Next-Gen Laptops: ASUS ExpertBook and Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Lead the Charge with Intel's Lunar Lake

Asus ExpertBook (Lunar Lake) review

Asus ExpertBook P5 MSRP $1,400.00 Score Details "The Asus ExpertBook P5 isn't as fast as I hoped, and it doesn't last nearly long enough." Pros Good IPS display Solid connectivity Affordable price Decent productivity performance Cons Poor build quality Disappointing battery life Intel's latest Core Ultra chipset, Lunar Lake, is a response to Apple's highly-efficient and fast M3 chipset as well as Qualcomm's Snapdragon X and AMD's Ryzen AI 9 lineups. It's part of Microsoft's Copilot+ PC initiative, which has quickly led to multiple slots among the best laptops. It has a fast neural processing unit (NPU), but the really important metric is battery life. That's where Intel's previous Meteor Lake generation was most deficient by comparison. Contents Specs and configurationDesignKeyboard and touchpadConnectivity and webcamPerformanceBattery lifeDisplay and audioThe ExpertBook P5 proves that not all laptops are created equalShow 3 more items The Asus ExpertBook P5 (P5405) is one of the first Lunar Lake machines on the market, and it's a business laptop. The Asus Zenbook S 14 is the first Lunar Lake laptop we reviewed, and it lives up to the efficiency promises. But the ExpertBook P5 isn't quite the standout, leaving open the question of just how good Lunar Lake actually is. Specs and configuration Asus ExpertBook P5 (P5405) Dimensions 12.28 x 8.79 x 0.59-0.65 inches Weight 2.84 pounds Display 14.0-inch 16:10 QHD+ (2560 x 1600) IPS, 144Hz CPU Intel Core Ultra 5 226V Intel Core Ultra 5 228V Intel Core Ultra 7 258V GPU Intel Arc 130V Intel Arc 140V Memory 16GB LPDDR5X RAM 32GB LPDDR5X RAM Storage 512TB M.2 NVMe SSD 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD Ports 1 x USB-C with Thunderbolt 4 1 x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 1 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 1 x HDMI 2.1 1 x 3.5mm headphone jack Camera 1080p with infrared camera for Windows 11 Hello Wi-Fi Wi-Fi 6E Wi-Fi 7 Bluetooth Bluetooth 5.3 Bluetooth 5.4 Battery 63 watt-hour Operating system Windows 11 Price $1,100+ The ExpertBook P5 starts at $1,100, which includes an Intel Core Ultra 5 226V chipset, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, and a 14-inch QHD+ IPS display (the only option). My review unit, the high-end option, costs $1,300 for a Core Ultra 7 258V, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. You can configure additional storage with the extra M.2 expansion slot. My review unit had a second 1TB drive configured. Those are attractive prices, especially for a business-class laptop, which tend to be priced higher than strictly consumer laptops. We don't have many Lunar Lake laptops to compare to, but the Zenbook S 14 is more expensive starting at $1,399 and $1,499 for a similar configuration. The Dell XPS 14 is more expensive yet, starting at $1,500 list and ramping up to over $2,000. That makes the ExpertBook P5 a relatively attractive value among Intel laptops. However, laptops running Qualcomm's Snapdragon X chipsets, like the HP OmniBook X, are comparably priced. Design The ExpertBook P5 is a very conventionally designed 14-inch laptop. It's a dark gray color scheme, with only a silver bar housing a pretty generic logo breaking it up. The lines are minimalist, befitting today's most common aesthetic among most laptops. The Dell XPS 14 is a lot more modern inside and out, with its more streamlined chassis and internal construction. The Apple MacBook Pro 14, while a lot more expensive, also sports Apple's fastidious design. Ultimately, the ExpertBook P5 is OK, and that's about it. In terms of build quality, Asus touts its durability testing such as meeting MIL-STD 810H military tests, and I'm sure it's a well-built laptop. But I have to say, the keyboard deck has some flex, and the very thin lid bends easily under even light pressure. The XPS 14 and MacBook Pro 14 are much more rigid, as is the HP OmniBook X and pretty much every other laptop I've reviewed lately. In terms of portability, the ExpertBook P5 also isn't a standout. It's not particularly thin or light, compared to comparable 14-inch laptops. Its top and side display bezels are reasonably thin but the bottom chin is a bit chunky -- and, again working against a quality feel, the bezels are plastic. It's a portable machine, but you won't be choosing it based on that dimension alone. Perhaps the more important design attributes focus on features of interest primarily to businesses. Most of those are around security and reliability, such as the Asus ExpertGuardian functionality that provides various security features at an OS and hardware level. The BIOS is locked down and resilient, and SafeGuard can back up work-related files to a second SSD, including encrypted key files. There's also the aforementioned robustness promises, although as I mentioned, it wasn't readily apparent as I tested the laptop. Keyboard and touchpad The keyboard is a standard island layout, with black keys sporting highly visible and bold lettering and backlighting. There's plenty of key spacing and the keycaps are nice and large, while the switches are a bit loose even for me -- I don't like switches that require a lot of pressure to engage -- and they're a little clunky. It's not my favorite keyboard. The touchpad is mechanical, and it's large enough. It, too, isn't my favorite. Its button clicks are quite harsh and loud, and completely unlike the much better haptic touchpads on the XPS 14 and MacBooks. There's also no-touch-display option, which likely won't matter to all that many but is something I miss when it's not there. Connectivity and webcam Connectivity is reasonably strong, with a mix of modern and legacy ports. That's typical of a lot of 14-inch laptops, although some machines like the XPS 14 are a lot more limited. Businesses tend to demand more ports, so the extras make sense here. Wireless connectivity is up-to-date, with a choice of Wi-Fi 6E or Wi-Fi 7. There's no cellular connectivity, though, which is sometimes on offer with business-class machines. And there's no SD card reader, which is a downside. The webcam is a 1080p version, which has become the newest standard, and it provides a good enough image for videoconferencing. There's an infrared camera for Windows 11 Hello facial recognition, along with a fingerprint reader for more robust business-class security. Performance The star of the show here is the new 17-watt Intel Core Ultra 7 258V, an 8-core (four Performance and four Low Power Efficient cores), 8-thread chipset. It's a member of the Lunar Lake generation, or Core Ultra Series 2, depending on how you want to designate it. The entire purpose of this chipset is to catch up with Qualcomm and Apple in the efficiency game, while still providing strong performance. And that's a challenge, because the Qualcomm Snapdragon X and Apple's M3 chipsets are strong competitors. Really, the Core Ultra 7 258V is tuned more like the Meteor Lake U-series, which runs at 15 watts and, in the Core Ultra 7 155U, has 12 cores and 14 threads. On paper, it's less powerful than the 28-watt Core Ultra 7 155H that sports 16 cores and 22 threads. And then there's the 12-core Snapdragon X Elite and 10-core Snapdragon X Plus, the 12-core/24-thread AMD Ryzen 9 HX 370, and the 8-core CPU/10-core GPU Apple M3 to contend with. Cinebench R24 (single/multi) Geekbench 6 (single/multi) Handbrake 3DMark Steel Nomad Light Asus ExpertBook P5 (Core Ultra 7 258V / Intel Arc 140V) 122 / 471 2679 / 10821 104 2636 Asus Zenbook S 14 (Core Ultra 7 258V / Intel Arc 140V) 112 / 452 2738 / 10734 113 3240 HP OmniBook X (Snapdragon X Elite / Adreno) 101 / 749 2377 / 13490 N/A 1953 Asus Vivobook S 15 (Snapdragon X Plus / Adreno) 108 / 724 2417 / 11319 N/A 1137 Asus Zenbook 14 Q425 (Core Ultra 7 155H / Intel Arc) 103 / 631 2279 / 11806 82 N/A Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 (Core Ultra 7 155U / Intel Arc) 97 / 517 2103 / 8558 101 1523 Asus ProArt PX13 (Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 / RTX 4050) 116 / 897 2710 / 14696 54 7648 MacBook Air (M3) 141 / 601 3102 / 12078 109 3378 All of these chipsets are aimed primarily at demanding productivity users and, with their more common integrated graphics not really suited for creators or gamers. In our comparison group, only the Asus ProArt PX13 has a discrete GPU, and that shows up in the 3DMark Steel Nomad Light benchmark. Even as an entry-level GPU, it blows away this field. But in thin and light laptops like these, we're most concerned about CPU performance, and here the ExpertBook P5 and the Zenbook S 14 with the Core Ultra 7 258V sit close to the middle between the Core Ultra U and H Meteor Lake chipsets. That's most apparent in the Handbrake test that's entirely CPU-intensive, where the ExpertBook P5 was well behind the H-series in the Zenbook 14 Q425. The Lunar Lake single-core performance is a step up, but multi-core performance is lacking. The AMD Ryzen AI 9 37o is a much faster chipset across the board, while the Apple M3 is the fastest at single-core performance while also being fast in multi-core. None of these laptops will be noticeably faster for most users. But the ExpertBook P5 didn't do anything to stand out. I'll note as well that the Lunar Lake NPU is rated at up to 48 tera operations per second (TOPS), compared to Meteor Lake at just 10 TOPS. So, it meets the Copilot+ 40 TOPS NPU requirement, as does Qualcomm's and AMD's latest chipsets. However, we don't have a consistent way to measure NPU performance, and in any case, NPUs are best for more efficient on-device AI performance, while discrete GPUs remain much faster. Battery life As we've seen, all of these laptops are more than fast enough. The real question then becomes: How efficient are they? That's where the real battle lies, and Windows laptops makers have been struggling to catch up with Apple's incredibly efficient machines built around Apple Silicon. Lunar Lake is supposed to bridge the gap, at least until Apple's M4 chipset arrives. Unfortunately, the ExpertBook P5 isn't the best indicator. It has a reasonable amount of battery capacity at 63 watt-hours and an IPS display, compared to the Zenbook S 14 with the same chipset, an OLED display, and a slightly larger 72 watt-hour battery. There's nothing specific to the laptop itself that would hold it back, so when compared to the Zenbook S 14, I would have expected similar battery life. Web browsing Video Cinebench R24 Asus ExpertBook P5 (Core Ultra 7 258V) 8 hours, 54 minutes 16 hours, 29 minutes 2 hours, 15 minutes Asus Zenbook S 14 (Core Ultra 7 258V) 16 hours, 47 minutes 18 hours, 35 minutes 3 hours, 33 minutes HP Omnibook X (Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100) 13 hours, 37 minutes 22 hours, 4 minutes 1 hour, 52 minutes Asus Vivobook S 15 (Snapdragon X Plus) 13 hours, 10 minutes 16 hours, 19 minutes N/A Asus Zenbook 14 Q425 (Core Ultra 7 155H) 12 hours, 25 minutes 18 hours, 1 minute N/A Asus ProArt PX13 (Ryzen AI 9 HX 370) 8 hours, 7 minutes 11 hours, 12 minutes 1 hour, 12 minutes Apple MacBook Air (Apple M3) 19 hours, 38 minutes 19 hours, 39 minutes 3 hours, 27 minutes However, the ExperBook P5 wasn't as impressive as the Zenbook S 14. In our web browsing test, it managed about half as long, and it was about two hours behind in our video looping test. In our Cinebench test that measures how long it lasts when pushing the CPU, it was also well behind the Zenbook S 14. While the Zenbook gave the MacBook Air M3 a run for its money, the ExpertBook P5 did not. In fact, the Zenbook 14 Q425, an outlier among Intel Meteor Lake laptops, was much stronger. Maybe Asus will fix something in firmware and these results will be a lot better. But until then, the ExpertBook P5 is very disappointing. Display and audio The ExpertBook P5 has one display option, a QHD+ (2560 x 1600) IPS panel that runs at a blistering 144Hz. I'm not exactly sure why the refresh rate is so high, given that it's not a gaming laptop, but I suppose it does make for a smooth Windows 11 experience. According to my colorimeter, the display is indicative of the very good IPS panels that manufacturers have been using for several years. I rarely review a laptop with a bad IPS display, even against the great OLED and mini-LED options available. This one was bright at 482 nits, had good colors at 99% of sRGB, 77% of AdobeRGB, and 79% of DCI-P3 with accuracy coming in at a Delta-E (color difference) of 1.18 (1.0 or less is considered excellent). And contrast was very good at 1,510:1. Sure, the Zenbook S 14's OLED display had much wider colors at 100% of sRGB, 96% of AdobeRGB, and 100% of DCI-P3, but its accuracy was unusually bad for OLED at a Delta-E of 4.92. And it wasn't as bright at 313 nits. The point is that the ExpertBook P5's display is more than good enough for productivity users. It won't please creators or media consumers. That's where OLED wins. But for most people, it's a good display. Audio is provided by two downward-firing speakers. They're good enough for watching a YouTube video and hearing notifications, but that's about it. Use some headphones. The ExpertBook P5 proves that not all laptops are created equal We liked the Zenbook S 14 quite a bit. It's not as fast as we hoped, but it had strong battery life, a quality build, and a great OLED display. I was hopeful that the ExpertBook P5 would offer the same qualities, only with a slant toward businesses. Unfortunately, that's not the case. To begin with, the build quality just isn't what it should be. In particular, the lid feels fragile. The ExpertBook P5 is reasonably affordable, but that's not acceptable. And battery life was disappointing, and that's the whole purpose of Intel's new chipset. I can't recommend this laptop.

Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 review: Powerful, portable performer, provided you're plugged in

Quick Links Price, availability, and specs Design and ports Keyboard and touchpad Display, webcam, and audio Performance Should you buy the Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7? Lenovo has long been a name synonymous with business laptops. Most of us have either had a work-issued Lenovo laptop or know someone who has. The ThinkPad line of business workstations has been quite popular across the professional world for years. For 2024, the 16-inch ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 gets upgraded with an Intel Core Ultra CPU, bringing with it a dedicated NPU for AI tasks (and a Copilot key no one asked for). It's not officially labeled as a Copilot+ PC -- that designation is still exclusive to Snapdragon X-powered computers -- but it does bring more of the popular AI features to professional-grade laptops. The P1 is pretty much what you would expect from a Lenovo business laptop -- solid, powerful, and reliable enough to keep up with all your work needs for years to come. However, it doesn't quite have the flexibility or aesthetic appeal of the 2-in-1 ThinkBooks, and it's quite expensive. But if you are looking for a laptop with professional-grade quality and performance, or it's time to upgrade your company's machines, the P1 is a great choice for most people. About this review: Lenovo provided us with a ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 for this review. It had no input in this article and did not see its contents before publishing. Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 7.5/ 10 $3369 $4619 Save $1250 Lenovo continues to deliver exceptional professional-grade laptops that power through even the most demanding tasks. This year, the popular P1 workstations include Intel's new Core Ultra processors for even better performance and efficiency. Unfortunately, they're still held back by one frustrating compromise. ProsPlenty of powerExcellent keyboardSolid webcam ConsPerformance drops significantly on battery powerBase model display is underwhelmingLenovo's pricing structure is always weird $3369 at Lenovo$2860 at B&H Price, availability, and specs Pricey, but quite configurable As is always the case, Lenovo offers quite a few configurations of the ThinkPad P1 Gen 7. The unit I received is packing an Intel Core Ultra 7 165H vPro processor with 32GB of LPDDR5x RAM and 1TB of storage. My review unit has a 16-inch 1920x1200 IPS display running at 60Hz and 400 nits of brightness. You can upgrade that to a 2560x1600 165Hz panel at 500 nits, or a 3840x2400 OLED touch display. The OLED display drops you back down to 60Hz and 400 nits of brightness, however, so keep that in mind. If you want, you can max out the P1 with an Ultra 9 185H vPro, 64GB of RAM, and 8TB of storage (2 slots with 4TB each). The base model of the P1 comes with a Core Ultra 5 135H with an integrated Intel Arc GPU, while upgrading to a Core Ultra 7 or 9 series processor allows you to select a dedicated GPU. The laptop I received has an NVIDIA RTX 1000 Ada GPU with 6GB of GDDR6 RAM. You can opt for an RTX 2000 or 3000 Ada GPU or an RTX 4060 or 4070 GPU if you so desire. Pricing for Lenovo laptops is always a bit weird as the MSRP is almost never what you end up paying. As configured, the MSRP for the device I have is $4,565, but the actual list price is currently much lower than that. That's still expensive for a laptop, but considering it's targeted squarely at professionals and businesses, it makes sense. The best place to get it right now is directly from Lenovo's website. Specifications CPU Up to Intel Core Ultra 9 185H GPU Up to Nvidia RTX 3000 Ada or RTX 4070 Display (Size, Resolution) 1920 x 1200 60Hz, 2560 x 1600 165Hz, 3840 x 2400 60Hz OLED RAM Up to 64GB Storage UP to 8TB Battery 90Wh Ports Two Thunderbolt 4, one USB-C, one USB-A, HDMI 2.1, SD card reader, 3.5mm audio Operating System Windows 11 (Home, Pro), Linux Webcam 5MP with privacy shutter Wi-Fi connectivity Wi-Fi 7 Bluetooth 5.4 Form factor Clamshell Dimensions 13.95 x 9.49 x 0.67 inches (354.40 x 241.21 x 17.05 mm) Weight Starting at 4.03 lbs. (1.82 kg) Colors Black Price Starting at $1,969 Expand Design and ports If it looks like a ThinkPad and works like a ThinkPad... Close The design of the P1 hasn't really changed much over the past few years, aside from getting a bit slimmer. The one notable change across Lenovo's laptops happened a couple of years ago when they introduced the camera protrusion area just above the lid. It's subtle and doesn't get in the way of using the computer at all, but other than the ThinkPad logo on the lid (with the little red light in the "i" ) you couldn't distinguish this computer from any other business laptop on the market. It's a matte black, slim laptop with not much going on visually. While it's not going to win any accolades for being the thinnest and lightest laptop around, it does a pretty good job of being portable. It's about the same size as most other 16-inch laptops in this segment, and at just over 4 pounds, it's not very heavy at all. I never had any problem carrying it out with me when I worked away from the house. As with most Lenovo laptops, especially its professional ones, it's extremely well-made. The top and bottom aluminum covers help keep it cool and great to touch, even if they are fingerprint magnets. The bottom cover also includes 50% recycled plastic, as Lenovo uses a lot of recycled materials in the P1 series, including up to 90% recycled packaging which is nice to see. There's a fairly decent port selection for a productivity-focused computer and I didn't really find myself missing anything. The left side houses the dedicated 170W charging port which is the only way to get fast-charging, two Thunderbolt 4 ports that support up to 100W charging and up to 40Gbps data speeds, a full-sized HDMI 2.1 port, and a 3.5 mm headphone/microphone port. On the other side is a Kensington Nano lock slot, a USB-C port (up to 10Gbps), a USB-A port (5Gbps), and an SD card reader. There's no 5G option on the P1, but it does have Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4, which is nice to see. And there's an option to include an NFC reader if you need that. Since this is a workstation after all, you'll be happy to know that you can use both Thunderbolt and non-Thuderbolt docking stations to hook up to all your accessories. I would say that the lack of a dedicated DisplayPort is a bit of a miss, especially on a professional-grade laptop, but I won't lose any sleep over it. Related Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 (14" Snapdragon) review: A near-perfect business laptop The Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 has it all - great performance, long battery life, a comfortable keyboard, and potent speakers in a ultra-light chassis Keyboard and touchpad Lenovo's keyboard continues to shine along with everyone's favorite red track ball It's been a bit since I've used one of Lenovo's business laptops, and coming back to it was absolutely one of those things that I didn't know I was missing until I got it back. The keyboard on the P1, like most of Lenovo's business laptops, is absolutely wonderful to type on. It offers plenty of click and key travel for fast, accurate typing, without becoming stiff or tiring after a while. I've typed on dozens of different keyboards by now in my life, and this is one of my favorite laptop keyboards I've ever used. This shouldn't be too surprising for anyone who's been around Lenovo business laptops. The only odd thing is that while they finally swapped the left-hand Ctrl and Fn keys on the X1 Carbon laptops, they're still reversed on the P1. Oh well. The other important thing to note is that this is the first P1 series workstation with the new Copilot key built directly into the keyboard. It's on the right-hand side squeezed between the Alt and Ctrl keys. Give it a press, and you too can have the power of Copilot right at your fingertips, even though there are already a dozen and a half other ways Microsoft is trying to force us to use it. Gotta have something to show for that $10 billion investment. But I digress. As great as the keyboard is, unfortunately, I had an issue with the touchpad. It feels good, and the haptic feedback is tuned well with a nice responsiveness, but about a week or so into my testing, I noticed about a half-second lag whenever I laid my finger on it to start moving the mouse. This happened consistently for several hours. Online, I found others experiencing similar issues on other Lenovo machines, so it's not unique to this model. There's no such issue when using the TrackPoint or any external mice I tried. Thankfully, when I opened it back up the next day, it was working just fine again, so I'm not quite sure what happened there. It's just something intermittent that could occur, I suppose. Speaking of the TrackPoint, it still works great, and diehard fans will be happy to know that the left and right clicks for it are still alive and well, just integrated directly into the touchpad. They've also brought over the TrackPoint Quick Menu, which lets you access some customizable quick settings with a double tap on everyone's favorite red trackball. Display, webcam, and audio Do yourself a favor and upgrade from the base display The display on the laptop I was sent is a 1920x1200 LCD display with a 60Hz refresh rate. Thankfully, it's a 16:10 aspect ratio with a matte, anti-glare coating, but it also only tops out at 400 nits of brightness. It's perfectly passable as a generic display for browsing, writing, emailing, and the like, but if you need to do any sort of design or editing work, or if you want it to double as your entertainment machine, you'll want to opt for either the 2560x1600 120Hz screen or even the 2.8K OLED panel (stuck at 60Hz though). The webcam on the P1 is a surprisingly decent 5MP. I used it for a few video calls and I appreciated that I didn't look super washed out or sickly. It's not as high as the 9MP webcam on the HP Spectre x360 14, but it's much better than the 1080p ones we've seen on many other business laptops. It's a refreshing (and welcome) change of pace in today's video-call-centric work environment. The downward-firing speakers were impressively nice as well. Whether listening to music or watching movies on the P1, I was able to hear everything loud and clear with a well-rounded sound as well. There's even Dolby Atmos support included. It's nice to see manufacturers taking those things seriously in their business-focused offerings. Related HP EliteBook 1040 G11 review: The only Meteor Lake laptop you should buy HP's business laptops can't be beat Performance Plenty of power, as long as you're plugged in The P1 workstation has been upgraded to Intel's Core Ultra 7 165H. It packs 16 total cores divided into 6 performance cores, 8 efficiency cores, and 2 low-power efficiency cores. The Ultra series processors provide some pretty decent performance improvements over the older Core series of chips, but the bigger focus is on powering all those fun AI capabilities most of us don't use. BenchmarkThinkPad P1 Gen 7 Core Ultra 7 165H RTX 1000 ADAThinkPad Z16 (Gen 2) Ryzen 9 Pro 7940HS Radeon RX 6500MMacBook Pro 16, M3 MaxHP Spectre x360 14, Core Ultra 7 155H PCMark 1068367616N/A6844 Cinebench 2024 (Single/multi)95 / 852100 / 823N/A100 / 745 3DMark CPU (Max threads)6841N/AN/AN/A Time Spy80824955N/A3727 CrossMark1,718N/A1,993N/A As powerful as the Core Ultra 7 and RTX 1000 Ada GPU are, there's a pretty big caveat when using this laptop, and sadly, it seems to affect other Lenovo laptops as well. While plugged in (and using the included proprietary Lenovo charger) the P1 performs quite well. However, when you unplug it, the performance drops significantly. While 6,836 is a respectable score on PCMark 10, when on battery power, the P1 eeks out a much less impressive 4,608. On Cinebench, the single and multi-core scores drop to 64 and 674 respectively. In truth, this didn't seem to impact my typical workflow of emails, Slack, researching with 20+ tabs open, and writing, but if you mainly do any resource-intensive tasks, you won't want to stray too far from a plug. Even with those unimpressive benchmark scores, I was able to game comfortably on the P1 while on battery power. I ran Borderlands 2 and Modern Warfare 2 without any slowdowns while blissfully unplugged. Keep in mind though that this was on a 1080p display so the GPU didn't have to work quite as hard, so if you opt for a higher resolution, your mileage may vary. And when I say "comfortably," that doesn't mean at a consistent 60fps. It simply means the game ran smoothly with no noticeable lag or hindered gameplay. The RTX 1000 Ada is pretty comparable to the RTX 4050, just tuned a bit more specifically for AI tasks. The same was true when connected to my docking station and dual 27-inch QHD 75Hz displays. I was able to edit video and even do some gaming on it. Again, you won't see the sustained gaming performance you would from a gaming laptop, but it's perfectly suitable for taking a brain break or three during the day. The RTX 1000 Ada GPU powering the P1 is actually quite capable. It's not going to blow you away with the performance, and if you need a dedicated machine for heavy graphics work, video editing, or gaming, you'll want to upgrade to the RTX 3000 Ada or even the RTX 4070, but the RTX 1000 Ada handled everything I needed to without a problem. I did notice the fans kicking up under heavier workloads, but that's to be expected and was never often enough to be an annoyance. While the P1 packs plenty of power for most tasks, you can certainly upgrade it if you need more. A fully specced out model includes 64GB of RAM, 8TB of storage, an Ultra 9 185H, and either an RTX 3000 Ada or RTX 4070 GPU. Related Dell XPS 13 (2024, Lunar Lake) review: Intel is so back Battery life exceeds expectations Should you buy the Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7? It's a great laptop if you don't need anything fancy This is often a tough question, especially with business-focused laptops, and the answer almost always comes down to what you need it for. If your daily workflow mostly involves email, writing, browsing the web, or jumping between meetings, then this is a great workhorse. It's got plenty of power, a fantastic keyboard, an above-average webcam, and pretty solid battery life. Related Best docking stations for Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 5 Discover the best docking stations for incorporating your Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 5 into a full desktop setup You should buy the ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 if: You want a reliable, tried and true workhorse You don't want anything fancy You plan to keep it plugged in most of the time You shouldn't buy the ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 if: You want something that looks cool You need something powerful and portable You need a DisplayPort And even if you do use a lot of power-hungry apps in your workflow, as long as you opt for the higher-end specs, I think you'll be fine. There's not really much to dislike about the P1, except for maybe the price. If you need to save some money, there are lots of other great 16-inch laptops available, many for a lot less. But if your company is footing the bill, or you don't mind spending more money on one of the best workstation laptops you can buy, the P1 is an easy choice. Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 7.5/ 10 $3369 $4619 Save $1250 Lenovo continues to deliver exceptional professional-grade laptops that power through even the most demanding tasks. This year, the popular P1 workstations include Intel's new Core Ultra processors for even better performance and efficiency. Unfortunately, they're still held back by one frustrating compromise. $3369 at Lenovo$2860 at B&H

Asus Zenbook S 14 review: the Lunar Lake laptop delivers power and beauty at a price

Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you're buying the best. Find out more about how we test. The Asus Zenbook S 14 has given us our first real look at what an Intel Lunar Lake laptop is capable of, and we're definitely impressed by what we've seen. Its ceralumium design is stunning, with the material boasting a rugged nature in a lightweight and slim package (coming in at 1.2kg / 2.7lbs and a thickness of 1.2cm / 0.5 inches). Best of all, it doesn't get easily ruined by fingerprint smudges - something which can't be said for many other laptops we've tested. The 14-inch 3K 120Hz OLED display is also beautiful, offering a fluid experience as you scroll through page after page, and a great screen for watching a film after a busy day of work. Unfortunately, the 14-inch screen size can feel a little cramped the moment you want to run two windows side-by-side. I also wish it had a few more ports. The five the Zenbook S 14 offers isn't always enough, and I would have been happy to sacrifice some sleekness to sneak in an extra USB port and maybe an SSD card slot. Performance-wise there's less to complain about. In our benchmarks and real world tests, the Asus Zenbook S 14 performed very well, and we have no doubt it'll serve you well as a productivity machine - even when you're trying to complete several tasks on the PC at once. Though if you've been drawn in by Intel's boasts about Lunar Lake's gaming performance, don't get it twisted. While this machine can run titles like Cyberpunk 2077, you're not getting any higher than the lowest graphical settings, so if gaming prowess is something you value I'd highly recommend looking elsewhere (especially at this price - more on that in a moment). The AI side of things are a little trickier to test right now, because while this machine is Copilot+ ready thanks to Lunar lake's superb NPU, Copilot+ itself isn't ready - the new features don't arrive until November. Though when they do arrive, this laptop should have the specs to handle everything Microsoft wants to throw at it. However this power and beauty comes at a price - $1,499.99 / £1,599 / AU$3,399 for the standard Intel Core Ultra 7 Processor 258V, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB SSD storage model to be precise. And in the UK things can get even pricier; this review has us testing out the £1,749 model, which boasts a 1TB SSD, 32GB of RAM, and an Intel Core Ultra 9 288V Processor. The Asus Zenbook S 14 has a few model variants depending on where you live. The standard model available in the US, UK, and Australia costs $1,499.99 / £1,599 / AU$3,399 and nets you an Intel Core Ultra 7 Processor 258V, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. In the UK you can also find a more affordable £1,299 model which sports an Intel Core Ultra 5 226V Processor , 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. There's a top of the line model as well with a 1TB SSD, 32GB of RAM, and an Intel Core Ultra 9 288V Processor which costs £1,749. At the time of writing, there's no word yet when these models (especially the souped up Ultra 9 model) will make it to other regions. This review was conducted using the top of the line specs, so I can get a feel for what Asus' best Zenbook S 14 model is capable of. This slim and lightweight laptop (weighing in at 1.2kg / 2.7lbs and measuring just 1.2 cm / 0.5 inches thick) is ideal for sticking in your rucksack and carrying with you all day with little challenge. But being lightweight doesn't mean it isn't durable. The Zenbook S 14 is clad in Asus' new ceralumium material which it says combines the best properties of ceramic and aluminum to create a portable yet resilient laptop, which also looks gorgeous. Our Computing Editor Christian Guyton likened the laptop's look and feel to an ancient Roman tablet in these regards and I can absolutely see where he's coming from. Oh, and did we mention ceralumium is 100% recyclable, which Asus says is part of its more sustainable approach to making tech. Beyond aesthetics, one of my favorite aspects of the new ceralumium finish is that it doesn't get easily marked by fingerprints. My partner uses an older Asus Flip and the back is always looking smudgy. The Zenbook S 14 on the other hand is looking as clean as the day I unboxed it - if you ignore the touchscreen. Speaking of, I love the touchscreen. I like to pretend I'm a laptop purist who just wants to rely on a classic mouse (or trackpad) and keyboard to navigate menus, but every time I try a touchscreen PC I find it so convenient, and I got so used to it with the S 14 that when I swapped back to my personal PC I actually tried to swipe on my regular monitor like a fool. It's time for me to accept that touchscreen laptops aren't just a gimmick, though remember to clean your screen every so often. And it's worth keeping the screen clean as the 14-inch 3K 120Hz OLED display looks beautiful. It's perfect for watching a movie or show after a long day's work - with the OLED providing perfect contrast in those dark scenes that are tough to follow on typical LCDs - and the refresh rate makes scrolling through pages a more fluid experience. Though if you're trying to run two windows side by side the 14-inch screen can feel a little cramped. Ports-wise, the Asus Zenbook S 14 boasts five of them - an HDMI 2.1 port, two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports, and a 3.5mm audio port on the left, and a 3.2 Gen 2 USB Type-A port on the right. I would have liked at least one more USB Type-A port so I wouldn't have to unplug my mouse whenever I want I want to use an external drive, and don't feel the extra couple of millimeters it would have added would ruin the S 14's sleekness. Granted, you can always supplement the Zenbook's ports with one of our picks for the best USB-C hubs as a simple solution. The Asus Zenbook S 14 I've been testing is powered by the Intel Core Ultra 9 288V chipset from its latest Lunar Lake chip release. Throw in 32GB of RAM and it's no wonder this laptop was able to perform well in our benchmarks - save for an oddly disappointing Geekbench score, I ran it a few times and it performed consistently at this level. Regardless, the Asus handled everything I threw at it with aplomb - even that one time I was listening in on a video team meet, while also running Lofi Girl's YouTube livestream for some relaxing tunes, and had plenty of other tabs open in the background that I needed to help me research an article I was typing up. It's responsive too, booting up speedily and opening up apps without leaving me waiting around for noticeable periods. Though I did have some issues loading up some of the benchmarking tools when I started testing it - since then however, I can report I faced zero hiccups. You'll also find this machine is equipped with a powerful NPU (it can perform 48 trillion operations per second) for handling AI tasks, plus a dedicated button for calling on Windows Copilot (and Copilot+ when it launches later this year) when you want to talk with the chatbot. Asus says this NPU helps to deliver a 173% better AI performance compared with last gen's Intel chips, so if you care about onboard AI efficiency, it's an important factor to consider. While this laptop is not a gaming machine, I did give it a whirl with a few personal favorites including Marvel Snap and Cyberpunk 2077 to see how well it could do - the latter of which was the title Asus used in its announcement presentation to explain the performance improvements offered by the new Lunar Lake chipset. With every graphics setting at its lowest option - at higher settings things were noticeably choppy - and my PC's power settings at Best Performance, I was able to successfully explore Night City and complete a few missions without much issue. A dedicated external mouse is a must, and the laptop did run hot, but it did work even if the experience was a little rough around the edges. If gaming is a priority, you'll be far better served by the best gaming laptops, but if you like to occasionally amuse yourself every so often and aren't concerned with graphical or performance excellence this Zenbook does a passable job. When Asus announced its latest range of laptops, one standout feature was the Zenbook's battery life, which under the company's offline movie test conditions achieved a total runtime of 27 hours. In our version, we didn't get quite as much juice out of it, but it was still phenomenally impressive - clocking in at 20 hours and 22 minutes. In a more real world test, once it was back up to 100% battery I took it out on a press trip which had me traveling all day. I took my charger with me just in case, but ended up not needing it. The laptop easily survived the day trip, and went until about 3pm the next day, at which point the Zenbook S 14 alerted me that it was time to plug it back in because its battery was starting to run low. With any new laptop, I start by swapping it in for my work PC so I can get a feel for how it handles day-to-day workloads and get it warmed up. I then pass it through the gauntlet of TechRadar benchmark tests to see how its processor handles them, and get a sense for how long the battery lasts. Because it's a portable laptop, I also made sure to take the Asus Zenbook S 14 on any press trips or when I commuted into the office to verify if it's lightweight enough for this task. I also made sure to keep an eye on its ventilation, and how hot the machine can get especially with high-stress tasks. To round things off, I made sure to play a mix of games on the machine, something I was especially keen to try after seeing Lunar Lake's gaming credentials boasted about in several conferences.

This 13-inch laptop I recommend for work travel is not a Dell XPS or MacBook

However, its ultraportable form factor limits it to means it only has USB-C ports. Despite its bite-sized form factor, the ThinkBook 13x Gen 4 is a powerhouse. Lenovo first showed off this ultraportable at CES 2024, and initial impressions were focused around the return of Magic Bay, a mix-and-match family of peripherals that connect to the laptop via magnetic pogo-pins (think MagSafe, but for laptops). Also: I went hands-on with Lenovo's auto-swiveling laptop at IFA 2024, and it's quite the spectacle But even though the Magic Bay products might be the most attention-grabbing, this Lenovo laptop has a lot more going for it under the hood. In fact, this laptop is surprisingly versatile. The ThinkBook 13x Gen 4 comes with the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H processor (2.4 GHz) but can be supercharged with the Intel Core Ultra 9 -- an option I was surprised to see for this laptop -- which propels it to be in line with other performant enterprise machines (raising the price over $400 in the process). The review unit I tested was snappy enough with the Ultra 5 and had absolutely no problems multitasking with a handful of productivity apps and multiple browser tabs across two displays. Also, this laptop is compact enough to make transporting to and from the office a breeze, making me question why I chose to have a 16-inch as my primary driver. But then I started working on the 13.5-inch display, and I remembered. Don't get me wrong, the display on the ThinkBook 13x Gen 4 looks good -- really good, actually, with 500-nit brightness and a 120Hz variable refresh rate. But its size, even at max resolution, results in a screen that can seem a little cramped if you're used to more real estate. Ultimately, it's a tradeoff that comes down to personal preference. The performance and versatility of this laptop tips the scale toward the positive, however. In my benchmarking of this laptop, I got solid read and write speeds from the SSD in PCMark 10, and slightly better performance out of the Intel Core Ultra 5 in Cinebench than I expected. The memory on the ThinkBook 13x is also some of the fastest you can get in an ultraportable of this size, as the 8400MHz dual-channel RAM is soldered in with the intent of future-proofing the laptop. But if you opt for the Intel Core Ultra 5, the maximum amount of RAM you can get is 16GB. In order to bump it up to 32GB, you'll have to spring for the Core Ultra 9 chip. I would have liked to see the 32GB option available with the less expensive processor. Also: Lenovo's newest laptops have a clever solution for iPhone file transferring that you have to see for yourself Following in that vein, this is a laptop looking toward the future, not trying to be backward compatible, and that's evident in its selection of ports. You get three USB-C ports on this machine, all of which are Thunderbolt 4 compatible. With three Thunderbolts, you don't really need an HDMI or USB-A, but it does come with a 3.5mm headphone jack, and the power button is also a fingerprint reader. Despite its small size, the keyboard feels spacious and crisp. Its unique design extends the keyboard all the way to the very edge of the device with virtually no bezels, resulting in satisfyingly thick keys equal in size (or even bigger) than you'd see on a 16-inch. The lack of a right-side number pad compounds this fact further. This laptop's chassis comes in a metallic "Luna grey" colorway and a limited edition white color called "Seashell" that I wish I could have seen up close and personal, as the default gray is thoroughly corporate in appearance. That said, the ThinkBook 13x feels extremely solid -- iron-clad, I would even say -- with virtually no bend or give to the chassis. Its durability is measured against 12 military-grade certification methods, earning it the MIL-STD 810H standard. If you favor this style of laptop, you'll love the laptop, which despite its size, is nothing if not sturdy. Also: How we test laptops at ZDNET in 2024 Okay, let's talk about the Magic Bay. If you're into laptop accessories or have a drawer full of webcams, definitely take a look at this. The modular versatility of the Magic Bay ecosystem gives this laptop (and other Lenovo machines that support it) the ability to wear many hats, depending on the accessories you're into. For example, the Magic Bay Light could act as a ring light if you're taking calls in suboptimal lighting, or the Magic Bay LTE Hotspot can secure your internet connection if the Wi-Fi is spotty. There are also more obvious add-ons, like external storage, fans (for you, not the laptop), or even a second display, although these are in various phases of development and availability. It's the Magic Bay Studio, however, that is the most immediately useful add-on. It's a 4K webcam with built-in speakers, and it elevates this laptop into pro-creator territory. It's yet to be seen how far Lenovo will take the Magic Bay products, but it's something that I think could work well if executed smartly. If you're wondering how all these add-ons relate to the battery life, luckily, the ThinkBook 13x is not lacking in that department. It comes with a 74WHr battery, which is a pretty large capacity for a 13-incher. Also: These 6 new travel gadgets announced at IFA are must-haves for any jet setter In my testing, I got well over 10 hours in PCMark 10's battery test, and slightly less than that running my own test with a YouTube livestream at 50% brightness and 50% volume over Wi-Fi. This is definitely a laptop that can handle a day of heavy work with ease and extend into the second day with light or intermittent use. The last thing that surprised me about this laptop was the sound quality. The Harman Kardon speakers have impressive bass and volume, particularly for such a small machine, adding further to its versatility. If you're looking for a 13-inch laptop that is powerful and versatile, take a serious look at the Lenovo ThinkBook 13x Gen 4. For the sale price of $1,106, the powerful processor options, strong battery life, and the Magic Bay make it a solid 13-inch pick, especially for remote and hybrid workers. If you want a 13-inch laptop with similar specs but is a little easier on the budget, MSI's Prestige 13 AI Evo is a solid alternative that starts at $899. If you like ThinkBooks but are looking for a larger screen, check out the Lenovo ThinkBook 14 2-in-1.