These are the best gaming chairs you can buy in 2022

Buying the best gaming chair is crucial to building a good gaming setup and it greatly helps in improving your overall gaming experience. You can spend all the money you want on buying the best gaming monitor or gaming mice, but you’re not going to have a good experience if you don’t have your head in the game and you’re constantly shifting around to try to get comfortable. Gaming chairs are great for even those who are building a new home office setup.

Luckily, you don’t have to spend a lot of money on a top-tier gaming chair to reap the comfortable rewards. There are plenty of affordable options out there too that’ll help you improve your experience — be it while gaming or simply while taking care of day-to-day office tasks. In this article, we’re going to take a look at some of the best gaming chairs you can buy for your setup in 2022.

Navigate this article:

• Best overall gaming chair: Corsair T2 ROAD WARRIOR
  • Alternate best pick: AndaSeat Dark Demon
• Best premium gaming chair: Secretlab Titan EVO 2022
  • Alternate best premium gaming chair: Noblechairs Epic
• Best budget gaming chair: Cougar Armor One
• Best leather gaming chair: Noblechairs ICON
• Best fabric gaming chair: Corsair TC60 Fabric
• Best ergonomic gaming chair: Razer Iskur Ergonomic

Best overall gaming chair: Corsair T2 ROAD WARRIOR

The Corsair T2 ROAD WARRIOR gaming chair isn’t one of the newest options on the market. In fact, this particular gaming chair came out more than three years ago, but it’s still going strong. It offers all the essentials that we’ve come to expect from a premium gaming chair including 4D armrests, plenty of adjustment options, and more. There are a lot of things to like about the Corsair T2 ROAD WARRIOR and we think it’s one of the best gaming chairs you can buy in 2022.

First things first, the Corsair T2 ROAD WARRIOR gaming chair is available in a bunch of different color options to choose from. The black color variant, however, seems to be the most popular one but feel free to look at other ones too. Corsair doesn’t have any special edition variants but we think the available options are plenty.

The Corsair T2 ROAD WARRIOR is one of those high-quality chairs that’s designed to be used by those who sit for hours in front of a computer while gaming. It’s got a wide seat to make sure you’re seated comfortably on the chair. We think this is ideal for even those who demand slightly bigger chairs. Corsair is using perforated PU leather for the seat and it also comes with a pillow and a lumbar cushion for support. The headrest is also ventilated to make sure there’s enough room to breathe.

The base of the Corsair T2 ROAD WARRIOR is made out of cast aluminum and it comes with rollerblade style caster wheels. We think the base is strong enough to hold a lot of weight and it should be able to last for a very long time without any issues. The base of the chair is very important and it appears to be quite strong on this particular gaming chair, so that’s good. The Corsair T2 ROAD WARRIOR also offers a 170-degree recline with a 17-degree seat tilt angle. This is more in line with a lot of other premium gaming chairs out there, so no complaints here too.

One of the best things about the Corsair T2 ROAD WARRIOR gaming chair is that it’s very easy to build. You also get all the essential accessories inside the box with this chair and it makes the overall process very smooth. Overall, we think the Corsair T2 ROAD WARRIOR gaming chair offers a lot of great features and it’s one of the best gaming chairs you can buy on the market right now.

Priced at $400, the Corsair T2 ROAD WARRIOR isn’t the most expensive gaming chair either which makes it even better. You get a great-looking gaming chair with good quality and a long list of features. And unlike a lot of other gaming chairs on the market, this one is readily available to buy too. Corsair also sells another variant of the T2 ROAD WARRIOR called the T1 Racing chair. That one costs slightly less, and we think it’s a great alternative if you don’t want to spend too much money.

Corsair T2 ROAD WARRIOR gaming chair

The Corsair T2 ROAD WARRIOR may not be the newest gaming chair on the market but we think it offers all the essential features and is very comfortable to use.

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Buy from Newegg

Alternate best pick: AndaSeat Dark Demon

You may not have heard of AndaSeat but this company is no stranger to creating gaming chairs. AndaSeat has a ton of gaming chairs to its name, including some really cool collaborations with Esports teams too. For this particular list, however, we’ve picked the AndaSeat Dark Demon gaming chair. This gaming chair will set you back around $400 and it offers a lot of good features that make it worth considering.

The AndaSeat Dark Demon gaming chair measures 143 x 54 x 56.70cm and is a pretty hefty chair. In fact, this particular gaming chair is suitable for tall people who prefer having big-sized gaming chairs for their setup. A big gaming chair like this will demand a lot of space in your room, though, so keep that in mind if you are planning to pick this one up for your setup.

The Dark Demon gaming chair is made out of a single-piece steel frame and uses cushions made out of high-density foam. There’s also a thin layer of memory form for additional comfort and the whole thing is covered in PVC leather. PVC leather is the only material that’s available for this chair so you will have to check out the option if that’s not your thing.

The Dark Demon gaming chair has a reclining backrest that lets you adjust the angle up to 16-degrees. It also has an adjustable tilt with a locking system in place to secure the position. Additionally, we’re also looking at 4D armrests with large memory foam necks and lumbar pillows. While this lumbar pillow isn’t going to provide as much comfort as the adjustable lumbar system on the Razer Iskur would, we still think it’s a nice addition. It’s definitely better than having to rely on just the shape of the chair in the name of lumbar support.

The Dark Demon is capable of taking a maximum load of up to 200kgs which means it should be good enough for a lot of users. The metal base is also said to be strong enough to let you recline all the way back without worrying about falling down. This chair is only available in one single size, so keep that in mind. It may be big for you if you prefer using small and compact gaming chairs. The AndaSeat Dark Demon is also available in either black or black/red color options, so you don’t get that many color options to choose from either.

All in all, the Dark Demon is a great gaming chair designed for bigger people who like tall gaming chairs. It offers a lot of room to get comfortable with and there’s also good base support compared to other chairs. The 160-degree reclining angle is also among the best but you may not like the lumbar pillow for support. This one, however, is readily available on the market so you should have no issues buying one right now by using the link below.

AndaSeat Dark Demon gaming chair

The AndaSeat Dark Demon is suitable for bigger people who are looking to buy a big-sized gaming for a comfortable gaming experience.

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Buy from Amazon

Best premium gaming chair: Secretlab Titan EVO 2022

Secretlab is one of the most popular names in this space. The company recently launched its new and updated Titan EVO 2022 series, which takes everything we love about the Titan series and makes it better. Secretlab’s Titan series, in case you don’t know, is extremely popular among gamers. The new Titan EVO 2022 series chairs are said to be better than ever. It has already received pretty good reviews from enthusiast gamers and it’s also the top pick in our collection of the best gaming chairs you can buy in 2022.

One of the best things about the Secretlab Titan EVO 2022 series is that it’s available in a bunch of different finishes and customization options. A quick look at the Secretlab website will show you all the available options. They have Esports Editions of the chair, representing different Esports teams and events including the ‘World 2021’, ‘LCS 2021’, and ‘The International DOTA 2 Championships’. Additionally, you can also buy some Special Editions including the new ‘Attack on Titan’ themed chair.

The Secretlab Titan EVO 2022 gaming chair also offers superior comfort. The chair has a steel frame and it uses Secretlab Cold Cure Foam with a bunch of different upholstery options. This particular chair is available in three different size options — small, regular, and XL. The sizes are pretty self-explanatory, but you might want to visit their website or a product page to see if those dimensions are ideal for your body type. It’s all about finding the right comfort, so feel free to explore different options.

The Secretlab Titan EVO 2022 gaming chair also has a ton of adjustment options. You’ll be able to adjust the height of the chair, the angle of the backrest, armrest height and angle, and more. There’s also a product video detailing all the different options and we highly recommend watching that to see what all it can do. The chair also has an internal lumbar support system that’s controlled by two knobs located on the backrest. It allows a flexible internal membrane to move up and down as well as in and out.

The new Titan EVO gaming chair also retains all the quality features that we’ve come to expect from Secretlab chairs including 4D armrests, quality hydraulics, tilt functionality, and more. There isn’t much to complain about the Secretlab Titan EVO 2022 gaming chair. The only thing worth pointing out is that the new version is now more expensive than the outgoing model. The Titan EVO 2022 gaming chair starts at $519, with the XL variant costing $569. You’ll also be spending more based on the upholstery finishes, so keep that in mind.

That being said, the Secretlab Titan EVO 2022 is perhaps the best gaming chair you can buy on the market right now. It’s a little on the expensive side but we think it’ll also serve you well for many years to come and offers a great, comfortable gaming experience too.

Secretlab Titan EVO 2022 gaming chair

The Secretlab Titan EVO 2022 is one of the best gaming chairs on the market right now. It comes with all the bells and whistles that we've come to expect from a premium gaming chair.

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See at Secretlab

Alternate best premium pick: Noblechairs Epic

If you are looking for an alternative to the Secretlab Titan EVO 2022, then we think the Noblechairs’ Epic series gaming chair is worth considering. The Noblechairs Epic series is made out of real leather, which makes it a very premium option on the market. It features a robust steel frame with cold foam cushioning, just like the one used on the Secretlab Titan EVO chair. As for the dimensions, the Epic Series real leather gaming chair measures 21 x 51 – 55 x 22 and has a seat width and height of 13.5-inches and up to 23-inches, respectively. We’re also looking at a maximum weight of 27Kgs and a max load capacity of 120Kgs.

Noblechair’s Epic series has a ton of other great features that are worth mentioning too. This particular chair comes with ‘4D’ armrests which can be adjusted in four different ways. 4D armrests are truly reserved for only the premium options on the market, so we think this is a good addition. You can adjust the armrest horizontally, laterally, vertically, and via a tilt angle. Being able to move the armrest and adjust them according to your posture is a great feature to have and you’ll definitely appreciate this.

The Secretlab Titan EVO 2022 gaming chair is extremely popular when it comes to comfort. Well, the Noblechair Epic series isn’t bad either. This one’s also a very comfortable gaming chair that comes with an option of real leather. Alternatively, you can pick up the one that uses vegan ‘Pu leather’, both of them feature delicate stitching and good breathability for a great overall user experience. Another interesting thing to note about the Noblechairs Epic series gaming chair is that it comes with an integrated rocking mechanism with a built-in locking function. This will allow you to set the chair at just the right angle and have a comfortable viewing experience.

The Noblechairs Epic series gaming chair costs almost the same as the Titan EVO 2022, coming in at around $500. It’s indeed on the more expensive side but we think it’s worth it considering all the features and the customization options it brings to the table. You’re also looking at a really good overall build quality, something which is very crucial to the overall life of a product like the gaming chairs. The Noblechairs Epic Series also uses real leather for the best experience which, you know, can be very expensive.

This particular chair also comes with a two-year manufacturer warranty, so you don’t have to worry about it giving up on you soon. One thing that’s worth pointing out about this particular chair is that it’s relatively big in size. So make sure you have enough space for the chair if you’re planning to buy for your setup. This is true for almost all the gaming chairs as they tend to be bigger than most office chairs, but this one’s bigger. Also, it’s not readily available on the market, so be sure to hit the link below to see if it’s in stock right now.

Noblechairs Epic Series gaming chair

The Noblechairs Epic is a premium gaming chair that sports a leather exterior and offers a lot of adjustment options for a comfortable experience.

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Buy from Amazon

Best budget option: Cougar Armor One

A lot of the gaming chairs tend to be expensive but you can still kick back in style without spending too much money. If you are on a tight budget then we recommend checking out the Cougar Armor One. This budget gaming chair offers plenty of great features that make it go head-to-head against a lot of the high-end options out there. The Cougar Armor One is available for just $185 right now, and it’s our pick for the best overall gaming chair you can buy in 2022.

The Cougar Armor One is available in a bunch of different colors but we think the Orange ones look the best. It’s also the signature color of Cougar and it looks pretty cool. This will be great if you already happen to have a matching Cougar gaming PC cabinet too. Its design is very similar to a lot of other gaming chairs on the market, so you’ll feel right at home if you’re already used to one.

The Cougar Armor One gaming chair uses breathable PVC leather that makes it very comfortable to use. Despite the affordable price tag, Cougar hasn’t skimped on quality materials, so that’s good to see. The Armor One gaming chair also comes with a head and lumbar pillow for support, which is something that’s missing even a lot of high-end gaming chairs out there. The Cougar Armor One gaming also comes with a lot of adjustable parts.

In addition to adjustable height, the Armors gaming chair also supports 180-degree reclining. This is better than a lot of other gaming chairs that only offer a limited few options when it comes to reclining. The chair also has a tilt resistance feature that can be controlled by turning a knob located under the chair. You also only get 2D armrests with this particular chair but that should be enough for most gamers.

The Cougar Armos One gaming chair is available in a bunch of different size options, so be sure to pick the one that suits your needs. You may have to pay more depending on the size you end up picking for your setup. The biggest option in the Armor series appears to be the Armor Titan gaming chair. This one has a slightly different design than the Armor One chair and it also offers a couple of other features including an advanced tilt mechanism.

All things considered, we think the Cougar Armor One is an excellent gaming chair for the price. It offers a good set of features and is available in a bunch of different options. Also, the fact that you get a decent amount of adjustment options in this price range makes it a really good gaming chair to consider if you’re looking for affordable chairs. The Cougar Armor One gaming chair, as we mentioned earlier, is priced at $185 right now, and you can hit the link below to see if you can find any discounts for it online.

Cougar Armor One gaming chair

The Cougar Armor One is a budget gaming chair that doesn't skimp on the essential features and offers a comfortable experience.

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Buy from Newegg

Best leather gaming chair: Noblechairs ICON

We’ve already added the Noblechairs Epic series gaming chair as a premium option to this collection. It goes head-to-head with a lot of premium chairs on the market including the Secretlab Titan EVO 2022. That being said, there’s another Noblechairs gaming chair that we’d like to add to this collection — the Noblechair ICON. This is yet another premium offering that’s made out of real leather.

That’s right, the Noblechair ICON gaming chair is available in a bunch of different material options including real leather. While the real leather variant is more expensive than the other ones, we think it’s worth the asking price. The real leather version of this chair is available in three different finishes — black, cognac/black, and midnight blue, graphite — and we think all of them look great. The Cognac/black variant looks particular premium, but you’d probably want to go with some other option based on your setup.

The Noblechairs ICON also has a very unique shape. Unlike most other gaming chairs that bear racing aesthetics, the ICON gaming chair has a distinct shape to offer a comfortable sitting experience. It also uses breathable, deformation-resistant cold foam upholstery. Thanks to the use of high-density foam, the chair retains its shape over extended periods of time. It effectively distributes the load to prevent users from sinking too deeply into the chair, which is great for those who tend to sit for long gaming sessions.

The Noblechairs ICON also has 4D armrests to offer maximum adjustability across four dimensions. You can move it horizontally, laterally, vertically, and also adjust the tilt angle. Chairs with 4D armrests are much better than the ones that come with 3D armrests, so this is a good addition too. The base of the Noblechairs ICON is made out of solid aluminum and it supports a maximum weight of up to 330lbs. It’s a matte black powder-coating base that rests on five 2.4-inch casters with nylon cores. The base is strong enough to allow the users to recline the backrest up to 135-degree without having to worry about falling down.

Overall, there is a lot to like about the Noblechairs ICON gaming chair and we think it gets all the essentials right. The use of real leather is like the icing on the cake and is perfect for those who want a premium option. In addition to the real leather, this ICON gaming chair is also available in a bunch of other materials including PU leather, high-tech synthetic leather, fabric, and more. The pricing, of course, is different for each variant with the fabric one being the most affordable option out of the bunch. It comes down to personal preference but this is one of the very few gaming chairs out there that uses real leather, so be sure to check it out. It’s not as premium or feature-rich as the Noblechairs Epic gaming chair, so you might want to check that one out too.

Noblechairs ICON

The Noblechairs ICON is a great gaming chair that comes with a leather exterior. It also has a simple yet elegant design that should look great with most setups.

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Buy from Amazon

Best fabric gaming chair: Corsair TC60 Fabric

If leather is not your thing or you simply don’t want to spend that much money on a gaming chair then you might be interested in checking out the Corsair TC60 Fabric gaming chair. This gaming chair, as the name suggests, comes with a breathable cloth exterior. This also happens to be one the most affordable gaming chairs in this collection, so we think it’s also a great alternative to the Cougar Armors One char that we mentioned as our pick for the best gaming chair.

The Corsair TC60 is one of the very few gaming chairs that use a fabric exterior. Most of the options, including the ones mentioned in this collection, either use real leather or a PU leather exterior. Real leather is quite expensive but it gives the chair a premium look and feels overall. PU Leather also looks good but is known to have durability issues. Also, the fabric is considered to be the best for those who tend to sit on their chairs for a very long time on a daily basis. Fabric is a breathable material and we think it’ll be very comfortable to use for those long gaming sessions.

In terms of the design, the Corsair TC60 looks similar to the Noblechairs ICON gaming chair. Both of these chairs have a very unique design that makes them different from a bunch of other racing-inspired gaming chairs. The chair is also wide enough to comfortably fit most people, but you may have to look elsewhere you really are looking for a big-sized gaming chair with good support. The Corsair TC60 also lacks any sophisticated lumbar support, so keep that in mind. This may not be the best if you struggle to maintain a good posture with chairs that only have a limited built-in lumbar support.

The Corsair TC60 has 3D armrests which means they can only move in three dimensions and lacks the ability to let you adjust the tilt. As for the other adjustments, you get 100mm of seat height adjustment and a 105-degree reclining seatback with a 10-degree seat tilt. You do get a decent amount of adjustments but it obviously lacks behind when compared with a lot of other high-end gaming chairs on the market.

The Corsair TC60 fabric gaming chair is available in black, grey, or white color options and we think they all have a pretty simple and minimal design. There isn’t much to talk about the design of the chair itself, but we think it’s pretty good for the price and doesn’t leave any room to complain about. All things considered, we think the Corsair TC60 is a great gaming chair, especially when you consider the price. It’s currently available for as low as $219, making it one of the most affordable gaming chairs in this collection. It’s also a great option for those who are specifically looking for a gaming chair with a fabric exterior for a more comfortable gaming experience.

Corsair TC60 Fabric gaming chair

The Corsair TC60 is one of the best fabric gaming chairs on the market right now. It offers plenty of good features for a relatively affordable price.

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Buy from Amazon

Best ergonomic option: Razer Iskur Ergonomic

The Razer Iskur gaming chair is hard to ignore while discussing ergonomic chairs. Iskur is a premium gaming chair from the house of Razer that’s designed for gamers who spend a lot of time in front of the computer while gaming. The Razer Iskur is a great ergonomic gaming chair that comes in two size options and an add-on head cushion. Just like other Razer products, the Iskur gaming chair is also quite premium and costs a little bit more than other products, but we think this one’s worth it if you’re spending too much time in front of a computer.

One of the best things about the Razer Iskur gaming chair is that it comes with adjustable lumbar support. It’s a fully sculpted lumbar that should be able to keep you comfortable for long hours. Also, being able to adjust the angle of the lumbar support really makes it a better option over other chairs that don’t. A lot of gaming chairs have built-in lumbar support but not many let you adjust the angle. The Razer Iskur is unique in that regard and earns brownie points for being one of the better ergonomic gaming chairs on the market.

Razer is using PVC leather for the exterior of this chair. This means it’s not going to look and feel as premium as, say, the ones that use real leather, but it’ll get the job done. If that’s not your thing, then you can get the Razer Iskur gaming chair with a fabric exterior too. In addition to making the chair more breathable, it also gives it a very unique appearance. While the leather variant of the chair is available in both black and black/green color, the fabric variant of the chair is available in dark gray color. The fabric version of the chair also has adjustable lumbar support, which means you’re not missing out on much.

In addition to the adjustable lumbar support, you also get an adjustable back and headrest to get the best experience. Razer is also using a high-density molded form for the chair and it’s said to be quite comfortable even when you sit on it for long hours while gaming. The Razer Iskur gaming chair also has 4D armrests which is another great feature that we’ve come to expect from a lot of high-end gaming chairs. The base is also a strong powder-coated metal base which, according to Razer, should be able to handle a maximum weight of up to 136Kgs.

Overall, the Razer Iskur is a solid addition to this collection and we think it’s definitely worth considering if you’re looking to buy a good quality gaming chair. The fact that it has adjustable lumbar support makes it very ergonomic and it should be more comfortable to use compared to a lot of other chairs. Coming in $399, this is also not the most expensive chair out there. If you want something more affordable then Razer also has the Iskur X. That version, however, doesn’t have the adjustable lumbar support, so keep that in mind.

Razer Iskur gaming chair

The Razer Iskur is an ergonomic gaming chair that comes with a dedicated lumbar support system. You can even adjust the angle on the lumbar support on this chair.

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See at Razer

Best gaming chairs to buy in 2022: Final Thoughts

There are plenty of gaming chairs on the market but these are the ones we think are worth considering for your setup. The Corsair T2 ROAD WARRIOR is a great option and we think it’s suitable for most people who are looking to upgrade from either an older chair or a basic office chair. If you’re looking for a big-sized gaming chair then you might want to consider the Dark Demon gaming chair. We think the Razer Iskur is also an excellent option as it features an adjustable lumbar support system, something that’s missing on even the most premium chairs out there. Besides that, we’ve also added a couple of other interesting options, so be sure to check all of them.

If you are building a new setup from scratch then you might be interested in reading some of our other collection articles too, including the best monitors, best keyboards, best webcams, and more. Alternatively, you can also join our XDA Computing Forums to discuss your build or setup or get more product recommendations from other enthusiasts in the community.

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The OPPO Find N convinced me that foldables are the future

Android phones have been getting increasingly monotonous as the years have gone on, though that’s not necessarily a bad thing. There’s a comfort to be found in the conventional glass slab, with companies aiming to perfect the form factor in order to produce the most ergonomic and beautiful smartphone in the business. Foldable phones change that paradigm somewhat, and with the increasing prevalence of devices such as the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3, it seems that the future of smartphones is clear. I’ve been using the OPPO Find N as my daily driver since it was sent to me by OPPO Ireland for testing. It has convinced me that not only can the foldable form factor be practical, but that it’s likely to be the future of smartphones. It’s a tablet that fits in your pocket, what’s not to like?

About this opinion piece: OPPO Ireland sent me the OPPO Find N on the 4th of February, 2022. The company did not have any input in this opinion piece.

Android isn’t exactly tablet-friendly

The OPPO Find N combines an Android tablet into an Android phone, and while this isn’t a review (my colleague Ben has an OPPO Find N review that you should check out instead), it’s already incredibly easy to see the benefits. Android tablets aren’t very good, and often their biggest issues are a lack of high-end specifications and poor quality software. Foldable phones though, so far, are packed with nearly the highest-end specifications around, solving that part of the equation.

You get a fantastic mesh of software and hardware that shows what foldable phones really can be

Secondly, because apps are seldom made for tablets (let alone devices that can turn into tablets on the fly), the software has to be built around supporting those apps on the OS level. OPPO has put a ton of work into its software to make apps comfortable, with many apps defaulting to launching in a portrait-style box when the phone is unfolded. You can easily enable an app to use the full screen from the multitasking menu, but it shows that OPPO knows that a lot of apps just aren’t optimized for large screens. Android 12L will likely go a long way in fixing this.

When you combine OPPO’s heavy-handed take on foldables with the above, you get a fantastic mesh of software and hardware that shows what foldable phones really can be. I don’t even think twice about how I use my phone anymore — I walk around, using my phone in its folded state with the 60Hz screen as normal. When I sit down on a train, a plane, or even just in a coffee shop, I can unfold it and enjoy the twice-as-big display.

Foldables are the future

Once Android solves its tablet woes, then I can’t see how foldable phones won’t be the future of Android. Most apps are perfectly responsive, and the OPPO Find N has entirely changed the way that I use my smartphone. Its smaller form factor makes it perfect to use in one hand until it’s unfolded, and if you’re unfolding it, then you’re almost certainly in a position where using two hands isn’t much of a problem.

If we've figured out how to use laptops and know to close them when we're not using them, then we can figure out how to use foldable smartphones

As for “fragility”, I haven’t had any particular cause of concern after actually using the device. It certainly doesn’t feel any more fragile than other devices, and it’s the same level of care that you would give to a laptop. If we’ve figured out how to use laptops and know to close them when we’re not using them, then we can figure out how to use foldable smartphones.

Am I worried about the incredibly complex hinge mechanism that goes into devices like these? Absolutely, but that’s why I think they’re the future and not the present. I still think that not everyone will want to use a foldable smartphone, and to be honest, if I’m spending my own money, I’ll still likely hold out on a generation or two before buying a foldable smartphone that I can use myself.

Foldable phones are here, and it's likely that they're here to stay

However, one final aspect that really has me thinking foldable phones are the future is, at least according to Mark Gurman, even Apple is interested in the space. Apple is notoriously slow to adopt new technologies, and if the company is at least looking at foldables, that means it sees value in the space.

Does that mean Apple will definitely release a foldable? No, because companies with a scale as large as Apple probably test hundreds of different types of products that never see the light of day. The difference is that foldable phones are here, and it’s likely that they’re here to stay. There’s a strong possibility that one day, a foldable iPhone (or even under a different name, in true Apple fashion) will reach the masses.

The one form-factor to rule them all

From my own experience, this is the one form factor to rule them all. It’s a phone, it’s a tablet, and it has all of the benefits that you can expect. In devices like the OPPO Find N which lack a crease, it’s so easy to see the appeal. There are genuine use-cases where it makes much more sense than a phone too, and more than I thought I would realize.

For example, the other night I went out for dinner with some friends, and we were trying to work out how to split the bill. We each sent a message in a shared group chat with the amount on the bill that amounted to what we ordered, and I added it up in a floating window calculator on the unfolded OPPO Find N. I was then able to screenshot that total value, with the numbers used to add it, superimposed over the conversation. It was incredibly seamless and convenient, and an undoubtedly better experience than trying to either fit the floating window over an app on a normal phone or worse, switching between Facebook Messenger and my calculator app constantly.

It’s the little things that make me realize why I like foldable phones, and it’s why, so far, it feels like a vastly superior experience to the normal glass slab. There’s nothing wrong with a phone that doesn’t fold, but you can do so much more with one that does. I was on the fence before, but I’m a believer now: foldable phones are the future, and I can’t wait to see what’s next.

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Amazfit GTS 3 Review: Fitness-focused and fashion-forward

More often than not, flagship smartwatches from brands like Samsung and Fossil steal the spotlight when it comes to wearables. But the fact of the matter is, not everyone is looking to splurge upwards of $200 on a companion device. For budget shoppers, there is plenty of fish in the sea and that’s where Amazfit comes in.

You’ll find a healthy number of options, most of them bearing accessible price tags, under the Amazfit banner. Yes, you’re forgoing Wear OS here, but the features offered against the amount you’re paying strike just the right balance. With Amazfit smartwatches, the basics are all there.

Amazfit launched the latest iterations of its GTR and GTS series in October 2021. This is when the square-shaped Amazfit GTS 3 smartwatch made its debut next to the more premium Amazfit GTR 3 and GTR 3 Pro models. The Amazfit GTS 3 is geared towards an audience with slender wrists. It essentially serves as a “lite” version of the upper-tier GTR 3 series.

Amazfit GTS 3: Specifications

Specification	Amazfit GTS 3
Build	Aircraft-grade aluminum alloy case Silicone strap
Display	1.75-inch AMOLED(square) 72.4% screen-to-body ratio 341 PPI
Water resistance	5 ATM
Weight	24.4g
Dimensions	42.4mm x 36mm x 8.8mm
Strap width	20mm
OS	Zepp OS Alexa built-in
Storage	2.34GB
Battery	250mAh Rated for up to 12 days of use Rated for 2.5 hours charge time Magnetic charging base
NFC support	N/A
Connectivity & Location	Wi-Fi Bluetooth 5.1 BLE GPS
Built-in speaker	N/A
Compatibility	Android 7.0 and above iOS 12.0 and above
Fitness features	150+ sports modes Automatic sports recognition Continuous heart rate monitoring Blood oxygen monitoring Stress level monitoring Breathing rate detection Sleep tracking Menstrual cycle tracking

About this review: We received the Amazfit GTS 3 from Amazfit for review on January 27th, 2022. Amazfit had no input in the contents of this review.

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Amazfit GTS 3: Display and Design

Just like the last-gen Amazfit GTS 2, the GTS 3 sports a square-shaped display. The beautiful 1.75-inch AMOLED panel gets impressively bright even in broad daylight and the color payoff is brilliant. There’s an Always On Display feature that allows you to keep the screen on at all times so it always shows the time and a few other indicators. With the right watch face (there are hundreds to choose from), it replicates the look and feel of a regular wristwatch.

The Amazfit GTS 3 is extremely comfortable for long-term wear thanks to its lightweight and slim nature.

The Amazfit GTS 3’s vivid display comes encased in an aircraft-grade aluminum alloy frame. There are three color options for the smartwatch: Terra Rosa, Graphite Black, and Ivory White. Each color variant’s metal frame features rose gold, metallic black, and soft gold finishes respectively. Pleasingly, there is a crown button on the side that can be used to navigate the wearable. Overall, the GTS 3 is extremely comfortable for long-term wear. Its lightweight and slim nature feels wonderful and you might even forget you’re wearing it at times.

The smartwatch hasn’t changed much over its predecessor in terms of design and I love that because it doesn’t need a radical redesign. It is already very stylish and I received many compliments while I was testing it. Many commenters assumed it was an Apple Watch at first glance, so if you want an Android-friendly lookalike, then the GTS 3 is a great pick. The 5 ATM water resistance gives confidence in its dainty and sleek nature.

You get matching silicone straps with each color option. The straps measure 20mm wide and you can swap them out very easily. A small problem that I encountered with the watch straps was the fact that I could only set them to be too tight or too loose. The pinholes for the clip were not placed at ideal spots for my small wrists. This is ironic, considering that is the demographic that the GTS 3 caters to. In the end, I ended up changing to a third-party metal strap for comfort a few days into my testing. I do have really tiny wrists though, so I am not sure that the majority of people will face a similar issue.

Amazfit GTS 3: Battery and Charging

Keeping the Amazfit GTS 3 up and running is an underwhelming 250mAh battery. While this is rated for up to 12 days of use, the actual uptime is quite a different story. The GTS 3 lasts about four to five days on average, with all of its features in full use including AOD. With the brightness level turned down, this can easily extend to a week. Seeing as this smartwatch has an AMOLED display, you still get satisfactory color reproduction at lower brightness levels. However, under the bright sunlight, you may be forced to go above 50%, automatically forcing its battery to drain more.

There’s no wireless charging here, so the only charging option is through the proprietary magnetic charger that you get in the box. The top-up process takes about two hours usually. Clearly, nothing in the battery life department strives to impress. It just gets you by. How I wish Amazfit had gone the extra mile and included at least 10W wireless charging support. That would have been a huge plus point in the Amazfit GTS 3’s favor.

Amazfit GTS 3 Review: Zepp OS

One of the biggest caveats of most Chinese smartwatches is the lack of Wear OS. Amazfit’s GTS 3 can be filed away under the same category. It runs the company’s own software called Zepp OS and the companion mobile app bears the same name. Let’s consider how Zepp plays out in Amazfit’s favor.

Zepp OS is smooth, light, and efficient, and comes with an impressive number of health and fitness features.

Zepp OS is smooth, light, and efficient. It is free from lags and glitches, and it connects seamlessly with the Zepp app. Setting up the watch is easy, and you can control and customize almost everything in the Amazfit smartwatch through your phone. Apart from the amazing number of sporting modes, there are other great features too. You can control music playback, view messages and calls, check the weather, track your blood oxygen levels, monitor your heart rate, and keep tabs on your sleep & breathing quality.

The number of health and fitness features baked into the affordable Amazfit GTS 3 is impressive. To top it all off, the smartwatch comes with Alexa built-in and also supports select offline voice commands. Again, you can set this up from your smartphone. All the data recorded from the 150+ sports modes and the various health trackers syncs automatically with your phone. It is then saved to the cloud, so it retains data whenever you log into the Zepp app from another device.

For the most part, the ECG and SpO2 sensors do their job well. I used a medical-grade pulse oximeter to compare the readings in real-time. While the numbers did differ ever so slightly, there weren’t any major differences, assuring me of its safety. Of course, the Amazfit GTS 3 isn’t meant to replace your medical equipment, but it helps fitness-focused folks get some insight.

Health and fitness features on the Amazfit GTS 3 are sure to please individuals leading an active lifestyle. Movement tracking is accurate and you can install supplementary fitness apps such as Google Fit, Strava, and Relive. The GTS 3 doesn’t look as large and boisterous as full-blown sports watches or fitness bands, increasing the smartwatch’s appeal. However, I do wish that I could reply to messages within the watch. You can’t answer or reject calls either, which is rather ridiculous.

Personally, I am not a very active individual but I do enjoy taking regular walks. I took the Amazfit GTS 3 along with me on a light walk and it jotted down every single detail of my stroll. You’ll have to have mobile internet on your phone when you go out for runs or any outdoor exercises, and the Bluetooth and GPS need to be kept on. The smartwatch records your heart rate, speed, average speed, location, calories burnt, and so much more per exercise. This in-depth level of analysis is extremely helpful to those who follow strict regimens and fitness plans. I can see how useful the breakdown would be when it comes to more demanding workouts.

Being out and about on my walk, some of the features that I sorely missed were the lack of LTE on the Amazfit GTS 3 smartwatch. My phone’s battery was already running low, and I was very worried that it would run out soon. With a fitness-tracking smartwatch, it’s pretty important to have features that streamline your workout process. Can you imagine going for a run with the GTS 3 and getting a call? You’d have to pause, whip out your phone, and then answer or reject it before continuing on.

Ffeatures that I sorely missed were the lack of LTE and NFC for contactless payments.

Zepp OS offers a few additional apps, but the available apps are very limited in number. Sure, you can control Spotify with the GTS 3, but only when your watch is connected to your phone. Since you can’t access the local storage, there’s no offline way to store music in your watch either. Other key specs like NFC are missing too, so you cannot make contactless payments or leave your home without your phone in tow.

Amazfit GTS 3 Review: Conclusion

The Amazfit GTS 3 blurs the line between fitness bands and conventional smartwatches. In my opinion, you get a fair bit of goodness from both sides of the coin. You aren’t getting a full-fledged LTE smartwatch here, but that’s okay. The $160 price tag allows some room for error. Constricting your budget definitely comes with compromises, this is a universal truth.

Looking at the competition, if you want access to Wear OS, the ability to store files locally on your watch, LTE, and everything in between, your obvious choice would be the top-of-the-line players such as the Galaxy Watch 4, TicWatch Pro 3, or Fossil Gen 5. Shooting for the stars will cost you, and in this case, we’re talking about a price bump of over $100 over the Amazfit GTS 3. Set your sights lower and you’ll have to settle for older models like the Fitbit Versa 2 and Garmin Vivoactive 3. While the cheaper alternatives give you contactless payment and much longer uptimes, you won’t find Wear OS or bright displays. In this sub $160 price range, there’s nothing on par with the GTS 3 at the moment.

Amazfit can’t offer you flagship features like Google Pay and a huge selection of apps. However, the GTS 3 comes chock-full of fitness tracking features, sporting modes, health monitors, modern sensors, and so much more. The smartwatch touts a beautiful design and looks classy on small wrists — a major problem with almost all of the best smartwatches out there. That bright and colorful display is delicious eye-candy, tying it all together for this wearable.

Amazfit GTS 3

The Amazfit GTS 3 meets at the intersection between typical smartwatches and fitness bands. There’s plenty to love here, but you can expect to make a few trade-offs here and there.

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The best laptops to buy for remote learning in 2022

After the last two years, it’s fair to say that remote learning and remote work are here to stay at least in some capacity. It’s not all bad – working or learning remotely can give you more flexibility and freedom, and many places take a hybrid approach that give you the best of both worlds. But that means you’re going to need a great laptop, and we’re here to help. We’ve already written about the best PCs for remote work, and in this article, we’ll focus on the best laptops for remote learning.

There are a few things to consider when choosing a laptop for remote learning. One factor we’d say is somewhat important is that it’s not overly expensive, since not everyone is willing to spend thousands of dollars on a laptop for a young student. We’d also favor having good webcams, which might be important for online classes, but you can always consider buying an external webcam if you want better camera quality. And of course, a great display and solid performance are also quite important so students can keep up with their classes and assignments more easily.

Navigate this article:

• Best overall: HP Envy x360
• Best premium laptop: Surface Laptop 4
• Best Chromebook: Acer Chromebook Spin 713
• Best affordable laptop: HP Pavilion Aero
• Best 17-inch laptop: LG gram 17
• Best for gaming on the side: Dell G15
• Best affordable tablet: Surface Go 3
• Best Chrome OS tablet: HP Chromebook x2 11

Best overall: HP Envy x360 15

HP makes some of the best and most popular laptops in the world, and the Envy series strikes a great balance of premium features and a relatively affordable price. It has the performance to keep up with all kinds of school work, it has a great screen, and it’s versatile, all while being budget-friendly.

There are multiple versions of the Envy x360, both with Intel and AMD processors, but we’ll focus on the former. The HP Envy x360 is powered by an Intel Core i7-1165G7 processor, which has four cores, eight threads, and boost speeds up to 4.7GHz. It’s one of the fastest CPUs around, plus it has integrated Iris Xe graphics for some light GPU workloads, too. It will breeze through just about any school task, especially with 16GB of RAM included as well. Plus, you can get up to a 1TB SSD for storage.

The display is great too. It’s a large 15.6-inch screen that’s great to work on, and it comes in Full HD (1920 x 1080) by default, which is already great. You can upgrade to a brighter 400-nit panel, which we’d recommend if you want to use the laptop outside. And if you have money to spare, there’s even an incredibly sharp 4K (3840 x 2160) AMOLED option that’s not only great for work but also a stellar way to watch movies and videos on.

The webcam here is a 720p HD camera, and that’s the minimum requirement for a Windows PC nowadays. It’s good enough to use for calls and online classes, though it won’t stand out as a particularly great camera. There’s no Windows Hello facial recognition support, but it does have a fingerprint reader on the keyboard, so it’s easy to unlock.

Design-wise, the Envy x360 is premium, but not flashy. It’s an all-silver laptop (some other models are black), and while it looks and feels good, it’s not super unique. It weighs 4.35lbs and it’s 18.8mm thick, so it’s not super light, but that shouldn’t be a problem if you’re learning from home. One thing this model has is a full number pad, which might be useful if your classes involve a lot of number crunching.

As for ports, the HP Envy x360 comes with one USB Type-C port, two USB Type-A ports, HDMI, a headphone jack, and a full-size SD card reader. It’s a solid setup that covers most needs you’d have. The USB Type-C port doesn’t support Thunderbolt, but we wouldn’t consider that an essential feature for a student.

All in all, the HP Envy x360 balance of performance, display, and price makes it easily one of the best laptops you get for remote learning. You can check out the AMD version here if you find it more interesting.

HP Envy x360 15

The HP Envy x360 is an relatively affordable premium laptop with high-end performance and great specs for remoe learning.

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Best premium laptop for remote learning: Surface Laptop 4

If you want a premium laptop experience across the board and you’re willing to spend a bit more, the Surface Laptop 4 is one of the best options for school, including remote learning. It has a premium design, a great display to get work done, and high-end performance, all wrapped in a sleek chassis. It comes in 13.5-inch and 15-inch versions so you can choose what works best for you.

The Surface Laptop 4 comes in both Intel and AMD flavors, and it maxes it with an Intel Core i7-1185G7 processor (both sizes), or a custom AMD Ryzen 7 4980U (15-inch model; Ryzen 5 4680U for the 13.5-inch version). No matter which version you go with, you’re going to get great performance, so there’s not necessarily a wrong choice. AMD models may be a bit slower, especially on battery power, but they also last longer on a charge. Intel models do come with up to 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD, while AMD versions max out with 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. Still, both are fantastic options.

The display on the Surface Laptop 4 is one of its highlights. It comes with either a 13.5-inch or a 15-inch panel, but both have exactly the same pixel density, meaning they both look great. The 13.5-inch model has a resolution of 2256 x 1504, while the 15-inch model goes up to 2496 x 1664. On top of that, these panels come in the 3:2 aspect ratio, which is taller than your typical 16:9 display. A taller screen means more vertical space and more display area for things like text in documents or rows in Excel, so it’s great for working on school projects. It’s a touchscreen, too, so you can interact with some things more intuitively by just touching them or using the Surface Pen.

The Surface Laptop 4 uses a 720p webcam like most other laptps on this list, but Surface devices typically have some of the best cameras out of any laptop. While the resolution isn’t anything special, this is still one of the better cameras you’ll find on a laptop. Plus, it supports Windows Hello facial recognition so it’s easy to unlock your PC.

Design-wise, the Surface Laptop 4 has that clean and minimalist aesthetic of the Surface family, but it’s not boring. It comes in four colors (only two for the 15-inch model) – Platinum, Matte Black, Ice Blue (13.5-inch), and Sandstone (13.5-inch) – so you can still get something that’s more unique to your tastes. And if you go with the smaller 13.5-inch model, the Platinum and Ice Blue models have an Alcantara-covered keyboard deck. This is a soft fabric that feels really nice to the touch, and it makes the laptop more comfortable to use, especially when it’s cold and you don’t want to feel cold metal on your wrists.

Coming around to the ports, the Surface Laptop 4 has one USB Type-C port, one USB Type-A, a Surface Connect port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. While we don’t expect most students to have a second screen, some users may have liked to have a display output, so it’s a bit of a shame that it’s not built in. You can use a Surface Dock with the Surface Connect port or a USB-C adapter if you want to connect an external display, though.

Whether it’s for remote or in-person learning, the Surface Laptop 4 is one of the best laptops you can get for a student.

Surface Laptop 4

The Surface Laptop 4 has high-end performance, a great 3:2 display, and a premium design making it great for all kinds of students.

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Best Chromebook: Acer Chromebook Spin 713

Chromebooks are super popular for school, and for many schools, they might be the ideal solution. The Acer Chromebook Spin 713 is one of the very best Chrome OS laptops you can buy right now, so if you’re interested in remote learning, this is a fantastic choice.

While many Chromebooks come with low-end hardware (and they can still run well that way), the Acer Chromebook Spin 713 feels like a premium laptop in almost every way, including performance. It has an Intel Core i5-1135G7 processor with four cores, eight threads, and boost speeds up to 4.4GHz. This is an excellent CPU for just about anything you could want to do on a Chromebook, and everything will run smoothly on it. It even has integrated Iris Xe graphics. The laptop also comes with 8GB of RAM so multi-tasking isn’t a problem, and you get 256GB of SSD storage for your files. Considering Chrome OS relies a lot more on cloud storage, that’s probably more than you’ll ever need.

The Chromebook Spin 713 is also one of the very few Chrome OS laptops with a tall 3:2 display, which also makes it one of the best for productivity. It’s a 13.5-inch panel and it comes in 2256 x 1504 resolution, so it gives you plenty of space to work with and it looks sharp and vibrant. Plus, this is a convertible, so you can also count on touch and pen support, and you can even use it like a tablet.

For online classes and calls, you get a 720p webcam, which does the job well enough. There’s no facial recognition support, or any form of biometric authentication, which is one of the downsides of this laptop. All it means is you’ll need to enter your password to unlock the laptop every time, so how much of a problem it is depends on how much you value convenience.

The design of the Acer Chromebook Spin 713 is premium, albeit not particularly flashy. It’s an all-metal laptop with Corning Gorilla Glass protecting the display, so it certainly feels sturdy and durable. It even achieves military standards (MIL-STD-810H) for durability, so it can survive some accidental drops and bumps. Some may find the all-grey design a bit boring, but it does the job, and it’s a decently portable laptop, too.

As for ports, you get two Thunderbolt 4/USB-C ports, one USB Type-A port, HDMI, a microSD card reader, and a headphone jack, which is a very good setup for a laptop of this size. This should allow you to connect just about any peripheral you want, and you shouldn’t need any adapters, so there isn’t much more you can ask for.

Considering the sub-$700 price point, this isn’t just one of the best Chromebooks, it’s one of the best value laptops you can buy for remote learning. Of course, you’ll need to make sure Chrome OS works for you, but it should be good enough for many students.

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Acer Chromebook Spin 713

If a Chromebook is what you're looking for, it doesn't get much better than the Acer Chromebook Spin 713. It's fast, it has a great screen, and a durable build.

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Best affordable laptop for remote learning: HP Pavilion Aero

Want a great laptop that doesn’t break the bank? The HP Pavilion Aero is one of the best value laptops we’ve seen recently. It checks all the right boxes and still manages to come in at an affordable price, so you can’t go wrong with it if you’re on a small budget.

First off, it’s powered by AMD Ryzen processors up to an AMD Ryzen 7 5800U, which is one of the best 15W processors on the market right now. It has 8 cores, 16 threads, and it can boost up to 4.4GHz, so you’ll have fantastic performance, especially for multi-tasking. It also comes with up to 16GB of RAM (8GB minimum) and a 1TB SSD. It covers all the basic needs you could have at a very compelling price point.

The display is also surprisingly good for this price. It’s a 13.3-inch panel, and it comes in Full HD+ (1920 x 1200) in the base configuration, which is something you don’t always get at this price point, especially combined with the high-end processors. Not only that, you can upgrade to an even better Quad HD+ (2560 x 1600) panel for just $30, which is even less common for a laptop at this price. The display doesn’t support touch, but that’s not a feature everyone needs, and this is still fantastic value.

Above the display, the HP Pavilion Aero has a 720p webcam, which, much like most laptops on this list, does the job. It’s not particularly great, but it’s not terrible either. It doesn’t support Windows Hello facial recognition, but if you want an easy way to unlock the PC, you do get a fingerprint reader for that.

Many laptops at this price point tend to make sacrifices in design, but the HP Pavilion Aero is a pleasant surprise here, too. It has a magnesium alloy chassis, which allows it to be extremely light, weighing less than 2.2lbs. It’s also just 17mm, so this is a very portable laptop. What’s more, the laptop comes in a few different colors, which is also rare for this price point, especially for a laptop made of metal. You can choose from silver, white, gold, and rose gold.

And for ports, you get a solid selection, too. It has one USB Type-C port, two USB Type-A ports, HDMI, and a headphone jack, so it covers most basic needs you could have. You can connect a handful of peripherals and a second screen if you have one, which is all most students should need.

The HP Pavilion Aero offers more value than almost any other Windows laptop you can buy right now, and it’s easily one of the best choices if you want something to use for remote learning.

HP Pavilion Aero

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Best 17-inch laptop for remote learning: LG gram 17

If you want a large-screen laptop for your school work, the LG gram 17 is probably the best option around. This one is admittedly a bit expensive for just remote learning, but if you want a great experience on a large laptop, this is one of your best bets. Going for a lower price on a 17-inch laptops usually means some bigger sacrifices have to be made.

The LG gram 17 is powered by an Intel Core i7-1195G7, a quad-core, eight-thread processor with boost speeds up to 5GHz, which is one of the fastest 15W processors you can find today. It also includes Intel Iris Xe graphics, so you can use it for some light GPU workloads. This model also comes with 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD, giving you plenty of performance for multi-tasking and a lot of space for school projects and files.

If you’re here for the display, there’s a lot to love in the gram 17, too. It’s a 17-inch panel and it comes in the 16:10 aspect ratio, so it’s going to feel massive. As we’ve mentioned, taller screens give you more surface area, thus more space for content. When you apply that to a 17-inch display, it feels huge. It’s a sharp display, too, coming in Quad HD+ (2560 x 1600) resolution. Full HD is generally a good place to start already, but on a 17-inch laptop, not so much. The extra resolution really pays off here.

For everything it gets right, the LG gram 17 still has a 720p webcam, so it’s not exactly a standout among premium laptops. It does the job fine, though. There’s no Windows Hello facial recognition, but LG builds a fingerprint sensor into the power button, so it’s very easy to unlock your laptop as soon as you turn it on.

Being lightweight is the whole design philosophy behind the LG gram 17, which means this is one of the most portable laptops you can find, somehow weighing under 3lbs. Sure, you’re using it for remote learning, but if you also want to take it to school or anywhere else in the future, this is probably the only 17-inch laptop that lets you do that comfortably. It comes in either white, silver, or black, so it looks professional in just about any setting.

And for ports, you’re looking at two Thunderbolt 4 connections, two USB Type-A ports, HDMI, a headphone jack, and a microSD card reader. It covers all your needs and then some, and it’s hard to complain about any of it.

The LG gram 17 is one of the best laptops you can buy today, and while it may be great for remote learning, it can also be great for much more than that, so it’s an easy recommendation.

LG gram 17

The LG gram 17 is one of the lightest laptops around, which is especially impressive considering it has a 17-inch display. It's also got great performance.

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Best for gaming on the side: Dell G15

You may be buying a laptop for school, but if there’s one thing kids love using their laptops for, it’s gaming. If you want to unwind after your school work and play some games, the Dell G15 is a great laptop that can play most modern games with some tweaked settings, and just about any older game you could want to. Of course, it’ll also do a great job for school work.

First off, this model of the Dell G15 is powered by an AMD Ryzen 5 5600H processor, which is a 45W processor with 6 cores, 12 threads, and boost speeds up to 4.2GHz. Because it has a higher power rating, this is going to be noticeably faster than most laptops we’ve mentioned above, especially if you’re playing games. Backing that up, there’s an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 graphics card. As we’ve mentioned, that’s more than capable of running most modern games, though you may need to adjust some settings in more demanding titles. You also get 8GB of RAM of the box (you can upgrade it later), and a 512GB SSD that should be able to store school documents and games alike.

For the display, you’re looking at a 15.6-inch panel that comes in Full HD resolution (1920 x 1080), which is just fine for gaming. It doesn’t have a tall screen like many laptops on this list do, but wide screens are still very popular for gaming. It also has a 120Hz refresh rate, which is also great if you want your games to run as smoothly as possible. This should do a great job for both work and play.

Just like most other laptops on this list, the webcam on the Dell G15 is a 720p camera, and there’s no Windows Hello support either, whether that be via facial recognition or a fingerprint sensor. That’s a feature most gaming laptops don’t have, so it’s not too surprising.

The big caveat with this laptop is that it’s only ideal for learning remotely. Like most gaming laptops, especially more affordable ones, the Dell G15 is thick and heavy, so it’s not something a student should be carrying around all day to school. If the laptop can stay at home, then that shouldn’t be a problem. The laptop does look cool, though, using a textured great chassis with black spots that gives it a pretty unique look. It’s not as obnoxious as some gaming laptops can be, which you might like.

As for ports, the Dell G15 has a pretty complete setup. You get one USB Type-C port, three USB Type-A ports, HDMI, 2.5Gbps Ethernet, and a headphone jack, covering pretty much all you could need. You even get fast wired internet if you need it for gaming or if your Wi-Fi just isn’t reliable enough for online classes. It’s certainly a solid selection of ports that makes good use of this large chassis.

It’s not for everyone, but for the student who’s learning remotely and wants to play games, this is one of the best choices.

Dell G15

For the young gamer who's attending school remotely, the Dell G15 offers the performance you need to handle botth school work and modern games.

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Best budget tablet: Surface Go 3

If you want something affordable, compact, and versatile, the Surface Go 3 is a great laptop for students, especially younger ones with lighter workloads. It doesn’t have top-notch specs, but it’s got a great display, a great webcam for online classes, and it can still handle basic day-to-day tasks like writing documents and browsing the web without a problem.

It’s powered by either an Intel Pentium Gold 6500Y or an Intel Core i3-10100Y, and the latter of those is the more powerful model. It’s a dual-core, four-thread CPU that can boost up to 3.9GHz, so it can still handle basic tasks just fine. It has a low 5W TDP, so it’s not going to be as fast as more expensive laptops, but it should give you solid battery life in return. You can also get the Surface Go 3 with 8GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD, wand that’s something we’d really recommend, even if you stick to the lowered Pentium Gold processor. The base model uses slower storage, which makes a bigger difference than you might think.

The Surface Go 3 makes up for its lesser performance with a great screen, though. It’s a 10.5-inch panel and it comes in Full HD+ (1920 x 1280) resolution, which is very sharp for a display of this size. It’s also using that 3:2 aspect ratio Microsoft always uses for its devices, so it feels a bit bigger than it may seem on paper. It’s a great screen for reading, typing, and watching content, and the small size helps this be a very portable device.

Something else that’s great on the Surface Go 3 is the webcam. It’s using a 5MP on the front with support for 1080p video, making it one of the best cameras out of any laptop on this list. It’s great for online classes so everyone can see you clearly. It also supports Windows Hello facial recognition, a rare feature for laptops at this price. As bonus, there’s another camera with an 8MP sensor on the back, so you can record videos or take pictures for school in a pinch.

Portability is also something the Surface Go 3 excels at. It’s a small tablet that weighs just 1.2lbs, and it’s just 8.3mm thick. Even if you add the Type Cover, which is sold separately, it only adds up to 1.74lbs and 12.9mm, so it’s still super portable. The design is also nice aesthetically, with a clean and minimalist look using a magnesium chassis. It comes in either Platinum or Matte Black colors, so you can choose what fits your style best.

The port selection on the Surface Go 3 is about what you’d expect from a tablet. You get a USB Type-C port, a Surface Connect port, a headphone jack, and a microSD card reader. For LTE-enabled models, there’s also a nano-SIM card tray. And yes, you can get the Surface Go 3 with LTE if you want to stay connected to the internet while away from home. That way, you can attend classes from anywhere.

Surface Go 3

The Surface Go 3 is small lightweight tablet with a great display and webcam that makes it great for remote learning. It also has solid performance for basic school tasks.

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Best Chrome OS tablet: HP Chromebook x2 11

As we’ve already mentioned, Chrome OS is very popular in some schools, and if you want a more affordable option that’s also very lightweight and portable, the HP Chromebook x2 11 is a fantastic choice, especially for younger children.

It’s powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c chipset, which is based on the Arm architecture. This is an 8-core chipset with four performance cores and four efficient cores, and it can handle most day-to-day tasks just fine. Chrome OS is a lightweight operating system, and it’s the perfect fit for this kind of hardware. It also has 9GB of RAM and 128GB of eMMC storage (there’s also a cheaper 4GB/64GB configuration if you want something even cheaper).

The display on the Chromebook x2 11 is also great: An 11-inch panel with a 3:2 aspect ratio that’s great to get work done, but also watch content on. it comes in a very sharp 2160 x 1440 resolution, even sharper than the Surface Go 3, and it also supports touch and pen input. Plus, unlike the Surface, the pen is included in the box, so you don’t have to worry about buying it separately.

You also get great cameras for video calls, online classes, and recording video in a pinch. The front-facing camera is a 5MP sensor, and on the back, there’s an 8MP camera that you can use to record videos or show off something that’s in front of you. There’s no facial recognition because that’s not something Chrome OS supports, but you do get a fingerprint reader built into the tablet so it’s easy to unlock.

The main chassis of the HP Chromebook x2 11 is made of aluminum, which allows it to feel premium and durable. It also has a detachable back plate that serves as a kickstand so you can use it like a laptop, and a detachable keyboard to go along with it. These attachments are grey, or blue in the lower-tier model. By itself, the tablet weighs a mere 1.23bs, but the keyboard and kickstand take that to a total of 2.27lbs. It’s still very much portable and lightweight, though it’s not quite on the same level as the Surface Go 3.

As for ports, you get two USB-C ports and a microSD card reader, which isn’t far from what you’d expect out of a tablet. The lack of a headphone jack may be a problem for some users, and it’s kind of surprising to see it missing, but this is a very thin device when you don’t have the kickstand attached, so it probably wouldn’t be possible to fit it in here.

The HP Chromebook x2 11 deserves a spot among the best laptops for remote learning, especially if it’s for a younger student. You can buy it below or find the cheaper 4GB/64GB model here.

HP Chromebook x2 11

The HP Chromebook x2 11 is a great Chrome OS tablet that's very portable and a great choice for younger students.

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See at HP

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Whether you’re buying for a younger student or someone in the later years of their school journey, there are a few great laptops to choose from for remote learning. We gave the top spot to the Envy x360 15 because it’s a premium laptop with great performance, a great display, a versatile design, and because Windows is the operating system most people are familiar. However, these are all great choices depending on your specific needs and preferences.

If you’re a college student and you want something a little more suited for your needs, be sure to check out the best laptops for college students.

The post The best laptops to buy for remote learning in 2022 appeared first on xda-developers.

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