VAIO FE 14.1 Review | PCMag

Caviar at Costco? Tiffany at Target? VAIO is a notebook brand we associate with two things, elegant engineering and premium prices. The new VAIO FE series, however, consists of affordable laptops sold at Walmart, where the 14.1-inch FE starts at $699 and is $799 as seen in our test model here. It's a reasonably attractive slimline with a modern Intel processor, but wholly unremarkable. The same money will get you a nicer aluminum, rather than plastic, build from any of several vendors.

Same Logo, Different Maker 

If you still think VAIO laptops are made by Sony, you're eight years behind the times. The move to Walmart represents a market expansion for the current brand owners, whose $699 base model teams a Core i5-1235U CPU (two Performance cores, eight Efficient cores, 12 threads) with 8GB of memory, a 512GB solid-state drive, and a full HD (1,920-by-1,080-pixel) non-touch screen.

(Kirẹditi: Molly Flores)

Our $799 review unit doubles the RAM and storage to 16GB and 1TB respectively, while the top of the line—which Walmart.com listed, confusingly, for both $949 and $799 when we checked—replaces the Core i5 chip with a Core i7-1255U. The IPS display and Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics are the same in all units; no high-res or OLED panel is offered. 

At 3.5 pounds, the VAIO FE 14.1 is half a pound over the ultraportable line. It measures 0.78 by 12.8 by 8.7 inches, a bit bulkier than the Acer Swift 3 (0.63 by 12.7 by 8.4 inches and 2.71 pounds). Available in black or rose gold as well as our model's silver, the VAIO is easy to carry but prone to flex if you grasp the screen corners or press the keyboard deck. The chassis as a whole could use more rigidity.

(Kirẹditi: Molly Flores)

As you open the lid, its back edge folds down to prop the keyboard at a slight typing angle. Screen bezels are not particularly thin, especially at top (home of a webcam with a sliding privacy shutter) and bottom. The camera lacks Windows Hello face recognition, but there's a fingerprint reader in one corner of the touchpad. 

An SD card slot and an old-school USB 2.0 port are on the laptop's left side, along with an audio jack and the socket for the AC adapter plug. Three USB 3.1 ports, two Type-A and one Type-C, join an Ethernet jack and an HDMI video output at right. Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth are the standard fare for wireless connectivity.

(Kirẹditi: Molly Flores)

(Kirẹditi: Molly Flores)

Not Much Touchpad Left 

The backlit keyboard earns points for having real Home, End, Page Up, and Page Down keys instead of making you pair the Fn key with the cursor arrow keys, and also for having the arrows in the correct inverted T instead of an awkward, HP-style row. The top-row function keys control volume and screen brightness but lack a few shortcuts often found there, such as airplane mode and microphone mute. 

The typing feel is shallow and a bit rubbery, but not uncomfortable. The touchpad would be midsize but two fairly large chrome buttons and the fingerprint reader reduce the available space, so it's on the small side. The pad glides and taps smoothly, but the big buttons feel flimsy.

(Kirẹditi: Molly Flores)

The webcam offers the usual, marginal 1,280-by-720-pixel resolution with a 16:9 aspect ratio but a sharper 1,600 by 1,200 pixels if you don't mind a squarer 4:3 ratio. Its images look dim and washed out. At least they are reasonably clear, without too much static. 

If you press your ear to the speaker grille above the keyboard, you can make out surprisingly soft sound; 100% volume on the VAIO FE 14.1 sounds like about 30% on most laptops, hard to hear from just a few feet away. The audio itself isn't bad—there's no bass, but the sound isn't tinny or harsh, and you can make out overlapping tracks—but you'll definitely want to use headphones. A THX Spatial Audio software utility makes tunes sound less hollow, and it offers music, movie, game, and voice presets and an equalizer. But it certainly doesn't deliver symphonic sound or any 3D effect.

(Kirẹditi: Molly Flores)

Like the audio, the FE's 1080p display is mostly a disappointment. Contrast is decent, and white backgrounds aren't too dingy if you tilt the screen back fairly far to a viewing sweet spot. But viewing angles aren't as wide as we're used to from IPS panels, and the overall effect is dim, with bland colors.

Testing the VAIO FE 14.1: Nothing Special, Speed-Wise

For our benchmark charts, we matched the VAIO FE against our current budget laptop Editors' Choice honoree, the $519 Lenovo IdeaPad 3 14, and the Asus VivoBook S14. Two other 14-inch portables, the Acer Swift 3 and the Dell Inspiron 14 7415 2-in-1 convertible, represent the higher-priced spread at about $1,000 each. You can see their basic specs in the table below.

Awọn Idanwo Iṣelọpọ 

Aṣepari akọkọ ti UL's PCMark 10 ṣe afọwọṣe ọpọlọpọ awọn iṣelọpọ agbaye gidi ati ṣiṣan ṣiṣiṣẹda akoonu lati wiwọn iṣẹ ṣiṣe gbogbogbo fun awọn iṣẹ ṣiṣe aarin-ọfiisi gẹgẹbi sisẹ ọrọ, iwe kaakiri, lilọ kiri wẹẹbu, ati apejọ fidio. A tun ṣe idanwo PCMark 10's Full System Drive lati ṣe ayẹwo akoko fifuye ati iṣẹjade ti ibi ipamọ kọǹpútà alágbèéká kan. 

Awọn aṣepari mẹta dojukọ Sipiyu, ni lilo gbogbo awọn ohun kohun ati awọn okun ti o wa, lati ṣe oṣuwọn ìbójúmu PC kan fun awọn ẹru iṣẹ aladanla. Maxon's Cinebench R23 nlo ẹrọ Cinema 4D ti ile-iṣẹ yẹn lati ṣe iṣẹlẹ eka kan, lakoko ti Primate Labs 'Geekbench 5.4 Pro ṣe afarawe olokiki apps orisirisi lati PDF Rendering ati ọrọ ti idanimọ si ẹrọ eko. Ni ipari, a lo transcoder fidio orisun-ìmọ HandBrake 1.4 lati ṣe iyipada agekuru fidio iṣẹju 12 lati 4K si ipinnu 1080p (awọn akoko kekere dara julọ). 

Idanwo iṣelọpọ ikẹhin wa ni Puget Systems'PugetBench fun Photoshop, eyiti o nlo ẹda Creative Cloud 22 ti olootu aworan olokiki ti Adobe lati ṣe oṣuwọn iṣẹ ṣiṣe PC kan fun ṣiṣẹda akoonu ati awọn ohun elo multimedia. O jẹ ifaagun adaṣe adaṣe ti o ṣiṣẹ ọpọlọpọ gbogbogbo ati awọn iṣẹ-ṣiṣe Photoshop ti o yara ti GPU ti o wa lati ṣiṣi, yiyi, iwọn, ati fifipamọ aworan kan si fifi awọn iboju iparada, awọn kikun gradient, ati awọn asẹ.

The VAIO cleared the 4,000-point hurdle that indicates fine everyday productivity in PCMark 10, so Word, Excel, email, and browsing will be no problem, but it was an underwhelming performer in our other tests, near the back of the CPU benchmarks. It managed a silver medal in our Photoshop test, but its low-quality screen disqualifies it from serious image editing or digital content creation. 

Awọn Idanwo Eya

A ṣe idanwo awọn aworan awọn PC Windows pẹlu awọn iṣeṣiro ere DirectX 12 meji lati UL's 3DMark, Night Raid (iwọnwọnwọn diẹ sii, o dara fun awọn kọnputa agbeka pẹlu awọn aworan ti a ṣepọ) ati Ami Time (ibeere diẹ sii, o dara fun awọn rigs ere pẹlu awọn GPUs ọtọtọ). 

A tun ṣe awọn idanwo meji lati ipilẹ-Syeed GPU ala-ilẹ GFXBench 5, eyiti o tẹnumọ mejeeji awọn ipa ọna kekere-kekere bi ifọrọranṣẹ ati ipele-giga, fifi aworan bi ere. Awọn ahoro 1440p Aztec ati awọn idanwo ọkọ ayọkẹlẹ 1080p, ti a ṣe ni ita ita gbangba lati gba awọn ipinnu ifihan oriṣiriṣi, awọn aworan adaṣe ati awọn ojiji iṣiro nipa lilo wiwo siseto OpenGL ati tessellation ohun elo ni atele. Awọn fireemu diẹ sii fun iṣẹju keji (fps), dara julọ.

The Core i7-powered Acer was the only laptop to make it out of the cellar in these tests; economy notebooks' integrated graphics are more or less guaranteed unable to play demanding games or offer much entertainment besides solitaire and streaming video. The VAIO ran with the pack, but it's a very slow pack. 

Batiri ati Ifihan Idanwo 

A ṣe idanwo igbesi aye batiri awọn kọǹpútà alágbèéká nipa ti ndun faili fidio 720p ti o fipamọ ni agbegbe (fiimu Blender orisun-ìmọ Omije Irin(Ṣi ni window titun kan)) pẹlu imọlẹ ifihan ni 50% ati iwọn didun ohun ni 100%. A rii daju pe batiri naa ti gba agbara ni kikun ṣaaju idanwo naa, pẹlu Wi-Fi ati ina ẹhin keyboard ni pipa. 

A tun lo sensọ isọdiwọn Atẹle Datacolor SpyderX Elite kan ati sọfitiwia Windows rẹ lati wiwọn itẹlọrun awọ iboju kọǹpútà alágbèéká kan — ipin wo ni sRGB, Adobe RGB, ati DCI-P3 gamuts awọ tabi awọn paleti ifihan le fihan-ati 50% ati tente oke imọlẹ ni awọn nits (candelas fun square mita).

It was only good enough for fourth place in our five-way contest, but the VAIO FE's 11.5 hours of unplugged life is plenty for getting through a full day of work or school. Its display color quality was fair at best, though only the Acer did better, but its peak measured brightness of 265 nits is down in bargain-Chromebook territory—we're not happy with any laptop that can't muster 300 nits, and not really satisfied with less than 400.

Verdict: A Merely Passable Portable 

We're all for democracy and happy to see more options for Walmart shoppers, but the VAIO FE 14.1 joins the superstore's budget-class Gateway and EVOO house brands instead of threatening Dell, Lenovo, or Acer. Nothing about it is bad enough to disqualify it from budget buyers' consideration, but it's up against some better-built, better-performing competitors, as well as some deeper-value models, such as the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 14.