Chances are that Acer will compete with aggressive starting prices instead of adding unique hardware features

While I don't want to use the word ugly, but this is complete opposite of their Nitro series. Maybe the final models have a better finish than mockups, but still....Alienware is setting an example by thinning notebooks cm by cm while still allowing some thermal headroom. Whereas gigabyte is trying to fit 980m-esque hardware in near ultrabook class chassis.

And yes, then there is issue of discrete styling too...like Asus.
Acer needs to do something unique....(like the external pcie 4x lane on Alienware or thunderbolt ports...etc etc)