I'm currently down in London for the Acer Global Press Conference, getting hands-on with the company's latest bits of technology. Amidst the refreshed and newly launched gaming laptops, the Acer Predator Helios 3D 15 SpatialLabs Edition stood amongst its peers for all the right reasons. In fact, I'd go as far to say that it's the most excited I've been to use a portable PC since the Steam Deck.
Acting as a successor to the Acer Predator Helios 300 SpatialLabs Edition, which launched last year, the 3D 15 enters the race for the title of best gaming laptop with a unique trick: glasses-free 3D. This isn’t the gimmicky 3D you might be used to seeing in the cinema, either, and I genuinely couldn’t believe the quality of the effect when experiencing it for myself.
Playing through the opening section of Kena: Bridge of Spirits, I was immediately struck by how my eyes were naturally focussing between my character model and their environment. Turning up the depth effect on the stereoscopic screen up to maximum, I genuinely felt like I could’ve reached into the game world and grabbed objects within it.
Moving further into the game, I jumped slightly as floating petals and particles felt like they were emerging from the screen at me. The closest thing I can approximate the feeling to is slapping on the best VR headset, without the need for a separate device. Acer tells PCGamesN that there are around 70 or so videogames that are currently supported by the SpatialLabs technology, and the company expects that number to grow – I certainly hope it does.
Even without the 3D screen taken into account, the laptop packs the kind of specs befitting its four figure price tag. It’ll run pretty much anything you throw at it, thanks to the Intel Core i9 13900HX and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 running underneath its chassis. Just be prepared to pay a premium for this package, as it demands $3,499 / £3,299 from your wallet.
The Acer Predator Helios 3D 15 SpatialLabs Edition will be available from June in both the US and UK. For more on the latest tech, check out the Acer Nitro XZ452CU V gaming monitor, as covered by our friends at Custom PC.