Indiegogo staffers are putting crowdfunded products to the test in our new series of honest reviews. In this edition, our very own email marketing and lifecycle strategist Karisa Hunt tried out the OneXPlayer X1,, a new exciting gaming and productivity handheld that our crowdfunding community is talking about. Does it live up to the hype? Read on as we put it to the test!
I love gaming, and I love the idea of taking it with me wherever I go. This is challenging for me because I have low vision, which in this case means small screens are my enemy. It’s the biggest deterrent to me using otherwise incredibly-built handheld gaming devices. However, when I saw the size of the OneXPlayer X1, I thought I might have finally found my perfect device.
One of the other really cool things I wanted to try out with the X1 is that it’s supposed to be a 3-in-1 device. You can use it as a laptop, a tablet, or a handheld gaming device. I’ve never used something this versatile before, and I was eager to check it out.
Unboxing
The box for the X1 feels futuristic, which is very cool.
The included cord is a little short for my preferences – I’d like to be able to keep it plugged in while I use it – but it’s a standard USB-C, so I just swapped it out for another, longer one that I already had and we were good to go.
Setup
Setup is really easy. The X1 runs Windows 11, so setting up the device is as easy as walking through the Windows setup process. It comes partially charged, but I recommend plugging it in while you’re doing the setup, just in case your device only has a small amount of battery life. Crashing during setup is a huge headache.
Since it’s a Windows device and is meant to be used as a laptop as well as a gaming device, it’s easy to download and install whatever programs you need. I immediately added Steam and Discord, as well as downloading my preferred browser (sorry, Microsoft Edge), and then I was ready to go.
Use
The first thing I opened was Discord, which is a voice, video, and text chat program. I wanted to see how good the camera in the device was, so I made a video call to a friend… who burst out laughing as soon as she picked up the call. Apparently there’s a bug in Windows 11’s version of Discord that forces your camera to display upside-down, and since both of us are native Mac users, we had no idea about it. A quick download and test of Skype showed that this is truly a Discord-only problem, and also showed that the camera works well. (I do want to note that this is a known Discord issue, not an issue with the X1 itself. It was just a very funny experience when I wasn’t expecting it, and if you use Discord video calls a lot, it might be a larger issue.)
So far, I have only used the X1 as a laptop and as a tablet (I’m still waiting for my controller to arrive so I can test the handheld gaming capabilities). I will say that I was very, very pleasantly surprised by how well it functions in these two capacities. The stand doesn’t look like it will actually hold the display up, but it does a fantastic job. The keyboard is extremely easy to attach and detach, and if you leave it attached, it folds up neatly to help protect the X1’s screen while it’s not in use. There’s even a small trackpad on the keyboard, so it truly feels like a tiny laptop.
The X1’s tablet features also work well. It’s simple to pull the keyboard off, and while it’s not as big as the iPad Pro I’m used to using, the X1 is still big enough for me to use without issue. It responds quickly when using the tablet interface, and it’s easy to switch between landscape and portrait mode (just turn it, like we’re all now used to doing with mobile devices). What’s more, it’s still a fully-functional Windows computer in this mode, so you’re not trading functionality for ease like you are with a lot of other tablets.
The one note that I have is that it’s quite heavy. It’s somewhat expected because of the size and the fact that it’s a full tablet/laptop/gaming handheld all in one, but I’m a little nervous about how it’s going to fare as a handheld device, because I’m not sure how long it will be comfortable to hold. I’ll update this review with my feedback on that when I’ve had the chance to test it out with the controller.
Conclusion
All in all, I’m happy with this device so far! The battery life hasn’t quite been the 8 hours promised, but I’m guessing you have to turn all of the display settings to their lowest for that to be true (and I haven’t done that). The weight might be an issue, but I’m still not sure about that. Other than those two things, though, it’s a fast, mobile little device, and the ability to switch between laptop mode and tablet mode without losing anything other than the keyboard is a huge plus. It’s easy to set up, easy to use, and extremely fast. If you’re looking for one device that can serve multiple purposes, this could be the answer for you!
To learn more, check out the OneXPlayer X1 campaign on Indiegogo!
