Notebook / Laptop Reviews and News

Shadow Brawlers game start cinematic (Source: Own)

Quick game review | Shadow Brawlers is a hidden gem worth checking out

Apparently a rather basic arcade fighting game, Shadow Brawlers allows you to bring some friends for offline multiplayer battles that cover quite a few different modes and has the potential to keep you busy for a very long time — ...

Codrut Nistor, Tue, 28 Jan 2020 16:28:00 +0100

Nintendo will no longer repair the original Wii (RVL-001). Image via Nintendo

Nintendo will no longer repair the Wii

Nintendo has officially ended its Wii repair program in the United States. Additionally, Nintendo will no longer accept Wii consoles for repair in Japan after March 31, 2020. While this may present some worry for owners of older W...

Sam Medley, Tue, 28 Jan 2020 15:55:00 +0100

With the help of other major foundries, Intel may finally stabilize its chip production issues by early 2021. (Image Source: VR Zone)

Intel CPU shortages still real, select low-power chips could be offloaded to GlobalFoundries

Rumor has it that GlobalFoundries could offload some of the low-power Intel CPUs, including Celeron Pentium and possibly Core i3 models in order to help with the ever-increasing demand for mid-range and high-end Intel CPUs. Furthe...

Bogdan Solca, Tue, 28 Jan 2020 15:33:00 +0100

The Galaxy Z Flip, a US$1,400 foldable smartphone? (Image source: @UniverseIce)

New Leak reveals the exorbitant pricing of the Galaxy Z Flip

A new leak has revealed just how expensive the Galaxy Z Flip will be. Those who were expecting Samsung to release a more reasonably-priced foldable smartphone will be left disappointed, with the Galaxy Z Flip set to be pricier tha...

Alex Alderson, Tue, 28 Jan 2020 15:33:00 +0100

No iPhone X design for the SE 2, according to Evan Blass. (Image source: @OnLeaks & @iGeeksblog)

Rumour | iPhone SE 2: New leak reaffirms the outdated design of Apple's next budget smartphone

Were you hoping that the iPhone SE 2 would be a more compact version of the iPhone 11? Well, Apple may be returning to the design of the iPhone 8 after all, according to Evan Blass. The outbreak of the coronavirus may effect mass-...

Alex Alderson, Tue, 28 Jan 2020 15:24:00 +0100

NVIDIA is bringing its SUPER series to laptops in March. (Image source: NVIDIA)

Initial benchmarks reveal what the NVIDIA RTX 2070 SUPER will bring to laptops later this year

The RTX 20 SUPER refresh for laptops is right around the corner, and initial benchmarks show what the RTX 2070 SUPER could offer. The card, which will NVIDIA's third most-powerful laptop GPU of 2020, offers up to 10% better perfor...

Alex Alderson, Tue, 28 Jan 2020 15:14:00 +0100

The Edge+ renders reveal features like a punch-hole display and a stylus. (Image Source: EVLeaks)

Motorola Edge+ flagship phablet spotted in Geekbench tests

The Geekbench tests reveal an Android 10 device featuring 12 GB of RAM and what appears to be a Snapdragon 865 SoC, judging by the single-core and multi-core scores. The existence of a stylus also means that Motorola is looking to...

Bogdan Solca, Tue, 28 Jan 2020 14:59:00 +0100

The Mi 9T may well be replaced by a rebranded Redmi K30 later this year. (Image source: Xiaomi)

Android 10 builds of MIUI 11 may cause high battery drain on the Xiaomi Mi 9T and Redmi K20, but there is a workaround

Xiaomi's latest build of MIUI 11 for the Mi 9T and Redmi K20 may be re-issue Android 10 to both devices, but there have also been reports of the update causing heavy battery drain for some handsets. There is a workaround though, w...

Alex Alderson, Tue, 28 Jan 2020 12:17:00 +0100

The Core i5-10300H, have we not been here before Intel? (Image source: Intel)

Opinion | The Core i5-10300H shows that Intel keeps flogging the dead horse that is its 14 nm process

2020 marks the sixth year of Intel's 14 nm process, and the fifth for its 14 nm H-series chips. The Core i5-10300H will be one of Intel's Comet Lake-H chips, and a new independent benchmark result for the quad-core chip underlines...

Alex Alderson, Tue, 28 Jan 2020 12:04:00 +0100

Sony Hall is a rumored venue for the PS5 reveal. (Image source: Sony Hall)

PlayStation 5 trademark registration adds fuel to the fire that a big reveal is incoming

Sony has recently applied to register a trademark for “PS5” with the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property. This may not be a huge deal in itself, but the fact that the application has now been made points to the impend...

Daniel R Deakin, Tue, 28 Jan 2020 11:05:00 +0100

Both the Corsair Vengeance 6180 and 6182 come with a two-year warranty. (Image source: Corsair)

Corsair introduces the Vengeance 6180 and 6182 gaming PCs jam-packed with AMD goodness

Corsair has revealed a couple of new AMD-powered gaming PCs to its lineup. The Vengeance 6180 and Vengeance 6182 both feature a Ryzen 3000 series CPU in the form of the 8-core Ryzen 7 3700X while graphics processing is carried out...

Daniel R Deakin, Tue, 28 Jan 2020 09:36:00 +0100

Microsoft Modern Standby is causing some laptops to heat up like crazy

Fail | Microsoft Modern Standby is causing some XPS, Lenovo and Asus laptops to heat up like crazy

It's not comforting when the laptop in your backpack or bag would heat up to over 50 C or 120 F seemingly out of nowhere. Microsoft's latest feature can be undesirable in most cases especially to users who are unaware of the diffe...

Allen Ngo, Tue, 28 Jan 2020 05:13:00 +0100

Looks like the Motorola Razr reboot is shaping up as the first hit for the company in years. (Source: Motorola)

Looks like Motorola wasn't kidding about stronger than expected Razr demand

It appears Motorola wasn’t pulling a stunt when it claimed the delay in launching its foldable Razr flip phone reboot was due to stronger than anticipated demand. Despite holding off on pre-orders for a month to better prepare for...

Sanjiv Sathiah, Tue, 28 Jan 2020 05:08:00 +0100

The new Apple patent envisions the iMac as a single continuous sheet of curved glass. (Image Source: Patently Apple)

Future iMacs could be made entirely of glass and resemble a glorified MacBook

iMacs of the future could be made entirely of a single sheet of curved glass, if a recent Apple patent is anything to go by. According to the patent, the iMac could have a radical design overhaul with a foldable glass keyboard dec...

Vaidyanathan Subramaniam, Tue, 28 Jan 2020 00:03:00 +0100

Apple now owes WiLAN US$85 million

The Canadian tech patent development group WiLAN has won a court case against Apple in which the former asserted that the latter had used its intellectual property without permission. However, the actual damages involved were to b...

Deirdre O Donnell, Mon, 27 Jan 2020 23:20:00 +0100

The Black Shark 2 Pro. (Source: XDA-Developers)

Xiaomi Black Shark 2 Pro: A gaming phone with abysmal multimedia?

The Xiaomi Black Shark 2 Pro was one of the first phones to be launched with the Snapdragon 855+. While it offers impressive performance, it would appear that the company cut corners on its audio hardware, with the phone posting t...

Ricci Rox, Mon, 27 Jan 2020 22:46:00 +0100

Xiaomi is doing its bit to help stop the spread of the new coronavirus. (Source: YouTube)

Xiaomi shutters its Chinese physical stores in response to the coronavirus crisis

Xiaomi has announced that it will keep its brick-and-mortar stores in China closed for several days from January 28, 2020. The OEM has stated that this is to co-operate with governmental efforts to contain the spread of a novel co...

Deirdre O Donnell, Mon, 27 Jan 2020 22:40:00 +0100

Lenovo IdeaPad S340 is the cheapest Ice Lake Core i7-1065G7 laptop you can buy right now at just $450 (Image source: Lenovo)

Deal | Lenovo IdeaPad S340 is the cheapest Ice Lake Core i7-1065G7 laptop you can buy right now at just $450

In a price category inundated with slow Atoms, Core i3, and Ryzen 3 laptops, the IdeaPad S340 stands out from the crowd with its 10 nm Core i7-1065G7 that's barely half a year old. Intel's latest 10 nm Core i7 CPU can now be found...

Allen Ngo, Mon, 27 Jan 2020 22:32:00 +0100

Is that a Pocophone F1, POCO? (Image source: POCO India)

POCO caught using Pocophone F1 imagery to advertise the POCO X2

POCO may have confirmed the arrival of the POCO X2, but it has been caught using images of the Pocophone F1 to advertise its next device. Expected to be a modified Redmi K30, the POCO X2 will launch on February 4.

Alex Alderson, Mon, 27 Jan 2020 20:56:00 +0100

Tinker Edge T: ASUS' new Raspberry Pi-alternative focusses on AI development

ASUS has officially unveiled its next single-board computer (SBC), the Tinker Edge T. The new model should convince SBC fans with its Google Edge TPU and could be used as an alternative to a Raspberry Pi.

Alex Alderson, Mon, 27 Jan 2020 20:38:00 +0100

Some EVGA RTX 2060 KOs use the same die as the RTX 2080 (Image source: Newegg)

Is the RTX 2060 KO an RTX 2080 in disguise? Some RTX 2060 KOs ship with the TU104 GPU

In the wake of AMD’s RTX 5600 XT launch, Nvidia instituted a heavy RTX 2060 price-cut, bringing 2060 prices down to $299. The RTX 2060, the cheapest RTX part, now offers viable competition to the 5600 XT. How exactly did Nvidia ma...

Arjun Krishna Lal, Mon, 27 Jan 2020 20:31:00 +0100

The V50 ThinQ connected to a NexDock 2. (Image source: Somegadgetguy)

LG quietly rolls out a desktop mode to the V50 ThinQ

LG did the unexpected a few weeks ago by releasing Android 10 for the V50 ThinQ early, but it seems that LG UX 9.0 offers more than we had initially thought. The update brings Samsung Dex and Huawei Desktop Mode-like functionality...

Alex Alderson, Mon, 27 Jan 2020 20:30:00 +0100

A concept render of the Nokia 9.2 PureView. (Image source: Techno Mobile)

Rumour | The Nokia 9.2 PureView rises from the ashes of the Nokia 9.1 PureView

The Nokia 9.1 is dead, long live the Nokia 9.2. That is the latest rumour about Nokia's next flagship, which may come as no surprise. More excitingly, Nokia has ditched the Light camera technology from the Nokia 9 PureView in favo...

Alex Alderson, Mon, 27 Jan 2020 20:21:00 +0100

The GTX 1650 SUPER and GTX 1650 Ti will be joined by SUPER versions of the RTX 20 series, too. (Image source: NVIDIA)

NVIDIA takes Turing for a spin again with laptop versions of the GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER and GeForce GTX 1650 Ti

NVIDIA is fleshing out its mid-range laptop GPU offerings this quarter, with the GeForce GTX 1650 and GTX 1650 Ti set to take on the AMD Radeon RX 5500M and RX 5300M. The GTX 1650 refreshes will both sport 4 GB of GDDR6 VRAM runni...

Alex Alderson, Mon, 27 Jan 2020 20:14:00 +0100

The TV is still the most popular platform for videos. (Source: Philips)

The TV is still the preferred device for content consumption: new report

Today, the world seems filled with screens of high enough resolutions to consume the content they can show regardless of their size or portability. However, a new report shows that TVs have still managed to retain the greatest sha...

Deirdre O Donnell, Mon, 27 Jan 2020 19:48:00 +0100

Torchlight Frontiers Alpha in the Arc client (Source: Own)

Torchlight Frontiers becomes Torchlight III, drops free-to-play model

Known as Torchlight Frontiers during its Alpha stage, the successor of Torchlight and Torchlight II is now on its way to being launched as — obviously — Torchlight III. Even more, the game will drop the free-to-play business model...

Codrut Nistor, Mon, 27 Jan 2020 19:47:00 +0100

Chuwi releases the HeroBox, a new mini-PC for US$199

Chuwi may be best-known for its Microsoft Surface clones; however, it has decided that it will also do HTPCs now. This Herobox has a Gemini Lake chipset with the Intel UHD Graphics 600 necessary for 4K video playback. It also has ...

Deirdre O Donnell, Mon, 27 Jan 2020 18:56:00 +0100

Eve says the Spectrum’s reservation price is a time-sensitive discount

Today, (January 28, 2020) Eve has finally launched the Spectrum, its crowd-developed 27-inch monitor which, as it turns out, has a 240Hz/QHD option. The company has also announced that its current pricing online applies to the fir...

Deirdre O Donnell, Mon, 27 Jan 2020 16:47:00 +0100

Windows 7 will receive one more update despite its official death two weeks ago. (Image via Microsoft)

Microsoft to release update for Windows 7 despite ending support earlier this month

In an unexpected move, Microsoft will issue another public update for Windows 7. The update, which comes almost two weeks after Microsoft officially ended support for the OS, will fix a bug affecting desktop wallpapers. The bug wa...

Sam Medley, Mon, 27 Jan 2020 16:19:00 +0100

This game comes preinstalled on the TCL PLEX with its new Android upgrade. (Source: GameLoft)

TCL Plex owners get Android 10 and more from their latest software update

Those who use TCL's latest triple-camera smartphone, the PLEX, may be pleasantly surprised by a new OTA update that confers Android 10 and the January 1, 2020 security patch on these devices. This download is 2.7GB in size, and th...

Deirdre O Donnell, Mon, 27 Jan 2020 16:14:00 +0100

Eve announces Spectrum, the world's first 1440p 240 Hz IPS gaming monitor

Eve, the company behind the Eve V 2-in-1, has just announced a crowd-sourced gaming monitor. The 27-inch display will come in three variants: a 1440p display with a 144 Hz refresh rate, a 4K model with a 144 Hz refresh rate, and t...

Sam Medley, Mon, 27 Jan 2020 16:00:00 +0100

Lenovo Chromebook S340-14T Review: The simple Chromebook offers a touchscreen with low reflections

Affordable Chromebook without any real quirks: Review of the Lenovo Chromebook S340-14T

Lenovo's 14-inch Chromebook has an IPS touchscreen display, silent operation and a good battery life. Some sacrifices will have to be made in terms of RAM and storage size.

Sascha Mölck, Mon, 27 Jan 2020 15:19:00 +0100

Xperia 2, Xperia 0, Xperia 1.1 or Xperia 5.1? The many possible names of Sony's next flagship smartphone. (Image source: Wccftech)

Rumour | Sony to announce the world's first 5G and 4K OLED smartphone at MWC 2020

As Sony looks to revitalise its Xperia sub-division this year, rumour has it that it will attempt to do so by releasing the world's first 5G and 4K OLED smartphone. The company's next flagship, supposedly called the Xperia 2, will...

Alex Alderson, Mon, 27 Jan 2020 14:49:00 +0100

The Mi A2 Lite will more than likely receive Android 10 at some stage. (Image source: Xiaomi)

Fans petition Xiaomi as it allays fears that the Mi A2 Lite will not receive Android 10

The news that Xiaomi may not bring Android 10 to the Mi A2 Lite has clearly annoyed some people. Hundreds of people have responded by petitioning the company to do so, with representatives seemingly on hand to calm fears. Xiaomi s...

Alex Alderson, Mon, 27 Jan 2020 14:34:00 +0100

One UI 2.0 is likely to be the last update that the S9 series will receive. (Image source: PhoneArena)

Rumour | Samsung fuels theories that the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus have had their One UI 2.0 and Android 10 updates rescheduled

The Galaxy S9 and S9+ have been eligible for beta versions of One UI 2.0, Samsung's custom version of Android 10, for months now. The arrival of Android 10 on the Galaxy Note 9 brought hope to the idea of Samsung honouring its Jan...

Alex Alderson, Mon, 27 Jan 2020 14:22:00 +0100

Motorola warns users to take precautions when using the pOLED display on its new Razr. (Source: Motorola)

Moto Razr display sounds as vulnerable to damage as the Galaxy Fold

Motorola’s Razr reboot with foldable pOLED display is up for pre-order, but it looks like it could carry the same caveats as Samsung’s Galaxy Fold. Ahead of its widespread availability the company has posted several videos includi...

Sanjiv Sathiah, Mon, 27 Jan 2020 09:29:00 +0100

SmoothAF, bruh: POCO X2 gets an official launch date and its own dedicated product page with views and clues

POCO is continuing to pull out the surprises, this time by revealing that the POCO X2 smartphone will be launched at 12 PM on February 4. POCO India has used the light-hearted slogan “Bruh, it’s #SmoothAF” to announce the upcoming...

Daniel R Deakin, Mon, 27 Jan 2020 08:22:00 +0100

Smartphones in Russia will soon have to be more Russian... whatever that may mean. (Image via Charles DeLuvio on Unsplash, with edits)

Electronics sold in Russia must soon have software that supports "Russian spiritual and moral values"

A new draft of a government resolution in Russia mandates that all electronics sold in the country carry pre-installed software from Russian companies that espouses the "formation of the priority of traditional Russian spiritual a...

Sam Medley, Mon, 27 Jan 2020 05:20:00 +0100

Marvel's Spider-Man was based on Insomniac's own game engine. (Image source: Insomniac/Sony)

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 will likely push the PlayStation 5 to its limits but don't expect it before Holiday 2021

Some news about Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 has leaked on Reddit, including a possible release date, cast of characters, and even a morsel of information about the tech behind its development. Some may have been expecting the superhero ...

Daniel R Deakin, Mon, 27 Jan 2020 04:22:00 +0100

The NexDock 2 lapdock, now shipping to Kickstarter backers, is up for general pre-orders. (Source: NexDock)

NexDock 2 laptop dock for Samsung DeX, Raspberry Pi starts shipping to backers

NexDock has started shipping its NexDock 2 to Kickstarter backers. The device is a ‘dumb’ terminal for connecting to, and working, off the brains of smartphones and micro PCs like the Raspberry Pi.

Sanjiv Sathiah, Mon, 27 Jan 2020 02:49:00 +0100

The ROG Bezel-Free Kit makes your bezels seemingly disappear like magic. (Source: ROG)

Asus ROG Bezel-Free Kit will make your gaming monitor bezels disappear like magic

Gamers who have dual or triple monitor gaming rigs will be keen to check out the latest accessory from the Asus ROG gaming team. The new ROG Bezel-Free Kit (ABF01) is designed to be placed at the corners of one of more monitors to...

Sanjiv Sathiah, Mon, 27 Jan 2020 02:04:00 +0100

According to a new rumor, every phone that can run iOS 13 will be able to run iOS 14. (Image via Apple)

Rumor claims iOS 14 will still support iPhone SE, iPhone 6S

A new rumor from French website iPhonesoft claims that iOS 14 will be compatible with the iPhone 6S, 6S Plus, and original iPhone SE. However, the upcoming version of iPadOS will supposedly drop support for the iPad Air 2 and iPad...

Sam Medley, Sun, 26 Jan 2020 22:57:00 +0100

The Motorola Razr is only available in "Noir Black." (Image via Verizon Wireless)

Pre-orders for Motorola Razr foldable smartphone begin today

The Motorola Razr foldable smartphone is now available for pre-order from Verizon Wireless. The phone boasts a Snapdragon 710 and Android 9.0 Pie, both of which seem outdated considering the phone's $1500 price tag. However, buyer...

Sam Medley, Sun, 26 Jan 2020 22:23:00 +0100

Ultra-short videos have returned to the mobile device world. (Source: Byte)

Vine regenerates as Byte, a new 6-second video app

Byte has emerged from beta onto the Play Store and the App Store. It, much like its predecessor Vine, allows the user to make videos of 6 seconds in length. Both apps also have a creator in common, who hopes to bring a form of rev...

Deirdre O Donnell, Sun, 26 Jan 2020 22:03:00 +0100

The Huawei Y9 (2019) ran Android Oreo out of the box. (Source: Huawei)

Huawei Y9 (2019) owners up in arms after Android 10 snub

Huawei has confirmed that the Huawei Y9 (2019) will not receive the Android 10-based EMUI 10 update, and owners of the phone are, well, unhappy about that decision. Rightfully so, too, as the Honor 8X, another mid-range phone, was...

Ricci Rox, Sun, 26 Jan 2020 19:23:00 +0100

According to a new report, the Olympus Tough TG-6 counts as an action-cam. (Source: Olympus)

The action-camera market will be worth nearly US$9 billion by 2025

Action cameras are a popular device category, particularly among those who want to record their rugged pursuits wherever they go. A new report indicates that the market in question will grow to be worth US$8.9 billion in the next ...

Deirdre O Donnell, Sun, 26 Jan 2020 19:15:00 +0100

28.01	Microsoft Surface Pro X (WinFuture)
28.01	Alienware Area-51m, i9-9900K, RTX 2080 (Basic Tutorials)
28.01	Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 Base 5300M (HardwareLuxx)
28.01	Alienware 15 R4 (Chip.de)
28.01	Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M (PCtipp.ch)
28.01	Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 Base 5300M (ZDNet)
28.01	Lenovo Yoga Smart Tab YT-X705F (Tech Stage)
28.01	Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max (Chip.de)
28.01	Asus ROG Phone 2 (Tech Stage)
28.01	Asus ZenFone 6 ZS630KL (Tech.de)