Category: Article

Famed Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has predicted some of the best potential news surrounding MacBooks in years: by mid 2020, all MacBook models will use traditional scissor switches within their keyboards.

Of course, it’s widely expected that the rumored 16-inch MacBook Pro will lead this charge by dropping the… challenged Butterfly keyboard design in favor of a more traditional scissor switch method.

Thanks to Kuo, and first reported by MacRumors, we can now expect the same improvement to come to the rest of Apple’s laptop lineup before the middle mark of 2020.

Older design, better reliability

It’s widely assumed that Apple’s Butterfly keyboard switch design was conceived to allow for thinner and lighter laptops than were possible before. That much was true, as evidenced by the 12-inch MacBook first released in 2015.

However, it quickly came to light that these new switches are more prone to failure due to dust and other particulate exposure, leading to keys that got stuck or simply didn’t register presses. As a result, this story has dragged Apple’s laptops over the proverbial hot coals for years now.

Apple currently runs a rather generous product replacement program for MacBooks with faulty Butterfly keyboards, but the writing has been on the wall for this design for some time.

So, we look forward not only to the apparently imminent 16-inch MacBook Pro launch, but all future MacBook releases, with bated breath.

The second developer beta of iOS 13.2 is now available. In addition to features like Deep Fusion and Announce Messages with Siri, the second developer beta has more in store. Here’s our full roundup of what’s new.

The first beta of iOS 13.2 was released last week with Apple’s new Deep Fusion image processing technology. In addition to Deep Fusion, iOS 13.2 also includes things such as the addition of Announce Messages with Siri, new iPadOS settings, HomeKit tweaks, and more.

Today’s release of iOS 13.2 developer beta 2 includes even more changes. Read on as we roundup them up below.

Spot any other major changes in the second developer beta of iOS 13.2? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter, @9to5Mac.

What’s new in iOS 13.2 beta 2?

Includes 60+ the new emoji previewed by Apple back in July

New emoji picker for selecting multiple skin tones within a single emoji

New setting for Siri that allows you to delete your Siri and Dictation history, as Apple promised. You can also opt out or in during setup

More details on TechCrunch

New option to delete apps from the Haptic Touch menu on the Home screen

“Rearrange apps” changed to “Edit Home Screen”

You can now adjust video recording settings directly in the Camera app on the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro

We’ve previously heard that Google would follow up its Pixelbook – the company’s flagship Chromebook – with a lighter and more affordable product than its premium predecessor, and now we’ve just gotten our best look at the Pixelbook Go yet.

Thanks to a trusted source close to 9to5Google, the Pixelbook Go has been revealed in full, with extensive shots of the device itself in a salmon color scheme (visit the original article for a full gallery of images).

Ribbed for your pleasure

As pointed out by 9to5Google, the Pixelbook Go prominently sports a textured bottom panel, which features a colorful, ribbed panel coated in an apparently “grippy” material that “feels somewhat similar to a washboard or the roof of a dog’s mouth”.

The top half of the laptop, however, features a more traditionally smooth finish, although it’s also subtly tinged with a pink-ish hue.

As for ports, the left side of the Pixelbook Go is seen sporting a USB-C port, charging indicator LED, and a 3.5mm headphone jack, while the other side is home to a second USB-C connection.

With the unit opened, you’ll see more of that pink tinge on the Pixelbook Go’s notably MacBook-esque lower half, including the keyboard and trackpad, while the top half is home to a 13.3-inch display and rather prominent black bezel.

As far as specs are concerned, 9to5Google hasn’t found anything new to add since the last time it delved into the upcoming Chromebook’s internals.

This means that we can still likely expect a range of configurations that variably boast Intel Core m3, i5, or i7 processors, 8GB or 16GB of RAM, Full HD or 4K touch displays, and 64GB, 128GB, or 256GB of storage.

These options will all share two front-firing speakers, a 2MP front-facing camera (capable 1080p at 60fps), the Titan C chipset, the aforementioned two USB-C ports and headphone jack, and arrive in both “Just Black” and “Not Pink” configurations.

It’s worth noting that the unit that 9to5Google managed to get its hands on is a prototype – identifiable by the placeholder logo in the spot where we’d expect the Google ‘G’ – so any of the aforementioned details are technically subject to change, although we don’t expect they’ll do so considerably.

There’s no word currently on when the Pixelbook Go will be available and in which regions it will launch, but we’ll very likely hear more about it at the upcoming Google event on October 15, where the company is expected to launch its Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL handsets.

2019 has been the first year OnePlus has truly made phones that compete with the best flagships around, first with the OnePlus 7 Pro, and now with the OnePlus 7T Pro.

It’s not a huge upgrade on the 7 Pro but it’s an upgrade nonetheless, making it the highest-end phone OnePlus has to offer, and its clearest competitor to the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus.

Samsung’s phone is somewhat older, launching towards the start of 2019, but it remains one of the most accomplished Android flagships around and tops our best phones list, so does the OnePlus 7T Pro have what it takes to compete? Read on to get a clearer idea.

OnePlus 7T Pro vs Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus display

The OnePlus 7T Pro has a curved 6.67-inch 1440 x 3120 screen with 516 pixels per inch and an aspect ratio of 19.5:9. It uses Fluid AMOLED, supports HDR10+, and has a 90Hz refresh rate.

The Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus on the other hand has a curved 6.4-inch 1440 x 3040 screen with 522 pixels per inch and an aspect ratio of 19:9. This phone uses Dynamic AMOLED and also supports HDR10+, but has just a 60Hz refresh rate.

That refresh rate is one of the main differences between the two phones. It means that animations and interactions with the OnePlus 7T Pro should feel slightly smoother at the cost of a tiny amount of battery life (though the refresh rate can be switched to 60Hz if you’d prefer).

In most other ways these two phones have similar screens, though the OnePlus 7T Pro has a slightly larger one.

Samsung’s meanwhile might look slightly better – we won’t be able to say for sure until we’ve put the OnePlus 7T Pro through a full review, but Samsung’s flagship screens are usually among the very best for visual quality and the Galaxy S10 Plus is no exception.

OnePlus 7T Pro vs Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus design

Both the OnePlus 7T Pro and Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus have curved screens, metal frames and glass backs, so there’s a lot of similarity in their designs.

There are some big differences too though. For one thing, the OnePlus 7T Pro has an all-screen front, achieved by opting for a pop-up selfie camera (more on which below). The Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus on the other hand has a punch-hole for the camera in the top right corner of the display.

Samsung’s phone also has a different arrangement of cameras on the back, with the lenses laid out horizontally, while on the OnePlus 7T Pro they’re arranged vertically.

Most of the other differences are smaller. For example, the OnePlus 7T Pro comes in at 162.6 x 75.9 x 8.8mm and 206g, while the Galaxy S10 Plus is a smaller and lighter 157.6 x 74.1 x 7.8mm and 175g.

The Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus also comes in a wide range of colors, while the OnePlus 7T Pro just comes in Haze Blue.

Finally, it’s worth noting that the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus has an official water resistance rating, which the OnePlus 7T Pro doesn’t.

OnePlus 7T Pro vs Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus camera

Both of these phones have triple-lens rear cameras, with the OnePlus 7T Pro packing a 48MP f/1.6 main lens, an 8MP f/2.4 telephoto lens (with 3x optical zoom), and a 16MP f/2.2 ultra-wide lens with a 117-degree field of view. The main and telephoto lenses also have optical image stabilization (OIS).

The Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus on the other hand has a 12MP main lens, which can switch between apertures of f/1.5 and f/2.4, along with a 12MP f/2.4 telephoto lens (with 2x optical zoom), and a 16MP f/2.2 ultra-wide lens with a 123-degree field of view. The main and telephoto lenses here also have OIS.

So megapixels aside the two phones have similar setups, albeit with the OnePlus 7T Pro offering greater optical zoom while the S10 Plus can use a wider field of view. Video skills are also similar on paper – both can shoot in up to 4K quality at up to 60fps, and in slow-motion 720p video at up to 960fps, or 1080p video at 240fps.

Bigger differences can be found on the front-facing cameras, as while the OnePlus 7T Pro has just a single-lens 16MP f/2.0 one, the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus has both a 10MP f/1.9 main lens and an 8MP f/2.2 depth sensor. On paper Samsung’s setup sounds more impressive, but in our review we weren’t convinced by the need for two lenses.

OnePlus 7T Pro vs Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus specs and features

The OnePlus 7T Pro and Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus are both flagship phones, so the specs impress. The OnePlus 7T Pro has a top-end Snapdragon 855 Plus chipset along with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage (but no microSD card slot).

The Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus meanwhile has either a Snapdragon 855 chipset (in the US) or an Exynos 9820 chipset (in most other places). These are both high-end, but not quite as new or cutting-edge as the 7T Pro’s.

The Galaxy S10 Plus additionally has either 8GB or 12GB of RAM, and a choice of 128GB, 512GB or 1TB of storage, along with a microSD card slot. So the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus wins on RAM and storage but loses in terms of processing power.

As for features, both phones have an in-screen fingerprint scanner and stereo speakers. But the OnePlus 7T Pro runs Android 10 while the Galaxy S10 Plus is still on Android 9 – it will be getting updated though.

OnePlus 7T Pro vs Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus battery

The OnePlus 7T Pro has a 4,085mAh battery, while the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus has a 4,100mAh one. So they’re similarly sized.

The OnePlus 7T Pro should charge faster though – it uses ‘Warp Charge 30T’ technology, allowing it to charge even faster than the 30W OnePlus 7 Pro, and certainly faster than the 15W Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus.

However, the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus supports fast wireless charging and has a Wireless PowerShare feature, which lets you use the phone as a charging pad to juice up other devices. The OnePlus 7T Pro on the other hand has no wireless charging features.

So on paper there are pros and cons to both here. In practice we found that the Galaxy S10 Plus had more than all-day life, but not by much. We’ll let you know how the OnePlus 7T Pro performs once we’ve put it through a full review, but the OnePlus 7 Pro – which is likely to be similar here – had similar longevity to the S10 Plus in our tests.

OnePlus 7T Pro vs Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus price and availability

The Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus is of course out now. It costs $999 / £899 / AU$1,499 for a version with 128GB of storage, $1,249 / £1,099 / AU$1,849 for 512GB, or $1,599 / £1,399 / AU$2,399 for 1TB (along with 12GB rather than 8GB of RAM). However, you can often find it heavily reduced thanks to Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus deals – for example at the time of writing some UK stores have the base model for £699.

The OnePlus 7T Pro is hitting UK stores on October 17 and will cost £699 (around $865 / AU$1,300, but currently there’s no availability in those regions). So that’s lower than a full price Galaxy S10 Plus, but not necessarily much less than the S10 Plus can sometimes be found for in sales.

Takeaway

While these are both high-end phones there are some clear differences. With the OnePlus 7T Pro you get an all-screen design, a newer chipset, a higher refresh rate and faster charging, while the Galaxy S10 Plus gives you potentially more storage and RAM, an extra front-facing camera, wireless charging and a water resistance rating.

The S10 Plus is also more expensive – but not always by a huge amount, so your decision as to which phone to buy is likely to come down to which assortment of specs and features most appeals. We would always recommend reading our in-depth reviews first though – one of which will be coming soon for the OnePlus 7T Pro.

AMD’s Radeon RX 5700 series is finally getting the much-awaited custom variants and MSI is out with an entirely new lineup designed just for RDNA based graphics cards. Launched last month, the AMD Radeon RX 5700 lineup introduced very competitive prices for mainstream tier graphics cards which would go against the NVIDIA GeForce RTX lineup, now AIBs are further expanding the lineup with their own non-reference variants that offer better cooling performance and higher out of box clock speeds.

The Radeon RX 5700 series uplifted AMD by bringing a modern architecture design and moving away from their GCN design. This allows AMD to bring more streamlined graphics performance in modern workloads and gaming titles. AMD was already ahead of the curve in utilizing new techs such as HBM and smaller process nodes and Navi is no exception. Aside from the new graphics architecture, AMD has also introduced GDDR6 memory and a smaller 7nm process node for their mainstream lineup which is a big update from the 14nm process on Polaris and Vega series cards.

Compared to NVIDIA’s RTX 20 SUPER lineup, the AMD Radeon RX 5700 is much cheaper. The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT is $100 cheaper than the GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER while the Radeon RX 5700 is $50 US cheaper than the GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER and costs the same as the GeForce RTX 2060 (non-SUPER). The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT costs closer to the RTX 2070 but that card has been replaced by the new SUPER option which means that the RX 5700 XT, while positioned against the GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is priced at RTX 2060 SUPER level.

Well, in terms of performance the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT is supposed to be 10% faster than the RTX 2070 on average and the Radeon RX 5700 is supposed to be 10% faster than the RTX 2060 on average. The SUPER cards are almost 15% faster than their predecessors on average and since the Radeon RX 5700 series is much lower-priced, the should offer slightly better value. The biggest take away is that Radeon RX 5700 series doesn’t support extra RTX features such as Ray-Tracing, DLSS that do make the RTX series a more compelling option and future-proof for next-gen titles that are going to support these features.

So we can say that the AMD Radeon RX 5700 series is great for users who are purely eyeing raw performance in gaming at better prices. The Radeon RX 5700 series is definitely a much-needed lineup and an upgrade from the older Polaris cards but we will find out if they hold up in our tests.

So for this review, I will be taking a look at the MSI Radeon RX 5700 Gaming X. This is MSI’s new and flagship custom design for the Navi 10 Pro GPU that features dual TORX 3.0 fans along with the renowned MSI features such as Zero Frozr and Smooth heat pipe design. The card will retail at $379.99 US which is a $30 US premium over the reference model.

The AMD Radeon RX 5700 Series Family

The Radeon RX 5700 series includes three graphics cards, the Radeon RX 5700 XT, Radeon RX 5700, and the Radeon RX 5700 XT Anniversary Edition. The Navi based Radeon RX 5700 series is also the first graphics lineup to feature PCIe 4.0 support which offers twice the bandwidth when compared to PCIe 3.0.

AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT Official Specifications ($399 US)

Starting with the specifications, the Radeon RX 5700 XT comes with 40 compute units in total and since AMD has already confirmed that the Compute unit design still features 64 stream processors, we will be getting 2560 stream processors in total. The AMD Navi GPU featured on the Radeon RX 5700 series comes with 160 Texture Mapping Units and 64 Raster Operation units.

The chip itself is clocked at 1605 MHz base clock but includes two additional clock speeds, a boost clock, and a game clock. The boost clock is rated at 1905 MHz while the game clock is rated at 1755 MHz. The difference between the three clock speeds is that the base clock is the target under full load (power virus), the game clock would be the traditional boost target under gaming while the boost clock is the maximum target that the card could achieve (based per chip).

With the said boost clock, AMD expects a maximum of 9.75 TFLOPs of single-precision Compute from the Radeon RX 5700 XT. The card also features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory which runs across a 256-bit wide bus interface. AMD will be using the latest 14 Gbps memory dies which put them on par with the Turing TU104 cards that offer bandwidth of up to 448 GB/s. The card also features two 8 pin connectors and has a total board power or TBP of 225W. The graphics card costs $399 US in reference flavors and a slight premium for the non-reference variants such as the MSI EVOKE OC which I am testing today.

AMD Radeon RX 5700 Official Specifications ($349 US)

The second card is the Radeon RX 5700 based on the Navi Pro GPU. The reason we are not getting a Radeon RX 5700 Pro naming scheme is that it would be harder to differentiate that with AMD’s own pro series cards which are aimed at content creators and workstation PCs.

This card has 2304 stream processors, 144 TMUs, 64 ROPs. The clocks are maintained at 1465 MHz base, 1725 MHz boost clock and 1625 MHz game clock. At peak boost clocks, the card will be able to deliver 7.95 TFLOPs of Compute performance. The card features an 8+6 pin connector config & has a rated TBP of 180W.

Now based on the TBP numbers, this card should be put against the RTX 2070 which is a 175W TBP graphics card. It will be interesting to compare both cards in terms of efficiency since the NVIDIA Turing cards are based on 12nm FinFET while AMD is using the latest 7nm process node. The card costs $349 US for reference flavors.

AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary Edition Official Specifications ($449 US)

In addition to the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT and Radeon RX 5700, AMD also introduced a 50th Anniversary Edition variant of their Radeon RX 5700 XT featuring a black and gold shroud with frequencies of 1680 MHz base clock, 1830 MHz game clock and boost clocks of up to 1980 MHz. This variant would deliver a total Compute power of 10.14 TFLOPs and should be around 5-10% faster than the Radeon RX 5700 XT. The card will be rated at a 235W TBP.

The reference variant of the Radeon RX 5700 XT cards would feature an all-aluminum alloy shroud and backplate. Inside the card is an enhanced vapor chamber which is cooled off by a blower fan. The base of the vapor chamber makes use of graphite thermal interface material which is similar to the pads used on the Radeon VII graphics card. The PCB of the card offers a 7 phase digital VRM which AMD says is designed for overclocking. The Anniversary Edtion costs $449 US and comes in reference only flavors.

Radeon RX 5700 “7nm Navi RDNA GPU” Feature Set and A Word on HW-Enabled Ray Tracing

While we would share a few tidbits of the RDNA architecture itself below, there are also some highlights we should mention for the Navi GPU. According to AMD themselves, the Navi 10 GPU will be 14% faster at the same power and should consume 23% lower power at the same clock speeds as Vega 64 GPU. The AMD Navi GPU has a die size of 251mm2 and delivers 2.3x perf per area over Vega 64. The chip packs 10.3 Billion transistors while the Vega 10 GPU packed 12.5 Billion transistors on almost twice the die space.

Also, when it comes to ray tracing, AMD is indeed developing their own suite around it. According to their vision, current GCN and RDNA architecture will be able to perform ray tracing on shaders which will be used through ProRender for creators and Radeon Rays for developers. In next-gen RDNA which is supposed to launch in 2020 on 7nm+ node, AMD will be bringing hardware-enabled ray tracing with select lighting effects for real-time gaming. AMD will also enable full-scene ray tracing which would be leveraged through cloud computing.

Radeon Multimedia Engine – Seamless Streaming

Improved Encoding (New HDR/WCG Encode HEVC)

8K Encode (HEVC & VP)

40% encoder speedups

Navi Stats

40 RDNA Compute Units 80 Scalar Processors

2560 Stream Processors

160 64b bilinear filter units

Multilevel Cache 4MB L2, 512Kb L1

2x V$L0 Load Bandwidth

DCC Everywhere

Streamlined Graphics Engine Geometry Engine (4 Prisms Shader Out, 8 Prim Shader In)

64 Pixel Units

4 Asynchronous Compute Enginers

Balanced Work Distribution & Redistribution

Designed for higher frequencies at lower power

New Compute Unit Design

Great Compute Efficiency For Diverse Workloads

2x Instruction Rate (enabled by 2x Scalar Units and 2x Schedulers)

Single Cycle Issue (enabled by Executing Wwave32 on SIMD32)

Dual Mode Execution (Wave 32 and Wave 64 Modes Adapt for Workloads)

Resource Pooling (2 CUs Coordinate as a Work Group Processor)

As you can tell, AMD is changing a lot in terms of architecture with RDNA (Radeon DNA) compared to GCN. There’s a new Compute unity design, a more streamlined Graphics pipeline & a multi-level cache hierarchy. Aside from the GPU architecture, support for GDDR6 memory is another major change that brings AMD’s graphics cards on par with NVIDIA in utilizing modern memory designs for higher bandwidth.

MSI Radeon RX 5700 Gaming X Overview

We have tested the MSI Radeon RX 5700 XT EVOKE OC and the MSI Radeon RX 5700 XT Gaming X but its time we took a break from the XT model and look at the vanilla Radeon RX 5700 coupled with the Gaming X design. We have seen several variants of the Gaming X, mostly those that come with MSI’s renowned Twin Frozr 7 and Tri-Frozr cooling but the Radeon RX 5700 Gaming X is a beast of its own. Featuring a new design scheme and a new look for the Twin Frozr 7 cooler, the RX 5700 Gaming X boasts some really impressive specs for a little premium that doesn’t get too much in the way of the XT model.

In addition to the custom design, the Radeon RX 5700 Gaming X comes with a non-reference PCB that ships with a higher factory overclock, featuring an 11 phase design that features higher quality components than the reference variant which is already a really good design by itself. In terms of clock speeds, the graphics card features the same base frequency of 1610 MHz and a maximum boost clock of 1980 MHz. Following are the main features of the Radeon RX 5700 Gaming X graphics card:

Core/Memory

Boost Clock / Game Clock* / Base Clock / Memory Speed

Up to 1980 MHz / 1725 MHz / 1610 MHz / 14Gbps

8GB GDDR6

DisplayPort x 3 (v1.4) / HDMI 2.0b x 1

TORX FAN 3.0: Supremely silent

Dispersion fan blade: Steeper curved blade accelerating the airflow.

Traditional fan blade: Provides steady airflow to massive heat sink below.

RGB Mystic Light

Customize colors and LED effects with exclusive MSI software and synchronize the look & feel with other components.

Afterburner Overclocking Utility

Wireless control through Android/iOS devices.

Predator: In-game video recording.

Dragon Center

A consolidated platform that offers all software including MYSTIC LIGHT functionality for your MSI Gaming product.

* ‘Game Clock’ is the expected GPU clock when running typical gaming applications, set to typical TGP (Total Graphics Power). Actual individual game clock results may vary.

MSI Radeon RX 5700 Gaming X Graphics Card Gallery:

MSI Twin Frozr 7 With Refreshing New Design For Navi

With the differences out of the way, now let’s talk about the similarities and the main highlights of the Gaming X cards. The MSI Radeon RX 5700 Gaming X lineup is designed to be the best custom solution for AMD’s RDNA GPUs. The card is huge and bulky, featuring two TORX 3.0 fans in a 2.7 slot design, a custom PCB that is designed for overclocking and a huge heatsink featuring the new wave curved II design.

The much anticipated return of MSI’s iconic dual fan GAMING series. Combining a mix of black and gunmetal grey with a classy brushed metal backplate, this masterpiece provides you premium design with magnificent and smooth RGB light effects on the outside. The new MSI GAMING card is designed to amaze you!

MSI has incorporated and refined a couple of things in the new Gaming series graphics cards. First is the TORX fan 3.0 which uses both traditional and dispersion fan blades to accelerate airflow and push it down in a steady stream. These fans are made up of an extended life bearing design which ensures silent functionality in heavy loads.

The fans are fully compliant with the Zero Frozr Technology and are actually comprised of three areas. All of these would stay at 0 RPM (idle state) if the temperatures don’t exceed 60C. When it does exceed 60C, all fans would start spinning. You can change that through the MSI configuration panel if you want more cooling performance over noise load but it’s a nifty feature which I do like.

In addition to the cooling fans, the heatsink has been designed to be denser by using a wave curved fin design. It allows more air to pass through the fins smoothly, without causing any turbulence that would result in unwanted noise. Airflow Control Technology guides the airflow directly onto the heat pipes, while simultaneously creating more surface area for the air to absorb more heat before leaving the heatsink.

Talking about the heatsink, the massive block is comprised of five 6mm and a single 8mm copper squared shaped heat pipes with a more concentrated design to transfer heat from the copper base to the heatsink more effectively. The base itself is a solid nickel-plated base plate, transferring heat to the heat pipes in a very effective manner. To top it all off, MSI uses their exclusive Thermal Compound X which is said to offer higher thermal interface and heat transfer compared to traditional TIM applications.

On the back of the Gaming X graphics card is a solid backplate with a dual-tone design which comes in brushed aluminum and matte silver finish. It also strengthens the card and thanks to some cleverly placed thermal pads even help to keep temperatures low.

A die-cast metal sheet acts as a Close Quarters Heatsink for the memory modules and doubles as an Anti-Bending safeguard by connecting to the IO Bracket. The power phases towards the right side are covered by a plate that is fused directly to the heatsink for excellent cooling.

MSI has bundled its exclusive software such as Dragon Center that now comes with a creator mode. The creator mode is specifically tuned for Gaming X series graphics cards, offering peak performance and greater stability in multiple productivity workloads.

MSI Radeon RX 5700 Gaming X Package

The MSI Radeon RX 5700 Gaming X graphics card comes inside a large cardboard box. The front of both packages has a large “MSI” logo on the top left corner & the “Gaming X” series branding on the lower-left corner. A large picture of the graphics card itself is depicted on the front which gives a nice preview of the new EVOKE design.

The packaging also comes with an AMD 50 sticker since the red team celebrated its 50th year anniversary in 2019. Other features of the graphics card are also mentioned such as the RDNA architecture, 7nm, Fidelity FX, Freesync 2 HDR along some specs such as 8 GB GDDR6, PCIe 4.0 support, and OC edition.

The back of the box is very typical, highlighting the main features and specifications of the cards. The three key aspects of MSI’s top tier custom cards are its new TORX Fan 3.0 cooling system, the Twin Frozr 7 thermal design, and the wave curved heatsink. A large list of product specifications and features are also mentioned which you can see in the picture below.

The sides of the box once again greet us with the large Radeon RX branding. There’s also the mention of 8 GB GDDR6 memory available on the card. The higher memory bandwidth delivered through the new GDDR6 interface would help improve performance in gaming titles at higher resolution over GDDR5 based graphics cards.

Outside of the box, the graphics card and the accessory package are held firmly by foam packaging. The graphics card comes with a few accessories and manuals which might not be of much use for hardcore enthusiasts but can be useful for the mainstream gaming audience. The card is nicely wrapped within an anti-static cover which is useful to prevent any unwanted static discharges on various surfaces that might harm the graphics card.

Useful manuals and installation guides are packed within an MSI labeled letter case. There is an MSI Quick Users Guide, a Support bracket installation guide, a sticker letter, the MSI DIY comic, and a single driver disk. It’s best to ignore the driver disk and install the latest software and graphics drivers directly from the AMD and MSI official web pages as the ones shipped in the disks could be older versions and not deliver optimal performance for your graphics cards.

After the package is taken care of, I can finally start talking about the card itself. The card itself is simply stunning to look at and the shroud is really well-built with great texturing along the sides.

MSI Radeon RX 5700 Gaming X Closer Look + Teardown

MSI’s Twin Frozr heat sinks are some of the most iconic heatsink cooling solutions that I have ever tested. With the Radeon RX 5700 series cards, MSI is offering a brand new Twin Frozr 7 design. The Radeon RX 5700 Gaming X measures at 297 x 85 x 140 mm while it is also slightly taller, taking up 2.5 slots of space.

The design of the MSI RX Gaming X series is brand new, as in we haven’t seen a similar shroud and backplate design on any other cards even though there have been several Twin Frozr variants that came before it. The red and black color scheme along with the brushed aluminum finish does look good, offering a cleaner look than the more futuristic-looking GeForce based Twin Frozr cards.

The back of the card features a solid backplate which looks stunning with its dual-tone finish that comes in matte grey and brushed aluminum colors. The backplate is made out of solid metal and has several heat pads to dissipate heat off the back.

The dual fan Torx Fan 3.0 has already been seen on MSI’s Gaming (Twin Frozr) variants but the Gaming X series for Radeon RX 5700 just has that unique feeling which I got when I tested their Evoke OC series card last month.

The new heatsink is a slightly modified version of the one used on MSI’s Gaming X series with the main changes being the shroud and a massive wave-curved heatsink design that takes up most of the space on this behemoth.

Coming to the fans, the card actually features two based on the Torx 3.0 system. Both fans combine traditional and dispersion fan blade technology to offer better cooling performance.

The dispersion fan blade technology has a steeper curved blade that accelerates airflow and as such increases effectiveness in keeping the GPU cool. All fans deploy double ball bearing design and can last a long time while operating silently.

The MSI TORX 3.0 fans deliver 50% more air pressure than standard blade fans and 15% more air pressure than MSI’s TORX 2.0 fans. Utilizing the dispersion blade fan technology allows for higher static pressure and air to be pushed through the aluminum fin heatsink.

MSI also features their Zero Frozr technology on the Twin Frozr heatsink. This feature won’t spin the fans on the card unless they reach a certain threshold. In the case of the Twin Frozr heatsink, that limit is set to 60C. If the card is operating under 60C, the fans won’t spin which means no extra noise would be generated.

I am back at talking about the full-coverage, full metal-based backplate which both card use. The whole plate is made of solid metal with rounded edges that add to the durability of this card. The matte and brushed aluminum finish on the backplate gives a unique aesthetic.

We can also see the MSI Dragon logo on the back which looks stunning. MSI is also using heat pads beneath the backplate which offer more cooling to the electrical circuitry on the PCB.

There’s no multi-GPU connector on the card as AMD uses their XDMA architecture for CrossFireX capabilities. This allows GPUs to communicate directly over the PCIe bus rather than an external bridge.

With the outsides of the card done, I will now start taking a glance at what’s beneath the hood of these monster graphics cards. The first thing to catch my eye is the humungous fin stack that’s part of the beefy heatsink which the cards utilize.

The dual fin stacks run all the way from the front and to the back of the PCB. It also comes with the wave-curved fin stack design which I want to shed some light on as it is a turn away from traditional fin design and one that may actually offer better cooling on this monster graphics card.

You can see that through large copper heat pipes run through the aluminum finned heatsink. The copper heat pipes come out from the GPU block and cover the entire aluminum heatsink block.

Talking about the heatsink, the massive block is comprised of five 6mm and a single 10mm super copper squared shaped heat pipes with a more concentrated design to transfer heat from the copper base to the heatsink more effectively. The base itself is a solid nickel-plated base plate, transferring heat to the heat pipes in a very effective manner. To top it all off, MSI uses its exclusive Thermal Compound X which is said to offer higher thermal interface and heat transfer compared to traditional TIM applications.

I/O on the graphics card sticks with the reference scheme which includes three Display Port 1.4a, & a single HDMI 2.0b.

MSI Radeon RX 5700 Gaming X Teardown:

The MSI Radeon RX 5700 Gaming X makes use of a full non-reference PCB design, featuring a 9+2 Phase design and coupled with better components such as solid-state capacitors along with a series of higher-quality chokes. MSI also uses several thermal pads and an anti-bending bracket, however, the two top-most heat pad only covers 60% of the DRAM surface area which may not be an ideal scenario for a card that costs almost $400 US.

The MSI Radeon RX 5700 Gaming X has dual 8 pin power connectors that feed the card. The Radeon RX 5700 Gaming X has a rated TDP of 225W, the same as the reference model.

Test Setup

We used the following test system for comparison between the different graphics cards. The latest drivers that were available at the time of testing were used from AMD and NVIDIA on an updated version of Windows 10. All games that were tested were patched to the latest version for better performance optimization for NVIDIA and AMD GPUs.

All games were tested on 2560×1440 (2K) and 3840×2160 (4K) resolutions.

Image Quality and graphics configurations have been provided in the screenshots below.

The “reference” cards are the stock configs while the “overclock” cards are factory overclocked configs provided to us by various AIB partners.

MSI Radeon RX 5700 Gaming X Benchmarks (VULKAN)

DOOM

In 2016, Id finally released DOOM. My testing wouldn’t be complete without including this title. All cards were capable of delivering ample frame rates at the 1440p resolution using Nightmare settings, so my focus turned to 4K.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus

Wolfenstein is back in The New Colossus and features the most fast-paced, gory and brutal FPS action ever! The game once again puts us back in the Nazi-controlled world as BJ Blazkowicz. Set during an alternate future where Nazis won the World War, the game shows that it can be fun and can be brutal to the player and to the enemy too. Powering the new title is once again, id Tech 6 which is much acclaimed after the success that DOOM has become. In a way, ID has regained their glorious FPS roots and are slaying with every new title.

Ultra HQ-AF, Vulkan, Async Compute On *if available, Deferred Rendering and GPU culling off

We tested the game at Ultra settings under the Vulkan API which is standard. Async Compute was enabled for graphics cards that support it while deferred rendering and GPU culling were disabled.

MSI Radeon RX 5700 Gaming X Benchmarks (DirectX 12)

Battlefield V

Battlefield V brings back the action of the World War 2 shooter genre. Using the latest Frostbite tech, the game does a good job of looking gorgeous in all ways possible. From the open world environments to the intense and gun-blazing action, this multiplayer and single player FPS title is one of the best looking Battlefields to date.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

Humanity is at war with itself and divided into factions. On one end, we have the pure and on the other, we have the augmented. That is the world where Adam Jensen lives in and this is the world of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. The game uses the next generation Dawn Engine that was made by IO interactive on the foundation of their Glacier 2 engine. The game features support of DirectX 12 API and is one of the most visually intensive titles that taxes the GPU really hard.

Hitman 2 (DX12 Highest Settings)

Hitman 2 is the highly acclaimed sequel to 2016 Hitman which was a redesign and reimaging of the game from the ground up. With a focus on stealth gameplay through various missions, the game once again lets you play as Agent 47 who embarks on a mission to hunt down the mysterious Shadow Client. The game runs on IO’s Interactive’s Glacier 2 engine which has been updated to deliver amazing visuals and environments on each level while making use of DirectX 12 API.

Metro Exodus

Metro Exodus continues the journey of Artyom through the nuclear wasteland of Russia and its surroundings. This time, you are set over the Metro, going through various regions and different environments. The game is one of the premier titles to feature NVIDIA’s RTX technology and does well in showcasing the ray-tracing effects in all corners.

Shadow of The Tomb Raider

Sequel to The Rise of the Tomb Raider, Shadow of The Tomb Raider is visually enhanced with an updated Foundation Engine that delivers realistic facial animations and the most gorgeous environments ever seen in a Tomb Raider Game. The game is a technical marvel and really shows the power of its graphics engine in the latest title.

MSI Radeon RX 5700 Gaming X Benchmarks (DirectX 11)

Assassins Creed: Origins

Assassins Creed Origins is built by the same team that made Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag. They are known for reinventing the design and game philosophy of the Assassins Creed saga and their latest title shows that. Based in Egypt, the open-world action RPG shows its graphics strength in all corners. It uses the AnvilNext 2.0 engine which boosts the draw distance range and delivers a very impressive graphics display.

We tested the game at maxed settings with TAA enabled and 16x AF. Do note that the game is one of the most demanding titles out in the market and as such tweaks and performance issues are being patched out.

Far Cry 5

Far Cry 5 is a standalone successor to its predecessor and takes place in Hope County, a fictional region of Montana. The main story revolves around doomsday cult the Project at Eden’s Gate and its charismatic leader Joseph Seed. It uses a beefed up Dunia Engine which itself is a modified version of CryEngine from Crytek.

Ghost Recon: Wildlands

Using the new Anvil Next engine that was developed by Ubisoft Montreal, Ghost Recon: Wildlands goes wild and grand with an open-world setting entirely in Bolivia. This game is a tactical third-person shooter which does seem an awful lot similar to Tom Clancy’s: The Division. The game looks pretty and the wide-scale region of Bolivia looks lovely at all times (Day/Night Cycle).

The Witcher 3 Game of The Year Edition

Witcher 3 is the greatest fantasy RPG of our time. It has a great story, great gameplay mechanics and gorgeous graphics. This is the only game I actually wanted to get a stable FPS at 4K. With GameWorks disabled, I gave all high-end cards the ability to demonstrate their power.

Middle Earth: Shadow of War

The successor of 2014’s epic, Shadow of Mordor, Shadow of War continues the previous game’s narrative continuing the story of the ranger Talion and the spirit of the elf lord Celebrimbor, who shares Talion’s body, as they forge a new Ring of Power to amass an army to fight against Sauron. The game uses the latest Firebird Engine developed by Monolith Productions and is very intensive even for modern graphics cards.

MSI Radeon RX 5700 Gaming X Thermal Tests

No graphics card review is complete without evaluating its temperatures and thermal load. The MSI Radeon RX 5700 Gaming X series is fitted with the most advanced version of the MSI TORX 3.0 fans. The cooler features a massive heatsink with multiple heat pipes which extend beyond the fin-based aluminum block that lead towards the incredibly dense heatsink block.

The patented Torx fan 3.0 design and Zero Frozr technology featured on this card make sure that it delivers the best cooling performance and best acoustics while operating.

Note – We tested load with Kombuster which is known as a ‘power virus’ and can permanently damage the hardware. Use such software at your own risk!

MSI Radeon RX 5700 Gaming X Power Consumption

I compiled the power consumption results by testing each card under idle and full stress when the card was running games. Each graphics card manufacturer sets a default TDP for the card which can vary from vendor to vendor depending on the extra clocks or board features they plugin on their custom cards.

AMD Radeon RX 5700 series is based on TSMC’s 7nm process node. The 7nm process is a major upgrade over the 14nm FinFET node, delivering better efficiency and a much smaller chip footprint.

Conclusion – MSI Nails It With Their Latest Navi Gaming X Custom Design

I looked at MSI’s new Radeon RX 5700 Gaming X series last month and found the XT variant to perform really well compared to the reference design. The extra price was definitely worth it & MSI’s latest entry, the Radeon RX 5700 Gaming X has arrived now, bringing the same fantastic cooling and design at a lower price point.

The clock speeds provide a massive bump over the reference model which is plagued with several issues of its own. In terms of performance, the Radeon RX 5700 Gaming X offers superb value and performance for a $380 US price. This variant is $20 US cheaper than the RTX 2060 SUPER & more than the custom models which obviously retail for higher prices while providing performance on par and sometimes better than the RTX 2060 SUPER.

While the Radeon RX 5700 series is super competitive in terms of pricing against the RTX 2060 & RTX 2060 SUPER cards, one of the major issues that have crippled the reference cards was the standard heatsink design coupled with a blower fan cooler which makes too much noise. Cooling alone gives NVIDIA RTX SUPER lineup an edge over the RX 5700 series but now, with an influx of superb custom variants like the Gaming X, users will be able to get their hands on better cooling and acoustic design for a small premium over the reference models.

The extra costs go into the behemoth shroud design that comes with a solid metal backplate, and a dual-fan cooling system fitted with MSI’s most advanced TORX 3.0 technology. A solid PCB with an 11 phase design and dual 8-pin connectors keep this card fed with lots of power which would be useful in getting that extra juice out with manual overclocks. I even saw some nice gains in AAA titles with a small overclock which just shows it is waiting to be pushed even more.

The temperatures are really good on the card and nothing as rampant as what we saw on the reference models. AMD clarified that temperatures of up to 110C are expected and within spec of the RX 5700 series but you don’t have to worry about this specific card hitting anywhere close to those numbers. With that said, the 0db technology and the added quiet mode are great profiles for users who want a silent operation with this card. The card is also beautiful on its own, a stunning brushed aluminum design that covers the front and backplate along with MSI’s Mystic Aura RGB technology which provides a spectacular light show on the side ‘Gaming’ logo.

The MSI Radeon RX 5700 Gaming X further pushes AMD’s rDNA architecture, providing a fantastic performance uplift by providing a great factory overclock, a monster cooling solution & competitive pricing against other manufacturer’s custom solutions.

Lenovo’s follow-up to the ThinkPad E490 is the new ThinkPad E14 which is a little thinner, a littler lighter, and a little more powerful thanks to the move to 10th-gen Intel Core “Comet Lake” processors.

But as spotted by NotebookCheck, those improvements come at a cost: the new laptop has only a single SODIMM slot for memory, unlike its predecessor, which had two.

Lenovo hasn’t announced pricing or availability details yet, but spec sheets for the new Lenovo ThinkPad E14 are online at Lenovo’s website, along with specs for a new 15 inch model called the ThinkPad E15.

The ThinkPad E14 features a 14 inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel display and it looks like Lenovo will offer at least three case design options:

Aluminum (12.8″ x 9.13″ x 0.7″ and 3.81 pounds)

Aluminum display cover + plastic bottom ( 12.8″ x 9.13″ 0.74″ and 3.9 pounds)

Plastic (12.8″ x 9.13″ x 0.81″ and 3.74 pounds)

Lenovo will offer processor options including:

Intel Core i3-10110U dual-core

Intel Core i5-10210U quad-core

Intel Core i7-10510U quad-core

Intel Core i7-10710U hexa-core

There’s also optional support for AMD Radeon RX 640 graphics.

The laptop supports up to 16GB of DDR4-memory and features support for an M.2 SSD and/or a hard drive.

Other features a USB 3.1 Type-C Gen 1 port, two USB 3.1 Type-A ports, a USB 2.0 port, an HDMI 1.4b port, a 720p webcam with a ThinkShutter privacy switch, stereo w@ speakers, a 45 Wh battery, Gigabit Ethernet, and optional support for 802.11ax WiFi and Bluetooth 5.0.

When it comes to small form factor systems, options are few and far between. For AMD’s X570, out of the 35+ motherboards currently available, just four of them are smaller than mATX. This doesn’t give users much to choose from. In this case, mini-ITX implementations have to get it right, and over the last few years ASRock has been at the forefront of the enthusiast small form factor market with an array of models. Today we are reviewing its latest mini-ITX motherboard, the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3. This unique product incorporates Thunderbolt 3 into the frame, pairing it with 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6 as well. Read on for our review.

All the Small Things

Having a range of products to choose from can be a little daunting and when it comes to building a PC. Users have to strike a balance between features, quality, and budget, and all somewhat tedious to achieve in unity. High-end features can now be found on mid-range hardware, but some of them lack that special finesse. One particular section of products where things must be done correctly is in the small form factor, as being small shouldn’t necessarily hinder performance from a high-performing desktop processor. There are obvious limitations on a small form factor platform such as mini-ITX, and the main one considered to be the biggest hindrance is the size.

The ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 looks to dominate the AMD AM4 mini-ITX market with the implementation of some highly premium features including Thunderbolt 3, a DisplayPort 1.4 input to allow users to run multiple 4K screens from a discrete graphics card, and an Intel AX200 Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax wireless interface. The balance made to accommodate all of this is the presence of only a single PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slot, which is located on the rear of the board. However, there are four SATA ports with support for RAID 0, 1, and 10 arrays. Along the bottom of the board is a single full-length PCIe 4.0 x16 slot, with a range of front panel headers and connectors closely located around it.

If that wasn’t enough, this motherboard also has Intel LGA115x cooling mounts, and not the regular AMD AM4 cooling mounts. We’ll go into the reasons why and how later in the review.

Memory support on the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 is also impressive, with support for up to DDR4-4533 and up to 64 GB across its two available slots. As it stands, this model has the highest-rated mini-ITX support out of the box in terms of memory speed, but to utilize it to best effect, users will need to tweak the Infinity Fabric clocks within the firmware.

Enthusiasts looking to utilize the overclocking capabilities of Ryzen 3000 and X570 will find a 10-phase power delivery which on paper, certainly looks capable for a board of this size. It’s spearheaded by a Renesas ISL69147 PWM controller which is operating in a 4+2 configuration. The CPU section has eight ISL99227 60 A power stages which are doubled up with four ISL6617A doublers which are commonly used by vendors these days. The biggest aspect to consider aside from the quality of the power delivery is the heatsink cooling it and ASRock’s implementation is very hearty in the weight and mass department. It has two heatsinks which are connected via a heat pipe which connects the power delivery section to the chipset heatsink, which also includes a small cooling fan within the main section. The SoC section of the power delivery has its own heatsink with all of the board’s heatsinks affixed securely to the board with screws.

Another notable aspect to consider on the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 is it comes supplied with Intel LGA115x cooling mounts. While the majority of users are questioning what the logic is behind this, this model is mini-ITX and as such, there aren’t as many low profile coolers available on the market for AM4 as there are for LGA115x. Including an Intel mount on this smaller form factor AMD board actually improves cooler compatibility with some coolers, but the implementation of the heatsinks does cause concern that some coolers just will not fit. ASRock has a cooler compatibility list which is made up of supported Corsair, Silverstone, and Noctua coolers, but in retrospective, it’s a little thin and something users should consider if looking to purchase this model.

The TL;DR on Performance

Judging the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 on performance, in our system tests we found it to perform very well with our system tests with low power consumption, quick booting times in our POST test, and good out of the box DPC latency performance. In our computational testing, we found the results to be competitive with scores at the top of the charts in our 3DPM point calculation test, but lower than expected performance in tests such as our Blender rendering test. It paints an average and overall picture in the grand scheme of things, but performance differences between most models previously tested are marginal, and as stated, its performance is competitive.

Our experience of overclocking our Ryzen 7 3700X processor on the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 was heavily focused around the VDroop when leaving the LLC profiles up to the firmware. When running our manual overclocks, we found that we experienced quite a bit of VDroop at all frequencies testing. At 3.6 to 4.2 GHz with 1.25 V set for the CPU VCore in the BIOS, we experienced around 0.019 V of VDroop. This isn’t necessarily bad and we experienced no instability in our testing within our parameters. A noticeable benefit of the VDroop effect came in our power consumption with figures below what we have experienced on other boards at the same or with similar settings. Performance in our POV-Ray benchmark was good and consistent as we went up 100 MHz. Another point to note is those CPU temperatures were a little warmer than expected, but that can be attributed to the form factor and the density of components around a tightly packed AM4 CPU socket. This still doesn’t explain the warmer than normal CPU temperatures at default settings and we noticed higher than usual CPU VCore voltage at load than the previous X570 models we’ve seen; applying PBO even though on the latest ABBA AGESA from AMD saw no improvement over stock either.

The Competition

Users have little to choose from in the SFF space, and the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 positions itself in the market well with a relatively low price of $240. Compared with what’s currently on the market, the GIGABYTE X570 I Aorus Pro WIFI ($220), the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 looks to be the better of the two on specifications (we have a test of the GBT coming soon). The ASUS ROG Strix X570-I Gaming ($299) and the slightly bigger mini-DTX ROG Crosshair VIII Impact (£384) and both ASUS models are also competitive in the small form factor X570 space. The ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 in a very good position for users looking to drive multiple displays from Thunderbolt 3 and build a high-performance small form factor gaming system. There are caveats such as a single PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slot and alas, no motherboard is perfect, but ASRock has a fine run of solid mini-ITX models across multiple chipsets and with Thunderbolt 3 and Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax wireless connectivity driving the feature set, small isn’t always less.

While it’s fair to debate whether it was necessary for Lenovo to create another sub-brand catering exclusively to small- and medium-sized businesses, I’m starting to understand the decision. The firm’s thinnest and lightest business-class laptops, in the ThinkPad X1 series, are desirable but far too expensive for most. And so ThinkBook can fill that hole, delivering the best of ThinkPad but without some of the luxuries that put the X1 series, in particular, out of reach.

Lenovo currently sells two ThinkBook models, the 13.3-inch ThinkBook 13s that I’m reviewing, and the 14-inch ThinkBook 14s. Both are lightweight, modern-looking, and affordable, and both offer many of the key features that make ThinkPad so popular. Let’s take a look.

Design

The ThinkBook 13s comes clad in a Mineral Gray aluminum and magnesium chassis, rather than the black carbon fiber/magnesium treatment we typically see with the X1 series. The result is both attractive and professional-looking, and I strongly prefer its dark gray color to the plain gray of many business-class laptops.

There are some nice touches, too. I particularly like the Lenovo branding on the back of the display lid and on the keyboard deck; this is a hallmark of recent Lenovo laptops. And the black display surround, reminiscent of the MacBook Pro series, helps the panel float in space a bit and make me forget its 16:9 aspect ratio. The zinc-alloy hinges deliver rock-solid reliability and are allegedly rated to 25,000 open-and-close cycles.

Speaking of durability, here’s no talk of military-grade certification tests for ThinkBook, as we get with ThinkPad X1 Carbon and Yoga. Instead, Lenovo notes that the ThinkBook offers protection against spills, extreme temperatures, and vibrations. In use, this laptop exudes a premium build quality that seems both reliable and scratch/dent resistant.

Display

The ThinkBook 13s ships with a serviceable 13.3-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080) IPS display with an anti-glare coating and Dolby Vision HDR. It has small 5.3 mm bezels on the left and right, but larger bezels on the top, where the webcam is located, and on the bottom, which is just a large, one-inch tall matte black area. The display is reasonably bright at 300 nits, but you won’t get much use out of it outside on a very sunny day.

I’m no fan of 16:9 display panels, but I recognize the realities of the business and that this is the display type you’re going to see in the ThinkBook’s price range. I can live with it, and I didn’t have any issues in day-to-day use. I like that the display lays flat, as well.

Components

As you should expect of a modern, business-class laptop, the ThinkBook 13s can be had with a variety of 8th-generation Intel Core processors. The review unit shipped with a Core i5-8265U processor and integrated Intel UHD 620 graphics, plus 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of M.2-based PCIe NVMe solid-state storage. That’s exactly what you’re looking for in such a PC. But if you need more, it can be upgraded to 16 GB of RAM and up to 512 GB of storage, plus to a Core i7 processor.

Performance was generally where I wanted it, with only occasional fan noise and a bit of heat towards the top of the keyboard, which I located as part of a little game I play called “find the processor.” The only issue I had likely won’t impact most users, but when connected to a USB dock, I experienced some weird performance slow-downs and the fan ran basically constantly. (And this was without an external display.) Lenovo provides its own USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 docks, and perhaps they would provide better performance.

The webcam is nothing special, it’s a 720p unit with a fixed focal length. But the speakers are surprisingly good, thanks to the Harman-tweaked Dolby Audio capabilities. The only downside is that you have to manually configure Dolby Audio for movies, music, games, or voice.

Connectivity is as expected: The ThinkBook provides 802.11AC (2 x 2) and Bluetooth 5.2 wireless capabilities but no LTE option.

Ports

The ThinkBook 13s offers a nice selection of modern and legacy ports. There’s a full-sized HDMI 1.4b port (for video-out) and a single USB-C port on the left, plus a headphone jack.

And on the right, you’ll find two full-sized USB-A ports. One of them is always-on for charging a phone or other device.

I have two issues with the port selection. First, that USB-C port doesn’t provide Thunderbolt 3 capabilities, as we see on the more expensive ThinkPads. And second, the ThinkBook utilizes a proprietary Lenovo power connection instead of USB-C for some reason.

Keyboard and touchpad

The ThinkBook 13s is blessed with an excellent scalloped Lenovo keyboard that is reminiscent of those found on recent ThinkPads and IdeaPads. There are a couple of weirdisms—like the combined Enter and I and PgUp and PgDn keys—but Lenovo has finally bowed to all that is right in the world and put the Ctrl key to the left of the Fn key. Even the most recent ThinkPad X1s don’t do that.

The typing experience is very good, but not quite top-of-class. I’m not sure what the key throw is, but suspect it is a bit north of the 1.3 mm sweet spot. Either way, it’s a bit looser than the best portable keyboards I’ve used. Most people will love it.

The keyboard is backlit, but it only supports one level of brightness. And while this isn’t strictly a complaint, the shape of keys while backlit is decidedly V-shaped from certain angles. (Rather than curved like the keys themselves.)

Like recent HP EliteBooks, the ThinkBook also offers Skype hotkeys in the function row for answering and hanging up calls, a nice touch for those who work remotely much of the time.

The glass touchpad is a perfect size, and since it’s a precision touchpad, it works well and supports the full range of Windows 10 gestures. And it does so without needing superfluous extra drivers or utilities.

Unique hardware features

The ThinkBook 13s offers a feature I’d never seen elsewhere: It can continue playing music while the PC is in Standby mode; and if you need to wake it up to fiddle with the music, that takes less than one second. You can also use Cortana to wake up the PC with your voice, though you will need to enable and configure that first. Aiding matters are the ThinkBook’s dual-array, noise-canceling microphones, which should be able to hear you above the din.

Lenovo also didn’t wimp out in the security department. The ThinkBook includes a ThinkShutter webcam lid, which you can use for peace of mind from spying eyes. And the round, backlit power button doubles as a fingerprint reader. Even better, that power button will pass through your fingerprint-based authentication when you turn on or wake up the PC. You don’t have to press it again later at sign-in.

Portability

The ThinkBook 13s weighs just 2.9 pounds and is very portable. I wish the laptop I normally carried was this light.

Battery life is rated at about 11 hours, though I saw a bit under 8 hours in real-world battery life on average. That’s arguably a day’s worth of juice, but the bundled 65-watt power adapter supports fast charging capabilities; you can charge the PC to 80 percent in an hour. That’s decent.

Software

The ThinkBook 13s ships with Windows 10 Home, which actually does make sense since it shaves some money off the price; those that work in managed environments or need the few unique Windows 10 Pro features can of course upgrade at purchase time (for $60) or later.

Lenovo mostly gets it right from a crapware perspective: The 13s ships with just a handful of mostly-useful Lenovo system utilities, including Lenovo Vantage for driver downloads and support. The only downside is that it comes with a 30-day time-limited version of McAfee antivirus. Which you can and should uninstall immediately, as I did.

Pricing and configurations

This is where ThinkBook really shines. The ThinkBook 13s starts at just $630 at Lenovo’s online store. For that price, you get the same processor and storage as the review unit, but just 4 GB of RAM. Configured like the review unit, with 8 GB of RAM, the price is just $713. Configured as I’d prefer—same processor and storage, but with 16 GB of RAM—the cost jumps to a still-acceptable $1050.

Of course, what I’d really prefer is the ThinkBook 14s, with its larger 14-inch display. That laptop runs only a few dollars more than the 13s—the starting price is just $650—and configured like the 13s review unit, you’d pay about $730. (The ThinkBook 14s has a few other advantages over the 13s, including discrete graphics, but I didn’t test that model.)

Recommendations and conclusions

Thanks to its low pricing, modern design, and high-quality components, the ThinkBook 13s is a tremendous value and is highly recommended. This is exactly the type of PC I would buy with my own money, though I would almost certainly choose the larger ThinkBook 14s, as noted. But either way, Lenovo is making the right trade-offs here for those who can’t afford its even more impressive ThinkPad products. With the ThinkBook 13s, the ThinkBook family of products is off to a great start.

At-a-glance

Pros

Low prices

Attractive modern design

Good performance and specs

Decent expandability

Mostly crapware-free

Decent battery life and portability

Cons

16:9 display

No Thunderbolt 3

Entry-level unit has just 4 GB of RAM

The Canon EOS M200 is the brand’s smallest, most affordable mirrorless camera – does it have more than price on its side?

The Canon EOS M200 is the company’s smallest, most affordable mirrorless camera. As such it doesn’t have a very extensive set of features, but the fact that it has a 24.1MP APS-C Dual Pixel CMOS sensor (to enable phase detection autofocusing), plus Canon’s latest Digic 8 processing engine and the ability to record 4K video makes it an attractive proposition.

It’s also designed to be easy to use, which makes it a good choice for beginners, but it could be a nice choice for more experienced photographers who want a small camera that they can take anywhere.

SPECIFICATIONS

Megapixels (effective): 24.1

Max resolution: 6,000 x 4,000

Sensor information: APS-C format (22.3 x 14.9mm) CMOS

Shutter speed: 30-1/4000 sec, Bulb

ISO sensitivity stills: ISO100-25600 ((expandable to ISO 51.200)

ISO sensitivity video: 4K Movie ISO100-6400, 1080p ISO100-12800 (expandable to 25600)

Exposure modes: Program, Shutter priority, Aperture priority, Manual exposure, Scene Intelligent Auto, Hybrid Auto, Creative Assist, SCN, Creative Filters, Movie

Metering options: Evaluative, Partial, Center weighted average, spot

Flash modes: Auto with flash exposure compensation to +/-2Ev

Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, HDMI (Micro – Type-D, USB (Micro USB)

Weight: 299g with battery and SD card

Dimensions: 108.2 x 67.1 x 35.1mm

Battery: Rechargeable Li-ion LP-E12

Storage: SD/SDHC/SDXC UHS-I

LCD: Tilting 3-inch 1,040,000-dot Touchscreen LCD

Viewfinder: N/A

KEY FEATURES

Canon has kept the sensitivity range of the M200 the same as the M100 that it replaces, which is ISO100-25600 (expandable to ISO51,200) for stills. We’d aim to limit the stills setting to ISO6,400 although the results at ISO12,800 are useable. Pushing beyond that results in JPGs that look too smooth in places, while the raw files are noisy.

Despite having almost exactly the same pixel count and an updated processing engine, the Canon EOS M200 also has the same maximum continuous shooting rate as the M100. However, at 4fps with continuous autofocusing and 6.1fps in single AF mode, that’s reasonable for an entry level camera.

Canon’s Dual Pixel CMOS AF system is one of the most capable when it comes to shooting video or stills in Live View mode on a DSLR, and it gives good service in the M200 with up to 143 autofocus (AF) points (the exact number depends upon the lens in use). That’s up from 49 with the M100.

Unusually, there’s no AI servo made that can switch automatically between One Shot (single AF) and AI Servo (continuous AF) mode when subject movement is detected. That’s not a huge drama for enthusiast photographers, but it means that beginners need to learn which option to use with their subject.

The M200 enables individual AF points to be selected, or there’s Zone AF mode that gives the camera a bit more control. In addition, there’s Face + Tracking and Eye Detection AF, which are especially useful with moving subjects and portraits.

We found that the autofocus system works very well, even in dim conditions, but the performance isn’t quite so assured in 4K video mode when the focusing switches from phase detect to contrast-based detection.

However, when recording 1080p video or shooting still images, the Face Tracking is very good even in low light – and the Eye Detection AF is able to cope with subjects wearing spectacles.

One of they key upgrades that the M200 makes over the M100 is the increase in the maximum video resolution from 1080p to 4K. However, in addition to the change in the AF method that’s used, the M200 applies a 1.6x crop to the field of view during 4K recording. As a result, the 15-45mm kit lens – which normally has an effective focal length of 24-72mm – looks longer at around 38-115mm in 4K mode.

That may not be a problem in some shooting scenarios, but it means tight framing around your face if you vlog with the camera at arm’s length. This may make 1080p a more attractive setting for vlogging – but as there’s no microphone port, you’re reliant on the in-built mic.

While the M200 scores well for ease of use, its build feels a bit cheap. It’s made from polycarbonate and it has a lightweight plastic feel.

A switch around the power button on the top of the camera enables you to select between Scene Intelligent Auto (Auto+), Stills and Video shooting mode. When Stills mode is selected, you can swap quickly between modes such as program, aperture priority, shutter priority and manual, as well as a host of automatic shooting options by tapping on the exposure mode icon in the top-left of the touchscreen.

This 3-inch 1,040,000-dot screen is very responsive, and it’s easy to make setting selections and adjustments. Helpfully, the main and Quick menus are both compatible with touch control. Images must be composed on the screen, as there’s no viewfinder built-in, and reflections can be problematic in bright sunny conditions. There’s also no electronic level, which can make it difficult to get the horizon straight.

With the odd exception, the Canon EOS M200’s evaluative metering mode does a good job of getting the exposure of the main subject right. However, there are times when you may want to dial in a little negative exposure compensation to darken the brighter areas. If you need to, the shadows of underexposed areas can be brightened by around 3EV or so to get things looking right – but keep an eye on the out-of-focus areas.

Detail levels are good, but not stellar. We noticed that the out-of-focus details in some ISO400 JPG files can look rather mushy under close scrutiny. They look fine at around A4 size, but you need to be aware of this issue if you plan on making large prints or crops.

VERDICT

The Canon EOS M200 launches into a tough market and, while it’s a decent camera with some great easy-to-use features for beginners, it doesn’t really excite or produce compelling images.

As reported by VideoCardz, XFX is set to release another RX 5700 XT, dubbed the THICC III. The THICC II has been around for a couple of months now (and we have a review coming soon, so stay tuned for that) and sports an attractive shroud design with a dual-fan cooler.

The THICC III takes the same core design and just amps it up, with an extra fan giving it a triple-fan cooler, while it looks like there is a significantly larger heatsink as well. Card thickness appears to be the same ‘2.7 slot’ design as the THICC II, and the card also sports an attractive ventilated backplate.

There’s more to the card then just a larger cooler, though, as XFX has also applied a hefty factory overclock to the GPU. With a rated game clock of 1935MHz, and a boost clock of 2025MHz, this should be one of the fastest RX 5700 XT cards around. For comparison, the Red Devil 5700 XT has a game clock of 1905MHz and a boost clock of 2010MHz.

We’re not yet sure when the THICC III will release, and it is not currently listed on XFX’s official website. Hopefully we will get an official announcement soon with further information including pricing and availability.