Intel has officially launched its Iris Xe Max discrete graphics card for laptops (previously known as DG1), revealing the full details of the GPU and how it performs with 1080p gaming – and how it leverages tech to make a powerful combination with Intel CPUs that have integrated Xe graphics.
Intel Iris Xe Max boasts 96 EUs (Execution Units) and it’s clocked at 1.65GHz, supporting LPDDR4x graphics memory, with initial laptops loaded with 4GB of the stuff (with a memory bandwidth of 68GB/s).
Those initial laptops – which will be available from today – include the Acer Swift 3x, and the Asus VivoBook Flip TP470, alongside the Dell Inspiron 15 7000 2-in-1. All of these notebooks have not just Intel Iris Xe Max GPUs, but Tiger Lake 11th-gen mobile CPUs with Xe integrated graphics – and both Xe graphics solutions can work in tandem with a new feature Intel is calling Deep Link.
Deep Link refers to the way in which these Xe-toting CPUs and GPUs are, well, linked together in order to maximize performance, and how power usage can be adjusted between the processor and graphics card.
Deep Link’s dynamic power sharing means that when the GPU isn’t in use, that power can be piped to the CPU instead, offering up to a 20% performance boost for the processor versus a laptop with an Nvidia MX350 GPU, Intel claims.
Deep Link promises a major boost in content creation workloads, and also with video encoding. We’re talking 7x faster AI-based creation (again compared to a laptop with a similar CPU but Nvidia MX350 graphics) according to Intel’s testing, and encoding is almost 1.8x faster than RTX 2080 graphics, no less.
Game on
But what about games? Intel’s Iris Xe Max makes a good fist of 1080p gaming on thin-and-light laptops, generally outperforming an MX350-equipped notebook – and in some games, beating the Nvidia chip by a fair way.
Intel’s benchmarking indicated a big win for Iris Xe Max in Metro Exodus, with the GPU hitting around 42 frames per second (fps), compared to around 29 fps for the MX350. GRID 2019 managed around 46 fps with Intel, compared to 37 fps for the MX350, but the other games tested were pretty much a dead heat (Gears Tactics, Hitman 2, The Witcher 3).
And in Borderlands 3, the MX350 was actually slightly ahead, but only by a few frames per second – nothing that you’d realistically notice.
Going by Intel’s testing, it would seem that Iris Xe Max is the equal of Nvidia’s MX350, and actually outguns the latter considerably in a couple of titles, which is pretty impressive. Nvidia’s MX350 might be its entry-level GPU for laptops, but it is the most recent model from 2020 (albeit based on Pascal tech, two generations away from Ampere now).
All of those 1080p game benchmarks were conducted with either medium or low graphics details, incidentally. Of course, we have to bear in mind that these are Intel’s own internal tests, which could be cherry-picked to an extent, and we’ll want to do our own testing to gauge the power of Iris Xe Max graphics to get the full picture of gaming performance.
In its announcement, Intel also revealed that an Xe-LP graphics card will be coming to value desktops in the first half of 2021 – meaning a DG1 for budget desktop PCs. Furthermore, the chip giant told us that Xe-HPG, the heavyweight gaming card which was officially powered on recently, will be out in 2021 as expected (not likely until the end of the year, though).
As Tesla touts the cutting-edge nature of its new Full Self Driving software, rival Mercedes-Benz says it has developed a similar system but stops short of allowing members of the public to take it on urban roads. The Germans, pioneers in developing advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), are taking a step-by-step approach to releasing new technology, waiting for their own engineers, rather than the general public, to validate their system. Advanced driver assistance systems can pr
The holiday shopping season is approaching and many retailers will be participating in Black Friday sales. This guide can help you figure out where and how to shop to find the best bargains.
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The holiday shopping season is approaching and many retailers will be participating in Black Friday sales. This guide can help you figure out where and how to shop to find the best bargains.
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Self-driving tech company Waymo, which this month opened its driverless taxi service in the Phoenix suburbs to the public, on Friday said its autonomous vehicles there had been involved in 18 minor incidents since 2019 during tests and actual rides. Waymo, a unit of Google parent Alphabet Inc , said it was releasing the data https://ift.tt/3jH6v7P to improve transparency and open a public dialogue. Waymo also said it hopes its safety data will help companies and regulators devise in
According to Amazon, Nitro Enclaves will help customers reduce attack surfaces for their applications by providing a highly isolated and hardened environment for data processing.
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According to Amazon, Nitro Enclaves will help customers reduce attack surfaces for their applications by providing a highly isolated and hardened environment for data processing.
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As workers continue to rely on the remote office as a result of the global pandemic, investments in the cloud have gone up a third, according to data from Canalys.
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You may already know you can turn your photos into professionally printed books using online services. But custom printing doesn’t end there. There’s a huge range of other cool products you can have professionally produced using your very own images. So whether you’re trying to think of a gift for a loved one, or want to add a special touch to your newly decorated home, it’s well worth checking out the options.
In this article, we’ll reveal five things you probably didn’t know you could get custom-printed. And if you’d like to act on these ideas, we recommend Printique for the exceptional quality of its products. Staffed by experts with a passion for printing, everything they produce is hand-crafted, inspected and delivered with the utmost care, from their lab to your front door. So you can be sure to entrust them with your visual memories, and expect the highest quality finish in return.
1. Wall decor
(Image credit: Printique)
We all have photos that mean a lot to us personally, and printing and framing them can be a great way to transform a blank wall into a vibrant statement. But that’s only one of the many choices open to you. Printique also allows you to print your pictures on materials such as gallery-quality canvas, sustainable wood, and state-of-the-art metal.
You also have the option of adding an extra dimension to your images as standout prints, or combining them into attention-grabbing collages. Alternatively, you could give them a refined feel as Giclee Fine Art Prints, printed on 100% archival Hahnemuhle fine art papers, or convert them into sleek HD acrylic prints, for the most modern, high-definition impact wall art. With each of these products available in a variety of sizes, Printique really does give you free reign to harness your images and transform your home in beautiful and imaginative ways.
2. Custom photo cards
(Image credit: Printique)
It’s easy to spend a lot of time in stores, searching for that perfect card, only to come up empty. But a better answer is staring you in the face. Why not use your own photos to create unique cards for your loved ones; that will make them smile and forge an emotional connection, in a way that nothing shop-bought ever could? Especially as Printique gives you endless flexibility to make that gift just right; allowing you to choose the perfect size, style, and paper to suit the occasion.
We may live in a digital world, but people still value physical cards. So whether you’re celebrating a holiday, a birthday, a wedding, or any other reason to share joy, why not go the extra mile and make your card properly personal?
Simply upload your photos and drop them into one of Printique’s professionally designed templates. You can also add finishing touches such as text, stickers, and borders, to make your card truly special and show you care. And once you’re happy, Printique looks after everything from then on: from the high-quality, professional printing to the prompt and efficient delivery, envelopes included.
3. Personalized calendars
(Image credit: Printique)
2021 is drawing closer, and it’s time to get a new calendar up on your wall. But glancing at all those tasks and commitments, day in day out, can get a little stressful. So a great way to lighten your mind can be a personalized calendar, brought to life with some of your favorite images.
Printique allows you to choose from its own exclusive calendar styles, including top-hanging, centerfold, and desktop designs. Alternatively, you can create your own custom calendar, with Printique’s easy-to-use website tool. Either way, all orders are handcrafted and professionally inspected for color and density, before being delivered to you as quickly as possible.
4. Personalized drinkware
(Image credit: Printique)
Who knew you could order your own drinkware, personalised with your own pictures, for giving as gifts, storing at home for guests, or enjoying amongst the members of your household? Printique can do this with ceramic mugs, bistro mugs, water bottles, and thermos flasks; all created as ever to the highest production quality.
It’s a lovely idea, because after all, sharing food and drink is one of the most fundamental ways we connect with each other as humans. And so combining it with some of your most precious memories is a fabulous way to make it truly special.
5. Ornaments
(Image credit: Printique)
People have been placing images of their loved ones in pendants for as long as photography has existed, and for centuries before that in the form of miniature paintings. It’s a tradition that remains strong today, and so it’s great that Printique has you covered here as well.
Its custom-printed white ceramic disk ornaments allow you to keep a hanging pendant in your window all year round, while its stunning metal snowflake ornaments are perfect for decorating your tree at Christmas. Both are also perfect for hanging out gifts to friends. Simply select a favorite photo to customize these beautiful ornaments – which measure 3 inches in diameter and include a red ribbon for hanging – and Printique will do the rest.
Win a $100 gift card!
Want to take advantage of Printique’s premium custom-printing? Then great news: Printique is giving away $100 gift cards to five lucky readers!
Just think of all the great custom-printed items you could order with that prize, from special cards and gifts to personalized calendars, books and albums; not to mention prints, wall decor, drinkware, ornaments, home, and office items, and more. Plus, this fantastic competition is super-simple to enter.
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BT is upping its game in the lead-up to Black Friday, offering some of the best broadband deals on the market, especially when it comes to fibre. And if you're looking to sort your internet this weekend, BT could be the perfect place to do so.
On its two best fibre broadband deals, BT is offering some pretty impressive Mastercard rewards. Go for its Fibre 1 plan and you'll be paying £27.99 a month for speeds averaging 50Mb. On top of that, BT will throw in a £60 Mastercard that you can spend anywhere, on pretty much whatever you like.
If you need something even faster, you can upgrade to speeds averaging 67Mb with the BT Fibre 2 plan. This faster option will boost your costs to £31.99 a month but also increases the Mastercard to £120.
BT Fibre 2 |24 months | Avg. speed 67Mb | Weekend calls | FREE delivery | £31.99/pm + £120 Reward Card Know you'll need something a little bit faster? You can upgrade to BT's Fibre 2 plan for just £31.99 a month. At that price you're getting speeds averaging 67Mb which will remove speed issues for big households working from home and using lots of devices. Like the deal above, BT is throwing in a Mastercard reward. With this deal it has a value of £120. View Deal
What is a BT Reward Card?
The Reward Card that BT sends out is a pre-paid credit card that you can use anywhere that accepts Mastercard. In short, that's around a million shops, cafes and restaurants around the world, so it shouldn't be difficult to find places to spend it.
It's an old-fashioned chip and pin card, rather than contactless. But do make sure that you claim your Reward Card within three months of installation, otherwise you'll lose out on all that cash.
Today's other best broadband deals:
October 30, 2020 at 01:23PM from TechRadar - All the latest technology news https://ift.tt/3mzuo2W
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Not in the UK? Scroll down for today's best laptop deals in your region.
While the model name isn't the most glamourous, this is an excellent laptop with a 15.6-inch screen, AMD Ryzen 5 processor, 8GB of RAM and 256GB SSD. It's also solidly built with an impressively thin and light design.
It's the perfect productivity machine, then, especially for students, and not only is it affordable, but it's easy to carry around, and it's got a fantastic battery life as well.
Check out our roundup of the best Black Friday laptop deals as well, but we don't think you'll find a better laptop for £500 than this.
HP 15s-eq1510sa 15.6-inch, AMD Ryzen 5, 256GB, 8GB RAM:£499 at eBay Finding a decent laptop for £500 can be tricky, but this is a real find, with an AMD Ryzen 5 4000 processor, 8GB of RAM and a decent 256GB SSD. It promises nine hours of battery life, and with its thin and light design, this is a great choice for students.View Deal
If you're not in the UK, we've listed the best laptop deals where you are below.
TechRadar is rounding up all the top deals over the Black Friday sales period, and we’ve put all thebest early Black Friday dealsin an easy-to-navigate article to help you find the bargains you’re looking for.
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As the marketplace continues to evolve from self-contained B2C and B2B perspectives and businesses seek to diversify their revenue streams and grow their audience, hybrid commerce solutions like Magento Commerce are being adopted at an accelerated rate.
While separate solutions for business-to-customer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) markets are feasible, there are many reasons why you would be better off with a hybrid solution like Magento Commerce. Hybrid commerce platforms aim to make designing and maintaining your business an intuitive process for both B2C and B2B markets. Here are some ways hybrid commerce achieves this better than traditional systems.
Hybrid commerce makes building your brand easy
One of the biggest reasons why hybrid commerce outclasses traditional B2C and B2B services is because a hybrid system can use the same tools and features applicable to both market types.
If you use a separate system for both B2C and B2B, you will have to learn how to use each service individually. This effectively doubles the amount of time and energy spent learning and using separate eCommerce solutions to achieve your goals. With hybrid commerce, you can use the same set of tools to simultaneously develop both B2C and B2B storefronts. This makes the process of building your business much more consistent while eliminating inefficient use of time.
A unified system also means less stress and more flexibility for your development teams. If you have two different solutions, you typically need separate development teams with corresponding skill sets. This means you can’t easily move developers from one solution to the other to help balance workloads.
Magento Commerce is a next-generation eCommerce solution designed for both B2C and B2B-focused businesses. It uses intuitive drag-and-drop web design tools which streamline the storefront development process. The flexibility of these web tools means they can be applied to either a B2C or B2B web development environment.
If your business plan calls for serving both B2B and B2C audiences, Magento Commerce can be adapted to serve both market types under the same technology umbrella. Thanks to features such as company-specific pricing and catalogs, order history tracking, and assisted selling, it has never been easier to satisfy both B2C and B2B buyers. The platform’s functionality can also be enhanced with extensions available through the Magento Marketplace. There are 1000s of extensions and connectors which help merchants to meet their strategic goals while tapping into the latest innovations.
Hybrid commerce helps keep track of important data
(Image credit: Adobe Stock)
Another great advantage of hybrid commerce systems is they simplify studying digital commerce analytics. In a traditional setup where B2C and B2B services are separated, you would have to go through both systems individually and comb through their respective data sets. Considering each commerce service comes with its own type of analytics system, switching between the two different ones would be incredibly inefficient. Separate analytics systems will need to be navigated and read in different ways, resulting in a big headache for storefront owners. Since tracking what succeeds – and what doesn’t – is crucial for businesses, you can’t afford to get bogged down by services that are supposed to make your job easier.
A hybrid system displays analytics of both B2C and B2B sales via the administrative dashboard on your back-end. This removes the need to navigate between separate systems, creating a cleaner analysis experience that yields more insightful data.
Magento Commerce is equipped with extensive analytics tools that track important business data across B2C and B2B markets. Whether you want to see how many views your products are drawing, track how many customers return for second purchases, or identify how well particular items are selling, the analytic capabilities of Magento Commerce will provide the data you need to make informed business decisions.
Hybrid commerce systems simplify the process of branching out into popular third-party marketplaces like Amazon. Separate B2C and B2B systems mean you’ll need to manage the process of maintaining a presence on external channels for each individual system. This increases your workload since you are operating two separate platforms, making it more difficult to fulfill orders or adjust prices quickly.
With a hybrid commerce system, you can seamlessly manage B2C and B2B selling in a third-party marketplace from a singular commerce platform. As before, this saves time since it eliminates constantly switching back and forth between systems, and ensures you can quickly make changes to marketplace listings.
Magento Commerce is equipped to help users seamlessly list their products on Amazon. It comes with advanced repricing systems that help you win the buy box and you can manage your inventory and order fulfillment. There are also additional B2B pricing options letting you offer quantity-based, tiered prices to businesses.
Hybrid commerce helps you expand into popular third party marketplaces
Hybrid commerce systems simplify the process of branching out into popular third-party marketplaces like Amazon. Separate B2C and B2B systems mean you’ll need to manage the process of maintaining a presence on external channels for each individual system. This increases your workload since you are operating two separate platforms, making it more difficult to fulfill orders or adjust prices quickly.
With a hybrid commerce system, you can seamlessly manage B2C and B2B selling in a third-party marketplace from a singular commerce platform. As before, this saves time since it eliminates constantly switching back and forth between systems, and ensures you can quickly make changes to marketplace listings.
Magento Commerce is equipped to help users seamlessly list their products on Amazon. It comes with advanced repricing systems which help you win the buy box and you can manage your inventory and order fulfillment. There are also additional B2B pricing options letting you offer quantity-based, tiered prices to businesses.
Magento Commerce is your gateway to a hybrid sales approach
(Image credit: Adobe Stock)
Whether you’re a new business owner growing a brand or a seasoned seller enhancing their eCommerce assets, Magento Commerce delivers a hybrid solution to help you succeed in both the B2C and B2B spaces. Design attractive, engaging shopping experiences for mobile and desktop users with intuitive publishing tools. Powerful business intelligence tools help you efficiently analyze webstore data to make informed business decisions.
Seamlessly expand into popular marketplaces like Amazon, with inventory management systems, frictionless order fulfillment, and automated, intelligent pricing.
If you want to consistently expand your brand into both B2C and B2B markets, consider moving to Magento Commerce.
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While gaming laptops used to be niche enough that it was a little easily to search for the one that happened to be packing the best processor, GPU and RAM assortment, the field has exploded since then and it can be a little harder to determine the best gaming laptop.
The gaming laptop we're used to seeing – thick chassis with RGB and tapered flares – isn't the only option any more, with a variety of advancements (such as Nvidia's Max-Q technology) allowing the sleeker ultrabook form factor to harbour some incredible grunt as well.
Regardless of if you're in it for the stealthy, sleek numbers to slip in your satchel on the go, or an all-in-one replacement for a desktop rig, we've sifted through what's on offer to bring you the best gaming laptops available in Australia.
The Asus Zephyrus G14 is an absolute beast of a gaming laptop.(Image credit: Asus)
1. Asus ROG Zephyrus G14
The best gaming laptop around
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 4800HS – 9 4900HS | Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 | RAM: Up to 32GB | Screen: 14-inch Non-glare Full HD (1920 x 1080) IPS-level panel, 120Hz – 14-inch Non-glare WQHD (2560 x 1440) IPS-level panel, 60Hz | Storage: 512GB / 1TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0
Best battery life in a gaming laptop
Excellent performance
Thin and light
No webcam
Fans can get loud
While the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is missing a webcam and a Thunderbolt 3 port, its solid battery life, compact form, and powerful specs do a fine job at balancing everything that gaming laptops should be offering. This is an absolute beast of a gaming laptop, delivering an incredible performance with its AMD Ryzen 4000 processors and Nvidia RTX 2060 graphics card while touting best-in-class battery life that will last you all day long, a fast display with a 120Hz refresh rate and a lightweight, ultrathin design. The best part is that you’re getting all that without burning a hole in your pocket. Don’t get us wrong; it isn’t cheap. However, for a laptop this impressive, we’re surprised Asus isn’t asking for more.
While the Aero 15 range from Gigabyte is aimed at designers, it makes for one of the best value gaming laptops on the Australian market right now due to its powerful internals, brilliant display, and sleek, stylish chassis. This year's model refreshes much of what was great about the 2019 model – packing a 15-inch 4K HDR screen which is ideal as a high-resolution on-the-go gaming monitor, media machine, or its intended design-centric use. It also ramps up the internals, with a 10th-gen Intel Core i7 CPU running the show and the latest RTX 2070 Super GPU in assistance.
The Gigabyte Aorus 17X has that face-melting performance.(Image credit: Gigabyte)
3. Gigabyte Aorus 17X
Slays the field with truly face-melting performance
CPU: 10th-generation Intel Core i7 – i9 | Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 16 series – RTX 20 Super series | RAM: up to 64GB | Screen: 17.3" Thin Bezel FHD 1920x1080 240Hz Anti-Glare Display | Storage: 1TB SSD (PCIe), 2TB HDD
Dominating all-around performance
Gorgeous display
Mechanical keyboard is a dream
Very, very heavy
RTX 2080 model needs two power adapters
The Gigabyte Aorus 17X is hardly for everyone, especially with that breathtakingly steep price. However, if you are looking for a laptop that can pretty much slay anything in its path, this one’s got that face-melting performance you’re looking for, with 10th-generation Intel Core processors and Nvidia’s most powerful GPUs for gaming. Besides its performance, it’s got a few other things going for it including a display that is a complete stunner, a mechanical keyboard (nothing short of that is good for gaming) that’s incredible to use and build quality that’s designed to last.
Give us a laptop that touts one of AMD’s stellar Ryzen 400 mobile processors, and we’d be more than happy to try it on for size. What we found in the Asus TUF A15, however, is not just fantastic gaming performance, but a great value gaming rig with a long battery life and military-grade durability as well. With the help of Nvidia’s most powerful 1080p graphics cards, this Ryzen 4000-powered laptop will see you through all your 1080p gaming demands without burning a hole in your pocket. Whether you play a lot of competitive esports, or need a rugged laptop, this one’s a winner.
Considering the huge 17.3-inch display, it's amazing that this laptop manages to be at once compact and sleek while still packing the latest GPU and plenty of gaming power to boot. It's an improvement on the GS65 in most ways (but it's certainly still great - see below), although the most significant bump is the inclusion of Nvidia's RTX 2080 GPU and a stupendous 32GB of RAM. The Samsung SSDs come in a RAID configuration for ultra-fast speeds, and the screen has tiny thin bezels on all four sides. There is no doubt that this is a premium beast.
Though Dell has its premium lines, it’s also been very good at building excellent budget machines. The Dell G5 15 SE (2020) is a very good example of that, touting impressive AMD specs, especially in the CPU department, to keep cost down without compromising performance. This is among the very few gaming laptops out there that are affordable and also deliver a staggering performance for the price, with a stunning display to boot. Of course, being a budget laptop, some sacrifices have been made – namely, its build and heat management. However, for the budget-minded, this is certainly among the best gaming laptops out there for gaming.
These days, the best gaming laptop manufacturers are scrambling to craft the thinnest gaming laptop packing raw power. Right now, the one that might be leading the charge is the Asus ROG Zephyrus GX701. At just 0.7 inches thick, this beast of a laptop boasts an Intel Coffee Lake Core i7 chip, Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q graphics and 16GB of RAM. That means you can play any PC game under the sun on Ultra, and also take it with you wherever you go – ideal for travelers with a penchant for gaming. Plus, it’s packed with RGB lighting that’ll dazzle just about anyone.
If you want to play some of the best PC games on the move, but you don’t want everyone to know you’re playing games, the MSI GS65 Stealth is the best gaming laptop for you. Coming in at just 17.5mm thick and featuring impressive hardware like Intel Coffee Lake processors and Nvidia GeForce GTX 10-series – refreshed with RTX 20-series graphics at CES – the MSI GS65 Stealth packs a ton of power into a very svelte package. There’s nothing you won’t be able to throw at this thing that’ll slow it down. And, thanks to the subdued design, you’ll be able to bring this beefy rig everywhere you go, making it on of the best gaming laptops on the market right now.
CPU: 10th-generation Intel Core i7 | Graphics: up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Super | RAM: 16GB DDR4 | Screen: 144Hz FHD Matte or OLED 4K – 300Hz FHD Matte or OLED 4K Touch | Storage: Up to 1TB PCIe
Powerful
Plenty of ports
Top-mounted speakers
Expensive
Short battery life
Expensive though it may be – as is usual with the Razer Blade line – 2020’s installment of the Razer Blade 15 is staggeringly powerful, more than capable of annihilating any PC game you throw at it. With up to an RTX 2080 Super in the GPU department, there’s no doubt of its extra oomph, which makes it an excellent candidate for creative professionals as well, especially with that design that keeps things classy and a trackpad that’s among the best we’ve tested on a gaming laptop. If you’ve got deep pockets and you like to keep things stylish, this is the best gaming laptop for you.
CPU: 10th-generation Intel Core i7 – i9 | Graphics: up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Super with Max-Q | RAM: Up to 64GB DDR4 | Screen: 17.3-inch Thin Bezel 240Hz FHD 1920x1080 anti-glare display LCD | Storage: 2x M.2 SSD
Excellent performance
Top-shelf build quality
Fast and color accurate display
Expensive
Heavy
If you want an absolute beast of a gaming laptop, Gigabyte’s Aorus 17G is a worthy candidate both inside and out. While this megalithic portable has a substantial weight of 2.7kg to match, it’s a small price to pay for such power inside – namely, 10th-generation processors and up to 64GB of memory, as well as Nvidia’s most powerful RTX and Super RTX cards. There’s nothing this laptop can handle (or annihilate), making it a prime example of what a next-generation desktop replacement can be. And, that’s without mentioning its 1080p display touting a whopping 240Hz refresh rate and its solid build. Just be ready to break that piggy bank, as this won’t be cheap.
As we settle in for the 'work at home' long-haul, it's never been more important to have access to a powerful Ultrabook that can handle any task you throw at it.
We can largely thank Apple and its MacBook Air for the Ultrabook trend we're seeing. Where large, clunky laptops aren't sleek enough, and thin, portable tablets aren't powerful enough, the Ultrabook shines.
A unibody chassis packed with some of the best SSDs, processors and battery life available to devices this size, the Ultrabook is a thin and portable marvel that'll let you get on with your business, browsing or buffering without the lengthy wait times.
With TechRadar's extensive reviewing and lab testing, we've got a strong idea of what's going to cut it in today's Ultrabook landscape, and on this page we've ranked the best of the best so that you can find yourself a bargain on the cream of the crop.
Whether you're chasing the well-known brands like Dell, HP, Microsoft and Lenovo, or some surprise entrants like Huawei and Razer, we've got you covered.
The Asus Zephyrus G14 is an absolute beast of a laptop.(Image credit: Asus)
1. Asus ROG Zephyrus G14
The ultimate blend of work and play
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 4800HS – 9 4900HS | Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 | RAM: Up to 32GB | Screen: 14-inch Non-glare Full HD (1920 x 1080) IPS-level panel, 120Hz – 14-inch Non-glare WQHD (2560 x 1440) IPS-level panel, 60Hz | Storage: 512GB / 1TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0
Best battery life in a gaming laptop
Excellent performance
Thin and light
No webcam
Fans can get loud
We know, this is technically a gaming laptop, but for those that want to balance work and play, there's little else out there that's better value than the Zephyrus G14 right now. It's worth noting that it's missing a webcam and a Thunderbolt 3 port, so if that's a concern this isn't for you, but its solid battery life, compact form, and powerful specs do a fine job at balancing everything that you'll need from a laptop. This is an absolute beast for performance, with its AMD Ryzen 4000 processors and Nvidia RTX 2060 graphics card, best-in-class battery life that will last you all day long, a fast display with a 120Hz refresh rate and a lightweight, ultrathin design. The best part is that you’re getting all that without burning a hole in your pocket. Don’t get us wrong; it isn’t cheap. However, for a laptop this impressive, we’re surprised Asus isn’t asking for more.
Dell's XPS series is the closest the Windows world has come to that MacBook elegance, and this year's XPS 15 might just tempt a few more conversions. While it’s quite comfortably one of the best Ultrabooks this year, its price in Australia isn't quite as appealing as in other regions. With that said, you'll be getting plenty of punch if you do invest thanks to its meaty internals, not to mention its gorgeous bright display with 500 nits of brightness, extremely comfortable keyboard, impressive speakers, and terrific trackpad. We’re not saying that this laptop is perfect (the price in particular is a sore point), but our coveted 5 out of 5 rating should speak for itself.
HP’s beloved and highly praised 2-in-1 is back with a vengeance, this time with more powerful components like the 10th-generation Intel Core processors and Intel Iris Plus graphics. Of course, that impeccable 2-in-1 design and pristine gem-cut chassis are back, as are its security features and Bang & Olufsen speakers. That killer combination makes it, now more than ever, one of the best Ultrabooks out there. Is it a wonder that this is one of our favorite laptops of 2020? If you care about aesthetics as much as you do performance and overall quality, this is the laptop for you.
CPU: 1.1GHz Intel Core i3-1000NG4 (dual-core, 4 threads, 4MB cache, up to 3.2GHz) | Graphics: Intel Iris Plus | RAM: 8GB (3,733MHz LPDDR4X) | Screen: 13.3-inch, 2,560 x 1,600 Retina True Tone display (backlit LED, IPS) | Storage: 256GB PCIe SSD | Dimensions (H x W x D): 30.41 x 21.24 x 1.61cm
Lower price of entry
New 10th generation processors
Improved keyboard
Screen colours a little muted
Battery life only OK
Webcam still just 720p
Addressing a number of complaints we’ve had about previous releases of Apple’s affordable thin and light laptop – particularly its keyboard on last year's model – The MacBook Air (2020) feels like a considerable step up almost every area of note. Gone are the old butterfly switches, which were too shallow for many people, and prone to failing if debris, such as dust and crumbs, fell between the keys, and in its place is the new Magic keyboard, which first appeared with the MacBook Pro 16-inch. Thanks to the long-overdue inclusion of new components, Apple's 2020 MacBook Air has received a decent uptick in performance, too, making it an easy Ultrabook to recommend.
CPU: 10th Gen Intel Core i5-1035G7 – i7-1065G7 | Graphics: Intel Iris Plus Graphics – NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti with Max-Q Design | RAM: 8GB – 32GB 3733Mhz LPDDR4x | Screen: 13.5-inch 3000 x 2000 (267 PPI) – 15-inch 3240 x 2160 (260 PPI) PixelSense Display | Storage: 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, or 2TB PCIe SSD
Beautiful design
Comfortable keyboard
Gorgeous screen
Weak U-series processor
Tiny trackpad
Lackluster speakers
In many ways, the Surface Book 3 is an example of just how far the best laptops have come in just a few short years. It has an extremely premium piece of kit – with one of the best displays we’ve used in a laptop, a keyboard that will put the MacBook Pro’s new Magic Keyboards to shame, and a hybrid design with a removable screen. At less than an inch thick, and only 12.3 x 9.14 inches for its 13-inch model and 13.5 x 9.87 inches for its 15-inch version, this is also among the best Ultrabooks 2020 has to offer. It doesn't necessarily have the strongest processor when compared to many rivals on this list, so you'll need to weigh up this delightful form factor against your more intensive computing needs.
CPU: 1.4GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 – 2.8GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 | Graphics: Intel Iris Plus Graphics 645 – 655 | RAM: 8GB – 16GB | Screen: 13.3-inch (diagonal) 2560 x 1600 LED-backlit display with IPS technology | Storage: 128GB – 2TB SSD | Dimensions (H x W x D): 0.59 x 11.97 x 8.36 inches
Good build quality
Thin and light design
Decent performance
Excellent battery life
Expensive
No option without Touch Bar
Same Butterfly keyboard switches
The 13-inch MacBook Pro 2019 has perhaps received the biggest update out of the three MacBook revisions that Apple rolled out in 2019. Next to the MacBook Pro 15-inch and the MacBook Air 2019 models, the MacBook Pro 13-inch has certainly come out the winner. In terms of upgrades from previous models, the inclusion of updated components and Apple's Touch Bar are arguably the most notable, this all makes the new MacBook Pro 13-inch (2019) feels less like a compromise for those who don't want to shell out for a larger and more expensive model. If you’re looking for a compact MacBook Pro that still offers plenty of oomph, the MacBook Pro 13-inch (2019) is the one for you.
Razer has to deal with the common misconception that it’s solely a gaming laptop and peripheral company, a reputation it subverted when it introduced the Blade Stealth back in 2016. And, if you’re unconvinced, the latest edition of the Razer Blade Stealth may change your mind.
With an impressive, reasonable price tag and some of the best battery life we’ve experienced in a 15-inch laptop, the Surface Laptop 3 certainly has a lot going for it. That also includes the fact that it’s got a great look and feel, as well as a weight that surprisingly light for a product its size. Performance-wise, it certainly knocks it out of the park. While it isn’t the most powerful 15-inch laptop out there, it has Intel’s 10th-generation chips and the Iris Plus graphics. That’s more than enough to make it one of the best Ultrabooks out there for 2020.
One of the best Ultrabooks for the travelling professional
CPU: 8th-generation Intel Core i5 – i7 | Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics 620 | RAM: 8GB - 16GB | Screen: 13.3" diagonal Full HD touch display – Full HD touch Sure View display | Storage: 256 GB SSD
Impeccable design
Excellent battery life
Pretty expensive
If you’re a traveling professional, and you’re looking for a plenty-capable machine, then the Elite Dragonfly from HP is certainly a solid choice. In other regions, the pricing make this a no-brainer and a fairly safe list-topper, but in Australia the price puts it a bit of a disadvantage. Regardless, it delivers a deadly combination of incredible features like a sublime keyboard and amazing speakers, raw power, portability, a beautiful design and a long battery life. Admittedly, it’s pricier than many competing laptops, but if you’ve got the funds, it’s worth every penny.
A 2-in-1 laptop experience with little to no compromise
CPU: 8th-generation Intel Core i5 – i7 | Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics 620 | RAM: up to 16 GB DDR4 | Screen: 13.9-inch FHD (1,920 x 1,080) – UHD (3,840 x 2,160) | Storage: up to 2 TB PCIe SSD
Strong build quality
Robust feature set
Excellent battery life
Weak graphics performance
Pricey upgrade options
The Lenovo Yoga C930 has many of the makings of the best ultrabook – from a whopping 14.5 hours of battery life and dual Thunderbolt-enabled USB-C ports to internal components that will breeze through those daily productivity tasks. That’s without even mentioning a 2-in-1 that offers form versatility so you can squeeze in some light gaming and movie-watching post-productivity. It has a few cherries on top as well, namely the integrated self-charging stylus and the fab speaker system.
100GB Koofr Cloud Storage with Lifetime subscription -$29.99 at StackCommerce While most other cloud storage providers charge monthly subscription fees, Koofr offers a lifetime subscription regardless of whether you choose its 100GB, 250GB or 1TB plan. You can access your files stored on its servers from the web, mobile and even using WebDav. Just bear in mind that lifetime often comes with some risks. View Deal
There has been a surge in the numbers of cloud storage services that offer a lifetime subscription to a fixed amount of storage and a standard subscription to “unlimited amount of storage” and at least one of them, Zoolz, has abandoned lifetime cloud storage altogether because it is not sustainable.
And therein lies the issue with anything that’s unlimited, unless you have some sort of restriction, the numbers simply don’t have up. While anything that depends on network resources can sort of get away with it, anything that relies on finite hardware (like hard disk drives) have to essentially conjure up some sort of magic.
Koofr for example pits itself as the only cloud storage that doesn’t track you, a statement that we’re sure, the likes of pCloud, iDrive, Microsoft (OneDrive) and many others will thoroughly disagree with. Files, the provider says, are encrypted at rest or during transfer.
With capacities ranging from 100GB all the way to 1TB, it scores points for having no size limits for file uploads, thumbnail preview (great for storing photos in the cloud) and for offering easy connection to your other cloud storage accounts (Amazon S3, Dropbox and others).
It can remove duplicate files and there’s even a mobile app for Huawei AppGallery and Windows Phone. Lifetime app updates are obviously included (the latest Android update dates from October 2020) and there’s a pretty active Reddit channel.
As Tesla touts the cutting-edge nature of its new Full Self Driving software, rival Mercedes-Benz says it has developed a similar system but stops short of allowing members of the public to take it on urban roads. The Germans, pioneers in developing advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), are taking a step-by-step approach to releasing new technology, waiting for their own engineers, rather than the general public, to validate their system. Advanced driver assistance systems can pr
Self-driving tech company Waymo, which this month opened its driverless taxi service in the Phoenix suburbs to the public, on Friday said its autonomous vehicles there had been involved in 18 minor incidents since 2019 during tests and actual rides. Waymo, a unit of Google parent Alphabet Inc , said it was releasing the data https://ift.tt/3jH6v7P to improve transparency and open a public dialogue. Waymo also said it hopes its safety data will help companies and regulators devise in
