What do you get when you need a multipurpose tool that you can have fun with, be productive with, be creative with, and does not break the bank? In 2021, that means you get an NVIDIA® GeForce RTXTM 3050 gaming laptop. While most will tell you that building a gaming desktop PC is usually the way to go when you want a powerful tool that could fit the bill for entertainment, creativity, and productivity, a gaming laptop could make a little more sense in these times.
The question now is not whether or not you should get a gaming laptop. You still have a tough decision ahead though. In the sea of gaming notebook PCs in the market, which one would be the right one for you?
For all the consideration above, the NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 30 Series powered HP Pavilion Gaming 15 might be the one for you.
Source: HP
Experience Modern Gaming with NVIDIA
Despite its “entry-level” moniker, the HP Pavilion Gaming 15 still packs plenty of punch, equipped with a rather powerful NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3050. The new award-winning NVIDIA Ampere architecture on NVIDIA’s 2nd Generation RTX Architecture is also a large step up from the previous generation’s platform. That means you are getting a lot more performance for your money in this department.
Being a part of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX family also means you have access to NVIDIA’s game changing technologies. You can experience Ray Tracing for the most realistic gaming experience with ultra-realistic lighting and reflection models. You get NVIDIA DLSS technology too to optimise your gaming performance. The OMEN Command Center ensures that gaming is an uninterrupted and immersive experience by prioritising what is important to you.
The GPU powers a modest Full HD 144Hz display measuring at 15.6-inch. The IPS panel also means that the display projects bright, vivid colours that could benefit in both gaming and working situations. While the display may not be the highest resolution or fastest available, it also means that the internal hardware can take full advantage of the display’s 144Hz refresh rate.
Of course, the GPU alone cannot be handling everything required for a game to run at high frame rates. To really optimise the gaming experience, you need a powerful CPU to pair with. You get to choose between up to an 11th Generation Intel Core i7 or an AMD Ryzen 5000 series CPU.
Source: HP
Of course, with powerful hardware, gaming is just half the story. The stealthy, Shadow Black colour scheme and design language of the HP Pavilion Gaming 15 allows it to blend in at your workplace. It is thin and light to as well, meaning moving it from home and to work is not a chore.
The Powerful NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 paired with a powerful CPU from either Intel or AMD allows you to easily work across any creative software with ease. Need to edit a video using Adobe’s Premiere Pro, no sweat. Need to get a photo edited quickly with a combination of Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop, done. With up to 16GB in RAM (8GB x 2), no creative task is too great for the HP Pavilion Gaming 15.
At the end of the day, when it is time to take a break from the hustle and bustle, the HP Pavilion Gaming 15 comes equipped with powerful speakers tuned and designed by Bang & Olufsen. The powerful audio drivers come with a built-in discrete amplifier to make the HP Pavilion Gaming 15 a true entertainment powerhouse. With the B&O sound system, you can cast your worries away with soothing music. Or, when the mood takes you, you can get immersive audio and graphics while battling with your friends in Doom Eternal and Rainbow Six: Siege. When the hustle and bustle of competition gets a little tiring, you can go into titles like Minecraft, and even Red Dead Redemption 2 to get some peace and quiet.
The HP Pavilion Gaming 15 is now available in Shadow Black accented with an Acid Green LED backlit keyboard. You can get the new HP Pavilion Gaming 15 with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 and AMD Ryzen 5 5000 series for MYR 3,899 onward via their website.
Like any other good PC brand out there, Acer is one that houses several brands to serve different market segments. Acer houses, of course, Acer itself to sell computers for the general market, the lifestyle people and general office use. It also houses ConceptD, a new concept brand to serve the content creator or the creative industry with super quiet, super powerful, and super industrial computing solutions. Then there is Predator, the skunkworks, as we call it; that serves the gaming industry with souped up machines that looked like they could take you to the moon.
What we are reviewing here is nothing like a Predator machine, at least not in terms of concept or branding perspective. That is because it is not a Predator machine. It is an Acer machine but made for gaming anyway under the Nitro name. Oh yes, Acer has the Nitro namesake for its entry-level gaming line-up of products.
The Acer Nitro 5 has been Acer’s staple entry-level gaming laptop since they launched it a few years ago. In the market, the Acer Nitro 5 was also regarded as one of the best value-for-money machines you can get for gaming and content production. While it does not feature the most powerful components, it was plenty powerful for gaming as long as you do not expect Ultra graphics settings in games.
Here is the thing though, 2021 is a little different for Acer. It is also a different year for AMD. AMD is finally in a leading position in high-performance computing solutions after many years. They have made ultra-powerful CPUs that is loved by both the gaming and creator market. Acer decided that the powerful AMD processors should find a home in the Nitro 5 series and the Acer Nitro 5 for 2021 is born. Is it any good though? Should you buy it? We find out.
Design
The Acer Nitro 5’s shell in 2021 does still resemble the old Nitro 5. The angles are all in the same places, and the vents are largely similar in size and placements. Its dimensions did not change too much too.
Of course, there are some key visual differences between the older model and the new 2021 variant in terms of design. For one, the brushed aluminium look of the display shell is no more. It is now a semi-gloss finish. The power tappers running on both depths of the display shell is also gone. The glossy blacked out Acer logo remains from the previous generation Acer Nitro 5 though.
Instead, on the shell is now a Predator-esque lines that stems out from the bottom of the display shell. We would not call it a power bulge, maybe power lines. Instead of the regular red Nitro branding plate is now the same semi-gloss black finish as the display shell, while the Nitro print is red in colour, true to the Nitro theme colour.
While the keyboard is largely similar to the older Nitro 5, there is now proper RGB on the keyboard. We admit, it is not a per-key RGB, it is a four-zone RGB. Still, any RGB is good. Other than that though, the interior of Acer’s latest “entry-level” gaming laptop has remained very similar to before with the thin bezels and the semi-gloss black plate on the keyboard side.
The vents are also laid out differently now on the Acer Nitro 5. The have moved most of the I/O expansion slots further south of the device to make room for side exhaust vents on both sides. The rear vent however is not a single large vent anymore that stretches the width of the notebook. It is now split in two smaller vents with a quite a large red plate in the middle. It now looks a little bit like a mid-engine supercar, to be honest, especially with the charging port at the back too. We quite like the look, to be fair.
Hardware
The Acer Nitro 5 2021 is a very different beast compared to the ones that came before. We would not call the Nitro 5 that we have at hand “entry-level” anymore. There is no other way to put it, it is a high-end gaming PC, on paper at least.
Specifications
Acer Nitro 5 (2021)
As Tested
Processor (clock)
AMD Ryzen 7 5800H (Octa-Core@3.2~4.4GHz)
GPU
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070
Display(s)
15.6-inch IPS (2560 x 1440 QHD) Narrow Bezel
Memory
512GB NVMe PCIe Gen 3 SSD 16GB DDR4 RAM (8GB x 2)
Networking and Connections (I/O)
1 x USB 3.1 Type-C 3 x USB 3.2 Type-A 1 x 3.5mm AUX 1 x HDMI 2.1 1 x Ethernet Port Killer WiFi Bluetooth 5.0
Operating System
Windows 10 Home (64-bit)
Miscellaneous
2.30kg All-metal body 720p webcam
Features
This Nitro 5 is also one of the most feature packed in its line-up’s history. There is quite a lot to talk about with the Nitro 5 starting with the decision to move the charging port and only the charging port to the back of the device. But there is also a new RGB keyboard on the Nitro 5 now, which is a sign of changing times and a new era in gaming. The Nitro 5 now looks more premium than any other “entry-level” gaming laptops out there.
Charging From the Rear
Instead of the usual placement of the regular laptop at the furthermost possible part of a notebook’s side, the Nitro 5 moved its proprietary charging port completely to the rear of the device. We saw Lenovo making the first move to put charging ports at the back of the device, and we are pretty much fans of the idea.
We do have a little complain on the backplate that houses the charging port though. The plate is so large that it covers nearly half the back of the device which could be used for more cooling vents. If the plate had to be this large, we would also prefer some expansion slots to occupy the rear of the notebook.
We also had a problem with the charging port in the New Nitro 5 when we first unpacked it and was going to get it to boot. The charger plug is a sort of a “two-stage” plug. You have to line it up with the charging port, and then slide it in. Usually, that is job done. It is not in this case, you have to push it into the charging port until the charger goes deeper in with a noticeable ‘click’. This, we do not like. What is wrong with using magnets to secure the charger?
4-Zone RGB Keyboard – Finally
The 2021 version of the Acer Nitro 5 houses a 4-zone programmable RGB keyboard. While it is a fresh change to the keyboard, the keyboard is physically the same keyboard you find on the previous Nitro 5 though. It feels the same, it types the same, it works the same so we are not going to talk about that.
Because it is 4-zone RGB though, you cannot program the keys to do a ripple effect from the Nitro Sense software bundled in the Acer Nitro 5. You can set four different colours on the four different RGB quadrants on the notebook with Nitro Sense to make it look a little more unique. We prefer the rainbow wave effect though, cos that makes the notebook look like it has per-key RGB.
Nitro Sense – Not Quite Predator Sense
The Nitro Sense is very much a stripped down, red toned version of Predator Sense. There is no Predator ‘Turbo’ function on the Nitro 5’s Nitro Sense. That also means that you do not get to overclock your CPU or GPU. Might as well anyway, the AMD Ryzen 7 5800H (as tested) is a locked unit which also means you cannot really overclock the CPU. We would still appreciate some overclocking capabilities on the GPU though.
Instead, what you get are fan speed and RGB control app. Of course, you can monitor your system temperatures as well from the app. Just keep in mind that because the air intake is at the bottom of the notebook, your thermals could be greatly improved if you could just lift the Nitro 5 a little bit.
Via the app though, you can customise or maximise your fan speed depending on the apps you launch. You could tie the settings to Adobe Premiere Pro for example, to max out your fan speed when the app launches to keep the Nitro 5 from thermal throttling when you start rendering videos. You can also automatically throttle the fan speed when you launch certain games too if you want.
In terms of RGB, there is obviously a limited number of things that you can do with 4-zone lighting instead of per-key lighting. You cannot set individual colours to each key for example. You cannot even set ripple effects or rain drop effects on the keyboard with 4-zone RGB. Still, a programmable RGB is always a welcome addition to the Nitro 5.
Performance
We mentioned earlier that the Acer Nitro 5 is not what we would consider entry-level on paper. On paper, this is a damn good gaming PC. The Nitro 5 with AMD’s Ryzen 7 5800H is really “entry-level” only by name.
The Productivity and Creativity Stuff
The keyboard on the Nitro 5 is pretty much the same Keyboard you get from before. It also feels pretty much like any other keyboard that you get from Acer’s Predator gaming laptops. Then again, keyboard technology on notebook PCs have not changed or progressed all that much.
Key travel is expectedly shallow, like any regular laptop keyboard you would be used to. Still, it is not an uncomfortable keyboard to use. While key travels are short, there is enough travel in the keyboard that typing feels a little more natural.
The keys bottom out with a soft touch too. It does not feel like you are hitting your fingers against a solid block when you type out long emails or essays with the Nitro 5. There is also enough tactile feedback to each key press to help with precision and speed once you get used to the keyboard.
You would be more interested in its work performance though, in its horsepower in editing videos and even photos. With a spec like the Nitro 5 that we have here, browsing the internet is really a breeze; nothing to shout about or even criticize there. At some point we have more than 40 tabs open on Mozilla FireFox, three Microsoft Word instances open, Adobe Acrobat with about 3 tabs open at the same time as well, and the Nitro 5 has not even broken a sweat.
We use a lot of Adobe Creative Suite apps in our line of work too. We heavily rely on Adobe Premiere Pro, Audition, Acrobat, Photoshop, and even Lightroom for most of our day-to-day operations. Obviously, the most taxing app of all in our selection of apps is Adobe Premiere Pro.
On that end, it took the Acer Nitro 5 xx minutes to render a 1:30 minute video. The video was shot in 4K resolution and was rendered directly to H.VEC 264 MPEG-4 format in Full HD resolution with AAC format audio. Video rendering is AMD’s territory anyway, we expected the Nitro 5 to do well here.
Scrubbing through the 4K footage feels smooth too without too much trouble. Smooth and quick scrubbing also means accelerated workflow and less downtime. The downside here is that you have less excuses for not completing your video projects on time now.
Gaming
A gaming PC is built to game though, and game we did. We played titles like GTA V, Horizon Zero Dawn, Two Point Hospital, Ghost Recon: Breakpoint, Evil Genius 2, and A Way Out with the Nitro 5. We let the games decide the best resolution for each game when we first ran the game, and later crank the graphics settings all the way up.
You can expect most modern games to run on either ‘high’ or ‘ultra’ settings on the Acer Nitro 5. Remember we are running the AMD Ryzen 7 5800H with NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3070 variant, far from an entry-level spec sheet this. In that case, ‘high’ and ultra’ graphics on certain games are quite expected.
With Horizon Zero Dawn, the game defaults to Full HD in resolution for some reason. Although, graphics settings are set to ‘Ultra’ by default. Once we set the resolution to the correct size at 1440p, the game ran at about 70fps consistently without dropping a beat. Two Point hospital defaults to ‘high’ resolution and at times scored as low as 28fps. Once you zoom down into the littler details though you get about 50-60fps easily.
With GTA V, we expect graphics to run at up to ‘Ultra’ by default. By default, you do not get ‘Ultra’ settings from GTA V. In fact, even fps is limited to 60 fps by default. We corrected that to project at 165Hz and you automatically free up some horsepower from the Nitro 5 to get up to 100fps at times. Of course, not every setting on default was at ‘Very High’ or ‘Ultra’, Most of them were just below the highest settings available though, so it is just a single toggle away. Once we turned all of that up with MSAA off, we still got about 90fps. With MSAA is a little different though. We could turn it up to 4X without losing too much performance in terms of FPS. Once we get it to its max settings though, fps dropped to as low as 53fps at times and remains at about 65-70fps most of the time.
With these games, you are not really hitting the 165Hz of the QHD display at all though, which is a little bit of a waste. If you want to hit 165fps to fully take advantage of the 165Hz refresh rate though, you can play Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) and easily hit that much frames in a second.
Still, the Acer Nitro 5 is a formidable gaming PC that can hold itself against the sea of gaming PCs you find in the market currently. In fact, we do think it can hold itself against its more premium cousins in the Predator family. We believe that it could even outperform some of them in similar spec sheet with an Intel processor in fact.
Battery Life
The Nitro 5 lasted nearly 2.5 hours with its display on full brightness and power mode set to high-performance. We were using the Acer Nitro 5 for web browsing, typing a Word document (this review, in fact), and listening to some music (50% volume) at the same time. There were also a few browser tabs that was open at the same time on Mozilla Firefox.
We have to point out that we still could get GTA V running at about 30fps while on battery on its default settings. While it was our own careless mistake in forgetting to plug the charger in, this is also an indication that you should never game on battery. Still, we were quite impressed.
Putting the Acer Nitro 5 in battery saving mode via Windows turns the brightness down a little and limits background applications like OneDrive auto-sync. It does extend your battery life to 2 hours 45 minutes hours though. In that case, you might want to consider leaving your Acer Nitro 5 on battery saving mode to extend its battery life for the long meetings.
You may also use Nitro Sense to sip battery life with even smaller straws too. Putting the Nitro 5 on power saving mode on Nitro Sense decreases the brightness of the display even further and limits power draw by both the GPU and CPU. Plenty of times then, the GPU is not used at all for regular operations like web browsing, document editing, and even emails. In that case you can push the battery life of the Acer Nitro 5 from 2.5 hours to a little over 3.5 hours in our use case.
We believe that if you skim on the music playing part, turn the RGB on the keyboard off, and dim down the display all the way with both Nitro Sense and Windows on Power Saving mode, the Acer Nitro could go the distance and last over 4 hours. 4 hours in our books is usually more than what more gaming laptops could offer, even in the same conditions.
2K Display and DTS: X Ultra
In our test unit, we got the best possible display for the Acer Nitro 5. We have here a Quad HD 1440p display at 2,560 x 1,440 resolution. It refreshes at 165Hz for a maximum of 165fps that would really help in competitive titles. The IPS display also covers up to 100% sRGB colour gamut. That would help plenty in colour grading use cases, or even photo editing. But that also means that the 2K display looks good in any gaming or movie situation. It is the perfect display for entertainment, and a far cry from the Acer Nitro 5 displays we are used to in the older generation devices.
The display is now something that we can enjoy and rely on for work and play. While it is a little on the small side for a 2K monitor, the 15.6-inch display is fully capable of what we want it to do. We could use the display to reliably colour grade and edit videos, and even photos when we need to. We could do them on-the-go if we really have to. The lockdown that was enforced because of the pandemic though did not allow us to take this Acer Nitro 5 to the streets; we would have loved to do so though.
The speakers are DTS:X Ultra speakers that you should be used to with Acer’s gaming line-up in the modern era. On the Acer Nitro 5, you only get two speakers that fires outward and downward at both sides of the laptop. That is also quite a standard arrangement with laptops these days. There is a while science on why manufacturers designed speakers this way, but we will get into that another time.
We do have to say that laptop speakers have come a long way though. On the Acer Nitro 5 at least, the speakers do sound great. Audio sounds clean and clear throughout its volume range. Of course, low frequencies could benefit from having a dedicated sub-woofer. The mid and high frequencies are excellent and clean though. That also means that you should be able to enjoy your movies with the built-in speakers. Unfortunately, we do suggest you get a decent pair of headphones for games though. While sound is good and clear, the fan noise can overwhelm the speakers (even at full chat) a little bit especially when it spools for gaming and video editing purposes.
The Acer Nitro 5 – Finally, a gaming Laptop You Can Be Proud Of
You pay MYR 6,399 for this piece of kit we test. You get a brilliant AMD Ryzen 7 5800H processor and NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3070 to boot. The combination of these hardware alongside 16GB of RAM are in no way “entry-level”. It is a high-performance gaming machine that fits the bill when you need some power in LAN parties.
While prices are not to say in the budget-friendly range, MYR 6,399 is still less than most laptops boasting similar hardware in the current market. In some sense, you are getting a more powerful PC than plenty of gaming PCs of the same price in 2021. With all that considered, this is still the more budget-friendly version of a high-performance gaming laptop.
In 2021, the Acer Nitro 5 has matured into something else. It is not sitting at the bottom of the pile anymore. It can stand and sit alongside the greats in the industry, oddly enough. It sort of pushes the Acer Nitro brand into a brand that could stand on its own with AMD. Sadly, that is not the case because there are Intel based Acer Nitro 5 out there. This also brings another problem to Acer, what are they going to do when the Predator gaming products cannot compete at the same prices?
The question we set out to answer though is whether or not the Acer Nitro 5 with AMD’s Ryzen 7 5800H and NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3070 worth your money, whether or not you should buy it. Our answer is yes to both, but only if you have the budget to work with. While the Acer Nitro 5 for 2021 has been the most expensive Acer Nitro 5 of all that came before, the kind of power that is offered within the AMD variant of the Acer Nitro 5 is quite irresistible if you are in-need of a powerful laptop right now.
HUAWEI has grown from a little-known smartphone maker from China to become one of the tech giants of the world. Of course, the fact that they make great smartphones helped their rise to become one of the most recognisable electronics brands in the world. In the recent years, HUAWEI has also expanded its product range to just more than mobile devices. This is including smartphone peripherals like headsets and wireless speakers. They branched out into home appliances. They also branched out into making Windows laptops, which worked great if you own a HUAWEI device already. They even made smart TVs in the past two years.
It only makes sense then, when HUAWEI started making PCs and even smart TVs, that they start making PC displays. They started with the brand new MateView and MateView GT. As per the title, it really is like Beauty and the Beast. We are not really referring to how the monitors look though; we are referring to what they are made for.
HUAWEI MateView – The Beauty … of 4K+ resolution
Source: HUAWEI
The HUAWEI MateView is made for creators in mind and it shows in the colour accuracy rating of the display. It boasts ΔE<2 with 98% coverage of the DCI-P3 colour gamut. On the sRGB scale, it covers 100% of the colour gamut. That also means unparalleled colour accuracy, very important when you are colour correcting photos or even videos. At HDR 400 also, contents shine when displayed on the HUAWEI MateView. We have not even gone to its resolution.
The HUAWEI MateView displays all these colours at an extremely high resolution 4K+. You get 3,840 x 2,560 pixels from the 28.2-inch IPS panel. While that means that you get a very odd 3:2 display ratio, it also means you get more display real estate to work with, important when you only have one monitor to rely on when you work with videos. At 1.07 billion colours as well, colour gradients look natural even when you push the brightness to the maximum 500 nits the HUAWEI MateView is capable of.
It even boasts two 5W speakers on its integrated stand. While it may not be the most powerful speakers you can find in the market, the speakers should produce an acceptable audio, if you do not have an external speaker to work with. At the same time, with wireless projection, you can hook your HUAWEI devices up wirelessly and play your favourite music through the MateView’s speakers instead. For video conferencing, the HUAWEI MateView even packs four built in mics. You can even fire up Cortana on Windows 10 with the mics.
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
The HUAWEI MateView is also your friendly USB Hub. While it packs HDMI 2.0 (capable of 3,840 x 2,560 @50Hz) and a MiniDP port, you can hook your PC to the display via USB Type-C cable too. If you hook your PC up to the Display via the HDMI or the MiniDP port, you have an extra USB Type-C port to go alongside two more UBS Type-A ports on the integrated stand. The USB Type-C port also charges at 65W too, which also means your thin and light PC might not need to be plugged into a power source of its own.
HUAWEI MateView GT – The Beast … For Your Gaming Fix
Source: HUAWEI
To be fair, we could never have imagined a world where HUAWEI champions PC gaming five years ago. 2021 is a vastly different time compared to the world of 2015/2016 though. The world is in massive lockdown, and everyone is forced to work from home most of their days. One of the ways people spend their remaining time after work then is to game with friends, or publicly in competitive esports titles. Gaming peripherals has a newfound popularity in 2021, through 2020.
The HUAWEI MateView GT is a product of inevitability, at least in our humble opinions. If you can make an excellent 4K display, why not make a gaming display? That is how the HUAWEI MateView GT came about, we think.
It boasts 1440p (3,440 x 1,440) in resolution and the ultra-wide 21:9 display ratio is preferred here. Of course, all that is an influence of the most popular set-up a gaming PC has today. It refreshes at 165Hz as well, which is on par with some of the most advanced gaming displays of the modern world. At 34-inch, the ultra-wide display will also pretty much take up your whole desk space. It is a curved display though, so you do not need to strain to see from edge to edge.
At a glance, you know it is made for gaming with a light strip along the base of the monitor. The slick and slim bars that holds the entire weight of the monitor is painted black too, just so you are not distracted from gaming. But there is more than meets the eyes with this monitor though.
Firstly, to make it fully immersive, HUAWEI ensures that it does not just pack a lot of pixels. The pixels has to display accurate colour information and must look great as well. The display covers 90% of DCI-P3 colour gamut. Its 1 billion colours is also displayed in HDR10 glory at 4000:1 contrast ratio for the best visual experience you can get in a display.
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
OIn top of all of that, the light bar that stretches the width of the base of the monitor is not just for show. It is a touch sensitive volume control bar for the sound bar that is the base of the monitor. It packs two 5W speakers, which may not sound like much, but it does provide with you with immersive stereo experience to go with your gaming. That also means that you do not need to get a separate headphone or speaker set-up to get going. There are even two built-in speakers on the MateView GT itself, for you to communicate with your team mates or rivals in heated gaming sessions.
If you have multiple gaming devices, you can hook up to four devices at the same time. You get two HDMI 2.0 ports, for you PlayStation, or Xbox, or Nintendo Switch. You have one DisplayPort for your gaming PC, and another USB Type-C port for your productivity machine. The USB port can also be used to charge your devices too.
Pricing and Availability
The HUAWEI MateView and MateView GT is now available for pre-order (7th – 21st July). You can pre-order yours now via HUAWEI’s Online Store. Of course, you can also head down to HUAWEI’s official store on Shopee and Lazada to pre order both the MateView and MateView GT. The HUAWEI MateView retails at MYR 2,988 while the MateView GT retails at 2,488 with MYR 100 rebate for each pre-order. Each pre-order also entitles you to a complementary HUAWEI WiFi AX3 Dual Core router capable of WiFi 6 networking.
E3 2021 happened last week and that was the biggest thing that happened in the week. We love gaming, of course we are going to talk about it. While we were excited about the event, it went a little underwhelming and a little under the radar for some reason.
E3 is back in the 2021 after the 2020 hiatus thanks to the COVID-19 global pandemic. In 2021 though the largest gaming conference in the world has gone completely digital and the announcements from various brands were made over live streams on YouTube. Sadly though, while it was more accessible, it was also a little on the underwhelming side.
Sure, there were a few notable game launches and announcements made in the conference itself. Halo: Infinite was Xbox’s big highlight, Razer launched a new gaming laptop that is also their first AMD powered rig alongside a 27-inch gaming display, Nintendo teased Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild 2 a little bit more, and the upcoming Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II was quite notable. But other than those, everything else seems a little underwhelming.
Razer took this chance and stole some E3 limelight with their E3 launch too. They are not launching any games though. They launched their latest gaming laptop, the Razer Blade 14 with AMD’s Ryzen 5000 series CPU for the first time ever. They also launched a nice looking 27-inch gaming display with QHD resolution and 165Hz in refresh rate in the same show.
We would like to see more from E3 0221 though. We wanted to see Nintendo showing us some gameplay from Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild, for example. We wanted to see more exciting AAA games teased from E3, something that makes us go “wow, that looks goo” like Battlefield 2042, for example. We did not get a lot of those moments.
To put it plainly, we expected more from E3. We wanted more in E3 2021, because 2020 and 2021 are the years where hunger for new games becomes bigger and a little more insatiable. So, what else do we expect from E3? Listen in, find out.
Razer’s Blade series should be familiar with gamers around the world. After all, Razer has become one of the most valuable and best-known brands in the world of PC gaming. The Blade series kickstarted and revolutionised the whole ultra-thin, ultra-portable gaming laptop industry on its own technically.
The first Razer Blade had an all blacked out Apple MacBook-esque aesthatics but with internals that you could never find on any MacBook Pro. It packed all the right hardware for the ultimate modern gaming laptop at that time basically, but it was packed in a package quite unheard of in a gaming laptop. Of course, that got the whole world excited.
Imagine the hype then when there is a new Razer Blade laptop that is set to launch. Welcome to the Razer Blade 14. Razer claims that it is the world’s most powerful 14-inch gaming laptop and incidentally the thinnest of its type at just below 17mm thickness, or quite a little bit less than an inch at 0.66-inch. They have kept the clean slate design that is pretty much the signature of the Razer Blade series too.
It is not all looks with no push though. Inside the super thin laptop package is a display with up to 165Hz and up to Quad HD in resolution. This is technically a first in 14-inch notebooks. The 14-inch panel also features up to 100% sRGB and DCI-P3 coverage for the best-in-class colour reproduction on the display. With AMD’s FreeSync Premium technology, screen tearing is a thing of the past. Paired to THX Spatial Audio technology built into the device, gaming and movies are more immersive than before.
To power the super-fast display is an arrangement of equally impressive set of hardware. You get AMD’s most powerful Ryzen 5900HX processor. In this arrangement with AMD, the Ryzen 5900HX is also an unlocked high-performance 8-core CPU built to be the most powerful processor in a 14-inch notebook that is the Razer Blade 14. It is clocked at a maximum of 4.6GHz, which is not just great for games, but for content production as well. Because of the way AMD’s Ryzen Zen 3 processors consumer power too, Razer says that this can get up to 12 hours in battery life.
A powerful CPU needs to be paired to a powerful GPU too though. That powerful GPU comes in the line of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (up to). NVIDIA’s top-of-the-line mobile GPU will keep the 165Hz display running happy at a max resolution of QHD. IT also comes with Resizable BAR to allow memory sharing between the processor and the GPU for better power efficiency and more effective use of the systems depending on what is required in different conditions.
This much power in such a tight package produces another problem on a thin-and-light gaming laptop though. That problem to combat is heat, and with the hardware, a large amount of them. Razer pioneered the vapor chamber technology in the mobile computing space in their first Razer Blade and they are not about the be fazed by the new challenge of heat. They developed a new ultra-low-profile fans with 88 fan blades that are as thin as 0.1mm each, that is as thin as a human hair. The combination of the new ultra-low-profile fans with the proven vapor chamber technology, the Razer Blade 14 keeps itself cool and performing at the highest level.
Source: Razer
Source: Razer
Source: Razer
Source: Razer
Source: Razer
Source: Razer
Source: Razer
Source: Razer
Unlike plenty of modern ultra-thin notebooks today though, the Razer Blade 14 comes packing in I/O ports. You have one HDMI 2.1 port that supports 4K @120Hz output, no Mini DisplayPort though at our disappointment. You get two Gen 2 USB 3.2 Type-C ports too that supports display output and power delivery. There are two additional USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports for super-fast data transfers, or expansion. There is still even a 3.5mm audio jack that support THX Spatial Audio, so that you do not need to get an adapter, or buy a wireless solution to still enjoy your existing headphones.
On top of all of that, the Razer Blade 14 is made with immersive gaming, and productivity in mind at the same time. The anti-ghosting keyboard is back on the Razer Blade 14. It is a per-key Razer Chroma RGB keyboard too for you to really customise the PC to your own flavour. Like plenty of 14-inch notebook of its class, you get a 720p webcam. But it also comes with an IR blaster for Windows Hello facial recognition login on Microsoft Windows 10 that comes with the notebook.
The Razer USB-C GaN Charger – The New Standard
Source: Razer
Source: Razer
Source: Razer
Source: Razer
Source: Razer
Alongside the Razer Blade 14, Razer also launched their own revolution in charging technology. They released their Razer USB-C Ga Nitrate (GaN) Charger to the world. It is also Razer’s first and it pushes out a collective 130W in charging power. It can power up to four devices simultaneously (2x USB Type-C, 2x USB Type-A). It is also technically smaller than traditional chargers and even GaN chargers of its type. While it may be a third-party charger to use against your other smartphone, or tablet devices, it also packs all kinds of safety features to ensure that your devices are charged safely and cleverly.
Price and Availability
The all-new Razer Blade 14 will be available immediately from official RazerStores, selected retail partners worldwide, and Razer.com. There is no colour options here, just the regular black with the green LED backlit Razer logo. You can get your hands on one with prices starting at MYR 9,999 (US$ 1,799.99*).
The Razer USB-C GaN charger is available for pre-order now too for about US$ 179.99 (MYR 741**) in select regions via Razer.com and RazerStore locations. They say that the charger will ship out within 30 days. Again, there is no colour options here other than the standard Matte Black that pretty much a signature of Razer. There are no mentions on its availability in Malaysia at this time.
For more information on the Razer Blade 14 and the USB-C GaN charger, you can check out their website.
* Official Razer Pricing
** Approximately based on exchange rate of US$ 1 = MYR 4.11 on xe.com as of 15/06/2021
Acer’s Predator Triton 500 received a lot of praises and accolades in its 2019 and 2020 reign. It was regarded as one of the best thin and light gaming PCs you can buy with money at the time. It is not hard to understand why it was the device of choice for plenty of gamers and content creators that are looking for an ultra-portable powerhouse.
The Helios 500 too, was regarded as one very capable high-end gaming notebooks with no compromises. It was the very definition of a fuss-free portable gaming experience for Predator. That also was about two years ago though.
That was 2019 and 2020 though. Since then, the world has moved on to a new platform. The world saw the launch of NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 30 series late in 2020 and Intel’s brand new 11th Generation Core platform earlier in 2021. The Predators need an upgrade.
Predator Triton 500 SE
Acer’s Predator launched the Triton 300 SE last year. It was, in our humble opinions, a simple design study. The Triton 300 SE took up the idea of designing a gaming PC class with a timeless classic look. A simplistic design that is more futuristic than intimidating. At the same time, the sleek body has to contain a large power pool within.
The Acer Predator Triton 500 SE sits above the Acer Triton 300 SE, technically. If you put both devices together, you would struggle to find a difference too, at least visually, with good reason. Both feature the same shiny all-metal outer shell design. Rather than the usual matte black body that we are used to with gaming notebooks, the Triton 500 SE’s body is shiny and brilliant in sterling silver.
The Triton 500 SE is unique in more ways that one though. The odd shaped body houses an expansive 16-inch display with 16:10 display ratio. With up to 240Hz of refresh rate on tap from the WXGA resolution display, the Triton 500 SE give you a new perspective in gaming, obviously for the better. With 100% DCI-P3 colour coverage, the Predator Triton 500 is not only colour accurate for content creators, but also immersive for other forms of entertainment as well. With DTS:X audio, you can truly immerse yourself in Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and the upcoming Disney+ (for Malaysia).
To sustain 240Hz at high-resolution though, you need a lot of processing power. That processing power comes from an 11th Generation Intel Core i9 (up to) paired with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 mobile GPU (up to). You get to spec the Triton with up to 64GB (32GB DDR4 x 2) RAM to make quick work of Adobe apps. You even get to fit the Predator Triton 500 SE with up to two SSDs to ensure you always have extra space for your projects and games.
All of these are packed in a 19.9mm think all-metal body. Within the shell are three powerful 5th generation Aeroblade fans with Vortex Flow technology to keep the PC running cool and optimally at all times. The all-metal body also houses a large battery that could keep you running without plugging yourself to a wall socket for up to 12 hours. Of course, that is only possible with the help of NVIDIA Advanced Optimus technology.
Predator Helios 500
If light and portable is not what you are looking for, then raw power is what you want. You want the ultimate gaming laptop. You want the new Predator Helios 500.
The Predator Helios 500 that features a 17.3-inch display is more of a desktop replacement than a portable PC in its dress. In terms of design though, not much has changed from the older Helios 500 save for the arches on the back exhaust port. Keen eyed readers will also sport two power inlets.
That is because the Predator Helios 500 features an overclockable 11th Generation Intel Core i9 (up to) processor. Alongside the powerful processor is an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 GPU (up to) and up to 64GB of DDR4 (32GB x 2) RAM for good measure. The need for speed does not end there though. You get to slot in a pair (2) of NVMe PCIe SSDs in RAID 0 for the fastest experience. If you really need more space, there is space for a SATA drive.
The powerful internals give life to the 17.3-inch display. That large display pushes 4K UHD 2160p worth of pixels to you. The Mini LED panel also pushes 120Hz for the smoothest high-resolution experience you can get in a gaming notebook. With VESA Display HDR 1000 certification and AUO AmLED’s full-array local dimming technology, the Predator Helios 500’s display is a class above its competitors.
You need a lot to cool this powerhouse of a notebook too. You need two large 5th Generation Aeroblade fans with Vortex Flow technology to keep air rushing through the entire system. Thankfully also there is Acer’s PowerGem technology to help keep things manageable. On top of the fans is a full RGB keyboard with individual backlight control via PredatorSense. The WSAD keys can also be replaced with MagForce keys for more precise controls.
Alongside the Acer Predator Helios 500 and Predator Triton 500 SE, Acer also launched two Predator networking tools. With modern games needing constant internet connectivity, it does kind of make sense for Acer to launch new networking solutions for gamers. Of course, they released one product for home, and one product for life on-the-go.
Source: Acer
The Predator Connect X5 5G router is the first Intel Killer-compatible 5G CPE in the world. With 5G, you get up to 4.7 Gbps internet speeds. This one router can also work with up to 256 devices, in case you want to host a LAN party with as many devices around. With Wi-Fi 6 capabilities, all 256 devices are going to have an uninterrupted access to the internet and network.
Source: Acer
The Predator Connect D5 5G Dongle is exactly what it sounds like. It is a gaming focused 5G enabled dongle with Intel’s Killer Network solution. Plug the dongle into any USB 3.1 ports and you unleash the power of 5G on your Predator laptop. That also means you are going to be able to work on DOTA 2 with your squad even if you are constantly on the road.
Pricing and Availability
The Acer Predator Triton 500 SE will be available in the North American region and China in June 2021 onward at US$ 1,749.99 (MYR 7,241*) and CN¥ 14,999 (MYR 9,728***) onward, respectively. It will be available in the EMEA region in July onward for EU€ 1,999 (MYR 10,098**) onward. There are no mentions of its availability in the local regions just yet.
The Acer Predator Helios 500 will be available in the North American region and China in August 2021 onward at US$ 2,499.99 (MYR 10,346*) and CN¥ 39,999 (MYR 25,943***) onward. EMEA gets it earlier in June 2021 onward though with prices starting from EU€ 2,499 (MYR 12,624**). Again, there are no mentions on its availability in the local regions just yet.
There are also no mentions on the availability and final pricing of the announced network products currently. We are keeping our ears close to the ground though. That said, watch this space. For more information on Acer’s latest products, do visit their website.
* Approximately based on exchange rate of US$ 1 = MYR 4.14 as per 27/05/2021 on xe.com
** Approximately based on exchange rate of EU€ 1 = MYR 5.05 as per 27/05/2021 on xe.com
*** Approximately based on exchange rate of CN¥ 10 = MYR 6.49 as per 27/05/2021 on xe.com
Last year NVIDIA announced their next generation GPUs, the GeForce RTX 30 series GPUs that they claim to have the largest generational gap over the older series. It is inevitable then for fans to be asking for the mobile variant of the GPUs to be put in the ever popular and growing gaming notebook market. They are also asking for more budget friendly variants like the RTX 3060 Ti and updated variant of the GTX 1650 and GTX 1660 Ti.
That is not all though, new CPUs are also introduced in 2020 and early 2021. AMD came swinging hard with the new AMD Ryzen 5000 series CPUs with Zen 3 architecture making them the most powerful consumer level CPU overall currently on sale. Intel pushed their own boundaries with their 10nm architecture 11th Generation CPUs early in 2021 too. To be fair though Intel came with the mobile variant of the 11th Generation Core processors early in 2020 before the desktop variants were introduced in 2021.
TUF Gaming F15 and F17 (FX506H-CHN021T, FX706H-CHX065T, FX506H-MHN103T)
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
ASUS kicks of with the new TUF Gaming notebooks, both in 15-inch and 17-inch flavours. You get to choose between an Intel Core i5-11400H and an Intel Core i7-11800H for the ASUS TUF Gaming F15’s (FX506H) processor. That powerful GPU also comes paired with either an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 or an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 GPU with 6GB of GDDR6 RAM.
To ensure that you get a smooth gaming performance too, RAM is at up to 16GB for the top-of-the-line TUF Gaming F15 with room to spare. For storage you get a single SSD with 512GB in capacity. The storage is also expandable still with free extra NVMe PCIe 3.0 M.2 slot.
The 15-inch and 17-inch variants both get a 144Hz IPS display that pushes Full HD in resolution. For even more immersive gaming, the TUF Gaming F15 and F17 packs DTS Audio and speaker calibration. Of course, a great gaming experience today also means stable internet connection, and the ASUS TUF Gaming F15 and F17 packs WiFi 6 capabilities alongside Bluetooth 5.2 for extra stable wireless peripheral connection. With 90WHrs 4-cell battery, the TUF Gaming F15 and F17 may not last a whole day, but at least a few hours of use away from the wall socket should be enough for you to get your emails and whatever else done.
The ASUS TUF Gaming F15 with 11th Generation Intel Core i5 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 will be available mid of June 2021 onward at MYR 4,199. The TUF Gaming F17 with 11th Generation Intel Core i5 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 will be available at the end of June 2021 at MYR 4,299. The TUF Gaming F15 with 11th Generation Intel Core i7 with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 will be available at the end of this month (May 2021) onward at MYR 5,599.
For extra portability, you might want to look at the ASUS TUF Gaming Dash F15, a thinner and lighter TUF gaming notebook like no other. At 2kg, it is no ultrabook. Still, it is a light gaming device with the power to match.
You get the 11th Generation Core i7-11370H processor that also has an Intel Iris Xe Graphics integrated GPU for general usage at lower power draw. For all the high-performance stuff though, this thing packs a powerful NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti GPU. Thanks to the integrated GPU, the notebook draws minimal power from the 76WHrs battery and ensures that the notebook can last longer than your average gaming notebooks.
The powerful NVIDIA GPU though powers the 15.6-inch IPS display to push Full HD into your face. You even get fast 144Hz refresh rate to ensure you still have the necessary competitive advantage in any gaming situation. With up to 8GB of RAM, you can be sure that gaming is a smooth and snappy experience.
The ASUS TUF Gaming Dash F15 will be available in two colour options – Eclipse Grey and Moonlight White. The new gaming laptop will be available this month (May 2021) onward. The thinner and lighter TUF Gaming notebook will set you back MYR 4,799.
ASUS ROG Strix G15 and G17 (G513Q-CHN019T, G512Q-CHN020T, G712Q-CHX022T, G512Q-CHN096T)
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
The new ASUS ROG STRIX G15 and G17 packs up to the highly acclaimed AMD Ryzen 7 5800H processor. With AMD’s processor, the ROG STRIX G15 and G17 is also a powerful creator class GPU. Pair that with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 and you get a capable video editor and gaming notebook that you can take with you anywhere you want.
You get up to 8GB in RAM and up to 512GB in SSD storage. If those are not enough though there is an extra available slot for you to expand your RAM and SSD storage still. An extra 8GB and an extra 512GB of SSD storage would do you nicely for the ASUS ROG STRIX G15 and G17.
You get to choose up between 15.6-inch and 17.3-inch display sizes for the new ASUS ROG STRIX series. Both sizes are IPS displays that churns out Full HD in resolution too. Of course, for the extra smooth feel and edge in competitive gaming, the displays refreshes at 144Hz.
For all your connectivity needs there is the usual WiFi 6 that should be standard today. It also packs Bluetooth 5.1 for an extra stable wireless peripherals experience. You can find a USB Type-C port, but unfortunately Thunderbolt is not supported on the AMD based notebook.
The ROG STRIX G15 and G17 notebooks with either an AMD Ryzen 5-5600H or the AMD Ryzen 7-5800H will be available this month (May 2021) onward. The AMD Ryzen 5 variant of the ASUS ROG STRIX G15 will set you back MYR 4,199. The AMD Ryzen 7 variant of the ASUS ROG STRIX G15 and G17 will sell for MYR 4,499 and MYR 4,599 respectively. There is also an Elctro Punk special edition ASUS ROG STRIX G15 with AMD Ryzen 7-5800H that comes with its own set of colour matching accessories like a mousepad, a gaming mouse, and a backpack for MYR 4,799.
ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 (GA401Q-HHZ078TS, GA401Q-CHZ083TS, GA401Q-EK2023TS)
Source: ASUS
The ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14, in our books, is one of the notebooks that put AMD’s Ryzen processors name in the gaming laptop map. The first Zephyrus G14 was a brilliant product that received many accolades. That packed the older generation AMD Ryzen 3000 series mind you.
The new one of course packs the new AMD Ryzen 7 5800HS processor to boot. You get to work with up to NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3050 Ti GPU for all of your gaming and content creation needs. Both the CPU and GPU are supported by an 8GB RAM that you can easily expand with an extra RAM slot in the thin and sturdy body with the very recognisable Matrix LED shell. Storage wise, you get 512GB in SSD with an extra expansion slot too.
The powerful CPU and GPU combination pushes games to up to 144Hz (120Hz for WQHD variant) on the 14-inch IPS display that comes with the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14. You get to spec your Zephyrus G14 with up to WQHD display too if you need the extra resolution for content creation purposes. On both the Full HD and WQHD displays, you get 100% coverage of DCI-P3 for a super deep colour accuracy and Pantone validation as the cherry topping.
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
The ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 will be available in Eclipse Grey and Moonlight variants. The ROG Zephyrus G14 with NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 1650 GPU will come with a non AniMe Matrix shell while the rest of the variants get the AniMe Matrix panel on the shell of the notebook for extra personalisation. The new AMD Ryzen 7 powered ROG Zephyrus G14 notebook is available this month (May 2021) onward and will start at MYR 4,799 and tops out MYR 6,499.
Samsung’s April 2021 Galaxy Unpacked event saw the new Samsung Galaxy Book devices with Samsung’s Galaxy integration. While you can spec them with NVIDIA’s GeForce MX450 discrete GPU, they are not really made for gaming though. For proper gaming, you need something a bit more powerful, a bit beefier. You need a Samsung Galaxy Book Odyssey gaming notebook.
The Odyssey namesake from Samsung is technically nothing new. Their very popular gaming monitor line-up bears that coveted name. Now that name comes to a gaming notebook and it seems like a no-brainer. At the same time, it is a little bit of a surprise too.
While Samsung has dabbled in gaming, they have only been dabbling in the display part of gaming. They produced the desirable Odyssey G9 ultra-wide gaming monitor, and recently made TVs that supports up to 120Hz for the next-generation gaming consoles. Still, they are no newbies to the video games industry.
Source: Samsung
The Samsung Galaxy Book Odyssey is a little odd though. It is not meant to be the most powerful gaming PC out there. It could come packing Intel’s most powerful mobile based CPU, the 11th Generation Core i7, but it does not come with NVIDIA’s most powerful GPU in their mobile GPU ecosystem. Instead, Samsung took this opportunity to introduce the world to a brand new NVDIA GPU that is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050Ti.
There is not much in terms of information on the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050Ti though. In our books, the GeForce RTX 3050 and RTX 3050Ti looks like replacement models to the older GeForce GTX 1660 and GeForce GTX 1660Ti discreet GPUs made for entry-level gaming PCs. In effect, the Samsung Galaxy Book Odyssey is made to be an entry-level gaming PC. In that sense, we do not expect NVIDIA’s highly acclaimed Ray Tracing technology to be available to the notebook.
It is still a Samsung Galaxy Book though so it still has Smart Things integration treatment. You can get your Samsung tablet to be its secondary display too, if you want. Heck, you can properly play AAA titles on your tablet if you do that. Easy Bluetooth connection feature ensures that you can easily connect your Bluetooth headphones to the PC quickly and painlessly. Your smartphone experience can easily be integrated with Link to Windows and Your Phone app on the PC.
Source: Samsung
It is, technically, the heaviest Galaxy Book that will be launched to date though. It weighs 1.85kg, which is really not heavy in the world of gaming notebooks. It is also about 17.7mm thick, which is also not all that thick for a gaming notebook. Its aluminium body looks sturdy and sleek, very much like a modern professional notebook. Its subtle logo and muted colour help it blend in your workplace and meeting room. The Pro Keyboard works with you to keep your emails churning out like a proper professional.
You can opt for up to 1TB of SSD storage for fast access to not just your files, but your games. The SSD also helps reduce loading screens. With up to 32GB of RAM, you will not be wanting more too, even if you need it for heavy video work. Speaking of videos, you are getting a 15.6-inch LCD display with Full HD resolution. No mentions on its refresh rate at this point though. We may only know closer to its launch date in August 2021.
They did not mention its battery life too, although we suspect something closer to 8 hours with 83Wh battery pack. In real life, you can expect something closer to 4 hours of battery life. It comes with a 135W fast charger though, to get the large battery quickly topped up. It is also a unique fast charger, because it is a USB Type-C charger which also means you can fast charge your smartphones with the same charger.
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
The Samsung Galaxy Book Odyssey will be available in August 2021 onward in selected markets. We cannot confirm if Malaysia will be part of those select markets at this point of time. The Galaxy Book Odyssey will set you back US$ 1,399 (MYR 5,742*) onward. For more information on the Samsung Galaxy Book Odyssey, you can head over to Samsung’s website.
*Based on approximate exchange rate of US$ 1 = MYR 4.10 as of 30/04/2021
It’s not all about the new Ryzen powered laptops for Dell. The company is also taking the opportunity to introduce a bunch of new monitors to complete the gaming experience. The new monitors zoom in on the need for high frame rates and the versatility that gamers want. Their new line up is boasting adaptable frame rates and high resolutions that any gamer would drool for.
Dell is introducing a family of three new curved gaming monitors. The monitors use VA panels and come in 27-, 32- and 34-inch sizes. The new curved monitors come equipped with AMD’s FreeSync Premium or Premium Pro certification for smooth, tear-free gaming. Spearheading the new offerings is the large, 34-inch Dell 34 Curved Gaming monitor. The WQHD monitor comes with 90% coverage of the DCI-P3 gamut and 144Hz refresh rate. The monitor also supports VESA DisplayHDR 400. The smaller Dell 27 and 32 Curved gaming monitors come with QHD resolution and support 165Hz refresh rate with 2ms response time.
If curved monitors isn’t your thing, Dell is also introducing the new Dell 25 Gaming Monitor which comes with 240Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time. The quick refresh rate and response times will be a boon for competitive gamers. Unlike the curved monitors, the Dell 25 Gaming Monitor comes with IPS panels which provide better colour accuracy and smoother gameplay. It is also both NVIDIA G-SYNC and AMD FreeSync Premium certified.
Pricing & Availability
Dell has not announced the pricing for the new gaming monitors. However, they will be available starting end of June 2021.
It’s been over a decade since Alienware has released an AMD powered gaming laptop. Over a decade since the original Alienware Aurora mALX. In that time, gaming has taken a quantum leap with new experiences being more immersive than ever. That changes today with both Dell and Alienware announcing new AMD powered laptops.
The new laptops marry AMD’s revolutionary, performance and efficiency centered Zen 3 microarchitecture with NVIDIA’s graphics prowess to bring their best gaming experience yet. The Dell G15 Ryzen Edition and the redesigned Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition bring together some of Dell and Alienware’s best design with top of the line performance for gaming.
Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition
Alienware super charges their m15 line up with their signature technological features such as voltage gated cooling with the performance combo of AMD’s Ryzen 5000-H processors and NVIDIA’s RTX30 series graphics. All this power is packed into a slim 15-inch body with options to fit any gamers’ needs. On the display front, users get to choose from options including a QHD with 240Hz refresh rate and an FHD display wiht 360Hz refresh rate.
Smooth visuals and power packed performance is just the tip of the iceberg. The new Alienware m15 is also the first to come with Alienware’s new Legend 2.0 design language which features a sleeker silhouette and a new design feature called Dark Core. This darkens the interior shade of the laptop helping you focus on the game; while the new Silky-smooth High-Endurance paint formula will keep things clean and sleek. It is also the first 15-inch Alienware laptop to come with user upgradable 3200MHz DDR4 RAM. Of course, it will also feature the option for the new mechanical keyboard co-developed with Cherry MX with per key RGB lighting.
Dell G15 Ryzen Edition
Dell’s foray into AMD powered gaming laptops comes in the form of the Dell G15 Ryzen Edition. The new gaming laptop comes with Alienware inspired thermals which maximise airflow and improve cooling. Of course, the laptop comes with Dell Gaming’s signature “Game Shift” button which kicks the laptop into high gear. Similar to the Alienware m15, the Dell G15 Ryzen Edition comes with performance centric combination of AMD Ryzen 5000 series processors, NVIDIA’s RTX 30 Series graphics and user upgradable 3200MHz RAM. On the display front it will be coming with low blue light emitting displays with options for 120Hz or 165Hz refresh rates. Additional options for 360Hz displays will be coming later this spring according to Dell.
Pricing & Availability
Dell and Alienware haven’t announced the pricing for the laptops just yet. However, the Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition will be available in early May 2021. The Dell G15 Ryzen edition is expected to be available at the same time.
