Maingear Tremendous 16 assessment: Energy with caveats

Greatest Costs Immediately: Maingear Tremendous 16

Maingear won’t be the family model that large OEMs like Asus and Lenovo are, however it brings strong chops in the case of making a gaming pc. The Maingear Tremendous 16 is a transparent instance of this. It packs in highly effective {hardware} and comes with an thrilling checklist of specs like a 300Hz show. 

The Maingear Tremendous 16 could not fairly have the seems to be of a few of its rivals because it comes with a chassis made by Clevo, not Maingear itself. Nonetheless, the model does strong work inside that constraint. And it even manages to take care of a reasonably aggressive worth. However the place worth counts, it could come all the way down to a number of the intangibles.

In any case, the Tremendous 16 didn’t blow away the competitors in benchmarks, outshine them in design, or cleanly undercut them in worth. The cleaner software program setup may assist, and the promise of in-house, human buyer assist from a small firm might be helpful for customers who’ve discovered themselves in want of tech assist. However in the event you’re trying to get extra efficiency for each greenback you spend, the Maingear Tremendous 16 could have a tough time incomes that cash. 

Maingear Tremendous 16: Specs and options

• CPU: Intel Core Extremely 9 275HX
• Reminiscence: 32GB DDR5-5600
• Graphics/GPU: Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti 140W
• Show: 16-inch 2560×1600 300Hz IPS, Matte, G-Sync
• Storage: 2TB PCIe Gen 5 SSD Samsung 9100 Professional
• Webcam: 5MP + IR
• Connectivity: 2x Thunderbolt 4 with 100W Energy Supply, 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Kind-A, 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x microSD card reader, 1x 3.5mm combo audio, 1 x Ethernet
• Networking: WiFi 7, Bluetooth 5.4
• Biometrics: Home windows Good day facial recognition
• Battery capability: 78 watt-hours
• Dimensions: 14.02 x 10.75 x 1.18 inches
• Weight: 5.04 kilos
• MSRP: $2,758 as-tested ($2,549 base)

The Maingear Tremendous 16 primarily is available in a single pre-built configuration with the above specs. Maingear gives a “Enhance” specification that doubles the storage and reminiscence, however the core elements stay the identical. Maingear additionally gives a customized configuration with choices for 64GB or 96GB of reminiscence and extra SSD decisions. The pre-built mannequin ships with a Samsung 990 Professional PCIe Gen 4 SSDs, however our assessment unit got here outfitted with a Samsung 9100 Professional PCIe Gen 5 SSD. This drive is on the market within the customized configurations. The customized configuration additionally permits for the choice of secondary and tertiary SSDs. 

Maingear Tremendous 16: Design and construct high quality

Foundry / Mark Knapp

The Maingear Tremendous 16 doesn’t have probably the most gorgeous design. It looks like {hardware} made merely to deal with the newest elements with out a lot emphasis on the laptop computer’s design itself. It merely fades from the image. The all-black shade scheme helps with that fading, although there’s a sparkle to the paint job that offers it somewhat luster nearly at odds with the blandness of the design in any other case. 

The chassis is a mix of onerous angles, with nary a easy curve in sight. That leaves the entrance lip of the laptop computer angular as effectively, which may dig into the wrists a short while utilizing the sizable machine. To accommodate a 16-inch show, the Maingear Tremendous 16 doesn’t get to be small, however its front-to-back size is appreciable at nearly 11 inches. This makes it more durable to suit into luggage and a little bit of a stretch to succeed in the keyboard. There’s appreciable bulk, too.

This isn’t a thin-and-light gaming laptop computer just like the Asus ROG Zephyrus G16, both. As an alternative it’s nearly 1.2 inches thick and weighs 5 kilos. The charging brick, although not unusually giant, provides one other 1.5 kilos to the combo.

Just like the seems to be, the construct of Maingear Tremendous 16 isn’t too thrilling. It does get a steel show lid with a Maingear brand stamped on it, however the remainder of the system is plastic — tough ABS across the show and easy polycarbonate for the decrease deck. The result’s somewhat cheaper feeling and searching than laptops incorporating steel into the decrease body. The construct isn’t overly versatile, however there’s a little bit of wiggle and bending right here and there that doesn’t make it really feel fairly as tank-like because it seems to be. 

The laptop computer sits on giant rubber toes that do an awesome job of maintaining it in place whereas additionally making certain the underside has entry to recent air. All of the air is exhausted by means of the big grilles on the edges of the laptop computer and thinner grilles that reach out of the again of the system. Curiously, I discovered the laptop computer vibrating whereas gaming at one level, seemingly on account of some kind of resonance from the followers. I may hear the vibration and really feel it with my arms on the keyboard. It stopped after a minute or so, however it was an uncommon incident. 

The one splash of favor that the Maingear Tremendous 16 will get is an LED gentle bar that runs alongside the again fringe of the laptop computer, the place you merely can’t see it when you’re truly utilizing the laptop computer (although different individuals can). 

Maingear Tremendous 16: Keyboard, trackpad

Foundry / Mark Knapp

The keyboard is a combined bag. It gives a protracted journey and an nearly clicky really feel that offers it a poppy expertise. However that’s offset by poorly and inconsistently stabilized keycaps with no contour to assist information my fingers to the middle. I discover myself usually rolling off the perimeters, touchdown on the sting of neighboring keys, and even catching on neighboring keys when I attempt to shift my fingers after urgent a key.

The result’s that I merely can’t stand up to hurry with out introducing important errors into my typing. I used to be capable of get to typing speeds between 100 and 110 phrases per minute in Monkeytype, however normally with accuracy under 95 %, leaving loads of typos to scrub up. 

The keyboard contains full-size arrow keys and a barely slender quantity pad. Sadly, the arrow keys eat into the house of the principle keyboard and quantity pad alike. This may make use of the appropriate shift key and the zero key on the quantity pad a bit fraught. The backlighting of the keyboard is kind of efficient, absolutely illuminating the legends and supporting varied results. It solely is available in three zones although, so no per-key customization. 

There’s little to say in regards to the trackpad. It’s small for a 16-inch laptop computer, however not annoyingly so. There’s house to swipe round, carry out multi-finger gestures, and usually get the job achieved. The floor isn’t the smoothest, however is satisfactory. The bodily click on is a bit gentle and unsatisfying. No less than palm rejection was dependable. 

Maingear Tremendous 16: Show, audio

Foundry / Mark Knapp

The Maingear Tremendous 16’s show is nice, however doesn’t fairly hit the bar for very good. It’s a vivid, easy-to-see IPS panel that hit 547 nits in our testing, and because of its matte end, it’s simply viewable even at far dimmer ranges.

As an IPS panel, its distinction is of course rather less spectacular, solely hitting 1260:1, and it doesn’t boast the widest shade gamut with simply 84 % protection of the DCI-P3 shade house. It’s sharp and quick, although, delivering 2560×1600 pixels at as much as 300Hz with variable refresh assist through G-Sync.

Taking part in video games on this show, the velocity was admirable. However with options on the market providing 240Hz OLED panels which have sooner pixel response occasions, wider shade gamut, and stronger distinction, the additional 60Hz Maingear gives doesn’t really feel value all that a lot.

The audio system aren’t particularly spectacular. They’re a pair of down-firing audio system positioned close to the entrance of the laptop computer. They pack an honest punch, serving to them play over the sound of the followers effectively sufficient, and so they don’t sound boxed in or tinny. However additionally they don’t stand out for a large soundstage or distinctive depth both. 

Maingear Tremendous 16: Webcam, microphone, biometrics

The 5MP webcam on the Maingear Tremendous 16 is a succesful one. It captures sharp visuals, albeit with some noise in dimmer rooms. It gives pretty pure lighting and coloring, too, although can battle to reveal correctly with sturdy backlighting. It additionally helps Home windows Good day facial recognition for fast logins. And for privateness, it has a bodily shutter to cowl up the lens. 

The mics are pretty delicate, capturing my voice simply with loads of element. However the facet impact of that is that additionally they choose up lots of room noise. You received’t get away with typing on the laptop computer or clicking round when you’re on a name with the built-in mic.

Maingear Tremendous 16: Connectivity

Foundry / Mark Knapp

The Maingear Tremendous 16 isn’t a connectivity beast prefer it may have been as a 16-inch laptop computer with loads of house for ports, however it’s not a disappointment both. It includes a fairly typical choice of ports for a gaming laptop computer of its measurement. You’ll discover a pair of Thunderbolt 4 ports on the appropriate facet of the laptop computer, each of which may assist 100W energy supply, although not whereas gaming. There’s a microSD card slot on the appropriate edge as effectively. A 10Gbps USB-A port is on the market on both facet of the laptop computer and a 3.5mm headset jack on the left.

The rear fringe of the laptop computer squeezes in just a few additional ports with an HDMI 2.1, 2.5Gb Ethernet, and a devoted DC energy jack. As a result of the Maingear Tremendous 16 has giant exhaust vents on the edges, all the facet ports are pushed towards the entrance of the laptop computer, which may make for a barely messier desk look and wired units can get in the best way of a mouse. 

Wi-fi connectivity is a robust level with the laptop computer supporting Wi-Fi 7 by means of an Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE200 card, which helps tri-band Wi-Fi 7, supplying you with entry to that less-congested 6Ghz band. The cardboard additionally helps Bluetooth 5.4. 

Maingear Tremendous 16: Efficiency

Thicker laptops are likely to have a bit of additional potential the place efficiency is available in, and the Maingear Tremendous 16 reveals that off. It gives exceptionally sturdy efficiency within the holistic PCMark 10 benchmark, which analyzes techniques’ efficiency in quite a lot of workplace duties. 

As a potent gaming machine, workplace duties are gentle work for it. Word, nonetheless, that as a result of this take a look at system has an upgraded SSD that the pre-built mannequin doesn’t embody, its rating is probably going somewhat greater. Even with that SSD, the Maingear Tremendous 16 truly trailed the pack on this gaming laptop computer lineup for the App Startup sub-test in PCMark 10, which will depend on quick storage. 

The Maingear Tremendous 16’s Core Extremely 9 275HX CPU performs fairly effectively, although isn’t a class-leader and leaves some efficiency on the desk. Its single-core efficiency lags a bit behind its competitors right here. AMD leads the best way with the Ryzen 9 9955HX3D within the Asus ROG Strix G16 with sturdy single-core and multi-core efficiency. Maingear’s choice sits between the Acer Predator Helios NEO 16S AI and Alienware 16X Aurora, each of which use the identical CPU however with completely different ranges of efficiency, displaying what a substantial distinction cooling and energy supply could make. 

A part of the difficulty with the Maingear Tremendous 16’s efficiency is that it comes barely hamstrung by default. Trying out the efficiency within the demanding 3DMark Port Royal take a look at, we are able to see that the Maingear Tremendous 16 goes from second-place in its default plan straight to first by swapping over to its greater efficiency mode, getting over a ten % enhance in velocity.

Whereas loads of gaming computer systems are comfortable to mechanically kick into greater efficiency modes when it’s referred to as for, the Maingear Tremendous 16 sticks to a lower-power plan except manually adjusted. That handbook adjustment requires opening up Maingear’s software program, too, as there’s no one-click button on the keyboard to allow it. A part of that is to adjust to California regulation, however Maingear defined the reliance on handbook energy changes was as a result of they didn’t need customers coping with noisy followers each time they plugged their laptop computer in.

I’m not fairly satisfied by that excuse, as loads of different laptops don’t instantly ramp up the followers simply because they’re in the next energy mode however as a substitute accomplish that when in that mode and working a heavy workload. Apart from, the Maingear Tremendous 16’s followers make loads of noise after they’re working onerous even within the default energy plan.

In gaming, the Maingear Tremendous 16 reveals what an enormous distinction energy provide allowances could make with its 140-watt GPU. It nonetheless trails the Asus ROG Strix G16, which gives the sooner CPU and has a 140-watt GPU, however subsequent to the opposite two RTX 5070 Ti-equipped, it will get a pleasant little efficiency benefit. The system may be very succesful at 1080p. 

The Maingear Tremendous 16 may even deal with fairly demanding video games effectively. Metro Exodus at its Excessive settings actually hammers PCs even at 1080p, however the Maingear Tremendous 16 is ready to keep a strong 61fps common. Once more, its higher-power GPU helps it step away from lower-performance choices. 

Cyberpunk 2077 reveals comparable outcomes with the Maingear Tremendous 16 once more main its 115-watt rivals however falling wanting the Asus ROG Strix G16. That constant efficiency deficit places it right into a little bit of a tricky spot because the Maingear Tremendous 16 and ROG Strix G16 are very comparable laptops by way of measurement, weight, and building however Asus opts for a superb OLED show.

Although we did see the Maingear Tremendous 16 pull again a efficiency lead by switching to its “Efficiency” mode in a single benchmark, that wasn’t a constant technique to shift benchmarks in its favor. It might have helped it win in 3DMark’s Port Royal take a look at, however it nonetheless trailed the Asus system in Metal Nomad. And the place gaming is taken into account, I’ve seen current AMD {hardware} are likely to ship a bonus over current Intel {hardware} in precise sport benchmarks that wasn’t demonstrated in artificial benchmarks like 3DMark’s. Apart from, all of those laptops have their very own methods of dialing efficiency to the max in flip, to assist them regain any floor they could lose from the Maingear system dialing up its personal efficiency. 

Nonetheless, the Maingear Tremendous 16 is a strong-performing laptop computer. And even with its default energy plan, it has loads to supply. I performed an hour or two of Stellar Blade on the laptop computer’s native decision and tapping into DLSS Balanced to benefit from what the {hardware} needed to supply, and I loved constant framerates between 180 and 200fps and a responsive sufficient expertise to face three bosses and prevail on the primary strive every time. Whereas the followers have been somewhat noisy, they weren’t shrill or obnoxious, and the entire system remained comfy to the contact throughout this gaming session. 

Maingear Tremendous 16: Battery life

Some gaming laptops have seen their battery life enhance significantly lately, and that’s usually aided alongside by strong software program administration of the inner {hardware}. If a gaming laptop computer is wise about disabling the GPU when it’s not wanted, it could actually final for much longer. Sadly, the Maingear Tremendous 16 neither contains the most important battery it may nor makes notably environment friendly use of the capability it does have. In our offline video playback take a look at, the system simply scraped previous a three-hour runtime. Its competitors is providing nearly double that on common, and turning to a system just like the Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 reveals how a lot greater it could actually go along with good {hardware} administration (and lower-power elements).  

The true-world battery life can range fairly a bit. Leaving GPU administration to the machine, it could actually leverage the RTX 5070 Ti for lots of little issues which may not seem to be they want the GPU and damage the battery life within the course of. The show’s matte end lets it present serviceable visuals at decrease brightness ranges than we utilized in our take a look at, although, so it’s additionally attainable to finish up with extra conservative battery use. Outdoors of sturdy direct lighting, I used to be comfortably in a position to make use of the laptop computer at its lowest brightness setting, and with the GPU absolutely disabled, I noticed runtime on observe for about 5 to five.5 hours. That stated, that’s nearly a best-case situation. 

Maingear Tremendous 16: Conclusion

The Maingear Tremendous 16 is a potent gaming laptop computer that may run with a number of the greatest that large OEMs have to supply. Its design is rather less thrilling, and it doesn’t deliver good software program to the desk to assist handle energy states and simply benefit from its {hardware}, although. This may make it onerous for it to maintain up with a few of its rivals. And at $2,758, it’s not marking a very spectacular worth both.

The dominant Lenovo Legion Professional 7i 16 Gen 10 has an RTX 5070 Ti configuration for much less on the time of writing. Asus’s very aggressive ROG Strix G16 was additionally obtainable for significantly much less on the time of writing. And for extra spectacular {hardware}, the Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 will be fitted with an RTX 5070 Ti as effectively for a aggressive worth whereas providing a extra gorgeous, thin-and-light design that’s a pound lighter and nearly half as thick whereas additionally becoming an even bigger battery and working longer on it. The Maingear Tremendous 16 is respectable, however simply doesn’t stand out.