Corsair Voyager a1600
MSRP $2,500.00
“The Corsair Voyager a1600 throws warning to the wind with its options — and makes me admire that different laptop computer distributors do not.”
Execs
- Strong gaming efficiency
- Stream Deck is helpful and extremely customizable
- Shade-accurate 240Hz 16:10 show
- Nice processor efficiency
Cons
- Costly
- Middling content material creation efficiency
- Filled with complicated configuration apps
The Corsair Voyager a1600 is a kitchen sink gaming laptop computer. Built-in Elgato Stream Deck? It’s the defining function of the a1600. A mechanical laptop computer keyboard developed with Cherry? It’s right here. The Voyager a1600 even features a dual-zone trackpad that means that you can flip off half or all of it whilst you’re gaming. It’s the whole lot you didn’t know you needed in a laptop computer, no less than on paper.
Corsair’s first gaming laptop computer is an instance of what you might do, however there’s a purpose one of the best laptops concentrate on what you ought to do. Though the Voyager a1600 is a gaming powerhouse with some helpful goodies, it falls behind in different classes, all whereas its eclectic function set bloats the value in comparison with related laptops.
Corsair Voyager a1600 specs
Corsair Voyage a1600 | |
Dimensions (LxWxH) | 14 x 11.2 x 0.8 inches |
Weight | 5.3 kilos |
Processor | AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS |
Graphics | AMD Radeon RX 6800M 12GB |
RAM | 126GB (2x8GB) DDR5-4800 |
Show | 16-inch, 16:10, 2,560 x 1,600, 240Hz, IPS, FreeSync Premium Professional |
Storage | 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD |
Contact | No |
Ports | 2x USB-C, 1x Thunderbolt USB4, 1x USB 3.2, Mic/Headphone combo, Full-size SD card |
Wi-fi | Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2 |
Webcam | 1080p webcam with privateness protect |
Working system | Home windows 11 |
Battery | 99Wh |
Worth |
Nice construct meets shoddy software program
The Voyager a1600 appears to be like good, becoming in with the extra minimalist method Corsair has taken with its merchandise over the previous few years. Regardless of being a 16-inch laptop computer, the a1600 is slightly below 0.8 inches thick, even thinner than Alienware’s Alienware x17 R2. Nevertheless, the thinness isn’t paired with the intelligent thermal resolution of a machine like Asus’ ROG Zephyrus M16, inflicting the followers to get uncomfortably loud in video games and even often ramp up whereas the laptop computer is closed.
You’ve got three choices for fan velocity, so you’ll be able to tune the noise to a extra comfy stage. None of them make the machine too scorching just like the aluminum-encased Razer Blade 15, both. Nonetheless, Corsair has the a1600 tuned to supply most efficiency out of the field in any respect prices. That features the ability settings along with fan velocity, inflicting it to drop battery 25% sooner than the Ryzen 7 6800HX-equipped Lenovo ThinkBook 16p Gen 3 (and the Lenovo laptop computer has a smaller battery).
AMD’s SmartShift Eco, which switches to built-in graphics to protect battery life, is turned off by default. You’ll wish to flip it on if you happen to plan to maintain the Voyager a1600 away from a charger for too lengthy.
This wouldn’t usually be such a hurdle, however Corsair splits the settings for the a1600 throughout a variety of software program. Fan and a few common system settings are inside Corsair iCue, however options just like the Eco mode are in Radeon software program. Equally, your Stream Deck shade and middle show settings are in iCue, however the precise assignments are in a separate Stream Deck app (the webcam additionally has its personal devoted app).
These apps all come collectively within the Voyager Hub, which solely serves to hyperlink out to the opposite apps put in in your system. At any given time with the Voyager a1600, you’ll have three or 4 of Corsair’s apps operating within the background.
You’ll normally need to dig by way of a number of apps to search out settings that ought to be clicks away.
To its credit score, Corsair is coping with numerous disparate options which are exhausting to unify below one piece of software program. You’ve got the built-in Stream Deck, after all, but in addition an built-in Corsair Slipstream Wi-fi module to attach peripherals like Corsair’s Sabre Professional Wi-fi mouse with out a dongle, which is a superb function to liberate USB ports.
Nonetheless, you’ll normally need to dig by way of a number of apps or get across the difficult (however very highly effective) iCue to search out settings that ought to be a few clicks away.
The Novelty of a Stream Deck
The Cherry-designed keyboard doesn’t dwell as much as the hype, sadly. I’ve by no means met a Cherry laptop computer keyboard I’ve preferred (learn my MSI GT77 Titan evaluation for one more instance), and the Voyager a1600 isn’t any completely different. The journey feels unnecessarily lengthy and Cherry’s mechanism is susceptible to hang-ups. I’d take a high quality membrane keyboard any day.
The trackpad is a unique story. It’s giant at 3.9 inches tall and 6.1 inches broad and cozy to make use of. It consists of two capacitive areas that allow you to flip off the trackpad, which is the function that primarily stands out. Double-tapping the left turns off the entire trackpad whereas double-tapping the correct turns off simply the correct aspect (there are even indicator lights to inform you). It’s nice to keep away from slipups whilst you’re typing or gaming, however I’m puzzled by the actual fact you’ll be able to’t flip off the left aspect the place your wrist rests whereas utilizing the WASD keys.
The Stream Deck isn’t only for streamers. It’s a helpful and sometimes novel function to have.
Corsair’s Stream Deck integration is a excessive level, too, proving much more helpful than the Contact Bar on the MacBook Professional (relaxation in items). It may well do the whole lot a traditional Stream Deck can do; enjoying audio clips, launching apps, beginning a voice mod — the listing is limitless. The Stream Deck is so spectacular due to its strong plugin ecosystem, although, which is accessible with the Voyager a1600.
You’ll be able to set devoted buttons for settings in OBS, on Twitch, in Discord, and with much more apps by way of the built-in plugin browser. The Stream Deck isn’t only for streamers. It’s a helpful and sometimes novel function to have.
There’s some room to develop, although. In contrast to an exterior Stream Deck, you’ll be able to’t see your key assignments in {hardware}. Corsair’s resolution is a Stream Deck bar that occupies the underside of the display, which you’ll activate and off with a key task. It really works, but it surely’s not the second-nature marriage of {hardware} and software program that you simply discover on an exterior Stream Deck.
Nice for avid gamers, unhealthy for creators
Regardless of displaying middling gaming efficiency in artificial benchmarks, the Voyager a1600 can hold with RTX 3070 Ti-equipped laptops just like the Lenovo Legion 5i Professional in actual video games. On the native 1600p decision with max settings, you’ll be able to obtain above 60 frames per second (fps) in video games like Murderer’s Creed Valhalla. Extra demanding titles like Pink Useless Redemption 2 name for a decision drop. At 1200p, the Voyager a1600 averaged 63 within the sport.
Oddly, Cyberpunk 2077 confirmed a large enhance taking place to 1200p, with the Voyager a1600 providing a 73 fps common over its disappointing efficiency at 1600p.
Corsair Voyager a1600 (RX 6800M) | Lenovo Legion 5i Professional (RTX 3070 Ti) | Razer Blade 15 (RTX 3070 Ti) | |
3DMark Hearth Strike | 15,283 | 23,054 | 20,592 |
3DMark Time Spy | 7,528 | 10,623 | 9,363 |
Murderer’s Creed Valhalla | 66 fps | 58 fps | 70 fps |
Pink Useless Redemption 2 | 47 fps | N/A | 53 fps |
Cyberpunk 2077 | 25 fps | 41 fps | N/A |
Cyberpunk 2077 with RT and FSR/DLSS | 27 fps | 42 fps | N/A |
Civilization VI | 133 fps | 147 fps | 127 fps |
The RX 6800M is a powerful GPU, but it surely misses out on options like Nvidia’s Deep Studying Tremendous Sampling (DLSS) which are accessible in most different gaming laptops (most gaming laptops carry Nvidia playing cards). The AMD Benefit, which is branding that notes an AMD CPU and GPU in a laptop computer, solely reveals up in some video games like Murderer’s Creed Valhalla, and it’s not compelling sufficient to need an all-AMD rig over the rather more widespread Intel/Nvidia configurations.
The Voyager a1600 trades blows nicely with its all-AMD configuration in video games general, because it does basically processor efficiency. Intel’s processors nonetheless maintain a single-core lead, however the eight full, fats cores on the Ryzen 7 6800HS assist speed up multi-core duties like video encoding.
Corsair Voyager a1600 (Ryzen 7 6800HS) | Lenovo ThinkBook 16p Gen 3 (Ryzen 9 6900HX) | Razer Blade 15 (Intel Core i9-12900H) | |
Cinebench R23 Single Core | 1,417 | 1,549 | 1,705 |
Cinebench R23 Multi-Core | 12,468 | 12,736 | 9,527 |
Geekbench 5 Single Core | 1,422 | 1,486 | 1,684 |
Geekbench 5 Multi-Core | 8,960 | 9,041 | 8,431 |
Handbrake (decrease is best) | 87 seconds | 81 seconds | 107 seconds |
PCMark 10 Full | 6,992 | 6,699 | N/A |
PugetBench for Premiere Professional | 388 | 624 | 703 |
The Voyager a1600 loses out within the graphics division exterior of video games, although. The Lenovo ThinkBook 16p Gen 3 is proof that AMD’s cell processors are very near Intel. It’s additionally proof that AMD’s graphics playing cards are far behind in artistic apps like Premiere Professional the place the GPU performs an important function. Even the RTX 3060 in Lenovo’s laptop computer, which is in a far decrease class than the RX 6800M, places up almost double the consequence when paired with a barely extra highly effective processor.
It’s a disgrace, too, as a result of the Corsair Voyager has a display worthy of apps like Premiere Professional. It’s a 16:10 240Hz display with assist for FreeSync Premium, so it’s as much as the duty of gaming. To my shock, the show is as much as the duty of content material creation, too. It lined greater than 100% of the sRGB spectrum and registered a shade error of lower than 1. You possibly can do shade work on this show with out issues. The one draw back is the brightness, with the panel topping out at 339 nits on my SpyderX.
Is the Corsair Voyager a1600 value it?
Though I admire Corsair daring to do one thing completely different in a market of stale laptops, the mixture of options doesn’t add as much as justify the Voyager a1600’s value. It has come down from its launch value of $2,700 to $2,500, however that’s nonetheless $500 costlier than a Lenovo Legion 5i Professional with an RTX 3070 Ti.
It’s cheaper than options just like the Razer Blade 17 and Alienware x17 R2, and the Voyager even carries some premium options of those machines like a 240Hz show and mechanical keyboard. Even these extras don’t bridge the hole in comparison with cheaper machines like Lenovo Legion 5i Professional and Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 that all the time match and infrequently exceed the efficiency of the Voyager a1600.
Extras just like the Stream Deck and built-in Slipstream circuit are good to have, however I by no means discovered them important throughout my few weeks utilizing the Voyager a1600. You are able to do with out them, although the Voyager did tempt me to spend $100 on an exterior Stream Deck.
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