AMD 15.6 Inch Gaming Laptop - AMD Ryzen 7 5825U Review

This AMD gaming laptop is a weird mix of decent power and serious compromises, and for $575, that's a tough sell. The headline specs look good on paper: a Ryzen 7 5825U CPU, a discrete AMD Z1 Extreme GPU with a whopping 32GB of VRAM, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. But the reality is less impressive. The one thing you need to know is that the Z1 Extreme is a handheld gaming chip, not a desktop-class powerhouse, and it's paired with a basic 1080p screen that lands in the bottom 16th percentile. This isn't a true gaming laptop; it's a budget machine with a gaming chip bolted on.

The performance is exactly what you'd expect from those specs, which is to say, it's fine but not exciting. The CPU sits in the 47th percentile, so it's a solid mid-range performer for everyday tasks. The GPU's 32GB of VRAM is a huge number that sounds amazing, but the Z1 Extreme itself is a 64th percentile part. That means it'll handle esports titles and older AAA games at 1080p, but don't expect to max out Cyberpunk. The real surprise is how bad the reliability score is, sitting at a shocking 3rd percentile. That's a massive red flag for long-term use.

At $575, the value proposition is a trap. You're getting decent core components for the money, but you're sacrificing everything that makes a laptop good to live with: a decent screen, reliable build quality, and a good selection of ports. It feels cheap because, at this price with these specs, it almost certainly is.

This laptop exists in a no-man's-land. If you want raw gaming power on a budget, a used Lenovo Legion or MSI Vector with a proper RTX 3060 or 4060 will run circles around it for a similar price. If you need a reliable daily driver, even an older ASUS Zenbook or MacBook Air will have a far better screen, build quality, and battery life. This AMD laptop tries to be both and ends up being neither.

I can't recommend this laptop. The terrible reliability score is a deal-breaker, full stop. Spending $575 on a machine that's statistically likely to fail is a bad investment, no matter how good the CPU and GPU numbers look. Save up a little more for a refurbished model from a brand with a better reputation, or look for a used gaming laptop from last generation. This one is a hard pass.