Acer unveils 300Hz gaming laptop for $2,800, Planet9 esports platform

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At IFA 2019 in Berlin today, Acer unveiled two gaming laptops, a gaming chair, an esports platform, four new monitors, two more refreshed laptops, an all-in-one desktop, and four Chromebooks. The company clearly didn’t want to wait for CES 2020 before unloading its latest wares.

The first and most obvious trend at IFA this year is 300Hz displays. Expect lots of those to start showing up — Acer is just one of many players.

Predator Triton 300 and Predator Triton 500

Acer updated its Predator Triton gaming laptop line with two new SKUs. The Predator Triton 300 is Acer’s “affordable solution” for gamers — coming to EMEA in October for €1,300 ($1,425). Meanwhile, the Predator Triton 500 is Acer’s first laptop with a 300Hz refresh rate, coming to North America in December for $2,800.

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The Predator Triton 300 weighs 2.3kg (5.07 pounds). It can only be upgraded to a 9th Gen Intel Core i7 processor (no 10th Gen yet), an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 GPU, and 16GB/32GB of DDR4 2666Hz memory. The laptop will also support up to two 1TB PCIe NVMe SSDs in RAID 0, up to a 2TB hard drive, and Wi-Fi 6. The screen consists of a 15.6-inch Full HD IPS display, a 144Hz refresh rate, and a 3ms response time.

The Predator Triton 500 is not new, but it has been upgraded with a 300Hz 15.6-inch Full HD display. At the same time, Acer slimmed it down to 17.9mm (0.70 inches) and a weight of 2.1kg (4.6 pounds). Narrow bezels promise an 81% body-to-screen ratio. Like the Triton 300, it only goes up to a 9th Gen Intel Core i7 processor.

Predator Thronos Air

Acer also unveiled the Predator Thronos Air gaming chair. This “battle station,” as Acer markets it, will set you back $14,000 in North America and RMB 79,999 ($11,140) in China. Those regions don’t have ship dates yet, but the Predator Thronos Air will also hit EMEA in Q4 for €8,975 ($9,850).

After burning that amount of cash, you’ll get an adjustable chair (130 degrees inside and 180 degrees outside) with a massage function, a modular desk, an adjustable keyboard and mouse tray, and a monitor arm (for up to three displays). If that’s not enough, Acer offers customization options including a seat stabilizer, cup holder, headset holder, USB hub, and camera (for livestreaming, of course).

Planet9

If a gaming cave doesn’t convince you that Acer is doubling down on the gamer market, maybe an esports play will. Planet9 is a platform open to amateur and casual players seeking to build a team, learn from the pros, and play in online tournaments. Planet9 is currently in closed beta (sign up) and will enter open beta on January 30, 2020.

Planet9 promises the following features to help gamers level up their skills:

• Coach: Learn from pro players and skilled gamers. Gamers can select their ideal coach based on game statistics, language, rating, and hourly rate. Coaches can review the gamer’s game statistics to tailor-make a course, enhanced by screen-sharing, video/voice chat, and VOD upload features to playback those moments that need perfecting.
• Carry: Gamers can work together with like-minded players to rank up while learning and improving their skills in the process. Hosts can embed their Twitch or YouTube livestreams to attract gamers and fans to team up with them for a carry session.
• Game Statistics: All of the player’s gaming statistics are presented in a visualized, eye-catching dashboard. The data on wins, losses, kills, deaths, items purchased, gold farmed, etc. are used to pair the gamer with the most ideal coach and offer insights on ways to improve.
• Scrims: Planet9 offers interestingly competitive ways to practice or challenge in battlefields — either with the clan (team) or tribe (multiple clans). The Clan Scrims feature allows clans to request a scrim challenge against other clans, while the Tribe Wars feature allows tribes to participate in extensive competitions being set up every week for bonus and benefits on Planet9.

Planet9 can apparently host tournaments of various sizes, though Acer didn’t share minimum or maximum numbers. Acer says it will award “gifts and prizes” for a certain number of wins.

Acer Nitro XV3

To round out the gaming news, Acer also unveiled four new Nitro gaming monitors. The quartet supports Nvidia G-Sync and Adaptive-Sync and enables Variable Refresh Rates (VRR) when connected to GeForce GTX 10-Series and GeForce RTX 20-Series graphics cards.

Here’s the lineup:

• Acer Nitro XV253Q P 24.5-inch Full HD 144Hz: October in EMEA for €329, North America for $299, and China for RMB 2,099
• Acer Nitro XV253Q X 24.5-inch Full HD 240Hz: November in EMEA for €419, North America for $389, and China for RMB 2,699.
• Acer Nitro XV273 X 27-inch Full HD 240Hz: September in EMEA for €519, North America for $469, and China for RMB 3,299.
• Acer Nitro XV273U S 27-inch WQHD 165Hz: January 2020 in EMEA for €649, North America for $589, and China for RMB 4,129.

For better or for worse, none have a 300Hz refresh rate.

Acer Swift 3 and Acer Swift 5

Acer refreshed its Swift 3 and Swift 5 laptops with 10th Gen Intel Core processors. Acer promises up to 12.5 hours of battery life for both. The Swift 3 and Swift 5 will hit North America in November for $900 and $700, respectively. The duo will also hit EMEA in September for €899 and €599, and China in Q3 for RMB 7,499 and RMB 4,999, respectively.

The latest Swift 3 has a 14-inch Full HD IPS screen and weighs 1.19kg (2.62 pounds). It can be upgraded to a 10th Gen Intel Core i7-1065G7 processor, Intel Iris Plus graphics, and an optional discrete Nvidia GeForce MX250 GPU. The Swift 3 includes up to 512GB PCIe Gen 3×4 SSD storage, 16GB LPDDR4X RAM, Thunderbolt 3, and dual-band Intel Wi-Fi 6. Thin 4.37 mm bezels result in an 84% screen-to-body ratio.

The latest Swift 5 weighs 990 grams with a discrete Nvidia GeForce MX250 graphics card. It apparently weighs less (but Acer wouldn’t say exactly how much) with an updated integrated Intel Iris Pro graphics card. The screen-to-body ratio is 86.4%. The laptop can be upgraded to a 10th Gen Intel Core i7-1065G 7 processor and 512GB PCIe Gen 3×4 SSD storage. There’s also a USB 3.1 Type-C connector that supports Thunderbolt 3, dual-band Intel Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), and Windows Hello via a fingerprint reader. Acer promises up to 12.5 hours of battery life.

Acer Aspire C

Speaking of thin, the 6.8mm (0.26-inch) Acer Aspire C all-in-one comes in 22-inch, 24-inch, and 27-inch Full HD IPS screen options. It will hit EMEA in December for €599 (22-inch), North America in spring 2020 for $699 (24-inch), and China in December for RMB 3,399 (22-inch).

The Acer Aspire C Series is also powered by 10th Gen Intel Core processors, 32GB of DDR4-2666 memory, and an optional discrete Nvidia MX130 GPU. Storage goes up to 1TB via an M.2 NVMe SSD and up to 2TB with a 2.5-inch HDD. There’s a camera shutter when the webcam is not in use, an HDMI-out port, and four USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports.

Chromebooks

Lastly, Acer introduced four new Chromebooks coming to EMEA in October and North America in December:

• Acer Chromebook 311 (10.6-inch display): EMEA for €249 and North America for $250.
• Acer Chromebook Spin 311 (10.6-inch display): EMEA for €329 and North America for $330.
• Acer Chromebook 314 (14-inch display): EMEA for €299 and North America for $280.
• Acer Chromebook 315 (15.6-inch display): EMEA for €329 and North America for $280.

All four are fanless, feature moisture-resistant touchpads, and have two USB Type-C ports, two USB 3.1 ports, and a microSD card reader. Google Assistant is built in.

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