Bijan Bowen tests Poolside Laguna S2.1, a 118-billion-parameter mixture-of-experts model with 8 billion active parameters and a one-million-token context window. Its size makes it plausible for high-memory local systems, and its license permits commercial and non-commercial use.
Coding tests included a browser operating system, a C++ skateboarding game, a subway first-person scene, a 3D printer simulation and front-end designs. The model kept working through errors and sometimes recovered, but several outputs were broken, stalled or needed multiple repair passes.
Creative-writing tests were the surprise. The model produced lively role-play and extended comic scenes that Bijan Bowen judged stronger than its coding work, making creativity the clearest strength in this hands-on review.
Watch on YouTube
