XMG NEO 15 Gaming Notebook Review

XMG is one of the better known manufacturers of gaming notebooks. That’s why we sent the NEO 15 to the test bench for you. It is based on a barebone from Tongfang and is available in several configurations. We’ll test a configuration with almost the largest equipment for you.

Design and Workmanship

XMG offers an apparently unobtrusive design with the 15 inch XMG NEO 15. When the device is switched on, the LED strip in the front is brought to life, just like the illuminated keys of the gaming notebook. The XMG lettering on the back of the display is also striking. We’ll come to the lighting and the keyboard with the opto-mechanical switches later.

We will keep the subject of processing short – there is nothing negative to be noted. The weak point of many notebooks are the hinges of the display, as these then wobble a bit and don’t sit firmly. XMG NEO 15 didn’t cut corners here either.

Display

The XMG NEO 15 uses a display with a diagonal of 15.6 inches. It has a resolution of 1,920 to 1,080 pixels and thus delivers FullHD resolution. The refresh rate is becoming increasingly important for gamers, which is why the display offers 144 Hertz. In order to avoid reflections, the display has a matt surface, the light falls from an unfavorable angle, but there are still reflections and there is hardly anything left to be seen on the display. Colors and contrasts are well displayed. A typical problem is a blue cast that doesn’t occur here.

The thin bezel of the display is to be emphasized, there is hardly any edge. With the display you definitely get your money’s worth – unless you are sitting unfavourably to the window/the sun.

Equipment

As the name suggests, the XMG NEO 15 is available exclusively in the 15-inch version. Intel’s HM370 Express is used as the chipset. An Intel Core i7-9750H is built in and cannot be changed. Three different graphics cards can be configured for the graphics work: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q. Our review includes the RTX 2070 Max-Q with 8GB of GDDR6 memory.

As an alternative to the 15-inch version, there is also the NEO 17 – similar or even identical configurations are possible.

Although the NEO 15 can be configured with only 8 GB RAM, up to 64 GB in the dual channel is possible. These are only possible if you select the RAM from Samsung. Corsair Vengeance and Kingston ValueRAM are also available, all three options clock at 2.666 MHz. Also for the memory you have a lot of choice. So as SSD in the M.2. version of Samsung the 970 EVO and 970 Pro with up to 2 TB storage space can be selected. Also possible are SSDs from manufacturers like Seagate, Westen Digital, Kingston and Crucial. If desired even another WLAN module can be selected. The AC 9462 from Intel is installed as standard, optionally the AC 9560 from Intel or the AC 1550 from Killer can be installed.

The NEO 15 definitely offers enough connection options. So we find three older USB ports (1x USB 2.0, 2x USB 3.0) as well as a modern USB 3.1 port. To connect monitors, the notebook has two Mini DisplayPort 1.4 ports, which also support G-SYNC, and HDMI 2.0 with HDCP 2.2 is also on board.
Classic features include a headphone output, a microphone input and an RJ45 port.

Our configuration includes the AC 9560 module from Intel, which also supports Bluetooth 5.0. With 62 Wh, the lithium polymer battery has enough power to gamble on the go. The stereo speakers do their job, but of course they’re not outstanding. If the volume is too loud, everything sounds very tinny.

The XMG NEO 15 is priced between 1,399 Euro and 3,300 Euro (without operating system).

Software

You only need the software for the XMG NEO 15 to configure the lighting. But you can also make other settings. For example whether the Windows key is activated or which calibration modes are selected for the display. You can also see the current load of your components.

Technical Details of the XMG NEO 15

Practical Test

System Performance

The system performance of the XMG NEO 15 can be easily compared to that of the Predator Helios 300. They have almost the same configuration, but the GPU offers 2 GB more graphics memory, hence the differences in the VR benchmarks. Apart from that, the NEO 15 brings good values out of the benchmarks. Current games shouldn’t be a problem. Photo and video editing are well served by the current CPU and RAM.

Mass Storage

Only SSDs can be used in the NEO 15. This makes every configuration a bit more expensive, and for a data grab you have to invest additionally. On the other hand it has to be said that there is always enough speed available for games. So there are no long loading times.

Gaming Performance

Current and challenging games like Squad don’t present the NEO 15 with any difficulties. Even at maximum settings, good to very good FPS values are still achieved. Some FPS are lost at higher resolutions, for example if an external display is connected. Displays with a 4K resolution could also suffer losses in quality. The FPS values were all tested in the normal “Game” mode of the XMG NEO 15.

Temperature

The XMG NEO 15 offers three different “running modes”. “Balanced”, “Enthusiast” and “Overboost” modes are called them in the manual. In balanced mode, full power is not available to ensure a more balanced battery life. The overboost mode ensures a constant CPU clock, often at maximum load, and of course the fans turn at full speed. It was tested with Prime95.

Differences in temperature between enthusiast mode and overboost mode are so marginal, on average they only differed by 1-2 degrees Celsius. The balanced mode, on the other hand, already brought an average of 5 degrees Celsius less, but with losses in the frame rate, as less computing power is available.

Battery

If you want to gamble on the go, you need a large battery. The 62 Wh lithium-ion battery promises at least some stamina, even when it comes to gaming. In battery mode, the performance of any notebook also goes to the basement, of course, and we don’t need to argue about that. But the NEO 15 could convince with 1.4 hours. Gaming notebooks are also not designed for complete mobile gaming.

We were able to perform office tasks for an average of between four and five hours, which was long enough to bridge a train journey with work. We used the “Balanced” mode at full brightness for this purpose, and if the brightness is lowered, we’ll certainly get an hour on top of it.

Fulness

You’ll pay around 2,100 euros for the XMG NEO 15 in our configuration. But the performance speaks for itself. Current games are of course no problem for the XMG NEO 15. In addition to the hardware, the overall package must also be right, especially the keyboard contributes to this. The opto-mechanical keyboard has a nice and pleasant typing feel and is really something special on a notebook.