AMD unveiled the Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor, a successor to the 7800X3D. It promises to deliver 8% higher frame rates than the old chip on average, though some games will see a performance uplift of up to 26%.
Like before, there are 96MB of L3 cache in total – 32MB on the CCD itself, plus 64MB on an additional die. Interestingly, this time the 3D V-Cache is placed below the CCD (which houses the CPU cores), rather than on top like on previous iterations. This helps to improve cooling, says AMD.
There are three pieces of silicon in the 9800X3D – the CCD (4nm TSMC), the 3D V-Cache and the...
Asus TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition: Two-minute review
(Image credit: Future / Jeremy Laird)
Asus has gone with all-AMD hardware build for its new Asus TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition (FA617XS) gaming laptop. As an Asus TUF model, that probably makes sense. After all, TUF is Asus's more accessible gaming brand.
Despite that, the specs and hardware look good. You get AMD's excellent Phoenix APU with eight Zen 4 CPU cores, plus AMD's latest entry-level mobile GPU, the AMD Radeon RX 7600S.
Screen-wise, it's an expansive 16-inch IPS panel with 240Hz refresh and 2,560 by 1,600 pixels. It's a really punchy, crisp, and responsive display and definitely one of the highlights of this Asus lappie. Along with those headline features, there's 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD.
As for build quality, the base unit is all plastic but very sturdy with the exception of a whiff of flex just above the keyboard bed. Meanwhile the screen lid is alloy and lush to the touch. All told, it feels exactly like what it is, the slightly more affordable option from a premium brand.
The same goes for performance. For the most part, it's about on par with an RTX 4060 laptop in games. The proviso, of course, is that applies to conventional raster games. Enable ray tracing and the Nvidia GPU will have quite the edge. Nvidia graphics also offers superior scaling and frame generation technology.
It's worth noting that AMD's Smart Access Graphics tech which switches between the integrated and dedicated graphics can be slightly flakey. Still, the APU makes for fantastic battery life for web browsing and movies of well over 10 hours.
So, this is a pretty nice machine overall. But the more highly you value the gaming experience, the harder it is to ignore the obvious-for-a-reason Nvidia RTX 4060 options among our best gaming laptop options.
Asus TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition: Price and availability
(Image credit: Future)
How much does it cost? £949.99
When is it available? Available now
Where can you get it? Available in the UK (other configurations available in the US and Australia)
The Asus TUF A16 FA617XS is currently only being offered in the UK for just under £950, but you can find some of the other configurations in the US and Australia for around the $1,000 range (closer to $2,000 AUD).
It's not a bad price for the overall specifications, build and performance. The only problem is that you can get similar laptops with Nvidia RTX 4060 graphics for only slightly more money, such as the Acer Predator Helios 16 and HP Victus 16. That's probably where we'd spend our cash.
Value: 4 / 5
Asus TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition: Specs
The Asus TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition FA617XS comes in just one configuration (though the TUF A16 Gaming Advantage line has four configurations to choose from).
Asus TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition: Design
(Image credit: Future / Jeremy Laird)
Solid build
Decent materials
Slim bezels
Asus has gone with its signature TUF design language, which means fairly gamery without being overtly adolescent. The Asus TUF A16 FA617XS's screen lid is made from lush alloy, which is a nice touch, while the rest of the system is hewn from sturdy plastic, including a particularly tough textured bottom cover.
The keyboard is smooth and tactile with a nice solid bed. The only exception is a whiff of flex in the top cover, just above the keyboard. The trackpad is nice and big, too, with a super-slick surface - it's nice to use. Incidentally, the keyboard is limited to white backlighting. There's no programmable RGB, but that's reasonable at this price point.
(Image credit: Future / Jeremy Laird)
Asus has designed slim bezels for a 90% screen-to-body ratio. That's handy on a 16-inch laptop when it comes to maintaining portability. This isn't an excessively big or heavy system by gaming laptop standards.
Less successful is the port placement. The mix of USB4, USB-C and USB sockets, plus HDMI and LAN is fine. But they're all on the side of the chassis along with the barrel connector for the main power supply, which is located slap bang in the middle of the left side. Some ports of the rear of the chassis would be far preferable, albeit the TUF's screen hinge design precludes that.
Design: 3.5 / 5
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Asus TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition: Performance
(Image credit: Future / Jeremy Laird)
Decent all-round performance
Great screen
An RTX 4060 would still be preferable
Let's deal with the obvious question right away. How does the AMD Radeon RX 7600S GPU stack up? It's basically a slightly cut down version of the desktop 7600 and it typically performs just below an Nvidia RTX 4060 mobile GPU in most games, though on occasion it can be a bit quicker.
The catch is that if you enable ray tracing in any game, such as Cyberpunk 2077 as an obvious example, the frame rates really do go south and much more so than with an RTX 4060.
Asus TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition: Benchmarks
Here's how the Asus TUF A16 FA617XS performed in our suite of benchmark tests:
3DMark: Night Raid: 56,533; Fire Strike: 22,648; Time Spy: 9,354; GeekBench 6: 2686 (single-core); 12281 (multi-core) Total War: Warhammer III (1080p, Ultra): 64 fps; (1080p, Low): 144 fps Cyberpunk 2077 (1080p, Ultra): 53 fps; (1080p, Ultra RT): 11; (1080p, Low): 78 fps Dirt 5 (1080p, Ultra): 75 fps; (1080p, Low): 150 fps TechRadar Movie Battery Life: 11h:03m
The Nvidia GPU also offers superior resolution scaling, plus better frame generation. So, for gaming, it's clear enough that a laptop with the RTX 4060 would be preferable. That said, the Asus TUF A16 FA617XS will handle pretty much any game at 1080p max settings (bar ray tracing) at a reasonable lick. For demanding titles, you're looking at about 60fps.
Of course, this laptop has a lovely 2,560 by 1,600 screen, and at that resolution you'll see the frame rates drop into the high 30s. You can, of course, use AMD's FSR scaling to improve that at a slight cost in terms of image quality. Arguably, that high-res screen is a bit more than the AMD GPU truly cope with. But it is a really gorgeous thing, super sharp thanks to all those pixels, fast in terms of both response and refresh, accurate and pretty bright. It's a clear cut above you're average budget gaming laptop screen, that's for sure.
Elsewhere, the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS is all the CPU you're ever going to need, with eight powerful AMD Zen 4 cores and plenty of clockspeed with up to 5.2GHz boost speed. There's a quick 1TB SSD, too (though with SSD prices now so low, a 2TB drive would be nice), and 16GB of fast DDR5 RAM. Gaming aside, this thing has all the performance you could reasonably ask for.
Performance: 3.5 / 5
Asus TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition: Battery life
(Image credit: Future / Jeremy Laird)
Super-efficient AMD APU
Excellent battery life for a gaming laptop
Battery life obviously isn't normally a strong point for most gaming laptops. But this is where the Asus TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition (FA617XS)'s all-AMD technology really pays off. Thanks to the AMD APU's integrated graphics and Smart Access Graphics GPU-switching tech, which allows the TUF to automatically swap between the integrated GPU and the dedicated Radeon RX 7600S chip, this laptop is capable of well over 10 hours of light use and media consumption away from the mains. That's very impressive.
Battery life: 4.5 / 5
Should I buy the Asus TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition?
Buy it if...
You want decent battery life
This Asus's all-AMD hardware makes for great battery life of well over 10 hours, much better than your average gaming laptop.
You appreciate a decent screen
There's no OLED panel, no mini-LED backlight, just a really nice 1600p IPS panel running at 240Hz for a rather lovely gaming experience.
Don't buy it if...
You want the best gaming features
Laptops with Nvidia's RTX 4060 GPU have better overall features, including superior upscaling and better ray-tracing performance.
You want future-proof performance
The AMD Radeon RX 7600S GPU has reasonable performance today, but there's not much spare for future more demanding games.
Also consider
If our Asus TUF A16 FA617XS review has you thinking about other options, here are two laptops to consider...
Acer Predator Helios Neo 16
Acer's afforable 'Neo' gaming laptops are a good match for Asus's TUF models, with sensible pricing and good performance. This laptop also offers a nice display and good thermal performance - just be prepared for the fans to get noisy when you're gaming on it.
The new HP Omen 16 is a great choice for people looking to game on a budget. The slight snag is that it suffers from a variety of hardware and software quirks that may rub some people the wrong way.
How I tested the Asus TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition
I gave the Asus TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition (FA617XS) a solid workout for a full week of gaming and general computing. It took over all duties from basic web browsing to loading up my full Steam library and watching movies.
Games-wise, I ran all my favorites from Counter-Strike 2 to Cyberpunk 2077. It was interesting to get a feel for how this AMD GPU compares to the familiar RTX 4060 from Nvidia. Mostly, it's good news, but in the end, all those extra Nvidia features are hard to argue against.
Testing battery life was interesting, too. With most gaming laptops, you can almost see the remaining charge indicator shrink in real time. But this thing just kept on trucking. Seeing it show well over 90% after the first hour of movie playback was a revelation. Clearly, this laptop lasts longer than the vast majority of gaming portables.
Before I got my hands on the Gigabyte Aorus G6X 9KG, I thought I was done being surprised by how good the best budget gaming laptops have become. And I absolutely slot this model in that category.
However, the value on this model sporting an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 is very impressive, especially considering that much of the competition priced similarly seems to sport the slightly weaker 4050 GPU, which is still fairly powerful.
In fact, these 4050 and 4060-equipped laptops can handle most gaming duties so the current difference between the best gaming laptops out there is not that huge unless you want to hook up a giant monitor or want something with a 4K OLED screen or something else that’s a QoL upgrade, but not all that necessary for something that’s going to be sitting two feet from your face. That said, we might start to see more pronounced performance differences when newer games take advantage of the power this generation of GPUs can provide.
Looking beyond the value here as well as the power of the current-gen GPUs, the Gigabyte Aorus G6X 9KG is a smart-looking laptop that looks like a gaming laptop without being in your face about it. It also comes with some AI functionalities that, while interesting, are enough in their infancy that they don’t make a noticeably huge impact on the experience.
Since it is a budget laptop, there are some sacrifices. Even though the display has a fast refresh rate, the colors aren’t that great (so no editing on this). And, the battery life is pretty weak. But, if you’re a gamer on a budget, you probably won’t care and you probably shouldn’t.
Gigabyte Aorus G6X 9KG: Price & availability
(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)
How much does it cost? Starting at $1,249.00 / £998.31 / AU$1,899.00
When is it available? Available now
Where can you get it? Available in the US, UK and Australia
The Gigabyte Aorus G6X 9KG might just redefine value for gaming laptops. Or, maybe not. Regardless, it’s a damn good deal as you get a 14th-gen i7 CPU and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU, along with 16GB of RAM, for $1,249.00 / £998.31 / AU$1,899.00.
And, if you’re in Australia, you can find an even cheaper related version, known as the G6X 9MG, that is mostly differentiated by the fact that it boasts a less-powerful 4050 GPU for AU$1,699.00.
Now, Gigabyte is not alone in this mid-range performance meets budget pricing (well, budget for gaming) category but is one of the best values. The Acer Nitro 16 AMD I reviewed earlier this year, provides some very good 1080p performance and goes for a similar $1,199.99 / AU$2,099.99 (about £945) price tag. Of course, it comes with that less powerful 4050 GPU.
Another good comparison is the Lenovo LOQ 15 (AMD), which goes for $1,379.99 / £1,300 (about AU$2,162), when you get the AMD Ryzen 7 CPU and 4060 GPU. As much as I like Lenovo’s designs and found their pricing to be good, the Gigabyte still offers better pound-for-pound value, especially since you can get a version with 32GB and 2TB of storage for just slightly more at $1,499.00 / AU$2,157.00.
Value: 5 / 5
Gigabyte Aorus G6X 9KG: Specs
(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)
If you don’t count the slightly cheaper G6X 9MG, which comes with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU, the only real variation in configuration comes in how much RAM and storage space you order, ranging from 16GB to 32GB and 1 to 2TB.
Of course, this laptop’s RAM slots and M.2 SSD slots are easily swappable so you can upgrade to 64GB and some retailers in Australia offer upgrades during purchase to both the RAM and storage.
Beyond that, there’s only one choice when it comes to the screen, which is a 16:10 16-inch panel with a 1920 x 1200p resolution (essentially 1080p but in that 16:10 aspect ratio) and speedy 165Hz refresh rate.
Gigabyte Aorus G6X 9KG: Design
(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)
Sleek, subdued gaming design
Decent keyboard and mouse
Thermals are pretty good except underneath
Physically, the Gigabyte Aorus G6X 9KG is fairly smart looking. Its all-black colorway with some subtle gray designs on the lid and body’s top plate, both of which are aluminum, are the main indicators that this is a gaming laptop.
Otherwise, it’s a somewhat subdued, almost minimalist look that won’t rat you out if you pull it out at a cafe to work on (though once we get to battery life, you might think twice about doing this anyway).
The panel is basically a 1080p one but in a 16:10 aspect ratio (1920 x 1200p) and runs at a blazing-fast 165Hz refresh rate. It also provides a decent amount of screen space as this is a 16-inch laptop.
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Since there is plenty of space, the keyboard is a full-sized one, complete with a separate numpad. There are plenty of hotkeys for different shortcuts as well as a dedicated key to pull up Window’s new AI Copilot.
Since this is a gaming laptop, there’s also RGB backlighting. Unfortunately, it’s as basic as it comes as you can just pick one color for the whole thing. At least you can create macros for the keyboard, which is pretty cool. More importantly, typing on the keyboard is a nice experience, if nothing special.
The touchpad works well and is fairly sizable. The only minor complaint is its center-left placement – something that’s not unique here but that I never quite understood. Of course, that’s me being nit-picky, not to mention the fact that you’ll still need to use an external mouse for any gaming you do.
As far as ports go, the selection is decent with two USB-C and two USB-A along with an HDMI 2.1 port so you can keep a fast refresh rate with an external monitor. My only issue is that some of the ports are on the back – a design choice I’ve always disliked when I come across it.
When it comes to thermals, there’s a lot going on internally from heat piping and thermal intakes and outtakes to the two fans that get pretty loud whenever the laptop is under duress. While those fans can get distracting if you’re not using headphones, there aren’t too many issues with heat as long as you’re not touching the bottom of the laptop.
I was duly impressed with the performance on the Gigabyte Aorus G6X 9KG. And if you’re okay adjusting some settings or taking some slight performance hits, you’ll be very happy with what this laptop can do.
Powered by a 14th-gen i7 – specifically, one of the new HX chips with AI capabilities – and a Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 (and 32GB of RAM for the test unit), I never felt inhibited by the hardware, whether I was playing Hogwarts Legacy, Cyberpunk 2077, or Battlefield 2042. Now, the hardware included is meant to power that 1920x1200p screen at 165Hz and it certainly does.
While I mentioned earlier that I feel there’s not a huge difference performance-wise between a laptop like this and something sporting more powerful internals, you are going to have to adjust settings a little bit, particularly on the ray-tracing front. As you can see with the benchmarks below, it’s not going to touch something like the Acer Predator Helios 18 and its Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080.
Whether it’s from some of the backend AI functions closing the gap, my actual subjective experience, as opposed to just looking at the number, felt like I wasn’t missing anything. Sure, there was some texture popping here and there or light screen tearing, especially when the POV has moved around quickly, but anyone who’s limited by their budget is not going to be frustrated with the experience here.
On top of that, the screen looks good enough. However, you’re not going to be able to leverage that under-the-hood power for video or photo-editing. At least not if you want accurate results. The sRGB coverage is 67% while the DCI-P3 is 48. This also means that games aren’t going to pop with as much vibrancy as with some other laptops. Also, there’s no HDR on hand.
Regarding sound, Gigabyte advertises this laptop to simulate a 5.1.2 system using Dolby Atmos. While you still end up with that somewhat boxy audio that almost all laptops seem to end up with, there is a little more of a soundstage and a tiny bit more space to what I hear when playing, say, Cyberpunk 2077, thanks to the virtual spatial audio.
Performance: 4 / 5
Gigabyte Aorus G6X 9KG: Battery life
Not very good battery life
Charging is okay
We’ve seen some gaming laptops start to break the mold in terms of battery life. That’s not the case here. The battery life is, to speak plainly, not very good. Yes, this is the case for a lot of gaming laptops still, but you still get under four hours of regular use per our web surfing benchmark and just a little over an hour of gaming per the PC Mark 10 battery life benchmark.
If you do have to use the Gigabyte Aorus G6X 9KG untethered, charging it back up is not going to be a speedy affair. It’s not slow necessarily as you’ll get 10% more battery every ten minutes or so, but this is not fast charging.
Battery Life: 3 / 5
Should you buy the Gigabyte Aorus G6X 9KG?
(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)
Buy the Gigabyte Aorus G6X 9KG if...
Don't buy it if...
Also consider
Acer Nitro 16 AMD The Acer Nitro 16 AMD has a lot in common with the G6X 9KG reviewed here. It offers excellent performance and a fast refresh rate for not a lot of money. It does come with a weaker GPU (4050) but it has better color coverage.
Lenovo LOQ 15 (AMD) The Lenovo LOQ 15 (AMD) falls into a similar camp with its value proposition. Of course, you’re getting a 4050 instead of a 4060 GPU, but the battery life when not gaming is much better, making this a better option if you want your gaming laptop to also be your work laptop while on the go.
I used the Gigabyte Aorus G6X 9KG for a week, playing a number of demanding games like Hogwarts Legacy, Battlefield 2042 and Cyberpunk 2077. While doing so, I ran the games at various settings, particularly at the highest ones with ray tracing on wherever possible, and took note of the results. I also tested each aspect of the laptop from the keyboard and touchpad to the webcam and speakers.
After spending time with the Gigabyte Aorus G6X 9KG, it’s clear that this is ideal for any gamer on a budget, as it delivers a lot of performance for its price tag.
I’ve spent the last few years reviewing tech gear for gaming and otherwise, where I’ve gotten a feel for what to look for and how to put a piece of kit through its paces to see whether it’s worth the recommendation.
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.
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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(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)
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(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)
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(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)
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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(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)
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(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)
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.
AMD has announced its new series of processors for the desktop and mobile market at Computex 2024. These are based on the company's latest CPU architecture and bring improved performance, efficiency, features, and a heavy dose of AI capabilities.
Starting with the new desktop chips, AMD is skipping from its current Ryzen 7000 series directly to Ryzen 9000. These new chips are based on the company's latest Zen 5 architecture (codenamed Granite Ridge). Based on TSMC's latest 4nm FinFET process, the new CPU architecture promises on average 16% improvement in IPC (instructions per...
AMD has announced its new series of processors for the desktop and mobile market at Computex 2024. These are based on the company's latest CPU architecture and bring improved performance, efficiency, features, and a heavy dose of AI capabilities.
Starting with the new desktop chips, AMD is skipping from its current Ryzen 7000 series directly to Ryzen 9000. These new chips are based on the company's latest Zen 5 architecture (codenamed Granite Ridge). Based on TSMC's latest 4nm FinFET process, the new CPU architecture promises on average 16% improvement in IPC (instructions per...
AMD has announced its new series of processors for the desktop and mobile market at Computex 2024. These are based on the company's latest CPU architecture and bring improved performance, efficiency, features, and a heavy dose of AI capabilities.
Starting with the new desktop chips, AMD is skipping from its current Ryzen 7000 series directly to Ryzen 9000. These new chips are based on the company's latest Zen 5 architecture (codenamed Granite Ridge). Based on TSMC's latest 4nm FinFET process, the new CPU architecture promises on average 16% improvement in IPC (instructions per...
Following the launch of AMD’s first NPU-equipped processors, the Ryzen 8000G series from January, the company is expanding its portfolio with Ryzen Pro 8000 models that also feature AI acceleration hardware.
These are the AMD Ryzen Pro 8000 chips for desktop and Ryzen Pro 8040 for mobile. Additionally, there are Pro variants of the 8000G chips from earlier this year. What difference does that make?
The Pro chips have additional functionality that is beneficial or even required for professional use. This includes the Microsoft Pluton for encryption and additional memory...
China introduced guidelines that aim to prevent the use of US processors from Intel and AMD. The new rules also want to block Microsoft Windows and other foreign database products in favor of domestic solutions, reported The Financial Times on Sunday.
All government agencies above the township level must have computers and servers with hardware deemed “safe and reliable.” The list of approved hardware includes chips from Huawei and Phytium, both banned in the United States.
The move could have a significant financial effect on both chip companies. According to FT, 27% of Intel's $53...
Writing reviews on gaming laptops with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 like the Acer Nitro 16 AMD is an exercise in splitting hairs. Some are a little more expensive, some are a little cheaper. Some quality of life factors like changes in refresh rate or webcam resolution differ from laptop to laptop. The guts, however, are very similar.
The Acer Nitro 16 AMD, then, is a lot like many of the best budget gaming laptops with its surprisingly solid performance while sitting at the lower end of the gaming laptop spectrum. In its case, it does have that faster refresh rate and a good keyboard with bright RGB backlighting. However, its aesthetics are a bit more aggressively gamer-centric than many of the best gaming laptops, which have in recent times taken lessons from MacBooks and Ultrabooks.
That said, it has a lot to offer, especially for competitive gamers on a budget. You can surely go cheaper with models sporting older GPUs, but those will start to show their limitations much earlier. Because of that, the Acer Nitro 16 AMD is not a hard laptop to recommend for the right budget-conscious gamer.
(Image credit: Future)
Acer Nitro 16 AMD: Price & availability
How much does it cost? Starting at $1,249.99 (about £988 / AU$1888)
When is it available? Available now
Where can you get it? Available in the US. Only older models currently available in UK, and Australia
Acer is no stranger to budget laptops and that’s certainly the case with the Acer Nitro 16 AMD. Whether you go for the most basic model with its $999.99 (about £788 / AU$1,471) price tag and its AMD Ryzen 5 7640HS CPU, 8GB RAM, RTX 4050 GPU, and 512 GB SSD or the max version that clocks in at $1,799.99 (about £1,418 / AU$2,647) and has an AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS CPU, 16GB RAM, RTX 4070 GPU, and 1 TB SSD, you’ll be dropping less than a lot of other gaming laptops.
Part of that is the fact that Acer generally runs cheaper than other brands and part of that is that AMD-equipped laptops are often cheaper than similarly specced Intel models. For comparison sake, the Lenovo LOQ 15 (AMD) I reviewed back in October starts at $1,189.99 / £1,080 / AU$2,199 for a model that is very similar with a slightly different CPU, the AMD Ryzen 5 7640S, and a slightly smaller 15.6 inch screen with a 144Hz refresh rate. Of course, it does come in a slightly more attractive package.
The one thing I will complain about here is the fairly different versions of this laptop across different territories. Those in the US have the widest selection while those in the UK have one AMD-equipped model available that’s essentially the review unit with a slightly weaker Ryzen 5 processor. Those in Australia have two – one just like the review configuration and one that’s almost identical but with a Ryzen 7 7840HS CPU.
Price score: 4.5 / 5
Acer Nitro 16 AMD: Specs
The Acer Nitro 16 AMD, being a budget-oriented gaming laptop, comes with a fairly limited array of options despite there being up to 11 options depending on your territory.
The processors range from the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS 3.30GHz chip to the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS 4.0GHz one. RAM ranges from 8GB to 32GB. And, the GPU goes from the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 to the 4070.
Strangely, the weakest CPU is not in the cheapest model as that one has less RAM. And, the most expensive model with that AMD Ryzen 9 CPU doesn’t have the highest amount of RAM.
Beyond the internal components, there aren't any other variables to worry about such as colorways or displays.
Regardless of which model you get, you end up with a 16-inch 1900 x 1200p screen with a 165Hz refresh rate.
Acer Nitro 16 AMD: Design
Chunkier, gamer-centric in design
Some ports on the back
16:10 1920 x 1200 screen with 165Hz refresh rate
As far as aesthetics go, the Acer Nitro 16 AMD does not pull its punches when it comes to its gamer looks. From the angled blue and reddish lines adorning the laptop lid as well as the aggressive looking N (for “Nitro”) on the lid as well as under the screen, this laptop is not going to pass as a non-gaming laptop the way a Razer laptop can.
Of course, it doesn’t help that it is pretty bulky, not only in size but in weight, especially considering that it weighs 5.95 lbs (2.70 kg). And, it certainly looks chunky. It is over an inch thick – the same as two MacBook Airs stacked on top of each other.
Since this is a budget gaming laptop, that form factor is somewhat to be expected. At least Acer made sure to put plenty of venting underneath and on the sides. Because of the side venting though, not all the ports fit on the sides as some of them, namely the power, HDMI and USB-C ones are on the back. Some people like having ports on the back for a cleaner look. I don’t as I find them to be harder to access.
(Image credit: Future)
On the bright side, Acer included a 16:10 1920 x 1200 display with a speedy 165Hz refresh rate (and 3ms response time), which is perfect for competitive gamers. Of course, it’s basically a slightly larger 1080p screen so you’re not going to step up in resolution. However, that’s never the case with budget gaming laptops. Still, it’s a good screen. Plus, it has a 125% sRGB color gamut and at least the review unit came with a Delta-E of 0.22 so you can do some photo editing here. Its DCI-P3 coverage is 89%, so it’s not as ideal for professional video editing.
(Image credit: Future)
As far as the keyboard and trackpad go, they’re more than competent for regular use. The keyboard is easy to type on with a nice textured feel. I didn’t find that I experienced any missed presses when gaming.
More interesting is the fact that it has full-color backlighting, though only in four zones so you won’t be able to adjust key by key.
Design score: 4 / 5
(Image credit: Future)
Acer Nitro 16 AMD: Performance
Very good 1080p (well, 1200p) performance
Sound quality is decent
Webcam is disappointing
Acer Nitro 16 AMD: Benchmarks
Here's how the Acer Nitro 16 AMD performed in our suite of benchmark tests:
3DMark: Port Royal: 4,682; Fire Strike: 19,390; Time Spy: 8,472 GeekBench 6.1: 2,593.7 (single-core); 10,798.3 (multi-core)
25GB File Copy: 14.1s Handbrake 1.6: 5:25 CrossMark: Overall: 1,799 Productivity: 1,781 Creativity: 1,859 Responsiveness: 1,681 Far Cry 61080p (Ultra) 76 fps Cyberpunk 2077: 1080p (Ultra) 23.44 fps Web Surfing (Battery Informant): 9:15:40 PCMark 10 Battery Life (Gaming): 2:26
I’ve continually been impressed by all the laptops I’ve tested with a Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU. And, that continues to be true with the Acer Nitro 16 AMD. Obviously, there’s a ceiling to that performance.
For instance, this laptop can achieve a 64.7 fps on Cyberpunk 2077 on Ultra settings, but as soon as ray tracing is on, the fps drops like an anchor. Just look at the benchmark for Far Cry 6 – it also gets 76 fps on Ultra.
In more real world testing, I’ve been able to run Starfield and Hogwarts Legacy at higher than expected settings. Of course, that’s with ray tracing off and a tick or two off Ultra settings. Still, the results were very playable with just a tiny bit of screen tearing. Turning on Vsync takes care of that.
(Image credit: Future)
It’s important to note also that the Acer Nitro 16 AMD is also running that display at a 165Hz refresh rate so getting the results is even more impressive. That means this is perfect for competitive gamers on a budget. To test, I ran Battlefield 2042 and had stable results without any issues at high settings.
As far as the sound goes, it’s not going to win any awards but it’s serviceable, just lacking some low end. The webcam is a little less impressive with its peak 720p resolution. It also gets a bit grainy.
Performance score:4 / 5
Acer Nitro 16 AMD: Battery life
Decent battery life for regular use
Not very good when gaming
The battery life of the Acer Nitro 16 AMD is about as interesting as an episode of the Great American Baking Show (yes, it does exist). Yes, we must discuss. You’re not going to be wowed with its longevity. But, it’s ok in certain instances.
When using it in a non-gaming capacity, you can get a little over nine hours of use. For a gaming laptop, that’s pretty good. Of course, you’ll want to be plugged in to actually game as it can only get just under two and a half hours when playing titles. Other than some configurations of the Asus Rog Zephyrus, most gaming laptops have not cracked the battery code.
Battery life score: 3 / 5
Should you buy the Acer Nitro 16 AMD?
Buy it if...
You’re a competitive gamer With an RTX 4050 GPU and a screen with a 165Hz refresh rate, you’ll be able to keep up in the fastest competitive games, skill notwithstanding.
You’re on a budget You don’t have to spend all that much relatively to get quality gaming performance. The only way to go cheaper is to go console or with an older GPU that might not keep up.
Don't buy it if...
You want a more portable gaming machine It’s bulky and on the heavy side so the Acer Nitro 16 AMD is not an ideal grab-and-go gaming machine, not to mention that the battery life isn’t all that great either.
Acer Nitro 16 AMD: Also consider
If our Acer Nitro 16 AMD review has you considering other options, here are two laptops to consider...
How I tested the HP Victus 16
Tested for a couple weeks
Pushed it as hard as possible gaming-wise
Played with various settings
I used the Acer Nitro 16 AMD for a couple weeks, playing a number of demanding games like Starfield, Hogwarts Legacy, Battlefield 2042 and Cyberpunk 2077. While doing so, I ran the games at various settings, particularly at the highest ones with ray tracing on wherever possible, and took note of the results. I also tested each aspect of the laptop from the keyboard and trackpad to the webcam and speakers.
After spending time with the Acer Nitro 16 AMD, it’s clear that this is meant to be a budget-conscious model for those that care about competitive gaming or for those that want something affordable while still equipped with a current generation GPU.
I’ve spent the last few years reviewing tech gear for gaming and otherwise, where I’ve gotten a feel for what to look for and how to put a piece of kit through its paces to see whether it’s worth the recommendation.
