I can't recall the last time I took a road trip or flight without my trusty Steam Deck in tow. It's just too convenient to slip into my backpack alongside a thin and light work laptop that doesn't stand out in professional settings.
That trend ends this weekend.
I have a 10-hour round trip to contend with, and after playing around with Lenovo's Pro 9n laptop powered by NVIDIA's new RTX Spark chip this past week, I'm ready to make it earn its accolades.
Can it really be my one-stop device for AAA gaming AND for work, just like what was advertised countless times in the lead-up to launch? Here's what it needs to prove to me.
What the RTX Spark platform needs to prove on a 10-hour trip
There are several key points that I want to confirm, and a 10-hour road trip seems like the perfect testing ground as I work on a full review of the Lenovo Pro 9n.
There are some areas where I do expect the RTX Spark platform to fall short, which I've also noted below.
Is ray tracing worth turning on when I'm not near an AC adapter?
One of the RTX Spark platform's biggest selling points is its Blackwell-class RTX GPU supporting all of NVIDIA's latest upscaling and frame-gen goodies.
I already gave The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt Remastered a try with ray tracing and multi-frame generation turned on, and although it looked glorious on the 15.3-inch OLED display, it sapped battery by about 10% every 10 minutes.
That doesn't bode well for efficiency, but I'm curious to see if I can dial it in by lowering settings like resolution or refresh rate. I really want ray tracing to be a worthwhile option without AC power.
Can I replace two devices with one?
Is having everything contained within the same PC actually simpler? Long-time gaming laptop users will probably say yes. Heck, I'd lean towards an affirmative if I wasn't testing it out myself this weekend.
But there are two sides to this question.
On one hand, it's nice to have a dedicated gaming device that I can put away when it's time to focus on work. On the other hand, I'll have a lot more room in my bag without an extra charger and an encased gaming handheld. A standard controller is much easier to slip into my bag.
The Pro 9n will have to handle any work I throw its way and be ready to switch to gaming on the fly, all while balancing heat and battery life.
Can the battery survive a real travel day?
The Steam Deck, and any gaming handheld for that matter, can be extremely efficient or inefficient depending on the game you're playing. The same ultimately goes for RTX Spark laptops.
Considering I plan to split time evenly between work — involving writing, hotspot web browsing, photo editing, etc. — and gaming, I'm hoping that one or the other doesn't leave me out to dry.
I do have the ability to plug in if required, and that will be another test of how much heat is created in a cramped cabin as the battery recharges.
Where I expect my RTX Spark laptop to fall short
Gaming handhelds are ergonomic, comfortable, and don't produce a lot of heat. A lot of that goes out the window when using a 15.3-inch laptop.
Sure, I'll have an ergonomic gamepad in hand part of the time, but I'll need to keep the laptop on my lap while gaming. Will it get too hot to handle? Will I feel too cramped in my seat? In those cases, I'll no doubt be wishing for my Steam Deck.
What I need from you
My testing results from this weekend will inevitably end up in my full Lenovo Pro 9n review that I'm already working on, and act as the most compelling evidence as to why I did (or didn't) give up my Steam Deck for an RTX laptop.
I'm more than open to other suggestions on how to test the gaming/work balance on the RTX Spark platform. I urge you to drop your most pressing questions in the comments section below, and I'll do my best to address them.
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