Corsair has produced a lot of gaming gear over the years: mice, keyboards, headsets, components and even full PCs. As of today (May 23), the company has officially added gaming laptops to its roster.
The Corsair Voyager a1600 seems like a powerful portable PC, with high-end components and a design that splits the difference between work and play. The Voyager a1600 won’t be cheap, but it should be able to handle the latest games and creativity software suites while running at a smooth clip. However, it doesn’t look much like a traditional gaming laptop, due to its unusual hinge design.
Corsair announced the Voyager a1600 today, and you can read all about it on the official Corsair website. The company gives a brief pitch for the device:
“Whether you’re a content creator, avid gamer, or a full-time streamer, Corsair Voyager a1600 combines cutting-edge AMD Advantage technologies with the best of Corsair performance engineering to empower your creativity and delivers and ultra-portable gaming experience,” the site explains.
While you can’t pre-order the computer just yet, you can add your e-mail address to a Voyager mailing list; Corsair will provide further updates over the next few months.
However, we do know the system’s specs, thanks to a separate press release:
Corsair Voyager a1600 price and availability
The device will have two separate SKUs: CN-9000003-XX for the $2,700 model, and CN-9000004-XX for the $3,000 model. Prospective buyers won’t be able to mix and match the CPU, RAM or storage; the lower-end model will have the lower-end specs, while the higher-end model will have the higher-end specs.
We can’t, in good faith, really call either one “low-end.” They’re both pretty fancy, as gaming laptops go.
Corsair has pegged the machine’s availability for “a later date.” Hopefully, that later date will be within the next few months, but with supply chain issues besetting the PC market, it’s always a little hard to tell.
Corsair Voyager a1600 specs
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS 8-Core / 16-Thread 4.4GHz+ or AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS 8-Core / 16-Thread 4.8GHz+
- GPU: Radeon RX 6800M
- Display: 16 inches, 2560 x 1600, 240 Hz
- Memory: 2x16GB CORSAIR VENGEANCE DDR5 SO-DIMM or 2x32GB CORSAIR VENGEANCE DDR5 SO-DIMM
- Storage: 1TB PCIe 4.0 M.2 NVMe SSD or 2TB PCIe 4.0 M.2 NVMe SSD
- Keyboard: Cherry MX Ultra-Low Profile mechanical switches
- Ports: 2x Thunderbolt 3-enabled USB 4.0, 1x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C, 1x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A
- Wi-Fi: 802.11ax (WiFi 6E) Dual Band Simultaneous Connections
- Bluetooth: Bluetooth 5.2
- Battery: 6410 mAh, 99 Wh
- Dimensions: 14.0 x 11.3 x 0.8 inches
- Weight: 5.3 pounds
- Price: $2,700 or $3,000
Corsair Voyager design and keyboard
It's also worth noting that the Voyager a1600 looks quite a bit different from a standard gaming laptop. There’s a visible gap between the hinge and the lid, making the device look more like a productivity machine. There’s also a touchbar, which monitors battery life and gives users an additional row of shortcut keys. Corsair theorizes that this touchbar will be of particular use to streamers, who can use it to control the Elgato Stream Deck software.
The keyboard is also worth discussing, since you get authentic Cherry MX mechanical switches, as well as per-key RGB lighting. The Voyager a1600 may look like a productivity machine on the outside, but once you open it up, there’s some equipment that only gamers would expect to see.
Corsair Voyager a1600 outlook
Based on the spec sheet, the Voyager a1600 has some impressive components, and could theoretically run most games in QHD at high settings. We also imagine it could tackle most creative suite software, from video editing to 3D rendering. Of course, we won’t know for sure until we’re able to test it firsthand.
Tom’s Guide will have a full review of the Voyager a1600 when it launches to see if it has what it takes to make our best gaming laptop list.
