All right, let’s talk about the new Acer Triton 500 SE. Now, a couple of years ago when Acer launched their original Triton 500, it was a pretty special device. It was one of the first good thin gaming laptops that you could get in the market.
Now, they’ve revamped the product, it had this whole new refresh look and well, I was very drawn to this. They showed the pre-production version of this laptop earlier this year, which I looked and found their color and specification very impressive. But this new Triton 500 SE does not look like the pre-production unit. IT had a badge in the top left corner.
1. Aesthetic of new Acer Triton 500 SE
This new device still has a very good look, but if you are already drawn to that kind of original aesthetic of pre-production unit, then you might be a little disappointed. But this new Triton has this 2-tone finish, which is kind of matte finish on top with the predator logo and then on the bottom section, it’s got this cross-hatch material. It’s a metal finish, but to be very honest, I don’t like this as much as that kind of photos in the marketing material. Taking about the aesthetic, there are some exhausts in the back that look somewhat gamey but overall, very nice design.
It also has a blue strip on the top, which I personally like. It changes color depending on the angle you’re looking like green, purple, blue which I think looks pretty cool.
Screen of new Acer Triton 500 SE
Now, when you pop the laptop open, you’re greeted with a massive reflection, but you’re looking at a 16:10 aspect ratio screen with thin bezels. I think one of the biggest complaint people had about the previous Tritons was that big chin at the bottom, which is no longer there. And more importantly, it’s a nice screen. IT’s fast, bright, color accurate and overall, it’s an awesome screen.
But one thing that I thought was strange was in the earlier marketing material again there was a mention of G-sync and advance optimization, neither of which seems to be present in this particular model. Having said that, this is a RTX 3060 model so, it’s possible that the higher spec configuration may have it. But if you are looking particularly at his model (RTX 3060) which is roughly priced around $1500 – 1600, it does not seem to have it.
Keyboard of new Acer Triton 500 SE
Now, let’s talk about the Keyboard. The first impression of the keyboard is that its layout is very similar to the original Triton 500 and I think it’s the layout that most people will like. However, I will say that the typing experience is a little softer or mushier. Like, the keys are responsive, but they are not as springing as some other gaming laptops out there.
The keyboard doesn’t have the number pads, unlike the Legion devices. Moreover, the keyboard doesn’t have the great tactility on the keys, but that’s just my opinion. There is also RGB backlighting in the keyboard, but keep in mind that it’s a three zoned backlighting, not individually lit.
Trackpad of new Acer Triton 500 SE
So, the Trackpad. The trackpad on this new Acer Triton 500 SE is small. There is also a fingerprint sensor in the top left corner of it. The trackpad is functional and does its job but the trackpad itself is good which has glass surface, nice clicks and very accurate.
Ports on new Acer Triton 500 SE
On the side of the Acer Triton 500 SE, it has SD card reader with 2 thunderbolts 4s which are used to connect the drives. It also got the Ethernet port, which I use regularly. The device also has the single earphone jack, which I prefer over the double old one.
2. Performance of new Acer Triton 500 SE
Ok, now let’s get into the performance of Acer Triton 500 SE, the performance on this device is “good” but I kind of want to put it out there that the word good that I used is very subjective. This laptop is running the RTX 3060 at 105 watts so pretty powerful GPU, nothing super crazy. And it’s also running the 11800h, a powerful 8 core CPU from intel.
Now, all of it is packaged in a very thin 20 mm chassis. My concern is when you have a device that is this thin, you have to take things into consideration. Right? You can’t just crank it at full tilt. The way they achieved good performance is by placing a very powerful Fan system. I mean really loud fan system and oh yes, it’s very loud. In fact, I can say that it is one of the loudest thin devices that I have seen. However, you don’t have to run the fan at its maximum speed to get the good performance.
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Like in this particular RTX 3060 model, you can dial the fans back in the software, and you can get great performance with a quieter system. But keep in mind, this is just the 3060. If you get the higher spec configurations like 3070, 3080, or you get the top spec CPU, you will be dependent on faster fans and potentially the turbo button pretty frequently. So, it is something to keep in mind.
Now, I mentioned this point particularly because this system is quite dependent on the fast fans to be able to cool it effectively. Some companies are using different thermal compounds like liquid metals or polymer phase shifting stuff or vapor chambers to cool their system down and does not require a very high-speed fan. And the fact that the Triton 500 SE is using intel-based CPU which generates more heat and requires the aggressive cooling system to perform efficiently, high speed fans are must for the Triton and hence the noise.
Personally, I don’t mind the device fan noise because I can control it so granular in software that I am satisfied with the system they’ve deployed. But you should be aware of what you’re getting yourself into, if you are actually looking at this particular device.
3. Battery and internal in new Acer Triton 500 SE
In the inside of the Acer Triton 500 SE, it has 99.9 Wah battery which is comfortable 6.5 hours of battery life with screen of 250 nits of brightness, in my opinion. If you like thin gaming laptop with big battery than there aren’t many options, but this is definitely one available for you.
The Wi-Fi card is removable, however the motherboard is flipped. That means if you want to replace the RAM, then it is going to be a very tedious task. But it is serviceable, it is just not the easiest thing to do. And the speakers are like ok kind in my opinion. But what would you expect? It’s a gaming laptop.
Specifications of new Acer Triton 500 SE
| Screen Size | 16 inches |
| Screen Resolution | 2560 x 1600 |
| Processor Model | Intel® Core™ i7-11800H 8-Core |
| Storage Type | SSD 512 gigabytes |
| System Memory (RAM) | 16 gigabytes DDR4 |
| Graphics | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 |
| Battery Capacity | 99.98 milliampere hours Lithium-ion |
| Features | Backlit Keyboard |
| Front Facing Camera Video Resolution | 720p |
In Conclusion
Personally, I like this new Acer Triton 500 SE. I am more drawn towards the base model of this device which is RTX 3060 with that $1500-1600 price point that makes it a good overall package, and it looks good. I think if you are creative, and you use ports like thunderbolts, then yeah, it’s a really cool and powerful device to work with. But if you are thinking like a regular gamer, there are other devices that are better than this just for straight-up gaming.
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