26 Jul
Blog

MSI GS66 Stealth Review: Thin and Light Gaming Laptop

msi gs66 stealth review 05

"The MSI GS66 Stealth offers excellent gaming performance and a slim profile at an affordable price."

  • Great gaming performance

  • Ultra-fast refresh rate of 300 Hz

  • Good keyboard and touchpad

  • Pleasant surface temperatures

  • The screen is a little dark

  • Questionable build quality

The Razer Blade has always had a serious competitor. It's not Alienware, Predator, or ROG. These brands all make great gaming laptops themselves, but none that want to do exactly what the Blade does.

Razer's most direct rival comes from a smaller company (at least here in the United States). I'm talking about the MSI GS66 Stealth. It has a similar size, almost identical specifications, and most importantly, the same minimalist design principles. There are no protruding angles or stereotypical clichés here.

MSI has further developed its approach to overcoming the Razer Blade, and its latest model, the GS66 Stealth, appears to meet all the criteria. Did it hit the Razer Blade in its own game?

design

MSI GS66 stealth review

There is a fine line between simple and boring. Brands like Razer or Apple can spice up their look with a little elegance. The MSI GS66 Stealth tries to do the same subtle trick. It avoids the bombastic style of other gaming laptops, but isn't quite as sophisticated as laptops like the Razer Blade. Even some ROG Zephyrus laptops look more uniform.

It is not a bad looking laptop. It's just a little bit boring.

MSI even took the design back from last year's GS65 Stealth and removed the golden highlights that played the racing stripe theme. Outside the RGB keyboard, it is now colorless and corresponds to the black aluminum standard housing. Unfortunately, there are still vents on the sides and top of the keyboard deck, stickers on the palm rests, and large hinges. It is not a bad looking laptop. It's just a little bit boring.

Fortunately, MSI has fixed some build quality issues. Earlier models were equally thin and light, but felt flexible and cheap. It's no longer a flexible piece of plastic, although the lid still feels a bit shaky. Even when closed, the lid of my device can close flat due to its curvature.

For a laptop that's only 4.6 pounds and 0.71 inches thick, that's important. It's still not as well built as the similarly sized Razer Blade that remains the king in this department.

Keyboard and touchpad

MSI GS66 stealth review

The keyboard and touchpad fit this topic. It is a large, comfortable keyboard with a set of springy keys that are suitable for both typing and playing.

However, there are quirks in the keyboard layout. The function key is only on the right side, probably in close proximity to the full-size arrow keys, which also serve as controls for volume and screen brightness. Oddly enough, however, it's only half the size of a normal key. This is a bad decision for a commonly used key.

I was really surprised by the quality of the touchpad.

The keyboard has RGB backlighting, which is required for gaming laptops these days. You can customize the keys, resulting in fun designs that are all provided by Steelseries. However, the backlight is not as bright and even as with the Razer Blade.

The touchpad is wider than in previous models. In contrast to the larger MSI GS75 Stealth, this does not disturb your palms when typing. However, due to the large vents above the keyboard, it is shorter than I know it. The good news is that the touchpad is well tracked and the click mechanism is quiet and precise. The quality surprised me.

The MSI GS66 Stealth contains a 720p webcam above the display and an IR camera for Windows Hello face recognition.

Ports

MSI GS66 stealth review

The MSI GS66 Stealth offers numerous options for port connections. On the left side you get USB-A, HDMI, Thunderbolt 3 and a power connector.

On the right side, the GS66 Stealth offers two additional USB-A ports, an additional USB-C port, an Ethernet socket and a headphone socket. That's all you need to connect multiple accessories, output to an external monitor, and even hard-wire your internet connection.

The lack of a full-size SD card slot is a failure for creatives who may want to use this laptop as a photo or video editing device. The slot has made a comeback on the new Razer Blade and Dell XPS 15. With the MSI GS66 Stealth you have to use a dongle.

The positioning of these ports is a bit annoying. Due to the side ventilation slots, the openings were pressed down towards the palm rests. As it turns out, your mouse is usually right there.

The MSI GS66 Stealth supports the latest Wi-Fi 6 connectivity via Intel and Bluetooth 5.1

Gaming performance

MSI GS66 stealth review

Like the Predator Triton 500 or the Razer Blade, the MSI GS66 Stealth not only has an Nvidia RTX 2080 Super Max-Q graphics card, but also a screen with a refresh rate of 300 Hz. The combination of the two means a strong GPU Performance and a screen that never limits the number of visible frames per second. The MSI model also offers screens with refresh rates of 240 Hz or 144 Hz when combined with slower GPUs like the RTX 2070 Super or the RTX 2060.

However, my decorated test device was a top performer. Take Battlefield V for example. The MSI GS66 Stealth processes the game at 97 frames per second (FPS) with settings at Ultra and 133 frames per second at medium. It's neck and neck with the Razer Blade here, surpassing it by 11 fps even in the medium settings.

The GS66 Stealth plays Fortnite wonderfully smoothly and makes optimal use of its 300 Hz screen.

The Razer Blade, Predator Triton 500 and MSI GS66 Stealth were also in a dead heat in Assassin's Creed Odyssey. The MSI GS66 Stealth played at 56 fps, just a few frames behind its two competitors.

The GS66 Stealth plays blows again and plays Fortnite wonderfully smoothly, making better use of its 300 Hz screen. It reached a whopping 121 fps with Epic settings, again 11 fps ahead of the Razer Blade.

And in case you are wondering, there are some titles that can actually take advantage of the extra headroom for the frame rate that the 300 Hz screen offers. The Rocket League, for example, can easily play up to 250 fps.

All of these games were played with the system's native 1080p resolution, although you will likely get adequate frame rates even when connected to an external 1440p gaming monitor.

Performance in content creation

As with the Razer Blade, many people will be tempted to use the MSI GS66 Stealth not just for gaming – thanks to its portability and its nondescript design.

MSI offers processor options up to the Intel Core i9-10980HK, but my device came with the Core i7-10875H. This is the first choice for high-end gaming laptops with eight cores and 16 threads. This also makes it a strong laptop for content creation, especially in applications that can use the powerful discrete GPU.

MSI GS66 stealth review

The GS66 Stealth scores better than the Razer Blade in Geekbench 5, but they're equally good at real-life professors. For CPU-bound applications like Handbrake it binds the Razer Blade and loses to the Dell XPS 15. Of course laptops like the Dell G5 SE with AMD Ryzen 4000 or Dell XPS 17 blow it out of the water.

A better example is the popular video editing application Adobe Premiere Pro. The MSI GS66 Stealth rendered a 4K two-minute clip for ProRes 422 in just seven minutes and 20 seconds. This is almost the same performance as the Razer Blade. Thanks to their more powerful GPUs, both laptops beat the Dell XPS 15 by around 16%. However, none of them is comparable to the powerful Dell XPS 17.

MSI pumps up all RTX Super models with 32 GB RAM and at least 512 GB SSD. You can also choose a downgraded 16 GB RAM, RTX 2060 and a 6-core Core i7-10750H.

The system does a solid job and keeps the surface temperatures cool even when playing. That's a problem I had with the Razer Blade, which stays warm even when surfing the web lightly. The cooling is better regulated here, which leads to more pleasant surface temperatures. The disadvantages are of course the additional ventilation slots and the fan noise. The fans always turn even when idle.

display

MSI GS66 stealth review

The matte 1080p screen is great for gaming thanks to its response time of 3 milliseconds and refresh rate of 300 Hz. Playing is fast and smooth.

It can only be serviced for other activities. The screen is initially a maximum of 262 nits. That's 15% less than the Razer Blade and below the 300-nit level that I expect from premium laptops. The matte finish helps mitigate reflections, but I would have preferred a brighter screen here.

Fortunately, it's a well-calibrated screen with accurate colors. The color gamut is not as large as many creatives would like it to be, but it corresponds to the 1080p Razer Blade in this regard. MSI offers a 4K panel, which can be more attractive for non-gaming tasks.

The speakers are disappointing. They are pointing up, although MSI has decided to put them on the palm rest again, which remains a strange choice. In any case, they are confused and have no bass.

Battery life

MSI GS66 stealth review

The MSI GS66 Stealth is step by step in several areas, but not ahead of many of its competitors. An exception to this rule is the battery life, where it is preferred. However, I don't think it can compete with non-gaming laptops.

It still only manages about five and 40 minutes on a single charge – and with little stress when surfing the Internet. You can't work away from the wall for too long without worrying about battery life. The Dell XPS 15 lasts a few hours longer in the same test despite its 4K display on a single charge.

Nevertheless, the MSI GS66 Stealth lasts 40 minutes longer than the Razer Blade and hours longer than G-Sync laptops like the Predator Triton 500th hour size.

The Razer Blade beat the MSI in our lightest battery test, in which a local video clip is repeated until the laptop dies. The blade lasted seven hours and 22 minutes, an hour longer than the MSI GS66 Stealth.

However, the battery life of gaming laptops is increasing, and this is the new crop of AMD Ryzen 4000 gaming laptops. The GPU is not as powerful, but the ROG Zephyrus G14 is only a few centimeters behind the MSI GS66 Stealth when surfing the Internet and has taken a whopping 10 hours in video looping.

Our opinion

The MSI GS66 Stealth faces a tough battle. The sophistication of the Razer Blade is lacking, and it's not as affordable as the Acer Predator Triton 500. However, its benefits don't go unnoticed. The cooling is impressive and the gaming performance is fantastic.

It's not twice as good as the Razer Blade for work, but as an ultra-portable gaming laptop, the MSI GS66 Stealth is an argument in itself.

Are there alternatives?

The Razer Blade offers excellent build quality, a better display and a classier look. However, it is a few hundred dollars more expensive.

The Predator Triton 500 isn't as elegant as the MSI GS66 Stealth, but it's a little cheaper and even has a G-Sync screen.

If you're considering the cheaper Nvidia RTX 2060 version of the MSI GS66 Stealth, the ROG Zephyrus G14 is a great alternative.

How long it will take?

The MSI GS66 Stealth should last four to five years as long as you take care of it. The build quality can be somewhat sensitive in places. So be careful with the lid.

MSI provides a standard one-year warranty on all laptops.

Should you buy it

Yes. If the Razer Blade is a bit too expensive and you still want an elegant gaming laptop, the MSI GS66 Stealth is a good option.

Editor's recommendations




13 Jul
Blog

Razer Blade 15 (2020) Review: A Trailblazing Gaming Laptop

"Razer's Blade 15 is the most attractive gaming laptop you can buy for money."

  • Sleek design

  • Comfortable keyboard and touchpad

  • Exceptional gaming experience

  • 300Hz refresh rate

  • Ideal port selection

All other gaming laptops swim in the course of the Razer Blade. It is a design that others want to emulate in both aesthetic and portable terms.

But with two years on the same chassis, the Razer Blade may not be as impressive as it used to be. The latest version is a refinement of the formula that offers more power and a faster 300 Hz screen with just a few minor adjustments to the formula.

Razer offers models for up to $ 1,600, but my test device costs $ 3,000. Does the Razer Blade still stand out to justify its premium, or has the competition caught up?

Design and keyboard

The Razer Blade's greatest achievement is not what it accomplishes, but what it completely avoids. It is a gaming laptop that defeats any design cliché that is normally associated with its competitors. It resists decorations and facades and instead focuses on straight lines and minimal chrome. Put it next to the Acer Predator Triton 500 or the Alienware m15 and you will see what I mean. The Razer Blade looks like a normal laptop.

This makes it a good option for someone who wants to use the device not only for games but also for other tasks, especially since it only weighs 4.6 pounds. It fits in your backpack as well as a MacBook Pro 16-inch or Dell XPS 15. The quality of machined aluminum is also exceptional as long as you can forgive how quickly fingerprints are captured.

There have always been exceptions to the blade's ethos and they include glowing lights. Razer's iconic green snakes still shine on the lid. It's dimmed on the silver version of this laptop, but it still glows outrageously here. The same applies to the RGB-loaded keyboard, which is backlit per key in a spectacular way and has become synonymous with the Razer brand.

Speaking of the keyboard: Razer has slightly adjusted the layout. The keyboard was previously equipped with full-size arrow keys, which forced a separation between question mark and shift key. Players may have appreciated the roomy arrow keys, but it was frustrating to type.

The layout is now more conventional, which I consider an upgrade. However, the keycaps on the Dell XPS 15 feel a bit small. It's a minor issue, but I would like to see less space between the buttons in a future design.

If you press a key, you will be rewarded with a fantastic key loss. There is a lot to travel with a satisfactorily springy mechanism that made me feel comfortable straight away. The glass touchpad is also a winner. It's big, responsive, and quiet. You won't find a better keyboard or touchpad on a gaming laptop.

Ports and security

All the bells and whistles are here, far beyond what your standard gaming laptop offers. Razer even throws an IR camera over the top bezel for Windows Hello face authentication. It is typical for gaming laptops to include HDMI and lots of USB 3.2 Gen 2. The blade contains both with a total of three USB-A and a single USB-C connector.

However, Razer goes one step further by including both Thunderbolt 3 and a full-size SD card slot. Creative professionals and content creators will appreciate it, which can support high-speed storage and quick access to camera files. Your photo shows how Razer wants to position the blade.

Although you can power the laptop through the Thunderbolt 3 port, Razer has a proprietary charging port on the left for full performance.

The Razer Blade even supports the latest connectivity standards like Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1.

performance

Owners like to use the Razer Blade for everything from video editing to gaming, but the balance of its performance tends towards the latter. This has ramifications for performance in productivity applications, which are not bad, but lag behind laptops that tend to work rather than play.

This year's model features the latest 10th generation Intel Core i7-10875H. The eight cores and 16 threads are a major advance over the six-core processors of previous generations. This is promising if you don't want to use the Razer Blade just for gaming.

In the Cinebench R20 multi-core benchmark, the latest Razer Blade 15 is a significant leap over the previous year. Again, it can thank these additional cores and threads for the bump. However, the Razer Blade lags behind some other non-gaming laptops that use the same processor. For example, it is 29% behind the Dell XPS 15.

Interestingly, the blade is a whopping 36% behind the Dell G5 SE. The G5 SE is a gaming laptop, but uses an AMD GPU and CPU, as well as SmartShift technology to share the performance between the components.

Handbrake video encoding tells a similar story. The Razer was 9% slower than the Dell XPS 15 and 19% behind the XPS 17.

That doesn't mean the Razer Blade 15 is a bad choice as a content creation laptop. If the GPU can be used, it is quite powerful. For example, it is a powerful video rendering rig in an application like Adobe Premiere Pro. It exported a 2 minute 4K video clip to ProRes 422 in 7 minutes and 42 seconds. This is much faster than the configuration I checked last year, which had an Intel processor with six cores and an RTX 2070 Max-Q .

Options like the Dell XPS 17 or the Microsoft Surface Book 3 are still unsurpassed in these tests. Although the Razer has a charged RTX 2080 Super, the XPS 17's RTX 2060 finished the same rendering in Premiere 46% faster. That's what a bigger chassis and improved thermal system mean to you.

All versions of the Razer Blade are equipped with 16 GB of dual-channel RAM as standard and no longer allow anything. Most other performance-oriented laptops offer up to 32 GB, including the Acer Predator Triton 500 and the Dell XPS 15.

Gaming performance

The greatest power of the Razer Blade is gaming. It comes with either the Nvidia RTX 2070 Super Max-Q or the 2080 Super Max-Q. These new Nvidia GPUs add just a few frames per second (fps) than the previous non-super versions. Fortunately, the Razer Blade was already an extremely powerful gaming laptop.

Assassin's Creed Odyssey is the most challenging test game, and the Razer Blade still reached an average of 60 fps with graphics details at Ultra High. This and Civilization VI were the only two games in which the Acer Predator Triton 500 came up a bit and offered up to 8% faster frame rates at the highest settings in both games. Still, you probably won't complain about the Razer Blade, which averages 134 fps.

Returning to a 60 Hz screen feels chunky by comparison.

Elsewhere, the Razer Blade dominates. Fortnite and Battlefield V performed spectacularly and exceeded the Triton 500 in both cases. In Battlefield V at Ultra, the blade achieved an average of 98 fps. When I pulled the settings back to medium, the system released 122 fps, which is a new record for 15-inch laptops. This is really impressive for such a small laptop.

Fortnite was similarly fast, and the Razer was again one of the fastest 15-inch laptops I've tested. With epic settings, it easily reaches 110 fps. But responsiveness really came alive with lower settings. For example, 161 fps with settings at high felt incredibly smooth. The return to a 60 Hz screen on my XPS 15 felt chunky by comparison.

I even tried the Rocket League, which had no problem reaching its maximum speed of 250 fps with the highest graphics quality. That's not quite 300, but the animations are still incredibly smooth.

These games were all played with the native screen resolution of 1080p. You could connect to a higher resolution external monitor and I suspect it would handle 1440p quite well. While 4K would be a stretch in some games, turn-based strategy games like Civilization VI shouldn't be a problem.

The Razer Blade is of course quite expensive. Though it's equivalent to the $ 3,000 Asus ROG Zephyrus S15, it's $ 400 more than the Triton 500, though the performance is very similar. With the Alienware m15, you get a similar package for almost $ 800 cheaper. Some of these options, such as B. the Triton 500, also offer G-Sync support. The Razer Blade lacks this feature, but the high refresh rate is surprisingly good to avoid tearing the screen.

In general, the Razer Blade is still running hot. Surface temperatures can be roasted during the game, but that's not too surprising. The frustrating part is idling temperatures. Since nothing is running, the palm rests and keyboard are still a bit warm, and this can be uncomfortable.

Display and speakers

Razer offers two 15.6-inch viewing options, one for content creation and one for gamers. The game-oriented screen I tested is a 1080p display with the above-mentioned refresh rate of 300 Hz. The option focused by the creator is a 4K display, which is intended for photographers and video editors who need this high number of pixels. The 4K screen also has a glossy surface, a touchscreen and a refresh rate of 60 Hz.

While the 4K screen undoubtedly offers a sharper picture, the 1080p screen looks great. The contrast is high at 1,010: 1, and although it is maximum at only 310 nits, the matte screen excellently blocks glare. The screen is also fairly color accurate, though if you need a wide range of colors you'll need to go with the 4K OLED panel.

The Razer Blade offers a decent set of speakers shooting up. They are on par with the Dell XPS 15, although they lag behind the MacBook Pro 16-inch. They still lack the bass and there is certainly room for improvement.

Battery life

Because the Razer Blade doesn't have G-Sync, its battery life doesn't suffer the same fate as other gaming laptops. These models, like the Predator Triton 500, only last a few hours in normal use.

The five hours of the Razer Blade are, of course, nothing to write home about. Despite the 97-watt-hour battery, you still can't get through a full working day without needing a charge. Less powerful laptops like the ROG Zephyrus G14 or the Dell G5 SE can last an extra hour. Even the 4K Dell XPS 15 lasts up to 7 hours.

Of course, it all depends on how you use it. In our lightest test, where a local 1080p video is repeated, the Razer Blade lasted almost 7.5 hours. If you run heavy applications or games, you can expect no more than 3 hours on a single charge.

That may not sound that impressive, but you won't find a laptop with an RTX 2080 Super that lasts that long.

The basic edition

The Razer Blade Base Edition

When you buy a Razer Blade, you will come across an "Advanced Edition" and a "Base Edition". I have reviewed the Advanced Edition and it is the version that gives you the latest parts.

However, the Base Edition has its advantages. It offers the same processor and memory options. You can even opt for the same 4K OLED screen if you want.

The differences depend on the housing and the refresh rate. The Base Edition reaches a maximum speed of 144 Hz for the 1080p model, and the case is slightly thicker and heavier. The Base Edition also offers a different selection of graphics cards, from the Nvidia GTX 1660 Ti to the RTX 2080 Max-Q.

Razer also offers a “Studio Edition” that supports Nvidia's RTX Quadro 5000 graphics and comes with Windows 10 Pro.

Our opinion

The Razer Blade does not require you to use it in any particular way. It tries to satisfy the modern player – the one who could also use his laptop for work or as a content creator. The design of the Razer Blade is no longer as revolutionary as it used to be, but there is no question that it is still the best.

Are there any better alternatives?

The Acer Predator Triton 500 offers similar performance at reduced costs to the Alienware m15. However, these laptops look brighter and do not work as well as everyday laptops.

If you're looking for a subdued design that matches the Razer Blade, the MSI GS66 Stealth is a close rival. The build quality is not that good and previous versions didn't work as well.

How long it will take?

Like most premium laptops, the Razer Blade should last at least four or five years. The build quality is second to none and the components are all up to date. It comes with a standard one-year warranty, but Razer offers three years of protection with its two different warranty plans, starting at $ 250.

Should you buy it

Yes. This is the best gaming laptop you can buy, and it works great in just about any other environment.

Editor's recommendations




11 Jun
Blog

Dell XPS 15 (9500) Review: The Best 15-inch Laptop

dell xps 15 9500 review 2020 03

"The elegant design and impressive performance of the Dell XPS 15 make it an excellent choice for creative people."

  • Efficient design

  • An additional Thunderbolt 3 port

  • World class display

  • Excellent performance

Dell hit 15 gold with the XPS. It was the perfect alternative to the MacBook Pro 15-inch, a laptop with problems ranging from thermal throttling to unreliable keyboards.

But now that Apple has the 16-inch MacBook Pro, the ball is back on Dell's pitch. The new XPS 15 is the answer. With improvements to almost every aspect of the design, this is the biggest revision of the XPS 15 since its debut.

Is this the ultimate premium laptop for creative people?

design

Known and yet fresh. That's how Dell describes the new XPS 15, and I have to agree.

The look of the Dell XPS 15 has not changed in almost five years. It took a long time to redesign, especially with all the advances the XPS 13 has received over the years.

Almost every aspect of the XPS 15 has been updated in some way. The only design elements that have remained intact are the black carbon fiber fabric used in the palm rests and the aluminum on the lid. The use of aluminum and carbon fiber makes the XPS 15 look like an XPS product, but this is where familiarity ends.

The first thing you'll notice is the display. The XPS 15 now has an aspect ratio of 16:10 for a slightly larger screen. I really like this choice. It made a difference with the XPS 13, and with the larger XPS 15 it made an even bigger difference.

More screen and less wasted space are always good.

The screen measures 15.6 inches and offers a resolution of 3,840 x 2,400. That's more pixels than a conventional 4K screen and a higher pixel density than the 16-inch MacBook Pro. Angry.

Of course, a bigger screen generally means a bigger laptop. Not here. Despite the larger display, the dimensions of the new laptop roughly correspond to those of the previous model. It still weighs only 4 pounds (or 4.5 for the version with the larger battery) and is 0.71 inches thick. More screen and less wasted space are always good.

This emphasis on efficiency also applies to other areas. The keyboard has a wider, more comfortable layout with larger keycaps and a lot of travel. The touchpad is significantly larger and now corresponds to the size of the MacBook Pro 16 inches. However, you don't need to worry about it being too big – the palm rejection is as good as it gets.

My device had a problem with the touchpad. When pressed, it moves slightly as if it were working, but does not register a click. I learned that I have to push harder for it to work as expected. It's annoying with an otherwise excellent tracking experience.

There's no question that some design elements of the laptop were inspired by the MacBook Pro 16-inch, but it doesn't feel like a copycat. The look is XPS through and through.

The port selection has been reduced this time and the HDMI and USB-A ports have been replaced by plenty of USB-C. Two of them are Thunderbolt 3 ports and one is a standard USB-C 3.1 port. Fortunately, Dell has kept the SD card slot, which is a great blessing for creatives. No doubt some of them will miss their old peripheral ports like a wired mouse, but more future-proof, more powerful ports like Thunderbolt 3 are never a bad thing.

Display and speakers

Dell boasted of its new speakers, which are now located directly on the keyboard deck. The placement offers a much more satisfying audio experience than in previous years, and more bass can be heard here than I've ever heard of an XPS product.

However, this doesn't mean that it competes with the MacBook Pro 16-inch. It still fades in terms of clear bass and full mids. The speakers of the XPS 15 are even thinner than the 13-inch MacBook Pro.

If you are a video or photo editor, you will love this screen.

The display and speakers have been redesigned for the better. The larger panel that Dell chose is as good as they come. Although it is an LED (not OLED), 100% was achieved in both sRGB and Adobe RGB color spaces. It also has one of the most color-accurate screens I've ever seen – even the MacBook Pro 16.

Although I miss the deep black and high peak brightness of the OLED screen (which is no longer on sale), this is still one of the best laptop displays I've ever tested. If you are a video or photo editor or even a graphic designer you will love this screen.

Of course, you do not get this high-resolution screen in the basic model. It's an $ 294 upgrade to make the 1,920 x 1,200 jump – but it's a must for creatives.

Battery life

Thanks to this insanely high-resolution screen, the battery life is impaired. Dell has put a large 86-watt-hour battery in this model, but the 4K + XPS 15 still only lasts about 6 hours with a light workload. Don't expect to spend all day outside of a store.

The 1080p version of the XPS 15 was a record for battery life in the past, but this 4K model sucks batteries away like no one cares.

It is particularly noticeable when you do hard work. I tested this with the Basemark benchmark, which puts a heavy load on the CPU, and it only took less than 3.5 hours. This is not uncommon for a 15-inch 4K laptop, but it is something you should be aware of.

Compared to the MacBook Pro 16-inch and other 4K laptops, the battery life of the XPS 15 is even.

performance

The performance of the XPS 15 has always been the most important feature. In contrast to laptops like the Surface Laptop 3 15 or the LG Gram 15, the XPS 15 is not just a larger screen. It is more power. It has a 45 watt processor with up to eight cores and 16 threads. It also has an option for a discrete graphics card and plenty of memory.

My test device came with the Intel Core i7-10875H, the Nvidia GTX 1660 Ti, 16 GB RAM and a 512 GB SSD. This, of course, is one of the high-end configurations that costs $ 2,200. That's expensive, yes – although it's $ 500 cheaper than a similarly configured 16-inch MacBook Pro.

The system measures quite well. In Cinebench R20 it stomps on the MacBook Pro 16-inch and the XPS 15 from last year. However, the gap in Geekbench 5 is even bigger. However, this lead does not hold up in real performance. It's 5% slower than the MacBook Pro in handbrake video encoding and 15% behind last year's XPS 15.

Video exports to Adobe Premiere Pro are a good challenge for both discrete graphics and a powerful processor. Rendering a 2-minute 4K clip for ProRes 422 took 8 minutes and 42 seconds. Compare this to the 9 minutes and 27 seconds for the Razer Blade, which is equipped with a six-core processor and a powerful Nvidia RTX 2070 for graphics.

It's a solid performance, though it's not earth-shattering. The XPS 15 that I tested last year did that in under 5 minutes thanks to the Core i9-9880HK. It was a faster, fully unlocked processor, and the 32 GB of RAM that was included in my test device didn't hurt either. The latest version of this unlocked 10th generation chip has not yet been shipped in the XPS 15, although Dell says it will be available soon.

While the XPS 15 is a powerful laptop, it is also a fantastic 15-inch laptop in general.

The Microsoft Surface Book 3 was another laptop that surpasses this XPS 15 in terms of video editing. Although there is only one quad-core processor, its powerful graphics dominate the Premiere rendering.

The XPS 15 costs from $ 1,300 for the base model, which gives you only a quad-core processor, integrated graphics and 8 GB of RAM. This model doesn't work nearly as well as the model I've tested, but should be more than sufficient for buyers who don't have a specific, demanding application in mind. While the XPS 15 is a powerful laptop, it is also a fantastic 15-inch laptop overall. The basic model is well suited for users who are looking for a first-class laptop for everyday use.

Gaming performance

The XPS 15 has never been a gaming laptop, and that hasn't changed. The system continues to prioritize processor performance, making the GPU not glow like a gaming laptop.

However, upgrading from the Nvidia GTX 1650 to the 1650 Ti offers a significant improvement in game performance that I was happy to see. It was 105 to 20% faster than the previous model and can play most games with at least 60 frames per second (FPS). In Battlefield V I had to reduce the settings to medium to get there, but in Fortnite and Civilization VI you can easily play at maximum settings and still get 60 FPS.

This is an important number because the screen is locked at a refresh rate of 60 Hz. Anything over 60 FPS is not seen.

The only game that proved unplayable at maximum settings was Assassin's Creed Odyssey. Only 26 FPS were achieved with Ultra High, 47 FPS with High (the middle setting of the game).

There are many more powerful gaming laptops out there. Laptops with more graphics options like the Surface Book 3 or Dell G5 SE are also better gaming experiences. But for those who want to use the XPS 15 on the side for a couple of games, it's just the ticket.

Our opinion

The Dell XPS 15 is the best 15-inch notebook you can buy. The design is beautiful, the screen is out of this world and the performance is impressive. The eight-core Intel Core i7 model I've tested isn't the most powerful version of this laptop, but with the Core i9 on the way, the XPS 15 will likely be one of the most powerful video editing laptops you can buy. However, it is not cheap. To get a model that is similar to the model I tested, easily spend over $ 2,000 on the combination of a premium case, a color-accurate 4K display, and powerful fixtures.

Are there alternatives?

If you want an even more powerful XPS laptop, wait for the Dell XPS 17. Not only does it have a larger screen, it also has a powerful Nvidia RTX 2060 graphics card for even better performance.

The MacBook Pro 16-inch is a good alternative, although it's a little more expensive.

How long it will take?

The Dell XPS 15 should last for at least four or five years. From the components inside to the durability of the chassis, everything is first class. However, the guarantee has nothing special. It's still just a one-year standard hardware warranty, although Dell offers premium care packages like extended support up to four years or accident damage service.

Should you buy it

Yes. It's the best 15-inch laptop you can buy, and an excellent choice for creatives who need a lot of power under the hood.

Editor's recommendations




10 Jun
Blog

Lenovo Yoga C640 Review: The Ultimate Student Laptop?

Lenovo Yoga C640 Review C740 01

Lenovo Yoga C640 Review: The Ultimate Student Laptop?

"The Lenovo Yoga C640 is a killer value for students and budget laptop buyers."

  • Great battery life

  • Clean, portable design

  • Excellent ad for the price

  • Enormous value

  • Solid build quality

  • The keyboard is a bit flat

  • No Thunderbolt 3 port

You don't have to spend more than a thousand dollars on your next laptop. This is especially true if you are a student or a person who prefers office apps.

Lenovo apparently agrees, as its new Yoga C640 for $ 600 is specifically targeted at this target group. This is a very attractive price for a laptop that makes few compromises.

Unlike its adventurous predecessor, the Yoga C640 is a proven Intel laptop with a 10th generation Intel Core i3 processor, 8 GB RAM and a 128 GB SSD. Did Lenovo make the best laptop you can buy at this price?

design

The Yoga C640 has a fully aluminum construction that does not do justice to the low prices. There is a small piece of flex in the keyboard shelf and on the bottom of the case, and there is no flex on the lid. It doesn't quite match the build quality of some other Yoga models, like the much more expensive Yoga C930.

The lid can be opened almost with one hand, with only a little friction lifting the chassis floor off the surface of the desk. However, this is a 360-degree convertible 2-in-1, which means that the display changes from clamshell to tent, media and tablet modes. The tight hinge ensures that the display stays in place in all of these modes.

The Yoga C640 feels more elegant and modern than most $ 600 laptops.

Like many yogas today, the aesthetics are pretty conservative. It is a gray color in gunmetal without bling. There is no chrome stitch on the laptop, except for a small stain that surrounds the logo. It won't be noticed in a crowd, especially not compared to laptops like the Specter x360 13 from HP, the "Look at me!" Compared to the $ 650 Acer Swift 3 with its typical silver chassis, the Yoga C640 seems to me to have a more elegant and modern design. The same is true compared to the $ 560 HP Pavilion x360, which isn't as refined and slim as the Yoga C640.

The Yoga C640 is not the smallest 13-inch notebook. At first, the bezels are not huge, but not as small as the Specter x360 13 or the Dell XPS 13. This makes the case a bit larger than that of very small 13-inch laptops. However, the Yoga C640 is quite thin. It measures 0.67 inches thick, which is identical to the Specter x360 and only slightly thicker than the XPS 13. The Yoga C640 weighs 2.98 pounds compared to the HP at 2.88 pounds and the Dell at 2.8 pounds. Portability is comparable to these high-end laptops, although they are much cheaper.

The Yoga C640 receives the same type of privacy screen for the webcam that adorns the ThinkPad line. This is called TrueBlock Privacy Shutter and works similarly. Simply slide it over to physically block the webcam. I prefer the HP button on the Specter x360 13, which turns the webcam off electronically and hackers don't have anything in the system they can access if you want to turn off the 720p webcam.

Connectivity is mediocre even for a budget microlight. There are two USB-A 3.1 ports, a USB-C 3.1 port and a 3.5 mm audio jack. There's no Thunderbolt 3 port – not that we're expecting one for this price – and no microSD card reader, which is disappointing. Wireless connectivity is also a step back with Wi-Fi 5 (instead of the newer Wi-Fi 6 standard) and Bluetooth 5.0.

Keyboard and touchpad

If you like the typical Lenovo Yoga keyboard, you will love the Yoga C640. As always, it has a lot of space and a crisp mechanism. The trip is a little too flat for my taste, but I consistently hit about 90% of my usual 90 words per minute or so. I still prefer the keyboard of the HP Specter x360, and the new Magic keyboard of the latest Apple MacBooks is my absolute favorite.

Thanks to the Microsoft Precision touchpad drivers and a smooth and comfortable surface, the touchpad also works well. It's not a big touchpad, but it takes up most of the available space under the keyboard for a modern, efficient design.

As with all 2-in-1 devices, the display is touch sensitive and as precise as expected. Lenovo has added support for its active pen with 4,096 pressure sensitivity levels (the pen itself is an option for $ 69). This is acceptable at this price, and although I haven't had a chance to test the coloring on the Yoga C640, I suspect it will be as good as the rest of the Yoga line.

Windows 10 Hello login support without a password is provided by a fingerprint reader in the top right corner of the keyboard deck. It is very accurate and fairly quick – I never had to swipe again to log on to the Yoga C640. Once again, Lenovo has built a valuable feature into an affordable laptop.

display

One area where budget laptops are often neglected is the display quality. And that makes sense – manufacturers have to cut costs somewhere in order to fit in a cheap price range. After so much good news with the Yoga C640, I approached the display test with some concern.

As it turns out, I shouldn't have worried. According to my colorimeter, Lenovo chose an average display, that is, an average display for premium laptops. For a $ 600 laptop, it's excellent. The colors weren't particularly wide at 73% of AdobeRGB and 96% of sRGB, but they're suitable for everyone except the most demanding photo and video editors.

The contrast was very good at 1040: 1, which is above our preferred threshold of 1000: 1, and the color accuracy was excellent for an inexpensive laptop at 1.07 (anything below 1.0 is considered excellent). The ZenBook 13 UX333's display had slightly more colors and contrasts, but the Yoga's display was more accurate, even though creative people wouldn't like it. The brightness was her weak point at 242 nits. I like it when displays in brightly lit environments reach at least 300 nits for good graphics.

Still, the Yoga C640's display is comfortable for both productivity work and watching Netflix. The latter was made more pleasant by audio, which as usual had little bass, but was loud and clear and had clear mids and highs. You want to connect headphones to get the best music quality. However, you can flip the display and enjoy Netflix bingeing without having to worry about connecting an external sound.

performance

If you switch from the Qualcomm 650 ARM CPU of the C730 to an Intel Core processor, you can expect a leap in performance. The dual-core core i3 is the entry-level model in the current core product line from Intel and does not quite correspond to the four standard cores that you see in premium laptops. However, Windows 10 runs faster than an ARM CPU and doesn't give up compatibility with older desktop applications and peripherals.

I couldn't make a direct objective comparison between the two processors because not all of our benchmarks are run on ARM. I ran Geekbench 4 on the Yoga C640 and it doubled the performance of the Yoga C630 in the single-core test and was more than 30% faster in the multi-core test. With 4,670 single-core and 8,750 multi-core values, the Core i3 is far behind the next level of the core CPU, the Core i5, which achieved over 15,000 points in the multi-core test. A laptop like the Lenovo Yoga C740 equipped with the Core i5 is significantly faster with more demanding workloads and multitasking.

The Yoga C640 will be fast enough for office workers and students.

The Yoga C640 took almost 6.5 minutes to complete our handbrake test, which converted 4K video at 420MB to H.265. The Yoga C740 ended 2 minutes faster. Our previous low-cost laptop, the Asus ZenBook UX333, was completed around the same time with its 8th generation Core i5. Suffice it to say that this entry-level Yoga C640 is not suitable for heavy-duty applications.

While it's far from the fastest laptop I've tested, I found it fast enough for my usual work. For ordinary office workers and students, the Yoga C640 is fast enough to keep up with their work. Note, however, that you can upgrade to a 10th generation quad-core Core i5 and a 256GB SSD for just $ 170 more while keeping the laptop's budget and increasing performance and storage significantly. This is around $ 100 less than the comparable ZenBook UX333 (8th generation).

Note that if you are a player, this is not the right laptop for you. You're limited to Intel UHD graphics, which let you play older titles with lower resolutions and graphic details, but choke on modern things.

Battery life

Next is the battery life, the main strength of the predecessor of the Yoga C640. This year's model still has the same battery life of 60 watt hours and has a CPU that may be less efficient on paper. So I was looking forward to seeing how it was compared in our standard battery tests.

The results were fascinating. First, the Yoga C640 took around 3.5 hours in our demanding Basemark web benchmark test, which loads the CPU, an average score for a Windows 10 laptop. The Yoga C630 lasted almost 9 hours, a spectacular score. The benchmark was slower, but it shows that ARM CPUs can consume power even under stress. The ZenBook 13 UX333 took almost 5 hours to complete this test, making it a longer-lasting option for demanding jobs.

With a single charge, you can watch amazing videos on the Yoga C640 for 24 hours.

In our web browsing test, which is a good indicator of overall productivity longevity, the Yoga C640 took about 10.5 hours, an hour behind the Yoga C630. Again, the Yoga C640 did a good job on a Windows 10 laptop – for example, it surpasses the 8 hours of the Acer Swift 3 – but it's not in a completely different class. When I ran our video test, where a 1080p Avengers trailer was looped until the battery showed that the Yoga C640 shocked me. It ran just over 23 hours, the best score we saw in this test. This even exceeded the very expensive Dell Latitude 7400, our previous leader, by a full 80 minutes.

The bottom line: if you want to watch videos on the Yoga C640, you can do that for almost 24 hours, which is remarkable. When you do standard productivity work, you get a whole day of work with the laptop.

Our opinion

The Lenogo Yoga C640 is an excellent laptop for $ 600 and a very good budget option for $ 770 if you upgrade to a Core i5 and 256 GB of storage. It's well built, has great input options, offers good productivity performance and superior battery life for the price, and looks good too.

In fact, it is so good that it replaces the Asus ZenBook UX333 as our favorite affordable laptop. The fact that you get the flexibility of a 2-in-1 for less money is just the icing on the cake.

Are there alternatives?

The ZenBook UX333 is a competitive option if you only need a Clamshell laptop. Hopefully Asus will update it to 10th generation CPUs as it is limited to 8th generation parts.

If you can spend more money, the HP Specter x360 13 is a great 2-in-1 alternative. It's faster, has a better display option with its OLED panel, and is one of the hottest laptops ever.

If you are looking for a laptop with a 360 degree hinge, I recommend the HP Specter x360. It's small and nifty like the Dell XPS 13 and a little cheaper.

If you're a MacOS fan, you can consider the new MacBook Air. It's faster, has the superb Magic keyboard, and comes as close to the budget as you'll find in the Apple range.

How long it will take?

Thanks to up-to-date components and a solid construction, the Yoga C640 lasts as long as you need it. The only real limitation is the lack of Thunderbolt 3 support, but you can't expect this high-speed sport for just $ 600. As usual, the 1-year warranty is standard and disappointing.

Should you buy it

Yes. The Yoga C640 is an uncomplicated laptop set at an attractive price.

Editor's recommendations




21 May
Blog

Dell G5 SE Gaming Laptop Review-In-Progress: Peak AMD

Dell G5 Se Gaming Laptop Review 02

Dell G5 SE gaming laptop in progress: Peak AMD

"The Dell G5 SE is an extremely competitive midrange gaming laptop."

  • Excellent CPU performance

  • Great gaming performance for the price

  • Solid value across configurations

  • Bulky

  • The benefits of AMD Smartshift are opaque

Nvidia does not manufacture PC processors. Intel doesn't make PC graphics cards – at least not yet. AMD is the only company that does both, and hopes that a more harmonious relationship between CPU and GPU can lead to additional performance.

The Dell G5 SE offers our first glimpse of this potential. It is equipped with both a Ryzen 7 4800H and the Radeon RX 5600M graphics card, the latest and greatest AMD it has to offer. Does it last?

performance

On the outside there is not much to say about the Dell G5. It looks like it used to – robust and armor-like. It's the opposite of slim in almost every way.

The "SE" refers to what happens under this conservative exterior. Thanks to the Ryzen 7 4800H, this laptop offers eight cores and 16 threads of computing power. It also has 36 processing units and GDDR6 memory in the RX 5600M GPU. My test device was also equipped with 16 GB RAM, a 512 GB SSD and a 144 Hz screen with 1080p – all for a cool $ 1,200. That is a very attractive price.

This is a gaming laptop, so I started with 3DMark. The results in Time Spy were very encouraging for AMD. It missed a midrange version of the Dell G7 that I tested in late 2019 and that was powered by a 9th generation Nvidia RTX 2060 and an Intel Core i7-9750H. A 5% gain isn't much in benchmarks, but a profit is a gain.

It's going crazy here. The G5 SE has managed to develop the best thin gaming laptops like the Razer Blade 2019, which we tested with the RTX 2070 Max-Q from Nvidia. This is impressive. The G5 SE is a chunky laptop by comparison, but it's also a lot cheaper.

The processor performance is strong in itself, but who is surprised with eight cores and 16 threads? AMD's mobile Ryzen blows Intel's 6-core gaming chips in Cinebench R20 and Geekbench 5 out of the water. Here, too, the Razer Blade beats Cinebench Multi-Core by 49% and Handbrake by the same amount in video coding. I'm not surprised, especially after reviewing other Ryzen 4000 laptops like the ROG Zephyrus G14 or Acer Swift 3.

However, the actual story is not just about these components. The real magic comes from working together.

Gaming performance

Playing is a good place to start. Games strain the GPU more than the CPU, but it's a combined effort that requires a balance between the components.

I tested three games: Civilization VI, Fortnite and Assassins Creed Odyssey.

Civilization VI is a CPU-intensive game, and this is where a Ryzen 4000 laptop can shine. There were only a few FPS (frames per second) behind the Razer Blade with an Nvidia RTX 2070, which reached 79 FPS in ultra settings. Compared to the Nvidia RTX 2060 in the Dell G7 I tested, you still see 19% better frame rates.

This trend continued in Fortnite. The AMD-powered G5 delivers 85 FPS with Epic settings, slightly behind the RTX 2060 in the G7 and the Zephyrus G14. You should probably set the settings to "High" to take better advantage of the laptop's refresh rate of 144 Hz. There the G5 SE achieved an average of 105 FPS.

The final challenge was Assassin's Creed Odyssey, a game that brought even the most powerful gaming laptops to a standstill. The gameplay was pretty smooth with an average of 53 FPS. With high quality – the middle setting of the game. At Ultra High, you drop to 44 FPS, which is still playable but a bit choppy.

All games were of course played at 1080p as this is the native resolution for the Dell G5 SE. As you can see, the RX 5600M isn't the most powerful graphics card in the world and sits comfortably between the Nvidia GTX 1660 Ti and the Nvidia RTX 2060. Fortunately, you can purchase a basic configuration of the G5 SE for as low a price as $ 880 that always still comes with the same GPU. This is great value compared to what you get from Nvidia at this price.

SmartShift in action

In addition to the new GPU and CPU, the Dell G5 SE also introduces AMD technology, which connects the two. It's called SmartShift, a way of organically sharing the energy between the two components. Every laptop has an upper limit on the performance it can play with. SmartShift uses AMD's InfinityFabric on both ends to transfer more power to the CPU or GPU when the thermal headroom allows – even beyond standard performance. According to AMD, SmartShift can lead to an up to 10% improved frame rate in games.

The problem is that SmartShift cannot be turned off. So I can't prove it works. My last attempt to test SmartShift was video rendering in Adobe Premiere Pro. I loaded a 2 minute 4K video clip and exported it to the ProRes 422 codec, carefully observing the power distribution between the CPU and GPU. Rendering video in Premiere is a task best suited for a processor with a high number of cores. However, you can also tap the graphics card. This way you can see how smart SmartShift really is.

The Dell G5 SE didn't share as much power as I expected. The GPU was only occasionally tapped to keep the processor in the spotlight. The rendering time of the Dell G5 SE was good and the export was completed in just under 8 minutes. This happens fairly quickly and beats Intel laptops like the Razer Blade. More expensive options like the Dell XPS 15 or Microsoft Surface Book 3 surpass it by a few minutes.

SmartShift is said to work with an automated algorithm that determines the best performance allocation from moment to moment. However, according to Dell, AMD must also whitelist applications to better optimize their performance.

Battery life, display and more

There's more to tell about the G5 SE, including battery life and display quality. I will continue my in-depth testing and will update this review soon.

While the effects of SmartShift remain opaque, the Dell G5 SE is still an example of how dominant AMD processors have become in consumer hardware. While the company's top-end GPUs still can't compete with Nvidia, the Dell G5 SE is a competitive mid-range gaming laptop for its price.

The Dell G5 SE was available for sale on the Dell website on May 21, starting at $ 880. The start configuration has a Ryzen 5 4600H with six cores, 8 GB RAM, an SSD with 256 GB and the same RX 5600M graphics card as in my test device.

Editor's recommendations




15 May
Blog

Asus ZenBook Duo Review: A Dual-Screen Laptop You Can Afford

Asus Zenbook Duo review 01

"The second screen of the Asus ZenBook Duo is a great addition."

  • Solid productivity performance

  • Good battery life

  • Secondary screen is useful

  • Attractive design

  • Tight keyboard and touchpad

  • The chassis is a bit chunky

Microsoft is on its way to a future with two screens. Asus started experimenting with its own dual-screen laptops in 2019. Regardless of whether the touchpad is replaced by a second screen or a second 4K screen is installed directly on the keyboard deck, Asus is a leader in the innovation of dual screens that you can buy today.

The ZenBook Duo is the latest attempt to make this technology accessible to the masses. It is a more portable and affordable version of the ZenBook Pro Duo with a 14-inch 1080p screen and a quad-core processor. However, a premium is required at $ 1,500.

Is the second screen a must? Let's take a look.

ScreenPad 2.0

The standout feature of the ZenBook Duo is clearly its second screen, a 12.6-inch IPS panel that is as wide as the primary display and about a third as high. That is what makes the ZenBook Duo so special.

The so-called ScreenPad 2.0 can be touched and touched. You can drag apps and app windows – such as the control panel for a photo editing app – onto the ScreenPad and treat them like any "external" display.

It's handy if you watch Netflix at work (as I've done more than once) or open a second browser instance for multitasking. I opened a Firefox tab with the specifications of this laptop on the ScreenPad 2.0 and made checking facts and figures child's play.

Asus has numerous proprietary utilities and features that make the ScreenPad more useful. You can launch a numeric keypad to make data entry easier, and you can use the launcher to access various apps on the ScreenPad. You can also expand your main display to the ScreenPad, giving you (strangely angled) access to more information in a productivity app.

The ScreenPad is far more useful than the touch bar on the MacBook.

The ScreenPad supports the active Asus pen and offers the same responsiveness and accuracy as the main display. It's a blessing to be able to tap and ink on both displays and switch seamlessly from one to the other depending on how it fits your creative workflow. There's even a working handwriting app that reads my sketches pretty closely. A second display for writing was an advantage.

Overall, I was impressed with the ScreenPad. It's an unusual feature outside of the ZenBook Pro Duo and far more useful than Apple's Touch Bar on the MacBook Pro, for example. The additional screen size makes the ScreenPad a really useful addition to the ZenBook Duo and is of particular interest to anyone who can benefit from access to controls or additional apps while working. If you are a creative professional or do multiple tasks regularly, the ScreenPad is probably a real asset. It is much more than just a party trick.

design

The aesthetics of the laptop is obviously Asus, for better and for worse. It's a refinement of ZenBook design that's both recognizable and striking in the line. You'll enjoy the ZenBook's usual concentric swirls on the lid, which is perhaps the most iconic Asus design feature. Here the eddies are not centered, but asymmetrical, a noticeable change. There is also a new Celestial Blue color that offers a touch of elegance.

Overall, the ZenBook Duo is an attractive laptop that manages to cross the line between fancy and conservative, but I wouldn't say it stands out.

Connectivity is acceptable, with one USB-C 3.1 port, two USB-A 3.1 ports (one Gen 1 and one Gen 2), a full-size HDMI port, and a microSD card reader. Unfortunately Asus skipped Thunderbolt 3 support again, just like with other current ZenBooks. To be honest, that's unforgivable for a $ 1,500 laptop. Thunderbolt 3 offers the best connectivity performance, including the ability to connect to an external GPU chassis. This would be a blessing for the creative types who might be interested in the ZenBook Duo.

Keyboard and touchpad

The most noticeable victim forced by the second ad is right below. While the keyboard has snappy keys with a fixed mechanism and a lot of travel, I found it too small for comfortable typing. The keys are small and the keyboard layout felt tight, which made typing a challenge. It cannot be compared to the excellent keyboards of the latest Apple MacBooks and the HP Specter x360 13. There's also no wrist, so your palms hover just behind it. It is a recipe for fatigue.

This Asus has an ErgoLift hinge with which the props are attached at an angle to the back of the laptop. This helps in the absence of a palm rest and improves airflow for better performance. On the other hand, the laptop gets thicker when placed on your lap or desk.

The touchpad is small, but it responds, and it's on the right of the keyboard. It has the same lack of a palm rest as the keyboard, and it's almost impossible to use left-handed. You want to take a mouse with you for use with the ZenBook Duo because the touchpad becomes a real task.

I liked the infrared camera that Windows 10 Hello supports without a password. It worked fine during my tests, and although I prefer to have a fingerprint reader (either in addition to or instead of face recognition), I appreciated its presence.

Display quality

The ScreenPad 2.0 is characterized by its additional utility. The 14-inch full HD main display remains important. I prefer 4K displays, but I also like displays with wide and precise colors, great brightness and a lot of contrast.

Unfortunately Asus has equipped the ZenBook Duo with a mediocre display. The color gamut is not wide at only 70% of AdobeRGB and 94% of sRGB, although its color accuracy is reasonable at an average DeltaE of 1.45 (less than 1.0 is considered excellent). The display only reaches 251 nits, far below our preferred 300 nits, and the contrast is low at 730: 1 (we want laptops to reach 1000: 1 or more).

The display quality prevents it from being ideal for content creation.

Subjectively, this is a pleasant indicator of productivity work and watching Netflix videos. However, creatives won't like the narrow range of colors, especially if you can buy great displays on other laptops, including the HP Specter x360 13 AMOLED panel, which has spectacular colors (100% of sRGB and 98% of AdobeRGB) and brightness (405 nits) offers) and contrast.

The ZenBook Pro Duo’s AMOLED display is just as great, which makes the ZenBook Duo’s main screen a little disappointing. I would have preferred to see a brighter display with better colors and contrast on a laptop designed for creative types. Ultimately, the display quality prevents it from being ideal for content creation.

performance

While the larger ZenBook Pro Duo has an eight-core Core i9 H series for serious performance, the ZenBook Duo is in the middle of the road. It uses a quad-core Comet Lake Core i7-10510U CPU that is good enough for productivity tasks, but not particularly suitable for demanding creative workflows. Overall, the ZenBook Duo is fast compared to other 14-inch laptops, but cannot compete with more powerful creative platforms.

In our real handbrake test, which converts a 420 MB file to H.265, the ZenBook Duo lasted exactly three and a half minutes. This is solid for a quad-core Intel Core i7. However, the ZenBook Pro Duo completed the same test in one minute and 16 seconds, while the Dell XPS 15 finished in one minute and 42 seconds – but still significantly faster than the ZenBook Duo. The Dell XPS 13 completed the test in three minutes and 13 seconds.

In terms of graphics performance, the ZenBook Duo is again far behind the larger ZenBook Pro Duo. The latter has a very fast Nvidia GeForce GTX 2060, which makes it a powerful tool for creative apps that support the GPU. The ZenBook Duo is limited to the Nvidia GeForce MX250. It's faster than built-in Intel graphics (and about as powerful as the new Intel Iris Plus graphics), but doesn't make much of a difference when rendering videos.

You will also find that the ZenBook Duo is a bit challenging to play with. Fortnite runs at just over 30 frames per second (fps) at 1080p and Epic settings and shifts down towards 60 fps with details. However, it is difficult for you to run more demanding titles with the same resolution and the same graphic details.

The ZenBook Duo is only available in the United States in a configuration that includes 16 GB of RAM and is sufficient for the vast majority of productivity users. It also has plenty of 1 TB of SSD storage.

Portability and battery life

Portability is also compromised on the Altar of the ScreenPad – the ZenBook Duo is pretty bulky at 0.78 inches thick. Thanks to the relatively small display bezels, it's not too big in width and depth, but at 3.3 pounds it's pretty heavy. Other 14-inch laptops are smaller than this, including the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon and the ZenBook 14 from Asus.

However, the battery life is solid. When the ScreenPad was turned on, the battery capacity of 70 watt hours kept the ZenBook Duo for a surprisingly long time, considering that the batteries supply two displays with power. In our web browser test, nine hours passed, which is good, if less than the 11.5 hours of the Dell XPS 13.

The ZenBook Duo looped our test video for almost 12 hours, again a good score, but less than the XPS 13 at 14.5 hours. And in our demanding Basemark test, the Asus managed almost five hours less than the XPS 13 with 10 minutes less.

Our opinion

At $ 1,500, the ZenBook Duo is more expensive than comparable laptops. That hurts when you look at the less-than-great screen, the chunkier design, and the lack of Thunderbolt 3.

The ScreenPad 2.0 is the salvation of this laptop. It goes beyond the cool factor (although it also has a lot of it). Even with compromises on the keyboard and touchpad, extreme multitaskers will be happy to access another panel directly on the device.

Are there alternatives?

You will find a variety of 14-inch (and 13.3-inch) laptops that can easily compete with the ZenBook Duo. None of them offer the second display, but all are thinner and lighter. Some of them offer better performance and durability, and most offer much better keyboards and touchpads.

One example is the Dell XPS 13 with an aspect ratio of 16:10, which has a positive impact on productivity and makes the display about as tall as the ZenBook Duo, if not as wide. The XPS 13 is significantly faster than the ZenBook Duo, even in terms of video editing, where the ZenBook Duo itself works fairly quickly. Depending on the configuration, you can spend less on the XPS 13 or a lot more, but it is a good alternative for anyone who is not interested in the ScreenPad 2.0.

Asus also makes several 14-inch models that deliver solid value. They lack the ScreenPad 2.0, which cuts hundreds off the price. This is the obvious step if you don't find ScreenPad attractive.

How long it will take?

The ZenBook Duo is well built and promises years of productive performance thanks to its modern components. You'll miss Thunderbolt 3, however, and the ultimate usefulness of ScreenPad 2.0 depends on developer support. The one-year warranty is industry standard and is shorter than desired. However, Asus offers one year of accident protection if you drop your ZenBook Duo or spill a cup of coffee on the keyboard.

Should you buy it

Yes. There is no other laptop like the ZenBook Duo except the larger and more expensive ZenBook Pro Duo, which makes this a uniquely useful option.

Editor's recommendations




08 May
Blog

Acer Swift 3 (2020) Review: Eight-Core Ryzen Laptop For $650

acer swift 3 2020 review ryzen

"The Acer Swift 3 with Ryzen 4000 is the most powerful budget notebook to date."

  • Solid build quality

  • Top performance

  • Great value for money

  • Comfortable keyboard

  • Mediocre touchpad

  • Weak display, narrow color gamut

Cheap laptops are not nice. However, if they are just as powerful as more expensive laptops, the lack of subtleties can be forgiven.

But what if a cheap laptop was more powerful than these expensive laptops? How much more powerful

That describes the Acer Swift 3 for $ 650. He is one of the first to use the new Ryzen 4000 processors, which offer eight cores and eight threads. Intel eight-core laptops typically cost over $ 2,000. Will the Swift 3 introduce a new era of performance for affordable laptops?

performance

The key figure is the level of awareness of the 3rd generation AMD Ryzen 7 processors. This is what sets it apart from the standard Intel tariff. Eight cores across the board are no joke – that's twice as much as a competing 10th generation Intel chip. You'll need to switch to an Intel Core i9 laptop like the Dell XPS 15 to get eight cores that aren't used in such small laptops.

This is a small laptop. It has a 14-inch screen, weighs just 2.65 pounds, and is 0.63 inches thick – not much bigger than the new 13-inch MacBook Pro. And yet it has the same core count as a 16-inch MacBook Pro for $ 2,799.

Why is the core count so important? Four more cores should theoretically turn this otherwise modest piece of magnesium into something far stronger. More cores mean better performance on key tasks where most inexpensive laptops aren't particularly good. Applications in the Adobe Suite are a good example. They often use as many processor cores as they are fed.

I tested this with handbrake video encoding. The Acer Swift 3 completed transcoding a 4K movie trailer in just 2.5 minutes. This is 50% faster than the Intel version of the same laptop. That's what you get with four additional cores. It's even 21% faster than the XPS 13, a laptop that I praised for how hard it squeezes its quad-core processor.

That doesn't mean it can compete with other 8-core laptops. The Core i9 in the 16-inch MacBook Pro encoded the video 24% faster than the Swift 3. The Ryzen 7 4900H in the ROG Zephyrus G14 was 33% faster.

There are two reasons. The first is that the Acer Swift 3 uses the Ryzen 7 4700U, which is only a 15-watt part. Lower thermal design performance means less scope for performance. That alone explains why a slightly larger laptop with a 35-watt processor like the Asus Zephyrus G14 performs better. The Ryzen 7 4700U also does not have simultaneous multithreading. Most 8-core competitors have this, which means that their 8 processor cores act as 16 virtual cores.

I haven't tested the Ryzen 7 4800U with its 16 threads yet, but this isn't an option with the Swift 3. Instead, Acer sells a model with the Ryzen 5 4500U with six cores for $ 20 less. Although it has 8 GB of RAM to match the Ryzen 7 model, it only has 256 GB of SSD storage compared to the 512 GB in my test device. Therefore, the $ 20 upgrade is worthwhile.

Acer's built-in Radeon graphics are powerful compared to Intel's Iris graphics. I played Rocket League in 1080p with the quality settings (the middle settings of the game) at almost 60 frames per second. They are a big improvement over the built-in graphics of the past few years, but they don't turn the Swift 3 into a gaming laptop.

Display, keyboard and touchpad

A $ 650 laptop has to compromise somewhere – there's no getting around it. The biggest compromise of the Acer Swift 3 is the display.

It's a 14-inch 1080p screen that's disappointing in every way. The color gamut is limited to only 64% of the sRGB color gamut, and the colors are inaccurate. It does not completely ruin the experience of moving, nor does it hinder the completion of the work. It becomes a problem when you work with colors, be it photography, video editing, or graphic design.

What good is fast video editing if you can't trust the colors on your screen? For this reason, the Swift 3 is not ideal for photography or videography. These apps may run, but if you need to connect an external monitor for accurate colors.

The screen is also dark. The maximum brightness is only 233 nits. Even many inexpensive laptops have screens with more than 300 nits. This is a problem when using the laptop in a bright environment.

The other big compromise is appearance. The Acer Swift 3 is not ugly, but it has all the obvious problems with inexpensive laptops. The lower bezel is chunky and covers the screen with textured black plastic. The lid and keyboard deck have the wrong aluminum look and the case is covered with stickers, the removal of which is not fun. Even the backlight under the keyboard is a bit off. The white light is pretty bright, but there is no light under the space bar, which is a little strange.

Then there's the touchpad, which was my biggest hurdle when I tried to use the Swift 3 as my daily driver. It is made of plastic, does not run very smoothly and has a loud click mechanism. It's what I'm used to from a touchpad on a laptop under $ 800.

However, it is slightly larger than some other inexpensive laptops and supports Windows Precision gestures. It doesn't focus on the laptop either, which takes some getting used to.

Switching to the keyboard is one of the most enjoyable aspects of Swift 3. There's a lot to travel around without the keys feeling mushy. The buttons have a nice bottom-out action and the layout feels pleasant. The fingerprint scanner is located on the right under the arrow keys, but there is no Windows Hello IR camera.

Battery life, connections and bloatware

Battery life is another area where affordable laptops often suffer. The Acer Swift 3 is not particularly good in this area. It takes just under eight hours of easy use, but in my daily routine it took less than six hours. You can get more with more expensive laptops like the Dell XPS 13 or even the ZenBook 13 UX333.

However, the performance is good enough for a laptop of this price. In fact, the Ryzen 7 model outlasts the Intel version by 45 minutes.

Port selection is another disadvantage of cheaper laptops. There is a lot of variety here, but the ports are not the most modern. You get a single HDMI port, two USB-A ports and a single USB-C port. Unfortunately, it is still powered by a proprietary barrel connector because the USB-C connector does not support power throughput. A version of the Intel 3-based Swift 3 offers Thunderbolt 3 support, although it only costs $ 700.

Bloatware is finally available. It is in effect as if to remind you how much you have received. Removal is not difficult, but it's a bit irritating between Norton, ExpressVPN, Farm Heroes Saga, GoTrust ID, and Acer's proprietary apps.

Our opinion

Eight cores in a $ 650 laptop seem too good to be true. It is not. The Acer Swift 3 is by far the most powerful, affordable notebook ever and beats Intel laptops that are twice as expensive. The display quality is the main weakness, but I was surprised at how much value Acer could put in this affordable 14-inch laptop.

Are there alternatives?

The Acer Swift 3 is one of the first to support AMD's new Ryzen 4000 processors, but it won't be the last. From ThinkPads to gaming laptops, everything is equipped with these eight-core chips, although the Swift 3 is the cheapest model that has been announced so far.

Other laptops in this price range are the Dell Inspiron 14 5000 and the Lenovo IdeaPad 5 14-inch, but none have the performance that the Swift 3 Ryzen Edition offers. A good alternative is the Dell G3, which offers a better graphics card for games and can configure up to six cores. However, it is a much chunkier laptop and has a far worse battery life.

After all, Chromebooks offer good value in this price range. They're not as powerful and can't run the same applications, but an option like the Pixelbook Go starts at $ 649, has a far better screen, and incredible battery life.

How long it will take?

The Acer Swift 3 is a fairly robust laptop with current components. It should take four to five years before it shows its age. However, Acer's limited one-year warranty doesn't help you much in this regard.

Should you buy it

Yes. The Acer Swift 3 dominates the competition when it comes to absolute performance.

Editor's recommendations




06 May
Blog

HP Elite Dragonfly Review: The Out of Office Business Laptop

HP Elite Dragonfly Rating 6

"The HP Elite Dragonfly is light and sleek, and almost too sleek to be a pure business laptop."

  • Perfect size for on the go

  • Many security functions

  • Incredible battery life

  • Great port selection

  • Older processors

  • The keyboard feels tight

This review was updated on May 6, 2020 by digital trends author Mark Coppock with the new functions Tile and Sure View Reflect.

You get on your six-hour flight with the ambitious goal of getting some work done. You are prepared. You have a laptop A charger. They are even ready to pay for the expensive in-flight WiFi. It's time to get it. Job. Done.

Six hours later, you barely managed to open your laptop.

It's not easy to mess around with the charger under your seat, fight for freedom of movement with your fellow travelers, and try to stuff a laptop on an airplane shelf. And if you pack a chunky "business laptop" it's almost impossible.

HP finds it new Elite Dragonfly is the solution. The company claims it has the security features business people need without the stereotypical design issues. Is this $ 2,079 business laptop worth a first-class trip?

A suitable travel partner

The dragonfly was developed from the ground up for your work on the go. At 2.2 pounds, it's significantly lighter than laptops like the XPS 13, HP Specter x360, and MacBook Air. HP says it relieves every element of the laptop to make it so light without losing structural integrity. Even a super-light business laptop like the ThinkPad X1 Yoga is 0.8 pounds heavier.

This effort was really worth it. Put it in your backpack or briefcase and you will barely notice the extra weight as you run through the airport trying to find your gate. It is a tiny laptop. However, the strong navy color, the golden decorations and the sharp edges go perfectly with your suit and your wristwatch. It is downright decadent.

Holding with one hand as a tablet is still out of the question due to its size.

If you take a seat and whip the dragonfly out to work, it fits well on your tray table. The total space requirement is quite small, so it may even work in economy class. This is another area that the dragonfly has over its rivals. It corresponds to the size of the XPS 13, but is three quarters of an inch smaller in height and width than the X1 Yoga. When you are in a confined space like an airplane, every millimeter counts.

For a better view, you can flip the keyboard over to record or watch movies. The use of tablets is possible, but uncomfortable like other 2-in-1 devices of this size. It's just a little big and a little too heavy.

The dragonfly's screen is next to the XPS 13 2-in-1 and looks a bit dated. The bezels are not massive, but a little bulky in addition to the larger 16:10 screen of the XPS 13 2-in-1. The new Specter x360 also has smaller bezels, and I wish they had found their way to the dragonfly. The 1080p screen isn't as impressive as the high-contrast, insanely bright XPS 13 2-in-1. A 4K version is available for better image quality, but is currently not available.

We also tested HP's latest privacy screen, Sure View Reflect. It is the 4th generation of the company's technology that makes the screen invisible from a certain angle. This means that no one but you can see your display unless they are right behind you. In release mode, ie when Sure View Reflect is deactivated, the display is very bright and offers a lot of contrast as well as an accurate color width and accuracy. It is a good ad for productivity users. When you're in privacy mode and Sure View Reflect is turned on, brightness, contrast, and colors drop, but it works as intended. The display is provided with a copper coating, which makes it illegible from the sides.

A small laptop means a small keyboard

The size of the frames (and the size of the keyboard deck) enables a sufficiently large touchpad for tracking and gestures. The glass is smooth and the click mechanism is quiet.

However, the small footprint has a compromise on the keyboard width. It's a little tight, especially in the function line, which is about small buttons that can be easily accidentally pressed. HP went one step further and tried to place a pair of upward-facing speakers directly on the keyboard deck.

I would normally welcome such a choice, but in this case I would have preferred a larger keyboard like the X1 Yoga. This is especially true since the speakers still don't sound good here.

Fortunately, typing is fun. The key presses have enough travel (especially compared to the XPS 13 2-in-1 or MacBook Pro) and are quiet enough not to wake up the person sleeping next to you on the plane.

The included pen is a lightweight pen that feels good in your hand and can be charged via USB-C. With 4,096 sensitivity levels, it is perfect for notation and illustration. The only problem is that there is no case or way to attach it to the laptop. You have to rely on your own devices to have the pen with you. When you're on the go, this can be problematic.

Portable, all-day work and integrated tile support

When you arrive at your destination, the dragonfly has many tricks to meet your computer needs. Port selection is a good place to start. Despite its thickness of just 0.63 inches, HP has both a full-size USB-A and HDMI connector. Neither is so common with laptops as thin as laptops like the XPS 13 go all-in on USB-C.

The Dragonfly has a USB-C 3.1 and a Thunderbolt 3 port for your modern accessories and ports, but offers you options for the older ports that are still useful. They are the key to those moments when you show up at a meeting, are confused by a day of travel and need to be connected to a TV or monitor via HDMI. It also means that you can leave most of your dongles at home.

However, the HP Elite Dragonfly is slightly behind Lenovo X1 Yoga. This laptop offers two USB-C 3.1 / Thunderbolt 3 and two USB-A 3.1 and HDMI 1.4.

If it's a short trip (or you're feeling brave), dare to leave your charger at home too. The dragonfly's battery life is so good. It took just under 10½ hours to surf the Internet, which means that you do well over an entire working day. Your coast to coast flight is covered whether you are working or catching up with The Mandalorian. The Sure View Reflect display does not affect battery life either.

I was a little annoyed by the power switch, which is right next to the connectors on the left. There are many accidental presses when the laptop is picked up or simply moved. While it makes sense to use the 2-in-1 device as a tablet, as mentioned earlier, the size of the dragonfly means that the use of tablets is not ideal.

In 2020, HP added built-in Tile support so users can now find their laptop using the Tile app. The tile circuit is integrated and is specially slid into the M.2 slot, which is normally used for the optional LTE support. This means that it is Tile or LTE, but not both. Tile works well even when the laptop is turned off. You can at least see where you were last connected to the laptop via Bluetooth. If you're lucky, someone is within range with the Tile app and you can see the location of the laptop in real time. It's a great feature for anyone who is worried about leaving their laptop behind.

When business functions are a problem

HP is proud of the security features built into the level. It features a fingerprint scanner, Windows Hello face recognition, a physical camera cover, suppressed noise cancellation for Skype calls, an extended Wi-Fi range and three microphones (two facing, one "world" face). These are all touches that business users will appreciate.

However, it goes deeper. HP Sure Start is also included for secure boot and BIOS protection. HP even sells a separate model with its darkened Sure View screen for more privacy when traveling.

This is not just software. The HP Endpoint Security Controller is on the board. According to HP, it is isolated and cryptographically secure. There's more to it than just a business-first laptop like the ThinkPad X1.

We all want our computers to be secure, but that's probably more than what the average person needs. In some cases, the security suite feels like bloatware, especially if you want to use third-party software to protect against malware. HP security will make IT managers happy, and that's what the company is counting on.

Performance is … ok. The use of 8th generation Intel processors is unfortunate. It's not HP's fault, of course. Intel does not yet support vPro in its latest processor generations. This is (among other things) an important tool for IT departments and remote management.

It's the same problem you find in other business laptops like the Latitude series from Dell or the ThinkPad T series. Note that the cheaper Intel Core i5 Dragonfly does not have a vPro for $ 1,629, so you will lose the performance boost of newer processors without the benefits.

HP has decided to play it safe with the dragonfly. You probably won't notice a drop in performance compared to the XPS 13 2-in-1 or Specter x360, especially not with Dragonfly's 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD and 32 GB Intel Optane Memory H10. However, it damages the longevity of the laptop and lets you question the high price.

Our opinion

The dragonfly is ideal for business people who value security, portability and build quality. The dragonfly will make this person happy, especially if their employer pays the bill.

If you're someone else, you'll wonder why the laptop is so small, won't turn on quickly, or doesn't have the latest generation processors. Despite trying to impress a wider audience, the level of functionality of the dragonfly means that it is still best for a very specific user.

Are there alternatives?

The closest alternative is the ThinkPad X1 Yoga, which is a few hundred dollars cheaper. The Yoga also includes options for a wider range of configurations, including 4K panels and 10th generation processors. However, it is not as portable as the dragonfly.

The Dell Latitude 7400 2-in-1 is also a great alternative with its ultra-thin bezels and numerous security features. For a similar configuration, the Latitude is $ 100 more expensive and not quite as small as the Dragonfly.

Non-business options like HP Specter x360 or XPS 13 2-in-1 are fantastic, although you lack many of the security features you may need.

How long it will take?

The dragonfly comes with an excellent three-year warranty that will be attractive to businesses. Aside from accidents, the laptop should last as long due to its hardware and excellent build quality. You can even add an additional HP CarePack for advanced repair and replacement services.

Should you buy it

Yes. Those outside the business world shouldn't cross, but for the right person, the dragonfly is the perfect travel companion.

Editor's recommendations




31 Mar
Blog

Dell XPS 13 (2020) Review: Laptop Endgame

"The Dell XPS 13 has been the best laptop you can buy for years, and it will continue to do so in 2020."

  • Beautiful design

  • Higher 16:10 screen

  • Almost frameless frame

  • Two Thunderbolt 3 ports

  • Larger keyboard and touchpad

  • Excellent performance

Two designs have defined the past decade in laptops. The first ten years were all about the MacBook Air, which dominated the first half of the 2010s and inspired a sea of ​​doubles. In the second half, however, everything revolved around the XPS 13 from Dell. A trend that is ubiquitous today began with the original laptop with a thin front panel and a small footprint.

However, after four years of iteration, Dell has invented something new. Something fresh. Something that takes everything I've loved about the design to a new era.

Don't call it a restart. This is the endgame of the laptop.

Design and display

More of what matters. That has always been the motto of the XPS team, but here it is more obvious than ever. It starts with the screen, which is now 13.4 inches in an aspect ratio of 16:10 and a little closer to the square than the conventional 16: 9. It is only 0.1 inches larger than previous versions, but it feels like it more. The 16:10 ratio means extra rows in my Word document, more rows in my spreadsheet, and fewer scrolls on a web page.

This results in black bars on most videos, which are usually formatted for 16: 9. However, for the person who spends most of their time on a laptop in work mode, this is a worthy compromise.

The 16:10 screen is the same one used on the XPS 13 2-in-1, which was already the leader in the class. It offers a brightness of 500 nits, one of the best contrasts I've ever seen, and excellent color accuracy.

It's sharp too. The resolution is 1,920 x 1,200, which means more pixels than on a typical 1080p screen. You will not select any pixels on it. So if you're not an image editor, you shouldn't have to choose the higher-resolution panel. The advantage of the 4K + screen is more than just the number of pixels – it also offers a wider range of colors.

It is not just the panel itself that matters. In this way, the lack of frames frames the screen. The top and sides are as small as ever, but now the lower bezel can join in. Dell uses a unique drop hinge that sits barely under the surface of the keyboard deck. A part of this bezel, which was already small, cannot be seen. It's a little trick to make the bezel look so much thinner. With the white model I tested, I made the decision to change the bezel color to black instead of white. It makes it even less pronounced.

Despite the slim bezel, Dell pushed its 720p camera module up and the nose cam is a thing of the past. It's not a great webcam, but it is enough if necessary. To use the space even better, there is now an IR camera for easy Windows Hello face recognition.

Keyboard and touchpad

When moving from the screen to the keyboard deck, the design continues to follow the philosophy "more of what counts". Not a millimeter of space was left on the keyboard deck.

The look of the keyboard can be inspired by the XPS 13 2-in-1 – if not in terms of feel. The keycaps are larger and each have less space. They now extend to the sides of the keyboard deck.

The power switch (and the integrated fingerprint reader), which used to be on the right next to the layout, is now integrated in the top right, as with MacBooks. Another small change to the layout, which I really appreciate, is the full size arrow keys left and right. Earlier XPS keyboards contained half-sized keys, with the gaps filled up and down. This often resulted in the page being accidentally skipped.

It has quickly become one of my favorite laptop keyboards to type on.

Part of the keyboard that I'm glad Dell didn't redesign it is the actual feel of the key press. Instead of following the path of the butterfly mechanisms (as with the XPS 13 2-in-1), they still have 1 mm of travel and a snappy mechanism. Since we saw that even Apple moved away from its own butterfly keyboards, Dell made the right choice here. It has quickly become one of my favorite laptop keyboards to type on.

The same applies to the touchpad, whose overall size has grown compared to the previous year. Dell has also worked to dampen the click mechanism to make it quieter. I would still prefer it to be softer, but the tracking and gesture support is excellent as always.

Ports and build quality

You will find major changes to the pages if you are familiar with the older XPS 13. Due to the nature of this edge-to-edge keyboard, there is no more space for connections next to it. There are only a few and they are now pressed as close to the back as possible. On the right side there is a Thunderbolt 3 port and the headphone jack. Another Thunderbolt 3 port and a microSD card slot are on the left.

This is a USB-C less than the previous model, which is shit. Dell is now at the Apple level of port selection and fits the MacBook Air in the USB ports. Unlike this device, I would rather have a Thunderbolt 3 port on each side than together. This makes charging easier, regardless of which side the socket is on. The HP Specter x360 swaps the additional Thunderbolt 3 port for USB-A to support older accessories.

Despite the overall stiffer feel of the XPS 13, it's now easier to open.

The sides are now covered with diamond-cut aluminum, which gives the frame a little shine and gives the workmanship overall a more stable feel. A thin layer of polycarbonate fibers covers the wrist-rest with its unique weave structure. Aside from the unibody aluminum design of the MacBook Pro, this model is well built as laptops come.

The extra aluminum adds only the slightest amount of extra weight, which is now 2.8 pounds. This corresponds to the weight of the MacBook Air and the HP Specter x360 13. At 0.58 inches, however, it is somewhat thinner than these two laptops.

Despite the robust feel of the XPS 13, opening is now smoother. What a relief. For years it was one of the few premium laptops that couldn't be opened with just one finger. One-finger opening is now easy, although I wish there was a lip to make it even easier.

performance

It's easy to look at a laptop's processor and call it good. However, the performance offers more than just a data sheet. The XPS 13 makes that clear. Despite using the same parts as other laptops, Dell has consistently worked to improve the performance of its components.

The same tricks play a role here, for example strips of Gore material with which the heat is dissipated. The processor is now upgraded to the latest 10th generation Intel Ice Lake chips.

Dell continues to raise the bar for performance.

That's not too exciting in 2020, but again, the XPS 13 beats its rivals in terms of single-core performance in Geekbench 5 and Cinebench R20. Even the 16 GB of RAM that was included in my test device was overkill for what most people will do with this laptop. (The Core i7 model I tested costs $ 1,250, but there will also be a Core i3 option starting at $ 999.)

This is one of the most powerful quad-core laptops you can buy, and it even shows the muscles in HandBrake video encoding. At the end of last year, Dell released an XPS 13 with a six-core processor, but this new model is only 7% slower in HandBrake. Impressive.

Yes, Dell continues to set the benchmark for performance. When you upgrade to the 4K + model, you have a premium photo editing laptop. That doesn't mean you should buy this laptop for 3D rendering or video editing, but for most tasks, you won't find a faster laptop of this size.

It should be noted that the $ 999 Core i3 with 4 GB of RAM is also available (although it is not currently for sale). This dual-core processor doesn't have nearly the same performance, although I haven't tested it myself. However, if you only need a laptop to surf the Internet, Microsoft Word and watch movies, the Core i3 is more than sufficient.

Intel's discrete graphics have improved significantly with Ice Lake, allowing the XPS to play 13 games. Type of.

Dell still pulls better frame rates out of these components than its rivals, but that doesn't mean it's a gaming laptop. Fortnite can be played in 1080p if you lower all settings. However, you need to cut it down to 720p to get smoother gameplay. Casual and less demanding games can be played well enough, but the Razer Blade Stealth 13 with an Nvidia GTX 1650 offers better performance.

Battery life

I have high expectations for the battery life of expensive laptops. Somehow the XPS 13 surpassed them. In our test for easy surfing on the Internet, it took over 11.5 hours. Laptops such as the MacBook Air, the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 and the Surface Pro 7 were destroyed. It doesn't outperform the best of the best like the HP Specter x360 or ZenBook 13 UX333, but it's not far behind either.

Battery life always depends on what you use it for. At one extreme, the XPS 13 can take up to 14.5 hours to play video locally or 5 hours to do more difficult tasks. Consistent use throughout a working day should not be a problem for the average person.

If you buy the 4K + model, you can expect these results to drop by a few hours. This also makes this 1080p + model the ideal solution for most people.

Our opinion

The Dell XPS 13 is the best laptop you can buy. This has been true for several years and also in 2020. It's not an easy task if you make so many changes to an iconic design. The XPS 13 has slowly become a little more expensive over the years, but if you are that good, premium branding has been earned.

There's a good choice if you want to spend less than $ 1,000. For everyone else, the XPS 13 should be your next PC.

Are there alternatives?

There are some very close competitors to the XPS 13. If you are looking for a laptop with a 360 degree hinge, I recommend the HP Specter x360. It's small and nifty like the XPS and a little cheaper.

Another great option is the new MacBook Air. With quad-core processors and a better keyboard, it has regained the respect of previous Mac generations. However, it probably can't keep up with battery life, and performance still lags somewhat.

The Surface Laptop 3 from Microsoft is another interesting option at an affordable price, a tight thickness and a tight weight. It also offers a larger 3: 2 screen with a higher pixel density as long as you can carry the large frames.

How long it will take?

Thanks to its modern components and robust build quality, the XPS 13 is designed for durability. The standard one-year warranty is nothing special, but this laptop should last at least three or four years.

Should you buy it

Yes. It is the best laptop you can buy.

Editor's recommendations




10 Mar
Blog

Laptop Buying Guide: What to Look For in 2020 and What to Avoid

With so many worthy options on the market, buying a laptop in 2020 is no easy task. For this reason, we got our hands on this year's leaders with MacOS, Windows and Chrome OS. We tested the best laptops on the market and sorted our top picks according to your budget (entry-level, mainstream and premium) to help you find the laptop that best fits your (and your wallet's) needs.

Mac, Windows or something else?

The first big consideration when choosing your new laptop is which operating system to run. While this debate has traditionally been dominated by Apple's MacOS and Microsoft Windows, it is also worth considering Google's Chrome OS today, which is offered on much cheaper laptops.

Comparable hardware and functions are certainly offered with these platforms, but there are some serious differences between them that have to be taken into account.

Windows

PCs are an incredibly diverse category. There are dozens of manufacturers who make PCs, and the quality and prices can vary widely depending on the model and brand you choose. The fastest PCs outperform Macs in performance, and many companies customize their PCs for a specific purpose, such as: B. games or companies.

Windows typically runs Windows as an operating system, which is much more open than MacOS and is updated more frequently. There is also more software for Windows. Windows in particular is the standard for game development and many business-related programs.

Windows devices come in different shapes and sizes. A standard laptop with a clamshell design and keyboard-mouse surface is easy to find. Touchscreen Windows laptops can also be found in the lower price ranges. The more elaborate designs include folding screens or even removable tablet-keyboard combinations such as Microsoft's own Surface Book series. Windows laptops are usually also supplied with touch screens, which is not the case with any Apple MacBook offer – unless you count the touch bar.

In contrast to Apple's more limited hardware offer, there is a large selection in the Windows laptop area. Regardless of whether you choose a large manufacturer like Lenovo or Dell or one of Microsoft's own devices, you have a variety of options with Windows laptops.

Mac OS

Macbook Air (2018) review

Apple has always protected its brand and released products in very deliberate iterations. Every Apple product follows its standards, while every manufacturer can make a PC with unique specifications. Therefore, Macs are very user-friendly. Apple tells you exactly what you get, regardless of which MacBook you buy. With all Macs coming from the same ecosystem, the company's resourceful support network can easily help with any problems that arise.

Quality design is one of the hallmarks of a Mac. They are built to look and feel elegant. This also applies to the Apple MacOS operating system, which is straightforward and intuitive. Macs also come with a suite of proprietary software preinstalled, and each application works well for tasks like editing videos or music.

Macs also use fast hardware, so those who want a solid computer but don't know much about hardware can rest assured that their Mac will perform well in everyday use. However, they are not equipped with the most powerful graphics chips and have a much higher price than their Windows and Chrome OS colleagues, especially if they are configured with a lot of memory. Apple computers are not known to be cheap.

In many ways, Apple's strict design standards mean that the products are easy to learn and use by anyone, regardless of a person's skills or familiarity with computers. On the other hand, the rigid design of the Mac means less freedom to customize the device. The hardware available is the hardware you get. In addition, Apple only sells a few different MacBook models at a given time. Irregular hardware updates do not always keep them up to date.

Apple recently simplified its MacBook line of products and removed both the 12-inch MacBook and the MacBook Pro without a touch bar. You only have two options: the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro, both of which received minor upgrades in 2019. For more information on the best MacBooks, see our more detailed guide.

Chrome OS

Acer Chromebook 514 reviewMark Coppock / Digital Trends

Google's Chrome OS is a little different from the other two main offerings. It powers "Chromebook" laptops and is based on Google’s Chrome browser. This means that desktop applications cannot run like the other two platforms. This is great if you're a PC user who just needs a laptop to read email, watch Netflix, and occasionally play a game or two. It's not that great if you want to use the full functionality of a desktop platform.

Even so, Chrome OS is now faster and more versatile than ever and supports thousands of Chrome extensions and a variety of Android apps – although they may not always scale well with larger laptop displays. The selection of hardware is much more diverse today than in the past. Powerful offers like Google's own Pixelbook are similar to premium Windows and MacOS laptops. There are even 2-in-1 options like Pixel Slate or HP Chromebook x2.

Chrome OS is certainly a less powerful platform than Windows and MacOS. However, if it meets the requirements for what you want to do on your laptop, you can save a lot of money by using the Google platform versus the other two.

The types of laptops

There are different categories of laptops that are made for a specific use or target group. When buying a laptop, decide what you want to use the laptop for primarily and find a category that fits those interests. Here are some broad categories and some of our favorites for everyone.

Entry ($ 600 or less)

Acer Chromebook 15 Spin ReviewMark Coppock / Digital Trends

Laptops can be expensive, but with a few cuts, many manufacturers produce great laptops that cost $ 600 or less. Buyers who need a laptop for the most basic purposes (word processing, surfing the internet, etc.) and want to save money may think that an affordable laptop is all they need. Budget laptops are generally easily equipped with hardware such as graphics or RAM. Don't expect to be able to run AAA games or switch between a hundred browser tabs with ease. However, this does not mean that they are unable.

This is a category in which Chromebooks shine by missing out on some of the fancier features of Windows and MacOS laptops. However, there are options from these two camps. The best affordable laptops will continue to be built for a long life, with competent construction and ergonomically sensible keyboards and touchpads. Entry-level laptops are generally great for people who may not know much about computers and are simply looking for a device that can do standard tasks.

Some great entry-level laptops worth considering are the fantastic Acer Chromebook 15 Spin or the Lenovo IdeaPad 330S. If portability is more important to you, we also love the Microsoft Surface Go 2-in-1 because of its great design and its extremely affordable price.

Mainstream ($ 600- $ 1000)

asus zenbook 13 ux333fa

This price range is arguably the best in terms of Bang for Buck. You get much better internal hardware than the entry-level deals, but don't pay a premium for some of the fancy materials used to make the most expensive laptops. You will have to do without one or the other function and you won't see a powerful graphics chip for your money, but the systems in this price range are really excellent laptops.

The fact that this area is a sweet spot for the industry means that you have a wide range to choose from. There are laptops with great displays, laptops with powerful processors, nice looking laptops, and those that are light, portable, and have great battery life. You may not find a system that meets all of these criteria, but the best laptops under $ 1,000 are some of our favorites.

If you're looking for a great gaming laptop in this price range, the Dell Gaming G3 is a powerful option, while the ZenBook 13 UX333 remains one of the best laptops under $ 1,000.

Premium (over $ 1,000)

Dell XPS 13 2019 Review (9380)Riley Young / Digital Trends

If your pockets are a little deeper, there are few better laptops than those in the premium mount. For a little more money, you get longer battery life, improved performance through more powerful internal hardware, larger and higher-resolution displays, and overall better build quality. This mount contains some of the best laptops you can buy today. So if you're a bit more power user and can afford it, this is the class of laptops you should consider the most.

Despite the inflated cost of the premium laptop category, there is still a wide range to choose from. You can purchase outstanding 13-inch laptops with numerous general computing powers and connectivity options. If you want to play games or create content on the side, consider switching to a 15-inch laptop with a six-core processor and a dedicated graphics card.

This category even includes our favorite laptop of recent years, the Dell XPS 13. If you want something stronger and more powerful for content creation, the Dell XPS 15 is also worth considering. For gamers, the Razer Blade is the best laptop we've ever seen, while the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme offers real performance in an extremely sturdy case.

If you're an Apple fan, we recommend the MacBook Air. The MacBook Pro is also an option, but that's more for power users and offers less money.

2 in 1

Surface per 6Dan Baker / Digital Trends

The 2-in-1 laptop or convertible laptop combines the convenience and lightness of a tablet with the usefulness of a keyboard. There are two ways to do this: either the two are attached, but the keyboard can fold behind the touchscreen, or the tablet side can be completely detached from the keyboard.

Cabriolets offer great versatility, but are not necessarily the best devices available. The uniqueness of their design can come with some notable drawbacks, such as: B. the weight (especially the metal hinges on the keyboard) and the price. Convertible laptops are often more expensive than clamshell laptops with comparable hardware.

When it comes to buying a 2-in-1 device, some are better laptops than tablets, and some are better tablets than laptops. Before you buy, think carefully about which mode you are likely to use more and do it accordingly.

Our preferred 2-in-1 laptops for 2020 are the Microsoft Surface Pro 6 and the HP Specter x360 13.

Business laptops

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (2018) reviewBill Roberson / Digital Trends

Just because business laptops are designed for business users does not mean that they do not offer interesting functions for the average buyer. While they may not always look like mainstream systems, they tend to pack exceptional battery life under the hood and have more robust and sturdy shells to hit on the go. They also tend to have slightly larger displays, often with great color accuracy, if they are more aimed at video editors and photographers.

Due to the increased emphasis on security and data protection, these laptops are more likely to offer better protection systems such as biometric validation and professional software packages.

The main disadvantage of a business laptop is that it is usually expensive. If you're less worried and you're not a gambler, there are few better laptops than those aimed at business users and commuters.

One of the best-known laptop lines in the business category is the Lenovo Thinkpad, and the current X1 Carbon is a fantastic entry into this product line. We also love the flagship X1 Extreme – it's our favorite business laptop for 2020.

Gaming laptops

Razer Blade base model comparedDan Baker / Digital Trends

Graphics are getting better, levels are getting bigger and denser, and many games require the ability to press a certain number of keys at just the right time. With all of this in mind, gaming laptops have to be built to keep up with the constant progress. The best gaming laptops offer high-end processors and graphics chips, as well as enough RAM for modern games.

Gaming laptops tend to be bulkier to accommodate better hardware and bigger screens. Thanks to its powerful hardware, the battery life is also not too long – especially in systems with 4K displays. However, this is not always the case. Our preferred gaming laptops usually offer a good middle ground or more stealth gaming skills.

Alienware's Area-51m is more of a traditional gaming laptop with super-strong hardware and a bulky frame, but the Razer Blade is a much more modern version of a gaming laptop design.

What you need to know about hardware

As with any computer, the hardware of a laptop determines what it can do. Better hardware is of course more expensive. Therefore, it is important to consider what you are using the laptop for and to choose the appropriate hardware for this purpose. A laptop that is only used for general purposes such as surfing the Internet or writing documents is unlikely to need a high-end processor or graphics card.

CPU / processor

As with any computer, the CPU does most of the processes for the laptop. Every time the computer needs to access or change data, the CPU performs this task. Better CPUs can process more data faster. Note that the pure clock speed of a CPU does not necessarily result in the whole picture. If you are not sure about your options, copy the processor model number (eg "Core i5-9400H") to a web search to compare your selection.

The latest offerings from Intel are the Core i3, i5 and i7 series in 8th generation models. However, we are beginning to introduce 9th generation chips in gaming laptops and content creation machines. Below we also see the first 10th generation Ice Lake CPUs in new laptop designs. The latest chips from AMD are third-generation Ryzen mobile CPUs, which are somewhat more difficult to find in laptop offerings.

When it comes to choosing a laptop based on its CPU, the new one is almost always better. Avoid buying a laptop with a CPU that is several generations old. Don't worry if you buy a chip out of the middle range unless you're doing something intense like video editing. For example, the four cores available in the Core i5-8565U are a good starting point for most people.

graphic

A graphics chip generates the images that a program must display on the screen. With most laptops, the graphics chip is integrated into the motherboard. Unlike a desktop, updating a laptop's graphics is very rare and difficult. It is therefore important to start by buying what you need.

NVIDIA and AMD are the main providers of discrete mobile graphics. The latest series from NVIDIA is the RTX 20 series, including the RTX 2060, 2070 and 2080 – with some Max-Q versions that are cooler and quieter. These will be included in the most expensive, high-performance gaming and business-class laptops, though some newer models may use the slightly older 10 series or the GTX 1080, 1070, and 1060.

AMD's offers differ somewhat in that the Vega chips are usually supplied with a CPU in a CPU that AMD calls the Accelerated Processing Unit (APU). There are also a growing number of options with an Intel CPU combined with an AMD Vega graphics core on a single chip. They can be impressively powerful and worth considering if you can find a laptop with this hardware at the right price.

There are also rumors of an upcoming mobile RX 5500M GPU that could be far more powerful. One to see before Christmas.

Audio

Although there are some laptops that offer a reasonable sound immediately, such as For example, the MacBook Pro, most laptops have no room for decent speakers in the case. Most laptops offer connections for connecting headphones or external speakers if you want an even more intense listening experience.

memory

RAM, often referred to as memory, refers to the ability of the computer to store and access information for immediate use. Every task currently running on a computer uses RAM. The more RAM a computer has, the more information it can retrieve at a given time and the more things it can do at any time.

How much RAM do you need? 8 GB is the sweet spot for most. However, you want to jump to 16 GB or more when running intensive applications or creating content.

camp

The storage space on the internal drives of a laptop indicates how much data can be stored in total. Programs, videos, music: All of these programs are stored on an internal drive or in cheaper laptops, the "flash memory" – the same type of long-term storage that your smartphone has. In contrast to RAM, stored data does not necessarily have to be used. A program that is installed on the computer but is not currently running takes up space but no memory. Nowadays, many laptops use solid-state drives – also known as SSDs – that are faster and more robust than conventional hard drives at the cost of storage space.

An SSD offers a dramatic increase in performance over a conventional hard drive and can bring about the most dramatic improvement in laptop use when purchasing a new system. Make sure your next purchase has one. If you need more space, use a large external drive.

Touchscreen support

A few years ago, a touchscreen was a novelty that was only found in high-end laptops, mainly because the hardware and software just weren't sophisticated enough to make it useful for most people. With the explosion of smartphone and tablet users, Microsoft, Google and laptop manufacturers have gone to great lengths to create a high quality touchscreen experience. Touchscreens are now optional on some budget designs.

Bill Roberson / Digital Trends

Windows 10 has done a lot to make these touchscreen and combination designs more profitable. The user interface and software are designed with touch in mind, including traditional programs like Office and the Edge browser. Third-party software such as Google's popular Chrome browser also offers excellent touch support.

With some laptops, you have to pay for the privilege of touch. So before you buy, think again about whether it is something you really need.

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