Performance Analysis
What's immediately clear from our performance charts is that the P303 packs a serious punch, whether you're gaming or just doing productivity tasks. Starting off with our own benchmark suite, we can see that this relatively light 13in laptop actually out-guns the much larger P502 (thanks to this older model using an Ivy Bridge CPU) when it comes to image editing, even if the margin is small. The P502 gets its own back when it comes to video encoding but largely the picture is one of impressive performance.
For comparison we've also run our tests on, what is admittedly, quite an old ultrabook, the Asus Zenbook UX31E. This runs an Intel Core i5-2557M ultra low voltage CPU, which means it has impressive battery life for such a slim laptop. However, it's also clear just what an impact this (and its rather slow SSD) has on performance, with it coming in miles behind the other laptops on test.
The picture is largely similar when it comes to the highly multi-threaded 3D rendering benchmark Cinebench. While the two larger laptops do hold a slight lead, the P303 is still well within touching distance. The Zenbook again shows just how much performance you are getting with the P303 (for reference, the newest macbook air scores about 2.3 in this test).
On the flip side, battery life is where the Zenbook shines and where the P303 struggles most. A time of 3hrs 40mins is, while far from disastrous, simply not enough for road warriors looking for a practical workhorse and plaything. The Zenbook's 5hrs 51mins (which is actually quite low for ultrabooks these days) is much more like it. For our money a truly portable laptop should have at least five hours battery life, allowing for well over half a day's work or a couple of movies and a couple of hours work on a long haul flight.
Moving onto the gaming side of the equation and the P303 once again shows what its capable of. A minimum of 23fps in Battlefield 3 at 1,920 x 1,080 at full detail is clearly a little low but by either adjusting detail settings or dropping the resolution slightly it's clear there's still plenty enough performance for a good time. Moreover it's comfortably ahead of a desktop AMD Radeon HD 7770 1GB and isn't far off what you get with a Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB (we don't have comparative numbers for this test on any other laptops).
Moving onto Dishonored and the P303 looks even more impressive. It manages to pull out a healthy lead over the P502 while being within touching distance of the P503. With a minimum 49fps you should hardly need to tweak settings to get a satisfying gaming experience either.
Conclusion
The Schenker XMG P303 Pro isn't quite svelte enough nor does it have good enough battery life to be considered a gaming-capable upgrade to ultrabooks or other ultra-portable laptops. However, it is still remarkably portable and really does have what it takes when it comes to performance. Add in a largely attractive chassis design, stunning screen, plenty of upgrade options and a seriously low starting price and you've got one of the best portable gaming laptops we've ever seen.
What's immediately clear from our performance charts is that the P303 packs a serious punch, whether you're gaming or just doing productivity tasks. Starting off with our own benchmark suite, we can see that this relatively light 13in laptop actually out-guns the much larger P502 (thanks to this older model using an Ivy Bridge CPU) when it comes to image editing, even if the margin is small. The P502 gets its own back when it comes to video encoding but largely the picture is one of impressive performance.
For comparison we've also run our tests on, what is admittedly, quite an old ultrabook, the Asus Zenbook UX31E. This runs an Intel Core i5-2557M ultra low voltage CPU, which means it has impressive battery life for such a slim laptop. However, it's also clear just what an impact this (and its rather slow SSD) has on performance, with it coming in miles behind the other laptops on test.
The picture is largely similar when it comes to the highly multi-threaded 3D rendering benchmark Cinebench. While the two larger laptops do hold a slight lead, the P303 is still well within touching distance. The Zenbook again shows just how much performance you are getting with the P303 (for reference, the newest macbook air scores about 2.3 in this test).
On the flip side, battery life is where the Zenbook shines and where the P303 struggles most. A time of 3hrs 40mins is, while far from disastrous, simply not enough for road warriors looking for a practical workhorse and plaything. The Zenbook's 5hrs 51mins (which is actually quite low for ultrabooks these days) is much more like it. For our money a truly portable laptop should have at least five hours battery life, allowing for well over half a day's work or a couple of movies and a couple of hours work on a long haul flight.
Moving onto the gaming side of the equation and the P303 once again shows what its capable of. A minimum of 23fps in Battlefield 3 at 1,920 x 1,080 at full detail is clearly a little low but by either adjusting detail settings or dropping the resolution slightly it's clear there's still plenty enough performance for a good time. Moreover it's comfortably ahead of a desktop AMD Radeon HD 7770 1GB and isn't far off what you get with a Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB (we don't have comparative numbers for this test on any other laptops).
Moving onto Dishonored and the P303 looks even more impressive. It manages to pull out a healthy lead over the P502 while being within touching distance of the P503. With a minimum 49fps you should hardly need to tweak settings to get a satisfying gaming experience either.
Conclusion
The Schenker XMG P303 Pro isn't quite svelte enough nor does it have good enough battery life to be considered a gaming-capable upgrade to ultrabooks or other ultra-portable laptops. However, it is still remarkably portable and really does have what it takes when it comes to performance. Add in a largely attractive chassis design, stunning screen, plenty of upgrade options and a seriously low starting price and you've got one of the best portable gaming laptops we've ever seen.
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Design8 / 10
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Ease of Use18 / 20
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Features18 / 20
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Performance27 / 30
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Value19 / 20
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