The keyboard is pretty great with a good amount of travel and zero flex in the keyboard deck. Interestingly, Lenovo added a fingerprint reader that worked quickly every time I used it to log in. The trackpad, on the other hand, could use some work; it’s a little mushy and requires a slightly different amount of pressure to register clicks depending on where I placed my finger.
Surprisingly, the webcam on the IdeaPad Flex 5i is solid. It’s a clear and crisp 1080p shooter that looks good enough in video calls, especially considering the price. There’s also a built-in privacy shutter you can easily slide closed when it’s not in use.
The overall build quality of the laptop is great. There isn’t a lot of flex in the chassis no matter where you apply pressure, which is always a good sign when you’re dealing with a 2-in-1, where you may be flipping the display back and forth regularly. It feels pretty dense as well, giving it a weighty presence that gave me confidence it wouldn’t break if it happened to take a tumble.
Unfortunately, one major letdown is its speakers. I was hopeful when I saw the pair of upward-firing speaker cutouts flanking the keyboard, but I was quickly disappointed when I pulled up a YouTube video. The sound quality is quite thin, making even the most robust tracks sound weak. You can easily solve this issue by using a pair of wireless headphones or earbuds, but it’s unfortunate nonetheless.
Limited Windows
Perhaps the most perplexing decision with the IdeaPad Flex 5i is that Lenovo chose to ship it with Windows 11 in S mode. If you’re unfamiliar, this version of Windows 11 only allows you to install apps directly from the Microsoft Store. Out of the box, you can’t download and install anything from the internet, which caught me off guard when I immediately tried to install Google Chrome upon first booting the laptop up.
However, you can easily switch out of S Mode, which permanently transforms the OS to Windows 11 Home. Once switched, you can install apps and programs from anywhere, even if it’s technically less secure than sticking with the Microsoft Store. It’s an easy enough process, but it’s an annoying hurdle for anyone who doesn’t know what they’re getting into.
It’s easy to get caught up in the flashiness of laptop specs and designs in the high-end segment, but sometimes you just want a smooth experience without much flair. That’s exactly what the Asus Vivobook S 14 OLED delivers, offering some great hardware in a rather unassuming shell. It’s also priced reasonably well at $900, which is out of the budget laptop range but strikes a nice balance between performance and not hurting your wallet.
The model Asus sent me for review is the Vivobook S 14 OLED (S5406MA-AS96), which includes an Intel Core Ultra 9 Series 1 processor, 16 GB of RAM, and 1 TB of solid-state drive storage. Another version trades the processor out for a Core Ultra 7 Series 2 processor and 32 GB of RAM for $1,200. If that isn’t confusing enough, yet another model foregoes Intel altogether for an AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 processor at $1,200.
Simple Powerhouse
The base model reviewed here is likely more than enough horsepower for most people. The Core 9 processor handled nearly all my daily tasks without breaking a sweat. You’ll want to look elsewhere if you do any graphically intense work (like video editing or gaming). We aren’t yet at a point where 16 GB of RAM is restrictive, and the amount of storage on board leaves plenty of breathing room for the long haul.
Photograph: Dan Thorp-Lancaster
I really like the screen, though it isn’t the brightest display I’ve used on a laptop. The crisp OLED panel gives you vibrant colors and infinite contrast, making it great for kicking back and watching a movie or YouTube marathon. The 16:10 aspect ratio also offers more vertical screen space at the cost of width, which makes it great for documents but means you’ll see horizontal bars with fullscreen video.
The camera setup is another bright spot that, frankly, surprised me at this price. You get an HD webcam that looks clear on video calls and does well in low-light situations. It also has face recognition you can use with Windows Hello to speedily log in to your PC, while an easily accessible privacy shutter ensures you can cover the camera quickly when it’s not in use.
The Vivobook has a nice selection of ports, with nearly everything you could want from a modern laptop. There are two USB-A ports for legacy accessories, two Thunderbolt 4-capable USB-C ports, one HDMI 2.1 for external monitors, and a microSD card reader. There’s also a 3.5-mm headphone jack if you haven’t jumped on the wireless headphone bandwagon yet.
This is the best time of the year to buy a new laptop. You’ll rarely get a better chance to nab a computer, so we’ve rounded up the best Cyber Monday laptop deals we’ve seen on all the models our reviewers recommend. Whether you want a portable productivity powerhouse, a glorious gaming PC, or just something to curl up in bed with Netflix, these machines from companies like Apple, Dell, Asus, and Lenovo will do the job. You’ll also find some other laptop accessories and peripherals below, including mechanical keyboards. Be sure to check out our live Cyber Monday deals tracker for more.
WIRED Featured Deals
WIRED’s Cyber Monday 2024 Coverage
Laptop Deals
Photograph: Lenovo
Do you think of a laptop as metal framing around a web browser? Consider a Chromebook. Google rolled out a big upgrade called Chromebook Plus in 2023. The “Plus” stands for better performance—faster processors, more memory, more storage, and better video cameras. Our favorite of the models we’ve tried is Lenovo’s Flex 5i Chromebook Plus (8/10, WIRED Recommends). It’s among the fastest Chromebooks we’ve tested for the money. It features a 3.75-GHz Intel Core i3-1315U CPU, 8 GB of RAM, and 128 GB of flash storage.
Dell’s two larger XPS laptops (7/10, WIRED Recommends) are aimed at Windows users with Macbook jealousy. The design, specs, and sizes align perfectly with Apple’s offerings. The XPS 14 has a gorgeous, sleek design (though it’s thicker than a MacBook), a wonderfully bright and sharp OLED screen (with 120-Hz screen refresh rates), and is plenty speedy for everyday tasks. Unfortunately, heavy-duty tasks like video editing, well, the MacBook’s benchmarks run circles around the XPS 14. Still, with this deal, this is a serious piece of hardware for not a lot of money.
Dell recently updated its XPS 13 line with Qualcomm Snapdragon chips to make it that sweet, sweet Copilot+ PC. This deal features the Snapdragon X Elite, which is the fastest of the two options. I’ve been testing this one for a couple of months and have been very impressed with how smoothly Windows works on a new architecture. It’s been plenty speedy, and the battery life is outstanding—about 14 hours in my testing—though not quite as impressive as some other Snapdragon-equipped machines we’ve tested. If you want an Intel XPS 13, those are on sale as well. You can get a Core Ultra 7 chip, 32 GB RAM, and a 1 TB SSD for $1,499 ($500 off).
Photograph: Christopher Null
The first Intel-based Copilot+ PC is a winner on all fronts (7/10, WIRED Review), boasting outstanding AI and graphics performance and some of the best battery life we’ve ever seen on Intel hardware. With its slightly oddball 15.3-inch screen, it hits its high points and is hard to argue with at this price, though the fan is loud and the system may weigh you down more than you’d like.
There’s much to love about Samsung’s Galaxy Book4 Ultra (7/10, WIRED Review), but let’s be honest, that sticker price is insane. This deal brings it down somewhat, though it’s still pricey. You get impressive hardware—the new Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor, the current top-of-the-line processor in Intel’s Core Ultra CPU lineup, along with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card. The 16-inch AMOLED 2,880 X 1,800-pixel touchscreen is magnificent to work on and performance blew everything else we’ve tested out of the water at this price.
The Swift Go offers outstanding performance for the price (7/10, WIRED Review). It also boasts an impressive 15-hour battery life. The downside is the speakers, which aren’t great, and overall the body feels a little plasticky. But this is the least expensive Intel Core Ultra laptop we’ve tested by a few dollars, so if your budget is tight, the Swift Go is worth considering.
Asus Chromebook Plus CX34
Photograph: Daniel Thorp-Lancaster
The Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is the best-looking Chromebook you can buy. The beautiful white design stands out in a sea of gray slabs. The Core i5 CPU offers plenty of performance and can easily handle multiple tabs and app juggling. The webcam is nice too, much crisper than you’d expect for a sub-$500 laptop. The downside is there’s no backlit keyboard.
The 13-inch Surface Laptop (7th Edition) (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processor. Performance was good in our testing. It did not bog down no matter how many windows, tabs, and apps we threw at it. That said, this is not a machine for graphics-intensive tasks, like video editing or gaming (which is a shame because the vivid sharp screen with a 120-Hz screen refresh rate would be great for gaming). If you don’t need the 1-TB SSD of this deal, the cheaper model with only a 256 GB drive can be had for $800 ($200 off).
Photograph: Eric Ravenscraft
Dell’s Alienware m16 R2 laptop (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is a powerful gaming machine masquerading as your next work laptop. The design doesn’t scream “gaming rig” making it a good choice for those who also have work to do. This deal comes with an Intel Core Ultra 9 processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 graphics card, 16 gigabytes of RAM, a 1-terabyte SSD, and a 16″ non-touch QHD+ screen (2,560 X 1,600).
There’s no such thing as a cheap powerful gaming laptop. The Blade line has long eschewed cheap in favor of powerful, and this 16-inch rig is no exception. We’ve tested and loved the 18-inch Blade (the most powerful and most expensive), and the 14-inch Blade, which is our top pick gaming laptop. This model sits between those two, with a little more power the the 14 (and a bigger screen), without the $4,500 price of the Blade 18. You get an Intel i9 (14900HX), Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080, 32 GB of RAM, and a 1-TB SSD.
System76’s Lemur Pro (9/10, WIRED Recommends) is our favorite Linux laptop. It’s thin and lightweight and it’s a great alternative for those who aren’t into Windows 11. It’s powered by an Intel Core Ultra 5 processor and packs 8 gigabytes of RAM along with a 500-gigabyte SSD. You can also configure it with a Core Ultra 7 if you want a boost in power (with up to 8 terabytes of storage and 56 GB of RAM). It packs plenty of ports too, including one USB 3.2 Type-C port, two USB-A ports, 1 Thunderbolt 4 port, HDMI 2.0, a 3.5-mm headphone jack, and a microSD card reader.
The Lenovo Yoga 9i (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is the best 2-in-1 laptop you can buy. It’s also a great choice if you want a laptop that you can also use as a tablet. It’s powerful too—under the hood is Intel’s Core Ultra CPU which comes complete with AI capabilities. The highlight, however, is the audio-visual experience, In addition to a super vivid and bright screen, it packs a Bowers & Wilkins rotating soundbar coupled with two two-watt woofers. The webcam has also been upgraded to 5 megapixels and includes an IR sensor for presence detection.
MacBook Deals
Be sure to read through all our Cyber Monday Apple deals, and for more background on which Macs we love, see our Best Macbooks guide.
Photograph: Brenda Stolyar
The new 13-inch MacBook Air (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is the best MacBook for most people. It pairs a powerful M3 chip with a nice, bright, sharp 13.6-inch LCD screen, a 1080p webcam, two USB 4/Thunderbolt ports, and a 3.5-mm headphone jack. The M3 chip gives the Air quite the performance boost over the older M1 version. In our testing, it was able to handle everyday tasks, like web browsing, checking email, and watching videos with ease, and even handles slightly more intensive tasks like photo or video editing without breaking a sweat. If you’re looking for a mobile video editing workstation, you’re better off with the MacBook Pro below.
If you want a MacBook that can handle even more workloads, this is the deal for you. This model also has more ports. There are three USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 4, an HDMI port, an SD card slot (bless you Apple, may every PC copy this move), a fancy high-impedance headphone jack, and a MagSafe charging port. The base model has 16 gigabytes of memory and the base M4 chip can handle most general tasks but video editors and anyone using more CPU- and GPU-demanding apps will want to look at the M4 Pro for $2,099 ($300 off) or the M4 Max for $2,899 ($300 off).
This Chromebook (8/10, WIRED Recommends) received an honorable mention in our guide to Best Laptops. It comes with a 15.6-inch (non-touch) display and a 12th-generation 3.85-GHz Intel Core i3-1215U processor that delivers an impressive boost in performance over its predecessor. In terms of storage, the entry-level model also comes with 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of flash storage. You’ll also get two USB-C ports (with support for DisplayPort), one USB-A port, and an HDMI 1.4 output jack. It’s a good choice if you’re looking for a solid, affordable laptop that just packs the basics.
Tablet Deals
Photograph: Apple
The iPad (10th-gen) (7/10, WIRED Review) is our favorite iPad to recommend to most people. It has an A14 Bionic chip (which you’ll also find in the iPhone 12) that never felt sluggish while testing it. It also has a modern design, with slim bezels around a large 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display (IPS LCD), Touch ID integrated into the power button, a USB-C port for charging, and a 12-megapixel front-facing camera that’s located in the center of the iPad.
If you want a tablet that’s similar to the iPad Pro but outside Apple’s ecosystem, this is the closest you’ll get. The S10+ has a 12.4-inch AMOLED screen that looks stunning, while the included S Pen is great for taking notes or doodling. It comes with 7 years of software updates too. There’s also the S10 Ultra which is on sale as well for $1,000 ($200 off). It has a larger, 14.6-inch screen but we think it’s too unwieldy to hold so you’ll want to purchase a kickstand case to use with it.
Photograph: Brenda Stolyar
Apple’s latest iPad Mini (8/10, WIRED Recommends) isn’t going to replace your laptop, but it’s a nice extra device for reading on the couch or watching films on a flight (though the screen is on the small side). The A17 Pro chip is enough to run both graphically demanding games and Apple Intelligence without bogging down. It also has support for Apple Pencil Pro, which is on sale for $94 ($35 off).
The Fire Max 11 (5/10, WIRED Review) is Amazon’s most powerful tablet. But its high price, especially paired with the Productivity Bundle, put us off. Now that its price is well below $200, it’s a much better value. Like all Fire tablets, it’s ideal if you’re all in on Amazon’s content and services. It packs good performance, a bright and sharp screen, solid speakers, and an all-metal build, plus the 1080p cameras are nicer than what you’ll find on the rest of Amazon’s tablets.
The Fire HD 10 Pro Kid’s Edition is the same as the regular Fire HD 10, but it comes with a handy protective case (with kickstand), one year of Amazon Kids+, and, most importantly, a no-questions-asked warranty for when your kids accidentally drop it. Parental controls on Amazon’s tablets are limited but offer some control over content (see our guide for more details).
The Combo Touch is a great way to get work done on an iPad; it’s the best keyboard case for your iPad. The back has a nice kickstand that can prop up your iPad at just about any angle and does a good job of protecting the back from scratches. The keyboard, while not as nice as a “real” keyboard is pretty dang good. I can type just as fast on this as I can on my laptop. Combo Touch cases connect using Apple’s Smart Connector so you don’t have to worry about draining the battery by having Bluetooth on all the time. There are models available for the base iPad (7th, 8th, and 9th Gen) along with the iPad Air (5th Gen and M2) and 11-inch iPad Pro (1st Gen and newer), 12.9-inch iPad Pro (5th and 6th Gen), as well as the 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Pros.
Chargers and Accessories
Photograph: Satechi
This handy charger has enough power to juice up two MacBook Pro models simultaneously. But it’s also great if you have a lot of devices around your desk that constantly need to be charged. It has a little stand to prop it up, a short cord that goes out to an outlet, and four USB-C ports that output 100 watts each. This is the lowest price we’ve tracked.
A 25,000-mAh battery pack that’s surprisingly compact is a rarity, and this one also packs two USB-C ports, one USB-A, and the ability to draw 145 watts while charging. That means one USB-C port can dish out 100 watts, enough to fast charge a laptop, while the other puts out 45 watts.
This charger packs two USB-C ports, one of which can output 65 watts when used alone. If you plug two devices in, the top will deliver 45 watts and the bottom can do 20 watts. It also folds up and looks super sleek.
Photograph: Twelve South
We’ve used this hub with iPads, but it’s also great for MacBooks. Plug it in via the USB-C port on your laptop and you’ll have access to another USB-C port for passthrough charging, a USB-A port, an HDMI output, and a headphone jack. It’s also fairly compact and thin so it won’t add too much bulk to your laptop. It dipped to $40 in August but this is still a good deal.
For incremental backups, which we recommend, speed isn’t a huge factor, what you need is space and lots of it. This Western Digital drive has been our top pick for ages when speed isn’t a huge concern. I have been using a variation of the Elements desktop hard drive to make incremental backups of my data for more than a decade now. These drives are big and require external power, but they’re some of the cheapest, most reliable drives I’ve used.
Seagate’s portable spinning drives are another good value for incremental backups. They’re fast enough that it won’t take too long to back up your data and they don’t require external power. They’re also small enough to be portable. It never hurts to have more backups, and it’s best to use drives from different brands, since it will reduce the chance that both fail simultaneously.
Photograph: Scott Gilbertson
These Crucial drives are my favorite general-purpose external storage drives. They’re reasonably priced (for a portable SSD) and speedy enough for most uses. The X6 is lightweight and tiny, making it a good choice for working at the coffee shop. The downside is that this isn’t a blinding-fast hard disk. In fact, under the hood, the X6 uses an older drive interface (Serial AT Attachment, or SATA), which was more common with spinning hard drives. So while it’s small and light, its speed is limited by that older interface technology. In my testing on Windows and macOS, that works out to about 550 Mbps read speed and 208 Mbps write speed.
Samsung’s rugged, padding T7 drive has an IP65 rating, which means it’s fine in the rain and is protected from dust and sand. The T7 line is notable for its built-in security features like hardware-based encryption, but unlike the Touch model, the Shield does not have a fingerprint reader. Still, this is a good SSD if your portable drives lead a rough life in an everyday bag.
This tiny little drive used to be a top pick in our hard drive buying guide, but at full price there are better drives. This deal makes it more tempting though, especially if you take our advice to make backups on a variety of drives from a variety of manufacturers (to minimize the chances that two backups fail simultaneously). The T7 isn’t as fast as the Shield version above, which I’d recommend over this, but if you’re on a tight budget, this drive will get the job done.
Keychron Q1 Pro
Photograph: Amazon
This was WIRED reviews editor Julian Chokkattu’s daily keyboard for almost a year. You can use it wired or wirelessly via Bluetooth and it comes in several colors and switches to pick from (it’s also RGB-backlit). The red switches aren’t very loud but are still clicky, and there’s a great knob for volume control. It’s hot-swappable too, so you can change the switches whenever you’d like.
The Das Keyboard MacTigr (9/10, WIRED Recommends) is expensive, but it’s great for those in the Apple ecosystem with a dedicated Mac layout. It also has cherry MX Red switches (that don’t get too loud), a two-port USB-C hub, and a high-quality all-metal build.
Photograph: Amazon; Getty Images
Logitech has a long history of great keyboards, and the MX Mechanical Mini is no exception. This wireless keyboard packs backlit keys, wired or wireless connectivity, and low-profile mechanical switches in your choice of tactile quiet, clicky, or linear. If you’ve got tons of devices, you should know the MX Mini also has wide support for operating systems and devices, including iOS. That makes this one of our favorite upgraded keyboards for tablet power users who want to unfold for a bit into a proper workstation. —Brad Bourque
Even at its original price of $170, the Lofree Flow84 is one of the best low-profile mechanical keyboards I’ve tested. It’s crisp, satisfying, and incredibly solid thanks to a full metal construction and a gasket mount system. Combine this with great styling, wireless connectivity, and hot-swappable switches (although this keyboard only takes other Kailh V2 low-profile switches), and the Flow84 is an incredible deal for a solid low-profile keyboard. —Henri Robbins
This is our favorite laptop stand for bed. It’s one height, but you can angle the base, and the legs fold up for storing. The smaller surface on the right stays flat, so you can put your drink there if you don’t move around too much. There’s even a small drawer.
Logitech’s Casa Pop-Up Desk (9/10, WIRED Review) is a great option if you work on the go but prefer using an external keyboard and mouse instead of working directly off your laptop. Rather than packing your own accessories, this one comes with a keyboard and trackpad that fit neatly into a small case that doubles as a laptop stand. It’s pricey, but worth it if you’re always on the move.
This is the best time of the year to buy a new laptop. You’ll rarely get a better chance to nab a computer, so we’ve rounded up the best Black Friday laptop deals we’ve seen on all the models our reviewers recommend. Whether you want a portable productivity powerhouse, a glorious gaming PC, or just something to curl up in bed with Netflix, these machines from companies like Apple, Dell, Asus, and Lenovo will do the job. You’ll also find some other laptop accessories and peripherals below, including mechanical keyboards.
WIRED Featured Deals
Updated Saturday, November 30, 2024: We’ve added new deals on the iPad Mini, Logitech Combo Touch keyboard, and several hard drives from Samsung, Crucial, and Western Digital. We also fixed prices and links throughout.
WIRED’s Black Friday 2024 Coverage
Laptop Deals
Photograph: Lenovo
Do you think of a laptop as metal framing around a web browser? Consider a Chromebook. Google rolled out a big upgrade called Chromebook Plus in 2023. The “Plus” stands for better performance—faster processors, more memory, more storage, and better video cameras. Our favorite of the models we’ve tried is Lenovo’s Flex 5i Chromebook Plus (8/10, WIRED Recommends). It’s among the fastest Chromebooks we’ve tested for the money. It features a 3.75-GHz Intel Core i3-1315U CPU, 8 GB of RAM, and 128 GB of flash storage.
Dell’s two larger XPS laptops (7/10, WIRED Recommends) are aimed at Windows users with Macbook jealousy. The design, specs, and sizes align perfectly with Apple’s offerings. The XPS 14 has a gorgeous, sleek design (though it’s thicker than a MacBook), a wonderfully bright and sharp OLED screen (with 120-Hz screen refresh rates), and is plenty speedy for everyday tasks. Unfortunately, heavy-duty tasks like video editing, well, the MacBook’s benchmarks run circles around the XPS 14. Still, with this deal, this is a serious piece of hardware for not a lot of money.
Dell recently updated its XPS 13 line with Qualcomm Snapdragon chips to make it that sweet, sweet Copilot+ PC. This deal features the Snapdragon X Elite, which is the fastest of the two options. I’ve been testing this one for a couple of months and have been very impressed with how smoothly Windows works on a new architecture. It’s been plenty speedy, and the battery life is outstanding—about 14 hours in my testing—though not quite as impressive as some other Snapdragon-equipped machines we’ve tested. If you want an Intel XPS 13, those are on sale as well. You can get a Core Ultra 7 chip, 32 GB RAM, and a 1 TB SSD for $1,499 ($500 off).
Photograph: Christopher Null
The first Intel-based Copilot+ PC is a winner on all fronts (7/10, WIRED Review), boasting outstanding AI and graphics performance and some of the best battery life we’ve ever seen on Intel hardware. With its slightly oddball 15.3-inch screen, it hits its high points and is hard to argue with at this price, though the fan is loud and the system may weigh you down more than you’d like.
There’s much to love about Samsung’s Galaxy Book4 Ultra (7/10, WIRED Review), but let’s be honest, that sticker price is insane. This deal brings it down somewhat, though it’s still pricey. You get impressive hardware—the new Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor, the current top-of-the-line processor in Intel’s Core Ultra CPU lineup, along with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card. The 16-inch AMOLED 2,880 X 1,800-pixel touchscreen is magnificent to work on and performance blew everything else we’ve tested out of the water at this price.
The Swift Go offers outstanding performance for the price (7/10, WIRED Review). It also boasts an impressive 15-hour battery life. The downside is the speakers, which aren’t great, and overall the body feels a little plasticky. But this is the least expensive Intel Core Ultra laptop we’ve tested by a few dollars, so if your budget is tight, the Swift Go is worth considering.
Asus Chromebook Plus CX34
Photograph: Daniel Thorp-Lancaster
The Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is the best-looking Chromebook you can buy. The beautiful white design stands out in a sea of gray slabs. The Core i5 CPU offers plenty of performance and can easily handle multiple tabs and app juggling. The webcam is nice too, much crisper than you’d expect for a sub-$500 laptop. The downside is there’s no backlit keyboard.
The 13-inch Surface Laptop (7th Edition) (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processor. Performance was good in our testing. It did not bog down no matter how many windows, tabs, and apps we threw at it. That said, this is not a machine for graphics-intensive tasks, like video editing or gaming (which is a shame because the vivid sharp screen with a 120-Hz screen refresh rate would be great for gaming).
System76’s Lemur Pro (9/10, WIRED Recommends) is our favorite Linux laptop. It’s thin and lightweight and it’s a great alternative for those who aren’t into Windows 11. It’s powered by an Intel Core Ultra 5 processor and packs 8 gigabytes of RAM along with a 500-gigabyte SSD. You can also configure it with a Core Ultra 7 if you want a boost in power (with up to 8 terabytes of storage and 56 GB of RAM). It packs plenty of ports too, including one USB 3.2 Type-C port, two USB-A ports, 1 Thunderbolt 4 port, HDMI 2.0, a 3.5-mm headphone jack, and a microSD card reader.
The Lenovo Yoga 9i (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is the best 2-in-1 laptop you can buy. It’s also a great choice if you want a laptop that you can also use as a tablet. It’s powerful too—under the hood is Intel’s Core Ultra CPU which comes complete with AI capabilities. The highlight, however, is the audio-visual experience, In addition to a super vivid and bright screen, it packs a Bowers & Wilkins rotating soundbar coupled with two two-watt woofers. The webcam has also been upgraded to 5 megapixels and includes an IR sensor for presence detection.
MacBook Deals
Be sure to read through all our Black Friday Apple deals, and for more background on which Macs we love, see our Best Macbooks guide.
Photograph: Brenda Stolyar
The new 13-inch MacBook Air (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is the best MacBook for most people. It pairs a powerful M3 chip with a nice, bright, sharp 13.6-inch LCD screen, a 1080p webcam, two USB 4/Thunderbolt ports, and a 3.5-mm headphone jack. The M3 chip gives the Air quite the performance boost over the older M1 version. In our testing, it was able to handle everyday tasks, like web browsing, checking email, and watching videos with ease, and even handles slightly more intensive tasks like photo or video editing without breaking a sweat. If you’re looking for a mobile video editing workstation, you’re better off with the MacBook Pro below.
If you want a MacBook that can handle even more workloads, this is the deal for you. This model also has more ports. There are three USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 4, an HDMI port, an SD card slot (bless you Apple, may every PC copy this move), a fancy high-impedance headphone jack, and a MagSafe charging port. The base model has 16 gigabytes of memory and the base M4 chip can handle most general tasks but video editors and anyone using more CPU- and GPU-demanding apps will want to look at the M4 Pro for $2,099 ($300 off) or the M4 Max for $2,899 ($300 off).
This Chromebook (8/10, WIRED Recommends) received an honorable mention in our guide to Best Laptops. It comes with a 15.6-inch (non-touch) display and a 12th-generation 3.85-GHz Intel Core i3-1215U processor that delivers an impressive boost in performance over its predecessor. In terms of storage, the entry-level model also comes with 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of flash storage. You’ll also get two USB-C ports (with support for DisplayPort), one USB-A port, and an HDMI 1.4 output jack. It’s a good choice if you’re looking for a solid, affordable laptop that just packs the basics.
Tablet Deals
Photograph: Apple
The iPad (10th-gen) (7/10, WIRED Review) is our favorite iPad to recommend to most people. It has an A14 Bionic chip (which you’ll also find in the iPhone 12) that never felt sluggish while testing it. It also has a modern design, with slim bezels around a large 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display (IPS LCD), Touch ID integrated into the power button, a USB-C port for charging, and a 12-megapixel front-facing camera that’s located in the center of the iPad.
The OnePlus Pad 2 is a mouthful of a name, but it’s our favorite Android tablet. It’s a good value, especially at this price. The screen is quite nice if a somewhat unusual, 12.1-inch size. It’s great for watching videos or getting work done. The highlight here is the OnePlus customization of Android, which makes it possible to multi-task three apps side by side simultaneously, or two apps side by side and a third at the bottom. To be more productive, we suggest picking up the keyboard case.
If you want a tablet that’s similar to the iPad Pro but outside Apple’s ecosystem, this is the closest you’ll get. The S10+ has a 12.4-inch AMOLED screen that looks stunning, while the included S Pen is great for taking notes or doodling. It comes with 7 years of software updates too. There’s also the S10 Ultra which is on sale as well for $1,000 ($200 off). It has a larger, 14.6-inch screen but we think it’s too unwieldy to hold so you’ll want to purchase a kickstand case to use with it.
The Combo Touch is a great way to get work done on an iPad; it’s the best keyboard case for your iPad. The back has a nice kickstand that can prop up your iPad at just about any angle and does a good job of protecting the back from scratches. The keyboard, while not a nice as a “real” keyboard is pretty dang good. I can type just as fast on this as I can on my laptop. Combo Touch cases connect using Apple’s Smart Connector so you don’t have to worry about draining the battery by having Bluetooth on all the time. There are models available for the base iPad (7th, 8th, and 9th Gen) along with the iPad Air (5th Gen and M2) and 11-inch iPad Pro (1st Gen and newer), 12.9-inch iPad Pro (5th and 6th Gen), as well as the 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Pros.
Apple’s latest iPad Mini (8/10, WIRED Recommends) isn’t going to replace your laptop, but it’s a nice extra device for reading on the couch or watching films on a flight (though the screen is on the small side). The A17 Pro chip is enough to run both graphically demanding games and Apple Intelligence without bogging down. It also has support for Apple Pencil Pro, which is on sale for $94 ($35 off).
Chargers and Accessories
Photograph: Satechi
This handy charger has enough power to juice up two MacBook Pro models simultaneously. But it’s also great if you have a lot of devices around your desk that constantly need to be charged. It has a little stand to prop it up, a short cord that goes out to an outlet, and four USB-C ports that output 100 watts each. This is the lowest price we’ve tracked.
A 25,000-mAh battery pack that’s surprisingly compact is a rarity, and this one also packs two USB-C ports, one USB-A, and the ability to draw 145 watts while charging. That means one USB-C port can dish out 100 watts, enough to fast charge a laptop, while the other puts out 45 watts.
This charger packs two USB-C ports, one of which can output 65 watts when used alone. If you plug two devices in, the top will deliver 45 watts and the bottom can do 20 watts. It also folds up and looks super sleek.
Photograph: Twelve South
We’ve used this hub with iPads, but it’s also great for MacBooks. Plug it in via the USB-C port on your laptop and you’ll have access to another USB-C port for passthrough charging, a USB-A port, an HDMI output, and a headphone jack. It’s also fairly compact and thin so it won’t add too much bulk to your laptop. It dipped to $40 in August but this is still a good deal.
For incremental backups, which we recommend, speed isn’t a huge factor, what you need is space and lots of it. This Western Digital drive has been our top pick for ages when speed isn’t a huge concern. I have been using a variation of the Elements desktop hard drive to make incremental backups of my data for more than a decade now. These drives are big and require external power, but they’re some of the cheapest, most reliable drives I’ve used.
Seagate’s portable spinning drives are another good value for incremental backups. They’re fast enough that it won’t take too long to back up your data and they don’t require external power. They’re also small enough to be portable. It never hurts to have more backups, and it’s best to use drives from different brands, since it will reduce the chance that both fail simultaneously.
Photograph: Scott Gilbertson
These Crucial drives are my favorite general-purpose external storage drives. They’re reasonably priced (for a portable SSD) and speedy enough for most uses. The X6 is lightweight and tiny, making it a good choice for working at the coffee shop. The downside is that this isn’t a blinding-fast hard disk. In fact, under the hood, the X6 uses an older drive interface (Serial AT Attachment, or SATA), which was more common with spinning hard drives. So while it’s small and light, its speed is limited by that older interface technology. In my testing on Windows and macOS, that works out to about 550 Mbps read speed and 208 Mbps write speed.
Samsung’s rugged, padding T7 drive has an IP65 rating, which means it’s fine in the rain and is protected from dust and sand. The T7 line is notable for its built-in security features like hardware-based encryption, but unlike the Touch model, the Shield does not have a fingerprint reader. Still, this is a good SSD if your portable drives lead a rough life in an everyday bag.
This tiny little drive used to be a top pick in our hard drive buying guide, but at full price there are better drives. This deal makes it more tempting though, especially if you take our advice to make backups on a variety of drives from a variety of manufacturers (to minimize the chances that two backups fail simultaneously). The T7 isn’t as fast as the Shield version above, which I’d recommend over this, but if you’re on a tight budget, this drive will get the job done.
Keychron Q1 Pro
Photograph: Amazon
This was WIRED reviews editor Julian Chokkattu’s daily keyboard for almost a year. You can use it wired or wirelessly via Bluetooth and it comes in several colors and switches to pick from (it’s also RGB-backlit). The red switches aren’t very loud but are still clicky, and there’s a great knob for volume control. It’s hot-swappable too, so you can change the switches whenever you’d like.
The Das Keyboard MacTigr (9/10, WIRED Recommends) is expensive, but it’s great for those in the Apple ecosystem with a dedicated Mac layout. It also has cherry MX Red switches (that don’t get too loud), a two-port USB-C hub, and a high-quality all-metal build.
Photograph: Amazon; Getty Images
Logitech has a long history of great keyboards, and the MX Mechanical Mini is no exception. This wireless keyboard packs backlit keys, wired or wireless connectivity, and low-profile mechanical switches in your choice of tactile quiet, clicky, or linear. If you’ve got tons of devices, you should know the MX Mini also has wide support for operating systems and devices, including iOS. That makes this one of our favorite upgraded keyboards for tablet power users who want to unfold for a bit into a proper workstation. —Brad Bourque
Even at its original price of $170, the Lofree Flow84 is one of the best low-profile mechanical keyboards I’ve tested. It’s crisp, satisfying, and incredibly solid thanks to a full metal construction and a gasket mount system. Combine this with great styling, wireless connectivity, and hot-swappable switches (although this keyboard only takes other Kailh V2 low-profile switches), and the Flow84 is an incredible deal for a solid low-profile keyboard. —Henri Robbins
This is our favorite laptop stand for bed. It’s one height, but you can angle the base, and the legs fold up for storing. The smaller surface on the right stays flat, so you can put your drink there if you don’t move around too much. There’s even a small drawer.
Logitech’s Casa Pop-Up Desk (9/10, WIRED Review) is a great option if you work on the go but prefer using an external keyboard and mouse instead of working directly off your laptop. Rather than packing your own accessories, this one comes with a keyboard and trackpad that fit neatly into a small case that doubles as a laptop stand. It’s pricey, but worth it if you’re always on the move.
This is the best time of the year to buy a new laptop. You’ll rarely get a better chance to nab a computer, so we’ve rounded up the best Black Friday laptop deals we’ve seen on all the models our reviewers recommend. Whether you want a portable productivity powerhouse, a glorious gaming PC, or just something to curl up in bed with Netflix, these machines from companies like Apple, Dell, Asus, and Lenovo will do the job. You’ll also find some other laptop accessories and peripherals below, including mechanical keyboards.
WIRED Featured Deals
WIRED’s Black Friday 2024 Coverage
Laptop Deals
Photograph: Lenovo
Do you think of a laptop as metal framing around a web browser? Consider a Chromebook. Google rolled out a big upgrade called Chromebook Plus in 2023. The “Plus” stands for better performance—faster processors, more memory, more storage, and better video cameras. Our favorite of the models we’ve tried is Lenovo’s Flex 5i Chromebook Plus (8/10, WIRED Recommends). It’s among the fastest Chromebooks we’ve tested for the money. It features a 3.75-GHz Intel Core i3-1315U CPU, 8 GB of RAM, and 128 GB of flash storage.
Dell’s two larger XPS laptops (7/10, WIRED Recommends) are aimed at Windows users with Macbook jealousy. The design, specs, and sizes align perfectly with Apple’s offerings. The XPS 14 has a gorgeous, sleek design (though it’s thicker than a MacBook), a wonderfully bright and sharp OLED screen (with 120-Hz screen refresh rates), and is plenty speedy for everyday tasks. Unfortunately, heavy-duty tasks like video editing, well, the MacBook’s benchmarks run circles around the XPS 14. Still, with this deal, this is a serious piece of hardware for not a lot of money.
Dell recently updated its XPS 13 line with Qualcomm Snapdragon chips to make it that sweet, sweet Copilot+ PC. This deal features the Snapdragon X Elite, which is the fastest of the two options. I’ve been testing this one for a couple of months and have been very impressed with how smoothly Windows works on a new architecture. It’s been plenty speedy, and the battery life is outstanding—about 14 hours in my testing—though not quite as impressive as some other Snapdragon-equipped machines we’ve tested. If you want an Intel XPS 13, those are on sale as well. You can get a Core Ultra 7 chip, 32 GB RAM, and a 1 TB SSD for $1,499 ($500 off).
Photograph: Christopher Null
The first Intel-based Copilot+ PC is a winner on all fronts (7/10, WIRED Review), boasting outstanding AI and graphics performance and some of the best battery life we’ve ever seen on Intel hardware. With its slightly oddball 15.3-inch screen, it hits its high points and is hard to argue with at this price, though the fan is loud and the system may weigh you down more than you’d like.
There’s much to love about Samsung’s Galaxy Book4 Ultra (7/10, WIRED Review), but let’s be honest, that sticker price is insane. This deal brings it down somewhat, though it’s still pricey. You get impressive hardware—the new Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor, the current top-of-the-line processor in Intel’s Core Ultra CPU lineup, along with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card. The 16-inch AMOLED 2,880 X 1,800-pixel touchscreen is magnificent to work on and performance blew everything else we’ve tested out of the water at this price.
The Swift Go offers outstanding performance for the price (7/10, WIRED Review). It also boasts an impressive 15-hour battery life. The downside is the speakers, which aren’t great, and overall the body feels a little plasticky. But this is the least expensive Intel Core Ultra laptop we’ve tested by a few dollars, so if your budget is tight, the Swift Go is worth considering.
Asus Chromebook Plus CX34
Photograph: Daniel Thorp-Lancaster
The Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is the best-looking Chromebook you can buy. The beautiful white design stands out in a sea of gray slabs. The Core i5 CPU offers plenty of performance and can easily handle multiple tabs and app juggling. The webcam is nice too, much crisper than you’d expect for a sub-$500 laptop. The downside is there’s no backlit keyboard.
The 13-inch Surface Laptop (7th Edition) (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processor. Performance was good in our testing. It did not bog down no matter how many windows, tabs, and apps we threw at it. That said, this is not a machine for graphics-intensive tasks, like video editing or gaming (which is a shame because the vivid sharp screen with a 120-Hz screen refresh rate would be great for gaming).
MacBook Deals
Be sure to read through all our Black Friday Apple deals, and for more background on which Macs we love, see our Best Macbooks guide.
Photograph: Brenda Stolyar
The new 13-inch MacBook Air (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is the best MacBook for most people. It pairs a powerful M3 chip with a nice, bright, sharp 13.6-inch LCD screen, a 1080p webcam, two USB 4/Thunderbolt ports, and a 3.5-mm headphone jack. The M3 chip gives the Air quite the performance boost over the older M1 version. In our testing, it was able to handle everyday tasks, like web browsing, checking email, and watching videos with ease, and even handles slightly more intensive tasks like photo or video editing without breaking a sweat. If you’re looking for a mobile video editing workstation, you’re better off with the MacBook Pro below.
If you want a MacBook that can handle even more workloads, this is the deal for you. This model also has more ports. There are three USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 4, an HDMI port, an SD card slot (bless you Apple, may every PC copy this move), a fancy high-impedance headphone jack, and a MagSafe charging port. The base model has 16 gigabytes of memory and the base M4 chip can handle most general tasks but video editors and anyone using more CPU- and GPU-demanding apps will want to look at the M4 Pro for $2,099 ($300 off) or the M4 Max for $2,899 ($300 off).
Tablet Deals
Photograph: Apple
The iPad (10th-gen) (7/10, WIRED Review) is our favorite iPad to recommend to most people. It has an A14 Bionic chip (which you’ll also find in the iPhone 12) that never felt sluggish while testing it. It also has a modern design, with slim bezels around a large 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display (IPS LCD), Touch ID integrated into the power button, a USB-C port for charging, and a 12-megapixel front-facing camera that’s located in the center of the iPad.
The OnePlus Pad 2 is a mouthful of a name, but it’s our favorite Android tablet. It’s a good value, especially at this price. The screen is quite nice if a somewhat unusual, 12.1-inch size. It’s great for watching videos or getting work done. The highlight here is the OnePlus customization of Android, which makes it possible to multi-task three apps side by side simultaneously, or two apps side by side and a third at the bottom. To be more productive, we suggest picking up the keyboard case.
Chargers and Accessories
Photograph: Satechi
This handy charger has enough power to juice up two MacBook Pro models simultaneously. But it’s also great if you have a lot of devices around your desk that constantly need to be charged. It has a little stand to prop it up, a short cord that goes out to an outlet, and four USB-C ports that output 100 watts each. This is the lowest price we’ve tracked.
A 25,000-mAh battery pack that’s surprisingly compact is a rarity, and this one also packs two USB-C ports, one USB-A, and the ability to draw 145 watts while charging. That means one USB-C port can dish out 100 watts, enough to fast charge a laptop, while the other puts out 45 watts.
This charger packs two USB-C ports, one of which can output 65 watts when used alone. If you plug two devices in, the top will deliver 45 watts and the bottom can do 20 watts. It also folds up and looks super sleek.
Photograph: Twelve South
We’ve used this hub with iPads, but it’s also great for MacBooks. Plug it in via the USB-C port on your laptop and you’ll have access to another USB-C port for passthrough charging, a USB-A port, an HDMI output, and a headphone jack. It’s also fairly compact and thin so it won’t add too much bulk to your laptop. It dipped to $40 in August but this is still a good deal.
Our favorite external SSD for photographers, the Crucial X9 is built to last, easily pocketable, and supports a wide range of devices, from computers to mobile phones. It’s also one of the fastest portable SSDs we’ve tested, breaking its own stated read and write speeds of 1,050 MBps, so you can get back to taking photos. There’s an even faster X10 Pro, but given the limited availability of the inputs needed to make it work, we think the X9 is a great choice. While this price has been lower before, it never hurts to stock up on storage. —Brad Bourque
Samsung’s rugged, padding T7 drive has an IP65 rating, which means it’s fine in the rain and is protected from dust and sand. The T7 line is notable for its built-in security features like hardware-based encryption, but unlike the Touch model, the Shield does not have a fingerprint reader. Still, this is a good SSD if your portable drives lead a rough life in an everyday bag.
Keychron Q1 Pro
Photograph: Amazon
This was WIRED reviews editor Julian Chokkattu’s daily keyboard for almost a year. You can use it wired or wirelessly via Bluetooth and it comes in several colors and switches to pick from (it’s also RGB-backlit). The red switches aren’t very loud but are still clicky, and there’s a great knob for volume control. It’s hot-swappable too, so you can change the switches whenever you’d like.
The Das Keyboard MacTigr (9/10, WIRED Recommends) is expensive, but it’s great for those in the Apple ecosystem with a dedicated Mac layout. It also has cherry MX Red switches (that don’t get too loud), a two-port USB-C hub, and a high-quality all-metal build.
Photograph: Amazon; Getty Images
Logitech has a long history of great keyboards, and the MX Mechanical Mini is no exception. This wireless keyboard packs backlit keys, wired or wireless connectivity, and low-profile mechanical switches in your choice of tactile quiet, clicky, or linear. If you’ve got tons of devices, you should know the MX Mini also has wide support for operating systems and devices, including iOS. That makes this one of our favorite upgraded keyboards for tablet power users who want to unfold for a bit into a proper workstation. —Brad Bourque
Even at its original price of $170, the Lofree Flow84 is one of the best low-profile mechanical keyboards I’ve tested. It’s crisp, satisfying, and incredibly solid thanks to a full metal construction and a gasket mount system. Combine this with great styling, wireless connectivity, and hot-swappable switches (although this keyboard only takes other Kailh V2 low-profile switches), and the Flow84 is an incredible deal for a solid low-profile keyboard. —Henri Robbins
This is our favorite laptop stand for bed. It’s one height, but you can angle the base, and the legs fold up for storing. The smaller surface on the right stays flat, so you can put your drink there if you don’t move around too much. There’s even a small drawer.
Performance is lackluster but on par with the Asus ProArt, the only other Snapdragon Plus machine I’ve tested to date. In comparison to Snapdragon Elite systems, on general applications and web work, expect about a 20 percent performance drop and significantly more on graphics-related tasks, where the IdeaPad runs at about half the framerate. Some Copilot+ PC features struggled, such as translated Live Captions, though the Cocreator AI image creation system was reasonably expedient.
I figured there would be a silver lining to the laptop’s sluggishness in that the IdeaPad would certainly prove to have outstanding battery life, but that unfortunately wasn’t the case. While the ProArt pulled down a near-record 19+ hours of running time, the IdeaPad mustered barely over 9 hours in my full-screen YouTube test and under 12 hours on a second run-through. That may be fine for entertaining the kids for the day, but it pales in comparison to most other Snapdragon machines.
Another issue: At 3.3 pounds and 22 mm thick, the IdeaPad 5x is rather gargantuan for its screen size. I had to scroll back to 2016 in my testing records to find something with a 14-inch screen that was heavier. (That said, some 14.4-inch systems released since have also been on the beefy side.) The weight is noticeable, both on the lap and if you’re trying to use it as a tablet—though on the plus side, the system is dead quiet either way. I couldn’t get the fan to register so much as a hum, even under a stress-test load.
Photograph: Christopher Null
The price nonetheless makes this laptop at least vaguely appealing, and on a price-performance level, the numbers don’t look all that bad. However, some base level of performance is still a requirement given how power-hungry modern applications tend to be, even on a budget machine, and at $850 the IdeaPad 5x isn’t so incredibly cheap as to allow its drawbacks to be easily overlooked.
Then there’s the display notch, where the webcam sits at the top of the screen. It’s still an eyesore—and during my testing, it covered up dialog boxes more than once. Also, the MacBook Pro fan has always been extremely loud under load, and it’s just as noisy today, and the power brick is still white, even if your laptop is Space Black.
These aren’t fresh concerns, and they’re all minor complaints next to a fresh, weightier concern: At 4.7 pounds, the MacBook Pro M4 feels very heavy—and sure enough, it’s a full half-pound heavier than the M3 Max version I reviewed exactly a year ago. However, inexplicably, it is still 19 millimeters thick. Where has that extra half a pound gone? Must be the tantalizing internal upgrades that are going to blow our minds, right?
Power Boost
The obvious upgrade is Apple’s new M4 Pro CPU, which is the mid-level offering between the standard M4 and M4 Max, not including a rumored M4 Ultra in 2025. The new features on the M4 silicon are too numerous and too nerdy to list here, but the short of it is that you’re getting more cores on both CPU (14 on this configuration) and GPU (20), and (also as configured here) 48 GB of unified memory, which is designed to speed up everything from video processing to DNA sequencing, if that happens to be your hobby.
Naturally, there’s the amply hyped, upgraded Neural Engine, now at 16 cores, designed to power on-device AI workloads (and the new Apple Intelligence) at three times the speed of the M1. My tested configuration also added a 2-terabyte solid-state drive, so this rig is about as loaded as it gets.
Aside from the motherboard, there are new features that may be more immediately visible—three to be exact. First, the USB ports support Thunderbolt 5 (120 Gbps/sec) for faster data transfer speeds. A new 12-MP webcam features “Desk View,” which lets you share a livestream of your desk while you’re screen-sharing. Lastly, there’s a “nano-texture” screen upgrade option, which is Applespeak for its glare reduction technology that debuted on the Studio Display. I have the feature on my test machine, and if nothing else in the MacBook Pro M4 gets you excited, this should. It makes the screen feel like you’re looking at a photograph. (The upgrade will cost you $150.)
Speaking of the Studio Display, Apple brought over the nano-texture glass option, which reduces glare—helpful if you often work by a window or outdoors. As usual, this is an add-on upgrade, so it’ll cost you an additional $150 and is available for all configurations.
The base MacBook Pro now sports three USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 4 (one more than on the M3 version), an HDMI, an SD card slot, a high-impedance headphone jack, and a MagSafe charging port. It’s available in space black and silver. If you opt for the version with the M4 Pro and M4 Max chipsets, you get three USB-C Thunderbolt 5 ports for faster data transfer speeds along with the same other connectivity options.
If you don’t need a super powerful chip, you can pair the 14-inch MacBook Pro with the entry-level M4 and 16 GB of unified memory. However, this option does not exist with the 16-inch MacBook Pro. You have to get it with either the M4 Pro or M4 Max.
Photograph: Apple
So what’s the difference between the M4 Pro and M4 Max? The M4 Pro can be upgraded to a 14-core CPU and an up to 20-core GPU. The most powerful option is the M4 Max, which packs a 16-core CPU and up to a 40-core GPU. These chips are built on a second-generation 3-nanometer process, fitting more transistors into a smaller space to enhance efficiency and speed. The M4 Pro and M4 Max enable features like mesh shading and ray tracing—Apple says the ray tracing engine is now twice as fast as on the M3 chips.
On the plus side, things do at least feel reasonably peppy in regular use, and onboard AI features didn’t disappoint. Live Captions (in the same language only for now, until the Copilot+ PC rollout hits) were snappy and accurate, and Paint’s Image Creator mode offered up AI art quickly on command. But best of all, Samsung has finally come through by releasing a laptop that really, honest-to-God offers “all-day battery life.” Its benchmark of 18 hours, 43 minutes on a full-screen YouTube playback test is a high-water mark for Intel PCs, and enough to even best every Snapdragon laptop I’ve tested except for one—the Asus ProArt PZ13.
Buggy Book
Despite some high points, I found myself frequently frustrated with the user experience when working with this laptop. I’ve already mentioned the aggravating keyboard, but compounding that problem is the fact that the system is just plain buggy.
Photograph: Christopher Null
I lost count of how many times the laptop would fail to do something completely pedestrian, like loading the Samsung account login screen, closing a window, or even loading Copilot by tapping the Copilot key on the keyboard. My review unit even locked up during login once and refused to run a System Restore repeatedly until I ran the “Fix problems using Windows Update” recovery wizard. Oddly, the system ran fine during stress-test benchmarks but it struggled the most when it should have been smooth sailing.
Samsung also makes a lot of hay about the new AI features available on the system, including “Transcript Assist” for converting recorded meetings into written summaries and “Chat Assist,” which can “enhance conversations through suggested replies.” You’ll have to read the fine print to realize these are all features on Samsung Galaxy phones, and that you can only use them via your phone and Microsoft Phone Link—essentially turning the Book5 into nothing but an oversized phone display.
The Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360 has a pretty face and jaw-dropping battery life, but it’s nearly impossible to recommend in its current state due to general instability and an unfriendly keyboard, especially at $1,700. Firmware and software updates may help to resolve the former, but there’s not much to be done about the input situation other than to price out an external keyboard.
Speaking of, regardless of the video call app you use, Chromebook Plus laptops now have a studio-style mic option to better isolate your voice and cut the background chatter, and there are appearance enhancements to brighten up the face or adjust the lighting.
Those features outside of Quick Insert are exclusive to Chromebook Plus machines. This is a standard Google created last year that establishes a strict hardware specification manufacturers must adhere to if they want to sit under that label. The point is to ensure a certain level of polish on these Chromebooks, which start at around $350. But Google isn’t forgetting about all the non-Chromebook Plus laptops.
A few things are coming to all Chromebooks (well, ones still supported). Welcome Recap, for example, gives you an overview of where you left off, with an image of the last webpage you were on and all the other apps you still had open, in case you wanted to jump right back in the next day. Focus mode—which first debuted on Android phones—is now baked into ChromeOS, allowing you to turn on Do Not Disturb and silence notifications if you want to get in the zone. There’s even a YouTube Music integration to play soundscapes to get you in the right mood. And in the launcher tray, there’s a section to pin certain files for quick access, and ChromeOS will suggest recently opened Google Docs or Slides.
Surprisingly, Google’s Gemini chatbot is now available on all Chromebooks—this used to be exclusive to Chromebook Plus models—though Google will only offer three months of free access to the Google One AI Premium Plan if you buy a new Chromebook (which nets you access to Gemini Advanced). If you buy a Chromebook Plus, Google’s still running the promotion that gets you the same free perk for 12 months.
New Chromebooks
There’s some shiny new hardware to go along with these new software features. First up is a long-awaited update to the Lenovo Duet, a portable laptop we’ve loved in prior iterations. This 2-in-1 detachable laptop comes with a kickstand to prop the 11-inch 2K screen upright and includes a keyboard for when you don’t want to use it in tablet mode. Google says it has updated the palm rejection models in ChromeOS so drawing on this slate with a stylus will be far less frustrating.
It’s powered by a MediaTek Kompanio 838 processor with 8 GB of RAM, and remember, since this is not a Chromebook Plus model, performance on this machine likely won’t impress. But if you’re using it for word processing and a few Chrome tabs, it’ll do the job. It comes with 128 GB of storage, an 8-megapixel rear camera, and a 5-MP selfie camera. It costs $349.
The Lenovo Chromebook Duet.
Courtesy of Google
The stylus and the rear camera are showcased on the Lenovo Chromebook Duet tablet.
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
The Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus is Samsung’s first Chromebook Plus laptop and it’s also the thinnest and lightest to date. It weighs 2.58 pounds despite the 15.6-inch screen—for context, a 15-inch MacBook Air weighs 3.3 pounds. This one is a clamshell, but you get an OLED display, a superior Intel Core 3 100U processor along with 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage.
The Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus.
Courtesy of Google
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
Both of these laptops are launching in October.
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