Google has released the latest version of Chrome OS, with a few new features for Chromebook owners to try out. If you’re a Chromebook owner, your device should have the newest version now or very shortly.
First off, your Chromebook can now function as a smart display (like Google’s Nest Hub Max) when you’re not actively using it. Like the Nest Hub, it can act like a digital photo album and display pictures on its lock screen. You can select a photo album for your screensaver to cycle through or pick from a gallery of preloaded images.
You can now use the lock screen for other smart display tasks as well. For example, you can play and pause music and check the weather without unlocking the Chromebook.
To turn on the personalized lock screen feature, go into your Chrome OS settings and Select Personalization > Screen Saver.
Another new addition is called Web Authentication, or WebAuthn. This feature will allow you to sign in to certain websites with the PIN or fingerprint that you use to sign in to your Chromebook, rather than with your password for those sites. You can also add WebAuthn as an additional layer of security for two-step verification. Per Google’s blog post, supported websites include Dropbox, GitHub, and Okta.
You don’t need to do anything special to use Web Authentication. When you visit a supported website, you’ll be prompted to switch over.
Apple has officially released iOS 14.4 and a matching update for its HomePod mini speaker, adding the long-promised ultra-wideband (UWB) handoff feature that will allow newer iPhones to more seamlessly transfer music, calls, and podcasts between the two devices.
While both the original HomePod and the HomePod mini have supported handing off music for some time, the smaller device features a U1 ultra-wideband chip that promises to make it even easier to transfer content over from an iPhone 12 or iPhone 11 device. The new U1-enhanced functionality also adds additional features, including new visual and haptic feedback. The U1-based system also will give the option to show listening suggestions when you bring your phone close and display media controls on your iPhone without requiring you to unlock it first.
The ultra-wideband handoff feature was originally showcased when the HomePod mini was first announced, but it wasn’t included with the original release. Instead, Apple promised that it would be available later in 2020 (a deadline that the company has slightly missed).
To take advantage of the new update, you’ll need a HomePod mini that’s been updated to the latest software, along with a U1-equipped iPhone 11 or iPhone 12 device that’s running iOS 14.4. The original HomePod isn’t compatible with the new functionality, though, due to its lack of a U1 chip.
Plex, well known as a service for streaming movies, music, and TV shows from your own computer, is now adding another thing you can stream: video games (via Protocol). Plex announced the new service, called Plex Arcade, on its blog and also launched a website for it. The service will cost $3 a month if you’re a Plex Pass subscriber, and $5 a month if you’re not.
Instead of focusing on modern console or phone games like its competitors, Plex lets you play Atari games. It’s taking the arcade name seriously, as you can play arcade classics from Atari, like Centipede, Super Breakout, and Missile Command, as well as games from the Atari 2600 and 7800. Overall, there are 27 games available on the service.
Unlike other game subscription services where you can simply sign up from your console and start playing, Plex Arcade has a few requirements. First is a Plex media server running on a Windows or macOS computer. There isn’t Linux support because Plex is using Parsec to stream the gameplay.
This means that you’ll have to sign up for a Parsec account, if you don’t already have one, and log in to it on Plex. There is a bit more freedom when it comes to what you can stream the games to, as Android devices and TVs are supported, as well as Google Chrome and Apple’s iOS and tvOS. Plex says you can play with “just about any Bluetooth-enabled controller.”
The service also supports you adding your own emulators and ROMs, which is nice, but it’s overall a bit of a tough sell. Even at the Plex Pass price of $3 a month, you’re paying a lot for games that, at this point, can basically run on a microwave. To be fair, it does let you run them on something like an iPhone or Apple TV, but the games are readily available on Android and PC.
If you’re interested in playing them for nostalgic purposes, it could be worth a try, but you may want to set aside some time for it — getting it set up was an exercise in frustration for me, and I wasn’t ever actually able to successfully play a game. (The iOS and tvOS clients got stuck at a loading spinner, and keyboard controls didn’t seem to do anything when trying to play on Chrome.)
If you want to try it out for yourself, there’s a free seven-day trial, though you will have to put in a credit card or link your PayPal. Plex says this is mostly a skunk works-type project, saying in the blog post that “[i]f there’s interest and we see some subs, it’ll grow into the glorious pheasant we know it can be. But if you guys drop the ball, it’ll die on the vine like a stomped ass goomba.” Harsh.
Apple is launching a limited-edition Apple Watch for Black History Month, with a unique watch band, new watchface, and some of the proceeds going toward civil rights organizations.
The watch, part of a new Black Unity Collection of products, comes with a black, green, and red striped band and face, meant to reflect the Pan-African flag. It otherwise appears to be the standard aluminum version of the Apple Watch Series 6, with pricing starting at $399. The band will also be available separately for $49.
The products will go on sale starting February 1st at Apple and Target. The band will remain on sale all year, but the watch as a whole will only be sold in February. It sounds as though the watchface will be available to anyone with an Apple Watch starting later today.
Apple says it’ll be “supporting six global organizations” as part of this product launch, including the Black Lives Matter Support Fund, the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, and European Network Against Racism.
In addition to the new watch edition, Apple announced a number of other initiatives for Black History Month this year. There’ll be a hub in the App Store highlighting Black-owned businesses and developers; Apple Music will get “curated playlists, essays, original videos” and other content highlighting Black artists; and Apple Maps is getting curated recommendations from EatOkra, which highlights Black-owned restaurants. Apple plans to curate stories focused on Black families and experiences in the Apple TV and Apple News apps and highlight Black authors in Apple Books and Apple Podcasts.
Apple is among a number of tech giants that collectively pledged hundreds of millions of dollars toward racial equity initiatives. Apple announced a $100 million fund in June 2020; earlier this month, Apple said it would create a developer education center in Detroit and support a tech hub for historically Black colleges and universities in Atlanta.
The Asus TUF Dash F15 is an attractively thin gaming clamshell with an eSports-ready screen. But you can squeeze more frames out of other RTX 30-series laptops.
For
Decent battery life
Fast screen
Successful software-based noise cancelling
Easy upgrades
Against
Frame rates could be better
No webcam
Flat keyboard
Gaming laptops are trying to slim down. This growing trend finds vendors promising power comparable to the best gaming laptops, which often require bulky chassis and cooling to support high-end components, in a PC that’s closer in size to a mainstream notebook.
The Asus TUF Dash F15 ($1,100 to start, available as tested on March 8 for $1,450) is a next-gen example. It offers the latest in Nvidia RTX 30-series mobile graphics and is one of the first machines to use an Intel H35-series chip. The Dash F15 is 20% thinner and 10% lighter than Asus’ usual TUF gaming laptop.
But while the Dash F15 can handle high-end titles, its gaming performance overall feels more like a last-gen Super card than the latest and greatest.
Asus TUF Dash F15 Specs
CPU
Intel Core i7-11370H
Graphics
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 (8GB GDDR6)
Memory
16GB DDR4-3200
Storage
1TB M.2 2230 NVMe PCIe
Display
15.6-inch IPS panel, 1920 x 1080 resolution @, 240 Hz
Networking
Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), RJ45 Ethernet, Bluetooth 5.2
Ports
Thunderbolt 4 (USB Type-C), 3x USB 3.2 Gen1 (Type-A), HDMI 2.0, 3.5mm audio jack
Camera
None
Battery
76 WHr
Power Adapter
200W
Operating System
Windows 10 Pro
Dimensions (WxDxH)
14.17 x 9.92 x 0.78 inches (360 x 252 x 19.9mm)
Weight
4.41 pounds (2kg)
Price (as configured)
$1,450
Design on the Asus TUF Dash F15
Available in moonlight white or a more subtle eclipse gray, the Dash F15 can be striking or muted. Its trim build won’t grab attention on its own, but if you opt for the bolder white or decide to activate the keyboard’s “bolt blue”-colored backlight, you may make a head or two turn.
It’s not the striking visage that many gaming laptops proudly carry but with the large TUF block typography that may or may not have been inspired by Alienware (Asus hasn’t stated) on the lid accompanying the TUF logo, there’s enough to keep this more mature laptop from being a complete snooze. But if you’re looking for more fun, the aqua backlight sure looks special coming out of white keycaps compared to our review unit’s more traditional black ones.
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The Dash F15 isn’t the only trim gaming laptop on the block. At 4.41 pounds and 14.17 x 9.92 x 0.78 inches, it’s a little lighter and wider than the Razer Blade 15 Advanced Model (4.7 pounds, 14 x 9.3 x 0.7 inches). The Acer Predator Triton 300 is also of a similar build (4.4 pounds, 14.3 x 10 x 0.7 inches), but the Alienware m15 R4, which also holds an RTX 3070 graphics card, is heavier than the Dash F15 (5.25 pounds).
When you open the Dash F15, you’re greeted by a more gamer-friendly font and a darker deck. The deck loves to attract fingerprints and is side-flanked with diagonal line carvings that complement the vents north of the keyboard. Liberties were also taken with the shape of the power button. White WASD keys also add to the gamer aesthetic but can look kind of cheap, as you can see the keys’ cross-armed-like white retainers, especially if you turn the blue backlight on.
You get some offset media controls, including a mute button, which is particularly handy as we do more conference calls from home offices. Less welcome is the button for launching Asus’ Armoury Crate software. I’d much rather have the volume mute button here, alongside the other volume buttons (it’s on the FN row instead). There are also no play or pause functions on the keyboard.
Thankfully, the Dash F15 doesn’t sacrifice ports in its quest for sleek. The left side hosts the port for charging the laptop, along with an Ethernet jack, HDMI 2.0, USB 3.2 Gen 1 (Type-A) and even Thunderbolt 4 (USB Type-C). The right side carries two more USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports. All the ports are closer to the laptop’s lip, and the charger is shaped like a right angle, so it can be easy for attached cables to get in the way of one another or you.
The Dash F15 isn’t the only trim gaming laptop on the block. At 4.41 pounds and 14.17 x 9.92 x 0.78 inches, it’s a little lighter and wider than the Razer Blade 15 Advanced Model (4.7 pounds, 14 x 9.3 x 0.7 inches). The Acer Predator Triton 300 is also of a similar build (4.4 pounds, 14.3 x 10 x 0.7 inches), but the Alienware m15 R4, which also holds an RTX 3070 graphics card, is heavier than the Dash F15 (5.25 pounds).
Accompanying the travel-friendly form and backing the TUF moniker is military-grade MIL-STD-810H certification for durability. The machine was tested for drops, extreme temperatures, humidity and vibration. Its plastic deck feels a little more solid than the average laptop, especially a budget one, but there’s a little bit of give when pressing the function row buttons. The lid is thin and also has a small amount of flex. The laptop doesn’t open all the way flat, which was a rare nuisance.
Gaming and Graphics on the Asus TUF Dash F15
The Dash F15 we reviewed uses an RTX 3070 (we confirmed that it’s a Max-Q design; however, Asus isn’t using the Max-Q label anymore) mobile graphics card, a member of Nvidia’s newest lineup. With Nvidia’s Dynamic Boost 2.0 AI feature, Asus says the card can clock to over 1,390 MHz (Nvidia specs the card to run from 1,290-1,620 MHz with boost). This is combined with Intel’s latest H35 series processor, a 35W, 4-core/8-thread part based on 11th Gen “Tiger Lake,” rather than the 45W parts we often see in gaming notebooks.
The machine handled Control well on high settings with ray tracing off. The game typically showed frame frame rates in the high 60s to low 70s, going as low as 57 frames per second (fps) and as high as 75 fps. With ray tracing set to high, the average frame rate dropped to the mid to upper 40s. However, it was sometimes down to 33 fps and managed as much as 53 fps.
There’s an obvious hit to frame rate, but ray tracing does provide a noticeable change in graphics in Control, since it uses ray tracing in five ways (on reflections, transparent reflections, diffuse lighting, contact shadows and debris). With ray tracing on, an office wall inside the Oldest House looked very high-end, with a shiny mirrored finish. I could see Jesse’s reflection, as well as that of the light fixture behind her. The wall’s gold paneling reflected a large staircase. But with ray tracing off, I could no longer see the light fixture or my reflection. The wall looked less like a pricey, executive border and instead had a large rectangular area that just looked whiter. The paneling was so washed out it barely looked gold and also lacked reflections.
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The Dash F15 and Alienware both rock the midrange card in Nvidia’s latest mobile GPU lineup; however, the pricier Alienware was able to push out much more impressive frame rates with its RTX 3070 in the Shadow of the Tomb Raider benchmark (1920 x 1080 resolution, highest settings). Even the Razer and Acer laptops, which use a last-gen RTX 2080 Super Max-Q and RTX 2070 Super Max-Q, respectively, did better than the Asus, though those are also paired with 10th Gen 45W Intel CPUs.
Our review focus ran the Grand Theft Auto V benchmark (very high) at an average of 87 fps, tying with the Razer and beating the acer (77 fps). But at 108 fps, the Alienware is starkly on top.
The Dash F15 fell to last place when it came to Far Cry New Dawn (ultra), with a 74 fps average. That’s 17 fps slower than the fastest machine in this benchmark, the Alienware. The two last-gen graphics systems were in the mid-80s.
In Red Dead Redemption 2 (medium), the TUF Dash F15 landed a solid second place finish with a 61 fps average. The Alienware beat it by just 8 fps.
The Dash F15 continued to outshine the Razer and Acer laptops on the Borderlands 3 benchmark (badass). The Razer was just 2 fps behind though, and the Alienware, again, took the crown, this time by a notable 16 fps.
To measure ray tracing prowess, we also ran the 3DMark Port Royal benchmark. The Alienware got the highest score (6,411), followed by the Razer (5,048). As a next-gen RTX card, it’s a little disappointing for the Asus to rank third (4,982), albeit a close third. The Acer took last place (3,989).
As a stress test, we ran the Metro Exodus1080p RTX benchmark on a loop 15 times, simulating 30 minutes of gameplay. During this time, the game’s frame rate was very consistent and averaged 51 fps. The RTX 3070 ran at an average clock speed of 1,238.64 MHz and average temperature of 70.8 degrees Celsius (159.44 degrees Fahrenheit). Meanwhile, the CPU averaged 3.66 GHz and 72.19 degrees Celsius (161.94 degrees Fahrenheit).
Productivity Performance on the Asus TUF Dash F15
The Dash F15 stands out as one of the first machines to arrive with an Intel H35-series CPU. Announced in January, these chips were designed specifically for ultraportable laptops and can operate at a TDP between 28W and 35W. Our Dash F15 configuration opts for an Intel Core i7-11370H. It runs at up to 35W, has four CPU cores, eight threads and a clock speed of up to 5.0 GHz. Our review laptop combines that with a 1TB M.2 2230 NVMe PCIe SSD and 16GB of DDR4-3200 RAM.
That proved ample for 21 Google Chrome tabs, with one streaming a TV show, Spotify and the Epic Games launcher. The 21st tab caused the fans to kick up for a second, but not so powerfully that the sound overpowered the audio. I could quickly toggle through tabs and programs without delay or interruption to my show. Even tracking through the show was easy, with just a 1-3 second delay.
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In Geekbench 5.0, the Dash F15 bested the Alienware (same specs as our review focus but with an octa-core i7-10870H), Acer (six-core i7-10750H / 16GB DDR4-2933 / 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD) and Razer (eight-core i7-10875H / 16GB DDR4-2933 / 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD) by a few hundred points. When it came to multi-core productivity, the Dash F15 naturally couldn’t compete with its beefier rivals here. All the competing machines’ CPUs have higher core counts than that of the Dash F15. They also all use older 10th Gen chips, but they’re configured at a higher 45W TDP. If you’re running heavily threaded tasks or games, you can get better performance out of the competitors here.
The Dash F15 fared better against the competition in our file transfer test, moving 25GB of files at a speed of 1,052.03 Mbps. Only the Alienware (1,147 Mbps) was faster. The Razer meanwhile, was at a crawl compared to the other machines here.
In our Handbrake test, each system is tasked with transcoding a video from 4K resolution down to 1080p. The TUF Dash F15 accomplished this in 10 minutes and 41 seconds. That’s 3:34 slower than the winner here, which is, again, the Alienware. The Triton 300 came in third place, completing the task 1:30 faster than the Dash F15.
Display on the Asus TUF Dash F15
Asus opted for a 15.6-inch IPS panel for the Dash F15 and even went the extra mile to include Nvidia G-Sync, a high 240 Hz refresh rate and 3ms response time.
A speedy screen like that has obvious benefits to gaming, especially if you’re playing an eSports title, where it’s easier for your graphics card to near 240 fps. Keep in mind that more graphics-intensive games will be harder to hit high frame rates on.
IPS is known for good color reproduction, and the shades, including the hints of brown cabinets in the darkest shadows or the pale robin’s egg blue of cabinets, came through. Smoky effects with rainbow prisms looked smooth and realistic with hints of purple, blue and red striking through. The area I was playing in is quite dark, however, and in my sunny room I did find myself wanting to nudge up the brightness a smidge.
Mission: Impossible – Fallout didn’t lose its luster on the Dash F15. Subtle shades, like pink in a light purple sky, were apparent, and reds were especially strong. The movie was bright enough head on, but from a side view, I could see reflections on about 80% of the screen.
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The TUF Dash F15 is a bit shy of our 300-nit preferred minimum. At 265 nits, it’s in last place here, although the Triton 300 isn’t too far ahead (286 nits). Not surprisingly, the Alienware’s OLED ran away with both the brightness and color tests. The TUF Dash F15’s more equal color competitors are the Razer and Acer machines, and the Asus tied with the Razer with 79% coverage of the DCI-P3 color space, while just barely edging out the Acer.
Keyboard and Touchpad on the Asus TUF Dash F15
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The keyboard on the Dash F15 is a mixed bag. There’s backlighting, but it’s only a teal-ish blue. On the plus side, you can toggle it across three brightness settings or turn it off straight from the keyboard. There’s also an Aura button on the keyboard that toggles through effects, which are all basically flashing blue at different speeds.
The keys have a good amount of travel at 1.7mm, but they’re excruciatingly flat. Typing felt swift and snappy, but it was harder to figure out where my fingers were without any grooves to help them feel grounded in between presses. The travel makes most of the keys comfortable to press, but larger keys, like backspace, enter and shift (interestingly, not the spacebar) felt a little loose and hollow.
On the 10fastfingers.com typing test I averaged 112 words per minute (wpm) with a 93.97% accuracy rate. That’s slightly below my typical 115 wpm average and 98% accuracy rate, and I attribute all that to the flat keys.
Making the keyboard even more home office-friendly, Asus built the keyboard to be quiet and claims that the keys exude less than 30dB of noise. They certainly shouldn’t drum up any complaints. Their gentle clicking is neither silent nor annoying or distracting.
The 4.1 x 2.9-inch touchpad on the Dash F15 is on the smoother side, but doesn’t offer the ice rink-like gliding that some premium competitors offer. Clicks are heavy and clunky, but Windows gestures worked well though.
Audio on the Asus TUF Dash F15
The Dash F15 has two speakers that pump out virtual 7.1 surround sound audio via four cutouts on the laptop’s underside. They’re clear and accurate for gaming, but I wished for a little more volume.
When I played Control, it was sometimes hard to hear voices, such as those chanting in the background or my character’s voice. I also wanted to pump up the volume to better focus on key dialogue providing instructions. Footsteps were also hard to hear, sometimes, especially if the laptop’s fans were whizzing, and the experience wasn’t comparable to the virtual surround sound experience you can get with some of the best gaming headsets. Gunshots, however, sounded crisp and with solid pop.
Again, when I listened to music I want to turn it up about 15% louder for stronger effect. It was loud enough to enjoy but not to blast. Chaka Khan’s “Through the Fire” came through accurately and without sounding tinny. But some of the strength and echo in her voice, along with the instruments, didn’t come through, and there was little bass. More electronic sounds, such as those in ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” suffered more. The song’s sound lost warmth and sounded tinny at times. Playing around with the equalizer and presets in the included Realtek Audio Console software didn’t yield significant improvements.
Upgradeability of the Asus TUF Dash F15
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The Dash F15’s back covers prys off easily after unscrewing 14 Phillips head screws. Once inside, there’s space for a second PCIe Gen3 x4 SSD. You can also add up to 32GB of RAM, but you’ll have to get past some thermal tape to get to the SO-DIMM slots, as is the case with the Wi-Fi card.
Battery Life on the Asus TUF Dash F15
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Despite its trim build, the Dash F15 packs decent battery life for a gaming laptop. Our battery test surfs the web, runs OpenGL tests and streams video while connected to Wi-Fi and set to 150 nits brightness. The TUF Dash 15 kept up the workload for 6 minutes and 32 seconds, which is 41 minutes longer than the closest competitor, the Triton 300. The Alienware has been a favorite among our benchmarks, but all that power cost it battery life, and it placed last.
The Dash F15 comes with an AC charger, but you can also charge it at up to 100W via USB-C. Sadly, our review unit wasn’t bundled with a USB-C laptop charger. Still, it’s a nice feature to have. If you’re ever in a pickle, it keeps getting more likely that you or someone around you has something that uses a USB-C charger.
Heat on the Asus TUF Dash F15
As you might expect with a slender laptop, this isn’t the coolest machine around, but the Dash F15 still manages to keep warm temperatures relatively at bay. Although, it gets harder not to sweat when you get gaming. When I fired up Control, my right hand controlling my mouse immediately felt warm air blowing out of the side of the laptop, which remained as long as I was playing.
After 15 minutes of watching YouTube, the Dash F15’s hottest point was the center of the underside, where it measured 93 degrees Fahrenheit (33.9 degrees Celsius). The spot between the G and H keys was 90.5 degrees Fahrenheit (32.5 degrees Celsius), while the touchpad was 78 degrees Fahrenheit (25.6 degrees Celsius).
After 15 minutes of gaming, the touchpad was still a cool 78 degrees Fahrenheit, but the spot between the G and H keys jumped up to 101.5 degrees Fahrenheit (38.6 degrees Celsius), and the hottest point reached 117.5 degrees Fahrenheit (47.5 degrees Celsius. For comparison, the Alienware hit 108.7 degrees after YouTubing and 111.4 degrees when gaming.
To keep a 0.78-inch machine cool, Asus implemented its ROG Intelligent Cooling hardware-software solution. The Dash F15 uses 5 copper heat pipes (covering the CPU, GPU, VRAM and VRM) and two 83-blade, liquid crystal polymer fans to pull heat away from the CPU, GPU, VRAM and VRM and disperse it through the machine’s four heatsinks and fan outlets. There’s venting by the WASD keys to let the fan beneath generate airflow. Additionally, Asus upgraded the self-cleaning capabilities over last year’s TUF lineup with 5% more airflow space.
On the software side of the cooling solution, the TUF Dash F15 uses Nvidia’s Dynamic Boost 2.0, which switches power to the CPU or GPU, depending on what needs the most push. There’s also Armoury Crate, which, once downloaded, lets you choose among performance modes, including a “Silent” one that promises a max sound level of 35dB.
Webcam on the Asus TUF Dash F15
There’s no webcam integrated in the slim bezel on the Dash F15’s display. There’s no making up for that, especially with more people taking so many video calls these days, but Asus tries by offering software-based artificial intelligence (AI) to block out background noise on both ends of a call.
That’s right, Asus claims its tech can remove the sound of your noisy keyboard while also silencing your friend’s dog annoyingly barking in the background. Once you activate AI noise cancelling in the Armoury Crate software and switch to the appropriate speaker and mic in your chatting platform, it provides a helpful service.
In a video call with a friend, I was able to silence his TV and banging in the background. And on my end, he could “barely” hear me tapping my pen right next to my laptop on my desk.
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Asus claims its software can reduce noise by 95% and eradicate 500 million “types of background noise.” The technology purposely uses the laptop’s CPU instead of its graphics card, so as to not interfere with gaming performance. You can also tweak its settings in Armoury Crate, and Asus provides recommended settings based on the scenario.
Software and Warranty on the Asus TUF Dash F15
Asus kept the Dash F15’s bloatware light. Our review unit came with RealTek Audio Console, McAfee Personal Security, Skype, Your Phone, Xbox Game Bar and Xbox Console Companion, courtesy of Windows 10, but not much else — not even your usual smatterings of Candy Crush Sagas.
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Asus does include Armoury Crate, but it’s worth keeping for the AI noise cancelling and, partially, because two of the keyboard’s buttons are useless without it. If you do download the app, you’ll also get access to other perks, the most helpful being the ability to select and tweak different cooling profiles and display presets.
Asus backs the TUF Dash F15 with a 1-year warranty.
Asus TUF Dash F15 Configurations
We tested the middle configuration of the Dash F15 (SKU FX516PR-211.TM15). Available on March 8 for $1,450, it includes an Intel Core i7-11370H CPU, RTX 3070 graphics card, 16GB of DDR4 RAM, a 1TB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD and a 240 Hz display.
The cheapest configuration (SKU FX516PM-211.TF15) will be available on February 15 for $1,100. It comes with the same CPU and RAM as our review focus but drops down to an RTX 3060 GPU, a less roomy 512GB SSD and a slower 144 Hz refresh rate.
The most expensive version of the Dash F15 is $1,700 and matches our review configuration, except it bumps up to an Intel Core i7-11375H and RTX 3070.
Bottom Line
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The Asus TUF Dash F15 continues the trend of slim gaming laptops and does it justice, but there are inherent limitations to a gaming laptop focused on staying thin.
For one, frame rates might not match what you expect from Nvidia’s next-gen RTX 30-series on thicker machines. The Dash F15 fell behind the Alienware m15 R4 using the same GPU in our gaming benchmarks, and overall, its gaming performance was more similar to an RTX 20-Series Super card. .
At $1,450, our configuration of the Dash F15 seems fairly priced . It performed similarly to the Acer Predator Triton 300, which was $1,600 when it came out with a six-core Intel Core i7-10750H and RTX 2080 Super Max-Q. The aforementioned Alienware, meanwhile, is $2,499 as tested. So the Dash F15 offers good gaming performance for the price; it’s just not much of an upgrade over last-gen machines.
In terms of the new Intel H35-series chip, the Dash F15 excelled with lightly threaded workloads, even compared to pricey rivals. But for workloads requiring more cores, the Dash F15’s 11th Gen quad-core chip can’t keep up with beefier 10th Gen CPUs.
The performance conundrum of a slim gaming laptop is something Asus hasn’t fully solved with the Dash F15. But if you’re after a lightweight laptop with the premium screen and components that can handle high-end gaming with good frame rates for the price, the Dash F15 may be for you.
The Alienware m15 R4 packs plenty of RTX 30-series performance in an attractive design with an amazing screen.
For
Sleek design
Strong performance
Snappy Keyboard
Vibrant optional OLED Screen
Against
Warm temperatures
Relatively short battery life
Nvidia’s RTX 30-series “Ampere” graphics cards have been burning up the desktop market since they launched last fall, and now they’ve come to laptops. Alienware’s m15 R4 is among the first laptops to offer RTX 3070 and 3080 GPUs and has paired them with 10th Gen Intel Comet Lake H CPUs for speedy performance.
But the Alienware m15 R4 ($2,149 to start, $2,499 as configured) is more than just a speedy system with the latest components. Ready to compete with the best gaming laptops, it sports a spaceship-like chassis that’s relatively thin and light, a fantastic tactile keyboard and an optional 4K OLED display that offers epic image quality.
3x USB Type-A Gen 3.2, microSD, Thunderbolt 3, Mini DisplayPort, HDMI 2.1
Camera
1280 x 720
Battery
86 WHr
Power Adapter
240W
Operating System
Windows 10 Home
Dimensions(WxDxH)
14.19 x 10.86 x 0.78 inches (360.43 x 275.84 x 19.81mm)
Weight
5.25 pounds (2.38kg)
Price (as configured)
$2,499
Design of the Alienware m15 R4
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Available in lunar light (white) or dark side of the moon (black), the Alienware m15 R4 has the same sci-fi-inspired chassis design — Alienware calls it “Legend” design — as its immediate predecessor, the Alienware m15 R3. A sloped front lip and a large rear exhaust with a honeycomb grille and RGB light ring make the m15 look like an alien spaceship. The number 15 adorns the back of the lid in a sci-fi font that looks like it comes straight from a warehouse at Area 51. The space theme continues on the inside, where a honeycombed grilled appears above the keyboard, which matches the color of the deck.
Like other Alienware laptops, the m15 R4 is loaded with RGB. The keyboard comes with either 4-zone or per-key lighting, depending on your configuration, and there are also lights around the rear exhaust and on alien heads on the back of the lid and power button. You can customize all the lights and create your own themes that launch along with your favorite games using the preloaded Alienware Command Center app.
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As befits a laptop of its price and stature, the Alienware m15 R4 is made from premium materials with a magnesium alloy shell and clear coat paint. On the inside, Alienware’s own Cryo-Tech cooling technology uses a CPU vapor chamber, 12-phase graphics voltage regulation and 6-phase CPU voltage regulation to improve performance.
At 14.19 x 10.86 x 0.78 inches (360 x 276 x 20mm) and 4.7- 5.5 pounds ,(depending on your configuration; ours was 5.25 pounds), the Alienware m15 R4 is pretty compact for a 15-inch mobile gaming right with all the trimmings. It’s only a little larger than last years’ Razer Blade 15 Advanced Model (14 x 9.3 x 0.7 inches, 4.7 pounds), which had a last-gen RTX 2080 graphics card, and slimmer than the MSI GE66 Raider (14.1 x 10.5 x 0.8 inches, 5.3 pounds). The 17-inch Gigabyte Aorus 17G YC with its RTX 3080 measures 15.9 x 10.8 x 1.0 inches while weighing 5.95 pounds.
The m15 R4 finds room for plenty of ports. On the right side, you’ll find two USB Type-A Gen 3.2 ports, while on the left live a third USB Type-A port, a 2.5 Gbps Killer Ethernet port and a 3.5mm audio jack. On the back side, there’s HDMI 2.1, a Mini DisplayPort, a Thunderbolt 3 port and Alienware’s proprietary graphics amplifier port.
Gaming Performance on the Alienware m15 R4
One of the first laptops with an RTX 30-series inside, the Alienware m15 R4 is powerful enough to do real 4K gaming with the effects turned up. Our review configuration came with the optional 4K OLED display that’s limited to 60 Hz, but it’s so damn sharp that to some, the spectacle may make up for the refresh rates.
With the RTX 3070 in our unit and its Core i7-10870H Comet Lake H CPU, we were able to play Cyberpunk 2077 at RTX Ultra in 4K, the highest possible settings, and the visuals were impressive (more on that in the display section below). However, we were limited to around 42 frames per second (fps) during action scenes, which is more than playable but a tad below the 60 fps that would max out the display’s capabilities. Turning down the settings to RTX Medium improved the frame rate by a few fps, as did setting DLSS to prioritize performance
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The Alienware m15 R4 returned an impressive 108 fps in Grand Theft Auto V at 1080p resolution with very high settings. That rate was surprisingly a little higher than the Gigabyte Aorus 17G YC laptop (100 fps) with its RTX 3080 GPU and the same Core i7-10870H CPU. The Razer Blade 15 Advanced Model (RTX 2070) and MSI GE66 Raider (RTX 2080) were about 10% slower.
When we tested with the very-demanding Red Dead Redemption 2 at 1080p and medium settings, the story was much the same. The m15 R4 managed a strong 68 fps, while the on-paper more powerful Aorus 17G YC was slightly behind (64 fps), followed by the two laptops with older cards.
On Shadow of the Tomb Raider at 1080p, highest settings, the m15 R4 returned an impressive 77 fps, but this time the Aorus 17G YC pulled ahead (86 fps) and the Razer and MSI laptops were just a few fps behind.
The numbers for Far Cry New Dawn, running at 1080p and ultra settings, weren’t the strongest. The m15 R4 managed a buttery smooth 91 fps, which is about on par with the 17G YC’s 92 fps but a little behind the GE66 Raider’s 99 fps. Though the Raider has an older GPU, it has a faster CPU in the Core i9-10980HK.
It’s worth noting that, as you might expect, playing these same four games at 4K dramatically reduced the frame rates to a modest 34 fps for Grand Theft Auto V, 33 fps for Shadow of the Tomb Raider, 56 fps for Far Cry New Dawn and a barely playable 27 fps for Red Dead Redemption 2. To run at higher resolutions, you may want to turn down other settings.
To see how the Alienware m15 R4 and its cooling system perform when you’re playing a demanding game over time, we ran the Metro Exodus benchmark at the RTX preset 15 times, simulating about 30 minutes of gaming. The system averaged 60.2 fps, but performance declined steadily from 63.9 fps at run 1 to 58.9 on the final run. During that time, the GPU clock speed averaged 1.4 GHz, and the CPU clock speed averaged 3.5 GHz. It had average GPU temperature and CPU temperatures of 77 and 88 degrees Celsius, respectively (170.6 degrees Fahrenheit and 190.4 degrees Fahrenheit).
Productivity Performance of Alienware m15 R4
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With an Intel Core i7-10870H CPU, along with 16GB of RAM, a speedy 1TB NVMe PCIe SSD and RTX 3070 graphics, our configuration of the Alienware m15 R4 was more than capable of productivity work and heavy multitasking. Even with 35 tabs open and a 4K video playing, the laptop didn’t miss a beat. In fact, we were able to set the webGL Aquarium test to show 4,000 fish during this multitasking workload and still got 60 fps.
The Alienware m15 R4 scored a solid multi-core score of 7,642 on Geekbench 5 , a synthetic benchmark that measures overall performance. The Gigabyte Aorus 17G with the same Core i7-10870H scored a bit higher at 7,895.T he Core i9-10980HK-enabled MSI GE66 Raider understandably fared much better with 8,379, and the Razer Blade 15 Advanced Model with its Core i7-10875H was slightly behind the rest at 7,319. When it came to single-core performance, the numbers were much closer with the Alienware dipping behind all three of its competitors by a few points.
The 1TB PCIe M.2 SSD in our review unit delivered a speedy 1,055 MBps on our file transfer test, which copies 4.97 GBps of mixed media files from and to the storage drive. That rate is quicker than all of the Alienware m15 R4’s direct competitors except the GE66 Raider, which hit an impressive 1,696 MBps.
It took just 7 minutes and 7 seconds for the m15 R4 to transcode a 4K video to 1080p using Handbrake. That time is faster than the Aorus 17G (8:33) and Blade 15 Advanced Model (8:04) but a few seconds behind the GE66 Raider (6:59).
Display on Alienware m15 R4
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Alienware sells the m15 R4 with two different screen options: a 1080p, 300 Hz screen and a 4K OLED display with vibrant color but a 60 Hz refresh rate. Our review unit came with the OLED screen, and it was just eye-popping to behold. When I watched a 4K nature video, colors, like the red in a parrot’s feathers and the green in a frog’s skin, seemed incredibly vibrant — as colorful as I’ve seen on any laptop screen.
Images were also bright and sharp for gaming. When I played Cyberpunk 2077, the facial lines on character, such as Jackie, were well-defined, and colors, like the reds and pinks of neon lights, were quite vibrant, though they didn’t pop as much as they did in the video. When I fired up Shadow of the Tomb Raider, water rippling in a lake had a very realistic sheen to it, and the green in trees really stood out.
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According to our colorimeter, the screen reproduces an impressive 149.5% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, which is nearly double that of its competitors without OLED screens, which all covered 79 or 80% of the gamut. OLED screens measure as brighter if only a portion of the pixels are white, so, with a smaller white square, our screen averaged an impressive 461 nits and, with the entire screen white, it was a still-strong 361 nits. Its IPS-based competitors were all stuck at around 300 nits.
Keyboard and TouchPad on Alienware m15 R4
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The Alienware m15 R4’s tenkeyless keyboard is really snappy and great for typing or gaming. Thanks to its generous 1.7mm of travel, I never bottomed out while hitting a strong 99 words per minute (wpm) on the 10 Fast Fingers typing test with a 2.5% error rate. Both were improvements over my typical 95 wpm and 3-5% error rate.
The keyboard features customizable RGB backlighting and comes in two configuration options: one with 4-zone lighting and another with per-key RGB. Either way, you can customize the colors and enable effects using the included Alienware Command Center software.
The 2.4 x 4.1-inch glass touchpad has just the right amount of friction, providing smooth navigation. Using Windows Precision touchpad drivers, it quickly and accurately responded to all our gestures, from pinch-to-zoom to three-finger swipe.
Audio on Alienware m15 R4
The front-mounted speakers produce music that’s mostly accurate and relatively loud, if not overly smooth. When I played AC/DC’s guitar and drum-heavy “Back in Black” at full volume, I could hear a clear separation of sound with some instruments coming from one side or the other. However, there was just a slight hint of tinniness on the drums.
A Taste of Honey’s bass-centric “Get Down, Boogie Oogie Oogie” sounded perfectly clean, thanks to its lack of harsh percussion. The top volume was loud enough to fill a small room, but I wouldn’t recommend using the Alienware m15 R4 to DJ a party, unless you attach external speakers.
The speakers are definitely good enough for gaming. When I played Cyberpunk 2077, the thumping music in a club scene felt really immersive, and gunshots were loud and clear.
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The Alienware Command Center software has an audio settings section, which allows you to control the equalizer and contains profiles for a variety of situations, from music to gaming and movie-viewing. I found that the default profile, labeled “Alienware” sounded nearly identical to the Music profile and is probably your best bet overall.
Upgradeability of the Alienware m15 R4
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You can upgrade the storage on the Alienware m15 R4, and the good news is that there are two M.2 2280 slots. To open up the laptop, all I needed to do was to loosen the eight Philip’s head screws on the bottom, two of which come out, and then use a spudger to pry the cover off.
Underneath, there are two M.2 slots under copper heatsinks. If your configuration only comes with one SSD, this means that you have an expansion slot that’s readily available. You just need to remove the heatsink covering the slot, pop it in and you’re good to go. Unfortunately, the RAM is soldered on and can’t be removed.
Battery Life on Alienware m15 R4
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We don’t expect long battery life from a gaming laptop this powerful, but you will get a few hours of endurance on the Alienware m15 R4. The laptop lasted 4 hours and 1 minute on our battery test, which involves continuous surfing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness. The Razer Blade 15 Advanced Model (5:02) and MSI GE66 Raider (4:57) both lasted about an hour longer but have older-generation graphics cards. The Gigabyte Aorus 17G, however, has a more powerful RTX 3080 and lasted 40 minutes longer than the R4.
Heat on Alienware m15 R4
As with many thin gaming laptops, the skin temperature on the Alienware m15 R4 can get uncomfortably warm. We don’t recommend holding this on your lap with shorts on while you’re gaming.
After running the Metro Exodus benchmark for 15 minutes, the keyboard measured a toasty 53.9 degrees Celsius (129 degrees Fahrenheit), and the bottom center hit 51.7 degrees Celsius (125 degrees Fahrenheit). The back bottom was the warmest spot, reaching a full 57.8 degrees Celsius (136 degrees Fahrenheit), while the touchpad was relatively cool at 36.7 degrees Celsius (98 degrees Fahrenheit). The fan was running loud and nearly constantly during this test.
Webcam on Alienware m15 R4
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The Alienware m15 R4’s 720p resolution webcam captures pictures that were color-accurate but noisy. When I shot a selfie, the red on my hat, shirt and in a set of bins behind me really popped, as did some yellow and blue objects. However, there was a lot of speckling from sunlight coming in through a window.
Like other Alienware laptops, the m15 R4 comes with Tobii eye tracking sensors. The Tobii software comes preloaded, and I found that setting it up was a breeze. It asked me to calibrate it for my eyes. The software then showed a bubble, which moved accurately around the screen to follow my glances.
Software and Warranty on Alienware m15 R4
The Alienware m15 R4’s main piece of first-party software is the Alienware Command Center, which lets you control the RGB lighting, set the power policy, overclock the CPU and GPU (if your CPU allows it) and change the audio profile.
There’s also the Killer Control Center app ,which lets you control the Killer Wi-Fi card that can be set to prioritize gaming internet traffic over other background tasks, such as Windows updates, that might slow down your play. I really like the Wi-Fi analyzer screen on this tool because it showed the relative strength of all the networks in the area, even several of my neighbors’ routers.
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Like every other Windows laptop, the R4 comes with a little bloatware: two free-to-play games, a trial of Microsoft Office, a link to download Photoshop Express and Hulu.
Dell backs the Alienware m15 R4 with a standard 1-year warranty, which you can extend if you pay extra.
Configurations of Alienware m15 R4
Like many other Alienware laptops, Dell sells the m15 R4 with a variety of configuration options. You can get it with a Core i7-10870H or Core i9-10980HK CPU, an RTX 3070 or 3080 GPU, up to 32GB of RAM and up to 4TB of SSD storage in RAID 0. The display comes in either 1080p, 300 Hz or 4K, OLED 60 Hz varieties, and the chassis is either Lunar Light (white) or Dark Side of the Moon (black).
The system starts at $2,149 and comes standard with the Core i7 CPU, RTX 3070 graphics, the 1080p screen, 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD.
Our review configuration of the Alienware m15 R4 is $2,499. For that price, you get the laptop with an Intel Core i7-10870H CPU, RTX 3070 GPU, 16GB of DDR4 RAM, a 1TB M.2 SSD and the 4K, OLED display panel.
Prices for other configurations were not available at press time.
Bottom Line
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The Alienware m15 R4 offers plenty of performance in a sci-fi-styled chassis that’s relatively thin and light for its class. The snappy, deep keyboard feels absolutely fantastic for typing or gaming ,and the optional 4K, OLED panel is one of the most vibrant we’ve seen.
There are some trade-offs here: the laptop skin temperature can get pretty warm, the battery life is mediocre and the 4K display tops out at 60 Hz. On the other hand, getting a AAA game running at 4K and more than 60 fps at high settings can be a challenge, even with RTX 30-series graphics cards. If smooth frame rates are more important than sharp resolution and eye-popping color, the 1080p, 300 Hz panel might be more your speed.
Whatever your display preference, the Alienware m15 R4 is an impressive gaming laptop that’s worth its premium price.
With over 300 million active users worldwide (almost half of which are paying subscribers), Spotify is the world’s largest and most popular music streaming service. But thanks to Spotify Connect – arguably the streaming world’s most important feature – you’re no longer restricted to listening to the catalogue solely through your phone or desktop.
The feature allows you to play the catalogue over wi-fi to any compatible audio product (more on that later) you have in your home – and with just two presses of a button! It’s so simple and convenient that streaming service rival Tidal has now launched its own Tidal Connect feature.
Spotify Connect is a godsend for house parties – so long as you trust your friends with the controls! – but it’s really for anyone who wants to easily access Spotify’s 60-million-song-catalogue and curated playlists on hi-fi and AV kit and smart speakers without the hassle of Bluetooth pairing.
So how does it work? How do you set it up? And what are the perks of Spotify Connect?
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What is Spotify Connect?
As we touched upon above, Spotify Connect is a way of playing Spotify through your wireless speaker, soundbar, AV receiver, voice-control smart speaker, or any other compatible device, over wi-fi. That means you can play your favourite tunes anywhere in the house, all without the need for any convoluted Bluetooth pairing between devices every time you want to listen to music. Just note that it’s a Spotify Premium feature, so you won’t be able to benefit from it if you’re a user of Spotify’s free, ad-supported tier.
Best of all, Spotify Connect doesn’t use your smartphone (or tablet or desktop) app to stream music. It plays music directly from its servers to the device, leaving your smartphone free for making calls and all other uses. You only have to use your phone to identify the speaker in the first place and then control music playback.
To ensure the best quality possible, Spotify Connect always streams in 320kbps, which is the highest bitrate Spotify currently offers.
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How does Spotify Connect work? What products support it?
Just like Apple AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect works over wi-fi. It seeks out compatible devices that are connected to the same wi-fi network and links them together to wirelessly to stream music.
To use Spotify Connect, you’ll first need a smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop computer with the Spotify app downloaded on to it. To use Spotify Connect with most devices you’ll also need a Spotify Premium subscription, although some (the PlayStation 4, for example) are happy to work with Spotify Free. Other perks of paying for the Spotify Premium subscription (£9.99, $9.99, AU$11.95 a month) include no ads and being able to pick songs on the mobile app rather than just shuffle.
And then you just need the right product. Chances are you might already have a speaker or amp that supports Spotify Connect: there are heaps of Spotify Connect-enabled products, including smart speakers, music streamers and other hi-fi streaming components, wireless speakers, smart TVs, wearables and car audio systems. You can find the full list of compatible kit here.
Spotify Connect really has become a must-have feature in the AV and particularly audio world, and these days you won’t see many streaming-enabled products without it. In fact, it’s become so ubiquitous it’s usually the first feature you’ll see on a streaming-capable product’s feature list.
Spotify Connect works on one device at a time, unless you’re using a multi-room system such as Sonos, where you can select a group (two rooms or more, set up via Sonos’s app) to stream music to.
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How to set up Spotify Connect
Spotify Connect is simple to use. Download the latest version of the Spotify app to your control device – a smartphone, tablet or computer, say – and make sure both it and your chosen product(s) are connected to the same wi-fi network.
On your smartphone, launch Spotify, log into your subscription account, and select a song to start playing. Click the ‘Now Playing’ bar, then the device logo at the bottom left-hand corner of the screen. This will show which of your connected products can play from Spotify. Select a device (the text will go from white to green) and music will start playing on that device. Magic!
If you’re using Spotify Connect to listen to a song on another smartphone or tablet, make sure both devices are logged in to the same Spotify account and simply follow the steps above.
On the desktop app, click the ‘Connect to a device’ button in the bottom-right corner. This brings up the devices menu. Select the one you’d like to use, and it’ll do the rest.
Spotify claims using Connect lets you switch between multiple products “without skipping a beat”. In reality, there’s always a tiny bit of delay when you swap products, but it’s much quicker than having to pair to Bluetooth every time.
Once you’re all set, your smartphone or computer becomes the remote control: select a song or playlist, pause, skip or shuffle through Spotify’s vast catalogue.
Another big advantage of using Spotify Connect (especially on a product that supports it natively), is when you fire up the app or switch between products, it will always adjust the volume automatically for the chosen audio product. Pretty neat.
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How do you use your smartphone while using Spotify Connect?
You can use it normally without worrying that whatever you’re doing – sending a text, playing a game, watching a YouTube clip – will interrupt the music.
All songs are streamed directly from Spotify’s cloud servers to your Spotify Connect product; your phone acts purely as a controller.
First of all, this means playing Spotify won’t sap your smartphone’s battery – a fine reason to invest in a Premium account. Since you’re only using your smartphone or tablet to control playback, it goes a long way in prolonging the battery life.
Secondly, it means you can wish your mum happy birthday or make that pizza delivery call without having to pause and interrupt your carefully curated playlist.
You can also switch between devices seamlessly. Were you listening to Spotify through your headphones on your way home? Once you’ve walked through the door, simply select your Spotify Connect-compatible stereo system in the app and the song will carry on playing through your speakers without having to pause or restart it. If it’s non-stop music you want, you’ve got it.
Listen to the What Hi-Fi? playlist
Does Spotify Connect work with voice control?
If you use a smart speaker, such as the Amazon Echo, Sonos One or Google Nest Audio, you can use voice commands to play music from Spotify on them.
Add your Spotify account to the list of music streaming services (this can be done in the Alexa or Google Home apps) and make sure you select Spotify as your default music player so you don’t have to specify which service to use at every turn. Then simply say “Alexa, play the new Taylor Swift album” or “OK Google, play the John Wick soundtrack” and your smart speaker will comply.
We can’t see the Apple HomePod and HomePod Mini with Siri voice control supporting Spotify Connect anytime soon, although you can play Spotify through those Apple speakers via AirPlay.
But you might not need to rely on other brands and services to get voice controlled Spotify music: there are reports that Spotify is testing its own in-app “Hey Spotify” voice assistant.
We hope that if and when it does happen, Spotify finally unveils that lossless Hi-Fi tier – we’ve had our fingers crossed for over three years now.
MORE:
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If you’re looking for a gaming rig that’s a step above the budget price point but still more affordable than the flashiest PCs on the market, you’re looking for MSI’s Leopard line. With a starting price of $1,599 ($1,899 as tested), the 2021 GP66 Leopard takes the same top-end chips that are in the likes of MSI’s GE66 Raider and the Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 and puts them in a less exciting, more affordable chassis. In this case, that’s Intel’s eight-core Core i7-10870H and Nvidia’s brand-spanking-new RTX 3070 mobile graphics card — components you’ll also see in luxury gaming flagships across the board.
That’s the clear argument for the GP66. If you’re willing to make some compromises (particularly when it comes to the chassis and the battery life), you can get high-end gaming performance at a midrange price point. Thanks especially to the RTX 3070, these are some of the best frame rates you’ll find below $2,000.
The GP66 Leopard is a revamp of the 2019 GP65 Leopard. In addition to the RTX 3070, MSI made at least one other major change: its design. The changes are subtle, but they add up to a machine that looks a bit more professional and a bit less gamer-y.
For one, the GP66 is noticeably thinner — it’s 0.92 inches thick, while its predecessor was 1.08 inches thick. There’s also a new hinge design, which leaves less visible space between the display and the keyboard deck, and is meant to make the clamshell easier to open with one hand. MSI sent a dummy GP65 specifically to verify this claim, and I can confirm that the GP66 is much easier to open. The lid, which had a red MSI logo on the GP65, is all-black on the GP66, and the two raised ridges in the center of the GP65 that gave the laptop a distinctively “gamer” look are gone.
But the keyboard deck is where the Leopard has matured the most. MSI eliminated the GP65’s stiff discrete clickers in favor of a smooth, modern touchpad. The keyboard keys, which looked and felt quite plasticky on the last model, have been upgraded to a wider design that more closely resembles those of the Razer Blade line. (Don’t worry: Per-key RGB backlighting remains.) The clunky dedicated buttons the GP65 had for toggling the power and fan profiles are gone as well.
Clickers, be gone!
Wrapping your charger around the back can be a tough adjustment, but you get used to it.
USB-A and an audio jack on the left.
More USB-A ports on the right.
There’s a webcam. It exists.
The logo is pretty subtle, which isn’t always the case with gaming laptops.
Vents, vents vents.
That doesn’t mean this is the best-made laptop around. The chassis has a bit of a plasticky feel compared to many more expensive models, and the touchpad wasn’t as smooth as I’d like — I often found my fingers skidding. But I’m happy with the revamp all the same. It’s a smoother, sleeker look — a Leopard for 2021.
One more design change: MSI moved a bunch of ports to the rear of the chassis. There’s one Type-C USB 3.2 Gen 2 with DP1.4, one HDMI 2.0, one RJ45, and one power port back there, in addition to a Type-A USB 3.2 and an audio combo jack on the left and two Type-A USB 3.2 on the right. That means the GP66 actually has fewer ports than its predecessor, which was able to fit in a miniDP 1.4, separate input and output audio jacks, and an SD card reader (though that reader was frustratingly slow according to reviewers). On the other hand, having so many ports crammed together on the sides of a device can make cable management a frustrating endeavor, so I’m glad that MSI has been able to spread them out. In particular, having USB-A ports on both sides is handy.
Let’s get into the second thing that’s new with this machine: the RTX 3070. This graphics card was unveiled at Nvidia’s CES 2021 keynote two weeks ago, along with the rest of the new RTX 3000 mobile line. Nvidia said the chip would deliver speeds up to 1.5 times faster than those of RTX 2070 systems. In my testing, the GP66 didn’t quite display that large of a bump on every title, but it wasn’t too far off.
(My test unit also included an Intel Core i7-10870H, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage, in addition to a 1920 x 1080 240Hz display with 3.5ms response time.)
The tl;dr is that pretty much any game you want to play, you can play. All of the games here were tested at their highest possible settings, and none of them gave the RTX 3070 any trouble. The GP66 averaged 96FPS on Horizon Zero Dawn; gameplay looked fantastic without a stutter to be seen. It averaged 75FPS on the highly demanding Red Dead Redemption II, with a minimum of 55FPS on the game’s built-in benchmark. Those are both significantly better results than we saw from MSI’s flagship GE66 Raider and Asus’s ROG Strix Scar 15, both of which use an RTX 2070 Super, and both of which cost several hundred dollars more for comparable specs. It’s also (unsurprisingly) a step up from MSI’s high-end GS66 Stealth that’s equipped with an RTX 2070 Super Max-Q.
MSI’s dragon remains, but the red is gone.
Ray tracing was also no problem: The Leopard put up 82FPS on Shadow of the Tomb Raider with the feature on its Ultra setting. The Raider and the Strix averaged 70FPS and 67FPS, respectively, on that title.
With esports titles, you can take full advantage of the 240Hz screen. The GP66 maxed out Rocket League (which goes up to 250FPS) and averaged 169FPS on Overwatch (where the Raider only averaged 124FPS).
The Leopard employs MSI’s “Cooler Boost 5” system, which includes two fans and six heat pipes. Cooling was good throughout; the CPU never passed 88 degrees Celsius during gaming. I never heard the fans during my regular multitasking, but there was sometimes an annoying coil whine that swapping to the Silent Fan profile didn’t always eliminate.
You can switch between cooling profiles to eliminate fan noise when you’re not stressing the machine.
While some gaming laptops can double as drivers for media work, the GP66 wouldn’t be a great choice for creative professionals because its screen maxes out at 205 nits. That’s dim, even for a mid-tier gaming laptop. The system also wasn’t quite as dominant in Premiere Pro as it was in gaming — it took five minutes and 21 seconds to export a 5-minute, 33-second video that the GS66 Stealth completed in three minutes and 14 seconds. On the bright(er) side, the GP66’s display does cover 100 percent of the sRGB gamut and 80 percent of AdobeRGB, which means your games should look nice and vibrant.
When it came to regular multitasking and office work, I didn’t experience any performance issues with the GP66. I ran into a number of bugs with the last MSI product I reviewed, the GE66 Raider, but am happy to report that they all seem to have been fixed. The Dragon Center app (where you can swap fan profiles and customize other settings) was so crash-prone and glitchy when I used it last October that MSI had to tap into my review unit and troubleshoot, but it’s quite smooth and responsive now. I’ve also previously had some trouble with the SteelSeries engine, where you customize keyboard colors and effects, but it was easy to use here.
No backlight bleed at all.
Battery life, though, is a major area where the GP66 isn’t ahead of its competition. I was averaging three and a half to four hours from the 4-cell 65Whr brick, with consistent multitasking in around a dozen Chrome tabs with the screen at 200 nits of brightness. That’s not great news for anyone who was hoping to work on the go, especially considering how heavy the 230W charger is to carry around. This unit also came preloaded with Norton Antivirus, which can drain power, so make sure to uninstall that if you want the longest possible lifespan. (Premiere Pro results also improved significantly after I nuked Norton.)
Finally, on sound. The GP66 includes two 2-watt speakers. As is usually the case with laptop speakers, treble tones were much stronger than the middle ranges, while bass and percussion were subdued. Game audio was fine with a decent surround quality — but not the best I’ve ever heard, and not as good as you’d get from a decent external speaker.
The GP66 also comes preloaded with Nahimic customization software, which lets you swap between audio presets for Music, Movie, Communication, and Gaming, and manually adjust equalizer settings. There’s a “Surround Sound” feature you can turn on and off (I didn’t notice a huge difference), and a “Volume Stabilizer” that’s supposed to keep your audio audible without waking people up (this did change the sound, though I wasn’t able to test its efficacy on any sleeping roommates). You can also customize the built-in microphones for conferences and chats — there are toggles for echo cancelation, static noise suppression, and the like.
The GP66 Leopard isn’t a perfect laptop. Between the plasticky texture, the skid-prone touchpad, the dim screen, and the preloaded bloatware, it’s clear where MSI has had to cut some corners. And while I certainly enjoy the modest all-black chassis, gamers who need RGB lights everywhere may still prefer the likes of the Raider and the Strix.
But the Leopard excels in the area that matters most: game performance. Not only does it blow budget competitors like the Lenovo Legion 5i out of the water, but thanks to the new RTX 3070 it’s a significant step up from today’s luxury gaming laptops while remaining a large step down in price. With a powerful new chip and a fresh modern design, the GP66 Leopard is an excellent new product to kick off 2021.
The ROG Flow X13 and the XG Mobile deliver reasonable performance for quite a high price.
A top-notch convertible with a pricey sidecar
If I saw the Asus ROG Flow X13 in the wild, I would never guess it was a gaming laptop. It’s a 13.4-inch 2-in-1 convertible that’s just 2.9 pounds and .62 inches thick. Flip the screen around, and you can use it as a tablet.
A 13-inch gaming laptop with those proportions isn’t unheard of, but it’s certainly unusual. How is Asus pulling it off? The secret is that the real gaming hardware is on the outside.
The ROG Flow and its eGPU companion make an attractive pair.
On its own, the Flow X13 looks like a high-end productivity machine. Inside is AMD’s Ryzen 9 5980HS, a monstrous mobile processor with eight cores and 16 threads — making this undoubtedly the most powerful CPU we’ve ever seen in a 13-inch chassis. That’s paired with an entry-level Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 with Max-Q design, 32GB of memory, 1TB of storage, and a 16:10 3840 x 2400 touch display. (You can choose a 120Hz FHD display as well.)
On paper, that’s an excellent multimedia device that could compete very well with the likes of the Dell XPS 13, in the $1,000-$2,000 price range. But Asus isn’t selling it that way: it’s selling it as an ultraportable gaming laptop and bundling it with its very own external GPU called the XG Mobile. Asus says this GPU will deliver power equivalent to that of a GeForce RTX 3080 — Nvidia’s top of the line. So here’s the kicker: for the moment, you can only buy the Flow X13 bundled with the XG Mobile. The configuration we have costs $3,299.99.
That’s a lot of money. It’s more than any number of excellent high-end gaming laptops cost. It’s over $1,000 more than the Razer Blade Stealth 13 and more than twice the price of Asus’s own Zephyrus G14, the two best gaming laptops in the ultraportable class. The argument for it is that for $3,299, you’re essentially buying three laptops: one that’s competing with the Dell XPS 13, one that’s competing with the Blade Stealth, and one that’s competing with much larger systems like Razer’s Blade Pro 17 (with the caveat that it needs an eGPU to keep up).
I just wish those three laptops could be sold separately — and I wish I could give them separate scores. Because the Flow X13, on its own, is truly an excellent laptop and one of the most powerful 13-inch systems on the market today. But by positioning this as a gaming rig and slapping it with a $3,000 price tag, Asus has forced the Flow into the premium gaming category. And while it holds its own among competitors there, it still comes with more compromises than I’d want to see from a $3,000 product.
I’ll start by explaining what makes the Flow X13 so great as a general-purpose laptop, because there really is a lot going for it. Not only is it light enough that carrying it feels like carrying nothing, but it’s also the coolest-feeling laptop I’ve used in the past year. The lid, the palm rests, and the bottom of the deck all have a ridged corduroy-ish texture that’s hard to resist running your hands over. It also gives the whole thing a sleek, futuristic look.
Like many Asus laptops, the Flow X13 has an ErgoLift hinge that tilts the keyboard slightly off the table when the clamshell is open. This hinge was a bit more rounded than those I’ve seen on fold-under laptops in the past, and it wasn’t sharp at all in my lap.
The keys have 1.7mm of travel and a 0.15mm keycap curve.
Another thing that’s great: the 16:10 screen. Most gaming laptops are still 16:9, but many high-end business and productivity laptops are starting to move to 16:10 and 3:2 displays this year. That’s with good reason: You get noticeably more vertical space with a 16:10 resolution, which means much less scrolling and zooming out throughout your work day.
The panel is also compatible with the Asus Pen, and Asus says it’s “highly scratch-resistant.” While I didn’t go to great lengths to try to scratch the thing, I was struck by how resilient it was in general. I gave it a good amount of touchscreen use throughout my first day of testing, and I never noticed any kind of fingerprints or smudges left behind. One note: there’s noticeable hinge wobble when you’re using the touchscreen in clamshell mode, which wasn’t an issue for me but may be for some folks.
Inside, this laptop is a whirlwind. The Ryzen 9 5980HS is clearly a powerhouse. It handled my decently heavy load of photo editing, Spotify streaming, and heaps of Chrome tabs and apps with no problem; I never once heard the fans spin up. The X13 could be a great choice for anyone who needs a 13.4-inch laptop for computational tasks or other heavy office or school work.
Audio is also pretty good. It doesn’t get as loud as an external speaker would, but the bass and percussion are some of the best I’ve ever heard on a laptop. In the preloaded Dolby Access app, you can also switch between presets for music, gaming, movies, etc. The Flow also supports two-way AI noise cancellation for video calls.
There’s a flashy ROG logo in the bottom corner.
And the keyboard, as Asus keyboards often are, is excellent. It feels quite similar to that of the Zephyrus G14, which was one of my absolute favorite keyboards of 2020. It has a resounding click, good travel, and very nice backlighting.
Finally, because this is a legitimate question with Asus ROG products: yes, there is a webcam. It’s nothing to write home about, but it does exist.
I really have only one complaint about this system, and that’s the battery life. While running my usual workload with the screen at 200 nits of brightness, even with Battery Saver on and bloatware uninstalled, the Flow X13 only lasted an average of five hours and 47 minutes. The high-resolution display is likely a contributor here — you may get slightly better mileage from the FHD panel. While playing Red Dead, the Flow lasted just over an hour and became unplayable 55 minutes in with 10 percent remaining.
The XG Mobile weighs just 2.2 pounds and measures 8.19 x 6.1 x 1.17 inches.
I wish this review could stop there. Because what Asus has made here is a beautiful machine that could absolutely rival the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 as an ultraportable, 16:10 convertible. Battery life is really my only complaint. But since Asus has decided that this is a gaming laptop, we’re going to need to dive into how it handles games.
Let’s talk a bit about this XG Mobile thing. It’s small for an external GPU, weighing just 2.2 pounds; Asus says it’s only 6 percent of the size of a typical GPU. It connects to the Flow X13 with a proprietary connector that allows for up to 64Gbps of bandwidth, with another 10Gbps reserved for USB link.
In addition to serving as an external GPU, the XG Mobile powers the laptop when it’s plugged in. (The Flow also ships with a regular 100W charger.)
The eGPU also serves as an external USB dock with a whole bunch of extra ports. In total, it includes: one HDMI 2.0, one DP 1.4, one Ethernet jack, one DC input jack, four USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, and one SD card reader. That’s in addition to the one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type C (with DisplayPort 1.4 and PD support), one audio combo jack, and one HDMI 2.0b that are already on the laptop itself. All in all, a good selection.
With the XG Mobile connected, the X13 Flow can power up to four displays.
I ran five popular games on the ROG Flow at 1920 x 1080 resolution, both with and without the XG Mobile. I also ran them at native resolution (with the XG Mobile). All games were run at their highest possible settings; in 4K, they were run with DLSS on and ray tracing off (where applicable). Take a look at the results in the chart below:
Asus ROG Flow X13
Configuration
Horizon Zero Dawn
Red Dead Redemption II
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Cyberpunk 2077
Overwatch
Configuration
Horizon Zero Dawn
Red Dead Redemption II
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Cyberpunk 2077
Overwatch
ROG Flow X13, 1920 x 1080
38
29
40
28
77
ROG Flow X13+XG Mobile, 1920 x 1080
84
76
93 (ray tracing off), 76 (ray tracing on)
71 (ray tracing off), 55 (ray tracing on)
266
ROG FLow X13+XG Mobile, 3840 x 2400
41
42
49
38
100
As you can see, these frame rates are respectable. You should be able to play whatever game you want at 1080p without needing to bump the graphics down, and you can even play some at native resolution. Even so, my overall reaction here is “Meh.” To illustrate why, I’ll pull out a few comparisons. (This is all with the usual caveat that relative performance will always vary by title.)
While using the GTX 1650, the X13 ran Shadow of the Tomb Raider at an average of 40fps. The Razer Blade Stealth 13 ran that title at 45fps, and the Zephyrus G14 ran it at 74fps. The Zephyrus also beat the Flow on Red Dead Redemption II, averaging 31fps to the Flow’s 29fps. Red Dead wouldn’t allow me to max out every slider due to available memory, so this system is further behind the Zephyrus than that score makes it appear.
Both of these laptops are comparably portable to the Flow X13 and just as well-built; they have worse processors and better GPUs. They also both cost over $1,400 less than this Flow X13 bundle. So if you’re looking to actually game on the go, rather than just do office work, think about whether you’d rather have one of those much more affordable devices with better frame rates.
But I’d still be on board with a $3,299 bundle price if the X13 Flow and XG Mobile delivered exceptional performance with no compromises — especially if it put 4K gaming on the table. The good news is that this external GPU does provide an acceptable 4K gaming experience (especially on Overwatch, the easiest game on here). But eGPUs generally come with some sort of performance penalty, and I’m seeing that on some of these titles.
For comparison, we can look to the Razer Blade Pro 17, a GeForce RTX 2080 Super Max-Q system in the same price neighborhood as the Flow X13 bundle. (Our 2080 Super Max-Q configuration was $3,199.) The XG Mobile clearly has no trouble with easier titles like Overwatch, where it breezed past all of the laptops mentioned here. But it struggled with more intense fare, and ray tracing in particular. The Blade Pro 17 averaged 95fps on Shadow of the Tomb Raider with ray tracing maxed out, where the Flow X13 and the XG Mobile averaged 76fps. Asus’ Zephyrus Duo 15, also with a 2080 Super Max-Q, also handily beat the Flow there, averaging 87fps.
And the Flow is also coming in behind more affordable systems with Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 3070 — the $1,899 MSI GP66 Leopard beat it on both Tomb Raider and Horizon, and essentially tied it on Red Dead.
So overall, whether you’re getting better frame rates from the XG Mobile or a larger gaming laptop will be somewhat title-dependent — but it’s clear that we’re seeing a performance penalty on some popular games.
The X13 Flow is an innovative gaming rig, but it asks some compromises.
So here’s the best argument for the ROG Flow X13. During the day, you can use it as a work and entertainment laptop, with a great screen, a comfortable keyboard, full audio, and a phenomenal processor that can handle whatever tasks you throw at it. Maybe you can play a game or two, if you bump down the resolution. When you’re home at night, put the Flow on your desk and pop in the XG Mobile, and it becomes a premium gaming laptop with 4K chops.
That’s fine; I’m all for that. But prospective buyers should be aware that in creating a laptop that essentially functions as three laptops (an XPS 13, a Stealth 13, and a Pro 17), you’re making compromises in each use case. In the ultrabook category, it’s the battery life. In the portable gaming category, it’s the low-powered graphics card and the massive uptick in price. And in the desktop-replacement category, it’s the eGPU performance cost, which may or may not be significant depending on the games you’re playing.
Reviewers throw this phrase around to describe all kinds of laptops, but it’s very true here: in attempting to be a jack of all trades, this laptop is a master of none. And while the Flow X13 is a top-notch convertible, and an impressive achievement from Asus, it also costs over $3,000. If you need both a high-performance office laptop and a high-performance gaming laptop in one, and you have that kind of change to throw around, I won’t stop you. But those who primarily need one or the other should be better able to fulfill their needs with something more affordable, whether it’s a high-end 2-in-1 or a portable gaming rig.
Lego is launching a new, augmented reality social video service called Vidiyo that will let users create their own music videos and dance clips and share them with friends, all while applying their own effects and styles to the videos.
It sounds a lot like TikTok but aimed at younger children with strict moderation built in, and a Lego twist that makes most of the UI built in real-world Lego bricks instead of toggles in an app.
To create a Vidiyo, users will have to download the app and select a song (the toy company is partnering with Universal Music Group, so there will be a wide variety of licensed songs from actual bands to choose from, like 5 Seconds of Summer or Imagine Dragons).
A Lego Vidiyo character with BeatBitsPhoto: Lego
But instead of just selecting a filter and dancing away, kids will instead scan a Lego Minifigure to star in the video, along with any Lego “BeatBit” tiles — 2 x 2 bricks that unlock the various digital AR effects in the app. Then, kids will be able to dance away to the music — alongside a full-sized version of their Lego character in AR — before editing and sharing the clip.
One of the key aspects that Lego hopes will set Vidiyo apart, though, is its content moderation. All content uploaded to the app has to pass a moderation test first, and any content that features “personally identifying information” — like real people in a video — won’t be allowed to be uploaded. (Although kids will still be able to watch their videos starring themselves locally.)
BeatBit tiles for Lego VidiyoPhoto: Lego
There’s still a lot of information that Lego hasn’t revealed yet about Vidiyo, including how much sets will cost, but the company does promise that more information will be on the way before the first Lego Vidiyo products launch on March 1st.
Apple is adding celebrity-guided walking workouts to Fitness Plus today, with new walks to be added every Monday through the end of April. The new feature, called “Time to Walk,” pairs music and inspirational monologues from famous musicians, athletes, and actors with the exercise tracking that Apple Watch and Fitness Plus are known for.
Today’s launch includes walks with Shawn Mendes, Dolly Parton, Draymond Green, and Uzo Aduba. Apple says each Time to Walk episode features “personal, life shaping moments” from each influential person’s life and career, along with lessons, memories, and moments of levity. The celebrities will also introduce a playlist of songs after their talk to keep the motivation going for the rest of your walk and beyond. Also interesting to note, Apple says each episode was recorded as the celebrity guests walked in a place that was personally meaningful to them.
An example of the kind of photos that can appear during a Time to Walk workout.Image: Apple
On the technical side of things, Time to Walk episodes will be automatically downloaded to Fitness Plus subscribers’ Apple Watches and will play over Bluetooth headphones. Walkers will have access to the usual exercise metrics like time, pace, heart rate, and distance, and Apple says Time to Walk will display photos on your Apple Watch timed to moments in each guest’s story. Time to Walk is called Time to Push for wheelchair users, and it relies on watchOS’s wheelchair workout tracking to provide fitness information.
In terms of subject matter and tone, Time to Walk episodes sound like they’re more in the TED Talk school of inspirational audio than something you might hear on a laidback podcast, but for fans of each star or influential guest, they might be worth a listen and stroll.
Spotify isn’t limiting its audio ambitions to podcasts and music. Today the company announced it’s furthering its audiobook experiments with the release of nine new audiobooks available exclusively in the app. As first reported by The Hollywood Reporter, among the works, which are all part of the public domain, are David Dobrik narrating Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; Forest Whitaker reading Frederick Douglass’ memoir Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave; and Hilary Swank narrating Kate Chopin’s The Awakening. It’s also releasing an accompanying audio series called Sitting with the Classics on Spotify, a show in which Harvard professor Glenda Carpio explains the stories’ histories and narratives for a modern listenership.
Although this is Spotify’s biggest effort in audiobooks to date, it’s not its first attempt. The company first partnered with J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World to release Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in audio form. The chapters, which came out weekly, featured celebrities like Daniel Radcliffe, Dakota Fanning, Claudia Kim, and David Beckham. (The show no longer appears to be listed in Spotify, but we’ve reached out for clarification and will update if we hear back.)
The decision to pursue audiobooks is interesting, especially given the fact that the company is starting out with public domain works, meaning Spotify doesn’t have to pay to license them. It’s a lower-risk investment for the company, which it might need given that some analysts are starting to advise clients to sell their stock because they don’t see podcasting efforts yielding high returns.
Shuffle Play isn’t the only new feature Netflix has been working on. The video streaming service claims to have improved sound quality on Android devices, thanks to support for the xHE-AAC audio codec.
This codec will “improve intelligibility in noisy environments,” Netflix states on its tech blog, which goes on to explain in meticulous detail how it aims to normalise loudness volume while maintaining dynamic range for more comfortable listening. In addition to improving clarity in noisy surrounding, the new codec will also allow the audio to adapt to variable cellular connections, so you shouldn’t suffer even if you have iffy mobile reception. Netflix introduced this bitrate adaptive methodology on the video side of things in 2019, so we’re glad it’s now come to audio too.
To take advantage of these improved audio features, you’ll need to watch Netflix on a device running Android 9 or later, the operating system versions that have native support for the xHE-AAC codec.
The codec is also supported by iOS 13 and later as well as Amazon’s Fire OS 7 and later. Netflix says in its blog that it expects its lessons learned “to apply to other platforms that support the new codec”, so expect these operating systems to gain the same skills soon.
Netflix has had a bumper year, adding over 36 million customers globally in 2020. That takes its total number of subscribers to over 203 million.
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If you’re looking for a versatile DAC and headphone amplifier to handle your assorted hi-res music library, Cambridge Audio may have just what you need. The British audio brand has just launched its latest flagship model, the DacMagic 200M.
Successor to the previous generation DacMagic Plus, the DacMagic 200M is the first product from the company to natively support MQA technology, meaning it can decode and play downloaded MQA files, in addition to Tidal Masters (which are based on the tech). That’s alongside native support for 32-bit/768kHz PCM and DSD512 files too.
(Image credit: Cambridge Audio)
Twin coaxial (up to 24-bit/192kHz) and optical (up to 24-bit/96kHz) inputs allow you to feed a number of digital sources through the DacMagic 200M, including CD players, games consoles and Blu-ray players. There’s also a USB type-B socket (32-bit/768kHz, DSD512) for hooking up a laptop, plus balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA analogue connections.
Last but not least for those who’d like to easily and conveniently stream files from their device over wireless means, the DacMagic 200M now has built-in aptX Bluetooth.
As for its DAC architecture, the new top-of-the-line DacMagic utilises dual ESS Sabre DACs in a mono configuration, meaning one chip handles the right channel while the other handles the left. Three pre-set filters (Fast, Slow and Short Delay) offer a level of sonic personalisation and help to reduce noise generated by the digital-to- analogue conversion process, too.
As you can see below, filter and source selection as well as file type and size are indicated by the series of LEDs on the front panel.
(Image credit: Cambridge Audio)
The headphone Class A/B amplification, meanwhile, drives a front-panel 6.3mm socket that, thanks to a reduction in impedance output, promises more power and less distortion than the one in the previous design.
The versatile Cambridge Audio DacMagic 200M is available now, priced £449 ($499).
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Looking to upgrade your home working environment? You could do a lot worse than a pair of Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 BT powered speakers. Updates on the company’s ProMedia 2.1, now with Bluetooth for wireless playback from a phone, tablet or laptop, they promise to blast our your background music or Zoom calls much better than your computer’s speakers will.
Each satellite speaker in the pair, which would nicely flank a computer or laptop, houses an 8cm Klipsch MicroTractrix horn mid-bass driver directly below the 19mm PEI (polyethermide) tweeter – an arrangement Klipsch claims produces sweet treble and a natural midrange from a small footprint. They’re joined by a separate 17cm side-firing, ported subwoofer that can be tucked out of the way. Together, they kick out 200 watts of power – not bad for desktop computer speakers of their size.
The Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 BT speakers are available in the UK now, priced £279.
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