One of the best and easiest ways to upgrade your home entertainment system is to get a Fire TV Stick, and now’s a great time to do it because the Fire TV Stick 4K Max is now just $40 on Amazon. That’s a notable 33 percent discount off its usual $60 price tag, and this is a fantastic price for a device that’s useful for anyone who wants to stream content to their TV. It’s compatible with most streaming services, and Microsoft recently made it possible to play hundreds of Xbox games on Fire TV even without an Xbox console. The Fire TV Stick 4K Max in particular lets you watch movies and TV shows in 4K quality from Netflix, Disney+, and more, complete with superb colors and sharp details, along with both Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. It’s the ultimate home entertainment experience, and the best of the Fire TV Stick models. The Fire TV Stick 4K Max features a strong processor, so it’s smoother and faster than its siblings, and when you aren’t watching anything, you can turn your TV into a piece of art by picking from the thousands of wallpaper options in the Fire TV gallery. If you’re ready to upgrade your home entertainment setup, grab this Fire TV Stick 4K Max for just $40 on Amazon while this deal lasts. The Fire TV Stick 4K Max is fantastic at this priceBuy now on Amazon Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating ProsA new high mark for motion clarityExcellent image qualityEasy-to-use menu with many optionsBroad official Adaptive Sync supportConsStand is too largeNo USB-COur VerdictThe Asus ROG Swift PG27AQDP sets a new high bar for motion clarity—and has great image quality, too. Best Prices Today: Asus ROG Swift PG27AQDP Retailer Price Asus $999 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Well, that escalated quickly. OLED monitors were just beginning to go mainstream in 2023 as new, more affordable panels hit retailers. But now, in mid-2024, we’re amid a full-on OLED monitor war. Multiple manufacturers have deployed multiple OLED monitors across a variety of sizes and price brackets. Even the most affordable of these have a display size of at least 27 inches, and most also have a refresh rate of at least 240Hz. Asus’ latest salvo in this fight takes motion clarity to new heights: It’s the first monitor to deliver 480Hz at 2560×1440 resolution. Asus ROG Swift PG27AQDP specs and features The Asus ROG Swift PG27AQDP would seem like a typical OLED monitor if not for one fact: It has a maximum refresh rate of 480Hz, which is available at the monitor’s native resolution of 2560×1440. A few OLED monitors have arrived with a 480Hz refresh rate, but could only achieve it at a resolution of 1920×1080. The PG27AQDP is the first to achieve 480Hz at 1440p. Display size: 26.5-inch ultrawide 16:9 aspect ratio Native resolution: 2560×1440 Panel type: QD-OLED Refresh rate: Up to 480Hz Adaptive sync: Adaptive Sync, Nvidia G-Sync, AMD FreeSync HDR: VESA DisplayHDR 400 certified Ports: 2x HDMI 2.1, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x USB-B 3.1 Gen 1 (upstream), 2x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 (downstream), 1x 3.5mm headphone jack VESA mount: 100x100mm Speakers: No Price: $999 Refresh rate aside, the PG27AQDP’s specifications are a bit basic. It has three video inputs, but lacks USB-C. The monitor also lacks built-in speakers. These issues aren’t enough to distract from the monitor’s strengths, however. Further reading: See our roundup of the best gaming monitors to learn about competing products. Asus ROG Swift PG27AQDP design The Asus ROG Swift PG27AQDP is a nice-looking monitor from most angles and holds up to close inspection. Asus provides slim bezels on all four sides of the display, with only a small chin centered in the lower bezel to provide access to the monitor’s menu controls. Around back, Asus uses the OLED panel’s thin profile to deliver a svelte look. The rectangular enclosure which houses the mainboard and connectivity, meanwhile, is adorned with bold Asus branding and uses transparent plastics, which is a nice touch. I think it’s gaudy when compared to the latest monitors from Alienware, Samsung, and LG, but gamers looking for a monitor that screams “I’m a gaming monitor” at the top of its lungs will like it, and the design is consistent with Asus’ ROG brand. There’s no mistaking the Asus ROG Swift PG27QDP as anything other than a gaming monitor. There’s no mistaking the Asus ROG Swift PG27QDP as anything other than a gaming monitor. Matthew Smith / Foundry There’s no mistaking the Asus ROG Swift PG27QDP as anything other than a gaming monitor. Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry The PG27AQDP includes RGB-LED lighting. It has a downward-firing light from the stand base, which is available on many Asus ROG monitors, as well as RGB-LED lighting built into the rear of the display panel for extra flair. The RGB-LED lights look nice, though I find the downward-firing light a bit annoying and prefer to turn it off. Your mileage may vary. The PG27AQDP adopts Asus’ common tripod-style ergonomic stand which adjusts for height, tilt, swivel, and pivot. The stand is nearly as wide as the display panel, and much deeper than normal, so it occupies far more desk space than is necessary. Not everyone will find this a problem, but it’s annoying if you want to use your desk as something other than a perch for your monitor. Of course, the monitor does support a 100x100mm VESA mount, so an alternative monitor stand or arm is an option. As a bonus, the PG27AQDP has a threaded mount at the top of the stand. The mount can be used to support a camera, microphone, key light, or anything else that will attach to it. It’s a handy extra for any streaming or home office setup that places a camera or microphone above the display. Asus ROG Swift PG27AQDP connectivity and menus The Asus ROG Swift PG27AQDP’s video connectivity is typical for a gaming monitor. It spans two HDMI 2.1 ports and one DisplayPort 1.4. That’s a total of three video inputs, which should be enough for most gamers. It allows you to connect a computer and two game consoles at once. All video inputs can achieve the monitor’s maximum refresh rate and resolution. With that said, the PG27AQDP is conspicuously missing USB-C. Some competitor monitors now have USB-C with DisplayPort as an alternative video input and data connection. The lack of USB-C might be annoying if you wanted to dock a laptop to the monitor instead of, or in addition to, a gaming desktop. There is some USB connectivity in the form of a single USB-B upstream input that drives two USB-A ports. That’s better than nothing, but it’s not much. On the whole, USB connectivity is not among the monitor’s strengths. A joystick-style control, centered on the lower bezel, can be used to adjust the monitor’s on-screen menus. It is responsive and easy to use, and Asus’ menus are well-labeled. However, as with many competitors, the font size is a bit small. The monitor’s options and settings can also be accessed through DisplayWidget, a Windows application available to download from Asus’ website. The Asus ROG Swift PG27QDP on-screen menu. The Asus ROG Swift PG27QDP on-screen menu.Matthew Smith / Foundry The Asus ROG Swift PG27QDP on-screen menu.Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry A wide range of image quality options, including color temperature and gamma adjustments, are available, and are flanked by gaming features like an on-screen crosshair and a black equalizer designed to make enemies easier to see in dark areas of a game. Asus also adds AI-assisted features that are meant to automate functions like the Shadow Boost, the on-screen crosshair, and Sniper mode. I can see some of these features having some use; the AI Shadow Boost feature, in particular, could be handy since it will boost dark areas of the scene when required but have less impact on image quality when it’s not needed. However, I didn’t feel much benefit from these features. I think their usefulness remains to be proven. Like many OLED monitors, the PG27AQDP provides the option to constrain the visible display space to that of a 24.5-inch monitor. That might seem odd, but competitive gamers sometimes prefer this, as it keeps the entire display space within their field of vision. Here, the 24.5-inch mode has a resolution of 2368×1332 and can achieve the maximum refresh rate of 480Hz. The monitor also supports a 4:3 mode, which might be handy for retro games that never received proper widescreen support. The PG27AQDP does not include speakers, which is another area where the monitor is behind some competitors. For example, the LG UltraGear 32-inch has an excellent built-in sound system. But that said, many monitors don’t include speakers — and many gamers prefer to use a headset — so it’s not a major disadvantage. With the PG27AQDP, even small objects, like a baseball whizzing across a field, appear razor-sharp and easy to identify. Asus ROG Swift PG27AQDP SDR image quality The Asus ROG Swift PG27AQDP has an LG WOLED display panel, which differs from the Samsung QD-OLED panels found in many OLED monitors. WOLED doesn’t quite defeat QD-OLED’s color performance, but it’s a contender. Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry The Asus ROG Swift PG27AQDP makes a strong showing in SDR brightness, where it achieved a maximum sustained brightness of 310 nits. That’s better than average for an OLED monitor. While most OLED monitors are more than bright enough to use in a room with light control, they can look dim if placed next to a sunlit window. The PG27AQDP isn’t immune to that, but it fairs better than most. Asus opts for an anti-glare display coating instead of the more common glossy finish. This is a controversial choice among OLED fans, as in some lighting conditions it may cause dark areas of the screen to appear slightly brighter than on a glossy OLED panel. On the other hand, an anti-glare coat can reduce reflections and look more attractive when viewing documents or photos. Ultimately, your choice between a glossy and anti-glare will depend on your needs. I prefer the anti-glare finish. Contrast was effectively perfect in tests. The monitor can achieve a minimum luminance of zero nits, which means dark areas of the display are perfectly black. Nearly all OLED monitors can achieve the same result, so it’s not an advantage for the PG27AQDP. Still, the monitor’s excellent contrast contributes greatly to its gorgeous SDR image quality, and it gives the monitor a huge advantage over less expensive monitors with an IPS or VA display panel. Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry Color gamut is another strong suit for OLED monitors. However, monitors with an LG WOLED panel, such as the PG27AQDP, tend to perform slightly worse than those with a Samsung QD-OLED panel. The PG27AQDP achieved 96 percent of DCI-P3 and 88 percent of AdobeRGB. By comparison, the Gigabyte Aorus FO27QS achieved 98 percent of DCI-P3 and 95 percent of AdobeRGB. This is not a major concern for nearly all users, including gamers. The PG27AQDP’s color gamut is far more than enough to deliver a vibrant, saturated image that looks fantastic. However, if you’re an artist or photographer who needs to have a monitor that can display as many gradations of color as possible, the PG27AQDP is not your best choice. Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry The PG27AQDP solid color accuracy results are better than most WOLED monitors I have tested and closer to what QD-OLED monitors typically achieve. The default color accuracy is good enough to look realistic and should be suitable for a wide range of tasks, from gaming to photo and video editing. The PG27AQDP’s achieved a default color temperature of 7000K, which is cooler than our preferred target of 6500K, and an on-target gamma curve of 2.2. What does this mean in reality? Well, the PG27AQDP can look a bit cooler and more sterile than we prefer to see. The difference is large enough for it to be noticeable if you know what you’re looking for, or if the monitor is compared side-by-side with another. However, the monitor provides a wide range of image quality controls, so you can adjust the monitor to look warmer if you prefer. As mentioned, the PG27AQDP has 2560×1440 resolution which, at its size, works out to about 109 pixels per inch. That’s the typical pixel density for a 1440p display, and it looks sharp enough in most situations. OLED monitors can at times suffer degraded sharpness due to how their sub pixels are arranged, a problem I find most noticeable when reading small text. Asus tries to combat that with a “Clear Text Algorithm” which, to my eyes, is somewhat effective. Small fonts can still look a bit pixelated or aliased, but the monitor’s sharpness is enough to provide a crisp look to games and Netflix, among other entertainment. The PG27AQDP doesn’t reach new heights in SDR image quality, but instead delivers performance that’s typical of a 27-inch OLED monitor. Fortunately, that’s a high bar, so simply meeting it results in excellent image quality. The monitor looks great in SDR. Asus ROG Swift PG27AQDP HDR image quality The Asus ROG Swift PG27AQDP’s focus on motion clarity makes it easy to overlook the monitor’s HDR performance. That would be a mistake, because it performs well in HDR. Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry LG’s latest WOLED display panels, like the one used by the PG27AQDP, tend to outperform current Samsung QD-OLED monitors in HDR brightness. The PG27AQDP didn’t disappoint, as shown on the graph above. Although the new Asus didn’t set records, it performed well across the board, and delivered a rich, vivid experience. Scenes that call for the entire display to be brightly lit are the PG27AQDP’s only weakness: It’s better at rendering a lightning strike than a snowy mountainside. But that downside is shared with other OLED displays. The PG27AQDP goes the extra mile with the option to unlock brightness in HDR mode. Normally, a display’s HDR mode locks user control of brightness to ensure content is displayed with the appropriate brightness. But this can be annoying on a monitor, which may display a variety of SDR and HDR content simultaneously in various windows or across various displays. The PG27AQDP’s option to adjust HDR brightness gives users more control over their experience. Asus ROG Swift PG27AQDP motion performance There’s a lot of reasons to like the Asus ROG Swift PG27AQDP, but motion clarity is the reason to choose it from the buffet of excellent OLED displays now available. The PG27AQDP is the first 1440p 480Hz monitor, and it looks stunning in motion. This is not the first 480Hz OLED monitor we’ve reviewed. Several earlier monitors, like the Asus ROG Swift PG32UCDP, could reach 480Hz, but only if the resolution was reduced to 1920×1080. The PG27AQDP can hit 480Hz at 256 x1440, which means it’s sharper both in motion and at rest. The result is superb clarity. In many cases, moving scenes appear almost perfect. This is not technically correct, but the appearance of motion blur is so reduced that even small objects, like a baseball whizzing across a field, appear razor-sharp and easy to identify. I was also able to make out details while scrolling across a map in League of Legends. Every individual tick in a character’s hitpoint bar, every UI element, and every font was legible. The same is also true for some other high-refresh rate monitors, like the Asus ROG Swift PG32UCDP and the Alienware AW2524HF. But they only reach 1080p resolution at their maximum refresh rate, so they’re not as sharp overall. Asus includes Extreme Low Motion Blur (ELMB), a feature that strobes the monitor at an extremely high frequency. Due to oddities of how human vision works, this has the effect of reducing motion blur. However, the feature is only available at a refresh rate of 120Hz or 240Hz. This is less of a problem than it might seem; most games will not run at a frame rate high enough to maximize the clarity of 480Hz (to do so requires the game to run at 480 frames per second). ELMB can come into play as an alternative for more typical refresh rates, and it does a good job minimizing motion blur. I don’t want to mince words here. The PG27AQDP has the best motion clarity of any monitor I’ve witnessed to date. Recently, I’ve felt the need to make this declaration every few months, as new monitors continually leapfrog each other with ever-higher refresh rates. But the PG27AQDP is the new high bar that others must clear. If you’re coming from an older 60Hz monitor, well, you’ll be in for a bit of a shock. The difference is astounding. Adaptive sync is supported, as well, for smooth frame pacing and motion in games. The PG27AQDP lists support for the Adaptive Sync, Nvidia G-Sync, and AMD FreeSync standards. In practice, support for any of these should support them all, as they are generally compatible. But it’s good to see Asus list support for all three, as it helps gamers understand that adaptive sync will work with their particular video card. Should you buy the Asus ROG Swift PG27AQDP? The Asus ROG Swift PG27AQDP is yet another great OLED monitor from Asus, which continues to bang out hits through 2024. While I’m not a fan of Asus’ design, and I’d prefer to see USB-C included, it’s difficult to argue with the PG27AQDP’s image quality. It delivers a new high bar for motion clarity alongside good HDR and SDR image quality, a long list of image quality adjustments, and several features that most competitors don’t have, like the option to adjust the monitor’s brightness in HDR. Read...

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At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros28-inch panel with 3840×2560 resolutionAttractive and functional designGood range of connectivityUseful extra featuresConsOnly a 60Hz refresh rateHDR is supported, but sub-parExpensive for its sizeOur VerdictThe BenQ RD280U is an unusual 3:2 monitor with a crisp display and tons of features. It’s not for everyone, but programmers, writers, and editors will adore it. Best Prices Today: BenQ RD280U Retailer Price $599.99 View Deal B & H Photo $599.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket There’s something strange happening at BenQ. First the company introduced the SW242Q photography monitor, which was the first monitor with a 16:10 aspect ratio to cross our desks in years. Now BenQ is even closer to square with the RD280U, which has a 3:2 aspect ratio. BenQ says it’s ideal for programmers, and they’re right — though this monitor is all work and no play. BenQ RD280U specs and features The BenQ RD280U has a 3:2 aspect ratio instead of the more common 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio. Because of that, the monitor’s 4K resolution works out to 3840×2560 instead of 3840×2160. That’s 400 additional vertical pixels, which proves useful. Display size: 28.2-inch 3:2 aspect ratio Native resolution: 3,840 x 2,560 Panel type: IPS LED backlight Refresh rate: Up to 60Hz Adaptive sync: None HDR: Yes, VESA DisplayHDR 400 Certified Ports: 1x HDMI 2.0, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 2x USB-C with DisplayPort Alternate Mode and 90 watts USB Power Delivery, 3x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 downstream, 1x USB-B 3.2 Gen 1 upstream Speakers: Yes, 2x 2-watt speakers Price: $599.99 Resolution aside, the RD280U’s specifications are a mixed bag. It lacks features to improve motion clarity, as it has a 60Hz refresh rate and doesn’t support adaptive sync, but it supports HDR and has a wide range of connectivity including USB-C with DisplayPort and Power Delivery. These features come at a steep price of $600, which is more than a similar 27-inch 16:9 monitor like the Dell Ultrasharp U2723QE. Further reading: See our roundup of the best monitors to learn about competing products. BenQ RD280U design The most important aspect of the BenQ RD280U’s design is evident right out of the box. It has a 3:2 aspect ratio, which is taller and closer to square than the more common 16:9 aspect ratio. Because of this, the monitor is much larger than its 28-inch diagonal size might suggest. It’s almost exactly as wide as a 27-inch 16:9 monitor, but its height is comparable to a 32-inch widescreen monitor. That’s why BenQ markets the RD280U as a monitor for programmers. Programming typically means viewing a lot of text, which generally flows vertically down the screen. A 3:2 aspect ratio allows you to see more code at once, or more easily accommodate several vertically arranged windows. However, the benefits extend beyond programming. Writers, editors, proofreaders, and designers who work with PDF documents are likely to appreciate the 3:2 aspect ratio. A leather strap on the BenQ RD280U’s base holds cables in place. A leather strap on the BenQ RD280U’s base holds cables in place.Matthew Smith / Foundry A leather strap on the BenQ RD280U’s base holds cables in place.Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry BenQ ships the RD280U with a heavy stand that includes a large, flat base. Despite its size, the base allows you to mostly use the space it occupies on your desk. The stand offers the usual ergonomic adjustments, including height, tilt, and swivel, but it does not support pivoting. Cable management is a minor miss, as it’s handled by a leather-like button clip at the base of the stand. It’s a unique touch, but wires clipped into place remain still visible from certain angles. A 100x100mm VESA mount is included for attaching the monitor to a third-party stand or arm. The RD280U is heavier than most monitors, weighing 16.5 pounds without the stand and almost 23 pounds with it. That’s important to consider if you plan to use a monitor arm. Most quality arms should support the weight, but it’s toward the upper limit for entry-level arms. BenQ RD280U design connectivity and menus The 3:2 aspect ratio is the BenQ RD280U’s most noticeable departure from more conventional monitors. However, it also takes a forward-thinking approach to connectivity. The monitor’s HDMI and DisplayPort inputs are joined by a USB-C port with upstream data, DisplayPort Alternate Mode, and USB Power Delivery of up to 90 watts. The USB-C port is ideal for docking a Windows or Mac laptop, providing both display output and charging capabilities through the monitor. It also delivers data to the three downstream USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports and single USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 port. A USB-B upstream port is available, too, for connecting to the downstream ports if your computer lacks USB-C. While the RD280U’s overall connectivity doesn’t match leaders like the Dell U2724DE, which includes Thunderbolt 4 and Ethernet, it offers more ports than usual and can serve as a USB data and charging hub. BenQ’s on-screen menus are accessed through a joystick found on the lower bezel. It’s quick and intuitive to use, which is good, as the monitor is packed with features and options designed to enhance usability for programmers. The BenQ RD280U includes menu options for coders. The BenQ RD280U includes menu options for coders.Matthew Smith / Foundry The BenQ RD280U includes menu options for coders.Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry One of these is the “MoonHalo” LED light on the rear of the monitor, which provides an ambient glow in dark environments. Aside from adding some visual flair, the MoonHalo is intended to reduce eye strain by reducing the contrast between the monitor and its surroundings. This is similar to the Ambiglow feature found on some Philips monitors. I don’t usually suffer noticeable eye strain, so I can’t comment on the feature’s effectiveness in that area, but I did find the lighting attractive, and the monitor offers a broad range of options to control the lighting’s brightness and color temperature. The monitor also has an ambient light sensor that can automatically trigger a night mode, reducing the brightness of the monitor in hopes of minimizing eye strain. I like this feature, as the optimal brightness for a monitor can vary depending on ambient light conditions, and it’s easy to forget to adjust the brightness manually. It’s especially useful in a home office, where ambient light can change significantly throughout the day. While BenQ equips the RD280U with numerous useful features, its built-in audio falls short. The monitor is equipped with a pair of 2-watt speakers that lack volume and detail. They are passable if you just need to hear basic Windows system sounds, but headphones or external speakers are recommended if you want to fire up your favorite lo-fi tunes while working. The BenQ RD280U is packed with features and options designed to enhance usability for programmers. BenQ RD280U SDR image quality Odd aspect ratio aside, the BenQ RD280U’s panel technology is familiar. It has an IPS panel with a conventional edge-lit LED backlight. IPS panels tend to provide excellent sharpness and brightness, but suffer in contrast, and the RD280U is no different. Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry Brightness is a bit of a mix. The monitor’s maximum brightness of 323 nits is certainly fine for most situations, but it falls behind some competitors, such as Dell’s recent Ultrasharp monitors with IPS Black displays. Because of this, the RD280U could be pushed to its limit if the monitor is used in a room with many bright, sunlit windows or many overhead lights. Given that it’s meant for programmers — who, as a group, are stereotyped as having a thing for the dark — this is unlikely to be an issue. But I would’ve preferred a sustained SDR brightness closer to 400 nits. I should also mention that the RD280U has a matte finish, which reduces glare and makes the most of the brightness that is available. BenQ is especially good at matte finishes, and the finish does make the monitor easier to view in bright rooms. Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry Contrast is the traditional weakness of IPS monitors, and the RD280U doesn’t improve the situation. Its contrast is good for an IPS monitor but can’t match the contrast of newer Dell monitors with IPS Black panels. “IPS glow” is frequently visible, causing a hazy gray sheen to appear when viewing dark images in a dark room. Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry The BenQ RD280U’s color gamut is wide enough to look good out of the box, but a bit more narrow than monitors focused on entertainment or photography. It can display up to 93 percent of DCI-P3 and 87 percent of AdobeRGB. That’s a bit more narrow than a Dell monitor with an IPS Black display, and quite a bit more narrow than a BenQ or Asus ProArt monitor meant for design and photography. Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry Color accuracy is mid-pack, too. It’s good, but not exceptional. The monitor’s color accuracy will appear correct in most situations but extremely critical viewers may prefer alternatives. The RD280U did well in gamma and color temperature. It achieved an out-of-box gamma curve of 2.2, which is right on our preferred target, and a color temperature of 6400K, which is just barely warmer than our target of 6500K. These figures are important for the monitor’s intended use, as programming often includes a lot of time staring at apps rendered in various shades of black, gray, and white. The monitor’s good default results mean these apps should look as expected. Sharpness is another perk. The monitor’s resolution of 3840×2560 translates to a pixel density of about 163 pixels per inch, which is the same as a 27-inch widescreen 4K monitor with a resolution of 3840×2560. This is close to as sharp as modern computer displays get, with the only exceptions being those rare 5K and 6K displays. While the sharpness can be useful when viewing photos or playing games, here it proves more beneficial when viewing small text, as fine fonts are beautifully rendered. The BenQ RD280U’s overall SDR image quality clearly tilts towards work over entertainment. It’s a crisp, bright, and colorful display that’s easy to view in both dim and bright rooms, but it lacks the contrast and color gamut required to make games and movies look their best. BenQ RD280U HDR image quality The BenQ RD280U supports HDR and is VESA DisplayHDR 400 certified. However, it’s not a good HDR monitor, for reasons typical of IPS displays that lack a mini-LED backlight. The RD280U doesn’t have the brightness to provide sufficient luminous detail in bright HDR scenes and lacks the contrast needed to display bright details without elevating the brightness of dark areas in a scene. As a result, HDR content tends to look washed out, and the monitor suffers from the dreaded “IPS glow,” where areas that should appear black instead have a hazy gray-silver look. None of this is surprising given the RD280U’s intended purpose. HDR is rarely a requirement for programmers. Still, the RD280U’s price tag of $600 puts it in league with entry-level OLED and Mini-LED displays that offer a far better HDR experience. I suspect shoppers considering the RD280U won’t prioritize HDR, but if you’re looking for a single display that can handle both work in SDR and entertainment in HDR, the RD280U isn’t it. BenQ RD280U motion performance It’s no surprise that the BenQ RD280U is not designed as a gaming monitor, and this is reflected in its 60Hz refresh rate and lack of adaptive sync for smooth frame pacing. As a result, its motion performance falls on the lower end of what’s available from monitors in 2024. It’s not terrible — games will look acceptable if they run at 60 frames per second with V-Sync enabled — but compared to a 240Hz IPS gaming monitor, the RD280U will seem like a blurry mess. While I understand BenQ’s decision to stick with a 60Hz refresh rate, I think it’s a mistake. An enhanced refresh rate makes everything smoother, including the Windows desktop, and scrolling through fields of text or code. A hazard of reviewing dozens of monitors each year is that I’ve become sensitive enough to notice the difference between 60Hz and 120Hz, even when opening the Windows start menu or scrolling through a web page. A 120Hz refresh rate offers a noticeably smoother and more responsive experience. Dell has recognized this with its new UltraSharp monitors, like the U2724D, which embraced 120Hz. It’s time for BenQ to follow suit. Should you buy the BenQ RD280U? Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry The BenQ RD280U targets a specific user and scores a bullseye. Its unusual 3:2 aspect ratio, excellent sharpness, attractive design, connectivity, and extra functionality make it an ideal monitor for programmers, writers, editors, and designers who frequently work with text. Whether you prefer to work with one large window, or with four snapped to each corner of a monitor, the RD280U’s extra height provides more vertical space for text. However, the monitor has weaknesses alongside its strengths. Its HDR and motion performance fall short of what similarly priced monitors can deliver, and while the RD280U’s image quality is a match for its intended purpose, it’s not ideal for games or other entertainment. The monitor’s lack of versatility makes it a miss if it will be the only monitor attached to your only PC. But if you have a dedicated workspace, or want a second monitor specifically for work and productivity, the RD280U is a hit. Read...

The former Brazilian international has joined a growing number of athletes who have begun sharing behind-the-scenes content on the subscription-based platform, which is typically known for adult entertainment. Read...

TL;DR: For $89.97 through September 29, the Auto Wireless Car Adapter lets you stream movies and shows from your phone to your car’s screen, keeping passengers entertained on the go. Using a car monitor for navigation is pretty common on summer road trips, but what about keeping your passengers entertained along the way? For $89.97 until September 29, the Auto Wireless Car Adapter transforms your car’s screen into a movie theater on wheels, letting you stream video content from your iOS or Android device. It’s an easy way to make long drives more enjoyable, especially when traveling with restless kids. This adapter is versatile, connecting to most modern cars via Bluetooth, and it comes with a USB cable for additional connectivity options. It has dual-connect technology, which allows you to pair a second device simultaneously, making it simple to switch between devices if needed. Pre-loaded with popular streaming apps like Netflix and YouTube, you can start watching as soon as you log in on your phone. With 16GB of built-in storage, you can also save videos directly to the device, and it even supports extra storage via a TF card (not included). Whether you’re on a cross-country adventure or just running errands, this adapter turns your car monitor into an all-in-one entertainment system for passengers. Until September 29, get the Apple CarPlay and Android Auto Wireless Adapter with streaming service support for $89.97 (reg. $149).   Apple CarPlay & Android Auto Wireless Adapter with Streaming Service Support (2024 Edition) – $89.97 See Deal StackSocial prices subject to change. Read...

SM Entertainment said that Moon Tae-il, who is known as Taeil, is fully cooperating with the police investigation. Read...

If you’ve resisted moving to Windows 11 because you hate the Start menu…well, it appears that it may get slightly better. Keen-eyed code hounds digging into recent Windows betas have unearthed a “category” view that organizes Start apps in a way that looks somewhat like the Windows 10 Start menu of old. The category view isn’t totally customizable — for example, you can’t create your own category of “awesome stuff” — but it appears that the apps will self-organize into categories like “entertainment,” “music,” and so on. The latest revision was unearthed by Twitter/X user @phantomofearth, who dug up the changes inside the most recent Windows 11 beta, Build 22635.4082 to the Beta Channel. That’s a good thing, since it implies that these beta features will eventually see the light of day on your PC. The catch is that, well, for now, they won’t. The new category view is apparently still enabled through special tools that can turn on hidden registry entries. It hasn’t even been acknowledged by Microsoft yet, as Neowin notes. But one of the criticisms levied at the Windows 11 Start menu is that it’s been so dang rigid, in that you haven’t been able to organize things as you’d like. Categories is a step forward. The most recent beta also places media controls on the lock screen, so if you’re sitting in front of a PC without a Windows Hello camera, you can still access the controls without unlocking your PC. (Naturally, if you do have a Windows Hello camera, it will likely recognize you and unlock your PC, so…) Windows continues to march towards a more general release of Windows 11 24H2 sometime this fall. Maybe Start’s Categories will end up as a feature? Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating ProsImmersive contrastVery wide, vivid color gamutAppealing motion clarity at 175HzConsGeneric look and feelColor accuracy is a tad behind competitorsDoesn’t stand out from QD-OLED alternativesOur VerdictThe Gigabyte MO34WQC is a generically great QD-OLED display. Unfortunately, opting for its dull design doesn’t save you any cash. Best Prices Today: Gigabyte MO34WQC Retailer Price $849.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Shoppers looking to buy a 34-inch ultrawide OLED monitor have no shortage of options this summer, and that means the details matter. Gigabyte’s MO34WQC has an OLED panel with image quality and motion clarity typical of the competition, but tries to stand out with additional USB-C and USB connectivity. While this does improve its appeal, your decision is likely to be based on its price. Gigabyte MO34WQC specs and features The Gigabyte MO34WQC has a Samsung QD-OLED panel with a resolution of 3440×1440 and a refresh rate of up to 175Hz. This is similar to most QD-OLED monitors on the market, but behind the latest panels, which can hit 240Hz or higher. Gigabyte offers an alternative model, the MO34WQC2, which has a QD-OLED panel with a higher maximum refresh rate of 240Hz. It’s also more expensive with a typical retail price of $1,000. The two monitors are similar enough that Gigabyte issued the same user manual for both, but we haven’t tested the MO34WQC2 yet. Display size: 34-inch ultrawide 21:9 aspect ratio Native resolution: 3440×1440 Panel type: Anti-reflection QD-OLED Refresh rate: Up to 175Hz Adaptive sync: Adaptive Sync, AMD FreeSync Premium Pro Ports: 2x HDMI 2.1, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x USB-C with DisplayPort Alternate Mode and 18 watts USB Power Delivery, 2x USB-A 3.2 downstream, 1x USB-B 3.2 upstream, 1x 3.5mm headphone jack, 1x 3.5mm microphone jack VESA mount: 100x100mm Speakers: Yes, 2x 3-watt speaker system Price: $949.99 MSRP, $849.99 typical retail Panel aside, the MO34WQC’s specifications have a few highlights. The monitor features two HDMI 2.1 ports, in addition to DisplayPort and a USB-C port with DisplayPort support, for a total of four video inputs. The USB-C port also provides power, though not enough to charge a PC laptop quickly. Built-in speakers are included as well, which isn’t true of all competitors. Further reading: See our roundup of the best monitors to learn about competing products. Gigabyte MO34WQC design The Gigabyte MO34WQC is sold as a gaming monitor but it’s not part of Gigabyte’s Aorus gaming sub-brand, so it delivers a more basic, workmanlike design. The front of the panel boasts slim black bezels on three sides and a small plastic chin at the bottom, while the rear of the panel is coated in black plastic that feels sturdy but looks unremarkable. The MO34WQC strikes a much more generic profile than design leaders like the Alienware AW3423DWF or Samsung Odyssey G85SB. Gigabyte ships the monitor with an ergonomic stand that adjusts for height, tilt, and swivel. The stand has a wide base that takes up a fair bit of room on a desk, but the base is flat and not too thick, so it’s possible to place items on the space it occupies. The stand also feels sturdy and proves easy to adjust with modest effort. A 100x100mm VESA mount is available for use with a third-party monitor arm, stand, or wall mount. The monitor is curved with a radius of 1800R, meaning the display panel would need to continue for 1,800 millimeters (about 6 feet) to form a full circle. The curve is noticeable but doesn’t draw too much attention, and most 34-inch QD-OLED monitors have settled on 1800R as the preferred curve radius for this size of monitor. Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry Gigabyte MO34WQC design connectivity and menus Gigabyte provides a total of four video inputs for the MO34WQC: two HDMI 2.1 ports, one DisplayPort 1.4 port, and a USB-C port, which also supports DisplayPort mode. While four video inputs are not unusual for a monitor in this price range, they do cover most use cases, and all available ports support the display’s maximum refresh rate. The monitor also has two USB-A downstream ports, which can be driven either by the USB-C port or, if your PC lacks USB-C, through a USB-A to USB-B connection. Gigabyte includes a KVM switch function, allowing you to use the monitor as a KVM switch if you connect your wired keyboard and mouse to the monitor. The USB-C port has Power Delivery, but only up to 18 watts, which means it’s not a good choice for powering and charging a laptop with USB-C. Gigabyte provides an intuitive and responsive joystick to control the on-screen menus. The menus themselves are large and well-organized but, despite their size, the font is still thin and a bit difficult to read. Gigabyte offers a good range of image quality options, including multiple color temperature, gamma presets, and six-axis color calibration — but that’s typical at this price point. Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry Also typical is the monitor’s gaming features: It has a black equalizer to elevate the brightness of dark areas in games and some optional on-screen elements like a crosshair. There’s multiple aspect ratio modes, too, which emulate the size of a 24-inch or 22-inch display, as well as a 1:1 aspect ratio mode. Picture-by-picture and picture-in-picture modes are also available. While the MO34WQC includes built-in speakers, they’re unremarkable. The maximum volume is adequate, and sound quality is clear in basic situations such as listening to podcasts. But games, movies, and other entertainment will quickly overwhelm them, resulting in muddy and unpleasant sound. External speakers or headphones are still recommended for most people. Gigabyte MO34WQC SDR image quality At this point, you might be sensing a theme: The Gigabyte MO34WQC is a good QD-OLED monitor, but not one that stands out from the crowd. This continues to be true when it comes to image quality. It’s a fantastic monitor for SDR content, but no more so than its QD-OLED peers. Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry The MO34WQC’s brightness is typical for an OLED monitor, with a maximum measured sustained SDR brightness of 245 nits. This is in line with other OLED monitors and is bright enough for use in a room with moderate light control. However, the monitor might appear dim or suffer from glare if used in a room with bright, sunlit windows. In that case, no OLED monitor is a great choice, and a brighter IPS-LED or Mini-LED display would be a better fit for your environment. Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry Unsurprisingly, contrast is excellent, with an effectively infinite contrast ratio thanks to the monitor’s ability to achieve a perfect minimum luminance of zero nits. This is a defining characteristic of modern OLED display panels, so Gigabyte has no advantage here. Still, it contributes to the monitor’s overall image quality. An OLED display panel like the one on the MO34WQC achieves a level of depth and immersion LCD monitors can’t match. Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry Color gamut is among the MO34WQC’s best traits but, once again, it’s similar to other monitors with a Samsung QD-OLED panel. The Gigabyte achieves 100 percent of the sRGB gamut, 98 percent of DCI-P3, and 94 percent of Adobe RGB. That’s excellent coverage of each color gamut and close to the best available from any modern monitor. Photographers, videographers, digital artists, and other content will find the MO34WQC capable of displaying a dazzling range of color. Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry The Gigabyte MO34WQC’s color accuracy is good but technically a bit less accurate out of the box than some competitors, which might sway some shoppers towards alternatives. Related to that, we noticed the monitor had a gamma result of 2.4, which is off the target of 2.2, and a default color temperature of 6100K, which is warmer than the target of 6500K. In general, content on the monitor looked darker and slightly warmer than it should have with the monitor at its default settings. However, calibration can help resolve the issue. Resolution comes in at 3440×1440, which is standard for a 34-inch QD-OLED ultrawide monitor. Sharpness is good thanks to the monitor’s pixel density of about 110 pixels per inch (PPI), but QD-OLED has subpixel issues which can cause pixelation or off-color effects around high-contrast edges and small fonts. It’s rarely a problem in gaming, but the monitor’s sharpness might prove inadequate if you spend a lot of time staring at Excel spreadsheets with a 10-point font. On balance, the Gigabyte MO34WQC’s SDR image quality is what we’ve come to expect from Samsung QD-OLED display panels in this size and resolution. The monitor benefits from an outstanding contrast ratio and an extremely wide color gamut, though its brightness is low for brighter rooms. HDR performance is okay for most games but might not be sufficient if you plan to watch a lot of HDR movies and have a critical eye for image quality. Gigabyte MO34WQC HDR image quality The Gigabyte MO34WQC supports HDR and is VESA DisplayHDR True Black 400 certified. Most QD-OLED monitors have this level of certification, and while the QD-OLED panel provides some benefit in HDR content, it’s not the best available. I measured a maximum HDR brightness of 402 nits in a 10 percent window, meaning 10 percent of the display’s total area was lit while the rest remained entirely black. This result is not particularly impressive, though it’s fairly typical for a Samsung QD-OLED panel. In contrast, LG’s newest WOLED panels, which are available in monitors like the Asus ROG Swift PG32UCDP, can achieve a much higher maximum HDR brightness; for instance, the Asus hit 731 nits in a 10 percent window. In practice, the Gigabyte’s HDR performance is passable. HDR Highlights, like a flash of lightning or a star in the night sky, will appear reasonably bright and deliver decent luminance detail. However, there’s a noticeable reduction in luminance detail compared to an LG WOLED panel or a good Mini-LED monitor. When viewing the “Gargantua” scene from Interstellar, for example, I noticed less gradient and details to the swirling, super-heated gas surrounding the black hole. This level of HDR performance is okay for most games but might not be sufficient if you plan to watch a lot of HDR movies and have a critical eye for image quality. Gigabyte MO34WQC motion performance Motion clarity is a strength for the Gigabyte MO34WQC, as is true for other QD-OLED monitors. The Gigabyte offers a maximum refresh rate of 175Hz and a quoted pixel response time of 0.03 milliseconds. It also supports adaptive sync through AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, which helps improve motion fluidity. Testing motion clarity with fast-paced games like League of Legends and DOTA 2 showed that most of the game elements were easy to view during motion. Details like character sprites and health bars remained reasonably visible, even when scrolling quickly. Yet some small details, like character names, were at times difficult to make out, especially when the text’s color didn’t contrast well with the background. This is similar to other QD-OLED monitors with refresh rates in the 160Hz to 180Hz range and close to what you can expect to find on a 240Hz IPS or VA panel monitor. The monitor’s enhanced refresh rate is most relevant to gamers but also improves responsiveness in everyday tasks on the Windows desktop by reducing input lag and improving clarity. Viewers who are sensitive to motion clarity will notice that actions like opening and closing windows, or moving them across the desktop, look smoother and feel more fluid compared to monitors with a lower refresh rate. Should you buy the Gigabyte MO34WQC? The proliferation of Samsung’s excellent QD-OLED panel technology has made it difficult for monitors that use it to stand out from the crowd. It’s a bit of a catch-22 for monitor makers: They want to use QD-OLED because it’s excellent, but when everyone uses it, it’s hard for any monitor to stand out. That’s certainly the case for the Gigabyte MO34WQC. It’s a great display for SDR content and benefits from excellent motion clarity. However, like other QD-OLED displays, it could be brighter, and sharpness can be an issue when viewing smaller fonts or other fine details. Ultimately, your decision to buy or skip the MO34WQC should come down to the price. At the moment, it retails for $850 at most online retailers. That’s not bad but hard to recommend when competitors like the Alienware AW3423DWF are now down to $700, and even Samsung’s Odyssey G85SB is available for $800. The MO34WQC becomes a strong pick if you find it for $750 or less — a price I wouldn’t be surprised to see it hit over the holiday shopping season. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating ProsAlluring ceramic-aluminum finishLarge touchpadGood battery lifeConsCeramic-aluminum only applies to display lidMulti-core CPU performance fails to impressIntegrated GPU doesn’t stand outExternal temperatures peak at uncomfortable levelsOur VerdictThe Asus Zenbook S 16 is an attractive laptop, but the Ryzen AI 9 delivers mediocre performance and external temperatures peak at 130 degrees under load. In recent years, Windows laptops have suffered one noticeable disadvantage compared to MacBooks: with Windows, you can have incredible performance or excellent portability, but you can’t have both. The Asus Zenbook S 16 is one of several new AMD-powered laptops looking to challenge that status quo. It features a Ryzen AI 9 365 processor, 32GB of RAM, and Radeon 880M integrated graphics. It’s a beautiful system but suffers several flaws. Further reading: Best laptops 2024: Premium, budget, gaming, 2-in-1s, and more Asus Zenbook S 16: Let’s talk about the elephant in the room Before we even dive into the nitty-gritty of this review, let’s talk about the elephant in the room: The heat. The Asus Zenbook S 16 reaches unreasonable levels of warmth. It’s a major issue that drastically lowered our overall opinion of an otherwise attractive laptop. I measured a maximum external temperature of 130.6 degrees Fahrenheit. This was near the center of the laptop towards the rear, beside (but not on) the fan vents. This peak temperature appeared only during CPU benchmarks, but the laptop was at times uncomfortable in less demanding situations. For example, syncing many large files on OneDrive can require more processor overhead than you might expect, and make the laptop warm significantly. And I’m apparently not alone in making this observation, as consumer reviews also complain the laptop can at times become too warm. IDG / Matthew Smith IDG / Matthew Smith IDG / Matthew Smith The only thing I can say to mitigate this problem is that it doesn’t always happen. In many situations, when browsing the web or watching a movie, the laptop is rather cool. But let’s be real: a temperature of 130 degrees is not acceptable under any workload for a laptop sold to consumers. We reached out to Asus about this and it are now aware of the temperature problem, having validated our results with its own hardware. Asus engineers are currently working on adjusting the thermal policy, but weren’t able to provide us with an ETA just yet. Since this laptop is already on sale, however, we decided to publish this review now so consumers are aware of this crucial caveat with the Zenbook S 16’s default settings. Although PCWorld doesn’t typically update reviews, this particular review warrants one, as we’d like to reflect a potentially monumental change once the new thermal settings land. But heat aside, how does the Zenbook S 16 stack up? Let’s dig in. Asus Zenbook S 16: Specs and features The Zenbook’s most important feature is undoubtedly AMD’s Ryzen AI 9 365. It packs a 10-core CPU composed of four standard Zen 5 cores and six less power-hungry Zen 5c cores, a Radeon 880M integrated GPU with 12 compute units, and an integrated AI neural processing unit capable of performing up to 50 trillion operations per second. CPU: AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 2.0GHz Memory: 32GB LPDDR5X Graphics/GPU: AMD Radeon 880M (12 CUs) NPU: AMD XDNA NPU up to 50 TOPS Display: 16-inch OLED touchscreen 2880×1800 at up to 120Hz, 16:10 aspect ratio Storage: 1TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 solid state drive Webcam: 1080p webcam with Windows Hello support Connectivity: 2x USB-C 4.0 Gen 3 with DisplayPort Alternate Mode and Power Delivery, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x 3.5mm combo audio, 1x SDcard reader Networking: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 Biometrics: Windows Hello facial recognition  Battery capacity: 78 watt-hours Dimensions: 13.92 x 9.57 x .51 inches Weight: 3.31 pounds MSRP: $1,699.99 However, Asus doesn’t cut back elsewhere, as the laptop also features a 16-inch OLED display, 32 GB of memory, two USB 4.0 ports, Wi-Fi 7, and a terabyte of solid-state storage. Although not inexpensive at roughly $1,700, on paper it looks like decent value for money. It’s an elegant, thin machine—too thin, apparently, to handle the Ryzen AI 9 365. Asus Zenbook S 16: Design and build quality The Asus Zenbook S 16 is one of several recent Asus laptops to use what the company calls a “ceraluminum” finish. It fuses ceramic to an aluminum surface to create a unique matte texture. I like it, especially in the Scandinavian White finish of the Zenbook S 16 I received. I’ve criticized some Asus laptops for their dull and generic look, but the Zenbook S 16’s alluring finish helps it stand out from the crowd. Oddly, the white colorway is only available on the less expensive model I reviewed. Those with quicker Ryzen AI processors have a less ambitious gray colorway. It’s not all good news when it comes to design, though. The ceraluminum coat applies to the lid, but not the interior, so the surface you’ll be touching most often looks and feels unremarkable. I also noticed a portion of the ceraluminum had worn away on the edge of the laptop, despite the fact that I haven’t dropped it or treated it roughly in any way, so that’s concerning. Looks aside, the Zenbook S 16’s design focuses on pairing portability with performance. Despite its powerful chip and strong integrated graphics, the machine is only half an inch thick, and with thin bezels on all sides, it measures under 14 inches wide. It’s also light at about 3.3 pounds. This is close to as portable as it gets for a 16-inch machine, though a few outliers like LG’s Gram laptops, are noticeably lighter.  Asus Zenbook S 16: Keyboard, trackpad IDG / Matthew Smith IDG / Matthew Smith IDG / Matthew Smith The Asus Zenbook S 16 has a spacious, center-aligned keyboard that lacks a numpad. I prefer this keyboard design over those that include a numpad, but your preference may vary depending on your needs. In any case, the keys are large across the entire keyboard surface, so it feels comfortable and intuitive. A keyboard backlight is standard and does the job, though it offers just a few brightness options. Key feel is just ok. Individual keys have good travel, but the keyboard’s bottoming action is soft and quiet. That’s good news if you’re worried about disturbing a coworker, but I’d prefer a bit more tactile feedback. Even so, the keyboard is functional, and I was able to type at high speed without issues. The laptop is graced with a huge touchpad that measures almost 6 inches wide and nearly four inches deep. Touchpads of similar size can be found on competitors like the Dell XPS 16 or Razer Blade 16, but those are more expensive laptops, so it’s great to see a large touchpad on an upper mid-range laptop. The touchpad’s surface was responsive, yet I didn’t have any issues with unintended inputs. Asus Zenbook S 16: Display, audio IDG / Matthew Smith IDG / Matthew Smith IDG / Matthew Smith Every Asus Zenbook S 16 ships with a 2880×1880 resolution OLED touchscreen, which is gorgeous in all the ways modern OLED displays usually are. It has an effectively infinite contrast ratio, a wide and vibrant color gamut, and better HDR performance than past OLEDs, as it can now reach up to 500 nits of brightness in HDR highlights. It’s an excellent display for most tasks. It’s a glossy display, though, so glare is an issue and this is worsened by the display’s relatively low SDR brightness of up to 344 nits. OLED is still superior to an IPS-LCD display in most situations, but the display can prove hard to use in bright rooms.  The display is a touchscreen which, although of limited use in a clamshell laptop, is still nice to have and provides a useful alternative to the touchpad. The display also boasts a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz, which can provide great motion clarity in 3D games. Additionally, it supports AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, which helps with motion fluidity in games. An upward-firing speaker system is placed above the keyboard. Audio quality is clear and crisp at lower volumes but worsens as the volume is increased. At higher volumes, bass hits take on an abrupt, punchy quality while the highs become grating. It’s ok for podcasts, but music, movies, and other entertainment become grating to listen to. Asus Zenbook S 16: Webcam, microphone, biometrics A 1080p webcam is squeezed in the Asus Zenbook S 16’s top bezel. It delivered good video quality with attractive color reproduction and reasonable sharpness though, like most webcams, it will look grainy without proper lighting. The microphone array captured crisp, clear audio and I didn’t need to speak loudly to record at an acceptable volume.  Biometric login is available through Microsoft’s Windows Hello facial recognition. It provides a quick, easy way to log in to the laptop without typing a passcode or PIN. The laptop also supports presence detection, so it can lock the laptop and/or turn off the screen when you step away from it. This feature can save battery life if you sometimes step away from your laptop when it’s on battery power. Asus Zenbook S 16: Connectivity IDG / Matthew Smith IDG / Matthew Smith IDG / Matthew Smith A pair of USB-C 4.0 ports can be found on the Asus Zenbook S 16’s left side. Both support DisplayPort alternate mode and power delivery, meaning either port can be used to charge the laptop or drive an external display. The laptop’s included 65W charger can charge the device through either of these ports. The USB-C ports are accompanied by just one USB-A port, which is a minor disappointment. I would have liked a second USB-A port, as is available with the Acer Swift Edge 16, but some competitors don’t include any USB-A ports at all. There’s also an HDMI 2.1 port, an SDcard reader, and a 3.5mm audio jack, which provides a good range of connectivity options. Wireless connectivity is good, too. The laptop supports Wi-Fi 7, the latest version of the Wi-Fi standard, and Bluetooth 5.4, the latest version of Bluetooth. This should make the laptop future-proof for wireless connectivity, as I expect these versions of each standard to remain relevant for five to 10 years. Asus Zenbook S 16: Performance The AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 is the least performant of the Ryzen AI 9 chips, but it still looks good on paper. It has a total of ten cores, four of which are conventional Zen 5 cores and six of which are more miserly Zen 5c cores. It also has AMD Radeon 880M integrated graphics with 12 compute units.  IDG / Matthew Smith IDG / Matthew Smith IDG / Matthew Smith AMD’s new chip and the Asus Zenbook S 16 get off to a rough start in PCMark 10, a synthetic multi-workload test. Here, the Zenbook lags the pack with a score that’s notably lower than most of its peers and falls behind Intel Core Ultra 7 and only slightly beats the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H in the Lenovo Yoga 7i 16-inch. The Ryzen AI 9 branding implies the laptop should deliver top-tier performance, but that’s not the case here. IDG / Matthew Smith IDG / Matthew Smith IDG / Matthew Smith The result isn’t much better in Cinebench R23, where the Zenbook’s multi-core score lands way behind competitors like the Dell Inspiron 16 Plus, though it does manage to beat the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H. That perhaps isn’t a surprise, because the 10-core Ryzen AI 365 finds itself at a core count deficient when compared to the 16-core Intel Core Ultra 7 155H. Still, Intel’s margin of victory here is notable.  IDG / Matthew Smith IDG / Matthew Smith IDG / Matthew Smith Handbrake delivers more bad news, as once again the Zenbook ends up achieving modest results when compared to other 16-inch laptops. It’s difficult to say anything positive about this result: there’s just not enough power on tap. Taken as a whole, the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365’s processor performance doesn’t look great. Don’t get me wrong: it’s certainly still fine for most tasks and feels snappy in day-to-day use. However, the Zenbook S 16 doesn’t impress in multi-core tests and seems generally slower than other laptops available at this price. This might seem strange, because the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 is a new chip. However, its performance appears to be a sideways step from the AMD Ryzen 7 8840U. That makes AMD’s decision to brand this as a “Ryzen AI 9” chip look a bit misleading. This is a far cry from flagship performance, but it gets flagship branding.  IDG / Matthew Smith IDG / Matthew Smith IDG / Matthew Smith The AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 has an AMD Radeon 880M integrated graphics solution with 12 compute units. It’s rather similar to the preceding Radeon 780M, and that comes across in its performance, though is updated to AMD’s RDNA 3.5 graphics architecture.  The Asus Zenbook S 16’s integrated graphics performance is good, but a long way from setting records, and not noticeably better than the prior generation. Intel Arc integrated graphics often falls behind (though we have seen it perform better in some other laptops). But the Acer Swift Edge 16, which had AMD’s prior Radeon 780M, effectively tied the AMD Radeon 880M. It’s another sideways step. That doesn’t mean you can’t play PC games: on the contrary, many older titles run without issue. Even triple-A games like Cyberpunk 2077 are playable, but only at minimum image detail. I fired up 2077 at 1080p resolution and Low detail with FSR turned on and saw an average of 34 frames per second in the game’s benchmark with some dips below 30 frames per second. It’s definitely not the best experience, but it’s playable.  So, the Zenbook’s overall performance results weren’t great. Asus Zenbook S 16: Battery life Asus stuffs a modest 78 watt-hour battery in the Zenbook S 16. That’s not huge for a 16-inch laptop, but the efficient Ryzen AI processor seems to make the most of the power on tap. IDG / Matthew Smith IDG / Matthew Smith IDG / Matthew Smith We recorded about 13 and a half hours of battery life from the Zenbook S 16 in our standard battery test, which loops a 4K file of the short film Tears of Steel.  That’s a solid result for a 16-inch laptop and defeats many competitors we’ve tested recently, including the Acer Swift Edge 16 and Dell Inspiron 16 Plus. It shows that consumers in this price bracket have a choice between performance and battery life. However, the new wave of Copilot Plus PCs with Qualcomm chips, such as the Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge, have a notable lead in battery life. Many Qualcomm-powered laptops come close to, or exceed, 20 hours of endurance in our test. Asus Zenbook S 16: Conclusion The Asus Zenbook S 16 is a mediocre debut of AMD’s Ryzen AI 9 365 in a mid-range laptop. Performance isn’t bad, but it also fails to move the needle—and I find it more than a little strange that AMD brands this processor with the Ryzen AI 9 label despite the fact that, at least in this laptop, it delivers performance hardly different from the AMD Ryzen 7 8840U.What’s even less pleasant, however, is the laptop’s extremely high external temperatures under load, which make the laptop exceptionally uncomfortable to use. This makes the laptop’s performance results look even worse.  That’s a shame, because the Zenbook S 16 is otherwise a good mid-range laptop. I like the ceraluminum finish, the huge touchpad, and the gorgeous OLED display, all of which make the laptop pleasant to use day-to-day. It’s an elegant, thin machine—too thin, apparently, to handle the Ryzen AI 9 365. Read...