Why you can trust Tom's Hardware Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
Price Analysis And Conclusion
Versus the Competition
The Digital Storm Equinox is the first of many Coffee Lake Mobile laptops that have arrived in our lab, and we’re pleased to find that it offers great value as a thin-and-light gaming laptop. At the time of writing this review, you can find our configuration of the Equinox for $1,875.
The closest comparison in our roundup was the Gigabyte Aero 15X, which is currently $2,300. For more than $400, you’ll get near-identical gaming performance and storage speeds, a display with a lower refresh rate and warmer gaming temperatures. However, the Aero 15X has considerably better build quality and a much larger battery.
If your budget is in the same ballpark as the Equinox’s asking price, then the MSI GE63VR Raider is an attractive option as well. It has much better build quality, and its standard GTX 1070 allows it to outperform the Equinox in pure gaming, but it's not as thin or light.
If you’re looking for something more affordable than the Equinox, you will be pleased with what the Acer Predator Helios 300 has to offer. The Helios can be found on Amazon for $1,156, saving you over $700. Its GTX 1060 will deliver most of the performance that the Equinox can, has longer battery life and is built more sturdily, but the major tradeoffs are its size, weight and aesthetics.
Bottom Line
The Equinox is no doubt an attractive laptop, and the addition of the Intel Core i7-8750H is a no-brainer. Last year, an equivalent Max-Q laptop would easily cost at least $200 more than the Equinox’s asking price, and you would have been stuck with a Core i7-7700HQ. The i7-8750H’s extra cores deliver outstanding performance in Adobe applications. Plus, the Equinox has a top-notch cooling solution.
Digital Storm's laptop isn’t without its faults. For a system that's meant to be carried, it has very weak battery life and a dull screen that won't look good in a bright room. If you're looking for equal parts slim and powerful, however, the Equinox is definitely worth considering.
MORE: Best Gaming Laptops
MORE: Gaming Laptop Previews
MORE: All Laptop Content
