Schenker Key 17 Pro (Early 23) review: 4k gaming notebook with Core i9 and RTX 4090

The powerful Key 17 Pro is targeted at creatives and gamers. Raptor Lake and Ada Lovelace provide the necessary computing power in the laptop, which features a Core i9-13900HX and a GeForce RTX 4090 and is based on a Clevo barebone (X370SNW-G). It is competing against devices such as the MSI Stealth 17 Studio A13VH , the Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 G733PY , the Aorus 17X AZF and the Medion Erazer Beast X40 .

The subtle, matt-black metal chassis on our review unit doesn’t exhibit any workmanship issues. The base hardly flexes at all, and the lid has a small but very much acceptable amount of give. The laptop’s battery (screwed down, not glued in) and other internals are accessible once you remove the two-piece bottom cover.

The Key has two USB-A (USB 3. 2 Gen 2) and two USB-C ports (Thunderbolt 4). Only one of the Thunderbolt 4 ports supports Power Delivery, but both are capable of outputting a DisplayPort signal.

The laptop offers a total of four video outputs (1x HDMI, 3x DP). Unfortunately, the device doesn’t come with a card reader, and the webcam (2. 1MP, max resolution of 1,920 x 1,080, no privacy shutter) is nothing to write home about.

Thanks to its Wi-Fi 6E card (Intel AX211), the Key 17 Pro is able to reach excellent Wi-Fi data rates under ideal conditions (i. e. no other Wi-Fi devices in close proximity, short distance between laptop and server PC).

Wired connections are handled by a Killer E3100X controller (2. 5 Gbit/s). The flat, smooth keys on the chiclet keyboard (with per-key RGB lighting) have a moderate travel and a distinctive actuation point.

Though the key resistance could be crisper in our opinion. The keyboard deck flexes a little during typing, but Schenker has overall delivered an adequate keyboard for everyday use. The Key 17 Pro also features a touchpad (measuring approx.

15 x 9. 1 cm, or 5. 9 x 3.

6″) with a short travel distance and clear click point. Besides the 4K IPS display (3,840 x 2,150 pixels, 144Hz) on the review unit, Schenker also offers the Key 17 Pro with a QHD IPS panel (2,560 x 1,440 pixels, 240Hz) – both 17. 3-inch screens support G-Sync.

The 4K panel is characterised by its high brightness and the absence of PWM flicker and also offers a high refresh rate (144Hz) and fast response times. That said, it misses the mark (> 1,000:1) when it comes to contrast ratio. The display already had excellent colour reproduction right out of the box.

At roughly 1. 5, its average colour difference certainly falls within what we consider good (Delta E < 3). Colour accuracy is a given: the panel has full sRGB coverage and can cover almost the entire DCI-P3 space; it is also capable of reproducing up to 84% of the AdobeRGB gamut.

The IPS display is readable from any position thanks to its wide viewing angle. You can certainly make out contents on the screen even when outdoors, provided the sun isn’t shining too brightly. The Schenker Key 17 Pro is a high-end 17.

3-inch laptop that harnesses the power of Raptor Lake and Ada Lovelace. You can configure the laptop to your needs in Schenker’s online shop. Our review unit costs around €4,500 (US$4,820).

And prices start at €3,200 (US$3,427). The Key 17 Pro offers four manufacturer-specified power modes (see table). You can switch between them using the Control Center software installed on the laptop.

We ran our benchmarks in “Performance mode” and our battery life test in “Power Saver mode” (with the RTX 4090 disabled. Optimus was enabled during our testing. “Performance mode” lets users overclock the GPU and VRAM in Control Center.

Clicking on the two downward arrows will open the corresponding menu (figure 3). You’ll need to enable CPU overclocking in the BIOS before a new tab shows up in Control Center (see figure 12 to 16). But beware: overclock the hardware at your own risk – you are responsible for any damage arising from it.

The Core i9-13900HX Raptor Lake processor consists of eight performance cores (Hyperthreading, 2. 2 to 5. 4GHz) and sixteen efficiency cores (no Hyperthreading, 1.

6 to 3. 9GHz), giving a total of 32 logical CPU cores. The benchmark results obtained from the Key 17 Pro are roughly in the same ballpark as what we have seen from this CPU on average.

During our Cinebench 15 loop test, the sustained multi-thread load caused the CPU’s turbo clock speed to drop slightly over the first two runs before eventually stabilising at a constant level. The system runs smoothly and has enough computing muscle to comfortably handle rendering, video editing and gaming. The RAM’s transfer rates are fairly standard for DDR5-5600 memory.

Our standardised latency monitor test (Internet browsing, 4K video playback, Prime95 high load) revealed some latency issues. The system doesn’t seem to be suitable for handling real-time video and audio tasks. Hopefully, these issues will be ironed out in future software updates.

The Schenker Key 17 Pro is able to accommodate up to three M. 2-2280 SSDs (2x PCIe 4. 0, 1x PCIe 5.

0). The preinstalled PCIe 4. 0 Samsung drive offers plenty of storage (2 TB) and delivers fantastic transfer rates.

We didn’t notice any performance dips caused by thermal throttling. The GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop is Nvidia’s current top-of-the-line mobile GPU. It is equipped with 9,728 shader units, a 256-bit memory bus and 16 GB of speedy GDDR6 RAM.

The graphics card has a max TGP of 175 watts (150 watt + 25 watt Dynamic Boost) – this is as high as it gets. The TGP wasn’t fully utilised during our Witcher 3 test. Even though the GPU delivered below-average results in synthetic GPU benchmarks, its performance in actual games was above average.

Switching to dGPU mode (via Control Center) also provided a performance boost. With such powerful hardware, the laptop is definitely capable of 4K gaming at high to max settings. A powerful notebook like the Key 17 Pro can produce a huge amount of noise under load: noise level peaked at 62 dB(A) when the laptop was running games in “Performance mode”.

Even in “Entertainment mode”, the device still managed to reach an extremely loud 54 dB(A). The other two power modes help the Key 17 Pro run quietly for the most part with significantly reduced performance. The notebook is generally quiet, sometimes even silent, at idle or in everyday use (e.

g. office software, Internet browsing). However, the fans occasionally spin up for no reason (a phenomenon that typically happens with Clevo barebones).

The laptop becomes noticeably warm under load: we measured temperatures between 55 and 60°C (131 and 140°F) at certain spots on the chassis. In normal use, though, chassis temperatures stayed within a comfortable range Our stress test (running Prime95 and FurMark over a prolonged period) represents an extreme scenario designed to check a system’s stability under full load. The CPU ran at high clock speeds (P-cores: 3.

4 to 3. 5GHz, E-cores: 3. 1 to 3.

2GHz) right out of the gate, and the GPU ticked along at 1. 0 to 1. 6GHz.

Subsequently, the CPU clock dropped relatively rapidly whilst the GPU clock climbed above 2GHz. The stereo speakers sound pretty decent overall. The Key 17 Pro didn’t show any power usage issues.

It maintained a consistent power consumption whilst undergoing the stress test and Witcher 3 test. The included adapter (330 watts) is powerful enough for the device. Our Wi-Fi test is designed to simulate real-life use and involves accessing various websites using a script.

The 17. 3-inch laptop managed to last 6h 51m during the test – a very respectable result for such a powerful 4K notebook. The Key 17 Pro is made for usage scenarios that require a lot of computing power, such as video editing, gaming and rendering.

The GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop and Core i9-13900HX inside deliver the necessary muscle to handle these tasks – both components are able to run constantly at high speeds. The laptop generates a normal amount of heat and noise for this class of device. Schenker has delivered a powerful high-end notebook with the Key 17 Pro (Early 23).

The Key 17 Pro features three SSD slots (1x PCIe 5. 0, 2x PCIe 4. 0; M.

2-2280), meaning you can quickly add more drives if you ever run low on storage. The two PCIe 4. 0 slots support RAID 0/1.

Installing additional SSDs isn’t an overly complicated affair. The bottom panel can be removed without using any tools after you undo all the screws. The two USB-C ports (Thunderbolt 4) let you effortlessly integrate the laptop into an existing desk setup and open up expansion options (e.

g. external GPU). One of the ports also supports Power Delivery.

Battery life is very decent on the device. The matt 17. 3-inch display (4K, IPS, 144Hz, G-Sync and DCI-P3) left a mostly positive impression during our testing, though it would benefit from having higher contrast.

One alternative to the Key 17 Pro is the MSI Stealth 17 Studio . It comes with a mini-LED screen and produces much less noise at full throttle. At the time of this review, the almost identically spec’d Aorus 17X AZF (albeit with a QHD rather than a 4K panel) can be had for considerably less than the Key and is thus a more wallet-friendly option.

The Schenker Key 17 Pro (Early 23) as spec’d in this review will set you back roughly €4,479 (US$4,820). Alternatively, you can also configure the device based on your needs in the Schenker online shop . Prices start at €3,199 (US$3,445).

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