At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Long battery life (almost 24 hours in our test) Beautiful OLED screen Great webcam Cons Lunar Lake’s multithreaded performance isn’t ideal for some workloads Glossy screen can be difficult to read in harsh lighting conditions A little expensive Our Verdict The Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition is a sleek 14-inch Lunar Lake laptop with a beautiful display and extreme battery life. It’s a nice machine, and it would be easy to recommend more widely if it was less expensive. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today The Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition is a 14-inch 2-in-1 convertible laptop with an Intel Lunar Lake processor. It combines a touchscreen and 360-degree hinge along with 32GB of RAM, a beautiful OLED screen, and the long battery life Intel’s Lunar Lake hardware is known for. Unlike some other Yoga-branded laptops I’ve reviewed in the last year, this model is a 2-in-1 convertible PC with the 360-degree hinge the Yoga name was once known for. This machine has the same CPU as the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 Gen 10, and I reviewed them both at the same time. The Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 is the consumer alternative to the ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 with the same CPU on the inside but a different design and a more entertainment-focused display choice. The battery life is long, the screen looks beautiful, and the machine looks and feels sleek. Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1: Specs The Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition is an upgrade to the previous-generation Lenovo Yoga 9i (Gen 9). This time around, the machine has a Lunar Lake CPU — specifically, the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V. That means it gets much longer battery life and can run Copilot+ PC AI features that Intel’s older NPU just wasn’t powerful enough to run. It also has a more powerful integrated GPU that is surprisingly good for integrated graphics—plus a generous allotment of 32 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD. Model: Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition CPU: Intel Core Ultra 7 258V Memory: 32 GB LPDDR5x RAM Graphics/GPU: Intel Arc 140V NPU: Intel AI Boost (up to 47 TOPS) Display: 14-inch 2880×1800 OLED display with variable refresh rate up to 120Hz and HDR Storage: 1 TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD Webcam: 5MP 1440p webcam Connectivity: 2x Thunderbolt 4 (USB Type-C), 1x USB Type-C (USB 20Gbps), 1x USB Type-A (USB 10Gbps), 1x combo audio jack Networking: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 Biometrics: Fingerprint reader, IR camera for facial recognition Battery capacity: 75 Watt-hours Dimensions: 12.44 x 8.66 x 0.63 inches Weight: 2.91 pounds MSRP: $1,749 as tested This is a wonderful laptop for people looking for a sleek, portable 2-in-1 with a vivid display and long battery life. Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1: Design and build quality IDG / Chris Hoffman The Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1’s design feels similar to other Lenovo Yoga machines I’ve used in the past year or so. This Yoga laptop uses “Cosmic Blue,” in contrast to Lenovo’s ThinkPad line, which opts for a business look with more shades of gray. Combined with the rounded edges and glossy high-resolution OLED screen, it’s a sleek experience. The blue is rather dark, though. In real life, it looks a lot closer to black than you might expect while catching light in an intriguing way. The top and bottom are made of aluminum, and the build quality is solid — this is a proven Yoga design, and it’s not Lenovo’s first time putting out a machine in a chassis like this one. It looks very similar to the Lenovo Yoga 9i (Gen 9), for example. The hinge works well. The hinge also has what Lenovo calls a “rotating soundbar” built into it. There’s no flex that shouldn’t be there, no undesired movement of the display as you type, or anything else you wouldn’t want to see on a machine like this. The design just works like it should. At 2.91 pounds, it’s a standard weight for a laptop like this one — not too heavy and not unusually light. The built-in software is a little more cluttered than I’d like: it’s got McAfee antivirus popping up and asking you to subscribe out of the box, for example. Consumer laptops tend to have more bundled offers than business laptops, but it feels a little much for a $1,749 laptop. Still, that doesn’t matter at all when you can quickly uninstall it. Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1: Keyboard, trackpad, pen IDG / Chris Hoffman The keyboard feels fine to type on. Lenovo says it has “soft-landing” switches, which the company describes as having a “snappy” feel, along with 1.5mm of key travel. It’s not mushy, and the switches feel good to type on for a lightweight portable laptop. Once again, I have a criticism to make about a Yoga keyboard’s layout. Lenovo has put the fingerprint reader at the bottom right corner of the laptop. Personally, my fingers naturally gravitate towards the bottom-right corner of the keyboard, anticipating the presence of the right arrow key there, which disrupts my muscle memory! And, on the ThinkPad X1 2-in-1, Lenovo put the fingerprint reader to the left of the arrow keys. So that appears to be a touch reserved for Yoga laptops alone. Sure, you’ll get used to it — and if you like this machine and plan on spending a lot of time with it, perhaps that won’t be an issue for you. The trackpad feels nice and smooth, and it’s plenty large. When you click down, there’s a fine click that isn’t mushy. I would like to see laptops like this one include haptic trackpads — that’s just my preference — but this is a good mechanical trackpad. Lenovo also includes a Yoga Pen, which magnetically attaches to the top of the laptop, on the lid right below the camera bump. It’s an active pen that charges via USB-C. You can use it to draw on the laptop’s display, and it works well if you’re looking for that kind of pen experience on a consumer laptop with a 360-degree hinge. Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1: Display and speakers IDG / Chris Hoffman The Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 has an excellent 14-inch OLED display with a touchscreen. It’s designed to wow — with a 2880×1800 resolution, HDR support, and the vivid colors OLED displays are known for. The screen is glossy, unlike the matte one on the business-focused ThinkPad X1 2-in-1. This machine is more interested in providing the most beautiful screen possible for media consumption, while the ThinkPad’s anti-glare display is more optimized for readability in various lighting conditions. It’s always a trade-off when selecting a laptop. To be clear, the screen glare is not unusual — this is just what happens in harsh lighting conditions when a laptop has a glossy OLED display. IDG / Chris Hoffman The Lenovo Yoga 2-in-1’s display tops out at a refresh rate of 120Hz, but it has a variable refresh rate, which probably helps Lenovo squeeze more battery life from this system. In fact, the most impressive thing about the display is probably that Lenovo has managed to squeeze long battery life out of this system, despite a display that feels like it should be power-hungry. Intel Lunar Lake is necessary, but the variable refresh rate on the display and the larger battery built into the laptop are probably the things that complete the puzzle. Lenovo makes a big deal of the rotating soundbar, saying it “allows the device to project audio independent of the device’s orientation.” The soundbar has two tweeters that rotate with the screen, and the laptop has two woofers on the bottom. The speaker setup sounds quite good. Listening to Steely Dan’s Aja on Spotify—a classic audiophile test track for speakers—the sound was clear and detailed. Swapping over to Daft Punk’s Get Lucky for a more electronic sound with more bass, the audio sounded punchy and fun — but obviously without the kind of bass you’d get from a good pair of headphones or external speakers. Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1: Webcam, microphone, biometrics The Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 has a 5 MP webcam with a 1440p resolution. That sounds great on paper. It looks high-quality, too, with a clear picture. In fact, it’s one of the better webcams I’ve seen on a laptop — even compared to the webcams on some business laptops I’ve reviewed. The quality is more than good enough for video meetings and calls. Lenovo has also included a physical privacy shutter, so you can block the laptop by sliding a switch right above the webcam. These are always good to see. The microphone picks up clean, clear audio and has good noise cancellation in a room with desktop PC fans whirring. To my ears, it may be one of the better microphone setups I’ve tried in a laptop recently. Given that the Yoga line primarily caters to consumers, the webcam and microphone performance is impressive. The Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 has a fingerprint reader at the bottom-right corner of the keyboard and an IR camera built into the camera bar above the display. You can sign in with Windows Hello using either your fingerprint or face. Both work well. Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1: Connectivity IDG / Chris Hoffman The Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 doesn’t have the largest selection of ports, but I’ve seen worse. On the left side, you’ll find a USB Type-C port (USB 20Gbps) and a USB Type-A port (USB 10Gbps.) On the right side, you’ll find two Thunderbolt 4 ports (USB 40Gbps) and a combo audio jack. This laptop charges via USB-C, so you’ll plug the charger into one of those USB Type-C ports. Anyone looking for an HDMI out port, a microSD card reader, or a second USB Type-A port will need to look elsewhere. (For example, the business-focused ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 has a built-in HDMI out port.) But this isn’t too bad for this type of portable laptop, especially if you’re prepared to use a dongle if you ever need more ports. I’m just happy to see Lenovo included a headphone jack on this machine! I’ve reviewed a similarly named Lunar Lake-powered Yoga laptop without a headphone jack, the Yoga Slim 9i. Thanks to Intel’s Lunar Lake, this machine also comes with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 as standard. It’s imperative that these features become standard for new laptops. Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1: Performance The Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 delivers snappy desktop performance thanks to its Intel Core Ultra 7 258V CPU. Lunar Lake works well for day-to-day productivity applications and delivers extremely long battery life — plus surprisingly good graphics performance for integrated graphics hardware. As always, though, we ran the Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 through our standard benchmarks to see how it performs. IDG / Chris Hoffman First, we run PCMark 10 to get an idea of overall system performance. With an overall PCMark 10 score of 7,719, the Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 seems to squeeze every bit of performance it can out of Lunar Lake’s hardware. We like to test laptops in their default state without tweaking them much — like a normal PC user would experience them — and I imagine recent changes to Windows 11 that put laptops into a higher-performance state automatically when they’re plugged in helped this machine in the benchmarks. IDG / Chris Hoffman Next, we run Cinebench R20. This test 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. With a multithreaded Cinebench R20 score of 4,306, Intel’s Lunar Lake hardware shows its biggest weakness here. With fewer CPU cores, it’s not just substantially slower at multithreaded CPU workloads than AMD’s Ryzen AI 300 series hardware, which also has an NPU and can run Copilot+ PC AI features. It’s also substantially slower than Intel’s own previous-generation Meteor Lake chips. Lunar Lake does provide longer battery life than its competitors, but it comes at a cost. This isn’t representative of real-world productivity application usage, which is good — but it will be an issue for multithreaded CPU-heavy workloads. IDG / Chris Hoffman We also run an encode with Handbrake. This test is another heavily multithreaded benchmark, but it runs over an extended period. It demands the laptop’s cooling kick in, and many laptops will throttle and slow down under load. The Lenovo Yoga 9i completed the encode process in an average of 1,414 minutes, which is about 23 and a half minutes. Again, multithreaded CPU performance is a weakness here. IDG / Chris Hoffman Next, we run a graphical benchmark. This isn’t a gaming laptop, but it’s still good to check how the GPU performs. We run 3DMark Time Spy, a graphical benchmark that focuses on GPU performance. With a 3DMark Time Spy score of 4,716, Lunar Lake delivers great graphics performance for integrated graphics — second only to laptops with discrete Nvidia or AMD graphics hardware. Overall, this machine delivers solid performance. This laptop showcases Lunar Lake at its peak performance. It also struggles with Lunar Lake’s lower-than-ideal multithreaded performance, as Intel included fewer cores on Lunar Lake than on the last-generation Meteor Lake hardware. That’s only a concern if you have workloads that need sustained multithreaded performance, but it’s an important thing to consider on a $1,749 laptop. Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1: Battery life The Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 combined a substantial 75 watt-hour battery with long-lasting Lunar Lake hardware, so we’d hope it would have long battery life. And it does — it’s very impressive. IDG / Chris Hoffman To benchmark the battery life, we play a 4K copy of Tears of Steel on repeat 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, and it’s worth noting that the Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1’s OLED display has a bit of an advantage, as OLED screens use less power to display the black bars around the video. 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. The Lenovo Yoga 9i lasted for 1414 minutes before suspending itself — that’s 23 and a half hours. The OLED display almost certainly uses more power, but the choice of a variable refresh rate for the display and the larger battery help this machine achieve extremely long battery life. Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1: Conclusion The Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition is a sleek machine with a beautiful display and long battery life. The 2-in-1 experience is great. It’s as nice as it looks in the photos. The downsides are evident: the glossy screen may not be ideal in certain situations, the low multithreaded CPU performance may disrupt some people’s workflows, and the fingerprint reader located to the right of the arrow keys may not be to everyone’s liking. But the main concern is the price — at $1,749, this is a little on the premium-priced side for a consumer laptop. Still, it is a 2-in-1, and a high-quality one at that. This is a wonderful laptop for people looking for a sleek, portable 2-in-1 with a vivid display and long battery life. If those are your priorities — and the price seems reasonable to you — this machine is great. Read...

I don’t know how your tech drawers look, but mine are filled with wires I’ll likely never use again because technology has advanced quite a bit. Thankfully, USB-C seems to be here to stay since there is no wrong way to plug these things in. It’s not just smartphones, tablets, and laptops that use these, however, but also a long list of gadgets. We’ve scoured the market for hidden gems: gadgets that will make you think “Wow, I didn’t know I needed that, but it will make my life so much easier!” So, let’s dive in and see what cool devices you’ll be able to use your type-C cables and ports with. Wowstick 1F+ mini electric screwdriver Wowstick If you often have to fiddle around with your computer or other gadgets, this Wowstick mini electric screwdriver may be just what you need. This pen-shaped screwdriver features three LED lights so it’s easier to see what you’re working on and rotates 200 times per minute so you can finish the job faster. The screwdriver has a stylish base so you can hold it on your desk, and a whole collection of 56 aluminum alloy bits. The screwdriver can be charged via USB-C and it can last for hours. This super fun electric screwdriver usually goes for $41. Anker Nano Power Bank Anker One thing you need to have in you bag/pocket/backpack is a power bank because you never really know when your phone will fail you and cry for a recharge. Well, the Anker Nano power bank is tiny enough to fit just about anywhere. It comes with a foldable USB-C connector and a port on the side so you can charge two devices at once if you need to. The 5,000mAh capacity is just about enough for a full phone recharge, so it will be great in a pinch. It’s also only $30, but we’ve seen it as low as $16. Endoscope camera with light Ennovor Although it’s not something you’ll use every day, this Ennover endoscope camera can definitely come in handy. You just plug it in your phone, install and app, and see everything your camera does. Our team swears by it, using it for finding whatever they dropped behind the desk, while working on the car, or looking for pipe leaks. Since it has an IP67 rating, you can even plop it in your aquarium. The camera comes with a 16.4ft semi-rigid cable and several accessories, including a hook, magnet, and a mirror. You can get this one for $23 right now. Blukar flashlight Blukar I don’t care who you are—you need a flashlight. The smaller, the better, because you get to shove it into any pocket. This model from Blukar comes with a built-in 1800mAh battery that you’ll recharge with one of those many type-C cables you have in that tech drawer we were talking about. It can work for up to 16 hours on a single charge, which is pretty decent. There are four different lightning modes to cycle through, including one that will help you signal for help. Plus, one of these is only $10, so no excuse to pass on this one. Heat It insect bite healer Anyone plagued by mosquitoes in the summer will be particularly pleased with this ingenious gadget. This tiny device, which can be easily connected to your smartphone via USB-C, can significantly reduce the itching of bites and stings with targeted heat. You simply charge the small Heat It bite healer via the app and then hold it on the bite. The heat then does the rest, breaking down the proteins in the mosquito bite that cause the area to swell, itch, and hurt. A true must-have for summer, and it costs only $20. A tiny air pump Also perfect for summer is this small air pump from Cycplus, which fits in any bag while on the go. Not only can it inflate a bicycle tire in two minutes at the touch of a button, but it’s also USB-charged. According to the manufacturer, it’s suitable for mountain bikes, road bikes, motorcycles, and even cars! In addition to being an air pump, this practical gadget can also be used as a flashlight or power bank for on-the-go use — all things that come in very handy on a bike ride. And at just $57, it’s highly recommended if you need quick help with a flat tire. Samsung flash drive Samsung The vast majority of flash drives have a USB-A connector, but this one from Samsung has a Type-C connector. With transfer speeds of up to 400MB/s, you’ll move files around in no time. The beauty of this thumb drive is that you can even pop it in your smartphone to record 4K vids directly on it. The Samsung Type-C flash drive comes in multiple storage options, starting at 64GB and up to 512GB and they start at $14. The 256GB version, for instance, is $27 at the time of writing. Editor’s note: This article was originally published on May 16, but was updated to include two additional devices. Read...

NordVPN and Proton VPN are two of the very best VPNs on the market. So, to help you decide which is the best online privacy tool for you, I’m putting them head-to-head. In comparing the two services, I’ll look at the most important aspects of a great VPN including speed, cost, privacy and security, and streaming.  While NordVPN is faster and packs in more features, Proton VPN optimizes privacy and comes with a larger server network. It’s a close call, but for most people I’d recommend NordVPN. It’s our pick for best VPN overall thanks to its unmatched feature set, lightning-fast speeds, and exceptional streaming support. Both Nord and Proton are top-notch services, but be sure to check out our picks for the best VPNs for even more great options. NordVPNProton VPNServer network7,000+ servers, 118 country locations11,000+, 117 country locationsSimultaneous connections1010Average speeds75% of base download, 81% of base upload65% of base download, 72% of base uploadProtocolsWireGuard (NordLynx), NordWhisper, OpenVPN, IKEv2/IPsecWireGuard, Stealth, OpenVPN, IKEv2/IPsecAvailable platformsWindows, MacOS, Android, iOS, iPadOS, Fire TV, Apple TV, Linux, browsers, routersWindows, MacOS, Android, iOS, iPadOS, Fire TV, Apple TV, Linux, browsers, routersBusiness locationPanamaSwitzerlandCost$13.99 per month, $71.88 for the first year, or $107.73 for the first two years$9.99 per month, $59.88 for the first year, or $107.76 for the first two years Speed: NordVPN In my testing, NordVPN and Proton VPN scored highly in both download and upload speeds. NordVPN has the fastest speeds of any VPN I’ve ever tested while Proton VPN ranks sixth overall. The latest round of testing showed that NordVPN resulted in an average of 75 percent of the base download speeds and an outstanding 81 percent of the base upload speeds. Proton VPN came in a little slower at 65 percent of the base download speed and 72 percent of the base upload speeds.  While NordVPN is the clear winner, the margins are actually quite close, despite how they might seem. Whichever you choose you can expect to smoothly handle bandwidth-heavy tasks, such as gaming and 4K streaming. It’s worth mentioning, however, that Proton VPN’s free version is the runaway leader in terms of speeds among all free VPNs. The speeds on all free servers were the same as Proton’s premium servers. Cost: Proton VPN NordVPN offers four subscription tiers: Basic, Plus, Complete, and Prime. To make an equal comparison for services provided I’ll focus on just NordVPN’s Plus plan which runs $13.99 monthly, $71.88 for the first year, or $105.36 for the first two years. ProtonVPN on the other hand offers three tiers: Free, Plus, and Unlimited. For the purposes of this comparison, I’ll focus on ProtonVPN’s Plus plan which is the most similar to NordVPN’s Plus plan. Proton’s Plus tier is offered for $9.99 per month, or you can opt for a one-year subscription at $59.88, or the two-year plan for $71.76. Best VPN Overall NordVPN Read our review Best Prices Today: $3.39 at NordVPN (Monthly) In both the short term and long term Proton VPN is the cheaper option for similar, but not identical, feature sets. NordVPN does offer a few extra features that Proton does not in this mid-tier including MeshNet file sharing and a secure link-checker tool. But all in all, Proton VPN is the better value and comes in cheaper for pretty much identical features. Another plus in this category for Proton VPN is its free tier. For absolutely no cost you get a one-device connection limit and access to five servers located all across the world. There are no ads and no speed or data restrictions either. It is not only a perfect way to try out Proton VPN, but may be a good option as your daily VPN as well. Privacy and security: Tie NordVPN and Proton VPN both offer stellar security tools. Beyond just allowing you to browse the web privately, both of these services have expanded to offer a full suite of security add-ons to provide a safer online experience. In terms of total features offered, NordVPN barely edges out Proton VPN. Both VPNs offer multihop connections, split tunneling, ad- and tracker-blocking, Onion over VPN, a kill switch, and stealth protocols. But NordVPN adds to this with its Meshnet file sharing feature and a robust Threat Protection tool with malware and virus protection, plus a dark web monitoring service. That being said, one could argue that Proton VPN offers slightly better privacy. This is in part due to its commendable transparency across all apps which are all open source and Proton’s Secure Core feature that routes traffic through privacy-friendly countries for enhanced anonymity. best free VPN ProtonVPN Read our review Best Prices Today: $9.99 at Proton VPN Both services have strict no-logs policies that have undergone multiple independent audits and both are located in privacy-friendly locations—NordVPN is based in Panama, while Proton VPN is based in Switzerland. While users can enjoy more comprehensive security features with NordVPN, they will likely find that Proton VPN offers slightly better privacy. Therefore, I’m calling it a tie between the two for privacy and security. Streaming: NordVPN Proton VPN is a fine service for unblocking streaming content, but it simply can’t match NordVPN—in fact, nothing can. We chose NordVPN as the best VPN for streaming for a reason. No other service can match its unblocking capabilities across all servers or work as consistently with as many streaming sites. It’s worth noting that both VPNs do offer stealth protocols, Nord’s NordWhisper and Proton’s Stealth protocols, that are built to more successfully evade detection by third parties. This may help if you find that a streaming service is actively blocking your VPN connection. Additionally, both services offer wide device support not only for your computers and smartphones, but also for smart TVs and streaming devices as well. Still, while streaming compatibility can be a fickle thing, NordVPN has never let me down in all of the years of use and testing when unblocking all of the major sites such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Disney+, or ESPN—that’s more than I can say for any other VPN. The streaming win goes to NordVPN. Bottom line Ultimately, if you want speed, guaranteed streaming unblocking, and comprehensive security then go with NordVPN. The service has been well established as an industry leader for more than a decade now and will give you reliable, high-quality privacy protections  If you want a service that is more affordable, with absolute transparency then Proton VPN is more than worthwhile. Proton VPN also has the advantage of offering a free tier which makes it the perfect entry point to try out a VPN without spending any of your hard-earned cash. These two VPNs are neck-and-neck and either would be an excellent choice no matter what you want to do online. I gave both NordVPN and Proton VPN 4.5 out of 5 stars in their respective reviews and both earned Editors’ Choice awards thanks to their impressive offerings and value. All things considered though, NordVPN is my pick for the best VPN overall and whenever someone asks me for a VPN recommendation it’s the one I turn to first. Related content What is a VPN & how does it work? Are free VPNs any good? Which VPN protocol should you use? It makes a big difference ExpressVPN vs. NordVPN: Clash of the heavyweight titans Read...

TL;DR: Get Microsoft Office 2024 Home for Mac or PC as a one-time purchase for $129.97 (reg. $149.99)—no subscription required. If you’re over paying monthly just to use Word or update a spreadsheet, Microsoft Office 2024 Home might be exactly what you need. For a one-time payment of $129.97 (reg. $149.99), you’ll get permanent access to the latest versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote on one Mac or PC—no recurring charges, no surprise renewals, and no drama. This isn’t some stripped-down version. Office 2024 comes packed with new AI features, improved collaboration tools, and a sleeker, more intuitive interface. Whether you’re writing an essay, budgeting your life in Excel, building a presentation, or taking notes during a Zoom call, this suite can support you in big ways. What makes it different from Microsoft 365? For starters, you actually own this. You can work offline, your apps won’t disappear if you miss a payment, and you’re not tied into yet another digital subscription. It’s a one-and-done deal that gives you the tools you need to stay productive at home, school, or the home office without babysitting your billing settings. You also get access to features that make working and learning easier. Think AI-powered smart suggestions, new data tools in Excel that practically analyze things for you, and real-time collaboration in Word and PowerPoint when you do want to be online. Amp up your digital productivity with Microsoft Office 2024 Home for Mac or PC for $129.97 (reg. $149.99). Microsoft Office 2024 Home for Mac or PC: One-Time PurchaseSee Deal StackSocial prices subject to change. Read...

Transport Minister Chris Bishop said the road was designed with safety features in mind, and mostly straight. Read...

Family life, leading with kindness and Ardern’s handling of one crisis after another will be front and centre of a new documentary about her five years at the helm of New Zealand. Read...

According to The Verge, Mozilla is officially shutting down Pocket, the web bookmarking service that was once known as Read It Later. The tool was integrated into Firefox back in 2015, then acquired by Mozilla in 2017 but continued to operate as an independent subsidiary. Pocket will stop working on July 8th, 2025. If you use Pocket, you’ll be able to export your data up until October 8th, 2025. After that point, Mozilla will permanently delete all user data. In July, Mozilla will also start cancelling paid Pocket subscription and issuing prorated refunds to anyone who prepaid for an annual plan. As of this writing, the Pocket extension and app have both been removed and made unavailable, but anyone who has previously installed either will be able to redownload until the October deadline. According to Mozilla, they’re discontinuing Pocket because “the way people save and consume content on the web has evolved” and they plan to focus their efforts more fully on Firefox. “This shift allows us to shape the next era of the internet—with tools like vertical tabs, smart search and more AI-powered features on the way. We’ll continue to build a browser that works harder for you: more personal, more powerful and still proudly independent.” In addition to Pocket, Mozilla is also shuttering its Fakespot fake reviews detector, which the company acquired in 2023. The Fakespot-powered Review Checker feature in Firefox will stop working on June 10th, 2025. Read...

As of yesterday, Microsoft has begun rolling out a new update to Windows 11 Insiders on the Dev and Canary Channels. This update brings new AI features to Notepad, Paint, and the Snipping Tool. Notepad now has the ability to write text from scratch using generative AI, which is meant to aid you by quickly producing drafts based on your prompts and instructions. To use AI text generation, simply right-click anywhere in the document and select Write. Type in your instructions, then either click Keep Text or Discard on the results. You’ll need a Microsoft account and AI credits to use Write in Notepad. Meanwhile, Paint now has a new AI-generated sticker feature as well as an AI-assisted smart selection tool for isolating and editing elements in an image, and Snipping Tool has a new AI-powered “perfect screenshot” feature for capturing your screen without the need to crop or resize afterwards. Paint’s new AI features only work on Copilot+ PCs while Snipping Tool’s features work on all computers. All of this builds on Microsoft’s strategy to bring more AI experiences to Notepad, Paint, and other Windows apps. Read...

This year’s Computex – the premiere PC industry event of the year, where manufacturers reveal the hardware you’ll be able to buy during this year’s back to school and holiday shopping seasons – felt more muted than any in recent memory. It’s no surprise. US tariffs on Chinese goods have frozen the PC industry, and vendors are hesitant to announce (much less release) new hardware in such an unstable economic situation. But still, the show went on – and it’s a good thing it did, because while we saw fewer PC announcements at Computex this year, we also saw some certified bangers. Which reveals got us deeply, personally excited? This is the best hardware of Computex 2025. Giddy up. The best PC hardware of Computer 2025 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 9000 AMD In a Computex curiously devoid of chip announcements (well, aside from the new RTX 5060 that Nvidia tried to bury), leave it to AMD to whip out the big guns. The Ryzen Threadripper 9000 series focuses on the same overwhelming CPU power as its predecessors, but now come infused with key power and performance improvements within AMD’s new 5nm “Zen 5” architecture. Threadripper Pro models top out at 96 (!!!) cores, but the standard Threadripper 9000 chips intended for high-end desktops stick to the usual 64, 32, and 24 cores. (How will we ever survive with just 64 cores??!!) Better yet, Threadripper 9000 bumps up maximum boost clock speeds, and memory speed support improves from DDR5-5200 up to 8-channel DDR5-6400. These monstrous chips are built for heavy work. The only thing missing? We know Threadripper will ship in July, but AMD hasn’t revealed pricing. Sigh. Thanks tariffs. — Brad Chacos Acer Swift Edge 14 AI I’ve admired OLED displays for years: first as a generic replacement for a traditional 60Hz laptop display, then as potential gaming displays as refresh rates climbed. Now I’ve found something new to covet: a matte OLED display without the glare and reflections that trouble most laptops. So far, I’ve only seen this on the Acer Swift Edge 14 AI, one of the stars of Computex. But there’s more: this 14-inch laptop weighs a feather-light 2.18 pounds while packing an Intel Core Ultra 200 (Lunar Lake) chip inside and offering MIL-STD 810H resilience. That’s a true on-the-go productivity machine, with 21 hours of battery life, to boot. While I was also taken with the Swift X creator-class notebook, I’d still give the, um, edge, to the Edge. It feels like Acer is delivering something other notebooks do not. — Mark Hachman InWin ChronoMancy Turning 40 is cause for celebration—and boy, did InWin bring a party to Computex. In honor of its milestone anniversary, the company unveiled a jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring bit of case design wizardry: the ChronoMancy. IT`S TIME!!!! Presenting #InWin`s newest signature chassis, ChronoMancy! Paying homage to InWin`s 40th Anniversary. The blue top showcases iconic cases while the middle section opens completely with a press of a button or wave a wand! More details to come! #Computex2025 #Computex pic.twitter.com/hSokT2p8kO— InWin (@InWin) May 19, 2025 You could glance at this three-foot tall (yes) chassis and think, “Who could ever want this?” Me. I want this. I don’t build E-ATX systems, sure. But look at that contrast between the transparent blue panel and the gleaming gray body. The way the light looks when shining through the top. The metal vibes when you slide the case open, gray aluminum curving around, and the components sit exposed. Also, you can open it with the wave of a wand. (Or by pressing a button, but there’s no fun in that.) It’s perfectly cyberpunk while simultaneously festive. I’ll never invest hours into games with that flavor, but I’m definitely tempted to sink money into this likely astronomically expensive case. — Alaina Yee Asus ROG Falcata keyboard Aside from some cool cases, the only thing I saw at Computex that really got my nerdy attention was the ROG Falcata, a split gaming keyboard from Asus. This is the sort of very niche, targeted keyboard that’s extremely rare from gaming manufacturers — in fact I don’t think I’ve ever seen a split gaming board from a big brand, never mind one that’s also wireless. Little touches like the many different angle and tenting options and the removable wrist rest give me hope that this has been made with both gamers and ergonomic users in mind, and I appreciate that it doesn’t need a driver package installed to access its advanced adjustable features. Also, I really hope you can use the left side on its own…but that might just be me. I couldn’t get confirmation on that this far out from a late 2025 release date. — Michael Crider SilverStone FLP-02 Look, man, I’m old. My beard hair is more white than black these days, I make weird little grunts when I stand up, all that jazz. But age comes with a perk: SilverStone’s new retro-style FLP-02 case is pure catnip for an old dude like me whose first computer was an Intel 486 system in, yes, a beige box. SilverStone’s case may look old-school – it even has an honest-to-goodness-actually-working-Turbo-button on its custom control panel – but inside, it’s built for modern PC demands. It’s a fully standard ATX case even if it looks like it fell out of a time machine, and it’s the first one I’ve seen in a long time that has real 5.25-inch drive bays. Now get off my lawn. — Brad Chacos MSI Prestige 14 AI+ Ukiyo-e Edition I usually don’t get excited about laptop designs–they’re all just gray rectangles to me. But the MSI Prestige 14 AI+ Ukiyo-e Edition stopped me in my tracks. Is that Hokusai’s iconic Great Wave Off Kanagawa painting on the lid? Yes. Yes, it is. The handcrafted rendition of the famous painting was achieved by applying multiple layers of translucent ink and lacquer by hand. It’s designed to inspire a sense of calm, but it just leaves me feeling awestruck. While the artwork is definitely the star of the show here, the MSI Prestige 14 AI+ is no slouch in the performance department. It’s got up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor, up to 32GB of DDR5 RAM, and a 14-inch 2880×1800 OLED display. The internals are impressive, sure, but with only a limited run of 1,000 units… you’ll be lucky to snag one for yourself. — Ash Biancuzzo G.Skill’s sparkly new Trident Z5 NeoX RGB RAM I won’t lie, I’ve been a fan of G.Skill RAM for a long time—and not because their DIMMs perform well. (That’s just table stakes.) No, they understand perfectly what my inner crow loves. They first had me with their now perennial-favorite Trident Z RGB line, then captured me with the ultra shiny Trident Z Royal in gold and silver. And this week at Computex 2025, I got my true heart’s desire—almost. G.Skill’s display of its new Trident Z5 NeoX RGB lineup, which I first spotted in this awesome Paul’s Hardware video full of rad modded PCs, includes a concept finish that I badly want to be real. The sparkly silver is a more elegant take than the Trident Z Royal’s high-shine silver. I like my builds blingy, but sometimes a bit of understatement hits harder. G.Skill is taking feedback, so if you also dig the finish, I recommend you also let them know you want that sparkly version. Prefer a louder take? Neon yellow and orange are color options as well, and sport beautifully shiny clear coats. Oh, and there’s white too, I guess. But c’mon. Sparkly silver. — Alaina Yee Cherry’s wild new keyboard switches This year at Computex Cherry unveiled that it’s releasing not one, not two, but four new keyboard switches. Three of the new switches will be added to Cherry’s existing line of MX mechanical switches: the MX Honey is its first silent tactile switch, the MX Blossom is a low actuation switch for light typing, and the MX Falcon is a strong tactile switch for that clacky typewriter experience. The fourth switch is the one that has me most excited though. Cherry also debuted the brand new next-gen analogue IK switch. Built with inductive sensing technology the IK switch promises “consistent performance with no mechanical wear”. The switch also consumes 50% less power than magnetic switches so it’ll be great for wireless keyboards as well. If that wasn’t enough, the IK switches will feature RGB lighting and customizable actuation—the keyboard geek in me is itching to get ahold of these bad boys. All of the new switches are due out this year with the MX switches set for June and the IK switch to follow in the fall. — Sam Singleton Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Beautiful 240Hz OLED display with HDR Connectivity includes two Thunderbolt 4 ports Excellent CPU and GPU performance Slightly less expensive than competitors Cons Drab exterior design fails to stand out Mediocre touchpad Speakers sound shrill at high volumes Lacks extras found on some competitive laptops Our Verdict The HP Omen Max 16 is a workmanlike entry into the 16-inch gaming laptop arena. It performs about as well as its peers, however, and ranks among the more affordable laptops with RTX 5080 graphics.    Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today The near-simultaneous appearance of new Intel Core Ultra 9 processors and Nvidia RTX 5080 mobile graphics has led to a burst of mid- to high-end gaming laptops with extremely capable hardware. The HP Omen Max 16 is among these, and while it performs about as well as its peers, it also struggles to set itself apart on pricing and design. HP Omen Max 16: Specs and features The core of the HP Omen Max 16 is the one-two punch of an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor and Nvidia RTX 5080 mobile graphics. Both chips are new and deliver excellent all-around performance in their respective categories. Model number: 16-ah0043dx CPU: Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX Memory: 32GB DDR5-5600 Graphics/GPU: Nvidia RTX 5080 (Max 175W with Dynamic Boost) NPU: Intel AI Boost up to 13 TOPS Display: 16-inch 2560×1600 240Hz OLED with HDR Storage: 2TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 SSD Webcam: 1080p 30fps camera with Windows Hello support Connectivity: 2x Thunderbolt 4 with USB-C and Power Delivery, 2x USB Type-A (10Gbps), 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x RJ-45 Ethernet, 1x 3.5mm headphone/microphone combo jack Networking: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 Biometrics: Facial recognition Battery capacity: 83 watt-hours Dimensions: 14.04 x 10.59 x 0.98 Weight: 6.1 pounds Operating System: Windows 11 Home Additional features: HyperX wireless connectivity Price: $3,339.99 MSRP CPU and GPU aside, the HP Omen Max 16’s specification sheet is typical. The model I reviewed had a 16-inch display with 2560×1600 resolution, 32GB of memory, and a 2TB PCIe 4.0 solid state drive. Connectivity is the only place where HP deviates from the norm, as the Omen Max 16 has two Thunderbolt 4 ports (some competitors have just one). It also has a HyperX wireless adapter for instant pairing with HyperX gaming hardware, which is a niche feature but potentially useful, as HyperX gaming peripherals are often rather good. The HP Omen Max 16 I reviewed was priced at an MSRP of $3,339.99 at Best Buy, though it was reduced to $3,139.99 at the time I wrote this review. That’s expensive, but on the less expensive side for this caliber of hardware. The HP Omen Max 16 is a capable, though rather dull, option in the highly competitive field of mid- to high-end gaming laptops with Nvidia RTX 50-series hardware. HP Omen Max 16: Design and build quality IDG / Matthew Smith If imitation is the highest form of flattery, Alienware is no doubt blushing. HP’s Omen lineup has gradually morphed into something that looks much like older Alienware laptops. With the Omen Max 16, the inspiration comes across in the availability of black and white colorways, the simple lines with rounded corners, and, most notably, the similar choice of font used in the laptop’s “O16” badging. However, the Omen Max 16 isn’t as extravagant as a typical Alienware machine. While the Omen Max 16 offers a customizable RGB-LED lightbar across the front, as well as an RGB-LED keyboard, the badging across the laptop’s exterior is rather tame. The Shadow Black colorway is particularly stealthy, as HP’s choice of matte black materials comes across as dull. Many competitors have their own flourishes: the Asus ROG Strix Scar 16 has a white LED display on its lid, for example. That leaves the Omen Max 16’s design in a tough spot. It’s not unattractive, but it’s the least alluring of the new RTX 5080-powered gaming laptops PC World has reviewed to date. On the plus side, HP hasn’t cut corners on build quality. The laptop chassis doesn’t allow much flex when picked up from one corner, and the materials don’t groan or creak. Opening and closing the laptop reveals only slight flex in the display, and the keyboard also resists flex unless specifically abused. Competitors like Alienware, Lenovo, and Asus provide solid build quality in this price bracket, too, but the Omen Max 16 is at least their peer. HP Omen Max 16: Keyboard, trackpad IDG / Matthew Smith The HP Omen Max 16’s keyboard, much like the rest of its design, doesn’t look like much, especially when the RGB-LED backlight is not in use. This is mostly due to the keycaps, which have a rather old-fashioned bevel. However, the Omen Max 16 strikes back in typing feel. The laptop offers good key travel and a firm, tactile bottoming action with a distinct scissor-switch slap. The Omen Max 16 isn’t going to match a mechanical keyboard, of course, but it feels crisp. While the keyboard didn’t strike me as attractive, the customizable RGB-LED backlight helps alleviate that problem. It’s extremely bright and vibrant, as the keycaps have transparent edges that allow significant light through. The keyboard is also easy to customize through HP’s Omen Light Studio software. The touchpad is less impressive. It feels responsive but only measures roughly five inches wide and three inches deep. That’s the minimum for a laptop. A couple of competitors, like the Asus ROG Strix Scar 16 and Razer’s Blade 16, offer a much larger touchpad surface. HP Omen Max 16: Display, audio IDG / Matthew Smith Display quality is a perk for the HP Omen Max 16, though only if you spring for the top-shelf 16-inch OLED display. It has a resolution of 2560×1600, a maximum refresh rate of 240Hz, and supports variable refresh rates between 48Hz and 240Hz. Going OLED has its strengths and weaknesses. OLED displays are typically glossy, which can make glare an issue, and not as bright as the Mini-LED displays found on competitors like the Asus ROG Strix Scar 16. On the other hand, OLED provides top-tier contrast, color gamut, and motion clarity that are difficult to beat at any price. These advantages are well suited for a gaming laptop, so I prefer the HP’s OLED display over alternatives with an IPS Mini-LED or IPS LCD display. The OLED display also supports HDR when the laptop is plugged into an outlet. It’s not going to match the HDR brightness of new desktop OLED monitors, but it’s not bad and looks vibrant enough to help HDR games pop. The HP Omen Max 16’s speakers sound balanced at lower volumes but begin to sound shrill as the volume is increased. They’re fine for chill background beats or games that lean less on immersive audio, but you’ll want desktop speakers or a headset for anything more acoustically demanding. This is an area where the Asus ROG Strix Scar 16 has a significant advantage, as it has a powerful, crisp sound system. HP Omen Max 16: Webcam, microphone, biometrics HP ships the Omen Max 16 with a 1080p webcam and dual microphone array. Neither stands out, but both do the job. You can expect the webcam to deliver sharp, colorful video, and the microphone array will pick up your voice with plenty of volume. The Omen Max 16 also has an IR camera for Windows Hello facial recognition. Most competitive laptops support this feature, too, but it’s always good to see. Facial recognition was fast and reliable in my testing, which, again, is also true of competitive laptops. A physical privacy shutter is included, too, to obstruct the webcam when desired. HP Omen Max 16: Connectivity IDG / Matthew Smith You’ll find a healthy selection of ports along the HP Omen Max 16’s flanks. A pair of Thunderbolt 4 ports, both of which support USB-C, are found on the left flank and joined by the 3.5mm combo headphone/microphone jack. The right flank has a single USB-A port. Another USB-A port is found on the rear, alongside HDMI 2.1 and 2.5Gbps Ethernet. The laptop also has a barrel plug power adapter on the rear, which connects to the included 330-watt power brick. This is a good selection of ports for a modern gaming laptop. I also like that some ports are found on the rear of the laptop, which makes cable management easier. Helpfully, two of the three ports are those you’re most likely to use (HDMI and Ethernet) if the laptop spends a lot of time on a desk. The Thunderbolt 4 ports also support USB-C power delivery. HP’s specifications don’t state the amount of power available, but it’s irrelevant, as the laptop’s maximum power draw likely exceeds what USB-C could provide. Still, it’s nice to have USB-C as a secondary option for charging the laptop if you happen to forget the brick. Like most new laptops sold in 2025, the HP Omen Max 16 supports Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4. But here’s a twist: the laptop also supports instant wireless pairing with HyperX devices. I didn’t have a compatible HyperX device on hand to test this feature, however. HP Omen Max 16: Performance The hardware inside the HP Omen Max 16 I reviewed is similar to competitive laptops PC World has recently reviewed, which includes the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16, the Asus ROG Strix Scar 16, and the MSI Raider 18 HX AI. It pairs an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor with an Nvidia RTX 5080 GPU. The Omen Max 16 also had 32GB of DDR5 memory and 2TB of PCIe solid state storage. IDG / Matthew Smith We kick things off with PCMark 10, a holistic system benchmark. Here, the Omen Max 16 reached a solid score of 8,321. That is towards the lower end of the competitive Intel Core Ultra 9 / Nvidia RTX 5080 laptops we have recently reviewed, but the margin is so slim that it’s essentially a tie. IDG / Matthew Smith Handbrake is a heavily multithreaded benchmark that typically has a longer duration. The latest Intel Core Ultra 9 chips really chew through it, however, and the HP Omen Max 16 is no exception. It’s right on par with most of its competitors. Only the MSI Raider 18 HX A2XW, which had the benefit of a larger chassis and slightly more capable Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX processor, comes out ahead of the pack. IDG / Matthew Smith Cinebench R23 is another heavily multi-threaded benchmark, albeit a more modern one, and it doesn’t change the HP Omen Max 16’s story. The Omen performs extremely well here with a score of 33,224, but it’s not much different from its direct competitors. The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 is once again a tad quicker than the HP and the larger, more expensive MSI Raider 18 HX A2XW takes a victory lap. IDG / Matthew Smith Moving on to graphics performance, the Omen Max 16 with RTX 5080 delivers 3DMark Time Spy and Port Royal results that are right in line with competitive laptops. The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 is an overall leader here, but the HP Omen Max 16 does well. IDG / Matthew Smith Shadow of the Tomb Raider, however, was a weak point for the Omen Max 16. The laptop averaged 165 frames per second at 1080p resolution with detail set to highest and DLSS off. That’s notably behind the competition, and the Omen Max 16’s first real defeat. IDG / Matthew Smith But Tomb Raider may not be indicative of general game performance, as the Omen Max 16 leapt back into the pack with the Metro Exodus benchmark. Here it averaged 89 frames per second at 1080p and Extreme detail. Some competitors, like the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16, have an edge here. But others, like the Asus ROG Strix Scar 16, end up tied with the Omen Max 16. IDG / Matthew Smith Last, but certainly not least, is Cyberpunk 2077. Here the Omen Max 16 averaged 143 frames per second at 1080p resolution and the Ultra preset with DLSS/FSR/XeSS turned off. Turning the detail up to max with the Overdrive ray-traced preset greatly reduced performance to an average of just 40 frames per second. Both results are competitive. The Omen Max 16 beats the Asus ROG Strix Scar, but falls behind the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16. Remember, this is with DLSS set to off. Higher detail presets, such as Cyberpunk 2077’s Overdrive preset, benefit greatly from DLSS image upscaling and frame generation. Engaging these features increased performance from 40 to as high as 178 frames per second. The HP Omen Max 16’s overall performance is precisely what I expected. It’s very similar to other laptops tested with an Intel Core Ultra 9 processor and Nvidia RTX 5080 graphics. The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 is generally a bit quicker, and the Asus ROG Strix Scar 16 is a tad slower, but the margins are often slim. This ultimately works out slightly in HP’s favor, however, because it’s a bit less expensive than its competitors. HP Omen Max 16: Battery life & portability The HP Omen Max 16 has an 83-watt-hour battery, which is towards the smaller side for a high-end gaming laptop. However, the laptop also provides Nvidia Optimus graphics, which can increase battery life by disengaging the discrete GPU when its performance isn’t required. IDG / Matthew Smith This does provide some benefit. The HP Omen Max 16 endured our battery test, which loops a 1080p file of the short film Tears of Steel, for roughly five and a half hours. That’s longer than the Asus ROG Strix Scar 16 and MSI Raider 18 AI HX, but not as long as the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16. In any case, five to six hours of battery life isn’t a lot. The Omen Max 16 is also a bit difficult to pack at 6.1 pounds and nearly an inch thick at its thickest point. Add in the 330-watt power brick and you’ll be hauling roughly eight pounds. HP Omen Max 16: Conclusion The HP Omen Max 16 is a capable, though rather dull, option in the highly competitive field of mid to high-end gaming laptops with Nvidia RTX 50-series hardware. It provides performance that’s broadly like the alternatives yet lacks features that might help it separate it from the pack. It doesn’t have the flair of the Asus ROG Strix Scar 16 or the performance of the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16. Yet there’s one thing about the HP Omen Max 16 that’s very attractive: the price. Listed at an MSRP of $3,339.99 and currently sold (and in stock!) on Best Buy for $3,139.99, the Omen Max 16 is towards the low end of pricing for a 16-inch gaming laptop with an Intel Core Ultra 9 and RTX 5080. And, as mentioned, it performs about as well as its more expensive peers. If it were my money, I’d opt for the Asus ROG Strix Scar 16, which is more attractive and has a few extras I prefer, such as a comfortable touchpad and high-quality speaker system. If you just want good bang-for-your-buck and don’t sweat the details, however, the HP Omen Max 16 is a solid pick. Read...