Maingear released the new ML-16 Gaming laptop in June (shortly followed by the ML-17 in July) and I got my hands on one to try out. Here’s the rundown on how it performed.

When Maingear offered to send me one of their new ML-16 Gaming Laptops, I jumped at the chance. I was curious to see how the ML-16 stacked up against other laptops I’ve tested. It promises a ton of processing power, since it’s designed for gaming. And with a 16-inch display, I wanted to see how heavy it really is. And to be fair, I tested the ML-16 RTX 4060.

When the laptop arrived, I quickly unpacked it and I have to admit I was a little surprised. It’s a 16-inch laptop. That means it’s quite a bit heavy. Weighing in at just over four pounds and measuring only 0.75 inches thin, I wasn’t quite expecting it to be, but that doesn’t mean it’s too heavy. In fact, it’s probably on the light side for a 16-inch gaming rig. One thing I do find heavy is the power brick. If you’re going to throw this laptop in your backpack, expect to add a pound or so to that weight alone.

Of course, there are trade-offs for that weight. As for charging, the large power brick charges the laptop from zero to full in about two hours, and the charge on the laptop lasted long enough that I could go most of the day (not playing graphically intensive games, but working on graphical projects, etc.) without plugging it in. The only time I let the battery drain completely was when I closed the lid at about 60% capacity and came back to it a few days later. It was completely dead, so it's still drawing power from the battery when not in use.