Tuxedo Book BA15 and XA15 Linux Notebooks on Picasso and Matisse

XA15 Linux notebooks rely on Picasso and Matisse Review

The German manufacturer Tuxedo, which specializes in Linux hardware, expands its notebook portfolio with AMD Ryzen 3000 (test). The company from Augsburg relies on a 15-watt APU of the type AMD Picasso (test) as well as on adult desktop processors up to the Ryzen 9 3950X (test) with 16 Zen-2 cores.

Tuxedo Book BA15: Endurance for long Ryzen

With a battery life of 13 hours in normal "working mode", 10 hours streaming 1080p content with 50 percent display brightness and up to 25 hours in low power idle mode, Tuxedo advertises its 1.4 kg lightweight 15.6-inch notebook BA15 with AMD Ryzen 5 3500U. Tuxedo certifies the built-in 91 Wh battery with its 6 cells "endurance for long cycles" and groundbreaking battery life.

Single channel without exception

The 16.8 mm thin notebook is based on a simple metal housing with magnesium alloy (AZ91D) and offers in addition to the 15-watt Picasso APU of the U series with 4 cores, 8 threads and a maximum of 3.7 Ghz turbo clock 8 GB DDR4-2666 from Samsung, which is available in singlechannel is operated. The other configurations with 16 and 32 GB of memory run without exception in single-channel operation, which has a negative effect on the integrated Radeon Vega8 Mobile, but will be difficult in the targeted office operation.

The M.2 SSD with a capacity of 250 GB connected via SATA can be supplemented by a second SATA or Nvme SSD via an additional M.2 expansion space. The manufacturer itself offers configurations with up to 2 TB SATA and NVME disks.

The Tuxedo Book BA15 measures 356 234 17 mm and has two USB 2.0, USB-A 3.2 Gen1 and USB-C 3.2 Gen1, one HDMI 2.0, one RJ-45 for Gigabit Ethernet as well as an audio jack and a micro SD card reader. The maximum 310 cd/m² bright IPS display dissolves with 1,920 1,080 pixels in Full HD and has a contrast ratio of 1,200:1.

"Wi-Fi 6 (early IEEE 802.111ax) can also be realized as a paid extra via an Intel AX200 chip"

New Tuxedo Book BA15 Review

Tuxedo Book XA15: 16 cores and Geforce RTX 2070

The Tuxedo Book XA15, which is based on desktop processors of the type Matisse and is equipped with an AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and 8 GB DDR4-2666 as well as an Nvidia Geforce RTX 2060 with 8 GB VRAM, aims in a completely different direction. From the aforementioned Ryzen 5 3600 to the Ryzen 9 3950X, the complete desktop portfolio from AMD is available. An Nvidia Geforce RTX 2070 is available as a maximum configuration for graphics cards.

The memory of the mobile workstation can be upgraded to up to 64 GB DDR4-2666 in the dual channel, in terms of fixed memory up to 4 TB via the Nvme protocol are possible. Intel Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1 via AX200 chipset are standard on this 2.6 kg and 33 mm thick desktop replacement.

The image output is provided by a 15.6-inch IPS display with 144 Hz, Full HD resolution and a maximum brightness of 300 cd/m².

"Tuxedo Book XA15 with AMD Ryzen 3000 desktop CPU"

Availability and prices

The Tuxedo Book BA15 is available from June 15 directly via Tuxedo itself and costs in the basic configuration with AMD Ryzen 5 3500U, 8 GB DDR4-2666 and 250 GB SATA SSD 859 Euro.

The Tuxedo Book XA15 is now available in the manufacturer’s online shop and costs 1,499 euros with an AMD Ryzen 5 3600, 8 GB DDR4-2666, a Geforce RXT 2060 and also a 250 GB SATA SSD.

As an operating system, the Tuxedoos based on Ubuntu is used as standard, but can be replaced by other Linux distributions on request.