Acer unveils its first Ryzen 9 9955X3D gaming laptop computer — refreshed Nitro 16 joins new Predator Helios 18 AI and streaming-only Nitro Blaze Link handheld

Acer is bringing two new gaming laptops, together with a handful of attention-grabbing companion items, to Computex 2026.

Headlining the laptops is the Predator Helios 18 AI, packing as much as an Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus and RTX 5090 cellular GPU. The smaller Acer Nitro 16 tops out decrease at a cellular RTX 5070 Ti, however comes with a CPU from AMD: both the Ryzen 9 9955HX, or the Ryzen 9 9955HX3D with AMD’s coveted 3D V-Cache. Joining the 2 flagship units, which wish to earn a spot among the many greatest gaming laptops, are a streaming-only handheld known as the Nitro Blaze Link, a journey backpack with built-in USB-C laptop computer charging, and a TKL keyboard boasting an 8,000 Hz polling charge.

The Predator Helios 18 AI is of course Acer’s flagship system this yr, packing top-level specs from Nvidia and Intel. Outside of the principle compute, the laptop computer helps as much as 256GB of DDR5 reminiscence (no phrase on speeds but), in addition to 6 TB of storage, together with three PCIe 5.0 NVMe slots. The platform offers Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 connectivity, together with assist for Intel Killer DoubleShot Pro, permitting you to leverage the included RJ-45 plug and your regular Wi-Fi connection concurrently.

Acer unsurprisingly constructed out the connectivity of the laptop computer. In addition to an RJ45 plug (presumably Gigabit, however Acer hasn’t confirmed pace but), the Predator Helios 18 AI comes with twin Thunderbolt 5 ports (Type-C), two USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A ports, a single USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port, HDMI 2.1, a full-sized SD card reader, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The laptop computer is massive, coming in at 15.8 inches vast and 12.1 inches tall, with a thickness of 0.68 inches on the thinnest level and 1.2 inches on the thickest. It’s heavy, as nicely, clocking in at 7.7 kilos, partially as a result of 99 Wh battery.

Rounding out the laptop computer is an 18-inch 4K mini-LED show with a decision of 3840 x 2400 (16:10). Acer claims the panel can attain 1,000 nits, and it means that you can change between 4K and 1080p resolutions, both at 120 Hz for 4K or 240 Hz for 1080p. The show helps Nvidia G-Sync and Advanced Optimus to leverage the built-in GPU once you’re away from the charger. Powering audio is an array of six speakers under Acer’s Predator Vox branding, along with support for DTS:X Ultra.

On the key deck, Acer is offering a mechanical keyboard with its Predator MagKey 4.0 switches, allowing you to swap key caps on some switches. You can also deck out the lighting with per-key RGB. Acer hasn’t announced pricing or availability for the laptop yet, but given the current state of DRAM and NAND prices, the Helios 18 AI will likely start at several thousand dollars.

The Acer Nitro 16 is smaller in both size and specs, but it still packs in some powerful hardware. Taking the CPU slot is either the Ryzen 9 9955HX or 9955HX3D, the latter of which we’ve only seen in a handful of devices. The Nitro 16 doesn’t support an RTX 5090, but Acer is still offering the laptop with up to an RTX 5070 Ti mobile GPU with 12GB of GDDR7 VRAM.

Compared to the Helios 18 AI, everything is more sensible. You can pack up to 32GB of DDR5-5600 memory, and up to 2 TB of storage across two PCIe 4.0 slots. Connectivity is still decent with a USB 4 Type-C port, two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports, a single USB 2.0 port, HDMI 2.1, a microSD card slot, 3.5 mm headphone jack, and an RJ-45 connector. Wireless connectivity is still provided through an Intel chipset, sporting Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.

For the display, you get a 16-inch 2560 x 1600 (16:10) panel with a 240 Hz refresh rate, with claimed response times of 3 ms, alongside Nvidia G-Sync and Advanced Optimus. Acer includes two speakers with DTS:X Ultra, alongside a Full HD webcam. Like the Predator Helios 18 AI, we don’t have pricing or availability details for the Nitro 16 yet, but Acer describes it as “a value-driven powerhouse,” so hopefully it won’t be too expensive.

Acer Nitro Blaze Link, Aethon 750 TKL, and Robust Plus

Alongside the two laptops, Acer revealed a handful of new companion devices. Chief among them is the Nitro Blaze Link, which is a streaming-only handheld that’s designed to work on your home network. The handheld uses the streaming clients Sunshine or Moonlight on top of a Debian-based OS to stream games from your main rig. The handheld isn’t capable of running games locally (at least not officially). Acer hasn’t shared what chip is powering the handheld, but with just 1 GB of LPDDR4-2133 and 8 GB of eMMC flash storage, you shouldn’t expect much.

Without any real compute under the hood, the Nitro Blaze Link is light at only 464 grams, or just a smidge over 1 pound. It charges with just 15W over USB-C and includes a single-cell 18 Wh battery, alongside a Wi-Fi 6 antenna. The screen is a 7-inch 1920 x 1200 display with five-point multi-touch, and you get a pair of built-in 2W speakers. Again, Acer hasn’t shared pricing or availability for the Nitro Blaze Link.

Outside of mobile devices, Acer has the Aethon 750 TKL and Robust Plus backpack. The Aethon 750 TKL is described as a “tournament-grade keyboard,” matching the specs we’ve seen from devices from brands like Razer and Logitech, among the best gaming keyboards. The TKL keyboard features three modes of connectivity, including wired, 2.4 GHz, and Bluetooth, and it comes with a speedy 8,000 Hz polling rate.

Finally, there’s the Predator Robust Plus backpack, which is, well, a backpack that can fit up to an 18-inch laptop. It looks robust enough, pun intended, but the unique offering is an integrated passthrough cable for charging your devices from an external power bank. There are plenty of backpacks with a cable passthrough, but if you want to deck out your travel setup with all Acer gear, you can.

Computex 2026 is just getting underway, and Tom’s Hardware is on the ground in Taipei to check out all of the latest announcements. Hopefully, we’ll be able to see Acer’s latest devices in the flesh, alongside reveals from several other brands.

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