In November 2020, Apple announced M1. By the end of the year, it announced three devices — the MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and the Mac Mini — that ditched Intel’s processors.
Those devices received largely positive reviews based on benchmark performance and battery life. But Intel has also released its 11th Gen “Tiger Lake” processors, and after several months of silence, now it’s firing back at Apple. Slides from the Santa Clara, Calif.-based chipmaker shows how it tested, and why it thinks Windows 10 laptops can beat back Apple’s ARM-based solution.
Below, we are publishing the slides in full (minus a title slide, be sure to look through the galleries), as well as our analysis. Intel shared benchmarks for the chips, but as with all vendor-provided benchmarks, take them with a grain of salt.
Intel’s Performance Claims
Image 1 of 4
(Image credit: Intel)
Image 2 of 4
(Image credit: Intel)
Image 3 of 4
(Image credit: Intel)
Image 4 of 4
(Image credit: Intel)
For pure productivity performance, Intel’s testing eschews typical benchmarks. Sure, it used Principled Technologies’ WebXPRT 3, but the Microsoft Office 365 tests appear to be based on Intel’s internal RUG (real-world usage guideline) tests. Intel claims the 11th-Gen system, an internal whitebox with an Intel Core i7-1185G7 and 16GB of RAM, is 30% faster overall in Chrome and faster in every Office task. This largely goes against what we saw in our 13-inch
MacBook Pro with M1 review
, where benchmarks showed M1 to be largely on the same level, if not better.
For what it’s worth, in most laptops, we’ve seen the companies that make them opt for the Core i7-1165G7. We’ve only seen the 1185G7 in one production laptop, the
MSI Prestige 14 Evo
.
Intel also claims that the i7-1185G7 is six times faster than M1 on AI-tools from Topaz Labs and Adobe Premiere, Photoshop and Lightroom functions. (Again, using the company’s internal RUG tests).
Gaming was a mix, with Intel and Apple trading blows with integrated graphics. But Intel also got a little snarky, placing Apple at 0 frames per second for a number of games that don’t currently work on macOS and the M1 CPU. Apple’s ecosystem hasn’t been a hardcore gaming platform for years now, especially after 32-bit app support was cut in macOS 10.15 Catalina.
It’s unclear how many people are playing some of the listed games, like Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Crysis Remastered or Red Dead Redemption 2 on Intel’s integrated Xe graphics, but yes, the point is made – Windows PCs have far larger collections of triple-A games.
Intel Evo vs. Apple M1
Image 1 of 3
(Image credit: Intel)
Image 2 of 3
(Image credit: Intel)
Image 3 of 3
(Image credit: Intel)
When Intel revealed
Evo
, its second-generation upgrade to Project Athena to make the best portable devices, it included a number of experiences from studies that it believed would create the best notebooks. So when evaluating M1, it used those tests.
Intel claims that the M1 in the MacBook Pro it tested failed eight out of 25 tests it uses, including “Switch to Calendar” in Outlook, “start video conference” in Zoom, and “Select picture Menu” in PowerPoint. Intel’s workloads don’t explain how these are run, but they’re also simple tasks that work quite well on just about any modern processor, so they’re odd choices. (I had plenty of Zoom conferences while testing the MacBook Pro with no issue.)
Interestingly, in the configurations document at the end of the slides, Intel shows that it switched to a MacBook Pro with 8GB of RAM, rather than the 16GB model it tested for performance.
In battery life, Intel switched to an Intel Core i7-1165G7 notebook, the Acer Swift 5, rather than sticking with the Core i7-1185G7 in the whitebook it used for performance testing. It also tested a MacBook Air. They ran Netflix streams and tabs and found the MacBook Air came ahead with a six-minute difference.
Intel didn’t list battery life for the MacBook Pro.
In our tests,
that beat Intel PCs by hours.
The Form Factor Argument
Image 1 of 2
(Image credit: Intel)
Image 2 of 2
(Image credit: Intel)
There has been an interesting debate among Mac users for a long time about whether or not Apple should add a touchscreen to MacBooks. It hasn’t, and left that on the iPad.
Per Intel’s slides, a Windows machine offers more choice, including 2-in-1s, desktops, small form-factor desktops, desktops with touchscreens, and even easels. This is somewhat odd, considering Apple does offer a small desktop (the Mac Mini), as well as various desktops in the iMac and the Mac Pro, and Apple has promised that its own chips will land there, too. Touchscreens and convertible 2-in-1s are the big areas where Apple lacks.
The second slide about choice shows the various form factors and configurations. And yes, Apple’s laptops are limited to clamshells. Interestingly, Intel only includes the MacBook Pro on this list, and not the MacBook Air, which starts at $999 with an M1, 8GB and 256GB of memory. That’s less than the Dell XPS 13 listed at $1,499 and has a higher display resolution. However, it is right that the MacBook Pro can get expensive at higher configurations, and certainly about the fact that Apple’s port selection on the 13-inch MacBook Pro and the MacBook Air is lacking.
(Image credit: Intel)
Intel also took a dig at the M1’s display capabilities. The slide is right – both the M1 MacBook Pro and MacBook Air only support one external display, up to 6K at 60 Hz. (This isn’t the case for the Mac Mini desktop, which also has an HDMI 2.0 port.)
Some users have found a workaround by using DisplayLink drivers and docks, but it is a weak point, especially for the Pro-branded notebook.
Compatibility
Apple includes Rosetta 2 to emulate x86 software on the Mac, but some software just doesn’t support M1. Intel includes games, again, as a weak point, as well as a lack of support for Boot Camp.
It also suggests many accessories won’t work. This is somewhat true. The M1 laptops don’t support external graphics docks, and some software won’t work on the Mac. (For instance, Razer recently announced a docking station that doesn’t have RGB lighting control because Synapse doesn’t currently work on the Mac).
Perhaps the Xbox controller wasn’t fully supported when Intel tested, but PS5 and Xbox Series X/S controller support showed up in the beta for macOS 11.3, so it’s on the way.
It’s definitely showing a disadvantage to early adoption, though many people use headphones, hard drives and other accessories that don’t require software to use.
Intel has made a similar argument about software. To a degree, again, this is true; not all software works. In my experience, I found anything that ran through Rosetta 2 seemed fairly seamless. Since then, more native software has become available or announced. For instance, Box, which is listed as incompatible, has called the issue a “High priority investigation.”
The other angle here is that the Mac has a devoted league of developers that make software only for Apple’s platform. So, in that case, people using M1 are likely to use some of that software, or Apple’s alternatives. Others, like Google Drive, are also available on the web.
On the Adobe front, Lightroom currently runs natively on M1, while the company has promised native versions of its other software.
So Intel does make some points here, but it seems far less about the M1’s capability and more about being an early adopter.
Image 1 of 4
(Image credit: Intel)
Image 2 of 4
(Image credit: Intel)
Image 3 of 4
(Image credit: Intel)
Image 4 of 4
(Image credit: Intel)
Notes and Disclaimers
Intel included these, so we’re including them here for the sake of transparency.
The company makes some good points about the current state of Apple’s chip initiative, especially if you demand a specialized form factor or play games casually.
Intel’s performance claims need to be taken with a certain grain of salt, as they’re in Intel-created tests and not industry-standard benchmarks. The fact that it switched out between the Pro and the Air for battery life (as well as the Core i7-1185G7 and Core i7-1165G7) also shows an incomplete picture.
Intel’s thoughts on software and compatibility get a bit tricky. Early adopters may feel a bit of a sting, but it’s been rapidly improving, and much of the software that doesn’t work at all may be counteracted with Apple software.
The slides paint two pictures: Yes, Apple has work to do in this transition, and the touchscreen, multi-display support, and limited port selection need to be fixed. But the fact that Intel went through putting these slides together also shows that it sees a formidable opponent worth comparing its chips against, suggesting a competitive future for notebooks.
HP’s Spectre x360 14 is a luxury worth paying for.
I have used a heck of a lot of laptops in the past year, and some of them are quite nice. MacBooks have nailed the “premium” look and feel for years, and I’ll never waste an opportunity to gush about the build quality of Dell’s XPS line.
But I’ve never touched a consumer laptop as gorgeous as the Spectre x360 14. The new Spectre’s sturdy black body, lustrous accents, and boldly sharp edges would make it a standout among convertible laptops across the board, even if it didn’t have a slew of other excellent qualities — which, from its 3:2 screen and packaged stylus to its stellar performance and battery life, it absolutely does.
With a starting MSRP of $1,299.99 ($1,589.99 as tested) the Spectre x360 is easily my new favorite 2-in-1 laptop. Today’s market is full of capable convertibles that look good, work well, and do certain things really well. But while the Spectre x360 14 isn’t a perfect laptop, it tops the pack in almost every area. It’s a stylish chassis, premium panel options, stylus support, a powerful processor, and fantastic battery in one. It’s proof that you can have it all — for a price.
The HP Spectre line is second to none when it comes to design, and this latest model is no exception. Like its 13-inch predecessor, the Spectre x360 14 is made of CNC-machined aluminum. Also like its siblings, you can get the 14 in “nightfall black,” “Poseidon blue,” or “natural silver.” Take a look at some pictures before selecting your color because they each have pretty different vibes. The nightfall black option has a sophisticated, svelte aesthetic that looks tailor-made for a boardroom. Poseidon blue is friendlier and probably the one I’d go for myself.
The accents, though, are what make the Spectre stand out from the legions of other black laptops out there. Lustrous trim borders the lid, the touchpad, and the deck. The hinges share its color, as does the HP logo on its lid. It’s bold without being obnoxious. The two rear corners are diamond-shaped, and one of them houses a Thunderbolt 4 port on its flat edge. (On the sides live an audio jack, a USB-A, a microSD slot, and an additional Thunderbolt 4, which is a decent selection — gone is the trapdoor that covered the USB-A port on the 13-inch model.) And the edges are all beveled, making the notebook appear thinner than it actually is (it’s 0.67 inches thick). Careful craftsmanship is evident here — I’m not exaggerating when I say this Spectre feels like artwork.
Take it in.
And, as the “x360” moniker implies, the Spectre is a 2-in-1. At 2.95 pounds, it’s a bit heavy to use as a tablet for long periods, but it’s smooth and easy to fold and the hinges are quite sturdy. Unlike with many convertibles, there’s barely any wobble when you use the touchscreen. The display is also stylus-compatible; the Spectre ships with HP’s MPP2.0 pen, which attaches magnetically to the side of the chassis.
Despite its design similarities, this Spectre looks noticeably different from its ancestors, and that’s because of the screen. The new model has a 3:2 display, which is 13 percent taller than the 16:9 panel on last year’s device. (It’s kept the same 90 percent screen-to-body ratio.)
Microsoft’s Surface devices have been using the 3:2 aspect ratio for years, and I’m glad that the Spectre line is finally making the switch. If you’re used to using a 16:9 display (which many modern Windows laptops have) and you give a 3:2 a shot, you’ll see what I mean. You have significantly more vertical space, which means less scrolling up and down and less zooming out to fit everything you want to see. It makes multitasking significantly easier without adding much size to the chassis.
This 3:2 panel can come in a few different forms. My test unit has an FHD option that HP says should reach 400 nits of brightness. I measured it multiple times, but it only reached 285 in my testing — which is dimmer than I’d hope to see from a device at this price point. I’ve reached out to HP to see what’s up and will update this review if it turns out to be a bug. (Of course, 285 nits is still more than enough for indoor office work.)
The OLED panel is certified for “low blue light.”
In addition to the FHD display, you can opt for a 3000 x 2000 OLED panel (HP didn’t provide a brightness estimate for this one; LaptopMag measured it at 339 nits) or a 1,000-nit option with HP’s Sure View Reflect technology, which makes the screen difficult to read from the sides. This will mostly be a benefit for business users.
In terms of other specs, the base model pairs the 400-nit screen with a Core i5-1135G7, 8GB of memory, and 256GB of storage (plus 16GB of Intel Optane). Then, there are a few upgrades you can go for. My test unit, priced at $1,589.99, keeps the base model’s screen but has a heftier processor (the quad-core Core i7-1165G7) and double its RAM and storage. I think this model is a good option for most people — it gets you a top processor and a good amount of storage without too stratospheric of a price tag. If you want to get fancier, you can get the OLED screen and 1TB of storage (plus 32GB of Intel Optane) for $1,699, or the Sure View screen and 2TB of storage for $1,959.99.
Of course, laptops aren’t just for looking at, but you’re not compromising on performance to get this build quality. The Spectre is verified through Intel’s Evo platform, which means that it offers a number of Intel-selected benefits including Thunderbolt 4, Wi-Fi 6, all-day battery life, quick boot time, fast charging, and reliable performance. In my testing, it more than surpassed those standards.
The system handled my heavy workload of Chrome tabs, downloads, and streams speedily with no issues. Battery life was excellent; I averaged 10 hours of continuous use with the screen around 200 nits of brightness. That means if your daily tasks are similar to mine, the Spectre should make it through your workday with no problem. (You’ll likely get less if you opt for the OLED panel.) The processor also includes Intel’s Iris Xe integrated graphics. While you wouldn’t want to use those for serious gaming, they’re capable of running lighter fare.
Elsewhere, I have almost no complaints. The backlit keyboard is snappy with a solid click — it’s easily one of my favorites. The speakers sound good, with very audible bass and percussion. There’s a fingerprint sensor to the left of the arrow keys and a Windows Hello camera, neither of which gave me any trouble.
Apart from the dimness, there are only two things about this laptop that I’m not in love with. They’re both minor; the fact that I’m even mentioning either of them in this review is a testament to how excellent this device is.
The first is the touchpad. It’s quite smooth and roomy (16.6 percent larger than that of last year’s Spectre x360 13) and handles scrolling and gestures just fine. But it’s noticeably stiffer than some of the best touchpads on the market. The press required to physically click is firm enough that I ended up doing it with my thumb most of the time. On the likes of the Dell XPS 13 and the MacBook, clicking with a finger is much less of a chore. When I first clicked with the integrated buttons, I also had to overcome some initial resistance to hit the actuation point (put plainly, every click felt like two clicks). This issue resolved itself during my second day of testing, but it’s still a hiccup I generally only see with cheaper items.
My complaints are minor — this is almost perfect.
Secondly, bloatware. There are a number of junk programs preloaded onto the Spectre and several pinned to the taskbar. Dropbox, ExpressVPN, McAfee, and Netflix are all on here, and I got all kinds of notifications from them. This is an oddity at this price point, and seeing cheap McAfee alerts popping up on the Spectre is like seeing really ugly bumper stickers on a Ferrari. This software doesn’t take too long to uninstall, but I’m disappointed to see it nonetheless.
But those are really the only two complaints I have, and neither of them should stop you from buying this laptop. It’s beautiful to look at and a dream to use. I found myself using it in my free time instead of my personal device (which almost never happens with review units — I really like my products).
When we’re evaluating a convertible laptop at the Spectre’s price point, the big question is how it compares to the gold standard of Windows convertibles, the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1. The XPS has a few advantages: it’s a bit thinner and lighter, its touchpad is less stiff, and it has a more modest look that some users might prefer.
But for me, the ball game is close but clear. The Spectre x360’s meticulous craftsmanship, classy aesthetic, and 3:2 screen put it over the top. It also edges out the XPS in a few key areas: the keyboard is more comfortable, the battery life is better, and Dell’s closest-priced configuration to this unit only has half its storage. The Spectre’s smaller amenities that the XPS lacks — like the bundled stylus, the USB-A port, the blue color, and the OLED option — are icing on the cake.
If you’re looking for a premium Windows convertible with a classy aesthetic, that makes the Spectre a no-brainer purchase. This is HP at its best; it’s a luxury laptop in pretty much every area. I can’t imagine that it won’t be the next laptop I buy.
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.
One of the biggest trends coming out of this year’s CES wasn’t something people will necessarily notice at first glance unless they look closely. After enduring years of cramped, “widescreen” laptop displays, it looks like we’re finally starting to say goodbye to the 16:9 aspect ratio.
Here’s the new Dell Latitude 9420.Image: Dell
An aspect ratio is the ratio of a display’s width to a display’s height (in that order). For example, a screen with a resolution of 500 x 500 would have an aspect ratio of 1:1. Think of it like simplifying a fraction: a 1080p screen has a resolution of 1920 x 1080, which divides down to 16:9.
The aspect ratios you’ll typically see on laptops are 16:9, 3:2, 16:10 (which, for whatever reason, is called 16:10 rather than 8:5), and (occasionally) 4:3. 16:9 is the most common option and also the one with the lowest amount of vertical space relative to its horizontal space.
If you have a modern Windows laptop, there’s a good chance your screen is 16:9. If you have a gaming laptop, its panel is almost certainly 16:9. (It’s unusual to find high refresh-rate panels with other proportions.) There are some notable exceptions: Microsoft’s Surface products have been 3:2 for quite some time, while Dell’s last few XPS 13 models and Apple’s MacBooks are already 16:10. But traditionally, Windows laptops like these have been few and far between.
16:9 screens are cramped — at least compared to other options. I usually can’t comfortably work in multiple windows side by side without zooming out or doing a ton of vertical scrolling, and when I’m multitasking in Chrome, the tabs get tiny very quickly. If you’re used to using a 16:9 screen and you try a 16:10 or 3:2 display of the same size, you probably won’t want to go back. You just have a lot more room, and it’s a much more efficient use of screen space.
But this CES showed that 16:10 and 3:2 displays are inching closer to the mainstream. These are some of the biggest laptops announced at the show that are offering non-16:9 display options:
HP Elite Folio (1920 x 1280, 3:2)
Dell Latitude 9420 2-in-1 (2560 x 1600, 16:10)
Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 2 (2560 x 1600, 16:10)
Lenovo Legion 7 and Legion 5 Pro (2560 x 1600, 16:10)
LG Gram 17 and Gram 16 (2650 x 1600, 16:10)
Lenovo IdeaPad 5 Pro (2560 x 1600, 16:10)
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga (2256 x 1504, 3:2)
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 and X1 Yoga Gen 6 (up to 3840 x 2400, 16:10)
Lenovo ThinkPad X12 Detachable (1920 x 1280, 3:2)
Asus ROG Flow X13 (up to 3840 x 2400, 16:10)
That doesn’t mean there are no 16:9 displays left — plenty of laptops still use it, and probably will for the foreseeable future. And some of these devices, like the LG Grams, were 16:10 already.
But it’s significant that a large number of the flagships we’ll be seeing in the first half of 2021 will be either 16:10 or 3:2. In fact, when you include MSI’s 16:10 Summit E13 Flip and Razer’s 16:10 Razer Book 13 (both of which were announced prior to CES), I can’t think of a mainstream consumer laptop company that isn’t now selling a non-16:9 flagship-level machine. It’s clear that companies across the board are moving toward laptops with taller aspect ratios, and I fully expect to see more of them in the years to come.
Here’s the X1 Detachable (currently attached).Image: Lenovo
Again, this may seem like a boring change. But it will make a big difference in the lives of this year’s laptop buyers, particularly people shopping for a work-from-home device. I switched from a 16:9 laptop to a 3:2 Surface Book 2 back in 2017, and it was one of the best purchasing decisions I’ve ever made. If you’re using a 16:9 screen now and are looking to upgrade this year, I encourage you to give one of these new devices a shot. You won’t want to go back.
In addition to its premium Aorus notebooks, Gigabyte would like to increasingly appeal to mainstream gamers with the new G5 and G7 generation of its gaming notebooks, who use their devices for all purposes, from university to work to streaming. Gigabyte does not rely on the new Ryzen processors at this point, but uses the 10. Generation of the Intel core processors. In addition to the i7 – 10870 H with eight cores is available as cheaper Alternative also variants with a Core i5 – 10500 H, the has six cores. The built-in graphics unit is much more important for gamers. Gigabyte will be relying on the new GeForce RTX 2021 with 6 GB of video memory, which was only introduced this evening.
The second new product from the mainstream series is the brand new A5 and A7 models, in which Gigabyte is for the first time in the middle class on AMD processors, more precisely the brand new Ryzen 5000 – CPUs set . In the A5 X1, the R9 – 70 H or the R7 – 5800 H for use with a GeForce RTX 3060 be combined. In the A5 K1, however, it is the AMD R7 – 5600 H or the R5 – 5600 H, which an RTX 3060 stands by your side. Another variant will be the Gigabyte A7 K1, which is also based on a GeForce RTX 3060 can access.
In terms of other equipment, there are extensive similarities between the A and G series. All models have FullHD panels as displays, which are based on IPS technology and optionally with 240 or 144 Hz ans Work go. Gigabyte specifies NTSC as the only color space whose coverage is 72% should be.
Data can be saved on M.2 or 2.5-inch SSDs or HDDs. In terms of connection, there are three USB-A ports, one each USB 3.2 Gen2, Gen1 and USB 2.0. There is also a Type-C port that also outputs DisplayPort 1.4. Wired 2.5G Ethernet is offered, while wireless maximum 493. 11 AX with from the Lot is.
All models can use a battery with 48, 96 Wh, which should lead to very short runtimes, especially under load.
Gigabyte has not yet given any information on prices and availability.
Everything you need to know about laptops: The notebook FAQ!
Our Notebook FAQ helps you not to lose track. There we show which notebooks are currently the best choice – regardless of whether it is about the pure performance or the price-performance ratio.
Social Links
Tags
there are no tags yet.
Sources and further links
Comments (0)
You might also be interested in:
MSI Prestige 14 Evo in the test: Noble ultrabook with Core i7 – 1185 G7
The MSI Prestige 14 Evo is a real ultrabook with Evo certification and stands out with its good work performance and long runtimes as well as good efficiency in office use. Under load, however, the tide turns, like our practical test of around 1. 320 Euro expensive …
Dell XPS 17 9700 in the test: Large, slim workhorse with small weaknesses
The Dell XPS 17 9700 is one of the largest and most compact notebooks at the same time: The 17 – inch screen is huge, the device dimensions are comparatively small, especially with regard to the hardware. Nevertheless, a fast Comet Lake H processor and dedicated RTX graphics are offered. As…
ASUS Strix notebooks show up with Ryzen 9 5900 HX, RTX 3080 and 300 Hz
To the CES beginning of January 2021 AMD will introduce the next generation of mobile Ryzen processors alias Cezanne and Lucienne. At the same time, many notebook manufacturers are taking the opportunity and will be announcing the corresponding notebooks. Likewise, NVIDIA will probably the mobile ampere variants …
Schenker VISION 15: New Intel reference ultrabook with Tiger Lake
After the successful XMG FUSION 15, the was created as a very compact and powerful gaming notebook in cooperation with Intel, Schenker Technologies is now continuing the cooperation and brings with the VISION 15 another reference laptop of the ultrabook class on the …
Huawei MateBook D with Intel Tiger Lake leaked, launch probably in the …
On the Chinese social Media network Weibo recently showed pictures of a supposed Huawei MateBook D with an Intel Tiger Lake-U processor. The company is currently offering its MateBook D with either an AMD Ryzen or Intel Comet Lake-U processor. At least in the photos it looks …
Samsung: Leak shows new Galaxy Chromebook 2 for the first time
A few weeks ago the leaker Evan Blass was already lying on the Voice page presented information that suggested the development of a new Galaxy Chromebook by Samsung. In the meantime, these rumors seem to have spread through recent leaks, including images …
Lenovo is expanding its high-end range of X1 notebooks. The 12, 5-inch notebook ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga is not only available in eponymous color and weighs less than 1.2 kilograms, but also has a touchscreen with a work-friendly aspect ratio of 3: 2 (2256 × 1504 pixels, 450 cd / m²). Thanks to 360 – degree hinges that can be less than 12 Use a millimeter flat device optionally as a pen-operated tablet.
Intel processors of the eleventh Core-i generation (Tiger Lake) work in the ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga, which are up to 16 GByte LPDDR4X memory and SSDs up to 1 TByte are available. Wi-Fi 6 is always on board, and LTE or 5G are also possible. Both USB-C sockets speak Thunderbolt 4; Lenovo puts the battery life at just under 11 hours. The ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga is slated for February 2020 at prices from 2560 Euro.
New editions of Carbon and Yoga The tried and tested ThinkPad X1 Carbon and ThinkPad X1 Yoga series are also receiving upgrades. The carbon of the meanwhile ninth generation and the yoga of the sixth generation are due in April at prices from 1840 euros (carbon) respectively 2080 Euro (yoga). They also come with the eleventh Core i generation and associated innovations such as Thunderbolt 4.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9 miz 16: 10 – Screen
(Image: Lenovo)
The biggest change compared to previous models, however, concerns the screen: Instead of displays in 16: There are now 9 16: 10 – Screens with a noticeable plus in image height. The two 13 – Zöller follow the notebook flagships of other manufacturers: Dell’s XPS 12 and other noble 13, 3-inch models brought the 16: 10 -Comfort already 2020.
Small side note: That in late autumn 2020 presented ThinkPad X1 Nano – a compact 12, 5-inch with 16: 10 screen – has not yet made it into stores, but that should change in January 2021. The prices start at 2100 Euro.
Tablet with keyboard cover Originally there was still the ThinkPad X1 tablet in the X1 family, but its design – a tablet with a magnetically docking keyboard cover – was introduced set for a few years. As an indirect successor, the ThinkPad X 12 Detachable will be available in March. Despite the similar name, it is not a high-end device, but plays with prices 1180 euros in the upper middle class.
Lenovo ThinkPad X 12 Detachable
(Fig : Lenovo)
Behind the 12, 3-inch screen in 3: 2 format contains all of the technology for a Core-i processor of the eleventh generation with up to 16 GByte LPDDR4X-RAM and up to 1 TByte SSD storage space. Wi-Fi 6 is always on board, LTE optional. The tablet alone weighs less than 450 grams; with the keyboard cover clipped on, the weight increases to 1.1 kilograms.
(Pocket-lint) – Yes, it really is only a few months since the last MacBook Air hit the streets. But while this new end-of-2020 model looks and feels the same as the one from earlier in the year, what’s inside is quite different.
That’s because the MacBook Air now runs exclusively on Apple’s own processors, dubbed Apple Silicon. The Apple M1 chip inside shares more in common – actually a lot in common – with Apple’s A-Series iPhone and iPad chips than any Intel processor. It’s the same M1 that’s now available in the Mac mini range as well as the 13-inch MacBook Pro (although there’s still an Intel model available of the latter for now).
Apple Silicon is here: What does the Apple M1 mean for your next Mac?
The transition to Apple Silicon follows on from 15 years of Macs using Intel processors and, while we’re not sure what’s happening at the top-end of the range, it’s safe to say that all low-to-mid-level Macs will be running Apple Silicon by the end of 2021. So what difference does it make and is now the right time to jump in?
Design
Dimensions: 304 x 212mm / 41-161mm thick / Weight: 1.29kg
As with the 2019 and early 2020 models, the external design of the first M1 Macbook Air is the same. We’ve remarked elsewhere how surprised we are that Apple didn’t take the opportunity to create a radical new Mac with the change to its own processor design. After all, we could have had a replacement for the old MacBook, which was sort of like a sub-MacBook Air.
Pocket-lint
But we didn’t get that and so we move on. Apple is perfectly capable of pushing the envelope on design – just look at the AirPods Max – but clearly with the portable Mac it feels that its distinguished and hardy aluminium unibody is something to stick with. And why not? This is a hugely successful design that remains modern-looking, even though we’re now nearly 13 years on from Steve Jobs pulling the original from an envelope.
Once again there are two USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports – which can sometimes limit you a little, but in reality it’s increasingly a rarity. The notable thing here is that they support the new USB 4 standard. The 3.5mm headphone jack remains but it’s surely now on borrowed time on the Mac.
The keyboard is the same again as the early 2020 MacBook Air, but that keyboard brought serious improvement over earlier generations, with the introduction of the Magic Keyboard with an older-style scissor mechanism. It’s very comfortable to type on for long periods and has much better travel than older ‘butterfly’ MacBook Pro keyboards. While many lauded the Magic Keyboard as a revelation, the fact is you should expect a fantastic keyboard to be part of a laptop like this. It’s a minimum requirement.
Pocket-lint
Touch ID is in the top right corner of the keyboard, meaning quick and easy login with a fingerprint, but we really hope that Face ID will come to the Mac in 2021. You’ve been able to use your face to log into Windows 10 since 2016, so Apple is trailing behind here – in particular as the technology already exists in its phones.
Display
13.3-inch Retina Display, 2650 x 1600 resolution
Can drive up to one 6K external display
True Tone support, P3 wide colour
Again you get the well-known 13.3-inch Retina display, giving you the same resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels as the 2019 and early 2020 versions. True Tone ensures the display adapts to your environment, while there’s also support for the P3 wide colour gamut – which is new for the Air this time around.
The Air’s display no longer has a huge bezel, but it does feel like Apple needs to match some of the PC designs coming out with near-borderless displays, which aren’t even that new – the Dell XPS 13 has had a super-thin bezel for half a decade now. We’ve said that bezel design needs to be refined for other Macs, too, particularly the iMac, and perhaps we will see some movement here over the next year or so.
Pocket-lint
We found there was no problem driving our external 4K display via USB-C, but you can only connect a single 4K, 5K or 6K display at 60Hz (yes, you can drive Apple’s Pro Display XDR if you really want to – wouldn’t that be a dream?). The recent Intel version was capable of driving two 4K displays, or a single 5K display or a single 6K display over Thunderbolt, so the M1 is a rare and slight downgrade in that regard which will be noticed by some.
When we talked about the changes we wanted to see from Apple Silicon Macs, one of them was the hope that the Mac would support touch. Apple seems very set against touch for the Mac – and is persisting with the Touch Bar on the MacBook Pro – yet tells us that an iPad is a computer and that it can do anything. As a differentiator between product lines, it makes sense.
But there’s now (more than) a generation of kids who are totally used to touch and are pretty bemused they can’t touch a laptop’s screen, especially if they’ve done it with Windows 10, iPads and smartphones. Every time we’re using a Mac, someone in our family tries to touch the screen to flick through pictures or webpages – and that has to say something about what should happen with the Mac. Of course, Apple will have been thinking about this, but our opinion is that a change needs to happen sooner rather than later.
Performance and battery life
Apple M1 processor (3GHz; 8-core – 4 performance and 4 efficiency cores)
7 or 8-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
256/512GB storage (up to 1TB, 2TB)
8GB RAM (upgradeable to 16GB)
Battery cited at 15 hours
There are two versions of the Air available: one with seven-core graphics (more on that shortly) and a 256GB SSD; another with eight-core graphics and 512GB of storage. You can upgrade the storage in either version to a maximum of 2TB (an eye-watering upgrade in terms of cost though).
Pocket-lint
Both versions of the Air have 8GB of RAM as standard (upgradeable to 16GB, which is the limit of what Apple Silicon can currently support, it seems). The two options also house identical CPUs – the eight-core Apple M1 with CPU cores based on the latest ARM design. And they don’t use fans either – so are silent in operation.
The M1 shares a huge amount with Apple’s A-Series processors and, more specifically, the A14 Bionic found in the iPhone 12 and 2020 iPad Air. Like that chip, the M1 is based on TSMC’s 5nm manufacturing process – which means it’s super-efficient. No non-Apple computer yet has a chip based on that process. Intel is still floundering with getting to 7nm, while Qualcomm hasn’t yet announced PC silicon based on 5nm.
The best Chromebook 2020: Our pick of the top Chrome OS laptops for school, college and more
Like the A14 Bionic there are four performance cores and four cores designed for power efficiency. This results in serious performance. Like others, we have been blown away by the raw capability on show here, because everything you expect to take time – like an installation or processing of video – happens so quickly. One negative, however, is that unlike the MacBook Pro with the M1 chip, performance will throttle over time to keep things cool and that’s why pros will still want to go with the Pro.
Pocket-lint
We don’t normally do benchmarks on Pocket-lint (unless it’s for a gaming laptop or rig), but as this is the first time a chip has made its way into the wild it makes sense for a quick comparison. Our Geekbench 5 benchmark results show simply steaming performance (1731 single-core, 7475 multi-core score). A simple look at the Mac charts for Geekbench 5 shows you that on single-core performance the M1 is faster than any Mac Pro. And on multi-core performance the new M1 systems fall only behind the Intel Xeon Macs (Mac Pro and iMac Pro) and the 2019/2020 iMacs with Intel’s high-end Core Core i7-10700K and i9-9900K (check out our 2020 iMac review).
Raw performance is certainly not an issue then. And the efficiency of the ARM-based design has another benefit we had expected – longer battery life. Apple cites up to 18 hours video playback and 15 hours using the web. We found you could eke the battery out to last around 11 hours, but 10 is more common for serious use with video calls and lots of apps open and working in the background – which is still a great innings when many Windows machines will score around seven hours.
A note about the graphics. As we mentioned, the 256GB version of the Air has seven-core graphics, while the 512GB version has eight-core. There’s a pretty simple reason for this: with the manufacturing of any silicon, a certain percentage of product won’t come up to snuff, probably through defective cores. Those ‘bad cores’ can then be shut off and the product sold as a different version, hence the seven-core variant.
Pocket-lint
There’s support for the latest Bluetooth 5.0 and Wi-Fi 6 standards, while the 720p FaceTime HD camera is now enhanced with some smarts from the image signal processor (ISP) on the M1 platform – it’s clearly better than in previous generations, as skin tones are better, colours are generally improved and the room looks brighter – but we still feel that Apple should upgrade the camera to a Full HD one.
Apple Silicon app support and macOS Big Sur
Support for non-native Apple Silicon apps via Rosetta 2 translator
All Apple apps are Apple Silicon-ready
Affinity, Google Chrome, Microsoft Office and other key apps have support
Others on the way, including full Adobe Creative Cloud compatibility
The key question with the move to Apple Silicon processors is if Apple could avoid the issues it had when it moved from Power PC to Intel processors around 2005. Could apps really work seamlessly on a completely new processor this time? The short answer is yes, Apple has avoided the major issues.
Pocket-lint
That’s thanks to Rosetta 2, a code translator, helping non-native apps run on Apple Silicon systems. Bizarrely it isn’t installed as default – presumably if you just use Apple’s own apps you won’t need it. But if you open an app that isn’t ready for Apple Silicon, you’re prompted to install.
For an ever-increasing number of apps from the Mac App Store and Apple’s native apps, everything works fine. But for stuff from other vendors, more work is needed. That work is happening, of course, but if you rely on even a couple of lesser-known apps you may want to wait until you know there is native M1 support.
Zoom, for example, worked absolutely fine on Rosetta 2. Yet the company has been quick to announce an Apple Silicon version. Native Apple Silicon support doesn’t guarantee any problems, however – Google had to work to fix Chrome after the ARM version crashed repeatedly, which was a major pain for us the first few days we used this Mac. Generally though, apps are stable using Rosetta 2.
Pocket-lint
Apple Silicon-enabled Affinity apps, including Affinity Photo, run brilliantly, as does Microsoft Office (also now updated for Apple Silicon). But other big-vendor apps are lagging behind. Adobe Creative Cloud has yet to fully move across, even if Lightroom already has support.
Now, if you compare apples with oranges and look at Microsoft’s rambling attempts to cater for ARM-based Windows PCs, the Apple Silicon transition is already a dream. The Windows Store is a car crash in comparison to the Mac App Store and, while you can easily live off apps from the Mac App Store, the same can’t be said of its Windows equivalent.
macOS Big Sur is generally very stable providing you’re using at least the 11.1 version – the 11.0 version wasn’t so hot, with some apps quite slow, a couple of issues with USB-C docks and so on. While the Apple Silicon support is the big story with Big Sur, the design has been overhauled. This isn’t the radical change that Apple first billed, but the design is more like iPadOS than ever.
Pocket-lint
That isn’t a bad thing, because the new design elements are largely familiar, while the OS does feel genuinely fresh to use.
Verdict
While there’s a question mark over whether you should jump to Apple Silicon quite yet, there’s little doubt that Apple has seriously powered up the Air with its move to Apple Silicon. So much so that it’s hard to suggest you should plump for the MacBook Pro 13-inch over it – you have to really need the fan for sustained high performance over a longer time.
If you’re looking for an excuse to upgrade and the performance isn’t enough, consider the battery life. Obviously, a lot of us aren’t travelling so much at the moment, but the longevity of this Air really is a fresh experience. And this is a great laptop in many other ways, of course – the screen is super, the design robust, and the keyboard actually works well.
In the ultraportable market there’s little to compete. Of course, there are cheaper PCs, but they all have a compromise versus the Air, either in terms of performance or portability. It’s clear, then, that the M1 chip spells a bright future for Apple.
Also consider
Pocket-lint
MacBook Pro (2020)
squirrel_widget_3740224
The step-up model does cost more and gives you a fan instead for sustained workloads, but it’s mostly identical to the Air. One extra benefit is that it does give you even longer battery life (yes really) and so for some that could be worth the cost alone – it’ll take you up to the thick end of 20 hours.
Read our MacBook Pro review
Pocket-lint
Dell XPS 13
squirrel_widget_176985
“Dell has once again proven it’s the laptop master” is what we said in our verdict on this laptop. And it’s a serious rival to both the MacBook Air and Pro. But considering the power of the M1, the XPS 13 has a real fight on its hands. But if you’re looking for the closest Windows 10 equivalent to the Air, this is the one. And it’s got a thin bezel, too!
Apple macOS 11 Big Sur: All the key new Mac features explored
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold, the first folding-screen PC, shows a clever way of moving mobile computing forward and is built solid. But there are some kinks to work out in Windows 10 and other software.
For
Folding OLED display
Feels surprisingly durable
Luxury materials
No bloatware
Against
Starts at $2,499 without accessories
Subpar battery life
Some software bugs need to be ironed out
Intel’s Lakefield chips aren’t very powerful
For every innovation to happen, someone has to go first. The worry is how they stick the landing, as that often has implications for the perception of new technology for months or years.
Lenovo is the first to market with a foldable Windows 10 PC. The ThinkPad X1 Fold ($2,499.00 to start, $3,099.00 as tested) is a tablet. Or maybe a laptop? Maybe a book?
That price is eye-popping, which is often the case for first-generation technology. Lenovo has built this with an eye on durability, and added in some premium leather. It’s powered by Intel’s low-power Core i5 Lakefield processor, which enables the form factor.
But Windows 10 wasn’t made for foldables. Lenovo has done some nice work with its own software to soften that blow, but there’s still a bit to be done to make foldables like this take their place among the best Ultrabooks.
Design of the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold
Image 1 of 4
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 2 of 4
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 3 of 4
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 4 of 4
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Your first impression of the ThinkPad X1 Fold may be disbelief. The device ships flat, like a tablet. Then you can just fold it closed. Like a book. Open, close. Open, close. Yup, this laptop… tablet — whatever you want to call it — can fold.
This isn’t the first foldable device in the world, of course. Samsung, Huawei, and Lenovo’s own phone arm, Motorola have all released folding phones, which have been of varying (often disappointing) quality. But this? No, this feels solid.
When it’s closed, the ThinkPad X1 Fold looks like a fat notebook – but a premium one, like a Moleskine. It’s bound in black leather with the ThinkPad X1 logo stamped in the front. On the back, there’s a kickstand that folds out. There is a bit of a space between the screens, though if you use the optional physical keyboard (more on that below) then no space shows at all.
You open the device the same way you would open a book, and that’s when the 13.3-inch foldable touchscreen amazes, revealing itself without showing the crease. There is, however, a significant bezel hiding some of the components.
While you can’t see the crease while the display is on (it’s visible when off), you may feel it. All you need to use the screen is a light touch. But if you press a bit harder, you can feel some of the pieces under the OLED panel. But I opened and closed this plenty, and I really didn’t have any doubts about durability, as long as you don’t toss it around.
The bezel and the sides are made from plastic, but the X1 Fold doesn’t feel cheap. There are, however, only two ports: a pair of USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 2 ports. You can use either for charging, and depending on the way you use the device (more on that in the next graph), it’s possible the other port will be covered. The rest of the sides are populated by a power button, volume rocker and some speaker grilles.
There are a handful of different ways you could hold or use the device. The most obvious is using the Fold as a straightforward Windows 10 tablet. That works exactly how you would expect, and you can use it in landscape or portrait, with Windows rotating automatically.
You could also bend the X1 Fold part way and hold it like a book, perhaps if you have an e-reader program that supports two pages at once, or if you wanted to consult two documents at the same time. This was the posture I used the least while trying the Fold though; I was just more comfortable holding it like a tablet.
But you can also use it folded part of the way on its side, sort of like a laptop. The Windows 10 touch keyboard leaves a lot to be desired, but you can attach the Fold’s small Bluetooth keyboard to the half with magnets and use half of the 13.3-inch display like a regular laptop.
Alternatively, you can keep the Fold like a tablet and stand it up with a kickstand. Pair that with either the mini keyboard (which works both on or off the screen and has a touchpad) or your own separate Bluetooth keyboard and mouse and you’ve got an instant work setup. It won’t replace a primary monitor, though if you plug one in via USB Type-C, it could be a secondary one. This, to me, was my favorite way to use it. The kickstand works great in landscape mode, but while it works in portrait mode for those who want a taller display, it doesn’t feel as steady.
At 2.2 pounds, the X1 Fold isn’t much heavier than competing notebooks. But in such a compact package, it can feel a bit heavy in your hand. It’s 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches folded and 11.8 x 9.3 x 0.5 inches unfolded, which is remarkably thin for a Windows device.
There’s one other laptop powered by the same Intel Lakefield chip to enable lightweight designs: the Samsung Galaxy Book S, which is 2.1 pounds and 12 x 8 x 0.5 inches in a more standard clamshell shape. Another portable tablet-style device, the non-folding Microsoft Surface Go 2, is lighter at 1.2 pounds and is 9.7 x 6.9 x 0.3 inches.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold Specifications
CPU
Intel Core i5-L16G7
Graphics
Intel UHD Graphics
Memory
8 GB LPDDR4X-4267
Storage
1TB PCIe SSD
Display
13.3-inch, QXGA, 2048 x 1536 foldable OLED touchscreen
Networking
802.11ax Intel Wi-Fi 6. Bluetooth 5.1
Ports
2x USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 2
Camera
720p
Battery
50 Wh
Power Adapter
65 W
Operating System
Windows 10 Pro
Dimensions(WxDxH)
Folded: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches / 236 x 158.2 x 27.8mm
Unfolded: 11.8 x 9.3 x 0.5 inches / 299.5 x 236 x 11.5 mm
Weight
2.2 pounds / 1 kg
Accessories
Lenovo Mod Pen, Lenovo Fold Mini Bluetooth Keyboard
Price (as configured)
$3,099.00
Productivity Performance on the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold
With the Intel “Lakefield” Core i5-L16G7, 8GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, the ThinkPad X1 Fold trades some performance for flexibility. The processor is good enough for basic computing needs, but no more. Ths chip uses one Sunny Cove core for loads that need bursts of power along with four low-power Tremont cores. If you have a few browser tabs and email, you’ll be fine. Beyond that, consider alternatives.
Image 1 of 4
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 2 of 4
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 3 of 4
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 4 of 4
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
On Geekbench 5.0, the Fold notched a single-core score of 871 and a multi-core score of 1,799. Both of those are higher than the scores from the Lakefield processor in the Samsung Galaxy Book S, but there may have been some optimizations and software updates since then. The Microsoft Surface Go 2, with an Intel Core m3-8100Y, had a higher single-core score (1,147) and multi-core score (3,117).
The X1 Fold copied 4.97GB of files at a rate of 452.51MBps. That’s not the fastest out there, but it’s speedier than both the Galaxy Book S and the Surface Go 2.
It took the ThinkPad 33 minutes and 42 seconds to complete our Handbrake test, which transcodes a 4K video to 1080p. The Galaxy Book S took 41:16 and the Surface Go 2 lagged at 48:14. Mainstream laptops often take less than 20 minutes. The Dell XPS 13, for instance, took 18:22.
To stress test the ThinkPad, we also ran a modified version of our Cinebench R23 gauntlet. Usually, it goes for 20 repetitions, but because of Lakefield’s slow performance and an attempt to complete the test before the heat death of the universe, we ran it five times to stress test the Fold. It was largely stable. Surprisingly, the first score was the lowest at 1,775. It went up to the 1790’s across the next three runs, and then settled in the 1780’s.
Usually, we measure CPU speeds. Logging software we tried seemed to be way off on measurements, listing impossibly fast clock speeds that you can’t achieve even on high-end desktop processors. HwInfo did, however, suggest CPU temps of around 81.4 degrees Celsius (178.5 degrees Fahrenheit) on the Sunny Cove core and 82.7 degrees Celsius (180.9 degrees Fahrenheit) on the Tremont cores. But you should take that with a grain of salt, considering the clock speeds displayed.
Display on the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
If there’s anywhere the ThinkPad X1 Fold has to completely and utterly nail it, it’s with the 13.3-inch, 2048 x 1536 foldable OLED touchscreen. After all, it’s the part the entire device literally hinges around, and it has to look and feel good.
You can’t see the hinge when the screen is flat, as long as the display is on. But it does appear faintly when the display is powered off. You also can’t feel the hinge, though if you press hard enough you may feel other components under the display. Luckily, a soft touch is all you need.
I’m not all that worried about durability or anything getting under the screen. Unlike the original Samsung Galaxy Fold smartphone, the X1 Fold has a border completely surrounding the screen. Something could get in the leather folio’s spine, maybe, but it would be tough to get something under the screen.
The 13.3-inch screen has a 4:3 aspect ratio, which is a good choice. As a tablet or monitor, it’s tall and provides plenty of space for work. When you fold it to use like a laptop, it’s more cramped — half of the monitor is covered and you get a 1536 x 1006 resolution and around 9.5 inches diagonally. The netbook is back, baby!
The display covers 104% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, which is one of the benefits of OLED. The blacks are deep, and in a trailer for Wonder Woman 1984, the blue seas outside Themyscira made me long for an island vacation (or any vacation, really). The Galaxy Book S (80.5%) and Surface Go 2 (76.1%) are still good, but they don’t use OLED. That preserves the battery (see the battery section below), however.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The X1 fold measured 301.4 nits on our light meter, falling behind both the Book S (334 nits) and Surface Go 2 (408 nits). I didn’t have any issues with this in the most colorful scenes, but there were a few rare times where I wanted to mash the brightness toggle just a few more times.
Keyboard, Touchpad and Stylus on the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold
Image 1 of 3
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 2 of 3
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 3 of 3
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Without any other accessories, the keyboard on the ThinkPad X1 Fold is the touch keyboard that’s built into Windows 10. If you have the device folded halfway like a laptop, it’s still a bit cramped, and a touch solution won’t let you type as quickly or efficiently as on a physical keyboard.
There are solutions to this — you can use any Bluetooth keyboard and mouse you want, especially if you have it set up as a full display with the kickstand.
Our package included the $89.99 Lenovo Mod Pen and $229.99 Lenovo Fold Mini Bluetooth Keyboard, which really feels like the way the X1 Fold is intended to be used. The keyboard is super thin, tiny, and can be attached to half of the X1 Fold with magnets (this shuts off that half of the screen). You can also use it like a normal Bluetooth keyboard.
But to fit in the Fold, the keyboard is tiny and cramped. The letters and numbers are laid out well enough, but when you get to special characters, things get weird. For instance, one key is used for a period, right carrot, question mark and slash. It’s a period by default, or a right carrot with a shift. That’s expected.
For a slash, you need to press function and that key, and for a question mark you need to hit function, shift and that key. There are several keys like that, and most of them have common special characters that require three keys to use. It’s incredibly frustrating for even the most simple documents and emails. Some keys, like the colon and tilda, are dramatically shortened. There’s no backlight, but I can get past that.
I hit 98 words per minute on the 10fastfinger.com typing test, which is fairly low for me, and my errors skyrocketed. And that was on a test without special characters.
The touchpad is minuscule. It’s honestly kind of adorable. I was surprised to see it uses Windows Precision drivers, and with the exception that I often hit the edges of the touchpad, it largely was OK to use, even if it didn’t feel great. If you like four-finger gestures, that may be out of the question, but I could make three-finger gestures work.
You can charge the keyboard wirelessly by placing it in between the folded screen.
In the future, I would love to see Lenovo try to make something wider, or perhaps that extends. I might even be willing to work with something that wraps around the foldable for a better typing experience.
The Mod Pen fits into a loop on the side of the keyboard, so it all travels as one package. Mercifully, the pen charges over USB Type-C rather than using batteries, which many styluses of this size do. Lenovo claims it will last 156 hours on a charge. It has 4,096 degrees of pressure sensitivity and works at up to a 60 degree angle. I don’t see this being used much for art on this type of device, but it’s fine for note taking.
I do wish Lenovo would steal from Microsoft’s Surface Pen and include an eraser on the back, but you can assign that feature to one of two programmable buttons if you use Lenovo’s optional Pen Settings software.
Audio on the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold
I’m not going to say that the audio experience on the Fold is amazing, but it’s far better than I expected. In general, I’d say it’s about as good as the average laptop, but not as loud. It didn’t quite fill my apartment with sound as I listened to the Arctic Monkeys’ “Do I Wanna Know?”, though for listening on my own it’s fairly usable. The song’s drums and bassline were clear, but lacked a kick. Interestingly, all of the speaker grills are on the left side of the device, or the top when in portrait mode, which did kind of throw off my balance.
You can change some equalizer presets in the Dolby Access software that’s included, but it’s not very in-depth, and I didn’t find it to make much of a difference.
Upgrading the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold
The big difference between configurations of the X1 Fold is storage. Buy what you’ll think you’ll need for the long run, because the device is effectively sealed.
Yes, there are some visible screws underneath the kickstand. There’s even a small door, but you can’t completely access it, as it’s partially covered by the cover. A maintenance manual shows that you effectively have to remove the entire leather cover and then open the device to get to anything, which could void your warranty if you’re not careful. Consider this thing a closed box.
Battery Life on the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold
An OLED display and a battery small enough to fit into a foldable won’t get you all-day battery life. On our battery test, which browses the web, runs OpenGL tests and streams video, all while connected to Wi-Fi and set at 150 nits of brightness, the X1 Fold ran for 6 hours and 3 minutes. This number was achieved from a separate unit with 256GB of storage, due to testing equipment being spread out during the pandemic, but we expect numbers would be similar on the 1TB version.
That means that while the device itself is extremely portable, you may have to also consider bringing the charger along, which is a bit of a bummer.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The Samsung Galaxy Book S, another Lakefield device, ran for 9:40. That didn’t have an OLED screen, though. Microsoft’s Surface Go 2 ran for almost two hours more than that, lasting 11:38.
Heat on the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold
We took heat measurements while running our Cinebench R23 stress test. That benchmark is far more than one would usually run on this computer, so it shows us some worst-case scenarios for heat.
Image 1 of 2
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 2 of 2
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Notably, our heat camera showed that the left side of the tablet (in landscape) heated up far more than the right side, suggesting that the processor is in that portion of the device. The hottest it got was 40.5 degrees Celsius (104.9 degrees Fahrenheit). On the back, the same portion hit 36.4 degrees Celsius (97.5 degrees Fahrenheit).
Webcam on the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold
The 720p webcam on the ThinkPad X1 Fold is about what you might expect. Like many laptop webcams released this year, it takes a picture you could consider serviceable, but not great. A photo at my desk was grainy and a bit dim. The Surface Go 2 was the gold standard this year, with a camera that supports 1080p video, and I hope to see something like that in more laptops and foldables in 2021.
But the bigger issue is the placement. As a tablet held in landscape, the camera works exactly as you would expect. But if you turn it to portrait, or use it like a laptop with the keyboard attached, the image appears sideways in video calls, as that’s the way the camera is oriented (my colleagues were very confused when I called into a meeting like that).
Lenovo does have software to try to combat this, and you can use it to rotate the image. At best, then, using the X1 Fold in those postures creates an image more like a phone, tall with black bars on the side. It’s better than being sideways, but it feels more than a little unrefined.
Software and Warranty on the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold
The ThinkPad X1 Fold we reviewed had no junk at all, not even the usual bloat that comes with Windows 10.
On most Windows 10 notebooks, Lenovo only includes its Vantage software (seen here in a dedicated enterprise version) for easy access to warranty status, quick camera and microphone toggles and to easily check your serial number.
But in this case, Lenovo has a bunch of other software just to make the foldable work as expected. When the X1 Fold was originally revealed, there was a plan to release it with Windows 10, and then later with Windows 10X, a touch-focused version of the operating system designed for foldable devices. But with Windows 10X delayed to 2021 — and starting on single-screen laptops instead of foldables — it working on regular Windows 10 is more important.
Most of the hard work is handled by Lenovo Mode Switcher, which lives in the task bar, recognizes which way your device is aligned and provides a method to move windows side-to-side or one on top of the other. It works as expected, but if you switch modes or rotate the device, the windows often don’t stay organized.
There’s also Lenovo Camera Settings, which lets you rotate your camera picture, Lenovo Display Optimizer to calibrate the OLED screen and the optional Lenovo Pen Settings to adjust the buttons on the pen and check its battery status.
All of this points to one issue — Windows 10 isn’t fully there as a tablet-only operating system, nor as one for foldables. Windows Hello is needed, and Lenovo deserves credit for getting it to work this much, even if there is some jankiness around it. Once, I got the Windows 10 login screen to turn vertical, as if it were on a Windows phone, with large black bars on the sides. It stayed that way on the desktop, too.
Lenovo sells the ThinkPad X1 Fold with a 1-year warranty, which can go up to three years at an additional cost.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold Configurations
Our ThinkPad X1 Fold review unit was the top-end, $3,099 configuration with an Intel Core i5-L16G7 “Lakefield” processor, 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM a 1TB PCIe SSD and Windows 10 Pro.
There are a number of other configurations, but they all have the same CPU and memory. The other differences come down to the amount of storage, which version of Windows 10 you get, and if the package includes the keyboard and stylus accessories.
The base option is $2,499, with 256GB of SSD storage and Windows 10 Home. Notably, this option doesn’t include the keyboard or stylus. If you want those later, the Mod Pen costs $89.99 on its own, while the mini keyboard runs for an eye-watering $229.99.
To get that option with the accessories included in the box, it’s $2,749 with Windows 10 Home or $2,799 with Windows 10 Pro. From there, prices increase with storage and all have Windows 10 Pro.
In 2021, configurations with 5G support will be available, but exact pricing and availability hasn’t been announced.
Bottom Line
Image 1 of 3
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 2 of 3
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 3 of 3
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
There is no doubting that the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold is a first-gen product that isn’t for most people. If the $2,499 and up price tag (before accessories) doesn’t scare off all but tech-savvy CEO’s, it’s the fact that there are still some kinks to work out in the software.
And yet, I’m really surprised by how much I’ve enjoyed using it. While the Core i5 Lakefield chip isn’t the most performance-oriented slice of silicon, all of my x86 apps work on it, and as long as I stick to my normal workflow of browsing, writing, using some spreadsheets and watching video, this will handle things nicely. For photo editing, I would want just a tad more power.
The keyboard is a smart idea that needs more time in the oven. No individual key on the keyboard should require three buttons to press, especially if it’s as commonly used as a plus sign, a hyphen or a question mark. I would also like to see it somehow attach to the back of the device, as I tended to leave it elsewhere in my apartment and had to search for it when I needed it.
The hardware could use some slimming down, but it’s sturdy. I trust this to fold and not break. But I need Lenovo — and any other PC vendor considering moving into folding PCs — to ensure that the UX is perfect. That may mean waiting for Windows 10X, if Microsoft does a better job of adapting its own OS to the form factor than an OEM could do.
But Lenovo, for a first try, has impressed. Still, the expense and the quirks you get for this high price mean that you should probably wait for future generations. But I have hope that these kinds of devices will get a lot better before too long.
(Pocket-lint) – When you’re looking for a laptop nowadays, you thankfully don’t have to make a decision about whether you want power or portability – those days are over.
For too long, we were stuck with heavy machines that could actually function properly or dinky lightweight models that were underpowered.
Top general and premium notebooks for working from home and more
Now, there are countless exceptionally portable laptops on the market that also boast impressive specs to make sure that they can crunch through whatever tasks you need them to (even, in the odd case, a little gaming).
Just for you, we’ve collected some of the very best right here, so that if you’re looking for a new ultrabook or lightweight laptop, you’ve got some great options to browse. Most are 13-inch models, but we’ve got some other sizes for you to look at, too.
The best ultraportable laptops to buy today
Pocket-lint
HP Spectre 13 x360
View offer on HP Store (sponsored link)
The HP Spectre 13 x360 is one of the best slim and light laptops HP has ever made.
The attention to detail in the design goes far further than all the sharp angles and machined aluminium.
The 4K OLED display looks fantastic, while there’s around eight hours of battery life for all-day work.
It comes with a 10th generation low voltage Intel processor, similar to other high-end laptops here. It’s the Intel Core i7-1065G7 and is teamed with a hefty 16GB RAM and fast 1TB SSD. Highly recommended.
Pocket-lint
Dell XPS 13
squirrel_widget_176985
The XPS 13 is one of the most consistently impressive laptops out there, and Dell knows it – the machine gets constant updates and revisions to keep it on the cutting edge, and recently was updated with an even more improved model we haven’t got our hands on quite yet.
That all-new version has some subtle design changes including the one feature we most wanted, moving the camera back onto the top of the display’s bezel, getting rid of the odd perspective that its webcam used to boast. That small change is telling, but it’s the overall power and portability that makes Dell’s laptop so impressive.
Dell XPS 13 review: Bite-size bezel bonanza
Pocket-lint
Apple MacBook Air
squirrel_widget_193481
The MacBook Air recently had another welcome update after the long-awaited revival of 2019. It’s got a much-improved keyboard and more powerful processor to make for a seriously superb package, all in a design that’s absolutely what most people imagine when they think of a lightweight laptop.
Of course, you’ll have to accept a fairly paltry set of ports and get on board with USB-C, but that’s frankly par for the course on machines with its profile, and the screen is one of the best in the business. For our money, most people will be thrilled with the new Macbook Air.
Apple MacBook Air (2020) review: Keyboard dreams become a reality
Pocket-lint
Google Pixelbook Go
squirrel_widget_168562
Google’s waded back into the Chromebook market with this superb little laptop, to offer a middle ground between the many, many cheap options and the previously out-on-its-own Pixelbook, and it’s won us over entirely.
It’s a beautifully made machine, with great performance and a really sleek design that’s easy to pack up and carry. Of course, the key decision facing you is whether you’re happy to go with Chrome OS, and the limitations it does entail. If that’s no problem, this is a serious contender that’s coming down in price all the time.
Google Pixelbook Go review: A sublime Chromebook experience
Pocket-lint
Microsoft Surface Laptop 3
squirrel_widget_168114
Microsoft is in on the portable party, too, though. Its Surface Laptop 3 is an absolute stunner, which also packs in some seriously impressive stats. It’s got a lovely metal construction with an optionally textured interior that’s great for resting your wrists on as you work. On top of that, it’s dead quiet and has really solid specs.
The latest version has also corrected past mistakes by adding USB-C ports to the party, which is really welcome, and its larger trackpad is also noticeable and improved.
Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 (13.5-inch) review: Sleek and sophisticated
Razer
Razer Blade Stealth 13
squirrel_widget_236487
We’re not going to pretend that it makes sense for everyone, but if you’re an avid gamer, have a massive budget and want both great gaming performance and genuine portability without compromise, there aren’t too many machines to pick from. Razer’s Blade Stealth 13, though, is an absolute stunner.
Even if it didn’t have cracking gaming chops it would be a sleek looker, but given the specs, it can pack in (there are a few versions to choose from) it’s a serious beauty. Of course, as we mentioned it’s also not one for those on a tight budget.
Razer’s new Blade Stealth 13 gaming ultrabook makes some telling upgrades
Pocket-lint
HP Elite Dragonfly
View offer on HP Store (sponsored link)
Lightweight and practical, there’s a lot to love about the 2-in-1 HP Elite Dragonfly – an optional 4K display being one of them.
The laptop weighs somewhere in the region of 1kg. It’s slim too, measuring comfortably under 20mm when shut.
It only has an 8th generation Intel Core i5 processor, but that’s still great for most tasks. The disadvantages are the cost and trackpad which we’d like to see improved.
HP Elite Dragonfly review: Perfect for work and pleasure
Pocket-lint
Samsung Galaxy Book Ion 15
squirrel_widget_271357
The Galaxy Book Ion isn’t an especially conventional laptop. This model is large at 15.6-inches yet it’s really lightweight (a 13-inch version is also available).
The Ion dressed in an eggshell finish (Aura Silver) that you won’t see on other competitors.
It’s endowed with unusual features like upgradeable RAM and storage. It also pulls on Samsung’s highly successful TV prowess by utilising a QLED display.
There’s a huge battery life, too – around 14+ hours per charge
It’s good to see Samsung back in the laptop game and trying things a little differently, with positive effect.
Samsung Galaxy Book Ion 15 review: Positively charged
Pocket-lint
LG Gram 17
squirrel_widget_176886
The Gram 17 is lighter than most 15-inch laptops. It weighs 1.3kg, which is the standard for a slim 13- or 14-inch model, not a 17-inch one, and it’s almost 500g lighter than the 15-inch MacBook Pro.
This sounds like a kind of magic, doesn’t it? The only major issues here are that it doesn’t have a true performance-led processor.
But it still has plenty of power for most plus great battery life too.
LG Gram 17 review: Big yet brilliantly portable
Writing by Max Freeman-Mills. Editing by Conor Allison.
Raspberry Pi computers tend to make for great projects and single-use devices, but the same size that makes them so multipurpose also means they can be a little slow when it comes to network connectivity. That’s a shame, because some of the best uses for Pi, like turning it into a highly customizable streaming box, only get better with a faster connection. That’s why modder and YouTuber Jeff Geerling, who we’ve featured on our weekly Pi Cast show before, set out to add Intel’s lightning-quick 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6 to Raspberry Pi.
In a video posted to his YouTube channel yesterday, Geerling walked his audience through how he was able to add Wi-Fi 6 to Raspberry Pi, which let him receive networks pushing out signals up to 10 Gbps. Normally, Raspberry Pi 4, the latest and most powerful Raspberry Pi computer, comes with the slower Wi-Fi 5 installed (as well as port for Ethernet connectivity). You can add an external Wi-Fi card to it through USB, but the nature of the connection will slow down your wireless signal. However, if you instead opt for the Raspberry Pi CM4, your options suddenly become a lot more open.
The Raspberry Pi CM4 is, on paper, not as handy as the Raspberry Pi 4. It’s essentially a system-on-module version of the Pi 4 as opposed to a full computer, which means it’s missing USB ports while still retaining the CPU, ethernet, Wi-Fi 5 and bus. But it also gives you access to the system’s PCIe, meaning you can add desktop and laptop components to your Pi.
This is where Geerling’s project kicks in. By installing a desktop Wi-Fi card to his Pi CM4, he was able to get Wi-Fi 6 speeds up to 1.34 Gbps on his Pi, which is 44% faster than what he got on on the CM4’s ethernet connection and 17 times the speed he got on its built-in Wi-Fi.
(Image credit: Jeff Geerling)
His parts list was also pretty small, too, which is good news for anyone looking to replicate his project. It simply amounted to buying a new Wi-Fi 6 router, connecting a new Wi-Fi card to his Pi, and doing some manual and coding labor. But, well, the project still stretched beyond Geerling’s budget and time expectations, with multiple failures along the way.
What was the holdup? On top of a few issues with how well Linux supports certain cards- he had to try a few before settling on the EDUP Intel AX200 card- there was also the matter of his home connection. Even if your Pi is able to connect at high speeds, that doesn’t do much good if your home network can’t push out high enough network connectivity to really challenge it. And again, Geerling’s goal was to connect the Pi CM4 to a 10 Gbps network.
So after numerous attempts connecting to his existing home network and trying to set up a more budget-friendly Wi-Fi 6 network using just his Dell XPS 13, Geerling eventually had to upgrade his entire home network to 802.11ax wireless speeds.
The good news here is that, if you want to copy Geerling’s project, you can save some time and money by skipping past the components that failed. The bad news is that what ended up working is still pretty expensive, with the aforementioned EDUP card costing $33 and the Wi-Fi 6 router that Geerling ended up using, the ASUS RT-AX86U costing $250.
Still, if the cost doesn’t intimidate you, you stand to gain a lot of speed for such a small device. And there are of course other benefits to stepping up to Wi-Fi 6, if you have compatible devices.
Geerling’s got both a video and blog tutorial for his project that breaks down his process, which will help you navigate through installing Intel’s Wi-Fi drivers onto the Raspberry Pi CM4 using Linux. So if you’re looking to spend the holidays catching up on streaming, here’s a great way to get started.
The MSI Prestige 14 Evo brings a first-class Tiger Lake processor to MSI’s productivity ultrabook, but it’s held back by a dim screen and quiet/tinny speakers.
For
Strong performance
14-inch display
Great webcam
Against
Dim display
Quiet, tinny audio
MSI’s back with an Intel Evo-certified update to its Prestige 14 productivity line. Alongside another, non-Evo refresh, this brings Tiger Lake to the gaming company’s productivity ultrabooks. While we miss the pink color option we saw with its 10th gen machines, this latest iteration of the Prestige 14 gives it industry-leading performance. But performance isn’t the only thing that matters, especially in the best ultrabooks.
MSI Prestige 14 Evo Specs
CPU
Intel Core i7-1185G7
Graphics
Intel Iris Xe
Memory
16GB LPDDR4-4267
Storage
512GB NVMe SSD
Display
14 inches, 1920 x 1080, IPS-level
Networking
802.11 ax Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.1
Ports
2x Thunderbolt 4, 1x USB 2.0 Type-A, 1x microSD card reader, 1x 3.5mm combination microphone/headphone jack
Camera
720p, IR
Battery
52 Whr
Power Adapter
65W
Operating System
Windows 10 Home
Dimensions(WxDxH)
12.6 x 8.6 x 0.6 inches (37.1 x 21.8 x 1.5 cm)
Weight
2.8 pounds (1.3 kg)
Price (as configured)
$1,149
Design of the MSI Prestige 14 Evo
Image 1 of 6
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 2 of 6
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 3 of 6
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 4 of 6
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 5 of 6
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 6 of 6
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The Evo-certified update to the MSI Prestige 14 keeps the same basic look as previous releases, but unfortunately lacks the bright pink option from the
Ice Lake model
we reviewed earlier this year. Instead, you’ll have a choice between white and black here, though each comes with snazzy metallic lining on the edges of the lid and the touchpad.
There’s some extra styling on the MSI Prestige 14 Evo that gives it a premium look. On our gray model, a metallic blue strip accentuated the edges of the laptop’s lid and its touchpad, and in the right light, almost looked like it was an LED strip.
The rest of the laptop is more plain aesthetically, with the majority of the case being taken up by a uniform, somewhat glittery gray surface that’s unfortunately prone to collecting fingerprints. If you flip the laptop over, you’ll notice that the laptop’s vent hole placement resembles a city skyline, though this isn’t something you’ll see during typical use.
The keyboard is also home to a nice visual touch, as its keycaps are decorated with a slightly lighter version of the case’s color scheme.
Opening the laptop lid also lifts the keyboard off the desk at a five degree angle, to make for easier typing and better cooling.
There’s a wide variety of ports for such a small laptop. The laptop has two
Thunderbolt 4
ports, and the right side has a single USB Type-A port, a 3.5mm combination headphone/microphone jack and a microSD card reader. That last inclusion is a rare but helpful addition, although it’s unfortunate that the Type-A port is just USB 2.0 as opposed to belonging to a more recent connection standard like USB 3.2.
This is the first non-convertible 14 inch Tiger Lake ultrabook we’ve reviewed, so it’s a touch larger than the closest competitors we have on record. At 12.6 x 8.6 x 0.6 inches, it’s certainly not large, but it is a touch longer than rivals. The Dell XPS 13 and Razer Book 13, for instance, are 11.6 x 7.8 x 0.6 inches, while the Asus ZenBook 13 is a slightly chunkier 11.9 x 8 x 0.5 inches.
The Prestige 14 Evo is surprisingly lightweight, though, matching the Dell XPS 13’s 2.8 pounds. That does make it slightly heavier than the ZenBook 13’s 2.4 pounds, but it’s still not as weighty as the Razer Book 13’s 3.1 pounds.
Productivity Performance on the MSI Prestige 14 Evo
This is our first time looking at a shipping laptop with the Core i7-1185G7 CPU. Every other Tiger Lake i7 laptop we’ve reviewed has an i7-1165G7, besides a whitebox system featuring the chip. What’s the difference? Not much. The 1185G7 has a slightly higher max turbo speed (4.3 vs 4.1 GHz), but both can run between 12W and 28W of power. Still, the Prestige’s chip is just a touch more, well, prestigious.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
You can see this in action on the Prestige 14 Evo’s Geekbench 5.0 results. This synthetic benchmark tracks general performance across a number of arenas, and the Prestige 14 Evo scored higher than any computers we tested it to. At 5,718 points, it’s closest match was the Razer Book 13 (5,460), coincidentally also made by a manufacturer known for gaming. The Dell XPS 13 was next (5,254), while the Asus ZenBook 13 came in last (5,084).
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
This trend continued in our Handbrake video editing test, where we track how long it takes a machine to transcode a video down from
4K
to
FHD
. The Prestige 14 Evo completed the task in 12:27, while the Razer Book 13 took slightly longer at 14:46. The Zenbook 13 trailed behind with a 17:51 time, while the XPS 13 took the longest at 18:22.
The Prestige and the Razer Book once again lead scores in graphics testing, with all machines using Intel Iris Xe internal graphics which we benchmarked using 3DMark Fire Strike. Here, the Prestige scored 5,240 points and the Razer Book 13 scored 5,216 points. The Zenbook 13 dipped significantly with 4,407 points, and the XPS 13 rounded out the rankings with an even lower 3,598 points.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The one category where the Prestige isn’t on top is on file transfer speeds. Here, it copied 4.97GB of files at a respectable 805 MBps, which was about on par with the XPS 13’s 806.2 MBps and was much higher than the Razer Book 13’s 479.2 MBps. Still, the ZenBook 13 was the leader here, with a transfer speed of 966.8 MBps.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
We also ran the MSI Prestige through Cinebench R20 20 times in a row to test how it holds up to extended strain. Our average score was 2206.2, which was impressive given that our first test earned 2268 points and that we tend to see a significant drop as the stress test continues.
During the stress test, the Prestige 14’s CPU ran at an average clock speed of 3434.1 GHz and an average temperature of 85.3 degrees Celsius (185.54 degrees Fahrenheit).
Display on the MSI Prestige 14 Evo
Image 1 of 2
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 2 of 2
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
At 14 inch screen on the MSI Prestige 14 Evo is
IPS-level
, but my viewing experience found that it was almost uncomfortably dim.
I tested the display on the MSI Prestige 14 Evo by watching the Wonder Woman 1984 trailer on it. To the screen’s credit, I found that the viewing angles on this screen were almost complete, with the image never washing out regardless of how far away I got from the display, whether horizontally or vertically. The panel also wasn’t reflective, and I was able to clearly see the image in both normal and low light.
The difficulty was in the actual image on screen. While I could follow the action well, the Prestige 14 Evo is more than just dim. It borders on dark. Colors also weren’t vivid or striking, though blacks were impressively deep.
Our testing backed up my impressions. Our luminance testing found that the average brightness across the Prestige 14 Evo’s screen was 284 nits, which is much lower than even its closest competitors. That would be the ZenBook 13, which had a 370 nit average brightness. The Razer Book 13 and Dell XPS 13, meanwhile, far exceeded these two laptops at 436 and 469 nits, respectively.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The Prestige 14 Evo did fare better on color, registering a 78.9% DCI-P3 rating on our colorimeter. That’s more than we saw on the XPS 13 (69.4%) and the ZenBook 13 (76.1%), though it’s not quite as high as the Razer Book 13’s score (80.7%). Still despite scoring high on official benchmarks, the dim screen held the colors back in practice, since I had to strain more to see them.
Keyboard and Touchpad on the MSI Prestige Evo 14
Image 1 of 2
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 2 of 2
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The keyboard on the MSI Prestige 14 Evo makes a strong first impression thanks to some snazzy decoration and the laptop’s hinge lifting it five degrees off the desk, but it starts to show some minor weaknesses with further use.
Keypresses are cushiony but still feel tactile, and there’s enough key travel for you to get an idea of when your press is registered. The issue comes with the construction of the keycaps themselves. They’re sturdy enough, but the top of each keycap can start to feel slippery during quick typing, which can get disorienting when touch-typing and is likely to cause the occasional typo.
Still, I was able to maintain a high words per minute count on 10fastfingers.com, where I scored 76 wpm on most tests. That’s just a few points below my 80 wpm standard.
The Prestige’s precision touchpad is generous, and multitouch gestures register well. My only complaint is that the laptop’s fingerprint reader sits in the touchpad’s upper-left corner, and running your finger over it doesn’t register as moving the cursor. So, essentially, it acts as a dead zone that you could accidentally run into during use. However, the touchpad’s larger overall size means this isn’t much of an issue in practice.
Audio on the MSI Prestige Evo 14
The MSI Prestige 14 Evo features a bottom-firing speaker on either side. I tested their audio by listening to Mood by 24kgoldn, and I had a subpar listening experience.
The most immediate issue with the Prestige 14 Evo’s audio is its volume — or lack thereof. Even at 100%, the Prestige 14 Evo was quiet, just barely able to fill my small office with music. Even for personal use, you’ll probably want to keep it at close to 80% of its max volume.
Volume wasn’t the Prestige 14 Evo’s only problem, though. Its audio also tends to come across as tinny and weak. For example, Mood opens up with thunderclaps meant to evoke a raging storm, but they sound more like rustling leaves here. The song’s frequent drum beats also bear a remarkable similarity to clapping hands.
Essentially, the Prestige 14 Evo’s speakers are so poor that my first impression of them was “Are these mono?”
Upgradeability of the MSI Prestige 14 Evo
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
We opened the MSI Prestige 14 Evo by removing the 7 Phillips Head screws along its bottom with a J0 screwdriver. Note that there is a screw underneath a “factory seal” sticker in the center of the case’s lid that you’ll have to remove alongside the screws on the laptop’s side.
Inside the Prestige 14 Evo, you’ll find the M.2 SSD and the networking chip, but since the RAM is soldered in and there’s no slots for expanded storage, the only change you’ll be able to make is swapping out the SSD for one with a larger capacity.
Battery Life on the MSI Prestige 14 Evo
The Evo branding suggests the MSI Prestige 14 should last long. But we have our own battery test, which continually browses the web, streams video and runs OpenGL tests over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness. It confirmed that the Prestige 14 Evo does indeed last for a while before turning off.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Specifically, we found that it had 12:25 hours of battery life on our test. That puts it a little over an hour behind the Asus ZenBook 13 (13:47), but it’s still ahead of the XPS 13 (11:07) and the Razer Book 13 (11:44).
Heat on the MSI Prestige 14 Evo
The MSI Prestige 14 Evo doesn’t get that hot under strain, but it does heat up more frequently than we’d like, even during casual tests.
After 15 minutes of streaming YouTube, the touchpad was the Prestige 14 Evo’s coolest location. It registered 77.7 degrees Fahrenheit (25.4 degrees Celsius). The next hottest location was the keyboard at 87.3 degrees Fahrenheit (30.7 degrees Celsius), while the laptop’s bottom measured 92.3 degrees Fahrenheit (33.5 degrees Celsius).
Its hottest location was slightly above its F4 key, where it hit 93.4 degrees Fahrenheit (34.1 degrees Celsius).
All of this is within what we’ve seen from similar 14 inch Tiger Lake laptops like the Lenovo Yoga 7i, but what makes the Prestige 14 Evo stand out is just how frequently it heats up. Even just sitting idle off to my side as I wrote this review, its fans were on full blast most of the time. This got noisy fast, and I quickly took to turning the MSI off when it wasn’t in use.
Webcam on the MSI Prestige 14 Evo
The MSI Prestige 14 Evo’s webcam reflects the need for strong video conferencing during the pandemic. The picture is so clear that I thought it might have been 1080p when I first turned it on. No, this is a 720p camera, but my mistake indicates how highly I think of it.
In both normal and low light, the Prestige 14 Evo’s camera displayed virtually no grain and was true-to-life in capturing the color and texture of my face. More impressive, however, is that I was able to easily capture a photo in front of my office window without it being washed out by background light. Instead, I was surrounded by the cityscape surrounding my apartment, a rare treat even on the best webcams.
The Prestige 14 Evo’s webcam also acknowledges privacy concerns, and the laptop’s Fn bar has an option to turn it off on the hardware level so that you don’t have to worry about being recorded without your knowledge. It also has an IR sensor for use with Windows Hello.
Software and Warranty on the MSI Prestige 14 Evo
The MSI Prestige 14 Evo comes mostly free of bloat, but because this is a productivity laptop coming from a brand known mostly for gaming, MSI’s snuck in some utility software to prove that it’s not limited to helping players up their K/D ratios. So, on top of standard Windows pack-ins like Microsoft Solitaire Collection and Spotify, you’ll also find apps like the MSI Center for Business & Productivity.
The MSI Center for Business & Productivity is essentially a fancy name for a program that lets you change your CPU’s power consumption based on which apps are open, plus direct more CPU resources to certain productivity programs like Photoshop. It also has noise cancellation functions, and can help you clear SSD space. It also has a unique feature to link iOS devices to your computer as a second display.
ColorDirector for MSI, Music Maker Jam and PowerDirector 17 Essential for MSI are also present and are more akin to bloat. These Cyberlink photo/video editing apps aren’t particularly popular choices among professionals, but I suppose they could make for a good way to get your feet wet before dipping into anything more advanced.
MSI Prestige 14 Evo Configurations
The Evo-certified MSI Prestige 14 has five available configurations, with price and availability depending on theretailer. Our configuration had an Intel Core i7-1185G7 CPU 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. It cost $1,149 at B&H and Newegg at time of review.
The cheapest version we could find was the version with the i5-1135G7, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD, which came in at $1,099 at B&H at time of the review.
On the other side of the spectrum, the most advanced version we could find had the same specs as our review unit, except for having a 1TB SSD. It cost $1,199 at Best Buy at the time of review.
Bottom Line
Image 1 of 3
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 2 of 3
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 3 of 3
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The MSI Prestige 14 Evo may seem premium at first, thanks to its name and the shiny trim along its outer edges, but on further inspection, it has serious compromises on everything but its performance.
While the Prestige 14 Evo largely boasted slight performance improvements over competitors, its gains were mostly meager, with the
Razer Book 13
in particular nipping at its heels across our tests. This is unfortunate, given that the Razer Book 13 has a brighter screen as well as louder and, in our experience, clearer audio.
Granted, the $1,599 Razer Book 13 is also more expensive than the Prestige 14 Evo, and the
Dell XPS 13
, which has similar strengths, is even more unapproachable at $1,650.
But the $999
Asus Zenbook 13
, which has a larger SSD and a brighter screen, is actually cheaper than the Prestige 14 Evo. MSI’s machine outclasses it a touch more on performance than the Razer Book 13 and the XPS 13, but the ZenBook actually has faster file transfer speeds than any of them. Its speakers were similarly tinny to the Prestige 14 Evo, but were much louder.
So whether you settle on the Prestige 14 Evo depends on your priorities in a laptop. If budget and performance are your first concerns, then it’s a pretty enticing machine. But if you’re willing to take a slight performance hit and pay a few hundred dollars more, you can get a machine with much higher quality components. Alternatively, if you’re OK with a noticeable but not oppressive performance dip, you could also get a machine with overall better components while paying less.
(Pocket-lint) – Lenovo makes several of the very best laptops that sit under the four-figure mark. And this, the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7, is probably the one you should buy.
Sure, the MacBook Air is a more exciting prospect, and even more powerful. But the Yoga Slim 7 is actually one of the best reasons not to buy a MacBook in 2021. Oh, and we should probably mention it’s hundreds cheaper too.
Its build quality is superb, it almost certainly has more power than you need, its screen is excellent in most respects, and the AMD version (as reviewed here) can even handle some recent-ish games well enough.
Lenovo once again gives us a masterclass on how to make a world-class laptop for under a grand. There’s very little reason to spend any more unless you need an ultra-high-resolution screen.
Design
Dimensions: 320.6mm x 208mm x 14.9mm
1.4kg claimed weight (1.326kg measured)
Finishes: Slate Grey / Orchid Purple
Aluminium shell design
High-end laptops are an odd category. Sometimes when you spend more to jump up a league, you end up with a laptop that feels less expensive. A lot of the most pricey ones use magnesium alloys rather than primarily aluminium ones: lighter but less metallic to the touch.
The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7’s case panels are aluminium. It leads to weight of 1.3kg rather than, well, a couple of hundred grammes less, but you get the same lovely cool-to-the-touch feel as a MacBook.
Pocket-lint
The screen is stiff, the keyboard doesn’t bow under the pressure of your fingers, and it’s a classy-looking laptop in a minimalistic sort of way.
This isn’t quite the device you might expect given that it’s part of the Yoga series, though. The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7’s screen folds open to 180 degrees, not a hybrid-style 360 degrees, and it does not have a touchscreen.
It’s definitely a laptop, not a lifestyle gadget that thinks it can replace an iPad. Lenovo has its eyes on MacBook Air buyers, thus some of the core stats are similar. The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 is 16mm thick, just like an Air, and the weight is more-or-less the same too.
Display
14-inch IPS panel, 300 nits birghtness
1920 x 1080 pixel resolution
No touchscreen control
The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 has a 14-inch IPS LCD screen. It’s here we see this laptop start to move away from one that costs hundreds more – but less so than you might guess.
Pocket-lint
This is a 1080p screen, which means you’ll see slight pixellation in small fonts. Lenovo does make a 4K version, but this doesn’t seem to be sold as widely as the Full HD Yoga 7 Slim.
In almost every other respect, though, we have no complaints. It actually outperforms Lenovo’s own claims in some areas.
For example, Lenovo says the 1080p Yoga 7 Slim reaches 300-nit brightness. But it actually hits 385 nits by our measure. That extra headroom makes the display look clearer outdoors, and it also has a reflection-reducing matte finish. When you have some high-end laptops touting 500 nits as some kind of untouchable achievement, it shows just how well set this laptop is.
Lenovo says the screen’s colour matches the sRGB colour standard, the old industry standard for monitors and printers. But its colour coverage is actually 20 per cent richer than that by our measure.
Sure, a MacBook Air or Dell XPS 13 has deeper colour still, but you only need to worry about that if you’ll colour grade video or do other pro imaging work. The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7’s colour looks well-saturated to our eyes.
Part of that eyeball-pleasing effect is thanks to the display’s great contrast: it’s 1762:1 at max brightness, which is an excellent result for an LCD screen. Blacks don’t look washed out and grey.
Pocket-lint
All it really lacks in this class is the slick presentation you get from a glass-topped glossy screen. The screen image of a glossy display can seem to “pop” more than a matte one like this, and the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 has a plastic top layer with a slightly raised surround.
However, this is more a result of the decision to use a matte finish than a way for Lenovo to save a few pennies when making the Yoga Slim 7.
Keyboard & Touchpad
2-level white LED backlight
NUMPAD-free chiclet keyboard
Wide aspect textured glass trackpad
Want some more proof Lenovo isn’t cost-cutting on the sly? The Yoga Slim 7 has a mid-size textured glass touchpad.
Pocket-lint
This laptop sits right at the border where we tend to see manufacturers switch from using relatively cheap plastic pads to fancier glass ones. Seeing textured glass in a laptop range that starts at this price is by no means a given though.
The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 ‘pad also has zero pre-click wobble, and nice’n’firm clicker feedback. We also saw zero driver or sensitivity issues, which often makes us disable tap-based button response in Windows 10.
In short: this is one of the best pads you’ll see in this class.
The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7’s keyboard is less remarkable, but still does the job perfectly well. Key travel is limited, much less than Lenovo’s famously deep ThinkPad laptops, but the actuation feedback is good.
Pocket-lint
This is a relatively fast and light-feeling keyboard. It has a two-level backlight as well, and we switched it on more than usual. The key lettering contrast drops off when there’s a light pointing directly at the keyboard as the keys and surround are a metallic grey, with less contrast in their colour than some.
At a glance you’d guess there’s no fingerprint scanner here. But the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 does have one built into the power button on the side.
Apple macOS 11 Big Sur: All the key new Mac features explored
Performance & Speakers
2x 2W speakers with Dolby Atmos DSP
Ryzen 7 4700U CPU with Vega 8 graphics
8GB DDR4X RAM
Lenovo makes both Intel and AMD versions of the Yoga 7 Slim. Our review model is an AMD one with a Ryzen 7 4700U, 8GB RAM and a 512GB SSD.
Pocket-lint
This setup is not quite as powerful as a MacBook Air’s M1 processor, but it is better than the 10th Generation Intel Core i5 or i7 you might find in another model. You can get a Core i7 CPU version of this same laptop for a mite more, but we’d stick with AMD.
While the Intel offers better performance in single-core apps, the AMD has twice the number of cores, at eight. And while this is a low-voltage processor made for slim and light laptops, it is punchy.
Windows 10 runs like a dream on the Yoga 7 Slim. This is helped by the very fast SSD, which reads data at a shade under 3500MB/s. Once again: no budget-related cuts here.
The Yoga 7 Slim’s Ryzen 7 4700U also has better built-in graphics than anything on the Intel side (bar the latest 11th Generation chipsets with the “Xe” GPU). You may not get a full gaming laptop experience here, but given it slots into a slim and light case we’re pretty happy.
You can play Skyrim at Ultra graphics, 1080p resolution, and see frame rates that hop between 30fps and 40fps depending on what’s on-screen. Subnautica runs well at 1080p, Low graphics. You lose out on some of the more atmospheric visual effects at this setting, but the game still looks good.
The Witcher 3 is more of a challenge, but is still playable. Stick to 900p resolution and you can play at Low settings, 30ps, comfortably, or at Medium if you can live with some dips to the 20fps range when you get into combat or walk around cities.
A laptop with an Nvidia MX450 graphics card, like the HP Envy 13, will run games better. It’s 50-100 per cent more powerful, depending on context. But the results from the Yoga 7 Slim are still much better than those of a vanilla 10th Gen Intel laptop.
Pocket-lint
The Yoga 7 Slim also has respectable speakers, with some caveats to note. There are drivers to each side of the keyboard, in those obvious hole-pocked grilles.
While not quite MacBook-grade, the sound does have some real mid-range output and good volume. But much of that comes from the Dolby Atmos digital signal processing.
Atmos is traditionally a way to add height channels to a mix, whether with real speakers or virtual ones. But in laptops this software’s main effect is to max-out the performance of little drivers.
You hear it in full effect in the Lenovo Yoga 7 Slim, as the speakers sound weak, quiet and thin with Dolby Atmos disabled. Switched on the audio does tend to sound manipulated, which is a combination of the processing’s effect on the soundstage and that the laptop’s drivers are being pushed to their limits when volume is near full. Still, the result remains more powerful than that of some laptops in this price band.
Connections & Webcam
720p webcam with IR for login
1x HDMI, 2x USB-C (1x with DisplayPort)
Connections on laptops are a bit like headphone jacks on phones. Spend more and you often end up with fewer ports. The Yoga 7 Slim has plenty for our needs. You get two USB-C – the standard outlay for an ultra-pricey laptop – plus a stack of “older” connections.
Pocket-lint
There’s a full-size HDMI, two USB 3.2 ports, a microSD card slot, and a headphone jack. It’s only missing connectors that frankly don’t belong on a laptop like this in 2020, such as an Ethernet port and VGA connector.
We like that Lenovo recognises not everyone who buys a Yoga 7 Slim will have switched entirely to USB-C peripherals.
That said, the webcam doesn’t get the same attention. It’s a 720p camera with a soft, dull image. You can use the camera to login, because there’s a Windows Hello-compatible IR camera by its side. This is used to recognise your face regardless of the light level. The webcam itself doesn’t hold up so well in low light.
Battery Life
60.4Wh battery
65/95W charging (65W adapter included)
Charging over USB-C
Lenovo makes a massive statement about the Yoga 7 Slim’s battery, that it can last up to 17.5 hours. We were fully prepared to do our usual spiel about how manufacturers test their laptops’ batteries with benchmarks from the 1970s, using screen settings so dim you can’t even see the display. And then, well, we did some testing of our own.
Five hours of 1080p streamed YouTube at 60 per cent brightness only saw the charge level drop to 70 per cent, suggesting a total runtime of about 16 hours 40 minutes.
Pocket-lint
That seemed almost unbelievably long, so we tried playing The Witcher 3 until the battery died. The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7’s brightness was maxed and we minimised graphics settings and resolution, to increase the load on the CPU while still using 100 per cent of the GPU’s power. We started at 4:58pm, it died at 6:47pm. A shade under two hours: better than the vast majority of gaming laptops but then again the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 doesn’t have a dedicated power-hungry GPU.
We like to rely as much on real-world use as possible for our reviews at Pocket-lint. But the Lenovo Yoga 7 Slim’s battery really caught our interest, so we put it through some more battery benchmarks.
PC-testing suite PCMark 10 has a series of tests that emulate the workloads of real-world situations. We tried “modern office”, which uses some basic browsing and productivity apps punctuated by some gaps, stand-ins for your going to make a cup of tea or slacking off on your phone.
The Yoga 7 Slim lasts 20 hours 1 minute at 50 per cent screen brightness, using its CPU-throttling Battery Saver mode. This seemed ridiculous so we re-ran the test at 73 per cent brightness and took off the processor limits. It still lasted 18 hours 11 minutes.
We give in. It’s all true. The Lenovo Yoga 7 Slim lasts forever.
Pocket-lint
Its battery is big at 60.7Wh, 17 per cent higher capacity than the latest Dell XPS 13. But the real hero here is the AMD Ryzen 4700U, which scales so well between exertion levels it starts to look more like the revolutionary Apple M1 CPU.
Charging speed is less impressive, though. It takes around 2.5 hours to charge from flat. The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 uses USB-C to charge and comes with a 65W adapter. This laptop does support a form of fast-charging, for 50 per cent juice in 30 minutes – much like a decent Android phone – but this requires Lenovo’s 95W charger (and we didn’t get one in the box).
Verdict
The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 is never going to be as renowned as the MacBook Air and Dell XPS 13, but we think it’s a better all-round buy for many. Apple charges a premium for the most comparable Air spec. The closest Dell XPS 13 config costs even more and is worse at playing games.
But it’s not all about money. The Yoga Slim 7 has a lovely aluminium casing, lots of power, lots of storage, a vibrant screen, an excellent glass trackpad, and incredibly long battery life.
Yes, we’d love the Yoga Slim 7 even more if its speakers had higher quality drivers and it had a webcam without cataracts. But would we pay hundreds more for them? Not a chance. As it is this is one of the best laptops available at this price point.
Also consider
Pocket-lint
HP Envy 13
squirrel_widget_142290
Pound for pound the HP Envy 13 is probably the most alluring alternative to the Yoga. We loved the late 2019 version for its power and all-metal build, all at the right price. The 2020 update nets you much better gaming performance, thanks to an Nvidia MX450 graphics card. But the Lenovo lasts longer, has a more powerful CPU and a glass touchpad.
Read our review
Pocket-lint
MacBook Air 13
squirrel_widget_193481
Ok, so the MacBook Air is a more interesting laptop than the Lenovo Yoga 7, but is it a better buy? For video editing and other intensive jobs we’d buy the Air. Use M1 processor-optimised apps and performance will be better, and the battery will last far longer. However, thanks to Apple’s pricey upgrades system the Lenovo costs a stack less if you need 512GB storage rather than 256GB.
Read our review
Pocket-lint
Dell XPS 13
squirrel_widget_176985
The Dell is Windows laptop royalty. But if you’re into the core substance of computing it simply seems clear the Lenovo is a better buy. It’s more powerful, using multi-core optimised apps, the battery is bigger and lasts longer. The XPS 13’s benefits are all to do with design and portability. It has a smaller footprint, is 4mm thinner, and slightly lighter. You’ll have to decide if that’s worth several hundred pounds.
From grainy MacBooks to elaborate DSLR setups, no gadget had a bigger impact on how we got through 2020
When Time selects its annual Person of the Year, it’s not necessarily an endorsement of the recipient’s actions or beliefs. Instead, it’s more of an acknowledgement of the person’s outsized impact on the world in that calendar year. The Verge doesn’t normally give out a “gadget of the year” award, but it’s pretty obvious what 2020’s would be if we went by Time’s criteria.
It’s the webcam.
Yes, the humble webcam, which was only mentioned twice in our Gadgets of the Decade list a year ago: once to dunk on the bad one on the Dell XPS 15 laptop, and again to note the rise of the little plastic covers that stop them working altogether. But 2020 was a year in which bedrooms turned into boardrooms, with millions of people learning to work from home for the first time. And it turns out there’s nothing like a pandemic to throw the limits of technology into sharp relief.
What people learned about webcams this year is that by and large, they suck. It’s hard enough to adapt to online meetings and compensate for the lack of in-person interaction without having to peer at a tiny video feed that makes your phone’s selfie camera look like a DSLR. There are things you can do to limit the blown-out exposure, but it only goes so far — built-in laptop webcams are pretty universally bad.
The “clearer, sharper” MacBook Air webcam.
Take the new MacBook Air, for example, which we came very close to scoring 10/10 but decided against largely because it still has a terrible 720p webcam. Apple used some software processing tricks to improve the image quality slightly, claiming you’ll get “clearer, sharper images” with “more detail in shadows and highlights,” but the hardware is just too limited for the results to make much difference.
Why don’t webcams have better hardware, then? Well, particularly with laptops, it’s complicated. Laptops have such thin lids that it’s hard to fit in anything other than the smallest image sensors, which has a direct impact on the image quality. The 720p resolution isn’t really the issue — you can watch a 720p Blu-ray movie and it’ll look great on a laptop-sized screen. It’s the small physical size of the sensor that causes the lack of dynamic range and general light-gathering capability. And increasing the surface area of the sensor would generally also require increasing the overall depth of the camera module in order to include a lens with the right field of view.
That’s why tablet computers like the iPad tend to have much better webcams than laptops (although in the iPad Pro’s case, the camera is located at a very unflattering angle). There’s more space to fit larger camera modules because the tablet chassis has to be thick enough to accommodate the entire computer as well; the keyboard attachments are basically just a keyboard. Laptops are the other way around, with a much thinner lid for the screen while the main computer components and battery are housed in the bottom half. (It’s worth noting that Apple did also manage to give the iMac a webcam upgrade this year that we described as “no longer vaguely embarrassing.”)
The 2020 iMac, which did actually have a better webcam.
I’m not saying that there is no possible way for laptops to get better webcams. Everything is a tradeoff, and maybe some laptop manufacturers will soon decide to make a different one in order to improve image quality. Perhaps there will be laptops with conspicuous camera bumps in our lives next year. Until that happens, though, people have had to find alternative solutions to looking better on video calls.
The first sign something was up was the March-April run on external webcams, where they became impossible to find online without jacked-up prices at a time when most brick-and-mortar retailers were closed. Logitech told The Verge it was ramping up production to meet demand and reporting gray market resellers who’d been selling products on for profit. The situation settled down as the year went on, and it’s easier to get hold of one today, but my guess is you might see a bunch more videoconferencing products announced at CES next month than normal.
Even dedicated webcams aren’t necessarily known for stunning image quality, though. They’re a big step up from a laptop’s built-in camera, but they’re still webcams. That’s why it was gratifying to see dedicated camera companies jump at the opportunity to enable a whole new use case for their DSLRs and mirrorless cameras. Sony, Fujifilm, Canon, Olympus, Panasonic, and Nikon all released apps that could turn their cameras into webcams, bringing tack-sharp focus and creamy bokeh to the world of Zoom meetings to the first time and sparking an arms race among tech reporters to achieve the most cinematic video stream. Before that, there’d been a spike in demand for HDMI capture cards, which allow you to jury-rig your own camera setups.
Webcams have been around forever, but for many people unexpectedly thrown into the reality of working from home, it took the events of 2020 to highlight how inadequate and inert their recent development has been. I think you’ll see companies invest more in this space in the near future, as COVID-19 has undoubtedly altered work dynamics forever. But when people look back to 2020 and how they spent their days in lockdown, they’re going to think about how they connected with others. A lot of the time, they’ll be thinking about a grainy image captured on a terrible webcam.
The Razer Blade Stealth is confused about what it wants to be. It’s priced as a premium ultraportable and looks like one too. But as a gaming notebook, it’s quite underpowered for the price. While the OLED screen is beautiful, Razer needs to work on the keyboard.
For
Great build quality
OLED screen is gorgeous
Thunderbolt 4 on both sides
Against
Cheaper gaming laptops offer better graphics
Uncomfortable keyboard
There are a few things I can say with certainty about the Razer Blade Stealth ($1,799.99 to start, $1,999.99 as tested). For one thing, it’s built like a tank. Our option had a beautiful OLED display, and Razer doesn’t heap on bloatware.
What I can’t tell you, though, is who this laptop is for exactly. Razer calls it a “gaming ultraportable,” and prices it among the
best ultrabooks
, which are often expensive partially due to build quality. But the mix of an Intel Core i7-1165G7 and Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Ti, while they can play eSports games or AAA games, are low-end for a laptop of this price. Competing gaming notebooks with far superior graphics performance can be found for less money. To make it more confusing, Razer has announced
the Razer Book 13
, a non-gaming ultraportable that houses Intel’s Xe integrated graphics.
Among competing ultrabooks, the
best gaming laptops
and in Razer’s own stack, the Blade Stealth feels more niche than it used to. And yet, somehow, it still gets plenty right.
Design of the Razer Blade Stealth
Image 1 of 4
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 2 of 4
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 3 of 4
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 4 of 4
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
We last reviewed the Razer Blade Stealth in September with a 10th Gen Intel Ice Lake processor, and the design hasn’t changed a bit in the intervening two months. But for those who aren’t familiar with it, the Stealth is a black aluminum notebook. The lid features the Razer tri-headed snake logo, but at least the company made it black on black, so you can mostly ignore it if it doesn’t fit your style.
The no-frills aluminum build continues when you unfold the laptop. It’s all-black aluminum on the deck, with speakers flanking both sides of the keyboard. That’s the one spot with some color, as the keys are lit with single-zone Chroma RGB. The display is surrounded by a moderate, but inoffensive, bezel.
The left side of the laptop has a Thunderbolt 4 port over USB Type-C, USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A and a headphone jack. The right side is the same, minus the headphone jack. I do appreciate that Razer has the ports evenly distributed across the laptop, and you can charge on either side via the Thunderbolt ports.
If you consider the Stealth to be a gaming notebook, it’s small at 3.1 pounds and 12 x 8.3 x 0.6 inches. The
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14
, a 14-inch gaming notebook, is 3.5 pounds and 12.8 x 8.7 x 0.7 inches, and even that’s petite for a gaming notebook.
But if the Blade Stealth is an ultraportable, then it’s big. The Dell XPS 13 9310 is 2.8 pounds and 11.6 x 7.8 x 0.6 inches, though it does have fewer ports.
2x USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A, 2x Thunderbolt 4, 3.5 mm headphone/mic jack
Camera
720p IR
Battery
53.1 WHr
Power Adapter
100 W
Operating System
Windows 10 Home
Dimensions(WxDxH)
12 x 8.3 x 0.6 inches / 304.6 x 210 x 15.3 mm
Weight
3.1 pounds / 1.4 kg
Price (as configured)
$1,999.99
Gaming and Graphics on the Razer Blade Stealth
The Razer Blade Stealth comes with an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Ti for gaming. To put it flatly, that’s not going to get you strong performance outside of some eSports titles, unless you’re willing to bring down your settings.
Image 1 of 4
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 2 of 4
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 3 of 4
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 4 of 4
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
I tested out the Stealth playing a few rounds of Rocket League, an eSports title that’s matches the type of game one should most expect to play on this laptop. In a round, I saw frames fluctuate between 177 and 202 frames per second (fps) on high quality mode at 1080presolution. Since our review unit’s screen only has a 60 Hz refresh rate, it really would have made sense to limit the frames.
You may notice that our primary competitor in gaming, the Asus Zephyrus G14, has a much better GPU: an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q. This isn’t an accident — you can get that machine for $1,449, which is cheaper than the Blade Stealth we’re reviewing. What the Stealth offers is better than the integrated graphics you get in most ultraportables, but other, cheaper gaming laptops do offer more power.
On the Shadow of the Tomb Raider benchmark, on the highest settings at 1080p, the Stealth ran the game at 26 fps, which is below our 30 fps playable threshold, while the Zephyrus G14 hit 49 fps. Red Dead Redemption 2, at medium settings and 1080p, was also unplayable at 22 fps, while the Zephyrus G14 hit 35 fps.
On Grand Theft Auto V, at very high settings at 1080p, the Stealth played at 35 fps, but the Zephyrus G14 hit 115 fps.
The Blade managed to play Far Cry New Dawn (1080p, ultra) at 47 fps, but the Zephyrus beat it again at 73 fps.
To stress-test the Blade Stealth, we ran the Metro Exodus benchmark 15 times on a loop, which simulates about half an hour of gameplay. On the high preset, the game ran at an average of 29.9 fps, suggesting that you really need to drop down to normal or lower for playable frame rates. It hit 30 fps the first two runs before dropping down to around 29.9 for the rest of the gauntlet.
During that test, the CPU measured an average clock speed of 3.5 GHz and an average temperature of 60.8 degrees Celsius (141.4 degrees Fahrenheit). The GPU ran at an average speed of 1,287.6 MHz and an average temperature of 57.2 degrees Celsius (135 degrees Fahrenheit).
Productivity Performance on the Razer Blade Stealth
We tested the Razer Blade Stealth with an Intel Core i7-1165G7 CPU, 16GB of LPDDR4X RAM and a 512GB PCIeNVMe SSD. The package is a formidable workhorse, though other machines in both the gaming and ultraportable space do have some advantage.
Image 1 of 3
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 2 of 3
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 3 of 3
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
On Geekbench 5.0, the Stealth earned a multi-core score of 4,992, falling to the XPS 13 (also with a Core i7-1165G7) and the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14, a gaming machine with an AMD Ryzen 9 4900HS.
The Blade Stealth copied 4.97GB of files at a rate 946.6 MBps, beating the XPS 13 9310 but still slower than the Zephyrus.
On our Handbrake test, Razer’s laptop took 16 minutes and 19 seconds to transcode a 4K resolution video to 1080p. That’s faster than the XPS 13, but the Zephyrus smashed it in less than half that time.
Display on the Razer Blade Stealth
The 13.3-inch FHD OLED touchscreen on the Stealth sure looks nice. The trailer for Black Widow (is it ever going to come out?) looked excellent. When the titular heroine is surrounded by flames in a car chase with Taskmaster, the orange reflections really stood out on a dark road. The villain’s navy suit contrasted with Red Guardian’s, well, red, knockoff Captain America outfit. In Rocket League, the Blade Stealth’s screen made the orange and blue cars pop against green turf.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Razer’s panel covers 83.2% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, just a smidge higher than the Zephryus’ display. The XPS 13 covers 69.4%.
The Blade Stealth measured an average brightness of 343 nits, while the XPS 13 was the brightest of the bunch at 469 nits. The Zephyrus G14 was a tad behind at 323 nits.
Keyboard and Touchpad on the Razer Blade Stealth
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Earlier this year, Razer fixed a long-maligned keyboard layout that put the shift key in an awkward place. That’s a major improvement, and the next step should be to focus on key travel. The keys have soft switches, and I had a tendency to bottom out on the aluminum frame, which tired my fingers. As I got used to the keyboard, I hit 112 words per minute with my usual error rate, which isn’t bad, but I could’ve felt a bit better doing it with more travel.
It wouldn’t be a Razer device without Chroma RGB lighting. The keyboard is single-zone backlit and can be controlled via the Synapse software.
The 4.3 x 3-inch touchpad is tall, making it more spacious than much of the Windows competition (though it’s still not as luxuriously large as what you see on Apple’s MacBooks). Windows Precision drivers ensure accurate scrolling and gestures. This is definitely one of the best touchpads on a Windows 10 laptop.
Audio on the Razer Blade Stealth
I’ll give the Blade Stealth’s audio this: It gets loud. The twin top-firing speakers immediately filled up my apartment with sound — in fact, I found it uncomfortable at maximum volume. When I listened to Blackway and Black Caviar’s “What’s Up Danger,” I got the best results with audio around 85%. The audio was clear, with vocals mixing well with sirens and synths in the background, as well as some drums. Bass, however, was lackluster. In Rocket League, car motors and bouncing balls were all clear.
Of the little software pre-installed on the system, one you might want to check out is THX Spatial Audio. Switching between stereo and spatial audio didn’t make a huge difference, but there are some presets, including games, music and voice to toggle between.
Upgradeability of the Razer Blade Stealth
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Ten Torx screws hold the bottom of the Razer Blade Stealth’s
chassis
to the rest of the system. I used a Torx T5 screwdriver to remove them, and the bottom came off without much of a fight.
The SSD is immediately accessible, and the Wi-Fi card and battery are also easily available for upgrades. The RAM, on the other hand, is soldered onto the motherboard.
Battery Life on the Razer Blade Stealth
The Razer Blade Stealth’s history with battery life has been mixed, but this iteration with Intel’s 11th Gen Core processors is decent, especially considering it has a discrete GPU. The laptop ran for 9 hours and 11 minutes on our battery test, which continuously browses the web, run OpenGL tests and streams video over a Wi-Fi connection, all at 150 nits of brightness.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
But ithe Razer was outclassed by both the Dell XPS 13 (11:07) and the Zephyrus G14, the longest-lasting gaming notebook we’ve ever seen (11:32), so there’s still room for improvement on Razer’s part.
Heat on the Razer Blade Stealth
Since Razer classifies the Blade Stealth as a “gaming ultraportable,” we took our heat measurements by pushing it to the limits on our Metro Exodus test.
During the benchmark, the keyboard between the G and H keys measured 42.7 degrees Celsius (108.9 degrees Fahrenheit), while the touchpad was cooler at 30.9 degrees Celsius (87.6 degrees Fahrenheit).
Image 1 of 2
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 2 of 2
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The hottest point on the bottom of the laptop reached 47.3 degrees Celsius (117.1 degrees Fahrenheit).
Webcam on the Razer Blade Stealth
Above the display, the Razer Blade Stealth has a 720p resolution webcam with infrared (IR) sensors. The IR sensors let you use facial recognition to log in to Windows 10 with Windows Hello, which was quick and accurate.
The webcam is passable. It caught details about as fine as a 720p webcam can, like hairs on my head, but the picture was still a little grainy and could definitely be sharper. On a laptop that has so many of the little details right, I’m ready for an upgrade on the camera.
Software and Warranty on the Razer Blade Stealth
You won’t spend much time removing bloatware from the Stealth. The only major piece of software that Razer adds to Windows 10 is Synapse, its hub for Chroma RGB lighting, adjusting performance modes, registering products and syncing accessories.
Windows 10 comes with some bloatware of its own, including Roblox, Hulu, Hidden City: Hidden Object Adventure, Spotify and Dolby Access.
Razer sells the Blade Stealth with a one-year warranty.
Razer Blade Stealth Configurations
We reviewed the $1,999.99 top-end variant of the Stealth, with an Intel Core i7-1165G7, Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Ti, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD and a 13.3-inch OLED FHD touchscreen.
I suspect that those who are using this system primarily for gaming will prefer the $1,799.99 base model, which has all of the same parts except for the display, which is a 120 Hz FHD screen.
Bottom Line
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The Razer Blade Stealth does a lot right, with great build quality, a lovely OLED screen and symmetrical Thunderbolt 4 ports for convenient charging on either side of the system.
If you’re buying this as an ultraportable, it’s expensive at $1,999.99 (with the OLED screen, anyway). But if you’re buying it as a gaming notebook, you should look elsewhere to save money and get better performance. The Asus Zephyrus G14 gives you the best Ryzen mobile processor for gaming around and has an RTX 2060 Max-Q for $450 less at $1,449.99. It doesn’t have Razer’s build quality or an OLED option, but it’s a worthwhile tradeoff in performance and you still get a 120 Hz display.
Razer doesn’t offer a version of the Stealth without the GTX 1650 Ti. That’s saved for the new Razer Book 13, which we haven’t reviewed yet as of this writing. But with that notebook in the wings, and the excellent
Razer Blade 15 Advanced
on the other side of Razer’s lineup, it makes a lot of sense to either spend more for better parts for gaming or spend less for better parts for productivity.
Those who just want to mix in some casual eSports play with work will get what they need out of this laptop, but a high-priced eSports laptop is a bit of a niche. While the Stealth is still a decent laptop, it doesn’t make as much sense as it used to.
It often happens that many page views are sent to Tweakers.net from an IP, more than usual – even for very large organizations such as KPN, the Tax and Customs Administration and the various ministries. To protect ourselves against (further) nuisance, we are holding back this request.
In most cases, this message will disappear after a minute.
Here are some common causes:
Proxy servers, link checkers or crawlers that are set incorrectly and / or ignore our robots.txt Overly enthusiastic feed readers requesting an RSS feed every few seconds Something lying on your keyboard and holding down the F5 button (e.g. a cat or headphones) In addition to the above reasons, misconduct on Tweakers.net is also reason to block an IP. This usually concerns things like hacking attempts or repeated harassment of fellow users.
If you see this message for a longer period of time and you do not know why please send us an email. You can also email us for further questions or comments. You do that to gathering@tweakers.net , also include your IP: 85. 214. 102. 92 and this string: 18: 03: 17-3490A.
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
