ACER PREDATOR 21X THE BEAST
ACER PREDATOR 21X
| Brand | Acer |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Acer |
| Series | NH.Q1RAA.001 |
| Colour | Black |
| Form Factor | Laptop |
| Item Height | 3.28 Inches |
| Item Width | 12.38 Inches |
| Standing screen display size | 21 Inches |
| Resolution | 2560 x 1080 Pixels |
| Product Dimensions | 56.79 x 31.45 x 8.33 cm; 8.5 Kilograms |
| Batteries | 1 Lithium-ion batteries required. (included) |
| Item model number | NH.Q1RAA.001 |
| Processor Brand | Intel |
| Processor Type | Core i7 |
| Processor Speed | 2.9 GHz |
| Processor Count | 4 |
| RAM Size | 64 GB |
| Memory Technology | DDR4 |
| Computer Memory Type | Unknown |
| Maximum Memory Supported | 64 GB |
| Hard Drive Size | 1000 GB |
| Hard Disk Description | Hybrid Drive, SATA |
| Hard Drive Interface | Serial ATA |
| Hard Disk Rotational Speed | 7200 RPM |
| Graphics Coprocessor | GTX 1080 |
| Graphics Chipset Brand | NVIDIA |
| Graphics Card Description | Dedicated |
| Graphics RAM Type | VRAM |
| Graphics Card Ram Size | 16 GB |
| Graphics Card Interface | Integrated |
| Connectivity Type | Wi-Fi |
| Wireless Type | Bluetooth |
| Number of HDMI Ports | 1 |
| Optical Drive Type | None |
| Operating System | Windows 10 Home |
| Average Battery Life (in hours) | 3 Hours |
| Are Batteries Included | Yes |
| Lithium Battery Energy Content | 60 Watt-Hours |
| Lithium Battery Weight | 1 Grams |
| Number Of Lithium-Ion Cells | 8 |
| Included Components | Laptop, Power Cord, 2 AC Adapter, Case |
| Manufacturer | Acer |
| Item Weight | 8 kg 500 g |
Design: Introducing the 8th Wonder of the World-
One thing's for sure, you'll never be able to overlook the Predator 21 X. At 18.6 pounds, 22.4 x 12.4 x 3.3 inches, the system is pretty hard to ignore. It makes bonafide heavyweights like the Alienware 17 R4 (9.6 pounds), the MSI GT83VR Titan SLI (13.1 pounds) and the Origin PC Eon17 SLX 10 Series (12.8 pounds) look like regular notebooks (flashing lights and aggressive designs aside).
The Predator insignia holds court in the centre of the lid looking every bit like the Decepticon logo. The display's curvature is so pronounced that you can see the metallic blue spacebar peeking out at you from the front.
If the Predator 21 X's curved display isn't enough for you, the laptop has plenty of ports to support a monitor or two -- and a mouse, an external hard drive or whatever you want to plugin. Along the Predator 21 X's right are a pair of USB 3.0 ports and a Kensington lock slot. On the left, you get two more USB 3.0 ports, an SD card reader and jacks for a headset and mic. At the system's rear, you'll find a USB Type-C port, a Thunderbolt 3 port, Gigabit Ethernet, two DisplayPorts, HDMI and a pair of DC jacks.
Display: Curves in All the Right Places-
I didn't know I needed or wanted a curved display on a laptop until I laid eyes on the Predator 21 X. The curvature of the 21-inch, 2560 x 1080 matte display is tantalizing.
The 21 X's screen registered a very accurate 0.24 on the Delta-E test (0 is optimal), beating the 1.4 desktop-replacement average. The Alienware 17 came the closest to matching the 21 X at 0.5, with the Eon17 and Titan hitting 1 and 2.
When we tested for brightness, the 21 X's display knocked it out the park, averaging 332 nits, besting the 291-nit average. The Titan was noticeably dimmer at 295, but the Eon17 and the Alienware 17 were just a bit brighter at 335 and 340 nits.
The Predator 21 X's screen also has Nvidia's G-Sync technology. In a nutshell, the technology puts the laptop's display rate in sync with the graphics card, essentially placing a frame cap that matches the panel limit (in this case, it's 120Hz). That makes for near-instant rendering in both full-screen and windowed modes, thus eliminating any tears, and leaving smooth images and happy gamers.
Gaming on a Curve-
So what's it like gaming with a curved display? It's really immersive, as long as the game supports the 21 X's unique aspect ratio. For instance, when I was battling Kett in Mass Effect: Andromeda, the skirmishes filled the entire screen. It was thrilling running for cover in the heat of battle only to vault over and smash an enemy with my Krogan hammer.
Tobii Eye-Tracking: Keep Your Eyes on the Game-
Acer went the extra mile and added Tobii's eye-tracking technology to the mix. As the name suggests, the integrated IR sensor tracks your eyes and lets you control several features in- and out-of-game. The technology currently works with 49 titles, including Rising of the Tomb Raider, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands, Nevermind and Dying Light.
Audio: Where's the Bass?
The Predator 21 X has a new three-way audio system comprised of tweeters, midrange and subwoofers. This new system does deliver some serious detail, which allowed me to hear Ralph Tresvant take a big swig of water before the beat dropped on New Edition's "If It Isn't Love."
Keyboard: Clicky Goodness-
I love typing on the 21 X's mechanical keyboard almost as much as I like looking at it and hearing it. With the loud clacking from the keys and their Cherry MX Brown switches. Measuring a crazy 4 millimetres of key travel (minimum 1.5-2mm) and 64 grams of actuation (minimum 60g), the keys really push back when you press them.
As with other premium gaming laptops, every single key on the Predator 21 X can be individually programmed to flash one of the 16.7 million colours available in the Acer Predator Sense software. You can add several lighting effects, including Breathing, Starburst, Afterglow, Neon and Ripple. Predator Sense can also be used to program hotkeys, control fan speed and overclock the CPU and GPU.
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Touchpad: Fun With Magnets-
As massive as the 21 X's keyboard is, there's barely any room for the touchpad. Similar to the Titan, the Predator handles this by moving the touchpad over to the right. The 2.9 x 2.6-inch touchpad is a bit narrower than I'm used to, but performed multitouch gestures like pinch-zoom and three-finger tap quickly and accurately.
Gaming, Graphics and VR: Twice as Nice-
When you're using a laptop this outlandish, there's no such thing as too much. That's why the Predator 21 X is outfitted with not one, but two Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 GPUs with 8GB of VRAM, each in an SLI configuration. That means this laptop is practically begging you to crank up the settings and the resolution.
The Predator 21 X started flexing its muscles on our gaming benchmarks, notching 106 frames per minute on the Rise of the Tomb Raider benchmark (Very High, 1920 x 1080), nearly doubling the 54 fps average. Laden with their own dual GTX 1080 GPUs, the Titan and the Eon17 scored 58 and 81 fps, respectively. The Alienware 17 with its single GTX 1080 GPU obtained 80 fps.
Those pair of GTX 1080 GPUs also do a great job with virtual-reality games as I soon discovered during The Unspoken. I teleported from pillar to pillar, trying to avoid my opponent's rapid-fire volley of fireballs while attempting to mount an attack of my own with magical crows. Even when I managed to summon the stage golem, the Predator 21 X kept the image nice and smooth.
Battery Life: Gone Too Soon-
As extravagant as the Predator 21 X is, one place Acer couldn't splurge on is the battery life. The leviathan lasted only 2 hours and 4 minutes on our battery test, which consists of continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi. That's much shorter than the 4:24 desktop-replacement average but enough to outpace the Eon17's 1:25. The Titan and Alienware only did marginally better at 2:18 and 2:46.
Heat: One Cool Customer-
Despite the overclockable CPU and double GPUs, the Predator 21 X does a good job of staying fairly cool. In order to keep the temperature down, Acer outfitted the system with five system fans - three of which are the company's proprietary AeroBlade fans -- and nine heat pipes. According to Acer, the fans work in unison to keep the CPU and GPUs cool.
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