I’ve tested Nvidia’s RTX Spark laptop chip (spoiler alert: it’s mindblowing), and now I’ve gone hands-on with every single laptop launching in just a few months time to set up a ranked list.

Eight premium notebooks are launching — each with their own unique features and quirks that I’m keen to share, so that when the launch date arrives, you know which one is best for you. Of course, this is personal preference, and certain systems I put in a lower grade may be better suited for you!

These are all incredible-feeling laptops, but grading them allowed me to get brutally honest with where I’d put them. So without further ado, let’s get into it.

While the Microsoft Surface Laptop was used in the demos, other models were turned off. This was something Nvidia required to ensure journalists (like me) don’t sneakily benchmark the laptops! That being said, these notebooks are basically pre-existing laptops but with RTX Spark inside and some tweaked cooling, so I can use past experience to fill in some gaps.

Nvidia RTX Spark laptops: Tier list

S-Tier: Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra and Asus ProArt P14

I’ve already shared my experience with the Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra — it’s a spectacular-feeling laptop in terms of a premium build quality, fantastic mini LED screen, tactile keyboard and a utilitarian aesthetic.

But the big showcase feature here (that no other Spark system has) is that breakthrough touchpad, which is able to communicate back to you with haptics across the UI. It’s a unique sensation like when snapping apps to the sides of the screen.

That being said, it is a 16-inch beast of a system, and the reason why I love my 14-inch MacBook Pro is the power paired with portability. Enter the Asus ProArt P14, and when I say Apple’s pro notebook is in trouble, this is the most direct competition to it in terms of premium build, fantastic ergonomics, port array and that RTX Spark chip.

Throw in an OLED display, and you’ve got a phenomenal ultraportable that I’d be willing to trade off a little bit of battery life to get — but hopefully Nvidia’s “all-day battery life” comes true to make this less of a fear.

A-Tier: MSI Prestige Flip N16 AI+, Asus ProArt P16 and HP Omnibook X 14

Kicking off with the Prestige Flip N16 AI+, I’ve already gone hands-on with the Intel version of this system back at CES 2026, and I’m a huge fan of it. This is the only 2-in-1 in the lineup, and that flippable hinge has a smooth glide and strong staying power at all angles.

On top of that, the touchscreen OLED panel on the pre-existing model is gorgeous; the keyboard is nicely tactile; and the touchpad is absolutely massive. Plus, there’s a stylus stowed in the bottom of the shell magnetically.

Then there’s the ProArt P16 from Asus, which is the same as that P14, but only bigger. If 16 inches is more than your speed, this is a fantastic option. But I’ll always opt for something more portable.

And finally in the A-tier is the HP Omnibook X 14, which immediately tickled my inner love for 14-inch laptops. Premium build quality, good I/O and a top notch OLED panel up top — so why the lower grade? Well, it comes down to that keyboard.

Whenever I’m typing on laptop boards, I’m more of a fan of a subtle dish that my fingers can fall into, whereas the keys on here are much more pronounced. It definitely has its fans, but I’m a little more mixed towards them.

B-Tier: HP Omnibook 16 Ultra, Lenovo Yoga Pro 9N and Dell XPS 16 Creator Edition

Now for the B-tier. Again, not any real slight, and this is my way-too-early impressions based on holding the systems. But personal taste made this an easy decision.

The HP Omnibook 16 Ultra felt like the heaviest laptop of the bunch, and while it has all those same winning specs as other options like an OLED display and a ton of I/O, that keyboard has those odd raised keys again and the edges can feel a bit sharp on the wrists when leaning on this to type.

Next, the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9N. From my time going hands-on with the Yoga Pro 9i (the same laptop shell), it’s a real prosumer piece of hardware with a nice aluminum build and those classic Lenovo ergonomics (a phenomenal keyboard for example).

But amongst a bunch of laptops that have some real unique elements that make these devices shine, it’s a rather unremarkable option. Not to say that’s a bad thing — I’m all for laptops that nail the fundamentals, but some just reinvent those fundamentals.

And then, there’s the Dell XPS 16 Creator Edition. In many ways, this is very much a Surface Laptop Ultra alternative, and another chapter in the book of Dell’s XPS apology tour for ditching the brand for a weird year back in 2024. The screen’s great, the touchpad is massive, and the I/O is plentiful.

My only main gripe is the keyboard — chiclet keys with no gaps between them. In my time testing XPS 16s of old, it took me a while to get used to a board like this, and I found myself often losing my place and making a couple of spelling errors.

Outlook

Of course, there's a lot more we need to find out first — not just actually testing these systems, but the big question of price. In a Q&A session, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang did say this is the top-tier chip as part of a whole family.

That does mean we could get cheaper, lower-end models too. But looking at what we tested, we can get a somewhat decent guess of the price based on the fact its essentially the same silicon (and RAM) as the DGX Spark mini AI PC — a device that costs $5,000.

So if you want the top-tier model, this could get real pricey! But all I can say is I hope there are more reasonably priced RTX Spark laptops, which in the midst of RAMageddon may be tricky.

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We knew it was coming, but HP has confirmed that the extraordinary memory crisis is significantly affecting the cost of building its laptops. RAM now accounts for 35% of a laptop's build cost.

"We did share last quarter that memory and storage costs made up roughly 15 percent to 18 percent of our PC bill of materials, and we now currently estimate this to be roughly 35 percent for the year," said CFO Karen Parkhill in the company's most recent earnings call. Parkhill confirmed that price increases will be coming to combat the price increases.

HP is just the latest in a run of PC manufacturers, including Asus and Acer, that have said that prices will go up in response to memory prices.

During the call, interim CEO Bruce Broussard said that he believes "the market will rationalize over time." An Asus rep told Tom's Guide something similar, though they noted that "no one wants to be the first to lower prices."

Meanwhile, HP is trying to find new suppliers and lower-cost sourcing for RAM. It's a similar strategy to one Acer is taking in looking for smaller vendors that aren't the big three of Samsung, Micron and SK Hynix.

Surprisingly, HP execs also said that the company is seeing high demand for AI PCs, claiming that 35% of recent PC sales were AI ones. It's an interesting contradiction for Dell, whose head of product said customers don't care about AI PCs.

"What we've learned over the course of this year, especially from a consumer perspective, is they're not buying based on AI," Dell exec Kevin Terwilliger said before CES. "In fact, I think AI probably confuses them more than it helps them understand a specific outcome."

In the meantime, AI is eating up the supply of RAM and even affecting other computing components like GPUs and hard drives.

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• HP wants you to rent your next laptop — I did the math and it's actually terrifying
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In the face of the RAM crisis, laptops are one of the many devices that are set to see major price hikes, driven by AI data centers causing a severe memory shortage. Now, HP is offering an alternative buying option: rent your laptop.

Recently, HP launched a laptop subscription service that lets you pay a monthly fee for an AI-powered PC for productivity or a gaming machine, with prices starting at $34.99 per month. Plus, it comes with the option to upgrade to the latest laptop after one year, along with 24/7 live support, add-on accessories and replacements if there are issues.

However, unlike finance plans, no matter how long you use the service to pay for your PC of choice, there's no option to own the laptop. In light of the memory shortage, it echoes the expectation of AI forcing you to rent your PC, and HP is among the first to take the plunge.

The beginning of the end of ownership?

HP's subscription service for laptops covers a range of PCs to suit different needs and price points, including an HP OmniBook X Flip 14 with Windows Copilot and an HP Omen Max 16 sporting an RTX 5080.

For the lowest price, you can grab an HP Pavilion 16 for $34.99, which comes with an Intel Core Ultra 7 CPU, 16GB of RAM and 512GB SSD. For the most costly option, the HP Omen Max 16 will set you back $129.99 per month, which is equipped with an Intel Core Ultra 9 processor, RTX 5080 GPU, 32GB of RAM and 1TB SSD.

Many of these options are among the best laptops around, and depending on what you use them for, they make for reliable machines. But all things considered, these are high monthly prices to pay, even if it is for an all-new machine.

Here's a breakdown of the monthly price of each laptop offered in the subscription service, and how much they cost in full (some that currently have discounts):

The monthly fee certainly looks attractive compared to the full price of many of these laptops, and for some, it's a more immediately affordable way to grab a new laptop sporting the latest specs. Plus, the addition of being able to upgrade after 12 months is a perk, especially for gamers after the latest specs.

However, keep in mind that there is no option to own the laptop, even if you end up paying for the laptop in full after a certain number of months.

For example, the HP Pavilion 16 currently costs $769 for the exact laptop you get in the subscription service. It would take around 21 months to pay that off, so just under two years. That's without a deal, mind you, and you'll find the Pavilion 16 for less. If you hold on to the Pavilion for 3 years, the total price you pay balloons to $1,259, and if you keep it 5 years it goes up to $2,099. That's an increase of 173%.

For the HP Omen Max 16 at its discounted price of $2,499, this would take around 19 months. But if you kept paying the monthly rental fee for 5 years, the cost of the laptop would go up to $4,679. And you would pay more than three times the retail price if you wound up renting for 5 years.

With just under two years of full use and the ability to upgrade, this could be a viable option for many. But as soon as you no longer want to pay, you'll no longer have a laptop to use.

HP does offer a 30-day trial period, where you can get a full refund after trying out the subscription service. But after this, there's a cancellation fee that applies, with up to $1,429 if you cancel a subscription on the Omen Max 16 in the second month. The cost of the cancelation fee goes down after each month of use, and after 12 months, you won't have to pay anything.

The PC peripheral add-ons, including a mouse, headset, USB-C hub and even a 24-inch HP Omen monitor for just $5.99 per month, are also nice options to have. But again, as HP states, "there is no option to own the gaming laptop you receive as part of your subscription," and that includes the accessories.

Yet another subscription

As HP notes in its FAQ section: "The ability to trade in your gaming laptop every 12 months for the newest model makes the OMEN Gaming Subscription an attractive option for gamers looking to escape the headaches of an upgrade cycle and stay ahead of the curve." This line of thought also applies to the productivity lineup of HP laptops.

With the memory shortage driving up prices, it's only natural that a subscription service for laptops and accessories becomes an option. We already have subscription services like Netflix that have taken over how we watch shows, and cloud gaming services, including Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, Nvidia GeForce Now and Amazon Luna.

But renting a whole machine that you'll never own is a new level of subscribing to a service, and as James Bentley of PC Gamer rightfully notes, when there are 0% financing contracts available that will eventually let you keep a device after monthly installments, renting a laptop loses its appeal. I mean, laptops these days have more than enough performance power to last for years to come, and a yearly upgrade may not be worth it.

As RAMageddon continues to change the landscape of consumer tech, with manufacturers like Micron believing it will last until 2028, we're now seeing subscription services for laptops become a reality, and the higher costs of PC hardware may force us to resort to renting.

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A few months ago, I tested the HP OmniBook Ultra Flip 14 and felt it was more style over substance — especially for the asking price of it. Turning my attention to the HP OmniBook X Flip 14, the moment I felt its sturdy, premium metal build in my hand, I feared more of the same.

Don’t get me wrong, this 2-in-1 is quite the looker. That meteor silver finish and all-metal casing is a stylishly utilitarian frame; that Gorilla Glass-fronted display looks great' and the ergonomics have a nice tactile feel to them, from the snappy touchpad to the keyboard.

Inside, you’re getting Intel Core Ultra 5 226V — definitely enough for casual productivity and some short bursts of prosumer tasks and intense multitasking (it can get a little hot under that kind of pressure). Though, this chip choice does lend itself to a decent all day-ish battery life of 8 ½ hours.

And as I went to check the price, I feared the worst. But no. This particular HP OmniBook X Flip 14 is $599… Yes, the MSRP is technically $999, but since July, this system has been regularly on sale at around the $600 mark. I’m willing to safely say this is the actual retail price — you see a lot of brands do this to make their prices look even more alluring.

However, I don’t think HP even needed to do that! At this price, the OmniBook X Flip 14 is a mightily enticing notebook for working professionals, students, and those who are looking for something that keeps up with them all-day.

HP OmniBook X Flip 14: Cheat Sheet

• What is it? This is a premium 2-in-1 Windows laptop
• Who is it for? It’s an ideal 2-in-1 for workers on-the-go, students, and for those who want to have a reliable, durable system wherever they are
• What does it cost? MSRP is technically $999 (boo) but it’s almost always been $599 (yay)
• What do we like? I’m a big fan of the durable, premium and utilitarian design here, the performance is strong in a mid-range kinda way, and for the price you’re actually paying, it’s worthwhile.
• What don’t we like? It’s HP, so expect plenty of bloatware, and that gapless keyboard may have a nice haptic feel to it, but no gaps will take a while to get used to for touch typing.

HP OmniBook Ultra Flip 14: Specs

HP OmniBook X Flip 14: The ups

For $599, you’re getting a mightily good-looking and feeling system here with strong mid-range performance and good all-day stamina.

Strong utilitarian looks, nice display

Yes, the Omnibook X Flip 14 isn’t the thinnest or lightest machine out there, but it’s quite the premium utilitarian workhorse in aesthetic and durability. The all-metal chassis gives off a confidence while that subtle wedge shape is at a nice angle for your wrists to type away.

The hinge feels impressively smooth yet rigid at the same time to flip into full tent or tablet mode, while staying strong in traditional laptop mode. And when you do open it up, you’re welcomed to an impressively color accurate display that is quite the looker whether for work and play.

Granted, it's IPS — you're not getting the super vivid likes of OLED, but this panel does a good job with decent brightness (even in direct light) and has a decent color accuracy for the times I dipped into Photoshop.

Throw in impressively zippy touch sensitivity and a touchpad that has a nice snappy response, and this is a seriously well put-together laptop that can withstand the elements.

Strong performance and power efficiency

Now, let’s turn our attention to what’s inside here. You’re getting an Intel Core Ultra 5 226V, 16GB RAM and a 512GB SSD. Some of our sister publications have tested the AMD model (identical in all ways but without the Intel CPU), so I can use these both as a frame of comparison.

Put simply, whichever way you go, you’re in for a great mid-range workhorse for your productivity tasks and multitasking.

These kinds of numbers are enough for 15-20 Chrome tabs on-the-go with a couple of videos running in the background, though the bottom does get a little hot under strenuous pressure. But while AMD does get a lead in some of the processing tasks, the one place where Intel pulls ahead is in power efficiency.

Of course, we’re only talking about a few minutes extra, but every minute counts if you’re working away from the outlet. And to say you this capability (and great design) for $599 makes these kinds of numbers all the sweeter.

HP OmniBook X Flip 14: The downs

For all the strengths the HP OmniBook X Flip 14 has, not everything is great. One thing is an annoyance, and one will take some getting used to.

That keyboard will not be for everyone

I’ve dabbled with a few laptops that sport keyboards without gaps between the keys, and every time it takes me a while to get used to it for touch typing. Put simply, this won’t be a good choice for everyone.

That’s not to say it’s a bad keyboard — there’s a solid tactile feel to each key with a cushioned landing with a soft clickiness. It feels purposeful, but it’s an awkward learning curve.

Stop with the bloatware!

I won’t subject you to a long-winded rant about bloatware, because we all know it’s the digital equivalent of finding uninvited houseguests in your spare room. But it’s usually the result of a corporate "partnership" bribe.

The moment I hit the power button, the laptop erupted into a frantic chorus of McAfee alerts and HP Smart pop-ups, like a needy ex who refuses to take the hint.

My first "bonding moment" with this machine wasn't testing the hardware; it was a ruthless trip to the “Add or Remove Programs” menu to perform a total purge.

While Windows 11 makes the eviction process snappy, it doesn’t change the fact that you shouldn't have to clean your house the second you move in.

HP OmniBook X Flip 14: Verdict

HP did the OmniBook X Flip 14 an injustice when the company told me the MSRP is $999. Just tell me the real price, because at $600, this is a great system for students and professionals alike.

This is a premium, durable 2-in-1 with a solid display, good mid-range performance and decent all-day battery life.

And provided you're up for learning to get used to that keyboard and remove all that bloatware, you've got a good value for money option on your hands.

While one of the best laptops will certainly do the job for most people, I’ve always found them limiting. From their non-modular designs to the constant worry of keeping a battery topped off, I prefer to work on a desktop whenever possible.

In fact, I’ve gone so far as to bring one of the best mini PCs with me when I travel, and more recently, I ditched my laptop entirely for a pocketable mini PC and a pair of AR glasses. The catch is that I still have to bring a keyboard. But what if I didn’t?

The Raspberry Pi 400 was the first device to truly put the keyboard-PC back on the map. At less than $100, you aren't paying a premium for the form factor, but being limited to ARM-based Linux meant it could never be my daily driver for work.

HP recently showed off its new EliteBoard G1a, which feels much better suited for a mainstream audience as it offers a full Windows 11 Pro experience that easily fits in a backpack. After going hands-on with it, I think I’m finally one step closer to leaving my mini PC behind and just working from a keyboard — even if the dream isn't quite perfect yet.

Finally, a pro-level keyboard-PC

At first glance, the HP EliteBoard G1a doesn’t look that different from any other keyboard you’d find in an office setting, as it has a full-size layout with a numpad on the right. It’s only when you see it from the side that you notice the laptop-like vents and two USB-C ports on the top left corner.

On the version I saw, these were the only two ports on the device — one is a high-speed USB4 port and the other is USB 3.2 Gen 2.

What surprised me most about the EliteBoard G1a is that both of these ports are capable of video out. With one of the best monitors that has at least 65W of USB-C Power Delivery, you can actually run a dual-monitor setup right from the keyboard. This effectively turns your display into a docking station, leaving your desk completely clutter-free.

When you flip the EliteBoard G1a over, the cooling vents reveal its true nature. Powered by an AMD Ryzen AI 300 Series processor with up to Radeon 860M graphics, it’s a legitimate powerhouse.

Beyond standard office work, it’s equipped to handle creative apps like Photoshop and even light gaming — tasks that would bring a Raspberry Pi 400 to its knees.

The device can also be outfitted with an optional 32Wh internal battery. This isn’t meant for working on the go with a portable monitor; instead, like with the Khadas Mind mini PC, it’s designed to let you move from one desk to another without shutting down or rebooting.

Even the power button feels "Elite." A solid white LED means it’s powered on, while a blinking light indicates Modern Standby — ready to wake up with a single tap. You can even opt for a version with an integrated fingerprint sensor for Windows Hello, so you can securely login as you’re powering up the device.

During my hands-on time, the experience was snappy and, more importantly, practically silent. An HP rep explained that it’s tuned to stay at or below 38dB, backed by a TÜV certification for low noise. For a moment there, I almost forgot there was a whole computer underneath my fingers.

Close but it doesn't quite track

I was quite impressed with the EliteBoard G1a, but it isn’t without its shortcomings, the most significant of which is the numpad on the right. If you’re an accountant or a real number cruncher, you probably need those keys, but for the rest of us, it feels like wasted space.

A trackpad would be a whole lot more useful for a device meant to be a portable all-in-one. HP is actually exploring adding a trackpad version to the EliteBoard G1a lineup, but in the meantime, the device at least comes with a pre-paired wireless mouse to bridge the gap.

As someone who couldn’t imagine working without one of the best mechanical keyboards, the real deal-breaker for me is the typing experience. To achieve that ultra-thin 12mm profile, the EliteBoard G1a features a low-profile scissor-switch membrane keyboard instead of true mechanical switches.

The silver lining is that the design is remarkably modular; the keyboard deck is spill-resistant and easy to replace if it gets damaged or if you accidentally douse it in coffee.

If the EliteBoard G1a had mechanical keyswitches and a trackpad on the right, it would be the perfect device for me, especially given how much power that AMD Ryzen AI 300 chip packs into such a tiny form factor. Unfortunately, it’s currently designed for business users where a quiet membrane keyboard is par for the course.

Now that HP has shown you can cram a powerful Windows 11 computer into a keyboard, I'm hopeful other PC makers will follow suit. Here’s to hoping one of them decides to go all-in on the premium typing experience and gives us a keyboard-PC with both mechanical switches and a trackpad.

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This feels like cheating, but it’s actually one of the most mindblowing gaming headsets I tried at CES 2026. The HyperX Neurable gaming headset concept is able to read your brainwaves and make you better at games.

By using EEG sensors, AI and a little bit of mindful exercise, this set of cans is able to read the stresses in your mind, calm you down and overclock your brain’s focus. And after testing it myself, I went from a skeptic to a pro gaming believer.

A 30-something gamer who fell off a long time ago in first person shooters found his swagger all over again, and I look forward to popping the young’uns like I’m 14 playing Halo 2 all over again.

How it works

So I know this is the first question a lot of you are going to have. Given a lot of EEG machines require pads placed directly on the temple to read brain signals, how on Earth is this able to do the same with just headphone cups?

Because you can see the contacts built directly in there (those grey strips). By pairing it with an AI inferencing model, it’s able to read the wider noise of your brain and narrow it down to the focus, stress and cognitive load signals it needs to look for when it comes to improving focus.

And by putting you through a mindful breathing and focus exercise — staring at a peaceful visualizer of dots floating in a sphere — it can track when your brain has been boosted to just the right level, while simultaneously relaxing your body.

This puts your entire being into a state that is ready for the quick twitch reactions you need for competitive gaming.

“I felt like time was slowing down”

I’d understand if that sounds a little too good to be true, but I really felt like time was slowing down. I went through this mindful focus exercise, and once the timer started to shoot as many targets as possible again, my trigger finger was a whole lot faster and more accurate too.

To put it into specifics, my high score on the shooting range went up by over 5,000 points, my accuracy increased by two percentage points, but most importantly, my response time to a target decreased by nearly 100 milliseconds.

These are critical stats that help you be far more economical and efficient with the ammo you have in any FPS, and for the first few seconds, it felt a little bit like the Dead Eye mode in Red Dead Redemption 2 in terms of focusing like with rapid response to dispense of my targets.

All I can do is pray that this becomes a real product I can buy, because imagining this for my sim racing — especially during endurance competitions — is a mightily exciting prospect.

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What’s thiner than the MacBook Air M4 but packs a 3K OLED display and your choice of the latest Intel or Qualcomm CPU. And it’s mil-spec tested for durability?

That would be the HP OmniBook Ultra 14 2026, which I had a chance to go hands-on with ahead of CES 2026. It promises stellar battery like in a chassis that feels light but also tough enough to survive life on the go for road warriors, students and more. Here's my pros and cons so far.

Thinner (and tougher) than the Air

HP says this new laptop is 5% thinner than the MacBook Air while being 52% lighter than the previous OmniBook Ultra. How light? It’s just 2.81 pounds, which is just slightly more than the 2.7-pound Air.

But remember that HP not only gives you a bigger display but it’s also a touchscreen — something you won’t find on any MacBook (yet).

The Snapdragon X2 Elite version if the one to get if you want the longest battery life plus serious AI horsepower with 85 NPU TOPS. If you’re looking for more graphics might, I’d opt for the Intel Panther Lake model.

HP calls the OmniBook Ultra 14 the “world’s most durably slim 14-inch consumer notebook.” But what the heck does that mean? It’s built to survive 20 military-standard (MIL-STD-810) tests for drops, shocks, temperature extremes and more.

There’s another feature on board here that some might say is helpful and others might say is creepy. A new posture detection feature can detect if your neck is tilting, if you’re slouching or at an awkward angle.

Extra long endurance (promised)

Picking up the OmniBook Ultra 14, it feels lightweight but quite sturdy. And I like the forged stamped aluminum design, complete with the tattooed look of the logo.

The sculpted keys felt comfortable when typing, and I like the wide and responsive touchpad. The touchpad has a couple of cool hidden features, too. You can slide your finger up on one side of the touchpad to quickly control the volume and the other side for adjusting screen brightness.

So what about battery life? You’ll get up to 22.5 hours with the 3K OLED display and up to 30 hours if you opt for a less powerful CPU and 3K display. The 65-watt charger will get you to 50% in 45 minutes.

The color options vary by CPU choice. I’m partial to the Stone Blue model but that’s only available with the Snapdragon chip. The Intel model has a more subdued Eclipse Gray/Silk Sand color.

HP OmniBook Ultra 14 Outlook

Overall, the OmniBook Ultra looks good so far, but I'm worried about the $1,549 starting price. It's way more expensive than the MacBook Air M4. It's closer to the $1,499 MacBook Pro M5, so this system will really have to deliver on performance and battery life.

Stay tuned for our full HP OmniBook review, and for more of the latest tech news check out our CES 2026 live blog.

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As CES 2025 approaches, we're preparing for the expected launch of next-gen Intel Panther Lake-equipped laptops. And so are brands like HP and MSI, as the first Core Ultra series 3 machines have now appeared at retailers — including their prices.

The first laptops with Intel Panther Lake CPUs are now listed at multiple stores, including Walmart. As spotted by tipster @momomo_us on X, there's now an HP OmniBook X Flip 16 with an Intel Core Ultra 7 355 CPU, and it's priced at $999.

Since Intel has yet to officially launch its upcoming chips, the laptop isn't available to purchase yet. This is just a placeholder as the retailer prepares a new lineup of next-gen notebooks, but for now, it gives us an idea of the cost we can expect. And, as it turns out, it's not the major price bump we'd expect.

With every new generation of laptops sporting the latest specs, prices are always expected to be set at a premium, especially over last-gen products. Plus, the RAM crisis will only see costs soar higher. According to this listing, though, this Intel Panther Lake laptop is at the same price as the previous-gen model.

You can find the HP OmniBook X Flip 16 with an Intel Core Ultra 5 226V CPU priced at $999 over on the HP Store, even though it's currently reduced to $649 thanks to a sale. Arguably, the latest OmniBook with a Core Ultra 7 processor is the better deal at full price.

Along with its Core Ultra 7 355 CPU, the next-gen model of HP's OmniBook X Flip 16 also comes with Intel integrated graphics, 16GB of DDR5 RAM, 512GB of storage and a 16-inch (1920 x 1200) LED touchscreen (not the 2K the listing mentions).

Since this is a listing that's published before the official launch of the laptop, pricing may change. But it's a good indication of costs to come, especially on machines sporting the upgraded Intel Core Ultra 300 processors.

Gaming laptops with Intel are a little high...

It's not unheard of to see MSI laptops set at premium prices, with the monstrous MSI Titan 18 HX priced from a whopping $5,000. But these new Intel Panther Lake laptops appearing on EU retailer sites (via Wccftech) seem a tad overpriced. Or at least, hopefully.

For example, there's an MSI 16I with an Intel Core Ultra 7 355 (same as the HP OmniBook) priced at €2,611 at French retailer PC21, so around $3,061. Despite it also boasting a 2.8K resolution OLED display and 32GB of DDR5 RAM, that seems awfully expensive.

There's also an MSI 16I with a much stronger Intel Core Ultra X9 388H CPU for €3,006 at PC21, making it around $3,524. There's no GPU in sight here, with this chip coming with Xe3 graphics architecture to deliver onboard graphics performance for gaming, albeit not to the level of a discrete RTX 50-series GPU.

Those prices seem strangely high for these kinds of laptops, even with next-gen Intel CPUs inside. These could be random placeholder numbers for these retailers, as again, these laptops aren't available to purchase yet.

We've seen how Intel Panther Lake has the gaming chops to power the future of handheld gaming, and that's also a good sign for thin, lightweight laptops to play the latest AAA games with just an Intel chip. The question is, how pricey will these machines be? For now, if Walmart's listing price on the HP OmniBook X Flip 16 is accurate, it may not be at such a high price.

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Thought Black Friday and Cyber Monday would be HP's last sale of the year? Think again: HP's Boxing Day sale is rolling out a fresh batch of deals from now until Monday, January 5 on the company's most popular business and consumer laptops.

Whether you’re after a high-performance gaming model with RTX graphics from the HP Omen series, a versatile 2-in-1 from the Envy lineup, or a productivity-focused laptop from the OmniBook range, now’s one of the best times of the year to upgrade.

And on top of HP's already lowered prices, you can use our exclusive FUTURE5 coupon code at checkout to receive an additional 5% off the overall price.

• Browse the HP Australia Boxing Day 2025 sale

Not sure which devices are worth your dosh? The Australian Tom’s Guide team has sifted through all of HP's Boxing Day deals to highlight the top gaming, home and business picks so you can score maximum savings.

HP Australia is a Tom's Guide preferred partner (What does that mean?)

HP Boxing Day sale: best deals

HP deals: Key information

• Want to save more at HP? Check out the latest HP coupon codes.

We have reached the seemingly sudden arrival of the RAMageddon tidal wave.

As AI companies gobbled up DRAM and hard drives for expanding and new data centers, it slowly became apparent that a shortage was brewing with a downstream effect that would hit manufacturers and consumers in the pocketbook.

It started earlier this week with the closure of Crucial, a Micron company that sold consumer memory. And now a report from TrendForce suggests Dell, HP, and Lenovo will raise prices heading into 2026.

Dell could raise prices as soon as mid-December

Just before Thanksgiving, Dell COO Jeff Clarke called the memory shortage “unprecedented” during an earnings call with investors.

“We’re in a very unique time. It’s unprecedented. We have not seen costs move at the rate that we’ve seen,” said Clarke, according to CRN. “And by the way, it’s not unique to DRAM, it’s NAND. It is hard drives, leading edge nodes across the semiconductor network.”

Clarke went on to say the last cycle like this was in 2016 and 2017. At the time, Dell prioritized getting parts. Dell is now going to do everything it can to “minimize the impact”, according to Clarke, but cost will go up across all its products.

Sure enough, Trendforce’s industry sources claim Dell is now expected to raise prices between 15-20% as soon as mid-December.

Lenovo is reportedly also warning customers (presumably retailers and enterprise clients) that “all current quotations and prices” will expire on January 1, 2026. The company is blaming the memory shortage and rapid growth of AI tech for the forthcoming price hike.

Product roadmaps derailed by shortage

As the Korean publication Chosun Biz reports, the shock of the memory shortage is causing multiple companies (from Lenovo and Dell to Samsung and LG) to rethink their entire 2026 product roadmaps, including whether to launch new AI-focused PCs and tablets.

"PC companies have no choice but to respond by postponing releases or redesigning products rather than lowering margins,” a Korean PC company rep told Chosun Biz.

During HP’s earnings call at the end of November, HP CEO Enrique Lores expressed similar sentiments. Though Lores did say that the first half of 2026 should be okay for HP since the company currently has a memory stockpile. Bloomberg reported that Lenovo has also begun stockpiling PC memory to get through at least 2026.

Starting in May, though, Lores claimed the shortage will start eating into HP’s product margins. Lores explained that the cost of memory alone now accounts for 15-18% of the cost of producing a typical PC, which is double what it was last year.

Not alone

CyberPowerPC announced last week that it would raise prices starting December 7. Maingear has been telling customers to buy PCs and components now to avoid the coming rate hikes.

PC makers are the canary at this point, but we expect this shortage to hit every tech market. Right now, phone makers are also bracing for hikes. Chinese companies like Xiaomi and Redmi have already told clients that increases between 20% and 30% are coming next year.

And internal divisions at Samsung surrounding memory pricing between the company’s Electronics Device Solutions (DS) and Mobile eXperience (MX) wings could impact the pricing of next year’s Galaxy S26 series. And there is no end in sight. PC Gamer reports that the blooming DRAM prices could run past 2028.

Don’t expect cheaper tech any time soon. Between PC manufacturers hoarding memory and the insatiable appetite of AI companies, it may actually be cheaper to buy a pre-built PC than building one yourself.

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The $1,500 ThinkPad X9 14 Aura Edition ($1,239 to start) is marketed as an AI-first, Copilot+ PC. Powered by an Intel Core Ultra 5 CPU, it's focused squarely on productivity: few ports and fewer frills with a solid input experience and an attractive display.

Like the rest of the ThinkPad line, it's aimed primarily at businesses that need a simple, reliable machine to hand out by the dozens. After using our ThinkPad X9 14 review unit for a few weeks myself, I'm pleased by the design and utility of the laptop but I have a hard time recommending it as one of the best business laptops because the competition is just so good.

While the no-frills experience has carried ThinkPads far, it's getting increasingly difficult to ignore the ARM-based "upstarts" that were once in the rearview, but have long since pulled ahead. I'll walk you through what I mean (and show you the test results from our lab that back up my experience) in this Lenovo ThinkPad X9 14 Aura Edition review.

Lenovo ThinkPad X9 14 Aura Edition review: Cheat sheet

Who is it for? Someone who needs a light and capable machine to wrangle office tasks, and is either subscribed to Microsoft's Copilot+ or doesn't want a Mac.

What does it cost? This model of Lenovo ThinkPad X9 14 starts at roughly $,1239 at Lenovo's website, though it can be configured to cost as much as $2,200 if you kit it out with the most capable CPU and maximum RAM and storage. As configured, the model we review here would cost you roughly $1,459.

What do we like? A great keyboard is paired with an attractive display, in a shell that's light and sturdy.

What don't we like? There are better performing ARM-based machines at this price point, and the drawbacks of going with ARM over x86 Intel chips aren't as bad as they once were.

Bottom Line? The Lenovo ThinkPad X9 14 is a sturdy, capable machine with a lot to like, but the competition is fierce—and usually cheaper.

Lenovo ThinkPad X9 14 Aura Edition review: The ups

• Minor aesthetic updates, but remains sleek and sturdy
• Bright attractive display, if a little glossy
• Keyboard and touchpad remain on point

If it ain't broke, tweak it

The ThinkPad aesthetic has seen a few tweaks in the last few generations, but you aren't going to be mistaking this machine for anything else.The bezels around the 14-inch display are likely be a bit thinner than the ThinkPad you may have been handed at your last job. And the display's frame bumps out a bit at the top, as if someone crammed the webcam, microphone, and ambient light sensors in as an afterthought. I like it: it breaks up the monotony of the otherwise grayish box with that telltale red dot, and gives my thumb something to focus on when I'm lifting the display on its rigid yet smooth hinge.

I doubt anyone who isn't shooting photos will spend as much time staring at the sides and undersides of laptops as I regularly do, but I like the tapered profile on offer here, propped up on a grille that I eagerly hoped was some robust audio loadout. Nope, those are fans, and not the pair of chibi-subwoofers that my heart desired. The slit that I at first blush assumed was a Smart Card reader are the speakers; there's one on each side.

It's for the best: the side-firing speakers means audio isn't blocked by my mitts when I'm tapping on the keyboard, nor muffled against my lap or table if they were located underneath. And they actually sound pretty good! I'm no audiophile, and while I don't typically look to ThinkPads for refined aural experiences the sound on offer here is rich and clear. The bass isn't tremendous, but it's not the tinny warble I've grown to expect from laptops barely over half an inch think. More importantly, dialogue is clear, and the Dolby Settings app offers a few different profiles and equalizers so you can prod things where you need them.

A wide, spacious keyboard is joined by the traditional ThinkPad branding on the keyboard tray and lid, and the TrackPoint nub is gone, leaving room for a more expansive touchpad. The keyboard experience remains excellent. The keys offer a comfortable amount of travel with every press, making for an error free typing experience. The touchpad is similarly appealing, tracking swipes and gestures with aplomb. But while an excellent input experience has been par for the course for Lenovo's wares for time immemorial, what was once a Lenovo mainstay is kind of de rigeur for laptops these days.

The 8MP webcam serves up crisp, clear images, albeit with colors that are just a little flat. It also supports Windows Hello, care of its infrared camera, so you can login with your face, in addition to the keyboard's fingerprint reader. My only real gripe is that the privacy shutter is a digital one, on the keyboard, and not a physical one on the lid, but we're picking at nits here.

Worth a second look

The X9 14 sports a 14-inch, 2,880 x 1,800 OLED display. It looks great: colors are vibrant, and remain true even at awkward angles. We recorded 121.7% of the sRGB spectrum. As close to 100% as possible is ideal; being under and over that limit means colors tend to lean undersaturated or oversaturated, respectively. They looked fine here, popping with life without being garish. The display also offers a 120Hz refresh rate; while the anemic, 8GB Intel Arc 130V GPU on offer here means gaming isn't really an option, a touch of silky smoothness in supported media, or just across the UI, is always appreciated.

That's all assuming you're inside. The X9 14 I reviewed has a touch screen display, and the glossiness means that when the sun hits your text just right you'll be self-reflecting more than you anticipated. It isn't too much of a bother to move the machine or adjust the lid, but if you're shopping I'd opt for a model without the touchscreen. At least it's bright: we saw an average of 443 nits of brightness on the display.

At 10 hours and 9 minutes on our automated battery test, the X9 14 isn't exactly a marathoner when compared to its ARM-powered associates. But that should be enough to get you through the average working day, and plenty of juice if you can find the occasional outlet. Our test consists of setting the display to 150 nits of brightness and surfing the web, so you can expect to see less when putting the machine through its paces.

Anecdotally, I saw closer to between 5 and 6 hours in my testing. But I kept the brightness near maximum, and when I wasn't wordsmithing I was puttering about in Lightroom and tinkering with tools like Ollama and LM Studio, to get an idea of how this AI-centric Copilot+ PC might handle local large language models (spoiler: not well). These are taxing operations, literally maxing out both memory and CPU performance. But while the machine warmed up the fans never got egregiously loud, or uncomfortable — we measured 92.1 degrees Fahrenheit at the warmest point. Suffice to say, your average web-browsing and document wrangling tasks will be handled with aplomb.

Lenovo ThinkPad X9 14 Aura Edition review: The downs

• Outpaced by ARM-based competitors
• AI claims remain a marketing dream

Losing at ARM wrestling

Intel's x86-based CPUs have had a rough go of it lately, outpaced by ARM-based competitors, and outpriced by Apple, of all manufacturers. And after putting our ThinkPad X9 14 Aura Edition review unit through our battery of performance tests in the lab, I'm sorry to report the Intel Core Ultra 5 CPU holds this business laptop back from true greatness.

To show you what I mean, have a look at our performance test results below. I kept this performance comparison simple by putting the X9 14 up agasint the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition as well as the Apple MacBook Air M4.

Price-wise, Apple's ultraportable is the cheapest in the bracket at $999 while the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition laptop cost ~$1,999 when reviewed it earlier this year. That leaves this ThinkPad X9 14 Aura Edition squarely in the middle at rouhgly $1,450. Of course the test results turn things on their head, with Apple's laptop pulling far ahead of the competition while the pair of Lenovo machines are within spitting distance of one another, despite their ~$400 price difference.

On the one hand, I try not to play favorites. On the other hand, I'm an old-school PC enthusiast, defined as multiple DIY'd Linux and Windows machines with beefy GPUs, case panels that are never quit affixed, and horrid cable management. On my third hand: with cross-platform apps being as prevalent as they are, and price-to-performance ratios this skewed, crossing the Apple Rubicon to save cents could make sense.

AI-first falls flat

There's a reason most consumer interactions with AI happen in the browser. Large language models (LLMs) thrive with access to plenty of RAM: ideally speedy VRAM from a GPU, though system RAM has a role to play too. This machine lacks much of either. In fact, outside of functionality built in to Office 365 apps and the on-again, off-again, Windows Recall, you'll be hard-pressed to find AI-powered experiences you can take advantage of locally, on this hardware.

I should note, this isn't an indictment of this machine. Yes, it's outpaced by Apple's wares on the benchmarks; x86 offerings in general are being trounced by ARM. But there are still plenty of workloads that preclude moving to a different CPU architecture. My gripe is with marketing materials that boast about a "Neural processing unit (NPU) with up to 48 TOPS AI performance." That's doesn't mean a whole lot for folks trying to wade into this Brave New World of AI, that want to find hardware to help them experience it. As it stands, unless you're a Copilot+ subscriber, which leaves you reliant on web connectivity anyway, I'd advise against letting a Copilot+ badge factor into your purchasing decision.

Lenovo ThinkPad X9 14 Aura Edition review: Verdict

When I checked out the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition, my chief gripe was over the price relative to its performance; slash about $400 of the sticker, and I'd be more agreeable to it. The ThinkPad X9 14 is literally that. It's marginally slower, owing to the weaker processor, but you aren't missing much in any other direction. Given that the RAM is soldered on I'd spend just a little bit extra (+$60, at time of writing) and get the Ultra 5 238V model with 32GB of RAM. All that being said, Apple's MacBook Air M4 starts at $999; models with 24GB of RAM and 512GB of storage start at $1,399.

I like this machine. It tackles the job its meant to and the price feels fair, given the build quality and performance on offer. More importantly, after just a few minutes in a search engine I found the maintenance manual, with a parts list, schematics, instructions on replacing components... It's not quite a Framework but if you're the type to tinker (and up for voiding warranties) you can truly own this machine, which has become increasingly important to me.

But your mileage may vary. If you don't have particular use cases that preclude using a Mac, the MacBook Air is might be too good a deal to pass up.

It’s rare (and kind of weird) to call a laptop “sexy.” But I must admit, opening up and holding the HP OmniBook Ultra Flip 14 did have me feeling some kind of way. Like, I haven’t felt like saying “damn this is gorgeous” about a laptop since the original MacBook Air, and HP’s done it again here.

This is an uber-premium 2-in-1 and the direct descendant of the Spectre line, which shows in this elegant, angular metallic finish that just exudes utilitarian chic. That 3K 120Hz OLED display up top is a true visual stunner with fast, responsive multi-touch, the keyboard and massive haptic trackpad feel great to use, and with over 12 hours of battery life, it’s got some good stamina, too.

…so what’s the problem? Well, ignoring the bloatware one (I’ll talk about that later), two come to mind that I think come from the decision to focus on making the Ultra Flip 14 look as good as it does.

First, the port array is pretty limited. With two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 2 and 3.5mm combo audio jack, you’re restricted here in what you can connect without a dongle to expand. Plus, placing two of these on the back corners does look cool, but it means you can’t slot in any thicker devices like a memory stick without it stopping the screen from unfolding.

And second, the performance doesn’t really live up to the hype created by its dashing looks or the price. The configuration we got weighs in at $1,899 (discounted to $1,449 right now on HP’s website).

But even at this price (and the starting discounted price of $999 — MSRP is $1,449), this puts it in steep competition with the likes of the Asus ProArt PX13 (which is $150 cheaper) and Lenovo’s double trouble of the Snapdragon-armed Yoga Slim 7x or the Intel variant in the Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition. And lest we forget the Apple-shaped monolith in the M4 MacBook Air that casts a long shadow over this space.

When you’re getting similar or more power for less with similar metallic build quality, that’s a problem. That’s not to say it’s a bad laptop. It’s actually a solid ultraportable work machine. But there are just better bang-for-your-buck options out there that stop this from being one of the best laptops you can buy right now.

HP Omnibook Ultra Flip 14 review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? This is a premium 2-in-1 Windows laptop — ultraportable and ultra premium in design and build quality.
• Who is it for? This is a great premium Copilot+ PC with the luxury stylings for business executives or those who crave something uber premium yet uber portable.
• What does it cost? Currently discounted to a starting price of $999, but the MSRP is $1,449. The model we tested goes up to $1,900.
• What do we like? It’s definitely one of the best-looking laptops of 2025. The stylings are sharp, the OLED display is gorgeous, and HP’s paid attention to ergonomics with a great keyboard and delightful haptic trackpad.
• What don’t we like? Sometimes it feels a little more style over substance, as performance doesn’t quite hit the numbers I’d want for this price tag, the limited port array is awkwardly placed and it is chock full of bloatware.

HP Omnibook Ultra Flip 14 review: Specs

HP Omnibook Ultra Flip 14 review: The ups

For the first couple of weeks of my daily driving the OmniBook Ultra Flip 14, by about the fifth person to really do a double-take and say “that’s a really good-looking laptop,” I realized there’s a lot to like here.

Really ridiculously good-looking

HP just pulled off the “blue steel” on the entire laptop market of 2025 and proved that utilitarian does not have to mean boring. The aesthetics are seriously eye-catching, from its matte black finish (that is surprisingly fingerprint resistant) to the subtle details like the curved front corners and angular back edges, the design team really pulled it out of the bag for this one.

And not only that, but as you can see with the dimensions, they’ve managed to make it thin and lightweight all the same. Make no mistake about it — if design is one of your key motivators in buying a laptop, this will show up the rest of your coworkers.

A gorgeous display

It’s OLED…you know what that means. Rich colors that just melt off the screen, a deep, inky contrast ratio and immersive accuracy that makes this a joy to work on and binge-watch Netflix shows to your heart’s content.

And with a 3K resolution, it’s impressively crispy, too, with a buttery smooth 120Hz variable refresh rate.

Some OLED displays do go brighter than this, but for almost all circumstances, you’re getting an absolute belter here with rapid multitouch for that excellent 2-in-1 experience.

Don’t forget the ergonomics!

And while you’ll like using it in tent mode, the standard laptop mode gets a whole lot of love. For how thin that keyboard is, it feels amazing to type on with nice spacing around the keys and a good tactile thump to each key press.

But bonus points have to go to that ocean of a haptic trackpad. It’s massive and has an immensely satisfying snap to every click, while being gorgeously smooth for all your sweeping gestures.

HP has always been a bit hit or miss in the ergonomics department, but the Ultra Flip 14 is a definitive hit.

HP Omnibook Ultra Flip 14 review: The downs

But as I started to really dig into using the Ultra Flip 14 — stressing it with my busy workload and trying to attach my must-use peripherals — I ran into problems that I don’t get on cheaper laptops with similar specs to this.

Performance underwhelms

Then we move to probably my biggest gripe here. For $1,900, I would expect much more performance than what I got — you’ve got lower-priced machines either matching or exceeding what is possible here.

To its defense, that does mean you’re getting a decent 12-hour battery life according to our own lab testing, but that’s a small benefit when you can get laptops that are nearly $1,000 less that are faster and longer-lasting.

And I believe this comes down to the design. It’s a damn good-looker, but to do this, I think some compromises had to be made performance-wise. Not to say it's a slouch, as it can hang with a lot of the competition in the above table. But when the competition is a couple of hundred bucks shy of what you’re expecting people to pay, that creates a disconnect.

Bloatware aplenty

I don’t need to dwell too much on this section, as pre-installed bloatware is the bane of everyone’s existence (but usually the required byproduct of a company paying to be featured or wanting to market their other products).

The way my laptop came alive in a flash flood of notifications from McAfee, HP Smart and many more made my first contact with this quite the frustrating chore of immediately opening up “add or remove programs” and uninstalling the lot.

Windows 11 does make this a quick and easy process, but that doesn’t detract from the annoyance of it just being a thing.

HP Omnibook Ultra Flip 14 review: Verdict

And that’s the story of the HP OmniBook Ultra Flip 14 — a premium 2-in-1 that makes a great first impression, but stops short of being a must-buy in the long term.

If I could get this chassis, display and ergonomics with a Snapdragon X chip (we’re very close to X2 Elite after all), this could be a game-changer.

But for what we’ve got now, and the price we’ve got it at, this is a solid system, but a prime example of style over substance.

Looking for your next wireless mouse to blaze through endless spreadsheets, documents, websites and more? HP may have just the peripheral for your PC, and it comes with a battery-free design that still claims to have a one-month battery life. How is that possible? Let me tell you.

As part of its fall launch, HP has unveiled its Ultra-Fast Scroll Wireless Mouse 785M. It's the "world's first" battery-less wireless mouse, as it uses a supercapacitor instead of a regular battery to deliver a full month of charge. Plus, it can be juiced up to full in as little as three minutes.

The HP Ultra-Fast Scroll Wireless Mouse 785M is available right now on HP's website, with prices at $79. Aiming to take on the likes of the recent productivity mice, like the Logitech MX Master 4, here's a look at what you can expect from HP's Ultra-Fast Scroll mouse.

Scroll away

HP's new ergonomic mouse is designed to rapidly scroll through pages with its dual-metal magnetic scroll wheels. Alongside the traditional wheel is a horizontal scroll wheel at the side. Scroll speeds are also customizable, so you can make them as fast or controlled as needed.

Along with its wheels to scroll at "hyper speed" in multiple directions, the Ultra-Fast Scroll Wireless Mouse also comes with six programmable buttons that can be configured to your liking via the HP Accessory Center, and with its up to 6000 DPI (Dots Per Inch) and multi-surface tracking, it aims to make navigating around a PC a breeze.

Its battery (or lack thereof) is a highlight, as despite being "battery-free", its supercapacitor offers a complete charge in just three minutes. This is aimed to last a month, not unlike other popular productivity mice like the Logitech MX Master 3S (and likely the recent Logitech MX Master 4).

What's more, it can simultaneously connect wirelessly to up to three devices via its 2.4GHz and Bluetooth connectivity, which makes work setups with multiple devices much easier to manage.

Compatible with Windows 11, macOS, Chrome OS, iOS and Android devices, the HP Ultra-Fast Scroll Wireless Mouse aims to take on its competition by being the mouse with all the scrolls, and battery life you won't have to worry about (except for those three minutes of charging per month).

We can't wait to get hands-on with the HP Ultra-Fast Scroll Wireless Mouse 785M, but in the meantime, check out the best mouse you can grab right now.

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• I’ve tested dozens of mice — here's the 3 features you need to look for before you buy
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It's no secret that I love my PS5 Slim. Seriously, read any of my gaming accessories reviews and that fact will jump out at you. Naturally, when I test the best gaming headsets, I always test them by playing games on my PS5. When the HyperX Cloud Alpha 2 landed on my desk, I counted down the hours until I could play my favorite RPGs through it, and when the time finally came, the headset did not disappoint.

The headset sounds phenomenal, there's no sugarcoating it. It makes you feel fully immersed in the game you're playing, and its whopping 250-hour battery life means you can enjoy your favorite titles for hours and hours on end.

Thing is, the Cloud Alpha 2's outstanding sound profile isn't even its biggest selling point, because you can get the Razer BlackShark V3 Pro instead and be just as impressed if not more. Nuh-uh. You should buy the Cloud Alpha 2 for the accessory that accompanies it: the RGB Base Station. It blew me away with its performance and usefulness, and I'm certain you'll feel the same way.

Aesthetic and practical, what a win

Most headsets carry a similar roster features today, and are often accompanied by a 2.4GHz dongle for wireless connectivity. I love it when a brand thinks outside the box, and HyperX has done just that. The Cloud Alpha 2's RGB Base Station, a command module, is so much more than what's on the surface. It doubles as a 2.4GHz dongle so you need to plug it into your console to use the headset wirelessly.

Nifty, right? In my testing, sound was instantaneous and I didn't need to worry about latency issues or any lag. But what's even better is that the Base Station lets you control and customize your headset on the fly, so you don't need to dive into companion software every time you want to change the EQ.

All the buttons on the Base Station are remappable through the software so once you've set it up in line with your needs, you can cycle through headset EQs, mic EQs and so much more. Having a command centre and wireless transmitter/receiver built into one device makes so much sense, and now I wish all headsets came with the Cloud Alpha 2's Base Station.

The longest battery life I ever did see!

Now that I've stopped gushing about the HyperX Cloud Alpha 2's RGB Base Station, there's another reason you should get this headset: its battery life. That's right, the Cloud Alpha 2 has one of the longest battery lives, rated at 250 hours. For context, the Razer BlackShark V3 Pro has a 70-hour battery life while the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless lasts just over 20 hours.

Upstaging two of the biggest names in the gaming world is no mean feat but HyperX has managed to do it. Testing the Cloud Alpha 2's battery life to its limit would require using the headset for a loooong time, but I noticed that the battery had dipped to 85% after 30 hours, so not too shabby at all.

A new sheriff in town?

As much as I've loved using the HyperX Cloud Alpha 2 and adored its RGB Base Station, I don't think it'll be replacing my Razer BlackShark V3 Pro anytime soon. I gave the latter a perfect 5/5 score because it packed plenty of features (and performance) to justify its price tag of $249.

The Cloud Alpha 2, however, is priced at $299 / £254. At that price, I expect any gaming headset to be as close to perfect as possible and unfortunately, the Cloud Alpha 2 has some flaws that are difficult to ignore. Its cloth earpads tend to overheat and sweat pools up after prolonged use, and there's no active noise cancellation. Razer's offering doesn't suffer from either of these issues.

More from Tom's Guide

• The HyperX Cloud Alpha 2 blends premium gaming features with audiophile-quality sound — and it’s compatible with Xbox, Switch, PS5 and more
• Best gaming headsets in 2025 — our expert picks
• I gave the new Razer headset 5 stars — say hello to my dream gaming cans

The best gaming headsets can massively improve your gaming experience by immersing you even further, and the HyperX Cloud Alpha 2 is one such set of cans. Its dual 53mm drivers produce detailed lows, mids and highs, and the spatial audio is extremely customizable via new and improved companion software.

One of its biggest selling points though is its ginormous 250-hour battery life that upstages Razer, SteelSeries and Audeze. The Cloud Alpha 2 also comes with an RGB Base Station that doubles as a 2.4GHz dongle — it’s practical and visually appealing. However, for a headset that costs nearly $300, the Cloud Alpha 2 lacks active noise cancellation, and its cloth earpads aren’t the best in class.

Should you still buy the headset? Read my full HyperX Cloud Alpha 2 review to find out.

HyperX Cloud Alpha 2 review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? A wireless gaming headset delivering audiophile-quality sound across various game genres
• Who is it for? For anyone who wants a powerful set of cans with stupendous battery life
• How much does it cost? An arm and a leg! The HyperX Cloud Alpha 2 is available for $299 / £254
• What do we like? The innovative RGB Base Station, fantastic in-game audio, great mic quality, new and improved software, plus 250-hour battery life
• What don’t we like? There’s no ANC, the cloth earpads don’t feel very breathable, and the headset costs a lot

HyperX Cloud Alpha 2 review: Specs

HyperX Cloud Alpha 2 review: The ups

The HyperX Cloud Alpha 2 is a fantastic headset that makes games sound incredible, and it’s got a mahoosive 250-hour battery life that upstages its rivals.

Multi-platform compatibility

The HyperX Cloud Alpha 2 is the only gaming headset you need for your gaming ecosystem, thanks to its multi-platform compatibility. The included RGB Base Station (more on it shortly) serves as a 2.4GHz dongle, enabling you to connect to your device or console wirelessly, and there’s Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity too.

So, what devices is the Cloud Alpha 2 compatible with? Wirelessly, you can pair it with PC, macOS, Android and iOS smartphones, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4. A 3.5mm cable is also included in the box so you can plug the Cloud Alpha 2 directly into your Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S controller.

Innovative RGB Base Station

The HyperX Cloud Alpha 2 comes with an accessory that no other gaming headset does: an RGB Base Station. It’s similar to the Loupedeck Live S, and it enables you to customize the headset on the fly, which is fantastic. It also doubles as the 2.4GHz receiver and as I mentioned up top, you can plug it into your PlayStation 5 or PlayStation 4 to play wirelessly. It’s practical and it looks great. I thought it was a gimmick at first but it really isn’t — sometimes (only sometimes), I love being proven wrong.

Almost as big as my medium-sized hand, the Cloud Alpha 2’s RGB Base Station doesn’t take up a lot of space. It weighs very little too — just 6.24oz — but it’s fitted with grippy rubber on its bottom that keeps it from slipping and sliding about. Located around the back are a USB-C port and two 3.5mm line in and line out jacks.

There are six buttons on the RGB Base Station and a very big volume control dial — and all of these buttons and dials light up in, well, RGB colors. What’s even better is that every button is fully customizable via the companion software, and the Base Station acts as the command centre for changing the Cloud Alpha 2’s settings on the go, like adjusting the equalizer, switching between devices, and more. It’s much more practical than diving into software every time you want to, say, change the EQ.

It didn’t take long for the RGB Base Station to become one of my favorite accessories, and now I’m wishing every headset came with such a nifty device! It’s innovative and contributes towards justifying the Cloud Alpha 2’s steep price — and I certainly prefer this 2.4GHz solution over the Razer BlackShark V3 Pro’s ($249).

Audiophile-quality in-game sound

The HyperX Cloud Alpha 2 is a phenomenal headset if all you care about is in-game sound quality, as it makes games sound outstanding and immersive. HyperX has improved on the Cloud Alpha 2’s predecessor, the HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless ($200), by upgrading the 50mm drivers to multi-layer 53mm Dual-Chamber ones. The result? Crisp highs, clear dialogue, powerful bass, and plenty of room to appreciate missable audio cues.

Using the companion software, you can enable spatial audio and I highly recommend doing so — it really enhances the user experience as I found in my testing. To test the Cloud Alpha 2’s capabilities, I played a few games on my PS5 Slim.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was the first game I turned to because it features one of the best soundtracks of all time, so it tested the Cloud Alpha 2’s ability to balance rock music against dialogue and battle sounds — and the headset didn’t disappoint. Whether a soft, acoustic track like ‘Lumiére’ or a power ballad like ‘We Lost,’ the subtler sounds of my party charging up their attacks weren’t lost.

Some enemy attacks can be parried based on audio cues in Expedition 33, and parrying can help you win crucial battles — especially as some enemies can one-shot you. I thoroughly appreciated being able to hear these sharp audio cues make their ting sound through the Cloud Alpha 2, even as ballads played loudly in the background.

The Cloud Alpha 2’s spatial audio worked great in Expedition 33 too. The directional audio meant that I could hear the enemy boss’ giant sword come down from the top-left corner to the bottom-right corner and travel from one earcup to the other.

Alan Wake 2

Since spatial audio worked so well in the aforementioned game, I thought I’d see just how scared I could get by playing Alan Wake 2 with the Cloud Alpha 2 headset on. Needless to say, it terrified me. The directional audio worked excellently in Alan Wake 2. When enemies were lurking as I walked through the woods, I could hear them scutter behind me as the sound of their footsteps traveled from the left earcup to the right and then disappeared before I could turn around to look with my flashlight.

You can tell the lows, mids and highs have been fine-tuned by HyperX’s engineers, given how much detail is packed into them. The Shadows muttering “WAKE” under their breath was loud and the infected wolves letting out high-pitched yelps when I pointed the flashlight in their face was just as clear.

Cyberpunk 2077

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is one of my favorite first-person games, and I love stealthily moving around, ambushing NPCs and silently taking down enemies. The Cloud Alpha 2 features a 10-band equalizer that can be customized via the companion software, so I spent some time experimenting with different frequencies to find the right setting that made footsteps sound more prominent, even over techno music.

I saved a few different profiles to the headset and then connected the Cloud Alpha 2 to my PS5, and used the RGB Base Station to cycle through the EQ profiles — and it worked like a charm. Being able to hear footsteps behind a locked door came in clutch and helped me strategize, giving me a competitive edge.

Ridiculously long battery life

One of the HyperX Cloud Alpha 2’s biggest selling points is its long battery life. Ridiculously long, even. HyperX claims this headset can last up to 250 hours. That’s bonkers! It blows its competition out of the water with such a wild number. For context, the Razer BlackShark V3 Pro lasts up to 70 hours, the Audeze Maxwell ($299) has an 80-hour battery life, and the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless ($350) tops out at 22 hours.

The second-gen model’s battery life is surprisingly worse than its predecessor though. The original HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless has a 300-hour battery life. Of course, to test the Cloud Alpha 2’s battery life, I’d have to play video games for just over 10 days — if I was playing 24 hours a day, that is. I tested the headset for nearly 30 hours and was left with 85% battery. Not bad at all!

Fantastic, detachable mic

Similar to the Razer BlackShark V3 Pro, the HyperX Cloud Alpha 2 comes with a detachable microphone with a flexible gooseneck for adjustment. It’s unidirectional which means it picks up sounds directly from the front of your mouth, making it great for gaming. There’s also a built-in mic which is omnidirectional, meaning it has a circular pickup pattern, picking up sound equally from all directions.

I first tested the Cloud Alpha 2’s detachable microphone without anything else playing in the background, and you can hear the sample clip above.

I then put an episode of Agatha All Along on my phone and played it at 100% volume to see if the Cloud Alpha 2’s mic isolated my voice. It’s great that all you can hear in the clip above is my voice loud and clear with Kathryn Hahn’s voice ever so slightly creeping in.

User-friendly companion software

Accompanying the HyperX Cloud Alpha 2 is the new and improved Ngenuity software which is currently in its beta testing phase, but it can still be downloaded from the website. HyperX has made the new software more user-friendly with a clean interface, and it’s your one-stop shop for customizing both the Cloud Alpha 2 and the RGB Base Station.

You can use Ngenuity to customize the 10-band equalizer and create presets which you can then cycle through with the RGB Base Station. You can also personalize the mic’s 13-band equalizer, enable spatial audio, adjust game/chat balance, and more. As for the RGB Base Station, you can customize its RGB lighting effect and remap the buttons. All of this is easy and quick to do.

HyperX Cloud Alpha 2 review: The downs

While the HyperX Cloud Alpha 2 is a very capable headset, it does have a few flaws, such as cloth earcups that tend to overheat and lack of active noise cancellation.

Earcups tend to overheat

A gaming headset needs to be, first and foremost, extremely comfortable so that you can keep playing all day long. The HyperX Cloud Alpha 2 is a comfortable headset, featuring a leather-padded headband that relieves any pressure on the top of your head. It isn’t very heavy either, weighing 12.16oz, making it lighter than the Razer BlackShark V3 Pro (12.9oz) and similar to the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless’ weight (12oz).

Then why am I complaining in the downs section, you ask? Because of the Cloud Alpha 2’s earcups. The earpads are made of cloth-like material which doesn’t feel as breathable as the BlackShark V3 Pro’s memory foam pads. In my testing, I noticed the Cloud Alpha 2’s earpads get quite hot after a couple of hours, and I could feel sweat pooling up. This isn’t great and not what I expected at this price point.

No active noise cancelation

The HyperX Cloud Alpha 2 doesn’t feature active noise cancellation (ANC). Now, I wouldn’t have normally marked a gaming headset for lacking ANC as it’s rare for a set of cans intended for gaming to feature it. But the thing is, the Cloud Alpha 2 is an expensive headset (more on that in a second) and its rivals in this price range do feature ANC — and highly effective ANC too.

The Razer BlackShark V3 Pro’s ANC is something to behold, as is the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless’. It is, then, disappointing that the Cloud Alpha 2 doesn’t come with ANC which could have made the gaming experience even more immersive. It passively blocks external noise but it doesn’t even come close to taking the BlackShark V3 Pro’s noise canceling crown.

Expensive

There’s no sugarcoating it: the HyperX Cloud Alpha 2 isn’t for the faint of heart, and its price tag will have some people shaking in their boots. The headset retails for a whopping $299 / £254, making the Cloud Alpha 2 $50 pricier than the Razer BlackShark V3 Pro — but still cheaper than the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless.

For just under $300, I’d expect any set of cans — music-oriented or gaming-focused — to be perfect. I wouldn’t want to be dealing with the lack of ANC or the earcups’ tendency to overheat. Premium features cost a premium, though, so if you don’t mind these flaws, the Cloud Alpha 2 could be great for you.

HyperX Cloud Alpha 2 review: Verdict

As gaming headsets generally go, the HyperX Cloud Alpha 2 is an excellent set of cans. Its 53mm Dual-Chamber drivers are outstanding and they reproduce in-game sounds accurately. The lows, mids and highs are all extremely detailed, making you feel immersed in whatever game you’re playing. The innovative RGB Base Station is both practical and aesthetically pleasing, and the headset’s 250-hour battery life is the cherry on top of the cake.

But the Cloud Alpha 2 isn’t without its flaws. At nearly $300, the headset costs a pretty penny while omitting active noise cancelation and utilizing cloth earpads that tend to heat up quickly.

The Cloud Alpha 2 comes close to being the undisputable king of gaming headsets but it falls just short. Should you still buy it? Heck yes! Its pros outweigh its cons, and if it’s audiophile-quality sound you’re after, this headset will have you on cloud nine.

It’s rare (and kind of weird) to call a laptop “sexy.” But I must admit, opening up and holding the HP OmniBook Ultra Flip 14 did have me feeling some kind of way. Like, I haven’t felt like saying “damn this is gorgeous” about a laptop since the original MacBook Air, and HP’s done it again here.

So I ditched my M3 Pro MacBook Pro and switched to this as my daily driver for a month, and...well... As the saying goes: "looks aren't everything." I ran into many moments where I was wishing for more — watching it drop off the best laptops list in my mind. Let me explain.

FYI: The configuration we got weighs in at $1,899 (discounted to $1,449 right now on HP’s website).

It all started so well...

HP just pulled off the “blue steel” on the entire laptop market of 2025 and proved that utilitarian does not have to mean boring. The aesthetics are seriously eye-catching, from its matte black finish (that is surprisingly fingerprint resistant) to the subtle details like the curved front corners and angular back edges, the design team really pulled it out the bag for this one.

And not only that, but the company's managed to make it thin and lightweight all the same. Make no mistake about it — if design is one of your key motivators in buying a laptop, this will show up the rest of your coworkers.

The connection deepens

The more I pulled this out of my backpack, the more I continued to be blown away by that 3K 120Hz OLED display up top — it's a true visual stunner with fast, responsive multi-touch.

And while you’ll like using it in tent mode for all your Netflix binging, the standard laptop mode gets a whole lot of love too. For how thin that keyboard is, it feels amazing to type on with nice spacing around the keys and a good tactile thump to each key press.

But bonus points have to go to that ocean of a haptic trackpad. It’s massive and has an immensely satisfying snap to every click, while being gorgeously smooth for all your sweeping gestures.

Style over substance

Three come to mind that I think comes from the decision to focus on making the Ultra Flip 14 look as good as it does.

First, the port array is pretty limited. With two Thunderbolt 4, a USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 2 and 3.5mm combo audio jack, you’re restricted here in what you can connect without a dongle. Plus, placing two of these on the back corners does look cool, but means you can’t slot in any thicker devices like a memory stick without it stopping the screen from unfolding.

Second, the amount of bloatware on here is crazy. The way my laptop came alive in a flash flood of notifications from McAfee, HP Smart and many more made my first contact with this quite the frustrating chore of immediately opening up “add or remove programs” and uninstalling the lot.

Then we move to probably my biggest gripe here. For $1,900, I would expect much more performance than what I got — you’ve got lower-priced machines either matching or exceeding what is possible here.

To its defense, that does mean you’re getting a decent 12-hour battery life according to our own lab testing, but that’s a small benefit when you can get laptops that are nearly $1,000 less that are faster and longer-lasting.

Not to say it's a slouch, as it can hang with a lot of the competition in the above table. But when the competition is a couple hundred bucks shy of what you’re expecting people to pay, that creates a disconnect.

To have moments of Photoshop stuttering when editing RAW pictures on a near-$2,000 laptop isn't really kosher in my eyes. Having to wait those frustrating extra seconds for an app to open isn't ideal either.

And no matter how really, really ridiculously good-looking the Ultra Flip 14 is, there are better ways to spend your money.

What should you buy instead?

So what should you buy instead? Great question! I have a few options tailored to every need you may have.

"I need a good all-rounder"

"I want this kind of Intel laptop for less"

"I need a high-performance 2-in-1"

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The first Afterpay Day sale of 2025 is here and HP has rolled out some rather tasty discounts on laptops, 2-in-1s, and more – with savings of up to 52%. And for a limited time, you can stack up to an extra 11% off with the code HP711, valid from March 20 to March 23. You do need to spend AU$2,000 to get the full discount, but you'll still save 7% on more affordable models.

If you're looking for a large everyday laptop, the HP Laptop 17 gets near to a 50% total discount with the sale and code. Or consider the HP Envy x360 16 – a sleek and powerful 2-in-1, now 50% off. For those who want premium performance, the HP Spectre x360 16 inch 2-in-1 Laptop with a 2.8K OLED screen is also down AU$800.

For professionals, the HP ZBook Firefly 14, bundled with a Series 7 Pro 23.8-inch FHD Monitor, is available in two different configurations. With a Ryzen 5 CPU, it's 52% off, while the more powerful Ryzen 7 model is seeing a 50%discount.

With these price cuts, it’s a great time to grab a new HP laptop or other device, whether for work, gaming or everyday use.

To help get you started, we have included some of our favourite deals below, and crunched the numbers on how much extra you'll save using the code HP711 at checkout.

HP Australia is a Tom's Guide preferred partner (What does this mean?)

Copilot+ PCs are the most effective weapon Microsoft has against the MacBook, but price has always been an obstacle. Every laptop company has jumped in on the hype, and none have managed to go lower than $900.

Well, HP’s latest OmniBook lineup looks primed to change that — bringing a huge range of new laptops packing the latest from Intel and AMD. Let me take you through them.

Sliding into the AI PC family with HP’s current OmniBook Ultra laptops are the following three lineups.

OmniBook 3: OmniBudget

Available in both 14- and 15.6-inch display sizes, these are two of the laptops I’m very excited to try. Why? Well, the plan is to make these “perfectly priced,” which means they could be the first Copilot+ PCs to jump on our best budget laptops list.

These pack a 1080p panel, up to an FHD webcam with dual array digital microphones, and a decent array of I/O including USB-C and 2x USB-A. Powering these are AMD’s lower-end AI 5 and AI 7 chipsets — all of which pack that same NPU as the higher-end to process up to 50 trillion operations per second (TOPS).

And following the Copilot+ rules, you’re getting a minimum of 16GB of DDR5 RAM. With all of this packed into a plastic chassis, I’m not expecting this to feel like the most premium laptop in the hand. But provided there are good ergonomics (HP’s pretty good at this) and an even better price (fingers crossed for a $500 base cost), then we’re golden here.

These are chalking up to be great laptops for education or your regular family computer.

OmniBook 5: The mid-range

I call this the mid-range, but in all honesty, it’s a bit all over the place. There are some laptops in this range that are definitely on the lower end in terms of internals. For example, the OmniBook 5 Flip packs a U-series Intel notebook chip, and there is a version of the OmniBook 5 that comes with AMD’s Ryzen 8040U series CPU.

But let’s move past these, move up the family and focus on the AI PC models of the 14- and 16-inch OmniBook 5 laptops. With these, you’re getting a wider selection of NPU-armed silicon from the Intel Core Ultra 285H to the AMD Ryzen AI 7 H 350.

And you’ll find upgrades elsewhere — including a 5MP IR camera for all your Windows Hello authentication needs, and up to a 2K OLED display, which are all packed into a part-plastic, part-aluminum chassis. My guess would be that these would start at roughly $700 given the specs, sizes and build quality available.

OmniBook 7: All-in versatility

These are for peak productivity — a recycled aluminum chassis packs up to a 3K OLED panel, the latest and greatest from Intel and AMD, and even upgradeability to an RTX 4050 for a dedicated graphical push.

There are 14-, 16- and 17-inch options on offer here, but chief among the lineup is the OmniBook 7 Aero, which looks set to put the Asus Zenbook A14 on blast by being the “world’s lightest next gen AI PC,” in the company’s own words.

You’re getting all the usual specs of an AI PC here, including AMD Ryzen AI chip options, plenty of I/O, that 5MP IR camera and up to 32GB of LPDDR5X RAM, but it will weigh less than 2.2 pounds.

OmniBook X: OmniBig

So far, we’ve seen the 14-inch HP OmniBook X packing Snapdragon X Elite. Well, X is no longer a Qualcomm signifier, and no longer are we dealing with just a 14-inch model.

There are now 16- and 17-inch models, too, along with a 2-in-1 AI PC — each coming in either Intel or AMD flavors, and the 17-incher giving you an RTX 4050 option.

And same as the current OmniBook X, you’re getting a full metal shell, up to a 3K OLED panel, and that matte black finish as an option.

Can the prices be low?

When we talk about being budget-conscious, we’ve got to talk about the tariff situation. Because if there’s one thing we’ve learned from speaking to experts, it’s that cheaper laptops will be hit the hardest.

Let me be clear — this part of the puzzle is a little bit out of HP’s control. At a time when we’re all really feeling the squeeze, affordability is more crucial than ever.

And outside of the M4 MacBook Air dropping by $100 (my theory is Apple’s absorbed some of the profit margin here), most companies are either announcing price rises or sneakily upping costs without telling anyone.

Acer’s lineup is going up by 10%, Nvidia GPUs are rising to as much as $3,000 (part tariff-part scalping by retailers), and we’re hearing rumblings of more price hikes coming (though nobody wants to say anything on the record yet).

Copilot+ PCs have all hung out closer to that $1,000 mark, and I’ve been waiting for a company to finally bring the heat and undercut this expectation. Can HP be the one to do it? Could the company do a $500-$600 AI laptop? All we can do is wait and see.

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HP Omen gaming laptops are getting the RTX 50-series treatment, as it just revealed a lineup of refreshed gaming notebooks — including an all-new Omen 16 Slim.

Taking on the likes of the Asus ROG Zephyrus G16, the HP Omen 16 Slim comes with a sleeker, 16% thinner design compared to the Omen 16, but it still manages to boast up to an Intel Core i9 CPU and Nvidia RTX 5070 GPU. Plus, it aims to stay quiet under pressure, with noise levels as low as a claimed 46 decibels.

At just 0.7-inches thick, the Omen 16 Slim will be one of the thinnest gaming laptops around, taking cues from the HP Omen 14 Transcend 14 — one of the best gaming laptops you can get.

That's not all HP has up its sleeve, as it's also refreshing other gaming laptops, including its Omen 17 with an RTX 5070, the Omen Transcend 15 with upgraded specs and budget-friendly HP Victus gaming laptops with AMD Ryzen AI 7 H 350 chips and more.

There's no word on prices or release dates yet, but for a better look at what these laptops offer, read on.

HP Omen 16 Slim

The HP Omen 16 Slim is an all-new 16-inch gaming laptop that takes the original Omen 16 and knocks off a few inches — all while fitting it with the latest specs.

It measures 14 x 10.5 x 0.7 (front)~0.8 inches (back) and weighs 5.3 pounds, with HP claiming it's 16% thinner than the usual Omen 16. That puts it on par with the Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 (13.9 x 9.7 x 0.7 inches, around 4.3 pounds), albeit being slightly heavier.

Otherwise, this gaming laptop packs a punch, offering up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 285H CPU and up to an RTX 5070 GPU. What's more, you can also expect up to 32GB of DDR5 RAM and a 1TB PCIe Gen4 NVMe M.2 SSD.

It also arrives with HP's Unleashed Mode, offering up to 105W TPP when turned on in the Omen Gaming Hub, pushing performance gains in the latest PC games and beyond.

Speaking of, there's also Omen AI (in beta) in the hub, which "automatically learns and adjusts the best game, operating system, and hardware settings to maximize your laptop’s potential with just one easy click." It'll be interesting to see how well this works to increase frame rates in games.

Another feature is the Omen 16 Slim's advanced cooling technology, which aims to handle the heat while making the gaming laptop quieter by as low as 46 decibels (think of this like the hum of your fridge).

Prices have yet to be announced, but here's hoping the HP Omen 16 Slim lands at an affordable number.

HP Omen Transcend 14

HP also has a bunch of gaming laptop refreshes, which includes the Omen Transcend 14. As you'll find in our HP Omen Transcend 14 review last year, we're big fans of this compact gaming laptop thanks to its solid gaming performance, vibrant OLED display and classy design.

With this year's model, HP ramps up the performance by equipping it with up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 285H CPU, up to an RTX 5070 GPU, up to 64GB of DDR5X RAM and up to a 2TB SSD. What's more, you can expect the same 14-inch 3K (2880 x 1800) OLED display with up to a 120Hz refresh rate, 0.2ms response rate and a 16:10 aspect ratio.

If the updated HP Omen Transcend 14 delivers even better performance in its sleek design compared to last year's model, this will be a laptop to keep on your radars.

HP Omen 17

After a lot more screen space? The HP Omen 17 is also getting an RTX 50-series update, along with AMD Ryzen AI CPUs to make sure games run smoothly on its 17-inch QHD (2560 x 1440) IPS display with a 240Hz refresh rate and 3ms response rate.

This large-sized gaming laptop packs up to an AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 GPU, up to an RTX 5070 or AMD Radeon 880M GPU, 32GB of DDR5 RAM and a 1TB SSD. Last year's model came at a starting price of $1,349/£1,199, so we're hoping this laptop offers the same bang for your buck.

As you can imagine, judging from its weight and size, this laptop is meant to stay as more of a fixture to your desk. Now sporting RTX 5070 power and AMD's latest AI CPUs, the HP Omen 17 is set to be an interesting competitior in both 17-inch gaming laptop and mid-range laptops.

HP Victus 15

Finally, we have the more budget-friendly HP Victus 15. These are some of the lowest-priced gaming laptops on the market (especially at a discount), with previous models going as low as $499 with an RTX 4050.

This year's models aren't too different, but they do offer up to an Intel Core i7-14650HX or an AMD Ryzen AI 7 H 350 CPU, along with a next-gen RTX 50-series GPU. HP has yet to announce what graphics cards these will be, but with rumors of an RTX 5060 roaming around, we could see this GPU arrive on the laptop.

The HP Victus 15 also comes in three colors to choose from: Mica Silver, Performance Blue and Powder Pink, and the one-zone RGB keyboard will offer an addtional splash of color.

Wondering what your next gaming laptop will be? Check out these 7 RTX 50-series gaming laptops we're keen to check out.

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The OmniStudio X ($1,450 to start) is HP's newest line of all-in-one desktops, and they're intended to entice AI-curious customers by being tailor-made for AI work.

The OmniStudio X 32 is the largest model thanks to its 31.5-inch 4K display, and it's designed support and accelerate as many AI tasks as possible. The CPU, integrated GPU and available add-on GPU all have AI acceleration hardware. The pop-up webcam uses HP's Polycam Pro software, allowing various visual and audio filters for your teleconference needs. 

HP goes so far to claim the OmniStudio X can be the central hub of your digital life. And while you'll want to read this HP OmniStudio X review before you decide for yourself, it's not an unfounded claim, as the OmniStudio X 32 hosts a USB hub with multiple input/output ports and can serve not only as your primary computer, but also as a display for your gaming console and a dock/external screen for your laptop. In fact, it might just be the best all-in-one for folks seeking a no-nonsense productivity machine.

However, there are some key strengths and weaknesses you should know about before you purchase one, and I'll walk you through them in this HP OmniStudio X 32 review.

HP Omnistudio X 32 review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? The Omni Studio X is an AIO desktop designed to focus on AI tasks instead of brute force computing.
• Who is it for? Freelancers, prosumers, and anyone that wants an AI-focused computer with minimal clutter on their desk.
• What does it cost? The MSRP for base models sold on HP's website starts around $1400 while upgraded configurations are over $2700. The review model retails for $1979.99 at this time.
• What’s good about it? Users can order a completely custom configuration; it also functions well as a laptop dock and external display for other devices.
• What’s not so good? Performance is middling, and the included keyboard and mouse are pretty bad.

HP Omnistudio X 32 review: Specs

The OmniStudio X is an oddity in the desktop AIO space. Many competing desktops usually have a few available pre-built configurations. Those that do offer customization often restrict component selection on another, such as requiring an upgraded CPU in order to get a higher RAM capacity or stronger GPU. However, HP allows consumers to independently configure the OS, CPU, RAM, storage, GPU, and even the Wi-Fi with no restrictions.

That's not to say you have unlimited options. As this is a slim AIO, the processor and GPU are limited by the design's limited cooling abilities compared to a full desktop case. This is essentially a laptop bolted to the back of a large display, as are most AIOs. Choice of CPU is limited to two options, and graphics are either the integrated Intel Arc or an add-on RTX 4050. System RAM can be 16 GB or 32 GB, but system storage can be anywhere from 256 GB to 2 TB. HP also offers a Wi-Fi 7 card for an additional $10.

The unit HP sent us for review isn't the highest possible configuration, but it is close. The CPU is an Intel Ultra 7 155H with a 1 TB NVMe storage drive and 32 GB DDR5-5600 RAM. The integrated Arc graphics are bolstered with an RTX 4050 and wireless networking is handled by a Realtek Wi-Fi 6 / Bluetooth 5.3 combo card. This specific SKU is a Best Buy exclusive and retails for $1979.99, though you can configure a similar online at HP's site.

HP Omnistudio X 32 review: The ups

There's a lot to like about the HP Omnistudio 32 X, and there are a few specific strengths I think you should know.

Fully customizable, a rarity among AIOs

Being able to select each hardware component for the desktop independently without restricting options for part X because you chose the lower version of part Y is refreshing. HP should be applauded for this decision as it makes the desktop feel truly custom and doesn't penalize customers by forcing them to pay for hardware they don't need.

The OmniStudio X doesn't take up much room on your desk, the same as most AIOs. The stand base is a rounded rectangle, roughly 8 x 9 inches. The stand has 100 mm of up/down travel to set the monitor to your preferred viewing level and can tilt backward. Controls for the computer are minimal, but perfectly sufficient. The power button is on the back corner of the unit. Just above it is a four-way joystick for controlling the monitor functions like brightness and volume.

Excellent display color accuracy

The display is color calibrated from the factory and has fantastic accuracy. The default P3 profile locks the display to 100% of the DCI-P3 gamut with a Delta-E of only 0.33. Presets for the sRGB and related BT.709 color spaces are also available. Both feature an even lower Delta-E under 0.3 and 100% coverage of the sRGB gamut. In SDR mode, the screen averages over 580 nits in these three modes, surpassing HP's claim of 550 nits. The panel is IMAX Enhanced and supports HDR 600, outputting 720 nits or greater in HDR mode.

The included keyboard and mouse are wireless. The receiver dongle is tucked in the underside of the frame toward the right side. It's wrapped in a rubber grommet, and you can replace it with another USB type-A dongle of similar size. With Wi-Fi and Bluetooth also on board, the only cable necessary to use the OmniStudio X is the power cord. Smartly, HP used an internal power supply with a standard 3-prong power cable instead of a large power brick.

Of course, most people are likely to connect at least a few peripherals to their desktop. A trio of 10 Gbps USB ports (one type-C and two type-A) are on the base of the stand, allowing quick connections for things like thumb drives and card readers so you don't need blindly fumble around at the back of the computer. These ports connect to the main unit through a type-C connector hidden inside the mount between the stand and the main unit. For more permanent peripherals, three USB ports are on the back of the main unit, two 10 Gbps type-A ports and one 20 Gbps type-C port. A 2.5 Gbps Ethernet jack and 3.5 mm headset connector are also available.

Two HDMI ports (one input, one output) allow you to connect an additional display, or to use the OmniStudio X as an external monitor for a gaming console, streaming box, or other computer. It also supports Intel Unison for wireless display connectivity. Further, the type-C port also supports DisplayPort over USB, both input and output, and has USB Power Delivery with limited USB device sharing. This means the OmniStudio X can act as a laptop dock and external display with only a single cable (a type-C to type-C is also provided in the box). Even more, the webcam and USB port used for the keyboard/mouse dongle will also be shared over the link to the laptop. The OmniStudio X itself does not need to be booted up and running for the external monitor or laptop dock features to operate.

Can act as an external monitor

Using one computer to act as a dock for a second computer may sound like a niche use-case, and an expensive one at that. However, it makes a lot of sense for those with work-issued laptops, especially if you need special VPN software to connect to your work. On days you're working remote, or have after-hours meetings, you can simply connect that work laptop to you home AIO. That way you get the productivity benefits of a larger display and full-size keyboard/mouse without worrying about mirroring your work settings and files to your home computer.

The 5.2 MP webcam has a native 2880x1800 resolution and is contained in a retractable housing on top of the computer frame. It can capture video at a maximum of 2560x1440 at 30fps, but it can't record at 60 fps, even at lower resolutions. Using the Poly Camera Pro software expands the camera's capabilities somewhat. It has the usual effects and filters, like color correction, auto tracking, and background replacement. It also can use upscaling algorithms to increase video resolution and even framerate.

HP Omnistudio X 32 review: The downs

While I like a lot of things about the HP Omnistudio 32 X, there are also some key weaknesses I think you should know about before you buy.

Mediocre webcam

Though the camera does have various upscaling utilities, resulting image quality is still not great. Edges are soft and background noise is still an issue. Using Poly Camera Pro to record faster than 30 fps only duplicates frames; it won't generate and insert new frames. While Poly Camera Pro may give you a few more options for the integrated webcam, it won't cheat physics. Better lenses and larger sensors from add-on cameras will always result in a clearer picture with less noise and visual artifacts. 

As the bulk of teleconferences and video chats still happen at 720p with heavy compression, this isn't a problem for many people. But it does feel like HP is overstating the capabilities of the camera and software, especially compared to what the iMac offers.

Included keyboard and mouse are poor

By far, the biggest let down of the OmniStudio X is the included mouse and keyboard. Both are powered by two AA batteries, which are included in the box. The mouse is a typical example of pointing devices packed with basic desktops from the big manufacturers. It has three buttons, a scroll wheel, and no other noteworthy features. The mouse sits quite low, despite the rounded top, and doesn't fill your hand. It's serviceable, but not something most people would want to use for a significant portion of the workday.

The keyboard frame and structure feel strong and secure. However, it's a fixed angle without any adjustment. The key layout is normal with the lone exception being the absence of a NumLock key. In its place is a dedicated calculator key, which makes good sense as few people use the tenkey as cursors or for document navigation. The feel of the keyboard is similar to many laptop keyboards. The throw is short and you essentially have to bottom out each key to reach activation. There is a tactile bump, but it lasts the entire keystroke, lending to a mushy feel. The worst part is the keycap texture. The key labels are printed quite thick, raising the labels above the surface of the keys and giving each a different texture.

Those wanting to replace the keyboard/mouse with more suitable models can easily do so. If you want to keep using the same hidden USB port to share with your laptop over the docking cable, it will need to be a combo unit where both devices connect over the same cable or dongle.

The stand and ergonomics could also be improved. The stand doesn't pivot side-to-side, which is a minor complaint. A bigger problem is the monitor will not tilt at a downward angle. It can tilt 15° upward, but the farthest down it will go is a few degrees back from vertical. If you only use it from a position where your head is well above the monitor's centerline, this isn't a problem. But HP markets this as a central hub as well. If you're using it to watch TV or for a game console and you're reclining back, you're not getting the best angle of the display. It's an IPS panel, so viewing it off angle isn't a problem for color accuracy, but there's no reason the monitor shouldn't be able to tilt at least a little downward. It would also be nice if the headphone jack was on the bottom or side, where it's easier to reach, rather than on the back.

Not great for gaming

Speaking of entertainment use, the system has considerable limitations, especially in gaming. Admittedly, the OmniStudio X is not marketed as a gaming machine, so this may be irrelevant to some end-users. The optional RTX 4050 can serve as an adequate accelerator for AI and video compression tasks, but it's woefully underpowered for any kind of gaming at native 4K.

The lone title in our benchmark suite which could maintain a minimum of 30 fps at 4K was DiRT 5. AC: Mirage plays at 26 fps, so adjusting to lower detail settings might be enough to get it playable. The rest were either slideshows or complete no-gos. Many of our benchmarking titles wouldn't even run at 4K resolution. The card's 6 GB of VRAM is simply not enough to load in the higher-res assets and textures.

That's not to say you can't play games on the OmniStudio X; you just need to be more selective about it. Dropping down to 1080p or using DLSS will both provide much better framerates. The trade-off is of course image quality after upscaling, which can vary depending on the game. At 1080p, AC: Mirage, Borderlands 3, and Far Cry 6 can maintain 60fps for much smoother gameplay, while Metro on High settings and Red Ded Redemption 2 at Medium detail are a very playable 54 fps and 44 fps, respectively. These scores pale in comparison to the two AtomMan machines, but no one expects an RTX 4050 to keep pace with an RTX 4070 or RX 7600M XT.

But even dropping to lower resolutions isn't a guaranteed solution. The OmniStudio X can run into problems with more demanding games or higher detail settings. At 1080p, Cyberpunk 2077 is still under 20 fps and Red Dead Redemption 2 won't run when using Ultra details. Black Myth: Wukong throws warnings regardless of graphical settings due to limited VRAM.

The OmniStudio X would greatly benefit if its display supported some form of variable refresh rate, but sadly this isn't the case. Smoothing out gameplay in the 45 – 60 fps range is arguably the place VRR makes the most noticeable improvement in gaming. Along with VRR, a higher refresh rate would make the OmniStudio X more appealing to be used as an external monitor for game consoles or a gaming laptop.

HP Omnistudio X 32 review: iMac M4 vs. HP Omnistudio X 32

The iMac M4 makes an interesting performance comparison to the OmniStudio X, so much so that I wanted to dig into our lab test results in detail to show you how the two compare. In some tests the HP wins out, but in most Apple's M4 chip takes the lead.
The iMac M4 has fewer total cores than the Core Ultra 7 in our OmniStudio X, but it's also a different microarchitecture (ARM vs x86-64) so software optimizations and different workload types can have wildly different results between the two. The iMac's display is much smaller than the OmniStudio X at only 24", though it does have a higher resolution. An iMac equipped with the same 1 TB storage and 32 GB RAM as our OmniStudio X review sample also costs $300 more.

If you're willing to consider mini PCs instead of only AIO desktops, AtomMan has two very interesting competitors. AtomMan offers the G7 Ti with an i7 or i9 CPU and RTX 4070 GPU, while their G7 PT has a Ryzen 9 CPU and RX 7600M XT GPU. Both offer far stronger CPUs and GPUs than either the OmniStudio X or iMac. And if you add in the cost of a separate 32" 4K display, both are around the $2000 mark.

The cooling system and power envelope of the OmniStudio X limit how hard the CPU can work. Under light workloads, the CPU stays between 3.8 – 4.0 GHz but never reaches the max specified 4.8 GHz turbo clock rate. Under heavy loads, sustained clock rates drop to around 2.4 GHz due to increased heat generation. Using torture tests like Prime95 drops the clock even more to 1.9 GHz. But even under full load, the fans aren't particularly loud or annoying. It's obvious the stock cooling profile, and resulting clock rates, of the OmniStudio X focuses more on quiet operation rather than maximum performance. It doesn't feel sluggish in normal use, but it does trail the two G7 computers in nearly every computing benchmark.

The OmniStudio X has the slowest storage drive in read and write speeds of the group. It also lags behind the other three in the GeekBench 6.3 and CrossMark tests. It does a little better in the AI benchmarks. When considering just the CPU, integrated graphics, and any NPU present, the OmniStudio X trades blows with the two AtomMan computers, but it's significantly behind the iMac. However, Apple doesn't offer the iMac with a discrete GPU. As such, the OmniStudio X takes a decisive lead over the iMac when it can leverage its Nvidia hardware for AI tasks. The two G7s, with their stronger GPUs, are on a completely different level.

The Adobe tests show the strengths of the different subsystems. The Photoshop workload is mostly CPU dependent, though it does have some AI and GPU accelerated portions. With the slower storage, it's no surprise the OmniStudio X is slower than the iMac in file open speed. It also appears the M4 chip is better tailored for Photoshop filters and tasks, because the iMac earns a higher score and completes the benchmark in half the time.

However, video encoding tasks are faster on the OmniStudio X than the iMac. HandBrake is strictly software encoding on the CPU, and so too is Premiere Pro, though the latter does allow hardware acceleration on a couple passes. Here, the Core Ultra 7 asserts a small but notable lead over the M4 with some help from Nvidia's phenomenal hardware acceleration for H.264 and HEVC codecs.

HP Omnistudio X 32 review: Verdict

That the OmniStudio X doesn't have strong gaming chops doesn't matter much to the target audience. Family AIO desktops aren't meant to be primary gaming systems. Being limited to a 60 Hz panel with no VRR is a larger issue, potentially a deal breaker, for end-users that expect the OmniStudio X to pull double duty.

Despite the previous paragraphs, it's important to note the OmniStudio X is not a slow machine. In normal daily use, it's not sluggish or unresponsive. Benchmark tests are designed to stress a machine beyond what most consumers will experience in daily use. Just because you wouldn't use the OmniStudio X as your primary 3D and video render farm does not make it a bad computer for basic home and office use.

Like most consumer goods, increasing performance in one aspect requires some form of trade-off elsewhere. Higher computing performance requires more expensive parts and, usually, higher electrical consumption and heat output. More heat requires more cooling. More cooling most often means more airflow. More airflow means more volume, more noise, or both. There's no such thing as a free lunch.

HP designed the OmniStudio X to achieve high work output by accelerating AI tasks, not through brute force CPU performance. The upside to this is a smaller, quieter desktop for a mid-budget price that can punch above its weight in certain situations. The downside is that total performance and work output will suffer if AI acceleration isn't or can't be utilized. If the software you use doesn't use AI algorithms, or uses methods that aren't directly supported by the OmniStudio's hardware, then it won't perform any better than a mid-level laptop.

The Humane AI Pin saga is finally at an end with news that HP will be purchasing parts of the AI device maker for $116 million, far less than was perhaps desired by the ex-Apple managers who started the company.

According to a Bloomberg report, the deal includes a majority of Humane's employees, the AI Pin platform and intellectual property — including over 300 patents. However, the purchase will not include the Ai Pin business, which will be shutdown.

Apparently, the founders Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno will create a new AI division at HP focused on adding artificial intelligence to HPs PCs, printers and other devices. This new division will include many members of the current Humane team.

“There will be a time and place for pure AI devices,” Tuan Tran, HP's head of AI initiatives told Bloomberg. “But there is going to be AI in all our devices — that’s how we can help our business customers be more productive.”

And the Ai Pin?

Dead.

Starting on February 28, the Pin will "no longer connect to Humane's servers." Meaning that the AI device will no longer make calls, send messages or AI queries. In a support document, Humane encourages owners to download pictures, videos and notes before that date.

According to an FAQ about the shutdown, refunds will only be offered to those who purchased the AI Pin within the original 90-day return window "from their original shipment date." Subscriptions will also get a prorated refund.

Anyone waiting for a replacement for the exploding charging case will get a refund for "the portion of your original purchase price."

How did it end here?

The Ai Pin was introduced in November of 2023 by Humane, founded in 2018, and pitched as a "new type of standalone device with a software platform that harnesses the power of AI to enable innovative personal computing experience" aimed at moving people away from their smartphones, as most AI devices seem to be marketed.

The delayed device was previewed at Mobile World Congress in 2024 and Tom's Guide got a hands-on look at the device, which had us cautiously excited. Though we questioned whether or not it was solving a problem no one had, a portentous feeling.

The $700 Ai Pin officially launched in April to nearly universal poor reviews. The nicest review we found, which was optimistic, still concluded, "the hardware and AI just aren’t able to do a lot of essential phone things either as reliably, faster, better, or even at all."

It did not get better from there.

By May, the founders were looking to sell with a valuation between $750 million and $1 billion. A surprising number for a company that never got a valuation during its funding rounds and was torn apart by reviews. At the time, Tom's Guide Managing Editor of Computing Jason England opined that Humane and competitor Rabbit were built to be snapped up by a larger fish like Apple.

HP was rumored to be interested in buying the company then, though it's unclear when its interest was solidified to the current actual buyout.

"But when I look at these companies, I can't help but feel there's an ulterior motive. Namely that the devices are more of a proof of concept that people can buy — the physical manifestation of a pitch deck for acquisition by the likes of Apple or Google," England wrote.

From dumpster fire to actual fire risk

In June, it was revealed that the charging case for the device featured faulty battery cells that could potentially burst into flames.

The dumpster fire raged on when an August report indicated that over $1 million in product had been returned to Humane by disappointed customers. It was also reported that Humane had only sold 10,000 Ai Pins and accessories by August, a fraction of the expected 100,000 units it expected to sell.

By December, Humane was walking back its support of the Ai Pin and instead focusing on its AI platform dubbed CosmOS. That AI operating system was now being pitched as available for a number of devices including phones, smart speakers and cars and meant to work via cloud-based and on-device models. Based on what Tran told Bloomberg, this seems to be what HP really wants for its own products.

More from Tom's Guide

• Damning new AI study shows that chatbots make errors summarizing the news over 50% of the time — and this is the worst offender
• I just tested the new Grok-3 with 5 prompts — here’s what I like and don’t like about this chatbot
• ChatGPT's scheduled task feature is a game changer — 5 prompts to try first

The HP Omen 35L ($1,299 to start) is one of the most attractive desktops I’ve ever reviewed. But this mid-tower gaming rig isn’t just stylish. It packs components powerful enough to play the best PC games at medium to high settings. Add easy upgradeability and a relatively affordable starting price, and you have an excellent entry-level machine for aspiring PC gamers.

This sleek-looking computer packs big power inside its relatively small frame. The AMD Ryzen 7 8700G APU, Nvidia RTX 4080 Super GPU and 32GB of RAM in our review unit give this rig plenty of power to play the most graphically demanding games without a problem. It’s also great for editing 4K videos. Best of all, HP’s desktop can perform these tasks while running whisper-quiet and remaining relatively cool to the touch.

Though it has an odd CPU/GPU pairing and many extraneous apps, the HP Omen 35L is a winner thanks to its low starting price, abundant configuration options, easy-to-swap-out industry-standard parts and gorgeous design. It is undoubtedly one of the best gaming PCs available now. Read my full review to find out why.

HP Omen 35L review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? The HP Omen 35L is a mid-tower gaming desktop available in many configurations.
• Who is it for? It is for those who want a sleek and powerful mid-tower PC to complement their gaming setup.
• What does it cost? The HP Omen 35L starts at $1,299 but can get considerably more expensive depending on which components you configure it with.
• What do we like? We like this PC’s minimalist design, small footprint on a desk, excellent gaming performance and easy upgradability.
• What don’t we like? Lots of extraneous software and the strange CPU/GPU combination.

HP Omen 35L review: Specs

HP Omen 35L review: The ups

If you’re looking for a powerful gaming rig that looks amazing and won’t break the bank, the HP Omen 35L is an excellent choice.

Elegant mid-tower

This mid-tower is ideal if you live in an apartment like I do. At 16.14 x 16.06 x 8.26 inches, the HP Omen 35L won’t take up significant space on your desk. However, due to its 31.9-pound weight, you’ll want to keep it in place once you’ve situated it.

The Omen 35L might not have an ostentatious design like other gaming PCs, but its simple boxy shape helps it better complement most gaming setups. The clear glass panel on the left side gives you a nice view of the internal components and the wonderful RGB lighting this rig produces. I also like the black-and-white coloring of my review unit, though you can also get this PC in black.

Everything inside, right down to the modular power supply is industry-standard and user-upgradeable. This allows you to configure the PC however you wish.

Swapping out components is relatively simple thanks to the easy-to-open side panels. While the interior isn’t exactly spacious, I had no trouble getting inside despite my big hands. Configuring this rig is much easier than the Corsair One i500.

This PC features all the ports you could want. On the top front, you’ll find a lone USB-C port, a pair of USB-A ports, and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. The back holds the lion’s share of ports, including six USB-A ports, a USB-C port, three audio ports, an Ethernet port, three DisplayPorts and an HDMI port.

Amazing performance

Even the most beautiful gaming rig wouldn’t be worthwhile if its performance wasn’t up to snuff. That’s not the case with the Omen 35L I reviewed thanks to its RTX 4080 Super GPU, AMD Ryzen 7 8700G CPU and 32GB of RAM. This is a gaming powerhouse.

During my testing, I fired up Doom Eternal, Cyberpunk 2077 and Black Myth: Wukong and experienced excellent performance on all of them. The big winners were Doom Eternal and Black Myth, which ran at 130 fps and 107 fps (respectively) at max settings and 4K resolution without DLSS enabled. Cyberpunk ran at 60 fps at the same settings, which is great for this demanding game.

We also put several games through our lab tests, which involves using a game’s built-in benchmark tools. As you can see above, the HP Omen 35L delivers performance on par with some of its competitors, though the Corsair One i500 with its Intel Core i9-14900K CPU, RTX 4080 Super and 32GB of RAM do better overall.

As expected, the HP Omen 35L can deftly handle everyday computing tasks. My typical workload, which typically consists of over 20 open Chrome tabs and the occasional YouTube video, was no problem for this machine. I also edited and exported photos in GIMP without issue.

Our lab tests corroborate my anecdotal experience. On Geekbench 6, which tests overall CPU performance, the HP Omen 35L delivered strong single-core and multi-core scores. However, in the Handbrake video transcoding test it lagged behind its competitors.

Runs cool & quiet

There’s nothing worse than a noisy gaming PC. Thankfully, the HP Omen 35L isn’t one of them.

This is by far one of the quietest gaming rigs I’ve ever tested thanks to its liquid cooler, front and rear fans and airflow-friendly interior design. No matter which games I played, I never heard this machine’s fans produce more than a whisper.

Omen Gaming Hub is great

The Omen Gaming Hub app allows you to optimize the Omen 35L’s performance, customize the lighting and organize your gaming library. Its intuitive interface makes it simple to use compared to the more complex Corsair iCue launcher.

One of my favorite features is the ability to connect other Omen products like peripherals and gaming monitors. For instance, I was able to control the lighting on the HP Omen Transcend 32 gaming monitor I’m currently testing. This is an easier alternative to adjusting the monitor’s lighting via its physical controls.

I don’t typically complement game launchers on gaming rigs, but the Omen Gaming Hub is worth trying out given its ease of use and robust customization options.

HP Omen 35L review: The downs

The HP Omen 35L has an awesome design and excellent performance. However, it has some faults that prevent it from being perfect.

Odd CPU/GPU combo

The Omen 35L packs an AMD Ryzen 8000 series APU, which is a laptop processor with decently powerful integrated graphics. That’s intriguing considering how this gaming rig has a powerful discrete GPU, making that aspect of AMD’s processor rather redundant.

So long as everything works fine, this is a perfectly good arrangement. However, if the Omen 35L’s discrete GPU should ever fail, you can’t use the processor’s GPU since there isn’t an HDMI port on the motherboard. This also makes us question why HP opted for this AMD chip. However, it's not a complete deal-breaker.

Lots of extraneous software

The Omen Gaming Hub is a useful app that can help elevate your gaming experience. However, I can’t say the same for the slew of other pre-installed software you’ll find on this PC.

Apps like myHP, HP Support Assistant and HP Smart are somewhat expected, but promotions for Dropbox and Adobe are less welcome. The same is true for an included Google Play Games Beta and Google Essentials. If you’re a Google fan, then perhaps these apps might be useful, but for most folks, they’ll be superfluous at best or annoying at worst.

HP Omen 35L review: Verdict

While its processor and GPU combo is questionable and there are too many superfluous apps, the HP Omen 35L’s strengths far outweigh its negatives. This is a phenomenal mid-tower that delivers excellent gaming performance in a gorgeous-looking chassis. The $1,299 starting price and high degree of user upgradeability simply serve to make this gaming rig all the more enticing.

If you’re looking for an alternative that’s equally priced and just as customizable, the Alienware Aurora R16 ($1,249) is a solid choice. I also recommend the even more affordable Dell XPS 8960 ($899) which delivers an enjoyable gaming experience.

Though gaming PCs with Nvidia RTX 50-series GPUs are drawing the most attention at the moment, that shouldn’t dissuade you from considering the HP Omen 35L since its RTX 4080 Super is plenty powerful for most modern games—and should be for several years to come. Right now, this is my favorite mid-tower gaming PC and one I highly recommend.

I know a little secret about AI laptops. At first, I hesitated in divulging this truth. I wondered, “Do people even give a flying monkey’s behind about AI laptops?”

The answer is likely no. But that doesn’t mean that you don’t deserve to know why companies keep trying to shove them down your throats. You may be thinking, “Pfft, what’s the secret? That AI laptops are a marketing ploy? We already know that!”

It’s actually far more underhanded than that. Hear me out.

I’ve spent over five years as a tech journalist, giving me a rare vantage point. As Mashable’s former tech editor, I’ve had behind-the-scenes conversations with industry insiders about the real motives driving AI laptops. At the same time, I’ve pored over datasets that reveal how everyday consumers are actually reacting to the AI laptop buzz.

In one survey conducted by Intel, 44% of respondents believed that AI PCs are “gimmicky.” Another poll by TechPowerUp discovered that 84% of participants would not shell out extra cash for AI features on PCs.

Despite this, reports are bullish on AI PCs. They’re expected to represent 40% of global PC shipments in 2025, according to Canalys. AI PCs now consist of 14% of the PC market.

This isn’t an outlandish prediction. After two years of testing AI PCs, I can confidently say they’re impressive. My gripe isn’t about their functionality; it’s about the lack of transparency surrounding why the tech industry is pushing them so hard.

But first, for the uninitiated, let’s dive into what exactly is an AI PC.

What’s an AI PC?

The concept of an AI PC, a computer capable of running AI workloads, is nothing new. What stands out is the recent marketing pivot to promote laptops specifically crafted for AI purposes — a trend that’s taken off in the last few years.

Nowadays, an AI PC refers to a computer that is, at the very least, outfitted with an NPU (a processor that is designed to perform AI tasks). For example, laptops like the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7, HP OmniBook X 14, and the newly refreshed Dell XPS 13 have configurations with Qualcomm’s best AI chip offering, Snapdragon X Elite, which features NPUs. As such, these three aforementioned laptops are considered AI PCs.

Microsoft took it a step further and decided to set the standard for what qualifies as an AI-ready PC with “Copilot+” branding.

Copilot+ laptops offer consumers access to flashy Windows-based AI features like the controversial Recall function, Cocreator in Paint, Live Captions, and more. As you might have guessed, Copilot+ PCs come equipped with NPUs, but they must be built into the following chipsets: Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite, AMD Ryzen AI 300 series, and Intel Core Ultra 200V series.

There are arguably “better” AI-ready laptops on the market, particularly gaming laptops, which often sport Nvidia GPUs. As Tom’s Guide’s sister site Tom’s Hardware said, although Nvidia graphics cards aren’t purpose-built for AI, they’re still pretty powerful. An Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU, for example, can offer somewhere between 47 and 194 TOPS, which outpaces the 40 TOPS output from Copilot+ PCs. (TOPs, which stands for trillions of operations per second, is a unit of measurement used to quantify AI computational power.)

The downside is that gaming laptops are energy guzzlers. Copilot+ PCs, as you’ll find out later, give the Energizer Bunny a run for its money.

So where does Apple fit in with all of this? Perhaps making a slight dig at the Windows AI PC hype, the Cupertino-based tech giant said that it’s been making AI-capable machines for years now with its M-series chips. The most powerful one yet is the M4 chip, which you can find across the iPad Pro, MacBook Pro, Mac mini and iMac.

In other words, Apple said we’ve been adding neural engines (a dedicated part of the M-series chips that handles machine-learning and AI workloads) to our machines for quite some time now. Keep up!

Now, let’s get to the juicy part. Here’s the truth behind the aggressive push for AI PCs.

The real reason why laptop companies are pushing AI PCs

Most people assume that the reason why laptop manufacturers — from Lenovo and Dell to HP and Asus — are insistently and assertively rolling out AI PCs is because we’re in an AI boom. With AI being the new buzzword, companies assume that it’ll attract consumers in droves, right?

Wrong! That’s what they want you to believe.

The truth is, I’ve heard some insider chatter suggesting that Big Tech — Microsoft, for instance — is feeling the strain of their AI splurging. Running cloud-based AI is ridiculously expensive, and it’s reportedly causing anxiety in the industry. There’s speculation that some companies may not recoup their massive investments quickly enough, leading to some serious nail-biting behind the scenes.

For example, Microsoft has bundled AI features into subscriptions costing up to $30 per month, but rumors suggest that running cloud-based AI is becoming an unsustainable business model. To address this, industry leaders are pushing AI PCs as a solution to reduce reliance on the cloud.

By integrating NPUs into AI PCs, companies aim to offload AI processing to consumers’ laptops, reducing the painful costs of cloud-based AI operations. This strategy allows them to maintain revenue streams from AI subscriptions while cutting overhead by leveraging users’ hardware resources instead.

So no, the overarching reason for this AI PC hype isn’t to ride the ChatGPT-sparked AI wave. And no, it’s not to protect your privacy either. There’s a trend of companies marketing on-device AI as a “better option for privacy,” but some pundits aren’t so convinced about that. One study found that on-device AI models still leaked private and sensitive information.

The truth is simple: Big Tech is reportedly scared of possible negative returns.

According to Financial Times, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon and Alphabet spent about $200 billion in 2024 to build AI infrastructure — and folks are terrified that the bubble will burst as early as next year. Who will come and rescue them? You and your shiny new NPU.

Laptop companies struggled to articulate how AI PCs enhanced the AI experience

I’ve attended countless briefings with laptop vendors trying to “sell me” on AI PCs. And I haven’t got a single satisfactory answer to the following question: “What benefit, exactly, does an AI PC bring to the consumer?” Every time I asked that question, I could see beads of sweat forming on the representatives' foreheads.

When I first caught wind of the AI PC trend in 2023 — before Copilot+ PCs existed — I struggled to understand how an NPU actually improved the AI experience. At the time, PR teams touted Windows Studio Effects as the big draw, a feature that added webcam effects like background blur. “That’s it?” I thought. “Is that really enough to justify asking people to shell out for an AI PC?”

However, as time progressed, the benefits became clearer. For example, Adobe Premiere Pro now leverages the NPUs of Copilot+ PCs. DaVinci Resolve eventually joined the party, too. Microsoft will also try to sell you features like Recall, Cocreator and more, but they’re more for “funsies” rather than adding any practical value to one’s productivity.

Still, for most users, it’s not the “AI” from AI PCs that make them worth the purchase — it’s everything else. Research from IDC backs this claim, but I’ve tested a handful of AI PCs, so allow me to divulge my personal experience with them.

AI PCs are actually good — but not because of their AI capabilities

Although the AI PC trend is reportedly part of Big Tech’s scheme to stop the alleged financial bleeding, they’re actually pretty good.

In fact, I’ll go as far as saying that AI PCs, particularly Copilot+ PCs, are the best thing that have happened to Windows laptops in quite some time. In an Intel-dominated space, the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chip is sensational.

I own an M2 MacBook Air, but if hell were to freeze over and I decided to snag a Windows laptop, it’d be the Snapdragon X Elite-based Microsoft Surface Laptop 7. It lasted nearly 23 hours on a charge in a video rundown test I ran on it. Tom’s Guide runs a more robust, intensive battery runtime test — and it lasted almost 16 hours on a charge, which is still incredible.

When it comes to performance, the Surface Laptop 7 was only narrowly defeated by the M3 MacBook Air.

The Dell XPS 13 configuration with the Snapdragon X Elite chip also blew us away. It lasted a whopping 19 hours and 41 minutes on a charge. And it, too, is a performance powerhouse.

Intel could never.

I can’t emphasize this enough: AI PCs are impressive — but not necessarily for the AI features they’re named after.

What now?

My sources indicate that Big Tech isn’t expected to see substantial returns from its AI investments any time soon — and it’s sparking concern across the industry.

“The revenue returns from AI remain more of a promise than a present reality,” Jeremy Goldman, senior director of briefings at EMARKETER, told Business Insider.

The rumored solution? As mentioned, integrate NPUs into everyday laptops, shifting AI workloads to consumer devices.

On the bright side, this is shaping up to be a somewhat symbiotic relationship between the industry leaders and consumers. Buyers gain power-efficient, high-performance laptops that meet their needs, and in return, Big Tech establishes NPUs as a standard feature in modern devices to cut their expenditures. Win, win!

More from Tom's Guide

• This is my favorite laptop of the year that you can’t buy in the US — and it's a glimpse of the future
• This next-gen laptop could be the foldable display hybrid of my dreams
• Copilot+ PCs are here — 11 Snapdragon X Elite laptops you can buy right now

The HP OmniBook Ultra is the company’s latest AI laptop, packing AMD's new AI processor and other high-end specs under the hood.

This notebook is a productivity powerhouse. With a cutting-edge AMD CPU onboard, the OmniBook Ultra can handle most tasks from simple word processing to more intensive, multi-core tasks like video or photo editing. Performance doesn't come at the expense of battery life, which lasts up to 13 hours. The laptop is also quite small and lightweight, sporting an all-metal body that easily slips into any laptop sleeve.

The 14-inch, 2.2K touchscreen display is no showstopper, but it is reliable and color-accurate. While not everyone needs a touchscreen display, it's a nice bonus if you prefer the tactility of scrolling or swiping on the screen.

The one letdown here is that the HP OmniBook Ultra is an AI laptop lacking most of its useful AI features. The few it currently has are far from impressive, though that's likely to change when HP updates the laptop with Copilot+.

Sure, AI features could make the HP OmniBook Ultra better, but it doesn't need AI to be great for productivity. As a small, lightweight laptop with solid construction and even stronger performance, this laptop is made for power users on the go.

Check out my review of the HP OmniBook Ultra for a deeper dive.

HP OmniBook Ultra review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? A powerful yet ultraportable laptop with a top-of-the-line AMD processor.
• Who is it for? People who want a portable machine with excellent performance and battery life.
• What does it cost? The HP OmniBook Ultra costs $1,349 on HP’s website. The upgraded version with 2 TB of storage and 32GB of memory costs $1,698.
• What do we like? It's a great all-around machine for productivity and gaming, and it's light enough to take anywhere.
• What don’t we like? The promised AI features are yet to arrive.

HP OmniBook Ultra review: Specs

HP OmniBook Ultra review: The ups

Putting the AI hype aside, the HP OmniBook Ultra stands on its own as a top-tier productivity laptop with a small footprint. It has a long battery life, is easy to lug around, and it's not bad for gaming. It’s a reliable notebook for surfing the web, writing, or even using creative software.

All-around powerhouse

Despite some of the shortcomings with the AI integration, the HP Omnibook Ultra is great for work, creative pursuits, and leisure. Whether I was writing this review, playing video games, watching YouTube, or doing research, I was not disappointed with the performance. When I'm writing, I like to have dozens of tabs open — yes, I know how chaotic that sounds — which can be taxing on most laptops. Not in this case, though.

I was pleased with the hands-on performance of the Omnibook Ultra, and the lab tests backed it up. The Geekbench 6 scores were higher than the HP Omnibook X, which is one of our favorites from earlier this year. While the single-core Geekbench 6 score for the MacBook Air 13-inch M3 was slightly higher, the Omnibook Ultra blew the MacBook out of the water in the multi-core tests.

The Handbrake score, which is a benchmark for video editing, was also higher than the two previously mentioned laptops, with the Omnibook Ultra completing the encoding benchmark by more than a minute.

Although the HP Omnibook Ultra is not a gaming laptop, it performs well in that department, so long as you don't expect to run the latest games on the highest graphics settings.

For casual gaming, the OmniBook Ultra performs a lot better than you might expect. I played several indie games, such as Core Keeper and Arco, and had a great time. There were no framerate dips, crashes, or other interruptions. I even managed to play The Finals, though it was far from being the ideal gameplay experience — the small keyboard and slow refresh rate are the main culprits.

The Omnibook Ultra is good for gaming in a pinch, but you’re better off with one of the best gaming laptops to get your game on.

All-day battery life

The battery on the Omnibook Ultra lasts all day. HP claims the Omnibook Ultra can last up to 16 hours on battery, and an additional six hours if watching video. Testing revealed that number was closer to 13 hours, which was spent mostly surfing the web. With over 12 hours of battery life, I never worried that the laptop would quit on me when I needed it. That's exactly what you want from a productivity machine.

I also tried playing a few games while unplugged from the charger. While these were smaller indie titles that didn't consume much resources, the battery life held up surprisingly well. I played in sessions around an hour long, and the battery didn't dip significantly during that time. Playing more graphically intensive games consumes more battery life, so it's best not to push the battery by playing something like Fortnite with maxed-out graphics.

The battery is also efficient when not in use. This is especially important if you like to leave your laptop untouched for a few days, which I constantly do as I'm always switching between devices. So long as the battery still has some juice, you can expect to come back to a laptop that wakes up on command after a few days.

Minimal but functional design

The HP Omnibook Ultra may be small, but it's far from flimsy. Nothing about it feels cheap, with the all-metal body adding the right amount of heft. The single long hinge makes opening and closing the laptop a smooth experience whether you do it with one hand or two. It’s also comfortable to type on for extended periods. The center placement of the touchpad allows for enough space on either side to rest your palms comfortably—I much prefer this to the slightly off-center touchpad placement that's common with gaming laptops.

As someone who's used my fair share of big, obnoxious gaming laptops, I enjoy the minimal design of the Omnibook Ultra. It's simple, clean, and perfect for working from a cafe or taking to work. The single HP logo on the top, which is made from a reflective metal, is the laptop's sole claim to vanity.

The OmniBook Ultra has a utilitarian look, but that doesn't translate to the ports. There are two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports, one USB-A port, and a 3.5mm audio port.

The single USB-A port on the left side uses a collapsible design, similar to what some manufacturers do with Ethernet ports. It's not something I've ever seen, but I'm glad they did it. Without it, I would have had to use a dongle to connect the USB-A receiver for my wireless mouse.

Reliable touchscreen display with accurate colors

Although I'm not sure why HP included a touchscreen display, especially since it doesn't come with a stylus or can fold backward to become a tablet, I'm sure many will find the touchscreen useful since it’s very responsive.

Aside from the touch capabilities, the 14-inch (2240 x 1400) display, is perfectly serviceable. While it's not an OLED screen, everything from YouTube videos to indie games looks crisp. The display can recreate 100% of the sRGB color space, which is the most common color space for digital devices. With the ability to recreate almost all colors, along with a low Delta E score, hues will look accurate whether you're streaming a series or editing photos in Lightroom.

The Omnibook Ultra is made for travel, but taking it outside might be a bit of a challenge. The display simply isn't bright enough to view in broad daylight. In our testing, the display had an average brightness of 359 nits, with the lower right portion of the screen being the brightest.

That's slightly below HP's claim, which puts the display at 400 nits of brightness. While it's not bright enough for daylight use and is less bright than the MacBook Pro M3's display, it’s bright enough for indoor use.

Overall, the display doesn't stand out, but it is reliable. Nothing about it was a dealbreaker for me. If anything, the low brightness of the display ends up being a boon for battery life.

HP OmniBook Ultra: The downs

The OmniBook Ultra is a laptop with few major flaws and fewer minor ones. You couldn't ask for much more from a productivity standpoint. Yet, with no strong AI features, the omission of Copilot+ is a glaring weakness for a laptop billed as an AI PC.

AI features are half-baked

Copilot is Microsoft's big foray into the AI computing space, and it's available on Windows 11 PCs. Copilot+ takes it to the next level, with AI features that leverage a computer's neural processing unit (NPU) — essentially a processor dedicated to machine learning and AI tasks.

Features like live captions, recall, and co-creator could be legitimate game-changers that partially run on the computer to speed up results. Additionally, integrations with creative software, such as Adobe software and DaVinci Resolve, are a boon for creators. This Omnibook has the hardware to run Copilot, but at time of writing, we're waiting for an update from Microsoft.

This is Microsoft's killer app, the one that can move hardware. Yet, it's not yet present on the OmniBook Ultra. This isn't HP's fault, but anyone looking forward to using Copilot+ on this laptop will have to wait until Microsoft issues the aforementioned update.

What we're left with is an AI laptop with no AI features. Unless you count HP's AI Companion, which I don't. The built-in software offers some interesting features that don't pay off. You can chat with the app and have it change settings on your laptop. This was mostly a miss for me — it couldn't dim the backlit keyboard when I asked it, for example.

You can also upload a document and have the assistant inspect it. I used this to get a quick rundown for a board game since I didn't have time to read all the rules. It worked fine, but it's nothing ChatGPT can't already do. The truly disappointing part is that you have to be online. Disconnect from the internet for a second, and the app ceases to function — you can't even look at the previous chat.

HP OmniBook Ultra Verdict

The Omnibook Ultra is excellent for everyday work and some light gaming. The laptop didn't break a sweat when I had over 20 tabs open and a YouTube video running in the background while downloading a video game on Steam. More importantly, it did it quietly. The convenience of comfortably working from the couch paired with the long battery life meant I could lock in on the task at hand.

Being an AI laptop, the missing AI features like Copilot+ are a disappointment — I was really looking forward to seeing what it could do. That could change soon when Microsoft drops the free update, but until then, this laptop is purely for productivity.

If you don't want to pay a premium for features you can't access yet, there are better options for around the same price. The MacBook Air M3 and the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x, which both reside in our list of best laptops, are also portable powerhouses.

HP may have put the cart before the horse, but it's a damn fine cart. When the horse rolls around, so to speak, the OmniBook Ultra could be the complete package.

When choosing the best wireless earbuds, it’s important to consider the all-important factors. Are they comfortable? Do they feature active noise cancelation, and if they do, is it any good? What’s the battery life like? Do they justify their price tag? And there’s a plethora of earbuds to choose from, and who would have thought that HP, the purveyor of some of the best laptops, could tick all these boxes with the Poly Voyager Free 20s?

I recently reviewed the (very expensive) HP Poly Voyager Surround 80 UC and was left disappointed, so I was really hoping that wouldn’t be the case with the HP Poly Voyager Free 20 wireless earbuds — and it wasn’t: The Free 20 are extremely comfortable and boast effective active noise cancelation, and excellent sound quality across a variety of genres — from heavy rock to synthpop. These earbuds aren’t perfect though, as the controls can be frustrating, the charging case is flimsy, and they lack spatial audio. But when pitted against similarly priced earbuds, they are at par with some of the best active noise cancelling earbuds.

For the full breakdown, read my full HP Poly Voyager Free 20 review.

HP Poly Voyager Free 20 review: Cheat sheet

• What are they? Wireless earbuds with adaptive active noise cancelation 
• Who are they for? For audiophiles looking for the consistent yet excellent sound quality across a variety of genres
• How much do they cost? The HP Poly Voyager Free 20 are available for $149 / £151
• What do we like? Beautiful sound across a range of genres, wear detection, effective ANC, detailed companion app, and superb comfort levels
• What don’t we like? Flimsy plastic charging case, no spatial audio and little control over EQ, and frustrating controls

HP Poly Voyager Free 20 review: Price & availability

The HP Poly Voyager Free 20 wireless earbuds are available for $149 / £151. Available in black only, they sport a minimalistic design well-suited for the office.

These earbuds face fierce competition from the likes of the Jabra Elite 5 ($149), the Nothing Ear ($149), the Beats Studio Buds+ ($169) and the Beats Fit Pro ($199), but they manage to keep up, thanks to the performance of their core feature set.

HP Poly Voyager Free 20 review: Design & comfort

The HP Poly Voyager Free 20 earbuds are sleek and minimalistically designed, with glossy black and gold accents. Branding is low-key, with the Poly logo present only on the right earbud and on the charging case. The earbuds are quite light, each weighing 0.16 ounces. I usually prefer a long stem design over the rounder buds style present here, but I can still appreciate that the Free 20 earbuds look good and feel premium.

Sadly, the same can’t be said about the charging case. It feels very plasticky and the hinges feel loose. Every time I open the case, I worry I’m going to push it too hard and it’s going to snap, or one bad drop to the floor and it’ll shatter. I expect better build quality from earbuds that cost nearly $150.

Regardless of the case’s flaws, the earbuds themselves are mighty comfortable. I’ve had no problem wearing them for eight consecutive hours, and I even tried wearing them to sleep. Sleeping on my side was no issue as the earbuds fit snugly in my ears. The Free 20 are, possibly, the most comfortable earbuds I’ve worn yet.

HP Poly Voyager Free 20 review: Connectivity

The HP Poly Voyager Free 20 earbuds use Bluetooth 5.4 to seamlessly connect to your laptop and smartphone. The codecs they support aren’t specified by HP. Without the information from HP itself, it’s difficult to determine whether the Free 20 support advanced codecs like LDAC and aptX — both codecs respectively are supported by the Nothing Ear (LDAC) and Jabra Elite 5 (aptX), which each cost the same as the Free 20s ($149).

The Free 20 also support multipoint connectivity, which means you can simultaneously connect them to eight devices at once. Eight! Having them connected to my MacBook Air M2 (2022) and Google Pixel 7 Pro at the same time is handy means I can watch videos and listen to music on both. This feature is also present in similarly priced earbuds, such as the Nothing Ear, but is missing from more expensive earbuds, like the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2 ($299).

HP Poly Voyager Free 20 review: Controls & app

Both the HP Poly Voyager Free 20 earbuds feature a button each. One button to rule them all. There are no touch controls, and all actions, such as answering calls, going to the next song, and even enabling ANC, are done through button presses. I’ve found this very uncomfortable, because pressing the buttons pushes the buds deeper into your ears.

Available on both iOS and Android, Poly Lens is the Free 20’s companion app, and gives you a lot of control over them — but not over the equalizer, which I’ll discuss later. You can use the app to edit voice prompts and tones, ringtones and volume, enable or disable wear detection, update the Free 20s’ firmware, and even trigger ‘Find my device’ to locate your earbuds’ last known location. Nifty!

HP Poly Voyager Free 20 review: Sound quality

The HP Poly Voyager Free 20s are one of the best sounding pairs of earbuds I’ve ever tried. To test them out, I listened to a playlist on Spotify Premium — one of the best music streaming services — on my Google Pixel 7 Pro. Its 10mm dynamic drivers deliver powerful audio and thumping bass. Combined with the fact that the Free 20 are super comfortable, the listening experience is outstanding.

I saw Glass Animals recently and I’ve been obsessed with their songs ever since. The subtle bass notes in ‘Gooey’ really shine through the Free 20, and they sound sharp but never overbearing. The earbuds also excel at balancing different sounds in ‘Creatures in Heaven’, for instance. Even with the bassline blaring in the chorus, vocals are still crisp and clear.

In softer songs, like Highasakite’s ‘Since Last Wednesday’ and Dodie’s ‘Sick of Losing Soulmates,’ both leading and backing vocals sound beautiful, especially in the latter. When the drums kick in towards the end of the song, Dodie’s vocals are still the main event. As for dance music, give Four Tet’s ‘Nova’ a spin with the Free 20, and you’ll start swaying like you were on a crowded dance floor with a disco ball shining down on you.

My only gripe with the Free 20’s audio aspect is that you don’t get a lot of EQ presets, and you can’t customize them either. You’re stuck with bass, flat, and bright presets. I won’t lie, there isn’t much difference between these three either. Cheaper earbuds like the Sony WF-C700N ($119) let you customize the sound, and they feature spatial audio — which is also lacking here.

HP Poly Voyager Free 20 review: Active noise cancelation

When you wear the HP Poly Voyager Free 20 earbuds for the first time and fire up the Poly Lens app, a fit test will be conducted to ensure there’s no audio leakage. The test isn’t as detailed as the JBL Tour Pro 2’s, but those are also nearly double the price at $249.

Back to the Free 20s. The adaptive active noise cancelation is very effective, and far better than the HP Poly Voyager Surround 80 UC’s ($349). The earbuds excelled at drowning out office chatter, the bus engine’s humming, and even cars honking. In my JBL Tour Pro 2 review, I complained about the earbuds not performing well on trains, so I’m happy to report that the Free 20 do a much better job. Additionally, when compared to the similarly priced Jabra Elite 5, the Free 20 take the cake in the ANC department.

The earbuds also feature two transparency modes: one to hear your surroundings (environment), and the other for face-to-face communication (speech). This means you don’t have to remove your earbuds to speak to other people — simply toggle the speech mode and you’re good to go.

HP Poly Voyager Free 20 review: Special features

The HP Poly Voyager Free 20 earbuds feature wear detection which means that if you remove an earbud, the media will automatically pause and then resume when the earbud is back in your ear. This can be turned off (although I don’t see why anyone would do that) via the Poly Lens app.

With an IP65 rating, the earbuds are completely dust-proof and moderately water-resistant, so while you can wear them while in the rain, they can’t be submerged or worn when jumping into a pool. This rating is better than the IP54 rating on the Nothing Ear.

HP Poly Voyager Free 20 review: Battery life

HP claims that with ANC off, you can get 12 hours of playback time and an additional 42 hours from the charging case. With ANC turned on, this falls to 8 hours, with the charging case providing an additional 28. In comparison, the Sony WF-C700N provide 7.5 hours with ANC on, and the charging case provides 24. Expensive earbuds pale in comparison too. For instance, the Beats Fit Pro are capable of just 6 hours with ANC on, as are the Bose QuietComfort Ultra ($299). Props to HP.

I had ANC on throughout my testing, and the Free 20 lasted for just under 8 hours before they needed to be put back into the case, matching up with the aforementioned claims.

When charged via a 30W USB-A to USB-C charger, 10 minutes of charging gives you two hours of playback time. Also, the case supports wireless charging.

HP Poly Voyager Free 20 review: Verdict

The HP Poly Voyager Free 20 are definitely worth it if you care most about comfort, sound quality, and active noise cancelation. The sound quality is excellent and consistent across an array of genres, and their adaptive ANC excels at drowning out most sounds — indoors and outdoors. They’re also supremely comfortable to wear for long durations, as I didn’t experience any discomfort throughout the testing period.

This isn’t to say that everything is dandy. You don’t have a lot of control over the EQ outside of choosing from three similar sounding presets. The Free 20's lack spatial audio too, so if you want that, we recommend the Sony WF-C700N instead. As for their physical aspects, HP's earbuds are built really well, but the charging case feels plasticky with loose hinges that could come apart at any time — disappointing at this price but not an outright dealbreaker.

If you’re willing to overlook these minor flaws, $149 for the Free 20 is a solid deal as you get amazing sound quality that makes you feel like you’re watching the artist live, effective ANC that makes you feel like you’re the only person in the world, and unmatched comfort levels that let you wear the earbuds for hours on end.

The recently released HP OmniBook X made an impressive debut for the resurrected OmniBook line. Soon it will have a potentially more powerful sibling in the newly announced HP OmniBook Ultra 14.

When Microsoft revealed the Copilot + PC program back in May, AMD and Intel were conspicuously absent as the tech giant paired up with Qualcomm to utilize the company's Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus chips. 

AMD wasn't to be left behind as they quickly announced the Ryzen AI 300 series, which features 55 trillion operations per second (TOPS) of AI performance. For those keeping count, that's 10 more when compared to Qualcomm's 45 TOPS. AMD's chips will integrate with AMD Radeon 800M graphics. Whether or not the AMD AI Ryzen chip is as powerful as Qualcomm's remains to be seen.

The newest OmniBook will be a laptop of firsts for HP. It will be the first Copilot+ PC to feature AMD's AI chip and the first HP consumer-grade laptop to run on an AMD processor with Thunderbolt 4 ports, as confirmed by our sister site Tom's Hardware.

Despite the different naming conventions, the Ultra 14 looks quite similar to the OmniBook X. Both feature 14-inch displays with 2240 x 1400 resolution. The chassis appears identical, though the Ultra 14 has angled corners in the rear, which might remind you of the recently discontinued HP Spectre line. The Ultra 14 is a tad heavier than the X, coming in at nearly 3.5 pounds compared to the X's slimmer 2.97 pounds.

In our battery test, the HP OmniBook X lasted for 16 hours and 22 minutes. The Ultra 14 is supposed to feature an even larger battery than the X, so we're excited to see how it fares in our tests. HP estimates 13 hours on MobileMark, and claims up to 21 hours of video playbook.

The OmniBook Ultra 14 will feature two USB Type-C ports, a USB Type-A, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Again that's similar to the X, except that the Ultra is supposed to support Thunderbolt 4.

The HP OmniBook Ultra 14 will go on sale at the beginning of August for a starting price of $1,449. HP has not released a specific day yet. We've heard that the OmniBook Ultra will not specifically be a Copilot+ PC at launch. Instead, HP will release a free update, with the timing and availability up to Microsoft, according to HP.

More from Tom's Guide

• Microsoft Recall gets a total recall — so what's the point of Copilot+ PCs again?
• I tested a Snapdragon X Elite Copilot+ PC for gaming — and it actually plays GTA V
• AMD predicts a full AI agent is possible in '3-5 years' — what that means

For many, the post-pandemic world has introduced a hybrid working system, where you work three days from the office and two from home. Today, a quality headset has never been more important and is just as necessary as having the best ergonomic keyboard and mouse. For that reason, you now need one of the best headsets and headphones for working from home, especially if you spend a lot of time on calls.

The HP Poly Voyager Surround 80 UC might tick a lot of your boxes. It’s a very comfortable headset that you can wear for hours on end without being weighed down, and with a minimalist design, it fits perfectly into an office setting. It uses 10 mics for clear call quality, and its user-friendly companion app is packed with a wealth of customization options. However, not only does it face fierce competition from its rivals, but its bass and treble are substandard, the battery isn’t great, and ANC isn’t nearly as good as the best noise-canceling headphones, despite being priced as extravagantly.

For a complete breakdown, read my full HP Poly Voyager Surround 80 UC review.

HP Poly Voyager Surround 80 UC review: Price & availability

The HP Poly Voyager Surround 80 UC is available for $349 / £353 from Amazon. The headset is available in black only, so you aren’t spoilt for choice.

Its hefty price tag puts the Poly Voyager Surround 80 UC in the same league as the Sony WH-1000XM5 — the top-ranking headphones for working from home costing $399.

HP Poly Voyager Surround 80 UC review: Design & comfort

Designed to be worn for a full day of use in the office, the HP Poly Voyager Surround 80 UC is a very comfortable headset. It’s sleek and the minimalist branding gives it a professional edge. Made of soft-touch plastic, the headband features two plush cushions separated by a small gap. This gap helps reduce pressure points on the head, making the headset comfortable to wear for long periods of time. Weighing 9.7 ounces, the Poly Voyager Surround 80 UC is slightly heavier than the Sony WH-1000XM5 (8.8 ounces) but lighter than the more expensive Sonos Ace (11.4 ounces). Still, I wore the headset for eight consecutive hours and didn't feel weighed down.

The earcups are big enough for most ears and are made of plush leatherette. Any leather-like material is prone to getting hot and my ears did feel itchy from sweat after about four continuous hours, so I’d recommend taking short breaks. Another downside is that it can’t be folded — a potential turn-off for those looking to travel with this headset. But you do get a hard case which lets you store it and its accessories together.

HP Poly Voyager Surround 80 UC review: Controls

As aforementioned, the HP Poly Voyager Surround 80 UC is a sleek headset, which means it doesn’t house many physical controls. The right earcup hosts all the ports, the power/Bluetooth button, and the ANC toggle. All other controls are done via swipes as the right earcup is touch-sensitive. In my testing, the touch controls were responsive and I had no trouble increasing the volume or tapping to answer a call. However, because the earcups are highly touch-sensitive, they’re prone to mistapping. Be mindful to avoid accidentally hanging up on your boss.

HP Poly Voyager Surround 80 UC review: Call quality & connectivity

The HP Poly Voyager Surround 80 UC is certified for Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and Google Meet, so you’d naturally expect excellent call quality. This is where the headset really shines. With 10 built-in mics (four for adaptive ANC which I’ll discuss later), the Poly Voyager Surround 80 UC features a boomless setup. This means that there is no extendable mic, and audio is recorded via the earcups. When I was on calls, my colleagues sounded loud and clear, as did I. I even recorded myself on my phone and played it back, and the audio was rich. With the sidetone set to medium, I was able to hear myself clearly while talking, so I could check if I was being too loud.

HP has put a lot of thought into the Poly Voyager Surround 80 UC’s design to ensure it’s the ideal headset for the office. For example, both earcups pulse with a red LED when you’re on a call, letting your colleagues know not to disturb you without having to make awkward hand signals across the office.

The Poly Voyager Surround 80 UC utilizes Bluetooth 5.3 to seamlessly connect to your phone and laptop, and multipoint connectivity ensures you can connect up to two devices at once. There’s also a handy USB-C dongle you can plug into your laptop to instantly use the headset. I did notice that some features are limited to dongle connectivity. For instance, if you speak while muted, an audio cue will tell you you’re on mute. Nifty! I wish this was present over Bluetooth too.

HP Poly Voyager Surround 80 UC review: Sound quality

The HP Poly Voyager Surround 80 UC is a work-first headset, but for this money the chances are you’ll want to use it outside of work to listen to music, too. To test it, I listened to a playlist on Spotify Premium, which is one of the best music streaming services, on my Google Pixel 7 Pro. I was disappointed with the headset’s sound quality — you’ll feel short-changed if you’re looking for a dynamic sound profile.

Vocal-heavy songs, such as “Momento Mori” by Fish in a Birdcage and “Is This the Life We Really Want” by Roger Waters, sound great because of the headset’s emphasis on voice clarity. But songs with prominent basslines, such as “Pet Cheetah” by Twenty One Pilots and “Something Good” by alt-J, sound flat even with the EQ set to bass. I enjoyed listening to an audiobook on Spotify, though, as the spoken words sounded clear.

This is a great headset if you listen to podcasts and audiobooks in your spare time, but definitely isn’t one for music consumption. The Microsoft Surface Headphones 2 ($250) maintain a well-balanced sound across all genres, and are also great for productivity.

HP Poly Voyager Surround 80 UC review: ANC performance

I don’t think I can live without active noise cancelation, so I always look for good ANC performance before buying earbuds or headphones. The HP Poly Voyager Surround 80 UC has four built-in mics to support adaptive ANC, but the headset’s ANC performance depends on where you’re using it.

Indoors or in a busy office, the ANC performs well, drowning out most sounds and office chatter. In my testing, I couldn’t hear my colleagues when I was listening to music or I was on a call. Some noise still bled through, such as that of a loud truck revving up outside my office window. While the Poly Voyager Surround 80 UC performs decently indoors, the same can’t be said for the outdoors. Yes, it’s meant to be used when you’re working, but if you’re spending $349 on a headset, the least you’d expect its ANC to do is keep your ears shielded at all times. On my walk to and from work, I could hear vehicles passing by and even my own footsteps.

The Poly Voyager Surround 80 UC’s ANC pales in comparison to that of the best in the market, such as the Sony WH-1000XM5.

HP Poly Voyager Surround 80 UC review: Special features

I really appreciate wear detection in earbuds and headphones — where playback automatically pauses when you remove an earbud and resumes when you put it back in. While the HP Poly Voyager Surround 80 UC features wear detection, but thanks to the sensors being located on the headband, it doesn’t work as smoothly as intended. If you move and the cushions stop touching your head ever so slightly, the music pauses on its own. This proved to be really frustrating in my testing, especially when I was walking, so I disabled it via the app.

HP Poly Voyager Surround 80 UC review: App

Poly Lens is the HP Poly Voyager Surround 80 UC’s companion app, available on both iOS and Android. The app is intuitive and offers lots of customization options to optimize your headset. You can use the app to update the headset’s firmware, edit voice prompts, tones, ringtones, sidetone, smart sensors, and a lot more.

Also, you can assign a function to the custom button — ANC/transparency mode is the default and I kept it that way as I could switch to transparency mode to hear my colleagues without needing to take the headset off.

HP Poly Voyager Surround 80 UC review: Battery life

HP rates the Poly Voyager Surround 80 UC’s battery life highly, claiming that the headset is capable of offering up to 24 hours of music time or 21 hours of talk time. In my testing, the headset went from zero to 100% in just under an hour when charged with a 30W USB-A to USB-C charger. When I charged the headset, the right earcup (where the USB-C socket is) got very hot, so be wary.

The Poly Voyager Surround 80 UC’s battery life isn’t as good as its competitors, with the Sony WH-1000XM5 giving you 40 hours with ANC disabled. And if you want more bang for your buck, the Cleer Enduro ANC impressed us with its 60-hour battery life, and will save you a lot of money at just $149.

HP Poly Voyager Surround 80 UC review: Verdict

The HP Poly Voyager Surround 80 UC could be worth considering if you’re looking for a headset that’s great for working but you aren’t fussed about audio fidelity for music or ANC performance. It’s incredibly comfortable thanks to plush earcups and cushions on the headband, and its 10 mics offer clear call quality. With minimal branding and a sleek design, it looks professional too. The Poly Lens app also enables you to customize and optimize the headset.

But that’s all. Given its price, it’s reasonable that you’d want to use this headset for music consumption, either between calls or on your commute to and from work, so its audio performance is disappointing. Bass and treble sound flat even when the EQ is altered. And while the Poly Voyager Surround 80 UC’s ANC is effective indoors, successfully drowning out office chatter, the same can’t be said for outdoor use. I could hear cars and even my own footsteps while walking — the Bose QuietComfort headphones have much better ANC for the same price. Similarly, HP’s offering doesn’t boast the whopping battery life of the Sony WH-1000XM5’s and the cheaper Cleer Enduro ANC’s.

For $349, the Poly Voyager Surround 80 UC doesn’t do enough to justify its price. I wasn’t expecting the world from a manufacturer best known for printers and laptops, but I don’t think I’m wrong in asking for a headset that walks the talk. I’d rather not feel like I’ve simply thrown away a chunk of my paycheck on a headset that doesn’t deliver.

The best gaming laptops of 2024 (so far) have been able to blur the lines between gaming machine and productivity — highlighting through design how that horsepower could be applied to more intense workloads.

HP’s brand-new Omen 17 doesn’t really go down that road. It certainly still looks like a large-and-in-charge gaming laptop. But there’s a lot more than meets the eye with this beast, especially when you take into account that super low starting price (especially for a 17-inch gaming laptop).

What’s new?

Outside of the usual suspects here — audio tuned by HyperX, Tempest Cooling to prevent thermal throttling, and plentiful I/O — there are some interesting advancements that fall in line with what we’re seeing across the gaming laptop space.

First of all, bigger is most certainly seeming to be better, as HP has gone large on its 17/3-inch QHD panel with a variable refresh rate up to 240Hz. Alongside this, with the AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS chipset inside giving the Omen 17 an NPU, HP’s slapped a Copilot key on the board. 

Most interestingly, HP has steered further into this by offering users a free 30-day trail to Otter.ai Pro. Currently, I’m using the free version, and it’s been a huge help for transcribing meetings. It shows an intent for the Omen to be more than just a gaming machine, which it is absolutely capable of thanks to that CPU and the RTX 4070 under the hood. 

As for going specific on the performance, everything is kept cool by full three-side venting and two 12V fans. Plus, it’s a gaming laptop, so you can indeed personalize the RGB lighting to make it either as muted or wild as you want through the light studio section of Omen Gaming Hub.

It’s an Omen

For those who (in HP’s own weird words) “who prefer bigger screens and wear many hats,” on paper, the Omen 17 does seem set to achieve this — giving you enough power under the hood for gaming and prosumer prowess, a giant 17.3-inch QHD display up top, AI capabilities thanks to the NPU on AMD’s Ryzen chip inside, and enough cooling to ensure it doesn’t break too much of a sweat.

And at that starting price of $1,349/£1,199 (for AMD Ryzen 5 8645HS, RTX 4050, 16GB RAM and a 512GB SSD), the system’s temptation gets all the more sweet. While I’ll reserve full judgement until we go properly hands-on with the Omen 17, color me excited for what this big screen experience can bring to the gaming table in May.

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The HP Spectre x360 14 2-in-1 has all the makings of being one of the best laptops for those looking for equal parts AI power and portability. Plus, it's pure eye candy, and I don't just mean the design — there's a 9MP camera on board that delivers great-looking images while keeping you in the frame while you move around.

As you'd expect, the HP Spectre X360 14 2-in-1 also packs Intel's latest Core Ultra chip, whose NPU is primed to deliver a range of useful AI experiences. You also get a vivid OLED display and Poly-tuned audio in a lightweight design. I went hands-on with the Spectre X360 14 2-in-1 ahead of CES 2024, and it looks like a very impressive MacBook Pro 14-inch M3 alternative for the money. 

HP Spectre x360 14 2-in-1 Specs

HP Spectre x360 14 2-in-1: Price and release date

The HP Spectre x360 14 2-in-1 is available now at HP.com and Best Buy for a starting price of $1,499. We will report back on configuration options. By comparison, the MacBook Pro 14-inch with M3 chip starts at $1,599. 

HP Spectre x360 14 2-in-1: Design and ports

For a 2-in-1 whose display flips around, the HP Spectre x360 is pretty compact and light. It measures 12.35 x 8.68 x 0.67 inches and weighs 3.2 pounds, which makes it easy to take from room to room or slip in your back for your commute.

Given its slim dimensions, there's not much room for ports, but you get 2 Thunderbolt 4 ports along with a flip-down, USB-A port. I wonder if that door will last but it's nice to have the option to full in a full-size USB A cable. There's a mic/headphone jack as well.

The HP Spectre x360 14 2-in-1 comes in Nightball black, Slate blue and Sahara silver. I'm partial to the blue now that I've seen all the models in person. It has personality without being too showy. 

HP Spectre x360 14 2-in-1: Display and audio

The 14-inch OLED display on the the HP Spectre x360 14 2-in-1 delivers a vibrant picture, whether I was using GIMP to create generative AI photos or surfing the web. This panel has a variable refresh rate of 48-120Hz to deliver smooth performance while helping save on battery life.

I also like the 16:10 aspect ratio on the new Spectre, which fits in more content than a 16:9 screen. Just don't expect the best brightness. This HP is rated for 500 nits of brightness when viewing HDR content, compared to 1,600 nits for the 14-inch MacBook Pro.

The new Spectre X350 14 2-in-1 models are the first consumer laptops to feature Poly audio tuning. I didn't have a chance to test out the speakers — two on either side of the keyboard — but HP says that you should get great voice quality along with strong overall sound. 

HP Spectre x360 14 2-in-1: Webcam

One of my favorite features in the HP Spectre x360 14 2-in-1 is the 9MP camera, which puts the 1080p camera on the MacBook Pro to shame. I looked clear and my skin tone natural in a room with challenging lighting. And that's because this laptop features hardware-enabled low-light adjustments. 

I also appreciated that the webcam could keep my face centered as I moved around the frame, one of several AI features that's handled by the NPU. You can also blur the background with ease. 

HP Spectre x360 14 2-in-1: Performance and AI Features

The HP Spectre x360 14 2-in-1 is powered by either a Intel Core Ultra 5 or Core Ultra 7 chip, which is backed up by 16GB or 32GB of RAM. Storage options include a 512GB NVMe SSD, 1TB or 2TB. There's Intel Arc graphics on board, too.

But the biggest deal is the beefed up NPU inside Intel's new chip, which can handle all sorts of AI tasks instead of the CPU or GPU. For example, I used GIMP to create an image of a golden retriever riding a skateboard with just a simple prompt. 

There's also a dedicated AI chip that can lock your PC when you walk away and wake it up when you approach. And I got a kick out of the privacy alerts that pop up when the Spectre x360 14 2-in-1 senses that someone else is looking over your shoulder. No snoop for you!

HP Spectre x360 14 2-in-1: Battery life

The HP Spectre x360 14 2-in-1 is rated for up to 13 hours of battery life in general use, and up to 17 hours of video playback. We saw over 17 hours of juice from the MacBook Pro 14-inch M3 when surfing the web, so HP could be at a disadvantage here.

The good news is that this HP supports fast charging, and you can get to 50% in about 45 minutes. 

HP Spectre x360 14 2-in-1: Outlook

Overall, the HP Spectre x360 14 2-in-1 is a very attractive and capable system that has the potential to make our best Windows 11 laptop list and our best 2-in-1 laptop guide. 

I'm particularly impressed by the sharp 9MP webcam, several time-saving AI features and the colorful OLED display. And it's all wrapped up in a design that's lighter than the 14-inch MacBook Pro — and that's with a touch screen. 

The only things that give me pause right now are the relatively short rated battery life and the brightness of the display, but we'll see how it fares once we get it into the lab. 

Check out our CES 2024 hub for all the latest news from the show as it happens. Follow the Tom’s Guide team in Las Vegas as we cover everything AI, as well as the best new TVs, laptops, fitness gear, wearables and smart home gadgets at the show.

And be sure to check out the Tom's Guide TikTok channel for all the newest videos from CES!

The HP Spectre Fold is the Swiss army knife of computing devices. This foldable 3-in-1 can serve as a laptop, a tablet or a pseudo desktop. That kind of versatility is impressive and could put the best 2-in-1 laptops to shame. As useful as that sounds, HP’s computer commands a steep price.

The Spectre Fold is a 17-inch foldable tablet similar to the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold. Like that device, the Spectre Fold acts as a laptop when you attach a 14-inch Bluetooth keyboard to its bottom screen. You can also position the keyboard to only cover half of the bottom screen — effectively giving you a screen and a half of real estate.

Thanks to the Spectre Fold’s kickstand, you can prop it on a table to use in desktop mode. Since the keyboard is Bluetooth, it doesn’t need to be attached to the Fold. This is also a feature the ThinkPad X1 Fold shares. However, Lenovo’s device is a tad smaller at 16.3 inches compared to the Spectre Fold’s 17 inches. Like the ThinkPad X1 Fold, the Spectre Fold has a pair of Thunderbolt 4/USB-C ports.

Lastly, you can use the Spectre Fold as a Windows 11 tablet. I’ve yet to test the Spectre Fold myself, but at 17 inches, it should dwarf even the ginormous 16-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra. At 17 inches, the Spectre Fold should act as a great canvas for digital artists.

Spec-wise, the Spectre Fold packs an Intel Core i7-1250U CPU, integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics, 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. The 2.5K (1,920 x 2,560) 3:4 foldable OLED display is rated for 500 nits of brightness and can achieve 99.5% of the DCI-P3 color gamut. Of course, we’ll need to get Spectre Fold into our testing lab to verify this ourselves.

Outlook 

I’ll need to test the HP Spectre Fold to see if its multitude of functions work as well as advertised. I’m still not entirely sold on the idea of foldable tablets (or foldable devices in general), but I can appreciate the idea behind a product that can serve multiple purposes.

Of course, the proverbial elephant in the room is the Spectre Fold’s lofty $4,999 asking price. You could theoretically purchase a laptop and tablet separately and pay far less. The Spectre Fold’s specs also don’t justify its price, given how you could buy something like the Dell XPS 15 OLED — which has a discrete graphics card and a 13th gen Intel Core CPU — for $2,349.

If the HP Spectre Fold seems like something you’d need, and you can stomach its premium price, you can pre-order it today through Best Buy. and HP's website. 

More from Tom's Guide

• OnePlus foldable name may have just leaked
• I review tablets for a living — and this is the one I'd buy
• Samsung's first foldable tablet tipped to launch this year

Part Android tablet, part smart display, the Pixel Tablet is truly a unique device that aims to make us reconsider just how useful one of the best Android tablets can be.

Besides the included magnetic charging dock that transforms it into one of the best smart displays, Google has also added another lesser-known feature to the Pixel Tablet: USI 2.0 support.

Unlike the best Samsung tablets that only work with the company’s proprietary S Pen, the Pixel Tablet can use any USI 2.0 stylus for writing, drawing and even navigation both as a tablet and while docked in Hub Mode. Another great thing about USI 2.0 styluses is that they just work out of the box, with no pairing required.

While the Universal Stylus Initiative originally created the USI 2.0 protocol to improve the stylus experience on the best Chromebooks, Google is the first company to add support for it to an Android tablet. Hopefully though, other tablet makers will follow suit.

After swapping my smart display with the Pixel Tablet, I’ve spent the past week trying out three different styluses it. Based on price, features and usability, this is the stylus I recommend you pick up to go alongside Google’s new tablet.

As I’ve written about USI 2.0 styluses and my experience using them with the Lenovo Chromebook Duet 3 in the past, the Universal Stylus Initiative sent me a Pixel Tablet along with a couple of them to try out.

Price and specs

While I already own the Lenovo USI Pen 2 (top), I also got to test out the HP Rechargeable USI Pen (middle) and the Penoval USI 2.0 Chromebook Stylus (bottom). In terms of pricing, the Lenovo stylus is the cheapest of the bunch at $50, followed by the Penovoal stylus at $60. The HP stylus is the most expensive at $77. All three of these styluses work right out of the box with the Pixel Tablet and there was no setup required.

Stylus design

When it comes to their design, the Lenovo USI Pen 2 is the outlier since it has a clip at the top to attach it to a shirt pocket as well as a tubular tip, whereas the Penoval USI 2.0 Chromebook Stylus and the HP Rechargeable USI Pen both have conelike tips. All three styluses have 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity. 

I found that the HP Rechargeable USI Pen felt the lightest in my hand at 13.6 grams and the Penoval USI 2.0 Chromebook Stylus was a smidge heavier at 15 grams. The Lenovo USI Pen 2 was the heaviest of the bunch at 16.5 grams. The additional length of the Penoval stylus helped distribute its weight a bit more evenly though, and it was the most comfortable to use for extended periods of time.

Although there isn’t any pairing required, these are all active styluses, which means they do need to be recharged occasionally. While the Penoval stylus has an exposed USB-C port at the rear, the HP stylus has a concealed port that can be accessed by sliding off the back of the pen. Meanwhile, the Lenovo stylus uses a AAAA battery just like Microsoft’s older Surface Pen. Swapping out the battery on the Lenovo stylus is more of a hassle and while both of the other styluses have a USB-C port, the one on the Penoval stylus has fast charging and can be fully charged in 50 minutes.

As for storing your stylus when you’re not using it, the HP and Penoval ones have magnets that allow you to attach them to any metal surface while the Lenovo stylus doesn’t. Fortunately, there’s a magnetic strip on the back of the Pixel Tablet just under its rear camera that works with all three styluses for keeping them close to Google’s tablet.

Another key difference between the Penoval and HP styluses and the one from Lenovo is their shape. The Lenovo USI Pen 2 is thicker than the others and bears a closer resemblance to a pen while the Penoval USI 2.0 Chromebook Stylus and the HP Rechargeable USI Pen look more like pencils and are closer in terms of design to the Apple Pencil. The Penovoal stylus is also the longest and is a bit more curved than the HP stylus, which has a flat edge on one side.

Stylus performance

Now that I’ve gone through their similarities and differences, here’s what I found after testing all three styluses using Google Keep. While they all work with the best note taking apps, I figured I’d use Google’s own note taking app to keep things simple.

In order to start writing with a stylus in Google Keep, you first have to tap on the paint brush icon in the lower left corner. This creates a new note and gives you a blank canvas to write or draw on.

To conduct my testing, I used each of the three styluses to take notes on projects I’m working on for future stories. Despite my terrible handwriting, they all got the job done and let me use the Pixel Tablet in a completely new way. 

I also spent a fair bit of time drawing lines with each stylus and found that while the Lenovo and HP ones have a fair bit of drag, the Penoval one was the smoothest. This makes sense, as its pen tip is designed slightly differently than the others. The Lenovo one has a nub for a tip and the HP stylus also has a nub albeit at the very end of its conelike tip. 

My favorite stylus for the Pixel Tablet

Based on my experience testing all three styluses, if I had to pick one as a new Pixel Tablet owner, I would choose the Penoval stylus. Its additional length and more rounded design made it the most comfortable to hold and its pen tip is slightly ahead of the HP stylus and a major improvement over the one on the Lenovo USI Pen 2. 

Price is also a factor in my decision; I believe it’s worth paying the extra $10 over the Lenovo while the HP stylus is priced a bit too high for what you get. Still though, the retractable USB-C charging port on the HP stylus is a great feature.

Looking ahead

Regardless of which stylus you end up picking up for your Pixel Tablet, the best thing about the USI 2.0 standard is that you’ll be able to use it across multiple devices. For instance, I got the Lenovo USI Pen 2 to use with my Chromebook Duet 3 but it works flawlessly with Google’s new tablet. 

As USI 2.0 adoption becomes more widespread, we’ll also likely see other device manufacturers add it to their tablets as well. Although it hasn’t happened yet, the Universal Stylus Initiative’s protocol could also make its way to smartphones too. 

This would be great, as those looking for a smartphone with stylus support only really have two options at the moment. They can pay a premium for the Galaxy Z Fold 4 or Galaxy S23 Ultra from Samsung to get a phone with fantastic specs, or go the budget route and pick up the Moto G Stylus 5G from Motorola with only one year of OS updates. If USI 2.0 becomes the stylus standard for smartphones, we could all have a Galaxy Note experience with the best Android phones.

By releasing the Pixel Tablet with USI 2.0 support, Google has gone a long way towards making this a reality and who knows, maybe the Pixel 8 will work with all three of the styluses I tested here. For now though, I’m just happy that I can use the same stylus with the Pixel Tablet and my Chromebook.

More from Tom's Guide

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• These are the best Apple Pencil alternatives for your iPad
• I finally got the right stylus for my Chromebook and it's a game changer

If you've been waiting to pick up a deal in HP's EOFY sale, there's not much time left – there's only two days left to shop the EOFY deals before they come to an end on June 30. 

From powerful gaming devices in HP's Omen and Victus ranges, to general everyday laptops perfect for work and study with the Pavilion and Envy lines, there's a deal in here to suit any need. HP has even slashed the prices across its business range, and if you nab one of these laptops for work, it could even be tax deductible.

Plus, theres some bonus offers on peripherals so you can make the most out of your next laptop – score 15% off HP accessories, 25% off HP monitors and 50% off HP printers with eligible PC and laptop purchases. Want to sneak in a bargain before tax time? Scroll down to what HP has on offer with these last minute deals.

Best HP EOFY 2023 deals

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Want to find out more about the different types of laptops and PCs out there? We’ve got a stack of guides so you can find the right option for your needs:

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The HP Dragonfly Pro (starting at $1,399) wants to be the ultimate laptop for hybrid workers, but comes up short in key ways.

The company touts it as an easy-to-use notebook for freelancers who are always on the move and afraid of being bogged down by technical hassles. That's why the Dragonfly Pro features dedicated hotkeys that let you quickly access useful settings, including 24-hour support if you need a real person to walk you through a tech issue.

Under the hood the HP Dragonfly Pro has enough power for everyday computing (and even some light gaming) thanks to its 16GB of RAM and speedy AMD Ryzen 7 CPU. Watching videos is enjoyable thanks to the crisp 14-inch display and powerful speakers. The laptop also has an elegant design that's sure to turn heads, especially if you get it in white.

Virtues aside, there are some aspects I don't like. For instance, HP’s software isn’t as handy as I was hoping. The Dragonfly Pro also has very few ports, and the battery drains too fast when the laptop is in sleep mode with the lid closed. Lastly, while it's fast enough to get work done, it can't compete with the best laptops in terms of performance.

In this HP Dragonfly Pro review I'll go over the laptop's strengths and weaknesses. I'll also compare it to the two notebooks HP is directly comparing it to: The MacBook Pro 14-inch 2023 and Dell XPS 13 Plus. Who is this laptop ultimately for, and is it for you? Read on to find out.

HP Dragonfly Pro review: Specs

HP Dragonfly Pro review: Price and configuration

• Starts at $1,399
• Chromebook version available

The HP Dragonfly Pro starts at $1,399 on HP's online store. This entry-level model packs a 14-inch (1920 x 1200) 16:10 display, an AMD Ryzen 7 7736U mobile CPU with integrated AMD Radeon graphics, 16GB of RAM and 512GB of SSD storage. This is the same model we reviewed. For $1,549, you can upgrade to a configuration with 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage.

There’s also an HP Dragonfly Pro Chromebook for $999. This model has a 14-inch (2560 x 1600) 16:10 display, a 12th Gen Intel Core i5 CPU, 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. It runs ChromeOS rather than Windows 11 and has more USB-C ports than the Windows Dragonfly Pro, as well as an 8MP webcam instead of 5MP. 

HP Dragonfly Pro review: Design

• Stylish design
• Available in two colors

The Dragonfly Pro stands out among other laptops thanks to its sleek and elegant design. It’s one of the most fetching laptops I’ve reviewed.

Color options include Sparkling Black or Ceramic White. The latter model is the most striking, though the former isn’t unappealing. The notebook’s machined aluminum chassis has a finish that adds a layer of texture to the entire device. It’s a joy to simply hold the laptop and run your hands over its surface.

At 12.39 x 8.78 x 0.72 inches and weighing 3.53 pounds, the Dragonfly Pro is easy to slip into your backpack and carry around all day. Its weight and size are comparable to the MacBook Pro 14-inch (12.3 x 8.7 x 0.6 inches, 3.5-3.6 pounds). However, the Dell XPS 13 Plus is lighter at 2.7 pounds.

Opening the laptop’s lid with one hand is effortless. The lid is sturdy yet flexible when you move it into your desired position. During my time with the device, the lid’s hinges never creaked. My only complaint about the design is that the bezels are a bit thick, especially along the top of the screen.

HP Dragonfly Pro review: Display

• Solid display for work and watching content
• Responsive touchscreen 

The Dragonfly Pro’s 14-inch 16:10 display is great for work and watching videos. The panel is bright and colorful, with a smooth 60Hz refresh rate. The display might not blow you away, but it won’t disappoint either.

Fast-paced action looks good on the screen, as I saw while watching the trailer for Ghosted. Its mix of dark nighttime and bright daylight scenes also looked great. I could make out small details in the characters’ faces during close-up shots in this trailer.

Based on our testing, which involves a Klein 10-A colorimeter (check out our guide to how we test laptops and other products), the display achieved an average of 376 nits of brightness and hit 389 hits around the center of the screen. This is lower than HP’s advertised 400 nits, but it’s close. The display isn’t as bright as the MacBook Pro 14-inch (449 nits of average non-HDR brightness) but it’s brighter than the Dell XPS 13 Plus (366 nits).

The Dragonfly Pro’s screen achieved 126.7% of the sRGB color gamut and covered 89.8% of the more demanding DCI-P3 color space. On the same test, the MacBook Pro 14-inch's screen scored 117.7% and 83.4%, while the Dell XPS 13 Plus hit 118.9% and 84.2%, respectively, on the two tests.

The HP’s display turned in a Delta-E color accuracy score of 0.2 (0 is ideal). That’s the same score as the MacBook Pro 14-inch and XPS 13 Plus.

I found the touchscreen responsive and there was never a time when I felt it didn’t detect my taps and swipes. Of course, Windows 11 works well on touchscreens so I’m not surprised by these results.

HP Dragonfly Pro review: Audio

• Bang & Olufsen speakers
• Crisp and loud audio

I was pleased with the sound quality from the Dragonfly Pro’s Bang & Olufsen speakers. Highs, mids and lows are perfectly balanced. The bass is also quite punchy. The Ghosted trailer sounded phenomenal, with all its dialogue, music and explosions coming through crystal clear even at max volume.

That same trailer featured The Proclaimers’ “I’m gonna be (500 miles).” The classic ‘80s song with its quirky melodies and thumping beat sounded so good that I couldn’t help but bob my head. This is impressive audio quality for a laptop.

HP Dragonfly Pro review: Keyboard and touchpad

• Smooth textured surface
• Responsive haptic touchpad

The Dragonfly Pro’s keyboard is one of the best I’ve used on a laptop. That’s saying a lot considering I’m normally indifferent at best to laptop keyboards.

The keys and palm rests have the same paint finish covering the notebook’s chassis. The subtle texture made typing on the backlit keyboard a pleasurable experience. Key travel and the level of resistance the keys produced when I typed also elevated my enjoyment. The way the keys softly clicked is also quite nice.

The haptic touchpad on the Dragonfly Pro is responsive and never failed to register my gestures or misread my swipes. The haptic feedback works decently, but it’s a bit light compared to the MacBook Pro. Fortunately, you can adjust the feedback using HP's settings software.

HP Dragonfly Pro review: Ports

• Three USB-C ports
• No headphone jack

I hope you love USB-C because that’s all you’ll get with the Dragonfly Pro. There are a grand total of three USB-C ports and nothing more.

The Dell XPS 13 Plus and Dell XPS 13 (2022) only have two USB-C ports, but they at least come with a USB-C to USB-A 3.0 adapter or a USB-C to 3.5mm headset adapter. It would have been nice if HP included similar accessories.

Meanwhile, the MacBook Pro 14-inch includes a MagSafe port, three Thunderbolt 4 ports, a headphone jack and a HDMI port.

HP Dragonfly Pro review: Performance

• Snappy performance
• Great for everyday computing

The entry-level Dragonfly Pro I reviewed packs an AMD Ryzen 7 CPU with integrated AMD Radeon graphics, 16GB of RAM and 512GB of SSD storage. This was sufficient power for my everyday workload, which involves having anywhere between 20 and 30 open Chrome tabs. Even streaming a YouTube video alongside all those open tabs didn’t prove difficult for HP’s notebook.

But how did the Dragonfly Pro fare in our benchmark tests?

On Geekbench 5, which measures CPU performance, the Dragonfly Pro notched a single-core score of 1,498 and a multi-core score of 9,276. However, the Dell XPS 13 Plus (1,797/10,621) and MacBook Pro 14-inch (1,960/12,125) performed better in those respective tests.

On our Handbrake video editing test, which involves transcoding a 4K video clip to 1080p, the Dragonfly Pro took 6 minutes and 17 seconds. That’s slower than the MacBook Pro 14-inch (5:03) but faster than the XPS 13 Plus (8:37 in regular mode). 

On the PugetBench PhotoShop test, which assigns a score based on how effectively a system uses scripts to apply a series of filters and other adjustments to a number of high-res photographs, the Dragonfly Pro scored 820. The test also times how long each system takes, and HP’s notebook took 5:43.

The entry-level MacBook Pro 14-inch with an M2 Pro chip scored better (934) and was over a minute faster (4:40). Dell's XPS 13 Plus achieved a lower score than both laptops (670) and took nearly a minute more (6:28) than HP's machine.

We put the Dragonfly Pro through the PugetBench Premiere Pro test, which involves taking a 4K clip and applying a Lumetri Color effect and adding 12 clips across four tracks in a multi-camera sequence. As you can see from the chart above, the Dragonfly Pro falls far behind its competitors.

The HP Dragonfly Pro turned in a score of 256, which is close to the XPS 13 Plus (279) but far behind the MacBook Pro 14-inch (919). Suffice it to say this isn’t an ideal laptop for video editing, especially when compared to Apple's notebook.

When it comes to graphics, the HP Dragonfly Pro can run some games well. For instance, when we ran the Civilization VI benchmark, the system averaged 45 fps at 1080p resolution. That demolishes the XPS 13 Plus, which ran the game at a paltry 22 fps at the same resolution. The MacBook Pro 14-inch averaged 56 fps at 1200p resolution.

HP Dragonfly Pro review: Webcam

• 5MP webcam
• Decent image quality

The Dragonfly Pro’s 5MP webcam is decent for video conferencing and for taking photos. Its webcam might not be as good as the one on the MacBook Pro, but it gets the job done.

I snapped the image above in my apartment at night. While there’s some grain in the image, it looks rather good overall. I wouldn’t mind using this webcam when video conferencing. Still, if you’re image-conscious, you could always connect one of the best webcams to the laptop.

HP Dragonfly Pro review: Battery life and heat

• Phenomenal battery life
• Can run a bit hot

The Dragonfly Pro offers solid battery life based on our testing. On the Tom's Guide battery test, which involves continuous web surfing at 150 nits of screen brightness, the laptop lasted for an impressive 13 hours and 23 minutes. The XPS 13 Plus with its measly 7 hours and 34 minutes doesn’t come close. However, the MacBook Pro 14-inch beats them both with its epic 14 hours and 2 minutes of battery life. 

In our standard heat test, which involves running a heat gun over a device after streaming 15 minutes of full HD video on it, we found the hottest point of the Dragonfly Pro to be on the rear center underside, which peaked at 97.5 degrees Fahrenheit.

Generally, we consider temperatures over 95 degrees as being uncomfortable. Two and a half degrees above that doesn’t seem like a lot, but it might be wise to keep the laptop on a desk if you plan to use it for an extended period of time.

At time of writing, we're experiencing unusually high power drain when we leave the laptop asleep with the lid closed. Our lead tester noticed a battery drop of 6% after three hours. This was after installing a BIOS update meant to fix a worse instance of power drain we experienced during our initial testing. It's unclear when HP will address this issue.

HP Dragonfly Pro review: Features

• Four dedicated hotkeys
• HP’s 24/7 customer support costs $10.99

HP says the Dragonfly Pro is for freelancers who are digitally savvy but not necessarily tech-savvy. To that end, the laptop has four dedicated hotkeys meant to make one’s life easier. While I appreciate the sentiment behind the functions I’m about to discuss, I’m not sure if it works as well as HP intended.

The hotkeys in question are located on the keyboard’s right-hand side. The Control Center key gives you quick access to the device’s most common settings via the myHP app. These settings include things like audio and video control. The camera settings key lets you enhance the webcam’s image with features like backlight and low light adjustment, along with a toggle for natural tone. There’s also a custom shortcut key you can program to launch specific apps. In my case, I programmed it to launch Google Chrome.

Lastly, there’s a key that grants access to HP’s 24/7 live concierge support. You can either chat with a virtual assistant to help you with common technical problems or talk to a live person. During my testing, the myHP app didn’t have the option to talk to a person. The virtual assistant is a chatbot that attempts to answer your troubleshooting questions. It does a decent job of answering the basics, such as issues with audio or performance. However it tends to run slowly, at least at time of writing, and I didn't find it very helpful.

HP’s 24/7 customer support is free for the first 12 months. After that, the subscription will cost a steep $10.99 a month. In addition to 24-hour support, you’ll also get accidental damage protection, “timely” repairs and an extended warranty beyond the first 12 months. After the first year, the $10.99 monthly fee covers once-a-year drop and spill protection and continued 24/7 support.

This kind of customer support could be extremely useful for some folks. It's certainly not for everyone, but what's important is to determine whether it's for you, because it's one of the big selling points of the HP Dragonfly Pro—so if you don't want this extra protection and support, you might be better off with another laptop. There are plenty to choose from among the best MacBooks and best Windows laptops, though few offer this level of dedicated built-in support.

HP Dragonfly Pro review: Verdict

The HP Dragonfly Pro is a noble effort. A simple-to-use laptop that offers solid performance and 24-hour support sounds great for freelancers who depend on their devices to make a living. This is especially true now that so many people work remotely. While I commend what HP is trying to do, I think the company missed the mark in a couple of areas.

On the plus side, the Dragonfly Pro offers a sleek design, vibrant display and comfy keyboard. The fact that it held out for over 13 hours in our battery test means this laptop should easily last you through a workday, and it outlasted the Dell XPS 13 Plus by several hours. However, the XPS 13 Plus is significantly lighter. 

So what don’t I like? The myHP app is slow and clunky, and I wish HP had included more ports. And for a system HP wants to compare to the MacBook Pro, this AMD chip isn’t nearly as fast as Apple’s M2 Pro chip. Plus, Apple's Pro laptops offer even better battery life. Also, the battery drain issue we experienced during testing is a problem I hope HP fixes soon.

Even if you can't afford the latest MacBook Pros, I think the freelancers HP is marketing this laptop to would be better off with a MacBook Air M1. It still offers great performance that's nearly as good as what you get from the Dragonfly Pro, yet the Air only costs $999. If you want a Windows laptop, the $880 Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is a great alternative that also happens to be powerful enough to play the best PC games. The HP Dragonfly Pro is a good laptop, but it’s not quite good enough to stand among the best. 

The short version? The MacBook Pro 14-inch 2023 is the fastest laptop we've tested in a wide range of benchmarks. Yes, the M2 Pro chip inside is that powerful. And the optional (but quite expensive) M2 Max chip really takes graphics performance up a notch.

We just tested the MacBook Pro M2 Max chip for our MacBook Pro 14-inch 2023 review, and we have access to the M2 Pro benchmarks thanks to our sister site Laptop Mag. Here are the two configurations we tested and the full results in Geekbench, photo editing, video editing, 3DMark and more. 

MacBook Pro 14-inch 2023 benchmarks: What we tested

The MacBook Pro 14-inch starts at $1,999 / £2,149 / AU$3,199 and includes a 10-core M2 Pro CPU, a 16-core GPU, 16GB of unified memory and 512GB of SSD storage.

The M2 Max model we tested takes everything to the extreme. That $4,099 / £4,349/ AU$6,499 configuration packs a 12-core CPU, 38-core GPU, 64GB of memory and 2TB of storage. 

Thanks to our sister site Laptop Mag, we also have the test results for the M2 Pro version, although this is a pricier configuration than the entry-level model. It offers a 12-core CPU, 19-core GPU, 32GB of RAM and 2TB of storage for $3,299.

We will follow up with results for the entry-level M2 Pro MacBook Pro once we get it in for testing. 

For comparison we tested a Dell XPS 15 with a 12th gen Intel Core i7 CPU, 16GB of RAM and 512GB SSD, plus Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti graphics for $2,299.  We also tested an HP EliteBook 840 G9 business laptop with a 12th gen Core i7 VPro CPU, 16GB of RAM and 512GB SSD and Intel Iris X graphics for $2,868. 

Note that Intel 13th gen laptops will offer faster performance, but those are not yet available for testing. 

Geekbench (overall performance)

On Geekbench 5, which measures CPU performance, the MacBook Pro 14-inch M2 Pro version notched a single-core score of 1,941 and the M2 Max version hit a similar 1,926. Both models cleared 14,900 on the multi-core test.

Overall, the MacBook Pro 14-inch is about 9% faster in single-core performance versus the previous M1 Pro and 17% faster in multi-core. The 2022 MacBook Pro 13-inch with M2 registered 1,899 and 8,911, so it's well behind on multi-core speed.

The Dell XPS 15 and HP EliteBook 840 G9 were both below 1,800 on single-core and below 12,000 on mulit-core. To be fair, the Core i9 version of the XPS 15 should be faster, but that wasn't available for testing. 

Handbrake (video transcoding)

For this test we use the Handbrake app to transcode a 6.5GB 4K video to 1080p. The new MacBook Pro 2023 with M2 Pro took just 4 minutes and 3 seconds to complete the task. Oddly, the M2 Max version was a tad slower at 4:06. 

The Dell XPS 15 was over a minute and a half slower with 5:42, and the HP EliteBook was nearly 3 minutes behind at 6:58.

The MacBook Pro M1 Pro needed 4 minutes and 51 seconds to complete the same task, so the new MacBook Pro M2 is about 18% faster. 

PugetBench Photoshop test

The PugetBench PhotoShop test assigns a score based on how effectively a system uses scripts to apply a series of filters and other adjustments to a number of high-res photographs. The test also times how long each system takes.

The MacBook Pro 14-icnch 2023 scored 988 with the M2 Pro chip and took 4:20 to complete the test. The M2 Max version scored 1,199 and was even faster at 3:57. The M1 Pro MacBook Pro scored a much lower 806. 

The Dell XPS 15 (962, 5:42)) and HP EliteBook 840 G9 (929, 5:16) were not too far behind in terms of the overall score, but were considerably slower. 

PugetBench Premiere Pro test (video)

The PugetBench Premiere Pro test involves taking a 4K clip and applying a Lumetri Color effect and adding 12 clips across four tracks in a multi-camera sequence. 

The MacBook Pro 14-inch M2 Pro scored 942, which handily beats the Dell XPS 15 (616) and HP EliteBook 840 G9 (378). The M2 Max model hit an even higher 1,009.

Unfortunately, the MacBook Pro M1 Pro couldn't run this test when we ran it in 2021, but the MacBook Pro 13-inch M2 turned in a score of 552. So the M2 Pro MacBook Pro is 52% faster than the 13-inch model. 

Blackmagic disk speed test (SSD)

The Blackmagic disk speed test gauges SSD performance by measuring both read speed and write speed in MBps. The MacBook Pro 14-inch with M2 Pro hit 5,293 MBps reads and 6,168 Mbps writes, and the M2 Max version was a bit faster at 5,319 / 6,402 Mbps.

The Windows competition was once again well behind. Note that the MacBook Pro 13-inch M2 was about half as fast as the new MacBook Pro 14-inch. The M1 Pro MacBook Pro had similar read speeds to the M2 Pro version but the newer MacBook has faster writes.

We look forward to testing the entry-level MacBook Pro 14-inch M2 Pro to see if the SSD is as fast as pricier configurations from Apple. 

3DMark Wild Life (graphics)

3DMark Wild Life Unlimited measures graphics performance, delivering an overall score and frame rate (fps). It is not available on Windows, which is why we're only comparing Macs in this case. 

The MacBook Pro 14-inch M2 Pro scored 47,844 and 287 frames per second. But the M2 Max chip nearly doubled those results, hitting 89,902 and 538 fps. On the more demanding Extreme test, the M2 Max model was nearly 9,000 points higher and 50 fps higher.

The MacBook Pro M1 Pro scored 38,406 and 230 fps, so that's a pretty big jump of about 20% for the M2 Pro. 

Rise of the Tomb Raider (gaming)

* 1920 x 1080 resolution ** At 3,456 x 2,160 resolution

We ran the Rise of the Tomb Raider benchmark to see how well the MacBook Pro 14-inch 2023 can handle mainstream games, although this is an older title. The M2 Pro MacBook Pro hit 48.6 fps at 1920 x 1200 resolution, compared to 39.3 fps for the 2021 model with M1 Pro. 

The M2 Max version with 38-core GPU delivered a much higher 73 fps at 1920 x 1200 pixels and a playable 34 fps at the higher 3024 x 1964 resolution. The M2 Pro model mustered only 20.9 fps at that resolution, which is not really playable.

The Dell XPS 15 with its Nvidia GeForce 3050 Ti GPU delivered a fairly smooth 38.4 at 1920 x 1080 resolution but only 11 fps at 3,456 x 2,160 pixels. 

Bottom line

The MacBook Pro with M2 Pro largely lives up to the hype with Apple's new silicon. It's not a quantum leap ahead of the M1 Pro, but it is notably faster in multiple benchmarks. We saw a pretty big jump in photo editing performance and video transcoding speed, and the M2 Max chip provides a huge GPU boost. And it should with the 38-core GPU we tested. 

One thing is for sure. Windows laptops have some catching up to do. 

A new year means new laptops, and that's got me excited. We got a good idea of what to expect during CES 2023, with manufacturers like Dell, HP, Asus, MSI and more showing off their upcoming notebooks. Considering how most new laptops will sport the latest CPUs and GPUs, there’s a lot to get excited about — especially here at Tom's Guide, where we get to do in-depth hands-on testing of every laptop we review.

I recently wrote about the 5 gaming laptops I can’t wait to test in 2023, but I'd also like to discuss the productivity notebooks I’m eager to go hands-on with. Some of these were unveiled during CES, while others have yet to be officially announced. There will no doubt be other laptops I test that may end up on our best laptops list, but based on what I know so far, I have my eye on these specific devices.

These are the 5 laptops I can’t wait to test in 2023 — so keep an eye out for our reviews later this year.

New MacBook Pros 

Apple hasn’t officially announced new MacBook Pros with M2 Pro for 2023, but we’ve heard so many rumors from credible sources like Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and analyst Ming-Chi Kuo that it’s all but assured we’ll see these powerful new Apple laptops this year. Of course, when they’ll arrive is still up in the air.

If rumors are accurate, it appears that the new MacBook Pro models won't be changing much. Gurman thinks that aside from silicon the new MacBook Pros will lack major upgrades. The new laptops are expected to build on the Apple M2 chip found in the MacBook Air M2, 13-inch MacBook Pro M2 and iPad Pro 2022 in the same way the current Apple M1 Pro and Apple M1 Max chips improve on the original Apple M1 chip, with greater power and speed but a similar level of power efficiency.

I currently use a MacBook Pro 16-inch with an M1 Max chip as my daily driver when I’m out and about. It’s a powerful laptop, so the promise of an even beefier machine with the rumored M2 Max chip is exciting. I’m not upset that the MacBook Pros won’t be redesigned. After all, the 2021 models look good and sport great features like MagSafe charging, an HDMI port and an SD card reader. Couple that with M2 Pro and M2 Max chips and the MacBook Pros could be monstrous laptops indeed.

Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra 

Samsung has confirmed it will showcase its new Galaxy Book 3 series of laptops at its upcoming Galaxy Unpacked event scheduled for February 1. While details remain slim, the Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra has been tipped for an appearance by SamMobile. According to the website’s sources, the Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra will be lighter than the Dell XPS 15 and the latest MacBook Pro.

The Samsung Galaxy Book Ultra 3 laptop is expected to pack a full-sized keyboard with a number pad, which could make it a great machine for working on the move. It’s also highly likely to be powered by a 13th Gen Intel processor. But keep in mind that these specs are currently just rumored and shouldn't be considered confirmed.

The Samsung Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 was my favorite laptop of 2022 because it was so thin and light, weighing 3.11 pounds. The Dell XPS 15 weighs between 4.2 and 4.6 pounds, depending on the configuration, whereas the Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch starts at 3 pounds. How light might a Galax3 Book 3 Ultra be?

HP Dragonfly Pro 

The new HP Dragonfly Pro series of laptops were created specifically for freelancers and hybrid workers, so they're tailor-made to be easy to carry and last all day. HP currently plans to sell at least two variants of the Dragonfly Pro: A Windows 11 version packing an AMD CPU, and a Chromebook variant that runs on an older 12th Gen Intel CPU. Both weigh just over 3 pounds and sport 14-inch touchscreens, making them well-suited for getting work done on the go.

The Windows variant is configurable with more power (16-32 GB of RAM, 512GB-1TB of storage) but a lower-res 1,920 x 1,200 display, while the Chromebook variant has less power under the hood (16GB RAM, 256GB storage) but a higher-res 2,560 x 1,600 touchscreen. Both models offer USB-C ports, though only the Chromebook supports Thunderbolt 4 since it has an Intel CPU inside.

In my HP Dragonfly Pro hands-on preview, I was impressed by the elegant look and feel of these laptops, and with a promised battery life of 12+ hours (or "all-day" if you opt for the Chromebook) they should be safe to take to work without worrying about bringing a charger. These laptops also sport four dedicated hotkeys on the right-hand side (one of which is programmable) which let you do things like quickly adjust camera settings or contact HP's 24/7 live concierge tech support service. 

Lenovo Yoga Book 9i 

Lenovo's Yoga Book 9i was one of the most remarkable-looking laptops at CES 2023 thanks to its dual 13.3-inch 2K OLED touchscreens. If you'd rather not type on a touchscreen, the Yoga Book 9i also comes with a Bluetooth keyboard you can place in your lap, on top of the lower screen (when using the device like a traditional clamshell laptop), or wherever you find comfortable.

With a starting price of $2,099, this isn't a cheap laptop, but the plethora of ways in which you can use its two screens might make it the perfect device for some folks. The included kickstand gives you room to do wild things like stack the two screens on top of each other, or stand them up side-by-side when you need lots of screen real estate.

It should be more than powerful enough for day-to-day work thanks to its 13th Gen Intel Core i7 CPU and 16GB of RAM, and at just over 3 pounds heavy and 0.63 inches thin, it won't drag you down while you're running around. I’m eager to see how well this dual-screen laptop functions in everyday situations.

LG Gram Style 

LG unveiled a few new additions to its Gram line of ultra-light laptops at CES 2023, including the appropriately-named LG Gram Ultrathin. But the most eye-catching new Gram is surely the LG Gram Style, a 2.7-pound 16-inch OLED ultraportable with a unique iridescent color scheme.

This causes the laptop to shimmer and change color as light moves across its Gorilla Glass 3 lid and deck, which will surely help it stand out from the pack at your local coffee shop. The laptop also sports an invisible haptic touchpad that lights up when you touch it — a cool feature that also feels like it could take some getting used to. Factor in the 16-inch 3.2K 120Hz OLED display and Intel 13th Gen Raptor Lake CPUs, and this is looking like one of the coolest-looking laptops of 2023.

Performance, battery life and portability are the main things we tend to focus on when considering buying a laptop. But there’s something to be said about a notebook with an intriguing look. The LG Gram seems like it’ll turn heads in 2023.

What about Dell XPS laptops? 

Dell XPS laptops were noticeably missing from the company’s CES 2023 lineup. This is strange considering the popularity of XPS notebooks. Perhaps Dell will announce fresh XPS laptops in the coming months, but right now, we can’t say anything for certain. I’m eager to see new iterations of the Dell XPS 15 and Dell XPS 13 Plus OLED (Editor's Note: Maybe even, dare we dream, an XPS 17 OLED?) should they release this year. 

The annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is always jam-packed with new tech, and CES 2023 was no exception. 

As the editor in charge of computing coverage here at Tom's Guide I stay on top of all the new laptops and desktops debuting at the show, but I'll admit it's a real challenge. Nearly every major PC maker in the business shows up with a slew of new computers, and while most are simple refreshes of existing models there's always some offbeat products which try to stand out with innovative, unconventional and just plain weird features.

The foldable laptops of CES 2022 were an eye-catching gimmick that foreshadowed the arrival of actual semi-usable foldable PCs like the Asus Zenbook 17 OLED. This year was a bit tamer, with bigger, better-designed hardware on display. Our Best of CES 2023 Award winner the Lenovo Yoga Book 9i delivers similar functionality to the Zenbook 17 Fold in a sturdier package with bigger screens, for example, while new 18-inchers from the likes of Acer, Dell and Razer have us saying big-ass laptops are back.

But on the desktop PC front, there's one killer feature I wish was more of a trend at CES 2023, because it's so simple and so eminently valuable to everyone that I can't believe more PCs don't include it. I'm talking about built-in wireless charging pads, which cropped up at CES 2023 on precious few new PCs.

A killer feature comes to Chromeboxes

Built-in wireless charging pads for PCs aren't a new idea, but they're still too rarely included.  Vendors like Lenovo and HP have PCs on the market right now that offer this feature, like the HP Envy 34 All-in-One we reviewed quite favorably last year. But the HP Envy 34 had a starting price tag of $2,000, and its charging implementation wasn't great — as it was tricky to figure out which smartphones supported the feature and how to correctly position them on the stand.

But at CES 2023, I saw a wireless charging pad built into a sub-$500 PC for the first time. I'm talking, of course, about the Asus Chromebox 5. 

If you missed it in the shuffle, this is the successor to the Chromebox 4 the company launched back in 2020. The Chromebox 5 is a compact PC built into a slim black chassis that's easy to mount behind your monitor or slip into your existing desk setup, and it runs ChromeOS out of the box on its 12th Gen Intel CPU.

Sure that's not the latest and greatest Intel chip on the market now that Raptor Lake has arrived, but you don't need much horsepower to make great use of ChromeOS. What you do need is Internet access, which is why the Chromebox 5 packs an Intel Wi-Fi module that supports Wi-Fi 6E as well as a 2.5G Ethernet jack for plugging into a wired connection. It also sports a decent array of ports, including 4 USB-A ports, DisplayPort and HDMI outs, a microSD card reader and a USB4/Thunderbolt 4 port for high-speed connections. This enables it to support up to four 4K external displays, which is an awful lot of screen space for browsing the web, doing schoolwork or playing games.

But as I mentioned above, the thing that really sets this PC apart from the lion's share of its competitors is the built-in 15W wireless charging pad on the top of the box. If your phone works with this feature (and most modern smartphones, including iPhones, do) you can simply leave it on top of the PC to charge up while you work. 

Why it matters

The Asus Chromebox 5 may not be the first PC to offer built-in wireless charging, but it is one of the cheapest I've seen yet. I don't understand why we didn't see more iterations on this feature from PC makers at CES, since the majority of PC owners likely own a smartphone and would appreciate the freedom to charge it without having to find a charging cable and take up a USB port on their PC with it. 

I personally have a USB-C to Lightning cable plugged into my computer right now, and I need to unplug it and carry around with me (and find a charging port) if I want to refuel my phone in another room. Sure, I could splurge on a bunch of duplicate cables and wall plugs so I wouldn't have to fiddle with the thing so often, but even then my poor old iPhone 12 with its beat-up charging port would have a tricky time pulling a steady charge from the cable. 

But if my PC had a built-in wireless charging pad, this (admittedly minor) hassle in my life would disappear. I could rest assured that when I log off for the day and power down my PC, my phone would be at peak charge and ready for the nightlife — which, these days, is mostly browsing Instagram and Twitter while watching trashy TV.

So why isn't this feature more common at CES 2023? Why aren't I telling you about how all the latest desktops sport built-in wireless charging areas, and maybe even about the odd laptop that tries to do the same? Perhaps the finicky nature of the built-in charging pads we've tested so far is a hint as to how hard it is to do well; or perhaps customers just haven't responded to the feature with as much enthusiasm as I have.

But truthfully, I just don't know. What I do know is Asus' new Chromebox 5 grabbed my attention because of this one simple (but very helpful) feature, and I know I'm not the only person on staff who feels that way. If you're considering investing in a new PC this year and appreciate the thought of a Chrome-powered PC that charges your phone as much as I do, keep an eye out: Asus expects to launch the Chromebox 5 by the end of Q1 2023.

Next: These are our 7 favorite products revealed at CES 2023.

I've been chasing the best gaming laptops for decades, playing the best PC games on over 100 beastly machines to push them to their limits. That's all to find out if they truly are worth their weight in gaming gold, as if there's one thing I've come to understand after years of testing, it's that these rigs are a major investment.

Whether it's a light yet powerful gaming laptop (check out the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14), a portable machine that approaches desktop-level performance (the Razer Blade 16 is what you're after), or something with real value for money (look towards the Lenovo Legion 5i for that), there are a lot of factors that go into choosing your gaming laptop of choice.

My team of experts and I have done the legwork for you, with years of experience testing, benchmarking and, of course, playing games on a wide range of machines to help you find the best gaming laptop for you.

Gaming laptops are only getting stronger, even if we're not expecting major GPU upgrades anytime soon. This year has already proved that with Nvidia announcing DLSS 5 coming this fall (whether it will be a significant improvement or not remains to be seen), and Intel's XeSS 3 is turning laptops of all kinds into capable gaming machines. We'll keep you updated on the latest, and for now, these are the gaming laptops to keep on your radar.

The best gaming laptops you can buy today

The best gaming laptop overall

As the headline of my review suggests, I took the new Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 on a 5,000-mile journey with me. And from firing up Cyberpunk the first time and seeing that silky smooth OLED gameplay, I already knew this was going to be the gaming laptop I'd recommend to everyone who asked me.

A lot of it remains the same — an identical gorgeous CNC-milled aluminum finish that gives serious MacBook Pro vibes, a stellar typing and clicking experience with a tactile keyboard and glass touchpad, and that delicious 14-inch 2880 x 1800 OLED display.

But inside, Asus has vastly increased the horsepower pairing to an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 and up to an Nvidia RTX 5080. These together unlock a true beast in both prosumer productivity and (most importantly) monstrous gaming performance.

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (RTX 5080) Gaming Tests

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Turn on DLSS 4 with multi-frame gen, and I was playing Cyberpunk at over 140 frames per second with max settings. When I remembered just the size and weight of this machine, it felt a little mind-bending to see just what it can do.

That being said, Asus hasn't managed to overcome the poor battery life of the G14's predecessor. Don't get me wrong, it did get an additional 45 minutes of playtime in my testing. But just like any gaming laptop, make sure you run games near a power outlet.

But with all that being said, this is a gaming laptop that doesn't forget about the "laptop" part of the equation, and that's why it keeps its position at the top of this list.

• Read our full Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2025) review

The best gaming laptop for value

I never thought I'd see it, but Lenovo's gone and pulled it off with the Legion 5i Gen 10 — a bona fide value for money gaming laptop that makes every penny of its $1,249 (£1,151) asking price totally worth it

Under the hood, you've got a performant Intel Core i7-13650HX (Ultra 7 255HX in the States) paired with RTX 5060 graphics, which are more than enough for stable, fluid 1080p gaming. Plus, that gaming looks drop-dead gorgeous on its 15-inch WQXGA OLED display. Colors melt off the screen, and that HDR quality makes it all the more immersive.

Lenovo Legion 5i (RTX 5060) Gaming Tests

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But what's most impressive to me is that in the cost-cutting measures to get this system, Lenovo's not forgotten about the laptop essentials — a solid build quality with an aluminum lid, great ergonomics including a fantastic keyboard and tactile touchpad, and plenty of I/O (including HDMI 2.1 around the back) for cable management.

There are a couple of cheaping-out moments that may frustrate you, including poor battery life and fans that can sound like a jet taking off under load. But that's gaming laptop 101: get a headset and always be plugged in!

These obstacles fade into the background in what is one of my favorite gaming systems, bringing a balanced, strong system for play that feels like you're getting a damn good deal buying it.

• Read our full Lenovo Legion 5i Gen 10 review

The best premium gaming laptop

For top-of-the-line specs in a supremely slim, lightweight and premium gaming laptop, set your sights on the Razer Blade 16 (2026). Just from the look of it, it's hardly surprising our reviewer, Tony Polanco, said it's one of the "loveliest-looking gaming laptops" around. Just make sure your bank account is prepared for its high cost.

Razer's latest 16-inch beast comes in a fantastically thin, portable design, but still leaves room for its vivid and bright 16-inch 2.5K (2560 x 1600) OLED display with a wicked-fast 240Hz refresh rate and 0.2ms response time, bringing out the best in visually stunning titles like Cyberpunk 2077 and fast-paced competitive shooters like Counter-Strike. It is quite glossy, though, so it's best used in darker rooms.

Razer Blade 16 (RTX 5090) Gaming Tests

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Expect to crank up settings to max settings, especially with the higher configurations available for the Blade 16. With the Intel Core Ultra 9 358H chipset and RTX 5090 GPU in the model we tested, this gaming laptop was reaching above 70 fps at 1440p resolution without DLSS 4 turned on, and that was with maxed-out graphics settings in AAA titles. No matter the game, this machine can make it shine.

Interestingly, another big perk is Blade 16's battery life. Gaming laptops aren't known to last too long, even when not gaming, but you can expect close to 13 hours of battery for productivity, which is an impressive feat (though still expect just under 2 hours while gaming).

When put under pressure, we noticed the Blade 16 gets loud and hot, likely due to its slim profile. Keep that in mind, and you'll find a premium gaming laptop that will last you for years to come. That is, if you have the funds, considering it can cost you up to $5,599 with the best specs. At the very least, prices start at $2,399 for lower configurations.

• Read our full Razer Blade 16 (2026) review

The best ultraportable gaming laptop

Put simply, this is the power of roughly an RTX 4070 gaming laptop in something the size of a tablet. The Asus ROG Flow Z13 is a Microsoft Surface Pro that ingested a whole lot of caffeine, and it's one of my favorite gaming systems ever. And now, for all you Death Stranding fans out there, there's the Asus ROG Flow Z13 Kojima Edition, and it boasts the highest configuration you can get for this marvelous gaming 2-in-1.

At just 11.8 x 8 x 0.6 inches, it's easily the smallest system on this list, and I know when I say the words "integrated graphics," a lot of you reading this guide will recoil in horror. But stick with me. AMD's Strix Halo chips are a true marvel in gaming performance.

I'm talking Cyberpunk 2077 at a solid 30 FPS and Red Dead Redemption 2 at 60 FPS (at the right settings, no less). If you turn on FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) tech for frame generation and resolution scaling, you can easily get these games running at over 100 FPS. And they look really rather pretty on that 500-nit display with a vibrant 82% DCI-P3 color gamut. But going the integrated route reveals two key superpowers here: battery life and versatility of play.

Asus ROG Flow Z13 (AMD Radeon 8060S) Gaming Tests

1080p|Max Settings|FSR Off

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Cyberpunk 2077

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Asus ROG Flow Z13 (AMD Radeon 8060S)

13

03.757.511.2515

FPS

Cyberpunk 2077 Data

Product	Value
Asus ROG Flow Z13 (AMD Radeon 8060S)	13

Asus ROG Flow Z13 (AMD Radeon 8060S)

21

07.51522.530

FPS

Black Myth Wukong Data

Product	Value
Asus ROG Flow Z13 (AMD Radeon 8060S)	21

Asus ROG Flow Z13 (AMD Radeon 8060S)

70

020406080

FPS

Shadow of the Tomb Raider Data

Product	Value
Asus ROG Flow Z13 (AMD Radeon 8060S)	70

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Most of the laptops on this list will struggle to make it much further past the one-hour mark when disconnected from the charger. At over two hours in our lab testing, that integrated GPU knows how to slow sip that battery juice and keep you playing for longer (of course, mileage varies based on what kind of games you're playing).

Then there's the versatility. This is a 2-in-1, after all, and while the keyboard attachment feels shockingly good to play on, with good key depth and tactility, you could just ditch it altogether, pull out a Bluetooth controller, and play on your own dedicated superpowered tablet, too!

So long as you're prepared for a couple of other tablet-esque frustrations, like the limited number of ports and the price tag attached to this, there's nothing better for ultraportable gaming right now.

• Read our Asus ROG Flow Z13 (2025) review

The best 16-inch gaming laptop

The MSI Stealth 16 AI+ immediately stands out for its brilliant 16-inch, 240Hz OLED display, and that makes this a top pick for anyone after a sizeable 16-inch machine. But it does one better with the performance it brings to the table.

Under the hood, the Stealth 16 AI+ is powered by an Nvidia RTX 5060 GPU paired with Intel’s Core Ultra 9 386H Panther Lake processor, delivering impressive results in both gaming and demanding multitasking scenarios. In our tests, it achieved a strong 15,170 multi-core score on Geekbench 6. That isn't just thanks to the chip, as one tangible advantage of its design is the elevated hinge, which boosts airflow and helps the system handle sustained loads by improving thermal capacity and system cooling during those long gaming sessions (and demanding work days).

MSI Stealth 16 AI+ (RTX 5060) Gaming Tests

1080p|Max Settings|DLSS Off

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Cyberpunk 2077

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MSI Stealth 16 AI+ (RTX 5060)

31

010203040

FPS

Cyberpunk 2077 Data

Product	Value
MSI Stealth 16 AI+ (RTX 5060)	31

MSI Stealth 16 AI+ (RTX 5060)

28

07.51522.530

FPS

Black Myth Wukong Data

Product	Value
MSI Stealth 16 AI+ (RTX 5060)	28

MSI Stealth 16 AI+ (RTX 5060)

105

037.575112.5150

FPS

Shadow of the Tomb Raider Data

Product	Value
MSI Stealth 16 AI+ (RTX 5060)	105

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The Stealth’s all-aluminum chassis feels substantial, and that goes a long way in giving it a premium aesthetic. Its revised design may have lost it some brownie points when it comes to portability compared to its predecessors (it's still an extremely thin gaming laptop), but it's all worth it for the performance it now boasts.

Now, is it really MSI's thinnest Stealth laptop to date? Technically, yes, and at 0.65 inches, this is one sleek 16-inch gaming laptop. But note that its bang hinge bumps up the thickness to 0.79 inches, so not quite the thinnest. Still, that elevated hinge offers better cooling for even greater performance, and even bumps battery life past 10 hours!

Along with its gorgeous OLED display with a super-high refresh rate for blockbuster PC titles and competitive gaming alike, and a wealth of ports (Thunderbolt 4 included), the MSI Stealth 16 AI+ is a very compelling, if pricey, choice.

• Read our full MSI Stealth 16 AI+ review

The best 18-inch gaming laptop

There are plenty of big-screen gaming laptops to choose from, but it's rare to find one that can also fit in a normal backpack. That's where the Razer Blade 18 comes in — packing mightily powerful specs into a big yet slim chassis that can be carried around.

Yes, of course, it's going to be heavy at 6.9 pounds, and it comes with the standard hefty Razer price tag too. But for what you get, this is a seriously good option for serious gamers. With a sustained 280W of power delivered to the CPU and GPU, this is capable of some beasty frame rates with all the ray tracing goodness turned on.

Compared to the astronomically expensive MSI Titan 18 HX, the Blade wins out easily — Metro: Exodus being 9.5% faster on Extreme detail, Marvel Rivals 20.8% faster on Ultra, and Assassin's Creed: Shadows at Ultra detail a whopping 24% faster.

Razer Blade 18 (RTX 5090) Gaming Tests

1080p|Max Settings|DLSS Off

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Cyberpunk 2077

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Razer Blade 18 (RTX 5090)

65

020406080

FPS

Cyberpunk 2077 Data

Product	Value
Razer Blade 18 (RTX 5090)	65

Razer Blade 18 (RTX 5090)

74

020406080

FPS

Black Myth Wukong Data

Product	Value
Razer Blade 18 (RTX 5090)	74

Razer Blade 18 (RTX 5090)

213

075150225300

FPS

Shadow of the Tomb Raider Data

Product	Value
Razer Blade 18 (RTX 5090)	213

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Plus, a plethora of ports (including Thunderbolt 5) and a phenomenal 4K 240Hz display mean you can embrace DLSS 4 and multi-frame gen and not lose any of that buttery smoothness. And since it's Razer, the laptop parts also get plenty of TLC, too — the keyboard feels amazing to use with an ocean of a touchpad, the speakers are clear with nice bass, and thermal management is kept optimal with a massive vapor chamber.

Yes, that $5,000 price tag for the RTX 5090 version will sting, but for the ultimate large display experience on the go, this is the one to pick.

• Read our full Razer Blade 18 (2025) review

The best desktop replacement

Desktop replacements need to do three things well: be powerful (duh), have a great screen and nail the ergonomics. Not only does the HP Omen Max 16 tick the boxes on all three, but it also does so at a slightly lower price than the rest of the pack.

Yes, at a starting price of $3,000, that cost is still going to sting. But given you're looking at $4k upwards for systems of a similar spec, this is actually value for money for those who want as much of a desktop as possible without the space for a giant tower.

Performance-wise, you're looking at well over 60 FPS in all your favorite AAA titles at the highest settings, which can be multiplied with DLSS 4 and multi-frame gen (thanks to that RTX 5090), and the high wattage pumping through all the components (and strong heat dissipation) meant I got blistering fast sustained performance, too.

HP Omen Max 16 (RTX 5080) Gaming Tests

1080p|Max Settings|DLSS Off

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Cyberpunk 2077

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HP Omen Max 16 (RTX 5080)

71

020406080

FPS

Cyberpunk 2077 Data

Product	Value
HP Omen Max 16 (RTX 5080)	71

HP Omen Max 16 (RTX 5080)

51

015304560

FPS

Black Myth Wukong Data

Product	Value
HP Omen Max 16 (RTX 5080)	51

HP Omen Max 16 (RTX 5080)

175

050100150200

FPS

Shadow of the Tomb Raider Data

Product	Value
HP Omen Max 16 (RTX 5080)	175

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Then let's talk about the screen up top — a gorgeous QHD+ OLED panel with a silky smooth 240Hz refresh rate. Normally, you're looking at Mini LED screens that can run this fast, and to see the flash flood of color of OLED this smooth is a treat for the eyes.

Of course, you're not here for the battery (it's a desktop replacement), so it should come as no real surprise that you're getting under 90 minutes of gameplay on one charge.

But there's no mistake about it, if you want the most performance possible to give a gaming desktop-esque experience without taking up too much space with a tower, the Omen Max 16 would be my choice. Oh, and the wealth of ports and that sleeker chassis give it pride of place on any desk (as well as unlocking great cooling).

• Read our full HP Omen Max 16 (2025) review

The best upgradeable gaming laptop

Gaming laptops are great and all, but I feel like you do miss out on one of the best bits of the best gaming PCs — the modularity and upgradeability. Seeing the ever-increasing spec demands of AAA titles in the next few years can be worrying, but none of that matters with the Framework Laptop 16.

Put simply, this is a gaming laptop that you can customize, repair and upgrade on your own time. And it's super simple, thanks to the expansion slots and a comprehensive guide to do so! This means while you get some top-notch options included (the RTX 5070 Ti in here is an impressive dedicated GPU for 1080p, 1440p and even some 4K gaming in our testing), you're not limited to it when new GPUs come out in the future.

Framework Laptop 16 (RTX 5070) Gaming Tests

1080p|Max Settings|DLSS Off

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Cyberpunk 2077

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Framework Laptop 16 (RTX 5070)

38

010203040

FPS

Cyberpunk 2077 Data

Product	Value
Framework Laptop 16 (RTX 5070)	38

Framework Laptop 16 (RTX 5070)

35

010203040

FPS

Black Myth Wukong Data

Product	Value
Framework Laptop 16 (RTX 5070)	35

Framework Laptop 16 (RTX 5070)

132

037.575112.5150

FPS

Shadow of the Tomb Raider Data

Product	Value
Framework Laptop 16 (RTX 5070)	132

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And even if you go for the "DIY version" that you build yourself, it only takes 15 minutes to put together, and with the vast array of port options you can add to it, I managed to find the perfect arrangement of sockets and performance for me with the greatest of ease.

On the face of it, this is quite a chunky option, and to get the downsides out of the way, the screen up top is a little dim, and those keyboard deck panels can slide around a little.

But for the chance to be able to upgrade, repair or even switch the ways you use it through the super easy modularity of the Laptop 16 makes these gripes fade into the background in my experience.

• Read our full Framework Laptop 16 (2025) review

Also tested

Our computing experts at Tom's Guide review dozens of gaming laptops every year, and while some may have their faults, they could suit your needs or budget. So, have a look at the other machines we've tested.

• ▲ Back to the top

FAQs

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Performance test results compared

When you're buying a gaming laptop, you want to know how well it can run the best PC games.

That's why we run every gaming laptop we review through a series of performance tests in 3DMark and a number of games, including Assassin's Creed Shadows, Doom: The Dark Ages, Black Myth: Wukong, Cyberpunk 2077 and Grand Theft Auto V.

In 3DMark, we run several tests on each laptop, including Fire Strike, Time Spy, Fire Strike Ultra, Time Spy Extreme, Speed Way, Steel Nomad, and Port Royal. Each of these benchmarks shows how well a laptop can handle graphics, and the higher the number, the better.

Here's how each laptop compares. Take note, not all benchmarks could be performed for each laptop, but here's a general look at how they scored.

3DMark gaming tests

Scroll through to see each benchmark

< Prev

3DMark Fire Stirke

Next >

Razer Blade 18 (RTX 5090)

37411

Razer Blade 16 (RTX 5090)

36218

HP Omen Max 16 (RTX 5080)

32769

Framework Laptop 16 (RTX 5070)

30564

Lenovo Legion 5i (RTX 5060)

26716

MSI Stealth 16 AI+ (RTX 5060)

24707

Asus ROG Flow Z13 (AMD Radeon 8050S)

18985

010,00020,00030,00040,000

3DMark Fire Stirke Data

Product	Value
Razer Blade 18 (RTX 5090)	37411
Razer Blade 16 (RTX 5090)	36218
HP Omen Max 16 (RTX 5080)	32769
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (RTX 5080)	N/A
Framework Laptop 16 (RTX 5070)	30564
Lenovo Legion 5i (RTX 5060)	26716
MSI Stealth 16 AI+ (RTX 5060)	24707
Asus ROG Flow Z13 (AMD Radeon 8050S)	18985

Razer Blade 18 (RTX 5090)

15527

Razer Blade 16 (RTX 5090)

14641

HP Omen Max 16 (RTX 5080)

10376

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (RTX 5080)

11082

Framework Laptop 16 (RTX 5070)

7988

Lenovo Legion 5i (RTX 5060)

6920

MSI Stealth 16 AI+ (RTX 5060)

6935

05,00010,00015,00020,000

3DMark Fire Stirke Ultra Data

Product	Value
Razer Blade 18 (RTX 5090)	15527
Razer Blade 16 (RTX 5090)	14641
HP Omen Max 16 (RTX 5080)	10376
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (RTX 5080)	11082
Framework Laptop 16 (RTX 5070)	7988
Lenovo Legion 5i (RTX 5060)	6920
MSI Stealth 16 AI+ (RTX 5060)	6935
Asus ROG Flow Z13 (AMD Radeon 8050S)	N/A

Razer Blade 18 (RTX 5090)

12061

Razer Blade 16 (RTX 5090)

10662

HP Omen Max 16 (RTX 5080)

8252

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (RTX 5080)

8157

Framework Laptop 16 (RTX 5070)

6100

Lenovo Legion 5i (RTX 5060)

5276

MSI Stealth 16 AI+ (RTX 5060)

5381

03,7507,50011,25015,000

3DMark Time Spy Extreme Data

Product	Value
Razer Blade 18 (RTX 5090)	12061
Razer Blade 16 (RTX 5090)	10662
HP Omen Max 16 (RTX 5080)	8252
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (RTX 5080)	8157
Framework Laptop 16 (RTX 5070)	6100
Lenovo Legion 5i (RTX 5060)	5276
MSI Stealth 16 AI+ (RTX 5060)	5381
Asus ROG Flow Z13 (AMD Radeon 8050S)	N/A

Razer Blade 18 (RTX 5090)

16285

Razer Blade 16 (RTX 5090)

15715

HP Omen Max 16 (RTX 5080)

10376

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (RTX 5080)

11167

Framework Laptop 16 (RTX 5070)

8676

05,00010,00015,00020,000

3D Mark Port Royal Data

Product	Value
Razer Blade 18 (RTX 5090)	16285
Razer Blade 16 (RTX 5090)	15715
HP Omen Max 16 (RTX 5080)	10376
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (RTX 5080)	11167
Framework Laptop 16 (RTX 5070)	8676
Lenovo Legion 5i (RTX 5060)	N/A
MSI Stealth 16 AI+ (RTX 5060)	N/A
Asus ROG Flow Z13 (AMD Radeon 8050S)	N/A

Lenovo Legion 5i (RTX 5060)

2777

07501,5002,2503,000

3D Mark Speed Way Data

Product	Value
Razer Blade 18 (RTX 5090)	N/A
Razer Blade 16 (RTX 5090)	N/A
HP Omen Max 16 (RTX 5080)	N/A
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (RTX 5080)	N/A
Framework Laptop 16 (RTX 5070)	N/A
Lenovo Legion 5i (RTX 5060)	2777
MSI Stealth 16 AI+ (RTX 5060)	N/A
Asus ROG Flow Z13 (AMD Radeon 8050S)	N/A

MSI Stealth 16 AI+ (RTX 5060)

6730

02,0004,0006,0008,000

3DMark Port Royal Data

Product	Value
Razer Blade 18 (RTX 5090)	N/A
Razer Blade 16 (RTX 5090)	N/A
HP Omen Max 16 (RTX 5080)	N/A
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (RTX 5080)	N/A
Framework Laptop 16 (RTX 5070)	N/A
Lenovo Legion 5i (RTX 5060)	N/A
MSI Stealth 16 AI+ (RTX 5060)	6730
Asus ROG Flow Z13 (AMD Radeon 8050S)	N/A

Asus ROG Flow Z13 (AMD Radeon 8050S)

1600

05001,0001,5002,000

3DMark Speed Way Data

Product	Value
Razer Blade 18 (RTX 5090)	N/A
Razer Blade 16 (RTX 5090)	N/A
HP Omen Max 16 (RTX 5080)	N/A
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (RTX 5080)	N/A
Framework Laptop 16 (RTX 5070)	N/A
Lenovo Legion 5i (RTX 5060)	N/A
MSI Stealth 16 AI+ (RTX 5060)	N/A
Asus ROG Flow Z13 (AMD Radeon 8050S)	1600

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• ▲ Back to the top

Battery benchmarks: comparison

We run every laptop we review through battery tests, which measure how long it can last on a full charge, both while gaming and while doing less demanding work like browsing the web.

Below you'll find a chart of how long these laptops last while gaming using the PCMark 10 benchmark tool. This is typically far less time than they would while just browsing the web, so while these battery times are the most conservative, when doing less demanding work, you can generally expect between 8 and 12 hours of battery life from these laptops on a full charge.

Ultimately, what you do on your laptop, how bright you set the screen, and what power settings you use will all affect how long your laptop lasts before running out of juice — but this chart will help you compare to find the best gaming laptop for your needs.