The biggest problem in reviewing laptops is that they are a complete system, and thereby, the complexity of it all is a lot to consider. Memory, drives, CPUs and GPUs, keyboard, speakers, trackpad, monitor... there's just so much tech here to play with! Not only is it a lot of tech, it all really needs to come together well, and how that happens is a complex thing, with lots of points where it can all go wrong. Rather than leaving it simple, Corsair's Voyager a1600 adds even more complexity, and makes it work in ways that truly step outside the box. This is a truly custom-designed and feature-focused laptop for people who want to play games and stream, and everything you could want to do that successfully is here in one tiny and tidy package that screams for attention when you want it to.

From the moment you pull the Voyager a1600 out of its outer shipping box and see the inner packaging, everything that sits here just says "Corsair," and that is no small task. The addition of the "S-Keys" to the deck of the Voyager A1600 didn't have to be visible with the lid closed. Doing that actually changes the ergonomics of the laptop and provides a more comfortable seating position, with the screen sitting higher not only due to "S-Keys", but also because of the 16:10 screen ratio. That 240 Hz screen provides additional screen real estate that content creators can make good use of, especially with video content production. The high quality and high refresh rate monitor comes with brilliant color too, as is required for content creation. It's modest though, and provides a truly decent balance between accuracy and performance. Not all 16:10 laptops, however, offer this 240 Hz refresh rate. The previously reviewed Legion 5 Pro laptop, for example, had a 144 Hz refresh rate, and similar color capability. The Voyager a1600 is FreeSync capable, too.

Corsair went above and beyond with their choice of AMD to power the Voyager a1600. The list of features that AMD offers, succinctly referred to as "AMD Advantage," actually matches the core design philosophy that is clearly evident here with the Voyager a1600. Gaming and streaming are put to the forefront, and pleasantly in a way that other gaming laptops just can not compare to. The "AMD Advantage" is a set of features that are also focused on gaming and streaming, so every bit of hardware in this laptop is so directly focused on that mantra that every streamer holds dear; "I Make Digital Content."

Looking at the benchmark results, the Corsair Voyager a1600 does admirably well, even in the 3D benchmarks, where it makes its stand with just 120 W of GPU power which is the lowest in our test group, yet even so the Voyager a1600 posts fairly decent results with that power use considered. 120 W of GPU power and 35 W of APU power is the lowest across the board in our group as well, which makes it sip at the battery when the discrete GPU isn't in use, when compared to the other Intel-based options, even without power saving features enabled. The Voyager a1600 stands out here in a big way, with a minimum 10 W power-saving on the CPU side of things alone (I7-12700H is 45 W-115 W), the AMD Ryzen 6900HS maxes out at 35 W, showing itself as pretty darn efficient, and that matters a lot when it comes to battery usage and heat output.

Speaking of heat output, the Corsair Voyager a1600 does very well in the thermal department, although it provides a different approach to cooling and thermal limits here with AMD hardware compared to the other laptops we've tested, which have been based on Intel hardware. Where this really matters to me, is the heat you feel under your fingers when the system is at load, and on all three of the tested Intel laptops, you feel the warmth under your fingers for sure, but that's not the case with the Voyager a1600, which was a pleasant surprise. Although its a bit on the loud side to achieve this, I find that as a non-issue, as all gaming laptops are fairly loud at full load. The fan curve is overly aggressive at low load situations, however, depending on which power profile you choose.

When I received my Voyager a1600, the "Extreme" performance profile was the default. Most of the time I used that profile, simply because maximum performance is what most of us are after, right? So it made sense, but man oh man did my ears take a beating because of it. Fortunately, the Voyager a1600 can be quiet too, should you choose that profile, so some quiet Netflix use is definitely possible too. The only issue with that is, of course, adjusting the fan curve this way also adjusts performance. There are no other options to adjust the fan curve; no user-defined fan curve settings are possible.

The fit, finish and overall quality is really high with the Corsair Voyager a1600. For a first laptop, Corsair definitely makes a bold statement with the Voyager a1600. The huge trackpad and Cherry MX keyswitches are excellent, and give the Voyager a1600 a high-class feel under your fingertips. The deck feels good under your palms, and it's great you can disable half the trackpad, or the whole thing. The speakers facing up out of the top of the keyboard deck isn't something you see often at all, yet it helps the Voyager a1600 overcome the fan noise. The list of small details here is huge, and you can tell time, care and a huge amount of engineering and thought was put into the Voyager a1600. It's clear Corsair set to deliver a high-class gaming and streaming rig and they managed to do that extremely well, like nobody else. There are some caveats, however.

When it comes down to it all, the Voyager a1600 does have some places where I can see room for improvement. First of all, Intel/NVIDIA combos can be faster, but personally, I don't care that some of what else is out there may outperform my Voyager a1600. The Voyager a1600 is a premium AMD laptop, it is about the complete package, and the Voyager a1600 does deliver on that gaming/streaming focus as a complete package incredibly well. The Voyager a1600 offers everything with premium quality, and a big part of that is down to the software that accompanies the Voyager a1600, and ties it all together. Yet it seems a bit limited when it comes to software that interfaces with hardware directly. The mini-screen is limited in its function, as is fan control. There is memory overclocking, if you are into that, but no CPU overclocking due to hardware limitations. You can play with power limits, and give up some processing power if that is your thing, and you can not only adjust APU power use, but also GPU power use, bringing in some interesting scenarios. Yet you are limited to 155 W overall, which I must admit is really a small number. Since the Voyager a1600 comes with an overpowered 230 W power brick, it has 75 W in excess, to charge while you game, but it would have been nice to push the APU or GPU up a bit and make more use of that 230 W.

I do not mind saying that I do not really like the AMD side of the software at all. First of all, there's no adjusting clock speeds for either the APU or GPU in AMD driver-level software (neither up nor down), and that is simply an oversight I won't overlook. "Ryzen Master" software doesn't even load. The rest of the AMD all-in-one software package is overly complicated and boring. I can see overall what AMD is up to and only the base of what I think they should offer is here. I do not know how else to put it. I'm nit-picking here to be honest, but I do feel that what NVIDIA offers in Geforce Experience and control panel is far more simple, and by being simple, is more intuitive and works better. Something just must be said about that, so there you go, but that's not a Corsair thing. In spite of that, what Corsair has done is taken AMD's premium laptop experience and made it even better.

For me, gaming and streaming go hand-in-hand, but I never expected to see a product really take it this far, and do it so well. Everything you need to do that is right at your fingertips, and the added macro button "S-Keys" are implemented in a way that really reshapes what it means to be a gaming laptop, including its physical shape. A decent microphone array and camera is already included, and if you want better, Corsair has it, and if it's Corsair wireless, you can make it work without dongles too, since a receiver for Corsair-branded wireless devices is built in. Want to drive added monitors? It's ready for that part of the Corsair ecosystem too.

Lastly, we have to consider pricing. The Voyager a1600 is a bit on the expensive side of things, as configured for me, but I feel the entry-level models that are currently priced at 2000 USD actually offer decent value, all things considered. You get the full Voyager experience either way, and a truly premium product like this does deserve premium pricing. In the end i have to congratulate Corsair for such an excellent delivery. I don't want to give this one back!