Now, I love my trusty M4 Pro 14-inch MacBook Pro. It helps me run all of what I do for my business, all my clients, and beyond. But, when I got word of a laptop with a rolling display from Lenovo, I knew it was going to be something uniquely incredible.
I've tested some of the best business laptops around. Some that have incredible performance, some with incredible screens, some with more power than some entire companies can produce, and some with features that are sweet and enhance productivity in cool ways. But a rolling laptop with an extendable display at the touch of a button is something that I never expected. After all, as Lenovo is keen to remind us, this is the world's first rollable laptop for working on the go.
The ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable's extending display isn't even a gimmick; it works, and it works well. It's genuinely helpful, and it's something that I have learned to love and cannot wait to see what version 2 looks like.
Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable: Price and availability
(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future )
The Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable is a first-generation device. No other laptop has done this before, so I don't expect this to be a budget laptop. On top of that, this computer packs an Intel Core Ultra 7, Windows 11 Pro with Copilot, 32 GB of soldered memory and a terabyte of storage. This would be a capable business machine even without the rollable screen, that's just the icing on the cake.
Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable: Unboxing and First Impressions
(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future )
The Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable Laptop is the first time that I haven't left the charger in the box in a long time. Usually, I jump to using an Anker or UGREEN charging brick and cables due to being more compact and powerful than most laptop bricks (except for the monster workstations I test), or I know I'm going to be hopping from docking station to docking station and only need to maybe top off on the go. But, with Lenovo's GaN charger in the box, I may actually keep this one in my bag for a while as my USB-C Charger on the go, or at least I don't feel the need to change it up right away.
Beyond that, the computer comes with docs, and the laptop itself. pretty straightforward. Right away, after I started the computer, of course the first thing I had to do was open the rollup screen. That first time even to now, after using this computer in my personal rotation for 99 days at the time of writing this, I am still blown away at the display. It feels magical every time.
It's taken a little bit to get the settings dialed in the way I want, mostly with choosing to finally disable the smart widgets when I extend the display. For some, I could see this being super helpful, but for me, when I extend the screen it's because I want to control what is down there, not have Lenovo throw a calendar and some other widgets at me, but then again, maybe that's showing my control issues a bit too much.
Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable: Design & Build Quality
(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future )
The rolling mechanism still shocks me. I've opened and closed this display countless times, and still, I'm blown away. The motor-driven display is smooth, easy, and surprisingly fast.
Beyond the display, the keyboard is comfortable, even for all-day typing, and I appreciate the full-function row on the top. The touchpad is good, nothing amazing, but nothing negative so far, and the built-in fingerprint reader is a nice touch.
Lenovo made the ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable MIL-STD 810H-certified, with a still 50% recycled aluminum bottom cover.
Like I mentioned above, I've had this computer in my rotation for almost 100 days at the time of writing this. It's been one of the most fun laptops to carry around because everyone around stops and stares and asks questions, regardless of if I am working from an office I frequent, a coffee shop, a co working space, on a train or even in my own home, my three kids are shocked every time they see it, even my one-year-old daughter gasps "whoaoww" every time I extend the display.
When you first use the extended screen, Lenovo suggests using their smart workspace feature that allows for pinning apps or widgets for quick access. Personally, I didn't find anything worth putting there, but that could be due to my particularity.
What I do like to do, though, is when I want more screen, I will simply wait for it to fully extend while working on whatever I am working on, then I will use a quick command or the trackpad to pull the window down to the bottom third or half. That section is also great for messaging apps such as Slack or Project management tools like Notion. However, Lenovo has made this display so seamless and excellent that you don't even need to think of that extended display as an extension, but rather a continuation of the main display.
(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future )
Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable: Final verdict
The ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable laptop changes what I think of when I think of a laptop. It also changes what is possible when it comes to working remotely or on the go.
Granted, adding two inches of screen real estate is not the same as bringing along the Sotsu Portable monitor or whipping out a tablet for extra productivity, but it also isn't trying to be. This is a whole new way of thinking about laptop size and functionality.
Much like how when the Cybertruck hit the market and shook up the truck world by being a truck but not a truck, the ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable laptop is a laptop, but its more.
Should you buy a Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable?
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Value
First-Gen rollable laptop, yet reasonably priced for what it is
4 / 5
Design
Sleek design with smooth OLED rollable display
4.5 / 5
Hardware
Fast chip, fast ram, fast wireless, and a fancy display
4.5 / 5
Performance
Great for productivity, which is what it's designed for
4.5 / 5
Overall
This laptop is clearly for the individual that is productivity-focused, this is a really unique and powerful option
4.5 / 5
Buy it if...
You like new technology Rolling displays are still on the forefront, so if you want to hop on the bandwagon of new technology, check this out.
You always want more screen If you're the kind of person always wishing they had a bit more screen real estate, look no furtherView Deal
Don't buy it if...
You're needing the most powerful laptop experience This laptop is a productivity machine, but not the most powerful of workstations. It's a business laptop first and foremost.
You need a lot of ports Sadly, this laptop only has two USB-C/Thunderbolt ports. If you need more, this just does not have it, sadly
Powered by an RTX 5080 and featuring a large 16-inch, 165 Hz display, the A16 Pro delivers excellent gaming performance while doubling as a capable workstation. At the time of writing, there are two A16 Pro variants for sale – both equipped with the Intel Core 7 240H CPU, 32GB of (soldered) 5600MHz LPDDR5x RAM, a 1TB SSD and either an RTX 5070 Ti or, as tested, the RTX 5080.
The large screen folds back through 180 degrees to lie flat, has a 2560 x 1600 resolution, a 3 ms response time, a decent 400 nits of brightness and displays an excellent 100% of the sRGB color gamut. Ports include HDMI 2.1, a 5 Gbps USB-C port with power delivery and DisplayPort 1.4, 2x USB-A 5 Gbps (plus a USB-A 2.0 port), Gigabit Ethernet and a 3.5mm headset jack.
For the Gaming A16 Pro, Gigabyte includes a MUX switch but caps the GPU TGP for the 5080 at 115W. The laptop RTX 5080 can run at up to 150W, so a 115W limit means raw performance sits about halfway between that of an unfettered 5080 and a 5070, and is similar to a 5070 Ti.
While this seems like a major downside, what matters is performance for your dollar, and the Gaming A16 Pro is cheaper than a lot of higher TGP 5080 machines. At 36 x 26 x 2.3 cm, and weighing 2.3 kg, it’s also slimmer and lighter, making it a better choice for those who want to carry it every day. In fact, most thin and light laptops that feature powerful GPUs limit the TGP to keep heat under control.
For demanding games at the screen's native resolution, you will need to scale back the quality settings to maintain over 60 fps, while older ones will happily run at over 100 fps. To push towards the 165 Hz the screen is capable of, you will need to drop back to 1080p or use frame generation.
It depends on your game (or app) of choice, but in less demanding titles the 115W TGP 5080 is about 25% slower than one at 150W, and up to 22% faster than a 5070. In more intensive games, I saw the CPU create a bottleneck, bringing frame rates closer to that of the 5070. At full tilt, the Gaming A16 Pro emits a fairly loud roar from the cooling fans, but despite this, for sustained loads, performance is limited by the cooling capacity.
The A16 Pro is also a very capable workstation and we measured up to 90W charging via USB-C, so it can provide decent productivity performance without having to lug the larger power brick around. We wish it had a larger battery than the 76Wh models used, as while the 10 hours, 37 minutes of video playback is a decent result, we were disappointed by under five hours of light-duty work.
The keyboard and trackpad are both excellent, and the customizable RGB lighting modes are fun but also easily toned down to white if you want to blend in at the office. The 1080p webcam is nothing special in terms of image quality, but it does facial recognition for fast logins.
While the A16 Pro is an excellent machine overall despite a few foibles, the purchase decision comes back to price. If you can buy it for 30% less than a comparable full TGP 5080 machine (or on par or less than a full TGP 5070 Ti laptop) then it’s a solid buy, but otherwise wait for a sale.
The A16 Pro display can fold through 180° to lie flat (Image credit: Future)
Gigabyte Gaming A16 Pro: Price & availability
How much does it cost? Starting from $1,899 / £1,699 / AU$3,299
When is it available? It's available now
Where can you get it? You can get it in the US, UK and Australia
At the full list price, the Gigabyte Gaming A16 Pro doesn’t offer standout value, but third-party retailer prices can be considerably lower, making it a good buy.
Gigabyte does not list a recommended retail price for the A16 Pro in every market, but below is a table of typical non-discounted pricing for the RTX 5080 and 5070 Ti variants at the time of writing.
When on sale, we have seen it at up to 25% less than these prices.
RTX 5080
RTX 5070 Ti
US List Price
$2,199
$1,899
UK List Price
£2,099
£1,799
AU List Price
AU$4,299
AU$3,299
Value score: 4 / 5
Gigabyte Gaming A16 Pro: Specs
Availability is the same in the US, UK and Australia, with the main difference being the inclusion of an RTX 5070 Ti GPU or the RTX 5080 card. If comparing models, be aware there is a non-Pro Gigabyte Gaming A16 available as well that has lower spec and TGP.
Below is the specs list for the A16 Pro models available.
358.3 x 262.5 x 19.45 - 22.99 mm (14.11 x 10.33 x 0.77 - 0.91 inches)
358.3 x 262.5 x 19.45 - 22.99 mm (14.11 x 10.33 x 0.77 - 0.91 inches)
Weight
2.3 kg (5.1 lbs)
2.3 kg (5.1 lbs)
Specs score: 4 / 5
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Gigabyte Gaming A16 Pro open on desk showing left hand side ports (Image credit: Future)
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Gigabyte Gaming A16 Pro: Design
Conservative power ratings
Customizable lighting
Facial recognition webcam
The A16 Pro is a large 16-inch laptop, but the display has fairly slim bezels and overall it fits into a footprint small enough that I think it’s reasonable to carry it on the go every day. This is helped by Gigabyte’s inclusion of 100W USB-C PD charging, so you can leave the big power brick at home if you’re not going to be gaming.
The laptop measures in at 358.3 x 262.5 x 19.45 - 22.99 mm, but this is at the most optimistic points. At the front, I get about 20 mm, and 25 mm at the rear, and 28 mm if you include the feet. On the scale, it weighs 2.36 kg (not far off the 2.3 kg from Gigabyte) and the power brick is another 0.54 kg.
The A16 Pro stands out with a display that can fold through 180 degrees to lie flat. I love this design for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it means you can toggle the display upside down and share it with someone sitting across from you. Secondly, it makes it easy to use the laptop in your own unique way.
For example, with the A16 Pro plugged into a second screen or dock, and using a keyboard and mouse, I liked to open the screen fully, and place the laptop in a vertical stand. That way the laptop screen is raised to the right level to be placed next to a second screen, plus it leaves the vents unobstructed and takes up very little desk space.
The A16 Pro includes a MUX switch for Advanced Optimus graphics switching. This means the laptop can optimize graphics performance and power use automatically based on need, such as shutting down the discrete GPU, without needing to restart when switching modes.
Gigabyte Gaming A16 Pro rear vents (Image credit: Future)
The A16 Pro opts for plastic on the main chassis and display to save weight. While I like the strength of metal, the stiff plastic used is still pretty good and the laptop feels capable of handling any bumps or drops. The laptop is equipped with a large keyboard with 1.7 mm key travel, but there’s no numpad. Still, it’s pleasant enough to type on despite a little bounce. The keyboard has customizable RGB 1-zone backlighting that can be used to add some bling, or toned down to muted colors (or white) if trying to blend in at the office or university.
Port selection is reasonable but not outstanding, with a single USB-C that includes DisplayPort output and USB-C charging. At 5 Gbps, the data rate is lower than I would like and I’d ideally want to see at least one 40 Gbps USB4 port for a laptop in this class, and at the very minimum 20 Gbps USB-C. You also get two 5Gbps USB-A ports, plus a standard USB 2.0 port.
It also has HDMI 2.1, plus Ethernet and a 3.5mm headset jack – though no card reader. The ports are well located on the sides of the laptop, with plenty of spacing between them ensuring easy access.
The choice to include Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax 2x2) means the A16 Pro doesn’t have the absolute fastest networking, but is still relatively future-proof in terms of high-speed connectivity. The A16 Pro doesn’t include a privacy e-shutter on the webcam, but on the plus side it’s capable of facial recognition for fast Windows login.
The 76Wh battery is decently sized but I’d have much preferred to have seen a larger 99Wh battery – as is featured in some competitors – to help eke out a little extra time unplugged.
Design score: 4 / 5
The A16 Pro keyboard has 1-zone RGB (plus white) LED lighting (Image credit: Future)
Gigabyte Gaming A16 Pro: Performance
Solid gaming results
Somewhat noisy under load
Decent CPU performance for workstation use
I’ve tested a range of similarly priced laptops that use the RTX 5080 GPU and, generally speaking, for the same GPU thermal design power (TGP) and similar CPU / RAM spec, gaming results don’t vary a huge amount if the cooling is up to the task. But subtle differences in how manufacturers configure their CPU and GPU power profiles, as well as other design choices, can lead to consistent differences overall.
For the A16 Pro, Gigabyte caps the GPU TGP for the 5080 at 115W. The 5080 can run at up to 150W (plus dynamic boost), so the 115W limit in the A16 Pro means performance sits about halfway between that of an unfettered 5080 and a 5070, and is similar to a 5070 Ti. While this seems like a major downside, what matters is performance for your dollar, and the Gaming A16 Pro is cheaper than a lot of higher TGP 5080 machines. Gigabyte does not confirm the TGP of the RTX 5070 Ti, though it can likely run at the full 115W the GPU is rated for, but without higher dynamic boost power levels.
Now, it’s important to mention that a capped 115W RTX 5080 still has major benefits over a full power 5070 Ti or 5070. You get 16GB of VRAM instead of 12GB or 8GB, which means you can run higher quality textures at 2560 x 1600 and keep ray tracing on in games like Cyberpunk 2077. The 5080 also has a wider 256-bit memory bus, so busy scenes with path-traced lighting or dense city areas will drop the frame rate less than with the 128-bit 5070 or 192-bit 5070 Ti.
The 5080 has more ray-tracing and Tensor hardware too, so DLSS 4 can run at a higher preset without impacting playability. Plus, it’s more powerful for creator work. The GPU will stay relevant longer too, as more new titles call for loads of VRAM, so the 16GB 5080 will handle them better than a 12GB 5070 Ti or an 8GB 5070.
Gigabyte Gaming A16 Pro underside cooling vents (Image credit: Future)
Overall, the A16 Pro manages decent gaming performance but does run at the limits of its cooling. In most scenarios, we found that the CPU hit its thermal throttling point before the GPU, limiting performance. Older or less intense games still tended to have the CPU thermally throttled, but the GPU could still run flat out. On more demanding games like Cyberpunk 2077, the performance was bottlenecked by the CPU and the 5080 was often running up to 20% or so behind its full potential.
The Core 7 240H isn’t a bad CPU, but as a refreshed Raptor Lake-H part launched in late 2024, it’s not the most efficient option. This isn’t a problem normally, but with the limited thermal ability of the laptop, heavy load on the CPU and GPU push heat levels to the point the CPU has to throttle itself.
This can be helped somewhat by scaling back settings that put more load on the CPU, like reducing crowd depth, but ultimately the 5080 is still often limited by the CPU. This meant that for games like Cyberpunk 2077, we struggled to push frame rates to the 165 Hz the display is capable of (with frame generation), even when dropping detail or resolution back.
(Image credit: Future)
To give some context, I have compared the A16 Pro benchmark results to the Alienware 16X Aurora with a 5070 and the Alienware 16 Area-51 with a 150W TGP 5080. In synthetic benchmarks (which don’t get CPU bottlenecked), the A16 Pro sits right between the two, as expected. But for gaming benchmarks, the A16 Pro has a smaller lead over the 5070.
Now, this is not necessarily a problem, as, for example, the A16 Pro is significantly cheaper than the RTX 5070 equipped Alienware 16X Aurora, making it a much better bang for buck machine. While we wish Gigabyte had used a more efficient CPU, ultimately the design trade-offs here are fine overall.
Still, it does mean you need to be slightly more careful when comparing pricing, and make sure the A16 Pro is on par with or slightly less than a 5070 Ti-based machine with a more powerful cooling system, and significantly less than a full TGP 5080 laptop.
One potential wildcard is the performance of the A16 Pro with 5070 Ti. While the 5070 Ti will likely experience the same CPU bottleneck as the 5080, the overall performance difference may be small. We will update this review once we can test the 5070 Ti variant or confirm third-party benchmark results.
Gigabyte Gaming A16 Pro benchmark results
Gigabyte Gaming A16 Pro
Alienware 16X Aurora
Alienware 16 Area-51
CPU
Intel Core 7 240H
Intel Ultra 9 275HX
Intel Ultra 9 275HX
GPU
RTX 5080 (115W TGP)
RTX 5070 (115W TGP)
RTX 5080 (150W TGP)
RAM
32GB
32GB
32GB
Battery
76 Wh
96 Wh
96 Wh
General performance
PCMark 10 - Overall (score)
7,523
8,437
8,639
Geekbench 6 - Multi-core
13,503
19,615
20,244
Geekbench 6 - Single-core
2,744
3,068
3,149
Geekbench 6 - GPU
177,521
136,686
213,178
Cinebench R24 - CPU Single Core
117
133
133
Cinebench R24 - CPU Multi Core
832
1,964
2,106
Battery
PCMark 10 - Battery Work (HH:MM)
3:19
6:01
3:09
TechRadar video test (HH:MM)
10:37
6:16
4:27
Graphics performance
3DMark SpeedWay
4,247
3,664
5,610
3DMark Port Royal
10,744
9,031
11,999
Steel Nomad
3,967
2,846
5,109
Cyberpunk 2077 - 1600p RT Low (DLSS)
84
76
114
Cyberpunk 2077 - 1600p RT Low (DLSS off)
52
50
79
Cyberpunk 2077 - 1600p RT Ultra (DLSS)
55
54
72
Cyberpunk 2077 - 1600p RT Ultra (DLSS off)
25
16
37
Black Myth: Wukong - 1600p Cinematic (DLSS)
77
76
104
Shadow of the Tomb Raider - 1600p (DLSS off)
137
131
175
Storage
CrystalDiskMark Read/Write (MB/s)
6,982 / 6,481
6,939 / 6,740
6,575 / 5,890
Overall, even at 115W the RTX 5080 is a solid choice for 2560 x 1600 gaming, and can run most games at very playable frame rates without dropping back the details. For especially demanding games like Cyberpunk 2077 set to ultra ray tracing and high texture detail, the A16 Pro manages 55 fps, or 84 fps if the ray tracing is on low. Turn on frame generation, and you can be gaming at the display's 165 Hz limit with no problems at all.
While the fan profiles keep the A16 Pro quiet in non-gaming use, at full tilt they are quite loud and if gaming, we highly recommend using a headset. Heat is directed out of both the sides and rear of the laptop, and after an intense gaming session, the trackpad reached a low 24.6°C / 76.3°F, the keyboard hit a toasty 41.3°C / 106.3°F and the underside was the hottest part at 42.4°C / 108.3°F. The keyboard temp here is significantly hotter than many competing gaming laptops, though not at the point it is uncomfortable to use.
The A16 Pro uses the GiMate control software and includes five modes – Balanced, Game, Creator, Power Saving and Online meeting – which vary the performance levels, as well as the amount of noise and heat created. For each mode, you can also adjust the individual settings, like fan control profile, display brightness and more. Stability is also good and I had no glitches or strange behavior from the Gigabyte software, or problems running any games, benchmarks or applications.
The trackpad stays cool, but the keyboard gets a little toasty under load (Image credit: Future)
The A16 Pro cooling system may struggle with the GPU, but is good enough to let the grunty Intel Core 7 240H CPU use up to 85W in our testing. It’s not as powerful as the Core Ultra series CPUs, or the new AMD Ryzen AI processors, but still makes for a competent workstation when not gaming, and it will happily handle heavy workloads such as video editing.
If you leave the software in charge of profile selection, performance on battery takes a hit compared to being plugged in, and is about 60% slower in CPU workloads.
The A16 Pro can also be run on or charged from USB-C using PD spec 100W (20V/5A) and we saw a max of 90W in use. Unlike the questionable USB-C power profiles on the otherwise excellent Gigabyte 16X, the A16 Pro gives solid performance on USB-C, and is about 50% faster than on battery for CPU workloads and about 35% behind full performance. Gaming on USB-C is about half the performance compared to using the main PSU.
In other words, workstation use feels snappy when running on USB-C (such as when plugged into a dock) or if charging from a power bank, but don’t expect to do much more than casual gaming without the larger PSU.
Performance score: 4 / 5
Gigabyte Gaming A16 Pro: Battery life and Charging
4 hours and 49 minutes of regular use when unplugged
10 hours and 37 minutes of video playback
58 minutes of gaming
(Image credit: Future)
The Gigabyte Gaming A16 Pro uses a 76Wh battery, which is decent size but not quite as good as the 99Wh featured in some competing models.
Still, five hours or so of work unplugged (and around an hour longer if just browsing the internet or watching YouTube videos) is enough to be useful, but still not a great result overall. In contrast, other gaming laptops I've tested with similar spec hardware (including more powerful CPUs) use a 96Wh battery and can last up to 7 hours unplugged. The A16 Pro doesn’t handle medium level loads too well on battery (like video editing), and I saw run times at under three hours. On the plus side, the A16 Pro offers relatively quick charging and it gets back to full charge in under an hour.
The PSU is medium sized (and not as chunky as many gaming laptops) and weighs 537 grams (including the cable), so it has a measurable impact if carried around all day. Fortunately USB-C charging is decent and it could top up in just over an hour. The A16 Pro also charges well from a power bank and a large, but flight safe, 27,000mAh (99Wh) model will just give the laptop a full charge.
Battery life and charging score: 3.5 / 5
Should you buy the Gigabyte Gaming A16 Pro?
Gigabyte Gaming A16 Pro scorecard
Attributes
Notes
Rating
Value
Expensive at list price, but great value when discounted
4 / 5
Specs
Reasonable but not standout
3.5 / 5
Design
Decent features but some compromises like noisy fans
4 / 5
Performance
Solid gaming and workstation performance
4 / 5
Battery
Short battery life for work but decent video playback
3.5 / 5
Overall
A gaming laptop that is also very well equipped for workstation or creator use – but don’t pay full list price
4 / 5
Buy it if…
You want decent gaming performance in a relatively portable package The A16 Pro isn’t exactly tiny, but considering the large 16-inch screen and full performance GPU, it’s still pretty good for carrying every day.
You want CPU performance The Intel Core 7 240H CPU is grunty enough for demanding Uni students, or workstation and creator use.
You want to use it for more than just gaming Options like the fold-flat screen mean the Gigabyte is also a great option for plugging in alongside a second monitor.
Don’t buy it if...
You want a very portable gaming option The A16 Pro isn’t too heavy or thick, but if portability is a prime concern, then consider a slimmer model, or a 14-inch gaming machine.
You want a more powerful GPU The A16 Pro caps the 5080 to 115W, and you will need to look at models like the Aorus Master 16 or 18 for better gaming frame rates.
You want a very affordable laptop The A16 Pro is a great-value machine (when discounted), but it’s still a pricey laptop. If you crave affordable RTX 5050 and 5060 focused gaming, check out the non-Pro Gigabyte Gaming A16.
Gigabyte Gaming A16 Pro: Also consider
If my Gigabyte Gaming A16 Pro review has you considering other options, here are some more gaming laptops to consider:
Razer Blade 14 (2025) Smaller and lighter than the 16-inch Gigabyte Gaming A16 Pro, the Razer Blade 14 offers pretty good performance in a small package.
Alienware 16 Area-51 A powerful 16-inch gaming laptop that’s sold with an RTX 5060, 5080 or 5090, this is a chunky machine that’s all about performance.
I tested the Gigabyte Gaming A16 Pro for two weeks
I used it both on a desk and carried it in a backpack for travel
I used it for gaming, as well as office productivity work and video editing
I ran the Gigabyte Gaming A16 Pro through the usual comprehensive array of TechRadar benchmarks, as well as using it for actual day-to-day work at a desk and on the go. I used the TechRadar movie test for assessing battery life during video playback, and a range of productivity battery benchmarks to further gauge battery life. I also logged power use in a variety of scenarios, including when charging from USB-C, and tested the laptop with a variety of USB-C chargers and power banks.
Powered by an RTX 5080 and featuring a large 16-inch, 165 Hz display, the A16 Pro delivers excellent gaming performance while doubling as a capable workstation. At the time of writing, there are two A16 Pro variants for sale – both equipped with the Intel Core 7 240H CPU, 32GB of (soldered) 5600MHz LPDDR5x RAM, a 1TB SSD and either an RTX 5070 Ti or, as tested, the RTX 5080.
The large screen folds back through 180 degrees to lie flat, has a 2560 x 1600 resolution, a 3 ms response time, a decent 400 nits of brightness and displays an excellent 100% of the sRGB color gamut. Ports include HDMI 2.1, a 5 Gbps USB-C port with power delivery and DisplayPort 1.4, 2x USB-A 5 Gbps (plus a USB-A 2.0 port), Gigabit Ethernet and a 3.5mm headset jack.
For the Gaming A16 Pro, Gigabyte includes a MUX switch but caps the GPU TGP for the 5080 at 115W. The laptop RTX 5080 can run at up to 150W, so a 115W limit means raw performance sits about halfway between that of an unfettered 5080 and a 5070, and is similar to a 5070 Ti.
While this seems like a major downside, what matters is performance for your dollar, and the Gaming A16 Pro is cheaper than a lot of higher TGP 5080 machines. At 36 x 26 x 2.3 cm, and weighing 2.3 kg, it’s also slimmer and lighter, making it a better choice for those who want to carry it every day. In fact, most thin and light laptops that feature powerful GPUs limit the TGP to keep heat under control.
For demanding games at the screen's native resolution, you will need to scale back the quality settings to maintain over 60 fps, while older ones will happily run at over 100 fps. To push towards the 165 Hz the screen is capable of, you will need to drop back to 1080p or use frame generation.
It depends on your game (or app) of choice, but in less demanding titles the 115W TGP 5080 is about 25% slower than one at 150W, and up to 22% faster than a 5070. In more intensive games, I saw the CPU create a bottleneck, bringing frame rates closer to that of the 5070. At full tilt, the Gaming A16 Pro emits a fairly loud roar from the cooling fans, but despite this, for sustained loads, performance is limited by the cooling capacity.
The A16 Pro is also a very capable workstation and we measured up to 90W charging via USB-C, so it can provide decent productivity performance without having to lug the larger power brick around. We wish it had a larger battery than the 76Wh models used, as while the 10 hours, 37 minutes of video playback is a decent result, we were disappointed by under five hours of light-duty work.
The keyboard and trackpad are both excellent, and the customizable RGB lighting modes are fun but also easily toned down to white if you want to blend in at the office. The 1080p webcam is nothing special in terms of image quality, but it does facial recognition for fast logins.
While the A16 Pro is an excellent machine overall despite a few foibles, the purchase decision comes back to price. If you can buy it for 30% less than a comparable full TGP 5080 machine (or on par or less than a full TGP 5070 Ti laptop) then it’s a solid buy, but otherwise wait for a sale.
The A16 Pro display can fold through 180° to lie flat (Image credit: Future)
Gigabyte Gaming A16 Pro: Price & availability
How much does it cost? Starting from $1,899 / £1,699 / AU$3,299
When is it available? It's available now
Where can you get it? You can get it in the US, UK and Australia
At the full list price, the Gigabyte Gaming A16 Pro doesn’t offer standout value, but third-party retailer prices can be considerably lower, making it a good buy.
Gigabyte does not list a recommended retail price for the A16 Pro in every market, but below is a table of typical non-discounted pricing for the RTX 5080 and 5070 Ti variants at the time of writing.
When on sale, we have seen it at up to 25% less than these prices.
RTX 5080
RTX 5070 Ti
US List Price
$2,199
$1,899
UK List Price
£2,099
£1,799
AU List Price
AU$4,299
AU$3,299
Value score: 4 / 5
Gigabyte Gaming A16 Pro: Specs
Availability is the same in the US, UK and Australia, with the main difference being the inclusion of an RTX 5070 Ti GPU or the RTX 5080 card. If comparing models, be aware there is a non-Pro Gigabyte Gaming A16 available as well that has lower spec and TGP.
Below is the specs list for the A16 Pro models available.
358.3 x 262.5 x 19.45 - 22.99 mm (14.11 x 10.33 x 0.77 - 0.91 inches)
358.3 x 262.5 x 19.45 - 22.99 mm (14.11 x 10.33 x 0.77 - 0.91 inches)
Weight
2.3 kg (5.1 lbs)
2.3 kg (5.1 lbs)
Specs score: 4 / 5
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Gigabyte Gaming A16 Pro open on desk showing left hand side ports (Image credit: Future)
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(Image credit: Future)
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(Image credit: Future)
Gigabyte Gaming A16 Pro: Design
Conservative power ratings
Customizable lighting
Facial recognition webcam
The A16 Pro is a large 16-inch laptop, but the display has fairly slim bezels and overall it fits into a footprint small enough that I think it’s reasonable to carry it on the go every day. This is helped by Gigabyte’s inclusion of 100W USB-C PD charging, so you can leave the big power brick at home if you’re not going to be gaming.
The laptop measures in at 358.3 x 262.5 x 19.45 - 22.99 mm, but this is at the most optimistic points. At the front, I get about 20 mm, and 25 mm at the rear, and 28 mm if you include the feet. On the scale, it weighs 2.36 kg (not far off the 2.3 kg from Gigabyte) and the power brick is another 0.54 kg.
The A16 Pro stands out with a display that can fold through 180 degrees to lie flat. I love this design for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it means you can toggle the display upside down and share it with someone sitting across from you. Secondly, it makes it easy to use the laptop in your own unique way.
For example, with the A16 Pro plugged into a second screen or dock, and using a keyboard and mouse, I liked to open the screen fully, and place the laptop in a vertical stand. That way the laptop screen is raised to the right level to be placed next to a second screen, plus it leaves the vents unobstructed and takes up very little desk space.
The A16 Pro includes a MUX switch for Advanced Optimus graphics switching. This means the laptop can optimize graphics performance and power use automatically based on need, such as shutting down the discrete GPU, without needing to restart when switching modes.
Gigabyte Gaming A16 Pro rear vents (Image credit: Future)
The A16 Pro opts for plastic on the main chassis and display to save weight. While I like the strength of metal, the stiff plastic used is still pretty good and the laptop feels capable of handling any bumps or drops. The laptop is equipped with a large keyboard with 1.7 mm key travel, but there’s no numpad. Still, it’s pleasant enough to type on despite a little bounce. The keyboard has customizable RGB 1-zone backlighting that can be used to add some bling, or toned down to muted colors (or white) if trying to blend in at the office or university.
Port selection is reasonable but not outstanding, with a single USB-C that includes DisplayPort output and USB-C charging. At 5 Gbps, the data rate is lower than I would like and I’d ideally want to see at least one 40 Gbps USB4 port for a laptop in this class, and at the very minimum 20 Gbps USB-C. You also get two 5Gbps USB-A ports, plus a standard USB 2.0 port.
It also has HDMI 2.1, plus Ethernet and a 3.5mm headset jack – though no card reader. The ports are well located on the sides of the laptop, with plenty of spacing between them ensuring easy access.
The choice to include Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax 2x2) means the A16 Pro doesn’t have the absolute fastest networking, but is still relatively future-proof in terms of high-speed connectivity. The A16 Pro doesn’t include a privacy e-shutter on the webcam, but on the plus side it’s capable of facial recognition for fast Windows login.
The 76Wh battery is decently sized but I’d have much preferred to have seen a larger 99Wh battery – as is featured in some competitors – to help eke out a little extra time unplugged.
Design score: 4 / 5
The A16 Pro keyboard has 1-zone RGB (plus white) LED lighting (Image credit: Future)
Gigabyte Gaming A16 Pro: Performance
Solid gaming results
Somewhat noisy under load
Decent CPU performance for workstation use
I’ve tested a range of similarly priced laptops that use the RTX 5080 GPU and, generally speaking, for the same GPU thermal design power (TGP) and similar CPU / RAM spec, gaming results don’t vary a huge amount if the cooling is up to the task. But subtle differences in how manufacturers configure their CPU and GPU power profiles, as well as other design choices, can lead to consistent differences overall.
For the A16 Pro, Gigabyte caps the GPU TGP for the 5080 at 115W. The 5080 can run at up to 150W (plus dynamic boost), so the 115W limit in the A16 Pro means performance sits about halfway between that of an unfettered 5080 and a 5070, and is similar to a 5070 Ti. While this seems like a major downside, what matters is performance for your dollar, and the Gaming A16 Pro is cheaper than a lot of higher TGP 5080 machines. Gigabyte does not confirm the TGP of the RTX 5070 Ti, though it can likely run at the full 115W the GPU is rated for, but without higher dynamic boost power levels.
Now, it’s important to mention that a capped 115W RTX 5080 still has major benefits over a full power 5070 Ti or 5070. You get 16GB of VRAM instead of 12GB or 8GB, which means you can run higher quality textures at 2560 x 1600 and keep ray tracing on in games like Cyberpunk 2077. The 5080 also has a wider 256-bit memory bus, so busy scenes with path-traced lighting or dense city areas will drop the frame rate less than with the 128-bit 5070 or 192-bit 5070 Ti.
The 5080 has more ray-tracing and Tensor hardware too, so DLSS 4 can run at a higher preset without impacting playability. Plus, it’s more powerful for creator work. The GPU will stay relevant longer too, as more new titles call for loads of VRAM, so the 16GB 5080 will handle them better than a 12GB 5070 Ti or an 8GB 5070.
Gigabyte Gaming A16 Pro underside cooling vents (Image credit: Future)
Overall, the A16 Pro manages decent gaming performance but does run at the limits of its cooling. In most scenarios, we found that the CPU hit its thermal throttling point before the GPU, limiting performance. Older or less intense games still tended to have the CPU thermally throttled, but the GPU could still run flat out. On more demanding games like Cyberpunk 2077, the performance was bottlenecked by the CPU and the 5080 was often running up to 20% or so behind its full potential.
The Core 7 240H isn’t a bad CPU, but as a refreshed Raptor Lake-H part launched in late 2024, it’s not the most efficient option. This isn’t a problem normally, but with the limited thermal ability of the laptop, heavy load on the CPU and GPU push heat levels to the point the CPU has to throttle itself.
This can be helped somewhat by scaling back settings that put more load on the CPU, like reducing crowd depth, but ultimately the 5080 is still often limited by the CPU. This meant that for games like Cyberpunk 2077, we struggled to push frame rates to the 165 Hz the display is capable of (with frame generation), even when dropping detail or resolution back.
(Image credit: Future)
To give some context, I have compared the A16 Pro benchmark results to the Alienware 16X Aurora with a 5070 and the Alienware 16 Area-51 with a 150W TGP 5080. In synthetic benchmarks (which don’t get CPU bottlenecked), the A16 Pro sits right between the two, as expected. But for gaming benchmarks, the A16 Pro has a smaller lead over the 5070.
Now, this is not necessarily a problem, as, for example, the A16 Pro is significantly cheaper than the RTX 5070 equipped Alienware 16X Aurora, making it a much better bang for buck machine. While we wish Gigabyte had used a more efficient CPU, ultimately the design trade-offs here are fine overall.
Still, it does mean you need to be slightly more careful when comparing pricing, and make sure the A16 Pro is on par with or slightly less than a 5070 Ti-based machine with a more powerful cooling system, and significantly less than a full TGP 5080 laptop.
One potential wildcard is the performance of the A16 Pro with 5070 Ti. While the 5070 Ti will likely experience the same CPU bottleneck as the 5080, the overall performance difference may be small. We will update this review once we can test the 5070 Ti variant or confirm third-party benchmark results.
Gigabyte Gaming A16 Pro benchmark results
Gigabyte Gaming A16 Pro
Alienware 16X Aurora
Alienware 16 Area-51
CPU
Intel Core 7 240H
Intel Ultra 9 275HX
Intel Ultra 9 275HX
GPU
RTX 5080 (115W TGP)
RTX 5070 (115W TGP)
RTX 5080 (150W TGP)
RAM
32GB
32GB
32GB
Battery
76 Wh
96 Wh
96 Wh
General performance
PCMark 10 - Overall (score)
7,523
8,437
8,639
Geekbench 6 - Multi-core
13,503
19,615
20,244
Geekbench 6 - Single-core
2,744
3,068
3,149
Geekbench 6 - GPU
177,521
136,686
213,178
Cinebench R24 - CPU Single Core
117
133
133
Cinebench R24 - CPU Multi Core
832
1,964
2,106
Battery
PCMark 10 - Battery Work (HH:MM)
3:19
6:01
3:09
TechRadar video test (HH:MM)
10:37
6:16
4:27
Graphics performance
3DMark SpeedWay
4,247
3,664
5,610
3DMark Port Royal
10,744
9,031
11,999
Steel Nomad
3,967
2,846
5,109
Cyberpunk 2077 - 1600p RT Low (DLSS)
84
76
114
Cyberpunk 2077 - 1600p RT Low (DLSS off)
52
50
79
Cyberpunk 2077 - 1600p RT Ultra (DLSS)
55
54
72
Cyberpunk 2077 - 1600p RT Ultra (DLSS off)
25
16
37
Black Myth: Wukong - 1600p Cinematic (DLSS)
77
76
104
Shadow of the Tomb Raider - 1600p (DLSS off)
137
131
175
Storage
CrystalDiskMark Read/Write (MB/s)
6,982 / 6,481
6,939 / 6,740
6,575 / 5,890
Overall, even at 115W the RTX 5080 is a solid choice for 2560 x 1600 gaming, and can run most games at very playable frame rates without dropping back the details. For especially demanding games like Cyberpunk 2077 set to ultra ray tracing and high texture detail, the A16 Pro manages 55 fps, or 84 fps if the ray tracing is on low. Turn on frame generation, and you can be gaming at the display's 165 Hz limit with no problems at all.
While the fan profiles keep the A16 Pro quiet in non-gaming use, at full tilt they are quite loud and if gaming, we highly recommend using a headset. Heat is directed out of both the sides and rear of the laptop, and after an intense gaming session, the trackpad reached a low 24.6°C / 76.3°F, the keyboard hit a toasty 41.3°C / 106.3°F and the underside was the hottest part at 42.4°C / 108.3°F. The keyboard temp here is significantly hotter than many competing gaming laptops, though not at the point it is uncomfortable to use.
The A16 Pro uses the GiMate control software and includes five modes – Balanced, Game, Creator, Power Saving and Online meeting – which vary the performance levels, as well as the amount of noise and heat created. For each mode, you can also adjust the individual settings, like fan control profile, display brightness and more. Stability is also good and I had no glitches or strange behavior from the Gigabyte software, or problems running any games, benchmarks or applications.
The trackpad stays cool, but the keyboard gets a little toasty under load (Image credit: Future)
The A16 Pro cooling system may struggle with the GPU, but is good enough to let the grunty Intel Core 7 240H CPU use up to 85W in our testing. It’s not as powerful as the Core Ultra series CPUs, or the new AMD Ryzen AI processors, but still makes for a competent workstation when not gaming, and it will happily handle heavy workloads such as video editing.
If you leave the software in charge of profile selection, performance on battery takes a hit compared to being plugged in, and is about 60% slower in CPU workloads.
The A16 Pro can also be run on or charged from USB-C using PD spec 100W (20V/5A) and we saw a max of 90W in use. Unlike the questionable USB-C power profiles on the otherwise excellent Gigabyte 16X, the A16 Pro gives solid performance on USB-C, and is about 50% faster than on battery for CPU workloads and about 35% behind full performance. Gaming on USB-C is about half the performance compared to using the main PSU.
In other words, workstation use feels snappy when running on USB-C (such as when plugged into a dock) or if charging from a power bank, but don’t expect to do much more than casual gaming without the larger PSU.
Performance score: 4 / 5
Gigabyte Gaming A16 Pro: Battery life and Charging
4 hours and 49 minutes of regular use when unplugged
10 hours and 37 minutes of video playback
58 minutes of gaming
(Image credit: Future)
The Gigabyte Gaming A16 Pro uses a 76Wh battery, which is decent size but not quite as good as the 99Wh featured in some competing models.
Still, five hours or so of work unplugged (and around an hour longer if just browsing the internet or watching YouTube videos) is enough to be useful, but still not a great result overall. In contrast, other gaming laptops I've tested with similar spec hardware (including more powerful CPUs) use a 96Wh battery and can last up to 7 hours unplugged. The A16 Pro doesn’t handle medium level loads too well on battery (like video editing), and I saw run times at under three hours. On the plus side, the A16 Pro offers relatively quick charging and it gets back to full charge in under an hour.
The PSU is medium sized (and not as chunky as many gaming laptops) and weighs 537 grams (including the cable), so it has a measurable impact if carried around all day. Fortunately USB-C charging is decent and it could top up in just over an hour. The A16 Pro also charges well from a power bank and a large, but flight safe, 27,000mAh (99Wh) model will just give the laptop a full charge.
Battery life and charging score: 3.5 / 5
Should you buy the Gigabyte Gaming A16 Pro?
Gigabyte Gaming A16 Pro scorecard
Attributes
Notes
Rating
Value
Expensive at list price, but great value when discounted
4 / 5
Specs
Reasonable but not standout
3.5 / 5
Design
Decent features but some compromises like noisy fans
4 / 5
Performance
Solid gaming and workstation performance
4 / 5
Battery
Short battery life for work but decent video playback
3.5 / 5
Overall
A gaming laptop that is also very well equipped for workstation or creator use – but don’t pay full list price
4 / 5
Buy it if…
You want decent gaming performance in a relatively portable package The A16 Pro isn’t exactly tiny, but considering the large 16-inch screen and full performance GPU, it’s still pretty good for carrying every day.
You want CPU performance The Intel Core 7 240H CPU is grunty enough for demanding Uni students, or workstation and creator use.
You want to use it for more than just gaming Options like the fold-flat screen mean the Gigabyte is also a great option for plugging in alongside a second monitor.
Don’t buy it if...
You want a very portable gaming option The A16 Pro isn’t too heavy or thick, but if portability is a prime concern, then consider a slimmer model, or a 14-inch gaming machine.
You want a more powerful GPU The A16 Pro caps the 5080 to 115W, and you will need to look at models like the Aorus Master 16 or 18 for better gaming frame rates.
You want a very affordable laptop The A16 Pro is a great-value machine (when discounted), but it’s still a pricey laptop. If you crave affordable RTX 5050 and 5060 focused gaming, check out the non-Pro Gigabyte Gaming A16.
Gigabyte Gaming A16 Pro: Also consider
If my Gigabyte Gaming A16 Pro review has you considering other options, here are some more gaming laptops to consider:
Razer Blade 14 (2025) Smaller and lighter than the 16-inch Gigabyte Gaming A16 Pro, the Razer Blade 14 offers pretty good performance in a small package.
Alienware 16 Area-51 A powerful 16-inch gaming laptop that’s sold with an RTX 5060, 5080 or 5090, this is a chunky machine that’s all about performance.
I tested the Gigabyte Gaming A16 Pro for two weeks
I used it both on a desk and carried it in a backpack for travel
I used it for gaming, as well as office productivity work and video editing
I ran the Gigabyte Gaming A16 Pro through the usual comprehensive array of TechRadar benchmarks, as well as using it for actual day-to-day work at a desk and on the go. I used the TechRadar movie test for assessing battery life during video playback, and a range of productivity battery benchmarks to further gauge battery life. I also logged power use in a variety of scenarios, including when charging from USB-C, and tested the laptop with a variety of USB-C chargers and power banks.
The Acer Aspire Go 15 is an affordable Windows laptop with a spec that should prove capable enough for everyday use.
Considering its 15.6-inch form, it has a sleek and slender body. It’s also quite thin and light, which makes it easier to carry around than expected. The light silver finish and minimal aesthetic also imbue the Aspire Go 15 with some style, although there are a few unsightly angles that mar its appearance somewhat.
It isn’t built to the same high standards as the best laptops, much less many of the best Ultrabooks, either. The materials aren’t premium, and its construction isn’t as reassuringly solid as I would’ve liked. The lid isn’t the most stable, either, and its downward protrusion means it lifts up the rear of the unit when opened beyond 90 degrees, which is a design choice I’m not particularly fond of due to its impractical nature.
On a more positive note, there’s a decent selection of ports, including three for USB-A, one for HDMI cables, and one for Ethernet connections. There’s only one USB-C port, though, and no SD card reader.
(Image credit: Future)
The everyday performance of the Aspire Go 15 is very good, handling light productivity and entertainment workloads with speed. However, more intensive tasks such as gaming fare worse, given that it lacks a dedicated GPU. Light gaming is still possible, though, and both fan noise and temperatures are kept to a minimum.
One of the most disappointing aspects of the Aspire Go 15 is its display. Its grainy finish can be distracting, while colors can look a little washed out in some cases. Worse still is the restrictive viewing angle, with images and scenes becoming totally obscured when the display is set even slightly beyond optimal bounds.
The battery life of the Aspire Go 15 is quite good, though, lasting close to 12 hours during our movie playback test. However, there are quite a few rivals that can outlast it, such as the Dell 14 Plus.
Considering its price, the Aspire Go 15 represents a very good value, offering a more affordable alternative to the best Windows laptops that cost a good bit more. There are also better-performing Chromebooks for less money, such as the HP Chromebook Plus 15.6-inch, which also has a better display, but if you can live with its display, the Aspire Go 15 is one of the best budget laptops going and well worth adding to your shortlist.
Acer Aspire Go 15 review: Price & Availability
Starts from $299.99 / £299.99 (about AU$450)
Base models have weak specs
Review model is still well-priced, though
The Aspire Go 15 starts from $299.99 / £299.99 (about AU$450) and is available now. A range of Intel and AMD CPUs are available to choose from, while RAM and storage capacities range from 8GB to 32GB and 128GB to 1TB, respectively.
This is a good starting price for a Windows laptop, but for this outlay, you’ll have to settle for a weak spec. My review model was considerably more powerful than the base model, and priced closer to some strong rivals.
However, it still undercuts other affordable Windows machines, such as the Dell 14 Plus. We found this laptop to be an excellent value, though, thanks to its fast performance and enduring battery life, while its light design even makes it a worthy alternative to some of the best MacBooks.
If you’re willing to look beyond Windows machines, the HP Chromebook Plus 15.6-inch is another enticing proposition. This is cheaper than the Aspire Go 15, but has a stronger performance and a superior display that doesn’t suffer from the same issues. No wonder we think it’s one of the best Chromebooks around right now.
2x USB-A (3.2 Gen 1), 1x USB-C (3.2 Gen 2), 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x 3.5mm combo audio; Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1
3x USB-A (3.2 Gen 1), 1x USB-C (3.2 Gen 2), 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x Ethernet, 1x 3.5mm combo audio; Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1
3x USB-A (3.2 Gen 1), 1x USB-C (3.2 Gen 2), 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x Ethernet, 1x 3.5mm combo audio; Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1
Battery
53Wh
53Whr
53Whr | 53Whr
Dimensions
14.3 x 9.5 x 0.8in (363 x 241 x 20mm)
14.3 x 9.5 x 0.8in (363 x 241 x 20mm)
14.3 x 9.5 x 0.8in (363 x 241 x 20mm)
Weight
3.92lbs / 1.78kg
3.92lbs / 1.78kg
3.92lbs / 1.78kg
A wide selection of spec configurations are available, with both Intel and AMD processors. There is a mix of PCIe 3.0 and 4.0 SSDs depending on the spec, so some drives will run slower than others, and that's not always immediately apparent when looking at retailer specs sheets.
It also doesn't include the latest Wi-Fi and Bluetooth standard, but Wi-Fi 6 is fast enough for most people's needs, while the inclusion of an Ethernet port is welcome.
Overall, for their various price points, these are about the specs one should expect.
Specs: 3.5 / 5
Acer Aspire Go 15 review: Design
(Image credit: Future)
Reasonably light and thin
Lacking solidity
Odd lid design
The Aspire Go 15 is a basic but smart looking laptop, with extraneous details kept to a minimum. The light silver finish of my review unit helped to impart some elegance, too, although a few unsightly juts and angles spoil its otherwise smooth contours. While the Aspire Go 15 is quite wide, it’s relatively light and pleasingly thin, which makes it easier to carry around than you might imagine for a 15.6-inch laptop.
Build quality isn’t exactly the greatest, though, with cheap looking – and feeling – plastics that flex to an inauspicious degree. Thankfully, the keys feel more premium: they’re solidly fitted and have a prominent texture that’s satisfying to touch.
(Image credit: Future)
The lid is also better made than the rest of the unit, featuring a solid yet smooth hinge mechanism. I welcomed how thin it was, too, although I was less keen on its bottom protrusion. This causes the rear of the Aspire Go 15 to lift off ground when opened to angles beyond 90 degrees – a deliberate design choice but one that feels unintuitive and can result in loose fabrics and other materials underneath the chassis getting caught, which isn’t ideal.
There was a reasonable selection of ports on my Aspire Go 15 review unit. I welcomed the three USB-A ports, spread across both sides for added convenience. There was also an HDMI port and an ethernet port: increasingly rare sights on modern laptops, and again ones I was glad to see. There’s only one USB-C port, though, and no SD card reader, both of which are mild shames.
Design: 3.5/ 5
Acer Aspire Go 15 review: Performance
(Image credit: Future)
Great general computing performance
Some light gaming is possible
Relatively cool and quiet
Acer Aspire Go 15 benchmarks:
3DMark Fire Strike: 3,646; Steel Nomad: 205; Wild Life Extreme: 2,229; Wild Life Extreme Unlimited: 2,200; GeekBench 6.5 Single-core: 2,000; Multi-core: 6,605 CrossMark Overall: 1,109; Productivity: 1,149; Creativity: 1,125; Responsiveness: 954; HandBrake - 4K to 1080p average FPS: 43.24
For everyday tasks, the Aspire Go 15 is very capable. It can handle light productivity, from word processing to spreadsheet creation, without much if any slowdowns. It also had no problem streaming 4K content. I didn’t experience any midway buffering pauses or stuttering, for example.
However, the viewing experience is marred by the quality of the display. It has a noticeably grainy finish, which can be distracting at times. Colors can also look washed out.
What’s more, the display darkens considerably if the angle isn’t set just right, to the point of near-total blackness sometimes. Thankfully, once you’ve found the optimum position, there are next to no reflections visible on screen.
Since there’s no dedicated GPU installed in the Aspire Go 15, it isn’t particularly great for creative and gaming workloads. Cyberpunk 2077 is playable on the lowest preset, but naturally, you’ll have to make do with some rough visuals and uninspiring frame rates.
(Image credit: Future)
The game is even passable on Medium settings and upscaling, but you’ll have to contend with even lower frame rates and more input lag, rendering the experience less than enjoyable.
Mercifully, though, I experienced little fan noise from the Aspire Go 15 during such intensive workloads, never elevating above a faint whir. It also stayed commendably cool, with certain portions of the body reaching lukewarm temperatures only.
Another highlight of the Aspire Go 15 is its keyboard. The aforementioned keycap texture helps them feel more tactile, as does the surprising amount of dampening of the switches, despite their short travel and very low profile.
What’s more, they’re snappy and responsive, which only improves their typing prowess. And despite featuring a number pad, the layout doesn’t feel cramped. Those number pad keys are relatively small, though, but they’re still eminently usable. So overall, if you’re looking for one of the best laptops for writing, the Aspire Go 15 could well be a contender for you.
The touchpad is less pleasant to use, though. While it’s smooth enough for easy gestures and swiping, it’s not as large as those in other 15-inch laptops, which compromises its navigation abilities. Also, clicks and taps lack feedback and even rattle at points, which further hampers their functionality.
Performance: 4 / 5
Acer Aspire Go 15 review: Battery Life
(Image credit: Future)
Reasonable longevity
Rivals can far outlast it, though
The battery life of the is quite impressive. It managed to last close to 12 hours when playing a movie on a continuous loop. It’s also quick to charge, taking about two hours to fully top up.
The HP Chromebook Plus 15.6-inch achieved a similar score. However, others in this sector can outlast it by quite some distance, including the Dell 14 Plus, which lasted over 13 hours when we ran a similar test.
Battery Life: 3.5 / 5
Should I buy the Acer Aspire Go 15?
Acer Aspire Go 15 Scorecard
Attributes
Notes
Rating
Value
The Aspire Go 15 ranges in price from incredibly cheap to reasonably-priced for a Windows machine exhibiting this kind of performance.
4.5 / 5
Specs
While the Aspire Go 15 isn't loaded with the very latest specs, for the price, they're pretty decent.
3.5 / 5
Design
It’s surprisingly thin and light for such a large laptop, but the construction isn’t exactly the most premium.
3.5 / 5
Performance
The Aspire Go 15 is great for everyday tasks and brilliant for typing on, but the poor display and lack of graphical power are drawbacks.
4 / 5
Battery Life
Battery life is quite good, but others can outlast it by a long way, too.
3.5 / 5
Total
The Aspire Go 15 is a very competent laptop for the price. But there are better all-rounders in the Chromebook market, if you really don’t need Windows.
3.8 / 5
Buy the Acer Aspire Go 15 if...
You want basic tasks done fast Light productivity and 4K streaming are both dispatched with surprising ease.
You’ll be doing a lot of typing The keyboard is a dream to use: it’s super responsive and provides plenty of feedback. The full-size layout doesn’t feel cramped, either.
Don't buy it if...
You want the best display The grainy finish, lack of brightness, washed-out tones, and exacting viewing angles all add up to a less-than-stellar visual experience.
You'll be conducting intensive workloads Since it lacks a dedicated GPU, the Aspire Go 15 isn’t the machine for creative pros or heavy gamers.
Acer Aspire Go 15 review: Also Consider
Dell Inspiron 14 Plus Although it’s more expensive, the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus still sits in the affordable Windows laptop bracket. It boasts a Snapdragon X Plus chip (so beware, this is an ARM machine), which can handle everyday tasks with aplomb. The display isn’t as big as the Go’s, but it’s significantly sharper and less fussy, not to mention it features touchscreen functionality.
HP Chromebook Plus 15.6-inch Stepping outside of the Windows ecosystem, the HP Chromebook Plus 15.6-inch is one of the best Chromebooks around, thanks to its excellent performance and display. What’s more, it’s cheaper than my Aspire Go 15 review unit. It’s also one of the best student Chromebooks.
I tested the Acer Aspire Go 15 for several days, using it for working, entertainment, gaming, and general browsing.
I also connected various peripherals to it, and ran our series of benchmark tests to assess its overall performance. I also tested its battery life by playing a movie on a continuous loop until it expired.
I have plenty of experience testing all kinds of laptops, from everyday workhorses to high-end specialist machines. I’ve also reviewed Chromebooks and other computing devices, such as tablets.
Lighter, cheaper, and more portable than the OG Lenovo Legion Go, the Lenovo Legion Go S (SteamOS) has a lot going for it.
First is its starting $649.99 / £699 / $1,329 price tag, which makes it much cheaper than most of the best budget gaming laptops on the market. And weighing just under two pounds, the Legion Go S is substantially lighter, too.
The result is a compact beauty that can play most of the games in your Steam library, although you might have to adjust a few settings.
The not-so-secret sauce in the Go S is the AMD Ryzen Z2 Go, or AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme if you're willing to pay a bit more for better performance. In my case, the Z2 Go brings solid performance to a remarkably compact system.
(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)
Can you play some of the more demanding games out there, like Cyberpunk 2077? Not really, unless you're willing to make some serious compromises on graphics quality and resolution, but there are plenty of AAA titles that will run beautifully on a device that fits nicely in the palms of your hands.
There are some caveats to consider. The Go S suffers from a short battery life, just like the best gaming laptops, and it has a slightly smaller display with a lower resolution than the original Lenovo Legion Go. And unlike its chunkier brethren, the joysticks on the Legion Go S aren't detachable.
But the biggest concession on the SteamOS version of the handheld is the platform. While there is a version of the Legion Go S with Windows 11 installed, almost everyone using the SteamOS version is going to use Valve's Steam storefront exclusively.
Sure, you could find a way to dual-boot another OS or jury rig a way to get GOG or the Epic Games Store installed on SteamOS, but it's going to be a bit of a hassle, especially for more casual users. For the hard-core Steam fans like me, though, it's not just a non-issue; it's part of the Lenovo Legion Go S's appeal.
Lenovo Legion Go S (SteamOS): Price and availability
(Image credit: Future)
How much does it cost? Starting at $649.99 / £699 / $1,329
When is it available? It is available now
Where can you get it? It is available in the US, UK, and Australia
The base model of the Legion Go S is available now in the US, UK, and Australia, starting at $649.99 / £699 / $1,329. It comes with the new AMD Ryzen Z2 Go SoC, 16GB RAM, a 512TB SSD, and an 8-inch, 120Hz IPS touchscreen.
There is also the more powerful Z1 Extreme configuration that sells for $829.99 / £699 / AU$1,599. It has more RAM and storage, and it sports the more powerful AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme SoC that powered the original Legion Go.
This is a good bit more expensive than the base Steam Deck, but the slightly more powerful Z2 Go processor in the Legion Go S will get you 50% more RDNA 2 compute units to help with performance.
Excellent hand feel with ergonomic grips; sturdy build
Hall-effect sticks, responsive triggers, handy top/bottom port layout
Louder fans than I’d like during long, heavy sessions
Personally, I’m a big fan of the original Legion Go, bulky as it is. But the Legion Go S (SteamOS) has its own unique appeal, starting with the color.
The midnight blue chassis is a nice change from the black and white we’ve been getting lately from PC gaming handhelds.
The hard plastic casing fits comfortably in my hands with textured hand grips as a bonus. It’s not fingerprint proof, but it is resistant, holding off most smudging until I get my hands in a batch of freshly popped popcorn with truffle oil. Then all bets were off.
(Image credit: Future)
Similar to the Windows 11 version of the Legion Go S, the controllers don’t detach, and there's no kickstand like on the Legion Go. It’s a shame, but the Go S is noticeably lighter than the Legion Go, weighing in at only 1.63 pounds compared to the latter’s 1.88 pounds, with controllers, so it's not that much of an issue.
The asymmetrical analog anti-drift joysticks are sturdy and provide accurate input, and I especially appreciate that they don’t detach as easily as the Go’s joysticks.
The D-Pad is fine, but it’s a little too stiff to deliver the precision needed to input quarter or half-circle inputs for fighting games. However, the buttons, shoulder, and rear bumpers deliver firm feedback with a nice, gentle click. A tiny square under the right joystick acts as one of the tiniest touchpads I’ve ever seen.
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(Image credit: Future)
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(Image credit: Future)
Despite not being OLED, the 8-inch 2560 x 1600p WUXGA display on the Legion Go S is absolutely stunning.
The near technicolor vibrance of Hades II was a feast for the eyes as I threw out barrages of attacks against seemingly endless waves of enemies.
Cuphead and its 1930s-style animations also looked lovely when I wasn’t cursing the screen out after yet another defeat. In both cases, the display’s 120Hz refresh rate ensured smooth rendering without any noticeable latency, which in games like these can make all the difference.
(Image credit: Future)
In addition to the Steam button that summons a sidebar with your usual tabs (Home, Library, Store, etc), you also have a Quick Access button, which gives you a sidebar where you can toggle performance profiles and settings such as brightness, audio, and Wi-fi. It’s a seamless way to quickly interact with key features without having to completely exit your game.
Design: 4 / 5
Lenovo Legion Go S (SteamOS): Performance
(Image credit: Future)
The Z2 Go is more than enough for casual or less-demanding AAA games, but visually robust titles struggle
Surprisingly good audio quality
Controls are responsive and comfortable for long sessions
Lenovo Legion Go S (SteamOS) benchmarks
Here is how the Lenovo Legion Go S (SteamOS) performed in our suite of benchmark tests:
It’s one thing to play Cuphead or Hades II on a PC handheld, but it’s quite another to play the likes of Cyberpunk 2077, God of War, or Baldur’s Gate III.
And yet, there I was, dying for the umpteenth time as I worked my way through Black Myth: Wukong. Thanks to the handheld’sZ2 Go processor, the game played smoothly on lower settings, consistently reaching frame rates approaching 40 fps at 720p.
I also tried playing the game on Cinematic, and that didn't work nearly as well. At the highest performance setting at 720p, the game really chugged along at an unplayable 17 fps.
Games such as Baldur’s Gate 3, Hades II, and Hollow Knight, however,ran smoothly with maxed-out settings, letting me quickly immerse myself in the gameplay.
While not as captivating as the original Go’s QHD panel, the display's colors are vibrant, and details are crisp. This is especially true on Hades II, a technicolor beauty of mythic proportions.
(Image credit: Future)
One thing the Legion Go S has in common with its bigger brother is the audio. After weeks of playing this thing, I’m still surprised at how loud the Go S actually gets.
And while it can’t compete with the best gaming headsets, more often than not, I found myself vibing to the soundtrack of whatever game I was playing. In-game dialogue is crisp, while sound effects like explosions have some weight behind them. And on instrumentals, particularly string instruments like violins, there wasn’t any distortion.
I don’t know if it’s just because the Legion Go S is lighter, but the controls felt much better than on the original Legion Go, with my thumbs nestled comfortably into the concave seat of the analog sticks.
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
The bumpers and triggers depressed with a firm click, as did the buttons, and using the D-Pad during Black Myth: Wukong to switch stances was a comfortable, fluid experience.
In order to keep the Go S from overheating, Lenovo outfitted the device with several preset Thermal Modes. These set an appropriate fan speed for a corresponding performance level, and while fan noise is negligible on the Quiet or Balanced settings, Performance is a whole other story. There’s also a separate option to optimize fan speeds to make things simpler.
As for thermals, when I wasn't pushing the Legion Go S too hard, the high-contact touch points like the D-Pad, X, Y, A, B buttons, underside, display, etc., never got especially hot, though things got noticeably warmer during more intense sessions. It never felt uncomfortable, though, even during extended play.
Performance: 3 / 5
Lenovo Legion Go S (SteamOS): Battery life
(Image credit: Future)
Since the Legion Go S is basically a handheld gaming laptop, don’t expect it to last as long as a Nintendo Switch 2.
During my gameplay testing, the Legion would typically last about 2 hours and 30 minutes on Balanced settings before it shut down, though if you do utilize the Legion Go S's SteamOS desktop for non-gaming tasks, I was able to stretch this out to about 8 hours and 30 minutes, but no one is going to use the Legion Go S for that kind of thing regularly enough to matter.
Overall, then, the Legion Go S is more than good enough for a work commute, but if you’ve got a long flight or train ride, you’ll definitely want to keep a charger nearby.
Battery life: 2 / 5
Should you buy the Lenovo Legion Go S (SteamOS)?
Lenovo Legion Go S (SteamOS) scorecard
Category
Rating
Value
The Legion Go is one of the more affordable PC gaming handhelds on the market. And outside of a slightly smaller display and a less powerful processor, you're not losing too much on this SteamOS device.
4 / 5
Specs
With options for both the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme and Z2 Go, as well as up to 32GB RAM and 1TB storage, this is a well-specced handheld, especially for the price.
4 / 5
Design
While it's not the lightest PC handheld on the market, it's definitely lighter than the original Legion Go. It makes holding the Legion Go S much more comfortable over longer gaming sessions, so while some might miss the kickstand and detachable joysticks, most gamers will call it a fair trade.
4 / 5
Performance
Can you play every GPU-taxing opus on the Legion Go S’s AMD Z2 Go chip? No, but you can play most of what you have in your Steam library at solid frame rates with a few resolution adjustments. Honestly, you'd be surprised at just how many games are handheld compatible these days.
3 / 5
Battery Life
The Legion Go S shares one fatal flaw with its gaming laptop brethren: its blink-and-you-miss-it battery life. At about two and a hald hours while gaming, it's fine for a work commute, but any longer and you'll need to pack a charger.
2 / 5
Final score
The Lenovo Legion Go S (SteamOS) is a good choice for SteamOS diehards. However, if you want something with more oomph, make sure you spend a bit more to get the Z1 Extreme configuration, or look at more powerful gaming PCs, handheld or otherwise.
3.4 / 5
Buy the Lenovo Legion Go S (SteamOS) if...
You value portability The Legion Go S (SteamOS) is a lightweight, portable option to play AAA titles on the go or in your bed.
You have a huge Steam library Particularly for those Steam Sale binges, the Legion Go S (SteamOS) is an elegant way to finally play all those indie darlings you’ve been meaning to play.
You want a large screen with big audio Although not as big as the original Go’s screen, the Legion Go’s 1600p touchpanel is lovely and one of the larger screens available on a handheld. Plus, it’s packing stellar audio.
Don't buy it if...
You want longer battery life If you don’t want to carry a portable charger with you all the time, you might be better off investing in a more traditional gaming laptop.
You want a lighter system While the Legion Go S is lighter than the Legion Go, the Asus ROG Ally is the lighter handheld overall.
You want easy access to all your games While you can technically get non-Steam games on the Legion Go S, it's not an easy or straightforward process.
How I tested the Lenovo Legion Go S (SteamOS)
Tested the device for several weeks
Played several graphically taxing games at the highest settings
Used in-game benchmark tools where possible
I played several popular and GPU-taxing games on the Lenovo Legion Go S (SteamOS) over the course of six weeks, including Black Myth Wukong, Baldur's Gate 3, Forza Horizon 5, Hades II, Hollow Knight, and Hitman 3.
In addition to anecdotal play time, I also ran several in-game benchmarks at different settings and resolutions with graphical upscaling enabled and disabled.
I've been a life-long gamer on both PCs and consoles, and have covered tech and PC gaming devices for several publications, so I know what to look for in a PC gaming device of any kind and how to accurately and quantitatively measure their performance against its competitors.
When the rebooted Alienware Aurora R16 launched some years ago, we praised it as a capable pre-built gaming desktop that balanced a unique design with capable performance.
This time around, the Alienware Aurora gaming desktop (ACT1250) brings the same distinctive and compact design that feels more office-friendly, yet still has that Alienware flair, thanks to its sleek aesthetic.
Starting at $1,399.99 / £1,699 / AU$2,798.40, the Aurora delivers solid performance across the configuration stack, though higher-spec configurations will obviously see the best performance. It also features some really clever ventilation alongside easy access to its internals, though the interior is rather uninspiring.
For many, the proprietary motherboard and limited upgradability, once configured, are also slightly problematic.
All that said, one thing that just might make this the best gaming PC around is the wide variety of configurations on offer, split between RTX 5060, RTX 5060 Ti, RTX 5070, RTX 5070 Ti, and RTX 5080 GPUs, and Intel Core Ultra 7 and Core Ultra 9 CPUs, with lots of options for storage and memory.
My $2,049.99 / £2,148.98 / AU$3,699.30 review build came packed with an Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF, Nvidia RTX 5070, 32GB DDR5 RAM, and 1TB SSD. That’s just enough for 1440p gaming at respectable frame rates, though our benchmarks showed that there hasn’t been much of a framerate gain in many games over the Aurora R16 from 2023.
(Image credit: Future / Ural Garrett)
However, the latest models can play more recently released games like Doom: The Dark Ages and Black Myth: Wukong at good frame rates if settings expectations are managed.
On the other hand, a game like Cyberpunk 2077, which was already fairly old back in 2023, doesn’t gain significant FPS with the 50-series GPU either, unless you use multi-frame generation, which can sometimes introduce a distracting input latency under heavy load.
That said, the new RTX GPUs do feature better AI upscaling through DLSS 4, and the Alienware Command Center app does help a bit when attempting to fine-tune performance.
Other customization options, such as the various RGB lighting settings for the power button, light ring, and other lights, can be managed through the app, too.
Right now, the Aurora R16 remains a striking desktop that blends futuristic design with solid performance, but its limited, post-purchase upgradability and plain interior may disappoint enthusiasts. And while the new 50-series GPUs bring improved AI upscaling and reliable 1440p gameplay, raw framerate gains over the previous generation are modest.
However, for gamers who prioritize style, customization, and dependable out-of-the-box performance, the Alienware Aurora gaming desktop (ACT1250) still stands as one of the best pre-built options on the market.
Where can you get it? Available in the US, UK, and Australia
The Alienware Aurora (ACT1250) gaming PC is available now in the US, UK, and Australia, starting at $1,399.99 / £1,699 / AU$2,798.40.
My review configuration costs $2,099.99 / £2,198.98 / AU$3,749.30, and is built for solid 1440p performance, though there are cheaper and more expensive builds available that target 1080p and 4K gaming.
The cheapest option for US buyers is a rig featuring an Intel Core Ultra 7 265F, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060, 16GB RAM, and 1TB SSD for some quality 1080p gaming, while those looking for a more maxed-out gaming desktop can get an Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, Nvidia RTX 5080, 64GB, and up to 8TB (2x4TB) SSD storage.
My review configuration is actually cheaper than the 2023 Aurora gaming desktop that featured the mid-tiered 40-series of Nvidia’s GPU by around $100, so the price of the Aurora desktop hasn't really gone up.
Despite the new CPU and GPU, though, benchmarks aren’t necessarily better, which means users could find a mid-tier 40-series version of the gaming desktop somewhere for cheaper and get roughly the same native performance, so the biggest draw here is the multi-frame generation.
With a wide array of configuration options on offer with the latest Nvidia RTX 50-series and Intel Core Ultra 200-series chips, you won't have any trouble configuring a system to your specific performance needs.
The lack of easy upgradability once you have the system in hand, though, does take away from the overall package, but for a prebuilt system, it's hard to beat.
Specs: 4 / 5
Alienware Aurora (ACT1250): Design
(Image credit: Future / Ural Garrett)
No major design changes from last year's model
Plenty of ventilation and easy access to internals
Rather boring internals make the glass panel less appealing
The 2025 refresh of the Alienware Aurora gaming desktop carries forward the Alienware Aurora R16’s familiar strengths and weaknesses, setting the stage for its enhanced cooling and port design.
This includes the extensive cooling and ventilation system, which combines a side hexagonal array, top exhaust, and front stadium intake. According to Alienware, this makes the desktop around 20 percent quieter and about seven percent cooler than the Alienware Aurora R15.
Beyond the looks is a rig that also offers plenty of ports in both the front and rear, which should serve users of all kinds, from content curators to the most serious gaming enthusiasts.
The front ports include a global 3.5mm headset jack, three USB-A ports, and one USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps) with PowerShare technology. In the rear, there’s a line-in and line-out port, optical audio port, two USB-C ports, four USB-A ports, and a 2.5 gigabit Ethernet port. Unfortunately, there’s no six-channel 3.5mm audio connection for those who want surround sound set-ups.
It doesn’t help that the cramped space inside will make it difficult for anyone who wants to add something like a sound card into the mix. That extends to how hard it’ll be to upgrade to bigger GPUs in the future as well. At least access to the inside is made easy through one simple screw and latch.
All together, the latest Aurora gaming desktop keeps the sleek, futuristic look of its predecessor while delivering improved cooling, quieter operation, and a wide range of ports. However, limited internal space and upgrade challenges remain its biggest drawbacks, making it best suited for gamers who prioritize style and ready-made performance over long-term expandability.
Design: 4.5 / 5
Alienware Aurora (ACT1250): Performance
(Image credit: Future / Ural Garrett)
1440p performance doesn’t significantly improve over the 40-series edition
Alienware Command Center can help fine-tune performance
Higher-spec or base-spec configurations provide a better value
When looking at the performance of the latest iteration of the Alienware Aurora gaming desktop, the 1440p performance of my review unit looks and feels very impressive, but if you look back to the 2023 benchmarks on this system's predecessor, the refreshed CPU and GPU pairing doesn’t translate into a dramatic leap in raw power.
CPU benchmarks
Alienware Aurora ACT1250
NZXT Player PC
Lenovo Legion Tower 5
Geekbench 6 (Single)
3,071
3,081
2,594
Geekbench 6 (Multi)
20,010
18,984
13,554
Cinebench R23 (Single)
2,257
2,263
1,693
Cinebench R23 (Multi)
35,446
35,226
17,376
Cinebench R24 (Single)
136
137
104
Cinebench R24 (Multi)
1,979
1,923
934
Crossmark Overall
2,301
2,298
1,846
Crossmark Productivity
2,152
2,159
1,734
Crossmark Creativity
2,548
2,495
2,127
Crossmark Responsiveness
2,069
2,166
1,454
For instance, Cyberpunk 2077, which remains one of the most demanding titles despite its 2020 release, manages only about 16fps at native 4K on the older build, and with the new Core Ultra 7 and RTX 5070 combo, performance nudges only slightly higher to 17fps. That makes DLSS upscaling essential, though even then, don’t expect substantial gains in titles from the past couple of years.
In more recent tests, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II averaged below 30fps at 1440p max settings (rising to roughly 40-50fps with DLSS), while Doom: The Dark Ages delivered 40-50fps with path tracing enabled.
Meanwhile, Forza Motorsport (2023) held a steady 60fps at 1440p with ray tracing on, maintaining the same level with DLSS active. One great thing about the 50-series is that DLSS 4 does a much better job at preventing (or at least greatly reducing) the ghosting effect that has plagued upscaling tech since the beginning.
GPU benchmarks
Alienware Aurora ACT1250
NZXT Player PC
Lenovo Legion Tower 5
3DMark Fire Strike
44,913
45,049
43,845
3DMark Steel Nomad
5,224
4,967
5,495
3DMark Speed Way
5,741
5,855
5,960
3DMark Port Royal
14,062
14,139
14,302
One factor that can boost CPU performance is the option to choose between air or liquid cooling, which not only supports higher frame rates but also helps extend the overall lifespan of the components.
Another way to boost frame rates is through the Alienware Command Center app that comes pre-installed. Here, users can customize settings for games, change performance settings, and customize the RGB lighting too.
Gaming benchmarks (Average FPS)
Alienware Aurora ACT1250
NZXT Player PC
Lenovo Legion Tower 5
Cyberpunk 2077 (1080p, Ultra preset)
69
70
72
Shadow of the Tomb Raider (1080p, Highest)
202
201
207
F1 2024 (1080p, Very High, DLSS Quality)
104
97
119
Total War: Warhammer III: Mirrors of Madness (1080p, Ultra)
181
182
172
Outside of gaming, the Aurora R16 handles creative tasks with ease. It smoothly manages Adobe Photoshop projects with multiple high-resolution layers with no slowdown, while 10-minute 1080p videos in Premiere Pro render and export in seconds, and 4K projects finish within just a few minutes.
This makes it a reliable option not only for gamers but also for content creators who need a system that balances performance across both worlds.
Though the Alienware Aurora ACT1250 may not deliver a massive performance leap over past generations, it refines the experience with smarter cooling, better DLSS support, and versatile software controls.
For gamers and creators alike, it remains a sleek, capable desktop that balances style with reliable all-around performance.
The Alienware Aurora ACT1250 balances style and power across a wide range of price points. For gamers who value design and performance over long-term upgrades, it’s an easy recommendation.
4.5 / 5
Specs
With a lot of configuration options available and the most up-to-date hardware, you have a wide range of specs available with this PC. The proprietary motherboard and limited expandability isn't great though.
4 / 5
Design
Though there haven’t been any tweaks to the Aurora Desktop over the past couple of years, it still stands out as something futuristic despite issues with the proprietary motherboard, which limits upgradability in areas.
4.5 / 5
Performance
Don’t expect max settings at 1440p resolution without using DLSS upscaling, as native performance is good but not great compared to other mid-tier offerings. Those who want 1080p and 4K performance will be satisfied on that end of the spectrum for sure.
4.5 / 5
Final Score
The refreshed Alienware Aurora ACT1250 gaming desktopremains a futuristic-looking gaming desktop that delivers solid 1080p and 4K performance across price points, even if its mid-tier value and limited upgradability hold it back.
4.38 / 5
Buy the Alienware Aurora (ACT1250) if…
You want a gaming desktop with a stunning design The sleek compact design blending an all-black colorway with smart RGB lighting feels so above what’s out there with other gaming desktops, and it’s backed by smart ventilation.
You need specific spec options for 1080p, 1440p and 4K gaming Regardless of what potential buyers are looking for, there are a wide variety of performance options split between CPU, GPU, RAM and storage. Despite utilizing the Nvidia’s new 50-series of graphic cards, the prices remain respectable.
Don’t buy it if…
You want a desktop with a bit more space The more compact gaming desktop may look fantastic, but while finding space for upgrades is possible, it’s limited.
You want the best 1440p performance My benchmarks show that 1440p performance was only marginally better than the previous Aurora R16 with 40-series GPU, despite the upgrade to the newer RTX 5070.
Also Consider
If my Alienware Aurora (ACT1250) review has you considering other options, here are two gaming desktops to consider...
NZXT Player PC (5070 Intel Edition) With very similar specs to the Aurora ACT1250, the NZXT Player PC is a little cheaper than the Aurora PC I tested, but it has nowhere near the configurability of the Aurora either.
Lenovo Legion Tower 5 (2025) The Lenovo Legion Tower 5 also features comparable specs to the Aurora ACT1250, as well as a similar starting price and a good degree of configurability, but its smaller chassis likewise makes expandability a challenge.
How I tested the Alienware Aurora gaming desktop (ACT1250)
I tested it using games like Doom: The Dark Ages, Ninja Gaiden Black II, Forza Motorsport (2023), and Senua's Saga: Hellblade II
I ran TechRadar's standard suite of PC benchmarks
I used creative software like Adobe Photoshop and Premiere Pro for long stretches
built-inOutside of the standard PC benchmarks I run for my reviews, including builkt-in gaming benchmarks in titles like Cyberpunk 2077 and Black Myth: Wukong, I also tested modern games including Doom: The Dark Ages, Ninja Gaiden Black II, Forza Motorsport (2023), and Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II for its real-world gaming performance.
For day-to-day tasks, I used it as my day-to-day work PC for about two weeks, including extensive creative work through Adobe Photoshop and Premiere Pro.
Qualcomm took the wraps off its latest midrange chipset – the Snapdragon 6s Gen 4. It brings a few upgrades over the 6s Gen 3, like improved CPU and GPU performance alongside support for FHD+ 144Hz displays, mmWave and sub-6GHz 5G and Wi-Fi 6E connectivity.
Snapdragon 6s Gen 4 (SM6435-AA) is fabbed on TSMC’s 4nm process with claims of 36% improved CPU and 59% faster GPU performance. The Kryo CPU features 4x performance cores at up to 2.4 GHz and 4x efficiency cores at 1.8GHz.
The GPU comes with HDR gaming support and OpenGL ES 3.2, OpenCL 2.0 FP, and Vulkan 1.1 support. It also...
HP Omnibook 5 14 Inch Laptop Next Gen AI PC: One-minute review
The HP Omnibook 5 14 Inch Laptop Next Gen AI PC (yes, that is its full name) has its flaws, but its strengths make those drawbacks easy to overlook. With over 16 hours of battery life, a stunning OLED display, an ultra-portable design, and an affordable starting price, it's hard not to recommend the OmniBook 5 14-inch, depending on what you're looking for in a laptop.
It starts at just $679 / £850 / AU$1,599 for a base configuration with a Snapdragon X X1-26-100 processor, Qualcomm Adreno integrated graphics, 16GB of RAM, and a 14-inch (1920x1200) OLED display.
Somewhat frustratingly, the US base configuration only has 256GB of storage, while the UK and Australia's starting specs include 512GB of storage. Luckily, Best Buy has a middle-ground configuration for US users that offers great value for your money at just $20 more than the US base configuration.
Aside from a bit of pricing confusion, this OmniBook is a great pick for basic work and school-related tasks, especially if you want a laptop that's going to easily last all day, making it one of the best laptops for students and remote workers out there.
The lightweight design also makes this perfect for commuters. While the performance could be stronger, it's hard to complain at this price–and with such an impressive battery life.
HP Omnibook 5 14 Inch Laptop Next Gen AI PC: Price & Availability
(Image credit: Future / Stevie Bonifield)
How much does it cost? Starting at $679 / £850 / AU$1,599
When is it available? It's available now
Where can you get it? Directly from HP in the US, UK, and Australia, or at various retailers like Best Buy
The OmniBook 5 14-inch is available now in the US, UK, and Australia starting at $679/£850/AU$1,599 on the HP website. The base configuration in all three regions includes a Qualcomm Snapdragon X X1-26-100 CPU, Qualcomm Adreno integrated graphics, 16GB of RAM, and a 14-inch OLED display.
The one big difference is that the US base configuration includes 256GB of storage while the UK and Australia base models have 512GB of storage.
With that said, an upgraded in-between configuration is available in the US at Best Buy for just $20 more than the base model on HP's website. That configuration has 512GB of storage and even bumps you up to a Snapdragon X Plus processor. So if you're in the US, I would definitely suggest opting for that version.
The US and UK prices for the OmniBook 5 14-inch are pretty reasonable, but the top configuration in Australia is a bit pricey for the specs you're getting (more on that below).
Value: 4 / 5
HP Omnibook 5 14 Inch Laptop Next Gen AI PC: Specs
(Image credit: Future / Stevie Bonifield)
Lower starting storage in the US base configuration
All configurations include an OLED display
Upgrades available for CPU, RAM, and storage
My review unit is the US top configuration of the OmniBook 5 14-inch, which is priced at $899, but the base configuration starts at $679/£850/AU$1,599. There is also a middle configuration in the US available at Best Buy for $699, which includes 512GB of storage and a Snapdragon X Plus processor.
All starting configurations include a Qualcomm Snapdragon X X1-26-100 processor, Qualcomm Adreno integrated graphics, 16GB of RAM, a 14-inch (1920x1200) OLED display, Wi-Fi 6E, and Bluetooth 5.3. However, it's important to point out that the base model in the US only has 256GB of storage, half of what you would get in the UK and Australia, which is why I suggest going for the Best Buy configuration instead if you're in the US.
HP Omnibook 5 14 Inch Laptop Next Gen AI PC starting configurations
Region
US
UK
Australia
Price:
$679
£850
AU$1,599
CPU:
Qualcomm Snapdragon X X1-26-100
Qualcomm Snapdragon X X1-26-100
Qualcomm Snapdragon X X1-26-100
GPU:
Qualcomm Adreno integrated graphics
Qualcomm Adreno integrated graphics
Qualcomm Adreno integrated graphics
Memory:
16GB
16GB
16GB
Storage:
256GB
512GB
512GB
Screen:
14-inch (1920x1200) OLED
14-inch (1920x1200) OLED
14-inch (1920x1200) OLED
Ports:
1 x USB Type-A, 2 x USB Type-C, 1 x 3.5mm audio jack
1 x USB Type-A, 2 x USB Type-C, 1 x 5.3mm audio jack
1 x USB Type-A, 2 x USB Type-C, 1 x 5.3mm audio jack
Battery (WHr):
59 WHr
59 WHr
59 WHr
Wireless:
Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3
Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3
Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3
Camera:
1080p FHD IR webcam with privacy shutter
1080p FHD IR webcam with privacy shutter
1080p FHD IR webcam with privacy shutter
Weight:
2.85 lbs (1.29 kg)
2.85 lbs (1.29 kg)
2.85 lbs (1.29 kg)
Dimensions:
12.28 x 8.56 x 0.5 ins | (311.9 x 217.4 x 12.7 mm)
12.28 x 8.56 x 0.5 ins | (311.9 x 217.4 x 12.7 mm)
12.28 x 8.56 x 0.5 ins | (311.9 x 217.4 x 12.7 mm)
The top configurations of the OmniBook 5 14-inch bump you up to a Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100 processor and 32GB of storage. The US and UK configurations also get 1TB of storage, which unfortunately isn't the case in Australia.
The top configurations in the US and the UK are a pretty good deal, especially if you can find them on sale, but the top specs in Australia are hard to recommend when you're not getting that storage upgrade. Even so, the improved processor and increased RAM could be worth paying extra for some users.
HP Omnibook 5 14 Inch Laptop Next Gen AI PC Top Configurations
Region
US
UK
Australia
Price:
$899
£1,049
AU$1,999
CPU:
Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100
Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100
Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100
GPU:
Qualcomm Adreno integrated graphics
Qualcomm Adreno integrated graphics
Qualcomm Adreno integrated graphics
Memory:
32GB
32GB
32GB
Storage:
1TB
1TB
512GB
Screen:
14-inch (1920x1200) OLED
14-inch (1920x1200) OLED
14-inch (1920x1200) OLED
Ports:
1 x USB Type-A, 2 x USB Type-C, 1 x 3.5mm audio jack
1 x USB Type-A, 2 x USB Type-C, 1 x 3.5mm audio jack
1 x USB Type-A, 2 x USB Type-C, 1 x 3.5mm audio jack
Battery (WHr):
59 WHr
59 WHr
59 WHr
Wireless:
Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3
Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3
Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3
Camera:
1080p FHD IR webcam with privacy shutter
1080p FHD IR webcam with privacy shutter
1080p FHD IR webcam with privacy shutter
Weight:
2.85 lbs (1.29 kg)
2.85 lbs (1.29 kg)
2.85 lbs (1.29 kg)
Dimensions:
12.28 x 8.56 x 0.5 ins | (311.9 x 217.4 x 12.7 mm)
12.28 x 8.56 x 0.5 ins | (311.9 x 217.4 x 12.7 mm)
12.28 x 8.56 x 0.5 ins | (311.9 x 217.4 x 12.7 mm)
Specs: 3.5 / 5
HP Omnibook 5 14 Inch Laptop Next Gen AI PC: Design
(Image credit: Future / Stevie Bonifield)
Incredibly lightweight
Stellar OLED display
Build quality feels a bit low-end
The OmniBook 5 14-inch isn't pushing the envelope with its design, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's very portable, weighing in at a mere 2.85 pounds. The chassis doesn't feel "premium", with its plastic-y keyboard deck and display bezels, but the low weight helps make up for that.
Plus, it's what's on the inside that counts, which in this case is a superbly snappy keyboard. HP's laptop keyboards can be pretty hit or miss for me, but I loved typing on this one. It has just the right amount of tactile feedback and key travel without being loud. However, I wish the power button was separated from the rest of the keyboard. It matches the rest of the function-row keys except for a little LED indicator.
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(Image credit: Future / Stevie Bonifield)
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(Image credit: Future / Stevie Bonifield)
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(Image credit: Future / Stevie Bonifield)
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(Image credit: Future / Stevie Bonifield)
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(Image credit: Future / Stevie Bonifield)
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(Image credit: Future / Stevie Bonifield)
The touchpad is also pretty good. Considering the price point on this OmniBook 5 14-inch, I was expecting a mushy touchpad, but I was pleasantly surprised. It might not be the best touchpad I've ever used, but it has a satisfying amount of travel and feedback just like the keyboard. The speakers are also surprisingly decent and got plenty loud enough for my needs.
The real star feature here is the OLED display. I love OLED, and this display did not disappoint. Colors really pop on it, more than you would expect from a sub-$1,000 laptop. It passed our display tests with flying colors, too, reproducing 194.5% of the sRGB color gamut and 138.4% of the DCI-P3 color gamut. I genuinely enjoyed watching shows and movies on the OmniBook 5 14-inch and even playing a few games on it because the display looks phenomenal.
Design: 4 / 5
HP Omnibook 5 14 Inch Laptop Next Gen AI PC: Performance
(Image credit: Future / Stevie Bonifield)
Performance could be better, but isn't bad, either
Weak graphics performance
Keeps up fine with basic daily tasks like web browsing
If you're mainly looking for a laptop for things like web browsing, replying to emails, word processing, or studying, the OmniBook 5 14-inch is definitely up to the task. This little laptop is more than capable of handling basic work or school-related tasks. I had no trouble managing over a dozen tabs on Firefox while working on the Omnibook. However, if you want to use resource-intensive apps, like Adobe Photoshop and the like, you may want to spend a little more elsewhere.
The OmniBook 5 14-inch's performance falls far short of the MacBook Air, which only costs $100 more than the top configuration. It came in over 1,000 points behind the M4 MacBook Air on the Geekbench 6 single-core test and lagged by over 3,000 points on the multi-core test. Of course, there are plenty of reasons you might not want a Mac or might simply want to save money, especially if you can find the Omnibook at a discount.
HP Omnibook 5 14 Inch Laptop Next Gen AI PC
MacBook Air M4 (13-inch)
Microsoft Surface Laptop 13 (2025)
Geekbench 6 single-core
2,414
£3,679
2,436
Geekbench 6 multi-core
11,309
14,430
11,321
Crossmark (Overall)
1,184
2,009
1,165
Crossmark (Productivity)
1,116
1,875
1,081
Crossmark (Creativity)
1,298
2,369
1,328
Crossmark (Responsiveness)
1,074
1,505
983
(Image credit: Future / Stevie Bonifield)
If you're only doing lightweight or web-based tasks, the OmniBook 5 14-inch's more humble performance scores probably won't be an issue, it's just worth keeping in mind. Plus, considering the starting price, it's hard to complain.
It's also worth noting that the OmniBook 5 14-inch is by no means a gaming laptop. It managed to run lightweight, 2D games fine, but really struggles with anything more. Wildfrost ran very smoothly at 60 FPS with no issues, but I was only able to get about 20 FPS in Death's Door and about 30 FPS in Risk of Rain 2. These aren't particularly demanding games, so definitely don't expect to be playing any AAA titles on the Omnibook, but games like Stardew Valley or Slay the Spire should run fine.
Performance: 3.5 / 5
HP Omnibook 5 14 Inch Laptop Next Gen AI PC: Battery Life
(Image credit: Future / Stevie Bonifield)
How long does it last before the battery dies? Just over 16 hours.
How long does it take to charge to 50%? About 30 minutes.
Battery life is by far the OmniBook 5 14-inch's biggest strength. It lasted a staggering 16 hours and 2 minutes in our battery test, which, for context, is 2 hours longer than the 13-inch M4 MacBook Air. While you're getting a notably less powerful processor in the Omnibook, you get really impressive battery life in exchange. For some, that could be a worthy trade-off.
My only complaint here is that the left side of the keyboard deck gets noticeably warm when the OmniBook 5 14-inch is charging. It's not uncomfortable, and you won't have to charge it often, but when you do, you can't miss how one side of your keyboard is warmer than the other.
Battery Life: 5 / 5
Should you buy the HP Omnibook 5 14 inch Laptop Next Gen AI PC?
(Image credit: Future / Stevie Bonifield)
HP Omnibook 5 14 inch Laptop Next Gen AI PC scorecard
Category
Notes
Rating
Value
Aside from a couple of quirky configuration differences, this laptop offers great value for your money, especially when it comes to battery life and display quality.
4 / 5
Specs
The base specs are a bit weak for the price, but every configuration includes a really impressive OLED display.
3.5 / 5
Design
While the build quality could be a bit better, the keyboard, touchpad, low weight, and stellar display easily make up for it.
4 / 5
Performance
Overall performance is somewhat lackluster, but good enough for basic daily tasks and lightweight games.
3.5 / 5
Battery Life
With over 16 hours of battery life, the OmniBook 5 14-inch can easily last you all day.
5 / 5
Final Score
Despite a few flaws, this OmniBook 5 14-inch offers great value with incredible battery life and a stunning display at a relatively low price.
4 / 5
Buy the HP Omnibook 5 14 Inch Laptop Next Gen AI PC if…
Battery life is your top priority The battery life on the OmniBook 5 14-inch is genuinely impressive. Depending on your usage, you can easily go a full day or possibly even two without charging.
You want an OLED display at a budget-friendly price The OmniBook 5 14-inch's OLED display is one of the best I've tested, which is surprising given this laptop's relatively low price, even for the top configuration.
Don't buy it if...
Performance is your top priority The Omnibook 5 14-inch is great for students, casual users, and lightweight work tasks, but it doesn't have the processing power for gaming or resource-intensive creative apps.
You want premium build quality This laptop's design isn't bad, but it does feel like a budget-friendly laptop, with plastic bezels and a plastic keyboard deck that gets pretty warm while charging.
How I tested the HP Omnibook 5 14 Inch Laptop Next Gen AI PC
I spent about a week using the Omnibook
I mainly used it for web browsing and work-related tasks, with some light gaming
The OmniBook 5 14-inch went through our extensive battery of benchmark tests
I spent about a week using the OmniBook 5 14-inch mainly for web browsing and work-related tasks like answering emails and writing (this review included).
I also used it for watching movies and doing a bit of casual gaming. All the games I tried on the OmniBook 5 14-inch were played through Steam at native resolution with no FPS cap. With automatic graphics presets turned on, most games defaulted to low or medium graphics quality.
I've reviewed dozens of mainstream laptops, including other HP Omnibooks and budget-friendly laptops like this one. When I test these kinds of laptops, I'm looking for a good balance of price, performance, and features and considering who each laptop would be best for (or not best for) based on that price-to-performance ratio.
HP Omnibook 5 14 Inch Laptop Next Gen AI PC: One-minute review
The HP Omnibook 5 14 Inch Laptop Next Gen AI PC (yes, that is its full name) has its flaws, but its strengths make those drawbacks easy to overlook. With over 16 hours of battery life, a stunning OLED display, an ultra-portable design, and an affordable starting price, it's hard not to recommend the OmniBook 5 14-inch, depending on what you're looking for in a laptop.
It starts at just $679 / £850 / AU$1,599 for a base configuration with a Snapdragon X X1-26-100 processor, Qualcomm Adreno integrated graphics, 16GB of RAM, and a 14-inch (1920x1200) OLED display.
Somewhat frustratingly, the US base configuration only has 256GB of storage, while the UK and Australia's starting specs include 512GB of storage. Luckily, Best Buy has a middle-ground configuration for US users that offers great value for your money at just $20 more than the US base configuration.
Aside from a bit of pricing confusion, this OmniBook is a great pick for basic work and school-related tasks, especially if you want a laptop that's going to easily last all day, making it one of the best laptops for students and remote workers out there.
The lightweight design also makes this perfect for commuters. While the performance could be stronger, it's hard to complain at this price–and with such an impressive battery life.
HP Omnibook 5 14 Inch Laptop Next Gen AI PC: Price & Availability
(Image credit: Future / Stevie Bonifield)
How much does it cost? Starting at $679 / £850 / AU$1,599
When is it available? It's available now
Where can you get it? Directly from HP in the US, UK, and Australia, or at various retailers like Best Buy
The OmniBook 5 14-inch is available now in the US, UK, and Australia starting at $679/£850/AU$1,599 on the HP website. The base configuration in all three regions includes a Qualcomm Snapdragon X X1-26-100 CPU, Qualcomm Adreno integrated graphics, 16GB of RAM, and a 14-inch OLED display.
The one big difference is that the US base configuration includes 256GB of storage while the UK and Australia base models have 512GB of storage.
With that said, an upgraded in-between configuration is available in the US at Best Buy for just $20 more than the base model on HP's website. That configuration has 512GB of storage and even bumps you up to a Snapdragon X Plus processor. So if you're in the US, I would definitely suggest opting for that version.
The US and UK prices for the OmniBook 5 14-inch are pretty reasonable, but the top configuration in Australia is a bit pricey for the specs you're getting (more on that below).
Value: 4 / 5
HP Omnibook 5 14 Inch Laptop Next Gen AI PC: Specs
(Image credit: Future / Stevie Bonifield)
Lower starting storage in the US base configuration
All configurations include an OLED display
Upgrades available for CPU, RAM, and storage
My review unit is the US top configuration of the OmniBook 5 14-inch, which is priced at $899, but the base configuration starts at $679/£850/AU$1,599. There is also a middle configuration in the US available at Best Buy for $699, which includes 512GB of storage and a Snapdragon X Plus processor.
All starting configurations include a Qualcomm Snapdragon X X1-26-100 processor, Qualcomm Adreno integrated graphics, 16GB of RAM, a 14-inch (1920x1200) OLED display, Wi-Fi 6E, and Bluetooth 5.3. However, it's important to point out that the base model in the US only has 256GB of storage, half of what you would get in the UK and Australia, which is why I suggest going for the Best Buy configuration instead if you're in the US.
HP Omnibook 5 14 Inch Laptop Next Gen AI PC starting configurations
Region
US
UK
Australia
Price:
$679
£850
AU$1,599
CPU:
Qualcomm Snapdragon X X1-26-100
Qualcomm Snapdragon X X1-26-100
Qualcomm Snapdragon X X1-26-100
GPU:
Qualcomm Adreno integrated graphics
Qualcomm Adreno integrated graphics
Qualcomm Adreno integrated graphics
Memory:
16GB
16GB
16GB
Storage:
256GB
512GB
512GB
Screen:
14-inch (1920x1200) OLED
14-inch (1920x1200) OLED
14-inch (1920x1200) OLED
Ports:
1 x USB Type-A, 2 x USB Type-C, 1 x 3.5mm audio jack
1 x USB Type-A, 2 x USB Type-C, 1 x 5.3mm audio jack
1 x USB Type-A, 2 x USB Type-C, 1 x 5.3mm audio jack
Battery (WHr):
59 WHr
59 WHr
59 WHr
Wireless:
Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3
Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3
Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3
Camera:
1080p FHD IR webcam with privacy shutter
1080p FHD IR webcam with privacy shutter
1080p FHD IR webcam with privacy shutter
Weight:
2.85 lbs (1.29 kg)
2.85 lbs (1.29 kg)
2.85 lbs (1.29 kg)
Dimensions:
12.28 x 8.56 x 0.5 ins | (311.9 x 217.4 x 12.7 mm)
12.28 x 8.56 x 0.5 ins | (311.9 x 217.4 x 12.7 mm)
12.28 x 8.56 x 0.5 ins | (311.9 x 217.4 x 12.7 mm)
The top configurations of the OmniBook 5 14-inch bump you up to a Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100 processor and 32GB of storage. The US and UK configurations also get 1TB of storage, which unfortunately isn't the case in Australia.
The top configurations in the US and the UK are a pretty good deal, especially if you can find them on sale, but the top specs in Australia are hard to recommend when you're not getting that storage upgrade. Even so, the improved processor and increased RAM could be worth paying extra for some users.
HP Omnibook 5 14 Inch Laptop Next Gen AI PC Top Configurations
Region
US
UK
Australia
Price:
$899
£1,049
AU$1,999
CPU:
Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100
Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100
Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100
GPU:
Qualcomm Adreno integrated graphics
Qualcomm Adreno integrated graphics
Qualcomm Adreno integrated graphics
Memory:
32GB
32GB
32GB
Storage:
1TB
1TB
512GB
Screen:
14-inch (1920x1200) OLED
14-inch (1920x1200) OLED
14-inch (1920x1200) OLED
Ports:
1 x USB Type-A, 2 x USB Type-C, 1 x 3.5mm audio jack
1 x USB Type-A, 2 x USB Type-C, 1 x 3.5mm audio jack
1 x USB Type-A, 2 x USB Type-C, 1 x 3.5mm audio jack
Battery (WHr):
59 WHr
59 WHr
59 WHr
Wireless:
Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3
Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3
Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3
Camera:
1080p FHD IR webcam with privacy shutter
1080p FHD IR webcam with privacy shutter
1080p FHD IR webcam with privacy shutter
Weight:
2.85 lbs (1.29 kg)
2.85 lbs (1.29 kg)
2.85 lbs (1.29 kg)
Dimensions:
12.28 x 8.56 x 0.5 ins | (311.9 x 217.4 x 12.7 mm)
12.28 x 8.56 x 0.5 ins | (311.9 x 217.4 x 12.7 mm)
12.28 x 8.56 x 0.5 ins | (311.9 x 217.4 x 12.7 mm)
Specs: 3.5 / 5
HP Omnibook 5 14 Inch Laptop Next Gen AI PC: Design
(Image credit: Future / Stevie Bonifield)
Incredibly lightweight
Stellar OLED display
Build quality feels a bit low-end
The OmniBook 5 14-inch isn't pushing the envelope with its design, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's very portable, weighing in at a mere 2.85 pounds. The chassis doesn't feel "premium", with its plastic-y keyboard deck and display bezels, but the low weight helps make up for that.
Plus, it's what's on the inside that counts, which in this case is a superbly snappy keyboard. HP's laptop keyboards can be pretty hit or miss for me, but I loved typing on this one. It has just the right amount of tactile feedback and key travel without being loud. However, I wish the power button was separated from the rest of the keyboard. It matches the rest of the function-row keys except for a little LED indicator.
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(Image credit: Future / Stevie Bonifield)
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(Image credit: Future / Stevie Bonifield)
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(Image credit: Future / Stevie Bonifield)
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(Image credit: Future / Stevie Bonifield)
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(Image credit: Future / Stevie Bonifield)
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(Image credit: Future / Stevie Bonifield)
The touchpad is also pretty good. Considering the price point on this OmniBook 5 14-inch, I was expecting a mushy touchpad, but I was pleasantly surprised. It might not be the best touchpad I've ever used, but it has a satisfying amount of travel and feedback just like the keyboard. The speakers are also surprisingly decent and got plenty loud enough for my needs.
The real star feature here is the OLED display. I love OLED, and this display did not disappoint. Colors really pop on it, more than you would expect from a sub-$1,000 laptop. It passed our display tests with flying colors, too, reproducing 194.5% of the sRGB color gamut and 138.4% of the DCI-P3 color gamut. I genuinely enjoyed watching shows and movies on the OmniBook 5 14-inch and even playing a few games on it because the display looks phenomenal.
Design: 4 / 5
HP Omnibook 5 14 Inch Laptop Next Gen AI PC: Performance
(Image credit: Future / Stevie Bonifield)
Performance could be better, but isn't bad, either
Weak graphics performance
Keeps up fine with basic daily tasks like web browsing
If you're mainly looking for a laptop for things like web browsing, replying to emails, word processing, or studying, the OmniBook 5 14-inch is definitely up to the task. This little laptop is more than capable of handling basic work or school-related tasks. I had no trouble managing over a dozen tabs on Firefox while working on the Omnibook. However, if you want to use resource-intensive apps, like Adobe Photoshop and the like, you may want to spend a little more elsewhere.
The OmniBook 5 14-inch's performance falls far short of the MacBook Air, which only costs $100 more than the top configuration. It came in over 1,000 points behind the M4 MacBook Air on the Geekbench 6 single-core test and lagged by over 3,000 points on the multi-core test. Of course, there are plenty of reasons you might not want a Mac or might simply want to save money, especially if you can find the Omnibook at a discount.
HP Omnibook 5 14 Inch Laptop Next Gen AI PC
MacBook Air M4 (13-inch)
Microsoft Surface Laptop 13 (2025)
Geekbench 6 single-core
2,414
£3,679
2,436
Geekbench 6 multi-core
11,309
14,430
11,321
Crossmark (Overall)
1,184
2,009
1,165
Crossmark (Productivity)
1,116
1,875
1,081
Crossmark (Creativity)
1,298
2,369
1,328
Crossmark (Responsiveness)
1,074
1,505
983
(Image credit: Future / Stevie Bonifield)
If you're only doing lightweight or web-based tasks, the OmniBook 5 14-inch's more humble performance scores probably won't be an issue, it's just worth keeping in mind. Plus, considering the starting price, it's hard to complain.
It's also worth noting that the OmniBook 5 14-inch is by no means a gaming laptop. It managed to run lightweight, 2D games fine, but really struggles with anything more. Wildfrost ran very smoothly at 60 FPS with no issues, but I was only able to get about 20 FPS in Death's Door and about 30 FPS in Risk of Rain 2. These aren't particularly demanding games, so definitely don't expect to be playing any AAA titles on the Omnibook, but games like Stardew Valley or Slay the Spire should run fine.
Performance: 3.5 / 5
HP Omnibook 5 14 Inch Laptop Next Gen AI PC: Battery Life
(Image credit: Future / Stevie Bonifield)
How long does it last before the battery dies? Just over 16 hours.
How long does it take to charge to 50%? About 30 minutes.
Battery life is by far the OmniBook 5 14-inch's biggest strength. It lasted a staggering 16 hours and 2 minutes in our battery test, which, for context, is 2 hours longer than the 13-inch M4 MacBook Air. While you're getting a notably less powerful processor in the Omnibook, you get really impressive battery life in exchange. For some, that could be a worthy trade-off.
My only complaint here is that the left side of the keyboard deck gets noticeably warm when the OmniBook 5 14-inch is charging. It's not uncomfortable, and you won't have to charge it often, but when you do, you can't miss how one side of your keyboard is warmer than the other.
Battery Life: 5 / 5
Should you buy the HP Omnibook 5 14 inch Laptop Next Gen AI PC?
(Image credit: Future / Stevie Bonifield)
HP Omnibook 5 14 inch Laptop Next Gen AI PC scorecard
Category
Notes
Rating
Value
Aside from a couple of quirky configuration differences, this laptop offers great value for your money, especially when it comes to battery life and display quality.
4 / 5
Specs
The base specs are a bit weak for the price, but every configuration includes a really impressive OLED display.
3.5 / 5
Design
While the build quality could be a bit better, the keyboard, touchpad, low weight, and stellar display easily make up for it.
4 / 5
Performance
Overall performance is somewhat lackluster, but good enough for basic daily tasks and lightweight games.
3.5 / 5
Battery Life
With over 16 hours of battery life, the OmniBook 5 14-inch can easily last you all day.
5 / 5
Final Score
Despite a few flaws, this OmniBook 5 14-inch offers great value with incredible battery life and a stunning display at a relatively low price.
4 / 5
Buy the HP Omnibook 5 14 Inch Laptop Next Gen AI PC if…
Battery life is your top priority The battery life on the OmniBook 5 14-inch is genuinely impressive. Depending on your usage, you can easily go a full day or possibly even two without charging.
You want an OLED display at a budget-friendly price The OmniBook 5 14-inch's OLED display is one of the best I've tested, which is surprising given this laptop's relatively low price, even for the top configuration.
Don't buy it if...
Performance is your top priority The Omnibook 5 14-inch is great for students, casual users, and lightweight work tasks, but it doesn't have the processing power for gaming or resource-intensive creative apps.
You want premium build quality This laptop's design isn't bad, but it does feel like a budget-friendly laptop, with plastic bezels and a plastic keyboard deck that gets pretty warm while charging.
How I tested the HP Omnibook 5 14 Inch Laptop Next Gen AI PC
I spent about a week using the Omnibook
I mainly used it for web browsing and work-related tasks, with some light gaming
The OmniBook 5 14-inch went through our extensive battery of benchmark tests
I spent about a week using the OmniBook 5 14-inch mainly for web browsing and work-related tasks like answering emails and writing (this review included).
I also used it for watching movies and doing a bit of casual gaming. All the games I tried on the OmniBook 5 14-inch were played through Steam at native resolution with no FPS cap. With automatic graphics presets turned on, most games defaulted to low or medium graphics quality.
I've reviewed dozens of mainstream laptops, including other HP Omnibooks and budget-friendly laptops like this one. When I test these kinds of laptops, I'm looking for a good balance of price, performance, and features and considering who each laptop would be best for (or not best for) based on that price-to-performance ratio.
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 Gen 10 Aura Edition is a convertible two-in-one laptop well-suited to both business and creative tasks.
It’s a highly portable machine, measuring 0.31 in - 0.64 in x 12.31 in x 8.57in and with a starting weight of 2.97lb (1.35kg). As I’d expect from a true ThinkPad - even a 2-in-1 model - it’s robustly built and ideal for home and office working.
As an Aura Edition laptop, it’s an AI PC running on an Intel Core Ultra chip which, according to Lenovo “accelerates your AI experience” without being a drag on the battery. Whether that’s a plus or a minus in your book will vary. In my experience it was…fine. But I’m not the world’s biggest AI user anyway.
But as a self-confessed ThinkPad fan, I was excited to check out the overall feel and performance.
Prices for the laptop start from $1892 / £1820 (currently discounted from £2250 at time of review).
At that price, the US version of the machine comes loaded with Windows 11 Home running on the Intel Core Ultra 5 226V, 16GB RAM, and 512GB M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 SSD.
In the UK, the base model runs W11 Home on the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V chip, 32GB RAM, and 512GB M.2 2280 PCIe Gen5 SSD.
You can also spec-up the machine with up to an Intel Core Ultra 7 268V vPro processor, 2TB SSD, and Windows 11 Pro operating system.
Either way, the base model 14in IPS touchscreen display panel has a resolution of 1920 x 1200, with Anti-Glare. It hits 100% sRGB, has a brightness of 500 nits, and a 60Hz refresh rate.
There are two other screen options, too - either the business-oriented display with its ePrivacy filter, which is otherwise identical to the base model. Or the more complex 2.8K OLED Low Blue Light display with HDR 500 True Black with 100% DCI-P3, 500 nits, VRR 30-120Hz, making it the better pick for creators.
The ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 Gen 10 Aura Edition is available from Lenovo US and Lenovo UK, as well as online retailers.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 Gen 10 Aura Edition: Design & features
The look and feel of the X1 2-in-1 is distinctly ThinkPad - I found it robust in hand thanks to its aluminum chassis, which boasts MIL-STD-810H construction. Not exactly a true rugged laptop, then, but durable enough for the most hardened commuters. Besides the silvery accents, the main body is a stylish space grey that I thought looked professional without being boring.
The 14in screen has a thin bezel that sits behind the glass, with an elevated notch where the camera sits. The camera itself is 5MP, comes complete with physical privacy shutter, and supports Windows Hello for a passwordless sign-in.
Along the right-hand side is a USB-A and two USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports, and a Nano SIM slot. To the left, there’s another USB-A port, as well as HDMI 2.1 port, audio jack, a Kensington Nano Security slot, and a discrete power button that sits flush with the frame. In a world where laptop makers are gradually stripping back connectivity, I find this array generous enough, and I didn’t feel the immediate need to hook up a laptop docking station. Another bonus here is the support for Wi-Fi 7, perfect for future-proofing connectivity.
Now, I’m a big champion of ThinkPad laptops (I use the T14s on a daily basis, but I’ve been a fan since I first got my trusty old T431s). In my experience, they easily offer the best typing experience compared to other laptop brands. Alright, the new Lenovo models may lack the key travel of the older IBM ThinkPads (1.5mm vs 1.8mm), but even still, they’re a joy to use.
In this regard, I was a little wary of trying out X1 2-in-1 Gen 10, as some older X1 laptops had previously used a keyboard with a stubby 1.35mm travel depth. Lenovo has, thankfully, done away with that - here, you get the same 1.5mm backlit board you’ll find on the T-series ThinkPads. As such, using this for long writing sessions is a total breeze.
However, I spotted a few differences here compared to your more traditional business laptops. Of course, there’s the iconic red Trackpoint, but there’s also a fingerprint scanner for signing in without a password and beside it, a dedicated Microsoft Copilot button - clicking this unlocks the AI assistant, while granting easy access to all the usual Office apps.
Interestingly, Lenovo has switched the Fn and Ctrl keys around here, bringing it in line with most keyboards. Older ThinkPads place the Fn key to the left, rather than the right, and I have to change this using the Lenovo Vantage app.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 Gen 10 Aura Edition: Display
(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future)
My review model featured an OLED screen at 2880 x 1800 resolution with 60-120Hz refresh rate. Colors are vivid and bright, near-perfect in reproduction due to the 100% DCI-P3 gamut. For those looking for a general laptop for photo editing as well as productivity tasks, this is a pretty safe bet, I found.
The laptop operates in four ways - laptop, tablet, tent, and presentation mode, and all four work very well. I experienced no issues here at all, with the screen orientation changing swiftly and without lag when I switched from one configuration to the next. The movement feels sturdy and smooth, and pleasingly there’s no additional play to the 360-degree hinges.
What I didn’t like, however, was how reflective the screen was. Turn off the laptop and it’s like staring into a black mirror. That might not be a deal-breaker for some, but it certainly gave me pause and if you’re going to be using this outside or in direct sunlight, you’ll want to crank up the brightness to mitigate it as much as possible.
As a touchscreen device, this unit also included a stylus, which magnetically clamps to the right side of the screen. Using this in tablet mode was a total joy. Input was instant and the whole experience felt smooth.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 Gen 10 Aura Edition: Performance
(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future)
I experienced no issues when using the laptop - running Microsoft’s Office suite, browsing the internet, opening many, many, many, many tabs in Chrome, at this level, nothing seemed to slow down this machine.
Under heavier workloads, there is a tendency for the X1 to run a little warm, and there, I did experience some minor slowing. But even, the impact felt negligible and it’s unlikely to prove an issue for professionals using this for general business tasks.
For a convertible business laptop, then, I found it well-specced and impressively powerful enough for day-to-day operations. Ok, it won’t deliver the same performance you’ll find from a mobile workstation or gaming laptop, but that’s not what it’s been designed for.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 Gen 10 Aura Edition: Battery life
One of the stand-out areas with the X1 2-in-1 Gen 10 Aura Edition is the battery life. The machine is rocking a 57Whr battery, which is hardly massive, but acceptable. Don’t let that fool you, though, because battery life is surprisingly spectacular.
The device itself is rated for up to 20.2 hours when benchmarked using MobileMark 25, according to Lenovo. But this assumes minimal use. Streaming video playback should net up to 16.3 hours. For those using this laptop on the go, it’s positively perfect.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 Gen 10 Aura Edition: Final verdict
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(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future)
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(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future)
Overall, I enjoyed my time with the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 Gen 10 Aura Edition - whether I was using it as a tablet or laptop.
It’s more than capable of handling the usual suite of business apps and software, and here, the laptop performs brilliantly. Everything feels smooth, responsive, and efficient, making it a good pick for those who prize productivity above all else.
True, it’s not the most powerful around, it’s expensive for what it is, and I’m still not a fan of the glossy screen, but all told, there’s little else to complain about.
Couple that durable design with a good port selection, excellent battery life, and a neat, multi-use design, and you have one of the best 2-in-1 laptops for professionals around.
Should I buy the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 Gen 10 Aura Edition?
(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future)
Attributes
Notes
Rating
Design
Convertible, durable, and distinctly ThinkPad in style
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Performance
Perfect for office duties as well as lighter weight creative tasks
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Price
A steeper cost than I'd like, but par for the course with a business laptop
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Buy it if…
You want a business 2-in-1: As a convertible laptop, this works superbly well in all its configurations. I especially like the smooth efficiency when using it as a tablet alongside the Yoga Pen stylus.
Battery life is a concern: I found the longevity of the battery to be superb here, and if you’re working on the go or away from a mains outlet, it’s perfect.
Don’t buy it if…
You need absolute power: Yes, it’s a powerful little machine, but with these specs, it can’t measure up to the performance of the ThinkPad P-series. This is, after all, a business laptop first and foremost.
You’re on a budget: Arguably the biggest issue with this device is the cost - it’s a pricey number, as business machines tend to be.
