Arrow Lake

Asus has finally released one of its long-awaited gaming laptops globally. Now available with a 1,200-nit Mini LED display, the ROG Strix G18 also features a more powerful processor and a refined design to improve ergonomics.

Asus is now selling a new 16-inch gaming laptop globally. Equipped with a more powerful processor than last year's model, the ROG Strix G16 2026 retains a 90 Wh battery while jumping to a 300 Hz display with access to Nvidia's GeForce RTX 5060, RTX 5070 and RTX 5080 GPUs.

Acer has released a new gaming laptop globally. Equipped with an Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus processor and an RTX 5090 GPU, the new Predator Helios 18 AI also boasts up to 96 GB of RAM from the factory and a 4K Mini LED display.

Lenovo has quietly updated one of our favourite gaming laptops. Previously sold with up to the Core Ultra 9 275HX, the Legion Pro 7i or Legion Pro 7 16IAX10H can now be configured with the more powerful Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus to complement its 240 Hz OLED display, GeForce RTX 5080 GPU and 64 GB of RAM.

Lenovo has updated one of its popular 16-inch gaming laptops with a new version. Already available to purchase in the US, the Legion 7 16IAX10 or Legion 7i Gen 10 now tops out at the Core Ultra 290HX Plus and Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 12GB, which Lenovo complements with a 240 Hz and 1,100-nit OLED display.

Lenovo has updated one of its 16-inch gaming laptops with two major upgrades. Now equipped with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 12GB, the Legion Pro 5i 16IAX10 combines an 80 Wh battery and a 240 Hz OLED display with new Intel Arrow Lake HX processors like the Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus, too.

It was reported a few months ago that there was a severe shortage of desktop CPUs from both Intel and AMD. These shortages were expected to result in limited availability of some in-demand processors and increased prices. It seems Intel has now quietely increased prices of the latest Core Ultra 5 250K Plus and the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus.

We compare and contrast all the confusing power profiles available on the latest MSI gaming laptop. You'll want to know the differences between them if you intend to play any games on the system.

The latest MSI Raider is one of the fastest gaming laptops available at the moment for users looking to maximum raw processor performance.

The service hatch on the bottom panel makes it so much faster and easier for end users to add more storage or RAM without needing to worry about voiding warranties or accidentally breaking components.

What's the difference between Extreme Performance mode, Apex mode, and Cooler Boost mode? The MSI Center software makes very little effort to educate the user.

The first 16-inch Raider model nails it when it comes to raw performance and the OLED viewing experience. The overt lack of Advanced Optimus, however, is nevertheless disappointing considering the price.

Lenovo has finally started selling its latest 15-inch Legion gaming laptop in the US. Equipped with powerful Intel Arrow Lake HX processors, the Legion 5i 15IAX11 combines an 80 Wh battery with a 165 Hz and 1,000-nit OLED display in a package that is smaller than its Gen 10 counterpart, too.

Acer has released a new 18-inch gaming laptop featuring Intel's Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus processor. Also equipped with a 240 Hz IPS and 500-nit display, the latest Predator Helios Neo 18 leverages Nvidia's GeForce RTX 5080 laptop GPU and 32 GB of RAM, too.

Lenovo has quietly launched a new gaming laptop globally. Equipped with a 165 Hz and 1,100-nit OLED display, the Legion 5 15IAX11 also combines an 80 Wh battery with new Intel Arrow Lake HX processors and Nvidia's GeForce RTX 5070 12 GB laptop GPU.

The "midrange" 16X Aurora this year will set you back $3000 for GeForce RTX 5070 Ti graphics. At that price range, the model comes close to the flagship Area-51 series when configured with the same GPU.

The performance dip is certainly a bummer, but the significantly quieter fan noise when gaming on Balanced mode could potentially justify the GPU deficit.

The GeForce RTX 5070 Ti configuration is only available with the pricey Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus which doesn't offer much for gamers over last year's less expensive Core Ultra 9 275HX.

Panther Lake Arc B390 is a significant upgrade over the Arc 140T in last year's Prestige 16 by up to 80 percent while demanding almost the same amount of power.

The 2026 Prestige 16 is several steps forward for the series especially with OLED and Panther Lake now coming standard. However, some other changes aren't all roses.

The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i G10 with the RTX 5080 was one of the fastest and best gaming laptops we reviewed last year. This is still the case and the SKU powered by the GeForce RTX 5090 can easily keep up even with larger 18-inch rivals.

The Core Ultra X7 358H set the bar high for Panther Lake especially in terms of performance-per-watt. The Core Ultra 9 386H, however, is a bit less impressive.

No big NPU, no problem: While the Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 3 may not be a Copilot+ PC, with a strong dGPU, up to 192 GB RAM and three 4 TB SSDs, this device can be used to run AI locally.

Overdrive mode gets you much closer to the advertised 175 W TGP, but the extreme increase in fan noise is arguably not worth the very minor benefits to gaming performance.

The Arrow Lake CPU even approaches 105 C for short periods when Turbo Boost is most effective before throttling clock rates to keep temperatures in check.

The Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus is a decent boost over the Core Ultra 9 275HX, but be prepared for a slightly bigger electricity bill.

The Dell 15 D15260 laptop is launching in India today. Powered by Arrow Lake-H with up to 16 GB DDR5 RAM and up to a 512 GB NVMe SSD, the Dell 15 aims to offer a bit more grunt than a typical Inspiron and will be available at prices starting from ₹69,699 ($750).

TechEpiphany has released Mindfactory's CPU sales for weeks 14 and 15 of 2026. The data shows that AMD continues to dominate the overall sales. However, Intel CPU sales seem to have improved. That said, TechEpiphany claims that the decline in CPU sales is unprecedented.

The B3 G1 series can be equipped with up to an Intel Core Ultra 7 vPro 265H, 96 GB DDR5-5600 RAM and 6 TB of PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD storage. Both sizes feature 1200p and 1600p IPS screens and the 16-inch model has a 1200p touchscreen option.

Intel has confirmed it will not release the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus, abandoning the planned 24-core flagship as part of its Arrow Lake Refresh lineup. Instead, the company is focusing on the more broadly positioned Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and Core Ultra 5 250K Plus, which it considers sufficient in terms of performance and value.

Intel's new Core Ultra 5 250K Plus and Core Ultra 7 270K Plus "Arrow Lake Refresh" are here, and they are excellent. In fact, based on several reviews, including our own testing, the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus and the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus deliver some of the best price-to-performance on the market.

Intel Core Ultra 9 290K has reportedly been canceled. So, there will be, for the time being, only two CPUs in the Core Ultra 200S Plus Arrow Lake Refresh lineup. However, the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus has now popped up on Geekbench with impressive performance.

Dell has now started selling three new gaming laptops powered by Intel's latest Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus processor. Also configurable with up to 64 GB RAM, 12 TB of storage and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 in some cases, the Alienware 16X Aurora, Alienware 16 Area-51 and Alienware 18 Area-51 are the first laptops to ship with Intel's first Arrow Lake HX Plus processor.

Acer has updated its 18-inch Predator gaming laptop with more powerful hardware. Now equipped with up to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080, the Predator Helios Neo 18 will be available this summer with Intel's upgraded Arrow Lake-HX Plus processors, too.

Acer has launched two new 16-inch gaming laptops equipped with Intel's latest Arrow Lake-HX processors. Not only has Acer showcased new Predator Helios Neo 16 AI and Predator Helios Neo 16S AI laptops, but it has also detailed when the pair will be available to purchase.

Asus has upgraded its ROG Strix G16 and ROG Strix G18 gaming laptops. Now featuring up to the Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus processor, the pair will also ship with 380 W power adapters and up to Nvidia's GeForce RTX 5080 laptop GPU.

Dell has made the 2026 Alienware 18 Area-51 gaming laptop even better, as the machine can now be had with the new Intel Arrow Lake-HX Refresh CPUs. Configurable with up to a Core Ultra 9 290 HX and an RTX 5090, the 18-inch Alienware 18 Area-51 is meant for high-refresh rate QHD/4K gaming.

Intel is expanding its desktop portfolio with the new Intel Core Ultra 200S Plus processors for gamers and content creators. Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and Core Ultra 5 250K Plus offer more cores, higher clock speeds, and faster DDR5 memory support. In addition, new optimization features improve the performance of modern games and applications.

MSI's least expensive business laptop also happens to be one of the few in the category to ship with the Core Ultra 7 255H for very fast multi-thread performance.

The Venture 16 is much more affordable than the higher-end Prestige or Summit models from the same manufacturer, but it cuts a lot of corners in the process.

The Core Ultra 7 255U in the LG can be as slow as the older Core Ultra 7 155U even when set to Performance mode, but fan noise barely reaches 30 dB(A) as a result.

The Gram Book 15 may be the least expensive Gram model in the series, but the display leaves a lot to be desired even at the $800 price point.