The era of lacklustre mini PCs is over, and the GMKtec NucBox M6 is a testament to this evolution. The compact M6 features an AMD Ryzen 5 6600H CPU and AMD Radeon 660M GPU, and while this might be entry-level in the Ryzen range, it still impresses with a very decent performance, especially at its price point.
Like all the best mini PC units we've tested, the M6 handles all office tasks without issue and even supports light multimedia production, such as image and HD video editing. What really appeals about the M6 is that it has plenty of upgradability options, including expandable RAM and SSD storage, which will enable you to adapt this mini PC to your needs.
Everyday tasks like Microsoft Office applications, internet browsing, and light multimedia work are all well within this machine's abilities, and even some light gaming is handled well by the CPU and GPU combination. The machine's storage and processing power are impressive, but it's the small machine's versatility that really shines through. While the machine can sit in an office plugged into the mains, the dual power option also enables you to connect to PD power; this makes it possible to use in a variety of settings, from office desks to advanced display systems or even as a powerful, lightweight solution for van life. Overall, the GMKtec NucBox M6 offers exceptional value for its compact size, powerful specs, and versatile functionality.
GMKtec NucBox M6: Price and availability
How much does it cost? From $340 / £265
When is it out? Available now
Where can you get it? Directly from GMKtec or Amazon.com
The GMKtec M6 is widely available with three variants: A barebones model with no memory or storage, a 16GB RAM / 512GB SSD model, and a 32GB / 1TB SSD variant.
Prices start at $340 / £265, but at the time of this review, all versions were heavily discounted on both the GMKtec website here and Amazon here.
Value: 4 / 5
(Image credit: Alastair Jennings)
GMKtec NucBox M6: Specs
GMKtec NucBox M6: Design
The GMKtec M6 follows the usual design rules for a typical mini PC in terms of size and weight, and there's really nothing remarkable about it from that angle. The PC is housed in an all-plastic matte black casing that, while not premium, still exudes a quality feel and, to be honest, looks great. Its layout is straightforward, featuring a good selection of front ports for occasional accessories and headphones and a more extensive array at the back, including dual network ports for enhanced gaming, dual display options, and various USB Type-A ports. This design consolidates GMKtec's experience in mini PCs, offering everything generally needed in this category of machine.
While the base configuration of the machine is pretty good, accessing the inner components is straightforward, with the top cover clipped in place. Removing the top lid reveals the fan cover, which is secured with four screws. Once removed, the SSD and RAM slots are easily accessible. The design includes dual SSD options, with the primary SSD featuring a heatsink, allowing for an additional SSD if needed. Each slot supports up to 2TB, enabling a total of 4TB of internal storage. The dual-channel RAM can be upgraded from 32GB to 64GB, providing more headroom for creative tasks.
(Image credit: Alastair Jennings)
Overall, the M6's design is compact and perfectly suited for desktop use or mounting via the included VESA mount. Despite its small size, the M6 features substantial cooling with a large heatsink on the main SSD, side venting, and an additional fan cover, ensuring decent air circulation that helps keep the machine cool under load when handling large files, demanding tasks, or gaming.
Design: 4 / 5
(Image credit: Alastair Jennings)
GMKtec NucBox M6: Features
The GMKtec M6 is a powerful mini PC, considering its relatively cheap price. It has a balanced array of ports and features, ideal for office work and light multimedia editing. Its AMD Ryzen 5 6600H CPU and Radeon 660M GPU offer more power than typical mini PCs at this price point, making it suitable for tasks like Photoshop and Davinci Resolve, provided the workload is moderate.
A notable advantage of the M6 is its dual power options—AC mains adapter and PD power—which add flexibility compared to other mini PCs. The M6 supports 5GHz/2.4GHz dual-frequency WiFi 6E and multi-user 2x2 MIMO, ensuring decent wireless connectivity. The dual 2.5G RJ45 ports further boost the networking options, although this is more of an office feature than at home unless you're gaming or using a creative network.
The AMD Ryzen 5 6600H, with its Zen 3+ architecture and 4.5GHz burst frequency, paired with the Radeon 660M GPU in use, does deliver impressive performance. The 32GB DDR5 RAM and 1TB PCIe SSD provide what you need for most standard apps, and if you are venturing into creative applications, then the ability to upgrade on both accounts is definitely welcome.
(Image credit: Alastair Jennings)
Features: 4 / 5
GMKtec NucBox M6: Performance
Considering its price, the GMKtec NucBox M6's performance is superb, highlighting the rapid advancements in mini PC capabilities. While its build and design might not match its premium counterparts, its performance and upgradability are impressive. Standard office applications load quickly, and large documents are handled with ease. Image editing in Photoshop is well-managed, though there is a slowdown as layers and effects accumulate. The M6 is more than adequate for Lightroom, with internal storage expandable to 4TB, which is handy if this is your sole machine or you wanted a compact alternative to any of the best laptops for photo editing.
For video editing, the M6 can handle standard HD footage and some 4K editing, provided expectations are realistic - this is hardly the best video editing PC for serious work. Gaming performance is surprisingly good, with titles like Cyberpunk 2077 and Tekken 8 running smoothly with adjusted settings. Overall, the M6 is an ideal, affordable, and powerful solution for office, workshop, van, and display use.
Performance: 4 / 5
(Image credit: Alastair Jennings)
GMKtec NucBox M6: Final verdict
(Image credit: Alastair Jennings)
The GMKtec NucBox M6 impresses with its compact size, price, and ability to handle office tasks and multimedia easily. While it does slow for more demanding applications, it can be used for photo and image editing within reason, making it a versatile and powerful mini PC for everyday use. If you need a budget-friendly business computer for basic computing tasks, the M6 is a great choice. However, if your requirements include heavy multitasking or intensive software such as 3D or advanced video editing and production, you might need to consider more robust options. This mini PC shines in its intended niche, delivering reliable performance in a remarkably small package.
The new Copilot+ PC edition of the Asus Vivobook S 15 is an absolutely exceptional piece of kit. The overall aesthetic and design style is extraordinary. It’s clean and crisp, with a beautiful metal finish complete with exceptionally subtle Asus branding. This is a professional device at its core, and it really does show.
Open up the Vivobook and you’re greeted with an outstanding OLED display, with sharp vibrant colors, and a snappy 2880x1620 resolution, all hurtling along at 120 Hz. That’d be good enough, but Asus has color-calibrated this thing as well, so the contrast and vibrancy are stunning. Combine that with sound developed in conjunction with Harman/Kardon (which is honestly some of the best audio I’ve heard coming out of a laptop ever), and the Vivobook S 15 is lining itself up to be an absolute winner.
(Image credit: Future)
For hardware, the most interesting element is the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processor. It’s an Arm-based system-on-a-chip (SoC) similar to Apple’s M3 line of chips found in the MacBook Air, and features an incredibly low 45W power draw. That’s been paired with 16GB of 8,440 MHz DDR5 memory (a phenomenally high speed even given current desktop PC standards), and a solid 1TB of PCIe 4.0 storage. Combine all of that with a bevy of connectivity options, plus a relatively affordable price tag, and all of a sudden you’re looking at one of the best laptops out there for general day-to-day work.
It’s not flawless however, it still struggles in games with no dedicated GPU (although AI upscaling does help a ton here), and the general AI features are (right now at least) somewhat limited, with only Microsoft Copilot and Co-creator being the most fleshed out features of the lot.
Still, AI aside, the Vivobook S 15 is just an utterly almost flawless thing. As traditional laptops go, it’s outstanding, easily competing with the likes of Dell’s XPS line, and far above and beyond the likes of Huawei’s MateBook D16. For the price you’re paying, there’s little not to love.
Asus Vivobook S 15 Copilot+: Price and availability
(Image credit: Future)
How much does it cost? $1,299.99 / £1,299.99 / AU$2,699
When is it out? Available now
Where can you get it? Available now in the US and the UK
When it comes to the price, the Asus Vivobook S 15 is impressively affordable for what you’re getting. Rolling in at $1,299.99 (£1,299.99 / AU$2,699), it packs in some serious hardware for that cash. There's also a variant with the slightly less powerful Snapdragon X Plus chip for $1,099.99 in the US, although the availability of that model in other regions is unclear at the time of writing.
Not only do you get a decent processor for day-to-day work and streaming, plus 16GB of ridiculously high spec memory, and a TB of PCIe 4.0 storage, but it also features one hell of an OLED display, with a 3K resolution, 120 Hz refresh rate, and enough color accuracy (and vibrancy) to keep even the most eagle-eyed of graphic designer happy.
This is one of the first Snapdragon X laptops out there, and as such it is a little unproven mind you. It does lag behind in more traditional PC benchmarks, such as GeekBench and CineBench, but for general office work, web browsing, and daily activities it’s far more than capable. Just don’t expect a super seamless experience all the time.
There are very few laptops out there, that pack in so much hardware for such little outlay. There’s AI capacity here too, of course, being one of the main selling points of the S 15 (more on that in a bit), but even without it, the S 15 is absolutely outstanding.
Value: 4.5 / 5
Asus Vivobook S 15 Copilot+: Specs
(Image credit: Future)
The Asus Vivobook S 15 Copilot+ comes in one main configuration with the 12-core Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chip, although a model featuring the 10-core Snapdragon X Plus SoC is also available for a slightly lower price in some regions.
Asus Vivobook S 15 Copilot+: Design and Features
(Image credit: Future)
Outstanding Screen
Material choice is stunning
Broad range of ports
As you’ve likely guessed by this point, the Asus Vivobook S 15 is an absolutely beautiful professional laptop or workbook. The satin metallic gray chassis is crisp and sharp, with nice smooth rounded edges. The Asus branding, what little there is, is a simple sans serif typeface, either just below the screen or engraved gracefully into the rear lid. The bezel on the screen is slim and almost nonexistent. Similarly, the keyboard, which is chiclet by design, provides a sublime typing experience, and the trackpad likewise does its job admirably too.
The I/O certainly isn’t lacking either. For your money, you get two USB 4 Type-C ports, two USB 3.2 Type-A ports, a Micro-SD card reader, a 3.5mm combo audio jack, and an HDMI out as well. It also comes with a fairly admirably built-in microphone, along with a decent built-in FHD webcam as well.
In general, it’s actually just a very well-built laptop. There’s no gimmicky folding display, or 2-in-1 design here for you to get used to, no touch-screen capability, or pens, just a simple, clean design. If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it, seems to be the motto.
(Image credit: Future)
Under the hood, you of course get that Arm-based Snapdragon processor. This is the X Elite X1E 78 100 chip (catchy), running at 3.4 GHz, and it features 12 cores, no hyperthreading, and a 42 MB cache as standard. Asus touts that this thing has a total AI processing power of around 75 TOPs to help with the on-board AI capabilities the Vivobook S 15 has, that’s paired with a dedicated “Neural Processor” as well (Qualcomm’s Hexagon NPU) which adds an additional 45 TOPs to the equation.
That’s been paired with 16GB of LPDDR5X memory rated at a whopping 8,440 MT/s. That’s ridiculously quick, even by some of the best desktop PC standards, and quite a curious addition, that suggests that both AI tasks and these Snapdragon chips really do benefit from high-frequency memory, perhaps even more so than the likes of AMD and its Ryzen processors (which generally benefit from higher frequency kits thanks to their Infinity Fabric interconnect being tied to the memory speed). The only minor downside here is that the Vivobook S 15 has soldered LPDDR5X, and there are no alternative models either, so 16GB is your lot sadly.
(Image credit: Future)
Because at its heart, the Snapdragon is an Arm-based chip, running off a different architecture compared to traditional processors found from AMD and Intel (which typically operate on an x64 architecture design), support is a bit mixed when it comes to general application use. That generally means you are going to find a lot of programs listing the CPU as “emulated”, Windows is effectively forcing the Arm processor to emulate and behave as a traditional x64 chip in certain programs, to ensure they operate correctly. That will have a minor detrimental effect on overall performance, but it shouldn’t be that noticeable if I’m honest. Arm and Asus clearly learned from the troubles Apple encountered with its first M1 processors, and compatibility is far greater now than it was back then for Arm-based processors because of it.
(Image credit: Future)
As for the less volatile storage, Asus has popped in a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD, and it does a pretty good job when it comes to sequential transfers, although more on that in a bit.
Design: 4.5 / 5
Asus Vivobook S 15 Copilot+: Performance
For day-to-day usage, this is flawless
Priced just right for what you’re getting
Gaming is still nowhere near a dedicated GPU
The Vivobook S 15 might have a bit of an oddity when it comes to its processor, but it still holds its own with some of the best out there to date. In general day-to-day use, the S 15 was cool and quiet, zipping along nicely. A particularly enjoyable experience with that screen. Cooling was handled well, and noise was minimal, one of the big benefits of the super-efficient Arm chips.
In benchmarks however, it is admittedly a bit of a different story, compared to something like Huawei’s MateBook D 16 (admittedly not available US side) with its Intel Core i9-13900H, the Vivobook did struggle in certain benchmarks, although perhaps not by as much as you’d think. GeekBench 6.2.1 provided the most intriguing results of the bunch, with the Snapdragon X landing a score of 2,444 in single core, and 9,008 in the multi-core test. Compare that to the i9-13900H, which scored 2,605 in single-core and 12,568 and you start to get a picture of just how close Arm is getting in terms of performance, particularly given it's often running an emulated version of the program on top of that.
Asus Vivobook S 15 Copilot+ benchmarks
Here's how the Asus Vivobook S 15 Copilot+ performed in our suite of benchmark tests:
That multi-core difference does give Intel the edge there of course, by a healthy 28%, but you’ve got to bear in mind that it’s scoring that with 20 total threads, compared to the Snapdragon’s 12. All while consuming more power, operating at 5.4 GHz, and running at hotter temps as a result. The gap is starting to close between Arm and x64 and that’s incredibly exciting.
Graphically however Intel still has the edge, with its Iris Xe graphics performing considerably better in our benchmark results. 3D Mark Wildlife Extreme for example scored just 6,091 with the Snapdragon and its Qualcomm Adreno chip, versus a staggering 13,731 with Intel. Similarly, in games at their native resolutions, Total War Warhammer 3 on Low scored 33.9 fps on Intel’s chip, versus just 13.7 on the Adreno.
(Image credit: Future)
But there’s a catch here, and that’s the AI upscaling tech that’s built natively into the Vivobook S 15. You can actually drop the resolution scaling to 50% in Total War Warhammer 3, let the notebook do its thing (it’s automatically applied to all titles), set the graphical profile to Ultra, and watch the game run at 20fps instead. Sure, that’s not playable for this kind of title, but that’s a significant improvement particularly given you’re now running the game on Ultra and not the lowest profile. Although admittedly it still doesn’t look the best, and needs significant antialiasing improvements, it’s a start.
Traditional performance aside, this is after all one of the first Copilot+ AI laptops out there, and there’s a lot to report here too. Copilot generally is very similar to any other LLM you may have used, such as Google Bard or Chat GPT. There’s a button on the keyboard to open it up, or you can click next to the Start Menu, and open up a window to chat. It’s limited to a number of queries per 24 hours, unless you sign in, and behaves like pretty much every other LLM. It doesn’t have access to your system directly, so can only suggest what you can do.
Live captioning is also heavily touted on the product page. It’s meant to be able to give you captions on any content (regardless of web browser or media format), and live translate from one language to another. I found it was generally very laggy and slow to use, even in English-to-English. Live translation was also much worse, with Japanese or Norwegian, often missing out entire sentences, or translated sentences appearing five to ten seconds after the content had occurred. It also struggled with accents and regional dialects, particularly with variants of British English. Recall (where Windows can find a file based on a description) is also not currently implemented and is “coming soon” in a Windows side update.
(Image credit: Future)
Moving away from the software side, when it came to the Display, and particularly the audio, the experience was outstanding. That screen is absolutely gorgeous, with a 15.6-inch OLED panel at 2880 x 1620, you get a 211.82 PPI density, and the colors are just phenomenal. Combine that with a buttery smooth 120 Hz refresh rate, along with adaptive sync as well as a color-calibrated profile from Asus and it’s just dreamy.
Likewise, the audio experience is exceptional too. Asus has worked with Dolby Atmos and Harman/Kardon on the built-in speakers, and they’re some of the best I’ve heard on a laptop at this price. Trebles are crystal clear, there’s plenty of mid, and a relatively well-rounded bass as well. You’re still going to get better results from some of the best headphones out there of course, or a decent speaker system, mixed with a decent subwoofer - but for a laptop? Nah, this is shockingly good.
Performance: 4 / 5
Asus Vivobook S 15 Copilot+: Battery life
(Image credit: Future)
Can last for multiple days of work and holds charge well
Bundled fast-charger
Asus rates the Vivobook S 15 at 70WHrs for its battery capacity, and it comes with a fast-charging 90W AC USB Type C adapter as well. It reckons you should be able to get around 18 hours of total battery life in general day-to-day use. In my testing, it landed around the 17-hour mark or so, more than enough for several days of office work and presentations without charge.
That figure did dip a bit when I was watching content on YouTube and in video calls, but otherwise, the Vivobook S 15 fell exactly where I expected it to in that regard. There was never a moment where I was particularly concerned r.e. the battery life on this thing that’s for certain.
Battery life: 4.5 / 5
Should you buy the Asus Vivobook S 15 Copilot+?
Buy it if...
Don't buy it if...
Asus Vivobook S 15 Copilot+: Also Consider
How I tested the Asus Vivobook S 15 Copilot+
As usual with laptop reviews, I replaced my daily driver with the Asus Vivobook S 15 for a week, testing out all my usual work duties including web browsing, word processing, and answering emails. I also used it for a bit of leisure time too - watching Netflix and YouTube, and trying my best to play some games (though it struggled a little in that area).
I've been reviewing computers of all sorts for years, and I've used a wide variety of laptops for my own work throughout that time. To see Qualcomm push ahead with its own Arm-based chips in such a successful way is the real game-changer here - no matter what Microsoft might tell you about AI. Arm is here to stay, folks.
If you're looking to get into the portable PC gaming scene without breaking the bank then the Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9 is a viable option to consider in 2024. It's not going to give the best gaming laptops a run for their money in terms of leading performance, battery life, display, and design, but it does enough to stand out from a price-to-performance perspective.
While the manufacturer has made waves in the mid-range and premium end of the gaming laptop market, its budget offering favors function over form. My review unit features a 13th Gen i7 CPU, Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU, 16GB RAM, and a 512GB NVMe Gen 4.0 SSD - all of which is more than enough to play today's games in 1080p. You won't always be maxing everything out in the graphical settings, due to the GPU's limited 8GB GDDR6 VRAM, but Nvidia DLSS 3's Frame Generation or AMD FSR can help ease the stress.
There's also the LOQ 15 (AMD) to consider if you would rather go for a Team Red rig instead of a Team Blue offering. Regardless of CPU choice, the GPU is decidedly mainstream, so there's no great power differential. It means that the same problems largely apply, meaning a so-so display, lacking battery life, and a port placement that may be cumbersome.
That battery life really does leave a lot to be desired. Web browsing and media playback achieved just under two hours with battery saving modes and the screen brightness halved. It's not great, and this extends to battery gaming which can't even manage an hour. You'll want to keep this gaming laptop plugged in to enjoy a lengthy gaming session, or when used as a desktop replacement when hooked up to one of the best gaming monitors.
So yes, while the Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9 is unlikely to wow you, it is entirely serviceable at providing a solid 1080p gaming experience. It's ultimately going to come down to the pricing of the unit; if you can find an RTX 4060 variant around the $1,000 / £1,000 / AU$1,300 mark then it's worthwhile, but I can't really recommend splashing out upwards of $1,300 / £1,300 / AU$2,000 when RTX 4070 rigs offer more power for the money.
Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9: Price and availability
(Image credit: Future / Aleksha McLoughlin)
How much does it cost? Starting from $999 / £1,049 / AU$1,297
When is it available? The Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9 is available now
Where can you get it? US, the UK, and Australia
The Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9 is available with a starting price of $999 / £1,049 / AU$1,297 for a variant running an RTX 4050 GPU. Alternatively, there's a more powerful version running the more capable RTX 4060 discrete graphics for around $100 / £100 / AU$300 more depending on the retailer's availability - and I'd recommend springing for that slightly more powerful GPU.
In terms of price, the Lenovo LOQ 15 is one of the more affordable gaming laptops on the market at the budget end of the spectrum. Whether you're considering an RTX 4050 or RTX 4060 version, these aren't powerhouse machines, but they are priced as such. It's less aggressive when considering you can pick up some RTX 4070 laptops such as the MSI Katana 15 and Asus TUF A15 from $1,199 to $1,349 nowadays.
Price: 4 / 5
Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9: Specs
The Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9 is available in a variety of configurations from Lenovo itself or found from retailers in the US, the UK, and Australia. As touched upon above, you can find the budget rig with either an RTX 4050 or RTX 4060 GPU. A major difference is the choice of GPU, depending on price, you can get a Ryzen 7000 or Intel Raptor Lake variant.
Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9: Design
(Image credit: Future / Aleksha McLoughlin)
Durable build quality
Thick bezels around the 1080p display
Lovely full-size RGB keyboard
Display-wise, the Lenovo LOQ Gen 9 is primarily plastic with a rugged build quality. It's a far cry from the single-sheet aluminum of premium gaming laptops but feels considerably better than some budget models available. The cracks begin to show, however, when looking further into the screen. With a peak brightness of 350 nits and a 1080p IPS screen, things are serviceable but dull. The 144Hz refresh rate is smooth enough but the bare minimum for machines in 2024.
The exposed hinges and thick bezels aren't the most pleasing to look at, as Lenovo has opted for function over form here. Simply put, it's not sleek or stylish, but it gets the job done. This utilitarian approach can also be seen in the protruding rear I/O as the hinged screen is around an inch ahead. It's done to maximize airflow, sure, but it's quite an outdated idea that was common on rigs from around 10 years ago.
The design of the Lenovo LOQ Gen 9 gets a lot of things right with its excellent array of connectivity options on the left, right, and rear of the device. You're fully equipped with a full-size HDMI 2.1 port, USB-C, and USB 3.2 ports so there are no complaints here. This extends to the keyboard which features four-zone RGB backlighting with its full deck size. It's lovely to type and game on. Unfortunately, this doesn't extend to the trackpad which is small and feels cheap, but that's not a huge concern as you really should be be utilizing one of the best gaming mice instead.
Design: 3 / 5
Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9: Performance
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(Image credit: Future / Aleksha McLoughlin)
Solid gaming performance in 1080p
The fans are very loud under stress
The 13th Gen i7 CPU is still powerful
Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9 benchmarks
Here's how the Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9 got on in our suite of industry-standard benchmarks and game testing.
PCMark10 - 7,328 3DMark:
Night Raid - 57,918
Port Royal - 5,532
Time Spy - 10,117
Fire Strike - 22,507 Geekbench 6:
Single - 2,358
Multi - 13,144 Cinebench R23:
Single - 1,652
Multi - 15,698 CrossMark - 1,572
Productivity - 1,500
Creativity - 1,699
Responsiveness - 1,439 Cyberpunk 2077
RT Ultra - 88fps
Ultra - 84fps
Low - 114fps Total War: Three Kingdoms
Ultra - 80fps
Low - 246fps Red Dead Redemption II
Ultra - 67fps
Low - 159fps TechRadar Battery Test: 59 mins
For the most part, the Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9 delivers on its promise of providing playable framerates at 1080p. The 144Hz Full HD display is fast enough seeing as you'll be getting around 60 to 90fps when maxing out games such as Red Dead Redemption II, Cyberpunk 2077, and Total War: Three Kingdoms. For the best possible experience, you're going to want to enable DLSS 3 Frame Generation and Ray Reconstruction to take the strain off of the native hardware.
While there are versions of the Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9 with 14th Gen processors, our review unit with the Intel Core i7-13650HX still impresses. This can be evidenced by the CPU-bound title Total War: Three Kingdoms, reaching a staggering 246fps with the settings dialed down to low. The single-core and multi-core performance through Geekbench 6 and Cinebench R23 is also solid, even though these figures have recently been eclipsed by Meteor Lake and Ryzen 7000 models.
As mentioned further up the page, the display here is what sets the side down to an extent. Yes, it's fast enough with a 144Hz refresh rate being smooth with no screen tearing or artifacting. With that said, the colors are washed out, there's no HDR support, and the peak brightness leaves a lot to be desired. It's not an issue that's unique to the LOQ 15 Gen 9, but it also doesn't break from convention here either.
What you will notice is just how loud the fans are on this gaming laptop. It's particularly noticeable at start-up, or when under any level of moderate stress. The LOQ 15 is easily among the loudest machines I've ever tested, distractingly so at times, even drowning out gameplay and media playback from the otherwise fine 2x 2W stereo speakers.
Performance: 3.5 / 5
Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9: Battery life
Poor battery life whether gaming or media playback
Battery can be quick-charged to full in just over an hour
Battery life can make or break a laptop and, unfortunately, the Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9 falls into the latter category. In our battery test, the machine was able to achieve just under two hours of media playback when prioritizing the battery life and reduced screen brightness. Simply put, you're going to want to keep the 135W power adapter close at hand to get through a lengthy film or take your gaming experience on the go. Granted, that's the case for many gaming laptops, but I'd expect a bit better from a lower-powered unit like this - there's not an RTX 4090 guzzling down power here.
The Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9 features a 60Whr battery that supports quick charging, but it drains almost as quickly so it's a double-edged sword. The manufacturer claims a full charge from completely flat about 80 minutes, and my testing can verify this. It can reach 50% in about around half an hour, which is solid enough, even if the battery retention is far from impressive.
Battery life: 3 / 5
Should you buy the Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9?
(Image credit: Future / Aleksha McLoughlin)
Buy it if...
You can find it discounted There are regular deals on the Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9 available from both the manufacturer and major retailers in the US, UK, and Australia. For the right price, it offers a ton of value.
You play a range of less-demanding PC games
The RTX 4060 and 1080p display are a good pair for entry-level PC gaming. 8GB GDDR6 VRAM should be enough to play most titles at 60fps for the next few years, even if you won't be maxing out all settings settings.
Don't buy it if...
You can find an RTX 4070 machine for around the same price
Some variants of the Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9 may be nearly as expensive as some other budget RTX 4070 models. This graphics card is considerably more powerful in 1080p and can be found inside 1440p machines, too.
You want a more powerful gaming laptop
Regardless of which variant you consider, the Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9 isn't a very powerful machine. It's available with an RTX 4050 or RTX 4060 which are far from leading offerings.
Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9: Also consider
MSI Katana 15 The MSI Katana 15 is the most comparable alternative to the Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9 with its 144Hz refresh rate and Full HD resolution. It's available with either the RTX 4050, RTX 4060, or RTX 4070 so the pricing may be more of what you're looking for.
Asus TUF Gaming A15 The Asus TUF Gaming A15 combines excellent 1080p gaming performance with a stellar battery life and a solid design. It also has a wonderful RGB keyboard and a fast refresh rate, while being available in several different configurations.
In early 2023 I reviewed Google's first dedicated gaming Chromebook, the Acer Chromebook 516 GE, and it changed my mind about Chromebooks and gaming. So I was excited to get my hands on the long-awaited refresh, the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE (2024).
The Chromebook has been upgraded in every meaningful way, from the display to the specs, and even has new AI features included for those looking to double it as a productivity machine. Unfortunately, there are a few aspects that have been left in the dust in the meantime, which could impact whether this is a truly robust refresh worth reinvesting in if you already have the original model.
The screen is a 16-inch IPS display with a 2560 x 1600 resolution and 350 nits of brightness. The refresh rate is a lovely 120Hz, making it perfect for most video games, while the sRGB 100% color gamut pairs well with the Chromebook's AI tools for creative and editing projects.
It's good to see that so much was invested in upgrading the display since it's the most important aspect of the gaming experience for the Chromebook Plus 516 GE.
(Image credit: Future)
The outer design is rather brand, identical to the original Chromebook 516 GE, though that tends to be a trait among budget gaming laptops in the first place. Despite that, it has a sturdy yet decently light chassis, especially for the screen size, which makes transportation that much easier.
Its keyboard and trackpad have been mostly left the same as well, which is a good thing as they were already quite solid on their own and needed little tampering. The webcam is very good, with 1080p at 60fps video, which is more than what many of even the best laptops offer. And while I do appreciate the physical switch on the side that turns the webcam off and on, the camera itself should have a physical shutter for added security.
The port selection is varied and includes two USB Type-C ports, a USB Type-A port, an HDMI 2.1 port, an ethernet port, and a combo jack. For its size, however, more USB ports as well as an SD card reader could have been added.
There's still a massive downside to its design, and that's the still abysmal sound quality. Google boasts that the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE features "cinematic sounds with DTS audio" and I can confirm that it's not the case. There's a tinny, almost muddiness to the sound, which shows through even with YouTube videos, and sounds even worse when playing games. You'll want to invest in the best PC gaming headsets if you get this Chromebook.
(Image credit: Future)
Like its competition, the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE (2024) has plenty of AI features built into the Chrome OS. But one of the more unique traits is that they use a combination of local and cloud storage.
The webcam, for instance, has a feature that automatically adjusts both picture quality and lighting when using the webcam. It's pretty handy for minor enhancements but don't expect any major improvements either.
There are plenty of other AI tools, which are mostly powered by Google Gemini. Help Me Write generates text based on prompts and lets you edit text based on tone and more, while Help Me Read summarizes PDFs and websites by simply right-clicking the text.
Focus is a tool that turns on a Do Not Disturb mode once you select a window of time, a Google Task you want to finish, and a YouTube Music playlist. There's Magic Editor which uses AI to enhance and correct images on Google Photos, or you can use generative AI to create unique wallpapers and video call backgrounds.
My favorite tool is Project Gameface, an AI-powered hands-free control with face and gesture tracking. This is a major accessibility feature, as you can custom-map out ways to control the entire OS through non-hand controls. While it's still in beta, what I was able to experience is quite impressive and I truly look forward to the finished product once it launches.
(Image credit: Future)
Game dashboard is the new tool that pairs the best with the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE (2024). You have access to features like window resizing, screen capture, game capture, and control mapping, a great option for those who can't or don't want to invest in a game recording setup.
The game recording is fine, though naturally not as high as a premium capture card, but it does a surprisingly great job thanks to the screen quality. It's also easy, allowing you to avoid setting up a whole mess of wires. Control mapping is a standard feature but always appreciated, especially for games that don't come with it like mobile titles that rely on touchscreen controls.
Benchmarks
Here's how the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE performed in our suite of benchmark tests:
The upgraded specs of the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE (2024) shine through in its benchmark scores, as these are some of the highest test results I've seen in any Chromebook and are solid improvements over the already excellent scores from the original Chromebook 516 GE model.
I was particularly impressed by the WebGL Aquarium, as it was able to maintain a high 85fps with the maximum amount of fish enabled.
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The Intel Core CPU is certainly working overtime, which is great to hear from those interested in playing the best PC games through Steam or any Android titles. While you'll mainly want to game through a streaming service like Nvidia's GeForce Now or Amazon Luna, having the option to play locally is always a boon.
Just know that the Steam Borealis is still in beta, meaning you'll have to enable it through developer mode at your own risk. But in my experience, it runs quite well with little in the way of slowdown or bugs.
The best way to use this Chromebook, however, is through GeForce Now. If you're using the most premium subscription option and you have a solid internet connection, the experience is incredibly smooth and stutter-free. I played AAA titles like Cyberpunk 2077 and Baldur's Gate 3 with no issues at all. And thanks to the great display, the games look even better than in the original model and beat out most other Chromebooks.
(Image credit: Future)
The battery life isn't too shabby, lasting about seven hours when under heavy video use and a bit more under normal work conditions. While it's not the best for a Chromebook, it still outstrips most Windows laptops using an Intel Core CPU. The good thing is that you can play for quite a bit before running low on battery, making it way more portable-minded than other gaming laptops.
It lasts a little longer when it comes to productivity work, ensuring that you'll have a full work or school day worth of charge. And it charges pretty fact too, so you won't be stuck at an outlet for too long in case you need to juice up.
Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE: Price & availability
How much does it cost? starting price is $649.99 (around £515 / AU$980)
When is it available? Available now
Where can you get it? Available in the US
The price for the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE (2024) is $649.99 (around £515 / AU$980), which is the same price that the original Acer Chromebook 516 GE sold for at launch. While it's a steep price point for a Chromebook, for a gaming laptop it's a steal, especially for more casual gamers who don't require much firepower for the games they play, or those who only want to stream games instead of playing locally.
Currently, it's only available in the US through Best Buy, with no units available to purchase in the UK and Australia at the time of this writing.
Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE: Specs
The Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE I reviewed came with an Intel Core 5 120U CPU with Intel Arc Graphics, up to 16GB of LPDDR4X SDRAM, and 256 GB PCIe storage. There aren't any options to upgrade your specs, and Chromebooks are notorious for poor self-repairability and no self-upgrade options.
Should you buy the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE?
(Image credit: Future)
Buy the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE if...
You want solid game streaming performance This is a laptop made for game streaming and it does it well. The vibrant display also helps, as titles look clean and clear through near stutter-free gameplay.
You’re on a budget
This laptop is quite affordable compared to other gaming laptops with similar or worse performance and specs. If you're on a budget, this is an excellent choice.
Don't buy it if...
Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE: Also consider
If my Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE (2024) review has you considering other options, here are two more laptops to consider...
How I tested the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE
I tested the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE for several weeks
I tested its gaming capabilities
I stress-tested the battery using the TechRadar movie test
First, I tested the general weight and portability of the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE by carrying it around in a laptop bag. After I set it up, I ran several benchmarks to thoroughly test out its upgraded specs and compare them to the original model. Finally, I used a variety of programs and applications to test out both battery life and general performance during work-like conditions.
The Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE is a gaming laptop that can also do productivity work, meaning I needed to test out both of those capabilities. I also tested out battery life to see how long it could last off AC power.
I've tested plenty of Chromebooks, making me more than qualified to understand benchmark test results and how to properly stress test machines to see how well they perform as a work machine.
It's no secret that I'm not fond of the Microsoft Surface Laptop series, so even with the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chip and all the new Copilot+ AI bells and whistles attached to the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7, I wasn't expecting much of an upgrade. But to my surprise, it's quickly turning into one of the best Windows laptops and best laptops of the year thanks to a sleek design, solid battery life, and excellent performance.
One of the most consistent aspects of the Surface Laptop series is its design. The chassis is always sleek and lightweight yet sturdy, there's a nice variety of colors to choose from, and the keyboard feels snappy and responsive while typing. Thankfully, the Laptop 7 doesn't change on that front but instead embraces its positives while focusing its efforts on enacting improvements it actually needs.
(Image credit: Future)
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 boasts a 13.8-inch (2304x1536) HDR-supported display with a high refresh rate of 120Hz - especially high for a non-gaming laptop. It weighs less than three pounds, ensuring its super portability - an absolute gem for any office worker or student who needs to transport it around between home and work offices or to and from school. I wish it also featured an OLED screen option but omitting it keeps the cost down, so it makes sense.
Its keyboard is also just as snappy and responsive as you'd expect, though the touchpad has minimal response issues that need to be rectified by adjusting the sensitivity settings. The webcam is the standard 1080p fare, nothing too shabby, but it lacks a physical shutter which for its price point is an oversight worth mentioning.
Port selection isn't the worst, as it comes with two USB Type-C ports, a USB Type-A port, and a combo port. But it's certainly not well-balanced either, with it missing several important ports like ethernet, SD card reader, and an HDMI. Even worse, Microsoft still insists on that abysmal Surface Laptop connect charging port, which only serves to take up space that could have been given to literally anything else.
It has a solid sound quality as well, with instruments sounding clear and distinct from each other. Bass isn't too shabby as well, which is always surprising when it comes to a non-Ultrabook or gaming laptop.
(Image credit: Future)
Another defining feature of the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 is its AI Copilot+ integration, including the Copilot key that Windows AI laptop keyboards are now outfitted with. As of now, however, the Copilot key simply doesn't work and there's no way to reprogram the key to make it work either.
Microsoft Surface Laptop 7: Benchmarks
Here's how the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 performed in our suite of benchmark tests:
The Copilot feature does work and quite well I might add. I tested out the Copilot chatbot on all three levels - creative, balanced, and precise - and it performed quite well on all three. The answers, ranging from basic math to a mock interview to an outline for a novel, were well thought out and well sourced. You can also enable various plug-ins for more types of conversations or to help with shopping for a variety of products.
I also tried out two other features included in Microsoft Paint called Cocreator and Image Creator, both powered by AI model DALL-E. The former transforms your own drawing into an AI-generated picture, and you can choose between several styles as well as the level of 'creativity' (aka how much of the finished product is from you versus the AI). Unfortunately, Image Creator uses a credit system, in which you're awarded 50 credits when you sign up for the service and each image generation costs one credit, so you'd need to pay for additional images after you run out of credits.
(Image credit: Future)
There was one feature that I couldn't test out, the infamous Windows 11 AI Recall. Set to launch alongside Windows AI PCs, it was kicked back to the Windows Insider Program when its numerous security issues came to light.
Basically, Recall takes screenshots every few seconds, building up a library of images you can search via AI. But the issue is that the Recall database, which contains all the data from those screenshots and the history of your PC usage, is stored in plain text (in an SQLite database).
This makes it light work for hackers to obtain highly sensitive information like finances, passwords, work data, and more. So as of right now, Recall is not available for me to test out, and until Microsoft works out the safety issues it shouldn't be.
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7's benchmark results are quite impressive, especially compared to its competition. Even without a GPU, the CPU does an incredible job of maintaining a high level of performance no matter which and how many tasks you're currently balancing. These benchmarks prove that the Laptop 7 can handle productivity work, conference calls, streaming, and more.
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The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 I tested featured a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite CPU and boy does it make all the difference. A common denominator between the past Surface Laptops is their poor performance, as they juggle a massive amount of tasks behind the scenes that result in major slow down, freezes, and even the aptly named 'Blue Screen of Death.'
But the Laptop 7's Qualcomm chip rounds out and fills in the numerous issues. It starts up and runs quickly, it's responsive when it comes to loading video websites as well as AI tools, and programs run as smoothly as they can. The latter is especially important as one of the biggest drawbacks was constant crashing when certain large programs booted up, including benchmarks like PCMark 10. But since I've been using it, there have been no performance hiccups in the slightest - in fact, I genuinely enjoyed my time with this laptop and would jump at the chance to make it my official work machine.
(Image credit: Future)
The battery life has also been rejuvenated, with an absolutely incredible 15 hours of off-AC power when it comes to regular use and just over ten hours with the TechRadar movie test. It's rare to find a laptop with that kind of lasting power outside of MacBooks these days, and coming from a Windows laptop it's even more unbelievable.
Another improvement is the ventilation system, as I never experienced any overheating even when the Laptop 7 had been running for several hours without break. Better vents also lead to better performance and less risk of crashes, going hand in hand with its superior battery life.
Microsoft Surface Laptop 7: Price & availability
How much does it cost? starting price is $999.99 / £1,049.99 / AU$1,899
When is it available? Available now
Where can you get it? Available in the US, UK, and Australia
The starting price for the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 13.8-inch model is $999.99 / £1,049.99 / AU$1,899, netting you a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus processor with 16GB RAM and 256GB SSD storage. The 15-inch model starts at $1,299.99 and comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processor, 16GB RAM, and 256GB SSD.
It's cheaper than the entry-level M3 MacBook Air 13-inch and matches the starting price of the M3 MacBook Air 15-inch, while the highest configuration roughly matches the price of the highest configuration of the MacBook Air.
Microsoft Surface Laptop 7: Specs
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 13.8-inch model starts with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus processor with 16GB RAM and 256GB SSD storage. The 15-inch model starts out with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processor, 16GB RAM, and 256GB SSD.
Should you buy the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7?
(Image credit: Future)
Buy the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 if...
You want solid productivity performance This laptop can handle plenty of productivity work including video calls, documents, web surfing, and more while never sacrificing performance on any level.
You’re on a budget
This laptop is quite affordable, beating out other laptops with similar or worse performance and specs. If you're on a budget, this is an excellent choice.
Don't buy it if...
Microsoft Surface Laptop 7: Also consider
If my Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 review has you considering other options, here are two more laptops to consider...
How I tested the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7?
I tested the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 for a week
I tested it using productivity and creative applications
I stress-tested the battery using the TechRadar movie test
First, I tested the general weight and portability of the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 by carrying it around in a laptop bag. After I set it up, I ran several benchmarks to thoroughly test out the new Qualcomm processor. Finally, I used a variety of programs and applications to test out both battery life and general performance during work-like conditions.
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 is meant to be a portable laptop with a thin and light chassis. I had to spend a good amount of testing not only on performance issues but also looking for any ventilation issues. I also tested out battery life to see how long it could last off AC power.
I've tested plenty of gaming PCs and laptops, making me more than qualified to understand benchmark test results and how to properly stress test machines to see how well they perform as a work machine.
Last year around this time, I scoffed at the idea of Microsoft making its own Arm chip to power its Surface lineup, and I was, frankly, pretty savage in my opinion of Windows-on-Arm based on the limited number of examples that'd actually made it to market (all of which were pretty much garbage).
If I had less integrity, I could say that 'what I was really talking about was Microsoft designing its own chips and having them fabbed by TSMC the way Apple does with its M-series chips, not partnering with Qualcomm for the new Microsoft Surface Pro 11!'
But that wouldn't be honest. The new Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite SoC in the Surface Pro 11 was co-developed by Microsoft specifically to run a new generation of Copilot+ AI PCs, with its Surface Pro and Surface Laptop leading the way. Functionally, yes, it's different than what Apple is doing, but substantively, it's not, and what Microsoft is doing is better than what Apple is doing, and the Surface Pro 11 is as good an example of that as any of this new generation of laptops now hitting the scene.
Before I go into why I think this might be the best laptop released this year, I will front-load my criticisms of the device, since I don't want them to get lost amid the praise, of which there will be a lot in this review.
First, this isn't a tablet. It's a full-featured Windows 11 OS, so making a keyboard an optional, extra purchase starting at $139.99 / £129.99 / AU$239.95 is ludicrous, and making the Surface Pro Flex Keyboard with Slim Pen (included in this review) an additional $449.98 / £439 / AU$499.95 purchase absolutely takes away from the appeal of this device. This is somewhat mitigated by a starting price of $999.99 /£1,049.99 / AU$1,899.99, so even with the additional keyboard expense, it's going to be cheaper than many of the best 2-in-1 laptops out there, but having to pay extra for a keyboard for a laptop PC will never sit right with me.
Second, Microsoft PRISM does an admirable job as an emulation layer, letting you run a lot of Windows x86 apps on the Snapdragon X Elite without any real (or at least noticeable) performance degradation, but there are still some apps that won't run at all, at least not yet. It also goes without saying that any app running through emulation is going to run slower than an app programmed specifically for Arm architecture like that in the Snapdragon X Elite.
Finally, the much-touted AI features of Copilot+ laptops are still very limited. Recall has been held back for a few months (which is fine, honestly), and Studio Effects and Cocreator work well but can feel gimmicky at times. If you buy this laptop hoping to see the future of AI PCs right now, you're going to be disappointed. Real AI-powered apps are coming soon, but they aren't here yet.
(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)
With that out of the way, and with all that still top of mind, the Microsoft Surface Pro 11 is my favorite laptop of the year, and I don't see any on the horizon that will dislodge it. I've reviewed dozens of laptops over my last four-plus years writing for TechRadar, and the Surface Pro 11 is the device I'll want to take with me when I have to travel for work, or when I want to work somewhere outside the home or office.
From its incredible design, gorgeous display, and all-day-plus battery life, the Microsoft Surface Pro 11 is more than a match for the iPad Pro, and thanks to its full Windows 11 OS, it can do more than an iPad Pro could ever dream of doing in terms of features and functionality.
Its performance might lag behind the latest iPad Pro with Apple M4 overall, but it is still very competitive nonetheless. That said, the Surface Pro 11 was able to actually run all of my standard benchmark tests, something a MacBook can't do (an iPad even less so), and there weren't any standout weaknesses when it comes to most users.
And even though the Surface Pro 11's gaming performance is pretty laughable overall, it's not like the MacBook Air is a gaming laptop either (no matter how much Apple wants you to believe it is), and the Surface Pro 11's gaming chops are about the same as the best ultrabooks out there.
Where the Surface Pro 11 really shines, however, is its design and battery life. Easily the best-looking detachable laptop on the market, it also sports up to a 2.8K OLED display with far better color accuracy than an iPad Pro according to our tests, a 1440p webcam along the edge of the display for better framing when in landscape mode, and a lightweight but solid build that feels like the investment it is.
In terms of battery life, I'll get into more detail in a bit, but this device lives up to Microsoft's 14-four battery life claim, even edging closer to 15 hours in my local video playback tests. This is a hell of an accomplishment for an OLED laptop and underscores just how good Arm architecture is for power efficiency.
All in all, then, the Microsoft Surface Pro 11 does exactly what it has to do, does it well, and even pushes past what most users are going to expect from even the best Windows laptop of the past few years. It's not perfect, but as more developers release Arm versions of their apps and more AI apps and features roll out, this is a phenomenal laptop that will only get better over the next year and beyond.
Microsoft Surface Pro 11: Price and availability
(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)
How much does it cost? Starting at $999.99 /£1,049.99 / AU$1,899.99
When is it available? The Microsoft Surface Pro 11 is available now
Where can you get it? You can get it in the US, UK, and Australia
The Microsoft Surface Pro 11 is available now in the US, UK, and Australia, starting at $999.99 /£1,049.99 / AU$1,899.99.
For this price, you get a 10-core Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus chip, a 2.8K LCD display, 16GB RAM, and 256GB SSD. You can upgrade to an OLED display with a 12-core Snapdragon X Elite chip, 16GB RAM, and 512GB SSD starting at $1,499.99 / £1,549 / AU$2,699. With the LCD model, you only have the option to increase storage capacity, as all configurations come with 16GB RAM.
The top-level configuration, with a Snapdragon X Elite, OLED display, 32GB RAM, and 1TB SSD, will cost you $2,099.99 / £2,149.99 / AU$3,599. As mentioned before, all of this is before spending additional money for one of several compatible keyboards. Only Wi-Fi models are available at this time, but 5G-enabled models are due out later this year.
Compared to the iPad Pro 13-inch, the Surface Pro 11 generally comes in, though the iPad Pro is going to have a better display to start. On the flip side, it starts with much less memory and you do get a fully functional Windows 11 operating system, not a beefed-up mobile OS like you get with the iPad.
Value: 4 / 5
Microsoft Surface Pro 11: Specs
Microsoft Surface Pro 11: Design
(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)
Gorgeous display
Surface Pro Flex keyboard is fantastic
Get it in Sapphire Blue, trust me
The Microsoft Surface Pro 11 is not all that different from the Surface Pro devices that came before it, but this one hits different thanks to the gorgeous Sapphire Blue colorway and lovely OLED panel in my review unit.
Featuring a 2880x1920p resolution, a dynamic refresh rate of 120Hz, and a contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1, the display is as good or better than just about any other you'll find on the market at this price. The Surface Pro 11's display also features far better color gamut coverage in our testing than the iPad Pro released earlier this year, with the Surface Pro 11's OLED panel capturing 162.7% of the sRGB and 115.2% of the DCI-P3 color gamuts, making this a fantastic 2-in-1 for creatives.
The HDR brightness on the Surface Pro 11's OLED panel is also much brighter than the iPad Pro's, with the Surface Pro 11 peaking at 878 nits while the iPad Pro was only able to get to 498 nits brightness. Meanwhile, the SDR brightness of the Surface Pro 11's OLED panel averaged about 564 nits to the iPad Pro's 476 nits.
(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)
Flipping the Surface Pro 11 over, you'll find the characteristic kickstand that Surface Pro devices are known for, and it opens easily enough but stays firm however you set it. It also has a fairly wide range, with its widest open position letting you pretty comfortably take written notes or do design work on a slightly angled surface.
(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)
The review unit I received came with a Surface Pro Flex keyboard and Slim Pen, both of which performed very well during my time with the Surface Pro 11. The keyboard is among the most comfortable I've ever typed on, and the Slim Pen, while nothing special as far as a 4,096-point stylus goes (and certainly not up to the level of a professional artist's digital tablet and pen), works pretty well with the Surface for note taking, photo editing, and illustrating work.
The keyboard easily attaches to the pins along the edge of the Surface Pro 11 and they don't detach easily, letting you carry it around without worrying that you're going to drop the keyboard.
The Flex keyboard also lets you detach it and roll the connector flap underneath the top edge of the keyboard, giving you a better typing angle. Also along the top of the keyboard is the magnetized slot for the Slim Pen. If there's a knock I have on the design, it might be that this magnet is too strong, forcing you to sometimes have to really dig in to get the pen. Considering how well Microsoft incorporates accessibility into its products, this was a surprising slip on its part, but it's not deal-breaking by any means.
(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)
You only get two Thunderbolt 4 ports, but for a tablet-like device, that's not bad at all. Being Thunderbolt 4, the ports feature charging, data transfer, and DisplayPort 1.4a video output.
(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)
The webcam is positioned along the landscape edge of the Surface Pro 11, rather than at the 'top' of the tablet like with the iPad Pro. This makes video calls much less awkward, and the 1440p webcam sends out a crisp, clear image at 30 fps. The webcam also integrates into Windows Hello for better security on the device.
(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)
The speakers are fine for a tablet-like device, but they won't wow you. If you want proper sound, you'll need to look into getting a headset to pair with the Surface Pro 11, as there is no headphone/microphone jack.
I won't speak about the other colorways, because I honestly don't want to. The only color you should consider for the Surface Pro 11 is Sapphire, which is an eye-catching powder/sky blue. It's simply much nicer aesthetically than Dune, Platinum, or Black. If you do, you'll have easily one of the prettiest laptops going, and you might even get some jealous looks from Apple diehards.
Design: 5 / 5
Microsoft Surface Pro 11: Performance
(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)
Great overall performance
Prism Emulation is pretty decent
Lags Intel, AMD, and Apple laptops
Windows-on-Arm has come a long way in the four or so years since Microsoft began rebuilding its x86-defining OS for a whole new architecture.
I won't bore you with the finer details of chip-level instruction sets and all that, but it's important to know a few things before you buy a Microsoft Surface Pro 11.
Once you've built an operating system on the foundation of a certain defined table of machine-language operations that make it all work, switching out that table of operations for a different, albeit similar, set of operations is a lot like immersive language learning.
Think about it like this: if all you've ever known your whole life is English or Spanish, landing in Beijing and trying to learn Chinese from scratch isn't an impossible task, but it is going to be much, much harder than if you'd grown up speaking it.
Microsoft has struggled for years with even some of the basics of speaking Arm, having spent four-plus decades speaking x86, and Windows-on-Arm historically struggled in that intermediate range where the OS would work, but nothing else installed on the OS would (assuming it would even install). Microsoft still isn't fully fluent in Arm, so to speak, so Windows 11 on the Surface Pro 11 still suffers the occasional app incompatibility here or there, but it is lightyears ahead of where it was in 2020, and that's largely thanks to Prism emulation.
Built into Windows 11 on the Surface Pro 11 is a software layer that acts as a translator for apps that can't work on Arm hardware, taking an app's code and converting its x86 instructions into Arm instructions. Apple's Rosetta works the same way, but just like relying on a translator in a foreign country is going to slow down the pace of conversations, translating an x86 app into Arm takes time that does impact the app's performance.
And this is where the Microsoft Surface Pro 11 really surprised me. I was genuinely surprised at how well apps ran, even in emulation. They were nowhere near as fast as native apps, but they were more than fast enough that 95% of users wouldn't even notice a difference.
Still, there are differences, and they show up pretty clearly in benchmarks.
On the plus side, the Snapdragon X Elite's multicore performance in Geekbench 6.3 was toe-to-toe with the Apple M4 in the iPad Pro, so there is a lot of room for Windows-on-Arm to grow, rather than be held back by slower Arm-based chips as it had been in the past.
But in benchmarks like CrossMark Productivity, the Surface Pro 11 lagged behind the iPad Pro considerably, scoring only 1,327 to the iPad Pro's 1,771.
In terms of creative performance, in my PugetBench for Creators Photoshop benchmark tests, the Surface Pro 11 scored 5,600 compared to the Apple MacBook Air 13-inch with M3's 8,583 in the same test. Pretty much across the board, it was the same wherever the Surface Pro 11 has to rely on Prism Emulation to run a benchmark, which puts the Surface Pro 11 at a disadvantage right out the gate.
These differences are very real, and if you need high performance for your work, then there are going to be few cases right now where the Microsoft Surface Pro 11 is going to outperform an Intel, AMD, or Apple silicon-powered laptop. You'll almost certainly be better off with one of those laptops than the new Surface Pro 11.
But performance isn't strictly a numbers game. More often than not, it's more vibes than anything, and most people need good to great performance and responsiveness and the ability to use the apps they want without any or as little fuss as possible. I spend my days testing the best computer hardware for the consumer market on the planet, and for non-gaming, non-intensive creative work, I found the Surface Pro 11's real-world performance to be a match for any of the dozens of ultrabooks I've tested in the past two years.
Performance: 3.5 / 5
Microsoft Surface Pro 11: AI features
While not an official scoring category here at TechRadar (at least not yet), it's worth breaking out the Surface Pro 11's AI features into its own discussion apart from general performance.
AI PCs are very much in their infancy, with the first consumer laptops with NPUs only shipping in early 2024. Most developers don't even have developer kits with NPUs in them yet, so the number of AI features you're going to find in an AI laptop right now is pretty small.
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The Surface Pro 11 does have some nifty features though, which show the potential of NPUs for consumers. If you've used Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or Google Meet, you've probably done a video call where you could blur your background or even swap it out for something kitschy or fun.
Studio Effects does something similar on-device, even allowing you to bring these changes into online calls so your video data isn't being processed in the cloud (at least not the blurring stuff. The video encode/decode is still being processed online). The list of available features in Studio Effects will likely expand as it moves from its current 'preview' state to a more mature production feature, so this is probably just a glimpse at what will be possible with Studio Effects over the next year or two.
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Another interesting feature is Cocreator, which lets you sketch an idea out in Microsoft Paint and Cocreator will generate a more detailed/refined image based on a text prompt and some other parameters. You can even click on the generated image and move it to the canvas, where you can refine your idea further.
Of the three AI 'launch' features for the Surface Pro 11 (the other being Recall, which isn't available as of yet), Cocreator is the most interesting. The images aren't necessarily great, and don't get me started on generative AI, copyright, and its theft from countless artists both alive and dead, but Cocreator is something I can actually see people using, if only for themselves.
The quality of the images being produced isn't nearly good enough to pass as actual art (the 45 TOPS NPU doesn't have nearly the processing power to do proper generative AI as we see from Midjourney and other gen AI tools that work in the cloud), and they're even too rudimentary for clip art or slideshow backgrounds.
Still, as an inspirational tool for the actual creative process (not just visual, but for writers and others as well), this could be something people might find helpful. It's not the kind of feature that's worth upgrading your laptop over just to get it, but it does point to where the future of the AI PC is likely to go in the next 2-3 years.
For now, that's really the only AI the Surface Pro 11 is offering as discrete features, but it's early yet. With the release of Microsoft Copilot+ Runtime, developers have a whole host of new tools to leverage the NPU to carry out AI workloads, so it's only a matter of time before AI apps hit the scene in force, and when they do, the Surface Pro 11 will be ready to run them.
Microsoft Surface Pro 11: Battery life
Nearly 15 hours of local video playback
Takes about an hour to charge to full
The keystone feature of the new Microsoft Surface Pro 11 isn't its performance, AI tools, or even its appealing design. What really sets the Surface Pro 11 apart from many Windows laptops is its battery life, which is robust enough to challenge even the best MacBooks for longevity.
In our web surfing test, the Surface Pro 11 managed a very impressive 12 hours and 10 minutes of battery life. Even more impressive was our local video playback test. With the display set to full brightness, energy saving turned off, and volume at 50%, the Surface Pro 11 squeezed out 14 hours and 33 minutes of battery life.
Considering that this is an OLED laptop, getting more than half a day's worth of use is something we really haven't seen. The iPad Pro with M4, for instance, got 14 hours and 50 minutes of battery life in our testing, and the MacBook Air 13-inch with M3 managed 15 hours and 13 minutes in our web surfing test. With some settings tweaks, there's no question that the Surface Pro 11 can go well beyond the 12-15 hours it got in our tests and stretch well into the 18-20 hour range, if not even longer.
The 47WHr battery charges fairly quickly with the included charger, but fast charging is available with a 65W or higher power cable, either through the Surface charging port or through USB.
Battery Life: 5 / 5
Should you buy the Microsoft Surface Pro 11?
(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)
Buy the Microsoft Surface Pro 11 if...
Don't buy it if...
Also consider
Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M3) The thin and light laptop that started a revolution in computing is still going strong, and the Apple M3 chip is about as powerful as any you'll find in this form factor.
I used it for everyday productivity and content creation work
I ran our standard suite of Windows laptop benchmarks
I spent about a week with the Microsoft Surface Pro 11, using it mostly for everyday work, futzing about online, streaming movies, and the like.
I also ran TechRadar's standard suite of Windows laptop benchmarks on the device after installing the tools as normal and with no special flags or settings used besides the tool defaults.
I've been reviewing laptops and computer hardware for TechRadar for more than four years, and have personally reviewed many dozens of laptops in just two years alone. I know what to expect from a laptop in this class and how a laptop's performance ought to match up to its price based on its competition.
We pride ourselves on our independence and our rigorous review-testing process, offering up long-term attention to the products we review and making sure our reviews are updated and maintained - regardless of when a device was released, if you can still buy it, it's on our radar.
Everything from the design to the pricing through to the market positioning of the new Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra begs comparison with Apple's MacBook Pro laptops. Even the way it integrates with Samsung's Galaxy smartphones has a whiff of Apple about it.
But we're not going to mention the iconic Apple alternative – well, not very much, anyway. As it happens, the wedge-shaped profile of the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra actually mimics the original MacBook Air more than any MacBook Pro model, though Apple never made an Air this big.
This is a 16-inch model fitted out with a glorious Samsung AMOLED display with touchscreen capability, plus one of Intel's latest top-spec mobile CPUs, a surprisingly powerful Nvidia GPU, 32GB of RAM and a beefy 2TB SSD. So, yeah, this is very much a top-tier premium laptop.
However, it's not one of those desktop replacement monsters that you'd barely ever want to take out and about. At 16.5mm thick and 1.86kg, it's relatively thin and light for a 16-inch laptop. So, think of it as a larger form-factor but still genuinely portable laptop from the luxury end of the spectrum, packing plenty of performance. Yup, a bit like the 16-inch notebook from you-know-who.
With that in mind, it's not a huge surprise that the Galaxy Book 4 Ultra is priced up at the very top-end of the market, too, so along with Apple laptops, it must take on premium Windows systems from among the very best laptops including the Razer Blade and Dell XPS.
So, it needs to be very, very good, to justify its price and deliver on those unavoidable comparisons – and fortunately the new Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra manages this. It offers excellent performance levels, a top-notch OLED touchscreen, seriously impressive battery life for a 16-inch portable, and a premium build – even if there are weaknesses here that include the built-in speakers.
Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra: Price and availability
(Image credit: Future)
How much does it cost? Starts from $2,999 / £3,149
When is it out? It's available now
Where can you get it? In the US and UK
For the base model, you're essentially looking at about $3,000 or £3,000 in the US and UK (Samsung doesn't officially sell its Galaxy Books in Australia). So, the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra is an extremely expensive laptop by any sensible measure. Of course, a similarly specified Dell XPS system comes in at a similar cost. In fact, if you match this Samsung by specifying an OLED panel and RTX 4070 graphics, the XPS is actually around 13% more expensive.
It's harder to compare directly with Apple's laptops, but a roughly equivalent MacBook Pro 16 with an M3 Pro chip and 2TB of storage is around 15% pricier. So, you can actually make an argument for the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra being a relatively good value proposition, expensive as it undoubtedly is.
Value: 4 / 5
Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra: Specs
(Image credit: Future)
The Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra comes in two configurations, a base model and upgraded version – though with both configurations, the 1TB SSD can also be upgraded to 2TB. (Note that, at least for now, the 2TB SSD upgrade is not available in the US).
Here are the specs for the two models of Samsung's Galaxy Book 4 Ultra at a glance.
Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra: Design and Features
(Image credit: Future)
Premium all-alloy build
Slick wedge-shaped chassis
Reasonable connectivity
It's hard to imagine that this generation of Samsung Galaxy Books would look the way they do if Apple's MacBook Air had never existed. There are just too many similarities in the wedge-shaped design and the mid-grey anodized finish.
The 16-inch Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra, which sits right on top of the Galaxy Book range, is no exception. It looks just like the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Pro, just on a slightly larger scale.
Does Samsung do a premium laptop as well as Apple? Not quite – but by any other standard, this is an extremely well put together notebook. For the most part, it feels extremely robust and rigid, too, the only exception being the keyboard bed, which exhibits just a touch of flex.
(Image credit: Future)
The trackpad is huge, which is a good thing, and finished with a slick glass surface. However, it's a moving 'diving board' design and can't ultimately compete with Apple's Force Touch trackpads, which trade moving parts for haptic feedback. You might think a haptic-powered trackpad sounds like a gimmick, but once you've used one, you won't want to go back to a conventional diving board design – they just feel clunky by comparison.
(Image credit: Future)
Anyway, the large 16-inch OLED panel has fairly (but not quite) ultra-slim bezels on three sides, and the display itself has some corner pixels disabled to give the impression of curved corners, which looks pretty neat. However, there's also a fairly large bottom bezel which slightly undermines the overall aesthetic and detracts from the fashionable screen-to-body ratio.
For sure, the Galaxy Book 4 Ultra doesn't even come close to Dell's XPS laptops when it comes to minimal bezel sizes and that ultra-modern look. Still, the top bezel does at least provide enough space for a full 1080p webcam. If you own a Samsung Galaxy smartphone, you can also wirelessly connect that and use it as a high-performance webcam.
This is just one of several tightly-woven features that once again mimics the way Apple's MacBook, iPhone and iPad ecosystem is optimized for cross-device operation. For instance, you can sync files across Samsung devices wirelessly just like Apple's AirDrop feature, or use a Samsung Galaxy Tab as a secondary display. It's all pretty handy, though overall it doesn't feel quite as seamless and effortless as the Apple alternatives – and Samsung's update software is particularly clunky.
As for audio, Samsung has fitted the Galaxy Book 4 Ultra's quad-speaker system as a bottom-firing setup. Ultimately, it's a disappointing sound experience. The volume levels are adequate, but the dynamic range is pretty limited and really only on par with mainstream Windows 11 laptops. Once again, the comparison with the MacBook Pro line is unflattering – Apple's laptops produce far, far better audio.
(Image credit: Future)
In terms of connectivity, you get two USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 4 support, a Type-A USB 3.2 port, HDMI 2.1 and a MicroSD memory card reader. Oh, and a regular 3.5mm audio jack. That little collection should cover most bases and it's nice to have some full-sized and legacy ports. Just bear in mind that charging takes place via one of the USB-C ports, so day-to-day, you'll typically only have one spare.
(Image credit: Future)
Speaking of charging, the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra's power supply is a fairly hefty unit – but with that comes pretty speedy charging. You can add 55% charge in just 30 minutes. The power brick is also not entirely out of keeping with what is a fairly large laptop with a 16-inch display. For sure, this is definitely a thin-and-light representative of the 16-inch breed at 16.5mm thick and 1.86kg – but equally, it's no ultraportable.
Design: 4 / 5
Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra: Performance
(Image credit: Future)
Benefits from Intel's latest mobile CPU
Decent Nvidia GPU
Stunning OLED display
Intel's new Core Ultra chips (Meteor Lake) are arguably a little disappointing. That said, the Core i9 Ultra 185H in this Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra is still all the CPU 99% of users are going to need, and then some. It's even good enough to make for a powerful portable content creation machine with tasks like video encoding.
Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra benchmarks
Here's how the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra performed in our suite of benchmark tests:
Then there's the Nvidia RTX 4070 graphics card. Okay, Nvidia does offer more powerful mobile GPUs, but the 4070 will still blow away any integrated graphics. Indeed, while you might expect Samsung to have clocked the RTX 4070 right down thanks to the Galaxy Book 4 Ultra's thin chassis, it's actually configured in an 80W spec, which is well above the 35W minimum that Nvidia dictates. Likewise, the 1,605MHz boost clock far exceeds the 1,230MHz minimum, even if it's also a fair way off the top 2,175MHz spec some mobile 4070s are capable of.
At any rate, there's decent 1080p performance on offer, though running the latest games at the screen's 2,880 x 1,800 native resolution is generally going to be a tall order, even with the help of DLSS upscaling. But there's some genuine gaming ability here, along with some GPU grunt when it comes to playing with the likes of filters and effects in video and image editing. Combined with that Intel CPU, it's a very effective partnership.
It's a similar story for the memory and storage. The 32GB of RAM will be more than enough for almost any workflow, while the 1TB SSD is an OEM version of Samsung's popular 980 Pro PCIe 4.0 drive, capable of over 6.5GB/s of peak transfer speeds (albeit at this price point we'd quite like to have seen a 2TB drive fitted).
Then there's the screen. Ah yes, that screen: it's a Samsung AMOLED 2X with the aforementioned 2,880 x 1,800 resolution and up to 120Hz refresh rate (it also supports dynamic switching between 60Hz and 120Hz to improve battery life).
The pixel density isn't all that – both the Dell XPS 16 and Apple MacBook Pro 16 have sharper, higher resolution panels on offer. But once you've tried OLED, you won't want to go back to any LCD-based tech. With perfect lighting and contrast, no light bleed, fab viewing angles and much better response times, it's simply better. Oh, and it's a touchscreen, too, which no Apple laptop currently offers.
Performance: 4.5 / 5
Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra: Battery life
(Image credit: Future)
Genuine all-day battery life
Delivers on Samsung's claims for movie playback
Samsung reckons the Galaxy Book 4 Ultra is good for 21 hours of video playback. That sounds like a tall order for a 16-inch laptop with powerful components. But you know what? It's actually doable, albeit in our testing it fell slightly short of 21 hours.
Okay, so you won't get that many hours with the screen set to full brightness – and we noticed some choppiness in video playback when using the dynamic refresh feature. So, the refresh rate is best set to 60Hz for viewing content on the move, but generally, color us impressed – this laptop has legs.
That impression is only bolstered by the 9 hours and 29 minutes it managed in the PCMark 10 Productivity battery life test. That's a pretty demanding workout in power consumption terms and anything near 10 hours is a good result.
Battery life: 5 / 5
Should you buy the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra?
Buy it if...
Don't buy it if...
Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra: Also Consider
How I tested the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra
I used the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra as my daily driver for a week. That meant everything from work duties including web browsing, document editing and a little content creation, to watching movies in bed and playing games in the evening.
In other words, pretty much every use case. Along with our formal benchmark results, I also took the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra out on the road to get a feel for real-world performance and battery life, what it's like to lug around, and how well built it is.
I've not just been reviewing laptops for over 10 years, I've also used them as my primary computing devices for even longer. So, it's intriguing to see how the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra fits into that context. The answer, generally, is very well indeed.
If you're considering a new machine then the latest take on the HP Omen 45L does enough to be mentioned in the same breath as some of the best gaming PCs out there. As far as prebuilt rigs from trusted manufacturers go, HP's latest effort maintains a straightforward approach with its design ethos and performance potential, albeit at a price which may be a little hard to swallow.
Speaking of the design, there's a toolless approach to upgrading as both side and front panels can be removed without the need for a screwdriver, with ample room for tinkering. There's a total of four 120mm fans and a 360mm AIO for enhanced airflow, and this gaming PC largely delivers near-silent operation even when under stress.
Pricing starts at $1,779.99 (about £1,415 / AU$2,689) for a configuration that gets you an Intel Core i7-14700K CPU, 16GB of DDR5 RAM, and an Nvidia RTX 4060 Ti GPU. Yeah, it's far from the cheapest given that more humbly specced hardware, and this extends to higher-end configurations, such as our review unit. This came equipped with an RTX 4090 and Intel Core i9-13900K with 64GB of DDR5 RAM, but costs a mammoth $3,399.99 (about £2,673 / AU$5,136).
As you may expect, that large price tag comes with staggering performance. It's been nearly two years since the components inside the machine were first released, but they're showing no signs of slowing down. Make no mistake, this is a leading 1440p and 4K machine with excellent performance that should last you an incredibly long time. Then, when future RTX 5000 series graphics cards (or RDNA 4 lower down the GPU spectrum, if the rumors are right) hit the scene, it shouldn't be taxing to swap in a beefy upgrade.
HP Omen 45L: Price and availability
How much does it cost? Starts from $1,779.99 (about £1,415 / AU$2,689)
When is it available? It's on sale now
Where can you get it? In the US, UK and Australia
The HP Omen 45L starts at the mid-range with a base configuration featuring an Intel Core i7-14700K CPU coupled with either an RTX 4060 Ti or RTX 4070 GPU depending on the region you're buying in. This machine is priced at $1,779.99 (about £1,415 / AU$2,689) which is a touch high factoring in the 1440p GPU in question.
My review unit featured the Intel Core i9-13900K, the previous-generation Raptor Lake processor, with 64GB of Kingston Fury DDR5 RAM and an Nvidia RTX 4090. Unsurprisingly, the latter comes at a premium. If you're buying brand-new directly from HP or certain other retailers, you may find this build available around the $4,507.99 mark (about £3,538 / AU$6,798), which is at the very upper-end of the spectrum.
Simply put, there are cheaper RTX 4090 PCs out there, but this top configuration is priced at around the going market rate from a trusted manufacturer. It's about on a par with the recently released Corsair One i500, which is famed for its compact footprint and sleek chassis, at the cost of easy upgradability.
Price: 3 / 5
HP Omen 45L: Specs
Here are the specs for the HP Omen 45L at a glance.
HP Omen 45L: Design
(Image credit: Future)
Stylish overall look with space to upgrade
Toolless design to open things up, but there are drawbacks
Front and rear I/O leave a lot to be desired
The design of the HP Omen 45L is fairly standard fare for the company's lineup. In short, this means an illuminated square badge on the front, a triple front fan setup, and what's been described as a "toolless" upgrade path. The rig looks great with its fully metal frame and tempered glass panels, with enough space to be able to reach in and make changes where desired.
However, said toolless design, meaning the front and side panels can easily pop out, can become a bit of a hindrance. My particular review unit has been around the circuit for some time and came in the box with the front and side panel popped off. It took a bit of effort to slide things back in, with a little flex on the front. It's possible this could have happenend in transit, but it's something to be aware of.
What I'm not a fan of is the front and rear port panels which leave a fair amount to be desired. The former is top mounted and clean enough, sure, but the port selection is lacking. There's no USB 3.2 or USB-C, which means you're stuck with older USB 2.0 for your peripherals. The rear is better: here you get two USB-C ports, and three USB-A ports as well as Ethernet and 3.5mm jacks. There should be enough here to be getting on with but it's far from top of the class connectivity.
Design: 4 / 5
HP Omen 45L: Performance
(Image credit: Future)
Excellent gaming performance
Strong productivity chops with this CPU and GPU combo
Included NVMe SSD is strong, but SATA HDD is fairly pointless
The performance of the HP Omen 45L is impressive, but that's not surprising when factoring in the combination of the Intel Core i9-13900K and Nvidia RTX 4090 with 64GB of DDR5-5200 RAM.
You have more than enough power under the hood to fuel today's games at max settings in 1440p and 4K with room to spare. That's made all the better when you can take advantage of Nvidia DLSS 3's Frame Generation to make the most out of the high refresh rates on the best gaming monitors.
HP Omen 45L benchmarks
Here's how the HP Omen 45L performed in our suite of industry-standard benchmarks and demanding games.
Dubbed by the manufacturer as the "Omen Cryo Chamber," the cooling solution does a respectable job of keeping the core temperatures reasonable with the 360mm AIO and four 120mm case fans inside. What was notable was the lack of noise from the machine when under stress from heavy benchmarking, which is usually where these company-made gaming PCs start to struggle. With the Omen 45L, even moderate to heavy gaming is quiet.
We've gone into detail extensively about the RTX 4090 over the years and it remains a powerhouse. There's nothing on the market now that can make it sweat as the card's 24GB GDDR6X VRAM is seemingly endless for even the most demanding of software. To say the Intel Core i9-13900K is a bottleneck isn't exactly fair, but that's what's ultimately holding things back (but not to much of an extent).
That's because you can expect frame rate averages of well over 100fps in all the demanding games on the market such as Red Dead Redemption II, Cyberpunk 2077, and more CPU-bound titles such as Total War: Three Kingdoms, and that's running natively (with no DLSS). This is echoed in 3DMark's range of tests as well as in CrossMark as mentioned above.
HP says the Omen has a WD Black PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD but doesn't specify which one. In my testing with CrystalDiskMark, I logged sequential performance of 6,893MB/s and 5,267MB/s reads and writes respectively. That's on par with the quoted performance for the WD Black SN850, which is a rival to the best SSDs, despite being usurped by more powerful Gen 5.0 options in recent years.
What's odd to me is the 2TB 7200 RPM SATA HDD included with the HP Omen 45L. It's not just HP that goes for a hard disk as a secondary drive, as Alienware tends to as well, but I would rather have had a larger primary NVMe SSD instead of a fairly mediocre storage drive. Not only does it take up space in the case, but with sequential rates of around 300MB/s apiece, you can't really use it for gaming.
Lastly, there's the Omen Gaming Hub which comes included as a one-stop-shop for customizing your rig's lighting, overclocking your components, balancing power options, and optimizing games. While seasoned PC gamers are largely going to ignore this app, those new to PC gaming may find some use for it. The Hub is easy to understand, colorful, and powerful, but unnecessary for those who know what they're doing.
The 32-inch Aorus FO32U2P “Tactical” gaming monitor has a fast, 4K third-gen Samsung QD-OLED panel, some nifty design elements and is the first I’ve tested that has DisplayPort 2.1 connectivity. It’s in a crowded market, so how competitive and compelling will it be?
First up, it’s worth noting that there’s very little benefit to having DP 2.1 right now. Only AMD’s top-end workstation cards currently support it and there’s likely little real-world visual difference compared to DP 1.4 anyway. Still, it may be attractive to those seeking future-proofing.
The monitor is easy to assemble thanks to its three-piece-one-screw stand design. The panel itself is incredibly thin and all core electronics are isolated in a box at the back where it attaches to the stand. It's generally quasi-aggressive in terms of styling and includes an RGB strip at the rear – although you’ll likely never see it. A cool, rainbow-iridescent logo catches the light at the base, but all other design elements are geometric in nature.
While early QD-OLED panels struggled to display text without turning it spidery, this was practically banished when second-gen screens appeared and now there’s no problem at all. It uses the same anti-reflective coating we've seen on previous QD-OLEDs and this does a fine job of eliminating the black-mirror effect when viewing dark content – unless you have a bright light source behind you. The main downside of the coating is that it can slightly wash out OLED’s inherent true-black performance but it’s really not by much and I, for one, am OK with the trade-off.
The on-screen display (OSD) is operated by a small joystick button at the base that provides low-lag access to numerous standard display options, plus OLED care settings and game-boosting functionality – the latter includes on-screen crosshairs and contrast-equalization that stops enemies jumping out of shadows and bright lights.
The numerous anti-burn-in features still highlight the QD-OLED technology’s potential flaw (for use as computer monitors) – static images like toolbars risk burning into the screen if you regularly use them for work. Fortunately there’s a three-year anti-burn-in warranty to provide peace of mind.
A ‘tactical’ switch next to the joystick button can be programmed to do things like drop the screen size to 24 inches for competitive FPS players and also to activate, change or deactivate the crosshair.
As for gaming performance, the fast pixel response time marries with the fast 240Hz refresh rate to produce impressive ghost-free motion performance. It’s not as blur-free as 360Hz or pro-grade TN (twisted nematic) technology panels, but only some pro FPS players might grumble.
Multimedia performance is impressive, especially when Windows HDR is activated. Bright lights shine out of the screen and details are retained in dark shadows. Both colorful and monochromatic gradients are impressively smooth and designers will like that it supports 99% of the difficult DCI-P3 color gamut.
There are two 5W speakers that get loud but don’t provide much in the way of bass-heavy punch, but it's still handy to have them for casual video watching.
(Image credit: Future)
Gigabyte Aorus FO32U2P: Price and availability
$1,299 / AU$2,199; UK price TBC
Available in US and Australia, UK availability TBC
This is far from a cheap monitor and it’s difficult to find outside of Asian markets right now. There are plenty of high-performing gaming monitors that rival many of the specs here, but the combination of QD-OLED, a UHD resolution, a 240Hz refresh rate and DisplayPort 2.1 really bumps the price up. Rivals with similar specifications (though without DP 2.1) can be found from MSI and Asus, but their availability and price also varies from region to region.
Value score: 3 / 5
Gigabyte Aorus FO32U2P: Specs
Gigabyte Aorus FO32U2P: Design and features
Easy to build
Packed with future-proof features
Some features not totally necessary right now
The Aorus FO32U2P has a very thin screen that’s mounted to a two-foot stand and has only minor decorative elements when compared to some bling-laden gaming beasts. It’s simple to fit together using the screen’s clip and a single finger screw (at the base) and, after construction, you’re left with a smart-looking gaming monitor that’s got a discreet (nay, hidden) RGB strip on the back and some ‘aggressive’ geometric lines.
The stand affords plenty of adjustments: there’s +20° to -5° of tilt, +20° to -20° of swivel, 90° of clockwise pivot and a generous 130mm of height adjustment.
There’s also one of the most impressive complements of ports I’ve come across on a monitor, even though some are so new (and expensive) that I’m questioning the value of their inclusion in the current market.
(Image credit: Future)
Indeed, if the 48Gbps bandwidth of HDMI 2.1 has felt constrictive for you(!), the Aorus FO32U2P supports DisplayPort 2.1 UHBR20 connectivity that goes up to 80Gbps for a potentially completely uncompressed 240Hz UHD image. For most people this will be a bit like Spinal Tap going up to 11, as the existing image is excellent and looks far from compressed. Still, when compatible consumer graphics cards appear, image quality might suddenly improve – to some extent – and I might be eating my words. That’s hard to imagine on a 32-inch screen, though I’d expect it to be more apparent on massive 4K and 8K TVs.
Right now DP 2.1 UHBR20 only works on Radeon Pro (workstation) graphics cards anyway. Also be aware that the supplied DP cable is relatively short, so might not reach if your PC isn’t on your desk.
A joystick button provides access to the OSD where the usual preset display settings (plus HDR additions when turned on) live, along with the option to activate FreeSync Premium Pro.
There’s Picture-in-Picture and Picture-by-Picture that can be made use of via the two HDMI 2.1 ports, a USB-C port (with 65W PD charging) and the two main DisplayPorts (one is miniDP). There’s also a DisplayPort out for daisy chaining. Note too, there are dual 3.5mm audio jacks that will please/annoy those with (in)compatible headsets.
A Game Assist menu enables you to display a timer and the monitor refresh rate. There are also various styles of onscreen crosshairs (great for CoD Hardcore) and an Eagle Eye (sniper) mode that zooms in on a moveable area of the screen so you can cheat get better headshots. To be frank, if you can succeed using such a distracting feature, then good for you.
(Image credit: Future)
You can also activate a Dashboard that provides an on-screen system status (CPU, GPU and frame rate) list.
A Resolution Switch mode transforms the display into a virtual 24-inch screen – gimmicky but potentially attractive to e-sports players who require a smaller screen with a more eye-friendly field of view.
An OLED Care menu monitors how long you’ve been using the screen and provides numerous burn-in tools like Pixel Clean, Static Control, Pixel Shift and (zoned) screen dimming. While burn-in on QD-OLED panels is still a heated issue, Gigabyte offers a three-year burn-in warranty for peace of mind.
A Tactical Button next to the joystick can be configured to instantly drop the resolution, activate the crosshair, enable an OLE-care cleaning cycle or mute the speakers.
Ultimately, it’s a good-looking and very well-specced monitor with few missing features and additional future-proofed, high-bandwidth connections.
Design and features score: 5 / 5
(Image credit: Future)
Gigabyte Aorus FO32U2P: Performance
Vibrant colors
Impressively fast in use
Built-in speakers are good but not great
The Aorus FO32U2P’s colors are as vibrant as I’d expect from a QD-OLED screen and both monochromatic and colorful transitions are smooth when Windows HDR is turned on.
Contrast is excellent, with details remaining visible in bright and dark areas alike. The 250 nit SDR brightness might seem low but it's uniform and well suited to gaming and day-to-day use. HDR brightness can hit 1000 nits on 3% of the screen – enough that all but larger highlights really pop. You can also butcher it with Aorus’ Black Equalizer 2.0 settings to stop enemies hiding in shadows and jumping out of the sun.
The 240Hz refresh rate marries well with the super-quick 0.03ms (stated) pixel response time. You can get faster screens but only super-fussy pro e-sports players might grumble at the minuscule blur on show.
(Image credit: Future)
Another potentially contentious issue with monitors using this third-gen Samsung QD-OLED panel is that it’s not quite true black. An anti-reflective coating does a very impressive job of banishing reflections (even in dark scenes) and despite this being a great trade-off, some multimedia purists might hate having ever-so-slightly washed-out blacks.
A less contentious issue concerns the QD-OLED’s spidery text problems from its early days. It was almost perfectly fixed on second-gen panels and I didn’t have any issues on this third-gen display.
The twin 5W speakers get loud and offer a bit of punch. However, there’s not much bass to speak of and fidelity suffers in the mid-range when at high volume. Still, I like having them as sometimes you want to watch a quick video without dealing with headphones.
Performance score: 5 / 5
(Image credit: Future)
Gigabyte Aorus FO32U2P: Score card
Should I buy the Gigabyte Aorus FO32U2P?
Buy it if...
You want an uncompromising gaming monitor
Having a 240Hz refresh rate on a UHD-resolution QD-OLED panel ticks my three core features of a dream monitor, and this Aorus has them all.
You want DisplayPort 2.1
There are few actual benefits to having this technology but, if you’ve been hanging out for huge video bandwidth, then this is the first monitor to provide it.
Don't buy it if...
Money is an issue
It’s a very expensive display and you can get non QD-OLED variants that have similar headline specs for much less money.
Thoughts of QD-OLED burn-in gives you anxiety
There are many anti-burn-in technologies in the Aorus FO32U2P (plus a three-year warranty), but you’ll be thinking about it a lot – especially if you’re planning on working with a fixed Windows Taskbar on a day-to-day basis.
Also consider
Gigabyte Aorus FO32U2
The non-P version of this monitor doesn’t have DisplayPort 2.1 (or DP daisy chaining) and its USB-C port isn’t as powerful (18-Watt PD), but this can save you some money. However availability is not great in all regions.
Gigabyte M32UC
Gigabyte’s non-QD-OLED 4K gaming monitor packs in the features and still manages to offer a 144Hz refresh rate. It also costs one-third of the price!
For the review, I tested the Aorus FO32U2P over the course of a month by using it as my work-from-home monitor, which I also use for gaming. That means I regularly use all Microsoft and Google Office applications, Adobe photo and video editing applications, social media and YouTube.
In order to test the overall image quality I focus on real-world tests and a few technical tests. For multimedia performance I use UHD video clips (HDR where possible) on YouTube to establish color vibrancy and accuracy, smoothness (and noisiness) of chromatic and monochromatic gradients, plus contrast range and true-black performance.
For speed and gaming performance I predominantly focus upon CoD MWIII and PCars 2 for fast-and-frantic motion smoothness. I also look at the TestUFO technical motion test.
For physical attributes I check reflectivity of the screen and speed/intuitiveness/features of the OSD.
I’ve been reviewing computers, peripherals and components for over 20 years for multiple titles in the UK, Australia and internationally.
HP’s Spectre Foldable 17 is, on the surface, an interesting device. If you were to look at the product page or any of the marketing material for the Foldable 17, no doubt you’d be impressed with the folding OLED panel, its crisp resolution, and the insane versatility that comes with it.
That magnetic keyboard, shifting the display up and altering the resolution automatically, and the fact you can use it as a fully-fledged all-in-one PC, or a 17-inch tablet at the drop of a hat, is no word of a lie – and incredibly enticing. But really, that’s all a mirage, a ghostly silhouette of what – at its core – is a significantly flawed product.
Right now, there’s one spec available for the HP Spectre Foldable. It’s priced at $5,000 retail in the US (£4,850 in the UK, or AU$8,499 in Australia), and features an Intel Core i7-1250U processor, 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM (running at 5200MHz), a 1TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 SSD, and a 94.3Wh battery.
That’s honestly all there really is to say about it. You get a pen, a USB dock, along with a (fairly average) detachable Bluetooth laptop substitute keyboard-and-mouse-combo-thing, and that’s it. And it’s the hardware that really drives the nail into the coffin.
Yes, the screen is good – it’s a beautifully crisp OLED panel that recreates colors to an exceptional degree. It’s stunning to look at, bright at 500 nits, and can even shift its resolution from 1,920 x 2,560 to 1,920 x 1,820 depending on how you position that keyboard. But, here’s the thing: you’re paying effectively $5,000 for a screen with a bit of hardware attached. And that hardware doesn’t perform as well as laptops that are a fifth the cost of this HP offering. Huawei’s MateBook D 16 for example, or Dell’s XPS 13 Plus, or literally any other laptop really, will outperform this device. And that’s a problem.
If all you need is a laptop to edit documents on (and I’ll caveat that with “not large spreadsheets”), watch a bit of Netflix, and stream a touch of YouTube, then yes the HP Spectre Foldable will fit the bill. Yes, you can technically use it as an all-in-one or a tablet to do that as well, but then you’re paying $5,000 for that privilege when, to be frank, you could probably get as much, if not better, performance out of an OLED TV for half the cost.
HP Spectre Foldable 17: Price and availability
Windows still isn’t quite set up for tablets as well as it should be (Image credit: Future / Zak Storey)
How much does it cost? $5,000 / £4,850 / AU$8,499
When is it out? It’s available right now
Where can you get it? In the US, UK, and Australia
The price for the HP Spectre Foldable 17 is eye-watering. There is only one model available, priced at $5,000, or £4,850 in the UK, or if you live in Australia, AU$8,499.
This device goes by different names dependent on the region (Foldable in the US and Australia, or just Fold in the UK), but they are effectively the same model. All of them feature that 17-inch OLED panel, 16GB of soldered LPDDR5 RAM, and an Intel Core i7-1250U at their heart.
As to where you can buy the Spectre, the places to go are Amazon and Best Buy in the US, Amazon in the UK, and the HP store directly in Australia. There’s another big problem with the price, though, and that’s the fact that the Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED exists, certainly in the UK anyway.
On paper, and to be honest, even at a quick glance, these two products are pretty much identical. The one difference being the Zenbook 17 Fold comes in (for the exact same spec) at a much lower £3,299 as standard (although we’ve seen it as low as £2,299). You can buy the Asus Fold in the US, but only from eBay sellers at this point, for similarly low prices.
Value: 1.5 / 5
HP Spectre Foldable 17: Design and Features
HP’s auto-keyboard detecting tech shifts the screen resolution depending on where you place the keyboard (Image credit: Future / Zak Storey)
Beautiful display
Materials are solid
Port selection is disappointing
So we’ve established that this is a premium product. The Foldable certainly doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to that price tag, but the same can’t quite be said for the overall design, however.
Let’s start by addressing the good points. That OLED display is incredible. As standard it’s a 17-inch foldable screen that comes with a 2.5K resolution, 500 nits of brightness in HDR mode, and a ton of the usual features (including low blue light and brightview modes). It packs 1.07 billion colors into that array and produces a phenomenal 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio to back it up.
It is only a 60Hz panel, however, unlike some of the OLED screens now available, so it’s not quite as buttery smooth as some of the competition with fixed-screen displays. However, we have seen bendable OLED panels go well beyond 60Hz, with Corsair’s Xeneon Flex being perhaps one of the better examples of what’s possible with the tech in terms of refresh rate at least.
The real party trick, however, is that fold, and how it incorporates into the design of the device. Namely, this isn’t technically one product. It’s a laptop, an all-in-one PC, and a tablet, depending on how you configure it. In the rear of the unit, there’s a kickstand that you can fold out to turn the Foldable into a pure 17-inch screen. You can then use the keyboard-trackpad combo to operate it like a standard desktop PC. Or alternatively, drop that kickstand, and convert it into a 17-inch tablet instead.
Create a slight bend in the screen and place it on your desk, then attach the keyboard to it (via the power of magnetism), and you’ve turned it into a laptop. Interestingly, with laptop mode HP has some nifty software installed that detects the keyboard’s position, and adjusts the screen size and resolution accordingly, depending on where you place the keyboard, which is pretty neat.
Rotation is supported as well: you can rotate the entire unit horizontally, one way or the other, and the display will twist to the correct orientation accordingly (although bear in mind that kickstand only works one way). In portrait mode, however, you are limited to one orientation.
That is mildly awkward, as this does place one of the only two USB-C ports on the top-left of the display. If you plug in the included USB dock on the bottom-right side of the screen, then your only option, if you want power in as well, is to have the cable trailing out of the top-left of the display, which looks pretty ghastly.
The included kickstand is great if you want to use the device as an all-in-one PC, although it does only work in one orientation (Image credit: Future / Zak Storey)
And it’s the ports that are the most frustrating to deal with. As standard, HP does include a USB hub with the foldable, but otherwise, you only get two USB-C Thunderbolt ports on here and nothing else. That’d be fine on a super-thin, small form factor device, but the Foldable is quite thick at 0.85cm, as that’s necessary to house all of that internal hardware.
The Spectre Foldable is thick - seriously thick - and only has two USB-C ports as standard (Image credit: Future / Zak Storey)
Then we get to the keyboard. It’s small, foldable, with fairly standard keys that feel okay touch-wise. It has a trackpad, a small amount of Spectre branding on there, and a soft-touch leather cover. It connects only via Bluetooth and has a 330-hour battery life. You can charge it wirelessly off the display (when it’s fully on the device), but otherwise you’re stuck with a proprietary charging cable instead.
For the money, the keyboard experience isn’t great (Image credit: Future / Zak Storey)
HP also reckons it should automatically pair with the Foldable 17 as well, but we consistently found that to be a weak point of the unit, particularly after restarting Windows, or letting the keyboard battery go flat. The one saving grace is you can magnetically stick the keyboard on the display, leave it there, and close the device without worry.
Design: 3.5 / 5
HP Spectre Foldable 17: Perfomance
The keyboard-trackpad combo has a phenomenal battery life, and wirelessly charges off the device, but connectivity can be an issue (Image credit: Future / Zak Storey)
Fine for light usage
Gaming and heavy productivity isn't possible
So, the design side of the equation, except for a few minor or indeed more major pitfalls depending on your perspective, is pretty okay to be fair. There are a few foibles, particularly with the keyboard and placement of ports, but generally speaking, disregarding the price, the HP Foldable is an awesome product.
However, coming to its performance, this is where things take a turn for the worse. Now let’s be clear, you have to look at this with that price in mind: $5,000 is no small sum, particularly for a laptop like this.
I took it for a spin, benchmarking it across all manner of tests, just to see how the Foldable would perform. My test conditions were strict, and it was plugged in, and on the high-performance power plan in Windows, with all of the latest updates applied, and chipset/drivers installed. I ran a number of tests, including Crossmark, Geekbench 6.2.1, Blender, and some limited gaming benchmarks as well.
Now, Intel’s integrated Iris graphics has come a long way, but it’s still nowhere near the calibre of the Alchemist architecture found in the Arc graphics cards. It’s just not going to be one of the best gaming laptops, and that’s fine, it’s not meant to be. However, when you’re spending $5,000 you do expect a modicum of performance.
In Geekbench 6.2.1 the Foldable scored 2,210 in single-core and 6,635 in multi-core. By comparison, the Huawei Matebook D 16 scored 2,605 in single-core and 12,568 in multi-core. That’s double the multi-threaded performance in comparison, from a laptop that clocks in at 25% of the price. The Foldable did have a slight edge when it came to CrystalDiskMark clocking in at 6,739MB/s for reads and 4,524MB/s for writes (sequential), but then we came to the gaming, or lack thereof.
No matter what I tried, not one single benchmark would complete. In 3DMark Wildlife Extreme and Extreme Unlimited (tests designed for mobile gaming), the Foldable didn’t meet the minimum requirements, and Solar Bay (mobile ray tracing) was the same. I also tried Borderlands 3 and Total War: Warhammer III, on their lowest settings, and despite making it to the main menu, neither game would load the benchmark without crashing.
Is it a tablet? A plane? No, it’s a foldable screen (Image credit: Future / Zak Storey)
Blender performance was pretty dire too, at 26.81 for scene one, 17.14 for scene two, and 11.69 for scene three – less than half the performance of our comparative Huawei Matebook D 16. Likewise, Crossmark also got a pummelling across all four results, with scores ranging anywhere between 30-40% worse than the £1,200 Huawei notebook.
Clearly, when it comes to PC games this HP device isn’t going to be as capable as any of the best gaming desktops out there right now. Something like a dedicated gaming PC packing an Nvidia RTX 4080 Super, and maybe Intel Core i9-14900K, is obviously going to run rings around the Foldable 17.
However, the problem goes beyond this, as you could literally go out right now, and spend $3,500 to pick up a PC with a Ryzen 9 7900X, RTX 4070 Super, 64GB of DDR5 RAM, a 2TB PCIe 4.0 SSD, and a 32-inch 4K OLED screen, and still have $1,500 left over to get a good laptop. Or alternatively, if all you want is a powerhouse laptop with a stunning screen, you could spend $2,500 on something like an Asus Zenbook Pro 16X OLED and save yourself a ton of cash while getting way, way better performance levels.
If all you care about is streaming content on Netflix, or doing some light document work, and browsing the web, the HP Spectre Foldable is more than capable of that. But then, so is practically every laptop at every price point, even the budget ones, and for that crazy four-figure investment, you should expect more.
Performance: 1.5 / 5
HP Spectre Foldable 17: Battery life
Solid 11-hour battery life
For battery life, the HP Spectre Foldable performed well enough and pretty much met our expectations across the board. It wasn’t phenomenal by any means, but lasted a full day of working remotely, with wireless and Bluetooth devices connected to it.
As standard, the Foldable comes with a 6-cell 94.3Wh Li-ion polymer battery and is rated in its folded mode, with keyboard attached, at around 12.5 hours, which is roughly what I saw during my time testing.
If you detach the keyboard entirely and run the Foldable as a display, that time does drop, as you’re effectively enabling more pixels to be active as you are running a higher resolution – but otherwise, it’s still fairly consistent in that regard.
HP also has fast charging support on the Foldable as well, and with any 100W USB-C charger, you’ll get around 50% charge in 40 to 45 minutes, with a full charge taking a little over two hours in my testing.
