Allen Ngo

The Crosshair A16 HX is laser-focused on optimizing CPU and GPU performance alongside a high quality IPS display while trimming away luxuries like RGB lights, long battery life, good speakers, G-Sync, and Advanced Optimus. Gamers on tighter budgets may find the Crosshair worthwhile.

The 240 W adapter leaves almost no overhead for charging when running demanding loads simultaneously such as games.

The Ryzen 9 8940HX is great on gaming laptops where raw multi-thread performance often takes priority over integrated GPU or NPU performance.

The new OmniBook X Flip 14 is even more impressive than the OmniBook Ultra Flip 14 with more CPU performance, more ports, and a revised keyboard and look. However, most SKUs are limited to just a 60 Hz touchscreen despite the ~$1500 asking price.

For more graphics power, users will want to consider the clamshell OmniBook X 14 over its 2-in-1 version as only the former comes with the highly praised Arc B390 integrated GPU.

The Intel Panther Lake option is up to $500 more expensive with very little to show for the upcharge against an otherwise similarly configured AMD Zen 5 option.

Despite all the criticisms about the Snapdragon X1E series, Qualcomm is back this year with Snapdragon X2E. Results are extremely speedy beating out even the Intel Panther Lake Core X9 series in many ways.

Qualcomm does what Qualcomm does best: The Yoga Slim 7 14Q8Y11 is easily the longest-lasting 14-inch Yoga model in recent memory all thanks to its Snapdragon CPU.

The Snapdragon series for Windows ARM has come a long way in just a year with performance levels that now rival or often surpass top-end mobile Panther Lake-X or Zen 5 options.

The Dell Pro 7 14 continues the Latitude tradition of prioritizing functionality and ease-of-use above controversial features like the zero-lattice keyboard. It's also one of the few laptops to ship with up to the Ryzen AI 9 HX Pro 470 CPU.