Why your next work laptop should be a Venom BlackBook Zero 14 Phantom

Venom is a laptop company that does things a little differently. The founder despaired of the laptop industry he worked in, particularly its obsession with building disposable laptops that would quickly end up in landfill. So, he decided to make his own, high-quality laptops - for work and business - that would last longer. How much longer? Well...

Venom wants to use its own customers as suppliers in order to combat E-waste. Whether that's a virtue that attracts you or something that makes you roll your eyes, the upshot is that Venom will pay you $500 after SEVEN YEARS to get your laptop back, so that it can be refurbished. That's how much faith the company has in its laptops.

Indeed, the 14-inch, CNC-milled, magnesium-alloy chassis is very sturdy, the hinges are very high quality, and yet, it's just 16mm thick and weighs only 1.22 kg. That's particularly impressive, considering there's a huge 90Wh battery inside(!)

The Venom BlackBook Zero 14 Phantom is powered by an Intel Core i7-1360P processor with four Performance cores and eight Efficient cores that operate between 3.7 and 5GHz across 16 threads. This isn't a typical, low-powered processor which fails to provide the necessary performance required, nor does it come with potentially problematic Ai processors and applications which can be distracting if not security concerns. It also retains HyperThreading for those who need the extra performance for occasional tasks like CAD, rendering and coding.

On top of that, Venom's online configurator means you can choose from between 8GB to (a colossal) 96GB of DDR5 RAM - great for workers who have MS Teams and countless Chrome tabs open. Storage ranges from 256GB all the way up to 8TB(!) You'll be hard pressed to find other any other business laptop vendors who can so-easily deliver such a wide-range of SKUs on the same platform.

You can get Venom computers through Managed Service Providers or directly from Venom's site - wherever you are in the world. On top of that, Venom offers instant chat to a human being at the storefront whereas most competitors have switched to (infuriating) Ai chatbots.

As for other specs, the Venom BlackBook Zero 14 Phantom comes with a bright, quick (90Hz), pin-sharp, 2,880 x 1,800 IPS screen that's got a matte coating which banishes annoying (and eye-tiring) reflections. There's plenty of Desktop real estate to work on office documents and spreadsheets. Text is all very sharp.

There's a Full HD webcam above it which, along with a dual-microphone array, ensures web-conferencing doesn't become a noisy mess. It supports Windows Hello facial-recognition log-in, too.

There are also twin 2-watt speakers that pack a punch you wouldn't expect from a thin-and-light laptop.

Importantly, the Scrabble-tile, touch-type keyboard is one of the most-well weighted, comfortable and accurate on the market, meaning there'll be fewer typos, less time spent editing and no sore fingertips after prolonged use. It's near-silent to use and has three-stages of backlighting so you can use it in, say, a dark airline cabin without distracting others.

The glass-coated trackpad is very smooth and accurate and has quiet, high-quality clicking action. A quick double-tap in the top left corner will disable it when required, too.

Connectivity includes a Thunderbolt 4 port, USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 port, SD card reader, and 3.5mm audio jack on the left. On the right is a USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 port, another USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 port, and an HDMI 2.1 port. That's an unusually impressive complement of modern and legacy connectors for a thin-and-light business laptop. Inside, there's Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2.

Most importantly of all, for business buyers, this laptop won't change its core spec (or price) for three years, so you needn't worry about annually-refreshed models and the associated headaches that their mismatched drivers bring with them. Nor do you need to time your investments (and potential over-buy) to times of sales as Venom doesn't have any - there's no better time to buy. These policies are important to bulk buyers.

Portability is impressive, not just because of the svelte, lightweight-yet-robust metal chassis, but the battery life, which, in this review, saw the BlackBook run PCMark 10's Modern Office test for over 13 hours and the UL Procyon Microsoft Office benchmark for almost 16-hours. That's impressive for a full-powered processor: nearly two days out of the office (although your mileage will vary according to the tasks you perform and your laptop's specifications).

We haven't even mentioned that it looks good, too - it's a bit more inspiring than the usual, dull, grey fare handed out to workers. It all boils down to being an award-winning business laptop that will suit students, mobile professionals, and whole offices alike. So, if you need a laptop for school, for work, or for a fleet of users, get over to Venom and check out a Venom BlackBook Zero 14 Phantom now!