No one feature is exceptional, but the amount of features/quality at the sub-400 price is impressive.
❧ Solid construction, aluminum lid
❧ Modern (at time of purchase) and moderately-well-equipped Ryzen APU
❧ IPS screen with good max and min brightness, even backlight, and acceptable color rendition
❧ Backlit Keyboard with a great layout and good key quality
❧ Large, responsive trackpad with a turn-off option in the function keys
❧ Good cooling solution for the size
❧ User accessible / upgradable parts
❧ Acceptable I/O (USB, HDMI, LAN, headphone jack, kensington)
Corners that were cut:
❧ Storage size - 128gb DRAM-less SSD as configured
❧ Win 10 in S mode (I believe Microsoft charges less for the "s" license)
❧ Speakers are truly terrible. I cannot overemphasize how bad they are.
❧ Ram Size - 4gb DDR4 2400
❧ No card reader
❧ 1 year warranty (remember when things actually had 2 or 3???)
❧ No Mic jack
The storage is upgradeable. The included SSD is user-replaceable, and there is also an included space / hardware to add a 2.5" drive. The 4gb RAM is built in to the board, but there is one slot open for RAM. Having filled mine, CPU-Z reports that it is successfully running in dual channel mode (important for APU memory bandwidth).
It strikes me that the corners cut are ALL user-addressable. Windows 10 can leave S mode. Ram/storage is upgradeable. Card readers and external speakers/headphones/audio interfaces can be used.
The 3350u processor has a manufacturer-configurable TDP, which affects its boost clock behavior. This one seems to be configured to a relatively medium-low power. I have never seen it boost past 3.1ghz (the AMD spec sheet lists a 3.5 ghz max). Fine by me, but worth noting. The cooling solution seems like it could handle more, but it does dump heat primarily beneath it (i.e. into your lap if you are using it as a laptop literally). I don't really blame them for dialing it back for this reason or to hit battery life targets.
After adding RAM and storage, I have successfully done some medium gaming at low settings. Civ 6, Life is Strange 2, and the infamously-processor-bound-poorly-optimized Guild Wars 2. All fine, but I would have gotten something more powerful if I didn't have a gaming desktop.
My last laptop was from 2009 and lasted me 'til 2021. The hardware on this one should meet my needs for equally long -- all that's left to be seen is if anything randomly breaks between now and then. If any random breakage occurs between now and 2023 I will update this review.
| Standing screen display size | 15.6 Inches |
|---|---|
| Screen Resolution | 1920 x 1080 pixels |
| Max Screen Resolution | 1920 x 1080 Pixels |
| Processor | 3.5 GHz ryzen_3_3350u |
| RAM | 4 GB DDR4 |
| Memory Speed | 3.5 GHz |
| Hard Drive | 128 GB SSD |
| Graphics Coprocessor | AMD Radeon Vega 6 |
| Chipset Brand | AMD |
| Card Description | Integrated |
| Graphics Card Ram Size | 6 GB |
| Wireless Type | Bluetooth |
| Number of USB 2.0 Ports | 1 |
| Number of USB 3.0 Ports | 3 |
| Average Battery Life (in hours) | 10 Hours |
