General Analysis

Eurocom's Monster 4 is interesting for an ulrta-portable. At just 1 inch / 2.54 cm thick, it certainly is thin for a gaming notebook and packs a punch for its size. With a clean design devoid of gimmicks, it offers a solid overall feel that could be considered premium compared to other offerings. Then again, good build quality should be expected given the price as configured sits at $1631. The frame is solid enough for typical usage scenarios not to be a problem. The plastic around the panel has some flex to it, but the hinges feel rock solid. While the plastic can't compare to an aluminum shell, it's more adequate here. Venting is alright, but you can tell that such power in such a small form factor has some drawbacks since the unit gets hot. Exhausting air temperatures hit a maximum of 65°C while the middle of keyboard became warm enough to the touch to make my palm sweat a bit.

While GPU temperatures were acceptable at around the 60°C to 70°C range when gaming, the CPU did in fact thermal throttle on occasion when it hit 99°C, which is also due to size limiting performance. So while the Monster 4 won't hit the mark if you want 100% performance all the time, its light weight and size make it a great rig for gaming on the go. While CPU throttling is an issue, it did not make games unplayable or impact them in a way one could discern. To put it in perspective, I used the system as a daily driver for a full month. That said, purists looking for maximum performance may want to look elsewhere.


Bloatware is kept to a minimum by Eurocom, which is a huge plus. It still makes me cringe that in today's world, systems are still prepackaged with so much bloatware as to be slow from the factory. Thankfully, Eurocom avoids this. What will make users most happy, however, is the fact that removing the bottom of the unit for upgrades or changes will not void the warranty. It's also really painless and easy. Another bonus is the fact you can contact Eurocom directly about upgrades as they can usually provide user guides for this very purpose. This user friendly approach to upgrades is also a great feature as most brands will tell you to get lost in regards to warranty coverage if you even think about it.

Users should, however, keep in mind that they will need to depend on Windows 10's built-in anti-virus or grab one they prefer. The test unit was not bundled with third-party anti-virus software. While this might be a boon to some, a less informed user may forget about security or just run with the Windows default.