Acer Predator 15 gaming laptop hands-on, first impressions

Acer has just introduced its Predator gaming series in the Philippines and we were there to get a closer look at these new products. One of them is the capable Predator 15 which is a gaming laptop that sports a 15.6-inch display, SoundPound speakers, and ProZone customizable backlit keyboard.

The Predator 15 comes with a 15.6-inch screen with two configurations — a Full HD or a 4K resolution. What was there during the event was the former that maxes out at 1080p. It is surrounded by noticeable bezels with the top area accented with added corners. This design language of sharp edges and corners run throughout the Predator lineup.

By looking at the keyboard and its additional buttons, one couldn’t deny that this is indeed a gaming rig. The WASD keys are highlighted in red plus that power button in the middle that looks like you’re about to launch a missile, strongly dictate that you’ll use the Predator 15 for FPS games rather than typing documents in Microsoft Word.

Lined at the top are programmable keys for different games. They could remember up to three different programs so you have a total of 15 hotkeys ready to be used depending on what game you play.

As mentioned earlier, the keyboard’s backlight is customizable/dimmable and you can do so in segments. Just like the photo above, the number pad on the right has a blue color while the majority of the keyboard has its red hue.

The right side offers a variety of connectivity ports like USB Type-C with Thunderbolt 3, USB 3.0 (2x), HDMI, Displayport, and Ethernet.

The left side houses two more USB 3.0 ports and an SD card reader in addition to a Kensington lock slot.

The lid is emblazoned with the Predator logo right smack in the middle for more authority. The whole chassis is made of aluminum which feels sturdy to hold, but hefty at 3.4kg.

The Predator 15 boasts SoundPound 2.1 which is basically Dolby audio with two speakers and its very own subwoofer for to keep the sound effects punchy even without the help of additional speakers.

The two speakers are also painted in red and are situated on both ends of the laptop facing you, while the built-in subwoofer is tucked under the chassis.

The Predator 15 also has some additional tricks up its sleeves. These include:

Predator FrostCore – lets you swap the CD drive for the FrostCore which allows for extra cooling when things get hot.

Killer DoubleShot Pro – lets you split your internet requirements over wired and wireless connections simultaneously, so you have control which applications eat up your precious bandwidth — therefore resulting to less lags.

DustDefender – helps prevent dust buildup by alternating airflow directions using 0.1mm all-metal AeroBlade fan with advanced aerodynamics.

PredatorSense – gives you access to gaming features while playing (keyboard profiles, lighting configurations).

Although still considered portable, we noticed that the Predator 15 is not only hefty as we’ve mentioned, but its overall form factor is also thick. We’re confident it would still fit most gaming bags but this laptop would definitely eat up space when you transport it.

Of course, the aesthetics are only for show and inside this portable rig is where things get interesting. The Predator 15 is equipped with 6th-Gen Intel Core i7 CPU, up to NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M GPU, up to 64GB RAM, 1TB HDD + 512GB SSD, and runs on Windows 10.

We’re excited to see how it would fare when put to the test so stay tuned as we’re sure to post our thoughts when we get our hands on it.

Predator 15 key specs:
15.6-inch Full HD display @ 1920 x 1080 resolution
6th-gen Intel Core i7 CPU
Up to NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M GPU
Up to 64GB RAM
1TB HDD + 512GB SSD
SoundPound 2.1 speakers
Windows 10
Price: Php69,999USD 1,193INR 101,121EUR 1,136CNY 8,687