This is the long overdue review of the Walton Passion laptop. I bought this laptop for myself back in October 2016 and if you’re wondering why this review has been so delayed, it’s because I’ve been using this computer all the time. This laptop will be with me for the foreseeable future so if you have any questions, leave them in the YouTube Comments section, I should be able to answer them. Please watch the review video for more details.
Design & Build
The passion is made of plastic and has a fake metal finish that looks quite nice and can take some abuse. This finish doesn’t feel cheap and is actually great because it doesn’t catch stains or fingerprints easily. I have put this laptop through a lot of punishment and aside from a few scratches, the body has held up well. It’s heavy at 2.15kg but this is not an ultrabook. Even though the laptop feels sturdy, the screen wobbles whenever I switch on the fan which does get annoying after a while. Regardless, this first attempt can be viewed as good news for future Walton laptops.
The keyboard was surprisingly great. Over the past few months, it has consistently exceeded expectations and has performed reliably while I typed out scripts, articles and college essays. It is not backlit but for this price you probably won’t find a brand new laptop with backlit keys. The keys are evenly spaced and have good travel making for a comfortable typing experience. They are a tad on the mushy side but it was not distracting. The keys are not loud either, making them ideal for use in libraries, offices or other spaces where discretion is preferred.
The trackpad on the other hand needs some serious work. It feels ok to the touch but it’s just bad at tracking and two finger scrolling. Having said that, to get a good Windows trackpad you will have to spend a lot of money so this is a compromise you’ll find on virtually every budget Windows laptop. Pro tip, get a mouse, it will make life easier. The speakers are located at the bottom of the laptop and are only useful in silent areas. For any sort of audio, you will need headphones or an external speaker.
In terms of I/O, I’ll have to pat Walton on the back because they basically packed in everything. We’ve got 2 USB 3.0 ports, a single USB 2.0 port, an HDMI port, A VGA port, an ethernet port, a 3.5mm audio out and mic port, an SD card reader and even a DVD drive. It’s obviously got WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0 built in. I’m very happy that Walton included all these ports as it’s convenient to have these older legacy ports in Bangladesh.
Display
The display is an LCD panel and measures 14 inches diagonally. It’s got an HD resolution and looks reasonably sharp from regular viewing distances. I’ll be honest with you, this is not a very attractive screen and is difficult to read when tilted. The colours shift very noticeably when the screen is moved so you will be spending some time finding what angle works best for you. There is a sweet spot at around 50-60% brightness where the screen looks good but be prepared for a mediocre experience. The brightness level goes high enough to use outdoors and the anti glare coating helps in these scenarios.
Performance
I should remind you that this is a budget computer. There’s a 6th gen Intel core i3 processor inside clocked at 2.3GHz along with 4GB of RAM. There’s even an extra SODIMM slot so you can upgrade the RAM afterwards if needed. It comes with a 500GB hard drive with Microsoft DOS along with genuine Windows 10 if requested. Ne sure to contact Walton about the OS being offered with the laptop.
The laptop is well equipped to deal with the average everyday workload such as word processing and I’ve even used it to edit 1080p videos. Video editing is not smooth but it’s good enough to get the job done. A number of the videos on our YouTube channel were edited on this machine which is a testament to what one can achieve with some patience. Don’t try 4k video editing, this computer can’t edit that. On numerous occasions I connected the laptop to an external 1080p display and ran a dual screen setup. The laptop surprisingly handled the workload and was smooth throughout my use.
The Passion is not built for games so forget running modern game titles. What you could do is run older games or mobile games at reasonably smooth frame rates. I personally installed Remix OS on this and played some modern Android games without difficulty. The battery life is decent as well and I usually get around 5 hours of use but this will vary depending on what you’re doing. Video editing got me 2-3 hours of use. A plus point is the compact size of the charging brick which makes it easy to carry around.
Conclusion & Price
The Passion costs Tk/- 29,990 and can be found at the larger Walton outlets. For the price, Walton has added better specifications than the competition and did a pretty good job with their first laptops.
I recommend this laptop for purchase for a number of reasons. Firstly, for the price there are few laptops that offer similar specifications so the value for money is greater with this machine. Secondly, the keyboard and I/O situation is very good. The price makes this laptop one that students would probably consider, the good keyboard is an added bonus.
So why did I buy this machine? I needed a portable computer that I could take with me anywhere to get my work done. I also use this alongside my desktop whenever I’m editing videos. This laptop was more powerful and cheaper than the nearest competition and has so far lived up to my demands. It’s excellent for rough use and a very good option for students on a budget. My real question is, how long will Walton’s first laptop last for me? To find out, subscribe and stay tuned for an update.
