Dell Inspiron 16 Plus Laptop Review: Understated Beauty And Brawn

Dell Inspiron 16 Plus (7630) Notebook (Starts at $999, as tested $1,249) The affordably-priced Dell Inspiron 16 Plus offers plenty of productivity and gaming performance, and doesn't sacrifice on battery life. Solid productivity performance Good gaming performance Big, fast display with wide viewing angles Excellent battery life  Beats out much more expensive laptops at times Cooling system gets pretty loud Side air vents exhaust onto mousing hands  Not a lot of wired connectivity Technology enthusiasts love premium PCs. Flashy machines made from ultra-premium materials, with the thinnest...

Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite Benchmarks: A Potential Game-Changer [Updated]

by Marco Chiappetta - Mon, Oct 30, 2023

Last week at its Snapdragon Summit, Qualcomm revealed two new mobile platforms, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and Snapdragon X Elite, amidst a myriad of additional XR and Audio related announcements. Like its namesake, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is designed for smartphones and tablets (that typically run Android), and this latest iteration is updated, more efficient, and more powerful, especially in terms of its AI capabilities. If you’d like to learn more about the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, we’ve got details and benchmarks available in a couple of articles already. For Windows PCs, Snapdragon...

Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite To Deliver Performance-Per-Watt Leadership For PCs

by Ben Funk - Tue, Oct 24, 2023

One of the more exciting aspects of Qualcomm's Snapdragon family processors for Windows on Arm64 is that these laptop PCs are always connected (4G or 5G), and they can deliver stellar battery life. Just peruse any of our recent reviews and you can see that, for instance, the Lenovo Flex 5G has more than 24 hours of battery life with video playback. The downside for these systems historically has been performance versus x86 alternatives, with CPUs that have more in common with tablets and smartphones than full-fledged PCs but with serviceable experiences in a number of mainstream use cases. ...

Gigabyte AERO 16 OLED Review: Solid Performer, Stunning Design

by DL Cade - Tue, Sep 26, 2023

Gigabyte AERO 16 OLED (2023) - Starting at $2,199 Gigabyte's 16-inch AERO laptop combines solid performance with a stunning OLED display and premium design, making it one of the prettiest laptops we've evaluated to date. Gorgeous OLED display Sleek design Premium build quality User upgradeable RAM and storage Top-tier CPU and solid graphics performance 1080p webcam with Windows Hello support No full size SD card slot Terrible battery life Aluminum finish scuffs easily No fingerprint reader The market for "creator PCs" has exploded in recent years. Not long ago, if you wanted a high-performance...

See Meteor Lake And Thunderbolt 5 In Action At Intel's Innovation '23 Event

by Zak Killian - Wed, Sep 20, 2023

HotHardware's own Dave Altavilla is on location at Intel's Innovation '23 event, and that means he's getting to check out all the latest and upcoming hardware from the blue team first hand. Fortunately, that means you get to check it out, too, because we've captured some videos of the demos on the show floor. We've currently got two new clips on the HotHardware YouTube channel for you to enjoy. The first clip is a demo of an early Raptor Lake-HX Refresh laptop with Thunderbolt 5 support. The machine is connected to a Thunderbolt 5 dock with 2TB of NVMe storage inside, and then that dock is handling...

Lenovo Yoga Book 9i Review: A Dual Display Laptop Done Right

by Nathan Ord - Thu, Sep 07, 2023

  Lenovo Yoga Book 9i - $1,999.99 The Lenovo Yoga Book 9i is an innovative, relatively powerful 2-in-1 laptop with a highly versatile, and high quality, dual OLED display configuration.     Gorgeous Displays Impressive Screen Real Estate Easy And Fun To Use Includes Keyboard, Mouse, And Pen High Quality Audio   Price Premium  Not The Most Performant   Dual-display devices have begun to permeate the mobile market, arriving on phones and laptops alike. However, some of these devices have not been particularly well-executed or were so absurdly priced that the average...

ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D Review: AMD 3D V-Cache Supercharges Laptop Gaming

by Marco Chiappetta - Tue, Aug 22, 2023

ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D: As Configured TBD - Likely $3,599+  The AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX3D powered ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D gaming laptop, with its GeForce RTX 4090 GPU, is the most powerful mobile PC gaming platform in the world currently. EBeastly Performance Enhanced Efficiency Multi-Threaded Leader Attractive Form Factor Good Keyboard And Trackpad Battery Life Price Premium Fan Pitch Although there has been some speculation that AMD would bring its 3D V-Cache to Ryzen 7000 series mobile processors, it wasn’t until late last month that the company made it official. AMD bolted a chunk...

Dell XPS 17 (9730) Review: A High-Performance, Gorgeous Laptop

by Ben Funk - Thu, Aug 10, 2023

Dell XPS 17 (9730) - Starting at $2,049 Dell's larger, 17-inch XPS 17 (9730) laptop blends high performance, great battery life, and a gorgeous display into a surprisingly portable package. Big, bold, gorgeous display Excellent battery life Premium, thin design User upgradeable RAM and storage Top-tier CPU and solid graphics performance Good keyboard with biometric authentication No high-refresh display options Minimal external connectivity 720p webcam is disappointing The Dell XPS 15 (9530) with Raptor Lake 13th Gen Intel Core processors and Ada Lovelace NVIDIA GeForce RTX graphics made for a...

NVIDIA RTX Laptops For STEM: ASUS VivoBook Pro 16 Scores High Honors

by Ben Funk - Tue, Jul 25, 2023

NVIDIA RTX Laptop for Students - ASUS Vivobook 16 Pro - Starting at $1,399 The ASUS VivoBook Pro 16, part of NVIDIA's program for STEM majors, delivers great performance in math and engineering apps at an affordable price.  Great mix of performance, size, and weight GeForce accelerates engineering and ML apps Excellent Pantone-certified 120 Hz display Solid all-round performance Very good battery life Half-soldered RAM limits upgradeability 60 Watt GPU sometimes trails bigger laptops NVIDIA's GeForce GPUs aren't just for gaming, but that's a pretty obvious statement these days. The company...

ASUS ZenBook S 13 OLED Laptop Review: A Svelte Beauty

by Christian de Looper - Thu, Jul 20, 2023

ASUS Zenbook S 13 OLED: $1399 As Configured The ASUS ZenBook S 13 OLED offers competitive performance, a gorgeous displayh and solid battery life in an incredibly thin and light form factor. Thin And Light Excellent OLED Display Great Battery Life Attractive Design Some Fan Whine Under Load Basic iGPU Ultra portable laptops seem to be getting thinner and lighter with every iteration, while simultaneously getting more powerful. The ASUS Zenbook line has long followed this trend and offered a series of relatively powerful and highly flexible (literally and figuratively) devices. The new ASUS...

Dell Latitude 9440 Review: 14-Inch 2-In-1 Laptop Superiority

by Dave Altavilla - Tue, Jul 11, 2023

Dell Latitude 9440 2-In-1: As Configured - $2,789 (Starting $1919) Dell's Latitude 9440 2-In-1, with its zero lattice keyboard, collaboration touchpad, solid build quality, solid performance and great battery life, is a 14" premium laptop to be reckoned with. Great Keyboard And Touchpad Premium Build Quality Excellent QHD+ Touch Display Great Battery Life Solid General Performance Lackluster SSD Storage Performance No Micro SD Card Reader Fourteen inch laptops are a tweener size that is growing in popularity, since 13-inch machines feel cramped for some users, while 15-inch machines sometimes pack...

Apple MacBook Pro 16 With M2 Max Review: Powerful But Pricey

by DL Cade - Tue, Jun 27, 2023

Apple MacBook Pro 16" (2023) with M2 Max - Starting at $3,299 The latest MacBook Pro 16 is more of an evolution than a revolution, but the option for a 38-core GPU and 96GB of unified memory makes it a seriously powerful machine. Great performance Incredible battery life Up to 96GB of RAM and 8TB of storage Premium build quality Excellent mini-LED HDR display Plenty of I/O RAM and storage is soldered down Not all apps support Apple Silicon natively RAM and storage upgrades are expensive Not great for gaming (yet) It's fair to say that the roll-out of Apple Silicon has gone better than Apple could...

Alienware m18 R1 Laptop Review: Brawny Beauty, Untapped Potential

by Zak Killian - Fri, Jun 23, 2023

Alienware m18 R1: As Configured - $3,495 (Starting - $1,999) Alienware's new 18-inch gaming laptop is powered by Intel's and NVIDIA's fastest mobile silicon and it's a beast with untapped potential. Attractive Chassis High Quality Keyboard Nice Display Minimal Bloatware Price Premium Minimal Battery Life Performance Anomalies The term "desktop replacement" has always been kind of a misnomer. After all, even the most powerful gaming laptops can't keep up with a beefy DIY gaming PC, right? That was indeed the case once upon a time, but modern systems can pack incredible power into an inch-thick...

Razer Blade 14 Review: Zen 4 Ryzen-Powered Mobile Powerhouse

by Marco Chiappetta - Tue, Jun 20, 2023

Razer Blade 14 (2023): As Configured - $2,699 (Starting $2,399) The latest Razer Blade 14 packs AMD's top mobile Ryzen processors and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 graphics into a slim, sleek, attractive laptop, with impressive results. Attractive Design Strong Performance Latest AMD Platform with Ryzen AI Beautiful, High-Refresh Display Good Built-In Audio Price Premium Some Sharp Edges Finnicky Trackpad Buttons The next wave of AMD-powered laptops is due to hit store shelves soon, built around Ryzen 7040 series processors, codenamed “Phoenix”. Unlike top-end “Dragon Range” Ryzen...

Dell XPS 15 9530 Review: A Beautiful, Power-Efficient Laptop

by Ben Funk - Tue, Jun 06, 2023

Dell XPS 15 (9530) - Starting at $1,299 Dell's newest XPS laptop is an evolutionary upgrade, but its power-efficient, high-performance components and very good battery life should put this notebook on the short list for content creators everywhere. Bright and colorful OLED display Very good battery life Premium, thin, and lightweight design User upgradeable RAM and storage Solid performance, especially on the CPU Good keyboard with biometric authentication Gaming performance lags bigger laptops No high-refresh display options Minimal external connectivity 720p webcam is disappointing There's something...

HP Dragonfly Pro Review: An AMD Ryzen 7 Laptop That Delivers

by Dave Altavilla - Wed, May 17, 2023

HP Dragonfly Pro 14: Starting At $1399.99 The HP Dragonfly Pro is a premium 14-inch laptop built on a very solid foundation of AMD Ryzen 7000 series processors, and its build quality, performance and battery life are exceptional. Excellent Fit, Finish And Design Great Performance Fantastic Battery Life Excellent Keyboard And Trackpad Cool And Quiet Single 1200p Display Option No SDCard Or SIM Slot Option No USB-A Or Headphone Jack HPs Dragonfly Pro laptops are a line-up of business-class machines bolstered by premium build quality and aesthetics that are also desirable for mainstream consumers....

Apple MacBook Pro 14 With M2 Pro Review: Fast And Efficient

by Ben Funk - Tue, May 09, 2023

Apple MacBook Pro 14" (2023) with M2 Pro - Starting at $1,999 The latest MacBook Pro doesn't blow the 2021 model out of the water, but for those clinging to legacy x86 Apple hardware, it's a compelling upgrade. Excellent performance Unrivaled battery life Premium materials and design Beautiful 120Hz display with mini LED brightness Solid keyboard with biometric authentication Seamless integration with other Apple devices macOS is not for everyone - especially gamers No x86 means no native Windows installs (VM only) Soldered storage and RAM Otherwise gorgeous display marred by notch We'll just come...

AMD Ryzen 7040U Phoenix CPUs Bring Zen 4 And RDNA 3 Graphics To Ultralight Laptops

by Zak Killian - Wed, May 03, 2023

It wasn't really all that long ago that the concept of a high-end laptop sporting an AMD CPU was a laughable proposition. Now, the company is downright competitive with Intel's finest, at least on the high end. For laptops with a lower power limit than AMD's Ryzen 7045 series can serve, AMD has the monolithic Ryzen 7040U series, releasing today. That's right: these processors will be the second wave of Phoenix-based chips to hit the market. Introduced this year at CES, the Ryzen 7040 series are a family of what would have once been called "APUs": These are SoCs that spring for a balance of CPU...

Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen 8 Review: 14-Inch 2-In-1 Laptop Excellence

by Christian de Looper - Fri, Apr 28, 2023

Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen 8: Starting At $1235 The Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen 8 doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it does put Intel's 13th Gen Raptor Lake platform on full display, in a premium, ultra-portable package. Thin and light Excellent performance Gorgeous 4K OLED touch display Premium design and build Middling battery life with 4K display option Basic integrated graphics No SD card slot New thin-and-light offerings from the likes of Lenovo, Dell, ASUS and HP have been pushing boundaries in the sub-4lb laptop category, with increasing performance-per-watt and premium designs that are...

ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 Review: AMD Dragon Range Breathes Fire

by Marco Chiappetta - Mon, Apr 03, 2023

ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17: As Configured - $3499  The new ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 is an immensly powerful gaming notebook, equally adept at multi-threaded creator workloads as it is for the latest AAA games. Excellent Performance Multi-Thread Leadership Balanced Form Factor Decent Keyboard, Nice Trackpad Battery Life Price Premium Fan Pitch After a couple of leaks and unsubstantiated initial reports, AMD officially confirmed its plans to release a series high-end mobile processors, codenamed “Dragon Range,” during a financial conference call in June of last year. Then at CES this past...

Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 Review: Great Perf, Superb OLED

by Chris Goetting - Thu, Mar 30, 2023

Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro 360: As Configured - $1699.99 The Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 delivers a premium convertible computing experience with dazzling 120Hz AMOLED display. Brilliant OLED Display Strong Battery Life Very Responsive Performance Immersive Dolby Atmos Audio Massive Trackpad Full 10-Key NumPad Included Grainy "FHD" Webcam Size Can Be Unwieldy As Convertible Overloaded With Samsung Apps Ultrathin laptop shoppers are spoiled for choices these days. Every major manufacturer seems to offer an array of compelling options, pushing them to incorporate increasingly premium features that...

MSI Titan GT77 HX Laptop Review: Killer Gaming And Creator Performance

by Marco Chiappetta - Fri, Mar 24, 2023

MSI Titan GT77 HX: As Configured - NA, 13980HX+128GB+4090 - $5,900 The newest MSI Titan GT77 HX gaming laptop for 2023 is powered by the latest Intel and NVIDIA mobile hardware and puts up exemplary benchmark scores. Extraordinary Performance Fantastic Keyboard Excellent Display Tons Of IO Attractive Chassis Hefty Price Premium Battery Life Large Form Factor A few months back we took a look at what was one of the most powerful gaming notebooks available, the MSI Titan GT77. The configuration we tested was powered by an Intel Core i9-12900HK processor and a GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, and featured 64GB...