Review: How Does Acer’s Predator Triton 300 OLED SE Perform?
Acer’s Predator line of gaming laptops remains some of our absolute favorites on the marketplace, straddling the line between performance, portability, and price. The latest edition of the Triton 300 line, revamped for 2022, comes chock-full of plenty of engaging features, including an RTX 3060 GPU, an OLED display, a 1080p web camera, and more. So how does it fare? We spent a few weeks testing a review unit provided to us and came away with these thoughts.
Acer Predator Triton 300 SE OLED Gaming Laptop
Acer Predator Triton 300 SE OLED Gaming Laptop
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Acer Predator Triton 300 SE OLED Gaming Laptop
Setting Up the Acer Predator Triton 300 SE OLED Gaming Laptop
While the review unit I was provided already came with everything (more or less) setup, individuals purchasing the unit may need to do a little more customizing upfront. For me, it was just a matter of connecting the laptop to my Wi-Fi and then installing the various gaming applications (Steam, Epic Games Store, etc.) I needed to test the performance of the laptop. I let the Triton 300 SE charge while these were installed, and then I was pretty much all set to go.
Acer Predator Triton 300 SE OLED Gaming Laptop Design
Height-wise, the Triton 300 SE is slightly larger than an iPhone 13 with a case on or a little larger than a traditional laptop (I’ve compared my work laptop to it in the photo below if you’re curious), but all-in-all, it’s not nearly as hefty as some Acer gaming laptops that I’ve tested in the past. The chassis, for lack of a better word, is in line with previous editions of the Triton line; there’s a sleek yet somewhat industrial style to it that indicates it’s slightly cooler or beefier than a work laptop. The back contains the same style venting cutouts of previous editions, and the Predator branding on the top is extremely subtle. I really like the gradient holographic-like design on the top. There are standard USB ports (one on the left and righthand side) as well as a USB-C port on the left for fast charging, but it’s pretty no-frills when it comes to a wide array of connection options. There is also an HDMI port on the right to connect it to a display if you’d like.
The keyboard and the touchpad on the interior of the unit are good, but there’s nothing particularly special about them. The 14″ inch display (more on that in a second) dominates most of the screen, there’s a thin bezel containing the 1080p webcam, but most of what you’re getting here is screen real estate, which is nice. In short, it’s lean and mean and ready to deliver on high-end gaming.
Acer Predator Triton 300 SE OLED Gaming Laptop Features and Performance
When it comes to gaming laptops, the most important factor for those in the market is going to be performance. In this regard, the Triton 300 lives up to its potential. Multiple titles I tested—Horizon Zero Dawn, Fortnite, Halo: Infinite, Destiny 2, and Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla—all ran on Ultra settings at a smooth 60fps without a noticeable drop in frames. Turning on Ray-Tracing in games caused the framerate to take a bit of a hit, but not too significant. Graphical fidelity is a little less important in competitive games where you don’t really want to miss frames anyhow, so depending on your use case, you may not even turn on ray tracing, to begin with.
All of these stellar graphics are bolstered by the incredibly vivid OLED display, which is unlike any laptop I’ve tested in the past. As is standard with other OLED displays, the images pop with incredible colors and rich blacks and provide a sharp, vivid picture. Because of that thin bezel, the screen feels really immersive, especially when you’re in the heat of the moment gaming-wise. Out of all the Acer gaming models I’ve tested in the past, this is by far the best one; I hope Acer will make this a configuration for their units moving forward because I’d gladly pay extra for a panel this stunning. However, the refresh rate on this hits 90Hz due to the OLED screen. Not a huge issue, but it is a compromise worth considering in your purchase.
From a battery life perspective, the Triton does a good job. Obviously, running on full Ultra mode without being plugged in will run the battery down pretty quickly (I got a few hours out of these settings), but for just everyday use, the unit performed close to the 10 hours the brand states. This includes everything from web browsing to watching videos, so you can feel good about bringing it with you on a plane or to a class and being set for the day.
Of course, there’s always a price to consider with a gaming laptop. Considering the performance of the graphics, the battery life, and that OLED screen, the fully souped-up version, which clocks in at just under $2,000, feels like a pretty good value for all these aspects in one unit.
The Verdict: Should You Buy The Acer Predator Triton 300 SE OLED Gaming Laptop?
If you’re in the market for a next-generation gaming laptop that can provide a lot of power in a highly portable package, the Triton 300 SE OLED Gaming laptop is well worth the weighty investment.
Pros:
Incredible display
Strong graphics and framerate
Sleek design
Cons:
Refresh rate isn’t as high as it could be
Acer Predator Triton 300 SE OLED Gaming Laptop
Acer Predator Triton 300 SE OLED Gaming Laptop
Acer Predator Triton 300 SE OLED Gaming Laptop
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