Meet TECNO MEGABOOK S1 - Lightweight and better than expected
Last COMPUTEX 2024 in Taipei, Taiwan, TECNO showcased its wide array of intelligent laptops and AIoT products, one that caught our attention the most is the MEGABOOK S1.
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| Meet TECNO MEGABOOK S1 |
The TECNO MEGABOOK S1 is coming to the Philippines very soon and we have had a chance to take a look at it.
The unit we were able to try is the 12th Gen i5-1240P version with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage.
They also have the TECNO MEGABOOK S1 13th boasting either 13th Gen Intel Core i5-1340P or Intel Core i7-1360P. Last COMPUTEX 2024, they told us that it is coming. But, they are now not sure if it will launch in the country.
There is no word about its pricing yet.
Let's take a look at it.
Meet TECNO MEGABOOK S1 - Lightweight and better than expected
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| Very neat design |
The first thing we noticed about the laptop is its slim and sleek appearance.
The MEGABOOK S1 uses a mostly all-metal construction resembling a HUAWEI MateBook or a MacBook Air.
TECNO claims that its metal body is made with magnesium alloy which is normally stronger than aluminum. It feels premium and generally durable weighing just 1.35 kilograms.
We also liked that they used tapered curved edges with nice anti-fingerprint and smudges textured finish giving it a more high-end look and feel.
The device is also very slim at just 13.5mm making it fit easier in most bags or laptop cases.
Since it is lightweight, the laptop is very easy to carry around as well and fails to make my back ache even after hours of commutes.
Lightweight and well-thought-off!
Upon opening, we noticed that the hinge of this device is very good. It passed the one-finger opening test with ease making it easier to open, has better weight distribution when used in the laptop, and generally feels more satisfying than opening budget laptops.
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| Immersive look and a nice hinge design |
Another thing is the device has a 90 percent screen-to-body ratio for a more immersive viewing experience. Moreover, even if its display is 15.6-inch big, it doesn't feel as big as most older 15.6-inch laptops due to its generally slim bezels.
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| Sample selfie with its 1080p webcam |
Speaking of bezels, side bezels are very slim. The top bezel is slightly thicker as it houses the web camera (1080p_ with a hidden privacy slider to cover the camera when not needed. The bottom screen bezel is thicker, but this is common with most laptops.
Aesthetically, it is neat-looking and simply pleasing to the eyes. It is available in Galaxy Silver or Space Grey colorways and looks great with minimalist branding featuring a chrome finish on the cover.
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| The backlit keyboard |
It has a decent TKL-like keyboard that feels generally okay and comfortable to touch. It is silent and comes with average key travel and decent overall spacing. I also like that it is backlit so it could be used even in the dark.
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| The massive touchpad |
The power key doubles as a fingerprint reader and it has one of the largest touchpads I have used on a Windows laptop. Just note that there is a little learning curve needed before you master the touchpad. Personally, I had a little struggle in doing left and right clicks due to its size and distance.
The advantage of the large trackpad is it it'll be easier to do gesture controls.
The speakers are found beside the far left and right parts of the keyboard.
At the bottom, the laptop has several exhausts to help keep the laptop cool and two rubber stoppers to elevate the device a little to prevent blocking the vents and avoid slipping.
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| Left ports |
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| Right ports |
I also liked that it has plenty of ports including 1x USB-C, 2x USB 3.1, 1x USB 4.0, 1x HDMI 2.0, 1x 3.5mm audio jack, and 1x microSD card slot.
So, I was able to plug in multiple devices at the same time like the 2.4 wireless USB-A receiver for my mouse, USB-A storage device, wired earphones with mic, HDMI for my external monitor, and USB-C for charging the laptop at the same time.
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| It comes with a nice display |
Talking about its screen, the laptop uses a 15.6-inch Super-vision Screen with 120Hz refresh rate, 3.2K resolution, 16:10 aspect ratio, and 450 nits peak brightness with 100 percent sRGB color gamut and TÜV Rheinland Eye Comfort Certification.
The display is impressive
This is one of the better displays we've used that could be good for either work, play, or relaxation. As a matter of fact, this could be good enough for content creators and even photographers and videographers due to its natural-looking color output.
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| TÜV Rheinland Eye Comfort Certification and DTS:X sound |
The colors pop, but are far from being too warm or too cold or too saturated. In my eyes, it is just right.
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| Its display is great for video editing |
I personally find it great for watching my favorite new music videos on YouTube and even editing clips on CapCut. It is great for other photo editing apps like Photoshop and Canva.
It also has great viewing angles and a smooth 120Hz refresh rate for supported apps and games.
I also noticed that it is quite comfortable in the eyes after hours of use at about 30-50 percent brightness.
At 80 to 100 percent brightness, it is usable for outdoor use. It is just a little reflective as this IPS panel is glossy and not matte. (Both have their own advantages and disadvantages and boil down to preference)
For audio, the speakers are loud enough and quite good for a slim laptop. In particular, the device has 6x speakers (4x woofer, 2x tweeter) with the TECNO VOC Plus Sound System.
While we have heard better from other slim laptops like the ASUS ZenBook S 13 OLED, this is generally decent. But, it is still a where TECNO could improve next time.
Thankfully, it has a 3.5mm headphone slot that outputs a fairly neutral-sounding sound on my favorite headphones.
TECNO is also claiming that it has 2x AI ENC microphones for better voice pickup and clearer voice. In my experience, it is quite clear when doing Facebook video calls, and sounds a little better than my other older laptops.
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| What we have is the 12th Gen i5 model |
In terms of performance, I would have liked it better if we were able to test the newer 13th models. If what they told us last COMPUTEX 2024 is true, then the PH variant of this laptop will be 13th Gen. Anyway, the 12th Gen i5 model is not bad either.
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| PCMark 10 score |
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| 3DMark screenshot |
Based on our experience with the MEGABOOK S1, the laptop handled most of our content creation tasks like typing blog reviews, checking the internet for the latest tech news, and even quick video edits with CapCut with ease.
While it won't be as fast as the 13th Gen i5 and i5, it can still render 4K videos at CapCut.
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| Genshin Impact settings |
Unfortunately, we haven't tested it with many games since it isn't really designed for that and it has no discreet graphics. But, it was able to run Genshin Impact at default low settings and it was kinda playable.
Plus, thanks to its ample 16GB of RAM, running multiple tasks at the same time is easy.
This overall performance is not bad considering the unit we used is packed with a two-generation old chip.
The laptop's network performance is also generally stable and fast since it uses WiFi 6. When connected to my WiFi 7 (WiFi 6 compatible router), download and upload speeds are impressive.
The range is also not bad with a minimum of 3 signal bars on our house with a near whole home WiFi mesh setup.
Up to about 10 hours of battery life!
For battery, it uses a large 70WHr battery. In our tests, it can last for about 6-10 hours depending on usage.
On lighter tasks like doing research or just binge-watching your favorite shows on Netflix, it can last for about 9-10 hours at 30 percent screen brightness. On heavier tasks like video editing and a bit of games, expect about 6 hours of usage. Rendering videos without being plugged in is not recommended as it'll drain the battery quicker.
The charger that shipped in the package is a slim and lightweight 65W GaN brick with USB-C charging. In our test, it can charge the device from 10 to 100 percent in just over an hour. Using the device while charging will obviously slow down the process to about 2 hours.
Keeping its performance in check is the use of a Super Large VC Cooling and 2x fans. It works as the laptop won't get that hot even under heavy tasks.
The downside is it is noisier than what I wanted when running demanding tasks and could be a bit distracting for those with sensitive hearing.
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| TECNO OneLeap solution |
The device runs with Windows 11 Home with Office Suite, OneLeap Multi-Screen Collaboration, and Microsoft Copilot AI.
OneLeap is fun!
The OneLeap tech by TECNO is a pretty powerful tool. It allowed us to easily connect to a TECNO smartphone (CAMON 30 Premier 5G) and manage files for better work efficiency.
It mirrors the phone screen to the PC allowing us to control the phone in the PC with almost real-time speed.
We were able to easily transfer files from the laptop to the phone and vice-versa. It even has the 3 Fingers Gesture for super-fast file transfer.
TECNO MEGABOOK S1 12th Specs
Display: 15.6-inch screen w/ 3.2K 3200 x 2000 resolution at 242 ppi
CPU: 4.4GHz 10nm Intel Core i5-1240P 12-core processor
GPU: Intel Iris Xe
RAM: 16GB LPDDR5
ROM: 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD
Selfie Camera: 1080p AI
Battery: 70WHr w/ 65W GaN Super Fast Charger
OS: Windows 11 Home
Connectivity: WiFi 6, Bluetooth, 1x USB-C, 1x USB-A 3.1, 1x USB-A 40, 1x HDMI 2.0, 1x microSD card slot, 1x 3.5mm headphone jack
Others: Power button/fingerprint scanner, face unlock, Starry Backlit Keyboard, Super Large Touchpad, 6x speakers, 2x AI ENC microphones, Super Large VC Cooling, 2x fans, Colors: Galaxy Silver, Space Grey
Dimensions: 356.7 x 248.7 x 17 mm
Weight: 1.35 kg
Price: PHP 49,999
Quick thoughts
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| You can easily lift this device with one hand |
The TECNO MEGABOOK S1 is a beautiful-looking laptop that is super-slim and lightweight with minimal compromises.
In particular, it has solid hardware with good as advertised overall performance featuring the immersive and non-fatiguing display, specs that run most of the work, content creation, and school tasks quite well, and generally strong battery performance.
It has more strong points than the above-mentioned features that need improvements and it is better than expected considering that TECNO is a fairly new player in the laptop space.
To keep it short, this laptop is generally solid.
So far, my concern is the pricing. Internationally, it is not cheap starting at USD 1,499 or around PHP 83K out of straight conversion.
But based on TECNO's track record in the Philippines plus since this uses an older generation chip, we expect them to give this a highly competitive pricing.
Let's wait and see.
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