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Microsoft Surface Pro 11 review: the best Surface ever — and it’ll only get better

6:59 pm | June 26, 2024

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets | Tags: AMD, Battery Life, Microsoft Surface Pro, Surface Pro | Comments: Off

Microsoft Surface Pro 11: Three-minute review

OK, so it's time for me to eat some crow.

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.

A Microsoft Surface Pro 11 on a desk — (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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

A Screenshot from the Microsoft Surface Pro 11 — (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

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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Screenshots from a Microsoft Surface Pro 11 — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

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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?

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.

Read the full Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M3) review

How I tested the Microsoft Surface Pro 11

I spent about a week with the Surface Pro 11
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.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed June 2024

Acer Swift Go 14 review: a solid laptop with some fun twists and turns

9:43 pm | June 11, 2024

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets | Tags: AI, Battery Life | Comments: Off

Acer Swift Go 14: One-minute review

If we were to compare the Acer Swift Go 14 to a car, it would be like driving a Honda Accord. It’s a solid laptop that looks nice, but is pretty far from premium. There are some aspects of it that even come off a little cheap. However, it does the job it’s supposed to for the majority of those looking for a laptop.

In that regard, it could be considered one of the best laptops for the average joe as it’s priced very reasonably and comes with enough power to handle daily tasks for the next three to five years.

Plus, it comes with a few interesting extra features such as its built-in Copilot AI. Even though that’s technically a Microsoft thing, Copilot comes with its own processing unit as well as a physical button on the keyboard to call it up. The multi-gesture touchpad as well as the feature-filled webcam and mic are also nice touches.

If budget isn’t an issue, then you might not find the Acer Swift Go 14 to be among the best Ultrabooks to choose from. But, considering how inflation has reached us all, most of us looking for a daily laptop for emails, streaming, and the like are probably trying to stretch that budget as much as possible. And, with that in mind, the Acer Swift Go 14 is an easy recommendation.

Acer Swift Go 14: Price & availability

An Acer Swift Go 14 on a desk — (Image credit: Future / James Holland)

How much does it cost? Starting at $799.99 (about £640.00 / AU$1,230.00)
When is it available? Available now
Where can you get it? Available in the US, UK and Australia

The Acer Swift Go 14, reviewed here (model number SFG14-73/T), and available at Costco for $799.99 (about £640/AU$1,230) as of the beginning of May, is priced perfectly. If you don’t have a Costco membership, you’ll have to spend at least $949.99 (about £760 / AU$1440) to get a model with the same CPU, RAM, and display, and you’ll have a hard drive with half the space.

Of course, there is a model that goes for $829.99 (about £670 / AU$1260), but you’ll end up with the weaker Intel Core Ultra 5 125H CPU. If you’re in the UK or Australia, you really only have access to more expensive versions that come with a 2.8k resolution OLED display, which retail for £1,399.99 / AU$1,899 (about $1260.00).

Just be aware that the models with the Intel Core i5 or i7 CPUs are technically of the previous generation, even if they’re very close in terms of performance – they’re just not quite as robust in terms of their AI capabilities as the ones with the Intel Core Ultra SoCs with Intel Arc graphics and dedicated NPU.

If you need to differentiate, the newer models whether through Costco or direct have a 73 in the model name as opposed to 72 or 71, i.e. the one reviewed here is SFG14-73/T while the maxed out one mentioned in the paragraph above is the SFG14-71-785V.

The Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M3) is still the standard bearer for these types of more affordable Ultrabook models despite not being a Windows laptop. Yet, the starting price is $1,099 / £1,099 / AU$1,799. And, once you get into any kind of upgrades, the price goes way up. Plus, this base model comes with 8GB 'unified memory.' While Apple does a great job of creating efficient laptops, that’s still too little in this day and age. That puts the Acer Swift Go 14’s price into a proper and very positive context.

If you really need to go cheaper than the Acer Swift Go 14, there are some models out there worth considering, such as the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3i. It has a good touch screen, some security features, and enough power for day-to-day work, even if it’s weaker than the Acer Swift Go 14, which you’ll notice more near the end of its life cycle as it will struggle more to keep up. And, it goes for a cheaper $659.99 / £518 (about AU$970).

Value: 4.5 / 5

Acer Swift Go 14: Specs

Though the Acer Swift Go 14 came in a number of configurations in previous generations, the current one (which is not that big of a leap from the previous i5 or i7-powered generation) has a very small number of models.

In the US, the only difference is either getting one with an Intel Core Ultra 5 or Core Ultra 7 SoC for the non-Costco models, or getting the Costco model, which is both cheaper and comes with a bigger hard drive.

The Acer Swift Go 14 is slightly different in the UK and Australia as it comes with a 2.8k resolution OLED screen. Of course, it’s more expensive as well.

Acer Swift Go 14: Design

Decidedly mid-tier in build quality and aesthetics
Powerful enough for most people’s needs
Keyboard is fine but touchpad has a lot going for it

As a mid-tier laptop, the Acer Swift Go 14 comes with its set of compromises starting with the fact that it has an aluminum lid and top plate but is plastic underneath, keeping this laptop from feeling truly premium. But if you don’t look too closely, its silver and black colorway looks good enough. And, at a little over 3 lbs, it’s fairly light – this is essentially a mid-range Ultrabook.

As far as components go, again it’s not going to be the most robust computer out there. However, if you consider who this is meant for, it’s more than robust enough, coming with an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H CPU, integrated Intel Arc graphics, 16GB DDR5 RAM, and a substantial 1TB SSD.

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If you want a computer that’s good enough for day-to-day activity that doesn’t include heavy editing or gaming, the Acer Swift Go 14 should do the job for at least a few years. Plus, it’s somewhat future-proof, or at least forward-looking with the fact that it comes with an Intel AI boost neural processing unit, which does the AI processing that you’ll mostly access through Copilot (more on that later).

The screen is capable here, but not quite wow-level, though there are some impressive upgrade options. The display that accompanies the review model is an IPS 1920x1200p 16:10 ratio one with a standard 60Hz refresh rate. It doesn’t do HDR but can handle HDR streaming.

The keyboard and touchpad are serviceable, but nothing special. Typing out this review on the Acer Swift Go 14 somewhat makes me miss my MacBook Pro, as the key presses are a bit shallower here. That said, you won’t find either the keyboard or touchpad to get in the way of your day-to-day activities. While the backlight on the keyboard is on the weaker side, a bright “SWIFT” lights up on the trackpad when the laptop is powered up – a nice touch, in my opinion.

One more point in favor of the touchpad is the fact that it registers all sorts of gestures, which can be customized to a degree in the settings, to the point where you use three or four fingers at a time for additional commands such as showing the desktop or adjusting the volume.

Design: 4 / 5

Acer Swift Go 14: Performance

A screenshot of the Acer Swift Go 14 laptop's Windows Copilot functionality — (Image credit: Future / James Holland)

Enough performance for most
Copilot AI is a nice, if extraneous addition
Webcam and mic are very good

Benchmarks

Here is how the Acer Swift Go 14 performed in our suite of benchmark tests:

3DMark: Night Raid: 27,154; Fire Strike: 8,046; Time Spy: 3,827
GeekBench 6.1: 2,364 (single-core); 12,612 (multi-core)
25GB File Copy: 15.05 seconds
Handbrake 1.6.1 (4K to 1080p encode): 5:12 minutes
CrossMark: Overall: 1,809 Productivity: 1,750 Creativity: 1,921 Responsiveness: 1,670
Sid Meier's Civilization VI: Gathering Storm (1080p): 36.214 fps
Web Surfing (Battery Informant): 8:25:23

The Acer Swift Go 14 is not a powerhouse, nor is it meant to be. This is the kind of portable computer for someone who doesn’t want to pay too much money, but still wants something robust enough to handle their daily workload for a few years without hassle. And, its performance lines up nicely there.

It won’t have any trouble running multiple tabs at the same time, and is even able to handle some basic gaming like CS:GO, despite not having discrete graphics. You won’t do any heavy lifting with this laptop, but its performance is more than enough for most people, especially since it comes with some good quality-of-life inclusions.

Now, whether the built-in Copilot AI that’s replaced Cortana, and has its own dedicated button, is one of those QoL inclusions worth paying for really depends on how much you rely on or want to rely on AI.

It certainly makes searching for solutions when troubleshooting issues, whether computer-related or not, a bit easier. However, it’s not that much more robust than what you can find googling. It just happens to all be in one place. As things with generative AI evolve, we’ll get a good idea of how integral something like Copilot really will be to the user’s end experience. For me, it was more of a curiosity than anything else.

What I’m more impressed by is the nice, bright touch screen. It has a slightly better than 1080p resolution (1920 x 1200) and supports HDR streaming though not HDR in general. Still, it’s enjoyable enough when watching something like Shogun with a very crisp, clear video quality that produces a good accurate color range, at least with sRGB (109% to be specific), though it doesn’t quite have the color gamut coverage for much editing work with its almost 78% DCI-P3 coverage.

Still, that’s not what this computer is for. And, if you really want to upgrade the viewing experience without dumping too much money on a computer, you can always go with an upgraded Acer Swift Go 14 with a higher-res OLED screen.

Another area that surprised me was the sound quality. While lacking bass or a lot of volume, it is surprisingly decent for a fairly slim laptop. It doesn’t sound boxy like most thinner laptops. Instead, you get a fairly unadulterated sound (all things considered).

Lastly, the conferencing capabilities are very good here. The webcam, with its 1440p at 30Hz resolution, is quite sharp. And, despite that lower refresh rate, has a 60Hz flickering reduction so that you look pretty smooth without a lot of noise in the image. I also appreciate the fact that it has a physical privacy shutter.

Plus, Acer paired it with AI noise reduction technology implemented on the mic, so you’ll be heard as clearly as you’re seen. I particularly appreciated the fact that this laptop would ask if I wanted to use a conference-style or personal-style noise reduction, though it does ask every single time.

Performance: 4.5 / 5

Acer Swift Go 14: Battery life

Mediocre battery life for this form factor
Keeps its charge when asleep

Considering the Acer Swift Go 14 technically fits into the Ultrabook category, its battery-informant benchmark of eight hours and 25 minutes is pretty underwhelming. Of course, it’s good enough to get you through a day of work without needing a charge, but just barely. While it’s unfair to compare it to something like the Apple MacBook Air 15-inch (M3), which gets almost double the battery life, getting above ten hours is normal these days for a computer like this.

Of course, this laptop does have a slightly higher resolution and built-in AI that might need a little more power, but the battery life is still not anything special. Since it charges via USB-C, it doesn’t take long to get back up to a full charge. And, more interestingly, it does a better job keeping a charge when asleep than many Windows laptops I’ve come across (something Apple has solved a long time ago).

Battery Life: 4 / 5

Should you buy the Acer Swift Go 14?

Buy the Acer Swift Go 14 if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

How I tested the Acer Swift Go 14

Tested for three weeks
Used it for work, light gaming, and streaming
Played around with generative AI

I used the Acer Swift Go 14 for three weeks, using it in a number of different ways. I used it for work, including typing up most of this review (along with the requisite online research). I used it to stream video. I even did some light gaming. On top of that, I tested the webcam and mic as well as the Copilot AI.

After spending time with the Acer Swift Go 14, it’s clear that it’s a mid-range laptop with a few extra features to set it apart. On the whole, though, it’s a solid computer for those who don’t need their computer to do anything particularly fancy.

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.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed June 2024

MSI Titan 18 HX review: a gaming colossus

8:52 pm | May 2, 2024

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Gaming Computers Gaming Laptops | Tags: Battery Life, Far Cry, LED, Tomb Raider | Comments: Off

MSI Titan 18 HX: Two minute review

The MSI Titan 18 HX returns in 2024, reclaiming its title as the best gaming laptop for those looking to splurge on the most over-the-top desktop replacement money can buy.

The Titan 18 HX, like its 2023 predecessor, the MSI GT77 Titan HX, is a $5,000 desktop PC masquerading as a gaming laptop. Clocking in at just under 8 lbs/4kg, you're going to feel this one if you ever have to actually carry it anywhere, and most backpacks out there won't even fit it. This laptop, then, will be relegated to your desk with the occasional trip to another room at most.

While it sacrifices portability, it does come with some absolutely bonkers hardware, including a 175W RTX 4090 mobile GPU, a 95W Intel Core i9-14900HX processor, up to 128GB DDR5 RAM, and up to 4TB SSD storage, with one of its three M.2 SSDs slots being a PCIe 5.0 interface for the best SSD speeds possible (though it doesn't come with a PCIe 5.0 drive, you'll have to provide that yourself). Throw in the world's first 18-inch 120Hz 4K+ mini LED display with 120Hz refresh and HDR1000 certification, and you have the most decadently specced gaming laptops I've ever tested.

And before you say it, mini LED isn't an OLED, I know, but I honestly prefer mini LED displays on gaming laptops, and this one can get you 112% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, so video editors and other creative pros might want to take note of this one as well.

Design-wise, this laptop is an improvement over its predecessor in a number of ways, not the least of which is that it does introduce some grey into the chassis to help break up the super-aggressive gamer black styling of the GT77 Titan HX (and even adds some light blue accent touches to the rear), as well as introducing a seamless trackpad and more refined curves into the keydeck.

The Titan 18 HX's mechanical keyboard, meanwhile, features Cherry MX ultra low-profile switches that are a dream to type on, and the seamless trackpad is adequate for basic use; but as with any gaming laptop, you'll probably want to use the best gaming mouse you have handy while actually gaming.

Given the laptop's size, MSI was able to pack in some powerful speakers that provide a much more immersive audio experience than you'll find on a lot of other laptops. Of course, you'll have to turn the volume up to drown out the whine of the laptop's cooling system, which can get noticeably loud under strain. You can adjust this in the MSI Center, though it will come at the cost of performance.

Speaking of performance, gaming on this laptop is an absolute joy. The very best PC games run buttery smooth at max settings, and while enabling ray tracing at the laptop's native 3840x2400p resolution on some titles will require you to use DLSS upscaling to get a playable framerate at 4K, that's the case with even the best graphics card in a desktop PC.

Still, for the amount of money this laptop will cost you, you could also be forgiven for asking if it's really worth the price. If you're the type to ask such a question, don't worry, it's an easy question to answer: this laptop isn't for you. If you want the absolute best gaming performance in a theoretically portable form factor and money isn't an object for you? Well, you are exactly the person this laptop is designed to cater to, and you won't find many, if any, better gaming laptops on the market than the MSI Titan 18 HX.

MSI Titan 18 HX: Price and availability

An MSI Titan 18 HX on a table — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

How much is it? Starting at $4,999.99 / £4,379.98 / AU$6,999
When is it available? It is available now.
Where can you get it? You can get it in the US, UK, and Australia

The MSI Titan 18 HX is available now in the US, UK, and Australia, starting at $4,999.99 / £4,379.98 / AU$6,999. All configurations come with an Intel Core i9-14900HX processor and 4K+ mini LED display, and the US has two configurations on sale right now. They both feature an Nvidia RTX 4090 mobile GPU and 4TB storage, with the only difference being a choice between 64GB or 128GB RAM.

In the UK, the Titan 18 HX starts with an Nvidia RTX 4080 GPU, 64GB DDR5 RAM, and 2TB PCIe 4.0 storage, and goes up as high as an RTX 4090 with 128GB RAM and 4TB storage. In Australia, the Titan 18 HX starts with an RTX 4080 GPU, 32GB RAM, and 2TB storage, and goes up to an RTX 4090, 128GB RAM, and 4TB storage.

In no universe is this a cheap gaming laptop, and it's challenging to think of another 18-inch laptop that goes quite this hard on the specs. Even the Alienware m18 R2 pulls back from a full 4K display, much less 4K+, and tops out at 64GB RAM. Even upping the m18 R2's storage to 8TB with everything else maxed out doesn't even bring you up to the MSI Titan 18 HX's starting price.

Again, I can't stress this enough, only those with the deepest pockets need consider this one.

Value: 2.5 / 5

MSI Titan 18 HX: Specs

This is easily the most obscenely configured gaming laptop I've ever laid hands on, and I wouldn't be surprised if you could still play the latest AAA games at max settings at 4K for the rest of the decade. The hardware will likely physically fail on you before this thing is rendered obsolete when it comes to gaming or high-end performance.

Specs: 5 / 5

MSI Titan 18 HX: Design

Gorgeous mini LED display
Improved chassis aesthetics
Ports galore
Low-profile mechanical keyboard with Cherry MX switches

The MSI Titan 18 HX introduces several improvements over last year's Titan, while generally keeping the fairly Decepticon-like aesthetic that the Titan is known for.

Starting with the sheer size of the thing, it's slightly bigger than its predecessor, a feat I didn't think possible. It also adds about 0.5 lbs to its weight, making it by far the heaviest laptop I've used in at least a decade or more.

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Opening it up, you'll find a low-profile mechanical keyboard with Cherry MX switches for some seriously smooth typing. The trackpad has gone seamless, as well, offering a glassy but responsive surface for your palms and fingertips to glide over. The trackpad itself is responsive, with good feedback, though a gaming mouse or controller is recommended for higher-level precision.

The Titan 18 HX comes loaded with 4x2W up-firing speakers on either side of the keyboard, as well as 2x2W subwoofers for extra bass, all of which work together to create some very rich sound, at least as far as laptop speakers go.

The IR webcam also gets an upgrade over last year's model, now at full HD as opposed to 720p, and features a physical privacy shutter, which you always love to see on a laptop.

The display though is the big feature here with a speedy 120Hz refresh rate on a 3840x2400p mini LED panel that is bright and vibrant. It also has VESA DisplayHDR 1000 certification for a fantastic color contrast with deep blacks, and covers 112% of the DCI-P3 color gamut according to our tests.

In terms of ports, having a chassis this big means you can cram in a lot of ports, and the Titan 18 HX does not disappoint. You get three USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports, two Thunderbolt 4 ports with DP output (with one featuring PD3.1 certification for fast charging devices), one HDMI 2.1 port that can push 120Hz video at 4K, an SDCard slot, an RJ45 ethernet port, and a 3.5mm combo jack. You even get a Kensington lock slot for good measure.

Overall, this is one of the best-looking MSI gaming laptops I've seen this year, and its wealth of features, ports, and more make it a standout device before we even get to its performance.

Design: 4.5 / 5

MSI Titan 18 HX: Performance

Best-in-class performance
Able to hit 60 FPS at 2400p on most games without upscaling
Upscaling can get you 60 FPS or better in games with ray tracing turned on

This gaming laptop absolutely puts some of the best gaming PCs to shame with its performance. Its 2400p resolution understandably taxes the hardware when playing high-end games at its native resolution at max settings, but in titles like Assassin's Creed Mirage, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and Far Cry 6, the Titan 18 HX is easily able to clear 60 FPS at 4K on its highest settings, and that's not even factoring in any graphics upscaling.

Turn upscaling on, where available, and you can push the limits of the display's refresh rate on most games. If you factor in ray tracing, though, you can get in the neighborhood of 60 FPS or higher with appropriate upscaling, and on games like Cyberpunk 2077, it's an absolute necessity if you want to max everything out and get a better-than-just-playable frame rate.

Looking at its competitors, though, among the other 18-inch gaming laptops we've tested in our labs so far this year, none can match what the MSI Titan 18 HX brings to the table in terms of performance. The fact its competitors are all limited to 1600p QHD+ displays means that if you want the absolute bleeding edge of what laptop gaming can deliver in terms of 4K visual spectacle, the Titan 18 HX is really your only option.

Performance: 5 / 5

MSI Titan 18 HX: Battery life

Terrible battery life, but it'll rarely be on battery power anyway
Charging to full will take you a couple of hours

Understandably, battery life is not this laptop's greatest strength, but to call it a weakness is a bit unfair. This is not the kind of laptop you'll use unplugged for any length of time, as you would one of the best ultrabooks or a MacBook Pro.

This is a desktop replacement, so even though its two hours and 40 minutes of battery life while surfing the web is a pretty funny data point for a $5,000 laptop, you'll never actually use the Titan 18 HX this way outside of extremely rare instances. Its bulk will make it difficult to bring it anywhere period, much less somewhere that doesn't have an available wall outlet.

Still, compared to other 18-inch gaming laptops, the Titan 18 HX's battery performance still falls about 20% below the class average of three hours and 27 minutes. That means it doesn't get a total pass from me on battery life, but it is hardly a factor anyone should realistically consider for a laptop like this.

Battery Life: 2.5 / 5

Should you buy the MSI Titan 18 HX?

Buy the MSI Titan 18 HX if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

If my MSI Titan 18 HX review has you considering other options, here are three other laptops to consider:

How I tested the MSI Titan 18 HX

I spent about a month testing the Titan 18 HX
I used our standard suite of benchmark tests
I primarily played games on the Titan 18 HX, though I also used it for general computing and content creation

I spent about a month with the MSI Titan 18 HX, using it as an everyday work machine at home while gaming at night once work was done. I also used it for content creation work with Adobe Photoshop.

This is a gaming laptop, first and foremost, so I tested it with our standard battery of gaming benchmarks and other benchmarks that check for CPU, GPU, and overall system performance.

I've been reviewing laptops for TechRadar for nearly half a decade now, and as a lifelong PC gamer, I know how games should run on given hardware, and how much that hardware should cost you to maximize the value to the consumer. I also have a Master's Degree in Computer Science, so I'm able to really dig in and analyze the nitty-gritty of the hardware in a way many other reviews can't.

First reviewed May 2024

Razer Blade 14 (2024) review: premium performance on the go

8:14 pm | April 29, 2024

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Gaming Computers Gaming Laptops | Tags: Battery Life, Razer Blade, RTX | Comments: Off

Razer Blade 14 (2024): Two minute review

The Razer Blade 14 (2024) continues to impress as a gaming powerhouse in a remarkably compact form.

It remains largely unchanged in design from its predecessor, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, considering it has long been my top pick for the best gaming laptop going, and this latest refresh makes a compelling case for keeping that title.

Starting with its design, the familiar all-black CNC-milled aluminum chassis is both eye-catching and sturdy, with a weight that reinforces its premium build without sacrificing portability.

Performance-wise, the Blade 14 is more formidable than ever, thanks to its updated AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS processor and the choice between Nvidia RTX 4070 and 4060 GPUs. This setup handles everything from intense gaming sessions to demanding creative workloads with ease, supported by a cooling system that, while noisy, effectively manages heat even during extended use.

The display is another highlight, boasting a 2560x1600 resolution with a 240Hz refresh rate. It delivers vibrant colors and smooth visuals, making it a delight for both gaming and multimedia consumption. However, it does fall short of some competitors when it comes to brightness and HDR support.

Keyboard and trackpad functionality are excellent, providing comfortable typing and precise control. Razer Synapse software remains a useful tool for tweaking performance settings and personalizing the RGB lighting to enhance both aesthetics and functionality.

Battery life is decent for a gaming laptop, offering about 10 hours of light use and significantly less during gaming or high-performance tasks. Port selection is adequate, though the lack of an Ethernet port might irk some users.

Overall, the Razer Blade 14 (2024) is an excellent, if expensive, choice for those who need a powerful, portable laptop that can handle almost anything thrown its way.

Razer Blade 14 (2024): Price and availability

A Razer Blade 14 (2024) on a desk — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

How much is it? Starting at $2,199.99 / £2,149.99 / AU$3,999
When is it available? It is available now.
Where can you get it? You can get it in the US, UK, and Australia

The Razer Blade 14 (2024) is available now globally, starting at $2,199.99 / £2,149.99 / AU$3,999 for the base model with an RTX 4060 GPU and 16GB RAM. You can opt for my review configuration, which gets you an RTX 4070 and 32GB of RAM for $2,699.99 / £2,699.99 / AU$5,199, and honestly, this is the configuration to get. You're already spending north of two grand, so there's no reason to settle for an RTX 4060.

Still, this pricing does put it on the higher end of the 14-inch gaming laptop market, particularly when compared to alternatives like the Asus ROG Zephyrus 14 or HP Omen Transcend 14, both of which start at a lower price point. There is also the Razer Blade 14 (2023), which is still available for a lower starting price on Razer's website right now.

Given where 14-inch laptops are right now, this is easily one of the most, if not the most, expensive 14-inch laptop that isn't called the MacBook Pro. So, if you're really concerned about your budget, then the 2023 Blade 14 is likely a better bet since other than the processor and the extra RAM, there isn't much difference between the two Blade 14 models.

Value: 3.5 / 5

Razer Blade 14 (2024): Specs

Razer Blade 14 (2024): Design

Gorgeous finish and solid build
Mercury silver colorway is stunning
Mercury silver colorway costs substantially more

Razer's commitment to premium materials and build quality continues with the Blade 14.

Its chassis, crafted from a single block of aluminum, offers a sleek, durable feel with a weight that is reassuring yet portable. The design mimics the minimalist, professional aesthetic of modern ultrabooks, which might deceive some into underestimating its gaming capabilities.

The display, a speedy 240Hz QHD+ IPS panel, sports up to 100% of the DCI-P3 color gamut with Calman verification for vivid, fluid-looking visuals, while the 3ms response time will make sure that the display is about as responsive as you'll find without going for mini LED or OLED panels.

The body of the Blade 14 is very reminiscent of the MacBook Pro 14-inch, though turning the laptop over, you'll find two intake fans to help keep the components cool. Of course, fans produce noise, and under load, this laptop can get rather loud. You do have some control over this though through Razer's Synapse software.

Razer's THX audio is another standout feature of the laptop, thanks to its top firing speakers, but this does cut back on what keyboard space is available for everything else, and on a 14-inch laptop, typing space is at a premium.

Typing on the Blade 14 is still a pleasure, and the keys are adequately spaced and have a great feel to them, even after typing for several hours.

Finally, there are a good number of ports, including two USB-A and two USB-C ports, the latter of which allow for power delivery and features DisplayPort output for a second screen.

Design: 5 / 5

Razer Blade 14 (2024): Performance

Best-in-class performance for a 14-inch laptop
RTX 4070 GPU is powerful enough to handle just about any game
For the price, there are more powerful gaming laptops out there

While the aesthetic appeal of the Razer Blade 14 is undeniable, at the end of the day, this is a gaming laptop, and so you're going to want it to perform at the highest level possible, especially considering the investment you're making in this device.

Fortunately, the Blade 14 delivers outstanding performance thanks to its Ryzen 9 8945HS processor and RTX 4070 GPU, leveraging both to get the most frames per second of any 14-inch laptop we've tested this year so far.

Despite its size, the laptop's cooling system manages heat relatively well, although it can get quite loud under load. The high-performance components do not throttle significantly, which is impressive given the limited space for air circulation and the fact that the GPU can be pushed to 140W, making this the most powerful RTX 4070 laptop you're going to find right now (something backed up by my testing data).

In the end, you're going to want this laptop to game at its best and possibly transition into a mobile workstation for high-end design work or content creation on a regular basis. It will certainly be able to swing that with ease, especially if you opt for the Mercury colorway, which gives the Blade 14 something of a distinguished look about it that won't be out of place in meetings.

Performance: 5 / 5

Razer Blade 14 (2024): Battery life

Decent enough battery life with light-use
The 140W GPU drains the battery quick
Relatively fast charging

Battery performance is solid, with Razer promising up to 10 hours of power life — under the right settings, of course. However, like most gaming laptops, intense gaming sessions will drain the battery very quickly, though the laptop does supports fast charging that'll get you up to 80% in an hour.

Unfortunately, it does seem to get less battery life than its predecessor, and it's battery performance is the only metric where this average falls below the 14-inch class average in our tests.

That said, the power brick is portable enough, and the Blade 14 itself is more than capable of hopping from power outlet to power outlet if needed thanks to its slender build and lightweight construction.

Finally, this is a gaming laptop, after all, so if you're hoping for all-day battery life, there isn't a gaming laptop out there that will give it to you, so it's hard to knock off too many points here.

Battery Life: 3.5 / 5

Should you buy the Razer Blade 14 (2024)?

Buy the Razer Blade 14 (2024) if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

If my Razer Blade 14 (2024) review has you considering other options, here is another laptop to consider:

How I tested the Razer Blade 14 (2024)

I spent the better part of three weeks with the Razer Blade 14 (2024), using it as my everyday laptop for work, content creation, and gaming in the evenings.

In addition to its real world use, I also ran our standard battery of benchmarks on the device, including synthetic, creative, gaming, and battery benchmarks.

I've been reviewing gaming laptops for nearly half a decade, and have a Master's Degree in Computer Science. I am also a lifelong gamer, so I'm better positioned to judge the merits and value of this laptop than many in the industry.

First reviewed April 2024

Huawei MateBook D 16 review: an all-round solid laptop for those after a cheaper Dell XPS

11:12 pm | April 25, 2024

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Laptops | Tags: Battery Life | Comments: Off

Huawei MateBook D 16: Two minute review

Ah, the Huawei MateBook lineup. It’s long been the go-to series for those on the hunt for a clean-looking, respectable laptop, with a decent spec list to boot, and this year’s model, the 2024 edition, certainly doesn’t disappoint in that domain.

It’s actually quite an extraordinary unit right from the get-go, as it’s available in a huge number of different specifications. In fact, there are five total, ranging all the way from the Core i5-12450H, complete with 8GB of DRAM, and 512GB of storage, all the way to the model I have here, featuring the Core i9-13900H and amping up to 16GB of DDR5 and a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD.

On the surface, the build quality is fairly decent, particularly for the price. You get a nice sleek aluminum finish, complete with a full-size keyboard, healthy-sized trackpad, and a beautiful screen that lacks much in the way of a bezel. There are a ton of ports on board, and the branding is subtle and refined. It’s very much an XPS imitator in a lot of ways, just at a considerably lower price.

The Huawei MateBook D 16 on a wooden desk. — (Image credit: Future)

Where that refinement ends, however, occurs when you start actually using the thing. Sadly, the keyboard just isn’t up to spec. It feels spongy to the touch and lacks any form of satisfying tactile feedback compared to other options available at this price point or above. It’s without a doubt. Its one saving grace is that it is rather quiet because of that. The trackpad alongside that, is large and works just fine, but again, nothing particularly to write home about.

As for performance, well it’s certainly there. In day-to-day tasks and light office work, the Huawei MateBook does exceedingly well. It’s quick, smooth, and paired with that IPS panel, makes for a pleasant experience. If you do need to do anything more complex, involving any form of GPU however, you’re going to be quite disappointed, as Intel Iris is quite limited in what it is capable of, in comparison to something like a dedicated GPU from Nvidia or AMD.

Still, if you can look past that, and its clumsy software (more on that later), the Huawei MateBook D 16 2024 makes for a tempting offer, particularly at its £1200 / €1300 price point.

Huawei MateBook D 16: Price and availability

How much does it cost? Starting at £500 / €600
When is it out? Available now
Where can you get it? Available in the UK and the EU

The Huawei MateBook D 16 2024 is available now in the UK and the EU, starting at £500 / €600 (around $650). For that investment you get yourself a 16-inch screen with a 1920x1200 IPS display, 12th Gen Intel Core i5-12450H CPU, 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM, and a 512GB SSD.

The review unit I have in for testing is available for £1200 / €1300. This upgrades you to 16GB of LPDDR4X memory, alongside a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD, and a CPU upgrade to the Intel Core i9-13900H, taking you from 8 cores and 12 threads to 14 cores and 20 threads instead.

Bear in mind that thanks to the US government's ban on Huawei products, you can't buy this at retailers in America - though importing is always an option, and given the low entry price, it could be a good way to snag a great-value laptop if you're in the US.

Value: 4 / 5

Huawei MateBook D 16: Specs

Huawei MateBook D 16: Design

Fantastic materials throughout
Good looking styling
Solid I/O Options

Huawei is without a doubt trying to target that XPS market with its MateBook Vision line. One glance at its exterior, and you’ll notice the similarities between the two. The MateBook has an exceedingly slim form factor, measuring just 17mm in height, and coming in at an impressive 1.72 kg to pack it all together. Huawei has gone for a smooth aluminum finish across the MateBook, giving it an impressively svelte look.

All other branding is fairly subdued as well. There’s a Huawei logo on the back embossed in a mirror finish, and a smaller logo situated in the center of the bottom most screen bezel. Speaking of screens, the MateBook D 16, features a 16-inch 1920x1200 FHD+ IPS display, complete with a peak brightness of 300 nits. It’s crisp and clean thanks to that 142 pixel density, and actually has some pretty stellar stats to back it up as well, not least of all including a 1200:1 contrast ratio, and 100% sRGB compatibility, all thanks to that IPS display at its heart.

Over my time testing the MateBook, its color accuracy never wavered on that front. Combine that with the slim bezel, and not particularly obtrusive inbuilt webcam (which I’ll say now, is as good as you’d expect for a tiny 720p unit), and the screen itself is a genuinely decent experience all around.

Then we get onto the keyboard, and well, it’s a bit underwhelming, to say the least. Spongey is the word. It lacks any real tactile feedback, and although is well-illuminated thanks to some decent white LED backlighting, it just feels horrendous to use. It’s functional, sure, but it lacks the premium feel we’re starting to see in a lot of laptop keyboards at this price point. And that’s not dedicated mechanical keyboards I’m talking about here either.

Likewise, the trackpad is fine, it's suitably large enough and clicks well on the bottom left and right sides, but again, isn’t exactly anything to write home about. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing when it comes to trackpads.

For ports, there’s not a huge amount here, but the bases are covered. You get one USB Type C, one USB 3.2 Type A, one USB 2.0 Type A, a HDMI, and a 3.5mm 4 pole combi jack. It’s not a huge array of ports by any measure, you’ll probably need a decent USB dock if you’re looking to use the MateBook in a more advanced setup, but it’s enough for on the fly.

Audio is enough bugbear for sure. You get down-firing speakers on the MateBook, which are fine. Volume is great, however due to a lack of bass and lower end of the mids, you’re going to find most audio is generally quite tinny, and sharp on the hearing in comparison to something more sophisticated found in the likes of a Dell XPS or Asus ROG Zephyrus.

Design: 3.5 / 5

Huawei MateBook D 16: Performance

Decent productivity performance
Gaming is non-existent

On to performance, and it’s fair to say that the Huawei MateBook D 16, is certainly lacking in this area. If you’re looking to do any form of gaming or creative professional work, you’re far better off looking elsewhere. That lack of a dedicated GPU, even with Intel’s Iris graphics backing it up in my review model, sadly isn’t enough to produce any concrete performance boosts compared to some alternative devices at around these price points.

In fact, you’d be far better off sacrificing the glitz and glam of the professional design and opting for one of the better gaming laptops instead at around this price, if that's what you're looking for.

At its heart, the CPU inside my review unit is actually fairly decent for a lightweight mobile processor. The Intel Core i9-13900H comes with a total of 14 cores. Six performance cores (these are the full-fat, processors, complete with hyperthreading that prioritizes high load tasks, such as rendering, and managing large data sets), and eight Efficient-cores (designed to really manage background tasks and low power operations, such as word processor, or Discord, or Slack as an example). That gives you 20 threads to play with, and generally, it does fairly well in our benchmark tests.

In GeekBench 6.2.1, it scored an impressive 12,568 points in its multi-core test, putting it just behind a Ryzen 5 7600X, full-size desktop processor. What’s more impressive was the single-core however, which racked up an index of just 2,605, that’s not far off an Intel Core i5-14600K desktop processor, or AMD’s Ryzen 7 7800X3D either. Combine that with a healthy chunk of DDR4 RAM, courtesy of the 16GB of LPDDR4X and this ain’t half bad at Photoshop work either.

Another moderately impressive area, particularly given the price is that SSD too. A quick run through CrystalDiskMark saw sequential reads top out at 4,905 MB/s and read at 3,952 MB/s making it an impressively zippy drive.

Getting into gaming, however, was another matter. I ran a total of five benchmarks on the Huawei MateBook D 16, to gauge how it performed here. In Borderlands 3, it scored just 10.27 fps at 1920x1200, on the Ultra preset, far from playable. Total War: Warhammer III, netted a more palatable 33.9 fps, but with one major caveat the graphical preset was set to “Low”. Any higher than that, even “medium” would result in the game immediately crashing, due to a lack of memory.

Similarly, I also ran it through a couple of 3D Mark tests. With Wildlife Extreme scoring 13,731, and Solar Bay (the mobile ray tracing test) not being available, as again, no dedicated GPU, means no dedicated ray tracing sadly.

Performance: 3 / 5

Huawei MateBook D 16: Battery life

Intel Evo efficiency is unmatched
Charges fast

Battery life during my time testing the Huawei MateBook D 16 was generally very good. I easily got a solid seven to eight hours out of it, with mixed-use, before needing to recharge. Doing everything from very light casual gaming to watching YouTube, and responding to emails and work.

If you do decide to game, you’ll likely not see more than 1-2 hours of use out of it, as it doesn’t have a massive battery, but as there is no dedicated graphics card here, the CPU is doing a lot of the heavy lifting and is limited somewhat in that regard. You’ll likely want to plug it in too, if you can in that situation, as the power plans won’t give you full turbo speeds that you’ll really want to take advantage of.

That said, it does charge quickly as well, thanks to an included 65W adapter.

Battery Life: 4 / 5

Should you buy a Huawei MateBook D 16?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

Huawei MateBook D 16: Report card

How We Test

Read more about how we test

First reviewed April 2024

Asus ROG Flow X13 review: your flexible 13-inch gaming friend

9:00 pm | April 4, 2024

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Gaming Computers Gaming Laptops | Tags: Battery Life, Total War | Comments: Off

Asus ROG Flow X13: Two minute review

Asus has updated its natty little 13-inch 2-in-1 convertible laptop, the Asus ROG Flow X13, with the very latest available hardware. That means AMD's fabulous Phoenix APU architecture in its full Ryzen 9 7940HS spec with eight CPU cores and a pretty powerful integrated GPU.

However, you can also opt for one of three Nvidia dedicated graphics chips, the GeForce RTX 4050, 4060, or 4070 mobile GPUs. Whichever graphics solution you go for, it outputs to a 13.4-inch display, in this case with a 2,560 by 1,600-pixel resolution and 165Hz refresh, though a 1080p option is available. It's a touch-enabled display with a 360-degree hinge that supports various modes including tent and tablet.

If that's not good enough, you can also opt for an even more powerful GPU via the Asus XG Mobile external graphics box that hooks up courtesy of a dedicated I/O port. The laptop itself is packaged into a very slick 1.3kg 13-inch chassis that's beautifully built, feels very high quality, and is absolutely rigid, including virtually no keyboard bounce. The Asus ROG Flow X13 isn't exactly cheap, but you can certainly feel where the money has gone.

If there is an obvious catch, it's that the slim proportions do put a cap on absolute proportions. Our review unit runs an RTX 4060 capped at 60W and 1,470MHz, both much lower than Nvidia normally allows for the chip.

Add in USB4 connectivity and you have a versatile overall package and an intriguing alternative to perhaps the most obvious competition, the Razer Blade 14, which lacks 2-in-1 convertible functionality.

Asus ROG Flow X13: Price and availability

The Asus ROG Flow X13 2-in-1 gaming laptop on a white desk. — (Image credit: Future)

How much does it cost? $1,699 / £1,699 / AU$2,699
When is it available? Available now
Where can you get it? US, UK, and Australia

Available as configured here for $1,699, Asus ROG Flow X13 looks like a pretty good deal for a very high-quality 13.4-inch ultraportable with AMD's Ryzen 9 7940HS and an Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU, plus 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD.

It doesn't look too bad in the UK, either, at £1,699. In both cases, that's less than you'll pay for a similarly specced Razer Blade 14. For the record, the Asus ROG Flow X13 as reviewed here is yours for $2,699 AUD in Australia, which again looks appealing given the quality and the spec on offer.

Value: 4 / 5

Asus ROG Flow X13: Specs

Asus ROG Flow X13: Design

Gorgeous build quality
Slim proportions
2-in-1 convertible functionality

Asus's ROG laptops tend to be nicely put together and the Asus ROG Flow X13 (2023) is no exception. It's not the thinnest 13-inch laptop on the planet, but given it can be had with up to an RTX 4070 GPU, it is pretty slim and certainly very slick.

The chassis is mostly metal and extremely rigid, with zero bounce from the keyboard. The chassis top and screen enclosure also sport appealing textured finishes that feel great in the hand. It's a seriously high-quality laptop.

That extends to the 360-degree hinge, which has just the right amount of stiction. Of course, if you want regular tablet functionality, then a dedicated tablet will always be a better option. But the ability to flip the screen right around is definitely handy.

Similarly, the screen's slim bezels keep things pretty compact while allowing for a 1080p webcam in the top bezel. It's all very nicely thought out and makes for a very versatile laptop.

The slim proportions do tend to limit connectivity and the Asus ROG Flow X13 (2023) probably has just enough ports, but no more. You get a USB4 port which doubles as the charging socket, a full-sized HDMI port, one USB-A, microSD, headphone jack and then Asus's XG Mobile IO port, which supports not only a powerful external GPU, but via the XG Mobile box also adds HDMI, DisplayPort, three USB-A ports and a Type-C socket.

Design: 4.5 / 5

Asus ROG Flow X13: Performance

Impressive specs
Strong CPU performance
Slim chassis limits frame rates

The combination of an AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS CPU with an Nvidia RTX 4060 mobile GPU is quite the combo for such a compact, versatile laptop. This isn't an out-and-out gaming laptop, but more an ultraportable 2-in-1 convertible with great build quality and some gaming chops.

With that in mind, expectations need to be kept in check. That's especially true when you consider that the RTX 4060 GPU is limited to 60W of power. That means the 4060's clock frequency is capped at 1,470MHz, which is the lowest Nvidia allows and far below the maximum 2,370MHz the 4060 can achieve in some laptops.

Asus ROG Flow X13: Benchmarks

Here's how the Asus ROG Flow X13 performed in our suite of benchmark tests:

3DMark: Night Raid: 45,567 ; Fire Strike: 16,013 ; Time Spy: 7,430
GeekBench 6: 2,603 (single-core); 11,312 (multi-core)
Total War: Warhammer III (1080p, Ultra): 52 fps; (1080p, Low): 148 fps
Cyberpunk 2077 (1080p, Ultra): 51 fps; (1080p, Low): 104 fps
Dirt 5 (1080p, Ultra): 59 fps; (1080p, Low): 121 fps
TechRadar Battery Life Test: 6h 54m

The consequence is lower frame rates than some more purely gaming-focused laptops with the 4060, such as the Razer Blade 14, which offers the full 2,370Mhz spec. You'll still get playable frame rates of around 60fps at 1080p in the latest games at ultra settings, provided you don't run high levels of ray tracing. That said, the RTX 4060 does of course have the full suite of NVIDIA DLSS features - including upscaling from FHD to the QHD+ output of the Flow X13's display.

That's handy because it makes playing games at the Flow X13's 2,560 by 1,600 pixel native resolution achievable. Without DLSS, that wouldn't be very realistic with an RTX 4060, which would be a pity given that the display is a lush IPS item running at 165Hz. It's a great-looking panel, albeit one that can't compete with an OLED display for contrast and black levels.

Elsewhere, the AMD CPU provides all the performance you could reasonably ask for from this class of laptop, while the 16GB of RAM and 1TB M.2 SSD should cover most needs. There's an option to upgrade to 32GB if you need really major amounts of memory.

Performance: 3.5 / 5

Asus ROG Flow X13: Battery life

Efficient AMD APU
165Hz display compromises battery life

An efficient AMD APU plus a 75WHr battery in a compact chassis is a promising combination. In practice, however, battery life is not a strong point with the Asus ROG Flow X13 (2023) not quite clocking up seven hours in our fairly undemanding video playback test with the screen at half brightness.

Crank up the brightness or attempt to do anything remotely intensive and that figure will only fall. In other words, the Asus ROG Flow X13 (2023) certainly doesn't come close to offering all-day battery life even for light tasks, which is a little disappointing for a laptop that prides itself on portability.

Battery Life: 3.5 / 5

Should you buy a Asus ROG Flow X13?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

Asus ROG Flow X13: Report card

First reviewed April 2024

How We Test

I ran the Asus ROG Flow X13 (2023) through my usual stress test for a gaming laptop, including everything from basic web browsing to burning through my full Steam library and slobbing out with a few movies. As a 2-in-1, I also experimented with using it as a tablet along with other modes that the 360-degree hinge allows and paid close attention to the engineering of the chassis and the hinge.

For games, I tried everything from Cyberpunk 2077 with ray-tracing running on full reheat to some more strategic Total War battles and some high-octane Counter-Strike 2 fun. I was keeping a particular eye on frame rates at both 1080p and the laptop's 2,560 by 1,600 pixel native resolution.

As for battery life, I tried both watching video and light work, including web browsing and document editing to get a feel for how the Asus ROG Flow X13 (2023) stands up to working away from the mains.

Read more about how we test

Dell XPS 14 9440 review: a stunning laptop that gives Windows users a real MacBook competitor

11:44 pm | April 1, 2024

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Laptops | Tags: Battery Life, OLED | Comments: Off

Dell XPS 14 9440: Two minute review

The Dell XPS 14 is the newest entrant into an already storied line of laptops, and it is arguably the best laptop of this newest crop of XPS devices thanks to its powerful new processor, stunning OLED display, and a design that looks better than just about any other Windows laptop on the market.

The XPS 14 9440 starts at a somewhat pricey $1,499 / £1,599 / AU$2,998.60, and it lacks the dedicated Nvidia RTX 4050 GPU and OLED display, so you'll want to upgrade these two specs in particular, though it will end up costing you much more for the privilege.

To be clear, Dell XPS laptops have never been cheap, but my recommended configuration, the same as the one I reviewed, will set you back nearly $2,400 / £2,650 / AU$4,300. For the hardware packed into such a slim 14-inch form factor, it's more than worth the investment as this laptop will last for years before it becomes obsolete.

In terms of design, the XPS 14 fully commits to the design changes that the Dell XPS 13 Plus introduced back in 2022, but introduces a couple of quality-of-life improvements on its smaller cousin.

For one, the down-firing speakers have been moved up top alongside the keyboard, producing far better sound in exchange for diminishing the XPS 13 Plus's infinity edge-style keyboard. This is a much better design choice, ultimately, and you don't sacrifice much in the way of key space on the deck itself.

The display is what really steals the show here: a gorgeous 3.2K OLED display with super-slim bezels. This latter feature is impressive because Dell has somehow managed to squeeze in a 1080p webcam. There's no physical privacy shutter, but that's never really been Dell's thing, unfortunately.

The Dell XPS 14's Intel Core Ultra 7 155H and the Nvidia RTX 4050 deliver powerful performance across all workloads, and in some cases can even match or exceed what you'd get from a MacBook Pro 14-inch, especially for gaming (though the RTX 4050 isn't nearly powerful enough to keep up with the best gaming laptops).

Overall, the Dell XPS 14 9440 is a powerful performer for everything from everyday computing use to 1080p gaming to moderate content creation. It's an expensive investment, but on balance, it's one of the best Windows laptops you can buy right now.

Dell XPS 14 9440: Price and availability

A Dell XPS 14 on a desk — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

How much does it cost? Starting at $1,499 / £1,599 / AU$2,998.60
When is it out? It's available right now
Where can you get it? You can get it in the US, UK, and Australia

The Dell XPS 14 9440 is available now in the US, UK, and Australia, starting at $1,499 / £1,599 / AU$2,998.60. For that price, you get an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor with integrated Arc graphics, 16GB LPDDR5x memory, 512GB M.2 PCIe SSD storage, and a 14.5-inch full HD+ (1920x1200p) non-touch display.

My review unit, which sells for $900 / £1,050 / AU$1,300 more, upgrades to discrete graphics with an Nvidia RTX 4050 (30W) GPU, 32GB LPDDR5x memory, 1TB M.2 PCIe SSD, and a 14.5-inch 3.2K (3200x2000p) OLED display.

You can max out your configuration with 64GB LPDDR5x RAM and 4TB M.2 PCIe SSD, in addition to the above, for $3,399 / £3,238.99 / AU$5,999.40.

Value: 4 / 5

Dell XPS 14 9440: Specs

Dell XPS 14 9440: Design

Gorgeous design
OLED display is stunning
Upfiring speakers

The Dell XPS 14 doesn't shy away from the design choices that the XPS 13 Plus introduced, for better or for worse, but it does make some very important improvements to the previous design iterations.

For one, let's talk about top-firing speakers. Down-firing speakers are genuinely terrible. They might be necessary, but they're terrible, and any time we can get top-firing speakers on a laptop, your audio experience is automatically going to improve substantially.

The exterior finish comes in two colors: Platinum or Graphite. The finish is a CNC machined aluminum with a glass palm rest, and everything about it feels premium. The chasis itself isn't all that heavy, but it's not as light as something like the LG Gram or some of the best ultrabooks that prioritize portability over performance.

For ports, you have three Thunderbolt 4 ports with power delivery and DisplayPort output, a 3.5mm combo jack, and a microSD slot. Given its size, I'm not expecting all that much on the ports front, but it's good to see the microSD slot included since this at least gives some flexibility for creative professionals or those who might have a device that saves to microSD, like one of the best drone models.

As for the keyboard, this is one area that's not so great, since the nearly flat surface of the keys makes it difficult for touch typers who are used to a bit more definition to find their place among the keys. You'll get used to it, but it's not the best typing experience I've ever had on a keyboard out of the box.

Another major issue is the trackpad, in that it's invisible. This does give the laptop a bit of a 'future' feel to it, but at the cost of accessibility. Likewise, the touchbar along the top is in place of actual function keys. All of these features work fine enough for me, but I can see someone with reduced vision struggling with this keyboard and trackpad.

Next, you have the webcam. Somehow, Dell managed to fit a 1080p webcam into the narrow top bezel of the display panel, and it's a welcome addition. Too many laptops skip the 1080p webcam in order to retain the thin bezels, and that was fine in the pre-work-from-home era, but nowadays, you need a quality webcam, there's just no getting around it.

Finally, the air intake on the Dell XPS 14 comes in from the side and bleeds out the back though a vent underneath the display hinge. The heat management is ok, but given its thin form factor, the underside can get hot under load.

As far as Windows laptops go, this is possibly one of the best-looking laptops going. There are some who won't love—or even like—the planar-leveled keyboard and lack of physical function keys or clearly defined trackpad, but overall, there is way more to like here than to nitpick, especially if you're opting for the OLED display.

Design: 4.5 / 5

Dell XPS 14 9440: Performance

A Dell XPS 14 on a desk running resource intensive apps — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

Excellent all-around performance
Surprisingly competitive against the MacBook Pro for creative work
Fantastic productivity and solid gaming performance

Finally we come down to the performance of the Dell XPS 14, and I can definitely say that it is among the best you're going to get on a laptop right now.

The direct rival of the Dell XPS 14 is the Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch with M3 Pro, and the XPS 14 holds its own against the best Apple has to offer in terms of general performance, features superior gaming performance, and also manages to battle the MacBook Pro 14 to a draw for some typical creative workloads.

While the MacBook Pro 14-inch ultimately offers better single-core performance and slightly better multicore performance, the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H paired with an Nvidia RTX 4050 GPU does an admirable job against one of Apple's best processors.

In terms of overall system performance, the MacBook Pro 14 with M3 Pro (11-core) does manage to score about 23% better in our Crossmark benchmark, as well as scoring about 12% better in Geekbench 6.2's multicore performance test.

The two laptops are evenly matched for SSD performance, and the MacBook Pro 14-inch scores better in 3DMark's Wildlife Extreme and Wildlife Extreme Unlimited. The RTX 4050 in the XPS 14, meanwhile, pulls ahead of the M3 Pro's GPU in Solar Bay and Solar Bay Unlimited, which are ray-tracing workloads, so this shouldn't be surprising as Nvidia's hardware can handle ray tracing far better than Apple's chips right now.

In terms of creative performance, the Nvidia RTX GPU in the XPS 14 will outperform pretty much any comparable Apple device when it comes to 3D modeling, since just about every 3D modeling tool relies on Nvidia's CUDA instruction set, so Apple, AMD, and Intel will always be at a disadvantage.

When it comes to video encoding, the XPS 14 manages to encode a 4K video into 1080p about 7% faster in Handbrake 1.7, though depending on the app you're using, Apple's specialized encoding engine might be determinative. If you're a creative pro working in film and video, you'll know which tools play best with Apple and which lean towards Nvidia, so which is better will come down to the tools you'll ultimately need to use.

Finally, taking the average 1200p gaming performance on Max settings, the Dell XPS 14 does a better job than the MacBook Pro 14 across the board. The XPS 14 does about 62% better with Civilization VI, getting nearly 90 fps at 1200p with performance and memory impact set to max. In Total War: Warhammer III's battle benchmark, the XPS 14 gets around 40 fps, which is about 25% higher than the MacBook Pro 14-inch's 32 fps. It's only in Shadow of the Tomb Raider that the MacBook Pro 14-inch scores a win, getting 48 fps at 1200p on highest settings, while the Dell XPS 14 manages to get 47 fps, but there's a huge caveat there.

This doesn't factor in the RTX 4050's DLSS upscaler, which can push the XPS 14's fps much higher than that, depending on the settings you select. This is a huge advantage for the XPS 14 that, for right now at least, Apple's best MacBook struggles to counter since its upscaler, Apple MetalFX, is developer-dependent, and not a lot of games include it as an option.

In the end, then, the Dell XPS 14 manages to go toe-to-toe with the venerable MacBook Pro 14 and comes out with some very important wins in the process.

Performance: 5 / 5

Dell XPS 14 9440: Battery life

Intel Evo is back, baby!
Charges to full in less than 90 minutes

Intel chips have not had good battery life for years. Back in 2020, Intel Evo was a big deal, and one of its biggest qualifiers was achieving more than 9 hours of battery life on a standard battery test. With the 12th-gen Intel Alder Lake laptop processors released in 2021, battery life on Intel laptops absolutely tanked, and Intel Evo faded away for a few years as Intel went through Alder Lake, Raptor Lake, and Raptor Lake Refresh, all of which had generally terrible battery life (even on an ultrabook!).

Now, with the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, Intel seems to have refocused itself on more battery efficiency rather than dumping electrons into maximum performance.

The Dell XPS 14 benefits with a nine-hour 35-minute battery life on our proprietary web surfing test, which is far better than the six or seven hours these laptops were getting just a year or two ago.

Under heavier load, the XPS 14 still struggles to get more than seven hours of battery life on PCMark 10's Modern Office battery test, and the PCMark 10 Gaming battery test only ran for about one hour 50 minutes before shutting down.

These are a far cry from what Apple is able to pull off with the MacBook Pro 14-inch with M3 Pro, which lasted about 17 hours 32 minutes in our battery tests, but knowing where Windows laptops have been in the past couple of years, I'll gladly take a laptop that can last a full workday without a charge.

Battery Life: 4 / 5

Should you buy a Dell XPS 14 9440?

Buy the Dell XPS 14 9440 if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

Dell XPS 14 9440: Report card

First reviewed April 2024

How We Test

Read more about how we test

Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 review: not good enough for the price

1:15 pm | November 21, 2022

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Laptops Windows Laptops | Tags: Battery Life, CPU, Microsoft Surface Laptop, RAM | Comments: Off

Editor's Note

• Original review date: November 2022
• Launch price: Starting at $999 / £999 / AU$1,699
• Target price: $599 / £499 / AU$899

Update – August 2024: I won't lie, when this laptop was released and reviewed in 2022, it really wasn't good enough to warrant serious consideration for our best laptop list.

Its performance, port selection, and battery life were all significantly underwhelming, and that's even more true when factoring in the recently released Microsoft Surface Laptop 7, which is an absolutely stellar device that starts at the same launch price as the Surface Laptop 5 did.

If you're in the market for a Surface Laptop, I strongly suggest you buy the latest model with Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus or X Elite processor, even at full price. Only really consider the Surface Laptop 5 if it is aggressively discounted on the clearance shelf, otherwise, it just isn't worth it with the Surface Laptop 7 widely available.

Original review follows.

Microsoft Surface Laptop 5: Two minute review

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 is a middling laptop... possibly as middle of the road as you can get. While it’s technically functional and isn’t awful, there’s very little actually going for this machine, especially at this price. The market is simply too competitive for a mediocre option such as this to be worth buying.

At first glance, the price isn’t too steep, with the cheapest configuration being $999 / £999 / AU$1,699. But that’s for an Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, and 256GB SSD, which is pretty bad. For that amount you could nab the far superior MacBook Air M1 (2020) instead, or even the recent M2 MacBook Air. If you want something decent – like an i7, 16GB RAM, and 512GB SSD – be prepared to spend about $1,700 / £1,700 / AU$2,700, which is right at Ultrabook prices. At least it’s readily available in the US, UK, and Australia.

Though it’s refreshing to see several colors available for the laptop, they all end up looking drab and washed out, with the exception of the gorgeous Sandstone. The design itself is also rather dated.

Then there are the performance issues. As it turns out, there are a lot of background processes going on while the Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 is running. This not only slows you down whether browsing the internet or working on a spreadsheet, but also has the added effect of crashing random programs if they take a certain threshold of memory to run. In fact, we experienced it during one of the benchmarks we tried to run, PC Mark 10.

Nor is the battery life the 18 hours that was claimed during the October Surface event. In fact, the final scores show a battery life of half of that, with productivity work running down the laptop after around 10 hours while movie streaming will give you just seven and a half hours. It does charge quickly, but the Surface Connect port seriously needs to go by the wayside to make room for Thunderbolt 4.

On the plus side, though, the keyboard and trackpad are quite lovely to use and the touch screen is also sensitive and responsive. We also welcome the newly added features plus a true revamping of the accessibility options, which are now easy to activate across all your apps.

It’s a shame that so much care was taken to make these accessibility and productivity features work, because they do - and well. But when you slap them on a laptop with so many issues, it’s hard to appreciate them.

Microsoft Surface Laptop 5: Price and availability

closeup of a silver laptop — (Image credit: Future)

How much does it cost? 13.5-inch starting at $999 / £999 / AU$1,699, 15-inch starting at $1,299 / £1,299 / AU$2,149
When is it out? It's out now
Where can you get it? In the US, UK, and Australia

Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 Key Specs

Here is the Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 configuration sent to TechRadar for review:

CPU: Intel Core i7-1255U
Graphics: Intel Iris Xe Graphics
RAM: 16GB
Screen: 13.5-inch PixelSense Display, 2256 x 1504
Storage: 512GB LPDDR5x
Optical drive: None
Ports: 1 USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 1 Thunderbolt 4 port, 1 3.5mm combo audio jack, 1 Surface Connect port
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6: 802.11ax, Bluetooth 5.1
Camera: 720p
Weight: 2.8 lb
Size: 8.8 x 12.1 x .57 inches (W x D x H)

Though the starting price for a 13.5-inch version of the Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 is $999 / £999 / AU$1,699, the configuration TechRadar received costs $1,699 / £1,699 / AU$2,699. And honestly, it’s difficult to justify that price when you consider how barebones the laptop’s specs are.

Availability is excellent, however, with the laptop readily available not only in the US but in the UK and Australia too - and in almost every configuration you could hope for.

Value: 2 / 5

Microsoft Surface Laptop 5: Design

closeup of silver laptop sitting on a wooden desk — (Image credit: Future)

Thin and light form factor
Outdated look
Bad port selection

The Surface Laptop 5 is a very thin and light laptop, weighing just 2.8 lbs. for the 13.5-inch model. And for those sticking with that size, there are four colors to choose from: Sandstone, Platinum (which features an Alcantara fabric), Matte Black, and a new Sage color, which is the one we received. The Sage version isn't bad per se, but it's a bit underwhelming due to its muted nature.

The port selection remains pretty weak, with one USB Type-C, one USB Type-A, an audio jack, and a Surface Connect port that should have gone to the wayside ages ago. At least Microsoft kept the Type-A option, but the number of ports should be higher considering how much it costs.

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silver laptop sitting on its side — (Image credit: Future)

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Image 3 of 3

closeup of silver laptop sitting on a wooden desk with a quarter — (Image credit: Future)

The bezels on the screen are a little on the thick side, which is why it’s perplexing that the webcam is still 720p. At times, said camera has surprisingly clear picture quality due to auto-correcting capabilities that fix any white balance issues, but in anything other than good lighting the image looks a bit pixelated.

Though the laptop and keyboard function just as they should, there’s an oddly artificial feeling to them; they bring to mind the plasticky older MacBook models from the mid-2000s. Plus, the shape of the laptop itself is outdated, which lends itself to a boring and drab look. Thankfully the touchscreen itself is great, hitting the right blend of sensitivity and responsiveness, though the panel itself looks rather dim as it's not OLED.

Design: 3 / 5

Microsoft Surface Laptop 5: Performance

silver laptop sitting on a wooden desk — (Image credit: Future)

Sound quality is top-tier
Great new features that utilize the touchscreen
Terrible performance all around

Performance on the Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 is a mixture of the good, the bad, and the ugly. Let’s deal with the good first - namely the expanded accessibility options and productivity features.

First is the Focus function, which locks out notifications for a certain period of time so you can focus on productivity. Another addition is Snap, which allows you to divide your screen into various areas, then place windows into those sections for easy multitasking.

File explorer is another quality-of-life change in which you can open multiple tabs of computer file folders in the same window. The Start menu itself also houses some quality-of-life changes, including being able to organize apps within folders, as well as scroll through recommended apps.

You can also activate a host of accessibility options within Windows 11. This has the benefit of automatically working across 20,000-plus apps, avoiding the need for you to make changes within individual programs.

Sound quality is also excellent - in fact, this is one of the best non-gaming laptops we've ever heard. Music is clear enough that you can hear every instrument and voice in a single track, yet loud enough to blast said song from the rooftops. It's everything you could ever want from a laptop's sound system.

Finally in terms of positives, the touchscreen is impressively responsive, especially when using a stylus. Too bad said stylus isn't included out of the box but instead is an add-on.

Benchmarks

Here's how the Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 performed in our suite of benchmark tests:

3DMark: Night Raid: 16,871; Fire Strike: 4763; Time Spy: 1793
Cinebench R23 Multi-core: 8499 points
GeekBench 5: 1674 (single-core); 8709 (multi-core)
Battery Life (Web Surfing): 9 hours and 50 minutes
Battery Life (TechRadar movie test): 7 hours and 38 minutes
Civilization VI (1080p, Ultra): 42 fps; (1080p, Low): 55 fps

However, both the bad and ugly rear their ugly heads once you delve into the Surface Laptop 5’s performance. While the benchmark testing places it squarely at its market average, actually using the laptop is its own issue.

In the first screenshot below, you can see how many processes are running in the background, which is a staggering 43. That's after we installed all current Windows 11 updates as well as the benchmark programs.

screenshot of task manager — (Image credit: Future)

Here's the second screenshot, which shows how many programs are running in the background, which is an unbelievable 57. And this is just after we fully wiped the PC, without any updates or program installations.

As you can imagine, this much going on in the background has a profound effect on how well the Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 runs. We could not run PC Mark 10 in the slightest, for instance. No matter how many times we uninstalled, reinstalled, and reset the laptop, it would instantly crash the moment we tried to do anything. And at one point it even crashed Geekbench.

Keep in mind this is a laptop with a Core i7, 16GB RAM, and 512GB SSD of storage. And it's perplexing, because Google Chrome and other browsers ran without crashing, even when displaying tabs full of YouTube videos. However, we did notice some slowdown when running more taxing productivity tasks.

For the price, these performance issues are absolutely unacceptable.

Performance: 3 / 5

Microsoft Surface Laptop 5: Battery life

closeup of battery and time — (Image credit: Future)

Battery life isn't bad but not great
Charges decently fast

Microsoft claims “up to 18 hours” of battery life for the Surface Laptop 5, but in our testing we achieved nothing like that. When web surfing, the laptop lasted for nearly 10 hours, while our movie test netted a battery life of seven hours and 38 minutes. At least it charges decently fast.

Still, the Surface Laptop 5 should last long enough for a full day’s work, unless you plan to stream a movie during your lunch break. This is an acceptable result, albeit a little disappointing considering there’s no OLED screen or HDR draining power.

Battery Life: 3.5 / 5

Should you buy a Microsoft Surface Laptop 5?

Microsoft Surface Laptop 5, in silver, on a wooden desk — (Image credit: Future)

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 Report card

First reviewed November 2022

How We Test

Read more about how we test

Dell XPS 13 (2022) review

11:58 am | October 6, 2022

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Laptops Windows Laptops | Tags: Battery Life, CPU, RAM | Comments: Off

Editor's Note

• Original review date: October, 2022
• Newer models have since released
• Dell XPS 13 (2024) is shaping up to be an excellent laptop

Update: August 2024

Since we reviewed this version of the XPS 13 back in 2022, Dell has released several new models, as well as relaunching its XPS 14 lineup. This means that the 2022 model is no longer easy to buy. Retailers that do stock this older model may be offering it for a steep discount, which makes it a good budget choice, though if you can afford a newer model, such as the Dell XPS 13 Plus (2023), then you'll get a much more future-proof laptop. Our Dell XPS 13 (2024) review is almost finished and - spoiler alert - it looks like it could be one of the best laptops yet.

Dell XPS 13 (2022): two minute review

The Dell XPS 13 (2022) has huge shoes to fill, but while it does what it sets out to do very well, there are going to be those who are going to be sorely disappointed by some of the changes Dell makes to the XPS 13, and some of these are going to be absolute deal breakers.

But the XPS 13 (2022) deserves to be judged on its own merits, rather than solely in comparison to the Dell XPS 13 (Late 2020), this model's immediate predecessor. This is especially the case since that model is arguably the best laptop in its class, even though it is not a couple of model generations behind the latest Dell laptops.

Still, while we'll get around to weighing the XPS 13 (2022) objectively a bit later, it is important to acknowledge that the new Dell XPS 13 comes with a pedigree and that can't be ignored. In this regard, the XPS 13 outperforms the model it's replacing in some key areas, but it falls short in others. How you're going to feel about the new XPS 13 is going to depend entirely on where your concerns fall between the two, whether or not some of these are entirely in Dell's control.

What is in Dell's control is the design of the XPS 13, and this is where most of the controversy is going to be. The Dell XPS 13 (2022) is a gorgeous laptop, through and through, from the thinness of its form to its featherweight portability and beautiful display. These come at a cost though, namely in terms of ports, and the two, solitary USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports are going to mean you'll have to juggle some dongles. Fortunately, Dell includes some of them with the laptop itself.

The biggest change though is the absence of the carbon fiber palm rests, which still remain on the Dell XPS 15 (2022) and Dell XPS 17 (2022), in favor of a more svelte aluminum keyboard deck. There is also the new color option, Umber (a bluish-purple), in addition to Sky, which is the standard silver color for the XPS laptop line.

The carbon fiber palm rests are one of the things about the last XPS 13 that we fell in love with, so we're sorry to see them go, but on its merits, the keyboard is still spectacular to use.

The sound still sucks, but all of the best ultrabooks have terrible audio, thanks to underpowered down-firing speakers. It's the tradeoff you have to make for the form factor, so the XPS 13 was never going to break free of that fate.

Overall, the performance of the XPS 13 (2022) was excellent for everyday use and productivity work, making it one of the best thin and light laptops for professionals who find themselves constantly on the go. Unfortunately, this is also where we run into the XPS 13 (2022)'s major failing: battery life.

While the battery life on the new XPS 13 does last longer than most Intel Alder Lake-powered laptops, it is still a noticeable downgrade from the last XPS 13, which was Intel Evo certified. This, though, isn't in Dell's control as Alder Lake chips just guzzle the juice with wanton abandon and with no consideration for your needs or convenience. You'll be getting close to all-day battery life with the XPS 13 (2022), but it's not the all-day-plus battery life some might be expecting from an XPS 13.

Still, the XPS 13 (2022) absolutely holds its own as an ultrabook, and it does so at a price far below what came before it. Of all the ultrabooks we've tested this year, the XPS 13 (2022) is the closest competition to the new MacBook Air (M2, 2022) on the market right now, which is great for someone looking for an Air-like appeal from a Windows laptop - making it a great choice of laptop for students.

Are some of us shaking our fists at Dell-shaped clouds over the redesign? Of course, but change is inevitable, and with a genuinely appealing design, the Dell XPS 13 (2022) shines just as bright as the rest of the XPS lineup, even if it blazes a different trail all its own.

Dell XPS 13 (2022): Price and availability

A Dell XPS 13 (2022) on a wooden table — (Image credit: Future)

How much does it cost? Starting at $899 / £854 / AU$1,898
When is it out? It is available now
Where can you get it? You can get it in the US, UK, and Australia

Dell XPS 13 (2022) Key Specs

Here is the Dell XPS 13 (2022) configuration sent to TechRadar for review:
CPU: Intel Core i5-1230U
Graphics: Intel Iris Xe
RAM: 16GB LPDDR5
Screen: 13.4 FHD+ (1920 x 1200) InfinityEdge Non-Touch Anti-Glare 500-Nit Display
Storage: 512GB PCIe SSD
Ports: 2 x Thunderbolt 4
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2
Camera: 720p at 30fps, no privacy shutter
Weight: 2.59 lb | 1.17 kg
Size (W x D x H): 11.63 x 7.85 x 0.55 in (295.4 x 199.4 x 13.99 mm)
Battery: 51WHr

The Dell XPS 13 (2022) – also called the Dell XPS 13 (9315) by some retailers – is available now in the US, UK, and Australia, starting at $899 / £854 / AU$1,898. The entry level configuration will get you an Intel Core i5-1230U with integrated Iris Xe graphics, 8GB LPDDR5 RAM, and a 500-nit, 13.4-inch, FHD+ (1920 x 1200p) display. In the US, the minimum storage option is 512GB SSD, while the UK and Australia start out with a 256GB SSD.

The best configuration will get you a Core i7-1250U with Iris Xe graphics, 32GB LPDDR5 RAM, 1TB PCIe SSD, and a 500-nit, 13.4-inch, FHD+ (1920 x 1200p) display with anti-reflective coating, and costs $1,549 / £1,754 / AU$3,441.

The configuration we tested was one step removed from entry level, with 16GB RAM rather than 8GB, and it costs $1,049 / £1,004 / AU$2,299.

This XPS 13 model is more oriented towards value rather than performance (which would be the Dell XPS 13 Plus), and so the processors aren't powerful enough really to manage the kind of heavy duty workloads that would necessitate more than 16GB RAM or 512GB storage, and most people will do just fine with the starting configuration so few people will ever need to spend more than $1,000 / £1,000 / AU$2,000 to get one of the best Dell laptops on the market.

This is in stark contrast with the last XPS 13 model from late 2020, which had a starting price of $1,499 / £1,399 / AU$2,399. This is a substantial price cut for a laptop that will give you more or less the same level of performance.

Compared to the rest of the market, the XPS 13 (2022) is positioned squarely in the sweet spot in terms of price and performance. The other obvious comparison to make is with the MacBook Air. Compared to the MacBook Air with M1 from 2020, the Dell XPS 13 is very competitive, matching the MacBook Air on price, though it won't get you nearly as much battery life. The new MacBook Air with M2, however, is more expensive, and while its performance is outstanding, it still doesn't blow the XPS 13 out of the water beyond having better battery life.

All told, the Dell XPS 13 (2022) is one of the best, if not the best, value on the market among the best Windows laptops, and other than a few of the best Chromebooks out there, there is little that can really compete with the XPS 13 (2022) on this front. If you're looking to save on the laptop, you can check out our list of the best Dell coupon codes to see this month's best discounts.

Value: 5 / 5

Dell XPS 13 (2022): Design

Redesigned for 2022, like it or not
Beautiful display
Serious lack of ports

The Dell XPS 13 (2022) is going to split the entire tech reviewer community in two over its design, with defenders and haters making valid points on each side. But consumers don't buy a new laptop every 18 months, so for everyone else, this is still an absolutely gorgeous laptop, though there are some functional issues that will be a problem for many.

First, the XPS 13 is very lightweight, and its slim dimensions make it an easy laptop to toss in a bag as you head out the door. The exterior is little changed from its predecessor and features the XPS line's brushed aluminum chassis, with the biggest change being the option to get it in a purplish-blue color option, Umber.

Opening it up, however, and the redesigned interior removes the carbon fiber keyboard palm rest and replaces it with a sleek aluminum that let the hands glide over its surface with ease. The keys and trackpad are also well positioned and spaced to allow for fluid and comfortable typing, even for many hours at a time.

The display is a full HD+, meaning its a 1920 x 1200p resolution at the 16:10 aspect ratio, and it can get as bright as 500 nits. It's not an OLED display, so it's not going to have the kind of vibrant colors that you get with the Asus ZenBook S 13 OLED, but it is more than clear enough to see everything you need to see at this size.

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The down-firing speakers are audible, but they will hardly fill a room, even if you have it sitting on a hardwood desk. The 16:10 display is beautiful and very easy to work with, though a 13-inch laptop is not nearly big enough to be using multiple windows at once.

The webcam is the basic 720p@30fps that you see on nearly every other ultrabook on the market, so don't expect much from its image quality. One thing that is lacking is a privacy shutter for the webcam, something many of the best HP laptops and best Lenovo laptops have featured for a long time now. Dell really does need to get with the program on this, in our opinion.

Finally, the biggest issue with the XPS 13 (2022) is the derth of ports. There are just two Thunderbolt 4 ports, that's it. While both are capable of charging the laptop, having it plugged in means that you're now down to a single USB-C port, so any peripherals you have with you either have to be triaged for the most important one, or you're going to need a dock for more than two items.

And since they're USB-C ports, any USB-A or other types of input will need a converting dongle to work. Dell includes a couple in the box with the XPS 13, a USB-A to USB-C and a 3.5mm audio jack to USB-C, but you'll likely need more, which can really cut into the laptop's portability.

Design: 4 / 5

Dell XPS 13 (2022): Performance

Solid productivity and general use performance
Not so hot on the gaming side of things

Benchmarks

Here is how the Dell XPS 13 (2022) performed in our suite of benchmark tests:

Cinebench R23 Multi-core: 5,478
3DMark Time Spy: 1,068; Fire Strike: 3,100; Night Raid: 10,272
GeekBench 5: 1,629 (single-core); 6,546 (multi-core)
PCMark 10 (Home Test): 4,324
PCMark 10 Battery Life: 7:31
Battery Life (TechRadar movie test): 9:17

The Dell XPS 13 (2022) is designed to be an affordable, ultraportable laptop that can do what most people need it to do: some web browsing, video streaming, and maybe messing around with a couple of spreadsheets for work or writing reports on an airplane.

It does all of these very well, and it has decent enough processor benchmark scores for a laptop priced as it is. The biggest problem you'll find is if you try to run any resource-heavy apps on the XPS 13, such as Adobe Premiere Pro, Blender, and Photoshop.

On these points, it will be able to complete most tasks, but expect it to take a lot longer than it would on a more professional workstation like the MacBook Pro 13-inch (M2, 2022), if it finishes them at all and doesn't simple stall or crash. This is a laptop for light to medium work at most, and the more you can use cloud apps like Google Docs and Google Sheets, the better.

We could also have run a number of games on it to see how they fared, but after the first test with Civilization VI, run on the lowest possible settings, scored a paltry 18 fps, we called it a day and spared the XPS 13 any more gaming embarrassment. A candidate for the best gaming laptop of the year, this is not.

Considering that you can get one of the best Chromebooks on the market and it will perform about as well on cloud-based apps, the performance of the Dell XPS 13 on its own might not be enough to justify the relative premium you're pay for it. If all you're going to be doing is running Google Chrome and listening to Spotify or watching Netflix, definitely consider saving yourself some serious money and give Chromebooks a look before you make the jump on a nearly $1,000 Windows laptop.

Performance: 3 / 5

Dell XPS 13 (2022): Battery life

Not great, but decent enough for an Alder Lake laptop
Charges from 0% to full in about two hours

The battery life on the Dell XPS 13 (2022) is not great, if we compare it to its predecessor. On our PCMark 10 battery test, it lasted on average about seven hours and 31 minutes. It did better on our looped video test, managing an average nine hours and eight minutes.

The XPS 13 (late 2020) managed a battery life of nearly 12 hours, so the XPS 13 (2022) has definitely regressed in this regard, but that has been the case with Alder Lake laptops across the board. They just consume too much power and we've seen many ultrabooks last between six to seven hours on average, so the XPS 13 (2022) is at least ahead of its competition on that front.

Battery Life: 3.5 / 5

Dell XPS 13 (2022): Report card

Should you buy a Dell XPS 13 (2022)?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

First reviewed October 2022

How We Test

Read more about how we test

HP Pavilion Plus 14 review: burns twice as bright for half as long

9:30 pm | August 2, 2022

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Laptops Windows Laptops | Tags: Battery Life, CPU, RAM | Comments: Off

Editor's Note

• Original review date: August 2022
• Launch price: Starts at $799 / £799 (around AU$1,120)
• Target price now (updated model): Starts at $999 / £899 (around AU$1,490)

Update – August 2024: The HP Pavilion Plus 14 might have missed out on a spot amidst our ranking of the best laptops when we originally reviewed this model, but two years on, I've got good news and bad news.

The good news is that an updated model featuring the new Intel Core Ultra 5 chip is now available, which (while I haven't personally tested it) should provide better battery life than previous iterations thanks to that chip's improved power efficiency. The short battery life was the main failing of the Pavilion Plus 14 when we reviewed it, and some quick online research shows that reviewers concur that battery performance is a lot stronger in the new model.

The bad news is that this new model is unfortunately a bit more expensive - although you can still find older models with Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen chips for under $800 in the US. Sadly for our friends down under, it appears that the Core Ultra model is not available at all in Australia at the time of writing - so Aussies may be better off looking for something different.

Original review follows.

HP Pavilion Plus 14: Two-minute review

The HP Pavilion Plus 14 is an upgrade from the original Pavilion 14 and is meant to be a decently priced low-ranged laptop for those who need a dedicated work machine.

It comes with a pretty solid screen size, which is complemented by the thinner bezels that give you more screen real estate. Its OLED touchscreen display is responsive and features an impressive picture quality that makes anything displayed through it crystal clear and sharp, which alone is worth the slightly higher price tag.

This feature shines when paired with the webcam, which is crisp and clean when sitting through Zoom meetings, but it’s a shame the webcam doesn’t come with a mechanical privacy shutter though, since nowadays its pretty much a necessity.

The keyboard and touchpad are quite good as well, one of the few work laptops that have wide keys suited for those with thicker fingers or shaky hands. We found it extremely rare to have typos thanks to the wide spacing between keys, and the touchpad provides you with more than enough space to comfortably move around, making it very accessible for those who might have more limited mobility or coordination in their hands.

Thanks to the 12th-gen Intel Core i7 CPU, the HP Pavilion Plus 14 has some impressively high performance compared to many other budget-to-midrange laptops, consistently outscoring them by sometimes wide margins.

It’s an incredibly fast laptop that balances multiple CPU-intensive tasks like a champ. It even ran Sid Meyer’s Civilization VI benchmark well, netting over 60 FPS on the highest settings. Of course, it won’t be able to play titles like Hitman 3 smoothly but you’re not buying this laptop for that purpose anyway; as a general performance machine, this might have easily qualified as one of the best HP laptops going – or even one of the best Ultrabooks overall.

However, the worst aspect of this laptop by far is the battery life, and it absolutely drags this laptop down. At most, while running our HD movie test, it lasted just under 5 hours, and lasted a little while longer in our productivity test. For a gaming laptop this would be ok, but for a low-end machine whose job it is to last a full day of work or school? This is atrocious, especially considering that for the price, we're expecting something far more substantial.

HP Pavilion Plus 14: Price and availability

An HP Pavilion Plus 14 on a desk playing Civ VI — Despite itself, the HP Pavilion Plus 14 is not bad at playing casual or light-duty games – just make sure to leave it plugged in. (Image credit: Future)

How much does it cost? MSRP is $799 (about £640 / AU$1,120)
When is it out? It is available now
Where can you get it? You can get it in the US, UK, and Australia, though not all configurations are available in all regions.

The HP Pavilion Plus 14 is available now in the US, UK, and Australia and starts at $799 / £829 in the US and UK, and at AU$2,699 in Australia.

HP Pavilion Plus 14 Key Specs

Here is the HP Pavilion Plus 14 configuration sent to TechRadar for review:

CPU: Intel Core i7-12700H
Graphics: Intel Iris Xe Graphics
RAM: 16GB
Screen: 14-inch diagonal, 2.8K (2880 x 1800), OLED, 90 Hz
Storage: 1TB PCIe SSD
Ports: 2 USB Type-A ports, 2 USB Type-C, 1 headset (headphone and microphone combo) port, 1 HDMI 2.1 port, 1 SD-card slot
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2
Camera: HP True Vision 5MP
Weight: 3.09 pounds (1.4 kg)
Size (W x D x H): 12.34 x 8.83 x 0.72ins | 313.4 x 224.3 x 18.3mm
Battery: 51WHr

The entry-level configuration for the US will get you an Intel Core i5-1240P processor with integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics, 8GB RAM, 256GB PCIe NVMe SSD storage, and a 14-inch 2240 x 1400p IPS display, with a max brightness of 300 nits. The UK starting configuration is essentially identical, though it gives you a 512GB PCIe SSD.

The starting configuration in Australia, which is also the only configuration, is identical to the one we reviewed, specs listed at right. It will set you back $1,219 in the US and AU$2,699 in Australia.

The highest-spec configuration costs $1,329 in the US will get you an Intel Core i7-1255U, an Nvidia RTX 2050 GPU with 4GB dedicated video memory, 16GB RAM, 1TB PCIe SSD and a 2.8K OLED display with 400 nits brightness and Wi-Fi 6E instead of Wi-Fi 5 or Wi-Fi 6.

In the UK, the highest spec is slightly different, in that it reduces the SSD to 512GB and, strangely, comes with Windows 11 Home in S Mode.

For the hardware on offer, this is pretty decent, especially at the low end, though the more expensive OLED display, as pretty as it is, is a big driver of the increase in price here. HP's main rival, Dell, has a new Inspiron 14 Plus that comes in at $1,299 (about £1,040 / AU$1,820), and it has more or less the same specs as the HP Pavilion Plus 14 model we reviewed.

There are some key differences, though, in that it comes with a 2240 x 1400p IPS display instead of an OLED panel and only has 512GB SSD storage. What it does have over the Pavilion Plus 14, though, is a 64WHr battery, which means that it will likely get a much longer battery life than the Pavilion Plus 14 — especially if it doesn't have an OLED panel to power — though we haven't reviewed the Inspiron 14 Plus so we cannot say for certain.

That said, the HP Pavilion Plus 14 would seem to win out on specs here, making it a pretty decent value, but as we'll get to later, the battery life is really this laptop's Achilles' heel and keeps it from competing with the best laptops on the market. While you're weighing up costs, consider how HP promo codes can help you save.

Value: 3.5 / 5

HP Pavilion Plus 14: Design

A quarter standing on its edge against the HP Pavilion Plus 14 to show the thinness of the laptop. — The HP Pavilion Plus 14 is light and thin, just one of its many design successes. (Image credit: Future)

Fantastic OLED screen
Excellent, wide keyboard
Great port selection

The chassis is lightweight but feels surprisingly sturdy for a lower-end work laptop, and reasonably has some heft to it despite the lower weight. It’s still thin and light enough to be comfortably portable in most bags. The silver color is common among even the best laptops these days but is still appealing and sleek.

Opening it up, the OLED screen really shines, giving anything displayed through it a gorgeous high-quality picture. This makes sense, since it complements the 2.8k display and even sports some nice and thin bezels that grant some roomy screen real estate.

An HP Pavilion Plus 14 on a desk — (Image credit: Future)

Its port selection is quite good, with two USB Type-C and two Type-A ports, an HDMI 2.1 port, an SD card slot, and one headset jack. The HDMI 2.1 is a pleasant surprise in particular, as normally it’s a 1.4 on work machines. The HP Pavilion Plus 14 is clearly a well-balanced machine that can handle most tasks and connect to a wide range of devices.

The keyboard of the HP Pavilion Plus 14 — The keyboard is rather comfy since the keys are well-spaced. (Image credit: Future)

It even enhances what would be an otherwise average webcam image, pairing well with the program that augments your image based on lighting. The latter is a handy little feature that lets you adjust how you look through the webcam in real-time, a feature that we didn’t know we needed until now.

The keyboard is one of our favorites so far in a work laptop, with a well-sized trackpad and wide and well-spaced out keys that make typing a breeze with barely any typos. There’s also a toggle for backlighting, another great feature for those late-night work sessions. It was a joy using it and having to switch back to normal-sized keys felt like a huge downgrade.

Design: 4 / 5

HP Pavilion Plus 14: Performance

A close up of the Intel Inside sticker on the palm rest of the HP Pavilion Plus 14 — This laptop isn't Intel Evo-certified, which is otherwise known as a red flag for battery life. (Image credit: Future)

Great for work and casual-to-light gaming
Sound quality is fine

The HP Pavilion Plus 14 is in a very weird niche, as it functions incredibly well as a work machine. It has an excellent screen that’s perfect for video calls, a great roomy keyboard and trackpad, all complemented by the powerful i7 CPU and 16 GB of RAM that supports it.

Benchmarks

Here's how the HP Pavilion Plus 14 performed in our suite of benchmark tests:

3DMark Night Raid: 14,892; Fire Strike: 4,201; Time Spy: 1,690
Cinebench R23 Multi-core: 12,430 points
GeekBench 5: 1,741 (single-core); 8,856 (multi-core)
PCMark 10 (Home Test): 5,641 points
Battery Life (TechRadar movie test): 4 hours and 34 minutes
PCMark 10 Battery Test: 5 hours and 10 minutes
Civilization VI (1080p, High): 67 fps; (1080p, Low): 22 fps

But these same features also make it well-balanced for some casual gaming, at least with lighter games. When running various benchmarks, we found that this laptop scores higher (sometimes significantly higher) than other similar laptops in its class running comparable hardware. For a dedicated work machine, the Pavilion 14 Plus clearly has the chops to game in a more-than-normal capacity for this sort of computer.

When we ran the Sid Meier's Civilization VI benchmark test, we found the game ran at an impressive 67 FPS on max settings. Playing it, the title ran incredibly smooth with no noticeable hiccups or hangs. Other casual-to-light-duty games ran just as well, making it a work laptop well-suited for play at the end of the day.

The CPU can also adjust itself to the task that needs the most attention. While we didn’t always explicitly notice the switch in performance between every single task, it did feel like every task was optimized.

The sound quality for the HP Pavilion Plus 14 is good but not great, despite the fact that it comes with dual speakers. Still, it’s quite good for the kind of laptop it is, though it doesn’t have the most complex sound. But when it comes to voice and video chat, the sound quality is more than high enough. Ventilation is a bit below average; it tends to warm up quickly but the heat doesn’t progress into an uncomfortable range.

Performance: 4.5 / 5

HP Pavilion Plus 14: Battery life

An HP Pavilion Plus 14 on a desk with a spreadsheet on its screen — That fancy OLED is a massive power-hog, as is Intel Alder Lake, so not a good matchup against a 51WHr battery if you want to work away from an outlet for more than a few hours. (Image credit: Future)

Absolutely terrible
Rival laptops in its class last much longer

This battery is the worst battery we’ve tested for a work laptop in a long time. As we said before, the HP Pavilion Plus 14 has unusually high benchmark scores compared to its competitors and even performs well with some modern games.

But it seems that this tricked the Pavilion Plus into thinking it’s a gaming laptop or something and so it spiked its own battery life in response. This battery cannot last past the four-and-a-half-hour mark in our HD movie test, and PCMark 10’s battery test showed a five hour and 10 minute result, which makes it extremely difficult to perform as a work laptop unless you keep it charged up at an outlet regularly.

This is owing to the two-fold problem of high-end hardware, like an OLED display and Intel Alder Lake Core i7, and its rather meek 51WHr battery, which is almost guaranteed to run dry in no time flat.

Sacrifices have to be made for price, size, and weight, sure. But a work laptop is supposed to last, and this one does not. Having such a poor battery life for a machine that’s meant to carry you through a work day is rather inexcusable.

Battery Life: 1 / 5