Schenker XMG Neo 15 (Tongfang GK5CQ7Z) Laptop Review: A gaming laptop with slim bezels

We will compare the XMG Neo 15 against other comparably equipped gaming laptops like the Acer Predator Triton 500, Gigabyte Aero 15 Classic-XA, HP Omen X 2S and Lenovo Legion Y740-15. Please see our table below for an overview of the XMG Neo 15 and our comparison devices.

Our current review unit shares its chassis, connectivity and input devices with the two XMG Neo 15 laptops that we have reviewed in the last 18 months. Please see our XMG Neo 15 Tongfang GK5CQ7Z and Tongfang GK5CN6Z reviews for our full thoughts on these areas.

Our current review unit shares its BOE display with the last XMG Neo 15 that we reviewed too. The NV156FHM-N4G is on par with its competitors in most areas and should be good enough for all gamers.

Likewise, the 144 Hz has fast response times, and we did not notice any streaking during our benchmarks. Incidentally, the XMG Neo 15 supports NVIDIA Optimus instead of G-Sync. NVIDIA Optimus technology allows laptops to reduce power consumption by switching from their NVIDIA GPUs to their Intel integrated ones during graphically undemanding tasks. This is not possible with NVIDIA G-Sync.

All versions of the XMG Neo 15 should handle demanding tasks like triple-A games, even the entry-level model with its 8 GB of RAM and 250 GB SSD. This version also comes with a GeForce GTX 1660 Ti GPU as we mentioned at the start of this review, which should remain powerful enough for 60 FPS 1080p for a few years yet. However, we would recommend choosing an RTX GPU along with at least 16 GB of RAM and a 500 GB SSD if you would like to stave off upgrading to a new machine for as long as possible.

The Core i7-9750H also has a 2.6 GHz base clock, which it can boost up to 4.5 GHz in single-core tasks. The CPU cannot fully utilise its turbo clock speeds when running on Standard mode, with it only able to clock between 4.0 and 4.5 GHz in single-core tasks. Meanwhile, clock speeds fluctuated between 2.6 and 3.8 GHz in multi-core benchmarks like Cinebench R15 Multi 64Bit.

As our looped CB R15 Multi 64Bit benchmark results below show, the XMG Neo 15 falls short of the CPU performance that many of our comparison devices achieve. This may be because Schenker factory-undervolts its CPUs. Switching to Overboost mode should narrow the gap between the XMG Neo 15 and Lenovo Legion Y740-15, though.

The situation is similar with system performance. 5,522 points in PCMark 10 means last place in our comparison table. However, the gap to the HP Omen X 2S in first place is only 8%, so we doubt that most people would notice any performance differences between any of the devices in our comparison table below.

Schenker has equipped our review unit with a 1 TB FireCuda 510 M.2-2280 SSD. You can choose other sizes though, as we mentioned earlier in this review. The XMG Neo 15 finished second bottom in our CrystalDiskMark comparison table, but the FireCuda 510 is still a fast drive. Incidentally, you could add a second SSD if you need more storage.

The GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q is a power-efficient version of the regular GeForce RTX 2070, as we have covered in other RTX 2070 Max-Q laptops that we have reviewed. Greater power efficiency and reduced performance come hand-in-hand, so the RTX 2070 Max-Q cannot quite reach the levels that its more powerful sibling can achieve. The DirectX 12-capable GPU is based on NVIDIA's Turing architecture and comes with 2,304 shader units, 8 GB of GDDR6 VRAM and it operates on a 256-bit interface.

The GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q has an 885 MHz base clock, but it can use NVIDIA's GPU Boost to reach almost 1,300 MHz in UNIGINE's Heaven 4.0 benchmark. NVIDIA's GPU Boost is analogous to Intel Turbo Boost, for reference.

We also subjected our review unit to a The Witcher 3 endurance test where we left the game running for 60 minutes on ultra graphics at 1080p. Frame rates settled at around 60 FPS by the end of this test, with the GPU able to average 1,260 MHz too. Overall, the XMG Neo 15 performs on par with our comparison devices, as our 3DMark 11 and 3DMark 13 benchmark results underline.

As you can see from the table below, we benchmarked several games with our review unit running in Standard and Overboost modes to determine what difference the latter makes to frame rates. Typically, Overboost mode will provide a 20% improvement in frame rates, which helps the XMG Neo 15 power past many of its competitors. You must contend with louder fans on Overboost mode, though. Only CPU-heavy games like FIFA 20 benefit little from Overboost mode, according to our tests.

The XMG Neo 15 can run all modern triple-A titles at smooth frame rates in 1080p on its standard fan mode, though. Only demanding games like Borderlands 3 and Ghost Recon Breakpoint average less than 60 FPS on its ultra graphics preset, but they still exceed 50 FPS. If you are a 60 FPS fiend, then Overboost mode may be useful for those two games, but our review unit averaged between 60 and 195 FPS in 1080p and ultra graphics on the Standard mode in all other games that we benchmarked.

The XMG Neo 15 reached 50 dB(A) while playing The Witcher 3 and 54 dB(A) under maximum load, so we would suggest the noise-sensitive of you to look elsewhere for your next gaming laptop. Most of our comparison devices exceeded the 50 dB(A) barrier during our tests too. Only the Lenovo Legion Y740-15 is noticeably quieter than the XMG Neo 15 of our comparison devices, but even that reaches 42.1 dB(A) when gaming.

Conversely, our review unit averages 34 dB(A) when idling. The fans even switched off completely during some tasks, but expect them to whirr away in the background if you are browsing the web or watching videos.

Taking a look at internal temperatures reveals that the CPU and GPU never exceed 80 °C under load when set to Schenker's standard mode. While we noticed that the GPU throttles slightly at these temperatures, the CPU just cannot reach its boost clock speeds.

The XMG Neo 15 consumes between 11 and 21 W when idling, which is comparatively economic for a gaming laptop. The device can achieve this as it supports NVIDIA Optimus, so it can switch between its integrated and dedicated GPUs to reduce power consumption. Our review unit also consumed between 94 and 173 W under sustained load, so the XMG Neo 15 should never exceed the capabilities of its 230 W charger.

The XMG Neo 15 achieves acceptable runtimes from its 62 Wh battery, in our opinion. The 15-inch laptop typically lasts between 5 and 6 hours in practical scenarios like surfing the internet, which should be long enough for most people. The device only lasted for 7:19 hours when idling though, while it needed recharging after just 1:19 hours of continuous load. Hence, we would recommend bringing the charger with you when you use the XMG Neo 15 on the go.