Hands-on review: IFA 2016: Acer Predator 21 X

We'd scoff if you told us about one of the Acer Predator 21 X's crazy features. A curved display? On a laptop? Twin GTX 1080 graphics cards?

And, a tiny window through which you can peer in to see the processor's cooling fan spinning around? Yeah, pull the other one.

As it happens, the Predator 21 X is very real, and it's a marvel to look at. It requires two power supplies to provide juice to its dual GTX 1080 GPUs inside.

The crazy doesn't stop there: it has a mechanical keyboard that uses Cherry MX switches, with RGB backlighting under each key. An Acer spokesperson on the booth didn't know which variation of Cherry's switch was in our demo sample, but they felt like Browns.

Above the keyboard is a triangular window used to show off the fans inside, giving laptop lovers the sort of visual satisfaction that desktop PC gamers have enjoyed for years. There's also Intel's new 7th-generation Kaby Lake processors on the inside, in addition to up to 4TB of SSD storage.

On the left-hand side of the keyboard are macro keys that can be used to fire off specialized commands in-game. Slip around the side, and you'll find a pair of full-sized USB ports alongside a microphone and headphone jack.

Another interesting point about the Predator 21 X – and there are many – is its removable side panel that instantly converts from a numberpad to a trackpad. It's an ingenious idea and one that we can see being done on smaller non-gaming laptops, too.

At 8kg in weight, the Predator 12 X is hardly portable – quite the opposite. But, if you're looking for a desktop replacement machine with insane amounts of power, its 2,560 x 1,080-resolution curved display is a viable replacement for a regular monitor.

It even has Tobii eye-tracking built in, which allows you to peer around levels and change camera angles by focusing on certain parts of the screen with your eyes.

It's huge, loud and about as brash as can be, but it's hard to deny that the Predator 21 X is a little bit genius, too. Acer has yet to announce pricing, but there's a good chance you'll have to remortgage your house to buy one.

This is a flash hands on review to give you the chance to see what the phone is all about as soon as possible. Stay tuned as we'll be expanding and upgrading this review very shortly with more info.

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