PC Specialist Recoil II (i7-8750H & GTX 1060) Laptop Review

Rating: 9.0.

The PC Specialist Recoil II is the latest laptop to come through our labs sporting an Intel 8th Gen mobile processor. We have already seen the likes of the Gigabyte Aero 15X, the MSI GS65 and the Cyberpower Tracer III – so we have plenty of opportunity to make comparisons. Priced at just £1149, however, the Recoil II is the cheapest laptop we have seen to-date that sports the hexa-core i7-8750H. Is it money well spent, or have too many corners been cut?

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Specification:

• Chassis & Display: 15.6″ Matte Full HD 72 % NTSC LED Widescreen (1920×1080)
• Processor (CPU): Intel® Core™ i7 Six Core Processor 8750H (2.2GHz, 4.1GHz Turbo)
• Memory (RAM): 16GB Corsair 2133MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
• Graphics Card: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 – 6.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM – DirectX® 12.1
• 1st Hard Disk: 1TB SEAGATE 7mm SERIAL ATA III 2.5″ HARD DRIVE WITH 128MB CACHE (5,400rpm)
• 1st M.2 SSD Drive: 256GB SAMSUNG PM961 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 2800MB/R, 1100MB/W)
• Memory Card Reader: Integrated 2 in 1 Memory Card Reader (SD, MMC)
• AC Adaptor: 1 x 150W AC Adaptor
• Battery: Recoil II Series 46WH Lithium Ion Battery
• Power Cable: 1 x 1 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
• Thermal Paste: STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
• Sound Card: 2 Channel High Def. Audio + SoundBlaster™ Cinema 3
• Bluetooth & Wireless: GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-9560 M.2 (1.73Gbps, 802.11AC) +BT 5.0
• USB Options: 1 x USB 3.1 PORT (Type C) + 2 x USB 3.1 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
• Keyboard Language: PER-KEY RGB BACKLIT UK MECHANICAL KEYBOARD
• Operating System: Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit – inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
• Operating System Language: United Kingdom – English Language
• Windows Recovery Media: Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image – Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
• Office Software: FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 Anti-Virus BullGuard™ Internet Security – Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode Browser Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
• Notebook Mouse: INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
• Webcam: INTEGRATED 1MP HD WEBCAM
• Warranty: 3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)

On a hardware level, the PC Specialist Recoil II is almost identical to the Cyberpower Tracer III we reviewed in June. That means it has the latest i7-8750H processor (which is not overclockable) as well as a GTX 1060 6GB graphics chip – which, it is worth saying, is not the slower Max-Q version, but the ‘full-fat' GTX 1060. Alongside this we have 16GB of DDR4 memory rated at 2133MHz, although the Tracer III machine did use slightly faster 2400MHz memory.

Unlike the Aero 15X or GS65 Stealth, however, the Recoil II ‘only' has a 1080p 60Hz display – the Gigabyte and MSI machines both sport 144Hz refresh-rate panels. While this does mean your gaming experience won't be as silky with the Recoil II, you do save several hundred pounds – this machine is priced at £1149, whereas the MSI machine costs £1900.

Still, for that money you get a very well-built laptop. The Recoil II has a lovely brushed aluminium lid, and the inside of the laptop is also made from aluminium. While this makes the machine feel very sturdy, it is still impressively light at just over 2.1KG. Considering it is also 19.9mm thick (excluding the rubber feet), the end result is a sleek and very portable laptop.

It is also worth noting the impressively thin bezels that surround the 15.6in display. My measurements put the side bezels at less than 5mm thick, while the bezel on the top edge (which also houses a 1MP webcam) is only slightly thicker at around 9mm. Looking back to the Tracer III, this PC Specialist machine does make it look quite dated in comparison.

Thus, while the internal components of the Recoil II and Tracer III are essentially the same, you are getting a thinner, lighter and more refined packaged with the PC Specialist laptop. Before we get too carried away, however, we will have to see just how the laptop performs in the real world.Testing and Performance

When testing the Recoil II, we compared it directly to both configurations of the MSI GS65 we have tested, as well the Gigabyte Aero 15X and Cyberpower Tracer III. All four laptops use the i7-8750H processor, while the graphics varies between full-fat GTX 1060s, and GTX 1070 Max-Q models.

Testing and Performance overview

Starting off with the CPU performance of the Recoil II, the Cinebench score puts it pretty much in the middle of the 5 laptops on-test today. Its 3DMark physics scores are also pretty much what we would expect from the hexa-core i7-8750H, so no surprises there.

In terms of actual gaming, the results are very similar to the Cyberpower Tracer III – in most tests, the Recoil II is only 1fps faster on average, if at all, though its minimum frame rates are a little bit better than the Tracer III. We can explain this with the fact that the GPU was boosting to a slightly higher frequency – with the Recoil II, our in-game core frequency settled at around the 1570-1580MHz mark, whereas the Tracer III was a little slower at 1550-1570MHz.Cooling

Thermal performance of the Recoil II is nothing short of excellent. Despite the thin chassis, there is plenty of ventilation to the sides and on the bottom of the laptop, and this – coupled with the fan speeds, which we will mention below – keeps the component temperatures looking very healthy.

Starting with the CPU, a peak of just 81C is a top result, and that is only furthered by the fact that this temperature came with the CPU clock speed holding at 3.1GHz across all cores. The GS65, for instance, could only push all 6 cores to 2.8GHz, and even then the CPU still peaked at 85C.

As for the GPU, 73C is very cool – especially when we consider it was operating at a higher frequency to the GTX 1060 in the Tracer III, and yet it is still 4C cooler. That suggests the GTX 1060 in the Recoil II could be running even faster and thermals would still be absolutely no concern.

Noise

Part of the Recoil II's thermal successes is due to the fan noise – it comes in over 5 dB louder than the Tracer III, which does make it noticeably louder to the human ear.

Now, the Tracer III is an impressively quiet laptop, and I still wouldn't say the Recoil II is the loudest I have heard – it is still a fair bit quieter than the Aorus X9 DT, for instance. Regardless, the fans do get quite noticeable while gaming and you are likely to start annoying anyone else in the same room.

Battery

The last area to cover is battery life. Here, the Recoil II falls just short of the Cyberpower Tracer III with its total time of 2hrs9 in the PCMark 8 battery benchmark. This is pretty much par for the course when it comes to a gaming laptop, especially so for the Recoil II considering it is a pretty thin machine. In a nutshell, its 46Wh cell won't last you all day, so best to keep the power brick to hand.The PC Specialist Recoil II is a fantastic laptop at an excellent price – no doubt about it.

It is one of many gaming laptops to come through KitGuru labs with the latest i7-8750H processor, and it backs that up with a GTX 1060 6GB graphics chip and 16GB of DDR4 memory. That puts it head to head with the Cyberpower Tracer III laptop we reviewed in June.

The first interesting point to note is that the Recoil II – as with the Tracer III – has not gone down the high refresh-rate display route. Instead, it uses a humble 1080p/60Hz panel. While this may not provide as smooth a gaming experience, it does allow the cost to be significantly lower – the MSI GS65 also shares the same core specification, but with a 144Hz display, and that costs £750 more.

With that out of the way, it is clear the Recoil II offers a heck of a lot of laptop for the money. Performance is pretty much where we would expect it to be given the internal hardware, and the proficient cooling setup actually allows this machine to run ever so slightly faster than the Tracer III as the GPU can hold its frequency at a higher clock speed.

The build of the laptop is also hugely impressive for the price – brushed aluminium is used on the lid and on the inside of the laptop's body, and that makes it look and feel premium. Weighing just 2.1KG, and measuring 19.9mm thick, the Recoil II is also very portable. Other impressive features include the satisfyingly clicky mechanical keyboard, as well as the smooth trackpad.

The one area where it could be better is fan noise – the Tracer III, for instance, is noticeably quieter when operating under full load. Battery life isn't great either, but that is nothing too surprising from a gaming laptop of this calibre.

Still, the PC Specialist Recoil II is a terrific laptop. As mentioned, the main compromise is the lack of high refresh-rate display, but for £1149 this machine blows its pricier rivals out of the water.

You can buy one directly from PC Specialist for £1149 HERE.

Edit 19th July: PCSpecialist got in touch with us to let us know that they are now offering a 144hz version as well. Great news for the hardcore gamers out there.

Pros

• Slim and portable.
• Metal construction.
• 144hz version now offered as well!
• Mechanical keyboard.
• Performance is as expected from i7-8750H and GTX 1060.
• Smooth and responsive trackpad.
• Impressive cooling capabilities.
• Very competitive pricing.

Cons

• Noisier than other laptops we have seen.

KitGuru says: If you are looking for a 1080p/60Hz gaming laptop, the Recoil II is the best we have seen to-date.

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