Acer Predator Helios 300 Vs HP Omen 15: Which To Buy?

Estimated read time 12 min read

In this article, i will be telling you differences between HP omen 15 2019 and Helios 300 2019. This maybe help you to choose which one is better.

omen 15helios 300
HP Omen 15Acer Helios 300
BUY NOWBUY NOW
PROSPROS
Great overall and gaming performance. Affordable.Bright, vivid display. Speedy SSD.Unbeatable gaming performance for the price. Solid build. 144Hz display. Good port selection.
CONSCONS
Below-average battery life. Mushy keyboard.256GB of storage restrictive for gaming. Brief battery life.

SPECIFICATIONS

MODELHELIOS 300OMEN 15
BrandAcerHP
SeriesPredator Helios 300OMEN
ModelPH317-53-777715-dc1040nr
QUICK INFO HELIOS 300 OMEN 15
ColorBlackHP sandblasted hairline brushing finish and carbon fiber pattern in shadow black
Operating SystemWindows 10 Home 64-bitWindows 10 Home 64-bit
CPUIntel Core i7-9750H 2.60 GHzIntel Core i7-8750H 2.20 GHz
Screen17.3″ 144 Hz IPS15.6″ IPS
Memory16 GB DDR416 GB DDR4
Storage512 GB PCIe SSD1 TB HDD + 128 GB SSD
Graphics CardGeForce GTX 1660 TiGeForce RTX 2070
Video Memory8 GB8 GB GDDR6
Dimensions (W x D x H)14.17″ x 10.35″ x 1.02″
Weight5.31 lbs.
CPU HELIOS 300 OMEN 15
CPU TypeIntel Core i7 9th GenIntel Core i7 8th Gen
CPU Speed9750H (2.60 GHz)8750H (2.20 GHz)
Number of Cores6-core Processor6-core Processor
Core NameCoffee LakeCoffee Lake
Turbo Frequency
CPU L3 Cache12 MB9 MB
CHIPSET HELIOS 300 OMEN 15
ChipsetIntel HM370
DISPLAY HELIOS 300 OMEN 15
Screen Size15.6″15.6″
TouchscreenNoNo
Wide Screen SupportYesYes
Display Type Full HD Full HD
Resolution1920 x 10801920 x 1080
PanelIPSIPS
Refresh Rate144 Hz
LCD FeaturesIPS anti-glare micro-edge WLED-backlit
OPERATING SYSTEM HELIOS 300 OMEN 15
Operating SystemWindows 10 Home 64-bitWindows 10 Home 64-bit
GRAPHICS HELIOS 300 OMEN 15
GPU/VPUNVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 TiNVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070
Video Memory6 GB8 GB
Graphic TypeDedicated CardDedicated Card
STORAGE HELIOS 300 OMEN 15
SSD512 GB PCIe128 GB
MEMORY HELIOS 300 OMEN 15
Memory16 GB16 GB
Memory SpeedDDR4 2666
Memory Spec8 GB x 2
Memory Slot (Total)
Memory Slot (Available)
Max Memory Supported
OPTICAL DRIVE HELIOS 300 OMEN 15
Optical Drive TypeNo
COMMUNICATIONS HELIOS 300 OMEN 15
LAN10/100/1000Mbps
WLANIntel 9560 Jefferson Peak (2×2 802.11ac)802.11ac Wireless LAN
Bluetooth4.04.2
PORTS HELIOS 300 OMEN 15
USB1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C with Thunderbolt 3 (40 Gb/s signaling rate, DisplayPort 1.2, HP Sleep and Charge) 1 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A (HP Sleep and Charge) 2 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A (Data Transfer Only)
Video Port1 x Mini DisplayPort
HDMI1 x HDMI1 x HDMI
Audio Ports1 x Headphone/microphone combo (DTS Headphone:X support) 1 x Microphone in
AUDIO HELIOS 300 OMEN 15
AudioBang & Olufsen with dual speakers
Speaker
OUTPUT DEVICE HELIOS 300 OMEN 15
Virtual Reality ReadyYesYes
INPUT DEVICE HELIOS 300 OMEN 15
TouchpadTouchpad with imulti-touch gesture support
KeyboardFull-size island-style white legend 4-zone lighting RGB backlit keyboard with numeric keypad and 26-key rollover anti-ghosting key technology
Backlit KeyboardBacklitBacklit
WebcamHP Wide Vision HD Camera with dual array digital microphone
Card ReaderSD card readerMulti-format digital media card reader
GENERAL HELIOS 300 OMEN 15
StyleStandardThin and Light
TypeGaming & EntertainmentGaming & Entertainment
UsageConsumerConsumer
POWER HELIOS 300 OMEN 15
AC Adapter200-watt AC adapter
Battery4-cell lithium ion4-cell 70 Whr lithium-ion polymer battery
DIMENSIONS & WEIGHT HELIOS 300 OMEN 15
Dimensions (W x D x H)14.17″ x 10.35″ x 1.02″
Weight5.31 lbs.

Expert Reviews For Acer Helios 300:

By UltrabookReview
Acer did an excellent job with this redesigned 17-inch Predator Helios 300, creating a new laptop from scratch, with a smaller form-factor, latest generation hardware and most of the modern features potential buyers expect in a gaming computer in 2019,…

By TrustedReviews
The Acer Helios 300 is a decent option for those seeking a mid-range gaming laptop with a high refresh rate…

By LaptopMag
Acer’s Predator Helios 300 Special Edition offers great performance, a good keyboard and a bright display, but its design and audio could be…

By PCMag
The Predator Helios 300 offers great value for money and is one of the cheapest gaming laptops with an Nvidia GTX 1060…

By GoodGearGuide
It depends on how much value you put in aesthetics.Melissa Riofrio/IDGThe Acer Predator Helios 300 Special Edition ($1,400 on Newegg) is a gorgeous laptop and a decent value in the wider gaming laptop landscape. It doesn’t offer anywhere near the…

Expert Reviews For HP Omen 15:

By LaptopMag
The HP Omen 15 offers great performance, a colorful 144-Hz display and a comfortable keyboard, but its screen could be brighter.

By ExpertReiews
In all, though, there’s not much that the HP Omen 15 (2018) does wrong. It may not be as thin, light or drop-dead gorgeous as the Razer Blade 15 or as all-out brutish as the Acer Predator Helios 500, but it’s well-priced and a darned good compromise.

By HardwareZone
One other note to point out regarding its specs and price is that it’s one of the few notebooks equipped with a massive 32GB of memory, which is great if you dabble in a lot of content creativity jobs and you need a capable multi-tasker.

By NotebookCheck
With the Omen 15, Hewlett-Packard delivers a compact gaming notebook that can be called successful overall. However, despite its purchase price of 2100 Euros (~$2396), it is not free from weaknesses.

By T3 Magazine
A marked improvement on the 2017 edition, the HP Omen 15 (2018) has bags of PC gaming potential thanks to a formidable processor and a beefy GPU. With a so-so keyboard and trackpad it isn’t a perfect package, but it’s still a powerful machine that will play most of the big triple-A titles on PC without breaking too much of a sweat.


DETAILED REVIEW:

Above I have showed overview, specifications, and expert reviews. Now I am sharing depth-review of both laptops.


DESIGN

HP Omen 15:

I think that Omen looks cleaner. It’s all black without any colorful accents and what is characteristic for Omen laptops is the X shape pattern on the lid. The logo is not backlit, this is only silver mirror-like material which looks great. Inside there’s nothing fancy as well. All we can see is the black deck and a clean looking keyboard with touchpad. The back looks awesome, but the hinge in the center makes the screen a little bit more flexy.

Acer Helios 300:

The Predator has matt black lid with blue accents and a backlit logo in the middle. Inside there are few blue accents on the touchpad and and on some of the keys. The back of 2019 Predator looks awesome – I love the triangular exhausts with blue heat sinks inside. On the front of the laptop there is a nice silver trim and the keyboard is eye catching.

HELIOS 300 1

BUILD QUALITY

HP Omen 15:

I think that Omen is the winner here. It feels more premium as it is all made of metal. The chassis was perfectly stiff and solid. I was surprised, because you can usually find such top-end quality in over $2000 laptops like Asus ROG Zephyrus or Razer Blade 15.

Acer Helios 300:

The Predator has metal top pannel and deck, but the bottom is made of plastic. The laptop still feels very solid and premium but if i have to compare, the Omen was just better. Both laptops come with thin bezel display and in both you can find a 720p webcam located properly on the top bezel.

WEIGHT AND DIMENSIONS

Helios 300Omen 15
Width36cm36cm
Depth25.4cm26cm
Height2.28cm1.98cm
Weight2.4kg2.2kg

If it comes to dimensions it’s hard to say which one is more portable. The Predator is slightly thicker, but it has 0.6cm less in depth. The Omen is thinner and slightly deeper, but the differences are practically unnoticeable. However the Omen weights about 200g less which may be beneficial if you travel a lot.

 

KEYBOARD & TOUCHPAD

HP Omen 15:

The keyboard in HP Omen 15 looks clean and it’s pretty good. It’s still the same keyboard as in the previous generation, so it has 1.5mm key travel, good spacing, it’s comfortable to type on and easy to get used to. It has one dedicated key to open the Command Center app, but unfortunately there is no button for instant boosting the fan speed and the arrow keys are pretty small. You have 4-zones of RGB where the 4th zone includes only WSAD keys. The light is strong and vivid, but the black keys hide the light when you look at the keyboard at certain angles.

If it comes to touchpads it was more comfortable for me to use Omen’s touchpad. It uses Elan drivers and it is surprisingly precise. I think that it looks more aesthetic and i like that it has 2 dedicated buttons for left and right click.

Acer Helios 300:

The keyboard in Predator has 1.7mm key travel, good spacing and comfortably big arrow keys. You have also one dedicated key to open the control center app, and the turbo button which improves the performance and sets the fans to max, more on that later. I liked using Predator’s keyboard more and i think that it’s better and more practical than Omen’s keyboard. The keys with white strokes look great but the lighting is not as strong and vivid as in HP. However you can see more light comming through the keys.

Predator’s touchpad uses Windows Precision drivers and it has a bottom mechanism under the touchpad for left and right click. I had no complains to the tracking and since it’s Windows Precision the gesture controls were good. As for the ports selection another point goes to the HP.

HELIOS 300 2

PORT SELECTION

HELIOS 300OMEN 15
3x USB 3.1 Type A3x USB 3.1 Type A
1x USB 3.1 Type C1x USB 3.1 Type C (with thunderbolt 3)
1x Full-size HDMI 2.0 1x Full-size HDMI 2.0
1x Ethernet RJ45 1x Ethernet RJ45
3.5mm Headphone Jack (Headphone and microphone) 3.5mm Headphone Jack (Headphone and microphone)
1x Mini-Display Port 1x Mini-Display Port
1x Security Lock1x Full-Size SD card slot

As for the ports selection another point goes to the HP. Basically both laptops have exactly the same I/O with only difference that HP has SD Card slot and USB C with Thunderbolt 3 which is very nice to see in this price point. It’s missing only a security lock compared to Predator, but i think that it’s not a bid deal.

DISPLAY

HP Omen 15:

My Omen came with 1080p 144Hz IPS pannel with about 9ms response time and before you ask, this one doesn’t support G-Sync, because i had the configuration with RTX 2060. If you want G-Sync you have to choose the model with RTX 2070 or 2080. There are also orher display options that you can choose including 1080p 60Hz, 1080p 240Hz and 4K 60Hz. The color coverage of my 144Hz pannel was 95% of sRGB color gamut and the brightness of 329 nits. You can easily use this laptop for color correct work, the games look great and smooth and viewing angles are good. During normal use even with black screen i couldn’t see the backlight bleeding. However the camera was able to capture a little bit of bleeding in the corners.

Acer Helios 300:

My Predator has also 1080p 144Hz IPS pannel without G-Sync, but it has 3ms response time. I felt like it’s just a little smoother than Omen’s display but it shouldn’t discourage you from buying Omen, because the difference was almost unnoticeable. The colors are also very vivid and sharp, and the display has perfectly balanced cold tone. It can reproduce 97% of sRGB color gamut, 75% of AdobeRGB and the brightness is 315 nits. I think that any kind of color corrent work can be done on this laptop without problem, and the games look perfect. However there was one thing that was not perfect. I found screen bleeding which was also slightly noticeable during normal use when the content on the screen was black. This may vary between laptops because of diversity in the production process, however this is only a cosmetic issue which you may not even notice.

SPEAKERS

HP Omen 15:

The HP Omen uses Bang & Olufsen audio and it sound good. It can get loud without distortion and the sound is crispy and clear. There is some bass, but it’s nowhere close to something like Asus Scar 3.

Acer Helios 300:

The same applies to the Predator, but in my opinion it sounds better than Omen. It has noticeably more bass than many other devices and i was surprised how clear was the sound.

HP OMEN 15 2

PERFORMANCE

I’ve got the Omen with RTX 2060 and the Predator has GTX 1660Ti on board, but in this case the results were pretty similare. I pushed both laptops to the limits, so for testing purposes i set the performance mode in Omen for more CPU power and i enabled the maximum fan speed for better cooling.

HELIOS 300OMEN 15
Watch Dogs 261 FPS74 FPS
Just Cause 482 FPS86 FPS
Dirt Rally 2.078 FPS78 FPS
Battlefield 583 FPS89 FPS
Fortnite127 FPS121 FPS

In general the Predator was working on highest possible clock speed while keeping the temperatures respectively low and that’s why the performance it can deliver is so high. There was no sign of thermal or power limit throttling during my test even though the laptop ran constantly on 56W TDP. But in order to maintain such good results this laptop gets really noisy, around 60dB. Also worth mentioning is that it comes undervolted by -0.125V from the factory which helps to lower the temperatures.

However the Omen was working on highest possible clock speed as well, but in order to stay that way it was doing really crazy things. It was the first time i’ve seen such crazy solution in a gaming laptop. When you enable the performance mode the laptop dynamically allocates the power between CPU and GPU. In effect you can see repeatable power limit throttling caused by those changes. Nonetheless the processor ended up running from 47W to 51W for most of the time which is still above the specified by Intel 45W limit for this CPU.

BATTERY:

HELIOS 300OMEN 15
Light Work6 Hours4.5 Hours
Gaming1.5 Hours1 Hour and 10 Min

As for the battery life i managed to use the Predator for up to 6 hours when browsing the web and doing light productivity work. When gaming battery died after 1,5 hour. The Omen was a pretty far behind – it ran for up to 4,5 hours when light work and 1 hour and 10 minutes when gaming.

HP OMEN 15 1


Why Should You Buy HP OMEN 15:

It’s a very good and interesting laptop for those who are into tweaking CPU power settings to get the best results.

Advantages over the Helios 300:

  • Thunderbolt 3
  • SD card slot
  • G-Sync

Why Should You Buy ACER HELIOS 300:

Helios 300 which shows the best price to performance ratio out there, without really sacrificing anything.

Advantages over the HP Omen 15:

  • Good and very useful keyboarb
  • Fast and color accurate display
  • Great cooling system
  • Longer battery life

WHICH ONE IS BETTER?

In this case the choice is not easy for me, because Omen is a very good and tempting laptop. Nonetheless i think that i’d rather go for the 2019 Acer Predator Helios 300 just because of the price, convinience of use, very good performance and enough features for my personal needs.

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