Blog

In this article, I give you my XPG Xenia 14 review with specs included. This is probably the best 14-inch ultrabook you’ve ever heard of. So, why do I say that it’s the best ultrabook you’ve ever heard of? Well, you probably haven’t heard of it, maybe if you’re an enthusiast.

In the year 2020 we saw the XPG 15-inch model which was supposed to be a gaming laptop with RTX 2060 graphics and a nice first attempt but this one the ultrabook I think does a lot of things that you just don’t see anymore.

First off, besides the fact that it’s a very light move over LG Gram 930 grams which is 2.13 pounds of magnesium alloy chassis. That’s pretty rigid considering its magnesium alloy which tends to be more flexible and well-light as well.

But, you’ve got lots of ports on this thing for something this thin and this light. You’ve got HDMI 2.0 b on board, you’ve got two USB-A ports, you have Thunderbolt 4, a USB-C port that supports DisplayPort of course a headphone jack onboard.

So, compared to something like the XPS 13 and some HP Inspector laptops that are just USB-C saying we don’t have room for all that stuff. Well, guess what? I guess there is potentially room for all that stuff.

Beyond that, we have a 16 by 10 aspect ratio display and I know how much a lot of you love that these days you got a little extra screen height it’s Full HD plus so it’s 1920 by 1200 resolution. There’s no higher resolution option but at 14 inches it’s fine and it’s a pretty nice-looking display too.

It gets decently bright, it seems brighter than it measures I think because it’s not particularly blue light so it comes across as being white. Though the color calibration is pretty good, you can see the metrics in the image below. They’re good as well.

Now, one thing to note about the display is it is matte which is great and it’s non-touch so if you’re hoping for a touch screen ultrabook this is not your machine.

We have intel 11th gen inside which is what we would expect in 2021. This is an ultrabook, you can get it with Core i5 and Core i7 CPUs.

The price starts at around $1100 for the pre-release pre-order model for the i5. You can get it with a bundle with headphones and some other gear and stuff like that. And, we have Intel Iris XC graphics.

So, the interior expandability of the parts is just unusual and a company like Adata makes RAM they make SSDs they focus on these things perhaps and that’s a good thing.

In today’s ultrabook where almost everything is soldered on a motherboard except for the SSD, we have two RAM slots in this skinny little light thing. We have not one but two M.2 SSD slots. The first boot one is PCI e4 and you get an Adata 512 GB SSD and a socketed wi-fi card Intel ax-201.

So it takes a lot of boxes for those who are more enthusiastic and are inclined to upgrade their laptops. One plus and minus at the same time is XPG aka Adata thought it would be a good thing to give you 16 GB of RAM as a single module there are two slots so that way it’s single-channel so performance isn’t quite as good as it could be. Especially for the Intel Iris XC integrated graphics they did this so if you did upgrade memory, you wouldn’t have to throw a stick away but at the same time, you’re not getting the maximal dual-channel performance so there’s that.

The keyboard is backlit and white and it’s multi-stage and it’s a really good feeling actually. It’s pretty crisp, its return springiness is nice. It’s only 1.2 millimeters of travel, that’s pretty short but it doesn’t feel that short somehow probably because of the cushiness yet the springiness and none of that bottoming out feeling that you might get say with a Razer Blade or an XPS 13.

It has a very large Microsoft precision trackpad obviously. It’s finished in black and matte black, I know a lot of people like matte black I think it’s really nice and classy looking. It’s hard to fault the way this thing looks either. It’s pretty shocking how many things they’ve done right here.

In terms of performance, this is a standard ultrabook with a Core i5 or Core i7 CPU. I have the Core i7 so it’s just where it should be for an ultrabook like this. We don’t see actually a lot of variety among premium ultrabooks that have the same processors and the same graphics inside.

Thermals are well handled. This ultrabook has an 11th Gen 10 nanometer pretty efficient platform and no complaints about thermals online. No throttling, no noisy fans, and you really don’t hear the cooling much. When we look at the motherboard we’ll talk about some other interesting things too because you’re going to want to see that.

Lastly, there’s battery life. 53 wattage batteries in here so that’s about like an XPS 13. That’s a good capacity battery for a 14-inch ultrabook and you get a 65-watt charger. So, obviously, this is going to vary depending on what you’re doing with it but our usual light test of Microsoft Office a little bit of Slack a little bit of Zoom calls that sort of thing with brightness set to 150 nits and we reach 10 hours.

So, that’s pretty nice obviously most of you might want to set the brightness a little bit higher to do something more demanding but pretty much this should be a most-of-the-day laptop for those of you out there.

Disassembling the bottom cover of the device is a straightforward task. The screws are Phillips heads, with the two in the front being slightly shorter, which is important to remember during reassembly. The ventilation and speaker grilles are clearly visible, with the speakers surprisingly loud and full-sounding for such a thin and light ultrabook. While they may not replace a dedicated stereo system, they offer satisfactory audio output.

Removing the magnesium alloy cover reveals the internals of the device. The battery is prominently positioned, alongside the Adata SSD offering 512GB of storage. The inclusion of a PCIe 4 SSD is noteworthy, as such drives are still relatively rare and expensive. Additionally, there appears to be an empty spot that suggests a potential future version with dedicated graphics, although likely not at the level of an RTX 3070 due to space and cooling constraints.

For users interested in expanding storage, there’s a slot available for a second SSD, supporting a 2280 drive. The RAM slots, a rare feature in ultrabooks, are also present, allowing for memory upgrades. The device ships with a single 16GB RAM module, but there’s room for a second module to enable dual-channel memory configuration, which can provide a performance boost, especially in Intel Iris Xe graphics benchmarks.

The socketed Wi-Fi card, utilizing an Intel AX201 chip, is positioned nearby, adhering to the standard for this platform. Overall, the XPG Xenia 14 impresses with its build quality, lightweight design, and 16:10 aspect ratio display, which is somewhat uncommon in ultrabooks. Its upgradability sets it apart from many competitors, and it offers an array of ports, including Thunderbolt 4 and a full-size SD card slot.

The decision to provide 16GB of RAM as a single module may be seen as a drawback by some users. While the intention may be to streamline upgrades and minimize wasted RAM, adding a second module for dual-channel operation can yield performance benefits. However, many users may not be aware of this or may not have access to technical support for such upgrades, particularly if purchasing from large retail stores.

In summary, the XPG Xenia 14 earns praise for its overall design and features, with the only notable criticism being the single-channel RAM configuration. Despite this, it remains a commendable ultrabook option for users seeking a blend of performance, portability, and upgradability.