Acer Next global press event: Predator gaming PCs, 2-in-1 Chromebooks, rugged laptops and more

Acer held its Next@Acer global press conference today, unveiling its latest products for PC gaming and content creation as well as a new line of rugged laptops and tablets, Chromebooks and a new ultraportable running on Intel's next-gen Xe processors. The event, titled Rock, Paper, Scissors representing the company's different product lines, is typically held in New York, but this year was livestreamed from Taipei. Here's a rundown of what the PC maker announced. 

Concept D 3 laptop and Ezel 2-in-1

After last year's announcement of the Concept D 9 and Concept D 7 at CES 2020, we now have the more affordable Concept D 3. Like the 7, the 3 is available in both a clamshell laptop and an Ezel model with a display-and-hinge design that allows the screen to pull forward and fold down on top of the keyboard. The former starts at $1,000 while the latter comes in at $1,500. Both models are available with either a 14- or 15.6-inch full-HD-resolution Pantone-validated touchscreen display.

• The Concept D 3 notebook comes equipped with up to an Nvidia Quadro T1000 (Concept D 3 Pro) or GeForce GTX 1650Ti GPUs and 10th-gen Intel Core H-series processors. 
• The Concept D 3 Ezel is powered by either a 10th-gen Intel Core i7-10750H or Core i5-10300H processors, Nvidia Quadro T1000 (Concept D 3 Ezel Pro) or GeForce GTX 1650Ti GPUs and 1TB of PCIe SSD storage.

Acer Enduro

It seems Acer is going after more professional users this year and not just graphic designers and content creators. The new Enduro line is aimed at "first responders, field and industrial manufacturing workers as well as manufacturing and retail workers who need a laptop or tablet that can handle extreme temperatures, drops, water and dust. 

• Enduro N7 is a 14-inch laptop that's MIL-810G and IP65 certified, has a 700-nit display for better outdoor viewing and two batteries, one of which is swappable so you can keep working beyond its 10-hour battery life out in the field.
•  At 24.9 mm (1 inch) thick and 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds), the Enduro N3 is considered thin and light for a rugged laptop and is "specially engineered to be resistant to drops and water."
• The Enduro T5 and T1 are rugged 10-inch Windows tablets. The T5 has a removable 10-hour battery back for continuous use, while the T1 has a detachable keyboard for faster text entry when you need it, but without the extra weight clamshell laptop.
• The T1 is also available as an 8-inch Android tablet that's MIL-STD 810G5 and IP54 certified and can be used while wearing gloves.

Watch this: Acer unveils the Chromebook Spin 713

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Chromebook Spin 713 and Spin 311

If the last three months were just a taste of what's to come next fall, there's going to be more distance learning and remote working ahead and, in turn, a demand for better Chromebooks. The Spin 713 is a premium convertible following the path cut by Acer's premium 714 and 715 announced at last year's Next event. The Spin 311 is its smaller, cheaper linemate. 

• The Chromebook 713, starting at $1,100 in August, features a 13.5-inch 2K-resolution touch display with a 3:2 aspect ratio that gives you more vertical room to work.
• Part of Intel's Project Athena program. Expect performance to be snappy with its 10th-gen Intel CPU, up to 16GB of memory and up to 256GB of PCIe NVMe SSD storage.
• The Spin 311, available in July from $260, is an 11.6-inch two-in-one that weighs 1 kg (2.2 lb) and runs for up to 15 hours on its Mediatek MT8183 processor. 

Watch this: Acer announces the Swift 5 ultrathin notebook

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Swift 5

Like the idea of a laptop that weighs only 1 kilogram, but that doesn't run Chrome or have a small 11.6-inch screen? You're in luck. The new Swift 5 is a 14-inch Windows ultraportable available in October starting at $1,000. 

• Made from high-grade magnesium-lithium and magnesium-aluminum, the ultrathin laptop runs on Intel's next-gen Xe architecture for improved integrated graphics performance. 
• Wi-Fi 6, Thunderbolt 3 and optional discrete Nvidia GeForce MX350 graphics are also part of the package. 

Predator Helios 700

A large part of the Next@Acer event is typically dedicated to the company's gaming PCs and accessories and this year is no exception. Most of the updates to its Predator and Nitro laptops were hardware-related. 

• The Predator Helios 700 will now include either an overclockable 10th-gen Intel Core i9-10980HK or i7-10875H processor and Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super or RTX 2070 Super graphics with a new Predator PowerGem cooling system using a "special material with 3.83 times more vertical heat conductivity than copper."
• Faster 2,933Hz memory (up to 64GB), two Thunderbolt 3 ports and Killer DoubleShot Pro Wi-Fi 6 wireless and E3100G Ethernet are part of the updates
• The keyboard, which still slides forward for cooling and comfort, has per-key RGB lighting and mechanical switches under the WASD keys. A set of racing keys with a 1.5 mm of keycap curvature are included with adjustable lights and actuation point. 
• Prices start at $2,400 when it ships in August.

Predator Helios 300 

• The Helios 300 is built around a 240Hz 15.6-inch FHD IPS display with 3ms overdrive.
• It's now available with 10th-gen Intel Core H-series processor and overclockable Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 with Max Q Design graphics.
• Available in July starting at USD $1,200, it can be configured with up to 32GB of 2,933MHz memory, two PCIe NVMe SSDs in RAID 0 and a 2TB hard drive. 

Predator Triton 300

Available for the first time in North America, the relatively thin and lightweight gaming laptop comes loaded like the Helios 300 with a 10th-gen Intel Core H-series processor and overclockable Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 with Max Q Design graphics. However, the Triton is a better option for content creators since its 15.6-inch full-HD-resolution display has a 300-nit brightness and supports 100% of the sRGB color space. We were able to spend some time with one before the announcement and here are our first impressions. It arrives in September starting at $1,300. 

Acer Nitro 7

Although it's not part of the Predator line, the Nitro 7 is every inch a gaming laptop. The slim metal body holds a 10th-gen Intel Core H-series processor and up to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 graphics chip. 

• Updated configurations feature up to three slots for high-speed M.2 SSDs, up to 1TB in RAID 0 configuration and up to 32GB of 2,933MHz memory.
• Networking features include Killer Ethernet E2600 and Intel Wi-Fi 6 wireless.
• A 15.6-inch FHD IPS display with a 144Hz refresh rate and 3ms response time is standard.