This follows up on the Intel Lunar Lake V and Arrow Lake H platforms, binding them altogether under a common platform. Panther Lake hardware still combines a complex processor with Intel’s latest cores and technologies with several types of Intel iGPUs.

That means the roster of Panther Lake CPUs is diverse, with three distinct sub-lineups meant for different types of devices:

• Core Ultra 5/7 300, up to Core Ultra 7 365 – meant for ultraportable ultrabooks; replaces Lunar Lake V hardware (Cora Ultra 7 258V);
• Core Ultra X7/X9 300H, up to Core Ultra X9 388H with Arc B390 graphics – meant for high-performance ultraportables without a dGPU;
• Core Ultra 7/9 300H, up to Core Ultra 9 386H – meant for high-performance portable notebooks, optionally paired with a dGPU; replaces Arrow Lake H hardware (Core Ultra 9 285H).

Thus, it’s essential to understand the specifics of each of these sub-lineups so that you can choose the one that best suits your requirements. We’ll delve into this further down in the article, while also analyzing the performance of these Core Ultra Series 3 platforms; then we’ll compile lists of all the available notebooks built on this hardware.

Intel Panther Lake hardware and specs explained

Panther Lake is Intel’s latest mobile platform as of early 2026, an SOC (system-on-chip) platform built on the Intel 18A process node (the first of its kind, as previous platforms were built on TSMC technology). Panther Lake CPUs are also called Intel Core Ultra Series 3 processors.

These are some of the main particularities of this hardware:

• • a scalable multi-chiplet architecture that allows for multiple variants of real products;
  • up to 16 CPU Cores, with a mix of 4x Performance, 8x Efficiency, and 4x Low-Power Efficiency cores;
  • updated Intel iGPUs with 3rd generation Xe cores (Battlemage architecture), up to 12 Xe3 Cores on the Arc B390 implementation, and 4 Xe3 Cores on the standard iGPU;

• added XeSS3 support with multi-frame generation;
• updated NPU5 with ~50 TOPS of AI performance;
• memory support up to LPDDR5x-9600 or DDR5-7200;
• support for Thunderbolt 5, up to 20 PCIe lanes (with Thunderbolt 4 controller built in on chip);
• improved efficiency across the board, including on the higher-tier SKUs.

On the CPU side, the compute tile for these Panther Lake platforms combines two types of cores: Cougar Cove for Performance cores, and Darkmont for the Efficiency and LP-E cores. Cougar Cove is an optimization of the Lion Cove cores implemented with Arrow Lake hardware, with optimizations on Memory Disambiguation (for more reliable performance), TLB Enhancements (allows complex workloads to run more reliably and faster), and Branch Prediction (for improved performance and efficiency). More on this over here.

Darkmont builds and optimizes the Skymont E-Core architecture used previously, with a multitude of optimizations as well. Follow that link above for a more indepth look into the particularities of this platform.

At the end of the day, what Panther Lake promises (and delivers, for the most part) is up to 10% single-core performance over Lunar Lake (and 15% over Arrow Lake), with increased power efficiency.

For multi-threading, Panther Lake offers up to 50% higher performance than Lunar Lake at similar power levels, and a 10-20% performance uplift from Arrow Lake.

On the GPU side, the series integrates updated Xe3 cores, with either 4, 10 or 12 Cores. The Core Ultra X9 and X7 options get 12 Xe cores with 16 MB of L2 Cache in the Arc B390 chip, there’s also a Core Ultra 5 with 10 Xe cores in the Arc B370 chip (why isn’t this called an Ultra X5, though???), while all the other options integrated a standard Panther Lake iGPU with 4 Xe cores and 4 MB of L2 cache. The 4x iGPU is built on Intel 3 technology, while the 12x iGPU is built with TSMC. The latter also occupies a larger physical space on the processor die.

Furthermore, it’s also important to note that Xe3 cores incorporate Ray Tracing units, as well as Super Sampling with multi-frame generation, a first outside the Nvidia realm so far.

As a whole, the 12x iGPU delivers 50% higher performance than the Arc 140v Lunar Lake iGPU at around 30W of power, and the gains increase slightly at higher power.

With that out of the way, here’s the complete roster of Intel Panther Lake Core Ultra Series 3 hardware.

Out of these, the Ultra X7 358H and Ultra X9 388H are the high-performance options with the Arc B390 12x iGPU, the chips that provide the best overall performance in standalone implementations, and the chips we’ll find on the higher-tier models this year.

There’s also the Ultra 5 338H that stands out as an interesting middle-grounder, with a 12 Core CPU and 10C iGPU Intel Arc B370. Rather weird that they didn’t call this an Ultra X5, like the other options with Arc graphics.

Then there are the Ultra 9 386H and Ultra 7 356H, which are either meant as standalone implementations for mainstream portable designs, or bundled with a dGPU for higher-performance laptops. The standalone units aren’t powerful on the CPU side, but offer rather little in graphics capabilities, trailing previous-gen Lunar and Arrow Lake Arc 140V/140T hardware.

And then there are the efficient low-power Ultra 7 365 and Ultra 5 325 options, direct successors for Lunar Lake hardware, with 8 CPU cores and the same 4x cores iGPU. These are fine for casual use and offer efficient runtimes, but don’t get them for serious multitasking and demanding loads.

Here’s a more indepth look at the main Panther Lake SKUs.

And here’s a specs comparison with Arrow Lake H (2025), Lunar Lake V (2024), and Meteor Lake H (2023) platforms.

Just keep in mind that directly comparing these numbers doesn’t make much sense, because while these are all hybrid designs with various amounts of P and E Cores, the actual cores differ between generations, with various improvements and performance/efficiency gains as we move through the generations.

Panther Lake Performance – Core X9 388H, Core X7 358H vs. Arrow Lake Core Ultra 9 285H, Lunar Lake Core Ultra 7 258, AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370

As we’re running our tests and reviews, here’s a brief analysis of the performance you should expect from the higher-tier Intel Panther Lake hardware we’ve tested so far (with updates to follow), next to similar implementations of Arrow Lake, Lunar Lake, and Strix Point (with Gorgon Point being identical) platforms.

Note: These tests are running on the BIOS and drivers available in late-January 2026.

You can tell how the CPU performance scales between generations, with notable gains in multi-threaded performance for the Panther Lake options, even compared to the Arrow Lake implementation. AMD’s Strix/Gorgon Point hardware remains competitive, but still 10-15% behind Panther Lake.

On the GPU side, the Arc B390 implementations are in a class of their own, and even a mid-powered 30W implementation delivers about 90% of the potential graphics performance. From our tests, a 35W power settings deliver max graphics performance and ~90% of the CPU performance possible at higher power with these chips.

Compared to Radeon and previous-gen Intel Xe iGPUs, the B390 holds a significant advantage for 40-50% in our test, but the 4x iGPU is much slower at about 40% of the Arc B390 scores, and about on par with the Radeon 890M.

However, the beefier Radeon iGPUs offered with AMD’s Strix Halo and the entry-tier Nvidia chips (RTX 4050/5050) are still faster performers, as we’ll discuss in a different article. But for what is worth, those also require more power for full capabilities.

Panther Lake Gaming Performance

We also ran a couple of games on these platforms, at FHD+ resolution, with Low/Lowest graphics settings. Here’s what we got.

Once more, the Arc B390 outpaces everything else by a wide margin. We’ll discuss how it fares against the Radeon 8060S Strix Halo iGPU in a separate article.

And keep in mind I haven’t activated XeSS or frame-generation for any of these tests. These technologies make a notable difference where supported – for instance, the framerates jump to around 110 fps in Cyberpunk with XeSS and FG switched on.

You’ll find more details in our reviews, linked down below as we finalize our tests.

List of all laptops built on the Intel Panther Lake hardware (Core Ultra Series 3)

This section lists all the available notebooks built on Panther Lake Core Ultra 7/9 Series 3 hardware.

However, I’ve split them into three different categories:

• portable performance laptops built on Core Ultra X7/X9 hardware with the Arc B390 12x iGPU;
• ultraportable and mid-range options built on Core Ultra hardware, with either the higher performance 16C, 4x iGPU options (Arrow Lake H follow-ups), or the efficient 8c, 4x iGPU variants (Lunar Lake V follow-ups).
• high-performance models that bundle Core Ultra hardware with Nvidia dGPUs.

So here we go. First, the Ultra X9 388H or Ultra X7 358H premium ultraportables (for what it is worth, the differences in real-life capabilities between these two chips are minimal to none).

There are many highly-interesting options in this tier, starting with the Asus ExpertBook Ultra, Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon and Lenovo ThinkPad X9 15P pro-tier business laptops, and continuing with the refreshed Dell XPS, Lenovo Yoga Slim Ultra and Asus Zenbook DUO lineups. If you have the budget (2000+ USD/EUR) and are looking for a competent premium daily driver, this is where you’ll most likely find it.

Most of these lineups mentioned earlier are also available with the lower-tier hardware.

However, some of the most compact, thin, and lightweight options or some of the more affordable options are only offered with Core Ultra 300 (up to Core Ultra 7 356) and Core Ultra 300H (up to Core Ultra 9 386H) specs, without the top-end iGPU (both because the X7/X9 SKUs are expensive and because they require more power to run at proper capacity). These options are listed further down.

Most of these devices are mid-tier options and the more affordably-priced Panther Lake configurations you’ll find in stores these days. The Acer Swift Edge and Asus Zenbook S14 models stand out as exceptions, as more premium devices not offered with Ultra X specs – they’re still excellent daily-drivers as long as graphics capabilities are not that important to you.

Finally, these are the higher-performance laptops with Core Ultra 300H + RTX 5000 hardware.

The majority of these are 16-inch formats, with some more compact 14 and 15-inch variants.

These notebooks are all premium-tier offers that should meet most expectations. Among them, the Asus ROG Zephyrus models stand out with their higher-power GPU configurations, while the Lenovo Yoga Pro and the Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra have what it takes to become prime alternatives to the versatile Apple MacBook Pro 16.

That’s about it for now.

Stay around for updates to these lists as more laptops built on Intel Panther Lake Core Ultra Series 3 platforms are launched and we get to review them. And if you spot any model that should be in here and isn’t mentioned yet, get in touch in the comments section down below.

The article The complete list of Intel Panther Lake laptops (Core Ultra X9 388H, Core Ultra 9 386H, Core Ultra 7 365) appeared first on .

Gorgon Point is a mid-cycle refresh of the existing AMD Strix Point and AMD Krackan Point platforms discussed in previous articles. That means the Ryzen AI 400 Series APUs are built on the same core technology as past AMD hardware, featuring a mix of Zen5 performance and Zen5c efficiency processor cores, along with Radeon iGPUs that utilize RDNA3.5 Compute Cores. Compared to the Ryzen AI 300 predecessors, Gorgon Point offers minor refinements and updates in clock speeds – however, some of the devices built on this hardware do offer updated designs and features for this year.

Much like in the past, the upper-tier processors are the Ryzen AI 9 SKUs, while the mid and lower-tier options are the Ryzen AI 7 and AI 5 options. The two implement the same CPU/GPU technology, just with fewer cores and lower speeds as we go down the lineup.

However, it’s important to understand that Gorgon Point is not a major hardware refresh. That’s only coming in 2027 with the AMD Medusa Halo and Halo Mini platforms (naming still to be confirmed), with Zen6/Zen6c CPU cores (up to 26C/52T), updated graphics built on RDNA5 cores (up to 48 CUs), and support for LPDDR6 memory. But these are at least a year out at the time I’m writing this article, so Gorgon Point is all we’re getting this year for portable laptops, alongside Strix Halo for select higher-performance options and Fire Range HX for a handful of full-size high-performance notebooks.

So let’s dive into these Ryzen AI 400 lineups and figure out what they’re all about. Here’s preview of the entire CPU roster.

While AMD no longer offers these as separate sub-lineups as with the Ryzen AI 300 generations, we should still discuss the Ryzen AI 9 and Ryzen AI 7/5 options separately, since they are meant for different kinds of devices.

So here are the three Gorgon Point Ryzen AI 9 400 SKUs (Ryzen AI 9 HX 475, Ryzen AI 9 HX 470, and Ryzen AI 9 465), next to their Strix Point Ryzen AI 300 counterparts that they are replacing.

You’ll mostly find these in more powerful notebooks between 14 and 16 inches in size, sometimes paired with Nvidia dedicated GPUs, especially in the larger models.

Very little to nothing has changed:

• a minor bump in CPU and GPU maximum Turbo speeds – but keep in mind that the iGPU only runs at full speeds in the more powerful designs at 40+W sustained;
• support for faster LPDDR5x-8533 memory (still 128-bit memory bus);
• an updated NPU that allows 60 TOPS on the Ryzen AI 9 HX 475 (still an XDNA 2 architecture);

The Ryzen AI 9 HX 475 and HX 470 are still identical with 12C/24T and a Radeon 890M iGPU with 16 Compute Units, with just the updated NPU on the 475; expect most retail notebooks to be built around the 470 SKU.

The Ryzen AI 9 465 slots in beneath the AI 9 HX options, with 10C/20T (but still 4x Zen5 main cores) and a Radeon 880M with 12 Compute Units. It’s still competitive on the CPU side, at 5-10% slower than the 470/475 options in sustained loads, something to keep in mind if you’re after a device that pairs the AMD processor with a dGPU. In fact, more OEMs choose to implement the Ryzen AI 9 465 on their 2026 models than before. At the same time, it’s not as competitive on the iGPU side, with 25% fewer graphics cores – something to keep in mind when looking at a device that relies entirely on the iGPU and lacks a dGPU.

All these being said, there’s no wonder some OEMs chose not to update their devices to Gorgon Point and keep offering their Strix Point implementations for 2026.

When it comes to these higher-tier Ryzen AI 9 SKUs, this platform is just a name update. So, if you’re choosing a 2026 model over a 2025 variant, make sure you’re doing it for other reasons and not for any performance/efficiency benefits that you would expect from the Ryzen AI 9 400 series hardware. However, we can hope for better availability and more affordable pricing with this hardware generation, all things considered.

Of course, there are still differences to account for between implementations, with regards to the power settings and cooling capacity of each device. When it comes to the more portable options, expect those to run at 25-35W sustained, while the larger formats can allow up to 80W of sustained power, even if in theory the hardware is only a 15-54W design – that just means it already runs at almost its best at 54W and a higher-power allocation doesn’t change performance in a significant way. You’ll have to look into specific details for more information on the performance and capabilities of each unit.

With these out of the way, here are the Gorgon Point Ryzen AI 7/5 400 SKUs next to their Krackan Point Ryzen AI 300 counterparts that they are replacing. You’ll mostly find these in mid-range portable models between 14 and 16 inches in size, generally as standalone implementations. There are a couple of other lower-tier Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 3 SKUs with 4C/8T and 4 CUs iGPU that I haven’t included here, targeted at budget-tier devices.

Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 / 465  and Ryzen AI 7 450 /435 benchmarks and performance

With these being the platforms that you’ll find in most devices this year, I’ll quickly touch on their capabilities and performance expectations.

However, I haven’t tested any of these 2026 devices yet, so I will update this section once we get to test the 2026 Ryzen AI 400 platforms.

In the meantime, I’ll leave you with some numbers for the Ryzen AI 300 counterparts tested in the past (and we already explained that the Ryzen AI 400 platforms are going to perform more or less similarly).

— updating

These results showcase a few interesting things:

• the Ryzen 9 x70 and x65 processors are close in CPU performance in mid-power implementations, with some advantages for the x70 CPU in longer sustained loads.
• the Radeon 890M in the x70 holds a 15-20% advantage in GPU performance over the Radeon 880m in the x65;
• the Ryzen AI 7 is still a competitive CPU with its 4x Zen5 4xZen5c design, close to the other two in low to mid-powered notebooks;
• the Radeon 860M in the Ryzen AI 7 still scores at about 60-65% of the Radeon 890M, despite having half the CUs;
• expect the Ryzen AI 9 470, Ryzen AI 9 465 and Ryzen AI 7 450 to perform within a few percent of their Ryzen 300 counterparts;
• the Ryzen AI 7 445 with its 2x Zen5 4x Zen5c design will run about 10-15% slower than the AI 7 450 (and AI 7 350) in sustained CPU loads, but otherwise match its capabilities.

That’s about it for this article.

But as mentioned already, stay around, we’re constantly updating these lists of laptops built on AMD’s Gorgon Point Ryzen AI 400 Series hardware, adding new launches as they are released.

The article The complete list of AMD Gorgon Point laptops (Ryzen AI 9 HX 470, AI 9 465, AI 7 450) appeared first on .

Both are compact and lightweight in their segment of 14″ and 16″ premium ultrabooks, and both are getting a design refresh and a handful of updates under the hood: modern hardware, improved cooling, larger batteries, and brighter OLED displays. I’m rather intrigued that these updates kind of flew under the radar, because they’re more significant than I was expecting.

I already reviewed the existing models in the past (Zenbook S14 review, Zenbook S16 review), so I can guide you through what has changed and where things can still be improved. We’ll discuss these aspects further down, and update with links to our reviews of these 2026 Zenbooks S models when available. Please note that this is not a sponsored article; none of our articles are sponsored unless explicitly stated.

Oh, and for what it’s worth, Asus also updated the Zenbook A series of Snapdragon laptops for this year, discussed in this other article.

Specs Sheets – Asus Zenbook S14 , Zenbook S16

But first, the specs sheets of these two Zenbooks.

*specs mention up to a Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 (12C/24T, Radeon 890M), but actual products might top at Ryzen AI 9 465 configurations, with fewer CPU and GPU cores: 12C/20T with Radeon 880M.

Design, ergonomics

These Zenbooks are Asus’s higher-tier lineup of ultraportables. That means they’re excellently crafted, premium feeling, and slimmer/lighter than the regular Zenbook/Vivobook options, without sacrificing internals or performance.

Asus implement a CNC unibody main chassis for these, with a Ceraluminum lid. This means the interior is entirely a slab of aluminum, which to me feels more exquisite and nicer to the touch than the feel of Ceraluminum, so I prefer this approach. At the same time, the slab of aluminum is a little heavier, thus these S models are 10-15% heavier than their A-series alternatives. Regardless, we’re still looking at 1.2 kilos for the Zenbook S14 and 1.5 kilos for the Zenbook S16, still lighter than competitors like a MacBook Air or an XPS.

Nonetheless, Asus have updated the lid designs on these generations, with a more minimal approach and a dark-chromed Asus Zenbook branding in the middle – that’s the same design implemented on the Zenbook As as well. I don’t mind this decision.

They’ve also slightly updated the color options for these 2026 models, with still light gray and dark gray variants to choose from. I preffer the looks of the Antrim Gray variant, although the lighter option (called Scandinavian White, but actually a light gray finish) is more carefree and doesn’t show smudges as easily.

Here are some side-by-side images of the two models, in their lighter-color variants:

Otherwise, the ergonomics of these lineups haven’t changed. You’re still getting ports lined on the edges, with USB-C connectors only on the left side, and with an extra SD card reader on the larger model.

The display angle is still limited to around 130°, something that bothers me greatly on such portable designs. That’s on par with the MacBooks, for what that’s worth – it’s one of my main issues with my MacBook Air.

Here’s a preview video of the Zenbook S14:

And another of the Zenbook S16:

Inputs, Display

The inputs haven’t changed on these refreshes, with minimalist low-travel keyboards on both sizes and large touchpads (clickpads, not haptic implementations).

The keyboards aren’t flanked by audio grills on any of these, so there’s no up-firing sound. But audio quality is above average on both and especially on the 16-inch model that allocates a lot of internal space to speakers.

The keyboards on these are short-stroke implementations with only 1.1 mm of travel. That’s shorter than the 1.4 mm of the standard Zenbooks, and close to the 1 mm on the MacBook Airs. The typing experience is alright, but the shallower feedback and stroke depth require adjustment time. Asus claims these keyboards are supposed to make typing faster and more effortless, but my experience isn’t quite what’s advertised.

Nonetheless, my main issue with these keyboards in the past was their overbright illumination, too bright for proper use in a dark room, even on the lowest setting – we’ll have to see if that was addressed in any way with these generations.

The touchpads are glass, work fine, and they’re huge. They get very close to the front lip, which can cause ghost swipes and touches from your clothes when using these devices on the lap or on the couch. That’s on top of the frustratingly limited screen angle, and again, on par with MacBooks.

The displays are OLEDs, with tiny bezels around, and the specs mention either touch or non-touch implementations; retail models were mostly all touch in the past, and that’s probably still going to be the case this year. The difference is the lack of a digitizer and less grain on white/light background on the non-touch variant.

What’s new are the updated Samsung panels that are brighter now: 500-nits SDR and up to 1100-nits peak HDR (up from sub 400-nits SDR and 600-nits HDR). But with HDR On in Windows, sustained brightness is noticeably higher than in the past, which will improve usability in brighter environments or outdoors.

This panel update addresses the main issue of past OLED implementations. The other is PWM flickering, but that’s less of a concern as well on Asus laptops, as these offer a flicker-free dimming option in the settings.

Hardware, cooling, battery life and other internal updates

The Zenbook S14 UX5407AA remains an Intel-exclusive design, with Panther Lake Core Ultra Series 3 H hardware inside now (up to a Core Ultra 9 385H), running at higher power than before.

The previous iteration was a Lunar Lake implementation, and the new hardware is going to provide much improved processing performance and improved GPU performance as well. This is not a Panther Lake Core Ultra X implementation with the Arc B390 iGPU with 12 Xe cores, though; it’s only the standard Panther Lake Intel Graphics with 4 Xe Cores.

The Zenbook S16 UM5606GA is an AMD-exclusive platform, with Gorgon Point Ryzen AI 9 400 hardware inside. However, it’s unclear whether Asus plans on actually offering the top AMD Ryzen 9 AI HX 470 specs here or top out at the lower-tier Ryzen AI 9 465 with fewer CPU/GPU cores.

The previous S16s were offered in either AMD Strix Point, AMD Krackan Point, or Intel Lunar Lake variants. Gorgon Point is a minimal Strix Point refresh, with similar CPU and GPU capabilities, just slightly higher clock speeds and minimal other refinements. So don’t expect any notable gains in performance for the 2026 refresh over the Strix Point unit tested here. In fact, expect better sustained performance in demanding loads and games for the 14-inch Zenbook S14, despite it being smaller.

What’s more notable is the fact that both of these lineups get an updated thermal module for the 2026 refreshes, still dual-fan dual-heatsink, but with updated higher-capacity fans and 37% enlarged vapor-chambers (the two vapor-chambers are about the same capacity on both sizes now, and Asus claims 28W sustained TDP on both models – to be confirmed and tested). All these should allow for higher sustained power settings and improved internal and external temperatures. We’ll need to test them in proper reviews before drawing conclusions, though.

Another notable change is the slight increase in battery capacity, with a 77 Wh battery on the S14 and an 83 Wh battery on the S16 now. These are paired with improved hardware efficiency and redesigned ultra-compact chargers.

Here’s an internal scan of the two.

Design and internals – Zenbook S14 (left) and Zenbook S16 (right)

All in all, these aspects combined make the 2026 refreshes of the Zenbook S14 and Zenbook S16 some of the most interesting options in their segments of premium-tier ultrabooks. They’re not cheap lineups, though. In fact, my main nits with these lineups in the past haven’t changed: the limited screen angle, the shallow typing experience and the expensive pricing (even higher now than in the past, for obvious reasons). But the increase in performance and efficiency, paired with the updated OLEDs and batteries, might put these on more desks these days. The smaller S14 in particular has the potential performance/size on its side, while the AMD S16 should hopefully sell for a competitive price for a device of this type.

I do wonder why Asus chose not to implement a Core Ultra 9 X platform with 12Xe graphics on these, though, which would have put them on par in GPU capabilities with other ultraportables built on this hardware. The X9 chips with the extra GPU part aren’t a lot larger physically, but perhaps they felt that they couldn’t drive those at enough power in these slim designs to justify implementing them. Nonetheless, this decision could end up being a potential deal breaker for some potential buyers.

Anyway, that’s about it for this preview. Stay around for our detailed reviews and let me know what you think about these Zenbook S14/S16 refreshes.

The article 2026 Asus ZenBook S16 (AMD) and S14 (Intel) updates explained appeared first on .

As MacBooks are cheaper than they’ve ever been, while higher-end PCs have gotten more and more expensive, a MacBook Air should still be a no-brainer, right? 

However, the world is a very different place in 2026 than it was when the M-series debuted in 2020. I’ve had a kid since then, been laid off due to political shenanigans, had to pay for multiple surgeries for one of my pets, and have also had most of the major parts on my car replaced. In short, I am feeling the squeeze—and, based on nearly everyone I’ve talked to who isn’t already retired, a lot of other people are in the same boat around the world.

So, in a time where AMD has some incredible chips like the HX370 and Strix Halo APUs, people are struggling to get by and are not consuming as they did in 2016 or even 2023, does the MacBook Air still live up to its reputation? Should you still buy one in 2026? Read on to find out!

My history with Apple

I grew up a fervent acolyte in the cult of the Mac. I told everyone who would listen about how fast* the G4 was (*in Adobe Photoshop… with certain filters). I not only drank the kool-aid, I ate the powder.

But, as more and more PC-only games like Starcraft and Half-Life came out on the PC, I felt more and more left out. In late 2001, my sophomore year of high school, I sold my 500Mhz iBook G3 and bought a PC (Compaq Presario 2700T) and joined the throngs of people playing Half-Life and Counter-Strike. I played every game I could get running on my 1.13GHz Pentium 3 Presario with its 16MB ATI Radeon mobility GPU did my best to catch up on all of the PC exclusives I had missed – Half-Life and its innumerable mods, Starcraft, Aliens Vs. Predator 2, System Shock 2, and many more. It was very rare that I would look over to the Mac side with envy, because the gaming situation kept me so happy.

As much as I love using Linux and gaming on my Steam Deck and ROG Zephyrus G16, there is at least one area where nobody beats Apple: music production. My Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) of choice is Ableton Live, which doesn’t properly run in Linux, and requires either Windows or MacOS.

Up until just a couple of years ago, Intel’s CPUs struggled to run Ableton with significant audio stuttering, not to mention a long-term collaboration being done in Logic Pro, which is an Apple-exclusive music production program. So, in early 2024, I bought an M1 Max MacBook Pro 16 with 64GB of memory and 8TB of storage from reseller Backmarket. I loved producing on it: projects that brought my PCs to their knees at the time ran flawlessly. It’s hard to describe what it feels like to someone who hasn’t used both, but it feels like going from a consumer tool to a professional one. But, the MBP16 at 4.7lbs was just a bit too heavy such that I didn’t want to carry it around, so I sold it off and picked up both a 3.3lb MacBook Air 15 and 2.7lb MBA 13 with the same specs (M3 8/10-Core, 24gb of RAM, and 1TB of storage) so I could see which one I liked more.

Specs – my MacBook Airs

Using the MacBook Air

The absolute best thing about the new MacBook Airs are their portability. At 2.7 lbs for the MBA13 and 3.3 lbs for the 15-inch, they both just fall into that category of “taking it with me just in case”. They fit easily into any backpack, don’t scratch or dent easily, are lightweight, and don’t require bringing a charger in most cases. These are all underrated qualities for a workhorse laptop that you want to have within reach whenever the need strikes.

You might think most laptops will check these boxes in 2025/2026, but it’s not that easy: My favourite PC laptop at the moment, the 2024 AMD ROG Zephyrus G16, is a bit heavier, doesn’t have the longevity needed to take it with you without a charger in most cases. I can get 8 hours out of it, but that easily drops to 4 under heavy usage, so I need to bring a charger with it most of the time. It is also nearly 1 lb heavier (2 if you count the charger) than the Air 15, and just lacks the robust build that the MacBooks do. Speaking of, let’s briefly touch on the build. 

ROG Zephyrus G16 (left), MacBook Air 15 (right)

Build

There are a lot of things one can criticize about the M-series MacBooks, but the build is definitely not one of them.

There is almost no flex in the screen or deck, the anodized finish doesn’t flake, chip, or rub off with daily use, and, other than the notch, they look classy in a way that’s fairly timeless (not something one can say about the Zephyrus’s “slash” lighting lids). I have seen so many dents and scratches in the lid of the 2024/2025 Zephyrus laptops that I don’t feel safe putting them in a non-padded laptop sleeve because the aluminium is just so soft. In short, I found both the MBA 13 and 15 to be exceptionally built machines, with the only 10/10 construction I have found across dozens of laptops in the last decade.

For comparison, the only PC laptop that came close to this level of build was, in my opinion, the UHD Dell XPS 13/15 from 2015-2019, which I would have given an 8.5-9/10. I would rank the ROG Zephyrus G14, G16, and P16 an 8/10, which look nice but have easily dented lids and slightly imprecise machining on the bottom cover.

Battery Life

Pairing very well with that physical portability is the excellent power efficiency of the M-series chips and MacOS for basic tasks. Its longevity for browsing, word processing, or media consumption is truly class-leading. I rarely shut my G16 for the day without plugging it in, because it needs to be charged to get through the next day. With the MacBook Air, you can use it to play music clips to provide a soundtrack for your kids for a few hours, end the day with a couple episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and repeat this for a week without charging, and you’ll probably still have a bit of power left over.

There is a caveat to the battery life that isn’t really talked about by most reviews I’ve read, however: if you’re using an M-series laptop for demanding work like intensely producing music or editing video (lots of simultaneous tracks), the battery will go from full to empty in 2-3 hours just like any PC laptop. Still, for most tasks, you won’t need to worry about how much battery you’ve got most of the time, and for me, not having to think about this kind of thing is a shift that really does enhance enjoyment of computing.

Screen

One of the things that help give the MacBook Air its longevity is the 60Hz IPS panel, which uses a lot less power than Mini-LED, OLED, and especially Tandem OLED displays. The MacBook Air’s screen has a 60Hz IPS display that is great for light work. For videos or games, though, it will leave a bit to be desired coming from high-refresh-rate OLED or mini-LED. You’ll notice it as a downgrade coming from a high-end laptop like the G16 or MacBook Pro 16, but if your last laptop was a 2015 MacBook Pro 13”, it will just look like a nice IPS display — which it is (No Country for Old Men reference).

The MacBook Air is one of the few laptops still using an IPS display, which comes with both pros and cons.

One more positive is that it is much easier on the eyes at night than an OLED screen, so if you are using it in a completely dark room, it’s a superior experience to OLED.

So, while the screen does have an annoying notch, high black levels, and a 60 Hz refresh rate, it draws little power and doesn’t tire your eyes out like an OLED does. All in all, it’s a fair trade for an ultraportable like the MacBook Air. Full disclosure, though: if I have my G16 around, I will choose that over the Air for watching something. 

Speakers

The 13″ MacBook Air has four speakers while the 15″ has six, but practically speaking they both sound similar and are top of their class for an ultraportable laptop. They might lack the bass and punch of the MBP 16″, but they still beat out the sound on the ROG G16, which are some of the best in the PC world at the time of writing. 

The Air provides surprisingly excellent projection and volume without distortion, has a little sub-bass provided by two woofers to add oomf to dance tracks, and the clarity/accuracy is excellent, particularly for such a thin laptop. These laptops can definitely fill a small room with sound.

One cool thing to mention about MacBooks is that because the speakers are so accurate, you can produce music on them without headphones in a pinch. Most PC laptops use third-party software like Dolby Atmos or the legendarily cursed WavesMaxx audio to improve the way the speakers sound through post-processing, which is great for giving the overall impression of the audio a glow-up, but also means that it’s too inaccurate to use for professional audio work.

Keyboard and Trackpad

The first thing I immediately noticed as underwhelming on the MacBook Air after coming from a G16 and MacBook Pro 16 is the keyboard. The air’s keyboard is very shallow (maybe 1mm of travel at most) and does not feel great as you immediately bottom out each key stroke. You also hear a bassy thunk sound with each keystroke as you type, so when you are typing a lot, you create a bit of a rumble. It doesn’t feel good, and I think the best things I can say about the keyboard on the MacBook Airs is that the keycaps are stable and you can probably get used to how it feels when typing. I say this because my first impression was to immediately return both of the Airs due to the Keyboard, but over time, I did get used to it. If you are looking for a laptop to write a novel on, though, this ain’t it.

While the keyboard is not quite good, the trackpad is great, however. The surface texture is excellent and the haptic feedback feels just like a physical click. Also, Apple still has the best palm rejection algorithms in the business, and the day that PC manufacturers like Asus catch up will be a very welcome one. Is it perfect? No, that would require a pointing stick and dedicated mouse buttons for left and right clicks, plus scrolling — but it’s pretty darn good for being what it is.

Look what they have taken from us: I’ll take the trackpad on the left and the keyboard on the right.

Ports

There are no two ways about it: port situation is the other area the MBA is lacking. You have a charging port (MagSafe), two TB3/USB4 ports, and a 3.5mm audio out jack. No USB-A, no SD or even MicroSD. You need to bring a port replicator with you if you are traveling, which does take away some of the portability luster the MBA has once you take it on a trip. On the plus side, the 3.5mm audio-out port does seem to have an excellent DAC, leading to excellent reproduction of audio over (wired) headphones. It might seem like a small thing, but in the PC world, it isn’t. I struggled with 3.5mm jack and audio quality issues for literally years across 5 generations of Dell XPS laptops. It will be a great day when PC manufacturers stop cheaping out on things like the headphone jack and internal components to save a few cents.

Using MacOS

I can’t remember what my last straw was with Windows – it might have MS copilot and the way every cursed update seems to reinstall and reactivate it, hiding in your system tray like an alien in the vents, or updates clearing/resetting settings like Night Light randomly, Windows randomly breaking itself and requiring a reinstall, the constant battle with privacy invasion, or any other number of annoyances that have built up in me with Microsoft and their OS over the last 20 years, but last year, I accidentally formatted the SSD that had my Windows installation leaving only Linux, and I just decided that was my sign that it was time. I still have Windows installed on my living-room PC, but I will probably put some flavor of Linux on it as well whenever I get the time.

Classic (pre-OS X) MacOS: still one of my favourite operating systems ever!

MacOS is fairly easy to pick up and use, largely due to the great suite of pre-installed homegrown applications included in MacOS. There’s Safari, Photos, Pages, Messages, Mail, Calendar, FaceTime, and many more useful apps right there out of the box that do a great job of providing most of the features you actually need, but there are also things inexplicably missing (like setting battery charge limits or customizing the appearance or layout of the UI) or just rub me the wrong way, such as an annoying notification center that demands your attention and mouse clicks to dispose of messages, and they’ll keep telling you that there’s a feature update that you don’t want to install over and over, and the notification will keep reappearing each time you open the settings.

Handling of dragging and dropping files (like music) between apps is very easy and intuitive in Windows and Linux, but slow and clunky in MacOS, often requiring a few tries before the apps behave like you want them to. The dialog to open a file within an app frustrates me daily with by missing basic features. Want to see the directory tree? Use the column view, but then enjoy not having any visibility of columns to sort by. Want to sort by columns like Date Modified? Then no preview or directory tree for you! And since icon view has no preview or columns, I have no idea why it’s even an option.

Apple also pushes iCloud like Microsoft pushes a 365 account (I don’t want Apple deciding they can lock me out of my computer, as happened to a former colleague of mine), and the general sense you get is that Apple thinks it knows how you want to be interacting with your computer better than you do. One last thing was the personal disproval of the “it just works” ethos, in where I tried to restore my Time Machine backups from my previous M1 Max MBP to a new Air, only to find the process stalled halfway through for over a day. The next day, I cancelled the restoration, and that was the last I ever got to see of my 8TB of Time Machine backups. They disappeared along with the partition that contained them, and I was never able to recover them using any of the solutions I found online.

And then there’s Apple’s requirement that every 48 hours or so you log in using your password to “re-enable” the fingerprint sensor. If you aren’t going to let me reliably use the fingerprint sensor, then why have it, you Creontes?

There’s a lot of little things like the above, but to be honest I would have probably not be very annoying had I only ever used Windows before. It was after using Linux (CachyOS, which is based on Arch, btw) with KDE Plasma as a desktop window manager that I have been spoiled by the customization and features KDE Plasma offers compared to Explorer or Finder. As you can see in the screenshot below, I’ve configured KDE Plasma to have a similar layout as MacOS, but with the ability to customize just about every aspect of the system.

I have found I prefer the experience of using KDE Plasma than either Windows or MacOS .

Let’s be real about Linux, though: it’s still far from perfect, especially on newer machines, which require a lot of tinkering to get working (the 2024 Zephyrus G14 and G16 have everything working in Arch linux except they won’t charge over USB-C while the laptop is sleeping if a charge limit is set, but the 2025 versions have ongoing issues with sound and changing volume even after more than six months after release. With Linux, the older the hardware is, the greater the chances that everything will work perfectly out of the box. Linux still doesn’t handle Nvidia Optimus GPU switching as well as Windows (you’ll need to manually switch with a restart or logout at minimum), though hopefully this will change in the next couple of years. Also, sometimes things just break or stop working now and again, and it will fall upon you to learn how to fix what went wrong. To tinkerers, this is the joy of having complete control over your PC, but for the mass market, it’s a no-sell.

I think my point in this section is that for nearly two decades, OSX/MacOS has been able to coast on the declining experience of using Windows, but with Valve’s heavy investment in Linux with the Steamdeck and Proton resulting in ever-increasing Linux marketshare, MacOS will, at some point in the next few years, not be compared to Windows, but instead to Linux with a major Desktop Environment like KDE Plasma. When that happens, a lot more people are going to realize that a lot of the functionality in MacOS’s Finder feels clunky and limited compared to what the competition offers. Hopefully, Apple’s management has the foresight to see this and prioritize shoring up MacOS’s features.

Performance

Lastly, let’s briefly touch on performance. I don’t think there’s a point in any benchmarks for these machines, because they are already out there but more importantly they mean nothing for day to day usage. So what’s performance like on an M-series MacBook Air? Assuming you aren’t trying to play games, it’s flawless. The most taxing thing I do is music production, and Ableton projects that bring Windows PCs to their knees run like butter, with nary a skip, choppy animation, or dropped millisecond of sound to be found, and everything that’s less intensive is even better than that. This general feeling of smooth performance on a Mac is something that Windows and Linux DEs should learn from: even though KDE Plasma is lightning fast on my 2024 AMD G16, and the G16 is faster overall, it doesn’t feel as consistent and smooth as MacOS on my MacBook Air — and let’s not even embarrass Windows by bringing it into the comparison.

A lot of the excellent feel of MacOS is probably down to years if not decades of precise tweaking of animations, timing, and memory handling by Apple, and it shows in daily use.

Wrap-up: Should you really buy a MacBook (Air) in 2026?

I think the M-series MacBook Airs are a great choice if any one of the following is extremely important to you:

• Portability
• Battery life/efficiency
• Quiet fans
• Smooth, stable, and optimized OS
• Music production
• Integration with iPhones and iPads
• Sound quality

I love the hardware of my 2024 AMD Zephyrus G16 (vulnerability of chassis notwithstanding) and love the performance and customizability of Linux, but for professional music production, the gap between running Ableton Live on a Windows partition and Ableton Live on my MacBook is so superior that I have booted into Windows to use Ableton exactly zero times since getting it up and running. It sounds crazy, but I would rather bring both the G16 and the MBA on a trip than just the G16 and be forced to produce in Windows. It just doesn’t feel right.

Conversely, I think the M-series MacBooks (including the MacBook Pros) are to be avoided if any of the following are extremely important to you:

• Gaming
• User freedom/customizability
• Typing feel (avoid the Airs only, MacBook Pros are okay)
• Repairability/upgradability
• Open-source software
• Software that’s older or otherwise has no ARM version
• Booting multiple OSes

It’s already been a long article, so wrap things up: I tried to dislike using the MacBook Air. I don’t want more laptops lying around. There’s nothing special about the display, it’s got limited storage and ports, a shallow, annoying keyboard, and you can’t play games in a practical sense on it. But the stability, portability, battery life, and music production together create an experience that’s more than the sum of its parts, and together just create an experience that I miss when I don’t have a MacBook around. All of that might change in the future, but for now, it seems like the MacBook Air—even an M1—provides an excellent value.

The article Is the Apple MacBook Air Still Worth It in 2026? appeared first on .

This year, they’re showcasing the rollable OLED technology in a few more products in the more popular Legion and ThinkPad families.

These devices are concepts for the time being, and Lenovo did not specify when or if they’ll actually implement the technologies in real products that we could buy in stores. But I’d reckon that should happen in a year or two.

Legion Pro 7i Rollable

So what they showcased is a full-performance 16-inch gaming laptop based on a Legion Pro 7i chassis with a display that can expand sideways all the way to 24 inches (21:9 format). Having a large wide-screen display on this sort of laptop is exciting to say the least, and far more practical for real use than the vertical implementation in the ThinkBook (and the ThinkPad XD concepts that we’ll discuss in a bit).

Here are some images of this Legion Pro Rollable design.

And a video showcasing how this rollable display works (and showcasing the ThinkPad XD as well).

By default, it’s a 16-inch Legion Pro 7i with excellent specs (Core Ultra 9 HX CPU, up to a full Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090, expandable RAM and SSDs, 99 Wh battery, advanced vapor-chamber cooling), one of the better existing performance 16-inch notebooks money can buy today. If interested, our full-review of the Legion Pro 7i is available over here, and our review of the larger 18-inch Legion 9i is available here as well.

But then the display on this Legion Pro Rollable unit expands to the left and right, to either a wide 21.5-inch screen or a 24-inch ultra-wide 21:9 format. This allows for an ample workspace for everyday use and creative work, but also creates a larger display for watching movies and playing games.

The obvious tradeoff is a thicker display with complex moving parts. The less obvious is the fact that the screen isn’t entirely flat; it has some creases around the lateral edges, visible (check out the video) both when having the display in its default 16-inch “closed” state, but also when rolled onto the wider formats. At least that’s the current state of the technology, which would need to be sorted out before this gets into a real product.

That means, at this point, the exact details of this OLED panel or the mechanism required for this sort of implementation are still a work in progress. But the idea of this sort of rollable display is intriguing to me, even more than of the folding OLED that Lenovo sampled a while ago on the ThinkPad X1 Fold (with little success).

However, I expect reliability to play a crucial role in the potential viability of this concept in a real product, and pricing is going to matter as well, but that’s a secondary concern. We’ll develop this story as we know more about a potential real Legion notebook with a Rollable OLED display.

ThinkPad Rollable XD

This ThinkPad Rollable XD concept is a further iteration of the vertical expanding OLED implemented in the ThinkBook launched last year, in what looks like a premium 13.3-inch ThinkPad aluminum chassis.

But this time around, the display actually wraps over across the laptop’s lid as well, which means some of the display remains visible when having the device closed, to showcase widgets or notifications or some apps that you’d perhaps want to keep track of when the laptop is closed (is there such a use case, though?). So, besides the possibility of expanding your workspace vertically to about a 16-inch size, this concept rolls the display onto the lid so it can offer some information when the laptop is closed; the top of the laptop, where the screen rolls over to the lid, is touch-sensitive as well and can integrate controls.

That, however, means the display remains exposed on the laptop’s lid, and the device would require extra care when handled and tucked away in a bag. That’s rather weird on a ThinkPad that’s supposedly a business laptop, tougher and more reliable than a regular device. And I wonder if rollable OLEDs are tough enough to be exposed like that, even if the entire lid is actually covered in protective glass that should keep the flexible panel safe. We’ll see whether this concept develops further from here.

That sideways rollable OLED on the Legion, though, I’d surely want to see that in real products at some point, when the technology is ready for mass use. And I wouldn’t dismiss the viability of a lateral expanding display on a ThinkPad as well, although that’s arguably not as useful on a 14-inch panel that would perhaps expand to a rather short 18-19-inch ultra-wide. Thoughts?

Before we wrap this up, I must also acknowledge Lenovo’s effort in pushing notebooks further with these concepts. Flexible folding OLEDs have been popularly implemented on phones for years now, and it’s about time we get the technology on laptops as well.

The article Lenovo Legion Pro Rollable and ThinkPad Rollable XD concepts appeared first on .

However, Lenovo are updating some of their mid-range models with the hardware that is released at the beginning of 2026, mostly AMD Gorgon Point Ryzen AI 400 and Intel Panther Lake Core Ultra Series 3 processors. These are implemented in the Legion 7 premium-tier chassis, in the Legion 5 mid-range models, and in the budget-friendly LOQ 15 lineups, all of them offering good value in their segments.

And btw, looks like Lenovo decided to update the naming of their lineups to make it easier to distinguish between the AMD and Intel variants. The AMD models get an “a” appendix now (Legion 7a, Legion 5a), while the Intel models keep the “i” already used over the last years (Legion 7i, Legion 5i). It was about time they did something about it.

Update: As of March 2026, a Legion 7a 15-inch compact model was introduced as well, built on AMD Strix Halo hardware.

So let’s see what to expect from these new 2026 Legion launches.

Lenovo Legion 7a gen11 (Ryzen AI 400 alternative for the Legion 7i)

Here’s the specs sheet for the Legion 7a series, a new launch for 2026, next to the existing Legion 7i lineup.

I’ve reviewed the Legion 7i in this article, if you’re interested in my full thoughts on this chassis, as the Legion 7a and 7i are nearly identical in design, build, and ergonomics.

That means both are a premium 16-inch chassis, fairly compact and lightweight at under 2 kilos. The 2026 Legion 7a gen11 is a little lighter and thinner than the gen10 Legion 7i of 2025.

I do’t know whether this refreshed chassis transitions onto the Intel model as well, or is exclusive to the AMD version – could be AMD only, since this is a lower-power platform with onboard memory. The other extras of the gen11 chassis is the fact that it can be bought in either Glacier White or Nebula (dark blue) colors, while the 2025 Legion 7i was only available in white.

These aside, both designs offer good inputs, good IO, and OLED displays. However, the gen11 gets 6x speakers, while the gen10 only got two, so better audio coming down from the Pro 7i series.

Here are some real images of the Legion 7i chassis.

And a few more of the Legion 7a variant in the Blue variant.

The other differences are on the inside, where the Legion 7a is built on AMD’s latest Gorgon Point Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 processor, while the Legion 7i is built on Core Ultra HX hardware – no Panther Lake refresh was announced at this point, but that might happen later in the year.

That means the AMD variant is significantly slower in multi-threaded loads, but at the same time runs more efficiently on battery power. The Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 is just a marginally refreshed iteration of the Strix Point Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, which is a platform implemented on similar products by other brands, such as Asus on the ProArt P16 or Razer on the Blade 16.

Compared to the Intel model, the Legion 7a comes with LPDDR5x memory, so the memory is onboard. This translates to a weight reduction, but limits upgradeability long term, so make sure you’re getting the needed amount of RAM from the get-go. The series can be specced with up to 64 GB of memory.

Another particularity of this Legion 7a iteration is the limited choice in GPUs, with the series only offered with an RTX 5060. The Legion 7i goes up to a 5070, so not much faster, as none of these can be specced with higher-tier RTX GPUs. That’s a potential deal-breaker compared to the alternatives mentioned earlier, which range from RTX 5060 to RTX 5090. At the same time, the 5060 is a competitive mid-level and well-priced chip, a fair option for the majority of buyers.

Speaking of prices, the Legion 7a starts at $1999, with availability scheduled from April 2026. I expect this to drop later in the year, allowing the Legion 7a to become a popular contender in its space of all-purpose mid-specced premium 16-inch notebooks.

Update: The more compact 15-inch Legion 7a gen11 was introduced later in the year, and comes in a smaller and lighter package, starting at 1.65 kg. This offers a 15.3-inch OLED display, similar to the one implemented so far on several Lenovo Yoga premium products, and implements a more minimalist keyboard without a NumPad section.

The IO is slightly revamped, without any ports on the rear edge, and without a dedicated DC-In square plug, as this variant charges exclusively via USB-C. A 180W charger in included, the higher power via USB-C being possible thanks to the implementation of USB Power Delivery 3.1 Extended Power Range technology, which allows for higher voltage levels – 36V 5A for 180W.

Internally, the Legion 7a 15 is built on Strix Halo hardware with a TDP of up to 95W and a mid-level cooling design. Configurations mention up to an AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 392 with 10 CPU cores and the full Radeon 8060S iGPU with 4 CUs. That’s going to be most likely paired with 32 GB of RAM, but configurations with 64 GB or even higher might be offered in some markets as well.

Stay tuned for our reviews. I expect this Legion series to be one of the more popular Strix Halo implementations later in the year when available. It’s expected in stores from June 2026, starting at $2000 EUR over here in Europe.

Lenovo Legion 5a and Legion 5i gen11

These are both refreshed for 2026, in mid-range AMD and Intel flavors.

The Legion 5a/5i is a mid-range chassis, fairly compact due to its 15-inch footprint, but at the same time average in thickness and weight. It doesn’t aim at the premium segment in the same way as the Legion 7 models do, but sells for significantly less at the same time.

Both the 5i and the 5a of this generation start at $1499 at launch, with availability from April 2026 – that’s most likely for a 5050 configuration, though.

The two variants share the same chassis and features, with a 15.3-inch OLED display, a full RGB keyboard, fair IO (although the ports are positioned rather weirdly), and weak audio with only stereo speakers. Both are available in the same black color, so beware of smudges.

What potentially sets them apart is the main hardware platform inside, either Intel Panther Lake for the Legion 5i or AMD Gorgon Point for the Legion 5a. However, the AMD version tops at a Ryzen AI 9 465 configuration, so the Intel version has a potential edge in sustained performance. It might sell for more, though, in the Ultra 9 386H variant, so there’s that part to consider as well.

It’s also worth mentioning that some of the 5a variants start at Ryzen 7 200 configurations, which is older hardware based on the Hawk Point platform with Zen4 cores. So not as fast or as efficient, but still competitive for the right price (these variants start at $1299, $200 less than the Gorgon Point options).

That aside, both iterations offer identical specs: dual RAM and SSD slots, and RTX 5050/5060 GPUs at 115W max TGP, paired with a mid-level thermal module.

Overall, the Legion 5 series isn’t fancy, just a solid value all-rounder. Just be careful on the specifics of each configuration, such as the equipped WiFi module or camera, as some of the lower-tier options might cheap out on those – you can get these with WiFi 7 and the 5MP IR camera, but not on all variants.

Lenovo LOQ 15APH11 and LOQ 15IPH11

These are the entry-tier Lenovo daily driver/gaming notebooks, more affordable and more basic 15-inch mid-range laptops. Here’s what to expect from these in 2026.

The 15-inch LOQ chassis has been available for a few years now and hasn’t seen a major rehaul for this generation either. It’s a mid-range plastic build with decent quality and good ergonomics. It’s not as nice or as portable as a Legion 5 chassis, but LOQs are more affordable options.

Of course, comparing the two is difficult since you’re not getting quite the same features on the two: the LOQs are only available with mid-quality IPS matte displays, get a smaller 60 Wh battery, and generally lower-tier hardware. That’s especially the case for the AMD variant that is only available with Ryzen 7 200 hardware, while the Intel variant gets much more compelling mid-range Panther Lake Ultra 7 specs.

Otherwise, both offer 2x RAM and 2x SSD slots, RTX 5050/5060 GPUs at 115W TGP, and mid-range cooling modules. In fact, the overall graphics capabilities are where these LOQ units excel, matching the Legion 5 models in performance and with better thermals due to the thicker plastic construction.

However, Lenovo aren’t offering these LOQs everywhere. For instance, they plan on bringing the AMD option to the NA market, starting at $1149, but the Intel version will only be available in Europe and Asia. Given that is Panther Lake, I expect it to sell at a premium over the AMD variant where the two are both available. All things considered, though, you’d have to shop on a really tight budget and/or find these for a good bargain to justify a LOQ over a Legion 5 model.

The article Lenovo Legion 7a, Legion 5a, Legion 5i – new 2026 Legion notebooks appeared first on .

I’m specifically excited about the X1 series seeing an overhaul. The X1 Carbon is one of my favorite lineups of pro-level ultraportables and I’ve been following it since its debut, testing most iterations over the years. The latest gen13 ThinkPad X1 Carbon was discussed over here, a Lunar Lake V platform with limited cooling and performance.

Well, that’s no longer the case for the gen 14 Carbon (and the matching gen 11 X1 2-in-1 convertible, for that matter), which is now a higher-power Panther Lake Core Ultra X7 platform with an updated chassis and thermal design. And all that while still starting at under 1 kilo / 2.2 lbs in weight (for the Carbon).

Let’s go over the specs, and then we’ll get indepth on what has changed.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon, Aura Edition, gen14

Here’s the 2026 gen14 X1 Carbon next to the 2025 gen13 variant.

On the outside, the gen14 X1 Carbon still looks and feels like its predecessors: a standard 14-inch ThinkPad premium design. It’s just minimally thinner, and still about the same weight, starting at 1 kilo. Here are a few images of the gen13 ThinkPad X1 Carbon reviewed a few months ago. The gen14 looks and feels similar.

But once you look a little closer, you will notice a few differences for the latest iteration, such as:

• there are USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports on both sides now;
• they restored the right CTRL key and moved the finger-sensor in the top right corner of the keyboard – that’s also the power button now;
• that however, means Insert and End are combined on the same key, if that’s a specific detail that matters to you;
• the touchpad area is a little larger, and you can either opt for a full haptic touchpad or a touchpad with physical click buttons on top (specifically important for TrackPoint users);
• the main chassis looks a little different, with a visible border around the edges suggesting the keyboard deck can separate from the main chassis – more on that in a bit;
• there’s an updated 10 MPx camera at the top of the display, replacing the 8MPx shooter of the past. It still supports IR and comes with a physical shutter.

All in all, though, this is still the familiar X1 Carbon chassis with its design perks and particularities. Here are some images of this 2026 refresh.

And here’s a video as well.

Internally, though, this X1 Carbon generation is built on what Lenovo calls a “Space frame design”, ” an approach that allows for components to be placed on both sides of the motherboard, optimizing space and improving cooling by up to 20% according to Lenovo. In addition, this design supports more efficient repairs and allows room for a minimally larger battery and larger haptic touchpad. A touchpad version with physical buttons at the top is offered as well, so those of you TrackPoint die-hard fans will rejoice.

This new frame design allows opening the laptop both from the top and from the bottom. The main deck that includes the keyboard and touchpad is a separate part that can be easily popped out and repaired or swapped out, much like on older ThinkPads. It’s not even screwed in; it stays in place with magnets and clamps – hopefully that doesn’t become an issue longer-term. More recent X1 models integrated the keyboard onto the main chassis, and that hindered repairability. That aside, all the ports are modular, accessible once you remove the keyboard, and serviceable, including the USB-Cs and the card-reader. Ther’es also a daugther motherboard that isolates most of the IO, which can also be swapped easily if needed.

The rest of the components are still accessible from the underside, by removing the base panel held in place by a few screws (self-retaining on the panel). Over here, you can access the thermal module, cellular and WiFi modules, the SSD slot, and the battery. The memory is onboard and non-removable.

Here’s another video that takes a closer look at this chassis and its serviceability.

Of course, we have to look past the marketing hype and test the new chassis in our reviews to better understand where it stands. Stay around for that review later in the year.

What Lenovo promises is the ability for this chassis to support 30W of sustained power on an Intel Panther Lake Core Ultra X7 series 3 platform with Arc 12Xe graphics, up to 64 GB of LPDDR5x-9600 memory, and gen5 SSD storage. So not only is this a more competent hardware platform with faster memory, it’s also supposed to run at 50% higher sustained TDP, which would translate into significant performance gains in sustained loads.

The cooling module has gotten an update as well. It’s still a single-heatpipe and two heatsinks, but the fans are larger and higher-capacity, and the heatsinks are larger as well. I’m curious whether that’s enough to increase the TDP by 50%, or Lenovo plan on updating the fan settings as well to spin faster and louder (Best Performance was pegged at 35 dBA on the Gen13 Carbon, so there’s plenty of room to maneuver towards 40-42 dBA on this profile).

I’m also curious about the efficiency of this Panther Lake platform on battery power, since the battery is still only 58 Wh on this X1 Carbon update, quite small for a 14-incher these days. Lenovo barely updated the battery to keep the weight under 1 kilo, but I would have appreciated seeing a 70+ Wh battery in this laptop, even if that meant a 50-100g increase in weight.

Stay around for a detailed review later in the year.

ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 convertible

Lenovo also offers a convertible ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 iteration of the Carbon (at its 11th generation now), built on the same internals and on a similar servicable frame, but with a few particularities of its own: it offers a 360° display, comes in Thunder Grey and not in Black, and is a little larger, thicker, and heavier, starting at 2.6 lbs (1.182 kg). Furthermore, for this generation, the X1 2-in-1 offers a magnetically docked pen.

However, the X1 2-in-1 is generally more expensive than the Carbon and is just not as popular overall.

These 2026 ThinkPad models are expected in stores from March 2026, starting at $1999 in the US for the X1 Carbon Aura Edition and $2149 for the X1 2-in-1 Aura Edition.

Lenovo ThinkPad X9 15p, Aura Edition

Here’s the 2026 refreshed X9 15p next to the initial gen1 model from last year.

The 15-inch variant of the ThinkPad X9 is refreshed for 2026, without any mention of the smaller 14-inch version so far.

The 2026 ThinkPad X9 15p builds on the X9 15 released last year, with a similar aluminum unibody build, similar inputs with a short-stroke keyboard and a slightly taller haptic touchpad, and the same 15.3-inch OLED panel available as either non-touch or touch.

However, the IO has been revamped, with the 2026 model offering 3x USB-C ports now and a full-size SD card reader. The speakers and the camera have been updated as well.

Most of the changes lie inside, though, where I’d reckon the thermal module has also been updated somehow to support what Lenovo claims in the press release: an Intel Panther Lake Core Ultra X9 implementation running at 45W sustained TDP – for comparison, the 2025 model only implemented Lunar Lake V hardware at 25W sustained TDP.

Furthermore, the updated platform allows for more and faster RAM (up to 64 GB LPDDR5x at 9600 MTs), a 2280 M.2 gen5 SSD, and the more capable Panther Lake Arc iGPU with 12 Xe cores.

On top of all these, the battery is a little larger at 88 Wh now. And the bundled charger is higher capacity (and bulkier/heavier as a result), to cope with the updated power requirements.

I’m dying to find out how all these are possible in what looks like a similar format that isn’t thicker or heavier than the initial X9 15 model. Stay around for our detailed review.

The 2026 Lenovo ThinkPad X9 15p is expected in stores around March 2026, starting at $1999 on the US market.

The article 2026 Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon gen 14, X1 2-in-1 gen 11, ThinkPad X9 15p explained appeared first on .

We’re looking at the:

• Yoga Pro 9i Aura Edition – premium 16-inch creator/professional laptop with Panther Lake hardware, mid-tier RTX 5000 graphics, spectacular 3.2K Tandem OLED display;
• Yoga Pro 7i Aura Edition – a more compact and affordable 15-inch alternative, a jack of all trades with similar specs running at slightly lower power, and a modern 2.5K OLED screen;
• IdeaPad Pro 5i 16 – mid-tier value-oriented all-purpose laptop with a 16-inch 2.8K OLED screen and mid-powered Intel Panther Lake + RTX 5000 specs;
• IdeaPad Pro 5i 14 – a more compact 14-inch mid-range laptop with Core Ultra X specs and a big battery.

The features and capabilities intertwine closely between these models, so understanding what each offers and what you’re paying extra for on the Yogas will help you make the right decision for your needs and within your budget. So let’s get going.

Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i and Pro 7i Aura Edition – 2026 models, 11th generation

We’ll discuss these two side by side, since they’re so similar and cater to the same audience of professionals looking for a device that combines build quality, aesthetics, versatility, and fair performance in a premium package.

The Yoga Pro 9i has been around for a few years now, but was refreshed for 2026, while the Pro 7i 15 is a brand new addition to the Lenovo lineup.

First, the specs sheets for these two 2026 models.

This generation Yoga Pro 9i is a little more compact and lighter weight than the previous chassis. It measures 361 x 248 x 17.2+ mm (vs. 365 x 254 x 18+ mm before) and starts at 1.8 kg according to the Lenovo sheets (vs. 1.93 kg before). Despite these, it packs a larger battery inside, among other minor tweaks.

Otherwise, though, it offers a similar design language to the previous variant reviewed here, with a premium all-metal chassis available in Thunder Gray, and those shiny rounded edges that Lenovo put on all their upper-tier Yogas. It also lines a solid set of ports on the sides.

The Yoga Pro 7i 16 is nearly identical in design and functionality, just a little more compact and lighter-weight, since it is a 15.3-inch format. The two offer the same inputs and IO, but with one exception: the Pro 7i charges exclusively via USB-C, while the Pro 9i includes a dedicated square charging slot as well.

Here are some side-by-side images of these two, with the Yoga Pro 9i at the left in the slightly darker Thunder Gray color, and the Yoga Pro 7i at the right in the slightly lighter Lunar Grey.

What sets them apart is the display, with a 3.2K 120Hz Tandem OLED on the Pro 9i and a 2.5K 165Hz OLED on the Pro 7i. Both are excellent options, brighter than the regular OLEDs implemented on other notebooks, but the Tandem OLED in particular offers higher peak brightness and improved HDR support. However, black crush and PWM flickering are issues to consider when opting for a Tandem OLED, while how these aspects are handled on the 15-inch option is unknown yet, since this is a new 2026 generation panel and needs to be properly tested before drawing conclusions.

These aside, even the specs are surprisingly identical between these laptops, at least based on what we know at this point, with an Intel Panther Lake Core Ultra 9, up to 64 GB of LPDDR5x RAM, gen4 SSD storage (to be confirmed, I would have expected at least a gen5 slot), mid-tier mid-powered RTX 5000 chips at around 105-110W TGP, and 92.5Wh batteries. Almost similar to the book, with the only aspect favoring the 9i being an extra set of speakers inside – 6x on the 9i, 4x on the 7i.

However, while the Pro 9i bundles a 245W charger with a square plug, the Pro 7i relies entirely on a USB-C 140W charger. That suggests a notable difference in power settings between the two, so perhaps the GPU on the Pro 7i runs at lower TGP than the specs indicate. I’ll update this section once I fill in the gaps.

Regardless, I do expect Lenovo to differentiate between these two by at least offering higher-tier configurations on the Pro 9i and lower-tier specs on the Pro 7i. It wouldn’t make much sense otherwise, and that is suggested as well by the lower-capacity USB-C charger on the Pro 7i. The specs don’t mention Panther Lake Core X7/X9 specs, so that means variants without a dGPU aren’t an option, although the 140W charger would otherwise suggest them. I’ll update this section once we know more.

Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5i 16/14

The IdeaPad Pro 5i has also been available for a while now and is generally considered one of the best-value mid-range laptops on the market, a device that can handle casual and professional use in a versatile package that doesn’t break the bank.

I’ve added the specs for the 16-inch IdeaPad Pro 5i 16 next to the Yoga Pro 9i 16, to better understand what sets these two apart, and then added the more compact 14-inch IdeaPad Pro 5i as well.

Design-wise, the IdeaPad Pro 5s are a mid-tier all-metal chassis, still nicely made and beautiful looking, just not quite as rigid and exquisite as the Yogas. Lenovo mention Grey, Mint, and White colors variants for these, but mostly expect to find them in stores in the grey variant. The Mint option sure looks lively, though, and the White is rather rare in this segment as well.

The ergonomics of this lineup are mostly on par with the Yogas, with similar IO and almost 180° hinges. Just be aware that the edges around the main chassis are sharper and can bite into the wrists, as opposed to the rounded edges on the Yogas.

There’s also a different keyboard layout on the IdeaPad Pro 5i 16, with flatter keycaps, slightly mushier feedback, and a NumPad section; that means there’s no longer space for up-firing speakers and punctured grills flanking the keys. The 14-inch model, however, dumps the NumPad and gets back the speaker grills. These IdeaPads also implement a regular glass touchpad, and not the haptic forcepad offered on the Yogas.

As for the displays, both sizes bundle glossy OLEDs, with optional touch. The panel on the 16-inch variant is a newer-gen brighter OLED for this 2026 refresh, but the panel on the 14-inch variant might still be that previous-gen slightly dimmer option (to be confirmed).

Here are some images of the 16-inch IdeaPad Pro 5i, in all color variants.

And a few more of the compact 14-inch variant, in Mint.

The specs are a little confusing at this point. On the CPU side, you can spec these up to a Core Ultra X9 Series 3 Panther Lake processor, which bundles the capable Arc B390 iGPU with 12 Xe Cores. I’d expect these X7/X9 platforms to be offered without a dGPU, while the 16-inch configurations with a dGPU (up to an RTX 5060 115W) to be paired with regular Core Ultra 300 hardware. Add in onboard LPDDR5x memory and what looks like gen5 storage – weird that gen5 storage is not mentioned on the Yogas, but is mentioned here; perhaps that’s exclusive to the Ultra X variants.

The cooling module is rather standard and similar to the cooling on the Yogas, with dual-fans, dual-heatsinks, and 2/3 heatpipes. The heatpipes are smaller on the 14-inch model, which is a lower-power design anyway.

As for the battery, the IdeaPad Pro 5i 16 can be specced with either an 84 or a 99 Wh battery, while the 14-incher bundles an 84 Wh battery – excellently sized for a compact computer.

Bottom point, the IdeaPad Pro 5i 16 is a versatile mid-range laptop that Lenovo will most likely offer in a variety of variants this year, and should be available at more affordable prices than the Yogas. The 14-inch Pro 5i, on the other hand, is a more compact daily driver with some excellent potential capabilities in these Panther Lake Ultra X implementations – at 1.45+ kilos, it’s not as slim or lightweight as most other 14-inch options, but offers superior cooling and a larger battery, tradeoffs that many will gladly accept.

All in all, there’s a market for all these lineups, and your decision must factor in available configurations and local prices, which both will vary between regions. You should also look into detailed reviews when deciding between them, and hopefully, we’ll get our time with most of these at some point.

As far as we know, these are all expected in stores in Q2 2026, with the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i Aura Edition starting at $1999, the Yoga Pro 7i Aura Edition at $1899, the IdeaPad Pro 5i 16 at $1699, and the 14-inch model somewhere lower. But expect discounts off these MSRP prices later in the year.

The article 2026 gen11 Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i, Yoga Pro 7i, IdeaPad Pro 5i explained appeared first on .

In the past, the Duo offered a proper main display and another half-display on the main chassis, but now it offers two full 16-inch displays with OLED panels, and a keyboard folio that can be used connected to the notebook or standalone, much like on the Zenbook DUO designs of recent years.

This is a workstation series, though, so it’s almost as powerful as a Zephyrus G16, with which it shares some common traits and features: Intel Panther Lake hardware with up to RTX 5090 graphics, advanced vapor-chamber cooling, a 90Wh battery, and punchy audio with a set of 6x speakers.

But even so, the DUO is a different motherboard design from what I’ve been told, so there will be some differences in performance compared to the Zephyrus G16, especially on the GPU side – it runs at lower power than the latest clamshell G16 refresh, most likely because it needs to keep chassis temperatures down due to the dual-display format that puts an OLED display on top of the toasty internal components. Furthermore, having that display over the main chassis required an updated thermal module that only draws air from the bottom and sides, and cannot draw any air from the top, as it does on the Zephyrus.

In short, the Zephyrus G16 GU606 remains the more powerful, compact, and lighter option in this space, while the Zephyrus DUO GX651 is larger and heavier and not quite as powerful on the GPU side, to offer the versatility and uniqueness of the dual-display format in this segment.

Here’s a side-by-side comparison of the 2026 Zephyrus DUO and Zephyrus G16 to better understand the main differences between the two.

2026 ASUS ROG Zephyrus DUO GX651, vs. Zephyrus G16 GU606

On the outside, the Zephyrus DUO features a premium CNC-aluminum chassis with a Stellar Grey color theme and a rougher feel to the metal. There’s also a Slash Lighting bar on the lid, the same implemented in the Zephyrus G16 – not a fan, and I would have preferred a simpler basic lid instead, but it is what it is.

I got to spend some time with an early Zephyrus Duo sample and was impressed with the build and overall heft of this design. Aesthetics are alright as well, and the keyboard folio feels strong and practical. The typing experience should be close to the Zephyrus G16, which offers one of the better keyboards out there.

Here are some images that I took.

And here’s how the older Zephyrus DUO design used to look for comparison, with the 1.5 display format and the keyboard squeezed in at the front of the chassis.

At the same time, this is a thick and heavy laptop. At 2.8+ kilos including the keyboard folio, it’s heavier than the full-size Scar 16, a tradeoff of the dual-display format.

But then the benefits are the multiple operating modes offered here by the two displays paired with hinges that rotate to 320° and the kickstand that expands to 90°. Those are:

• regular Laptop mode, with the keyboard folio attached on top of the main chassis part;
• Dual-Screen mode with the keyboard detached and connected via Bluetooth, where you can leverage the kickstand for a setup with two landscape displays one over the other, or two portrait displays side by side (Asus calls this Book mode). The hinges and bezels between the two displays are fairly chunky, not as seamless as on the latest Zenbook Duo refresh;
• Sharing mode, where you can open the two displays flat on the desk – they open at the same level, unlike on the older Zenbook Duo models that implemented rather similar hinges at that time;
• Tent mode, where you can set the screens up high away from each other, allowing two people to use each screen at a time for various actions, including playing games in mirror mode (not two different games at the same time). This can be used in other ways as well, such as running a browser on one side and playing a video or movie on the other.

So yeah, this format provides some versatility and use cases that are not possible with regular notebooks of this kind. And what I mean by that is powerful and highly-capable systems.

Speaking of, this Duo implements an Intel Panther Lake Core Ultra 9 platform alongside fast LPDDR5x memory (onboard), gen5 SSD storage, and up to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 at 135W TGP. There’s also an RTX 5070Ti variant, but no other options announced so far.

The CPU is a hybrid design with Performance, Efficiency, and Low-Power Efficiency Cores, while the GPU is a mid-powered implementation of the highest RTX 5000 chips, which means this isn’t going to be quite as powerful as some of the full-size standard notebook formats out there.

For comparison, the 2026 Zephyrus G16 offers a Panther Lake Core Ultra 9 processor with 160W TGP on the graphics, while the full ROG Strix Scar 16 offers an Intel Core HX platform with full-power 175W RTX graphics.

All in all, though, expect this Zephyrus Duo to offer competitive heavy-use performance and even come within 10-20% of the fastest notebooks out there in GPU-heavy loads and games, which is impressive all things considered. Especially since the chassis needs to tame the hardware without the ability to draw air from the top of the main case, through the keyboard, as that part is covered by a display here – a graphite sheet separates the internals from the panel to prevent overheating that could impact the OLED longer-term, but we’ll need to properly test temperatures over this display to better understand where we stand.

Instead, fresh air goes in through the sides and from the bottom, and then out through the back. I’d reckon that means you will have to keep this raised off the desk for the best performance and thermals, but that’s usually the case with most other powerful laptops anyway, with few exceptions that work properly flat on a desk.

The cooling module is on par with what Asus implements on their other top lineups, with high-capacity fans, a large vapor chamber, and liquid metal on the CPU/GPU.

Internally, there’s also a 90Wh battery on this series and a competent audio system with 6x speakers (actually, two dual-firing main speakers and two extra tweeters).

All in all, this Asus ROG Zephyrus DUO is an unique offer in the niche of high-performance workstations that can tackle any work activity or modern game, with the versatility of a dual-display format with two full-size 16-inch displays, and the inherent drawbacks that spun from this format: weight, thickness, performance kept in-0check by the need to keep thermal low, and finally, pricing. Expect this to be one of the most expensive notebooks currently on the market, although budget is hardly a concern when shopping for this sort of machinery.

Stay around for our detailed review over the next weeks and months, and in the meantime, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this series.

The article 2026 Asus ROG Zephyrus DUO GX651 explained (dual OLED displays) appeared first on .

This year, however, they’re completely revamping the Zenbook DUO with a more compact design and updated hinges that bring the two screens much closer together, faster hardware running at higher power, improved cooling, punchier audio, and a larger 99Wh battery, among others.

I got to spend some time with an early sample of this Zenbook DUO UX8407AA series, and gathered my early impressions in this article. A full review will follow over the next weeks.

But first, here’s a specs sheet of the 2026 and 2025 Zenbook DUO models, to better understand how the two have changed.

Specs sheet – Asus Zenbook Duo 2026 and 2025

This 2nd-generation Zenbook Duo chassis refines the previous iteration in several ways.

Here are some side-by-side pictures of the two, with the 2026 generation on the left.

The new variant is more compact by about 5%, due to the new hinges that bring the two displays much closer together and allow them to open without the gap of the previous generation. That means the two displays now sit in the same plane when having the laptop open up, and the bezel part between the screens is smaller, about 9 mm in total.

On the other hand, the new Zenbook is about the same weight as the previous one, and that’s because it incorporates updated cooling and a bigger 99Wh battery split partially on the main chassis and partially behind the display.

The overall functionality of this series remains more or less the same. You get the two displays with a keyboard folio sandwiched in between. With the keyboard physically attached, this feels like a regular laptop, just thicker than a standard Zenbook.

But then you get to detach the keyboard and use it on Bluetooth, and you can utilize the kickstand on the back of the laptop to position the two displays vertically or horizontally for dual-display use. I still find it more practical with the two displays stacked one over the other, as otherwise you’re getting two 14-inch displays in Portrait mode, and that’s hardly as useful in everyday life. But side-by-side mode is more comfortable now with the updated hinge mechanism.

That aside, I’ll also mention that the exterior case of this generation is made out of Ceraluminum, in a dark gray color, with limited branding elements and rounded corners all around, much like on the Zenbook A14/A16 models. This finish should age well and resist smudges and scratches better than the regular aluminum case of the previous generation. However, you might not quite like the feel of Ceraluminum in comparison; it feels somehow not as nice as actual aluminum pieces, the kind offered on past Zenbooks or on a Zephyrus or a MacBook. You’ll have to experience it in real life to understand what I mean.

The displays on this newer Zenbook DUO UX8407 series are still 14-inch 16:10, but updated Lumina Pro OLED panels with higher brightness and an anti-reflection layer that cuts out some of the glare and reflections. This coating actually makes a difference in bright-light environments, but this is still not a matte implementation by any means.

The beautiful displays are complemented by updated audio, with two main dual-side speakers and two extra front-firing tweeters hidden near the hinge. The audio quality and volume are much improved over the previous Zenbook DUO generation.

As for that keyboard folio, it incorporates a proper 14-inch Zenbook keyboard and a larger touchpad than in the past. Asus also smoothed the edges, an aspect your wrists will notice on a thicker laptop such as this one.

It still works on either Bluetooth or hooks up directly to the laptop through a set of pogo pins, pogo pins that were redesigned and are now magnetic. The keycaps on this updated folio have a rougher feel to them, though, as opposed to the smoother feel of most Zenbook keyboards. That should help fend off smudges, but I’m not yet sure whether it impacts the typing experience in any way or not. I’ll know more when I get the review unit.

BTW, here are a few more pics of the 2026 Duo UX8407 refresh.

The hardware is the extra piece of this puzzle, with an Intel Panther Lake implementation. Asus will offer the series with Core Ultra 7 355H, Ultra 9 386H, or Ultra X9 388H specs, with up to 32 GB of LPDDR5x-9600 memory and gen4 SSD storage. The X9 bundles Arc B390 graphics with 12 Xe Cores, while the other bundle Arc graphics with only 4 Xe Cores.

The hardware runs at up to 45W TDP in the 2026 Zenbook Duo models, though. In comparison, the 2025 Arrow Lake platform ran at up to 35-38W sustained. The new hardware and higher power settings should translate to 10-25% performance gains in sustained loads. For a multitasker meant to handle more than just casual use, that’s significant.

Of course, the 45W setting is most likely on the noisy Full Speed mode, and I’m looking forward to testing the capabilities of this implementation on the quieter mid-level profiles as well.

I’m also curious of the thermal capabilities of this smaller chassis – the previous version did a good job keeping temperatures at bay, but the new model is a little smaller and runs at higher sustained power. I didn’t get to open the preview unit, but Asus mentions increased intake cutouts on the back panel and larger fans. Given the format with the display over the components, they surely made some tweaks to the cooling to comfortably promote the higher power design.

While going over the internals, I must also mention the updated battery in this DUO, with a total capacity of 99 Wh. That’s impressive for a 14-incher, and Asus increased the battery without increasing the overall weight, which is still around 1.65 kilos including the keyboard folio. The battery is part inside the main chassis and part behind the display, but the two sides are still well balanced, and the laptop doesn’t feel top-heavy in any way.

Of course, having two displays requires extra energy, so your expectation of battery life while using both displays should be realistic. In Laptop mode, though, this could be one of the longer-lasting 14-inch laptops out there.

All in all, this is a notable refinement of a proven concept, the most popular dual-display laptop available in stores today. You’re paying a pretty premium for the format and the display, though, and I’d expect that premium to be higher than on the 2025 model (which retailed at $1999 at launch). Stay around for our detailed review, and let me know what you think of this refresh in the meantime.

The article 2026 Asus Zenbook DUO UX8407AA refresh explained – smaller, more powerful appeared first on .

We’ll discuss what to expect from these two further down, and follow up with detailed reviews as soon as possible.

Both of these are refreshes of existing products. The ProArt PX13 is one of the very few powerful 13-inch laptops still available today, offered until now in an AMD Strix Point configuration with up to an RTX 4070 95W dGPU. With Strix Halo, the series gets notably faster in CPU performance, receives more and faster memory, but isn’t quite as competitive on the GPU side.

The TUF Gaming A14 is a value 14-inch notebook, available so far in a very interesting AMD Krackan Point + RTX 5050/5060 configuration (and a few others). Asus will mostly offer this one with the newer Strix Halo SKUs that bundle a mid-level Zen5 CPU with up to an Radeon 8060S GPU, so these configurations offer a potential bump in performance all across the board. I also expect this TUF A14 to be one of the more affordable Strix Halo options available this year.

We’ll get indepth down below.

Specs sheet – Asus ProArt PX13

I’ve discussed the existing ProArt PX13 over here, after using it for a few months. I greatly appreciated the versatility of this chassis that offers solid ergonomics, nice aesthetics, good inputs and IO, and a beautiful OLED display in a premium and compact 13-inch format. There’s no other such option out there in the high-performance ultrabook space.

At the same time, the existing ProArt PX13 is quite a performer. Sure, it runs at more limited power than the larger options in the 14-to-16 inch segments, but it can still tackle the majority of potential loads, including work applications and games.

With Strix Halo on the refreshed 2026 generation, and we’re discussing the Ryzen AI Max+ 395 variant here, expect a 40% gain in multi-threaded CPU performance and about 90% of the GPU performance offered by the existing Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 + RTX 4070 configuration. Furthermore, you can also spec this with 32 to 128 GB of RAM, and up to 96 GB an be allocated to the Radeon GPU, with potential benefits in specific workloads and AI loads that can benefit from this amount of video memory. The Ryzen AI Max+ 395 platform has been around for a year now, so you most likely know its strengths and quirks (here’s how it performs in the Asus ROG Flow Z13 13-inch tablet).

I do expect Asus to offer the PX13 is some mid-level configurations as well, which should perhaps cater to a wider potential audience. The AI Max+ 395 hardware is not cheap, so don’t be surprised if that variant goes for 2000+ USD / 2500+ EUR. Hopefully, they’ll also offer the new Ryzen AI Max+ 392 and AI Max + 388 SKUs in this series, with 8C/12C CPUs and the same Radeon 8060S 40 CUs iGPU.

As far as my nits with the existing series go, this refreshed variant doesn’t change at least two of them: the panel is still a 60 Hz OLED, albeit a slightly brighter variant now, and the audio doesn’t seem to have been updated in any way.

However, I wonder how the Strix Halo hardware changes the high thermals under load and the fact that the fans rarely idled with regular use on the older PX13. I wouldn’t expect wonders, though, given my experience from the ROG Zephyrus Z13 with Strix Halo hardware. Asus aren’t mentioning the max TDP of this implementation, but I’d reckon it should still be around 95W, much like on the preexisting series. So this variant most likely won’t run cooler or quieter at full load. We’ll find out when we get this for review.

Oh, and btw there’s a GoPro edition of this ProArt PX13, called the GoProArt PX13. It offers a slightly redesigned chassis with some lines on the lid and a small GoPro logo, a more rugged interior texture, a keyboard that lights up in blue, and a case that fits the laptop and can be customized to integrate accessories such as a GoPro camera, microphones, earbuds, etc – it comes with some precut foam inserts that can be taken out to make space for your stuff. This GoPro edition comes at an extra cost, but includes a 12-month subscription to GoPro’s service and a 15% discount coupon for cameras as well. So perhaps it can be an interesting option if you’re a GoPro user.

Here are some images of this GoProArt PX13 edition that I got to handle for a little bit.

Asus also claims in their press release that the laptop can withstand harsher climates that include high humidity, low/high temperatures, dust, and so on. You should take those with a grain of salt and treat your device well, regardless.

I look forward to getting my hands on this ProArt PX13 update for a proper review.

Specs sheet – Asus TUF Gaming A14

The Asus TUF Gaming A14 is a versatile mid-level 14-inch notebook. In the past, it’s been a good value fairly portable and lightweight daily driver, and I expect the Strix Halo updates to target a similar segment.

These images below are of the 2025 TUF A14, but the 2026 updates are identical, with only some minimal internal changes for the Strix Halo variant.

That means Asus offers the TUF A14 FA401EA subseries with the newer AMD Strix Halo SKUs launched in 2026 that bundle a 12C Zen5 processor with the 40 CUs variant of the Radeon iGPU – the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 392. And while the platform supports up to 128 GB of memory, I doubt you’ll get more than 64 GB at this level. I was expecting a Ryzen AI Max+ 388 + 32 GB configuration as well, but it’s not available at launch.

Regardless, this configuration translates to faster overall performance on the CPU compared to the Ryzen AI 7 350 + RTX 5050/5060 105W popular configurations of 2025, and matching performance in GPU loads, but with some exceptions in games where the Nvidia chips benefit from DLSS support. This variant is rather a mixed-use/work daily driver and less of a gaming machine.

What’s especially interesting about this one is the advertised max combined TDP of 95W, lower than the 105W max crossload TDP on the Ryzen + Nvidia units. This setting could allow lower thermals and fan-noise around 40-42 dBA at full loads on this Strix Halo variant.

As a side note, there’s another update of this series ready for 2026, with the TUF A14 FA401G refresh that bundles an updated Ryzen AI Series platform with up to an RTX 5060 115W (with 130W total sustained power in Manual mode). This is going to hold an edge in GPU loads and especially in games where DLSS 4.0 can play an important role, as it is somehow a higher power implementation than the 2025 A14 models. But this is going to run warmer and louder (45-48 dBA at full blast), even if the power increase might also come with an updated thermal module, perhaps.

Stay around for our reviews of these TUF A14 lineups over the next months. I’m especially curious about the pricing and overall viability of the AMD Ryzen AI Max variant.

The article 2026 Asus laptops with AMD Strix Halo hardware: ProArt PX13, TUF Gaming A14 appeared first on .

I’ve handled these before launch and gathered some thoughts and impressions that I will share with you in the article.

We’re mostly going to focus on the new Zenbook A16 model, though, as the 14-inch variant is merely a hardware bump on the existing A14 discussed in this review. I don’t mind faster hardware, especially as the X2 Elite processor promises a notable bump in CPU and GPU performance over the X1 Elite chip in the 2025 generation.

But performance isn’t the reason the A14 didn’t sell well last year, and a bump to an X2 Elite platform isn’t addressing the core concerns with this lineup. More on that in a bit.

But first, here are the specs of these Zenbooks.

2026 Asus Zenbook A16 UX3607 and A14 UX3407

These two share a common design language, with a Ceraluminum build all around. This is an anti-scratch, anti-wear, smudge-free magnesium-aluminum alloy with a ceramic coating component, tougher and more resilient than the standard anodized aluminum materials used on most other laptops, and is more lightweight as well. This allows the 14-inch Zenbook A14 to weigh under 1 kilo, while the 16-inch A16 tips the scales at 1.2 kilos in its most powerful variant.

But to me, this Ceraluminum doesn’t feel quite as premium to the touch as the metals on older Zenbooks or on a MacBook/XPS device. It’s hard to put the feeling into words; you’ll have to handle the laptops yourselves and make your own impression about these materials.

Aesthetics are fine at least, with limited branding and clean lines, but not exciting in any way. Just a fair functional design. The 14-inch models are offered in either gray or beige, while the 16-inch option is only offered in beige.

Ergonomics are mostly fine as well, although the screen only opens up to about 150 degrees, and not all the way flat on the back. To me, that’s an inconvenience with this sort of ultraportable laptops.

Here are some side-by-side pictures of the two sizes.

And a few more images of the Zenbook A16 and of the two color variants on the A14.

The keyboards on these two are identical, without any extras on the 16-inch model. They’re averagely short travel at 1.3 mm, and fair typers overall. The slightly rougher finish on the keycaps takes some time to get used to, as most laptops in this space offer smoother, more tactile keycaps. The benefit, if you can call it that, is the improved smudge and abrasion resistance of this Excimer coating.

The lateral space around the keyboard doesn’t include any speaker grills of any kind in the Zenbook A16, even if this model actually incorporates larger speakers and a set of extra tweeters, so the audio quality is improved over the 14-inch variant, where the sound quality is rather meh by today’s standards.

The bottom space is, however, used for a huge touchpad that still starts from just under the keyboard and goes close to the laptop’s front lip, but not too close to become an issue when using this on the lap.

The display is where the Zenbook A16 differs from A14. While Asus still puts a 2K 60Hz OLED on the A14, the A16 is available with either a similar 2k 60Hz option on the lower-specced configurations, or with a Lumina Pro 3K 120Hz OLED on the upper-tier configuration. This is the new-generation OLED with brighter sustained and peak brightness implemented in the Zenbook DUO as well, but I’m not sure whether it supports VRR here on this Snapdragon platform.

Regardless, battery life is spectacular on both, with the A14 being the longest-lasting laptop tested last year. The X2 Elite hardware generation provides 10-20% improved efficiency compared to the X1 Elite platform with casual use, hence the A14 is advertised at 35h of video playback, and the A16 at 21+ hours. The A14 “benefits” here of the 2K 60Hz OLED, while the 16-inch more advanced OLED on the 16-inch model takes its toll.

And then there’s the hardware. Both these laptops are built on Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon X2 Elite hardware, with the X2 Elite X2E-88-100 chip on the A14 and the X2 Elite Extreme X2E-96-100 on the A16.

The two are rather similar, but the Extreme offers higher CPU/GPU clock speeds and runs at higher sustained power in the 16-inch model. These CPUs are both 18Core hybrid designs with 12 Prime Cores and 6 Performance cores (which is what Qualcomm unintuitively calls their lower-power cores) and similar Adreno iGPUs and 80 TFlops NPUs.

If interested, here’s how the two chilpets look, with the X2 Elite Extreme on the A16 motherboard to the left, and the S2 Elite on the A14 motherboard to the right.

An extra for this generation of Snapdragon hardware is the transition to faster 192bit memory bandwidth, with up to 48 GB configurations on the A16 and 32 GB on the A14.

Furthermore, Asus seem to have exclusive access to the X2 Elite Extreme, at least for a while, and that makes the Zenbook A16 potentially the fastest Snapdragon notebook of this generation.

This hardware provides a significant boost in performance over the X1 Elite hardware of the 2025 generation, and is highly competitive against the latest Intel/AMD hardware as well.

Of course, we’ll have to wait for actual tests and reviews before concluding, as the provided results cherry-picked by Qualcomm might not always paint the full picture, but we can assume performance is not going to be a concern for this platform. However, I’d argue it never was, anyway.

The issue is the everyday experience with Windows on ARM and potential software incompatibilities/bugs/inconsistencies with specialized applications that would actually benefit from faster hardware. Microsoft is actively working on improving things, but figuring out all the issues and fixing them takes time. Otherwise, a regular Snapdragon X/X Plus chip is still plenty for general multitasking, at a fraction of the cost and at lower power.

Speaking of, both these laptops require a fair amount of power when plugged in and running on their more powerful profiles, and hence the 14-inch model bundles a 100W charger, while the 16-inch model ships with a 130W charger. These add up to your backpack as bulkier/heavier than a 65W charger that would suffice for a lower-tier configuration.

And then there’s the other potential culprit of these lineups: pricing. Last year, the A14 X1 Elite configuration started at 1299 USD /1500 EUR. Significant discounts followed later in the year to move the stocks, alongside the lower-specced X1 and X1 Plus configurations that became interesting at 600-800 USD/EUR. But the high-tier models didn’t sell well.

This year, Asus are still mostly focusing on these upper-tier configurations, even if Snapdragon X2 Plus 10Core and 6Core specs were recently unveiled. Perhaps they’ll offer those configurations as well at some point.

All in all, the Zenbook A16 is a rather interesting ultra-light laptop with an excellent display, solid inputs and IO, and impressive power at its size. But it’s still a Snapdragon laptop with its quirks and software limitations, which buyers are going to struggle to adopt. The overall value of these devices improves once we step down to the more affordable configurations meant for browsing, video content, and just basic use, where most things just work (hopefully, printer drivers are addressed as well), while the Elite and Elite Extreme tier configurations are going to have a harder time moving off the shelves.

The article 2026 Asus Zenbook A16 (16-inch OLED, Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme), refreshed Zenbook A14 explained appeared first on .

Ryzen AI Max hardware is unique among the mobile platforms available today, as it pairs a powerful processor built on AMD’s latest-to-date Zen5 cores with a massive integrated graphics chip, with as many as 40 AMD RDNA3.5 Compute Units. There’s no other such chip available out there with this sort of iGPU, while on the CPU side, only the highest-tier Ryzen HX and Core HX/Core Ultra HX SKUs offer similar levels of performance.

Nonetheless, the Ryzen AI Max hardware is meant as a standalone platform, with the AMD chip handling both compute and graphics processing. That’s unlike AMD’s Strix Point and Fire Range hardware, which is mostly paired with dedicated graphics from Nvidia, including RTX 5000 Blackwell chips for devices launched in 2025/2026.

Down below, in the first part of the article, we’ll go through the particularities of this AMD Strix Halo hardware, and projections on performance in actual tasks and games based on out benchmarks and tests.

Update: AMD plans on updating the hardware with Ryzen AI Max and Max+ 400 APUs this year, as part of the AMD Gorgon Halo refresh. That’s a similar approach to Gorgon Point following up on Strix Point hardware on the more mid-range mobile level.

Thus, Gorgon Halo is merely a name rebadge of existing Strix Halo SKUs, with minimal changes in CPU/GPU clock speeds and no significant differences in platform design, characteristics, or general capabilities. I’ll update the article once Gorgon Halo is officially launched.

In the second part of the article, we’ll list all laptops and devices built on this AI Max Ryzen hardware, and specifically point out those that primarily stand out as the best Ryzen AI Max implementations with their format, features, or potential capabilities.

AMD Strix Halo Ryzen AI Max APU lineup

These are the Ryzen AI Max APUs that will be implemented in devices this year, with Pro and non-Pro variants for most SKUs. The Pros are meant for business/enterprise notebooks, while the others are for regular implementations. I’ve also included the Strix Point Ryzen 9 AI 370 in the table, to showcase the differences between the two platforms.

Note: As of early 2026, several new Strix Halo processors were announced, combining fewer CPU cores with the top Radeon 8060S iGPU with 40 CUs. Those are the Ryzen AI Max+ 392 (12C/24T CPU) and the Ryzen AI Max+ 388 (8C/16T CPU).
Note2: Gorgon Halo is expected for later in 2026, with Ryzen AI Max+ 495, 492, 490, and several other SKUs. This is just a half-step name refresh of available hardware, and will update the article once those are available.

As mentioned earlier, all you should mostly need to know is that AMD Strix hardware is all about pairing a powerful processor with an integrated graphics chip unlike anything offered before, for a unified solution. Of course, the performance differs significantly between the flagship Ryzen AI Max+ 395 and the bottom-tier Ryzen AI Max Pro 380, with a solid middle grounder in the Ryzen AI Max 385 that I’m specifically looking at seeing in action.

As far as that Ryzen AI Max+ 395 goes, expect graphics performance somewhere between a mid-powered RTX 4060 and 4070. This AMD hardware works best at around 70-80W, so the GPU performance is compared to a 4060/4070 at the wattage as well. Nonetheless, that’s impressive for an iGPU and 2.5-3x what something like a Radeon 890M can offer, or at least 2x what’s offered on Intel’s side by the Arrow Lake Core Ultra 200H chips with the faster Arc 140T iGPU.

But you should be aware that this Ryzen AI hardware can run at between 45-120W cTDP, and that means its actual capabilities are going to vary significantly between implementations. A more portable laptop chassis won’t offer the same potential as a beefier implementation.

A detailed look into the Ryzen AIs Max+ 395 platform at 35W to 80W of power between power modes is available in our review of the ROG Flow Z13, over here.

Nonetheless, I am interested in how well this platform is going to scale down at lower power levels. Strix Point does very well, especially on the iGPU side, where the Radeon 890M at 20W still scores roughly 75-80% of its full potential at 45+W. But with these Ryzen AI Max SKUs and Radeon 8000 graphics, the differences are going to be most likely bigger.

Memory is an interesting aspect of this platform as well, with support for up to 128GB of very fast LPPDDR5x, out of which 96 GB can be allocated to the GPU. Most configurations will get 32 GB of RAM, though, with up to 24 GB that can be put towards the iGPU. That’s still plenty and allows potential Strix Halo laptops to be versatile performers in applications that benefit from vRAM, including AI applications where you will be able to load bigger and more advanced models on something like this than on regular devices of this size.

Compared to AMD’s Strix Point hardware, which is implemented in quite a few thin-and-light designs either standalone or paired with Nvidia dGPUs, the Strix Halo APUs have a potential advantage in CPU processing power and a potential disadvantage in efficiency, since the platform doesn’t include any Zen5c cores, which should affect battery runtimes in comparison. GPU performance, on the other hand, is the real question here, especially in portable implementations that can’t physically get Nvidia graphics. That’s if they’ll exist at all since the Ryzen AI Max APU is physically much larger than the regular chips normally implemented in mobile devices, which raises the question of motherboard design and cooling on a potential portable Strix Halo computers.

For a deeper look at the AMD platforms available for 2025 devices, I suggest going over this dedicated article on AMD Strix Point, Strix Halo, Krackan or Fire Range.

At the end of the day, objectively looking past the hype of having a unified AMD platform with these specs, the success of Strix Halo is up to the actual products that will implement the hardware. Format and pricing are going to play a major role in steering potential buyers towards this platform over the multitude of others available out there, especially later in the year once the mid-tier RTX 5000 dGPUs get out.

So far, there are very few actual products announced on this hardware, so we’ll see what we’ll actually get later in the year. And those few announced are expensive.

Complete list of AMD Strix Halo laptops (up to Ryzen AI Max+ 395)

This section lists all available/launched devices built on this Ryzen AI Max 300 hardware, although very few have been announced so far; but stay around for updates as new ones are released.

So far, the ROG Flow Z13 gaming tablet from Asus stole all thunders, as the only real product showcasing the platform at CES as an early working prototype that ran some games such as Black Myth: Wukong. The final products are coming later in the year, so stay around, we’ll have our reviews and coverage ready once allowed by embargos. What you should keep in mind is that the 2025 ROG Flow Z13 is a mid-range implementation of this hardware, with upwards of 80W sustained TDP, and that’s despite its compact size, due to the tablet format and highly advanced cooling. It’s going to cost north of 2k USD and 2.5K EUR in the Max 395+ version.

HP also quietly launched a Strix Halo ZBook Ultra 14 mobile workstation, with a premium and fairly compact 14-inch notebook format, a potential excellent allrounder in a top-tier traditional chassis. However, I’d only expect a mid-powered implementation of the AMD hardware in this chassis, and with some truly hefty prices of many thousands of dollars for the higher-tier configurations, given past experience with existing ZBooks.

Update: I’ve also included some of the few mini-PC and gaming handheld formats announced or available with Strix Halo hardware.

Update2: There’s something called the AIM Max+ laptop mentioned around, with a potential launch around October 2025. It’s 16-inch chassis with a 2.5K matte IPS display, up to a Ryzen AI Max+ 395, 32 GB of RAM, 2x SSD slots and a 80Wh battery with a 230W charger. It’s supposedly aiming at being as affordable as it gets. I’ll add it to the main list once this materializes, I’m not sure whether this is actually going to be a real product or not.

We’re updating the list as it goes.

That’s about it for this article.

I’ll update it as new AMD Strix Halo designs are announced and as we get to test other implementations as well.

In the meantime, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the hardware, your expectations, and what the AMD Strix Halo platform could mean for the laptop space over the following months.

The article AMD Strix Halo & Gorgon Halo laptops – complete list, best options (Ryzen AI Max+ 395, Max+ 398, Max+ 388) appeared first on .

We’ve reviewed all the ROG Zephyrus notebooks launched over the years, so we know where this series could have been improved. But most of the 2026 changes are incremental refinements, as this generation is mostly built on the same chassis with the same features and ergonomics.

Among the important changes is the addition of a much brighter OLED display and a bump in hardware specs and power: a Panther Lake Core Ultra 9 platform paired with RTX 5000 graphics, up to an RTX 5090 at 160W TGP – that’s much higher than on the 2025 Zephyrus G16 and ProArt P16 models, and nearly on par with full-power implementations at 175W TGP.

Here’s a specs sheet for the 2026 Zephyrus, next to the 2025 model, and then we’ll get more indepth further down.

2026 ASUS ROG Zephyrus G16 GU606, vs. 2025 Zephyrus G16 GU605

As mentioned earlier, the 2026 and 2025 Zephyrus G16 models share the same premium unibody chassis, arguably among the better-feeling options in the Windows space today.

Aesthetically, Asus are offering the two in either a lighter gray or a darker-gray variant. Both have this Slash Lighting bar of LEDs on the lid, with the 2026 generation offering an updated implementation with more control zones (the same number of LEDs, but each controlled individually now, while in the past they could only be controlled in groups). I still wish they had gotten rid of it entirely; the lid would look much cleaner in a simpler design, as it does on the ProArt P16, which is the same chassis but in an all-black minimalist approach. Regardless, it is what it is.

Another incremental update for the 2026 generation are the updated hinges, which adjust torque throughout the opening motion – it should make the hinges softer when lifting up the display, and then progressively tighten them to keep the display in place at the open angles. I didn’t have an issue with the way the hinges worked in the past, but rather with how there’s no notch on the front lip and how the open angle is limited to only 130 degrees. These aspects haven’t changed.

That’s mostly because the general chassis layout hasn’t changed, with the cooling still entirely placed on the rear edge – but the internal cooling module has been revamped – more on that in a bit. That also means the keyboard is still rather minimalist, centered on the case and without a NumPad, but flanked by some of the best speakers available on Windows devices today. And the IO is lined around the edges, with all the right ports, including USB-Cs on both sides and an SD card reader.

Here are some images of the Zephyrus G16 chassis.

And a few more side-by-sides images of the G16 next to the smaller G14, both the 2026 refreshes.

And then we get to that new display, a latest-generation OLED from Samsung, and it’s a regular OLED, not a Tandem OLED. It allows for higher sustained and peak brightness levels, up to 1100-nits peak, making the laptop more usable in brighter lighting conditions and improving the HDR capabilities in videos and games. At the same time, it’s still 2.5K resolution with 240Hz refresh and 0.2ms response, VRR and GSync, so excellently suited for gaming. We’ll have to test for any tradeoffs, though, such as flickering or burning due to the higher brightness levels.

The other novelties are on the inside, where the hardware has been updated to Intel’s latest Panther Lake Core Ultra Series 3 platform, up to a Core Ultra 9 H processor. That’s paired with up to 64 GB of LPDDR5x-8533 memory and SSD storage (with one gen5 slot), plus various upper-tier RTX 5000 GPUs, up to an RTX 5090.

Over the last G16 generations, Asus offered two variants of this notebook: a thicker and heavier one with more advanced cooling for the higher-tier variants (5070Ti and higher for the 2025 models), and a thinner, lighter one with more basic cooling for the lower-tier models (5070 and lower). The upper-tier design gets a refresh for 2026, but I’m not sure these changes carry over to the lower-tier chassis as well – we’ll update when we know more.

The upper-tier models provided up to 140W crossload power on the 2025 G16s, with up to 115W TGP on the GPU. The 2026 refresh bumps the power to 175W crossload, with 160W TGP on the GPU. That’s a major update, and I believe that was made possible by an updated thermal module with a larger vapor-chamber and a thicker overall profile that allows for extra space inside.

I’m looking forward to testing the overall performance gains and general thermal behavior of this updated generation – I do expect up to 20% gains in sustained loads, with higher temperatures than in the past. However, as long as you kept the laptop raised off the desk, both internal and external temperatures were excellent on the 2025 models, so there’s a potential headroom for higher thermals that can be properly exploited here.

For what it’s worth, if you’re interested in an AMD iteration of this notebook, that’s not offered with the Zephyrus chassis, but rather with the Asus ProArt P16 (which is not receiving an update to Gorgon Point hardware, but that’s not an issue given how measly of an upgrade a Ryzen 9 AI HX 470 offers over a Strix Point Ryzen AI 9 HX 370).

All in all, while the 2026 Zephyrus G16 might not look like much of an update on a first look, the brighter display and the refreshes in CPU/GPU/RAM/SSD combined make it a notably more powerful notebook than the 2025 generation.

That’s about it for now, but look forward to our detailed reviews of this refreshed 2026 Zephyrus G16 GU606 series over the next few weeks. These laptops should be available in stores quickly in the first months of the year, but expect some hefty prices, further bumped up by the current RAM/SSD situations. Expect most notebooks to demand a premium this year over their predecessors at launch, and that would put the top-specced 5090 model over 4K USD/4.5K EUR.

The article 2026 Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 GU606 explained (Panther Lake, RTX 5090) appeared first on .

We’ve reviewed all G14 variations available over the years, so we understand how things have evolved and changed over generations. For 2026, Asus are steering the series away from its legacy approach, which means they plan on offering both AMD and Intel variants, paired with Nvidia RTX 5000 GPUs and updated OLED displays. In the past, they only offered AMD + Nvidia hardware on this 14-inch chassis, but not anymore.

It makes sense, though, given how Gorgon Point Ryzen AI 400 series, the AMD mobile platform for this year, is a minimal Strix Point refresh, while Panther Lake, Intel’s offer for the year, is a more notable update over its Arrow Lake H predecessor (expect +5-10% single core, +10-20% multi core performance gains). But there are still a handful of differences between the two series that will most likely anger fans in the AMD camp.

That’s mostly because the AMD variant (Zephyrus G14 GA403) this year is designed as a lower-tier, more-affordable option that can be specced up to an AMD Ryzen AI 9 465 processor, 32 GB of LPDDR5x-7500 memory, and an RTX 5060 90W TGP. So, only a mid-range AMD processor, no Ryzen AI 9 HX 470, and no higher-tier GPU option.

The Intel variant (Zephyrus G14 GU405), on the other hand, is mostly going to be offered in higher-specced variants, with up to a Core Ultra 9 processor, 64 GB of LPDDR5x-8553 memory, and an RTX 5080 130W TGP (20W higher than on the previous G14).

That’s a weird decision, given how the 2025 G14 pairs top AMD Strix Point hardware with up to an RTX 5080. Capping the 2026 model at a Ryzen 9 AI 465 and a 5060 doesn’t make much sense to me, as conscious buyers that would need high-performance in this format could probably get a better deal on discounted 2025 models with potentially faster specs. At least I hope this variant targets the value niche, but achieving a low price is going to be tough considering the chassis, engineering and display offered here, which are not cheap.

On the Intel side, well, that’s going to offer a potentially better CPU paired with those higher-tier GPUs running at quite high power settings, considering the size and format of this chassis. We’ll have to see exactly how much faster Panther Lake hardware is going to perform in actual loads compared to a Strix Point Ryzen AI 9 implementation, though. I’m also curious about the thermal impact of running the GPU at higher power – I’d expect that implies an updated thermal module as well.

Here’s a specs sheet of the 2026 and 2025 G14 generations, and we’re still filling up the blanks as we get access to more details on the 2026 iterations.

2026 ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 GU405/GA403 vs. 2025 G14 GA403

Specs aside, as far as I can tell at this point, the GA403 2026 and GA405 2026 are more or less the same chassis, but with a more advanced cooling module on the higher-tier configurations of the GU405 and a thicker back panel. The AMD variant is thinner as a result, and slightly lighter weight as well, as the top Intel model gets closer to 1.6 kilos in the upper-level variants. So just to be clear, there are two variants of the Intel model, one that’s a little thicker and heavier for the 5070Ti/5080 configurations, and another that’s slimmer and lighter for the 5060/5070 configurations, while the AMD model is only available on the slimmer chassis. The differences are within mms and tens of grams, so hardly even noticeable unless having the two side by side.

Otherwise, the two offer the same all-metal premium build, excellent inputs, good IO, punchy audio with 6x speakers, and the same OLED display, updated for the 2026 generation. Asus offer the same two color variants as in the past on both lineups, and I generally preffer the darker variant, it just looks more professional to me and blends in nicer the lightbar on the lid.

BTW, here are some images of the 2026 early units that I got to handle for a little while.

And a few more studio photos of the 2025 Zephyrus that we tested last year, which is the same chassis.

There are, however, a few tweaks offered by the 2026 models over the 2025 generation:

• an updated OLED panel, with 1000-nits peak brightness, 700-800 nits sustained HDR brightness, and 500-nits SDR. It’s still 3K 120Hz;
• an updated Slash Lighting bar on the lid, with 35 light zones and updated functionality (vs. 5 zones on the 2025 variant) – just to be clear, they’re implementing the same design and number of LEDs, they just allow more granular control over each LED in part, while the 2025 models only allowed to control them in 5 groups of 7 LEDs each; I still wish they would have just gotten rid of this gimmick entirely and have a clean metal lid instead;
• an updated hinge mechanism with adjustable torque throughout the opening motion – should make it easier to lift up the screen, considering the design lacks an actual notch on the front lip.

The new OLED improves usability in brighter environments, negating one of the major downsides of past OLED implementations. Hopefully, there are no downsides to it, such as flickering or burning. The other aspects are minor updates.

I also wanted to touch on the thermal modules on the 2026 and 2026 G14 modules. Here’s an image of the two (credit).

These two are mostly identical, except for the fact that they are mirrored between generations: the CPU and GPU were swapped around for some reason. However, Asus mentioned a redesigned bottom panel for the new G14 GU405, which supposedly improves airflow underneath the chassis. You’ll still want to lift this off the desk for demanding chores, though. I still wonder how they were able to improve the TGP so much if they haven’t updated the cooling in any significant way, though.

Now, I look forward to testing both of these and seeing where Asus position them price-wise. I expect the Intel variant to cost a pretty penny at well over 3K USD/EUR, especially with all tech being more expensive in 2026 due to the RAM/SSD situation, while the AMD model should offer better value, hopefully around 1800-2000 USD/EUR or even lower.

Stay tuned for our detailed reviews later in the year, and in the meantime, let me know what your thoughts are on these 2024 Zepyrus G14 refreshes down below in the comments section.

The article 2026 Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 lineup explained (GU405, GA403) appeared first on .

This article initially covered the AMD hardware launched in 2025, as well as the AMD Strix Point platform launched in 2024, which are still relevant today. However, it was later updated with details on the AMD Gorgon Point hardware launched in early 2026 as a successor of both Strix and Krackan Point in the Ryzen AI 400 Series platforms.

The platforms we’re discussing further down are the following:

• AMD Medusa Halo –  expected for late 2026/early 2027, with refreshed Zen6 CPU cores, RDNA5 graphics cores, and support for LPDDR6. Updating.
• AMD Gorgon Point (Ryzen AI 400) – mid-cycle refreshed mobile platform, following up on Strix Point and Krackan Point in 2026;
• AMD Gorgon Halo (Ryzen AI MAX 400) – mid-cycle refreshed mobile platform, following up on Strix Halo for the 2nd part of 2026;
• AMD Strix Halo (Ryzen AI MAX 300) – a performance platform with a powerful processor and a massive iGPU, meant to be implemented in enthusiast laptops without a dGPU;
• AMD Fire Range (Ryzen 9000 HX) – a high-performance enthusiast platform meant for full-size notebooks, paired with a dGPU;
• AMD Strix Point (Ryzen AI 9 300) – a mid-level platform with decent CPU/iGPU specs, mostly meant for ultraportables and premium all-around laptops;
• AMD Krackan Point (Ryzen AI 7/5 300) – a lower-tier variation of Strix Point, with more limited CPU/iGPU specs, meant for either mid-range portable designs or affordable full-size laptops;
• AMD Hawk Point Refresh (Ryzen 200) – rebadge of the previous Hawk Point platform, with previous-gen CPU/iGPU specs, mostly meant for affordable devices;
• AMD Bold Eagle Point (Ryzen AI 400) – to be updated – coming later in the year, a refresh of Strix Point with Z5/Z5c cores and RDNA3.5 graphics, but supposedly SLC memory.

AMD Gorgon Point – Ryzen AI 400

Briefly, Gorgon Point is a 2026 mid-cycle refresh that brings Ryzen AI 9, 7, and 5 processors under a single umbrella, replacing (or more like following up from) the Strix Point and Krackan Point lineups from 2025.

However, all these Ryzen AI 400 processors are still built on the same tech, with Zen5/Zen5c CPU cores and the same Radeon iGPUs with the same amount of RDNA3.5 cores. Thus, the overall capabilities of these Gorgon Point chips are identical to their predecessors in real use, with minimal gains in clock and memory speeds. A more significant update is expected in 2027 with AMD Medusa Halo (with Zen6 CPU cores, RDNA5 iGPU cores, LPDDR6 memory support, etc).

Here are the most widespread available Gorgon Point SKUs:

• AMD Ryzen AI 9 470 HX: CPU – 12Cores (4x Zen5, 8xZen5c), 24Threads, up to 5.2 GHz, 36 MB cache; GPU – Radeon 890M, 16 CUs, up to 3.1 GHz;
• AMD Ryzen AI 9 465: CPU – 10Cores (4x Zen5, 6xZen5c), 20Threads, up to 5 GHz, 34 MB cache; GPU – Radeon 880M, 12 CUs, up to 2.9 GHz;
• AMD Ryzen AI 7 450: CPU – 8Cores (4x Zen5, 4xZen5c), 16Threads, up to 5.1 GHz, 24 MB cache; GPU – Radeon 860M, 8 CUs, up to 2.9 GHz;
• AMD Ryzen AI 7 445: CPU – 6Cores (2x Zen5, 4xZen5c), 12Threads, up to 4.6 GHz, 14 MB cache; GPU – Radeon 840M, 4 CUs, up to 2.9 GHz.

So while you’re not gaining anything in performance or features with the Ryzen AI 400 hardware refresh, I do expect improved availability and potentially more affordable pricing for Gorgon Point notebooks this year.

Follow this link for more details in our dedicated article on the AMD Gorgon Point platform.

AMD Gorgon Halo – Ryzen AI Max+ 400

Much like Gorgon Point is for Strix Point, Gorgon Halo is a rebadge of Strix Halo with minimal gains in CPU and GPU speeds. The platform is based on the same technology and offers a similar number of SKUs, just rebadged as part of a 400 series.

Here’s what to mostly expect:

• AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 495: CPU – 16Cores (Zen5), 32Threads, up to 5.2 GHz, 80 MB cache; GPU – Radeon 8060S, 40 CUs, up to 3.0 GHz;
• AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 492:  CPU – 12Cores (Zen5), 24Threads, up to 5.0 GHz, 76 MB cache; GPU – Radeon 8060S, 40 CUs, up to 2.9 GHz;
• AMD Ryzen AI Max 490: CPU – 12Cores (Zen5), 24Threads, up to 5.0 GHz, 76 MB cache; GPU – Radeon 8050S, 32 CUs, up to 2.8 GHz;
• AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 488:  CPU – 8Cores (Zen5), 16Threads, up to 5.0 GHz, 40 MB cache; GPU – Radeon 8060S, 40 CUs, up to 2.9 GHz;
• AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 485: CPU – 8Cores (Zen5), 16Threads, up to 5.0 GHz, 40 MB cache; GPU – Radeon 8050S, 32 CUs, up to 2.8 GHz.

What we can hope for is perhaps a wider lineup of actual products built on this hardware compared to the very few offered so far on Strix Halo specs.

AMD Strix Halo – Ryzen AI 300 Max+, Max, and Max Pro

The Strix Halo platform includes APUs with a powerful CPU and a massive iGPU, both built on AMD’s latest technology.

The available SKUs include a processor with up to 16 Zen5 Cores and 32 Threads, alongside a Radeon iGPU with up to 40 RDNA 3.5 Graphics Cores. For comparison, the fastest AMD Strix Point Ryzen AI 9 370 HX APU (and updated Ryzen AI 9 HX 470) includes 4x Zen5 Cores and 8x Zen5c Cores with 24 Threads, and a Radeon 890M iGPU with 16 RDNA 3.5 Compute Units.

However, Strix Point / Gorgon Point processors are mostly paired with some sort of Nvidia dGPU in most available laptops, while the Strix Halo hardware is designed to run on its own, without a dGPU. That’s the whole point of that massive 40Cores integrated graphics chip.

AMD offers quite a wide range of APUs in this lineup, though, with a 1x to 2.5x performance gap between the bottom and top-tier SKUs. They also offer a consumer Ryzen AI Max series of APUs, as well as a Ryzen AI Max Pro subseries meant for business and workstation laptops, with a couple of extra features required in professional environments.

So here are the available AMD Strix Halo SKUs (including the new options launched in 2026):

• AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 (and Pro 395): CPU – 16Cores (Zen5), 32Threads, up to 5.1 GHz, 80 MB cache; GPU – Radeon 8060S, 40 CUs, up to 2.9 GHz;
• AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 392:  CPU – 12Cores (Zen5), 24Threads, up to 5.0 GHz, 76 MB cache; GPU – Radeon 8060S, 40 CUs, up to 2.9 GHz;
• AMD Ryzen AI Max 390 (and Pro 390): CPU – 12Cores (Zen5), 24Threads, up to 4.9 GHz, 76 MB cache; GPU – Radeon 8050S, 32 CUs, up to 2.8 GHz;
• AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 388:  CPU – 8Cores (Zen5), 16Threads, up to 5.0 GHz, 40 MB cache; GPU – Radeon 8060S, 40 CUs, up to 2.9 GHz;
• AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 385 (and Pro 385): CPU – 8Cores (Zen5), 16Threads, up to 5.1 GHz, 40 MB cache; GPU – Radeon 8050S, 32 CUs, up to 2.8 GHz;
• AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 380 (and Pro 380): CPU – 6Cores (Zen5), 12Threads, up to 5.1 GHz, 22 MB cache; GPU – Radeon 8040S, 16 CUs, up to 2.8 GHz.

The flagship AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 comes with 16Cores/32 Threads running at up to 5.1 GHz max boost, alongside 80 MB of Cache memory and an XDNA2 NPU that goes up to 50 TOPS. This is one of the most powerful processors currently available in the mobile space, with early rumors suggesting benchmark scores of around 19k points in Geekbench 6. That’s on par with AMD Ryzen HX or Intel Core HX implementations, and those are generally found in full-size notebooks with higher sustained TDP settings.

On the GPU side, the Ryzen AI Max+ 395 comes with 40 RDNA 3.5 compute cores as part of the Radeon 8060S iGPU.

The newer 2026 CPU options pair the same Radeon 8060S iGPU with 40 CUs with 12 or 8 cores on the CPU side, in more affordable and hopefully more widespread implementations.

What’s interesting about this SKU is the variable TDP recommendation between 45-120W, suggesting a wide range of potential power settings between implementations. I’d expect this APU to be mostly found in higher-performance chassis or enthusiast compact devices (such as the ROG Flow Z13, with our detailed review of the Ryzen AI Max+ 395 Flow Z13 configuration available here), and even if you might be able to configure this in some portable notebooks (especially in the business segment, like the HP ZBook Ultra 14), I’d keep my expectations of sustained performance realistic, as this will perform a lot differently at 45W than at 100+W.

The other SKUs scale down in CPU and GPU Cores. The Ryzen AI Max 385 in particular is an interesting middle-grounder, with an 8C/16T processor, 32 CUs on the Radeon 8050S GPU. I hope we’re going to see this implemented in a handful of competitive laptops.

Still only a handful of Strix Halo units are available so far (Asus Flow Z13 and ProArt PX13, Lenovo Legion 7a, HP ZBook Ultra 14), and we’ve compiled a dedicated article on AMD Strix Halo laptops over here.

AMD Fire Range HX – Ryzen 9 900oHX and HX3D

Fire Range follows up on AMD’s Dragon Range as their high-performance enthusiast platform, meant for full-size full-power gaming/work laptops. It’s still the main option in this segment for 2026, and won’t see a follow-up until Medusa Halo in 2027.

You’re mostly getting a big processor here, with a measly iGPU on the side, which hardly matters for anything as this hardware is always offered alongside dGPUs, most from Nvidia’s Blackwell RTX 5000 series.

The available SKUs include either a processor with 16 Zen5 Cores and 32 Threads, or a lower-tier variant with 12 Cores and 24 Threads. The top SKU implements AMD’s 3D V-Cache technology, for a boost in gaming performance.

Here are the available Fire Range SKUs:

• AMD Ryzen 9 9955HX3D: CPU – 16Cores (Zen5), 32Threads, up to 5.4 GHz max boost, 144 MB cache with X3D memory;
• AMD Ryzen 9 9955HX: CPU – 16Cores (Zen5), 32Threads, up to 5.4 GHz max boost, 80 MB cache;
• AMD Ryzen 9 9850HX: CPU – 12Cores (Zen5), 24Threads, up to 5.2 GHz max boost, 72 MB cache.

Now, as far as performance goes, I wouldn’t expect significant gains compared to the previous Dragon Range Ryzen 9 7945HX3D or 7945HX, at least based on the little we know so far from the desktop side of Zen5-based platforms. Nonetheless, this is still gong to be the fastest mobile platform of this generation, and we should see efficiency gains as well, for what that’s worth on this sort of platform.

What I do hope for is wider adoption of this hardware into actual laptops. At the beginning of 2026, the offer is still rather limited, with only some mid-range SKUs announced so far (Asus ROG Strix G, Lenovo Pro 5) and very few configurations that actually pair the AMD platform with higher-tier modern graphics, such as the MSI Vector A18 HX that can be specced up to a Ryzen 9 9955HX with a GeForce RTX 5080 GPU, and the Lenovo Legion Pro 7 that pairs a Ryzen 9 9955HX3D with a similar full-power RTX 5080 dGPU.

I’ve put together a dedicated separate article list on all available notebooks with AMD Fire Range Ryzen 9 HX hardware.

AMD Strix Point – Ryzen 9 AI 300

This hardware was released mid-2024 and is already available in a multitude of notebooks, either portable chassis that are built entirely on the AMD hardware, or premium all-rounders that pair the AMD processor with dedicated graphics. However, a handful of brand new SKUs were released in 2025 as well.

We’ve already covered Strix Point in multiple articles and reviews, so I’m not getting in-depth about it here.

It’s important to know that Strix Point is a hybrid APU design, bundling a versatile processor with Zen5 and Zen5c efficient cores alongside a Radeon iGPU with up to 16 RDNA 3.5 graphics cores. That’s a competent combo for a multi-use portable chassis, allowing it to tackle media creation and even light gaming. But the most interesting Strix Point implementations are premium all-rounders such as the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14, Zephyrus G16, or the Razer Blade 16, as well as a bunch of micro-computers from GPD. They’re all listed and discussed in this article.

Anyway, here are the most widespread available Strix Point SKUs:

• AMD Ryzen AI 9 370 HX: CPU – 12Cores (4x Zen5, 8xZen5c), 24Threads, up to 5.1 GHz, 36 MB cache; GPU – Radeon 890M, 16 CUs, up to 2.9 GHz;
• AMD Ryzen AI 9 365: CPU – 10Cores (4x Zen5, 6xZen5c), 20Threads, up to 5 GHz, 34 MB cache; GPU – Radeon 880M, 12 CUs, up to 2.9 GHz.

AMD Krackan Point – Ryzen AI 7/5 300

While Strix Point only includes Ryzen AI 9 premium-tier APUs that are implemented in higher-tier and quite expensive laptops, Krackan Point is the continuation of the series with mid-tier Ryzen AI 7 and Ryzen AI 5 APUs, and is implemented in a wider range of products.

Krackan Point and Strix Point are built on the same fundaments, with a mix of Zen5 and Zen5c processor cores, RDNA3.5 graphics cores, and an XDNA2 NPU. But Krackan Point platforms just offer less of everything.

Here are the available Krackan Point SKUs:

• AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 (and Pro 350): CPU – 8Cores(4x Zen5, 4xZen5c), 16Threads, up to 5.0 GHz, 24 MB cache; GPU – Radeon 860M, 8 CUs, up to 3.0 GHz;
• AMD Ryzen AI 5 340 (and Pro 340): CPU – 6Cores(3x Zen5, 3xZen5c), 12Threads, up to 4.8 GHz, 22 MB cache; GPU – Radeon 840M, 4 CUs, up to 2.9 GHz.

While the CPU performance of these APUs is still fine for multitasking and daily use, the GPU is significantly downgraded from the Radeon iGPUs in the Strix processors, with 8 Compute Units on the Ryzen AI 7 and merely 4 Compute Units on the Ryzen AI 5. You better no expect much in graphics capabilities if you decide on a Ryzen AI 5 340 configuration.

On the other hand, laptops built on Krackan Point hardware target a mid-range price range of 600-1000 USD, whereas Strix Point laptops were rarely available even on occasional discounts. Many of you are shopping in that price range, so at least now you get the option of a modern platform with solid day-to-day capabilities and long runtimes on battery, alongside those previous-gen platforms that aren’t as efficient, but could offer better performance for the money.

Here’s a dedicated separate article on available AMD Krackan Point laptops and thoughts on their general performance.

AMD Hawk Point Refresh – Ryzen 200

As the name suggests, Hawk Point Refresh is a rebadge of the existing Ryzen 8000 H/HS Hawk Point platform, which on its own was a rebadge of the Ryzen 7000 H/HS Phoenix platform.

The APUs part of this renamed Hawk Point series are rebranded as Ryzen 200, which is rather confusing as the naming might suggest similarities to the Ryzen AI 300 chips. However, Ryzen 200 APUs are still built on older AMD technology, with Zen4 and Zen4c cores and Radeon iGPUs with RDNA 3 graphics cores. I’m not bashing the technology, which is still competent even today for the kind of mid-range and affordable notebooks that will implement this Ryzen 200 hardware, I’m just pointing out of the potential naming confusion, just to make sure you understand what you’re buying with this hardware.

One positive aspect about this refresh is that we already know what to expect in overall capabilities and performance by looking at reviews of their predecessors. For instance, the new Ryzen 9 270 is a rebadged Ryzen 9 8945HS, the Ryzen 7 250 is a rebadged Ryzen 7 8845HS, while the Ryzen 5 250 is a rebadge of the Ryzen 5 8645HS. You’ll find plenty of info on those online.

Anyway, here are the Hawk Point Refresh SKUs that will be mostly available in actual products, with the complete list detailed in the image further down:

• AMD Ryzen 9 270: CPU – 8Cores(8x Zen4), 16Threads, up to 5.2 GHz, 24 MB cache; GPU – Radeon 780M, 12 CUs, up to 2.8 GHz;
• AMD Ryzen 7 250: CPU – 8Cores(8x Zen4), 16Threads, up to 5.1 GHz, 24 MB cache; GPU – Radeon 780M, 12 CUs, up to 2.8 GHz;
• AMD Ryzen 5 250: CPU – 6Cores(4x Zen4), 12Threads, up to 5 GHz, 22 MB cache; GPU – Radeon 760M, 8 CUs, up to 2.6 GHz;
• AMD Ryzen 3 210: CPU – 4Cores(1x Zen4 3x Zen4c), 8Threads, up to 5 GHz, 22 MB cache; GPU – Radeon 740M, 4 CUs, up to 2.5 GHz;

You should generally expect to find this Ryzen 200 hardware in entry-level configurations of portable designs or affordable mid-sized laptops, sometimes paired with entry-level dGPUs. However, unless you’re particularly interested in a new 2026 chassis, I’d look into existing 2023/2024 Hawk Point configurations first, as those are basically the same hardware and will most likely sell at discounts.

I might put up a detailed list of laptops built on AMD Ryzen 200 hardware in a separate article, if there’s enough interest.

That’s about it for now, but look for updates in the future, as new AMD mobile platforms are released.

In the meantime, looking for your thoughts and feedback on all this 2026 hardware. Strix Halo is once more especially interesting to me this year, and I look forward to getting my hands on more devices built on this hardware.

The article AMD Gorgon Halo, Gorgon Point, Strix Halo/Point, Fire Range, Hawk Point 2 – 2026 AMD hardware explained appeared first on .

This is a configuration built on an AMD Fire Range HX Ryzen 9 9955HX processor and a full-power RTX 5070Ti graphics chip, tucked inside a competent 16-inch full-size chassis.

In fact, unlike the Intel-based Strix G16 G615 2025 generation, which is built on a new chassis with vapor-chamber cooling, this AMD variant revamps the G614 chassis implemented on past 2023-2024 Strix models, with only minor updates.

We’ll discuss the details in design, build, ergonomics, and internals further down in the article. We’ll also discuss the particularities of the AMD Ryzen HX hardware, as that’s the main selling point of this series and what sets it apart from the majority of other notebooks available in the 16-inch high-performance segment; especially since the options for AMD Ryzen HX 9000 configurations are limited, and only two or three models can be paired with higher-tier graphics (5070Ti or higher).

Specs sheet as reviewed – Asus ROG Strix G16 G614) AMD gaming laptop

Chassis design and build, ergonomics 

This series is built on the Strix G16 G614 chassis implemented in G16 notebooks for the 2023/2024 generation. For some reason, Asus decided to only refresh the Intel configuration with a new chassis this year (Strix G16 G615), while this AMD configuration remains a G614 implementation.

For the most part, I don’t mind it. This is a decent mid-range chassis, well-built and reliable, although with some ergonomic inconveniences. I’ve grown to get used to them, as my daily driver is a Strix Scar 18 from the same generation.

The positives of this design are the compact footprint and limited weight, at under 2.4 kilos – for comparison, the updated G615 16-inch unuit weight 2.8 kilos. This G614 is minimally more compact as well, but the difference is within mm in this regard.

Here are some pictures of this Strix G16 G614 unit.

And here are some side-by-side comparisons between the G16 G614 (left) and the G16 G615 (right).

The particularities of this series are still the limited screen angle, the smaller touchpad, the bright status LEDs placed under the display, and the fact that the cooling comes with four heatsinks, two on the sides and two on the back. This pushes the IO towards the middle of the chassis, which can create some clutter when connecting multiple peripherals, but the IO on the refreshed chassis hasn’t changed much, despite that chassis no longer having side vents.

As far as the actual ports go, they’re mostly the same between units, with some small additions for the G615: one extra USB-A slot on the left and PD on both the USB-Cs. Nothing important.

At the same time, this older chassis still bundles the previous-gen Asus power plug with the rounded pin and 90-degree connector, which is clearly superior at routing the cable along the chassis and to the back. The new connector on the G615 just sticks out to the side.

There’s also a difference in design between the two lineups, with more color accents on the G614 and a simpler, more muted gray implementation on the G615. Not necesarily a fan of the graphical elements on the AMD unit, but at the same time, you can argue this has a little more character, while the Intel unit is rather bland and even boring.

The RGB elements differ as well, with a front lightbar and an RGB lid logo on the AMD unit, and a redesigned lightbar that goes all around the chassis on the Intel units.

Keyboard and touchpad

We’re getting good inputs on this series, although I’m a little biased here, as I am using a Scar 18 2023 as my everyday work laptop, and the keyboard and touchpad on this G16 G614 are identical in feeling and functionality.

The keyboard is a standard 16-inch ROG layout, without a Numpad, with the extra keys at the top left, with the full-size arrows and the extra media column at the very right. I still think these are wasted as media keys and should have been pegged for Home/End/PgUp/PgDn instead, but hey, at least you can remap them yourself if needed.

The typing experience is solid, with responsive feedback and quiet actuations. The black keycaps feel nice to the touch, and their finish holds up fine over time, based on my experience with my Scar. Being black, though, they tend to smudge easily.

And yes, there’s no NumPad section on this 16-inch laptop, which is both a selling point for the Asus models and a potential deal-breaker for those that must have these extra keys; you do get a virtual NumberPad integrated in the touchpad, but that’s not the same as having actual keys, though.

What I also like about this implementation is that the keycaps are not partially translucent, as on the Intel G16 model tested a few months ago. I much preffer this more basic approach, but from what I’m seeing, the 5070Ti Intel G16 actually gets the same keyboard, with that funkier one on my review unit only offered on some 5080 models.

There’s a picture down below comparing the keyboards on the G16 G614 (left) to the G16 G615 (right), so you can better tell apart the differences.

Anyway, the keys are RGB lit, but only with 4-zone control; per-key RGB is only offered on the Scar keyboard. Another aspect that might push some buyers away. At least the lighting is uniform, decently bright, and without any obvious light bleeding from underneath the keycaps.

The touchpad is a glass surface centered on the chassis, and it’s a little smaller in this implementation than on the updated Intel Strix G16 model. It’s still spacious enough for me, though, and works fine with touches, swipes, gestures, and clicks. I’d even argue I preffer having this smaller touchpad with extra space at the top and bottom that better separates it from the keyboard area and the front lip, preventing unwanted ghost swipes.

As for biometrics, there aren’t any on this ROG Strix G16 G614 variant.

Screen – good-quality IPS panel

The display on this 2025 Strix G16 G614 is identical to the one on the G615 series: matte, 16:10 aspect ratio, tiny bezels, and available with two panel options:

• IPS QHD+ 2560 x 1600 px 240Hz 3ms 500+ nits 100% DCI-P3;
• IPS FHD+ 1920 x 1200 px 165Hz 3ms 400 nits 100% sRGB.

We have the latter on our unit, and it is what I’d get as much as possible.

This one is among the best IPS panels available at this size today, a good option for daily use and multimedia content, with plenty of brightness, punchy colors, and proper contrast and blacks for an IPS.

I’d also point out that this is a matte finish, so there are no pesky reflections and glare to deal with, unlike on some of the competing options available with OLED displays today. Sute, the blacks and contrast are a major selling point for OLEDs, but OLEDs are darn glossy at the same time, and I personally cannot stand the reflections.

Furthermore, this is an excellent panel for gaming, with fast response time and refresh rate, and with GSync support.

Here’s what we got in our tests of this panel, with an X-Rite i1 Display Pro sensor:

• Panel HardwareID: BOE BOE0CFB (NE160QDM-NZC)
• Coverage: 99.8% sRGB, 87.4% AdobeRGB, 98.6% DCI-P3;
• Type: 10-bit;
• Measured gamma: 2.05;
• Max brightness in the middle of the screen: 589.55.88 cd/m2 on power;
• Min brightness in the middle of the screen: <20 cd/m2 on power;
• Contrast at max brightness: 1585:1;
• White point: 6500 K;
• Black on max brightness: 0.37 cd/m2;
• PWM: No.

The FHD panel option is mostly offered with the lower-specced configurations, particularly the RTX 5050 options, but if given the choice, I recommend paying extra for the QHD panel. This option isn’t nearly as nice, with dimmer brightness, porrer colors with sRGB only color coverage, and lower resolution.

Hardware and performance – Ryzen 9 HX, RTX 5070Ti 140W

Our test model is the top-specced configuration of the 2025 Asus ROG Strix G16 G614 series, code name G614LR, built on an AMD Ryzen 9 9955HX processor, an Nvidia RTX 5070Ti 12 GB dGPU, 16 GB of DDR5-5600 memory, and a 1 TB SSD.

Our review unit was sent over by Asus and is a retail unit. I’ve tested it over a few months, and the latest results are recorded on the software available as of late-November 2025 (BIOS 307, Armoury Crate 6.3.6.0, GeForce 581.57 drivers). This is a mature software package, and nothing significant can change with future updates at this point.

Spec-wise, this 2025 ASUS ROG Strix G16 G614 series is built on the latest AMD and Nvidia hardware available to date.

The AMD Ryzen 9 9955HX is a top mobile processor part of the AMD Fire Range platform, with 16 Zen5 Cores and 32 Threads. This is not a hybrid design; it only integrates full-performance Zen5 cores, with HyperThreading. The hardware runs at ~120W sustained TDP in this chassis, with excellent temperatures up to low-80s °C.

Asus offers a Ryzen 9 8940HX processor on the more affordable configurations of this series, which is a 16C/32T CPU as well, but built on Zen4 cores. So not as powerful or as efficient. They also offers then Ryzen 9 9955HX3D option in some markets, a similar design with extra 3D Cache memory that makes a difference for games and certain workloads. Those 9955HX3D configurations demand a hefty premium, though, and it’s debatable whether that’s worth it.

For the GPU, the 2025 Strix G16 G614 series is available with several Nvidia Blackwell Geforce RTX 5000 chips: 5070Ti 12GB (140W), 5070 8GB (115W), 5060 8GB (115W), or 5050 8GB (115W). There’s no 5080 or 5090 option.

You do get a MUX on this chassis, GSync support on the main display, as well as either regular Optimus or Advanced Optimus.

For memory and storage, the laptop comes with two accessible memory DIMMs and two M.2 2280 SSD slots – one of the slots supports PCIe 5.0 drives, but most of the retail models ship with gen4 drives anyway.

Getting inside to the components is not a tool-less process on this chassis, unlike on the updated G16 G615. You have to take apart a handful of Philips screws, of different lengths, with the one in the lower-right corner being a pop-up screw. The back panel comes out with some effort, and inside you’ll find all the hardware and the cooling module, the SSD/RAM/Wifi slots, and the battery and speakers. Everything is packed up neatly, without any space left unused.

Specs aside, Asus offer their standard power profiles in the Armoury Crate control app: Silent, Performance, Turbo, and Manual, with various power settings and fan profiles between them, summarized in the following table.

Manual mode gives extra power to the CPU in mixed loads, but with a significant increase in fan noise. Performance and Turbo modes run quieter than on most other notebooks in this space, but about on par with the Intel Strix G16 in the same RTX 5070Ti variant (the 5080 model we’ve tested is a higher power TGP and thus runs noisier at 48 dBA on Turbo).

Before we jump to the performance section, here’s how this laptop handles everyday use and multitasking on the Silent profile, unplugged from the wall.

Performance and benchmarks – AMD Ryzen 9 9955HX, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070Ti

On to more demanding loads, we start by testing the CPU’s performance in the Cinebench R15 loop test. We keep the laptop on a stand, for consistency between reviews, even if the performance is not impacted here when keeping the laptop flat on the desk – internal temperatures run only minimally higher as well.

The Ryzen 9 9955HX processor stabilizes at around 110W of sustained power on Turbo mode, with scores around 6000 points, temperatures around 85 °C, and fan-noise levels of ~45 dBA.

Manual mode with the fans set to max speeds ramps up the noise to 52 dBA and allows the hardware to mostly run at 120-150W sustained. That means the scores end up around 6200 points, ~5% higher than on Turbo. But the CPU temperatures jump to the 90s °C. Overall, the gains are minimal considering the increase in noise and thermals.

Performance mode limits the CPU to 90W sustained, with temperatures in the low-80s °C and fan levels of ~38 dBA. This mode allows scores of around 5500 points.

Performance mode on PD Power limits the CPU to only 63W, with scores around 4800 points and fan levels under 30 dBA.

Silent mode keeps the fans barely audible at sub 30 dBA as well, with the power stabilizing around 65W, internal temperatures in the low-70s °C, and scores of around 4800 points. That’s about 75-80% of what this device can do in Turbo mode. Not bad at all.

Finally, I also tested Performance mode unplugged from the wall, on battery power. The CPU only runs at 45W in this scenario, with scores of 3700 points.

All these are illustrated in the graph below.

To put these findings in perspective, here’s how this AMD Ryzen 9 9955HX implementation fares against other high-performance laptops in this test.

It trumps the most powerful Intel Core Ultra HX models tested this year, despite those running at much higher power, higher thermals, and louder noise levels. It also beats the previous-gen Zen4 AMD HX hardware, but that still remains competitive at around 5500 points – that’s what you should expect on the Ryzen 9 8940HX configuration of this Strix. In fact, that’s still faster than most of the Intel HX implementations in the mid-range segment.

I also wanted to showcase the capabilities of this AMD Ryzen 9 at lower power compared to the Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX rival platform.

The AMD hardware scores higher on all profiles, despite running at lower power, lower temperatures, and lower noise levels. The differences aren’t significant, though, within 5-10% for similar tier profiles. Of course, they would increase a little if the profiles applied the same power on the AMD unit, but again, not significantly.

All in all, both are powerful high-performance platforms and both scale well in power, but with an edge for the AMD hardware. We’ll have a more detailed comparison of the two platforms in a separate article.

We then went ahead and further verified our findings with the more taxing Cinebench R23 loop test and Blender – Classroom. The sustained power stabilizes at: ~120W on Manual, ~110W Turbo, ~80W on Performance, and ~65W on Silent. I’ve also showcased the power/thermal differences of running the laptop flat on the desk or raised on a stand to improve cooling (they’re minimal to none, at least on Turbo).

We also ran the 3DMark CPU test on the Turbo and Silent profiles.

Finally, we ran our combined CPU+GPU stress tests on this notebook. 3DMark stress runs the same test for 20 times in a loop and looks for performance variation and degradation over time. This unit passed it just fine, both flat on the desk and raised up on a stand, without any notable differences between the two modes. That means there’s no performance throttling with longer-duration sustained loads here. More on this in the gaming section down below.

Next, we ran the entire suite of tests and benchmarks on the Turbo profile with the GPU set on Standard mode (Advanced Optimus) and with the screen set at the native 2560 x 1600 px resolution.

Here’s what we got:

• 3DMark 13 – CPU profile: max – 16007, 16 – 15248, 8 – 8795, 4 – 4733, 2 – 2426, 1 – 1233;
• 3DMark 13 – Fire Strike (DX11): 38529 (Graphics – 43468, Physics – 42577, Combined – 19316);
• 3DMark 13 – Port Royal (RTX): 11739;
• 3DMark 13 – Time Spy (DX12): 16651 (Graphics – 18051, CPU – 11569);
• 3DMark 13 – Speed Way (DX12 Ultimate): 4551;
• 3DMark 13 – Steel Nomad (DX12 Ultimate): 3992;
• 3DMark 13 – DLSS: 25.61 fps DLSS Off, 103.65 fps DLSS On;

• Uniengine Superposition – 1080p Extreme: 10775;
• Uniengine Superposition – 1080p Medium: 31823;

• Aida64 Extreme, memory test – ;
• PCMark 10: 9402 (Essentials – 11401, Productivity – 10571, Digital Content Creation – 18716);
• GeekBench 6.2.2 64-bit: Multi-core: 19774, Single-Core: 3096;
• CineBench R15 (best run): CPU 6145 cb, CPU Single Core 340 cb;
• CineBench R20 (best run): CPU 15015 cb, CPU Single Core 826 cb;
• CineBench R23: CPU 39388 cb (best single run), CPU 38582 cb (10 min run), CPU Single Core 2194 cb;
• CineBench 2024: GPU – pts, CPU 2086 pts (loop run), CPU Single Core 124 pts.

And here are some workstation benchmarks, on the same Turbo profile:

• Blender 4.3.2 – BMW scene – CPU Compute: 1m 00s;
• Blender 4.3.2 – BMW scene – GPU Compute: 12.49s (CUDA), 6.28 (Optix);
• Blender 4.3.2 – Classroom scene – CPU Compute: 2m 23s;
• Blender 4.3.2 – Classroom scene – GPU Compute: 24.90s (CUDA), 14.14s (Optix).

• SPECviewperf 2020 – 3DSMax 07: 182.87;
• SPECviewperf 2020 – Catia 06: 97.11;
• SPECviewperf 2020 – Creo 03: 126.78;
• SPECviewperf 2020 – Energy: 57.80;
• SPECviewperf 2020 – Maya 06: 602.12;
• SPECviewperf 2020 – Medical 03: 52.78;
• SPECviewperf 2020 – SNX 04: 35.00;
• SPECviewperf 2020 – SW 07: 432.24

• SPECviewperf 15 – 3DSMax 08: 74.37;
• SPECviewperf 15 – Blender 01: 81.91;
• SPECviewperf 15 – Catia 07: 72.60;
• SPECviewperf 15 – Creo 04: 125.77;
• SPECviewperf 15 – Energy 04: 57.93;
• SPECviewperf 15 – Enscape 01: 56.63;
• SPECviewperf 15 – Maya 07: 186.96;
• SPECviewperf 15 – Medical 04: 52.68;
• SPECviewperf 15 – Solidworks 08: 32.89;
• SPECviewperf 15 – Unreal Engine 01: 74.41;

• V-Ray Benchmark: 29016 – CPU, 2435 – CUDA, 3001 – RTX.

Solid results for a mid-range 2025 performance laptop. Both the CPU and the GPU run at the best of their abilities in this implementation.

On the CPU side, this Ryzen 9 9955HX platform has a minimal advantage in multi-threaded loads over a properly powered Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX platform, within less than 5%. However, the advantage grows towards 10-20% in favor of the AMD hardware when compared to other mid-powered implementations of the Intel specs, such as the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (120W sustained TDP) or Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 (115W).

The Ryzen 9 8940HX configuration is going to deliver about 85-90% of the multi-core performance of this 9955HX and 80-85% of the single-core performance.

As for the Ryzen 9 9955HX3D variant, that’s not changing things significantly in most tests and activities, as the VCache mostly has a competitive advantage for creator-tasks and gaming. And even the gaming benefits are not as signigicant at higher resolutions and higher graphics settings.

On the GPU side, this performs just as expected from a proper full-power RTX 5070Ti implementation.

Sure, a 5080 would allow for 10-20% higher performance in certain tests, as well as in workloads and games. But Asus are only offering the 5080 on the Intel Strix G16, and that’s most likely because this G614 chassis with its cooling capacity would have struggled with a 175W GPU (they didn’t offer a 175W 4080 on the previous Strix G16 either).

So all in all, this Strix G16 G614 is a solid performer in the mid-range segment. And it runs comfortably with sustained loads, both thermally and acoustically – hence, it doesn’t run hot or loud, in layman’s terms.

Silent Mode – still plenty fast at <35 dBA noise

Silent mode keeps fan noise much lower, though, at around 30 dBA for most activities and under 35 dBA for heavier loads.

Given how the AMD platform scales down in power, I ran some benchmarks on the Silent profile, and here are the results:

• 3DMark 13 – CPU profile: max – 14562, 16 – 14102, 8 – 8460, 4 – 4755, 2 – 2443, 1 – 1241;
• 3DMark 13 – Fire Strike: 29029 (Graphics – 30015, Physics – 41889, Combined – 17010);
• 3DMark 13 – Port Royal (RTX): 6815;
• 3DMark 13 – Time Spy: 10713 (Graphics – 10583, CPU – 11517);
• Uniengine Superposition – 1080p Extreme: 6639;
• CineBench R23 (10 min loop): CPU 28471 cb, CPU Single Core 2171 cb;
• Blender 4.3.2 – Classroom scene – CPU Compute: 3m 08s.
• SPECviewperf 2020 – 3DSMax: 131.99;
• SPECviewperf 2020 – Catia: 74.92;
• SPECviewperf 2020 – Maya: -;
• SPECviewperf 2020 – SNX: 33.45;
• SPECviewperf 2020 – SW: 270.33.

Solid performance on the CPU side, at about 80% for sustained CPU loads and 95% for single-core CPU loads.

But the GPU being limited to only 55W only delivers about 60% of what this system is capable of on Turbo, while GPU temperatures stay in the 50s and low-60s °C. That’s absurdly low and leaves room for tweaking. Much like on other ROG laptops, you can create a custom silent mode with Armoury Crate or GHelper that can push the graphics performance to 75-80% of Turbo mode, while still keeping thermals at bay (mid-70s °C) and noise levels under 35 dBA. This guide explains how to do that.

Gaming performance – Ryzen 9 + GeForce RTX 5070Ti

With benchmarks out of the way, let’s see how this Asus Strix G16 configuration handles modern games.

We tested a couple of games on the various available profiles at QHD+  resolution, with the GPU set on Ultimate dGPU mode.

For consistency with other reviews, the laptop is placed on a stand for all tests, to ensure the best possible airflow into the cooling module. The performance is identical with the laptop flat on the desk, but the internals heat up way more in this case, as shown further down.

Here are the results:

• Cyberpunk, Horizon FW, Witcher 3, Resident Evil – recorded with MSI Afterburner fps counter in campaign mode;
• Black Myth, Far Cry 6, Red Dead Redemption 2, Tomb Raider – recorded with the included Benchmark utilities;
• Red Dead Redemption 2 Optimized profile based on these settings.

These games run smoothly at 2.5K resolution with Ultra settings on all profiles, including on Silent mode for most titles, despite the crippling TGP default setting of this profile. DLSS 4.0 with Multi Frame Generation set on 4x makes a lot of difference where supported.

Let’s go over some performance and temperature logs.

Here’s Turbo mode, with the laptop flat on the desk.

We log consistent smooth performance, with 55W on the CPU and 140W on the GPU, while thermals are fairly high: mid-80s C on the CPU and low to mid-80s C on the GPU as well. Fan noise ramps to 45 dBA.

Bump the laptop’s back off the desk, and internal temperatures drop by 5-7 degrees to mid-high-70s °C, while the fan noise tends to decrease as well in some of the lighter titles.

Custom mode allows for various tweaks. For my tests, I ramped up the fans to their max speeds, and maxed out the CPU/GPU settings. With the laptop raised off the desk, that translates to temperatures in the low to mid 80s °C on the CPU, and mid 70s on the GPU. That’s because Custom mode pushes 20W more power to the CPU. But the general gaming performance does not improve in any significant way, since there’s already plenty of CPU/GPU power on the Turbo settings.

Performance mode is the mid-range profile, and I’ve only tested with the laptop raised off the desk. It sets a 45W CPU limit and a 115W GPU limit, and that leads to a 5-10% drop in framerates, but with quieter fans (38-40 dBA) and internal temperatures in the mid-70s °C on both the CPU and the GPU.

Finally, Silent mode sets a more aggressive limit on the hardware: 30W on the CPU and 55W on the GPU, and the framerates drop to about 60% of Turbo mode. Fan noise stays under 35 dBA and usually lower, while temperatures are in the mid-60s on the CPU and mid-50s on the GPU. There’s clearly room for higher GPU power on this sort of profile, which would allow for a notable increase in performance at still low fan noise.

I haven’t tested the RTX 5070Ti configuration of the Intel Strix G16 version, but given the more advanced cooling on that chassis, expect even lower thermals. Furthermore, based on what we know from our RTX 5080 unit, expect that one to be able to run much cooler while kept flat on a desk.

Heat, Noise, Connectivity, Speakers, Camera

This ROG Strix G16 G614 series implements a pretty complex cooling unit, with two high-capacity fans and an extra smaller system fan in the middle, four heatsinks, and multiple heatpipes. There’s also liquid metal on the GPU, but regular paste on the CPU.

Here’s the cooling on the updated Strix G16 G615 series, for comparison. This one offers a higher capacity vapor chamber with rear-only heatsinks.

Now, as shown in the previous section, this cooling module handles the Ryzen 9 + RTX 5070Ti 140W configuration fine, without any throttling or other thermal issues. However, running demanding loads with the laptop flat on the desk can lead to high internal temperatures, especially on the GPU; that’s why I recommend raising the back of the laptop off the desk; in this case, temperatures are perfectly fine, usually under 80 degrees Celsius.

As far as the fan noise levels go with demanding loads, we’re looking at ~50 dB at head-level on the Manual mode with max-fans, 45 dBA on Turbo mode, 38-40 dBA on Performance mode, and sub-35 dB on Silent mode.

With daily use, you’ll hardly hear the fans at all. Silent mode allows them to idle as long as the CPU/GPU temperatures stay under 60 °C, but for the most part, the fans remain active and spin quietly at sub 30 dBA. I haven’t noticed any coil whining or electronic noises on this unit.

Chassis temperatures stay low with casual use, in the low to mid-30s °C in the hottest spots.

*Daily Use – streaming Netflix in EDGE for 30 minutes, Silent profile,  fans idle or <30 dB

External temperatures are excellent with demanding loads as well.

On Turbo, the keyboard area runs at 35-40 °C, with a hotspot at the top, but in a place that you’ll never get in touch with.

Silent mode keeps temperatures even lower, in the high-20s to mid-30s. Excellent results. Just keep in mind we test in a 24-25 °C ambient, and we only tested with the laptop raised off the desk.

*Gaming – Turbo – playing Cyberpunk for 30 minutes, fans at ~45 dB
*Gaming – Silent – playing Cyberpunk for 30 minutes, fans at <35 dB

For connectivity, there’s only a WiFi 6E with Bluetooth 5.3 module on this laptop, but it can be easily replaced with a WiFi 7 module if needed (the chip is a standard M.2 format). There’s also 1GB wired Internet.

The audio on this Strix G16 G614 is average in quality and volumes (~75 dBA), but not as good as the updated audio on the G16 G615, which gets refreshed main speakers and extra tweeters under the screen. This G614 only offers two main speakers.

The webcam on this laptop is 2MPx, without IR or Windows Hello. The image quality isn’t much, even in good lighting.

Battery life

There’s a 90Wh battery inside this Strix G16 G614, the same size as on most other recent ROG notebooks.

Here’s what we got in terms of battery life on our unit, with the screen set at 120-nits brightness (50%) and 60Hz refresh (automatically switches to 60 Hz when unplugging the laptop).

• 17-19 W (~4-6 h of use) – text editing in Google Drive, Silent  Mode, screen at 50%, WiFi ON;
• 20-22 W (~4-5 h of use) – 1080p fullscreen video on Youtube in Edge, Silent Mode, screen at 50%, WiFi ON;
• 18-20 W (~4-6 h of use) – Netflix 4K HDR fullscreen in Edge, Silent Mode, screen at 50%, WiFi ON;
• 20-25 W (~4-5 h of use) – browsing in Edge, Silent Mode, screen at 50%, WiFi ON, RGB elements switched off;
• 80 W (~1 h of use) – Gaming – Witcher 3, Performance Mode, screen at 50%, WiFi ON, no fps limit.

For comparison, here’s what we got on that Intel Strix GH16 G615 with a similar IPS display at the same settings:

• 12-15 W (~6-7 h of use) – text editing in Google Drive, Silent  Mode, screen at 50%, WiFi ON;
• 13-15 W (~6-7 h of use) – 1080p fullscreen video on Youtube in Edge, Silent Mode, screen at 50%, WiFi ON;
• 18 W (~5-6 h of use) – Netflix 4K HDR fullscreen in Edge, Silent Mode, screen at 50%, WiFi ON;
• 18-22 W (~4-5 h of use) – browsing in Edge, Silent Mode, screen at 50%, WiFi ON, RGB elements switched off;
• 80 W (~1 h of use) – Gaming – Witcher 3, Performance Mode, screen at 50%, WiFi ON, no fps limit.

The Intel variant runs a little more efficiently and lasts about 10-25% longer on battery use between tasks. None of them offer impressive runtimes, though, as expected from HX platforms.

Asus pairs this configuration with a 280W charger, a dual-piece design with long cables, and a mid-sized power brick. It weighs about .75 kilos. The same charger is bundled with the 5070Ti configurations of the Intel variant.

Price and availability- Asus ROG Strix G16 G614

The AMD-based ROG Strix G16 G614 lineup is widely available in stores at this point.

The configuration tested here, the Asus Strix G16 G614FR with the Ryzen 9 9955HX and RTX 5070Ti graphics, goes for around $2000 on the US market, 2300-2400 EUR here in Europe, and 2200 GBP in the UK. Occasional sales can drive the price lower, though.

The Ryzen 9 9955HX3D variant is available in Europe as well, but demands a 500+ EUR premium, at around 3000 EUR. At that level, you can get a 5080 laptop and just get better gaming results that way (mostly in an Intel laptop, but you could also find the Legion Pro 7 in the 9955HX3D + 5080 variant for only about 5-10% more).

Asus offers multiple other variants of this notebook, with a Ryzen 9 8940HX processor on the lower-specced configurations, and a choice of RTX 5050, 5060, and 5070 GPUs. You also get a choice between an FHD 165Hz display and the clearly superior QHD 240Hz 3ms alternative, which I’d recommend paying extra for, if possible.

Plenty of options to choose from, and the majority of these are more affordable in these AMD variants than their Intel-based counterparts. Just make sure you understand the specifics of each model as you go further down in budget.

Follow this link for updated configurations and prices in your region at the time you’re reading this article.

Final thoughts- 2025 Asus ROG Strix G16 G614 review

This Strix G16 is a competitive performance laptop in the RTX 5070Ti mid-to-upper tier segment. It performs as expected from this hardware specs, and runs cooly and fairly quietly with games and sustained work activities.

It’s also built well and offers good inputs, decent IO and a high-quality IPS matte display.

Sure, Asus’s decisions to implement this AMD hardware on an older chassis design is going to raise some concerns, especially as the new chassis offers a few extras that can make a difference, like a cleaner design, better audio, vapor-chamber cooling without side exhausts blowing hot air into your mouse, and an IR camera.

But the G614 chassis has two perks of its own: it’s lighter weight and should allow for more competitive pricing. That varies between regions, though, but for the most part, the Ryzen 9 9955HX + RTX 5070Ti model tested here is competitively priced in most markets. The 9955HX3D variant, on the other hand, that’s a lot more expensive, and the difference is hardly justifiable in real use, even in gaming when the 3D CPU has a slight edge.

So there you have it, these are my thoughts on the Asus ROG Strix G16 G614 AMD lineup. Looking for your thoughts and feedback in the comments section below.

The article Asus ROG Strix G16 G614FR review (AMD Ryzen 9 9955HX, RTX 5070Ti) appeared first on .

Over the years, the Pro 5 mid-range series has been an excellent mid-range laptop series, without some of the bells and whistles available on the upper-tier Legion Pro 7i, but usually at a significantly more affordable price level.

However, for the 2025 generation, pricing remains competitive for the mainstream 5060/5070 configurations, but isn’t that attractive for the more powerful configuration tested here, with the Core Ultra 9 275HX processor and RTX 5070Ti GPU, which comes close to the Pro 7i with similar specs. Furthermore, the 5070Ti variant is a higher-power implementation, and this chassis is barely thermally capable of handling it.

But let’s see what you’re getting here with this notebook, what are the strong suits of this lineup, and the potential deal breakers that you should be aware of.

And if interested, we’ve tested most of the other Legion series of this generations, and here are the links:

• Legion 7i – premium compact 16-inch model, OLED, up to Core Ultra 9 and RTX 5070;
• Legion Pro 7i – premium full-performance 16-inch model, OLED, up to Core Ultra 9 and RTX 5090 (or Ryzen 9 + RTX 5080);
• Legion 9i – premium large-size 18-inch model, IPS 4K, up to Core Ultra 9 and RTX 5090.

We’ve also tested most of the competitors in these niches of performance and gaming notebooks.

Specs sheet as reviewed – Lenovo Legion Pro 5i 10th-gen gaming laptop

Lenovo offers this in multiple variants, with either Intel or AMD hardware and RTX 5060 to 5070Ti graphics. The chassis, keyboard, cooling module, battery, and OLED display are constant between models, and we’ll refer to some of the other configurations in the article when possible.

Design and construction

This latest Legion Pro 5i shares its design lines with the Pro 7i series of this generation, but is a more mainstream chassis.

That means it’s mostly a plastic build, with metal only on the lid, and it lacks the RGB elements implemented on the upper-tier model. Furthermore, the hump behind the display is smaller here, and overall this Pro 5i is marginally more compact and lighter than the Pro 7i, at 2.4 kilos for this 5070Ti variant (and a little less for the 5060/5070 models).

Despite all the plastics, this feels well-built and pleasant to the touch, with the soft, smooth surfaces. All these black elements smudge easily, though, especially the metal lid, so you’ll have to wipe them clean quite often. The past gray Legion Pro 5i variants were a little friendlier in that regard, but this new black design is more professional-looking. They could have muted the LEGION branding on the back jump, though.

Ergonomics are solid with this series, with dulled edges around the main chassis, grippy rubber feet underneath, and hinges that allow opening up the display flat to 180-degrees. These hinges seem small at first glance, but hold the display well in place.

What bothers me is the ubiquitous always-on light in the power button, present on all modern Legions, and awkwardly placed just under the display. So annoying when watching a movie at night.

As far as the IO goes, all the ports are lined on the left and right edges, with nothing on the back, which is entirely reserved for cooling. That also means there are no longer side vents, so in theory the ports could have been pushed further towards the rear of the chassis; in reality, though, these are mostly placed in the middle anyway. The power plug is at the back on the left edge, but the charging cable still sticks out to the side.

For what it’s worth, you’re not getting Thunderbolt 5 or a card reader on this series, but everything else is there.

All in all, this Legion Pro 5i refresh is a well-made and ergonomic design. Quite a sleeper design, in fact, making it an excellent choice for stricter environments.

Keyboard and touchpad

There’s a full-size keyboard on this notebook, with a NumPad section and full-sized arrow keys, as well as a spacious touchpad centered on the Space key.

It’s a pretty good keyboard, although it feels a little mushier than the keyboard on the 7i and Pro 7i lineups. It’s a slightly different implementation, but still a fair typer overall. Just keep in mind that these black keys smudge easily.

The more notable difference is in the illumination system, as this one is a 24-zone variant and doesn’t offer per-key control. But more importantly, the LEDs on this Pro 5i are much dimmer than those on the 7i variants – they’re fine for dim-light environments, but barely visible in brighter light.

The touchpad is made of plastic (Maylar), and feels and works fine with general use, swipes, taps, you name it. The physical clicks are a little clunky compared to the 7i Legions, so it could be a different touchpad as well.

As for biometrics, there’s no IR functionality for the camera and no finger sensor.

Screen – glossy OLED

The display on this Legion Pro 5i is a 16-inch 16:10 format with an OLED panel, just like on the upper-tier Legion 7i and Legion Pro 7i laptops of this generation. That’s an important aspect, as few other lineups offer such an OLED display at sub 1500 USD/EUR (for the base Pro 5i configurations).

Of course, the OLED has its advantages and its share of quirks. What you mostly get on the Pro 5i is the 165Hz OLED panel, but we have the 240Hz option on the 5070Ti configurations. That’s not important, though, as the two are otherwise pretty much identical in features and functionality.

With the deep blacks and contrast, and the vivid wide-gamut color coverage, this sort of OLED panel is excellent for watching video content, for content creation, and for general use. It’s also an awesome option for gaming, especially in this sort of implementation that supports GSync.

Furthermore, I’ll mention this is a non-touch implementation, so the reproduced images are clean-looking even on lighter backgrounds, without the graininess visible on the touch variants.

At the same time, you’ll have to accept the glossy finish of this OLED, as well as the other inherent quirks of the technology: PWM flickering and potential burn-in if not used properly. Not that much of a concern considering the PWM frequency used here and how the OLED tech has evolved over the years.

Hardware and performance

Our test model is a top-specced configuration of the 2025 Lenovo Legion Pro 5i gen10, code name 16IAX10H, with an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070Ti 12GB dGPU, 32 GB of DDR5-5600 memory, and 1 TB of fast SSD storage.

Disclaimer: This is a retail unit provided by Lenovo for this review. It was tested on the software available as of mid-November 2025 (BIOS Q6CN26WW, GeForce Game Ready Driver 581.80). This is mature software, and little to nothing can change with later updates at this point.

Spec-wise, the 2025 Legion Pro 5i is built on the latest and most powerful Intel and Nvidia hardware available to date.

The Core Ultra 9 275HX is a high-performance mobile processor part of the Intel Arrow Lake HX lineup, with 24 Cores and 24 Threads. It’s a hybrid design with Performance and Efficiency Cores, and runs at around 120W of sustained power in demanding CPU loads – that’s not much compared to other full-size implementations of this same platform.

Just keep in mind that most configurations of this Legion Pro 5i ship with lower-tier processors, either the previous-gen Core i7-14650HX (16C, 24T) or the Arrow Lake HX Ultra 7 255HX (20C, 20T). They’re still fast, just not quite as fast as the Ultra 9.

Furthermore, Lenovo also offers an AMD variant of this series, built on Dragon Range HX processors (Ryzen 7 8745HX, Ryzen 9 8945HX and 9955HX). But this one is only available with 5060/5070 GPUs, as the 5070Ti is exclusive to the Intel variant.

For the GPU, the 2025 Legion Pro 5i series is available with full-power mid-range Nvidia Blackwell RTX 5000 graphics chips: RTX 5060 8GB (115W), RTX 5070 8GB (115W) and RTX 5070Ti 12GB (140W). Our review unit is the 5070Ti configuration. All variants offer a MUX and either regular Optimus or Advanced Optimus.

For the RAM, the series offers two DDR5 SODIMM slots. Our unit is a 32 GB DDR5-5600 RAM (2x 16 GB) configuration.

For storage, there are two M.2 2280 SSD slots, one supporting PCIe gen5 speeds, and the other being PCIe gen4. Our sample comes preconfigured with a fast compact 1TB drive (the two slots allow M.2 2232 or 2280 sticks).

The RAM sticks, the SSDs, and the WiFi module are all upgradable here. For that, you need to remove the back panel, held in place by a handful of Philips screws of two sizes. Make sure you put them back the right way. Inside (image source), there are no longer any metal shields covering the components, as on the older Pro 5i generations. And there’s a fair bit of unused space around the speakers.

Lenovo replaced the Vantage control app used on past Legions with a new piece of software called LenovoSpace for their 2025 models. Not a fan necessarily, but it works once you get a hold of it – allows control over the power and fan settings, as well as the RGB lighting system (keyboard). The power profiles haven’t changed, at least: Quiet, Balance, Performance, and Custom, with the latter offering various settings for the CPU/GPU and fan control.

Here are the power limits and targeted fan noise levels for each of the default profiles:

Well-balanced profiles, just not as powerful as on the Pro 7i series. Quiet mode in particular allowed here for higher TGP than on other Legions tested in the past, with a notable impact on the GPU capabilities on this silent profile.

Before we jump to the performance section, here’s how this laptop handles everyday use and multitasking on the Quiet profile, unplugged from the wall.

Performance and benchmarks – Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX + Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080

On to more demanding loads, we start by testing the CPU’s sustained performance in the Cinebench R15 loop test.

The cooling module on this laptop struggles a bit when keeping the laptop flat on the desk. That’s why I’ve placed this on a stand for these tests, allowing for proper airflow into the fans and underneath the chassis, and eliminating any potential thermal constraints.

So, in Performance mode, the Core Ultra 9 275HX quickly stabilizes at around 120-125W sustained, being thermally limited by the 105 °C CPU temperatures, with fan noise around 48 dBA. That means scores of around 5000 points, about 15-20% lower than what the platform can do at in a better-cooled chassis.

With the laptop flat on the desk, the CPU runs at around 110-115W, with a minimal drop in performance of a few percent.

There’s also Custom mode that allows maxing out the fans. In this case, the CPU runs at ~130W sustained, with similar temperatures at the 105 °C design limit.

On the Balance profile, the CPU stabilizes at ~65-75W sustained, with temperatures in the high 70s °C and fan noise of 38 dBA.  The performance takes a 10% dip compared to Performance mode.

The Quiet profile sets a 55-65W sustained limit for the CPU, with sub-35 dBA fans and temperatures in the high 70s °C. The scores drop to about 4000 points, about 75% of the results in Performance mode.

Finally, the CPU runs at ~52 W of power on battery, on the Balance profile, with scores of around 3500 points. Details below.

To put these findings in perspective, here’s how this Core Ultra 9 275X implementation fares against other powerful platforms in this test.

This same processor scores within 10-18% higher on other laptops that allow for higher sustained power.

Compared to the previous generations of the Legion Pro 5i, the 2025 refresh is 20-25% faster in this test.

As far as the other CPU options go, expect scores around 4700 points on the Core Ultra 7 255HX configurations, and 3500 points on the Core i7-14650HX variant.

We then went ahead and further verified our findings with the more taxing Cinebench R23 loop test and Blender – Classroom, which resulted in similar findings to what we explained above: 130 Sustained for Custom with max fans, 120W sustained on Performance, 75W sustained on Balance, and 55W sustained on Quiet.

We also ran the 3DMark CPU test on the Quiet and Performance profiles.

Finally, we ran our combined CPU+GPU stress tests on this notebook. 3DMark stress runs the same test for 20 times in a loop and looks for performance variation and degradation over time. This unit passes the test when placed on a stand, but fails it when used flat on a desk, which means the performance is impacted as the heat builds up and throttles the components. More on that further down in the gaming section.

Next, we ran the entire suite of tests and benchmarks on the Performance profile with the GPU set on Hybrid mode and with the screen set at the native 2560 x 1600 px resolution.

Again, the laptop was placed on a stand for all these tests to prevent thermal limitations.

Here’s what we got:

• 3DMark 13 – CPU profile: max – 17103, 16 – 13821, 8 – 8248, 4 – 4872, 2 – 2532, 1 – 1282;
• 3DMark 13 – Fire Strike (DX11): 33435 (Graphics – 38485, Physics – 51184, Combined – 13352);
• 3DMark 13 – Port Royal (RTX): 11761;
• 3DMark 13 – Time Spy (DX12): 17816 (Graphics – 18157, CPU – 16105);
• 3DMark 13 – Speed Way (DX12 Ultimate): 4582;
• 3DMark 13 – Steel Nomad (DX12 Ultimate): 4029;
• 3DMark 13 – DLSS: 25.54 fps DLSS Off, 104.30 fps DLSS On;

• Uniengine Superposition – 1080p Extreme: 10700;
• Uniengine Superposition – 1080p Medium: 30909;

• Aida64 Extreme, memory test – ;
• PCMark 10: -;
• GeekBench 6.2.2 64-bit: Multi-core: 19434, Single-Core: 2949;
• CineBench R15 (best run): CPU 5336 cb, CPU Single Core 330 cb;
• CineBench R23: CPU 34924 cb (best single run), CPU 34150 cb (10 min run), CPU Single Core 2201 cb;
• CineBench 2024: GPU – pts, CPU 1993 pts (loop run), CPU Single Core 134 pts.

And here are some workstation benchmarks, on the same Turbo profile:

• Blender 4.3.2 – BMW scene – CPU Compute: 1m 15s;
• Blender 4.3.2 – BMW scene – GPU Compute: 12.78s (CUDA), 6.72 (Optix);
• Blender 4.3.2 – Classroom scene – CPU Compute: 3m 00s;
• Blender 4.3.2 – Classroom scene – GPU Compute: 24.90s (CUDA), 14.11s (Optix).

• SPECviewperf 2020 – 3DSMax 07: 186.68;
• SPECviewperf 2020 – Catia 06: 91.71;
• SPECviewperf 2020 – Creo 03: 120.03;
• SPECviewperf 2020 – Energy: 58.14;
• SPECviewperf 2020 – Maya 06: 549.80;
• SPECviewperf 2020 – Medical 03: 53.72;
• SPECviewperf 2020 – SNX 04: 33.23;
• SPECviewperf 2020 – SW 07: 400.56;

• SPECviewperf 15 – 3DSMax 08: 78.09;
• SPECviewperf 15 – Blender 01: 83.45;
• SPECviewperf 15 – Catia 07: 69.00;
• SPECviewperf 15 – Creo 04: 117.19;
• SPECviewperf 15 – Energy 04: 57.56;
• SPECviewperf 15 – Enscape 01: 57.56;
• SPECviewperf 15 – Maya 07: 184.99;
• SPECviewperf 15 – Medical 04: 53.20;
• SPECviewperf 15 – Solidworks 08: 32.39;
• SPECviewperf 15 – Unreal Engine 01: 85.91;

• V-Ray Benchmark: 23807 – CPU, 2461 – CUDA, 3156 – RTX.

On the CPU side, these results are about 10-20% lower in sustained multi-threaded loads compared to the better implementations we’ve tested so far in devices such as the ROG Strix G16 or the Legion Pro 7i. That was expected, considering the CPU runs at lower sustained power in this device.

The gap is deeper in taxing CPU loads, such as Blender or Cinebench, and not as notable in mixed loads.

For what it’s worth, expect close performance from the Core Ultra 7 255HX configuration in heavy CPU loads, within 10% of the Ultra 9. The i7-14650HX, however, that’s about 30% slower.

The GPU results are more or less what’s expected from a full-power 5070Ti, but remember, that’s as long as you keep the laptop raised off the desk. Flat on the desk, the GPU throttles down in power and performance (by 5-10%).

Now, as fast as the other options go, the 5070 should be 10-20% slower, and the 5060 another 10-15% slower. You should also account for the fact that vRAM drops to only 8 GB on the 5070 specs, which can matter for certain workloads, but less so for gaming (as long as you’re not interested in driving a 4K external monitor at high settings).

Quiet Mode – still plenty fast at <35 dBA noise

Performance mode is a decent performer, but the laptop runs noisily at 48 dBA. If low noise is a priority, here’s what to expect on Quiet mode, which keeps the fan at sub-35 dBA.

Here’s what we got:

• 3DMark 13 – CPU profile: max – 10776, 16 – 9248, 8 – 7541, 4 – 4541, 2 – 2384, 1 – 996;
• 3DMark 13 – Fire Strike: 25464 (Graphics – 31044, Physics – 32847, Combined – 9483);
• 3DMark 13 – Time Spy: 13364 (Graphics – 13049, CPU – 15489);
• Uniengine Superposition – 1080p Extreme: 7530;
• CineBench R23 (10 min loop): CPU 26007 cb, CPU Single Core 1497 cb;
• Blender 4.3.2 – Classroom scene – CPU Compute: 4m 05s.
• SPECviewperf 2020 – 3DSMax 07: 152.35;
• SPECviewperf 2020 – Catia 06: 76.31;
• SPECviewperf 2020 – Creo 03: 85.57;
• SPECviewperf 2020 – Energy: 43.16;
• SPECviewperf 2020 – Maya 06: 418.76;
• SPECviewperf 2020 – Medical 03: 44.82;
• SPECviewperf 2020 – SNX 04: 29.02;
• SPECviewperf 2020 – SW 07: 316.35.

The CPU scores take a 25-40% hit, while the GPU runs at about 70% of its capacity, due to the power limits applied by this profile. For mixed workloads, though, the hit isn’t that significant.

Well optimized Quiet profile, all in all.

Gaming performance – Core Ultra 9 + GeForce RTX 5070Ti

With benchmarks out of the way, let’s see how this Legion Pro 5i handles modern games.

We tested a couple of different games on the various available profiles at QHD+  resolution, with the Nvidia GPU set on dGPU mode.

For consistency with other reviews, the laptop is placed on a stand for all tests to ensure the best possible airflow into the cooling module. That’s an important details, because the laptop struggles when used flat on the desk. More on that further down.

Here are the results:

• Cyberpunk, Horizon FW, Witcher 3, Resident Evil – recorded with MSI Afterburner fps counter in campaign mode;
• Black Myth, Far Cry 6, Red Dead Redemption 2, Tomb Raider – recorded with the included Benchmark utilities;
• Red Dead Redemption 2 Optimized profile based on these settings.

These games run smoothly at 2.5K resolution with Ultra settings on all profiles, including on Quiet mode for most titles. DLSS 4.0 with Multi Frame Generation set on 4x makes a major difference where supported, especially on the lower-tier and quieter profiles.

Expect 80-90% of these results on a 5070 configuration, and 70-75% on a 5060. At the same time, expect lower temperatures on these options, since the GPUs are lower TGP.

Let’s go over some performance and temperature logs.

Here’s Performance mode, with the laptop flat on the desk.

Things are running toasty, with 100+ °C on the CPU and 85-87 °C on the GPU, with some performance throttling on both components. The GPU only averages 120-130W TGP in this case, so it doesn’t run at full power and frequencies. Furthermore, the fans spin loudly at 48 dBA at head level on this profile.

The behaviour changes drastically when bumping the laptop off the desk, though. In this case, the CPU runs at around 88-90 °C and the GPU at 78-80 °C, but at the same time at higher power and clocks for both. In this case, the components are no longer thermally limiting, and the GPU runs at its designed 135-140W TGP.

Next, Custom mode allows various CPU/GPU and fan settings and tweaks. For our tests, we maxed out the fans and all power settings.

This Custom mode translates to an increase in fan noise to 52+ dBA, up from 48 dBA on Performance, and pushes more power on the CPU, but without any kind of observable impact on the framerates.

And then there’s the mid-tier Balance profile, which sets a slight power cap on the CPU and a more aggressive limit on the GPU (95W TGP), with an overall 15-20% toll on framerates. The fans run quieter at 42 dBA, and internal temperatures are lower: high 80s °C on the CPU and lower 70s °C on the GPU. That’s with the laptop on a stand (haven’t tested this mode with the laptop flat on the desk).

Finally, Quiet mode caps the GPU more aggressively to only about 55W TGP, and that impacts the framerates more significantly. However, the laptop keeps much quieter on this profile, at sub 35 dBA, with CPU/GPU temperatures in the 60s °C.

Heat, Noise, Connectivity, Speakers, Camera

The cooling on this Legion Pro 5i is rather minimalist, but at least with high-capacity fans and thick heatpipes. Image Source.

Keep in mind this is the cooling module on the 5070Ti variant; the 5060/5070 configurations get smaller thermal plates and a narrower heatpipe on the GPU.

For comparison, here’s the more advanced cooling design on the 2025 Legion Pro 7i chassis:

As discussed in the previous section, this cooling isn’t much on the CPU side, where it only allows for high temperatures even at rather low sustained TDPs of around 120W. Furthermore, you have to raise this laptop off the desk when running demanding loads to get the right performance in mixed sustained use, as otherwise, flat on a desk, both the CPU and GPU throttle due to overheating.

As far as the fan noise levels go with demanding loads, we’re looking at 50+ dB at head-level in the Custom mode with max-fans, 48 dBA in Performance mode, 42 dBA in Balance mode, and sub 35 dB in Quiet mode.

With daily use, you’ll hardly hear the fans at all, but they never idle even in Quiet mode. I haven’t noticed coil whining or electronic noises on this unit.

Chassis temperatures stay generally low, but the warmest spot is around the arrows keys, which isn’t great. But at least the surfaces won’t go over 35-38 °C.

*Daily Use – streaming Netflix in EDGE for 30 minutes, Quiet profile,  fans <30 dB

The chassis warms up significantly with sustained loads.

In Performance mode and with the laptop on a stand, most of the keyboard area runs at 40-45 °C, but a hotspot develops around the arrows keys at 50+°C, and that hotspot makes the laptop feel uncomfortable in longer gaming sessions. I’m testing at 24 °C ambient levels, so your experience might differ in a cooler room, and I’ve only tested with the laptop raised up from the desk.

Playing games in Quiet mode keeps the surface temperatures a little lower, but with a similar hotspot in the same place.

Bottom point, while the case-level thermals are acceptable for a mid-range powerful laptop, having the hottest spot around the directional keys is a deal-breaker, as it makes this notebook feel hot and uncomfortable to the touch in games and sustained loads.

However, with the 5060/5070 options being lower TGP implementations, thermals should be better on those (although the cooling module is downsized as well, but generally similar to this one of the 5070Ti variant).

*Gaming – Performance on stand– playing Cyberpunk for 30 minutes, fans at ~48 dB
*Gaming – Quiet on stand– playing Cyberpunk for 30 minutes, fans at <35 dB

For connectivity, there’s latest-gen WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 through a Mediatek module on this device, which performed fine, but is not as fast as the Intel BE200 module offered on the Legion Pro 7i. It can be replaced if needed, since it’s an M.2 format. There’s also Gigabit Lan, but not 2.5G as on the Pro 7i.

Audio is handled by a set of dual speakers. They’re smaller than the main speakers on the Pro 7i, so no surprise the audio quality is lacking, particularly in the lows, with little bass.

At least the webcam is the same 5MPx variant implemented in other Legions, with decent image quality in good light. It does not support IR with Windows Hello.

Battery life

There’s an 80Wh battery inside the 2025 Legion 5i, mid-sized for the segment.

Here’s what we got in terms of battery life on our unit, with the screen’s brightness set at around 120 nits (~60 brightness) and 60Hz refresh.

• 15-18 W (~5-6 h of use) – text editing in Google Drive, Quiet Mode, screen at 50%, Wi-Fi ON;
• 18-20 W (~4-5 h of use) – 1080p fullscreen video on Youtube in Edge, Quiet Mode, screen at 50%, Wi-Fi ON;
• 14-16 W (~5-6 h of use) – 4K Netflix with Dolby Vision, fullscreen in Edge, Quiet Mode, screen at 50%, Wi-Fi ON;
• 18-22 W (~4-5 h of use) – browsing in Edge, Balance Mode, screen at 50%, Wi-Fi ON.

These results are on par with the Legion 7i tested recently, and better than what we got earlier in the year on the Pro 7i. However, this is still a high-performance Core HX platform, so expectations of runtimes on battery power should be realistic.

Lenovo pairs this configuration with a 300W charger, a dual-piece design with long cables, and a mid-sized power brick. Lower-specced models get a slightly smaller 245W charger. The laptop also supports PD via the USB-C ports on the left edge, at up to 100W.

Price and availability- Lenovo Legion Pro 5i

The Legion Pro 5i lineup is widely available all around the world at the time of this article.

As far as the Intel-based configurations go, the series starts competitively at $1200 in the US and 1400 EUR in Europe, for the i7-14650HX/RTX 5060 configuration. An Ultra 7 255HX with RTX 5070 still goes for well under 2000 USD/EUR, but the Ultra 9 + 5070Ti variant is much pricier at 2000+ USD/2200+ EUR.

The AMD is mostly on par, at between 1200-2000 USD, between available configurations. Just remember that one tops at a 5070, alongside a Ryzen 9 9955HX processor.

Follow this link for updated configurations and prices in your region at the time you’re reading this article.

Final thoughts- Lenovo Legion Pro 5i Gen 10 review

This is an intriguing mid-range series of powerful gaming/work notebooks.

It’s built well and clean looking, perfectly adequate for even the stricter work and school environments where a flashier chassis wouldn’t be acceptable. It also offers solid ergonomics, decent inputs, and a beautiful OLED display, this latter aspect being a rarity in the mid-space segment.

As for specs and general performance, you shouldn’t get this in the RTX 5070 Ti configuration. The cooling module cannot properly handle the power requirements of this chip and thus runs hot at the chassis level, with the hotspot uncomfortably developing around the arrow keys. That’s not acceptable for a gaming laptop. Furthermore, you’re paying a pretty premium for the 5070Ti over the other options, and especially over alternatives from other brands (the HP Omen Max 16, the Asus ROG Strix G16 G614 or the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16, to name just a few of those we’ve tested). In fact, in some markets, you can get a 5070Ti Legion Pro 7i for the same price as this Pro 5i, so definitely go for the Pro 7i series at this level.

However, this Pro 5i series is much more competitive in the 5060/5070 space. It’s still not the most affordable option there, but it’s a solid value choice considering the build quality and the display offered with this lineup. On top of everything else, those are lower-powered configurations and thus won’t run as uncomfortably hot as the 5070Ti – you should still expect high keyboard-level temperatures, just not as high as on this variant.

So yes, there you have it, my thoughts on the 2025 Lenovo Legion Pro 5i: an option to consider in the right price-range, but with some potential quirks, with poor audio and high temperatures in sustained loads as potential deal breakers.

And if interested, we’ve tested most of the other Legion series of this generations, and here are the links:

• Legion 7i – premium compact 16-inch model, OLED, up to Core Ultra 9 and RTX 5070;
• Legion Pro 7i – premium full-performance 16-inch model, OLED, up to Core Ultra 9 and RTX 5090 (or Ryzen 9 + RTX 5080);
• Legion 9i – premium large-size 18-inch model, IPS 4K, up to Core Ultra 9 and RTX 5090.

We’ve also tested most of the competitors in these niches of performance and gaming notebooks.

The article Lenovo Legion Pro 5i review (gen 10, OLED) – the mainstream, affordable Legion Pro appeared first on .

It’s a premium-built chassis with a clean design, available mostly in a Glacier White color variant. It gets proper inputs and IO, a 16-inch OLED display, and capable mid-tier specs. It’s not as powerful or as well-cooled as the full-performance Legion Pro 7i, but it is more compact and more lightweight, at just under 2 kilos.

In fact, this is Lenovo’s more portable premium laptop chassis, a direct competitor to popular options such as the Razer Blade 16 and the Asus ROG Zephyrus G16/ProArt P16. But unlike the other OEMs, Lenovo takes a slightly different approach hardware-wise with this series, bundling a powerful Intel Core Ultra HX processor with only mid-range RTX 5000 GPUs, an approach that has its pros and cons, as we’ll discuss further down in this review.

If interested, we’ve tested most of the other Legion series of this generations, and here are the links:

• Legion Pro 5i – mainstream affordable 16-inch model, OLED, up to Core Ultra 9 and RTX 5070Ti (or Ryzen 9 + RTX 5070);
• Legion Pro 7i – premium 16-inch model, OLED, up to Core Ultra 9 and RTX 5090 (or Ryzen 9 + RTX 5080);
• Legion 9i – premium large-size 18-inch model, IPS 4K, up to Core Ultra 9 and RTX 5090.

We’ve also tested most of the competitors in these niches of performance and gaming notebooks.

Specs sheet as reviewed – Lenovo Legion 7i

Design and construction

This Legion 7i is a more simplistic and more portable variation of the full-power Lenovo Legion Pro 7i series discussed here. The two share a common design language and particularities, but the Legion 7i is slightly more compact and much lighter.

It also lacks all of the RGB elements offered on the Pro model, targeting a more professional-oriented user base. It comes in white, though, so it’s still a design that stands out, and I’m not sure if that’s right for stricter professional environments. In the past, Lenovo used to offer two contrasting color schemes, but for this generation, I’m only seeing the Glacier White variant. Perhaps an all-black variant, like on the Pro notebook, would have made sense as well.

Another weird design decision is the shiny metal sides with a sharp edge finish, a bit much aesthetically for my taste, and very aggressive on the wrists when using the notebook on a more cramped desk. Not a fan.

These aside, though, no complaints. The chassis is entirely made out of metal pieces and feels sturdy and robust. It doesn’t bend or flex or squeak in any way that might bother with daily use. And it doesn’t show any smudges, barely at all, on this color.

As far as the overall size and weight of this series, it tips the scales at under 2 kilos and feels compact due to its design with the extra hump behind the screen, which houses some ports and all the cooling. For comparison, this Legion is a little larger in footprint and thickness than a Razer Blade 16 or an Asus ProArt P16, but also a little lighter.

Ergonomics are solid here, for the most part, with the exception of that bright always-on light in the power button. For some reason, Lenovo don’t want to give up on this annoying light, and even made it bigger and more obtrusive with their 2025 generation models. For watching movies and using the laptop in a dark room, that light is atrocious. Update: Looks like this can be controlled and switched off in the settings now (Display Settings > Power Button LED Control).

That aside, though, the notebook offers excellent grip on a flat desk, strong hinges that can go flat to 180 degrees, a convenient notch on the screen part to easily lift up the display, and plenty of ports lined around the sides.

The power plug and the HDMI are on the rear edge, behind the display, while the USB-As, USB-Cs, the audio jack, and the SD card reader are on the left and right edges.

Keyboard and touchpad

There’s a full-size keyboard on this notebook, with a NumPad section and full-size, properly spaced arrow keys, as well as a spacious touchpad centered on the Space key.

This is a good keyboard, pretty much identical to the one in the Pro 7i series. It’s a standard layout and implementation for a higher-tier Legion laptop with nicely finished keycaps, responsive feedback, and a hit depth of 1.6 mm.

There’s RGB per-key control offered, with bright and uniform LEDs.

The software package (Spectrum app) isn’t that intuitive, but it offers plenty of customization options once you figure out where to find it (in the new LenovoSpace control app) and how it works.

The touchpad is made of plastic (Maylar), but it feels and works fine with general use, swipes, taps, you name it. No complaints.

As for biometrics, there’s IR functionality for the camera and no finger sensor.

Screen – glossy OLED

The display on this Legion 7i is a 16-inch 16:10 format with an OLED panel, just like on all of the other 16-inch Legion laptops of the 2025 generation. A glossy non-touch OLED, so without any of the grain and screen-door effect noticeable on light backgrounds on the touch variants.

Unlike on the Pro 7i, though, this series is mostly offered with a 165Hz OLED, and not the 240Hz OLED that you can get on the gaming models. A tiny detail, since the two panels are otherwise pretty much identical in features and functionality.

This sort of OLED panel is excellent for watching video content, for content creation, and for gaming, with the rich contrast, deep black, and punchy colors. Furthermore, the refresh rate, fast response times, and GSync support further enhance the gaming experience.

For general use and multitasking, though, you’ll have to make do with the glare and reflections of the glossy finish, as well as the other particularities of OLED laptop implementations, such as flickering. But while PWM is used on this panel at all brightness levels, it’s a higher frequency that shouldn’t bother most eyes. Furthermore, this panel gets close to 500-nits of sustained SDR brightness, and that helps improve its usability in bright light environments or outdoors.

So all in all, I’d expect most potential buyers of this sort of laptop to fall in love with this OLED display and just accept its quirky technological particularities.

Hardware and performance

Our test model is a top-specced configuration of the 2025 Lenovo Legion 7i gen10, code name 16IAX10, with an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 dGPU, 32 GB of DDR5-6400 memory, and 1 TB of middling SSD storage.

Disclaimer: This is a retail unit provided by Lenovo for this review. It was tested on the mature software available as of mid-November 2025 (BIOS RXCN25WW, Nvidia Studio 581.57 driver), many months after launch.

Spec-wise, the 2025 Legion 7i is a rather unusual hardware bundle, with a powerful CPU and only mid-range GPUs.

The Core Ultra 9 275HX is a high-performance mobile processor part of the Intel Arrow Lake HX lineup, with 24 Cores and 24 Threads. It only runs at about  ~100W sustained power in this chassis, though, so it doesn’t perform as well as on the beefier Legion models.

For the GPU, this Legion 7i series is available with either RTX 5070 8GB or RTX 5060 8GB mid-tier GPUs, running at up to 115W TGP. There’s no higher-tier GPU configuration. All variants offer a MUX and either regular Optimus or Advanced Optimus.

For the RAM, the series offers two DDR5 SODIMM slots. Our unit is a 32 GB DDR5-6400 RAM (2x 16 GB) configuration.

For storage, there are two M.2 2280 SSD slots, one supporting PCIe gen5 speeds, and the other being PCIe gen4. Our sample comes preconfigured with a middling Samsung gen4 1TB drive.

The RAM sticks, the SSDs, and the WiFi module are all upgradable here. For that, you’d need to remove the back panel, hold on place by a few Philips screws (all the same size).

Lenovo replaced the Vantage control app used on past Legions with a new piece of software called LenovoSpace. Not a fan necessarily, but it works once you get a hold of it – allows control over the power and fan settings, as well as the keyboard’s RGB lighting. The power profiles are the same as before: Quiet, Balance, Performance, and Custom, with the latter offering various settings for the CPU/GPU and fan control.

Here are the power limits and targeted fan noise levels for each of the default profiles:

Decently balanced profiles, just much less powerful than on the Pro 7i series.

Before we jump to the performance section, here’s how this laptop handles everyday use and multitasking on the Quiet profile, unplugged from the wall.

Performance and benchmarks – Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX + Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070

On to more demanding loads, we start by testing the CPU’s sustained performance in the Cinebench R15 loop test.

The system cuts power quickly in sustained loads in order to keep thermals at bay in this rather portable chassis with mid-level cooling capacity. Ideally, you’ll want to keep the laptop on a stand to further prevent any sort of thermal limitations, although that’s not that much of an issue on this Legion 7i chassis as on the Pro 5i and Pro 7i variants.

So, in Performance mode, the Core Ultra 9 275HX runs at 150+W of power for brief seconds, and then drops to around 95W sustained. At 95W, with the laptop raised off the desk, we measured temperatures around 85-88 °C and fan noise around 48 dBA. This sort of power limit leads to scores of around 4900 points, within 7-8% lower than on the Pro 7i chassis, but also within 20% lower than what the same processor can score in the best designs out there. More on that in a bit.

Performance doesn’t change with the laptop flat on the desk, but the CPU temperatures reach higher levels in the low to mid 90s °C.

On the Balance profile, the CPU stabilizes at ~75W sustained, with temperatures in the low 80s °C and fan noise of around 38 dBA.  The performance takes a 10% dip compared to Performance mode. Not bad.

The Quiet profile sets a 65W sustained limit for the CPU, with much quieter fans and temperatures in the high 70s °C. The scores drop to another 10%, at 80% of what the laptop can do in Performance mode. Not bad at all.

Finally, the CPU runs at ~52 W of power on battery, on the Balance profile, with scores of around 3500 points. Details below.

To put these findings in perspective, here’s how this Core Ultra 9 275X implementation fares against other powerful platforms in this test.

This same processor scores about 10% higher on the Legion Pro 7i and as much as 20% higher in full-size notebooks such as the ROG Scar 18 or the Lenovo Legion 9i, which allow for higher sustained power closer to 200W.

At the same time, the CPU in this Legion 7i scores much higher than the Core Ultra 9 285HX or the Ryzen 9 AI HX 370 processors implemented in other portable 16-inch devices in this space. So if CPU sustained performance is what you’re after, this Legion 7i might be the right option for you over everything else in the segment.

We then went ahead and further verified our findings with the more taxing Cinebench R23 loop test and Blender – Classroom, which resulted in similar findings to what we explained above: 95W sustained on Performance, 72-75W sustained on Balance, and 55W sustained on Quiet.

We also ran the 3DMark CPU test on the Performance profile.

Finally, we ran our combined CPU+GPU stress tests on this notebook. 3DMark stress runs the same test for 20 times in a loop and looks for performance variation and degradation over time. This unit passes the test both flat on a desk and when placed on a stand, which means thermal never impacts the system’s sustained performance. More on that in the gaming section down below.

Next, we ran the entire suite of tests and benchmarks on the Performance profile with the GPU set on Hybrid mode and with the screen set at the native 2560 x 1600 px resolution.

Again, the laptop was placed on a stand for all these tests to prevent thermal limitations.

Here’s what we got:

• 3DMark 13 – CPU profile: max – 15924, 16 – 13094, 8 – 8818, 4 – 4873, 2 – 2476, 1 – 1279;
• 3DMark 13 – Fire Strike (DX11): 29880 (Graphics – 36305, Physics – 45455, Combined – 10517);
• 3DMark 13 – Port Royal (RTX): 8855;
• 3DMark 13 – Time Spy (DX12): 14161 (Graphics – 13804, CPU – 16593);
• 3DMark 13 – Speed Way (DX12 Ultimate): 3461;
• 3DMark 13 – Steel Nomad (DX12 Ultimate): 3168;
• 3DMark 13 – DLSS: 16.69 fps DLSS Off, 77.59 fps DLSS On;

• Uniengine Superposition – 1080p Extreme: 7965;
• Uniengine Superposition – 1080p Medium: 25619;

• Aida64 Extreme, memory test – ;
• PCMark 10: -;
• GeekBench 6.2.2 64-bit: -;
• CineBench R15 (best run): CPU 5491 cb, CPU Single Core 333 cb;
• CineBench R23: CPU 33014 cb (best single run), CPU 31987 cb (10 min run), CPU Single Core 2200 cb;
• CineBench 2024: GPU – pts, CPU 1857 pts (loop run), CPU Single Core 134 pts.

And here are some workstation benchmarks, on the same Performance profile:

• Blender 4.3.2 – BMW scene – CPU Compute: 1m 18s;
• Blender 4.3.2 – BMW scene – GPU Compute: 16.32s (CUDA), 8.02 (Optix);
• Blender 4.3.2 – Classroom scene – CPU Compute: 3m 13s;
• Blender 4.3.2 – Classroom scene – GPU Compute: 33.36s (CUDA), 17.79s (Optix);

• SPECviewperf 2020 – 3DSMax 07: 123.42;
• SPECviewperf 2020 – Catia 06: 74.62;
• SPECviewperf 2020 – Creo 03: 112.59;
• SPECviewperf 2020 – Energy: 48.10;
• SPECviewperf 2020 – Maya 06: 471.66;
• SPECviewperf 2020 – Medical 03: 44.24;
• SPECviewperf 2020 – SNX 04: 25.79;
• SPECviewperf 2020 – SW 07: 312.28

• SPECviewperf 15 – 3DSMax 08: 38.07;
• SPECviewperf 15 – Blender 01: 60.46;
• SPECviewperf 15 – Catia 07: 52.39;
• SPECviewperf 15 – Creo 04: 108.31;
• SPECviewperf 15 – Energy 04: 47.78;
• SPECviewperf 15 – Enscape 01: 42.48;
• SPECviewperf 15 – Maya 07: 151.65;
• SPECviewperf 15 – Medical 04: 43.93;
• SPECviewperf 15 – Solidworks 08: 24.43;
• SPECviewperf 15 – Unreal Engine 01: 80.01;

• V-Ray Benchmark: 22234 – CPU, 1642 – CUDA, 2232 – RTX.

These are interesting results.

On the CPU side, having a Core Ultra HX processor helps this outmatch most other lightweight 16-inch options in this segment, which are mostly built on Core Ultra H and Ryzen AI hardware. The difference is within 20-40% in favor of this Legion 7i, even if the HX hardware doesn’t run at high power and at its best abilities possible in larger full-size devices.

On the GPU side, though, this is merely a mid-powered mid-tier 5070 GPU with only 8 GB of vRAM. For general use and gaming, that should suffice for most people, but if you need a more capable GPU and more video RAM for either your work or even gaming, you’ll just have to look elsewhere. For comparison, most of the premium-tier alternatives in this space can be specced up to an RTX 5090, and most offer higher TGP settings across the board.

Quiet Mode – lower power,  sub 35 dBA noise

Performance mode is a decent performer, but the laptop runs noisily on it. If low noise is a priority, here’s what to expect on Quiet mode, which keeps the fan at sub-35 dBA.

Here’s what we got:

• 3DMark 13 – CPU profile: max – 10269, 16 – 8935, 8 – 7152, 4 – 4481, 2 – 2390, 1 – 941;
• 3DMark 13 – Fire Strike: 23471 (Graphics – 26653, Physics – 36004, Combined – 9709);
• 3DMark 13 – Time Spy: 11062 (Graphics – 10504, CPU – 15838);
• Uniengine Superposition – 1080p Extreme: 6249;
• CineBench R23 (10 min loop): -;
• Blender 3.6.5 – Classroom scene – CPU Compute: 3m 55s.
• SPECviewperf 2020 – 3DSMax: 101.85;
• SPECviewperf 2020 – Catia: 57.73;
• SPECviewperf 2020 – Maya: 425.94;
• SPECviewperf 2020 – SNX: 24.45;
• SPECviewperf 2020 – SW: 252.91.

Both the CPU and GPU perform at about 70-80% of Performance mode, more or less, but these might vary between actual work and gaming loads. I’d say the tradeoff makes sense, and this is a fair performer on this profile. You’re losing some of the CPU advantage over a Core Ultra H or Ryzen AI 9 platform, but this still remains faster in CPU loads than those platforms. Significantly faster, in fact.

Gaming performance – Core HX + GeForce RTX 5070

While this isn’t necessarily a gaming notebook, it’s still a Legion, so let’s nevertheless see how this Legion 7i handles modern games.

We tested a couple of different games on the various available profiles at QHD+  resolution, with the GPU set on dGPU mode. We also loaded Game Ready drivers for these tests.

For consistency with other reviews, the laptop is placed on a stand for all tests, to ensure the best possible airflow into the cooling module. Just keep in mind that the performance is identical with the laptop flat on the desk, just that internal and external temperatures can get higher in that case.

Here are the results:

• Cyberpunk, Horizon FW – recorded with MSI Afterburner fps counter in campaign mode;
• Black Myth, Far Cry 6, Red Dead Redemption 2, Tomb Raider – recorded with the included Benchmark utilities;
• Red Dead Redemption 2 Optimized profile based on these settings.

Even with the 5070, most of these games still run smoothly at 2.5K resolution with Ultra settings on Performance mode, and DLSS 4.0 with Multi Frame Generation set on 4x makes a lot of difference where supported. However, with recent titles, you’ll have to cut down on the graphics settings for a smooth experience on the quieter profiles.

Let’s go over some performance and temperature logs.

For starters, here’s Performance mode, with the laptop flat on the desk.

I’m seeing consistent gaming framerates with temperatures between 78-90 °C on the CPU, based on how much power each title allocates to the processor, and 78-82 °C on the GPU. The GPU runs at around 105W TGP in the tested titles, lower than the advertised 115W max TGP. We also measured fan noise levels of 48 dBA at head level on this profile.

Place the laptop on a stand, and the CPU/GPU temperatures drop, but only by a few degrees.

The 115W TGP can be achieved in Custom mode, where you can also tweak various CPU/GPU and fan settings. For our tests, we maxed out the fans and all power settings.

This Custom mode translates to an increase in fan noise to 50+ dBA, up from 48 dBA on Performance, a minimal impact on the framerates, of around 2-3%, and an increase in CPU/GPU temperatures.

And then there’s the mid-tier Balance profile, which sets a power cap on the CPU and GPU, and takes 10-15% toll on framerates. The fans run quieter, though, and 42 dBA, and internal temperatures are lower in the mid 70s °C on the CPU and lower 70s °C on the GPU. That’s with the laptop on a stand (haven’t tested this mode with the laptop flat on the desk).

Finally, Quiet mode caps the GPU more aggressively to only about 55W TGP, and that impacts the framerates more significantly.

But the laptop keeps much quieter on this profile, at sub 35 dBA, with CPU/GPU temperatures in the 60s °C.

Heat, Noise, Connectivity, Speakers, Camera

Lenovo put a minimalist cooling module on this Legion 7i, with heatpipes, dual-fans, and dual-heatsinks on the rear edge.

For comparison, here’s the much more advanced cooling design on the 2025 Legion Pro 7i chassis:

With this sort of cooling, Lenovo can only run the hardware and mid-level power settings, and the software does a good job making sure the laptop never overheats or throttles in any way. At the same time, though, this means you’re not quite getting the full performance potential you could get with this hardware in a thicker, better-cooled notebook.

What’s interesting here is that this laptop actually works and cools well even when kept flat on a desk, unlike the Legion Pro 5i and Pro 7i models, which heat up and throttle if not kept on a stand. An interesting detail, although non-significant, since I’d still recommend bumping this off the desk for longer work and gaming sessions.

As far as the fan noise levels go with demanding loads, we’re looking at 50+ dB at head-level in the Custom mode with max-fans, 48 dBA in Performance mode, 42 dBA in Balance mode, and sub 35 dB in Quiet mode.

With daily use, you’ll hardly hear the fans at all, and they’ll even idle with very light use on Quiet mode. I haven’t noticed coil whining or electronic noises on this unit.

Chassis temperatures stay low with casual use, generally in the low-30s °C.

*Daily Use – streaming Netflix in EDGE for 30 minutes, Silent profile,  fans <30 dB

The chassis warms up a bit with sustained loads, but still keeps perfectly comfortable to the touch, unlike the Pro models.

In Performance mode, most of the keyboard area never gets over 40 °C, with a hotspot only developing at the top of the frame around the power button. And even that’s in the mid-40s °C, so not that hot.

Playing games in Quiet mode keeps the surface temperatures even lower.

Bottom point, case-level thermals are overall excellent on this notebook.

*Gaming – Performance on stand– playing Cyberpunk for 30 minutes, fans at ~48 dB
*Gaming – Quiet on stand– playing Cyberpunk for 30 minutes, fans at <35 dB

For connectivity, there’s latest-gen WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 through a Mediatek module on this device, which performed fine during all these weeks. I find it weird that they went with this slower Mediatek module and not the Intel option offered on the Pro models.

Just keep in mind there’s no wired Internet on this series, just wireless connectivity.

Audio is handled by a set of dual speakers, so you’re not getting the extra tweeters offered on the Pro 7i. The sound quality is decent, though, but with only middling volumes (~76 dBA) and fairly weak bass. For comparison, the audio is better on the Pro 7i and better on most of the alternatives in the lightweight 16-inch performance space (especially on the Zephyrus and the ProArt units, but also on the Blade).

The webcam on this laptop is 5MPx, and does not support IR with Windows Hello. Image quality is decent in good light, but nothing to brag about.

Battery life

There’s a 84Wh battery inside the 2025 Legion 7i, mid-sized for the segment.

Here’s what we got in terms of battery life on our unit, with the screen’s brightness set at around 120 nits (~60 brightness) and 60Hz refresh.

• 15-18 W (~5-6 h of use) – text editing in Google Drive, Quiet Mode, screen at 50%, Wi-Fi ON;
• 18-20 W (~4-5 h of use) – 1080p fullscreen video on Youtube in Edge, Quiet Mode, screen at 50%, Wi-Fi ON;
• 14-16 W (~5-6 h of use) – 4K Netflix with Dolby Vision, fullscreen in Edge, Quiet Mode, screen at 50%, Wi-Fi ON;
• 18-22 W (~4-5 h of use) – browsing in Edge, Balance Mode, screen at 50%, Wi-Fi ON.

Lenovo have tweaked the software, as these results are much better than on the Pro 7i tested a few months ago. They’re also generally better than those on other Arrow Lake HX laptops tested in the past.

At the same time, the Core Ultra H and Ryzen AI 9 platforms implemented in competing products offer longer runtimes across the boards: 7-9 hours of video and 4-6 hours of mixed use.

Lenovo pairs this configuration with a 240W charger, a dual-piece design with long cables, and a mid-sized power brick. The laptop also supports PD via the USB-C ports on the left edge, at up to 100W.

Price and availability- Lenovo Legion 7i

The Legion 7i lineup is widely available all around the world at the time of this article. Just remember that the series goes as the Legion 7i 16IAX10 in the US and as the Legion 7 16IAX10 in other markets.

The Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX + RTX 5070 configuration tested here is available for $2000 in US stores (but often discounted to~ $1700 or even less), 2100-2200 EUR over here in Europe, and 1800 GBP in the UK. That’s competitive pricing.

An RTX 5060 variant is available in some markets as well, especially here in Europe, for about 200 EUR less. That’s about 15% slower in GPU loads than the 5070 model.

Follow this link for updated configurations and prices in your region at the time you’re reading this article.

Final thoughts- Lenovo Legion 7i Gen 10 review

Overall value in a compelling mid-sized chassis is the main selling point of this Legion 7i series.

Lenovo put together a premium-feeling metal chassis with good inputs and IO, fair ergonomics and a beautiful OLED display, and squeezed inside modern hardware that can easily meet the requirements of the general user looking for a competent multi-purpose laptop that can handle demanding workloads and even games at times.

Hardware-wise, CPU performance is where this excels compared to alternatives in this space, and it also does an excellent job keeping the chassis cool. It does run loud, though, on Performance mode, and runtimes on battery aren’t that long with this sort of Core HX specs. And then, its GPU capabilities are only mid-tier; you just can’t spec this up with a high-end GPU. They only allow that on the Pro Legion lineups, but those are beefier and chunkier. Here’s my review of the Legion Pro 7i for more details.

These aside, I’d say the fact that Lenovo only offers this series in White could be a deal breaker for some of you, and perhaps having two color options would have made sense.

One final aspect worth mentioning here is pricing, with the Legion 7i undercutting its competitors in most markets. This pretty much goes for around 2000 USD/EUR/GBP or under, while the Asus and Razer alternatives are nowhere near that level. Even the Predator Helios Neo 16S isn’t at that level.

Bottom point, this Legion 7i is a solid option in the space of mid-powered all-purpose premium 16-inch laptops, at around 2 kilos and around the 2000 USD/EUR/GBP price point. That might look like a narrow niche, but it would actually meet the majority of people looking into buying such a device today. Thoughts?

And if interested, we’ve tested most of the other Legion series of this generation, and here are the links:

• Legion Pro 5i – mainstream affordable 16-inch model, OLED, up to Core Ultra 9 and RTX 5070Ti (or Ryzen 9 + RTX 5070);
• Legion Pro 7i – premium 16-inch model, OLED, up to Core Ultra 9 and RTX 5090 (or Ryzen 9 + RTX 5080);
• Legion 9i – premium large-size 18-inch model, IPS 4K, up to Core Ultra 9 and RTX 5090.

We’ve also tested most of the competitors in these niches of performance and gaming notebooks.

The article Lenovo Legion 7i review (gen 10, OLED)- the more portable and affordable Legion laptop appeared first on .

You’re also not giving up too much in the way of performance and battery life, either. Since Intel released the quad-core hyperthreaded U-series and hexa-core hyperthreaded H-series CPUs in 2017 with Coffee Lake and Nvidia released their Turing 10xx-series GPUs in 2016, performance hasn’t been lacking from laptops for nearly four years now.

So, if budget is a major concern, there’s a good chance that a laptop from around 2020 will still scratch every (or at least most) itch that a laptop from 2026 would —  and in some cases, particularly with ports, older may be even better!

Even if the ideal laptop for your needs isn’t still available from the manufacturer anymore, that doesn’t mean you can’t still buy them. You can always find used and refurbished laptops easily on eBay, forums like NotebookReview, Reddit, Amazon (you can filter results for “Used”), and your local Craigslist. You may also have local refurbishers near you, so be sure to search maps for nearby shops as well.

This article will be continuously updated as market conditions change.

1. How to Buy a Used/Older Laptop

Price, Performance, Reputation, and Display

This list isn’t exhaustive as it’s based around laptops we have our own personal experiences with. However, the laptops featured in this article are selected according to a few key principles regarding the price, CPU, GPU, and display. Thus, if you find another laptop that that also fits these requirements, don’t pass on just because it wasn’t listed here.

One of the key points of consideration for a laptop to make this list is that it needs to be significantly cheaper than a similarly equipped laptop would cost today new. Generally, we’re going to be looking for laptops that can be had for between $250-700 on the used market.

On the subject of performance, Coffee-lake (8th gen) and Turing (10th gen) CPUs and GPUs marked the point where mobile computing power took a leap forward. Since then, the performance and efficiency increases have been much more incremental. Thus, for performance laptops, we’re ideally going to be looking at ultrabooks with at least 8th generation CPUs and gaming laptops with at least GTX 10xx-series GPUs. Most laptops from 2017 onward will fit this bill.

There are some exceptions to the quad-core rule, however. If you really only need the laptop for basic work, then you’ll be able to spend less by going for a 3rd-7th generation U-series CPU ultrabook (Older ThinkPads tend to fulfill this niche nicely). Tablets also are generally exempt from this due to the greater power draw of 4-core/8-thread CPUs in such a small chassis with limited battery capacity.

One major benefit of buying a used or otherwise older model of laptop is hearing about which laptops have a good/bad reputation. You have the advantage of hindsight: the dust has settled, long-term reviews and mass user feedback are available, and the bugs and idiosyncrasies of the device will be known. It is generally more clear what you’re going to get with an older laptop than a newer one.

Lastly, the most important requirement for a display for a non-gaming laptop is going to be 1080p (FHD) resolution using IPS technology and having fairly decent color reproduction. FHD IPS has been the standard for quite some time, and so most laptops you find today will also meet our display requirements. There are some exceptions, however, as some Dell and Lenovo laptops have shipped with poor quality 1366 x 768 TN displays as a way to cut costs for enterprise clients.

For a gaming laptop’s display, unless it will always be used docked to a TV or monitor, you’ll probably want 120Hz+ (especially for shooters or other competitive games). Some of the earlier 120Hz+ displays can be dim or washed-out, so IPS and 300 nit+ brightness are good qualities to look out for if you can get them.

With our requirements out of the way, let’s move onto the laptops.

2. Best Used Ultraportable Laptops

Dell XPS 13 9360 (Affiliate link)

If you are looking for an extremely compact ultrabook with long battery life and solid performance on the cheap, the XPS 13 is at the top of my list.

The good:

• Can be found for $450-550 USD on eBay.
• The last XPS 13 with USB-A as well as Thunderbolt 3.
• Available with 8th generation Intel 4-core/8-thread CPUs.
• Bigger battery than subsequent generations.
• Outstanding battery life with i5 and FHD display (9+ hours of real-world usage).
• Parts are readily available and so it’s relatively easy to upgrade/repair with parts from the 9350/9360.

The bad:

• Lower-left nose-cam.
• Limited GPU performance.
• TB3 port only has two lanes.

The Dell XPS 13 9360 is the last XPS 13 to have a USB Type-A ports and can also be found with Intel 8th generation 4-core/8-thread CPUs.

Tips:

• Make sure to check that you’re getting an i5 or i7 of the 8th generation Intel chips. With an i3 or earlier Intel chips such as the i7-7500U, you’d be giving up half the cores.
• Also make sure that you won’t be needing your laptop for important video presentations, because that camera in the lower-left corner is a killer. I still get made fun of my by colleagues when I use it.
• If you need it to last a full day of work, the i5/FHD SKU is your best bet. Avoid QHD/Touch/i7 configurations if you need more than 4-5 hours of battery life.

Dell XPS 13 9370 or later 16:9 models (9305) (Affiliate link)

If you don’t need USB-A but do need full-speed TB3, or a (more) decently positioned camera you might consider the newer XPS 13 9370 or other models (9305) still using the 16:9 screen design.

The good:

• 9370 can be found for $450-650 USD on eBay.
• Two four-lane Thunderbolt ports, one USB 3.0 Type-C port (with display port out).
• Slightly lighter and thinner than the XPS 13 9360.
• Charges off USB-C.
• Available with 4-core/8-thread up to 6-core/12-thread CPUs.
• Intel Xe Graphics will be many times faster than previous generations of Intel HD graphics.
• Windows Hello IR Cam
• Camera on 9305 is finally above the display.
• Outstanding battery life with i5 and FHD display (9+ hours of real-world usage).
• Parts are readily available and so it’s relatively easy to upgrade/repair with parts from 9370 and later 16:9 XPS 13 iterations.

The bad:

• Still a nose-cam on the 9370
• Limited GPU performance.
• No USB Type-A.
• WiFi card is soldered from this generation on.

The XPS 9370 is a bit slimmer and lighter than the 9360, but loses the USB Type-A ports.

Tips:

• Look for i5/FHD variants for best balance of price/performance/battery.
• Stay away from i3 or 4GB RAM SKUs.
• Camera will still be on the bottom unless you get the 9305, which will be more expensive.

3. Best Used Business/Work Laptops

Lenovo ThinkPad T480 (Affiliate Link)

ThinkPads have long been a great choice for a workhorse notebook. While old staples such as the X220/230/250/260/270 and T450/460/470 are still good choices for basic work laptops, they lack quad-core hyperthreaded CPUs. Thus, we are recommending the T480 as it’s the last ThinkPad with a removable battery. Our review of the Thinkpad T480S series is available here.

The good:

• Can be found for about $500 on eBay.
• Rugged.
• Repairable.
• Highly upgradable, with modular RAM, WiFi, Storage, and batteries.
• Replacement parts easily sourced from eBay or other sites.
• Great port selection.
• TrackPoint.

The bad:

• Screens are not the best quality.
• Keyboards may exhibit issues with scrambling if you are a fast typer.

ThinkPads are well-known for their iconic design language and TrackPoint.

Tips:

• Battery life will depend on whether you are using an extended battery or the slim one. You’ll want the extended battery for all-day usage, which will increase weight and size, so keep that in mind.
• Make sure you’re not buying a model with a awful 1366 x 768 TN display, unless it’s a very good deal and you intend to buy a different display and upgrade yourself.

Dell Latitude E7480 (Affiliate Link)

Dell’s Latitude laptops are often overlooked due to the popularity of ThinkPads, but they make excellent workhorse business laptops at prices that are hard to beat. There’s a huge caveat, here: if coil whine bothers you, the E7480 might be off your list. If you have a very tight budget and don’t need a quad-core CPU, consider the E7470, which can be found for under $200 USD on eBay.

The good:

• Cheaper than comparable ThinkPads.
• Rugged.
• Parts easy to source.
• RAM/WiFi/Storage all upgradable.
• Has a TrackPoint-like pointing nub with dedicated buttons.
• USB Type-A and Thunderbolt 3 ports.

The bad:

• Coil whine has been reported to be an issue.
• Particularly poor speakers.

Although less cultish in their following, Dell’s Latitudes have a dedicated base of proponents and make an excellent choice for a business notebook.

Tips:

• Avoid if you are sensitive to coil whine, or test in-person before buying.
• Make sure you are not getting one with a 1366×768 TN display.

4. Best Used Thin-and-light Performance Ultrabooks

Dell XPS 15 7590 (Affiliate Link)

If you are looking for a good-looking used notebook that does it all and isn’t too expensive, check out the XPS 15 7590. It’s not a fancy looking as the newer XPS 15 9500, XPS 9510, or XPS 9520, but the performance is still hard to beat in such a form factor. It’s more expensive than just about all the other laptops on this list, but if you want something powerful, attractive, and compact for CPU or graphics loads (even some gaming), this is probably your best option.

Our reviews of the various XPS 15 models over the years are available here.

The good:

• Attractive form factor.
• Graphics performance (Nvidia GTX 1650) is good enough for gaming on medium details.
• Strong CPU performance with i7 models.
• Upgradable RAM, WiFi, and SSD.
• Good port selection (1X USB Type-A, 1x TB3, 1x MicroSD, 1x HDMI)
• Parts easily sourced off eBay.
• Great battery life with 97WHr battery and FHD display (10+ hours of real-world usage).

The bad:

• More expensive than a similarly-specced gaming laptop.
• Can be finicky/buggy: see previous reviews on this site for more information.
• 4K UHD display is beautiful but sucks battery.
• OLED display exhibits banding artifacting.

The XPS 15 7590 is an old staple of the “prosumer” notebook form factor.

Tips:

• Unless you really want touch and the most gorgeous display you can still get on a notebook (the IPS UHD), look for the FHD model.
• Avoid the OLED display due to issues with grey-banding and the increased price.
• Avoid the i3 and i5 CPUs if you need a hexa-core CPU. Consider the i5/GTX 1650 config only if you just want a nice-looking laptop to game on and you’re getting a really good deal.
• Follow my guide here on thermally optimizing your XPS 15 to extend its longevity and increase performance.
• DON’T UPGRADE THE BIOS PAST 1.5.0 OR YOU MAY PERMANENTLY LOSE THE ABILITY TO UNDERVOLT. The XPS 15 series runs hot because of its slim form factor, and undervolting is extremely helpful for getting the most performance out of your XPS 15.

5. Best Used Gaming Laptops

Acer Predator Helios 300 (Affiliate Link)

Acer’s “Predator” line of gaming computers (check out our review) might not be as big of a name as Dell’s Alienware, but they’ve been impressing reviewers and gamers alike in the past few years by putting out robust, high-performance, and inexpensive gaming laptops. Their aesthetics and chunky size/weight mean they won’t be winning any beauty contests, but at these prices used, they are hard to beat.

Our reviews of the various Predator Helios 300 models over the years are available here.

The good:

• Robust design
• Upgradable
• Great performance

The bad

• Smaller battery (58Wh)
• No Thunderbolt

Acer’s Predator Helios 300 is a great no-nonsense option to play most modern titles.

Tips:

• If your budget is on the lower end ($4-500), check out older Predator Helios models with Nvidia’s 10-series GPUs. Even a GTX 1060 is generally faster than a GTX 1650, and will be plenty for playing modern games on medium settings.
• If you will use the laptop with an external monitor for gaming, don’t worry about the display.
• You probably do not want the AMD RX560-equipped models, as the performance is far below the Nvidia GTX 10-series.
• Unless it’s absolutely dirt cheap, make sure you are getting an Intel i7-8xxxH CPU to get the benefit of 6-cores.

Lenovo Legion 5 (Affiliate Link)

The Lenovo Legion 5 is first laptop on this list to feature AMD’s Ryzen 7 chips, and that means this used laptop will run circles around other Intel-based offerings in CPU-heavy tasks. It’s got a fairly modern design for a budget gaming laptop, is fully upgradable, and is one of the best used gaming lalptop deals you can get at the moment.

The good

• Ryzen 7 CPU trounces Intel’s 6/8-core chips.
• Nice design
• Upgradable
• Great value

The bad

• No Thunderbolt
• Rubberized coating seems to chip/flake

Lenovo’s Legion 5 can be found with either Intel or AMD CPUs.

Tips:

• If CPU performance trumps all, look for the Ryzen 7 configurations. For gaming, either will be fine.
• An Nvidia GTX 1650Ti or GTX 1660 will both be good GPU options for modern gaming on medium details.

6. Best Used Laptops Under $500

This is quite a competitive category because the answer depends more on what you need from your laptop than the price. However, since we already shouted-out the XPS 13 in the “Best Used Ultraportable” category, we have a different recommendation for the best used laptop under $500 that might surprise you:

Acer Swift 3 (Affiliate Link)

If you’ve never heard of the Acer Swift 3, we don’t blame you. For years, Acer was mostly synonymous for budget laptops that cut corners on materials to deliver the lowest price for the specs. In recent years, however, Acer has really been pushing forward designing laptops with better build quality, materials, and designs, and the “Swift” series has been leading that charge in the Ultraportable segment. We loved our Swift 3s, finding the looks, performance, and typing experience surprisingly good. Look for the 2019 version for the best value.

The good

• Good performance
• Strong battery life
• Great value
• Thin and light
• Available in 14/15″ screen sizes with different keyboard layouts
• Available with Geforce MX graphics
• Great port selection
• Aluminium chassis

The bad

• So-so design
• Can run hot
• Display is best described as “adequate”

It’s not as svelte as the Dell XPS 13, but it delivers more than almost any other laptop in the sub-$500 price segment.

Tips

• Make sure you’re buying the screen size and keyboard layout you want. The 15.6″ model will have a numpad with an offset trackpad.
• The 2020/2021 refreshes are also very generously priced, so if you want a newer design, see if you can snag a deal on eBay or Craigslist.

7. Best Used 2-in-1/convertible Windows PCs

Microsoft Surface Go 2 (Affiliate Link)

Before we get to the official “used” recommendations, there’s a decent argument to be made for Microsoft’s Surface Go 2. It’s technically not an older laptop as it’s the last budget Surface tablet Microsoft has made, but it’s still been around for over a year and the price has dropped a bit.

However, in my humble opinion, it’s not quite the best overall tablet for the price because of its cramped screen and very weak performance with the lower end Pentium/eMMC storage configs, but if you are looking for a cheap secondary Windows convertible, you can do a lot worse. Just be aware of the specs and follow the buying tips below, because your experience with this tablet will vary greatly depending on which configuration you buy. Check out eBay to see if you can snag a good enough deal.

Update: There’s a more recent Surface Go 3 available in the meantime. It’s merely a hardware bump of the Go 2, but with a noticeable performance improvement on the base-level Intel Pentium configurations. However, if you’re shopping for the better specs in this tiny format,  I’d still consider going with the Go 2 instead, especially if you can find it discounted.

The good:

• Small and light
• Cute design
• Very nice 3:2 display
• MicroSD card slot allows for storage expansion

The bad:

• Small screen and keyboard may be cramped for extended use
• So-so battery life
• m3/i3 CPU confogurations necessary for more than basic use
• slow eMMC storage (on the base model)
• Difficult to use on lap

If you can find a good deal on a Surface Go with keyboard and 8 GB of RAM, it could make an excellent secondary or tertiary Windows machine.

Tips:

• Whatever the other specs, make sure you get a model with 8 GB of RAM.
• Get the Intel m3 CPU version of the Go 2 if you intend to do more than very basic tasks on it.
• Avoid the slow eMMC storage models.

Best Used Windows Tablet for Work: Microsoft Surface Pro 5 (Affiliate Link)

I don’t think the Surface Pro 7 is very good, but I think one of the best value Windows 2-in-1 tablets right now might be the Surface Pro 5. It’s got similar performance with much improved power efficiency, and that solves the major problems people seem to have with the Ice-lake-powered Surface Pro 7. It’s also significantly cheaper, with models running for under $300 USD on eBay.

The good

• Convenient form-factor
• Good screen
• Good battery life
• Great overall value
• Optional LTE

The bad

• Difficult to use on lap

The Surface Pro 5 (2017) is my pick for the best used Windows tablet to buy in 2021.

Tips

• Go for the m3 for basic productivity or the i5 if you need a little more sustained performance. Both will still be fanless.
• Unless you really, really want the Iris graphics for whatever reason, avoid the i7 version. The battery life will be significantly worse and you’ll be subject to fan noise, as well.
• As always, get the RAM and storage you think you’ll need in the future, because neither are upgradable.

Update: There’s a new Surface Pro 8 model to check out as well.

Are there any laptops that are great deals used that should be on this list? Let us know in the comments!

The article Best used or refurbished laptops to buy in 2026 (updated) appeared first on .

Earlier in the year Asus launched a 2025 mild refresh of the previous 2024 P16 chassis, but as of Fall 2025, there’s a new and improved variant available, targeting the same segment of creator/pro-level thin-and-light computers.

On the outside, the differences between all the P16 generations are minimal to none, with this latest model being minimally thicker and heavier, but otherwise the same all-black minimalist design.

On the inside, though, the late-2025 update comes with more powerful hardware specs on the GPU side (RTX 5070Ti, 5080 and 5090 variants, paired with the same Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor), a more capable cooling module with a vapor-chamber, borrowed from the top-specced Zephyrus G16 models, and a Tandem OLED display with a 4K 120Hz panel, thus faster and brighter than the regular 4K OLED offered on the previous P16 generation.

Now, telling these versions apart isn’t straightforward at all, but in general lines, the older model comes with 4060/4070/5060/5070 graphics, while this updated variant bundles 5070Ti/5080/5090 graphics, alongside the vapor-chamber cooling and improved OLED.

Our review unit is the top-specced RTX 5090 version with 64 GB of RAM, available at launch for 4000 USD / 4800 EUR, mostly on par with the most powerful RTX 5090 full-size notebooks available out there. So let’s see what you’re getting for this kind of money.

2025 ASUS ProArt P16 workstation, 5090 version

Design and ergonomics

As mentioned earlier, this updated ProArt P16 is almost identical to the previous chassis in design and functionality. The differences are minimal, with this late-2025 model being about 1 mm thicker and less than 100 grams heavier, as a result of incorporating an updated and more capable cooling module with a vapor chamber.

Hence, go ahead and read my indepth thoughts on this chassis in my previous articles here and here.

Briefly, though, this is a premium-tier laptop in a compact and lightweight package, at sub 2 kilos. It feels sturdy and exquisite to the touch, as it is entirely made out of metal pieces. It doesn’t flex or squeak in any obvious way.

Aesthetically, this is an all-black minimalist approach with few and muted branding elements. It is the absolute sleeper design.

It does smudge fairly easily, though, as expected from a black metal box. It could also dent and chip around the edges, so treat it well. The display smudges just as easily and requires some effort to wipe clean, something to keep in mind considering this laptop implements a touchscreen.

Functionality is mostly well refined, with the exception of the limited screen angle of around 130 degrees. Ideally, this sort of portable design should have a 180 screen.

As for the IO, that’s lined on the sides and includes most of the right ports, including USB-C slots on both sides (with charging support) and an SD card reader.

For what is worth, the power plug is the new straight-on design that Asus use on their modern laptops, which means the cable sticks out annoyingly to the side and can’t be nicely routed to the back.

Overall, this is still one of the best designs in this space. It could have been perfect with a 180 display.

Keyboard and touchpad

The ProArt P16 offers an excellent keyboard and a huge glass touchpad, that is actually too big for its own good in some situations.

The keyboard is a minimalist layout, with a full set of main keys and small arrows, but without a NumPad or the extra media keys available on ROG units.

The typing experience is much on par with the Zephyrus models, among the better in this space, with firm feedback and fairly deep stroke depth at 1.7 mm. Of course, these keys smudge easily, being black smooth plastic.

The keys are backlit, but with white-only LEDs, not RGB as on the Zephyrus models. The LEDs are plenty bright and uniform. They also activate with a swipe over the touchpad once they time out (it’s a setting in myAsus, and can be deactivated if needed).

The touchpad is huge and occupies most of the armrest, stretching all the way from just under the Space key to the front of the laptop.

This touchpad works well, although you’ll need time to mentally get used to its size. The physical clicks in the corners are quiet and smooth, and palm rejection works fine as well.

The fact that this touchpad goes all the way to the front of the laptop can be annoying when using the device on the lap or on the legs, with clothes creating false swipes and taps.

The top-left corner of this touchpad is a customizable Dial Pad, a rotary dial that can be used for various actions in Windows and in some apps. It works in Photoshop or Premiere, but I’m not entirely convinced this is actually useful for real-life use. At least it doesn’t impede the general use experience in any way by creating any dead zones on the touchpad.

Finally, for biometrics, there’s an IR camera here, but no finger sensor in the power button.

16-inch Lumina Pro OLED display, 120 Hz

The display on this ProArt P16 is a 16-inch 16:10 format with what Asus calls a Lumina Pro OLED panel. In other words, this is a newer-gen Tandem OLED from Samsung, with 120 Hz refresh and VRR (unlike the 60 Hz refresh on the previous panel), still 4K resolution, and much higher sustained and peak brightness levels: 700 nits sustained, 1600 nits peak.

This latter aspect makes this OLED more convenient to use in bright offices or even outdoors, despite still being a glossy surface, as well as enhances its HDR capabilities for movies and games. With peak HDR brightness over 1500 nits, compared to 500+ nits on the regular OLEDs, the difference in HDR capabilities is night and day.

Here’s what we got in our tests, with an X-Rite i1 Display Pro sensor:

• Panel HardwareID: Samsung SDC420E (ATNA60HC03-0);
• Coverage: 100% sRGB, 98.2% Adobe RGB, 99.3% DCI-P3;
• Type: 10-bit with HDR, 120 Hz;
• Measured gamma: 2.22;
• Max brightness in the middle of the screen: 679.42 cd/m2 on power;
• Min brightness in the middle of the screen: <5 cd/m2 on power;
• Contrast at max brightness: 1:1;
• White point: 6500 K;
• Black on max brightness: 0 cd/m2;
• PWM: Yes, to be discussed.