Desktops and laptops
Back to Best Laptop And Tablet Reviews

Venom BlackBook Zero 17 Phantom (Z260XX) review

Venom BlackBook Zero 17 Phantom (Z260XX)

CHOICE Expert Rating

74%
What is the CHOICE Expert Rating?
Good points

Good Points

  • Very good Wi-Fi speed
  • Very good screen
  • Excellent viewing angles
  • Very good screen luminance
  • Two SSDs installed
  • Two power adapters supplied
  • Restore USB stick supplied
  • Full-sized HDMI port
  • microSD card slot
  • Excellent keyboard
  • 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
  • Non-Thunderbolt USB-C port did not recognise our USB-C hub, (the Thunderbolt port did)
  • Cooling fan can become very loud; utility can adjust its setting
  • Poor webcam quality
  • Poor audio quality

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
64%
Tablet use score
N/A
Ease of use score
80%
Battery life score
73%
Display score
85%
Audio score
40%
Wi-Fi score
82%
Storage write-speed (MBps)
3417
Storage read-speed (MBps)
3556
Wi-Fi speed (MBps)
45
Average battery life – heavy usage (hours)
6:01
Charging time to 80% full (h:min)
1:20
Expert tester comments
The Venom BlackBook Zero 17 Phantom is well suited as a large laptop to use as a desktop computer. Its 17-inch screen and multi-colour backlit keyboard are both of very good quality, which makes for a mostly comfortable user experience. For convenience, there is a wide array of ports along its sides. One issue, however, is that the USB-A and USB-C ports vary in their capabilities, so you'll need to know which port to plug certain devices (such as high-speed USB drives); we had an issue with the non-Thunderbolt USB-C port, which did not work at all with our USB-C hub, while the Thunderbolt 4 port did. An external webcam and speakers will also be necessary, due to the poor quality of those included components.

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
China

Related products

Availability
Discontinued model

Cost

Price
$2,999.00

Specifications

Screen size (inches)
17
Native screen resolution (pixels)
1920 x 1080
Processor (CPU) type
Intel Core i7-1165G7
CPU frequency (GHz)
2.8
RAM (GB)
16
Video graphics type
Intel Iris Xe
Storage capacity (GB)
1024
Available user space (GB)
914
Storage type
SSD
Wi-Fi version
6
Weight of laptop (kg)
2.3
Weight of power supply (kg)
0.34
Size (mm, H x D x W)
22 x 255 x 395

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

More products in this test

Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch (A3403)
83
Recommended

Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch (A3403)

$5,499
Lenovo Yoga Book 9i (14in, 10th gen)
77
Recommended

Lenovo Yoga Book 9i (14in, 10th gen)

$4,493
Apple iPad Air (5th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular (A2589) with Magic Keyboard and Pencil (2nd gen)
73

Apple iPad Air (5th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular (A2589) with Magic Keyboard and Pencil (2nd gen)

$2,160

Looking for user reviews?

We don't offer user reviews anymore. Help us improve this expert review by sharing your feedback in a quick survey.