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Microsoft Surface Laptop: ‘a sea change is in the air’

2:02 pm | May 22, 2024

The Microsoft Surface Laptop that was shown off at the Microsoft Copilot+ PC Showcase this week might be one of the most important devices of the decade, possibly even more important than the initial M1-powered Apple MacBook Air that launched back in 2020.

That MacBook Air model, which I've long argued is still the best laptop for most people even though it's now nearly four years old, kicked off something of a revolution in interest in bringing Arm processors to PCs. Arm chips, long a staple of mobile devices thanks to their incredible energy efficiency, just haven't been powerful enough for a full laptop or desktop OS.

Nobody knows this better than Microsoft, which has worked to develop Windows-on-Arm into a viable product and has largely struggled to make it competitive even with its more restrictive Windows S-Mode devices, much less a current-gen MacBook running Apple Silicon.

Now, however, Microsoft has co-developed the new Qualcomm Snapdragon X SoC specifically to be the Windows PC's answer to Apple's M-series and finally bring the best Windows laptops up to parity with the best MacBooks in terms of battery life, compatibility, and performance — all while retaining everything that makes Windows the most popular PC operating system in the world.

All of that is going to come to a head in the Microsoft Surface Laptop. This is Microsoft's play at dethroning the MacBook Air — and even the MacBook Pro 14-inch with Apple M3 or M3 Pro — and there are a lot of reasons why it just might succeed. If it does, this will have ramifications that extend for many years and generations of laptops to come.

Microsoft Surface Laptop: Price & availability

The Microsoft Surface Laptop is available for pre-order now, with deliveries starting on June 18, 2024. The starting price for the 13.8-inch model is $999.99/£1,049.99/AU$1,899, which will get you a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus processor with 16GB RAM and 256GB SSD storage. The 15-inch model starts at $1,299.99 and comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processor, 16GB RAM and 256GB SSD.

There are a number of configuration options available, but the 13.8-inch model maxes out at a Snapdragon X Elite processor, 64GB RAM, and 1TB SSD storage for $2,399.99/£2,049, while the 13.8-inch model maxes out in Australia at 32GB RAM and 1TB SSD for AU$3,399.

The 15-inch model maxes out at 64GB and 1TB in the US for $2,499.99, and maxes out in the UK and Australia at 32GB RAM and 1TB SSD for £2,149/AU$3,699.

This makes it cheaper at the entry-level than the MacBook Air 13-inch with M3, and matches the starting price of the MacBook Air 15-inch. At max spec, the new Surface Laptop will either beat or roughly match the price of the highest-end MacBook Air.

Microsoft Surface Laptop: Design

A Microsoft Surface Laptop being shown at Microsoft's Copilot Plus PC Showcase — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

Many of the best Ultrabooks on the market have tried in various ways to copy the refined design of the MacBook Air with varying degrees of success. Having recently spent several weeks benchmarking the most recent MacBook models like the MacBook Air 13-inch, MacBook Air 15-inch, and MacBook Pro 14-inch, I think I've stared at that laptop more than just about any other device.

So it's arresting to look at the new Surface Laptop because even though the similarities are striking enough, so are the differences. For one, it was the best-looking laptop in Microsoft's entire showcase. Secondly, laying eyes on the Sapphire colorway of the 13.8-inch Surface Laptop (and Surface Pro, for that matter) exposes just how badly Apple fumbled the bag with the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro in recent years.

Apple's insistence on sticking with its painfully dull Silver and Space Gray after nearly a decade, while desaturating its Rose Gold into 'Starlight' and introducing an off-black 'Midnight' that is really just Space Gray with the brightness slider pushed deep into the darker side sent me into a hot take tailspin a couple of years back from which I haven't recovered. The 13.8-inch Surface Laptop looks like everything the current MacBook Air design should have been, but isn't.

Besides the Sapphire colorway, you can opt for other colors too, including Dune, Platinum, and Black. The latter two are fairly bog-standard for Windows laptops these days (and are the only two color options for the 15-inch Surface Laptop model, unfortunately). However, the Dune colorway offers a warm, peachy aesthetic to the device that is also attractive and different, while not being as attention-grabbing as the Sapphire is.

It's not all about the color though.

The touchscreen display, which you can get in either 13.8-inches or 15-inches, is gorgeous to look at, offering vibrant colors thanks to its wide sRGB color coverage. How much of the sRGB gamut it captures won't be clear until we fully test the Surface Laptop, so we'll just have to wait until we can get our hands on it to see for ourselves.

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A Microsoft Surface Laptop at Microsoft's Copilot Plus PC event — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

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In terms of ports, this thin-and-light laptop does a reasonable enough job offering two USB 4 Type-C ports with power and display out for up to three monitors running at 4K, a USB 3.1 Type-A port for legacy devices, a headphone jack, and if you opt for the 15-inch Surface laptop, you'll also get a microSD card slot.

As far as portability goes, the 13.8-inch Surface Laptop clocks in at just under 3 lbs (1.4kg) thanks to its anodized aluminum chassis, and is just under a foot long lengthwise, and 0.69-inches tall at its widest point along the back of the laptop. The 15-inch model is slightly heavier, longer, and taller at 3.67 lbs (1.66kg), 12.96-inches (329mm) in length, and 0.72-inches tall at its thickest point.

Opening it up, the keyboard is very similar to a MacBook's, but not in a bad way. It was very comfortable to type on, and the trackpad proved snappy and responsive.

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The webcam is Full HD, though it lacks a physical privacy shutter. This might be the one knock I have on this laptop's design, to be honest. This isn't a small issue: it's now 2024, and this should be a standard feature on any laptop at this point. Still, the image quality is quite good.

It will be very interesting to put the Surface Laptop and the MacBook Air together, as they could be in some stores, to see how the two match up head-to-head.

Microsoft Surface Laptop: Specs

Microsoft Surface Laptop: Performance

There's only so much I can say about the performance of the Surface Laptop, since I wasn't allowed to run any benchmarks or install any apps on the device. However, I did get to play around where I could and the system felt very responsive in a way previous Windows on Arm notebooks didn't.

I also got to try my hand with Microsoft Paint's Cocreator tool to sketch out an image in combination with text prompting. The iterative steps are carried out remarkably swiftly for a laptop without a dedicated GPU, and the output wasn't terrible.

Those who might be looking to illustrate documents or do some graphic design mock-ups will definitely find this feature useful. While I wasn't able to test any of this myself, the claimed 45 trillion operations per second (TOPS) performance of the Hexagon NPU is about 20% faster on paper than the brand-new Apple M4 chip, and 2.5x faster than the Apple M3 Max's NPU.

From what little I could glean from the available demos, on-device AI workloads do feel noticeably faster, but I won't be able to say for sure until we have the Surface Laptop in hand so we can test it.

One thing that did catch my attention was Recall, Copilot's new ability to create a history of your on-device use. When I was fussing around with Cocreator in Paint to try and produce a space illustration with the text prompt "black hole sucking in a space station in a nebula" — along with a very crude sketch — Cocreator did an admirable job and came pretty close to what I was imagining (though it took its own liberties as well).

I clicked on the new Recall icon on the Windows 11 taskbar, which opens up a notification-like window on the taskbar that brings you right into Microsoft's latest tool to backtrack through your computing history. Here you can figure out what you did, what you saw, or what someone sent you, much like a web browser's history tracks the websites you visit for later revisiting if need be.

When I clicked that icon it brought up the Recall panel with the sketch I had put into Paint earlier in the afternoon. Since these were all fresh devices with clean installs, there wasn't a whole lot of other material in Recall just then, but as you use your PC, it'll fill up with snapshots of what you've done in the past, letting you go back through much like your browser history does now, just on a much grander scale.

Now I'm an AI-skeptic for the most part, in that I feel that many of the current AI tools and systems are deeply problematic and unethical, but I actually don't have a problem with Recall.

Yes, it's keeping track of everything you're doing, but it is on-device, and in a lot of ways it's a natural extension of your existing web history, File Explorer history, or any other number of similar tools. Once people get used to this feature, I expect that it will get some very heavy use, and I don't see that this will be as problematic as a lot of critics are making it out to be.

Microsoft Surface Laptop: Early verdict

I haven't been this excited about a laptop in a long time. No one was able to tell me anything about the performance of Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Plus or X Elite chips, and trust me, I asked. I asked them all. But one Microsoft representative at the showcase told me that they aren't just confident in the performance of these chips, they encouraged me to throw everything I had at them to see for myself.

I've heard PR reps say stuff like this before, and it usually comes with a level of bravado that is rather transparent. Everyone says that, even if we both know that it's bluster. That's not the vibe I got when they talked about the Surface Laptop. Not at all. It was something of a challenge or a dare, to me, to take my best shot at proving that the Surface Laptop wasn't as good or better than Apple's M3 or even M4.

The Surface Laptop is more stylish and interesting than anything Apple is doing right now beyond the iMac. It's as comfortable to use as a MacBook, it's as lightweight and portable, too, and it has industry-leading accessibility features built into it from the ground up in ways that Apple has just flat-out ignored in its hardware.

I won't know for many weeks whether Microsoft has managed to pull off all this, and so much will ride on whether it has genuinely fixed all of the issues with Windows on Arm that have prevented it from keeping pace with Apple these past four years, so it's too soon to pass judgment.

But when I was walking out of the press announcement and towards the showcase area on Monday, I passed two Microsoft employees hugging in celebration over this reveal, with one emotionally telling the other that "we finally got here." I keep thinking about that exchange I overheard, and I don't know yet where 'here' is, but I can't shake the feeling that a sea change is in the air.

Linksys Velop Pro 7: A high-speed Wi-Fi 7 router at a more competitive price

4:15 pm | May 15, 2024

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Computing Components Gadgets Servers & Network Devices | Comments: Off

Linksys Velop Pro 7: One-Minute Review

Linksys originally announced the new Wi-Fi 7 version of its Velop Pro mesh system back in October 2023, but the final technical details of the Wi-Fi 7 standard weren’t actually ironed out until the official announcement at CES earlier this year.

So, like several other Wi-Fi 7 products, it’s taken a little while for the Velop Pro 7 router to actually go on sale. It’s a welcome arrival, though, as while the Velop Pro 7 isn’t exactly cheap, it’s considerably less expensive than some of the other Wi-Fi 7 mesh systems and routers that we’ve seen so far - ushering in some hope that Wi-Fi 7 is starting to become a little more affordable for ordinary home users.

It’s not a top-of-the-range Wi-Fi 7 system, mind, offering tri-band Wi-Fi with a top speed of just over 10Gbps. That’s actually fairly mid-range for the blazing fast Wi-Fi 7 standard, but it’s still more than fast enough to cope with most domestic broadband services and tasks such as online gaming or streaming 4K video.

Wi-Fi 7 is also backward-compatible with older PCs and mobile devices that use Wi-Fi 5 or 6, so you don’t have to worry about compatibility problems if you decide to upgrade with a Wi-Fi 7 system such as the Velop Pro 7. And, as we’ve seen with previous Velop systems, you can buy either one, two or three Velop mesh routers to suit the size of your home.

Linksys Velop Pro 7: Price And Availability

How much does it cost? $699.99 / £749.99 (around AU$1,060)
When is it available? Now
Where can you get it? Available in the US and UK

Each Velop router unit can cover an area of around 3,000 square feet, so people in smaller homes will probably find that a single router meets their needs perfectly well for a price of £399.99 / $349.99 (around AU$530).

However, the two-piece system that we tested costs £749.99 / $699.99 (around AU$1060), and there’s a three-device option also available for £999.99 / $899.9 (around AU$1,365). The Velop Pro 7 is currently available in the US and UK, although – as we’ve seen with other Wi-Fi 7 products – poor old Australia seems to be a bit of a Wi-Fi deadspot, having only recently caught up with last-gen Wi-Fi 6E.

That’s still fairly expensive, of course, but the Velop Pro 7 is only around half the price of rival Wi-Fi 7 mesh systems such as Netgear’s extravagantly expensive Orbi 970, which costs a hefty £1,499.99 / $1,699.99 (around AU$2,600) for a similar two-piece system - and a whopping £2,199.99 / $2,299.99 (around AU$3,475) for a three-piece system.

Value: 4 / 5

Linksys Velop Pro 7: Design

Slim, compact design
Lots of Ethernet ports
Available with one, two or three routers

The design of the Velop Pro 7 will be familiar from previous Velop models, with each router consisting of a slim white tower, topped off with the Velop’s trademark tapered ‘teardrop’ shape on the top panel.

The router devices are slim and light enough to fit easily onto a shelf or table – although the height of each unit, at 221mm, means they’ll need a bit of headroom if you want to place them on a bookshelf or something similar.

Linksys Velop Pro 7: Specifications

Wi-Fi: Tri-band Wi-Fi 7 (2.4GHz/5.0GHz/6.0GHz)
Wi-Fi Speed: 10.7Gbps
Ports (per router): 1 x 2.5Gb Ethernet (WAN), 4 x Gigabit Ethernet (LAN)
Processor: Qualcomm 1.5GHz, quad-core
Memory: 1GB SDRAM
Storage: Unspecified
Dimensions: 221 x 95 x 95mm, 0.95kg / 2lbs

The Velop routers are identical, so you can connect one of them to your existing router to use your broadband connection, and then place the other router(s) further away to extend the mesh network right across your home or office.

But while the Velop Pro 7 routers look very similar to previous models there are some significant differences. The Velop Pro 6E that we reviewed recently only included two Gigabit Ethernet ports on each router, with one required for the connection to your existing router and only the second port available to provide a wired connection.

In contrast, the Velop Pro 7 routers all have five Ethernet ports – a 2.5G port for a high-speed Internet connection (WAN) and four Gigabit Ethernet ports to provide wired connections for devices such as a games console or laptop.

There are no USB ports, though, which would allow you to connect a hard drive or other storage device to your network, but that’s not likely to be a deal-breaker for most users.

It’s a little odd, though, that Linksys avoids any mention of the Velop’s speed on its website, preferring to simply state that Wi-Fi 7 is a lot faster than Wi-Fi 6 (gosh, really?). After a little digging, we found a reference to a speed of ‘over 10Gbps’ before eventually locating a datasheet that specified a speed of 10,680Mbps (or 10.68Gbps).

Design: 4 / 5

Linksys Velop Pro 7: Features

Ports of the Velop Pro 7 — (Image credit: Future)

Tri-band Wi-Fi 7
App feels a little unfinished
Parental controls are still in beta

As mentioned, the Velop Pro 7 provides tri-band Wi-Fi 7, using the 2.4GHz, 5.0GHz and 6.0GHz frequency bands, which will be more than fast enough to cope with most home and office broadband connections.

Getting started is fairly straightforward, although the process is a little cumbersome at times. There’s a QR code printed on the base of each router, but this didn’t allow us to automatically connect to the Velop network, as is the case with many rival mesh systems.

Instead, we had to write down the network name and password that were printed on the base of the router and enter these by hand, before subsequently changing the network details and creating a new name and password of our choosing.

You also have to start the setup process with the two Velop routers placed close to each other while you create your new network, and then move the second router – referred to as a ‘node’ - to another location once that’s done. And, oddly, the app told us several times that we had no internet connection - even though we were already streaming the BBC News channel on an iPad using the Velop network.

The app continues to be something of a mixed bag later on, as well. It creates a single network that combines the three frequency bands, which does keep things simple for new users - but more advanced users might prefer to have greater control over the network settings.

The app does include features such as a guest network, and the option to create a schedule to control your children’s internet access. However, the parental controls are a work in progress, with the app’s ‘Safe Browsing’ mode still being labeled as ‘beta’. This provides content filters that can block unsuitable material, although this feature isn’t clearly explained in the app. Furthermore, at present it seems to block content for all devices on your network, rather than allowing you to create different profiles and settings for children of different ages.

Features: 3.5 / 5

Linksys Velop Pro 7: Performance

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Performance in action — (Image credit: Future)

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Velop Pro 7 performance — (Image credit: Future)

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Linksys Velop Pro 7 — (Image credit: Future)

Top speed of 10.68Gbps
Good performance and range
Zaps through walls and other barriers

The Linksys app may be a little rough around the edges, but we didn’t have any complaints about the performance of the Velop Pro 7.

Our aging office router can’t even handle the full 150Mbps provided by our broadband connection, and even devices that are in the same room rarely get more than 100Mbps for either Steam downloads or the Ookla speed test. We also have a room at the back of the building that our office router can barely reach at all, forcing us to rely on Powerline adaptors to provide a wired connection for our office computers in that room.

Therefore, we set up the Velop Pro 7 with the first Velop unit connected to our normal office router, and the second Velop ‘node’ placed in a hallway just adjacent to that tricky Wi-Fi deadspot in the back office.

Linksys Velop Pro 7 benchmarks

Ookla Speed Test - Single merged network (download/upload)

Within 5ft, no obstructions: 150Mbps / 150Mbps

Within 30ft, three partition walls: 150Mbps / 150Mbps

20GB Steam Download - Single merged network

Within 5ft, no obstructions: 150Mbps

Within 30ft, three partition walls: 150Mbps

Unsurprisingly, the Velop easily hit 150Mbps for both Steam downloads and the Ookla speed test when connecting to devices in the same room. And, more importantly, the Velop’s far-reaching network didn’t bat an eyelid as we picked up our laptop and wandered along the corridor to that back office, continuing to maintain a speed of 150Mbps the whole time.

Performance: 5 / 5

Should You Buy The Velop Pro 7?

Linksys Velop Pro 7 lifestyle — (Image credit: Linksys)

Buy the Linksys Velop Pro 7 if...

You’re An Early Adopter
It’s still early days for this new technology, but PCs, laptops and mobile devices that support Wi-Fi 7 are already starting to appear, so upgrading to a Wi-Fi 7 router or mesh system is a good way of future-proofing your home or office network.

You Have A Large Home
You can buy a single Velop Pro 7 router on its own, but it’s really intended as a mesh system that uses two or more routers to cover a wider area, up to 6,000 square feet or more.

Don’t buy it if...

You’re On A Budget
The Velop Pro 7 is one of the most affordable Wi-Fi 7 systems we’ve seen, but it’s still pretty expensive. Most domestic broadband services just don’t need the sheer speed of Wi-Fi 7, so most of us can stick with more affordable routers that use Wi-Fi 6 or 6E.

You Only Have A Couple Of Bedrooms
Mesh systems like this are very much designed for larger homes and offices. If you only have a small family home, or share an apartment with friends, then a single, conventional router will be all you really need.

Velop Pro 7: Scorecard

Velop Pro 7: Also Consider

First reviewed: May 2024

Mozilla Monitor Plus data removal service review

7:19 pm | May 14, 2024

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Software | Comments: Off

Mozilla Monitor Plus, and its Mozilla Monitor sibling, are two of the best data removal services currently available in 2024 to keep your data safe across the web.

In the age of data brokers and social media, making sure that the wrong people can't access sensitive, personal data is really important, and a whole industry has sprung up to tackle this very problem.

Mozilla makes the ever-popular Firefox browser, one of the best web browsers out there right now, so you know you can trust them, especially as a lot of the recent feature releases for Firefox have been about avoiding cookie tracking and other invasive ad delivery methods.

Sign up to Mozilla Monitor

In terms of Mozilla Monitor, the main goals are to help users see whether their data has become ensnared in a data breach and to then fix any exposures that occur. According to Mozilla, over 10 million people use the service in 237 countries.

Mozilla Monitor Plus, which is sadly only available in the US, takes things further by offering the ability to remove data from data brokers for $8.99 per month (around $108 per year), as part of the overall Mozilla suite of apps.

Let's dive into our Mozilla Monitor Plus review to find the best data removal services.

Mozilla Monitor Plus: Pricing and plans

As mentioned above, Mozilla offers the most basic version of the service, Mozilla Monitor, for free to anyone: just access the website, type in your email, and Mozilla will perform a free scan. Users can also then sign up for breach alerts.

Mozilla Monitor Plus costs $8.99 per month, available only in the US, and performs the same scanning function at the start and then at monthly intervals, to help keep your data safe from breaches and data brokers.

The company also offers other services, like the Mozilla VPN, which costs $4.99 per month and compares favourably to the best VPNs right now. You can read our Mozilla VPN review, too.

On top of the VPN, Mozilla Plus is just one of Mozilla's nine services, meaning you can be assured that Plus isn't going anywhere in a hurry. The others include email, calendar, and contact app Thunderbird and online shopping tool Fakespot.

Best web browser of 2024

Mozilla Monitor Plus: Features

One of the best places to start with Monitor Plus is by watching Mozilla's helpful YouTube video showing the tool's various features and capabilities.

Once the initial (and free) scan has been completed, covering up to 190 data brokers, Mozilla shows you how often your email address, phone number, physical address, the names of family members, and more is with each broker, even breaking that down by specific brokers.

Usefully, you can view your data on each specific website, including the personal profile these companies have built. It's a somewhat spooky process, so be warned.

From here, Monitor Plus gives users the option of removing the data automatically or removing the data manually, both of which then bring up a specific guide on the next steps for online peace of mind.

Mozilla gives a specific timeframe for how long each data removal step takes (such as four minutes remaining per site) and the ability to change specific settings to tailor the removal to your needs. Monitor Plus also offers some helpful tips on email security, including showing in which data breaches your email has ended up.

After all of these steps, Mozilla will then keep your updated via a dashboard that displays different information, including which data removals have been completed (and whether they were manual or automatic) and the details of removals at each data broker.

Best data recovery software of 2024

Mozilla Monitor Plus: Working with Mozilla

One of the big things that Monitor and Monitor Plus have going for them is being within the overall Firefox ecosystem, meaning users who fully buy into Mozilla's suite can access a reliable password manager alongside the aforementioned products.

While many people are big fans of the Apple ecosystem, Mozilla offers something specifically focused on privacy, which is a rare commodity in the online world. Features like Firefox Focus, Firefox Relay, and Mozilla VPN are all very handy.

Whether this integration matters depends on your stance on privacy and how locked into other ecosystems you are – Google, with Gmail, Chrome, and Android, is a very powerful and attractive option on the other side.

But it's definitely worth mentioning, and Mozilla being involved in so many privacy-first initiatives is a reason to trust the company and, as such, trust Monitor Plus.

Best broadband deals for May 2024

Mozilla Monitor Plus: Support

Mozilla offers a comprehensive support website that covers pretty much every feature for Monitor and Monitor Plus, from getting started to how monitoring works to specific accounts information.

More broadly, Mozilla also offers a forum for asking questions to other users and to company employees, to help with those annoying, specific problems.

Overall, the level of support is fine, especially as the tool itself is relatively straight forward and explains a lot of the features from within its dashboard and user interface.

Best open source software of 2024

Mozilla Monitor Plus: The competition

Mozilla Monitor Plus has a range of competitors in the space, and we recommend checking out each one to make sure that your specific needs are being met. Of course, many of them offer the same basic features of data broker removal, but some extend beyond that and cover social media and other web spaces.

One of the stand out options is DeleteMe, one of the longest running data removal services in the game having been launched in 2011. Some of the more advanced DeleteMe plans cover up to 750 data brokers – and even more on request – making it a very well-featured offering.

We also recommend checking out the data removal services from the likes of Kanary, PrivacyBee, IDX, Aura, and Surfshark Incogni.

The best cheap VPN service in 2024

Mozilla Monitor Plus: Final verdict

Mozilla is a respected and long-standing brand, and one with clear associations with the preservation of online privacy and standing up to its larger and more data hungry rivals, who shall remain nameless.

While there are a plethora of data removal services out there right now, Mozilla Monitor and Monitor Plus are more than capable and $8.99 per month is a pretty reasonable fee all things considered.

We'd like to see the data broker coverage extended beyond the 150 that Monitor currently can remove from, but that's a small gripe when many of the top data brokers are represented in those ranks, and the process is largely autonomous.

If you're already in the Mozilla ecosystem, or are looking for alternatives to rivals like Google and Apple, then Mozilla Monitor Plus is the ideal data removal service, and make sure to get Mozilla VPN too for extra secure browsing across the web.

How we test, review and rate on TechRadar

Alienware Pro Wireless gaming mouse review: a right-handed pro gamer’s dream

6:00 pm | May 12, 2024

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Peripherals & Accessories | Comments: Off

Alienware Pro Wireless gaming mouse: Two-minute review

Along with the gaming keyboard comes the Alienware Pro Wireless gaming mouse, which has been specially developed and tested with professional gamers in mind to make it one of the best gaming mice available – and possibly one of the best mice in general. It's a massive upgrade from the Alienware AW720M with reduced weight, better feet, and improved specs.

The DPI is still at 26,000, mainly because there is little point in increasing such an absurdly high spec. However, it features both 4KHz wireless and 8KHz wired polling rates, 0.25ms and 0.125ms response time, respectively, which is a significant leap over the 1KHz polling rate (1ms response time) of the Alienware AW720M.

The PFTE feet are additive-free and attract far less debris while moving much smoother. It still retains the previous model's ability to move over a wide variety of surfaces, which is something plenty of other gaming mice can't achieve.

An odd change is the removal of the 3D-sculpted thumb grips from the AW720M. With both sides being completely smooth now, the Alienware Pro mouse is much more susceptible to sweat, which makes it slippery during intense gameplay or if your hands sweat easily. Another odd change is the removal of the magnetic charging adapter, which was a much simpler option for recharging your mouse.

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Alienware Pro Wireless gaming mouse — (Image credit: Future)

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It features magnetic-force keyplates that prevent the keys from sticking, which is absolutely vital for pro gamers who rely on button accuracy and performance during intense competition. Thanks to its much-improved weight, now just under 0.13 pounds, combined with higher polling rates, the mouse responds much faster and with much less effort required to move it.

There is one glaring downgrade between the Alienware AW720M and the Pro Wireless, though. The latter lacks buttons on the right side, which means the Pro Wireless is no longer ambidextrous, excluding an entire market of people who would be able to use it.

Ambidextrous mice are already difficult enough to find, and the AW720M was an excellent option. But the Pro Wireless removes that option, adding plenty of quality-of-life improvements but essentially gatekeeping them from left-handed gamers. This also has the drawback of removing buttons that the Pro Wireless sorely needed.

As for battery life, according to Dell, it's 32 hours at 4KHz polling or 120 hours at 1KHz polling. That is impressive, but it's a downgrade from the AW720M's 140 hours at 1KHz polling. And like the previous mouse, this one has an indicator that signals when the battery is low. The AW720M featured an Alienware logo on the front, but, the Pro Wireless moves it onto the side as a tiny light. Moving it was a good call, as your hand can no longer cover it, but the light is so small it's difficult to notice.

Alienware Pro Wireless gaming mouse: Price & availability

How much does it cost? $149.99 / £149.99 including VAT / AU$248.60
When is it available? Available now
Where can you get it? Available in the US, UK, and Australia

The Alienware Pro Wireless gaming mouse is very expensive, costing a whopping $149.99 / £149.99 including VAT / AU$248.60. This is a price increase of at least $20 from the Alienware AW720M - understandable considering the work developing it and all the new features it comes with. And the fact that this is a premium gaming mouse for professional gamers.

However, the pricing does make other mice more appealing, like the Razer Deathadder V3 Pro or MSI Clutch GM51. The former is $149 (around £149 / AU$279), and the latter is $99.99 (around £83 / AU$148), both much cheaper while offering solid gaming performance in their own right. The Deathadder V3 Pro in particular is easily one of the best gaming mice on the market.

The Alienware Pro Wireless, like most Dell products, has excellent availability. It's available in the US, UK, and Australia, as well as several other regions.

Alienware Pro Wireless gaming mouse: Specs

Should you buy the Alienware Pro Wireless gaming mouse?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

You're left-handed
Unfortunately, this mouse shed its two right buttons, making it completely inaccessible to left-handed gamers.

Alienware Pro Wireless gaming mouse: Also consider

How I tested the Alienware Pro Wireless gaming mouse

I spent about a week testing this mouse
I tested it for gaming and productivity work
I used it extensively in both a home and office environment

I tested the Alienware Pro Wireless gaming mouse both at home and in an office environment, seeing how well it functioned in gaming and productivity. Its gaming performance is especially important, so I used a wide variety of genres to see how reactive it is. I also carried it around in various bags to test its portability.

The Alienware Pro Wireless is a gaming mouse that's meant for extensive use over the years. I made sure to quality-test it to see if it held up to those standards while maintaining maximum comfort levels.

I've tested a wide range of mice, mainly gaming, and understand how to properly rate and test them out to ensure that they reach a certain level of quality.

We pride ourselves on our independence and our rigorous review-testing process, offering up long-term attention to the products we review and making sure our reviews are updated and maintained - regardless of when a device was released, if you can still buy it, it's on our radar.

Alienware Pro Wireless gaming keyboard: Two-minute review

Alienware has released its Pro line of both gaming keyboards and mice, focusing on making it as appealing as possible to professional gamers. In fact, they were both tested by pro gamers Team Liquid to ensure just that. The Alienware Pro gaming keyboard truly feels like a product made for such a demographic, thanks to its much smaller yet sturdier body and high-quality switches.

Like many of Alienware's other accessories and PCs, the Pro gaming keyboard comes in two colors: Dark Side of the Moon and Lunar Light. While the black keyboard is surprisingly beautiful thanks to the RGB lighting, the standard is the white model that not only stands out aesthetically but is truly enhanced by the LED lighting. The Alienware Command Center software is easily accessible and can be used to customize the color effects and most other keyboard settings.

Unlike other Alienware keyboards, which tend to be lighter, this one is much heavier and sturdier, weighing nearly two pounds. It's shocking, considering it's made with 47% post-consumer recycled plastics. It also has a long silicone strip on the underside of the chassis, which prevents it from moving around. You really have to use significant force to do so, which is ideal for intense gaming sessions.

Due to its status as a professional gaming keyboard, I tested it out in a wide variety of genres, including first and third-person shooters, platformers, action, RPGs, and more. It's incredibly stable, the keys are responsive with a good travel distance, and the switches are easy to activate.

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closeup of Alienware Pro Wireless gaming keyboard keys — (Image credit: Future)

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back of Alienware Pro Wireless gaming keyboard — (Image credit: Future)

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Alienware Pro Wireless gaming keyboard — (Image credit: Future)

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closeup of Alienware Pro Wireless gaming keyboard — (Image credit: Future)

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One of the standout features of the Alienware Pro Wireless gaming keyboard is that it no longer features Cherry MX mechanical switches. Instead, Dell has developed its own switches specifically for this Alienware keyboard. The switches are hot-swappable 5-pin PCBA and are compatible with most other 3 and 5-pin switches - in case you want to switch them out for other brands.

The actuation force is only 40g, which is quite light and well-suited for hardcore and especially professional gaming, as it puts almost no strain on your fingers to press down on each key. The stem is also made of POM (Polyoxymethylene) material, meaning you avoid the often grating sound of keys rubbing against each other, adding to that extra light and almost floaty feeling when typing. Thanks to the sound-dampening silicone layers, the clean clicking sound of the switches is enhanced even further.

It's shocking how high-quality these switches are - Dell has truly knocked it out of the park. The efficiency of this TKL design is also a pleasant surprise as it manages to fit in media and arrow keys in a compact size.

The keyboard's connectivity is also great, with three ways to connect it: Bluetooth, 2.4GHz wireless, and USB Type-C wired. Having these options is incredibly important depending on your needs for the keyboards, with wired the best option for hardcore gaming with no latency, while wireless and Bluetooth are solely for portability.

Battery life is also pretty solid, with about three days of life using the RGB lighting and, according to Dell, up to 798 hours with lighting turned off on 2.4GHz wireless.

Alienware Pro Wireless gaming keyboard: Price & availability

How much does it cost? $199.99 / £190 including VAT / AU$328.90
When is it available? Available now
Where can you get it? Available in the US, UK, and Australia

The Alienware Pro Wireless gaming keyboard is incredibly expensive, costing a whopping $199.99 / £190 including VAT / AU$328.90. Of course, considering that this is a premium keyboard developed for professional gaming, the pricing makes sense. That said, this is not the keyboard to get if you don't need top-of-the-line quality and performance.

Compared to cheaper mechanical keyboards like the MSI GK50 Elite TKL starting at 64.99 (around £55/AU$100), there are other solid options for those who need it. There's also the Razer Huntsman V2 TKL, which will set you back $160 / £160 / AU$260. It's a great and slightly cheaper option as well if you're not in the market for keyboards tailor-made for professionals.

The Alienware Pro Wireless, like most Dell products, has excellent availability in the US, UK, Australia, and several other regions.

Alienware Pro Wireless gaming keyboard: Specs

Should you buy the Alienware Pro Wireless gaming keyboard?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

You need a more budget-minded keyboard
Bottomline, this keyboard is extremely expensive. If you need anything cheaper, it's best to wave goodbye and let it pass.

Alienware Pro Wireless gaming keyboard: Also consider

How I tested the Alienware Pro Wireless gaming keyboard

I spent about a week testing this keyboard
I tested it for gaming and productivity work
I used it extensively in both a home and office environment

I tested the Alienware Pro Wireless gaming keyboard in a home office environment, seeing how well it functioned in gaming and productivity. Its gaming performance is especially important, so I played a wide variety of genres to see how reactive it is. I also carried it around in various bags to test its portability.

The Alienware Pro Wireless is a gaming keyboard meant for extensive use over the years. I made sure to quality-test it to see if it held up to those standards while maintaining maximum comfort levels.

I've tested a wide range of keyboards, including mechanical and membrane ones, and understand how to properly rate and test them out to ensure that they reach a certain level of quality.

Corsair One i500: Two-minute review

The Corsair One i500 isn't necessarily the most powerful gaming PC out there, it's not very upgradeable, and in terms of style, it's the kind of product that will inspire some very strong opinions — including my own.

Its specs are such that it is an easy contender for the best gaming PC of 2024 just in terms of performance, and its price is absolutely in line with the kinds of gaming rigs I've seen running Core i9-14900K and RTX 4080 Super or RTX 4090 GPUs.

Starting at $3,599.99 / £3,499.99 (about $5,220), this isn't a cheap gaming PC, but for what you're getting in terms of specs, you'd normally be getting a standard mid-tower PC case, usually in black, with large RGB fans with a tempered glass side showing off even more RGB trim, and you'd still be paying nearly $3,500 or more for the privilege.

That is to say, most gaming PCs today lean so heavily on RGB to define their style, that 'style' isn't really even a factor when considering which one to buy. The cases might vary, they might have a wraparound glass panel to show off the insides more fully, but the fundamental design principle of 'show off the components', which are lit up like a carnival, remains the same no matter what PC you buy.

The Corsair One i500, meanwhile, doesn't even have Corsair iCue, the company's proprietary RGB control software. It does have RGB, namely in the two trim lines that flank the case's wooden front panel, but it's limited compared to other gaming PCs. Instead, the Corsair One i500 uses a wooden front panel and fabric side panels to define its aesthetic, along with the aluminum case underneath that comes in either black or silver.

Depending on the case color, you'll get a different wooden front panel (a walnut color for the black case and a pine color for the silver), and both cost the same, so you won't have to pay a premium for one over the other. The PC also comes with a headphone hanger attachment that can fit onto either side of the case, and there are more than enough ports for whatever peripherals you have.

More than anything, this PC reminds me of the Atari 2600 from my childhood, equipped as it was with a wooden panel along the top edge like everything else was in the early 1980s. That quickly gave way to hard black plastic in later models and soon consoles and later PCs left behind natural textures for futuristic flash and forms that persist up to the present. It's in this milieu that the Corsair One i500 feels like something dropped into the gaming PC market out of a flying Delorean. After so many years of RGB and aggressive gamer aesthetic, it's still shocking how something as simple and retro as a wood panel on the front can feel so refreshing.

It's not all positive, though. If there is anything that can be considered a negative with this PC, it's its lack of easy upgradability. The small form factor case is going to limit what you can fit in it, but the GPU AIO cooler also means that any GPU upgrades in the future are not going to be as simple as dropping in a new graphics card in a few years. You can more easily upgrade the SSD and RAM, however.

But this isn't really a gaming PC for builders or tinkerers. This is much more a gaming PC for those who want the best without messing with the cables and components, but who also want their new gaming PC to reflect their significant investment. In that, the Corsair One i500 is unmatched.

Corsair One i500: Price & availability

A Corsair One i500 on a desk — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

How much is it? Starting at $3,599.99 / £3,499.99 (about $5,220)
When is it available? Available May 6, 2024
Where can you get it? You can get it in the US and the UK at launch, with Australia availability in June 2024.

The Corsair One i500 is available in the US and UK now, starting at $3,599.99 and £3,499.99, respectively. It will be available in Australia in June, but official pricing hasn't been released for the APAC region yet.

Both configurations available at launch come with an Intel Core i9-1400K processor and 2TB NVMe storage, and the base configuration comes with an Nvidia RTX 4080 Super and 32GB DDR5 RAM, while the max configuration comes with an Nvidia RTX 4090 and 64GB DDR5 RAM for $4,699.99 / £4,699.99.

This is more expensive than something like the current Alienware Aurora R16, which maxes out at an Intel Core i9-14900KF, RTX 4090, 64GB DDR5 RAM, and 2TB PCIe NVMe storage for $4,049.99 / £3,919. In Australia, the Aurora R16 maxes out at AU$5,772.80 for an Intel Core i9-14900KF, an Nvidia RTX 4080 Super, 64GB DDR5 RAM, and 2TB storage.

Other gaming PCs like the Acer Predator Orion 7000 and HP Omen 40L will sell for roughly the same as the Aurora R16, so the Corsair One i500 is going to be more expensive than the competition, but its competition also features much of the same style as every other gaming PC you've seen in a Best Buy or Curry's for the past decade. Whether the Corsair One i500's style is worth the extra premium will be up to you, but after all the gaming PCs I've reviewed over the years, I believe it's absolutely worth the premium.

Value: 4 / 5

Corsair One i500: Specs

Up to an RTX 4090 with AIO liquid cooling
Not easily upgradable

Specs: 4.5 / 5

Corsair One i500: Design

Gorgeous small form-factor case
Ample cooling fans
Fabric side panels might get grimey over time

The Corsair One i500's biggest appeal is its style.

I haven't seen a wood-paneled gaming device since the Atari 2600, and that device was released when I was a toddler. That's been enough time, I think, for a wood-paneled device to be cool again, and given the state of PC gaming hardware for the past several years, seeing something new is more than just refreshing.

I can't say that the Corsair One i500 will transform PC gaming culture to move beyond its decade-old Decepticon-inspired PC cases with over-the-top RGB lighting, but I hope it inspires a new paradigm for what companies can do with a gaming PC. The market desperately needs it.

In terms of specific design notes, this is technically a small form factor gaming PC, though it is bigger than something like the Asus ROG G22CH. Taller than it is wide or deep, this is more like a gaming console than a traditional gaming PC. If you've been looking for a living room PC, this will fit right in with a living room aesthetic.

If you spend this much money on a gaming PC, you should hopefully be able to upgrade to an Nvidia 5000 series graphics card in a few years, but the small form factor case is going to limit what size GPU you can fit.

On top of that, the graphics card in this case is unshrouded, relying on an AIO GPU cooler to manage heat dissipation. You could obviously take all of the fans and heatsink off of any future graphics card you buy and fit it into this PC, but understandably, this is a fairly advanced modification for a GPU.

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On top of the internals, there are a number of distinct design features that you won't really find anywhere else.

First, the side panels are covered in a soft, breathable fabric. This creates a very cool look to the PC, but fabric in tech devices tend to discolor and gunk up over time, especially if they cover a fan blowing dust out of a PC case.

Still, the fabric panels are a beautiful design touch. Another very cool feature is the tap-to-activate light on the backside of the case, which you can tap to light up the backports while you're plugging in peripherals and other cables. It's a small touch, but given that the backside of a gaming PC can often be cast in shadow, having an easy way to illuminate the area in question is incredibly useful.

Taken all together, the Corsair One i500 is the coolest prebuilt gaming PC I've ever used, and it's all the more impressive given how far it stretches past the 'accepted' gamer aesthetic into something new. I'm sure a lot of people won't like the design of this PC, but I don't care. The fact that Corsair took the risk to make a dramatically different kind of PC earns five stars in my book.

Design: 5 / 5

Corsair One i500: Performance

Fantastic gaming 4K performance
You can probably get the same kind of performance for cheaper if you don't mind less appealing aesthetics

Now, as good as the Corsair One i500 looks, this is a gaming PC, so its performance matters as much as — if not more than — its aesthetics. In this regard, you won't be disappointed with this PC.

Its starting GPU, the RTX 4080 Super, is one of the best 4K graphics cards on the market, second only to the Nvidia RTX 4090, which is an optional upgrade for the Corsair One i500. So no matter which GPU you get, you'll be able to get 4K@60FPS on just about any title on the market, especially if you enable Nvidia's DLSS 3 in games like Cyberpunk 2077 and any game that features ray tracing.

The RTX 4090, however, is the only graphics card I've ever tested that can get you close to 60 FPS in Cyberpunk 2077 with ray tracing maxed out without upscaling, so if you're looking to play 4K at native resolution, you do at least have the option of going with the RTX 4090.

Given the hardware here, this is also a very competent creative performer, so those who like to get some work done will like what's on offer here, but I wouldn't call this the best workstation PC going. This is a gaming PC through and through, and it's here that this PC excels.

Performance: 4.5 / 5

Should you buy the Corsair One i500?

Buy the Corsair One i500 if...

Don't buy it if...

First reviewed May 2024

MSI Titan 18 HX review: a gaming colossus

8:52 pm | May 2, 2024

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Gaming Computers Gaming Laptops | Tags: Battery Life, Far Cry, LED, Tomb Raider | Comments: Off

MSI Titan 18 HX: Two minute review

The MSI Titan 18 HX returns in 2024, reclaiming its title as the best gaming laptop for those looking to splurge on the most over-the-top desktop replacement money can buy.

The Titan 18 HX, like its 2023 predecessor, the MSI GT77 Titan HX, is a $5,000 desktop PC masquerading as a gaming laptop. Clocking in at just under 8 lbs/4kg, you're going to feel this one if you ever have to actually carry it anywhere, and most backpacks out there won't even fit it. This laptop, then, will be relegated to your desk with the occasional trip to another room at most.

While it sacrifices portability, it does come with some absolutely bonkers hardware, including a 175W RTX 4090 mobile GPU, a 95W Intel Core i9-14900HX processor, up to 128GB DDR5 RAM, and up to 4TB SSD storage, with one of its three M.2 SSDs slots being a PCIe 5.0 interface for the best SSD speeds possible (though it doesn't come with a PCIe 5.0 drive, you'll have to provide that yourself). Throw in the world's first 18-inch 120Hz 4K+ mini LED display with 120Hz refresh and HDR1000 certification, and you have the most decadently specced gaming laptops I've ever tested.

And before you say it, mini LED isn't an OLED, I know, but I honestly prefer mini LED displays on gaming laptops, and this one can get you 112% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, so video editors and other creative pros might want to take note of this one as well.

Design-wise, this laptop is an improvement over its predecessor in a number of ways, not the least of which is that it does introduce some grey into the chassis to help break up the super-aggressive gamer black styling of the GT77 Titan HX (and even adds some light blue accent touches to the rear), as well as introducing a seamless trackpad and more refined curves into the keydeck.

The Titan 18 HX's mechanical keyboard, meanwhile, features Cherry MX ultra low-profile switches that are a dream to type on, and the seamless trackpad is adequate for basic use; but as with any gaming laptop, you'll probably want to use the best gaming mouse you have handy while actually gaming.

Given the laptop's size, MSI was able to pack in some powerful speakers that provide a much more immersive audio experience than you'll find on a lot of other laptops. Of course, you'll have to turn the volume up to drown out the whine of the laptop's cooling system, which can get noticeably loud under strain. You can adjust this in the MSI Center, though it will come at the cost of performance.

Speaking of performance, gaming on this laptop is an absolute joy. The very best PC games run buttery smooth at max settings, and while enabling ray tracing at the laptop's native 3840x2400p resolution on some titles will require you to use DLSS upscaling to get a playable framerate at 4K, that's the case with even the best graphics card in a desktop PC.

Still, for the amount of money this laptop will cost you, you could also be forgiven for asking if it's really worth the price. If you're the type to ask such a question, don't worry, it's an easy question to answer: this laptop isn't for you. If you want the absolute best gaming performance in a theoretically portable form factor and money isn't an object for you? Well, you are exactly the person this laptop is designed to cater to, and you won't find many, if any, better gaming laptops on the market than the MSI Titan 18 HX.

MSI Titan 18 HX: Price and availability

An MSI Titan 18 HX on a table — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

How much is it? Starting at $4,999.99 / £4,379.98 / AU$6,999
When is it available? It is available now.
Where can you get it? You can get it in the US, UK, and Australia

The MSI Titan 18 HX is available now in the US, UK, and Australia, starting at $4,999.99 / £4,379.98 / AU$6,999. All configurations come with an Intel Core i9-14900HX processor and 4K+ mini LED display, and the US has two configurations on sale right now. They both feature an Nvidia RTX 4090 mobile GPU and 4TB storage, with the only difference being a choice between 64GB or 128GB RAM.

In the UK, the Titan 18 HX starts with an Nvidia RTX 4080 GPU, 64GB DDR5 RAM, and 2TB PCIe 4.0 storage, and goes up as high as an RTX 4090 with 128GB RAM and 4TB storage. In Australia, the Titan 18 HX starts with an RTX 4080 GPU, 32GB RAM, and 2TB storage, and goes up to an RTX 4090, 128GB RAM, and 4TB storage.

In no universe is this a cheap gaming laptop, and it's challenging to think of another 18-inch laptop that goes quite this hard on the specs. Even the Alienware m18 R2 pulls back from a full 4K display, much less 4K+, and tops out at 64GB RAM. Even upping the m18 R2's storage to 8TB with everything else maxed out doesn't even bring you up to the MSI Titan 18 HX's starting price.

Again, I can't stress this enough, only those with the deepest pockets need consider this one.

Value: 2.5 / 5

MSI Titan 18 HX: Specs

This is easily the most obscenely configured gaming laptop I've ever laid hands on, and I wouldn't be surprised if you could still play the latest AAA games at max settings at 4K for the rest of the decade. The hardware will likely physically fail on you before this thing is rendered obsolete when it comes to gaming or high-end performance.

Specs: 5 / 5

MSI Titan 18 HX: Design

Gorgeous mini LED display
Improved chassis aesthetics
Ports galore
Low-profile mechanical keyboard with Cherry MX switches

The MSI Titan 18 HX introduces several improvements over last year's Titan, while generally keeping the fairly Decepticon-like aesthetic that the Titan is known for.

Starting with the sheer size of the thing, it's slightly bigger than its predecessor, a feat I didn't think possible. It also adds about 0.5 lbs to its weight, making it by far the heaviest laptop I've used in at least a decade or more.

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Opening it up, you'll find a low-profile mechanical keyboard with Cherry MX switches for some seriously smooth typing. The trackpad has gone seamless, as well, offering a glassy but responsive surface for your palms and fingertips to glide over. The trackpad itself is responsive, with good feedback, though a gaming mouse or controller is recommended for higher-level precision.

The Titan 18 HX comes loaded with 4x2W up-firing speakers on either side of the keyboard, as well as 2x2W subwoofers for extra bass, all of which work together to create some very rich sound, at least as far as laptop speakers go.

The IR webcam also gets an upgrade over last year's model, now at full HD as opposed to 720p, and features a physical privacy shutter, which you always love to see on a laptop.

The display though is the big feature here with a speedy 120Hz refresh rate on a 3840x2400p mini LED panel that is bright and vibrant. It also has VESA DisplayHDR 1000 certification for a fantastic color contrast with deep blacks, and covers 112% of the DCI-P3 color gamut according to our tests.

In terms of ports, having a chassis this big means you can cram in a lot of ports, and the Titan 18 HX does not disappoint. You get three USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports, two Thunderbolt 4 ports with DP output (with one featuring PD3.1 certification for fast charging devices), one HDMI 2.1 port that can push 120Hz video at 4K, an SDCard slot, an RJ45 ethernet port, and a 3.5mm combo jack. You even get a Kensington lock slot for good measure.

Overall, this is one of the best-looking MSI gaming laptops I've seen this year, and its wealth of features, ports, and more make it a standout device before we even get to its performance.

Design: 4.5 / 5

MSI Titan 18 HX: Performance

Best-in-class performance
Able to hit 60 FPS at 2400p on most games without upscaling
Upscaling can get you 60 FPS or better in games with ray tracing turned on

This gaming laptop absolutely puts some of the best gaming PCs to shame with its performance. Its 2400p resolution understandably taxes the hardware when playing high-end games at its native resolution at max settings, but in titles like Assassin's Creed Mirage, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and Far Cry 6, the Titan 18 HX is easily able to clear 60 FPS at 4K on its highest settings, and that's not even factoring in any graphics upscaling.

Turn upscaling on, where available, and you can push the limits of the display's refresh rate on most games. If you factor in ray tracing, though, you can get in the neighborhood of 60 FPS or higher with appropriate upscaling, and on games like Cyberpunk 2077, it's an absolute necessity if you want to max everything out and get a better-than-just-playable frame rate.

Looking at its competitors, though, among the other 18-inch gaming laptops we've tested in our labs so far this year, none can match what the MSI Titan 18 HX brings to the table in terms of performance. The fact its competitors are all limited to 1600p QHD+ displays means that if you want the absolute bleeding edge of what laptop gaming can deliver in terms of 4K visual spectacle, the Titan 18 HX is really your only option.

Performance: 5 / 5

MSI Titan 18 HX: Battery life

Terrible battery life, but it'll rarely be on battery power anyway
Charging to full will take you a couple of hours

Understandably, battery life is not this laptop's greatest strength, but to call it a weakness is a bit unfair. This is not the kind of laptop you'll use unplugged for any length of time, as you would one of the best ultrabooks or a MacBook Pro.

This is a desktop replacement, so even though its two hours and 40 minutes of battery life while surfing the web is a pretty funny data point for a $5,000 laptop, you'll never actually use the Titan 18 HX this way outside of extremely rare instances. Its bulk will make it difficult to bring it anywhere period, much less somewhere that doesn't have an available wall outlet.

Still, compared to other 18-inch gaming laptops, the Titan 18 HX's battery performance still falls about 20% below the class average of three hours and 27 minutes. That means it doesn't get a total pass from me on battery life, but it is hardly a factor anyone should realistically consider for a laptop like this.

Battery Life: 2.5 / 5

Should you buy the MSI Titan 18 HX?

Buy the MSI Titan 18 HX if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

If my MSI Titan 18 HX review has you considering other options, here are three other laptops to consider:

How I tested the MSI Titan 18 HX

I spent about a month testing the Titan 18 HX
I used our standard suite of benchmark tests
I primarily played games on the Titan 18 HX, though I also used it for general computing and content creation

I spent about a month with the MSI Titan 18 HX, using it as an everyday work machine at home while gaming at night once work was done. I also used it for content creation work with Adobe Photoshop.

This is a gaming laptop, first and foremost, so I tested it with our standard battery of gaming benchmarks and other benchmarks that check for CPU, GPU, and overall system performance.

I've been reviewing laptops for TechRadar for nearly half a decade now, and as a lifelong PC gamer, I know how games should run on given hardware, and how much that hardware should cost you to maximize the value to the consumer. I also have a Master's Degree in Computer Science, so I'm able to really dig in and analyze the nitty-gritty of the hardware in a way many other reviews can't.

First reviewed May 2024

Opal Tadpole webcam: A gorgeous design with a Sony mirrorless camera

9:10 pm | May 1, 2024

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Peripherals & Accessories Webcams | Comments: Off

Opal Tadpole webcam: Two-minute review

The Opal Tadpole is an incredibly capable webcam that is well-engineered and beautifully designed. The video quality is respectable, but my lasting impression of the Tadpole was not to do with the sensor's capabilities but rather that it just felt really good to use. All of this is due to the thoughtful and well-implemented design, as well as the minimalist feature set. This should come as no surprise, considering the Opal co-team has history with Google, Uber, and Jump.

The Tadpole, as the name suggests, is small. At only 3.5 x 4.5 cm, the unit itself sits neatly and unobtrusively at the top of any laptop screen. When I first started using it, a few people initially asked me what on earth it was, but after a while, the device just faded into the background. So, if you’re after one of the tiniest webcams on the market at the moment, then your search is over.

The small size results in an overall weight of less than 50 grams, so there’s no chance of any unnecessary strain being applied to your screen hinge. This also makes it a dream to transport around, but more on that later.

Rather than a magnetic mount, the Opal team has opted for an adjustable clip. This means that the whole unit is either on or off, rather than having a permanently located mount. I personally prefer this implementation, because there is no chance of me losing any individual parts and thereby rendering the whole piece of kit useless.

The range of the clip is 35 degrees, which was more than adequate for my Macbook Pro and is indeed perfect for almost all laptops. One of the concerns I initially had was about damaging my laptop. I didn’t want to scratch my metal back or crack the glass of the screen. I therefore gave the clip a good look before applying it to my laptop. After seeing that the clip was primarily made of silicone rubber, I proceeded to mount it. In reality, I needn’t have been concerned. The rubber ensures that the laptop is well protected.

The build quality is high, with a painted aluminum front and an anodized aluminum back. Despite not being the most expensive webcam on the market, the Tadpole certainly feels as premium as the best. Chemically strengthened glass will help with longevity although, for obvious reasons, I didn’t test how robust the glass was.

The cable, which measures 55cm in length and 3.7mm in diameter, is woven for greater durability. I love a woven cable, so that’s a win for me. It’s just the right length for attaching to a laptop, and thanks to the magnetic end, it can be looped around your wrist as you move between meetings. Even though I appreciate the design feature, I didn’t find much use for this type of portability.

Moving away from the design and build quality, I’m sure you're interested in knowing about the camera itself. Generally, it’s pretty good, although not as good as the built-in webcam on my MacBook Pro 2023. As a result, I’ll inevitably stick with that, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t many people who would benefit from this type of webcam - after all, many laptops have sub-par 720p webcams or no webcam whatsoever.

The Sony IMX582 RS sensor does a fantastic job of producing clean video with minimal noise, even in the shadows. Color replication is strong, with vibrant colors chosen over and above a flat profile. The image therefore pops nicely, which is exactly what you want when appearing in front of others at a meeting or when video-calling your parents.

The f/1.8 lens is made up of six elements and is able to let in a significant amount of light, something that is particularly noticeable when using it in low light. Unfortunately, the dynamic range that is supported by the lens and its sensor is not quite wide enough. It was a real shame that during my meetings I had to put up with bright backgrounds, such as windows, that were almost completely blown out. It’s understandable that cameras like this would struggle here, but the Tadpole struggled more than I would have liked to see.

In terms of resolution, the 48 MP image is binned to 1080p, which is more than enough for most laptops. For most people, there is little point in spending more on a 4K webcam when it will make almost no difference to the visual experience - that territory is more for professional online content creators.

As important, if not more so, is the quality of the audio. One of the biggest challenges to providing good audio from a webcam is that they’re often omnidirectional and therefore pick up way too much background noise. Some webcams overcome this by using noise filtering, but Opal has landed on a completely different solution.

By using a directional microphone, the Tadpole captures only what is directly in front of the camera. The solution, in essence, creates a tunnel through which sound is funneled. As a result, any sound that doesn’t travel down this tunnel isn’t heard. It’s a genius little idea and puts the results in the hands of engineering rather than leaving it to programmers to work out.

This directional microphone does a pretty good job, with almost all low-to-medium level background noise removed. It didn’t work entirely in a crowded room but was certainly better than omnidirectional alternatives.

Another audio feature is the ability to mute calls with a single tap of the integrated capacitive button on the USB-C cable. This is a nice little feature to have, though I certainly wouldn’t buy the webcam because of it.

One of the biggest selling points of the Tadpole is its portability. It is small, lightweight, and packs neatly into a purpose-made carry case that looks like a yoyo. The case is built well and allows the cable to neatly protrude out the side, doubling up as a loop for carrying. Simply put, this is one of the best carry cases for a webcam that I’ve ever seen. The magnetic clip makes it quick and easy to take in and out, with just enough strength to ensure it doesn’t accidentally fall out.

The Opal Tadpole is one of the best options in the mid-range webcam space. It delivers better quality than the super-budget alternatives but lacks additional features that are seen in the more expensive and premium webcams. Video quality is more than good enough for most situations, although it does sometimes struggle to deal with bright light sources. The directional mic is a nice feature that does a good job of cutting out a reasonable amount of background noise. Overall, the Tadpole is a very capable webcam.

Opal Tadpole webcam: Price & availability

How much does it cost? $129 (about £105 / AU$200)
When is it available? Available now
Where can you get it? US with worldwide shipping

At $129 (about £105 / AU$200), the Opal Tadpole sits in the middle between the super-budget Logitech HD Webcam C310 and the eye-wateringly pricy Elgato Facecam Pro. The former lacks good image quality and feels a bit cheap in the hand, whereas the latter delivers amazing 4K video at 60 fps - for a high price.

If you want to compare like for like in terms of price, then the Tadpole is only a little more expensive than the Logitech C920, which wins the status for 'best overall' webcam in our best webcams buying guide - though it lacks the unparalleled portability of the Tadpole.

For the asking price here, you get decent video quality and some nice features, including single-tap muting. If you're after something a little better than the cheapest options on the market, then the Opal Tadpole is a respectable choice.

The Opal Tadpole ships worldwide, with associated shipping costs. For the UK, that is set at an additional $8. The yo-yo case also costs an additional $19, but it's worth the price in my opinion.

Value: 4 / 5

Opal Tadpole webcam: Specs

Should you buy the Opal Tadpole webcam?

Buy it if...

You want one of the best-looking webcams

Opal has absolutely nailed the design of the webcam. It not only looks smart on top of any laptop but also clips securely in place even when you need to move your laptop around.

You want a travel webcam

The Tadpole packs down into a small and lightweight hard carry case, which not only protects the webcam but also makes it easy to transport around.

You want an intelligent microphone

The Tadpole comes with a direction microphone that captures only what the camera can see. Some webcams achieve this through noise filtering, but Opal makes it happen with engineering.

Don't buy it if...

You want a 4K webcam

The Opal Tadpole records 48 MP, which is fixed at 1080p. Considering this will be the display resolution of many laptops and standalone desktop monitors, it won't necessarily be an issue for you, but serious content creators may want more.

You want the cheapest webcam

The Tadpole is far from expensive, but there are cheaper alternatives around, especially if you just want something that is no thrills and just going to get the job done.

Opal Tadpole webcam: Also consider

How I tested the Opal Tadpole webcam

I used the webcam for my video calls
I tested its general performance as well as its special features
I made sure to test it under a variety of lighting conditions

As soon as it came through the door, I was keen to get the Opal Tadpol webcam out of the box and hooked onto my laptop. Everything about the design and functionality oozes quality, so I wanted to get it setup as soon as I could.

After a few minutes of getting it up and running, I spent time in video calls to test it's many features. I also made sure to give it a good run around in different lighting conditions, including bright and low-lit rooms.

With a few neat features, I also checked those out so I could determine the degree to which I would use them on a regular basis. I also used the carry case to help me transport the webcam around.

Acer Predator Helios 18: One-minute review

The Acer Predator Helios 18 is massive. If you’re looking for a light, slim, and ready-to-hit-the-road gaming laptop, this is not it. This is a desktop replacement in every sense of the word, from its 18-inch screen to its seven-ish pound weight. And, the battery life is not going to hold up for nomadic use.

But, desktop replacements have their place. The Acer Predator Helios 18 has the power, after all, to hang with the best gaming laptops thanks to some robust internals. And, while it’s out of range of the best budget gaming laptops, it’s reasonably priced for what you get, especially when you think about getting a desktop with a similar level of performance and a display that’s just as fast or sharp.

So, if you’re looking for a beast that can run games like Cyberpunk 2077 on absolutely maxed out settings and don't mind that it’s a bit tough to carry around, the Acer Predator Helios 18 might be for you.

Acer Predator Helios 18 front — (Image credit: Future)

Acer Predator Helios 18: Price & availability

Acer Predator Helios 18 closed lid — (Image credit: Future)

How much does it cost? Starting at $1,699.99 (about £1,339 / AU$2,576)
When is it available? Available now
Where can you get it? Available in the US and UK

Despite the fact that the Acer Predator Helios 18 starts at $1,699.99 (about £1,339 / AU$2,576) for its base configuration and goes to $2,499.99 (about £1,968 / AU$3,788) in the US, the price tag is actually fairly reasonable when put into context.

The base configuration is pretty powerful in its own right with an Intel Core i7, 16GB of RAM, and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 as well as a 1200p screen with a 165Hz refresh rate, but the review configuration, which is also the max one in the US, might be a better deal despite being much pricier.

The Core i9 CPU and 4080 GPU are significant upgrades, not to mention it has double the RAM, and the screen is blazing fast at 250Hz and has a higher resolution. Considering this laptop comes with an 18-inch screen, you’re probably not going to need to supplement it with one of the best gaming monitors, either. If you calculate the cost of a desktop rig with similar specs and a screen with a 250Hz refresh rate, you’ll probably end up spending even more.

Consider some other desktop replacements and the Acer Predator Helios 18 looks like a real bargain as well. The MSI Titan 18 HX that launched earlier this year may have impressed us with its 14th-Gen Intel Core i9, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090, 4TB SSD, and 128GB of RAM (!), as well as a UHD+ 18-inch mini LED screen, but it also goes for $4,999.99 / £4,379.98 / AU$6,999 to start. The Acer Predator Helios 18 is a much more accessible desktop replacement for most people.

Unfortunately, this model is not available in Australia at this time.

Value: 3.5 / 5

Acer Predator Helios 18: Specs

Acer Predator Helios 18 underneath — (Image credit: Future)

When it comes to internal specs with the Acer Predator Helios 18, you’re looking at a small range. You either get a 13th-Gen Intel Core i7 or i9, 16GB or 32 GB of RAM, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 – 4080 Laptop GPU, and 512 GB or 1 TB SSD, though you can upgrade to 2 TB in the UK.

There is a small range in displays as the cheapest option comes with a 1920 x 1200p resolution at 165Hz refresh rate instead of the sharper and faster 2560 x 1600p resolution at 250Hz. Interestingly enough, the more expensive configurations are lighter and ever-so-slightly thinner.

Specs: 4 / 5

Acer Predator Helios 18: Design

Massive dimensions
Sharp, speedy display with great HDR
Good keyboard and trackpad

Acer Predator Helios 18 keyboard and track pad — (Image credit: Future)

The aesthetics of the Acer Predator Helios 18 is all black, giving it a somewhat muted gamer-centric look. The matte-black finish does have a habit of picking up fingerprints, especially the lid. But, if you’re considering this laptop, that’s probably not a huge consideration.

Speaking of huge, the Acer Predator Helios 18 is massive. Measuring 15.9 x 12.3 x 1.14 inches (404 x 312 x 29mm) and weighing 6.97 lbs (3.16 kg), it’s going to take up a lot of desk space. Considering this is basically a desktop replacement for a gaming computer, it’s no surprise, especially since it houses an 18-inch display.

As far as the display is concerned, the WQXGA resolution (2560 x 1600p) is plenty sharp, not to mention its 250Hz refresh rate is going to make all your games look smooth as butter. Of course, its 3ms response time is not going to be quite the same as fast refresh monitors aimed at competitive gamers as they typically have a 1ms response time.

Acer Predator Helios 18 HDR — (Image credit: Future)

However, one thing this display has over most speedy monitors (unless you’re willing to drop a lot of cash) is the HDR. It has a VESA DisplayHDR 1000 certification – the highest I’ve seen on a laptop.

Port-wise, there’s plenty of everything including an HDMI 2.1 port and USB-C ports that support Thunderbolt 4. There’s even a microSD card reader, along with 3 USB-A ports, an ethernet port, and mic/headphone combo jack.

Since there’s so much space here, the Acer Predator Helios 18 comes with a full-sized keyboard complete with a numpad. There’s even a dedicated button to switch between power profiles. The typing experience itself is perfectly fine except for the fact that the keyboard is set somewhat further back on the chassis so it can feel a little awkward if you don’t keep it right on the edge of your desk. At least it comes with brilliant RGB backlighting as expected of any premium-quality gaming laptop.

The trackpad is also pretty good, not to mention quite large. It’s fast and responsive, perfect for day-to-day use. Of course, you’ll still want to invest in an external mouse for gaming. But, for general use, I have no complaints. And, unlike other outsized trackpads, I don’t have issues with it accidentally registering my palm as an additional press even though it basically hovers right over it.

Design: 4.5 / 5

Acer Predator Helios 18: Performance

Acer Predator Helios 18 left ports — (Image credit: Future)

Awesome gaming performance
Thermal efficiency is very good
Decent audio quality

Acer Predator Helios 18 right ports — (Image credit: Future)

Acer Predator Helios 18: Benchmarks

Here's how the Acer Predator Helios 18 performed in our suite of benchmark tests:

3DMark: Night Raid: 72,381; Fire Strike: 29,957; Time Spy: 15,746
GeekBench 6.2: 2,920 (single-core); 17,941 (multi-core)
25GB File Copy Time (seconds): 22.6
Handbrake 1.6 4K to 1080p Encode: 96
CrossMark Overall: 2,217; Productivity: 2,046; Creativity: 2,477; Responsiveness: 2,020
F1 23 1080p (Ultra) 68 fps
Cyberpunk 2077: 1080p (Ultra) 108.22 fps
Web Surfing Battery Test: 4:40:50
PCMark 10 Battery Life (Gaming): 1:44

I’ve spent my last couple of laptop reviews praising the outsized performance of gaming laptops coming with Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 graphics cards. Sure, there are some compromises, but having better lighting physics thanks to Ray Tracing is not exactly a make-it-or-break-it issue when it comes to enjoying a game.

That said, if you do care about getting the absolute full experience, the internals on the Acer Predator Helios 18 can do them without breaking a sweat. Whether it’s Cyberpunk 2077 with the latest updates, Starfield, Hogwarts Legacy, or any other demanding game, I could max out the settings including ray tracing and have very few issues.

Of course, there is still some performance boost you’ll get from a 4090 over a 4080. When running Cyberpunk 2077 on “Ray Tracing: Overdrive'' at the Acer Predator Helios 18’s native resolution of 2560 x 1600p at 250Hz, the average FPS is just 38.81. So, it’s not quite the smoothest, but that’s still plenty impressive considering the combination of the resolution, refresh rate, graphics settings, and Ray Tracing settings, not to mention the HDR is maxed out. Backing off on some of those settings just a little will give you imperceptibly smooth results. For our standardized benchmarks, for instance, running Cyberpunk 2077 on Ultra settings at 1080p gives an FPS score of 108.22.

Acer Predator Helios 18 Far Cry HDR — (Image credit: Future)

If those results are still not good enough, you’ll have to spend for a desktop with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 (desktop results are still going to top laptop ones with the same internals) or a gaming laptop with a 4090.

Just as importantly, the thermal efficiency is such that I only feel a little heat near the back of the laptop when gaming. So, even under load, the Acer Predator Helios 18 stays calm and collected so to speak.

As far as audio quality goes, no laptop is going to beat a nice pair of headphones or speakers like the Kanto Ora I still have set up. Still, the sound quality is decent enough that you’ll only really miss some rumble when gaming without any external audio solutions.

Performance: 4.5 / 5

Acer Predator Helios 18: Battery life

Acer Predator Helios 18 back and back ports — (Image credit: Future)

Battery life is okay for non-gaming
Battery life is very short otherwise

As it's a massive gaming laptop powering an Intel Core i9, 32GB of RAM, and, most importantly, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080, it’s no surprise the Acer Predator Helios 18’s battery life is pretty short.

In fact, the fact that it lasts just under five hours in the web surfing benchmark is surprisingly high, though the laptop shifts to integrated graphics when not doing graphically intensive work. Looking at its PCMark 10 battery life of just under two hours, it’s clear that this gaming laptop is more of a desktop replacement than a portable gaming machine, though it’s certainly easier to transport than a desktop. Do not expect to use this laptop for long unplugged.

Battery life: 3.5 / 5

Should I buy the Acer Predator Helios 18?

Buy the Acer Predator Helios 18 if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

If my Acer Predator Helios 18 review has you considering other options, here are two laptops to consider...

How I tested the Acer Predator Helios 18

Acer Predator Helios 18 angled screen — (Image credit: Future)

Tested for a month
Pushed it as hard as possible gaming-wise
Played with various settings

I used the Acer Predator Helios 18 for a month, playing a number of demanding games like Starfield, Hogwarts Legacy, Battlefield 2042 and Cyberpunk 2077. While doing so, I ran the games at various settings, particularly at the highest ones with ray tracing on wherever possible as well as HDR, and took note of the results. I also tested each aspect of the laptop from the keyboard and trackpad to the webcam and speakers.

After spending time with the Acer Predator Helios 18, it’s clear that this is meant to be a desktop replacement that can handle just about anything a gamer would want it to.

I’ve spent the last few years reviewing tech gear for gaming and otherwise, where I’ve gotten a feel for what to look for and how to put a piece of kit through its paces to see whether it’s worth the recommendation.

First reviewed April 2024

Razer Blade 14 (2024) review: premium performance on the go

8:14 pm | April 29, 2024

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Gaming Computers Gaming Laptops | Tags: Battery Life, Razer Blade, RTX | Comments: Off

Razer Blade 14 (2024): Two minute review

The Razer Blade 14 (2024) continues to impress as a gaming powerhouse in a remarkably compact form.

It remains largely unchanged in design from its predecessor, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, considering it has long been my top pick for the best gaming laptop going, and this latest refresh makes a compelling case for keeping that title.

Starting with its design, the familiar all-black CNC-milled aluminum chassis is both eye-catching and sturdy, with a weight that reinforces its premium build without sacrificing portability.

Performance-wise, the Blade 14 is more formidable than ever, thanks to its updated AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS processor and the choice between Nvidia RTX 4070 and 4060 GPUs. This setup handles everything from intense gaming sessions to demanding creative workloads with ease, supported by a cooling system that, while noisy, effectively manages heat even during extended use.

The display is another highlight, boasting a 2560x1600 resolution with a 240Hz refresh rate. It delivers vibrant colors and smooth visuals, making it a delight for both gaming and multimedia consumption. However, it does fall short of some competitors when it comes to brightness and HDR support.

Keyboard and trackpad functionality are excellent, providing comfortable typing and precise control. Razer Synapse software remains a useful tool for tweaking performance settings and personalizing the RGB lighting to enhance both aesthetics and functionality.

Battery life is decent for a gaming laptop, offering about 10 hours of light use and significantly less during gaming or high-performance tasks. Port selection is adequate, though the lack of an Ethernet port might irk some users.

Overall, the Razer Blade 14 (2024) is an excellent, if expensive, choice for those who need a powerful, portable laptop that can handle almost anything thrown its way.

Razer Blade 14 (2024): Price and availability

A Razer Blade 14 (2024) on a desk — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

How much is it? Starting at $2,199.99 / £2,149.99 / AU$3,999
When is it available? It is available now.
Where can you get it? You can get it in the US, UK, and Australia

The Razer Blade 14 (2024) is available now globally, starting at $2,199.99 / £2,149.99 / AU$3,999 for the base model with an RTX 4060 GPU and 16GB RAM. You can opt for my review configuration, which gets you an RTX 4070 and 32GB of RAM for $2,699.99 / £2,699.99 / AU$5,199, and honestly, this is the configuration to get. You're already spending north of two grand, so there's no reason to settle for an RTX 4060.

Still, this pricing does put it on the higher end of the 14-inch gaming laptop market, particularly when compared to alternatives like the Asus ROG Zephyrus 14 or HP Omen Transcend 14, both of which start at a lower price point. There is also the Razer Blade 14 (2023), which is still available for a lower starting price on Razer's website right now.

Given where 14-inch laptops are right now, this is easily one of the most, if not the most, expensive 14-inch laptop that isn't called the MacBook Pro. So, if you're really concerned about your budget, then the 2023 Blade 14 is likely a better bet since other than the processor and the extra RAM, there isn't much difference between the two Blade 14 models.

Value: 3.5 / 5

Razer Blade 14 (2024): Specs

Razer Blade 14 (2024): Design

Gorgeous finish and solid build
Mercury silver colorway is stunning
Mercury silver colorway costs substantially more

Razer's commitment to premium materials and build quality continues with the Blade 14.

Its chassis, crafted from a single block of aluminum, offers a sleek, durable feel with a weight that is reassuring yet portable. The design mimics the minimalist, professional aesthetic of modern ultrabooks, which might deceive some into underestimating its gaming capabilities.

The display, a speedy 240Hz QHD+ IPS panel, sports up to 100% of the DCI-P3 color gamut with Calman verification for vivid, fluid-looking visuals, while the 3ms response time will make sure that the display is about as responsive as you'll find without going for mini LED or OLED panels.

The body of the Blade 14 is very reminiscent of the MacBook Pro 14-inch, though turning the laptop over, you'll find two intake fans to help keep the components cool. Of course, fans produce noise, and under load, this laptop can get rather loud. You do have some control over this though through Razer's Synapse software.

Razer's THX audio is another standout feature of the laptop, thanks to its top firing speakers, but this does cut back on what keyboard space is available for everything else, and on a 14-inch laptop, typing space is at a premium.

Typing on the Blade 14 is still a pleasure, and the keys are adequately spaced and have a great feel to them, even after typing for several hours.

Finally, there are a good number of ports, including two USB-A and two USB-C ports, the latter of which allow for power delivery and features DisplayPort output for a second screen.

Design: 5 / 5

Razer Blade 14 (2024): Performance

Best-in-class performance for a 14-inch laptop
RTX 4070 GPU is powerful enough to handle just about any game
For the price, there are more powerful gaming laptops out there

While the aesthetic appeal of the Razer Blade 14 is undeniable, at the end of the day, this is a gaming laptop, and so you're going to want it to perform at the highest level possible, especially considering the investment you're making in this device.

Fortunately, the Blade 14 delivers outstanding performance thanks to its Ryzen 9 8945HS processor and RTX 4070 GPU, leveraging both to get the most frames per second of any 14-inch laptop we've tested this year so far.

Despite its size, the laptop's cooling system manages heat relatively well, although it can get quite loud under load. The high-performance components do not throttle significantly, which is impressive given the limited space for air circulation and the fact that the GPU can be pushed to 140W, making this the most powerful RTX 4070 laptop you're going to find right now (something backed up by my testing data).

In the end, you're going to want this laptop to game at its best and possibly transition into a mobile workstation for high-end design work or content creation on a regular basis. It will certainly be able to swing that with ease, especially if you opt for the Mercury colorway, which gives the Blade 14 something of a distinguished look about it that won't be out of place in meetings.

Performance: 5 / 5

Razer Blade 14 (2024): Battery life

Decent enough battery life with light-use
The 140W GPU drains the battery quick
Relatively fast charging

Battery performance is solid, with Razer promising up to 10 hours of power life — under the right settings, of course. However, like most gaming laptops, intense gaming sessions will drain the battery very quickly, though the laptop does supports fast charging that'll get you up to 80% in an hour.

Unfortunately, it does seem to get less battery life than its predecessor, and it's battery performance is the only metric where this average falls below the 14-inch class average in our tests.

That said, the power brick is portable enough, and the Blade 14 itself is more than capable of hopping from power outlet to power outlet if needed thanks to its slender build and lightweight construction.

Finally, this is a gaming laptop, after all, so if you're hoping for all-day battery life, there isn't a gaming laptop out there that will give it to you, so it's hard to knock off too many points here.

Battery Life: 3.5 / 5

Should you buy the Razer Blade 14 (2024)?

Buy the Razer Blade 14 (2024) if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

If my Razer Blade 14 (2024) review has you considering other options, here is another laptop to consider:

How I tested the Razer Blade 14 (2024)

I spent the better part of three weeks with the Razer Blade 14 (2024), using it as my everyday laptop for work, content creation, and gaming in the evenings.

In addition to its real world use, I also ran our standard battery of benchmarks on the device, including synthetic, creative, gaming, and battery benchmarks.

I've been reviewing gaming laptops for nearly half a decade, and have a Master's Degree in Computer Science. I am also a lifelong gamer, so I'm better positioned to judge the merits and value of this laptop than many in the industry.

First reviewed April 2024

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