Acer Predator Triton 500 SE review: Refined power for work and play

Acer is one of those laptop makers that often tries very hard to stand out. keep in mind 900, a wild machine with a 360-degree rotating screen that I found mostly useless. earlier this month, Acer also announced its plans To bring SpatiaLabs 3D glasses-free technology to gaming laptops. Ambitious twists are great and all, but these days I’m more interested in laptops that are proficient in gaming. And after testing the Predator Triton 500 SE over the past week, I knew Acer could do just that well.

The Triton 500 SE packs all the power you want from a large gaming laptop, in a sleek metal frame that doesn’t look out of place in a crowded office or lecture hall. There’s little need for flashy LEDs (except for the keyboard backlight, which you can always turn off), or other obnoxious lights. It’s ready to start working. Sure, it’s not the only stealthy gaming notebook, but competitors like the Razer Blade cost more than the Triton’s starting price of $2,300.

What sets the Triton 500 SE apart from a typical productivity laptop, apart from the powerful hardware, is its impressive 16-inch screen. It has an aspect ratio of 16:10, which makes it slightly taller than typical widescreen displays and more useful for handling documents. Our review unit shipped with a WQXGA 240Hz model (running at 2560 x 1600 pixels) which, in my book, is the perfect balance between sharpness and silky smooth refresh. There is no HDR support, but at least it offers a relatively high brightness of 500 nits, as well as full coverage of the DCI-P3 range. And while the screen is a big reason the Triton weighs 5.3 pounds, that’s still better than most 17-inch laptops (the Razer Blade 17 clocks in at 5.5 pounds).

12th Gen Intel processors and the latest RTX 30-series GPUs from NVIDIA power this gorgeous display, right up to the RTX 3080 Ti. The unit we received featured a GPU plus Intel’s high-end Core i9 12900H, 32GB LPDDR5 RAM and 1TB NVMe SSD. To be honest, it was this configuration that inspired me to review the Triton 500 SE in the first place. I wondered, could this humble notebook ever satisfy gamers? turns up, yes.

infinite aura, for example, hit 85 fps at my native Triton resolution at ultra graphics settings. While I missed the HDR and wide view I was accustomed to on the ultra-fast Alienware QD-OLED display, I was surprised by how immersive the game felt on the 16-inch screen. You can thank the 16:10 aspect ratio for that – sometimes I felt like I was about to plunge into Hello Infinite maps. (This could also be a sign that I need to make my desk more comfortable for laptops.) The 240Hz screen also sparkled when I lowered the game’s graphics settings to reach higher frames. I’m still not entirely sold out for such a high refresh rate, but it’s nice to see laptop makers push toward smoother, more realistic gameplay.

Gearheads will likely appreciate the overclocking capabilities included in the Triton 500 SE. Acer software makes it easy to adjust clock speeds and thermal profiles. Personally, though, I was happy to have a simple “Turbo” button on the keyboard. It raises the speed of the fans all the way and increases the running speed of the system automatically. in infinite aura And all my benchmarks, it typically resulted in an 8 to 10 percent performance increase. What is the big downside? It’s so loud that you probably won’t want to use it without headphones.

Even without overclocking, the Triton 500 SE knocked out all the benchmarks we put it on, delivering performance mostly on par with the Razer Blade 15. There have been a few instances where Razer has moved ahead, as in the PCMark 10 and Geekbench 5’s Compute test (which Focuses mostly on the GPU). But in others, including Cinebench R23 and 3DMark’s Port Royal Ray Tracing, Triton has taken the lead. In part, that’s because our review unit had a slightly faster 12th-gen processor. Press that Turbo key and the Triton numbers will rise higher.

NVIDIA’s advanced Optimus feature, which intelligently switches the Triton GPU between integrated and discrete graphics, also worked flawlessly during our testing. I didn’t see any of the performance bottlenecks with older Optimus hardware, where discrete GPUs had to be squeezed through the integrated graphics. There is also a MUX switch that allows you to manually change between each of the GPUs without restarting the entire system.

After benchmarking and playing several games for a few hours, the Triton 500 SE remained relatively great. The CPU typically hovered around 78°C under load, while the GPU was at 83°C. I’ve never felt hot to the touch, though it’s worth noting that I’ve been testing in a cold basement. The fan noise was about what I’d expect with the Triton’s default performance settings — audible, but not as annoying as cranking it all the way with the Turbo button.

But while Acer got the cooling and overall performance right, it’s unfortunate that some Triton 500 SEs hold it back. The keyboard is suitable for gaming, but I’d like more feedback for longer typing sessions. And while I appreciate the large, smooth trackpad, the actual clicking mechanism felt stiff—it was particularly bad at registering correct clicks. I’m also not a fan of having the fingerprint sensor right on the trackpad, as it often gets in the way while swiping. Simply stick this sensor to the power button, or actually use your Windows Hello webcam! I’d also like to see Acer’s package as more than just a pair of small stereo speakers, especially as Razer, Dell, and others cram so many drivers into their laptops.

Battery life is another disappointment, although I suppose we’re used to that in powerful gaming laptops. The Triton 500 SE lasted five hours and twenty-five minutes in our benchmark, which includes repeating an HD video. That’s 17 minutes less than the Razer Blade 15. During my typical work day, it usually takes about five hours before I need to recharge. Unfortunately, this is typical of gaming laptops with large screens. You’ll never want to stray too far from the power plug.

However, I would imagine most people want to keep their workstations plugged in for best performance. Acer also included all the ports you need to make it a true workstation, including two USB 3.2 Type-A connections, dual USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports, HDMI, Ethernet, and an SD card slot. And luckily Acer hasn’t gotten rid of the headphone jack, something more laptop makers are doing these days.

The Acer Predator Triton 500 SE starts at $2,300, which is $200 less than the Razer Blade 15 with 12th-generation Intel chips and $400 less than the latest Blade 17. Be prepared to pay $3,000 if you want all the hardware from our site Review unit (still cheaper than similar devices from Razer and others). But if you can live with last year’s 11th generation Intel chips, you can also find older Triton 500 SE models for $2000 or less. We recommend doing whatever it takes to get a 12th-generation chip, although the performance difference is significant.

If anything, the Triton 500 SE proves that Acer does more than just chase gaming tricks. Having been known for making cheap, low-end laptops for years, it’s good to see that Acer can make a gaming laptop without any unnecessary color.