Review: Samsung Odyssey, the gaming notebook with desktop graphics

Over the years, the space of notebooks has been decreasing more and more due to the advancement of mobile devices.

The situation worsens a little more, when notebooks are intended for games, due to the preference for desktops. But all this may be changing with the launches that have been coming to the national market in recent months.

Today we have some notebooks that have desktop characteristics. We received for analysis the first Samsung gaming notebook, the Samsung Odyssey, model 800G5M-XG2.

Pros

• Dull FullHD IPS Canvas
• M2 slot for expansion
• Backlit Keyboard

Cons

• Regular webcam
• HD with 5.400rpm
• Battery Life

Finishing and design

The notebook's finish and construction is exquisite, its design is sober and matte color, the details bring an aspect that differentiates it and, at first glance, makes the consumer think “there's something different here”. Its keyboard is backlit, as are the edges of the large touchpad, and the “Odyssey” logo is also backlit and stays on while the notebook is in use.

Hardware

And indeed it has, its set is stocky. THE Samsung Odyssey bring processor Intel core i7 7700HQ (seventh generation) 8GB of RAM (DDR4) and HD with 1TB of storage capacity. Unfortunately, so far, the available versions of Odyssey do not come with SSD as standard.

Your 1920 ”anti-reflective Full HD (1080X15.6) IPS canvas It has an excellent viewing angle. With one GeForce GTX 1050 with 4GB of RAM (DDR5) dedicated, the user gains more desktop performance for the notebook.

Its base has a cover that gives ample access to its internal components and, even in its base, the Odyssey draws attention with details also in red. THE Odyssey bring system Hexaflow Vent, an advanced cooling and ventilation system that helps keep your Notebook cool.

The notebook has 3 USB ports, being two 2.0 and one USB 3.0, RJ45 port GigaLAN, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1 e stereo speakers (1.5Wx2), 3-in-1 card reader multimedia and webcam. The pre-installed operating system is the Home version of Windows 10.

All this in a compact body (37,8cm wide, 26cm high and 2.8cm thick), weighing only 2.52kg.

Software

O Windows 10 in its Home version is already pre-installed on samsung Odyssey, eliminating the need to buy the operating system separately.

In addition, it is possible to use the Office package that is also present in the Notebook and activate it with a pre-existing registration key or buy the version available on the internet directly from the Microsoft website.

Talking about Windows is currently redundant, but talking about the performance of the Odyssey while using the system is not. Everything loads quickly, it's worth pointing out that the first thing I did, for personal reasons, was to disable the use in Microsoft's browser, Edge and install Google Chrome! 😉 Browsing with 2 Chrome tabs open or 20 tabs doesn't make any difference to the Odyssey, he can manage it without any problem.

There is also a Samsung center to control the Odyssey.

O Odyssey Control is a simple system monitor that displays CPU usage, GPU activity, and fan speeds for CPU and GPU coolers. It also has a very useful corner overlay for real-time GPU temperature, CPU temperature, FPS and RAM usage that gamers like to have active.

The software does not offer other features and I hope that a future revision may add recording functionality to save hardware and gameplay data.

Usability / Gameplay

The opportunity to use Odyssey, gave an excellent idea of ​​how a notebook should behave when the story is to have day-to-day performance. Although the HD has only 5.400rpm, you can't feel slow during use, I wonder how fast it would be if we installed a SSD (it is allowed via m2 PCIe slot).

Samsung should have brought the SSD as main storage, but we know that this would considerably raise the price of the product, which is already priced, shall we say, differentiated.

Simple tasks are done instantly, the idea of ​​using the Odyssey for video editing with Premiere e After Effects is to, exactly, raise the level of base and graphic processing. And the notebook does it very well. The answer here would be something like, if it edits videos without problems everything else will work fine.

In game tests, the experience was satisfactory, all tested games performed well, Grid AutoSport, American Arms, Trine 2, Injustice, League of Legends, among others, have always run at max settings and over 75FPS on average.

Bateria and Autonomy

Starting with the charging time, once connected to the socket, it is necessary to wait two and a half hours for the battery of the Odyssey is fully charged.

During our tests in standard use, we used a text editor, spreadsheet and image editing program, browsing social networks and also accessing Youtube to consume video content, its battery lasted approximately 4 hours.

Already in moderate/heavy use, editing videos and also playing games, its battery lasted just over 3 hours. Less than we would like, but it is worth remembering that for the Odyssey to deliver superior performance and performance in games, it is necessary that it is connected to the power supply, in this way your video card is used to its fullest, that is to say that during the time that the Odyssey is unplugged, the notebook itself manages power, reducing this performance.

Final thoughts and price

During the tests, it was found that despite the lower part of the Odyssey maintaining an adequate temperature, in games, the upper part of the keyboard, next to the notebook screen, on the left side, warmed up considerably. Playing Grid at maximum, I had to stop playing. The “W” key and above were getting too hot. The fans responsible for maintaining the cooling of the internal components, when required, generate more noise than in normal operation, but they do not disturb.

In terms of upgrading, it is possible, through m2 PCIe slot, use an SSD and still use up to 32GB of RAM, in two 16GB modules. The Odyssey arrives with 8GB but they are divided into two modules of 4GB each.

On a day-to-day basis, the notebook did not look bad, it has great performance in games e Image and video editing software. In editing and rendering videos Odyssey did all the work without any problem. Leaving my ATIVBOOK2 in the dust.

O Odyssey, has an excellent set, although we have to point out that its webcam is regular. But what really worried, was the excessive heating while using the Notebook in our gaming tests. After all he is a notebook gamer!

We know that excessive heat can considerably shorten the life of the notebook's internal components and especially its battery, impacting its autonomy in the long run.

The Samsung Odyssey MSRP that brings core i5 processor is R$4.999,00 and the Odyssey that brings the core i7 processor is R$5.499,00. Both can be found in the big stores on the market and, today, can be found with great discounts.

Technical specifications

• Brand: Samsung
• Model: Odyssey 800G5M-XG2
• Processor: Intel Core i7 7700HQ (2.8 GHz to 3.8 GHz) 7ª Ger. Cache 6 MB
  There is a version with Intel Core™ i5 7300HQ (2.5 GHz up to 3.5GHz) 7th Gen. 6 MB cache
• RAM memory: 8GB DDR4 Clock 2133 MHz type. (expandable up to 32GB)
• HD: 1 TB HDD 5.400 rpm (it is possible to install SSD through M2 port)
• Video card: Dedicated NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 with 4GB gDDR5 (40W Full PERFORMANCE)
• screen size: 15,6″ inch Full HD (1.920 X 1.080p resolution) 16:9 Widescreen
• Audio: SoundAlive Speakers – 3W Stereo (1.5W x 2)
• Connectivity: Ports 1x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0, HDMI, LAN RJ-45, 3-in-1, Headphone/Microphone Combo
• System: Windows 10 Home Edition and Office pre-installed
• Battery: 3 Cells 43Wh
• Dimensions: Width 37,8 cm - Height 2,4 ~ 2,8 cm - Depth 26 cm
• Weight: 2,5 kg