Netgear's Nighthawk X4 router touts itself as gamer-friendly

Say hello to the Nighthawk X4 which, despite sounding like it belongs in a top secret military bunker, is actually Netgear's latest router built for smart home WiFi.

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Netgear's spiffing new router touts up to 2.33Gbps network speeds, a bold claim it achieves by adding 1733Mbps (5.0GHz band) and 600Mbps (2.4GHz band).

It's also got the heftiest processor in router-dom, with a dual-core 1.4GHz CPU buried inside the stealh bomber-inspired chassis. Tag on Wave 2 support and four antennae, and we're talking some serious network heft.

The next important thing to note is that this is an 802.11 ac router, meaning it'll offer especially nippy speeds with 802.11 ac friendly devices, like the new iPhone 6 for instance.

Netgear reckons its router is a solid choice for gamers, and here's why - it makes use of Dynamic QoS tech.

For the QoS non-savvy, it's basically how the router prioritises which devices and programs to allocate the most bandwidth to.

Fortunately for die-hard gamers, the Dynamic QoS system prioritises low latency-dependent games above all else, meaning if one of your fellow householdees start downloading a 50GB torrent, you won't suddenly start lagging in-game.

"The Nighthawk X4 is designed for gamers and people who do a lot of video streaming," says Sandeep Harpalani, Director of Product Marketing at Netgear.

If it fails as a router, it's at least a shoo-in for Robot Wars success...

"We are excited to leverage the best in processing power, Dynamic Quality of service, and dual-band WiFi technology to exceed the expectations of demanding consumers."

After gaming in the priority list comes high definition streaming - we're talking stuff like Netflix and Amazon Instant Video - and then more benign things like YouTube, web-browsing and, right at the bottom of the pile, torrenting.

If you're happy to eat up all your household's bandwidth via your BitTorrent client however, then you turn off the Dynamic QoS and enjoy the usual speeds.

While QoS isn't new, Harpalani told T3 that Netgear's is the 'most advanced on the market', and can recognises different applications, programs, and games. It'll also update automatically to adjust for new game releases.

Alongside this, the router will also prioritise your living room TV over a smartphone or tablet. Neato.

Some other nifty features include a waterproof chassis, 2x USB 3.0 ports, an eSATA port, and an off-switch for lighting if you're not keen on a glowing hub.

The Nighthawk X4 is actually the second Wave 2 router to hit the market, the first being the Asus RT-AC87. It seems benchmarks are favouring the Asus right now, although we've yet to run our own tests.

If you're keen to snap up a Nighthawk X4 then you're in luck - it's now available, although you're looking at a hefty £229.99 price tag.