This post was written in collaboration with Mythic Gaming
When it comes to tech and gadgets, I tend to stick with the brands I know. The ones who spend a lot of money on advertising and marketing to ensure their brand is front of mind when you make a purchase. They’re usually giant global entities who have stretched their fingers across the globe to ensure every new corner is investigated and poked with a few well spend dollars on print advertisements and Facebook placements. The thing is the reason we stick with these brands is that we kind of know what to expect. When it comes to warranties and returns, we’ll need to jump through a million hoops and spend ages on a call centre line but we know they’re established and that gives us peace of mind.
When I first heard about Mythic Gaming I was curious but apprehensive.
Mythic Gaming is a new South African laptop brand that launched recently. They’re a family run business that offers up 3 laptop models, which are manufactured in Taiwan. The laptops are sold online via the Mythic Gaming website, so you’re purchasing from the owners of the business and, when you reach out, dealing directly with the owners. Mythic Gaming wanted to find a way to bring powerful machines to local users without too large a price tag. When I chatted to the owners they explained they realised a gaming laptop purchase is a huge step for many people and by allowing the customer direct access to the small business, they could negate any fears but also be a bit more hands on with the purchase process.
What does Mythic Gaming offer?
The range of gaming laptops is simple. There are 3 options available: The Mythic Standard, Mythic High and Mythic Ultra. I figure the names explain themselves. All 3 laptops are more than capable of providing you with the necessary power to game. The higher spec models add a few bells and whistles to the mix. Pricing is really decent. The Mythic Standard is currently marked down to R18 399, which is a great price considering the specs of the laptop. You can take a look at those here.
Hands on with the Mythic High
Early in the month I was sent a Mythic High to test out. It retails at R25 299. Specs wise you’re looking at the following:
- An intel i7 10750H
- Nvidia RTX 2060 Mobile
- 15,6″ 144Hz display
- 512GB SSD and a 16GB Samsung DDR4 3200mhz Dual Channel RAM
Straight out the box it was a bit of baptism by fire for the Mythic High. I’d just found out I needed to work a job that would require me to run 2 camera and 2 game feeds. I’d use my usual gaming and streaming rig to run the main streams through to the production desk but would need a second device to run the secondary content. I had no idea how the Mythic would hold up. In the past I’ve struggled with gaming laptops when I’ve pushed them past just gaming. Even the high end devices tend to struggle when asked to run multiple software, a game and then stream it out. They shouldn’t. On paper they should handle it. In reality, they don’t. They usually lag a bit, overheat and unless they’re a top of the range device, they really aren’t ideal for streaming and game play at the same time. The Mythic High surprised me. It coped fine. I’ll admit into the third hour it was running relatively warm, but it got the job done and didn’t let me down!
I was also really impressed taking the device out the box. It had a premium look and feel to it. The brushed metal finish looks really premium and gives a great first impression. There’s always a concern when buying a “new” brand that it just won’t compare next to one of the well established brands. The Mythic High could easily sit next to a Gigabyte or ASUS device with the same specs and hold its own. The keyboard is an awesome soft to touch and the overall look of the device is sleek and sophisticated. My only real complaint would be the weight of it. It’s a little bit chunky but that allows for a lot of cooling vents – something that is ideal if you plan to make it do some heavy lifting. There are a host of ports available for USB connections, LAN cable and the like.
Final thoughts?
I’m not one to run bench marks and push a gaming laptop to the limit. My goal is always to use it for what I’d usually do and see if it holds up. The Mythic High did just that. It is a good looking gaming device that does what is needed. It comes with a 1 year Warranty and a 9 month warranty on the battery. I think for an “unknown” brand it can definitely hold its own with the bigger players who offer similar specs and the prices are on par. I don’t think it would hurt to add it to your comparison list when you’re shopping around. The Mythic team are really helpful and you do get more of that one on one treatment that you might be looking for over shopping from a big retailer.
You can visit their website here and take a look at the various devices on offer.
Remember when buying a gaming laptop to look at: After sale service (see how easy it is to contact the retailer/seller and make sure after sales doesn’t mean you’re handed off to someone else, consider what you need the device to do and then finally do a cost comparison with other gaming laptops offering up similar specs. Remember to compare oranges with oranges!).
Disclosure: I was sent a Mythic High to test out and try. I did not keep the device.
