We tried 6 killer Acer laptops from Computex: Hyperlights, 18-inch beasts, and everything between!

Computex is the world's biggest IT-focused trade show, and Acer is unveiling a whole bunch of laptops, desktops, monitors, and a lot more there

I got an early look at the laptops, and here are the six most interesting ones. First up is Acer's alpha dog for the show, the Predator Helios 18 AI

Games for this machine? No problem. Crunching local AI and workstation-type workloads? Also no problem

If you want an elite gaming laptop and an AI engine, Acer is saying here with this machine, why not both

This extra-large laptop has an 18-inch screen, and the unit has been massively supercharged for 2026

It looks as aggressive as it ever has, with that hard-to-miss strip of RGB bling across the front

The real story is inside this laptop, though. The specs are totally beast mode

To start with, the CPU and the GPU are top of the line. The Helios now runs on Intel's new Arrow Lake Refresh CPUs, up to the Core Ultra 9 290HX+

And you can pair those chips with GPUs up to the mighty GeForce RTX 5090

But the craziest upgrade this time is actually the memory capacity. This laptop now supports an eye-popping 256GB of DDR5 memory via 4 SO DIMM slots. Whoa

Now let's be real, nobody needs anywhere near 256GB of RAM for games

This is all about LLMs and manipulating, training, and managing massive AI models locally on

the laptop. The core silicon on this machine, especially the RTX 5090 if you get it, is great for AI work

and want to back it up with some killer memory and storage and let you get your AI on. Also new in this Helios is a dual-mode display

It's now a mini-LED panel that can switch between a peak of 120 Hz for the refresh rate at 4K

which is no slouch, or twice that, 240 Hz at 1080p for competitive eSports

Plus, the keyboard is kind of unusual. You can change out the WASD keys for different ones that come in the box

Those keys use magnetic mechanical switches for a distinct feel. My take on the Helios

This machine is now way more than just a gaming rig You get that massive RAM overhead plus three PCI Express M2 SSD slots for huge game and model storage potential This one it going to be a monster Next our second laptop

is more of a budget-friendly machine that still brings elite gaming performance. It's the Acer

Nitro 16. While the Predator family sticks to Intel, in the Nitro, Acer is experimenting with

AMD Ryzen CPUs, and they've brought something special to the battlefield this year. This is the

first Nitro laptop to feature AMD's 3D v-cache processors, going all the way up to the Ryzen 9

9955 HX3D. These 3D V-Cache chips are the best Rysons for you if you're a serious frame rate

chaser for eSports. Here, the X3D chip you get can be paired up with a GeForce RTX 5070 Ti with 12

gigs of VRAM. Acer is using a dual fan quad intake cooling system on this machine to keep both of

those high-performance chips in line. You're also getting a super smooth 240 Hz display panel

which makes sense given the 3D V-Cache CPU. You need a high refresh display to keep up with what

3D v-cache can lay down. Adding 3D v-cache can seriously boost frame rates, especially when the

CPU is struggling to keep up with the graphics chip at lower resolutions. And having 3D v-cache

never actually hurts. That makes this Nitro 16 a compelling play for eSports, especially if you

don't need something as big or as extreme as the Predator Helios 18 that I just talked about

So let's shift gears and talk about an ultra-portable now. The Swift Spin 14 AI is the first time that

Acer is bringing a 360-degree convertible design to its popular Swift family of ultralights

Here, though, you're going to have to pick between two distinct flavors, and between

ARM or x86. There's a silver-white, Intel-based version of the machine that offers 50 NPU tops and

claims an incredible 26 hours of battery life. Then there's the dark blue Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 version, which hits 80 NPU tops and is

rated for roughly 23 hours of battery life. Either way, you should be able to get through the whole Lord of the Rings trilogy, and then some

Because this is a two-in-one, Acer is emphasizing pen computing here. Both models come in a stylus The Intel version has a loose stylus while the Qualcomm version has a garage slot for the pen Also the Intel unit supports Thunderbolt 4 ports while the Qualcomm has just USB 4

The screen looks great, and the Qualcomm version's blue lid is especially striking

I liked this 2-in-1 on first glance, and the build quality feels pretty nice. It weighs just a little under 3 pounds

My take is that the Swift's spin will be perfectly positioned for students or office workers

who move from conference room to conference room, and who give presentations or share their screens a lot

Plus, the long battery life on either version should eliminate the stress of finding a power plug during back-to-back meetings or classes

Most productivity laptops emphasize portability and a smaller screen, but the Aspire 18 AI makes no such pretense

It's all about giving you a totally massive 18-inch panel for everyday use

Most 18-inch laptops are either high-end gaming machines or expensive workstations, but this Aspire model looks great if all you care about is getting the biggest screen you possibly can

The Aspire 18 AI's panel is a spacious 18-inch 1920x1200 display with a surprisingly high refresh rate of 165Hz and a respectable 400 nits of brightness

This is also a co-pilot plus PC and it's powered by Intel Core Ultra Series 3 processors

You won't be carrying it very much. It's 4.8 pounds, but it's rated for a solid 22 hours of battery life and it can be specced up with up to 32 gigs of RAM and 2 terabytes of storage

Also, because the screen is so big, the keyboard layout has room to breathe

As you can see here, you get a full numeric keypad. And seriously, look at the size of that touchpad. It is massive

This machine should be great for couch computing and basic video and photo editing. Not to mention, if your eyesight isn't what it used to be, you'll like it

You can pump up your icons and your fonts here to the max and enjoy some easy screen reading

The guy with the glasses here? He's looking forward to this one. If you're a digital content creator on a budget, take a look at this one

The Aspire X16 AI is designed as a portable editing device for budding creators who need

to showcase their work or portfolios in person. The components look good for that kind of thing

You get up to an Intel Core Ultra X9 Panther Lake processor which also means you can get Panther Lake potent ARC B390 graphics as part of the deal And one way that this machine will likely be a more budget option is that it relies on those integrated graphics rather than on a pricey GPU The star feature on this laptop

though, is the screen. It's a stunning 16-inch 3K OLED display rated by Acer for 100% DCI-P3

color accuracy and true black HDR500. It also supports killer 6E Wi-Fi and wired Ethernet

which you can bind together for quickly moving around large files. This Aspire is a workhorse

for creators who travel. It's just 3.5 pounds with the best specs placed exactly where you need them

All right, number six. Last up, we have the Travelmate P614AI, which is Acer's business

flagship for 2026. This is one of the coolest products in Acer's Computex lineup because the

weight will just totally blow your mind. The body of this machine is a combination of carbon fiber

and magnesium aluminum, and it weighs just 2.1 pounds or under one kilogram. Yeah, that sounds

better in metric, actually. It's a Windows 11 Copilot Plus PC, and it uses Intel Core Ultra Series

3 processors with the option for vPro security. The 14-inch screen will come in two flavors

a 2.8K OLED screen or an IPS panel in the cheaper P6 configs. Acer claims that the P6 can hit a

staggering 30 hours of video playback with the IPS screen. The keyboard felt good, and the screen

was brilliant even when viewed outdoors, thanks to a Gorilla Glass screen coating that does anti-glare

Plus, the body feels rigid despite being so light. You can get the machine with up to Core Ultra X7 and its fast integrated graphics

This looks like a superb travel companion for business pros. It could be a great alternative to extremely light, well-built machines like Lenovo's ThinkPad X1 Carbon

Acer is introducing a few other travel mates to the show, but this one clearly deserves the spotlight

From the hulky 18-inch laptops I've shown you here to that ultra-light travel mate, Acer is clearly not holding back this year

Acer hasn't announced prices for any of these laptops yet, but most should hit U.S. shops starting late summer

Keep an eye on PCMag as we get these laptops into PC Labs for testing later this year

Which ones are you most jazzed about? Let us know in the comments and don't forget to like and subscribe for more coverage as Computex 2026 officially kicks off

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