Unboxing: OneXPlayer X1 Series: 3-in-1 Console w. AMD 8840U

Indiegogo staffers are placing crowdfunded merchandise to the check in our new collection of sincere opinions. On this version, Mario, our Senior DevOps Engineer, tried out OneXPlayer X1 Series: 3-in-1 Console w. AMD 8840U. Did it meet his expectations? Learn on to seek out out extra.

I take pleasure in gaming, however haven’t performed video games on a pc since gaming on the Macintosh was a factor (Myst, Lemmings, Prince of Persia, and the like). Recently I’ve been going deep on Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. I’m trying ahead to exploring gaming on this highly effective and transportable platform!

I’m right here writing an unboxing evaluation of one in all OneXPlayer’s newest choices, their X1 gaming handheld with AMD Ryzen™ 8840U CPU. This X1 got here with a label on the again indicating: ProtoType. I’m unaware whether or not or how the particulars of this unit differ from their manufacturing models. It additionally got here with their matching gaming controllers and Controller Connector, a removable magnetic keyboard with trackpad, and magnetic again cowl (which they seek advice from as a Again Bracket).

The OneXPLayer X1 I acquired for this evaluation was shipped through DHL, and arrived simply days after being handed over for transit. It was packaged in pleasing and properly designed packaging, with ample padding to maintain all the things secure from any perils of parcel journey, although the keyboard was supplied in only a plastic bag with foam padding. Unpacking all the things was straightforward sufficient, although the field containing the AC Adapter & USB C cable certain was a good match within the foam cutout. The black ribbon for pulling the X1 out of its cradle within the field was a pleasant contact (extra ornamental than useful).

OneXPLayer X1, Gaming controller in packaging, with keyboard/trackpad:

Keyboard in its packaging:

X1, gaming controller, and keyboard/trackpad:

Gaming controller:

AC Adapter field:

Fancy documentation sleeve:

Documentation:

USB-C AC Adapter & cable:

Entrance of X1:

Again of X1:

X1 with again cowl as stand and keyboard, in laptop computer association:

Purple charging LED subsequent to fingerprint/energy button:

X1 prime edge:

X1 backside edge:

X1 left edge:

X1 again cowl and keyboard/trackpad:

Again of X1 with again cowl connected:

This model of the X1 has a ten.95” display, AMD Ryzen™ 7 8840U CPU, 32GB of LPDDR5 RAM, and a 1TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 SSD. Graphics are supplied by AMD Radeon™ 780M GPU, operating at 2.7GHz. Constructed-in are Harman AudioEFX audio system, a webcam, an influence button which doubles as a fingerprint reader, and bodily quantity buttons. The show is 2.5K HD LTPS (low-temperature polycrystalline silicon) with a decision of 2560×1600, a 120Hz refresh fee, and 10-point multi-touch display. The supplied 100W charger employs GaN chips permitting for a 50% cost of its 16,890mAh 65.02Wh battery in simply half-hour. The USB Sort-C charging cable supplied is about 12cm lengthy. Wi-fi networking supplied by an Intel AX210 card providing WiFi 6E help in addition to Bluetooth 5.3. For its comparatively compact measurement, it has a pleasant array of connectivity, together with:

2x USB 4.0 Sort-C ports (additionally used for powering & charging)
1x USB 3.2 Sort-A
3.5mm audio
OCuLink
TF Card slot
Customized “pogo-pin” connectors on the edges for the gaming controllers in addition to one on the underside edge for the removable keyboard/trackpad

The design & construct of it’s fairly good, and although a bit heavy it feels fairly stable. The unit I’ve weighs about 800g, with the keyboard & again cowl including one other 440g. The keyboard/trackpad doubles as a canopy for the screen-side of the X1; closing it triggers a sleep sign to the OS, and opening it should sign a wake-up. The gentle again cowl attaches magnetically to the again of the X1 and has cutouts revealing a pair of illuminated home windows on the pc’s again in addition to one for the cooling fan consumption. Like with the central window on the gaming controller, they’re lit up in a purple hue. The again cowl additionally affords a really good feeling and stiff hinge which acts as a stand for the X1. I used to be impressed to seek out right here’s even a sensor for robotically sensing rotation that Home windows makes use of to rotate the contents of the display. The X1 can be utilized as a gaming console, laptop computer, or pill.

The gaming controller follows a well-known design the place the left & proper sides (or handles) can both be related to one another with a “Controller Connector” for handheld play separate from the X1, or they are often connected on to the left and proper edges of the X1. In each setups, the attachment between controller “handles” and both X1 or Controller Connector has extra play than I would really like. I might see this changing into a problem with rougher gameplay dealing with. The buttons & controls on the gaming controller are designed to comply with the structure of an Xbox Controller, and through included software program are absolutely reconfigurable. There’s even an alternate plus-shaped “cap” for the D-pad. It got here with a dish-shaped cap connected to the D-pad.

From my expertise to date, the X1 has wonderful battery life that appears to be consistent with their indication of 8 hours. Battery life supplied by the Controller Connector appears lower than I might hope for. I typically discovered it unable to energy on when going to make use of it and located it helpful to maintain a USB-C cable close by. Maybe turning off the pleasant however energy consuming lighting results would assist enhance battery life?

Gaming controller with non-obligatory D-pad cap, powered on:

Entrance of gaming controller:

Again of gaming controller, exhibiting USB transponder in its magnetic storage pocket:

Gaming controller connected to sides of X1, with plastic covers put aside:

To bodily connect the sport controllers to the X1, versatile plastic covers on the left & proper edges have to be eliminated. These covers are product of the identical versatile plastic materials as the quilt over the audio and OCuLink ports, although the OCuLink cowl stays connected when not overlaying these ports.

The gaming controller communicates with the X1 through a USB (Sort-A) transponder. There’s a magnetic storage compartment on the bottom of the Controller Connector, beneath a canopy, for storing the USB transponder when not in use. When the L/R controller “handles” are connected on to the X1, the USB transponder will not be mandatory and will be stowed within the magnetic compartment at the back of the Controller Connector. Although leaving it plugged in to the X1 affords no hindrance. Nonetheless, arrange as a handheld controller, even when a USB-C cable is related to the X1, it nonetheless requires the transponder be plugged in to be usable. It appears possible the USB transponder may be used with one other {hardware} platform supporting a USB-attached gaming controller.

As with a equally designed gaming platform, I might love for there to be an non-obligatory one-piece “professional” controller, even at a better value. I occur to have a PS5 DualSense controller, which, when plugged into the X1 through USB Sort-C cable, Home windows instantly seen (with a tool connect sound). After which the Steam app launched, providing on-screen steerage for which PS5 controller buttons to make use of for various capabilities. It seems Steam has express help for the DualSense controller. With it connected, the Steam app changed the previous “XBOX CONTROLLER” class with a “DUALSENSE CONTROLLER” class, as a tab on the prime of the sport Library view. The Epic Video games app, however, didn’t appear aware of the DualSense controller.

The inclusion of an OCuLink port shall be helpful for customers desirous about driving an exterior show. The identify stands for “optical-copper hyperlink” and it’s primarily an exterior PCIe 4.0 port, which is comparatively cheap to implement (as in comparison with different high-speed busses like Thunderbolt). Within the context of a gaming pc, an OCuLink port permits for connecting an exterior GPU (eGPU) and exterior show.

Included are documentation on paper in each Chinese language and English. The X1 console has a booklet and two multi-fold lengthy sheets for the gaming controllers and gaming Controller Connector. The documentation supplied sufficient clear data to get going with all the things. I want to see extra documentation on their web site about deeper factors of this technique. For instance, I used to be unable to seek out anyplace of their software program UI details about the battery degree of the Controller Connector. Of their printed documentation, as http-only URL, in addition they present pictures of the X1 booklet on-line, which I used to be in any other case unable to discover a hyperlink or reference to on their “retailer” web site.

Maybe as a result of I used to be despatched a prototype, the display had some scratches. No less than this scratching is tough to discern with darker display content material. I’m curious to seek out out if their Tempered Glass Screen Film display protector will assist diminish the visible impact, in addition to assist stop future scratches of the (apparently) plastic floor. With the unit equipped for this evaluation, I used to be additionally slightly shocked to seek out some form of adhesive smeared on the display, although this was not too difficult to scrub off.

Adhesive smeared on display:

Display scratches, seen on a lightweight background:

Along with the pre-loaded Home windows 11 Residence OS, the platform comes with each Epic Video games and Steam gaming platforms put in. There’s additionally their OneXConsole app for managing the {hardware} particulars like CPU efficiency, fan mode, vibration settings, show brightness, quantity, RGB impact (of the gaming controller), efficiency overlay (third social gathering downloadable parameter units), and Recreation coach.

Whereas I do play console video games, I’ve solely ever used the same old {hardware} platforms. So for this evaluation I wanted to arrange accounts with Steam and Epic Video games. Whereas entering into this gaming platform, I opted free of charge or free-to-play choices, which I used to be happy to seek out many such choices accessible on each platforms. A lot of the video games I attempted did nicely to take full benefit of the decision and excessive refresh fee of the X1’s show. Some video games function at a decrease decision, like Rocket League, however nonetheless look nice. It has been enjoyable to check out extremely transportable gaming on the X1!

Their OneXConsole app seems to be a pleasant try at a type of hub for all gaming on the X1. It took some getting used to, and I used to be solely capable of finding minimal documentation apart from a YouTube video. At first, it appeared to additionally supply some type of entry to video games, presenting a “Library”. However when viewing this Library it simply said “No video games have been discovered”. I then found this display has a “search” perform, which affords a button to “Scan all video games through platforms”. Clicking on this resulted in exhibiting the Steam & Epic video games I had downloaded within the previously empty Library. Though this Library itemizing in OneXConsole appeared to return to an empty state after reboot. A brand new “scan” then resulted in exhibiting no video games, although I might see the names of video games indicated within the scan standing on the backside of the display. Maybe I tripped over some bugs that shall be fastened in upcoming updates.

Additionally supplied in OneXConsole is a “Useful resource Obtain” the place different gaming platforms can be found, together with WeGame, Ubisoft Join, and EA. As well as, there’s a “Frequent Software program” grouping of OneXConsoleWidgets, RivaTuner Statistics Server, HWiNFO, HidHide, ViGEm Bus, reWASD, and vSYSB.

I recognize that OneXConsole additionally permits for remapping the sport controller key mappings, in addition to different analog settings, the place accessible for every of the bodily controls. It even affords configuration of macros which might then be triggered by any of the bodily controls on the controller.

One side of OneXConsole that was complicated at first is that it runs at boot, however that it’s operating will not be obvious. Double-clicking on the desktop shortcut appeared to do nothing. (I’d count on a double-click to disclose its window.) After some digging, I discovered they’ve obtained one entry on their FAQ for OneXConsole, which results in a YouTube video. It seems this app runs at boot and is reachable within the “hidden icons” menu of the System Tray.

Some video games are designed to be operated from a gaming controller, whereas others require keyboard and mouse (or trackpad). I discovered Steam reveals a useful little controller icon or keyboard/mouse icon on video games in its Library, indicating which every capabilities with. Interacting with the UI of OneXConsole appears meant to be operated primarily from the gaming controller, or through the contact display.

I additionally discovered it shocking that if the OneXConsole window is open when the pc sleeps (display lock), it should keep open, on prime of the lock display when waking the pc from sleep earlier than unlocking the display. That is notably vital in that OneXConsole is a device that can be utilized to regulate {hardware} settings and even launch different software program. This could possibly be coming both from Home windows or the OneXConsole app. I suppose this could possibly be an try and behave like different gaming console {hardware}: flip it on & it’s straight prepared for gaming. Besides that this can be a absolutely succesful pc, operating Home windows, with all the same old safety challenges of a full pc.

OneXPlayer has created a extremely succesful and nicely designed platform geared toward gaming. It may even fill the necessity for a laptop computer or pill pc. (Take a look at their Stylus!) And if purely gaming is your factor, the X1 ought to nicely help SteamOS. I’m excited to proceed exploring the capabilities of this superior {hardware}.

Execs:

Compact and stable construct of the X1 pc
AMD Ryzen™ 8840U CPU (3.3GHz base, 5.1GHz max) with DDR5 RAM
AMD Radeon™ 780M GPU (2.7GHz)
2.5K HD polysilicon (LTPS) show (2560×1600) with 120Hz refresh fee and 10-point multi-touch
M.2 Port 2280 PCIe 4.0 SSD
X1 has nice battery life for the computing supplied
Numerous thoughtfully designed and properly applied touches, with the magnetic mounted entrance & again covers, the illuminated home windows, webcam, and fingerprint reader
Customized Harmon Audio EFX
Ergonomic gaming controller with absolutely reconfigurable mapping of button perform
MicroSD for storage growth (as much as 2GB)