OPPO Find N Review: Combining the best of Samsung and Huawei’s foldables

OPPO may be late to the foldable smartphone game — Samsung, Huawei, Xiaomi, Motorola, and even, uh, Royole have already hit the market with foldables. But according to the company’s chief product officer Pete Lau, this late entrance wasn’t due to a lack of ability. OPPO had, in fact, built six foldable prototypes over the past four years — and in a media briefing with Lau, we even caught a glimpse of these devices, which included clamshells, innie-folds, and outer-folds. But ultimately, the company decided to wait until the technology matured.

And with the benefit of hindsight, OPPO could also examine what other companies did right and wrong. And so the company’s first foldable, the Find N, seems to take the best of Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Huawei’s Mate X2 to form one well-balanced package. In fact, this is my new favorite foldable hardware.

OPPO Find N Specifications: Click to expand

OPPO Find N: Specifications

Specification	OPPO Find N
Build	Gorilla Glass Victus front and back Aluminum frame and hinge
Dimensions & Weight	Folded: 132.6 x 73 x 15.9 mm Unfolded: 132.6 x 140.2 x 8.0 mm
Display	Main 7.1″ flexible OLED with UTG 1792 x 1920 120Hz refresh rate Secondary 5.5″ AMOLED screen 988 x 1972 60Hz refresh rate 18:9 aspect ratio
SoC	Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 CPU 1x ARM Cortex-X1 @ 2.84GHz 3x ARM Cortex-A78 @ 2.4GHz 4x ARM Cortex-A55 @ 1.8GHz GPU: Adreno 660
RAM & Storage	12GB LPDDR5 RAM + 256GB UFS 3.1 storage 12GB LPDDR5 RAM + 512GB UFS 3.1 storage
Battery & Charging	4,500mAh battery 33W wired fast charging 15W wireless charging
Security	Side-mounted fingerprint reader
Rear Cameras	Primary: 50 MP, f/1.8, 24mm (wide), 1/1.56″ Secondary: 16 MP, f/2.2, 14mm (ultra-wide), 123˚ Tertiary: 13 MP,f/2.4, 52mm (telephoto), 1/3.4″
Front Camera	32MP, f/2.4 (main screen) 32MP, f/2.4 (secondary screen)
Port	USB Type-C No 3.5mm headphone jack
Audio	Stereo speakers
Connectivity	Qualcomm Snapdragon X60 4G LTE and 5G integrated modem 5G: n1/n3/n5/n7/n8/n20/n28/n38/n40/n41/n77/n78/n79 4G: LTE FDD: B1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/17/20/28/32/66 4G: LTE TDD: B38/40/41/42 3G: WCDMA: B1/2/4/5/8 2G: GSM: 850 900 1800 1900 MHz Dual SIM, Dual 5G standby Bluetooth 5.2 Wi-Fi 6E NFC and IR blaster
Software	ColorOS 12 based on Android 11

About this hands-on: OPPO provided me with a Find N unit to test. This review is after a week of use. OPPO did not have any inputs in this article.

OPPO Find N Hardware: The Goldilocks foldable

Up until now, foldable phones have been either very small or very large. Clamshell foldables like the Galaxy Z Flip 3 or Motorola Razr are just normal-sized phones that fold in half to become tiny — smaller than even a drink coaster in height and width. Larger foldables like Samsung’s Fold series, Huawei’s Mate X series, or Xiaomi’s Mix Fold, are basically iPad Mini-sized tablets that transform into a modern era flagship slab — which means they’re relatively big even in this form. Samsung and Xiaomi did make their foldables narrower in width, but they’re still tall phones that tower over, say, a standard iPhone.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2, Huawei Mate X2, and Xiaomi Mix Fold

The OPPO Find N is the first foldable to find a balance between the two approaches. Its outside secondary screen measures just 5.5-inches, with a more conventional 18:9 aspect ratio, and thanks to thin bezels and subtle curvature at the edges, this makes the Find N look and feel ultra-compact in folded form. In fact, it’s significantly smaller than an iPhone 13 Pro, which itself is not big by modern slab standards.

The Find N with an iPhone 13 Pro

And it’s noticeably shorter and more compact than the Galaxy Z Fold 3.

Find N and Galaxy Z Fold 3

The OPPO Find N is the first foldable to find a balance between too big and too small

And because the Find N’s screen uses an 18:9 aspect ratio compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 3’s 24.5:9, it can display smartphone content in a more “normal” manner, without the cramped and elongated feeling you get from the Z Fold 3. This is of particular importance when typing — onscreen keyboards have always felt cramped on the outer screens of Samsung’s Fold phones, and even worse on the Xiaomi Mix Fold, which leads to more typos. On the Find N, I can peck away at my usual speeds.

The curvature of both front and back glass, along with a more rounded hinge area also makes for a more comfortable in-hand feel than the Galaxy Z Fold 3, whose hinge corners are still slightly sharp (this problem was even worse on the Galaxy Z Fold 2 before it).

You may notice from the photo above that the Find N also folds completely flat, while the Galaxy Z Fold 3’s folds at an angle and leaves a slight gap. That’s because the Find N’s hinge has a small cavity into which the screen tucks for a less harsh fold than the Galaxy Z Fold 3’s design.

This design also means the Find N’s inside screen doesn’t show much of a crease (and it actually has a double crease because of the lenient fold bend). You can spot the double-crease if you look at the screen from extreme angles under certain lighting, but it’s far, far less noticeable than the crease in the Galaxy Z Fold 3.

Find N (left), Galaxy Z Fold 3 (right).

The Find N’s main screen is a 7.1-inch, 1792 x 1920, 120Hz panel, and it looks and feels great. It’s covered by ultra-thin glass so it feels less plasticky than Xiaomi and Huawei’s foldable and more like Samsung’s foldables — the screen, in fact, is sourced from Samsung. And animations are buttery smooth, although quite jarring when jumping back to the mere 60Hz outside screen.

In the last week, the Find N has received a lot of gushy praise from tech media for this hinge design that has mostly eliminated the crease and the gap. I have to add some context to that. While this is a damn great design, the Find N is not the first to offer this design. We’ve seen it in Motorola’s Razr foldables, and in more direct comparison, the Huawei Mate X2, too. In terms of look and feel, the Find N’s hinge is very similar to the one seen in the Huawei Mate X2.

But OPPO improves on this hinge by adding a trick pioneered by Samsung: the ability for the hinge to stay open mid-fold at any angle. Samsung calls this “Flex Mode,” OPPO calls its take “FlexForm Mode,” but they work the same way. Right now, only Samsung and OPPO foldables can do this — and it is a very practical feature that further justifies the point of foldables.

The hinge being able to stay halfway folded allows the Find N to be used as a mini laptop, and because the screen aspect ratio is wider than the Galaxy Z Fold 3, the keyboard is less cramped too. I actually can type slightly faster in laptop mode with multiple fingers than just two-thumb typing.

This form also lets users take photos or videos, or watch media, hands-free. For example, I was able to take this photo of myself in front of a graffiti wall without needing a tripod.

Battery and Memory

The OPPO Find N, despite its compact size, packs a 4,500 mAh battery that is slightly bigger than the 4,400 mAh cell in the Galaxy Z Fold 3. And because the outside screen is just a 60Hz panel and OPPO’s Chinese ROM software has some aggressive battery management (more on this in the software section), the Find N’s battery life has been stellar. In the first two days of use, I would unplug at 9 am, use it heavily all day, and still have around 40% battery 15 hours later by midnight. But this is with OPPO’s overly aggressive battery optimization that has unintended side effects (again, more on this in the software section). After I disabled the aggressive battery micro-management, I still finished 15-hour days with 25% battery left. This phone should be able to go all day for anyone. Topping up can be done via the included 30W fast charging brick or wireless charging.

With 12GB of RAM and at least 256GB of storage (my unit has 512GB), the Find N is as well equipped as many modern flagships. In my week of heavy use I have not experienced app launch stutters or crashes.

Hardware nitpicks

There are some nitpicks to be had with the hardware: the Find N only has two speakers (Samsung, Xiaomi and Huawei’s large screen foldables have four), and they’re both located on the bottom of the Find N, so you are not getting immersive stereo sound. And while the hinge feels very sturdy and well-built, there is no official IP rating like Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 3 either. The phone’s Snapdragon 888 SoC will also be officially “last-gen” in a few weeks as flagships with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 get announced. Still, considering the Find N’s relatively low price (7699 yuan, which converts to around $1,206), these can’t be called anything but nitpicks.

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OPPO Find N: Cameras

There are five cameras on the OPPO Find N: two 32MP selfie cameras (one on each screen), and a triple-camera main system headlined by a 50MP, f/1.8, 1/1.58-inch sensor, along with a 16MP ultra-wide and a 12MP telephoto lens that can do 2x optical zoom. While the main camera is the same one used in the Find X3 so it is quite capable, the latter two lenses are inferior to what was seen in the Find X3, which means, once again, a foldable phone is using a compromised camera system that is not the company’s best optics.

The Find N’s triple-lens array consists of a 12MP telephoto (top), 50MP main (middle), and 16MP ultra-wide (bottom)

For the most part, the Find N can still produce great shots — and the camera definitely holds up well against the Galaxy Z Fold 3’s cameras — but for someone like me who’s been spoiled by jaw-dropping, world-beating cameras seen in the Vivo X70 Pro Plus and Google Pixel 6 Pro, I can’t say the Find N camera really wows me. For example, the OPPO Find X3 had an awesome ultra-wide camera that produced shots almost as sharp as the main camera. The Find N can’t do this since the ultra-wide sensor got downgraded, so if you pixel peep, you can clearly see that ultra-wide photos are softer and less detailed, especially at night.

In the below set, we can see the Find N’s main camera blows out the skies a bit compared to the iPhone 13 Pro’s shot. The ultra-wide battle is closer, with the Find N’s shot looking punchier and livelier, but in a scene like this shooting against backlight, some contrast (shadows) may be preferred.

The OPPO Find N’s telephoto zoom lens can capture 2x optical zoom and digital zoom up to 20x. If we stick to 2x, the shot is clean and sharp.

But if we go up to 10x zoom, which is purely digital crop, shots are noticeably not as good as what the Galaxy S21 Ultra or Pixel 6 Pro can do, however, if we compare the Find N against the Z Fold 3, the OPPO foldable’s digital zoom is still a bit better (less noise) than the Galaxy Z Fold 3’s 10x zoom.

The Find N’s main camera does a great job at night thanks to the combination of pixel-binning and relatively large sensor. Colors and dynamic range are on point in both shots below.

Selfies and portrait shots all turn out quite good — overall the Find N’s camera system is very good unless you have been spoiled by the absolute best cameras (again, the Vivo X70 Pro Plus and Google Pixel 6 Pro).

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OPPO Find N Software: Awesome gesture and customizations but needs some polish

The Find N runs ColorOS 12 over Android 11, and when the phone is folded up, the software behaves like any other recent OPPO phone, which in my opinion is a great thing — because ColorOS is very similar to OxygenOS, which most would agree is a very smooth and useful Android skin. ColorOS, like OxygenOS, is highly customizable, both in aesthetics and using the phone. We don’t just have the option to change UI color scheme, icon shape and sizes, and animation speeds, but we also have a myriad of shortcut gestures, from a quick launch sidebar that can be pulled into homescreen with a swipe, or screen-off gestures, which allows us to trigger actions or launch apps by scribbling a shape onto a sleeping screen (without needing to wake up the screen). I absolutely love the screen-off gestures and wish other phones would adopt them: I can, for example, turn on the flashlight by drawing a V, or skip music tracks by scribbling an arrow (“>”), all without needing to wake up the screen. OPPO even lets us customize these gestures, so I can, say, launch Google Maps by drawing an M.

Speaking of Google, because the Find N is officially selling only in China, it does not come with Google apps, but these can be installed very easily. OPPO’s own app store has the Google Play Store, so it’s just a matter of downloading and installing.

I absolutely love ColorOS’ screen-off gestures and wish other phones would adopt them.

However, like most China market-only phones, the battery optimization is overly aggressive, to the point that the phone breaks push notifications — meaning you may not be notified when someone sends you a WhatsApp message because the Find N has put WhatsApp to sleep. I can solve this problem by diving into settings and turning off battery optimization for important apps like WhatsApp, Slack, and Gmail, but it is really annoying that we have to do this. Chinese brands — please stop with the aggressive battery optimization! Nobody likes opening a chat app just to realize there are 12 messages sent hours ago waiting to be read. We will gladly sacrifice some battery life to be able to get notifications in time. Seriously, please stop doing this!

So that’s ColorOS when used as a normal slab phone. OPPO has made further changes to the UI for when the Find N is unfolded — in tablet mode. The biggest additions are quick gestures to help multi-task. With any app opened, swipe down the middle with two fingers to activate the split-screen mode. The gesture feels like you’re slicing the screen in half and the animations add to that whimsical feel. You can also pinch with three or four fingers on an app and the app will shrink into a floating window that can then be resized.

Not every app works: Instagram, for example, refuses to be split-screened or float. But 90% of apps I use worked well. And because the Find N’s inside screen has a wider landscape aspect ratio, it can display two apps side-by-side in a more native format than the cramped, narrower Galaxy Z Fold 3 screen. Notice in the photo below, XDA’s homepage is looking very cramped on the Galaxy Z Fold 3’s split-screen.

Find N (left); Galaxy Z Fold 3 (right).

However, the Find N’s software as a tablet needs more polish. Because the Android tablet scene is so sad, app developers don’t really bother optimizing apps for Android tablets (at least not like they do for the iPad), so one major problem is some apps will open in the wrong orientation. This usually happens with Android tablets in landscape orientation but the app in question only was written to run in portrait orientation. It’s an issue I encountered with tablets from Xiaomi, Huawei and Samsung too.

On the Find N, for example, YouTube Studios and Uber must open sideways — they refuse to fit into the landscape orientation. But Instagram, another app which only opens in portrait orientation, will open upright on the Find N, but with major pillar-boxing.

This problem was also there for Samsung’s first couple of foldables, but it’s mostly non-existent on the Galaxy Z Fold 3. This is partly because the Galaxy Z Fold 3’s main screen, even when unfolded, is in portrait orientation. But it’s also because Samsung has clearly fine-tuned its UI to make sure apps can be rotated in any orientation. Samsung’s Fold UI can also force any app to stretch across the entire screen, which I find very preferable for a visual-heavy app like Instagram. Pillar boxing just takes away from the immersion.

Many third-party apps, from Spotify to Telegram to Gmail, automatically take advantage of the Find N’s larger canvas by showing a two-pane layout.

Overall, considering this is OPPO’s first foldable, the Find N’s software experience can be called good — it just needs a bit more polishing to adapt to the fact that some widely used apps don’t play well with landscape aspect ratio.

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OPPO Find N: Conclusion

If we compare the OPPO Find N against competitors, the Find N wins in most cases. The Find N’s screens are clearly superior to the Xiaomi Mix Fold’s screens, which have thicker bezels, slower refresh rates, and a noticeable crease on the inner display. And while the Mix Fold has since gone on discount, if we go by the official retail price, the Find N is cheaper by a thousand-plus yuan or around $200.

If we compare the OPPO Find N against competitors, the Find N wins in most cases

The Huawei Mate X2’s form factor, screen and crease all compete well against the OPPO Find N, and the Mate X2 is still to this day the only foldable to offer a Periscope zoom lens. But its $2,700 price and lack of Google Mobile Services makes this a no contest. You’d have to have no regard for money to want to pay $2,700 over $1,200 for a similar type phone.

Of course, the device most people will compare the Find N against is Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 3, and this one is closer. As I already said, I think the Find N’s hardware looks and feels better in-hand than the Galaxy Z Fold 3, but the latter has more polished software. We also can’t discount the fact that the Z Fold 3 has an official IP water resistance rating, stylus support, and Samsung DeX. How important these extra features are depends on the person — I personally have never broken a phone from water damage, and the stylus experience on the Fold is so compromised that my review unit S-Pen Pro has been collecting dust in a drawer somewhere. So the only Fold 3 extra feature I “miss” is Samsung DeX. But your mileage will vary.

I can say from my usage, I much prefer the Find N’s form factor and aspect ratio. And judging from many of the comments I’ve seen from my peers in tech media and also readers, I think my opinion is shared by many. But ultimately, it’s the price that makes the Find N a winner. For two years, foldable detractors have mocked the price of foldables. Well now OPPO has made a foldable that is not a cent more expensive than a top-tier flagship. I understand that this is China pricing, and if the Find N gets released internationally, the price will surely jump higher. But even if it gets up to $1,500, this is still not far off from a Samsung Ultra or Apple Max phone.

The age of foldables is here

The point is, I think 2022 is the year foldables will finally go mainstream, because if reliable rumors are to be believed, the OPPO Find N is just the beginning. We will get foldables from Honor, Vivo likely soon, and Xiaomi will surely have a follow-up. And since OPPO has set pricing at $1,200, there’s no way Honor and Xiaomi can price their products much higher.

Once multiple brands compete and try to outdo each other, tech breakthroughs happen. Samsung will have no choice but to bring their A-game too. The age of foldables is here.

OPPO Find N

The OPPO Find N is a foldable that's neither too big nor too small -- and it has a mostly crease-free screen.

Pros:

Cons:

View at AliExpress

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AMD Ryzen 5 5600X vs Intel Core i5-12600K: The best mainstream CPU

There’s no denying that both Intel Core i5-12600K and the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X are among the best CPUs you can buy in 2021. You can use either of these processors to build anything from a solid gaming rig to a content creation workstation without putting too much money on the line. But which one’s a better CPU to buy right now is the bigger question. In this article, we’ll be taking a look at the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X vs Intel Core i5-12600K comparison to see if we can answer that question. So without wasting any more time, let’s go deeper with these two CPUs to find out which one to pick for your next PC build.

Navigate this article:

• Specifications
• Performance
• Platforms and Compatibility
• Pricing and Availability
• Final Thoughts

AMD Ryzen 5 5600X vs Intel Core i5-12600K: Specifications

Before we begin the comparison, let’s take a quick look at the specifications of these processors to see what each of them brings to the table.

Specification	AMD Ryzen 5 5600x	Intel Core i5-12600K
CPU Socket	AMD AM4	LGA 1700
Cores	6	10 (6P + 4E)
Threads	12	16
Lithography	TSMC 7nm FinFET	Intel 7 (10nm)
Base Frequency	3.7GHz	3.7GHz (P-core) | 2.8GHz (E-core)
Boost Frequency	4.6GHz	4.9GHz (P-core) | 3.6GHz (E-core)
Unlocked for overclocking?	Yes	Yes
L3 Cache	32MB	20MB
Default TDP	65W	125W
Max. Operating Temperature (Tjmax)	95°C	100°C
Memory Support	DDR4 up to 3200MHz Up to 128GB	DDR4 3200MT/s | DDR5-4800MT/s Up to 128GB
Integrated Graphics	NA	UHD Graphics 770

The Intel Core i5-12600K features Intel’s big.LITTLE hybrid design. This particular design arrived with the new 12th generation Alder Lake CPUs. While it’s new to the desktop space, we’ve already seen a similar implementation in ARM and Apple CPUs. What we’re essentially looking at is a combination of both performance cores (P-cores) and efficiency cores (E-cores). The Intel Core i5-12600K happens to have six performance cores and four efficiency cores trading going head-to-head with the Ryzen 5 5600X’s hexa-core configuration. The Core i5-12600K also boasts more Threads as it has four more efficiency cores standing to take charge against the competition.

AMD Ryzen 5 5600X vs Intel Core i5-12600K: Performance

The Intel Core i5-12600K is ahead of the curve when it comes to performance. In fact, it outperforms the AMD chips by a huge margin. The Core i5-12600K wins in nearly every single-threaded and multi-threaded benchmark. The chip managed to deliver snappy performance when we tested it for our Alder Lake review. It offers a good blend of both single and multi-threaded performance to come out as a compelling winner across different workloads.

The big.LITTLE design is definitely working in favor of Intel, but there’s more to it. Intel’s Thread Director is also moving the needle behind the scenes in Windows 11 OS to carefully schedule the tasks and bring out the best performance. Having the extra E-cores to offload low priority tasks pays huge dividends in favor of the overall performance. Streaming your games with OBS, for instance, results in better in-game performance with higher frames. This is because Intel’s Thread Director smartly puts OBS on smaller E-cores, allowing the P-cores to do the heavy lifting for gaming.

The Core i5-12600K tends to suffer a little bit in Windows 10 due to the difficulties in prioritizing tasks, but we expect those to get ironed out sooner rather than later. It’s safe to say that it’s probably worth upgrading to Windows 11 if you’re hopping on the Alder Lake hype train. Ryzen 5 5600X users can turn to overclocking as a solution to fill the performance gap, but it’s worth pointing out that the Core i5-12600K is also an unlocked CPU with support for overclocking.

Gaming performance is also arguably better with the Core i5-12600K. There’s still some performance parity with some games favoring one architecture over the other but the 12600K appears to be winning a lot of battles by holding the lead. It’s also worth pointing out that the Intel Core i5-12600K carries the integrated UHD Graphics 770 engine with 32 EUs. This iGPU boasts a 300MHz base and 1,450MHz boost clock. If you plan on gaming with an integrated GPU then Intel wins by default because, well, the Ryzen 5 5600X doesn’t have an integrated GPU. Your only option is to check out AMD’s APU if you want integrated graphics.

Intel’s Alder Lake CPUs have also made some progress when it comes to power consumption. The company’s new Intel 7 process for the new chips reduces power consumption and improves efficiency. The Core i5-12600K draws less power for the same amount of work than its predecessor. That being said, the Ryzen 5 5600X is still the undisputed champ when it comes to power efficiency. The Ryzen 5 5600X continues to remain a dominant CPU in this regard. Even with the new Intel 7 process, the Core i5-12600K guzzles more power than the Ryzen 5 5600X. This means it’s also going to produce more heat, thereby raising the bar for the CPU cooler. The Core i5-12600K doesn’t even come with a stock cooler, so you’ll have to spend more to buy a good quality CPU cooler.

Platforms and Compatibility

If you want a future-proof PC, then Intel is definitely the better pick. It brings support for both DDR5 memory modules and PCIe 5.0, both of which aren’t supported by the current crop of AMD Ryzen CPUs on the market. That being said, you should also be ready to pay big money to take advantage of all these features. The new Alder Lake chips can’t be used with the existing motherboards on the market. The new chips demand a new LGA 1700 CPU socket, exclusive only to the new Z690 motherboards.

That’s right, you’ll need one of the newer Z690 motherboards to use Intel’s 12th generation chips. While there are affordable Z690 motherboards on the market, you’ll still have to buy an entirely new board. That, in addition to the new DDR5 memory modules, is bound to put a significant dent in your budget. It’s also worth pointing out that the best DDR5 RAM kits are quite expensive and very hard to find on the market.

Upgrading to the Ryzen 5 5600X from an exiting Ryzen 3000 series chip, on the other hand, will require a less initial investment. Since the Ryzen 5000 series chips drop on one of the existing motherboards with an AM4 socket, you’re not looking at an expensive platform entry cost. While DDR5 memory modules are more powerful than the existing ones, there’s still time for them to mature. And PCIe 5.0 as a standard won’t likely come into its own, at least until more CPUs and peripherals are ready for the new standard. While Intel is a clear winner when it comes to future-proofing, we’d still recommend the Ryzen 5 5600X to those who’re looking to save money on the build.

Pricing and Availability

When it comes to pricing, it’s safe to say that you’ll essentially be spending the same amount of money to fetch the CPU itself. Intel suggests maximum retail of $299 for the Core i5-12600K, which is also the retail price of the Ryzen 5 5600X on the market. The Intel Core i5-12600K outperforms the Ryzen 5 5600X for the same price, but there’s more to the story here. The initial platform entry cost is a lot higher in the case of the Intel chip. You’ll need a new motherboard, new DDR5 memory to get the performance out of the chip, and a new CPU cooler too.

In the case of the Ryzen 5 5600X, you need to pay for the new chip if you’re upgrading an existing system. You can use the existing AMD motherboards and use the same DDR4 RAM kits for this chip. Heck, AMD is also bundling a CPU cooler with the Ryzen 5 5600X, which is pretty good by itself if you’re going to overclock and push the limits of the CPU beyond its stock settings. They both are readily available on the market right now with a healthy amount of stocks from what we can see across different online retailers.

AMD Ryzen 5 5600X vs Intel Core i5-12600K: Final Thoughts

If you don’t mind paying more for the platform entry cost, then we think the Intel Core i5-12600K is a no-brainer here. This CPU will set you up nicely for many more years to come, and it’s a fantastic CPU for both gaming as well as content creation workloads. It dominates the Ryzen 5 5600X in its own stomping grounds. The Intel Core i5-12600K is our pick for the best CPU you can buy on the market right now. That’s not to say the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X is a bad CPU by any means. This particular CPU is no slouch either. It may not be as powerful as the 12600K, but it draws less power and keeps the thermals in check. Picking this CPU is cheaper than the Core i5-12600K, but you won’t be able to reap the benefits of things like DDR5 and PCIe 5.0 support.

Well, that wraps up the Ryzen 5 5600X vs Intel Core i5-12600K comparison. If you’re leaning towards a high-end PC build, then you might want to check out our Intel Core i9-12900K vs AMD Ryzen 9 5950X comparison to find out which one’s the better high-end CPU on the market right now.

AMD Ryzen 5 5600X

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X is still a beast of a CPU. It's also cheaper to upgrade to the Ryzen 5 5600X than the Intel Core i5-12600K.

Buy from Best Buy

Intel Core i5-12600K

The Intel Core i5-12600K outperforms the Ryzen 5 5600X in every single and multi-threaded benchmarks to become our pick for the best CPU you can buy right now.

Buy from Best Buy

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Google’s Pixel Watch might have the next-gen Assistant and an Exynos chip

We’ve been hearing a lot of rumours about the long-rumored Google Pixel Watch, which may finally launch sometime next year. Google has been developing its own Wear OS software platform since 2014, but in all that time, the company has never sold a Google-branded smartwatch with the software. There have been rumors of a smartwatch with the Pixel brand (or simply Google’s name) for years. We’ve seen potential watch faces too, two of which also appeared in renders leaked by Front Page Tech. Now we’re learning more about the upcoming Pixel Watch thanks to information from the Wear OS 3.0 emulator, including that it may feature the next-gen Google Assistant alongside an Exynos chip.

The details, uncovered by 9to5Google, include more evidence suggesting that it’s a Pixel watch (and not some other branding), and that it may also include the next-generation Assistant that launched with the Google Pixel 4. The evidence for the Pixel branding is that Google generally has some kind of Android feature tag within system files on Pixel devices —  for example, the Pixel 6 has “PIXEL_EXPERIENCE_2021”, and the Pixel 5a has “PIXEL_EXPERIENCE_2020_MIDYEAR”. In a recent update to the Google app, 9to5Google found a reference to a “PIXEL_EXPERIENCE_WATCH” feature tag, suggesting a relationship to the Pixel line of devices.

As for the next-generation Assistant, the team at 9to5Google found multiple references to “rohan”, the codename that it’s suspected the Pixel Watch will use. The next-generation Assistant is also a Pixel exclusive, suggesting as well that this is almost certainly a Pixel watch. The report also shows off an image denoting how the Assistant may look on the Pixel Watch was found, and it has the recognisable four-color bar at the bottom — a signature of the Pixel’s Assistant.

It’s worth noting that there is a second button in the graphic above not found in renders of the Pixel Watch thus far, though the picture does match the generic watch seen in demo animations in the original Wear OS 3.0 announcement.

Finally, there was also evidence found that “rohan” is powered by an Exynos chipset, though it’s unclear if it’s the Exynos W920 which is found in the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4. Samsung and Google worked closely together for Wear OS 3.0, and obviously, the chipset in the Google Pixel 6 series is tied very closely to Exynos. It’s even possible that Google may repackage this chipset as an addition to the “Google Tensor” series, though with a more wearable-oriented name.

At the moment, there’s not a lot we know about the Google Pixel Watch, though we know it’s been in the works for years. Maybe next year we’ll finally get to see it!

The post Google’s Pixel Watch might have the next-gen Assistant and an Exynos chip appeared first on xda-developers.

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WSA PacMan is a GUI package manager and package installer for Windows Subsystem for Android

The Android compatibility layer of Windows 11, commonly known as Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA), comes without the Google Play Store or any kind of Google apps. Instead, you get the Amazon Appstore as the built-in solution for downloading third-party apps. While it is possible to manually sideload apps on WSA, there is no simple way to manage all the installed apps on the Android subsystem — unless you install a launcher, or go one step further and enable the Play Store. This is exactly where WSA PacMan comes in.

As the name suggests, WSA PacMan is a package manager utility for Windows Subsystem for Android. Created by XDA Senior Member alesimula, the open-source tool aims to streamline the app sideloading job by providing an easy-to-use GUI installer for APK files. It also displays the full package name of the APK, its version number, the permissions, and the icon — almost like the standard package manager app does on an actual Android device.

When it comes to app management, WSA PacMan provides a button to open the Settings app from the Android subsystem, so that you can change the underlying parameters as necessary. There is another button that directly opens the “Manage Applications” page, from which you can uninstall or disable installed applications and grant or revoke permissions. Furthermore, the tool’s installation wizard offers you the ability to create a shortcut of the app that you are installing on your Windows desktop.

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How to use WSA PacMan for installing apps on Windows Subsystem for Android

1. Download the latest release of WSA PacMan from the Release section of its GitHub repo and install it.
   • In case you don’t want to install the tool, there’s a portable version available as well.
2. Make sure the Windows Subsystem for Android environment is running and the debugging option is turned on, then open WSA PacMan. By default, it listens to port 58526 (which is the default port for locally debugging WSA), so it should connect with the Android instance automatically.
   
3.  Now locate the APK file that you want to install and double click on it. If everything goes right, you should be greeted with an installation wizard powered by WSA PacMan.
   
4. The newly installed app should be listed under the Windows 11 Start menu. You can also launch it through the desktop shortcut, provided you ticked the corresponding option at the end of the installation process.

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We’ve seen ADB wrappers like WSATools in the past, but the primary advantage of WSA PacMan is the easy access to its codebase. Whether you’re a developer or you simply want to get a bug fixed as a regular user, you can head to the GitHub repo make a pull request or access the issue tracker.

WSA PacMan: GitHub Repo || XDA Discussion Thread

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These are the best cheap gaming laptops you can buy in 2022

Finding a cheap laptop that does everything you want it to do is not an easy task. Buying something at an affordable price inherently means corners have to be cut, so you have to look hard for something that fits your needs. That’s all the more true for gaming laptops, which need to have certain expensive components inside, like dedicated GPUs. We’re here to help with that, and we’ve rounded up the best cheap gaming laptops you can buy today.

What constitutes a cheap laptop varies depending on the category we’re looking at. In general, the best cheap laptops we recommend cost $700 or less, but it would be very hard t find a good gaming laptop at that price. For this list, we’re considering the best cheap gaming laptops that cost under $1,000 (at writing time). That gives you a fair bit of choice and some great laptops already. Depending on discounts, you may be able to upgrade certain parts of these laptops and stay within that budget, but we’re focusing on the base configuration so you can explore possible from there.

Navigate this article:

• Best overall: HP Victus 16t
• Most powerful GPU: MSI GF65
• Best 17-inch laptop: Lenovo Legion 5
  • Intel alternative: ASUS TUF Gaming F17
• Best AMD-powered laptop: HP OMEN 16z
  • Also great: Dell G15
• Extra cheap: HP Pavilion Gaming 15z
  • Also great: Acer Nitro 5

Best overall: HP Victus 16t

HP debuted the Victus line of laptops this year, offering a mix of a premium and sleek design with solid gaming specs. The Victus 16t is the Intel-powered version of this laptop (we’ve reviewed the AMD version available in India), and it’s a great one at that, covering all the basics you could want in a gaming laptop.

First off, the HP Victus 16 is powered by Intel’s 11th-generation Core processors, starting with a Core i5-11400H. That’s a 6-core, 12-thread CPU that can boost up to 4.5GHz, and it’s already a very fast processor to start with. You can go up to a Core i7 if it fits your budget, though. Backing that up is an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti, and that’s also a modern and fairly powerful GPU, so you can run pretty much any modern game on this laptop without much of a problem. Aside from that, the laptop starts with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD storage, and these are the things we’d recommend upgrading first if you can afford it.

As the name suggests, the Victus 16 has a 16-inch display, giving you some extra screen real estate without being overly big. The resolution is Full HD (1920 x 1080) it has a 144Hz refresh rate out of the box. That gives you an extra-smooth gaming experience, making good use of the graphics power of the RTX 3050 Ti GPU. The base model has 250 nits of brightness, though you can upgrade to a 300-nit panel.

Predictably, the HP Victus 16t comes with a 720p webcam that does not include support for Windows Hello facial recognition. If you don’t know by now, the webcam is one of the first components to suffer when it comes to budget devices, and that’s all the more true on gaming laptops. Unfortunately, not even a fingerprint reader is available here, but that too is common for affordable gaming laptops.

The HP Victus 16t has a very sleek design for a gaming laptop in this price range, which is nice to see. It comes in either black or dark blue color options, so it looks fairly subdued, and there’s nothing garish about its design. However, it does have the weight and thickness of a gaming laptop, starting at 5.44lbs and measuring 23.62mm thick. That’s to be expected with cheap gaming-focused laptops, even the best ones.

As for ports, you get one USB Type-C (3.2 Gen 1) port, three USB Type-A (3.2 Gen 1) ports, HDMI 2.1, gigabit Ethernet, a headphone jack, and a full-size SD card reader. That’s a setup that covers all the basics, and it clearly focuses more on important gaming specs like HDMI 2.1 and fast Ethernet. However, the USB ports aren’t extremely fast, and there’s no Thunderbolt support, which may be a bummer to some users.

The HP Victus 16t offers a great balance of performance, a smooth display, and a sleek design plus it has a wide variety of ports for almost all your needs. We’d say it’s one of the best cheap gaming laptops out there, and potentially your best option overall.

HP Victus 16t

Packing the latest Intel processors, RTX graphics, and a 144Hz display, the Victus 16t is a great choice for an affordable gaming laptop.

Features:

Pros: Cons:

See at HP

Most powerful GPU: MSI GF65

If you want the most power you can get in a cheap gaming laptop, the MSI GF65 is your best option right now. Thanks to a discount, this model is currently down from $1,100 to $900, making this a great time to buy if you’re on a budget.

In terms of the processor, the MSI GF65 is actually packing an older CPU than some other models on this list, but that doesn’t mean you should disregard it. This is an Intel Core i5-10500H, which has 6 cores, 12 threads, and boost speeds up to 4.5GHz, just like the newer Core i5-11400H. You’re not missing out on much, and truth be told, the GPU is more important here. That’s why you get an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 here, which is a big step up from both the RTX 3050 and 3050 Ti, with 6GB of video memory (instead of 4GB), and far more processing power in general. Rounding things out, you get 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD, which you can upgrade after the fact.

The MSI GF65 comes with a 15.6-inch panel and Full HD resolution (1920 x 1080), which is fairly standard at this point. It also has a 144Hz refresh rate for extra smooth gaming, making good use of the more powerful graphics card inside. You should be able to enjoy just about any modern gaming, and many of them at high frame rates, with this laptop.

Not one to go against the current, the MSI GF65 sticks to the tried and true 720p camera we’ve seen in other laptops, and there’s no Windows Hello facial recognition, either. In fact, there’s no Windows Hello support of any kind, and that’s also par for the course at this point.

Looks-wise, the MSI GF65 manages to look both subtle and undeniably gamer-like. It comes in a brushed black finish and with a red MSI logo on the lid, which kind of give it away without being too flashy. On the inside, the keyboard is backlit in red, and the light shines through the red edges of the keys, which is what truly makes this look like a typical gaming laptop. It deserves credit, though, because it’s easily the lightest laptop on this list, weighing a mere 4.1lbs, making this far more portable than all the other laptops we’ve seen so far. It’s also one of the thinner models, measuring in at 21.59mm.

It doesn’t skimp on the ports, either. You get two USB Type-c (3.2 Gen 1) ports, two USB Type-A (3.2 Gen 1) ports, HDMI 2.0, gigabit ethernet, and a gold-plated headphone jack with support for Hi-Res Audio. It’s a solid supply of ports, though it’s lacking something like Thunderbolt support, or a faster USB Type-C port in general. Still, this is a great setup, and better than many others on this list.

The MSI GF65 is kind of the perfect blend of performance and a sleek design, while also having a great port setup and a smooth display. It actually could be the best cheap gaming laptop you can buy right now, but because it goes over our budget at MSRP, we left it out of the top spot.

MSI GF65

THE MSI GF65 is the most powerful and sleekest laptop on this list, but it manages to fit in our budget thanks to an ongoing discount. For $900, this is the obvious choice to go with.

Features:

Pros: Cons:

See at Best Buy

Best 17-inch gaming laptop: Lenovo Legion 5 Gen 6

Gaming can be a lot more immersive with a big display, and the Lenovo Legion 5 delivers a great experience if you want a 17-inch laptop. It’s got the powerful specs needed to play the latest games and a clean chassis with tons of ports for all the connectivity you could want.

Starting with performance, the Lenovo Legion 5 comes packing an AMD Ryzen 5 5600H processor, featuring 6 cores, 12 threads, and boost speeds up to 4.2GHz. That’s already a powerful processor, giving its Intel competitor a run for its money. That processor is backed up by an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 graphics card, so you’re going to be able to run just about any game you want, including modern titles, on this laptop. In addition to these components, the Legion 5 includes 8GB of RAM in the base configuration, as well as 512GB of SSD storage, giving you a fair bit of space for your games.

Naturally, the display on the Lenovo Legion 5 is a 17.3-inch panel, and it too comes in Full HD (1920 x 1080) resolution. The base configuration here has a 60Hz refresh rate, though you can upgrade to a 144Hz panel. It’s got 300 nits of brightness by default, and it supports AMD FreeSync Premium to help prevent screen tearing while playing games.

Above the display, the Lenovo Legion 5 has a 720p webcam, which is standard for affordable gaming laptops like this. There’s no Windows Hello facial recognition support, as you’d expect, and there’s no fingerprint reader, either. Windows Hello support is a bit of a privilege on gaming laptops, so this shouldn’t surprise you.

Design-wise, the Lenovo Legion 5 looks sleek and simplistic, without much in the way of flair. There’s no RGB lighting, and even the keyboard only has a white backlight, so it looks clean and professional. Of course, some things are unavoidable, so this is still a big laptop. It’s 26.3mm thick at its thickest point, and it starts at a very significant 6.57lbs of weight, so carrying it around will be a bit of a challenge.

One of the most impressive things about the Lenovo Legion 5 is its port setup, which isn’t lacking in any way.  The left side of the laptop has one USB Type-C (3.2 Gen 2) port and a headphone jack, while the right side has one USB Type-A (3.2 Gen 1) port and a full-size SD card reader. Most of the ports are on the back of the laptop, though – three USB Type-A (3.2 Gen 1) ports, one USB Type-C (3.2 Gen 2) port, HDMI 2.1, and gigabit Ethernet. That’s an incredibly complete setup that covers just about anything you could ever need, though of course there’s no Thunderbolt since this is an AMD laptop.

If you want a big display on your laptop, the Lenovo Legion 5 is a powerful laptop that gives you a ton of connectivity options and a fairly sleek design. It’s one of the best cheap gaming laptops you can buy today, especially at this size.

Lenovo Legion 5 Gen 6 (17-inch)

The Lenovo Legion 5 is a powerful laptop with a 17-inch display and tons of connectivity options.

Features:

Pros: Cons:

See at Lenovo

Intel-based alternative: ASUS TUF Gaming F17

If you want a laptop powered by Intel processors instead, the ASUS TUF Gaming F17 laptop is another great 17-inch option. It’s not quite as powerful as the Legion 5, but it’s also cheaper, and even at that lower price, it still has some advantages.

In terms of performance, it’s not packing the latest hardware anymore, but it’s not a slow laptop by any means. It’s powered by an Intel Core i5-10300H processor, which has four cores, eight threads, and boost speeds up to 4.5GHz, so it’s far from a slow processor. For graphics, you get an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti, and again, that’s not the latest hardware, but it can still run the vast majority of games out there. Additionally, you get 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD, giving you a decent amount of memory and storage for your games and other files. Both RAM and storage are upgradeable later on, too.

The ASUS TUF Gaming F17 also comes with a 17.3-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080) display, but this model already includes a 144Hz refresh rate panel, so you can get a smoother gaming experience in some games. Considering the $850 asking price, that’s very nice to have in a large laptop like this.

Keeping in line with what we’ve seen so far, the webcam above the display is another 720p camera, and once again, there’s no Windows Hello facial recognition support here. It should come as no surprise that there also isn’t a fingerprint reader, so Windows Hello support is out of the question entirely.

Unlike some other laptops on this list, the TUF Gaming F17 doesn’t do much to hide its gaming-oriented nature. The lid features some angular design patterns and a textured finish that make it very obvious it’s a gaming laptop, plus a red accent on the sides of the lid. The keyboard is RGB backlit, though, so it may also get some attention in public, but that’s the extent of it. All things considered, this is actually a fairly light laptop for its size, weighing 5.73lbs, and it measures 26mm at its thickest point. That’s one of the positives of this laptop compared to the Legion 5, which is significantly heavier.

As for ports, there’s a solid supply overall. You get one USB Type-C (3.2 Gen 2) port, three USB Type-A (two 3.2 Gen 1, one USB 2.0) ports, HDMI 2.0b, RJ45 Ethernet, and a headphone jack. That covers most of the basics, even giving you wired internet if you absolutely need a lag-free experience. Of course, being an AMD laptop means there’s no Thunderbolt support, but the USB Type-C port is still fairly capable.

For those looking for a cheap 17-inch gaming laptop, the ASUS TUF Gaming F17 is still one of the best options out there, and it’s one of the more affordable options too.

ASUS TUF Gaming F17

The ASUS TUF Gaming F17 is a great option if you want a larger screen at a lower price, while still getting the perks of a gaming laptop.

Features:

Pros: Cons:

See at Amazon

Best AMD-powered gaming laptop: HP OMEN 16z

AMD-powered laptops have become more and more prominent in recent years, and they’re often just as good if not better than Intel counterparts. The HP OMEN 16z is a great example of a fantastic AMD laptop that’s also highly customizable to your tastes.

Starting with performance, the OMEN 16z is powered by AMD’s Ryzen 5000 series processors starting with a Ryzen 5 5600H. That’s a 6-core, 12-thread processor and it can boost up to 4.2GHz. For graphics, the base configuration comes with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 GPU, though you can upgrade to a GeForce RTX 3050 Ti and still be within the budget (at writing time, at least). Additionally, you get 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD in the base configuration, which is a pretty solid combination to start with. You can still upgrade further from there if you want to.

In the display department, the OMEN 16z has a 16.1-inch panel and it comes in Full HD resolution (1920 x 1080) like most of the laptops on this list. In the base configuration, the display is a 60Hz panel and it has 300 nits of brightness, but you can upgrade to a 144Hz refresh rate for just $30, which we’d say is worth it if it fits your budget.

As per usual, the webcam on the OMEN 16 is a 720p camera, and it also doesn’t support Windows Hello facial recognition. A fingerprint sensor is also not included, which shouldn’t come as much of a surprise at this point. All of these cameras are serviceable. but they won’t stand out in any way.

Moving on to the design, the OMEN 16 shares a lot of the DNA of the Victus line, so it looks classy and sleek. In fact, it looks even more so in some ways, while also leaning into the “gamer aesthetic” a bit more. The biggest difference is that the keyboard is backlit in red in the base configuration, or you can choose an RGB keyboard with four different lighting zones. Thankfully, the light only shines through the labels on the keys, so it’s still subtle enough that it won’t get too much attention in public. The OMEN 16 is also lighter than the Victus, though, starting a 5.09lbs. It’s also a bit thinner, measuring 22.6mm.

Even with that smaller chassis, the OMEN 16z doesn’t sacrifice ports. You get one USB Type-C (3.2 Gen 2) three USB Type-A (3.2 Gen 1), HDMI 2.1, gigabit Ethernet, a headphone jack, and a full-size SD card reader. That’s a very solid setup with just about any port you could want for connecting peripherals, external displays, and so on.

The OMEN 16z is a more premium version of the Victus laptops, and while its official price is over $1,000, it’s currently discounted to around $770, so it’s definitely one of the best cheap gaming laptops you can buy right now. You can even squeeze in a few upgrades to get a better experience out of the box.

OMEN 16z

The HP OMEN 16 is a premium-feeling gaming laptop with AMD processors and other powerful specs, plus plenty of ports.

Features:

Pros: Cons:

See at HP

Also great: Dell G15

Dell is no stranger to making some of the best laptops out there, and the G15 gaming laptop is another great choice for AMD fans. It has similarly powerful specs and a design that’s arguably more unique than most gaming laptops on this list.

First off, the Dell G15 comes with the same AMD Ryzen 5 5600H processor as the OMEN 16z, with 6 cores, 12 threads, and boost speeds up to 4.2GHz. This is part of AMD’s latest lineup, and it’s a powerful CPU at that. For graphics, you get an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050, giving you baseline RTX support and solid performance so you can run just about any modern game on this laptop. Finally, you get 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD in this configuration, which is a pretty good setup, and you can always make some upgrades down the line as your budget allows.

The display on the Dell G15 is a 15.6-inch panel, and it comes in at — unsurprisingly — Full HD resolution (1920 x 1080). his model includes a 120Hz refresh rate by default, though, which is great if you want a smoother experience for gaming and in general. It’s just 250 nits of brightness, so you won’t want to use it outdoors, but it’s not like you’d want to carry this around everywhere anyway.

Just like every other laptop on this list, the Dell G15 has a typical 720p webcam, and it doesn’t support Windows Hello facial recognition. It also doesn’t seem to include a fingerprint sensor, despite the Best Buy page claiming there is one built into the power button.

The Dell G15 definitely has a unique look compared to other laptops on this list. The chassis uses a combination of silver and black, but the grey portion has dark speckles sprinkled throughout, giving the laptop a bit more identity without being overly flashy. You’ll also see a red G logo on the right side of the laptop, and a textured pattern on the lid does make it obvious this isn’t a work laptop. The Dell G15 isn’t particularly portable, weighing 5.39lbs and measuring 24.89mm in thickness.

You do get a good supply of ports with this laptop, though. It has one USB Type-C port (3.2 Gen 2), three USB Type-A ports (one USB 3.2 Gen 1, two USB 2.0), HDMI 2.1, 2.5Gbps Ethernet, and a headphone jack. While some of the USB ports are a bit slow, you can use them for peripherals without much issue. On the other hand, the inclusion of 2.5Gbps Ethernet allows you to have super-fast wired internet connectivity so game downloads and online games should be a breeze. If fast internet is your priority, this is one of the best options on this list.

The Dell G15 packs modern and relatively powerful specs and a smooth display, while also having one major advantage over most laptops on this list: super-fast wired internet. If you want a laptop that can play modern games, particularly esports titles, this is a great option.

Dell G15

The Dell G15 is great cheap gaming laptop with AMD Ryzen 5000 processors and RTX graphics, plus a fast Ethernet connection.

Features:

Pros: Cons:

See at Best Buy

Extra cheap gaming laptop: HP Pavilion Gaming 15z

If your biggest priority is to buy something on the cheap, the HP Pavilion Gaming 15z is the best laptop to cover your basic gaming needs at a low price. It still packs modern specs, but it cuts corners in some areas to make it more accessible.

Starting with performance, the Pavilion Gaming 15z comes with an AMD Ryzen 5 5600H processor, which we’ve seen on many AMD-powered gaming laptops already. It’s a 6-core, 12-tread CPU, and it can boost up to 4.2GHz, so you won’t be missing out on a ton of performance here. The bigger sacrifice comes in the form of the GPU, which is an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650, with no option to upgrade from there. This setup should still run most games with some tweaked settings though, so it’s not as bad as it might sound. It rounds things out with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD storage in the base model, but you can upgrade both of those beforehand or later on.

The display on the Pavilion Gaming 15z is a 15.6-inch panel and it comes in Full HD resolution (1920 x 1080), so it’s not far behind other laptops in that regard. The base model comes with a 60Hz refresh rate and 250 nits of brightness, but both of those aspects can be upgraded in HP’s configurator depending on your budget, going up to 144Hz and 300 nits of brightness.

It’s getting somewhat repetitive at this point, but yes, the HP Pavilion Gaming 15z also comes with a 720p webcam above the display, and as usual, there’s no facial recognition built-in. There’s also no fingerprint reader, so Windows Hello support isn’t a possibility out of the box.

In terms of the design, the HP Pavilion Gaming 15z embraces the gamer look a bit more than some others on this list, featuring a green HP logo on the lid and green backlit keyboard keys. You can change that to white for an extra $10, which helps the laptop look a bit more subdued and professional. Surprisingly, the Pavilion Gaming 15z is lighter than most laptops on this list, weighing in at 4.37lbs. It measures 23.62mm in thickness, so it’s not overly thin, but we’ve also seen worse.

Finally, we have the ports, and the supply of them here is not that bad, frankly. We get one USB Type-C (3.2 Gen 1), two USB Type-A (one 3.2 Gen 1, one 2.0) ports, HDMI 2.0, a headphone jack, gigabit Ethernet, and a full-size SD card reader. It doesn’t have as many ports as some others, but it still covers most of the basics, so it’s honestly not a huge downgrade from some of the more expensive models on this list.

For those who want to save as much as possible while still getting a serviceable gaming experience, the HP Pavilion Gaming 15z is a great starting point. With a price that’s often discounted to just $600, it gives you plenty of bang for the buck, and it’s one of the best cheap gaming laptops you can find.

HP Pavilion Gaming 15z

The HP Pavilion Gaming 15z is the cheapest laptop on this list, but it still packs a punch with modern specs and a relatively lightweight design.

Features:

Pros: Cons:

See at HP

Also great: Acer Nitro 5

Another great option if you want an extra cheap gaming laptop is the Acer Nitro 5, which is packing some similar specs, but also some differences. It’s a little more expensive, but it’s still a great choice.

Starting with performance, the Acer Nitro 5 has an Intel Core i5-11400H, which is pretty much on par with Ryzen 5 5600H. It’s a 6-core, 12-thread processor, and it can boost up to 4.5GHz, so performance won’t be a problem. Similar to the Pavilion Gaming 15z above, you also get an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 GPU with 4GB of memory, so you should be able to run most games, even if it requires tweaking some settings. Rounding out the specs, there are 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD, though you can upgrade the RAM and storage later on if you want to.

The display on the Acer Nitro 5 is a 15.6-inch panel and just like other laptops on this list, it’s a Full HD (1920 x 1080) panel. It sports a 144Hz refresh rate out of the box, though, which makes it a bit more appealing if you want a smooth gaming experience.

Once again, we’re looking at a standard HD/720p webcam above the display, and no Windows Hello facial recognition support is included. Beyond that, there isn’t a fingerprint reader, either, so there’s no Windows Hello support at all. That’s the last time we’ll say that in this article, though.

The design of the Acer Nitro 5 makes it immediately obvious that it’s a gaming laptop thanks to some angular designs on the lid and a bid red accent on the rear where the fan exhaust is. The inside is also a dead giveaway — the keyboard is backlit in red, including the edges of the keys, making it obvious this isn’t a professional laptop. At 4.85lbs, the Acer Nitro 5 isn’t the lightest laptop on this list, but it’s also not the heaviest. It measures 23.88mm, which also puts it somewhere along the middle of this list in terms of portability.

The port setup on this laptop is quite solid, though — it’s the only laptop on this list with a Thunderbolt port, which immediately makes it that much more interesting compared to any other laptop on this list. That means you can connect anything from external displays to external GPUs and Thunderbolt docks.  On top of that, you get three USB Type-A ports (one 3.2 Gen2, two 3.2 Gen 1), HDMI, gigabit Ethernet, and a headphone jack.

Being the only laptop with a  Thunderbolt port on this list already makes the Acer Nitro 5 a very interesting device, but when you factor in the low price, a solid port selection and a relatively lightweight build, this is a very solid option.

Acer NItro 5

The Acer Nitro 5 is an extra affordable gaming laptop, but it still has a lot going for it, including the only Thunderbolt 4 port of any laptop on this list.

Features:

Pros: Cons:

See at Best Buy

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Those are, in our opinion, the best cheap gaming laptops you can buy today. We gave the overall pick to the HP Victus 16 because it’s a solid balance of a sleek design, powerful and modern specs, and a price that falls in our range, even when it’s not discounted. The MSI GF65 is arguably packing better hardware, but since it usually costs more than $1,000, it’s a bit more dependent on whether you can stretch your budget that far.

If you have a bigger budget, consider checking out our list of the best gaming laptops in general. There are some fantastic options there. Or stop by our list of the best laptops if gaming isn’t a big focus for you.

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