Month: November 2020

The Lenovo ThinkPad E15 is a cheap office notebook with a 15.6-inch display. For less than 1000 Euros (~ $1191), buyers get a rigid chassis, modern communications modules, and very good input devices. In addition to the Intel model, Lenovo also offers an AMD model. It is known as the E15 Gen.2 and has a new, more compact design.

The AMD Ryzen 7 processor offers a lot more CPU and GPU performance than the Intel alternative. Lenovo configured the fan to run at the lowest speed possible, which is why the surface temperatures hit more than 60 °C (140 °F). When compared to the AMD variant, the Intel version offers slightly better battery life.

The fact that the E15 is a low-end device is most apparent when it comes to the screen and the selection of ports. The E15 features an outdated USB 2.0 port and its screen is quite dim (250 cd/m²). Moreover, the colour reproduction leaves a lot to be desired. These problems are present in both Intel and AMD models.

Those who are looking for a cheap and reliable office notebook should get the ThinkPad E15 Gen.2 with an AMD processor. It offers more performance and is cheaper. 

With the Erazer Beast X10, Medion has a compact 17.3-inch gaming laptop in its range that is based on a barebone from Tongfang (GM7MPHP). The laptop isn’t immediately recognizable as a high-performance gaming powerhouse thanks to its discreetly designed, fancy, slim, matte black all-metal case.

The Beast X10 brings all the latest games onto the screen with ease. The combination of a Core i7-10750H hexa-core processor, a GeForce RTX 2070 Super graphics core, and 32 GB of memory (dual-channel mode, max. 64 GB) makes this possible. Thanks to the 1 TB NVMe SSD, you shouldn’t run out of storage space that quickly. However, should this be the case, the laptop offers space for a second NVMe SSD.

The matte 17.3-inch display (Full HD, IPS, 144 Hz) scores points with stable viewing angles, decent brightness, good contrast, fast response times, and great color reproduction. Furthermore, battery life is good too. One battery charge is enough for practical runtimes of about 7 to 8 hours.

In the period from August 28, 2020 to February 28, 2021, the game Marvel’s Avengers will be included with the purchase of the Beast X10 as a free download. However, not from Medion but from Intel. The corresponding promotion code (“while stocks last”) will be sent by e-mail and must be redeemed with Intel by March 31, 2021. Medion has informed us that the procedure for claiming the code is explained in detail in the e-mail. The offer is not limited to Medion, as other laptop manufacturers are also participating in this Intel promotion.

More information and many benchmark results are available in our review of the Medion Erazer Beast X10 (MD61804).

We have already taken a look at the graphics performance of the two different iGPUs (7 vs. 8 cores), and now we have first results for the battery runtime. The battery capacity is unchanged at 49.9 Wh, but the new M1 chip is supposed to be much more efficient. Apple’s official specs sheet lists 15 hours for web browsing, which is much more compared to the 10 hours of the old model.

Wi-Fi battery runtime

Our Wi-Fi test at Notebookcheck is performed at an adjusted brightness of 150 nits. Therefore, it is very important to deactivate the automatic brightness control of the MacBook Air. To get to the 150 nits, we had to reduce the brightness by 7 steps, and then use the fine control (via Option + Shift) to reduce the brightness by two more steps.

The old MacBook Air 2020 with the Intel CPUs managed a runtime of 10:17 or 11 hours, respectively, depending on the processor (Core i5 or Core i3). The new MacBook Air with the M1 chip on the other hand lasts 16 hours, which is an improvement between 45-55 %.

The Wi-Fi runtime at the maximum display brightness, which is once again around 400 nits, is considerably lower. Our test unit only lasted for about 8.5 hours. This is still better compared to the previous Intel MBA, but the gap is much smaller.

Charging Performance

Apple continues shipping the MacBook Air with the compact 30W power adapter. We have also tested the charging performance with the more power 96W unit from the current MacBook Pro 16. The initial charging performance was increased from 31 to around 43 Watts for the first 45 minutes before it dropped. Overall, the charging time was reduced by 17 minutes to 2:23 hours. In addition to the shorter charging time, the more powerful PSU also gives more headroom when you use the device during the charging process. In this case, the charging time with the included 30W adapter would be much higher. The MacBook Pro 13 with the M1 chip is still shipped with the more powerful 61W power adapter.

A look at the efficiency of the power adapters only reveals minor differences in a range between 0.05-0.1W. The maximum performance does not seem to be limited by the power adapter, either, because we see a peak power consumption of 31W for the new MacBook Air, which levels off at 22-25 after a short time. This behavior is identical for both power adapters.

Bootcamp has already revealed that Apple has a new 16-ich MacBook Pro planned, although probably not one with its M1 chipset. The upcoming laptop may have an exciting piece of hardware inside, nonetheless. According to @TheGalox_, AMD has partnered with Apple to deliver mobile RDNA 2 GPUs, and ones that currently have no desktop counterparts.

Apparently, Apple will offer the next 16-inch MacBook Pro with the Radeon RX 6700 and RX 6700 XT, which AMD is rumoured to be building on its Navi 22 GPUs. There have been rumours about the desktop variants of these cards, but @TheGalox_ has offered no details on the specifications of the mobile versions.

It is common for Apple to source exclusive chips from its partners, whether that be AMD or Intel. The current 16-inch MacBook Pro is the only laptop with the Radeon Pro 5600M, for example, so this may also be the case with the Radeon RX 6700 and RX 6700 XT.

It is unclear when Apple plans to release the next 16-inch MacBook Pro, but there had been talk that it would be before the end of the year. Multiple outlets claim that AMD will unveil the desktop versions of the RX 6700 and RX 6700 XT in January though, so it may be until next year before we see the arrival of a new 16-inch MacBook Pro. 

The ThinkPad X1 Fold is finally here and in the hands of reviewers. Sadly, it is not all rosy for Lenovo’s first foldable. The ThinkPad X1 Fold starts at US$2,499, although that only gets you 256 GB of storage and no accessories. Lenovo charges US$2,749 for the detachable keyboard and pen, and another US$50 if you want a Windows 10 Pro licence. Prices rise to US$3,099 though if you want 1 TB of storage, instead of 256 GB.

For that money, you could pick up practically any high-end laptop or 2-in-1, although they lack the foldable display that the ThinkPad X1 Fold has. However, MKBHD inadvertently summed up the limitations of the new form factor, in our opinion, despite ringing its praises. In short, the foldable screen appears to offer no added functionality than one could already get with a Surface Pro. MKHBD highlights the tablet mode of the ThinkPad X1 Fold, before explaining that the detachable keyboard offers a better typing experience than the onscreen keyboard does. 

PC Watch has demonstrated the drawbacks of Intel’s Lakefield processor, too. The Core m3-8100Y in the Surface Go 2 outperforms the ThinkPad X1 Fold and its Core i5-L16G7 in multiple benchmarks, for example, while also lasting longer in PCMark 10 battery life tests. The Core m3-8100Y should offer about 91% of the Core i5-L16G7 according to our database, but Lenovo may have tuned its performance based on the form factor of the ThinkPad X1 Fold, somewhat.

Ultimately, the ThinkPad X1 Fold disappoints on price, performance and does not offer more versatility than something like a Surface Pro. Nonetheless, we hold out hope for the likes of Lenovo delivering more useful second and third-generation foldable laptops, as Samsung has with its foldable smartphones.