Reviews

Diamond in the rough. Although at first glance ELEX appears unpolished, beneath the tough exterior there is a suspenseful and multi-faceted role-playing game that skillfully weaves sci-fi and fantasy elements together. But how well does the mixed-genre game run on various laptop and desktop GPUs? Read on to find out.

Old school. They do not come around very often, notebooks that allow the users to replace the battery without having to tear the whole thing apart. Devices that have enough removable covers to enable the users to swap out every replaceable component. And finally the serial port, which is, nowadays, almost completely extinct. Our test device possesses all these features. The question is, though: What else does it have to offer?

Tough shell! The LG G6 marks the end of the modular smartphone from the Korean manufacturer. Instead, we get a robust chassis, new screen ratio, improved cameras, and a bigger battery. Sounds like a good combination. Update: facial recognition is now available.

The wolf in sheep's clothing? Why is there another review of the Microsoft Surface Laptop i7? Is this just a rebranding of the recently released i5-based Surface Laptop, but with an Intel Core i7-7660U instead of the i5-7200U? So it is faster and more expensive. And this is what comes to mind at a first glance, however the devil is in the details. There is one thing that we can tell you right off the bat, though: It is becoming scarce!

Thrilling. While it is rather rare that horror movies stand out due to their high quality, there are various horror games for the home computer that could be considered first-rate. In addition to "Resident Evil 7" we could also currently mention "The Evil Within 2" here, which we tested for its performance using several notebooks and desktop GPUs.

Criticism accepted. HP does not touch the chassis of the ZBook Studio G4 and focuses on the internals. Our test model shows this was a good decision. The DreamColor display is also very good, and both the temperature as well as noise development are better than before. But you should not expect long battery runtimes.

Mass slaughter. After its 2014 predecessor left a surprisingly good impression (not in the least thanks to the Nemesis System), Warner Bros. Interactive has launched its successor, “Shadow of War”, a well-made action game based upon the Lord of the Rings universe. We test out the hardware requirements for PC and notebooks.

Twin Turbo. While most manufacturers give their gaming notebooks only one dedicated graphics unit, Gigabyte has presented its brand-new 17-inch Aorus X9 with two Nvidia GPUs. We will find out whether it makes sense to use a GeForce GTX 1070 in SLI mode or if this feature has more disadvantages than advantages.

Three lenses. With the Nokia 8, HMD Global now also revives the legendary Finnish brand in the premium range. At a fair price of around 580 Euros (~$682; $565 in some US online retailers), the buyer gets a well-built and well-configured 5.3-inch handset whose dual-camera can score with a never before seen feature.

HP XPS 13 for gaming. A compact 13.3-inch Ultrabook with GeForce MX150 graphics and a metal chassis? Sounds like a solid concept. In our comprehensive review update we'll try to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the HP Envy 13 with MX150 and Core i7-7500U.

Disappointing Screen. Lenovo's 15.6-inch device offers a powerful Kaby Lake processor, a dedicated graphics card and an SSD. The built-in screen proves to be a 100% blunder on Lenovo's part. The battery life will not take anyone's breath away either.

Blown away? MSI is once again introducing another line of gaming notebooks aimed at the consumer market. The new GF72VR brings a high refresh rate display and sheds the optical drive but changes little else. Do these changes leave us breathless, or is the GF72VR full of hot air.

Finally, a GS notebook with quieter fans. The MSI GS family has always been popular for its attractively thin design and enthusiast-level horsepower. Incorporating a Max-Q GPU is perhaps the best thing to happen to the series as it directly addresses one of its biggest and most persistent issues.

The Unfinished. Asus' multimedia-office newcomer compels with its elegant design and a particularly light and compact case, but can hardly keep up in the gaming arena with its GeForce 940MX. Despite many good attributes, we cannot give a purchase recommendation to the device, which is not just due to the modest battery life.

Simple and affordable. Lenovo has presented the IdeaPad 320S, an affordable entry-level notebook. We have tested one of the lowest configurations available and will report how much (or how little) you can expect from a notebook that costs less than $500.

How much notebook do you need? The affordable Chuwi LapBook 12.3 is designed for everyday tasks. The metal chassis, the high-resolution display, as well as the silent operation are advantages of the laptop.

Sleek & affordable gaming? The Asus ROG Strix GL703VD is a 17.3-inch entry-level to mid-range gaming notebook which tries to find the right balance between style, performance and price. Unfortunately, Asus' new notebook runs too hot and is too noisy given the comparatively modest performance of its graphics card.

Compact portable gamer. Gigabyte's 14-inch device can display all current games smoothly onto its matte IPS display. It is equipped with an NVMe-SSD, 16 GB of RAM and Thunderbolt 3. Furthermore, the device can also boast great battery runtimes.

Here comes some color! The MSI GE73VR 7RF Raider offers very good gaming performance at a weight below 3 kg (~6.6 lb). The 17-inch laptop masters even long gaming sessions. Whether there are weaknesses and if so where, you can find out in our review with a multitude of benchmarks.

Peak power. While there is a trend towards lighter and slimmer (but often also very loud and warm) gaming laptops, Gaming Guru now presents a serious desktop replacement with the Mars K, which offers all the virtues of a desktop PC. Does the 17-inch laptop stand a chance against the established rivals from Acer, MSI, and Asus?

Display from the Stone Age. Lenovo's ThinkPad E470 is an affordable ThinkPad with its largest user base among students and home office users. We have already reviewed this laptop in review earlier this year. However today we are reviewing a model with slightly worse hardware in order to explain, why you should not get this notebook in this particular configuration. Ever!

Simple office notebook. Lenovo's new IdeaPad is a 17.3-inch notebook that works silently and hardly heats up. These features are accompanied by a lot of available storage and a decent keyboard. The screen, however, is not particularly exciting.

Stylish and elegant, but still a bit buggy. The new VivoBook is supposed to be the more affordable ZenBook sibling for the mainstream. Is it a success, or has Asus cut too many corners?

Price-performance winner. Lenovo's 15.6-inch laptop comes with a Kaby Lake processor, an SSD and 8 GB of working memory. The total package costs almost 400 Euros ($400). But of course, some shortcomings should be expected at this price.

Fastest XPS 13 thus far. The jump from ULV Kaby Lake to Kaby Lake-R is the biggest performance boost the XPS 13 series has seen in years. We investigate to see if this has had any repercussions in terms of fan noise, battery life, and temperature.

Family friendly. Lenovo's Tab 4 8 is marketed as a tablet computer for the entire family, and it attempts to achieve that through optional accessories. Find out whether or not the tablet itself is worth the money in our review.

4K vs. battery. Aorus has made several improvements since last year's model of the X5: 4K display, Thunderbolt 3 and a Kaby Lake CPU are only a few of the positive additions. Can the X5 v7 improve on its predecessor's rating (83%) or might it even reach pole position among slim gamers? We will try to find out in our review.

Deceptively lightweight… MSI’s latest 17.3-inch gaming notebook to reach our labs covers most of the bases just as we’d expect, with a little twist: it’s surprisingly light! How does this $1,600 mid-range gaming notebook stack up against its peers?

Well-designed for every day. Acer has learned to produce good and affordable laptops with an attractive design. Our review sample also proves this. However, not only the outer values are good. The Swift 3 has quite a bit to offer on the inside as well. Our tests present a balanced laptop that delivers the promised performance.

Portability vs. cooling. Ultra-slim notebook cases are becoming more and more popular due to their high portability. Gaming Guru has pushed this idea even further by presenting the Fire KS, an 18.6-mm (~0.7 in) tick 15-inch device which is equipped with a Core i7-7700HQ and a GeForce GTX 1060. Find out what this combination means for temperature development and system noise.

Cheap entry-level laptop. Lenovo's IdeaPad 110S is a small, 11-inch subnotebook. The much too high power consumption takes its toll on the battery life. We report on how the compact entry-level device fares in terms of performance in our short review.

A little bit of everything. Acer's newbie scores mainly with its compactness, versatility, and the new GeForce MX150. Small problems with the display and sound do not quite fit with its multimedia ambitions, but thanks to good input devices, security features, and the excellent endurance, it offers some extra mobility for the office.

Selfie superstar? Huawei has created an upper-mid-range phone with the 5-inch Nova 2 and given it a special feature with a 20 MP front camera. Our review will reveal whether selfie fans should go for it.

I'm blue Da ba dee da ba di! Colors are not the only interesting aspect of the new ZenBook Flip S. Asus has presented a very slim 13-inch convertible and the Intel Core i5-7200U at the heart of the device offers decent processing power. To find out how well the hardware works together and whether the stylish convertible can keep up with its competition, take a look at our detailed review.

With the new Coffee Lake CPUs, Intel brings more than four physical cores to end-user consumer computing for the first time in its history. Regardless of whether or not you want to consider this a reaction to AMD's Ryzen, Coffee Lake manages to combine high clock speeds with more cores than before and has earned our recommendation.

Disappointing screen. With the ThinkPad E570, Lenovo delivers a quiet, enduring office machine that serves with a good keyboard and lightning-fast NVMe SSD. The HD screen is a complete disappointment.

Retro rewind. What's old is new again in this special anniversary ThinkPad that throws out the AccuType keyboard in favor of the classic layout and design. Outside of the new keyboard, there isn't anything particularly new about the ThinkPad 25 that we haven't already covered on the ThinkPad T470.

Middle-class with glass. Lenovo's Tab 4 10 Plus is a mid-range tablet with high ambitions. It's aiming to attract buyers by offering a glass rear, generous memory configuration, and front-sided speakers. Find out in the test report whether the available accessory packs turn the tablet into something special.

More is always better. The HP ZBook enters its fourth round in the laptop marketplace, this time flaunting even more performance power. Genuine updates or innovations are nowhere to be found. Even so, the manufacturer demonstrates what a true mobile workstation looks like.

A well-rounded gamer. Lenovo's entry-level gamer brings all the current games to the matte Full HD display. The computer is equipped with a Kaby Lake quad-core processor, a GeForce GTX 1050 Ti GPU, and a very fast NVMe SSD.

Ultrabook or workstation. The ZBook 15u G4 is a mobile workstation made by HP that - while cheaper than its brethren - still manages to meet the ZBook’s high quality standards. Unfortunately, the light and thin workstation also comes with lower performance hardware. Find out whether or not the concept works as expected in our extensive review.

Big sibling, small improvement. As with its smaller sibling, the Apple iPhone 8 Plus does not have many new features. We get a slightly revised chassis, now with a glass rear panel, as well as the new A11 chip. However, small optimizations improve the iPhone in many areas.

Bright, brighter, BQ Aquaris X. The mid-range smartphone produced by the Spanish smartphone manufacturer BQ has a captivatingly bright display - so bright, even, that it made the Top 5 of our list of brightest smartphone displays. Find out how the other features of the Aquaris X compare in our review.

Bumpy start. You might think that due to the routine, EA could not do too much wrong in the yearly FIFA update. But, you would be mistaken since the release of version 18 is creating several negative headlines. We evaluate the (technical) situation with several notebooks and desktop PCs.

Back to being best. The Note 8 shines with a big, superb Infinity screen, high performance and, for the first time, with a dual-camera. As usual, the S-Pen that can be inserted into the casing is included. Whether Samsung has developed the ideal phablet after the Note 7 disaster will be clarified in the test.
Update: new update improves security and adds new Wi-Fi features. Update: Information concerning PWM, display response times, temperatures and power consumption has been added.

Portable USB monitor. No recharging, one cable, light and slim. Asus' portable monitor is neither matte nor particularly bright. Although the poor color space will deter professionals, the very high contrast will certainly appeal to everyone.

Step by step. We already suspected that Apple would only show a slightly improved version of its smartphone this year. The eighth-generation iPhone from Cupertino gets a revised chassis and more performance, which is at least more than in the previous years.

Multi-talented. With comprehensive accessory packages, Lenovo wants to equip its affordable Tablet Tab 4 10 for all usage scenarios. We find out about the quality of the tablet itself in our test.

Mini Me(diaPad). The 8-inch variant of the MediaPad M3 Lite brings a lot of polish and panache to the Android ecosystem. Despite its mid-range specifications, the M3 Lite proves to be a capable media machine. Is this the affordable compact tablet to get?

Slim at any cost. Razer's Blade Pro is one of the most powerful and yet slimmest gaming laptops in the world. It was to be expected that this combination would lead to high temperatures and loud background noise. Just how bad is it? Our review reveals the answer.

Fitness coach for the wrist. Are you looking for a personal trainer, who is available to you anywhere at any time? Then perhaps the Huawei Band 2 Pro is right for you, since Huawei advertises its newest fitness tracker as a mobile fitness coach for the wrist. You can find out in our review how the wearable fares in everyday life.

Slim entry-level gamer. Acer's slim gaming notebook can offer an IPS display and a fast NVMe SSD as well as good battery runtimes.

Courageously new. Acer´s new ultra-slim 15-inch Predator Triton 700 gaming notebook is nothing short of innovative. Alongside its mechanical keyboard, the unusual position and design of the touchpad makes for some interesting new looks. Can the Triton 700 in its elegant case combined with a GTX 1080 Max-Q rival the Asus ROG Zephyrus?

Gaming black box. The mid-range EN51050 strikes a great performance balance between the i5-7500T CPU and GTX 1050 GPU. Still, at $700 USD, the asking price for a barebones kit is within striking distance of a full-fledged gaming notebook equipped with faster hardware.

Annoying fan. The MacBook Pro 13 without Touch Bar gets the Kaby Lake update as well. Thanks to the lower price, longer battery runtimes, and function keys, the entry-level model could potentially be the better choice for many users. However, you also get a slightly less powerful processor as well as an annoying fan.

Stylish. Asus' X510UA pleases with a slim, light casing, a narrow display bezel, and a good battery life. However, the screen is nothing to crow about.

Wallet-friendly mainstream..business? Huawei's 15.6-inch mainstream laptop surely looks the part, but while the build quality is good and the overall performance decent, the MateBook D suffers from a few significant shortcomings.

Elegant multimedia Laptop. The new Asus ZenBook Pro UX550 is a high-end multimedia notebook. You get powerful components in a great chassis, but the cooling solution struggles with the heat development of the components. Update: Second test sample, BIOS 302, SATA-3 SSD

The Elite in the business sector! The G2 now follows the G1. It is based on the meanwhile widely distributed Kaby Lake processors. A keyboard dock and active stylus still belong to the bundle. We present the elegant business companion that had to pass through our test course as usual in this report.

All work and no play. The ThinkCentre M910z is true to its heritage with an understated, functional design, easy maintenance, and capable performance—thanks to a Core i5 CPU and NVMe SSD. But how did it fare in our bevy of extensive tests and benchmarks?

Convincing. The Huawei Y7 aims to convince its buyers with a metal case, a strong processor, and a large battery. While these assets are good, the competition in the 200-Euro price range (~$238) is strong. You can find out in our test how the Huawei Y7 fares.

A heavy pebble. The GT600 is the second smartphone produced by this Chinese manufacturer that Notebookcheck has reviewed. With its good price and long battery life, the heavy device from Asia is an attractive offer.

GeForce MX150 gaming. The performance-per-Watt of the MX150 is a generational leap over the 940MX, but its high starting price at the moment gives it poor performance-per-Dollar. We check out the entry-level Sager NP5852 gaming notebook to see how to stacks up against previous generation Maxwell offerings.

Max-Q goes to work. MSI's updated WS63VR 7RL brings Nvidia's new Max-Q design to the GPU giant's Quadro line. How well does the Max-Q philosophy benefit a powerful professional-grade graphics card, especially with regards to heat and power management?

Weakling with odd clickpad design. Laptops for the educational sector need to be both sturdy and inexpensive. The Acer TravelMate Spin B1 fulfills with these requirements, but a closer look reveals many shortcomings.

Good rip-off. Tri-Bezel-Less display, dual camera, 6 GB RAM: at first glance, these specs are very impressive, but a look behind the curtains reveals some weak spots. We will find out if it the Doogee Mix smartphone is still a good value for the money.

Bristol Ridge swan song. What should be one of the last Bristol Ridge gaming notebooks of 2017 before the push for mobile Ryzen shows us why AMD notebooks have been such a failure. An old plastic chassis, cheap TN panel, and weak CPU performance don't do the Polaris GPU any favors.

SSD slip up. If the last cubic centimeters of volume and a few hundred grams more or less are unimportant, the new 13-inch laptop will be more than a useful companion as it fuses enough power with decent battery life and comes with the usual security features. However, the moderate price faces some not exactly trivial points of criticism.

Sensation. While AMD's Ryzen architecture has already been available in the desktop range for several months, the notebook range had to wait patiently for a long time. The waiting is over now: Asus is the first manufacturer who provided us with a gaming laptop with 8-core CPU and Radeon RX 580. Our review will reveal whether the bundle is able to challenge a combination of Intel and Nvidia hardware.

Let's do things properly. The Honor 6A is a declaration of war on entry-level smartphones. Priced at about $200, the 5-inch smartphone comes with a smart plastic/metal case, octa-core SoC, Android 7, HD screen and a 13-MP camera. Find out how the Honor 6A fares among current entry-level rivals in our review.

Simple addition. More battery, more RAM, more display - Motorola really means the "Plus" in its Moto E4 Plus. Find out whether these positive aspects outweigh the rather low system performance in our review.

Removable. In this case we mean it in a positive way, since the battery can be removed in the Moto E4. The smartphone is also quite affordable and offers a fingerprint sensor. You can find out in the test whether the competition needs to brace for this.

Reliable travel companion! Dell presents us with a versatile 12-inch convertible in a timeless, modest and elegant design. A very frugal Intel CPU runs inside. Whether this promises a long battery life and how the Dell Latitude 7285 performs, you can find out in our detailed review.

Successful all-rounder. An affordable Ultrabook with Full HD IPS display, GeForce 940MX, and Core i5-7200U - Lenovo intends this interesting package mainly for students. You can find out in our detailed review whether the IdeaPad 520s can convince us.

Solid worker. Acer has produced a well-equipped 15-inch notebook that needs not fear comparison with similarly equipped competitors. Find out how our test unit did in our detailed review.

Linux office. Asus' 15.6-inch laptop will cost approximately 400 Euros (~$482). In return, the buyer will get a Core i3 processor as well as 8 GB of working memory and a solid-state drive. A Windows operating system is not included - Asus relies on Linux.

China import for phablet fans. The Xiaomi Mi Max 2 has a screen size of over 6.4-inches - which you may or may not like. But if you do go for the XXL smartphone, you will find that it has quite a lot to offer for $370.

Dinosaur whisperer. It has been one of the most popular early-access titles of the last few years, and now that the dinosaur action spectacle Ark: Survival Evolved has been officially launched it is time to take a look at its system requirements to figure out whether or not the game gulps up computing power as fast as it does player avatars. Update: 25 Systems tested

Home Office. Lenovo's 17.3-inch device offers a strong Kaby-Lake processor, a fast solid-state disk and Windows 10 Professional. Its most important asset, however, is the bright IPS screen with a great contrast ratio.

Not yet optimized. The Q5 has more configurations and more connectivity options than your standard Max-Q notebook. Unfortunately, the hardware and software don't quite live up to spec.

Merely upper mid-range? After AMD revealed the Polaris Architecture by introducing the AMD Radeon RX 480, this has now been improved again. The AMD Radeon RX 580 is based on the Polaris 20 chip and with 8 GB of GDDR5 VRAM, it offers enough leeway for high resolutions. Or does it? You can find out in our detailed review, how our Sapphire test model fares.

Carbon Copy. Toshiba's new Tecra X40-D is the Japanese manufacturer's latest entry in the thin-and-light business market and carries over several features from its smaller brother, the Portégé X30. Is the X40 able to differentiate itself enough, or is it more of the same in a larger package?

Low price - large battery. The Huawei Y6 (2017) features a large battery and is ambitious, yet quite low-priced. Can it bear up against the competition or did Huawei calculate too tightly? Find out more in our review

The better Moto C! The Chinese manufacturer Lenovo is trying to stir up the low-budget segment of the smartphone market with its new C series. Our review shows that the Moto C Plus has some paramount improvements compared to its 5-inch counterpart without the additional "Plus".

Home-Convertible. HP's 14-inch convertible is equipped with a high-contrast IPS display, a fast SSD, and plenty of storage space. The downside is its price of more than $1000, which is anything but a bargain.

New go-to device in the low-budget segment? The Chinese manufacturer Lenovo is trying to stir up the low-budget segment of the smartphone market with its new C series. Find out whether the company will succeed in our review.

Lightest and brightest 13-inch Ultrabook. The Notebook 9 series continues to impress with yet another super lightweight offering for $1000 USD. The 13-inch notebook omits a few key features compared to more popular alternatives, but some can be easily overlooked for the everyday user.

World tour. F1 2017 starts into the current Formula One season with extremely wide rear tires and very flat-looking bodies. Our benchmark article will reveal whether motorsport fans will get their money's worth in terms of driving experience as well as technology.

News from Finland. With the Nokia 6, Nokia sends its current smartphone top model into the race. The 5.5-inch Android smartphone is better equipped than its entry-level colleagues, the Nokia 3 and Nokia 5, and therefore it runs in the mid-range. Our test shows how it fares there.

Surface competitor with AMOLED. Samsung is set for attack with its new Galaxy Book 12 and has managed to get itself a unique selling point in the market of professional Windows tablets with a keyboard cover: A Super-AMOLED screen. The pricey device offers travelling businessmen and women a complete package with a wide range of accessories and only a few weaknesses.

Power to the people. The LG K10 (2017) brings considerably more power than its predecessor and provides an even better quality casing. A polished performance for slightly over 200 Euros (~$217), but of course we will take a more careful look at the smartphone in the test.
Update: New build brings general improvements and security updates.

Little brother. The 2017 LG K8 is a little more affordable, a little smaller, and less powerful than the LG K10. But is it perhaps the better deal for all those who are just looking for an affordable smartphone? We find out in our test.
Update: A new build version brings general improvements and security updates.

Trimmed. The looks of the LG Q6 closely resemble those of the LG G6, only at a much lower price point. The trade-off is its trimmed performance, a performance that makes the phone struggle hard in its price range. We will find out whether the phone is a recommendable purchase.

Budget gaming par excellence. Acer's latest 17-inch multimedia-gaming hybrid from the new Aspire 7 series comes equipped with a powerful GTX 1060, a fast quad-core, and an IPS display but is consequently optimized with regards to costs in all other aspects. From a technical point of view, the new notebook is very decent and Acer's cost cutting measures were made wisely... with one exception, though.

Black and red behemoth. Lenovo’s successor to the massive Y900 desktop replacement features a Kaby Lake CPU and a powerful GTX 1070. Much of the rest of the package remains the same—so are these updates enough to keep it relevant in such a competitive and selective market?

Flashy. As with its predecessor, the Honor 9 compels at first sight with its flashy design of dancing light reflections on the back. But is this all just smoke and mirrors, or can Honor's new flagship also convince with its dual camera and fast performance? We find out in the test. Update: firmware B150 adds support for VoLTE and VoWifi.

A slim gamer! Acer's Predator Helios 300 is a gaming notebook that weighs under 3 kg (~106 oz.). Can its cooling system keep up with the relatively compact build and supply the device with sufficient fresh air? Find out in our detailed review.

Metalhead. Plastic before, metal now: The new edition of the Galaxy J5 aims to make a higher-quality impression. However, the inner values have remained mostly the same. Is that enough for a successful update?
Update: new firmware with security and bug fixes released.

Press me! TLC has presented a new BlackBerry smartphone with a physical keyboard: the KEYone. The new smartphone combines a 4.5-inch touchscreen with a touch-sensitive keyboard that can also be used as a Trackpad.
Update: Build AAN358 is rolled out.

Now $500 cheaper. Asus is doubling down on Max-Q with its second Zephyrus notebook equipped with GTX 1070 Max-Q graphics. The asking price is a bit more manageable this time around, but the hardware shortcomings are hard to ignore despite the strong graphics performance.