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| PC World - 9 May (PC World)Picking up a brand new laptop can be a stressful experience. How much storage will I need? Which GPU is the best for my budget? The sight of the alphabet soup model numbers are enough to set your heart racing. If you’re not sure where to begin, don’t worry, you’ve come to the right place. Whether you’re looking for a lightning fast gaming laptop or a lightweight 2-in-1 for office work, we’ve got something for everyone.
Why you should trust us: It’s in our name. PCWorld prides itself on laptop experience and expertise. We’ve been covering PCs since 1983, and we now review more than 70 laptops every year. All of the picks below have been personally tested and vetted by our experts, who’ve applied not only performance benchmarks but rigorous usability standards. We’re also committed to reviewing PC laptops at every price point to help you find a machine that matches your budget.
Looking for sweet discounts? Check out our regularly updated roundup of the best laptop deals available right now.
Updated May 8, 2024: We added the Lenovo Yoga 7i underneath our top 2-in-1 pick because it’s a good option for those who prefer fit and longevity over raw performance. We’ve also updated our list of recent laptop reviews.
The best laptops at a glance
Dell Inspiron 14 Plus (2024) (Best overall), $849.99 at Dell
Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (Best overall runner-up), $999.99 at Asus
Acer Aspire 3 (Best budget laptop), $329.99 at Acer
Alienware m16 R2 (Best gaming laptop), $1,849.99 at Dell
MacBook Air M3 (Best Mac) $1,594 at Amazon
Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus (Best Chromebook) $499 at Best Buy
Alienware m16 R2 (Best gaming laptop) $1,849.99 at Dell
Samsung Galaxy Book4 Ultra (Best content creation laptop) $2,094.99 at Samsung
Acer TravelMate P6 (Best ultraportable) $1,157.09 at Amazon
Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED (Best 2-in-1) $1,199.99 at Amazon
The best laptops we’ve tested
Dell Inspiron 14 Plus (2024) – Best overall
Pros
Strong performance
Exceptional battery life
Wonderful typing experience
Cons
CPU throttles under heavy loads
No user upgrades
Why we like the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus
The Dell Inspiron 14 Plus is one of the most well-rounded laptops money can buy. It offers strong performance, exceptional battery life, and a vibrant display. The best part is that it costs about $1,000, which is a reasonable price point considering the price to performance ratio. In fact, it performed exceptionally in PCMark 10’s benchmark, according to our review. With a PCMark 10 score of 7,061, it beat out the Acer Swift Go 14, which has similar specs to the Dell, and the more expensive Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon. The Inspiron 14 Plus also lasted an impressive 17 hours on a single charge, which is definitely more than a full workday or school day. You don’t have to worry about finding a wall outlet to charge up.
Who should buy the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus
Anyone looking for a really good, well-rounded laptop. In addition to the impressive performance and battery life, it also has a lovely 14-inch 1400p display. According to our review, “the display is exceedingly well suited to office work and static imagery.” It has a peak brightness level of a stunning 418 nits as well as an anti-glare coating, which means you can use this laptop in different lighting environments. It may not have the prettiest design we’ve ever seen, but its hardware capabilities and astoundingly long battery life make up for the blah aesthetics.
Alternative option: If you’re looking to save about $200, you should definitely consider picking up the Acer Swift Go 14. It offers zippy day-to-day performance, long battery life, and a good typing experience.
Read our full
Dell Inspiron 14 Plus review
Asus Zenbook 14 OLED – Best overall runner-up
Pros
Robust build quality
Attractive OLED touchscreen
Good CPU and integrated GPU performance
Outstanding battery life
Cons
Blah design
Keyboard isn`t memorable
Mediocre connectivity options
Why we like the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED
The Asus Zenbook 14 OLED wowed us with its zippy CPU performance, phenomenal battery life, and attractive OLED touchscreen display. According to our review, “movies and games look realistic and vibrant” on the 1200p OLED touchscreen, although it can be difficult to use in bright environments due to the reflective surface. It also lasted 16 hours on a single charge, which is absolutely wild! That result really trumps otherwise excellent competitors like the Lenovo Slim 7 14 Gen 9 and the HP Pavilion Plus Laptop 14. As for performance, the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED absolutely crushed the PCMark 10 benchmark with an impressive score of 6,772. That means it’s very fast and responsive during real-world tasks like web browsing, video conferencing, and so on.
Who should buy the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED
Anyone looking for a powerful, affordable laptop with an OLED display! It’s so much more than its OLED screen, though. The build quality is quite good and day-to-day performance is zippy. Plus, you won’t have to go looking for an outlet often thanks to the long battery life. Connectivity options are a bit limited, but that’s not unusual for a laptop in this price range. Overall, it’s a great Windows machine that hits all the right marks.
Read our full
Asus Zenbook 14 OLED review
Acer Aspire 3 – Best budget laptop
Pros
Reliable performance
1080p display
HD webcam
Solid build
Cons
Speakers sound tinny when playing music
A little heavy
Best Prices Today:
$299.99 at Amazon
Why we like the Acer Aspire 3
The Acer Aspire 3 laptop offers both reliable performance and a rugged build at an imminently affordable price. It’s fast enough for everyday tasks like checking e-mail, watching Netflix, and browsing the web. You’re also getting a full-sized keyboard as well as a 1080p screen. The Aspire 3 also blew the competition out of the water with a Cinebench R15 score of 1,925, beating out the Acer Aspire Vero 14, which has similar hardware. Cinebench is designed to run all of the cores of a laptop’s CPU and determine how well a laptop handles processor-intensive multi-threaded workloads.
Who should buy the Acer Aspire 3
Anyone who’s on a restricted budget! To get more specific, we feel as though the Acer Aspire 3 is a good option for students and remote workers. It’s inexpensive and the HD webcam produces “clean, crisp video” according to our review, which means you’ll always look your best in videoconferencing calls. It also delivers strong performance for the price.
Alternative option: If you absolutely cannot spend $330 for the Acer Aspire 3, then you should check out the Acer Aspire Go 15–it’s about $30 cheaper and has better battery life (12 hours!).
Read our full
Acer Aspire 3 review
Dell Inspiron Plus 16 7630 – Best midrange laptop
Pros
All-day battery life
Good graphics performance
Reasonable price
Cons
Light on ports
Gets warm under heavy workloads
Why we like this Dell Inspiron Plus 16
The Dell Inspiron 16 7630 packs a lot of power for the price thanks to the Intel Core i7-13700H CPU and the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU. This machine can handle both day-to-day activity as well as some gaming. The RTX 4060 GPU actually turned in a respectable 3DMark Time Spy result of 8,754. It’s not the most cutting-edge graphics performance we’ve ever seen, but you should be able to play most games on the Medium or High graphics setting. The 1600p display also has a taller 16:10 aspect ratio screen, which is ideal for office work, and the battery lasted over 11 hours on a single charge.
Who should buy the Dell Inspiron Plus 16
The Dell Inspiron Plus 16 7630 is great for professionals, students, or anyone who’s looking for a powerful yet affordable machine. The battery will last you a full work day and then some, and it can pull double duty playing games. Dell laptops often go on sale, so you may be able to score this machine at a steep discount.
Read our full
Dell Inspiron Plus 16 7630 review
MacBook Air (M3) – Best MacBook
Pros
Excellent battery life
Great combination of price, features, and performance
256GB SSD is now two NAND chips, maintaining performance
Cons
Expensive memory upgrades
Dual external display support requires closed lid
Best Prices Today:
$1,594 at Amazon$1699 at Adorama$1699 at Apple
Why we like the MacBook Air (M3)
The MacBook Air (M3) has a lot to offer for the $1,299 price. In fact, it received high marks across the board thanks to the 8-core CPU (M3) and the 10-core GPU. It’s capable of chewing through office work as well as casual use tasks. While performance is comparable to the MacBook Pro (M3), there is one difference: the fans or lack thereof. The MacBook Air doesn’t have any fans, which results in quieter operation before heavy-duty tasks will likely put more pressure on the chip. That said, battery life is the real star of the show here. The MacBook Air (M3) breathed its last breath at the 19 hour mark, which is perfect for those with busy schedules.
Who should buy the MacBook Air (M3)
Anyone who prefers MacOS over competing operating systems. Battery life is outstanding and the laptop itself is both slim and light, weighing in at just over three pounds. The 15-inch Liquid Retina (LED) screen might be considered a step-down from the MacBook Pro’s Liquid Retina XDR (mini-LED) display, but that doesn’t mean it’s a poor screen. It still looks fantastic for day-to-day use. The $1,299 price tag is also reasonable for the performance and features you’re getting.
Read our full MacBook Air (M3) review
Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus – Best Chromebook
Pros
Snappy day-to-day performance
Versatile 2-in-1 design
Good typing experience
Cons
Stylus not included
Heavier than expected
Why we like the Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus
From the convertible design to the beautiful touchscreen, the Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus has a lot to offer, especially for under $500. The 2-in-1 design allows you to swing the screen around and use the laptop like a tablet, upping the versatility factor. You can also expect snappy day-to-day performance as well as lightning fast boot-up times.
Who should buy the Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus
If you’re looking to pick up a premium Chromebook for work or personal use, then the Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus is a fine choice. While the $499 price tag is very much in the high end when it comes to Chromebooks, we feel the overall fit, finish, and firepower make it worth the extra cash.
Read our full
Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus review
Alienware m16 R2 – Best gaming laptop
Pros
Solid gaming performance
Rugged build quality
Good battery life
Cons
Display is dimmer than we like
Why we like the Alienware m16 R2
The Alienware m16 R2 delivers strong graphics performance and good battery life. This specific model comes loaded with an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H CPU and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, which is nothing to sneeze at. It lasted a respectable 11 hours and fifteen minutes on a single charge and it averaged 144 frames-per-second when running the Shadow of the Tomb Raider benchmark. According to our review, it’s only “four frames-per-second slower than the Razer Blade 16,” which has an RTX 4090 GPU and a price tag of over $3,000.
Who should buy the Alienware m16 R2
Anyone looking for a great gaming laptop. You’re getting strong graphics performance as well as long battery life, which is unusual for a gaming laptop, as most tend to die around the six hour mark. The 16-inch IPS display also has a resolution of 2560×1600 and a refresh rate of 240Hz, so gameplay should be nice and smooth. The picture quality is good, but it’s not an OLED panel. While it may not be the brightest or most color rich display we’ve ever seen, it’s perfectly fine for gaming. Besides, you can always plug into an external monitor if need be.
Alternative option: If you’re looking for a more lightweight option, you should definitely check out the $1,599 Asus ROG Zephyrus G14. It weighs just 3.31 pounds, which means you can easily take it anywhere with you. That said, it didn’t make the cut because of ho-hum battery life. Plus, the Alienware m16 R2’s RTX 4070 GPU is more powerful than the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14’s RTX 4060 GPU.
Read our full
Alienware m16 R2 review
Asus TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition – Best budget gaming laptop
Pros
Impressive all-day battery life
Gorgeous 16:10 display
Rugged chassis
Cons
Keys feel a bit soft
720p webcam leaves little to be desired
Why we like the Asus TUF Gaming A16
The Asus TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition is something of a unicorn and I mean that in the best way possible. This specific machine exhibits strong graphics performance as well as long battery life. Long battery life? A gaming laptop? How preposterous. Well, not anymore! The Asus TUF managed an incredible 11 and a half hours on a single charge. Also, thanks to the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU, the laptop achieved 123 frames-per-second in the Rise of the Tomb Raider benchmark. That’s impressive, especially for a sub-$1,000 gaming machine.
Who should buy the Asus TUF Gaming A16
The Asus TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition is a good option for those on a tight budget. For under a grand, you’re getting reliable graphics performance, a spacious keyboard, and long battery life. It also works as a good general purpose machine. With a Cinebench R20 score of 589, it should have “no trouble running lightweight apps and programs,” according to our review.
Alternative option: The $1,000 Lenovo LOQ 15 stands as another solid budget option. It’s more than capable of 1080p gaming and the design is very sci-fi inspired. It didn’t nab the top pick because of the poor battery life (not unusual for a gaming laptop) and limited ports, but if you’re looking for more raw GPU horsepower, its RTX 4060 is a step above the RTX 4050 included in the Asus TUF.
Read our full
Asus TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition review
Acer Chromebook 516 GE – Best gaming Chromebook
Pros
Rigid build
Fantastic CPU performance
Plenty of wired and wireless connectivity
High resolution 1600p display
Cons
Disappointing speakers and microphone
Display falls behind in contrast, color vibrancy
Mediocre keyboard and touchpad
Why we like the Acer Chromebook 516 GE
The Acer Chromebook 516 GE wins a lot of brownie points because it’s a reliable performer thanks to the Intel Core i5-1240P CPU and the 16-inch 1600p display’s fast 120Hz refresh rate. Compared to some Windows laptops, it’s reasonably priced as well. Not only does it fly through everyday tasks with ease, but it’s also a great machine for cloud gaming. As long as you’ve got a stable Internet connection and currently belong to a streaming service (Nvidia GeForce Now, Amazon Luna, etc), you’ll blitz right through most triple-A games. In fact, according to our review, “gameplay felt perfectly smooth” and “Nvidia’s GeForce Now diagnostics panel flagged no problems.”
Who should buy the Acer Chromebook 516 GE
Anyone that wants to give cloud gaming a whirl or just a dependable machine for day-to-day use–the Acer Chromebook 516 GE can pull double duty in that regard. In addition to the smooth cloud gaming performance, it also features a wide array of connectivity options: two USB-C 3.2 Gen 2, one HDMI, one Ethernet (wired connectivity is especially useful for cloud gaming), and one 3.5mm combo audio. Other goodies include a 1080p webcam, a 65 watt-hour battery, and a rugged design.
Read our full
Acer Chromebook 516 GE review
Samsung Galaxy Book4 Ultra – Best content creation laptop
Pros
Phenomenal battery life
Solid GPU performance
Gorgeous OLED screen
Good audio
Cons
Not a great keyboard
Chargers keep getting bigger
Best Prices Today:
$2499.99 at Best Buy
Why we like the Samsung Galaxy Book4 Ultra
The Samsung Galaxy Book4 Ultra is the perfect laptop for content creation. The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 GPU will give you the extra boost you’ll need for intensive video or photo editing tasks and the 16-inch 1800p OLED touch display is sharp enough to get those little details just right. Plus, it comes with 1TB of SSD storage (you’ll need a good amount of space for your images and videos) and a microSD for easy offloading of photos. Battery life is top-notch, too. It lasted a total of 18 hours on a single charge, which is downright impressive. That said, if you’re editing a lot of photos with the brightness turned all the way up, you may see a shorter result.
Who should buy the Samsung Galaxy Book4 Ultra
The Samsung Galaxy Book4 Ultra is a great laptop for content creators because of the powerful hardware (discrete graphics are a must!) and stunning OLED screen. It also has a diverse array of ports such as Thunderbolt 4, USB Type-A, HDMI 2.1, microSD, and headphone/mic. Although its OLED screen is high-resolution, it’s not 4K, so consider the similarly spec’d Dell XPS 17 below if editing 4K video is crucial to your workflow. Other cool features include a 1080p webcam, a fingerprint reader, and a lovely Moonstone Gray color scheme.
Alternative option: The Dell XPS 17 9730, with its powerful internal components and massive 17-inch 4K display, is still a good option for content creators. While we like the thin chassis and long battery life, it doesn’t have an OLED screen, which offers better color accuracy.
Read our full
Samsung Galaxy Book4 Ultra review
Acer TravelMate P6 – Best ultraportable
Pros
Long battery life
Light and portable
A good price for a business laptop
Cons
Keyboard is a tad mushy
No NPU for future Windows AI features
Consumer laptops deliver similar specs for a lower price
Why we like the Acer TravelMate P6
The Acer TravelMate P6 is featherlight at just 2.65 pounds. The chassis is made of magnesium-alloy, which is a very light yet durable material. According to our review, “the ports are reinforced with additional metal brackets to hold up wear and tear.” In other words, this machine is built to last. It also has fantastic battery life, which is what you want in an ultraportable laptop. The 65 watt-hour battery lasted nearly 13 hours on a single charge–more than a full workday! This laptop offers reliable performance, too. The Acer TravelMate P6 turned in a respectable Cinebench R20 score of 3,065, which isn’t far behind the more powerful HP Pavilion Plus.
Who should buy the Acer TravelMate P6
Anyone looking for an affordable, lightweight ultraportable. In addition to the lightweight form factor, it also comes with a 1080p webcam with a physical privacy shutter and a 14-inch 1200p display with a 16:10 aspect ratio. The taller screen makes it easier to scroll through documents or webpages, and the 1080p webcam will make you look good on videoconferencing calls. The keyboard provides a nice typing experience, too. It even boasts white backlighting, which is perfect for typing in low light environments.
Alternative option: If you’re interested in picking up a more high-end ultraportable, you should consider picking up the HP Dragonfly G4. It weighs same as the Acer TravelMate P6, but has much better battery life–it managed 17.5 hours on a single charge! The only downside is that it costs just over $3,000 thanks to its more potent components and support for mobile LTE connections.
Read our full
Acer TravelMate P6 review
Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED – Best 2-in-1
Pros
Long battery life
Connectivity includes two Thunderbolt 4 ports
Fast performance
Cons
Function keys are small
The display is a little dim
Best Prices Today:
$1,199.99 at Amazon
Why we like the Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED
When it comes to 2-in-1 laptops, the Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED just gets it right at the start. It has a gorgeous OLED display, a zippy Intel Core i7-1360P CPU, and a versatile convertible design. You can flip the screen around 360 degrees and use it like a tablet or prop the device up like a tent if you so wish. Colors on the 1800p OLED display are also “remarkably bright and saturated,” according to our review. The battery died at the 12 hour mark, dominating laptops with similar hardware like the Lenovo Yoga Book 9i and the Acer Aspire Vero 14.
Who should buy the Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED
The Asus Zenbook 14 Flip is a good option for business professionals because of its convertible, lightweight design and stunning OLED display. You can take this machine with you anywhere and you don’t have to worry about finding an outlet to charge up. How can you go wrong with that?
Alternative option: If you’re looking to save some cash, the $899 Lenovo Yoga 7i is a good option, especially if you prefer longevity over raw performance. In terms of performance, it’s middle of the pack. That said, it lasted a whopping 13 hours on a single charge, and it’s beautifully designed hardware.
Read our full
Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED review
Recent laptop reviews
Samsung Galaxy Book4 Pro 14: The Samsung Galaxy Book4 Pro 14 is a lightweight, elegant all-rounder for business professionals.
Acer Predator Helios Neo 18: Want a lot of performance for $1,500? Acer’s gigantic Helios Neo 18 is a good bet.
Lenovo Yoga 7i: The Lenovo Yoga 7i (16IML9) is a competent and well-built at a palatable price. It’s not the best value for a standard laptop, but it’s flexibility may make up for its shortcoming for some users.
Acer Swift Go 14: The Acer Swift Go 14 is a reliable travel workhorse through and through.
How we test laptops
The PCWorld team puts each and every Windows laptop through a series of benchmarks that test GPU and CPU performance, battery life, and so on. The idea is to push the laptop to its limits and then compare it against others we’ve tested. Chromebooks, on the other hand, go through a series of web-based tests. It wouldn’t be fair or possible to run the same kinds of tests on a Chromebook, as they’re Chrome OS-based machines.
Below, you’ll find a breakdown of each test and the reasons why we run them. For a much deeper look at our review methodology, check out how PCWorld tests laptops.
Windows laptops
PCMark 10: PCMark 10 is how we determine how well the laptop handles lighter tasks like web browsing, word processing, spreadsheets, and so on.
HandBrake: HandBrake is more intensive than PCMark 10. It basically measures how long a laptop’s CPU takes to encode a beefy 30GB file.
Cinebench: Cinebench is a brief stress test of the CPU cores. It does this by rendering a 2D scene over a short period of time.
3DMark: 3DMark checks if 3D performance remains consistent over time by running graphic-intensive clips.
Video rundown test: To gauge battery life, we loop a 4K video using Windows 10’s Movies & TV app until the laptop dies.
Chromebooks
CrXPRT 2: The CrXPRT 2 benchmark tests a Chromebook’s battery life.
Speedometer 2.0: This test determines a Chromebook’s web browser performance. It simulates this by adding, completing, and removing a to-do list.
Basemark Web 3.0: This benchmark gauges how well a Chromebook can handle web-based applications.
Kraken 1.1: Kraken 1.1 is a JavaScript performance benchmark.
Jetstream 2: Jetstream 2 is a combination of WebAssembly and JavaScript benchmarks. This is a way to gauge how well a Chromebook runs advanced workloads.
FAQ
1.
What form factor is best for a laptop?
The first question you should ask yourself is what kind of laptop you’re looking for. There’s traditional clamshells, 2-in-1’s, Chromebooks, and much more. The displays on convertible laptops (aka 2-in-1’s), for example, can swing around 360 degrees. This allows you to use the laptop like a tablet. They can also be propped up like a tent for viewing movies or participating in video calls. Chromebooks, on the other hand, exclusively run Google’s web-focused Chrome OS and are generally used for everyday tasks. All you need is a Gmail account and boom, you’re in. There are pros and cons to each of them. Chromebooks are affordable and generally have good battery life whereas convertibles are normally lightweight and portable.
2.
How much processing power do I need in a laptop?
If it’s CPU power you’re looking for, look for processors with higher numerical names. A Core i7 is more suited to gaming and more intense work than everyday tasks. Intel processors are available in Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, and Core i9. The higher the number, the more powerful the CPU. If you don’t need a ton of power, Intel Core i5 processors are your best bet, as they offer good performance at a decent price. Basic office and web work gets along just fine on a Core i3. As for AMD options, the Ryzen 3 is good for basic productivity and web browsing, while Ryzen 5 chips rival Intel’s Core i5 as solid all-arounders. If you need more power, the Ryzen 7 chip is well suited for content creation like video editing. Finally, if you’re dealing with 4K video, spring for a Ryzen 9.
3.
Discrete graphics vs. integrated graphics?
You’ll want a discrete graphics card for hardcore gaming or editing videos. It’s separate from the processor, so you can expect higher performance out of it. Integrated graphics, on the other hand, are attached to the CPU and uses less power as a result. This is perfectly fine for everyday tasks, especially if you’re not doing anything that’s graphics-intensive.
4.
How much memory do I need in a laptop?
8GB of RAM is zippy enough for general use. If you’ve got a gaming laptop, 16GB of RAM is the way to go, and content creators will want even more.
5.
Do I need a big display on a laptop?
If you’re a video editor or someone who does a lot of multimedia work, you’ll want a display that’s anywhere from 15- to 17-inches. The sweet spot is really anywhere from 13- to 14-inches, though. The bigger the display, the heavier your laptop is going to be. A 13- or 14-inch display is the best in terms of portability and value.
6.
How long should my laptop last on a single charge?
If you plan on taking your laptop anywhere with you, aim for something that can last 10 to 12 hours on a single charge. That’s more than a full work day, so it should theoretically get you through long flights or a day of classes. Obviously, more is always better. Just know that the bigger the battery, the heavier the laptop. Read our round-up of the best laptop chargers.
7.
How much does a good laptop cost?
Many good laptops cost around $500 to $750, but the price really depends on your budget. If you’re strapped for cash (been there, trust me), go for a Chromebook or an entry-level business laptop. You can find solid options for under $500. Spending $750 to $1,000 can get you better displays, additional performance, more storage, and nicer designs. If you splurge for a laptop that costs over $1,000, you’re usually paying up for premium build quality, great extras, and top-shelf performance.
Gaming laptops are different. You can sometimes find gaming laptops with entry-level discrete graphics on sale for around $850, but you’ll usually need to spend at least $1,000 for a system with decent 1080p gaming chops. You can pay more — often much more — for better graphics firepower and nicer displays, but the costs can rise rapidly depending on your hardware of choice. Some fully loaded gaming laptops can go for multiple thousands of dollars but you’re getting the equivalent of a desktop replacement in return. Spending $1,200 to $2,000 usually gets you a very good gaming laptop.
8.
Are connectivity options important on a laptop?
A wide array of ports is always a plus in my book, as it eliminates the need for an adapter. I’d recommend a laptop that has both USB-C and USB-A. An HDMI port is good, too. This is especially useful for when you want to hook up to an external monitor.
Laptops Read...Newslink ©2024 to PC World | |
| | | PC World - 9 May (PC World)Historically, you’ve had two options to expand the port capabilities of your laptop: an inexpensive USB-C dongle or a more powerful, pricey Thunderbolt docking station. A third option is quietly emerging, trying to split the difference. A DisplayLink docking station (sometimes called a USB-C dock) uses data compression to offer the capabilities of a Thunderbolt dock over a standard USB-C or Thunderbolt cable.
Why buy one? DisplayLink docking stations works great for normal day-to-day productivity, and in my experience the docks are cheaper and more stable than older Thunderbolt 3 desktop docks. They’re an upgrade over our picks for the best USB-C hubs dongles, and cheaper than the best Thunderbolt docking stations for your laptop. They can even support more displays than a native Thunderbolt dock. They’re just not suited for gaming.
If you need a fuller explanation of how DisplayLink works and what it offers, you’ll find that directly under our two recommended DisplayLink docks, below. You’ll also find a FAQ with answers to questions you might have. I base my recommendations on hands-on testing of the DisplayLink docking stations.
Why you should trust me: I’ve worked as a technology journalist for about 30 years, and at PCWorld for the last decade. I’ve tested dozens of USB-C hubs, Thunderbolt docks, and DisplayLink docking stations. I use a docking station in my daily work, connected to multiple 4K displays, and I typically review a handful of new products each month.
Updated May 2, 2024 with a more complete explanation of Display Stream Compression (DSC) in the FAQ below.
Look for the DisplayLink logo to identify it as a DisplayLink dock.
Look for the DisplayLink logo to identify it as a DisplayLink dock.Mark Hachman / IDG
Look for the DisplayLink logo to identify it as a DisplayLink dock.Mark Hachman / IDG
Mark Hachman / IDG
The best DisplayLink docking stations
Though I’ve tested a number of DisplayLink docking stations for laptops, I have two recommended docks. They’re the same picks that appear on PCWorld’s list of the best Thunderbolt desktop docks for your laptop.
Ugreen 9-in-1 USB-C (Revodok) Docking Station CM615 – Best USB-C DisplayLink dock
Pros
Terrific price and value
Excellent stability
Great display port flexibility
Support for two 4K60 displays
Cons
Have to provide your own power supply
Can warm to somewhat alarming temperatures
A lack of naming consistency
Best Prices Today:
$139.99 at Ugreen$199.99 at Amazon
Why I liked the Ugreen 9-in-1 USB-C (Revodok) Docking Station CM615
Like some of the premium Thunderbolt docks, Ugreen’s DisplayLink dock provides options to use either HDMI or DisplayPort to connect a display, allowing you to use your existing display cables and save some money.
Like most DisplayLink docks, this dock was unusually stable, with no flickering between displays — one of the reasons I like DisplayLink docks. Some other Thunderbolt docks offer the same flexibility to shift between monitors, but not many. Ugreen’s dock does so affordably.
Who should buy the Ugreen 9-in-1 USB-C (Revodok) Docking Station CM615
If you’re not worried about hunting down the proper software driver (because Ugreen, bless them, does not make it apparent that it needs one) than I would recommend that you buy this dock. It offers many of the features of more expensive Thunderbolt docks at an affordable price.
Read our full
Ugreen 9-in-1 USB-C (Revodok) Docking Station CM615 review
Sonnet Echo 13 Triple 4K Display Dock – Best USB-C DisplayLink dock runner-up
Pros
Support for three 4K60 displays
Solid value
20W of charging power for smartphones, 100W for laptop
Exemplary documentation
Cons
Direct display connection disconnected once
Poor, glitchy intermittent audio
Best Prices Today:
$199.99 at Amazon$239.99 at Sonnet
Why I liked the Sonnet Echo 13 Triple 4K Display Dock
Sonnet’s Echo 13 Triple 4K Display Dock follows the intriguing path other DisplayLink docks have blazed: The dock’s built-in compression means you can connect to three 4K displays, without penalty. And yes, it works as advertised, though with one issue that holds it back: spotty audio that really needs to be fixed. (If you use your laptop’s headphone jack, there’s no issue.)
There was a tiny bit of instability, but performance was excellent. And with 20W of charging power for your phone and 100W for your laptop, you’ll be able to power a wider range of notebook options.
Who should buy the Sonnet Echo 13 Triple 4K Display Dock
The price differential between the Sonnet and Ugreen docks should help answer that question: The Sonnet buyer is willing to pay a little more for what is really a well-made and well-documented dock, with clear instructions. Really, without the price differential and the audio issues, this would be the top dock in the category.
Read our full
Sonnet Echo 13 Triple 4K Display Dock review
DisplayLink USB-C docks: How DisplayLink works
USB-C hubs, Thunderbolt desktop docks, and now DisplayLink docking stations have emerged because of two factors: the growing ubiquity of do-anything USB-C ports, and the realization by laptop makers that they can use these ports to eliminate all the dedicated HDMI, microUSB, SD card slots, and USB-A ports that can clutter up their notebook PCs.
DisplayLink docks provide some of the native functions of a Thunderbolt dock, namely the ability to drive multiple high-resolution displays. Because of the inherent bandwidth limitations, DisplayLink docking stations offer a good choice for office workers, who can use those extra displays for static applications like email, chat, spreadsheets, or office work.
A USB-C port typically provides 10Gbps of bandwidth. Thunderbolt 3/4, which runs over the same physical USB-C port, supplies 40Gbps. In the real world, that typically means that a USB-C dongle can connect to a single 4K display (at 30Hz) while Thunderbolt can connect to two 4K displays, at 60Hz. DisplayLink can you give the advantages of a 40Gbps Thunderbolt connection via just a 10Gbps USB-C interface.
How? Data compression. A DisplayLink dock can either use a “traditional” 10Gbps USB-C connection, or take advantage of the extra bandwidth provided by an existing Thunderbolt 3 or 4 port. Either way, it uses data compression to squeeze more data throughput over the port. We use data compression every day, in photos and streamed video from YouTube and Netflix, and never notice. It’s the same here; your Windows desktop and applications will look the same.
Two similar products with different characteristics: a Lention USB-C hub (left), which has been previously featured among PCWorld’s recommended USB-C hubs, and the HP Thunderbolt G4 Dock, part of PCWorld’s recommended best Thunderbolt docks.
DisplayLink is a technology owned by Synaptics, meaning it’s a proprietary standard. Each DisplayLink dock has a special DisplayLink chip built inside of it. (DisplayLink docks rarely, if ever, publish which Synaptics chip they use, so a DisplayLink dock’s capabilities may vary by product.)
DisplayLink USB-C docks: Pros and cons
DisplayLink’s data compression means there are two negatives to the technology, which we’ll get out of the way.
While USB-C and Thunderbolt work out of the box, DisplayLink requires a software driver. Without it, it will function as a generic USB-C dock. I’ve never seen any DisplayLink docks use their own unique drivers (though they may). In any case, you can use Synaptics’ official DisplayLink drivers. Most dock makers publish this information right up front, but not all do. (Be sure to reboot after installing it.)
DisplayLink works perfectly well for email, Word, Excel, and anything static, like a web page. But it does have limitations: 10Gbps is a nice chunk of bandwidth. But pushing a ton of data across it will cause images to stutter and hitch. In practice, this means that PC gaming on a DisplayLink dock is iffy: A slow-paced game like Baldur’s Gate 3 should be fine, but a frantic shooter like Battlefield or Helldivers 2 probably won’t give you a good experience at all. Playing 4K video from Netflix or YouTube? It shouldn’t be a problem. Playing 4K video while copying files from a hard drive and downloading a file? Everything will work, albeit slowly.
The big advantage for me is that DisplayLink tends to be really stable. Older Thunderbolt 3 hardware can be a little glitchy when connecting to multiple displays. In my experience, DisplayLink docks aren’t. That matters to some people.
DisplayLink (often with a DisplayLink 4K logo on it) can also connect to multiple displays, even more than Thunderbolt. I don’t have room to neatly show off a photo of three or even four displays, but trust me — I’ve tried it on multiple occasions, and it works. The hitch is that your laptop has to be capable of rendering on four displays, and you’ll typically need to close your laptop to do so. That may mean adjusting the Windows Control Panel to tell your laptop to leave it up and running.
This is only necessary if you are running four 4K displays with a DisplayLink dock.
This is only necessary if you are running four 4K displays with a DisplayLink dock. Mark Hachman / IDG
This is only necessary if you are running four 4K displays with a DisplayLink dock. Mark Hachman / IDG
Mark Hachman / IDG
Can I get a bit nerdy for a second? When you use a DisplayLink dock to connect to more than two displays, there’s even more magic going on behind the scenes. Take a DisplayLink dock like the Plugable UD-6950PDZ, which supports three 4K displays at 60Hz. It uses Synaptics’ most advanced chip, the DL-6950. But the DL-6950 only supports a pair of displays. To enable a third external display, the dock is using DisplayLink for two displays, and your laptop’s own “normal” DisplayPort connection (called DisplayPort Alt Mode) to drive the third.
That brings up the final point that I always have to make: Recent hardware is best. A standard DisplayLink docks works best on, say, a 10th- or 11th-gen Core processor or a complementary AMD Ryzen laptop. With anything more advanced — 12th-, 13th-, and 14th-gen — you should have a pretty ideal experience.
Unlike other Thunderbolt docks we’ve tested, Plugable’s UD-ULTC4K highlights not only which port is which but which I/O protocol each port is associated with. Note the “Alt Mode” label on the bottom ports.
Unlike other Thunderbolt docks we’ve tested, Plugable’s UD-ULTC4K highlights not only which port is which but which I/O protocol each port is associated with. Note the “Alt Mode” label on the bottom ports.Mark Hachman / IDG
Unlike other Thunderbolt docks we’ve tested, Plugable’s UD-ULTC4K highlights not only which port is which but which I/O protocol each port is associated with. Note the “Alt Mode” label on the bottom ports.Mark Hachman / IDG
Mark Hachman / IDG
How I test DisplayLink docking stations
I use the same methodology to test DisplayLink docks as I do to test Thunderbolt docking stations. Here’s a synopsis.
First, I take the dock from its packaging and evaluate its construction. I measure the cord length and check the dock’s physical dimensions with a ruler.
I’ll then read the manual: Does the dock need any drivers? (Yes it will.) Are there links? What does the manual say about the dock’s capabilities, in terms of power and speed?
Next, I take a USB key or two and connect them to the available USB ports to determine if they have enough space to allow several to be connected at the same time. I then examine the display ports, find the appropriate cables, and then connect the dock to the laptop. I use a series of laptops with various generations of AMD and Intel hardware, and check to see if the experience is the same on each one. If it isn’t, I make notes.
I then measure the power output of the ports, using a USB multimeter, a smartphone, and a laptop to measure how much power the dock delivers to a laptop.
Finally, I check to see how well the dock performs under load. I use a specific test laptop for this purpose for repeatable results. I stream a 4K60 YouTube video using the Ethernet port on the dock (if it has one) and note any dropped frames. I usually check with a pre-recorded 4K60 video running from an SSD.
I then run PCMark 10’s SSD storage benchmark off of a test SSD, connected to the dock. I measure the score, then measure the score again while streaming a video. I then copy a large, multigigabyte folder of various files from my laptop across the bus and measure the time it takes to do so. I repeat the test while streaming video.
Finally, I check the operation and performance of any SD card slots the dock has and listen to audio through the audio jack, to make sure it works.
FAQ
1.
Should you buy a DisplayLink USB-C dock?
Not all DisplayLink docks are created equal, which is why we test them. But for office workers on Windows, absolutely. For gamers, give it a pass.
DisplayLink docking station offers a chance to expand your PC’s I/O capabilities, even with hardware that doesn’t support Thunderbolt. If you aren’t comfortable with this, feel free to return to the relative safety of a either a generic USB-C dongle or a powerful Thunderbolt dock: Both offer simplicity and a known experience.
2.
How do I know if my dock is a DisplayLink dock?
It should prominently feature a DisplayLink logo, which we include a photo of earlier in the story. Not always, though.
Shopping for a DisplayLink dock can be a bit confusing, too, since the term “DisplayLink dock” isn’t really in vogue. Instead, vendors will sometimes use “USB-C dock” instead. Just read the documentation closely and look for the label.
3.
How much should a DisplayLink docking station cost?
DisplayLink was a much cheaper alternative to Thunderbolt docks during the height of the work-from-home years. Then, a Thunderbolt dock would cost about $300, and a DisplayLink dock about $150 to $200 or so. Prices for both have come down some, with DisplayLink docks starting for as low as $125.
4.
How many devices can a DisplayLink dock support?
You’ll usually see close to as many ports on a DisplayLink dock as you will on a Thunderbolt dock, and maybe more. In general, DisplayLink is just fine for connecting multiple devices simultaneously. It’s when they’re all in use, transferring data, that the bus may get clogged and transfer rates may slow down.
5.
What’s better, a DisplayLink dock or a Thunderbolt dock?
For now, there’s a case to be made that a DisplayLink dock is a better value: They’re generally cheaper, more stable, and offer the potential for more displays. But if you’re a gamer, the answer is not the same. Gamers should buy a Thunderbolt dock instead.
The game changes, though, when Thunderbolt 5 debuts later in 2024. Then, Thunderbolt 5 bandwidth will shoot up to 80Gbps in both directions, allowing those docks to connect to four 4K displays at 144Hz refresh rates and offer improved charging.
6.
Can a DisplayLink dock charge your laptop and your smartphone?
If the DisplayLink docking station ships with its own external power brick, it should be able to, yes. Most DisplayLink docks supply the same amount of power as a Thunderbolt dock (a maximum of 90 to 95W to your laptop, and hopefully enough power to fast-charge a smartphone.)
7.
Is a DisplayLink docking station plug and play?
Not really. You’ll need a driver from Synaptics or the dock maker to enable the dock’s full functionality.
8.
What’s DSC and HBR3? I’ve heard that those are a competitor to DisplayLink.
Display Stream Compression with High Bandwidth Rate 3 (DSC with HBR3) is a more open version of DisplayLink. It doesn’t require a software driver, but you won’t see this technology advertised at all. However, you will find it in products like the Kensington SD5800T, which uses Thunderbolt 4 and DSC to enable four external 4K displays.
Basically, the same rules apply. If you own a recent, modern laptop, you may have one with DSC inside: It’s found within laptops with an Nvidia GeForce RTX graphics chip, or as part of Intel’s “Tiger Lake” platform, aka the 11th-gen Core chips. But this is absolutely not a feature that laptop makers advertise, either.
9.
Are DisplayLink and DisplayPort the same thing?
No, they’re not, though the names are confusingly similar.
DisplayPort is a physical display connector as well as a display protocol. Your laptop can route DisplayPort display protocols over Thunderbolt without ever using the connector itself. DisplayPort can also be routed over a USB-C connection encoded with DisplayLink, too.
10.
Is a DisplayLink dock good for gaming?
Not especially. It’s best for productivity, which uses a number of windows with static applications. Any time you push gobs and gobs of data over the DisplayLink bus, as you would with gaming, you risk the connection being saturated and your game reduced to a stuttery mess.
You may be able to “game” with a slow-paced game or one that doesn’t use a lot of fast-paced motion or detailed graphics, but it’s risky. Buy a Thunderbolt dock instead.
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| | | PC World - 9 May (PC World)At a glanceExpert`s Rating
ProsDriver aids and parking modeHandsome designEasy phone connectivityGood 1440p front capturesCons1080p Rear captures lack detailLots of wires with non-standard connectorsOur VerdictThe Thinkware Q200 is a good front/rear dash cam combo, but at the price we’d like to see great, not just good captures.
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Thinkware has brought a number of innovations to the dash cam market, such as driver aids and phone connectivity. The Q200 reviewed here, features those handy extras, but it’s a bit pricey for external GPS and the cam’s capture quality, which is good, but not the best we’ve seen.
Further reading: See our roundup of the best dash cams to learn about competing products.
What are the Thinkware Q200’s features?
The Thinkware Q200 is a $200 two-channel, front/rear dash cam combo that carries on with the company’s phone-centric tradition. In other words, settings are done via an app on your phone. This makes for a cleaner appearance (minimal buttons), but also means you need your phone handy. The front camera is 1440p (Omnivision OS04C20), while the rear is 1080p (HK Optical HK-8308J-009-1-M12-PT). Both have a 125 degree field of view.
The front camera is rectangular, measuring approximately 3.9-inches long by 0.9-inched thick by 1.3-inches tall, and styled in dark silver and black. The front of the is home to the short lens neck, while the rear is occupied by the record on/off and Wi-Fi buttons as well as their status lights.
The Q200’s front, rear, and GPS modules.
The Q200’s front, rear, and GPS modules.
The Q200’s front, rear, and GPS modules.
The right side of the unit offers only venting, while the left has the jacks for the rear camera and GPS. The power jack is on top of the unit to which attaches a proprietary 3.5mm TS (Tip/Sleeve) cable with a captive auxiliary power adapter. Generally speaking, we prefer Type-C to Type-A cables with a separate auxiliary adapter, ideally featuring two ports so you can power or charge another device simultaneously.
The rear camera rotates vertically, 360 degrees, and connects to the front camera via a 20-foot cable featuring TRRS (Tip/Ring/Ring/Sleeve) 3.5mm plugs. This cable is thinner and more pliable than most, which is nice for maneuvering.
Both the front and rear cameras use semi-permanent adhesive mounts, and the front slides off for safekeeping. The rear camera is not made to be removable, however — inadvertently tugging too hard had it popping out. I wouldn’t recommend doing this on a regular basis, as the retaining grooves will likely bust or wear out eventually. But in a pinch….
I mentioned the GPS jack. While the Q200 features GPS, it’s implemented by way of a rather large external unit (shown in the picture above) that must also be affixed to the windshield. Along with the rear camera, this makes for quite a nest of wires, not to mention adding to any blind spot the dash cam creates. To limit this blind spot, take a read through our dash cam installation guide.
Thinkware was one of the first companies to provide bad-driver aids such as collision warnings, lane departure, traffic camera alerts (safety cameras, my patootie!), etc. These are of course, present in the Q200 and you can hear various beeps and alerts if you enable the functions. While I turn off the bad-driver aids, I do like the traffic and speed camera alerts. Don’t ask.
Alas, unlike some of Thinkware’s products, the Q200 doesn’t respond to voice commands. Why, I can’t say, but with no display, they would be very handy.
The Thinkware app provides access to settings and a live view.
The Thinkware app provides access to settings and a live view.
The Thinkware app provides access to settings and a live view.
Of course, there’s the phone app, Dash Cam Link (see above). Thinkware saves you the hassle of entering a Wi-Fi password by connecting via Bluetooth, then switching to Wi-Fi when you want to use the live view mode. Live view requires more bandwidth than Bluetooth provides, hence the Wi-Fi.
The app also allows you to easily adjust the time, date, and time zone as well as other settings. For some reason, it rates only 1.7 stars out of 5 on the Google Play Store, but that must reflect past issues or some anomalies that I didn’t experience. It was easy to use and worked perfectly in my testing.
Note that you must hit the “Dash Cam Registration” button to connect to the camera. Perhaps not the most intuitive initial instruction ever, but 1.7 stars? If you experience any issues, let me know.
How are the Thinkware Q200’s captures?
The Q200’s captures overall are average, with the best being the daylight front captures — par for the course. The rear captures were adequate, but somewhat lacking in detail during the day, and even weaker at night.
The Q200’s front captures are good, but detail in the distance is a bit fuzzy for 1440p.
The Q200’s front captures are good, but detail in the distance is a bit fuzzy for 1440p.
The Q200’s front captures are good, but detail in the distance is a bit fuzzy for 1440p.
The low-light capture below isn’t full night; however, it is considerably darker than it appears in the image. Ambient light in the immediate area is essentially the same. Detail is good, and headlight flare is handled well by the Q200.
Though this capture wasn’t in the dead of night, it was darker than it appears. This is after turning on Super Night Vision, which was not enabled by default.
Though this capture wasn’t in the dead of night, it was darker than it appears. This is after turning on Super Night Vision, which was not enabled by default.
Though this capture wasn’t in the dead of night, it was darker than it appears. This is after turning on Super Night Vision, which was not enabled by default.
The rear captures sport rich colors, but detail isn’t particularly obvious as you can see from the license plate in the image below. There’s also a fair amount of fish-eye. Not bad, but not great.
This rear 1080p capture shows good color, but detail is lacking and there’s a fair amount of fisheye.
This rear 1080p capture shows good color, but detail is lacking and there’s a fair amount of fisheye.
This rear 1080p capture shows good color, but detail is lacking and there’s a fair amount of fisheye.
Again, at night (late evening really), the issue with the rear captures is detail. You’ll get the big picture on events, but likely not the license plate number.
Lack of detail is more of an issue with the rear low-light captures.
Lack of detail is more of an issue with the rear low-light captures.
Lack of detail is more of an issue with the rear low-light captures.
In total, the Thinkware Q200’s front captures are more than workable, while the rear camera’s will suffice, but could use improvement. I do wonder if some of the detail is being lost in compression. By default, the Q200’s 1440p generates only 127MB per minute, and the 1080p 70MB per minute. Most cameras will generate around 150MB per minute for 1440p.
A quick note on capture quality — it’s the result of a combination of resolution, optics, and processing. If any one of these is weak, quality suffers. By way of comparison, the 2160p from the recently reviewed Rove R2-4K was significantly worse than the Q200’s 1440p, while the 1440p from the upcoming Viofo VS1 Tiny 2K was quite a bit more detailed.
The upshot? Don’t buy on specs (especially resolution) alone; read the reviews and comments.
The Q200 employs a super capacitor to power the camera when the power is cut off. This allows the Q200 to save any recordings in progress, but it doesn’t run the camera long enough to capture any more action.
Should you buy the Thinkware Q200?
Though a bit pricey, the Thinkware Q200 is a good dash cam combo. For those who need or want them, the red light and speed camera alerts are the stand-out selling point. That said, we’d like to see internal rather than external GPS, and as there’s no display, voice control should also be included. Put it on the list, but shop around.
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| | | PC World - 9 May (PC World)At a glanceExpert`s Rating
ProsHigh gaming performanceSuperb OLED screenPowerful soundConsCooling is a little noisyMediocre webcamExpensiveOur VerdictThe Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 is a solidly built laptop that offers blazing fast gaming performance, a stunning OLED display, and a comfortable keyboard. While it’s on the more expensive end, we feel it’s worth every penny.
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About two months ago, we tested the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14, a compact 14-inch laptop that packs a serious punch in the performance department, making it a suitable machine for either gaming or content creation. It wasn’t cheap, but it was very good. Now it’s time to check out its big sibling, the Asus ROG Zephyrus G16.
The concept is the same, but in a larger format. It’s a solidly built laptop that offers blazing fast gaming performance and a premium OLED display behind a glossy glass surface. You also get a sober, low-profile keyboard that’s comfortable to type on for hours at a time and a touchpad designed for creative work with a large surface area, fine precision, and multi-touch gestures. While it’s on the more expensive end, we feel it’s well worth the cost.
Looking for more options? Check out PCWorld’s roundup of the best gaming laptops available right now.
Asus ROG Zephyrus G16: Performance, keyboard
If you like the look of a traditional gaming laptop, you’re in luck. You’re getting RGB backlighting in the keyboard as well as a diode strip in the screen that, although it only glows white, can be set to cycle light shows or sync with the computer’s audio.
You’re getting really good gaming features from both hardware and software. Performance is quite good thanks to the efficient cooling system inside the big chassis. The cooling pumps more air and is a bit noisy as a result, but it delivers high and stable frame rates even in demanding games.
You can also get the ROG Zephyrus G16 with either 4080 or 4090 graphics, if you really want to break all the graphics barriers, run dual monitors, or plug in a 4k monitor. But 4070 is good enough for this monitor and for someone like me, who isn’t a notorious fps maxer. Hitting 60 fps in most games is good enough.
In Armoury Crate you get a lot of extra control over everything from performance to diode effects and screen.
In Armoury Crate you get a lot of extra control over everything from performance to diode effects and screen.Mattias Inghe
In Armoury Crate you get a lot of extra control over everything from performance to diode effects and screen.Mattias Inghe
Mattias Inghe
Asus ROG Zephyrus G16: Display
The ROG Zephyrus G16 has a fast, colorful 16-inch OLED display. It doesn’t have a touchscreen (not unusual for gaming laptops) and the 2560×1600 resolution is more than enough. It does have a whopping 240Hz frame rate, a lightning fast response time, and support for Nvidia G-Sync for optimized fluidity in games. It is, after all, a Republic Of Gamers computer and it definitely lives up to that name.
The screen is also great for productivity and creative work, with a wide panel color gamut and preset color profiles for SRGB, DCI-P3, and display P3. It’s certified for Vesa Display HDR 500 True Black as well, which means you can rely on great dynamics with lots of nuance in light and dark areas. This is great if you’re editing video or photos, for example, and a Delta E value for color accuracy of less than one means you can trust the tones in images.
As an entertainment machine, the Asus ROG will deliver thanks to the display’s good HDR capabilities. But if you’re going to stream a film or just surf a little between sessions, you may want to set the computer to “Silent” mode, which reduces the worst fan cooling speeds. You do this either in the Armoury Crate control program or with the hotkey on the keyboard.
The underside is fully perforated for efficient airflow.
The underside is fully perforated for efficient airflow.Mattias Inghe
The underside is fully perforated for efficient airflow.Mattias Inghe
Mattias Inghe
Asus ROG Zephyrus G16: Audio, webcam
The speakers produce rich sounds with the Dolby Audio support and high volume. There’s a surprising amount of bass, but there’s a lack of intensity in the treble, so it may not be suitable for all types of media. Large upward-facing speaker grilles on either side of the keyboard mean Asus has opted out of a numeric keypad, which didn’t fit.
On the sides is a respectable set of external ports, two USB-C, one of which is Thunderbolt 4 with support for most things, and the other is USB 3 with DisplayPort support. You also get two fast USB-A, an HDMI port, and an analogue headset port. Here you’ll also find an SD card reader.
The 1080p webcam feels surprisingly cheap in an otherwise top-tier computer. It produces a low-contrast image with a 30Hz lag. It’s fine for a video meeting, but not for professional streaming. At least you’ll get support for AI-powered Windows Studio effects for automatic framing, background blurring, and eye contact correction. You’re also getting good microphones, for which you can set up audio pickup and noise reduction in detail in the Armoury Crate feature.
Proprietary port for the included power adapter. It can also feed a USB-C port (the one on the other side) with up to 100 W. But that’s not enough to both charge the battery and play games.
Proprietary port for the included power adapter. It can also feed a USB-C port (the one on the other side) with up to 100 W. But that’s not enough to both charge the battery and play games.Mattias Inghe
Proprietary port for the included power adapter. It can also feed a USB-C port (the one on the other side) with up to 100 W. But that’s not enough to both charge the battery and play games.Mattias Inghe
Mattias Inghe
Asus ROG Zephyrus G16: Specifications
Product name: ROG Zephyrus G16 GU605MI-QR044WTested: April 2024Manufacturer: Asus Processor: Intel Core Ultra 9 185H, 6 P-core up to 5.1 GHz, 8 E-core up to 3.8 GHz, 2 LPE-core up to 2.5 GHzGraphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070, 8GBMemory: 32GB lpddr5xStorage: 1TB SSD, SD slotDisplays: 16-inch glossy OLED, 2560×1600 pixels, 240 HzWebcam: 1080p with IRConnections: Thunderbolt 4, USB-C 3 gen 2 with DisplayPort, 2 pcs USB-A 3 gen 2, HDMI 2.1, headsetWireless: Wi-Fi 6e, Bluetooth 5.3Operating system: Windows 11 HomeOther: RGB keyboard, G-sync supportNoise level: 0-41 dBaBattery: 90 Wh, 1 hr 20 min (high load, full brightness) to 7 hr 10 min (low load, low brightness)Size: 35.4 x 24.6 x 1.75 cmWeight: 4.29 poundsPrice:
Asus ROG Zephyrus G16: Rating
Asus ROG Zephyrus G16: Performance
Cinebench 2024, multi-core CPU: 1,080 pointsCinebench 2024, single-core CPU: 114 pointsCinebench 2024, GPU: 11,513 pointsCinebench R23, multi-core CPU: 19,661 pointsCinebench R23, single-core CPU: 2,008 pointsGeekbench 6, multi-core CPU: 14,429 pointsGeekbench 6, single-core CPU: 2,576 points Geekbench 6, GPU: 114,126 points3DMark Fire Strike (DirectX 11): 25,890 points3DMark Time Spy (DirectX 12): 12,002 points3dmark Port Royal (Ray Tracing): 7,261 pointsDisk, read: up to 4,977.02 MB/sDisk, write: up to 3,493.27 MB/s
This review was translated from Swedish to English and originally appeared on pcforalla.se.
Gaming Laptops, Laptops Read...Newslink ©2024 to PC World | |
| | | PC World - 9 May (PC World)MacBook buyers still fuming from Apple’s decision to sell expensive laptops with just 8GB of RAM wish they had what Lenovo’s new ThinkPad P1 has: The ability to offer fast and power efficient RAM that you can upgrade.
Upgradeable RAM in PC laptops isn’t a new thing of course, but Lenovo’s new ThinkPad P1 (announced on April 23) appears to be the first to use Micron’s LPCAMM2. LPCAMM2 is built to solve the problem that’s vexed laptops for years now: RAM power consumption.
Laptops using DDR5 SO-DIMM RAM modules typically consume a lot of space and power. LPDDR5X RAM or low-power DDR5 can save significant active and standby power and offer even better performance but its performance and power requirements require it to be soldered directly to the laptop’s motherboard as close to the CPU as possible.
After JEDEC, the organization that manages memory standards, adopted Dell’s Compression Attached Memory Module as CAMM2 last year, an offshoot of it was also developed as LPCAMM2 as well.
ThinkPad P1 with LPCAMM2 RAM
ThinkPad P1 with LPCAMM2 RAM
Lenovo
ThinkPad P1 with LPCAMM2 RAM
Lenovo
Lenovo
Micron says LPCAMM2 will hit 7467MT/s speeds, which provides about 34 percent greater bandwidth than a DDR5 module at 5600MT/s. LPCAMM2 significantly shrinks the amount of space used on the motherboard by up to 64 percent compared to a typical stacked SO-DIMM configuration.
More importantly for those interested in improved standby time and battery while used is the power savings. Micron says standby–when the lid closed–can reach 80 percent with active power usage reduction by up to 43 percent to 58 percent.
That’s compared to a 64-bit DDR5 SO-DIMM. Today’s Intel and AMD CPUs support up to 128-bit for memory so a single LPCAMM2.
Further reading: The best laptops we’ve tested
Screencap from iFixit YouTube Video
Screencap from iFixit YouTube Video
iFixit
Screencap from iFixit YouTube Video
iFixit
iFixit
Apple users, of course, will point out that M3 Max in the highest-end MacBook Pro features an impressive 512-bit wide memory bus with the LPDDR5X chips mounted directly in the CPU package. To do that with LPCAMM2 would require four modules, much more space, and is likely impossible in a thin laptop.
Our dig at Apple, however, is the basic M3 features a 128-bit memory bus which would pair nicely with LPCAMM2. Rather than lock its customers into a miserly 8GB of RAM, adopting this standard could allow MacBook Air or smaller MacBook Pro users to upgrade to, say, one of Micron’s new 32GB LPCAMM2 or a 64GB LPCAMM2 modules which I’m sure every low-RAM MacBook customer would appreciate. Right? Right?!
LPCAMM2 itself has been on a slow burn news cycle for months now. Samsung initially announced it was making LPCAMM modules months before the standard was even released. SK Hynix is also aboard the LPCAMM2 train but Micron gets to toot its horn to be the first out the gate to actually show off working modules in a soon-to-ship laptop.
Repairability-rights advocate iFixit actually got to take apart the Lenovo P1 with the Micron module in a video which you can eyeball here.
It’s actually quite different from Dell’s initial CAMM proposal that we got to finger more than a year and half ago. Dell basically did the homework on CAMM to replace the antiquated 20-year-old SO-DIMM concept and then handed it over to JEDEC to ratify as an industry standard. Dell actually hoped CAMM would support both DDR5 and LPDDR5 but it’s not clear if that vision made it out of the committee.
CAMM turned into CAMM2 as the formal standard and adopted two mounting standards–a stacked design using two single-channel CAMM2 modules, or a single-module design mounting a dual-channel CAMM2 module. From examining JEDEC’s technical documents, the dual-channel features 128-bit using four 32-bit subchannels and looks to possibly be mechanically compatible with LPDDR5X–but it’s not quite clear to us yet. We can say JEDEC’s technical documents indicate CAMM2 modules using a square shape while the LPCAMM2 modules use the smaller notched module you see above.
The future is here!
The important part of the Micron and Lenovo news is we’re finally on the way to replacing SO-DIMMs — and we’re also likely to see a nice improvement in power conservation in laptops that typically don’t receive it.
For example, the ThinkPad P1 is a workstation laptop and usually would be paired with bulkier and more power hungry conventional SO-DIMMs. With Micron’s LPCAMM2, the P1 should provide you with much better standby time and do so without using soldered down, and non-upgradeable RAM which should be celebrated by all.
Laptops Read...Newslink ©2024 to PC World | |
| | | PC World - 9 May (PC World)Intel has denied a report saying that it’s asking its motherboard partners to implement lower, “baseline” power profiles to solve instability issues and potentially Nerf performance in its 13th- and 14th-gen Core processors..
Instead, it’s the opposite: “Intel is not recommending motherboard manufacturers to use ‘baseline’ power delivery settings on boards capable of higher values,” an Intel spokesman said in an email.
Many reports have bubbled up that Intel’s 13th- and 14th-generation Core chips have suffered from instability, with users experiencing crashes and Blue Screens of Death (BSODs) when playing games. Intel hasn’t said how many processors have been affected or under what conditions the instability may occur, although a leaked memo appears to blame motherboard manufacturers and their choice of turning off of safety features. That same memo indicates Intel plans a more consumer-focused statement in May.
PCWorld asked for an explanation of what was going on in response to reports that Intel was supposedly going to enforce more stringent restrictions on turbo (PL2) clock speeds, which would effectively rob them of performance. Motherboard makers were reportedly being told that Intel would enforce “baseline” settings. As PC Gamer noted, Asus was one of the motherboard manufacturers to release an updated BIOS with an “Intel Baseline Profile” — but discovered that the power limits that Asus was enforcing went way over those stock or “baseline” speeds.
Adding to the confusion and hand-wringing was Gigabyte’s implementation of a baseline profile that differed from others that drastically lowered the performance of the CPUs by as much as 30 percent and also appeared to use excessive voltage as well. Gigabyte had touted the new Intel baseline profile in a press release–but has appeared to have pulled it now.
Intel is refusing to set “baseline” profiles
It’s unclear whether Intel’s statement is designed to indirectly address how Asus implemented the “baseline” profile, or if they simply don’t apply to Intel’s Core i9-13900K/KF and Core i9-14900K/KF processors instead. But Intel said a “baseline” profile doesn’t apply to its fastest chips.
“Several motherboard manufacturers have released BIOS profiles labeled ‘Intel Baseline Profile’,” Intel said in a statement. “However, these BIOS profiles are not the same as the ‘Intel Default Settings’ recommendations that Intel has recently shared with its partners regarding the instability issues reported on 13th and 14th gen K SKU processors.
“These ‘Intel Baseline Profile’ BIOS settings appear to be based on power delivery guidance previously provided by Intel to manufacturers describing the various power delivery options for 13th and 14th Generation K SKU processors based on motherboard capabilities,” Intel added. “Intel is not recommending motherboard manufacturers to use ‘baseline’ power delivery settings on boards capable of higher values.”
Put another way, Intel said that “baseline” power delivery profiles aren’t recommended for its 13th- and 14th-gen K-series processors.
Intel is restricting PL2 values on the Core i9-13900K/KF and the Core i9-14900K/KF to 253W on both the “Performance” and “Extreme” profiles, Intel said. On the Core i9-13900KS and Core i9-14900KS, PL2 levels are set at 253W for the “Performance” and 320W for the “Extreme” Profile. Intel is also placing limits on ICCMAX power, “never” exceeding 400A at most.
“Intel’s recommended ‘Intel Default Settings’ are a combination of thermal and power delivery features along with a selection of possible power delivery profiles based on motherboard capabilities,” Intel goes on. “Intel recommends customers to implement the highest power delivery profile compatible with each individual motherboard design as noted in the table below.”
IDG via Intel
IDG via Intel
IDG via Intel
Intel doesn’t seem to be specifying which implementations must use the Performance profile, and which use the Extreme profile. But it at least is an indication that Intel is working toward a solution. Falcon Northwest has also published a workaround, which it characterized as a “work in progress.”
We’ve asked Intel if they understand the scope of the problem, and how (or if) RMA or warranty returns will be affected, and whether the company has seen instability on the Performance and Extreme settings. We’ll update this story if and when we learn more.
CPUs and Processors Read...Newslink ©2024 to PC World | |
| | | PC World - 9 May (PC World)It’s been a year or two since Midjourney absolutely overturned what we thought of conventional AI art. And now Microsoft Copilot is taking one of its ideas and making it its own.
Microsoft said Wednesday that it’s adding a rewrite feature to its Copilot prompts. You’ll also be able to write shareable prompts that you can provide other members of your team, and a new Catch Up feature will recommend next steps to jumpstart your day.
Copilot’s rewrite feature could be a powerful addition. Most people don’t actually know how to write a good prompt. Brevity is not the answer; in fact, it can be the antithesis of getting things done, because it allows an LLM or AI chatbot some leeway in what it does. That’s not always what you want.
Midjourney, a pioneer in AI art, recognized this early on. You could ask it to “draw a bee circling a flower.” Instead of taking the command literally, Midjourney silently added related words to your own prompt, like “epic, narrow focus, spring meadow, golden hour” or something like that. The result tended to add drama, providing a greater degree of satisfaction to the final result. The idea was smart enough to be copied by other AI art generators, including my favorite local AI art tool, Fooocus.
Microsoft is stealing the autocomplete feature for Bing and applying it to Copilot.
Microsoft is stealing the autocomplete feature for Bing and applying it to Copilot.Microsoft
Microsoft is stealing the autocomplete feature for Bing and applying it to Copilot.Microsoft
Microsoft
Copilot apparently will do the same thing, though it’s not clear how far it will go. The problem with LLMs is that a good prompt can include several components, as this excellent TrustInsights.ai paper points out: It defines a role for the LLM (sales expert), tells it the goal (plan a sales strategy for a product), gives it context, and then tells the LLM what to do and how to do it. That can take many, many sentences, especially as more LLMs accept longer prompt lengths that can go on for pages.
“With its new rewrite feature, Copilot turns a basic prompt into a rich one with the click of a button, turning everyone into a prompt engineer,” Microsoft said in a blog post. Microsoft will also steal a page from Bing, too, adding an autocomplete function for prompts.
Once you have a prompt that produces good results, you’ll be able to share it with your team in the Copilot Lab, Microsoft added.
Before and after using the “rewrite” feature in Microsoft Copilot to improve your prompt.
Catch Up, the final new feature Microsoft announced, is designed to produce “responsive recommendations,” Microsoft said. It’s not clear how that will work, exactly, but Microsoft provided an example: “You have a meeting with the sales VP on Thursday. Let’s get you prepared — click here to get detailed notes.”
Presumably, those recommendations will be based upon whatever information Copilot knows about you, your contacts, your to-dos, and more.
You’ll be able to share Copilot prompts with coworkers, too.
You’ll be able to share Copilot prompts with coworkers, too.Microsoft
You’ll be able to share Copilot prompts with coworkers, too.Microsoft
Microsoft
All of these features will arrive in the “coming months,” Microsoft said.
Additional reporting by Sharon Machlis, director of editorial analytics at Foundry.
Professional Software, Windows Read...Newslink ©2024 to PC World | |
| | | ITBrief - 8 May (ITBrief)In a move to protect organisations utilising AI tools, global cybersecurity firm, Trend Micro, updates its Trend Vision One platform with new AI-powered security features. Read...Newslink ©2024 to ITBrief | |
| | | PC World - 8 May (PC World)Antivirus is just one part of keeping your PC secure. What about backups, password storage, and software updates? Do you use a VPN? Are you monitoring the dark web for your personal data? That’s where security suites come in — they bundle all the tools you might need into a convenient package. Everything is available in one place for a single payment, no juggling eight different applications with different subscription fees.
There are all kinds of features you’ll find in premium security suites. We’ll use Norton 360 Deluxe as an example here, as it’s our top antivirus security suite pick here at PCWorld. But all popular security suites from Avast One and AVG Internet Security to Avira Prime and McAfee Total Protection offer a variety of similar features.
Dark web monitoring
Security suites frequently include dark web monitoring for details like your e-mail addresses, phone numbers, and credit cards. The dark web is a place where people can better hide their identity and be anonymous. It may involve using software like the Tor web browser and anonymous .onion sites, for example.
Given the vastly improved anonymity, there’s a seedy underbelly of criminal dark web sites where databases full of e-mail addresses and passwords, payment details, and other private information are sold. The dark web scan feature will let you know if your information appears in one of these breaches. You’ll be able to see what appears in various leaks.
Chris Hoffman/IDG
Chris Hoffman/IDG
Chris Hoffman/IDG
Norton 360, like many other security suites, offers dark web scanning for your e-mail addresses as well as any phone numbers and credit card numbers you may want to provide. You’ll get reports about the contents of each breach the scan finds.
You can get this kind of monitoring in a lot of places. For example, Google’s Google One subscription offers dark web monitoring, too.
A built-in VPN service
Premium online security suites usually include built-in VPN services. While our top-rated VPN services aren’t the ones built into online security applications, VPNs built into security apps work fine. A VPN is a nice to have security feature and having it built into your security app means you don’t have to juggle a pile of different system tray icons. Everything is in one place.
Chris Hoffman/IDG
Chris Hoffman/IDG
Chris Hoffman/IDG
The VPN built into Norton 360, for example, can be configured to automatically start and protect your connection whenever you connect to a public Wi-Fi network. You can turn it on and off whenever you want — on any connection — and choose what region it connects to. It supports optional features like split tunneling (only sending traffic from some apps through the VPN) and a kill switch (automatically cutting off all network access when the VPN connection goes down to protect your privacy).
Dedicated VPN apps may be shinier and have more bells and whistles, but you may not need them. A capable VPN is a great additional value in a security application. You won’t have to pay for a VPN subscription separately and you won’t have to deal with the drawbacks of a free VPN like a limited monthly data allowance.
A password manager
Everyone should use a high-quality password manager. After all, you need to use strong, unique passwords for all your accounts and unless you have a photographic memory, there’s no way to remember them all.
Online security suites have bundled password managers. For example, you get Norton Password Manager with Norton 360. Like with other password managers, you can generate and autofill passwords and access them on any browser you use — with Android and iPhone apps, too.
Chris Hoffman/IDG
Chris Hoffman/IDG
Chris Hoffman/IDG
If you’re seeking out the absolute best password manager, you may want to look for a dedicated one (check out PCWorld’s top password manager picks). But Norton’s password manager is perfectly capable.
In fact, there are a wide variety of solid password managers these days. We even think using Google Chrome’s built-in password manager is fine. An online security suite that bundles a solid password manager means you don’t have to pay for anything extra.
Cloud backups
Online security suites also often bundle some cloud backup capabilities. Norton 360 Deluxe gives you 50GB of online storage so you can back up your personal files.
These built-in cloud backup tools are nice to have in a pinch. If you need to back up a lot of files, you may want a dedicated cloud backup service.
Chris Hoffman/IDG
Chris Hoffman/IDG
Chris Hoffman/IDG
Likewise, it’s worth noting that if you pay for a Microsoft 365 subscription, you get 1TB of cloud storage with OneDrive and OneDrive can sync folders like your PC’s Documents folder to the cloud.
Still, you only get 5GB of OneDrive storage with Windows unless you pay. That 50GB of cloud backup storage in Norton, for example, will be more than enough for many people, no extra payments required.
Software updaters
Windows application updates are messy. Unlike on an Android phone or iPhone, apps have to update themselves on a PC. You can easily end up with outdated applications installed and they might have security flaws.
Chris Hoffman/IDG
Chris Hoffman/IDG
Chris Hoffman/IDG
That’s why security suites often include software updaters: They’ll scan your computer for installed software, let you know which ones have updates, and tell you how important they are for your security. They may even be able to auto-update these programs for you.
You can get features like this with other free apps, but they may be rather technical. I’m a big fan of the free WingetUI tool for updating apps, for example, but it doesn’t have the most user-friendly interface. Software updaters in security suites will have an easier-to-understand interface and be easy to find.
Online privacy scans
Data broker websites collect all sorts of public records on you and make them available to people who want to pay up. You can remove your data from these websites, but it’s a time-consuming task.
Some security suites have features that will scan for your personal information on these data broker sites and perhaps let you remove it. Norton 360, for example, has a privacy monitor feature that will scan data broker sites for your personal data and let you know where it’s found.
Chris Hoffman/IDG
Chris Hoffman/IDG
Chris Hoffman/IDG
You can then contact these sites on your own to get them to remove your data. Unfortunately, Norton charges you extra for the Privacy Monitor Assistant if you want Norton to do the legwork of removing the data on your behalf. Still, it’s good that Norton and other security suites are letting people know about this privacy concern — data broker sites are big business, but they aren’t often talked about.
A security-focused web browser (and extensions)
Security suites are increasingly bundling their own unique web browsers with their security suites. For example, Norton 360 offers Norton Private Browser. These are totally optional — you can keep using Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or whatever other browser you might prefer instead.
These browsers will feel familiar to use. They tend to be based on the same open-source technology that underlies Google Chrome. They also bundle extra features: Norton’s browser has Norton’s password manager built-in, naturally.
Chris Hoffman/IDG
Chris Hoffman/IDG
Chris Hoffman/IDG
Security suites also tend to offer browser extensions that warn you about dangerous websites in your browser of choice. For example, Norton has the Norton Safe Web extension for Chrome, Edge, and Firefox. It’s the kind of thing that’s built into Norton’s own browser.
In my opinion, a dedicated web browser isn’t a critical feature — modern web browsers are pretty secure and you probably already have a web browser you use and trust. You can also install your security suite’s browser extension in whatever browser you currently use. But security-focused browsers are clearly in high demand and they’re fine if you want to use them. They’re just customized versions of Google Chrome, after all.
Parental controls
You’ll often find parental control features built into security suites, too. For example, Norton 360 has Norton Family built in. You can monitor what children are doing on the web, set screen time limits, and access other similar features. With the associated mobile apps, you can also keep track of a child’s location (or at least the location of their phone!).
Chris Hoffman/IDG
Chris Hoffman/IDG
Chris Hoffman/IDG
Available parental control features will vary depending on the application you choose. It’s worth doing some research to see whether the parental controls in a security suite fit your needs, or whether you may want a different tool with different features. But once again, it’s nice to have this thrown in: You get a useful package of software that you’d often have to pay for bundled with all the other tools in your security suite of choice.
Is a paid security suite worth it?
Security suites offer a lot of features. Many of them, like password managers, VPNs, and online backup, often require separate subscription fees if you go for dedicated apps.
That’s a big difference between paid premium security suites and free antivirus programs: Security suites go beyond antivirus. Free antivirus programs often stick to the basics — just antivirus software and you’ll have to look elsewhere for any extras. Free antivirus software does the job, but paid security suites often have some nice-to-have extras.
Which you prefer is up to you. Maybe you want to seek out the best password manager, top-tier VPN, and and assemble your own security suite from parts. Go right ahead!
But it’s easy to see the value of a security suite in providing everything in a convenient bundle. There’s a lot of value in simplifying things and saving time. Having all those tools in one dashboard is a much cleaner experience that will be much easier for many people to understand.
Why get eight different pieces of software when you can install one to do the same job?
Antivirus, Security Software and Services Read...Newslink ©2024 to PC World | |
| | | PC World - 8 May (PC World)At a glanceExpert`s Rating
ProsPerformance matches its priceBeautiful, bright displayDecent battery life for a gaming laptopConsPower connector doesn’t fully insert into the laptop (at least on initial models)Our VerdictThe Gigabyte Aorus 16X is a solid gaming laptop that offers competitive performance for its price range, although the power adapter is lacking some polish. If you can find it at a price that beats the competition, it’s a fine choice.
The Gigabyte Aorus 16X is a powerful, sleek 16-inch gaming laptop. Our souped-up review model came outfitted with great hardware, a high refresh rate display, and whatnot. So, why didn’t I give it a higher score? Well, this kind of package is what we expect to see on a laptop that costs around $2,000. It’s a fine value, but there’s nothing about it that stands out as an unusual value.
Gigabyte has gone out of its way to provide a “premium” laptop experience and has overall done a decent job, but there’s one thorn in my side and that’s the power connector. It doesn’t quite fit into the laptop, which doesn’t match the kind of polish I’ve come to expect from a high-end machine. Although Gigabyte says it’s fixing this problem in manufacturing, it soured my experience a bit.
I also reviewed the less expensive Gigabyte G6X laptop at the same time as this one, so you’ll see me compare the two machines throughout this review.
Looking for more options? Check out PCWorld’s roundup of the best gaming laptops available right now.
Gigabyte Aorus 16X: Specs
The Gigabyte Aorus 16X packs a lot of powerful hardware into a 16-inch gaming laptop chassis. The Gigabyte Aorus we reviewed came with an Intel Core i7-14650HX CPU. This is an Intel Core HX chip, a refresh of last year’s Raptor Lake hardware. These seem to perform a little better than Intel’s current Core Ultra chips, which are based on the Meteor Lake architecture. However, these Raptor Lake chips lack the neural processing unit (NPU) that will supposedly accelerate future Windows AI features, according to rumors.
The Aorus 16X we reviewed was an Aorus 16X ASG model, which has Nvidia RTX 4070 graphics along with 32GB of RAM and a 1TB solid-state drive. Gigabyte also has other variants that come with Nvidia RTX 4060 graphics. Additionally, Gigabyte says it will offer versions of this laptop with a faster Intel Core i9 CPU. And, as usual, RAM and storage may also vary.
We should also address the AI elephant in the room: Gigabyte is calling this an “AI gaming laptop.” For the most part, this is just as much an AI laptop as any other laptop with a powerful Nvidia RTX GPU. Gigabyte is right about its AI performance — as we’ve pointed out, a fast GPU will give you the best AI performance. However, since this system doesn’t have an NPU, it’s unclear if it will support the AI features Microsoft adds to Windows in the future. Microsoft hasn’t said yet.
Gigabyte shows off the system’s AI performance by bundling a convenient little tool that will download and set up Stable Diffusion on your PC, giving you a graphical interface for AI generation of images on your own PC. That’s honestly super cool and one of the most useful “AI laptop” features I’ve seen yet. The other options in Gigabyte’s “AI Nexus” feel a little gimmicky: Using “AI” to adjust system power consumption and fan speed, for example. I don’t imagine those will make a huge difference in system performance compared to other brands without these features.
CPU: Intel Core i7-14650HX
Memory: 32GB DDR5-5600 RAM
Graphics/GPU: Nvidia RTX 4070
Display: 2560×1600 16:10 IPS display with 165 Hz refresh rate and HDR
Storage: 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD
Webcam: 1080p webcam
Connectivity: 1x Thunderbolt 4 / USB Type-C (USB4, DisplayPort 1.4, and Power Delivery 3.0), 1x USB Type C (USB3.2 Gen2 and DisplayPort 1.4), 2x USB Type-A (USB 3.2 Gen2), 1x MicroSD card reader, 1x combo audio jack, 1x HDMi 2.1, 1x RJ-45, 1x DC power in
Networking: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, gigabit Ethernet
Biometrics: IR camera for Windows Hello
Battery capacity: 99 Watt-hours
Dimensions: 14.01 x 10 x 1.06 inches
Weight: 5.07 pounds
MSRP: $1,949 as tested
Gigabyte Aorus 16X: Design and build quality
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
The Gigabyte Aorus 16X has a “sports car-inspired design,” according to Gigabyte. Compared to less expensive gaming laptops like the Gigabyte G6X, there are more sleek curves and visual touches, with a more polished design overall. The lid on top of the laptop is made of aluminum, while the rest of the chassis is made of plastic.
The back of the laptop has a light bar which fits the whole sports car theme. The light bar cycles through different colors, and you can see its light through the hinge area between the laptop’s display and its keyboard. The light bar has the “Aorus Beacon” — a small projector that projects the word “Aorus” onto the surface right behind the laptop.
Complete with a “Team Up Fight On” graphic below the keyboard that continues onto the touchpad, it’s a more traditionally “gamer” design than other modern gaming laptops, like the Alienware m16 R2, which often try to de-emphasize the gamer styling. There’s nothing wrong with that, and many gamers will prefer a design like this.
The design feels solid. There’s no creaky plastic, the hinge feels nice in action, and the lid doesn’t have too much flex. At just over five pounds, it’s a reasonably good weight for a gaming laptop this size and with this kind of hardware.
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
One thing here feels strange: The power connector. First, the power connector is on the left side of the laptop — not the back, where it’s located on many gaming laptops. Second, the bundled power adapter has a cable that sticks straight out — there’s no L-shaped connector that directs the cable to the back of your laptop. Because of this, I expect this laptop will not feel great to use for people who use their mice left-handed. Even if you aren’t left-handed, this is an inconvenient configuration for the power connection that will use a good chunk of space on the desk to the left of your laptop.
Additionally, the laptop’s power connector doesn’t fully insert into the jack. There’s nothing wrong with that, necessarily — the laptop works fine, and nothing seems like it’s going to break — but this laptop is around the “upper midrange” price bracket. At this almost-$2,000 price point, this sort of fit-and-finish issue cheapens the overall feel.
This issue was not exclusive to my review model — I found reviews on Amazon and YouTube that pointed out the same issue. While I don’t think it’s a huge problem deserving of a one-star review, like that particular Amazon reviewer, it’s easy to see how someone spending nearly $2,000 on a laptop could be disappointed by this sort of thing.
Gigabyte provided us with a statement saying the power adapter sticking out from the charging port is a known issue and that there does not appear to be any problem with it — something I completely believe, as the laptop worked perfectly well in my testing. Still, Gigabyte says this is not the intended experience and the issue will be fixed in July 2024, after which Gigabyte says it will prevent a similar issue from happening again.
Gigabyte Aorus 16X: Keyboard and trackpad
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
The Gigabyte Aorus 16X has a classic “chiclet” keyboard that feels great to type on. Its keys feel snappier and less “mushy” than the keyboard on the more bargain-priced Gigabyte G6X. That’s no surprise — in the specs, Gigabyte says that the Aorus 16X’s keyboard has 1.7mm of key travel compared to the G6X’s 1.5mm of key travel. The keyboard feels good to type on. It’s definitely a more premium keyboard on a more premium laptop.
The Aorus 16X’s keyboard has three zones of LED lighting. It’s nice and colorful, and the WASD keys — along with Q, E, and R — are transparent to really stand out and highlight the LED lighting.
This is a traditional laptop keyboard layout without a big number pad at the right side, like on the less expensive G6X. However, there are full size arrow keys, which are nice to see.
The trackpad is large and responsive, with a satisfying click — a click that feels snappier than the trackpad included on the less-expensive Gigabyte G6X. That’s a pattern I saw repeated throughout the experience, with most things about the Gigabyte Aorus 16X just being somewhat nicer.
Gigabyte Aorus 16X: Display and speakers
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
The Gigabyte Aorus 16X has a beautiful matte display. The nicer display is a big reason why it’s worth spending a bit extra for a premium gaming laptop like this one, if you’re willing to spend the money on it.
The Aorus 16X has a 16-inch 2560×1600 IPS display with a 165 Hz refresh rate. It supports HDR, including Dolby Vision, and it’s plenty bright. Gigabyte says it has up to 400 nits of brightness, and Windows says it has more like 500 nits of peak brightness with HDR enabled. The colors, contrast, and responsiveness are great, and it was a joy to play games on.
It’s a big upgrade from the Gigabyte G6X’s display, which is lower resolution at 1920×1200, dimmer at 300 nits of brightness, and doesn’t support HDR. It’s not just about that other Gigabyte laptop, though: Less-expensive gaming laptops frequently cut corners on the display to get the price down and include fast CPUs and GPUs on the spec sheet.
The Dolby Atmos-enabled speakers also sound fine for laptop speakers. They have decent volume, and they sound better than the speakers on the less-expensive Gigabyte G6X — although they are still built-in laptop speakers.
Gigabyte Aorus 16X: Webcam, microphone, biometrics
The 1080p webcam here is a very nice webcam! It’s also a very standard 1080p webcam — for a 1080p webcam. It’s a big upgrade over the 720p webcams commonly found on cheaper laptops like the Gigabyte G6X. You won’t feel compelled to plug in an external webcam if you want to have video meetings on this laptop.
The microphone produces clearer sound than the built-in microphone on the Gigabyte G6X, with no background noise in a quiet room. It was surprisingly quiet — a problem I wasn’t alone in noticing. I turned the microphone’s volume up from about 50 percent, its default volume level, to 100 percent, and the volume level was fine. I would still want to plug in a dedicated mic or headset for voice chat while gaming, but that’s always the case.
This laptop has an IR camera for Windows Hello, so you can sign into your PC with your face. The IR camera worked well in a variety of lighting conditions. Less-expensive gaming laptops often omit this feature to save money, but it’s nice to have — it’s great to just open your laptop or sit down in front of it and have Windows automatically sign you in with no typing necessary.
Gigabyte Aorus 16X: Connectivity
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
The Gigabyte Aorus 16X provides a wide selection of ports, like most 16-inch gaming laptops do.
On the left side, you’ve got DC power in for the charger, an RJ-45 (Ethernet) jack, an HDMI 2.1 port, a USB Type-A port (USB 3.2 Gen2), and a Thunderbolt 4 / USB Type-C port (with USB4, DisplayPort 1.4, and USB Power Delivery 3.0.)
On the right side, you’ve got a USB Type-A port (USB 3.2 Gen2), a USB Type-C port (USB 3.2 Gen2 and DisplayPort 1.4), a microSD card reader, and a combo audio jack.
On the back of the laptop, there are no ports! Just fan exhaust vents and a light bar along with that cool little projector that projects the word “Aorus” onto the surface behind the laptop. (It’s more visible in the dark, but I could still see it in the daylight).
The Aorus 16X offers bleeding edge wireless hardware with support for both Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4. You probably don’t have a Wi-Fi 7 router yet, but it’s great to see this laptop is futureproof when you’re spending this kind of money. Additionally, it offers gigabit Ethernet if you want to go wired.
Gigabyte Aorus 16X: Performance
The Gigabyte Aorus 16X delivered great performance in day-to-day computing use and gaming, which is no surprise thanks to all the powerful hardware packed into this laptop. Of course, we ran the Aorus 16X through our standard benchmarks to see how it performs.
We benchmarked the laptop in its default mode out of the box, with the “AI Power Gear” setting set to “Performance” in the Gigabyte Control Center. This uses the laptop’s Mux switch to boost performance by letting the laptop bypass Intel GPU, but you’ll have to reboot if you want to use the laptop’s integrated GPU to save battery power away from an outlet.
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
First, we run PCMark 10 to get an idea of overall system performance. This is an overall system benchmark, but it favors the CPU.
The Raptor Lake-based Intel Core i7-14650HX CPU in this laptop delivered great performance with a score of 7,774, only beat by the higher-end Core i9 CPU in the MSI Raider GE78.
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
Next, we run Cinebench R20. This is a heavily multithreaded benchmark that focuses on overall CPU performance. It’s a quick benchmark, so cooling under extended workloads isn’t a factor. But, since it’s heavily multithreaded, CPUs with more cores have a huge advantage.
Once again, the Core i7 HX CPU delivered great performance with a core of 8,428 in the multi-threaded benchmark. That’s a 15 percent higher score than Gigabyte’s less-expensive G6X laptop and its Intel Core i7-13650HX, which offers less top-end CPU performance.
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
We also run an encode with Handbrake. This is another heavily multithreaded benchmark, but it runs over an extended period of time. This demands the laptop’s cooling kick in, and many laptops will throttle and slow down under load.
The Aorus 16X delivered a great result, completing the encode in 762 seconds — just under 13 minutes. Once again, that’s only beat by the Core i9-powered laptop we’re comparing it to. It’s noticeably faster than the Gigabyte G6X, which has a CPU with less top-end performance. The Aorus 16X’s cooling did a great job here.
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
Next, we run a graphical benchmark. This is gaming laptop, so gaming performance is going to be the result that matters most. We run 3Dmark Time Spy, a graphical benchmark that focuses on GPU performance.
The Gigabyte Aorus 16X delivered a score of 12,723. It’s normally all about GPU models here. And, as expected, we see the Aorus 16X and its Nvidia RTX 4070 come out ahead of RTX 4050- and 4060-powered laptops and behind an RTX 4090-powered laptop. But the Aorus beat out the Alienware m16 R2 and its RTX 4070 here, too.
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
Now, we look at some games. We run the benchmark in Shadow of the Tomb Raider to test all the gaming laptops we review. This is an older game, but it’s a great way to compare graphical performance across different PCs.
The Aorus 16X delivered an average FPS of 137 frames per second, about the same as the Gigabyte G6X. The laptops with RTX 4070 and RTX 4060 hardware we’re comparing the Aorus to tend to be in the same ballpark here.
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
Last, we run the benchmark in Metro Exodus, a more demanding game. We set the benchmark to 1080p resolution at the Extreme detail setting. The Gigabyte Aorus 16X delivered 50 frames per second in this benchmark, 20 percent faster than the Gigabyte G6X’s result of 40 frames per second.
Once again, the story here is all about the different GPUs. This laptop’s RTX 4070 is faster than RTX 4060 and RTX 4050 hardware — but nowhere near as fast as a much more expensive RTX 4090.
Overall, the Gigabyte Aorus 16X delivered great performance with its Intel Core i7-14650HX CPU and Nvidia RTX 4070 GPU. The laptop’s cooling worked well, too: Gigabyte says it has “Windforce Infinity Cooling Technology,” which delivered good cooling performance. When gaming, the laptop’s keyboard stayed nice and cool and never became annoyingly hot.
Gigabyte Aorus 16X: Battery life
The Gigabyte Aorus 16X delivered good battery life for a gaming laptop of its size. That’s likely thanks to its massive 99 Watt-hour battery — this is the largest battery the U.S. Transportation Security Administration will let you take on an airplane!
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
To benchmark the battery life, we play a 4K copy of Tears of Steel on repeat in the Movies & TV app on Windows 11 with airplane mode enabled until the laptop suspends itself. We set the screen to 250 nits of brightness for our battery benchmarks. This is a best-case scenario for any laptop since local video playback is so efficient, and real battery life in day-to-day use is always going to be less than this.
(We switched the laptop to Balanced mode in the Gigabyte Control Center for this battery life test.)
The Gigabyte Aorus 16X lasted for 410 minutes — nearly seven hours — before shutting down. This is a best case scenario, and you won’t get this long while using the laptop normally. You’ll want to plug the laptop in to get a full workday’s worth of use from it. But this is quite a good result for a gaming laptop. It’s nearly two hours longer than the less-expensive Gigabyte G6X laptop, with its 73 Watt-hour battery.
Gigabyte Aorus 16X: Conclusion
The Gigabyte Aorus 16X offers solid hardware at a reasonable price. Gigabyte is going for a more “premium” laptop experience here, so it’s not a bargain that offers unusual value for at its retail price like the less-expensive Gigabyte G6X. The Aorus 16X is an RTX 4070-powered gaming laptop that is similarly priced to many other laptops in its price range.
Overall, this is a good laptop. It performs well, the display is beautiful, and everything about it feels very nice to use. But that’s true about a lot of gaming laptops around the $2,000 mark. Consider the $1,849 Alienware m16 R2, for example: It also has an RTX 4070 GPU. The display is dimmer, but it offers a higher 240Hz refresh rate. It has less RAM and doesn’t have Wi-Fi 7, but its power connector is in a more convenient place and it’s $100 cheaper.
I keep coming back to that power connector because this laptop costs nearly $2,000. For a premium laptop that’s all about fit and finish, having a power connector that doesn’t insert fully just feels cheap. There’s nothing wrong with it and the laptop works fine, but that sort of thing doesn’t scream “premium.” People spending $1,949 at launch will probably want more polish.
But Gigabyte says that issue will go away on future production runs of this laptop. You may be reading this review many months from now, with the power adapter situation resolved, and the Aorus 16X available at a great sale price. And, if you can find the Aorus 16X at a better price compared to laptops with similar specs, you’ll have a perfectly nice experience.
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