We recently reviewed the Wallmart’s Overpowered gaming PC. Though the price of the built PC was less than the combined price of all of the components. We established that the margin that they were getting from the built was by using cheap motherboard and the power supply unit. The price of that PC was so compelling, but we end up with a hard choice of not recommending the PC.
Today we are looking at the same brand Overpowered (OP) but a different device. The Overpowered computers are not good, but their laptop computers have even more compelling prices. Another thing worth mentioning is the rating on their website. The PC could not get a single five star rating.
However, the laptop that we are seeing had a good rating which can potentially mean that their laptops not only have more value of the money but also quality. So, without further ado let’s start our review of the Overpowered gaming laptop 15+. It is out of stock right now; the 17+ model is almost the same too with a bigger screen and higher price tag.
Design
Starting with how the laptop looks. Since it is a gaming laptop, we are not expecting much in terms of the overall aesthetics of the laptop. The outer shroud of the laptop is made of glossy plastic which is not premium but feels premium enough for the price. The plastic they have used in the build is hard which is another plus point. Many cheap laptops use flimsy plastic which makes the laptop more vulnerable to drops.
The dimensions of the 15.6-inch model iare14 inches wide 9.5 inches deep and 0.75 inches long. It weighs around 4.55 pounds. So, portability in the case of the 15-inch model is not compromised. On the other hand, if you opt for the bigger 17-inch model than the dimensions become 15.5 inches wide 10 inches deep and 1 inch long. It has a total mass of 5.56 pounds. Still not the heaviest of the laptops, though long walk with the 17 inch model in the backpack would be painful.
The palm rest area has matt finish which saves it from smudges. The screen too has minimal bezels. Overall build quality is actually more than average. Lastly, to stamp the gaming laptop mark, they have fully customizable RGB lighting at several points of the laptop. These include the OP logo, a strip just beneath the trackpad and the mechanical keyboard is supports RGB lighting.
Display
We know that it comes in two screen sizes, but the technology used in these displays is exactly the same. The display is a full HD 1080p panel with a refresh rate of 144Hz. They did not mention that the screen is G-sync enabled or not.
So, it is safe to assume that the panel is not G-sync enabled because the price of the screen only would be higher than the laptop itself. The refresh rate here is important because nowadays 60FPS are not enough for most competitive shooters. So, if the hardware is powerful enough to drive such frames, the display should be able to drive those frames.
The display uses IPS LCD technology with great viewing angles. There is no color gamut identification, but during our time with it, the colors seemed natural enough. Though we are not recommending it for content creation.
Specifications
The most important aspect of the gaming laptop is its hardware. The hardware decides whether the laptop has enough horsepower to make it a gaming laptop.
The Overpowered gaming laptop comes with the Intel’s 8th gen core i7 processor namely Core i7-8750H. It’s a six-core CPU with multithreading which is enough for gaming and streaming at the same time. The GPU they are using in this laptop is Nvidia’s GTX 1060 with 6GB of VRAM. Its the full GTX 1060, not the MAX-Q version which means with ample cooling you can get the same results as the desktop Graphics card.
The other specifications depend upon which version you get. For the 15 inch model, you get 16 Gigs of DDR4 memory clocked at 2667 MHZ. You can upgrade the RAM at a later stage if 16 GB is not enough for you. 1 TB of the mechanical hard drive and 256 gigs of the solid-state storage drive (SSD).
On the other hand, if you opt for the 17-inch model you get the maxed 32 GB of DDR4 memory with the same speed as the 15-inch version. With bigger screen you get more storage too, 2TB of mechanical hard drive coupled with 256 GB SSD is included.
I/O
The I/O is same throughout no matter what version you get. With this gaming laptop, you will get a single USB 2.0 port, two USB 3.0 ports and a single USB 3.0 type c port. You can charge your laptop through the type c but the power it requires when gaming can only be delivered through the charging brick included in the box. There is also an SD card and an HDMI port.
Keyboard and Trackpad
They claim that the keyboard they have in this laptop is a fully mechanical keyboard. We know that for gaming mechanical keyboards are always preferred. For such a cheap gaming laptop mechanical keyboard was just not cutting so we actually verified it. It was indeed a mechanical keyboard. The keyboard has individual RGB lights which means you can choose whatever color you want for each switch.
We were not impressed by the trackpad, however. It had cool gestures but the tracking was not accurate, and most times we were losing the objects during drag and move commands. Lastly, no precision drivers so you get less than average tracking.
Performance
The laptop comes with beefy specifications the GTX 1060 6GB and the Core i7-8750H are enough to breeze through any modern AAA title with ease at 1080p settings. The use of the 144Hz display is somewhat delusional here.
The GTX 1060 is an apt Graphics card, but it can not put 100 frames in every game. Sure you can play Fortnite here at high settings with over 70 frames per second at 1080p. It can barely hit 60 FPS at PUBG. On the other CS GO can be played easily at more than 100 FPS. For a more in-depth review of the GTX 1060 head over to our detailed review.
The cooling performance of the laptop was also adequate. The OP management helps here despite its shortcomings. You can access different fan profiles here which can help in maintaining heat dissipation.
Conclusion
The conclusion here is entirely different than our Wallmart’s PC. The laptop actually impressed us. The price of these laptops was compelling, and the product that you get is more than enough for the price. The 144Hz display will be used sparingly but its there which is a plus point. The beefy specifications are also enough to keep you in a game for more than two years. So, if you are in the market for a cheap gaming laptop the Wallmart’s gaming laptops should be in your list.