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Venom BlackBook Zero 15 Phantom (Dark Shadow Edition) review

Venom BlackBook Zero 15 Phantom (Dark Shadow Edition)

CHOICE Expert Rating

74%
What is the CHOICE Expert Rating?
Good points

Good Points

  • Can be upgraded and expanded relatively easily (one free RAM slot, one free M.2 SSD slot)
  • Comes with an extra power supply
  • Comes with a USB stick to restore the laptop to factory condition
  • microSD card slot
  • Full-sized HDMI port
  • Gigabit Ethernet port
  • Very good storage read speed
  • Excellent storage write speed
  • Excellent viewing angles
  • Very good screen
  • Very good touchpad
Bad points

Bad Points

  • Not all USB-A and USB-C ports on this laptop are fast; must be aware of which port you are plugging into
  • Cooling fan can become very loud
  • Poor webcam quality
  • Poor audio quality
  • Base can get noticeably warm

Type

Ultraportable
Ultrabook
Tablet mode
Operating system
Windows 10 Pro

Recommended products

Recommended
Not recommended
Recommended for tablet use

Test results

CHOICE Expert Rating
74%
Performance score
69%
Tablet use score
N/A
Ease of use score
77%
Battery life score
75%
Display score
84%
Audio score
35%
Wi-Fi score
75%
Storage write-speed (MBps)
5113
Storage read-speed (MBps)
7103
Wi-Fi speed (MBps)
37
Average battery life – heavy usage (hours)
8:02
Charging time to 80% full (h:min)
1:22
Expert tester comments
Venom's BlackBook Zero 15 Phantom (Dark Shadow edition) is for users who require plenty of RAM and storage capability in their laptop. This model ships with 32GB of RAM, and it comes with an SSD that is among the fastest we've seen. If you are a tinkerer, you can open the bottom panel to add more RAM and storage. The port selection is a bit quirky, due to some slow ports being included in the configuration, and the fan can get quite loud, but it's a solid laptop for serious work.

Sustainability

Shop Ethical rating
Warranty (years)
1
Replaceable battery
Not collected
Replace/upgrade RAM
Not collected
Slots for additional RAM
Not collected
Replace/upgrade storage
Not collected
Slot for additional storage
Not collected
Replace/upgrade Wi-Fi
Not collected
Country of origin
Not stated

Related products

Availability
Tested model

Cost

Price
$3,349.00

Specifications

Screen size (inches)
15.6
Native screen resolution (pixels)
1920 x 1080
Processor (CPU) type
Intel Core i7-1165G7
CPU frequency (GHz)
2.8
RAM (GB)
32
Video graphics type
Intel Iris Xe
Storage capacity (GB)
2048
Available user space (GB)
1820
Storage type
SSD
Wi-Fi version
6
Weight of laptop (kg)
1.7
Weight of power supply (kg)
0.3
Size (mm, H x D x W)
22 x 221 x 356

Features

Screen finish
Matte
Touchscreen
USB-C
USB 2.0 ports
1
USB 3.0 ports
1
USB 4 as USB-C port
0
USB-C (USB 3.2 Gen 1 or 2, not Thunderbolt 3 or 4) ports
1
Thunderbolt 3 or 4 (as USB-C) ports
1
SD card slot (full-size)
SD card slot (micro)
HDMI port
Gigabit ethernet port
Rear camera
Backlit keyboard levels of brightness
4

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