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There has been some fierce competition for the coveted spot of Tech Advisor’s laptop of the year. But in the end, it came down to the best balance of features and cost – and no device does it better than the Honor MagicBook 14, which comes in at the very affordable price of £549.99.

The original MagicBook 14 was launched at the beginning of the year, and was the company’s first big step into the Western laptop market. Later in the year we also saw a re-released version with some upgraded specs and a few minor tweaks to justify its slightly higher £669 price tag.

Both generations of the laptop feel premium, with a 14in display (though there’s also a 15in model available too), a 1080p IPS LCD screen, and very slim bezels. The exterior aluminium finish both looks and feels high-end, and the device is lightweight enough to be easily portable. The keyboard also features a hidden pop-up webcam, allowing for that extra layer of privacy for users.

Battery life is great on this laptop, lasting an impressive 13 hours of continuous video playback in our internal tests. This means that it will easily handle a full day’s worth of work, and then some, in real day-to-day use.

Performance is just as impressive, as the refreshed MagicBook 14 packs a powerful Ryzen 5 4500U processor, paired with 8GB RAM and 512GB storage. This makes it a great all-round device for work and productivity whilst still being capable of running the odd game or heavy-duty programme such as Adobe software. 

Of course, if you would prefer slightly lighter performance and a cheaper price, you can still opt for the cheaper original version, which has a previous-gen Ryzen 5 3500U processor and 256GB storage. Despite being an older model, it is still a great device that shares most of the same standout features of the updated MagicBook.

If you want to get your hands on the Honor MagicBook 14, here are all the places where you can pick it up from right now:

We also loved…

Whilst the Honor MagicBook 14 was our favourite pick of the year, there are a few other devices that deserve mentioning.

The Pixelbook Go is arguably the best Chromebook on the market right now, complete with a classy and refined design and an easy-to-use Chrome OS interface. However, the higher-end models are on the expensive side.

Apple’s MacBooks have also had a change in the processors, moving from Intel to Apple’s own M1 chip. This switch has boosted the battery life, graphics, speed and performance of both the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, and could be the biggest shake-up to the laptop industry in years.

Finally, there’s the Huawei MateBook 14, which is essentially a more premium take on Honor’s MagicBook 14. It comes in slightly more expensive, starting at £689 at the time of writing, but for that you’re getting stronger processor options and a slimmer, more premium build.

We’re still announcing the rest of our 2020 award picks, but so far we’ve revealed the best TV, tablet, and audio tech of the year so far, so make sure to check them out.

While we are waiting for the full review to come out (or maybe check out the existing review of the not-so-different Xiaomi Mi 10T), it would be a good idea to take a closer look at what seems to be one of the major flaws of the Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro. Before moving on, I have to highlight that this is my personal experience with a handset that I purchased and it could be a hardware problem that only affects my unit or a certain batch.

In most cases, mobile phone photography tests involve night shots of various buildings and landscapes, without focusing on shots that involve a single light source. Last night, when I decided to take out my new Mi 10T Pro for some night shots I wasn’t expecting to bump into such serious issues. The video embedded below should say it all, but earlier today I also discovered the presence of the ominous green dot in day shots.

The image embedded at the end of the article should say everything about the daylight impact on the camera problem. To sum it all up, I should point out the following:

The problem surfaces both when shooting videos and still images.

The ultra-wide and macro cameras are not affected by it.

Using the Pro mode does not help much, as long as the camera in use is the main shooter and not one of the two secondaries mentioned above.

The green dot is not the only artifact that I noticed, as you can see in the image above and in the movie (there is that diagonal line in both, although it only shows up briefly in the video).

The video/still image resolution has no noticeable impact on the artifact(s).

To make it all as clear as possible, I will conclude this article by saying that the phone runs the latest MIUI version available (Global 12.0.6 Stable, based on Android 10), the camera assembly looks all right and is perfectly clean, the phone has not been subjected to any shocks, and the usual night shots without powerful light sources come out nice, although some minor artifacts show up sometimes in the average “street at night” photos as well. Am I the only one facing this problem or we should start a club?

During the spring of 2019 we spent weeks shooting with the Nikon Z6 around South Africa’s wine region and pretty much fell head-over-heels for that superb full-frame camera.

So when Nikon announced its follow-up, the Z6 II, just 18 months after the original debuted, we wondered what more it could bring to the table. The answer is more processing power, for more speed in burst shooting, along with a wider buffer for capturing more shots consecutively, and dual card slots.

Don’t think of the Z6 II as an upgraders camera, then, just think of it as the original enhanced for new buyers. And quite the camera it is too. But with stiff competition, is it the full-frame mirrorless camera you should consider buying?

What’s new?

Dual Expeed processing engine

Dual card slots (1x SD (UHS-II), 1x XQD)

14fps burst mode, buffer to 200 JPEG Fine / 112 Raw

4K 60p capture coming 2021

So the Z6 II – that’s “two”, not “mark two” by any means, we’re told – adds a Dual Expeed processing engine. It’s the first time Nikon has put a dual system into any of its mirrorless cameras, meaning the Z6 II can shoot at up to 14 frames per second (up from 12fps in the original Z6). Not only that, but an increased buffer size means up to 200 JPEG Fine or 112 Raw files.

But one of the biggest changes to the Z6 II is something you can’t see from the outside: beneath the side flap are two card slots, one for XQD, one for SD (UHS-II), meaning the choice is yours when it comes to format – or use both should you want automatic back-ups or a JPEG/Raw split.

In addition the II model features enhanced autofocus – with low-light shooting to -6EV, which is said to be “quarter moonlight” – to further cement its appeal. Although, as we’ll come to, we don’t find the system feels that different in use compared to the original.

Design

Z series mount; FTZ adapter available for F-mount compatibility

Magnesium alloy front, back & top covers; weather sealed

3.6m-dot electronic viewfinder (100% FoV, 0.8x mag)

3.2-inch tilt-angle LCD touchscreen

When it comes to design and aesthetics the Z6 II is a mirror image of its mirrorless original. That means the same Nikon Z series lens mount, bringing super quality potential – it’s a big mount, but not too big, smaller than the Leica one used in the Panasonic S1; while Z lenses aren’t as epic-massive as those in Canon’s EOS R either.

The Z6 II is well built, robust, weather-sealed, it’s got all the buttons and dials in the right places so it’s familiar to use for any Nikon user or newcomer/enthusiast. We particularly like the toggle to the rear that’s ideal for quick adjustments – and it’s positioned well should you be using the camera up to your eye.

As we said of the original Z6, though, there is still one slight change we would make: although the 3.2-inch LCD screen is of ample quality, we’d switch out its tilt-angle mechanism to a full vari-angle one for greater flexibility.

Performance

In-body stabilisation to claimed 5-stops (VR; vibration reduction)

273 phase-detection points, covering 90% of frame

While Canon tends to opt for simple area focus on many of its mirrorless camera models, the Nikon approach is a little more varied and precise. Not only does the Z6 II offer 273 phase-detection autofocus points, encompassing 90 per cent of the frame, you can adjust from auto to wide-area, single-area or pin-point focus.

It’s the pin-point mode that we’ve found really useful, especially in low-light, as with a full-frame sensor at your disposal it’s critical that focus and aperture selection are on point for pin-sharp focus. The automatic modes are still very decent at grabbing hold of a subject and quickly focusing though.

Switch to continuous autofocus and this is where Nikon says the Z6 II has ramped things up compared to its predecessor. It’s apparently more adept at following moving subjects, but we’ve found the difference slight to the point of not really noticing – some more long lenses in testing would be needed for us to really see any difference.

Nonetheless, the system is capable, just not the most accomplished in the market. As we said of the original: we can’t shake off the fact that the Sony A7R III offers some incredible subject tracking from its active focus system – and that system is a couple of years old now.

Another major boon in the Z6 II is the in-body image stabilisation. The larger and more resolute a sensor, the more beneficial image stabilisation is at an image level. Sure, you can’t see the active benefit of stabilisation as you would through a lens-based solution, but having that added assurance that hand-held shots will be extra sharp at even fairly low shutter speeds is a reassurance.

When it comes to burst shooting the Z6 II offers 14fps, upping the ante compared to the original model. The buffer is far more capacious, too, so if you’re shooting Raw files then the capacity is upped a lot – with the original camera we were shooting three dozen in a single burst, but with the second-gen Z6 that’s over the triple-figure mark, making it three times more capable in our hands.

Another obvious benefit of this mirrorless camera is that it can be completely silent – so if you’re shooting, say, golf or trying to be discreet while out on the street then its electronic shutter option is perfect. We used it to shoot hermit grabs on a beach, lighting them with a mobile phone, and once they poked their heads back out of shell the shutter was of no concern – and out they remained!

Image Quality

24.5MP full-frame CMOS sensor (FX format)

ISO 100-51,200 sensitivity

The Nikon Z6 II has exactly the same sensor at its core as the original Z6. Which is to say that it really excels with its image quality.

That’s down to a combination of things: the sensor and image processing are a big part, but the Z mount has already shown off some of the best lenses we’ve ever seen in the consumer photography space.

In addition to the sharpness is the sheer depth that this full-frame sensor offers. That extra size just creates melty blurred backgrounds and pronounced shallow depth of field that can’t be achieved from lesser kit. You’ll need to be hyper critical about focusing, as we said before, but the pay-off is well worth it.

Equally impressive is how the ISO sensitivity holds up. The lowest ISO 100 (which is native – no ‘Low’ setting required) delivers pristine shots with a good amount of dynamic range – although you’ll want to shoot Raw to pull on the shadow and highlights details. Up the sensitivity to ISO 800 and it’s difficult to tell the difference over the base ISO. Impressive.

The higher ISO sensitivities hold a fantastic amount of detail without excessive image noise. You’ll see more grain from ISO 1600 up to ISO 6400, but it gives it a filmic quality, while colour noise increases – but is only marginal.

Push it to ISO 16,000 and it’s less impressive, while the top-end ISO 51,200 isn’t a total write-off, but it’s of really limited use. Even so, check out the ISO 10,000 shot of a bead-made butterfly that we took while on away holiday.

If 24.5-megapixels isn’t quite enough for you then the Z7 II is likely the better path for you to take, with its 45.7-megapixel sensor. It won’t perform quite as well in low-light, mind, nor is it as rapid fire, but that’s the trade-off to consider (oh, and not forgetting the sizeable price bump).

Video specification

4K video capable at 30/25/24fps, Full HD at 120/100/60/50/30/25/24fps

10-bit HDMI clean out (with N Log / HLG)

4K 60p coming February 2021

Nikon has a long history with video capture from its camera. It was the first to put it into a DSLR. But then it largely failed to keep up. The same kind of rings true with the Z6 II: it’s accomplished, capable of capturing 4K footage, but its 60p update won’t be available until some time in 2021. That’s not a problem, per se, but with Sony sailing ahead in this sector it’s hard to ignore.

The Z6 II currently offers 4K capabilities at 30, 25 or 25 frames per second at the time of writing, along with up to 120fps at Full HD (1080p). There’s also 10-bit clean HDMI out and N Log – along with two 3.5mm jacks for headphones and microphone – so it’s well equipped for quality capture, whether casual or on a rig.

Verdict The Nikon Z6 II is, just like the original Z6, a mighty impressive camera. That’s because this full-frame mirrorless brings the benefit of an incredible lens mount, delivering exceptional image quality from the right lenses.

However, the second-gen model doesn’t add a huge amount over the original. Yes, it’s nice to have Dual Expeed processing for faster frame-rate and a larger buffer. Yes, it’s great to have dual card slots this time around. But that’s more-or-less your lot. So don’t think of this camera as an upgrade and that’s just fine.

It’s still not a totally perfect camera though. We’d like to see further continuous autofocus improvements because there’s no denying Sony’s grip in this area. And where’s the proper vari-angle LCD screen?

Overall, the Z6 II is one of the most capable full-frame mirrorless cameras on the market. It’s got the lens mount right, the quality right and, despite strong competition and not being a big upgrade over the original model, it’s just exceptional in so many areas.

It’s barely any different – and image quality is the same – so if you want to save a few hundred and can find it on a deal then go for the first-gen model instead.

A few years back, a lot of major laptop makers began quietly paring down the number of 17-inch laptops they made (aside from monstrously large gaming rigs), with Apple and Dell dropping the 17-inch MacBook Pro and XPS 17 respectively. However, thanks to improvements like smaller bezels and improved energy efficiency, thin and light laptops with plus-sized screens and big performance are making a comeback.

After Apple re-envisioned its big-format laptop as the 16-inch MacBook Pro in 2019, Dell made a similar move by bringing back the XPS 17 this year. While the circumstances are different this time around (especially considering 2020 is a tire fire of a year), the revival of Dell’s flagship 17-inch laptop couldn’t have come at a better time. Big-screen laptops are back, baby, and they’re even better than before.

For the big reintroduction of the XPS 17, Dell didn’t deviate too much from the classic XPS design. The XPS 17 has a tapered wedge-shaped body with a silver aluminum lid, a big carbon fiber deck in the middle, and another aluminum tub on bottom. Despite its overall size (14.74 x 9.76 x 0.77 inches) and weight (5.53 pounds), the XPS 17 still manages to feel quite sleek and surprisingly portable—until you stack an XPS 15 on top and see how big the difference really is. In some ways, the size and design of the XPS 17 feels like a mirage, because when you open it up, you can’t help but appreciate how much display you get from a system that seems smaller than it is, especially when you consider the last time we saw the XPS 17 was back in 2012, when it weighed more than eight pounds instead of five.

Along its sides, the XPS 17 comes with an ample assortment of ports, including four USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 3 (all support charging, too), a headphone jack, and a full-size SD card reader. The only ports you might be missing are HDMI and USB-A, though Dell has that covered too with an included dongle.

Inside, Dell maximizes the XPS 17’s display (which comes in a multitude of options, from a 1900 x 1200 non-touch panel to a 4K UHD+ screen), with razor-thin bezels. Dell’s super tiny webcam and IR camera module, which sits above the screen, are exactly where you want them. The built-in IR camera offers support for Windows Hello face login, while the 720p HD webcam is meant to handle all your video-calling needs, though I must say that the XPS 17’s webcam image quality and resolution aren’t quite as high as I’d like.

Below on its deck, Dell flanks the keyboard with large stereo speakers that feature a 2.5-watt woofer and 1.5-watt tweeter on each side capable of delivering rich, room-filling sound. And as for the keyboard itself, Dell wisely hasn’t messed with the feel of the XPS 17’s keys, which are crisp and bouncy. I’m not gonna call them perfect, but the XPS 17’s keyboard is pretty much my platonic ideal of how keys on a laptop should feel. And finally, there’s that huge 6 x 3.5-inch matte touchpad, which leaves just enough room for your wrists on either side while providing accurate gesture recognition and more mousing room than most people probably need.

The one potential oddity about the XPS 17’s deck is Dell’s decision not to include a dedicated numpad like you sometimes see on 17-inch gaming systems. Some might bemoan that call, but on a well-rounded system like this, I think sacrificing the numpad for bigger speakers and an overall cleaner design was ultimately the right choice.

And then there’s that screen. Our review unit features the upgraded 4K 3840 x 2400 touchscreen, and I just can’t get enough. It puts out over 450 nits of brightness and has some of the richest and most vivid colors you can get from a laptop LCD panel today. If you’re intending to buy an XPS 17 to edit photos or videos, I would highly recommend upgrading to the 4K screen instead of the base FHD+ panel. Furthermore, with its 16:10 aspect ratio, the XPS 17 also provides a bit more vertical screen real estate, which is exactly what you want from a big all-purpose laptop.

The XPS 17 ain’t no slouch when it comes to performance, either. The base config comes with a 10th-gen Intel Core i5-10300H CPU, but our more expensive review unit came upgraded with a Core i7-10875H CPU, and it absolutely flies. In our CPU rendering test in Blender, the XPS 17 took almost four minutes less to render the same image (4:40) as MSI’s Creator 15 (8:33), despite the smaller Creator 15 having the same CPU.

And when it comes to graphics performance, it’s a similar story, with the XPS 17 (6:26) beating the MSI Creator 15 (8:36) by more than two minutes in our Blender GPU rendering test, once again with both systems featuring an RTX 2060 GPU. This kind of performance makes the XPS 17 a great choice for content creators, and while it’s not intended to be a competitive gaming machine, the XPS 17 is able to pump out more than 80 fps in Shadow of the Tomb Raider at 1080p with all the graphics bells and whistles turned on, so it’s not a bad fragging machine either. Thermal headroom also seems quite respectable, because while the XPS 17 will throttle itself a bit when maxed out, I didn’t notice any major lag or dips in performance during more normal loads.

Even the XPS 17’s battery life is pretty solid for a system this big, with it lasting just shy of 9 hours (8:58) on our video rundown test, nearly two hours longer than the MSI Creator 15 and an hour longer than HP’s ZBook Create G7.

After using the XPS 17 for several weeks, I only really have one complaint: its price. Because even though it starts at just $1,350 for a 17-inch FHD+ screen, Core i5 CPU, 8GB of RAM, 256GB SSD, and integrated graphics, when you start upgrading components, the cost balloons quite quickly. So in comparison, our review unit, which features a 4K touchscreen, Core i7 10875H CPU, 32GB of RAM, 1TB SSD, and RTX 2060 GPU, costs more than double the price at around $2,750. And annoyingly, if you want to cut back on a few components like RAM or storage to save money, currently the cheapest model with an RTX 2060 card starts at $2,450. Thankfully, if you’re less concerned with graphics, you can split the difference for a system with a GTX 1650 Ti GPU, which starts at around $1,800, and if you’re looking for the best balance between price and performance, that’s where I’d start.

But for me the biggest takeaway about the XPS 17 is the way it fits into 2020. While a lot of people wait for the world to get back to normal, I feel like it’s also important to think about what normal even means. Right now there are millions of people who have to work or learn from home, and even when things start opening up again, a lot of people won’t be returning to the same buildings or positions they were in before. This makes it even more important to consider what you need from a personal computer.

enly becomes a very intriguing option. Not only does its bigger screen translate into more productivity (or better movie-watching) when you’re stuck at home, you also get more ports and a wider range of upgradable components.

Meanwhile, the XPS 17 doesn’t suffer from being tied to a desk or table like a normal desktop or all-in-one. And all of this comes in a package that’s not that much larger (or much more expensive) than an XPS 15. (Though you will want to make sure you have something to carry it in, because the XPS 17 definitely doesn’t fit in my normal messenger bag.) So in a strange way, 2020 was sort of the perfect time for Dell to bring back the XPS 17. You get a bigger, more powerful system from one of the best laptop lines on the market, but in a body that’s way less of a burden than its predecessors from the not-too-distant past. So even if a 17-inch laptop might not be in your immediate future, the XPS 17 has demonstrated why they’re making a comeback, and it’s done so with power and style.

The Razer Book 13 and Dell XPS 13 are some of the sexiest 13-inch laptops in the market at the moment, but we’re not here to talk about looks. Instead, we’re going to try and compare them as objectively as we can to see which system comes out on top. After all, hard numbers are hard to argue against at the end of the day.

See our individual reviews on the Dell XPS 13 9310 and Razer Book 13 for more detailed information on each. Note that this comparison deals only between the two FHD configurations listed below as other SKUs have different CPU and display options.

Case

The Dell is slightly lighter, but both are otherwise almost the same in overall dimensions. Nonetheless, the tapered chassis design of the XPS makes the system feel smaller when compared to the boxier design of the Razer.

Ports

Razer has the clear advantage in this category. The Book 13 integrates all the ports on the XPS 13 plus full-size USB-A and even HDMI.

Display

Both utilize the same Sharp LQ134N1 IPS panel and backlight for essentially the same visual experience between them. However, it’s worth noting that our Book 13 display was better calibrated out of the box than our XPS display. Additionally, Razer offers a matte option whereas all XPS 13 9310 SKUs are glossy.

CPU Performance

The Book 13 handily defeats the XPS 13 in terms of raw processor performance. Clock rates are both higher and more consistent to leapfrog over the Dell in all CPU performance benchmarks by quite the margin.

Graphics Performance

The Book 13 comes out ahead again in almost all scenarios. Frame rates are also steadier on the Razer machine since clock rates do not fluctuate.

Keyboard and ClickPad

Razer has the slightly larger clickpad (11.1 x 7 cm vs. 11.2 x 6.5 cm), but clicking on its surface is softer and spongier than on the Dell. Furthermore, the keyboard on the Dell feels firmer and more satisfying to use. Keys along the edges are also larger than on the Razer since there are no speaker grilles to worry about.

A unique advantage on the Razer keyboard is its per-key RGB lighting. Nonetheless, this is wholly aesthetic.

Battery Life

The Dell system is just slightly more power efficient when under medium to heavy loads. Overall battery life, however, still favors the Razer system by almost 4 hours longer when both systems are under the same WLAN conditions.

Additionally, the AC adapter for the XPS 13 is rated for only 45 W compared to 65 W on the Razer which partly explains why the Razer system can outperform the Dell on most benchmarks.

System Noise

Both models utilize twin fans with vapor chamber cooling, but the Razer system will be the louder machine when running high loads for extended periods. 

Temperature

Surface temperatures are warmer on the Dell than on the Razer. Hot spots on the top and bottom can reach 47 C and 46 C, respectively, compared to 38 C and 43 C on the Razer. The overall warmer CPU temperature of the Dell may be responsible for the higher surface temperatures.

Verdict

The Razer Book 13 comes out ahead with faster performance, cooler temperatures, and even longer battery life than the Dell XPS 13 9310. It’s a tad bit heavier and larger, but the aforementioned advantages and additional port options might outweigh the minor size disadvantage for many users. It also just happens to be much more expensive than the Dell XPS 13 9310 when configured with the same CPU, display, RAM, and SSD options.

A key drawback to the Razer is its spongier keyboard keys and clickpad. If you’re already used to typing on Ultrabooks with shallow or light keys, however, then this should shouldn’t be a huge issue.

ASUS has announced the TUF Gaming VG289Q1A Gaming monitor, which features a 28-inch screen size, a 4K resolution, and a maximum refresh rate of up to 60 Hz. These features make this monitor perfect for any gaming setup. ASUS has not announced any pricing for this gaming monitor or any availability information for the TUF Gaming VG289Q1A Gaming monitor.

The TUG Gaming VG289Q1A Gaming monitor offers a 4K resolution and a refresh rate of up to 60 Hz

The TUF Gaming VG289Q1A Gaming monitor features a resolution of 4K, or 3,840 x 2,160, which offers a large amount of screen space while still creating stunning crisp and detailed visuals. This higher resolution gives users four times the pixels of similar-sized displays, allowing for more desktop space. This display offers support for AMD’s FreeSync technology, which reduces screen-tearing and keeps the gameplay incredibly smooth.

This display offers a refresh rate of up to 60 Hz, which is lower than other gaming monitors, but thanks to the 4K resolution and unique design allows this gaming monitor to stand out. This display supports HDR technology, which offers a wider color range and a much better contrast than standard gaming monitors. This monitor’s HDR support covers 90% of the DCI-P3 color gamut. This monitor features two different HDR modes, an ASUS CINEMA HDR and an ASUS Gaming HDR, which are optimized for different HDR applications.

This monitor features five different in-game enhancements, including Shadow Boost, GamePlus, GameVisuals, Flicker-Free technology, and an Ultra-Low Blue light mode. These different in-game enhancements offer flicker-free technology to reduce eye strain during longer gaming sessions. The Shadow Boost technology can enhance image details in the darker area while brightening scenes without over-exposing the bright areas of an image.

Another in-game enhancement is called Ultra-Low Blue Light technology, and this technology reduces the amount of potentially harmful blue light emitted by the display. This technology has four different filters, which allows the user to customize how this screen looks.

For Connectivity, the TUF Gaming VG289Q1A gaming monitor includes a single DisplayPort and two HDMI 2.0 ports, and an earphone jack. ASUS has yet to announce any pricing for the TUF Gaming VG289Q1A gaming monitor or any information regarding when this gaming monitor will be released.

As time goes on, Intel’s 10-nanometer Tiger Lake processors will pounce on more laptop designs, given that it has only been a handful of weeks since the chip maker launched its latest mobile CPUs (which replace Ice Lake). Lenovo was quick out of the gate, however, and the company sent us an interesting sub-$1,000 Tiger Lake configuration from its rather plentiful 2-in-1 lineup. Specifically, the Lenovo Yoga 7i that arrived on our doorstep, and it’s a flexible 14-inch convertible which is also the first to land in our lab armed with an 11th Gen Core i5-1135G7 processor in tow.

Our dalliances with Intel’s Tiger Lake platform up to this point have been encounters with higher end SKUs, including a Core i7-1185G7 we benchmarked as part of a reference laptop Intel provided shortly after its Architecture Day 2020 event, as well as the Core i7-1165G7 we cozied up to in our Dell XPS 13 review. Those are the two fastest Tiger Lake processors within the UP3-series (what Intel previously called its U-series) for thin and light laptops.

The Core i5-1135G7, meanwhile, sits a peg down and presents an opportunity to offer a less expensive laptop built around the same core CPU architecture. That is what makes the Yoga 7i so intriguing. It is still a Tiger Lake chip, and even harnesses the same number of cores (four) and threads (eight), just with less cache (8MB versus 12MB) and a tamer implementation of Intel’s powerful new Xe graphics core (we’ll get to that later).

Intel bills Tiger Lake as being the “world’s best processor for thin and light laptops,” and the Yoga 7i wraps it into a relatively affordable package starting at $749.99. The config we received runs $899.99 and appears to be a SKU specific to Best Buy, though it’s also now on sale at that original $749 price point and makes for a great deal. Here’s all that the machine includes…

Lenovo Yoga 7i Internal Specifications And Features

This machine’s 4-core/8-thread Intel Core i5-1135G7 has a 2.4GHz base clock and 4.2GHz max turbo clock (3.8GHz for the all-core turbo clock ceiling). At the upper end of the single-core turbo frequency spectrum, there is a 500MHz difference between the Core i5-1135G7 and Core i7-1165G7, and a 600MHz difference between it and the Core i7-1185G7. That means there is an inevitable performance hit in certain applications, though as our benchmarks show on the next page, the divide is not always significant.

This particular SKU also has 12GB of DDR4-3200 memory soldered to the motherboard. It is a bit of an oddball capacity, versus more commonly found 8GB and 16GB arrangements. But we suppose splitting the difference allows Lenovo to elevate this setup above the baseline amount while still keeping the price attractive for budget-conscious buyers looking to spend well under $1K. And for storage, this Yoga comes with a 512GB NVMe SSD, which is also a jump over the baseline amount (256GB) on the Yoga 7i series. For all intents and purposes, this is a decidedly upper mid-range config at a very reasonable price point.

All of these components, and especially the Tiger Lake CPU, play into this laptop’s Intel Evo certification. To be Evo certified, a laptop has to meet certain criteria specified by Intel, including…

Consistent responsiveness on battery

Wake from sleep in less than 1 second

9 or more hours of real-world battery life (on laptops with a 1080p display)

4 or more hours of battery life in a 30-minute charge (on laptops with a 1080p display)

Intel anticipates certifying nearly two dozen designs by the end of the year, of which the Yoga 7i is one of them. Second-edition target specifications laid out by Intel also added Thunderbolt 4 and Wi-Fi 6 connectivity to the Evo recipe, both of which are featured on the Yoga 7i as well. So again, for about $750 – $840 at retail currently, you’re getting a lot of leading-edge technology here. 

Lenovo Yoga 7i Design And Display

One of the common drawbacks to more affordable laptop designs, are that they often lack the premium build quality and feel of more expensive models, a lot of times with plastic construction. They also tend to be a little thicker. Lenovo’s Yoga 7i is a welcome exception to this not-so-hard and fast rule. It looks and feels more expensive than it is, with its sandblasted aluminum housing and mostly rigid build quality. For example, you can flex its display panel if you really try, but it takes considerably more force than many laptops in this price range.

It is rather attractive as well, in its simplicity. There are no artificially carved lines or extraneous pieces of flair (like RGB or single-color lighting), just a flat rectangle design with beveled corners, a single color finish, and a relatively thin waistline (0.69 inches at its thickest point) with slightly tapered geometry. There is some light branding, though it is subtle as well, consisting of the Lenovo name in one of the corners (atop a small brushed metal section), and “Yoga” carved a bit bigger in the opposite corner. Both blend in nicely with the finish here.

We received the “Dark Moss” color option, which appears dark gray with tones of green, depending on the lighting. Dark Moss does not sound all that appealing, quite frankly, but to this editor’s eyeballs, it is a nice and subtle deviation from the standard silver, black, white, and gray color options that dominate the laptop landscape. Speaking of which, the Yoga 7i is also offered in “Slate Gray” for those who prefer that traditional, somewhat comparatively boring color.

The display is a 14-inch screen with a 1920×1080 resolution, with touch support. If offers 72 percent coverage of the NTSC color space, and is easily viewed from wider, off-access angles, which carries added importance for 2-in-1 devices capable of flexible form factors. Photos and videos look good on the Yoga 7i, though if you have been spoiled by an OLED panel, you are not going to get the same image quality here. In its own right, though, the display on the Yoga 7i is suitable for a variety of tasks.

This display is not ultra-bright, though. Specifically, we measured around 315 lux at the maximum brightness setting. That is enough for a vibrant presentation, though far away from an daylight defying luminosity. On a related note, HDR reproduction is absent on this laptop’s display.

Lenovo Yoga 7i External Features, Ports And Keyboard

One of the main reasons to buy a Yoga 7i is for its flexibility, and that comes by way of Lenovo’s sturdy 360-degree hinges. This means you can use it in four different ways: as a traditional laptop, in tent mode to play a presentation or perhaps watch content in the kitchen, in stand mode (where the keyboard is the base), or fold it all the way back to use it as a tablet. Windows 10 of course adapts and orients the screen appropriately automatically.

One feature that could easily go overlooked if you do not know it is there, is the privacy shutter for the built-in webcam. The Yoga 7i is equipped with a 720p HD webcam positioned at the top of the display, and there is an inconspicuous slider scrunched in the hairline gap between the bezel and edge of the panel. It is fairly easy to slide with even short fingernails, and offers peace of mind that the camera cannot expose anything you do not want it to (so long as you remember to close the shutter). And it is certainly more elegant than draping a piece of tape over the camera sensor.

The port selection is a little limited on this 14-inch laptop, however. With this Yoga model, Lenovo has taken the opportunity to nudge users into the land of USB-C/Thunderbolt 4 connectivity—you will find two of those ports on the left side, either of which can charge the laptop with the include power adapter, along with a 3.5mm headphone/microphone combo jack.

On the other side of the Yoga 7i is a single USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A port. This is basically a USB 3.0 port with the updated jargon, meaning the maximum theoretical bandwidth is 5Gbps (whereas Gen 2 goes to 10Gbps, and Gen 2×2 goes to 20Gbps). It is a bit of a bummer that Lenovo opted for the slower version, though in lieu of added speed, it is a power share port, so connected devices can still draw power even when the laptop is shut down.

The Yoga 7i’s six-row keyboard is distinctly Lenovo, to an extent. Its key caps have a curved bottom instead of a more rectangular shape, but this really amounts to an aesthetic choice, not so much an ergonomic one. They are not slightly concave or quite as comfortable as the keys found on Lenovo’s ThinkPad laptops, which we feel are best in class for ultralight machines.

In contrast, the keys on the Yoga 7i are flatter (lower profile) and a bit softer. They are serviceable, though, with consistent key action and good spacing, without feeling cramped on a 14-inch form factor. There is also an LED backlight with two levels of brightness.

Underneath the keyboard is a fingerprint reader on the right side, and a precision 10-point multi-touch trackpad slightly off center to the left. It is smooth and responsive, and gave us no issues during testing.

A pair of 2W speakers flank the keyboard, and pump out some decent volume. We fired up AC/DC’s new Power Up album, and the Yoga 7i did a good job filling the room with the raspy vocals and electric guitar riffs. Disabling Dolby Atmos actually results in even more volume, albeit at the expense of some of the audio tuning and EQ controls.

As is usually the case, lower end bass response is mostly absent, and the overall sound quality is not going to make you chuck your reference speakers or fancy earbuds. But it is another area where the Yoga 7i punches a little above its price point.

Lenovo Yoga 7i Software Utilities And Experience

The pre-installed Lenovo Vantage utility is your hub to a variety of resources and maintenance, like looking up driver updates, viewing your warranty details, and other housekeeping. It is broken up into four sections—Dashboard, Device, Security, and Support—each with their own sub-sections, and you will want to spend some time getting familiar with the layout.

One area in particular is the Device > Power section. While not exactly intuitive (it took us a bit to figure this out), this is where you can adjust the “Power Smart” settings to balance noise and cooling with performance. Your options are Extreme Performance (configured by default), Intelligent cooling, and Battery saving.

Here is how these settings are explained…

Extreme Performance: This mode enables the maximum system performance. In this mode, the fast fan speed might cause big noise.

Intelligent Cooling: This mode enable the best experience with fan speed and system performance balanced. For example, when in gaming, it optimizes the performance. While in the office, it reduces the noise.

Battery Saving: This mode enables the maximum battery life by automatically adjusting the brightness, changing the power settings, disabling features on advanced image processing, etc.

This utility is also where you can enable/disable things like Rapid Charge, Always-on USB, and more.

Lenovo Yoga 7i 2-In-1: Evaluating Performance

Before running our selection of benchmarks, we apply the latest Windows and driver updates to the system we are testing (in this case, the Yoga 7i). Other than that, we do not change any settings. Our goal is to test the system as it ships, but after auto-updating, to accurately reflect what buyers can expect from an out-of-box experience.

ATTO Disk Benchmark

Peak Sequential Storage Throughput

The ATTO disk benchmark is a fairly quick and simple test which measures read/write bandwidth and IOPS across a range of different data sizes. We get a pair of results at each data point: bandwidth measured on MB per second (or GB per second if the result is that high), and input/output operations per second (IOPS). 

Our system arrived with a 512GB Samsung PM991 NVMe SSD, which is rated to deliver sequential reads of up to 2,200MB/s and sequential writes of up to 1,200MB/s. And it hit and even exceeded those rated metrics in ATTO. In our benchmark run, sequential reads peaked at 2,200MB/s, just as advertised, while sequential writes climbed to 1,330MB/s, which is higher than advertised. Good stuff.

Looking at the measured IOPS, reads peaked at 91.79K IOPS, while writes hit 85.29K IOPS. Neither is quite as advertised, but decent overall. The bottom line is, for the vast majority of workloads, the storage in this the Yoga 7i is not going to drag down performance.

Speedometer Web Application Benchmark

Browser Performance

We recently moved on to BrowserBench.org’sSpeedometer test, which takes a holistic look at web application performance. This test automatically loads and runs several sample webapps from ToDoMVC.com using the most popular web development frameworks around, including React, Angular, Ember.js, and even vanilla JavaScript. This test is a better example of how systems cope with real web applications, as opposed to a pure JavaScript compute test like JetStream. All tests were performed using the latest version of Chrome. 

Our early experiences with Tiger Lake have shown it performing very well in this benchmark, and the Yoga 7i with its Core i5-1135G7 continues the trend, taking a No. 4 position behind three other benchmark runs with the faster Core i7-1165G7. This is what we alluded to earlier—there will inevitably be a performance hit when comparing the Core i5-1135G7 to faster Tiger Lake SKUs, but it is not a giant one. And compared to every non-Tiger Lake part, the Yoga 7i stands strong.

Cinebench R20

3D Rendering Performance

The current version of Maxon’s rendering benchmark, Cinebench R20 us a sustained multi-threaded workload, which makes it a good indicator of how well the cooling system performs. This version is a pure CPU benchmark, and we tested both single-threaded and multi-threaded performance here. 

Here we see another strong showing from the Yoga 7i and the Core i5-1135G7. If sorting by multi-core performance, as we have done in our graph above, it performs nearly on par with Dell’s XPS 13 2-in-1 with a faster Tiger Lake chip inside. There is some spunk to this 4-core/8-thread chip.

Sorting by single-core performance would not change the Yoga 7i’s position—it would still reside in fifth place among the laptops compared here, with a score of 520. Interestingly enough, all five scores breaching the 500 mark belong to Tiger Lake, including the lower end Core i5-1135G7.

Geekbench 5

Single and Multi-Core Performance

Geekbench is a cross-platform benchmark that simulates real world processing workloads in image processing and particle physics scenarios. We tested the notebooks featured here in Geekbench’s single and multi-core workloads.

In our comparison of Geekbench 5 scores, the Yoga 7i falls several pegs. However, the multi-core scores of the entire middle of the pack are all very close to one another. And if we shift our focus to the single-threaded performance, the Yoga 7i’s score of 1,410 catapults it towards the top of the pack into the No. 5 spot, which further underscores the performance capabilities of Intel’s Tiger Lake architecture, even in a mid-range part.

PCMark 10

Productivity and System-level Benchmarking

PCMark 10 uses a mix of real-world applications and simulated workloads to establish how well a given system performs productivity tasks, including image and video editing, web browsing, and OpenOffice document editing. While these scores appear to be all over the place, the systems are sorted by their overall PCMark score, which is the third (gray) bar in each cluster. 

This particular benchmark gives us perhaps the best snapshot of the Yoga 7i’s intended performance, as the focus is squarely on productivity. Sorting by the overall score, the 14-inch laptop slots into the No. 6 spot, coming in just behind Lenovo’s ThinkPad X13 Gen 1 with a Ryzen 5 4650U CPU inside. All of the individual scores here are fairly strong, too, not just the overall one. This is where we want to see a laptop like this flex.

3DMark Benchmarks

3D Performance

3DMark has several different graphics tests which focus on different types of systems. UL seems to have discontinued support for Cloud Gate, but fortunately there are a couple of tests remaining that run well on integrated graphics. First up is Sky Diver, which uses the DirectX 11 graphics API. 

We have seen that the Yoga 7i can handle itself well in productivity chores, but what about gaming and graphics? Intel is mighty high on its Xe architecture, and in 3DMark’s Sky Diver test, it came out ahead of laptops with various other GPU solutions, like the GeForce MX150, Radeon Vega 8, and previous gen UHD 620 solutions. So far, so good, but will it hold up?

Here is a look at 3DMark’s Night Raid test…

We have seen Intel’s Iris Xe graphics perform rather well in this benchmark, and certainly the Core i5-1135G7 lifted the Yoga 7i above some previous generation laptops, but there is a sizable gap between it and the Core i7-1165G7. Why is this?

Well, it partially comes down to the number of execution units. Both the Core i7-1165G7 and Core i5-1135G7 are running Iris Xe graphics, but whereas the Core i7 part has the benefit of 96 EUs, the Core i5 SKU is working with 80 EUs. The max graphics clock is the same (1.3GHz), but with fewer EUs, the Core i5-1135G7 is just not going to put up the same level of graphics performance as the Core i7-1165G7.

However, that alone does not explain why the performance dips below last generation’s Iris Plus graphics. We suspect the comparatively low memory speed is also to blame. This laptop is using DDR4-2666 memory, whereas the Dell XPS 13 with a higher end Tiger Lake CPU is using DDR4-4267 memory. Some Tiger Lake laptops go all the way up to DDR4-4733, and as we are seeing some graphics tests, memory speed matters here.

Next up is 3DMark’s Fire Strike Extreme test…

We see this play out more prominently in the more demanding Fire Strike Extreme test. At its best, the Core i7-1165G7 scored north of 2,000 in this benchmark, while the Core i5-1135G7 is not able to propel the Yoga 7i to quadruple digits, settling in at 930.

It is a lower end graphics solution, plain and simple. However, it is still faster than Intel’s UHD graphics, with a core that is nearly double that of Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 5.

GRID Autosport

Gaming Performance

GRID Autosport is a cross-platform racing simulation developed by Codemasters. The developer wanted to make up for GRID 2, which released to mediocre reviews from critics and gamerse alike. Codemasters set out to improve GRID Autosport’s handling and environment rendering to make it a true racing simulator. The third GRID game is built on Codemasters’ EGO engine that boasts more realistic physics and damage systems to add a bit of danger and some extra realism to the racing. Codemasters also tuned its graphics engine to perform well over a wide variety of mainstream systems, which makes it a great test for systems with integrated graphics. Codemasters also promotes that GRID Autosport is “optimized for integrated Intel HD Graphics”, which is certainly something. We tested at 1080p with the High image quality preset. 

The Yoga 7i is not built for gaming, though even with a lower tier Tiger Lake chip on board, it is enough to obtain playable framerates in Grid Autosport at 1080p, with the high image quality preset, no less. You will not muster 60 frames per second, but 47 fps is not too shabby for a system like this.

That said, there are stronger integrated solutions for gaming, as we see with the Dell’s XPS 13 coming out ahead, and the ASUS Zenbook Flip S coming way out ahead.

Gears Tactics

UE4 Gaming Performance

Gears Tactics is a much more recent title that runs on the Unreal 4 Engine. It’s a pretty fun tactical real-time strategy game, and has a wide array of graphics options that can look pretty great if the system is up to the challenge. We turned off all the automatic frame rate adjustments, turned the resolution up to 1080p, and then tested at Low, Medium and High details settings. 

At a glance, it looks like the Yoga 7i fell off a cliff in this benchmark, and to an extent it did—Gears Tactics is only barely playable at 1080p at low settings, and not really playable at medium or high. That is in stark contrast to the systems with faster Tiger Lake chips, which show that a beefier implementation of Xe can top 60 fps in this game.

The flip side is that nearly all of the included comparison laptops are running faster Tiger Lake solutions, as we only recently started including this benchmark in our gamut of tests. Intel’s previous generation UHD graphics would undoubtedly be even worse here. Still, the point remains that in games like this, the Yoga 7i is going to struggle.

Lenovo Yoga 7i 2-In-1: Acoustics, Battery Life And Our Verdict

The Lenovo Yoga 7i 2-in-1 is not an especially noisy laptop. There are vents on the back and bottom to exhaust hot air, which gets actively pushed out with a decently sized single 50mm fan. In our usage, it took quite a bit to get this machine’s fans to ramp up.

Even after a few minutes of running Prime95 and Furmark simultaneously to fully stress the CPU and GPU, the laptop did not get loud by any stretch. You can definitely hear the fan spinning and working to remove hot air, but it is more of a polite whir. At full blast, we recorded around 46-48 decibels with our noise meter. We’ll take it.

HotHardware Custom Video Loop

Battery Life Performance

We run a custom 1080p HD video loop test developed in-house, to prove out battery life with our test group of machines. In all tests, Windows 10 Quiet Hours has been enabled and the displays are calibrated with lux meters on pure white screens to as close to 115 lux as possible. For the average laptop this is somewhere between a 40-60 percent brightness setting. In the case of the Yoga 7i, this required lowering the brightness to 78 percent on the slider in the Windows 10 sidebar.

While gaming may not be a strong suit of the Yoga 7i, battery life is, as it is supposed to be for an Evo certified laptop. This machine ran for 7 hours and 39 minutes in our home-brewed battery life test, which is 12 minutes longer than Dell’s XPS 13 2-in-1. That is solid uptime, and it means that you could conceivably get a full work day of use out of the Yoga 7i before needing to charge it up again. Though of course that will depend on how you are using it. Note, this test keeps the display lit 100% of the time and there is minimal idle time, so typical everyday computing could actually result in more or less uptime, depending on workload.

Lenovo Yoga 7i Review Wrap-Up

The 14-inch form factor is an opportunity to prove that big things can come in small sizes, and Lenovo achieves that in some areas with the Yoga 7i 2-in-1. Not all of it qualifies as new, of course. We are familiar with the flexibility afforded by Lenovo’s Yoga lineup (like the Yoga C940), and if you are a fan of its flexible design, the Yoga 7i carries on the tradition, in a premium package that looks and feels like it cost more than what you paid for it.

The setup we tested is on sale right now for $749.99 at Best Buy, an attractive price for sure, especially considering it is running a Tiger Lake processor (and we’ve seen it on sale for as low as $649.99, an absolute steal). More often than not, laptops in this general price range feel cheaper or make too many compromises. The Yoga 7i, however, does not feel like an inexpensive machine, nor does it look like one. This system would fit right in with a professional setting, be it a board room (back before the pandemic, when we actually went somewhere for work) or anywhere else.

And let’s talk Tiger Lake. The Core i5-1135G7 brings Intel’s latest mobile architecture and Xe graphics to the fold, for a fair price. As we saw in benchmarks like PCMark 10 and throughout our hands-on use, it is a solid CPU capable of delivering respectable performance and a productive experience. The Yoga 7i never feels slow when using it to get work done, or just knocking around the web and Windows 10. So, even though it is clocked slower than the other Tiger Lake CPUs we have tested to date, this laptop is still a workhorse.

Graphics performance is a bit of a different story. The Core i5-1135G7 has a scaled-down version of Intel’s Xe graphics, with 80 execution instead of 96 EUs as found in the Core i7-1165G7. This was the difference between playable and non-playable framerates in some instances, like Gears Tactics. Then again, the Yoga 7i is not really targeted at gamers.

Perhaps a bigger deciding point for the intended audience will boil down to the port selection. Lenovo is pushing USB-C / Thunderbolt 4 with this laptop, and it serves up two of those ports on the right side. But if you are mainly using USB-A peripherals, you will have to make do with a single USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A port on the left side, and that’s it. There’s no microSD card slot here either. These limitations may matter to some, and not to others.

Overall, though, we feel the Lenovo Yoga 7i 2-in-1 is an excellent value for the money. From its premium build quality and multi-purpose design in a 2-in-1 form factor, to the strength of Tiger Lake and thoughtful touches like a privacy shutter, this laptop delivers more than what you might expect for the money. The Lenovo Yoga 7i is not perfect, but it’s a great value and worth considering if you are looking to spend less than a grand on a new laptop powered by Intel’s latest Tiger Lake and Evo platform technologies.

Windows 10 fans are once again having to endure another problematic update release, in a Groundhog Day-style scenario that keeps on plaguing PC fans. This year has seen plenty of patches released by Microsoft that, while fixing some issues or adding new features, has also caused plenty of unintended knock-on effects. Only recently Windows 10 users saw the release of the October 2020 patch (one of the major landmark upgrades of the year) cause a slew of glitches such as driver compatibility issues.

While other patches released by Microsoft have caused a litany of problems, such as issues with Google Chrome, internet connectivity troubles, printers not working, and – of course – the dreaded Blue Screen of Death (BSoD) error.

This month Microsoft released their latest cumulative updates for Windows 10, with the KB4592438 patch fixing (among other things) one Blue Screen of Death issue that has been plaguing PCs since May.

This particular BSoD error impacted PCs with Intel NVMe SSDs drives.

However, in an ironic turn of events since the release of the latest Microsoft patches more Windows 10 users have been hit with BSoD errors.

As reported by Windows Latest, the latest BSoD problem has impacted some Windows 10 users that have CorsairVBusDriver.sys installed.

CorsairVBusDriver.sys is a component of drivers shipped out by Corsair – a leading name when it comes to PC gaming, who make a wide range of gaming tech – from eye-catching RGB cooling fans, to mechanical keyboards, mouses, RAM and much, much more.

If you’ve seen a Twitch streamer or gaming influencer running a stunning looking gaming set-up then it would be a surprise if their machine is fitted with Corsair components.

And this latest issue that impacts machines with the Corsair driver is a particularly troubling one, as some users have reported it has caused their machines to be stuck in a loop where they get an BSoD error and can’t access the desktop.

On Reddit one user posted: “I really need some help. I tried all the fixes I could find on youtube/google but they didn’t work.

“At first there was no file mentioned on the blue screen, only ‘system_thread_exception_not_handled’ and ‘we are sending a report’.

“But after over one hour of trying fixes ‘file error winhv.sys’ appeared at the bottom.

“And sadly I have no backups. I can’t restore back to anything”.

While another wrote: “I’ve had the same experience as everyone else today – for some people, it seems to have been caused by the Corsair driver interfering with the system boot up (even within Safe Mode).”

And one posted: “I have been using my PC for 4 years without any problems and got the “systemthread_exception_not_handled.

“I have K95 corsair keyboard, I can’t see what’s causing my BSOD.”

If you’ve got Corsair drivers installed on your machine then you might want to hold fire downloading the latest Windows 10 cumulative updates until this issue is fully resolved.

When it comes to tower PCs, you have two camps: those who insist on the superiority of building your own and those who want something out of the box that works.

The new HP Omen 30L falls into the latter category, but HP, like other PC makers, borrows from the DIY crowd with success. Yes, it’s a pre-made system, but its new one-button toolless entry, pre-wiring for expansion, and multiple RGB lighting zones make it feel a bit more custom.

I use the Omen Obelisk myself, so stepping up to the Omen 30L with new RTX 3080 graphics and 10th Gen Core i9 has me a bit jealous. And if you don’t like Intel, don’t worry, as you can get a system with AMD instead.

HP Omen 30L specs and features

When buying the Omen 30L, you have multiple options. You can buy pre-made machines at Best Buy with AMD Ryzen 5 or 7 processors and up to an RTX 2060 graphics card for around $1,250.

At HP.com, you can go a bit crazier by building your own system, including up to a Core i9-10850K, up to 64GB of HyperX RAM, RAID, Intel Optane, and more. But like every other manufacturer, sourcing an RTX 3000 series card is hard to find due to tight supply right now.

The unit reviewed here is a top-tier model with that Core i9-10850K, RTX 3080, 1TB SSD + 2TB HDD, and 32GB of RAM. The total price is $3,100. HP sources components from Kingston (HyperX RAM), Western Digital Black SN750 (SSD), and Cooler Master (fans).

The 30L gets its name due to its size (17.7 by 6.5 by 16.6 inches), and it is a more modern look over last year’s Obelisk. It’s hard to miss the gorgeous tempered glass front panel that features the Omen logo in RGB with a similarly lit RGB 120mm Cooler Master fan. Standing back in a dark room and the look is modest but cool. HP has veered more towards a contemporary design than a pure gamer look. That was the right choice, especially for adults who may want this PC.

For additional cooling, a 92mm rear fan does a decent job of removing heat and the top fan for the CPU’s liquid cooling radiator. These fans sound similar to last year’s Obelisk, which is pretty quiet but not the best.

Like the Obelisk, HP continues to use its angled and recessed front port area. On top, you get two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, an audio combo (headphone/microphone) jack, and a separate microphone jack. The design is excellent, letting you easily guide peripherals into the port with little fuss, making it perfect for thumb drives or a security key.

To the rear and you get the usual assortment of ports, including one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, six USB Type-A ports (two version 3.2 Gen 1, two 3.2 Gen 2, and two legacy 2.0). There is also a microphone, line-in, and line-out jacks.

The GeForce RTX 3080 in this review unit includes three DisplayPort video outputs and one HDMI. That monstrous GPU, thankfully, is bolted to the front to prevent card “sag.”

There’s not much room for expansion, mostly due to the size of the RTX 3080. But there is an M.2 Type-2280 slot is just under the graphics card. HP also has pre-run power and SATA cables for the additional for the 3.5-inch bays.

However, the real story is HP’s new single-button mechanism to pop off that tempered glass left panel. No more thumb screws, no more aligning the door panel to slide into place awkwardly. You press, and the panel releases. It’s great.

The reason HP is doing a toolless design is apparent: the company encourages you to buy this PC at a lower price, and you can upgrade the Intel Z490-based ATX motherboard when your budget is right. Sure, you can buy the model I have for $3,109, but you can also start at $1,200 and work your way up by swapping out GPUs, processor, storage options, and RAM yourself. That’s a significant shift from years ago where these towers were one and done.

That RAM is also Kingston HyperX DDR4-3200 RGB. While this review unit is 32GB (8GB x 4), you can buy 64GB through HP. The RGB doesn’t quite sync with the rest of the 30L’s RGB lighting, but it still looks cool.

Cabling is OK. Yes, it’s tied together, and some tape holds it to the case. But the Omen 30L won’t win awards for cleanest (or nicest looking) cabling, and perhaps that glass panel shows too much. On the other hand, if you’re new to tower gaming PCs and don’t know any better, it’s just fine. Like me, you’ll be wowed by the pulsing RGB.

Last year, HP used some red cables for the liquid cooling radiator. This year, they went with just black. I think red looked better, but the Omen 30L seems to be consciously moving away from “Omen red,” which has been the brand’s color for ages. Instead, the whole system is more color-neutral, with users configuring RGB colors to their liking.

Let’s not forget the tower’s four feet. Gone are the flat nubs of Obelisk, and instead, we have four, much taller feet that give more clearance to the bottom of the case. Those feet also work well on a rug.

Powering it all is a prominent, powerful, and not great looking Cooler Master 750-watt power supply. It works and should be enough for the most demanding gamer, but it could use either a smaller design or a bit more flair.

It’s worth noting that HP has a whole assortment of matching accessories and peripherals. Those include the OMEN 27i gaming monitor, Photon Wireless Mouse, and my favorite, HP Omen Mindframe headphones, which actively cool your ears (it’s wild).

HP Omen 30L performance

The Intel Core i9-10900K is a powerful ten-core chip that can peak at 5.3GHz. You can also get an AMD Ryzen 7 3700X, which is cheaper and still a good performer.

Being a “K” processor, it is overclockable. Overclocking is not for the faint of heart, but HP makes it easy via its Omen Gaming Hub software. With a mouse click, the system reboots and does its own stress tests for around 20 minutes. It then finds the range of acceptable overclocking while keeping system stability. It’s impressive stuff that any novice will feel confident in using. The performance boost isn’t massive – maybe around five percent overall – but hey, it’s a free few extra frames in that video game.

That Omen Gaming Hub app does a lot of heavy lifting on the Omen 30L. You can also control the three zones of RGB lighting (logo, front fan, internal light) and the HyperX RAM. Lighting ranges from reactive, multi-colors, and the usual fare. It pales next to Razer’s Chroma, but it’s not bad either. You can enable “Dual Force,” which combines your Wi-Fi 6 and Ethernet connections, giving Ethernet priority for specified apps and games. HP also combines all your games on your system into one place regardless of the stores you bought them from. It’s an excellent app and fun to use.

Turning to raw benchmarks 3DMark, regardless of the test (Fire Strike, Fire Strike Extreme, Time Spy), the Omen 30L gets rated as “great.” That means it’s speedy and holds its own against more expensive systems. It also means it never really leads in any single category, coming in just shy of the average.

Real-world usage (not overclocked), playing something like Red Dead Redemption 2 at 1440P at ultra yields over 65 frames-per-second (FPS). Grand Theft Auto V gets 85 FPS and Fortnite, also at 1440P on ultra, brings in a respectable 165+ FPS. None of that should be too surprising as the 3080 is an impressive GPU, which is why we called the RTX 3080 the best for 4K gaming.

PCMark 10, which combines CPU and GPU usage, gives some better results with a score of 7,898, making it “better than 99 percent of all results” and blowing pass the average for a premium gaming PC in 2020 (7,163).

The Western Digital SSD is also a solid performer. On sequential read, it brought in 3,315 MB/s while write was just over 3,000 MB/s.

Fans can whirl up under load, and they are not the worst, but things could also be a bit quieter. Of course, if you wear over-the-ear gaming headphones, the point is mostly moot. During regular productivity usage, there is more a slight hum than any constant whirring.

HP Omen 30L: Should you buy?

Back in the day, I would build my own gaming towers. It was way before RGB everything, but it was still fun and rewarding. But when you hit a certain age, you just want to 2K game at 160FPS (or 4K game at 60) and not have to bother spending hours researching every top-tier component in the world.

The Omen 30L is a nice improvement over the Obelisk. The look is more mature and certainly less gamer-red. The glossy glass front panel looks sophisticated and minimal (though watch the fingerprints). Upgrading is straightforward with that single-button design. The RGB lighting also looks sharp without being overwhelming.

For performance, the Omen 30L does not smash records, but I’m not sure it needs to either – not for this demographic. We all know that if you want extreme performance, you DIY (and spend a fortune). But if you just want to game and let HP do all the work, I can’t say I’m disappointed. It’s great.

Pricing is also in the range of similar systems from Dell (e.g., Alienware Aurora R11), which has a whole different vibe if this is too tame.

For more ideas, check our Best Gaming Desktop PC for additional recommendations.

Overall, the Omen 30L is an excellent pick for mainstream audiences who either want a tower to build up or get top-tier gaming right now. The range of options for configurations, design, and pricing all make it a competitive choice backed by HP’s name.

Intel is supposedly due to announce the NUC 11 Performance this month, according to Fanless Tech. However, @9550pro has already revealed the full details of the device, and it has also been spotted on UserBenchmark. Intel will offer the NUC 11 Performance with a choice of three Tiger Lake processors, the leaked slide states, ranging from the Core i3-1115G4 to the Core i7-1165G7. All are 28 W processors and boost above 4 GHz. The Core i3 includes a lesser GPU though, with Xe Graphics reserved for the Core i5 and Core i7 SKUs.

Only the Core i7-1165G7 model has appeared on UserBenchmark so far. Benchmarked as the Intel NUC11PHi7, the NUC 11 Performance has been paired with a GeForce RTX 2070 GPU. It is unclear how this was done, but it may have been with an eGPU connecting to one of the machine’s Thunderbolt ports. There will also be three USB 3.1 Gen2 ports, USB 2.0 ports via internal headers, a Gigabit Ethernet port, an HDMI 2.0b port and a Mini DisplayPort 1.4 connection.

The same leak by @9550pro details that Intel will release three chassis types of the NUC 11 Performance. The “Slim” K will be the smallest of the three, measuring 117 x 112 x 38 mm, with the “Tall” H and “Tall Q” chassis coming in at 51 mm and 56 mm tall, respectively. The three chassis will include the same core features, but the “Tall” H and “Tall Q” will include additional equipment that the “Slim” K lacks. The “Tall” H and “Tall” Q will both have a 2.5-inch SATA 3 bay capable of housing up to 7 mm thick drives, while the “Tall” Q will also have a wireless charger built into its lid.

The NUC 11 Performance ‘Panther Canyon’ is not the only NUC that Intel plans to release soon, either. Tiger Canyon and Phantom Canyon are both in the pipeline, both based on the company’s Tiger Lake platform. Tiger Canyon and Phantom Canyon are expected to arrive in early 2021.