Corsair Voyager A1600 assessment: Imperfect, however filled with potential

Worth When Reviewed

$2.849.99

Finest Costs Right now: 1

Corsair, an organization that was as soon as identified for its RAM modules, has grown quickly over the previous decade. Now, it’s taking a step into the advanced and aggressive world of laptops with its new Corsair Voyager a1600. Pitched as “the world’s first laptop computer designed for streamers,” the Voyager a1600 is exclusive and sometimes pleasurable, however it’s not a flawless gaming laptop computer. Let’s get proper into it.

Corsair Voyager a1600 specs and options

The laptop computer I obtained for assessment was a top-tier mannequin with an AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS processor, 32GB of DDR5 reminiscence, and an enormous 2TB stable state drive. These are high-end specs, so it’s no shock this mannequin is available in at a hefty $2,849.99.

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 6900HSMemory: 32GB LPDDR5 4800MHzGraphics/GPU: AMD Radeon RX6800MDisplay: 2,560 x 1,600 16:10 IPS non-touch displayStorage: 2TB NVMe PCIe SSDWebcam: 1080p webcamConnectivity: 2x USB4, 1x USB-C 3, 1x USB-A 3, 3.5mm audio, SD card readerNetworking: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2Biometrics: Fingerprint readerBattery capability: 99 watt-hoursDimensions: 13.95 inches x 9.35 inches x .63 inchesWeight: 5.29 poundsMSRP: $2,849.99 as-tested

It’s an improve from the entry-level mannequin, which retails for $2,499.99. It has an AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS processor, 16GB of DDR5 reminiscence, and a 1TB PCIe Gen 4 stable state drive. The AMD Radeon RX 6800M stays the identical. 

Design and construct high quality

Corsair’s first laptop computer strikes a singular profile. The big, 16-inch show and deep chassis make for a beefy rig that lands someplace between 16-inch and 17-inch laptops. It’s usually related in width to different 16-inch machines, however depth is extra like 17-inch alternate options. The Corsair Voyager a1600 is a nasty alternative if portability is a priority. 

Measurement apart, Corsair’s first outing makes a decent first impression. The laptop computer’s design is apparent, however inoffensive, and construct high quality is suitable. The decrease half is rock-solid, with completely zero flex. Even the precise middle of the keyboard, typically a laptop computer’s most versatile level, permits solely a slight trace of deflection. The lid, nevertheless, wobbles and wavers whereas closing or opening the laptop computer.

The row of touch-sensitive perform keys surrounds a small LCD show panel. It shows battery life by default and will be custom-made to point out the system clock or animated .gifs of your alternative, amongst different capabilities. It’s a pleasant trick, however absolutely a gimmick. I can’t think about a scenario the place it’d show actually helpful. 

My largest beef with the a1600 is just not that it’s lackluster, however reasonably that it falls in need of its apparent rivals. A laptop computer like this will probably be thought of toe-to-toe with gaming giants just like the Razer Blade 17 and Alienware X17 R2. In comparison with these, the Corsair Voyager a1600 feels much less cohesive. Nevertheless, Corsair has at the least managed to match rivals just like the Acer Predator Helios, MSI Raider, and Asus TUF Gaming sequence.

Keyboard and trackpad

IDG / Matthew Smith

The Corsair Voyager a1600 has a mechanical keyboard with Cherry MX Extremely-Low Profile (ULP) switches. They provide a definite key really feel that’s deeper, extra tactile, and extra distinct than ordinary. Keys backside with a tactile, clicky motion that leaves little doubt a key’s depressed. 

Is it higher than a scissor-switch keyboard? Not essentially. I’m pleased with the keyboards discovered on laptops just like the Apple MacBook Air M2, Dell XPS 13, and Lenovo ThinkPad Carbon sequence, to call a couple of. Nonetheless, there’s no denying the Voyager’s keyboard is sweet, and the important thing really feel instantly stands out as completely different from a scissor change design. 

The keyboard format is sweet, as effectively. Corsair chooses to omit the numpad for a design that’s centered above the touchpad and gives massive, simple to succeed in keys. Even the perform keys are a bit bigger than most laptops, although nonetheless about half the dimensions as these on most desktop keyboards. 

Corsair throws in a set of LED-backlit, contact delicate buttons above the perform keys (offically referred to as “S-Keys”). These goal streamers and are supposed to permit simple scene transitions, like a built-in model of Elgato’s improbable Stream Deck (Corsair owns Elgato). I’m not a streamer, so I can’t say for certain whether or not they’re helpful—however I’ve my doubts. Contact delicate perform bars on laptops don’t have an amazing observe report. They are usually onerous to find by contact and too removed from the person’s fingers. The Voyager doesn’t have any tips to counter these issues.

Backlighting comes commonplace and helps Corsair’s iCUE, which makes altering the backlight simple. It’s additionally doable to sync with different iCUE gadgets. This definitely offers Corsair in relation to customization.

The Voyager a1600 has an enormous touchpad that measures over six inches huge and about 4 inches deep. This can be a behemoth by Home windows requirements and on par with Apple’s MacBook Professional 16. Contact enter is responsive and multi-touch gestures really feel nice. It’s among the many finest Home windows touchpads out there proper now, rivaling the Dell XPS 17, and method above common for a gaming laptop computer.

Show, audio

IDG / Matthew Smith

The Corsair Voyager a1600’s show is a bit uncommon. It measures 16 inches however has a 16:10 facet ratio, which is taller and nearer to sq. than now-traditional 16:9 screens. That is an more and more in style transfer amongst many laptops, however the added dimension is particularly notable on a big show like that discovered right here. 

16:10 is nice in productiveness, because it’s simpler to rearrange two or 4 home windows in a method that’s helpful. It’s additionally helpful in video games with quite a few interface parts. This contains grand technique video games like Crusader Kings 3 and MMORPGs like Closing Fantasy XIV. On the flip aspect, it offers much less profit to first-person shooters or simulation video games.

Picture high quality is unremarkable, because the a1600 has a typical IPS panel with out a Mini-LED backlight. Most brightness reaches a decent 379 nits, however elevated black ranges means the distinction ratio is proscribed to a most of 1060:1. Darkish scenes look hazy and may lack element in shadows.

The Voyager a1600 additionally has a modest shade gamut, reaching simply 80 p.c of DCI-P3. This can be a drawback. It means the a1600 can show much less colours general and skews in the direction of a much less vibrant presentation. Shade accuracy is first rate, so the issue is just not that the picture is wildly inaccurate. Nevertheless, avid gamers have turn out to be accustomed to the ultra-saturated look of huge gamut shows. The a1600’s appears uninteresting and washed-out by comparability.

These traits additionally make the Voyager a1600 unsuitable for demanding creators working with pictures, video, or digital artwork. The show lacks the decision and shade gamut these homeowners will demand. That’s an enormous miss, I believe, as a result of many streamers are additionally creators elsewhere and usually tend to want these benefits. 

The show has a most refresh price of 240Hz and works with AMD FreeSync to offer clean body pacing. This mix works reasonably effectively in follow. Movement seems to be clean and positive particulars are sometimes seen. When scrolling by way of a scene in League of Legends, for instance, characters and well being bars are simple to see, although names stay troublesome to learn. 

Audio high quality is underwhelming. The Voyager a1600 advantages from its upward-firing audio system, which preserve audio clear and supply acceptable quantity. That’s all of the reward I can supply, although, as most quantity isn’t loud and the decrease finish is lacking in motion. Music and video games sound tinny, distinct, and a bit harsh, because the mid and higher vary dominates the presentation. Most gaming laptops supply a better most quantity and extra bass.

Webcam, microphone, biometrics

Corsair packs a 1080p webcam and four-array microphone into the Voyager a1600 which, at a look, appears spectacular. But it doesn’t maintain up below scrutiny. Video nonetheless seems to be grainy and uninteresting, particularly in low to reasonable lighting. The digicam solely works nice with some type of direct lighting, akin to a hoop mild. Is it higher than 720p? Sure, completely—however it’s not higher than different 1080p laptop computer webcams.

The microphone, in the meantime, was very disappointing. Audio quantity was good, and the microphone was in a position to choose up my voice effectively after I turned my head away from the laptop computer. The standard is hole, distant, and usually not nice to take heed to. I’d name it practical at finest.

A bodily privateness shutter is included and toggled utilizing a handbook flip slider within the laptop computer’s bezel. This can be a nice characteristic. It’s simple to see if the privateness shutter is in place, and there’s no technique to open it electronically. 

The laptop computer helps biometric login by way of each a fingerprint reader and an IR digicam. The fingerprint reader is dependable however will be adopted by even a barely damp, sweaty, or soiled hand (so preserve your fingers out of the Doritos!) The IR digicam’s facial recognition is quicker and at all times works, so it’s the higher technique to log in. The digicam works even in a darkish room and will be set as much as acknowledge customers with glasses on or off.

Connectivity

IDG / Matthew Smith

The Corsair Voyager has two USB4 ports alongside one USB-C 3 port, for a complete of three USB-C ports. These ports don’t help Energy Supply, nevertheless, to allow them to’t cost the laptop computer. This can be a small disappointment, although mitigated by the very fact USB-C wouldn’t usually be capable to present sufficient energy for this laptop computer, which has a 230 watt energy adapter. It’s technically doable to ship that over the most recent USB Energy Supply commonplace, however I’ve but to check a laptop computer that provides it. 

Thunderbolt 4 can also be lacking, as is frequent on laptops powered by AMD {hardware}. This, once more, is just a minor disappointment, however it might result in much less spectacular storage efficiency general. Corsair isn’t particular in regards to the bandwidth of its USB-C 4 ports. 

It’s nice to see Corsair embody a full-sized SD card slot. That is turning into extra frequent after years of absence on premium laptops, however it’s notably helpful for the Voyager a1600. It’s meant for streamers and creators, who may have to make use of a DSLR for picture or video. The SD card slot permits fast transfers with out an adapter. 

Wi-fi connectivity is superb with help for the most recent WiFi 6E commonplace. I don’t at present have a WiFi 6E router for testing, sadly, however WiFi 6 efficiency was additionally wonderful, routinely hitting 70MB/s whereas downloading from Steam. Bluetooth 5.2 rounds out wi-fi connectivity, offering the best degree of help for Bluetooth audio gadgets. 

The Voyager a1600 has a built-in Corsair Slipstream wi-fi transceiver, which can be utilized for low-latency wi-fi connections to different Corsair wi-fi gadgets. I didn’t have any Corsair gadgets to check it with. Talking usually, nevertheless, I’d anticipate this to show a bit extra dependable, and to have an extended usable vary, than Bluetooth. 

Efficiency

The Corsair Voyager a1600 I examined was a top-tier mannequin with an AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS processor, AMD Radeon RX 6800M 12GB cellular graphics, 32GB of DDR5 reminiscence, and a 2TB PCIe Gen 4 stable state drive. That is the highest of AMD’s cellular product stack. So, how does it carry out? 

IDG / Matthew Smith

We begin with PCMark 10. Technically, it is a loss for the Voyager a1600, because it brings up the rear in opposition to different laptops on this aggressive set. Look nearer, although, and the distinction is trivial. All of those laptops do effectively general and beat smaller and/or cheaper alternate options. 

IDG / Matthew Smith

Subsequent up is Cinebench R15 multithreaded, a benchmark that enormously prefers wonderful many-core efficiency. The Voyager a1600 does very effectively right here, beating all laptops except for the Alienware X15 R2, which manages a small lead. All of those scores are good, however there’s a wider ranger right here than in PCMark 10, and it exhibits {that a} laptop computer’s thermals and efficiency profile contribute considerably to the way it will carry out in benchmarks.

IDG / Matthew Smith

Handbrake rounds issues out with a prolonged take a look at that requires over 13 minutes for even the quickest laptop computer to finish. The Voyager a1600 is precisely mid-pack, touchdown simply behind the Alienware X15 R2. Apart from the Razer Blade 15, which doesn’t maintain up effectively right here, the hole between laptops stays small.

The Voyager a1600’s AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS processor places up an excellent struggle. It could’t beat Intel alternate options, however it definitely goes toe-to-toe, and does so at pricing much like the competitors. That’s sufficient to maintain it within the struggle. 

We’ll now dive into graphics efficiency, and right here I have to add an necessary caveat: I will probably be exhibiting outcomes for each the Balanced and Excessive mode. I personally don’t think about an Excessive mode to be very helpful in a laptop computer, because it’s typically so loud and scorching that it’s impractical in real-world use. On this case, nevertheless, the hole between every mode is remarkably massive, so each outcomes are required to get the complete story. The identical is just not true in processor benchmarks. The Excessive mode does present a tiny benefit in these exams, however it’s just some dozen factors (or seconds) in its favor.

IDG / Matthew Smith

Okay, let’s begin with 3DMark Time Spy, which instantly exhibits the huge hole between Corsair’s Balanced and Excessive modes. The Voyager a1600 places up an amazing struggle in Excessive mode, beating all rivals besides the Alienware X15 R2. Nevertheless, Balanced mode is a unique story, and it finally ends up ending method behind the alternate options. 

Understand that the competitor scores proven listed below are for his or her respective default modes, which is often a “Balanced” mode, or related. Briefly, this isn’t an excellent outcome for Corsair. 

IDG / Matthew Smith

The development continues in Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Right here, the Voyager a1600 once more performs very effectively in Excessive mode, standing toe-to-toe with Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti, RTX 3080, and RTX 3080 Ti laptops. Within the extra usable balanced mode, nevertheless, the Voyager a1600 falls far behind, delivering a mere fraction of the anticipated efficiency.

IDG / Matthew Smith

Metro Exodus stays on development. The Voyager a1600’s outcomes are far beneath expectations in Balanced mode however leap into rivalry with Excessive Mode lively. Even then, nevertheless, the Voyager a1600 is on the low finish of the efficiency spectrum.

I attempted the Voyager a1600 in quite a lot of different video games starting from older, much less demanding titles like Closing Fantasy XIV to the most recent, cutting-edge video games, like Cyberpunk 2077. The development was at all times the identical.

Clearly, the Corsair Voyager a1600’s efficiency is closely influenced by the mode used. It could’t sustain in Balanced mode however holds up effectively in Excessive.

That’s an issue, as a result of Excessive mode is method too loud. The fixed whirr is simple to listen to even when utilizing over-ear headphones. I can’t think about placing up with it whereas gaming (or streaming). 

Corsair might need a repair for this. The corporate plans a BIOS replace so as to add a Gaming mode that sits between the Balanced and Excessive modes. This mode barely reduces the AMD SmartShift mixed energy goal from 147 watts to 135 watts. It’s not but out there, although, so I couldn’t take a look at it. 

Battery life

The Corsair Voyager a1600 goes all-in on battery dimension with a 99 watt-hour unit. That is the utmost the FAA will let passengers keep it up a airplane, so it’s the efficient onerous restrict for battery dimension. 

IDG / Matthew Smith

Battery life is available in at 4 hours and 55 minutes. That’s not wonderful, in fact, and definitely far in need of a full work day. Nevertheless, this degree of battery life stacks up effectively within the realm of high-end gaming laptops. The Voyager a1600 is mid-pack, and that’s not a horrible place to be.

There’s a quirk to notice, nevertheless: the Voyager a1600 can really feel a bit hesitant when used on battery energy. This appears resulting from a delay in switching between AMD’s built-in and discrete graphics. 

The Voyager a1600 will use the Ryzen 9 processor’s built-in graphics in much less demanding workloads, switching to the Radeon RX 6800M. Opening a program could cause a hitch or stutter because the system works out which show mode it’s supposed to make use of. Disabling switchable graphics within the laptop computer’s BIOS resolves the difficulty however will even lower real-world battery life. 

Conclusion

The Corsair Voyager a1600 is an imperfect however promising introduction to the laptop computer market. It stands out from the gang with its massive 16-inch, 16:10 show, mechanical keyboard, huge touchpad, and use of AMD {hardware} for each CPU and GPU. The S-Key bar and LED display additionally add aptitude, although they’re a bit missing in perform.

Sadly, the Voyager a1600 seems like what it’s: a primary try from an organization new to laptops. The selections made for its efficiency profile are odd so, relying on the mode you select, the laptop computer both underperforms the competitors or howls like a rabid animal. The laptop computer falls in need of expectations in show, audio, webcam, and microphone high quality, and the port choice is so-so. 

Corsair’s first laptop computer could enchantment to streamers and avid gamers who crave a top quality keyboard and touchpad, or those that respect its massive 16:10 show. For many, nevertheless, sport efficiency is vital, and that’s the place the Voyager a1600 has bother. It technically can carry out effectively, however solely when the followers scream like a banshee. Options just like the Acer Predator Helios 300 and Lenovo Legion 5i can ship the identical or higher, with much less drama (and at a lower cost).