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Asus Vivobook S 15 Copilot+ review: beautiful laptop, half-baked AI
5:54 pm | July 4, 2024
Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Laptops | Comments: Off

Asus Vivobook S 15 Copilot+: Two-minute review

The new Copilot+ PC edition of the Asus Vivobook S 15 is an absolutely exceptional piece of kit. The overall aesthetic and design style is extraordinary. It’s clean and crisp, with a beautiful metal finish complete with exceptionally subtle Asus branding. This is a professional device at its core, and it really does show. 

Open up the Vivobook and you’re greeted with an outstanding OLED display, with sharp vibrant colors, and a snappy 2880x1620 resolution, all hurtling along at 120 Hz. That’d be good enough, but Asus has color-calibrated this thing as well, so the contrast and vibrancy are stunning. Combine that with sound developed in conjunction with Harman/Kardon (which is honestly some of the best audio I’ve heard coming out of a laptop ever), and the Vivobook S 15 is lining itself up to be an absolute winner.

The Asus Vivobook S 15 Copilot+ in silver pictured on a wooden desk.

(Image credit: Future)

For hardware, the most interesting element is the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processor. It’s an Arm-based system-on-a-chip (SoC) similar to Apple’s M3 line of chips found in the MacBook Air, and features an incredibly low 45W power draw. That’s been paired with 16GB of 8,440 MHz DDR5 memory (a phenomenally high speed even given current desktop PC standards), and a solid 1TB of PCIe 4.0 storage. Combine all of that with a bevy of connectivity options, plus a relatively affordable price tag, and all of a sudden you’re looking at one of the best laptops out there for general day-to-day work.

It’s not flawless however, it still struggles in games with no dedicated GPU (although AI upscaling does help a ton here), and the general AI features are (right now at least) somewhat limited, with only Microsoft Copilot and Co-creator being the most fleshed out features of the lot. 

Still, AI aside, the Vivobook S 15 is just an utterly almost flawless thing. As traditional laptops go, it’s outstanding, easily competing with the likes of Dell’s XPS line, and far above and beyond the likes of Huawei’s MateBook D16. For the price you’re paying, there’s little not to love.

Asus Vivobook S 15 Copilot+: Price and availability

The Asus Vivobook S 15 Copilot+ in silver pictured on a wooden desk.

(Image credit: Future)
  • How much does it cost? $1,299.99 / £1,299.99 / AU$2,699
  • When is it out? Available now
  • Where can you get it? Available now in the US and the UK

When it comes to the price, the Asus Vivobook S 15 is impressively affordable for what you’re getting. Rolling in at $1,299.99 (£1,299.99 / AU$2,699), it packs in some serious hardware for that cash. There's also a variant with the slightly less powerful Snapdragon X Plus chip for $1,099.99 in the US, although the availability of that model in other regions is unclear at the time of writing.

Not only do you get a decent processor for day-to-day work and streaming, plus 16GB of ridiculously high spec memory, and a TB of PCIe 4.0 storage, but it also features one hell of an OLED display, with a 3K resolution, 120 Hz refresh rate, and enough color accuracy (and vibrancy) to keep even the most eagle-eyed of graphic designer happy.

This is one of the first Snapdragon X laptops out there, and as such it is a little unproven mind you. It does lag behind in more traditional PC benchmarks, such as GeekBench and CineBench, but for general office work, web browsing, and daily activities it’s far more than capable. Just don’t expect a super seamless experience all the time.

There are very few laptops out there, that pack in so much hardware for such little outlay. There’s AI capacity here too, of course, being one of the main selling points of the S 15 (more on that in a bit), but even without it, the S 15 is absolutely outstanding.

  • Value: 4.5 / 5

Asus Vivobook S 15 Copilot+: Specs

The Asus Vivobook S 15 Copilot+ in silver pictured on a wooden desk.

(Image credit: Future)

The Asus Vivobook S 15 Copilot+ comes in one main configuration with the 12-core Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chip, although a model featuring the 10-core Snapdragon X Plus SoC is also available for a slightly lower price in some regions.

Asus Vivobook S 15 Copilot+: Design and Features

The Asus Vivobook S 15 Copilot+ in silver pictured on a wooden desk.

(Image credit: Future)
  • Outstanding Screen
  • Material choice is stunning
  • Broad range of ports

As you’ve likely guessed by this point, the Asus Vivobook S 15 is an absolutely beautiful professional laptop or workbook. The satin metallic gray chassis is crisp and sharp, with nice smooth rounded edges. The Asus branding, what little there is, is a simple sans serif typeface, either just below the screen or engraved gracefully into the rear lid. The bezel on the screen is slim and almost nonexistent. Similarly, the keyboard, which is chiclet by design, provides a sublime typing experience, and the trackpad likewise does its job admirably too.

The I/O certainly isn’t lacking either. For your money, you get two USB 4 Type-C ports, two USB 3.2 Type-A ports, a Micro-SD card reader, a 3.5mm combo audio jack, and an HDMI out as well. It also comes with a fairly admirably built-in microphone, along with a decent built-in FHD webcam as well.

In general, it’s actually just a very well-built laptop. There’s no gimmicky folding display, or 2-in-1 design here for you to get used to, no touch-screen capability, or pens, just a simple, clean design. If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it, seems to be the motto.

The Asus Vivobook S 15 Copilot+ in silver pictured on a wooden desk.

(Image credit: Future)

Under the hood, you of course get that Arm-based Snapdragon processor. This is the X Elite X1E 78 100 chip (catchy), running at 3.4 GHz, and it features 12 cores, no hyperthreading, and a 42 MB cache as standard. Asus touts that this thing has a total AI processing power of around 75 TOPs to help with the on-board AI capabilities the Vivobook S 15 has, that’s paired with a dedicated “Neural Processor” as well (Qualcomm’s Hexagon NPU) which adds an additional 45 TOPs to the equation.

That’s been paired with 16GB of LPDDR5X memory rated at a whopping 8,440 MT/s. That’s ridiculously quick, even by some of the best desktop PC standards, and quite a curious addition, that suggests that both AI tasks and these Snapdragon chips really do benefit from high-frequency memory, perhaps even more so than the likes of AMD and its Ryzen processors (which generally benefit from higher frequency kits thanks to their Infinity Fabric interconnect being tied to the memory speed). The only minor downside here is that the Vivobook S 15 has soldered LPDDR5X, and there are no alternative models either, so 16GB is your lot sadly.

The Asus Vivobook S 15 Copilot+ in silver pictured on a wooden desk.

(Image credit: Future)

Because at its heart, the Snapdragon is an Arm-based chip, running off a different architecture compared to traditional processors found from AMD and Intel (which typically operate on an x64 architecture design), support is a bit mixed when it comes to general application use. That generally means you are going to find a lot of programs listing the CPU as “emulated”, Windows is effectively forcing the Arm processor to emulate and behave as a traditional x64 chip in certain programs, to ensure they operate correctly. That will have a minor detrimental effect on overall performance, but it shouldn’t be that noticeable if I’m honest. Arm and Asus clearly learned from the troubles Apple encountered with its first M1 processors, and compatibility is far greater now than it was back then for Arm-based processors because of it.

The Asus Vivobook S 15 Copilot+ in silver pictured on a wooden desk.

(Image credit: Future)

As for the less volatile storage, Asus has popped in a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD, and it does a pretty good job when it comes to sequential transfers, although more on that in a bit.

  • Design: 4.5 / 5

Asus Vivobook S 15 Copilot+: Performance

  • For day-to-day usage, this is flawless
  • Priced just right for what you’re getting
  • Gaming is still nowhere near a dedicated GPU

The Vivobook S 15 might have a bit of an oddity when it comes to its processor, but it still holds its own with some of the best out there to date. In general day-to-day use, the S 15 was cool and quiet, zipping along nicely. A particularly enjoyable experience with that screen. Cooling was handled well, and noise was minimal, one of the big benefits of the super-efficient Arm chips. 

In benchmarks however, it is admittedly a bit of a different story, compared to something like Huawei’s MateBook D 16 (admittedly not available US side) with its Intel Core i9-13900H, the Vivobook did struggle in certain benchmarks, although perhaps not by as much as you’d think. GeekBench 6.2.1 provided the most intriguing results of the bunch, with the Snapdragon X landing a score of 2,444 in single core, and 9,008 in the multi-core test. Compare that to the i9-13900H, which scored 2,605 in single-core and 12,568 and you start to get a picture of just how close Arm is getting in terms of performance, particularly given it's often running an emulated version of the program on top of that.

Asus Vivobook S 15 Copilot+ benchmarks

Here's how the Asus Vivobook S 15 Copilot+ performed in our suite of benchmark tests:

Geekbench 6:
Single - 2,444
Multi - 9,088
3DMark:
WildLife Extreme: 6,091
Solar Bay: 9,933
CrossMark:
Overall - 1,181
Productivity - 1,050
Creativity - 1,377
Responsiveness - 1,062
1080p movie playback battery life: 14 hours 18 minutes
CrystalDiskMark 8:
Read: 5,024MB/s
Write: 3,623MB/s

That multi-core difference does give Intel the edge there of course, by a healthy 28%, but you’ve got to bear in mind that it’s scoring that with 20 total threads, compared to the Snapdragon’s 12. All while consuming more power, operating at 5.4 GHz, and running at hotter temps as a result. The gap is starting to close between Arm and x64 and that’s incredibly exciting.

Graphically however Intel still has the edge, with its Iris Xe graphics performing considerably better in our benchmark results. 3D Mark Wildlife Extreme for example scored just 6,091 with the Snapdragon and its Qualcomm Adreno chip, versus a staggering 13,731 with Intel. Similarly, in games at their native resolutions, Total War Warhammer 3 on Low scored 33.9 fps on Intel’s chip, versus just 13.7 on the Adreno.

The Asus Vivobook S 15 Copilot+ in silver pictured on a wooden desk.

(Image credit: Future)

But there’s a catch here, and that’s the AI upscaling tech that’s built natively into the Vivobook S 15. You can actually drop the resolution scaling to 50% in Total War Warhammer 3, let the notebook do its thing (it’s automatically applied to all titles), set the graphical profile to Ultra, and watch the game run at 20fps instead. Sure, that’s not playable for this kind of title, but that’s a significant improvement particularly given you’re now running the game on Ultra and not the lowest profile. Although admittedly it still doesn’t look the best, and needs significant antialiasing improvements, it’s a start.

Traditional performance aside, this is after all one of the first Copilot+ AI laptops out there, and there’s a lot to report here too. Copilot generally is very similar to any other LLM you may have used, such as Google Bard or Chat GPT. There’s a button on the keyboard to open it up, or you can click next to the Start Menu, and open up a window to chat. It’s limited to a number of queries per 24 hours, unless you sign in, and behaves like pretty much every other LLM. It doesn’t have access to your system directly, so can only suggest what you can do.

Live captioning is also heavily touted on the product page. It’s meant to be able to give you captions on any content (regardless of web browser or media format), and live translate from one language to another. I found it was generally very laggy and slow to use, even in English-to-English. Live translation was also much worse, with Japanese or Norwegian, often missing out entire sentences, or translated sentences appearing five to ten seconds after the content had occurred. It also struggled with accents and regional dialects, particularly with variants of British English. Recall (where Windows can find a file based on a description) is also not currently implemented and is “coming soon” in a Windows side update.

The Asus Vivobook S 15 Copilot+ in silver pictured on a wooden desk.

(Image credit: Future)

Moving away from the software side, when it came to the Display, and particularly the audio, the experience was outstanding. That screen is absolutely gorgeous, with a 15.6-inch OLED panel at 2880 x 1620, you get a 211.82 PPI density, and the colors are just phenomenal. Combine that with a buttery smooth 120 Hz refresh rate, along with adaptive sync as well as a color-calibrated profile from Asus and it’s just dreamy.

Likewise, the audio experience is exceptional too. Asus has worked with Dolby Atmos and Harman/Kardon on the built-in speakers, and they’re some of the best I’ve heard on a laptop at this price. Trebles are crystal clear, there’s plenty of mid, and a relatively well-rounded bass as well. You’re still going to get better results from some of the best headphones out there of course, or a decent speaker system, mixed with a decent subwoofer - but for a laptop? Nah, this is shockingly good.

  • Performance: 4 / 5

Asus Vivobook S 15 Copilot+: Battery life

The Asus Vivobook S 15 Copilot+ in silver pictured on a wooden desk.

(Image credit: Future)
  • Can last for multiple days of work and holds charge well
  • Bundled fast-charger

Asus rates the Vivobook S 15 at 70WHrs for its battery capacity, and it comes with a fast-charging 90W AC USB Type C adapter as well. It reckons you should be able to get around 18 hours of total battery life in general day-to-day use. In my testing, it landed around the 17-hour mark or so, more than enough for several days of office work and presentations without charge.

That figure did dip a bit when I was watching content on YouTube and in video calls, but otherwise, the Vivobook S 15 fell exactly where I expected it to in that regard. There was never a moment where I was particularly concerned r.e. the battery life on this thing that’s for certain.

  • Battery life: 4.5 / 5

Should you buy the Asus Vivobook S 15 Copilot+?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Asus Vivobook S 15 Copilot+: Also Consider

How I tested the Asus Vivobook S 15 Copilot+

As usual with laptop reviews, I replaced my daily driver with the Asus Vivobook S 15 for a week, testing out all my usual work duties including web browsing, word processing, and answering emails. I also used it for a bit of leisure time too - watching Netflix and YouTube, and trying my best to play some games (though it struggled a little in that area).

I've been reviewing computers of all sorts for years, and I've used a wide variety of laptops for my own work throughout that time. To see Qualcomm push ahead with its own Arm-based chips in such a successful way is the real game-changer here - no matter what Microsoft might tell you about AI. Arm is here to stay, folks.

  • First reviewed July 2024
Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE (2024) review: a great, if not mind-blowing, refresh
12:08 am | June 29, 2024
Author: admin | Category: Chromebooks Computers Computing Gadgets Laptops | Tags: , | Comments: Off

Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE: Five-minute review

In early 2023 I reviewed Google's first dedicated gaming Chromebook, the Acer Chromebook 516 GE, and it changed my mind about Chromebooks and gaming. So I was excited to get my hands on the long-awaited refresh, the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE (2024).

The Chromebook has been upgraded in every meaningful way, from the display to the specs, and even has new AI features included for those looking to double it as a productivity machine. Unfortunately, there are a few aspects that have been left in the dust in the meantime, which could impact whether this is a truly robust refresh worth reinvesting in if you already have the original model.

The screen is a 16-inch IPS display with a 2560 x 1600 resolution and 350 nits of brightness. The refresh rate is a lovely 120Hz, making it perfect for most video games, while the sRGB 100% color gamut pairs well with the Chromebook's AI tools for creative and editing projects. 

It's good to see that so much was invested in upgrading the display since it's the most important aspect of the gaming experience for the Chromebook Plus 516 GE.

black chromebook on wooden desk

(Image credit: Future)

The outer design is rather brand, identical to the original Chromebook 516 GE, though that tends to be a trait among budget gaming laptops in the first place. Despite that, it has a sturdy yet decently light chassis, especially for the screen size, which makes transportation that much easier.

Its keyboard and trackpad have been mostly left the same as well, which is a good thing as they were already quite solid on their own and needed little tampering. The webcam is very good, with 1080p at 60fps video, which is more than what many of even the best laptops offer. And while I do appreciate the physical switch on the side that turns the webcam off and on, the camera itself should have a physical shutter for added security.

The port selection is varied and includes two USB Type-C ports, a USB Type-A port, an HDMI 2.1 port, an ethernet port, and a combo jack. For its size, however, more USB ports as well as an SD card reader could have been added.

There's still a massive downside to its design, and that's the still abysmal sound quality. Google boasts that the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE features "cinematic sounds with DTS audio" and I can confirm that it's not the case. There's a tinny, almost muddiness to the sound, which shows through even with YouTube videos, and sounds even worse when playing games. You'll want to invest in the best PC gaming headsets if you get this Chromebook.

black chromebook on wooden desk

(Image credit: Future)

Like its competition, the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE (2024) has plenty of AI features built into the Chrome OS. But one of the more unique traits is that they use a combination of local and cloud storage. 

The webcam, for instance, has a feature that automatically adjusts both picture quality and lighting when using the webcam. It's pretty handy for minor enhancements but don't expect any major improvements either.

There are plenty of other AI tools, which are mostly powered by Google Gemini. Help Me Write generates text based on prompts and lets you edit text based on tone and more, while Help Me Read summarizes PDFs and websites by simply right-clicking the text. 

Focus is a tool that turns on a Do Not Disturb mode once you select a window of time, a Google Task you want to finish, and a YouTube Music playlist. There's Magic Editor which uses AI to enhance and correct images on Google Photos, or you can use generative AI to create unique wallpapers and video call backgrounds.

My favorite tool is Project Gameface, an AI-powered hands-free control with face and gesture tracking. This is a major accessibility feature, as you can custom-map out ways to control the entire OS through non-hand controls. While it's still in beta, what I was able to experience is quite impressive and I truly look forward to the finished product once it launches.

black chromebook on wooden desk

(Image credit: Future)

Game dashboard is the new tool that pairs the best with the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE (2024). You have access to features like window resizing, screen capture, game capture, and control mapping, a great option for those who can't or don't want to invest in a game recording setup.

The game recording is fine, though naturally not as high as a premium capture card, but it does a surprisingly great job thanks to the screen quality. It's also easy, allowing you to avoid setting up a whole mess of wires. Control mapping is a standard feature but always appreciated, especially for games that don't come with it like mobile titles that rely on touchscreen controls.

Benchmarks

Here's how the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE performed in our suite of benchmark tests:

TechRadar Battery Life Test: 6 hours and 57 minutes
Chromium Github Octane Benchmark: 93,523
Browserbench Jetstream Benchmark: 302
Kraken Benchmark: 415ms
WebGL Aquarium (30,000 fish): 85 fps

The upgraded specs of the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE (2024) shine through in its benchmark scores, as these are some of the highest test results I've seen in any Chromebook and are solid improvements over the already excellent scores from the original Chromebook 516 GE model.

I was particularly impressed by the WebGL Aquarium, as it was able to maintain a high 85fps with the maximum amount of fish enabled.

Image 1 of 2

black chromebook on wooden desk

(Image credit: Future)
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black chromebook on wooden desk

(Image credit: Future)

The Intel Core CPU is certainly working overtime, which is great to hear from those interested in playing the best PC games through Steam or any Android titles. While you'll mainly want to game through a streaming service like Nvidia's GeForce Now or Amazon Luna, having the option to play locally is always a boon. 

Just know that the Steam Borealis is still in beta, meaning you'll have to enable it through developer mode at your own risk. But in my experience, it runs quite well with little in the way of slowdown or bugs.

The best way to use this Chromebook, however, is through GeForce Now. If you're using the most premium subscription option and you have a solid internet connection, the experience is incredibly smooth and stutter-free. I played AAA titles like Cyberpunk 2077 and Baldur's Gate 3 with no issues at all. And thanks to the great display, the games look even better than in the original model and beat out most other Chromebooks.

battery closeup

(Image credit: Future)

The battery life isn't too shabby, lasting about seven hours when under heavy video use and a bit more under normal work conditions. While it's not the best for a Chromebook, it still outstrips most Windows laptops using an Intel Core CPU. The good thing is that you can play for quite a bit before running low on battery, making it way more portable-minded than other gaming laptops.

It lasts a little longer when it comes to productivity work, ensuring that you'll have a full work or school day worth of charge. And it charges pretty fact too, so you won't be stuck at an outlet for too long in case you need to juice up.

Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE: Price & availability

  • How much does it cost? starting price is $649.99 (around £515 / AU$980)
  • When is it available? Available now
  • Where can you get it? Available in the US

The price for the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE (2024) is $649.99 (around £515 / AU$980), which is the same price that the original Acer Chromebook 516 GE sold for at launch. While it's a steep price point for a Chromebook, for a gaming laptop it's a steal, especially for more casual gamers who don't require much firepower for the games they play, or those who only want to stream games instead of playing locally.

Currently, it's only available in the US through Best Buy, with no units available to purchase in the UK and Australia at the time of this writing.

Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE: Specs

The Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE I reviewed came with an Intel Core 5 120U CPU with Intel Arc Graphics, up to 16GB of LPDDR4X SDRAM, and 256 GB PCIe storage. There aren't any options to upgrade your specs, and Chromebooks are notorious for poor self-repairability and no self-upgrade options.

Should you buy the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE?

black chromebook on wooden desk

(Image credit: Future)

Buy the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE if...

You want solid game streaming performance
This is a laptop made for game streaming and it does it well. The vibrant display also helps, as titles look clean and clear through near stutter-free gameplay.

You’re on a budget
This laptop is quite affordable compared to other gaming laptops with similar or worse performance and specs. If you're on a budget, this is an excellent choice.

Don't buy it if...

Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE: Also consider

If my Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE (2024) review has you considering other options, here are two more laptops to consider...

How I tested the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE

  • I tested the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE for several weeks
  • I tested its gaming capabilities
  • I stress-tested the battery using the TechRadar movie test

First, I tested the general weight and portability of the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE by carrying it around in a laptop bag. After I set it up, I ran several benchmarks to thoroughly test out its upgraded specs and compare them to the original model. Finally, I used a variety of programs and applications to test out both battery life and general performance during work-like conditions.

The Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE is a gaming laptop that can also do productivity work, meaning I needed to test out both of those capabilities. I also tested out battery life to see how long it could last off AC power.

I've tested plenty of Chromebooks, making me more than qualified to understand benchmark test results and how to properly stress test machines to see how well they perform as a work machine.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed June 2024

Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 review: makes me believe in the Surface series again
10:27 pm | June 26, 2024
Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Laptops Windows Laptops | Tags: , , , | Comments: Off

Microsoft Surface Laptop 7: Two-minute review

It's no secret that I'm not fond of the Microsoft Surface Laptop series, so even with the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chip and all the new Copilot+ AI bells and whistles attached to the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7, I wasn't expecting much of an upgrade. But to my surprise, it's quickly turning into one of the best Windows laptops and best laptops of the year thanks to a sleek design, solid battery life, and excellent performance.

One of the most consistent aspects of the Surface Laptop series is its design. The chassis is always sleek and lightweight yet sturdy, there's a nice variety of colors to choose from, and the keyboard feels snappy and responsive while typing. Thankfully, the Laptop 7 doesn't change on that front but instead embraces its positives while focusing its efforts on enacting improvements it actually needs.

black laptop on white table

(Image credit: Future)

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 boasts a 13.8-inch (2304x1536) HDR-supported display with a high refresh rate of 120Hz - especially high for a non-gaming laptop. It weighs less than three pounds, ensuring its super portability - an absolute gem for any office worker or student who needs to transport it around between home and work offices or to and from school. I wish it also featured an OLED screen option but omitting it keeps the cost down, so it makes sense.

Its keyboard is also just as snappy and responsive as you'd expect, though the touchpad has minimal response issues that need to be rectified by adjusting the sensitivity settings. The webcam is the standard 1080p fare, nothing too shabby, but it lacks a physical shutter which for its price point is an oversight worth mentioning.

Port selection isn't the worst, as it comes with two USB Type-C ports, a USB Type-A port, and a combo port. But it's certainly not well-balanced either, with it missing several important ports like ethernet, SD card reader, and an HDMI. Even worse, Microsoft still insists on that abysmal Surface Laptop connect charging port, which only serves to take up space that could have been given to literally anything else.

It has a solid sound quality as well, with instruments sounding clear and distinct from each other. Bass isn't too shabby as well, which is always surprising when it comes to a non-Ultrabook or gaming laptop.

black laptop on white table

(Image credit: Future)

Another defining feature of the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 is its AI Copilot+ integration, including the Copilot key that Windows AI laptop keyboards are now outfitted with. As of now, however, the Copilot key simply doesn't work and there's no way to reprogram the key to make it work either.

Microsoft Surface Laptop 7: Benchmarks

Here's how the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 performed in our suite of benchmark tests:

3DMark: Steel Nomad Light: 2,018; Fire Strike: 5,792; Time Spy: 1,893; Wild Life Unlimited: 25,590
Cinebench R23 Multi-core: 8,275 points
GeekBench 6.3: 2,809 (single-core); 14,426 (multi-core)
PCMark 10 (Home Test): 5,495 points
25GB File Copy: 24.05
HandBrake: 5:02
CrossMark: Overall: 1,406; Productivity: 1,323; Creativity: 1,534; Responsiveness: 1,297
Web Surfing (Battery Informant): 15:44:32
Battery Life (TechRadar movie test): 10 hours, 10 minutes
Sid Meier's Civilization VI: Gathering Storm (1080p, Ultra): 21 fps; (1080p, Low): 21 fps

The Copilot feature does work and quite well I might add. I tested out the Copilot chatbot on all three levels - creative, balanced, and precise - and it performed quite well on all three. The answers, ranging from basic math to a mock interview to an outline for a novel, were well thought out and well sourced. You can also enable various plug-ins for more types of conversations or to help with shopping for a variety of products.

I also tried out two other features included in Microsoft Paint called Cocreator and Image Creator, both powered by AI model DALL-E. The former transforms your own drawing into an AI-generated picture, and you can choose between several styles as well as the level of 'creativity' (aka how much of the finished product is from you versus the AI). Unfortunately, Image Creator uses a credit system, in which you're awarded 50 credits when you sign up for the service and each image generation costs one credit, so you'd need to pay for additional images after you run out of credits.

black laptop on white table

(Image credit: Future)

There was one feature that I couldn't test out, the infamous Windows 11 AI Recall. Set to launch alongside Windows AI PCs, it was kicked back to the Windows Insider Program when its numerous security issues came to light. 

Basically, Recall takes screenshots every few seconds, building up a library of images you can search via AI. But the issue is that the Recall database, which contains all the data from those screenshots and the history of your PC usage, is stored in plain text (in an SQLite database).

This makes it light work for hackers to obtain highly sensitive information like finances, passwords, work data, and more. So as of right now, Recall is not available for me to test out, and until Microsoft works out the safety issues it shouldn't be.

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7's benchmark results are quite impressive, especially compared to its competition. Even without a GPU, the CPU does an incredible job of maintaining a high level of performance no matter which and how many tasks you're currently balancing. These benchmarks prove that the Laptop 7 can handle productivity work, conference calls, streaming, and more.

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black laptop on white table

(Image credit: Future)
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black laptop on white table

(Image credit: Future)

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 I tested featured a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite CPU and boy does it make all the difference. A common denominator between the past Surface Laptops is their poor performance, as they juggle a massive amount of tasks behind the scenes that result in major slow down, freezes, and even the aptly named 'Blue Screen of Death.'

But the Laptop 7's Qualcomm chip rounds out and fills in the numerous issues. It starts up and runs quickly, it's responsive when it comes to loading video websites as well as AI tools, and programs run as smoothly as they can. The latter is especially important as one of the biggest drawbacks was constant crashing when certain large programs booted up, including benchmarks like PCMark 10. But since I've been using it, there have been no performance hiccups in the slightest - in fact, I genuinely enjoyed my time with this laptop and would jump at the chance to make it my official work machine.

black laptop on white table

(Image credit: Future)

The battery life has also been rejuvenated, with an absolutely incredible 15 hours of off-AC power when it comes to regular use and just over ten hours with the TechRadar movie test. It's rare to find a laptop with that kind of lasting power outside of MacBooks these days, and coming from a Windows laptop it's even more unbelievable.

Another improvement is the ventilation system, as I never experienced any overheating even when the Laptop 7 had been running for several hours without break. Better vents also lead to better performance and less risk of crashes, going hand in hand with its superior battery life.

Microsoft Surface Laptop 7: Price & availability

  • How much does it cost? starting price is $999.99 / £1,049.99 / AU$1,899
  • When is it available? Available now
  • Where can you get it? Available in the US, UK, and Australia

The starting price for the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 13.8-inch model is $999.99 / £1,049.99 / AU$1,899, netting you a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus processor with 16GB RAM and 256GB SSD storage. The 15-inch model starts at $1,299.99 and comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processor, 16GB RAM, and 256GB SSD.

It's cheaper than the entry-level M3 MacBook Air 13-inch and matches the starting price of the M3 MacBook Air 15-inch, while the highest configuration roughly matches the price of the highest configuration of the MacBook Air.

Microsoft Surface Laptop 7: Specs

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 13.8-inch model starts with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus processor with 16GB RAM and 256GB SSD storage. The 15-inch model starts out with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processor, 16GB RAM, and 256GB SSD.

Should you buy the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7?

black laptop on white table

(Image credit: Future)

Buy the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 if...

You want solid productivity performance
This laptop can handle plenty of productivity work including video calls, documents, web surfing, and more while never sacrificing performance on any level.

You’re on a budget
This laptop is quite affordable, beating out other laptops with similar or worse performance and specs. If you're on a budget, this is an excellent choice.

Don't buy it if...

Microsoft Surface Laptop 7: Also consider

If my Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 review has you considering other options, here are two more laptops to consider...

How I tested the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7?

  • I tested the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 for a week
  • I tested it using productivity and creative applications
  • I stress-tested the battery using the TechRadar movie test

First, I tested the general weight and portability of the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 by carrying it around in a laptop bag. After I set it up, I ran several benchmarks to thoroughly test out the new Qualcomm processor. Finally, I used a variety of programs and applications to test out both battery life and general performance during work-like conditions.

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 is meant to be a portable laptop with a thin and light chassis. I had to spend a good amount of testing not only on performance issues but also looking for any ventilation issues. I also tested out battery life to see how long it could last off AC power.

I've tested plenty of gaming PCs and laptops, making me more than qualified to understand benchmark test results and how to properly stress test machines to see how well they perform as a work machine.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed June 2024

Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra review: Samsung’s impressive answer to Apple’s MacBook Pro
5:43 pm |
Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Laptops | Tags: | Comments: Off

Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra: Two-minute review

Everything from the design to the pricing through to the market positioning of the new Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra begs comparison with Apple's MacBook Pro laptops. Even the way it integrates with Samsung's Galaxy smartphones has a whiff of Apple about it.

But we're not going to mention the iconic Apple alternative – well, not very much, anyway. As it happens, the wedge-shaped profile of the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra actually mimics the original MacBook Air more than any MacBook Pro model, though Apple never made an Air this big.

This is a 16-inch model fitted out with a glorious Samsung AMOLED display with touchscreen capability, plus one of Intel's latest top-spec mobile CPUs, a surprisingly powerful Nvidia GPU, 32GB of RAM and a beefy 2TB SSD. So, yeah, this is very much a top-tier premium laptop.

However, it's not one of those desktop replacement monsters that you'd barely ever want to take out and about. At 16.5mm thick and 1.86kg, it's relatively thin and light for a 16-inch laptop. So, think of it as a larger form-factor but still genuinely portable laptop from the luxury end of the spectrum, packing plenty of performance. Yup, a bit like the 16-inch notebook from you-know-who.

With that in mind, it's not a huge surprise that the Galaxy Book 4 Ultra is priced up at the very top-end of the market, too, so along with Apple laptops, it must take on premium Windows systems from among the very best laptops including the Razer Blade and Dell XPS.

So, it needs to be very, very good, to justify its price and deliver on those unavoidable comparisons – and fortunately the new Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra manages this. It offers excellent performance levels, a top-notch OLED touchscreen, seriously impressive battery life for a 16-inch portable, and a premium build – even if there are weaknesses here that include the built-in speakers.

Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra: Price and availability

Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra front angle

(Image credit: Future)
  • How much does it cost? Starts from $2,999 / £3,149
  • When is it out? It's available now
  • Where can you get it? In the US and UK

For the base model, you're essentially looking at about $3,000 or £3,000 in the US and UK (Samsung doesn't officially sell its Galaxy Books in Australia). So, the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra is an extremely expensive laptop by any sensible measure. Of course, a similarly specified Dell XPS system comes in at a similar cost. In fact, if you match this Samsung by specifying an OLED panel and RTX 4070 graphics, the XPS is actually around 13% more expensive.

It's harder to compare directly with Apple's laptops, but a roughly equivalent MacBook Pro 16 with an M3 Pro chip and 2TB of storage is around 15% pricier. So, you can actually make an argument for the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra being a relatively good value proposition, expensive as it undoubtedly is.

  • Value: 4 / 5

Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra: Specs

Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra underneath

(Image credit: Future)

The Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra comes in two configurations, a base model and upgraded version – though with both configurations, the 1TB SSD can also be upgraded to 2TB. (Note that, at least for now, the 2TB SSD upgrade is not available in the US).

Here are the specs for the two models of Samsung's Galaxy Book 4 Ultra at a glance.

Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra: Design and Features

Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra rear lid

(Image credit: Future)
  • Premium all-alloy build
  • Slick wedge-shaped chassis
  • Reasonable connectivity

It's hard to imagine that this generation of Samsung Galaxy Books would look the way they do if Apple's MacBook Air had never existed. There are just too many similarities in the wedge-shaped design and the mid-grey anodized finish.

The 16-inch Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra, which sits right on top of the Galaxy Book range, is no exception. It looks just like the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Pro, just on a slightly larger scale.

Does Samsung do a premium laptop as well as Apple? Not quite – but by any other standard, this is an extremely well put together notebook. For the most part, it feels extremely robust and rigid, too, the only exception being the keyboard bed, which exhibits just a touch of flex.

Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra trackpad

(Image credit: Future)

The trackpad is huge, which is a good thing, and finished with a slick glass surface. However, it's a moving 'diving board' design and can't ultimately compete with Apple's Force Touch trackpads, which trade moving parts for haptic feedback. You might think a haptic-powered trackpad sounds like a gimmick, but once you've used one, you won't want to go back to a conventional diving board design – they just feel clunky by comparison.

Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra front left

(Image credit: Future)

Anyway, the large 16-inch OLED panel has fairly (but not quite) ultra-slim bezels on three sides, and the display itself has some corner pixels disabled to give the impression of curved corners, which looks pretty neat. However, there's also a fairly large bottom bezel which slightly undermines the overall aesthetic and detracts from the fashionable screen-to-body ratio.

For sure, the Galaxy Book 4 Ultra doesn't even come close to Dell's XPS laptops when it comes to minimal bezel sizes and that ultra-modern look. Still, the top bezel does at least provide enough space for a full 1080p webcam. If you own a Samsung Galaxy smartphone, you can also wirelessly connect that and use it as a high-performance webcam.

This is just one of several tightly-woven features that once again mimics the way Apple's MacBook, iPhone and iPad ecosystem is optimized for cross-device operation. For instance, you can sync files across Samsung devices wirelessly just like Apple's AirDrop feature, or use a Samsung Galaxy Tab as a secondary display. It's all pretty handy, though overall it doesn't feel quite as seamless and effortless as the Apple alternatives – and Samsung's update software is particularly clunky.

As for audio, Samsung has fitted the Galaxy Book 4 Ultra's quad-speaker system as a bottom-firing setup. Ultimately, it's a disappointing sound experience. The volume levels are adequate, but the dynamic range is pretty limited and really only on par with mainstream Windows 11 laptops. Once again, the comparison with the MacBook Pro line is unflattering – Apple's laptops produce far, far better audio.

Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra ports

(Image credit: Future)

In terms of connectivity, you get two USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 4 support, a Type-A USB 3.2 port, HDMI 2.1 and a MicroSD memory card reader. Oh, and a regular 3.5mm audio jack. That little collection should cover most bases and it's nice to have some full-sized and legacy ports. Just bear in mind that charging takes place via one of the USB-C ports, so day-to-day, you'll typically only have one spare.

Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra angle

(Image credit: Future)

Speaking of charging, the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra's power supply is a fairly hefty unit – but with that comes pretty speedy charging. You can add 55% charge in just 30 minutes. The power brick is also not entirely out of keeping with what is a fairly large laptop with a 16-inch display. For sure, this is definitely a thin-and-light representative of the 16-inch breed at 16.5mm thick and 1.86kg – but equally, it's no ultraportable.

  • Design: 4 / 5

Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra: Performance

Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra keyboard

(Image credit: Future)
  • Benefits from Intel's latest mobile CPU
  • Decent Nvidia GPU
  • Stunning OLED display

Intel's new Core Ultra chips (Meteor Lake) are arguably a little disappointing. That said, the Core i9 Ultra 185H in this Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra is still all the CPU 99% of users are going to need, and then some. It's even good enough to make for a powerful portable content creation machine with tasks like video encoding.

Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra benchmarks

Here's how the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra performed in our suite of benchmark tests:

Geekbench 6:
Single - 2,448
Multi - 12,465
3DMark:
Night Raid - 35,809
Fire Strike - 17,797
Time Spy - 8,025
CrossMark:
Overall - 1,865
Productivity - 1,664
Creativity - 2,232
Responsiveness - 1,582
PCMark 10 Productivity battery life: 9 hours 29 minutes
1080p movie playback battery life: 19 hours
Cyberpunk 2077:
1080p - 66fps Low ; 55fps Ultra
Total War: Three Kingdoms:
1080p - 163fps Low ; 65fps Ultra
CrystalDiskMark 8:
Read: 6.7GB/s
Write: 4.9GB/s
4K Read: 80MB/s
4K Write: 165MB/s

Then there's the Nvidia RTX 4070 graphics card. Okay, Nvidia does offer more powerful mobile GPUs, but the 4070 will still blow away any integrated graphics. Indeed, while you might expect Samsung to have clocked the RTX 4070 right down thanks to the Galaxy Book 4 Ultra's thin chassis, it's actually configured in an 80W spec, which is well above the 35W minimum that Nvidia dictates. Likewise, the 1,605MHz boost clock far exceeds the 1,230MHz minimum, even if it's also a fair way off the top 2,175MHz spec some mobile 4070s are capable of.

At any rate, there's decent 1080p performance on offer, though running the latest games at the screen's 2,880 x 1,800 native resolution is generally going to be a tall order, even with the help of DLSS upscaling. But there's some genuine gaming ability here, along with some GPU grunt when it comes to playing with the likes of filters and effects in video and image editing. Combined with that Intel CPU, it's a very effective partnership.

It's a similar story for the memory and storage. The 32GB of RAM will be more than enough for almost any workflow, while the 1TB SSD is an OEM version of Samsung's popular 980 Pro PCIe 4.0 drive, capable of over 6.5GB/s of peak transfer speeds (albeit at this price point we'd quite like to have seen a 2TB drive fitted).

Then there's the screen. Ah yes, that screen: it's a Samsung AMOLED 2X with the aforementioned 2,880 x 1,800 resolution and up to 120Hz refresh rate (it also supports dynamic switching between 60Hz and 120Hz to improve battery life).

The pixel density isn't all that – both the Dell XPS 16 and Apple MacBook Pro 16 have sharper, higher resolution panels on offer. But once you've tried OLED, you won't want to go back to any LCD-based tech. With perfect lighting and contrast, no light bleed, fab viewing angles and much better response times, it's simply better. Oh, and it's a touchscreen, too, which no Apple laptop currently offers.

  • Performance: 4.5 / 5

Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra: Battery life

Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra top

(Image credit: Future)
  • Genuine all-day battery life
  • Delivers on Samsung's claims for movie playback

Samsung reckons the Galaxy Book 4 Ultra is good for 21 hours of video playback. That sounds like a tall order for a 16-inch laptop with powerful components. But you know what? It's actually doable, albeit in our testing it fell slightly short of 21 hours.

Okay, so you won't get that many hours with the screen set to full brightness – and we noticed some choppiness in video playback when using the dynamic refresh feature. So, the refresh rate is best set to 60Hz for viewing content on the move, but generally, color us impressed – this laptop has legs.

That impression is only bolstered by the 9 hours and 29 minutes it managed in the PCMark 10 Productivity battery life test. That's a pretty demanding workout in power consumption terms and anything near 10 hours is a good result.

  • Battery life: 5 / 5

Should you buy the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra: Also Consider

How I tested the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra

I used the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra as my daily driver for a week. That meant everything from work duties including web browsing, document editing and a little content creation, to watching movies in bed and playing games in the evening.

In other words, pretty much every use case. Along with our formal benchmark results, I also took the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra out on the road to get a feel for real-world performance and battery life, what it's like to lug around, and how well built it is.

I've not just been reviewing laptops for over 10 years, I've also used them as my primary computing devices for even longer. So, it's intriguing to see how the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra fits into that context. The answer, generally, is very well indeed.

  • First reviewed June 2024
HP Spectre Foldable 17 review: a flagship screen and hugely versatile device, but it’s fatally flawed
6:07 pm | June 25, 2024
Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Laptops | Tags: , , | Comments: Off

Two-minute review

HP’s Spectre Foldable 17 is, on the surface, an interesting device. If you were to look at the product page or any of the marketing material for the Foldable 17, no doubt you’d be impressed with the folding OLED panel, its crisp resolution, and the insane versatility that comes with it. 

That magnetic keyboard, shifting the display up and altering the resolution automatically, and the fact you can use it as a fully-fledged all-in-one PC, or a 17-inch tablet at the drop of a hat, is no word of a lie – and incredibly enticing. But really, that’s all a mirage, a ghostly silhouette of what – at its core – is a significantly flawed product.

Right now, there’s one spec available for the HP Spectre Foldable. It’s priced at $5,000 retail in the US (£4,850 in the UK, or AU$8,499 in Australia), and features an Intel Core i7-1250U processor, 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM (running at 5200MHz), a 1TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 SSD, and a 94.3Wh battery.

That’s honestly all there really is to say about it. You get a pen, a USB dock, along with a (fairly average) detachable Bluetooth laptop substitute keyboard-and-mouse-combo-thing, and that’s it. And it’s the hardware that really drives the nail into the coffin.

Yes, the screen is good – it’s a beautifully crisp OLED panel that recreates colors to an exceptional degree. It’s stunning to look at, bright at 500 nits, and can even shift its resolution from 1,920 x 2,560 to 1,920 x 1,820 depending on how you position that keyboard. But, here’s the thing: you’re paying effectively $5,000 for a screen with a bit of hardware attached. And that hardware doesn’t perform as well as laptops that are a fifth the cost of this HP offering. Huawei’s MateBook D 16 for example, or Dell’s XPS 13 Plus, or literally any other laptop really, will outperform this device. And that’s a problem.

If all you need is a laptop to edit documents on (and I’ll caveat that with “not large spreadsheets”), watch a bit of Netflix, and stream a touch of YouTube, then yes the HP Spectre Foldable will fit the bill. Yes, you can technically use it as an all-in-one or a tablet to do that as well, but then you’re paying $5,000 for that privilege when, to be frank, you could probably get as much, if not better, performance out of an OLED TV for half the cost.

HP Spectre Foldable 17: Price and availability

HP Spectre Foldable review

Windows still isn’t quite set up for tablets as well as it should be (Image credit: Future / Zak Storey)
  • How much does it cost? $5,000 / £4,850 / AU$8,499
  • When is it out? It’s available right now
  • Where can you get it? In the US, UK, and Australia

The price for the HP Spectre Foldable 17 is eye-watering. There is only one model available, priced at $5,000, or £4,850 in the UK, or if you live in Australia, AU$8,499.

This device goes by different names dependent on the region (Foldable in the US and Australia, or just Fold in the UK), but they are effectively the same model. All of them feature that 17-inch OLED panel, 16GB of soldered LPDDR5 RAM, and an Intel Core i7-1250U at their heart.

As to where you can buy the Spectre, the places to go are Amazon and Best Buy in the US, Amazon in the UK, and the HP store directly in Australia. There’s another big problem with the price, though, and that’s the fact that the Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED exists, certainly in the UK anyway. 

On paper, and to be honest, even at a quick glance, these two products are pretty much identical. The one difference being the Zenbook 17 Fold comes in (for the exact same spec) at a much lower £3,299 as standard (although we’ve seen it as low as £2,299). You can buy the Asus Fold in the US, but only from eBay sellers at this point, for similarly low prices.

  • Value: 1.5 / 5

HP Spectre Foldable 17: Design and Features

HP Spectre Foldable review

HP’s auto-keyboard detecting tech shifts the screen resolution depending on where you place the keyboard (Image credit: Future / Zak Storey)
  • Beautiful display
  • Materials are solid
  • Port selection is disappointing

So we’ve established that this is a premium product. The Foldable certainly doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to that price tag, but the same can’t quite be said for the overall design, however. 

Let’s start by addressing the good points. That OLED display is incredible. As standard it’s a 17-inch foldable screen that comes with a 2.5K resolution, 500 nits of brightness in HDR mode, and a ton of the usual features (including low blue light and brightview modes). It packs 1.07 billion colors into that array and produces a phenomenal 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio to back it up.

HP Spectre Foldable 17 specs

CPU: Intel Core i7-1250U
GPU: Intel Iris Xe Graphics
RAM: 16GB LPDDR5-5200
Storage: 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD
Display: 17-inch 1920 x 2560, OLED, 500 nits

It is only a 60Hz panel, however, unlike some of the OLED screens now available, so it’s not quite as buttery smooth as some of the competition with fixed-screen displays. However, we have seen bendable OLED panels go well beyond 60Hz, with Corsair’s Xeneon Flex being perhaps one of the better examples of what’s possible with the tech in terms of refresh rate at least.

The real party trick, however, is that fold, and how it incorporates into the design of the device. Namely, this isn’t technically one product. It’s a laptop, an all-in-one PC, and a tablet, depending on how you configure it. In the rear of the unit, there’s a kickstand that you can fold out to turn the Foldable into a pure 17-inch screen. You can then use the keyboard-trackpad combo to operate it like a standard desktop PC. Or alternatively, drop that kickstand, and convert it into a 17-inch tablet instead. 

Create a slight bend in the screen and place it on your desk, then attach the keyboard to it (via the power of magnetism), and you’ve turned it into a laptop. Interestingly, with laptop mode HP has some nifty software installed that detects the keyboard’s position, and adjusts the screen size and resolution accordingly, depending on where you place the keyboard, which is pretty neat. 

Rotation is supported as well: you can rotate the entire unit horizontally, one way or the other, and the display will twist to the correct orientation accordingly (although bear in mind that kickstand only works one way). In portrait mode, however, you are limited to one orientation.

That is mildly awkward, as this does place one of the only two USB-C ports on the top-left of the display. If you plug in the included USB dock on the bottom-right side of the screen, then your only option, if you want power in as well, is to have the cable trailing out of the top-left of the display, which looks pretty ghastly.

HP Spectre Foldable review

The included kickstand is great if you want to use the device as an all-in-one PC, although it does only work in one orientation (Image credit: Future / Zak Storey)

And it’s the ports that are the most frustrating to deal with. As standard, HP does include a USB hub with the foldable, but otherwise, you only get two USB-C Thunderbolt ports on here and nothing else. That’d be fine on a super-thin, small form factor device, but the Foldable is quite thick at 0.85cm, as that’s necessary to house all of that internal hardware.

HP Spectre Foldable review

The Spectre Foldable is thick - seriously thick - and only has two USB-C ports as standard (Image credit: Future / Zak Storey)

Then we get to the keyboard. It’s small, foldable, with fairly standard keys that feel okay touch-wise. It has a trackpad, a small amount of Spectre branding on there, and a soft-touch leather cover. It connects only via Bluetooth and has a 330-hour battery life. You can charge it wirelessly off the display (when it’s fully on the device), but otherwise you’re stuck with a proprietary charging cable instead. 

HP Spectre Foldable review

For the money, the keyboard experience isn’t great (Image credit: Future / Zak Storey)

HP also reckons it should automatically pair with the Foldable 17 as well, but we consistently found that to be a weak point of the unit, particularly after restarting Windows, or letting the keyboard battery go flat. The one saving grace is you can magnetically stick the keyboard on the display, leave it there, and close the device without worry.

  • Design: 3.5 / 5

HP Spectre Foldable 17: Perfomance

HP Spectre Foldable review

The keyboard-trackpad combo has a phenomenal battery life, and wirelessly charges off the device, but connectivity can be an issue (Image credit: Future / Zak Storey)
  • Fine for light usage
  • Gaming and heavy productivity isn't possible

So, the design side of the equation, except for a few minor or indeed more major pitfalls depending on your perspective, is pretty okay to be fair. There are a few foibles, particularly with the keyboard and placement of ports, but generally speaking, disregarding the price, the HP Foldable is an awesome product.

However, coming to its performance, this is where things take a turn for the worse. Now let’s be clear, you have to look at this with that price in mind: $5,000 is no small sum, particularly for a laptop like this.

I took it for a spin, benchmarking it across all manner of tests, just to see how the Foldable would perform. My test conditions were strict, and it was plugged in, and on the high-performance power plan in Windows, with all of the latest updates applied, and chipset/drivers installed. I ran a number of tests, including Crossmark, Geekbench 6.2.1, Blender, and some limited gaming benchmarks as well.

Now, Intel’s integrated Iris graphics has come a long way, but it’s still nowhere near the calibre of the Alchemist architecture found in the Arc graphics cards. It’s just not going to be one of the best gaming laptops, and that’s fine, it’s not meant to be. However, when you’re spending $5,000 you do expect a modicum of performance.

In Geekbench 6.2.1 the Foldable scored 2,210 in single-core and 6,635 in multi-core. By comparison, the Huawei Matebook D 16 scored 2,605 in single-core and 12,568 in multi-core. That’s double the multi-threaded performance in comparison, from a laptop that clocks in at 25% of the price. The Foldable did have a slight edge when it came to CrystalDiskMark clocking in at 6,739MB/s for reads and 4,524MB/s for writes (sequential), but then we came to the gaming, or lack thereof. 

No matter what I tried, not one single benchmark would complete. In 3DMark Wildlife Extreme and Extreme Unlimited (tests designed for mobile gaming), the Foldable didn’t meet the minimum requirements, and Solar Bay (mobile ray tracing) was the same. I also tried Borderlands 3 and Total War: Warhammer III, on their lowest settings, and despite making it to the main menu, neither game would load the benchmark without crashing.

HP Spectre Foldable review

Is it a tablet? A plane? No, it’s a foldable screen (Image credit: Future / Zak Storey)

Blender performance was pretty dire too, at 26.81 for scene one, 17.14 for scene two, and 11.69 for scene three – less than half the performance of our comparative Huawei Matebook D 16. Likewise, Crossmark also got a pummelling across all four results, with scores ranging anywhere between 30-40% worse than the £1,200 Huawei notebook.

Clearly, when it comes to PC games this HP device isn’t going to be as capable as any of the best gaming desktops out there right now. Something like a dedicated gaming PC packing an Nvidia RTX 4080 Super, and maybe Intel Core i9-14900K, is obviously going to run rings around the Foldable 17.

However, the problem goes beyond this, as you could literally go out right now, and spend $3,500 to pick up a PC with a Ryzen 9 7900X, RTX 4070 Super, 64GB of DDR5 RAM, a 2TB PCIe 4.0 SSD, and a 32-inch 4K OLED screen, and still have $1,500 left over to get a good laptop. Or alternatively, if all you want is a powerhouse laptop with a stunning screen, you could spend $2,500 on something like an Asus Zenbook Pro 16X OLED and save yourself a ton of cash while getting way, way better performance levels.

If all you care about is streaming content on Netflix, or doing some light document work, and browsing the web, the HP Spectre Foldable is more than capable of that. But then, so is practically every laptop at every price point, even the budget ones, and for that crazy four-figure investment, you should expect more.

  • Performance: 1.5 / 5

HP Spectre Foldable 17: Battery life

  • Solid 11-hour battery life

For battery life, the HP Spectre Foldable performed well enough and pretty much met our expectations across the board. It wasn’t phenomenal by any means, but lasted a full day of working remotely, with wireless and Bluetooth devices connected to it.

As standard, the Foldable comes with a 6-cell 94.3Wh Li-ion polymer battery and is rated in its folded mode, with keyboard attached, at around 12.5 hours, which is roughly what I saw during my time testing.

If you detach the keyboard entirely and run the Foldable as a display, that time does drop, as you’re effectively enabling more pixels to be active as you are running a higher resolution – but otherwise, it’s still fairly consistent in that regard.

HP also has fast charging support on the Foldable as well, and with any 100W USB-C charger, you’ll get around 50% charge in 40 to 45 minutes, with a full charge taking a little over two hours in my testing.

  • Battery life: 4 / 5

Should you buy the HP Spectre Foldable 17?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

HP Spectre Foldable: Also Consider

HP Spectre Foldable 17: Report card

  • First reviewed June 2024
Asus Zenbook S 16: much more than just a refresh
6:16 pm | June 5, 2024
Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Laptops | Comments: Off

Laptops from Asus's Zenbook series are always impressive-looking Ultrabooks, with a unique design that sets them apart from nearly every other laptop in the market. The Asus Zenbook S 16 is no exception, sporting the iconic lined look and benefitting from a lovely thin and light chassis.

But this year's refresh has two key updates: the first being the addition of the AI processor and the second being the newly developed material it's made of. It's clear that this year Asus isn't content to sit on its laurels but instead is breathing new life into the Zenbook series.

Asus Zenbook S 16: price and availability

The Asus Zenbook S 16 is available in the US and UK, price starting at $1,699.99 / £1,599.99 (around AU$2,550). Meanwhile, Australia has other versions of the laptop (mainly the S 13) but not the 16-inch laptop.

For an Ultrabook, the retail price isn't too shabby, even bordering on reasonable. And now that it has an AI processor, that value has increased tremendously.

Asus Zenbook S 16: specs

Here are the specs for the Asus Zenbook S 16 at a glance. 

Asus Zenbook S 16: design

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light silver and grey laptops on table

(Image credit: Future)
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light silver laptop on table

(Image credit: Future)
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(Image credit: Future)
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(Image credit: Future)

Zenbook design is always impeccable, with those distinctive etched-in marks and unique texture that sets it apart from some of the other best Ultrabooks you can buy. And this year's Asus Zenbook S 16 is no slouch in that regard, especially when that design is paired with the white color variant. But the darker version makes the etched lines stand out more, so both versions are distinctive in their own way.

One of the biggest talking points is the new material that the Zenbook S 16 is made from, called Ceraluminum. Through a complex chemical process, aluminum oxide (essentially rust) is transformed from a brittle material into something strong, lightweight, and sturdy. And when I tried out the laptop myself, I could feel the difference in the material. It was much lighter but felt just as tough as previous models.

It features a 3K resolution display with a 120Hz refresh rate, surprisingly high for a non-gaming laptop. It also comes with Lumina OLED, giving it a beautifully clear and crisp image that's perfect for creative and editing projects.

The keyboard is solid, with well-sized keys for any finger size and type, and a snappy feedback. But what really sells this laptop is its glass touchpad, which not only feels ultra smooth and responsive but has a feature called Smart Gesture. This means you can set up shortcuts for the top and sides of the pad to control various tasks like volume, video controls, and more.

Port selection isn't too shabby, with two USB Type-C ports, one USB Type-A port, a combo jack, and an HDMI port. No ethernet port, unfortunately - disappointing when we're dealing with an Ultrabook that should be premium in every way.

Asus Zenbook S 16: performance

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I wasn't able to properly test out the Asus Zenbook S 16 during my hands-on period, so unfortunately its true performance levels aren't known to me at this time. However, if we're going by the potential of AI processors then it's possible that this laptop could have some exceptional benchmark scores.

The ventilation system has also been revamped, potentially lending itself to longer periods of use without overheating. It's called Airvent and it improves airflow while keeping moisture and dust out. You can see the unique design of the vent above the keyboard.

Asus Zenbook S 16: early verdict

light silver laptop on table

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The Asus Zenbook S 16 is probably the biggest change out of all the laptops Asus showcased so far. Not only does it have the AI processor upgrade but Asus invented a whole new material just to build the laptop with. 

Coupled with useful features like the touchpad's Smart Gesture and a brand-new ventilation system, and you have an Ultrabook that could very well be one of the best laptops in the market. I look forward to test-driving the Zenbook S 16 once it releases - and very few laptops have made me feel that way this year.

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x 14: A promising marriage of AI and hardware
9:04 pm | June 4, 2024
Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Laptops | Tags: | Comments: Off

Lenovo has a new line of laptops featuring Qualcomm chips, meant to handle the workload of AI tools and features while maintaining both performance and battery life. The Yoga Slim 7x 14 is the manufacturer's consumer offering, and it's shaping up to be an excellent one.

From my limited time with the laptop, I can tell you it has a relatively thin and light chassis (though the commercial offering was surprisingly lighter), yet feels sturdy. It's a portable, practical machine, which most office workers and students are sure to appreciate.

The specs are also impressive from what we're seeing right now though, depending on the final performance findings, we'll see just how much of a difference the Snapdragon CPU makes. This could be the deciding factor as to whether the Yoga Slim 7x 14 could even be one of the best laptops.

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x 14: Price and availability

The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x 14 was revealed just before Computex 2024. Hopefully, we'll find out more information about its availability in other regions once the event comes around. 

For now, however, we know that the laptop is launching in the US through Best Buy and Lenovo's online store and will retail for $1,299 (around £1,020 / AU$1,960).

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x 14: specs

The specs for the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x 14 can be seen below: 

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x 14: Design

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When considering a standard Lenovo laptop, you think of the classic black color with a very squarish and practical build. But the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x 14 is a beautiful Cosmic Blue color that, coupled with its thinner and lighter form factor, makes for a stylish and sleek machine you can take on the go.

The Yoga Slim 7x 14 sports a sturdy yet light chassis and a gorgeous 14.5-inch 3K OLED display, that supports HDR 600 True Black with 1000 nits of brightness. The keyboard is lovely to type on, with wider keys that mitigate mistypes for those with larger fingers or shaky hands.

The laptop packs a 1080P FHD web camera, which is of standard quality and perfectly suited for video conferencing. Unfortunately, it's covered by an E-shutter button and not a physical one, meaning there's always a risk of someone hacking your laptop and spying on you with the camera.

The most disappointing aspect of the Yoga Slim 7x 14 was the meager port selection, which only comes with three USB Type-C ports and one combo jack. I know priority was given to the thin form factor, but it's still a letdown not having some of the basic ports on the laptop.

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x 14: Performance

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The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x 14 is equipped with the Snapdragon X Elite, which not only is expected to give it unparalleled processing power according to all reports we've seen so far. Still, it will also provide the laptop with the battery power it needs to keep up with the energy-intensive AI tasks that it will be running.

According to these same reports, the Qualcomm CPU beats out Apple’s M3 and Intel’s Core Ultra 7 155H in Geekbench 6 – with 85% and 88% of the speed of the Snapdragon respectively. Its thermals are also impressive, it has great AI acceleration, and the battery life wins over similar market laptops in the local video playback testing.

Since my time with the Yoga Slim 7x 14 was limited, I couldn't perform any benchmarks myself. However, the laptop was quite speedy as I tried out various tasks like internet browsing. I also couldn't test out the AI features it comes with, which was a big selling point of the laptop. But I imagine that it'll work like most other offerings we're seeing right now.

Of course, once we get our hands on it for a review, we'll be able to fully and thoroughly test out all aspects of the laptop and see how Qualcomm's chips hold up.

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x 14: Early Verdict

blue laptop on table

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The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x 14 could potentially be one of the best laptops on the market, especially in the 14-inch sector. It's a sexy and lightweight machine that comes in an appealing color, a lovely display, a speedy and powerful processor with a long-lasting battery life, and a great keyboard and mousepad combo.

My only real gripe is the abysmal port selection that many other laptops in the same market beat out. But then again, if Apple can get away with it, Lenovo most likely can too. Otherwise, it's shaping up to be a convenient and well-rounded laptop that's perfect for consumers needing a productivity or streaming machine and the price is pretty affordable as well.

It'll also be interesting to see firsthand how well AI plays with the Qualcomm chip – whether the pair will work well together and create something greater than the sum of its parts or if it'll end up clunky and disjointed.

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HP OmniBook X AI PC – a brand revision gone mostly right
9:30 pm | June 3, 2024
Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Laptops | Comments: Off

HP is not only getting in on the AI action with its brand-new laptop, but the HP OmniBook X AI PC represents another massive change for the HP brand - it's consolidating and rebranding to make for an easier consumer shopping experience and to reduce brand confusion.

With this comes both the OmniBook and EliteBook lines, which include all the previous versions of HP laptops but combined within two brands: OmniBook and EliteBook. Both are outfitted with Qualcomm's Snapdragon CPUs and NPU. The latter, in particular, complements each laptop's integrated AI processes.

HP OmniBook X AI PC: price and availability

The HP OmniBook X AI PC was revealed just before Computex 2024.

The HP OmniBook X AI PC will launch in the US through HP.com and Best Buy at a starting price of $1,199.99 (around £1,020 / AU$1,960) with 1TB storage and will begin shipping on June 18, 2024.

HP OmniBook X AI PC: specs

Here are the specs for the HP OmniBook X AI PC at a glance. 

HP OmniBook X AI PC: design

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One of the most striking aspects of the HP OmniBook X AI PC is its sleek and gorgeous design. It's also lightweight and thin, two features always welcome in what's supposed to be an everyday portable machine. 

It comes in two colors, grey and white, with the latter much more distinctive. The 'OmniBook' label is on the back outside of the laptop, as well as under the keyboard, and opposing it is the new Helix logo representing the line (it's supposed to represent 'AI' and 'DNA').

Opening it reveals an equally gorgeous display and a keyboard filled with wide snappy keys perfect for larger or shaky hands. The touchpad is also sizable, which is a preference of mine as it makes navigation much easier. 

The webcam, standard fare in terms of resolution but greatly enhanced by HP's signature lighting tools, has a much more secure physical privacy shutter. It features a poly camera pro-control setting, which automatically transfers over any camera settings to other cameras you connect to the laptop. And the Poly Studio partnership that enhances the camera also adds more audio options.

HP OmniBook X AI PC: performance

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I wasn't able to take the laptop for a true test run, due to the AI features not being available to try out during the hands-on. But, looking at the impressive specs, there's plenty of expectation for the HP OmniBook X AI PC to churn out some excellent benchmark results.

HP did give me some impressive stats that, if they turn out to be true, would put Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite on the map for the foreseeable future. This laptop promises 26-hour video battery life, 22-hour Netflix (or other streaming services) battery life, 20-hour web browsing, nine hours of Teams (or another video conferencing service), and 20 days of battery life keeping the laptop on Standby mode.

It also apparently beat out the M3 MacBook Air on the multithreaded performance benchmark, which would also mean a massive win over Apple when coupled with the battery life. And as for the NPU, I was told that it runs at 45 TOPs

There are tons of AI tools to further enhance the webcam image including spotlight, background blur for conference calls, auto-framing, filters, and camera setting transferring. 

There's also the HP AI Companion, a chatbot and hub of AI tools. When used, the data is uploaded to cloud storage first, downloaded again, and then deleted from the cloud to maintain privacy. It seems to be a separate entity from Microsoft Copilot, though I couldn't test it out and see for myself how well it worked.

HP OmniBook X AI PC: early verdict

white laptop on table

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Visually, the HP OmniBook X AI PC looks amazing, with a sleek and lovely lightweight design that's sure to appeal to many buyers investing in a productivity machine. Its display is beautiful, and the keyboard and touchpad are also well-crafted and feel responsive and snappy to use.

As for performance and AI, it's difficult to make any judgment calls as I wasn't able to properly benchmark for the former and couldn't test out the latter due to the tools not being available at this time. However, if both the specs and AI features hold up well during our proper review, then we'll have a well-balanced laptop that could easily be one of the best thin and light laptops on the market - even one of the best laptops period.

Microsoft Surface Pro: giving the iPad Pro a serious challenge for the first time
10:30 am | May 23, 2024
Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Laptops | Tags: | Comments: Off

I've been wondering why Apple released its M4 chip in its new iPad Pro earlier this month when it hadn't even announced its M3 Ultra chip, but after attending Microsoft's Copilot+ PC Showcase and playing around with the new Microsoft Surface Pro, it makes a lot more sense.

The Surface Pro is a gorgeous device that can function as both a laptop and a tablet, easily putting it in the running as the best 2-in-1 laptop on the market, and now that it's packing a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite SoC, Microsoft might very well have a device that can take on the iPad Pro in a very real way.

Like the Microsoft Surface Laptop, the Surface Pro runs on an Arm-based processor which looks to be very similar to the Apple M-series of chips, so it's entirely possible that we'll get Apple M-series performance out of these too. 

Since Windows wasn't originally built with Arm in mind, and architectural differences translated into poor performance for 'Windows on Arm' in the past, Windows on Arm devices in the past weren’t great - so could this new generation finally change that?

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The Microsoft Surface Pro in tablet mode

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The Microsoft Surface Pro with the keyboard cover closed

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After my time with the Surface Pro, these problems look like they've been dramatically improved, though it's too soon to say whether they've been properly fixed until I get one in hand for independent benchmarking. 

However, with that caveat out of the way, the difference between the new Surface Pro and previous Windows on Arm devices is night and day, which puts the Surface Pro in a very competitive position vis-a-vis the newly released iPad Pro with M4 chip.

For one, the Surface Pro uses a fully-functioning Windows 11 operating system, unlike the iPad Pro, which uses iPadOS, a beefier version of Apple's mobile operating system for its iPhone, but not nearly as capable as macOS. This alone is going to make the Surface Pro a much more compelling device for those who need the robustness of a PC operating system.

The Surface Pro, which is available for preorder now, comes in two versions, one with an OLED display and one without.

There's wiggle room here to configure your RAM and Storage capacities, but just be wary that the price quickly scales up right alongside.

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The Microsoft Surface Pro

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The Microsoft Surface Pro in Dune colorway

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The Microsoft Surface Pro in black colorway

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The Microsoft Surface Pro on a table

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There are also four colorways: Black, Platinum, Dune, and my personal favorite, Sapphire. The Surface Pro is very lightweight and is easy to manage, and it has two USB-C ports.

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A composite image of the top and bottom sides of the Surface Pro

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A composite image of the long sides of the Surface Pro

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The keyboard docking pins on the tablet's side also take both the new Surface Pro Flex keyboard as well as previous Surface keyboards so if you already have one, you don't necessarily need to upgrade. 

There's also the new Slim Pen, which sits in a trough above the key deck, which can be a bit of a pain to dig out, but it's not insurmountable. There are also a few new accessibility features built into the new Flex Keyboard like haptics and better contrasting keycaps.

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The Microsoft Surface Pro Smart Pen docked in the Flex Keyboard

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The Microsoft Surface Pro Smart Pen

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The Microsoft Surface Pro with the keyboard cover and smart pen detached

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I wasn't able to do too much performance testing with the Surface Pro, so it's too soon to assess how well Microsoft has done with improving the compatibility and performance of Windows on Arm, but all signs seem to be pointing in the right direction on this front. 

I haven't tested the battery life either, but I absolutely believe the claimed battery life of 14 hours, which is very much in line with what an Arm chip is capable of, even with an OLED display, and the LCD version could very well get even longer battery life.

All of that remains to be seen once we get a production unit in hand to put it through more rigorous testing, so stay tuned.

Microsoft Surface Pro: Price & Availability

The new AI-powered Surface Laptop and Surface Pro tablet

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Pre-orders for the Microsoft Surface Pro are live in the US, UK, and Australia, with deliveries starting on June 18, 2024. 

Where to pre-order

US Surface Pro pre-orders
UK Surface Pro pre-orders
Australia Surface Pro pre-orders

The Surface Pro with LCD display, Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus, 16GB LPDDR5 RAM, and 256GB PCIe SSD storage. Upgrading to 512GB storage will bring that price up to $1,199.

The base OLED model of the Surface Pro will cost you $1,499.99/£1,549/AU$2,699, and has the more powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite SoC, 16GB LPDDR5 RAM, and 512GB PCIe SSD, but it can be upgraded up to 32GB RAM and 1TB PCIe SSD storage as well.

Microsoft Surface Pro: Early verdict

In the end, how well the Microsoft Surface Pro performs will be the biggest determination of whether this device is worth all of the hype around it, but from what I've seen in my limited time with it, everyone from creatives to office professionals may find a lot to love about it. 

If the Qualcomm Snapdragon X chips live up to their promise and Microsoft is able to successfully translate x86 apps through its new Prism emulation layer, the versatility, compatibility, and style of the Surface Pro will absolutely give Apple iPad users a reason to be envious for a change.

Microsoft Surface Laptop: ‘a sea change is in the air’
2:02 pm | May 22, 2024
Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Laptops | Tags: | Comments: Off

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

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

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

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

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

Microsoft Surface Laptop: Price & availability

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

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

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

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

Microsoft Surface Laptop: Design

A Microsoft Surface Laptop being shown at Microsoft's Copilot Plus PC Showcase

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

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

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

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

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

It's not all about the color though. 

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

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A Microsoft Surface Laptop at Microsoft's Copilot Plus PC event

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A Microsoft Surface Laptop at Microsoft's Copilot Plus PC event

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

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

A Microsoft Surface Laptop at Microsoft's Copilot Plus PC event

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

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

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A Microsoft Surface Laptop being shown at Microsoft's Copilot Plus PC Showcase

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A Microsoft Surface Laptop being shown at Microsoft's Copilot Plus PC Showcase

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

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

Microsoft Surface Laptop: Specs

Microsoft Surface Laptop: Performance

A Microsoft Surface Laptop being shown at Microsoft's Copilot Plus PC Showcase

The Surface Laptop powering three external 4K displays (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

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

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

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

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

A Microsoft Surface Laptop being shown at Microsoft's Copilot Plus PC Showcase

My doodling is on the left, the Cocreator interpretation is on the right (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

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

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

A Microsoft Surface Laptop being shown at Microsoft's Copilot Plus PC Showcase

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

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

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

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

Microsoft Surface Laptop: Early verdict

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

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

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

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

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

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