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12 Best Laptops of 2025, Tested and Reviewed

Posted on April 13, 2025 by faz_business

Front view of an open Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i a thin silver laptop with vibrant screen sitting on a wooden table with a blue...

Other Good Laptops to Consider

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition (Copilot+ PC) for $1,300: The first Intel-based Copilot+ PC (7/10, WIRED Review) we tested is a winner on all fronts, boasting outstanding AI and graphics performance and some of the best battery life we’ve ever seen on Intel hardware. With its slightly oddball 15.3-inch screen, it hits its high points without breaking the bank, though the fan is loud and the system may weigh you down more than you’d like.

Asus Zenbook A14 for $1,000: This is one of the lightest laptops we’ve ever tested, thanks to Asus’ Ceraluminum material. The Zenbook A14 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is also the first A-series laptop from the company, and it employs Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon X chipset, which is the weakest and supposedly the most affordable of the Snapdragon X series. While this laptop excels in build quality, portability, and sports excellent battery life, the chipset is lackluster, only suitable for average web browsing tasks, and it’s still priced a little too high for what you get.

Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (2024) for $909: We’ve been pleasantly surprised to see more lower-cost laptops that still incorporate some measure of artificial intelligence-focused performance tuning. The Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (7/10, WIRED Review), the latest in the company’s line of affordable, no-nonsense laptops, is under $1,000 and uses the new AMD Ryzen 7 CPU (model 8840HS). This is a small, portable machine (3.1 pounds and 19 mm thick), and it packs in plenty of ports despite the slim form. There are two USB-C ports (one of which is needed for charging), one full-size USB 3.2 port, a full-size HDMI output, and a microSD card reader. The keyboard has small arrow keys but is otherwise nice to type on.

Asus Vivobook S 14 OLED for $900: Not unlike the Zenbook 14 OLED, this 14-inch machine sports an OLED panel for a reasonable sub-$1,000 price. The Vivobook S 14 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is powered by an Intel Core Ultra 9 Series 1 chipset with 16 GB of RAM and a 1-TB SSD. It can handle most daily tasks with no problem, though the screen could stand to get brighter. Battery life is OK, hitting up to 12 hours with average use. Unfortunately, the machine is a fingerprint magnet, so you’ll constantly be wiping it down. It has plenty of ports.

Topdown view of opened silver laptop showing the keyboard and abstract art on thes screen

Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge for $1,450: Listen. I’m not saying you should buy a Copilot+ PC. These are laptops with a new designation from Microsoft, running Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets, tuned for several new artificial intelligence features. If you decide you need one, Samsung’s Galaxy Book4 Edge (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is our king of the hill. Yes, it suffers from the same problems that impact most Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PC hardware—middling graphics performance and compatibility issues—but these are largely overcome by the many other strengths of the device. For starters, it has some of the best overall performance of any Copilot+ PC laptop we’ve encountered to date, and the larger, 16-inch AMOLED screen even affords you room for a numeric keypad without making the keyboard feel cramped. At AI-driven tasks like Microsoft’s real-time Live Captions, the Galaxy Book4 Edge kept up with rapid-fire dialogue in ways other Copilot+ PC devices we’ve tested weren’t able to do. It also stayed cool and quiet while cranking out a battery life of 14 and a half hours while playing full-screen YouTube videos. It’s a bit pricier than the competition, but you can save some cash by opting for the smaller 14-inch model.

Dell XPS 14 and XPS 16 for $1,650+: Dell’s two XPS laptops of 2024 (7/10, WIRED Recommends) are aimed at Windows users with MacBook jealousy. The design, specs, and sizes line up perfectly with Apple’s offerings. The XPS 14 and 16 both have a gorgeous, sleek design, wonderfully bright and sharp OLED screens (with 120-Hz screen refresh rates), and are plenty speedy for everyday tasks. Unfortunately, when it comes to more intensive tasks like video editing, the MacBook’s benchmarks run circles around the XPS 14. The larger XPS 16, which uses the more powerful RTX 4070 graphics card, fared much better but costs more than a similarly powerful MacBook. The XPS 14 and 16 are both beautiful, well-designed machines. They’re plenty capable for most use cases, though heavy gamers and video editors will want to look elsewhere. They’re expensive for what you get, but if you don’t mind paying a premium for first-class build quality with clean, eye-catching design, then the XPS 14 and 16 are solid laptops.

Acer Chromebook Plus 515 for $399: This is a 15-inch Chromebook Plus model (8/10, WIRED Recommends) with the same internal components as the Lenovo we recommend above. The battery life for this one is a solid 8.5 hours of full-screen video playback time. The Acer offers an HDMI 1.4 output jack in place of the Lenovo’s microSD card slot, making this one a better choice if you frequently need to give presentations or otherwise use the HDMI port. There’s also the smaller Chromebook Plus 514 ($380) that’s equally great.

Samsung Galaxy Book4 Ultra for $3,000: There’s much to love here (7/10, WIRED Review), but that price. Ouch. You get what you pay for at least, with the new Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor, the current top-of-the-line processor in Intel’s Core Ultra CPU lineup, along with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card. The 16-inch AMOLED 2,880 x 1,800 pixels touchscreen is magnificent to work on and performance blew everything else we’ve tested out of the water. But that price.

Acer Swift Go 14 for $1,000: This one is very similar to the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED, our top budget laptop. We found the Asus to be a little faster and have a much nicer build quality, but the Swift Go still offers outstanding performance, especially considering the price (7/10, WIRED Review). It also boasts an impressive 15-hour battery life. The downside is the speakers, which aren’t great, and overall the body feels a little plasticky. But this is the least expensive Intel Core Ultra laptop we’ve tested by a few dollars, so if the budget is tight, the Swift Go is worth considering.

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x Copilot+ PC for $1,200: Lenovo’s svelte Slim 7x (7/10, WIRED Review) isn’t exciting, but it offers the best price-to-performance ratio of the many Copilot+ PCs we’ve tested. Battery life and performance are standouts, though the fan does tend to run loud.

Microsoft Surface Laptop (7th Edition, 2024) for $1,550: Want a Windows laptop straight from the horse’s mouth? Buy the 7th Edition Surface Laptop (7/10, WIRED Review). Performance is solid as is battery life, and you get a smooth 120-Hz display. It’s just way too pricey for what you get. Read our Best Surface Laptops guide for more.

The first Xbox handheld might not come from Microsoft

Posted on March 11, 2025 by faz_business

It took a few years of dealing with poorly optimized handheld PCs, but Windows Central reports Microsoft may finally be working on an Xbox handheld. The company could announce an Xbox-branded portable device as early as this year, though it sounds like it won’t come from Microsoft directly.

Instead, the company is partnering with a PC maker already working in the gaming space to build a handheld, Windows Central writes. The device, codenamed “Keenan,” will feature Xbox design elements, an “official Xbox guide button” and will likely run Windows 11. Given the clunky experience of navigating Windows on the handhelds you can buy today, the real hope is that Xbox’s take will include a launcher or new way of using the desktop OS that’s fit for a controller instead of a mouse. The big advantage SteamOS has over Windows is that you never have to interact with a desktop environment if you don’t want to.

These rumored plans might line up with what Microsoft’s VP of “Next Generation” Jason Ronald shared at an AMD and Lenovo event from CES 2025 called “The Future of Gaming Handhelds.” According to The Verge, Ronald said that Microsoft wants to bring “the best of Xbox and Windows together.” The company hopes to simplify Windows and make it using it more console-like for handhelds. “I think we’ll have a lot more to share later this year,” Ronald said.

Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, has expressed interest in handheld devices before and said the company was experimenting with prototypes. It seems like at least for now, though, Microsoft is borrowing Valve’s approach and making a handheld-friendly version of its operating system available for other PC makers to use.

That doesn’t mean there won’t be a first-party handheld in the future. Windows Central‘s report mentions that there’s a successor to the Xbox Series X, new internet-connected controllers and an official Xbox gaming handheld, all tentatively slated for 2027.

14 Best Tablets (2025), Tested and Reviewed

Posted on February 2, 2025 by faz_business

Other Tablets to Consider

OnePlus Pad tablets with keyboards attached

We test tons of tablets every year. Here are a few others we like, just not as much as our picks above.

OnePlus Pad for $399: The OnePlus Pad has a successor, but OnePlus says it will continue to sell the OnePlus Pad until stock runs out. It’s great value at the frequently discounted price of $300 (8/10, WIRED Recommends). Multitasking is notably efficient, aided by the company’s accessories: a Magnetic Keyboard case and a stylus. It was the first time I felt comfortable working for long stretches on an Android tablet. The 11.61-inch LCD 144-Hz display is sharp, fluid, and colorful, the battery can last nearly a full workday, and performance is smooth. It’s a shame there’s no microSD slot, headphone jack, or biometric authentication.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE Plus for $480: The Galaxy Tab S9 FE is the “Fan Edition” version of the flagship Tab S9 series, meaning it makes some sacrifices for a more palatable price. It comes in a Plus and standard variant—I tested the former—and both include a stylus. It performed much better than the older Tab S7 FE tablet I tested with fewer stutters. The 12.4-inch LCD screen is large and a rarity to find at this price in the world of Android tablets, but it’s a bit tricky to comfortably hold, especially when browsing apps in bed. It has dipped as low as $400 before, so try to catch it on sale.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Series for $700+: The 2023 Galaxy Tab S9 series (7/10, WIRED Recommends) consists of three tablets: the Tab S9, Tab S9+, and Tab S9 Ultra. They’re all expensive, though prices have come down since their release. The hardware is still excellent and, considering the new Tab S10 series isn’t dramatically different, the Tab S9 series is still worth a look. They sport superbright 120-Hz screens and IP68 water resistance, and Samsung includes the S Pen stylus.

Black tablet with orange abstract art on the screen. Background green recycled paper texture.

Amazon Fire HD 10 (2023) for $140: This Amazon tablet drops to $75 on sale, and that’s a hard-to-beat price. The update over the 2021 model is largely just a processor bump, making it slightly faster. Its performance is decent (get the keyboard bundle if you plan to do some light typing tasks).

Poco Pad for £415: This affordable tablet from Xiaomi’s fun budget sub-brand has a lovely big, sharp 12.1-inch display with a 120-Hz refresh rate and four stereo speakers around the sides. The Poco’s build quality is impressive for the price, though it is quite bulky and heavy, and it’s ideal for watching movies or casual gaming in bed. Performance gets stretched if you play anything too demanding, and HyperOS on top of Android 14 can be clumsy and ugly. The battery life is pleasing, and you can expect several days from the Poco Pad with light use. Unfortunately, it’s not currently available in the US. —Simon Hill

Honor MagicPad 2 for £500: This classy tablet is also not currently sold in the US. Quite similar to the OnePlus Pad 2 we recommend above, it boasts a truly gorgeous OLED display with impressive specs (3K resolution, 1,600 nits, 144-Hz refresh rate) that are generally unavailable at this price. Paired with the eight speakers, watching movies and gaming on this tablet is a pleasure. The stylus and keyboard are great (I love the handwriting and formula recognition), but they don’t seem to be available in the UK. I found Honor’s AI features, like Magic Portal, which gets good at predicting what you want to do, very useful, maybe more so on a tablet than a phone. Battery life is good, and charging is speedy (66 watts). The only real weakness here is the limited processing power, which can’t match something like an iPad (though you will pay a lot more for an equivalent Apple device). —Simon Hill

Tablet Accessories

Tablets often don’t come with kickstands or enough ports, so it’s a good idea to snag a few accessories to enhance your experience. These are some of our favorite tablet accessories, many of which you can also find in our Best iPad Accessories guide.

Satechi Aluminum Desktop Stand for $45: This is my favorite tablet stand, so much so that I’ve taken it with me on trips. It packs down relatively well, and it is very stable—there’s no wobbling around here. You can also adjust the angle quite a bit. It can handle huge sizes too—it worked perfectly with my 12.9-inch iPad Pro.

Logitech K380 Pebble Bluetooth Keyboard for $40: Want a simple Bluetooth keyboard for your tablet instead of spending half the price of your tablet on a keyboard case? I’ve used Logitech’s K380 for years and it’s functioned perfectly. It takes two AA batteries that I’ve yet to replace (Logitech claims two years of use), and you can switch between three connected devices via Bluetooth.

Twelve South Compass Pro Stand for $30: This is made for iPads, but I’ve had no trouble using it for plenty of other tablets. It’s more travel-friendly than the Satechi above and fairly stable, but when I lift the tablet off, the back leg tends to change positions. You can angle it pretty low for sketching or keep it upright for watching movies. Unlike the Satechi, it’s not a great option for keeping the tablet upright on a mattress.

Twelve South StayGo Mini USB-C Hub for $60: This works with iPads and other tablets just fine. You can either plug it in and keep it flush with the edge of a slate or use the included cord to keep it extended. You get a USB-C port you can use for pass-through charging, a USB-A, an HDMI, and a headphone jack.

Lamicall Gooseneck Tablet Holder for $28: I’ve used this on my bed frame to hold up various tablets for more than a year. The gooseneck requires a bit of finagling to get to the right position, and if you’re constantly tapping the tablet, it will jiggle around. But it’s a great hands-free way to watch movies. You can affix the clamp to any surface, like a desk or kitchen counter.

Twelve South HoverBar Duo Mount/Stand for $80: You can use this as a stand or as an arm mount, and Twelve South makes it really easy to switch between the two. That means you can easily affix your tablet to your bedside arm mount, and then put it on the stand in your home office in the morning. Both are sturdy, and the arm mount is decently adjustable. Best of all, it doesn’t wiggle around as much as the Lamicall above when you tap the screen.

Anker Nano 3 30-Watt Charging Adapter for $20: Most tablets charge at around 18 watts, so this 30-watt charger from Anker is more than capable. The plugs fold up, and it’s pretty compact. If your tablet does support faster charging, then I recommend Satechi’s 108-watt three-port USB-C charger ($75). This will let you charge your phone, tablet, and laptop all off the same plug.

Einova Ultra Fast Power Bank for $47: This power bank is slim enough to store next to a tablet in your bag, and it has enough capacity (20,000 mAh) to recharge an 11-inch tablet twice. You can fast-charge with the USB-C port and use the two USB-A ports to recharge other devices.

Asus ROG Ally X Review: More Battery and Storage, Same Windows Problems

Posted on July 22, 2024 by faz_business

I was harsh on the original Asus ROG Ally. Maybe a little too harsh, since many of the problems I had with it are inherent to the very concept of a Windows-based handheld gaming console. So, when I got my hands on the new ROG Ally X, I tried to be a bit more open-minded. It wasn’t hard, because the newer model is a substantial improvement. But some hurdles just can’t be overcome.

The ROG Ally X looks almost identical to its predecessor, save for a new coat of black paint. There are subtle differences, like rounded-out grips that are more comfortable to hold, slightly elevated ABXY buttons, and an eight-direction D-pad that handles diagonal movements a bit better. If you didn’t look too closely though, you’d be forgiven for thinking little has changed.

But under the hood, Asus has made some massive improvements. Most notably, the battery size has doubled. The original ROG Ally had a 40-Wh battery, roughly comparable to the original Steam Deck. The ROG Ally X, on the other hand, somehow packs a massive 80-Wh battery. That’s larger than the battery in Asus’s Zephyrus G14 gaming laptop, which I loved for its lengthy battery life. Despite this massive increase, the Ally X is only about 70 grams heavier.

Asus also beefed up the storage capacity—it now comes with a 1-terabyte SSD instead of 512 GB—and 8 more gigabytes of DDR5 RAM. The company also swapped out the XG Mobile port that’s only really useful for Asus’ external GPUs for a USB4 port that can reach speeds up to 40 Gbps, making it ideal for connecting to external docking stations. But specs can’t tell the whole story.

Black handheld gaming device with knobs and buttons on either side of a wide screen

The Insurmountable Wall of Windows

Windows isn’t designed to be run on a handheld. That’s just a simple, unavoidable truth. Microsoft expects you to come to its operating system with a mouse and keyboard, or at least a large touch screen. Trying to navigate the OS with a controller is always going to be an exercise in frustration. No matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to escape the basic problem of trying to interact with things on the screen.

One prominent example of this is the Xbox app. Asus has made some solid strides with its Armoury Crate SE app that’s meant to be the bridge between all the other game libraries on your system. Armoury Crate launches at startup, there’s a dedicated button next to the right control stick to open it when you need it, and it has shortcuts to apps like Steam (which launches in the controller-friendly Big Picture mode) or Xbox so you can access any game you own.

Back of a black handheld gaming device showing the ports

Outage caused by CrowdStrike’s disastrous update affected 8.5 million devices

Posted on July 21, 2024 by faz_business

The global outage caused by a faulty update from cybersecurity provider CrowdStrike on Friday affected some 8.5 million Windows devices, Microsoft said in a blog post. The update triggered a blue screen of death, bringing systems used by hospitals, airlines, banks and other major services temporarily to a standstill. Only machines running Windows were affected.

While the issue was mostly resolved by Friday afternoon, Microsoft and CrowdStrike are still dealing with the fallout. In the blog post on Saturday, Microsoft’s VP of Enterprise and OS Security, David Weston, wrote that the company is working with CrowdStrike to “develop a scalable solution that will help Microsoft’s Azure infrastructure accelerate a fix for CrowdStrike’s faulty update.” Microsoft has also called in help from Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud Platform (GCP).

CrowdStrike said in its own blog post on Saturday that the update — a sensor configuration update — “was designed to target newly observed, malicious named pipes being used by common C2 frameworks in cyberattacks.” Unfortunately, for devices running Windows 7.11 and above that use CrowdStrike’s Falcon sensor, it instead “triggered a logic error that resulted in an operating system crash.” The total number of devices affected worked out to be “less than one percent of all Windows machines,” according to Weston.