Acer Predator Triton 300 Review
Acer’s 14-inch Predator Triton 300 SE ($1,949 as tested, starts at $1,599) is proof that powerful gaming laptops don’t need to have screens 15 or 17 inches in size. Our review unit’s Core i9-12900H processor and 6GB Nvidia RTX 3060 graphics card give it much more power than it needs. It doesn’t have a low-wattage CPU or an RTX 3050. This is wrapped up in a nice aluminum body, and our model goes even further by having a beautiful OLED screen. It’s not cheap, but only a few game computers are as portable and powerful as this one.
Acer Predator Triton Specs
| CPU | Intel Core i9-12900H |
| Graphics | Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 6GB GDDR6 |
| Memory | 32GB LPDDR5-5200 |
| Storage | 1TB PCIe Gen4 SSD |
| Display | 14-inch OLED2880 x 1800 pixels 90Hz |
| Networking | Killer Wi-Fi 6E 1675i |
| Camera | 1080p |
| Battery | 76 WHr |
| OS | Windows 11 Home |
| Price | $1,949 |
PROS
- Outstanding work
- Brilliant OLED screen
- Solid construction
CONS
- Lacking depth keyboard
- The RAM cannot be upgraded
Design
Acer sells the Predator Triton 300 SE in both 14-inch and 16-inch sizes. The 14-inch version we are looking at here differs from the bigger one because it is dark grey instead of bright silver. Even though the aluminum frame isn’t very thick, it doesn’t bend much, which is good for such an expensive notebook.
The Predator Triton 300 SE measures 12.34 x 8.9 x 0.79 inches (313.4 x 226.1 x 19.9 mm, WDH), so it’s not quite as compact as a standard 14-inch ultraportable as the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon, but it’s around the same size as a laptop with a 14-inch, 16:10-aspect ratio display. Being picky, I’d prefer if the screen borders were a little thinner.
The weight of the laptop is 3.75 pounds (1.7kg). The Predator doesn’t try anything unusual; it just goes in straight lines. It would look professional if the palm rest didn’t have so many stickers. Acer put small Predator logos on the door and palm rest instead of big ones. Aside from the backlit keyboard, there is no other light.
The number of hardware ports is enough. The left side has a USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 port and a Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) port. There is also a Kensington-style lock slot, which is important for any public or school laptop.
Performance
The Acer Predator Triton 300 SE has an Intel Core i7-11375H processor and 16GB of RAM. It had no trouble running Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla in the background while running 40 Google Chrome tabs and five YouTube movies simultaneously.
The Triton 300 got 5,234 on the Geekbench 5.3 total speed test, which is higher than the average score for a mainstream gaming laptop, which was 4,996. The TUF Dash F15 scored 5,166 with the same CPU, but the Zephyrus G14’s AMD Ryzen 9 4900HS CPU got a huge 7,870.
The Triton 300 took 11 minutes and 36 seconds to convert a 4K movie to 1080p on our HandBrake test, which is pretty slow compared to the category average of 8 minutes and 51 seconds. 512GB SSD from Acer could move 993 megabytes per second, which is close to the 1TB SSD from the TUF Dash F15, which could move 1,003 MBps.
Price
The single configuration of the Acer Predator Triton 300 SE costs $1,399 and features a 14-inch 1080p at 144Hz display, an Intel Core i7-11375H processor, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 graphics processing unit with 6GB of video memory, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB solid-state drive.
Ports
On the Predator Triton 300, there are only so many ports. It would have been nice to see a Mini DisplayPort and an extra USB Type-A port. On the left is a Kensington lock slot, a power jack, one USB Type-A port, and a Thunderbolt 4 port. On the right is an HDMI port, one USB Type-A port, and a headphone jack. Check out our pages for the best laptop docking stations and USB Type-C hubs if you need more ports.
Audio
The bottom-firing speakers on the Acer Predator Triton 300 SE aren’t very loud and don’t have enough bass to support loud music or games. But the sound is well-balanced. When I listened to Au/Ra’s “Panic Room,” the computer beats sounded scratchy and empty because they didn’t have the right bass to back them up.
The voices, on the other hand, were clear and crisp. The chorus didn’t sound rough or harsh, but it could have used a warm sound to make it feel complete.
In Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, two people were talking, and their voices were clear and lively, but the music was quiet, which made it hard to enjoy the scene. After that, we charged and tried to break through the gates.
The meaty smash of the ramming ram was surprisingly rewarding, but the speakers were still too low to pick up the full sound. But my axe made a sharp, cutting sound when I attacked enemies. It might have been too sharp if the sound had been stronger, and adding bass would have helped.
