Zagg has announced a new selection of iPad keyboards: the Pro Keys with Trackpad, a case with a detachable Bluetooth keyboard; the laptop-style Rugged Book with an adjustable magnetic hinge; and the trackpad-less Pro Keys case (via 9to5Mac).
The accessories support several of Apple’s newest iPads, from the M1-enabled iPad Pro on the high-end to the entry level 10.2-inch iPad. Good alternative keyboard cases to Apple’s trackpad-equipped Magic Keyboard are mostly limited to Logitech’s Combo Mix or Brydge’s Pro Plus, so Zagg’s version is more than welcome, if a bit less sleek.
Unlike the Magic Keyboard, the Pro Keys with Trackpad has a case that wraps around your entire iPad and a detachable backlit Bluetooth keyboard that also doubles as an adjustable stand when magnetically attached. Along with the trackpad, which can be independently turned off to save battery, the case also includes a built-in protective cover for the Apple Pencil.
Based off Zagg’s photos, it seems pretty thick, but the keyboard case is almost half the price of the Magic Keyboard. The Pro Keys with Trackpad costs $149.99 for 11-inch iPad Pros and the 10.9-inch iPad Air. For the less powerful 10.2-inch iPad, it costs $139.99. There’s no version for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, unfortunately.
Zagg’s Pro Keys with Trackpad case has a detachable keyboard.Image: Zagg
Zagg’s new Rugged Book is much closer to Brydge’s laptop-style keyboard cases. It’s thick, though in this case intentionally, and Zagg claims it has 6.6 feet of drop protection. The keyboard is still a backlit Bluetooth keyboard, but attaches via an adjustable magnetic hinge that should offer more viewing angles. It’s trackpad-free in this case, but the same price as the Pro Keys with Trackpad. The Rugged Book costs $149.99 and works with both the 11-inch iPad Pro and the 10.9-inch iPad Air.
Zagg’s Rugged Book has better drop protection, but lacks a trackpad.Image: Zagg
Finally, there’s the Pro Keys case, which is the most stripped down and straightforward of the bunch. Like its name suggests, it shares a lot of similarities in design to the Pro Keys with Trackpad, just without the trackpad. Like Apple’s Smart Keyboard Folio cases, the Pro Keys case offers two main viewing angles, but since it’s technically an iPad case and a keyboard cover, you can theoretically stay protected without the keyboard attached. The Pro Keys case costs $109.99 for the 11-inch iPad Pro models and 10.9-inch iPad Air. For the 2018 to 2021 12.9-inch iPad, the Pro Keys case costs $169.99.
Zagg’s Pro Keys lacks a trackpad, but is also less expensive.Image: Zagg
If you told me you’d found an OLED laptop for just $800, I’d have warned you against refurbished computers and deep-discount closeout sales. The inky blackness and gorgeous colors of OLED have notcome cheap. Dell charges a $300 premium just for the screen. And yet Asus’s new affordable OLED laptop defies those expectations.
The new machine is called the Asus ZenBook 13 OLED, and early reviews are already suggesting it could be a slam dunk for budget buyers. While there’s no headphone jack and some are complaining about a cramped keyboard, the 2.5-pound laptop doesn’t seem to skimp on the specs. In addition to that 13-inch 1080p OLED screen (one of the first 1080p OLEDs I can recall on a laptop) with its 100-percent DCI-P3 color gamut, you can configure it with up to Intel Core i7 or AMD Ryzen 7 processors, 16GB of storage and 8GB of RAM.
The Intel model replaces these USB-C ports with visually identical Thunderbolt 4 ports instead.
Even at the $800 starting price, you get your pick of an AMD Ryzen 5 5500U or an 11th-gen Intel Core i5-1135G7 chip, a backlit keyboard, a Windows Hello ready IR camera, full-size HDMI 2.0 and USB-A ports, a pair of USB-C ports, and a microSD card slot.
There’s a few important differences between the Intel and AMD models, though, according to the company’s spec sheets:
Intel starts with a measly 256GB of storage at the $800 mark instead of 512GB for AMD
The company quotes three additional hours of battery life for the AMD system over Intel (note that both were measured at a fairly dim 150 nits of brightness) from the same 67Wh battery
With Intel, you get a pair of Thunderbolt 4 ports instead of plain ol’ USB 3.2 Type-C
AMD models only have Wi-Fi 5, while Intel ones get Wi-Fi 6
As far as I can tell, retailers like Amazon and Newegg quietly put the laptops on sale earlier this month, though the $800 AMD variant doesn’t seem to be shipping quite yet. Here’s a $900 Intel model at Amazon, an $800 AMD model at Newegg, and a whole array of the new laptops at Asus’s own store.
If you’re looking for a 2-in-1 convertible, Asus is sticking its affordable OLED screen in those too, starting at $950, though Intel appears to be your only CPU option there.
We’d heard screen manufacturers were finally going to mass produce laptop-sized OLED panels this year — perhaps Asus’ laptops are just the tip of the iceberg.
Qualcomm has announced a new 700-series chipset for mobile devices: the Snapdragon 778G 5G. It will start appearing in premium midrange phones from manufacturers including Motorola, Xiaomi, Realme, Honor, Oppo, and iQOO in the next few months, bringing with it some video capture and AI capabilities borrowed from the Snapdragon 888, the current chipset of choice for flagship Android phones. The company has also made a couple of other announcements today designed to get 5G connectivity into more tech.
The Snapdragon 778G offers three image-signal processors, or ISPs — a feature Qualcomm touted in its flagship 888 chipset, and also appears in the higher-end 780G. This makes it possible to capture photos and video from three different cameras at once. You can easily switch between different cameras’ video feeds during recording ala Samsung’s director view on the Snapdragon 888-powered S21 series.
The processor also supports cameras with staggered HDR sensors like the 50-megapixel chip in the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra for better HDR video recording. The 778G also includes some improvements for more GPU-efficient mobile gaming, and things like better noise suppression and camera experiences on video calls. Both mmWave and sub-6GHz 5G are supported, as well as Wi-Fi 6.
In “more 5G in more places” news, Qualcomm is also making M.2 reference designs available for current OEM customers of its X65 and X62 5G modems. This makes it easier for laptop, desktop, gaming, and IoT manufacturers to incorporate 5G connectivity into their products. The company is also debuting a new X65 5G modem, which Qualcomm says is more energy efficient and offers wider support of mmWave frequencies. It will start appearing in commercial mobile devices later this year, the company says.
(Pocket-lint) – A lot has happened in the world since the launch of the iPad Pro 12.9-inch in 2020, yet the need for us to work on the go is still an key factor for many people.
Apple’s 2021 iPad Pro looks to up the ante once again, bringing a new processor, a new screen, 5G connectivity, as well as improvements to the camera and elsewhere.
So, is this the year that the Apple iPad Pro will finally – yes finally – let you ditch the laptop altogether? We’ve been using the iPad Pro 2021 with M1 processor to find out.
Design gets heavier
Same design as 2020 model
Finishes: Silver or Space Grey
Dimensions: 281 x 215 x 6.4mm
Weight: 682g (Wi-Fi), 685g (5G)
Having launched previously with a much squarer design, which has since been adopted by the iPhone, the iPad Pro keeps an almost identical design to its previous offering.
For 2021 the 12.9-inch model is ever so slightly thicker than previous versions, thanks to new Mini LED screen technology, but it will still fit your previous cases (albeit snugly), including the Apple Magic Keyboard that launched in 2020.
Pocket-lint
That extra thickness also means it’s a bit heavier, with around 40g extra. While that’s not hugely noticeable over the previous version, it does mean that the Pro is getting heavier and heavier – which is something to bear in mind.
To put it in perspective, though, the 2021 Pro is actually the same weight as the original iPad from way back in 2010. And while no one will begrudge that this iPad is considerably more powerful, it’s interesting that all that tech, and batteries to power it, means that the days of a thin-and-light iPad have come to an end – well, certainly at the top-end of this market.
Why’s that important? Because it is no longer a slip-in-your-bag-and-not-notice-it device any more. Add in the Magic Keyboard – which is another 710g – and you’ve got a device that’s 1.395kg. That’s roughly the same as the company’s M1 13-inch MacBook Pro or many other Windows-based laptops – indeed it’s actually not too difficult to find sub-1kg laptops.
Display gets brighter
12.9-inch ‘Liquid Retina XDR’ Mini LED display
2732 x 2048 resolution (264ppi)
1600-nit peak brightness
120Hz refresh rate
The 2021 iPad Pro gets an updated display technology – called Mini LED – which makes it considerably brighter than older models. It’s a relatively new panel technology that’s only just making its way into the latest TVs.
What is Mini LED? The display technology explained
In the case of this 12.9-inch model that means over 10,000 LEDs are positioned behind the screen to create, at times, a much brighter display that is also more nuanced to what is happening on the screen.
Pocket-lint
The enhanced technology is instantly noticeable. The screen is physically brighter for starters, and has the ability to increase that brightness further depending on what is required. Previously the peak brightness was 600 nits, now that can go up to 1600 nits for those high dynamic range (HDR) moments.
While the average user will benefit from watching high-resolution content from their favourite streaming service – even the end credits of a movie look stunning – creatives will certainly enjoy the ability to see all that extra detail in their images or video, especially if they are working within the realms of HDR or Dolby Vision.
Combine that with the Pro’s usual array of screen tech – such as P3 wide colour gamut, ProMotion (120Hz refresh rate), and True Tone – and you won’t find much to complain about when it comes to the screen.
What is Apple’s True Tone display?
Front-facing camera gets more intelligent
Improved front-facing camera: 12-megapixel, 122-degree field of view
New ‘Center Stage’ technology (for subject tracking)
If you’re like us, you’ll have spent a lot of time in 2020 on video calls talking to colleagues, friends, and family. So for 2021, the iPad Pro celebrates video calling by adding a new front-facing TrueDepth Camera.
It’s unique to the iPad (at launch anyway – we suspect that will change in the future) and for the most part you won’t notice that it’s ultra-wide. That’s because of a new feature Apple has introduced specifically for the iPad Pro: Center Stage.
Pocket-lint
No doubt inspired by devices like the Facebook Portal and Amazon Echo Show 10, the idea is that the front-facing camera can now follow you as you move about so you’re always “centre stage”.
By cropping into the captured image to deliver the same image crop iPad users are used to, nothing physically moves within the iPad itself. Instead Applehas opted to emulate that movement by digitally cropping in on the image as it follows you.
The feature, which works just as well in Apple FaceTime as it does in Zoom and other video calling apps, can be fun, but it can become jarring.
Anything with a head and shoulders is automatically picked up and the frame will resize to fit them in. Add more people and the feature zooms out to make sure everyone is in the frame. That’s fantastic for a family catch-ups with the kids trying to jostle around the iPad Pro screen, or for ensuring you’re fully in the shot.
The 122-degree viewpoint is wide enough to catch most of you, wide enough to track you around the room, and wide enough to still move if you’ve stepped some distance from the camera (we got to around 5 metres away).
Where things get tricky is if you move around when using it and the iPad Pro is stationary on the desk. Not because it doesn’t follow you, but because of the fluidity to the follow. You move and the camera slowly moves with you.
Pocket-lint
The resulting affect is as if Apple has applied a Ken Burns effect to dramatise your video call. Or, as we found when being fairly close to the camera, it looks a bit like being on a boat and bobbing up and down with the tide. It can, at times, be very nauseating.
Best tablet 2021: Top tablets to buy today
By Britta O’Boyle
·
However, go hands-free and the technology helps stabilise your movement – making it a much better experience as the tracking is kept to a minimum and less pronounced.
It’s probably why business calls from our desk garnered plenty of complaints, but family calls resulted in much more positive feedback with the grandparents in awe of the technology in action, and a chance to see everyone for the first time without us having to stand miles away from the screen.
Performance: Everything is faster
Apple M1 processor, 8GB/16GB RAM
Options for 128GB to 2TB storage
Apple Pencil support (2nd Gen)
LiDAR sensor on back
Thunderbolt / USB4
With every iteration the iPad Pro gets a faster processor, normally on par with the iPhone. This year, rather than trying to keep pace with the iPhone, the iPad keeps pace with the Mac.
Pocket-lint
Because now you’ll find Apple’s new M1 processor instead of an upgraded iPhone processor powering the pro tablet. Yes, the same chip that powers the MacBook Air or iMac or MacBook Pro now powers the 2021 iPad Pro. We’ll let that sink in for a moment.
According to Apple that results in a 50 per cent boost in performance without compromising the battery – so you’ll still get around 10 hours per charge. Although, just like a Mac, the battery life widely varies in performance depending on what you do and how bright that screen is.
Also just like a Mac, there are now RAM options for the first time on the iPad Pro, all the way up to 16GB – although that option is restricted to the 1TB or 2TB storage options (you guessed it, that means pricey pricey), whereas it’s 8GB RAM for the 128GB, 256GB, or 512GB storage capacities (and more reasonable price points).
Pocket-lint
The M1 processing power means the iPad Pro whizzes along with any various tasks that you’ll throw at it, just in the same way we find apps on the M1 MacBook Pro perform.
Whether that’s photo editing in Adobe Lightroom, drawing in Procreate, or designing in Affinity Designer, we had no problem loading, importing, editing, or saving large files on any of the ‘pro’ apps we use.
Working with large sound and video files proved little stress to the new 2021 iPad Pro either, while power hungry games like Asphalt 9, Call of Duty, or NBA2K21 loaded almost instantly – and, yes, noticeably faster than on previous iPad Pro models.
And if the M1 isn’t enough to keep that workflow process happy, the iPad Pro 12.9-inch now also comes in a 5G flavour for those who want speedy connectivity on the go. An afternoon hot-spotting via an EE SIM proved just as productive as being on the Wi-Fi in the home office.
Pocket-lint
Elsewhere there’s an improved Thunderbolt / USB4 port for transferring files to and from the device even faster – it’s up to 40Gbps, whereas previously it was USB-C and therefore 10Gbps.
You still get the dual camera and LiDAR sensor setup on the back for taking pictures, video, or playing with AR too. It’s the same 12-megapixel main and 10-megapixel wider-angle as on the previous generation.
iPadOS needs to offer more
Software: iPadOS 14.5
Given that the iPad Pro has the same technical power of a MacBook Air but running iPadOS, it can at times feel a little underwhelming in terms of what you can do – especially given the sheer power under the hood.
Apple broke iPadOS away from iOS a number of years ago to be able to offer things like file transfer and track support. But now with the more powerful innards it feels like it needs to do more than just offer a series of app icons on the Home Screen.
Pocket-lint
Of course Apple watchers will know that we’re due an announcement for iPadOS 15 at WWDC in June 2021, so we’re hoping that a greater emphasis on multi-tasking, a more useful Home Screen option, and other features will come to the experience later this year. That could be a game-changer.
It’s not that the iPad Pro 2021 isn’t capable – far from it – it’s just at we can feel that there’s something much bigger coming that’s just around the corner to help capitalise on that new found power within.
Verdict
When Steve Jobs first revealed the iPad back in 2010 it was all about casual reading and surfing from the sofa, about access to apps to empower, entertain, and educate us.
More than a decade on and the 2021 iPad Pro still embraces those principles. But for today’s creative types who want more than just basic typing and surfing it’s a more empowering experience – largely thanks to the M1 processor – bringing greater opportunity for both work and play.
For all intents and purposes the 2021 iPad Pro 12.9-inch is like a touchscreen-enabled MacBook Pro with 5G connectivity that runs iPadOS instead of macOS. It’s the closest to a laptop-replacement that Apple has ever taken the iPad.
Yet the iPad Pro is still in transition. It doesn’t completely replace the laptop just yet, because Apple hasn’t quite cracked the software. So if that’s what you’re after then let’s hope iPadOS 15 changes that later in 2021.
Also consider
Pocket-lint
iPad Air (2020)
The ‘non-pro’ iPad will be good enough for many. So unless you want the higher storage, ProMotion higher refresh rate, or dual cameras, you’re just as well getting the iPad Air as the iPad Pro 11.
The HP Elite Folio is a long-lasting, quiet laptop/tablet combo, but it offers a middling performance for a high price.
For
+ Versatile design
+ Runs very cool and quiet
+ 3:2 Display
+ Full-sized stylus charges in keyboard
+ Long battery life
Against
– Display could be brighter
– Windows on Arm has app compatibility issues
– Middling performance
– Few ports
– Pricey
There are a few laptops that fall into what I call an “executive notebook.” These are high-end, sometimes overly designed business laptops that you rarely see the rank-and-file office worker use. The new HP Elite Folio ($1,747.20 to start, $2,063.36 as tested) seems destined, with its vegan leather exterior and high price tag, for the C-suite.
HP has gone with Windows on Arm here, which means that the laptop runs quiet and has excellent battery life. But even as Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors get more powerful and Windows on Arm slowly improves, there are still compatibility and performance sacrifices, so it’s not always fitting for the
best ultrabooks
.
But for those who rely on a stylus for writing on-screen or want a versatile form factor for various situations, you may be able to overlook that as long as you don’t use compute-heavy software. And if you value style, of course.
Design of HP Elite Folio
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HP’s new Folio means business. Or at least, it looks like it. The HP Elite Folio is a new, more professional take
on a previous design
. This laptop isn’t clad in metal, but rather polyurethane vinyl — or, as you might call it, vegan leather. Or as I call it, “
pleather
.” Unlike the old
Spectre x360 13
, which used real leather and came in brown, this is a more subdued black.
The result is a notebook that looks a bit like a briefcase, minus the handle, of course. If it didn’t have an HP logo on the lid under some stitching, I’d expect to see an intern carrying their resume in it. There’s no place to put your thumb to easily open the laptop, so I typically found myself requiring two hands to do so, which was a pain.
With the laptop open, it looks more traditional. There’s a 13.5-inch, 1920 x 1280 display in a 3:2 aspect ratio with a surprisingly thick bezel on the top. The deck features a backlit keyboard and also includes a spot to store and charge the included HP Slim Pen. This is a page straight out of the playbook Microsoft used with the
Surface Pro X
.
But the Surface Pro X is a true 2-in-1 detachable, and the Elite Folio has a different trick up its sleeve. The screen is on a hinge, and it can be brought forward into an easel mode that covers the keyboard but leaves the touchpad clear. You can also slide it further forward to be a tablet. (You could, if you wanted, also flip the screen upside down on the back of the device and use the display to watch videos or give presentations. This isn’t listed among HP’s options, but it works.)
The laptop looks like leather, but it doesn’t feel like it. It’s soft to the touch but definitely has a plasticky feel. For those wondering, yes, I did smell the laptop. While it pulls off a leather look, it can’t match the real thing’s fragrance.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
I can’t speak to how well this will hold up over months and years of use. In the immediate sense, it did manage to pick up minor scuffs or schmutz on my desk, but I could wipe it off with a damp cloth.
Port selection is extremely minimal, with a USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C port on either side of the laptop and a 3.5mm headphone jack on the right side.
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HP’s notebook is 2.92 pounds and measures 11.75 x 9.03 x 0.63 inches. That’s similar to the Lenovo Flex 5G (2.9 pounds, 12.7 x 8.5 x 0.6 inches), a convertible 2-in-1. The Microsoft Surface Pro X is 2.4 pounds (with the keyboard attached) and 11.3 x 8.2 x 0.3 inches. An Intel-based clamshell, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano, is 2 pounds and 12.7 x 8.5 x 0.6 inches.
HP Elite Folio Specifications
CPU
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2
Graphics
Qualcomm Adreno 690 (integrated)
Memory
16GB LPDDR4-4266 SDRAM
Storage
512GB PCIe NVMe SSD
Display
13.5-inch, 1920 x 1280 touchscreen
Networking
Qualcomm QCA639X Wi-Fi 6 Dual Band and Bluetooth 5, Qualcomm Snapdragon X20 LTE Cat 16
Ports
2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C, 3.5mm headphone jack, nano SIM card slot
Camera
720p IR
Battery
46 WHr
Power Adapter
65 W
Operating System
Windows 10 Pro
Dimensions(WxDxH)
11.75 x 9.03 x 0.63 inches / 298.45 x 229.36 x 16 mm
Weight
2.92 pounds / 1.32 kg
Price (as configured)
$1,998.72
Windows 10 on Arm
The HP Elite Folio uses the latest Windows on Arm platform, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2. That comes with its benefits (long battery life, quiet), but in terms of performance and app compatibility, it’s certainly lacking.
To be clear, that’s the case on all Windows on Arm laptops at the moment. Apple has used Arm too on its most recent laptops with its
M1
chips, with far greater success.
Windows on Arm can run 32-bit apps, but not 64-bit apps. That functionality is coming but is currently limited to Windows Insider builds, which you’re unlikely to see in a business environment. An increasing number of apps are running natively on Windows on Arm, including Office, browsers like Edge and Firefox, and some of Adobe’s, but the rest require emulation. Others that run natively include the popular media player VLC, Netflix, Twitter, Skype, and Windows Terminal.
Perhaps the most reliable place to get apps that work on the processor, native or not, is through the Windows store, which largely filters apps that don’t work with Arm.
Productivity Performance of HP Elite Folio
Here, we’re comparing the Folio, which has an 8cx Gen 2, with two other Arm laptops, the Lenovo Flex 5G with the last-gen Snapdragon, and the Microsoft Surface Pro X with SQ1, Microsoft’s entry-level offering. We also tossed the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano in the mix for a business notebook using an x86 platform, namely Intel’s 11th Gen processors.
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On Geekbench 5, which measures overall system performance, the HP Elite Folio notched a single-core score of 792 and a dual-core score of 3,115. The Lenovo Flex 5G’s 729/2,923 suggest the newer chip has its advantage in multi-core workloads, though this test is run through emulation, which has to be kept in mind. The Surface Pro X isn’t in this test, as we were still running Geekbench 4 when we tested it. The ThinkPad X1 Nano’s scores were 1,473/5,155, with the test running natively.
The Elite Folio transferred 25GB of files at 666.5 MBps, faster than both the Flex 5G and ThinkPad X1 Nano. The Surface Pro X was run on an older, 5GB version of the test, and that was the slowest of the batch.
Our Handbrake test currently doesn’t run on Arm chips, though it is starting to be included in early “nightly” builds. Our Cinebench R23 stress test is also incompatible with Arm. These will change when 64-bit support becomes a finalized part of Windows 10.
Display on HP Elite Folio
I’m glad that HP went with a 3:2 display on the Elite Folio. Simply put, 3:2 is the best aspect ratio for productivity laptop displays because the extra height lets you see more content on your screen at once. This 13.5-inch touchscreen has a resolution of 1920 x 1280.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
I found the laptop to be bright enough for productivity, but when you switch to multimedia, it’s a mixed bag. In the trailer for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, the color red popped in car paint, lights and a number of outfits. But a series of dim scenes in a montage made me wish I could turn up the brightness (though the dimness made for great contrast in a scene with purple backlighting).
HP’s screen covers 70.7% of the
DCI-P3
color gamut, which is just about in line with the Surface Pro X and ThinkPad X1 Nano. The Lenovo Flex 5G was more vivid at 81.4%
The Folio was the dimmest of the bunch with an average of 390 nits. The Surface Pro X was the brightest, measuring 448 nits.
Keyboard, Touchpad and Stylus on HP Elite Folio
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HP has implemented a keyboard with 1.3mm of travel into this small device. I didn’t have any issues with travel, but when I typed, I felt that the keys were a bit too stiff. It didn’t stop me from typing quickly; I hit 110 words per minute on the 10fastfingers.com typing test. But accuracy suffered slightly.
The 4.2 x 2.6-inch touchpad uses Windows precision drivers, and with a smooth, metal surface, I found it responsive and easy to glide my fingers against. Simple navigation and more complex gestures worked on the first try. It clicks a bit louder than some other touchpads, but I can get over that.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
HP’s Slim Pen lives in a dock above the keyboard, which also keeps it charged. It’s long and flat, more like a carpenter’s pencil than your standard writing instrument. It has a rocker on the side, which can be unwieldy because of how thin the buttons are. The button on the top, however, is easy to access. That comes at the expense of using it as an eraser like the Surface Pen, however.
I found that the Elite Folio’s screen offered solid palm rejection. The Pen uses Wacom drivers and offers 4,096 degrees of pressure sensitivity. HP claims it fast charges in 30 minutes, though in my use, it’s home in the laptop meant it was always topped off.
Audio on HP Elite Folio
HP’s partnership with Bang & Olufsen on its speakers continues to bear fruit. While there’s no software to tune the speakers yourself, they sound decent considering how thin this device is.
For instance, when I listened to Chvrches’ “He Said She Said,” the crashing drums, synths melodies and vocals were loud, clear and crisp. There was, however, a distinct lack of bass, which is a problem on many laptops.
One downside, however, is that the speakers vibrate a lot, and I could feel it under my hands on the touchpad and keyboard. While this isn’t unique to this laptop, it was far more distracting on the Folio than other devices.
Upgradeability of HP Elite Folio
In theory, the HP Elite Folio is upgradeable. HP has a video showing the process:
This is aimed at service technicians, and for good reason. The design means you have to do things in a weird order, like removing the pen slot from the keyboard before opening the
chassis
.
The RAM is soldered to the motherboard, but the SSD is upgradeable. The only rub there is that to actually change out the storage, you have to remove the entire thermal system. Some enthusiasts may be comfortable with that, but for most people, that’s a step too far.
Battery Life
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The Elite Folio’s Arm processor excels in the one place you would expect it: battery life. On our test, which involves browsing the web, running OpenGL tests and streaming video over Wi-Fi, all at 150 nits, the Folio lasted for 15 hours and 21 minutes. It was outclassed only by the Lenovo Flex 5G, using a last-gen Snapdragon processor, which ran for 17:30.
Microsoft’s Surface Pro X with the SQ1 ran for 9:30, while the Intel-based ThinkPad X1 Nano lasted for 12 hours flat.
Heat on HP Elite Folio
Because we couldn’t run our Cinebench R23 workload due to compatibility issues, we took the HP Elite Folio’s skin temperatures following 15 minutes of streaming video from YouTube. The fanless system was quiet and kept very cool.
The center of the keyboard, between the G and H keys, measured 27.8 degrees Celsius (82.04 degrees Fahrenheit). The touchpad was cooler at 26 degrees Celsius (78.8 degrees Fahrenheit).
The hottest point on the bottom of the laptop measured 30.3 degrees Celsius.
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A
720p
webcam in an executive notebook after more than a year of white-collar workers have been doing their jobs from home? Excuse me?
Stills and trial video from my desk, even in good lighting, were grainy. And colors, like a blue shirt I was wearing, were overly dark.
There is a physical webcam privacy switch, which covers the camera but doesn’t cut power to the hardware like some other HP laptops. It’s very small, and you need to use your fingernail to move it in either direction.
There are also IR sensors to log in to Windows 10 with facial recognition. This worked well, with the exception that you need both the cameras and the IR sensor for this to work. If you close the privacy cover, you can’t use it to log in. That’s a choice you have to make between privacy and convenience.
HP has limited the amount of software it includes on this laptop, which is a benefit, especially on an enterprise laptop. There are no crappy antivirus software trials or ports of phone games.
The two big pieces of software are HP Pen Settings, which lets you pair the included stylus and customize its functionality; and HP QuickDrop, which lets you send files and photos across your laptop and smartphone.
HP Pen Settings has a number of clever options, including assigning commands that would be useful to go through slides or play media while giving presentations. There’s also a way to get a virtual dial on the screen when holding a button down.
While this laptop has Microsoft Office preinstalled, at least it doesn’t include links to sponsored Microsoft Store applications.
HP sells the Elite Folio with a 1-year warranty. It can be boosted to three years for an extra $75.
As of this writing, HP is selling the Elite Folio in both a ready-to-ship configuration and customizable configurations.
The quick-ship one is $1,889 with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2, 16GB of RAM and 256GB SSD, as well as an LTE modem.
We reviewed it with 16GB of RAM, a 512GB storage and an LTE modem. That runs for $2,063.36.
If you want a 1,000-nit display with HP’s Sure View privacy, that’s an extra $169. A 4G modem is $201, while a 5G modem is $444.
The base model, with Windows 10 Home instead of Pro, 8GB of RAM, 128GB SSD and no mobile connection is $1,747.20.
Prices on the Folio seem to be fluctuating on HP’s website, so they may vary after this article was published.
Bottom Line
The HP Elite Folio review has a versatile design and, if you’re into the office chair aesthetic, a fake leather exterior that fits in any office.
HP’s Slim Pen is nice, and the fact that it is full-sized and can still charge by sitting in the system is a big plus for anyone who does a lot of writing on screen. The different screen modes will also be helpful for people who use touch screens a lot.
But while relying on the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 means long battery life and quiet operation, there are a series of small sacrifices that are made, largely based on Windows on Arm and app compatibility. Some apps work, some are emulated and 64-bit apps, while coming, aren’t ready for prime time right now, without downloading a beta version of the OS. These aren’t problems unique to the Elite Folio — they’re the same on the Lenovo Flex 5G and the Microsoft Surface Pro X.
If the chassis, touch screen and functionality allowed by the display-on-a-hinge design will make your job easier, this is worth considering. But for many, an x86 business notebook, like the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano with an Intel processor, can run more software, do it faster, and is cheaper in some configurations.
Adafruit has a lot of love for Raspberry Pi RP2040 SoC. Adafruit are partners in the RP2040, and have already released a slew of boards based on the powerful SoC. For the latest prototype, presented via Twitter we see Adafruit founder Limor “Lady Ada” Fried demonstrate the QT 2040 Trinkey, a board that moves away from the Feather, ItsyBitsy and QT Py form factors and place the RP2040 into a USB key sized device that offers a powerful and quick means to uses sensors and components via your laptop / desktop computer.
Trinkey RP2040 with QT connectorWe’ve wanted to have something that plugs into a USB A port and provides a QT port for a while. But since we want it to support any and all QT boards, we need more RAM and storage than the SAMD21 can provide. pic.twitter.com/My7p6ilshUMay 19, 2021
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Adafruit’s QT 2040 Trinkey is a “portmanteau”, a blending of “trinket” and “USB key” that sees the RP2040 housed on a USB key but with none of the GPIO broken out for general use. We have the same dual core Arm Cortex M0+ running at upto 133 MHz, 264KB of SRAM and a 8MB QSPI flash.
The only inputs present on the board are two buttons for BOOTSEL, used to drop the board into firmware mode and a reset button. The BOOTSEL button pulls a double duty as a user programmable button, something that Pimoroni introduced with the Tiny 2040.
For outputs we have two options, the obligatory WS2812B NeoPixel and a Stemma QT connector compatible with Adafruit’s Stemma QT range of add-ons, Pimoroni’s Breakout Garden (some breakouts come with a connection, older breakouts need an adaptor), and SparkFun’s Qwiic components. Components can be chained together to create complex projects as they use the I2C protocol for communication that features individual addresses for devices in the chain.
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The QT 2040 Trinkey has the same basic layout as a Stemma QT components, such as the BME680 used in the video, can be mounted on top of the QT 2040 Trinkey for a neat form factor.
How much and when can we expect them? As this is still a prototype we can expect to wait around a month and pay something between the price of a QT Py RP2040 ($4) and the ItsyBitsy RP2040 ($10).
The Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5 is so good that it makes us wonder why Dell didn’t team up with AMD on a laptop sooner.
For
+ Strong gaming performance
+ Excellent productivity performance
+ Unique chassis
+ Not too costly for it power
Against
– Internals run hot
– Middling audio
– Bad webcam
It’s been 14 years since Alienware’s used an AMD CPU in one of its laptops, but AMD’s recent Ryzen processors have proven to be powerhouses that have generated a strong gamer fanbase. It also doesn’t hurt that AMD-based laptops have frequently undercut Intel in price. Point being, times have changed and now Team Red can easily compete with the best gaming laptops that Intel has to offer.
So it makes sense that Alienware’s finally been granted permission to board Dell’s UFO. And with the Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5, it’s getting a first class treatment.
Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5 Specifications
CPU
AMD Ryzen 7 5800H
Graphics
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 6GB GDDR6, 1,702 MHz Boost Clock, 125 W Total Graphics Power
Memory
16GB DDR4-3200
Storage
512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD
Display
15.6 inch, 1920 x 1080, 165Hz, IPS
Networking
802.11ax Killer Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2
Ports
USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 x 3, HDMI 2.1, USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 x 1 (DisplayPort), RJ-45 Ethernet, 3.5mm combination headphone/microphone port
Camera
720p
Battery
86 WHr
Power Adapter
240W
Operating System
Windows 10 Home
Dimensions(WxDxH)
14.02 x 10.73 x 0.9 inches (356.2 x 275.2 x 22.85 mm)
Weight
5.34 pounds (2.42 kg)
Price (as configured)
$1,649
Design of the Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5
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Unlike other recent Alienware laptops, the m15 R5 Ryzen Edition only comes in black. The “lunar light” white isn’t an option here. Still, it’s a bold design that puts the emphasis on the laptop’s build quality rather than on decoration, and it pays off. The m15 R5 feels sturdy in the hand and its smooth edges give it a unique premium flare. It’s not too plain, since lighting options for the Alienware logo on the lid plus a circular LED strip along the back rim add a touch of flair. On that note, the stylized “15” on the lid is stylish, though it can look a bit much like a “13” from the wrong angle.
Hexagonal vents that sit above the keyboard and along the back also give the m15 R5 a bit of functional decoration and help make up for the small and well hidden side vents. The keyboard on this model has four-zone RGB, but it can be a little dim in well-lit areas.
This laptop veers on the large and heavy end for systems with an RTX 3060. At 14.02 x 10.73 x 0.9 inches large and 5.34 pounds heavy, it’s generally bulkier than the Asus TUF Dash F15 we reviewed, which has a mobile RTX 3070 and is 14.17 x 9.92 x 0.78 inches large and weighs 4.41 pounds. The Acer Predator Triton 300 SE, which manages to fit a mobile RTX 3060 into a 14 inch device, is also especially impressive next to the m15 R5. Granted, both of those use lower-power processors designed for thinner machines. Specifically, the Acer is 12.7 x 8.97 x .70 inches large and weighs 3.75 pounds.
The Alienware m15 R4, which has a 10th gen 45W Intel Core i7 processor and an RTX 3070, is 14.19 x 10.86 x 0.78 inches large and weighs 5.25 pounds. That leaves it not as bulky as the m15 Ryzen Edition R5, but about as heavy.
Port selection is varied, although distribution differs from my usual preferences. The left side of the laptop only has the Ethernet port and the 3.5mm headphone/microphone jack, which is a shame as that’s where I typically like to connect my mouse. The back of the laptop has a few more connections, including the DC-in, an HDMI 2.1 port, a USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A port and a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port that also supports DisplayPort. The right side of the laptop has two additional USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports.
Gaming Performance on the Alienware M15 Ryzen Edition R5
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Our review configuration of the Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5 came equipped with an 8-core, 16-thread Ryzen R7 5800H CPU and an RTX 3060 laptop GPU. It’s the first time we’ve tested a 45W CPU with an RTX 3060 and, to that end, we’ve decided to compare it to one 35W laptop with an RTX 3070 CPU, the Asus TUF Dash F15 with an Intel Core i7-11370H, and one 35W laptop with an RTX 3060 GPU, the Acer Predator Triton 300 SE with an Intel Core i7-11375H. We’ve also thrown the Alienware m15 R4 into the mix, which has a 45W 10th gen Intel CPU and an admittedly more powerful RTX 3070, plus a significantly higher price tag than any other competitor even on its cheapest configuration (the thing starts at $2,149).
I played Control on the Alienware laptop for a half hour to get a personal feel for gaming on the system. I tended to fall between 60 – 70 fps at high settings throughout, and turning ray tracing on using its high preset dropped that to 30 – 40 fps. The fans are certainly noticeable but aren’t ear-splitting, and the laptop neither got hot-to-the-touch nor did it spray hot air on my hands.
In Shadow of the Tomb Raider’s benchmark running at highest settings, the m15 Ryzen Edition R5’s CPU seemed to do it a favor, as its 73 fps average only barely fell behind the m15 R4’s 77 fps average. The Acer laptop was next in line with 61 fps, while the Asus laptop was significantly behind all other options at 54 fps.
Scores were a bit more even in Far Cry: New Dawn’s benchmark running at ultra settings. While the m15 R4 hit 91 fps, everything else was in the 70s. The m15 Ryzen Edition R5 had an average of 79 fps, while the Asus scored 74 fps and the Acer reached 73 fps.
The m15 Ryzen Edition R5 fell to third place in the Grand Theft Auto V benchmark running at very high settings, where it hit an 82 fps average and the Asus laptop achieved an 87 fps average. The Acer laptop was significantly behind at 72 fps, while the m15 R4 was significantly ahead at 108 fps.
Red Dead Redemption 2’s benchmark running at medium settings saw the m15 Ryzen Edition R5 once again stay in third place, though by a more significant margin this time. The R5 achieved a 53 fps average, while the Asus led with 61 fps score. The Acer was once again behind at 48 fps, while the m15 R4 stayed ahead at 69 fps.
We also ran the Alienware M15 R5 Ryzen Edition through the Metro Exodus RTX benchmark 15 times in a row to test how well it holds up to a sustained heavy load. During this benchmark, it hit an average 56 fps. The CPU ran at an average 3.63-GHz clock speed while the GPU ran at an average clock speed of 1.82 GHz. The CPU’s average temperature was 90.36 degrees Celsius (194.65 degrees Fahrenheit) and the GPU’s average temperature was 82.02 degrees Celsius (179.64 degrees Fahrenheit).
Productivity Performance for the Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5
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While Alienware is a gaming brand, the use of a 45W AMD chip does open the Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5 up to high productivity potential.
On Geekbench 5, which is a synthetic test for tracking general PC performance, the m15 Ryzen Edition R5 hit 1,427 points on single-core tests and 7,288 points on multi-core tests. While its single core score was on the lower end when compared to the Asus TUF Dash F15’s 1,576 points and the Acer Predator Triton 300 SE’s 1,483 points, the Alienware blew those laptops away on multi-core scores. The Asus’ multi-core score was 5,185, while the Acer’s multi-core score was 5,234.
The Alienware m15 R4 was a bit more even with its AMD cousin, scoring 1,209 on single-core Geekbench 5 tests and 7,636 on the program’s multi-core benchmarks.
Unfortunately, the m15 Ryzen Edition R5 couldn’t maintain that momentum for our 25GB file transfer benchmark. Here, it transferred files at a 874.14 MBps speed, while the Asus hit 1,052.03 MBps and the Acer reached 993.13 MBps. The m15 R5 hit speeds of 1137.34 MBps.
The m15 Ryzen Edition R5 was the fastest contender in our Handbrake video encoding test, though, where we track how long it takes a computer to transcode a video down from 4K to FHD. The m15 Ryzen Edition R5 completed this task in 7:05, while the Asus took 10:41 and the Acer was even slower at 11:36. The m15 R5 almost caught up to its AMD cousin with a time of 7:07.
Display for the Alienware M15 R5 Ryzen Edition
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Our configuration for the Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5 came with a 15.6 inch 1920 x 1080 IPS display with a 165Hz refresh rate. While it boasted impressive gaming performance and strong benchmark results, it still proved problematic for viewing content.
I watched the trailers for Nomandland and Black Widow on the m15 Ryzen Edition R5, where I found the blacks to be shallow and the viewing angles to be restrictive. In my office during the daytime, I couldn’t easily see the screen’s picture unless I was sitting directly in front of it. Turning my lights off and closing my curtain only extended viewing angles to about 30 degrees. Glare also proved to be an issue in the light, although turning lights off did fix this problem.
Colors were bright enough to pop occasionally but not consistently, with bolder tones like reds and whites holding up better than more subdued ones. Here, Black Widow came across a bit more vividly than the naturalistic style of Nomadland, so this screen might be better suited for more colorful, heavily produced films.
Our testing put the m15 Ryzen Edition R4’s color range above its closest competitors, the Asus TUF Dash F15 and Acer Predator Triton 300 SE, though not by much. With an 87.3 DCI-P3 color gamut, it’s only slightly ahead of the Asus’ 80.6% DCI-P3 score. The TUF Dash F15 had a starker difference, with a 78.5% DCI-P3 color gamut.
Our brightness testing saw the Alienware pull a more solid lead. With an average of 328 nits, it easily surpassed the Acer’s 292 nits and the Asus’ 265 nits.
The Alienware m15 R4 blew all of these systems out of the water, although the OLED screen our configuration had makes the comparison more than a bit unfair. Its DCI-P3 gamut registered at 150% while its average brightness was 460.2 nits.
To test the m15 Ryzen Edition R5’’s 165Hz screen, I also played Overwatch on it. Here, I had a much more pleasant experience than I did when watching movie trailers. The game’s bright colors appeared quite vivid and the fast refresh rate was perfectly able to keep up with the 165 fps I was hitting on Ultra settings.
Keyboard and Touchpad on the Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5
The Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5 configuration we received has a 4-zone RGB membrane keyboard, though other configurations do offer mechanical switches made in collaboration with Cherry. You can currently get that upgrade for an additional $98.
The membrane nature of this keyboard didn’t mean it wasn’t impressive, though. Keys have a noticeable resistance when pressed and 1.7mm of key travel gives you plenty of tactile feedback. I consistently scored around 83 words per minute on the 10fastfingers.com typing test, which is impressive as my average is usually around 75 wpm.
In an unusual choice, the Alienware’s audio control keys sit on the keyboard’s furthest right row rather than being mapped to the Fn row as secondary functions. Instead, the Page Up and Page Down keys that would normally be found there are secondary functions on the arrow keys.
The 4.1 x 2.4-inch touchpad doesn’t fare as well. While it has precision drivers and is perfectly smooth when scrolling with one finger, I felt too much friction when using multi-touch gestures to pull them off comfortably or consistently. For instance, when trying to switch apps with a three-fingered swipe, I would frequently accidentally pinch zoom instead.
Audio on the Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5
The Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5 has two bottom firing speakers that are loud with surprisingly decent bass, but tend to get tinny on higher notes.
I tested the m15 Ryzen Edition R5’s audio by listening to Save Your Tears by The Weeknd, which easily filled up my whole two bedroom apartment with sound. I was also surprised to be able to hear the strum of the song’s bass guitar, as it’s not uncommon for other laptops to either cut it out, make it quiet, or give it a more synth-like quality. Unfortunately, higher notes suffered from tinniness and echo.
Upgradeability of the Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5
The Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5 is easy to open and has plenty of user customizability. Just unscrew the four screws closest to the back of the laptop, then loosen the four screws on the front (we used a PH0 Phillips Head bit).
Gently pry the case off, and you’ll see the networking card, two swappable DIMMs of RAM, the M.2 SSD and a second, open M.2 SSD slot (if you don’t buy the laptop with dual SSDs).
The only tradeoff here is that the SSDs are in a smaller, less common M.2 2230 form factor (most are 2280) , so you’ll probably need to buy a specialized drive for this laptop.
Battery Life on the Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5
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The Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5 is a power hog, with half the non-gaming battery life of the RTX 3060 and RTX 3070 35W laptops we tested it against. This shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, since it also has a 45W CPU, but don’t expect to be able to spend too much time away from an outlet.
In our non-gaming battery test, which continually streams video, browses the web and runs OpenGL tests over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness, the M15 Ryzen Edition R5 held on for 3:29. That’s about 3 hours less time than we got out of both the Asus TUF Dash F15, which had a 6:32 battery life, and the Acer Predator Triton 300 SE, which lasted for 6:40.
The Alienware m15 R5, with its 45W Intel chip, also had a shorter battery life than our 35W laptops, though it was slightly longer than the m15 Ryzen Edition R5’s. It lasted 4:01 on our non-gaming test.
Heat on the Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5
The Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5’s surface temperature was impressively cool during non-gaming use but could get toasty in select areas during our gaming benchmarks. For our tests, we measured its temperature both after 15 minutes of streaming video and during the sixth consecutive run of the Metro: Exodus extreme benchmark.
The laptop’s touchpad proved coolest during the video test, registering 81.1 degrees Fahrenheit. This was only slightly behind the center of the keyboard’s temperature, as the typer hit 85.5 degrees Fahrenheit in between the G and H keys. The bottom of the laptop was warmer, hitting 90.9 degrees, although the center-left of the display hinge is where it was hottest, registering 101.1 degrees Fahrenheit.
Our gaming test saw a mild jump in temperatures in all areas except the bottom and the hinge, where numbers spiked much higher. The touchpad was 83.3 degrees Fahrenheit and the center of the keyboard was 90.9 degrees Fahrenheit. By contrast, the bottom of the laptop was now 121.5 degrees Fahrenheit and the hot zone on the hinge was now 136.1 degrees Fahrenheit.
Despite these higher numbers, though, the laptop never became too hot to touch while gaming. It did feel pleasantly warm, however.
Webcam on the Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5
The Alienware M15 R4 Ryzen Edition’s 720p webcam is, like many premium gaming laptops, a bit of an afterthought. Regardless of lighting conditions, its shots always have a blocky and fuzzy appearance. Adding light also adds a distracting halo effect to silhouettes, while dimming your surroundings will just bring down detail even further.
Software and Warranty on the Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5
The Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5 comes packed with software, although most of it serves a genuinely useful purpose.
Most of these are apps like Alienware Command Center, which lets you customize lighting and thermals as well as set up macros. Some are less useful than others — Alienware Customer Connect simply exists to get you to fill out surveys — but apps like Alienware Mobile Connect, which lets you easily mirror your phone’s screen, transfer its files or take phone calls from your laptop are definitely a standout. It might be easier to navigate these functions if they were all centralized into one hub app rather than being their own standalone programs, though. My Alienware tries to be this hub app, although it’s mostly just a redirect to Alienware Command Center with a bunch of ads on the side.
This laptop also comes with typical Windows pack-ins like Microsoft Solitaire Collection and Spotify. Its default warranty is limited to one year, although you can extend it at checkout.
Configurations for the Alienware M15 R5 Ryzen Edition
Our configuration of the Alienware M15 R5 Ryzen Edition came with an AMD Ryzen 7 5800H CPU, an RTX 3060 laptop GPU, 16GB of RAM, a 512GGB SSD and a 1920 x 1080, 165Hz display for $1,649. That actually puts it towards the lower end of what’s available.
You can upgrade this laptop’s CPU to the Ryzen 9 5900HX, which has the same thread count but boosts up to 4.6 GHz, and its GPU to an RTX 3070 laptop card. Memory options range from 8GB to 32GB, while storage options range from 256GB to 2TB. You can also add on an additional SSD with the same range of options, making for up to 4TB of total combined storage.
There’s also a 360Hz version of the FHD display available, as well as a QHD version with a 240Hz refresh rate and G-Sync support.
Perhaps the most interesting option that wasn’t included on our configuration is the mechanical keyboard, which features physical ultra low-profile switches made in collaboration with CherryMX.
These upgrades can raise your price up to $2,479, with the display and keyboard upgrades being the most costly components in Dell’s customization tool. The Cherry MX keyboard will add $98 to your price at checkout, while the QHD display costs $78. The FHD @ 360Hz display is only available on the highest preset option, which locks you into a Ryzen 9 5900HX chip and starts at $2,332.
By contrast, the low end of this laptop starts at $1,567.
Bottom Line
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The Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5 proves that Team Red and Alienware make a strong pairing . While it’s not quite the beast that the minimum $2,149 Alienware m15 R4 is, it still manages performance that equates to and sometimes beats peers in its price range on most titles, all while rocking Alienware’s unique premium looks. At $1,649 for our configuration, it’s an easy premium choice over the $1,450 Asus TUF Dash F15. And if you prefer power over size, it’s also a better option for you than the $1,400 Acer Predator Triton 300 SE.
While it’s certainly not the most portable contender and could do with more even port distribution and stronger audio, its 45W CPU lends it just enough of an edge on power to make it a solid first step into Dell’s flagship gaming brand.
The performance of Apple’s M1 chips exceeded our expectations and made the 2020 MacBook Air the most impressive laptop we’ve used in years (it’s also done wonders for the redesigned iMac). So it’s not too surprising, as per Bloomberg News this morning, that Apple is readying a whole slate of Macs using next-gen versions of the company’s in-house chips. The details sound very promising.
The story, from reliable Apple-watcher Mark Gurman, says the company is preparing to unveil redesigned MacBook Pros in 14-inch and 16-inch screen sizes “as early as this summer.” Not only will the machines have a redesigned chassis, but they’ll also bring back the beloved magnetic MagSafe charger (though it’s not clear in what form) and previously excised inputs like the HDMI port and SD card slot.
The return of the SD slot to the MacBook Pro — originally rumored in January — will be extremely welcome for many professionals who use the port to quickly transfer videos and images from cameras’ SD cards. And though we’d seen reports that MagSafe might be making a comeback for the MacBook Air, we didn’t know that MacBook Pro might be getting it, too.
After the new MacBook Pros have been unveiled, Gurman says Apple plans to release “a revamped MacBook Air, new low-end MacBook Pro and an all-new Mac Pro workstation.” A higher-end Mac mini and larger iMac are also reportedly in the works, with all of the new machines boasting chips “that will greatly outpace the performance and capabilities of the current M1 chips,” according to Gurman’s anonymous sources.
Chips for the MacBook Pro will reportedly come in two variants, codenamed “Jade C-Chop” and “Jade C-Die.” Compared to the M1 chips — which have four high-performance cores, four energy-efficient cores, and eight graphics cores — the new designs will have eight high-performance cores, two energy-efficient cores, and either 16 or 32 graphics cores. Bloomberg also says they’ll have an updated Neural Engine for machine learning tasks and support up to 64 gigabytes of memory compared to 16 gigabytes for the current M1.
None of this is particularly shocking. We’d all expected the next generation of Apple’s in-house chips to be “the best ever” (as they always are, every year, per Apple’s marketing spiel), but it’s still good to hear that Apple is preparing such a wide-ranging overhaul of its Mac lineup. The M1 chip breathed new life into Apple’s computers, what might the M2 do next?
Hot on the heels of the latest Radeon RX 6600 XT leak, German news outlet Igor’s Lab has shared more juicy details on AMD’s forthcoming Navi 23 offerings. Wallossek’s information seemingly helps to confirm some of the rumored specifications for the Radeon RX 6600 XT.
As we’ve suspected for a while now, the Radeon RX 6600 XT and Radeon RX 6600 will use AMD’s Navi 23 silicon. Navi 23, commonly known as “Dimgrey Cavefish,” should be one of the more compact RDNA 2 dies in AMD’s lineup. We suspect that Navi 24 will have the smallest die.
According to Wallossek, the Navi 23 silicon measures 16.51 x 14.28mm, which works out to an area of 235.76mm². For comparison, Navi 22 has a die size of 335mm² big, so we’re looking at a 29.6% reduction with Navi 23. The entire Navi 23 package reportedly checks in a 35 x 35mm with a height tolerance of 0.1mm, with the Navi 23 rotated in a 45-degrees position.
AMD may be planning to release three Navi 23-based mobile discrete graphics cards with different TGP (total graphics power) ratings. Laptop vendors will allegedly get to choose between 90W, 80W, and 65W variants. Logically, the thermal envelopes will be the limiting factor for each variant’s base and boost clock speeds. Wallossek shared a screenshot of a mobile Navi 23 graphics card with a 2,350 MHz boost clock, 334 MHz slower than the rumored clock speed for the desktop Radeon RX 6600 XT.
Navi 23 (Image credit: Igor’s Lab)
Coming as no surprise, the Radeon RX 6600 XT and Radeon RX 6600 continue to exploit the PCIe 4.0 interface. However, Navi 23 is seemingly restricted to eight PCIe 4.0 lanes. The hard cap shouldn’t affect the graphics card’s performance since PCIe 4.0 x8 offers the same bandwidth as PCIe 3.0 x16. Wallossek speculates that the limit imposed by AMD will prevent the Radeon RX 6600 XT from catching up to the Radeon RX 6700 through overclocking.
In the memory department, Navi 23 is very likely to sport a 128-bit memory interface with eight independent memory channels. This configuration opens the door to connect up to four GDDR6 memory chips in x16 mode or eight chips via a x8 connection. The maximum amount of memory supported on Navi 23 would be 16GB.
Given the segment in which Navi 23 competes, it’s unlikely that the corresponding Radeon products arrive with 16GB of GDDR6 memory. Furthermore, we’ve already seen convincing GPU-Z screenshots of the Radeon RX 6600 XT and Radeon RX 6600 with 8GB of GDDR6 memory. That’s not to say that we won’t see any Navi 23-based units with 16GB, but if so, they’ll probably be professional-grade graphics cards, such as the Radeon Pro series.
Surprisingly, Radeon RX 6700 XT benchmarks haven’t started to pop up yet. However, the Navi 23-powered graphics card is rumored to offer equivalent or slightly better performance than the Radeon RX 5700 XT.
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There is support for up to five display outputs, depending on how AMD wants to equip the Radeon RX 6600 XT. Navi 23 also supports USB Type-C, but we don’t expect to see that interface on the desktop variant. If anything, the USB Type-C port will make its way to the mobile variant since it could be a valid replacement for a DisplayPort on laptops.
The Radeon RX 6700 XT comes equipped with one HDMI 2.1 port and three DisplayPort 1.4a outputs. The Radeon RX 6600 XT might feature the same design, maybe with one or two fewer DisplayPort 1.4a outputs. Wallossek’s data also points to a plethora of supported hardware video decoders on Navi 23, including VP9, HEVC, H.264, and VC1 decoders.
We still haven’t seen any signs of when AMD will unleash the Radeon RX 6600 XT or Radeon RX 6600. Nonetheless, Computex 2021 is approaching so it’s plausible that we could see an official Navi 23 announcement then, if not before.
This year has seen no shortage of rollable display demos from manufacturers, and now Samsung Display is the latest company to show off new concepts for folding and sliding screens. SamMobile spotted the concepts being showcased as part of a virtual Display Week exhibition (if you forgot to mail out your Happy Display Week cards, there’s still time since it runs through Friday) including a “multi-foldable” mobile display and a large 17-inch folding screen.
The company calls its first concept S-foldable, with a bi-fold design that opens up to a maximum screen size of 7.2 inches. It’s similar to the Galaxy Z Fold 2 except, well, plus one fold. There’s also a sliding mobile display similar to the ill-fated rollable concept LG showed off earlier this year before leaving the smartphone space altogether.
Slidable OLED concept.
Image: Samsung Display
17-inch foldable OLED.
Image: Samsung Display
OLED with UPC (Under Panel Camera).
Image: Samsung Display
Samsung Display is also showing two concepts for bigger panels, including a 17-inch foldable OLED that’s tablet-sized when folded and can function as a monitor when unfolded. Finally, there’s a more traditional-looking laptop display; it doesn’t fold or flex, but it does include an under-display camera — hopefully it’s better than the last one we used.
Samsung Display is a division of Samsung Electronics, and it produces OLED panels for use by Samsung and other consumer tech manufacturers. So while these concepts may end up in future Samsung products, it’s certainly not guaranteed. The company as a whole hasn’t been shy about embracing foldable technology, getting into the foldable device market early. It may have more company soon; display OEM TCL has shown off its own concepts and says it will bring one to market this year. Until then, we’ll be watching and filling out our foldable concept bingo cards.
Intel is starting to get its legs again. The company, which initially had issues with its 10nm chips, has released its first eight-core, 10nm Tiger Lake-H processors that are ready for gaming and high-end productivity notebooks.
For its 10th gen chips, Intel used a 10nm process (“Ice Lake”) for ultrabooks but used a 14nm chip (“Comet Lake”) for these enthusiast machines. Now, we have time to see what Intel’s 10nm SuperFin chips can do on the high end. Like the U-series Tiger Lake chips, these use Willow Cove execution cores paired with a UHD Graphics 750 engine that’s powered by Intel’s Xe architecture.
It comes at a crucial time. AMD’s
Ryzen 5000 series
(“Cezanne,” on a 7nm process) has proven powerful and, among gamers, popular. During current hardware shortages, some of the
best gaming laptops
have been nearly impossible to find. Intel claims that it has already shipped more than 1 million of its chips to its partners and that it will come in more than eighty different laptop designs.
The 11th Gen H-series processors include Thunderbolt 4 (and
USB 4
) and Resizable Bar support, and are notably Intel’s first eight-core laptop chips that work with PCIe 4.0 SSDs. AMD’s competing Zen 3 mobile chips are still on PCIe 3.0.
A lot is riding on Tiger Lake H’s success. Intel has already called its 11th generation the “world’s best gaming laptop processors,” and now, with the help of a sample unit, we’ve had a chance to see if those claims ring true.
How We Tested Tiger Lake i9
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Our Tiger Lake-H testing was performed on an Intel-branded sample “white box” system, similar to our early testing of Tiger Lake-U and Ice Lake. This isn’t a review of the Intel Core i9-11980HK processor inside so much as a performance preview of what you can expect from upcoming systems that will be available to buy. Our full reviews will come when we see the i9-11980HK and other 11th Gen CPUs in computers that are on sale.
Intel loaned reviewers these systems with the knowledge that they are pre-production systems that aren’t necessarily representative of final systems, which may have more finished drivers.
Unlike previous Intel sample systems, this one couldn’t toggle between TDPs. Many of Intel’s 11th gen processors will be configurable by the manufacturer, ranging from 35 to 65W (the Core i9-11980HK is a 65W, overclockable processor that peaks at 110W (PL2). In HWInfo, our unit showed a PL1 of 65W and a PL2 of 109W.
We did our testing on the suite we use to test gaming laptops to get an idea of where something specced similar to this sample system might fall. We had a limited amount of time with the system, so we could only run some tests. Some, like battery life, are more important on actual systems that will be on sale than this early sample.
Intel Reference Design for Tiger Lake i9 and Competitors
The Tiger Lake-H i9 reference design came with the following specifications:
2x 512GB Phison SM280512GKBB4S-E162 PCIe Gen 4 SSD
Display
16-inch, 2560 x 1600 (16:10)
Networking
Killer Wi-Fi 6E Ax1675X
Ports
2x Thunderbolt 4, 2x USB Type-A, microSD card reader, 3.5mm headphone jack
Battery
90 WHr
Operating System
Windows 10 Pro
Yes, Intel’s sample system paired its top-end GPU with a mid-range Nvidia GPU. It’s an odd pairing on paper, but one that allows for slim systems. Intel claims that this will enable “thin enthusiast” laptops, which fall in between ultraportable notebooks with its H35 processors and the big, thick machines that include the most intensive graphics cards.
From our reviews database, we chose to compare a number of different laptops depending on the task. For gaming, we broke out the
Acer Predator Triton 300 SE
with a 35W i7-11375H and the Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5 with a Ryzen 7 5800H. Both of these also use RTX 3060 GPUs, like the reference system.
For our productivity benchmarks, we also included some other, bigger systems that may have more powerful GPUs to compare against a range of processors, including the Ryzen 9 5900HX in the
Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 G733
; the Intel Core i9-10980HK in the
Alienware m17 R4
; and the 35W Ryzen 9 5980HS in the Asus ROG Flow X13.
Acer Predator Triton 300 SE
Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5
Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 G733
Alienware m17 R4
Asus ROG Flow X13
CPU
Intel Core i7-11375H
AMD Ryzen 7 5800H
AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX
Intel Core i9-10980HK
AMD Ryzen 9 5980HS
GPU
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Max-Q, 75W TGP
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 125W TGP
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080, 130W
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080
AMD Radeon Graphics (integrated)
RAM
16GB DDR4-3200
16GB DDR4-3200
32GB DDR4-3200
32GB DDR4-2933
32GB LPDDR4x-4266
Storage
512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD
512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD
2x 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD
512GB Boot, 2TB (2 x 1TB RAID 0) SSD
1TB M.2 2230 NVMe SSD
Display
14-inch, 1920 x 1080, 144 Hz IPS
15.6 inch, 1920 x 1080, 165Hz, IPS
17.3-inch, 1920 x 1080, 360 Hz, IPS
17.3-inch, 1920 x 1080, 360 Hz
13.4-inch, 3840 x 2400, 16:10, 60 Hz, touch
And here’s how the CPUs all stack up on paper:
Cores / Threads
Process Node
Base Frequency
Max Turbo Frequency
TDP
Intel Core i9-11980HK
16-Aug
10nm SuperFin
2.6 GHz
5.0 GHz
45 – 65 W
Intel Core i9-10980HK
16-Aug
14nm
2.4 GHz
5.3 GHz
45 – 65 W
Intel Core i7-11375H
8-Apr
10nm SuperFin
3.3 GHz
5.0 GHz
28 – 35W
AMD Ryzen 7 5800H
16-Aug
7nm FinFET
3.2 GHz
4.4 GHz
35 – 54W
AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX
16-Aug
7nm FinFET
3.3 GHz
4.6 GHz
35 – 54W
AMD Ryzen 9 5980HS
16-Aug
7nm FinFET
3.0 GHz
4.8 GHz
35W
Productivity Performance of Tiger Lake i9
We started out with our productivity suite to test the Core i9-11980HK to its 10th Gen counterpart, the highest-end Intel H35 processor and a series of AMD Ryzen competitors.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
On Geekbench 5, the Tiger Lake-H system started strong, pushing the highest single-core (1,649) of the bunch and beating the next highest multi-core score by more than 1,000 points (9,254). The next closest was the AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX in the Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 G733, which also had 32GB of RAM.
The Core i9-10980HK, the 10th Gen chip from Intel, was in a close third on multi-core, though in single-core other Ryzen laptops surpassed it.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The Intel sample system was also the fastest system to complete our Handbrake test, which transcodes a
4K
video to 1080p (with one caveat: we removed laptops with far more powerful GPUs, which could have some effect. If you left in the Ryzen 9 5900HX, it was faster at 6:11 in the Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 G733).
It was (unsurprisingly) significantly faster than the 35W Core i7, and also ahead of the Ryzen 7 5800H and 35W Ryzen 9 59080HS.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The Intel sample system contained a pair of 512GB Phison PCIe Gen 4 SSDs, which the Core i9-11980HK can take advantage of. It was one of the speedier laptops in our test pool, but the Asus ROG Flow X13 was actually a little bit faster in our 25GB file transfer test.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
To check stability over a longer duration, we ran Cinbench R23 for 20 runs. The cooling, which was exceptionally loud during all of the tests (and sometimes while the sample system was doing absolutely nothing) kept it stable.
It started at a high of 11,846.31 while largely settling in the 11,600 range. During the Cinebench stress test, the CPU ran at an average of 3.5 GHz and an average temperature of 85.77 degrees Celsius (186.39 degrees Fahrenheit). While the chart looks largely stable, the monitoring tool HWinfo reported that the CPU was being thermally throttled for the majority of the test. This is the downside of putting a high-wattage processor in a slim system, and also explains the constant fan noise.
Gaming and Graphics Performance of Tiger Lake i9
In this system, Intel paired its top-of-the-line mobile processor with an RTX 3060 Max-Q. It’s a questionable decision for this kind of performance preview, as our first impression didn’t give us the chance to see what happens when this chip is used with a more powerful graphics card that would take full advantage of its capabilities. So our test pool here includes other laptops with an RTX 3060, either full or
Max-Q
.
On most of the benchmarks we ran, this thin and light notebook performed almost identically to what you would expect from Intel’s 35-watt Tiger Lake H processors that were launched earlier this year. That is, at
1080p
. We also ran the tests at the laptop’s native 2560 x 1600 resolution.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
On Shadow of the Tomb Raider (highest settings), the Intel sample system ran the benchmark at 62 frames per second, within one frame of the Acer Predator Trion 300 SE with H35. The Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5 with a full RTX 3060 Max-Q won out at 73 fps.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
We saw a very similar pattern on Grand Theft Auto V (very high settings). Intel’s system matched the Acer but fell behind the Alienware. On both Shadow of the Tomb Raider and GTAV, the Intel system was still playable above 30 fps at 2560 x 1600 on the same settings.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Tiger Lake-H finally had its moment on Far Cry New Dawn (ultra settings), running at 91 fps, beating out both the Predator (73 fps) and AMD-based Alienware (79 fps) at 1080p. At native resolution, the sample system was still over 60 fps.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
But on Red Dead Redemption 2 and Borderlands 3, we were back to the same old tale, coming extremely close to the H35 laptop. On RDR 2‘s medium settings, it ran at 48 fps at 1080p and 33 fps at 2560 x 1440.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
On Borderlands 3‘s “badass” quality settings, the game ran at 56 fps at 1080p, falling about 10 frames behind the Alienware. Intel’s sample system ran the game at 37 fps at 2560 x 1600.
Lastly, we ran the Metro Exodus gauntlet that we run in our laptop review. We have laptops play through the benchmark 15 times on the RTX preset (1920 x 1080) to simulate a half-hour of gaming. Intel’s CPU ran at an average of 3.38 GHz with an average temperature of 64.71 degrees Celsius (148.48 degrees Fahrenheit). There was some throttling, but not as often as during the Cinebench R23 stress test. The GPU ran at an average of 1,188.23 MHz and 64.21 degrees Celsius (147.58 degrees Fahrenheit).
Cooling Tiger Lake i9
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Unlike with some previous early Intel samples, we were allowed to crack this one open to show it to you.
The laptop has three fans, while even most gaming laptops stick to two larger ones. That may explain the decibels. But what’s also fascinating is that the motherboard in the reference platform has been placed effectively upside down. This means that we can’t see the full cooler, including the heat pipes. That would require far more disassembly.
There are still serviceable parts, but they are connected to the edge of the board. Notably, there’s only one 512GB SSD that’s easily accessible. The other one must be on the other side of the motherboard.
Impressions of Tiger Lake i9
As always, it’s extremely difficult to get a complete picture of how high-end, Tiger Lake-H chips will run in laptops that OEMs will start selling today. Our testing was done under extremely limited time, and only used one new 11th Gen H-series chip.
To complicate things, this reference design is meant to represent a new “thin enthusiast” sector for Intel, which meant we couldn’t see how the Core i9-11980HK will perform at its best, in a thicker laptop with more elaborate cooling. Of course, every laptop is unique, so the processors may perform slightly differently based on size, cooling and other factors. We hope to be able to see a bigger, flagship gaming system with this processor for a fuller idea soon.
In productivity testing, our early benchmarks show a leap for Intel and its 10nm SuperFin process, especially in multi-core workloads. But AMD’s best, the Ryzen 9 5900HX still puts up a fight in some areas.
In gaming, we’ll really have to wait. What we now expect from finalized thin systems is that they won’t run games much differently from H35 variants unless those titles really hit the CPU hard.
As usual, the best way to truly tell is when we start testing laptops with a Tiger Lake-H that you can actually buy. As those hit our labs, we’ll see a wider variety of laptop designs and the full range of 11th Gen H-series processors.
Icy Dock has developed the industry’s only U.2 to USB 3.2 Gen 2 adapter, which lets you connect an enterprise-grade U.2 SSD to any desktop or laptop with a USB Type-A or Type-C port. The EZ-Adapter Ex MB931U-1VB targets people who need to transfer data from an enterprise-grade SSD to a PC or those who use U.2 drives as recording medium and need to transfer videos to a computer. But PC builders may be attracted to the adapter too.
The U.2 form-factor (SFF-8639) was developed primarily for business and mission-critical server and workstation applications that have very strict requirements for connectivity, thermals, reliability and hot-plug capability. Today, U.2 drives used in servers and workstations and more. For example, select Blackmagic cameras with the Ursa Mini Recorder attached can use U.2 SSDs as storage medium.
A big market for the EZ-Adapter Ex MB931U-1VB are content creators who have to transfer loads of data from one PC to another (or from a camera to a PC). 10GbE networks used in studios are fast, yet a PCIe 3.0 x4 interface of U.2 SSDs is a lot faster, so it makes sense to use U.2 SSDs as flash drives. There are also people who might prefer to use enterprise-grade SSDs as their direct attached storage (DAS), due to their higher endurance and reliability.
But another potential market comes from PC DIYers. U.2 SSDs tend to be very expensive when bought from the IT channel, but they can also be found on sites like eBay for considerably cheaper. Depending on the model, U.2 drives are designed for read-intensive, write-intensive or mixed workloads. Even after some time in service, most U.2 SSDs will have plenty of resource left. Furthermore, such drives are tailored for sustained, rather than burst, performance. As a result, even used U.2 SSDs may be faster and more durable than cheap consumer-grade drives rated for 0.2 DWPD over a three-year period. Hence, it makes sense to consider U.2 SSDs for DIY DAS applications.
Yet, connecting such drives to PCs is complicated, as only select desktop workstations have U.2 ports (or M.2 to U.2 adapters), and not all of them have adapters that can house a U.2 drive. Furthermore, there are no laptops with U.2 slots.
(Image credit: Icy Dock)
Icy Dock’s EZ-Adapter Ex MB931U-1VB is based on the ASMedia ASM2362 controller. It can house any U.2 SSD and connect it to a PC with a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A or Type-C connector.
(Image credit: Icy Dock)
The EZ-Adapter Ex MB931U-1VB adapter is available now for $150 from Amazon. A power adapter and USB-A and USB-C cables are included.
Samsung has released a number of Galaxy Books in the last few years. Despite generally being good devices with a recognizable brand name, most of them have remained Samsung-enthusiast purchases; none have truly entered the mainstream conversation.
So it seems fitting that the Galaxy Book Pro 360 isn’t a direct sequel to any preexisting Galaxy Books. Instead, it’s an attempt to combine the best features of Samsung’s previous PCs and create a device that Samsung knows it can do really well.
It worked. The Galaxy Book Pro 360 is targeting a fairly specific audience, but in two areas — its OLED screen and its three-pound weight — it’s a groundbreaking device that has little significant competition across the market. But what’s really exceptional is that you don’t have to sacrifice much to get those standout features. It’s solid in the other areas that matter, it comes with some neat software and has few significant problems. If there’s a device that could bring the Galaxy Book out of the territory of Samsung super-fans and into the mainstream market, this is it.
The 15-inch Galaxy Book Pro 360 starts at $1,299. For the base price, you get a Core i7-1165G7, 8GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage. For $200 you can upgrade to the model I’m reviewing, which has 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. The only other difference between these configurations is that the base only comes in “mystic navy” (the color of the unit I have), while the pricier one also comes in “mystic bronze.” There’s also a 13-inch model, starting at $1,399.99, that will support 5G at some point (though it doesn’t yet).
That’s competitive pricing. The Galaxy Book Flex, Samsung’s most recent ultraportable touchscreen convertible, has an MSRP of $1,399 for an 8GB / 512GB model (though it’s often on sale now). Comparable Surface Laptop 4 and Surface Pro 7 Plus models start at $1,499 at the lowest. All Galaxy Book Pro 360 models also ship with an S Pen, which is just like the S Pen on the Galaxy Book Flex except that it’s 2.5 times thicker. As I noted in my initial look at the Book 360, it really does feel like a real pen (especially compared to the S Pens that you get with Galaxy Note phones, which feel like toys in comparison), though I wish there were somewhere in the chassis to store it.
The quad-core Core i7-1165G7 is the same processor that powers a number of the best consumer laptops on the market. The Pro 360 was just fine for the large load of Chrome tabs and apps that I pushed it through during each day of testing. Performance was snappy, and I rarely heard the fans spin up (though I occasionally heard coil whine from the processor). Note that there’s no discrete GPU option, but Iris Xe graphics can lend a hand in some lightweight gaming and graphic work.
Then, there are a number of customization features that you can tweak in the Samsung Settings app. You can swap between cooling profiles, including a “no fan” mode if you want total silence. You can toggle “Studio Mode,” which is supposed to enhance your video quality on calls — while it wasn’t night and day, I did find that this made me look a bit better in low-light settings. One feature I didn’t love was Secret Screen, which purports to be a privacy screen but really just makes the app you’re using either translucent or darker (and it doesn’t work with every app). Maybe this makes it slightly harder to snoop, but it also makes work an odd experience, and you could achieve a similar effect by just dimming your screen. I’d invest in a laptop with a real privacy shield (such as HP’s Elite Dragonfly) if you’ll be viewing highly sensitive material.
And then there are some bonuses for folks who are already Samsung devotees: you can expand your display onto a Galaxy Tab S7 or S7 Plus and quickly move files between Galaxy devices with Samsung’s Quick Share function. And the Pro 360 comes preloaded with some Samsung software, including Samsung Notes (which can sync between devices) and SmartThings.
Most of my (very few) quibbles with the device come from the outside. For one, the blue chassis is a fingerprint magnet (the lid was all smudged up after half a day of use). I also experienced some occasional palm-rejection issues with the touchpad, which improved but didn’t disappear when I bumped it down to the lowest sensitivity. And I know some people like flat keyboards, but this one is too flat for my taste, with just 1mm of travel.
But there are a couple reasons why the Galaxy Book Pro 360 really stands out, and they easily make up for those quibbles. The first is the screen. The 13-inch Galaxy Book Pro 360 will be one of very few 13-inch OLED laptops on the market. OLED is more common in the 15-inch tier, but it’s unusual to see outside of creator-focused workstations with discrete GPUs. The most obvious use for this 15.6-inch OLED panel is likely entertainment, rather than on-the-go creative work. (That’s especially true because it’s just 1920 x 1080 resolution, not 4K.)
The screen is quite sharp, with vibrant colors. (It maxed out our colorimeter, covering 100 percent of the DCI-P3 color gamut and 100 percent of the sRGB color gamut). As we’d expect from an OLED panel, it delivers bright whites and unparalleled blacks. If you’re looking for a 15.6-inch laptop with an OLED display, you’re unlikely to find one at a lower price.
That said, there are a few things to note. First, it doesn’t get super bright, maxing out at just 276 nits in my testing. It kicked back some glare outdoors, though I was still able to use it. Second, it’s 16:9, which is an aspect ratio I’ve sworn off forever because it’s cramped for multitasking. And third, there’s some wobble when you type or use the touchscreen. It’s not the worst wobble I’ve ever seen, but it’s there.
Tent mode.
Pretty darn thin.
The touchscreen is glossy, but bright enough.
It’s responsive and generally smooth.
Another standout feature: the Galaxy Book Pro 360 is really darn portable. It’s just a few millimeters thicker than the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra (0.46 inches). And at three pounds, it’s easily one of the lightest 15-inch laptops you can buy. The 15-inch Surface Laptop 4 and Galaxy Book Flex, both of which are also known for their lightweight builds, are almost half a pound heavier. I’ve never considered buying a 15-inch laptop myself, due to how much they tend to weigh; this is the first 15-incher I’ve reviewed that I can actually see myself carrying around all day.
The third benefit is one I wasn’t expecting: battery life. This laptop has a 68Wh battery, which isn’t huge for 15-inchers (though it’s bigger than you often see for a 15W processor with integrated graphics). It also has a display that could be a battery suck. Samsung’s last attempt at an OLED laptop had disappointing battery results. So I was pleasantly surprised by how long the Galaxy Book Pro 360 lasted. I averaged 10 hours and 23 minutes to a charge during my testing, which included using around a dozen Chrome tabs and some apps on the side with the screen around 200 nits of brightness. If you’re just using this for entertainment, and not as a primary work driver, you’ll likely get even more.
I’m a fan of the 15-inch Galaxy Book Pro 360, though I do think its audience is fairly specific. This is a laptop worth considering if you’re looking for an excellent big-screen entertainment experience while you’re out and about, and maybe also need to take notes for class or make artwork in your spare time. Bonus points if you’re already plugged into the Samsung ecosystem. Not everyone needs that kind of laptop — but if you do, this is a good one to look at.
The device’s weight is a huge benefit, but what’s even more impressive is that you’re not sacrificing a lot to achieve that weight. You also get a premium build, a capable processor with plenty of RAM and storage, a decent port selection, a nice screen with stylus support, and all-day battery life, all for a competitive price. What ultimately makes this laptop worth its price is that the lightweight chassis is icing on the cake — it’s not a feature you have to compromise on a ton of other things to get.
If you’re a Samsung fan who hasn’t been sold on the Galaxy Book lineup so far, I’d say this is the one to get. I wish the hinge were sturdier, I wish the keyboard wasn’t quite so flat, and I wish the screen got a tad bit brighter. But I don’t see any of those things significantly hindering the overall experience. For once, Samsung has made a tough 2-in-1 to beat.
back in February, now has full specs, pricing and is opening pre-orders for the machine. It will come in three configurations, starting at $999.
That base model has an Intel Core i5-1135G7 processor, 8GB of DDR4 RAM, a 256GB NVMe, Wi-Fi 6 and will run Windows 10 Home. A $1,399 performance configuration bumps the processor up to an i7-1165G7 and doubles the RAM and storage to 16GB and 512GB, respectively. A professional model, starting at $1,999, has an i7-1185G7, 32GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, support for vPro and runs Windows 10 Pro.
There will also be a DIY edition, starting at $749 barebones, that you build yourself from a kit and customize with parts and modules.
Each laptop will also have a 3:2, 2256 x 1504 display, 1080p webcam with a privacy switch, a 55Wh battery and a keyboard with 1.5 mm of key travel, all features you might find in one of the
best ultrabooks
. The entire motherboard is replaceable to allow upgrades to future generations of processors, which are typically soldered to the board on laptops.
Pre-orders are starting today in the United States, and Canada will come soon, with Asia and Europe coming before the end of the year.
But like most tech companies, Framework hasn’t been immune to supply chain issues, which it says will “limit the number of Framework Laptops we have available at launch.” The company will take its pre-orders in small batches to ensure it can fulfill orders. The first batch, Framework says, will ship in July, with more to come. A pre-order requires a $100 refundable deposit, and the balance will be paid when it’s ready to ship.
While the Framework Laptop sounds promising on paper, other small computer vendors have faced issues with fulfillment. Eve Devices, for instance, had issues fulfilling its Eve V, and some potential buyers have proven far more cautious around its Spectrum monitor and second-gen convertible. But Framework is acknowledging the difficulty in sourcing parts right now, so at least it’s being straightforward there.
The modular Framework Laptop is now available for preorders, with prices starting at $999 for a fully assembled computer or $749 for the DIY Edition, which adds the option of paying less upfront if you’re willing bring your own RAM, SSD, charge, and Wi-Fi card.
For prebuilt systems, Framework is offering three starting configurations. There’s the entry level, $999 Base, which offers a Core i5-1135G7 processor, 8GB of RAM, a 256GB NVMe SSD, and Wi-Fi 6. The Performance model, starting at $1,399, ups the processor to a Core i7-1165G7 and doubles the RAM and SSD storage. And the Professional configuration, starting at $1,999, has a Core i7-1185G7, 32GB of RAM, 1TB of storage, and Windows 10 Pro.
Whether fully prebuilt or DIY, the Framework features a 13.5-inch 2256 x 1504 screen, a 1080p 60fps webcam, a 55Wh battery, and a 2.87-pound aluminum chassis. Ports are handled through a customizable expansion card system, which allows users to select up to four from a selection of USB-C, USB-A, HDMI, DisplayPort, and microSD slots. There’s also the option to add extra storage through removable USB-C SSDs, too, and Framework promises more port options in the future.
To preorder, Framework is only asking that users put down a $100 deposit, with the first laptops set to ship at the end of July. Preorders are only available in the US for now; Canada is promised in “the next few weeks,” and European and Asian availability is set for later this year. Additionally, Framework warns that due to the ongoing global supply shortages, it’ll have limited supply at launch but plans to do its preorders in batches that should ship throughout the year.
Framework is obviously a new company with an untested platform here. It is offering a 30-day return guarantee and a one-year limited warranty, though, which might help anyone deciding whether to plunk down the cash for a new computer.
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