Acer's launches Predator Helios 700 laptop with desktop RTX card, HyperDrift keyboard

Acer recently announced a ton of new hardware at a press conference in New York. Among the announcements, Acer introduced refreshes to their Predator and Nitro series with the Predator Helios 700 receiving the lions share of attention.

Unlike other gaming laptops in Acer’s arsenal, the flagship Helios 700 got a massive design overhaul coming primarily in the form of a new keyboard design, which Acer is calling ‘HyperDrift keyboard’.

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of this new keyboard design, let’s look at the specs on Acer’s latest flagship gaming laptop.

The new Helios 700 is powered by a 9^th Gen Intel Core i9 overclockable processor and full-fledged, desktop-grade, not Max-Q, Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 or 2080, depending on which variant you get. The Helios also supports up to 64GB of DDR4 memory and Killer DoubleShot Pro with Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX 1650 and E3000.

The Helios features an excellent 17-inch display with a 144Hz refresh rate and 3ms response time lets you take full advantage of the top-of-the-line specs. The screen also features Nvidia G-Sync technology that eliminates screen tearing and minimising display stutter and input lag. The subwoofer coupled with five speakers should offer a more immersive and engaging audio experience.

Now to the most noticeable change on the Helios 700, the ‘HyperDrift keyboard’. The keyboard of this mobile behemoth slides forward, while the trackpad tilts down forming an ergonomic wrist rest. The keyboard also features per-key RGB lighting, anti-ghosting and MagForce WASD keys.

But this is more than a mere design change; the new and improved cooling system sits under the Helios’ keyboard. The cooling system touts a pair of 4th-gen AeroBlade 3D fans, five heat pipes, and a vapour chamber. Sliding the keyboard down gives the powerful heat-generating components extra air flow for maximum cooling and overclocking.