Why it took TWO YEARS to Build a Laptop Test Lab

Thanks to MSI for sending us the laptops and sponsoring this video! Check out the MSI laptop 20th-anniversary exclusive deals (save up to USD $1,000) at msi.gm/SC643209
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Laptops are difficult to test thanks to how many components they have. After just two years, the lab is confident in their methodologies and we’re so close to being ready. Come check it out.
Also check out our LABS website here www.lttlabs.com/
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MUSIC CREDIT
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Intro: Laszlo - Supernova
Video Link: • [Electro] - Laszlo - S...
iTunes Download Link: itunes.apple.com/us/album/sup...
Artist Link: / laszlomusic
Outro: Approaching Nirvana - Sugar High
Video Link: • Sugar High - Approachi...
Listen on Spotify: spoti.fi/UxWkUw
Artist Link: / approachingnirvana
Intro animation by MBarek Abdelwassaa / mbarek_abdel
Monitor And Keyboard by vadimmihalkevich / CC BY 4.0 geni.us/PgGWp
Mechanical RGB Keyboard by BigBrotherECE / CC BY 4.0 geni.us/mj6pHk4
Mouse Gamer free Model By Oscar Creativo / CC BY 4.0 geni.us/Ps3XfE
CHAPTERS
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0:00 Intro
0:33 Step 1
1:07 Endurance Test
2:28 Why LABS
3:28 Laptop Weight Classes
4:50 Gaming Benchmarking
7:29 Thermals
9:13 Noise Test
10:42 Speakers
11:02 Display
13:26 Keyboard
13:55 WiFi
14:30 Outro

[@lespacecowboy]

I clicked because linus was holding it with one hand in the thumbnail and I thought he might drop it in the video

[@TekSlug]

I wish I could see the alternative thumbnails 'cause thats not what I got

[@Not_a_lier]

it's clickbait.

[@marcel_kogs]

Probably only in the long version on theire premium page thingy

[@fearsomeboris]

I only kept watching because he was on the left

[@cameront8539]

I only watched the entire video because the thumbnail showed Linus holding a small child and a nuclear reactor in his left hand.

[@user-qu1xl3ee1d]

the ones that can burn your thighs off are the worst

[@Sol4rOnYt]

fr

[@stanislasflipo7214]

Any powerful one basically

[@SirCamWA]

@@stanislasflipo7214 Or weak but really small

[@onepunchman6165]

So.... any good laptop?

[@stanislasflipo7214]

@@onepunchman6165 MacBook pro may be the exception but you have to like apple

[@adfjasjhf]

9:50 The Arc joke with Gary never gets old

[@JollyRanchersGrandma]

Never fails to get a full laugh out of me

[@alwaysbadideas]

The April fools stockades joke was the best.

[@edraburhdohr667]

First time looking Gary, looks so sweet our dude.

[@benwu7980]

Quite a hire, cool that he goes along with some of the sillyness there even though has been with a lot of serious companies.

[@mbsfaridi]

@@benwu7980He’s not with intel anymore?

[@particle_wave7614]

Y'all will probably think of this, but I don't like to assume anything... Please test fan noise levels with and without a charger plugged in. I have an HP laptop that is quiet enough while on battery power, but it gets SUPER loud when it's plugged in, even at idle with no programs open.

[@SimonBauer7]

hps laptops are loud. any of them i have tried are either furnaces or loud or both. hp is shit.

[@aurum3747]

This applies to most laptops On charge they pull more power and run at a higher performance And thus, they heat up and fans work harder Your HP is weird for doing it on idle, though

[@NothingXemnas]

I feel like Steve (Gamers Nexus) will be doing something similar, if LABS doesn't.

[@MTGeomancer]

As said, on battery a laptop will cut its performance down A LOT, so not unexpected that it's louder when plugged in. However, I will say that noise testing is probably #1 or #2 in my own priority for deciding on a laptop. Performance is important, but I'll take something less if it means it won't be a jet engine. I have a big chonky ASUS with a 970M GPU, it doesn't get very loud at all and in its day could play anything. Got my wife an Omen with a 3070 and it sounds like a hair dryer, it's unusable loud. I wish it was twice as thick like the ASUS if it meant it didn't sound like that.

[@bradhaines3142]

i had a laptop i literally nicknamed screaming eagle because any time it ran a game it went FULL blast

[@JarrodsTech]

Time for me to quit. Nah but for real though this gives me some good ideas to improve!

[@manaylodha]

If only some other KZbinr could have looked at it the same way as you did…

[@TheRealBrewMaster]

@@manaylodha ahahahaha LMAO dude you made my day, you catch me weak with that one ahahahaha 😂

[@Kaltsut]

Linus in a lab? Uh oh

[@leafdevdev]

Drops nitroglycerin

[@AndreasA.S.]

agree, never let a butter-finger camera staring NO situational aware screeches like a banshee at anything above ambient sound levels near testing labs. I wonder how many times his voice and reaching for his little indexing game controller dongle thing, screwed up someone's test.

[@chadbizeau5997]

They let him into a CPU fab plant and a GPU plant lol

[@Johanneslol11]

A other two years added 😂to the testing

[@sk8er100100]

it's worse than that.... it's his own lab! he gets to go in here whenever he wants! Truly terrifying.

[@AliceM9C]

10:35 here’s something that would be really neat to include (and Notebookcheck does when they’re making laptop content instead of complaining about PS5 equivalents): coil whine. A lot of Thinkpads I’ve seen have no coil whine out-of-the-box, but as soon as you put a load, it gets coil whine that persists throughout the lifetime of the laptop; alternatively I’ve seen laptop docks make coil whine worse (possibly from a dock w/ really bad coil whine) Maybe once the device goes through all the performance testing, have a test on coil whine during idle (load coil whine does occur more often but isn’t as big of an issue because the fans would be spinning)

[@bastienx8]

Yes Notebookcheck is clearly one of the best laptop and phone reviewers, each test is detailed like a wikipedia page ! I wish LTT labs will once be close to them in review quality.

[@MikeIsCannonFodder]

I have a Legion 7i and I'll get some coil whine when charging with USB-PD. The dock doesn't cause it because that laptop's Thunderbolt port doesn't do charging (which is super annoying).

[@Quarchtechnology]

It was very cool to see our PAM mentioned for the power analysis side of their testing! I can't wait to see the results

[@LetsSpinAllAround]

Linus Feeling Like Inspector Gadget.

[@dehanbadenhorst1398]

More like Gadget Inspector

[@MikeHarris1984]

@@LetsSpinAllAround does that mean Jake is his Penny?

[@Jj82op]

$5300 for a max spec Titan 18 HX laptop. It's literally the most high end thing you can buy and I'm sure it will be just right for one type of person lol.

[@Pakistani890]

what do you mean by one person?

[@Nightykk]

@@Pakistani890 That's all who'll be able to afford it.

[@aldoortega4496]

​@@Pakistani890 It means it is not two people.

[@Reac2]

Planned Target audience: People who want the most powerful laptop currently in existence Actual Target audience: People who want to brag that they have the most powerful laptop in existence, then use it 5 hours a week to play Minecraft or Indie games

[@loicjeannin6233]

You can buy a (potentially slower) Macbook for more than that

[@juliandc86]

I really hope you develop an endurance test for laptop hinges as well. I had the worst experience ever with an MSI Raider where the hinges would utterly wreck the plastic chassis and break the laptop. I lost count of the number of times I had to RMA my laptop only for it to break again a few months later, and sponsored video or not that experience has put me off MSI laptops for life!

[@jonevansauthor]

I've never understood why they're always trying to do a new version of the hinge, instead of using the reliable designs over and over, and just testing new designs for a couple of years. It's such a strange thing to get wrong, given that there must be plenty of reliable, easy to use designs out there and probably some standout ones. Are you really going to be the engineer who invents the next great leap in hinge technology? It seems doubtful. Just assume that your new design for a better hinge, probably isn't going to work and don't put it in your expensive machines.

[@benwu7980]

Sounds like it would be outside their scope. Probably easy enough to figure out a way to rig a robot arm to open and close the lid repeatedly, on a bench with some movable stoppers to keep it in place. Setting that up for each type of laptop would be a bit of pain, and easy to get the arm movement wrong by just enough to give a bad result. It would also need quite a long run time, since just continuously opening and closing it would likely introduce undue strain, but maybe could do a 30 second cycle for open to close and repeat. That over a 24 hour test, would give 1440 open and closings, which is quite neatly almost exactly the same as once a day for 4 years.

[@Duraputer]

Yes, absolutely. They even have machines that do this and can graph hinge fatigue over time.

[@bobdigital8160]

More Lab videos please!!

[@blairhoughton7918]

A livesteam staring through the window of the thermal chamber would feel just like work.

[@MCasterAnd]

Agreed, they should make a seperate LTTLabs channel and post more bts/vlogs

[@RobloxianX]

When I saw Linus hold the laptop with one hand without dropping it I almost thought it was a fake video

[@cris_crafter]

#lienus

[@insector2093]

its simply another take where he didnt drop it

[@MarikaElo]

Something you guys should add to the testing suite is audio (driver) performance. For example dell laptops such as the xps line post-process the crap out of your audio with their almost impossible to remove "waves maxxaudio" software, which makes any headphones/iems sound distorted, even if you're using an external DAC/AMP. This isn't something you can just check on a spec sheet but if you buy a laptop to work on audio this is important information. Actually maybe just add a full laptop bloatware test suite.

[@jonevansauthor]

Every laptop speaker test should come with a caveat box that says, 'You should obviously be using headphones in public for better sound and for not offending everyone in your local coffee shop/plane/cafe/train/office.' But they could also offer a halfway decent set of headphones as a baseline standard for comparison so you can immediately see that laptop speakers are rubbish and can only be rubbish.

[@Dukes3677]

​@@jonevansauthorhe isn't talking about the actual physical drivers. He means software 😂 even using a dac/Amp he's saying it still gets distorted af

[@LakiaYT]

Very subjective so probably hard to standardize

[@MiguelY22]

Bot account detected

[@yassinet5]

I love the Gary Arc timeline

[@benwu7980]

The fun with that running gag is one of things I'll be looking forward to with release of Battlemage, just to see how they continue it

[@Zephanyahh]

Nice. Just slapped my laptop and now it's blinking. Damn slaptop.

[@Sol4rOnYt]

good luck buddy

[@JacksonDevices]

Wait It's bLINKING

[@Zephanyahh]

Ya it even made a little screaming noise . Like "Ack!" And turned red

[@4ofFive]

rip hard drive?

[@Zephanyahh]

It looked back and smiled I think it's ok

[@beeeennnnnnn]

Flippin love the labs updates

[@jamesklusener]

didn't think I'd enjoy this video as much as I did, the lab is super interesting and the team behind it looks passionate and robust. you don't notice the quality of ltt's testing until you watch other channels and get somewhat vague answers. thank's ltt!

[@kjcorder]

Kinda like today's "not just yet/ coming soon" answers huh?

[@BU532]

LMAO!!!!! Why do LTT fans and LTT themselves always do this? They always try and Highlight they're better then the other when In reality they are not. They get a lot of stuff wrong and Their test Results are all over the place. The fact LTT Liked this comment too shows how much they think of themselves LMAO!!! Go watch Gamers Nexus for test or even the other ones. LTT is good for Entertaining content not actually Tech testing.

[@danielpicassomunoz2752]

Tech Jesus: well...

[@daniell1869]

@@BU532 lmao Gamers Nexus is absolute shit. not scientific at all

[@paradoxine6287]

​@@BU532bro didn't they make a comeback? Whatever was in the past, LTT is improving on it

[@MakeOrBreakSociety]

9:07 who did the Pokemon drawings lol there lookin good!

[@user-fd4hf4ph6u]

Nice setup. I love the quiet room, looking forward to seeing what whacky videos Dennis can cook up with it.

[@danieldurso6564]

i did some signs for a company that does environmental testing various ways like defense aerospace space ect and they had tons of these giant chambers and its so weird being inside with the door closed. noise is just dead inside. It was awesome

[@CrimsonBlade104]

Hope the Labs guys love getting feedback cause HOLY this video already has a ton of suggestions. Good luck with this, guys! Looking forward to this, especially seeing the transparency with every single test!

[@abhig61]

Love what LTT is doing with the labs. We do need media teams who thoroughly test devices in a repeatable manner. I also really enjoy these behind the scenes type of videos that go over these processes.

[@PizzaBricks_XsX]

Please keep doing what your doing looking forward to the lab in full force thanks for the updates and keep working hard guys

[@pneumonoultramicroscopicsi4065]

I checked the website and i really like it, good work, i hope you achieve your vision in terms of equipement and methodology and test a lot of products!!

[@rafa28erj]

You guys are next level stuff, as always. I trust you for like a decade since I started watching you, keep it up! You do good for this industry

[@darrenmorley2814]

I'm so excited for labs. It's going to be such an amazing service to the community. Massive props to you all! Keep up the good work!

[@Abrasive-Heat]

Cool, Labs is starting to take off. Love to see it.

[@santiagoacostabernal7604]

Huge improvement in transparency and the metodology, mostly appreciated!

[@shanebarnes4622]

Very exciting to see this come together!

[@falconeagle3655]

I appreciate the hard work on ltt labs

[@user-fd4hf4ph6u]

Can we get a battery test consisting of eight chrome tabs and a Word doc?

[@greatcanadianmoose3965]

I feel like the real killer would be how complex those tabs are.

[@Jackofafewtrades]

Yeah, web content can impact hardware very differently. To the point that when I open twitter on Firefox, my laptop fans immediately get going. Doesn't happen the same with with many other sites, but just an example.

[@Wixal_Real]

Amazing soo cool to see your guys new process

[@dan110024]

I'm so happy the labs are really coming together these days. I remember the first mentions of it on the wan show. Cool to see it doing its thing.

[@DarrenPoulson]

No link in the description to the labs website.... :P

[@CaraiCuebiyar]

I see it in there. But it should definitely be closer to the top

[@DarrenPoulson]

@@CaraiCuebiyar Yeah, they must've added it later. :) Wasn't there when I looked.

[@spyrossrules]

I hope the batterylife testing can be expanded one bit more. The near minimum power and max power are good but maybe something that is more balanced like having a web-browser open, a youtube video in the background and some other app open would be a decent middle ground for "typical use". Other than that, its already sounding pretty good. Look forward the the flir camera being implemented and everything else. Will be a great place to gauge hard specs of a laptop

[@Respectable_Username]

Absolutely love Labs updates! Am wondering if it's possible to get more detail on any of the specific setups. There's so much cool tech in there and I'm sure also so many cool stories from the folks developing it that I would absolutely _love_ to hear each of the different Labs techs geek out about their particular niche for longer ❤

[@JaredClarkBoaz]

Really appreciate you all doing this for the consumers 🙏

[@ginder-kp4ce]

LINUS holded the laptop in one hand and didnt drop , he is EVOLVING

[@williwillswissen287]

I work in a textile laboratory and I see many similarities to my work. Such climate chambers as shown in your video are usually intended for simulating extreme environmental conditions. Instead of these, we use a room which is permanently brought to a standard climate, this could be, for example, 20°C and 50% humidity. This way, several products could be tested in parallel. The climate chamber could thus be transferred to another use. Such a “climate room” in our company consists of a heating or air conditioning system and a humidifier or dehumidifier and many climate sensors which communicate with each other.

[@AuthenTech]

can't wait to see more added on lttlabs, its gonna be such an awesome resource. well done to the whole team. 👏 (one suggestion after looking through the photos gallery of "In the Box" section, many dark areas are looking crushed and can't see details. Would be great to see products captured in a shooting tent/light box with even soft lighting/non distracting background to help capture photos.)

[@alexsinov]

Thank you for building this insane testing factory!

[@yassineaqallal8167]

Regarding endurance, do you verify that Optimus is enabled and that the GPU is disblabled? I think the power profile you people choose does but I just want to make sure 🙃. Also, I'd personnaly would like to know the power consumption of that laptop during the test. I feel that knowing power consumption (mean, max, min, standard deviation etc...) better allows me to identify ideal power limits for custom power profiles.

[@yfrit_gg]

These are all solid suggestions! I hope they notice this comment

[@handle32169]

I don't like the test being a 720p youtube video. Is it VP9 or AV1? What if its encoding/bitrate changes? What if the buffering strategy changes? Ads, browser version etc, it's too variable of a thing and too long of a testing period, I think it will certainly vary enough to make the tests unreliable.

[@helloukw]

@@handle32169 I'd love to see your work, it must be close to perfection.

[@tempacc9589]

Custom profiles should not be tested. The out of the box experience is what a laptop is.

[@helloukw]

@@tempacc9589 I agree. Most of the people don't go to such extremes with their laptops.

[@hayhaydz]

i enjoy watching videos about the progression and growth of anything LTT more than product/topic videos

[@neuro3423]

I love seeing things progress and the reasons why you made this or that choice. Interesting to see the sound chamber not fully done haha. I hope y'all do a video about it just like the Electronic chamber. I really enjoyed Gamers Nexus video on their sound chamber it'll be cool to see if y'all reach similar sound levels. It'll be good to know if I'm using both of y'all for reviews.

[@Maddisch]

How is the labs website not linked in the description??

[@username-1-2]

3 laptop videos back to back

[@NizaSiwale]

This one is paid for

[@CarlossInsurance]

2 videos, 1 stream

[@Grandwigg]

Well Canadians do like the hat trick

[@Chris-Chan]

Laptops winning

[@bradhaines3142]

problem is?

[@TheThirdPrice]

This is one of the most exciting projects on KZbin, it is so great to see how much passion everyone clearly has for accuracy and ethics. Genuinely tempted to get the floatplane subscription haha

[@brighamgarrett7000]

this will be so important going forward. good stuff ltt

[@fx-modding]

Can you add Linux compatibility for software on labs. Example: Steelseries Apex 5 It needs custom software to setup macros, however it only works on macos and windows. Would be nice if you made them finally port over the software to linux! Also if you can include information such as USB passthrough. My current setup current relies on that

[@tedzards509]

I doubt that they will test for Linux support. A proper check for linux support would take a lot of time with installing and testing many components, finally creating a feature matrix, and Linus wont think many viewers (and visitors of the website) would be interested. If you want a big list for Linux support in Laptops, Canonical has an enormous database on laptops that support Ubuntu (so very likely Linux in general)

[@fx-modding]

@@tedzards509 I meant more on the labs website. Just listing if the software says it supports linux. They dont need to actually test that. Just like they currently do for windows and macos

[@benwu7980]

Not really for Labs I'd fear, but I've long wanted info on the software side when reviewing gaming mice or keyboards. I play mmorpgs and use a lot of keybinding to extra buttons, sometimes a macro or 40, or switch to productivity and change profiles. The software options, or lack of, plays a large part in whether I'd keep using a brand.

[@MikeHarris1984]

Are you guys going to make an llt labs channel and do quick shorts on each item with links to the place where all data is. So someone searching youtube for a device can find it thru KZbin search?

[@jonevansauthor]

I think they've already done that for power supplies for that reason so I think it's safe to say that they'll be making videos as well as website articles.

[@hordeofzombine]

Heck yes!!! you guys are awesome!!

[@zRedPlays]

It's mindblowing to me how everything on the website is so detailed and thoroughly tested, with super polished visuals and clarity. And all of the information is free, this is actually very useful

[@ArturoTabera]

9:20 Press F for poor Gary. 669th comment. Nice!

[@s3rit661]

Is it possible to test battery degradation?

[@JGnLAU8OAWF6]

Sample size of one wouldn't tell much.

[@torspedia]

Nice to see an update from the lab, as it's been a while. 🙂

[@GTWLSamurai7]

you guyes are good.. at testing i trust. 100%

[@FreeTacozYT]

Happy this is progressing, but the amount of sponsor moments (internal + MSI) in this is insane

[@blairhoughton7918]

It's a commercial, so...

[@MiguelY22]

Its because all that testing and machines are very expensive. Be thankful we can watch all of it for free

[@themuneebtariq]

I am disappointed that you didn't do a bulletproof test, or what size bullet leaves what size hole? or how many laptops of the model being tested can stop a .50cal bullet?

[@WayStedYou]

The answer is no and whatever dimension the projectile is if you are using a FMJ size hole

[@Grandwigg]

Demolition Ranch, Taofledermaus, Kentucky Ballistics, and many others have your back. If likely a few dozen generations behind time.

[@robertlinke2666]

i think you need to send this to demolition ranch

[@jonevansauthor]

I suppose a bulletproof/resistant laptop would be at least as useful as it having speakers, a trackpad or being a Mac with no removable storage.

[@ch1pnd413]

You guys have really done an excellent job turning your KZbin channel into various things over the years, I love the latest iteration: it’s like a tech documentary channel mixed with reality TV of “small tech company turns into big tech company“

[@nottodayimsleeping]

Gary's devotion to arc really makes me want to try one.

[@JorisJokubauskas-wl5kp]

The title and thumbnail made me think this was going to be an apology video for supposedly not testing laptops very well

[@TekSlug]

I wish I could see the alternative thumbnails 'cause thats not what I got

[@king.freddy]

Get over yourself. No one needs to apologize to you

[@DanielFerreira-ez8qd]

​@@king.freddy they didn't say they wanted on, they said that it looked like it.

[@weguishi]

Do you plan on having something like a brand trustworthiness rating? If a brand's claims about a product are accurate they get a good score and if the opposite is true they get a bad score.

[@LX20235]

Interesting...

[@Hathos9]

IMO, brand doesn't matter. Only the individual product does. Buying based off brand is the worst thing to do.

[@IllusiveDev]

@@Hathos9 Very true, every company known for making good products has some misses and vice versa.

[@Moon___man]

considering the video its self is sponsored by a laptop mfg... i wouldnt hold your breath

[@jonevansauthor]

I think the problem with that would be that a new brand might get a bad score for their early products, then improve but still be affected by their old scores. Then you could include recency bias - only count the last year of product. But, some companies release dozens of laptops in that time, Framework releases a couple of high end ones.

[@JonmanArcher]

You know what might be out of scope but pretty cool to use the data creating a partpicker type dealio where you take your best value for your money components throw them into a configurator that can recommend changes based on performance and as youre consistently updating labs info and adding to the archive and creating an API that grabs part vaules from different vendors.

[@Michalosnup]

Just checked out the labs website, it looks absolutely sick, love this stuff

[@Rakadedo]

Anyone else find the choice to make this video a lengthy ad spot for MSI a bit out of touch? It doesn't really shout independent reviewer.

[@insertnamehere1044]

Your review of the different snapdragon processes used the laptop uptime for how power efficient the processor was. But there’s so many other factors like battery size, LCD power efficient, resolution, etc. that effect those results

[@HappySlappyFace]

They specified the battery capacity in Wh allowing the viewer to have an idea of the overall machine efficiency, not a single person even enthusiasts will go as far as considering display efficiency.

[@jonevansauthor]

@@HappySlappyFace it would make a lot of sense to rate the laptop on efficiency for the battery size though. You can look it up with electric (and petrol) cars - if they're more aerodynamic, and the mechanics and wheels are more efficient, you get more distance for your unit of power. No reason you can't do similar calculations for laptop or phone batteries.

[@SomePerson-y1t]

Very cool. Time to bookmark the lab site.

[@miahtwo]

If you are to ever update your testing methodology further into the future, it would be lovely to have which revision of methods were used, in case you don't retest all previous devices.

[@Inimigor1]

That intro has a strong Brian David Gilbert feel to it.

[@Idiomatick]

I hope you give meta scores too. I don't care about the colour curve details of laptop, just tell me if i can use it near a window without wanting to gouge my eyes out.

[@Pib31995]

What are meta scores?

[@stevemaricar4350]

This exhaustive approach ensures consumers get the most accurate information when making a buying decision. Super impressed by the scale and detail of your evaluation procedure.

[@nafisahmed6247]

before you replace the amazon foams from the noise chamber, it would be interesting to see what difference you had after replacing it with something else. Maybe a small blog post about the before and after results of some audio recordings?

[@_iczyzy]

MSI made the right choice sponsoring this video, people roast their laptops for years now haha, if they are doing this... I guess they learned their lesson, are making better products and are standing by it

[@ActuallyAwesomeName]

a bot stole your comment and is now the second most upvoted. Just wanted you to know

[@_iczyzy]

@@ActuallyAwesomeName Thats okay, i always expect that when i comment here lol these bots dominated youtube. Thanks for the heads up

[@Carhill]

I know the money involved is insane, but it blows my mind that nobody has really done something like this to this scale before. Most reviews for things like laptops, even from specific people whose opinions are worth a damn, are more of a vibe check than a rigorous data driven conclusion. I have no reason currently to think this will change, but the only way this can work in the long run is if the good will and trust LTT have accrued over the years will continue. Acting in good faith isn't hard to do yet many companies and individuals struggle with it nowadays. All in all, I'm excited to see more informative videos stem from these results, and appreciate the explanations and transparency about your testing methodology.

[@benwu7980]

There aren't really many that could take the step to invest so heavily on something that. Certainly not all the equipment and the technicians at nearly the same time.

[@kendokaaa]

Take a look at RTINGS and Gamers Nexus. Both have done similar things although they don't all test the same stuff and not with the same amount of rigor

[@LOLWUT281]

Thanks, we need this.

[@TimelessTechNL]

Hey LTT, Great video! I can definitely see myself using the info on your new website to make future buying decisions, a great win for the community! I saw that you were building a sound chamber, which is a great benchmark given that that mic is really sensitive. Having said that though, I think making use of a Binaural Microphone for the test chamber makes more sense here since your ears are not in the center of the screen and the noise can actually be a little deceptive I think if captured by a single mic. Basically a binaural microphone are microphones within a mall of human ears so you have a head with anatomically correct ears and you have two very sensitive and specialised mics in the "ear" canals so you can perceive the audio as you would percieve it like you were there. I could see myself listening to noise clips from these mics to determine whether I find the noise acceptable or not. Because sometimes it is not really the dB level but more the pitch of the noise for example, which I reckon is determined by the shape of the fan(ducts). Being able to listen to short snippets of the noise would be a huge benefit for me. Moreover, I think it would then also be useful to make sort of "standard environments" like an office space or perhaps a small room that really captures the acoustics that will be faced by a lot of people, because measuring the noise coming from a device in a soundproof room is one thing, but it is another to actually measure it in a more or less standard environment where the acoustics of the room play a role in the amount of annoyance you will get from the device noise. Because I reckon that if the exhausts are directed in a certain way the reflection could become important for the user, say a small room vs a roomy office space. I totally understand that this all would require some more investments, but I think getting at least the binaural microphone would give a more accurate measure and would benefit the community probably more. In any case thank you all for being so awesome and good luck with finishing the lab! ❤

[@rafd97]

I love Linus's new quest on this whole: "why %@cking a huge tech channel up is actually easy" by showing how hard behind the scenes is lmao ❤

[@vriisiuox]

its crazy how you but a pc, and a year later its only dropped like 200 dollars in value, yet 10 minutes after you buy a laptop, its value is already down like 500 😭😭

[@jonevansauthor]

Much like a new car, they are not investments. Unlike the car though, there's a lot of scope for earning money from buying one. It's much more likely that you'll use a laptop for work than a car.

[@jesuslovers888]

I just strated my KZbin.. I saw your channel..very amazing one !! Great job !!

[@koulkrith]

For Desktop replacements you could add a folding@home test.

[@Nobody_Of_Interest]

For the endurance test, why a youtube playback? Video decoding is usually hardware accelerated, so you are not really testing the efficiency of either the CPU or GPU. Wouldn't a lightweight game benchmark (like CSGO?) on a loop be more representative of a more typical use-case?

[@sheeplord4976]

Watching KZbin constantly is sorta realistic, but this way of testing means that companies like Apple can get away with just adding a bunch of video-decoding circuits to their processor and then acting amazed when it passes the test with flying colors.

[@JGnLAU8OAWF6]

@@sheeplord4976 pretty much any modern chip has hardware accelerated decoding.

[@lfox02]

Not every machine is gaming oriented, and I'd argue that some web browsing and video playback is a better match for a use case where you'd expect your battery to last. It's also probably the most repeatable kind of web browsing. Exactly how much CPU/battery are you gaining or losing by surfing shitty websites with autoplaying video, using an adblocker, or a dark-mode-everything extension?

[@Nobody_Of_Interest]

@@lfox02 Sure, I'm not saying that measuring how long a laptop can playback video is useless, just that it's not really measuring the efficiency of the main components of the system, apart maybe from how little they can sip power when under little to no load, other than video decode. A lightweight gaming workload puts a mild stress on both the CPU and GPU, which is likely more representative of just surfing the web or editing documents or whatever.

[@hoangminhnguyen4800]

@@Nobody_Of_Interest playing youtube videos is *exactly* surfing the web, how can a gaming test be more representative of that? you're only thinking of decoding the video but it's not a downloaded video playback

[@nocommentarygaming2644]

Have to disagree with not changing performance mode for benchmarks. If you're getting a gaming laptop, you're not just going to leave in Balanced mode. Maybe for consumer laptops that's fine, but for more high-end machines, you should also include benchmarks with performance mode because plenty of people who watch your videos will know how to go into software and switch these.

[@Hathos9]

I don't think they said that they would be switching between modes. I believe that they said that they wouldn't be modifying modes, such as adjusting fan curves. Also, most gaming laptops which modes automatically depending on whether or not it is plugged in.

[@ClaudioParraGonzalez]

This is good work, definitely a step up.

[@strooja9032]

PLEASE dont forget to test the screen hinges. They broke on my last three laptops. But thanks for your videos and i am looking forward to the tests.

[@Avboden]

Video playback should be 1080p in the endurance test. No one watches at 720p just to save battery these days. If you're aiming at realistic use, 1080p is it.

[@WestRipStiker]

I have to disagree with you there, I feel like 720p is more realistic for a large quantity of people. Between multiple people using an access point and relatively slow internet available in more places, 720p youtube is appropriate for testing suites. I know that I have issues occasionally with watching 1080p video during peak usage times in my area, whereas 720p videos usually work fine.

[@marcusgonzaga7632]

100% Agree

[@shinichixxxx]

nah.., 720p does make sense, not everyone has the speed to stream 1080p.

[@Hathos9]

One big thing to consider is 720p is the default on KZbin, which is the biggest video platform on the internet. Testing the most common resolution makes sense.

[@ME-yb2lm]

I'm constantly streaming between 144 and 360. 720 is overkill and unrealistic.

[@R3AL-AIM]

Glad you guys have done this, because laptops have gotten a little more complicated than what they used to be, even just a few short years ago. Between deceptive naming and voltages/clock speeds degrading performance far below expected base specs, it's easy to buy a system that's an objectively bad value.

[@HumbertoHernandez]

"How LTT Labs Tests Laptops" is a better tittle. Thanks DeArrow guy! :D

[@mtx247]

I kinda don't agree with debloating the system before testing. Real world users wouldn't do that and so like Gamers Nexus has always been concerned about, is you'll be providing data that an average user wouldn't get. You guys should absolutely test out of box performance.

[@benwu7980]

It does seem contrary to the stated goal of leaning towards customers that are not tinkerers. It also doesn't send much of a message to makers that persist in adding such stuff, some of which are not exactly easy to remove even if somewhat techie.

[@JETWTF]

15 minute MSI ad disguised as talking about testing laptops.

[@rp8564]

this

[@MiguelY22]

Because all their testing and machines cost a lot of money. Be thankful you can watch their videos for free

[@TheVarzoth]

Such an amazing independent testing resource. Everyone involved should be proud of the work they have done. The best consumer is an educated one!

[@ApfelJohannisbeere]

Such an awesome update, thank you for informing us how your tests go and even include our input there! 9:09 ==> Please check the temperature of the bottom of the laptop, so one knows how hot it would be on your laps. Thanks for yet another great video and thanks for such awesome testing environment!

[@SkyyySi]

0:56 You should not remove anything. Test it as shipped. If the manifacturer decides to worsen the performance / experience for a quick buck, they should get their reward for it with a worse score.

[@TheGamerSandbox]

The only battery test is 720p video playback? That‘s awful. It uses specific hardware on the chip so it doesn‘t measure the CPU power usage at all really, and if one CPU doesn‘t have hardware for the specific format used and another does, it makes it totally useless for evaluating general endurance. I know this kinda testing is hard to do in little time, but that test is just not it.

[@Hathos9]

There is also a stress test to see battery life when under load.

[@ME-yb2lm]

Someone didn't watch the video. Apparently, you didn't see the part where they max everything and run dedicated GPU and CPU software to see how the laptop lasts under load.

[@asan1050]

Thanks for posting this video

[@bigman3]

I like all the super controlled and indepth testing, but i feel itd also be super helpful to test it in day to day life. Idk how feasable this is, but if theres someone in the office who daily drives a laptop, to go through and use the different laptops day to day and talk about them. Like other youtubers do with phones. Its not gonna be 100% accurate, but itd be nice to hear how someone who daily drives laptops feels about these machines.

[@xixoxu]

That's all well and good, but what's the point? Some manufacturers do not hesitate to change certain components (screen, battery, etc.) without informing consumers and without changing the model number of the computer (or other device). Sometimes these changes occur after a few months, sometimes they depend on the region where the device is sold, and sometimes they are based on component availability. So in the end, you test a computer model, and later we find ourselves buying this same model but which was manufactured with different components than the one you tested...

[@alexdavis9324]

If you buy one down the line you can test against their results to make sure you are getting the product you expected....

[@IllusiveDev]

It's never gonna be perfect but saying there's no point is laughable.

[@jonevansauthor]

Well, I can tell you the results on laptops right now. They are more expensive than laptops, speakers are worse than headphones or desk speakers, if you did use the speakers everyone in the coffee shop will hate you, the screens are tiny even if you get the largest one and useless for productivity, they can't take the heat, they come with manufactured e-waste trackpads instead of mice, if it says gaming on it that's the same as having a gaming mini-PC without a graphics card e.g. old and very low requirement games only for casual gaming, and it will turn out most people use them on the same desk all the time anyway. So yes, fundamentally pointless testing laptops because they're inherently garbage that has very limited use case and most people who own one, should have bought a desktop. But if you're going to test them, they are on the right path and as long as they can make money doing so and providing this information, that's fine. There's also no reason they couldn't have a section on LTT Labs where they point out significant hardware changes within a model if they are made aware of them (for instance, you might know in advance that the model sold in Asia is different to the NA one).

[@IllusiveDev]

@@jonevansauthor Just because you don’t care about laptops doesn’t mean others don’t. Simple solution: just ignore the laptop testing.

[@benwu7980]

I remember Linus on a quest to track down the various versions of some SSD that kept the model number, but kept changing the components. I can't remember seeing a followup beyond that of the couple he had, they varied significantly. I guess the companies get away it by just changing a revision number, but it's a pretty low tactic when there's a large performance hit.

[@Killmaster7]

The video GamersNexus never wanted to come out.

[@Max-oj8jl]

... why? GamersNexus are a group of consumer-advocacy focused journalists. I'd bet money they are ecstatic about this resource becoming available to consumers.

[@Killmaster7]

@@Max-oj8jl Competition in their niche, there's a reason the whole billet labs hit piece from GN came out only after a LTT Lab employee said their testing was better than GamersNexus and HardwareUnboxed during a studio tour leading to GN to find anything they could to sink LTT's reputation. Plus there's still a lot of misinfo about the situation to this day like how Billet Labs gave the block to LTT to keep and only asked for it back when the review wasn't as favorable as they had hoped leading to it being originally labeled as LTT property in inventory and auctioned off.

[@Hathos9]

@@Max-oj8jl GamersNexus often lies to consumers. They focus on drama to build their audience, even going as far as to falsely report things. I still won't forgive the time they gaslit the community to blame the 4090 power connector issues on user error. It makes you wonder if GamersNexus is in Nvidia's pocket just like DigitalFoundry.

[@jesusbarrera6916]

@@Hathos9 when did that happen?

[@iFix.]

There's no doubt that labs is one of the best things that has happened to the tech space, yes there is still a ton of work to do but even with what they currently have the amount of data that will be EASILY available to consumers is great. Keep the good work guys, you are AWESOME.

[@dustins4016]

Greatly appreciate you and your teams effort to help us figure out what is worth our hard earned money. I don’t have allot of time researching everything so your help is greatly appreciated. Your honesty is the number one reason why I started following you years ago. Thanks again 🙌