Category: Laptop

In the gaming sector, many manufacturers try to stand out from the competition through their own designs and sophisticated cooling systems. The results are usually highly adapted laptops that can more or less implement their performance well. Maintenance options or hardware expansions by the user are limited and often not even intended at all.

The laptops under the Aorus label usually also set clear accents that connect buyers to the brand. On the contrary, the Clevo barebone, on which the Aorus 5 KB is based, offers a rather plain design. But this is also accompanied by a replaceable battery. Users can also access a free SATA and a free M.2 slot inside whereby a second M.2 slot is occupied by the SSD installed by the manufacturer. The RAM, which is installed in two memory slots, can also be exchanged and expanded as desired.

But since Gigabyte now depends on the cooling system of the Clevo case, a lot of optimization is done by the software. It allows users to adjust system performance with four power modes as well as to adjust the fan control. In this way, a balanced adjustment of fan volume and performance is possible, which has a significant impact on everyday life.

An Intel Core i7-10750H, 16 GB of RAM, a 512 GB SSD, and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 are used in our test configuration. In our review of the Aorus 5 KB, we’ll clarify in detail what the built-in hardware is able to achieve in daily use and in gaming.

Lenovo has launched a barrage of notebooks powered by Intel’s 11th-generation Tiger Lake CPUs. The Lenovo ThinkBook 14 Gen 2 comes in a wide range of configurations. There are some AMD variants too for Team Red enthusiasts. It will retail at US$569 for the Intel model and US$549 for the AMD variant. The notebooks will be available for purchase in October 2020.

The Lenovo ThinkBook 14 Gen 2 comes with a 14′ FHD screen. It can be configured with a regular IPS and TN panel. Users looking to do color-sensitive work can also upgrade the IPS panel to cover 100% of the sRGB spectrum. An Intel Iris Xe GPU powers the display, which can be upgraded to an Nvidia GeForce MX450 if needed. Lastly, the notebook’s camera comes with a shutter too.

As mentioned earlier, the Lenovo ThinkBook 14 Gen 2 can be configured with Intel and AMD CPUs. Lenovo will tell us more about the exact CPU models at a later date. It is possible to customize the notebook with up to 40GB of DDR4 memory, coupled with a 1TB NVMe SSD and a 2TB 5400 rpm mechanical hard drive. Depending on the model, the Lenovo ThinkBook 14 Gen 2 comes with either a 45Wh or 60Wh battery that can provide up to six and eight hours of backup, respectively.

Input options on the Lenovo ThinkBook 14 Gen 2 include a Thunderbolt 4.0 port and one USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C port. The latter can charge the laptop with compatible USB PD chargers and even output display to monitors. Other options include two USB 3.2 Type-A ports for peripherals, one RJ45 Ethernet port, a headphone/mic combo jack, and a 4-in-1 card reader.

Some Lenovo ThinkBook 14 models are Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 compatible, while others are restricted to Wi-Fi 5. The notebook weighs 1.4kg (3.1lbs) and has an anodized aluminum body. The hinges allow the laptop to be laid out flat at a 180-degree angle. Lastly, its power button also doubles up as a fingerprint scanner.

The Lenovo ThinkVision T27hv-20 is this OEM’s latest 27-inch monitor that is ostensibly for the home or remote office, having clearly been designed with such use-cases in mind. It comes in a black chassis with red accents and a 3-side-nearly-bezelless 27-inch 2K panel. This display also comes with “Natural Low Blue Light-Technology”, which helps confer its Eyesafe and TÜV Rheinland Eye Comfort certifications.

The new monitor is also equipped with an obviously business-focused webcam. It has a 1080p resolution, and comes in a barrel-like form-factor, one outer third of which is a grip to change its angle at will. The middle third holds the lens (which can be covered with a privacy shutter if necessary) as well as an in-built microphone.

This camera also has dedicated dual 3 watt (W) speakers, as well as an indicator light that alerts colleagues or family members in the n the vicinity when the T27hv-20 is in web-conferencing use. The unit also benefits from an RJ-45 jack as well as DisplayPorts, an HDMI port and some USB type As – however, Lenovo asserts that its single type C could also handle their functions.

This 3.2 Gen 1 port also supports up to 90W connected devices. The Lenovo ThinkVision T27hv-20 (which also has a headphone jack) is slated to become available at the end of January 2021, and has a current recommended price of €419 (~US$489).

Lenovo’s ThinkPad brand has a new flagship model: The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 1 complements the high-end ThinkPad X1 series with a new, much smaller model.

In design, the new ThinkPad X1 Nano is very similar to the existing Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 8. You could call the ThinkPad X1 Nano a smaller brother of this model, as it has the same wedge-design and black Carbon fiber top-cover. The key difference between the two: While the X1 Carbon uses 14 inch displays in the more common 16:9 aspect ratio, the X1 Nano comes with a 13 inch screen in the taller 16:10 ratio. By going this route, the X1 Nano provides the same screen height as the X1 Carbon, but in a much smaller package.

Lenovo Nano: Lighter than X1 Carbon & XPS 13

The chassis is not only smaller, it is also significantly lighter. Lenovo notes that the ThinkPad X1 Nano is the lightest ThinkPad laptop so far, with just 962 g or 2.12 lbs. That is not only lighter than the X1 Carbon (1.09 kg/2.4 lbs), but also significantly lighter than the new Dell XPS 13 9310 (1.2 kg/2.64 lbs).

To make a ThinkPad this small and light, there had to be some compromises. Notably, the X1 Nano does not have the impressive array of ports that the bigger X1 Carbon boasts. Instead, the ThinkPad Nano has just two Thunderbolt 4 ports and a headphone-jack. The battery and the keyboard are also slightly smaller in size compared with the bigger counterpart. 

Of course, Thunderbolt 4 already hints at it: The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano is powered by Intel Tiger Lake, the first ThinkPad X1 to have these newer CPUs. At this stage, it is not clear if it will feature the UP3 or UP4 Tiger Lake models though. Some additional firsts for the ThinkPad X1 line: 5G and LPDDR4X memory (up to 16 GB). The screen will only be offered with a single 2K level resolution (2,160 x 1,350), which has a brightness of 450 cd/m². Both touch and non-touch are available.

ThinkPad X1 Nano: Pricing & availability

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano will be available in December 2020. It will cost at least $1,599. It will ship with either Windows 10 Pro or Ubuntu Linux.

The Lenovo ThinkBook 13s Gen 2 is a part of Lenovo’s new line of ultra-portable laptops powered by Intel’s Tiger Lake and AMD Ryzen 4000U processors. It is Intel Evo (formerly known as Project Athena) certified and will retail at US$829 for the Intel variant and US$729 for the AMD version. The notebook will be available for purchase in October 2020 on all major e-commerce platforms.

One of the key distinguishing factors of the Lenovo ThinkBook 13s Gen 2 is its Dolby Vision certified 13.6-inch WQXGA (2560×1600) IPS panel. It has a peak brightness of 300 nits and covers 100% of the sRGB spectrum. There is also an option to make the display touch-enabled. An Intel Iris Xe iGPU powers it, so its gaming prowess is somewhat limited. At 1.26kg (2.77lb), the Lenovo ThinkBook 13s Gen 2 is quite portable. Its anodized aluminum body ensures structural integrity.

The Lenovo ThinkBook 13s Gen 2 can be configured with up to an Intel Core-i7 CPU. Memory and storage max out at 16GB (LPDDR5x, 4200MHz) and 1TB (NVMe SSD), respectively. The notebook’s 61Wh battery supports fast charging at up to 65W. Connectivity options on the Lenovo ThinkBook 13s Gen 2 include one Thunderbolt 4.0, two USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A, one HDMI 2.0b port, and a combo audio jack. It also supports Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1.

The 2019 Dell XPS 13 7390 2-in-1 introduced a much needed design change as well as internal upgrades to Intel Ice Lake and Comet Lake-U processors. This year, the Dell XPS 13 9310 2-in-1 gets refreshed to Intel’s 11th generation Tiger Lake CPUs with Intel Xe graphics. Like its last gen counterpart, the XPS 13 9310 2-in-1 is Intel Evo-compliant for an all-round responsive computing experience.

Dell offers the XPS 13 9310 2-in-1 in two chassis designs — a CNC machined aluminum in platinum silver with black carbon fiber composite palm rest and a CNC machined aluminum in frost with arctic white woven glass palm rest.

The XPS 13 9310 2-in-1 continues to sport a 13.4-inch InfinityEdge 16:10 touch display that is available in FHD+ (1920×1200) and UltraSharp 4K UHD+ (3840×2400) options. The UHD+ display offers a peak brightness of 500 nits and supports HDR400 with 100% sRGB and 90% DCI-P3 color gamut coverage, and a 1500:1 contrast ratio. The FHD+ variant has an 1800:1 contrast ratio, 100% sRGB coverage, and 500 nits brightness. Both display variants are Dolby Vision-certified, have a 0.65% anti-reflective coating, and a 178-degree wide viewing angle. The display is protected with an Edge-to-edge Corning Gorilla Glass 6 covering.

Internally, the 2020 XPS 13 9310 2-in-1 receives the customary upgrade to Intel Tiger Lake CPUs — buyers get to choose from among the Core i3-1115G4, Core i5-1135G7, and Core i7-1165G7 options. RAM options are available from 8 GB to 32 GB LPDDR4X-4267 except for the Core i3 version, which is capped at 3733 MHz memory speed. The storage can be configured with options of 256 GB, 512 GB, and 1 TB PCIe Gen3 NVMe SSDs. The RAM and storage are soldered on-board and cannot be upgraded down the line.

Dell continues to offer the MagLev keyboard, now in the Gen 2 iteration, in the new XPS 13 9310 2-in-1. Whether MagLev would appeal to the user or not purely depends on personal preferences and how quickly one gets used to the shallower key travel. Users can also optionally purchase the Dell Premium Active Pen that offers 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity. The power button doubles-up as a fingerprint reader. The infrared webcam also supports Windows Hello-based facial recognition login as well.

Thermal design is largely unchanged from the 2019 version. There is a dual-fan setup with an ultra-thin vapor chamber. Dell said that the 2020 XPS 13 2-in-1 uses dual carbon liquid crystal polymer fans to maximize airflow rejection with increased number of fan blades and reduced blade thickness.

Port selection is also similar to what we have seen with the 2019 XPS 13 7390 2-in-1 with the 2020 XPS 13 9310 2-in-1 now offering Thunderbolt 4 ports. Dell provides a USB-C to USB-A adapter in the box. A microSD card reader and a 3.5mm combo audio jack are available. The Killer AX1650 Wi-Fi 6 chipset provides wireless networking and Bluetooth 5.1 connectivity. A 51 WHr battery rounds up the specifications.

The Dell XPS 13 9310 2-in-1 will be available in the U.S. and Canada on September 30 with prices starting from US$1,249.99.

MINISFORUM has introduced its new Mini PC, the DeskMini X35G. Unlike the S40, the DeskMini X35G includes an Intel Ice Lake CPU among many other potent components. The machine measures 136.5 x 121.5 x 40.5 mm and weighs around 500 g – MINISFORUM is yet to provide a specific weight. At the heart of the DeskMini X35G is a Core i3-1005G1 processor, which features two cores and Intel Hyper-Threading support. The 15 W chip can Turbo Boost up to 3.4 GHz and integrates Intel UHD Graphics.

Also on board is 16 GB of DDR4-3200 RAM, along with an M.2 2280 NVMe slot that supports Intel Optane memory. Additionally, there is a 2.5-inch drive bay that could also be utilised for an M.2 2280 SATA SSD. The inclusion of an Intel CPU allowed MINISFORUM to provide a Thunderbolt 3 port, which it has supplemented with four USB Type-A ports. Dual Gigabit Ethernet ports have been included too, as has a memory card slot. If wired internet is not your thing, then you could use the machine’s Wi-Fi 6 modem instead.

The DeskMini X35G has two dedicated video outputs, DisplayPort and HDMI 2.0, but it can also utilise DisplayPort Alt Mode to output in up to 5K and 120 Hz via its Thunderbolt 3 port. CNX Software claims that MINISFORUM will bring the DeskMini X35G to Indiegogo in October. The machine will start at US$399 on the crowdfunding website with 16 GB of RAM and 256 GB of SSD storage.

HP EliteBook laptops are consistently some of the best business laptops you can find when it comes to serviceability, brightness, and portability. In contrast to competitors who like to dabble in proximity sensors or carbon fiber designs, EliteBook systems focus more on the core basics that users actually want like upgradeable RAM and WLAN and an outdoor viewable display. One particular aspect, however, continues to be well below average.

We recently tested the EliteBook 830 G7 equipped with the latest 10th gen Core i7-10810U CPU and we found multi-thread performance to be slower than every Core i7-10710U laptop in our database. The difference isn’t marginal either as we’re talking about a deficit of around 40 percent. Even the Dell Latitude 9510 2-in-1, which comes with the exact same Core i7-10810U CPU as our HP, is able to outperform the EliteBook by over 55 percent in CineBench benchmarks.

So, what’s going on here?

The key difference lies in the poorer Turbo Boost sustainability of the CPU in the EliteBook 830 G7 when compared to most other subnotebooks running on Core U-series CPUs. When running Prime95 on the HP, for example, its CPU would boost to 3.5 GHz for only a few seconds before falling to 1.9 GHz whereas the Latitude 9510 2-in-1 would stabilize at 3.2 GHz for well over a minute when under the same testing conditions. In other words, the Dell system is able to maintain higher clock rates for longer for faster performance during “bursty” workloads.

Running CineBench R15 xT in a loop as shown below illustrates the poor Turbo Boost of the HP system. Whereas every other hexa-core Core i7 Comet Lake-U laptop in our database is able to return excellent scores during the start of the loop test, the EliteBook 830 G7 is already the lowest right from the beginning.

The HP is by no means a slow system and it still excels in most other areas like its optional 1000-nit display, but it probably shouldn’t be your first option if maximizing CPU performance is of utmost importance.

The HP Omen 15 is a gaming laptop with a great 15.6-inch display, which is delivered to the customer with good calibration out of the box. We were even able to get a bit more out of it in the test through our own calibration, so that the color-space deviations could be reduced even further. The gaming aspect also includes the 144 Hz option, which further underlines the device’s application scope. Plastic is the predominant material in the case, which doesn’t feel very high quality in our opinion. In addition, the matte surfaces provide for clearly visible fingerprints.

Being a gaming device, the performance of the CPU and GPU is naturally of extreme importance. However, considering the purchase price, HP has found a good middle ground here. An Intel Core i5-10300H runs in our test configuration along with an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti. Even the newest titles can be played with them. The RAM is large enough at 16 GB, but with 512 GB of storage space, the SSD is only enough for the entry level, because it’s not possible to store many games on this SSD next to the operating system. Installing a second storage drive can aid with this, and the HP Omen 15 offers two M.2 slots.

The big advantage of the HP Omen 15 is its large battery with a capacity of almost 71 Wh; it convinced in the WLAN test with long battery life. Had HP optimized the energy management in idle usage, even a longer runtime would have been possible here. The Omen 15 scored further plus points with its connectivity. The variety of connections leaves almost nothing to be desired, and Thunderbolt 3 is also on board. In regard to wireless communication, there’s even the latest Wi-Fi 6 standard.

The cooling unit, which was always audible even in idle usage, is worthy of improvement. In addition, the two fans turned up quite a bit under load, and due to the high-frequency fan noise, the measured noise level seemed even louder from a subjective standpoint.

If you choose the Omen 15 with the Core i5-10300H and the GeForce GTX 1660 Ti, you’ll get a fast system that is completely sufficient for the most common games. But if your focus is more on CPU performance, you should take a closer look at the Omen 15 with the stronger SoCs. The manufacturer also has native hexa-core devices in its portfolio here. The same applies to the built-in graphics card.

First teased to appear on the Lenovo Legion 5i and Legion 7i, Nvidia Advanced Optimus promises both G-Sync and Optimus in one machine simultaneously without impacting performance. In contrast, all existing G-Sync and Optimus laptops thus far have been mutually exclusive save for a small handful of models where reboots would be required to switch between the two. For whatever reason, however, the aforementioned Lenovo laptops silently began shipping without Advanced Optimus to the chagrin of Nvidia fans excited for the mobile feature.

Eluktronics CEO has posted on the company’s official Reddit board claiming that it will soon offer Advanced Optimus on both of its MAX-15 and MECH-15 15.6-inch gaming laptops. Each system will pair a 144 Hz BOE Panel with a GeForce RTX 2070 Super starting at $1799 USD. Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut paste and the new Core i7-10870H CPU will come standard alongside options for DDR4-3200 RAM.

The catch to Advanced Optimus is that rollout will likely be very slow due its unique requirements. Most notably, special hardware including new multiplexer switches and ICs are needed that specific panels must be certified for. This extra step will invariably make Advanced Optimus more difficult to integrate on a wider range of laptops especially since G-Sync laptops in general are already a minority. There’s no timeline yet as to when the feature will come to other OEMs or even screen sizes, but it’s good to see Eluktronics making the jump before everyone else.