TL;DR: For a limited time, you can grab this 10.4-inch onn. tablet for less than $70. It comes with 64GB of storage, an octa-core processor, and Android 13. Need a solid, no-frills tablet for streaming, light gaming, or web browsing? This onn. Gen 3 Tablet Pro is a reliable Android option — and right now, you can grab a refurbished unit for only $69.99 (reg. $99.99) while supplies last. This model features a 10.4-inch immersive touchscreen, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of internal storage (expandable via microSD). It’s powered by a MediaTek octa-core processor and runs on Android 13 (with the ability to update to Android 14 and access to Google Assistant), so you’re getting a relatively recent OS with access to all the latest apps and updates.Whether you’re streaming Netflix, playing casual games, or just browsing Reddit, it’s more than capable for everyday use. The slim, lightweight build also makes it easy to carry, and built-in WiFi and Bluetooth 5.0 give you solid connectivity options. This refurbished version is tested for full functionality and comes in “Grade A” condition, meaning it has little to no signs of wear or use. You might not even notice that this onn. tablet had a life before arriving to you. If you’re looking for an affordable, versatile tablet that doesn’t feel underpowered, this is a strong pick at this price point.  Pick up a near-mint 10.4-inch onn. Tablet Pro for just $69.99 (reg. $99.99) before inventory sells out for good. onn. 10.4? Tablet Pro (2023) 4GB RAM 64GB Storage Android 13 (Refurbished)See Deal StackSocial prices subject to change. Read...

The US vice-president`s visit with Foreign Secretary David Lammy features prominently on Saturday`s papers. Read...

The Browser Company is best known for its Arc browser, which aims to both innovate and simplify, with a keen focus on usability. But they also have a second browser called Dia in the works, which is being built from the ground up with AI features—and that one seems to be their project of choice, as Arc is no longer in active development. To stoke those fires even further, The Browser Company launched a paid monthly subscription for Dia earlier this week, reports TechCrunch. With Dia Pro, users get two big benefits: first, unlimited access to the browser’s AI chat feature, which can answer questions about the content of open tabs, and second, access to the browser’s Skills feature, which are “shortcuts for repeatable workflows.” The latter includes writing, planning, translating, shopping, learning, and more. Dia Pro costs $20 per month right now, but The Browser Company plans to introduce various other tiers down the road, starting from $5 per month to several hundred dollars per month. Meanwhile, free users will continue to be able to use the Dia browser, but access to AI features will be limited. No details have been shared regarding exact limits, but the company’s CEO previously made a remark along the lines of “using AI features ‘a few times a week.`” Read...

Microsoft will be shutting down the Microsoft Lens app next month, reports Neowin. The app debuted back in 2014 as Office Lens, which was later renamed as Microsoft Lens in 2021. Microsoft Lens is a free app, available on both Android and iOS devices, that lets you do things like scan documents, convert images to PDF/Word/Excel/PowerPoint files, digitize handwritten text, save to OneNote and OneDrive, and more. It’s one of Microsoft’s most highly rated apps, with 4.8 stars and 50M+ downloads on the Play Store. Unfortunately, Microsoft Lens will begin its phase out in mid-September. In mid-October, the app will no longer be available for install on the Play Store or the App Store. In mid-November, the app will be completely removed from both app stores. In mid-December, users won’t be able to create new scans using Microsoft Lens. Microsoft hopes that users will switch to the Microsoft 365 Copilot app, which has a scanning feature as well as many other features. Read...

It’s that time of year again, folks. Whether you’re a freshman heading off to college for the first time or a returning student, you’re going to need a reliable laptop that can carry you through your school years and maybe even beyond. But finding the right laptop for your needs can be like searching for a needle in a haystack–daunting. What screen size should you choose? Do you really need a high-powered processor just for research and web browsing? It can be overwhelming, but that’s where I come in. In addition to overseeing PCWorld’s laptop reviews, I also manage our top-pick roundups, including best laptops and best laptops for college students. Notebooks are my specialty, so I know exactly what to look for in a great college laptop. If you’re not sure where to start, don’t sweat it—I’ll walk you through the process step by step. 6 must-have features in any college laptop Battery life The number one must-have feature when it comes to college laptops? Good battery life, hands-down. You don’t want your laptop to suddenly turn off when you’re in the middle of taking notes for an upcoming exam. I’ve been there and it sucks. So, what’s a good number to hit for battery life? This laptop has insane battery life Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 Gen 10 Aura Edition Read our review I’d recommend a laptop with 10-15 hours of battery life, but we’ve tested a few laptops with Qualcomm processors that last 20+ hours on a single charge while watching video, which is absolutely bonkers. For instance, the Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge lasted 21 hours while the Asus ZenBook A14 lasted 24! The Galaxy Book4 Edge is especially impressive considering it’s a 16-inch laptop with an OLED display and, if you know anything about OLED, you probably know they tend to use more power. While laptops with Qualcomm processors are great for everyday tasks, they don’t always play nicely with specialized PC software that some courses may require. So if you’re in the market for a laptop with an Intel Core or AMD Ryzen processor, both of which offer full software compatibility, we’ve reviewed plenty of those, too. Two standout options: the Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 (15 hours!) and the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 (almost 25 hours!), both of which offer exceptional battery life. Enough power for writing papers and general web browsing You don’t need a ton of power for basic tasks like writing papers, research, general web browsing, and so on. You can easily get by with an Intel Core i3, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of SSD storage. That said, more RAM and storage will improve the speed of the laptop, so you’ll notice a smoother web browsing experience as well as better multitasking performance like being able to simultaneously run multiple applications. If you can afford it, I’d recommend bumping up your configuration to 16GB of RAM and either 512GB or 1TB of SSD storage, especially if you’ve got a big backlog of games in your library. check out our favorite windows laptop for college students Asus Zenbook 14 OLED Read our review A good screen that won’t hurt your eyes Having dealt with eye strain and tension headaches for years, I know how important it is to invest in a laptop with a good screen and you should, too. Whether it’s tuning in to a remote lecture or writing a compare and contrast essay late into the night, you’re going to be staring at the screen a heck of a lot. The minimum resolution I’d recommend is 1920×1080–it’s sharp enough for writing essays, watching Netflix, answering e-mails, scrolling through your synopsis, and so on. Anything lower than 1080p and you’ll find yourself leaning in to squint at the ants, I mean words on your screen. If you’re looking for a laptop with a truly stunning screen, you should definitely check out the Asus ProArt P16, which earned the top spot in PCWorld’s roundup of the best laptops for video editing. Its 4K OLED display is simply to die for. OLED displays are also known for delivering deeper blacks and richer colors than IPS panels, making this laptop a good choice for graphic design majors. A lightweight form factor Nobody wants to be lugging a heavy laptop from class-to-class. If you’ve got a jam-packed schedule this year, then you’ll really need to take a laptop’s weight into consideration. Gaming laptops, for example, tend to be heavier machines often weighing six pounds or more. That’s because they house bigger and more powerful hardware inside. There are a few lightweight gaming options out there in the universe, but if it’s raw power you’re after, chances are you’ll end up with a bulkier one. Anything under four pounds is considered “portable” in the laptop world. That said, folks with weak arms and shoulders (hi, it’s me) may opt for something even lighter. If that’s you, then you’ll want to pick up the Microsoft Surface Pro (2025). It weighs just 1.51 pounds and it’s powerful enough to handle emails and Zoom calls. A superior ultraportable laptop for students Microsoft Surface Pro 2025 Read our review Best Prices Today: Not Available at Amazon The right operating system for your needs When it comes to operating systems, it’s like comparing apples to oranges. Windows, ChromeOS, macOS. They all offer different things, so it really boils down to your specific needs. Are you studying photo or video editing this semester? Then go with Windows, as it offers wider access to applications and browsers you can’t run on ChromeOS. Does simplicity and security matter to you? Chromebooks, which exclusively run ChromeOS, are less vulnerable to attacks because of automatic updates. Chromebooks also tend to be more affordable and don’t require as much maintenance as a Windows laptop. macOS, which you’ll find on Apple laptops like the MacBook Air (M3), integrates really well with other Apple products like the iPhone. Setting up a MacBook is also pretty easy and the whole process feels really polished. check out our best chromebook for students Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 Read our review Best Prices Today: $529.99 at Amazon A comfortable keyboard Whether it’s plugging numbers into a spreadsheet or producing a short story for your fiction class, whatever you’re majoring in, you’re going to be typing a lot in college. That’s why it’s important to buy a laptop with a comfortable keyboard. Let’s talk about key travel for a second. Key travel is the distance the key requires to fully depress and send a command to the computer’s CPU. This distance is measured in millimeters. My rule of thumb? A keyboard with a longer key travel is going to provide a more comfortable typing experience. Anything beyond 1.4 mm of travel is ideal. The most common type of laptop keyboard is a membrane keyboard, which has rubber or silicone underneath each key. Membrane keyboards are quieter and more affordable than the mechanical variety–making them a more suitable option for a classroom environment. Read...

Let’s cut right to the chase: today, you can get a Lenovo Legion 5i laptop with an RTX 5060 for just $1,500 at B&H. Once that crazy bit of info has soaked in, go ahead and jump on this deal because I doubt you’ll find a better one for an RTX 50-series laptop anytime soon — especially one this loaded with features. OLED displays look so delightfully luscious! This Lenovo Legion 5i features a spiffy Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX processor and a whopping 32GB of DDR5 RAM (with some AI capabilities though it isn’t a full-blown Copilot+ PC). Combined with the 1TB SSD, this is a powerful machine that can easily handle Windows 11 Home plus all your apps, games, and browser tabs without slowing to a crawl. But here’s the pièce de résistance: a GeForce RTX 5060 dedicated graphics card, which is absolutely insane for a laptop that only costs $1,500. Granting you access to DLSS 4 and Nvidia’s other latest tech, you’ll be gaming like a fiend on this machine. And it’s going to look sweet on the laptop’s 15.1-inch OLED display with native 2560×1600 resolution and fast 165Hz refresh rate. Other noteworthy bits include a USB4, a USB-C, and three USB-A ports, plus an HDMI 2.1, LAN, and 3.5mm audio ports. That’s a good mixture of connections that makes this laptop adequately future-proofed. It also has Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.3 support, a long-lasting 80-watt-hour battery, and it’s okay for portability at 0.85 inches thick and 4.4 pounds heavy. I repeat, this is a slamming deal on a slamming gaming laptop. Snag this Lenovo Legion 5i for $1,500 at B&H while you still can! There’s “limited supply at this price” so don’t expect it to last forever. Score this RTX 5060 OLED laptop with 32GB RAM for only $1,500Buy now from B&H Read...

If you’re looking for a solid daily driver laptop that won’t cost you an arm and a leg, consider this Dell Latitude model that’s on sale for just $699 at B&H (was $1,099). Yep, that’s right—this productivity laptop with a powerful config is now a whopping $400 off! What’s under the hood? Well, this Latitude 5455 runs on one of those newer Arm-based Snapdragon X Plus processors, making it a Copilot+ PC that’s eligible for all those fancy cutting-edge AI features in Windows 11 and beyond (by the way, it comes pre-loaded with Windows 11 Pro). It’s a responsive machine, too, thanks to its 16GB of fast LPDDR5X RAM and its modestly sized 512GB SSD. The perfect daily driver — especially since Snapdragon laptops last forever on a single battery charge. As for the display, you’re looking at a 14-inch 1920×1200 screen with an okay 60Hz refresh rate, which is fine for work and browsing and streaming but not so great for gaming. For connectivity, you’re getting two cutting-edge USB4 ports and a fast USB-A port, plus a microSD card slot and a 3.5mm audio jack. Other nice features include Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, a 1080p webcam, a backlit keyboard, and a 54-watt-hour battery that’ll last a long time with the Snapdragon chip. Copilot+ laptops are usually pretty expensive—and this laptop was expensive before getting this discount. Act fast to snag this Dell Latitude 5455 for just $699 while you still can! B&H says there’s “limited supply at this price,” so don’t expect it to hang around too long. Save $400 on this powerful AI-ready Dell Snapdragon laptopBuy now from B&H Read...

Despite the best efforts of the spam blockers in my email inboxes, I still get dozens of spam emails every day that I then have to wade through to get to my real emails. The irony is, the more I use my email addresses in online forms, the more spam I get. But I’ve discovered a way to stop the spam ever reaching my inboxes. I now use DuckDuckGo’s Email Protection feature to disguise my real email addresses so that spam emails are sent to the DuckDuckGo designated address instead of my own, but real emails make it through to my real address. In case you haven’t heard of it, DuckDuckGo is a search engine and browser that boasts a suite of privacy and security features. Specifically, it blocks third-party trackers and also blocks targeted ads. It also allows users to delete their data with just one click. Dominic Bayley / Foundry All you have to do to disguise your email address is set up a free “@duck.com” email address in DuckDuckGo and use it as your email address, then designate a forwarding address (your real email). Here’s how to do that. What to do: Download and install the DuckDuckGo browser and make it your default browser. Follow the prompts to set it up. Download and install the DuckDuckGo’s Search and Tracker Protection extension. Open your DuckDuckGo browser. On the home screen click the three bars to the right of the search bar and navigate to Email Protection. Click “Get Started” then “Next” and agree to the terms and conditions. Now follow the prompts to choose a personalized Duck address and then in the field below enter the email address that you’d like emails to your Duck address forwarded to. Now that you have a Duck email address, use this instead of the “real address” to prevent spam reaching your inbox. You can also reply to emails directly from your Duck address if you wish. You can select an alias Duck address to disguise another address. Dominic Bayley / Foundry That’s a wrap for this tip. Be sure to sign up to our PCWorld Try This newsletter if you haven’t already for more tips like this delivered to your inbox twice weekly! Read...

With the constantly evolving security threat landscape introducing new and ingenious methods for hackers and organisations alike to track our movements on the web, our online privacy is increasingly difficult to protect. It can feel like an overwhelming task just to stay safe in a digital world in which so many of our activities have moved online. The UK government recently introduced its UK Online Safety Act to stop younger users encountering harmful content online. It’s a great start to tackling some of the new threats we face today, yet everywhere we look another hazard pops up – be that spyware or fake networks that watch our activity over public Wi-Fi, or use our data and even device configurations to build profiles that might impact the prices we’re offered on insurance and holiday booking sites. One of the best tools to combat these new and emerging threats is a Virtual Private Network (VPN). So, what is that, and how can you choose one you can trust? What is a VPN? A VPN is software that creates an encrypted connection between your device and the online servers you access when using the internet. This means that all the data that travels between the two – the websites you visit, the pages you access, details you type into text fields, account logins, online banking and similar activities – is invisible to hackers and organisations. Even the VPN provider won’t know what you’ve typed or where you’ve been. With a VPN, your online activities have protection from any prying eyes. Getty For more information on how they work, you can also read Are VPNs legal in the UK? When should you use a VPN? VPNs are useful in a wide range of settings. One of the most important is when using public Wi-Fi networks, such as in airports, trains stations or coffee shops. It’s easy for hackers to set up fake networks that look like the real thing, but steal all your data or watch what you do. With a VPN your connection is encrypted, so the attackers can’t see your actions. Online banking is another time when a VPN should be used, as it adds an additional level of security to your transactions. A helpful feature offered by VPNs is the ability to hide the location of your network or even make it look like you’re in another country. This can be useful when you’re travelling and want to access the content you would normally use back home. The VPN could make it appear that you are still browsing from your home location. VPNs are not intended to contravene local legislation, but when they are used in the correct way they are incredibly powerful tools that can bolster your online privacy and security. Getty Which VPN should you use? It’s important to choose the right VPN, as you’ll need to trust that it’s doing what it says and protecting you from the attacks that exist online. Norton is a brand synonymous with security and data safety, so Norton VPN is an excellent choice. The service offers the assurance of the Norton name and has a no-logs policy, meaning the company keeps no records of your online browsing and can’t see your data, all of which is verified by independent audits from VerSprite. Norton VPN is quick and easy to use and includes a built-in ad-blocker to help stop you being pestered or tracked while you browse. Norton VPN Standard costs £19.99 for the first year, but you’ll find additional features available on two other tiers if you want even more convenience and protection online. Norton VPN Plus (£24.99 for the first year) gives you everything from the Norton VPN Standard package, but adds powerful AI technology that actively works to detect and help protect you from online scams. It also monitors the dark web for your personal information that may have been compromised. And it includes a password manager, which makes logging into your online accounts incredibly simple as you need only remember one password – Norton does the rest, and it throws in for Windows PCs 10GB of cloud storage for valuable files. The most comprehensive toolset is found in Norton VPN Ultimate (£29.99 for the first year), which boosts the cloud storage to 50GB and introduces parental control features including location supervision for iOS and Android devices, so you can not only keep your family safe online but also know where they are in real life. Sign up for a 7-day free trial of Norton VPN today! Each of the Norton VPN suites offers a 7-day trial: so you can try Norton VPN and see for yourself how it can improve your online safety. The digital world is continually changing, as are the threats to its users, so it’s a good idea to keep your privacy and security tools up to date. A VPN is a simple way to defeat some of the most prevalent attacks out there, all while staying out of the way and letting your get on with your life. If only everything was this easy. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Rollable OLED is reliable Extra screen space just a keypress away Solid Lunar Lake performance Cons Expensive (naturally) Battery life takes a hit A portable monitor may be more practical Few ports Our Verdict The world’s first laptop unrolls extra screen real estate from below the keyboard at the push of a button. It works well, and the tradeoffs are all worth it if you want a rollable display. If the sticker price doesn’t phase you, you’ll love it. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable Retailer Price Check Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices The Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable is a 14-inch laptop that unrolls into a tall 16.7-inch display when you press a button on the keyboard. Lenovo proudly proclaims this is the world’s first rollable laptop. You have a bunch of extra screen real estate built into your laptop, and you can access it at the press of a button. I’m shocked how cool this is: Lenovo has taken the kind of product you’d see as a tech demo at CES and turned it into a real, solidly engineered laptop that anyone can buy. Yes, it’s expensive, but the fact that you can get this kind of one-of-a-kind experience at a few thousand bucks is just awesome. Lenovo has been delivering lots of wild laptop concepts, like the dual-display Yoga Book 9i. Given the price, these laptops aren’t for most people. But if you like the idea, they’re the only real game in town. Lenovo should be applauded for delivering these concepts as real, buyable products. Machines like these demonstrate why PCs are awesome. Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable: Specs The Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable is available in one single configuration. This laptop includes an Intel Core Ultra 7 258V CPU — that’s a Lunar Lake CPU, which means it has excellent battery efficiency and impressive integrated graphics performance alongside an NPU powerful enough for Microsoft’s Copilot+ PC features. However, Lunar Lake only has eight cores — four performance cores and four low-power efficient cores — so CPU-heavy multithreaded workflows will lag compared to other CPU architectures. Alongside that, Lenovo includes a generous 32GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD storage. Model number: Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable CPU: Intel Core Ultra 7 258V Memory: 32GB LPDDR5X Graphics/GPU: Intel Arc 140V NPU: Intel AI Boost (48 TOPS) Display: 14-inch 2000×1600 OLED display that unrolls into a 16.7-inch 2000×2350 display, 120Hz refresh rate Storage: 1TB PCIe Gen4 SSD Webcam: 1440p camera Connectivity: 2x Thunderbolt 4 (USB Type-C), 1x combo audio jack Networking: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 Biometrics: Fingerprint reader and IR camera for facial recognition Battery capacity: 66 Watt-hours Dimensions: 11.95 x 9.08 x 0.75 inches Weight: 3.72 pounds MSRP: $3,299 as tested Lenovo has taken the kind of product you’d see as a tech demo at CES and turned it into a real, solidly engineered laptop that anyone can buy. Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable: Design and build quality IDG / Chris Hoffman The Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable has great build quality, actually! This does not feel like the world’s first rollable laptop — it feels like a polished second or third generation version of the concept. At a glance, the Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 looks like a silver Lenovo ThinkBook laptop that’s just a bit bulkier than normal. It has a serious-looking hinge, which looks like the kind of hinge you’d see on a 2-in-1 machine. Aside from the slight extra bulk — it’s only a bit thicker than normal, and at 3.72 pounds, it’s not even that much heavier than a normal laptop — this could pass for a standard Lenovo laptop — until you see the screen. Rather than the screen ending in a bezel, the screen continues past a seam down into the laptop, under the keyboard. To unroll the laptop, you just have to ensure it’s at the right angle — 90 degrees works, or a bit further back — and then press the key to the right of F12. A motor kicks into action and unrolls the screen, making the laptop taller as the rollable OLED display unrolls from underneath the keyboard. To roll it back up, you’ll press the key again. (If your screen isn’t at a good angle for rolling, the key won’t do anything.) The motor and hinge feel incredibly reliable. Time will be the real test, but this feels solid. In fact, it feels more reliable than my foldable Galaxy Phone, as I’m folding that with my hands using various degrees of pressure, while this machine has a motor that unrolls and rolls it nicely. Lenovo includes its own software that handles resolution switching when the screen rolls and unrolls, as well as a “ThinkBook Workspace” pane designed to live at the bottom area of the screen when it’s unrolled. Workspace works fine, but I preferred to stick with my usual Windows software. Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable: Keyboard and trackpad IDG / Chris Hoffman The Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable has a fine keyboard. Lenovo tends to be good at keyboards, and this feels on the shallow side compared to other Lenovo keyboards I’ve used. A slightly shallow keyboard is no surprise: This machine, after all, has a display that rolls up and fits under the keyboard. It’s not mushy, but it is a tad rubbery and doesn’t feel as “snappy” as I’d like. This isn’t even a criticism — of course a rollable laptop won’t have the most keyboard travel. If you like the idea of a rollable laptop, you shouldn’t let the keyboard stop you. If you’re wondering whether other high-end Lenovo laptops like the ThinkPad X1 Carbon have snappier keyboards, though: Yes, yes they do. This machine has a touchpad that’s a good size. It’s a haptic trackpad, too — that means you can customize the action and use the whole touchpad surface to click down. Combined with the size, it’s a great touchpad with smooth action. However, the surface feels a little rubbery, and a glass touchpad always feels a little smoother under the finger to me. These really aren’t criticisms — I’m just relaying what the experience of using the laptop is like. The keyboard and trackpad work well, and you’ll be pleased with them if the rollable display is your main draw here. Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable: Display and speakers IDG / Chris Hoffman The Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable’s display is its star feature. It’s a rollable OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and up to 400 nits of brightness. When rolled up, it’s a 14-inch display with a 2000×1600 resolution. When unrolled, it’s a tall 16.7-inch display with a 2000×2350 resolution. If you’ve used a foldable phone, you’ll be familiar with the “crease” in the middle of the display, where it folds. Since it’s a rollable, it doesn’t have a single crease, but it does have some crease-look visual artifacts where it folds. They’re very well hidden — you have to look at it from just the right angle in just the right lighting to see anything that looks unusual. The screen looks good, but make no mistake: The rollability is its main feature. I’ve seen laptops with high-end OLED displays that are brighter with more vivid colors. But, for a rollable display with such an unusual size and resolution, this is an impressive showing. This is not a touch-screen display, however. If you’re looking for a touch screen, this is not the machine for you. This machine’s Harman Kardon speakers sound unusually great. I test every laptop I review by playing Steely Dan’s Aja and Daft Punk’s Get Lucky. They had plenty of volume, and the audio quality was crisp with decent instrument separation in Aja. The sound was balanced enough in Get Lucky that, even without a ton of bass, the sound sounded great — nothing tinny and enough bass to be fun. We’re grading on a scale since these are laptop speakers, of course — but these are unusually good. Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable: Webcam, microphone, biometrics The Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable has a 1440p 5MP webcam that offers a clear image without visual noise even in lighting conditions that weren’t the most ideal. Lenovo didn’t cut any corners here, and this is the kind of webcam that will make you look professional in online meetings. Also, since this machine meets Microsoft’s Copilot+ PC requirements, it has access to Windows Studio Effects for real-time webcam effects like fake eye contact and background blur. And it has a privacy shutter switch, too. The dual-array microphone setup sounds excellent, and it picked up my voice in high quality. The ThinkBook line of PCs is marketed for business users, and Lenovo has delivered hardware that works very well for online meetings. This machine offers both a fingerprint scanner and an IR camera, so you can sign into your PC and authenticate with Windows Hello using whichever you prefer. The fingerprint reader is part of the power button on the right side of the laptop. Both worked well. Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable: Connectivity IDG / Chris Hoffman The Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable skimps on the ports. On the left side, you’ve got a combo audio jack for headphones and a microphone and two Thunderbolt 4 (USB Type-C) ports. That’s it. This machine charges via USB-C, so one of those ports on the left will be used by the power cable while it’s charging. In general, it would be nice to have more ports or at least a Thunderbolt 4 port on both sides. However, this machine includes a rollable display and a motor while not being much thicker than the average laptop, so obviously there wasn’t as much room for ports — it makes sense. Still, bear in mind that you may need a dock or a dongle. It’s a little funny — this machine promises easy access to more screen real estate so you won’t have to bring a portable monitor with you. But it has fewer ports — so, depending on how many peripherals you need, you may find yourself bringing a dongle or dock with you instead. Thanks to Lunar Lake, this machine supports both Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4. I had no problems with wireless connectivity. Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable: Performance The Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable has an Intel Lunar Lake chip — specifically, the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V. Lunar Lake has always delivered snappy performance in desktop productivity apps, and it does the same in this machine. As always, though we ran the Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable through our standard benchmarks to see how it performs. IDG / Chris Hoffman First, we run PCMark 10 to get an idea of overall system performance. With an average overall PCMark 10 score of 7,703, Lenovo’s rollable laptop delivers solid Lunar Lake-powered performance. IDG / Chris Hoffman Next, we run Cinebench R20. This is a heavily multithreaded benchmark that focuses on overall CPU performance. Since it’s heavily multithreaded, CPUs with more cores have a huge advantage. With an average Cinebench R20 multi-threaded score of 4,060, the Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Rollable delivered performance in line with other Lunar Lake-powered laptops. They just don’t have as many cores as other chips, including Intel’s previous-generation Meteor Lake chips and AMD’s Ryzen AI 9 series. IDG / Chris Hoffman We also run an encode with Handbrake. This is another heavily multithreaded benchmark, but it runs over an extended period. This demands the laptop’s cooling kick in, and many laptops will throttle and slow down under load. The Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable took an average of 1,599 seconds to complete the encode process — that’s over 26 and a half minutes. It was a bit slower than even other Lunar Lake-powered machines, which suggests that the thermal profile of this machine is impacted by the additional display and motor mechanism — in other words, it can’t cool itself as well as some other Lunar Lake-powered machines and throttles more under load. That’s no surprise. IDG / Chris Hoffman Next, we run a graphical benchmark. This isn’t a gaming laptop, but it’s still good to check how the GPU performs. We run 3Dmark Time Spy, a graphical benchmark that focuses on GPU performance. With a 3Dmark Time Spy score of 4,483, Lenovo’s rollable laptop offered great integrated graphics performance, only falling short to laptops with discrete graphics. That’s a great score. Overall, Lenovo’s ThinkBook Plus delivered the results we’d hope to see: Good Lunar Lake performance that only struggles with heavily multi-threaded workloads. The slightly slower Handbrake result isn’t an issue — if you plan on doing heavily multi-threaded CPU-hungry workloads, a machine like this one isn’t the one for you. It’s a portable productivity machine with a lot of extra display. Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable: Battery life The Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable has a 66 Watt-hour battery, which is a decent size but not the largest. It’s battery life fell short of other Lunar Lake machines. Displays tend to be a big contributor to power usage, this suggests that the large rollable OLED display is unusually power hungry compared to the average laptop’s display. IDG / Chris Hoffman To benchmark the battery life, we play a 4K copy of Tears of Steel on Windows 11 with airplane mode enabled until the laptop suspends itself. We set the screen to 250 nits of brightness for our battery benchmarks. This is a best-case scenario for any laptop since local video playback is so efficient, and real battery life in day-to-day use is always going to be less than this. The Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable lasted for an average of 761 minutes — that’s over 12 and a half hours. That number sounds good, but it’s hours shorter compared to other Lunar Lake-powered systems. (For example, the Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro hit nearly 24 hours in our benchmark — but it’s not a rollable laptop.) You’ll have to plug this machine in a bit more often than the average Lunar Lake laptop. But, if you love this laptop, you’ll make it work. Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable: Conclusion The Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 is incredible. The rollable display and motor action feel incredibly solid, and I was never worried about them. You get a display that gives you a lot of extra screen real estate at the press of a button, and it all rolls up on the keyboard when you want portability. This is why PCs are awesome — because machines like this can exist for the people who want them. If you want a rollable laptop, this one delivers. Is this the right machine for the average laptop buyer? Of course not — the $3,300 price is both impressive for bleeding-edge first-of-its-kind product and above the average laptop buyer’s price range. Even if you do want to spend this much, you’ll have to consider the trade-offs — like less battery life compared to other Lunar Lake systems — and decide what you value. But it’s an awesome machine, and it works as well as I’d hoped. If this is a little too rich for your blood, though, consider a portable monitor. It doesn’t feel like a sci-fi product the way a rollable laptop does and you’ll have to carry two things, but it’s a much less expensive way to have extra screen real estate on the go. Read...