At their core, the Shokz OpenFit 2 are a great pair of open earbuds that provide a crucial mix of traffic awareness and solid sound quality that runners of all skill levels are sure to appreciate. I know they’ll be my go-to for running – for quite some time. Surely, that makes them some of the best open earbuds around, right?
Sort of, but that's not the whole story. Yes, there are some notable improvements here over the original Shokz OpenFit earbuds, including a massive leap in the available battery life, a more robust soundscape and, my personal favourite upgrade, the addition of physical buttons which just makes controlling playback on the go so much easier.
It’s a great package overall, but there’s a big asterisk over how much money you have to spend. Now at the increased price of $179.95 / £169 (which is around AU$350, give or take), the OpenFit 2 aren’t quite as affordable as their predecessor, so they're oddly less viable as a sports-specific second buy alongside a traditional pair of in-ear buds like the AirPods Pro 2 or the Sony WH-1000XM5.
Lastly, there's the existence of the also-just-launched Shokz OpenFit 2 Plus (or OpenFit 2+), which throws quite the spanner in the works. Despite only being £10 more expensive than the OpenFit 2, the 2+ come with wireless charging and Dolby Atmos compatibility, two features which are easily worth such a nominal uptick at the checkout.
If you can get the OpenFit 2 at a discount then none of this will be an issue, but at full price it’s a tricky one to recommend to the masses.
(Image credit: Future)
Shokz OpenFit 2: Specifications
Water resistance
IP55
Active noise cancellation
No
Battery life
11 hours, 48 in total
Weight
9.4g ± 0.2g per earbud
Connectivity
Bluetooth 5.3
Earbud type
Open-ear
Compatible profiles
A2DP, AVRCP, HFP
Shokz OpenFit 2: Price and availability
Priced $179.95 / £169.00 (around AU$350, where sold)
Available from June 5th 2025 (announced January 2025)
Available in the US and UK, at the time of writing
The Shokz OpenFit 2 are priced at £169 / $179.95, hitting store shelves on June 5th 2025 in the UK, despite having been available since January in the US. The earbuds are also launching at the same time as the more premium Shokz OpenFit 2 Plus which are just slightly more expensive at £179, with US pricing unannounced at the time of writing.
This is a notable price increase, particularly in the UK, against the $159.95 / £129 of the previous Shokz OpenFit, and it’s also worth bearing in mind that the entry-level Shokz OpenFit Air, priced at $119.95 / £94, are still readily available via the company's website. This does make the OpenFit 2 a tricky sell to budget-conscious buyers, but I do think that when you factor in the amount of upgrades that have been crammed into the OpenFit’s successor, there’s a lot for the avid runner in your life to appreciate.
(Image credit: Future)
Shokz OpenFit 2: Features
Maintain traffic awareness while listening to music
Vastly improved battery life
Multi-point pairing
The main allure with the OpenFit 2 remains very much the same from every other product within Shokz’s wares. It is spatial (read also: environmental, traffic, general hubbub of life happening all around you) awareness. As any runner can attest, the last thing you want is to be caught off guard by a passing car or cyclist – if you don't have your wits about you then you can end up doing harm to yourself and others. However, going for a run without your favourite playlists is like going on a flight and staring at the tray table in front of you for the duration. Thankfully, Shokz’s open-ear format helps to bring together the best of both worlds.
Because the Shokz OpenFit 2 don’t block your ear canals in order to deliver sound, you can still hear everything that goes on around you, all while enjoying your go-to running tracks. It sounds simple enough, but it’s not easy to pipe good quality audio to ears when the product's drivers aren't covering them. It is a great feature to have in practice, and it's precisely why I’ve been using Shokz headphones and earbuds exclusively for the last several years when going for a run. For that reason alone, the Shokz OpenFit 2 will now supplant my existing Shokz headphones.
As you've no doubt guessed, the caveat to all of this is that Shokz’s products aren't great if you're trying to block out the world and focus. Simply put, with no noise cancellation to speak of, the OpenFit 2 are a terrible option to have for the commute or when working at a nearby cafe. It's not all negative however – I do find that the OpenFit 2, and earbuds of their ilk, are quite handy in an office environment as you can enjoy listening to a podcast as you work, but your colleagues won't have to flail their arms just to get your attention (unless it's a really good podcast).
Still, if you do want to use the OpenFit 2 in noisier environments, you can help to mitigate things by diving into the accompanying Shokz app and toggling the ‘Vocal’ setting to elevate voices and lead singers. There are other equaliser modes including ‘Bass Boost' and ‘Treble Boost’, but these are best enjoyed in quieter surroundings (Bass Boost is almost inaudible outdoors without cranking up the volume). Multi-point pairing has also found its way to the OpenFit 2 after being noticeably absent on the original OpenFit, so you can jump between devices without issue.
According to Shokz, the OpenFit 2 have the same four built-in noise cancelling mics as the OpenFit, but this time there’s some AI optimisation going on under the hood to improve the quality even further. While I will say that the actual quality of voice recordings with the microphones is fairly standard (legible but nothing to write home about), I was very impressed to see just how much heavy lifting the noise cancelling could do. Even with loud music blaring on my Sonos Ray nearby, I could still take down voice notes and listen to them without any hint of external sound getting in the way. For taking a quick call mid-run, the OpenFit 2 are more than up to the task.
Arguably the biggest shake-up on paper is the massive leap forward in battery life offered by the OpenFit 2, now boasting up to 11-hours of listening time on a single charge, and a total of 48-hours when the charging case is factored in. Given that the total use time capped out at 28-hours on the OpenFit, that’s a big improvement and it means you'll be able to get in more runs without needing to worry about giving the Shokz OpenFit 2 a top up.
Putting those claims to the test, I was able to drain about 10% from both earbuds after 30-minutes of playback at 50% volume. At that rate, it would have taken roughly five hours for the batteries to drop to 0%, but it's far more likely that you'll get closer to that 11-hour claim at a reasonable volume.
(Image credit: Shokz)
Features score: 4 / 5
Shokz OpenFit 2: Sound quality
New dual driver system
Rich bass and vocals
Easliy some of the best sounding open-ear earbuds I've tried
One of the upgrades that Shokz has been keen to point out is the inclusion of a dual driver system in each earbud for the OpenFit 2, which is designed to deliver enhanced clarity for both the bass and the vocals of any given track.
Coming in from my usual trusty pair of Shokz OpenRun Pro (which are a few years old now), the difference was immediate and tangible. Shokz was spot on in highlighting bass and vocals in particular as they both have a richer quality to them on the OpenFit 2. I knew this from the moment I kicked off a run with a tried and true classic, Linkin Park and Jay-Z’s Points of Authority / 99 Problems / One Step Closer mash-up – the opening guitar riff is as crisp and cutting as expected, but it’s when the backing vocals kick in that you can really hear the depth. And that’s only elevated once the bass drops (no small feat for earbuds of this type) to bring the whole song into view.
Further on in the playlist, the Black Eyed Peas’ Boom Boom Pow came up and I was impressed to see just how bouncy and impactful the percussion sounded throughout the song. Again, this is a pair of earbuds that attempting to convey sound without obstructing your ear canal, but as any fans of in-ear headphones can attest, that tends to be the way to get the most fulfilling sound quality, so the fact that the OpenFit 2 can still do justice to a song like this is quite something.
I did notice that at certain frequencies, the bass was unable to fully come to the surface and replicate what I'd expect from 'regular' buds. Megan Thee Stallion’s Opposite Day, a song that I rely on for weightlifting because of the thumping bass right from the start, just didn’t sound quite as powerful as it usually does with the OpenFit 2, but I will say that moments like this were certainly the exception to the norm.
If you prefer to listen to podcasts while you run, you won’t have any problems here as vocals come across as clearly as intended, although if you are in a busy area then you can always toggle the aforementioned Vocal equaliser to give it a bit of a boost.
At this money, the Shokz OpenFit 2 aren’t that far off some of the best earbuds you can buy, and I’ve lost track of the amount of times that the epic AirPods Pro 2 have dropped to around the same price during sales events. Even though I would sooner bring a pair of Shokz headphones or earbuds with me on a run ahead of anything else, I still use my AirPods the rest of the time, and if you’re tied to a strict budget then this might be something you have to weigh up at the checkout.
What is also odd is that for an extra £10, you can get the Shokz OpenFit 2 Plus, which add Dolby Atmos support for a more cinematic soundscape if you’re streaming video content. When you also throw the addition of wireless charging into the mix, I don’t know why you wouldn’t just go for the OpenFit 2 Plus, unless you’re desperate to hold on to a tenner.
Sound quality score: 4 / 5
Shokz OpenFit 2 (left) placed next to the OpenFit Air (right) (Image credit: Future)
Shokz OpenFit 2: Design
New silicone finish is very comfortable over long periods
The earbuds stay firmly in place when running
Physical inputs now sit alongside touch controls
If sound quality is the one area where the Shokz OpenFit 2 struggle to truly kick away from the competition, this is thankfully not the case where the design is concerned. These are a comfortable pair of open-fit earbuds that have been constructed with all-day wear in mind, a feat that’s largely achievable thanks to the new material used for the chassis.
The OpenFit 2 are largely encased in a soft silicone finish, which feels so comfortable against the ear that after a while, you start to forget they're there.
The hooks also remain sturdy and at no point during my runs with the Shokz OpenFit 2 was I ever concerned that the earbuds might become dislodged and lost, which is far more than I can say for most in-ear headphones which do not provide the same peace of mind.
One of the more welcome additions is a revamp of the control scheme on the OpenFit 2, finally bringing physical buttons into the mix. Both the OpenFit and the OpenFit Air relied entirely on touch controls which, I can tell you, was certainly a mixed bag from my experience with the latter. I could never quite wrap my head around the input system which is why, after a while, I ended up ditching them in favour of an older pair of Shokz headphones with physical controls.
This time around, there’s a push button sat on top of both earbuds and they can be customised (not independently) to recognise different actions. For example, I set the buttons to tweak the volume after a long press, and move either backwards or forwards through a playlist with a double click. There are still touch controls available, but they can only be assigned to wake your preferred digital assistant.
There are two colorways available, black and beige, and while they’re not quite as eye-catching as some of the more vibrant colours that Shokz has offered in the past, there is a refined quality about them that makes the earbuds feel stylish in their own way.
Sound quality score: 4 / 5
(Image credit: Future)
Shokz OpenFit 2: Value
Cheaper options are available within this market
The more feature-packed Shokz OpenFit 2+ aren't much pricier
It’s a shame – I do genuinely appreciate what Shokz has achieved with the OpenFit 2, what with a more comfortable design, improved sound quality and the inclusion of physical buttons (finally), but the one thing that holds it all back is the product’s pricing, which has left me scratching my head for two reasons.
First off, as I’ve mentioned a few times, $179.95 / £169 just feels far too expensive for a pair of open-ear headphones. Even though I still think that open-ear is the way to go if you’re an avid runner, or hoping to get into running, they’re just not great options for any other setting. This hasn’t been too much of an issue in the past thanks to cheaper pricing, but with this increase the Shokz OpenFit 2 are encroaching on the space typically held by more premium earbuds.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, the more premium version of these earbuds, the Shokz OpenFit 2 Plus, are only £10 more expensive but for that minimal amount you get wireless charging and Dolby Atmos compatibility which begs the question – why on earth would you opt for the regular OpenFit 2 when the OpenFit 2 Plus are almost the same price? I don’t know if this is an intentional tactic from Shokz to get people to upgrade to the pricier pick, but the result is that it undermines the OpenFit 2’s position on the market.
Value score: 3 / 5
(Image credit: Future)
Shokz OpenFit 2: Scorecard
Attributes
Notes
Rating
Features
Battery life is fantastic and there are tons of EQ options to play with.
4 / 5
Sound quality
Great within its category but it’ll never outdo in-ear headphones.
4 / 5
Design
Comfortable to wear and easier to use thanks to physical controls.
5 / 5
Value
A price increase and a similarly priced upgrade hurt these earbuds.
3 / 5
Should I buy the Shokz OpenFit 2?
Buy them if...
You’re an avid runner These are still some of the best earbuds you can buy for running, so if you regularly hit the track then you’ll love the spatial awareness and sound quality these provide.
You need all-day earbuds for the office With outstanding battery life, the OpenFit 2 are handy for the office as it means colleagues can still get your attention while you listen to music.
Don't buy them if...
You’re tied to a strict budget If you can’t afford both a pair of open-ear headphones and standard in-ear headphones, then the latter can provide better value overall.
You want wireless charging Given that wireless charging is available for just £10 more on the OpenFit 2 Plus, I don’t know why you wouldn’t make the upgrade for more versatile charging.
Also consider
Shokz OpenFit While the sound quality isn’t up to the same standard, these predecessors are still much cheaper and crucially provide the spatial awareness that runners are after. Read our full Shokz OpenFit review
Shokz OpenRun
These open-ear headphones are a much cheaper alternative from the same company, plus they’re incredibly quick to charge between runs. Read our full Shokz OpenRun review
(Image credit: Future)
How I tested
Tested for two weeks
Used in indoor and outdoor scenarios
Connected to both iPhone and Android handsets
For testing, I wore the Shokz OpenFit 2 over the course of two weeks. I began my initial tests by taking the earbuds with me for a run at a local park with slight elevation, to get an idea of how well they could stay in place.
I also took the earbuds with me on a trip to Central London, listening to music and podcasts against the backdrop of a commuter train, passing cars and conversations, as well as the occasional spot of roadworks.
Ballerina is a real litmus-test moment for the John Wick universe.
The Continental, the franchise's first TV project, was a risky prequel series that lacked Keanu Reeves' star power and, by proxy, indicated that Lionsgate's billion dollar-spinning enterprise couldn't flourish without Reeves' iconic hitman being front and center in its various productions.
Ballerina appears to suggest otherwise. The fifth film in the series – and the first that doesn't feature Reeves as its lead – is a typically thrilling franchise entry that shows 'The World of Wick' could have a bright future without Reeves at the helm. Well, that is as long as future Wick-Verse movies and shows don't fall into the same hackneyed traps that Ballerina occasionally does.
When you think of me, you should think of fire
Ana de Armas stars as Eve Macarro, a Ruska Roma assassin who goes rogue to avenge her father's death (Image credit: Lionsgate)
The child of an assassin who was gunned down for apparently betraying the criminal organization he was a member of, the orphaned Eve is taken in by the Ruska Roma, the crime syndicate that also raised and trained Wick.
It's easy to draw comparisons between Ballerina and the first John Wick movie
Years later, the now-adult Eve carries out covert missions for the Ruska Roma. However, when she realizes her latest target has ties to the enigmatic gang that murdered her father, Eve ignores the orders of her surrogate family's matriarch in The Director (Angelica Huston) to let things lie. Cue Eve going rogue as she embarks on a one-woman quest to track down her father's killers and seek vengeance.
Eve enlists the help of The Continental New York's manager Winston (Ian McShane) to find her father's killers (Image credit: Lionsgate)
With its classic tale-of-revenge format, it's easy to draw comparisons between Ballerina – or, to type out its full title, From the World of John Wick: Ballerina – and the first John Wick movie.
Sure, there are subtle differences between their plots. 2014's John Wick sees Reeves' retired hitman punish those who stole his beloved Mustang and killed the puppy that his deceased wife posthumously gifted Wick to help him through the process of grieving her loss.
Here, Eve seeks retribution for her dad's murder, and in the process she unearths some big secrets about her past that, as plot twists go, are so derivative I spotted them from the get-go. Those narrative distinctions aside, though, the basic plot structure and themes explored in both films are the same, which is why parallels will inevitably be drawn between them.
Watching Eve's competency in the field improve... makes for pleasant viewing
That said, the narrative disparity between this duo is felt most keenly in how Ballerina sets up its tale. Act one is an origin story in all but name, with the film's first 45 minutes establishing Eve's backstory and events that led to her joining the Ruska Roma before transitioning to the modern day. In that sense, Ballerina's opening act isn't unlike that of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, whose five-act plot plays out in a similar manner.
Interesting as it to witness Eve's transition from traumatized child to skilled assassin, Ballerina's first act feels drawn out. For a movie that clocks in at two hours, the fact that it takes 45 minutes to get to the meat of the story is a disproportionate amount of time to spend on narrative set-up. Sure, it's fun to see Eve's competency in the field improve – she makes plenty of mistakes along the way, mind you – as the first act progresses, but Ballerina could've reached its critical storytelling juncture far earlier than it does.
Enemy of my enemy
Daniel, a mysterious individual played by Norman Reedus, is tracked down by Eve (Image credit: Lionsgate)
Once its actual story gets going, Ballerina becomes an exercise in hasty plot exposition and world-building, and typically breathless and violent action.
Ballerina further embellishes the seedy nature of this fictional world
Where the former is concerned, Ballerina's intriguing expansion of the John Wick universe further proves that it's not just a world where assassin guilds are commonplace.
Previous Wick-Verse films have tentatively spotlighted other criminal gangs that inhabit this franchise. However, Ballerina, which shouldn't be called a John Wick spin-off, according to director Len Wiseman, confidently embellishes the seedy, complicated nature of this fictional world by revealing that the High Table isn't the sole establishment that governs the criminal underworld's various factions. Spoilers notwithstanding, I'm eager to see how future films and TV shows will expand on the splinter organizations introduced in this movie and establish others with their own mythos.
Ballerina's action sequences are as fantastical, violent, and over the top as you'd expect (Image credit: Lionsgate)
As for its physically demanding set-pieces, Ballerina's will draw "oohs" and the odd expletive-laden comment from audiences. Like John Wick, Eve is a quick-thinker who uses everyday items to gain the upper hand in combat and take out the foes she faces in her big-screen debut. The flamethrower-centric action sequence, which featured heavily in Ballerina's official trailer, is likely to be many viewers' most-loved set-piece in this film, but separate fights involving a stack of plates and a pair of ice skates were my particular favorites.
Entertained as I was by Ballerina's action, some moments felt a little amateurish. Indeed, there are a couple of set-pieces in act two where there's a notable delay between actors – or their stunt doubles – taking hits and reacting to said body blows, which temporarily pulled me out of the moment. They're not the worst situations I've seen in an action thriller flick, but they reduce the believability of the duels on show.
Rules and consequences
Yeah, we're thinking he's back (Image credit: Lionsgate)
Those occasional moments may be missteps, but the manner in which Ballerina handles Wick's small but significant appearance isn't.
Fans have known that Reeves' legendary gun-for-hire would turn up since Ballerina's first trailer was released last September. Thankfully, his role in proceedings – I didn't time it, but I'd say Reeves' screentime is around 10 minutes – is not only a natural fit for the story Ballerina tells, but also ensures Reeves doesn't upstage de Armas in her own movie.
Don't worry, though, Wick fans, he gets his own incredibly satisfying action sequence – one that takes place after the suspense-filled confrontation he has with Eve –that'll satiate your desire to see him take names and kick ass.
Angelica Huston's The Director gets a semblance of character development in Ballerina (Image credit: Lionsgate)
The supplemental appearance from Reeves' beloved hitman aside, if I had to be hyper-critical of Ballerina, it doesn't do much with the rest of its starry ensemble.
Norman Reedus' Daniel... is criminally underused
Yes, Huston's The Director earns more screentime here than she has in prior John Wick films. Ian McShane's Winston and the late Lance Reddick's Charon earn their stripes in their respective minor and cameo roles, too. Given Ballerina's sharper focus on the Ruska Roma, plus Winston's active role in shaping Eve's life, though, I expected them to feature more than they did.
The same goes for Norman Reedus' Daniel, a mysterious individual with ties to those who killed Eve's father who, aside from inadvertently complicating Eve's quest for revenge, is criminally underused. ConsideringBallerina's release was delayed so additional photography could take place to include scenes that were initially removed from the script, I'm baffled over the lack of airtime afforded to Reedus and some of his contemporaries.
My verdict
Ballerina is an entertaining, largely self-contained story whose typically high-octane nature will appease John Wick devotees and offers a soft narrative reset that makes it accessible to franchise newcomers. With de Armas' likable badass at the helm, it's an entry that could spawn its own film series within the wider John Wick universe, and it's one I certainly think is worth exploring.
That said, Lionsgate and Wick's chief creative team can't rely on the shock value of its violence, nor copy and paste its revenge tale formula into stories starring other characters, forever. Whether it's the very-early-in-development John Wick Chapter 5, the forthcoming flick starring Donnie Yen's Cain, or the franchise's anime-style TV show, fans will demand something far more creative or fresh in the future.
If Ballerina is popular and financially successful to warrant a sequel, and if said follow-up cracks the originality code, we could look back on this de Armas-fronted film as the one that proved the Wick-Verse is in safe hands without Reeves steering the ship. Fail to do so and, to paraphrase Marvel anti-hero Wade Wilson from Deadpool and Wolverine: "Lionsgate will make Reeves do this until he's 90!".
From the World of John Wick: Ballerina opens in theaters worldwide on Friday, June 6.
Microsoft Surface Pro 12 (2025): Two-minute review
The new Microsoft Surface Pro 12 (2025) comes at an interesting time for the Surface family of devices. Once upon a time, Surface products were pitched as flagship devices that were showcases for the latest and greatest Windows features, while also allowing Microsoft to directly compete with its arch nemesis Apple and its MacBook and iPad devices.
Surface devices were also often quite innovative, with unusual form factors that would again be used to showcase various Windows features, and they were championed by Panos Paney, an enthusiastic spokesperson for Surface devices. This meant that despite Surface devices never gaining the kind of mainstream success that Apple’s devices enjoyed, it was always interesting to see what new products the Surface team were working on.
But times change. Panay left for Amazon, and a lot of the enthusiasm and excitement about Surface devices seemed to leave Microsoft with him. The company simplified the Surface lineup, dropping some of the more experimental models, and focused more on commercial customers. The Surface Pro 12 (2025) is seemingly out to prove that Microsoft hasn’t abandoned its consumers, nor has it forgotten about its Surface lineup – I just worry if it’s a case of too little, too late.
(Image credit: Future)
The trimming down of the Surface product line means there’s going to be no more Surface Go devices (I asked Microsoft about this directly), which were affordable versions of the usual premium Surface devices. While I appreciated the aim of Surface Go devices – it’s always nice to see a company make more affordable versions of its expensive devices – they never quite hit the mark in my view, with a few too many compromises being made to lower the price at the expense of performance.
Thankfully, that doesn’t mean that people on a budget won’t be able to afford a Surface device, as the base model of the new Surface Pro 12-inch (2025) is now considered the entry level model. Starting at $799.99 / £799 / AU$1,499, it is now the cheapest Surface Pro model, and is a fair bit less expensive than last year’s Surface Pro 11, which started at $999.99 /£1,049.99 / AU$1,899.99.
It’s also a lot less expensive than its biggest competitor, the iPad Pro 13-inch (2024), which launched at a rather staggering $1,299 / £1,299 / $2,199.
While at first glance this seems like a great deal – a newer model for a lot less than the previous model – there are a number of differences between the Surface Pro 12 and Surface Pro 11 that show that Microsoft has still made certain sacrifices to lower the price of the new model. I certainly wouldn’t think of it as an upgrade, rather a more affordable alternative to last year’s model. That’s not a bad thing, of course, but it’s worth pointing out so you know what you’re getting if you buy the new Surface Pro 12 (2025).
Let’s start with the screen: rather confusingly, the number in the Surface Pro 11’s name refers to the fact that it is the 11th edition of the Surface Pro.
Meanwhile, the Surface Pro 12 is named after its screen-size. So, the Surface Pro 11 actually has a larger screen – and a higher resolution as well.
The Surface Pro 12 comes with a 12-inch screen with a 2196 x 1464 resolution and refresh rate of up to 90Hz. The Surface Pro 11, meanwhile, comes with a 13-inch screen with a 2880 x 1920 resolution and up to 120Hz refresh rate. It can also be configured to come with an OLED panel.
Other changes are that the Surface Pro 12 comes with just one memory configuration: 16GB, whereas last year’s model can be configured up to 32GB. The Surface Pro 12 comes with a single processor choice – the Arm-based, eight-core Snapdragon X Plus, a more affordable, yet less powerful, version of the 10-core X Plus that comes in the Surface Pro 11. That model can also be configured with the even more powerful 12-core Snapdragon X Elite chip.
The Surface Pro 12 also drops support for 5G data connections (though it still features cutting-edge Wi-Fi 7 technology), and the two USB-C ports in this model are USB 3.2, rather than the faster USB4 connections in last year's model.
These are quite substantial differences, and while some people might consider them a downgrade compared to the Surface Pro 11, it’s important to note that Microsoft continues to sell that model alongside the Surface Pro 12, so if you’re looking for a flagship experience, you’ll want the (slightly) older model. This could, of course, confuse people who assume the latest model is also the most powerful, or that the only difference between them are the screen sizes. But, you know: Microsoft and confusing product names – name a more iconic duo.
As with previous Surface Pro devices, the Surface Pro 12 is a Windows 11 tablet, and Microsoft is one of the few companies continuing to release them. The dominance of iPads running iPadOS and Android tablets has seemingly turned off many manufacturers from making Windows tablets.
In a way that’s a shame, as while Windows 11 isn’t an operating system primarily designed for touchscreen devices, unlike iPadOS or Android, the touchscreen experience has come a long way, and you can comfortably find your way around Windows 11 and run most tasks and actions via the touchscreen thanks to large, easy-to-hit, icons and buttons. However, there are still times when Windows 11’s origins as an operating system designed for desktop PCs are apparent, such as when a menu or dialogue box appears that feels clumsy when prodded by a finger and requires a mouse and keyboard for the best experience.
(Image credit: Future)
On the other hand, by running Windows 11, you can install full desktop versions of applications, such as Microsoft Word or Adobe Photoshop, rather than the more limited tablet apps. This is the one area I feel Microsoft has the advantage over Apple’s iPad Pro, which, despite featuring the powerful M4 chip found in the best MacBooks and Macs, still uses iPadOS, which means it’s limited to the same basic apps that the iPad mini and iPad Air can run. This makes it feel like a lot of that power is wasted, and it’s something that the Surface Pro 12 avoids by being able to run almost any full desktop program. Plus, the Surface Pro 12 (2025) is nowhere near as powerful, or as expensive, as the iPad Pro, meaning you won’t be quite as concerned about paying for performance you’re not using.
I say ‘almost’ every Windows 11 app because it’s important to note that the Surface Pro 12 uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus chip, which is based on Arm architecture. Without getting too caught up in the weeds of tech mumbo-jumbo, in the past most consumer laptops and PCs used x86-based chips, primarily from Intel and AMD, and that meant that the majority of Windows applications were coded for x86 hardware, so Windows devices using Arm hardware couldn’t run them – instead you had to hope that the app makers would take the time to make an Arm-compatible version, and because sales of Windows on Arm hardware was so small compared to x86, very few developers thought it was worth doing.
Thankfully that’s changed a lot, mainly because the recent generation of Windows 11 laptops using Arm hardware (specifically the Snapdragon X), pushed by Microsoft’s Copilot+ PC branding, have been very popular (and deservedly so, just check out our Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 review and Dell XPS 13 (2024) review for two recent examples of why Snapdragon X laptops are so good).
Microsoft has also released its Prism tool, which is essentially an emulator that allows x86 apps to run on Arm hardware with minimal impact to performance. This, combined with a growing library of native Arm apps for Windows 11 means that most of your favorite apps will run on the Surface Pro 12 – though there might still be cases where an app you often use can’t run.
The Surface Pro 12 (2025) can also be fitted with the Surface Pro 12-inch Keyboard, which offers a tactile, comfortable-to-use, full-size keyboard and trackpad, while also doubling as a protective cover for the screen. This turns the Surface Pro 12 into a 2-in-1 device that can be used as both a tablet and a keyboard, and for pretty much any task where you need to write reams of text, it’s an essential add-on.
Sadly, you have to buy it separately, which adds a further $149.99 / £149.99 / AU$274.95 – a not insubstantial extra expense that I feel most people will need to pay for to get the most out of the Surface Pro 12.
The Surface Pro 12-inch Keyboard snaps on easily thanks to a proprietary magnetic connection, but because of the new screen size, it means you can’t use keyboards from older Surface devices. You can, at least, use a standard Bluetooth or wired keyboard, but that means you miss out on the portability.
Where can you get it? You can get it in the US, UK, and Australia
With the affordable Surface Go lineup seemingly chucked in the trash, the Surface Pro 12 (2025) is now the most affordable way to get a new Surface Pro, with a starting price of $799.99 / £799 / AU$1,499, which is a fair bit cheaper than 2024’s Surface Pro 11 which starts at $999.99 /£1,049.99 / AU$1,899.99. Microsoft is continuing to sell the Surface Pro 11 alongside the Surface Pro 12, pitching the older model as the premium, flagship device, while the Surface Pro 12 takes the place of the Surface Go as the entry-level.
For that starting price, you get a Snapdragon X Plus 8-core CPU, 16GB RAM, and 256GB of storage. You can also configure it to come with 512GB of SSD storage for an extra $100 / £100 / AU$200. Apart from that, you’re unable to configure any other aspect of the hardware, though you can choose different colors (more of that in a moment).
The starting price is certainly competitive, especially considering the iPad Pro 13-inch starts at $1,299 / £1,299 / $2,199. Meanwhile, the latest iPad Air 13-inch starts at a similar $799 / £799 / AU$1,299 price, but comes with less storage and memory, and lacks Wi-Fi 7 support.
As a reasonably powerful tablet, then, the price is very good, though there are budget Android tablets out there for a lot less.
What’s not included in the price is a wall charger. The Surface Pro 12 no longer uses the proprietary Surface Connect port to charge – instead, any USB-C charger will work, so the lack of an included charger probably won’t be a huge deal for a lot of people, and at least helps keep the price down and reduce waste. If you need a charger, then you can buy an official one for $69.99 / £49.99 / AU$89.95, but because any USB-C power supply above 27W will work, there are plenty of cheaper options.
However, to get the most out of the Surface Pro 12 (and Windows 11, the operating system it runs), you’ll need the Surface Pro 12-inch Keyboard, which turns it into a 2-in-1 device that can be used as either a tablet or a laptop.
The Surface Pro 12-inch Keyboard is sold separately and will set you back $149.99 / £149.99 / AU$274.95, so unless you just want to use the Surface Pro 12 as a tablet, you should factor that into the price.
You can also get the 12-inch Keyboard with the Slim Pen stylus in a bundle for $249.99 / £249.99 / $454.95.
In the US and Australia, you can also buy the Surface Slim Pen on its own for $129.99 / AU$229.5. While the stylus is less essential to the overall experience, this does show that from the reasonable starting price, the Surface Pro 12 can quickly jump in cost when you start configuring it.
Value: 4 / 5
Microsoft Surface Pro 12: Specs
Microsoft Surface Pro 12 (base model)
Microsoft Surface Pro 12 (highest specs)
Microsoft Surface Pro 11
Price
$799.99 / £799 / AU$1,499
$899.99 / £899.99 / AU$1,699
Starting at $999.99 /£1,049.99 / AU$1,899.99
CPU
8-core Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus
8-core Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus
10-core Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus
GPU
Qualcomm Adreno
Qualcomm Adreno
Qualcomm Adreno
NPU
Qualcomm Hexagon (45 TOPS)
Qualcomm Hexagon (45 TOPS)
Qualcomm Hexagon (45 TOPS)
RAM
16GB
16GB
16GB
Storage
256GB
512GB
256GB, 512GB
Display
12 inches LCD (2196 x 1464)
12 inches LCD (2196 x 1464)
13 inches LCD (2880 x 1920)
Ports
2x USB-C (3.2)
2x USB-C (3.2)
2x Thunderbolt 4
Connectivity
Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4
Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4
Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4
Size
10.8 x 7.47 x 0.30 ins | 274 x 190 x 7.8mm
10.8 x 7.47 x 0.30 ins | 274 x 190 x 7.8mm
11.3 x 8.2 x 0.37 ins | 287 x 209 x 9.3mm
Weight
1.5 lbs | 686g
1.5 lbs | 686g
1.97 lbs | 895g
Microsoft Surface Pro 12 (2025): Design
(Image credit: Future)
New screen size
Thinnest Copilot+ PC
New color options
If you’ve ever seen a Surface Pro device in the wild, then you’ll pretty much know what to expect with the Surface Pro 12 (2025). On its own it looks like a pretty standard tablet, though I have to say that the thick bezels around the screen does make it feel a little outdated compared to some of its rivals (and even the older Surface Pro 11 has thinner bezels on two of the sides of the screen).
As with previous models, the back has an embossed Windows logo, and the bottom half can be pulled out to make a kick stand, a nice feature that the likes of the iPad don’t have. In the center of the bottom side, there’s also a magnetic port that you use to affix the Surface Pro 12-inch Keyboard to – though if you have an existing Surface Keyboard or Type Cover it won’t work due to the new size.
There are some subtle – and mostly welcome – changes introduced to the design of the Surface Pro 12, however. The proprietary Surface Connect port has been ditched – thankfully – and instead you charge the Surface Pro 12 (2025) via one of the two USB-C ports. While this change has been mainly introduced to comply with a European Union (EU) directive that states that all new electronic devices sold in the EU must support USB-C charging, it’s a positive one for consumers I feel, and does mean that for many of us that already have plenty of USB-C chargers we’re not getting yet another charger that will just be wasted.
(Image credit: Future)
Because of the new, smaller, screen, the Surface Pro 12 feels more comfortable to hold in the hand than the larger 13-inch Surface Pro from 2024 (I have both). The Surface Pro 12’s dimensions of 10.8 x 7.47 x 0.30 inches (274mm x 190mm x 7.8mm) are noticeably more compact than the Surface Pro 11’s dimensions of 11.3 x 8.2 x 0.37 inches (287mm x 208.6mm x 9.3mm), and the weight difference (1.5 pounds (686g) for the Surface Pro 12 vs 1.97 pounds (0.89kg) for the Pro 11) means if portability is a priority for you (and if you’re planning on using it as a tablet, then it should be), the Surface Pro 12 could, on paper, be the device to get.
However, it’s not just the screensize that’s different, and you should be aware of some of the changes Microsoft has made to keep the price of the Surface Pro 12 down.
For a start, there’s no OLED model, and the refresh rate is capped at 90Hz (rather than 120Hz of the Surface Pro 11).
The Surface Pro 12 also has a lower resolution of 2196 x 1464 vs 2880 x 1920 of the Pro 11, and that also means a lower pixel density of 220 PPI (pixels per inch) compared to the 267 PPI of the Pro 11. This means the image quality isn’t as sharp on the Pro 12.
The Surface Pro 12 also lacks the easily accessed NVMe port of the Surface Pro 11, which was located on the older model behind the kickstand, and was a nice addition that allowed you to quickly upgrade the storage space of the Pro 11.
(Image credit: Future)
On the back of the Surface Pro 12 is a new indent which is where you magnetically attach the Slim Pen stylus (sold separately). Microsoft sent me one to review along with the Surface Pro 12, and I was impressed with how secure the Slim Pen felt when it was magnetically attached – I certainly didn’t worry that the stylus would drop off the tablet.
The Slim Pen also wirelessly charges when attached, which is a nice touch. Despite the indent, however, having the Slim Pen attached does mean that the Surface Pro 12 doesn’t sit flush when placed back-down on a table or desk.
(Image credit: Future)
Connecting the Surface Pro 12-inch Keyboard (also sold separately, and supplied by Microsoft for this review) is also quick and easy thanks to a magnetic connection. It adds a bit more weight and bulk, but when closed will protect the screen. It also allows you to use the Surface Pro 12 as a laptop-like device, and I think it’s worth getting. You’ll need to use the kickstand to support the Surface Pro 12 when it’s used as a screen, which isn’t the most comfortable if you’re using it on your lap, but it does work. However, you can’t really adjust the angle of the screen, unlike Apple’s Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro.
The Surface Pro 12’s USB-C ports are also limited to USB 3.2, rather than USB4, which is supported by the Surface Pro 11. You’ll still be able to plug in the same peripherals, but data transfer will be slower.
(Image credit: Future)
A more positive design tweak are the two new color schemes, Violet and Ocean, along with the same Platinum color that previous Surface Pros came in. I’ve seen the new Surface Laptop in Violet, and it looks lovely. However, the base model of the new Surface Pro, which I have, only comes in Platinum – you’ll need to pay extra for more storage if you want the Surface Pro 12 in either Violet or Ocean.
Overall, the design of the Surface Pro 12 is solid, though not that excited, especially if you get it in Platinum. Compared to the iPad Air (2025), which has a weight of 460g and dimensions of 247.6mm x 178.5mm x 6.1mm for the 11-inch model, it feels chunkier and cheaper than Apple’s tablet. If you’re used to iPad tablets, you will likely much prefer Appe’s design. The compromises to screen quality and USB speeds with the Surface Pro 12 are also a shame.
Design: 3.5 / 5
Microsoft Surface Pro 12 (2025): Performance
(Image credit: Future)
Good for general use
16GB RAM helps with multitasking
AI features remain pointless
Benchmarks
These are the results of our benchmarking tests for the Microsoft Surface Pro 12 (2025):
Microsoft might argue that the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus chip within the Surface Pro 12 is the most exciting component, and I’d agree, but likely not for the same reason.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus is an Arm-based chip (similar to the M4 chip in the MacBook), with a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) of 45 Trillion Operations per Second (TOPS) – an essential specification for it to be called a ‘Copilot+ PC’, which is Microsoft’s catch-all term for Windows 11 laptops that come with NPUs that can handle on-device AI tasks.
You might have noticed that a lot of companies are shoving AI into their products, and Microsoft is arguably one of the most ambitious. Like it or not, AI tools are now tightly integrated into Windows 11, and there’s no sign of that slowing down, with Microsoft’s Copilot AI tool becoming a fundamental part of the operating system, even getting its own dedicated key on the keyboard.
Of course, if you don’t have a Copilot+ PC you can still use Copilot – the key difference is that thanks to the NPU, you can use Copilot and other AI tools locally on the Surface Pro 12 itself, rather than relying on an internet connection and cloud-based AI tools.
The benefits are that you can work offline with these tools, and as all the data you provide the AI with is stored locally, there should be no danger of your data being shared with third parties or used to train AI models. This is good if you’re using AI tools with personal and private information, but less so if you’re just messing around with turning scribbles into AI-generated images in Paint.
Speaking of which, doing that is OK on the Surface Pro 12. Asking Paint to generate an image based on a photo I loaded took about 20 seconds, and the results were… well, what you’d expect from AI-generated art these days. Fine, and initially impressive, but not much more than a brief diversion, as the ‘art’ it produces comes with familiar tell-tale signs that it’s been made by AI. It’s likely a tool you’ll try once and then forget about it.
(Image credit: Future)
The Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus’ NPU also gives you access to some exclusive Windows 11 features, namely Click To Do. This feature, which is still in ‘preview’, so not the finished article, is pitched by Microsoft as a way to do things more quickly and easily in Windows 11 with the help of AI.
By holding down the Windows key on the keyboard, you’ll see the mouse cursor turn into a white dot. Clicking on something (or tapping using the Surface Pro 12 screen) will give the screen a blue tint to show that Click To Do is enabled. If you only have the Surface Pro 12 and no keyboard, you can also bring this up quickly by swiping from the right-hand side of the screen.
Click To Do should then intelligently offer up some quick actions supposedly based on what it sees on your screen, such as opening an image in the Photos app and removing the background.
In theory, this could save some time, though to be honest, right-clicking a document and choosing what app to open it in covers a lot of that, is much faster, and doesn’t require a Copilot+ PC.
In practice, however, the feature seems pretty useless. I used Click To Do with my Pictures folder open, then clicked on a photo, then selected Remove background with Paint, thinking that this would open the photo in Paint and remove the background. Instead, it opened the thumbnail preview of the image (which is tiny and pixellated) and removed the background.
Thinking maybe it was Paint’s fault, I did it again, but this time selected Blur background with Photos. This opened up the Photos app, but again, it was just the thumbnail; it didn’t actually open the file.
So what Click To Do is really doing is taking a screenshot of whatever is open, and all you can really do is interact with the screenshot, not the actual files. Maybe I got the wrong end of the stick, but it felt like Click To Do was promising something quite complex, but in reality, it was just basic and of no use.
I tried it with a web browser open and some Bing (of course) search results. Click To Do offered to copy text to Notepad. A bit pointless, but I gave it a go, and it pasted a single line of unintelligible nonsense. Sure, Click To Do is supposedly still in ‘preview’, but it’s in no fit state at the moment, and as a key selling point of Copilot+ PCs like the Surface Pro 12, it’s embarrassing.
(Image credit: Future)
Recall, another feature touted as a key selling point for Copilot+ PCs, is in a similar preview state. I’ve gone over the controversies of this plenty of times before but the general thrust of this feature is that it runs in the background and takes constant screenshots that you can then scroll back through and search for things.
Recall was supposed to launch with the initial wave of Copilot+ PCs, but a big backlash amidst privacy and security concerns kept Microsoft from rolling it out. Now it’s here (albeit in preview form), and most of my privacy concerns have been alleviated. First, unusually for Microsoft, you have to turn on this feature yourself; it’s not turned on by default (as it was initially). All the images and data are stored locally, and thanks to the NPU, all AI tasks are done on the Surface Pro 12 itself.
Recall, and the data it collects, can also only be accessed by the user when logged in, and needs to have advanced Windows Hello biometric security enabled.
While the security aspect seems improved, if not completely perfect, my other big concern about just how useful Recall will prove to be remains. On the Surface Pro 12, it can feel a bit sluggish, and it even crashed once, and the results were mixed. It did find screenshots containing search results I’d asked for reasonably well, but once it brings up the screenshots, you’re a bit limited to what you can do – a lot like Click To Do, you can’t click on a file or folder to open it up, though to be fair it does allow you to open the folder location in Windows Explorer.
But it just doesn’t seem that useful, and because you now have to turn it on yourself, and considering the performance and storage impact Recall has when taking all these screenshots, Microsoft needs to really make Recall worth using – and so far it hasn’t.
(Image credit: Future)
On a (much) more positive note, the general performance of the Surface Pro 12 (2025) is good. Even demanding apps like Photoshop installed and launched without issue, and because you’re able to run Windows 11 applications, it makes the Surface Pro 12 (2025) a much better tool, in my mind, than the iPad Pro, which despite all its power is limited to iPadOS apps, which are more basic.
Having multiple desktop apps open at once and switching between them was fine, though if you are going to be mainly using standard Windows 11 apps, you’ll need to invest in the Surface Pro 12-inch Keyboard, frankly, as these apps can be fiddly if you’re just using the touchscreen to control them. I did notice, however, that trying to perform too many tasks at once can make the performance of the Surface Pro 12-inch lag, with the occasional app crash. Nothing too out of the ordinary if you’re used to Windows 11, but it means there’s not the slick experience you might expect from an iPad.
Logging into the Surface Pro 12 is handled by the Windows Hello biometric tool, which uses the built-in webcams of the tablet to recognise your face. I found it worked reliably in a range of different lighting conditions, and meant logging in was both quick and secure. If Windows Hello can’t detect you, you can use a PIN or password to log in.
The front-facing webcam does a decent job, though at 1080p, it’s not as sharp or detailed as the 1440p webcam on last year’s model. As the Surface Pro 12 is a Copilot+ PC, you can use the Windows Studio effects tool to tweak the webcam’s footage live. Using AI and the NPU of the Snapdragon chip, you can blur the background, or add creative filters that make you look like a cell-shaded animation, watercolor painting, and automatically center yourself in frame.
(Image credit: Future)
These work fine, but they are nothing we haven’t seen before, and the background blur feature seemed less effective as other background blurring features I’ve tried, such as when using Google Meet, with noticeable gaps in the blur where the clear background could be seen.
One feature I did like was Eye Contact, which uses AI to make it seem like you’re looking directly at the screen. As with a lot of devices, the webcam of the Surface Pro 12 is either at the top, bottom or side of the screen, depending on the orientation, and this can result in video calls where it appears like you’re looking away (as you’re usually focusing on the screen). With this feature, it does a good job of adjusting your eyes so they are looking directly at the person you’re talking to.
It sounds a bit creepy, but it does make video calls (or just taking selfies) feel more natural, and the feature does a good job of matching your eye color. When I first tried this feature a while ago, it felt fake, with a definite element of ‘uncanny valley’ where you can tell something isn’t quite right, but it seems the feature has been improved a lot.
The rear camera is Ultra HD, though the photos I took with it weren’t particularly impressive, with quite a bit of noticeable noise in darker conditions. While taking photos, the Camera app became unresponsive, which means I could not adjust the focus; instead, I had to wait a few seconds. This also means that some photos I thought I had taken hadn’t actually been saved, so I wouldn’t recommend depending on the Surface Pro 12 to take once-in-a-lifetime photos – you’d be much safer sticking to your smartphone.
Throughout my time with the Surface Pro 12, I appreciated how silent it was. Like Apple’s M-series chips in modern MacBook Air laptops, the Snapdragon X Plus is efficient enough that the Surface Pro 12 it powers doesn’t need internal fans to keep it cool, so you don’t get any distracting and annoying fan noise when the tablet is working hard. However, with the occasional hangs that I experienced using Windows 11 on the Surface Pro 12, trading silence for a more reliable experience (as cooling the components could improve performance) might have been one compromise I’d have liked.
Performance: 3 / 5
Microsoft Surface Pro 12: Battery life
Microsoft promises 16 hours of local video playback
Lower refresh rate of screen helps give battery life a boost
Almost 18 hours in our battery tests
A common frustration I have with Copilot+ PC devices running on Arm hardware is that the marketing material often focuses solely on AI features and capabilities, but they are the least interesting thing about products like the Surface Pro 12.
Thanks to the power efficiency of the latest Snapdragon X chips, battery lives of these Copilot+ PC devices are impressively long, and considering that battery life is one of the most important considerations people have when buying a new laptop (it is for me, anyway), it's a shame that this aspect is often glossed over.
The Surface Pro 12 continues this theme, with a battery that lasted an excellent 17 hours and 49 minutes in my battery life benchmark test, which involved playing a looped HD video until the battery died.
While this isn't the longest battery life I've seen with a Copilot+ PC, it's great that we seem to be in an era where battery lives for Windows 11 devices that are near 20 hours are increasingly common (though even the best gaming laptops won't get anywhere near that). You'll certainly be able to bring it on long international flights to work and watch films on, and have plenty of battery left.
Most importantly, it means you can go several work days on a single charge in most cases, since you likely won't be using it for 18 hours straight, making it a great choice for people looking for a thin and light device to work on.
(Image credit: Future)
Battery Life: 5 / 5
Should you buy the Microsoft Surface Pro 12 (2025)?
Microsoft Surface Pro 12 (2025) report card
Remarks
Score
Value
The starting price of the Surface Pro 12 is excellent, though you'll need to pay extra for the keyboard cover.
4 / 5
Design
A slick, if uninspiring, design that's thin and light. Shame about the thick bezels around the screen, though.
3.5 / 5
Performance
Windows 11 runs well for most tasks, and Arm support is improving. It does struggle with intensive use, however.
3 / 5
Battery Life
Almost 18 hours of battery on a single charge is excellent, and testament to the efficiency of the Arm chip powering this tablet.
5 / 5
Buy the Microsoft Surface Pro 12 if...
You want an easily portable Windows 11 device This 2-in-1 can seriously challenge the iPad Pro's claim to the title of best tablet computer.
You’re after a 2-in-1 device The Surface Pro 12 works well as a tablet, and with the addition of the Surface Pro 12-inch Keyboard (sold separately), it becomes a decent laptop-like device for more complex tasks.
You hate fan noise It’s a rare joy to use a Windows 11 device and not have the fans kicking in when you’re being too ambitious with your multitasking, but the Surface Pro 12’s fanless design shows it can be done.
Don't buy it if...
You feel like you’re missing out on AI features Given the hype, it’s understandable if you already have a Windows 11 laptop, but want a Copilot+ PC like the Surface Pro 12 for the extra AI features – but trust me, they aren’t worth upgrading for… yet.
You want a slick experience While running the full Windows 11 operating system is a big plus for productivity, it does mean the user experience, especially when the Surface Pro 12 is used exclusively as a tablet, is lacking.
You want the very best Surface Pro The Surface Pro 12 (2025) is the latest Surface Pro, but it’s not the most powerful one – that’ll be last year’s Surface Pro 11. Microsoft has made a lot of compromises to get the price of the new Surface Pro down, which is commendable, but it does limit the device’s potential.
Also consider
Apple iPad Air 11-inch (2025) The latest iPad Air impressed us with its M3-powered performance and overall slickness, and it's priced around the same as the Surface Pro 12 (2025). You're limited to mobile apps with the iPad Air, unlike the Surface Pro 12, but this does mean that the overall experience of using the iPad Air as a tablet is much smoother, thanks to the iPadOS operating system that's been built from the ground-up to support touchscreen controls.
Microsoft Surface Pro 11 The Microsoft Surface Pro 11 is slightly older than the Surface Pro 12, but comes with a larger, and nicer screen, faster USB ports and better webcam - though it does cost more. However, you should find it on sale more often, which could make it better value.
I ran our standard suite of Windows laptop benchmarks
I've been using the Surface Pro 11 daily to write articles (including some of this review), browse the web and make video calls. I switched between using it in tablet mode, and with the Surface Pro 12-inch Keyboard attached, turning it into a laptop-like device.
As well as using it for real-world tasks, I also ran TechRadar's standard suite of benchmark results. I've reviewed numerous iterations of Surface Pro devices, as well as competing tablets like the iPad Pro and some of the best laptops money can buy.
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.
When Motorola first started releasing its line of more affordable 'premium' Edge smartphones in 2020, it never could have expected that it'd be the last mobile brand to make truly eye-catching flagship phones.
That's not quite true, of course, but with expensive phones like the Samsung Galaxy S25, iPhone 16, and Xiaomi 15 all offering relatively boring designs that defy their hefty price tags, Moto is one of the few flagbearers whose top-end phones actually feel... well, top-end in 2025.
Moto has released a new generation of Edge phones each year since the debut of the Motorola Edge in 2020, and the Edge 60 Pro is the most advanced model of the current crop (at least until the next Ultra-branded model arrives). And thankfully, almost all of the previous models' selling points remain valid on the Edge 60 Pro.
Glancing at the phone's specs list, you might think it’s not an upgraded Edge 50 Pro, but rather a different ‘take' on it. And to a certain extent, that's true. The Edge 60 Pro and Edge 50 Pro are very similar phones, with the former bringing as many upgrades as downgrades. The newer model, for instance, has a bigger battery, a higher-res ultra-wide camera, and upgraded speakers, but those positives are counterbalanced by a lower screen refresh rate and slower charging (both wired and wireless).
Some users, then, might consider the Edge 60 Pro to be worse than, or equal to, its predecessor, but the proof is in the pudding, not on the specs sheet.
With the Edge 60 Pro, Motorola has rounded down some unnecessarily high features and balanced those perceived downgrades with upgrades that really matter. I don’t imagine many people need a 144Hz refresh display over 120Hz, for instance, or truly require the extra few minutes that 125W charging saves you over 90W.
The inclusion of Dolby Atmos speakers, meanwhile, tangibly improves the experience of watching movies and TV shows on the Edge 60 Pro, while the jump to another chipset provider results in a useful jump in power. The addition of reverse wired charging, too, is really useful if you're reliant on other gadgets.
These small-but-important improvements result in a phone that's strong in all areas, though not the best in any of them, and for the 99% of people who don't actually need the literal top specs available to them, that's okay.
The only exception comes in the camera department, which is still a weak point of the Edge series. A few annoying issues abound, but the real problem is that photos taken on the Edge 60 Pro are too devoid of color. They look lifeless and dull, as though the AI scene optimization shrugged and said, "I can't be bothered". The phone's camera performance doesn't compare to that of any top-end rivals.
That would be a bigger problem if the Edge 60 Pro were hampered by an extreme price tag, but it isn't. It undercuts pretty much all of the best Android phones by a decent margin, making it a borderline budget alternative that arguably feels fancier.
As sanded-down premium phones, Moto's Edge devices appeal to those who want to feel like they own a powerful phone but won't ever put that power to the test. Sure, the Edge 60 Pro won't win any benchmark battles, but in a year's time, when even the ultra-pricey Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra has been transformed into an ugly box, Motorola's latest flagship will at least look the part. It's one of the best Motorola phones you can buy today.
Motorola Edge 60 Pro review: price and availability
(Image credit: Future)
Released in April 2025
Phone sells for £599 (roughly $800, AU$1,250)
Price matches predecessor
The Motorola Edge 60 Pro was announced alongside a non-Pro version in April 2025, roughly a year on from the release of the previous series, albeit with a different selection of sibling suffixes.
You can pick up the phone for £599 (roughly $800, AU$1,250). Due to precedent, we don’t expect that Moto will release the Edge 60 Pro in the US, but an Australian announcement seems likely later this year, especially with the Edge 60 Fusion already selling in the country.
That price makes the Edge 60 Pro the most expensive non-folding smartphone sold by Motorola, but in the wider smartphone world, it’s on the border of mid-range and premium – which means it undercuts a lot of big-name flagship rivals. The Google Pixel 9, Samsung Galaxy S25, and iPhone 16 all cost more, while the supposedly budget-friendly iPhone 16e retails for the same price.
Motorola Edge 60 Pro review: specs
Motorola Edge 60 Pro specs
Dimensions:
160.69 x 73.06 x 8.24mm
Weight:
186g
Screen:
6.7-inch FHD (1220 x 2712) 120Hz AMOLED
Chipset:
Mediatek Dimensity 8350
RAM:
12GB
Storage:
512GB
OS:
Android 15
Primary camera:
50MP, f/1.8
Ultra-wide camera:
50MP f/2.0 120-degree
Telephoto camera:
10MP, f/2.0 2x optical
Front camera:
50MP, f/2.0
Audio:
Dolby Atmos stereo speakers
Battery:
6,000mAh
Charging:
90W wired, 15W wireless
Colors:
Dazzling Blue, Sparkling Grape, Shadow
Motorola Edge 60 Pro review: design
(Image credit: Future)
Premium curved-edge design
Thin and lightweight
Pantone-designed blue, khaki or purple
With companies like Samsung having seemingly jettisoned ‘attractive design’ from the list of important smartphone traits this year, I was worried that Motorola might abandon the Edge’s roots and follow suit. Fear not: the Motorola Edge 60 Pro is just as appealing as past entries (largely because it’s a dead ringer for past models).
To discuss the eye-catching part, we’ll have to start at the back: Moto typically offers these mobiles in a range of Pantone-designed hues, and it’s no different this time around. The model you see in the review images is Dazzling Blue, and there’s a greenish-khaki Shadow option too, but the real eye-catcher is Sparkling Grape, a vibrant and commanding purple. Unlike in some previous generations, Moto hasn’t included a literal color swatch on the back of the Edge 60 Pro, so you don’t feel like you’re texting on a walking paint advertisement.
Instead, the back features a slightly raised camera bump that’s incorporated well into the overall design; it's reminiscent of Oppo Find X phones before they became overdesigned. It doesn’t stick that far from the phone’s body, so you can put the handset flat on a surface without undue wobbling. The phone’s rear is also textured – slightly differently depending on the color option you pick – making it feel more premium than your average Android.
Moving to the sides reveals the Edge 60 Pro’s other premium feature: a curved-edge display (admittedly, the name does give it away). This means that the phone’s screen curves slightly at the edges to become incorporated seamlessly into the sides of the phone without ending at an abrupt angle. While curved edges are divisive, and admittedly are slightly frail and prone to accidental touches, they’re still considered a trait of premium mobiles. As a result, the Edge 60 Pro is much more comfortable to hold in the hand than your average flagship, and it just feels more advanced.
The edges of the phone also feature all the mandatory buttons, plus one extra one. The right edge has a power button – just about within thumb’s reach on my hand – and above it a volume rocker, which I had to stretch to use. But on the left side, high enough up that I couldn’t really reach it, is a new addition: the AI Key.
Pressing and holding this button brings up Motorola’s AI assistant, while double-pressing it either opens a note-taking function or quickly summarizes your notifications – all of these require a separate Motorola account. If you’ve no interest in AI features like this, you can turn them off in the settings menu.
Let’s briefly continue our tour around the Edge 60 Pro: the bottom edge has its USB-C charging port and the SIM card slot. There’s no 3.5mm jack for wired audio, like in past generations. And that's that in terms of design – except for the display, which we have a whole section about.
The total dimensions of the phone are 160.69 x 73.06 x 8.24mm, and it weighs 186g, so it’s on the lighter side of things.
Moto is also making a song and dance about the Edge 60 Pro’s protections. It has IP69 certification, indicating that it’s safe from dust ingress and high-pressure beams of water, plus the military MIL-STD-810H accreditation, which means it’s safe from shocks, high and low temperatures, high altitudes, and strong vibrations. We usually only see this kind of certification in rugged phones, but a growing number of consumer ones have them too – and it’s nice to know that your handset is protected from the unexpected.
Design score: 4 / 5
Motorola Edge 60 Pro review: display
(Image credit: Future)
6.7 inches, 2712 x 1220resolution
120Hz refresh rate and 4500-nit max brightness
Various filters and modes to tweak
The Motorola Edge 60 Pro’s screen is 6.7-inches diagonally, a size Edge fans will be used to, and that’s not the only spec that the 60 Pro has in common with its predecessors: the resolution is once again 2712 x 1220, or FHD+, and the 20:9 aspect ratio makes the screen feel long and thin.
We can’t knock Motorola for a lack of design upgrades year-on-year, but some tech fans might be upset that the refresh rate has seen a downgrade from the Edge 50 Pro: it’s now 120Hz. But that’s matched by a massive brightness increase, of over double, to a new high of 4500 nits: suffice to say this is a phone that’s easy to use when you’re outdoors in the sun.
The screen is broken up by a pretty minimal punch-hole cut-out for the front-facing camera at the top. It has an embedded fingerprint scanner which… worked when it wanted to, let’s put it that way.
Motorola has stuffed quite a few design features into the Edge 60 Pro's display, including support for HDR10+ and DCI-P3 color space. There are also filters to reduce the amount of blue light coming from the display, which may placate people who use blue light filters to help them sleep (despite the scientific evidence that your phone’s blue light doesn’t affect sleep).
Pantone also shows its face for some display tweakery, with Moto’s listing for the Edge 60 Pro also mentioning “Pantone Validated Colour” and “Pantone Skintone Validated”, which suggests the color company had a hand in optimizing the screen.
Good job, too, because the Edge 60 Pro is pleasant to look at while watching movies and playing games, with nice contrast and vibrant colors.
Display score: 4 / 5
Motorola Edge 60 Pro review: software
(Image credit: Future)
Android 15 with four years of updates
Customization options galore
Moto AI useful for small tasks, not big ones
The Motorola Edge 60 Pro comes with Android 15 as its default software. This is stock Android, ostensibly how Google designed it, but with every new generation, Moto adds more and more tweaks that make it feel distinct from Pixel or Nokia phones.
I’ve already discussed arguably the biggest software change – the AI key and Moto AI in general, which the brand seems to be presenting as something you’ll opt to use over Google Assistant for various tasks and needs.
Moto AI is at its best when you’re using it for little tasks around your phone: you can ask it to take notes, set an update reminder, or create a new background for your device. But like other AI chatbots like ChatGPT, if you start to ask it questions, it provides you with the usual factually inaccurate (and oftentimes totally irrelevant) gibberish that you love to mock.
Some of the features that Moto is touting most simply don’t make sense – unless you’ve received an absolute deluge of messages since you last checked your phone, it takes longer to use Moto AI’s notification summary tool than simply to check your messages. There’s also a function that creates a bespoke playlist based on your mood, but it only supports Amazon Music, so if you use Spotify or Tidal, you’re out of luck.
What's more, every time I used the AI Key, the pop-up appeared with my last search or command, which I’d need to backspace from before starting my new task. I found it pretty frustrating.
Beyond its AI, the Edge 60 Pro retains Moto’s suite of personalization features, from the big things like background, font, and color scheme to the shape of icons and the animation that appears when you use the fingerprint unlock.
You can now also generate wallpapers based on your own prompt or a photo from your gallery. I sent this feature a photo of a cat, and it returned some patterned decals that looked like a marbled chocolate cake. Thanks, but I think I’ll just use the photo of the cat as my background. The point being: some of the AI's creations were very tangential from the original photo, but I appreciate that none of them resembled the phony tripe you usually get from AI image generators, which is definitely a plus.
Motorola has committed four years of software updates to the Edge 60 Pro. It’s a perfectly acceptable amount of time that’ll future-proof your phone, though it falls just shy of being an industry-leading figure.
Software score: 3.5 / 5
Motorola Edge 60 Pro review: cameras
(Image credit: Future)
50MP main, 50MP ultra-wide and 10MP telephoto cameras
50MP front-facing
Pictures look dull and colorless
Offers the standard range of camera modes
There are three cameras on the back of the Moto Edge 60 Pro: a 50MP f/1.8 main snapper, a 50MP f/2.0 ultra-wide one with a 120-degree lens, and a 10MP f/2.0 telephoto camera which supports 3x optical zoom.
On paper, that seems like a solid range of snappers, giving you a range of ways to take pictures, whether you want to zoom in from a distance or get yourself nice and close (the ultra-wide snapper also supports a macro mode). But Moto has yet to put out a killer camera phone, and the Edge 60 Pro doesn’t change that streak.
The main issue, which certainly isn’t new for Moto phones, is that pictures are just a little more dull and desaturated than they’d be on any other phone. While many brands pride themselves on the vibrancy of snaps you can take with their phone cameras, the pictures I took on the Edge simply weren’t social media-worthy due to how lifeless they look.
It’s a shame, because technically, the photos taken aren't terrible – I was really fond of using the telephoto lens, for instance, as its depth of field was exquisite, and thanks to the high-res snappers, photos have lots of detail. But while some photos could be saved by dropping them into Photoshop, this shouldn’t be a necessary step for smartphone photographs to look worthy.
(Image credit: Future)
That’s not my only issue with the Edge 60 Pro's cameras, though it’s the only one that can’t be deactivated. Firstly, the background bokeh blur on Portrait shots is intense – you can change this, but I only noticed after taking a few shots, so make sure to tweak it yourself. But the other biggie is macro mode, which by default turns on when you put the phone near a close-up subject.
When this mode turns on, it jumps over to the ultra-wide lens, which is lower positionally than the other two (when you’re holding the phone horizontally to take a shot). This often meant that the subject was in a different spot of the frame, or not in frame, causing the camera to decide that I was no longer trying to take a macro snap, and jump back to the main camera, whereupon it’d see the subject again. Rinse and repeat, you can see how this goes.
The camera app features most of the photography and video modes that you’re used to seeing on an Android phone, like slow-mo video, night vision shots, and tilt-shift photography. Video recording goes up to 4K at 30fps or 1080p at 60fps.
The selfie camera is a 50MP f/2.0 snapper, and it uses an ultra-wide lens so that you can take wider group shots if you need, though it defaults to the one-person view. These pictures suffer from the aforementioned issues, specifically Portrait absolutely obliterating the background, and the color tuning being lackluster – in the examples below, there's an odd green hue to several of the images.
Camera score: 3 / 5
Motorola Edge 60 Pro camera samples
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Motorola Edge 60 Pro review: performance and audio
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Uses the Dimensity 8350 chipset
12GB RAM and 512GB Storage
Dolby Atmos-tuned stereo speakers
The Motorola Edge 60 Pro marks a shift for Moto in that it's moved from the dominant chipset maker Qualcomm to its underdog rival Mediatek.
The phone uses the Mediatek Dimensity 8350 chipset, a fairly powerful mid-range Android chip that we also saw in the Oppo Reno 13 Pro. Like in that contemporary handset, it provides good amounts of power, enough that most users won’t notice a difference between it and true top-end ones for most ordinary tasks.
A Geekbench 5 benchmark test on the Edge 60 Pro returned a multi-core score of 4,504, which is a solid upgrade on the roughly 3,000 score we saw on the Edge 50 Pro, and even better than the Reno 13’s 4,042.
The sole configuration on sale offers 12GB RAM and 512GB storage, which is generous: it means you’ve got loads of space to store years of photos and countless apps, and the RAM ensures the handset feels fast to use. There’s also RAM boost, which lets you sacrifice some storage space for a speed increase; a feature that has niche appeal but will be useful to certain users.
Audio-wise, Moto has long since binned off the 3.55mm jack in its Edge phones. However, you’re getting Dolby Atmos-tuned stereo speakers instead, which isn’t quite as good as wired headphones, but it’ll do.
Performance score: 4 / 5
Motorola Edge 60 Pro review: battery life
(Image credit: Future)
Boosted 6,000mAh battery
90W wired charging, 15W wireless
Reverse wired charging is new
Motorola has packed the Edge 60 Pro with a massive 6,000mAh battery, which is markedly bigger than the cell in its predecessor, though that upgrade is counterbalanced – on paper, at least – by a decrease in charging speed.
A big power pack like this ensures that the Edge 60 Pro can breeze through a day of use without running out of power, which isn’t a guarantee with big-screen phones these days. I also found that the Edge 60 Pro could withstand lengthy gaming sessions without draining too much power.
However, the amount of battery drain ensured that this isn't a two-day phone; it'll need daily recharges.
The charging speed sits at 90W, which, while technically a downgrade from the 125W powering on the Edge 50 Pro, is still an impressive figure. The difference between the two can be measured in mere minutes of charging speed, and I think most people won’t even notice the downgrade.
Motorola estimates that the charging time for the Edge 60 Pro is 40 minutes; however, to get this speed, it recommends that you use a sold-separately charger, which I couldn’t actually find on its website (in the box, you get a USB-C to USB-C cable but no mains plug). Mind you, even when using a third-party fast charger, my charging times weren’t that much longer.
Like any good premium phone, the Edge 60 Pro also offers wireless charging, although it too has seen a speed downgrade versus the last-gen model. It can support wireless charging at 15W and, while there’s no longer support for reverse wireless charging, the Edge 60 Pro does offer reverse wired charging, which lets you use it as a little power bank to charge other gadgets.
Battery score: 4 / 5
Motorola Edge 60 Pro review: value
(Image credit: Future)
Throughout this review, I've been mentally referring to the Motorola Edge 60 Pro as a premium phone, which is both correct and wrong.
It's a correct designation in that the specs are all there, but wrong in that the phone doesn't actually cost quite as much as a Galaxy, iPhone, or Pixel.
The bottom line: the Edge 60 Pro is a great-value phone if you want a top-end mobile, because you're paying a bit less for mostly-similar specs. Sure, its cameras will leave you wanting, but in almost every other department, the Edge 60 Pro is a winner.
Value score: 4 / 5
Should you buy the Motorola Edge 60 Pro?
Motorola Edge 60 Pro score card
Attributes
Notes
Rating
Value
You're basically getting a premium smartphone for a lower price, which sounds good to me!
4 / 5
Design
The phone feels and looks premium, and it's well-protected with military-grade accreditation.
4 / 5
Display
The Edge 60 Pro has a high-res screen with a top max brightness and useful extra features.
4 / 5
Software
It's a clean software with customization options and a long shelf life, even if Moto is relying too much on AI as a big new feature.
3.5 / 5
Camera
Photos look dull and there are one or two other issues with the cameras that lose it points.
3 / 5
Performance
The chipset suits most tasks and there's lots of storage and RAM to go around.
4 / 5
Battery
It's fast to charge and has a decently-sized battery, though there are some downgrades here.
4 / 5
Buy it if...
You want a premium phone (without the price tag) The Moto Edge 60 Pro is more or less a premium smartphone; however, it's cheaper than Samsung, Apple, and Xiaomi rivals.
Looks are important Some people swaddle their smartphone in a case, but if you prefer to let people see the mobile you're rocking, this svelte and colorful Moto is what you'll want them to see.
You want a smart AI assistant If you're overly reliant on ChatGPT to make your shopping lists or plan your holidays, maybe Moto AI will be a good addition to your smartphone.
Don't buy it if...
You upload loads of pics to social media Photos taken on the Edge 60 Pro will take some work in an editing app to make them social media-worthy; not great if you want to upload them quickly and without fuss.
You don't like curved-edge displays Phones with curved-edge displays can be divisive and in the case of the Moto, the feature is so important that it's literally in the name.
Motorola Edge 60 Pro review: Also consider
Still not sold on the Motorola Edge 60 Pro? Here are some other comparable smartphones you should consider looking at instead:
iPhone 16e For the same price as the Moto, you can pick up Apple's newest budget phone. It's an option for people who would rather an Apple over an Android, though you'll lose out on myriad flagship specs.
Xiaomi Poco F7 Ultra This burly Android phone costs a little more than the Moto, but not much. It has more processing power, a higher-res display, and faster charging, but it suffers from a cluttered operating system,a smaller battery, and fewer cameras. It's pretty colorfu,l though!
Motorola Edge 50 Pro The previous-gen Moto was going to be an obvious comparison, but it's doubly true given that many of its specs actually trump the 60 Pro on paper. Plus, it's enjoyed a year's worth of price cuts.
I tested the Motorola Edge 60 Pro for two weeks in order to write this review.
In that time, I used it as my normal phone, which involved socializing, listening to music, taking pictures, and playing games, as well as lots of other normal tasks.
I also did some 'lab' tests with the phone, as you'll have read about in the performance section of this review, in order to get a more objective understanding of its power.
I've been reviewing smartphones for TechRadar for over six years now, and even reviewed the original Moto Edge models. So, I'm well-versed in the brand and its various handsets.
When Motorola first started releasing its line of more affordable 'premium' Edge smartphones in 2020, it never could have expected that it'd be the last mobile brand to make truly eye-catching flagship phones.
That's not quite true, of course, but with expensive phones like the Samsung Galaxy S25, iPhone 16, and Xiaomi 15 all offering relatively boring designs that defy their hefty price tags, Moto is one of the few flagbearers whose top-end phones actually feel... well, top-end in 2025.
Moto has released a new generation of Edge phones each year since the debut of the Motorola Edge in 2020, and the Edge 60 Pro is the most advanced model of the current crop (at least until the next Ultra-branded model arrives). And thankfully, almost all of the previous models' selling points remain valid on the Edge 60 Pro.
Glancing at the phone's specs list, you might think it’s not an upgraded Edge 50 Pro, but rather a different ‘take' on it. And to a certain extent, that's true. The Edge 60 Pro and Edge 50 Pro are very similar phones, with the former bringing as many upgrades as downgrades. The newer model, for instance, has a bigger battery, a higher-res ultra-wide camera, and upgraded speakers, but those positives are counterbalanced by a lower screen refresh rate and slower charging (both wired and wireless).
Some users, then, might consider the Edge 60 Pro to be worse than, or equal to, its predecessor, but the proof is in the pudding, not on the specs sheet.
With the Edge 60 Pro, Motorola has rounded down some unnecessarily high features and balanced those perceived downgrades with upgrades that really matter. I don’t imagine many people need a 144Hz refresh display over 120Hz, for instance, or truly require the extra few minutes that 125W charging saves you over 90W.
The inclusion of Dolby Atmos speakers, meanwhile, tangibly improves the experience of watching movies and TV shows on the Edge 60 Pro, while the jump to another chipset provider results in a useful jump in power. The addition of reverse wired charging, too, is really useful if you're reliant on other gadgets.
These small-but-important improvements result in a phone that's strong in all areas, though not the best in any of them, and for the 99% of people who don't actually need the literal top specs available to them, that's okay.
The only exception comes in the camera department, which is still a weak point of the Edge series. A few annoying issues abound, but the real problem is that photos taken on the Edge 60 Pro are too devoid of color. They look lifeless and dull, as though the AI scene optimization shrugged and said, "I can't be bothered". The phone's camera performance doesn't compare to that of any top-end rivals.
That would be a bigger problem if the Edge 60 Pro were hampered by an extreme price tag, but it isn't. It undercuts pretty much all of the best Android phones by a decent margin, making it a borderline budget alternative that arguably feels fancier.
As sanded-down premium phones, Moto's Edge devices appeal to those who want to feel like they own a powerful phone but won't ever put that power to the test. Sure, the Edge 60 Pro won't win any benchmark battles, but in a year's time, when even the ultra-pricey Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra has been transformed into an ugly box, Motorola's latest flagship will at least look the part. It's one of the best Motorola phones you can buy today.
Motorola Edge 60 Pro review: price and availability
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Released in April 2025
Phone sells for £599 (roughly $800, AU$1,250)
Price matches predecessor
The Motorola Edge 60 Pro was announced alongside a non-Pro version in April 2025, roughly a year on from the release of the previous series, albeit with a different selection of sibling suffixes.
You can pick up the phone for £599 (roughly $800, AU$1,250). Due to precedent, we don’t expect that Moto will release the Edge 60 Pro in the US, but an Australian announcement seems likely later this year, especially with the Edge 60 Fusion already selling in the country.
That price makes the Edge 60 Pro the most expensive non-folding smartphone sold by Motorola, but in the wider smartphone world, it’s on the border of mid-range and premium – which means it undercuts a lot of big-name flagship rivals. The Google Pixel 9, Samsung Galaxy S25, and iPhone 16 all cost more, while the supposedly budget-friendly iPhone 16e retails for the same price.
Motorola Edge 60 Pro review: specs
Motorola Edge 60 Pro specs
Dimensions:
160.69 x 73.06 x 8.24mm
Weight:
186g
Screen:
6.7-inch FHD (1220 x 2712) 120Hz AMOLED
Chipset:
Mediatek Dimensity 8350
RAM:
12GB
Storage:
512GB
OS:
Android 15
Primary camera:
50MP, f/1.8
Ultra-wide camera:
50MP f/2.0 120-degree
Telephoto camera:
10MP, f/2.0 2x optical
Front camera:
50MP, f/2.0
Audio:
Dolby Atmos stereo speakers
Battery:
6,000mAh
Charging:
90W wired, 15W wireless
Colors:
Dazzling Blue, Sparkling Grape, Shadow
Motorola Edge 60 Pro review: design
(Image credit: Future)
Premium curved-edge design
Thin and lightweight
Pantone-designed blue, khaki or purple
With companies like Samsung having seemingly jettisoned ‘attractive design’ from the list of important smartphone traits this year, I was worried that Motorola might abandon the Edge’s roots and follow suit. Fear not: the Motorola Edge 60 Pro is just as appealing as past entries (largely because it’s a dead ringer for past models).
To discuss the eye-catching part, we’ll have to start at the back: Moto typically offers these mobiles in a range of Pantone-designed hues, and it’s no different this time around. The model you see in the review images is Dazzling Blue, and there’s a greenish-khaki Shadow option too, but the real eye-catcher is Sparkling Grape, a vibrant and commanding purple. Unlike in some previous generations, Moto hasn’t included a literal color swatch on the back of the Edge 60 Pro, so you don’t feel like you’re texting on a walking paint advertisement.
Instead, the back features a slightly raised camera bump that’s incorporated well into the overall design; it's reminiscent of Oppo Find X phones before they became overdesigned. It doesn’t stick that far from the phone’s body, so you can put the handset flat on a surface without undue wobbling. The phone’s rear is also textured – slightly differently depending on the color option you pick – making it feel more premium than your average Android.
Moving to the sides reveals the Edge 60 Pro’s other premium feature: a curved-edge display (admittedly, the name does give it away). This means that the phone’s screen curves slightly at the edges to become incorporated seamlessly into the sides of the phone without ending at an abrupt angle. While curved edges are divisive, and admittedly are slightly frail and prone to accidental touches, they’re still considered a trait of premium mobiles. As a result, the Edge 60 Pro is much more comfortable to hold in the hand than your average flagship, and it just feels more advanced.
The edges of the phone also feature all the mandatory buttons, plus one extra one. The right edge has a power button – just about within thumb’s reach on my hand – and above it a volume rocker, which I had to stretch to use. But on the left side, high enough up that I couldn’t really reach it, is a new addition: the AI Key.
Pressing and holding this button brings up Motorola’s AI assistant, while double-pressing it either opens a note-taking function or quickly summarizes your notifications – all of these require a separate Motorola account. If you’ve no interest in AI features like this, you can turn them off in the settings menu.
Let’s briefly continue our tour around the Edge 60 Pro: the bottom edge has its USB-C charging port and the SIM card slot. There’s no 3.5mm jack for wired audio, like in past generations. And that's that in terms of design – except for the display, which we have a whole section about.
The total dimensions of the phone are 160.69 x 73.06 x 8.24mm, and it weighs 186g, so it’s on the lighter side of things.
Moto is also making a song and dance about the Edge 60 Pro’s protections. It has IP69 certification, indicating that it’s safe from dust ingress and high-pressure beams of water, plus the military MIL-STD-810H accreditation, which means it’s safe from shocks, high and low temperatures, high altitudes, and strong vibrations. We usually only see this kind of certification in rugged phones, but a growing number of consumer ones have them too – and it’s nice to know that your handset is protected from the unexpected.
Design score: 4 / 5
Motorola Edge 60 Pro review: display
(Image credit: Future)
6.7 inches, 2712 x 1220resolution
120Hz refresh rate and 4500-nit max brightness
Various filters and modes to tweak
The Motorola Edge 60 Pro’s screen is 6.7-inches diagonally, a size Edge fans will be used to, and that’s not the only spec that the 60 Pro has in common with its predecessors: the resolution is once again 2712 x 1220, or FHD+, and the 20:9 aspect ratio makes the screen feel long and thin.
We can’t knock Motorola for a lack of design upgrades year-on-year, but some tech fans might be upset that the refresh rate has seen a downgrade from the Edge 50 Pro: it’s now 120Hz. But that’s matched by a massive brightness increase, of over double, to a new high of 4500 nits: suffice to say this is a phone that’s easy to use when you’re outdoors in the sun.
The screen is broken up by a pretty minimal punch-hole cut-out for the front-facing camera at the top. It has an embedded fingerprint scanner which… worked when it wanted to, let’s put it that way.
Motorola has stuffed quite a few design features into the Edge 60 Pro's display, including support for HDR10+ and DCI-P3 color space. There are also filters to reduce the amount of blue light coming from the display, which may placate people who use blue light filters to help them sleep (despite the scientific evidence that your phone’s blue light doesn’t affect sleep).
Pantone also shows its face for some display tweakery, with Moto’s listing for the Edge 60 Pro also mentioning “Pantone Validated Colour” and “Pantone Skintone Validated”, which suggests the color company had a hand in optimizing the screen.
Good job, too, because the Edge 60 Pro is pleasant to look at while watching movies and playing games, with nice contrast and vibrant colors.
Display score: 4 / 5
Motorola Edge 60 Pro review: software
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Android 15 with four years of updates
Customization options galore
Moto AI useful for small tasks, not big ones
The Motorola Edge 60 Pro comes with Android 15 as its default software. This is stock Android, ostensibly how Google designed it, but with every new generation, Moto adds more and more tweaks that make it feel distinct from Pixel or Nokia phones.
I’ve already discussed arguably the biggest software change – the AI key and Moto AI in general, which the brand seems to be presenting as something you’ll opt to use over Google Assistant for various tasks and needs.
Moto AI is at its best when you’re using it for little tasks around your phone: you can ask it to take notes, set an update reminder, or create a new background for your device. But like other AI chatbots like ChatGPT, if you start to ask it questions, it provides you with the usual factually inaccurate (and oftentimes totally irrelevant) gibberish that you love to mock.
Some of the features that Moto is touting most simply don’t make sense – unless you’ve received an absolute deluge of messages since you last checked your phone, it takes longer to use Moto AI’s notification summary tool than simply to check your messages. There’s also a function that creates a bespoke playlist based on your mood, but it only supports Amazon Music, so if you use Spotify or Tidal, you’re out of luck.
What's more, every time I used the AI Key, the pop-up appeared with my last search or command, which I’d need to backspace from before starting my new task. I found it pretty frustrating.
Beyond its AI, the Edge 60 Pro retains Moto’s suite of personalization features, from the big things like background, font, and color scheme to the shape of icons and the animation that appears when you use the fingerprint unlock.
You can now also generate wallpapers based on your own prompt or a photo from your gallery. I sent this feature a photo of a cat, and it returned some patterned decals that looked like a marbled chocolate cake. Thanks, but I think I’ll just use the photo of the cat as my background. The point being: some of the AI's creations were very tangential from the original photo, but I appreciate that none of them resembled the phony tripe you usually get from AI image generators, which is definitely a plus.
Motorola has committed four years of software updates to the Edge 60 Pro. It’s a perfectly acceptable amount of time that’ll future-proof your phone, though it falls just shy of being an industry-leading figure.
Software score: 3.5 / 5
Motorola Edge 60 Pro review: cameras
(Image credit: Future)
50MP main, 50MP ultra-wide and 10MP telephoto cameras
50MP front-facing
Pictures look dull and colorless
Offers the standard range of camera modes
There are three cameras on the back of the Moto Edge 60 Pro: a 50MP f/1.8 main snapper, a 50MP f/2.0 ultra-wide one with a 120-degree lens, and a 10MP f/2.0 telephoto camera which supports 3x optical zoom.
On paper, that seems like a solid range of snappers, giving you a range of ways to take pictures, whether you want to zoom in from a distance or get yourself nice and close (the ultra-wide snapper also supports a macro mode). But Moto has yet to put out a killer camera phone, and the Edge 60 Pro doesn’t change that streak.
The main issue, which certainly isn’t new for Moto phones, is that pictures are just a little more dull and desaturated than they’d be on any other phone. While many brands pride themselves on the vibrancy of snaps you can take with their phone cameras, the pictures I took on the Edge simply weren’t social media-worthy due to how lifeless they look.
It’s a shame, because technically, the photos taken aren't terrible – I was really fond of using the telephoto lens, for instance, as its depth of field was exquisite, and thanks to the high-res snappers, photos have lots of detail. But while some photos could be saved by dropping them into Photoshop, this shouldn’t be a necessary step for smartphone photographs to look worthy.
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That’s not my only issue with the Edge 60 Pro's cameras, though it’s the only one that can’t be deactivated. Firstly, the background bokeh blur on Portrait shots is intense – you can change this, but I only noticed after taking a few shots, so make sure to tweak it yourself. But the other biggie is macro mode, which by default turns on when you put the phone near a close-up subject.
When this mode turns on, it jumps over to the ultra-wide lens, which is lower positionally than the other two (when you’re holding the phone horizontally to take a shot). This often meant that the subject was in a different spot of the frame, or not in frame, causing the camera to decide that I was no longer trying to take a macro snap, and jump back to the main camera, whereupon it’d see the subject again. Rinse and repeat, you can see how this goes.
The camera app features most of the photography and video modes that you’re used to seeing on an Android phone, like slow-mo video, night vision shots, and tilt-shift photography. Video recording goes up to 4K at 30fps or 1080p at 60fps.
The selfie camera is a 50MP f/2.0 snapper, and it uses an ultra-wide lens so that you can take wider group shots if you need, though it defaults to the one-person view. These pictures suffer from the aforementioned issues, specifically Portrait absolutely obliterating the background, and the color tuning being lackluster – in the examples below, there's an odd green hue to several of the images.
Camera score: 3 / 5
Motorola Edge 60 Pro camera samples
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Motorola Edge 60 Pro review: performance and audio
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Uses the Dimensity 8350 chipset
12GB RAM and 512GB Storage
Dolby Atmos-tuned stereo speakers
The Motorola Edge 60 Pro marks a shift for Moto in that it's moved from the dominant chipset maker Qualcomm to its underdog rival Mediatek.
The phone uses the Mediatek Dimensity 8350 chipset, a fairly powerful mid-range Android chip that we also saw in the Oppo Reno 13 Pro. Like in that contemporary handset, it provides good amounts of power, enough that most users won’t notice a difference between it and true top-end ones for most ordinary tasks.
A Geekbench 5 benchmark test on the Edge 60 Pro returned a multi-core score of 4,504, which is a solid upgrade on the roughly 3,000 score we saw on the Edge 50 Pro, and even better than the Reno 13’s 4,042.
The sole configuration on sale offers 12GB RAM and 512GB storage, which is generous: it means you’ve got loads of space to store years of photos and countless apps, and the RAM ensures the handset feels fast to use. There’s also RAM boost, which lets you sacrifice some storage space for a speed increase; a feature that has niche appeal but will be useful to certain users.
Audio-wise, Moto has long since binned off the 3.55mm jack in its Edge phones. However, you’re getting Dolby Atmos-tuned stereo speakers instead, which isn’t quite as good as wired headphones, but it’ll do.
Performance score: 4 / 5
Motorola Edge 60 Pro review: battery life
(Image credit: Future)
Boosted 6,000mAh battery
90W wired charging, 15W wireless
Reverse wired charging is new
Motorola has packed the Edge 60 Pro with a massive 6,000mAh battery, which is markedly bigger than the cell in its predecessor, though that upgrade is counterbalanced – on paper, at least – by a decrease in charging speed.
A big power pack like this ensures that the Edge 60 Pro can breeze through a day of use without running out of power, which isn’t a guarantee with big-screen phones these days. I also found that the Edge 60 Pro could withstand lengthy gaming sessions without draining too much power.
However, the amount of battery drain ensured that this isn't a two-day phone; it'll need daily recharges.
The charging speed sits at 90W, which, while technically a downgrade from the 125W powering on the Edge 50 Pro, is still an impressive figure. The difference between the two can be measured in mere minutes of charging speed, and I think most people won’t even notice the downgrade.
Motorola estimates that the charging time for the Edge 60 Pro is 40 minutes; however, to get this speed, it recommends that you use a sold-separately charger, which I couldn’t actually find on its website (in the box, you get a USB-C to USB-C cable but no mains plug). Mind you, even when using a third-party fast charger, my charging times weren’t that much longer.
Like any good premium phone, the Edge 60 Pro also offers wireless charging, although it too has seen a speed downgrade versus the last-gen model. It can support wireless charging at 15W and, while there’s no longer support for reverse wireless charging, the Edge 60 Pro does offer reverse wired charging, which lets you use it as a little power bank to charge other gadgets.
Battery score: 4 / 5
Motorola Edge 60 Pro review: value
(Image credit: Future)
Throughout this review, I've been mentally referring to the Motorola Edge 60 Pro as a premium phone, which is both correct and wrong.
It's a correct designation in that the specs are all there, but wrong in that the phone doesn't actually cost quite as much as a Galaxy, iPhone, or Pixel.
The bottom line: the Edge 60 Pro is a great-value phone if you want a top-end mobile, because you're paying a bit less for mostly-similar specs. Sure, its cameras will leave you wanting, but in almost every other department, the Edge 60 Pro is a winner.
Value score: 4 / 5
Should you buy the Motorola Edge 60 Pro?
Motorola Edge 60 Pro score card
Attributes
Notes
Rating
Value
You're basically getting a premium smartphone for a lower price, which sounds good to me!
4 / 5
Design
The phone feels and looks premium, and it's well-protected with military-grade accreditation.
4 / 5
Display
The Edge 60 Pro has a high-res screen with a top max brightness and useful extra features.
4 / 5
Software
It's a clean software with customization options and a long shelf life, even if Moto is relying too much on AI as a big new feature.
3.5 / 5
Camera
Photos look dull and there are one or two other issues with the cameras that lose it points.
3 / 5
Performance
The chipset suits most tasks and there's lots of storage and RAM to go around.
4 / 5
Battery
It's fast to charge and has a decently-sized battery, though there are some downgrades here.
4 / 5
Buy it if...
You want a premium phone (without the price tag) The Moto Edge 60 Pro is more or less a premium smartphone; however, it's cheaper than Samsung, Apple, and Xiaomi rivals.
Looks are important Some people swaddle their smartphone in a case, but if you prefer to let people see the mobile you're rocking, this svelte and colorful Moto is what you'll want them to see.
You want a smart AI assistant If you're overly reliant on ChatGPT to make your shopping lists or plan your holidays, maybe Moto AI will be a good addition to your smartphone.
Don't buy it if...
You upload loads of pics to social media Photos taken on the Edge 60 Pro will take some work in an editing app to make them social media-worthy; not great if you want to upload them quickly and without fuss.
You don't like curved-edge displays Phones with curved-edge displays can be divisive and in the case of the Moto, the feature is so important that it's literally in the name.
Motorola Edge 60 Pro review: Also consider
Still not sold on the Motorola Edge 60 Pro? Here are some other comparable smartphones you should consider looking at instead:
iPhone 16e For the same price as the Moto, you can pick up Apple's newest budget phone. It's an option for people who would rather an Apple over an Android, though you'll lose out on myriad flagship specs.
Xiaomi Poco F7 Ultra This burly Android phone costs a little more than the Moto, but not much. It has more processing power, a higher-res display, and faster charging, but it suffers from a cluttered operating system,a smaller battery, and fewer cameras. It's pretty colorfu,l though!
Motorola Edge 50 Pro The previous-gen Moto was going to be an obvious comparison, but it's doubly true given that many of its specs actually trump the 60 Pro on paper. Plus, it's enjoyed a year's worth of price cuts.
I tested the Motorola Edge 60 Pro for two weeks in order to write this review.
In that time, I used it as my normal phone, which involved socializing, listening to music, taking pictures, and playing games, as well as lots of other normal tasks.
I also did some 'lab' tests with the phone, as you'll have read about in the performance section of this review, in order to get a more objective understanding of its power.
I've been reviewing smartphones for TechRadar for over six years now, and even reviewed the original Moto Edge models. So, I'm well-versed in the brand and its various handsets.
Planning everyday activities can be hectic, both in corporate and personal settings. Juggling different duties becomes more difficult without proper scheduling and delegation. The best task management apps fulfill this need by providing platforms that make it easy to schedule and stay reminded about tasks.
Superlist is one of the most creative task management apps. It’s a versatile tool designed for both to-do lists, collaboration, and real-time communication. I thoroughly tested this tool to evaluate its features, user-friendliness, customer support, and other vital criteria. Read on to learn what Superlist offers as a task management solution.
Superlist: Plans and pricing
Superlist is a freemium task management app, i.e., it has both free and paid plans. The free plan is more permissive than most freemium task management apps I’ve reviewed. It allows you to add unlimited tasks and notes, and share lists with up to five people. You also have 500 MB of file storage under this plan.
The Pro plan costs $10 per month, unlocking access to more sophisticated features. It includes unlimited private lists, sublists within your existing lists, artificial intelligence (AI) features, third-party integrations, and 25 GB of file storage. The free plan is great, but the Pro plan unlocks access to many more features that I liked.
Superlist also offers a Pro plan for teams, costing $12 per member per month. It provides all features of the Pro plan and unlimited shared lists for a team.
I consider Superlist’s pricing fair, given the features it provides. It costs more than many task management apps I’ve tested, but it provides more advanced features.
Superlist: Features
Superlist is one of the most versatile task management tools I’ve tested. It features an interactive, user-friendly interface that distinguishes it from most of its rivals. Signing up was a seamless process, and I quickly moved to test its features.
I like that new users get on-screen tips to guide them through the interface. The “+ Create New” button is prominently featured at the bottom, and clicking it allows you to create a task.
You can place a task under a new list or a previously created one. Each task will have a unique title and notes to provide context. For example, you can add images to your task notes. Similarly, you can add videos, bullet points, and paragraphs to the notes.
(Image credit: Superlist)
I appreciate that Superlist allows users to add tasks via voice commands, although this feature is only available to Pro subscribers.
You can send a voice note dictating a task and its deadline, and Superlist will automatically add it to your dashboard. It occasionally provided incorrect details during my test, which was expected for an AI-based system still in its early stages of development. Yet, it’s an impressive feature that I enjoyed using.
I also liked the creative feature of turning emails into tasks. This feature works with Gmail, so you’ll need to first connect your Gmail account. Then, you'll mark emails with the "Superlist" label.
Superlist will convert emails with this label into tasks; the email subject line will serve as the task title, and the email body will appear in the task's details. You can also set Superlist to provide an AI-assisted summary of the emails it converts to tasks.
Task management apps always include reminders, and Superlist is no exception. You can set due dates and get reminders. Superlist will send push notifications to your desktop or smartphone or send alerts to your email address.
(Image credit: Superlist)
I’ve discussed the personal features so let’s now focus on the collaborative features. Superlist supports real-time collaboration with an intuitive interface that makes the process seamless and efficient. It features a chat tool that enables colleagues to communicate quickly with one another.
The chat tool felt like using Slack, a popular business communication app, although it lacks some of its features. You can send voice notes to colleagues or create chat groups to pass on relevant information.
As an administrator, you can invite team members to your lists, and they will be able to view their assigned tasks. You’ll control who can create or edit new tasks. If a permitted team member creates a task, everyone will get notified and receive a reminder on the specified date.
Although its collaborative features are designed for corporate teams, Superlist can also be used by friends or families seeking a shared task management app.
Superlist: Interface and in-use
Superlist has a unique interface among its rivals. Yes, it’s user-friendly, but that’s not all. It feels way smoother to navigate than most task management apps I’ve tested. It has a responsive interface with seamless continuity.
You can access Superlist from your web interface. Alternatively, you can download the app on your desktop (for macOS and Windows) or smartphone (for iOS and Android). This widespread compatibility is a main benefit of choosing Superlist.
Superlist: Customer support
Superlist provides detailed user guides in its Help Center. You can check the Help Center to troubleshoot issues you encounter while using the app.
If you need further help, you can contact Superlist’s support team via email. There is no live chat or telephone support, which I didn’t like, especially considering the tool costs $10 per month for individuals and more for teams.
Superlist: The competition
Any.do is the closest Superlist competitor I’d like to highlight. It boasts one of the most responsive interfaces, matching Superlist’s, and offers a wide range of features for both personal and collaborative task management.
Any.do supports voice commands, although indirectly via integration with Apple Siri. It allows you to convert emails directly into tasks, just like Superlist. Yet, it offers broader third-party integrations than Superlist, making it ideal for corporate use.
I prefer Superlist for individual use and Any.do for corporate use, but they can still work interchangeably.
Superlist: Final verdict
Superlist ranks as one of the best task management apps I’ve tested. It’s a relatively young platform, founded in 2020, so it isn’t as popular as many established rivals. However, it’s a hidden gem that I enjoyed using. It has some drawbacks, such as limited customer support, but the pros outweigh the cons.
The Klim Wind is a laptop cooling pad that's very much aimed at the average gamer. While it may not have the oomph required by pro esports players or creative studios, it’s aimed at those who just want to stop their CPUs cooking while playing Cyberpunk 2077.
It rocks four fans capable of spinning at up to 1200rpm and comes in a range of colorways, and it’s available from Amazon from just $19.97 / £19.97 / AU$49.97.
A big selling point of the Klim Wind is how quiet it is. In fact, the packaging describes it as ‘ultra silent’, which is a) redundant, given that something is either silent or it isn’t; and b) not actually true.
However, its fan noise is impressively muted – during testing, the combined noise of its fans at 1200rpm and the inbuilt cooling of our Acer Predator Helios 300 testing laptop with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 GPU only registered as 58.5dB from a few inches away and 44dB from my head height. That’s pretty much as quiet as any laptop cooling pad I’ve tested.
I feel a little lukewarm about the Klim’s design. On the one hand, its 16-degree angle is comfortable enough, even if I wish it had a few different height settings, and its blue LED lighting feels nicely understated. On the other, its build quality isn’t as high as some of the best laptop cooling pads, feeling a bit light and plasticky, while the flip-up laptop rests jabbed at my wrists when I was resting them on my laptop. Also, with all its notches and sharp angles, its looks are a bit on the nose – it looks like a cyber-goth butterfly, which is distinctly less charming than it sounds.
(Image credit: Future)
But all of this comes second to its core functionality – if it offers game-changing cooling, does anyone care what it looks like? Unfortunately, the Klim Wind does little to redeem itself here. The cooling it offers is, frankly, mediocre.
Using our testing laptop, I ran a 15-minute 3DMark stress test with the Wind on its max 1200rpm fan speed, measuring how much the laptop’s temperature changed. It increased from 85F / 29.5C to 120F / 49C, a 35F / 19.5C rise, which is the weakest cooling I’ve seen from any cooling pad I’ve tested, aside from the TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad’s 22.8C.
In light of this, I can’t really recommend the Klim Wind – there are simply too many similarly priced options that will keep your laptop cooler. The best cooling I’ve personally tested comes from the Llano RGB Laptop Cooling Pad, which I can't recommend highly enough, although its $119.99 / £129.99 (around AU$188.33) price tag won’t suit everyone’s budget.
If value is your biggest priority, the Liangstar Laptop Cooling Pad is a great option; it’s nearly as frosty as the Llano but costs just $19.99 / £20.99 / AU$66.91, which makes it a bit of a bargain in my book.
(Image credit: Future)
Klim Wind laptop cooling pad review: price & availability
Available now
Retails from $19.97 / £19.97 / AU$49.97
Wide range of colorways available
The Klim Wind is available from Amazon now. It retails for as little as $19.97 / £19.97 / AU$49.97, which will get you the blue-lit version we tested here. Although it has historically been reduced as low as £14.90 in the UK, this was way back in December 2019, while the price has never been lower stateside, so we’d argue you’re unlikely to get a better price for this now.
If black with blue lighting isn’t your thing, there are plenty of other, pricier colorways to choose from. Including options with red, cyan or green LED lighting, white metal and plastic or even an additional RGB strip, these max out at $29.97 / £29.97 / AU$149.97.
(Image credit: Future)
Should I buy the Klim Wind laptop cooling pad?
Buy it if…
You like accessories that are oh so quiet The Klim Wind is as quiet as any laptop cooling pad we’ve tested. At 44dB from 21 inches away, it’s barely any noisier than most libraries, according to the Center for Hearing and Communication.
You don’t want to spend too much Laptop cooling pads don’t get much cheaper than the Klim Wind, which sells from $19.97 / £19.97 / AU$49.97 on Amazon. So it’s definitely competitively priced.
Don't buy it if…
You want significant cooling Unfortunately, its four 1200rpm fans simply can’t cut the heat as well as those on other products. Other products managed to keep our laptop’s temperature lower for essentially the same list price.
You’re not keen on edgy gamer styling Style is individual and you might be a fan of angular, industrial gaming rigs and brutalist, sharp-edged accessories. If you’re not though, the look of this product likely won’t appeal.
(Image credit: Future)
Klim Wind laptop cooling pad review: also consider
Llano RGB Laptop Cooling Pad For truly arctic cooling, no product gets my stamp of approval more than the Llano RGB Laptop Cooling Pad. Even during our 3DMark stress test, it was able to limit our testing laptop’s temperature rise to just 8C and it looks seriously classy, with its quality build and tasteful RGB lighting. It does sound like a jet engine and comes at a premium price but few laptop cooling pads can rival its prodigious cooling. Read our full Llano RGB Laptop Cooling Pad review.
Liangstar Laptop Cooling Pad Okay, it’s no Llano. But given it limited our laptop’s temperature rise to just 59.5F / 15.3C during stress testing, this still absolutely edges out the Klim Wind in terms of sheer sangfroid. Despite this, it retails for pretty much the same price, costing just $19.99 / £20.99 / AU$66.91. If you’re looking for a cheap laptop chiller, you’ll struggle to find one that’s better value. Read our full Liangstar Laptop Cooling Pad review.
(Image credit: Future)
How I tested the Klim Wind laptop cooling pad
Tested over the course of two days
Recorded how much the product cooled our gaming laptop during a stress test
Checked the volume of its fans using a sound level meter
I tested the Klim Wind using TechRadar’s standard laptop cooling pad testing process. First off, I used a thermal camera to measure the peak temperature of our Razer Predator Helios 300 with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 testing laptop to establish a baseline. Then I ran a 3DMark stress test on the laptop for 15 minutes with the laptop cooling pad set to maximum speed, before recording its final temperature so I could compare its cooling against other products.
To test the amount of sound it generated, I used a noise level meter to check the combined noise of the cooling pad and the laptop’s fans. I took two measurements, one from a few inches away and one from my head height (21 inches away) to get a sense of the absolute and subjective noise levels the device makes. I also used the laptop cooling pad in a range of scenarios, from gaming to day to day work to assess how ergonomic and comfortable it was.
I have plenty of experience to help support my testing. Not only have I reviewed a wide range of laptop cooling pads for TechRadar, I’ve also been a creative and an avid gamer for years, meaning I’m familiar with the struggle of trying to keep a laptop cool during very CPU-intensive tasks.
Belkin BoostCharge Pro 2-in-1 Wireless Charging Dock with MagSafe review
The Belkin BoostCharge Pro 2-in-1 Wireless Charging Dock with MagSafe is a weighty charging stand that can wirelessly charge an Apple Watch along with a compatible phone or earbuds case. It has a list price of $119.99 / £109.99 on the Belkin website, and can also be found at Amazon, with occasional offers appearing from both retailers in the form of discounts or purchase incentives.
At that price, it’s clear the Belkin BoostCharge Pro 2-in-1 Wireless Charging Dock with MagSafe isn’t a budget option. But that doesn’t stop it offering a sturdy yet space-saving wireless charging solution that’ll happily charge three Apple devices, albeit not at the same time.
(Image credit: Future)
The 2-in-1 Wireless Charging Dock with MagSafe comes in two colorways: Charcoal or Sand. The charger I’ve tested is the Charcoal model, which is composed of a super-soft-to-the-touch silicone-like outer material, with metallic accents on the charging pad hinge and the Apple Watch charging puck holder that's fixed to the back of the charging stand. It became clear that dust could pose a problem straight out of the box, as the silicone material acted like a dust and lint magnet, so it took a bit of effort to keep it looking its best.
I was pleased to find that a 30W USB-C power supply comes as standard, as one should expect for the price, and the USB-C power cable is braided, giving it a more premium feel. This detail is something I don’t see all that often, even amongst the best wireless chargers, but very much appreciate when it comes along, as I did when I reviewed the ESR Qi2 Mini Wireless Charger, too. This is not simply because it looks good, but because it can often withstand more action than standard flexible plastic coverings that can split over time. The cable isn’t removable, which I’m usually not a fan of, but I’m not fussed in this instance, as this charging dock clearly isn’t designed to be relocated regularly, plus it reduces the chance of someone else in your household pinching the cable to power something else.
(Image credit: Future)
As the 2-in-1 Wireless Charging Dock with MagSafe had dimensions of 4.1 x 2.8 x 3.1 inches / 105 x 71 x 78 mm, it was nice that I could charge all of my devices without taking up a load of desktop or nightstand space. And I really appreciated the adjustable viewing angles that the charging dock offered, as I could keep the pad flat to charge my earbuds, or angle it up to 70 degrees to watch content on my iPhone, or toggle StandBy Mode. I found the non-slip base, strong MagSafe grip, and 1 lb / 450g weight of the charging dock to be reliable for the entirity of my testing, standing its ground and keeping a firm hold of my phone despite my poking and prodding.
As a brand, Belkin looks to be paying particular attention to the environmental impact of their products, and it was nice to see that the BoostCharge Pro 2-in-1 Wireless Charging Dock with MagSafe came in plastic-free packaging. Belkin also states this wireless charger includes a minimum of 60% post-consumer recycled materials, too.
(Image credit: Future)
In terms of iPhone charging speeds, this MagSafe charging dock lagged almost 20 minutes behind other 2-in-1 wireless chargers I’ve tested from competitors like Anker and UGreen, taking 142 minutes to recharge our iPhone 13 Pro, which has a battery capacity of 2,600mAh. The Apple Watch charging speed was another story, however, as it took just 58 minutes to fully charge my Apple Watch Series 9, making it one of the fastest Apple Watch chargers I’ve tested to date.
In conclusion, if you’re looking for a reliable multi-device wireless charger to take up residence on your desk or nightstand, then the Belkin BoostCharge Pro 2-in-1 Wireless Charging Dock with MagSafe is well worth your consideration. It may not be the fastest iPhone charger out there, but it’s perfect for passive charging while you work or catch some Zs, and the speedy Apple Watch charging speed is definitely a bonus. If you’re still on the fence about which wireless charger format would work best for you, I recommend checking out my selection of the best wireless chargers for some inspiration.
Belkin BoostCharge Pro 2-in-1 Wireless Charging Dock with MagSafe review: Price & specs
Price
$119.99 / £109.99
Model
WIZ020
Max power output
15W
Devices charged
2
Charging tech
MagSafe
Connection
Fixed – USB-C
Weight
1lb / 450g
Dimensions
4.1 x 2.8 x 3.1 inches / 104 x 71 x 78mm
Should I buy the Belkin BoostCharge Pro 2-in-1 Wireless Charging Dock with MagSafe?
Buy it if…
You want a charger that’ll stand its ground Despite having a compact footprint, this charger’s weight and low center of gravity mean it won’t be easily knocked down.
You want a convenient nightstand charger The adjustable viewing angle, combined with how easy it is to rotate an iPhone on the MagSafe charging pad to trigger StandBy Mode, makes this a great charger for the bedside.
Don't buy it if…
You want speedy iPhone charging While it made quick work of charging my Apple Watch, the iPhone charging speed proved underwhelming.
You want something easy to clean As delightfully tactile as the silicone outer is, it acts like a dust magnet and has trouble letting go. So if you like to keep your things dust-free, this particular charger may prove a bit of a challenge.
Belkin BoostCharge Pro 2-in-1 Wireless Charging Dock with MagSafe review: Also consider
Anker MagGo Wireless Charging Station 3-in-1 Stand If you want to charge all three of your devices at once and have the space to spare, then this 3-in-1 stand from Anker is a great choice. Not only does its wide base offer plenty of stability, but it also boasts satisfyingly fast iPhone and Apple Watch charging speeds, and it’s cheaper, too! Check out my full review of the Anker MagGo Wireless Charging Station 3-in-1 Stand if you’d like to learn more.
The Acer Chromebook Plus 514 has some strong specs that make it suitable for all kinds of workloads. For a 14-inch device, it has a rather slender and light frame. The lid material also looks premium and is outlined with a gloss rim that adds a touch of elegance.
The keyboard looks cheaper by comparison but, still, it feels built to a sufficiently high standard. The touchpad is better on this front, with its smooth finish and solid construction.
The Chromebook Plus 514 has two USB-A and two USB-C ports, which helps to make it a practical machine to live with. It also has an HDMI port and a 3.5mm audio jack, both of which are also welcome additions – but it’s a slight shame there’s no SD card slot of any kind.
In action, the Chromebook Plus 514 is quite impressive, even compared to some of the best Chromebooks. It handled most tasks I threw at it with admirable composure. Multitasking is also possible, as it can switch between apps with speed and takes multiple browser tabs in its stride. However, fan noise is certainly noticeable when workloads become demanding, but thankfully I didn’t find it disruptive; the same goes for the mild heat it produces.
It also has some impressive gaming performance, allowing me to play mobile games with high settings and frame rates. It also streams 4K content without stuttering or buffering.
(Image credit: Future)
Such content is even more of a joy to experience thanks to the excellent WUXGA display in my unit, which is very clear and sharp with plenty of contrast. Colors are also rendered vibrantly, although perhaps not quite to the degree of some of the best Chromebook displays.
Typing on the Chromebook Plus 514 is pleasant enough, with the well-spaced keys and relatively long travel helping with feedback, although the lack of dampening can make it feel a little unrefined at times. The touchpad, although large, didn’t get in the way when hammering away at the keys, and it’s also easy to use thanks to its large size and smooth texture.
The battery life of the Chromebook Plus 514 is reasonable, lasting about eight and a half hours according to our tests. This is better than some of its competitors, but there are others that can beat it on this front.
With a starting price of $399 / £399 (about AU$560), the Chromebook Plus 514 sits in the middle of the Chromebook Plus market, but when you consider its performance for a Chromebook and sharp display, it’s certainly a device worth considering for work and play.
Acer Chromebook Plus 514 review: Price and availability
$399 / £399 (about AU$560)
Available now with multiple configurations
Middle of the Chromebook Plus market
The Chromebook Plus 514 starts from $399 / £399 (about AU$560) and is available in two colorways: Iron and Silver. Various configurations are possible, including a choice between Intel or AMD hardware and Full HD or WUXGA displays.
This is a mid-range price for a Chromebook Plus. It’s cheaper than the HP Chromebook Plus 15.6-inch, for instance, which boasts a similar performance but does of course have a larger display, although it doesn’t have quite as high a resolution.
If you’re looking for a more budget-friendly – but still very capable – Chromebook Plus, then the Acer Chromebook Plus 515 is a great choice, and is our pick as the best student Chromebook. However, this doesn’t have an especially impressive battery life.
Value: 3.5 / 5
Acer Chromebook Plus 514 review: Specs
My review unit of the Acer Chromebook Plus 514 was specified with an Intel Core 3 CPU, WUXGA display, and 128GB of storage:
Price
$399 / £399 (about AU$560)
CPU
Intel Core 3 100U (8 threads, 4.7GHz)
Graphics
Integrated, Intel UHD Graphics
RAM
8GB LPDDR5
Screen
14-inch WUXGA (1920 x 1200) IPS, 16:10
Storage
128GB UFS
Ports
2x USB-A, 2x USB-C, 1x HDMI, 1x 3.5mm audio
Wireless
Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth
Camera
HD 1080p
Weight
3.15lbs (1.43kg)
Dimensions
12.9 x 8.9 x 0.8 inches (32.7 x 22.5 x 2cm)
Acer Chromebook Plus 514 review: Design
(Image credit: Future)
Premium from the outside
Strong yet smooth hinge
Good port selection
The Chromebook Plus 514 has a slender, dynamic figure considering its 14-inch size. It’s also surprisingly light and thin, although the lid is a little thicker than I’ve seen on other Chromebooks. All its sides are pleasingly neat, although there are a few juts and ridges that spoil its clean lines.
The finish of the lid looks and feels premium, with its metallic edges doing a subtle but noticeable job of enhancing its quality. It’s easy to open thanks to the smooth hinge mechanism, which also provides plenty of stability at any angle – even when it's opened to its full 180 degrees, which is impressive for a Chromebook this size. However, this isn’t a convertible device, so it won’t be able to rival the usability of the best tablets.
The keyboard looks and feels less impressive, with the faux-metallic keycaps appearing quite cheap, and the lack of backlighting on my model was also something I lamented (although this can be optioned on certain models). However, the keys feel well made and their selection is reasonable, with their various shortcut functions clearly labeled. The touchpad is large and smooth, and seems to be engineered to an even higher standard than the keys.
The Chromebook Plus 514 also features the Quick Insert key, which can be used to summon a search box, with useful suggestions provided based on your recent files and web pages, among other items.
Underneath you’ll find vents and two large rubber bars in place of four individual feet. The back one is thicker than the front, which means the whole unit sits with a slight forward tilt, but this is barely noticeable in use.
I was pleased with the port selection for the most part. There’s no SD card slot, which is a little disappointing, but it has an HDMI port, a 3.5mm audio jack, and two USB-A and two USB-C ports, which lends the Chromebook Plus 514 versatile connectivity.
Design score: 4 / 5
Acer Chromebook Plus 514 review: Performance
(Image credit: Future)
Handles productivity, video, and light gaming
Sharp and bright display
Noisy at times
Benchmarks
These are the results of our benchmarking tests for the Acer Chromebook Plus 514:
TechRadar Battery Life Test: 8 hours and 30 minutes Jetstream2 Benchmark: 275.980 Kraken Benchmark: 438.7ms Speedometer 3.0: 16.5 (±1.3)
I found the performance of the Chromebook Plus 514 quite impressive. Apps are quick to launch and switch between, and it handles multiple browser tabs without issue. This is thanks to its 8GB of RAM, which allows for seamless multitasking for the most part. Light productivity tasks, such as spreadsheet editing, are also dispatched without issue.
The Chromebook Plus 514 streams ultra-high-definition content with aplomb, too, and it even has capable gaming performance. I managed to play Asphalt Legends Unite on high graphics settings with next to no slowdown, which was impressive.
However, the downside of all this power is that the Chromebook Plus 514 can get quite loud as the fans kick in. It’s not as loud as other devices I’ve tried though, and the pitch at which they whir isn't grating. The chassis can also get quite warm at the rear, but again not to a bothersome degree.
On the other hand, the display is hard to fault in any regard. The WUGXA resolution is very clean and sharp, capable of surprisingly high brightness levels for a Chromebook. Contrast is also strong and colors are vivid, although perhaps not quite to the extent of some displays.
(Image credit: Future)
However, plenty of viewing angles are possible and it does a respectable job of eliminating glare in unfavorable lighting conditions. In essence, it rivals the displays of not only the best Chromebooks, but also some of the best laptops.
Typing on the Chromebook Plus 514 is a mostly pleasant experience, thanks to the generous spacing of the keys. Their travel is quite deep, which helps with tactility; however, they lack dampening, which can make them feel a little harsh when you're thumping away rapidly.
Thankfully, despite its large size, the trackpad didn’t get in my way while typing. It’s also precise and responsive, as well as offering smooth gliding. Its large surface area helps to make navigation that little bit easier, too.
Unfortunately, the speakers on the Chromebook Plus 514 aren’t particularly impressive, producing a tinny sound owing to the lack of bass response. Small amounts of distortion can also be heard at times, but the overall audio quality is clear enough to be usable, if not enjoyable.
Performance score: 4.5 / 5
Acer Chromebook Plus 514 review: Battery life
(Image credit: Future)
The battery life of the Chromebook Plus 514 is reasonable. During our test, which involved running a movie on a continuous loop, it managed to last about eight and a half hours, which is about average compared to other Chromebooks we’ve tried.
It’s a markedly better performance than the Acer Chromebook Plus 515, which we rate as the best student Chromebook, as that device only managed a paltry five hours. However, it's worse than the Acer Chromebook Spin 314 (2023), which managed to exceed over ten hours.
Battery life: 3.5 / 5
Should I buy the Acer Chromebook Plus 514?
Attributes
Notes
Rating
Price
The Chromebook Plus 514 has a reasonable starting price, placing it somewhere in the middle of the Chromebook Plus market.
3.5 / 5
Design
The Chromebook Plus 514 looks good from the outside, although the keyboard is a little drab. Overall build quality is good, though, and the port selection is useful.
4 / 5
Performance
For a Chromebook, it’s fast no matter the task, and it can handle multiple workloads quite well, although it can get a little noisy in such cases.
4.5 / 5
Battery life
Battery life is fairly average relative to other Chromebooks, outlasting the weakest among them but falling short of the strongest.
3.5 / 5
Total Score
The Chromebook Plus 514 is fast at all kinds of tasks and has a fantastic WUXGA display. Starting prices are reasonable as well, all of which makes it worth your consideration.
4 / 5
Buy it if...
You have diverse uses in mind The Chromebook Plus 514 handles productivity, video playback, and mobile games very well, thanks to its spec and display quality.
You need good ports The Chromebook Plus 514 has plenty of USB ports and includes HDMI and audio jacks, all of which are useful.
Don't buy it if...
You want a convertible Chromebook Reclining the screeen to 180 degrees is useful, but the display can’t be folded back and used like a tablet.
You want silence If you want the silent operation of, say, the best MacBooks, then the Chromebook Plus 514 isn’t going to be for you.
Acer Chromebook Plus 514 review: Also consider
Acer Chromebook Plus 514
HP Chromebook Plus 15.6-inch
Acer Chromebook Plus 515
Price
$399 / £399 (about AU$560)
$549.99 / £449.99 / AU$749
$399.99 / £399.99 (around AU$633)
CPU
Intel Core 3 100U (8 threads, 4.7GHz)
Intel Core i3-N305 (8 threads, 3.80GHz)
Intel Core i3-1215U
Graphics
Integrated, Intel UHD Graphics
Integrated, Intel UHD Graphics
Intel UHD Graphics
RAM
8GB LPDDR5
8GB LPDDR5
8GB
Screen
14-inch WUXGA (1920 x 1200) IPS, 16:10
15.6-inch FHD (1920 x 1080), 144Hz, 16:9, non-touch screen
15.6-inch FHD (1920x1080) IPS, 16:9
Storage
128GB UFS
128GB UFS
128GB
Ports
2x USB-A, 2x USB-C, 1x HDMI, 1x 3.5mm audio
1x USB-A, 2x USB-C, 1x microSD, 1x 3.5mm audio
1x Type-A USB port, 2x Type-C ports, 1x HDMI port, and 1x headset jack
Wireless
Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth
MediaTek Wi-Fi 6 MT7921 (2x2), Bluetooth 5.3
Intel Wireless Wi-Fi 6E AX211, Bluetooth 5.1
Camera
HD 1080p
1080p FHD camera with privacy shutter
1080p HD video at 60 fps
Weight
3.15lbs (1.43kg)
3.81lbs (1.73kg)
3.7lbs (1.68 kg)
Dimensions
12.9 x 8.9 x 0.8 inches (32.7 x 22.5 x 2cm)
14.28 x 9.5 x 0.78 inches (36.26 x 24.15 x 1.98cm)
14.2 x 9.39 x 0.79 inches (360.6 x 238.5 x 19.99 mm; W x D x H)
HP Chromebook Plus 15.6-inch The HP Chromebook Plus 15.6-inch offers a performance close to the Chromebook Plus 514, courtesy of its similar specs. However, it doesn’t quite have the same premium veneer of the Chromebook Plus 514, and while its display is also excellent, its Full HD resolution lacks the sharpness of WUXGA. Read our full HP Chromebook Plus review.
Acer Chromebook Plus 515 If you’re looking for a more budget-friendly Chromebook Plus, the Acer Chromebook Plus 515 is a fine choice, thanks to its strong performance and great display. It’s not as quick as the Chromebook Plus 514, and the battery life pales in comparison, but for the price, it represents great value all the same. Read our full Acer Chromebook Plus 515 review.
How I tested the Acer Chromebook Plus 514
Tested for two days
Used for work and entertainment
Chromebook reviewing experience
I tested the Chromebook Plus 514 for two days, during which time I used it for working and for entertainment.
I streamed 4K content on YouTube and played games such as Asphalt Legends Unite. I also connected it to various peripherals via Bluetooth and its ports.
I have plentiful experience with Chromebooks and other mobile devices, and have reviewed a number of them as well.
In a world where many of the best antivirus tools are just brands run by the same few companies, Malwarebytes is refreshingly different. Despite being informally established way back in 2004, it’s still independent, still run by its founder, Marcin Kleczynski, and still providing effective malware-hunting software for millions of users worldwide.
Malwarebytes Premium Security is a capable antivirus range with phishing protection, identity protection, and (at the top of the range) even a full and unlimited Mullvad-powered VPN (no restrictive ‘200MB a day’ limits here, you can use it as much as you like.) There are apps for Windows, Mac, Android and iOS and you can try them right now with limited free editions.
(Image credit: Malwarebytes)
Malwarebytes Premium Security: Pricing
Malwarebytes Premium Security is available in various flavors, depending where you are in the world.
Premium Security Standard is the full antivirus with browsing protection. It’s priced from $44.99 a year for a one device license, dropping to $78.73 if you sign up for two years. A five device license costs $79.99 for one year, $139.98 for two; a 20-device license costs $229.99 for one year, $402.48 for two (that’s $10.6 per device per year.)
Premium Security Plus adds an unlimited VPN, but is only a little more expensive at $59.99 for a one device, one year license; and $99.99 to protect five devices for one year, or $184.98 for two.
Premium Security Ultimate includes full identity protection with data removal, 3 bureau credit monitoring and $2 million in identity theft insurance. As with similar products, it’s priced significantly higher. Even a single user, one-year license costs $119.99 in year one, and it doubles on renewal to $239.99.
If you’ll use the VPN, then these look like reasonable prices. Norton 360 Standard has antivirus, a full VPN and one or two extra features (password manager, 2GB cloud backup), but although it looks cheap at $39.99 for a one year, three device license, it jumps to $94.99 on renewal. Premium Security Standard can protect five devices for a similar price.
If you’re unsure, Malwarebytes also has a limited free version. This doesn’t include real-time protection; it detects and removes existing threats, but can’t protect you from new attacks. But it’s still an easy way to sample the app and get a free for how Malwarebytes Premium might work for you.
The Malwarebytes interface puts most common tasks just a click or two away. (Image credit: Malwarebytes)
Malwarebytes Premium Security: App design
Malwarebytes Premium Security has a simple and straightforward design. While many security suites expect you to decipher cryptic icons and browse through panel after panel after panel to find what you need, Premium Security displays all its essentials up-front. Even total security newbies will figure out the basics at a glance.
There’s a Scan button to, well, launch an antivirus scan, for instance. The VPN panel has your selected location and a Connect button. Real-Time Protection status is displayed in a reassuring green, and although there are some complex settings, you won’t see them unless you go looking.
Having captions for almost every option means the dashboard has a text-heavy look, and it’s not as visually stylish as some of the competition. But it’s also less intimidating and much easier to use, and that’s what matters most.
We still found a few tasks that were a little awkward. When Malwarebytes incorrectly identified a safe file as malicious, for instance, we went into Quarantine, chose the file and hit Restore. But because there was no ‘Restore and never detect this file in future’ option, Malwarebytes restored the file, then immediately detected it as a threat and quarantined it again. We had to manually add the file’s folder to Malwarebytes’ ‘Allow List’ before we could restore it properly.
There were technical issues, too. Antivirus needs to protect itself from malware, but we found it was theoretically possible for an attacker to remove Malwarebytes’ filter drivers. We’re not marking Premium Security down for this because it didn’t seem to affect detection, but it’s an unnecessary potential vulnerability that we don’t see with the best antivirus.
(Image credit: Malwarebytes)
Malwarebytes Premium Security: Antivirus scanning
Malwarebytes didn’t launch a full antivirus scan on launch, so we clicked the Scan button to manually run one of our own. First-time antivirus scans can sometimes take hours as an app crawls every corner of your device, but Malwarebytes Premium Security takes a lighter approach and scans the most commonly infected areas only. This worked well, with the scan completely in only 13 minutes, but still finding all our test malicious files.
A Scan Scheduler enables automatically running future scans without getting in your way. Set a start date, a frequency (hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, once or on reboot), and when a scan is due and your device is idle, Malwarebytes pops up to run its checks. We would like a few more controls (many antivirus have an option to postpone scans when your device is on battery), but, overall it’s a flexible scheduler which makes it easy to scans for threats.
Malwarebytes Premium Security works well with Explorer. You can check files, folders or drives directly from the right-click menu, and have a verdict in a few seconds. Well, normally: the app doesn’t handle simultaneous scans, so if there’s already a system scan running in the background (or you just haven’t closed the report window from a previous scan), you can check anything else until it’s finished. But this isn’t unusual, and Malwarebytes does at least display a big notification as a warning.
(Image credit: Malwarebytes)
We spotted one potential scanning issue. If Malwarebytes tries and fails to scan a password-protected zip, it doesn’t display any warning: it just tells you it’s scanned the file and everything’s fine. If you’ve accidentally included malware in that zip, you’ll assume it’s safe, and if you send it to a colleague then they might do the same. That’s a recipe for trouble.
Bitdefender handles this much better. If a Bitdefender app detects a password-protected archive, it asks you for the password so it can check the file properly. And if you don’t know the password or the file otherwise can’t be scanned, it displays a warning, so it’s clear that you’ve not been given a completely clean bill of health. That’s a much safer approach, and we’d like to see Malwarebytes do the same.
Malwarebytes isn’t tested often by the labs, but we found some decent results at MRG Effitas. (Image credit: Malwarebytes)
Malwarebytes isn’t tested by most of the independent antivirus labs, making it more difficult to compare with the big name competition, but the company does appear in a handful of reports.
The Malwarebytes website proudly points to its AVLab ‘Product of the Year’ award, but this isn’t quite as impressive as it sounds. ‘Top Product’ award doesn’t mean ‘better than all other products’; any provider gets it if they appear in three tests in a year and block at least 99% of threats each time. Nine vendors were awarded’ Product of the Year’ in 2024 alone.
Malwarebytes does better at MRG Effitas, where Malwarebytes Mobile Security and its business product, ThreatDown, blocked all threats in their respective Android 360 Programme and 360 Assessment tests. That’s good to know, but it’s not enough data to calculate a position for Malwarebytes in our overall Malware Protection chart.
Malwarebytes quickly spotted most of our test threats. (Image credit: Malwarebytes)
Malwarebytes Premium Security: Malware protection
Lab results are important, but we also run plenty of our own tests. These began by connecting a USB key with 50x known malware samples. Premium Security didn’t immediately scan the drive, but when we tried to open a file, it detected it as a threat, then scanned the rest of the drive and detected the others.
We would like an option to scan removable drives when they’re connected, but Malwarebytes’ scan-on-access approach is faster, and the app did a good job of protecting us from known threats.
Next, we launched a custom ransomware simulator on our review laptop. An antivirus can’t detect this from the file signature alone because we’ve never released it into the wild, making the simulator a great test of behavior monitoring.
The results were disappointing: Malwarebytes Premium Security watched but did nothing as our simulator encrypted thousands of user documents. We don’t read too much into that - Malwarebytes detected every real-world ransomware sample at MRG Effitas, so it’s clearly working well on the tests that matter - but most antivirus apps detect and block our ransomware immediately, and we’d be a little happier if Malwarebytes did the same.
(Image credit: Malwarebytes)
Malwarebytes Premium Security: Anti-phishing
Malwarebytes Premium Security includes what the website calls ‘Robust scam protection’, where the app ‘shuts down robocalls, scam texts, phishing attempts, and dangerous decoy websites.’
To get a feel for Malwarebytes’ effectiveness, we first compiled and tried to access 50 of the very latest phishing sites. The results were disappointing, with Malwarebytes blocking a poor 16% (the best web protection tools stop 70-90% of threats.)
Fortunately, Malwarebytes has a second layer of protection in its BrowserGuard browser extension. We installed this on Chrome, ran the test again and it made a big difference, with the two layers now blocking 62% of our test malicious links.
That’s good news, although we still prefer anti-phishing tools to block threats at the system level. BrowserGuard protects all the top browsers - Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari, there’s even a Telegram beta - but it can’t shield smaller browsers or any of your other apps.
Next, we tried to access 50 malware-hosting links. Malwarebytes performed much, much better here, with Premium Security alone (no need for BrowserGuard) blocking 94% at the URL level. The remaining files reached our hard drive without detection, but were spotted and blocked on launch.
Overall, Malwarebytes does a reasonable job of protecting users from online threats. We would like to see less reliance on the BrowserGuard extension, though, and other antivirus providers typically do a much better job of blocking phishing sites.
(Image credit: Malwarebytes)
Malwarebytes Premium Security: Unlimited VPN
Malwarebytes Premium Security Plus (the middle of Premium Security’s three plans has a very valuable extra in an unlimited VPN. This encrypts your traffic when you connect to public Wi-Fi, ensuring snoopers and malicious hotspots can’t spy on what you’re doing or direct you to fake websites. It allows you to change your IP address to make it seem like you’re in another country, maybe allowing you to access streaming content or other websites that are normally blocked.
Malwarebytes’ VPN is essentially Mullvad underneath, with the same network and locations. It’s not quite as good as buying Mullvad direct, because Malwarebytes’ apps don’t have quite as many VPN features and the company can’t offer the same level of specialist VPN support. But it’s good news overall because Mullvad is fast, powerful, and has a great reputation for privacy.
The VPN has a decent-sized network of 87 locations spread across 49 countries. It’s strong in Europe and North America, with 19 locations in the US alone. There’s less coverage elsewhere, but Malwarebytes still manages 10 locations in Asia, 4 in South America, 2 in Africa, and it covers all the key countries we expect.
Malwarebytes VPN is easy to use. A panel displays the VPN status (on or off) and the currently selected location. Tap Change and you can choose a new country, or tapping Connect activates the VPN in a few seconds.
There are lots of features underneath, especially for an antivirus app VPN (they’re usually basic.) Auto-connect tells the VPN to automatically activate when the app starts or you connect to public Wi-Fi; a kill switch blocks your internet if the VPN drops; split tunneling allows you to choose apps which won’t use the VPN; enabling Multi-Hop VPN gives you extra security at the expense of a little speed, and the list goes on.
Malwarebytes misses out some useful settings (you can’t choose a VPN protocol, for instance presumably because it’s trying not to overload consumers with too many technical options. We checked , but overall it looks more capable than the average security suite VPN. But how does it perform in real-world testing? We wanted to find out.
(Image credit: Malwarebytes)
Malwarebytes Premium Security: VPN Performance
We tested Malwarebytes VPN by running multiple tests across several top speed-testing sites and platforms, including SpeedTest.net’s website and command line tool, Measurement Labs and Cloudflare.
The results were inconsistent, though always acceptable. Median speeds across sessions ranged from an excellent high of 950Mbps (as good as we see from any provider), to a low of 398Mbps (a little below average, but more than enough to browse or watch the highest resolution of streams.)
Malwarebytes VPN includes a kill switch to protect your traffic. It’s, well, a little inconvenient to use. Most kill switches only block your internet if the VPN drops accidentally, but Malwarebytes’ is always active. You can’t use the internet at all unless the VPN is connected, or you keep manually turning the kill switch off and on again (like we said: inconvenient.)
Malwarebytes is based on Mullvad VPN, and although that’s great for privacy, it’s much less impressive at unblocking streaming sites in other countries. In our last tests, it got us into BBC iPlayer, the UK’s ITV and Channel 4, and Australia’s 9 Now, but failed with Netflix, US Amazon Prime Video and Disney Plus.
This is no great surprise - security suite VPNs are never as capable as the best stand-alone VPNs - but, still, Malwarebytes VPN is better than most of the antivirus-related competition. If you only need the VPN basics then it’s a valuable extra for the suite.
Malwarebytes Premium Security doesn’t include its full identity theft protection as standard, but there is one bonus feature. A ‘digital footprint’ tool scans previous data breaches for your email address and reports on anything it finds.
This starts by Premium Security prompting for your email address. The search box warns that entering the address automatically gives permission for Malwarebytes to send you ‘product updates and security tips’, which doesn’t seem entirely fair. If you’ve bought the product already, why should Malwarebytes expect you to accept more marketing emails before you can even use one of its features?
We entered and verified our email anyway, hit Scan, and waited a few seconds for the results.
These began with a list of the breaches where our email appeared. There were an impressive 67, including - oops - a 2016 breach when Malwarebytes’ own forum was compromised.
Every antivirus ‘dark web scanner’ can do that, but Malwarebytes goes further. Rather than force us to wade through all 67 breaches, it gives us separate tabs to instantly see our exposed accounts, passwords or personal information.
These might relate to breaches from long ago, but they’re still important. Scroll down the Passwords tab and, if you see a password you’re still using, that’s an important warning: hackers could try it with different platforms to compromise those accounts.
The Personal Information section is more worrying. We found some of the breaches contained our address and a landline phone number. We can’t do much (okay, anything) about that, but it’s still good to know.
US users get one other big plus: Malwarebytes also identifies any breaches containing your SSN (Social Security Number), which could be misused to claim benefits, access credit or commit fraud.
Most antivirus apps have some kind of dark web scanner, but these usually have even less features than free websites like haveibeenpwned.com. Malwarebytes’ identity scanner leaves these trailing in its digital dust, by finding significantly more details and making them much, much easier to access. It’s a very welcome feature which adds real value to Malwarebytes Premium Security.
Malwarebytes Premium Security: Final verdict
Malwarebytes Premium Security is an unusual antivirus range. It’s missing a lot of features compared to the high-end competition : there’s no password manager, parental controls, webcam hijacking protection, secure file deletion and more. But that also makes it more lightweight, simpler and cheaper, and Premium Security Plus and Ultimate do have a very valuable extra in their unlimited VPN.
Malwarebytes’ core malware protection is strong, too, especially if you can add an extra layer in its BrowserGuard extension. If you’re a Malwarebytes fan and you only need the security basics, it might be worth a try, but everyone else will get better protection elsewhere. Bitdefender and Norton 360 have more features, and Avast One has a great antivirus engine and a limited 5GB-a-week VPN for free.
