The Yoga Slim 7x (starts at $1,049; $1,579 as tested) is Lenovo’s latest take on a premium ARM ultraportable, aiming to deliver standout performance and battery life with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 Elite under the hood. Paired with a comfy keyboard, an OLED touch panel, and a sharp webcam, and this is a slick overall package provided you’re not reliant on x86 apps. Also prepare to pack a few adapters, as USB-C is the only port in town.

Design of the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x

Lenovo’s dark blue aluminum chassis feels premium and impressively rigid. The Slimi 7x didn’t creak or bend when I picked it up by a corner or the lid. (It’s not wise to pick up a laptop like that, but it happens.) Aesthetically, it offers an upscale, modern look though it doesn’t stand apart from the crowd outside its uncommon color.

At 12.28 x 8.7 x 0.55 inches (WDH) and 2.58 pounds, the Slim 7x has a slightly larger footprint but ducks under the weight of the 13-inch MacBook Air (11.97 x 8.46 x 0.44 inches, 2.7 pounds). Dell’s XPS 14 is heavier but slightly trimmer (12.19 x 8.26 x 0.58 inches, 3 pounds). Lenovo’s own Yoga Slim 7i (13.54 x 9.27 x 0.55 inches, 2.15 pounds) is slightly larger but noticeably lighter.

Port selection is limited to just three USB4 ports. There’s not even a headphone jack, so be prepared to take adapters. The power button and the webcam privacy shutter e-switch are on the right edge.

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x Specifications

Productivity Performance on the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x

We tested the Yoga Slim 7x with its top CPU, the Snapdragon X2 Elite X2E-88-100. It features 18 cores, 6 of which are high-performance, and boosts up to 4.7 GHz on two cores. The system also features 32GB of onboard memory and a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD.

Our comparison systems match the performance focus of this system. Apple’s 13-inch MacBook Air ($1,299) uses a 10-core M5, followed by two 14-inch laptops: Dell’s XPS 14 ($2,199) leverages a Core Ultra X7 358H while Lenovo’s Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition ($1,629) uses a Core Ultra 7 355. Asus’ 16-inch Zenbook A16 ($1,699) fills the last spot using an even higher grade of CPU than our Slim 7x – the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme X2E-94-100, which boasts 18 cores like the X2E-88-100 but offers a wider 192-bit (as opposed to 128-bit) memory bus for 228GB/s versus 152GB/s of bandwidth.

On Geekbench 6, the Slim 7x’s single-core score (3,822 points) was practically tied ith Asus (3,807), leaving only the MacBook Air with a higher score (4,168). The Intel-based systems were left well behind. The Slim 7x also produced impressive multi-core results, though its 20,563 points weren’t in the same league as the Asus (22,733), which uses the X2 Elite Extreme.

The Slim 7x made an excellent showing in our 25GB file transfer test, averaging 1,934.78 MBps to tie the MacBook Air (1,924.84 MBps) and land ahead of the Asus (1,744.38 MBps). The XPS 14 trailed the group (1,419.76 MBps).

On Handbrake, the Slim 7x completed the 4K to 1080p video transcoding in 2 minutes and 11 seconds, just three seconds slower than the Asus and easily outgunning the others – Apple finished in 4:41 while the Slim 7i trailed at 5:56.

To stress test the CPU in laptops, we run 10 loops of Cinebench 2026. The system started with a score of 5,926 but dropped to 5,168 on the second run, where it stayed within a few points for the remaining runs. During the test, the P2 cores ran at an average of 3.34 GHz while the P1 cores ran at 3.94 GHz.

Graphics on the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x

We run 3DMark Steel Nomad to gauge raw graphics horsepower. The Slim 7x’s Adreno X2-90 GPU scored 1,115 points, just behind the Asus (1,262) featuring the same silicon and bested Apple’s M5 integrated solution (1,005). The XPS 14, however, easily took the top spot with 1,446 points thanks to the potent Arc B390 graphics solution built into its Core Ultra X7 358H. The Slim 7i stood way in the back with just 513 points.

Display on the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x

Our Yoga Slim 7x comes with a 1920 x 1200 OLED touch panel. It offers a pleasant picture overall, but isn’t a standout due to its modest brightness – an all-white screen barely makes me want to squint in a dim room. Watching Star Wars: Andor, the stormtroopers’ armor and blaster bolts didn’t pop with the intensity I expected. Colors, however, look rich, and space scenes show off OLED’s trademark inky blacks. The 60Hz refresh rate is par for the course. On the plus side, touch input feels smooth and responsive against the solid glass surface.

Lenovo offers a 2880 x 1800 OLED panel on higher-end configurations, which offers nearly twice the HDR brightness (1,100 versus 600 nits) and a 120 Hz variable refresh rate. (This panel was featured in the Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition we reviewed.)

The OLED panel on the Slim 7x offers complete coverage of the DCI-P3 gamut, matching its stablemate, the Slim 7i. Its 321-nit peak brightness, however, isn’t impressive next to the Slim 7i’s 476 nits. Not even the IPS-equipped MacBook Air matches the latter.

Keyboard and Touchpad on the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x

Lenovo nailed the Slim 7x’s keyboard. The 1.5 mm key travel provides enough movement for your fingers to clearly tell when the key has reached the top or bottom of a stroke. The keys feel springy and snap back with a satisfying sound. Keycaps are slightly scooped with an 0.3 mm dish to help orient your fingers to the center of the key. I felt immediately comfortable on this keyboard, hitting 123 words per minute with 99% accuracy in MonkeyType on the first try. White backlighting, toggled with Fn + spacebar, provides excellent visibility.

Lenovo’s touchpad is also first-rate. Its matte surface is large relative to the 14-inch display. Physical clicks – this is a mechanical pad, not haptic – feel precise, require just the right amount of effort, and aren’t too loud.

Audio on the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x

The Slim 7x produces decent audio, with enough volume and fullness that you won’t regret forgetting your headphones. Clarity is a bit muffled by default, but enabling the Detailed equalizer in the Dolby Access app goes a long way towards addressing that, sharpening the soundstage.

Listening to William Black’s “Bleed 4 U”, I heard good separation between vocals and instruments, though the bass drop wasn’t that satisfying due to the lack of low-end response. This followed into Star Wars: Andor where explosions and footsteps didn’t quite have the impact for an immersive experience. Overall, though, two people in a quiet room can be easily entertained by this setup.

Upgradeability of the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x

Four Torx T6 screws secure the Slim 7x’s bottom cover, with the front screws (below the palm rest) shorter than the rear ones. I used a plastic trim tool to pop the clips around the perimeter, starting in the speaker cutouts. The panel still felt stuck after I did this – it turned out a foam pad in the center had some adhesive on it. A gentle lift with my fingertips finally broke it free.

As Snapdragon laptops use nearly all soldered or integrated components, upgradeability is limited – here, just the M.2 2230 SSD and the battery can be changed out.

Battery Life on the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x

Our battery rundown test sets the screen brightness at 150 nits while the system runs web browsing, streaming video, and light OpenGL tests while connected to Wi-Fi. The Slim 7x was in a class of its own, lasting 19 hours and 25 minutes. The next longest-lasting units were the Slim 7i (16:38) and the MacBook Air (15:28). The Asus lasted just 10:26 despite also using the same capacity battery as the Slim 7x.

Not shown in the charts, we tested a second version of the XPS 14 without the OLED screen and with a standard Core Ultra 7 355, which ran for an even more impressive 20:41.

Heat on the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x

We measure laptop surface temperatures while running our 10-loop Cinebench 2026 stress test. Peak surface temperatures on the Slim 7x were 70 degrees Fahrenheit on the touchpad, 87 F between the G and H keys, and 100 F on the underside. The laptop felt only lukewarm to the touch. I could hear the fans running, but they weren’t loud enough to

We’re unable to report chip temperatures since the HWInfo tool we use to collect data doesn’t yet support precise enough monitoring on Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon silicon.

Webcam on the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x

Lenovo’s 9MP webcam offers excellent video quality. The 1440p video resolution shows fine details – holding my wrist next to my face a couple feet away, I could read the rather small typeface on my Apple Watch and see the links on my necklace. Noise reduction is also superb, with no noticeable grain even in the shadows below my head. The camera furthermore works well in challenging lighting situations – it managed to expose my face properly despite a bright lamp behind me, which was also exposed properly and didn’t look like a blur.

The camera includes an infrared sensor for facial logins with Windows Hello. There’s no physical privacy shutter, but a switch on the laptop’s right edge disconnects it from the laptop, an arguably more secure solution.

Software and Warranty on the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x

Lenovo’s software stack starts with the familiar Vantage app. In addition to software updates, diagnostics, and support access, it features a security advisor which verifies you have antivirus, a firewall, and are connected to a safe wireless network. Available system settings include a battery lifespan protector that caps the charge at 80% and power mode, with adaptive (the default), battery saver, or maximum performance toggles. The app also includes upsells for Lenovo’s Smart Lock and Smart Performance subscription services.

Some unwanted software is present, including a McAfee trial.

Lenovo includes a standard one-year warranty.

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x Configurations

We tested the Slim 7x with a 1920 x 1200 OLED touch display, Snapdragon X2 Elite X2E-88-100 processor, 32GB of memory, and a 1TB SSD. Its retail price was $1,579 from Best Buy, discounted from an $1,849 MSRP.

Models start at $1,049 from Lenovo.com with a Snapdragon X2 Plus X2P-42-100, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD, with a step-up $1,449 configuration offering an X2 Elite X2E-80-100 and 32GB of RAM. The range-topping $1,619 model upgrades to the X2 Elite X2E-88-100 and the 2880 x 1800 OLED display, which features a higher brightness rating and 120 Hz variable refresh rate.

The Slim 7x is priced on the lower side of Snapdragon X2 Elite laptops. Best Buy had Asus’ Zenbook A16 for $1,699 with 48GB of RAM. I also saw a 14-inch HP OmniBook Ultra featuring a 3K OLED screen for $2,049.

Bottom Line

Lenovo’s Yoga Slim 7x is a compelling case for an ARM laptop. Powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 Elite, it pushes performance and battery life to new heights among 14-inch ultraportables. Aside from its USB-C-only approach, it offers standout usability thanks to its comfortable input devices, lightweight design, and crisp webcam. While its OLED touch screen is perfectly usable, the visually discerning will find its optional 2880 x 1800 panel worthwhile.

Competition is tight – Apple’s MacBook Air remains a benchmark while Dell’s XPS 14, and Lenovo’s own Slim 7i offer strong Windows alternatives. But if you’re not tied to x86 software, the Slim 7x’s mix of performance, battery life, and pricing is hard to beat.

Whether you're a student submitting homework, at work typing away at documents, spreadsheets, or presentations, or you're just someone who wants to access resources online and connect with family and friends, you want a laptop with the components and features you'll need to get the job done. That means a great screen, a comfortable keyboard, and long battery life (and nice design doesn't hurt, either!).

The laptop space is more competitive than ever. Windows machines come from many companies using silicon from three major CPU vendors: Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm. Apple, meanwhile, has a range of powerful and portable systems based on its own Apple Silicon.

In 2026, Intel's most recent chips are its Intel Core Ultra (Series 3) chips, code-named Panther Lake, while AMD launched its "Gorgon Point" Ryzen AI processors at CES. At Computex, Nvidia announced that its RTX Spark chips will launch in laptops from Microsoft, Dell, Lenovo, HP, and more starting in the fall, taking on Qualcomm in the Windows on Arm space. Earlier this year, Qualcomm released its Snapdragon X2 Elite Xtreme, Elite, and Plus chips.

On Macs, Apple's top chips are the M5 series, including the M5 Pro and M5 Max, which can be found in the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air lineup.

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Best Laptops You Can Buy Today

The Best Laptop (and Mac) overall

The MacBook Air has been a go-to laptop recommendation for quite some time, thanks to strong performance, a fanless design, excellent built quality, and long-lasting battery life. With the version of the chip with M5, you get the benefits of years of hardware revisions since the Air's last redesign with M2, including a minimum 16GB of RAM and a 12-megapixel webcam.

The M5 chip in the MacBook Air showed off excellent single and multi-core performance. In fact, it;s closest rival was the same chip in the MacBook Pro, which gets a boost because of an active fan.

That being said, the system can throttle under heavy workloads like rendering. But for most people's typical tasks, including writing, editing, making spreadsheets, editing photos, listening to music, programming, and general multitasking, you'll have a very powerful machine.

Apple has boosted the base MacBook Air's price to $1,099, but it now starts with 512GB of memory. Given the price of components these days, the laptop is still a great value. If you want a Mac but don't want to spend that much for it, you could take a step down to the entry-level MacBook Neo, starting at $599, as long as you're willing to sacrifice on power, memory, ports, and a backlit keyboard.

Read: MacBook Air (M5) review

Best Windows laptop

The Dell XPS 14 is back, and while you might expect its performance or design to be the headlining feature, it's the battery life that wows. With its base 1920 x 1200 LCD display, which has a variable refresh rate that goes all the way down to 1 Hz, it lasted 20 hours and 41 minutes on our battery test.

That's not to say the battery life is all there is to like about this laptop. The 3-pound chassis is sleek, and Dell added a function row back to the keyboard, making it way easier to use over the touch bar of yesteryear.

If you're OK with 12 hours of charge, more expensive models with a tandem OLED display have way better colors and more powerful Arc B390 integrated graphics.

That being said, both of them have a low-travel keyboard without space between the keys, which definitely tripped up my fingers, so you'll need time to get your muscle memory going. And the starting price, at $1,600, is a lot to ask but is unfortunately common as the memory crisis rages on.

Read: Dell XPS 14 (2026) review

Best ultralight laptop

Some of the best laptops are barely noticeable in your bag. The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition, at 2.15 pounds is extremely light.

Still, despite the weight, you get plenty of other benefits. The speakers are surprisingly good for a laptop of this size. Perhaps most impressively, the system ran for 16 hours and 38 minutes on our battery test, outlasting many of the laptops we bit against it by multiple hours.

The system also offers a lovely display. The POLED touchscreen measured 476 nits of brightness while falling in similar gamut ranges as other OLED notebooks that weren't as luminous.

There are some downsides. There are limited ports outside of Thunderbolt 4/USB-C, including a lack of a headphone jack. And CPU performance fell behind some competitors, like Apple's M5 MacBook Air and a thicker AMD-based 2-in-1 from HP.Still, the laptop impressed for its airiness and multimedia strengths. And as tested with 32GB at $1,519, it's not a crazy price as the costs of many laptops skyrocket during an ongoing component shortage.

Read: Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition review

Another great Windows clamshell

We can argue about how much the AI PC is really any sort of revolution, but there are still some strong ultraportables coming out. The HP OmniBook Ultra puts the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 in a sleek chassis with strong productivity performance.

HP is offering up decent battery life here, running for 12 hours and 52 minutes on our battery test. That's not the best, but all things considered including the high-resolution display, it's not bad. It's also nice to see Thunderbolt 4 ports on an AMD system, which is exceedingly rare.

The experience is knocked down a bit by a significant amount of bloatware, but if you're looking for a strong AMD laptop, the HP OmniBook Ultra is a strong competitor if you don't mind doing some uninstalling.

Read: HP OmniBook Ultra review

The best budget laptop

If you're looking for an affordable laptop, Apple does it best these days. The MacBook Neo starts at $599 ($499 with an education discount), but you rarely feel like you're not getting enough – unlike most Windows laptops in this price range. The Neo has a premium, all-metal chassis, a bright, vivid screen, and a custom mechanical trackpad that lets you click anywhere. And yes, you get all of macOS running on what was formerly an iPhone chip.

The quality of the 13-inch chassis and screen are key here. You're not getting something plastic. You're not getting something low-resolution, and you're not getting something dim. You also get a great webcam for this price range, and the system stays remarkably cool. There are some niceties you sacrifice, however. Apple has gone without a backlit keyboard. And the two USB ports aren't labeled, so you'll have to remember which is the faster 10 Gbps USB 3 port (the back one) for backup drives and monitors, lest you end up with an error message.

I suspect that most people with light workloads — especially students and people using home computers doing a lot of work in the browser — won't have too much trouble with the 8GB of RAM. That being said, 16GB systems can be found in the Windows world for a bit more money, though you'll need to hunt for sales.

But if a premium laptop experience (including great build quality and a high-res screen) are important to you, Apple delivers that better than any Windows machine priced close to the Neo’s $599 starting price.

Read: MacBook Neo review

The Best Laptop for work

There are plenty of reasons why the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is a classic. It's thin design and strong build quality are beloved by ThinkPad diehards. The latest model, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 11), offers long battery life and great speakers.

Perhaps most critically, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon offers an excellent keyboard. Lenovo's reputation was built on great typing experiences, so this is crucial. For those who love Lenovo's TrackPoint, it's still here, allowing you to move the mouse without ever taking your fingers away from the home row on the keyboard.

The latest version comes with Intel's 13th Gen Core processors. We reviewed it with a Core i7-1355U, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB PCIe Gen 4 SSD.

The one real issue we had is that the base screen could benefit from being a bit brighter. Those who want the most vivid experience can opt for an OLED panel, but at a higher price.

When shopping for the ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 11), keep an eye out for Lenovo's frequent sales, as there's often a deal available.

Read: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 11) Review

The Best Windows Tablet

Microsoft may push the Surface Pro as a do-it-all AI machine, but the truth is it's just a really nice, portable, slim PC that lasts a long time on a battery and includes a beautiful OLED display. It's definitively one of the best Surfaces to date.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processors offer enough performance to keep up with x86 competitors, making this one of the first Arm-based Surfaces that doesn't feel like it's lacking. Add on more Arm-compatible apps than ever, including the Chrome browser, and there's far less to miss from previous Intel models. That's not to say it's perfect — there are still some gaming issues, as well as drivers for specialized peripherals that may need to be rebuilt for the new platform.

The 45 TOPS NPU powers some of Windows 11's Copilot+ features, like Cocreator, Live Captions, and Windows Studio effects. None of these are showstoppers, but they're cool tricks.'

If you want a premium tablet running Windows 11, the Surface Pro is one of the only premium games in town. And that means paying a premium for a separate keyboard. But for those who love this form factor, the Surface Pro remains the best option out there.

Read: Microsoft Surface Pro review

A more powerful Mac laptop

The MacBook Air is a great starting point, but if you want an air-cooled processor and a few more features, the base MacBook Pro adds a few niceties. The 14-inch MacBook Pro starts with an M5 processor, has three Thunderbolt ports (including one on the right side), and a beautiful micro LED display.

For those willing to spend an extra $150, there's a nano-texture display option that is completely worth it if you ever use your laptop outside. The matte display looks excellent, and was great on desks near windows.

If you need the most power possible, we also reviewed the MacBook Pro with an M5 Max, including a 40-core GPU, a mix of Apple's latest performance and super cores, and a blazing fast SSD.

Both the 14-inch and 16-inch laptops offer great speakers and beautiful displays, but you will have to pay quite a bit for any storage or memory upgrades you want, and you won't be able to make changes later.

Read: MacBook Pro (14-inch, M5) review
Read: MacBook Pro (14-inch, M5 Max) review

The Best Gaming laptop

Razer Blade 18 offers some of the strongest gaming performance we've seen in a laptop, but also features excellent design, comfortable features, and the latest connection standards. At $5,199.99 as tested, it sure should be good. It tops our list of the best gaming laptops.

The major highlight is the dual-mode display, which has two options: 3840 x 2400 at 240 Hz or 1920 x 1200 at 440 Hz. Those two choices (which you can switch between in Razer Synapse) is enough to showcase both intensive, graphics-driven games at high settings and esports where frames are more important than resolution and detail.

The laptop, packed with an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX and Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Laptop GPU in our review configuration, outperformed the field in our gaming tests, especially at the lower resolution.Razer is one of the few laptop makers using Thunderbolt 5 ports (we've also seen them from MSI and Apple), so this system is ready to go if you're using advanced peripherals or the fastest external storage drives.

Perhaps the biggest downside is that the Blade's dual 2TB storage drives use PCIe 4.0 rather than 5.0. You won’t notice this in games or mainstream productivity, but if you want PCIe 5.0 speed for future proofing or 8K video editing, the Titan may still be the way to go. The Blade 18 does support PCIe 5.0 drives, if you want to upgrade to speedier storage in the future.

Read: Razer Blade 18 review

Other Laptops We Tested

💻 Asus Zenbook A16

The Zenbook A16 has Qualcomm's powerful Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme processor, including 48GB of RAM on the package. While the chip is fast, the laptop, while lightweight, didn't meet our expectations. While light, it flexed and didn't feel premium; battery life was lesser than competitors; and while emulation is better than it used to be, there are still some compatibility issues with Windows on Arm for power users.

Read: Asus Zenbook A16 review

💻 Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra

Samsung's Galaxy Book6 Ultra is a powerful system for creatives, thanks in part to the RTX 5070 GPU in the version we tested. The OLED screen is beautiful and you get an nice design (albeit one that is quite similar to Macs), but this laptop is pricey, and you get a shallow keyboard.

Read: Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra review

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Whether you're shopping for one of the best laptops, or just something that is good enough for your needs, you may find savings by checking out our lists of the latest Dell coupon codes, HP coupon codes, Lenovo coupon codes, Best Buy promo codes or Newegg promo codes.

Microsoft just announced that you can now install the Xbox app on all Arm-based Windows 11 devices. The Windows Experience Blog said that more than 85% of the Game Pass catalog is compatible with Windows 11 devices that run on Arm-based processors, and that it’s continuing to expand compatibility with the remaining titles. This news comes as Nvidia is reportedly debuting Arm-based N1X gaming laptops this quarter, challenging the established x86 architecture that still dominates the gaming PC industry and offering an alternative to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X SoCs.

“Players can now download and enjoy a wide range of titles from the Xbox PC app game catalog on Arm-based Windows 11 PCs,” the company said in its blog post. “Today, more than 85% of the Game Pass catalog is compatible with these PCs, and we’re actively working with partners to expand support even further. For titles not yet supported running locally, Xbox Cloud Gaming remains an easy way to jump in while we work with partners to broaden compatibility.”

The company achieved this with the continued development of Prism, an emulator designed to run x86/x64 apps on Arm hardware. The addition of AVX and AVX2 support has expanded its compatibility with several modern games, while Epic Anti-Cheat support means that you can continue playing popular multiplayer titles on Arm-based Windows 11 PCs.

This is going to be excellent news for gamers, as it will allow them to have more hardware options when it comes to gaming. Even though many feel that x86 processors still deliver more raw horsepower, the efficiency of Arm-based chips is certainly attractive to those who prefer gaming on the go. Handheld console maker Ayaneo has been making Arm-based devices for several years now with the Snapdragon G3x Gen 2-powered Pocket S, but the lack of PC titles for Arm SoCs meant that it’s designed for Android gaming. This announcement would likely push handheld gaming console manufacturers to develop Arm-powered options, giving us the option to play PC games on battery for much longer than what we usually get from x86-powered devices.

Arm’s threat to x86’s dominance has got long-time rivals Intel and AMD cooperating, with the two companies forming the x86 Ecosystem Advisory Group in 2024. By the time of its first anniversary, we’ve already seen AMD and Intel agreeing to support some technologies, like the Advanced Matrix Extension, AVX10, Flexible Return and Event Delivery, and x86 Memory Tagging, for upcoming and future processors.

The Xbox app’s support for gaming on Arm-based processors will pose a threat to x86, especially now that a lot of games are compatible with the system. Even Steam is experimenting with Arm compatibility, with the client app adding native support for Apple silicon in 2025. But while this might make Intel and AMD nervous about their duopoly, especially in the gaming PC space, this is just going to be good news for gamers and consumers, as it drives competition between different ISAs and could even be the engine that would lead to more innovations in processors.

Linux PC maker Tuxedo Computers has ceased development of a Qualcomm Snapdragon X1 Elite-powered Linux laptop after more than 18 months of work. The company said in its announcement that the “first-generation X1E proved to be less suitable for Linux than expected.” Aside from that, the imminent arrival of the Snapdragon X2 Elite, announced last September and expected in the first half of 2026, meant the company would release an obsolete, last-generation laptop by the time it completes work on the Linux Snapdragon X1E laptop.

Tuxedo Computers states that its biggest challenge was replicating the impressive battery life that these Arm laptops achieved under Windows. Aside from this, it lacked a feasible way to install BIOS updates for Linux, support for fan control, virtualization with KVM, and high-speed USB4 transfer speeds. It’s also having issues with video decoding, which, although technically supported, are often unsupported by most applications.

These issues would make the laptop practically unusable, and the company estimated it would take several more months to fix them all. That means the newer X2E would already be well into the market when they’re ready to launch, which wouldn't make sense for the company. Still, that does not mean that the company is totally giving up on a Linux Snapdragon laptop.

It said it’s still monitoring developments with the X2E and will evaluate whether it will work well with the open-source operating system. “If it meets expectations and we can reuse a significant portion of our work on the X1E, we may resume development,” says Tuxedo Computers. “How much of our groundwork can be transferred to the X2E can only be assessed after a detailed evaluation of the chip.”

We certainly hope that Tuxedo Computers will be able to continue its work on Snapdragon-powered Linux computers and eventually produce a laptop with an ARM chip. While they might not have as many users as Windows or macOS, it would at least give consumers more options and not be tied to an x86 laptop if they prefer or need Linux on their computers.

Qualcomm, along with its subsidiary Nuvia, have finally won the legal battle against Arm Holdings, which had accused the chip-maker of violating license agreements tied to its chip designs. A U.S. District Court judge in Delaware ruled that neither Qualcomm nor its subsidiary breached any of Arm’s architecture license agreement (ALA), dismissing the lone remaining claim in the case and also rejecting Arm's request for a new trial.

The latest ruling follows Qualcomm’s trial victory from December 2024, where the company was found innocent. However, at the time, the jury was unable to agree on whether Nuvia violated its licensing terms with Arm.

The dispute centered on Qualcomm’s use of Oryon cores for its Snapdragon X range of client processors based on Arm’s v8 architecture, created by Nuvia for server-grade chips.

Arm claimed that Qualcomm was supposed to renegotiate licensing terms following its acquisition of Nuvia. Additionally, Arm demanded that the designs be scrapped for allegedly breaching Nuvia’s original Arm licenses. Qualcomm, however, maintained that its existing Architecture License Agreement (ALA) for Arm’s instruction set architecture already extended to designs developed by its subsidiaries, including Nuvia.

Following the verdict, Ann Chaplin, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Qualcomm, said “With the Court’s decision today, Qualcomm and its subsidiary Nuvia have achieved a full victory. This decision follows Qualcomm’s December 2024 jury trial win and is a full and final judgment in Qualcomm’s favor. Our right to innovate prevailed in this case and we hope Arm will return to fair and competitive practices in dealing with the Arm ecosystem.”

It is interesting to note that the Qualcomm Oryon general-purpose cores found inside Snapdragon X processors are based on Arm’s Armv8 instruction set architecture (ISA). However, it incorporates “one percent or less” of Arm’s own technology according to Gerard Williams III, one of the lead developers of Oryon and former Apple chip designer.

Williams co-founded Nuvia in 2019 with the aim of building high-performance, energy-efficient custom CPU cores for datacenters, known as Phoenix. To do so, the company secured two licenses from Arm, including a Technology License Agreement (TLA) to modify existing cores and an Architecture License Agreement (ALA) to design custom ones. Since Nuvia’s strategy was to pursue custom designs from the outset, the team developed its cores from scratch, relying minimally on Arm’s physical IP.

Qualcomm has stated that a separate lawsuit against Arm is still ongoing. The case involves claims of breach of contract, interference with customer relationships, and conduct aimed at hindering innovation while promoting Arm’s own products over those of long-standing partners. The company added that it expects the trial to begin in March 2026.

Following Huawei and Lenovo's lead in developing self-developed silicon within China, Xiaomi is working on its own XRing 01 SoC. This new chip reportedly features standard Arm Cortex cores and a 3nm-grade process node from TSMC. Per HXL, the XRing 01 carries a beefy decacore configuration, and based on now-delisted Geekbench tests of the chip, shared by leaker Jukanlosreve, Xiaomi's alternative appears to be delivering performance comparable to MediaTek's flagship Dimensity 9400 SoC.

Faced with significant restrictions from the U.S. and motivated by potential cost savings compared to alternatives like Qualcomm and MediaTek, Chinese manufacturers are rapidly transitioning towards in-house chip design and manufacturing. Huawei takes this a step further as its latest Kirin X90 SoCs for the Matebook Pro 2025 family is believed to feature custom Arm-based 'Taishan' cores and is reportedly fabbed in China using SMIC's 7nm process.

Xiaomi’s upcoming 15S Pro mobile devices are rumored to be powered by the XRing 01. Leaked specifications suggest the XRing 01 SoC featured a decacore layout, including two Cortex-X925 prime cores at 3.9 GHz, four Cortex A725/X4 cores running at 3.4 GHz, two Cortex A720/A725 cores at 1.89 GHz, and two efficiency-focused Cortex A520 cores at 1.8 GHz.

While mobile SoCs typically don’t employ four distinct core types, the XRing 01 shares this unusual design configuration with Samsung’s Exynos 2400. The dual Prime core setup is similar to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite and Apple’s A18 Pro, though they use custom Arm designs. MediaTek’s Dimensity 9400 is a better comparison, but even that chip sticks to a more conservative octacore layout with just one Prime Cortex-X925 core.

AMD is allegedly working on an Arm-based SoC, codenamed "Sound Wave", in a bid to power Microsoft's Surface laptops next year, claims Kepler via ITHome. Moving away from traditional x86 designs, Sound Wave is reported to feature the Arm ISA and will likely leverage off-the-shelf Cortex cores. Details on exact specifications, availability, and pricing remain under wraps, so it's wise to approach this leak with caution.

Looking beyond its historical Wintel roots, Microsoft has made a clear push towards the WoA (Windows on Arm) platform. This was put into effect with the firm's partnership with Qualcomm, which yielded the Snapdragon X family. This was likely a significant catalyst that motivated Intel to engineer an efficiency-first alternative: Lunar Lake. In fact, even Nvidia is entering the WoA space with its rumored N1 family of SoCs, developed in partnership with MediaTek.

The strong success of the Nintendo Switch, powered by Nvidia hardware, underlines a lucrative market for Arm-based handhelds. These Sound Wave SoCs, if true, could be a foundation for the Steam Deck 2, but I must emphasize this is highly speculative. Microsoft's current-generation Surface Pro 11 and Surface 7 laptops are powered by chips from Qualcomm and Intel. AMD's existing gap in efficiency compared to Snapdragon X, Lunar Lake, and likely soon-to-launch N1 offerings could be bridged with these Arm-based SoCs.

Microsoft has new flagship AI PCs. The company today announced a 13-inch Surface Laptop and a 12-inch Surface Pro with Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Plus 8-core processors. These new Copilot+ PCs will be available starting May 20, while business versions will ship on July 22.

Both systems share similar specs, including 16GB of RAM and up to 512GB of SSD storage, though the Pro has a faster, higher-resolution display than the Laptop and also comes with Windows Hello support in the webcam, which the laptop relegates to a fingerprint reader.

The Surface Pro 11th Edition and Surface Laptop 7th Edition, which debuted last year with Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus (10 Core) processors, each starting at $799.99 as of this writing. Unless the prices for those more powerful models go up, potential buyers may want to consider one of those more powerful systems if they don't care about having the thinnest, lightest designs. It's possible that these Snapdragon X Plus (8 Core) models are priced higher due to tariffs, but Microsoft hasn't commented.

Update: May 6, 10:04 a.m. ET: Microsoft's Surface Laptop 13.8 now starts at $999. The Surface Pro 11th Edition still starts at $799.99. The story continues below.

Surface Pro, 12-inch

This new Surface Pro is a smaller size than the existing 13-inch device and offers a fanless design. Microsoft claims it's the "thinnest and lightest Copilot+ PC yet," and it seems to fill in the gap left by the Surface Go (the Surface Go 4 was only released for businesses).

This tablet is 1.5 pounds before adding the optional 0.27-pound keyboard. That keyboard, which will be a must-have accessory for many, will start at $149. The $129 Surface Slim pen is also sold separately. Microsoft says that the new keyboard lies flat "for a grounded and quiet typing experience," and that it folds back flat against the Surface Pro for when you want to write or draw.

The new Pro will come in three colors: the default platinum seen on so many Surface devices, a bold new violet, and a dark, blue-green color called "ocean."

Perhaps the other biggest physical distinction is that this system won't have Microsoft's proprietary Surface Connect port, instead relying entirely on USB Type-C for charging. In fact, the two USB Type-C 3.2 ports are the only I/O on the entire system.

The system will come with a USB Type-C cable for charging, but it won't include a wall charger in the box. It's possible this is a result of European Union rulings requiring USB-C charging on tablets, meaning that a charger isn't strictly required, like with phones. You'll need at least a 45W charger in order to fast charge the new Surface Pro.

The Surface Pro has two cameras: a 1080p webcam with support for Windows Hello facial recognition, and a 10MP rear shooter for people who like to take pictures with tablets.

The Surface Pro starts at $799 in platinum with the Snapdragon X Plus (8 core), 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. For $899, you bump up to 512GB of storage and can also get the violent or ocean color options.

Surface Laptop, 13-inch

The new Surface Laptop, which Microsoft claims is the thinnest and lightest Surface Laptop to date, is a more straightforward update. It's smaller than the existing Surface Laptop, which comes in 13.8-inch and 15-inch screen sizes.

Like the Surface Pro, the new Laptop cuts the Surface Connect port and charges over USB-C. The Surface Laptop has a pair of USB-C 3.2 ports, a USB-A 3.1 port, and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. Unlike the tablet, the Surface Laptop will come with a 45W USB-C wall charger in the box (though you need a 60W charger for fast charging).

The laptop's anodized aluminum casing will come in the same violet, ocean, and platinum colorways as the new Surface Pro.

The Surface Laptop has a 1080p webcam like the Pro, but it doesn't support facial recognition. Instead, the Laptop has a fingerprint reader in the power button, similar to the MacBook Air.

Microsoft claims that the Surface Laptop and its Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus (8 core) processor is "50% faster than Surface Laptop 5 and even outpaces the MacBook Air M3." While that might be what some users are upgrading from, the Surface Laptop 5 launched in 2022 with 12th Gen Intel processors, while the MacBook Air is now on its next iteration with the M4 chip.

Unlike the Surface Pro, Microsoft is using a fan here for improved sustained performance.

Like the Surface Pro, the $899 base model has the 8-core Snapdragon X Plus, 16GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and only comes in platinum. The $999 configuration that jumps to 512GB of storage also comes in violet or ocean.

Copilot+ and new feature

Alongside the new Surfaces, Microsoft is announcing a series of new Copilot+ features that will show up in Windows Insider builds over the next month.

These include an update to settings to let you use natural language to search for and change settings on your PC. There will also be a new AI-based Snipping Tool to perfectly crop screenshots, a sticker generator in Paint for chats or documents, and more updates to Narrator for better image descriptions.

A tool in photos called Relight will let you adjust light sources in photos. This will debut on Snapdragon X Series PCs and come to AMD and Intel later on.

Additionally, there will be a redesigned Start Menu that adds a sidebar showing recent activity from your phone, as well as AI actions in File Explorer.

Microsoft is continuing to push the Copilot+ as the future of the PC, especially with support for Windows 10 ending on Oct. 14, 2025.

The company has been slowly expanding Copilot+ features that run on the NPU, including launching Recall to find what you previously looked for and an improved Windows Search. AI PCs haven't been a huge boon for upgrades, and despite being called Copilot+, Microsoft's Copilot chatbot doesn't actually run on device. But the clock running out on Windows 10 may drive more sales as potential buyers look for the latest updates, features, and security patches.

Stability AI, the company behind Stable Diffusion, has released ONNX-optimized models that run up to 3.3x faster on compatible AMD hardware, including select Radeon GPUs and Ryzen AI APUs on mobile.

Amuse is a platform developed by AMD and TensorStack AI that allows users to generate images and short videos locally, on AMD hardware. The latest Amuse 3.0 release not only supports these updated models but also introduces a range of new features, including video diffusion, AI photo filters, and local text-to-image generation. Amuse 3.0 and AMD optimized models require the Adrenalin 24.30.31.05 preview drivers or the upcoming Adrenalin 25.4.1 mainline release.

Over the past year, AMD has partnered with several OSVs, OEMs, and ISVs to optimize AI applications from the ground up, incorporating hardware optimizations, efficient drivers, compilers, and optimized ML models, among other enhancements. Building on this partnership, Stability AI has launched Radeon-optimized versions of its Stable Diffusion family, which include Stable Diffusion 3.5 (SD3.5) and Stable Diffusion XL Turbo (SDXL Turbo). First-party metrics report a 3.3x speedup with SD3.5 Large, dropping to 2.1x for SD3.5 Large Turbo and 1.5x for SDXL Turbo compared to the base PyTorch implementations.

Qualcomm's team seems to be in the final development stages of its second-generation Snapdragon X processors for client PCs, and it looks like it is about time for the first leaks about the CPU performance to emerge. This week, a Chinese blogger said that the next-generation Snapdragon X will increase performance by 18-22% compared to the existing Snapdragon X processors, but there are some catches about this claim. The main one is that we are dealing with unofficial information that should be taken with a grain of salt. 

"Hearing that the second-generation Nuvia is expected to start at 4.40 GHz," wrote Focused Digital, a Chinese blogger with 2.227 million followers (via @Jukanlosreve). "Performance is estimated to improve by 18% – 22%." 

Max multi-threaded frequency of PC-oriented Snapdragon X processors with Oryon cores developed by the Nuvia team made on TSMC's N4P process technology (4nm-class) varies from 3.0 GHz to 3.80 GHz, whereas their boost clocks vary from 4.0 GHz to 4.30 GHz. 

We do not know which process technology will be used by Qualcomm's second-generation Snapdragon X CPUs, though a roughly 20% generation-to-generation performance increase looks reasonable if we are looking at a CPU due in 2025. That said, we can only wonder whether the increase is enabled by higher clocks or microarchitectural improvements. If we are talking about processors that are due in 2026 (based on a Dell roadmap that was obtained unofficially) that will compete against 2026 processors, a 20% overall performance increase may not be sufficient to stay competitive. 

The information about the performance of Qualcomm's next-gen Snapdragon X processors for PCs comes from a Chinese blogger who presumably obtains information from the PC supply chain, and given the number of followers, we may expect this information to be more or less accurate. The post was reposted by a South Korean blogger, who has access to data from Korean financial analysts and who, for some reason, also thinks that the information has merit. 

Qualcomm released its first Snapdragon X Elite processors for PCs (model number SC8380XP) in mid-2024 and reportedly initiated internal testing of its second-generation Snapdragon X Elite processors (model number SC8480XP) in September, 2024. At that time, we did not hear anything about performance estimates of the CPU, but as of now, it's looking like the new processors will offer an 18–22% higher performance than their predecessors.

Right now, at Amazon, you can find the 15.6-inch Samsung Galaxy AI Book4 Edge laptop for one of its best prices to date. This Snapdragon X Plus-based laptop usually goes for around $899, but right now it's marked down to just $695. So far, no expiration has been specified for the discount, so we don't know for how long it will be made available at this rate. It is, however, labeled as a limited offer.

We haven't had the opportunity to review the Samsung Galaxy AI Book4 Edge so far, but we're plenty familiar with several Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ machines. Recently, some controversy arose when the Surface Laptop 7s were frequently returned due to compatibility issues. If you're considering this laptop, you might want to research a little and make sure your favorite games and apps are able to run well on Windows-on-Arm systems. On the positive side, once you go Arm, you should enjoy the best "long-lasting battery" life available on Windows devices.

The main processor driving the Samsung Galaxy AI Book4 Edge is a Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100. This CPU has eight cores with a base speed of 3.4 GHz and a single-core boost feature that takes it up to 3.8 GHz. For graphics, it relies on a Qualcomm Adreno GPU which outputs to a 15.6-inch anti-glare display with an FHD resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels.

As far as memory goes, this edition comes with 16GB of LPDDR5X and a 500GB internal SSD is fitted for storage. It has a couple of 2W speakers integrated for audio output, but you also get a 3.5mm audio jack to take advantage of. It has an HDMI 2.1 port for outputting video to a secondary screen and a handful of USB ports, including one USB 3.2 port and two USB4 ports.

It is also worth noting that this price is cheaper than the current offer over at the official Samsung website. If you want to check out this deal for yourself, head over to the Samsung 15-inch Galaxy AI Book4 Edge product page on Amazon US for more information and purchase options.

Microsoft has announced that several Windows 11 Copilot+ AI features are graduating from Snapdragon X exclusivity to AMD Ryzen AI 300 series and Intel Core Ultra 200V PCs. On Monday it began its expanded roll-out of features like Live Captions, Cocreator, Restyle Image, and Image Creator – so they will be available on modern AMD and Intel systems, as well as PCs packing Qualcomm Snapdragon X (SDX) series processors.

One of the most welcome additions to Windows 11 for those embraced by the expanded Copilot+ feature compatibility is probably Live Captions. Microsoft says that this feature “offers real-time translations in English for audio and video content during virtual meetings, podcasts, or video playback.” This feature, which Microsoft claims can live translate from 40 languages to English, has been around a while for SDX PCs, and is “coming soon” for those with a Ryzen AI 300 or Ultra 200V PC.

Another new Copilot+ addition which Microsoft characterizes as an accessibility feature is rolling out to Qualcomm SDX machines soon. Voice Access delivers better descriptive and flexible language interaction with Windows. AMD and Intel system owners with NPUs will have to wait until “later this year” for this one, though.

Cocreator in Paint is now ready for modern AMD and Intel processor owners. Here, Microsoft’s AI can help you create imagery from prompts or analyzing and improving on your badly drawn scrawl.

With Copilot+ smarts introduced to Microsoft’s Photos app, Windows 11 users with the requisite AMD and Intel chips get two ‘AI’ features to play with. Restyle Image is an AI-driven photo-filter style feature which can make existing works look something like an oil painting, sketch, or so on. Image Creator does what it says from your simple, or complex, text prompts.

March non-security preview release update is required, for now

Microsoft says to make sure you switch on ‘Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available’ in your updates control panel. If you are eager to try some of the features outlined above, that unfortunately means opting to install the March non-security preview release. You must also ensure the host apps (Paint, Photos etc) are up-to-date via the Microsoft Store. Remember, the expanded feature rollout availability will also vary based on your location and language selection.

Considering x86 PCs with NPU-packing processors have been available for months, Microsoft has been rather tardy in breaking its most attractive Copilot+ features out from their Qualcomm-only rut. According to our editor-in-chief, you all haven’t been missing much, though. Not long after launch, the Copilot+ features were judged to be “a bad joke.” Moreover, the much heralded Recall feature remains in (re)development after all the security and privacy concerns that were raised.

This article covers our picks for the best graphics cards for gaming in 2026. Amid the AI gold rush and consequent supply crunch for consumer silicon, no truly new gaming GPUs have been introduced in almost a year. If you haven't already upgraded your graphics card after the GeForce RTX 50-series and Radeon RX 9000-series launches in 2025, well, you're still looking at the exact same products now.

AMD did make its formerly China-only Radeon RX 9070 GRE available globally after Computex 2026, but in our review, we found that $549 product to be too expensive given the level of performance it delivers and the compromises made to hit its price point, so it isn't joining the list here. Check out that coverage for all the details.

Most of the products we recommend remain at elevated prices compared to their MSRPs, but this is just life in mid-2026.

It's admittedly cold comfort, but unless you're shopping for an RTX 5090, graphics card prices haven't risen much more than they already did earlier this year. Compared to the doubling or tripling of prices we've seen for RAM kits and SSDs in 2026 versus last year, a GPU upgrade remains a relatively affordable (and self-contained) option, either as a boost for an existing PC or part of an all-new parts list.

Prime Day exceptional graphics card deals

These are a few of the standout deals from Amazon's 2026 Prime Day event, which is currently taking place. Be sure to check out our full list of the best Prime Day graphics card deals, too. Our list of best overall picks continues below.

Even if you can’t build an all-new system, you can just put a new graphics card in an older PC and still enjoy boosts to gaming performance, image quality, or both—especially if you can upgrade your monitor at the same time.

As we discuss in further depth below, the arrival of DLSS 4.5 upscaling (for RTX 40-series and 50-series cards, at least) and expanded multipliers for Multi-Frame Generation, which now can boost frame rates by up to 5x or 6x, means that driving a high-resolution, high-refresh-rate monitor is now easier than ever if you're considering a GeForce RTX 50-series graphics card.

Read on to see our picks in today's gaming graphics card market.

Best graphics cards for gaming, at a glance

The above list shows all the latest-gen graphics cards we feel stand out in their segments. If you want to see how all of the current and prior generation GPUs stack up, check our GPU benchmarks hierarchy. We also have performance benchmarks further below.

When accounting for pricing, we perform our own research to find the midpoint of current prices for a given graphics card, rather than taking a vendor's MSRP at face value. We feel this method tends to be most representative of the price you're likely to see for products in stock.

If you can find a card for less than this midpoint, it's likely closer to (or even less than) a vendor's MSRP and a better value. Conversely, if you find one for more than this midpoint, it could be a worse value (or too close in price to a more powerful card that's a step up). Tread carefully.

The overall performance ranking incorporates 19 games from our 2026 test suite, which takes the geometric mean (i.e., equal weighting) for both rasterization and ray tracing games. Note that we are not including any upscaling or frame generation results in the table.

Raw performance may be the most important consideration for most gamers, but it's not the only metric that matters. Our subjective rankings below factor in price, power usage, and power efficiency, and features colored by our own years of experience. Others may offer a slightly different take, but all of the cards on this list are worthy of your consideration.

Upscaling and frame generation mean GPUs are more than just a chip

GPU performance goes beyond the hardware these days. Choosing a particular GPU vendor means you're buying into a complex software stack that includes upscaling, frame generation, and (more rarely) AI-powered RT denoising technologies.

In Nvidia's corner, the DLSS 4.5 upscaling model and its second-generation transformer architecture offer superior image quality to other upscaling tech (and with lower input resolutions, meaning higher potential performance), but it's more computationally expensive than past DLSS models and works best on RTX 50-series and 40-series cards.

The DLSS 4 model and its first-gen transformer architecture still work with cards going all the way back to the RTX 20-series family. Not all games implement DLSS 4 natively, but Nvidia allows you to force the usage of that model in many older titles through the Nvidia App utility, so you can practically always get the latest and greatest.

Between native support and driver overrides, DLSS is available in virtually any modern game you might want to play. Nvidia recently marked DLSS feature availability in over 1000 titles.

RTX 50-series GPUs are Nvidia's first with support for multi-frame generation (MFG), which allows Blackwell GPUs to insert anywhere from one to five AI-generated intermediate frames between each native one (for a 2x, 3x, 4x, or even 5x or 6x frame rate boost). RTX 40-series GPUs also support framegen, but only with a 2x boost.

Meanwhile, AMD's FSR 4 offers AI-enhanced upscaling with superior image quality to other FSR versions, but official support for it is limited to RX 9000-series Radeons for now. AMD will bring FSR 4 upscaling to RX 7000-series cards in July 2026 and RX 6000-series cards in early 2027.

In the meantime, AMD's FSR 3.1 and earlier upscalers still work on any GPU, but the image quality tends to be noticeably lower than both DLSS and FSR 4.

AI-enhanced FSR framegen (aka ML Frame Generation) arrived on AMD cards as part of the FSR Redstone update late last year. Like FSR 4 upscaling, ML Frame Generation is limited to Radeon RX 9000 cards, and it can be enabled in compatible games using a control panel override for titles that don't natively have it.

Legacy FSR frame gen remains available, too. Its framerate-doubling boost remains cross-compatible with GPUs from all vendors, but its image quality can't keep up with the AI-powered frame gen tech of the latest AMD and Nvidia models.

Intel XeSS upscaling can be superior to FSR 3.x, but it isn't available in as many games as FSR or DLSS. It works best on Arc GPUs, but like FSR, it's cross-compatible with a wide range of graphics cards from AMD and Nvidia if you need it.

XeSS 2 with AI-enhanced frame generation is now available in 95 games as of this writing and requires an Arc GPU. XeSS 3 brings multi frame generation to the party through both native support and a driver override in compatible titles.

All that said, we don't think you should go out of your way to buy an Intel Arc card for gaming in 2026 for reasons we'll get into later.

1. Best high-end graphics card: GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, $1099.99

If you want the best blend of high performance and cutting-edge graphics tech out there for 1440p or 4K gaming, the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is it. This card comes with full support for Nvidia’s latest DLSS 4.5 upscaling and Multi Frame Generation tech, and its 16GB of VRAM gives you full freedom to enable every DLSS 4 feature.

AMD’s closest competitor, the Radeon RX 9070 XT, is way cheaper than the RTX 5070 Ti right now, but the AMD card obviously doesn’t support DLSS 4 or MFG. For the privilege of those capabilities, you'll generally need to spend a whopping 45% more cash right now for just 5% more baseline performance than AMD’s best before you start enabling all the DLSS 4 features Blackwell supports.

Is that worth it? Yes, if you can swing it. Here's why: getting the best gaming performance on modern graphics cards is as much a software problem as a hardware one. Tuning your gaming experience to taste requires access to high-quality upscaling, frame generation, and (more infrequently) an AI-powered RT denoiser like DLSS Ray Reconstruction.

Even amid its shift to AI and data center products, Nvidia ensures that its full suite of DLSS tech is adopted in virtually every new game, whereas AMD's support of FSR 4 adoption has become rather hit-or-miss.

The RTX 5070 Ti also offers superior RT performance versus the RX 9070 XT across our 2026 test suite. Beyond that baseline, Nvidia is working with developers to enable impressive path-traced effects in many of the latest AAA releases.

In our recent experience, path-traced games play best with DLSS 4.5 upscaling and MFG at your disposal, and being able to consistently rely on the availability of those features makes the extra cash for the 5070 Ti worth it.

Our recent GPU Hierarchy retesting has shown that high-end graphics cards are becoming five- to eight-year investments, and Nvidia's ongoing commitment to developer relations and new software features means that you'll enjoy a first-class gaming experience throughout the life of your 5070 Ti no matter what games you want to play on it.

Spread out over that time span, the extra cost of the RTX 5070 Ti versus the RX 9070 XT is worth it for the better experience.

What about the RTX 5080? Nvidia's second-fastest Blackwell card is anywhere from 8% to 16% faster than the 5070 Ti, with the biggest gap at 4K. Prices for the 5080 in June 2026 remain insane, however, and at the midpoint of current prices, the 5080 is 33% more expensive than the 5070 Ti.

There's no way the RTX 5080 offers anywhere close to enough value for the money to justify the step up right now unless you're looking for the fastest thing this side of a 5090 for 4K gaming.

Read: Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti review

2. Best enthusiast value graphics card: Radeon RX 9070 XT, $759.99

The Radeon RX 9070 XT is AMD's most well-rounded graphics card in years. It delivers raw gaming performance within spitting distance of the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti for far less money, making it a strong value at first glance. But that appealing price tag comes with a number of asterisks in mid-2026 that mean it's no longer our first pick for high-end PC gaming.

AMD shored up two of its greatest weaknesses against Nvidia with the RX 9070 XT's RDNA 4 architecture: RT performance and AI acceleration, both of which are closer to Nvidia's latest and greatest. And AMD did all that while keeping power efficiency right there with Nvidia, too.

The FSR 4 upscaler is a big jump in image quality over FSR 3, and FSR ML Frame Generation now offers higher-quality framegen on the RX 9070 XT than FSR 3's approach, although it's still limited to a simple doubling of frame rates versus DLSS Multi Frame Generation's versatility.

The problem for the RX 9070 XT in mid-2026 is that FSR 4.x upscaling still trails Nvidia's flagship DLSS 4.5 in image quality, and AMD isn't driving the adoption of FSR 4 features nearly as aggressively as Nvidia is for DLSS. Driver-level overrides for those features can't entirely close the gap.

Worse, you might find the RX 9070 XT entirely shut out of features that you might want to enable in certain games. For just a couple of examples, Radeon gamers can't enable path-traced effects at all in recent titles like Pragmata and Resident Evil Requiem, and 007 First Light sticks you with FSR 3 upscaling that can't be overriden through a driver toggle due to the way it's implemented.

And in our latest GPU Hierarchy retesting with the RX 9070 XT, we saw major performance issues in Grand Theft Auto V Enhanced and minor visual corruptions in Stalker 2 that weren't present on GeForces or on RX 7000- or RX 6000-series cards. We don't think these issues should have slipped past any QA program, especially for such popular and high-profile games, but they sting especially hard on a current-gen product.

All that means the overall ownership experience of an RTX 5070 Ti and an RX 9070 XT is significantly different in mid-2026. We think that gamers shopping in this price class should be able to expect a consistently high level of software feature support and quality across all the games they might want to play, and Nvidia provides that assurance better than AMD does right now.

If you're willing to gamble with the availability of FSR 4 features, for RT or path-traced effects, and don't care to tune the smoothness of your gaming experience with frame generation, the RX 9070 XT's shortcomings versus the RTX 5070 Ti may be easier to overlook given the large amount of cash that will remain in your pocket.

But we also think that you should look closely at what you're giving up before reflexively choosing an RX 9070 XT over an RTX 5070 Ti, despite its strong value at a glance.

Read: AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT review

3. Best midrange graphics card: GeForce RTX 5070, $659.99

Until 2026 rolled around, the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB had been our entry-to-midrange Blackwell gaming favorite. But the $579 midpoint of current pricing puts the 5060 Ti 16GB's on-shelf price above that of the RTX 5070's $549 MSRP, and the 5070 is one of the least marked-up graphics cards out there at the moment.

As a result, it's possible to find RTX 5070s for about $670, and that makes it an easy call to step up for less than $100 more than 5060 Ti 16GBs.

The RTX 5070 is about 30% faster than the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB across our 2026 test suite, and that's a huge leap that you'll easily see on the right monitor for just 15% more money.

The advent of DLSS 4.5 upscaling, which makes it possible to achieve superior delivered image quality at lower input resolutions than older DLSS versions, also takes some VRAM pressure off the RTX 5070's 12GB of GDDR7, making the deployment of RT and DLSS MFG more practical on this card than it has been in the past.

And as with the RTX 5070 Ti, the universal availability of DLSS 4.5 (both natively and through app overrides) plus MFG makes this card a fast and flexible performer across all of the games you might want to play in 2026.

Given the image quality of DLSS 4.5 and the smoothness boost of MFG, along with the higher baseline RT performance of this card versus the 9070 in our 2026 testing, we think the 5070 should be your first pick for a midrange gaming card right now.

In an ideal world, the RTX 5070 would have more VRAM to allow for unhindered exploration of everything DLSS 4 and MFG have to offer, especially at a native 4K resolution. If you're pushing those limits, we'd still recommend the Radeon RX 9070 thanks to its 16GB of VRAM.

But if you're on a 1440p monitor where VRAM is less of an issue and want DLSS 4.5 over FSR 4, as most gamers do, the RTX 5070 is still a strong performer, and you're less likely to run into its limits.

Read: Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 review

4. An AMD midrange alternative: Radeon RX 9070, $629.99

If you primarily play raster titles at native resolution and aren't on board with upscaling or framegen, the Radeon RX 9070 remains a strong midrange alternative to the RTX 5070. It's one of the least marked-up 16GB graphics cards available even with today's AI headwinds, and in a world where MSRPs have largely been forgotten, that makes the RX 9070 a strong value.

The GeForce RTX 5070 and RX 9070 go neck-and-neck in our test suite, but the RX 9070 has 16GB of VRAM and the RTX 5070 has just 12GB. Especially if you're trying to push 4K games at native resolution, that extra VRAM matters.

But the advent of DLSS 4.5 upscaling, which provides image quality that's practically indistinguishable from native rendering even at relatively low input resolutions, means that the RTX 5070 is a more potent midrange graphics card in 2026 than it was at launch.

On top of their inherent technical superiority, you can find DLSS 4 and MFG in most every game released today, which can't be said for FSR 4.x upscaling or ML framegen. AMD's driver overrides make up some of the gap, to be sure, but not all of it.

And as with the RX 9070 XT, AMD gamers may find themselves locked out of certain features like path tracing (in major releases like Pragmata and Resident Evil Requiem) or FSR overrides (in 007 First Light) entirely.

The RX 9070 is subject to the same minor image quality issues and performance hitches we saw with the RX 9070 XT, and those issues could certainly be overcome with future software updates. But we think that if you're looking for the best midrange graphics card, it should be free of those issues entirely, and so the RTX 5070 is our first pick for this price point right now.

Read: AMD Radeon RX 9070 review

5. Best enthusiast value graphics card: Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB, $469.99

AMD's Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB can handle basically anything the mainstream gamer can throw at it at 1920x1080 and 2560x1440, all at a price that comes in way under the sky-high markups on the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB as of this writing.

At a midpoint of $459.99 in mid-2026, prices for the RX 9060 XT 16GB are the highest we've ever seen, dulling the 9060 XT 16GB's reputation as the value-minded builder's GPU of choice. But with no cheaper Radeons worth recommending in the lineup, what can you do?

In any case, the RX 9060 XT enjoys the much-improved ray-tracing and AI performance of the RDNA 4 architecture, both of which bring Radeons a lot closer to the latest Nvidia competition. And its 16GB of VRAM gives mainstream gamers the assurance they'll basically never find VRAM a bottleneck in modern games at 1080p and 1440p resolutions.

Like the RX 9070 XT, the 9060 XT 16GB gives you access to AMD's much-improved FSR 4 upscaling tech, allowing you to boost performance with a small hit to image quality in the small but growing list of titles that support it.

Even with its new ML-powered model, FSR Frame Generation remains limited to a doubling of output frame rate at best, so it’s not a direct competitor to Nvidia’s DLSS 4 with MFG.

If you want more frames, AMD just launched the RX 9070 GRE globally for $549, and it provides a decent step up in performance for less than $100 more, especially if you're only gaming at 1080p or 1440p. But the more powerful RX 9070 can be found for just $50 more than the GRE, and then you're contemplating the even more powerful and versatile RTX 5070, too.

The RTX 5060 Ti 8GB is the RX 9060 XT 16GB's closest Nvidia competition, dollar for dollar, but we can’t recommend it at all. If you're spending over $350 on a GPU, we don't think you should have to fine-tune every setting to avoid running out of VRAM. The RX 9060 XT is easy to live with for a wide range of gamers in a wide range of titles, and that’s why it won our Editor’s Choice award.

Read: AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB review

6. The best graphics card for 1080p gaming: Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060, $369.99

If you want to get your game on at 1080p, we think the RTX 5060 is still your best bet in mid-2026. The midpoint of RTX 5060 prices is around $370 right now thanks to the AI crunch, but you can still find them for as little as $350 if you're willing to shop around.

The RTX 5060 has impressive baseline performance for 1080p gaming in wildly popular titles like Fortnite, Counter-Strike 2, Marvel Rivals, and Apex Legends that aren't hungry for giant pools of VRAM. And if you are trying to push higher output resolutions in demanding AAA games, the universal availability of DLSS 4.5 upscaling means that it's easy to achieve near-native image quality at lower input resolutions than before, making the RTX 5060 a more flexible performer than ever.

If you can tune your settings right, enabling DLSS 4 Multi-Frame Generation could make for an even smoother ride on this card, but we find that 8GB of VRAM isn't enough to consistently enable framegen in the titles where you'd really want it. The feature often doesn't work if you're already at the limits of the RTX 5060's memory pool (or that of any 8GB Blackwell card), since the MFG AI model needs some VRAM of its own to run.

AMD's toughest competition for the RTX 5060 is the RX 9060 XT 8GB, which also lists for $299 but is now selling for about the same $350 as you'll see RTX 5060s going for. Supply of those cards has largely dried up in mid-2026, however, and you're likely to see only a couple options for them from any e-tailer.

Despite its much-maligned 8GB of VRAM, the 9060 XT 8GB put in a strong showing in our 2026 GPU Hierarchy testing, but not consistently enough to beat out the RTX 5060 and take home our general recommendation.

When the RX 9060 XT can bring its full compute horsepower to bear in certain games, it can handily outpace the RTX 5060, so it's worth checking out results like those from our RX 9070 GRE review and seeing whether a game you love benefits from the Radeon's raw muscle.

But if you want a more consistently solid gaming experience, we'd still recommend the RTX 5060.

Read: Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 Ti review

7. The best graphics card, period: GeForce RTX 5090, $4299

There's nothing else like the GeForce RTX 5090. If you want to turn on every bell and whistle in modern games at 4K (or beyond), the RTX 5090's sheer shader and Tensor Core horsepower, along with support for Nvidia's DLSS 4 upscaling and multi-frame generation, lets you tune your gaming experience to perfection even on high-refresh-rate 4K displays.

If you're a hardcore PC gamer who demands only the best, the hair will stand up on the back of your neck when you watch the RTX 5090 breeze through workloads that other graphics cards leak out all their thermal gel about.

Prices for the RTX 5090 have always been elevated, but they're stratospheric in early 2026. Major e-tailers only have a few different models listed, and prices start at $3500 or so and only go up from there. Nvidia's $1999 MSRP is pure imagination in current market conditions.

At those prices, an RTX 5090 is an indulgence of the highest order, but then again, it always has been. Without a compelling AMD alternative even on the horizon, considerations of value don't really apply here. If you truly need (or want) this class of gaming or AI performance, you're going to have to pay up.

This card needs a system with a massive power supply, one of our best gaming CPUs, and a top-shelf monitor to take full advantage of its astounding capabilities, and all those spendy components add up quick. But if you have a big enough bankroll to consider shopping for a graphics card of this caliber, you probably don't need us to tell you all that.

If Nvidia and its industry partners fixed the meltdown-prone ATX12V-2x6 connector, the RTX 5090 would be as close to gaming perfection as any graphics card that's ever been made. Guess that's something to improve on the RTX 6090, if it ever arrives.

Read: Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition review

8. The cheapest graphics card worth buying: GeForce RTX 5050

If you have to save every penny on a new graphics card in 2026, you're hard up for good budget options. We previously recommended Intel's Arc B570 here, but after completing our 2026 GPU Hierarchy retesting, we're bumping it in favor of the RTX 5050, which is currently selling for about $300, or about $50 more than the B570.

Here's why: we think if you're spending any amount of money on a graphics card, it should just work. You should expect consistent feature support over time in games, universal support for upscaling and (optionally) frame generation when you need them, and consistently high performance in games.

The RTX 5050 unreservedly checks all those boxes, while we couldn't even complete our testing of the Arc B570 (or B580) for our 2026 GPU Hierarchy until the literal day before this guide update goes live, due to a months-long settings lockout with UE5's Nanite and Lumen in a little title you may have heard of called Fortnite.

We can't say when a similarly major issue might occur again with the Arc B570 in any game, and so we're no longer recommending it. Unless you're willing to gamble and need to save every possible dollar on a graphics card, we think you should just save up a bit more cash and buy an RTX 5050.

The RTX 5050 isn't the fastest GPU around, to be sure, and its 8GB of VRAM is a constraint for anything beyond 1080p gaming in mid-2026. But it delivers solid enough native raster performance at 1080p, and it beats out the Arc B570 even before you enable DLSS 4.5 upscaling. And if you do want the performance boost of DLSS, you're getting access to the best and most widely adopted upscaler on the market.

On top of that, the extra $50 over the Arc B570 means that you have the full strength of Nvidia's developer relations team and software support behind you when you go to play the latest games, and we think that reliable software support makes all the difference between a GPU that's fun and affordable and one that's merely cheap.

Read: GeForce RTX 5050 review

How we test the best graphics cards

Determining pure graphics card performance is best done by eliminating all other bottlenecks — as much as possible, at least. To that end, we've selected components for our test rig , most notably AMD's Ryzen 7 9800X3D CPU, one of the best CPUs for gaming.

We test across the three most common gaming resolutions, 1080p, 1440p, and 4K, using a mix of high and ultra settings, depending on the title. Where possible, we use 'reference' cards for all of these tests, like Nvidia's Founders Edition models and AMD's reference designs. Most midrange and lower GPUs don't get reference models, however, and in some cases we only have factory-overclocked cards for testing. We do our best to select cards that are close to the reference specs in such cases.

For each graphics card, we follow the same testing procedure. We run one pass of each benchmark to "warm up" the GPU after launching the game, then perform our actual test runs across each resolution.

We carefully review our test data and check for anomalies. For example, we always expect the RTX 5080 to be faster than the RTX 5070 Ti. If it's not, and we're not in a CPU limited situation, we'll recheck both cards to ensure that our standings our accurate. We also check and retest in cases of subtler issues, as when a transient hitch or frame-time spike causes a large dip in 1% low FPS.

Due to the length of time required for testing each GPU, updated drivers and game patches inevitably come out that can impact performance. We periodically retest a few sample cards to verify our results are still valid, and if not, we go through and retest the affected game(s) and GPU(s). We may also add games to our test suite over time, if one comes out that is popular and conducive to testing. See what makes a good game benchmark for our selection criteria.

Best graphics cards performance results

Our updated test suite of games consists of 19 games at present, eight of which have ray tracing enabled (or require RT to run at all).

We test without any upscaling or frame generation technologies enabled. We expect that most gamers will want to enable these features, but they complicate apples-to-apples comparisons between GPU vendors due to inherent differences in output image quality. To keep it simple, we present native resolution performance as a baseline.

The data in the following charts is from testing conducted during the past several months. We've tested all of the latest GPUs at every resolution and setting, even where it generally doesn't make sense (e.g. 4K with ray tracing at single digit framerates).

For each resolution and setting, the first chart shows the geometric mean (i.e. equal weighting) for all tested games. The second chart shows performance in the 11 pure raster games, and the third chart focuses in on ray tracing performance in eight games.

The charts below contain all the current Nvidia RTX 50-series and AMD RX 9000-series graphics cards. We're leaving Intel Arc cards out of the standings for now due to software compatibility issues with our test suite, and we'll include those results when those issues are corrected and we have the opportunity to retest them.

Our GPU benchmarks hierarchy contains additional data for every GPU spanning multiple generations of hardware. The charts are color coded with AMD in red, Nvidia in blue, and Intel in gray to make it easier to see what's going on.

The following charts are up to date as of June 2026.

Best Graphics Cards — 1080p

Best Graphics Cards — 1440p

Best Graphics Cards — 4K

Additional Shopping Tips

When buying a graphics card, consider the following:

• Monitor Resolution: The more pixels you're pushing, the more performance you need. You don't need a top-of-the-line GPU to game at 1080p, but you will certainly want more power at 1440p or 4K.
• PSU: Make sure that your power supply has enough juice and the right 6-, 8- and/or 16-pin connector(s). Nvidia, AMD, and Intel board partners will all make PSU recommendations alongside their products that you can use as a baseline, so if you're unsure whether your PC can provide enough power, be sure to check those spec sheets first. If you have an older PSU, be mindful that power supplies do lose capacity with time, so if you're contemplating a high-end GPU, it might be time to upgrade your GPU, too.
• Video Memory: In 2026, 8GB of VRAM is the bare minimum you'll want to play the latest games at 1080p, and it's the smallest amount of memory you'll find on a new card. Midrange cards tend to feature 12GB of VRAM, which is generally enough for raster gaming all the way out to 4K but may present limitations for RT even at 1440p. If you're planning to push a 4K display without upscaling or want to explore RT gaming without restriction, we recommend a 16GB card.
• FreeSync or G-Sync? Either variable refresh rate (VRR) technology will synchronize your GPU's frame delivery with your screen's refresh rate. Nvidia supports G-Sync and G-Sync Compatible displays (for recommendations, see our Best Gaming Monitors list). And most every G-Sync Compatible display also supports AMD FreeSync these days, so this vendor war is largely over.
• Upscaling and Frame Generation technologies: Nvidia's DLSS is in practically every game, and the latest DLSS 4.5 tech provides high-quality upscaling and frame generation (on RTX 40-series to boost performance to taste with practically no loss of image quality. AMD FSR 4 provides AI-enhanced upscaling on RX 9000-series cards, and a version compatible with RX 7000-series cards arrives in July 2026. Intel XeSS can deliver better image quality than older versions of FSR, but the core upscaler hasn't been updated in some time, and it's not as widely adopted as either DLSS or FSR, so it shouldn't influence your buying decision either way.

Finding Discounts on the Best Graphics Cards

While deep discounts are rare on graphics cards in 2026, you might find some particularly tasty deals on occasion. Check out the latest Newegg promo codes, Best Buy promo codes and Micro Center coupon codes for potential savings.

Want to comment on our best graphics picks for gaming? Let us know what you think in the Tom's Hardware Forums.

MORE: HDMI vs. DisplayPort: Which Is Better For Gaming?

MORE: GPU Benchmarks and Hierarchy

Amazon has flagged Microsoft's Surface Laptop 7 as a "frequently returned item," cautioning potential buyers to check customer reviews before purchasing, Windows Central reports. The label suggests that the device has a higher return rate than similar products, though Amazon does not specify the reasons behind it.

One likely factor is the laptop’s use of the Qualcomm Snapdragon X platform, which relies on Arm-based architecture instead of the traditional x86 processors from Intel and AMD. While Arm chips offer better power efficiency and battery life, they can introduce software compatibility issues.

Many Windows applications are still optimized for x86 processors, meaning they must rely on software emulation to run on Arm. Although Microsoft has improved emulation with Windows on Arm, specific older applications, professional software, and games may still suffer from reduced performance or fail to run altogether. This limitation has been a common criticism of Windows devices powered by Arm chips.

The situation for gaming is also not ideal. Many games refuse to even run on Windows on Arm platforms, and those that do often offer lower performance than competing x86 platforms. Also, it bears mentioning that Snapdragon's primary selling point was originally centered around far superior battery life over x86 alternatives.

Newer x86 laptops from Intel, like Lunar Lake, have dramatically improved battery life compared to prior-gen models, reducing or eliminating Snapdragon's battery life advantage while preserving full compatibility with Windows software.

The Surface Laptop 7 has a 4.2-star rating on Amazon from over 360 reviews, but 12% of those reviews are one-star. While some users report a positive experience, complaints about software compatibility, performance inconsistencies, and general usability appear to be recurring issues. These concerns may explain why the device has received the "frequently returned" warning, as buyers who expect a seamless Windows experience may be disappointed.

Microsoft is expected to address some of these concerns by offering Intel-powered versions of the Surface Laptop. Earlier this year, the company introduced the Surface Laptop and Surface Pro for business customers, powered by Intel’s Core Ultra 200V (Lunar Lake) processors. Similar options will likely be made available for consumer models, though no official timeline has been announced. Switching to Intel chips would remove software compatibility challenges while providing solid battery life and performance.

Potential buyers of the Snapdragon-based Surface Laptop 7 and Surface Pro 11 should carefully evaluate their software needs. Ensuring that essential programs work correctly on Windows on ARM can help avoid frustration and unnecessary returns.

Tom’s Hardware has tested dozens of processors to find the best CPU for gaming. Our list of 2026 CPU gaming benchmarks currently comprises 17 of the most demanding titles available on the market, which we run each gaming processor through to see the chips that come out on top. We select our picks based on the data in our CPU benchmark hierarchy, so all of the CPUs below are backed by hundreds of hours of real-world, hands-on testing where we gather extensive data on how a CPU performs and behaves while gaming. If you want a broader look at the CPU market, our AMD vs. Intel article shows you where the current CPU duopoly stands, while our CPU buying guide can help you narrow down the best processor for you.

Now in the back half of the year, we don’t expect major new releases from AMD or Intel. AMD has been on a tear with refreshes, particularly among X3D CPUs. We recently reviewed the Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 Dual Edition, AMD’s first CPU with 3D V-Cache on both CCDs, and it’s the most powerful chip from Team Red currently available. It’s earned a spot on this list, though the (much cheaper) Ryzen 9 9950X3D isn’t far behind in overall performance.

We’ve also seen the Ryzen 7 9850X3D, which is technically the fastest gaming processor on the market, as you can see in our Ryzen 7 9850X3D review. However, we’ve kept the base Ryzen 7 9800X3D as our top recommendation for the best CPU for gaming due to its price. It’s only marginally behind the refreshed model (about 3% on average), and much cheaper. For most gamers, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D makes more sense.

Intel has seen a recent boost in gaming performance with Arrow Lake Refresh, and both the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus and Core Ultra 7 270K Plus have earned spots on our list. AMD dominates in gaming at the moment, however. Our sights are set on Intel’s next-gen Nova Lake chips for a big gaming boost from Team Blue, as well as the rumored ‘Raptor Lake Next’ lineup that’s supposedly arriving early next year.

For the rest of the year, we have the Ryzen 7 7700X3D and Ryzen 7 5800X3D 10th Anniversary Edition to look forward to, which are arriving in July and June, respectively. We don’t anticipate they’ll make a major impact on our rankings here, but we plan on reviewing both CPUs as soon as they’re available.

In addition to the fastest CPUs from AMD and Intel, we’ve included a few DDR4 options on this list. The price of DRAM and NAND flash has made building even a budget PC prohibitively expensive, so DDR4 platforms are a great way to save money. Vendors are signaling a shift back toward DDR4 platforms at the moment, so we may reconsider some older CPUs for our rankings as pricing and availability allows.

Here are the gaming CPUs we recommend buying. We have a shortlist of the top options and some alternatives below, but you can click the ‘More’ links to read our thoughts about a particular CPU and where it stands in the current market.

Prime Day Exceptional CPU deals

Here are our standout CPU deals from the Prime Day event, which is currently taking place. See our best overall picks below.

Best CPU for Gaming in 2026 at a glance (more info below):

The list below is for the best CPUs for gaming, while the best budget CPUs can help you find a cheap chip. Processors benefit from the best thermal paste, so check out our guide if you're shopping for a new processor. But if you're after the best CPU for gaming, you're in the right place.

Best CPU for Gaming Benchmarks

We rank all the Intel and AMD processors based on our in-depth CPU benchmarks hierarchy. You can see some of those numbers in the charts above, including CPU overclock performance results (marked as PBO for AMD processors). We're currently retesting all of these processors with the Nvidia RTX 5090, but only the first four slides have that testing. The remainder are historical testing results with the RTX 4090, which we'll remove once we have fully retested all of the gaming CPUs with the RTX 5090 for our benchmarks. This group of results comprises only the chips that have passed through our newest test suite. Additionally, the tables in our CPU benchmark hierarchy include rankings based on past CPU benchmarks and breakdowns of single- and multi-threaded performance in productivity applications across a broad spate of processors. Finally, be aware that the pricing in the charts above can fluctuate.

Quick Shopping Tips

When choosing the best CPU for gaming in 2026, consider the following:

• You can't lose with AMD or Intel: As noted in our AMD vs. Intel feature, AMD tends to make the best all-around CPU for gaming for mainstream PCs lately, but both offer compelling performance options at any given price point.
• Eight cores is sufficient for gaming: If you’re looking at a pricey flagship, you’re likely wasting some money if gaming is your primary focus. You can game on as little as a quad-core CPU, but performance scaling really falls off past eight cores.
• Budget platform costs: You never want to pair a strong CPU with a weak GPU, RAM, and storage. Right now, it’s especially important to consider platform costs, however. DDR5 prices are peaking, and you’ll need to factor in the cost of DDR5 and a new motherboard if you’re coming from an older socket like AM4.
• Overclocking isn’t for everyone, but if you follow our How to Overclock a CPU guide, you can scrape out extra performance gains.

Best CPU for Gaming 2026 - $300 to $400

The Ryzen 7 9800X3D technically isn’t the fastest gaming chip on the market any more. That title goes to the new Ryzen 7 9850X3D, though the victory is marginal. As you can read in our Ryzen 7 9850X3D review, AMD’s latest X3D offering pushes ahead by 3.3% on average. Despite a minor uplift, we’re still recommending the Ryzen 7 9800X3D. With prices as they currently are, the Ryzen 7 9850X3D is only 3.3% faster despite costing around 6% more than the Ryzen 7 9800X3D.

This chip really has no peer in the market outside of the Ryzen 7 9850X3D — the Ryzen 7 9800X3D delivers outstanding gaming performance, beating Intel's fastest gaming chip, the $469 Core i9-14900K, by 30% in our test suite. The 9800X3D is also almost unbelievably 35% faster than the current-gen Intel flagship, the $560 Core Ultra 9 285K. The stock Ryzen 7 9800X3D's 1% low frame rates (a good smoothness indicator) also deliver an exceptionally smooth gaming experience, benefiting gamers even in GPU-limited scenarios.

The Ryzen 7 9800X3D has eight cores and 16 threads that operate at a 4.7 GHz base and 5.2 GHz boost clock rate. The chip employs AMD's 3D V-Cache tech with a new spin, which places a 3D-stacked SRAM chiplet underneath the die to deliver an incredible 96MB of L3 cache to great effect. AMD moved the L3 cache chiplet from the top to the bottom of the compute die this generation. That gives the integrated heat spreader (IHS) direct access to the compute die, allowing for more thermal headroom, and in turn, higher clock speeds. The end result is a comparatively low-power chip that delivers incredible gaming performance and comparable productivity performance to other eight-core models on the market.

3D V-Cache previously came with trade-offs in the productivity department, but that’s not the case with the Ryzen 7 9800X3D. Still, 3D V-Cache doesn’t provide a performance benefit in every game, and the performance benefit is less pronounced as your display resolution climbs.

The Ryzen 7 9800X3D has much lower power consumption than the Intel competition, making it a far cooler processor that won't require as expensive accommodations, like a beefy cooler, motherboard, and power supply. It also takes particularly well to undervolting, which is easy to accomplish with AMD’s Curve Optimizer. That means the 9800X3D delivers top-notch gaming performance and a cooler, quieter, and less expensive system than you'll get with an Ultra 9 or Core i9.

Read: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D Review

The $305 Ryzen 7 9700X had a rough initial product launch, but AMD's targeted firmware and operating system improvements have changed the picture tremendously, allowing the chip to place much higher on our CPU benchmark hierarchy (head there for the most up-to-date gaming benchmarks). Combined with lower-than-launch pricing, the Ryzen 7 9700X is a strong contender, tying Intel's Core i9-14900K in gaming and beating the Core i7-14700K. That's not to mention that it beats Intel's entire lineup of Arrow Lake processors as well. Now, all of those processors offer faster performance in heavily-threaded productivity applications than the 9700X, but when it comes to a pure gaming experience, the 9700X either ties or beats all current Intel competitors.

The Ryzen 7 9700X has eight Zen 5 cores with 16 threads that operate at a 3.8 GHz base and 5.5 GHz boost clock. The chip has a 65W TDP, though AMD retroactively added a 105W TDP option you can select in the BIOS that helps boost performance in productivity applications. It's covered by the warranty, as well. With either setting, the 9700X has comparatively tame power consumption, so it is an easy chip to cool. You'll have to buy your own cooler for the processor, though.

The Ryzen 7 9700X drops into socket AM5 motherboards, and B-series motherboards make the most sense for this class of chip. B850 and B840 motherboards get AMD's latest chipset with features like mandatory PCIe 5.0 support on the top M.2 slot and better availability for features like Wi-Fi 7. However, the Ryzen 7 9700X will still work with the older B650 chipset if you can find a board on sale.

Read: Ryzen 5 9700X Review

The $350 Core Ultra 7 270K Plus performs like a flagship CPU, but it costs about half as much. In games, it narrowly outclasses the Core i7-14700K and offers a 2.4% boost over the competing Ryzen 7 9700X. AMD’s last-gen Ryzen 7 7800X3D still offers around a 10% boost over the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus, but it’s also around $50 to $80 more expensive depending on sales.

It’s a solid gaming CPU, and certainly a better recommendation than the Core i7-14700K given prices right now. Compared to the Ryzen 7 9700X, things are tighter. The Core Ultra 7 270K Plus gains an edge with productivity performance. Short of the 9950X, it’s at the top of our multithreaded performance rankings, more than doubling the performance of the Ryzen 7 9700X.

On the gaming front, it supports Intel’s new Binary Optimization Tool, which offers an average of an 8% improvement in gaming performance based on our testing. It’s only available in a limited number of games at the moment, but Intel says it plans to support the feature with updates in the future.

For specs, the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus is close to the 285K. It comes with 24 cores and threads, split across eight Lion Cove P-cores and 16 Darkmont E-cores. The P-cores boost up to 5.4 GHz and the E-cores can climb to 4.7 GHz. Across the CPU, you get a total of 76 MB of combined L2 and L3 cache. It comes with a 125W TDP and 250W MTP. Critically, the Core Ultra 270K Plus also comes with a 900 MHz boost in die-to-die frequency and 400 MHz boost in fabric frequency compared to stock Arrow Lake chips.

The Core Ultra 7 270K Plus slots into existing 800-series motherboards with the LGA 1851 socket. This is an unlocked chip, so if you want to get the full benefits of overclocking, you’ll need a Z890 board. However, it’ll still work with H- and B-series motherboards, just without CPU overclocking support.

Read: Core Ultra 7 270K Plus Review

Mid-Range Best CPU for Gaming - $200 to $300

Intel has returned to gaming prominence with its Arrow Lake Refresh CPUs, and nowhere is that clearer than with the $220 Core Ultra 5 250K Plus. It’s priced like a budget CPU at $220, but it can perform as well (and sometimes even better) than chips that cost twice as much. It doesn’t dominate the gaming charts in the same way as AMD’s X3D offerings, but at this price, it doesn’t need to. It offers marginally better performance than AMD’s competing six-core Ryzen 5 9600X in games while running the tables with application performance.

On average, the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus is 1% faster than the Ryzen 5 9600X at 1080p, and 9% faster than the 245K. It’s functionally identical, but Intel’s new iBOT feature allows the chip to hold some solid leads in certain titles. For instance, it’s 10% ahead of the 9600X in Cyberpunk 2077. Even in a non-iBOT title like Doom: The Dark Ages, the 250K Plus leads by 12%. There are still some games that struggle with the unique Arrow Lake architecture like F1 2024, but the losses are less pronounced with the souped-up Arrow Lake Refresh chips compared to the stock offerings.

The application performance is what really stands out with the 250K Plus, however. With 18 cores, it outpaces the Core i7-13700K, nearly matches the Core i7-14700K, and more than doubles the performance of the Ryzen 5 9600X in multithreaded applications. In single-threaded applications, it beats the Ryzen 5 9600X by 6%.

Although you get 18 cores, they’re split between six Lion Cove performance cores and 12 Darkmont efficient cores. The P-cores climb up to 5.3 GHz, while the E-cores top out at 4.6 GHz. The CPU comes with a combined 60 MB of L2 and L3 cache, along with a TDP of 125W and a MTP of 159W. Like all Arrow Lake chips, it doesn’t support Hyper-Threading, so you get 18 total threads.

The Core Ultra 5 250K Plus slots into existing motherboards with the LGA 1851 socket. It’s unlocked for overclocking, so a Z-series motherboard is an ideal pairing. However, Intel increased the die-to-die frequency and the fabric frequency out of the box, and you’ll see those improvements in action on B- and H-series motherboards, as well. It’s locked to DDR5 memory, unlike Raptor Lake and Alder Lake platforms, and it officially supports speeds up to 7200MT/s.

Read: Core Ultra 5 250K Plus Review

The $230 Ryzen 5 7600X3D is currently the best value gaming CPU you can get right now, though it trades performance in other areas to reach that status. It's just 4.5% slower than the Ryzen 7 7800X3D based on our testing, giving you most of the performance of AMD's coveted 3D V-Cache in games without the extra cost.

In games, it outclasses more expensive CPUs with ease, including the Ryzen 7 9700X, and averaged just 65W of power draw during our gaming tests. Outside of games, however, the Ryzen 5 7600 X3D struggles. The Core Ultra 5 250K Plus is more than twice as fast in multithreaded performance, and in single-threaded performance, even the base Ryzen 5 7600X is around 13% faster.

The lagging productivity performance makes sense. The Ryzen 5 7600X3D is a six-core / 12-thread chip, so it has limited multithreaded potential, and it only clocks up to 4.7 GHz. The limited specs give AMD room to cram 102 MB of combined L2/L3 cache on the die, however, which comes with a sizeable boost in gaming performance. Compared to the base Ryzen 5 7600X, the X3D version is 22% faster despite coming in at lower peak clocks and power draw.

You can slot the Ryzen 5 7600X3D into socket AM5, which is available on 600- and 800-series motherboards, though the latter may require a BIOS update. Memory and CPU overclocking is available on both B- and X-series chipsets; however, the Ryzen 5 7600X3D has a locked multiplier, so the only overclocking you can access is through AMD's Precision Boost Overdrive, or PBO.

Read: Ryzen 5 7600X3D review

Highest Performance Best CPU for Gaming - $400+

How do you improve upon a CPU that already claims a dominating position in gaming and productivity workloads? You add more cache, of course. The Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 is powerful, expensive, and hungry for wattage, but it’s the best of the best if you want top-shelf gaming and application performance. It throws value out the window, and it’s only marginally better than the Ryzen 9 9950X3D, but it is still better.

Based on our testing, it’s about 3.9% ahead of the Ryzen 9 9950X3D in multithreaded applications, and in lockstep in gaming at 1080p. Compared to Intel’s Core Ultra 7 270K Plus, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 is 9% ahead in multithreaded performance and 23% ahead in average gaming performance. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D delivers a better value on the gaming front, and the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus is a monster productivity chip at a third of the price of the 9950X3D2. But the magic trick of this chip is that it can do both without breaking a sweat.

Under the hood, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 is similar to the Ryzen 9 9950X3D. It’s a 16-core / 32-thread chip packing AMD’s Zen 5 architecture, and it tops out with a 5.6 GHz boost clock; just 100MHz behind the 9950X3D. As the name suggests, this processor is unique because it uses AMD’s 3D V-Cache on both CCDs. Both eight-core CCDs have 32 MB of onboard cache, plus an additional 64 MB chunk placed under the cores, giving you a total of 192 MB of L3 cache.

The extra cache slightly accelerates multithreaded performance overall, though only by around 4%. There are specific workloads where the advantage is more present, with some data science workloads showing performance gains in the realm of 26% over the Ryzen 9 9950X3D. Those specific workstation-class workloads are where the Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 earns its stripes.

Otherwise, it’s the chip to buy because you simply want the best, no matter what the cost or how marginal the improvements are. It slots into existing AM5 motherboards, and it’s best suited for newer 800-series chipsets. AMD officially supports memory speeds up to DDR5-5600, though we find that DDR5-6000 is the sweet spot for Zen 5 CPUs.

Prices have dropped since release, though the 9950X3D2 is still expensive. It launched at $1,000, but you can find the chip for around $900 now.

Read: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 Review

The prior-gen $469 Core i9-14900K is now selling for all-time low pricing, primarily because the newer $560 Core Ultra 9 285K has arrived to take its place. However, the Core Ultra 9 285K is actually slower than the 14900K in gaming, so it isn't a suitable replacement. The new Core Ultra 7 270K Plus is marginally slower based on our testing, as well. Even in the face of Intel’s 200S Boost update, which was meant improve gaming performance, the competitive landscape remains unchanged. In our testing, the Core Ultra 9 285K gained an average of 7% from the update, which means it’s still slower than the Core i9-14900K.

You should be aware that the much more economically-priced 14700K (listed above) is only 2% slower than the 14900K in gaming but costs over $100 less. The Ryzen 7 9700X, also listed above, is also less expensive and effectively ties the 14900K in gaming.

However, there are Intel fans willing to pay extra for the absolute most gaming performance they can get from an Intel platform. Also, the 14900K does offer more multi-threaded horsepower than the 14700K and 9700X, which could be useful if you game, stream, and record simultaneously or do other heavy multi-tasking while gaming. Just make sure that your use case justifies the extra cost.

The 14900K sports leading-edge connectivity, supporting DDR4-3200 or up to DDR5-5600 memory, along with 16 lanes of PCIe 5.0 and an additional four lanes of PCIe 4.0 from the chip for M.2 SSDs.

The chip comes with eight P-cores that support Hyper-Threading and 16 single-threaded E-cores for a total of 32 threads. The P-cores have a 3.2 GHz base, and peak frequencies reach an amazing 6.0 GHz with Turbo Boost Max 3.0 (this feature is only active on P-cores). Meanwhile, the E-cores have a 2.4 GHz base and stretch up to 4.4 GHz via the standard Turbo Boost 2.0 algorithms. The chip also has 36MB of L3 cache and 32MB of L2.

This 14900K has a 125W PBP (base) and 253W MTP (peak) power rating, but we recorded considerably lower power consumption than its prior-gen counterpart. You'll need to buy a capable cooler for the chip, and you'll also need either a 700-series or 600-series motherboard. Like other Raptor Lake Refresh chips, you can find DDR4 and DDR5 motherboards, though you’ll need to go with a DDR5 board for the highest performance.

The lower price of DDR4 might entice some gamers, but you'll lose anywhere from 5-8% of gaming performance with higher-end Intel chips. You can step up to the much more expensive DDR5 if you need access to more memory throughput and, thus, every bit of performance possible.

Beyond specs, the Core i9-14900K was at the center of a years-long controversy concerning instability. An error in the microcode (CPU firmware) meant the Core i9-14900K would degrade faster than expected, starting with instability in games. Intel has rectified the issue with microcode 0x12F, so make sure you update your BIOS immediately if you pick up Intel’s last-gen flagship

Read: Intel Core i9-14900K Review

Best Budget CPU Pick - $100 to $150

The $164 Ryzen 5 7600X is an attractive budget CPU at its new price, forced down by Intel's new Arrow Lake Refresh chips. It’s marginally slower than the Ryzen 5 9600X, but also marginally cheaper – the Ryzen 5 7600X offers about 90% of the performance of the Ryzen 5 9600X for 94% of the price. It’s a slightly worse value, but it’s still a good option to keep in mind, especially if you find it on sale. The Ryzen 5 7600, sans X, is available at around the same price. We’ve yet to see it drop below the Ryzen 5 7600X, however.

With the 7600X, you get six cores and 12 threads based on the Zen 4 architecture, clocked at 4.7GHz with boost speeds up to 5.3GHz. Unlike the Ryzen 5 9600X, the Zen 4-based version comes with a TDP of 105W. Cooling it shouldn’t be an issue, and you’re free to run in AMD’s 65W Eco mode through the Ryzen Master software.

The Ryzen 5 7600X slots into AM5 motherboards, including 600- and 800-series chipsets, and it supports PCIe 5.0. DDR5 is required, which is a tough pill to swallow at this bang-for-your-buck price point, but it’s hard to avoid soaring RAM prices.

Read: Ryzen 5 7600X review

The $135 AMD Ryzen 5 5600 delivers a solid blend of performance in both gaming and productivity applications, bringing a new level of value to the Zen 3 lineup. If you're fine sticking with a previous-gen AM4 motherboard, the Ryzen 5 5600 makes a great base for a budget build. The primary trade-off for the AM4 platform is that you're limited to DDR4, and you don't have access to PCIe 5.0. You also have a limited runway for upgrades, as the fastest gaming CPUs on AM4 – the Ryzen 7 5700X3D and Ryzen 7 5800X3D – have reached end of life.

The Ryzen 5 5600 also makes an absolutely unbeatable budget chip if you're updating a first-gen Ryzen system. The 5600 unseats the Ryzen 5 5600X, a long-time favorite. The 5600X is only a mostly imperceptible ~1% faster in gaming and multi-threaded PC work than the non-X model, but provides a 4% advantage in single-threaded work.

Our testing shows that the Ryzen 5 5600 generally matches the gaming performance of its more expensive sibling, the ~$230 Ryzen 7 5800X. That makes the 5600 an incredibly well-rounded chip that can handle gaming well, from competitive-class performance with high refresh rate monitors to multi-tasking gaming workloads like streaming, while also serving up more than enough performance for day-to-day productivity apps. As with all AMD CPUs for gaming, you can fully overclock the chip.

The Ryzen 5 5600 has a 3.7 GHz base and 4.6 GHz boost clock. The chip also has a 65W TDP rating, so it runs cool and quiet. Existing AMD owners with a 500-series motherboard will be happy, as the 5600X drops right into existing 500-, 400-, and 300-series motherboards. If you need a new motherboard to support the chip, AMD's AM4 motherboards are plentiful and relatively affordable, with the B-series lineup offering the best overall value for this class of chip.

Prices for the Ryzen 5 5600 have drifted upward as stock depletes, but that’s offset by platform costs. In addition to low prices on AM4 motherboards, the Ryzen 5 5600 is limited to DDR4. High DDR5 prices are a significant roadblock to opting for a newer chip, as prices continue to surge. So it’s hard to recommend a newer budget CPU, even if it’ll net you higher performance. In the event you already have a kit of DDR5, the $189 Ryzen 5 7600 is a compelling option, and it includes AMD’s Wraith Stealth cooler.

Read: AMD Ryzen 5 5600 Review

Entry-Level Best CPU for Gaming - For gaming on integrated GPUs

The $268 Ryzen 7 8700G, AMD's flagship desktop APU, delivers the fastest socketed performance on the market from integrated graphics, bringing passable 1080p gaming to the desktop PC without a discrete graphics card, but its high price point relegates it to a niche audience.

In contrast, the $191 Ryzen 5 8600G delivers 90% of the 8700G's performance but for ~$80 less, making it a solid alternative for gaming systems that don't use a discrete GPU.

Naturally, you'll have to accept lower fidelity settings and be realistic about which titles can play at 1080p resolution. Still, AMD's Hyper-RX suite of features, which includes in-driver Radeon Super Resolution upscaling tech, frame generation with AMD Fluid Motion Frames (AFMF), Anti-Lag+, and Radeon Boost, helps boost performance at a slight cost to image quality. This new feature set, a first for AMD's iGPUs, is a boon for budget gamers.

The Ryzen 5 8600G has six Zen 4 CPU cores and the RDNA 3 GPU engine with eight CUs. The Ryzen 5 8600G drops into the AM5 platform, with value-focused B650 and A620 motherboards being the obvious best combination. These systems offer a new level of connectivity for AMD's APU processors, which were previously on the aging AM4 platform but require DDR5 memory. That adds some cost, so do a value analysis before selecting this processor. If you're looking for the lowest entry price possible with an APU, the Ryzen 5 5600G listed below slots in as the value alternative.

The Ryzen 7 8600G only supports 16 usable lanes of PCIe 4.0 connectivity, while other processors on the AM5 platform support PCIe 5.0. However, we don't feel this will impact this class of system.

More: AMD Ryzen 7 8700G and Ryzen 5 8600G Review

The Ryzen 5 5600G steps into the arena as the value champ for APUs, which are chips with strong enough integrated graphics that they don't require a discrete GPU for light gaming—just be sure you're willing to accept lowered quality settings.

The Ryzen 5 5600G gives you 96% of the gaming performance on integrated graphics than its more expensive sibling, the Ryzen 7 5700G, but for 25% less cash. Our testing shows that its level of performance makes it the best value APU on the market. As long as you're willing to sacrifice fidelity and resolution and keep your expectations in check, the Ryzen 5 5600G's Vega graphics have surprisingly good performance in gaming.

The 5600G's Vega graphics served up comparatively great 1280x720 gaming across numerous titles in our tests, but options become more restricted at 1080p. Of course, you can get away with 1080p gaming, but you'll need to severely limit the fidelity settings with most titles.

With eight cores and 16 threads that operate at a 3.9 GHz base and boost up to 4.4 GHz, the Ryzen 5 5600G also offers solid performance for its price point in standard desktop PC applications. The chip also comes with a bundled Wraith Stealth cooler, sweetening the value prop, and drops into existing 500-series and some 400-series motherboards, though support on the latter will vary by vendor.

The Ryzen 5 5600G is nearly five years old, and as a result, it’s hard to find it in stock at a reasonable price. AMD updated this model with the Ryzen 5 5600GT in early 2024, which features identical silicon and a slight boost to clock speed, and you’ll generally find it for less at around $150.

If your budget is tight and you're looking to build a system for modest gaming, you should check out our Best Cheap CPU feature. Some of those chips can deliver passable gaming performance without a graphics card, and their prices start at just $55 (£40).

Read: AMD Ryzen 5 5600G Review

• MORE: CPU Benchmark Hierarchy
• MORE: AMD vs Intel
• MORE: Best Cheap CPUs
• MORE: Best CPUs for Workstations

The MacBook Air is one of those laptops that has become something of a default recommendation. Looking to spend around $1,000, and want something fast, quiet, and efficient, with great build quality? It's an easy call. That's why it tops the list of our best ultrabooks.

With the M4 model, Apple is in full-on refining mode. Sure, M4 is faster, but now we're getting features like an improved webcam, faster ports, and even a subtle new blue color. It's not a huge change, but they're all welcome.

That's especially the case when Apple dropped the price by $100, jettisoning previous-generation models holding the $999 starting price. With all of that in mind, the MacBook Air feels like a better deal than it has in years.

Design of the MacBook Air (M4)

Does the MacBook Air look largely the same as it has the last three years? Is the sky blue?

Apple hasn't changed the MacBook Air’s looks, with one exception: there's a new color, "sky blue." It's a very subtle sheen that I quite like. It's similar to what we saw on the Microsoft Surface Pro, but far less dramatic, bordering on standard silver in some lights. I think it'll make a good alternative for those bored by silver but who don't want something as dark as the "midnight" color. Starlight and silver are also still on offer, but space gray is no longer available.

Otherwise, you get a very familiar laptop, with the same design we've seen since the 13-inch Air launched with M2 in 2022. It's a flat design with rounded corners and Apple's go-to spartan design sensibilities. Apple's logo shines in a tone-on-tone color on the lid, which lifts up to reveal the 15-inch display on our review unit, including a notch into the screen to fit the 12MP Center Stage webcam.

Years later, I haven't learned to accept the notch on a laptop the way I have on a phone, but at least it's not removing screen space. I know plenty of people who couldn't care less about the notch. I'd at least like to see it incorporate Face ID, as plenty of Windows laptops have facial recognition with IR cameras.

With either the 13-inch or 15-inch laptop, you get identical ports: MagSafe 3 for charging and two Thunderbolt 4 / USB 4 Type-C ports. On the right side, there's a lone 3.5 mm headphone jack. I would love to see Apple move one of the two Thunderbolt ports to the other side of the laptop for maximum flexibility with peripherals, monitors, chargers, and storage drives.

Our 15-inch review unit measures 13.4 x 9.35 x 0.45 inches and weighs 3.3 pounds. It's just heavy enough for me to notice it in my bag, but only barely. It's the same size and weight as last year's model. The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M4 is 12.31 x 8.71 x 0.61 inches and 3.4 pounds, making it thicker but not much heavier. The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition is 13.54 x 9.27 x 0.55 inches, making it slightly thicker, and 3.37 pounds. The Dell XPS 13, which is smaller than our 15-inch review unit, is 2.27 pounds and 11.62 x 0.60 x 0.58 inches.

MacBook Air (M4) Specifications

Productivity and Graphics Performance on the MacBook Air (M4)

The MacBook Air comes with M4, Apple's latest SoC that has already made its way to the Mac Mini, MacBook Pro, and iPad Pro. In our 15-inch review system, that gets you a 10-core CPU with four performance cores and six efficiency cores, a 10-core GPU, and a 16-core neural engine. (The entry-level $999 13-inch MacBook Air gets you an 8-core GPU. See the configurations section for more).

We saw the M4 in the MacBook Pro late last year, but in the MacBook Air, we're seeing what it can do without a fan. We're also comparing it to the Intel-powered Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition (Intel Core Ultra 7 256V) and the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite in the Dell XPS 13 (9345).

On Geekbench 6, the Macbook Air with M4 notched a single-core score of 3,780 and a multi-core score of 14,924, falling slightly behind the MacBook Pro with the same chip. The difference here is likely that the Pro laptop has a fan to keep the chip cool and eke out stronger performance. As you'll see when we hit Cinebench, this matters far more for extended workloads.

The Yoga Slim 7i with the Core Ultra 7 256V did the worst here, especially on multi-core, partially because it has just 8 cores. The XPS 13 has a Snapdragon X Elite in it, and that has 12 cores and came up behind M4, so the number of cores isn't everything.

The MacBook Air copied approximately 25GB of files at a rate of 1,220.35 MBps, coming in slightly faster than what we saw in the Pro (1,167.29 MBps), though that could be run-to-run variance. The Yoga was the fastest here at 1,613.44 Mbps, while the XPS also beat the Macs.

We use Handbrake to have laptops transcode a 4K video to 1080p. The MacBook Air took 4 minutes and 52 seconds to complete the task, falling ever so slightly behind the Snapdragon-powered XPS 13 (4:47). Here, the Lunar Lake laptop fell far behind.

To stress test laptops, we put them through 10 runs of Cinebench 2024 nT. Unsurprisingly, the fanless MacBook Air throttled. Its first score of 844 was its highest, and from there it started to plummet to the mid-600's, with occasional bursts back up to the 700's. Using TG Pro, which lets you log your Mac's temperatures from various internal sensors, the computer average was 49.33 degrees Celsius (120.79 degrees Fahrenheit). You can read more about skin temperature in the heat section, below.

Rendering on a fanless device may not be a typical task, but M4 is capable of it. Without air cooling, the MacBook Air is much better for quick, bursty workloads, but for sustained tasks, you'll want something with a fan, like the MacBook Pro.

On Macs, we also run the Xcode benchmark, which simulates compiling a project with a large codebase using Apple's integrated development environment. Here, the M4 didn't see gains over M3, with the 15-inch MacBook Airs from each generation completing the task in 150 seconds.

To test gaming, I booted up No Man's Sky on Steam and connected an Xbox controller (though you could use a keyboard and mouse if you wanted.) At 2048 x 1280 with the high graphics preset, the game typically ran between 44 and 50 frames per second as I mined for resources and explored planets, though there were occasional periods that dropped down as far as 40 fps.

Display on the MacBook Air (M4)

The 15.3-inch "Liquid Retina" IPS screen on the MacBook Air hasn't changed, including its 2880 x 1864 resolution and 60 Hz refresh rate. (The 13-inch Air's specs haven't changed either, but we got a 15-inch laptop in for review).

True Tone, which uses ambient light sensors to adjust the screen to appear more natural is enabled by default. I typically leave it on unless I'm editing photos. If you're doing work where colors need to be exact, you may want to switch it off.

The trailer for The Fantastic Four: First Steps used the Air's display to show off beautiful blue skies as a rocket took off and as Johnny Storm floated in the atmosphere.

On the early stage planet of Sumpanob in No Man's Sky, I was presented with a dusty, orange desert with blazing red fires and dotted with green plants. It wasn't exactly a fascinating planet to look at, at least until a green radiation storm rolled through and changed the tint of the screen to a surprising emerald followed by a sickly brown.

The 15-inch Air's screen covered 117.9% of the sRGB color gamut and 83.5% of the more challenging DCI-P3 color space. That was actually slightly ahead of our MacBook Pro review unit (though not enough to notice in person), and far ahead of the 1080p panel in the Dell XPS 13. Lenovo's Yoga Slim 7i, however, was extremely vivid at 153.2% sRGB / 108.5% DCI-P3 on its marvelous screen.

On our light meter, the MacBook Air measured 475.6 nits, which is plenty bright. But it fell behind the mini-LED screen on the MacBook Pro at a whopping 556.6 nits of brightness. The Yoga was only slightly brighter than the Air at 486.6 nits.

Beyond the built-in display on the MacBook Air, the M4 brings about an important addition: the ability to use two external displays at up to 6K resolution at 60Hz with the lid open. The MacBook Air M3 could power two external displays, but the lid had to be closed. This should be a pretty big upgrade for enterprise customers, as well as for enthusiasts who don't want or need to shell out for the MacBook Pro.

Keyboard and Touchpad on the MacBook Air (M4)

If there's one part of the MacBook Air I'm glad Apple hasn't changed, it's the keyboard. It's snappy and responsive, with an excellent layout including inverted T arrow keys and full height function keys. Touch ID is built into the power button, which is extremely useful, but it's about time Apple meets the Windows world and puts facial recognition on its laptops.

The 13-inch and 15-inch laptops still have the same keyboards. Apple hasn't added extra keys to the larger laptop, but that leaves more room for speakers.

On our 15-inch review unit, I reached 121 words per minute on the monkeytype typing test with a 98% accuracy rate, which is about as good as I can do. These aren't the deepest keys on the market, but I sure can blaze through an email on them.

Apple has made a few changes to the legends on its keys. For instance, the mute toggle on the F10 key now has a line through it, where there was none on previous laptops (it looks a bit more like the icon you see on-screen when you hit the button now). Apple has moved the command, control, and option icons to the opposite corners of the buttons. On the function key, the "fn" is next to the globe icon, as opposed to diagonal from it. None of these will change your use of the computer — the keys are all in the same place!

No one has surpassed Apple's haptic touchpads. These haven't changed, but that's fine in my eyes. They're smooth and responsive, with great feedback. Apple's macOS gestures, from pinch-to-zoom to three-finger swipes to changing virtual desktops, all work the first time. My only complaint is the default to "Natural" scrolling in settings, which is meant to make your scrolling match the motion of your finger. I turn that off on new Macs, preferring for my scrolling to match the direction of my finger. (Though oddly I have no problem with how this works on phones.)

Audio on the MacBook Air (M4)

The 15-inch MacBook Air features a six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers. That's one of its biggest upgrades over the 13-inch Air, which has four speakers. Either way, you get Dolby Atmos and support for Apple's Spatial Audio.

For a laptop this thin, the 15-inch MacBook Air's sound system is incredible. Lights' "Damage" came through loud and clear, filling my apartment with sound, including melodic guitars, pounding drums, and even a reverberating bass. The thicker MacBook Pro delivers a more impressive sound profile, but considering how svelte this is, the speakers are damn impressive.

The speakers also worked their wonders when I played No Man's Sky, easily balancing the mysterious choral music with the cacophony of my mining laser as I explored the cosmos.

Upgradeability of the MacBook Air (M4)

There are four pentalobe screws on the bottom of the MacBook Air, but unless you're a skilled technician, this won't do you much good.

Apple's M4 is a system-on-a-chip, which includes the RAM, and the SSDs are soldered to the motherboard. That means neither RAM nor storage can be replaced, so make sure the way you configure your MacBook Air will meet your needs for a few years.

I suspect that if MacBook Air owners have an Apple Store within a reasonable distance, those who need repairs will make an appointment at the Genius Bar. Enterprising enthusiasts who want to do their own repairs should be able to rent tools from Apple through the Self Service Repair program at some point soon.

Battery Life on the MacBook Air (M4)

The MacBook Air offers strong battery life with its 66.5 WHr battery. It ran for 15 hours and 14 minutes on our battery test, which browses the web, streams video, and runs simple OpenGL tests while connected to Wi-Fi, all while set to 150 nits of brightness. That's over an hour longer than the Lunar Lake-powered Yoga Slim 7i.

The 14-inch MacBook Pro has a larger, 72.4 WHr battery, and it lasted longer than the Air at 18:36.

The Dell XPS 13, powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chip, was the longest-lasting out of this batch of laptops at 19:31. This laptop has a smaller, 1920 x 1200 display, though running at a higher refresh rate.

I'm not one to complain about 15 hours. But this year's laptop lasted only 11 minutes longer than last year's 15-inch Air. When we reviewed the MacBook Air last year, competing Windows laptops were running for just 11 or 12 hours. Now they're catching up both on Arm and some x86-based platforms, so Apple can't stop focusing on the efficiency front.

Heat on the MacBook Air (M4)

The MacBook Air is fanless, which means it's completely silent no matter how much you throw at it. (In the MacBook Pro, you can get the M4 under a fan, which leads to better sustained performance, but you also get fan noise.)

To see how hot the machine gets, we used our standard Cinebench 2024 gauntlet to see how it feels to the touch. It does get a bit toasty, particularly on the keyboard.

Between the G and H keys, the Macbook Air measured 102.2 degrees Fahrenheit, though the haptic touchpad stayed cooler to the touch at 91.2 F. The hottest point on the bottom of the laptop reached 107.9 F.

Webcam on the MacBook Air (M4)

The MacBook Air got a camera upgrade, jumping from 1080p to 12MP. This is the same change Apple made to its Pro models last year, ditching the "FaceTime" moniker for its new camera name: Center Stage.

Video calls looked natural. When I sat at my desk, with natural light coming through my window, everything from the bags under my eyes to the art on my wall to the books on my shelf was caught with solid details. Colors, like my blue eyes, were very accurate as well. But the new camera still gets blown out by overexposure, a problem most webcams share. Still shots, however, were still a bit fuzzy, with my beard looking way less detailed than it did in motion.

The namesake feature, Center Stage, lets the camera focus on you even as you get up and move around. The other new utility is Desk View, which lets you show your desk to people you're on calls with. The tutorial on how to use Desk View built into the camera app is helpful to get the right positioning with the laptop's hinge, but because it only covers a small surface area, some objects can get a bit distorted. When I tried to use it to show off my keyboard, my fingers were elongated to comedic proportions.

Software on the MacBook Air (M4)

The new MacBook Airs are shipping with Apple's latest Mac operating system, macOS Sequoia (version 15.3 as of this writing). Sequoia launched late last year, and we already saw it in the MacBook Pro and Mac Mini.

It includes iPhone Mirroring, which lets you use the phone from your desktop, and the ability to type to Siri. Window tiling is largely improved (but still not as good as Snap layouts in Windows 11). And of course, the OS update brought several of the first Apple Intelligence features, including ChatGPT integration, Clean Up in the Photos app, and Genmojis, though none of those are reasons to upgrade on their own. A modernized version of Siri has been delayed to sometime in "the coming year."

Preinstalled software includes the Safari browser, Mail, Messages, Calculator, Notes, Weather, Stocks, Maps, and FaceTime, along with a suite for Apple's subscription services including Apple Music, Apple TV, and Apple News. Pages, Keynotes, Numbers, and Garageband are still available for free as a basic productivity bundle.

MacBook Air (M4) Configurations and Warranty

Apple is starting both the 13 and 15-inch MacBook Air at new low prices. Yes, you read that right. In this economy, the price of something expensive went down.

Previously, Apple kept a prior generation around to sit at the $999 price point. But that's no longer the case. The 13-inch MacBook Air starts at $999 with M4 with a 10-core CPU and a cut-down 8-core GPU, along with 16GB of memory and 256GB storage.

The 15-inch starting price also took a $100 price cut to $1,199. The entry-level configuration there has a 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 16GB of RAM and 256GB SSD.

We tested a 15-inch MacBook Air with an M4 (10-core CPU, 10-core GPU), 16GB of unified memory, and 512GB SSD. The storage is the only bump from the base model, bringing it to $1,399. Ours came with the 35W dual USB-C power adapter, but if you order online, you can also choose a standard 70W adapter.

This time around, RAM options start at 16GB and go up to a new maximum of 32GB. Each step up in memory is a whopping $200, which continues to be an absurdly high price to pay. That 32GB total could add $400 to your laptop.. Bumps up in storage between 256GB and 1TB are also $200 each, while the bump from 1TB to 2TB is an outrageous $400.

Apple sells its MacBook Airs with a one-year limited warranty and 90 days of free tech support. AppleCare Plus for the 13-inch Air is $6.99 per month, $69.99 annually or $199 for three years, while the coverage for the 15-inch Air is $7.99 per month, $79.99 per year or $229 for three years. This includes extended coverage as well as accidental damage protection ($99 for screen damage or $299 for other damage).

Bottom Line

The MacBook Air is something you don't see a lot of in tech these days — a really solid value. Starting at $999 for the 13-inch laptop or $1,199 for the 15-inch version with a powerful processor, 16GB of RAM, a vivid display, and excellent build quality is nothing to scoff at (though our review model, with a 512GB SSD, cost $1,399.99) . Apple is offering a lot of computer for the money.

If you're married to Windows, the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition represents the pluses and minuses of competing with the MacBook Air. It has a great design and a screen better than what Apple offers here, but Intel's performance doesn't match M4 and some refinements need to be made to the keyboard and chassis.

With this design, Apple is in refinement mode. Adding a better webcam, faster ports, and a speedier chip while dropping the price is enough to make me overlook the lack of Wi-Fi 7. Looking to spend less than $1,500 (or possibly even $1,000)? Look at the MacBook Air first.

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Significant new details of a next-generation Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 processor for Windows PCs have been shared Germany's WinFuture (machine translation). The big news is that the new X2 chips may come to the PC market with up to 18 Oryon V3 cores, that's 50% more than the current generation Qualcomm chips for PCs. The extra, more powerful, cores will help 'Snapdragon X Elite Gen 2' chips in the high-end laptop market and in desktops, reckons the source.

This isn't the first we have heard about the generational successor to Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite processors for Windows-based client PCs. Last October from the same source we heard that Qualcomm had already got test silicon for the Snapdragon X2 chips, which were codenamed Project Glymur, and featured the model number SC8480XP.

Today, the deeper dive into Snapdragon X2 details also focuses on the SC8480XP. However, this time, WinFuture says it has had eyes on undisclosed import-export databases and spews forth some important tech specs.

In the intro, we mentioned that the next-gen Windows PC chips from Qualcomm might move up to 18 cores, from 12. That's not all. WinFuture has spied documents which suggest the new Qualcomm SiP (system in package) will fold in both RAM and flash storage. Specifically, the SC8480XP features 18 cores, 48GB of SK hynix RAM, and a 1TB SSD onboard.

Qualcomm comes at PCs from a different heritage to traditional players like AMD and Intel, so perhaps we shouldn't be so surprised at its different take with the SiP implementation. The source also indicates that Qualcomm is testing the next-gen processor with an all-in-one cooler and 120mm radiator. It may be trying to see what advantages a desktop could bring compared to the thermally constrained portables its chips usually find a home.

As if there weren't enough Qualcomm codenames numbers and brands mentioned already, WinFuture indicates the upcoming chips might fall under the 'Snapdragon X2 Ultra Premium' brand. A wry response to that might be – why no AI?

Lastly, remember this Snapdragon X2 information comes via an unnamed import-export database leak, so please regard it as an indicative information nugget, at best. Our next window of opportunity for some real first-hand information on Snapdragon X2 chips is very near, though. Qualcomm will have a significant presence at MWC, and this mobile trade show kicks off in Barcelona tomorrow.

Qualcomm just released its first-quarter financial results for fiscal year 2025, covering the period from October to December 2024, and it has made some bold claims to investors. According to analyst Sravan Kundojjala, the company said that 10% of Windows PC sales in the U.S., worth $800 and above, are powered by Snapdragon X chips. This is quite an assertion, especially as it only captured 0.8% percent of the market in the third quarter of 2024, having only sold 720,000 units.

This headline PC shipments figure rings somewhat true, especially with the qualifiers included in the statement. The Windows PC retail market is tied to consumer purchases only, so Qualcomm probably didn’t consider institutional purchases, like those coming from the government and other private businesses. Aside from that, it also only counted PCs worth $800 or more, which is slightly above the average laptop selling price of $750 in 2024.

Whatever the case, we’re going to see more Snapdragon laptops and PCs this coming year. Qualcomm has already announced an 8-core Snapdragon X chip that will bring down prices to around $600, making its devices more accessible for buyers. We’ve also seen mini-PCs with these chips coming to market a few months after the company abruptly canceled its $899 dev kit. These new devices are part of the 80 or so models planned to arrive (or already launched) in 2025, with a further 100+ more coming next year.

Windows on Arm PCs still have a long way to go to reach market share parity with x86_64 devices, especially as they continue to have some compatibility issues with legacy software and gaming. However, they also come with several advantages, especially in the efficiency department. We’ve even seen Snapdragon X Elite laptops lasting more than 15 hours of real-world use on a single charge, finally allowing Windows devices to somewhat catch up with the battery life you can find on Apple's MacBooks.

With continued development, we might eventually see a time when Windows devices are evenly split between Arm and x86 processors. But it will likely take time, and we can only wait and see if the Qualcomm CEO’s prediction that the Snapdragon X chips will take 50% of the Windows PC market by 2029 will come true.

Microsoft is releasing two new Surface Copilot+ PCs designed for business use this coming month. According to the Microsoft Devices Blog, the company will launch the Surface Pro and Surface Laptop on February 18, and both devices will have a starting MSRP of $1,499.99. Aside from sporting an Intel Core Ultra 200V (Lunar Lake) chip, these will also have 5G connectivity, allowing you to connect to the internet even if there’s no nearby Wi-Fi access point.

The Surface Laptop for Business is available with either a 13.8-inch or 15-inch display, giving users the ability to pick a screen that will better suit their workflow. But whatever screen size you choose, you will get a sleek and compact laptop as the 13.8-inch laptop is just 0.69 inches thick, while the larger 15-inch model is just 0.72 inches. Microsoft also boasts a battery life of up to 22 hours for local video playback and 14 hours of active web usage, although this will definitely vary depending on your environment and situation.

If you want a more versatile device, the Surface Pro for Business might be a more suitable option. It’s only available as a 13-inch tablet, although you can choose between an OLED and LCD display. Microsoft added a 1440p ultrawide front-facing camera to make video meetings much easier, and it also installed a 10-megapixel Ultra HD rear-facing camera to capture other people in the room. Also, since this device is smaller than the Surface Laptop, it has a shorter but still respectable 14-hour battery life of local video playback and up to 10 hours of active web usage.

Note that the Surface Pro for Business doesn’t come with any accessories. If you want the Surface Pro Keyboard and the Surface Slim Pen, you have to buy them separately.

However, what makes these “for Business” devices more expensive and stand out from consumer-grade laptops are their security features. Both the Surface Laptop and Surface Pro are equipped with Windows 11 Secured-core PC and Microsoft Pluton technology. You’ll also get an integrated smart card reader on the Surface Laptop for Business, while the smaller Surface Pro for Business would have to settle for NFC authentication.

These two new devices will give enterprise customers more options if they want a Surface device. Previously, if they wanted the latest model of one of these, they’d have to settle for a Snapdragon X processor. While these are great chips, they have some compatibility limitations, especially for some older legacy software that some businesses still use to this day.

Microsoft just announced that it will release NPU-optimized versions of DeepSeek-R1, allowing it to take advantage of AI-optimized hardware found in Copilot+ PCs. According to the Windows Blog, the feature will first arrive on Qualcomm Snapdragon X PCs, to be followed by Intel Core Ultra 200V (Lunar Lake) and other chips. The initial release will feature DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Qwen-1.5B, which an AI research team from UC Berkeley has discovered is the smallest model that delivers correct answers, but larger models featuring 7 billion and 14 billion parameters will arrive shortly thereafter.

DeepSeek’s optimizations meant that it needed 11x less compute versus its Western competitors, making it a great model to run on consumer devices. However, it also uses Windows Copilot Runtime so developers can use on-device DeepSeek APIs within their apps.

Furthermore, Microsoft claims that this NPU-optimized version of DeepSeek will deliver “very competitive time to first token and throughput rates, while minimally impacting battery life and consumption of PC resources.” This means that Copilot+ PC users can expect the power and performance of competing models like Meta’s Llama 3 and OpenAI’s o1 while ensuring that the devices it’s installed on still offer great battery life.

That said, DeepSeek’s availability on Copilot+ PCs is geared more toward programmers and developers instead of consumers. Perhaps Microsoft is using it to encourage them to build more apps that would take advantage of AI PCs as many people still don’t see the need for it and market research suggests users only purchase these devices because they’re the only available option nowadays.

Another thing that got us curious is Microsoft’s preferential treatment for Qualcomm Snapdragon X PCs at this time. While it launched the Copilot+ branding with these chips last July, the latest mainstream Intel and AMD laptops now also have built-in NPUs. AMD has even released instructions on how users can run it on Ryzen AI CPUs and Radeon GPUs, with the company even claiming that the RTX 7900 XTX runs DeepSeek better than the RTX 4090.

Whatever the case, we’re still excited about the possibilities that DeepSeek unlocks for AI. Since it’s open source, nearly anyone can download it and run it locally, allowing others to build upon the advancements and optimizations the original model has put into place.

CES 2025 is in full swing, and the announcements from some of your favorite hardware manufacturers are pouring in. Yesterday, we saw the announcement of Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs, new laptop CPUs from Intel, and a fresh slate of enthusiast processors from AMD.

Today’s announcements are just as exciting, with fresh systems from Lenovo, new hardware from Razer, new Wi-Fi 7 routers, and various odds and ends from every corner of the tech sector.

Lenovo unleashes new handhelds, 2-in-1s, and laptops

The handheld gaming PC market has been surprisingly active in the past couple of years, and Lenovo is keeping interest alive with its Legion Go S. This new handheld PC is powered by AMD’s newly announced Ryzen Z2 processor or the familiar Ryzen Z1 Extreme. You no longer get detachable controllers (a la the Nintendo Switch), but you do get an 8-inch 1200p 120 Hz display, up to 32GB of DDR6-6400, 1TB of storage, and a 55.5 WHr battery. The Legion Go 2 is available with either Windows 11 or SteamOS and will be priced from $499.

Lenovo is also ways looking for new ways to innovate in the portable space, and its latest line of Yoga convertibles is no exception.

The Yoga Slim 9i has learned a trick we've previously seen on Android smartphones: a camera mounted under the display. The 32 MP webcam is embedded in the display near the top bezel and is not visible when the camera is not in use. However, when you enable the camera, the pixels above the camera become transparent enough to provide enough light to function as a webcam.

In addition to the trick webcam, the Yoga Slim 9i is powered by a Core Ultra 7 258V processor, up to 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. It also has a 2880 x 1800 display with a 120 Hz refresh rate. Pricing starts at $1,849.

The Yoga Slim 9i is joined by the Yoga Book 9i (Gen 10), which features dual 14-inch 2880 x 1800 OLED displays mounted to a 360-degree hinge. Prices start at $1,999 for this system, which can be equipped with a Core Ultra 7 255H Intel Evo Edition CPU, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. If you prefer a more value-conscious 2-in-1 ultraportable, the Yoga 9i Aura Edition starts at $1,599 and includes a 14-inch 120Hz OLED display paired with a Core Ultra 7 259V processor.

Other new systems from Lenovo include the ThinkPad X9, which is available in 14- and 15-inch display sizes. It's MIL-SPEC 810H rated for durability, and 2.8K OLED displays are available across the board. Intel Core Ultra 7 processors are available, as are up to 2TB PCIe 4.0 SSDs and up to 32GB of RAM.

Finally, the ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 goes fully wild, thanks to its ability to expand its 14-inch display to 16.7 inches. It achieves this thanks to a rollable display that unfurls vertically. The display resolution jumps from 2000 x 1600 to a maximum of 2000 x 2350 in its fully extended position.

Once you get past the trick display, the ThinkBook Plus Gen 6's other components are standard fare (Core Ultra 7 Series, up to 64GB LPDDR5x, 66 WHr battery). However, the system won't come cheap, thanks to its $3,499 starting price.

• Lenovo’s Legion Go S handheld is powered by AMD’s Z2 Go, runs SteamOS or Windows
• Lenovo's new Yoga 9 laptops include an in-display webcam, dual 14-inch OLED Book 9i with a bigger battery
• Lenovo’s new ThinkPad X9 laptop ditches the TrackPoint and familiar keyboard in favor of MacBook aesthetic
• Lenovo is bringing its rollable, expandable-screen laptop to market – ThinkBook Plus Gen 6’s display gets taller with the press of a button or the wave of a hand

New Wi-Fi 7 routers from Asus and Netgear

Artificial intelligence (AI) is creeping into every sector of the hardware world, and wireless routers are no exception. Asus is even going so far as to put an actual dedicated neural processing unit (NPU) onboard its ROG Rapture GT-BE19000AI Wi-Fi 7 routers. Asus claims that the NPU helps to "enhance" local processing speeds and reduce latency for gamers, resulting in overall increases in efficiency. There's also an onboard Micro Control Unit (MCU), which takes over primary tasks when the network is at idle.

Other routers on deck from Asus include the RT-BE58 GO, a dual-band Wi-Fi 7 travel router with 4G/5G support, and the ZenWiFi BD5 Outdoor, which extends your wireless coverage outdoors (it's IP65 rated for water and dust resistance and supports POE).

Netgear also introduced a new router for CES: the Orbi 870. The Orbi 870 slots between the Orbi 770 and Orbi 970 and offers a tri-band Wi-Fi 7 setup and up to 9,000 square feet of coverage. The router features one 10 Gbps WAN port along with 4 2.5 Gbps LAN ports. Each satellite is equipped with four 2.5 Gbps LAN ports. A two-node system is priced at $999, while a three-node system will set you back $1,299.

• Asus ROG Rapture GT-BE19000AI launches as world’s first AI-powered gaming router with built-in NPU
• Netgear Orbi 870 tri-band Wi-Fi 7 mesh router announced at CES

Snapdragon X Elite desktops invade CES

For decades, the PC desktop market has traditionally been a two-horse race, with Intel and AMD vying for top honors. However, 2024 saw a newcomer in the form of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X family of Arm processors for laptops. While there have been previous attempts to creep into the PC market with Arm-based processors, Snapdragon X is the most credible threat to date.

Now, Snapdragon X is heading to the desktop with thanks to companies like Lenovo with its ThinkCentre Neo 50q QC and IdeaCentre Mini x. Not to be left out, Geekom also showed off the QS1 Mini PC, which measures just 135.5 x 115.5 x 34.5 millimeters and runs the Snapdragon X Elite X1E-80-100 processor.

• Geekom introduces new Mini PCs at CES 2025 — Snapdragon X Elite, Ryzen AI 9, and Core Ultra 9 all represented
• Snapdragon X Arm chips are coming to the desktop PC market

Everything else....

We can't possibly go into extra detail on every single product that we saw at CES in this wrap-up article, so we'll direct you to our extensive coverage from Day 1 with the following stories.

• Micron's new PCIe 5.0 SSD promises longer battery life
• Razer's PC-adjacent CES lineup includes a monitor stand, lights, and a chair with integrated heating and cooling
• MSI announces a plethora of new cases, coolers and accessories at CES
• Raspberry Pi Baby Logger helps keep track of feeding, sleeping and everything in between
• MSI shows off cable-free panoramic PC at CES 2025
• Gigabyte launches 27 RTX 50-series models at CES 2025
• Asus’s new Zenbook A14 weighs just 2.18 pounds, boasts 32 hours of endurance
• AMD quietly introduces Ryzen 5 9600 — non-X variant brings back Wraith Stealth cooler
• Here's a look at all the sexy silicon AMD launched at CES 2025

Here at CES 2025, Mini PC manufacturer Geekom is showcasing its next-generation solutions and has one new desktop Mini PC with top-end mobile chips from AMD, Intel, and even Qualcomm. While Geekom claims its Snapdragon Mini PC will be the first to market, we've also spotted some Lenovo-made Qualcomm-powered Mini PCs on the CES 2024 show floor.

Narrowing in on Geekom's show floor presence, the focus is on the trio of upcoming Mini PCs: IT15, QS1, and A9 Max. We previously covered the tower-style Mega Mini G1 in a dedicated hands-on ahead of CES, but Geekom is also highlighting its already-released A6, which flaunts a last-gen AMD Ryzen 6700H with Radeon 680M iGPU.

On the Intel side, we have the Geekom IT15, which flaunts up to a Core Ultra 9 285H CPU or a Core Ultra 5 225H. Either CPU can be configured with Intel Arc XE-LPG A130T graphics and up to 64 GB DDR5-5800 RAM.W

The Geekom IT15's total size is 135.5 x 115.5 x 34.5 millimeters, so it seems Geekom isn't afraid to dedicate thermal mass to these new Intel CPUs. There's also room to mount one 2.5-inch SSD alongside two M.2 SSDs, though only one M.2 slot actually runs with NVMe Gen 4 bandwidth, with the other being SATA M.2.

In terms of I/O, the Geekom IT15 also seems fully featured, with 2 USB4 Type-C ports and 3 USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports onboard. Combined with 2 HDMI 2.0 ports, a 2.5G Ethernet port, a standard headphone jack, and even an SD card slot, the Geekom IT15 seems like a good choice for those wanting an Intel-powered Mini PC. Built-in Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 support ensure it shouldn't be lacking in connectivity options.

Unfortunately, further information on pricing or availability for this mini PC is not yet available.

More unique among Geekom's new contenders would be the Geekom QS1 Mini PC, which is the most compact of the new offerings at just 135.5 x 115.5 x 34.5 millimeters, built on top of a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chipset. Specifically, the X Elite X1E-80-100 with 12 CPU cores and an Adreno GPU is what's in use here, with an NPU advertised to reach up to 45 AI TOPS. RAM support goes as high as 64 GB of DDR4-8400 MT/s RAM, and storage support for up to 2 NVMe Gen 4 SSDs (one M.2-2280, one M.2-2230) is also included.

For the most part, the specifications we're seeing here are about in line with what we've come to expect in the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite PCs we've seen elsewhere, especially in the laptop space. However, a change in form factor can't really address the overall issues with Snapdragon X Elite (particularly relating to software compatibility, etc.).

For those intrigued by a Snapdragon X Elite mini PC, though, Geekom does seem to be giving this one a fair shot. By targeting a sub-$500 price point, including Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4, and having a healthy I/O, Geekom may still land some sales with this unit. It includes 1 USB4 Type-C port, 3 USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports, 1 USB 2 Type-A port, 1 HDMI 2.0 port, 1 DisplayPort 1.4 port, a standard headphone jack, a 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet port, and even an SD card slot. Add some small hardware features like fingerprint unlock and an array of 4 digital built-in mics, and you may have a winner here...or at least, a piece of curiosity.

Last but certainly not least is the Geekom A9 Max, which is the biggest overall contender at 135 x 132 x 46.9 mm and likely the best overall performer thanks to AMD's onboard Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, complete with 12 cores, 24 threads, and an industry-leading Radeon 890M iGPU. There's also a slightly weaker AI 9 365 (10C,20T) configuration, which uses a weaker Radeon 880M but is otherwise the same. The onboard Ryzen NPU is rated for up to 55 AI TOPS.

As the larger footprint indicates, it would seem that the Geekom A9 Max is considered the new high-end of Geekom's Mini PCs, with AMD's sheer dominance in iGPU performance likely being why that choice was made. Giving this chipset the most cooling headroom makes sense, and like the other mini PCs in the lineup, the A9 Max supports up to 64 GB of DDR5 RAM, albeit limited to just 5600 MT/s. There's also support for dual NVMe Gen 4 drives but with mixed M.2-2280 (standard) and M.2-2230 (mini) slot support. Like all the other Geekom Mini PCs, the A9 Max also comes fully equipped with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 support.

Of the offerings, the Geekom A9 Max has the more comprehensive I/O. I/O includes dual USB4 Type-C ports (one with power delivery support), a whopping 5 USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A ports, 1 USB2 Type-A port, 2 HDMI 2.0 ports, a standard headphone jack, an SD card slot, and dual 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet ports.

We’ve been visiting the booths at CES 2025 and have encountered some of the first desktop PCs on the market with Snapdragon X Plus and Snapdragon X processors. Lenovo also showcases two new mini-PCs using the Arm architecture: the ThinkCentre Neo 50q QC and the IdeaCentre Mini x, equipped with Qualcomm’s first-generation Snapdragon X chips.

Although compact, these mini-PCs deliver enough performance without a massive cooling solution. The ThinkCentre Neo 50q QC has a base Snapdragon X chip, but you can get the Snapdragon X Plus if you need more firepower. Its Hexagon NPU can deliver 45 TOPS, which is more than enough for your AI needs. It has up to 16GB of LPDDR5X memory and two M.2 SSD slots.

This mini-PC has numerous ports: one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A and another USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C in front, alongside a 3.5mm combo audio jack. Looking at the back, you’ll see two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports, two USB 2.0 Type-A ports, one HDMI 2.1 port, one DisplayPort 1.4a, and a 1G RJ45 Ethernet jack. You also get Wi-Fi 6E for wireless connectivity, ensuring that you won’t have any issues with this device regarding productivity.

Because of its Qualcomm Snapdragon X processor, the ThinkCentre only requires 90 watts of power. Unfortunately, though, it has a proprietary power plug. If you could power it via USB-C, you could likely use a 20,000 mAh power bank to run this mini-PC.

Lenovo also introduced the IdeaCentre Mini x, which is about the same size as the ThinkCentre but is built for professionals and creatives. Because of this, the company is limiting the processor for this mini-PC to the more powerful Snapdragon X Plus. We’re still hoping the company will release a more powerful Snapdragon X Elite variant, allowing us to get the best performance in such a small package.

Nevertheless, we want to see how these mini-PCs perform versus their laptop counterparts. After all, a Snapdragon X Elite chip pushed past 100 watts only delivered modest gains of 10% to 30% compared to four times more power consumption. So, we’d love to see what kind of optimizations Lenovo did on these Snapdragon chips.

Qualcomm launched a new 8-core Snapdragon X model here at CES 2025 in Las Vegas as it looks to reduce the pricing of Arm-based Windows CoPilot+ laptops based on its platform down to the $600 price range to help penetrate the lucrative high-volume mainstream segment of the market. That broadens the company’s approach to the mainstream segment further in the wake of its Snapdragon X Plus chips that brought pricing down to the $799 range. Despite the new chips’ lower price point, the company isn’t skimping on performance; in single- and multi-core Geekbench, Qualcomm claims to offer 163% and 157% faster performance, respectively, at the same power level as a competing Intel chip, or use 168% and 240% less power to deliver the same level of performance. The company also teased that it would announce the world’s first Snapdragon mini desktop PCs tomorrow.

The launch comes as Qualcomm fights to gain more market share in the PC market from x86 industry stalwarts Intel and AMD with its Windows laptops, a task that, given recent market share reports, will require both an extended period of time and a broader range of price points. However, the company says it is off to a solid start, with Snapdragon processors comprising 95% of the shipping Windows CoPilot+ PCs, with sales in 20 countries addressing over 60% of the total addressable Windows market.

The Qualcomm X1-26-100 slots in as the lowest-tier ‘Snapdragon X’ model, joining the other three platforms already available, like the Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus. The chip is an eight-core processor fabbed on the TSMC 4nm process node that boosts up to 3.0 GHz in all-core workloads, with the slightly lower CPU clock speed being the key differentiator compared to the 8-core Snapdragon X Plus processors. The chip wields 30MB of total cache and delivers up to 1.7 TFLOPS of performance from the Adreno GPU, with up to 45 TOPS of performance coming from the AI-focused Hexagon Neural Processing Unit (NPU). The processor supports LPDDR5x-8448 memory that provides up to 135 GB/s of

memory throughput across a 16-bit memory bus. Qualcomm says it has five laptop OEMs, including Dell and Lenovo, bringing new notebooks to market with the chip under the hood.

Qualcomm and Intel have been engaged in a tit-for-tat benchmark war, and today’s launch is no exception. Qualcomm claims that Snapdragon X outperforms Intel’s 10-core Core 5 120U in the 3DMark Wildlife Extreme GPU benchmark by 319% at the same power level, and that the Intel chip requires 258% more power to deliver the same level of performance. Notably, this synthetic benchmark often doesn’t correlate directly to real-world gaming performance, and Snapdragon PC chips have struggled with teething issues with many games that aren’t yet optimized for Arm-based processors. That means that Intel holds the compatibility lead in gaming.

Qualcomm also says its chip outperforms the 120U by 2.2X in performance per watt in the web browser benchmark Speedometer, and by 2.8X the performance per watt in the Procyon productivity suite, which encompasses performance in a range of office applications. Battery life is the key selling point of the Arm-powered Snapdragon platform, and Qualcomm says it delivers anywhere from 35% to 106% more battery life than a Core 5 120U-equipped laptop in a range of benchmarks, including streaming, web browsing, office applications, and Teams video calls.

Being a CoPilot+ PC platform, AI is also a central focus of Qualcomm’s performance claims, including a claimed 5.6X advantage in the Procyon AI Score and a whopping 17X advantage in performance-per-watt during the test. That’s possible because Snapdragon X uses its power-efficient NPU for AI tasks while the Intel processor relies upon the decidedly less performant and efficient integrated GPU. As highlighted in another slide, Intel’s 120U and AMD’s Ryzen 5 7540U, the latter of which was curiously left out of Qualcomm’s other benchmarks (Qualcomm clearly has Intel in the crosshairs), don’t have an NPU that can run the Procyon AI test.

Leading performance and battery life in any given laptop price tier is usually a winning combination, but the advancement of the Arm-compatible software ecosystem looms large as Qualcomm’s primary barrier to wider adoption. In partnerships with Microsoft and a wide range of ISVs ,Qualcomm is working to defray compatibility concerns and ensure that applications not only run on Arm, but that they also run at their full performance potential. To that end, the company says that it has expanded the roster of Arm-native applications to include 20 of the top VPNs, 50 of the top security and cloud applications, along with new music Digital Audio Workstations (DAW) and Virtual Studio Technology (VST) applications. The company also now has 50 native NPU-powered applications that look to capitalize on the AI potential of CoPilot+ PCs.

The Snapdragon X platform will launch globally beginning in January 2025, and as you’d imagine, we’ll have systems in for review in short order.

Arm-based PCs won't rock the PC world in 2025, according to a recently published report by self-described tech intelligence experts, ABI Research. In a report outlining 101 tech trends that will – and won't – shape 2025, the analysts at ABI say they expect that "Arm-based PCs will represent only 13% of total PC shipments in 2025." This prediction might chill the hearts of companies like Qualcomm, and its investors, so let's take a closer look.

By the summer it seemed like we had been waiting for eons for the first Nuvia (Oryon) core-powered Arm processors to be released by Qualcomm for the PC market, and they were duly trotted out at Computex 2024. We also heard rather a lot of bluster and bravado regarding the expected fortunes of Arm PCs over the coming half-decade. Most notably, both the Arm CEO and Qualcomm CEO talked in public about Arm Windows PCs gaining a 50% market share within five years.

At release, the first Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus machines were propelled by featuring the first processors certified for Microsoft's Copilot+ PC program, and the stellar battery life offered by these laptops redefined untethered portability for Windows users. However, people weren't, and still aren't, impressed by Microsoft's Copilot+ misfire(s), and it only took a few months before the incumbent Intel and AMD Windows laptop rivals trotted out efficiency-tuned architectures to basically nullify the greatest selling point for Arm Windows PCs – battery life.

Is it any surprise, then, that ABI Research now thinks that there is limited potential for further Arm PC penetration in the coming year? The report highlights this is a pivotal year for the Arm PC platform, but it looks like it may be a dud.

ABI notes that as well as AMD and Intel spoiling the Arm PC dream, there has been disruptive legal squabbling between Arm's biggest players, especially regarding licensing and royalties. Last but not least, ABI doesn't see the x86 software advantage going away this year, either.

Though the laptop segment is the biggest target for Arm PC proponents, we reported on a very interesting Cinebench world record-setting 128-core Arm PC desktop tower yesterday.

Other ABI predictions for 2025

The full report from ABI touches on many other aspects of tech. We think readers might also be interested to hear that the analysts think AI PCs will become the new normal in 2025. Hopefully, moving local AI out of premium means there will be more reasons to own an AI PC, in a chicken-and-egg kind of fashion.

In other tech trend highlights, ABI predicts AI humanoids won't take over the world, semiconductor onshoring will still need several years to materialize as planned, and most people still won't want to wear smart glasses.

ECS, known for its motherboards, just announced a 14-inch laptop powered by an unreleased AMD Krackan processor. According to the press release, the processor in this laptop called the ECS UP42KP, will feature eight Zen 5(c) CPU cores, RDNA 3.5 integrated graphics, and an NPU that delivers more than 40 TOPS of performance. The Krackan Point chips are AMD’s budget alternatives to the Strix Point processors it launched in mid-2024, and we expect laptops with these CPUs to start at $799 and have Copilot+ branding.

ECS said the UP42KP will have features including a TDP range of 15 to 45 watts, support for DDR5-5600 RAM, Wi-Fi 6, and USB 4.0. It will also have an IR camera compatible with Windows Hello, a privacy shutter, a backlit keyboard, and HDMI 2.1. All this is packed in a sleek metal chassis that’s just 16.9mm thick and has a 14-inch Full HD screen.

Unfortunately, ECS hasn’t released pricing for this new laptop model, especially since it’s primarily an OEM instead of a laptop retailer. That means we will probably see the ECS UP42KP on store shelves under a different brand name. Furthermore, the brands that eventually carry the UP42KP in their lineup could tweak the specifications to change its features and pricing. Nevertheless, since ECS is targeting this model for the mainstream mid-range market, we expect it to be priced somewhere between $700 and $1,000.

ECS is releasing Snapdragon X-powered laptops, too

In addition to the AMD Krackan-powered UP42KP, ECS will launch the UP42PW and UP52PW, a 14-inch and 15.3-inch laptop with a Snapdragon X Plus processor. Although the company didn’t mention which model these laptops featured, ECS said they could hit a maximum turbo frequency of 3.4 GHz. That means they’re likely powered by the base Snapdragon X Plus X1P-41-100, which has a 3.2 GHz Oryon 8-core CPU that can reach a maximum single-core boost of up to 3.4 GHz.

These laptops will have an NPU that could hit 45 TOPS, high-speed LPDDR5 memory, and enough battery life to last up to 12 hours. ECS also says these devices will have USB 4.0 and support Microsoft’s Copilot+ PC functionality. Again, the company did not release pricing as they will likely be sold under different brands. Nevertheless, these could be part of the more affordable Snapdragon X PCs that the Qualcomm CEO said will come out in early 2025.

Geekom says that it will launch the Geekom QS1, Geekom A9 Max, and Geekom IT15 in Las Vegas, all of which are powered by the latest chips, as well as show off its recently launched Geekom A6, which is its contender for the sub-$500 market.

Mini-PC maker Geekom is set to reveal new models powered by the latest chips at CES 2025. These devices would include some of the most powerful next-generation processors from Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm, giving users the freedom to choose between Team Blue or Team Red if they want an x86 chip or maybe be a bit more adventurous and go for a Snapdragon X Elite-powered desktop.

The Geekom QS1 would be one of the headlining products in the Geekom booth, especially as it’s the first Snapdragon X mini-PC after Qualcomm suddenly canceled its $899 dev kit. This tiny Windows 11 on Arm PC is powered by a Snapdragon X1E-80-100 chip with twelve 4.0 GHz Oryon CPU cores, a 3.8 TFLOPS Adreno X1-85 GPU, and a 45 TOPS NPU. The company didn’t say much more about the QS1 in its press release, but previous leaks suggest that it would come with up to 64GB of dual-channel RAM, up to 2TB M.2 2280 storage, Wi-Fi 7, and Bluetooth 5.4. We also expect it to come with a biometric fingerprint sensor in the power button, allowing you to take advantage of Windows Hello.

If you’re an Intel fan, Geekom also has something for you—the IT15. This tiny desktop packs the latest Intel Arrow Lake-H chips, allowing you to equip it with the Intel Core Ultra 9 285H. The Intel Core Ultra 200H isexpected to launch at CES 2025, too, meaning Geekom would be among the first manufacturers to offer these powerful processors to the public.

Finally, we expect the Geekom A9 Max with an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 processor under its hood. The HX 375 is at the top of AMD’s Strix Point product stack, with four Zen 5 and eight Zen 5c cores, giving it 12 and 24 threads. It also has a Radeon 890M integrated GPU and could deliver up to 80 TOPS of AI performance, allowing it to beat the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V in LLM performance. The company also said it will show off the more affordable Geekom A6, with its AMD Ryzen 7 6800H chip, Radeon 680M integrated GPU, 32GB of DDR5 RAM, and 1TB of storage.

We can’t wait until January 7 to see the exact specifications and pricing of these new Geekom models. In addition, we expect to see a flurry of next-generation releases, like the Nvidia RTX 5000 and AMD RX 8000 GPUs, which we expect to be revealed at CES 2025.

Asus has announced it will host a special event at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2025 in Las Vegas. While the company is expected to unveil a range of new products, the highlight for road warriors will likely be a new ultra-thin laptop, touted as the world’s lightest Copilot+ PC.

According to a press release from Asus, the laptop will deliver “a perfect blend of elegance and functionality, offering a seamless experience for professionals, creators, and everyday users alike.” Although the company has not disclosed detailed specifications or design features, the laptop is said to offer up to 32 hours of battery life, one of the most ambitious energy endurance claims in recent memory.

This new laptop will join the Zenbook series, which already includes models like the Zenbook S14 with Intel’s Lunar Lake-based Core Ultra 7 258V and the Zenbook S16 featuring AMD’s Ryzen AI 9 HX 370. Given the extraordinary battery life claim, this model may be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X platform, which is known for its outstanding energy efficiency.

However, it’s worth noting that real-world battery life often falls short of manufacturer claims. Laptops are typically tested under ideal conditions involving light tasks, minimal background processes, and lower screen brightness. For instance, our review of the Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6, equipped with the Snapdragon X Elite, found that while Lenovo advertised up to 24 hours of battery life, we achieved approximately 21 hours in testing. While not identical to the claim, this remains the highest battery life we’ve recorded in the labs, so far.

As for the weight, Asus will face competition from notable contenders like LG and Fujitsu. LG’s Gram series, known for its exceptional portability and durability, offers models weighing under 1kg while delivering decent performance and battery life. Fujitsu’s Lifebook UH-X series also impresses with its lightweight design, weighing under 900 grams, making it a popular choice among business professionals.

All final details, including the laptop's specifications and pricing, will be revealed during Asus’ AIways Incredible launch event on January 7, which will also feature a live global stream.

According to a prominent analyst, Micron’s miss on Q3 earnings and guidance for the second quarter of next year might signal that the AI PC and smartphone supercycle isn’t happening. Most of the company's woes stem from a weaker market than expected for memory products for PCs and smartphones, and multiple reports from other market analysis firms have pointed out that the AI PC 'revolution' simply isn't happening. At least not yet.

In its latest financial report, the American memory manufacturer Micron reported Q3 revenue of $8.709 billion, somewhat below the $8.721 figure the market anticipated. Even worse, Micron's guidance for the second quarter of 2025 was $7.9 billion instead of the $8.98 billion that Wall Street expected. At the time of writing, its stock is down over 16%.

Calling the miss and forecast a “big whiff,” semiconductor analyst Daniel Newman said in an X post that it’s not the “beginning of the end for the AI trade” and companies like Nvidia, which has grown to be one of the world’s biggest companies since AI chips took off earlier this year.

Although high-bandwidth memory (HBM) is set to become a big market for Micron, expected to grow from $16 billion in total addressable market value this year to $100 billion by 2030, Micron’s primary source of revenue today is making memory chips for PCs and smartphones.

“However, the core business is contracting as PC and smartphone shipments lag AND Micron is dealing with customer inventory that is selling off slowly leading to even lower booking/sell-through in this and the next quarter, “ Newman said. “Bad news is the AI PC and AI smartphone ‘supercycle’ has more or less been a bust.”

In 2024 and 2023, hopes were high that the PC industry would be supercharged by demand for AI PCs thanks to their new, AI-powered features. However, it seems that things didn’t shake out that way. One report by IDC Research in September said AI isn’t driving demand for AI PCs. Instead, it's driven by the general desire to upgrade, as new chips with AI hardware also feature faster CPU and GPU cores.

Trendforce published a report last month that reached a similar conclusion: Customers were not interested in AI PCs. The market analysis firm says that users upgrading to Windows 11 PCs from older Windows 10 devices will drive more sales than AI in the new year.

Qualcomm’s apparent struggles with its new Snapdragon X chips for Copilot+ laptops indicate that demand for AI PCs is probably not great. In Q3 of this year, Qualcomm captured a mere 0.8% of the PC market, with only 720,000 units sold. Intel’s interim co-CEO Michell Johnston Holthaus claimed last week that return rates for Snapdragon X laptops were relatively high, a charge Qualcomm denies.

The Arm chip company seems to be looking forward to upcoming Snapdragon X PCs that will bring the cost-to-entry down to $700 without reducing performance on the NPU, a significant source of AI prowess on Qualcomm’s PC chip. The cheapest Snapdragon X laptops cost $1000, so a $300 reduction is substantial.

However, if demand for AI PCs were great, it would seem hasty for Qualcomm to move on to lower price brackets so soon, mainly if these upcoming PCs feature the same top-end NPU present in the Snapdragon X Elite and Plus. Focusing on more budget-friendly parts of the market makes sense if there’s no more appetite for AI PCs at the higher end, but it's also clear that Qualcomm is struggling to build scale.

The AI PC seems to have a major issue because there’s not much use right now for running AI locally on a PC. AI software that runs directly on an end user’s device is more in the enthusiasts' wheelhouse. Meanwhile, popular services like ChatGPT run in the cloud and don’t require a brand-new AI PC.

As the AI PC becomes the default PC, having AI hardware will eventually cease to be an essential selling point, much like how multicore CPUs, integrated graphics, and solid-state drives have become standard for PCs. Consumers probably won’t pay extra for an AI PC, but they probably won’t buy a non-AI PC either since that implies it’s using an old chip that predates the AI revolution. In other words, AI becomes table stakes. 

However, the lack of demand for AI PCs and smartphones isn’t necessarily a sign that the whole AI industry is about to implode. “The good news is HBM is selling well and growing fast meaning the AI chip demand is still in tact,” Newman argues. “NVIDIA, Broadcom, AMD, Marvell, etc. Panic not. HBM is growing fast.”

Of course, it’s not great news that consumers aren’t enthralled by running AI locally on PCs and smartphones. However, there’s still a big market for running AI in the cloud, especially since cellular devices make it easy to connect to the internet. Dropping demand for HBM would be a much more significant indicator of something going wrong since HBM is critical for AI chips made for the data center.

However, if AI turns out to be a bubble and pops, this might be the first warning sign: For now, there is no explosive demand for AI on running on end-user devices.

Qualcomm CEO Christiano Amon told the company board that purchasing Nuvia outright would save it as much as $1.4 billion per year in payments to Arm. This admission was revealed during the Arm vs. Qualcomm trial, where the former claimed that the Snapdragon X chips the latter released earlier this year were infringing on its patents. According to Reuters, Amon testified that he used this reason to justify the acquisition of Nuvia, which cost Qualcomm $1.4 billion in 2021.

Qualcomm owned a huge share of the smartphone processor market in the late 2010s, yet the company believed it was falling behind Apple’s Bionic chips in terms of performance due to its reliance on Arm designs. Aside from that, Amon wanted to take on Intel’s dominance in laptops and mobile computing. But Qualcomm had no alternative to Arm at that time.

When former Apple engineers who worked on smartphone processors founded Nuvia in 2019, the Qualcomm CEO saw a solution. At first, Amon tried to convince Nuvia to build computing cores for the company. When that failed, he decided that the next best thing was to simply buy the startup.

This strategy was reportedly a tough sell to the Qualcomm board, especially as Nuvia didn’t have a product at that time and was mostly focused on developing chips for servers. So, to acquire the talent and designs that Nuvia had, Amon told the company board that this move would potentially save Qualcomm $1.4 billion yearly in royalties to Arm. This theoretical number was based on the assumption that Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X processors would take a massive chunk of the laptop market at its launch. In reality, Qualcomm sold only 720,000 units in the first full quarter it went on sale; barely 0.8% of the entire market.

Arm argues that it is missing out on $50 million in annual revenue because Qualcomm failed to renegotiate its contract with the company after it acquired Nuvia. Arm reasons that Qualcomm should destroy all Nuvia designs that were built before its acquisition. On the other hand, Qualcomm asserts that its architecture license agreement with Arm fully covers everything it acquired under Nuvia and that Arm is only making this move because it plans to design its own chips in competition with its clients, including Qualcomm.

Arm is understandably aggressively defending its technology, as its core business relies on licensing agreements. If Qualcomm could save at least $50 million annually because of its Nuvia purchase, other Arm clients could potentially copy this move, severely threatening Arm’s business model. Still, there’s no guarantee which side the court will take. Closing arguments for the case are happening today, so both Arm and Qualcomm are holding their breath for the future of Snapdragon X.

The Qualcomm Oryon general-purpose cores found inside Snapdragon X processors are based on Arm's Armv8 instruction set architecture (ISA), but they use very little technology developed by Arm, says Gerard Williams III, one of the lead developers behind Oryon and a variety of Apple's processors.

"One percent or less," said Williams when asked to estimate the amount of Arm technology in the final design developed by Nuvia. The news came in a new report from Reuters.

Qualcomm's Oryon originates from Nuvia, a company that Gerard Williams III co-founded with his partners in 2019. Nuvia's original focus was to design high-performance, energy-efficient CPU cores (codenamed Phoenix) for datacenters.
The partners acquired two non-transferrable licenses from Arm: the Technology License Agreement (TLA) and Architecture License Agreement (ALA), the former to rework its existing cores and the latter to design custom cores. Since the goal was always to go with custom cores, the team developed its cores from scratch without using Arm's physical IP, or at least using very little of it. 

Indeed, licensees of Arm's ISA can design proprietary microarchitecture designed from scratch, so long as it correctly implements Arm’s instructions. Because Nuvia's engineers designed their own pipelines, execution units, cache systems, and other CPU internals, the final core did not incorporate Arm's proprietary circuit blocks or off-the-shelf designs. As a result, while Nuvia's cores are Armv8 cores, they probably share very little of the actual 'Arm-designed' technology beyond the instruction set and baseline specifications.

After Nuvia was acquired by Qualcomm in 2021 for $1.4 billion. Qualcomm said that Nuvia's cores will (at least initially) be used for PCs rather than for datacenters, Arm asked Qualcomm to renegotiate the terms of the license, something that Qualcomm refused to do asserting that its own ALA covers its subsidiary Nuvia. 

Arm claimed that Qualcomm breached its agreement by failing to renegotiate the licensing terms following the Nuvia acquisition. As a result, Arm demanded that Qualcomm to destroy all Nuvia designs developed prior to the merger. In 2022, Arm took further action by revoking Nuvia's licenses and this October it informed Qualcomm of the termination of its Architecture License Agreement (ALA). 

The current legal dispute between Arm and Qualcomm is about whether Nuvia's architecture license and the custom designs derived from it could be transferred or used by Qualcomm following its acquisition of Nuvia. Arm's attorney emphasized the explicit terms of the licensing agreement, pressing Williams to admit the contract defined everything that resulted from Nuvia's work as 'derivatives' or Arm's TLA. Meanwhile, Qualcomm's attorney directed Williams to elaborate on Nuvia's innovations and the limited role Arm's TLA played in its development. 

The jury's decision that is expected soon could define the future of licensing practices and IP ownership in the semiconductor industry.

There are only a few days left to guarantee Christmas deliveries, and if you're looking at today's deal, you might want to pick up this Snapdragon X Elite-powered laptop from Lenovo thanks to a chunky $400 discount. Get yourself a shiny new laptop for the holidays and the new year, and make the most out of Copilot+ for playing with AI features.

Best Buy is offering the Lenovo's Yoga Slim 7x Copilot+ laptop PC for just $799 - reduced by $400 from the original $1,199 MSRP. To make the most out of a lot of the current AI technologies, you need or want specialist tech to power the functionality of these devices. The Snapdragon X Elite processor is one of these bits of kit that promises to improve the AI workflow without instantly draining your device's battery. Use it for image generation, live translation, or just internet searches.

The Yoga Slim 7x uses a vibrant 14.5-inch OLED touchscreen with a resolution of 2944 x 1840 and a smooth 90Hz refresh rate. The screen is bright thanks to a 1000nit output and has 100% standard RGB color gamut coverage. Along with the Snapdragon X Elite 12-core processor is 16GB of LPDDR5X memory and a 512GB SSD for storage. All of the above is wrapped in an aluminum chassis with a total weight of 2.8 lbs.

If you're a regular Best Buy shopper, take a look at our Best Buy Coupons for December 2024. You might be able to bag a tidy holiday discount.

Late on Friday, Qualcomm reacted to a claim by an interim Intel co-CEO that the return rates of Qualcomm Snapdragon X-based PCs were high as customers were unsatisfied with their systems due to software incompatibilities. Qualcomm (via CRN) denied the claim and said that return rates of Snapdragon X-powered computers are within industry norms, saying customers are happy with their PCs.

"Our device return rates are within industry norm," a Qualcomm representative said to CRN. "Our devices continue to have greater than 4+ stars across consumer reviews and our products have received numerous accolades across the industry."

Earlier this week, Michelle Johnston Holthaus, Intel's interim co-CEO, said, citing her conversations with undisclosed retailers, that return rates of Qualcomm Snapdragon X-based systems were high due to software incompatibilities.

"I mean, if you look at the return rate for Arm PCs, you go talk to any retailer, their number one concern is 'I get a large percentage of these back,' because you go to set them up and the things that we just expect do not work, right," said Michelle Johnston Holthaus at the Barclays 22nd Annual Global Technology Conference.

A quick check at Amazon proves that Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite-based systems usually have four or more stars. However, one can only wonder whether customers dissatisfied with a system due to software incompatibilities or crashes will waste more time rating a PC that did not work for them. Nonetheless, customers who reviewed the Arm-powered laptops seemed happy with them.

However, the adoption of these notebooks is slow. In the third quarter, PCs powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processors accounted for just 0.8% of the market. In general, Arm-based client PCs hold approximately 10% of the market share, with the majority being Apple computers running on M-series processors.

Qualcomm's chief executive predicted that Arm-based CPUs would power half of all Windows PCs within five years. In a Qualcomm statement published by CRN on Friday, the company was a bit less optimistic (or perhaps more realistic). It is projected that within the next five years, 30% to 50% of laptops will transition from x86 to alternative platforms like Arm.

Michelle Johnston Holthaus, an interim co-CEO of Intel, claims that a large percentage of Qualcomm-powered machines are being returned to retailers. Johnston Holthaus claims that the returns are the retailers' number one concern.

"I mean, if you look at the return rate for Arm PCs, you go talk to any retailer, their number one concern is 'I get a large percentage of these back,' because you go to set them up and the things that we just expect do not work, right," said Johnston Holthaus at the Barclays 22nd Annual Global Technology Conference. 

In Q3, Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite-powered machines commanded a mere 0.8% of the PC market. Overall, Arm-based client PCs command roughly 10% of the market, with the vast majority being Apple systems featuring M-series processors.

Qualcomm believes that in a few years, about 50% of client PCs will use processors based on the Arm instruction set architecture, which would be a major change for the industry. But for now, Snapdragon X Elite-powered systems have teething problems with compatibility, and according to Intel, a large percentage of these systems are being returned to retailers.

Nonetheless, Intel takes competition from Arm seriously. The slow adoption of Snapdragon systems results from multiple factors, including software compatibility issues, low gaming performance, and rather strong offerings from AMD and Intel. Compatibility issues are, of course, thought to be the primary reason why people return Snapdragon X-based systems to retailers.

This is going to change in the coming years once Microsoft as well as its partners among independent software vendors (ISVs) and independent hardware vendors (IHVs) solve compatibility issues and the number of companies offering Arm-based processors for PCs increases. 

"Apple did a lot of that heavy lifting for Arm to make that ubiquitous with their OS and their whole walled garden stack," said Johnston Holthaus. "So, I am not going to say Arm will get more, I am sure, than it gets today, but there are certainly some real barriers to getting there. […] "We [will] have more competitors than we have ever had, you will see more competitors enter the marketplace in 2025." 

The latter claim possibly refers to rumors about MediaTek and Nvidia entering the market with Arm system-on-chips for client PCs running Windows in 2025. Both MediaTek and Nvidia are larger competitors than Intel had in the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s, so the competition against these companies will be considerably more intense. 

Intel doesn't seem to be afraid of competition on the consumer side of the market. On the one hand, it has vast manufacturing capacities that can almost guarantee its dominance, and it also plans to keep tailoring its designs to better compete against Arm-based rivals in terms of power consumption and performance efficiency. Intel's ability to adapt will be another barrier for new entrants into the client PC space. 

"I think another barrier is we took too long at Intel to become performance and power-oriented, and we made a massive leap with our Lunar Lake product last year," said the interim co-CEO. "We are as performant on performance and battery life as most Arm devices out there."

Although PC makers could benefit from increased competition on the market by getting better pricing, they also value long-term relationships with Intel and their experience with x86 processors, so once Intel can address certain design goals, PC makers might just prefer the proven partner. 

"As for our customers, a lot of them are saying, 'Okay, you are finally in the ballpark of being focused on all these right things, therefore, I believe I can bet on the x86 architecture'," said Johnston Holthaus. "[…] Our customers have decades of relationships with Intel, and those do not go away overnight. I have seen customers lean in. I have seen customers change their roadmap."

Mini-PC manufacturer Geekom is the first maker to announce a desktop PC powered by a Snapdragon X Elite chip after Qualcomm abruptly canceled the Snapdragon X Elite dev kit. While initial leaks did not provide additional information, El Chapuzas Informatico (machine translated) was able to find and share the specifications of the Arm-powered mini-PC.

According to the Spanish tech publication, the QS1 Pro is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon X1E-80-100 SoC paired with an Adreno GPU rated at up to 4.6 TFLOPs. It will also have up to 64GB of dual-channel LPDRR5-5600 memory and up to 2TB of M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0 x4 storage.

What’s interesting about the leaked information is that its CPU, the Snapdragon X1E-80-100, does not match the stated 4.6-TFLOP output of the Adreno GPU. The X1E-80-100's GPU could only hit 3.8 TFLOPs, as per Qualcomm’s documentation, while the GPU for the higher tier X1E-84-100 is rated for 4.6 TFLOPs.

As El Chapuzas says, we’re unsure if this is just a typographical error or if Geekom was able to up the chip’s performance by applying more voltage, especially as it’s no longer constrained by the limited space and power that many laptops have to deal with. Nevertheless, initial tests have shown that putting more power into a Snapdragon X Elite only offers a limited performance uplift.

Also, note that since the Snapdragon X Elite is an integrated system, like the Intel Core Ultra 200V (Lunar Lake) series, you cannot upgrade the memory capacity of this mini-PC after you get it. Nevertheless, its maximum capacity of 64GB of dual-channel LPDDR5-5600 memory is more than enough for most applications today. You probably don’t have to worry much about getting more RAM in the next few years. The mini-PC also has excellent wireless connectivity options, equipped with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4.

Unfortunately, we have no information yet about the launch timeline or pricing of the Geekom QS1 Pro. Previously, the most affordable Qualcomm Snapdragon X PC was Qualcomm’s dev kit, priced at $899. However, with its discontinuation, we hope the QS1 Pro will replace that, allowing more users, especially developers, to get into Windows on Arm.

Chinese computer manufacturer Geekom is reportedly preparing the QS series of mini-PCs powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chip. According to the Lonely City Hardware (machine translated) on Weibo (h/t Neowin), this device will be the first Snapdragon X Elite mini-PC, especially as Qualcomm unexpectedly canceled the Snapdragon X Elite dev kit. However, we don’t know the mini-PC’s specifications, pricing, or additional information.

All that we see in the leaked image is the device’s exterior case, which features the power button, two USB-A ports, and a 3.5mm combo jack. This looks similar to the Geekom A7, a mini-PC powered by an AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS, and has a similar front button layout, case design, and color. If this mini-PC launches, it will help Qualcomm reach more customers, especially as it promised in Computex 2024 that the Snapdragon is coming to “all PC form factors,” including desktop PCs. While the mini-PC is not precisely a full-blow desktop CPU with largely interchangeable components (like a discrete GPU), it still has a niche, especially for users who do not require portability but have little desk space.

We want to see what the Qualcomm Snapdragon chips can do when freed from battery limitations. After all, while these chips are very efficient and allow your laptop to last weeks on a single charge, they reportedly don’t offer much performance past 100 watts. Nevertheless, a mini-PC’s small size would likely make the Snapdragon X Elite a great candidate for powering one. After all, other mini-PCs, like the Minisforum 790S7 and Atom Man G7 Ti, use processors designed for laptops.

However, one downside of an Arm-based mini-PC is its lack of expandability and compatibility. The Snapdragon X chips use integrated memory, so you can’t upgrade your PC once you’ve picked a RAM capacity. There’s also limited support for discrete GPUs, so the QS mini-PC won’t be a great gaming device. But if all you need is a tiny little PC for basic tasks, like web browsing, office typing, and streaming, then a Qualcomm Snapdragon X mini-PC might be a great option that won’t break the bank but will offer above-average performance.

Microsoft has been pushing its Copilot+ PCs to users since its launch last May, with the company posting a five-second clip claiming that it’s “The fastest, most intelligent Windows PCs ever.” However, its post on X (formerly Twitter) received a Community Note debunking the tech giant’s claims.

According to users, “These are not the fastest Windows PCs. They run on Snapdragon processors which have significantly less computing power than top of the line Intel or AMD chipsets.” They also added, “The [sic] lack functionality of gamers, the major aspects of the AI are not implemented,” while linking to an article from Computerworld saying you wouldn’t want a Copilot+ AI PC yet.

Some manufacturers boldly predicted that Arm PCs, the only processor used by Microsoft’s Copilot+ PCs, will capture 50% of the Windows PC market in five years. However, this seems like a far-fetched forecast, as this laptop category is only a tiny fraction of laptop sales for the third quarter of 2024, the first full quarter that Copilot+ PCs are on sale. It’s so miniscule that research firms did not count it, only saying that compatible laptops (which include devices with Intel Core Ultra 200V and AMD Ryzen AI 300 chips but do not have the capabilities of Copilot+ PCs yet) accounted for less than 10% of total shipments.

Arm chips made headlines in the efficiency department when Apple launched them in MacBooks in 2020. Their introduction gave laptops battery life that spanned almost a day, and Qualcomm built upon this by ensuring that Snapdragon X-powered PCs could last several days, if not weeks, on a single charge. However, Intel and AMD have since caught up, with reviews saying that Intel’s and AMD’s latest laptop chips can achieve competitive battery life.

Despite this, the biggest current drawback of Copilot+ PCs is their use of an Arm-based processor. Since it uses a different architecture from the popular x86 processors, some productivity apps and game titles have trouble running on the platform. Aside from this, some AI features, like the much-maligned Windows Recall, are still unavailable on Copilot+ PCs because of privacy and security concerns.

If you’re looking for a laptop for basic productivity tasks and mostly use web-based apps, a Copilot+ PC, like this Surface Pro 2-in-1 on sale for $999, might be a good option for you. It provides decent performance and excellent battery life in a sleek, slim form factor. However, regarding raw horsepower and widespread compatibility, it’s still defeated by offerings from Intel and AMD.

Despite Qualcomm's ambitions and high hopes to control over 50% of the Windows market in the next five years, recent statistics show that its first-gen X Elite offerings are failing to gain consumer traction. TechRadar reports that of all PCs sold in Q3 24, Qualcomm's chips powered 720,000 units - capturing just 0.8% of the entire market. In other words, one out of every 125 devices sold in the last quarter featured an X Elite processor, which pales in contrast to Intel, AMD, and even Apple on the Arm front.

Undoubtedly, AI PCs are on the rise, primarily because virtually every new processor comes equipped with a Copilot PC+ compliant NPU. Per the report, 13.3 million AI PCs were shipped in Q3 this year - a 20% increase compared to last quarter. For the uninitiated, this stat refers to PCs featuring an NPU-equipped processor, like Intel's Meteor Lake and Lunar Lake offerings, AMD's Phoenix, Hawk Point, and Strix Point series, and Qualcomm's X Elite SoCs.

Despite a 180% surge in X Elite sales from Q2 24 to Q3, Qualcomm's chips power less than 1.5% of Windows PCs. This lackluster reception is primarily due to unoptimized software or the lack thereof. For example, Microsoft's tardy release of an official Windows 11 ISO for Arm devices left early X Elite adopters in the cold for months. Additionally, Linux support isn't as robust as existing x86 alternatives; longer battery life isn't sufficient or incentivizing enough to drive adoption.

Qualcomm is preparing to launch budget X Elite laptops next year to somewhat alleviate this situation. On that note, the fruits of Qualcomm's acquisition of Nuvia are materializing—both in terms of high-stakes litigation and powerful mobile SoCs, namely, the Snapdragon 8 Elite designed using the Oryon 2 architecture. Rumors suggest that the X Elite's successor will jump directly to Oryon 3, aiming for a 2025 reveal/launch.

In any case, compatibility will always be an issue with these Arm SoCs (in Windows) - be it any chip maker. Apple's sheer market share and dominance compelled developers to write and optimize software for its silicon. Collaborating with Microsoft is vital for Qualcomm in this regard, however, it'd still have to compete with other x86 players in the Windows space; Intel and AMD.

At its latest investor day, Qualcomm hinted on the third generation of its Oryon CPU cores. According to German outlet ComputerBase.de (machine translated), it seems that the Oryon 2 will be skipping PCs, and will only be used in the Snapdragon 8 Elite chips. The successor to the Snapdragon X Plus and Elite chips will be powered by the Oryon 3 and is targeted to be launched around the time of Computex 2025, which coincides with the Dell leak showing Qualcomm’s roadmap for its Arm-based CPUs.

The second-generation Oryon chips were tested “using a Qualcomm reference design on Android 15,” and are expected to exceed the first-generation Oryon chip by 30% in performance and 57% in efficiency. However, the company hasn’t released any information yet about the Oryon 3-powered next-generation Arm CPU chips, so we’ll have to wait for additional information from the company.

In the meantime, we expect the company to deliver more affordable Snapdragon X-powered laptops in early 2025. The products were initially said to be sub-$1,000 and eventually it’s been revealed that these laptops would hit $700. At Investor Day 2024, the floor price for the Qualcomm’s Arm-powered devices is now $600, making it more attainable for more people.

This move to lower the barrier to entry for Snapdragon-powered computers will likely help the company to push into the PC market, especially as it targets $4 billion in PC sales by 2029. The company’s strategy since 2021 has been to use its advantage in the smartphone ecosystem and expand it to other markets like PCs and automobiles.

In line with this, it expects revenue for automotive chip sales to hit $8 billion, especially as 80% of this amount, or $6.4 billion has already been secured in contracts. The company also envisions $4 billion in revenue in industrial chips, while VR will generate at least $2 billion. Qualcomm also expects an additional $4 billion in tablets and wireless headphones sales.

All these sales targets will bring it an additional $22 billion annually by 2029. Although this might seem like a lofty target, Intel, which is currently struggling with its $1.6 billion loss from its data center and foundry business, was still able to secure $29 billion in PC chip sales for 2023.

These numbers show Qualcomm’s positive outlook in the semiconductor industry. However, some experts doubt the company’s ability to get close to their targets, much more hit them. Nevertheless, it’s good for the chip manufacturer to have these lofty goals, as it means that they’ll likely produce highly competitive chips that could push the leading edge of personal computing even further.

Microsoft has finally launched a Windows 11 ISO for Arm-based systems - many months after the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite hit shelves. While there were many workarounds to get Windows working on devices with an Arm processor - an official build from Microsoft ensures a hassle-free experience for the average consumer.

Microsoft is no newcomer in this domain as it has been working on the Windows on Arm ecosystem for some years. However, with the launch of the X Elite and possible Arm solutions from Nvidia in the works; it was high time Windows pushed an official release for Arm devices. Previously, users had to enroll in the Windows Insider Program to obtain a copy of Windows 11 - which is rather ironic as Qualcomm has been Microsoft's exclusive partner for Windows on Arm machines since 2016 - set to expire this year.

You can head to Microsoft's website to obtain a copy of this build. The ISO is slightly over 5GB, which is typical for Windows 11 installation media. The official guide sheds light on how this build can be used in Hyper-V to create Arm64 Virtual Machines (VMs) - though note that Arm64 VMs are incompatible with x86-64 hardware.

Microsoft recommends standard installation procedure - as you would with an x86-based system; either mount the ISO file as a virtual bootable disc or flash a USB drive with Rufus. This build will work fine out of the box for Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite equipped systems but you may need to install certain manufacturer-specific drivers manually. A word of caution; devices featuring older Snapdragon processors require drivers from the OEM to be injected into the ISO file as a direct installation might fail to boot or cause other unforeseen problems.

On the topic of Arm platforms and compatibility, we quickly tried to install the new Windows 11 ISO on a Raspberry Pi 5 4GB model. Sadly, it failed to boot from the ISO, but we are sure the Raspberry Pi community will already be dissecting the ISO, with a view to making it work on the Pi.

All in all, this is a step in the positive direction given that Arm is emerging as a significant threat to x86's dominance in the market. We're still yet to see other players step into the field like MediaTek, Nvidia, and AMD but that could change in the next couple of years. Overall, more competition is healthier for the market, and the consumers and drives innovation.

We've saved you the trouble and brought the pot of gold you've been looking for—a treasure trove of awesome Raspberry Pi projects. These are some of our favorite creations we've had the pleasure of featuring over the last month, and we're delighted to share them with you again. These makers use everything from the first Raspberry Pi 1 to the latest Raspberry Pi 5 to make their ideas a reality.

Whenever possible, we share all of the links to the source code so you can make them for yourself at home or just dig into how they're put together. You can expect to find the best Raspberry Pi accessories, HATs, modules and more among the parts list that turn a simple Raspberry Pi into a masterpiece of creation.

Raspberry Pi-Powered Luxury Automated Smart House for Cats

This project is made for cat lovers with a fervor for Pi. What do you know? We fit the bill. Created by a maker known as Visible_Turnover3952 over at Reddit, this smart house has tons of cool automated features that keep his outdoor cats living in absolute luxury. The floors are heated and it has tons of sensors to help monitor the environment for total optimization.

Why we love it:

Not only does this project benefit our fuzzy companions, but it's also a great showcase of how much the Raspberry Pi can handle when it comes to flexibility and DIY smart features. There's a lot going on in this cat house and we're all for it.

Read: Raspberry Pi-powered Luxury Automated Smart House for Cats

Raspberry Pi Creeper Robot

A creeper is one of the last things you want to see sneaking up on you, but that didn't stop maker Efren Lopez from making his own from scratch. This Raspberry Pi creeper robot locomotes using four wheels and has camera modules that let it see the world around it. It's also spruced up with AI so it can interpret the surrounding environment and react accordingly.

Why we love it:

Minecraft is just as cool today as it was over a decade ago. This robot would be neat enough even if it wasn't Minecraft-themed, but it is—so here we are. The creeper robot looks great and is a wonderful example of the Raspberry Pi's potential as an AI-driven controller.

Read: Raspberry Pi Creeper Robot

Raspberry Pi 5 Wood Finished Cyberdeck with Custom Milled Keypad

The Raspberry Pi is to cyberdecks as peanut butter is to jelly. This beautiful handheld cyberdeck has the kind of professional finish most makers can only dream about. It has gorgeous wood casing and the keypad has been completely custom milled just for this project. Maker Nicholas LaBonte truly went above and beyond for this creation.

Why we love it:

This cyberdeck is really cool. It's the kind of hardware you wouldn't mind someone seeing you play around with in public. In fact, you want someone to ask about it just for the chance to splurge about all the hard work that went into making it look so fine.

Read: Raspberry Pi 5 Wood Finished Cyberdeck with Custom Milled Keypad

Raspberry Pi Glass Dome Display

What's that sitting in the corner? It might not look like it at first glance, but that glass dome is actually a transparent screen for a Raspberry Pi. Using the "Pepper's Ghost" effect, this project projects images onto a clear film creating a really cool invisible screen. The code has also been made open source so you can recreate it for yourself at home.

Why we love it:

This project is way cooler than your typical LCD panel or eInk display. In fact, it's one of the most rare screen types you'll come across when it comes to Raspberry Pi projects. This screen is more than a novelty, it's a highlight of skill and just as impressive today as it was when the "Pepper's Ghost" effect was created over 100 years ago.

Read: Raspberry Pi Glass Dome Display

Dual Raspberry Pi Pico Portable Mini PC

We've seen Raspberry Pi handhelds that incorporate a Pico into them as an extra controller but this is one of the few we've ever come across that runs entirely on a Pico. This handheld uses two Picos—one to operate as the main processor and another one to operate as a graphics card.

Why we love it:

This is a beautiful example of the Raspberry Pi Pico's potential and the end results are fantastic. The handheld has a professional design and is finished with a look that's classy and function that's got lots of room for customization.

Read: Dual Raspberry Pi Pico Portable Mini PC

Raspberry Pi AI Pizza Clock

This project takes everything we love about telling time and pizza, merging the two using the power of AI. This AI pizza clock creates an image of pizza to represent the current time. You can use any other round image you like. In the examples given by maker Likeablob, we see a demo of a sunflower that accomplishes the same thing.

Why we love it:

You have to wonder how makers come up with ideas like this, but in the end we just don't care. It's a really fun idea and it's so well executed. Even if you don't want one for yourself, reading into how the project is pulled off is fascinating in itself.

Read: Raspberry Pi AI Pizza Clock

Raspberry Pi Pico 'WOPR' Server Rack Upgrade

If you're familiar with the 1980's movie War Games, you're sure to recognize this project. Maker Aforsberg has created an upgrade for his server rack that replicates the 'WOPR' computer using our favorite microcontroller—the Raspberry Pi Pico—along with some daisy-chained matrices and custom code.

Why we love it:

This is a really cool shoutout to the classic movie and is so well done that we couldn't help but feature it again in our list here today. The Pico is responsible for controlling the matrix panels and coming up with a randomized light display to mimic the computer from the movie.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico 'WOPR' Server Rack Upgrade

Raspberry Pi Pico Spacewar Controller

Tominator2000 uses a Raspberry Pi Pico to make a custom controller to emulate the game Spacewar more accurately. It's got a couple of joysticks and runs entirely on the Pico as its main controller. The idea was to create a couple of controllers to demo the game emulation at a convention.

Why we love it:

We love retro gaming on the Raspberry Pi, and this is just another flavor to add to our menu. The project is very well done and is so unique that we thought it deserved a little extra attention. You can see a demo video of it in action in the original project thread.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico Spacewar Controller

Raspberry Pi Map of Manhattan

This Raspberry Pi-powered map of Manhattan shows you where subway trains are in real-time. It has a 3D-printed body and uses fiber optics to show train locations connected to matrix panels controlled by the Raspberry Pi. The colors are determined by the matrix panels, not the subway lines, so you can tell when trains run on different tracks than usual.

Why we love it:

Words can hardly express how unique and impressive this project is. Everything from the concept to the finished design oozes creativity, and we're all for it. The only way to get something this cool is to make it yourself, and Bicapitate deserves all the praise in the world for its construction.

Read: Raspberry Pi Map of Manhattan

Raspberry Pi Dune Weaver Table

This Raspberry Pi-powered decor is at the top of most makers' wishlist. Using our favorite SBC, this 'Dune Weaver' table draws images automatically in sand using magnets. It has a smartphone interface that you can use to select images or just let it rotate through a playlist of them for some automated variety.

Why we love it:

We fell in love with this project as soon as we laid eyes on it. It's a beautiful work of art and engineering that's worthy of all the extra attention we can give it. The idea is cool enough on its own but to see it in action is on a different level entirely.

Read: Raspberry Pi Dune Weaver Table

Tom's Hardware Projects

It's hard to look at so many awesome projects and not expect a little inspiration and creativity to rub off on us. Here are a few Pi projects put together by the staff here at Tom's Hardware over the last month, complete with all the steps you need to recreate it for yourself at home.

Create your own Raspberry Pi powered home VOIP service with Mumble

You don't even need the latest Raspberry Pi to do this project. We successfully pulled it off using the original Raspberry Pi 1. This guide shows us how to make a home VOIP service using Mumble.

Read: Create your own Raspberry Pi-powered home VOIP service with Mumble

How to Run DeepSeek R1 on your Raspberry Pi 5

Want to check out DeepSeek R1? You're not the only one. This guide demonstrates how to set it up on the latest Raspberry Pi 5. It might not be the fastest way to use DeepSeek R1, but it can operate offline.

Read: How to Run DeepSeek R1 on your Raspberry Pi 5

When the moon hits your eye like a Raspberry Pi—that's amore and we've got more Pi projects than you can handle this month. These are some of the best Raspberry Pi projects we've covered over the last month and we're excited to give them some extra attention. These makers use everything from the Raspberry Pi Pico to the latest Raspberry Pi 5 to bring their ideas to life.

We share all of the details when they're made available and, thankfully, most of these projects are open source so you can follow along to recreate them at home. When possible, we'll link you to the hardware you need which includes some of the best Raspberry Pi accessories, HATs and more.

'The Matrix' Raspberry Pi Case

If you're not ready to unplug from the Matrix just yet, you might as well have some fun with the cool Raspberry Pi accessories programmed into our simulation. This custom Raspberry Pi 5 case is themed to the sci-fi movie The Matrix. It's complete with green LEDs and an LCD screen that replicates the falling text effect.

Why we love it:

We love Pi projects that incorporate our favorite franchises like this one. This case looks gorgeous, and it's really useful for a Pi that runs hot, like the Raspberry Pi 5. This project was a cool idea and it's been very well executed.

Read: 'The Matrix' Raspberry Pi Case

Raspberry Pi Wireless USB Flash Drive

Maker and developer The Feral Engineer has made the USB port on their embroidery machine into a wireless USB flash drive using our favorite SBC. Instead of unplugging the flash drive to transfer files over from a PC, now they just have to connect to the wireless network device to drag and drop files over.

Why we love it:

This is a ridiculously handy project not just for embroidery machines but other devices that use USB flash drives to load files. It could easily be recreated and used for a 3D printer which is probably what most of us here would use it for. This is a clever idea and very well executed.

Read: Raspberry Pi Wireless USB Flash Drive

Raspberry Pi Nintendo Switch-Themed Handheld Emulator

This Raspberry Pi handheld system might look like a Nintendo Switch but it's far from it. Inside is our favorite SBC powering a system of emulators. The case is 3D printed and has working controls built into the sides, just like you'd find with the Joy-Con controllers. Instead of playing Switch games, however, you can play everything from NES to GameCube.

Why we love it:

We love retro gaming projects on the Raspberry P,i and this design is just another great excuse to make another cool Pi-powered handheld. This project is a really fun idea and the end results are clearly worth all the effort.

Read: Raspberry Pi Nintendo Switch-Themed Handheld Emulator

Raspberry Pi Pico Game Boy Pokémon-Themed Alarm Clock

Of all the fun things to do with an old Game Boy, this is one of the most creative ideas we've seen. Maker and developer Mod Room My made a Game Boy alarm clock featuring an eInk display and a cool Pokémon theme for the UI. It operates on batteries or can be plugged into power with a cable.

Why we love it:

The idea is awesome and the final product is a useful gadget that most of us need throughout the week on a regular basis. This is clearly the alarm clock of dreams that we didn't know we were missing. It's just icing on the cake that our favorite SBC is inside.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico Game Boy Pokémon-Themed Alarm Clock

Raspberry Pi Jukebox

If you're looking for a fun project you can jam to, you should check out this Raspberry Pi jukebox put together by maker and developer Siuengr. It has a user interface thar's operated with custom buttons and a snazzy RGB LED strip along the bottom for added flair. The case features some custom artwork and houses everything from the Pi to the display screen.

Why we love it:

This project just goes to show how you can have fancy hardware of your own with a Raspberry Pi and a little ingenuity. Not everyone can say they own their own jukebox, let alone a custom one filled with your favorite music.

Read: Raspberry Pi Jukebox

Raspberry Pi Pico Game Boy Printer Emulator

This Game Boy project emulates the classic Game Boy printer. It connects to Game Boys that were compatible with the printer and is recognized by them as the original device. Instead of printing the pictures, however, it stores a copy of them onto a microSD card.

Why we love it:

This is a super niche project and is very well executed. It's a cool way to play around with games that relied on the Game Boy printer without the need for thermal paper. If you're looking for a way to play around with Game Boy printer games or just create digital copies of printable files from your Game Boy, this is the project for you.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico Game Boy Printer Emulator

Raspberry Pi Pico Secure Delivery Box

Protecting packages from porch thieves could be its own industry. If you don't feel like blasting package stealing ne'er do wells with flour as Ryder Damen did with his Pi project, you can always create a cool Pico secure delivery box like maker and developer Woodycal has done.

Why we love it:

This is a well-engineered solution for a modern problem and we're just delighted that Woodycal opted to use our favorite microcontroller as the main driver. You can operate the box settings remotely including the locking mechanism which is really useful when you're not at home.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico Secure Delivery Box

Toshiba T1000 Raspberry Pi 4 Upgrade

If you're a fan of T1000 old school PCs, you're going to love this awesome Raspberry Pi 4 upgrade put together by maker and developer Nilseuropa. This build has the classic form factor and physical experience you would expect with a T1000 but with the added power and performance of a Raspberry Pi 4 inside.

Why we love it:

No working T1000 PCs were harmed in the making of this project. Nilseuropa has spent the last few years fixing up these PCs and had some components leftover leading to the development of this cool Pi-powered edition.

Read: Toshiba T1000 Raspberry Pi 4 Upgrade

Raspberry Pi 5 CNC Machined Aluminum Case

If you've used a Raspberry Pi 5 before, you know these bad boys can run a bit hot. Ideatracker decided to take matters into his own hands by creating a CNC machined aluminum case for the Pi. It acts as a beautiful giant heatsink with handy port access on the side. It's one thing to buy a high quality case like this from a third party, it's another to make one yourself from scratch.

Why we love it:

This case is awesome for both how it's designed and how functional it is as a heatsink. This project is hands down one of the most useful accessories you could have around for your Raspberry Pi 5. It's very impressive to see someone make something like this from the ground up.

Read: Raspberry Pi 5 CNC Machined Aluminum Case

3D-printed Raspberry Pi All-in-One Portable Gaming Rig

All-in-one Raspberry Pi rigs are always exciting to see, but this one created by Arnov Sharma is absolutely beautiful. The Pi Box has everything you need for general Pi use from a gorgeous 3D printed shell to a handle for portability. Whether you're looking to tinker around with Python or game on the go, the Pi Box will get the job done and turn heads in the process.

Why we love it:

This Pi project is too cool for school. Actually, it would be really cool to see something like this in school. The case is well-designed and adds so much personality to what's already a handy setup.

Read: 3D-printed Raspberry Pi All-in-One Portable Gaming Rig

The new year is here and we've got an awesome list of Raspberry Pi projects put together from the last month that are sure to kickstart your year with some inspiration. These projects use all sorts of Raspberry Pi models, including the Raspberry Pi 5 and all of its beloved predecessors. Whether you're an experienced maker or interested amateur, we've got tons of cool ideas that you can recreate at home or use as a springboard to make something similar.

These makers use the best Raspberry Pi accessories and HATs around to bring their ideas to fruition and we'll be sure to link you to the build guides whenever possible. Most of these projects are open source so there's plenty of meat to dig into.

Custom Raspberry Pi 5 Case with Liquid Cooling

It's no secret that the Raspberry Pi 5 runs a bit hot—they even released an official fan for cooling. Maker Michael Klements decided to take matters into his own hands with his custom Pi 5 case. This little unit has liquid cooling and manages to keep the Pi at optimal performance temperatures.

Why we love it:

Liquid cooling your Pi is already a super useful and fun idea but to do it with this much style is just taking the project to a whole new level. The case was designed from scratch and required knowledge in both 3D printing and laser cutting to pull off. It's always a delight to see so many different maker fields come together in one project.

Read: Custom Raspberry Pi 5 Case with Liquid Cooling

Raspberry Pi Smart Cane for Visually Impaired

This smart cane uses our favorite SBC to add some safety features for visually impaired persons. Not only does it help the user with real-time alerts using its integrated speaker but it also has the ability to send out notifications in the event of emergencies. The cane uses a few extra modules including one that adds GPS support.

Why we love it:

We really appreciate the potential this project has for helping visually impaired individuals gain more independence. Anything that makes travel safer and adds peace of mind for caregivers is a huge plus.

Read: Raspberry Pi Smart Cane

Raspberry Pi 'Portal' Sentry Turret

This project is truly a triumph. Reckless_commenter has recreated the sentry turret from the 'Portal' franchise. It has a built-in speaker and plays creepy soundbites from the game that are sure to terrify any intruders or unsuspecting passersby. The body is 3D printed and houses a Raspberry Pi inside and the additional hardware.

Why we love it:

We're always excited to see Pi projects crossover with sci-fi franchises like this. The project is cool on its own but there's a lot of room for upgrading and modifying the turret with additional features that make for a cool end product.

Read: Raspberry Pi 'Portal' Sentry Turret

Raspberry Pi eInk AI-Generated Flower Paintings Frame

It can get old looking at the same pictures all of the time. Why not create never-before-seen paintings to spruce things up a bit? That's what maker Dylan has done with this AI-generated eInk display frame project. It uses a Raspberry Pi to create flower paintings using AI and outputs them onto a low-power eInk panel.

Why we love it:

Merging AI and art for a decoration like this is really cool but the fact that it's running on a Pi is just icing on the cake. The image generation is handled locally on the Pi instead of parsing requests across the internet which is even more exciting.

Read: Raspberry Pi eInk AI-Generated Flower Paintings Frame

Raspberry Pi Playstation 4 Controller Console

Restoring old hardware is always admirable but transforming it into something new can be exciting! Maker ConsciousFish6170 has turned an old PlayStation 4 controller into a retro gaming console using none other than our favorite SBC as the main board powering the system.

Why we love it:

It can be hard to find a good case for your Pi so we're tickled to see this one made from a PS4 controller. It looks like an input device but it's actually the whole console. We're probably a little biased but can you blame us? It was a great choice to put a Raspberry Pi inside.

Read: Raspberry Pi Playstation 4 Controller Console

Raspberry Pi Matrix Mask

You can't be too careful when it comes to protecting your identity, so why not don this crazy cool LED matrix mask put together by maker and developer Sean Hodgins? This Pi-powered mask lets you display images and even videos across hundreds of LEDs. A slit in the front lets you peer out and see through the matrix panels.

Why we love it:

This is a fun idea on its own but to see it implemented so well is just a delight. We're not surprised as Hodgins has a history of putting together some really cool projects already. This one is very well executed and we wish we could try it on for ourselves.

Read: Raspberry Pi Matrix Mask

Raspberry Pi 500 Keyboard with M.2 Slot Mod

The Raspberry Pi 500 was definitely a highly-desired product but makers were upset to find the NVMe M.2 slot missing. Thankfully, modders have already stepped up to modify the keyboard so that you can install an SSD. It takes a fair bit of work to pull off but the results can be worth the effort.

Why we love it:

This is a really cool mod that makes it possible to get everything you want out of the latest Pi 500. We really appreciate that it didn't take much time before the community figured out how to upgrade the board with the missing slot.

Read: Raspberry Pi 500 Keyboard with M.2 Slot Mod

Raspberry Pi Pico 2 WalkPi

Finally, you can make the Walkman of your dreams using the latest Raspberry Pi Pico 2. This custom music player features a custom PCB and a beautiful design that we loved too much to ignore. The project is dubbed WalkPi and lets you play MP3s on the go—surely to impress your friends.

Why we love it:

This is a cool idea for makers who want something fun to make and show off. The custom PCB looks fantastic and the end result is something we would carry around with us on a regular basis.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico 2 WalkPi

It's hard to believe that it's already November, but we're incredibly thankful for all the great Raspberry Pi projects we've come across this year. Today, we're looking at ten of the best Pi projects we've featured over the last month. These makers use different Raspberry Pi models to bring their creations to life, including the latest Raspberry Pi 5 and more.

When possible, we share all the details we have on how to recreate these projects or at least get a better idea of how they go together. The projects on this list were made using the best Raspberry Pi accessories and HATs for some seriously impressive end results. If you're looking for something fun to make this fall, there's definitely some inspiring work to indulge in below!

Raspberry Pi Pelican Cyberdeck

Jake Simek took things to the extreme when it came to putting together a case for his Raspberry Pi. This cyberdeck is housed inside of a Pelican case and comes with all the bells and whistles you could ask for when it comes to computing on the go and maybe a little hacking on the side.

Why we love it:

The quality of this cyberdeck build is top-notch and gorgeous to look at. The extra features are well thought out and definitely what you'd want to have in a portable PC. Whether you're looking for something you can hack with or just want a cool gaming rig to take with you, this is one build that's sure to inspire.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pelican Cyberdeck

 Raspberry Pi Streaming Rig 

When it comes to DIY entertainment, you can't go wrong with a Raspberry Pi media center. But what about for road trips? That's where ImJustWhelmed's project comes in handy! This Raspberry Pi streaming rig is made to help you bring your media with you when traveling. You can queue up your favorite shows with a smartphone, laptop or anything with a browser.

Why we love it:

We don't need an excuse to take a Pi with us on a road trip but we'll happily take one. There's so much more to do than just gaming on the go and this is a great example of what you can do with a little bit of effort. If you're looking for something to make your next road trip more enjoyable, you definitely should take a close look at this setup.

Read: Raspberry Pi Streaming Rig

 Raspberry Pi Proxmox ProxTag 

This little project was put together by Joseph Cauble and makes managing virtual machines with Proxmox Manager easier than ever. It features a tiny e-Ink display with a potentiometer that lets you monitor your machines and adjust a few settings. Cauble dubs his creation the Proxmox ProxTag.

Why we love it:

This project is really unique and very well-executed. It's definitely a bit niche but if you're into microelectronics projects and playing around with virtual environments, it's a match made in heaven.

Read: Raspberry Pi Proxmox ProxTag

 Raspberry Pi Pico W Brings 1986 Mac Online 

This is one of those projects that you do because you can not because you necessarily should. Hunter Irving is using a Raspberry Pi to connect an original 1986 Macintosh to the internet. Generally it's a bad idea to connect old hardware to the internet for security reasons but there's also a great deal of compatibility issues. Thankfully, he delves into both of these concerns and does it anyway!

Why we love it:

This is a really cool idea and the fact that it works as well as it does is super exciting. Not every website will work with a setup like this but it looks fun enough to tinker around with the ones that do.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico W Brings 1986 Mac Online

 Raspberry Pi Pico Simon Game 

We've heard of retrogaming on the Raspberry Pi but haven't quite seen it done like this! Instead of emulating an old game, FlorinCProjects has programmed a working version of Simon from scratch using one of our favorite SBCs—the Raspberry Pi Pico! It plays just like the original game and is just as fun to build as it is to play with.

Why we love it:

This project is designed to not only be fun to play but also look the part. The case is made from a recycled access point case and it works really well here. The arcade buttons are a nice touch as is the seven segment display in the middle.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico Simon Game

 Raspberry Pi RP2350 PyDOS 

If you miss the Blackberry PDA form factor, you're going to love this RP2350-powered handheld put together by Anne Barela. This creation is dubbed PyDOS and it looks fantastic. Not only does it take advantage of the latest processor to come from Raspberry Pi, it's a super handy device capable of recreating the old school DOS experience we knew and love.

Why we love it:

We don't need a PyDOS, we just really want one. It's such a cool idea and the final product is absolutely gorgeous! The Blackberry keyboard is also icing on the cake—or should we say Pi? This project is definitely one worth checking out.

Read: Raspberry Pi RP2350 PyDOS

 Raspberry Pi FlexPi Flexible Pico 

We came across this Kickstarter project from TOP Gadgets and knew we had to feature it. The team has put together a totally flexible Raspberry Pi Pico replica known as FlexPi. This build also comes with a few upgrades like a USB Type-C port and a programmable RGB LED. It's important for us to note that supporting this Kickstarter project is more like an investment and not a guarantee you will receive the final product.

Why we love it:

If you're wondering what a board like this is useful for, you're not alone. It's essentially just a Raspberry Pi Pico. That said, the flexible PCB is super thin and can find inside tighter cases or devices that have a slight bend to them.

Read: Raspberry Pi FlexPi Flexible Pico

 Raspberry Pi Trackpad 

We've always had a lot of respect for the community when it comes to building something from scratch that they could otherwise buy. This project was put together by a team known as Ploopy. This trackpad is Raspberry Pi-powered and offers a great deal of flexibility thanks to its open source design. You can make it yourself, modify it or even buy a kit to assemble at home.

Why we love it:

It's always exciting to see the Pi used in an open source project like this. With a little extra work, you can take the design and modify it to suit your personal needs and end up with a useful input device that doubles as a cool talking point.

Read: Raspberry Pi Trackpad

 Raspberry Pi NEC TurboExpress 

There's nothing like breathing life into old hardware and that's exactly what Dawilson 246 has done with this old NEC Turbo Express. Not only does it fit a Raspberry Pi inside, much of the original hardware still works including the buttons on the front. Don't worry—no working NEC Turbo Express handhelds were harmed during the making of this project.

Why we love it:

We love old school hardware, we love gaming handhelds and we're absolutely nuts about the Raspberry Pi! It should come as no surprise that we jumped with excitement when we saw this cool creation.

Read: Raspberry Pi NEC TurboExpress

 Raspberry Pi Pico Macintosh 128K 

This is one of those projects that's really awesome in what it can do and what it represents. Action Retro has recreated a Macintosh 128K that runs entirely on a Raspberry Pi Pico. All you need is a special kit and you can recreate the old school computing experience for less than $20 bucks.

Why we love it:

When you consider how much the Macintosh 128K sold for when it first debuted—we're talking thousands of dollars—it's absolutely insane to realize you can make one now for $14. This project is really cool and a great learning tool for newcomers that want to learn about both microelectronics and retro computing.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico Macintosh 128K

Tom's Hardware Projects

It's impossible to look at all of these amazing creations and not be inspired to make a few Raspberry Pi projects ourselves. Here's a look at what the team here at Tom's Hardware has been up to over the last month along with tutorials you can follow along with at home.

 How to install and use the new Raspberry Pi boot menu 

Interested in the new Raspberry Pi boot menu? So were we! In this guide, Les tells us what the fuss is all about and how you can set it up for yourself. All you need is a Raspberry Pi 5 and multiple sources to boot from.

Read: How to install and use the new Raspberry Pi boot menu

How to build Raspberry Pi Pico projects with Microsoft Visual Studio Code

If you're familiar with MS Visual Studio, you're going to love this guide on how you can use it to program your Raspberry Pi Pico projects! Sometimes it's easier to get into new things with a tool you're already used to using. Les goes over everything you need to get started.

Read: How to build Raspberry Pi Pico projects with Microsoft Visual Studio Code

If you're in the mood for a cool Raspberry Pi project to keep you busy this fall, you're in luck. We've put together a list of some of the best Raspberry Pi projects we've had the honor of featuring over the last month and firmly believe they deserve a little extra attention.

These makers use everything from the latest Raspberry Pi 5 to early boards that helped pave the way for this beloved line of hardware. They also implement some of the best Raspberry Pi accessories and HATs to bring their creative ideas to life. So we'll be sure to link you to all of the hardware they used so you can see exactly how they work and maybe even recreate them for yourself at home.

Raspberry Pi Pico Paw Patrol Toy Arcade Controller

Sure, you might hav played Sega's Super Hang-On before, but we'd bet cash money you haven't played it with a Paw Patrol toy as a controller—unless you're Dr. Tom Tilley. Using one of our favorite SBCs, he's transformed this kids toy into a working input device that lets you play the game using it like a steering wheel.

Why we love it:

This is a hilarious and inventive way to recyle old hardware and breathe new life into an otherwise obsolete toy. It also makes for a head turning headline that we couldn't help but share again with our readers who love microelectronics as much as we do.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico Paw Patrol Toy Arcade Controller

Raspberry Pi Pico Model Train Level Crossing Lights

You can get seriously creative with model trains when throwing a Raspberry Pi into the mix and this project showcases that idea incredibly well. Using a Raspberry Pi Pico, Brendan McGrath has created working level crossing lights that work like real world ones do but on a much smaller scale.

Why we love it:

This is far from the first Pi-powered model train project we've seen but it's one of the latest and one we'll definitely keep in mind when working on tiny transportation projects of our own. It's one thing to make an LED flash, it's another to make it responsive to how hardware works in the real world.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico Model Train Level Crossing Lights

Raspberry Pi 5 'Nostalgia Machine'

Anyone can make a Raspberry Pi streaming platform but maker and developer Shan Mason took the idea and ran with it—all the way back to 1980 to recreate a more classic TV viewing experience. You don't pick and choose what you watch and when as this Raspberry Pi retro TV plays media on a schedule, taking into account the time, day of the week and even holidays.

Why we love it:

This is a really cool idea and it's great to see it implemented so well. It's just icing on the cake (or should we say Pi) that it uses not one but two Raspberry Pi boards to pull off. The hardware is tucked neatly inside a cigar box that sits next to the old CRT TV which really just adds to the vintage setting.

Read: Raspberry Pi 5 'Nostalgia Machine'

Raspberry Pi AI EYE Camera

If you like projects with AI, you're going to love this convoluted AI-powered creation from maker Oscar Wilmerdingh. Using a Raspberry Pi, this camera (dubbed the AI EYE camera) captures an image, uses AI to create a text-based description of the image and then recreates it using another AI app based on the text that was generated.

Why we love it:

This project has no business in any practical situation but it's such a fun idea and works great. A lot of work went into its design included the beautiful 3D printed shell it's housed in. We appreciate all of the effort that went into its creation and firmly believe it deserves extra attention from our readers.

Read: Raspberry Pi AI EYE Camera

Raspberry Pi 'Bumpin Sticker'

Guy Dupont's creative juices must be flowing from a neverending fountain because he's at it again with what he calls his 'Bumpin' Sticker' project. This Pi-powered bumper sticker automatically updates to reflect whatever song he's currently streaming so driver know exactly what he's grooving to in real-time.

Why we love it:

This is one of those projects that really sticks out—no pun intended. It's a fun idea that's incredibly well-executed. If it were a commercial product, no doubt people would line up at the chance to buy one for themselves. Until then, however, you'll just have to follow his lead and make it yourself from scratch.

Read: Raspberry Pi 'Bumpin Sticker'

Tom's Hardware Projects

It's seriously impossible for us to look at Raspberry Pi projects all day long and not create some of our own. We love the chance to tinker and share our work in form of tutorials so you can follow along at home, as well. Here's what the staff of Tom's Hardware has been up to lately as well as links to the guides we put together for you to check out.

How to install MicroPython for RISC-V on the Raspberry Pi Pico 2

Have you been interested in tinkering with RISC-V on the Raspberry Pi Pico 2? Us, too! Thankfully, Les has done all of the brunt work for us and put together this amazing tutorial showcasing how you can set up MicroPython for RISC-V on the newest Pico 2 microcontroller.

Read: How to install MicroPython for RISC-V on the Raspberry Pi Pico 2

Cytron Motion 2350 Pro Review: The RP2350 Robot Platform

There's a reason Cytron has become an industry standard in the Pi community for tinkering with robotics. In this review, Les shows us all the ins and outs of the newest Cytron Motion 2350. If you're not pumped yet, you will be! This board is awesome and definitely worth taking a close look at.

Read: Cytron Motion 2350 Pro Review: The RP2350 Robot Platform

Fall is quickly approaching for makers in the northern hemisphere and we've got some cool Raspberry Pi to share so warm up your soldering irons. We've got all kinds of great creations using the newest Raspberry Pi 5, Pico 2 and everything else in between. Whether you're an amateur or professional microelectronics enthusiast, there's something here to get your gears turning guaranteed.

As always, these makers integrate their projects with the best Raspberry Pi accessories and HATs around to bring their ideas to fruition. Whenever possible, we share all of the details and links you need to make these projects for yourself at home. Be sure to stick around to the end to check out some tutorials put together by the staff here at Tom's Hardware.

Raspberry Pi-enhanced Kids’ Electric Car

Not all of us are lucky enough to grow up with makers as parents but Jon Skagmo's kids are. Skagmo spruced up his kids' electric car with a Raspberry Pi adding in tons of cool features including things like a touchscreen and onboard music—effectively turning it into a miniature smart car.

Why we love it:

There's no reason you can't indoctrinate your kids early into the world of microelectronics. This is a great project that both shows the potential of the Raspberry Pi and how a little bit of creativity can bring your vision into reality.

Read: Raspberry Pi-enhanced Kids’ Electric Car

Raspberry Pi Keyholder Backs Up Flash Drive Data

For those that carry a flash drive with them every day, this project is a must have! Thinkdolearn has created a keychain holder that will backup your flash drive when connecting it via USB. The backups take place overnight so you don't have to worry about anything but undocking it in the morning.

Why we love it:

This keychain holder is very handy to have around and you can easily customize it. The project is very practical and the execution is well done. We just appreciate that Thinklearndo took the time to share all their work with us so we don't have to start from scratch.

Read: Raspberry Pi Keyholder Backs Up Flash Drive Data

Raspberry Pi Pico Watch

Some Raspberry Pi projects are just made for the runway and this is one of them. This Raspberry Pi Pico watch is peak haute couture—or should we say hack couture? It uses a ring of colored LEDs to indicate the hour, minute and second.

Why we love it:

We're huge fans of the Raspberry Pi, of course we'd jump at the opportunity to wear one all of the time. We covered this project before but this latest upgrade is just so sleek. The wristband and metal housing are absolutely gorgeous and make for a professional finish.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico Watch

Raspberry Pi RC Tank Shoots Bubbles

This Raspberry Pi tank project isn't as dangerous as it looks. The exact Raspberry Pi model used isn't clear but it's driving a tank alongside an Arduino Nano. This tank doesn't shoot hard projectiles but rather bubbles. It has four wheels instead of tank treads but the top moves around like a real tank.

Why we love it:

If you've been looking for a project to chase your cats around with, this is the one. It's chaotic enough to be fun but harmless enough to be safe. The worst you have to worry about is getting bubble solution in your eye or making the floor slick.

Read: Raspberry Pi RC Tank Shoots Bubbles

Raspberry Pi CatBot Monitors for Stray Cats

Speaking of cats, this Raspberry Pi cat monitor project is perfect for anyone with too many strays outside. It monitors for stray cats and snaps a picture of them. These pictures can be collected later or texted immediately so you can see which kitty is on your porch.

Why we love it:

We like cats and we like Pi projects that take pictures of cats. This is a wonderful intersection of two passions. The setup also can detect birds and startle them away by tapping at the window so they don't consume the cat food which can be harmful. We're awarding bonus points here for saving the birds.

Read: Raspberry Pi CatBot Monitors for Stray Cats

Raspberry Pi Hands-Free Drone Controller

Learning how negative numbers work in various equations can be a serious headache but teaching someone else to understand them is another challenge entirely. Thankfully, we've got makers like Russell Eveleigh out there who've made the process easier thanks to this Zero Pairs display.

Why we love it:

Education has always been at the core of what the Raspberry Pi is all about so it's cool to see a Pi used in a project like this. The concept is unique and the design is very well done. We like the visual 3D-printed accompaniment to the GUI. It's an awesome tool to have on hand for anyone working with a visual learner.

Read: Raspberry Pi Zero Pairs Display

Raspberry Pi Hands-Free Drone Controller

This controller uses a Raspberry Pi to help make the world of drone flying more accessible. The board is called AeroCommand and it enables you to operate a drone completely hands free. You can use things like facial expressions and voice commands to indicate where you want the drone to go.

Why we love it:

Flying a drone is really hard to do no matter how coordinated you are with your thumbs. Anything that makes the process easier and opens the world of flying to more people is a winning move in our book.

Read: Raspberry Pi Hands-Free Drone Controller

Raspberry Pi AI Glasses Helps Visually Impaired People

We love Pi projects that dabble in making the world more accessible and this is one impressive attempt at doing just that. Md. Khairul Alamhas has created a pair of glasses for visually impaired persons with a camera module positioned in the front. It's connected to a Pi that uses AI to help the wearer better understand their environment using text to speech and a pair of earbuds.

Why we love it:

This is a truly unique way to help people with visual impairment navigate the world independently. The project has quite a few elements that bring the final build together from machine learning to text-to-speech. It's a fun idea and it's neat to see something so potentially useful get attention.

Read: Raspberry Pi AI Glasses Helps Visually Impaired People

Raspberry Pi Card-playing Robot

If you've ever been short a guy when playing cards, Dominic LeBoeuf has you covered with his awesome Raspberry Pi-powered card playing robot. The robot is programmed to play just one game by itself but the idea is really cool and it works so well.

Why we love it:

There are a few ways to pull off a project like this and it's neat to see what LeBoeuf ultimately landed on. Cards are lifted using suction and identified with NFC tags. There was also a good deal of 3D printing involved to build the robotic arm and card trays.

Read: Raspberry Pi Card-playing Robot

Raspberry Pi 5 Modular Pocket PC

Image credit: Soulcircuit

This is one of the coolest Raspberry Pi 5 mini PCs we've seen yet. It's modular with all sorts of things you can add on like a keyboard for input. The unit is also completely portable which makes it a great pocket PC option.

Why we love it:

We haven't seen too many Pi 5 pocket PCs, let alone a neat modular one like this. The design is absolutely gorgeous with a sleek white shell and bright orange accents. There's a lot of versatility to be had in a design like this as well as room for customization.

Read: Raspberry Pi 5 Modular Pocket PC

Tom's Hardware Projects

It's seriously impossible to look at awesome Raspberry Pi projects like these all the time and not be inspired to make something of our own. Here's what the staff of Tom's Hardware has been up to lately along with tutorials you can follow along with at home.

How to Control your Raspberry Pi Camera using a web UI

In this updated guide, Les shows us how you can operate a Raspberry Pi camera module over the internet using a web based interface. We go over everything you need as well as what to do in order to get the software setup so you can better integrate cameras into your next Raspberry Pi project.

Read: How to Control your Raspberry Pi Camera using a web UI

The summer is winding down as we sneak into August (for those in the northern hemisphere anyway) and it's time again to take a look at some of the coolest Raspberry Pi projects that we've featured over the last month. We've got a little bit of everything to inspire your inner maker using anything Pi—from the smallest RP2040 to the beefiest Raspberry Pi 5.

Many of these projects are open source, so we'll provide links to the source code when we can. The makers behind these projects use some of the best Raspberry Pi accessories and HATs available on the market to bring their ideas to life. Whether you're an expert microelectronics master or new to a soldering iron, there's something here for you.

Mini Fractal Design North Raspberry Pi Case

If you missed it, Fractal Design had a really cool Raspberry Pi case to show off at Computex 2024. They took their North desktop case design and miniaturized it for the Pi. However, this cool tiny case was just for show. Thankfully, some fans have recreated it for anyone that wants one of their own at home.

Why we love it:

That tiny North case was super cool but it was such a bummer to learn it was a one off design. It's always a treat to see the community step in like this to make things more accessible. Thanks to their work, you can print this case for yourself.

Read: Mini Fractal Design North Raspberry Pi Case

Zerowriter Ink Typewriter

As the name would suggest, this Raspberry Pi project was made with writers in mind. It's actually an upgrade from an existing project but with a bigger screen and sleeker end design. If you're interested in a portable Pi-power typewriter, you should check out the Zerowriter Ink Typewriter from Zerowriter.

Why we love it:

We covered this project previously so it was exciting to see it get an update. The original idea is awesome and it's cool to know the maker is still honing in the design to make it exactly what they want.

Read: Zerowriter Ink Typewriter

Raspberry Pi DinkyDash Family Dashboard

Schedules can be hectic things to manage, especially when you've got a big family. That may be—but maker and developer Caspar von Wrede decided to do something about it with his DinkyDash family dashboard project. This is a simple dashboard that compiles important family events in one place.

Why we love it:

This could be adapted for a wide variety of use cases. It's amazing how a simple idea can be complex both in itself and in what it accomplishes. The DinkyDash is a great idea and is executed very well.

Read: Raspberry Pi DinkyDash Family Dashboard

Cyberdore 2064 Cyberdeck

You've heard of the Commodore 64 but you probably haven't heard of the Pi-powered handheld cyberdeck, Cyberdore 2064. This slick little handheld features a full keyboard, screen, and a few other add ons that make it a truly one of a kind build.

Why we love it:

We're just gonna lay it out—this thing looks cool as all get out. The design is on point and the fact that it uses our favorite SBC is just icing on the Pi. It's also open source, so you can make one for yourself, too.

Read: Cyberdore 2064 Cyberdeck

Raspberry Pi 1000 with Raspberry Pi 5

The Raspberry Pi 5 has been out for a while and we've been ready for its version of the Raspberry Pi 400 since the day it launched. If you're familiar with the maker community in any capacity, though, you know someone's probably tried making their own and that's exactly what Arnov Sharma has done with his Raspberry Pi 1000 project.

Why we love it:

Sharma makes tons of cool things, like a giant Game Boy, and this is no exception. It might not be the first Raspberry Pi 5-based version of the Raspberry Pi 400 we've seen, but it's certainly a unique contender worthy of attention.

Read: Raspberry Pi 1000 with Raspberry Pi 5

Raspberry Pi Pico YouTube Subscriber Counter

How many subscribers do you have again? Don't bother opening YouTube. Just throw together this cool YouTube Subscriber Counter designed by Yakroo108! It uses our favorite microcontroller, the Raspberry Pi Pico as the main board. The main screen is an LED matrix but it also has an LCD display for showing extra stats.

Why we love it:

There are a lot of elements that go into this project that we appreciate. It's the little details like the LCD showing the IP address that makes the project go from neat to neater.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico YouTube Subscriber Counter

Raspberry Pi CM4 MultiPi Console

Gaming on the Raspberry Pi is like butter on a biscuit—it just makes sense. That's probably why this MultiPi console is so awesome. That or the fact that it's powered by a CM4, sports a sleek case, and even has cartridge slots like an old school console. There are plans to release expansions to the system using the cartridges to add things like an analogue A/V card.

Why we love it:

We were intrigued by the MultiPi the moment we saw it. It's cool design, CM4 support and expansion cartridges are just too great to overlook. You can tell a lot of work went into this project design and was well worth the effort.

Read: Raspberry Pi CM4 MultiPi Console

Raspberry Pi TRS-80 Project

This project pays homage to the classic TRS-80 machines. It's powered by a Raspberry Pi, of course, and features a slew of components that make it stand out as a unique experience. It most resembles the TRS-80 Model 4 but it is not an exact replica. This Raspberry Pi TRS-80 features a touchpad, keyboard, and is housed in a beautiful 3D printed case.

Why we love it:

We're suckers for old school hardware so of course we lept at the opportunity to show off this cool build. It's obvious that a lot of thought and work went into its design. It's awesome to see makers build something complex like this from the ground up.

Read: Raspberry Pi TRS-80 Project

Raspberry Pi Flip Display

This Raspberry Pi project is flippin' awesome. It uses little flip discs, which are essentially circles with different colors on each side that rotate using a servo. With beaucoups of these laid out in a matrix, Kelly and Kathy have managed to create a full on flip disc display panel. They even spruced it up by throwing in a camera to make it interactive.

Why we love it:

We've never seen a display quite like this and were thrilled to learn a Raspberry Pi was thrown into the mix. It's a really fun idea but to see it in action actually working is just insanely cool. There's just something alluring about a digital display that seems so analogue.

Read: Raspberry Pi Flip Display

Raspberry Pi 5 Overclocked to 3.4GHz

One of the most exciting developments we've come across lately, however, is Jeff Geerling and his impressive quest to overclock the newest Raspberry Pi 5 all the way up to 3.4 GHz. So far, this is the highest anyone has ever overclocked the Pi 5.

Why we love it:

I don't think we owe anyone an explanation for this one. We have a guide here at Tom's Hardware explaining how to overclock the Raspberry Pi 5. It's a no-brainer that we should be consumed with delight at Geerling's latest development.

Read: Raspberry Pi 5 Overclocked to 3.4GHz

How to write code for your Raspberry Pi Pico in your web browser with ViperIDE

You can code for the Pico from a browser? You betcha! Les shows us how it's done using ViperIDE. In this guide, he'll go over everything you need to do this yourself including links to pertinent materials along the way.

Read: How to write code for your Raspberry Pi Pico in your web browser with ViperIDE

How to make a connected badge that shows the latest news headlines

Before you head out to that cool tech con you were thinking about, you should consider putting together a cool name badge like this. It uses a Raspberry Pi Pico and displays anything you want on a small, eInk screen. In this guide, Les breaks down the full build process.

Read: How to make a connected badge that shows the latest news headlines

The Raspberry Pi is one of our favorite SBCs, and it's no wonder why. The Pi community is full of incredibly inventive makers who constantly create exciting, awe-inspiring creations using everything from the latest Raspberry Pi 5 to custom PCBs with an RP2040 microcontroller. We feature Raspberry Pi projects all week, and once a month, we gather a list of 10 of our favorites that we think are worth highlighting again.

These makers use the best Raspberry Pi accessories to bring their ideas to life. If they can make something for themselves, they usually will. But you'll also find cool HATs, cases, and modules of all sorts. Whenever possible, we'll share links to the source code so you can dig into the projects for yourself and see how they work.

Raspberry Pi Pico Sorts Candies by Color

Sorting your candies has never been so lovely and overly engineered, thanks to Techtronic3D's Raspberry Pi-powered candy sorter. Just load up your candy and let the Pi work its magic. It takes a little bit of time as the machine has to process each candy one at a time. Once a candy's color is identified, it's dropped into a 3D-printed bin that matches the color.

Why we love it:

This is a fun idea that isn't very useful, but it absolutely works as intended. It's well-designed, and the 3D-printed components add an excellent finish to its overall function. Plus, it's hard to complain about a project with an end product you can eat.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico Sorts Candies by Color

Raspberry Pi Portable Arcade Cabinets

Kian Ryan put together a really cool set of arcade cabinets that use Raspberry Pis for one of his clients. They needed something to take to conventions so much of the work was in making the units easy to set up, break down and transport. The end result is this cool set of cabinets that run custom homebrew and emulate old school consoles.

Why we love it:

We love Raspberry Pi-powered arcades. Why wouldn't we get excited about a fleet of them that travels to various events? The cabinets look fantastic and we're just glad Ryan decided to put a Raspberry Pi inside all of them.

Read: Raspberry Pi Portable Arcade Cabinets

Battery-Powered Raspberry Pi PC

If you want a simple desktop with a small footprint, it makes perfect sense to create one yourself using a Raspberry Pi and that's exactly what maker and developer Arnov Sharma did. This custom desktop is known as the Power Pi Version 2 and it's not just tiny, it's portable. It also sports some fancy RGB LEDs so it has a little extra gamer flair.

Why we love it:

This PC is super cute and very well-designed. We like everything from the shape of the case to the RGB LEDs underneath. Sharma is no stranger to Pi projects so we weren't surprised to see how much work he put into this one. It's always a delight to see so much effort come together for a cool end product.

Read: Battery-Powered Raspberry Pi PC

Raspberry Pi Chat GPT Rover Bot

Some Raspberry Pi projects are made to roam and Floyd the rover bot is one of them. This Pi-powered robot was created by Larry's Workbench and it does much more than just locomote. Larry has spruced up Floyd with a dose of AI thanks to the integration of Chat GPT allowing him to talk with a good amount of sass.

Why we love it:

This is probably the closest we're going to get to creating a real life R2D2. Who doesn't love a talking robot with too much attitude? Apart from the Chat GPT features, it also has a cool rover design with omnidirectional wheels.

Read: Raspberry Pi Chat GPT Rover Bot

Raspberry Pi Zero 2W Pocket Z

Pocket PCs aren't what they used to be—nor should they! Technology has come a long way but a few makers want to take things back (just a little) like Icepat over at Hackaday. Using a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W, they've created a beautiful handheld PC called the Pocket Z. It features a custom PCB designed to work with the Raspberry Pi.

Why we love it:

This is a really cool example of how amazingly over the top some makers are with their creations. It's not enough to emulate an old system, they want to build one of their own and they'll design a PCB from scratch to make it happen.

Read: Raspberry Pi Zero 2W Pocket Z

Raspberry Pi Pico MicroMac

The cool thing about emulating old systems is you don't need expensive hardware. In fact, maker and developer Matt Evans is using a Raspberry Pi Pico to run this Macintosh 128K emulator. Evans demonstrated the Picos ability to run both MacDraw and MacWrite with a good deal of success.

Why we love it:

We like old technology. We like the Raspberry Pi. We really like seeing people emulate old technology on the Raspberry Pi—especially one of the smaller models like the Pico. It's a really fun project idea and we're glad to see it work so well in practice.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico MicroMac

Baby Raspberry Pi Macintosh Quadra 700

Take everything you know about the Macintosh Quadra 700—now miniaturize it and make it Linux powered. That's exactly what Brachus Creations has done with this Pi-powered Macintosh Quadra 700 project. The original was released in 1991 and was much larger. That said, this is a fun desktop replica that works just as well.

Why we love it:

You really need a good case for the modern Raspberry Pi models so why not go all out in style? This project doesn't just look the part, it walks the walk thanks to the Basilisk emulator which lets you run actual Mac software from that era.

Read: Baby Raspberry Pi Macintosh Quadra 700

Use a Raspberry Pi to Detect Naruto Hand Seals

If you're a fan of Naruto, you probably don't need this project because you likely know all of the hand seals by heart but it's still really cool. Lucas Fernando is using AI to recognize the twelve hand seals from the Naruto franchise. He isn't using a Pi but assures the project can be replicated on a Pi 5 or Pi 4.

Why we love it:

This is one of those projects that isn't particularly useful, it's just really fun to see a proof of concept in action. It's also a neat way to play around with training an AI model with something interesting you enjoy.

Read: Use a Raspberry Pi to Detect Naruto Hand Seals

Raspberry Pi Bee Counting Beehive Monitor

Every now and then, we'll come across a Raspberry Pi project that aims to help the environment like this cool Pi-powered bee counting hive monitor. It uses AI to help monitor the population of a given beehive which is very useful for apiarists around the world. This particular project is running off of a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W.

Why we love it:

We love bees! It's good to know some makers out there are putting the Pi to good use and helping us keep them around. The project works just as it was designed and serves as an excellent use case of AI.

Read: Raspberry Pi Bee Counting Beehive Monitor

Raspberry Pi Pico 26-Pin Capacitive Touch Sensor PCB

Anything can be an instrument with this cool capacitive touch sensor PCB put together by maker and developer Tom Fox. This board turns all 26 GPIO pins on the Pico into a touch sensor input. To demonstrate its potential, he created a touch sensitive instrument that doubles as an art piece.

Why we love it:

This PCB is an amazing demonstration of how a simple idea can be made into a fun, open source tool. Fox's PCB design is well done and can easily be incorporated into loads of cool projects.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico 26-Pin Capacitive Touch Sensor PCB

Tom's Hardware Projects

We look at Raspberry Pi projects every day all week long, so it should come as no surprise that we like to tinker as well. Over the last month, we've had the opportunity to review some new Raspberry Pi hardware and wanted to share our findings with the Pi community.

Sunfounder Pironman 5 Review

The Pironman 5 case is like a tiny tabletop desktop for your Raspberry Pi 5. It has RGB LEDs and acrylic side panels so you can see all the hardware inside. There's a power button on the front along with an OLED screen. In this review, Les takes a look at how well it works and whether or not it's worth your time.

Read: Sunfounder Pironman 5 Review

Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4S

Looking for more Pi to get excited about? We just dropped our Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4S review. It's one of the latest boards in a long line of Pi products that we're more than excited to sink our teeth into.

Read: Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4S

The Raspberry Pi community - in the northern hemisphere, at least - is ready for summer with tons of cool projects and guides to go along with them. These makers are using all sorts of Pis ranging from the smallest Raspberry Pi RP2040 microprocessor all the way up to the latest Raspberry Pi 5. We've got all sorts of cool project ideas to inspire makers from all walks of life including amateurs, students and even expert engineers.

The creators behind these projects are using the best Raspberry Pi accessories and HATs around to bring their ideas to life. Whenever possible, we share all of the links we can that show how these projects are made and what you need to create them for yourself at home.

Raspberry Pi 400 'Fallout' Home Automation Terminal

Once you step foot on the surface of the wastelands, you can't go back, so you might as well bring a little piece of the apocalypse into your house. That's exactly what maker and developer Rick has done with this Raspberry Pi Fallout-themed terminal that works as a hub for home automation systems.

Why we love it:

Creating a Pi-powered hub for your home automation setup is already really cool but throwing in this cool Fallout design is just icing on the cake. The work that Rick put into developing both the technical side of the project and artistic skills to make it look as nice as it does is well worth the extra attention. The interface resembles the CLI from the game and accurately captures the look and feel of the hardware it's trying to emulate.

Read: Raspberry Pi 400 'Fallout' Home Automation Terminal

Raspberry PI AI Talking Tomato Plant

Those in the gardening community without a green thumb have likely wondered from time to time exactly what their plants need. This project from Redpepper solves that problem by using a Raspberry Pi with AI. It uses a variety of sensors to make sense of its environment and can tell you when the plant needs water, sunlight or a little extra love.

Why we love it:

This project takes all of the guesswork out of gardening and keeps things strictly logical with oodles of data to take advantage of. It's a fun use of the Raspberry Pi and a great example of how you can implement AI into your projects. The Pi also has a big pair of googly eyes on the front which only does favors to the overall design.

Read: Raspberry PI AI Talking Tomato Plant

Raspberry Pi AI Fably Storyteller

Coming up with a fresh idea for a bedtime story every night can be taxing. Thankfully, maker and developer Stefano Mazzocchi has created a Pi-powered solution to do the work for you in a project he dubs Fably. This project uses the power of AI to generate stories then reads them out loud using text-to-speech software and a speaker.

Why we love it:

We appreciate the versatility of this project as there's a lot of room to customize it as you go. You can add pre-recorded audio books, operate it using voice commands and get really creative by making cool housing for the hardware. Overall it's a fun idea with plenty to build on with its open source design.

Read: Raspberry Pi AI Fably Storyteller

Raspberry Pi Sony Tape Deck Wireless Media Streaming Platform

Why buy what you can make yourself? That seems to be the motto of maker Unchecked_arrogance who's using a Raspberry Pi to power this custom Sony tape deck media streaming platform project. This is a double tape deck so while one side works as a Pi-powered media center, the other plays cassettes.

Why we love it:

This is a really fun way to revitalize old hardware while still maintaining its original functionality. You can easily go back and forth between playing old tapes and streaming your favorite podcasts. The execution is also worthy of extra praise. Unchecked_arrogance is using a touchscreen interface and it looks absolutely slick in place of the original tape player.

Read: Raspberry Pi Sony Tape Deck Wireless Media Streaming Platform

Raspberry Pi 5 ChatGPT Bender Personal Assistant

Personal assistants are easier to customize than ever thanks to microelectronics like the Raspberry Pi. Maker and developer Manuel Ahumada has made one from scratch that looks and acts just like Bender from the animated series 'Futurama'. He's powered by a Raspberry Pi 5 and is housed inside a custom, 3D-printed head.

Why we love it:

This project goes above and beyond. The head looks spot on while the software blends seamlessly to create a body-less Bender experience. In fact, we're pretty sure we've seen this in an episode before. It just goes to show how once again the Pi community is really adept at bringing Sci Fi to the real world.

Read: Raspberry Pi 5 ChatGPT Bender Personal Assistant

Raspberry Pi 5 Game Boy XL

If you thought the original Game Boy was big, you haven't seen its giant counterpart—the Game Boy XL—created by Arnov Sharma. This Game Boy is massive, upgrading not only its size but also its capability thanks to the Raspberry Pi 5 inside. It features an LCD screen with working buttons on the front but it's intended to be displayed on a tabletop standing upright with a Bluetooth controller for input.

Why we love it:

We love the Raspberry Pi, we love the Game Boy and we get excited at giant versions of the things we love. Featuring this project was a no-brainer. Sharma's giant Game Boy XL is very well designed and looks like it would be a fantastic addition to any retro gaming fan's hardware collection.

Read: Raspberry Pi 5 Game Boy XL

Raspberry Pi Picos Dual Clock

Raspberry Pi clocks can be really cool. We've seen quilted Pi-powered clocks and even clocks that use marbles. However, this is the first dual clock we've come across. One clock uses a seven-segment display while the one underneath is output to a matrix panel. This panel can be used to display a variety of information outside of the time making it a dynamic counterpart to the seven-segment clock on top.

Why we love it:

The Pico 2040 clock has a very sleek end design. It looks professional thanks to little details like the logo in the corner. Makers don't have to go the extra step to make a project like this functional but it does make a difference when it comes to presentation. It showcases how makers can transform their ideas into well-made finished products.

Read: Raspberry Pi Picos Dual Clock

Raspberry Pi AI Stethoscope

Stethoscopes are an essential part of modern medicine. This project takes the tool and adds a twist using our favorite SBC. Instead of relying solely on the doctor to listen for what's going on inside, now you can let this Raspberry Pi AI stethoscope evaluate the data and scan for things like heart disease that would be nearly impossible for us to detect by sound alone.

Why we love it:

This is an amazing demonstration of how Raspberry Pi technology can be applied to help save lives. It's a simple idea that when trained with enough data, can help aid those in the medical field hone in on health concerns before they manifest further.

Read: Raspberry Pi AI Stethoscope

Raspberry Pi RP2040 Hackbat

Every hacker needs a tool and the Raspberry Pi RP2040 HackBat isn't one to scoff at. This handheld PCB features tons of cool tools that make it something like a Swiss Army knife of hacking gadgets. If you're looking for something to use professionally or just want to tinker, this little board is definitely worth a close look.

Why we love it:

It takes a lot of work to design a PCB from scratch—especially one decked out with so many cool components and modules. It's got a screen for output, buttons for input, an RF antenna and so much more to play around with. At the end of the day, maker and developer Trujillo knocked the ball out of the park with this project.

Read: Raspberry Pi RP2040 Hackbat

Raspberry Pi AI Clock Listens and Smells the Time

This is by far one of the strangest and most fascinating Raspberry Pi clocks we've ever seen. These clocks use smell and sound to estimate the time using AI. As time goes on, the clocks collect data which will hopefully make them more accurate at telling the time based on something so strange and seemingly arbitrary.

Why we love it:

Some of the best Raspberry Pi projects are made because the maker could do something, not because they needed to. This idea is hilarious and the fact that Max Björverud actually took the time to put these together and show them off is fantastic. We love everything about this project from its conception to the final build.

Read: Raspberry Pi AI Clock Listens and Smells the Time

With May in full swing, it's time to take a look at some really cool Raspberry Pi projects for a little summertime tinkering inspiration. These makers have created some seriously unique projects using all sorts of Pi models like the itty bitty RP2040 microprocessor all the way up to the latest Raspberry Pi 5.

We're sure to share all of the juicy details along the way so you know exactly what Raspberry Pi accessories and HATs made the final design possible in these projects. We're huge fans of open source technology and love any opportunity to share what we learn along the way—so plug in your soldering iron and get out the protoboards, these are the best Raspberry Pi projects we've had the honor of featuring over the past month.

Raspberry Pi RP2040 Wireless LED Scoreboard

All sorts of games require score keeping and if you've got games to keep tally of, this Raspberry Pi RP2040 wireless LED scoreboard is just the project for the job. It uses an RP2040 microprocessor and features a custom made control panel along with a wireless remote for an input device.

Why we love it:

This maker went above and beyond to take something that you could probably do by hand with a pen and paper but with the added fun of building a microelectronics project. This scoreboard project looks just as fun to build as it is to use.

Read: Raspberry Pi RP2040 Wireless LED Scoreboard

Raspberry Pi AI Robots Motivate Runners by Shouting Messages

Finding the motivation to work out is hard but what if you had a little robot that would cheer you on? That's exactly what maker and developer Sir Walter Richardson has done with this AI-powered motivation robot.

Why we love it:

It's awesome to have a little extra encouragement while you're pushing through a tough challenge. However, in a hilarious twist, this project will also sling demotivational shade to anyone who passes by with a bit too much confidence.

Read: Raspberry Pi AI Robots Motivate Runners by Shouting Message

Raspberry Pi 4 Knight Rider ChatGPT KITT

Recreating scifi props might as well be its own category of microelectronics projects. Makers sure know how to take it to the next level when it comes to bringing scifi tech to life like the masterminds over at Knight Rider Historians who built their own talking KITT. This prop was built using a Raspberry Pi and ChatGPT.

Why we love it:

This project is really cool whether you're a fan of Knight Rider or not. The animated LEDs and interactive ChatGPT features make for an exciting experience. This project is one engine away from becoming a full-sized KITT replica.

Read: Raspberry Pi 4 Knight Rider ChatGPT KITT

Raspberry Pi Pico Dicemaster 2000

Every now and then, we come across projects that help make life a little bit easier. In this project, developer Hiro has created a dice roller for his visually impaired friend called the Dicemaster 2000. It's designed with controls that are easy to feel and uses audio output for feedback.

Why we love it:

Pi-powered dice rollers are really cool, but this one takes it a step further by adding a level of accessibility for Hiro's friend. It's a thoughtful project with end results that look great and fun to play with during late night tabletop sessions.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico Dicemaster 2000

Raspberry Pi RP2040 LED Wristwatch

This RP2040-powered wristwatch was created by Kim Paulsson. Like any other watch, it tells the time but Paulsson decided to forgo your traditional hands or modern digital screen and opted for a more…microelectronics enthusiast approach. It features a ring of LEDs that are used to represent the current hour, minute and second.

Why we love it:

This watch is really cool! We haven't seen anything like it before and throwing in our favorite microprocessor is just icing on the Pi. The exposed PCB looks great—especially with the black finish and white text.

Read: Raspberry Pi RP2040 LED Wristwatch

Raspberry Pi Brings GitHub's Octocat to Life

Anyone familiar with GitHub has no doubt come across their wiggly mascot Octocat. Infineon decided to take it upon themselves to bring Octocat to life with wiggling tentacles that use a Raspberry Pi-powered hydraulic system.

Why we love it:

It's amazing how much engineering goes into such a fun and silly project. The tentacle molds were 3D-printed, silicone makes them wiggle and the head is finished with a nice 3D-printed design.

Read: Raspberry Pi Brings GitHub's Octocat to Life

Raspberry Pi Pico Gundam LED Light Show

If you're a fan of Gundam, you've got to check out this awesome LED light show project put together by a maker known as Rob. Sure, sprucing up your favorite Gundam with LEDs is cool and all but what if you could control them? That's exactly what this Pico-powered panel does, bringing the figure to life in a dazzling display.

Why we love it:

It's cool to see someone take a fun idea to such an extreme. Controlling the LEDs with light effects is awesome enough but the design of the panel used to operate the system looks fantastic and deserves the praise it gets.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico Gundam LED Light Show

Raspberry Pi Etch A Sketch Bot

Drawing on an Etch A Sketch is hard and it would be much easier to use Micah Tilton's Raspberry Pi-powered Etch A Sketch bot. This project takes existing images and converts them into files that the Pi can use to recreate on an Etch A Sketch using the original controls with the help of a couple of servo motors.

Why we love it:

Is it even up for debate that using an Etch A Sketch is hard? You've got to figure out how to not only create your image with one line but also using two knobs. Now take that concept and make a robot do it for you—that's why we're impressed.

Read: Raspberry Pi Etch A Sketch Bot

Raspberry Pi Sign Language Translator Glasses 

Bridging communication gaps is what the Raspberry Pi does best. Whether you're using an adapter to help two modules talk to each other or in this case, Nekhil has created a pair of sign language translation glasses and turn the signs into speech using AI.

Why we love it:

This project is a really fun idea that can help make it easier to interact with people who experience hearing impairment or otherwise know ASL. At the moment, the glasses only translate letters but enough time building the right model would allow you to introduce words and phrases, as well.

Read: Raspberry Pi Sign Language Translator Glasses

Raspberry Pi AI Storybook

Thomas Valadez has created a truly unique project with an air of beauty about it that we just haven't seen before. This Pi-powered storybook uses AI to generate both the story and the images to go along with it based on whatever text it generated in the story.

Why we love it:

You never know what you're going to get when it comes to AI so it's safe to say some of the stories and images will be a bit odd. However, it's still incredible to see the potential of modern AI put on full display in a cool project like this.

Read: Raspberry Pi AI Storybook

How to Manage Applications on Your Raspberry Pi With Pi-Apps

Managing apps on your Raspberry Pi just got easier thanks to Pi-Apps! In this guide, Les shows us how to set it up and use it so you can make the most out of your experience when using the official Raspberry Pi OS.

Read: How to Manage Applications on Your Raspberry Pi With Pi-Apps

With spring in full swing, it's time to take a look at some of the coolest Raspberry Pi projects that have bloomed over the last month. As usual, we've got an assortment of creations ranging from RP2040-based projects to ones that use the latest board, the Raspberry Pi 5. There's plenty to inspire makers of all walks whether you're an amateur or a well-seasoned microelectronics expert.

These makers and developers pull out the best Raspberry Pi accessories and HATs around to make their ideas possible. When they share all the juicy details about what components they're using and what libraries they've installed, we'll be sure to relay it to you with links to the source material. We've also got some guides put together by the staff here at Tom's Hardware so you can easily follow along with us at home.

Raspberry Pi 5 Cat TV

Nothing beats the chance to unwind and relax in front of the TV after a long day. No one knows that better than maker and developer Becky Stern who decided to share the experience with her beloved cats by creating a Raspberry Pi cat TV. This TV uses the latest Pi model, the Raspberry Pi 5.

Why we love it:

This might not be an overly complex project but the use case is what shines here. The TV automatically loads up cat videos from YouTube that show footage of things like birds and squirrels. It's a very generous project that makes for some seriously spoiled cats and we love that.

Read: Raspberry Pi 5 Cat TV

Raspberry Pi Hat Camera

Some Raspberry Pi projects aren't just portable, they're wearable, like this Raspberry Pi hat camera put together by Jacob David C Cunningham. This device has everything it needs to operate on the go including a battery and clip that makes it easy to attach to the brim of your hat.

Why we love it:

Making Raspberry Pi projects portable is always tricky. It can be difficult to figure out how much power you need and how heavy the battery can be depending on the use case. This is a great example of a finished product that's as fun to build as it is useful.

Read: Raspberry Pi Hat Camera

Raspberry Pi Pico StoRPer Modular DIY Robot Rover

If there's one thing the Raspberry Pi Pico is good for, it's tiny RC cars. This one, created by maker and developer Jo Hinchliffe, is known as StoRPer. It's designed to be modular and has omnidirectional wheels for easy steering.

Why we love it:

We love seeing the Pico used with custom PCBs so it should come as no surprise that we enjoyed seeing it here. The StoRPer is a neat little car and the omnidirectional wheels are just icing on the cake.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico StoRPer Modular DIY Robot Rover

Vela AI Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 Smart Bikes

After thriving in the tech market over the last decade, it's not uncommon to find a Pi used in a commercial product now and then. In this case, Velo AI has unveiled their line of Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 smart bikes.

Why we love it:

The bikes use AI to help the driver anticipate traffic from behind which can ideally make a safer experience for the rider. While it's plenty impressive to see proof of concepts for Raspberry Pi AI projects, it's just as cool to see the technology implemented in a buyable product.

Read: Vela AI Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 Smart Bikes

Raspberry Pi Pico W Atari 2600 Bluetooth Controller Support

Sometimes the best way to get a good retro gaming experience is to use the right controller. Instead of trying to use a retro controller on an emulator, make Reogen is switching things up by creating a Raspberry Pi Pico-powered adapter for the Atari 2600 that enables bluetooth controller support.

Why we love it:

This is one of those projects we never really considered until we saw it for ourselves. It's an extremely niche use case but a beautiful example of how the Pico can serve as a bridge for modern and classic hardware.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico W Atari 2600 Bluetooth Controller Support

Raspberry Pi Pico 'Back to the Future' Time Circuits Replica

Fans can go to some serious extremes to create realistic props from their favorite movies. Maker and developer Traveling_fred is on that list as he shows off his 'Back to the Future' time circuits replica kit, powered by our favorite microcontroller—the Raspberry Pi Pico.

Why we love it:

This is a really unique kit that pays homage to the classic 'Back to the Future' sci fi franchise. The final build is really neat in itself but the kit also looks really fun to put together. What you would do with the end product and when is up to you.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico 'Back to the Future' Time Circuits Replica

Raspberry Pi Precision Movement Stage

Some projects are driven by some really specific needs. In this case, YouTuber and maker Robert Elder needed a way to smoothly rotate microchips while filming close up shots for his channel. The end result is this cool Pi-powered precision movement stage.

Why we love it:

This project shows how you don't need to buy expensive tools when a bit of ingenuity and effort will do just as good. According to Elder, this is still a work in progress but we're excited about it even still in its current state.

Read: Raspberry Pi Precision Movement Stage

DIY Raspberry Pi All Sky Camera

Got your eyes on the sky? So does maker Frank Prins with this custom Raspberry Pi all sky camera. It's aimed at the sky way up north within the Arctic Circle and captures images of the northern lights.

Why we love it:

Spotting a Pi in a professional setting is one thing but seeing one use in the name of science is another. We love the unique opportunity Prins has to not only capture images of the northern lights with a Pi but also share them with us.

Read: DIY Raspberry Pi All Sky Camera

Raspberry Pi Pico RP2040 Inside Custom Virtual Pinball Machine

You don't need quarters to play this machine. Dewijngaert created this virtual pinball machine and while a Pi isn't being used as the main board, you will find an RP2040 microcontroller handling the button input.

Why we love it:

This is a project not just for fans of retro gaming in general but serious pinball enthusiasts. It's clear Dewijngaert went all out with this design to make sure the playing experience was top notch and true to classic, full-sized pinball machines.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico RP2040 Inside Custom Virtual Pinball Machine

Raspberry Pi Pico Turned Into a Working GPU

Graphics cards can be expensive and hard to get ahold of, wouldn't it be easier if you could make your own with a $4 Raspberry Pi Pico? That's exactly what the team did over at Element14. Sure, it can't hold a candle for your latest RTX 4000 series GPU but it's not supposed to. This Pico graphics card is intended to work with small SBCs.

Why we love it:

This project is just crazy awesome from head to toe. We love everything from the concept to the final design. Is it practical? Sort of. Is it cool? Extremely. It's projects like these that raise the bar and make you say, "Why not?"

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico Turned Into a Working GPU

Tom's Hardware Projects

As always, it's hard not to feel inspired after covering all sorts of Pi projects all month long. We also like to tinker on the Pi and document the process as we go so you can follow along at home with a detailed guide.

How to Overclock the Raspberry Pi 5 Beyond 3 GHz

In this guide, Les shows us how you can take the Pi 5 to new limits by overclocking it past 3GHz. If you aren't sure how to go about overclocking, this is a great place to start as Les covers everything you need each step of the way.

Read: How to Overclock the Raspberry Pi 5 Beyond 3 GHz

At the end of a rainbow, surely the pot of gold is actually just a pot full of Raspberry Pis. Or rather, that's what we'd like to find. It's not a secret that we here at Tom's Hardware are huge fans of the Pi and all of the amazing projects put together by the community. We feature Pi projects all week long and today we're taking a look at some of the best projects we've featured over the past month.

These makers use some of the latest boards, like the Raspberry Pi 5, as well as the best Raspberry Pi accessories and the best Raspberry Pi HATs to bring their ideas to fruition. We've got tons of cool projects to share that will inspire your inner maker and even a few guides we put together so you can follow along at home.

Raspberry Pi Smart Fridge

Building a smart home is as easy as Pi! Just take a look at this cool Raspberry Pi smart fridge put together by Mimobeano. Using a Pi as the main controller, this device takes pictures of the refrigerator contents and uses AI to see what's in stock. Mimobeano can not only see what's in the fridge by sending a message to a custom Telegram bot but also request recipes based on what's available.

Why we love it:

We love any excuse to whip up a DIY project and this one provides a neat way to interact with your kitchen. Putting the project together looks just as fun as having one more smart home device.

Read: Raspberry Pi Smart Fridge

3D Printed Raspberry Pi 5 NAS

An NAS setup can be really useful for a variety of applications—especially those looking to stream their own media at home. This 3D printed Raspberry Pi 5 NAS put together by 3D Printz provides support for the Raspberry Pi 5 as well as a few other Pi models. With all of the hardware together in the final build, it has convenient port access on the side and an OLED screen for displaying stats.

Why we love it:

We don't need to sell you on why it's useful to have an NAS on hand, but we will encourage you to consider making your own. It's awesome enough to see support for the Raspberry Pi 5, in this case, but it was really kind of 3D Printz to share files for other Pi models, as well.

Read: 3D printed Raspberry Pi 5 NAS

Raspberry Pi RP2040 in Super Tiny Unofficial Game Boy

Big things sometimes come in small packages and this project is a great example of just that. We spotted our favorite microprocessor, the RP20040 on the PCB used in this Super Tiny Unofficial Game Boy. Elliot Coll found it over at AliExpress and showed it off over at YouTube.

Why we love it:

We're absolute suckers for retro gaming stuff and this super small Game Boy was cool enough on its own. But once we saw the Raspberry Pi inside, we knew we had to share it. Although this was a one off product run and we can't find more, it's a wonderful build and we hope to see RP2040s integrated into more devices.

Read: Raspberry Pi RP2040 in Super Tiny Unofficial Game Boy

Raspberry Pi Voice Driven AI Art Generator

It's easier than ever to play with generative AI tools. There are so many options at your fingertips that you can use to implement open source AI systems into your projects. A great example comes from maker and developer DevMiser who's using one to drive this AI Art Generator TV project. Just say the prompt you want to create out loud and it will use speed to text to process the request and generate a picture for you.

Why we love it:

It's cool to see more AI-based projects and this one is really neat. It's a fun proof of concept but you could set something like this up in your living room to entertain guests. It's a good idea and well executed project.

Read: Raspberry Pi Voice Driven AI Art Generator

Raspberry Pi VHS Composite Video Player

This project, created by Alan Boris, takes the beauty of vintage tech and showcases it in a useful end product. This is a Raspberry Pi Composite Video Player and it's housed inside of an old VHS tape.

Why we love it:

Boris went above and beyond with this project design. Not only is it housed inside of an old VHS tape, he threw in a servo to rotate like the original tape reel used to while playing a tape. The other side has a handy display for menu functions. It's an incredible idea and the end result is top notch.

Read: Raspberry Pi VHS Composite Video Player

Raspberry Pi Bluetooth Jammer

We've all been there before. You're comfortable, it's a cozy atmosphere, and suddenly your neighbors interrupt with some noisy audio. In this case, maker and developer Roni Bandini was dealing with excessive music and decided to jam any nearby bluetooth speakers by using a Pi to listen for it using AI. The end result is this legally questionable Raspberry Pi Bluetooth Jammer.

Why we love it:

This project definitely isn't for everyone but you don't have to make it yourself to appreciate the ingenuity behind its design. Some of the most interesting projects are born out of necessity—or in this case, neighborly warfare.

Read: Raspberry Pi Bluetooth Jammer

Raspberry Pi Volumetric Display

We guarantee you've never seen a project quite like this one before. This Raspberry Pi Volumetric Display uses a Pi to drive a motor that spins a couple of matrix panels around. The end result is a 3D object you can look at from different angles.

Why we love it:

This is an amazing idea and the final design, especially with the glass covering, looks incredible. We've never seen a project quite like this one before and it's neat to see not just one but two great examples of it in action.

Read: Raspberry Pi Volumetric Display

Tom's Hardware Projects

It's hard not to get inspired after combing through so many amazing creations from the maker community. Here are a few Raspberry Pi tutorials put together by the staff here at Tom's Hardware that you can follow along with at home.

How to Control your Raspberry Pi Camera using a web UI

If you've ever wanted to use a web-based UI to operate a camera using a Raspberry Pi, now's your chance to see exactly how it's done. You could incorporate this into a multitude of projects, so think of it more like a building block you can use for a bigger project design. Les walks us through everything we need to do to put this setup together.

Read: How to Control your Raspberry Pi Camera using a web UI

How to turbo-charge your Raspberry Pi 5 with an NVMe boot drive

Your Raspberry Pi 5 has PCIe support, so why not take full advantage of that? In this guide, Les walks us through what you need to do to turbo-charge your Pi 5 using an NVMe boot drive. Some extra hardware will be needed to use an SSD with the Pi 5.

Read: How to turbo-charge your Raspberry Pi 5 with an NVMe boot drive

Raspberries are red, some PCBs are blue, Raspberry Pi is our favorite and Arduino is cool, too. February has snuck up on us and it's time again for us to share some really cool Pi projects that we absolutely love. We've got everything from the latest board, the Raspberry Pi 5, to custom boards that use the RP2040 microprocessor.

These makers use some of the best Raspberry Pi accessories and HATs around to bring their projects to life. We'll be sure to share all of the details as we go along, just follow the link to check out the original article for a closer look at each project.

Raspberry Pi Pico Digital Audio Looper

The Raspberry Pi is a great choice for musicians looking to create a digital instrument of their own, or in this case, college students completing a project for the semester final. This Raspberry Pi Pico digital audio looper lets you record audio and play it back with special effects or in a loop for real-time concerts.

Why we love it:

This project is super useful for musicians and makers alike that are itching for a fun project to recreate at home. It shows that a little ingenuity not only nets you a cool final product but also can help you get a passing grade in school.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico Digital Audio Looper

Raspberry Pi Tiny Retro TV

It's amazing what makers can cram a Raspberry Pi into. As the boards get smaller, so do the design concepts like this Raspberry Pi tiny retro TV put together by Fantasticmrdavid. It resembles an old Toshiba TV and lets you watch videos and emulate any retro console you like thanks to RetroPie.

Why we love it:

We've always had a soft spot for retro gaming with a Pi but we know that having hardware look the part really completes the nostalgic experience. It took a lot of work to design and print this case. Plus, it was really cool of Fantasticmrdavid to share it with everyone else online.

Read: Raspberry Pi Tiny Retro TV

Raspberry Pi Mini Desktop DOS PC

Like we said before, tiny projects are cool! And it just so happens that this one is also designed by Fantasticmrdavid. Instead of resembling an old TV, this Pi fits inside of a mini desktop DOS PC. It looks like an old school desktop complete with a monitor and everything.

Why we love it:

There are multiple bases available to print for different Pi models and you also have the option of using the floppy drive port as a microSD card slot. The design for this is just off the charts cool and open to so many makers to modify and play with at home.

Read: Raspberry Pi Mini Desktop DOS PC

Raspberry Pi Dual Monitor Mini PC

Tiny retro PCs are cool and all but this Raspberry Pi dual monitor mini PC is a bit more modern. It sports flashy RGB LEDs and shows off the hardware inside the case with clear side panels. If that weren't enough, it has two separate monitors to use for dual monitor action!

Why we love it:

This little PC looks great and the dual monitor support puts it over the top! If you're looking to make a small usable desktop of your own, you might as well go all out in style and this is definitely the way to do it.

Read: Raspberry Pi Dual Monitor Mini PC

Maker Gives Raspberry Pi Pico Ethernet over USB Support

Some makers really like to push boards to their limits and this project is a shining example of just that. This maker has managed to get Ethernet over USB support on the Pico. It requires a custom cable that Alan put together just to pull off this project that splits the USB port into Ethernet and USB.

Why we love it:

If you don't have a specialized board on hand, this project shows that you can just make your own. It's already super impressive as an idea but it's even more awesome to see it work successfully.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico Ethernet over USB Support

Raspberry Pi RP2040 Magnetic Macropad

We're definitely suckers for Pi-powered macropads and couldn't help but share this Raspberry Pi RP2040 magnetic macropad when we came across it. Made by maker Salim Benbouziyane, it features magnetic add ons that you can snap into place and remove as needed.

Why we love it:

This project is the epitome of customization! It looks gorgeous and makes for a very exciting user experience, even if it is a bit delicate. There are so many options when it comes to adding your own modules that it makes this project stand out in both concept and execution.

Read: Raspberry Pi RP2040 Magnetic Macropad

Raspberry Pi ReBoi Game Boy Color Drop-in Kit

We've covered a few cool Pi-powered drop-in kits for a variety of handhelds over the years and knew immediately that this one was too cool to not to share. Dubbed the Raspberry Pi ReBoi, this PCB is designed to fit inside of an original (or reproduction) Game Boy Color.

Why we love it:

You don't need to modify any original hardware to use this kit. If you'd rather leave your Game Boy Color untouched, you can easily buy aftermarket parts to complete the custom build. This project also includes a backlit LCD screen that replaces the original.

Read: Raspberry Pi ReBoi Game Boy Color Drop-in Kit

Raspberry Pi Pico Marble Clock

The idea to create a Pi-powered clock isn't exactly new, but maker and developer C Forde definitely put a new spin on the concept by creating this awesome Raspberry Pi Pico marble clock. Marbles are rotated up the spires to indicate the current time and held in place with a few magnets.

Why we love it:

This is one of the most unique clocks we've ever seen, hands down. It encompasses quite a few areas of technology ranging from 3D printing to programming microelectronics. The end result looks fascinating and works like a charm.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico Marble Clock

Raspberry Pi Pico Smartwatch

Wearable Pi-powered tech is always fashionable in our book. This Raspberry Pi Pico smartwatch is RP2040-powered and features a custom-made open source interface. It connects to nearby devices using Bluetooth and can manage things like calls, notifications, media and more.

Why we love it:

It's cool to see the Pico used in something that's not only useful but can be easily taken on the go. The round LCD and 3D-printed housing is icing on the cake. It's portable, functional, and open source. What's not to love?

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico Smartwatch

Raspberry Pi RP2040 ThinkPad Nubbin Light Dimmer

ThinkPad owners are known to be passionate about the Track Point but this is the first time we've seen one used as a light switch dimmer. This Raspberry Pi RP2040 ThinkPad nubbin light switch dimmer works by touch input or via web browser from a smartphone.

Why we love it:

This is one of the most hilarious implementations of a Track Point we've ever seen. We're just glad it had a Raspberry Pi working behind the scenes so we could feature it in our list. This project makes us wonder what other use cases could be improved with a ThinkPad Track Point for input…

Read: Raspberry Pi RP2040 ThinkPad Nubbin Light Dimmer

RISC-V firm Milk-V demonstrated that it can get AMD’s RX 7900 XTX graphics card to work on one of its RISC-V boards.

The PC shown in the video uses Milk-V’s Megrez board, which is equipped with Chinese RISC-V chip maker Eswin’s EIC7700X, a system-on-chip (SoC) that hosts four P550 CPU cores designed by SiFive. The P550 core has been around since 2021, so it’s nothing cutting-edge at the tail end of 2024. The SoC sport H.265 encoding and decoding at 8K, and has a 20 TOPS NPU, which are both reasonably robust for PCs.

The particular 7900 XTX that Milk-V used was made by XFX and ran on Debian Linux. There wasn’t much choice in terms of the OS, as Linux boasts the best support for RISC-V at the moment. The brief demo showed the system running the glmark2 benchmark, which renders 3D objects at the highest framerate possible.

However, Milk-V got a 7900 XTX up and running on this RISC-V board, which marks another milestone for RISC-V’s ambitions in PCs. So far, the open-standard architecture has been primarily used for data centers, AI, and tiny, low-function chips that form just one small part of a whole product. Although the usage of RISC-V has been growing steadily for the last few years, the architecture hasn’t penetrated the PC market, the domain of x86, and now Arm.

A few RISC-V laptops have made it to market, such as DeepComputing’s DC-ROMA and the Lichee Console 4A, but you could count them all on one or maybe two hands. No fully assembled RISC-V-powered desktop exists, but some motherboards come with RISC-V chips, such as those made by Milk-V.

Although no RISC-V CPU is in a position to realistically take advantage of support for AMD’s flagship gaming CPU, the support’s existence certainly won’t hurt. It will undoubtedly be difficult for RISC-V to make inroads into the PC ecosystem if Arm’s example is anything to judge by. Arm chip designer Qualcomm struggled for years to make its Snapdragon laptops an appealing choice until this year with the Snapdragon X Elite. Estimates show Arm CPUs will power as much as 40% of notebooks sold in 2029.

It is important to note that Arm has the full support of Microsoft, which is crucial for Arm’s success in PCs since Windows is the most important OS for consumer desktops and laptops. Getting supported on Windows will probably be essential for RISC-V’s adoption in the PC market. Otherwise, RISC-V companies will have to bet on Windows getting serious competition from Linux or some other OS, which doesn’t seem likely to happen any time soon.

At its Snapdragon Summit in Maui, Qualcomm is taking Intel to task. The company, which released its Snapdragon X processors over the summer, is using its home turf to claim that its chips are faster than Intel's newly released Intel Core Ultra Series 2 "Lunar Lake" processors, and suggested that Intel didn't tell the whole story in its marketing.

Qualcomm presented a series of benchmarks; Some of them were repeats of what we've seen before, now with Lunar Lake (and AMD's Strix Point) added, while others were designed specifically to disprove Intel's claims that Lunar Lake offers "the fastest CPU cores. Period." 

Of course, Qualcomm's tests featured some of its own cherry picking, but you can already compare Qualcomm and Intel's latest in a number of our independent reviews, including in the same chassis in the Dell XPS 13 (9345) and Dell XPS 13 (9350).

Performance per watt

Qualcomm updated charts detailing performance compared to the competition, showing the Snapdragon X1E-84-100 beating Intel's Core Ultra 7 Series 2 256V by up to 10% at Geekbench single-core, while Intel's chip requires 38% more power. 

In multi-core, Qualcomm claims its X1E-84-100 is up to 52% faster, with Lunar Lake requiring up to 113% more power.

Notably, Qualcomm isn't using the top configuration of the Intel Core Ultra Series 2 platform, the Core Ultra 9 288V, suggesting it couldn't find it at retail. We haven't seen that chip for sale in the United States, but we do know you can get it in versions of the Asus Zenbook S 14 being sold in the UK.

Additionally, the Intel chip is being tested in a Dell XPS 13, while the Qualcomm chip is from a larger, 16-inch Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Edge (the only system that the X1E-84-100 come in). These do lead to a difference in heat dissipation, given the different size of the systems.

The fastest cores. Question mark?

On a call with journalists ahead of the Summit, Qualcomm director of engineering Sriram Dixit took issue with Intel saying that it offered "the "Fastest Cores. Period," with Lunar Lake.

For one, he said, Intel didn't include its fastest chip, the Snapdragon X Elite X1E-84100. So Qualcomm re-ran the tests including that chip. In the absence of an Intel Core Ultra 288V, Qualcomm used data from a PCWorld video. But Qualcomm also suggests that Intel "ignored" multi-core. One could argue that while Intel didn't highlight its multi-core benchmark results, that fastest cores means individual CPU cores, not multiple cores together. Regardless, Qualcomm is using this as an opportunity to show that it wins out there.

Where Intel used percentage, Qualcomm used raw scores, though it's interesting to see that Qualcomm didn't label the scores for the X1E-78-100, X1E-80-100, and AMD Ryzen AI HX 370.

In Cinebench 2024 single-core, Qualcomm showed the X1E-84-100 eking out a win against the Intel Core Ultra 288V by 3 points (using the PCWorld data) and the Core Ultra 256V by 7 points. It's interesting here that Qualcomm switched to a Samsung Galaxy Book 5 Pro 360 for the 256V, as opposed to the XPS 13 it used almost everywhere else.

If you focus on two laptops in the same chassis: The Snapdragon X Elite X1E-80-100 and Intel Core Ultra 7 256V were both in an XPS 13. Qualcomm claims its 12-core chip is 92% faster than Intel's latest 8-core CPU. Qualcomm says that Intel "ignored" multi-core.

On the Geekbench 6 single-core test, Qualcomm again says that adding in the X1E-84-100 makes it the victor.

In Geekbench 6's multi-core benchmark, Qualcomm claimed its top chip was 44% faster than Lunar Lake. In fact, it says its 8-core X1E-42-100 was faster.

For what it's worth, in our own testing, we have often seen Qualcomm's chips do ever-so-slightly better in single-core Geekbench compared to Lunar Lake, while the 12-core Snapdragons have continued to beat the 8-core Lunar Lake chips. (More cores helps with that!).

Lastly, there was SPECint, which Qualcomm says it couldn't reproduce. The company claims that Intel didn't disclose the compiler configuration used to get these results. In its own results, using LLVM 17.0.6 and G Fotron 13.2 with the "-03 -flto" flags in WSL1, which it calls "common" with "standard optimizations." That led to two of Qualcomm's chips coming ahead of the Core Ultra 256V (back in the XPS 13, if you've been tracking that), while no data was presented for the Core Ultra 288V.

Qualcomm took special issue with Intel's claim that it used 40% less power at equal performance to the Snapdragon. With Qualcomm's compiler, it says it hit a 52% higher score than the 256V using the X1E-80-100 at peak power, and a 41% high score using equal power.

Performance on battery

For battery performance, Qualcomm switched exclusively to the Dell XPS 13 (9345) using Snapdragon X Elite X1E-80-100 and the Dell XPS 13 (9350) with Intel Core Ultra 7 256V. While Qualcomm used its most powerful chip for performance testing, that didn't translate to battery testing.

Qualcomm suggested that in most cases, the X Elite's performance on battery was similar to performance while plugged in. For the Core Ultra, though, Qualcomm's benchmark showed it often dropping further, slowing down while unplugged to preserve battery life. Qualcomm claims it's as much as 163% faster (citing Blender's CPU benchmark) on battery.

Qualcomm also teased what its second-gen Oryon cores could do in this area in the future. At the Summit, the company is announcing its Snapdragon 8 Elite processor for Android smartphones. In this chart, Qualcomm put it in a reference laptop running Windows 11, showing faster single-core and Web browsing performance than Intel, AMD, and the existing Snapdragon X Elite. With fewer cores, Snapdragon 8 Elite didn't beat the 12-core X Elite X1E-80-100 in testing. (The Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 is also a 12-core chip, while every Lunar Lake chip has 8 cores).

For battery testing, Qualcomm used the Procyon Office benchmark, and said it gets four and a half hours longer battery life than the Core Ultra 7 256V. For what it's worth, Snapdragon chips have outperformed in our own battery life tests, though not by as wide a margin. With our XPS 13 units, we saw the Snapdragon version last 19:31, compared to 17:29 for the Lunar Lake version.

Qualcomm is also claiming that its chips use less power when running everything from local video playback to web browsing and Teams calls. Qualcomm also claims that the Snapdragon has a far more efficient NPU, suggesting that Intel's 47-TOPS chip uses 311% more power running the Procyon AI test. However, in a Q&A session, Qualcomm said it only measured battery use from the system itself, rather than isolating the NPU, making this a dubious test.

The company also measured surface temperature during NPU workloads, suggesting its chips run up to 9 degrees Celsius cooler while plugged in and using the NPU and up to 7 degrees cooler on battery.

Qualcomm strikes back

In general, you should always wait for independent benchmarks (ours and our colleagues in the space) as opposed to relying on what you get from chip companies. Qualcomm's in a bit of a weird space here, as we've already tested their chips compared to Lunar Lake, and in most cases, we have seen better performance from Snapdragon X Elite.

But Qualcomm's benchmarks here do have some cherry-picked aspects of their own, including switching between different chips for high-end performance testing and efficiency on battery, as well as putting competitors' chips in different laptops depending on the scenario.

It also doesn't address the biggest issue for Qualcomm: compatibility. Dixit didn't discuss that issue, including how emulation might affect performance and power efficiency, nevermind the fact that it canceled its developer kit meant to lead to more Arm applications.

So yes, Qualcomm is reminding us that it has a performant laptop chip. But now it has to keep it up, and also get even more serious about compatibility, where x86 still reigns.

Qualcomm has suddenly and quietly discontinued the $899 Snapdragon X Elite Developer Kit, with the company refunding customers who bought the device since it went on sale. It’s unclear if those who already received their devices will also get refunded. The chip-making giant built this $899 mini PC for developers to help them build apps for Windows on Arm.

According to the letter that developer Jeff Geerling received, Qualcomm said, “…the Developer Kit product comprehensively has not met our usual standards of excellence and so we are reaching out to let you know that unfortunately we have made the decision to pause this product and the support of it, indefinitely.”

Geerling and others who purchased the device previously pointed out that there had been long wait times for the device with little explanation as to what was going on.

The Snapdragon X chips are focused more on efficiency than performance. While it allows Windows on Arm laptops to have amazing battery life that finally lets Windows devices compete against the legendary efficiency of Apple Silicon chips, it falls flat in the performance department when compared to proper desktop chips. The variant in the dev kit, the X1E-00-1DE, had a slightly higher dual-core boost clock than the top retial version. An X Elite dev kit was pushed beyond 100 watts, and the reviewer discovered that you’re using up four times more power but only get up to 30% more performance.

By time customers started receiving their PCs, the retial laptops had long been on shelves, largely defeating the purpose of having a machine to build for the latest Snapdragon chips. 

At the moment, you can only get these chips on laptops and a couple of tablets, but Qualcomm said that Snapdragon is coming to all PC form factors, including desktops. Because of this, all is not seemingly lost for a desktop Windows 11 on Arm device, and we might still get a Snapdragon X mini-PC, but from an OEM instead. Aside from that, some X2 Elite chips have been spotted being tested at Qualcomm — hopefully, the company will apply its learnings on the Snapdragon X Elite Dev Kit to make a powerful mini-PC sporting these next-generation SoCs.

Microsoft is reportedly working on a new Surface Laptop powered by Intel's Lunar Lake processors, following leaks from Chinese marketplace Goofish discovered by Windows Central. The recently launched Core Ultra 200V processors are expected to bring improved power efficiency and better graphics performance compared to the Qualcomm Snapdragon X chipsets currently used in Microsoft’s consumer Surface Laptop lineup.

The leaked prototype suggests that the new Surface Laptop, potentially the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7, will feature the Core Ultra 7 268V, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD, offering notable enhancements for power users. The launch is speculated to happen in 2025, possibly around CES or later in spring.

While the leaks are not highly credible, they echo a similar situation from previous years, when a Surface Pro 7 Plus prototype was leaked before its release. Additionally, the prototype’s "NOT FOR SALE" engraving further indicates that the device could be a legitimate early sample unit.

Notably, the design of the leaked device appears to retain the same aesthetics as the Surface Laptop 7, meaning that the refresh will mainly focus on internal upgrades. The possibility of a 2025 release aligns with Microsoft’s typical product update schedule, and many speculate that CES 2025 could be the platform for the official unveiling.

Microsoft partnered with Qualcomm's Snapdragon X chipsets earlier this year, receiving exclusive access to its new consumer Surface Laptop and Surface Pro releases. As the company continues to refine its Surface line, including Lunar Lake processors, it may offer users more powerful and versatile hardware options, addressing the growing demand for efficient and performance-oriented laptops.

Intel’s Lunar Lake processors prioritize power efficiency while delivering robust performance, especially in GPU-intensive tasks like gaming. Initial impressions of Intel’s Lunar Lake architecture on laptops like the Asus ZenBook S 14 have been primarily positive. The new Core Ultra 200V outperforms Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite by a good margin, especially in games offering playable frame rates at 1080p resolution, a feat beyond the capabilities of current Snapdragon-powered Surface devices.

As with all leaks, the final specifications and design are subject to change until Microsoft provides official confirmation.

A semiconductor-focused market intelligence firm has charted the rise of the Arm architecture in the notebook market up to 2030. In a new research bulletin, TechInsights predicts that 40% of notebooks sold by the decade's end will be based on SoCs using the Arm architecture (via ITHome).

This would mark a massive shift away from the x86 architecture. Moreover, TechInsights' presumably independent research partially validates Arm Holdings CEO Rene Haas' bold claim that the Windows-on-Arm device market share "could be better than 50%" in the next five years.

According to TechInsights data, the global notebook PC market's x86/Arm market share is currently split around 82/18. In 2025, the needle will not have significantly moved when the new breed of Windows-on-Arm "AI PCs" will have had a full calendar year of availability. TechInsights sees an x86/Arm market share split of 80/20.

The source says that if TechInsights is correct, momentum will stay with the Arm architecture invaders over the next few years. According to TechInsights data, by the end of 2029, Arm's grasp of the notebook PC market will have doubled to 40%+ (x86/Arm ratio of 60/40-ish). Interestingly, Arm's notebook PC market revenue share will have climbed to 52% by this same date.

The obvious imbalance between the market share and revenue share will be largely due to Apple's premium-priced notebooks being members of the Arm camp. Remember, a large part of the success of the Arm architecture in notebooks can be traced back to 2020, with Apple's momentous but successful transition to Apple Silicon, starting with the M1 chip.

The Arm-flavored bump is evident in the TechInsights chart, particularly between 2020 and 2021. Windows-on-Arm devices introduced earlier this year ahead of the current wave of Snapdragon X Elite/Plus processors probably had little impact on the struggle between x86 and Arm notebook market shares.

Even with TechInsights weighing in, the inevitable rise of Arm architecture in the notebook market can't be a cast-iron certainty. Some reviewers make the case that Intel and AMD's newest x86 notebook chips have already canceled out the biggest benefit Arm-notebooks can boast of—battery life. We have yet to catch a substantial whiff of a next-gen Snapdragon X Elite/Plus chip, but we know that both AMD and Intel roadmaps will keep the pressure on key qualities like performance and power consumption.

However, we can be confident that Qualcomm is busy with its next-gen Snapdragon X processors. And there are exciting rumors of a PC processor collaboration with Nvidia and MediaTek partnering up. However, given all we know, it isn't easy for Arm to maintain the notebook market share momentum that TechInsights expects.

According to reports from leakers on the Chinese social media site Weibo, Mediatek and Nvidia are collaborating on a 3nm AI CPU. IT Home shared a report from user "Mobile Chip Expert" today, claiming that the CPU is entering the tape-out phase of production this month, with mass production on track for late 2025. 

We've reported on rumors of potential MediaTek and Nvidia collaborations for a few months now, so as usual, take this new report with a serving of salt. Previous rumors of a PC chip collaboration were the companies working on an AI card processor. However, today's reports are connected to rumors of an Nvidia/MediaTek AI processor that started in May.

The MediaTek AI processor is expected to be paired with an Nvidia GPU. The post also names Lenovo, Dell, HP, and Asus as prospective customers looking to adopt the processor in OEM hardware. The chip has also been linked to a rumored $300 price tag. 

Today's report curiously only refers to the rumored chip as an "AI PC" CPU, surprising as both previous leaks about the collaboration and MediaTek's stable of products would point to a mobile chip or SoC being more likely. MediaTek specializes in mobile products and typically employs AMD as a hardware partner. AMD uses MediaTek’s Wi-Fi 6E solutions in its mobile platforms, and MediaTek and AMD have also been connected through rumors of a 5G notebook for some time. 

It would not be surprising if the MediaTek/Nvidia chip transitioned to only an AI PC solution and moved away from being a mobile phone offering. After the big waves and lessons learned from the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite launch this year, there is room for another Windows-on-Arm competitor from a primarily mobile company like MediaTek. One of the most prominent problems reviewers had with the performance of Snapdragon X-powered computers was their lack of graphical strength, which Nvidia can quickly solve. Nvidia's name recognition alone will do much to boost the MediaTek chip, whether it is Nvidia's return to mobile graphics or a different venture into laptop-form-factor AI PCs.

MediaTek and Nvidia's only officially announced collaboration is the Dimensity Auto Cockpit platform, an SoC for cars that license Nvidia's graphics IP and Nvidia Drive OS. The chip seeks to be a front-runner in automotive chips by offering full support for infotainment platforms, including AAA gaming with RTX graphics and safety features such as HDR multi-camera support. So far, no US-based cars seem to have adopted the platform.

With the release of the Qualcomm Snapdragon X series processors earlier this year, a new crop of laptops have focused on power efficiency and AI features. Lenovo’s ThinkPad T14s (Gen 6 with Snapdragon) is the first ThinkPad powered by the chip and it specifically runs on a 12-core, Snapdragon Elite X1E-78-100 with a powerful NPU with 45 TOPS.

Starting at $1,666 (current street price and the price of our review unit), the ThinkPad T14s is not only one of the best Snapdragon-powered laptops on the market, but one of the best ultraportable laptops you can buy with any processor. It lasted an incredible 21 hours on our battery test – one of the longest marks of any system we’ve ever tested – and yet it offers all the best features you can find on a ThinkPad. It has a world class keyboard, an accurate pointing stick, a bright and colorful screen, good performance and a sturdy, sub-3 pound chassis. So, though it’s not cheap, if you’re willing to commit to an Arm-powered laptop, the T14s is a fantastic system.

Design of the the Lenovo ThinkPad T14s (Gen 6, Snapdragon)

The ThinkPad T14s is thin, light and very consistent with Lenovo’s time-tested ThinkPad aesthetic. Like most other ThinkPads, it has a matte, raven black color with a red pointing stick in the middle of the keyboard, a red status light on the lid and some red accents on the TrackPoint buttons.

The lid and deck have a luxurious soft-touch feel that’s really pleasant, particularly when I put my wrists on the palmrest. Many other ThinkPads, including the X1 Carbon (Gen 12) don’t have a finish that feels quite this soft so it’s a real plus. The lid itself is made of 50 percent recycled carbon-reinforced plastic while the deck is made from 90 percent recycled magnesium alloy.

At 2.72 pounds, the T14s is really light, but some competitors are even svelter. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 12) is just 2.42 pounds (1.24 kg) and the Dell XPS 13 (9345), which has a 13-inch display, is 2.62 pounds. The T14s is 12.35 x 8.64 x 0.67 inches (313.6 x 219.4 x 16.9 mm), but the X1 Carbon (Gen 12) is just a tad smaller at 12.31 x 8.45 x 0.59 inches and the HP OmniBook X (12.32 x 8.8 x 0.56 inches) and Dell XPS 13 (11.63 x 7.84 x 0.60 inches) are also quite a bit smaller.

The T14s manages to pack in all the ports you’ll need, including two Thunderbolt 4 / USB-C ports, two USB 3.2 Type-A Ports (5 Gbps), a 3.5-inch audio jack and a full-size HDMI 2.1 port.

Lenovo ThinkPad T14s (Gen 6, Snapdragon) Specs

Performance of the Lenovo ThinkPad T14s (Gen 6, Snapdragon)

With its 12-core, Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100 CPU, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB SSD, our review configuration of the ThinkPad T14s (Gen 6) handled everything we threw at it, from simple web surfing to playing videos and running intensive benchmarks for hours at a time.

On Geekbench 6, a synthetic benchmark that measures overall processing performance, the T14s registered a 14,486 multi-core score and a 2,459 single-core score. Those numbers are right in the middle of the pack when compared to other laptops with Qualcomm CPUs. The Dell XPS 13 (9345) (Snapdragon X Elite X1E-80-100) and Acer Swift 14 AI (Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100) both scored a little higher while the HP OmniBook X (Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100) and ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Intel Core Ultra 7 155H) trailed.

The ThinkPad T14s took 5 minutes and 34 seconds to transcode a 4K video to 1080p in Handbrake. That time is faster than the OmniBook X and X1 Carbon, but slower than the XPS 13 and Swift 14 AI.

The 1TB PCIe 4 SSD was reasonably fast, transferring 25GB of files at a rate of 1,069 MBps. That is acceptable, but quite a bit behind most of its competitors including the Acer Swift 14 AI (1,891 MBps) and ThinkPad X1 Carbon (1,512 MBps).

To see how well the T14s performs during long-running, processor-intensive tasks we ran Cinebench 2024 10 times in a row and recorded the scores, processor clock speeds and temperatures. During the run, Lenovo’s laptop averaged a score of 732 with a high of 751 on run number five and a low of 675 on run number two. The CPU ran at an average clock speed of 2,107.6 MHz while the CPU ran at an average temperature of 69.4 degrees Celsius.

Display on the Lenovo ThinkPad T14s (Gen 6, Snapdragon)

The T14s is available with a choice of three panels. You either get a 1920 x 1200, with or without touch, or an OLED 2880 x 1800 panel that operates at 120 Hz. Our review unit had the 1920 x 1200 non-touch panel which is likely the best for power consumption as higher resolution panels and those that operate at higher refresh rates tend to use more juice.

When I watched my favorite test video, an HDR movie of animals in the Costa Rican jungle, the greens in a lizard’s skin and the reds in a parrot’s features were pretty colorful but not as vibrant as I’ve seen on the very best laptop screens I’ve tested. Fine details such as the scales on a snake were easy to make out.

According to our colorimeter, the screen can reproduce a solid 70.6% of the DCI-P3 color gamut which is not as good as the HP OmniBook X (80.2%) or ThinkPad X1 Carbon (82.1%), the latter of which had an OLED panel on our test unit. However, the Dell XPS 13 was far worse at 66.9%.

The screen is very bright, hitting an eye popping 452 nits on our light meter. Among its direct competitors, only the Dell XPS 13 (456 nits) did better.

Keyboard, Touchpad and Trackpoint on the Lenovo ThinkPad T14s (Gen 6, Snapdragon)

Like most other ThinkPads, the T14s has a world-class typing experience, complete snappy keys have curved keycaps that make them easier to locate by feel. There are also raised lines on the Enter, Fn, Down Arrow and F + J keys so you find these markers in the dark (or if you’re visually impaired). The F + J keys have had these marks on prior ThinkPads but the others are new additions.

Tapping away on the T14’s keyboard was a pleasure as I managed a strong 100 words-per-minute on the 10 Fast Fingers typing test, along with a 3 percent error rate. Those are both good marks for me on any laptop, and I was able to achieve them because I was comfortable typing.

Using the built-in Lenovo Commercial Vantage control panel software, you can configure the F12 key to launch any program, open a website or enter any text you want. Unfortunately, you can’t use the app to remap F12 into another key such as Print Screen, but you can do that with a third-party utility such as SharpKeys.

For navigation, the T14s has both a TrackPoint pointing stick and a 2.4 x 4.53-inch glass (non-haptic) touchpad. I always prefer the TrackPoint because it gives me the most accurate navigation around the desktop and I don’t have to lift my hands off of the home row and disrupt my typing position to use it. Double-tapping the TrackPoint brings up the TrackPoint Quick Menu, which gives you easy access to Microphone, Audio Playback and Camera settings.

If you don’t like pointing sticks – and really, you should give them a try – the touchpad has a lot to offer. In my tests, it offered smooth navigation with just the right amount of friction. It also responded flawlessly to multitouch gestures such as pinch-to-zoom and three-finger swipe.

Audio on the ThinkPad T14s (Gen 6, Snapdragon)

The ThinkPad T14s’s dual speakers, located on either side of the keyboard, provide sound output that’s loud enough to fill a small conference room and is accurate, though not rich. When I played AC/DC’s "Back in Black," there was some separation of sound between the drums on the right side and the vocals / guitar on the left. And the percussion, while not layered, was mostly free from tinniness.

Using the included Dolby Access app, I was able to choose among different sound output profiles for Music, Movies, Games and Dynamic. I found that Dynamic, which automatically predicts the kind of output you need, to be not only the best but the loudest choice.

Upgradeability of the Lenovo ThinkPad T14s (Gen 6, Snapdragon)

While you can’t upgrade the RAM, which is soldered to the motherboard, you can change out the SSD, but you’ll pay a premium for the replacement. While most computers and laptops use 2280 length SSDs, the T14s requires a 2242 drive, which is less common and costs more. For example, a 2TB WD Black SN770 in 2242 form factor currently goes for $194 while the 2280 size of the same drive is just $118.

To upgrade the laptop, you need to loosen the five captive Philip’s head screws and pry open the rear panel, an easy process that takes just a couple of minutes. The SSD is located underneath a copper heatsink in the upper right corner of the motherboard.

Battery LIfe on the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 6, Snapdragon)

We need only one word to describe ThinkPad T14s’s battery life: wow.

On our battery test, which involves surfing the web and streaming videos with the screen set at 150 nits of brightness, the T14s endured for 21 hours and 3 minutes. That time is the longest we’ve seen on a laptop. The Dell XPS 13 (9345), which uses the same Snapdragon Elite X CPU, came close to matching this mark, hitting a time of 19 hours and 31 minutes, though that’s with a smaller display.

Heat on the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 6, Snapdragon)

The ThinkPad T14s stayed cool throughout our testing . It never got particularly warm, even when we pushed it to its limits.

When I ran Cinebench 2024 and took the temperatures after 15 minutes, the middle of the keyboard was a mere 92 degrees Fahrenheit and barely felt warm to the touch. The touchpad was a cool 77 F, which is barely room temperature. However, like most laptops under load, the bottom got toasty, hitting 114 F.

Webcam on the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 6, Snapdragon)

The 1080p webcam on the ThinkPad T14s captured sharp, colorful images of me in both regular and low light scenarios. In the shots I took, the reds and greens in my shirt were accurate and vibrant. And the hairs in my beard were sharp and detailed.

There’s also an IR camera for Windows Hello facial login. If you’re concerned about privacy, you can always slide the physical privacy shutter over the camera lens.

Software and Warranty on the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 6, Snapdragon)

The ThinkPad T14s comes blissfully free of unwanted bloatware and has just a bare minimum number of utilities. Lenovo Commercial Vantage is the company’s major control panel software and it allows you to do everything from downloading updated drivers to configuring the power settings from one place. However, for many of the settings – Camera and Display settings for example – Commercial Vantage simply links you to the appropriate part of Windows 11’s Settings app. That’s probably for the best, because in most cases, you don’t need a proprietary settings panel in lieu of the one that’s built into the operating system.

However, Vantage does provide some extra settings such as the ability to configure whether the USB ports can still charge devices even when the computer is asleep or powered off. In addition to Vantage, there’s the Dolby Access app which lets you change sound profiles, choosing among Movie, Music Game or Dynamic settings. On the Start Menu, there’s also User Guide which is nothing more than a link to an online manual for the T14s, located at Lenovo.com.

It almost goes without saying that Microsoft has some Windows 11 preloaded apps on here such as Clipchamp and Spotify.

This is a Copilot+ PC, so Windows comes with a few extra local AI features you can’t get on older PCs, but will soon come to on Ryzen AI-powered and Intel Lunar Lake-powered laptops. These include Cocreate, a feature of Windows Paint that draws AI images locally and Windows Studio Effects, which allow you to get background blur and a few other webcam special effects. There’s also Live captions with real-time translation and, in the near future, Recall, which will allow you to query all your past screen activity to remember things you’ve done.

Because the T14s has an Arm processor, there are a few Windows programs, including Adobe After Effects, Google Drive for Desktop and many games that won’t run on it. And there are many other apps such as Discord and Audacity that will run but only in emulation mode, which makes them slower. A site called windowsonarm.org tracks which apps are and are not compatible with Arm and it’s clear that most of the key productivity programs do work on Arm. So, while it’s possible you could find an app that won’t work, most knowledge workers will find that their most-used apps, including Microsoft Office, Chrome browser and Visual Studio, all run well.

Lenovo backs the ThinkPad T14s with a standard one year warranty. However, you can pay extra to extend the warranty up to five years and add extras such as accidental damage protection.

Lenovo ThinkPad T14s (Gen 6, Snapdragon) Configurations

When we started this review a few weeks ago, the starting configuration of the T14s was available for less than $1,300 on Lenovo.com, but since then, the prices have gone up. Now, Lenovo.com only has a “build your own” option which starts at a whopping $1,969 and, if you want to spend less, you’ll need to buy from a third-party site such as B&H.

Currently priced at $1,666.56 (when bought via B&H Photo), our review configuration of the Lenovo ThinkPad T14s (Gen 6, Snapdragon) came with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100, 32GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD and a 1920 x 1200, non-touch display.

On Lenovo.com, there’s only a custom configuration option. The lowest configuration, which goes for $1,969, still has the same Snapdragon CPU, 1920 x 1200 display and 32GB of RAM, but just 256GB of storage.

If you custom configure your system, you can move up to 64GB of RAM, go with a 512GB of 1TB SSD and choose a 2.8K OLED panel that promises to reproduce 100% of the DCI-P3 color gamut. We recommend sticking with the 1920 x 1200 panel, if you want the best battery life.

Bottom Line

There’s a lot to love about the ThinkPad T14s (Snapdragon, Gen 6). It has incredible battery life, which is useful when you have a 2.72-pound system and want to spend a long time away from power outlets while you get things done. And, with this system, you will get a lot done. It has the awesome ThinkPad keyboard we’ve come to expect from Lenovo, it has all the ports you might want and a screen that’s bright enough to help you work near a window with sunlight streaming in.

The ThinkPad T14s has solid performance and the promise of even more help when local AI workloads become even more useful and pervasive than the gimmicky Copilot+ features Windows has today. Its only serious drawbacks are its relatively high price) and the unlikely possibility that you’ll want to use a program that doesn’t run or run well on Arm processors. If you’re concerned about compatibility, consider waiting for the ThinkPad T14s with AMD Ryzen AI processor that will be out in a few weeks or the ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 13) that will be out in November. However, if you’re willing to get an Arm-powered laptop, the T14s (Gen 6) is a fantastic choice.

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New benchmarks of Intel's Lunar Lake CPUs reveal that the efficiency-optimized architecture has some serious chops when it comes to gaming. YouTuber 极客湾Geekerwan discovered that the Core Ultra 7 258V with its Xe2 integrated graphics surpasses the performance of AMD's Ryzen Ai 9 HX, and Z1 Extreme handheld gaming champ in several gaming benchmarks.

In Black Myth: Wukong at 30W at 1080P, the Ultra 7 258V was 10% faster than the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 and 20% faster than the Core Ultra 9 185H. Cyberpunk 2077 showed even greater gains for the Lunar Lake chip, with the Ultra 7 258V outpacing the Ryzen Ai 9 HX 370 and Ultra 9 185H processor by 38%. In Red Dead Redemption 2, the 285V was 50% faster than its Ryzen counterpart and 37% faster than its Meteor Lake Ultra 9 predecessor.

This behavior was similar in the other games the reviewer tested, including CS2 and Genjin Impact. The only game where the Lunar Lake chip struggled was in Elden Ring, where it was only 8% faster than the HX 370. The 285V also lost to its Meteor Lake predecessor in the game, with the Ultra 9 185H being 25% quicker.

When constrained to 15W, Lunar Lake's performance shifts to an entirely new level. For the 15W comparisons, the reviewer includes AMD's Van Gough APU in the Steam Deck and the Z1 Extreme in addition to the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 and Ultra 9 185H.

In Cyberpunk 2077, the 258V was roughly twice as fast as all four of its competitors, with a frame rate of 28 fps at 720p. The Z1, HX370, 185H, and Van Gough APU all had frame rates in the low teens, with the fastest AMD chips only being able to output 13 fps. 1% lows were also even more in favor of Lunar Lake, with the 285V pulling a 3x to 9x performance advantage over the rest of the chips.

The review compared the 258V to the Snapdragon X Elite, Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, and Ryzen 9 185H at different TDPS to highlight Lunar Lake's efficiency, opting to use significantly higher TDPs for the more power-hungry chips. The Ultra 7 258V was benchmarked at 30W, HX 370 80W, and 185H at 90W.

In this comparison, Black Myth Wukong performed best on the HX 370 at 44 fps, but the Lunar Lake 258V wasn't too far behind at 35 fps. The Meteor Lake chip was just behind its successor at 34 fps. The Snapdragon X Elite (unsurprisingly) failed to run the game. The Ryzen HX 370 was 25% faster than the Core Ultra 7 258V; however, it consumed nearly three times the power to do it.

Cyberpunk 2077 showed similar results. The Ryzen HX 370 was the performance leader at 45 fps, Lunar Lake was the runner-up at 33 fps, and the Meteor Lake chip was running at 32 fps. The Snapdragon X Elite didn't crash in this particular title and ran the slowest at 21 fps. The Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 was 36% faster than the Lunar Lake Core Ultra 7 258V, but again, consuming significantly more power to do so.

Red Redemption 2 was one of the few titles that actually saw the Lunar Lake Core Ultra 7 258V beating the whole lot, even with its severe power disadvantage. The 258V dished out 61 fps in this particular title, the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 56 fps, Core Ultra 9 185H 48 fps, and Snapdragon X Elite 35 fps. The Core Ultra 7 258V was 9% faster while consuming nearly three times less power.

The rest of the games showed similar results, with the Lunar Lake chip maintaining competitiveness with the rest of the pack despite consuming the least amount of power. Technically, the Snapdragon X Elite would probably match or consume less power than Lunar Lake, but the reviewer couldn't get power readings for the Snapdragon chip. Regardless, the ARM-based processor was no match for Lunar Lake's Xe2 graphics engine.

极客湾Geekerwan testing reveals that Lunar Lake packs a serious punch when it comes to power-efficient PC gaming. It is very power efficient in regular applications and can provide better performance than the best handheld gaming PCs on the market, including systems powered by AMD's Z1 Extreme flagship. As a result, it is very possible we might see a Lunar Lake-powered handheld gaming PC in the future.