Ok here goes. Note that I am not a hardcore gamer so I don't have the latest games. I am coming from a Lenovo Y50 with a 860M prior to the S5.

First impressions, nice solid build. The laptop itself well built, very sturdy. To the earlier person asking about hinges, I can say the hinges of the S5 is rock solid. There is barely any movement when you open and close the laptop but I have to point out that the monitor is a little flimsy to the touch but it is of no concern. It is still a lot better than most laptops I have used. (Dell/Lenovo enterprise laptops, Asus ROG, Y50, Y700).

The specs I took comes with the 1060 (6GB). You can check the Illegear site for the rest of the specs as this is the main point of the laptop. The 1060 is very powerful for 1080p gaming. I've tried this on Doom, Tomb Raider 2013, Metro 2033 and Tales of Zesteria. It doesn't break a sweat hitting 60 FPS at Ultra settings. For some of the games here, I can crank it to the max and it still runs at 60FPS. If 4k or multiple displays are not your concern, a 1060 is more than enough to power your games.

Physically there is not much to complain about the laptop's design. The keyboard keys are pretty big and it is very comfortable to type with and the trackpad is top class but some might feel that it is a little rough to the touch. I got used to the input devices in less than 15 mins compared to my Y50 which I could never get used to the touchpad after 2 years. Big touchpad buttons are a plus but it never gets in the way despite the size. Palm rests are suitably large but I wished they put the stickers on the right side of the laptop instead. FPS players might accidentally peel it off after prolonged used of the WSAD keys.

The screen is freaking fantastic. I am not sure if it is because I took it with the professional color calibration but holy damn hell. I've not seen a laptop screen with such vibrant colors as of yet.

Some gripes I have:
1. The speakers don't complement the Soundblaster X-Fi. Holy shit the sound is so awesome with headphones but on the speakers a lot of the quality are lost. I can't say the speakers are terrible but neither are they really good. Its about average to me. A plus for the speakers though, it is really loud when cranked up to the max. It beat the Y50 that comes with a subwoofer. I thought Y50 was loud, the S5 tramples all over it like it was never there.

2. When gaming, the fans are really loud. Without earphones I can hear the sound of the fans spinning at top speed but strangely the temperature was never over 60 degrees celcius for the processors and around 60 for the GPU. I don't think the temperature is really high yet at that point but then again, maybe the fans are working hard to keep the temperature down.

3. When I change it to discrete GPU, the laptop suffers from micro stutters. I tried many games, all faced the same problem. 60 FPS constantly but micro stuttering every 5 secs or so. It is really annoying.When I switch it back to MSHybrid, it works perfectly. I tried switching a few times, upgraded and downgraded the drivers (clean install) and it never made a difference. I can't pin down whats the problem with it but it happens only during discrete GPU. Not a major problem for me though, I just switched it to MSHybrid. I just hope MSHybrid is not as stupid as Optimus.

4. LAN port is on the right side. This might be just me but the LAN port is on the right of the laptop. I also plug in an Xbone controller on the right. It limits the space for the mouse. Nothing major but becomes a small nuisance when typing and using the mouse at the same time.

5. So maaaaaany screws for the maintenance hatch.

Overall, I am very satisfied with this purchase despite the numerous complains I have.The major winning point for me was how quickly I felt accustomed to the laptop. Very nice design with lots of typing space. Oh did I mention it has a numpad? Awesome stuff. Another major point for me is the WiFi card it comes with. The intel 8260 has very good range. My router is one floor below and I had some issues with my Y50 getting full signal. It gets stuck at around 1 or 2 bars. The S5 easily maxes it out. I'd say there is a distance of about 10 meters with a thick floor between it.

I'd give this laptop a 8/10. Easily recommended for anyone looking for a good 1080p gaming and working laptop. The minimalist design makes it look professional too.

PS. I am not sure whats with the temperature. I tried running all kinds of things that should have shot up the temps but it never goes above 60. Not sure if this is a good thing or not.

Hi Chachazero,

It can be done in BIOS, press F2 to access BIOS -> Advance Chipset Control.

Thanks for the review. Just curious did you enable Nvidia Gsync?

Yeah, thanks for the BIOS battery tip. I also found out what is causing the stuttering. It wasn't anything to do with the drivers or Nvidia settings.

It was caused by Google Chrome. My Google Chrome opens about 60 tabs . There are a handful of these tabs, mainly to manga sites that have those stupid ads loading at the back non-stop causing the CPU usage to shoot up to around 30%. Once I closed them, the problem went away.

Glad the stuttering issue was sorted out

You may enable gsync with discrete GPU in Nvidia Control Panel.

No, the default screen doesn't have Gsync feature, it's just a normal Full HD Anti-glare display.

Nvidia only authorize LG and Samsung for Gsync, so all the Gsync display are either LG (IPS) or Samsung (PLS) panels.

Nice!

there is no issue if the laptop is fully charged all the time right?

Parking cause curious to know as well.

It should be fine to keep the laptop fully charged. Technically Li-ion batteries do not have the problem of overcharging and modern batteries have chips built in them to stop charging once it reaches a certain threshold.

That said, based on my experience with Li-ion battery power laptops like Lenovo Y50-70, T410 to T460 series, I do notice a pretty bad level of degradation of the batteries when they are left plugged in. For those said laptops, the default charge level starts at 97 and stops at 100. Batteries, no matter how little you use them will always discharge a little bit. What I've noticed with them is that after 1 year (usually when the warranty ends) the batteries have already gone bad and can hold less than half their capacity.

My Y50 was capped to stop charging at 60 and start charging at 50. I do the same to my work laptop, a T440 which is approaching its third birthday. What I've noticed is that their battery wear is only around 3% after 2-3 years of constantly plugged in.

If you're worried, there is a BIOS setting in the Illegear laptop that allows Flexicharge, which caps the charge at a fixed percentage. Mine is set to start at 50 and stop at 60. Call me old fashioned but experience has taught me to not take it for granted.

The reported wear is encouraging but was that after periodic recalibration of the battery?

Yup. I recalibrate my personal laptop once every few months. I just sold my Y50 about 3 weeks ago. I did one final recalibration before I passed it to the buyer. The numbers were consistent.

For my work laptop, I have not done it since forever. Not too concerned about it either.

So.. My Note 7 is being recalled permanently and I am getting a refund. Since my laptop has been dying for a while. I currently have a budget of 4k. Just slowly saving up now for a laptop. Looking for at least a 10 series one.

You can consider Z5 and S5 GTX 1060

Hi so sorry do you have a link to the S5? I can't find it.

Hi natalie,

http://store.illegear.com/s-series/113-illegear-s5.html

What are the differences between S5 and Z5?

S5 is our premium series with full body aluminium case, GTX 1070 and 4K display options. It has 4 ram slots, 2x SATA slots, 2x M.2 slots, triple cooling fan, RGB keyboard and Gsync.

Z5 is our affordable gaming series with better performance/price ratio.

Ahh! Okay. I will just save up for now and wait for the release of the z5 and then I will judge on what I will get then. Thanks!

hi. curious to ask;

for P150SM-A (RS-15, discontinued). How much would you charge for a brand new GTX1070 ? (i don't think a GTX1080 can fit in there)


do I have to trade in my old card? (980M)