Ben Madilynn
TweakTown’s Rating: 88%
The Bottom Line
With its solid price, the Acer Predator Triton Neo 16 gaming laptop is a good offering for anyone on a budget who wants a hybrid platform to get things done.
Pros
- + Intel Core Ultra 9 185H CPU
- + 16″ 1600p 240Hz G-Sync panel
- + Dual NVMe
- + Price
Cons
- – GeForce RTX 4060 limited VRAM (8GB)
- – Soldered LPDDR5X memory
Should you buy it?
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Introduction, Specifications, and Pricing
You would have to go back a decade to see our last laptop review from Acer. It was time to rekindle that long-lost relationship, so after a few emails, we found the correct contact and started talking about machines for review. We steered the conversation towards gaming and came across the Predator Triton Neo 16, an Intel Meteor Lake-based offering with GeForce RTX 4000 series graphics. The display is a 16″ IPS panel with G-Sync technology, giving it a 240Hz refresh rate and DCI-P3 certification- a perfect hybrid for gaming and productivity.
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Getting deeper into the specifications, the Neo offers the highest-spec Meteor Lake H CPU. Acer deployed the Core Ultra 9 185H in this machine, which provides sixteen cores and twenty-two threads. The split gives us six performance cores and eight e-cores, with the additional two being low-power e-cores. Memory on this machine is soldered but is deployed as 32GB of LPDDR5X at 6400MHz. Graphics give us first-generation Arc built into the CPU and a dedicated 8GB GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU operating with a peak TDP of 110W, NVIDIA Optimus connecting both to the 16″ 1600p IPS level display. This display supports NVIDIA G-Sync with a massive 240Hz refresh rate and 100% DCI-P3 Color Gamut.
Storage support includes two NVMe slots supporting 2280 form factor drives and a third M.2 CNVio for Wi-Fi. Additional connectivity includes four USB 3.2 Gen 2, one getting the USB-C treatment, while two others use Type-A. The unit also has a single Gen 2×2 using USB-C. This machine offers a single HDMI and a microSD slot to wrap up connectivity.
As configured above, the Acer Predator Neo 16 costs $1599, though it’s worth noting that we have seen sales on this unit offering $200-$300 off, so it’s certainly worth shopping around.
Overview
The Neo was delivered in retail packaging with Acer’s Predator branding.
Delta makes the power adapter a 230W unit.
The Predator offers a silver colorway on an aluminum chassis. A small Predator logo trims the top of the laptop.
The left side of the machine offers power input, two USB-C, and the 3.5mm combo jack.
The right side starts with the microSD slot, followed by USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports and HDMI.
The bottom of the machine provides venting across the back of the unit. Two rubber feet, front and back, keep the unit off your desk and allow increased airflow.
Keyboard & Trackpad
Opening the Neo, we have a large working surface, the keyboard going nearly edge to edge with well-spaced keys. The keyboard itself offers mild tactile feedback with a short throw that is not quite as strong as something like the Alienware M18 or as clicky as a Blade 16; middle road and plenty suitable towards hybrid work; I’d almost lean towards them being very similar to a modern Lenovo Legion. It’s also worth noting that the keyboard supports Acer’s Predator Pulse lighting with multiple presets available in the software.
The trackpad is also modest, centered, and a good size, which are both pluses for me. The tactile feel is very shallow, though, so I had trouble on several occasions getting that click I was after, which made me immediately want to switch to a mouse; this, of course, can be inconvenient depending on where you are, but it is also usable if you are in a pinch.
Display
The display on this model is a 16″ 2560x1600p IPS Level panel offering a fantastic 240Hz refresh rate alongside NVIDIA G-Sync. It is 100% DCI-P3 certified and ready for video production. The colors on this panel were quite good; one of the better panels we have seen is 16″. However, once again, not being OLED, the blacks can come out quite grey, and the image above shows that, as in dark rooms, there can be some legit backlight bleed from the LED backlights.
Cooling
Opening the Predator, we see the battery at the bottom of the unit, a smaller 76Wh offering than we typically see on 16″ machines. Above, we have two NVMe slots in the center; as noted, memory is soldered in this unit, so we don’t have any SO-DIMM slots to take up space. The M.2 CNVio Wi-Fi slot lives far right on the motherboard.
The Predator’s cooling system has a modest design. Two heat pipes cover the CPU and GPU, and two large cooling fans, flaking on each side, output heat to the sides of the unit.
Upgradability
Upgradability is a bit light on the Neo 16; with the memory being soldered, you are limited to what you purchase the unit with. That said, there are options for NVMe certainly, and it’s always a great place to start as many OEMs don’t use the best drives from the factory; this is something we noted in testing as this particular model did not do well in 3DMark Storage. Wi-Fi is CNVio, but it is an M.2 card; Acer uses the Killer AX1675, so it’s not a terrible option out of the box. With Intel’s BE201 finally hitting the market, it might be worth seeing if they are compatible with the Core Ultra 100 series.
BIOS/UEFI
The BIOS is a GUI solution with a modern feel. We have banks for the CPU, GPU, and memory across the top, while storage information can be found below, along with the fan settings and boot priority. The advanced menu offers a hardware overview of the machine, while the main menu offers options for the boot-up sequence. Additional tuneables like Intel VTD, VTX, and the ability to turn off E-cores are available on this page.
Software
Performance can be tuned through Predator Sense, which offers a modest hardware monitor on the main page; the right sidebar provides a list of presets for power, fan speed, machine lighting, and an update feature.
System & CPU Performance
Cinebench
Cinebench is a long-standing render benchmark that Intel and AMD have relied on to highlight their newest platforms during unveilings. The benchmark has two tests: a single-core workload that utilizes one thread or 1T and a multi-threaded test that uses all threads or nT of a tested CPU.
Kicking things off the R2024, the Predator picks up a 111 single-thread score, followed by 1061 in the multi-thread scenario.
BAPCo CrossMark
CrossMark is an easy-to-run native cross-platform benchmark that uses real-world application models to measure overall system performance and responsiveness. CrossMark supports devices running Windows, iOS, and macOS platforms.
CrossMark picked up 1826 overall, which puts this system in the bottom middle of the charts and on par with its expected competition.
AIDA64 Memory
Memory performance was 73K read, 75K write, and 74K copy. The latency was 133ns.
Geekbench 6 and AI
Geekbench scored 2502 in single-core workloads and 13989 in multi-core, making it one of the better Meteor LAke offerings we have tested.
We added in a quick AI run with the ONNX CPU workload. The Predator performed well, offering a 4054 quantized score.
Looking at the RTX 4060, we didn’t expect to get much, but it wasn’t too far behind the RTX 4070 in OpenCL. We scored 96526 in initial testing, followed by 35K in Vulkan.
DirectML on the RTX 4060 gave us a second AI workload; this time, we picked up 25K half-precision, which wasn’t far behind the RTX 4070 in the AORUS 16X.
Graphics & System I/O Performance
PCMark
PCMark Extended landed at 9555, matching the Predator with other Meteor Lake H offerings.
3DMark
The CPU Profile for one and two cores has our Neo right in the middle of the charts, with scores of 1026 and 2069, respectively.
Increasing the core counts to four, eight, and sixteen, we pick up 3849 at four threads and 6285 at eight. We finish with a score of 8051 at sixteen threads, making it the best Core Ultra system.
Storage landed at the bottom of the charts with a low 278 MB/s throughput.
Pushing into gaming benchmarks, Steel Nomad gives us a score of 2322, about 200 points shy of what we have been getting from the RTX 4070 found in many offerings.
Gaming Performance
In Cyberpunk 2077, the Predator yielded an average of 78 FPS on the low preset. When switching to the medium preset, the average dropped to 67FPS and 48FPS on the high preset.
With the low preset, Ashes initially produced 112 FPS. When we switched to the high preset, it dropped to 103 FPS. Upon further increasing to the crazy preset, we obtained 70 FPS.
We swapped Forza Motorsport because its dynamic rendering engine threw off our results. So we went with the recently released Black Myth: Wukong to replace it. Starting with the low preset at 1600p, we picked up 109 FPS on average from the Predator.
Turning it up with the medium preset, still 1600p, the Acer did well, pulling an average of 83 FPS.
Last, we have the high preset, sticking to 1600p. We end up with 62 FPS on average, giving this game an overall smooth experience on the Predator Neo.
Final Thoughts
The Acer Predator Triton Neo 16 is a solid 16-inch laptop from Acer. It is built on Intel’s Meteor Lake H platform. While Raptor Lake offers slightly better gaming performance, the 185H provides improved power efficiency, which makes it a perfect match for the Neo, a hybrid productivity gaming machine. The laptop features an IPS-level panel with 100% DCI-P3 certification, a 240Hz refresh rate, and support for G-Sync, making it well-suited for gaming. That said, we don’t see too many gaming offerings with the RTX 4060, so it’s certainly an interesting choice from Acer, likely to keep costs down without sacrificing gaming performance.
Getting to the keyboard and trackpad, we have a mechanical board with shallow tactile feedback. Lighting is a single zone across this board but does support several preset modes. Keys are spaced quite well, so there are no issues with larger hands when gaming or typing your latest article. As for the trackpad, it is only slightly oversized, though centered, which we certainly enjoy; the tactile click is shallow here as well, but solid enough to be your daily. The surface is smooth and not entirely glass, but we had no issues overall.
As for performance, the Predator, due to its specifications, isn’t the best overall system we have tested but does quite well when you consider its cost. At $1599, this system competes with offerings upwards of $3K+ in our charts. Single-core workloads like Cinebench and CPU Profile both showed it as the best Core Ultra 9 185H system we have tested and when looking at PCMark and even CrossMark, we are beating out the Alienware X16R2, a similar spec system that costs nearly $1000 more when we reviewed it.
In pure gaming, the Predator is quite an impressive machine. When looking at our workloads, which included Cyberpunk, Ashes, and even Black Myth Wukong, it nearly matches the performance of every RTX 4070 machine we have tested. Even Raptor Lake-powered machines showed just a few FPS more in our testing.
As for pricing, the Predator Triton Neo 16, as configured, comes in at $1599, which is nearly a steal in the current market as it offers all the necessities you would want on a hybrid machine, save for the soldered memory. Hence, it’s worthwhile to top that off when ordering the RTX 4060, while a solid card has limited VRAM if you get into heavier games. Outside of that, you may not find a better deal, as we see this model as even cheaper from several retailers.
