Acer Predator Triton 14 Evaluation: Quick Gaming and a Vibrant HDR Display

Professionals

• Vibrant, high-performance HDR display
• Performs effectively for the worth

Cons

• Massive, heavy brick for a 14-inch laptop computer
• Meh battery life and efficiency on battery
• Display often glints

The introduction of newer processors like Intel’s 14th-gen H sequence does not preclude laptops with the older Thirteenth-gen chips from being price shopping for, particularly as their costs drop. The Acer Predator Triton 14 is an effective instance of this and can in all probability turn into deal as replacements trickle out and because it continues to get inexpensive.

There are two fashions of the Triton 14, each of which incorporate an Intel Core i7-13700H CPU and 16GB RAM. The entry mannequin (PT14-51-78B4) is nominally $1,500 however discounted to only underneath $1,200 for the time being and comes outfitted with a 512GB SSD, GeForce RTX 4050 GPU and 1,900×1,200 165Hz show. I’ve seen it as little as $850, although, which is a good value for it. The upper-end mannequin I examined bumps that as much as a 1TB SSD, RTX 4070 GPU and a pair of,560×1,6000 mini LED display with a dynamically switchable 125Hz/250Hz refresh price and DisplayHDR 600 certification. It lists for about $2,000 however is at present going for to $1,600. That is value for what you get.

The laptop computer’s design does not stand out from the gang as particularly good or dangerous. It is bought a comparatively chunky profile for a 14-inch, however the lid opens out to nearly flat; the total vary of obtuse angles provides you plenty of leeway when looking for angle in your lap, as an example. The keyboard journey feels somewhat shallow however responsive, and the intense, per-key RGB lighting generally is a little bit of a ache to configure — Acer’s PredatorSense software program has important monitoring, energy configuration and lighting controls, but it surely may use a facelift.   

There aren’t any devoted macro keys, unsurprising given the dimensions of the laptop computer, however it could be good if the software program gave you the power to rebind a minimum of among the normal keys, just like the media playback controls down the fitting aspect. And in case you’re a giant person of the arrow keys, you could need to search for one thing that does not have embedded ones. However there is a devoted button to cycle amongst energy profiles (Quiet, Balanced, Efficiency and Turbo) or toggle Turbo. The Triton can get loud and a bit scorching in locations, just like the wrist relaxation space. 

The touchpad is a bit small however serviceable, with an old style embedded fingerprint reader. Although it has a 1080p webcam, it is fairly mediocre.

I’ve by no means been a fan of the kind of port and energy connection format the laptop computer makes use of; the vents on the perimeters push the connectors to the center of the perimeters — I hate it when the ability connector is in the course of the aspect, as a result of it will get in my method, and I would have appreciated a second USB-C port, even when it wasn’t Thunderbolt.

It helps Nvidia’s Superior Optimus, which suggests you possibly can power it to solely use the discrete GPU with out rebooting through the Nvidia driver.   

Efficiency and display

Acer does not provide any color- or game-specific shade profiles for the show, and it isn’t terribly correct, but it surely fares effectively sufficient for gaming and general-purpose use. The gamma measures 2.0 moderately than 2.2, however that brings out the element in darkish areas, which works for gaming. Distinction measures excessive as a result of black is great, however these too-bright shadow areas might make it appear decrease distinction since you’re served up much more darkish areas by video games, the online and purposes than zero blacks.

It does hit the widespread 6500K white level, which I discover may be hit or miss with mini LED backlights, which is good. It will get as vibrant as required by the DHDR 600 spec. HDR has the identical too-bright shadow areas, which suggests video does not look as nice as you’d count on, but it surely’s nonetheless superb. 

The display has a excessive refresh price of 250Hz — you possibly can truly set it to 125Hz, 250Hz or to dynamically swap between the 2 (along with a 60Hz setting) in SDR; in HDR you do not have the 125Hz choice It isn’t variable refresh, however you need to use G-Sync to manage it if you’d like that. I did see some flicker at each refresh charges, so in case you’re delicate to that, I recommend you keep away from mini LED.

Laptops with newer-generation CPUs might ship higher efficiency however not considerably since Intel’s H sequence processors have no main know-how modifications from Thirteenth to 14th generations. It fares effectively, outperforming some bigger fashions; it helps that the GPU can run at as a lot as 105 watts, on the larger finish of the RTX 4070’s scale.

There is a huge efficiency drop when working on battery, which is not unusual however one thing to be ready for. And its battery life is not nice.

The 2023 Predator Triton 14 is not the glitziest gaming laptop computer, but when you’ll find it at value because the 14th-gen fashions come to market, it may be an incredible deal.