Antivirus software is a necessary tool in today’s online world. Attacks are only becoming more sophisticated, especially with aid of AI. Even the tech-savvy and cautious can drop their guard at wrong time or get tricked into exposing themselves to malware, spyware, or ransomware. Antivirus protection is an essential backup against such threats. 

Most systems come with security software baked into the OS, but for some folks, an upgrade can help demystify and simplify online security. To help you choose a good suite, we’ve identified products that offer excellent protection, worthwhile features, and minimal performance impact on your PC.

Why you should trust us: PCWorld has been deep in the trenches of testing computer hardware, software, and services since 1983—including security suites. For antivirus apps, we continually evaluate popular or noteworthy software. We consider the user experience, strength of protection against threats (online and offline), and how well it addresses the ever-expanding types of attacks. Our guide on how we test antivirus software at PCWorld gives the full details of our review process, but for the results of our work, read on.

Update June 28, 2024: We’ve recently reviewed Malwarebytes Premium Security, a streamlined suite best suited for newbies. You can also read about a new double-whammy of a scam, as well as why you should still be paying attention to data breaches.

Best antivirus of 2024 reviewed and ranked

Norton 360 Deluxe – Best antivirus for PC overall

Pros

• Strong antivirus protection
• Wide protection against major online threats
• Simple, straightforward features

Cons

• Performance impact on some PCs
• User interface would benefit from consolidation
• Upselling of additional services

Why we picked Norton 360 Deluxe

An ideal antivirus suite packs in a little of everything needed for security without costing a ton—and that’s why our pick for the best antivirus software of 2024 is still Norton 360 Deluxe. Despite its slightly awkward interface, this software’s wide protection and affordable pricing is ideal for most users.

This plan has just about everything most PC users need, without extra bloat. For antivirus performance, Norton offers strong online protection, while having minimal impact on system resources if you don’t often download or copy large amounts of files. Additionally, you get malicious link and attachment screening, dark web and privacy monitoring, and webcam safeguards. Norton also tosses in 50GB of storage for cloud backups, access to Norton’s password manager and VPN, parental controls, and PC utilities that include the ability to monitor for outdated software. And those major extras—the password manager, VPN, and parental controls—have easy, simple interfaces, without feeling stripped to the bone.

Overall, Norton is an excellent option for those looking to consolidate their online security protections into a single software interface. It has a couple of quirks (namely a dual user interface that can mildly slow navigation), but its strengths far outshine its weaknesses, especially when it packs in so much value. You’ll pay $50 for the first year for 5 devices, and $120 per year thereafter.

Who should use Norton 360 Deluxe

Norton 360 Deluxe works for everyone—it consolidates all the biggest protections you need online into one package, including parental controls. If you have trouble keeping up with security experts’ recommendations (or haven’t yet gotten around to following all of them), this suite centralizes and simplifies it all.

Read our full Norton 360 Deluxe review

Avast One – Best overall runner-up

Pros

• Good new design
• Well priced
• Excellent performance

Cons

• Smart scan requires too much user intervention
• Avast asks to install Google Chrome

Why we picked Avast One

Avast not only offers solid protection, but a simple, friendly interface. Combine that together with useful extra features and multi-device coverage, and you have a winning combo in Avast One.

In addition to top-ranked antivirus protection, it offers safeguards against remote webcam takeovers, malicious websites, and trackers. The Avast One plan also includes dark web monitoring, a VPN with up to 5GB of bandwidth per week, and protections for saved passwords to a browser. You get utilities to help you keep your PC’s drivers up to date, clean up your PC, and optimize your apps, too.

These features may sound standard, and to be fair, many of them can be found in rival software. But Avast makes staying on top of security dead simple, whether you’re a novice or a security veteran. Its default settings require little input to keep your PC protected, and if you want to dig in further or tinker, you still have that option, too.

So what keeps Avast out of the top spot, when its software outperforms Norton’s? The amount of features for its price. Norton’s performance isn’t perfect, but it’s about as good for online protection, which is where it counts. And the two software plans cost about the same—Avast One is $51 for 5 devices (or $70 for up to 30 devices) during the first year. The cost rises to $110 and $150, respectively, per year afterward. In the end, the more well-rounded subscription wins out.

Who should use Avast One

You’re someone who has a password manager already set up, don’t need parental controls, and prioritize the highest marks in threat detection tests. Avast One lacks the first two features, and takes top marks for catching both online and offline risks.

Read our full Avast One review

AVG Internet Security – Best budget antivirus suite

Pros

• Top-rated antivirus protection
• Expanded protection against malicious websites and remote attacks
• Clean, straightforward interface

Cons

• Some PCs may experience a performance hit during heavier workloads
• Several features are a bit rudimentary

Why we picked AVG Internet Security

AVG is best known for its excellent free antivirus software, but there’s good reason to upgrade. AVG Internet Security not only offers more comprehensive protection, but also easy management of those tools. That can be valuable if you find keeping up with online threats too overwhelming or time consuming.

The Internet Security plan builds upon the free version’s top-ranked protection against malware and web, email, and network threats. It also guards the passwords saved to your browsers; webcam takeovers; unknown access to files with sensitive data; malicious redirects for websites you’re trying to visit (aka DNS hijacking); and Windows Remote Desktop attacks. Dark web monitoring is included as well. And the app has minimal impact on system resources when monitoring your system in the background, though full scans can hit budget or older systems harder.

Despite its small annoyances (like ads for additional paid features), AVG Internet Security is reliable antivirus software with a user friendly interface—and at just $60 during the first year for 10 devices, it’s affordable, too. In fact, it’s solid enough to earn a recommendation despite how strong the free version is on its own.

Who should use AVG Internet Security

You need deeper control and more expansive protection from your antivirus software, but you don’t want to pay extra for features you don’t want. AVG Internet Security expands just enough on the company’s free antivirus to make it worthwhile, even though it lacks elements like parental controls, VPN, and a password manager.

Read our full AVG Internet Security review

Avira Prime – Best antivirus for beginners

Pros

• Strong security with a reasonable subscription price
• Well designed and user-friendly
• Offers a host of features in the areas of security, privacy, and performance

Cons

• No subscription option for fewer than five devices
• Simplicity of app feels slightly at odds with the depth of the PC tools

Best Prices Today: $59.99 at Avira Operations GmbH

Why we picked Avira Prime

Avira Prime is one of the best choices for those seeking more help with managing their PC, thanks to its simple, clear interface and feature lineup. In addition to to solid antivirus protection, it offers a password manager, unlimited VPN, and a boatload of PC utilities that (among other things) can keep apps up to date, securely delete files, and back up data.

The one major feature missing from Avira Prime is a set of parental controls. You can’t use it to filter web content or monitor device usage. It also can hit older and budget PCs hard when full scans are running, if you’ve added or changed large amounts of files. But typically, it only minimally affects system performance when left to run in the background, so most people won’t notice Avira running.

For those who want the comprehensive simplicity that this security suite offers, you’ll pay $60 for the first year, and then $105 for every year after. That first-year cost is slightly higher than our overall top pick, but if you prefer more newbie-friendly software, it’s worth the extra ten bucks.

Who should use Avira Prime

Avira Prime will likely feel best to users who want a simple antivirus suite, broad online protections, and robust PC utilities—and also want to use those latter tools for more confident management of their computer. Not every utility is a winner, but the overall set can help you identify and understand the more technical aspects of Windows and system upkeep. Parents will need to look elsewhere for controls that let them monitor and limit their kids’ PC use, however.

Read our full Avira Prime review

McAfee Total Protection – Best for privacy

Pros

• Good protection
• Nice features like file shredder and home network analyzer

Cons

• Mixed impact on performance
• New app design is a little scattered

Best Prices Today: $89.99 at McAfee

Why we picked McAfee Total Protection

McAfee has been around a long time—and the company continues to hunt down current threats to PCs, with solid results. These days, dangers extend beyond just malware to identity and privacy issues, and McAfee Total Protection addresses these just as much as it does ransomware and phishing sites.

That ID protection makes it stand out against competitors, especially if you pay to scale up the service. The plan we tested included dark web scanning for multiple pieces of personal information (email address, phone number, social security number, passport, driver’s license, date of birth, tax ID, credit card, usernames, and more). The app also offers to help change your password for online accounts, when applicable. VPN access is included as well.

Mid-tier and budget machines can see impact on system resources when running McAfee scans. When we ran a full scan during a variety of common tasks (web browsing, document editing, etc), we noticed some dips in performance. You can mitigate this effect by timing scans for off hours, however.

Currently, McAfee Total Protection is available through third-party sellers (McAfee has turned its attention to its slightly newer McAfee+ plans on its website). We like this version still because of how deeply affordable it is—for example, a license on PCWorld’s own software site is just $19 per year, which covers up to ten devices for one year.

Who should use McAfee Total Protection

Your personal information can be used against you online—and with data breaches so painfully common these days, it can be a relief to have help in tracking who has your info. For anyone who doesn’t have as much time to handle that work themselves, or even keep track of a separate service, McAfee can serve as a central spot for managing all your online security concerns.

Read our full McAfee Total Protection review

Panda Dome Complete – Most feature-rich offering

Pros

• Very easy-to-understand mobile-like interface
• Contains some basic smart home network monitoring
• Month-to-month pricing option

Cons

• Good performance results but currently limited in third-party testing

Best Prices Today: $30.10 at Panda Security

Why we picked Panda Dome Complete

All deluxe antivirus suites offer extra tools as part of their package, but Panda Dome Complete particularly stands out. It also has one of the most striking interfaces we’ve seen. Similar to Microsoft’s Bing homepage, Panda Dome features a beautiful background photo, with the interface elements placed on top of it.

A whole raft of utilities come with this suite, including a virtual keyboard, advanced virus removal, an update manager for your Windows apps, a disk defragmenter, hard drive cleaner, and startup apps manager. You also get Wi-Fi protection (which lets you see what devices are connected to your network), a password manager, parental controls, and a VPN that offers 150 megabytes of bandwidth per day.

In addition to offering reliable antivirus protection, Panda had the most minimal impact on system performance during our benchmarks. So minor, in fact, that in the real-world it worked out to no difference.

As one of the most feature-rich offerings, Panda Dome Complete also one of the most expensive, too. You can purchase a subscription for $64.50 during the first year ($86 per year afterward), but that’s covers just one device. Fortunately, it only costs a little more to upgrade to a three device plan ($72 for the first year, $96 per year afterward) or five device plan ($79 for the first year, $105 per year afterward).

Who should use Panda Dome Complete

Panda Dome Complete puts a ton of features right at your fingertips—an ideal interface for those who want to dive into everything straight away. If you hate buried or oversimplified menus, you’ll feel right at home with this software.

Read our full Panda Dome Complete review

Windows Security – Best free antivirus

Pros

• Built into Windows 10 and 11
• Settings are easy to review and customize
• Integrates with other security aspects of Windows

Cons

• Tends toward false positives, especially with SmartScreen
• Lacks the advanced features found in third-party products

Why we picked Windows Security

Windows’ built-in security suite is an excellent free antivirus option—as we discovered in our roundup of the best free antivirus—even if its protection isn’t quite as strong as third-party rivals when your PC is offline. It bundles together Defender, which monitors for viruses and malware; Firewall, which blocks malicious incoming traffic and suspicious outgoing traffic; ransomware protections (including controlled access to folders, as well as data recovery via OneDrive integration); app restrictions; and even basic parental controls.

The most important of these protections are automatically enabled in Windows—you don’t have to lift a finger to get real-time antivirus scanning or network protection. You will have to manually switch on some features, though, including ransomware folder controls and file recovery.

You can find more features in other antivirus suites, like online privacy tools, a VPN, and encrypted cloud backups. But this free protection comes preinstalled on Windows machines and does a good job of keeping you protected from most threats.

Who should use Windows Security

You’re looking for lightweight, unobtrusive antivirus protection—and don’t mind configuring it, nor managing separate security tools to make sure you’re properly protected online. To get the most out of it, you must tinker with Windows Security’s settings. (You can learn more in our video on How to use Windows Security.) You also have to figure out your own online privacy tools, VPN, password manager, and encrypted cloud backup.

Read our full Windows Security review

Intego Mac Internet Security X9 – Best Mac antivirus

Pros

• Two-way firewall
• Good performance

Cons

• Mac-specific (no Windows / Android protection)

Why we picked Intego X9

As the headline reveals, the focus of this roundup is the best antivirus for Windows PCs, but many PC enthusiasts are the de facto IT for friends and family. If you want to help an associate or loved one achieve strong antivirus protection for an Apple machine, our colleagues at Macworld recommend Intego’s Mac Internet Security X9.

In the suite are two utilities. The better known one is VirusBarrier, which spots and eliminates malware threats, and gets strong ratings for its protective abilities. It comes paired with NetBarrier, a two-way firewall that watches for suspicious traffic going to or from your Mac. For the price of this suite, NetBarrier’s inclusion isn’t common, but definitely welcome.

As part of its protection, VirusBarrier X9 scans for threats on your Mac’s internal storage drive (including any downloaded email and compressed archives), as well as connected disks and iOS devices. The app quarantines suspicious files, which you can then mark as trusted, leave in quarantine, or try to have repaired.

Overall, Intego’s Mac Internet Security X9 offers good compatibility with macOS while looking like a real Mac program, too. It costs just $25 (or £20.00) for the first year using this special Macworld link. If you need additional tools, like a backup utility, speed optimizer for your Mac, or parental controls, you can upgrade to the Mac Premium Bundle X9 for $40 for the first year (£23.99).

Who should use Intego X9

Intego VirusBarrier not only offers good compatibility with macOS, but it also looks like a real Mac program, too—making it an ideal match for anyone looking for an effective app that blends in seamlessly.

Recent antivirus reviews

• Malwarebytes Premium Security: Technology newbies will like this antivirus software’s simplicity, but you can get more bang for your buck elsewhere.
• Norton Antivirus Plus: Its one-device limitation is tight, but this simplified antivirus suite is affordable and offers more features than similar rivals. If you can work comfortably with its quirks and potentially heavy performance effect, it can be ideal software for digital minimalists.
• Trend Micro Maximum Security: Even when you can count on Trend Micro Maximum Security to work, this beginner-friendly antivirus suite feels underbaked. You can find much stronger malware protection, along with a more robust set of features, in rival software—and often at a lower price.
• Avast One: This upgrade on Avast’s free security suite adds protection against identity and privacy threats, along with PC tools, all while still keeping its polished interface. And in AV-Test and AV-Comparatives’ latest benchmark data, it generally led the competition in blocking online and offline threats.
• AVG Internet Security: This modest suite provides top-notch threat protection in a clean, straightforward interface — all while charging less than rivals. Like Avast (with which it shares an antivirus engine), it generally leads the competition in blocking online and offline threats, as seen in benchmarks performed by AV-Test and AV-Comparatives.
• Norton 360 Deluxe: Norton 360 Deluxe has a wide array of protections spanning antivirus, password management, VPN access, automated cloud backups, and dark web monitoring. It can hit PC performance a bit harder on older or budget systems, but its overall value and solid results in AV-Test and AV-Comparatives’ benchmarks make it worthwhile.
• McAfee Total Protection: You can rely on McAfee Total Protection for blocking online threats and its easy-to-use VPN, but not its password manager. The app can also notably affect system performance on mid-range and budget PCs. Currently, the competition outdoes this entry-level offering.

How to choose the best antivirus software

There are three basic requirements that an antivirus suite should meet:

• High-detection rate for malware and other threats
• Low impact on system resources
• An easy-to-use interface

That’s not all to consider, however. A lot has changed since the early days of antivirus software. These days, many security suites come with extras such as a backup service for your most essential files, Android and iOS apps for mobile security, a more advanced firewall, family protection (read: child restriction) features, and the right to use the program on multiple PCs. Access to a VPN and a password manager have become more common, too. Whether you need those extras depends on how much you’re willing to spend and your personal situation.

If you’re looking to go beyond the basics, our baseline recommendation is to find a suite that comes with a firewall, supports enough devices to cover what you own, and (if you don’t already have separate services set up) access to a password manager and VPN. Not sure if you need all that? Our guides on security suite features, password managers, and VPNs can help you decide.

How we test antivirus software

Our approach to testing antivirus software is multi-pronged—we look not just at how well the suite catches malware and other threats (though that’s certainly a top factor), but other elements as well.

First, we take a look at the interface to determine how easy or complicated it is. Does the interface make it easy to get at essential tools like PC scans and password managers, for example, or is everything buried under multiple clicks? Are there elements that look like they should be clickable but aren’t? Are alerts interactive or purely informational, and do they make sense in context?

We also examine the features on offer. Every good antivirus suite should have the basics like scanning and real-time protection, but many vendors offer elements that go beyond basic security like password managers or firewalls. We try to discern whether any of these extra features are particularly useful, or just frills that look nice but don’t serve a practical purpose.

To test the suite’s demand on system resources, we run three benchmarks. The first is PCMark 10’s Extended test, which simulates a variety of workloads including editing spreadsheets, browsing the web, running video chat, and light gaming. 

PCWorld

PCWorld

PCWorld

We run the benchmark before the security suite is installed. Then we install the software, have it run a full scan on our Windows 11 test machine, and start a second run of the benchmark at the same time. Then we compare the overall scores to see if the decline between the two benchmark runs is significant.

We repeat the same process using UL Procyon, which simulates document editing in Microsoft Office apps—e.g., Word, Excel, PowerPoint. Then, as the harshest stress test, we use Handbrake to transcode a video before and after installing the antivirus software. On many home PCs, this encoding task utilizes 100 percent of the CPU. We then compare transcoding times to see if there’s any significant decline.

Our test machine is an Acer Aspire 3 15 with an AMD Ryzen 5 7520U, 8GB RAM, and a 512GB SSD. Each security suite is tested on a clean install of Windows 10 Home.

As for the antivirus suite’s detection capabilities, we rely on the opinions of security researchers dedicated to this task. We take into consideration reports from outlets such as AV Comparatives and AV Test.

We also take pricing into account and what you get for it. 

When possible, we review security suites using a free trial to get a sense of what consumers see when they first try out a new product.

Still have questions about our review process? You can get even more details (and the philosophy behind why we test as we do) in our full explanation about our antivirus testing practices.

TL;DR: Take the leap to Microsoft Windows 11 Pro for one of the lowest prices you’ll see — just $22.97 — through July 21.

Running the most up-to-date operating system is one of the best ways to ensure your computer stays secure and you have the best tools to work more effectively. When you have Microsoft Windows 11 Pro, you’ll be set up to reach all of your productivity and security goals. Through 7/21, you can get it for one of the lowest prices you’ll find at just $22.97.

Windows 11 Pro was made with the hybrid working world in mind, replete with productivity features like seamless redocking, snap layouts, widgets, and an array of custom tools to help you work the way you want. It also offers the Copilot AI to assist with research and tedious tasks, as well as a ton of security features to protect your device when you’re working out in public.

Get an OS upgrade for a can’t-miss price. Through 11:59 pm PT on 7/21, you can get Microsoft Windows 11 Pro for just $22.97 (reg. $199).

Microsoft Windows 11 Pro – $22.97

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StackSocial prices subject to change.

TL;DR: During our version of Prime Day, you can get Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2022 for Windows for just $34.97 (reg. $499).

Coding is difficult enough. With the right tools, however, complex projects can be made a lot more accessible. That’s where Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2022 for Windows comes in. This leading 64-bit integrated development environment (IDE) is Microsoft’s finest, giving you the tools you need to streamline your coding workflow and collaborate more effectively. During our version of Prime Day, you can get it for more than $450 off.

Microsoft Visual Studio makes it much easier to code cross-platform and in multiple languages in the same central interface. You can save time by completing lines or blocks of code automatically with IntelliCode, and collaborate live with coworkers or colleagues with Live Share. CodeLens gives you deeper insights into your code to debug more effectively, track changes, and more.

Find out why Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2022 for Windows has earned a 4.6/5-star rating from both Capterra and GetApp. During our version of Prime Day, you can get it for just $34.97 (reg. $499).

Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2022 for Windows – $29.97

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StackSocial prices subject to change.

Most people when trying to maximize their gaming experience focus on the quality of the game and their computer’s processing power. But an often-overlooked variable that can greatly affect the experience is a decent gaming headset. It’s especially important if you plan on getting the best out of multiplayer games, where you’re just as likely to use your headset to chat with friends as you are to use it as a strategic tool to help you win.

As you’d expect, there’s no shortage of gaming headsets out there. No one wants to wade through the myriad options only to settle on one that ends up leaving you disappointed. That’s why I’ve done all the heavy lifting for you, testing a ton of different headsets to find the best.

Why should you trust me? Because I’m a hardcore gamer and tech user like you, which means I’m always on the hunt for better gear to improve my own experience. More than that, I’ve spent many years weighing the pros and cons of the latest new-release gaming headsets, so you could say I know more than a thing or two about them.

To see the criteria I use to test each product and some helpful buying advice, be sure to read my rundown of how we test gaming headsets at PCWorld.

Updated June 25, 2024 to include the Logitech G Pro X 2 Lightspeed. This headset has clear audio with an impressively deep and smooth bass. It mixes that with soft comfortable earpads and a robust attractive design. However, its most impressive feature is its DTS Headphone: X 2.0 3D spatial audio, which has terrific directionality — especially in games that support Microsoft’s spatial sound API.

SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless – Best dual-purpose wired/wireless gaming headset / Best overall

Pros

• Great-quality audio
• Dual wireless functionality
• Lots of software options for personalization

Cons

• Quite expensive
• Active Noise Cancellation won't block out all external sound

Best Prices Today: $294.99 at Amazon$301.99 at Best Buy

Why I like the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless

I have to nit pick very hard to find any flaws with this premium headset that offers the versatility of 2.4GHz Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless connectivity, as well as a wired connection. In wireless mode, it delivered crisp sound in 44.1KHz/16-bit standard resolution at up to 40 feet from my computer. But when I wanted to enjoy a richer sound, I could plug into a GameDAC controller that let me access a higher 96KHz/24-bit hi-res audio. The GameDAC also let me switch between my PC and Xbox One or Xbox X/S at the press of a button — which saved me the hassle of having to buy separate headsets for my consoles.

Active Noise Cancellation and 360 Degree Spatial Audio technologies also boosted the headset’s audio experience for me, the standout of the two being the latter, which utilizes 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound tracks to accurately reflect the direction of sounds. The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless also has the finest software support I’ve seen for a gaming headset, allowing me to choose from among 23 pre-made EQ presets designed for games like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Fortnite, Dota 2, Forza Horizon V, and Call of Duty: Warzone, to name just a few.

Who should buy the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless

Gamers serious about their audio setup who want excellent cross-platform compatibility, clear sound, and a spatial audio that better enables them to hear the direction of sounds in games. There’s a lot to personalize with the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless, so if you love tinkering with settings, this headset is just the ticket.

Read our full SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless review

Audeze Maxwell Wireless – Best audio quality

Pros

• Impressive audio that sounds warm and full-bodied
• Strong and robust design
• Excellent cross compatibility

Cons

• It's quite heavy and large
• The headband isn't extendable
• The software app is too simple

Best Prices Today: $299 at Amazon

Why I like the Audeze Maxwell Wireless

It has undoubtedly the best audio of any gaming headset I’ve used. Audiophile-grade headsets are usually the domain of high-end music studios and not gaming dens. But Audeze’s Maxwell Wireless is an exception, being a studio-grade headset especially made for gamers. Its secret sauce is its 90mm planar magnetic drivers, which produce a more natural, full-bodied audio signature than headsets with 40- to 50mm neodymium drivers.

To fit such large drivers, the Maxwell Wireless is extremely big and heavy — it weighs a little more than a pound (490 grams). Although, you wouldn’t know by wearing it — the comfort onboard is very luxe; soft memory foam sits under plush leatherette for a premium feel and there’s an inner adjustable suspension band that balances out the headset’s weight across the top of your head.

The Maxwell Wireless works with just about any device — Windows PC, Mac, Xbox 360, Xbox X/S, Nintendo Switch, Android and iOS devices, and PlayStation 5. It supports Dolby Atmos for surround sound in games. For connectivity, you get a USB cable and an adapter for making a wired connection, a 2.4GHz USB-C dongle for low-latency Wi-Fi, and a 3.5mm cable for making an old-school analog connection. Although simultaneous Bluetooth isn’t available using the Wi-Fi dongle, you can still hook up simultaneous audio using the headset’s Bluetooth and a wired connection.

Who should buy the Audeze Maxwell Wireless

Anyone who’s really particular about the fidelity of their gaming audio and wants the best they can possibly find. Also, anyone who wants to use their gaming headset like a premium pair of headphones to listen to music. The Maxwell Wireless stands above many headsets for its sound quality, so if you’re an audiophile, it will definitely impress you.

Read our full Audeze Maxwell Wireless review

Roccat Syn Max Air – Best RGB headset / Best for people who wear glasses

Pros

• The audio sounds balanced
• Simultaneous Wi-Fi and Bluetooth lets you listen to multiple audio sources at once
• The futuristic styling looks fantastic

Cons

• The microphone picks up a lot of ambient noise
• The controls are reasonably basic
• It's expensive considering there's no ANC

Best Prices Today: $119.99 at Amazon$249.99 at Roccat

Why I like the Roccat Syn Max Air

I thought the Roccat Syn Max Air headset had a knockout futuristic aesthetic thanks to it cuboid shaped earcups that also have mesmerizing programmable RGB zones. The cups also feature ProSpec earpads, meaning if you wear glasses the frames will easily fit through the sides of the cups for a comfortable fit.

Looks aside, this headset impressed me with its list of gamer-centric features. Connectivity comes in the form of 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a wired connection, and the Bluetooth can be used simultaneously with the Wi-Fi so that you can enjoy an extra audio source while gaming. In my review I thought its 50mm Nanoclear drivers produced a nice balanced sound that was a marked improvement over its predecessor the Syn Pro Air. It also comes with a convenient dock for charging between uses.

Who should buy the Roccat Syn Max Air

Players who want to rock the RGB look and be able to personalize the lighting effects in their headset. The headset’s spectacles-friendly design also makes it a great choice for gamers who wear glasses.

Read our full Roccat Syn Max Air review

HyperX Cloud Alpha – Best wired gaming headset

Pros

• Fully removable cabling and smarter inline control placement
• Comfortable
• Excellent audio quality

Cons

• More expensive than the original Cloud, with fewer accessories
• Upper audio range can be a bit muddled

Best Prices Today: 89.02 at HyperXNot Available at Amazon

Why I like the HyperX Cloud Alpha

Cloud Alpha is a chip off the old block in HyperX’s Cloud series, combining comfort with impressive audio quality. The impressive sound comes courtesy of a dual driver chamber design that separates out bass notes from mids and highs — ultimately producing clearer, smoother output.

The Cloud Alpha’s earcups are the secret sauce behind its comfortable feel. These generously padded cups sit tightly on your head but without squeezing your temples, so they’re perfect for long gaming stints where you can forget you’re wearing them. In our PCWorld review our reviewer was impressed by the fact that you can fully remove the HyperX Cloud Alpha’s cables in the event they break, rather than having to buy a whole new gaming headset.

Who should buy the HyperX Cloud Alpha

Those who don’t need wireless functionality but want excellent audio fidelity and comfort while they’re gaming. The HyperX Cloud Alpha’s metal frame and headband should also please gamers wanting a tough device that won’t break easily.

Another wired option that’s a little cheaper than the HyperX Cloud Alpha but still has great audio is the Astro A10.

Read our full HyperX Cloud Alpha review

Logitech G Pro X 2 Lightspeed – Best 3D spatial audio

Pros

• Clear audio with fine detail in the sound
• Oozes comfort at every turn
• Pinpoint-accurate spatial audio support
• Mix of wireless and wired connectivity

Cons

• No Active Noise Cancellation
• Exposed cords could be a risk of breakage
• It comes with a soft case instead of a more robust case

Best Prices Today: $249.18 at Amazon

Why I like the Logitech G Pro X 2 Lightspeed

At $250 the Logitech G Pro X 2 Lightspeed isn’t cheap, but this headset’s mix of clear audio with a deep and smooth bass range, comfortable earcups, and 3D spatial audio makes it ideal for gaming. It has three connectivity types: Bluetooth, 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, and wired (3.5mm auxiliary in), which means it connects to nearly any device. It also has a long battery life of up to 50 hours.

What’s really drawn me to this headset, though, is the fact that its DTS Headphone: X 2.0 spatial audio is one of the best I’ve used. It’s compatible with Microsoft’s spatial sound API, so its directionality is superb — you can even hear sounds from above very clearly. You can also tweak the volume of the sound emanating from each directional point in Logitech’s G Hub software app.

Who should buy the Logitech G Pro X 2 Lightspeed

If 3D spatial audio is a must-have, the Logitech G Pro X 2 Lightspeed’s is one of the best you can get. Apart from that, the cans are so comfy, and the audio is so crisp, that most gamers are really going to dig this headset.

Be sure to also check out the Razer Barracuda Pro. This headset’s 3D spatial audio comes courtesy of THX Spatial Audio, which you can tweak and fine tune in Razer’s Synapse app.

Read our full Logitech G Pro X 2 Lightspeed review

Corsair Virtuoso Pro – Best for streaming

Pros

• High-quality workmanship and elegant design
• High sound quality
• Two connection cables for flexibility
• Robust hardcase transport bag
• Multi-platform compatibility thanks to jack connection
• Many interchangeable parts

Cons

• High price
• Open design not ideal for noisy environments
• Hardly and sound shielding to the outside

Best Prices Today: $199.99 at Amazon$199.99 at Corsair

Why I like the Corsair Virtuoso Pro

With an open-ear design in the earcups, the Corsair Virtuoso Pro headset lets in more sound than most gaming headsets, which is perfect if you like to stream your games and want to monitor your own voice or hear your talent interviews in real time. The headset’s design is both elegant and comfortable too. Comfort comes courtesy of an adjustable headband, soft memory foam earpads, and a lightweight frame that weighs just 13.6 ounces (338 grams). The headset’s build quality is very decent — it’s comprised of robust plastic and metal.

In our review, we found that the Corsair Virtuoso Pro’s 50mm graphene drivers produced deep bass and clear treble tones with great detail. While that makes for a great audio experience while gaming, the lack of protective shielding in the earcups does mean that this headset isn’t that effective at blocking ambient noise, so it’s best used in quiet environments.

Who should buy the Corsair Virtuoso Pro

Aspiring or experienced content streamers or gamers who want to make Let’s Plays, walkthroughs, or game tutorials for YouTube or another video platform.

Read our full Corsair Virtuoso Pro review

ROG Delta S Wireless – Best for casual gaming

Pros

• It comes with two sets of earpads to personalize comfort
• The headband and cups allow for a good amount of head movement
• The audio sounds great across the spectrum
• The build quality is robust

Cons

• The AI Noise Cancellation could be better
• It lacks a boom microphone
• No simultaneous Bluetooth functionality

Best Prices Today: $168.99 at Amazon

Why I like the ROG Delta S Wireless

If you want a premium wireless gaming headset with both Bluetooth and 2.4GHz Wireless connectivity that you can just pop straight on for no-fuss casual gaming, then the ROG Delta S Wireless is ideal. With unique D-shaped earcups and a robust metal headband, it has plenty of gamer-centric appeal. It also features excellent cross compatibility, connecting to most devices (with the exception of Xbox), including PCs, Macs, PlayStation 4 and 5 consoles, Nintendo Switch, and mobile devices.

In my playtesting, the two pairs of interchangeable earpads really allowed me to personalize my comfort. For long gaming stints, the 100 percent protein leather set with one-inch-thick memory foam kept my ears luxuriously comfy, while the hybrid mesh earpads cooled things down when they got too hot.

The ROG Delta S Wireless also sounds terrific — its 50mm neodymium drivers are loud and they comfortably produce clear sound at the far ends of the audio spectrum. One nitpick is that the microphone isn’t the best. Indeed, the ROG Delta S Wireless’s internal beamforming mic can’t quite block out as much background noise as other headsets that rely on external boom microphones but doesn’t sound terrible either.

Who should buy the ROG Delta S Wireless

Casual gamers who want a great all-rounder pair of cans with equal dollops of great sound quality and great comfort but don’t necessarily want to tinker endlessly with their sound settings.

Read our full Asus ROG Delta S Wireless review

Turtle Beach Stealth Pro – Best for FPS games

Pros

• Punchy audio that's great for FPS games
• Solid attractive and versatile design
• Very good noise cancellation

Cons

• Lacks support for spatial audio
• The batteries need frequent changing
• It's expensive

Best Prices Today: $248.98 at Amazon

Why I like the Turtle Beach Pro

It’s a premium headset brimming with an almost complete list of premium features. It has excellent cross-platform compatibility and worked across almost all my devices. Plus, it has 2.4GHz wireless and Bluetooth connectivity, which meant I could wander away from my PC and still enjoy my gaming audio.

The Turtle Beach Pro sounded punchy with a great level of detail across the spectrum. It was especially well-tuned for FPS games like Halo, CounterStrike 2 and Battlefield I, where it delivered realistic thuds, clinks, and ricochets. A feature specific to Turtle Beach headsets called SuperHuman Hearing made it super easy for me to hear my opponents’ footsteps as they approached.

Who should buy the Turtle Beach Stealth Pro

Keen FPS gamers will really benefit from the headset’s punchy audio that’s ideally tuned for the games they play. The headset can easily pass off as a high-end headphone, so it will also suit gamers that want to use it on the fly.

Read our full Turtle Beach Stealth Pro review

Corsair HS80 Max – Most comfortable design

Pros

• Great audio performance with neutral mid-tones
• Lightweight, comfortable design
• Mesh coverings on the earcups minimize sweat
• Flip-to-mute mic

Cons

• The omnidirectional mic is not detachable
• Lacks true simultaneous audio for listening to multiple audio sources
• The small RGB light zones feel like an afterthought

Best Prices Today: $139.99 at Amazon$179.99 at Corsair

Why I like the Corsair HS80 Max

Corsair has made a brave move to prioritize comfort for gamers even at the expense of what most gamers might expect from a premium gaming headset’s design. How so? The HS80 Max eschews leatherette for a cooling mesh fabric on its earcups, and swaps metal for plastic in the headband, making it extremely lightweight and relatively sweat-free for long gaming sessions.

On the audio front, the HS80 Max sounds terrific — its 50mm audio drivers produce a clear, high-resolution audio signature with neutral mid-tones, which really enliven sounds like footfalls and ricochets. It has both 2.4GHz low-latency Wi-Fi connectivity as well as Bluetooth, which you can’t listen to at the same time, but both connectivity types do have a long signal range that allows you to keep listening while taking breaks away from your rig. The non-detachable flip-to-mute mic does a great job reproducing natural-sounding speech for team chats.

Who should buy the Corsair HS80 Max

Anyone who suffers from sweaty, hot ears when they wear leather or leatherette covered earpads and want a cooler less sweat-inducing pair of cans. It’s also ideal for players that feel the burden of wearing heavy headsets and want a lighter option.

Read our full Corsair HS80 Max review

Logitech G Pro X – Best microphone

Pros

• Beautiful throwback look
• Outperforms headsets two or three times the price
• Fantastic microphone, with lots of software-side options

Cons

• Wired headset
• Built-in controls feel cheap
• A bit tight until it breaks in

Best Prices Today: $99.99 at Amazon$99.99 at Logitech G$99.99 at Logitech Gaming

Why I like the Logitech G Pro X

A while back Logitech acquired the microphone manufacturer Blue, which explains why we found the Logitech G Pro X’s mic to be so capable in our PCWorld testing. Although not physically that different from other mics, it benefits from Blue-branded software support in Logitech’s G Hub app, including presets that make it sound convincingly like a desk microphone.

As well as sporting an exceptional microphone, the G Pro X is one of Logitech’s best-looking headsets, its flat-black leatherette headband, metal forks, and pill-shaped earcups exude a retro aesthetic reminiscent of the golden era of 1940s broadcasting.

Who should buy the Logitech G Pro X

If you want your voice to sound fantastic in your gaming chats or want to record audio that’s convincingly like that of a desktop microphone, then you need this headset.

Read our full Logitech G Pro X review

Logitech G Astro A30 Wireless – Best wireless gaming headset

Pros

• The styling is very appealing
• The 40mm drivers produce a natural sound
• The cans are very soft and comfortable

Cons

• Some moving parts feel a bit tight
• Leatherette in the cups can get sweaty on hot days
• Battery life is decent but not excellent

Best Prices Today: $179.99 at Amazon$229.99 at Logitech G

Why I like the Logitech G Astro A30 Wireless

Not only does the Logitech Astro A30 produce a clear and natural sound, but its connectivity is also excellent. It sports dual wireless and wired connections with cross-platform compatibility, so you can easily hook it up to your PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S consoles, or even a Mac. The headset’s Bluetooth can also be used simultaneously with a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi connection, which means you can take phone calls and participate in team chats, all the while losing absolutely none of your gaming audio.

All this functionality could have been delivered in a stock standard design, but the Astro A30 is one of the best-looking pair of cans I’ve seen in a long time. I especially like its plush leatherette earcups, stylish Astro logos, and removable speaker tags that you can swap out to personalize exactly as you wish.

Who should buy the Logitech G Astro A30 Wireless

Gamers that want a futuristic, trendy-looking headset with great sound and the option to personalize the headset’s look. Its excellent cross-platform compatibility will suit gamers that like to game on multiple devices.

Read our full Logitech G Astro A30 Wireless review

Logitech G Astro A50 Wireless – Best wireless gaming headset runner-up

Pros

• Charging cradle is smaller and still very unique
• Switches to the more reliable 2.4GHz band (finally)
• Comfortable and durable

Cons

• Middling battery life
• Poor noise isolation
• Expensive

Best Prices Today: $215.53 at Amazon299.99 at Astro

Why I like the Astro A50 Wireless

Although expensive, the Astro A50 is dependable, providing decent sound over a quick 2.4GHz wireless connection. The audio drivers located in the A50’s earcups deliver strongly through the mid-range so the A50’s sound is warm and punchy in games and while listening to music.

While previous Astro wireless gaming headsets have featured large chunky charging cradles, the A50’s is quite compact so it takes up much less space on your desk. The cradle also has a built-in display so that you can tell which EQ profile you have selected, or whether you have Dolby or stereo modes switched on.

Who should buy the Astro A 50 Wireless

Anyone who likes the convenience of simply being able to store and charge the headset in a charging cradle between games. The built-in display is also really nice to have. It’s a feature that should appeal to gamers who like to tweak and refine EQ profiles for their games.

Read our full Logitech G Astro A50 (2019) review

Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Gen 3 – Best budget wireless gaming headset

Pros

• Clear refined audio profile
• Great control selection that you can personalize further
• Attractive and comfortable design

Cons

• PC and PlayStation versions lack XBox connectivity
• No USB-A to USB-C adapter
• Slightly heavier than the previous generation

Best Prices Today: $99 at Amazon

Why I like the Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Gen 3

It has just about everything I want in a gaming headset — a comfortable and lightweight design, excellent cross-platform compatibility options, and a whole lot of controls.

It also has both 2.4GHz Wi-Fi as well as Bluetooth connectivity. I also really like Turtle Beach’s SuperHuman Hearing, which is a Turtle Beach-specific feature that accentuates some game sounds like player footfalls. An exceptionally long battery life of up to 80 hours meant I could go for days without a recharge, too.

The Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Gen 3 also features a flip-to-mute microphone with AI noise cancellation, which produces clear-sounding audio in my gamer chats. Thanks to the 10-band EQ chart in the headset’s companion app, I could really fine-tune the audio profiles for my games, which isn’t something I can do with every gaming headset.

Who should buy the Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Gen 3

Casual gamers who want an all-around great headset with decent sound and a whole lot of gamer-centric functionality. At just $100 the Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Gen 3 punches well above its price range on the balance of its features and functionality, so gamers on a budget can save money on these cans.

If you’re on the hunt for a sub-$100 headset the HyperX Cloud Core Wireless is also a great option. It has a durable aluminum frame, comfortable memory foam earpads, a detachable microphone, and also features DTS Headphone: X support for an immersive spatial audio experience.

Read our full Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Gen 3 review

Razer Blackshark V2 Hyperspeed – Best mid-range wireless gaming headset

Pros

• Ultra-light and comfortable
• Excellent microphone quality
• Long-lasting battery life and fast charging option
• Versatile connectivity options

Cons

• Sound tuning favors esports
• Material quality could be better
• Non-detachable microphone

Best Prices Today: $109.99 at Amazon$129.99 at Razer

Why I like the Razer Blackshark V2 Hyperspeed

The headset’s microphone quality is very close to broadcast quality. It also weighs less than 10 ounces, so it’s ultra-light weight. Despite that, it has large 50mm audio drivers that cover a broad frequency spectrum of 12Hz to 28KHz and produce a detailed soundscape with a low bass tone. The headset’s connectivity is also very good, with all three connectivity types available: 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a wired connection via USB-C.

Who should buy the Razer Blackshark V2 Hyperspeed

Tech-savvy gamers that want a lightweight headset and want to sound fantastic in voice chats. The Blackshark V2 Hyperspeed is also a very decent headset for gamers wanting to record Let’s Plays. It’s also a little cheaper than some headsets, so its suits those with mid-range budgets.

Another great mid-range option is the Logitech G935. It won’t break the bank but includes high-end luxuries like a folding boom mic, dongle storage compartment, and stylish leatherette earcups.

Read our full Razer Blackshark V2 Hyperspeed review

HyperX Cloud III Wireless – Best battery life

Pros

• High-quality design and good workmanship
• Multi-platform compatibility
• Detachable microphone
• Above-average battery life

Cons

• Occasional sound fluctuations in DTS surround sound
• Microphone adjustment required in noisy environments
• No Bluetooth

Best Prices Today: $129.99 at Amazon$169.99 at HyperX

Why I like the HyperX Cloud III Wireless

HyperX’s Cloud III Wireless headset doesn’t ace any one particular category but hits the right notes for comfort, sound, and design. In our review we found the headset’s driver configuration produces a balanced sound image with precise bass and treble tones. The headset’s best quality, however, is its long battery life that can last a full 120 hours operating at 50 percent volume.

The Cloud III wireless works with PS4, PS5, and Nintendo Switch consoles as well as PC; however, if you want to use the headset’s DTS surround sound, nothing less than a Windows PC with HyperX’s Ngenuity software app loaded on it will do. This headset is best for gamers who like the benefit of wireless connectivity only, since wired connectivity is not available (it’s 2.4GHz wireless connectivity only). It comes with a 10mm detachable microphone with a pop filter that does a great job muffling unwanted noise.

Who should buy the HyperX Cloud III Wireless?

The Cloud III Wireless is best suited for gamers who want a strictly wireless headset. Thanks to its long battery life, it’s an especially good option for gamers that like to get their gaming fix on the go — so players of handhelds will really dig it.

Read our full HyperX Cloud III Wireless review

How I test gaming headsets

Because no two gaming headsets are the same, I put each product through a thorough testing protocol. I analyze everything from how comfortable and durable they are, to how they perform in games and the software support they get via their manufacturer’s apps. Here’s a list of the main categories I look at:

Design and comfort

You’ll spend an awful lot of time wearing a gaming headset, so it’s vital that it feels comfortable. Here I look at design features that either add or subtract from your overall comfort experience—features like a headset’s shape and weight, how well it fits on your head, and the amount of padding in the earcups. But design also plays a big role in a headset’s functionality, so I also look at how adjustable the band is, and how accessible the controls are.

Audio quality

There’s no point owning a headset with comfortable leatherette earcups if it can’t muster a decent sound. That said, I do a lot of listening to get an overall impression of a headset’s audio quality. I take notes on the clarity of the sound, how well the headset produces pitch, and in the case of wireless headsets, how much signal interference there is. My listening is guided by what I know about the headset’s hardware or software. For example, if a headset has Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), I’ll investigate how well the headset can isolate sound and block out noise. I also test the microphone, listening for muffled sounds, static, robotic noises, and any echoes—all signs there could be a problem.

Software support

With audio technologies getting ever more complex, gamers have more tools at their disposal than ever via headset apps. Technologies like Hi-Res audio, Spatial Surround Sound, and Parametric EQ all spring to mind, which is why I look closely at the kind of software support on offer.

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Plus, I happen to own this exact chair model and can confidently vouch its comfort and ergonomics. I’ve been using it for years at this point! Back pain? Sore shoulder? Never heard of them.

Looking for more desk accessories? Check out real PC enthusiasts swear these 24 desk accessories changed their life.

The Union & Scale chair features a mesh back and seat, a swivel-tilt mechanism, and a tension knob that allows you to change the resistance for easy reclining. It’s capable of holding up to 276 pounds and it will require assembly. According to the Reddit wizards (aka commenters), this chair has a good mix of support and comfort, especially if you plan on sitting in it for a long time. I spend an embarrassing amount of time at my desktop computer and rarely do I feel any aches and pains from this chair. If I do feel pain, it’s usually my own doing, as I sit like a pretzel on occasion.

This is an awesome deal, so don’t sleep on it. Get it now before the chance to grab Reddit’s favorite desk chair for a pittance disappears.

Calling all engineering students! If you’re in the market for a laptop that can handle resource-intensive coursework, you’ve come to the right place. These laptops offer reliable performance as well as a portable form factor, which is important for when you’re running from class to class. We’ve also included budget-friendly machines and gaming rigs for those late night gaming sessions. Read on to learn more.

Why you should trust us: Hey, it’s in our name! PCWorld prides itself on laptop experience and expertise. We’ve been covering PCs since 1983, and now review more than 70 laptops every year. All of the picks below have been personally tested and vetted by our experts, who’ve applied not only performance benchmarks but rigorous usability standards. We’re also committed to reviewing PC laptops at every price point to help you find a machine that matches your budget.

Looking for great laptop deals? Check out our regularly updated list of the best mainstream, gaming, and 2-in-1 laptop deals.

Updated June 28, 2024: We added the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i as an alternative option underneath the Best Overall pick and the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 as the Best Battery Life pick. We’ve also updated our list of recent laptop reviews, so be sure to check those out near the bottom of the page.

The best laptops for engineering students

Dell Inspiron Plus 14 – Best overall

Pros

• Strong performance
• Phenomenal battery life
• Fantastic typing experience

Cons

• CPU throttles under very heavy loads
• No user upgrades

Why we like the Dell Inspiron Plus 14

The Dell Inspiron 14 Plus is one of the most well-rounded laptops we’ve come across in recent months. This sub-$1,000 machine offers reliable performance, phenomenal battery life, and a gorgeous display. You really can’t get much better than that. With an exceptional PCMark 10 score of 7,061, it toppled comparable machines like the Acer Swift Go 14 and the more expensive  Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon. This laptop also has a battery life of 17 hours on a single charge (a spectacular result!), so you don’t have trouble yourself with finding a wall outlet to juice up.

Who should buy the Dell Inspiron Plus 14

Anyone looking for a laptop that checks off all the right boxes. Battery life and overall performance are outstanding, sure, but don’t forget about the gorgeous 14-inch 1400p display, which is “exceedingly well suited to office work and static imagery,” according to our review. It has a maximum brightness level of 418 nits and an anti-glare coating, so you can use this laptop in various lighting conditions. The design is far from sexy, but its hardware capabilities and amazing battery life make up for the uninspired aesthetics.

Alternative option: If you’re willing to shell out the extra cash, the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i ($1,699.99) is a more premium option. It’s loaded with a faster processor (Intel Core Ultra 9 185H), more RAM (32GB), and a higher resolution display (3200×2000). It also has a bigger screen that measures 16 inches and a killer keyboard. You can’t really go wrong here if you need high-end power for high-end engineering tasks.

Read our full Dell Inspiron 14 Plus review

Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 – Best battery life

Pros

• Attractive, slim, and light
• Class-leading battery life
• Excellent wireless connectivity via Wi-Fi 7
• Good performance in real-world situations

Cons

• Vague keyboard falls short of competitors
• IPS touchscreen's image quality can't compare to OLED
• Gaming performance doesn't hold up

Best Prices Today: $999.99 at Amazon$999.99 at Best Buy

Why we like the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7

Microsoft’s 2024 Surface Laptop is one of the first machines to release with the new Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite CPU. While we really like its slim profile and reliable day-to-day performance, we’re absolutely astonished by the 20 hour battery life. The 54 watt-hour battery is small compared to the 90 watt-hour battery inside the Dell Inspiron 16 Plus, making the 20 hour battery life all the more impressive. According to our review, we strongly believe it poses a “significant threat to alternatives with AMD and Intel hardware.” The competition better watch out!

Who should buy the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7

Anyone that needs a long-lasting laptop. It’s a solid choice for those who travel often or those who don’t want to worry much about battery life. The Qualcomm chip isn’t the best for hardcore gaming, but it’s fantastic for battery life and daily activities. It also scores quite well in benchmarks with Arm support and wireless connectivity is excellent thanks to Wi-Fi 7, which is the latest Internet standard. If your workload includes heavy-duty tools designed to stress x86 chips, without a dedicated Arm version available, you’d probably be better off selecting a laptop with an Intel or AMD CPU inside however. The Asus Zenbook 14 OLED is a great option with strong 16-hour battery life (though the Surface Laptop 7 lasted about 3 hours longer in our battery rundown test).

Read our full Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 (13.8″) review

Acer Aspire 3 – Best budget option

Pros

• Reliable performance
• 1080p display
• HD webcam
• Solid build

Cons

• Speakers sound tinny when playing music
• A little heavy

Best Prices Today: $299.99 at Amazon

Why we like the Acer Aspire 3

The Acer Aspire 3 laptop offers dependable performance at an affordable price. It’s fast enough for day-to-day tasks like checking e-mail, browsing the web, assembling code, and so on. You’re also getting a full-sized keyboard plus a 1080p screen. It even edged out the competition with a respectable Cinebench R15 score of 1,925, beating out the comparable Acer Aspire Vero 14. Cinebench, by the way, determines how well a laptop handles processor-intensive multi-threaded workloads by running all of the cores of a CPU.

Who should buy the Acer Aspire 3

Anyone who’s on a restricted budget! It’s a great value because of the low price tag and the good performance. The HD webcam also produces clean, crisp video, so you’ll always look your best in video calls, and the battery lasts about eight hours on a single charge. That’s more than enough battery life for a full day of learning!

Read our full Acer Aspire 3 review

Asus TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition – Best for work and gaming on a budget

Pros

• All-day battery life
• Robust chassis
• Gorgeous 16:10 display

Cons

• 720p HD camera leaves little to be desired
• Keys feels a little soft

Why we like the Asus TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition

The Asus TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition is something of a unicorn and I mean that in the best way possible. It exhibits strong graphics performance as well as long battery life. Long battery life? A gaming laptop? How preposterous! Well, not anymore! The Asus TUF managed an incredible 11 and a half hours on a single charge. Also, thanks to the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU inside, it achieved an impressive 123 frames-per-second in the Rise of the Tomb Raider benchmark. That’s nothing to sneeze at, especially for a sub-$1,000 gaming machine.

Who should buy the Asus TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition

The Asus TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition is a good option for those on a tight budget. For under a grand, you’re getting reliable graphics performance, a spacious keyboard, and long battery life. It also works as a good general purpose machine, which is perfect for college students that want to work on homework during the day and then switch to gaming at night. With a Cinebench R20 score of 589, it should have “no trouble running lightweight apps and programs,” according to our review.

Alternative option: The Lenovo LOQ 15 is a good alternative option, as it comes with a slightly better GPU (RTX 4060). Despite getting a high rating, it didn’t make the cut because of poor battery life and limited connectivity options.

Read our full Asus TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition review

Acer Swift Edge 16 – Best ultraportable

Pros

• Gorgeous OLED display
• Lightweight
• Strong CPU performance

Cons

• Mediocre battery life
• Weak audio

Best Prices Today: $1,355.99 at Amazon

Why we like the Acer Swift Edge 16

The Acer Swift Edge 16 is lightweight, affordable, and powerful. It weighs just 2.71 pounds. The 3200x2000p OLED screen is super vibrant and, according to our review, “delivers an infinite contrast ratio and deep inky black levels that produce convincing shadows in dark scenes.” It even turned in a strong PCMark 10 score of 6,494, beating out the more expensive Acer Swift Go 16. That means the Swift Edge 16 is capable of out-performing some machines that cost hundreds of dollars more.

Who should buy the Acer Swift Edge 16

If you’re looking for a lightweight ultraportable with strong performance, the sub-$1,000 Acer Swift Edge 16 is the laptop you want. It’s light enough to take with you from class to class and the spacious 16-inch display is fantastic for school work, watching movies, and so on. Sure, the design is a bit bland and battery life is a disappointing six to seven hours (still not an awful result), but if you can handle those minor shortcomings, then the Acer Swift Edge 16 is the right pick for you.

Alternative option(s): If you’re able to stretch your budget a little further, then you should definitely consider picking up the Acer TravelMate P6. It’s a little lighter than our top pick at 2.65 pounds and has a bigger battery, but it’s more expensive and doesn’t have an OLED display. The HP Dragonfly G4 is another solid option, as it offers high performance as well as an LTE connection. That said, it’s very expensive.

Read our full Acer Swift Edge 16 review

Asus Zenbook 14 OLED – Best OLED display

Pros

• Robust build quality
• Attractive OLED touchscreen
• Good CPU and integrated GPU performance
• Outstanding battery life

Cons

• Uninspiring design
• Keyboard isn't memorable
• Mediocre connectivity options

Why we like the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED

The Asus Zenbook 14 OLED dazzled us with its peppy CPU performance, outstanding battery life, and slick-looking OLED touchscreen display. According to our review, “movies and games look realistic and vibrant” on the 14-inch 1980x1200p OLED touchscreen, although it can be difficult to view content in brighter environments because of the reflective surface. It also died at the 16 hour mark on a single charge, which is absolutely fantastic. That result outclasses comparable machines like the Lenovo Slim 7 14 Gen 9 and the HP Pavilion Plus Laptop 14. As for how it performs, you should have zero problems zipping through real-world tasks like web browsing, video conferencing, and so on.

Who should buy the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED

Anyone that’s looking to pick up an affordable laptop with an OLED display. It’s so much more than that, though. The build quality is solid and day-to-day performance is both fast and responsive. Connectivity options are a bit limited, but that’s not unusual for a laptop in this price range. Overall, this is an exceptional budget laptop, as you can’t really beat the price to performance ratio.

Read our full Asus Zenbook 14 OLED review

Recent laptop reviews

• Dell Inspiron 16 Plus: The Dell Inspiron 16 Plus is a powerful 16-inch workstation with a nice combination of performance, battery life, and build quality. It’s a good alternative to gaming laptops for people who want more power than the average laptop offers.
• Surface Laptop 7: The Microsoft Surface Laptop’s strong processor performance and top-tier battery life prove that Windows’ transition to Arm has staying power, but even the most casual gamers should think twice.
• Acer Aspire 3: The Acer Aspire 3 cuts performance to the bone as it limbos below a $500 MSRP.
• Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i: The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i is one of the best mainstream Windows laptops on the market, with great specs, a gorgeous display, and a killer keyboard.

How we test engineering laptops

The PCWorld team puts every Windows laptop through a series of intense benchmarks that test GPU and CPU performance, battery life, and so on. The idea is to push the laptop to its limits and then compare it against others we’ve tested.

Below, you’ll find a breakdown of each test and the reasons why we run them. For a much deeper look at our review methodology, check out how PCWorld tests laptops.

Windows laptops

• PCMark 10: The PCMark 10 benchmark is how we determine how well the laptop handles general use tasks like web browsing, word processing, spreadsheets, streaming, and so on.
• HandBrake: HandBrake is more intensive than PCMark 10. It measures how long a laptop’s CPU takes to encode a beefy 30GB file.
• Cinebench: Cinebench is a brief stress test of the CPU cores. It renders a 2D scene over a short period of time.
• 3DMark: 3DMark checks if 3D performance remains consistent over time by running graphic-intensive clips. This is how we test a gaming laptop’s GPU.
• Video rundown test: To gauge battery life, we loop a 4K video using Windows 10’s Movies & TV app until the laptop dies.

If you’ve been holding out for the perfect time to get a Nintendo Switch OLED, that time is now!

The Nintendo Switch OLED is currently just $303 at Walmart, down from its usual $349. The Nintendo Switch rarely goes on sale, which makes this sizable discount that much more enticing.

The Nintendo Switch OLED has a vibrant 7-inch OLED screen for vivid colors and contrast. Whether you’re diving into the latest Zelda adventure or racing through Mario Kart like the rest of us, this display technology delivers a more immersive experience.

Aside from the new OLED screen, this version of the Nintendo Switch has another major upgrade: a wide, adjustable stand. Now, when you set your Switch down on the table, you can actually adjust the resting angle.

The Switch is equipped with a wired LAN port, ensuring a stable and fast internet connection when playing in docked mode. With a generous 64GB of internal storage, you have ample space for your game library. (And if you’re a true gaming enthusiast, you can always expand this storage with a memory card.)

If you already own a Nintendo Switch, know that you can continue using your existing Joy-Con controllers with this new OLED model, saving you the cost of purchasing new ones.

The Nintendo Switch OLED that’s on sale at Walmart right now is the black-and-white model, which looks pretty awesome. At just $303, this is the perfect opportunity to pounce on this deal!

The Steam Summer Sale is in full swing, and there are deals to be had everywhere you look. But most of them—especially the more popular and more recent games—only have modest discounts at best. I’ve picked out some of my favorites that have the biggest savings.

In no particular order, here are the best Steam Summer Sale deals on the games I personally love and think everyone should check out. Fill up your Steam backlog at a steep discount right now!

1. Fallout 76 — $9.99 (75% off)

Fallout is all the rage at the moment thanks to the Amazon series, but sadly it’s been years since the last mainline game—and it’ll be years more before a new one comes out.

Take this opportunity to get Fallout 76 at a huge discount and dive into the rich lore of this post-apocalyptic world, presented as a prequel to every other Fallout game. The rest of the series is deeply discounted as well, including fan-favorite Fallout: New Vegas.

2. Horizon: Zero Dawn Complete Edition — $12.49 (75% off)

This is one of my all-time favorite games, and the PC version of Horizon: Zero Dawn—with its more precise controls and even prettier graphics—is the best way to experience it.

This package includes the original open-world, robo-dino-hunting game and the excellent Frozen Wilds DLC at an amazing price. If you enjoy this one, you’ll want to move on to the sequel Horizon: Forbidden West… if your PC can handle it.

3. Tunic — $14.99 (50% off)

Tunic is a top-down, Zelda-inspired action-RPG that’s absolutely adorable, animating like a series of kids’ toys come to life. But don’t let the cutesy graphics fool you. With its expansive setting and punishing combat, there’s more than a little Dark Souls flavor to this comely adventure.

4. Disco Elysium: The Final Cut — $3.99 (90% off)

If you want to sink your teeth into a narrative-heavy RPG, you’ll find none deeper than Disco Elysium, which became an instant classic upon release.

Its stunningly original world and neo-noir trappings will suck you in, even as you acquaint yourself with its original take on role-playing and exploration. Make sure you have plenty of free time before you start, as this game will devour it.

5. Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor + Shadow of War — $6.99 (90% off)

These games are a bit old now, but they combine Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings setting (albeit a sort of fanfiction version) with the excellent combat of the Batman Arkham games.

Even better, the legendary Nemesis system always gives you dynamic and interesting orcs to fight (and eventually recruit to your own army). Start with Shadow of Mordor, then move on to Shadow of War—this bundle makes them an incredible bargain.

6. Civilization VI — $2.99 (95% off)

What can I say about Civilization VI that hasn’t already been said? Nothing, that’s what. If you have any love for the classics of turn-based empire building, or if you’re just curious to see what all the fuss is about, there’s never been a better time to pick it up.

7. Doom (2016) — $3.99 (80% off)

Doom‘s reimagined reboot from nearly ten years ago arguably kicked off the modern boom of boomer shooters, and it’s easy to see why.

An incredible blend of classic and modern elements makes this a demon-punching joy from start to finish, with super-fast movement, satisfying shooting, and fantastic levels. Play Doom (the slightly less old one) for a taste of a nearly perfect shooter.

8. Dead Cells — $12.49 (50% off)

You got your roguelike in my Metroidvania! Dead Cells is one of those rare indie games that nails just about everything it sets out to do, from its colorful pixel art to its smooth-as-butter platforming to its punishing-yet-satisfying combat.

If you’re looking for a challenge and you’re strung out on 3D soulslikes, give this one a go. It’s an absolute winner.

9. Slay the Spire — $8.49 (66% off)

The one that popularized today’s deluge of digital deck-building games, Slay the Spire mixes simple mechanics and deep strategy with a hearty dose of randomness for maximum engagement.

After a few runs, you’ll start to seek out the card combos and battle techniques that can make the difference between a flub and an epic run. Warning: this one can be seriously addictive!

10. Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun — $14.29 (35% off)

The grimdark future of Warhammer 40K and the pixelated perversity of boomer shooters make for a perfect combination, and Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun proves it.

Step into the chunky size-18 boots of a legendary space marine and rid a beleaguered planet of its demonic infestation. Come for the breathless, non-stop shooting—even if your PC can’t handle the newer Doom games—and stay for the deep lore.

11. Yakuza: Like a Dragon — $11.99 (80% off)

The Yakuza series is legendary for its alternately serious and wacky atmosphere, but its usual beat-em-up combat doesn’t appeal to everyone. If you prefer your role-playing games with turn-based combat, this more recent entry should be more your style.

The surrealist setup of Yakuza: Like a Dragon makes everything wackier in a way that’s charmingly anime, and the new protagonist means you don’t need to have played any of the other Yakuza games to dig in.

If you’re looking to boost your productivity with an extra screen, especially when you’re on the go, the Arzopa S1 Table Portable Monitor is now just $64 at Amazon, down from $130.

While this price is technically a Prime deal—big savings that are only for Amazon Prime members—non-Prime shoppers can still get this awesome portable laptop monitor for $90.

The Arzopa S1 Table serves as an excellent portable monitor since you can easily slip it into your bag right next to your laptop. Whether you’re multitasking with multiple applications or just need a bigger screen for your spreadsheets, this monitor helps you stay productive.

Featuring a 15.6-inch 1080p IPS screen, this monitor delivers vibrant colors and crystal-clear image quality. The anti-glare display ensures you can work comfortably even in brightly lit environments, such as under fluorescent lighting or outdoors.

The display’s 60Hz refresh rate isn’t the best for gaming, but it’s all you need for reasonably smooth visuals while working on presentations, streaming videos, or just browsing the web.

This portable monitor is lightweight (1.7 pounds) and slim (0.3 inches thick), so you won’t have any trouble carrying it around.

The Arzopa S1 Table features dual USB-C ports, so it can easily connect to smartphones, computers, and gaming consoles. The mini HDMI port further extends compatibility to most modern laptops, ensuring you have a way to use the monitor with any device.

This is a fantastic opportunity to get this 15.6-inch Arzopa portable monitor for just $64 if you’re a Prime member. If you aren’t one, sign up for a 30-day free trial of Prime and you’ll be able to join in on this plus all the upcoming Prime Day deals, too!

Best Prices Today: Malwarebytes Premium

Malwarebytes was once a crucial piece of software—a necessary supplement for your main antivirus scanner. You couldn’t always count on just one program to catch everything, and Malwarebytes rose to prominence as a reliable secondary tool.

But the world has changed since 2010. Now if you run multiple antivirus apps, you could open yourself up to software conflicts or increased risk for system vulnerabilities. One single program is the way to go—and if you’re a newbie to security and prefer a dead simple app, then Malwarebytes’ streamlined, elegant approach can fit the bill.

How much does Malwarebytes Premium Security cost?

As a simple suite, Malwarebytes Premium Security costs $60 per year. New subscribers can sign up for a two-year package to save $9 ($111 total). Unlike most other antivirus vendors, Malwarebytes bills in monthly installments over a 12-month term, rather than charging the total cost upfront. 

For its consumer products, the company offers a 14-day trial, and a 60-day money back guarantee.

Single-device plan (3 devices)

• $60 per year (billed monthly over a 12-month term)

Malwarebytes’ plan allows you to spread your device allotment over those running Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, and even ChromeOS.

PCWorld

PCWorld

PCWorld

If you want to cover more gear, or save a little more cash, you can get licenses for Malwarebytes through third-parties like Amazon and the PCWorld Software store with more flexible terms and at lower rates. However, such plans currently don’t include VPN service, which Malwarebytes added to the subscriptions it sells directly.

What does Malwarebytes Premium Security include?

When you step up from Malwarebytes’ free version to a paid subscription, real-time monitoring for malware, email, web, and select network threats becomes active. (The free plan only scans if you initiate a manual check.) Overall, you’re protected against viruses, ransomware, and other malware, as well as other common attacks like phishing attempts, zero-day exploits on the web and over email, and suspicious apps.

Choosing Malwarebytes Premium Security adds on access to the company’s VPN, which Malwarebytes advertises as a no-log service. As premium upgrades go, this one is simplistic—you don’t get parental controls, a password manager, additional defenses like protected folders, or PC utilities, as you do with a rival like AVG. The company seems to weigh its VPN service as equally valuable to a collection of such antivirus features.

Key features of Malwarebytes Premium Security

Installation and user interface

After you install the app, you’ll see the main dashboard. The interface is incredibly streamlined, with just two tabs on the left navbar—Dashboard and Settings. You can choose between Light, Dark, or matching Windows’ mode.

PCWorld

PCWorld

PCWorld

Accordingly, you’ll send almost all your time on the Dashboard view, which is divided into three segments. In the larger one, you’ll see a couple of sections blocked out. At the upper left is Security, with Scanner, Detection History, and Real-Time Protection as the three options and their settings:

• Scanner lets you run a quick, full, or custom scan, as well as jump directly to related settings. You can also access the scheduled scans to review what’s already set up and create new ones. 
• Detection History shows quarantined items, the history of events (like detected viruses), and your allow list—items that you’ve approved as safe after initially being flagged by Malwarebytes. 
• Real-Time Protection is not so much a feature, but an explanation for how Malwarebytes and how it safeguards your PC continuously.

Directly underneath the security section is one for the VPN. It puts the major controls at your fingertips, letting you quickly activate the service and change the location. You can also jump into related settings.

Along the right side is a rating for your PC’s protection level—Malwarebyte’s assessment of how close you are to utilizing the app fully. You can also check on other devices associated with your account.

PCWorld

PCWorld

PCWorld

Generally, the interface is clean and simple, as are the settings for the app and its features. The only area where you can dig in deeper are the antivirus protection settings—but as Malwarebytes rightly warns, nearly all users are better off leaving the defaults as they are.

One tip: Once the software is installed, head to Settings > Notifications, scroll down to the bottom, and turn off marketing notifications.

Virus, malware, and threat protection

Real-time protection

Malwarebytes Premium Security constantly keeps an eye out for a variety of threats. When you’re opening or adding files, using apps, or browsing the web, it’ll block viruses, ransomware, and other malware like rootkits, along with phishing attempts.

Unlike other rivals, Malwarebytes doesn’t offer a firewall. That job is left to Windows. It also doesn’t offer additional protections against dangers like DNS hijacking and webcam takeovers. As for identity protection, like dark web monitoring and insurance coverage, you must upgrade to the company’s Complete Protection plan, which costs twice as much per year.

PCWorld

PCWorld

PCWorld

If you want to adjust your real-time scanning settings, you can change what the app screens for and how stringent it is with its filters, as well as how it handles suspicious files. Malwarebytes allows you dig surprisingly deep, though only experts should get into the weeds. The overwhelming majority of users should keep the defaults as they are.

Scheduled and manual scans

At installation, Malwarebytes Premium Security automatically creates a scheduled scan for once per week. It runs whenever your system is idle, which the app calls a “smart scan.” You can edit this default or create additional scheduled scans.

For manual scans, Malwarebytes offers three types. The default is a threat scan, which checks commonly targeted areas of your PC, including things running in memory and at startup, as well as registry changes. Files stored on your PC are also looked over. 

PCWorld

PCWorld

PCWorld

To fire up a quick or custom scan, you must choose Advanced Scan from the three-dot menu for the Scanner on the dashboard. Custom scans let you tweak a handful of settings related to file types and areas of your PC, as well as how to handle potentially unwanted programs and modifications to your system.

Additional features

Browser extension

Malwarebytes offers a Browser Guard extension for Chrome, Firefox, and Edge, but despite being available as a separate free download, it’s still considered a component of the Premium Security suite. After installation, it runs quietly in the background, protecting your browser from malware and scams (including credit card skimming), as well as serving as an adblocker.

VPN

Malwarebytes keeps its controls for its VPN simple rather than restrictive. Firing up the service is quick and fast, as is choosing a location for a server—and Malwarebytes lets you choose a handful of cities within countries outside of the US, more similar to a dedicated VPN.

PCWorld

PCWorld

PCWorld

You can choose servers in Albania, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, UK, Ukraine, USA.

This country list isn’t as large as with some VPN services, but as mentioned above, you can generally choose between two to four cities per country. The exception is the United States, which has 18 cities available, coast to coast.

Speeds held stable when using the VPN during light testing. For US server speeds, Los Angeles (within the same state as PCWorld’s San Francisco location) showed a decrease of about 5 to 7 percent, while New York saw a roughly 26 percent drop.

Customer support

From within the app, you can jump to Malwarebytes’ user guide, support pages, and support tool. You can also use an AI chatbot for answers to your questions, or if you’re signed into your Malwarebytes account, to contact customer support—you’ll get funneled to your choice of email or live chat.

Updates and maintenance 

Updates for the app and virus definitions happen automatically in the background, but you can also trigger a check manually. You’ll need to click on the person icon in the upper right of the app window, then choose About Malwarebytes and click on the Check for updates button.

PCWorld

PCWorld

PCWorld

Performance

While Malwarebytes participates in some independent benchmarking of its software, it has no current results from AV-Test and AV-Comparatives, two major organizations that test how well antivirus suites can catch threats.

Instead, the company points the curious toward AVLabs’s testing data. During the May 2024 advanced in-the-wild test, Malwarebytes caught all 521 samples—though its detection rate was split between 78.32 percent pre-launch and 21.38 percent post-launch of the samples (that is, before the malware samples could activate versus after). In comparison, rivals Bitdefender and McAfee caught nearly all the samples before they could execute, with 97.98 percent and 99.3 percent pre-launch detection, respectively.

When asked about its participation in independent benchmarks, a representative from Malwarebytes said the company “focuses on third-party testing that is most closely aligned with the needs of customers” and that it works “with the third-party testers that are most relevant to what our customers encounter in today’s threat landscape.”

PCWorld / AVLab

PCWorld / AVLab

PCWorld / AVLab

During hardware performance tests on our budget Acer Aspire 3 test laptop, Malwarebytes lived up to its claims of light impact on PC resources. When left idle in the background, it had virtually no effect on typical tasks, as shown by PCMark 10’s extended benchmark. That test simulates video chatting, web browsing, gaming, image and document editing in free apps like GIMP and LibreOffice, and the like. 

If you work instead on Microsoft Office documents, our UL Procyon tests showed a minimal impact on results, with a less than 3 percent difference. Similarly, our Handbrake encoding test only dipped by about 4 percent.

Even running a threat scan continuously during our benchmarks didn’t disturb these numbers much—PCMark 10 slipped by about 7 percent, Procyon by about 14 percent, and Handbrake by about 19 percent. Given how rival antivirus engines from rivals like McAfee and Norton are far greedier about system resources, Malwarebytes does distinguish itself in this regard.

Conclusion

If you dislike complicated interfaces, Malwarebytes Premium Security can be a good fit as an alternative to Windows Security—so long as you don’t mind not getting as much bang for your buck. The app is attractive and clean in its layout, and the settings are clear and straightforward. However, more seasoned security vets may have reason to hesitate on pulling the trigger, due to the relatively low amount of independent testing data available about software performance.

Microsoft has stopped delivery of June 25th’s KB5039302 update. While the update had some interesting stuff in it, it turns out that it can cause Windows 11 PCs to restart in a continuous loop.

Specifically, Windows 11 version 23H2 and Windows 11 version 22H2 are affected by this bug. Windows servers are not affected.

Fortunately, KB5039302 isn’t installed on all Windows 11 computers because it’s an optional update. (It’s a preview of the standard update for all Windows 11 machines that will be released on Patchday in July 2024.)

In other words, KB5039302 will only be on your Windows 11 computer if you explicitly installed it.

Get Windows 11 Pro for cheap

Windows 11 Pro

Microsoft wrote the following:

After installing updates released on 26 June 2024 (KB5039302), some devices may not restart. Affected systems may restart repeatedly and require recovery operations to restore normal use.

The Redmond software company continues:

This issue is more likely to affect devices that use virtual machine tools and nested virtualization features, such as CloudPC, DevBox, Azure Virtual Desktop. We are investigating to determine the exact conditions under which this issue may be triggered. Windows Home Edition users are less likely to experience this issue as virtualization is less prevalent in private environments.

And further:

While our investigation is ongoing, this update is not being offered through Windows Update and Windows Update for Business. For this reason, this update may not be offered for your device at this time.

Microsoft is working on a solution to the problem and plans to release it with one of the upcoming updates.

What to do if you’re stuck restarting

If you’ve installed the update on your computer and it enters the never-ending reboot loop, you’ll have to wait until Windows 11 begins the Windows 11 recovery environment by itself.

When it does, select Troubleshoot, then Advanced Options, then Uninstall Updates, and finally click on Uninstall latest quality update. Then confirm removal of the update.

It will take some time for KB5039302 to be removed. Once it’s done, restart your computer and it should work properly again.

While robot vacuums are quite helpful, they can be rather expensive. If you’ve wanted to try one but you’re reluctant to drop hundreds on a name-brand model, today’s your lucky day.

The Lefant M210 robovac is down to $89 at Amazon, an incredible savings on the robot’s list price of $200. It’s rare to see robovacs under $100, especially ones that don’t compromise on performance!

Designed with pet owners in mind, the Lefant M210 tackles pet hair and dirt as it operates its effective zigzag cleaning routine.

This super-affordable model doesn’t have a brush—it sucks everything up directly—so it avoids all the issues that come with hair getting tangled. The trade-off is that it can sometimes struggle to loosen up dirt and debris that’s stubborn or really caked on.

The compact design of the Lefant M210, with its 11-inch diameter and 2.99-inch height, allows it to easily navigate under beds, sofas, and other furniture. It leaves no spot left uncleaned.

You can choose between six cleaning modes: Auto, Spot, Edge, Zigzag, Schedule, and Manual. You can pick whichever you want through the Lefant app and switch between them as needed. You can even control the robovac with your voice by connecting with either Alexa or Google Assistant and asking it to perform different cleaning jobs.

With its long battery life, the Lefant M210 can run up to 120 minutes in low suction mode, meaning it could clean your entire home on a single charge (assuming you aren’t in a massive mansion).

For less than $90, the Lefant M210 robovac is an absolute steal. What will you do with all the time you free up? Whether it’s chilling with Netflix, tackling other chores, or simply taking a nap, the Lefant M210 can improve your life—if you jump on this limited-time deal.

A good gaming chair is a well-considered investment for many, as it usually costs a little more than a normal office chair. However, it also fulfils many functions that go beyond just sitting and scores points with its ergonomics and stylish lighting, for example.

But what should you do if you are no longer happy with your gaming chair? Take it apart, dispose of it and forget about it? Not necessarily, because perhaps your gaming chair would benefit from an upgrade.

To get the best out of your gaming chair, we have selected some interesting accessory options. Unless otherwise stated, most of the products should be suitable for all common manufacturers.

Further reading: Why a great gaming setup needs more than just a powerful PC

Option 1: Neck, lumbar or seat cushion for more ergonomics

Most gaming chairs are already very ergonomic and, in addition to a shape adapted to the spine, also have other aids. These include a good neck cushion that supports the head if you want to lean backwards.

The manufacturer Noblechairs, for example, offers a comfortable cushion made of memory foam that adapts to the shape of the head and can be attached to the chair with a drawstring. This is available for just $35.

You should also provide optimum support for your lower back if you are sitting for long periods of time. A separate lumbar cushion is recommended here if the gaming chair does not already have a function. The Razer brand offers a high-quality memory foam cushion that should fit any chair. However, to be on the safe side, check the dimensions in case your chair is narrower or wider than the gaming chairs from Razer.

Last but not least, there’s the part you actually sit on. The seat of many gaming chairs is made from materials that are both comfortable and supportive. However, if you still find that it becomes uncomfortable or causes pain, an orthopedic seat cushion can help. Cushions for the armrests can also help you to adopt a better posture when typing.

Option 2: Footrest, new castors and mat for more support

If you look at the lower part of a gaming chair, you will notice room for improvement. Firstly, the legs should always be at right angles to the floor, but this is not always the case.

If the height adjustment doesn’t help because the chair doesn’t fit your height perfectly, you should get a footrest. These are available from Secret Lab, for example, although they are a little expensive, or cheaper on Amazon with a warming cover that also helps against cold feet in winter.

If you are annoyed that the gaming chair only has cheap plastic castors or makes a lot of noise when rolling, you can usually replace them. However, make sure you buy the correct diameter so that the castors fit when you attach them.

It may also be a good idea to get a floor protection mat to prevent further wear and tear on the floor or castors. As a rule, these are also non-slip and do not have to look as boring as normal carpets, but can be provided with a wide variety of designs such as those from Sharkoon.

Sharkoon

Sharkoon

Sharkoon

Option 3: A chicer look thanks to personalized patches, covers or LED lighting

If you also value the look, you can personalize your gaming chair even further than just during the ordering process. At Backforce, for example, you can order personalized patches that you can apply to any chair with a fabric cover.

Speaking of covers, if you’re not happy with the color of your gaming chair, you can also get a cover for it. This protects the chair from stains or damage caused by cat claws.

If you prefer a more colorful look, you can also equip your gaming chair with additional LED lighting, if this is not already available. You can use conventional light strips from Amazon and stick them to the side of the chair for a cool lighting effect.

Chernishev Maksim / Shutterstock.com

Chernishev Maksim / Shutterstock.com

Chernishev Maksim / Shutterstock.com

Option 4: Extra gadgets such as a cup holder or controller hanger

If you don’t have much space at your desk, you can outfit your gaming chair with places to store drinks, controllers, or headsets. The DXRacer brand, for example, offers a built-in cup holder for its chairs, although this is compatible with only specific models.

The manufacturer, Thrustmaster, also offers a wild-looking design that allows joysticks to be mounted directly on the armrests of the gaming chair. This makes you feel like you’re in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon or something. Again, make sure that the seat mount is compatible with your chair.

If you’re looking to score a fast laptop at a killer price, you’ve come to the right place. Whether you’re on the hunt for a blazing fast gaming rig, an affordable laptop under $500, or an everyday Chromebook, we’ve assembled a list of the best laptop deals available right now, using our finely honed editorial judgement (and thousands of hours of testing experience) to only recommend truly compelling deals on worthwhile notebooks.

We’ve separated the recommendations below by best laptop deals under $500, best home use laptop deals, best gaming laptop deals, and best premium laptop deals, to make it easier to find a notebook that fits your budget and needs. For more options, check out PCWorld’s roundup of the best laptops available right now.

Best laptop deals (at a glance)

• Lenovo Flex 3, $349 ($130 off at Best Buy)
• Lenovo IdeaPad 1, $479.99 ($320 off at Best Buy)
• Acer Aspire 3, $499.99 ($100 off at Adorama)
• HP Envy x360, $569.99 ($379.01 off at Adorama)
• Samsung Galaxy Book4, $599.99 ($300 off at Best Buy)
• Asus VivoBook S15, $649.99 ($200 off at Adorama)
• Lenovo Flex 7, $1,039.99 ($220 off at Adorama)
• Dell XPS 15, $1,099 ($200 off at Dell)
• Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1, $1,249.99 ($400 off at Best Buy)
• Alienware m16 R2, $1,299.99 ($300 off at Dell)

Best laptop deals under $500

Lenovo

Lenovo

Lenovo

Lenovo Flex 3: $349 ($130 off at Best Buy)

Sometimes all you need is an affordable laptop for surfing the web and composing e-mail exchanges. If you’re in the market for such a laptop, the Lenovo Flex 3 is definitely worth considering. It’s powered by a Pentium Silver N6000 processor, which is suitable for general browsing and streaming Netflix, but not much else. It’s not the fastest processor we’ve ever seen here at PCWorld, but you’ve also got to temper your expectations, as this laptop is specifically designed with basic tasks in mind. However, according to Best Buy reviews, the 1080p touchscreen display is pretty darn crisp, making this machine an excellent value.

Lenovo

Lenovo

Lenovo

Lenovo IdeaPad 1: $479.99 ($320 off at Best Buy)

The Lenovo IdeaPad 1 is another nice laptop for everyday use, but the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U CPU is a better performer than the Flex 3’s Pentium Silver N6000. It’s not the newest technology out there, but it should be plenty speedy when running Microsoft Office, Adobe PDF, and so on. The 15.6-inch 1080p display is also touch-enabled with a 60Hz refresh rate, which is good enough for daily activities. Finally, the IdeaPad 1 is packing 16GB of RAM and 512GB SSD–a good amount of memory and storage for the price. Don’t wait, pick it up now.

Acer

Acer

Acer

Acer Aspire 3: $499.99 ($100 off at Adorama)

I know I’m beginning to sound like a broken record, but the Acer Aspire 3 is a truly fantastic sub-$500 laptop for casual use. The Intel Core i7-1165G7 is a few generations old at this point, but it’s fast enough to handle web browsing as well as office work. The laptop also comes loaded with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of SSD storage–which is better than what we typically see in this price range (it’s usually 8GB of memory and 128GB of SSD storage). In addition to the 15.6-inch 1080p display, which is perfect for day-to-day activities like scrolling through your social media feed and watching Netflix, it also weighs approximately 3.75 pounds, making it a pretty travel-friendly machine.

Best for home use

Samsung

Samsung

Samsung

Samsung Galaxy Book4: $599.99 ($300 off at Best Buy)

Here at PCWorld, we really like Samsung’s Galaxy Book series of laptops. The Galaxy Book4 Ultra, a top-tier configuration we reviewed in April, earned 4.5 out of 5 stars plus an Editor’s Choice Award. While we loved the Book4’s stunning OLED screen and phenomenal battery life, it’s prohibitively expensive. If you’re looking for a more affordable version and don’t need all the bells and whistles, the Samsung Galaxy Book4 is a good option for day-to-day use–it comes with an Intel Core 7 Series 1 150U processor, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of SSD storage. Connectivity options include one HDMI, two USB-A 3.2, and two USB-C, so you shouldn’t have to carry an adapter around with you. At the end of the day, if it’s a reliable laptop you’re after, then look no further than the Galaxy Book4.

Asus

Asus

Asus

Asus VivoBook S15: $649.99 ($200 off at Adorama)

The Asus VivoBook S15 is a nice laptop for streaming your favorite shows, general web browsing, and so on. It comes loaded up with an AMD Ryzen 7 5800H CPU and AMD Radeon Graphics, so it should be smooth sailing when it comes to your daily tasks. The 15.6-inch 1080p display is fine for movie watching or doom scrolling, but if you need a sharper screen for editing work, for example, you should hook up to an external monitor. Fortunately for you, the VivoBook S15 also comes with a wide array of connectivity options: you’re getting one HDMI, one 3.5mm combo audio jack, one USB 2.0 Type-A, one USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, and two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C. Other features include a backlit chiclet keyboard and a 720p webcam with a physical privacy shutter.

Best gaming laptop deals

Dell

Dell

Dell

Alienware m16 R2: $1,299.99 ($300 off at Dell)

The Alienware m16 R2 is a powerful gaming laptop with a high refresh rate display. In addition to the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H CPU and the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU, you’re also getting a 16-inch display with a 2560×1600 resolution and a 240Hz refresh rate. So, what does it all mean? Basically, the hardware should have no problem running most games with the graphics dialed up. The visuals should look fluid, too–this is helpful when playing faster-paced titles. Plus, when we reviewed a similar configuration back in March, we awarded it 4.5 out of 5 stars plus an Editor’s Choice award. The build quality and performance are truly top-notch.

Best premium laptop deals

HP

HP

HP

HP Envy x360: $569.99 ($379.01 off at Adorama)

The HP Envy x360 is powerful, lightweight, and versatile. The 2-in-1 form factor means you can fold the screen back and use the laptop like a tablet, and it comes equipped with a good amount of RAM (16GB) and storage (512GB SSD). The 1080p display is quite large at 15.6-inches and is touch-enabled, which is perfect for habitual notetakers and doodlers. The keyboard is also full-sized and has backlighting–this is great for when you’re using the laptop in low light environments.

Lenovo

Lenovo

Lenovo

Lenovo Flex 7: $1,039.99 ($220 off at Adorama)

The Lenovo Flex 7 is a great laptop for those who want an affordable 2-in-1. You’re getting a lightweight design as well as a decent amount of power for just over $1,000. It has an Intel Core i7-1355U CPU, Intel Iris Xe graphics, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of SSD storage. Zipping through spreadsheet work, light use tasks, and so on should be no problem for this machine. In addition to the 2-in-1 form factor, in which the screen swings back 360 degrees, it also weighs just 3.53 pounds. That means you can easily slip it in a backpack or messenger back and take it with you anywhere.

Dell

Dell

Dell

Dell XPS 15: $1,099 ($200 off at Dell)

Dell’s XPS line of laptops are known for their premium builds, lightweight form factors, and powerful internals. They’re also known for their jack of all trades performance, as they’re equipped to handle tasks both big and small. The Dell XPS 15 that’s on sale today, although we haven’t personally tested this configuration, shows a lot of promise given the specs. The Intel Core i7-13620H CPU is capable of tackling day-to-day work as well as more demanding applications. The 1200p display, which measures 15.6 inches, also has a maximum brightness of 500 nits. If that number holds true, then you’re in for a vibrant picture.

Lenovo

Lenovo

Lenovo

Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1: $1,249.99 ($400 off at Best Buy)

The Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 is a powerful, versatile machine with a stunning 4K display. What more could you ask for? Underneath the hood, you’ll find an Intel Core i7-1360P CPU, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of SSD storage–so it should have no issues zipping through daily activities, spreadsheet work, and so on. The 14-inch touch display, which has a resolution of 3840×2400 (4K!), is a real stunner, too. This is the kind of display that’s meant for watching movies, graphically-intensive work, and so on. It also comes with a stylus, which is great because you don’t have to pay extra for a standalone accessory.

For more options, check out PCWorld’s roundup of the best laptops available right now.

Imagine a world where a car is speeding up directly behind you but your hearing only extends to either side of you. It’s a frightening thought, isn’t it? Yet it’s not too far off what we’ve had to endure for decades now in games.

You could just as easily sub out the word “car” for “zombie,” “monster,” “dragon,” or any other kind of game foe, too.

So, I’m just going blurt out my raw opinion: Audio has traditionally taken a backseat to graphics in many games. There… that feels better. But, I do get why that’s been the case…

I mean, it’s true that we live in such a visual world that game developers have naturally prioritized pixels over audio pings. When I look at some of the gorgeous 4K games that have hit our shelves in the last few years — games like Cyberpunk 2077 — I can’t complain, either. The evolution of visually stunning graphics has obviously been a necessary thing to drive game innovation — I mean who doesn’t wanna see a talking vending machine in 3840x2160p?

But we hit a point a while back now where I ceased to be amazed by just gorgeous graphics. Indeed, it’s time to give credit to something else that’s been driving engagement. Yup, take a bow, 3D spatial audio.

The benefits of 3D spatial audio are many.

For starters, technologies like Dolby Atmos for headphones and Windows Sonic have opened a whole new world to my gaming, morphing them from simple linear, roughly approximated auditory experiences into rich sound extravaganzas.

In a literal sense the fact that I can now hear sounds from 17 directions instead of just four really does make them a zillion times more riveting.

That I can hear zombies at my 11 o’clock as well as at 3 o’clock in Resident Evil 2 makes the fantasy a whole lot more believable. Yes, other games have had grotesque flesh-eating undead humans in them too, but these ones sound like they’re actually moving in my 3D space — in my living room, or even in my bedroom, wherever I happen to be playing at the time.

Capcom

Capcom

Capcom

In a nutshell, with 3D spatial audio, developers have found a way to hack more of my biological processes (Matrix style) to keep me more engrossed than I ever have been before. In some cases, they quite literally leave me shaking in my boots.

But 3D spatial audio is more than just a cool new way to hear games like I’ve never heard them before. Indeed, it has become an effective storytelling technique that gels perfectly with the kind of games that I love to play — the engrossing cinematic kind.

Hellblade Senua’s Sacrifice is a classic example of where that happens. The game uses 3D spatial audio to put voices in your head and thereby enhance the game’s narrative about your character — a crazed Viking warrior who has descended into hell to help her lost lover. It also uses 3D audio in combat scenes, so they become quite frantic.

Further reading: The best gaming headsets

Ninja Theory

Ninja Theory

Ninja Theory

The way it works at captivating me deserves praise. That a game developer can cause my adrenal glands to flood my body with more of the flight and fight hormone is quite an extraordinary thing.

Another effective 3D spatial audio technique that developers use gets me every time, too. It’s where the audio starts out utilizing the 3D enhanced directionality of 3D spatial audio then collapses down to a single direction — in some cases so that only my player’s breath, or their beating heart is audible (a la Sniper Elite 5).

I call this the claustrophobia effect. Suffice to say, it sounds like my own breath or heart, which makes the action and story more palpable.

Then there’s the way 3D spatial audio enhances environmental sounds like gunfire and passing cars in RPG games like Cyberpunk 2077. If you like a full shopping mall kind of auditory experience where sounds are emanating from every direction — yup, 3D spatial is where it’s at.

CD Project Red

CD Project Red

CD Project Red

But these things are arguably the lesser realized advantages of 3D spatial audio. A more common use is simply competitive advantage. That advantage can be quite big. For me the added directionality allows me to pinpoint explosions, gunfire, and player footfalls in multiplayer matches tons easier than if I had just stereo audio.

That’s no more evident than in Rainbow Six Siege, where I find myself listening like a hawk for the chance of hearing players change from prone to standing, crossing different floor types, and deploying gadgets like flashbangs, to home in on their locations.

But 3D spatial audio also helps with environmental awareness of objects too. The 3D audio anchors them and provides a persistent presence to targets. Indeed, I’ve found it a lot easier to locate objectives in games like Battlefield V, so much so that I’m no longer wandering aimlessly.

That’s not to say that spatial audio technologies are flawless. It can be a minefield to sift between the different types with their varying hardware and game compatibilities. What’s more, they work differently, too. Reddit is flooded with anecdotes about that.

But when you find one that works a treat, it’s gold. DTS Headphone: X 2.0 is one of my favorites. I’ve been loving using it with the Logitech G Pro X Lightspeed headset these past couple of weeks. It’s especially great for games that support Microsoft’s spatial sound API, where I get a full 3D effect — even from above.

mentioned in this article

Logitech G Pro X 2 Lightspeed

Read our review

Best Prices Today: $249.18 at Amazon

So, if you haven’t tried 3D spatial audio, give it a go. But be sure to do your homework and find one that’s compatible with the games you’re playing. After that, load up a game and feel ALIVE!

2024 is an exciting year for Windows. While the AI features touted by Microsoft’s Copilot+ PCs are a flat miss, the new Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite hardware inside Copilot+ PCs is a definite win.

Finally, after more than a decade of effort, Windows on Arm is a viable alternative to traditional x86 processors—and it’s especially alluring if you long for longer battery life.

But what about games? There’s reason to be skeptical., despite Qualcomm’s pre-release claims that games should just work on Snapdragon X Elite. Games are often developed with a highly specific platform target. Even ports that seem simple, like a move from PlayStation 5 to Xbox Series X|S, can take a lot more effort than you might think. 

To find out how well Qualcomm’s chips fare in PC games, I pitted Microsoft’s new Surface Laptop 7 against a Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 2-in-1 with an Intel Core Ultra processor and Intel Arc integrated graphics. The results are shocking.

Further reading: Surface Laptop 7 review: A new Snapdragon-powered era for Windows laptops

Qualcomm vs. Intel integrated GPUs

Every Qualcomm Snapdragon X chip comes with an integrated Qualcomm Adreno X1 GPU, though the IGP’s performance varies a bit depending on the particular Snapdragon X chip in a device: 

• Snapdragon X Plus X1P-64-100: 3.8 TFLOPs
• Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100: 3.8 TFLOPs
• Snapdragon X Elite X1E-80-100: 3.8 TFLOPs
• Snapdragon X Elite X1E-84-100: 4.6 TFLOPs

As you can see, Qualcomm’s naming conventions are a bit opaque even by the standards of the industry, so you’ll need to pay close attention when buying a Qualcomm-powered Windows laptop.

Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 (13.8″)

Read our review

Best Prices Today: $999.99 at Amazon | $999.99 at Best Buy

Though the X1E-84-100 is the best Qualcomm chip, it’s currently exclusive to the Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge, leaving the X1E-80-100 in the leading spot for most Qualcomm-powered laptops. This is the chip I’ll be using in my tests for this comparison.

Intel, meanwhile, provides integrated Arc graphics into some—though not all—Intel Core Ultra chips. Here, too, the details can vary quite a bit between chips. The least performant have four “Xe Cores” while the best have eight. Clock speeds vary, too.

Intel’s Core Ultra 7 155H, the one I’ll be using for this comparison, is a popular option for thin-and-light Windows x86 laptops, the form factor Qualcomm targets with its debut Snapdragon notebooks.. Many expensive laptops use it for their entry-level configurations, while mid-range laptops provide it as an upgrade over an Intel Core Ultra 5.

Qualcomm Adreno X1: Games that failed

Before diving into benchmarks, I want to address a major problem upfront: Most games currently make little or no effort to support Qualcomm’s hardware.

Qualcomm tried to build pre-launch hype with demonstrations of Baldur’s Gate 3 and Control, which both launch and run on a Snapdragon X laptop. However, many of the games I tried refused to launch, crashed at launch, or had instability problems that made them unplayable.

The list of game titles with such problems include many of the most popular games on Steam:

• PUBG: Battlegrounds has an anti-cheat system that doesn’t currently support Qualcomm’s hardware, so the game refused to launch.
• Counter-Strike 2 launched and, at first, seemed playable. However, the game frequently locked up for seconds at a time. The lock-ups seemed to be triggered by gunfire, which obviously isn’t great in a fast-paced esports shooter.
• Warframe launched to the title and login screens, but opened in an oddly scaled window that made the login button unavailable. The game crashed when I resized or maximized the window.
• Apex: Legends politely refused to launch. The game produced an error message stating Arm chips aren’t supported.
• Diablo IV launched and I was able to enter a game, but the game froze several seconds after I started moving my character, followed by a “[Prism] Device Removal – Win10/Dx12 TQ0 RT0 DLSS0 FG0” error message.
• Valheim crashed to the desktop before the game loaded to the start screen. This happened under both DirectX and Vulkan.

As I discovered in my time using the Microsoft Surface Laptop, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X delivers a stable Windows software experience straight out of the box. From web browsers to video editors, nearly everything ran without a problem. And, to my surprise, a large majority of the apps I use for everyday work already support Arm.

But PC games are a different beast. Very few PC developers bother to create Arm-compatible versions of their game. That’s when emulation tries to step in, but emulating a game is more difficult than emulating a typical desktop application.

Can Intel Arc play these titles? For the most part, yes. Games like Warframe and Counter-Strike 2 are very playable on Arc. Others, like Diablo IV and PUBG: Battlegrounds, push the definition of playable with occasional hitches or stutters, but I suspect gamers who aren’t too critical of performance will still find the experience tolerable.

The laptops used for comparison

I went beyond PCWorld’s typical benchmarks for this comparison because I’m interested in a broader overview of how Qualcomm’s Adreno X1 and Intel’s Arc compare across different games of varying age, graphical fidelity, and genre.

Because of that, I had to test a competitive laptop with Intel Arc graphics side-by-side with the Qualcomm machine. I selected the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 2-in-1 with an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H and I pitted it against the new Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 with Qualcomm X1E-80-100.

Both laptops have (roughly) 14-inch screens, and they’re similar in size and weight so neither has innate thermal advantages. They represent many mid-to-high-end laptops with Qualcomm or Intel hardware.

The laptops were set to their respective “Best Performance” modes for these tests. I ran all benchmarks three times and averaged the results. Both laptops were connected to power.

The games tested and their results

Sid Meier’s Civilization VI

Firaxis’ Sid Meier’s Civilization IV, released in 2014, is hardly a new game, but it remains among the most popular grand strategy games on Steam. It’s a great game to test because large games like this, with many AI opponents, can still tax entry-level laptops.

I tested this game with the built-in Gathering Storm expansion benchmark at 1920×1080 resolution with low Performance and Memory graphics presets selected. The benchmark ran three times back-to-back and the results were averaged. The DirectX 12 mode was used.

Matthew Smith / IDG

Matthew Smith / IDG

Matthew Smith / IDG

• Microsoft Surface Laptop with Qualcomm Adreno X1:
  Avg 21.47 / 1% low 14.52
• Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 2-in-1 with Intel Arc:
  Avg 72.29 / 1% low 39.52

This is a blowout win for the Intel Arc graphics, which averaged a performance uplift of roughly 3.5 times when compared to the Qualcomm Adreno X1. More importantly, Intel Arc delivered a playable and enjoyable experience, while Qualcomm Adreno X1 did not.

Interestingly, an Arm-native version of Civilization VI exists, as the game is available for both the iPad and Nintendo Switch (both have Arm chips). However, it’s not available for Windows. This implies the potential to improve performance with a native Arm release, but Firaxis hasn’t announced plans to bring it to Windows on Arm.

Dota 2

Valve’s Dota 2 remains one of the most popular esports titles on the planet. I tested its performance using the in-game replay function to standardize the results. The game was launched at 1920×1080 resolution with the Fastest detail preset, and three 60-second snapshots of performance were captured from the same replay file.

Matthew Smith / IDG

Matthew Smith / IDG

Matthew Smith / IDG

• Microsoft Surface Laptop with Qualcomm Adreno X1:
  Avg 52.8 / 1% Low 17.8 / 0.1% Low 9.8
• Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 2-in-1 with Intel Arc:
  Avg 106.6 / 1% Low 52.6  / 0.1% Low 38.1

This is a playable result for the Qualcomm chip, but only just. The average of 52.8 frames per second is solid, though not amazing, but the 1% lows dip into the high teens, and the 0.1% lows dip to single-digits. The game suffered occasional audio drop-outs and glitches.

Intel Arc is both quicker and more stable. Though far from a speed-demon, the Arc delivers an experience that looks and feels more polished. I think most Dota 2 players could get by with Intel Arc graphics if that was their only option.

Diablo II: Resurrected

As mentioned earlier, Diablo IV crashed on the Qualcomm chip—so I instead gave Diablo II: Resurrected a spin.

Although it appears to be a 2D game at a glance due to its fixed isometric perspective, it’s a full 3D title and can prove surprisingly demanding on low-end to mid-range hardware.

I tested the game at 1920×1080 resolution with the Medium detail preset. Dynamic resolution scaling was disabled. I booted the game up, selected a high-level character, and romped through the River of Flame map on Nightmare difficulty.

Matthew Smith / IDG

Matthew Smith / IDG

Matthew Smith / IDG

• Microsoft Surface Laptop with Qualcomm Adreno X1:
  Avg 47.8 / 1% Low 26.8 / 0.1% Low 19.1
• Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 2-in-1 with Intel Arc:
  Avg 74.5 / 1% Low 49.6 / 0.1% Low 27.9

Though hardly perfect, Diablo II: Resurrected was playable on the Qualcomm chip. It delivered an average of about 48 frames per second and 1% lows of 26.8 frames per second, indicating gameplay wasn’t always smooth but usually good enough. I didn’t notice any bugs or glitches in my time with the game, either.

Still, Intel Arc came out ahead by every metric. Not only was Arc’s average framerate much higher, but its framerate dips were less severe. In practice, these numbers mean Diablo II: Resurrected felt smoother and more stable on the Arc system.

Final Fantasy XIV

The popular MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV received a graphical overhaul for its new expansion Dawntrail, but it’s still not an especially demanding game when all things are considered.

I tested it with the standalone benchmark at 1920×1080 resolution and the High (Laptop) detail setting. Dynamic Resolution Scaling was off, while LOD on Distant Objects and Dynamic Grass Interaction were left on.

Matthew Smith / IDG

Matthew Smith / IDG

Matthew Smith / IDG

• Microsoft Surface Laptop with Qualcomm Adreno X1:
  4474 / Avg 31.56  / Minimum: 7
• Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 2-in-1 with Intel Arc:
  6111 / Avg 41.8 / Minimum: 24

The Qualcomm chip played the game reasonably well, but it often suffered momentary framerate dips that were a drag on the visuals, while Arc’s dips were relatively rare (though I would still recommend notching down a few detail settings).

This is another win for Intel Arc. While a higher average framerate is great, Arc’s real victory is its superior minimum framerate result. FFXIV fans might get by with the Qualcomm chip in a pinch, but I wouldn’t recommend it.

Total War: Warhammer III

Total War: Warhammer III is a real graphical showcase for strategy fans. It has detailed campaign maps and large battles that can include thousands of units. I tested this game with the built-in campaign benchmark at 1920×1080 resolution and the Low detail preset.

Matthew Smith / IDG

Matthew Smith / IDG

Matthew Smith / IDG

• Microsoft Surface Laptop with Qualcomm Adreno X1:
  Avg 24 / Minimum 16
• Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 2-in-1 with Intel Arc:
  Avg 30 / Minimum 19

Intel Arc won this comparison, but the margin of victory was far slimmer than with most of the titles I tried—and it might not matter much. While Arc did average 30 FPS, the framerate frequently dipped into the 20s.

Both Intel Arc and Qualcomm Adreno require significant resolution reductions for a truly playable experience in this title.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition

Despite its age, Skyrim remains an important title for PC gaming with an active community and a huge library of modifications.

I tested the Special Edition, without mods, at 1920×1080 resolution using the High detail preset. The test run was a walk from the cave you exit at the beginning of the game to the walls of Helgen.

Matthew Smith / IDG

Matthew Smith / IDG

Matthew Smith / IDG

• Microsoft Surface Laptop with Qualcomm Adreno X1:
  Avg 29.8 / 1% Low 12 / 0.1% Low 8.3
• Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 2-in-1 with Intel Arc:
  Avg 59.4 / 1% Low 39.7 / 0.1% Low 30.3

This was a clear win for Intel Arc, which roughly doubled the performance of the Qualcomm chip. Skyrim felt more stable on Arc with a 0.1% low of 30.3 frames per second, while it stuttered and hitched frequently on the Qualcomm-powered Surface with a 0.1% low of 8.3 frames per second.

Cyberpunk 2077

Now we have Cyberpunk 2077, a notoriously demanding title that’s representative of cutting-edge cross-platform games.

I ran the benchmark at 1920×1080 resolution and used the Low detail preset. Resolution scaling was enabled because this game simply isn’t playable on this class of hardware without it. The Qualcomm chip used AMD FSR 2.1 while Intel Arc used Intel XeSS 1.2. Ray tracing was off.

Matthew Smith / IDG

Matthew Smith / IDG

Matthew Smith / IDG

• Microsoft Surface Laptop with Qualcomm Adreno X1:
  Avg 20.69 / Minimum 14.93
• Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 2-in-1 with Intel Arc:
  Avg 35.83 / Minimum 27.90

This is another win for Intel Arc. Cyberpunk 2077 is just barely playable on Arc, though, so it’s a long way from ideal. On Qualcomm, meanwhile, the game’s average and minimum framerates fall short of acceptable.

Reducing resolution to 720p and fine-tuning the settings can arguably provide a playable experience, but I wouldn’t recommend it.

3DMark

Last, but not least, is a pair of 3DMark synthetic benchmarks: Time Spy and Night Strike. Time Spy is not an Arm-native test, but Night Strike is, and that has a big impact on performance.

Matthew Smith / IDG

Matthew Smith / IDG

Matthew Smith / IDG

• Microsoft Surface Laptop with Qualcomm Adreno X1:
  Time Spy 1,880 / Night Strike 24,573
• Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 2-in-1 with Intel Arc:
  Time Spy 3,523 / Night Strike 25,552

In Time Spy, which isn’t Arm-native, the Qualcomm Adreno X1 is leagues behind Intel Arc. But in Night Strike, which does provide an Arm-native version, the two are rather close. Arc still wins, but only by a hair.

This is a very important result. While not especially useful for gamers buying a laptop today, it hints that Qualcomm hardware could eventually end up in a much better place in due time.

Windows games designed for Arm are exceedingly rare right now, which is bad news for Qualcomm. But the Night Strike result shows that Qualcomm could make up a lot of ground if game developers begin to release updates for Windows on Arm.

Qualcomm Adreno X1 vs. Intel Arc: Conclusion

Qualcomm’s big issue is the lack of Windows on Arm among the PC game development community. Unlike other software developers—who are adopting Windows on Arm at speed—PC game developers seem unmotivated and even reluctant.

That’s understandable. Game developers already have to think about possible support for at least six platforms (Windows x86, Mac, Linux x86, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch). Adding Windows on Arm to the pile is surely a strain.

Still, the consequences are clear. Modern games simply don’t run well on Qualcomm’s chip because they generally run emulated, not natively. As a result, many titles experience hitching, stuttering, and/or extended framerate drops that drag down the experience with instability.

This could all change as game developers begin to release Arm-native versions, but I can’t predict how quickly that change will come.

So, what’s the final takeaway? If you’re looking to play PC games on an entry-level laptop today, you should choose an Intel laptop with Arc integrated graphics (or an AMD Ryzen laptop) over a Qualcomm alternative.

As of today, residents in Indiana, Idaho, and Kansas will no longer be able to access the adult site Pornhub. Due to newly passed age verification laws designed to prevent minors from viewing adult content, Pornhub has begun blocking access to users in these states in protest.

This is following a trend that has seen more than half a dozen states lose access to the incredibly popular NSFW site. A similar ban occurred in March of this year when access was blocked to residents in Texas. 

This is certainly inconvenient for age-appropriate residents of these states who want to access the site (which, it must be stated, receives First Amendment constitutional protection). Fortunately, there’s an easy fix: using a VPN. Just download and install your preferred VPN, connect to a server in a state that isn’t blocked, and enjoy the content.

Below you’ll find my top picks for VPNs to access Pornhub if you’re in states where the site has blocked access. For even more great services, check out our list of the best VPNs overall.

ExpressVPN – Best overall

ExpressVPN

Read our review

ExpressVPN is my overall top pick for VPNs no matter the intended use. It packs a ton of great features including wide-device support, ad- and tracker-blocking, and plenty of domestic and international servers.

It also boasts great speeds, meaning you won’t need to downgrade your video quality to something that makes it look like the important bits are blurred on purpose. ExpressVPN even supports just about every device you could imagine so not only will you be able to access Pornhub, you’ll be able to view the content on any device you wish as well.

NordVPN – Runner-up

NordVPN

Read our review

NordVPN is a close second to ExpressVPN, only losing out due to a slightly more complicated interface and a more expensive long-term price. Let that not take anything away from how great this service is as well.

It’s consistently the fastest VPN I’ve ever tested, so you can stream in HD to your heart’s content. Plus, it comes with even more built-in security features than ExpressVPN.

Mullvad – Best for privacy

Mullvad

Read our review

Best Prices Today: $5.37 at Mullvad

Depending on what you’re looking for from a VPN, Mullvad might actually be your best option. Not only is it in our top five services for overall speed, it more importantly earns top marks for privacy.

Mullvad takes every effort it can to know as little about its users as possible. It doesn’t ask for an email address or name and it even accepts payments via mailed cash if you want. Plus, it costs just $5 per month regardless of the plan you choose.

ProtonVPN – Best free VPN

ProtonVPN

Read our review

While I don’t usually recommend that anyone use a free VPN due to their proven security and privacy risks on certain devices, ProtonVPN is one of the exceptions. This service from Swiss-based Proton, has a spotless track record for user privacy. It’s also mercifully free of ads.

Just like all free VPNs there are limitations, but thankfully ProtonVPN keeps them relatively tame. For no cost whatsoever you’ll get a one-device connection limit and access to five servers located in different countries around the world (including the U.S.). It doesn’t impose any speed or data limitations on these free servers as well—something that is nearly unheard of with other free VPNs.

Chromebooks have undergone the most dramatic transformation over the years. No longer are they used to just running Google apps or accessing the internet. Nowadays, in addition to running everyday tasks like browsing the web and checking e-mail, you can also play the latest triple-A titles with cloud gaming. Because there’s such a wide variety now, we’ve curated a list of our top picks to help narrow things down. Whatever your needs may be, PCWorld has you covered with the best options on the market today.

If you still prefer Windows laptops, you’ll definitely want to check out PCWorld’s roundup of the best laptops available today.

Why you should trust us: PCWorld has been going strong since 1983, back in the days when print magazines were more common. Now that we’ve made the leap to digital, we’ve been reviewing more than 70 laptops every year. Every laptop that passes through our doors goes through an arduous testing process, in which we evaluate everything from processor performance to display quality. We’re committed to reviewing laptops in every price range too.

Update June 27, 2024: We updated the list of recent laptop reviews to include the Acer Aspire 3 ($499.99) and the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 ($999.99). The affordable Acer Aspire 3 offers plenty of RAM and storage, and the pricier Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 features the new Qualcomm Snapdragon Elite X processor.

Lenovo Flex 5i – Best overall Chromebook

Pros

• Good build quality
• Fantastic typing experience
• Vibrant touchscreen display

Cons

• Average battery life for a Chromebook
• Stylus not included

Why we like the Lenovo Flex 5i

The Lenovo Flex 5i is the best overall choice because of its 2-in-1 design, the peppy performance, exquisite typing experience, and so much more. The understated aluminum finished exterior helps make it feel like something three or four times as expensive. As for the convertible design, the 360-degree hinge feels incredibly sturdy, which is essential in a 2-in-1 laptop. Plus, the keyboard is a real joy to type on and the 1200p touch display produces crisp and vibrant visuals. The best part is that you’re getting all of these wonderful features for well under $500.

Who should buy the Lenovo Flex 5i

We feel as though the Lenovo Flex 5i is a good Chromebook for most people. The touchscreen and 2-in-1 design really gives it the edge, as you usually see these features in machines that cost much more. While the nine hour battery life is considered just average for a Chromebook, it’s still a great all-day result. It’s just not the whopping 19 hours we got out of the Asus Chromebook CM34 Flip. That said, the Lenovo Flex 5i’s list of compromises is quite small.

Read our full Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus review

Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 Chromebook – Best budget Chromebook

Pros

• Lightweight design
• Great battery life
• Attractive color scheme
• 1080p display

Cons

• Only 4GB of RAM
• 720p webcam is disappointing

Why we like the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 Chromebook

For under $300, the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 Chromebook offers decent performance, fantastic battery life, and a lightweight form factor. Inside, you’ll find an MediaTek Kompanio 520 CPU, an ARM Mali-G52 2EE MC2 GPU, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of eMMC storage. On paper, those specs may not look all that impressive. However, when it comes to real-world use, day-to-day performance is perfectly reliable. The 47 watt-hour battery also lasted 16 hours on a single charge and it weighs just under three pounds, making it a solid travel companion. Not bad for under $300, huh?

Who should buy the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 Chromebook

Anyone looking for a cheap, serviceable Chromebook. It’s not the most innovative Chromebook we’ve ever seen, but it doesn’t have to be. It has plenty of power for light use and the battery will keep you going long after your workday or school day ends. The inclusion of a 1080p touch display is a nice touch as well, especially given the low price of the machine. The 720p webcam is disappointing and you’re only getting 4GB of RAM, but if you’re willing to taper your expectations a bit, then this is a machine that’s well worth considering.

Alternative option: If you’re willing to spend a little extra on a Chromebook with better performance, we’d recommend checking out the $399 Acer Chromebook Plus 515. Bootup times are lightning fast and browser-based tasks feel appropriately snappy. The typing experience is also lovely and the battery can last up to 13 hours on a single charge. The only trade-offs are the boring aesthetics and the thick bezels on the display.

Read our full Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 Chromebook review

Acer Chromebook 516 GE – Best Chromebook for gaming

Pros

• Attractive design
• Excellent CPU performance
• Loads of wired and wireless connectivity
• High resolution 1600p display

Cons

• Mediocre keyboard and touchpad
• Disappointing speakers and microphone
• Display falls behind in contrast, color vibrancy

Why we like the Acer Chromebook 516 GE

The Acer Chromebook 516 GE is a good machine for gaming and day-to-day tasks. The Intel Core i5-1240P CPU is powerful enough for office work and everyday activities, and the display’s 120Hz refresh rate will produce smooth visuals. You can’t run games locally on this laptop, but you can use a cloud gaming service like Nvidia GeForce Now or Amazon Luna. According to our review, “gameplay felt perfectly smooth” and “Nvidia’s GeForce Now diagnostics panel flagged no problems.” Just make sure you’ve got a stable Internet connection! Fortunately, the Acer Chromebook 516 GE has an Ethernet port, which is about as stable as you can get.

Who should buy the Acer Chromebook 516 GE

Anyone that wants to game on a dependable Chromebook! The Acer Chromebook 516 GE is a joy to game on and it’s zippy enough for productivity and day-to-day. Additional features include a 1080p webcam, a 65 watt-hour battery, and an attractive design. With an MSRP of $650, it’s a little expensive for a Chromebook, but it punches above the usual Chrome OS machine and is tailor made to deliver a high-quality cloud gaming experience.

Alternative option: If you’re looking for a Windows alternative that can run local games, you should check out the Asus TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition laptop. It’s currently our best budget gaming pick and for good reason! Our reviewer blitzed through the Rise of the Tomb Raider benchmark at 123 frames-per-second thanks to the Nvidia GeForce RTX RTX 4050 GPU. This laptop also managed an impressive 11 hours of battery life on a single charge, which is unheard of in gaming laptops.

Read our full Acer Chromebook 516 GE review

Framework Laptop Chromebook – Best Chromebook for tinkerers

Pros

• Upgradeable
• Hot-swappable ports
• 1080p webcam
• Reliable performance

Cons

• Expensive
• No touchscreen display

Why we like the Framework Laptop Chromebook

The Framework Laptop Chromebook is one of the more unusual entries on this roundup because it’s a modular laptop, which means you can replace or upgrade any part of it. Our reviewer, who wasn’t confident in her disassembling abilities, was able to crack open the laptop in a few simple steps. The hardware inside is marked with QR codes, which you can scan with your phone and be directed to the right spot on Framework’s website. The 1080p display is also a big draw and the hot-swappable ports allows you to mix and match where the ports slot in the laptop.

Who should buy the Framework Laptop Chromebook

Anyone who likes to get in there and tinker or extend the life of their laptop. The Framework Laptop Chromebook is designed with the ultimate customization and upgradability in mind. I will say, it’s definitely targeted to a specific niche of people, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Performance is strong due to the Intel Core i5 processor. In fact, our benchmarks show that it handles everyday tasks like surfing the web and watching streams like a real pro. The only caveat is that it’s expensive for a Chromebook. The Acer Chromebook Vero 514, for example, is just as fast as the Framework Laptop Chromebook and is hundreds of dollars cheaper.

Read our full Framework Laptop Chromebook review

Recent laptop reviews

• Dell Inspiron 16 Plus: The Dell Inspiron 16 Plus is a powerful 16-inch workstation with a nice combination of performance, battery life, and build quality. It’s a good alternative to gaming laptops for people who want more power than the average laptop offers.
• Surface Laptop 7: The Microsoft Surface Laptop’s strong processor performance and top-tier battery life prove that Windows’ transition to Arm has staying power, but even the most casual gamers should think twice.
• Acer Aspire 3: The Acer Aspire 3 cuts performance to the bone as it limbos below a $500 MSRP.
• Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i: The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i is one of the best mainstream Windows laptops on the market, with great specs, a gorgeous display, and a killer keyboard.

How we test Chromebooks

The PCWorld team puts each and every laptop through a series of benchmarks that test GPU and CPU performance, battery life, and so on. The idea is to push the laptop to its limits and then compare it against others we’ve tested. Due to the cloud-based nature of Chromebooks, they go through a series of web-based tests. It wouldn’t be fair or possible to run the same kinds of tests on a Chromebook as we use on laptops because they exclusively run a completely different operating system.

Below, you’ll find a breakdown of each test and the reasons why we run them.

Chromebooks

• CrXPRT 2: The CrXPRT 2 benchmark tests a Chromebook’s battery life.
• Speedometer 2.0: This test determines a Chromebook’s web browser performance. It simulates this by adding, completing, and removing a to-do list.
• Basemark Web 3.0: This benchmark gauges how well a Chromebook can handle web-based applications.
• Kraken 1.1: Kraken 1.1 is a JavaScript performance benchmark that measures browser speed.
• Jetstream 2: Jetstream 2 is a combination of WebAssembly and JavaScript benchmarks. This is a way to gauge how well a Chromebook runs advanced workloads.

For a more thorough explanation of our testing procedures, check out how PCWorld tests laptops.

What should I look for in a Chromebook?

If you’re looking for a Windows or MacBook alternative, you may want to consider a Chromebook. Equipped with low-power processors, they typically have good battery life and are usually silent in operation. They make great productivity machines, as they’re specifically designed for lightweight tasks like browsing the web, watching Netflix, and so on. Plus, they’re largely virus free. That said, most Chromebooks have minimal RAM and storage. If you’re a hardcore gamer or a video editor, you’re going to want something with a lot more power than a Chromebook is capable of providing.

Our guide to Chromebooks vs. Windows laptops can help you determine which operating system is best for your needs. For more options, you’ll want to check out our best laptops roundup.

• Operating system: Although every operating system has its pros and cons, I’d argue that Chrome OS is one of the most user-friendly ones out there. That said, with Chromebooks, you don’t have the option of picking another operating system, as they exclusively run Chrome OS. You’re stuck with it, bud.
• Processor: Shoot for a mid-range Chromebook if you can. They cost anywhere in the $400 to $600 range and many of them come equipped with Intel Pentium processors. These Chromebooks have better browser performance and are capable of running more intense gaming apps. It’s the best bang for your buck. Upper-end Chromebooks sometimes use Intel Core or AMD Ryzen processors, which pack more of a punch.
• RAM: Many Chromebooks have 4GB of RAM, which isn’t a lot. Chromebooks are web-based machines, so you need a fair amount of RAM to keep those tabs open and running smoothly. If you can spend a couple of hundred extra, you’ll be able to find a mid-range Chromebook with 8GB of RAM.
• Storage: I recommend at least 64GB of storage. Since you’ll mostly be storing things in the cloud, you don’t a ton of local storage.
• Durability: Chromebooks are popular in the education market because they’re pretty darn robust. I’m not saying you should smack one around with a baseball bat or anything, but they’re durable enough to handle the daily abuses of life.

This year’s Prime Day is just a few weeks away and we’re already seeing some unbelievable discounts. Like, this Blink Video Doorbell plus Echo Pop bundle is just $35 at Amazon, down from $110!

What makes this early Prime deal so fantastic is that you couldn’t get either of these products alone for this price: the Blink Video Doorbell with Sync Module normally costs $70, while the Echo Pop is normally $40.

The Blink Video Doorbell lets you remotely answer your door from anywhere using your smartphone, with crystal-clear 1080p HD video during the day and infrared video during night.

The coolest part, however, is that it comes equipped with two-way audio, allowing you to speak with your visitors in real time. This can come in handy when you have packages delivered and you need to give special instructions, like where to place them.

The Amazon Echo Pop is another useful tool for smartening up your home. This compact and powerful smart speaker brings you access to Alexa and all its cool, smart features.

The two devices work seamlessly together. You can get Blink Video Doorbell alerts to the Echo Pop, and you can use the Echo Pop to chat with whoever’s at your door. If paired with the included Sync Module, you can ask Alexa to answer the front door, adding an extra layer of convenience to your daily routine.

Setting up both the Blink Video Doorbell and the Echo Pop is super quick and easy, so there’s no hassle to getting everything working.

This is seriously an incredible offer, so don’t miss out. At just $35 for Prime members, this bundle is a steal. If you aren’t a Prime member yet, sign up for a 30-day free trial to unlock this deal and the many more Prime Day deals that are coming up!

Switching to a solid-state drive is the best upgrade you can make for your PC. These wondrous devices speed up boot times, improve the responsiveness of your programs and games, and generally make your computer feel fast. But not all solid-state drives are the same. You can spend big to achieve read and write speeds that reach a whole other level, or you can find top-notch SSDs that offer solid performance without breaking the bank.

Many SSDs come in a 2.5-inch form factor and connect to your PC via the same SATA port used by a traditional hard drive. But tiny NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express) “gumstick” SSDs that fit in an M.2 connection on a modern motherboard are becoming increasingly common, along with blazing-fast PCIe 4.0 (and now 5.0) solid-state drives for compatible PCs; you’ll even find SSDs that sit on a PCIe adapter and slot into your motherboard like a graphics card or sound card. No, picking the perfect SSD isn’t as simple as it used to be.

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Why you should trust us: It’s in our name, PCWorld. Our reviewers have been testing PC hardware for decades. Our storage evaluations are thorough and rigorous, testing the limits of every product — from performance benchmarks to the practicalities of regular use. As PC users ourselves, we know what makes a product stand out. Only the best SSDs make this list. For more about our testing process, scroll to the bottom of this article

See also PCWorld’s guide to the best external drives if you’re strictly looking for a portable storage solution.

Updated June 27, 2024: If you’re on the hunt for an SSD to upgrade your Lenovo Legion Go or Thinkpad, Sabrent’s Rocket Nano 2242 is worth considering. It’s designed to fit the proportions of Lenovo’s portables, and happens to be a good performer to boot. If your interests are with PCIe 5.0, Corsair’s MP700 Pro SE comes very close to taking the performance crown, and could be a very compelling option if its price comes down.

Samsung 870 EVO – Best SATA SSD

Pros

• Excellent performance, especially with small file operations
• Unlike the QVO, long writes don’t slow down

Cons

• A little expensive

Best Prices Today: $64.99 at Samsung$103.14 at Amazon

If you’re looking to add some storage via a traditional 2.5-inch SATA drive rather than a tiny M.2 “gumstick,” Samsung’s spectacular 870 EVO is your best bet. It’s the fastest SATA SSD we’ve tested, it’s available in up to 4TB of capacity, and it’s exceedingly affordable given its speed. Enough said, really—though Samsung’s killer Magician SSD management software and long warranty period also deserve a shout-out. The EVO series is a legend among SSDs for a reason.

That said, the SK Hynix Gold S31 is also worth considering. It’s just a hair behind the 870 EVO in benchmarks and costs $12 less in its 1TB version, at $98. The SK drive is only available in a 1TB flavor these days, however, while the 870 EVO ranges from a 250GB model for $60 all the way up to a massive 4TB goliath for $450. Samsung’s 1TB offering costs $110.

Read our full Samsung 870 EVO SATA SSD review

Crucial BX500 – Best budget SATA SSD

Pros

• Good everyday performance
• Low price per gigabyte

Cons

• Slows drastically when secondary cache runs out

Best Prices Today: $69.99 at Amazon

The Samsung 870 EVO offers an intoxicating blend of performance and affordable pricing, but if you want as much capacity as possible for as cheaply as possible, consider the Crucial BX500. You can get its 1TB model for $41.99, a whopping $50+ less than the equivalent EVO, while a 480GB version costs just $24.99. 240GB and 2TB versions are also available.

“We recommend this QLC drive in the larger capacities for those who want good everyday performance for a budget price,” we said in our review. “The smaller capacities will likely run into more slowdowns during heavy writes.”

Read our full Crucial BX500 SATA SSD (2TB) review

Crucial P3 – Best PCIe 3.0 SSD

Pros

• Excellent everyday PCIe 3 performance
• Fantastically low price per GB

Cons

• Very low TBW rating
• Non-cached QLC writes are extremely slow

Best Prices Today: $64.99 at Amazon

Sure, PCIe 4.0 SSDs scream during big file transfers, but if you’re still using an older system with PCIe 3.0, upgrading to an NVMe SSD still provides substantial benefits to your PC’s speed and overall responsiveness. Better yet, you don’t need to break the bank to take advantage. The Crucial P3 is a very good daily performer, but it’s available for a bargain rate of just $44 for a 500GB model or $84 for a 1TB model. Though it doesn’t have top-tier PCIe 4 performance and the TBW rating is pretty low, the P3 does have excellent real-world write times and unless you really stress the drive you shouldn’t notice much of a difference anyhow.

All told, this drive is an outstanding choice for anyone looking to snag a solid everyday SSD at a great price.

Read our full Crucial P3 review

WD Blue SN580 SSD – Best budget PCIe 4.0 SSD

Pros

• Fantastically affordable
• Super fast real world transfers
• Single-sided for laptop upgrades

Cons

• Slows to less than 300MBps when writing off secondary cache
• Slightly low endurance rating

Best Prices Today: $48.87 at Amazon

Cutting-edge PCIe 4.0 SSDs aren’t quite as cheap as SATA or PCIe 3.0 NVMe drives, but now that the technology is becoming more established, we’re starting to see several models available at compelling prices. The best of the affordable bunch? The WD Blue SN580 NVMe SSD—and by quite a large margin. At just $50 for a 1TB model, you won’t likely find any PCIe 4.0 drives with storage that cheap. In our testing, the SN580 turned out both stellar benchmark and real-world results. It did slow down considerably in the large 450GB transfer test, but seeing as how it’s unlikely anyone will write that much contiguous data it likely doesn’t matter. In the end, the SN580 is a wonderfully high-performing PCIe 4.0 SSD that well undercuts the cost of competitors. At this price point it simply can’t be beat.

Read our full WD Blue SN580 review

Solidigm P44 Pro SSD – Best PCIe 4.0 SSD

Pros

• Fastest PCIe 4.0 SSD to date
• DRAM facilitates excellent random performance
• Synergy low-level Windows driver improves random performance further

Cons

• Inconsistent pricing on web

Best Prices Today: $70.18 at AmazonNot Available at Adorama

The Solidigm P44 Pro is the fastest PCIe 4.0 drive we have ever tested bar none. In fact, it finished within the top five fastest drives in our tests, and was only beaten by three next-gen PCIe 5.0 drives. Plus, it becomes even faster when you install the Solidigm Windows driver, which further improves random performance in small read/writes.

Not only does the Solidigm P44 Pro provide top-notch performance, but it also comes in at a very reasonable price if you shop at the right place—we found that pricing varies widely online from retailer to retailer. This is one of the best SSDs on the market, and holds its own at the top despite stiff competition from a crowded field of other excellent PCIe 4.0 drives.

Read our full Solidigm P44 Pro review

Teamgroup Z540 – Best PCIe 5.0 SSD

Pros

• PCIe 5.0
• Up to 4TB in capacity (soon)
• Second-fastest SSD we’ve tested overall

Cons

• Not particularly cheap

Best Prices Today: $142.99 at Amazon

As with any PCIe 5.0 SSD, there are important caveats to bear in mind. For starters, you’ll pay a premium over extremely fast, and in some cases even faster NVMe PCIe 4.0 drives that employ a host memory buffer (HMB) design, as you can see in our review of the Solidigm P44 Pro — our pick for best PCIe 4.0 SSD.

But if you use multi-threaded software and your system sports a 13th/14th-gen Intel CPU (which the Phison PS5026-E26-52 controller inside this drive is optimized for), you can be assured of benchmarking-busting performance.

Now, in all fairness the Z540 isn’t the fastest PCIe 5.0 drive we’ve tested. It traded benchmark wins with our previous top pick the Crucial T705. But the Teamgroup Z540 has that competitor beat, decisively, when it comes to price, making it the clear pick for this category.

How can you argue with the Z540’s $143, $247, and $470 asking prices for 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB, respectively, compared with the T705’s $155, $280, and $515 prices, when performance is so close? That’s the kind of savings that pushes a close-second winner into the lead, in our book.

That being said, keep an eye on those prices, because they are always changing, and today’s alternative pick could easily become tomorrow’s best buy. Similarly, Corsair’s MP700 Pro SE offers very competitive performance that could make it a tasty option if its prices are to come down.

Bottom line: PCIe 5.0 shoppers have lots to choose from!

Read our full Teamgroup Z540 PCIe 5 NVMe SSD review

WD Black SN770M SSD – Best SSD for Steam Deck

Pros

• Small 2230 form factor for handheld gaming rigs
• Up to 2TB of capacity
• Very good real-world performance
• 5-year warranty and good TBW ratings

Cons

• Slow writes when secondary cache is exhausted
• Requires host memory buffer support (HMB)

Best Prices Today: $79.99 at Amazon$109.99 at Best Buy

In the past, you were out of luck if you wanted to upgrade your storage in a smaller-sized device such as a handheld gaming console. The full-size 2280 NVMe SSDs wouldn’t fit. Thankfully, with the advent of more advanced handheld gaming consoles such as the Steam Deck, manufacturers are changing all of that. There are now a whole host of half-sized 2230 small form factor SSDs on the market. The latest from Western Digital, the WD Black SN770M is our favorite. It comes with up to 2TB of capacity and shockingly good real-world performance. It’s only 30mm long, which means it’ll fit perfectly into small devices such as the red-hot Steam Deck.

This HMB (Host Memory Buffer) drive has great everyday performance and a decent capacity-to-cost. In our testing it aced the 48GB and 450GB transfer tests—even beating out other top-notch full-sized PCIe 4.0 drives. The SN770M is a great SSD, but if your device is able to handle the longer 2280 drives, you’ll likely have more options to choose from and might be able to find better price-for-performance at that standard size. Regardless, this drive expertly fits a niche that is only growing more common with devices such as the Steam Deck.

Read our full WD Black SN770M review

Seagate Game Drive SSD – Best SSD for PS5

Pros

• Very good overall performance
• Excellent 4K performance
• Low-profile heatsink
• Twice the TBW rating of the competition

Cons

• A bit pricey
• No 4TB model

Best Prices Today: $119 at Amazon$214.99 at Best Buy

The Seagate Game Drive PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD was made specifically for next-gen consoles—the PS5 in particular. And it doesn’t disappoint. Instead of HMB, it features DRAM for primary caching duties, which is practically essential for Sony’s console system. This is important because the PS5 doesn’t support HMB, so a drive such as this with DRAM cache is a must. The drive comes in 1TB and 2TB models, which means you’ll have plenty of space to store all of your games should you need it.

While the Seagate Game Drive is optimized for a PS5, it’s no slouch as a regular SSD either. In our speed tests it did remarkably well, earning the spot as the second-fastest PCIe 4.0 SSD with random ops that we’ve ever tested. Seagate also provides a generous five-year warranty with the drive and it has an astounding 1,275TBW rating—more than double the industry norm. The drive is a bit pricey, but the special optimizations for PS5 means that console owners can rest easy knowing that their money is going to good use with the Seagate Game Drive.

Read our full Seagate Game Drive PS5 NVMe SSD review

Crucial X9 Pro – Best external SSD

Pros

• Super small form factor
• Great 10Gbps performance
• Handsome design

Cons

• Not the least expensive 10Gbps SSD available

Best Prices Today: $96.44 at Amazon

With great everyday performance and an affordable price, the Crucial X9 Pro is our favorite external SSD. This svelte beauty will give you transfer rates of 10Gbps and comes in 1TB, 2TB, or 4TB capacities with reasonable prices for each. In our testing we found that the X9 Pro performed admirably against the other 10Gbps competition. It especially excelled in the real-world 48GB transfer test and the 450GB write time test where it smoked other similar 10Gbps drives we’ve tested.

Crucial also has an X10 Pro model on offer that gives you 20Gbps transfer speeds, but you’ll pay quite a bit more for that extra speed. Regardless, we think that the X9 Pro will serve the average user perfectly fine with excellent all-around performance and a cheaper price point. You can’t ask much more from a 10Gbps USD external SSD than what the Crucial X9 Pro gives you.

Read our full Crucial X9 Pro review

Adata Elite SE880 SSD – Most portable SSD

Pros

• Very fast, over-20Gbps USB connection
• Extremely small form factor
• 5-year warranty

Cons

• Slows considerably during long contiguous writes
• Somewhat low TBW rating

Best Prices Today: $89.07 at Amazon

No SSD we’ve seen can match Adata’s Elite SE880 for portability. Indeed, measuring in at only 2.55 inches long, 1.38 inches wide, and 0.48 inches thick, it reminds you more of a USB thumb drive than a standard SSD. It weighs a mere 1.1 ounces to boot, virtually disappearing when placed in your pocket.

The Elite SE880 is also very fast at everyday tasks. In real-world 48GB transfer tests, the drive displayed outstanding marks. However, it did lose significant ground in the longer contiguous write tests meaning photo and video pros with large files might want to look at other options. Considering the respectable transfer rates and the small form factor, the Elite SE880 is a great pick for those looking to take their SSD on the go.

Read our full Adata Elite SE880 SSD review

Our latest external SSD reviews

• SK Hynix Tube T31: For the folks who like the convenience of USB-A connector thumb drive with the peformance of an SSD, the Tube T31 belongs in your pocket.
• SanDisk Desk Drive USB SSD: On the other end of the spectrum, you have an external SSD that’s meant to stay put, on your desk, where its large capacity (4TB or 8TB) is at the ready as a capable and speedy alternative to an HDD for backups.
• Adata SD810: This is a solid 20Gbps drive, as long as you don’t need to write large amounts of data to it on a regular basis — in our tests, the drive slowed considerably in that scenario. That being said, the 4TB capacity is an especially good value at just $300.

NVMe SSD setup: What you need to know

Be aware of what NVMe drives deliver before you buy in. Standard SATA SSDs already supercharge boot times and loading times for PCs, and for a whole lot cheaper. You’ll get the most use from NVMe drives, be it in a M.2 form factor like the Samsung 980 Pro or a PCIe drive, if you routinely transfer data, especially in large amounts. If you don’t do that, NVMe drives aren’t worth the price premium.

If you decide to buy an NVMe SSD, make sure your PC can handle it. This is a relatively new technology, so you’ll only be able to find M.2-connection motherboards from the past few years. Think AMD Ryzen and mainstream Intel chips from the 6th-generation era onward, for the most part. NVMe SSDs that were mounted on PCIe adapters were popular in the technology’s early years, before M.2 adoption spread, but they’re rarer now. Make sure you’re actually able to use an NVMe SSD before you buy one, and be aware that you’ll need four PCIe lanes available in order to use it to its full potential. You’ll need a newer Ryzen 3000- or 5000-series CPU, or an Intel 11th- or 12th-gen CPU, to run a PCIe 4.0 SSD to its full potential. PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs will work in a PCIe 3.0 computer, but at slower PCIe 3.0 speeds.

To get the most out of an NVMe drive, you want to run your operating system on it, so you must have a system that recognizes the drive and can boot from it. PCs purchased during the past year or two should have no problem booting from an NVMe drive, but support for that can be iffy in older motherboards. Do a Google search for your motherboard and see if it supports booting from NVMe. You may need to install a BIOS update for your board. If your hardware can’t boot from an NVMe SSD, your machine should still be able to use it as a secondary drive.

What to look for in an SSD

Capacity and price are important, of course, and a long warranty can alleviate fears of premature data death. Most SSD manufacturers offer a three-year warranty, and some nicer models are guaranteed for five years. But unlike the olden days of SSDs, modern drives won’t wear out with normal consumer usage, as Tech Report tested and proved years ago with a grueling endurance test.

The biggest thing to watch out for is the technology used to connect the SSD to your PC. We go into deeper details and buying advice in our guide on which type of SSD you should buy.

1. SATA: This refers to both the connection type and the transfer protocol, which is used to connect most 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch hard drives and SSDs to your PC. SATA III speeds can hit roughly 600MBps, and most—but not all—modern drives max it out. (More on that in the next section.)
2. PCIe: This interface taps into four of your computer’s PCIe lanes to blow away SATA speeds, to the tune of nearly 4GBps over PCIe gen 3. Those sort of face-melting speeds pair nicely with supercharged NVMe drives. Both the PCIe lanes in your motherboard and the M.2 slot in your motherboard can be wired to support the PCIe interface, and you can buy adapters that allow you to slot “gumstick” M.2 drives into a PCIe lane. PCIe 4.0 drives are significantly faster, but require an AMD Ryzen 3000-series or Intel Core 11th-gen (or newer) processor, along with a compatible PCIe 4.0 motherboard.
3. NVMe: Non-Volatile Memory Express technology takes advantage of PCIe’s bountiful bandwidth to create blisteringly fast SSDs that blow SATA-based drives out of the water. Check out PCWorld’s “Everything you need to know about NVMe” for a nitty-gritty deep-dive.
4. M.2: This is where things get tricky. Many people assume M.2 drives all use NVMe technology and PCIe speeds, but that’s not true. M.2 is just a form factor. Sure, most M.2 SSDs use NVMe, but some still stick to SATA. Do your homework. Many modern Ultrabooks rely on M.2 for storage.
5. U.2 and mSATA: You may also stumble across mSATA and U.2 SSDs, but both motherboard support and product availability are rare for those formats. Some older Ultrabooks included mSATA before M.2 became popular, and drives are still available if you need them.

Speed matters, of course, but as we said most modern SSDs saturate the SATA III interface. Not all of them, though.

SSDs vs. hard drives

Do you need an SSD? “Need” is a strong word, but we heartily recommend that everyone upgrade to an SSD. Solid-state drive speeds blow even the fastest mechanical hard drives out of the water. Simply swapping out the hard drive in your old laptop or desktop for an SSD can make it feel like a whole new system—and a blazing-fast one at that. Buying an SSD is easily the best upgrade you can make for a computer.

SSDs cost more per gigabyte than mechanical hard drives, though, and thus aren’t often available in ultra-high capacities. If you want speed and storage space, you can buy an SSD with limited space and use it as your boot drive, then set up a traditional hard drive as secondary storage in your PC. Place your programs on your boot drive, stash your media and other files on the hard drive, and you’re ready to have your cake and eat it too.

How we test SSDs

Drive tests currently utilize Windows 11 (22H2) 64-bit running on an X790 (PCIe 5.0) motherboard/i5-12400 CPU combo with two Kingston Fury 32GB DDR5 modules (64GB of memory total). Intel integrated graphics are used. The 48GB transfer tests utilize an ImDisk RAM disk taking up 58GB of the 64GB total memory. The 450GB file is transferred from a Samsung 990 Pro 2TB, which also contains the operating system.

Each test is performed on a newly formatted and TRIM’d drive so the results are optimal. Note that as any drive fills up, performance will decrease due to less NAND for secondary caching, and other factors.

The performance numbers shown apply only to the drive we were shipped as well as the capacity tested. SSD performance can vary by capacity due to more or fewer chips to read/write across and the amount of NAND available for secondary caching (writing TLC/QLC as SLC). Vendors also occasionally swap components. If you ever notice a large discrepancy between the performance you experience and that which we report (systems being roughly equal), by all means—let us know.