Advantages of the Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 (2024)
Very good for engineering and design
Very good for gaming and AI
Very good for content creation
Very good overall display quality
Advantages of the Gigabyte A5
Good portability
Good battery life
Very good speakers
Key differences
General Use
7.9/10
7.3/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
498.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
281.0 nits
5.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
6.5 Hours
7.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.5/10
5.4/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
7.0/10
The Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 (2024) and Gigabyte A5 are both good for general use, though the Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 (2024) is somewhat better.
PerfectRec’s General Use Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for general productivity, web browsing, streaming, video calls, and running a wide variety of apps and programs.
Gaming and AI
8.3/10
7.1/10
8.5/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.3/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
165Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
Yes
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
7.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.5/10
The Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 (2024) is very good for gaming and AI, while the Gigabyte A5 is good.
PerfectRec’s Gaming and AI Score strongly emphasizes graphics processing capability, while also taking into account other factors that impact suitability for gaming and AI work.
Engineering and Design
8.6/10
7.3/10
9.8/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
6.0/10
8.5/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.3/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 (2024) is very good for engineering and design, while the Gigabyte A5 is good.
PerfectRec’s Engineering and Design Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for graphic design and 3D rendering work.
Content Creation
8.1/10
7.3/10
9.8/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
6.0/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 (2024) is very good for content creation, while the Gigabyte A5 is good.
PerfectRec’s Content Creation Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for photo editing, video editing and other content creation tasks.
Software Development
7.9/10
7.0/10
9.8/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
6.0/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
7.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.5/10
The Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 (2024) and Gigabyte A5 are both good for software development, though the Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 (2024) is somewhat better.
PerfectRec’s Software Development Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for software developers.
Screen Quality
8.3/10
7.2/10
18.0in
SIZE
15.6in
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
165Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
498.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
281.0 nits
The Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 has a better screen than the Gigabyte A5 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, software development, and content creation.
PerfectRec’s screen quality scores take into account various important factors that are relevant for different use cases.
Battery
5.0 Hours
6.5 Hours
The Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 has 5 hours of battery life. The Gigabyte A5 has 6.5 hours of battery life.
Battery life estimate is based on a mix of common use patterns. More portable and higher performing laptops tend to have less battery life.
Portability
Poor
Good
18.0in
SIZE
15.6in
7.1 lbs
WEIGHT
4.6 lbs
1.0in
THICKNESS
1.0in
The Gigabyte A5 has good portability, while the Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 (2024) has poor portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Cost
$1,749
$830
$0
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
The Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 (2024) has a price of $1,749 and the Gigabyte A5 costs $830.
"Ignoring price, the Gigabyte A5 has a hard time against the similarly fast competition. Besides the loud noise in 3D mode (performance mode), the high temperature development of the components should be mentioned on the downside. Despite the relatively thick case, the laptop gets very warm and loud under load, which does not exactly speak for the cooling system. The plastic surfaces look rather cheap and also tend to rattle. In most other disciplines - be it the input devices, the screen, the connectivity or the battery runtime - the Gigabyte laptop does not stand out from the crowd, neither positively nor negatively. However, those who primarily pay attention to the price-performance ratio will get a pretty good offer with the Gigabyte A5."
Get a great deal on the Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 (2024) or the Gigabyte A5
About Acer
Acer is a prominent Taiwanese electronics brand which makes a wide range of laptops, with multiple product lines catering to personal use, gaming, and business use. They are renowned for having exceptional value for money, as they frequently offer good specifications at a lower price than other manufacturers.
About Gigabyte
Gigabyte is a Taiwanese computer hardware manufacturer. While Gigabyte mainly focuses its business on desktop hardware, Gigabyte is known for its value-oriented G series laptops, thin and light Aero series, and performance-oriented Aorus series. Gigabyte laptops offer a strong value proposition to compete with mainstream alternatives.
This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec laptops team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest laptop information and makes it digestible for you.
By the numbers
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About the laptop team
Joe Golden, Ph.D
CEO and Laptops Editor
Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
Jason Lew
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
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Chandradeep Chowdhury
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Chandradeep is a staff expert and software engineer and expert in televisions and monitors. He’s been making monitor recommendations for ten years.
Craig Russell
Laptops Expert
Craig is a UK-based laptops expert. Craig works in IT, where he recommends and supports laptops and PCs for clients and has been recommending laptops on Reddit for five years.