Corsair’s first-ever gaming laptop features a touch bar

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Corsair's first-ever gaming laptop features a touch bar

After decades of being the desktop leader, Corsair launches its first-ever gaming laptop. The new Voyager a1600 is an AMD powerhouse, equipped with both Ryzen 6000-series and AMD Radeon RX 6000-series processors. The device is Corsair’s first foray into mobile hardware after acquiring enthusiastic PC maker Origin in 2019.

We don’t yet know with absolute certainty what this device will look like, as the images Corsair provided us with are rendered only and we only got a glimpse during AMD’s Computex keynote. Still, take a look, and one feature will probably catch your eye: there’s a Touch Bar.

A closer look at a real Corsair Voyager.
Screenshot by Sean Hollister / The Verge

This row of shortcut keys above the keyboard deck isn’t really called the “Touch Bar,” of course. Corsair specifically described it to me as “ten easy-to-access, customizable S-key shortcuts.” The good thing is that this set of 10 easy-to-access, customizable S-key hotkeys adds extra keys to the keyboard — not really substitute the feature set that some… other manufacturers have chosen with mixed reception.

These S-buttons are powered by the Elgato Stream Deck software, meaning you’d likely use them for various live streaming controls, including switching scenes, launching media, and adjusting audio. We wouldn’t necessarily expect a laptop to be the device of choice for many streamers, but it’s still an interesting idea that’s uncommon in the gaming space – and can also work well as a Zoom meeting controller.

Also, it appears that you can access those touch controls while the laptop is closed. I like that you can see the battery gauge before you open the thing, but I’m wondering if keys might get bumped while the laptop is in a backpack or something. We’ll know more about how these buttons work when we get our hands on the device (which Corsair says should be sometime in July).

Elsewhere, the Voyager will pack a low-profile, full-size Cherry MX mechanical keyboard with per-key RGB backlighting, along with a 1080p FHD webcam. I’m seeing what looks like a physical webcam shutter in these renders, which could be a good sign that Corsair is making some effort in this area (which not all game makers are doing).

Potential Voyager buyers can choose between a Ryzen 7 6800HS and a Ryzen 9 6900HS – both configurations are equipped with a Radeon 6800M GPU. You can get up to 64GB of RAM (Corsair Vengeance DDR5, of course) and 2TB of storage. The device features a 16-inch, 2560 x 1600, 240Hz display with two Thunderbolt 3 USB 4.0 ports, one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, one USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, one SDXC 7.0 card reader and an audio jack.

It’s not surprising that Corsair follows in the footsteps of Razer, another gaming hardware company that expanded into the enthusiast laptop sphere after a build-and-buy spree. Corsair has recently made a number of acquisitions, including Elgato, peripherals maker Scuf Gaming, and Origin, and seems poised to expand its reach to users who don’t necessarily want to build their own systems.

The quality and success of this laptop could be our first clue as to how well this expansion will go. Origin has a history of making decent PCs and they excel at the customizability of the systems they sell. It’ll be interesting to see how configurable the new Corsair machine is and how well those design choices go down in the enthusiast space.

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