When HP offered me the chance to check out the HyperX Omen 16 Valorant Edition gaming laptop I leapt at the opportunity. Despite a reputation as a game for degenerates, Valorant is one of my favorite multiplayer shooters right now. I’m not good at the game — silver for life! — but I enjoy it all the same.

This machine is more or less an HP Omen Max with a Valorant skin, which is fun, and offers the same slick features you’ll find in the best gaming laptops. The Nvidia RTX 5070 GPU and 32GB of RAM in the laptop can run most graphically demanding games at a decent frame rate. And games look great too, thanks to the 16-inch 240Hz LCD display.

I’m focused on gaming here but if you need something a bit beefier for work, the Omen 16 won’t let you down. Despite a tight keyboard it has plenty of ports for connecting necessary peripherals like the best gaming keyboards and best gaming mice to bolster your productivity.

My HP HyperX Omen 16 Valorant Edition review will help you decide if this Valorant-themed gaming laptop will give you a tactical advantage on the digital battlefield.

HP HyperX Omen 16 Valorant Edition: Cheat Sheet

• What is it? The HP HyperX Omen 16 Valorant Edition is a high-end gaming laptop featuring Valorant designs and decent performance.
• Who is it for? It’s for those with deep pockets and a specific love of Valorant who want a 16-inch gaming laptop powerful enough to play the game.
• What does it cost? The HP HyperX Omen 16 Valorant Edition costs $3,049, which is expensive but comparable to similar offerings from competitors.
• What do we like? The sleek design, smooth gaming performance and Valorant easter eggs make for a fun laptop
• What don’t we like? This is a hefty, costly and surprisingly loud laptop.

HP HyperX Omen 16 Valorant Edition: Specs

HP HyperX Omen 16 Valorant Edition: The ups

The HP HyperX Omen 16 Valorant Edition is a fun celebration of Riot Games’ first-person tactical hero shooter. It comes with a slick design, decent gaming performance and a bright 16-inch LCD display.

Valorant easter eggs abound

The best way to think about this laptop is that it’s an expensive skin you can buy. Nicely, there are a lot of little details on the surface celebrating the game. It makes for a fun-looking gaming laptop with a little flavor compared to the usual black and gray monsters you see in the wild.

That said, if you've ever seen the HP Omen Max 16, the essential design is basically the same. This HyperX Valorant version is less heavy at 5.5 pounds, but measures about the same overall. Otherwise, it has an aluminum lid and bottom that help make it feel sturdy while opening smoothly.

The touchpad is pretty large and fairly responsive for when you’re not using a mouse. Likewise, the keyboard is fun with the highlighted WASD keys, but I’ll dig into that more below.

Like the Omen Max 16, this thing is a smudge machine that will soak up your body oils. So if you want a pristine device, you’ll want to have a cleaning cloth nearby.

Run and gun performance

Valorant doesn’t take much to run well; I’ve run Riot’s game on low-end laptops, the PS5 and high-end laptops like the Razer Blade 14. But you can feel the difference when you have a decent setup like the Omen 16’s RTX 5070 GPU, AMD Ryzen 9 CPU and 32GB of RAM.

I spent most of my time with the Valorant Edition playing Valorant and had a blast even when I bumped the settings as high as they could go.

To compare to other laptops, in our lab tests we use Cyberpunk 2077, Black Myth: Wukong and Assassin’s Creed: Shadows. At the highest settings, you may not walk away impressed, especially those who insist on 60+ FPS without frame generation.

I often commit the PC gamer sin of not really caring if the FPS is over 60 or at 60 or if my graphics are in 4K or even 2K. But in comparison to laptops running higher-tier RTX 5080 and 5090 GPUs, I think the RTX 5070 holds its own in the HyperX model.

If you’re willing to lower the settings to medium, you can hit up 78 FPS on Black Myth and 62 in Assassin’s Creed.

The included HP Omen Gaming Hub will let you optimize the laptop’s performance, customize the RGB lighting and organize your gaming library. Doing so will let you squeeze some more performance out of this machine if you’re a tinkerer.

Lovely 16-inch display

Once you go OLED, it’s hard to go back, but I’ve never made that leap. The 16-inch LCD display features a 240Hz refresh rate, 3ms response time and over 500 nits of brightness, which is higher than the OLED-paneled HP Omen Max 16.

The panel gets decently bright, and I found that colors popped off the screen without being uncomfortable over a long gaming session. It’s not beating laptops like the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i, but I don’t think you’ll be disappointed; I wasn’t.

To my eyes, games ran smoothly, and I never noticed any hitching or lag with the 240Hz refresh rate and 3ms response time. It’s especially helpful with an FPS like Valorant where you want smoothness and no input lag.

HP HyperX Omen 16 Valorant Edition: The downs

I’ve had a lot of fun with the HyperX Omen 16 Valorant Edition, but there are some downsides that could make or break it for you. I won’t get into the heft at 5.5 pounds, because it’s a gaming laptop and I almost expect that kind of weight at this point.

Instead, the tight keyboard, short battery life and loud fan can be annoying. I’ll also note that at $3,049 this is not a cheap laptop. And it only comes in one configuration. However, that is comparable to similar configurations like the Razer Blade 16.

Tight keyboard

My colleague Tony Polanco praised the keyboard on the HP Omen Max 16 laptop describing it as roomy with thick keys. I don’t have that laptop on hand to compare, but with this HyperX version, I found the keys way too close together, which made typing annoying even with the included number pad, something I’d usually praise.

To compare I do have a Lenovo ThinkPad 14s as my work laptop. I measured the distance between the W, A, S and D keys on both machines.

On the Valorant laptop I got about 3mm, while my Lenovo measured around 4mm. The Lenovo also has slightly curved corners on the bottom of the keys which adds a bit more space.

That extra millimeter, give or take, really makes a difference when you’re trying to type. I wouldn’t describe my fingers as particularly sausage-esque but it’s not a comfortable fit.

However, when I was playing Valorant I didn’t have any noticeable slips. So for gaming it might not be a problem. For everything else, it’s not great.

Short and hot battery

In 2026, there are laptops with more than 20 hours of battery life. The MacBook Pro 16-inch, one of the best laptops for battery life, tested at over 21 hours. Unfortunately, gaming laptops have yet to get the memo.

In our lab tests, we got exactly 90 minutes in our PCMark 10 Gaming test, but that figure did manage to bump up to 2 hours and 42 minutes in our web surfing test.

As you can see, the Valorant laptop is comparable to other laptops if you’re gaming, but much weaker for more general use. However, I expect to plug in gaming laptops so the flaw for me is the 280W power brick. I don’t have a thermometer gun but after some sessions the brick was so hot that I legitimately didn’t want to touch it. It’s also hefty, meaning I can’t really hang it up without some structure.

Playing games like Monster Train that don’t require much of the laptop didn’t pull on the power as much, but even Valorant was pushing it.

Loud fan depending on the game

Again, I mostly played Valorant to stick with the theme of the laptop. The laptop as a whole proved pretty cool over long sessions (power brick aside). For laptops we generally say that anything over 96 degrees is uncomfortably hot. The underside of the Valorant edition peaked at 87.5 degrees during a lab test running Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition.

However, I found the fans to be quite loud. The machine actually warns you that depending on what performance setting you utilize the fans will run loudly. During some of my tweaking, I noticed that I could get the noise down a bit by focusing on balance or eco modes. Anything higher brings the noise.

Maybe it won’t bother you, but it’s something to be aware of.

HP HyperX Omen 16 Valorant Edition: Verdict

While the HP HyperX Omen 16 Valorant Edition has some flaws, most of them from the price to the low battery life are things I consider par for the course when it comes to higher-end gaming laptops. The keyboard may be an annoyance, but it could be mitigated with a good peripheral. Past that, I think it’s a fine gaming laptop that I enjoyed my time with especially if you enjoy Valorant.

The Omen 16 Valorant Edition delivers a great gaming experience thanks to the RTX 5070 GPU and bright LCD display. Sometimes you want some flair that isn’t just RGB lighting, and I think the little easter eggs here are a delight.

When I look at a premium consumer laptop with branding like “Pro” or “Ultra,” I expect a bit more than the average laptop experience. I don’t just want decent performance, a usable display, and at least 8-hours of battery life.

I expect a sleek aluminum chassis packed with high-performance components, more than all-day battery life, a powerful audio system, vivid OLED display panel, a keyboard that feels good to use, and enough ports to handle a variety of accessories.

I also expect to see a high price tag attached, because you don’t get an Ultra laptop for bargain prices. But once a laptop hits the $2,000 mark, it becomes hard to justify a device that's using only an integrated GPU.

But do the OmniBook Ultra’s cons outweigh its strengths enough to keep it off our best laptops list?

HP OmniBook Ultra 14: Cheat sheet

• What is it?: The HP OmniBook Ultra 14 is a premium consumer laptop designed for users who want powerful performance, great battery life, and a slim, portable device.
• Who is it for?: The OmniBook Ultra is designed for power users and working professionals who demand a combination of extreme performance, fantastic power efficiency, and the ultimate in portability.
• What does it cost?: The starting price of the HP OmniBook Ultra 14 Snapdragon X2 edition is $1,899 while our top-of-the-line review model costs a cool $3,599.
• What do we like?: The new HP OmniBook Ultra chassis has a sleek modern design with chrome detailing, stellar performance, and a bright, vivid display.
• What don’t we like?: The OmniBook Ultra does leave a lot to be desired in terms of connection ports, and while its performance and power efficiency are fantastic, those come at a steep price.

HP OmniBook Ultra 14: Specs

HP OmniBook Ultra 14: The ups

HP’s revamped Omnibook Ultra does quite a lot right. It looks and feels like a premium laptop with a sleek chassis, chrome detailing, a crisp keyboard, powerful speaker system, OLED display, combined with impressive performance and an all-day battery life.

Sleek modern design

The OmniBook Ultra has a new look this year with extra chrome detailing along the sides and back of the chassis along with a debossed brushed chrome logo on the top cover panel.

While this isn’t a huge break from the previous OmniBook Ultra design, it does feel just a bit more polished than previous generations.

This notebook also comes in two different colorways, a cool Stone Blue or dark Eclipse Gray for the aluminum body. Both colorways come with the same chrome detailing, so it pops a bit more on the darker Eclipse Gray but adds a great, subtle premium touch to either color.

HP kept portability in mind while crafting the 14-inch Ultra chassis, with a Z-height of just 0.42 inches and a total weight of just 2.83 pounds.

It’s not the lightest laptop on the market, but it is incredibly lightweight and thin, which makes it easy to carry to the office, the coffee shop, or on a plane. And you won’t even have to worry about back strain or whether the 14-inch ultrabook can fit in your bag.

Stellar general performance

Qualcomm has made a lot of performance claims about the X2 Elite CPU, and we’ve verified quite a few. Though that can change between laptop to laptop based on how the OEM configures the chipset for their thermal design.

So some variation will always be seen depending on the specific laptop in question. That said, I was still pretty impressed with the overall performance of the Snapdragon X2 Elite on the OmniBook, which put up quite a lot of multicore performance despite its ultra-slim design.

Whether it was photo editing, video calls, or just doing some light word processing, I ran into no slowdowns with the OmniBook, even when running 15+ Chrome tabs at a time with a few other programs like Spotify running in the background. And that’s backed up by our lab test results as well.

In terms of general CPU performance, the OmniBook Ultra 14 had more Geekbench 6 multicore horsepower than many of its competitors, including the Apple MacBook Air M5, Dell XPS 14 with Intel’s Panther Lake X7 CPU, and even the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x with the previous Snapdragon X Elite chipset.

The OmniBook Ultra even outpaced the Apple MacBook Pro M5 in both the Geekbench 6 multicore benchmark and Handbrake video encoding test, though the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air both outperformed the OmniBook on single-core performance. Though the Snapdragon X2 Elite CPU has closed that singlecore performance gap to just a few hundred points.

On the BlackMagic Disk Speed test, the OmniBook clocked 6922 write and 5607 read speed. That’s pretty similar performance to both Apple M5 laptops in terms of write speed, though it is a bit behind on reading speed. It also leaves the Dell XPS 14 in the dust.

While I wouldn’t use the OmniBook Ultra as a daily gaming laptop, it can handle some basic gaming on Medium graphics settings at 1080p.

And that’s a significant upgrade over the previous generation Snapdragon laptops which failed to even scrape past 20 fps on most games. I personally booted up Baldur’s Gate III and Final Fantasy XIV as both are well-optimized games that should play nicely on integrated graphics cards compared to some more GPU-heavy games like Black Myth: Wukong or Monster Hunter Wilds.

Baldur’s Gate III performed well on Medium to High settings at 1080p or 1200p settings, though the game really struggled with the graphics and computational load when run at the OmniBook’s native 1800p resolution.

Final Fantasy XIV was a bit more of a struggle on Laptop (High) and 1080p settings with frequent frame drops from 70fps to 50fps. Even when dropped down to Laptop (Standard) graphics settings, the OmniBook struggled with occasional frame drops, though they were less frequent.

It wasn’t enough to make the game unplayable but it was certainly frequent enough to be annoying. And FFXIV boots with AMD FSR on by default so serious frame drops shouldn’t be too common. Unfortunately, I can only assume this is due to the game putting a heavy load on Microsoft’s Prism emulation layer since FFXIV does not currently have a native client for Windows on Arm.

However, even with the frame drops on Final Fantasy XIV, the fact the Snapdragon X2 Elite could run both games at over 60fps for even some of the time is a massive improvement over the previous generation. And that’s more than playable enough for some casual gaming while on a business trip or vacation.

Bright, vivid HDR display

The viewing experience of the OmniBook Ultra is pretty top-notch, with a powerful quad-speaker array featuring HP’s PolyStudio tuning and a bright, HDR-capable OLED display.

In terms of raw numbers, the OmniBook Ultra’s OLED panel covers 87% of the DCI-P3 color gamut with an average max brightness of 414 nits with an HDR peak brightness of 847 nits.

This makes it both bright and vivid enough to be a great option for your next streaming binge. Combined with the powerful quad-speaker system that can easily fill a room, and the OmniBook is a proper entertainment machine.

That vivid OLED display and powerful audio also make it a great option for any photo or video editing you may need to do. Whether that’s adjusting images and video for work or tweaking your vacation photos to look their best on Instagram, the OmniBook has the audio-visual fidelity to tackle some serious editing.

Long-lasting battery life

Snapdragon laptops tend to have some impressive battery life, and the OmniBook Ultra isn’t much of an exception. However, it does trend to the lower-end as far as Snapdragon power efficiency goes. In our lab, the HP OmniBook Ultra 14 lasted a respectable 13 hours and 27 minutes on our web-surfing battery test.

While that isn’t the longest record we’ve ever seen, it is more than enough to last for even a demanding work day.However, the OmniBook Ultra’s competition really does blow it away on this one.

The Apple MacBook Air M5 lasted 15 hours and 37 minutes on the same battery test, while the MacBook Pro 14 M5 lasted 18 hours on the same test. Even the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x with the previous generation Snapdragon X Elite chipset lasted longer, with a battery life of 14 hours and 14 minutes.

Only the Intel-powered Dell XPS 14 under-performed compared to the OmniBook Ultra with a battery life of 12 hours and 23 minutes. Though, both the XPS and OmniBook have upgraded integrated GPUs which can help account for some of the increased power consumption on both laptops.

HP OmniBook Ultra 14: The downs

While the OmniBook Ultra deserves its name due to its usability and battery life, all those premium components come at a high price. Add on a sub-par port selection and some Microsoft Prism Emulation pitfalls, and the OmniBook’s faults start to weigh a bit heavy.

Port selection leaves a lot to be desired

While the OmniBook Ultra 14’s sleek design gives it a proper premium air with chrome detailing and a carry weight that’s beyond easy to carry, some sacrifices were made in the design phase. The biggest sacrifice made for the OmniBook Ultra’s sleek new chassis is its port array.

There are just three USB-C ports and one headphone jack on the 2026 OmniBook Ultra. That’s less than what you get on an Apple MacBook Pro, though it is one extra USB-C port compared to the MacBook Air.

However, with the price of the OmniBook Ultra, I’d expect it to compete more with a higher-end Mac chassis in terms of features. And while the OmniBook Ultra does win on the OLED front, the port selection is just a little too short.

Sure, you can fix the port array by getting a dock or using Bluetooth accessories. But on a high-powered premium laptop, I’d at least like to get an SD or MicroSD card reader to truly take advantage of the X2 Elite’s powerful CPU and GPU combo to do some light photo or video editing without needing to use a clunky dongle that’ll slow down large file transfer speeds to a crawl. But ultimately, this isn’t even the worst of the OmniBook’s problems.

Microsoft Prism emulation doesn’t solve everything

My biggest issue with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon laptops has always been the app support issue. And Qualcomm has essentially tried to pretend there isn’t an app support issue while relying on Microsoft’s Prism emulator to close most of the app support gaps between Windows on ARM and Windows on X86 computers.

To Qualcomm and Microsoft’s credit, most of the common applications are native on ARM now, and most others can be run through Prism’s emulation layer.

The problem is all the niche cases. While your average laptop user will have no major problems with Windows on ARM, there are still sizeable software gaps becomes a problem when it's time to outfit an entire business or school with laptops.

That's because some highly-specific software suites like much of the AutoDesk suite, either cannot run on ARM-based systems at all. Or require heavy use of Prism, which causes a severe slowdown due to the computational load of such intensive programs.

While you might expect most AutoDesk users to utilize dedicated workstations, the workstation and premium PC market now have some serious overlap.

Intel and AMD have been closing the gap between entry-level discrete graphics and their integrated GPU solutions to the point that some lightweight workstations eschew discrete GPUs entirely.

So while your average OmniBook Ultra customer won’t have much issue with Prism emulation vs Arm-native applications, anyone with any kind of fringe application in their daily rotation should take a hard look at the list of Arm-native applications before deciding on a Snapdragon PC.

All that performance comes at a high price

Any piece of tech that requires DDR5 RAM is currently significantly more expensive than it would have been a year ago, and the OmniBook Ultra is no exception. However, the OmniBook Ultra 14 (2026) has a starting price of $1,899 while our review unit costs $3,599.

While the starting $1,899 price tag is a bit high compared to last year’s OmniBook Ultra Flip 14 ($1,499) is a bit high, it falls in line with the standard RAM shortage price hike and is somewhat forgivable in that light.

The upgrade cost for our review unit is prohibitive. Even with the sale HP has going on the OmniBook Ultra right now, the price only comes down to $2,959 which is still egregious for a 14-inch ultrabook.

For $3,599, I could get a Razer Blade 16 (2026) model with an Intel Core Ultra 9 386H and Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070Ti with 32GB of DDR5 RAM and an OLED display and still have $100 left over.

Or I could save even more and get an M5 Pro Apple MacBook Pro 18-core CPU and 20-core GPU with 24GB RAM, and 1TB of storage for about $2,699. Both options would have better raw performance, more graphics horsepower, and more ports for less than the cost of the HP OmniBook Ultra 14 with the Snapdragon X2 Elite CPU.

Verdict

As far as premium laptops go, the OmniBook Ultra 14 does most things right. It’s got a sleek new chassis in a crisp Stone Blue or sleek Eclipse Gray colorway with premium chrome detailing on the edges and debossed modern HP logo.

It’s got more than enough horsepower to crunch through demanding workloads, though the app support gap can still be a bit of an issue for certain users, and it’s got enough battery life to make it through a full work day without needing a charge.

But the OmniBook Ultra isn’t a perfect laptop. Even for those with the budget to afford either the pricey base model or the exorbitant amount for our over-specced review unit, there are a couple of major downsides.

While over 13-hours of battery life is great for an average laptop, it’s a bit below the average for a Snapdragon laptop and there are plenty of laptops on the market with significantly better battery life. Including laptops by Qualcomm’s main competitors: Intel and AMD.

However, the real detriment is the port selection. A premium portable laptop that needs a dock to be fully functional is never going to be as Ultra as the name suggests. If you never need to move the OmniBook Ultra, that’s fine.

But if you want it to be your portable work and play powerhouse, having just a handful of USB-C ports and an audio jack isn’t sufficient. Having at least an onboard SD or microSD card reader would at least put it in MacBook Pro competitor territory.

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.

More from Tom's Guide

• Best of Computex 2026: The 17 greatest gadgets from the world’s largest computing show
• I gamed for 250 hours on AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE — it’s a $549 nightmare for Nvidia’s RTX 5060 Ti
• I just tested the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ — it leaves ROG Xbox Ally in the dust with breakthrough Intel Arc G3 power

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.

More from Tom's Guide

• I switched to the HP OmniBook X Flip 14 for 30 days — and I'm shocked how good this laptop is for $599
• HP wants you to rent your next laptop — I did the math and it's actually terrifying
• The best laptops for battery life: our top picks

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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• 'Buy it as soon as you can': Lenovo issues urgent warning on RAM crisis spiking prices

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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You've probably noticed that early Black Friday deals have started appearing across the web as retailers try to entice you to spend money. HP is running a great sale that knocks hundreds off cutting-edge gaming laptops.

I know because I cover laptops for a living here at Tom's Guide, and I noticed today that HP is offering some of the deepest discounts on gaming laptops with Nvidia RTX 50-series power.

For example, the HP Omen Max 16 w/ RTX 5080 is $1,000 off at HP, which is a killer deal on this powerful 16" gaming laptop. But if you want something a little more affordable, the HP Omen 16 w/ RTX 5050 is $899 at HP, a sweet $500 discount on this mid-range PC gaming machine.

New deals are cropping up every day and we're trying to filter out the best of the best to share with you in our Black Friday deals live blog, so make sure to check that out and check back often for fresh discounts!

Quick Links

• shop all Black Friday laptop deals at HP
• shop all Black Friday laptop deals at Best Buy
• HP Victus (RTX 4050): was $899 now $549 @ Best Buy
• HP Omen (RTX 5050): was $1,399 now $899 @ Best Buy
• HP Omen Transcend 14 (RTX 5060): was $1,999 now $1,349 @ HP
• HP Omen Max 16 (RTX 5070): was $2,399 now $1,599 @ HP
• HP Omen Max 16 (RTX 5080): was $3,099 now $2,099 @ HP

HP gaming laptops deals

The time to save big on your next gaming laptop has arrived, as early Black Friday deals have already started pouring in. I've been tracking some major sales over the past year, but these are the biggest discounts I've seen on RTX 50-series laptops from Asus, Alienware, Razer and more!

With over $1,000 in savings to be made, these deals are hard to miss out on. You can grab an HP Victus 15 with an RTX 4050 for as low as $789 at Best Buy, but for the latest in gaming tech, check out the Lenovo Legion 5 OLED with an RTX 5060 for just $999. Even this Razer Blade 14 with an RTX 5070 is $900 off right now.

Some of the best laptops we've tested this year are seeing major price cuts, and now they can be yours for a lot less. I'll be keeping a close eye on even more deals as the biggest sales event of the year draws closer, and for the latest sales, follow our Black Friday 2025 live blog. But if you have a gaming laptop in your sights, these are the deals to put on your radar.

Quick links

• HP Victus 15 (RTX 4050): was $899 now $789 @ Best Buy
• Lenovo Legion 5 (RTX 5060): was $1,549 now $999 @ Walmart
• Alienware 16 Aurora (RTX 5050): was $1,199 now $999 @ Dell
• Gigabyte Aero X16 (RTX 5070): was $1,649 now $1,249 @ Best Buy
• Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (RTX 5060): was $1,799 now $1,449 @ Best Buy
• Alienware 16X Aurora (RTX 5060): was $1,649 now $1,499 @ Dell
• Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI: was $1,899 now $1,599 @ Best Buy
• Razer Blade 14 2025 (RTX 5070): was $2,699 now $1,799 @ Razer
• Lenovo Legion Pro 7i (RTX 5070 Ti): was $2,849 now $1,999 @ B&H Photo
• Alienware 16 Area-51 (RTX 5070): was $2,749 now $2,199 @ Dell
• Lenovo Legion Pro 7i (RTX 5080): was $3,499 now $2,399 @ B&H Photo
• Alienware 18 Area-51 (RTX 5080): was $3,649 now $2,999 @ Dell
• MSI Raider 18 HX AI (RTX 5090): was $4,399 now $3,739 @ Best Buy

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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.

Time for a laptop upgrade? HP’s laptop sale is live from $229 and there are a ton of awesome deals worth your attention. Whether you’re looking for a budget-friendly machine or a high-end gaming laptop, this sale is like Black Friday came early!

Right now, you can get the HP Chromebook 14” on sale for $229 at HP. This one comes with an Intel Processor N100 with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage, which is solid for everyday tasks like streaming and browsing the web.

I’ve listed all my favorite HP laptop deals below! For more savings, see our HP coupon codes and this Amazon device sale with up to 50% off.

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• HP 14" Chromebook: was $359 now $229
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• HP OmniBook X Flip 2-in-1: was $1,199 now $799
• HP OmniBook Ultra Flip 2-in-1: was $1,599 now $1,139
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• HP Omen Max 16 w/ RTX 5080: was $3,299 now $2,499

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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.

Amazon's big Prime Big Deal Days October sale is in full swing, and competitors like Best Buy are trying to horn in on the deal fever by running their own discounts—and some of them are awfully enticing.

For example the HP Omen Transcend 14 is $1,574 @ Best Buy right now, which is over $450 off the usual $2,039 asking price. That's one of the lowest prices I've ever seen on this 3K OLED RTX 5070 beast, one of the best gaming laptops you can buy right now.

You don't have to take my word for it—you can read our HP Omen Transcend 14 review for a full breakdown of what it's like to use this thing in day-to-day life, as well as hands-on photos and results of our performance tests. However, the model that's on sale right now at Best Buy actually has a beefier RTX 5070 Nvidia GeForce laptop GPU than what was in the model we reviewed, so you're going to get even better performance when gaming than we did.

I'm a fan of this machine because it's petite enough to fit in a backpack yet powerful enough to play the best PC games at good to great framerates on the 14-inch (2,880 x 1800) 120Hz OLED display. I've been reviewing laptops for ages and for my money there's no upgrade that makes a bigger difference than going from IPS panels to OLED. I love the enhanced contrast, inky blacks and bright highlights you enjoy on a good OLED panel, especially with HDR enabled, and it's not just for games—movies, shows and photos will also look great on this display.

And with 32GB of RAM and an Intel Core Ultra 9-285H CPU under the hood, this HP Omen Transcend 14 has enough muscle to handle gaming, working and content creation with equal aplomb. Of course, you'll want to enable Nvidia's DLSS when playing the latest games, as the frame generation and image upscaling tech will help you get good performance out of even demanding games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Doom: The Dark Ages.

You get enough ports to use a good variety of accessories, too, including a pair of USB-A ports, a pair of Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports, an HDMI out for plugging into external displays and a headphone jack for when you're in a coffee shop. And since the HP Omen Transcend 14 has an elegant, subtle design you can sneak in some gaming after work is done without anyone being the wiser.

Just be prepared to lug the charger with you, because our testing reveals that (like most gaming laptops) the battery life of the HP Omen Transcend 14 isn't great: 5-6 hours when working, and roughly 1 hour when gaming on battery.

Even so this remains one of the lowest prices I've ever seen on one of the most attractive gaming laptops we've tested recently, so I recommend you snag one while you can!

If it's not what you're looking for or all sold out, check out our regularly-updated guide to the best Prime Day laptop deals!

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.

More from Tom's Guide

• I’ve tested dozens of mice — here's the 3 features you need to look for before you buy
• Keychron’s new 8K polling mouse sets a new standard for gaming mice — and it costs just $69
• I review mice for a living, and this is my favorite mouse company of 2025

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.

The HP Omen Transcend 14 is one of the better-looking gaming laptops we've reviewed in the last year here at Tom's Guide and right now you can get one for one of the lowest prices I've ever seen.

That's because right now the HP Omen Transcend 14 is $1,599 @ Best Buy , which is over $440 off the usual $2,039 asking price for this RTX 5070 gaming laptop. It's one of the best laptop deals right now.

This is a pretty great laptop that ranks among the best gaming laptops you can buy right now, in part because it looks great and runs the best PC games at good to great framerates on the 14-inch (2,880 x 1800) 120Hz OLED display.

You can see what I mean by skimming our HP Omen Transcend 14 review, in which you can see the machine up close and read our hands-on impressions and results from our testing lab. In fact, the model of Transcend on sale today is newer and sports a more powerful Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 laptop GPU than the model we reviewed, so you can count on even better gaming performance in your favorite games.

Of course, you'll almost certainly want to enable Nvidia's DLSS whenever possible, as the frame generation and image upscaling tech will help you get good performance out of even demanding games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Doom: The Dark Ages.

But all your favorite games will look their best on the HP Omen Transcend 14's 2.8K OLED 120 Hz display. I've been reviewing laptops and monitors for years and for my money there's no upgrade that makes a bigger difference than going from IPS panels to OLED. I love the enhanced contrast, inky blacks and bright highlights you enjoy on a good OLED panel, especially with HDR enabled, and it's not just for games—movies, shows and photos will also look great on this display.

And with 32GB of RAM and an Intel Core Ultra 9-285H CPU under the hood, this HP Omen Transcend 14 has enough muscle to handle gaming, working and content creation with equal aplomb.

And since this HP laptop has pretty low-key good looks you can take it to the office or the coffee shop without having to worry about looking like you're carrying a prop from a sci-fi movie. Plus it's remarkably thin and light at just over 0.7 inches thin and 3.6 pounds heavy, so it's easy to carry all day.

You get enough ports to use a good variety of accessories, too, including a pair of USB-A ports, a pair of Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports, an HDMI out for plugging into external displays and a headphone jack for when you're in a coffee shop.

But be prepared to carry the charger with you when you're out and about because the battery life isn't fantastic. In our testing this laptop lasted under 5 hours normally and just one hour while gaming, which is not great but also par for the course when it comes to gaming laptops.

That said, this remains one of the lowest prices I've ever seen on one of the most attractive gaming laptops we've tested recently, so I suggest you act now if you want one before Black Friday!

Back-to-school season is approaching, and if it’s time for an upgrade, a ton of the best laptops we’ve tested are seeing price cuts across the web. Whether you’re on a strict budget or looking to splash out, I’ve found some amazing options.

For example, right now the MacBook Air 13” (M4/256GB) is on sale for $799 at Amazon. Not only is this our choice for the best laptop you can buy, it’s now on sale for $200 off, its lowest price ever. This one could sell out fast, so don’t hang around!

You can also get the Acer Aspire Go 15 on sale for $314 at Amazon ($35 off). We rank this one as the best value laptop, and it’s perfect for schoolwork thanks to its decent performance and productivity-friendly keyboard.

Keep scrolling to see all my favorite laptop deals. For more savings, see our Amazon promo codes and see the Adidas back-to-school deals I’d shop from $11.

Quick Links

• shop laptop deals at Best Buy
• HP Stream 14": was $229 now $170 @ Walmart
• Lenovo IdeaPad 1: was $249 now $199 @ Best Buy
• Acer Aspire Go 15 Laptop: was $349 now $314 @ Amazon [Best value!]
• Asus Vivobook 16" Laptop: was $649 now $539 @ Walmart
• MSI Thin 15.6" Gaming Laptop (RTX 4060): was $999 now $649 @ Walmart
• MacBook Air 13" (M4/256GB): was $999 now $799 @ Amazon [Best laptop!]
• Asus Zenbook S 14 Copilot+ PC: was $1,399 now $1,259 @ Best Buy
• HP Omen Transcend 14 (RTX 4060): was $1,699 now $1,599 @ Amazon
• MacBook Pro 14" (M4 Pro/512GB): was $1,999 now $1,785 @ Amazon
• Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (RTX 5070): was $2,399 now $2,049 @ Best Buy

Best sales now

Today’s power picks are real headline grabbers — the M4 Mac mini is cheaper than ever with up to $153 off, the latest and greatest Dell 14 Plus Laptop is $400 off, you can bag over $200 off a new gaming PC packing AMD Radeon RX 9060XT power, and much more.

The list of computing deals is jam packed with savings that look like savings, but actually aren’t. But with a little bit of investigative work, I’ve sourced the price cuts that retailers don’t want you knowing about!

Plus, all power picks from yesterday are still available! That means you can still get up to $70 off the Meta Quest 3S and the M4 MacBook Air is still at its lowest ever price.

But for now, let’s get into today’s top deals.

Show me today’s best deals

• Apple M4 Mac mini: was $599 now $540 @ Amazon
• Apple M4 Pro Mac mini: was $1,399 now $1,247 @ Amazon
• Dell 14 Plus Laptop: was $1,099 now $699 @ Dell
• HP OmniBook X Flip 2-in-1: was $1,049 now $699 @ Best Buy
• ABS Cyclone Ruby gaming PC (RX 9060 XT 16GB): was $1,499 now $1,234 @ Newegg with code ABS5JULY
• MSI G272QPF E2 QHD 180Hz gaming monitor: was $239 now $209 @ Newegg

Today’s power picks

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.