11 Nov
Blog

Apple MacBook Pro (2021) In-Depth Review: Perfect Pro Laptop

The 2021 MacBook Pro with the lid open on a white table.

MacBook Pro (2021)

RRP $ 2,499.00

"It's the best MacBook Pro since 2015. And yes, it has a notch."

advantages

  • Incredible XDR display

  • Fantastic creative achievement

  • Extensive port selection

  • The keyboard and trackpad are perfect

  • Excellent speakers and webcam

  • Endless battery life

"We were wrong."

It's not a phrase you'll ever hear from a company like Apple. Nor will it crawl or ask for forgiveness.

Instead, Apple corrects its mistakes by releasing a product like the 2021 MacBook Pro. Whether it's the thickness of the case, the touch bar, or the ports, the MacBook Pro represents an inversion of almost every major design decision made in the previous generation.

And yet the 2021 MacBook Pro manages to be more than just a referendum on the 2016 MacBook Pro. It's brave in a way that makes it exciting, but familiar in a way that makes it comfortable. You could even call it the best of both worlds – that's exactly what you want from a “Pro” laptop.

One thing is certain: you don't have to apologize for it.

draft

The back of the MacBook Pro with the lid open.

If you take a step back, the 2021 MacBook Pro still looks a lot like a MacBook. It's still made from a unibody aluminum chassis, it's still available in silver or space gray, and there's still an Apple logo on the lid.

But the changes in this generation are not subtle enough to be overlooked. Black has become the dominant accent color and adorns both the Apple logo and the keyboard background. The black keyboard in particular looks like a statement piece when so many laptops have copied the MacBook look. Silver laptops with black keycaps have become ubiquitous in the laptop world, and the change to the MacBook Pro is refreshing.

It also instantly sets these MacBook Pros apart from the otherwise similar-looking MacBook Air (and 13-inch MacBook Pro). Like the Space Gray iMac Pro and its accessories, Apple uses the slightest change in color scheme to create a premium, exclusive feel. For this reason, the box is sure to come with a black Apple sticker. This is an expensive product and Apple would like to welcome you to the cool club. It's not dissimilar to the strategy used in the fashion and design industries.

The other small changes to the design include the removal of the "MacBook Pro" logo from the bottom bezel, new rubber feet on the bottom, and ultra-thin bezels on top. There is a tradeoff to this bezel, of course – although Apple won't hope you see it.

The notch

The notch of the MacBook Pro in which the camera module is located.

I've been wondering the idea of ​​a notch in a laptop since it debuted on the iPhone X in 2017. When companies like Dell pushed forward with wafer-thin bezels in the XPS laptops, Apple stayed on course with thick bezels in the years since then. In the early years of thin-bezel XPS laptops, a notch was even considered, but it never came into play.

And yet, to the surprise of almost everyone, the MacBook Pro 2021 has a large notch that hangs down from above and houses the camera module and a host of other sensors. It's a bigger and more intrusive notch than the iPhone, and it goes for a more boxy shape. And yes, Apple houses a number of important components in the notch that would have been very difficult to assemble without enlarging the frame or reducing the quality of the webcam.

I see the notch as a compromise, not a design flourish.

For the first time in a long time on a MacBook Pro, the notch ensures a frame of the same size in all directions around the screen and even enables Apple to introduce rounded corners. In that sense, it bears a lot of resemblance to the Surface Laptop Studio's screen.

However, the notch is also about branding. It does the same thing for the MacBook Pro as it always did for the iPhone, and creates a trademark. Like it or not, it's Apple's way of standing out in a sea of ​​identical plates and shells.

The MacBook Pro with the default wallpaper that hides the notch.

Do i love the look No i can't say I see it as a compromise, not a design flourish. However, given the options of a chunky top bezel (older MacBooks) or an inferior webcam (Dell XPS 15), this isn't a bad compromise. The notch looks more intrusive in the 14-inch model, which offers less space in the menu bar to accommodate the protrusion.

But in my time with the 16-inch MacBook Pro, it never got in the way. And thanks to the dark mode, default backgrounds, and translucency built into macOS, the notch wasn't as noticeable as I thought it would be. I don't like that your cursor completely disappears behind the notch.

Full screen mode was the only exception. I often use Split View when working and automatically move the top panel over the notch.

For the most part, Apple is finding sensible ways to get around the notch.

Size and dimensions

A side profile of the 2021 MacBook Pro.

Unlike the previous generation, the primary design tenet of the MacBook Pro 2021 wasn't ultra-thin. This is a departure from typical Apple products, but also offers creative professionals exactly what they wanted. Most would happily trade half an inch thick for extra power.

That's exactly what the 2021 MacBook Pro does. The side profile is thicker and rounder. And as some keen Apple historians have noted, it pays homage to an Apple laptop from 20 years ago, the Titanium PowerBook G4.

There are a number of reasons for the thicker chassis, including space for additional ports and better thermals. I have the 16 inch model, and it's now 0.66 inches thick and weighs 4.7 pounds. In both respects, that's significantly larger than the previous generation's 16-inch MacBook Pro. The 14-inch is just 0.05 inches thinner, but significantly lighter at just 3.5 pounds. Importantly, the 16-inch MacBook Pro I tested was larger than the previous generation Intel-powered, which was 0.02 inches thinner but almost half a pound lighter.

It's not often that Apple products grow in size, but then again, Apple's approach here is unorthodox. Many of the biggest features of the MacBook Pro 2021 simply destroy what the previous iteration insisted on. The Touch Bar is the most egregious example, and it's dead and gone on both the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros.

Ports

It's no secret that the MacBook Pro is doing the opposite with its ports. While it took way too long to get here, Apple made what I think was the best possible port selection possible. You still get three Thunderbolt 4 ports for all of that powerful docking you might need. However, they are no longer your only options.

Initially, charging is mainly done using the MagSafe 3 power adapter on the left. What a wonderful return! Before the 2016 MacBook Pro, the intuitive MagSafe adapter has always been one of the distinctive technologies behind the MacBook Pro. And now it's back.

A side profile view of the MacBook Pro's port selection.

It's also better than ever. It is more powerful and can deliver up to 140 watts of power. That's more than you can charge through Thunderbolt 4. It also feels like it has a stronger magnetic grip and it's naturally thinner. It even has a chic braided cord, which is beautiful. The MagSafe 3 adapter is included, so you probably won't be charging via USB-C too often (unless you're like me and have USB-C chargers plugged into almost every wall outlet in the house). .

In addition to charging, the MacBook Pro has an HDMI port and a full-size SD card slot. Technically, you don't need either. But as a convenience, it's something that the target audience of this laptop will really appreciate. I wish Apple had done us a favor and made this an HDMI 2.1 port for the highest possible bandwidth. On the other hand, that's a lot more useful on a gaming laptop right now than anywhere else.

The SD card slot in particular is a must. So many MacBook Pro buyers will be transferring files from a camera to a laptop. This was something that Dell brought to the XPS 15 and XPS 17 a few years ago, and it's great to see Apple follow suit.

Finally, the MacBook Pro includes the latest connectivity standards, including Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.

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The MacBook Pro 2021 marks the most significant evolution in the line's display technology since 2012. That shows how far Apple was ahead of the game at the time, but the competition has clearly caught up. It's not uncommon to see Windows laptops with great color accuracy and saturation, high resolutions, and even the use of OLED screens. The MacBook Pro was still among the best, but laptops like the 4K OLED Dell XPS 15 started to score higher in our tests.

The MacBook Pro takes the crown back, but not in a way that you might expect. Let's get down to the basic details first. It's a 16.2-inch screen with a rather strange resolution: 3456 x 2234. That means an increase in pixel density from 220 pixels per inch (ppi) to 250 ppi. That also means that at 15.4:10, it's slightly higher than the 16:10 aspect ratio. This also applies to the 14-inch model, only with a lower resolution of 3024 x 1964, which corresponds to a slightly higher 254 ppi.

The display of the 2021 MacBook Pro 16 inch.

Whichever one you choose, this will be the first Mac to receive the Liquid Retina XDR treatment, which also showed up in the iPad Pro in early 2021. These screens are operated with mini LEDs and not with standard LEDs. Mini-LED does not use individually illuminated pixels like OLED; Instead, they use thousands of local dimming zones that allow for deeper blacks and better contrast than LEDs.

This is exactly what I saw when I tested the screen with my colorimeter. In terms of black levels, the difference to OLED can hardly be distinguished. Both blow conventional LEDs out of the water and offer a much greater depth of quality.

To be clear, this MacBook Pro isn't brighter or more colorful than the previous model. It still achieves 100% sRGB and 90% AdobeRGB and a brightness of 475 nits. That's a lot bright, but you might be scratching your head over the 1,000 nits of sustained brightness Apple claimed in its announcement?

Well, that's for HDR content. And when it comes to supported content, it looks amazing. I went to YouTube first and found some HDR certified videos. If you already know about HDR on TVs, this is no surprise, but the visual difference is breathtaking. Switching back and forth between Apple's XDR preset and the default preset can be done right in the display settings, so the difference is easy to see. Highlights are brighter, the entire video is noticeably brighter, and in terms of fidelity, Apple's XDR implementation really brings the colors to life.

This is the best laptop I've seen for viewing and creating HDR content.

But let's be honest. Very few people buy a laptop to watch HDR movies. Finding HDR content on the web is still pretty annoying, and making sure you see it in HDR is even more frustrating.

Because of me. But the panel itself is commendable, especially since it now includes a 120 Hz ProMotion refresh rate. This allows the screen to automatically adjust the refresh rate between 20 Hz and 120 Hz depending on what is happening on the screen.

If you still think that high refresh rates are only noticeable or beneficial to gaming laptops, just try turning off ProMotion and locking the screen at 60Hz. Once you've seen it it's hard to miss. Animations and scrolling feel a lot smoother. Heck, even the reduced ghosting of the cursor improves the overall look of the system.

While 120Hz is the same refresh rate as some other high-end laptops like the Surface Laptop Studio and the MSI Creator Z16, laptops like the Dell XPS 15 and HP Specter x360 16 still lack it.No other OLEDs exist yet – or mini-LED panel that supports 120 Hz, which makes the MacBook Pro's screen a unique proposition right now.

Webcam

Apple updated both the webcam and speakers this time. First off, it's the first MacBook Pro to feature a 1080p FaceTime webcam for a breath of fresh air. There was no way Apple could have got away with releasing another MacBook Pro with a 720p camera. This upgrade is significant and results in a much sharper, smoother feed for your laptop controlled video calls.

Of course, Apple isn't the only one making laptops with 1080p webcams. The Surface Laptop Studio has one, and the 5-megapixel cameras on the HP Elite Dragonfly laptops are impressive too. Webcams have never been more important and laptop manufacturers are finally starting to find out.

As expected, Apple's image processing is top notch. It really puts the 2021 MacBook Pro in a league of its own. Now there were times when I felt that the smoothing effects were a little too strong or the color balance was a little too warm. For example, compared to the 2019 iMac I have at home, it's a brighter and better processed image. It's not a perfect webcam, but it's the best you can find on a laptop – aside from none.

speaker

A top-down view of the MacBook Pro.

The MacBook Pro 2021 maintains its reputation for delivering the best audio experience on any laptop. Apple increased the stakes this time with an improved six-speaker sound system. You still get two tweeters and four woofers, but they've each been upgraded for a more robust and bassier mix. The tweeters are both bigger, and Apple says the woofers now go half an octave lower.

This is quite a difficult thing to test myself out, but I can assure you that the 2021 MacBook Pros are a refined version of the previous generation. The bass booms harder and the stereo separation feels wider than ever. Of course, Apple was so ahead of the game that these little tweaks won't move the needle for anyone.

The spacing between the speakers on the 16-inch MacBook Pro and any laptop cannot be emphasized enough. Laptops like the Surface Laptop Studio and the Dell XPS 17 sound decent on their own, but are pale in comparison. The MacBook Pro actually offers a nice set of speakers for listening to music. You're still the only laptop I can say that about with confidence.

But more than that, chances are these will sound better than your average bluetooth speaker or computer speaker. I'm all for technology that makes another type of technology superfluous.

Keyboard and touchpad

The keyboard and touchpad, like the webcam and speakers, are without a doubt the best you can find on a laptop. No doubt on my mind

The keyboard has nice, springy keys with a comfortable 1.1 mm travel. This is the same Magic Keyboard as it was on the previous 16-inch MacBook Pro. Needless to say, yes, this is the replacement for the infamous butterfly mechanical keyboards of yore. I've loved this keyboard since it first emerged, and it's still one of the most comfortable and accurate laptop keyboards you can type on.

Apple MacBook Pro Review 2021 14

Apple MacBook Pro Review 2021 13

The Touch Bar is of course the big change from the keyboard in the 2021 model. It's gone. Broken. And for my part, I couldn't be happier. I'll admit that I loved the idea when it was announced, but after using it for many years I think it was a flawed premise from the start. The Touch Bar never kept its promise or received the support it needed to become something more useful.

So it's gone. And it has been replaced with something less ambitious but far more functional. The function line is back, but somehow improved. Well, Apple did it by increasing the size. They're now full-size keys, rather than the squat keys you'll find on almost every laptop, including older MacBook Pros. The Escape key is even wider and is flanked on the right by Touch ID. I love these changes.

I've always hated the miniature function keys on laptop keyboards – but I never knew I wanted them until I started using them. I've found that I don't type these keys incorrectly or reach for them as often. However, when making these keys bigger, Apple removed a few key function keys, namely the backlight brightness and the Launchpad buttons. There may be a keyboard shortcut that I am not aware of, but for now you can change the brightness of the backlight in the new Control Panel.

On the MacBook Pro, the keyboard brightness can now be found in the control panel.

I would have liked a slightly smaller escape key to make room for the brightness controls for the keyboard backlight, but everyone will have their own opinion on this.

The reason for this, of course, is that the larger the keyboard, the shorter the trackpad. This is certainly not a problem with the 16-inch MacBook Pro. It remains large and extensive and offers plenty of space for long swipes and multi-finger gestures. The Force Touch trackpad continues to stand out, simulating the feeling of a click with just a small motorized haptic feedback engine. We've seen this type of touchpad show up in other laptops like the Surface Laptop Studio, but the extra size of Apple's touchpad still makes it my favorite.

Price and configurations

Despite all the quality of life updates for the MacBook Pro, it really isn't intended for everyone. That's more true than ever for this latest generation of MacBook Pros, especially with the 14-inch model starting at $ 1,999. That price makes the MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1) look downright quaint for $ 1,399.

The MacBook Air and 14-inch MacBook Pro make the 13-inch MacBook Pro obsolete, especially as it retains the Touch Bar and lackluster port selection. The MacBook Air remains the best choice for college students and anyone else who does not spend most of their time on a heavy-duty application.

The screen of the MacBook Pro 2021.

When you come across the 16-inch model I tested, you'll pay at least $ 2,499. My device came with the M1 Pro, 32GB of RAM, and 2TB of SSD storage for a total of $ 3,899.

That sounds like a lot, but the 16-inch MacBook Pro has always been expensive. The starting price hasn't changed, and you can still set it at over $ 6,000 for a device with 64GB of RAM and 8TB of storage. The sweet spot for you depends on what exactly your needs are. Very, very few people are going to need 64GB of RAM, and the $ 2,200 Apple is asking for 8TB of storage is outrageous. Somewhere in between is probably where you want to be, regardless of whether you end up going for the M1 Max or M1 Pro.

It's important to note that there are two versions of the M1 Max, one with a 24-core GPU and one with a 32-core GPU. Essentially, Apple is charging $ 200 for 8 more cores of GPU power. It should also be noted that only an 8-core processor is used in the starting configuration of the 14-inch M1 Pro. This is the same as the 13-inch M1 MacBook Pro, although the 14-core GPU should offer a significant improvement in graphics.

The lines get blurry on this lower-priced MacBook Pro, which is sure to be the most popular, but keep in mind that this is primarily a laptop for professional creatives. And for those who actually need a professional laptop, you've just found your ultimate tool.

Thanks to the vastly improved performance of the M1 Pro and M1 Max, these MacBook Pros can actually be used as professional content creators' machines. That means photo editors, color graders, website designers, programmers, video editors, 3D modelers, game designers, music producers, and more. If you're looking to try more than just these creative areas, it will pay off to put the money on one of these new MacBook Pros.

power

As I get my hands on more configurations of these new MacBook Pros, I intend to make more detailed comparisons between the different models, especially between the M1 Pro and the M1 Max. For now, however, my test unit was the 16-inch model with the M1 Pro. That means the 10-core CPU is paired with the 16-core GPU, all of which share 32GB of unified memory.

Both chips have two additional CPU cores (10 total) over the standard M1 (which is included in the 13-inch MacBook Pro and Air), and that helps with multi-core processing. If you look at how it fares in synthetic benchmarks, you can clearly see that a higher core count flexes its muscles.

Its multi-core score in Cinebench R23 was one of the highest laptop scores in our database and was only surpassed by the all-AMD Asus ROG Strix G15, a thick gaming laptop. The 16-inch M1 Pro MacBook Pro also achieved 39% better results than the 13-inch M1 MacBook Pro in this benchmark. The 14-inch model will likely end up a bit softer, but that's still more of an increase in CPU performance than I assumed with just two additional cores.

The real benefit is for applications that can take advantage of these enhanced graphics.

Handbrake is another CPU-bound application that I tested the machine on, and it had a similar increase in performance over the M1. The 16-inch M1 Pro MacBook Pro encodes 4K video in H.265 38% faster than the 13-inch M1 MacBook Pro. It's certainly a fast laptop, though it's beaten by laptops like the Asus Vivobook Pro 16X. Laptops like the Acer Swift X, Dell XPS 15, and Razer Blade 14 were only five or six seconds slower.

But the real improvement here is in the graphics. The M1 Max, in particular, offers GPU performance that is designed to rival discrete graphics cards found in competing gaming laptops and creative laptops. My device came with the M1 Pro with 16 GPU cores, which doubles the eight found in the M1.

The graphics on the 14-inch model are particularly noteworthy. While I haven't tested this particular model myself, the fact that both sizes use the same graphics configuration is a big deal. After all, the previous 16-inch MacBook Pro already had an 8-core CPU and a discrete GPU. Despite some thermal concerns, it was already a pretty powerful creative laptop. That was never the case with the 13-inch MacBook Pro. The 14-inch model fills that void, offering a really powerful option in a smaller size (and lower price than the 16-inch model).

The MacBook Pro with an Adobe Premiere Pro benchmark.

The real benefit here is in applications that can use these graphics. An obvious example is video editing in an application like Adobe Premiere Pro, which now runs natively on Apple Silicon. PugetBench for Premiere Pro tests everything from timeline playback to exporting to applying GPU effects. Here the M1 Pro also impresses in operation in the emulation. The export score wasn't very impressive, but it was still 29% faster than the M1. An 8-core Intel or AMD processor in combination with a discrete Nvidia graphics ensures a faster export time.

But when it comes to video playback, the MacBook Pro absolutely flies. It easily scores the highest score we've ever got in this test, and even outperforms gaming desktops and workstations. The MacBook Pro was designed for such tasks, and it is certainly one of the best video editing laptops you can buy. If you choose the M1 Max model, you will likely get a higher export score as well.

The MacBook Pro is not alone in this endeavor, however. There is no doubt that 2021 was a year of high-performance 14-inch laptops, be it the Razer Blade 14, Surface Laptop Studio, or Acer Swift X. However, unlike all of these laptops, the implementation of the MacBook Pro is the cleanest . The notebook's surface stays pleasantly cool at all times, and there is practically no fan noise. It's hard to compare this to a laptop like the Razer Blade 14, which is constantly buzzing and making your palms sweat.

Gaming performance

Apple didn't put the graphics at the center of the MacBook Pro for the purpose of gaming. And as Apple's graphics power increases, this point becomes clearer and clearer.

Finding heavy games that can pose a real challenge to the MacBook Pro is a challenge in itself – there just aren't a lot of modern AAA games on the platform. But there are a few, and I've tested Fortnite, Civilization VI, and Rise of the Tomb Raider.

Rise of the Tomb Raider on the 2021 MacBook Pro.

In Fortnite, when comparing the M1 Pro to the M1, you can play at high settings at almost 60 frames per second (fps) instead of being degraded to medium. That's closer to an RTX 3050 or 3050 Ti, which isn't too surprising. This level of graphics can be found in laptops of very similar size, such as the Surface Laptop Studio or the Asus Vivobook Pro 16X. Again, the main difference the MacBook Pro brings is the lack of fan noise. The fans on the MacBook Pro are practically inaudible in almost all situations, even while gaming.

The comparison wasn't so cheap in Civilization VI. The M1 Pro MacBook Pro averaged 64 fps in medium settings and only 49 fps in Ultra. Being 35% slower than the Surface Laptop Studio shows the importance of optimization. Civilization VI has always performed poorly on the Mac platform, and it's no different here.

Gaming is still no reason to buy a Mac, even on the powerful M1 Max MacBook Pro.

Often referred to as one of the few AAA titles designed for Macs, Rise of the Tomb Raider also struggled to hit 60 fps on the MacBook Pro. At the highest settings in 1920 x 1200, an average of only 40 fps was achieved and at medium settings 47 fps. In comparison, the Surface Laptop Studio averages 70 fps at medium settings, which is 33% faster.

Overall, the graphics performance of the M1 Pro is incredible. Aside from the M1 Max, they would be the most powerful graphics ever in an all-in-one system-on-a-chip package. However, they are not remarkable in terms of performance alone, especially not with the 16-inch model. We've seen 16-inch MacBook Pros with discrete graphics, and the 16 GPU cores here don't necessarily blow an equivalent discrete mid-range card out of the water.

Things may look different with the M1 Max, especially the 32-core GPU option. I'll know as soon as I've tested it myself, but with double the GPU cores like the M1 Pro, I expect it will actually improve gaming performance quite a bit.

But that doesn't make it a proper gaming laptop yet. But the games are simply missing. Unless Apple Arcade really takes off, gaming will never be a reason to buy a Mac, even on the powerful M1 Max MacBook Pro.

Battery life

Efficiency has always been the greatest strength of Apple's M-Series chips. Because of this, the M1 MacBook Pro and MacBook Air were miles ahead of the competition in terms of battery life.

Somehow, the 2021 MacBook Pros go even further. The 16-inch model I tested achieved a new record in our database for battery life when surfing the Internet. Our custom script goes through a number of popular websites until the battery runs out and the 16-inch MacBook Pro lasts for over 18.5 hours. When I say the MacBook Pro is a multi-day laptop, I mean it. Several full working days went by for me without having to recharge it.

The 2021 MacBook Pro, half open.

The only laptops that even come close to this battery life are some of the current AMD Ryzen systems. The Asus Vivobook Pro 16X OLED lasted 16 hours and 15 minutes, while the AMD-powered Surface Laptop 4 lasted 13.5 hours. The 16-inch MacBook Pro is the champion far and wide. It shows how much efficiency Apple can save by not having to build a hot separate GPU into its laptop.

Besonders beeindruckend ist auch die Standby-Zeit. Wenn Sie es eines Tages halb aufgeladen gelassen haben, ist es ein paar Tage später nicht tot. Das verlängert die Lebensdauer des MacBook Pro erheblich. Ich habe nur nicht annähernd so viel nach meinem Ladegerät gegriffen.

Laut Apples Schätzungen wird das 14-Zoll-MacBook Pro drei Stunden weniger Akkulaufzeit haben als das 16-Zoll-Modell, was hauptsächlich auf die unterschiedliche Akkugröße zurückzuführen ist. Der 16-Zöller hat einen 99,6-Wattstunden-Akku, während der 14-Zöller nur einen 70-Wattstunden-Akku hat.

Our opinion

Das MacBook Pro 2021 ist der Pro-Laptop, auf den Mac-Fans fünf Jahre gewartet haben. Es ist eine Rückkehr zum Ruhm für ein Produkt, das sich lange Zeit veraltet und untermotorisiert anfühlte. Es hat die besten Lautsprecher, Webcam, Tastatur, Trackpad, Display, Akkulaufzeit und Portauswahl aller Laptops, die ich je getestet habe. Das ist viel, um in einem Laptop richtig zu stehen. Unterdessen wird die Leistung diejenigen zufriedenstellen, die eine Maschine suchen, die mit ihren Arbeitsabläufen mithalten kann, insbesondere diejenigen, die in anspruchsvollen, kreativen Bereichen arbeiten.

Gibt es Alternativen?

Auf der Windows-Seite gibt es eine Reihe leistungsstarker, aber kompakter Laptops, wie das Dell XPS 15 und XPS 17, Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme, MSI Creator Z16, Surface Laptop Studio und viele mehr. Diese Laptops enthalten alle separate Nvidia-Grafiken und die meisten enthalten auch bis zu 8-Kern-CPUs.

Es gibt eine Vielzahl von Gründen, sich für einen dieser Laptops gegenüber dem MacBook Pro zu entscheiden. Einige sind leistungsfähiger, einige haben interessantere Designs und viele sind billiger. Aber keines bietet das Gesamtpaket, das das MacBook Pro bietet.

Wie lange wird es dauern?

Die Hoffnung bei einem so teuren Laptop besteht darin, dass er mindestens über fünf Jahre hält. Das MacBook Pro soll deutlich einfacher zu reparieren sein als in früheren Generationen. Während Arbeitsspeicher und Massenspeicher noch angelötet sind, scheinen Komponenten wie der Akku oder die Anschlüsse austauschbar zu sein, was die Lebensdauer des MacBook Pro um Jahre verlängern könnte.

Wie immer bietet Apple auch mit AppleCare+ erstklassigen Kundensupport. Es ist teuer, aber es verlängert die Standardgarantie von einem Jahr erheblich.

Should you buy it?

Yes sir. Es ist das beste MacBook Pro seit über einem halben Jahrzehnt und der beste Laptop für Entwickler, den Sie kaufen können.

Editor's recommendations



05 Oct
Blog

Surface Laptop Studio Review: It’s Weird and Wonderful

The front of the Surface Laptop Studio in Stage mode.

Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio

RRP $ 2,100.00

"The Surface Laptop Studio is finally the Pro-level Surface PC that many have always wanted."

advantages

  • The most powerful Surface PC

  • Gorgeous 120 Hz screen

  • Funny 2-in-1 design

  • Wonderful haptic touchpad

  • Excellent workmanship

disadvantage

  • CPU holds back performance

Surface devices play by their own rules. They shy away from conventions. You're pushing the boundaries.

This sometimes leads to products that prefer form to function, or others that fall completely on their face.

The Surface Laptop Studio could easily have been another of those stumbling blocks. To my delight, Microsoft expertly balances the need for a powerful laptop with the adventurous design that Surface devices are known for. As an alternative to the Dell XPS 15 or MacBook Pro, the Surface Laptop Studio has its strengths and weaknesses. But at face value, it's a winner as a device that offers a completely unique PC experience.

draft

The back lid of the Surface Laptop Studio.

From a distance, the Surface Laptop Studio looks pretty conventional. It's a silver 14-inch laptop with a Microsoft logo on the lid. Big deal right?

Then your eyes will be drawn to the ventilation slots on the side walls of the laptop. Next you will see the fold in the back of the lid. As you drag the screen forward across the keyboard, you'll realize that this is not an orthodox laptop.

The base of the laptop is cut in half and consists of two parts – one with ports hanging over the side and one with open air vents. It's unlike anything I've seen in a laptop design before.

It's rare to see this amount of airflow in general on a premium laptop like this one. Laptop manufacturers usually prefer a simpler design with less visible openings. The MacBook Pro and Dell XPS 15 are both examples of this philosophy.

A side view of the Surface Laptop Studio.

But the Surface Laptop Studio is allowed to bake and eat its cake. This airflow is a heat technician's dream scenario without affecting the connections or the minimalist design. In fact, the vents are completely hidden from most angles. It also provides a nifty place to magnetically store the Surface Pen (on the front) and could theoretically also be a way to keep the heat away from the palm rests. The cooling is inspired, although the top half of the vents are actually used to vent audio rather than hot air.

This design means that from a full side view, the Surface Laptop Studio appears thicker than it actually is. It's 0.7 inches thick, thicker than both the MacBook Pro and Dell XPS 15. The Surface Laptop Studio is also quite heavy at 4 pounds, though it's only slightly lighter than the XPS 15 and MacBook Pro 16 inches . A laptop with the same screen size as the Razer Blade 14 is both thinner and lighter.

The rounded corners of the Surface Laptop Studio stand out from the crowd, Microsoft goes one step further and also rounds off the corners of the display. This is even different from the other Surface products and combines it directly with Windows 11. For the first time in a long time, Surface hardware and Windows software feel like they go hand in hand.

Stage mode and studio mode

The Surface Laptop Studio from the side, pulled forward in stage mode.

While the Surface Laptop Studio opens and closes like any other laptop, Microsoft couldn't help but incorporate some crazy 2-in-1 modes as well. When open, the lower half of the lid can be pulled forward into "stage mode". It magnetizes on the keyboard deck, so the touchpad remains available for use but the keyboard is covered. This has also been demonstrated with other laptops, such as the leather-bound HP Elite Folio. It bears the greatest resemblance to the Acer ConceptD Ezel laptops, which also had a kind of pull-down "stage mode".

However, implementing it on the Surface Laptop Studio is the best attempt at making this type of hinge work smoothly. Although it often requires the use of two hands, switching the device from one mode to another feels fluid and easy. The magnetic fasteners feel secure and guide the movement of the hinge.

Once you know what's possible, it feels just as natural as other 2-in-1s like the Surface Pro 8 or the iPad Pro. In contrast to the ConceptD Ezel, you shouldn't use the Surface Laptop Studio in the phases between the different modes. That means it's more limited, yes, but it feels more robust.

The Surface Laptop Studio in stage mode.

So what is Stage Mode good for? Well, Microsoft envisions that you spend most of your time illustrating painterly masterpieces using the Surface Pen. That may apply to you, but I am not an artist or a designer. And yet, I've found plenty of cases where the stage mode came in handy. We all know that touchscreens on laptops are not convenient for long periods of time. Reaching up and touching a laptop screen with your index finger is (and always has been) an ergonomic nightmare. Touching the screen with your finger also causes the lid to wobble.

Stage mode fixes both of these problems. The angle is more comfortable for touch operation, whether with the finger or the Surface Pen, and it is much more stable than in laptop mode.

The Surface Laptop Studio was completely shut down in Studio mode.

There is also “Studio Mode” which is a little less useful. The screen can be folded almost flat on the keyboard. Here you only have the touchscreen as the main input. Due to the weight of the device, you are unlikely to use it as a "tablet", so to speak. Because of this, Studio Mode is primarily intended for dedicated time with the Surface Pen, whether you're working in Illustrator or writing notes in Whiteboard while holding it like a clipboard. I admit that artists may appreciate Studio Mode more than I do.

Finally, you can also flip the screen completely so that it faces away from the keyboard. This mode is great for watching movies or playing games with an external controller. One problem with this mode is that the speakers are facing away from you.

The best thing about these modes, however, is how easy it is to ignore them. If all you wanted was a Surface Laptop with an RTX graphics card inside, the Surface Laptop Studio doesn't sacrifice too much to take advantage of its experimental hinge feature.

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The Surface Laptop Studio moved forward in stage mode.

The Surface Laptop Studio has a fabulous display. It's by far the best screen Microsoft has put in a Surface device outside of the Surface Studio All-in-One, regardless of what metric you're testing it with. The 14.4-inch screen (of course) has an aspect ratio of 3: 2 with a resolution of 2400 x 1600. That is 197 pixels per inch (ppi), which is not quite as sharp as the 227 ppi of the MacBook Pro 13 -Inch or the 290 ppi of the 4K Dell XPS 15. Still, the screen feels very sharp for its size.

However, the Surface Laptop Studio has the upper hand against these two laptops with its 120Hz refresh rate. For a long time, refresh rates above 60 Hz were reserved for gaming laptops only, but the Surface Laptop Studio (and Surface Pro 8) are finally bringing the benefits of ultra-smooth animation to the non-gaming world. Once you've spent time on a 120Hz screen, especially in Windows 11, you don't want to go back.

Of course, the Surface Laptop Studio can also use this refresh rate in games, which makes it a more legitimate gaming laptop compared to the Dell XPS 15, Asus Vivobook Pro 16X, MacBook Pro or Acer Swift X.

Once you've spent time on a 120Hz screen, you don't want to go back.

The display of the Surface Laptop Studio also has fantastic picture quality. Apart from the Surface Studio, the Surface Laptop Studio has the brightest screen from Microsoft with a maximum of 443 cd / m². There are lighter screens out there, but it's exactly what Apple currently has in its MacBook Pros and feels very bright even when working outdoors or next to a window.

The color space reaches 100% sRGB and 82% AdobeRGB. It's not perfect like some 4K laptops – the Dell XPS 15 or the HP Specter x360 come to mind. But when combined with the 1.3 Delta-E, this is a display suitable for serious creative work. These results were all achieved in the preset color profile "Vivid". The “sRGB” color mode option has a narrower color space and poorer color accuracy.

Ports

The connections of the Surface Laptop Studio.

Thunderbolt 4 coming to Surface Laptop Studio is a big deal and makes it competitive. The Surface Laptop Studio has two of these USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports on the left. On the right side you'll find a Surface Connect dock and headphone jack.

Despite the quality of these ports, their number is worrying. I'm not going to waste your time lamenting the lack of USB-A and HDMI, but it certainly would have been nice to have another USB-C port and even an SD card slot. It would have been a huge benefit for this laptop audience not to need an adapter to upload content directly from a camera, and that is something that the XPS 15 includes.

Microsoft is following the example of Apple, which only offers two Thunderbolt 4 ports on its M1 MacBook Pro. However, if the rumors about the upcoming 14-inch redesign prove to be true, the decision to cut older ports could be a little on the decline.

Webcam and speakers

The webcam has a resolution of 1080p, which is certainly a step up from the Surface Laptop 4, XPS 15, or other 720p laptops. It's not quite as crisp or smooth as the Surface Pro 8. The Surface Laptop Studio of course also has an IR camera in the top frame

The device uses a quad speaker setup – two under the keyboard and two subwoofers on the sides of the laptop. The result is a nice audio balance that's a solid upgrade over the Surface Laptop 4. But here, too, the powerful, front-facing speakers of the Surface Pro 8 run in circles around these speakers, as do those of the MacBook Pro.

power

The Surface Laptop Studio on a white table.

The promise of a truly "pro" level Surface device has been a long time coming. The Surface Book 3 came close, but it didn't quite have the performance and display quality required by creative professionals.

The Surface Laptop Studio tries to do two things to overcome the performance limitations of the Surface Book 3. First, it uses a slightly more powerful Intel processor than the Surface Book, Surface Pro, or Surface Laptop lines. The Core i7-11370H is a 35 watt instead of 25 watt chip. More power is always a good thing, and it results in improved CPU performance over the Surface Book 3. Improved multi-core performance is the key to improved performance in all kinds of creative and technical tasks is targeted.

However, 8-cores, 45-watt CPUs in laptops like the Dell XPS 15, MacBook Pro 16-inch and many others will always have the upper hand over the Surface Laptop Studio.

Microsoft says it developed its own custom framework for managing the power shared by the CPU and GPU, and insisted that this 35-watt CPU was the best solution. The Surface Laptop Studio's performance is disappointing in many synthetic benchmarks. As expected, laptops like the Dell XPS 15 consistently offer better single-core and multi-core performance.

Underdog Bench 5
(Single / multiple)		 Cinebench R23 (single / multiple) Handbrake (seconds) PCMark 10 Pugetbench Premiere Pro 3DMark time spy
Surface Laptop Studio (Core i7-11370H) 1321/5131 1304/5450 179 5091 417 4266
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 4 (Core i7-11800H) 1520/7353 1519/10497 106 6251 432 6691
Dell XPS 15 (Core i7-11800H) 1556/7692 1513/9979 103 6024 509 4540
Acer Swift X (Ryzen 7 5800U) 1287/6663 1437/10135 99 6247 333 4073
Asus Vivobook Pro 16X (Ryzen 9 5900HX) 1544/8299 1486/11478 90 6486 571 4601

The ailing processor is most emphasized in Handbrake, which reveals the CPU performance for a practical test. Without the help of the discrete GPU, which the Surface Laptop Studio uses second to address performance issues, it falls short of the competition in a simple video encoding test, revealing the limitations of the quad-core processor. Surprisingly, the processor performance alone isn't much faster than the Surface Pro 8.

But here, too, Microsoft emphasizes the overall package – real performance that can balance the performance between CPU and GPU. Although it shares a lot in common with Nvidia's Dynamic Boost technology, Microsoft's own framework is homemade here. According to Microsoft, the system dynamically assigns both power (up to 50 watts for the RTX 3050 Ti) and fan speed, making moment-to-moment decisions to manage both the CPU and GPU.

The PugetBench Premiere Pro benchmark is good evidence of this claim as it tests a number of video editing tasks that use both components.

The Surface Laptop Studio certainly does better here than in CPU-related tests and benchmarks. For example, the Dell XPS 15 is 33% faster in multi-core Cinebench performance, but only 15% faster in PugetBench. While the Surface Laptop Studio's CPU is still holding back performance, the system undoubtedly does a good job of balancing the system's power distribution.

In comparison to similar laptops, the performance of the Surface Laptop Studio is in the midfield.

Compared to laptops with a similar mix of components, the Surface Laptop Studio is in the middle of the PugetBench performance. The fastest RTX 3050 Ti content creation laptop I've tested is the Asus Vivobook Pro 16X, which uses a Ryzen 9 5900HX.

Gaming is also a good test of overall performance and power distribution. Unsurprisingly, the Surface Laptop Studio does admirably in more GPU-heavy games and struggles with titles that rely more on CPU power. You can see this in a game like Civilization VI, which is heavily CPU dependent for fast frame rates, especially at lower resolutions and graphics settings. At 1920 x 1200 and medium settings, the Surface Laptop Studio is still fast with 105 frames per second, but clearly behind the Asus Vivobook Pro 16X and Dell XPS 15. This comparison is even out at higher resolutions.

Meanwhile, the Surface Laptop Studio copes well with internal temperatures and does not exceed 82 degrees Celsius for either the CPU or the GPU. The surface temperatures got warm, sometimes even on the right palm rest. It's not as outrageous as the Razer Blade laptops, but you will definitely feel the temperatures rise throughout the device as heavy-duty tasks are performed.

Keyboard and touchpad

To my surprise, there have been very few attempts to recreate the MacBook Pro's Force trackpad on a Windows laptop. Nobody came close. Then the Surface Laptop Studio comes and surpasses it. This is officially my favorite touchpad on any laptop, outperforming the MacBook Pro and the more conventional Surface Laptop 4.

First, the tracking and gesture support is second to none. The glass surface is incredibly smooth, the palm deflection is accurate, and it's big enough. But with the haptic feedback system it is really fun.

A top view of the Surface Laptop Studio keyboard.

According to Microsoft, it uses a similar haptic motor as the Force Trackpad and simulates the feeling of pressing a button. Microsoft's implementation is even more compelling, and the ability to adjust sensitivity is the icing on the cake. I've found the sweet spot to be around 75%, but when you turn it up to the max it almost feels like a physical click to the brain.

Microsoft has performed a similar miracle with its Surface Slim Pen 2, which simulates the feeling of friction through subtle haptic feedback in the stylus. While the Surface Slim Pen 2 didn't come with the Surface Laptop Studio, it's a fantastic supportive peripheral.

The keyboard isn't nearly as adventurous, but it's no less enjoyable. Choosing gray keycaps instead of black is a nice change of pace (and prevents it from looking like a MacBook rip-off.)

Meanwhile, the keystrokes feel similar to the Type Cover of the Surface Pro 8 – precise, with a lot of spring travel and a comfortable floor movement. The size and layout of the keyboard are almost identical to the Surface Pro 8 Type Cover, only the power button has been squeezed into the row of functions. I wouldn't have minded an extended keyboard with bigger keycaps, but I immediately felt comfortable on this keyboard.

Like all Surface devices, the Surface Laptop Studio doesn't include a fingerprint reader, but instead relies on Windows Hello functionality in the IR camera.

Battery life

I was pleasantly surprised at how long the Surface Laptop Studio would last on a single charge. Despite having a high-resolution screen (with a high refresh rate) and discrete RTX graphics, I had no problem using the Surface Laptop Studio away from an electrical outlet for most of a work day.

I tested the battery by browsing a number of websites until the battery ran out. The Surface Laptop Studio lasted over 10.5 hours in this test, which is better than both the Dell XPS 15 (4K OLED) and the Surface Book 3. The Surface Laptop Studio has a strong battery life, but champions like the Asus Vivobook Pro 16X lasted over 16 hours through this same test.

You can get up to 14 hours out of the Surface Laptop Studio for extremely light tasks like our video playback test, which runs a local 1080p clip until the battery runs out. I never quite reached the 18 hours required by Microsoft, but for a laptop of this size and performance, I can't complain.

Configurations and price

Like the Surface Book 3, the Surface Laptop Studio starts at $ 1,600. However, this basic configuration is unlikely to attract many buyers. Although it has 16GB of RAM, it doesn't have a separate graphics card, and with the CPU limitations discussed earlier, the $ 1,600 and $ 1,800 models remain a little underpowered.

As always, Microsoft charges a lot for upgrades. It costs an additional $ 600 to switch from 16GB to 32GB of RAM and 512GB to 1TB of storage. That's $ 200 more than Apple charges for the same upgrades (and $ 100 more than Dell)! That makes the $ 2,100 configuration a solid option, especially since you can upgrade your SSD for more if you really want to. It's actually a few hundred dollars cheaper than the Surface Book 3 in the high-end options.

And don't forget – the Acer Swift X is $ 1,000 cheaper than the Surface Laptop Studio, despite having very similar components.

When storage and storage are balanced, the Surface Laptop Studio is $ 500 more expensive than the M1 13-inch MacBook Pro. The Surface Laptop Studio is over $ 500 cheaper than the Intel-powered MacBook Pro, of course, but it's soon to be replaced.

Our opinion

The Surface Laptop Studio isn't perfect – its weakened quad-core processor is a problem. If you need that power more than anything, there are more powerful options out there.

You need to get into the overall vision of the product for the Surface Laptop Studio to be worth the price. The various 2-in-1 modes, integration with the Surface Slim Pen 2, the haptic feedback touchpad, and the gorgeous 120Hz screen are all things that set the Surface Laptop Studio apart from any other laptop you have right now able to buy.

Are there alternatives?

The Razer Blade 14 matches (or surpasses) much of what the Surface Laptop Studio does in terms of performance, size, and premium feel. It doesn't have the pull-forward hinge or stylus support, of course, but the option for an RTX 3080 and the eight-core Ryzen 9 5900HX make it a more powerful laptop.

Much is unknown about the upcoming M1X MacBook Pro 14-inch, although it will certainly be the main competitor of the Surface Laptop Studio when it launches later this year.

The Dell XPS 15 is also a good alternative. You can't directly compare it to the Surface Laptop Studio due to its different screen, but both laptops can be configured with the RTX 3050 Ti and are similarly powerful creative laptops.

How long it will take?

The Surface Laptop Studio should last for many years – hopefully up to five or six. The processor and graphics card will no doubt feel old after a few years, but the ability to upgrade the memory yourself – up to 2TB – helps

Should you buy it?

Yes sir. The Surface Laptop Studio offers a one-of-a-kind 2-in-1 laptop that you won't get anywhere else.

Editor's recommendations



05 Oct
Blog

Acer Aspire Vero Review: The Sustainable Windows 11 Laptop?

The Acer Aspire Vero opens on a small table.

Acer Aspire Vero

RRP $ 900.00

"The Acer Aspire Vero is an admirable attempt at sustainability, but it does not offer a total package."

advantages

  • Easy to update

  • Uses sustainable materials for a budget laptop

  • Comfortable keyboard

  • Decent performance

  • Many ports

disadvantage

  • Bad battery life

  • Desaturated screen

  • Touchpad is clunky

Windows 11 is here and with it a new era for laptops. While many of these new devices seek to highlight a sleek new design or powerful performance, the new Acer Aspire Vero has a different ethos. Sustainability.

The marketing materials make some ambitious claims about the environmentally friendly way the Acer Aspire Vero was made and I would assume these choices are costly. When you look at the display, battery life, and touchpad on this budget laptop, it becomes obvious.

As much as I'd love to give Acer props, the Acer Aspire Vero ends up cutting off too many corners to be worth the price.

draft

The logo for post-consumer recycling, stamped into the case of the Aspire Vero.

The Aspire Vero is supposed to be a green laptop, and Acer doesn't want you to forget it. The overall appearance of the chassis is a constant reminder that it is not made from your standard plastic. The post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic is speckled light gray and I like its uniqueness. The palm rests and lid also have a textured feel, which in turn reminds you that this is not the smooth but lavish plastic used in your simple laptop.

I understand that there is much more to marketing than saving the world, but it makes for a one-of-a-kind total under the sea of ​​silver and black laptops in the world. If a budget laptop like the Acer Aspire Vero can't compete with high-end laptops in terms of expensive materials, it might as well offer something that feels new.

As a budget or mid-range laptop, the Aspire Vero's environmental stance is quite unique.

Acer claims that 30% of the Aspire Vero's case and 50% of its keycaps are made of PCR plastic. If you are not overwhelmed by 30%, you are not alone. Laptops like Lenovo's ThinkPad L-Series already have 30% of their cases made of PCR plastic, and those claims are not engraved on the case of the laptop. Then there is Apple, which has been claiming since 2018 that its MacBooks are made entirely from recycled aluminum. Microsoft has also taken the same step towards recycled aluminum with the new Surface Pro 8.

While this is a first for Acer, it is certainly not new to the industry. Does that mean Acer is pushing the Aspire Vero's sustainability a little more than it should? Yes, to a certain extent. On the other hand, its environmental stance as a budget or mid-range laptop is still pretty unique. Most laptops that claim to be high in recycled plastic or aluminum cost over a thousand dollars for a base model like the MacBook Air or ThinkPad L15.

The front of the Acer Aspire Vero in front of a white casing.

I'll be happy to commend Acer for applying better environmental standards to its cheaper laptops than just its high-end options. While I don't need every laptop to have it engraved on its case, I hope the practice of using PCR will continue.

Acer also advertises the Aspire Vero as more sustainable from the perspective of longevity. The lower lid is easier to remove than on an average laptop thanks to the use of standard screws. No special tools required! Once inside, you'll see that the RAM, storage, and Wi-Fi module are all interchangeable. Upgradability, perhaps more than the use of PCR, is an important sustainability aspect that many laptop manufacturers fail to consider.

Of course, there are also negative elements of the design of this laptop that have nothing to do with environmental protection, but rather with the limitations of the price-conscious brand "Aspire". The 16: 9 aspect ratio feels dated as many laptops switch to larger 16:10 or 3: 2 sizes. The shape is highlighted by some chunky plastic bezels that will go out of style by 10 years. The thinner bezels of the Lenovo IdeaPad 5 make for a modern, sleek looking device.

The processing quality also leaves a lot to be desired. It has a noticeable weak point in the middle of the hinge and the lid. This is common with plastic laptops, but this is where it's especially noteworthy. A hard press of a button pushes the chassis down, and when it is closed the center of the lid is warped so it doesn't close completely flat.

A side view of the Acer Aspire Vero showing the thickness of the laptop.

For the performance it has, the Aspire Vero is pretty clunky too. It's 0.7 inches thick, which fits laptops like the Dell XPS 15 or the Surface Laptop Studio. The difference is that the Acer Vero does not contain a separate graphics card or high-performance CPU. More on that later, but when you see the same components in a laptop as thin as the Surface Laptop 4 or LG Gram, you really wonder why this type of laptop has to be so thick.

On the other hand, it is the same thickness as the Acer Aspire 5 and is even slightly thinner than the 0.78-inch Asus Vivobook 15. However, the Aspire Vero is 3.97 pounds versus 3.64 pounds heavier than the Acer Aspire 5.

Ports

The left side of the Acer Aspire Vero with the selection of connections.

The Acer Aspire Vero offers a good mix of ports, although it's a bit old-fashioned. On the left you will find two USB-A ports, HDMI, Ethernet jack, a USB-C port and the laptop's proprietary charging port. Unfortunately, this is the only way to charge the laptop while using the device, as the USB-C port can only discharge the battery when it is switched off. Too bad.

On the right side you will find the headphone jack and the Kensington lock. I would have preferred at least one of the USB ports on this side for convenience, especially if you plan on docking your laptop with other peripherals in a home office environment.

As for wireless connectivity, the laptop supports both Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1.

Keyboard and touchpad

A top view of the Acer Aspire Vero keyboard.

The Acer Aspire Vero has a comfortable keyboard that I have adopted as my main writing instrument without any major weaknesses. The keycaps don't wobble too much and the key travel of 1.5 mm feels appropriate.

I would have liked bigger keycaps, however, especially for this large laptop. It leads to fewer typos and more confidence when typing. The laptop has a number pad on the right and a large touchpad on the bottom. The "R" and "E" keys are stylized in such a way that they are written the other way around (to stand for Acer's environmental values), which is a bit strange.

The keyboard illumination is extremely limited on the Acer Aspire Vero. Only one level of brightness control is offered – either on or off. That's not very helpful.

The touchpad is where my nitpicks turn into annoyances.

The touchpad below is where my nitpicks turn into annoyances. Touchpads are notoriously bad on cheap laptops, and the Aspire Vero fits that trend. The tracking feels clunky and your finger won't slide across the surface without friction. It makes simple tasks like clicking and dragging, selecting text, or touch gestures frustrating.

The fingerprint reader is in the top left corner of the touchpad, which is one of my least favorite places, although the touchpad is big enough to avoid being touched all the time. Laptops like the IdeaPad 5 manage to push their fingerprint readers into the power button, which is handy.

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The Acer Aspire Vero, open on the table, shows its keyboard and display.

I knew immediately that something was wrong with the Acer Aspire Vero's display. The colors have a sickly desaturated appearance. It's not flattering. We also noticed the reduced color saturation in other Acer Aspire notebooks last year. It's not quite as bad as the Acer Aspire 5, but that's hardly a compliment.

It's easy to see where Acer cut some corners. The screen is dark at only 233 nits, has poor color saturation (65% of sRGB) and mediocre color accuracy. It's not nice. Not uncommon for a $ 500 laptop, but it's a disappointment for the $ 899 configuration I tested. You can buy either an M1 MacBook Air or a Ryzen-powered Surface Laptop 4, both of which have great screens, for just $ 100 more. Of course, you get less memory and storage space in these basic configurations, but the difference in display quality, battery life, and performance will be clearly noticeable.

When it comes to design and display, the important thing to remember is that this is a beefed up version of a $ 700 laptop. Don't let the starting prices confuse you. For example, the MacBook Air has a starting price of $ 999, but you'll have to pay $ 1,399 for a similarly configured MacBook Air, compared to the $ 900 Aspire Vero.

The speakers are also nothing to celebrate. They are at the bottom of the laptop, pointing down at the table. The result is usable sound for occasional videos, but not something you want to use for long music or movie sessions.

power

The keyboard of the Acer Aspire Vero, shown from the front.

The Acer Aspire Vero's performance is handled well as long as you consider what category of laptop it is. Many laptops of this size offer a more powerful processor class, the 45-watt H-series chips. These have up to eight cores and 16 threads, which dramatically improves content creation and multitasking performance. Due to the simpler Core i7-1195G7 chip in the Aspire Vero, its ambitions are a bit more modest.

It's a laptop designed for everyday tasks like web browsing, video calling, office applications, and content streaming. You can expand its capabilities with a little bit of light photo editing or design work, but you will reach your limits when trying to encode 4K video or play modern 3D games. This is ensured by the quad-core processor and the lack of a separate graphic.

But as a standard work computer, tested in the full PCMark 10 benchmark, the Aspire Vero drives as I would expect. It even did well in the Cinebench R23 single-core benchmark, where it achieved the fastest score we tested in this processor class. The Aspire Vero does this without ever getting too hot, either inside or on the surface.

Here you can expect better performance and thermals than from a smaller 13-inch laptop with the same processor. It should be noted that my configuration also came with 16 GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD. The Aspire Vero makes good use of its Intel processor and delivers solid performance for your daily workload and multitasking.

Underdog Bench 5
(Single / multiple)		 Cinebench R23 (single / multiple) Handbrake (seconds) PCMark 10 3DMark time spy
Acer Aspire Vero (Core i7-1195G7) 1,583 / 5,156 1,568 / 5,358 167 5,082 1,555
Asus Vivobook Flip 14 (Ryzen 5 5500U) 1,102 / 5,432 1,180 / 7,579 131 5,191 1,099
Acer Aspire 5 (Core i3-1115G4) 1,215 / 2,544 1.274 / 3.128 300 n / A 652
Dell XPS 13 (Core i7-1185G7) 1,549 / 5,431 1.449 / 4.267 204 3,859 1,589
Frame laptop (Core i7-1165G7) 1,432 / 4,725 1,444 / 4,725 176 5,054 1,641

To manage performance and battery life, Acer has an application called VeroSense, which is pretty much exclusively intended to toggle between the power and power saving modes, which was designed for the Aspire Vero. I say “designed”, but the “ECO” mode is really just a renamed version of an energy saving mode. It increases battery life by about an hour and makes the Vero both quieter and less powerful. Finally, there is an "ECO +" mode that forces the Windows energy-saving mode to be switched on permanently. While this is a more efficient mode of operation, it is not something that no other laptop cannot easily do.

In the standard “balanced” mode, in which I have run all of my tests, the system's fans like to turn up loud under load, but it is quite quiet when idling.

Battery life

I didn't expect great battery life from the Aspire Vero, simply because of the price. When I saw that it only had a 48 watt hour battery, my worries grew.

In my tests, the Acer Aspire Vero underperformed even on a laptop of this type. It lasted for almost six and a half hours in our light web browser test. However, with my normal workload, the average time on a single charge dropped to under 5 hours. The maximum you can get out of the Acer Aspire Vero is around seven and a half hours. That is how long the system lasted during our lightest period of repeating a local 1080p video clip until the laptop dies.

The normal Acer Aspire 5 lasted 40-60 minutes longer, while the Asus Vivobook Flip 14 lasted a whopping two and a half hours longer. Spend a few hundred dollars more and you get a laptop that will last over twice as long.

Our opinion

The Acer Aspire Vero speaks a great game of its sustainability efforts, but its actual contributions aren't as significant as I'd hoped. I would never blame a company for making even small improvements toward more sustainable packaging and manufacturing, but the Aspire Vero's marketing outperforms the actual posts.

The Aspire Vero also fills the role of one of the cheaper laptops to hit the market with Windows 11 preinstalled, but even there it has some flaws that are hard to miss.

Are there alternatives?

In terms of Windows 11 laptops, which aren't very expensive, the Aspire Vero is your only choice. However, if you're willing to wait for the eventual free upgrade to Windows 11 when it launches, there are plenty of reasonably priced Windows laptops out there that offer a better overall package.

The Lenovo IdeaPad 5 is a solid alternative, offering a thinner bezel design and a brighter screen for roughly the same price. The Asus Vivobook 15 offers a similar equipment balance.

After all, the Surface Laptop Go is a smaller device but reaches a similar price range for a higher quality design.

How long it will take?

The Acer Aspire Vero should last four or five years if you want it to. The pre-installed Windows 11 ensures that you will receive updates in the future. The ability to swap out components makes repairing or upgrading your laptop easy across the board.

Unfortunately, beyond the standard one-year warranty that Acer gives you, you're on your own.

Should you buy it?

No. The Aspire Vero is a little overpriced for its quality and doesn't make up for it with enough truly sustainable initiatives.

Editor's recommendations



25 Aug
Blog

Asus ROG Flow X13 Review: 13-Inch Gaming Laptop, Done Right

The ROG Flow X13 on a table overlooking a city.

Asus ROG Flow X13 Review: The King of Small Gaming Laptops?

RRP $ 1,500.00

"The ROG Flow X13 is an ultra-compact and surprisingly powerful gaming laptop."

advantages

  • Amazing portability

  • Good performance for its size

  • Comfortable keyboard and touchpad

  • XG Mobile is a great option

  • 120 Hz refresh rate

disadvantage

  • Mediocre battery life

  • Screen could be brighter

  • Cumbersome port configuration

The Razer Blade Stealth 13 has long been the smallest gaming laptop you could buy. The Asus ROG Flow X13 has a lot to say about this.

It's the second 13-inch gaming laptop you can buy right now, but in some ways it goes further. With up to an RTX 3050 Ti GPU and Ryzen 9 5900HS processor, you can be sure that these are the most powerful components you can cram into a laptop this size.

Most configurations come with the interesting XG Mobile external graphics case. But my review unit is a standalone model that sells for $ 1,500 exclusively at Best Buy. That's not a bad price for a premium gaming laptop. Despite a few minor issues I've had, the ROG Flow X13 keeps the promise of playing in the smallest possible package on the go.

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The structured lid of the ROG Flow X13.

Judging by its size, the ROG Flow X13 is what was formerly known as an “ultrabook”. Thanks to the 360 ​​hinge and touchscreen, it is also a convertible 2-in-1.

But with its design and performance, it's unabashedly a gaming laptop. A small gaming laptop. The sleek, all-black exterior is similar to the rest of the ROG line of gaming laptops, including the Zephyrus G15 or some of the older M-series laptops. The lid features structured diagonal lines on the front and a small name tag in the lower corner for the logo. A more subtle version of this texture can be found on the palm rests. It's a pretty minimal design as long as you can overlook the typical gamer font used on the keycaps.

Asus claims that the textured lines add extra strength to the structure as well. Whether it's true or not, the Flow X13 feels very sturdy. The lid doesn't bend too much, especially at the top. The weakest point of the laptop is on the lid along the hinge. This is a common weak point, especially on laptops with a 360-degree hinge – another unique aspect of this laptop. The keyboard gives very slightly, but overall it's a laptop with a rigid feel.

Of course, the size of the Flow X13 is its calling card. I cannot stress enough how impressively small this thing is. A laptop this size just shouldn't be able to handle an 8-core CPU and discrete RTX graphics card – and yet it is here.

Play Fortnite on the ROG Flow X13.

The ROG Flow X13 is not alone, however. The dimensions of the Razer Blade Stealth 13 are almost identical. Razer's 13-inch gaming laptop is 0.2 inches thinner than the Flow X13 and has a different shape due to the screen view. The higher 16:10 shape of the Flow X13 makes it a bit longer on the table, while the 16: 9 Razer Blade Stealth 13 is wider. The ROG Flow X13 is lighter at just 2.87 pounds. In terms of portability, I can happily call it a tie, which makes the Flow X13 one of the smallest gaming laptops you can buy.

There are also some 14-inch gaming laptops that are only marginally larger than the ROG Flow X13. It certainly has a smaller overall pressure than laptops like the Razer Blade 14, ROG Zephyrus G14, or Predator Triton 300 SE – but not as much as you might suspect. Each is about an inch taller in either direction, depending on the laptop, and most are heavier. Still, they are a solid alternative to the ROG Flow X13.

Ports

The connections of the ROG Flow X13.

In terms of connections, the ROG Flow X13 offers the essentials for a gaming laptop. On the right side there is a USB-C port for charging and USB-A. On the left is a headphone jack and HDMI. That's pretty limited, especially on the USB side.

Then there is the most original thing about the ROG Flow X13: its proprietary PCIe interface is located on the left side of the laptop under a flap.

Laying the USB-C cable is particularly annoying for right-handed people. Due to the need for ventilation openings, the ports are located further down the side. This is common with gaming laptops, but since the system is powered by USB-C (and because there is only one USB-C port) there is only one place to plug it in – and right-handed people will be with the cord have to fight space with your mouse. Annoying that a second USB-C port on the left could have solved. Unfortunately, this space is reserved for Asus' proprietary port for connection to the external XG Mobile graphics card housing. However, if you don't want to use it, it's just a waste of space.

Another little annoyance? The position of the power switch. Like many convertible 2-in-1s, it is on the side of the device, right next to a USB port. However, this button is extremely sensitive, resulting in a lot of accidental presses while looking for a port or even just readjusting the laptop on my desk.

Keyboard and touchpad

I may not like the aesthetics of the ROG keyboard used here, but I can't deny its typing enjoyment. It's a big, luxurious layout – the same size you'd find on a 15-inch laptop. In addition, the keys have a chunky 1.7mm travel, which is practically unknown these days. The long stroke ensures fast, precise typing, which I immediately enjoyed. No learning curve.

Interestingly, the ROG Flow X13 doesn't include an RGB backlight. There isn't a rainbow of colors anywhere on this laptop. Some may find the refreshing, albeit individually illuminated, keypad to be a cost-saving measure. There are three levels of backlight control which is the minimum I would expect from a laptop.

The illuminated keyboard of the ROG Flow X13.

The touchpad is also good. I wouldn't have minded if it was a bit wider, but it has a smooth finish and the tracking feels accurate.

The ROG Flow X13 does not contain a Windows Hello IR camera for facial recognition, but the fingerprint reader is integrated into the power button.

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The ROG Flow X13 uses a 13.4-inch display with a resolution of 1920 x 1200. That strange resolution comes from the 16:10 aspect ratio, which is increasingly becoming the new standard and is what you see on the MacBook Pro, Find the Dell XPS 13 and Lenovo Legion 5 Pro. Taller screens aren't great for watching movies, but for everyday work and general use, the 16:10 aspect ratio gives a bigger screen for almost anything you do.

The ROG Flow X13 has a glossy, touch-enabled display that is unique compared to the Razer Blade Stealth 13. It makes for a brighter and clearer screen, although reflections can be an issue. The screen achieves a maximum output of around 300 nits, which is good enough for everyday use as long as you're not sitting in a bright room or next to a window. In the dark lighting of a horror movie or game with lots of shadows, you might find yourself staring at yourself. That is not optimal.

The corner of the display of the ROG Flow X13.

However, the screen has other strengths. First, it has a refresh rate of 120 Hz. That's perfect for this performance. Most games won't hit this threshold, which means there's plenty of bandwidth to tweak settings in games and maximize frame rates.

The color saturation is good with 98% in sRGB and 76% in AdobeRGB color spaces. More expensive laptops like the Razer Blade 14 are better in this regard as well as color accuracy. Asus did a good job of keeping the colors natural and not too warm. They are "Pantone-validated", which means that they correspond exactly to the common colors within the Pantone matching system.

All in all, this is a solid screen for both work and play.

Asus has paired it with a decent set of speakers too. They're on the bottom of the laptop, which is fine if you have the laptop on a desk.

The good news, however, is that they sound great. Although facing down, they provide clearer and fuller sound than many laptops, whether it's audio for a video or sound effects in a game. Thanks to the solid separation, it's not bad to listen to some music either. There's not a lot of bass here – and they still don't hit the speakers in MacBooks.

power

You are right if you are skeptical about the performance of the ROG Flow X13. I was also special because of its size. My configuration includes an AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS, RTX 3050 Ti, 16GB of dual-channel RAM, and a 1TB SSD for $ 1,500. The RTX 3050 Ti is a newer graphics card that we haven't seen in many laptops, but it is a replacement for both the older GTX 1660 Ti and GTX 1650 Ti. These were common in budget-range gaming laptops, and the GTX 1650 Ti is currently included in the Razer Blade Stealth 13. Razer's 13-inch laptop hasn't been upgraded to the RTX 30 series yet, which means the ROG Flow X13 is really the only option in that regard.

So while the ROG Flow X13 is one of the first to hit the market, you can expect the RTX 3050 to show up in a number of budget gaming laptops under $ 1,000. That means the ROG Flow X13 will likely be one of the more expensive laptops with this GPU. Of course, you can also buy a version with an RTX 3050 bundled with an XG Mobile that includes an RTX 3080. That gets you much better frame rates, but it also costs you $ 2,800.

The ROG Flow X13 alone was able to hold its own in terms of performance.

Laptop 3DMark time spy Cinebench R23 Underdog bench 5 PCMark 10 Fortnite (1080p Epic) Civilization VI (1080p Ultra)
Asus ROG Flow X13 (RTX 3050 Ti) 4503 1420/9701 1415/7592 6429 47 fps 65 fps
Acer Swift X (RTX 3050 Ti) 4073 1437/10135 1287/6663 6247 43 fps 66 fps
Acer Predator Triton 300 SE (RTX 3060) 6038 1412/5855 1503/4606 5776 78 fps 84 fps
HP Envy 14 (GTX 1650 Ti) 3147 1343/5028 1398/4741 5178 39 fps n / A

There's only one other laptop we've tested with the RTX 3050 Ti and that is the Acer Swift X. The ROG Flow X13 does well with this, with a slight head start in graphics performance. That's what you would expect from a gaming laptop.

The RTX 3050 Ti is a significant improvement over the GTX 1650 Ti, with an increase in 3DMark Time Spy scores of up to 30%. We don't have any GTX 1660 Ti laptop scores to compare, but that's a promising generational leap.

In games, however, you might get a little disappointed. Civilization VI was the only game I could play with maximum settings that stayed above 60 frames per second (fps). Fortnite and Battlefield V had to reduce the settings to get over 60 fps. The difference between the ROG Flow X13 and 14-inch gaming laptops with the RTX 3060 is clear.

The amount of VRAM makes a huge difference. The 4 GB in the RTX 3050 Ti (compared to the 6 GB in the RTX 3060) represent a hurdle for games like Assassin's Creed Valhalla. The game is almost unplayable on the ROG Flow X13 with an average of only 20 fps in 1080p at high settings.

Ryzen and Nvidia RTX stickers on the palm rests of the ROG Flow X13.

So if you are interested in the ROG Flow X13 it is important that you know what you are buying. Don't expect to play modern games at maximum settings, at least not without putting up with some choppy frame rates.

However, the processor performance is quite impressive. The AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS is a 35-watt processor with eight cores and 16 threads. Intel's Core i7-11370H is the direct competitor of this chip and comes in the Predator Triton 300 SE. But like many of the Intel vs AMD matches, AMD's additional cores offer improved multithreaded performance. The ROG Flow X13 achieved a whopping 40% better results than the Triton 300 SE in the multi-core test of the Cinebench R23 and was even able to beat it easily in the single core. I've never seen the Flow X13 go up to the promised 4.6GHz, but it did step up to 4.5GHz on occasion. That's not bad.

All of this plays out well in day-to-day tasks and productivity. The ROG Flow X13 scores great across the entire PCMark 10 suite, which ensures that it is a system that works just as well for web surfing, video conferencing, and word processing as it does in games.

Battery life

The Windows lock screen on the ROG Flow X13.

The battery life of the ROG Flow X13 is a disappointment. Given the 120 Hz screen and RTX graphics card, I'm not particularly surprised.

A 62 watt hour battery is big for a 13 inch laptop, but it turned out to be not quite enough to make the Flow X13 the battery life champion.

The system lasted just five hours and 25 minutes in our web browsing test, which ran through a series of difficult websites until the battery was drained. That's not great even when compared to other larger gaming laptops. The ROG Flow X13 did better in our lightest video playback test, which repeated a local 1080p video until the battery was drained. It took over nine hours in this test.

The Razer Blade 14 is still the most durable gaming laptop, even with the RTX 3070 that I tested in my test device. Despite a larger, higher resolution screen, it lasted a few hours longer than the ROG Flow X13.

Our opinion

The ROG Flow X13 is a one-of-a-kind gaming laptop thanks to its unique eGPU and incredible portability. Despite some strange design choices and mediocre battery life, it's hard not to be impressed with how much power Asus has put into this compact laptop.

Are there alternatives?

The Razer Blade Stealth 13 is the primary alternative. It's more expensive, however, and is currently still related to older graphics card and processor options.

The various 14-inch options are all good options, although they are a bit larger. The Razer Blade 14, Acer Predator Triton 300, and ROG Zephyrus G14 are all great 14-inch laptops that are more powerful than the ROG Flow X13 for a similar price.

How long it will take?

The ROG Flow X13 should last four or five years, assuming you don't want to keep abreast of the latest games and technology. Even if you do, the ability to add the XG Mobile is a nice addition that could extend the life of this laptop.

Should you buy it?

Yes, as long as you know what you're getting yourself into. This is nowhere near the most powerful gaming laptop in the world, but if portability is an attractive proposition, you've found an incredibly unique laptop that will fit your life.

Editor's recommendations



22 Jul
Blog

Framework Laptop Review: Let the Laptop Disruption Begin

Framework laptop test 7

Frame laptop

RRP $ 999.00

"The Framework Laptop is more than just a worthwhile experiment in terms of modularity, it's also a great laptop."

advantages

  • Unbeatable upgradeability

  • Bright, high resolution screen

  • 1080p webcam

  • Lots of key trips

  • Easily interchangeable ports

disadvantage

  • Runs hot

  • Mediocre battery life

Even the very best laptops are only supposed to last four or five years. Warranties expire, components become obsolete, damage occurs, and not much of it is repairable.

Here the framework laptop disrupts the norm. A screwdriver is included, and adjustments, updates, and repairs of all kinds are highly recommended. A piece of technology that won't run out of steam even in a few product cycles? Now there is a new idea.

For a starting price of $ 999, you can get a premium Windows laptop that looks and works like any other. But the framework philosophy is really what you pay for – and that makes the framework laptop unlike any I've ever used.

design

The Framework laptop from behind, showing the logo on the lid.

On the surface, the Framework Laptop is an ordinary laptop. It's a simple silver laptop that resembles a cheaper version of a MacBook – no unlike countless Windows laptops and Chromebooks.

That's not exactly a compliment, but maybe it's part of the point to fit in. The idea that the Framework laptop looks and works like any other laptop feels important – especially when trying to demonstrate how easy it would be for other laptops to take a similar approach to modularity. Of course, that doesn't mean that I didn't want a more original design.

Most laptop manufacturers claim that reduced upgradeability is a necessary compromise for portability, build quality, and system integrity. It doesn't matter whether it's Apple with its MacBooks or Dell with its XPS 13.

But for the most part, the framework laptop turns out to be mere excuses. It's 0.62 inches thick and 2.9 pounds – not a clunky laptop at all. No, it's not as small as the XPS 13 or Surface Laptop 4, but it is very close to the size of the MacBook Pro 13-inch. Laptops like the Razer Blade Stealth 13 or the Asus ROG Flex X13 have pushed the performance limits of 13-inch laptops and crammed separate graphics cards into similar physical dimensions.

The Framework laptop opens and shows the 3: 2 display.

Build quality is the only major area the Framework laptop has to sacrifice. It's not that it's badly built, but it's certainly not made from a single block of machined aluminum either. Since the key cover, bezels, and connectors can all be removed, they each introduce additional bezels that can potentially weaken the overall integrity of the structure. The lid has a bend, as well as the keyboard deck and the hinge. I've also noticed a clicking sound that sometimes occurs when the laptop is quickly opened and closed to a full 180 degrees.

But again, these aren't things that are unknown to a laptop at this price point. It's a flaw in many midrange or premium laptops that don't seem to get perfect. Framework Laptop also fits into this category, except for some legitimate reasons for its slightly inferior build quality.

Do I wish I could do without these plastic bezels? Necessarily. With a glossy screen like this, the option for the glass frames only would have been great.

Connections and expandability

Ports are the easiest way that the modularity of the framework benefits laptops. When you pull the Framework laptop out of the box, it looks a bit strange with its four exposed Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports, two on each side of the laptop.

Framework then allows you to select the ports you want. You'll need at least one USB-C port to charge, but from there it's up to you. You might want HDMI or even full DisplayPort for your monitor connections. You might want three USB-A ports for all of your accessories and peripherals. Or maybe you just want to put all of these expansion cards in a pocket and use them as adapters when needed.

The ports of the framework laptop with two inserted expansion cards.

An expansion card separate from the framework laptop.

It's the kind of thing that gadget heads are going to love. But it's more than just a novelty. It also makes for a pretty versatile setup that no other laptop can replicate without the use of dongles, adapters, or hubs. However, changing expansion cards requires the system to be turned off, where carrying a set of dongles may be more convenient.

I was disappointed to see that it didn't include a full size SD card slot as an expansion card. Framework went with a micro SD slot instead, which is far less useful.

But ports are only the first step. The whole system is based on the idea of ​​easy access to the internal components. Most laptops provide access through a removable bottom cover, but the Framework laptop provides top access directly through the keyboard. Using the screwdriver provided, simply loosen the five fastenings on the underside and pull off the magnetic input cover.

The removable internals of the Framework laptop.

From there you can see the internal layout, all of which are neatly labeled and removable. Framework even went so far as to include scannable QR codes that tell you exactly what parts are included and how to install them. It's a real breath of fresh air. Laptop manufacturers tend to downplay the specific memory, storage, and connectivity they use – and would rather not tinker. That is not to say that it is completely unknown today. Many gaming laptops still allow you to add memory or storage. But it's becoming increasingly rare in thin and light laptops of this size.

Removing components on the Framework laptop couldn't be easier. Adding via the M.2 slot only requires loosening the latch while RAM snaps into place with no problem. The WLAN module is a bit trickier, where you have to connect the antenna cables correctly. I love that all of the screws are just fasteners to make sure you never lose an important screw. Framework has thought through to the last detail and everything contributes to a pleasant upgrade experience for both newbies and PC veterans.

Adding memory or RAM is a great way to extend the life of a laptop, but ultimately the processor and graphics will hold you up. That makes the Framework Laptop even more special.

The mainboard of the Framework laptop, which can be removed and replaced.

It should be noted that while the memory and RAM work well with third party parts that you buy and install yourself, the framework must provide the CPU and motherboard. That is, for the time being. The CPU and the mainboard (or the mainboard, as the framework calls it) are proprietary designs that are not so easy to separate on their own.

Framework also sells a discounted DIY edition that requires you to install these modules yourself. For most people interested in the modularity of the Framework laptop, the DIY edition is a cheaper way to get the exact same laptop experience.

Keyboard and touchpad

The Framework laptop keyboard with 1.5 mm key travel.

When I got into this review, I was concerned about the keyboard touchpad. These are the details that can easily be overlooked in a laptop that is more user upgradeable. I was pleasantly surprised at how good these entrances are.

The keyboard has a travel of 1.5 mm, which felt heavenly under my fingers. When you're fed up with the direction of flatter laptop keyboards, the Framework Laptop gives your tired fingers rest. This is one of the most comfortable laptop keyboards I've ever used. The layout is familiar and there is nothing that requires a learning curve.

This is one of the most comfortable laptop keyboards I've ever used.

The backlight is bright and even, with three levels of brightness. This has become the standard for brightness control, but laptops like the Razer Blade or MacBook Pro offer more granular controls.

The touchpad isn't quite as good as the keyboard, but it comes close. It's big and responsive, the tracking feels precise, and the click isn't too loud. Palm suppression is decent too, though the cursor skipped or moved a few times as you typed.

The framework laptop's fingerprint reader, which is integrated into the power button.

Framework also includes a fingerprint reader on top of the keyboard deck that is built into the power button. It looks a little out of place and unbranded, but the fingerprint reader worked fine for Windows Hello authentication.

Unfortunately, the Framework laptop doesn't include an IR camera for facial recognition, so you'll have to rely on the fingerprint reader for passwordless logins.

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The Framework laptop display has a thick underside.

It would have been easy to use an older, less trend-setting display option on the Framework laptop. Instead, it's another aspect of the device that doesn't just meet the basics to get through. It has a resolution of 2560 x 1403 with an aspect ratio of 3: 2, an increasingly popular alternative to 16: 9. This means more vertical screen real estate and more space to get work done and view web pages.

It's very similar in shape and size to the Surface Laptop 4, which also has a 3: 2 13.5-inch screen. There is no touchscreen in either configuration, but I love this size of the laptop. It strikes the balance between portability and screen size, giving you a comfortable place to work without having to lug around a larger 15-inch laptop. The increased resolution and size are to die for if you come from a 16: 9 1080p laptop.

It's a very bright screen with a maximum of 463 nits.

The image quality of the display isn't the best I've seen, but it excels in a few key areas. First, it's a very bright screen. It reaches a maximum brightness of 463 nits, an abundance of brightness that makes it a versatile laptop for working outdoors, near windows, or under bright fluorescent lights. It's also a high contrast screen with a maximum of 1090: 1 at 100% screen brightness. The result is crisp text when reading or typing and dynamic lighting in videos and movies.

The colors are the weakest aspect of the screen. 76% of the AdobeRGB color space is by no means bad, but it lags a bit behind some of the leaders in the field like the MacBook Pro, Samsung Galaxy Book Pro, and Razer Blade 14.

The color accuracy is also a bit off. My Spyder5 colorimeter gave some inconsistent results when it reported an average color error, despite doing a lot of testing. Framework says it uses the standard calibration made by the panel maker, and when used anecdotally, colors felt pretty lifelike and natural. However, it may not be the best option for a professional color grader unless you plan on calibrating it yourself.

Webcam and speakers

The Framework laptop's 1080p webcam built into the top bezel of the screen.

The webcam is located in the top frame above the screen and is impressive in itself. It's a 1080p camera with 60 frames per second (fps) video, which is a huge upgrade over most laptops that are still sold with 720p webcams. The increased resolution makes a huge difference in video calls by sharpening your face and smoothing movements. It's another example of how the Framework Laptop is a disruptive force in the laptop market today.

The speakers are located on the lower edge of the laptop and face down. The 3: 2 aspect ratio of the screen doesn't allow for as much width next to the keyboard for upwardly radiating speakers as I would prefer. These aren't bad speakers considering the placement. Compared to the MacBook Pro 13 inch they are of course pathetic, but the stereo separation sounds full and the speakers do not crackle at high volume.

perfomance

The Framework Laptop is broken down into three simple configurations that scale processor performance, memory, and storage. It's an easy way to sell a laptop, but it's a bit of a misnomer, and the lack of configurations makes buying the Framework laptop a bit limited just off the page. On the other hand, unlike most other laptops of this type, it wouldn't be difficult to buy the basic configuration and add storage or RAM as needed. That's the beauty of user-upgradeability.

My test device was the middle option, which comes with an Intel Core i7-1165G7, 16 GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD. While the base configuration is pretty affordable at $ 999, the Framework charges a lot for additional memory and storage space. Dell is charging just $ 100 to upgrade the XPS 13 from 8GB to 16GB, while Apple is charging $ 200 for the same upgrade on the MacBook Pro. Microsoft is a notorious culprit in this regard, charging $ 1,700 for an identical configuration to my $ 1,399 trial configuration of the Framework laptop. So you will surely save some money by upgrading yourself, although $ 1,399 isn't a terrible price to pay for what the Framework laptop offers.

In addition, the Framework Laptop scores admirably. I tested it on our benchmark suite including Geekbench 5, Cinebench R23, PCMark 10, and 3DMark Time Spy.

Geekbench 5 (single / multiple) Handbrake (seconds) Cinebench R23 (single / multiple) PCMark 10 3DMark time spy
Frame laptop
(Core i7-1165G7)		 1432/4725 176 1444/5373 5054 1641
Dell XPS 13 (Core i7-1165G7) 1540/5432 201 1399/4585 3859 1589
HP Specter x360 14 (Core i7-1165G7) 1214/4117 236 1389/3941 4728 1457
Samsung Galaxy Pro 360
(Core i7-1165G7)		 1554/5603 N / A 1308/4062 5159 1800
Razer Book 13 (Core i7-1165G7) 1548/5374 210 1508/4519 4878 1776

The Framework laptop trades punches with some of the more powerful 13-inch Windows laptops you can buy, including the Razer Book 13 and the Dell XPS 13. The strong multi-core performance in Cinebench R23 was remarkable and beat all of them other competitors listed above. This great multi-core performance also translates well into fast video encoding times in Handbrake.

However, the Iris Xe graphics didn't blow my socks off in the Time Spy benchmark, nor in any of the games I tested. It's not a laptop that will be of great use for AAA PC gaming.

The thermals also worried me a few. The CPU reached peaks of 100 degrees Celsius several times in PCMark 10 runs and maintained the temperatures throughout the entire PCMark Spreadsheets test in the very high 90s. For example, the Ryzen CPU in the Asus ROG Flow X13 stayed around 10 degrees cooler during the same benchmark, which is still running pretty hot. Thats not cool. When you're doing something particularly demanding, both the surface and interior temperatures can get uncomfortably hot.

It handles video conferencing well, but the fans never turn loud enough to disturb the built-in microphones and speakers. The other good news is that the CPU was still humming at around 4.4 GHz even at high temperatures.

Both the surface and the interior temperature can get uncomfortably hot under heavy loads.

So what's the explanation for these types of temperatures? Open and accessible components can certainly be one of the culprits. Multiple fans, more heat pipes, large heat sinks, extra case vents, and other types of heat spreader are additional techniques that laptops use to cool these components. The Framework laptop is limited to just a single large fan, a couple of heat pipes, and a few small openings along the bottom of the laptop for airflow. This is certainly the weakest aspect of the Framework laptop and one that could wear out its internal components over time.

Upon inquiry, Framework confirmed that the system was designed to operate at the maximum boost frequency while remaining within safe temperature limits. 100 degrees Celsius is technically the maximum temperature the processor can reach, but you typically don't want your system to run at temperatures that high. It's not uncommon on competing laptops like the XPS 13, but it's never a good thing to see.

Battery life

The framework laptop opened on a white table.

The Framework Laptop contains a 55 watt hour battery, which is a decent building block for a laptop of this size. However, higher resolution screens like this one drain batteries faster, and the result is mediocre battery life.

The Framework laptop lasted 7 hours and 11 minutes in a light web browsing test that cycles through some heavier websites until the battery runs out. Most laptops in this price range and category last longer in this test. The Dell XPS 13 lasted almost 8.5 hours, while battery life champions like the Surface Laptop 4 lasted up to 13.5 hours. Even the Razer Book 13, which I praised for its mediocre battery life, lasted a full hour longer than the Framework laptop.

I also tested the laptop's battery on local video playback, which repeated a 1080p video clip until the battery ran out. The Framework laptop died after 7 hours and 20 minutes. This is also a long way behind the competition.

The Framework laptop won't get you through a full day of work on a single charge, especially if your typical workload includes some tasking applications, a lot of streaming, or heavier multitasking.

Our opinion

The Framework Laptop has a gimmick. Its modularity and upgradeability are certainly its main selling points, and if that's not important to you, look elsewhere. But unlike a lot of other experimental tech products, the Framework Laptop is a great laptop too. It's not perfect, but the Framework laptop doesn't let you sacrifice much to enjoy its unique design.

Are there alternatives?

In terms of upgradeability, Framework Laptop doesn't have a lot of competitors. There are some larger laptops out there that you can still upgrade the memory yourself, but not many in this size.

In terms of price, the Framework laptop ends up among premium laptops such as the Dell XPS 13, MacBook Pro 13 and HP Specter x360 14. However, the option of the DIY edition really helps to make the Framework laptop more affordable. Any number of other flagship laptops have strengths over the Framework laptop, but none offer this level of upgradeability.

How long it will take?

As long as you want in theory. Since almost all internal components are replaceable, a dead battery or an outdated CPU does not mean that the entire laptop has to be disposed of. I say in theory just because framework has to hold its end of the deal for it to really work.

In order for this laptop to last 10 or 15 years, Framework has to release new "motherboards" with updated processors, which is planned. The company has great ambitions to even open a third-party marketplace that aftermarket manufacturers can participate in. However, none of this has started yet. The interest in a shop for everything to do with the Framework Laptop will likely depend heavily on the success and acceptance of the first rounds of product releases.

Should you buy it?

Yes sir. If the idea of ​​a long-lasting, user-upgradeable laptop sounds remotely appealing, the Framework Laptop is a dream come true.

Editor's recommendations



07 Jul
Blog

Razer Blade 14 Review: The Gaming Laptop Usurper Has Arrived

Razor blade 14 review 03

Razer blade 14

RRP $ 2,200.00

"The Razer Blade 14 is stealing the crown as the best gaming laptop you can buy right now."

advantages

  • The gaming performance is excellent

  • Colorful 1440p display

  • Surprisingly small

  • Cheaper than Razer Blade 15

  • Great battery life

disadvantage

  • Warm surface temperatures

  • Thick bezels

The Razer Blade 15 was already the smallest gaming laptop in the world. Building an even smaller version of the Razer Blade 14 is, on the one hand, exciting. On the other hand, I had serious concerns about how Razer could possibly keep these components cool enough.

Add in an AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX processor and up to an Nvidia RTX 3080 – and you have the potential for a hot mess. Fortunately, the Razer Blade 14 is anything but.

Razer did the impossible and delivers an amazing gaming experience in a tiny form factor. With a lower starting price of $ 1,800, there's little reason to pick the Razer Blade 15 as its smaller brother stole the crown from the best gaming laptop. A new king has arrived.

design

Play Fortnite on the Razer Blade 14.

Despite its smaller size and asking price, it looks almost identical to the Razer Blade 15. It has the same completely black aluminum housing, the green snake logo on the lid and few large ventilation openings or gaudy design elements. It's the same kind of minimalist gaming laptop with amazing build quality that the Razer Blade line has always delivered. There's a reason people call these laptops the MacBooks of the gaming laptops.

The most important change in the Razer Blade 14 is of course the size of the screen. The 14-inch gaming laptop is a new trend led by popular options like the ROG Zephyrus G14 and the Predator Triton 300 SE. This isn't actually the first 14-inch Razer Blade – there was a model back in 2013. But apart from the screen size, this new version has little to do with the 2013 model. The processor, graphics, and cooling technology have finally caught up with the demand for smaller gaming laptops – and the 2021 Razer Blade 14 is the answer to that desire.

The Razer Blade 14 is the thinnest 14-inch gaming notebook and the smallest overall in terms of volume.

However, a smaller screen also means a smaller footprint overall, which is why I am a little unsure about the ability of this laptop to keep the components cool enough in this test. The Razer Blade 14 is the thinnest 14-inch gaming laptop and the smallest overall by volume – just 0.66 inches thick and 3.9 pounds. That makes it an insanely portable gaming laptop, especially considering how powerful this thing is.

Because of its size, it's also a great regular laptop. It's only 0.08 inches thicker than the Dell XPS 13 and only 0.03 inches thicker than the MacBook Air. It's an incredible feat of engineering.

The Razer Blade 14 offers excellent image quality.

Of course, Razer already makes the Razer Blade Stealth 13 and Razer Book 13 – if you really just want the Razer stylings with no power. But the Razer Blade 14 feels like the laptop that can do it all without sacrificing portability or design – or performance – too much.

That has been the promise since this laptop was announced. I was thrilled that the Razer Blade 14 kept that promise. Mainly.

As can be seen in many photos, the Razer Blade 14 is an absolute fingerprint magnet. That was always the case with these black Razer Blades, which is why I wish the Mercury White option would be offered for the 14-inch model. The latest update to the Razer Blade 15 tried to fix this issue with a fingerprint-resistant coating, but the Razer Blade 14 didn't.

Ports

The Razer Blade has a great port selection including HDMI 2.1.

The Razer Blade 14 has a healthy range of ports available. On the left you'll find USB-C, USB-A, a headphone jack, and the proprietary Razer charging port. On the right side you get a USB-A, another USB-C and even HDMI 2.1. HDMI will likely be your primary method of docking the Razer Blade 14 to a monitor, although both USB-C ports also have DisplayPort 1.4 and power.

However, when gaming, consider using Razer's own power adapter, which has a nicely braided cord that plugs into a 230 watt power adapter. It's big for this size of laptop, but when you're juicing performance-hungry components like this one, it's inevitable.

I would have liked the Razer to have a full-size SD card slot like the Blade 15, which is extremely convenient for photographers and videographers.

The Razer Blade 14 also offers Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 for the latest in wireless connectivity.

display

The Razer Blade 14 shows off some impressive graphics with its 1440p screen.

In terms of screen quality, the Razer Blade 14 is on par with what the 15-inch model offers. It is a 16: 9 1440p IPS display with a refresh rate of 165Hz. That's both high resolution and high refresh rate that is the best of both worlds. That's no surprise as it's becoming the norm for gaming laptops.

The picture quality is the real surprise. The Razer Blade 14 offers fantastic color saturation and reaches 90% of the AdobeRGB and 100% of the sRGB color space, which is basically unknown for gaming laptops. The color accuracy is also pinpoint accurate and the maximum brightness is 315 nits. That's nowhere near as bright as the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro, the brightest gaming laptop I've ever tested.

Would I wish it looked more like the Razer Book 13 with its 16:10 screen and tiny bottom bezel? Absolutely. A larger screen would have allowed a smaller bottom frame and more screen space without having to shrink the overall area. For now, Razer seems to be sticking to 16: 9 for its gaming laptops. Despite my affinity for thin bezels, it's hard to complain about a screen that looks this good.

performance

I never doubted that the Razer Blade 14 would be a beautiful, well-constructed laptop. Performance and thermals worried me. But once I started using the Razer Blade 14, many of those worries were aside.

In some ways, the Razer Blade 14 is actually more powerful than its bigger brother. This is thanks to the processor inside, which is the 8-core, 16-thread AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX. In terms of sheer performance alone, this is the king of gaming laptop processors right now. The fact that it finally has a home in the Razer range feels like an important moment for AMD.

The back of the Razer Blade 14 shows the redesigned fans.

I know Cinebench isn't the be-all and end-all of processor performance, but it's overwhelming that installing this Ryzen chip in the Razer Blade 14 beats the Razer Blade 15 out of the water in this benchmark. It's a similar result in a video encoding test in Handbrake, where the Razer Blade 15 with its Intel processor was 25% slower.

Add an RTX 30 series graphics card to the mix and you will be very happy with the content creation performance.

Speaking of graphics, my configuration came with the RTX 3070. It's still hard to grasp that you can put an RTX 3080in here as well if you want to. The 3060 is the base model option, which will still be pretty impressive, but on other laptops I've tested there's a big leap in performance between the 3060 and the 3070. Either way, you get a full 100 watts of power to the GPU, which is why I was so worried about the temperatures too.

In terms of cooling, Razer has achieved the impossible.

But I'll just say this – Razer did it. You get really good gaming performance, even at 1440p, and I've never seen GPU temperatures rise above 87 degrees Celsius. Well, that's not exactly what I would call "cool", but for a laptop this size and with so much power, I'm impressed. Here is a massive steam chamber that covers almost all of the built-in components and is supposedly even larger than the 15-inch model.

There are also some new fans inside, each with 88 0.1 mm fan blades. Of course, the huge vapor chamber means you can't swap out the memory, but it protects the performance and thermals that actually make the Razer Blade 14 such a great gaming laptop. Fortunately, all configurations of the Razer Blade 14 come with 16 GB of dual-channel RAM and a full terabyte SSD.

Gaming performance

Benchmark Assassin's Creed Valhalla on the Razer Blade 14.

How good is the gambling? Well, most of the games I've tested hit at least 60 frames per second (fps) on max 1440p settings, including Fortnite, Battlefield V, and Civilization VI. The Battlefield V performance was particularly noteworthy at 78 fps, which even beats the much clunkier Lenovo Legion 5 Pro, a thick 16-inch laptop that we also tested with the RTX 3070.

On the whole, this Lenovo laptop averages better frame rates, especially in Fortnite where it was up to 18% faster. Better airflow in a thicker case always means better temperatures and ultimately better performance – but the Razer Blade 14 isn't as far behind as you might think. It really makes you wonder why we don't see high-end graphics options in laptops like the Zephyrus G14.

The table below shows 1080p performance for a comparable comparison to cheaper 1080p laptops like the ROG Strix G15. Here you can see how closely the Blade 14 can often keep up with much larger and bulkier laptops like the 16-inch Lenovo Legion 5 Pro or the 15-inch MSI GS66 Stealth.

Laptop 3DMark time spy 3DMark fire strike Assassin's Creed Valhalla (1080p Ultra High) Battlefield V (1080p Ultra) Fortnite (1080p Epic) Civilization VI (1080p Ultra)
Razer Blade 14 (RTX 3070) 8605 19673 60 fps 96 fps 96 fps 84 fps
Asus ROG Strix G15 (Radeon RX 6800M) 10504 26800 77 fps 109 fps 108 fps 91 fps
Lenovo Legion 5 Pro (RTX 3070) 9175 21033 61 fps 73 fps 101 fps 101 fps
MSI GS66 Stealth (RTX 3080) 9097 19175 70 fps 97 fps 140 fps 140 fps

There have been a couple of heavier titles I've tested that put the Razer Blade 14 in a fight for its money. Assassin's Creed Valhalla and Cyberpunk 2077 both couldn't quite reach 60 fps in 1440p. They arrive in 1080p, however, and Cyberpunk plays well enough if you turn up the DLSS settings.

Surface temperatures are a different story. The Razer gaming laptops are notorious for being hot, largely because there just isn't a lot of ventilation here. They have a few vents along the hinge for the vapor chamber as well as two above the fans in the back, but Razer sacrifices a lot of airflow by not drilling holes throughout the case. And the Razer Blade 14 is no different from previous blades in this regard.

The palm rests of the Razer Blade 14 tend to get nice and warm, which can be uncomfortable.

It can get really hot at certain key points, for example in the space between the keyboard and the display. But that's normal. However, the palm rests bothered me the most and set it apart from other gaming laptops that I have tested. The palm rests of the Razer Blade 14 tend to get nice and warm, which can be uncomfortable. If you're at home and have a long gaming session ahead of you, you'll likely want to dock it and use an external keyboard.

Even when not playing, the Razer Blade 14's palm rests stay warmer than other laptops. The fans spin even if you're just using a web browser, and the case never feels cold to the touch. It's unfair to compare the Razer Blade 14 to an ultra-efficient laptop like the M1 MacBook Pro, but surface temperatures are a compromise for being able to play modern 3D games anytime.

Keyboard and touchpad

The Razer Blade 14 keyboard and touchpad.

Everything else is what you would expect from a Razer laptop. The keyboard and touchpad are both great, and the RGB backlighting per key is as customizable as it gets with an insane 15-level brightness control. It sounds over the top, but compared to the three or four tiers that many gaming laptops have, I can't fault it.

Razer even adds some nice touches like the above-screen Windows Hello IR camera and some decent speakers. They're upward facing and THX certified, which basically just means THX helped test them to make sure they weren't causing any distortion at high volume levels. The result is decent speakers for watching videos or listening to music. Unfortunately, the fan noise disturbs the appreciation of the speakers when gaming.

Battery life

Razer promises 12 hours of battery life with the Blade 14. That's unheard of on a laptop with a beefy RTX 3070 or 3080, but the Razer Blade comes surprisingly close. In our local video playback test, it landed 11 hours and 20 minutes, which is almost three hours longer than the Razer Blade 15. It's a similar comparison in our light web browsing test, where it took eight hours and 17 minutes.

The Razer Blade 14 also outlasts the ROG Zephyrus G14 and Predator Triton 300 SE, which were previously champions in gaming laptop battery life.

You only get that much battery life from a laptop with an RTX 3070 inside, but Razer got more out of the 61.6 watt-hour battery that I thought was possible.

Our opinion

There are many cheaper gaming laptops that are just as powerful as the Razer Blade 14, such as the all-AMD ROG Strix G15. But none of its competitors have the premium fit and workmanship of the Razer Blade 14, nor the extremely small size. Add in good battery life, a colorful display, and surprisingly good gaming performance, and you have what it takes to become a new standard for gaming laptops. The fact that it's $ 500 cheaper than a similar configuration to the Razer Blade 15 is the icing on the cake.

Are there alternatives?

Other 14-inch gaming laptops are the Acer Predator Triton 300 SE and the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14. Both are limited to an RTX 3060 and are a few hundred dollars cheaper than the Razer Blade 14.

The Razer Blade 15 obviously has a bigger screen, but costs $ 500 more for the same configuration.

How long it will take?

A couple of Razer Blade reliability issues have been well documented online, including the problem with the high battery, which is apparently the most notorious culprit. However, it is still not an issue that has been officially addressed by Razer.

Barring potential reliability issues, the Razer Blade 14 should last four or five years before it needs to be replaced. The vapor chamber makes it difficult to replace or repair yourself, but RazerCare offers up to three years warranty over a thorough (and expensive) upgrade to the standard one-year warranty.

Should you buy it?

Yes. It's the best gaming laptop you can buy right now, especially if you want your gaming laptop to be just as suitable for non-gaming activities.

Editor's recommendations



28 Jun
Blog

Asus VivoBook Flip 14 Review: A Fast, Cheap AMD Laptop

Asus Vivobook Flip 14 review 3

Asus VivoBook Flip 14 2021

"The Asus VivoBook Flip 14 is a powerful budget laptop despite the disappointing display and build quality."

  • Outstanding productivity performance

  • Mostly attractive aesthetics

  • Affordable

  • Active pen is bundled

  • Upgradable RAM and storage

  • Mediocre build quality

  • Glossy display

  • Below average battery life

Everyone likes a good budget laptop. They may not seem as exciting as the latest and greatest, but budget-conscious laptops have their place. Not everyone has the resources or the need for a laptop that costs well over $ 1,000, but everyone deserves great things. Finding a diamond in the rough can be a lot of fun.

Most manufacturers have a distinct budget lineup, and in Asus' case, that's the VivoBook. The company recently launched the updated VivoBook Flip 14, an AMD-powered 360-degree convertible 2-in-1 designed to deliver solid performance and an exciting experience at a low laptop price.

I checked the VivoBook Flip 14 configuration for $ 629 (if Asus offers it on their website, it will sell for $ 600) which has an AMD Ryzen 5 5500U CPU, 8GB of RAM, a 512GB PCIe -SSD and a 14-inch IPS Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) display in the increasingly old-fashioned 16: 9 aspect ratio. You can also get a version with a 256GB SSD for just $ 529. Attractive features for the price, but does the VivoBook Flip 14 keep its value proposition?

design

The VivoBook Flip 14 is mostly made of plastic, with the lid lined with an aluminum alloy. You don't have to buy plastic for this price, but it's not uncommon. Unfortunately, the build quality was not up to the usual Asus standard, with a lid that bends with too little force and can cause LCD distortion, quite a bit of flex in the keyboard deck, and a case base that yields to pressure. The similarly priced Acer Swift 3 is more solidly built, and for around $ 300 you can grab the HP Envy x360 13, which is also much better built – unsurprisingly, both machines are on our list of best budget laptops . You won't find many 14-inch 2-in-1s at this price level, so I can't think of a direct comparison that we tested.

Aesthetically, the VivoBook Flip 14 is a little more impressive, if a little strange at the same time. It comes in a “Bespoke Black” color scheme that covers 99% of the chassis. There's a bright silver logo on the lid and some chrome bars around the touchpad, but that's mostly it. It is strange that the Enter key has a lime green border and lettering and stands out rather boldly – but at the same time I would say garish. And it's the only element on the laptop that bears that color, so it's not part of a theme.

If you're usually struggling to find Enter, the bold color scheme helps, but I usually don't run into this predicament so the color scheme detracts from the aesthetic for me. Still, I think the VivoBook Flip 14 looks better than the Swift 3 and is on par with the Envy x360 13. In fact, it's as attractive as a more expensive notebook like the MSI Prestige 14 Evo and has a more distinctive look than the Lenovo Yoga 7i 14 2-in-1, which is also about $ 300 more expensive.

The bezels are a bit big with a screen-to-body ratio of 82%. Premium laptops tend to be 90% or better, but the VivoBook Flip 14 isn't bad for a budget device. That makes the chassis a bit bigger, and it's not the thinnest or lightest 14-inch laptop at 0.72 inches and 3.31 pounds. The Yoga 7i comes in at 0.69 inches and 3.09 pounds, while the MSI Prestige 14 is 0.63 inches thick and weighs 2.85 pounds.

The Acer Swift 5, another 14-inch clamshell, is just 0.59 inches thick and fairly light at 2.31 pounds – it's also twice as expensive. Looking at our budget competition, the Acer Swift 3 is 0.63 inches thick and weighs 2.65 pounds, and the HP Envy x360 13 is 0.65 inches thick and weighs 2.92 pounds. Obviously, the VivoBook Flip 14 doesn't win the thin and easy battle.

Asus built its ErgoLift hinge into the VivoBook Flip 14, which is a nice touch considering the overall complexity of the 360-degree hinge. It works well, raises the keyboard deck to a more comfortable typing angle, and theoretically offers additional space for air to circulate – except there are no vents on the bottom of the laptop. Rather, the air is sucked in via the keyboard, so that the usual thermal advantages are not available. Anyway, the hinge is a bit stiff and the lid takes two hands to open, but it keeps the display in place in clamshell, tent, media, and tablet modes.

Asus has also built in some upgrade options. The SSD slot is easily accessible if you ever want to upgrade the memory, and of the test device's 8 GB of RAM, 4 GB is soldered to the motherboard and the other 4 GB is plugged in. So you can swap this out for an 8 GB chip if necessary and increase your RAM to 12 GB. A maximum of 16 GB is available, which of course has to be configured when ordering the laptop.

Connectivity is good, with a USB-A 2.0 port, a USB-A 3.2 port, a USB-C Gen 2 port, a full-size HDMI 1.4 port, a 3.5mm audio jack and a microSD card reader. A proprietary connector provides power, and given the AMD chipset, there is no Thunderbolt support. Wireless connectivity is a bit behind the times with Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 4.2.

performance

The VivoBook Flip 14 featured the first six-core Ryzen 5 5500U CPU we tested, and I was curious to see how it compares to the various Tiger Lake variants from Intel and the Ryzen 7 series. I got away impressed.

It didn't dominate Geekbench 5, with the lower single-core score typical of AMD chips and the more competitive multi-core score. It landed in third place in the comparison group, behind the Asus ZenBook 13 UM325UA with an eight-core Ryzen 7 5800U, which dominated, and the MSI Prestige 14 Evo with its four-core Intel Core i7-1185G7. In PCMark 10, the VivoBook Flip 14 took second place behind the ZenBook 13 and did particularly well in the content creation of this test. Accordingly, the Ryzen 5 5500U is competitive with Intel's Core i7 and significantly faster than the Core i5.

The VivoBook Flip 14 was particularly convincing in two particularly compute-intensive apps, Handbrake and Cinebench R23. In the Handbrake test, which encodes a 420 MB video as H.265, the Asus was 31 seconds faster than the Prestige 14 Evo and only seven seconds behind the ZenBook 13. The results in the demanding Cinebench R23 test were similar, where At least in multicore mode, the VivoBook Flip 14 took just second place behind the ZenBook 13 and was significantly faster than the Prestige 14 Evo. And the Ryzen 5 5500U is a real step up from the previous generation, making the VivoBook Flip 14 an impressive budget performer.

As with all current Ryzen laptops we tested, the VivoBook Flip 14 excels in CPU-intensive tasks and will go through the typical productivity workflow. It can handle creative applications too, although its Radeon Graphics doesn't offer much in the way of enhancing applications that the GPU can take advantage of. Of course, this also applies to Intel's integrated Iris Xe graphics. In this comparison group, only the HP Envy 14 with its Nvidia GeForce GTX-1650 Ti brings real added value for these applications. Everywhere else, the VivoBook Flip 14 will do exceptionally well, especially given its $ 630 price tag.

Underdog Bench 5
(Single / multiple)		 Handbrake
(Seconds)		 Cinebench R23
(Single / multiple)		 PCMark 10 3DMark time spy
Asus VivoBook Flip 14
(Ryzen 5 5500U)		 1102/5432 131 1180/7579 5191 1099
MSI Prestige 14 Evo (Core i7-1185G7) 1593/5904 162 1479/6680 4866 1465
Acer Swift 3 2020 (Ryzen7 4700U) 1120/4831 152 N / A N / A 975
HP Envy x360 13 (Ryzen 5 4500U) 1101/4485 176 N / A N / A 902
Asus ZenBook 13 UM325UA
(Ryzen7 5800U)		 1423/6758 124 1171/7824 6034 1342
HP Envy 14 2020 (Core i5-1135G7) 1398/4741 190 1343/5028 5178 3147

One area that won't impress is gaming. The 3DMark Time Spy test result is nothing special, and the VivoBook Flip 14 performed poorly in Fortnite. It only managed 25 frames per second (fps) at 1080p and medium graphics, in line with laptops with Intel Iris Xe graphics. It reached 15 fps in epic graphics, which in turn corresponds to Intel's integrated GPU. Simply put, the VivoBook Flip 14 is not a gaming laptop at any cost.

display

Spend $ 630 on a laptop and you'll be giving up on something. There is usually a big tradeoff in display quality and the VivoBook Flip 14 is no exception.

First, it's not very bright at just 230 nits (we like to see 300 nits or more). This is almost identical to the 233 nits of the Acer Swift 3, and so the VivoBook Flip 14 is not alone among budget laptops with a weak display. The contrast is also poor at 720: 1, below the Swift 3's 770: 1 and well below our preferred threshold of 1000: 1. The Lenovo Yoga 7i 14 performs even worse with 690: 1, which shows that it is not only true budget laptops that suffer from poor contrast.

Next came the VivoBook Flip 14's colors, which were incredibly narrow. The coverage of the Adobe RGB color space was only 50% and the sRGB color space was only 66%. That's well below the 70% and 95%, respectively, that we normally see minimums on mid-range and premium laptops – and the HP Envy x360 13, which is on our top budget list, scored 71% and 96%, which is much better is. I notice that the Swift 3 was in the same class as the Asus at 48% and 64%, respectively. The VivoBook Flip 14's color accuracy was better than the Swift 3's 4.76 at a Delta E of 2.62 (1.0 or less is considered excellent), while the Envy x360 13 got a lower 2.26.

Subjectively, the VivoBook Flip 14's display wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. It's enough for web browsing and productivity apps, but that's about it. Viewing media on the 2-in-1 device was also not a terrible experience despite the poor colors and contrasts.

Two downward facing speakers provide audio with Harman Kardon tuning. The speakers get loud, but also distorted, with crackling at any volume above 80%. Treble was blown out and mids muffled, which resulted in a tinny sound. Of course there was no question of bass. You'll be fine with system sounds and the occasional YouTube videos, but anything else requires headphones or a pair of bluetooth speakers.

Keyboard and touchpad

The keyboard on the VivoBook Flip 14 is eerily reminiscent of HP's Specter keyboard, which is purposely a good choice. It offers good spacing, large keys with attractive and easy-to-read lettering and a number of Home, PgUp, PgDn, End and Fn keys on the far right. Unfortunately, although it looks like a Specter keyboard, it doesn't feel like it. There's a lot of travel and a nice click to the switches, but the ground motion is too abrupt. There's no crisp jump like HP, and the overall typing experience isn't nearly as comfortable. I would rate this keyboard a few steps behind the Specter and Dell XPS keyboards and way behind Apple's Magic Keyboard on the latest MacBooks. I will notice that the three-level backlight is even and useful.

To be clear, the touchpad is way too small. There's still plenty of room on the keyboard deck for a larger version, and the small size is reinforced by the fingerprint reader in the right corner. The touchpad is a Microsoft Precision version, so it works fine with good support for Windows 10 multi-touch gestures, but it's tiny.

The display is of course touch-enabled, as it is a 2-in-1, and an Asus active pen is included. It supports Windows 10 inking well, with smooth strokes and precise response.

The fingerprint reader mentioned above has Windows 10 Hello support for passwordless login. It was quick and accurate during my tests, and it was welcome on such an inexpensive laptop.

Battery life

Asus only put 42 watt hours of battery into the VivoBook Flip 14, which is not much for a 14-inch display even with Full HD resolution and a powerful CPU. I wasn't expecting great battery life.

Starting with our web browser test that ran through a number of popular websites, the VivoBook Flip 14 lasted nine hours. That's a little less than average for this class of machine, but not a terrible result. The Acer Swift 3 managed just eight hours, while the HP Envy x360 13 managed a little over nine hours. In our video test, which plays a Full HD Avengers trailer until the battery runs out, the VivoBook Flip 14 lasted 12 hours, again slightly less than average, but not too much compared to the Swift 3's 10 hours disappointing. The Envy x360 13 beats both with 13 hours.

The VivoBook Flip 14 lasted just over two hours in the PCMark 10 gaming test, which stresses the CPU and GPU, which is average for the test. The Lenovo Yoga 7i managed just over 2.5 hours, and we didn't test the Swift 3 or the Envy x360 13 with this benchmark. In the PCMark 10 Applications test, which is the best indicator of battery life, the VivoBook Flip was again below average with just over nine hours. That still beats the 8.5 hours of the Yoga 7i.

Overall, the VivoBook Flip 14 was only a hair behind the pack in terms of battery life. It will likely take a full working day if you don't put too much stress on the CPU, but it definitely suffers from the small battery. However, this is again a budget laptop, and so the results are pretty good if you keep the price in mind.

Our opinion

The VivoBook Flip 14 is really very fast for a $ 630 laptop. Its build isn't the best, its battery life is slower, and its keyboard isn't one of my favorites. But a laptop that works like this for so little money shouldn't be neglected.

If you have a demanding productivity workflow or occasionally use creative applications, the VivoBook Flip 14 will give you the performance you are looking for. And nothing else is so bad about the laptop that you shouldn't think twice about it.

Are there alternatives?

I'll start with the Asus ZenBook 13 OLED UM325UA. It's not a 2-in-1, but it costs just $ 170 more for a color-accurate OLED display, a faster AMD Ryzen 7 5800U CPU, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB PCIe solid-state drive. If your budget isn't that tight and you don't really need a 2-in-1, then the ZenBook 13 is a great option.

If you need a 2-in-1 and your budget is limited, the HP Envy x360 13 is a solid alternative. It's also a little more expensive, but you get better performance, better battery life, and a better display. What do you dislike?

How long it will take?

The VivoBook Flip 14 isn't the most solid notebook we've tested, but it's not bad for a budget device. It won't withstand extreme abuse, but with normal wear and tear at home and in the office, it should last for several years. You won't be surprised by the one-year limited warranty.

Should you buy it?

Yes, if you don't need a color-accurate display and you are short of money. The outstanding performance of the VivoBook Flip 14 makes up for many of its weaknesses.

Editor's recommendations



04 May
Blog

Lenovo ThinkBook 13s Gen 2: A Small Business Laptop

lenovo thinkbook 13s gen 2 review gen2 1

Lenovo ThinkBook 13s Gen 2

"The Lenovo ThinkBook 13s Gen 2 offers solid performance at a solid price."

  • Fast productivity performance

  • Good battery life

  • Solid build quality

  • A few welcome security extras

  • Attractive aesthetics

  • Flat keyboard

  • The touchpad could be bigger

  • Bad graphics performance

Lenovo's first attempt at building a laptop specifically for small businesses – the ThinkBook 13s – stalled a bit. It was a serviceable 13-inch machine, but it didn't have many tangible benefits for the target market. Now it's the second round that the company is releasing the ThinkBook 13s Gen 2, which aims to bring the laptop up to date.

I have a mid-range configuration of the ThinkBook 13s Gen 2 priced at $ 819 with an 11th Gen Intel Core i5-1135G7, 16GB of RAM, a 256GB PCIe solid-state drive (SSD), and a 13.3-inch model tested 16:10 IPS display with WQXGA resolution (2560 x 1600).

Lenovo managed to iron out some of the obvious shortcomings of the original, making the ThinkBook 13s a solid option for buyers buying a laptop under $ 1,000.

design

The original ThinkBook 13s was a very conservatively designed laptop that lacked outstanding aesthetic features – and it looks more like Lenovo's consumer line than the business-minded ThinkPads. The Gen 2 model looks similar, but Lenovo has made some important changes. First, the bezels are much thinner and look more modern when the lid is open. Second, the lid now has an anodized aluminum area that creates a slight two-tone effect on top. It looks great and spices up what is otherwise an ordinary looking silver laptop. It's not as sharp as non-business laptops like the Dell XPS 13 or the HP Specter x360 14, but it has its own laid-back charm.

These thinner bezels make for a laptop that, despite its larger display that tends to make a laptop deeper, is smaller in all dimensions than its predecessor. It's not as small as the XPS 13, which has even smaller bezels, but it's a good size for a 13-inch laptop. This time it's also thinner at 0.59 inches compared to 0.63 inches and lighter at 2.78 pounds compared to 2.9 pounds. That's almost identical to the 0.58-inch, 2.8-pound XPS 13. While the ThinkBook 13s Gen 2 feels bigger than the XPS 13, it's still a fairly small and lightweight laptop for the class.

Another improvement over the previous model is the longevity feel of the ThinkBook 13s Gen 2. Both passed the Mil-spec 810G test, but the newer model has fewer bends in the lid and bends in the keyboard deck. This time everything is aluminum, too, while the original uses aluminum in the lid and an aluminum-magnesium alloy in the bottom. I find the ThinkBook 13s Gen 2 to feel just as sturdy as the XPS 13, which is kudos as the latter is a standard for well-built laptops.

Lenovo Thinkbook 13s Gen 2 Review Gen2 3

Lenovo Thinkbook 13s Gen 2 Review Gen2

After all, connectivity is a strength with a caveat. There is only one USB-C port with Thunderbolt 4 support. While this is a good thing, it is also used to power the laptop and therefore cannot be used to connect a peripheral without a dock. You can, however, connect an external display thanks to the full-size HDMI 2.0b port, also on the left. There is also a 3.5 mm audio jack next to it. On the right side there is a Kensington lock port and two USB-A 3.2 ports.

Overall, this is an improvement over the two USB-C ports on the XPS 13 that support Thunderbolt 4. It is noticeable that there is no SD card reader, which is a surprise in view of such an excess of connectivity. Wireless connectivity is cutting edge with Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1.

performance

The ThinkBook 13s Gen 2 equips an Intel Core i5-1135G7 quad-core CPU of the 11th generation with eight threads. It was a solid performer when we tested it a few times, and the ThinkBook 13s Gen 2 continues that tradition.

As of GeekBench 5, the ThinkBook 13s Gen 2 is exactly where you'd expect it to be, slightly below the laptops with the faster Core i7-1165G7 and significantly below the Ryzen 7 5800U and the Apple M1. Note that all of the results here are obtained with performance optimization utilities set to "normal" mode. None of the laptops in the comparison group benefited much from their "performance modes" in which such a utility was available (with the exception of the XPS 13 in a test). This is a common feature that in many cases makes me wonder why such utilities all exist.

In our handbrake test, which encodes a 420 MB video in H.265, the ThinkBook 13s Gen 2 performed very well for a Core i5 and beat the Dell XPS 13 equipped with a Core i7 (the ThinkBook result in performance mode corresponded). The Asus ZenBook 13 UM325UA took the lead in this test thanks to its Ryzen 7 5800U, which is incredibly fast in multi-core processes. In Cinebench R23, a test that drives the CPU for a longer distance, the ThinkBook 13s Gen 2 again outperformed its class, outperforming the XPS 13 and the Porsche Design Acer Base RS, which was another fast Core i5 machine.

Next, I ran the PCMark 10 Complete benchmark, where the ThinkPad 13s Gen got a good overall score. The XPS 13 wouldn't complete this test, and the ThinkBook fell behind the Acer Swift 3X with its Core i7-1156G7. However, the Acer Swift 3X also came with Intel's Iris Xe Max graphics, which it could improve on on machines with the standard Intel Iris Xe graphics (including the ThinkBook 13s Gen 2). As with many Tiger Lake laptops, the ThinkBook did much better in the essentials and productivity areas of the PCMark 10 suite than in the content creation area. The ZenBook 13 UM325UA with its Ryzen chip was the champion here.

Geekbench
(single / multiple)		 Handbrake
(Seconds)		 Cinebench R23
(single / multiple)		 PCMark 10 3DMark Time Spy
Lenovo ThinkBook 13s Gen 2
(Core i5-1135G7)		 1406/5379 178 1357/5502 4668 1511
Dell XPS 13 (Core i7-1165G7) 1540/5432 201 1449/4267 N / A 1589
Lenovo Yoga 7i (Core i5-1135G7) 1357/4246 207 N / A 4565 913
Asus ZenBook 13 UM325UA
(Ryzen 7 5800U)		 1423/6758 124 1171/7824 6034 1342
Porsche Design Acer Base RS
(Core i5-1135G7)		 1415/5364 181 1380/4973 4682 1504
Acer Swift 3X (Core i7-1165G7) 1551/5847 158 1485/5944 5117 1889
Apple MacBook Air M1 (Apple M1) 1727/7585 N / A 1479/6880 N / A N / A

Overall, the ThinkBook 13s Gen 2 is a quick productivity workhorse that should keep up with all but demanding creative workflows. Lenovo meets the performance needs of small business owners and a few others.

In terms of games, the ThinkBook did well in the 3DMark Time Spy benchmark. However, this didn't result in my real test with Fortnite. The ThinkBook 13s Gen 2 ran at 1920 x 1200 (I couldn't get 1920 x 1080 as an option) and only managed 18 frames per second (fps) in high graphics and 14 fps in epic graphics. Most Tiger Lake laptops achieve at least 30 fps or 23 fps. I ran the test a few times to confirm my results and I have no idea why the ThinkBook does so badly in this game.

display

The original ThinkPad 13s used a 13.3-inch 16: 9 Full HD IPS display (1920 x 1080) that was below average in brightness, colors and contrast. For the second generation, Lenovo improved its game with a larger 13.3-inch 16:10 IPS display with a WQXGA (2560 x 1600) resolution that is more productive for productivity and significantly sharper than the original in a few others improves main areas.

The brightness was not particularly high at 274 nits. We prefer 300 nits or more for good indoor visibility. For example, the Dell XPS 13 4K display has 420 nits. The ThinkPad 13s Gen 2 had wider colors than the original at 77% AdobeRGB (about five percentage points above average) and 100% sRGB. The original was 70% of AdobeRGB and 93% of sRGB, while the XPS 13 4K was slightly better with 79% of AdobeRGB and 100% of sRGB. The ThinkBook 13s Gen 2's color accuracy was good with a DeltaE of 1.65 (less than 1.0 is excellent) compared to the original at 1.4 and the XPS 13 4K at 1.21.

The new model also had a higher contrast ratio of 920: 1, close to our preferred 1000: 1. That beats the 710: 1 of the original, which was disappointing and well below average, but the Gen 2 models still couldn't match the 1360: 1 of the XPS 13 4K. Gamma came into play at 2.1, just a bit brighter than the perfect 2.2.

All in all, this was a pleasant representation. It's bigger and better for long web pages and Word documents, and its colors were pleasant without being oversaturated. The contrast was high enough that black text appeared on a white background, and with excellent support for Dolby Vision HDR, Netflix's high dynamic range (HDR) content was vastly improved. This isn't a display for creative professionals who need wide and accurate colors, but it's great for everyone else.

The sound was surprisingly loud, and the two down-facing speakers pumped out a serious volume. Unfortunately, at 100% there was some bias that detracted from the experience. If you turn the settings down a bit, you'll still get enough volume to watch Netflix without distortion, and you'll enjoy solid mids and highs, but no bass. A pair of headphones or bluetooth speakers is recommended.

Keyboard and touchpad

Another area where the ThinkBook 13s Gen 2 cannot be confused with a ThinkPad is the keyboard. You can find a version here that is much closer to Lenovo's consumer-grade machines like the Yoga line, as it offers a lot less travel and a fairly jarring basic action. The key switches are very light. So if you don't want to use as much pressure to press a key you will like it, but it's almost too easy for me. I didn't find it nearly as precise as the much better keyboards found on the Dell XPS 13 and the HP Specter 2-in-1 series. The keyboard has a few special keys, including keys to start and stop video calls and a special key to access support options. You can also press a button to turn off the microphone, a plus for privacy.

Despite the larger display and relatively small bezels, the ThinkBook 13s Gen 2 doesn't have as much keyboard deck space as the XPS 13. This is because Lenovo needs more space above the keyboard for the hinge and power button. That said, the touchpad is a decent size, roughly the same as the XPS 13, and it's a Microsoft Precision touchpad that has reliable and precise support for Windows 10 multi-touch gestures. It's a good touchpad that matches the best you'll find in premium laptops – a plus as the ThinkPad 13s Gen 2 is significantly cheaper. In addition, my test device had an attractive touch display, which was welcome.

Windows 10 Hello support is provided by a fingerprint reader built into the power button and worked well. This is a much better solution than a standalone fingerprint reader. With the ThinkBook 13s Gen 2, you can simply press the power button to wake the device and log in. For extra privacy, you can also find Lenovo's ThinkShutter privacy panel for the webcam.

Battery life

The ThinkBook 13s Gen 2 has a 56-watt-hour battery, which is significantly larger than the 45-watt-hour battery of the previous model, which only has an average battery life. Our benchmarks have changed since we checked the original, but we can make some comparisons.

First, the ThinkBook 13s Gen 2 lasted just over nine hours compared to the original's eight hours in our web benchmark, which runs through a number of popular websites. The newer model's score is above average, beating the 6.3 hours on the Dell XPS 13 4K. The Asus ZenBook 13 with the Ryzen 7 5800U lasted almost 16 hours with an OLED display. In our video test of repeating a Full HD Avengers trailer until the battery runs out, the ThinkBook 13s Gen 2 achieved almost 13.5 hours, which is slightly above average and 2.5 hours longer than the original. The XPS 13 4K lasted 10.5 hours, while the Asus ZenBook 13 lasted 15.5 hours.

I would rate the battery life of the ThinkBook 13s Gen 2 as very good.

I also tested using the PCMark 10 battery test which puts a strain on the CPU and GPU (we didn't use PCMark 10 with the original model). The ThinkBook 13s Gen 2 barely got it over two hours, which is below several other Tiger Lake laptops, including the XPS 13 4K, which got it almost three hours. We did not test the Asus ZenBook 13 in this test. Finally, I ran the PCMark 10 application test, which is the best indicator of productivity longevity, and the ThinkBook 13s Gen 2 held up for 11.5 hours, the fourth highest score we've ever seen. The XPS 13 4K lasted around 8.5 hours, and we again didn't test the Asus ZenBook 13.

I would rate the battery life of the ThinkBook 13s Gen 2 as very good. It takes a full day of productivity work when you are not using the CPU and GPU, and you may still have some time to do some evening work. This is a significant improvement over the original ThinkBook 13s, and makes the newer model much better suited for small business owners who may need to work remotely.

Our opinion

The ThinkBook 13s offers largely the same security and support as the original model, which is a definite plus for the target small business market. On top of that, however, it's also faster, has better battery life, and feels better built, which makes it a more compelling business option.

It's not thin or light enough to beat rivals like the Dell XPS 13, but it's also significantly cheaper – another boon for small business owners with cash shortages. In fact, at this price point, it's a compelling option for any laptop buyer, including consumers, who could benefit from a machine that is made to last, be fast, and have a long life.

Are there alternatives?

The Dell XPS 13 is the obvious alternative, offering the same 16:10 display in a smaller package. Performance is similar for both, and the ThinkBook offers better battery life thanks to the lower resolution display. However, Dell does offer a Full HD option which is more competitive here. The XPS 13 is hundreds of dollars more expensive, too.

If you're looking to consider a 2-in-1, the HP Specter x360 14 is a great choice. It's faster, looks better, is just as well built, and features a spectacular OLED display with incredibly deep blacks, high contrast, and wide and precise colors. It's also significantly more expensive than the ThinkBook 13s Gen 2.

How long it will take?

The ThinkBook 13s Gen 2 is tough enough to provide years of productive service. It helps that the components are all up to date. You immediately receive a 1 year guarantee. However, Lenovo offers enhanced services for small business owners who need longer coverage and more durability.

Should you buy it?

Yes. The ThinBook 13s Gen 2 doesn't necessarily have more business-centric features than the original model, but it does offer improvements in key areas that small business owners will appreciate.

Editor's recommendations




18 Apr
Blog

Acer Aspire 5 2021 Review: Budget laptop takes a step back

Acer Aspire 5

"The horrific display on the Acer Aspire 5 ruins a decent, inexpensive laptop."

  • Solid connectivity

  • Superior expandability

  • Good keyboard and touchpad

  • Cruel display

  • Chassis is too flexible

  • Mediocre battery life

  • Poor performance

The Acer Aspire 5 has been one of our favorite laptops for a few years now and has earned a spot on our list of the best budget laptops. Currently, the 2020 version of the Aspire 5 is listed as the best Windows 10 laptop under $ 500, a major segment that the computer dominates. Acer has introduced a slightly redesigned Aspire 5 for 2021 that features the latest 11th generation Intel Core CPUs and makes some significant changes to the case design.

I received an entry-level model with a Core i3-1115G4 CPU with Intel UHD graphics, 8 GB of RAM, a 256 GB PCIe solid-state drive (SSD) and a 15.6-inch full HD display (1,920 x 1,080). This Aspire 5 configuration is priced at $ 480, which is in the sub-$ 500 segment that previous models owned. Can Acer keep its track record with the latest Aspire 5?

design

Acer has optimized the design of the Aspire 5 for 2021. The biggest change is a new hinge that angles the case back several degrees to allow better airflow and to support the keyboard. It's a welcome change from an otherwise mundane design.

As before, the lid is made of aluminum, while the rest of the housing is made of plastic and the rigidity is the same as before. The lid is curved quite a bit, while the keyboard deck and the bottom of the case are a bit stiffer, but still yield to light pressure. Some other budget laptops, like the Lenovo Yoga C640, Lenovo Flex 5 14, and Acer Swift 3, have solid build quality.

Acer Aspire 5Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

Aesthetically, the Aspire 5 is pretty bland, with an all-black color scheme punctuated with some chrome-plated Acer logos. If you don't care about the looks of a laptop and are solely focused on the price, the Aspire 5 will satisfy your taste. But it is by no means noticeable. Other colors will be available, including a silver scheme, which is probably more attractive than my boring black review unit.

The Aspire 5 is not a small laptop as the bezels are still too big for modern machines. The side bezels aren't too thick, but the top and bottom bezels could be made smaller, resulting in a laptop that is wider and deeper than usual. The Aspire 5 weighs 3.64 pounds, down from 3.97 pounds in the previous version and is 0.70 inches thick, which is reasonable for a 15-inch laptop.

A particularly nice design feature that the Aspire 5 has in common is its expandability. Accessing the inside of the computer is relatively easy, allowing users to swap out RAM and SSD. Acer also includes a kit for adding a 2.5-inch drive to an empty bay, making it easy to expand storage with an SSD or rotating hard disk drive (HDD). This kind of expandability is rare and welcomed here.

Acer Aspire 5 side viewMark Coppock / Digital Trends

Acer Aspire 5 USB portsMark Coppock / Digital Trends

Acer Aspire 5 closed side viewMark Coppock / Digital Trends

As with many budget laptops that aren't as thin and light as some previous models, connectivity is mostly a strength. On the left, you get an Ethernet port, a full-size HDMI port, two USB-A 3.2 ports, and a USB-C 3.2 port (no Thunderbolt 4 support here). On the right side you will find a Kensington lock slot, a USB-A 2.0 port and a 3.5 mm audio jack. Wireless connectivity is cutting edge with Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1.

performance

Acer Aspire 5Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

My test device was equipped with a Core i3-1115G4, an 11th generation dual-core CPU that operates at a full TDP of 12 to 28 watts, but contains Intel UHD graphics instead of the newer Intel Iris Xe. According to our series of benchmarks, this is a slow laptop. Starting with Geekbench 5, only 1,215 points were achieved in single-core mode and 2,544 points in multi-core mode. This is well below the usual Tiger Lake value, which usually exceeds 1,500 in the single-core and 5,000 in the multi-core area. In fact, it is beaten by some newer Chromebooks running the Android version of Geekbench 5, which is usually on the slow side. Even the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2 with an Intel Core i3-10110U got close to 1,003 and 2,179.

In our handbrake test, which encodes a 420MB video as H.265, the Aspire 5 took exactly five minutes, which is at best 50% slower than the slowest Tiger Lake laptops we tested. This is the first 11th generation Core i3 that we tested. Therefore, faster CPUs run on all of our comparison laptops. For example, the Lenovo ThinkPad X12 Detachable, a Windows 10 tablet with a Core i5-1130G7 (a slower Core i5), took just over three minutes to complete the test. The same applies to Cinebench R23, another video rendering test in which the Aspire 5 only manages 1,247 in single-core mode and 3,128 in multi-core mode. The difference between the Aspire 5 and the detachable ThinkPad X12 (1,125 and 3,663) wasn't that big, but most other Tiger Lake laptops were again significantly faster.

The Aspire 5 only achieved 3752 points in the PCMark 10 Complete test, our lowest score ever. In the Essentials part of the test, only 8,220 were achieved, in productivity 5,975 and in content creation only 2,921. The detachable ThinkPad X12 scored 4,443, 9,999, 5,936 and 4,157, respectively. As in our other tests, the Aspire 5 is well behind the field.

I found the Aspire 5 to be fast enough for basic tasks like surfing the Internet and working with office documents in real-life use. For $ 480, these aren't terrible results. We didn't test the previous versions of the Aspire 5 using the same set of benchmarks, so we can't directly compare their performance.

display

Acer Aspire 5 screenMark Coppock / Digital Trends

I'm not going to crush words here: this is the worst ad I've ever reviewed. This fact was evident when I first started the Acer Aspire 5 and logged into Windows 10. The display has a noticeable bluish cast which I believe is the result of a cruel contrast and elements on the screen may be difficult to see.

My colorimeter agreed. The brightness was very low at 211, which means you'll struggle to see the screen in a bright office setting. The contrast was confirmed to be extraordinarily poor at just 60: 1 (our threshold for a great display is 1000: 1 and an average budget display is 600: 1). The colors were also poor at just 53% of sRGB and 40% of AdobeRGB – both of which are the lowest in our database, and the typical midrange and premium displays score 95% and 70% or more, respectively. To add insult to injury, the accuracy was also among the worst I've seen with a DeltaE of 10.7 (less than 1.0 is considered excellent and most laptops are below 3.0 in the worst case) ). Only the gamma of the display was where it should be at 2.2.

Nobody will like this display.

In actual use, the colors were washed out, the black text was rather gray, and the display was completely uncomfortable. It's my new standard for "terrible display" and it left a terrible taste in my mouth as a result. Nobody is going to like this display unless they've never used a laptop before and I would pity them for getting such a poor impression of the state of the art. Acer has to get another panel because this is just terrible. The 2019 and 2020 versions of the Aspire 5 were much better.

The audio wasn't much better than the display. The volume was inadequate for all but the occasional YouTube videos, although there was no distortion when turned all the way up. The mids and highs were clear enough, and as always, there was little to no bass. The two speakers aren't bad, mind you, they just don't offer much better than budget quality.

Keyboard and touchpad

The Aspire 5 has a fairly typical island-style keyboard with backlighting, black keycaps and white letters. The keys are a bit small, but also offer a comfortable spacing with the dedicated (but tiny) numeric keypad. The switches are very light weight, with a nice push button and a comfortable bottom effect. This is one area where the Aspire 5 shines and offers a typing experience that is better than many budget laptops.

Acer Aspire 5 keyboardMark Coppock / Digital Trends

Acer Aspire 5 close up of keyboard and screenMark Coppock / Digital Trends

Acer Aspire 5 trackpadMark Coppock / Digital Trends

The touchpad is surprisingly good too, as it's pretty big and responsive. It is a Microsoft Precision touchpad and therefore offers reliable support for the multitouch gestures of Windows 10. It also exceeds the household norm.

Unsurprisingly there is no touch display, and as always, I miss it. There is also no Windows 10 Hello support, neither face recognition nor a fingerprint scanner. This is something we've been seeing on budget laptops lately, and so its omission is noticeable here.

Battery life

Acer has equipped the Aspire 5 with a 48-watt-hour battery, which is not much for a 15-inch laptop. Even with the slower CPU, I was disappointed with the battery life on this version.

In our web browsing test, which ran through a number of popular websites, the Aspire 5 managed just under seven hours, two hours less than the 2019 version with a Core i3, but three hours longer than the 2020 version with a Core i5. In general, that's not a terrible score, but the Aspire 5 is still in the lower bracket of our database. In our video loop test, in which a Full HD Avengers trailer is played until the battery is empty, the Aspire 5 achieved 9.5 hours. That's about 3.5 hours less than the 2020 version and less than 10 hours that we would like to see in this test. Again not a terrible result, but not great either.

Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

Finally, I ran some PCMark 10 battery tests. The first, the gaming test, evaluates how long a laptop will last when the CPU and GPU are under stress. The Aspire 5 came in after 2.25 hours, an average score. In the application test, which is the best measure of the longevity of productivity, the Aspire 5 shut down after almost eight hours at the lower end of our database. The detachable ThinkPad X12, for example, managed over 10 hours.

Overall, the battery life of the Aspire 5 was mediocre. If you're doing typical productivity work, you can get through a work day for a fee. The laptop uses a proprietary charger, but you can charge USB-C in a pinch if you happen to have an adapter handy.

Our opinion

I would love to say that the 2021 Acer Aspire 5 retains its spot as our best budget under $ 500 laptop. Unfortunately not, thanks to slow performance and a poor display. The 2020 model is still on sale, and you'd better stick with it.

Is there a better alternative?

As I just mentioned, the 2020 Aspire 5 is a better choice than the 2021 version. You get a much better display and similar build quality for roughly the same money, and you won't be giving up much on performance and battery life.

If I were looking for a cheaper machine in this price range, I would consider a powerful Chromebook option, and there are plenty of that.

The Lenovo Flex 5 14 with its AMD Ryzen CPU is another alternative. The display is smaller at 14 inches but has better battery life, is much faster, and the display won't embarrass you in public.

How long it will take?

It's not the most rugged laptop, but I suspect it can be solidly used for a few years – and that's about what you would expect for the money. They have up-to-date components, including Wi-Fi 6, though Thunderbolt 4 isn't a bummer. The one-year guarantee is also no cause for celebration.

Should you buy it?

No. The display is really terrible which ruins the experience with this laptop.

Editor's recommendations




17 Apr
Blog

Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 Review: It’s Finally Fixed!

Microsoft Surface Laptop 4

"Microsoft's Surface Laptop 4 is by far the best in the range thanks to the huge performance improvements."

  • AMD chips are widely used in configurations

  • Thinnest 15-inch laptop

  • Excellent workmanship

  • Great typing experience

  • Long lasting battery life

  • Older AMD chips will degrade performance

  • Thick bezels, bad webcam

Well, Microsoft did it. It finally fixed the Surface Laptop 4.

The previous model was plagued by poor performance and a lack of solid configurations to choose from. This was difficult to recommend, especially for the 15-inch model.

With the Surface Laptop 4, Microsoft fixed these issues, thanks in part to the incredible performance and battery life of some new AMD processors. I looked at the 15-inch Surface Laptop 4, which had an eight-core Ryzen 7 processor, 16 GB of RAM, and a 512 GB SSD. That added up to $ 1,800, which ultimately feels like a reasonable price for what the Surface Laptop 4 has to offer.

design

There are a lot of things to love about the design of the Surface Laptop – even in 2021. All of these things are still intact on the Surface Laptop 4, which means that the case remains relatively unchanged.

At just 0.58 inches for the 15-inch model, it's still remarkably thin than ever. This thinness is really noticeable in the palm rests, which are barely lifted from the table. This is especially true if you are used to thicker laptops in this category, e.g. E.g. the Dell XPS 15 (0.71 inch thick) or the MacBook Pro 16 inch (0.64 inch thick).

Of course, these laptops have a larger chassis to support the extra performance that you can configure. Since the Surface Laptop 4 doesn't support discrete graphics or 45-watt processors, Microsoft can work extremely thinly. It's still an accomplishment, however – the similarly configured LG Gram 16, for example, is still 0.66 inches thick. This makes the Surface Laptop 4 the slimmest 15-inch laptop you can buy.

The tiny stature of the chassis makes the build quality all the more impressive. You won't find the bend or bend that is common on laptops that thin. The lid is rigid, the hinge opens with a finger and it doesn't wobble too much either. It's a superbly made device worthy of the Surface brand.

I also like what the ultra-thin design does to make the screen stand out. The Surface Laptop 4 is one of the few 15-inch laptops that offers a 3: 2 screen – and it's great. The bezels are bigger than I'd like, but in the 15-inch form factor, they're less outrageous.

The ports include USB-C 3.1, USB-A, a headphone jack and the magnetized Surface Connect. Microsoft continues to ignore the existence of Thunderbolt 4, which means that the USB-C port is not as fast as on other laptops and cannot be used for charging. The docking capabilities of the Surface Connect port are great, although everything is proprietary.

performance

The new components make the Surface Laptop 4 what it is. It now comes with a wide range of Intel and AMD processors. AMD's Ryzen processors debuted in the Surface Laptop 3, but were a year behind with Ryzen 3000 chips. Performance was disappointing, especially when compared to a large 15-inch laptop. It made it very difficult to compete with competitors like the XPS 15 or the MacBook Pro 16-inch. Microsoft's first hug from AMD didn't go over so well.

The Surface Laptop 4 addresses this issue in two important ways. First, Ryzen processors will be available in both 13.5-inch and 15-inch sizes. The smaller size is limited to the six-core Ryzen 5, while the 15-inch model only offers the eight-core Ryzen 7. These additional cores offer the Surface Laptop 4 great performance potential, especially with the 15-inch model Microsoft and AMD need all the performance they need.

The Surface Laptop 4 is pretty powerful thanks to this Ryzen processor.

These are still a year back, although they use Ryzen 4000 processors. It feels a little more forgivable given the current drought in chip shipments. More importantly, AMD achieved its biggest performance leap in the generation with Ryzen 4000, so the Surface Laptop 4 benefits from these advantages.

And that has definitely proven itself in my tests. These four additional cores mean huge improvements in multi-core performance. That was evident in benchmarks like Geekbench and Cinebench. In everything that just depends on the CPU, like the video encoding in Handbrake, the Surface Laptop 4 is pretty powerful thanks to this Ryzen processor. It also performed reasonably well on the photo editing test in PCMark 10, which makes it a reasonably decent option for photographers, and I couldn't have said that about the previous model.

Geekbench (single / multi) Cinebench R23 (single / multi) PCMark 10 3DMark Time Spy
Surface laptop 4 15 1016/6658 1137/5881 4849 1177
LG gram 16 1573/5454 1394/4137 4827 1390
Lenovo Yoga 9i 15 (Core i7-10750H) 1532/5415 1141/6400 4800 3487
MacBook Air (M1) 1727/7585 1479/6680 n / A n / A
Asus ZenBook 13 OLED (Ryzen 7 5800U) 1423/6758 1171/7824 6034 1342
Surface laptop 3 15 900/3056 722/2407 n / A 835

Based on my tests, the Surface Laptop 4's thinness is still holding it back. Less thickness means less space for airflow. Outside of the Surface Book line, this applies to all Surface products. But because of its size, many potential buyers could be fooled into thinking this is a serious workstation. This is certainly not the case – there will always be tasks the Surface Laptop 4 is not designed for, such as: B. Video editing.

I tested the Surface Laptop 4 in PugetBench for Premiere Pro, which tests everything from 4K playback to video encoding. It's sad to say, but the 15-inch Surface Laptop 4 pales in comparison to the M1 MacBook Air. It's not even close – and that's a far cheaper laptop. The graphics are the culprit here, which can speed up the tasks in Premiere significantly.

It is possible to play games, but it is not pretty.

To be fair, the Radeon graphics are a massive improvement over the Vega 9 graphics I tested in the Surface Laptop 3. It ran over 30% faster in 3DMark Time Spy. If Microsoft had chosen Ryzen 5000, the graphics performance would have been a better match for Intel models.

Due to the lack of a graphics card, the Surface Laptop 4 really isn't something you want to play on. I've tried Civilization VI and Fortnite and the results have been poor. You don't want to play a full resolution game, but if you set the Civilization VI settings to Medium, you can get some playable frame rates. I wouldn't care about a game like Fortnite. I had to lower the pixel resolution to 1620 x 1080p and the 3D resolution to 70% to get 60 frames per second (fps). It is possible to play, but it is not pretty.

Battery life

Aside from performance, battery life is the most important advancement Microsoft has made with the Surface Laptop 4. Microsoft claims that this configuration gives you 17.5 hours, but I've never achieved that much. However, I got 13.5 hours in my test that went through a series of websites until the battery ran out.

That's really impressive, especially for a laptop this size. It's nearly four hours longer than the last iteration – which puts it in the league of laptops like the LG Gram 16 and many other laptops with 1080p screens.

This could be the first Surface product to exceed my battery life expectations, which is a good sign for Microsoft. This is the only case where the lack of a number of performance-hungry components is beneficial.

According to Microsoft, you can do a few more hours with the 13.5-inch AMD model, while the Intel models take about an hour less.

Display and speakers

The Surface Laptop 4 offers a beautiful resolution of 2256 x 1504 pixels that is sharp, bright (378 nits) and color accurate. I guess Microsoft only sells one resolution per size so you don't have to choose between a 1080p and a 4K model, both of which have flaws. This is the MacBook approach, and it ensures that you get a sharp screen anyway.

I want to point out that the color saturation is not quite the same as the competition, which in turn strengthens the target audience for this laptop who is not a creative professional. The screen hits 97% of the sRGB color space, but only 73% of the AdobeRGB. Microsoft offers an sRGB color mode that is included in the display settings, but has not improved the color saturation.

The speakers are under the keyboard where they point up. I prefer this position across from the bottom of the case, but the sound isn't as clear as laptops, which instead position them next to the keyboard, such as a laptop computer. B. Dell XPS 15 and MacBook Pro. The sound itself has a fuller audio profile than many other laptops, even with a slight hint of bass. This time around, the addition of Dolby Atmos adds the much-needed stereo separation that gives the Surface Laptop 4 a decent music and show experience.

Keyboard and touchpad

The Surface Laptop 4 has an excellent keyboard and touchpad. It's roomy and the keys have a long travel of 1.3mm. This makes for a very comfortable typing experience. The keys have a very even and even white background lighting, but only three levels of brightness.

I also have a lot of good things to say about the glass touchpad, which tracks smoothly and has plenty of room for multi-finger gestures. The palm rejection is great too, which is why I wish Microsoft had used a bigger touchpad for the 15-inch model. It would fill in the empty palm rest space better, as we've seen on many other laptops lately.

The laptop does not have a fingerprint reader but relies solely on the IR camera for secure logins. I like laptops to offer both, but Windows Hello is lightning fast on the Surface Laptop 4.

The webcam could have used an update, however. It's only 720p, which is unfortunately still the standard specification on laptops. We're seeing some new laptops transitioning to 1080p in 2021, and I would have liked Microsoft to be at the forefront of this trend to help people work from home.

Our opinion

The Surface Laptop 4 isn't perfect. The case could still be updated, and I wish Microsoft had used Ryzen 5000. But both the 13.5 and 15 inch laptops are now much better work laptops because of the improved performance and battery life. The Surface Laptop 4 has gone around the corner.

Are there alternatives?

The LG Gram 16 takes a similar approach to a large, ultra-thin laptop that isn't geared towards content creators.

It's hard not to recommend the Dell XPS 15, which has built-in or discrete graphics options. You'll also find a few cheaper options than the Surface Laptop 4, but they don't have a sharp 3: 2 screen.

How long it will take?

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 should last at least four or five years, as long as you don't get jealous when the case is inevitably redesigned.

Should you buy it?

Yes. The changes Microsoft made to this design in its fourth iteration make it a great option.

Editor's recommendations




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