With the VIA 14 Pro, SCHENKER offers a compact notebook that scores with high performance and, above all, a large range of connections.
In contrast to models like the Dell XPS, Apple MacBook, etc., the VIA 14 Pro has full USB A ports, in addition to USB C, HDMI and Co.
We also have the powerful AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS, which is said to have a TDP of 54W. It all sounds very exciting!
But what does it look like in practice? Is the SCHENKER VIA 14 Pro really good here?
At this point, many thanks to SCHENKER for loaning us the VIA 14 Pro for this test.
SCHENKER VIA 14 Pro in the test
The VIA 14 Pro is typically an extremely simple notebook from SCHENKER. This relies on a completely black aluminum / plastic housing. The lid and the bottom shell of the notebook are made of aluminum, the palm rest is made of plastic.
We only have a subtle “S” logo on the back of the lid.
Otherwise, the notebook is very clean and unobtrusive. The processing quality is good, but “unspectacular”. We have well-rounded edges and the notebook appears stable. However, we don’t have a particularly “delicate” design either.
At 313.5 x 222 x 18.5 mm and a weight of 1.39 kg, the SCHENKER VIA 14 Pro can certainly be described as compact and portable, but it is not absolutely tiny either.
In return, we also have a very good variety of connections!
USB-C 3.2 Gen2×1* (DisplayPort 1.4a: ja, FreeSync-kompatibel | Power Delivery: ja)
USB-A 3.2 Gen1 (powered)
HDMI 2.0b (FreeSync-kompatibel | HDCP 2.2 | 18 Gbps)
USB-C 3.2 Gen2×1* (DisplayPort 1.4a: ja, FreeSync-kompatibel | Power Delivery: ja))
2-in-1-Audio (Kopfhörer + Mikrofon)
USB-A 3.2 Gen1 (powered)
microSD-Kartenleser
This looks very good! We have 2x USB C and 2x USB A, an HDMI port and a microSD card reader.
Maybe a USB 4 port would have been nice, but otherwise there’s nothing to complain about!
The notebook is charged exclusively via USB C. A corresponding USB Power Delivery 100W charger is included in the scope of delivery.
Keyboard and trackpad
The SCHENKER VIA 14 Pro has a classic German chiclet keyboard without a number pad.
The quality of the keyboard is impeccable! The keyboard deck is very stable, the keys have a good pressure point and generally this is a pleasant keyboard to type on.
In my opinion, the VIA 14 Pro is absolutely recommended for those who write a lot.
The trackpad is also great! It’s nice and big, feels good and the tracking is above average precise.
The input devices on the SCHENKER VIA 14 Pro are strong.
speaker
SCHENKER, like XMG, has a very difficult time with speakers in notebooks! The VIA 14 Pro is also manageable in this respect.
The speakers themselves are “OK”. I’ve heard worse, but a MacBook or the newer Dell XPS models are in a completely different league, both in terms of volume and fullness of sound.
The speakers are rather a weak point of this notebook.
Display
The VIA 14 Pro has a 14 inch display with a resolution of 2880 x 1800 pixels and 120 Hz!
This sounds fantastic, we have a good, high resolution, as well as a high refresh rate, which subjectively makes using the notebook significantly “smoother”.
The brightness is given as a “classic” 300 cd/m² and the color rendering is described as 99% sRGB, which is OK but not spectacular either.
Subjectively, the VIA 14 Pro’s display looks good. It’s nice and bright, colors are nice and clear and the viewing angles are also strong.
The measured values confirm the positive impression. The display achieved 100% sRGB, 77% AdobeRGB and 77% DCI-P3 color space coverage. Good values!
The brightness is also a good 343 cd/m² and the contrast is a very good 1680:1.
This means that the display is also absolutely usable for hobby photo and video editing. In addition, there is the 120 Hz which makes all movements on the display “softer” and more beautiful.
Performance
The heart of the VIA 14 Pro is the AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS.
AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS | 8 cores/16 threads | up to 5.1GHz | 16MB Cache | 54W TDP
This is a “full” CPU and not a low power model. The AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS has a TDP of 45 W or SCHENKER even speaks of up to 54 W, which is very impressive.
This means that the CPU performance of the notebook should be considerable and one of the best in its class!
On the graphics card side, we “only” have the integrated Radeon 780M.
AMD Radeon 780M | 12 GPU cores | integrated
But this is one of the best integrated graphics cards currently on the market! It is even sufficient for photo and video editing such as light gaming.
Unfortunately, the RAM is permanently installed in the VIA 14 Pro! At least we always have 32 GB of DDR5 RAM here, which is OK.
On the SSD side, the notebook is flexible and accepts 2x 2280 NVME SSDs. When ordering, you have a large selection of different SSD models that SCHENKER can install in the notebook for you.
Let’s look at a few benchmarks.
The CPU performance is strong as expected with the AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS! This is one of the fastest notebooks currently on the market in terms of CPU performance.
The VIA 14 Pro is less comparable to other “ultra portable” notebooks such as the Dell XPS 13, but rather to large gaming notebooks in terms of CPU performance.
The GPU performance, on the other hand, is “OK”. The AMD Radeon 780M is certainly one of the best integrated graphics cards currently on the market, but it is still an integrated graphics card.
Accordingly, you can assume that most games will run usably at Full HD resolution and low details, or older games will also run at slightly higher details.
SSD
You can choose the SSD in the VIA 14 Pro more or less freely when ordering. Schenker offers you the choice of Western Digital, Crucial, Samsung, etc. SSDs.
My VIA 14 Pro has the Samsung 990 Pro, which is pretty much the best SSD you can choose for the notebook.
Accordingly, the performance looks fantastic with 7137 MB/s reading and 6877 MB/s writing.
Battery life
The SCHENKER VIA 14 Pro has a 60 Wh battery. A good, but not outstanding capacity for a notebook of this class.
When playing a video, you can expect a runtime in the range of 8.5-9 hours, which is considerable.
For Office/Web browsing, the runtime is around 6-7 hours, depending on the intensity.
Conclusion
The SCHENKER VIA 14 Pro is a fantastic notebook for anyone looking for a lot of CPU performance in a compact notebook with considerable IO.
There are certainly notebooks that are even smaller and lighter, but in contrast to these, the VIA 14 Pro has a “full-fledged” 45W CPU and also port equipment that allows it to be used without an adapter.
Unfortunately we don’t have USB 4 or Thunderbolt, but aside from that, everything you could want is there, including full USB A ports and HDMI.
Otherwise, the notebook is also very well equipped. We have a good display with high resolution and 120 Hz, which offers good color reproduction and calibration. The keyboard is strong and the trackpad is decent.
The battery life is also decent at just over 8 hours. Only the speakers are rather mediocre.
The AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS installed here offers more than enough performance even for professional applications. The integrated AMD 780M is not a gaming graphics card, but at Full HD resolution it is certainly capable of playing modern games.
Last but not least, there are plus points for the German company SCHENKER, which is considered to be excellent, especially when it comes to support and repairs. Source:
In short, the VIA 14 Pro is a great and very portable notebook with excellent CPU performance and a good display.