Origin EON16-X review: Is this colorful, customizable gaming laptop too good to be true?

If you drop $3,000 on a top-tier gaming laptop, you expect performance to match.

The Origin EON16-X aims to offer competitive performance at a lower price than other premium gaming laptops, but it still doesn’t come cheap. Origin also sets it apart with a slew of customization options, including some colorful lid designs. 

The question is, can the EON16-X deliver gaming performance worthy of its $3,000+ price tag? Can it keep up with more expensive rivals in the upper echelon of the gaming laptop market? 

We tested the EON16-X thoroughly, using it for hands-on gaming and general usage. Here’s an in-depth look at how it measures up. 

Origin EON16-X: Specs (as reviewed)

Origin EON16-X: Price and configurations

Origin offers a plethora of customization options for the EON16-X. Our configuration costs $3,620, including an Intel Core i9-14900HX CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 laptop GPU, 32GB of RAM, and 2TB of storage split between two 1TB SSDs. 

The EON16-X's base configuration costs $2,915 and includes an Intel Core i9-14900HX CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 laptop GPU, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage. 

You can trick out the EON16-X with dozens of terabytes of storage and even choose from different SSDs from Corsair and Samsung. Origin also allows you to split your storage between a “system” drive, which has your operating system stored on it, and additional SSDs, similar to how you can split up your storage in a desktop gaming PC. Additionally, you can upgrade your RAM to 32GB or 64GB. 

Origin EON16-X: Design

The Origin EON16-X’s design is one of my favorite features. For an additional $30, you can add a design to the lid to give it more color. There are over a dozen pre-made designs, but you can also create a custom design (although that costs significantly more at $140). 

Our review unit features the “Waves 2” design. I’ve wanted to see more colorful, unique laptop designs, so the option to customize the lid on the EON16-X is a refreshing touch. Of course, plain black is also an option. 

The EON16-X features a full-size keyboard with a number pad, function row, and full-size arrow keys. There’s no dedicated Copilot key, but most gamers are unlikely to miss that. The keyboard is fully backlit, but you can turn off the backlighting to save some battery power. 

The power button is set apart from the rest of the keyboard along the top edge of the keyboard deck. It is accompanied by a dedicated button for switching power and performance modes. The preset options include “office,” “gaming,” and “turbo,” but you can also add custom profiles.

Origin EON16-X: Ports

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The Origin EON16-X has all the essential ports most gamers need. On the rear edge, there’s a charging port, an Ethernet port, an HDMI port, and a USB Type-C port. On the left side, there is a USB Type-A port, a USB Type-C port, and a headphone jack. On the right side, there are two USB Type-A ports and a full-size SD card slot, which is convenient for creators. 

Those were enough ports for my laptop peripherals, including a mouse and a USB microphone. However, you can always add a USB Type-C hub or a docking station to your gaming setup if you need more ports. 

Origin EON16-X: Display

The Origin EON16-X has a 16-inch 2560x1600 WQXGA display with a 240Hz refresh rate. It’s sharp and responsive, but could have performed better on our color gamut display test. The EON16-X only reproduced 76.6% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, which is lower than the ideal 80% minimum. It scored better on our brightness test with an average of 528.8 nits. 

That’s far brighter than the Razer Blade 16’s average brightness, while the Blade scored just a couple of points higher on the color gamut test. The MSI Titan 18 HX outscored both laptops, reproducing 112% of the DCI-P3 color gamut and reaching an average brightness of 559 nits. 

Origin EON16-X: Keyboard and touchpad

The Origin EON16-X has a full-size keyboard with a function row, number pad, and full-size arrow keys. There isn’t a dedicated Copilot key in the bottom right corner, where you’ll find a large control key instead. 

Most gamers will appreciate that since the control keys are important for game controls. 

The keyboard is fully backlit, although you can turn off the backlighting to save some power. The keys are well-spaced, but the mechanical switches have a higher actuation force than I usually like. I still scored reasonably well on the Monkeytype typing test, though, with 95 words per minute and 99 percent accuracy. 

The touchpad is roomy and responsive, with a smooth, matte texture. It performed well during my testing, but most PC gamers will likely prefer an external gaming mouse for actual gameplay.  

Origin EON16-X: Audio

The EON16-X has front-firing speakers in the left and right corners of the edge of the keyboard deck. They sound good with both gaming and music and have a well-balanced sound profile. Ambient background noise in games was clear and immersive. 

Music was well-balanced. The bass could be stronger, but it doesn’t overwhelm the highs and mids, at least. “Sweater Weather” by The Neighbourhood sounded clean and punchy on the EON. Billie Eillish’s vocals in “Ocean Eyes” were crisp and ethereal, with decent mids and bass in the background. 

Origin EON16-X: Gaming and graphics

The Origin EON16-X kept up reasonably well in our gaming benchmark tests. Since this is a gaming laptop, these are the most important test results to consider. 

The EON16-X scored 33,781 on the 3DMark Fire Strike graphics benchmark and averaged 145 fps in Assassin’s Creed: Mirage and 65 fps in Cyberpunk 2077.

It outscored the Razer Blade 16 in both games but effectively tied with the MSI Titan 18 HX. The EON16-X had the lowest 3DMark Fire Strike score of the group. 

The performance I experienced during hands-on gameplay didn’t exactly live up to the EON16-X’s benchmark results. I played Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, Elder Scrolls Online, and Once Human with varying levels of success. 

On the Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla benchmark test, the EON16-X averaged 37 fps on High graphics, 39 fps on Medium graphics, and 38 fps on Low graphics. In actual gameplay on High graphics settings and full resolution, I experienced an average of 35 fps. There was a bit of lag, but the game was playable. 

The same wasn’t true for Once Human. The EON16-X only managed 18 fps on the High graphics preset in full resolution. Even when I lowered my settings to Medium graphics in 1080p resolution, I still averaged just 24 fps. The game had a lot of lag, to the point of being unplayable. 

Once Human is still a relatively new multiplayer game, so it may not be optimized for laptops like the EON16-X yet. However, I’ve seen much better performance on laptops with lower specs in this game, so it’s disappointing that the EON16-X didn’t do better. 

The EON16-X performed noticeably better with Elder Scrolls Online. It ran the MMO with the Ultra graphics preset at a solid 63 fps, which was completely playable. I didn’t notice any lag or rendering issues while completing a quest and playing through a dungeon. 

Origin EON16-X: Performance

The Origin EON16-X scored fairly well in our overall performance benchmark tests but could have done better on multi-core performance. The EON16-X scored 2,964 on the Geekbench 6 single-core test and 15,888 on the Geekbench 6 multi-core test and completed the HandBrake video transcoding benchmark in 3 minutes and 16 seconds.  

The Razer Blade 16 and MSI Titan 18 HX both outscored the EON16-X in the Geekbench 6 multi-core test and the HandBrake benchmark. The EON-16X has the lead in the Geekbench 6 single-core test but by less than 1,000 points. In contrast, the MSI Titan 18 HX outpaces it in the multi-core benchmark by over 3,000 points. 

Interestingly, all three of these laptops have the exact same processor and graphics card. So, it makes sense that their overall performance scores are roughly similar. The MSI Titan 18 HX has twice as much RAM as the Razer Blade 16 and Origin EON16-X, so it has an edge with multi-tasking, which also impacts multi-core CPU performance. 

Otherwise, though, the EON16-X performs in the same ballpark across the board as other gaming laptops with similar specs. Considering the EON’s two rivals cost at least $500 more (as reviewed), it’s impressive it was relatively close to their scores in the multi-core and HandBrake tests. 

Origin EON16-X: Battery life

Gaming laptops frequently struggle with good battery life, and the Origin EON16-X is no exception. It lasted just under four and a half hours in our web surfing battery life test and barely one hour in our gaming test. That’s slightly worse than the Razer Blade 16's web-surfing battery life but significantly longer than the MSI Titan 18 HX’s. 

Unfortunately, if you’re planning to choose a gaming laptop, battery life is something you will have to compromise on since even the best gaming laptops typically can’t last all day on a single charge. 

Origin EON16-X: Webcam

The Origin EON16-X has a full HD IR webcam with a built-in shutter, which is a nice privacy feature. The video and microphone quality are fine for everyday video calls, but the image quality is mediocre at best. 

The camera struggled to balance light well in my testing, with windows showing up as hot spots of light while other areas were grainy and dark. 

If you record videos regularly on the EON16-X or need a high-quality webcam, you might want to add one of the best external webcams to your laptop setup.  

Origin EON16-X: Heat

The Origin EON16-X stays relatively cool during low-power tasks like web browsing but can get toasty during gaming. In our thermal tests, the EON16-X peaked at 91.4 degrees during web browsing and 130.3 degrees during gaming. In both cases, the hottest area was in the center of the top edge of the keyboard deck, around 5 to 9 number keys. 

The keyboard deck stayed below our 95-degree comfort threshold throughout our web browsing tests but was above it during gaming. The only exception is the touchpad, which stayed at a relatively cool 87.8 degrees during our gaming tests. 

Origin EON16-X: Software and warranty

The Origin EON16-X includes a 1-year warranty for parts replacement and lifetime labor coverage. For $99, you can upgrade to a 2-year warranty or $199 for a 3-year warranty. 

The EON16-X includes Windows 11 by default, but you can upgrade to Windows 11 Pro for $40 extra if you prefer. It comes with the standard Microsoft apps pre-installed including the Xbox app, the Microsoft store, and Microsoft Edge.

Bottom line

The Origin EON16-X is a premium gaming laptop with a plethora of customization options and relatively strong benchmark scores.

While it doesn’t come cheap, it costs less than rivals with similar specs while offering very similar performance. As a result, the EON16-X is worth considering for gamers looking for powerful specs in the $3,000 to $4,000 price range. 

The EON16-X isn’t without its flaws, though. It had hit-or-miss gaming performance in our tests and struggled with battery life like many gaming laptops. However, its performance scores nearly matched those of much more expensive gaming laptops. Plus, Origin allows you to customize the lid on the EON16-X, giving it a unique look that stands out from other gaming laptops. You can also choose which SSDs come in your EON16-X. 

Overall, the Origin EON16-X offers competitive performance compared to much more expensive premium gaming laptops. With extensive customization options, a reasonably good display, and satisfying audio quality, it’s a strong contender for under $4,000.