Acer designed the Predator Helios 18 AI with high-performance gaming in mind, from components to aesthetics to upgrade options. Not only is the Helios 18 AI a powerful, hefty desktop replacement laptop, it’s got all the RGB lights you could ask for, with extra NVMe SSD and RAM slots for additional upgrades, plus swappable WASD keys, and a memory thermal pad replacement kit. Boasting the powerhouse combination of an Intel Core Ultra 200HX CPU and Nvidia GeForce RTX 50-series GPU, the Helios 18 AI is the high-end Predator laptop you’ve been waiting for. With a Pantone-verified, 18-inch mini-LED display, space for up to 192GB of RAM and 6TB of SSD storage, it’s a complete package.
Acer Predator Helios 18 AI: Pricing and availability
Just how much does an overkill 18-inch gaming beast cost?
The Acer Predator Helios 18 AI is available from Acer directly for a starting price of $2,999, and from Best Buy starting at $3,099. The starting configuration gets you an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 GPU, 32GB of RAM, 1TB of SSD storage, an 18-inch, 2,560 x 1,600, 250Hz ComfyView Mini-LED display, and Windows 11 Pro.
Upgrading to an RTX 5090 GPU and 18-inch 4K Mini-LED display will set you back $4,499. This is pretty pricey, but it’s not the most expensive RTX 5090 laptop out there. However, the RTX 5080 version is the superior bargain.
A chassis that screams gamer maximalism
Plenty of RGB and ports to go around
The Abyssal Black chassis has a minimalist Predator logo inlaid on the top lid with RGB backlights and a “Milky Way” bar of RGB lights along the back, with more RGB lights on the keyboard deck’s palmrest and in an “infinite ring” along the left-hand edge of the laptop, plus per-key RGB on the keyboard. While some designs this generation have opted for a more low-key gamer aesthetic, the Predator Helios 18 AI has more RGB than you might conceivably need. It’s gamer maximalism taken to the extreme.
Of course, you can turn all that RGB off if you want a more relaxed look for your gaming laptop, but then why buy a laptop with so much extra customizable lighting when there are more stripped-down options available on the market?
The Predator Helios 18 AI has more RGB than you might conceivably need
In the same vein, the Helios 18 AI has plenty of IO ports so you can keep all your devices attached to the 18-inch desktop replacement, including your monitor. Those ports are spaced around the laptop with the USB ports and audio combo jack along the sides for easy access, while the Ethernet and HDMI ports for a wired internet connection and monitor are along the back hub, so they stay out of your way once you’ve got the laptop set up.
As for the keyboard, that per-key RGB lighting can be customized to your liking and is powered by mini-LED lights. The WASD and arrow keys are MagKey swappable for a set of mechanical switches if you’d like the additional accuracy. The standard key switches are pretty solid, however, so if you tend to play MMOs or games with additional ability keys, you won’t be suffering in mushy membrane hell. The Helios 18 AI’s standard keys provide plenty of crisp actuation and deep 2mm keytravel for a comfortable, clicky gaming or typing experience. The Precision Gorilla Glass touchpad is silky smooth under your fingertips and large enough for easy controls, though the left-hand offset is not my personal preference, but it centers the touchpad on the spacebar of the full-sized keyboard.
Mini-LED makes your games look fantastic
But it’s probably not worth upgrading to 4K
Mini-LED is becoming a more and more popular display option for high-end gaming laptops, and the Helios 18 AI is no exception. The Mini-LED display panels offer a better combination of brightness and color fidelity. Every game I ran on the Helios 18 AI looked absolutely stunning, from Black Myth: Wukong to Cyberpunk 2077. Between the ray-tracing capabilities of the RTX 5080 GPU and the Mini-LED display, I was once again taken aback by just how gorgeous modern games can be.
Acer has gone the extra step with the Helios 18 and gotten a Pantone color validation for the panel, indicating it hits 100% gamut coverage on the sRGB and DCI-P3 color spaces with a low degree of variation (Delta-E). Combine that with an overall brightness of over 700 nits, and that’s a display that will look absolutely gorgeous streaming video or playing games. And it’s more than accurate enough to use the Helios 18 AI for editing photos or video without worrying about display color variation impacting your work.
Every game I ran on the Helios 18 AI looked absolutely stunning
Combined with a powerful six-speaker audio system with DTS: X Ultra tuning and Acer’s TrueHarmony and PurifiedVoice technology, using the Helios 18 AI as a stand-in TV makes perfect sense. Especially if you’re living in a small apartment or dorm room. It has enough power and audio fidelity to capture the atmosphere of even the most intense soundtracks without adding any interference. However, as usual, I would recommend against pushing the speakers to maximum volume if you want the clearest sound.
One-stop software
PredatorSense is almost all you need
Acer’s PredatorSense software comes preloaded on the Helios 18 AI, and it’s your one-stop shop for most controls on the laptop. Updated to the PredatorSense 5.0 version, you can control your RGB customization, manage your laptop overclock settings, and adjust fan speeds. If you want to do any performance tweaking or customization of the onboard systems, PredatorSense is the place to do so. I tend to stick to the Home and Scenario screens, which allow you to set your power scenario and adjust your fan speeds. However, the Pulsar window also lets you tweak your RGB lighting, which can be handy.
PredatorSense 5.0 has some additional features, too. Acer calls the new AI suite of PredatorSense: Experience Zone, and it’s got all the Acer AI features in one spot. You’ve got Acer PurifiedView for an AI-enhanced webcam, PurifiedVoice, which puts AI enhancements on the onboard mic feed, ProCam, which automatically captures game footage to create highlight videos for you, and LiveArt, which gives you access to built-in image generation tools. But if that’s not enough, Acer also gives owners of the Helios 18 AI access to GIMP for additional photo manipulation tools, and AlterView to create custom wallpaper for your laptop.
Intel and Nvidia power
Powerful performance, but we’ve seen better
The Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX is the most popular of Intel’s processors for gaming laptops this generation, though it’s not the top-end Ultra 9 SKU; that honor belongs to the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX, which we’ve only seen in a handful of laptops so far. Paired with either an Nvidia RTX 5080 or an RTX 5090, it’s a pretty powerful combination for an 18-inch gaming laptop.
However, the Helios 18 AI isn’t the best iteration of those two chips we’ve seen so far. Compared to the Maingear Ultima 18, Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 10, and Asus ROG Strix Scar 16 (2024), the Helios 18 isn’t the record holder for benchmarks. It’s not bad, but the Maingear and Legion are just a bit better when it comes to general performance and productivity benchmarks.
It is interesting to note that the Legion Pro 7i, despite being in a smaller chassis than either the Maingear Ultima 18 or Helios 18 AI, still has the best performance for Geekbench 6, Cinebench 2024, and 3Dmark Time Spy and Time Spy Extreme. Particularly since all three laptops have the same CPU and GPU combo, and 32GB of DDR5 memory. Which just goes to show that not all implementations of the same hardware will benchmark identically.
The Predator Helios 18 AI did handle much better compared to the competition when it comes to graphics and gaming performance, however. Which, if I had to choose one, is the version I would prefer on a gaming laptop.
To test the Helios 18 AI, I stuck to Ultra settings for all the benchmarks, though I did test all the games multiple ways to see the difference in pure silicon performance compared to performance with DLSS enabled. The only benchmark I enabled frame generation for was Cyberpunk 2077, as it features Nvidia’s 4X frame generation and transformer model to get a feel for the full benefits of gaming with frame gen enabled. Assuming you’re willing to accept the AI-assist to your gaming performance, anyway.
As far as battery life goes, the Helios 18 AI is an 18-inch desktop replacement gaming laptop. Despite its chunky 99Wh battery, it’s still not going to get more than 2 hours of unplugged gaming battery life, no matter how much Nvidia tweaks the battery boost system. However, you’re not likely to be using this laptop anywhere away from an outlet, so battery life matters significantly less than it would for a more portable gaming laptop.
Should you buy the Acer Predator Helios 18 AI?
You should buy the Acer Predator Helios 18 AI if:
You’re in need of a new gaming laptop to replace your old rig.
You want a gaming laptop with all the additional software support of a major OEM.
You don’t need all-day battery life.
You should NOT buy the Acer Predator Helios 18 AI if:
You need to stay on a tight budget.
You need a portable gaming machine.
If you’re looking for a portable gaming laptop in the RTX 50-series generation with some solid battery life and okay performance, the Razer Blade 16 (2025) is the lightest and thinnest RTX 5090 laptop you can buy right now. Alternatively, if you want a desktop replacement gaming laptop that can be a great video editing laptop and a great gaming laptop, the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 10 is going to have a better balance of general productivity performance and gaming power.
But if you want a new gaming rig with a gorgeous Mini-LED display, powerful Intel and Nvidia performance, and a fantastic keyboard, the Helios 18 AI with the RTX 5080 is actually a pretty good deal.