ROG Magic 13 experience: a new generation of all-round gaming notebook
The weight is less than 1.4kg, the thickness is 1.58cm, and the 360-degree flip screen. If you don't introduce it, probably no one would think that such a laptop will be a game book.
But ROG has made such an "all-round thin and light notebook", and also adopted a very rare product combination idea of an external graphics dock.
The product we experienced this time is ROG’s latest Phantom 13 gaming laptop. It is equipped with an AMD Ryzen 7 5800HS processor and a GeForce GTX 1650 Max-Q graphics card. It is also equipped with 16GB of memory, a 512GB solid state drive, and 120Hz FHD flip touch Screen.
Regardless of the configuration, our most obvious perception of the Magic 13 is its ultra-lightweight shape: 13-inch volume, plus 1.35kg weight, basically the same as the 13-inch MacBook Pro I used before, even if it’s stuffed into a backpack Take it with you, and there will be no obvious sense of weight.
In terms of design, Phantom 13's screen cover, palm rest and bottom surface of the fuselage all use diagonal line textures, the style is very delicate, and there is a small ROG metal nameplate at the corner of the screen cover.
In terms of hinges, the Phantom 13 has chosen a "small lifted foot" design. After the screen is expanded at a large angle, the base can be easily propped up, which is convenient for typing and more conducive to heat dissipation.
Not only that, the Phantom 13's screen also supports a 360-degree flip. In addition to the regular laptop mode, it can also be switched to a vertical tent mode or a pure tablet mode.
The Magic 13 keyboard layout is very comfortable, the key travel is moderate, the sense of paragraph is obvious, the direction keys are also standard size design, do not worry about misoperation, and the high-frequency keys such as volume and microphone are independent of the keyboard area, which is convenient for quick adjustment.
The interfaces are mainly distributed on the left and right sides of the fuselage. The left side has an HDMI 2.0, a 3.5mm interface, an eGPU connector plus USB Type-C 3.2 Gen2 (supports 100W PD charging and 4K/120Hz DP output).
On the right, you can see the power button, and this is also a power button that supports Win10 Hello fingerprint login function. It is also equipped with a USB Type-A, a USB Type-C 3.2 Gen2 interface that also supports PD+DP output, and Side cooling air outlet. On the whole, Magic 13 is richer in interface types and specifications.
In terms of styling and workmanship, Magic 13 still feels exquisite. It’s hard to imagine that ROG is packed with an 8-core 16-thread standard pressure processor under such a lightweight magnesium-aluminum alloy body, plus a 1650 dedicated display, as well as a 120Hz touch screen, a 360-degree flip design, and full functionality. The USB-C port is fully regarded as a "small steel gun" in the current 13-inch laptop camp, and it is also very rare in the game category.
Of course, the ultimate test of the game is game performance. This GTX 1650 is definitely stress-free for online games at the level of "League of Legends". As for "Overwatch", "CS:GO" and other high special effects in 1080p, it can also ensure a smooth experience of more than 60 frames.
The main problem is that some 3A games that are more performance-oriented, this 1650 graphics card is a bit difficult if you want to maintain high-quality operation.
Here we tested three representative 3A games, namely "Cyberpunk 2077", "Assassin's Creed: Hall of Valor", and "Tomb Raider: Shadow", all based on the Phantom 13 performance mode.
It can be seen that in the case of 1080p+ high quality, the 1650 graphics card can only ensure the smoothness of about 20-30 frames, which cannot be said to be unplayable, but the game experience is definitely not good.
If it ends here, ROG Magic 13 can obviously only be regarded as a moderate entry-level game book, and it is difficult to impress enthusiast players.
So below, we have the real protagonist to come on stage: A ROG XG graphics dock exclusively for Phantom 13, with built-in RTX 3080 graphics card.
That's what it said about changing shotguns for cannons. When the Magic 13 is connected to the graphics card docking station, how will the game performance be improved?
After connecting to the 3080 graphics dock, the three games have achieved an improvement of about 30-40 frames, which has reached the level of a smooth experience of 60 frames; and such as "Tomb Raider: Shadow" can reach nearly 100 frames .
What's more, RTX 30 series graphics cards also support the option of turning on "ray tracing" in the game to further improve the picture quality.
I also tried to connect the "Phantom 13+ Graphics Dock" combination to a 4K monitor to see if the RTX 3080 graphics card can handle the 4K desktop gaming experience.
From the data point of view, except for "Cyberpunk 2077", the performance is slightly weaker, the other two games can be stabilized in the range of 50-60 frames. If we turn off the light pursuit option at this time, it can actually achieve the average number of frames in 2077. Reach 60 frames.
I know that some users don't want to see an external graphics dock very much. It's not portable, and there is a problem of performance loss. This leads to the actual performance of a flagship graphics card you buy may only be of mid-to-high-end level.
In response to these two points, ROG has also resolved. The first is the size. Unlike our common "graphic card box", the ROG XG graphics card dock is only as big as a biscuit box. Even if you really want to take it out, it is not very difficult to put it directly into the bag.
The second is performance. At present, this graphics dock is dedicated to the Phantom 13, and the two are connected through the PCIe 3.0×8 high-bandwidth interface, unlike the previous Thunderbolt 3, which has insufficient bandwidth. This also allows the Phantom 13's eGPU performance to be further released.
At the same time, the docking station itself also comes with a wealth of expansion ports, which include four USB-A, one DP1.4, one HDMI2.1, one Gigabit Ethernet port, one SD card slot, and one 280W The power connector can supply power to the laptop at the same time after being inserted into the graphics dock.
This also means that when the Phantom 13 is connected to the graphics dock and equipped with a monitor, it can be used as a high-performance desktop.
From the perspective of Magic 13's product portfolio, ROG's goal is also very clear, which is to rely on one product as much as possible to solve the needs of all scenarios.
Users who buy gaming laptops will definitely have the illusion that they not only have the best gaming performance, but also get the same portability as light and thin laptops and business laptops. However, due to the limitations of power consumption, heat dissipation and molds, fish and bears The palm is destined to not have both. In reality, most game books can only be equated with cumbersomeness, and the collection of business books can hardly cope with the latest and most mainstream large-scale games.
ROG Magic 13 provides a new solution: split the core graphics card of the game notebook in the form of a docking station, so that the body of the Magic 13 can be "loaded lightly", mainly for daily work, business trips, and light to moderate Game demand.
When you go home, with the help of a dedicated interface, connect to an external 3080 graphics card dock, you can play 3A masterpieces without pressure, and achieve a perfect balance between portability and high performance.
Of course, price is always a topic that cannot be avoided. At present, a Magic 13 plus an RTX 3080 graphics card dock costs more than 20,000 yuan. In this price range, there are already many gaming laptops equipped with 3060 and 3070 graphics cards on the market, and their performance is not necessarily worse.
However, as mentioned above, ROG Magic 13 is designed based on the starting point of "one book, multiple uses", and may not have many audiences, but this attempt at the "all-round" direction is indeed worthy of recognition. If you happen to be the group of people who are both pursuing performance and wanting to be thin and light with the dual identities of "business + gaming", then the current Phantom 13 should allow you to have both fish and bear paws.
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