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vendredi 2 juillet 2021

Lenovo Legion 5 Pro Review: Ryzen 5000 and RTX 30 performance, and a 16:10 screen

One of the big stories around Lenovo’s Legion 5 Pro is that it now comes with a 16-inch 16:10 QHD display. Considering the amount of power that’s under the hood here, there’s a lot going on with what’s technically Lenovo’s mainstream gaming laptop, or a Pro version of it.

I can tell you that with AMD Ryzen 5000 processors and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 graphics, this thing is powerful. The new graphics card powers the 165Hz screen nicely, and it all makes for an impressive gaming experience.

Lenovo Legion 5 Pro: Specifications

CPU AMD Ryzen 7 5800H (3.2GHz), 8 Cores, 16 Threads
GPU NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 (8GB GDDR6), 140 Watt TGP
Display 16.0″ WQXGA (2560×1600), IPS, 500 nits, Dolby Vision
Body 356×264.4×26.85mm (14.02×10.41×1.07in), 2.45kg (5.4lbs)
Ports
  • (4) USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 (one Always-On)
  • (1) USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (Data transfer and DisplayPort 1.4)
  • (1) USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (Data transfer, Power Delivery and DisplayPort 1.4)
  • (1) HDMI 2.1
  • (1) Ethernet (RJ-45)
  • (1) headphone / microphone combo jack (3.5mm)
Storage 1TB PCIe NVMe (M.2 2280)
Memory 16GB DDR4-3200
Connectivity Intel Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax 2×2 + Bluetooth 5.1
Audio 2x2W, Nahimic 3D Audio for Gamers
Dual array microphones
Camera 720p w/ E-Camera Shutter
Input 6-row, multimedia Fn keys, numeric keypad, black keycap
4-Zone RGB LED backlight
Battery 80Wh, Rapid Charge Pro (50% in 30min)
Color Storm Grey (top), Black (bottom)
Material Aluminum (top), aluminum (bottom)
OS Windows 10 Home
Price $1,959.99

Design

The Lenovo Legion 5 Pro is a full redesign from previous generations. Made out of aluminum, it’s more clearly a gaming laptop than its recent predecessors like the Legion Y540 and Legion Y530. With those devices, Lenovo went for a more streamlined look, something that looked cool as a gaming laptop, but also looked professional if you took it into an office.

Top-down view of Lenovo Legion 5 Pro on marbled table

The lid is no longer flat, and it now has the Legion logo right in the middle. It lights up in white lighting and staying true to the 5-series laptops I’ve reviewed, all of the lighting is white. Lenovo does make Legion 5-series laptops with some RGB lighting, but the 7-series is where you’d go for full RGB lighting, such as per-key control.

The black rear behind the hinge is angled now, and that’s where you’ll find the bulk of the ports. Ports on the rear is something that Lenovo learned with the second generation of Legion laptops a few years back, and it’s much better for cable management. For anything that’s plugged in pretty much permanently, it can go back there.

Rear view of Legion 5 Pro showing variety of ports

On the back, there are three USB Type-A ports, all of which are USB 3.2 Gen 1 for 5Gbps data transfer speeds. There’s also a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port for 10Gbps, Power Delivery, and DisplayPort 1.4, so it’s good for pretty much everything. Then you’ll find HDMI 2.1, Ethernet, and the power port. The power supply is 300W, the largest I’ve ever seen on a laptop, so that’s why you need Lenovo’s own charger for it.

Side view of Lenovo Legion 5 Pro showing USB-C and headphone jack

The side ports are for peripherals you can plug in and unplug on the fly. On the left side, there’s another USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port, along with a 3.5mm audio jack. On the right side, there’s a USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A port and a camera privacy guard switch.

Side view of Legion 5 Pro showing USB-A and privacy switch

The privacy guard switch is interesting, as it uses a method I’ve only seen from HP, and only for one generation. It disconnects the webcam internally, so there’s no actual physical guard over the camera. You can even check in the Device Manager, and you’ll see there’s no webcam connected to the PC. I would bet that like we saw with HP, Lenovo will add a physical guard to the camera, even if it uses the same internal method. As it turns out, when using a feature based on distrust, people aren’t likely to trust that the switch is actually disconnecting the webcam internally — a simpler cover that people can see working would be better.

In the corners on the sides and rear, there are vents for the two ColdFront 3.0 fans. It’s actually bringing in cooler air through the keyboard and then pushing it out the vents. By putting the fans in the corners and placing vents on both sides, it can expel twice as much heat.

Display and Audio

The Lenovo Legion 5 Pro has a 16-inch 16:10 display with 2560×1600 resolution and a 165Hz refresh rate. This is good. 16:10 displays are becoming more common across the PC space, and it’s a trend we’ve been seeing over the last year or so.

Front view of Lenovo Legion 5 Pro on gray couch

With the new aspect ratio, the screen is taller, but since it’s 16 inches instead of 15.6 inches, it’s almost the same width. Being that screens are measured diagonally, you’re getting a lot more surface area out of a 16-inch 16:10 screen than you would out of a 15.6-inch 16:9 display.

Angled view of Lenovo Legion 5 Pro display

The refresh rate is big too. This is something we’re seeing a lot in 2021 gaming laptops, and I’m here for it. Previously, you pretty much had to choose between FHD at a high refresh rate or 4K at 60Hz, and there was no in-between. But for me, FHD is just a low resolution on a 15.6-inch (or higher) screen. QHD feels like the sweet spot for me, so seeing these 165Hz panels is awesome.

The reason you want a higher resolution is for a sharper picture. The refresh rate has to do with motion, so with a higher refresh rate, the motion is smoother. I feel like QHD at 165Hz is a very nice combination of both.

Display calibration results for Lenovo Legion 5 Pro

From my testing, the display supports 99% sRGB, 72% NTSC, 77% Adobe RGB, and 77% P3.

It’s not just for gamers. Laptops that have a 45W processor and dedicated graphics like these can also be used for video editing and other kinds of creative work. The bigger screen and higher resolution serve the purposes of both creative work and gaming.

Close-up of top bezel on Legion 5 Pro

The bezels around the screen are narrow on three sides, and sadly, that leaves us with a 720p webcam. In fact, I mentioned the internal switch to disconnect the webcam earlier. Lenovo actually said that the narrow bezels are the reason there’s no additional hardware there. While I’m completely in favor of narrow bezels, and I’m glad the firm didn’t put the webcam under the display as it’s done before, a 1080p webcam is a must in 2021, whether you’re working from home or you’re streaming games.

The two 2W speakers get loud and they sound good, whether you’re listening to music or playing games. It comes with Nahimic 3D Audio, which improves surround sound immersion. There are also a bunch of customization options in the companion app like we’ve seen from various others that tune speakers.

Keyboard and Touchpad

Next up with the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro is the TrueStrike Gaming Keyboard. I’ve always been a fan of Lenovo’s TrueStrike keyboards because I feel like they’re good for gaming, but they’re also comfortable and accurate for typing. I’m a big fan of anything that translates well between work and play. Lenovo laptops also just tend to have good keyboards, at least in the mainstream to premium space.

Top-down view of Legion 5 Pro keyboard

It has full 1.5mm key travel, and in some models, the Legion 5 Pro is offered with four-zone RGB lighting. It uses a soft-landing switch with a larger aperture in the baseplate, so there’s a greater area of shock absorption. It adds up to something Lenovo says is more comfortable than a regular rubber dome keyboard, and it offers faster input, which is what’s important when gaming.

Angled view of 1.5mm keys on keyboard

The touchpad is 23% larger too, which is nice. Any company that has room to make a larger touchpad should absolutely do so. It makes moving the cursor easier and there’s no downside to it. You’re probably not using this touchpad for gaming though, since it’s clickable and you certainly won’t want to accidentally click.

There’s no fingerprint sensor or anything, which is pretty normal for a gaming laptop. I honestly have no idea. Having touchscreens or clickable touchpads make sense to me, but I can’t imagine the gaming downside to having a fingerprint sensor or an IR camera for facial recognition.

Performance, Battery Life, and Gaming

The Lenovo Legion 5 Pro that the company sent over includes an AMD Ryzen 7 5800H processor and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 graphics, along with 16GB DDR43200 memory. If it’s not plainly obvious, it runs like a dream, and why shouldn’t it? It’s got top-end hardware, with the latest 45W octa-core 16-thread processor from AMD, and RTX 30 series graphics. If I told you something wasn’t good, that would be a surprise.

Front view of laptop with Halo Infinite promo image as wallpaper

Now that’s out of the way, let’s prove it. Obviously, I played lots of games on this machine like Halo: The Master Chief CollectionForza Horizon 4Tetris Effect: Connected, and Gears 5. It’s really nice to just be able to crank up resolution and frame rate settings.

I edited video too. I took a 20-second 4K 60fps video with an iPhone 12 Pro Max, and just imported it into Adobe Premiere Pro and exported it. The Lenovo Legion 5 Pro easily beats out Apple’s new M1-powered 24-inch iMac. Yes, they’re two different machines, but it’s worth noting.

Model Specs Rendering time (seconds)
24-inch iMac Apple M1, 16GB RAM 27.41
Lenovo Legion 5 Pro AMD Ryzen 7 5800H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 8GB 22.94
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Intel Core i7-1185G7 23.66

If you’re looking for a laptop for video editing, this is a good one as long as you’re planning on gaming too. If you’re exclusively video editing, there are devices more aimed at your use case.

I also ran benchmarks like PCMark 8, PCMark 10, 3DMark, Geekbench, and Cinebench.

Legion 5 Pro
Ryzen 7 5800H
RTX 3070
Acer Predator Helios 700
Core i9-9980HK
RTX 2080
HP OMEN 15
Ryzen 7 4800H
GTX 1660 Ti
PCMark 8: Home 5,291 5,323 4,756
PCMark 8: Creative 6,199 7,017 6,028
PCMark 8: Work 4,102 4,314 3,989
PCMark 10 6,800 7,031 5,639
3DMark: Time Spy 9,963 10,745 6,037
Geekbench 1,475 / 7,377 1,188 / 7,946
Cinebench 1,423 / 11,729

This laptop benchmarks really well, and it shows through performance. I also ran the benchmark in Gears 5 and the results are about what you’d expect. You can easily run it on the top settings without breaking a sweat.

Gears 5 benchmark results for Lenovo Legion 5 Pro

Unfortunately, that always means that the fun ends with battery life. Honestly, I think that if you go for a machine like this, you’re going to end up keeping it plugged in as much as possible. No one wants to lose power in the middle of a game. I left it on battery life with the power slider at one notch above battery saver, and I got under three hours of use out of it. That’s not playing games or rendering video either. That was just regular work in the browser.

Conclusion

For a mainstream gaming laptop, I have to say that the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro is pretty awesome. It packs lots of power into a package that weighs in at just over five pounds, and it looks stylish while it does it.

All my complaints are small, but they add up in certain ways. I feel like in 2021, a 720p webcam is unacceptable, especially on a laptop that costs almost two thousand dollars. I’d also like to see a fingerprint sensor here for easy sign-in.

Angled view of laptop with Gears 5 loaded

But I really do love the changes that were made here. The larger 16:10 display makes a big difference, and it doesn’t feel like it makes the sacrifices that a smaller, narrower 16:10 display makes because it’s nice and big at 16 inches. The high refresh rate not only gives it a visually appealing look, but it’s also functional, giving you an edge when gaming.

All-in-all, I feel like it checks the right boxes for the mainstream gamer. For the entry-level, you can still look toward Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming, HP Pavilion Gaming, Acer Nitro, or something along those lines. If you’re an enthusiast gamer, then you probably already know this isn’t the machine for you. You’re probably looking at laptops that have all-new ways of innovative cooling, more powerful graphics, RGB lighting, and more.

The Lenovo Legion 5 Pro fits right into that mainstream. This is where you want the performance for a great gaming experience, but you don’t quite want to sacrifice the benefits of a great productivity experience to get there.

    Lenovo Legion 5 Pro
    The Lenovo Legion 5 Pro packs a 16-inch QHD 16:10 display with 165Hz refresh rate and some serious power with AMD Ryzen and NVIDIA RTX 30 chips

      Features:

      Pros:

      Cons:

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Which Android apps do you want to see on Windows 11?

Windows 11 is official, and if you’re a Windows Insider, you can test the first preview right now. Unfortunately, one of the big new features, Android app support, isn’t yet available in the first Windows 11 Insider Preview.

A look back at Android on Windows

Talk about Android app support in Windows has been around for a long time, or more specifically, about six and a half years. In January 2015, Microsoft held its second big Windows 10 event, and that’s where it announced some ambitious new plans to get apps into its Windows Store, now called the Microsoft Store.

Along with the Universal Windows Platform (UWP), the Redmond firm announced four bridges. Project Westminster was a way to package hosted web apps as UWP apps, and Project Centennial was a way to package Win32 apps as a way to be distributed through the Store. But Microsoft knew that iOS and Android were where apps were actually being developed, so it had a plan to get those apps onto Windows.

Blue bridge describing the Universal Windows Platform and its bridges

Project Islandwood was a way to recompile Objective-C source code into Windows apps. It never got too popular because it was never very good. Eventually, the iOS bridge went open source, and as you can see on GitHub, there hasn’t been much action in years. Finally, Project Astoria was a way to run Android apps on Windows. Unlike Islandwood, Astoria wasn’t requiring you to recompile your apps. This was straight-up running Android apps on Windows 10.

Project Astoria was killed off before Windows 10 ever launched, unlike the other three bridges. Microsoft’s official reasoning for canceling it was it was just too confusing for developers to have the option between porting their iOS app and their Android app. There were varying reports on the real reason. Some said it was because Android apps ran too well, and that developers wouldn’t bother making Windows apps. Other reports were that it didn’t work well enough.

Nevertheless, it went away before Windows 10 shipped. However, it evolved into the Windows Subsystem for Linux, which then evolved into WSL 2, an actual Linux kernel shipping within Windows 10. That leads us back to today, with Project Latte.

Microsoft and Linux text with heart in the middle

Project Latte was the codename for bringing Android apps to Windows 11. It’s using what Microsoft calls the Windows Subsystem for Android, and on amd64 machines, it’s using Intel Bridge technology to run without any performance issues. On arm64 machines, these apps can just run natively.

There’s been a lot of work done on this, and Microsoft even partnered with Amazon to get its Appstore integrated into the Microsoft Store. You don’t have to use the Store, of course. You can install an APK like you would with any other app.

But why do we even need Android apps on Windows 11? What apps do you want to see?

I’ve had a lot of time to think about Android apps on Windows; again, it’s been six and a half years. Back in the Project Astoria days, it was Windows phones that were able to run Android apps during the preview period, not laptops. Due to the lack of Windows phone apps, that made sense at the time, even without Google services.

But when it comes to Windows 11, I still don’t know what we’re expecting to see here. Sure, as Windows enthusiasts, we’re excited about Windows 11. We’re excited about the prospects of Android apps when Windows has such a long history of not getting the app support it needs, at least in the Store. I’m just not sure that Android apps can get Windows users much that they don’t have. At best, we can hope for more touch-optimized apps.

On Windows, many of us do all of our work through the browser. For me personally, I have about a dozen tabs open at any time, and many of them are things that I could use a native app for, but don’t. These include two email tabs, Twitter, and more. Things that I do use a native app for are Skype, OneNote, Microsoft To Do, and Slack. Chromebooks have proven to us we can do most of our work through the browser. Indeed, Chromebooks added Android support to make up for the rest. But don’t we have native Windows apps to make up for the rest?

Microsoft Store in Windows 11

I can’t think of much that I’d actually get out of Android apps, but I can think of some. The two that come to mind are Kindle and Comixology, both of which are owned by Amazon. Sure, we have those. Kindle has a web app and a native PC app, and Comixology has a web reader. But when it comes to using either of those on a tablet, the experience is not great.

I’m not concerned with the lack of Google services on Windows. This isn’t an Android device. I don’t need Google Maps or Google Photos for a good experience. I use all of them through their respective web apps. Some apps might not function correctly; for example, Twitter uses Google to deliver notifications, but I’m totally fine with that.

I’d like to know what you’re looking forward to with Android apps in Windows 11. Is there a specific app that you’re looking forward to being able to use on your PC? Is it easier access to future Android apps that you’re looking forward to?

Let us know. What is it about Android apps on Windows 11 that has you excited?

The post Which Android apps do you want to see on Windows 11? appeared first on xda-developers.



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OnePlus flagships will get three major Android upgrades and four years of security updates

OnePlus has just announced a big update to its Software Maintenance Schedule for its flagship and mid-range portfolio.

As per the new announcement, OnePlus is now committing three major Android upgrades and four years of security updates for its recent flagships, a step up from two major Android updates and three years of security updates that the company has been sticking to since 2018.

This brings OnePlus in line with Samsung, which already commits to the same level of support for its flagships — going all the way back to the Galaxy S10. However, this parity only applies to the flagship phones as OnePlus’s mid-range Nord portfolio is still subject to the standard 2 major Android updates and three years of security updates. On the other hand, Samsung offers its recently released mid-range phones the same level of support as its flagship.

Here’s the updated software maintenance support cycle for OnePlus phones:

  • Three OS updates / 4 years or security update: 
    • OnePlus 9 Pro
    • OnePlus 9
    • OnePlus 9R
    • OnePlus 8 Pro
    • OnePlus 8
    • OnePlus 8T
  • Two OS updates / 3 years of security updates
    • OnePlus 7 Pro
    • OnePlus 7
    • OnePlus 7T
    • OnePlus Nord
    • OnePlus Nord CE
  • 1 OS update / 3 years of security updates
    • OnePlus N100
    • OnePlus N10 5G
    • OnePlus N200 5G

OnePlus says this is made possible due to their recent merger with OPPO, which will see both companies sharing R&D resources and working under one roof. At the time of announcing the merger, Pete Lau said that the integration with OPPO would also help OnePlus improve its software update situation.

However, one of the most interesting pieces of information revealed by the announcement is the unification of OxygenOS and ColorOS codebases. OnePlus says OxygenOS fans have nothing to worry about as it’s all happening behind the scenes. It also specifically mentions that users won’t even notice this change, so it looks like there won’t be any major changes to the UI itself. In any case, OnePlus says the switch to the integrated codebase on the current phones will happen with the Android 12 update. So we’ll have to wait and see.

 

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These are the Best Laptops you can buy in July 2021: Dell XPS, Alienware, HP Spectre, and more!

Apart from the many tasks you can achieve from a laptop, the best smartphones have gone way beyond. You can click on amazing pictures and videos, binge-watch your favorite TV shows, or even pay money without ever reaching for your wallet. But even now, most people continue to rely on laptops to get their work done faster and more efficiently. The initial days of the Covid-19 lockdown saw a decline in smartphone sales due to obvious reasons. However, at the same time, there was a huge demand for laptops as organizations scrambled to switch to a work-from-home setup.

There’s a wide variety of laptops out there for almost every type of user. From gorgeous displays to long-lasting battery life, getting the right notebook is honestly not that difficult. Of course, you just need to look in the right place. It’s best to assess all the factors before you go ahead and put your money down. Apart from choosing the right specs, you need to be mindful of the size and form factor. Of course, in the end, it all comes down to your needs and requirements. To make things easy, we’ve listed some of the best laptops you should consider if you’re planning to buy one in 2021. These are the best and top-of-the-line options in various segments.

Navigate this guide:

Best Overall Laptop: Dell XPS 13 9310

dell xps 13 9300

The XPS 13 has quintessentially been one of the most influential Windows laptops in the past few years. Known for offering a solid balance of style and performance, the all-new XPS 13 9310 model offers up to an 11th-gen Intel Core i7-1185G7 processor, 16GB 4267MHz of LRDDR4x memory, and 512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD. The sleek metal design complements the borderless display, which is also one of its highlight features.

Speaking of which, Dell has been offering some of the best-looking displays on its XPS lineup. This one features a 13.4-inch 16:10 ratio screen, and you can opt for a 1200p or 2400p resolution. The port selection is limited to a couple of USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 4, a microSD card slot, and a headphone and mic combo jack. Dell claims battery life of up to 14 hours on the full-HD+ model which sounds great for all-day workloads. It’s also Intel Evo certified which means that it’s specifically recommended by Intel to offer a premium experience to the end-user.

    Dell XPS 13
    The Dell XPS 13 is a highly recommended premium notebook that offers a solid balance of style and performance. It's also one of the best ultrabooks out there.

Best 15-inch Laptop: HP Spectre x360 15

HP Spectre x360 15

HP’s thin and light Spectre x360 series is not just limited to 13-inch models. It also offers a full-size 15-inch variant that looks gorgeous when paired with the 4K IPS panel option that offers up to 400-nits brightness and 100% sRGB coverage. The laptop is available with up to a Core i7-1165G7 processor, 16GB of DDR4 memory, and 512GB of PCIe NVMe SSD storage. It features the same design language as seen on the company’s popular 2-in-1 ultrabook range and if you’re interested, we have a special list of the best mice options for the Spectre x360.

    HP Spectre x360 15
    The HP Spectre x360 15 is a thin and light convertible laptop featuring a 15.6-inch display available with up to 4K resolution.

Best 17-inch Laptop: Dell XPS 17

dell xps 17 9700

Dell reintroduced a 17-inch XPS laptop in the first half of 2020, almost 10 years after we saw the last model. Offering all of the best features that we have seen on the recent XPS lineup, the XPS 17 simply enlarges the package. It’s available with up to a 10th-gen Intel Core-i9 processor and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 GPU making it an apt device for creative professionals and casual gamers. Additionally, you can expect the premium XPS styling, including the super-slim bezels, which reduces the laptop’s overall footprint down to a 15-inch notebook. This notebook is also a serious competitor if you’re looking for a solid Windows alternative to the MacBook Pro 16.

    Dell XPS 17
    Bringing the best of the XPS lineup, the XPS 17 is the best 17-inch laptop that offers the footprint of a 15-inch machine. It comes with an excellent display and a premium design that you cannot ignore.

Best Business Laptop: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9

Lenovo ThinkPad Carbon X1 Gen 9 red background

The ThinkPad series is a no-brainer if you are looking for a solid business notebook. The X1 Carbon is one of the most premium ThinkPads which is now offered with Intel’s latest 11th-Gen Tiger Lake CPUs and is one of the biggest updates for the series. The laptop continues to offer a durable slim design and now comes with a 16:10 ratio display with options of UHD+ and FHD+ resolutions and a revamped keyboard. We would also recommend looking at the HP Elite Dragonfly if you’re willing to stretch your budget as HP charges quite a bit for the notebook.

    Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9
    The ThinkPad is a popular name when it comes to business laptops. The latest 9th-gen ThinkPad X1 Carbon offers the latest Intel 11th-gen processors and a taller 16:10 ratio display.

Best Gaming Laptop: Alienware X15

Angled view of Alienware x15

Alienware x15

We have a new powerful gaming laptop in town. The new Alienware X15 is the company’s slimmest laptop ever and is loaded with the latest hardware to offer the best gaming experience. Powered by the new 11th-gen Intel Tiger Lake-H CPUs (up to Intel Core i9 11900H), the new X15 comes with the iconic sci-fi-inspired design language. It also comes with the option of NVIDIA’s new GeForce RTX 3060, 3070, and RTX 3080 graphics cards. The laptop also comes with a 15.6-inch that is available with full-HD at 360Hz or you can max out with a QHD 240Hz panel. The laptop comes with RGB lighting that can be controlled via the Alienware Command Center software, along with modern connectivity options including Thunderbolt 4 and Wi-Fi 6E.

    Alienware X15
    The new Alienware X15 is a new breed of gaming laptops from the company that offers a slim profile. However, there's no compromise when it comes to the performance capabilities.

Best Convertible Laptop: HP Spectre x360 14

HP Spectre X360 14

One of the best looking convertible laptops, the new HP Spectre x360 14 sits between the 13-inch and 15-inch variants with a taller 3:2 display and the new Intel 11th-gen Tiger Lake processors. Overall the design is similar to the previous-gen models including the diamond-shaped rear corners and the accents around the edges. The new Spectre x360 14 comes in similar color options as well so you can choose between Nightfall Black, Poseidon Blue, or Natural Silver.

The standard display comes with a full-HD resolution which comes with 400-nits of brightness or you can go for a 3K2K (3000 x 2000-pixels) OLED panel or even a 1,000-nit option that comes with a special anti-reflective technology that makes the screen difficult to read from the sides. As for the internals, the laptop is available in a base model that starts with the above-mentioned full-HD panel,  a Core i5-1135G7 processor, 8GB of memory, and 256GB of storage with 16GB of Intel Optane. The top variant comes with the Intel Core i7-1165G7, 16GB RAM, 1TB storage with 32GB Intel Optane, and the OLED display, and if you opt for the anti-reflective display option, that also gets you 2TB of storage.

    HP Spectre X360 14
    The new HP Spectre X360 14 brings a taller display but continues to offer a premium design paired with the latest hardware and even options for OLED panel or one that goes up to 1000-nits.

Best Laptop on a Budget: Acer Swift 3

Acer Swift 3 product image

A lightweight yet powerful laptop, the Acer Swift 3 comes at an affordable price of under $700. It isn’t the most premium ultrabook, but it’s certainly the best laptop you can put your money on if you don’t want to go overboard with your budget. It comes with a 14-inch full-HD IPS display and is powered by the AMD Ryzen 7 4700U octa-core processor, 8GB LPDDR4 RAM and a 512GB NVMe SSD. The laptop also features a backlit keyboard, a fingerprint scanner, Wi-Fi 6, and Alexa voice assistant built-in. If you care about Thunderbolt, the Acer Swift 3 is also available with the new Intel 11th-gen Core-i7 CPU with a Thunderbolt 4 port and Intel EVO certification.

    Acer Swift 3
    The Acer Swift 3 is a reliable laptop at its budget. The notebook should offer you excellent performance thanks to the octa-core AMD Ryzen 7 CPU.

Best Detachable Laptop: Microsoft Surface Pro 7

Microsoft Surface pro 7
Microsoft redefined the category of detachable laptops with the launch of the Surface tablet series, even though it did take a few updates to become the best Windows tablet. The current-gen Surface Laptop Pro 7 is our recommendation if you need an ultraportable form factor with a detachable keyboard. The Surface Pro 7 is available with up to a 10th-gen Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB LPDDR4x RAM, and 1TB of SSD storage. It features a 12.3-inch PixelSense display with a resolution of 2,736 x 1,824, support for Wi-Fi 6, dual cameras (5MP front and 8MP‌ rear), and 1.6W stereo speakers tuned by Dolby. The Surface Type keyboard is sold separately at an additional cost of about $130.

    The Surface Pro 7 is an excellent Windows tablet that can easily turn into a lightweight laptop using the detachable Type Cover keyboard.
    Microsoft Surface Pro Type Cover
    The Surface Pro Type Cover offers a great typing experience and comes with LED backlighting and attaches to your Surface Pro 7 using magnets.

Best Chromebook: Acer Chromebook Spin 713

acer chromebook spin 713

Chromebooks are usually the best option for school and college students since they are usually cheap. Not the Acer Spin 713 though. It’s one of the most powerful, pricey, and best Chromebooks out there. Since it’s expensive, it also comes with powerful 10th-gen Intel CPU options going all the way from Core i3 to a Core i7. It also comes with a 13.5-inch 2256×1504 touchscreen, a 128GB NVMe SSD, and 8GB of LPDDR4 RAM, making it the fastest one out there. The Acer Spin 713 is also Project Athena certified, which means it has a seal of approval from Intel when it comes to performance and battery life.

    Acer Chromebook Spin 713
    The Acer Chromebook Spin 713 is one of the most powerful Chromebooks you'll be able to pick up today. With beefy specs that rival that of budget gaming laptops, performance will never be an issue.

Before you go ahead with any of the above-recommended laptops, we’d like you to know that Intel recently announced its new line of 11th-gen Tiger Lake-H processors. This means that its most powerful line of mobile CPUs is finally making its way to the market. We’ll be updating this guide as new models and variants start hitting shelves so keep an eye out. But if you need a machine right this instant, these are our top picks for the best laptops that you can buy.

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Twitter explores Trusted Friends, Reply Language Prompts, and Facets

Last month, Twitter launched Twitter Blue, a subscription-based service that gives you access to several exclusive features for a monthly fee. While the service is limited to Australia and Canada and has yet to roll out to most markets, Twitter is already giving us a glimpse at what it plans to do next.

Twitter has just shown off three concept features (via TechCrunch) that aim to give users greater flexibility and control over their tweets and profiles. The first concept is Trusted Friends, which can be seen as an extension of the reply limit feature that Twitter rolled out last year. Many users already use this feature to limit public replies on certain tweets. However, the tweet itself is always visible to everyone on the platform, allowing anyone to like, retweet, or quote tweet.

With Trusted Friends, users can choose to make their tweets visible to only a small group of people. This can come in handy if the subject matter is personal and you don’t want to draw public attention. This sounds a lot like Instagram’s “close friends” feature, which limits the reach of your story to a group of people you have put in your list of close friends. Twitter’s mockup shows users would be able to toggle between private and trusted friends while composing a tweet. Users could also prioritize showing tweets from trusted friends.

Twitter trusted friends Twitter trusted friends screen

The next idea that Twitter is playing around with is Facets. This feature could come in handy for professionals who are often expected to maintain a certain level of decorum. Facets would allow such personalities to be more dynamic without offending their core audience. For example, you can post work and field-related tweets under your work persona while using other profiles to post something more casual and off-topic. Similarly, followers can choose which facets they want to follow. For example, they can choose to follow only your work Facet instead of following your all tweets.

Twitter app showing Facets Twitter Facets

Finally, Twitter has also showcased a concept called Reply Language Prompts. This would allow you to create a list of words and phrases you want to see in a tweet reply. When someone tries to use that word or phrase while responding to you, Twitter will highlight that word and show a prompt telling them to be mindful of their word choice.

Reply preferences in Twitter app Twitter reply preference prompt Twitter compose menu

Twitter says all of these features are still under consideration and not yet finalized. That means they may or may not materialize.

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Microsoft is changing the BSOD color to black in Windows 11

Microsoft is changing up the screen you see when your PC crashes. With Windows 11, you’re going to see the black screen of death, whereas with Windows 10, you get a blue screen. It’s the first big change since the company started giving Windows Insiders green screens (a GSOD, instead of a BSOD) to differentiate from crashes in production builds.

The new black screen of death, which would still be a BSOD, is present for some people running the Windows 11 Insider Preview. Most people, however, seen to still be getting a green screen. It’s still unclear if the black screen of death is going to make it into the production version of Windows 11 this holiday season.

It might not. For one thing, Microsoft is still going to see a benefit in differentiating between Insider and production versions of Windows 11. But also, if you do a Google search for how to fix a black screen, you’re presented with solutions to an entirely different set of problems from the one that you’re dealing with in your BSOD. This is bound to get confusing.

It’s understandable that Microsoft wants to make this change. Windows 11 is a departure from the designs of years past. Gone are the jarring sharp corners, and gone are bright colors. For example, the new shutdown screen in Windows 11 is black instead of blue. You’re going to see a lot of this change.

Other than that, the new BSOD (black screen of death) looks exactly the same as it has since Windows 8. It keeps the frowny face that was added back then, and still tells the average person almost no information about how to get your computer to stop crashing.

Microsoft released the first Windows 11 Insider Preview this week, introducing a whole bunch of features for Insiders to test. The next build should arrive next week, probably on Wednesday if the team sticks to its usual schedule, and that might be where more people see the black screen of death.

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Design and Prototyping Collaboration with Wondershare Mockitt

If you work with a team of people to create prototypes, vector designs, wireframes, flowcharts, and other interactive diagrams, Wondershare has developed a platform to revolutionize your workflow. Wondershare Mockitt is a system that can bring a team of designers together and help them collaborate on projects. Track the process of your project while creating detailed goals and deadlines. Your team will be able to edit documents with each other in real-time. This collaborative effort can bring your project from start to finish, in a more intuitive way.

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What is included in Wondershare Mockitt?

Mockitt is a system designed to create easy and rapid prototyping. Use their simple drag and drop program to create wireframes and prototypes. Collaborate with your team using the extensive library of widgets and templates, to jumpstart your new project. The system is easy enough that there is zero learning curve. So your entire team can jump right in and begin working on new projects immediately.

Wondershare Mockitt Prototyping

The included design tool will help you create pixel-perfect icons and scalable vector graphics. By using the powerful design tool, you can work with your team to create and edit concepts until they’re perfect. You can even import your existing Sketch files to edit, enhance, and make them more interactive. You’ll get a consistent user experience with the tools you love and need.

Sharing your designs with other people is as easy as copying and pasting a link. They can preview your design from any type of device. By using permission management, you can assign different team members specific roles. Some team members can be restricted to just view, others to edit, etc.

Wondershare Mockitt Design Tool

An important part of tracking your project is using a comprehensive flowchart. A good flowchart should be graphically simple and easy to follow. Creating this flowchart should be effortless. Using the flowchart maker, you can easily create a flowchart to map out the progress of your project. Create diagrams and visual flowcharts anytime, anywhere. Get all the tools you need in a single app.

You can import existing prototypes as flowcharts. Then you’ll be able to explain complex processes with visual mapping and diagramming tools. Use different types of flowchart templates to draw any kind of process. You can create a new flowchart in as little as 15 minutes.

How to Make Use of Mockitt

With all of the included tools in Mockitt, you’ll be able to engage with your team throughout the entire process of your project. Use the flowchart tool to start with designing and mapping out your plan. Then collaborate with the prototype tool to design every aspect of your project. Once you’re ready to move on, use the design tool to create UI design by Vector, Bezier Curve, or Boolean. Follow through until your project is completed. This beginner’s guide to Mockitt shows how simple it is to start a new project.

Mockitt is a powerful and easy way to implement all of these tools into your team’s workflow. It’s easy enough that anyone can begin using it immediately, and shares the collaboration and management tools that most people will already be familiar with. Try WonderShare Mockitt for free.

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