nitro 5 and close the performance gap
if you’re willing to undervolt and overclock yourself. If the 1660 Ti Nitro 5 isn’t available
for you, well based on my testing the next best option, the 1650, would have to be quite
a lot cheaper, as the 1660 Ti performs around 47% better on average over 15 games that I’ve
tested, I’ll leave a link to that comparison in the video description.
If you’re on an even tighter budget, the Nitro 5 is also available with some lower
end AMD configurations as well.
So which of these two gaming laptops would you pick, Acer’s Nitro 5 or Helios 300?
Let me know which and why down in the comments, I’m interested to see which you would prefer,
and if you’re new to the channel consider getting subscribed for future comparisons
and tech videos like this one.