Schenker Key 17 Pro M24 workstation: doubles as great high-end gaming laptop, features dual Thunderbolt 5

Schenker’s Key laptop series represents the company’s pinnacle performance solution and this year’s Key 17 Pro M24 model ups the ante for mobile workstations with the fastest laptop-grade processor from Intel, as well as a stacked port selection. The 2024 model upgrades the i9-13900HX from the E23 model to an i9-14900HX and introduces support for not one, but two ultra-fast Thunderbolt 5 connectors, making it one of the first Windows-based workstations to feature such comprehensive connectivity. While the dGPU solution remains the same top-of-the-line Nvidia RTX 4090 from the E23 model, Schenker also upgraded the wireless side with the latest Wi-Fi 7 standard.

Other components like the display, RAM and storage remain unchanged from the 2023 model. Our review unit came with a 4K 17.3-inch IPS screen from BOE refreshing at a maximum of 144 Hz, but there is a 1440p option with 240 Hz refresh, as well. The 32 GB of DDR5-5600 RAM with SK Hynix chips are provided by Kingston, whereas the NVMe SSD solution is represented by a 1 TB 990 Pro from Samsung.

The dual Thunderbolt 5 connectors certainly stand out as the highlight of this model. We evaluate the speed of these ports via two pre-production external SSDs from OWC in a separate article.

No model is perfect, and the two major downsides for the Key 17 Pro M24 appear to be the noisy cooling system plus the low battery runtime. As a minor downside, the screen comes with a rather lackluster contrast ratio.

All things considered, the Key 17 Pro features a less mobile design and instead makes for a solid desktop replacement that can be used in hybrid workflows.