Acer Refreshes Predator and Nitro Gaming Gear for 2026

Acer is kicking off 2026 with a tidy refresh across laptops and peripherals, centered on Intel Core Ultra Series 3 chips and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50 Series Laptop GPUs. The headliner is the Predator Helios Neo 16S AI, backed up by two Nitro V AI models for people who want modern specs without pretending they are running a render farm 24/7.

Predator Helios Neo 16S AI: slim build, serious internals

The Predator Helios Neo 16S AI (PHN16S-I51) is positioned as the premium pick: up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 386H paired with up to a GeForce RTX 5070 Laptop GPU. The point is not just raw FPS, but keeping a thinner metal chassis while still having room for real cooling and high-speed I/O.

Acer goes all-in on the screen here: a 16-inch 16:10 WQXGA OLED panel (2560 x 1600) with a 165 Hz refresh rate, 1 ms response time, HDR imaging, and full DCI-P3 coverage. That combo is a good match for both high-contrast games and color-sensitive work where “close enough” is not actually close enough.

Nitro V 16 AI and Nitro V 16S AI: the practical alternatives

The Nitro V 16 AI (ANV16-I51) targets mobile gamers who still want respectable headroom: up to an Intel Core Ultra 7 355 and up to an RTX 5070 Laptop GPU, with up to 32 GB DDR5 memory and up to 2 TB PCIe NVMe storage. It is the more straightforward “do everything” option in the lineup.

The thinner Nitro V 16S AI (ANV16S-I51) leans harder into portability, coming in under 17.9 mm while keeping the same top CPU/GPU pairing as the Nitro V 16 AI. It uses a 16-inch WUXGA (1920 x 1200) 180 Hz display with a MUX switch and 100% sRGB coverage, aiming for fast esports-style responsiveness without forcing you into a bulky chassis.

AI features that are actually useful day-to-day

Across the new Predator and Nitro laptops, the focus is on Copilot+ PC experiences in Windows 11 and Acer Intelligence Space. In practice, that means leaning on on-device AI acceleration for things like real-time captions/translation and assisted content creation, without dumping everything into the cloud every five seconds.

Connectivity is also kept modern: Wi-Fi 6E, Thunderbolt 4 on the laptops listed here, plus the usual spread of HDMI 2.1 and USB ports. The Predator model also calls out heavier-duty cooling with a 5th Gen AeroBlade 3D fan and liquid metal thermal grease, because physics still exists.

Predator Galea 570 and Cestus 530: matching desk gear

The Predator Galea 570 headset uses 50 mm drivers and adds ENC to keep voice chat clearer, whether you use the detachable boom mic or the built-in mic. It supports three connection modes (2.4 GHz dongle, Bluetooth, wired) and is tuned through the Predator QuarterMaster app.

The Predator Cestus 530 mouse goes spec-heavy: a PixArt PAW3395 sensor, up to 26,000 DPI, 650 IPS tracking, and an 8,000 Hz polling rate for wired/2.4 GHz. It also supports Bluetooth, is rated for 80 million clicks, and uses the same QuarterMaster software for button and lighting tweaks.

Regional rollout is spread across early to mid-2026 depending on the model, with the Galea 570 starting at USD 149 (EUR 149) and the Cestus 530 starting at USD 109 (EUR 99). Laptop pricing was not detailed, and exact configurations will vary by market, as usual.