TechHive Editors Choice At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Camera delivers sharp 4K video Starlight night vision renders onboard spotlights optional Reliable AI detection with customizable alerts Onboard sirens and flashing lights for active deterrence Required NVR stores camera recordings locally, eliminating the need for a subscription Cons Installation involves running ethernet cables through your walls There’s no support for Apple Home Can’t operate without Eufy’s NVR (this isn’t really a con, it’s by design) Our Verdict The Eufy PoE Bullet Security Camera E40, along with Eufy’s Network Video Recorder S4, is a strong choice for homeowners and small business owners who want the enhanced security and reliability of hardwired cameras; plus, local AI and local storage that eliminates the need for a subscription. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Eufy PoE Bullet Security Camera E40 Retailer Price $129.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices The Eufy PoE Bullet Security Camera E40 is aimed at homeowners and small business owners who want the reliability of wired infrastructure, along with local storage of security camera recordings to eliminate the cost of a cloud subscription. It’s built for people who take their security seriously and are willing to pull cables through their walls to get it. The camera must be paired with Eufy’s PoE NVR, which you’ll likewise need to hardwire to your home network. For those unfamiliar with the terms, PoE stands for Power-over-Ethernet (both power and data travel over a single ethernet cable, eliminating the need for an outdoor power outlet), and NVR stands for Network Video Recorder (it’s a similar concept to the DVR–digital video recorder–you might connected to your TV). I evaluated the camera with the Eufy Network Video Recorder S4 I reviewed in July 2025. The Eufy PoE Bullet Security Camera’s video quality in daylight is excellent, with 4K resolution delivering sharp detail and accurate color. Specifications The E40 is a classic bullet-style security cameras built for the outdoors. It has a metal housing and a weatherization rating of IP67, meaning it’s dustproof and can withstand immersion in up to one meter (about 3.3 feet) of water for up to 30 minutes. Want to know more about IP codes? Our IP code guide will tell you everything you need to know. Inside that housing is a 4K single-lens camera with a wide 122-degree field of view. It supports up to 5x digital zoom, letting you focus in on details while reviewing footage. The E40 offers three modes for nighttime coverage: starlight color night vision for low-light scenes, a spotlight-enhanced mode for complete darkness, and a traditional black-and-white infrared mode when you prefer to keep things discreet. The Eufy PoE Cam E40 comes with an ethernet cable, a grommet, and mounting hardware.Michael Ansaldo/Foundry The camera’s on-device AI can distinguish between people, pets, and vehicles, reducing false alarms from passing cars or wandering wildlife. You can further minimize unwanted notifications by setting activity zones and schedules, so it only alerts you when and where you want. For active deterrence, the E40 is equipped with a built-in siren and flashing red and blue lights that mimic police strobes. Two-way audio with noise reduction can also be used to can warn off intruders or speak with visitors. The camera system can be integrated with Amazon Alexa or Google Home, but there’s currently no support for Apple Home. The Eufy Network Video Recorder S4 includes 2TB of local storage (expandable to 16TB) and built-in AI that handles detection and tracking without relying on the cloud. Michael Ansaldo/Foundry Setup and performance Installing the PoE Cam E40 is straightforward, provided you’re comfortable pulling ethernet cable from the camera back to Eufy’s NVR. The included mounting hardware gives you flexibility in positioning the camera, whether you’re attaching it to a wall, under an eave, or on a pole. The Eufy Network Video Recorder S4 comes with 2TB of storage via a mechanical hard drive, and it can be expanded up to 16TB by replacing the factory-installed drive in its single 3.5-inch bay. You’ll likely need more capacity if you elect for 24/7 recording. Setting up the NVR is more involved than a wireless camera install. You’ll need to hardwire it to your router, plug in the included mouse for system control, and hook up a monitor to its HDMI port. It’s then it’s a matter of choosing your camera locations, mounting the brackets, attaching the cameras, and drilling holes in your walls to feed ethernet cables through the provided weatherproof grommets. Once everything’s connected to the NVR, the hard part is over; the system automatically detects the cameras and you can access the system via the monitor, the Eufy app, or Eufy’s web portal. Video quality in daylight is excellent, with 4K resolution delivering sharp detail and accurate color. At night, the starlight sensor produces a clear, colorful image in low-light conditions. When the scene is completely dark, the spotlight mode kicks in to illuminate and capture maximum detail. Infrared mode provides ample light to capture clear black-and-white footage. Eufy’s onboard AI does a solid job of recognizing people, vehicles, and pets, and custom activity zones help reduce false alarms triggered by irrelevant movement. Alerts arrive promptly, and the classification accuracy keeps notifications useful rather than overwhelming. If you’re running multiple cameras, as you most likely will be, you can choose to default to the NVR’s global AI settings, which will override individual camera settings. This makes it easier to apply consistent detection rules across your system without having to configure each camera separately. When deterrence is needed, the flashing red and blue lights demand attention, and the two-way audio is loud and clear enough to startle someone who shouldn’t be there. The Eufy Security app provides full control over the PoE Cam E40, letting you view live feeds, review recordings, adjust video and audio settings, and fine-tune features such as motion detection and lighting.Michael Ansaldo/Foundry The Eufy Security app ties it all together. You’ll use it to view live feeds, scrub through recordings, and manage your video, audio, and notification settings. Streaming over a local network is smooth, and the app gives you direct control over how the camera behaves day to day. Should you buy the Eufy PoE Cam E40? At $130, the Eufy PoE Cam E40 delivers a lot for its price. You get sharp 4K video, reliable AI detection, and built-in deterrence features—all without the ongoing cost of a cloud subscription. Be sure to factor in the cost of the 8-channel (expandable to 16 channels) Eufy Network Video Recorder S4 ($400), because the camera can’t operate without it. If you’re starting from scratch, Eufy also offers the NVR bundled with four E40 cameras for $800, a $119 discount if you’re planning full-home coverage. Eufy offers bundles with combinations of cameras (e.g., you can buy the Eufy NVR with two bullet cameras and two pan/tilt cams for $1,000). You will need to accept some trade-offs. The PoE requirements mean you might need to do a fair amount of drilling and routing if your home isn’t already set up for it. And if you’re in the Apple Home ecosystem, this camera won’t slot into your setup. If you can work within those limits, the Eufy PoE Cam E40 and Eufy Network Video Recorder S4 are a smart buy. The system is built for long-term use, and it provides the kind of always-on security that’s hard to get from battery-powered, wireless alternatives. Read...

When you’re in a hurry and tossing USB cables into your bag, it’s easy for them to get tangled or damaged, especially when they snag on things as you take them out. Well, that won’t be an issue anymore if you get this speedy Baseus retractable cable—and right now it’s only $9.96 on Amazon. That’s the lowest price it’s ever been! This retractable USB-C cable is perfect for everyone who’s tired of dealing with messy, tangled cords. It’s perfect in your bag, but also perfect in your desk drawer. Not only does it reach a max length of 3.3 feet, you can set it to three other preset lengths: 1.1 feet, 1.9 feet, and 2.7 feet. Make it as long as you need to connect your device without any slack making a mess of your desk space. This cable retracts neatly into its protective casing when you’re done, keeping it compact and travel-friendly. And it’s a fast one, too! With 100W of charging throughput, this cable can fast-charge everything from your phone to your tablet to your laptop and more. You’ll need a power adapter (i.e., charger block or wall plug) or power bank that’s capable of charging that fast, of course. This retractable USB-C charging cable is fantastic for anyone, making it a no-brainer buy—especially when it’s on sale for only $9.96. Hurry up and score this limited-time deal while you still can! This fast-charging retractable USB-C cable is a steal for just $10Buy now at Amazon Read...

In case of emergency, you will now be able to designate certain trusted people who can gain access to your Proton account. According to yesterday’s announcement post, Proton’s new Emergency Access feature supports up to five trusted contacts… with some caveats. Proton For one, you can only designate people who have Proton accounts of their own, as they’ll need to use their Proton account to access yours. With access granted, a trusted contact can then log into your Proton account whenever you’re unavailable or incapacitated, whether due to travel, illness, or (in the worst case) death. Emergency Access will send you a notification whenever a trusted contact tries to access your account, and if you don’t explicitly respond with a denial, access will be granted. You can choose whether contacts can gain access immediately or whether they need to wait a certain number of days, weeks, or months before access is granted. Proton The other big catch is that Emergency Access is only available to paying Proton customers. Any paid plan qualifies for this feature, so if you want it, go ahead and upgrade your Proton Pass, Mail, VPN, or Drive plans. Alternatively, check out Proton Unlimited for full premium features across all Proton apps and services for just $9.99/month. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Enjoyable keyboard Attractive 1200p OLED display Incredible battery life Ships with small GaN charger Cons Though attractive, build quality doesn’t stand out Connectivity is limited So-so performance Our Verdict The HP OmniBook 5 14 isn’t the quickest laptop, but its portability will woo you. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: HP OmniBook 5 14 Retailer Price $599.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices Want a Windows laptop with great battery life and portability? The HP OmniBook 5 14 should be on your shortlist. It reached up to 25 hours of endurance in our battery life test. And, to sweeten the deal, it has both a fast charging mode (up to 50 percent of a full charge in 30 minutes) and a tiny 65-watt GaN charger. HP OmniBook 5 14: Specs and features The HP OmniBook 5 14 is designed around a Snapdragon X Plus chip, in this case the X1P-42-100. It is paired with 32GB of RAM and a 1TB solid state drive. While it’s nice to see the 32GB/1TB combination at this price point, the X1P-42-100 is among the least capable Snapdragon X Plus chips. That’s a perk for battery life, and a negative for performance. CPU: Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100 Memory: 32GB LPDDR5X-8448 Graphics/GPU: Qualcomm Adreno NPU: Qualcomm NPU up to 45 TOPs Display: 14-inch 1920×1200 60Hz OLED touchscreen Storage: 1TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD Webcam: 1080p 30fps Connectivity: 2x USB-C 10Gbps with USB Power Delivery and DisplayPort 1.4, 1x USB-A 10Gbps, 1x 3.5mm combo audio jack Networking: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3 Biometrics: Facial recognition Battery capacity: 59 watt-hours Dimensions: 12.29 x 8.56 x 0.61 inches Weight: 2.98 pounds Operating System: Windows 11 Home Additional features: 65-watt GaN power adapter Price: $899.99 MSRP HP lists an MSRP of $899.99 and has yet to issue discounts on this model. However, HP also sells less expensive models of the OmniBook 5 that start at an MSRP of $699.99. They are already discounted to as little as $549.99. They start at 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, however, and have a less powerful Snapdragon X chip. The HP OmniBook 5 is a strong contender if you want a Windows laptop with great battery life. HP OmniBook 5 14: Design and build quality IDG / Matthew Smith The HP OmniBook 5 makes a good first impression, though not because it stands out. Instead, it delivers a simple but cohesive design that looks classic and feels durable. It’s built from a combination of aluminum (on the lid) and plastic (across the rest of the chassis) in a “Glacier Silver” colorway. The materials look and feel more premium than the laptop’s price tag would suggest. It’s not all good news, however. While the build is decent, I noticed an odd thunk as I picked up the laptop from one corner and moved it from hand-to-hand. It seems the chassis flexes enough to contact the internals. It’s not immediately obvious, but once I heard it, I found it hard to forget. The OmniBook 5’s design and build quality is about average for the category. I’d rank the OmniBook 5 ahead of an Acer Swift Go 14 AI, but the Microsoft Surface Laptop 13 and Asus ZenBook S 14 offer more drama and feel more premium. HP OmniBook 5 14: Keyboard, trackpad, mouse IDG / Matthew Smith The keyboard is among the OmniBook 5’s best features. It provides a simple, spacious layout. Most keys are close to full size, with only the left-side Shift, Caps, and Tab keys a bit truncated. Key feel is excellent with good travel and a definitive, swift bottoming action. Most Windows laptops sold in this price range have a keyboard that’s at least good enough, but the OmniBook 5’s keyboard is a standout. The touchpad is less remarkable, but still good. It measures roughly 5 inches wide and 3 inches deep, which is average for a laptop in this category. It provides a smooth, responsive surface and enough room to handle Windows multi-touch gestures (like a five-finger pinch) with ease. While the laptop I tested did not have a touchscreen, HP says that the shipping configuration will include one. However, this isn’t true for every OmniBook 5, as the base model lacks a touchscreen It doesn’t matter much either way, as the OmniBook 5 isn’t a 2-in-1, and the display only tilts back 130 degrees (not far enough to lay flat). Still, a touchscreen is a convenience that can be handy when vegging out on the couch or in cramped quarters, like an economy-class airline seat. HP OmniBook 5 14: Display, audio IDG / Matthew Smith All HP OmniBook 5 models with the Snapdragon Plus chip have an OLED display with 1920×1200 resolution and a 60Hz refresh rate. HP calls this a “2K” display, which is a bit cheeky. It’s basically a 1080p display with a few more vertical pixels. Laptop companies have recently decided to redefine quoted pixel counts by focusing on the horizontal rather than vertical resolution. That aside, there’s nothing wrong with 1920×1200 resolution in a 14-inch laptop sold under $1,000. Indeed, while more expensive competitors like the Asus ZenBook S 14 offer a higher resolution (such as 3,200 x 1,800), the added sharpness can be a bit difficult to appreciate. The 1920×1200 panel has a pixel density of 161 pixels per inch, which is nearly identical to the sharpness of a 27-inch 4K monitor. Sharpness aside, the panel looks great. It’s an OLED display and provides the advantages typical of the panel type, including a wide color gamut and high contrast ratio. The only real issue is brightness, as the panel is rated at 300 nits and barely nudged past that in my testing. That’s not enough to comfortably use the laptop near a sunlit window or other bright light source. The OmniBook 5 has a dual-speaker sound system that provides good volume and a decent sound stage; however, turning up the volume can overwhelm the sound system, creating a harsh and muddy experience. This is a classic mistake many mid-range Windows laptops make; they often allow the speakers to hit volume levels they can’t handle. Still, the speakers are not bad for a mid-range Windows laptop at more modest volumes. HP OmniBook 5 14: Webcam, microphone, biometrics Every OmniBook 5 ships with a 1080p webcam and dual array microphone. Both provide good though not exceptional quality. Video is reasonably sharp and the microphones pick up crisp audio but, like most laptops, both are only adequate for Zoom or Google Meet. The laptop does support Windows Studio Effects features, including background blur and automatic framing. The camera provides a physical privacy shutter to fully obstruct the camera when it’s not in use. This feature, though increasingly common, is good to see on an affordable laptop. It’s more common on high-end models. Biometric login is supported by Windows Hello facial recognition. As usual, it works well providing fast and reliable login without the need to enter a password. A fingerprint reader is not available. HP OmniBook 5 14: Connectivity IDG / Matthew Smith The OmniBook 5 has a slim port selection. On the left flank you’ll find two USB-C ports, while on the right you’ll find USB-A and a 3.5mm audio jack. Both USB-C ports support DisplayPort and Power Delivery, so both can be used to charge the laptop and/or connect to a USB-C display (or DisplayPort/HDMI if you buy an adapter). However, the ports only support data rates up to 10Gbps. This marks a major difference between the OmniBook 5 and laptops that support Thunderbolt 4, which provides 40Gbps of data. 10Gbps is still enough for most situations. But it might be a limitation if you were planning to connect to a USB-C dock and then connect several high-speed external storage devices. While the limited USB-C ports are disappointing, it’s common for Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus laptops. Those who want Thunderbolt will need to look at an Apple MacBook Air or entry-level laptops with an Intel Core Ultra processor. It’s a similar story with wireless connectivity, as the OmniBook 5 supports Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3. Both are fine, but neither is the most recent version of each wireless standard. As with Thunderbolt, Wi-Fi 7 support is not that common in machines under $1,000, and most often provided by laptops with Intel Core Ultra processors. HP OmniBook 5 14: Performance The HP OmniBook 5 offers the Qualcomm Snapdragon X chip. It’s important to note there are differences between models. Base models have the Snapdragon X X1-26-100 with eight cores up to 2.97GHz, but the model I tested had the Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100 with eight cores up to 3.4GHz. Even the X1P-42-100 is a fairly tame version of the Snapdragon X, sitting at the bottom of the Snapdragon X Plus product stack. It has fewer cores than other Snapdragon X chips (which offer up to 10 in Snapdragon X Plus and up to 12 in Snapdragon X Elite) and a less capable version of the Qualcomm Adreno GPU. The Qualcomm NPU is the same across chips, though, with quoted performance up to 45 TOPS. IDG / Matthew Smith Let’s start with Cinebench 2024, a benchmark that provides native support for both Arm and x86. It reports a multi-core score of 495 and a single-core score of 105. As the graph indicates, these scores are fine but not impressive for a laptop priced at $899. Depending on the specifics of sales at the time you are buying, it might be possible to find a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite, Ryzen AI 7, or Intel Core Ultra 7 laptop in the same price bracket. All of these will tend to beat the OmniBook 5 with Snapdragon X Plus. IDG / Matthew Smith 3D performance is a sneaky weakness of the entry-level Snapdragon X and Snapdragon X Plus chips. While all versions of the Snapdragon X have a Qualcomm Adreno, performance levels vary greatly. The best Snapdragon X Elite quotes 4.6 TFLOPs of performance, but the Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100 quotes just 1.7 TFLOPs. That’s well less than half the performance. How much that matters depends both on your needs and your frame of reference. Laptops in this price range often have either Intel Arc 130V or AMD Radeon 860M graphics, both of which also give up a fair bit of performance when compared to their more expensive and premium siblings. But if you compare the HP OmniBook 5 to a laptop with Intel Arc 140V, Radeon 880M, or a Snapdragon X Elite chip, it’s going to fall quite a bit behind. At the end of the day, the HP OmniBook 5’s performance is ok but not exceptional. Like most laptops that have an entry-level Snapdragon X or Snapdragon X Plus chip, the OmniBook 5 is vulnerable to price pressure from discounted Snapdragon X Elite laptops, which tend to offer much better performance for a slight jump in price. Still, the HP OmniBook 5 is still plenty quick for a wide range of productivity tasks. And it has a major perk that, for many, could justify settling for modest performance. HP OmniBook 5 14: Battery life and portability That perk is battery life. HP says that the OmniBook 5 14 can achieve up to 34 hours of battery life. That incredible claim did not match our testing, but the laptop still managed to exceed 25 hours in a video playback test. IDG / Matthew Smith As the graph shows, that’s a truly staggering figure for any laptop, never mind one sold below $1,000. I was also surprised to see this figure despite the use of an OLED display. In some cases OLED displays appear to reduce battery life relative to an IPS display, but that’s obviously not the situation here. The laptop is also extremely easy to keep charged up. Both USB-C ports support Power Delivery and the laptop has a fast charge mode that can add up to 50 percent capacity in 30 minutes (though only when the laptop is completely shut down and below 50 percent capacity). HP also provides a tiny 65-watt GaN power adapter with some OmniBook 5 models, including the model I tested. It measures only 2.5 inches long and about an inch thick, which makes it the smallest included power adapter I’ve ever tested. This further contributes to the already great battery life, since it’s easy to pack the adapter for quick top-offs whenever an outlet is available. All of this combines to make the HP OmniBook 5 a remarkably portable Windows laptop and, I think, the most portable mid-range laptop in the market right now. Some competitors are smaller, but few are close to the OmniBook 5’s battery life, and HP’s inclusion of the GaN power adapter gives it an edge. HP OmniBook 5 14: Conclusion The HP OmniBook 5 is a strong contender if you want a Windows laptop with great battery life. Though not a top performer, it does well enough for a laptop under $1,000. And it benefits from other perks like an enjoyable keyboard and OLED display. Pricing may not always be to HP’s benefit, as steep discounting on laptops with more powerful chips can dip into price territory similar to the OmniBook 5. But the HP’s 25-hour endurance and tiny GaN charger provide shoppers a good reason to buy it over the alternatives. Read...

Cognizant and Eagle Eye have partnered to offer AI-driven, real-time loyalty and promotions solutions for global retail, travel and hospitality enterprises. Read...

A large package set for delivery has caused quite a stink for one courier company, causing it to dial in the help of the police. After the box was dropped off at New Zealand Couriers in New Plymouth, an employee noticed it was emitting the “distinctive odour” of cannabis. But the police didn’t have to look far to figure out who was behind the package, with the source having provided his name and contact details on the package receipt. Today, Anthony Ellison, 40, appeared in the New Plymouth District Court charged with possession of cannabis and cultivation of cannabis, to which he pleaded guilty. Judge Gregory Hikaka said Ellison dropped off the “large white box” to the courier on October 24 last year. Inside was 445g of dried cannabis leaf material, intended to make the journey across the Cook Strait to an address in Takaka. But after the employee clocked the smell of cannabis, the police were notified. This led to a search of Ellison’s house in New Plymouth, where police found four “large” cannabis plants growing in pots on his deck. A “jungle grow tent”, grow lights and a set of scales were also found and seized. When speaking with the police, Ellison said he had gone to the couriers to drop the package off for a friend. He admitted the plants growing at his house were his. In court, defence lawyer Emily Forsyth submitted there was no element of commercial gain in Ellison’s offending, and he was in fulltime employment with a recent opportunity to advance his career. She said he undertook random drug-testing at work and had offered to do the same through Corrections. The appropriate sentence was community detention, with a weekend curfew to facilitate the weekday travel Ellison undertook for work, Forsyth submitted. Police prosecutor Lewis Sutton had no issues with the defence’s submissions but asked for a destruction order to be made in respect to the cannabis and equipment. Judge Hikaka said Ellison had “a lot of previous convictions” but none for drug offending. “You could count yourself fortunate. You could have faced different charges on the basis of that quantity, and your posting, as well as your admission that it was to supply someone else.” The judge agreed the appropriate sentence was community detention, with a weekend curfew, imposing the sentence for three months. However, he added six months of supervision and made a destruction order for the cannabis and equipment. Tara Shaskey joined NZME in 2022 and is currently an assistant editor and reporter for the Open Justice team. She has been a reporter since 2014 and previously worked at Stuff covering crime and justice, arts and entertainment, and Maori issues. Read...

As a remote worker, I love being able to work anywhere I want, whether it’s a coffee shop, an Airbnb, or my backyard. But the thing I hate most? Only having a single display on my laptop! Fortunately, that hasn’t been a problem for me in a while because I use a travel-friendly portable monitor—and if you want one yourself, now’s a great time to grab this KYY portable monitor that’s only $70 on Amazon (30% off) because that matches the lowest price it’s ever been. This lovely 15.6-inch 1080p monitor is super slim (0.3 inches) and lightweight (1.7 pounds), so you can take it with you anywhere just by sliding it into your bag next to your laptop. All it needs are video and power connections, which you can provide with a single USB-C video cable or with a combination of Mini HDMI video and USB-C power. KYY’s portable monitor comes with a scratchproof smart cover that doubles as a stand, and the monitor itself can be oriented in either landscape or portrait mode to your liking. Plus, it’s not only compatible with your laptop, but also with smartphones, tablets, PCs, Nintendo Switches and other gaming consoles, and more. Snag this portable monitor for just $70 on Amazon before this limited-time deal runs out. It’s one of the best laptop accessories you’ll ever get, especially if you’re a remote worker who’s always on the go. Save 30% on this ultra-slim travel-friendly 1080p external displayBuy now at Amazon Read...

Webjet has teamed up with AWS and Microsoft to create AI travel solutions, enhancing customer service and personalised trip planning by 2024. Read...

The hotel industry here is taking notice about what travellers with dogs are looking for. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Beautiful high-refresh rate OLED display Good price for that OLED Solid performance per dollar Lots of ports Cons Doesn’t pull far ahead of RTX 5070-powered laptops NPU is too slow for Copilot+ PC AI features 12 GB VRAM is low for GPU-heavy AI models Bad speakers Our Verdict The Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI feels like it was meant to be a gaming laptop and the marketing department wanted to slap “AI” on it. It’s a reasonable midrange gaming laptop with a stunning OLED display. If you want AI laptop features, though — look elsewhere. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI Retailer Price Check Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices The Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI is a 16-inch gaming laptop with solid hardware for a reasonable price. But if you’re looking for a true “AI laptop,” this isn’t it. The neural processing unit (NPU) is too slow to handle Microsoft’s Copilot+ PC AI features nor is it ready to run the most current AI tasks. Many buyers don’t realize that modern “AI laptops” often fall short of Microsoft’s advertised standards. Like other gaming laptops rebranded as AI laptops, this machine would excel at GPU-based AI tasks, but no more than any other gaming laptop. With 12 GB of VRAM, the Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti GPU here isn’t ideal for local AI models. (For example, OpenAI’s new gpt-oss-20B model is intended for GPUs with at least 16 GB of VRAM.) Moving beyond the AI branding, this is a fine laptop — if we treat it as a gaming laptop and not an AI laptop. And this OLED display at less than $2,000 is extremely impressive. So, for the rest of this review, I’ll just treat it like a gaming laptop. Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI: Specs The Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S is a 16-inch gaming laptop with a blazing-fast 24-core Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU, a current-generation Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti GPU, 32 GB of RAM, and a 1 TB SSD. That’s the Best Buy-exclusive configuration we reviewed, and it retails for $1,899. The RAM and storage are end user-upgradable, too. All you have to do is remove the bottom cover. Model number: PHN16S-71-98RF CPU: Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX Memory: 32 GB DDR5 6400 MHz RAM Graphics/GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 12GB NPU: Intel AI Boost (up to 13 TOPS) Display: 16-inch 2560×1600 OLED display with 240Hz refresh rate Storage: 1 TB PCIe Gen4 SSD Webcam: 1080p webcam Connectivity: 2x USB Type-C (1x Thunderbolt 4, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 10Gbps), 3x USB Type-A (2x USB 3.2 Gen 2, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1), 1x HDMI 2.1 out, 1x Ethernet, 1x microSD card reader, 1x combo audio jack, 1x DC power in Networking: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.4 Biometrics: IR camera for facial recognition Battery capacity: 76 Watt-hours Dimensions: 14.06 x 10.9 x 1.01 inches Weight: 4.8 pounds MSRP: $1,899 as tested If you want a 16-inch OLED with 240Hz refresh rate for under $2,000, you should seriously consider this machine.” Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI: Design and build quality IDG / Chris Hoffman The Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI is a 16-inch gaming laptop that lands somewhere between the thinnest gaming laptops and the chunkiest ones. At just under five pounds, it’s still plenty portable for a gaming laptop. It’s all black, aside from a reflective Predator logo on the lid and a silver logo on the keyboard tray. The good news is that there’s no “AI” logo anywhere on this machine. While Acer doesn’t specify the materials in its reviewer’s guide, the lid appears to be made of a black aluminum, with much of the rest of the machine made of a black plastic. It feels solid. The hinge also feels nice and smooth, and it’s easy to open with a single hand. While the keyboard lights up with multicolored LEDs if you want it, the rest of the machine in its “Obsidian Black” color scheme is restrained, and it could pass for more of a professional laptop than a gaming laptop. There are no light bars or other effects elsewhere on the laptop. That silver “Predator” logo below the keyboard marks it as a gaming laptop, however. It’s a solid laptop. It feels sturdy, and the plastic finish doesn’t feel cheap. At an inch thick, it’s a reasonable thickness for a gaming laptop. But it doesn’t feel quite as luxurious to the touch as an all-metal laptop chassis. Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI: Keyboard and trackpad IDG / Chris Hoffman The Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI has a full-size keyboard complete with a number pad (there’s plenty of room for it) and four zones of RGB LED backlighting. That customizable backlighting lets you set up colorful effects without the cost of including more expensive per-key RGB backlighting. With 1.5mm of key travel, this is a standard membrane-style chiclet keyboard on a gaming laptop of this size. There’s plenty of room for enough key travel to make the keyboard feel nice without any extra tricks. It feels fine — not mushy — but it doesn’t feel as unusually snappy as when manufacturers go the extra mile to include a mechanical keyboard or one with extra actuation force. The trackpad is a good size, smooth, and responsive. The surface isn’t as smooth as a glass touchpad, and there’s perhaps a little more friction than on some other trackpad finishes I’ve used recently — plus the click-down action lands with a bit more of a “thunk” than a “click” — but it’s fine. It’s a standard touchpad, but nothing that stands out against its competitors. I game with a mouse, anyway, and I’d be happy using this while I wasn’t gaming. Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI: Display and speakers IDG / Chris Hoffman The Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI has a 16-inch 2560×1600 OLED display with a 240Hz refresh rate and up to 400 nits of brightness (peaking a bit higher in HDR mode.) It supports HDR and Nvidia G-Sync, too. The display looks great — I’m a sucker for a good OLED. I’m excited to see an OLED with such a high refresh rate, too. For years, it felt like you had to pick between OLED or a high refresh rate on a gaming laptop. You can get displays that are brighter or even higher resolution on a gaming laptop, but this one looks good with the deep blacks you’ll find on an OLED. While this is very nice OLED, it’s not the best one I’ve seen. While playing Doom: The Dark Ages, the blacks on this OLED display looked nice and deep, but these aren’t the vivid colors and high brightness I normally see on an OLED-powered laptop. In a lot of ways, it reminds me more of a good IPS display. That’s not a surprise due to that 400 nits brightness. The blacks are nice and deep, but the colors aren’t as vivid as I see on brighter OLEDs. As an OLED, it’s a little glossy and prone to reflections, and that can be an issue in a bright room, more brightness usually helps overpower these reflections. I test the speakers on every laptop I review by playing Steely Dan’s Aja and Daft Punk’s Get Lucky. The Helios Neo 16S AI’s two stereo speakers delivered plenty of volume. They did a better job in Get Lucky than in Aja with its precise instrument separation. But the upper midrange was a little harsh, especially at higher volume settings — something that really comes through in sounds like the singing in Get Lucky‘s chorus. I found the upper midranges fatiguing after just a few minutes in Doom: The Dark Ages, too. I don’t like the way the speakers sound, and I would really want to use headphones while gaming. Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI: Webcam, microphone, biometrics The Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI has a 1080p webcam that looks fine for a gaming laptop. In fact, I’d say it’s on the better side for a gaming laptop, though the color and general image quality aren’t up there with business laptops optimized for video conferencing. Since Acer is pushing AI features for the webcam and microphone, it’s worth noting that the “PurifiedView” button in the PredatorSense app’s “Experience Zone” just opens Windows Studio Effects webcam settings — you’ll get these particular effects (automatic framing, eye contact, and background blur) on basically any laptop with this NPU. And you’ll get more on a Copilot+ PC that delivers extra features. The microphone setup was on the quiet side and not particularly high-quality. That’s normal for gaming laptops, but Acer markets this as a three-microphone setup for crystal-clear voice quality. You’ll probably be using an external microphone, anyway. This machine has Acer Purified Voice features you can tweak in the PredatorSense’s “Experience Zone,” and they’re an improvement over no effects. However, stronger microphone hardware would deliver a better voice input experience than these trendy AI effects do. You don’t need an “AI laptop” for background noise removal, anyway. This machine has an IR camera for facial recognition with Windows Hello, so you can sign in with your face. As usual on modern laptops, it works well. Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI: Connectivity IDG / Chris Hoffman The Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI has a good collection of ports that are positioned well. But it also has one of the big problems I tend to see on laptops like these — USB port confusion. On the left side, the machine offers an Ethernet jack, a USB Type-A port, a microSD card reader, and combo audio jack. On the right side, it’s got two more USB Type-A ports. On the back, you’ll find a DC power in jack, HDMI 2.1 out, and two USB Type-C ports (one is Thunderbolt 4 and one is USB 3.2). That’s a great location and means cables like power in and video out are coming out the back of your laptop and aren’t in the way of your mouse and other things on your desk. The annoyance is the usual USB port confusion. On the back, one of the USB Type-C ports is a Thunderbolt 4 port while the other operates at USB 3.2 speeds. You’ll need to keep an eye on which is which if you have Thunderbolt 4 devices or you’ll find them operating at reduced speeds. This laptop features Killer Wi-Fi 6E hardware and Bluetooth 5.4 support, and it thankfully has that 2.5 Gbps Ethernet port for wired networking. It’s disappointing that Acer skipped Wi-Fi 7 here. It’s not a big deal, but Wi-Fi 7 support would make it more futureproof. Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI: Performance I put the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI to the test in Doom: The Dark Ages, and it performed well — as it should with this CPU and GPU! Under load, the fans aren’t unusually loud for a gaming laptop. They blow hot air out of both the back and sides. I’d prefer if they only blew it out the back. The keyboard can also get a little toasty, especially in the middle. As always, we ran the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI through our standard benchmarks to see how it performs. IDG / Chris Hoffman First, we run PCMark 10 to get an idea of overall system performance. This is an overall system benchmark, but the CPU is a huge factor here. The Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI delivered a solid score of 8,320 thanks to its speedy Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU. IDG / Chris Hoffman Next, we run Cinebench R20. This is a heavily multithreaded benchmark that focuses on overall CPU performance. It’s a quick benchmark, so cooling under extended workloads isn’t a factor. But, since it’s heavily multithreaded, CPUs with more cores have a huge advantage. With an average multithreaded Cinebench R20 score of 13,072, this laptop was a bit behind some competitors with the same CPU, possibly suggesting cooling may be a factor. IDG / Chris Hoffman We also run an encode with Handbrake. This is another heavily multithreaded benchmark, but it runs over an extended period. This demands the laptop’s cooling kick in, and many laptops will throttle and slow down under load. The Helios Neo 16S completed the encode process in an average of 562 seconds. That’s over nine minutes. Again, we see it slipping behind similar laptops that presumably have better cooling systems and need less throttling under load. If I were approaching this as an AI laptop and saying you might be looking to do CPU inference, I’d point out this is a real issue — you’d want a laptop with better cooling to run heavy CPU-crunching tasks for extended periods of time. (But, since we’ve left the idea of this being an AI workstation behind, it’s fine and likely won’t have a huge effect on gaming performance.) IDG / Chris Hoffman Next, we run a graphical benchmark. First, we run 3Dmark Time Spy, a graphical benchmark that focuses on GPU performance. The Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti GPU here produced a Time Spy score of 13,528. A benchmark like this one is all about the GPU. What’s interesting here is the RTX 5070 Ti in this machine doesn’t pull very far ahead of the RTX 5070 in the Alienware 16X Aurora. It’s ahead, but only by a little bit. Comparing on-paper GPU speeds, it should be ahead by a lot! The cause is likely the TDP. In this machine, the RTX 5070 Ti is limited to 115 W max, so it can’t take full advantage of the 5070 Ti’s theoretically higher performance in the ideal world. (The Alienware 16X Aurora also runs its 5070 at a 115 W TDP.) IDG / Chris Hoffman Then, we benchmark some games. We start with Shadow of the Tomb Raider, an older game, but a great way to compare performance across hardware. With an average FPS of 160 in our standard benchmark here, this machine is in line with other similar laptops and even ones with faster RTX 5080 and RTX 5090 GPUs. IDG / Chris Hoffman Finally, we benchmark a demanding game. We run the Extreme benchmark in Metro Exodus. With an average FPS of 56 in this benchmark, this comes in roughly where we’d expect to see it — behind RTX 5080 and RTX 5090 laptops. Again, this is only a hair faster than the RTX 5070 in the Alienware 16X Aurora. While the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S does have a faster GPU, the advantages are marginal at this TDP level. Overall, the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI performed fine. But it doesn’t take full advantage of its hardware. The Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX doesn’t deliver the kind of sustained performance it can on competing PCs (likely due to the cooling hardware), for example. More importantly, while the choice of a faster RTX 5070 Ti GPU looks like a big on-paper win that will deliver faster performance than an RTX 5070, the TDP here means that the GPU in this machine performs similarly to machines with RTX 5070 GPUs running at the high end of what they can manage. Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI: Battery life The Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI has a 76 Watt-hour battery, which is middle of the road for a gaming laptop. Still, it helps keep weight down and you aren’t going to game on battery power anyway. IDG / Chris Hoffman To benchmark the battery life, we play a 4K copy of Tears of Steel on repeat on Windows 11 with airplane mode enabled until the laptop suspends itself. We set the screen to 250 nits of brightness for our battery benchmarks. This is a best-case scenario for any laptop since local video playback is so efficient, and real battery life in day-to-day use is always going to be less than this. Also, since this laptop has an OLED screen that doesn’t have to use extra power to display the black bars around the video, that gives it a bit of an edge against competing laptops with IPS displays on this test. The Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI lasted for an average of 371 minutes in our benchmark — that’s just over six hours. You’ll get less in the real world, so this laptop won’t make it through a workday (maybe not even have a workday) before you must plug it in. That’s standard for gaming laptops with power-hungry Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processors. Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI: Conclusion If you want a 16-inch OLED with 240Hz refresh rate for under $2,000, you should seriously consider this machine. Asus’s ROG Zephyrus G16 is another 16-inch laptop with an RTX 5070 Ti, a slower Intel Core Ultra 9 285H CPU, and a 240Hz refresh rate, and Asus’s online store has it at $2,799 as I’m wrapping up this review. The Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI tries a few other gimmicks. The “AI” branding isn’t a reason to buy this PC over another gaming laptop. And the RTX 5070 Ti GPU — a win on paper — is held back and doesn’t deliver the theoretical high-end performance it might. If you aren’t excited by this OLED at this price, I recommend you consider other options. This display at this price is this machine’s standout feature, not AI. Read...