Medion Akoya S14406 in the test: Noble convertible at Aldi

There is nothing to criticize about the workmanship: Medion produced the Akoya S14406 with care, there are no large gaps or creaking noises. Creaking is also hardly possible, because the processor, memory, etc. are all in an aluminum housing. Many other manufacturers don’t have that.

They often pack only the display cover in elegant aluminum, and they encase the floor assembly with keyboard and technology in inexpensive, light plastic. Speaking of weight: Despite the all-aluminum housing, the Medion only weighs around 1.7 kilograms, which is not feather-light, but okay for a 14-inch convertible.

Less nice: The display with a diagonal of almost 36 centimeters doesn’t show websites, photos and videos in the best light: Colors appear pale and distorted (87 percent color fidelity), the brightness is too low for working outdoors in bright sunshine (240 candelas per square meter). ), the contrast could be bigger.

After all, the Full HD resolution of 1920×1080 pixels is good for detailed playback on the 14-inch screen. And the display quality does not deteriorate further when viewed from the side.

The high blinking angle stability is important because the display can be placed up to 360 degrees on the back of the keyboard. This opens up the following possible uses:

• Work: as a classic notebook for working with the screen open.
• Presentations: set up as an inverted V for viewing movies, photos and presentations.
• Surf, shop, chat: as a tablet for surfing the net – the screen is on the back of the floor assembly.

The touchscreen required for the latter two modes worked perfectly in the test, implementing inputs quickly and precisely.

Incidentally, the Medion also completed the speed tests quickly: Excel spreadsheets with miserably long columns of numbers were calculated without a long wait, and the creation of videos from several clips also worked at an unacceptable speed – although the built-in technology is not entirely new:

• Processor: The Core i5-10210U mid-range processor introduced in 2019 is a few years old.
• Random access memory: At 8 gigabytes, the RAM is not excessively large, but still acceptable.
• SSD: The SSD is a model with fast NVMe technology, a fast PCI Express 3.0 connection and 477 gigabytes of memory.

Great: If the space on the SSD is too tight, you can easily plant a second SSD in the Medion. Although only a copy with a slower SATA connection, but still. 1 terabyte models are already available from 80 euros. And users can also simply swap the existing NVMe model for an SSD with more memory if necessary. In addition, the Aldi notebook has a maintenance flap on the underside that allows access to both memories (picture above). However, the working memory is permanently soldered, so it cannot be expanded.

16 gigabytes of RAM would have been good for the installed Windows 11 operating system. However, customers cannot currently expect that from a notebook that costs just under 600 euros. But a solid battery life. And that’s what the Medion, which works beautifully and quietly in all situations, offers: In the test, it managed around six hours without a socket. If it is empty, the user needs patience: The Aldi notebook then had to be plugged in for almost four hours. In addition, charging is still carried out using a power supply unit with a round plug instead of a modern USB-C connection. But even that is tolerable in this price range.

The price and performance of the Medion Akoya S14406 match. Even if the display is not a feast for the eyes, the Aldi notebook is convincing overall – with good workmanship, versatile usage modes, high working speed and a decent battery life.