Asus TUF Dash F15

The ASUS laptop has a beautiful design. Its width is barely 19.9 mm, as well as its weight is precisely 2.00 kg. Given these proportions, the gadget is relatively portable, particularly for hardware. Although the build components aren’t mentioned, we assume the entire laptop outside the shell comprises plastic. Luckily, both the lid and the base were sturdy enough to withstand my attempts to stretch them.

The lid lifts with one hand that is a pleasant touch; however, beyond 2020; I was disappointed to discover no Webcam was a must-have feature. Fortunately, the bezels are narrow all the way around. The TUF emblem, which rests in the lid’s corner, is located there, and the phrase mark is vertically positioned across the logo.

Acer Predator Helios 300

If you’ve ever encountered an Acer Predator laptop, you’ve probably heard of the Acer Predator Helios 300. The hood of this laptop is polished black metal featuring two blue brackets around the silver Predator emblem in the middle. The only distinguishing feature that makes this chassis appealing is the depth and darkness of the black on the hood.

The inside of the chassis is also dark black. The deck is characterized by a huge touchpad, an edge-to-edge keyboard, and a series of vents underneath the hinge. The margins on this Predator’s screen are hefty as usual.

The Helios 300 is a tad bulkier than most rivals, weighing 5.5 pounds and measuring 14.3 x 10 x 0.9 inches. It’s bigger than the Asus TUF Dash F15 (RTX 3070) (4.4 pounds, 14.2 x 10 x 0.8 inches).

Keyboard and Touchpad

A typical keyboard device is found on the ASUS. The translucent WASD keys are still present, displaying the keyboard’s scissor function, even if the Numpad has been removed for a more symmetric location. The typing interface is decent for typing but just average for gaming with moderate key length and clicky input. In addition to the Armory Crate, there are additional audio quick keys. The backlighting of the keyboard is RGB. The touchpad is rather precise, but there are no specific buttons.

Whereas the keyboard of the Acer Predator Helios 300 lacks those delightful clicks, the keys were nonetheless rather forceful, providing vital feedback on every pressing. The keyboard has four-zone RGB illumination, which you can modify via the PredatorSense app’s Lighting page. The lighting is adequate but stunning as an RGB-lit keyboard with individual keys. Furthermore, the lighting technology is rudimentary.

The touchpad is nice. However, it can get sticky at times. It also has a good click, although the gap between the deck and the touchpad is a little too wide for my taste.

Ports

The charge plug, an RJ-45 connection, an HDMI 2.0b connector, a USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) port, a Thunderbolt 4 connector, as well as an audio jack are all located on the left side of the ASUS laptop. In addition, there are two more USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) connectors on the right.

Onboard the Acer Predator Helios 300, there are a good number of connectors. A Kensington lock slot, one Ethernet port, two USB Type-A ports, as well as a headphone jack, may all be found on the left side of the device. A Mini DisplayPort, one HDMI port, one USB Type-A port, and one USB Type-C port are located on the right side.