News
News Categories

Intel just co-designed the world's lightest 15.6-inch gaming laptop

By Koh Wanzi - on 2 Sep 2019, 11:09am

Intel just co-designed the world's lightest 15.6-inch gaming laptop

MAG-15

Intel has partnered with Eluktronics to design what is currently the world's lightest 15.6-inch gaming laptop. If you haven't heard of Eluktronics, that's fine. They're a much smaller outfit compared to some of the obvious names that Intel could have teamed up with, but the MAG-15 laptop is shaping up to be a pretty attractive option, assuming you can get your hands on one. 

Its biggest selling point is probably how light it is. It weighs just 1.88kg when fully configured, an impressive figure that many other gaming laptops struggle to match. For example, the Razer Blade 15 Advanced weighs up to 2.21kg. The MSI GS65 Stealth, already one of the thinnest gaming laptops around, probably comes the closest at 1.9kg.

But while the MAG-15 may not have a super commanding advantage over the GS65 Stealth in terms of weight, it has still managed to cram in a 94Wh battery inside compared to the Stealth's 82Wh unit. Taken together, it's no small feat to pack such a large battery into a chassis that is this slim and light. 

Here's an overview of its specifications:

  • 15.6-inch 1,920 x 1,080-pixel 144Hz IPS display
  • Intel Core i7-9750H processor (2.60GHz, 12MB L3 cache)
  • 16GB DDR4-2666 RAM
  • NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q
  • 512GB Intel 660p NVMe PCIe SSD
  • 94Wh battery
  • 356.4mm x 233.66mm x 20.5mm
  • 1.88kg

The chassis is comprised of a black magnesium alloy, with a small plastic cutout at the side to allow wireless signals to pass through. Given Intel's hand in designing the MAG-15, it's no surprise that it also supports the latest Wi-Fi 6 standard and comes outfitted with an Intel 660p SSD. 

It checks most of the right boxes for a premium laptop as well, featuring an IR webcam with support for Windows Hello, a glass trackpad, and a mechanical keyboard with per-key RGB backlighting. Thankfully, the bezels are pretty slim as well, but the webcam is located where it should be, which is at the top. 

The selection of ports and connectors are good also, including one Thunderbolt 3, one HDMI 2.0, one USB 3.1 (Gen 2) Type-A, two USB 3.1 (Gen 1) Type-A, and a dedicated Ethernet jack. On top of that, there's a 4-in-1 SD card reader and dedicated audio out and microphone in ports. I've always complained about certain laptops not having a Thunderbolt 3 port or a card reader, but the MAG-15 has both.

The listed specifications will cost you US$1,799, or roughly S$2,498. 

Unfortunately, the biggest problem now is probably availability. The MAG-15 doesn't currently ship to Singapore, although you can technically use a shipping forwarder if you really want it. However, it will supposedly be available from other retailers further down the road, so you may want to keep your eyes peeled for international shipping. 

Source: Eluktronics

Join HWZ's Telegram channel here and catch all the latest tech news!
Our articles may contain affiliate links. If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission.