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CheckMag When getting a laptop with a Gig+ Wi-Fi card such as the AX200, consumers know they are getting at least 900 Mbps in either direction. In contrast, download/upload rates smartphone chip makers such as Qualcomm mention in media releases just keep becoming more ridiculous and misleading; the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip and its X75 5G modem represent the latest instalment in that sad series.

CheckMag Alan Wake 2 is one of the most anticipated games of 2023. The minimum specifications were so high they had the PC community up in arms. But does it work on a Steam Deck? The short answer: Yes. But there are some fairly significant caveats. Read on to find out more.

CheckMag Since 2006, CUDA has been consistently gaining ground in the workstation and gaming market. In recent times AMD has introduced Pro Render and other features to entice workstation users.

At best, many reviews of the Pixel 8 Pro don’t distinguish between when AI tasks are performed on device by the Tensor G3 and when they are off-loaded to Google Cloud for processing. At worst, some assume that all of the AI models are being processed by the Tensor G3, which is far from ideal for consumers seeking out accurate advice on what phone to buy.

CheckMag Don't have a Steam Deck to hand? Waiting for Apple to release Resident Evil on the iPhone 15 Pro? Here are 3 Android and iOS games that offer PC and console class gaming on your device today. Just make sure you pair it with a decent mobile controller.

CheckMag The Huawei Band 8, the Huawei Watch Fit SE and the Amazfit Band 7 are the lightest fitness trackers and smartwatches that we have tested over the course of the last 10 months. In this short piece, we briefly revisit their features, their strong sides and their shortcomings, of which there are many.

CheckMag Does measuring features differently to the competition make a product better? Is Apple "Thinking Different" or hoping branding will sell more devices? There certainly seems to be some convenient favouritism shown by Apple in regard to the iPhone camera specification.

Notebookcheck has received written confirmation from Google that it deliberately blocked the installation of benchmarks on its Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro devices during the review embargo period. It confirms our earlier report on the issue while raising questions about the company’s practices.

CheckMag Warframe's Abyss of Dagath update just went live, bringing with it a number of big changes that may make the game more friendly to both new and old players alike. Here are four Abyss of Dagath highlights, including immortal companions, a new planet, and a substantial shield rework.

Between the atmospheric horror platforming of Artificial and the expansive, fantastical exploration of Europa, the Steam Next Fest previewed some of the most visually-pleasing indie adventure games coming to Valve's platform.

CheckMag So, another game comes out. It’s packed with battle passes, a cosmetic store, and an intolerable grind carefully designed to inflate playtime until you give up and spend money on it. It’s not made to be fun, it’s made to drive engagement. You know the story by now...

CheckMag The Gazelle Esprit C7 HMS's low standover height, combined with quality Shimano components, makes for enjoyable rides and trouble-free day-to-day use. The 418 Wh battery allowed us to ride 70 km (43 miles) in the Alpine foothills before giving up. The product is available in green and in black colorways.

CheckMag Music lockers have always been curious creatures. Amazon, Google and Apple promised they would bring legacy music collections forward into the cloud age – but all three pivoted to streaming services as they saw the way the wind was blowing, leaving only a few of these rare beasts still surviving today.

Samsung leads the premium Android tablet market with its Galaxy Tab Ultra, and its ultraslim design and fast, bright Dynamic AMOLED 2X display are just some highlights of the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra's features that impressed us in our review.

CheckMag The titanium credit card Apple launched in 2019 was set to conquer the world, according to easy-to-excite types. The hype was so abundant that Samsung followed suit shortly out of fear of missing out. It's Q4 2023 and Apple Card's future looks bleak, as if the company has somehow forgotten about this little project.

Valve won't be releasing a Steam Deck 2 with more performance until at least 2025. Given the broadly parallel smartphone market's reputation for disappointing incremental updates, this is the right choice. Valve should, however, throw gamers a bone with a Steam Deck 1.5.

PC gaming has come a long way, but the retro look and nostalgia factor are picking up steam. As such, here are some excellent, affordable retro gaming accessories such as the Retroid Pocket Flip and 8BitDo Retro Mechanical Keyboard that will help you enjoy the look of the past with a blast.

Since the iPhone 15 Pro rolled out to customers last week, reports quickly started to emerge that were overheating. Renowned analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has pointed the finger at the iPhone’s internal design, but not all iPhone 15 Pro users are reporting the problem. What gives?

The Steam Deck may still be the de-facto gaming handheld in 2023, but that doesn't mean there aren't alternatives. Companies like Asus, GPD, and OneXPlayer have all released excellent alternatives to the Deck that deserve consideration — especially by those looking for more performance.

Recent Nintendo Switch 2 leaks have led to much speculation about specifications. The apparent suggestion is that Nintendo's next-generation hybrid handheld console would match the PS4 in performance, but lofty performance doesn't quite align with Nintendo's typical strategy, especially given the trade-offs in the name of performance.

CheckMag 2017 was a heady year for Nvidia. The Pascal architecture remains fondly regarded even today, with the GTX 1080 Ti seen as one of the company's high-water marks - but it also ruled the bottom end of the market, with the MX150 the only game in town for low-power graphics in thin-and-light laptops. Six years later, the MX brand is seemingly abandoned to rot - what happened?

CheckMag Whale by Naver is like a breath of fresh air in the crowded Web browser market. The browser hails from Korea; it looks great, it has additional features that are actually useful, like screen recording in GIF format, and it is compatible with extensions found in the Chrome web store.

CheckMag We have chosen a selection of 3 gaming laptops from our detailed Notebookcheck reviews: The ROG Strix Scar 17 G733PY, the Legion Pro 7 16 and the Erazer Beast X40 all sport 175 W RTX 4090 graphics and spacious, color-accurate, flicker-free displays for content creation and unrestrained gaming.

CheckMag Image upscaling techniques in games have been a huge step forward, enhancing graphics quality while optimising performance. While the promise of better-than-native-resolution image quality is only a reality in a few select cases - usually because of poor temporal antialiasing (TAA) in the base game - the ability to turn lower resolutions into higher ones with minimal loss of visual fidelity is to be lauded, whether it be Nvidia's DLSS, Intel's XeSS, or AMD's FSR 2.

When it comes to tablets, Apple's iPad is the gold standard, but many Android makers have spent years playing catch up. A number of top Android manufacturers that have spent years chasing the iPad have finally stumbled across winning devices, with some that are even significantly cheaper than the US$449 iPad.

Python, Java, JavaScript, and C family members are the world's most widely used programming languages as of September 2023, according to the IEEE and PYPL. The Rust language that is increasingly used by Microsoft is found closer to the bottom; PHP is not doing very well, either.

There are plenty of supposed Steam Deck killers available in the portable gaming space, from the Asus ROG Ally to the Lenovo Legion Go and all the Ayaneo and ONEXPLAYER devices in between. But none of them have managed to outright slay the dragon that is the mighty Steam Deck yet.

Of the 3 Dell XPS laptops we tested in 2023, none was truly great. The XPS 13 9320, the XPS 15 9530 and the XPS 17 9730 all sport a similar range of issues including subpar performance-per-dollar ratios, DPC latency issues and blurry 1 MP webcams. Those forgiving enough to overlook the drawbacks are still getting some of the best-looking Windows laptops money can buy though.

Whether you're in it for the brain-tickling strategy, or you're simply looking for an adventurous game to take a break from all the MMORPG and FPS games, the Steam Strategy Fest has something for you to explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate. This includes three of the best 4X games around.

On the 12th of September, we are getting a new generation of the iPhone, as well as the Watch. In the meantime, several iconic products such as the "trash can" Mac Pro will again be left waiting for Apple to revive them in one form or another. This is a short list of what will most certainly not be revived this September.

It's not just ChatGPT and Midjourney; there are lots of AI-enabled sites out there, waiting for the user to come and generate exciting things. Some are not only free to use, they also do not require one to sign up. Wallpapers by AI, Soundraw, Fusion Brain and Pic Finder deserve a bit of spotlight for that reason alone.

From screen upgrades to retro docks, there are some truly fascinating Steam Deck accessories kicking about, whether already released or on the horizon. Here are four tantalising options to kick Valve's handheld gaming experience into high gear.

FunTech FunTech is Notebookcheck’s new regular magazine feature where we will post great cartoons featuring tech, the best tech memes, and any other tech-related zaniness that has made us smile. It’s good to remember that in such a serious and competitive arena there is still time to have some fun and laugh at situations some or many of us will find all too familiar.

Virtually everyone has heard of top technology billionaires such as Tim Cook and Bill Gates, but the fact is plenty of other entrepreneurs made fortunes on tech products and services many of us use daily. This article puts a brief spotlight on Sunil Mittal, Ma Huateng, Zhang Yiming, Carlos Slim Helú and Larry Ellison.

The handsome Fisker Ocean crossover SUV has finally begun landing in the hands of owners and media outlets, giving us our first real independent look at this EV newcomer. While no EV is perfect, there are a number of unique features that make this US$37,499-US$68,999 electric crossover special.

There are lots of small differences to keep in mind when choosing between a MacBook and an upper mid-range Windows laptop. In this article, we go over some of the things that make the current 15-inch M2 MacBook Air the superior option compared to its Windows counterparts.

Nvidia's RTX 4090 (Laptop) is the unquestionable champion as AMD keeps paying more attention to the desktop segment. The fastest graphics card for laptops from AMD was only good for the 3rd place in our little list.

There's something unique about the competitive atmosphere of a multiplayer game, whether it be a racing game, a platformer, or a classic shooter. Although these three Steam games find themselves in almost entirely different genres, they're sure to stoke some fiery feuds at any friendly LAN at zero financial cost.

Sony's US$1,399 A6700 and Fujifilm's US$1,299 X-S20 represent both manufacturers' latest stab at the midrange interchangeable lens APS-C hybrid camera. While they're similarly capable cameras, there are a few features and specifications that set them apart and make them appeal to different people.

Apple tends to support its products for six or seven years. For the Apple silicon-based MacBook Air and Mac mini released in H2 2020, this means that almost half of their useful life is now behind them, and with no Windows compatibility, it remains to be seen if they will be of any use past H2 2026.

Shopping for a first camera can be a daunting experience, especially for someone coming from a smartphone camera with little experience. While it's easy to drop US$3,000 on a premium camera, it's worth the effort to take a measured approach to know you're getting gear that you can use without wasting money.

CheckList The Medion Erazer Major X20, the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 16 G8 and the Lenovo Legion Slim 7i 16 G8 all sport the 140 W GeForce RTX 4070 (Laptop) graphics card to deliver great gaming experience at 1080p. Those three are the fastest RTX 4070-toting laptops out of the 19 such systems tested by Notebookcheck thus far.

Gaming is a source of fun for many reasons, but one of the medium's best strengths is the potential for interesting, alternative storytelling methods that get the audience far more invested than a traditional book, film, or TV series might. The 2023 Steam Summer Sale has discounted a number of story-rich games that are sure to enthral.

Real-time strategy games provide a unique gameplay experience that combines heart-pounding action with the sort of grand scale and battle tactics that make you feel like a conquering warlord. The 2023 Steam Summer Sale has dealt up some excellent RTS game discounts that fans of the genre shouldn't miss out on.

The 2023 Steam Summer Sale is officially in full swing, meaning there are oodles of fun games to be had at excellent prices. Here we've gathered some of the best open-world game deals for everyone from superhero fans to horror lovers and those rare gamers with a spirit for puzzles and exploration.

With the Steam Summer Sale in full swing, it's time to have a look at what platformers Valve's game store has to offer. Whether you have a taste for the nostalgic or simply want to see what all the fuss is about, there's oodles of fun to be had in Steam's discounted platformer games.

Enjoy gritty stealth combat, arcade-style monster hunting, or crazy pirate adventures without spending your rent money on gaming — all thanks to the Steam Summer Sale. Gamers who missed out on the initial launch hype are sure to enjoy these three titles and their 50%+ discounts that are available until July 13, 2023.

While working on a recent review, we were somewhat puzzled by the marketing material we found. The product page of one notebook contained a thermal image of a supposed comparison device that, at 84°C, was twice as hot as our test device.

BodyCheck Microsoft just keeps adding new features to Edge, the default browser of Windows. Most of these are not only useless, they also hamper productive workflow by throwing the user into a bottomless pit filled with unwanted pop-ups, requests and subtle but not-at-all-welcome design changes. Additionally, they are peppered with what one can call outright privacy violations.

CheckList Hundreds, if not thousands of new games get released every year, only to be forgotten soon afterwards. Select few stay in our hearts for longer. In this article, we will revisit three top Android games that were amazingly good back at the time of their release and are just as good today.