Sony's Xperia 5 compact flagship seriesis about to get a new member, a new Geekbench listing reveals. It also reveals some of the specs of the upcoming phone.
Geekbench 5 listing
Perhaps it's no surprise that the device is running on the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, but the listing also confirms that Sony is preparing a 16GB RAM variant. It will match the iQOO 11 Pro and the OnePlus 11 among a number of other recently launched phones with 16GB of RAM.
Back to the benchmark listing itself, the Xperia 5 V shows similar performance to other Snapdragon 8 Gen 2-powered...
Doogee believes that ‘more is always better’, and proof of that is the V Max.
This is a rugged phone with everything set to 11 on the dial. Big screen, powerful SoC, lots of RAM and storage, an impressive camera selection, 5G, and the biggest battery we’ve seen in a phone so far.
This is our first phone review covering a design that uses the new MediaTek Dimensity 1080 SoC. An option increases the clock speeds and RAM capacity seen on the Dimensity 900 series and includes 5G comms.
But by far, the one headline feature of this phone is its 22000 mAh battery, a capacity that
dwarfs that in other phones, including many rugged designs.
When you put a battery in a phone that dwarfs that in some laptops, there are significant physical changes that make the V Max either the phone you must have or make it entirely impractical.
The obvious advantage of a battery this large is that it can operate for a week or more without a recharge. With management, this could be extended to a considerable time without mains power. That could be critical for a camping break or adventure holiday where the nearest power socket might be a long walk away.
The flip side of having all that battery time is that this is a very heavy and bulky phone that doesn’t easily fit in a typical pocket. The weight is 543g or nearly 1.2 lbs for those that like those measurement systems.
Wielded as a blunt instrument, the V Max has sufficient mass to seriously injure someone unlucky enough to be stuck with one.
If the brick-like nature of the V Max doesn’t put you off, what you get is a very capable design with an excellent camera cluster, 5G comms, 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.
The processor and GPU combination makes the V Max suitable for gaming, and it supports dual Nano SIMs for a convenient combination of work and play potential.
In short, if it wasn’t for its gargantuan size, everything else about this phone would be pretty useful, especially at the current asking price.
Just don’t buy one for a person who has anger management issues and likes to throw things.
When is it out? It is on pre-order after an initial release
Where can you get it? It can only be bought from Doogee directly
Normally we’d provide a range of regional pricing for a phone like the V Max. But currently, this phone is on a restocking pre-order from Doogee, and the price is in dollars irrespective of where you order it from.
According to Doogee, the V Max has already been reduced from $749, although it makes little sense that you would cut the price of a design that is currently out of stock.
The asking price is $559, although Doogee is offering a code for an extra $100 off at this time, presumably to prime the sales channel ahead of its return to stock.
When this design becomes more widely available, we suspect the discounted cost is likely to become the asking price, predictably.
There are three colour choices; Classic Black, Moonshine Silver and Sunshine Gold.
(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)
Value score: 4/5
Doogee V Max design
Built to last
By-the-numbers buttons
No audio jack
One can’t help but sympathise with the designer of the V Max, saddled with the challenge of getting the contents of this phone inside a case.
However approached, this solution was never going to be elegant or stylish, and the V Max is neither of those things.
The best description of this phone is techno-brutalism, a monolithic block that has some chamfered corners and bevelled edges added to make it seem less like a brick.
That said, the metallic sides are pleasing to touch, and the overall shape fits neatly in hand, assuming you’ve got shovel-sized appendages like your reviewer.
The thickness of this design allows for speakers to be mounted at both top and bottom, allowing for a mild stereo effect when playing games in landscape mode.
While the camera cluster is slightly raised, the back is mostly flat, suggesting that this phone might wirelessly charge, but according to the specifications, it doesn’t.
(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)
The button layout is the now de facto model that all rugged phone makers have gravitated to, where they place a thumb-print reader/power and volume rocker on the right and a custom button with the SIM card slot on the left.
On the bottom edge is a carabiner slot for connecting the phone to a belt strap and the USB-C port. That’s the only way this phone can be charged, and to protect it from water and dust ingress, Doogee covered it with a rubber plug.
The plug is relatively easy to dislodge with a fingernail, but each removal and reinsertion does reduce the likelihood that the port will be fully protected. The designers did make the cover small to minimise exposure, but this negated the possibility of a 3.5mm audio jack on this model. No adapter to provide this functionality through USB was included.
Overall, those who designed this did their best but avoided anything remarkable or groundbreaking in the context of such a large phone.
(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)
Design score: 3/5
Doogee V Max hardware
Dimensity 1080
5G Comms
Massive battery
Specs
The Doogee V Max that was sent to us for review came with the following hardware:
CPU: Dimensity 1080 / Octa Core / 2.6GHz / 6nm / 5G GPU: ARM Mali-G68 MC4 RAM: 12GB LPDDR4X Storage: 256GB Screen: 6.58-inch IPS LCD Resolution: 1080 x 2408 SIM: Dual Nano SIM (+microSDXC up to 2TB) Weight: 543g Dimensions: 178.5 x 83.1 x 27.3 mm Rugged Spec: IP68, IP69K and MIL-STD-810H Rear cameras: AI Triple camera (108MP+20MP+16MP) Front camera: SONY 32MP Front Camera Networking: WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.2 OS: Android 12 Battery: 22000 mAh
The specification of this phone elevates it above almost all the rugged Chinese designs we’ve seen so far.
MediaTek’s new Dimensity 1080 SoC provides an excellent computing platform as its previous 900 series, but with marginally higher clock speeds and a generally better instruction set.
While it uses the same Mali-G68 MC4 GPU as its predecessor, the extra processing power in the two Cortex-A78 cores pushes the GPU harder, and it achieves a little more.
For those that live in a region with coverage, the 5G support in this design boosts mobile data performance significantly. And, with WiFi 6, it’s also swift when you have a suitably specified router at home or in the office.
One curiosity of this design is the amount of RAM, as most phones tend to be capped at 8GB, whereas this has 12GB. It’s also one of the new designs with the potential to take some storage and make it work as RAM, adding up to 8GB if the user sets that option.
Therefore, unless you spend your days endlessly loading new apps, it seems unlikely that you’ll quickly run out of space to store them or RAM for them to run.
The camera cluster is also impressive, but the stand-out feature of this hardware is the 22000 mAh battery. This battery scale provides not only extreme longevity but using the OTG capability of the USB-C port the power can also be utilised to power other devices.
(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)
The only feature weakness we noted was that the dual Nano SIM card tray only takes one SIM if you use a MicroSD card. A better solution might have been to offer e-SIMs on this phone, allowing the MicroSD card not to limit the phone to a single SIM.
But conversely, this phone has a feature we’ve not seen before in that it uses a dual-frequency GPS, allowing for even greater positional accuracy even in urban environments.
We’ve seen the 108MP Samsung S5KHM2 sensor before, and while it has limitations in that the full resolution comes without all the clever features, it is still an excellent picture-capture device.
If you want special beauty modes, then pictures are limited to 12MP, although these modes operate with shake compensation and other enhancements.
Alongside the headline 108MP Samsung sensor are a 16MP OmniVision OV16B10 Ultra-Wide lens and a 20.2MP Sony IMX350 Night Vision sensor, extending the camera repertoire further.
Like the Doogee V30, which uses the same Samsung S5KHM2 sensor, the V Max can capture video up to 4K in resolution. And like the V30 and the Ulefone Armor 17 Pro, it isn’t possible to have any control over the frame rate.
Not being able to trade resolution for frame rate is possibly one of the few things keeping the likes of GoPro in business, as many of the phone makers don’t exploit the sensor hardware fully.
As for the results, with a sensor this big, they’re generally very good, and it only made a mess either because of focusing issues to do with sunlight refraction or exposure compensation for highlights. The camera has a full PRO manual mode where ISO, EV, WB, manual focus and shutter speed can all be directly controlled.
In short, like the V30 that came before it, the V Max has a high-quality camera that could have been incredible with a better camera application.
We should also mention that while you can capture 4K video and play it back scaled down on the 1080 x 2408 resolution screen, you won’t be watching streaming content in 4K or even 1080p. Like it appears all rugged Chinese phones are, the V Max doesn’t support Widevine L1 security, reducing the service offered by Netflix and Disney+ to 480p resolution.
Camera samples
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Camera score: 4/5
Doogee V Max performance
Excellent performer
Strong GPU
Power and efficiency
Benchmarks
This is how the Doogee V Max performed in our suite of benchmark tests:
For the short story, this is the most potent rugged phone we’ve tested so far, and it is easily head and shoulders over those that use Helio-based SoCs.
Looking at it from a Qualcomm Snapdragon perspective, it falls fractionally short of the performance of the 778G, but the difference is less than a single percentage point in many tests.
The only caveat is that many games have been specifically coded to use the Snapdragon instruction set for enhanced performance, which might make them run better on Qualcomm SoCs.
But back to the numbers, there are many highlights here, so let’s look at a few especially impressive results.
In the Geekbench single thread task, a score of 734 is a first, with the previous best being the Dimensity 900-powered Doogee V30 achieved 694. And, the Geekbench multithreaded and OpenCL scores are equally beyond what we’ve seen on Dimensity 900 and Helio G99-powered devices.
To give an impression of how much better gaming is on the V Max over an Helio G99 SoC phone like the Ulefone Armor 17 Pro is relatively easy. The 3DMark Slingshot scores are 5315 on the V Max against just 3675 on the 17 Pro. That’s nearly 45% faster.
Compared with an Helio G85 phone, the V Max is almost twice as fast across the board.
Performance on this phone is not an issue, regardless of what you want to use it for.
Performance score: 5/5
Doogee V Max battery
22000 mAh
33W Fast charging
No Qi charging
The battery on this phone is both a blessing and a curse. Having 22000 mAh converts, according to Doogee, into 2300 hours of standby (96 days), 240 hours of ‘normal use’, 19 hours of calling, 40 hours of video, 90 hours of music and 25 hours of gaming.
That’s plenty of capacity, although the battery is a major contribution to making this design so large and heavy.
Where things are less wonderful is in respect of recharging. With a battery so large, getting it charged becomes an issue. Doogee did include a 33W charger, and using that does speed up things somewhat.
But typically, we’d estimate that charging 5000 mAh using 33W charging takes around 90 minutes, and scaling that up, the V Max could easily take more than six hours to reach its full potential. And, if you don’t use the 33W charger, it could take considerably longer.
The Doogee V30, as a good example, offered 66W charging and also 15W wireless charging, and both these options would have been appreciated on the V Max, but neither was used.
It may be that using 66W charging on such a large battery for a least three hours has implications for the generating of heat within the phone, but whatever the reason, charging is a limitation of this phone.
Battery score: 4/5
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With so many great features and excellent performance in this phone, it seems churlish to talk about some of the obvious failings, but these need to be aired.
The scale and weight of the V Max do push it into a place where practicality becomes an issue, and for many people, this device is just too big and heavy.
Those that don’t mind lugging such a large phone around are rewarded with a feature-rich design that ticks many boxes, including 5G comms, a 108MP camera, top-tier SoC performance and a massive battery capacity. All this for a very reasonable price.
Just make sure that you have huge pockets to put it in.
The Acer Predator Orion 7000 is an absolute beau of a gaming machine, with gorgeous RGB lighting and exquisite cable management. Of course, its massive size and heavy weight are also nothing to sneeze at, making it difficult to move around or lift without a second person. Once it’s in place, however, the massive chassis will be most likely under your desk meaning that it shouldn’t be an issue. And it’s designed to pull apart easily for tool-less access to the insides.
The internals aren’t just for show, though they make quite the gorgeous one, as the state-of-the-art fans and liquid cooling system ensure that this PC will never overheat even when overclocking it with high-end titles. And if you need a handy way to overclock and ramp up the fans in response, the PredatorSense feature allows for precise control over both.
Acer Predator Orion 7000 Key Specs
Here is the Acer Predator Orion 7000 configuration sent to TechRadar for review:
CPU: Intel Core i7-12700H Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 RAM: 32 GB DDR5 Storage: 1TB M.2 PCIe Gen 4 SSD and 2TB 7200RPM SATA III hard drive Optical drive: 2.5-inch USB 3.2 Gen2 Type C hotswap drive bay Ports: 6 USB 3.2 Type-A, 2 USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 2 USB 2.0 Type-A, 1 Universal Audio Jack, 1 HDMI 2.1 port, 3 DisplayPorts 1.4a Connectivity: Intel Wireless WiFi 6E AX211, Bluetooth 5.2
In terms of pure performance, the Predator Orion 7000 is a top contender for the best gaming PC you can buy off the shelf out there, with some truly solid benchmark performances. For instance, it completely blows away the Maingear Turbo in both the Geekbench5 and CinebenchR23 benchmarks thanks to its more powerful processor, and it more or less matches the Turbo across the 3DMark suite of GPU tests.
However, those same impressive scores don’t translate to improved gaming performance, since even though the general performance is excellent it doesn’t reach the standards of the Turbo’s extremely high framerates playing the best PC games. But gaming is still effortlessly smooth on the Orion 7000, even when pushing it to the max, so only those running endless benchmarks will notice any nuances in the performance
For all these premium specs and features built into the PC, you’re sure to pay a premium price for them. The setup we were sent will set you back $3000 and includes an Intel Core i7-12700H, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080, 32GB DDR5 RAM, and 1TB of storage.
The configurations being offered in Australia and UK are quite different from the US ones, with the former offering an Intel Core i9-12900K, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080, 16GB DDR5 RAM, and 512GB of storage. The latter has an Intel Core i9-12900K, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090, 32 GB DDR5 RAM, and 1TB of storage. This means that the configurations outside the US are more powerful and expensive machines at the cost of more choices in the configuration.
But considering what’s under the hood, the starting prices are mostly a steal. As, despite falling prices for the best GPUs and best CPUs, these prebuilt and customizable PCs are the best value ways to get your hands on some top-tier specs.
Acer Predator Orion 7000: Price and availability
(Image credit: Future)
How much does it cost? $3,000 (£3,300 / AU$5,500)
When is it out? It is available now
Where can you get it? You can get it in the US, UK, and Australia, though it's difficult due to low stock
As expected from a high-end gaming PC, the Acer Predator Orion 7000 fetches a pretty penny on the market. In the US, the one we received is $3,000, while the cheapest ones in the UK and Australia respectively are priced at £3,300 and AU$5,500, with prices going as high as AU$7,200 for the latter region.
However, considering the chips, cooling system, and aesthetics we would argue that this is a PC worth investing in if you want to essentially future-proof it.
Value: 4.5 / 5
Acer Predator Orion 7000: Design
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Stunning RGB lighting and see-through chassis
Great port selection and cable management
Too heavy
Watching the glow of the RGB lighting illuminate the RTX 3080, fans, and beautifully managed cables never gets old. Then there’s also the fact that said chassis is built for practicality as well, as it can be pulled apart without the use of tools.
It’s a well-made machine, with a sturdy chassis that houses an excellent port selection. It includes six USB 3.2 Type-A ports, two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C ports, two USB 2.0 Type-A ports, one headphone jack, one microphone jack, one HDMI 2.1 port, and three DisplayPort 1.4a. Even better, three of the Type-A, one of the Type-C, the disc drive, and the headphone/microphone jack are located at the top front of the chassis for convenience.
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The only real complaint against the Orion 7000 is its size and weight. This is a gamer’s gaming PC and as such all that hardware, including the state-of-the-art fans and liquid cooling system, plus the size of the casing itself makes it bulky and hard to transport. We found it requires at least two people to safely move the PC around.
With the powerful combination of fans and liquid cooling, near-perfect circulation is all but guaranteed. We didn’t notice as much as a whisper of heat coming from the PC, and this was on the standard settings without using the PredatorSense tool to further modify the fan speeds. The sound while wearing headphones is phenomenal, crisp and sharp audio that’s perfect for picking up subtle cues or for feeling dropped right in the middle of all the action.
And the fact that it comes with a decent gaming keyboard and mouse is just icing on the cake.
Design: 5 / 5
Acer Predator Orion 7000: Performance
(Image credit: Future)
No game can stand against it
No overheating issues
Has ray-tracing, HDR, and more
Benchmarks
Here's how the Acer Predator Orion 7000 performed in our suite of benchmark tests:
The Acer Predator Orion 7000 is a beast when it comes to playing PC games, no matter how demanding the task is. For instance, we completely maxed out every option in Final Fantasy VII Remake including 4k resolution, HDR, ray-tracing, and 120FPS.
To our extreme surprise, the Orion 7000 exceeded all of our expectations, performing at max 256FPS with all those settings turned on. Meanwhile, it runs Hitman 3 butter smooth, at 84FPS on average for the Dartmoor benchmark, and a whopping 103FPS on average for the Dubai benchmark.
Then there’s the PredatorSense tool, which allows you to both overclock your PC and increase fan speeds to overcompensate for it, to your exact specifications. It’s a great feature that’s incredibly easy to use and customize.
The Orion 7000’s configuration, which is equipped with the RTX 3080 and Core i7, churned out some phenomenal benchmark scores. Not even the Maingear Turbo, which uses a stronger graphics card, could beat this computer.
It’s interesting how the mostly tied or superior scores didn’t translate into superior framerates for the suite of PC games we benchmarked with, compared to the Turbo. Though considering the slight improvement in the chips department it makes sense.
That said, the Orion 7000 is still a high-quality, high-end gaming PC that eats demanding and poorly optimized games for breakfast. And thanks to the well-constructed cooling system, it keeps running smoothly without turning into a furnace under your desk.
We pride ourselves on our independence and our rigorous review-testing process, offering up long-term attention to the products we review and making sure our reviews are updated and maintained - regardless of when a device was released, if you can still buy it, it's on our radar.
If you don’t know already, Corsair just launched its very first PC Build Kits, so naturally we had to test them out for you.
Now, I should preface this by saying that the last time I built my own computer was back in college – practically an entire lifetime ago. And, back then, we didn’t really have things like Wi-Fi/Bluetooth cards and these massive graphics cards that look less like cards and more like portable weapons of mass destruction sent from the future. So, essentially, my knowledge of modern PC building is just slightly above that of an average person – and only because I know about all the components that one needs to build it.
Then again, that just makes me the perfect consumer to invest in one of these Corsair PC Build Kits. Those that know their stuff, after all, are more likely to pick out every component and part themselves, which is a big part of the appeal of building your own PC.
The question is, are the new Corsair PC Build Kits well worth it for lay people, whether its those who have zero experience but want to learn sans the pressure of getting the right parts, or those who simply do not have the time to do the digital legwork?
The one thing that might discourage potential customers is the price of entry of these gaming PC kits. The cheapest of the three configurations will set you back $1,199.99 (about £995 / AU$1,740), which is admittedly a lot for casual users. However, that isn’t anything different from what you’d expect from Corsair, as the brand does, in its own words, aim to “deliver a great gaming and PC experience with every build. We did not want to sacrifice quality, warranty, and performance” just for the sake of offering budget-friendly options.
And, you’re also paying for convenience here. The Corsair PC Build Kits essentially takes the amount of painstaking research behind building a PC (and the risks that come with not doing it properly) off your hands and into theirs. So that when you get all the components and parts at your doorstep, you only need to lay them all out and follow the instructions diligently.
I am a massive fan of that, and as someone who is essentially a newbie, the kit that Corsair sent me not only made it easy for me to build my own PC, but it also turned me into a convert.
Getting a pre-build PC? Please! Where’s the fun in that?!
Corsair PC Build Kit: Price and availability
How much does it cost? $1,199.99, $1,499.99, $1,999.99
When is it available? Available now
Where can you get it? Only available in North America at the time of writing
Corsair PC Build Kit: SPECS
Here is the Corsair Novice PC Build Kit configuration sent to TechRadar for review: CPU: Intel Core i5-13400F Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 RAM: Asus B660-PLUS 16GB DDR4 Storage: 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.0 Chassis: Corsair 4000D Airflow Fans: 2x non-RGB fans PSU: Corsair CX550M
To make this hobby more accessible, Corsair is not launching one but three different potential builds. The most affordable, which is the one I put together, goes for $1,199.99 and includes a 13th-gen Intel Core i5 CPU, 16GB of RAM, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060, a 1TB M.2 SSD and the basic essentials for the rest of the build.
Moving to the $1,499.99 version means upgrading the GPU to an RTX 3070 as well as getting RGB-equipped liquid cooling and case. Finally, the most expensive build, which goes for $1,999.99, will upgrade that CPU to an Intel Core i9, the RAM to 32GB, and GPU to one of the latest from Nvidia, the GeForce RTX 4070.
As pricey as that may seem, other PC build kits are not necessarily going to give you a better price for the same level of components. For instance, picking the same or similar parts on PCPartPicker resulted in a slightly higher price tag.
Value: 4 / 5
(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)
Corsair PC Build Kit: Packaging
Neatly packed
Not a lot of wasteful packaging materials in the main box
I personally appreciate products that come neatly packaged, and that’s how my Corsair PC Build Kit arrived. Every single component came in its own packaging – apart from the SSD card and the Wi-Fi/Bluetooth card, which came in their own plastic bags for some reason (though this might just be for test units) – then piled neatly on top of each other next to the Corsair PC case that occupied half of the box.
Another thing I appreciated is the lack of packing peanuts or styrofoam in this main box. Though Corsair could have chosen to use those to really secure all the individual boxes, it went with packing pillows instead. Less packaging waste, less things to put away.
Packaging: 4.5 / 5
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Corsair PC Build Kit: Assembly
Unpack, organize and build
Video tutorial needs improving
Instructions missing some bits
One thing to know about Corsair’s PC Build Kits is that you’re not getting that PCPartPicker iBuyPower experience here of picking out every single internal component yourself (you can check out Corsair’s custom PC builder for that too). However, being a building PC newbie who also doesn't have the time to do proper research on things like compatibility, I appreciated the fact that because Corsair already picked out all the stuff for me, all I need to do is build the PC.
Not that that part doesn’t have its share of challenges either. I do feel that building a PC is easier for me as I already know the technical terms and basic foundations like how everything should be connected to the motherboard. I can imagine how getting started might be a bit of a head-scratcher for those who absolutely have zero knowledge of what’s inside a computer, however.
Before you do get started on building the PC, my biggest advice here is to give yourself a lot of space – space to lay out all the components so that you’ll easily find every single bit you need without needing to dig through piles, and space to do the building. That should ease any stress you might encounter during the process.
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Corsair also really does try to make things more palatable and less challenging for the uninitiated. You don’t need to deal with things like applying thermal paste (it’s pre-applied to the CPU), which is something that some folks find a little daunting. Corsair’s PC cases, which are obviously the PC cases it’s using for these pre-builds, also already come with fans – with Novice kit having the Corsair 4000D Airflow case and the second and third tiers coming with the RGB version – so that’s also less work for you.
For the rest, you just have to read through and follow the instructions. Just know that Corsair is using an older video tutorial, which seems to be geared towards folk who kind of already know the basics. It’s more of an overview rather than a step-by-step process, so I’m really hoping that Corsair will roll out a new one that’s much easier to follow if you know pretty much nil about PC building.
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Luckily, Corsair’s online instruction manual has instructions specific to each kit. And, while I didn’t take a look at the other two, I can tell you that the instructions for the Novice kit are mostly easy to follow, taking you through every step and even providing images, which prove very useful when you’re figuring out which ports you should be plugging those I/O cables into, for example. It takes you through most things from beginning to end, essentially from which panels of the PC case you should remove to prep it to setting up Windows 11 after your PC’s very first boot.
But fair warning; the instructions are not perfect. There were missing bits here, like where exactly to insert the Wi-Fi/Bluetooth card on the motherboard. This wasn’t a big deal to me as I knew where it was supposed to go, but this is also something that a complete novice would definitely not know.
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The hair-pulling bit for me, trying to follow every single step in the instructions faithfully, is the missing bit about the I/O (input/output) plate. The instructions tell you how to install the motherboard, but it doesn’t remind you to make sure to secure the I/O plate first before you install the motherboard. I also forgot about the plate, having accidentally buried it in all that discarded packaging (this is why you have to almost be meticulously organized when building a PC).
So, what ended up happening was me completing all the steps only to find out that there was a very unattractive gaping hole in the back of the PC. And, trust me, there’s no way that plate was going in there after the motherboard had been secured with screws, which meant that, you guessed it, I had to unplug everything, unscrew the motherboard, put that pesky plate in place, then redo the whole thing again! The second time was a lot faster, since I already knew where everything went, but it was still a time drain.
I admit that I was very apprehensive at first about whether or not I did everything correctly, so much so that when I had everything ready, I literally grabbed a bucket of water and brought it to my desk because I was scared that my build was going to burst into flames and burn the house down. This is why I think that Corsair should roll out kit-specific video guides that really take you through everything.
But, everything worked perfectly the first time I turned the thing on and took me right through the Windows 11 setup, which says a lot about Corsair’s instruction manual.
Assembly: 4.5 / 5
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Corsair PC Build Kit: Performance
Novice kits delivers good performance at 1440p
Doesn’t get too loud or too hot
Don’t expect an Intel Core i5 13400F chip and an Nvidia RTX 3060 graphics card to take you very far in gaming, even if you’ve got a 16GB DDR4 memory backing it all up. This is exactly what you’re getting, however, if you go for the Novice kit – the same basic configuration that I received as my “test unit”. Corsair itself recommends this kit to those who are “interested in building their first gaming PC,” which means that it was never going to be kitted out with cutting-edge tech.
Still, Corsair has done a great job of putting these components together. I wouldn’t recommend this kit for 4K gaming, with the middle one being better-suited to meet such demanding gaming needs, but it performs admirably whenever I’m gaming on high or ultra settings at 1440p.
Playing Hogwarts Legacy on it is a favorable experience, even with ray tracing at low, as it delivers a smooth performance with no noticeable lags. I have seen the occasional minor stutter and noticed that the fans tend to get a little louder – though not too loud to be distracting. Same deal with Kena: Bridge of Spirits, which it handles beautifully, giving me smooth gameplay even when I’m battling the bosses.
Of course, setting everything on ultra, including ray tracing, then removing the frame rate cap is a slightly different deal. Both games start to fumble a little with stuttering and lags becoming more apparent and frequent. However, they’re still more than playable and would, in my opinion, satiate most folks out there, especially those who aren’t massive gamers.
Performance: 4 / 5
Should I buy the Corsair PC Build Kit?
(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)
Buy it if...
Don't buy it if...
Corsair PC Build Kit: Report card
First reviewed February 2023
How I tested the Corsair PC Build Kit
We pride ourselves on our independence and our rigorous review-testing process, offering up long-term attention to the products we review and making sure our reviews are updated and maintained - regardless of when a device was released, if you can still buy it, it's on our radar.
Motorola's Edge 40 Pro is rumored to arrive in Western markets at some point in the near future as a rebranded version of the Moto X40, which launched in China back in December.
Today a Motorola Edge 40 Pro prototype seemingly ran Geekbench, which means it's been inducted into the benchmark's online hall of fame - or, more accurately, its database.
The Edge 40 Pro managed a 1,480 single-core score and a 4,889 multi-core score in Geekbench 5. The "rtwo' motherboard could apparently be "associated with" the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, which is completely unsurprising if the...
For those watching the market for rugged phones closely, there is a crunch about to happen where the specifications of cheap phones seem destined to collide with those from the premium end ranges.
At this ground zero point are makers like Blackview, aiming to sell rugged designs for a minimum of $250, but also trying to take market share from those in the $300-350 bracket.
A case in point is the Blackview BV9200, a phone that, based purely on specifications, should cost more than the asking price.
However, to achieve this attractive price point, some compromises have been made, and it’s the purchasers’ choice if those are significant enough to warrant not buying one.
The boxes unreservedly ticker in the BV9200 are that it has a good Helio G96 processor, providing plenty of power, alongside a reasonable GPU, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of UFS 2.1-based storage.
The scale of this device allows for a large 6.58-inch IPS LCD panel with a 120Hz refresh rate and a natural resolution of 1080 x 2408 pixels, sufficient for unscaled 1080p playback.
This is also the first Blackview phone to have dual smart-PA BOX speakers designed by Harman AudioEFX for an enhanced auditor experience.
The first signs of cost saving appear in the cameras, as the best sensor is a Samsung ISOCELL JN1 50MP, and this is supported by an 8MP Macro lens with a 120-degree field of view and a 0.3MP sensor for depth of field control.
The cameras are far from useless, but this phone isn’t packing the 108MP sensors we’ve seen from Doogee and Ulefone.
Another limitation is the battery capacity, as 5000 mAh is on the low side for a rugged design. But conversely, this has the positive impact that at 310g this is one of the lightest waterproof designs we’ve seen so far.
More of an issue potentially is the installed OS, which is Android 12 but with the Doke-OS 3.1 interface sat over the vanilla Android core.
This version of Android seems stable, but Doke-OS preloads all manner of games and other junk that most users won’t want or care about. It is possible to remove this junk, but it’s disappointing that it was pre-installed in the first place. By not using the vanilla interface options, new Android releases are likely likely to be delayed by its integration, and Blackview doesn’t have the best history of passing all of these on to users.
The final point about this phone is that it is 4G, not 5G, and how important that is will be dependent on the region you live in and the mobile service you use.
Where can you get it? You can get it in most regions direct from AliExpress
Coming in black, green and orange, the BV9200 is best sourced from AliExpress, as it doesn’t seem to be generally available through Amazon or other big online retailers.
The pricing is relatively consistent based on exchange rates, with the three colours all costing around $250. AliExpress does offer two bundle options; phone with “Airbuds 6” and “Smartwatch R1”. These add about $25 if you want either of those extras.
The downside of AliExpress is that the phone will only ship within 30 days and could take another 30 to reach you. Hopefully, Blackview will make this design more readily available through Amazon and other faster channels.
(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)
Value score: 4/5
Blackview BV9200 design
Slim
Offset camera cluster
A charging monster
We’ve seen a new class of rugged phones emerge in the past year that delivers a robust package but in a distinctly thinner aspect.
While not as light as the svelte 290g Ulefone Armor 17 Pro, the 310g BV9200 is still much lighter than the majority of rugged designs and 150g less than Blackview’s own BV7100.
The reduced weight and thinner form make this an easier phone to handle and secure in a pocket, although, with a 6-58-inch screen, it is still a substantial device.
It’s a nice tactile experience, the sides and buttons are mostly metal, and the visible bolt heads on these are neatly recessed.
The layout used is a cookie-cutter form with the volume rocker and power/fingerprint reader on the right and the SIM tray and custom button on the left. As with most rugged phones that use it, this layout is biased towards right-handed users and not those who are left-handed.
The camera cluster is oddly set to the top left when viewed from behind, placing the main 50MP sensor centre approximately 24mm from the centreline of the phone body.
This position might need some adjustment for those taking pictures, but due to a gentle curve of the underside, the sensor cluster projection doesn’t stop the phone from lying flat.
That it can lay flat is essential, as it supports wireless charging using the Qi standard, but not the usual 15W, but the higher 33W level.
(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)
For those wanting to charge even faster, the USB-C port is the weapon of choice, as this allows 66W mode using the PSU that Blackview includes with its phone.
This port is covered with a rubber plug that needs to be removed every time it is charged this way, and therefore the wireless charging option might be preferable.
We’d also like to comment that the rubber plug on the BV9200 is small, and the space it offers for USB charging cables is narrow. When we first took this phone from its box, we tried to attach it to a typical USB-C cable, and it wouldn’t fit. The assumption is that the connector approach is this narrow to avoid water or dust getting in, but being forced to find the narrower USB-C cable that came with it isn’t ideal.
To summarise the design of the BV9200, there isn’t any remarkable about it, but equally, no horrible mistakes. It might have been a little better, but it could also have been much worse.
(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)
Design score: 4/5
Blackview BV9200 features
High spec platform
Modest battery
No audio jack
Specs
The Blackview BV9200 that was sent to us for review came with the following hardware:
CPU: MediaTek Helio G96 Cores: Octa-core, Dual-core 2.05 GHz Cortex-A76, Hexa-core 2 GHz Cortex-A55 GPU: Mali-G57 MC2 RAM: 8GB LPDDR4X Storage: 256GB +MicroSD Screen: 6.58-inch IPS LCD 120Hz Resolution: 1080 x 2408 SIM: Dual Nano SIM (+microSDXC) Weight: 310g Dimensions: 174 x 82 x 13.6 mm Rugged Spec: IP68, IP69K and MIL-STD-810H Rear cameras: 50MP + 8MP + 0.3 MP Front camera: 16MP Networking: WiFi 5, Bluetooth 5.2 Mobile Network: 2G/3G/4G OS: Android 12 (Doke-OS 3.1) Battery: 5000 mAh Colour Options: Black, Green, Orange
Chinese phone makers love MediaTek SoCs for commercial reasons, and Blackview uses them exclusively in its latest designs.
What is slightly odd is where many phone makers are going with the Helio G99 or even the Dimensity 900, but the BV9200 has the scaled-back Helio G96. This silicon has seen some use in the Doogee S99, POCO M4 Pro and Xiaomi Redmi Note 11S, to mention just a few.
Like the Helio G99, this is an eight-core design that has two Cortex-A76 performance cores alongside six Cortex-A55 efficiency cores and the same Mali-G57 MC2 GPU.
The only major computing platform difference is that the performance G99 can clock its Cortex-A76 parts up to 2.2GHz, whereas the G96 is capped at 2.05 GHz. The Cortex-A55 cores run at 2 GHZ on both chips.
While not the very fastest SoC that MediaTek makes, the G96 is powerful enough for most purposes.
Another strong point in the specification is the screen. This IPS panel offers strong colours, a good resolution and up to a 120Hz refresh along with 90Hz and 60Hz, and it is well protected from accidental damage with a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 5.
Where the BV9200 is less impressive is in the networking, cameras and battery specifications.
For example, the wireless networking on this phone is only WiFi 5, although it is Bluetooth 5.2, thankfully.
The camera selection is curious, as we’ve not seen another phone with this exact combination. While the primary 50MP camera and optics look decent, typically, we see them alongside 16MB supporting sensors. But here, the wide-angle option is just 8MP, and the depth of field sensor is 0.3MP, making it remarkably low res.
As we’ll cover in more detail below, these curious choices don’t impact the quality of the results, but they do seem to fly in the face of what other phone makers are doing.
(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)
A rugged phone only having 5000 mAh of battery capacity does seem on the low side, especially for those wanting to take this device on a long hike away from mains power.
That said, it is possible to carry charging packs or solar collectors to extend its operation, and when you do encounter power, the BV9200 can charge up remarkably quickly.
One final feature note is that this phone has no 3.5mm audio jack, and Blackview didn’t include an adapter to use the USB for headphones. These are cheaply bought, but it is worth noting that an adapter will be required.
Despite a somewhat odd combination of sensors, the camera on the BV9200 performs admirably. The main sensor might be 50MP, but the maximum image size that is captured is 13MP in a 4:3 ratio, making the files significantly smaller. Having more sensor pixels than those on the output results is some crisp and colour-accurate results.
Our only complaint is that getting the best images requires good lighting, as the focus is poor in less-than-ideal lighting conditions. This issue is especially true of the night vision mode, something we’d avoid using.
But for daylight photography, it is possible to get some excellent captures that are generally free of optical aberrations and colour shifts. For those wanting the best results, we recommend Beauty mode and the HDR options since these make the best use of the ArcSoft True-Chroma software working behind the scenes to extract the best image fidelity.
The ultra-macro mode gets to within about 10mm of the subject, and the beauty mode has a depth control with ten levels of impact.
Probably one of the best features of the camera is that it will shoot video at a resolution above 1080p. It can record 2K or, more accurately, 1440p, aka 2560 x 1440 video.
The only downside of that functionality and video capture is that no controls are provided for frame rate. It’s 30fps at all resolutions, with no other choices.
The phone camera application does have H264 or HEVC encoding, balancing the options for the greatest compatibility with the most efficient encoding. And, image stabilisation is always available irrespective of capture resolution.
Overall, the camera on the BV9200 is better than anticipated, and unless you need night vision or some other special sensor modes, it does a reasonable job.
Camera samples
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Camera score: 3/5
Blackview BV9200 performance
All-round performer
Strong GPU
Power and efficiency
Benchmarks
This is how the Blackview BV9200 performed in our suite of benchmark tests:
Overall, the performance of this phone is excellent, and the 120MHz mode of the display makes the interface seem even smoother than normal.
If we compare the G96 used in the BV9200 with a G99-powered phone, the difference is about 10% lower across most benchmarks, but in some tests, it is much, much closer.
The PCMark 3.0 test, as an example, scores 8727 on the BV9200 and 9176 on the Ulefone Armor 17 Pro, a difference of just 5%.
To get significantly better performance than this requires the Dimensity 900 powered phone, and those cost more than double the asking price of the BV9200.
The graphics performance of this SoC will work for most mobile games, even if it’s only about 60% of the power that the Mali-G68 MC4 used in the Dimensity 900 SoC can output.
Understanding the wide range of capabilities, game creators tend to create predefined quality settings for specific SoCs and screen resolutions, and the BV9200 has enough visual performance that this shouldn’t be an issue.
The only issues you might encounter are those related to the lack of Widevine L1 encryption, a standard that many of the branded streaming services use to deliver their content to TVs and mobile devices.
Blackview only offers an L3 security level on the BV9200, reducing the streamed quality of most services to 480p (640 x 480), irrespective of the screen size.
But in some services, such as watching some, but not all, streamed movies through Google TV, possibly due to a mistake when the OS was compiled, movies appear with a large black border around them, and no icon appears to rescale them to the full display.
The lack of Widevine L1 and inconsistent scaling issues make the BV9200 unsuitable for watching TV shows and movies on this phone, despite the screen being suitable for this purpose.
Performance score: 5/5
Blackview BV9200 battery
66W Fast charging
33W Qi charging
The SoC in the BV9200 is highly efficient and can make the most of the battery capacity, even if it is only 5,000 mAh. For a typical smartphone, that would be plenty of battery, but for a rugged design, it's on the light side of what is often provided.
That said, you should be able to get more than six hours of movie streaming on a single charge, and on standby, it should last 500 hours on standby and 37.5 hours calling.
But where the BV9200 has the advantage is when it charges. Because it has two charging options, and both of them get the phone ready to travel quickly.
For conventional USB-C charging, when empty, it can utilise the 66W charger Blackview include with the phone. That enables it to grab 20% of the power capacity in 5 minutes and be fully recharged in around 53 minutes.
Conversely, the 33W wireless charging option takes approximately twice as long, but it is still much faster than most wireless charging phones, as they usually only support 15W mode.
To be concise, the battery on this phone could be bigger, but making it this size makes the phone light and also enables it to charge quickly.
Battery score: 4/5
(Image credit: Blackview)
Like the Ulefone 17 Pro, the Blackview 9200 provides an excellent alternative to the brick-like rugged phones that are heavy and somewhat impractical.
The SoC is a good choice, with plenty of RAM and storage. The camera seems somewhat quirky but delivers good results, and given the hardware in this phone, it is competitively priced.
What is less wonderful is the Doke-OS version of Android and all the apps you never asked for, and that it is 4G in a world that is increasingly 5G.
For those wanting to go into the wilderness and not take an iPhone, the Blackview BV9200 is an affordable choice. With the exception of the battery capacity, it is built for that job.
Back in November of last year a leak talked about vivo launching the V27 and V27 Pro in India sometime this month. Today the V27 has allegedly showed up in the Geekbench online database, and thus is seemingly solidifying the credibility of that past information, since prototypes are usually tested closer to their official introductions.
The phone which ran Geekbench has the model number V2246, and it runs Android 13, unsurprisingly. Perhaps somewhat more surprising is the fact that it has 12GB of RAM, which is not something you see often on a mid-ranger. The chipset isn't listed, but due...
The Dell Latitude 9330 is a 2-in-1 remote working powerhouse designed for the work-from-anywhere individual due to its lightweight frame, focus on virtual meetings, and high-powered chipset. The Latitude 9330 is the smallest model Dell currently offers, though this is only small in footprint, as the power coming out of this device is truly impressive for its size.
Fingerprint Scanner (Image credit: Future)
First impressions
Left Side Ports (Image credit: Future)
Dell has designed this laptop to be ultra-portable while maintaining the power level needed for professional users. The Latitude 9330 is light and slim, with a sleek design, although it does feature minimal ports, which could be an issue for some users - although if you do need one of the missing connections (HDMI, USB-A, Ethernet, etc.), you could utilize an adapter or docking station at your desk.
Another thing that we noticed right off the bat is that the Latitude 9330 doesn’t look like a 2-in-1 device at first glance, instead resembling a standard slim laptop - but when we took it out in the real world, it performed impressively.
Right Side Ports (Image credit: Future)
Design and build quality
Specs
Weight: 2.8lb / 1.27kg Screen size: 13.3 inches Resolution: 2560 x 1600 Processor: 12th Gen Intel Core i7 RAM: 16GB Storage: 500GB Graphics: Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 Ports: 3x USB-C, audio jack Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2
The Dell Latitude 9330 2-in-1 features a 13-inch display, but is remarkably light and minimal, despite housing up to a 12th Gen Intel Core i7 processor and LPDDR5 memory.
The 2-in-1 design can be seen when the keyboard is folded all the way around behind the screen, turning it into a 13 inch tablet for those moments when you want to go hand-held.
The laptop's right side has one USB-C port and a headphone jack, with theleft side featuring two thunderbolt ports. The device is incredibly portable, weighing just under 1.3kg / 3lb, and is only ¾ inch thick when sitting on a table, closed. All around, this laptop screams portability by design and functionality.
In use
We took this laptop with us everywhere for our tests, including at an office, on transportation, the couch, the coffee shop, as well as just our home, and it performed well in all settings.
On the go, it's small and light enough to carry around easily, and functional enough to work effectively without having to find the "perfect" spot, whether that’s a kitchen table or countertop at a coffee shop - as unlike those who needed a large table, with a power supply, at the right height, we could be flexible.
It was much the same when working at home, where we could use this device on the couch comfortably without needing to contort around a bulky laptop. When we sat at a proper desk with an external monitor (or three) and peripherals, this laptop gave us the feel of a full-powered workstation with the power to tackle any of the tasks we threw at it.
The i7 processor has been able to handle a wide range of daily activities, with word processing tasks, email, spreadsheets, virtual meetings, project management, chat programs, music, and light photo editing all completed smoothly. Even while running on multiple screens, this laptop could handle what we were throwing at it without compromising. Granted, we did not use this to edit 4K footage or rework terabytes of audio files - but for a business professional who primarily works with the previously listed tasks, the Latitude 9330 is more than enough to get that taken care of with room to breathe.
The Latitude 9330 also features a significant focus towards virtual and remote work due to a suite of included features designed to make collaboration seamless.
While we usually spend most of our time in Google Meet, we tested a few meetings in Zoom thanks to the Collaboration Touchpad integration with Zoom (we reached out to Dell, and they confirmed this feature would expand to Microsoft Teams and other virtual meeting platforms soon).
This feature allows four soft buttons to show on the top of the trackpad that gave quick access to enable or disable the camera, mic, chat, and screen share. This functionality made it so we could confidently throw our mic on when speaking and then just as confidently mute afterward without an awkward delay (even if we were on a different screen during the meeting).
Similarly, we could turn our camera on quickly for a quick demonstration and then confidently know that we had turned it off thanks to the soft button and a camera shutter button integrated into the F9 key. Lastly, the quick button to respond to the ongoing chat in the company meeting and the switch to screen share in an instant proved very useful.
In addition to these features, the Latitude 9330 has intelligent neural noise cancelation, which makes any background noises in a virtual meeting disappear for those listening. The AI noise elimination tool means your coworkers will hear only you, not the lady ordering coffee at the counter next to you, your dog snoring, or your vacuum running.
The last area worth mentioning cover the enhanced security and privacy features included. The Latitude 9330 comes with ExpressSign-in and onlooker protection, meaning you can step away from your device, for example to grab something from the printer, and as you look away the screen, the laptop would dim and lock, protecting your information . When you return, the system awakes and signs you in (thanks to an integration with Windows Hello).
Elsewhere, one of the coolest added features to this laptop is the ability to detect onlookers to protect valuable or personal content. This tool alerted us a handful of times when we were in a public space to people peeking over our shoulders, texturizing the screen, essentially blurring the content until the onlooker turns away or we disabled the feature.
Integrated soft buttons in the trackpad (Image credit: Future)
Final verdict
The Latitude 9330 laptop has impressed us, with its snappy processor, flexible 2-in-1 design, integrated security and privacy features making it a useful workplace ally.
The device is clearly made for the remote worker, though it can be an excellent option for anyone looking for a flexible laptop solution to get the job done.
Looking for a desk for your work-from-home space? Check out our best standing desks
Das Steam Deck kam im Februar 2022 auf den Markt. Seit seiner Veröffentlichung hat Valve das Gaming-Handheld regelmäßig aktualisiert, um einige der Probleme zu beheben, die bei der ersten Nutzung des Systems auftraten.
Für das Steam Deck sind drei verschiedene Speichertypen erhältlich: 64 GB, 256 GB und 512 GB. Das 64GB Steam Deck hat eine eMMC-Speicherkarte und die 256GB und 512GB Steam Decks sind mit einer NVMe-SSD ausgestattet, aber alle drei werden mit einer Tragetasche für den einfachen und sicheren Transport geliefert. Je höher deine Speicherkapazität ist, desto mehr "Extras" bekommst du auf oder mit dem Steam Deck.
Vorbestellen konnte man das Handheld bereits im Juli 2021 und die meisten mussten sich bis zum Oktober 2022 gedulden, bis die ersten Steam Decks ausgeliefert wurden. Als das Steam Deck zum ersten Mal auf den Markt kam, wurde vor allem die Akkulaufzeit bemängelt – oder vielmehr das Fehlen einer solchen. Valve hat das Steam Deck durch Software-Updates verbessert, die nicht nur Patches waren, sondern auch die Benutzerfreundlichkeit, die Zugänglichkeit und die Spielbarkeit von PC-Spielen auf dem Handheld verbessert haben.
Steam Deck: Updates
Die Steam Deck-Updates von Valve umfassten alles von Fehlerbehebungen über Controller-Konfigurations-Updates bis hin zu neuen Optionen für die Anzeige der Framerate. Die Updates wurden im März und April kontinuierlich veröffentlicht, um das Steam Deck-Erlebnis der Spieler noch angenehmer zu machen. Das jüngste Update ermöglicht es den Nutzern nun, Windows 11 zu installieren und ihren eigenen Sperrbildschirm und Pin-Passcode zu erstellen, wenn sie dies wünschen.
Es gab mehrere Updates für die Steam Deck-Tastatur, so dass nun 21 verschiedene Sprachen und verschiedene Layouts neben der englischen QWERTY-Standardtastatur verfügbar sind. Valve arbeitet auch an anderen Tastaturlayouts, darunter Koreanisch, Japanisch und Chinesisch. Nutzer können jetzt zwischen Fenstern in derselben Anwendung wechseln, z. B. zwischen Tabs im Webbrowser.
Ein Problem, das noch nicht ganz gelöst ist, ist das heulende Geräusch des Lüfters des Steam Decks, das hoch und nervig sein kann, auch wenn es nicht besonders laut ist. Es heißt jedoch, dass das neueste Steam Deck-Update versucht hat, das Heulen des Lüfters zu korrigieren, indem es die Tonhöhe des Lüfters verringert und ihn fast geräuschlos laufen lässt. Der einzige Nachteil des Lüfter-Updates ist die leicht erhöhte Temperatur der Steam Deck CPU.
Die kontinuierlichen Updates des Steam Decks zeigen, dass es sich um ein Handheld-System handelt, das sich in seinen ohnehin schon beeindruckenden Kritiken stetig verbessert. Als wir das Steam Deck im Februar 2022 zum ersten Mal getestet haben, hat es uns trotz einiger Mängel sehr gut gefallen und die jüngsten Updates zeigen das Potenzial des Steam Decks. Schau dir unseren Originalbericht unten an, um herauszufinden, ob das Steam Deck für dich geeignet ist.
Steam Deck: 2-Minuten-Rezension
Spezifikationen
(Image credit: Valve)
CPU: AMD Zen 2 Vierkernprozessor 2,4-3,5GHz Grafik: AMD RDNA 2 RAM: 16GB LPDDR5 Bildschirm: 7-Zoll-Touchscreen, 1.280 x 800, 60Hz Speicher: 64GB (eMMC), 256GB, 512GB (NVMe-SSD) Anschlüsse: USB-C, 3,5-mm-Kopfhöreranschluss, microSD Konnektivität: Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5 Gewicht: 667g Abmessungen: 29,8cm x 11,7cm x 4,9cm (B x T x H)
Das Steam Deck ist eine der am sehnlichsten erwarteten Produkteinführungen der letzten Zeit, denn Valve versucht sich an einer Handheld-Konsole. Das ist sicherlich ein ehrgeiziges Vorhaben, das Valve aber größtenteils gelungen ist. Auch wenn du vielleicht denkst, dass das Steam Deck mit der Nintendo Switch konkurriert, ist es in Wirklichkeit eher eine Alternative zu Gaming-Laptops.
Das heißt, wenn du ein PC-Spieler mit einer großen Steam-Bibliothek bist und dich an die Macken und Ärgernisse gewöhnt hast, die mit dem Spielen von PC-Spielen einhergehen, dann wirst du das Steam Deck wahrscheinlich lieben und über seine Ecken und Kanten hinwegsehen. Wenn du jedoch ein Konsolenspieler bist, der an ausgefeiltere Produkte gewöhnt ist, die alles so einfach und unkompliziert wie möglich halten, wirst du vielleicht enttäuscht sein.
Einige der Ecken und Kanten des Steam Decks sind jedoch Teil seines Charmes und in einigen Fällen auf die Flexibilität des Geräts zurückzuführen, die traditionelle Konsolen einfach nicht bieten können. Du kannst so ziemlich jeden USB-C-Hub anschließen, einen Monitor oder Fernseher anschließen und Spiele auf dem großen Bildschirm spielen. Du kannst das Steam Deck auch im Desktop-Modus verwenden, um eine Vielzahl von Linux-Apps zu installieren und das Steam Deck in einen vollwertigen Mini-PC zu verwandeln. Du kannst sogar andere Betriebssysteme installieren, wie z. B. Windows 11.
(Image credit: Future)
Mit dieser Vielseitigkeit hebt sich das Steam Deck von seinen traditionellen Konkurrenten ab, und während Leute, die ein Nintendo Switch-ähnliches Erlebnis suchen, vielleicht nicht begeistert sind, ist das Steam Deck für PC-Spieler, die über einen Gaming-Laptop nachdenken, ein brillantes Gerät mit einem riesigen Potenzial, vor allem für Leute, die gerne experimentieren.
Die Spieleunterstützung ist eine dieser rauen Kanten. Wenn du ein Nintendo Switch-Spiel kaufst, kannst du davon ausgehen, dass es auch auf deiner Nintendo Switch funktioniert. Wenn du jedoch ein Spiel auf Steam kaufst, bedeutet das nicht unbedingt, dass es auch auf dem Steam Deck läuft. Das liegt vor allem daran, dass das Steam Deck unter Linux läuft – genauer gesagt unter Steam OS 3.0 – während viele Steam-Spiele nur unter Windows laufen. Valve hat an einer cleveren Lösung namens Proton gearbeitet, mit der du Spiele auf Linux spielen kannst, aber sie ist nicht perfekt. Und einige Spiele – vor allem solche, die Anti-Cheat-Software verwenden – laufen nicht.
Valve hat eine einfache Methode, um festzustellen, welche Spiele auf dem Steam Deck laufen können. Spiele mit einem grünen Häkchen in der Steam Library UI bedeuten, dass sie für das Steam Deck verifiziert sind und ohne Probleme laufen. Die Standard-Grafikeinstellungen und Steuerungsoptionen funktionieren einwandfrei, und alle Menüs und Texte sind lesbar.
Es gibt auch Spiele, die ein gelbes Häkchen haben. Diese Spiele sind "spielbar", aber nicht vollständig getestet, und es kann Probleme geben, sie zum Laufen zu bringen. Im Moment fällt wahrscheinlich der größte Teil deiner Steam-Bibliothek in diese Kategorie.
Dann gibt es noch die Kategorie "Unbekannt", bei der es nicht genug Informationen gibt, um zu wissen, wie gut ein Spiel funktioniert. Es gibt auch eine Kategorie "Nicht unterstützt", die bedeutet, dass Spiele definitiv nicht laufen werden. Diese Kategorie ist im Moment zum Glück relativ klein und betrifft hauptsächlich Spiele, für die du bestimmte Hardware benötigst, die vom Steam Deck nicht unterstützt wird, wie z. B. Virtual Reality-Titel. Auf der Steam Deck Compatibility Website von Valve kannst du überprüfen, wie viel von deiner Bibliothek auf dem Steam Deck spielbar ist.
Das lohnt sich, denn eines der wichtigsten Verkaufsargumente für PC-Spieler ist, dass deine Steam-Bibliothek auf dem Steam Deck gespielt werden kann, ohne dass du deine Spiele neu kaufen musst. Wenn du bereits eine große Bibliothek an Steam-Spielen hast, ist der Startpreis von 419 Euro viel günstiger.
Wir sagen "Einstiegspreis", da es sich um das Einsteigermodell mit 64 GB eMMC-Speicher und einer Tragetasche handelt. Wir empfehlen dir jedoch, in das 256-GB-SSD-Modell für 549 Euro zu investieren, das viel mehr Speicherplatz bietet und zudem schneller ist. Es gibt auch ein Modell mit 512 GB SSD für 679 Euro, das ebenfalls mit entspiegeltem Glas ausgestattet ist. Alle Modelle verfügen über einen microSD-Kartenslot zur Speichererweiterung, was eine gute Option ist, aber mit langsameren Ladezeiten für Spiele einhergeht.
(Image credit: Future)
Das Steam Deck ist solide gebaut. Obwohl es groß ist, ist es nicht unbequem, auch wenn du mit kleineren Händen Probleme haben könntest. Das Erstaunlichste am Steam Deck ist jedoch die schiere Menge an Spielerlebnissen, die es bietet. Es bewältigt das visuell beeindruckende God of War ohne Probleme und ist ein großartiges Schaufenster für Indie-Spiele. Letzteres ist der Grund, warum das Steam Deck wirklich beeindruckt: Spiele, die in kurzen Intervallen gespielt werden sollen, und stilvolle Grafiken, die die Hardware des Steam Decks nicht überfordern.
Die Suspend-Funktion, mit der du Spiele schnell wieder aufnehmen kannst, wenn du sie spielen willst, ist sehr willkommen. Weniger erfreulich ist die Tatsache, dass die Akkulaufzeit des Steam Decks ziemlich schlecht ist: Beim Spielen von God of War hält es gerade einmal eineinhalb Stunden durch. Bei weniger intensiven Spielen kannst du mit etwa vier Stunden rechnen.
(Image credit: Future)
Steam Deck: Preis & Verfügbarkeit
Das Steam Deck gibt es in drei Versionen: eine Basisversion für 419 Euro, die mit 64 GB eMMC-Speicher und einer Tragetasche geliefert wird. Die Mittelklasse-Variante kostet 549 Euro und enthält eine 256 GB große NVMe-SSD für schnelleren Speicher, eine Tragetasche und ein exklusives Steam-Community-Profil-Bundle. Dies ist die Version, die wir zum Test hatten. Die höchste Stufe schließlich kostet 679 Euro und umfasst 512 GB internen NVMe-SSD-Speicher, hochwertiges entspiegeltes Schutzglas, eine exklusive Tragetasche, ein exklusives Steam Community-Profilpaket und ein exklusives virtuelles Tastaturdesign.
Ursprünglich sollte das Steam Deck im Dezember 2021 auf den Markt kommen, aber Valve gab bekannt, dass es sich auf den 25. Februar 2022 verschiebt. Auch konnte man sich das Steam Deck lediglich reservieren. Die erste Auslieferung der Handhelds erfolgte schließlich im Oktober 2022. Inzwischen kannst du es ganz einfach über die Steam-Webseite bestellen.
(Image credit: Future)
Steam Deck: Design
Das Steam Deck ist zwar eine Handheld-Konsole, aber auch eine der größten, die wir je benutzt haben. Es ist deutlich größer und schwerer als die Nintendo Switch. Im Vorfeld der Veröffentlichung behauptete Valve, dass es viel Zeit darauf verwendet hat, das Steam Deck so zu gestalten, dass es bequeme und lange Spielsitzungen ermöglicht.
Die Größe ist sicherlich gewöhnungsbedürftig, vor allem, wenn du an kleinere Handhelds oder traditionelle Gamepads gewöhnt bist. Rasante Spiele wie Hades können sich etwas unbequem anfühlen. Aber je länger wir mit dem Steam Deck spielen, desto bequemer wird es. Auf der Vorderseite des Steam Decks befinden sich auf jeder Seite des Bildschirms zwei Sticks mit eingebauten kapazitiven Touchsensoren, die laut Valve "ein Maß an Präzision und Komfort bieten, das es bei anderen tragbaren Spielgeräten nicht gibt".
Sie fühlen sich auf jeden Fall robust, reaktionsschnell und präzise an und sind die Steuerungsmethode, die wir am häufigsten verwenden. Unterhalb der Sticks befinden sich zwei quadratische Trackpads, die bei Spielen, die sie benötigen, die Maussteuerung ermöglichen. Sie ähneln dem Trackpad des Steam Controllers und bieten subtile haptische Vibrationen, was eine nette Idee ist. Wir benutzen sie jedoch nur selten.
(Image credit: Future)
Etwas oberhalb des linken Sticks befindet sich ein D-Pad, das für 2D- und Retro-Spiele sehr praktisch ist, und in der gleichen Position über der rechten Hand befinden sich vier Tasten: A, B, X und Y, die in der gleichen Position angeordnet sind wie auf einem Xbox-Controller. Außerdem gibt es eine Ansichtstaste, eine Menütaste, eine Steam-Taste und eine Schnellzugriffstaste. Das wirkt manchmal etwas übertrieben, denn es ist nicht immer klar, was die Tasten in bestimmten Situationen bewirken, und manchmal haben sie eine Doppelfunktion.
Aber wenn du Knöpfe magst, wirst du das Steam Deck lieben! Auf der Oberseite des Steam Decks befinden sich zwei Lautstärketasten, eine Einschalttaste, zwei Schultertasten (L1 und R1) und zwei Auslöser (L2 und R2). Außerdem gibt es einen Kopfhöreranschluss, einen USB-C-Anschluss zum Aufladen und Anschließen eines USB-Hubs sowie eine Status-LED.
Immer noch nicht genug Tasten für dich? Die gute Nachricht ist, dass es auf der Rückseite vier weitere gibt. Das gibt dem Steam Deck zwar eine gewisse Vielseitigkeit, vor allem bei PC-Spielen, die Hotkeys erfordern, die normalerweise auf einer Tastatur zu finden sind, aber wir benutzen sie in unseren Spielen eigentlich nie. Zwar ist es besser, mehr Tasten als nötig zu haben, als nicht genug, aber diese zusätzlichen Tasten sind manchmal im Weg, da du sie versehentlich drücken kannst. Beispielsweise, wenn du das Steam Deck hältst oder in die Hand nimmst, was unerwünschte Folgen beim Spielen haben kann.
(Image credit: Future)
An der Vorderseite des Steam Decks befinden sich außerdem Stereolautsprecher und zwei Mikrofone, mit denen du auch ohne Headset deutlich mit deinen Mitspielern sprechen kannst. Das Steam Deck hat ein 7-Zoll-Display mit 1.280 x 800 Pixeln und einem Seitenverhältnis von 16:10. Es hat auch einen Touchscreen, was eine weitere nette optionale Eingabemethode darstellt. Wir benutzen es zwar nicht in Spielen, aber es ist praktisch, um in Menüs schnell Optionen auszuwählen.
Der Bildschirm ist größer als das 6,2-Zoll-Display der Nintendo Switch und hat die gleiche Größe wie der OLED-Bildschirm der Switch. Beide Switch-Modelle haben eine Auflösung von 1280 x 720, das Steam Deck hat also eine etwas höhere vertikale Auflösung. Während viele Spiele verschiedene Seitenverhältnisse unterstützen, bleiben einige bei 16:9, was bedeutet, dass oben und unten auf dem Bildschirm des Steam Decks schwarze Balken zu sehen sind, sodass du nicht von der zusätzlichen Auflösung profitierst.
(Image credit: Future)
Zum Glück kommen die meisten modernen PC-Spiele mit einer Vielzahl von Auflösungen und Seitenverhältnissen zurecht, sodass sie perfekt auf den Bildschirm passen. Auch die Auflösung ist sehr sinnvoll. Auf einem 7-Zoll-Bildschirm sieht es scharf und lebendig aus (allerdings nicht so gut wie auf dem OLED-Display der aktuellen Switch), und die relativ niedrige Auflösung bedeutet, dass die Spiele die Hardware des Steam Decks nicht zu sehr beanspruchen, was zu einer besseren Leistung und Akkulaufzeit führen kann.
Im Gegensatz zu den meisten anderen Handheld-Konsolen ist das Steam Deck mit Lüftern ausgestattet, die die Wärme an der Oberseite der Konsole ableiten. Wenn das Steam Deck anfängt, hart zu arbeiten, surrt es auf. Es ist nicht das lauteste, aber es ist spürbar, und während PC-Spieler das vielleicht nicht stört, könnten Fans von leisen Handhelds etwas abgeschreckt sein.
(Image credit: Future)
Steam Deck: Leistung
Die Leistung des Steam Decks ist eine gemischte Angelegenheit, die uns manchmal ernsthaft beeindruckt und manchmal frustriert. Ein Großteil der Frustrationen ist auf die frühe Version von Steam OS zurückzuführen, für die Valve fast täglich Updates und Korrekturen herausgibt.
Viele Spieleentwickler arbeiten auch daran, ihre Spiele als Steam Deck zu verifizieren. Diese Spiele, die in deiner Bibliothek mit einem grünen Häkchen angezeigt werden, wurden ausgiebig auf dem Steam Deck getestet und bieten ein flüssiges Gameplay sowie Interface-Optionen, die auf dem Bildschirm des Steam Decks gut lesbar sind. Wenn du eines dieser Spiele lädst, kannst du sicher sein, dass es auf dem Steam Deck gut läuft, ohne dass du an den Einstellungen herumfummeln musst.
Die Zahl der für das Steam Deck geprüften Spiele wächst ständig und umfasst große Veröffentlichungen wie God of War, aber auch Klassiker wie Portal 2. Als wir anfingen, das Steam Deck zu testen, war Hades – ein brillantes Rogue-Lite, von dem wir dachten, dass es sich perfekt für das Steam Deck eignen würde – nicht Steam Deck Verified. Nach ein paar Tagen veröffentlichten die Entwickler jedoch ein Update, mit dem es verifiziert wurde. Aber auch im nicht verifizierten Zustand spielte es sich sehr gut.
(Image credit: Future)
Diese Erfahrung kannst du bei vielen Spielen machen, die als "spielbar" gekennzeichnet sind. Das bedeutet, dass sie noch nicht verifiziert wurden, aber trotzdem auf dem Steam Deck laufen sollten. Es gibt einige Spiele, die als "spielbar" gekennzeichnet sind und genauso gut laufen wie verifizierte Spiele. Es gibt aber auch Spiele wie Monkey Island 2, die ärgerliche Bugs haben. Im Fall des Point-and-Click-Klassikers von LucasArts können wir das Spiel nicht über das Hauptmenü hinaus laden.
Außerdem gibt es einige Spiele, die als "nicht unterstützt" gekennzeichnet sind. Aufgrund der schieren Größe der Steam-Bibliothek wird es wahrscheinlich viele Spiele geben, die unter diese Kategorie fallen, vor allem obskure Titel. Das bedeutet nicht, dass die Spiele nicht funktionieren, aber es kann sein, dass sie Bugs haben, die Benutzeroberfläche nicht funktioniert oder der Text nicht ganz richtig aussieht.
Zum Glück gibt es im Steam-Deck viele Optionen, mit denen du das Spiel so einstellen kannst, dass es besser läuft. Manche Spiele laufen besser, wenn du sie im Vollbildmodus statt im Fenster spielst und die Auflösung anpasst. Es gibt auch zahlreiche vorgefertigte Controller-Optionen, die dir helfen, das beste Steuerungsschema für ein Spiel zu finden, vor allem für ein Spiel, das nicht für die Verwendung von Controllern entwickelt wurde.
Diese Art der Anpassung ist ein fester Bestandteil des PC-Spiels, so dass es PC-Spieler vielleicht gar nicht stört. Für Konsolenspieler, die ein ausgefeilteres Spielerlebnis gewöhnt sind, könnte dies jedoch abschreckend wirken. Die gute Nachricht ist, dass wir im Allgemeinen keine Probleme haben, Spiele zu spielen, die mit dem Steam Deck verifiziert wurden. Wenn du nicht gerne an den Optionen herumspielst, solltest du dich an diese halten.
(Image credit: Future)
Schon jetzt ist der Umfang der verifizierten Spiele auf dem Steam Deck beeindruckend und es ist ein echter Nervenkitzel, ein grafisch intensives Spiel wie God of War auf einem Handheld zu spielen. Dann zu fesselnden Indie-Spielen wie Hades und Hotline Miami zu wechseln (die perfekt für das Steam Deck geeignet sind), ist eine Freude und bedeutet, dass das Potenzial des Steam Decks extrem spannend ist.
Wir haben God of War von "Ultra" auf "Hoch" heruntergeschaltet, um eine konstantere Leistung zu erzielen. Auf dem 7-Zoll-Bildschirm sieht es phänomenal aus, es sinkt nie unter 30FPS und bleibt meist bei 40FPS.Obwohl es beeindruckend ist, ist es eindeutig kein Spiel, das für Handhelds gedacht ist. Auch einige Ego-Shooter fühlten sich umständlich an, aber das mag daran liegen, dass wir für diese Art von Spielen Tastatur und Maus bevorzugen.
Aber schnelle und rasante Spiele, die du für kurze Zeit in die Hand nehmen und spielen kannst (wie die bereits erwähnten Hades und Hotline Miami), funktionieren wirklich gut. Wenn du die Power-Taste drückst, geht das Steam Deck in den Suspend-Modus. Wenn du erneut auf den Einschaltknopf drückst, schaltet sich das Steam Deck nach ein paar Sekunden wieder ein und du bist sofort wieder da, wo du warst.
Das ist eine tolle Funktion, die das Steam Deck noch attraktiver macht. Die schnelle Wiederaufnahme ist etwas, an das Konsolenspieler gewöhnt sind, aber nicht auf dem PC. Ein Spiel, das auf dem Steam Deck eine besonders angenehme Überraschung war, ist Portal 2. Valves kultiger FPS-Puzzler wurde hier zu neuem Leben erweckt. Wir haben zwar schon erwähnt, dass einige FPS-Spiele nicht so recht auf das Steam Deck passen, aber Portal 2 funktioniert hervorragend. Das liegt zum Teil daran, dass es ein langsameres Spiel ist, bei dem das Lösen von Problemen wichtiger ist als schnelle Reflexe, aber auch daran, dass das Spiel im Wesentlichen aus kurzen, separaten Rätseln besteht, was es ideal macht, um es zum Beispiel unterwegs zu spielen. Obwohl es ein älteres Spiel ist, sieht es immer noch fantastisch aus, und es ist eine wahre Freude, nach so langer Zeit zu diesem Spiel zurückzukehren. Da es sich um einen Titel von Valve handelt, ist es nicht verwunderlich, dass das Spiel Steam Deck Verified ist.
(Image credit: Future)
Die Leistung ist jedoch nicht perfekt, und selbst bei weniger grafikintensiven Spielen kann es gelegentlich zu Stottern kommen. Aber im Großen und Ganzen ist die Leistung gut und wir haben das Gefühl, dass diese kleinen Probleme mit der Aktualisierung von Steam OS, Proton (dem Tool, mit dem Windows-Spiele unter Linux laufen) und den Spielen selbst behoben werden.
Valve hat das Steam Deck nicht umsonst als Handheld-PC angepriesen. Du kannst vom Big Picture-Modus (der Standardeinstellung) zur Desktop-Ansicht von SteamOS 3 wechseln und von hier aus andere Anwendungen installieren und nutzen. Diese können entweder über einen Webbrowser oder über das Discover Software Center installiert werden.
So kannst du das Steam Deck wie einen vollwertigen PC nutzen. Dank einer engagierten Community von Open-Source-Entwicklern gibt es eine riesige Auswahl an Anwendungen, die du unter SteamOS nutzen kannst. Du kannst das Steam Deck auch an einen USB-Hub anschließen und eine Maus, eine Tastatur und einen Monitor damit verbinden, so dass es als Mini-Desktop-PC verwendet werden kann. Das ist beeindruckend und es ist toll, dass Valve sich für Offenheit und Flexibilität einsetzt, denn du kannst so ziemlich jeden USB-C-Hub verwenden, anstatt teures proprietäres Zubehör.
Anders als bei der Nintendo Switch bringt das Andocken des Steam Decks jedoch keine Leistungsverbesserungen mit sich, und wenn du einen hochauflösenden Bildschirm, wie z. B. einen 4K-Fernseher, verwendest, werden die Hardwarebeschränkungen des Steam Decks deutlicher. Trotzdem kannst du mit Tastatur und Maus Spiele auf dem großen Bildschirm spielen, und auch hier sind die Ergebnisse sehr gut.
Linux, insbesondere eine Arch-basierte Distribution, ist jedoch nicht das benutzerfreundlichste Betriebssystem für Anfänger. Wenn du also nicht damit vertraut bist, solltest du das Steam Deck im Steam Big Picture-Modus betreiben. Im Desktop-Modus bleibt alles, was du tust, getrennt. Das bedeutet, dass größere Updates von Steam OS deine Arbeit nicht zerstören sollten. Allerdings besteht beim Herumspielen in Linux immer die Gefahr, dass du etwas kaputt machst und einen Neustart brauchst.
Du kannst auch Windows 11 auf dem Steam Deck installieren. Dadurch hast du eine größere Auswahl an Spielen, da du auch Spiele von Entwicklern wie Ubisoft und Activision Blizzard installieren kannst, die nicht auf Steam veröffentlicht werden und die es nur für Windows gibt. Zum Zeitpunkt dieses Tests war die Unterstützung von Windows 11 mit einigen Treiberproblemen etwas problematisch, aber auch das wird sich dank kontinuierlicher Updates wahrscheinlich mit der Zeit verbessern.
Selbst bei unserem 256-GB-Modell mit Solid State Drive waren die Ladezeiten für Spiele ziemlich lang. Wenn du von einem Gaming-PC mit einer superschnellen SSD (oder einer Konsole wie der PS5) kommst, werden die Ladezeiten zu einer spürbaren Belastung. Noch schlimmer ist es, wenn du eine microSD-Karte verwendest, da die Geschwindigkeit auf UHS-I begrenzt ist, was etwa 104 MB/s entspricht. Das ist viel langsamer als jede SSD und kann bei großen Spielen zu längeren Ladezeiten führen.
Auf der SSD brauchte Portal 2 – ein mittlerweile ziemlich altes Spiel – 51 Sekunden, um das Menü zu laden, und weitere 23 Sekunden, um unseren Spielstand zu laden. Das sind insgesamt 1 Minute und 14 Sekunden vom Starten des Spiels bis zum Spielen. Das scheint zwar nicht viel zu sein, wenn man es aufschreibt, aber es fühlt sich so an, wenn du das Steam-Deck benutzt und darauf wartest, dass ein Spiel geladen wird.
Bei älteren Titeln oder Indie-Spielen ist die Ladezeit weniger ein Problem. Das Steam Deck hat auch eine nette Abhilfe in Form der bereits erwähnten Suspend-Option. Wenn du das Steam Deck aufweckst, wird das Spiel, das du gerade spielst, innerhalb weniger Sekunden geladen, ohne dass dein Fortschritt verloren geht.
Das macht es besonders für PC-Spieler interessant, die normalerweise ihren PC einschalten, auf den Start von Windows warten und dann ein Spiel laden müssen. Abgesehen von diesem ersten Ladevorgang oder dem erneuten Laden eines Spielstands, wenn das Spiel stirbt, bedeutet die "Suspend"-Funktion, dass die Ladezeiten kein Problem darstellen. Auch der Akku wird nicht übermäßig beansprucht – er hat im Suspend-Modus 16 Stunden lang 8 % verloren, während wir ihn benutzt haben.
Valve hat während unserer Zeit mit dem Steam Deck auch eine Funktion hinzugefügt, mit der mehrere Apps gleichzeitig ausgeführt werden können. Das kann praktisch sein, um Musik-Apps abzuspielen und gleichzeitig Spiele zu spielen, aber es bedeutet auch, dass du zwei Spiele gleichzeitig laufen lassen und zwischen ihnen wechseln kannst, ohne dass sie geladen werden.
Das belastet das Steam Deck natürlich stärker, vor allem den Arbeitsspeicher und den Akku, und es gibt sogar eine Warnmeldung, wenn du versuchst, ein zweites Spiel zu starten, in der erklärt wird, dass dies die Leistung beeinträchtigen könnte, aber wir hoffen, dass mit der Weiterentwicklung der Software für das Steam Deck zwei gleichzeitig geöffnete Spiele weniger ressourcenintensiv sein werden.
Die Spiele auf dem 7-Zoll-Bildschirm sehen gut aus, vor allem 2D-Spiele. Während das spiegelnde Display der 512-GB-Topversion sicherlich sehr schön ist, fanden wir das Standard-Display völlig in Ordnung. Die Audioqualität aus den beiden Lautsprechern war jedoch eine angenehme Überraschung, mit einer ordentlichen Portion Druck und Stereotrennung. Selbstverständlich kannst du auch Kopfhörer (entweder über die Audiobuchse oder Bluetooth) als Audioausgang verwenden.
Die Gesamtleistung des Steam Decks hat uns beeindruckt, da es sowohl mit grafisch beeindruckenden AAA-Titeln als auch mit Indie-Spielen gut zurechtkommt. Aufgrund des Formfaktors und der gesamten Hardware fanden wir, dass das Steam Deck besonders gut für Indie-Spiele geeignet ist, die du einfach in die Hand nehmen und spielen kannst, und nicht für cineastische Spiele oder Titel mit übermäßig komplexer Steuerung.
(Image credit: Future)
Steam Deck: Akkulaufzeit
Während unserer Zeit mit dem Steam Deck war die Akkulaufzeit leider ein Problem. Beim Spielen von God of War hält das Steam Deck nur anderthalb Stunden durch und liegt damit unter dem von Valve angegebenen Minimum von zwei Stunden. Offensichtlich handelt es sich um ein besonders intensives Spiel, aber das bedeutet, dass es nicht möglich ist, über einen längeren Zeitraum zu spielen, ohne das Steam Deck aufzuladen.
Das wird viele Leute verärgern, die das Steam Deck z. B. für lange Flüge nutzen wollten. Es gibt zwar Möglichkeiten, das Steam Deck zu verlängern, z. B. indem du die Einstellungen herunterdrehst oder ein Akkupack verwendest, und da es über USB-C aufgeladen wird, sollte es einfach sein, es bei Bedarf ein wenig aufzuladen, aber dadurch fühlt sich dieses portable Spielsystem sicherlich weniger... nun ja, portabel an.
PC-Spieler, die sich seit Jahren mit der schlechten Akkulaufzeit von Gaming-Laptops abfinden müssen, werden an dieser Stelle weise nicken. Denn wenn du ein kleines, aber leistungsstarkes Gerät brauchst, um moderne Spiele zu spielen, wird die Akkulaufzeit darunter leiden. Für Konsolenspieler, die an längere Akkulaufzeiten bei ihren Handhelds gewöhnt sind, werden anderthalb Stunden allerdings ein herber Schlag sein.
Die gute Nachricht ist, dass die Akkulaufzeit bei weniger intensiven Spielen viel besser ist und wir mit 2D-Spielen über mehrere Spielsitzungen hinweg stundenlang Spaß haben können.Wenn du deine Erwartungen nicht zu hoch schraubst, ist die Akkulaufzeit des Steam Decks keine Katastrophe, aber wenn du stundenlang AAA-Spiele spielen willst, wirst du ein Ladegerät brauchen.
Each time Doogee comes out with a new flagship design, it moves the bar for numerous companies in the rugged phone sector.
The new V30 takes features exclusive to premium branded phones only months ago and delivers them in an affordable package for those that work outdoors or yearn to adventure.
Ticking the rugged phone boxes, this is an IP68, IP69K and MIL-STD-810H compliant design that can handle dust and water, including full submersion for limited periods and shallow depths.
But the parts of this phone that will interest the discerning customer are all inside. Specifically, the Dimensity 900 SoC, 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage and 108MP camera.
These make the V30 a potent and capable phone that can connect using 5G when available and capture the world around it in astounding detail.
On the rear are a 108MP Samsung S5KHM2SP03 main camera (F1.79, 90-degree FOV, PDAF) a 20MP Sony IMX350 night vision camera (F1.8, 70-degree FOV) and a 16MP wide-angle & macro camera (F2.2, 130-degree FOV).
For selfie-takers, the front has a 32MP IMX616-AAJH5-C front camera (F2.0, 90-degree FOV).
Like we’ve seen before with this sensor, the taking of 108MP images negates some of the special features like HDR and Bokeh, but you can get those things in a 12MP mode.
However, other phones don’t offer 4K video capture, and the V30 does, along with lower resolutions.
Viewing those pictures or streamed content is easy on its 6.58-inch IPS 120Hz display with a natural resolution of 2408 x 1080, similar to one of that we’ve seen before on the Ulefone Power Armor 17 Pro.
With a battery capacity of 10800mAh, the V30 should operate for more than three days of normal use without needing a recharge. And, using the included 66W charger, it can recover 50% of its battery capacity from empty in around 30 minutes.
These features and its 5G functionality make the V30 an exceptionally good choice for anything travelling abroad, capturing images and video and then securing them over cellular or WiFi connections.
It might not be the cheapest rugged phone design, but the amount of technology that Doogee shoehorned into it makes it easily worth the asking price.
(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)
Doogee V30 price and availability
How much does it cost? $449.99 / £407.99/ $AU 779
When is it out? It is available now
Where can you get it? You can get it in most regions direct from AliExpress or on Amazon.com
The Doogee V30 costs $449.99 directly from Doogee or $529.99 on Amazon.com for next-day delivery. European costs from online retailers are slightly better, with the Amazon.co.uk cost being just £407.99.
Whereas direct from an Australian online retailer, the V30 costs AU$ 779.
But if you want a real bargain Doogee has this phone at its own outlet on AliExpress, and it costs only £329.16 or $395.24, although delivery might take 30 days or more.
Considering the features of this phone, the price is very competitive.
(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)
Value score: 5/5
Doogee V30 design
Built to last
By-the-numbers buttons
No audio jack
From the outside, there isn’t much radical about the V30, as it falls into the familiar tropes where most large rugged phones fall.
One unique aspect is that the phone's body has a boat-like profile, making it slightly easier to handle than some thicker phone models. Having its sides elevated also helps when picking up, which might otherwise be a challenge.
The construction uses a combination of a milled metal frame covered largely in impact-resistant plastic and dense TPU. This has been texturized for better grip and to match a section of ‘leather’ on the flat underside.
One curiosity is the side panels that have a wood grain finish, although it's hard to determine what they’re actually made from. It all looks nice, and with the ‘Leather’ underside, it gives the phone the feel of a luxury car interior.
Every phone maker seems to be glued to this layout with the thumb-activated power button, and Doogee engineers didn’t buck that trend. It works well for right-handed users and less elegantly for left-handed.
Typically, rugged Chinese-made phones come with a SIM tray that can accept two Nano SIMs and a MicroSD card, but the V30 only supports one Nano alongside the MicroSD or, alternatively, two Nano and no MicroSD.
However, as we’ll cover elsewhere, this phone supports eSIMs, so it can have up to five different numbers and services if required.
(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)
The charging and data port is the USB-C variety placed on the centre of the bottom edge and covered in a rubber plug. We’ve seen designs by Ulefone recently that dispensed with the rubber plug but still offering to waterproof, something Doogee needs to consider offering in its designs.
However, the phone will wirelessly charge at 15W with a suitable Qi wireless charger if repeatedly removing the plug annoys you.
What is missing is any 3.5mm audio jack. Doogee assumes music fans will be using Bluetooth or buy their own USB-C-to-audio adapter, as one isn’t included in the box.
What you get with the phone is a plastic tool to avoid breaking a nail opening the SIM tray, a Euro pinned wall-socket PSU rated to 66W, USB-C to USB-C OTG cable, some screen protecting accessories and a User Manual.
(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)
Design score: 4/5
Doogee V30 hardware
Powerful
High specification
eSIM flexibility
Specs
The Doogee V30 that was sent to us for review came with the following hardware:
CPU: MediaTek Dimensity 900 GPU: Mali-G68 MC4 RAM: 8 GB (15 GB with Memory Fusion) Storage: 256GB (expandable to 1TB with MicroSD) Screen: 6.58" FHD+ 120 Hz IPS waterdrop display Resolution: 2408 x 1080 SIM: Dual Nano SIM (or 1 and MicroSDXC) and eSIM (4) Weight: 376g Dimensions: 177 x 80 x 18 mm Rugged Spec: IP68, IP69K and MIL-STD-810H Rear cameras: 108MP main, 20MP night vision, 16MP ultrawide Front camera: 32MP Networking: WiFi 5, Bluetooth 5.0 OS: Android 12 Battery: 10800mAh
The MediaTek Dimensity 900 is the SoC of choice for flagship designs for those companies unwilling to pay Qualcomm for the latest Snapdragon silicon. We’ve seen it used in the V30 and the Ulefone Power Armor 18T, and it impressed us in both devices.
This is a third-generation MediaTek APU that combines dual ARM Cortex-A78 performance cores with six ARM Cortex-A55 cores for efficiency. Its integrated GPU is Mali-G68 MC4 can handle 4K video encoding/decoding and supports OpenGL3.1 and Vulkan for 3D rendering.
As an SoC and not just a CPU/GPU, this 6nm chip can connect to LPDDR4X or LPDDR5X, and supports UFS 2.1 and 3.1 storage.
In this phone, the memory type is LPDDR4X, and this is one of those designs where the amount of RAM can be expanded by sacrificing some of the storage. This memory fusion mode enables up to 15GB of RAM to be allocated, nearly doubling the amount available for apps.
But it isn’t just the SoC and memory model that is premium on this design. The networking technology is also state of the art, with WiFi 6 (2x2 MIMO), Bluetooth 5.2, and mobile comms for 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G cellular services.
Using the dual SIM mode can choose from physical SIMs and eSIMs, and if the service provider supports the mode, it can communicate over dual 5G links at up to 2.7Gbps download speeds.
Where the eSIM model used in the V30 is truly revolutionary is that the whole process of getting a service can be achieved from the phone. If you imagine wanting to go to a distant country and needing a local number and service, this would normally involve sourcing a physical SIM and paying for that service when you arrive.
Using the pre-installed eSIM store, you can simply select the country and the required data plan, sanction the payment and magically, you’ve now got access to the local service and a mobile number. And, if you are involved in some shuttle diplomacy or the like, it is possible to have four eSIM numbers active at any time.
(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)
The only disappointment in the hardware is that the V30 doesn’t support the Widevine L1 video decryption standard, only L3. With only L3 decryption streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ reduce the best resolution available to just 480p. 1080p playback on YouTube and with capture videos is possible, but not over the mainstream services.
This limitation appears to be the norm among Chinese phones, regrettably.
(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)
Hardware score: 4/5
Doogee V30 cameras
108MP sensor on the rear
Wide-angle, macro and night vision
Four cameras in total
(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)
The Doogee V30 has four cameras:
Rear cameras: 108MP Samsung S5KHM2, 16 MP OmniVision OV16B10 (Ultra-Wide), 20MP Sony IMX350 (Night Vision) Front camera: 32MP SONY IMX616 Sensor (Wide)
We’ve seen the 108MP Samsung S5KHM2 main sensor before on the Ulefone 17 Pro, and it can deliver some amazing resolution images if you need the highest levels of detail.
The trade-off for getting 12000 x 8992 resolution pictures is that it will only do this in a basic snapshot mode, with all the clever Pro and specialist capture being limited to 12MP.
With such a large sensor and all the light it can capture, the 12MP results are excellent, but it would be nice to extract more resolution without losing all the shooting modes.
Where this camera design differs from that in the Ulefone 17 Pro is it uses 8MP supporting wide-angle sensors, while the ones in the V30 are 16MP and 32MP. This results in better close-up and macro results, along with better selfies.
But it isn’t only the supporting sensors that are generally better, but also the way that the main 108MP is exploited is superior in the V30.
We’ve seen designs that use this sensor and then offer only 2K video resolution, but the V30 does offer 3840 x 2160, aka 4K UHD. The screen might not have the resolution to display these capture without scaling, but it can grab video at 4K.
There is still work to be done here, Because irrespective of what video resolution you pick, the only framerate available is 30fps. Not only is this not helpful for those that like 25fps, but it also ignores all the possibilities for slow motion.
That point aside, the results from this camera are outstanding, with exceptionally crisp images and natural colours, and they’re relatively artefact-free.
While I’m sure that the latest Apple or Samsung premium design might be able to do better, there isn’t much that is substandard about the images the V30 can capture.
Camera samples
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Camera score: 4/5
Doogee V30 performance
All-round performer
Strong GPU
Power and efficiency
Benchmarks
This is how the Doogee V30 performed in our suite of benchmark tests:
The performance of this phone is terrific, as across the benchmarks. These results display its superiority to MediaTek Helio series SoCs and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 5G in every test. The Dimensity 900 is equivalent to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 in a few respects, though it is marginally better in many areas.
Where often Octo-core SoCs are good at multi-thread tests but less wondering at single-task challenges, the 2.5GHz Cortex-A78 performance cores deliver excellent single-thread performance. But when two of these are combined with the six Cortex-A55 cores, it can also achieve excellent results in multi-threaded scenarios.
Compared to the MediaTek Helio G99 phones, the V30 is around 30% faster at single-thread tests and up to 25-30% better at multi-threaded. And it entirely crushes lower G and P series SoCs.
The Mali-G68 MC4 is also a dramatic improvement over the Mali-G57 MC2 used in the G99 designs, delivering an improvement of around 40% in most of the 3DMark benches and closer to 80% in Wild Life.
Overall, the performance of this phone is fantastic, as the configuration of the SoC allows for high performance and power efficiency when priorities change.
There is nothing low-budget about the performance of the V30.
Performance score: 5/5
Doogee V30 battery
Good battery size
66W Fast charging
15W Qi charging
When phones get more than 10,000 mAh, they’ve got enough battery for extended use without a recharge, and this one has 10800 mAh of battery inside.
According to Doogee, the V30 should operate for more than three days of typical use without needing a recharge, and it might make it to a fourth.
The included 66W charger can recover 50% of its battery capacity from empty in around 30 minutes, although if you use the 15W wireless charging, it will take four hours to reach the same level.
There are rugged designs that offer more battery, but they trade weight for that advantage, and the physical mass of the V30 isn’t so great that it becomes impractical.
The available capacity is enough for a camping holiday, and the power efficiency of the platform makes the most of it.
Battery score: 4/5
(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)
The V30 is easily the best Doogee phone we’ve tested so far, with many positive aspects and relatively few caveats.
It has a powerful platform, an impressive camera, decent battery life and 5G communications. But the stand-out feature is the inclusion of eSIM technology, which makes international use significantly less of a hassle.
We’d like to see more camera options at 108MP, framerate control on the video, and L1 Widevine decryption, but those things could all be added with firmware and software enhancements.
Doogee has set a new high watermark for rugged phones, and we can’t wait to see how its competitors react.
