Docking stations are an interesting section of the laptop market. There are a lot of options out there, many of them offering the latest Thunderbolt 5 connectivity with an assortment of older and varied ports.

As the market fills up, laptop docks have to set themselves apart with different sub-features. I'm talking about Thunderbolt Share. A built-in M.2 SSD slot. A standout design (as much as that's possible with a small chunk of metal).

In the case of Hyper's HyperDrive Next Thunderbolt 5 dock that I've been using for a few weeks, it's the extra features that I'm most excited about. Let me explain so you know if it's right for your desk.

This review was made possible thanks to a review sample provided by HyperDrive. It had no input nor saw the contents of this review prior to publication.

Where can I buy the HyperDrive Next Thunderbolt 5 dock?

The HyperDrive Next Thunderbolt 5 dock is available at major online retailers, including Amazon and B&H. Although it launched with a $399.99 price tag, it seems like it's now permanently available at $319.99.

For comparison's sake, the CalDigit TS5 Plus — currently my favorite Thunderbolt 5 dock on the market — costs about $500.

Wavlink's Thunderbolt 5 dock, which I favorably reviewed, costs about $299.99 before frequent discounts (often falling to less than $200), while Kensington's excellent SD7100T5 EQ Pro costs about $339.

I'd say that Hyper's HyperDrive Next dock is priced within reason compared to other Thunderbolt 5 hardware, although Wavlink continues to be the best value option out there that I've tested.

What sort of ports does the HyperLink Drive have?

Dock design doesn't usually vary too much, and the HyperDrive Next plays it fairly safe with a chunky aluminum shell and plastic faceplates. I've mentioned plenty of times in other reviews that I prefer an all-metal design for added durability and less chance of scratching.

I like the ribbed corners on the aluminum shell. They add a bit of texture to an otherwise sleek exterior, and they help dissipate heat.

The dock works horizontally only, with rubber pads on the bottom to prevent it from slipping. Measuring 7.64 inches (19.4cm) wide and 3.07 inches (7.8cm) deep, it's thankfully rather compact.

There appear to be some holes drilled for mounting with a bracket, though a permanent setup like that might not be ideal due to the M.2 SSD slot's location (more on that in a moment).

The front of the dock includes dual USB-A ports at 10Gbps each, a 3.5mm audio combo jack, and a single downstream Thunderbolt 5 port.

What you might think at first glance are SD card readers are merely vents cut out to help the built-in cooling fan. The slots sit below the power button and LED status light.

The back of the dock is where you'll find two more downstream Thunderbolt 5 ports, an upstream Thunderbolt 5 port for connecting your host laptop, two USB-A (10Gbps) ports, a 2.5Gbps Ethernet jack, dual lock slots, and a 20V power hookup.

The upstream host connection supports device charging at up to 140W, which is enough to keep most laptops without a discrete GPU topped up and ready to go.

At this point, you might be asking where the video outputs are located. Well, you're looking at them. The HyperDrive Next relies entirely on Thunderbolt 5 for external monitor support.

If you're using older monitors without USB-C connectivity, you'll need some adapters that switch the USB-C form factor used by Thunderbolt 5 to HDMI or DisplayPort.

The good news is that Thunderbolt 5 is quite capable of handling video, and the dock allows for up to three 4K external displays, each running at a 60Hz refresh rate. If you're targeting a high resolution, it'll go as high as 8K at 144Hz.

It's worth noting that some other Thunderbolt 5 docks support up to three 4K displays each at 144Hz, so there's definitely a bit being left behind due to the other features on board.

I had no problems running one 4K screen and one ultrawide QHD+ screen off the dock, with bandwidth to add more. As mentioned, I've been using this dock on my desk, and I never noticed it get overly hot despite multiple monitors, frequent data transfers, and connected accessories.

HyperDrive Next's additional Thunderbolt 5 features

Aside from the incredible transfer speeds you get from Thunderbolt 5, the extra bandwidth opens up some extra features that I particularly love.

Like the Razer Thunderbolt 5 Dock Chroma I tested last year, the HyperDrive Next dock comes with a built-in M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD slot, with a hatch located on the bottom of the dock.

You need a screwdriver to get in, but it's well worth it, with support for full-size 2280 M.2 sticks all the way down to smaller 2230 drives. You should be able to use up to a 16TB drive in here (who can afford that these days?), doubling the capacity of the other docks I've tested.

The other big feature is Intel Thunderbolt Share. It's a tool that allows Thunderbolt 4 and 5 laptops to communicate directly with each other, easing common transfers and making life with multiple laptops that much easier.

The catch is that at least one of the laptops in use needs to have official Intel Thunderbolt Share certification, unless you have a dock connected in between with the official badge. That's where the HyperDrive Next comes in.

You can connect two separate laptops to the dock and control both from one set of peripherals. File transfers are super easy, requiring just a drag and a drop.

What I don't like about the HyperDrive Next Thunderbolt 5 dock

Depending on how you use your dock, the lack of native video outputs might be a con. However, for others, full Thunderbolt and USB connectivity, paired with an M.2 slot and Thunderbolt Share, might be exactly what's needed.

The only major issue I experienced has to do with how the dock handles heavy workloads. While testing, I noticed drops in SSD and Ethernet speeds when used simultaneously.

I figured this had something to do with power allotment. A 180W adapter isn't that big for a dock that can charge a laptop at 140W. Indeed, this does make some of the charging abilities on ports other than the host connection fairly wimpy.

The other Thunderbolt 5 ports only charge at 15W, and one USB-A port hits 7.5W. The rest sit at a rather low 4.5W.

However, after doing a bit of research, it seems that the Ethernet/SSD limitation is caused by the actual Intel Barlow Ridge chipset that's used by modern Thunderbolt 5 docks.

So, yes, the dock is super convenient thanks to its built-in features. But you probably won't get as good of performance as if you had a drive and an Ethernet cable connected separately via Thunderbolt 5 ports. It's not exactly Hyper's fault, but it's well worth noting.

Should you buy the HyperDrive Next Thunderbolt 5 dock?

✅ You should buy this if ...

• You want a Thunderbolt 5 dock with a built-in M.2 SSD slot and Thunderbolt Share.
• You have a Thunderbolt 5 laptop that can take advantage of all features (or you plan on buying one soon and can make do with Thunderbolt 4 speeds for the time being).

❌ You should not buy this if ...

• You want maximum SSD and Ethernet speeds without requiring any adapters.
• You have three external 4K displays and want to run them all at 144Hz.

Hyper's HyperDrive Next Thunderbolt 5 dock is a high-end option that actually competes quite well with the competition in terms of pricing and performance.

For example, the Kensington SD7100T5 EQ Pro comes with a built-in M.2 SSD slot, tons of ports (including SD card readers), and 2.5Gb Ethernet. It does not have Thunderbolt Share. It costs about $340.

If you don't need Thunderbolt Share or a built-in SSD slot, the Wavlink Thunderbolt 5 Thunderlight is probably a better bet, especially at only about $220.

Sitting in between is the HyperDrive Next at about $320, and I'd recommend it to those who want the convenience of external M.2 SSD storage and the ability to quickly share content between two PCs.

Otherwise, I recommend checking out my guide to the best laptop docking stations on the market today for more great options.

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A Windows 11 update appears to break Microsoft Teams and Outlook on Windows on Arm PCs. Issues started popping up after the rollout of KB5121003, which began shipping this month on Patch Tuesday.

Brian Stringfellow shared details about the problem through a Microsoft Learn report. Several people in that thread have similar issues.

PCs affected by the issue, including Stringfellow's Surface Laptop 7, see Microsoft Teams and Outlook close almost immediately after being opened. Specifically, the new Outlook is affected. Classic Outlook still works on PCs affected by the bug.

The problem seems to affect a variety of Windows on Arm devices. Julius Heng shared their experience:

"I have the exact same issue on Omnibook 3 running snapdragon. After the initial setup, Ms Teams works, but next day it doesnt work. It will have a white screen on teams and it will close right after it open. I tried various method, including reinstall webview 2 etc. None of it works. I tried to roll back all the update and it doesnt work. After did a factory reset Ms Teams works again. But to my dismay, the windows update itself and it breaks Teams again. right now, i'm back to square. Really hope that there's some way to rectify this."

It's not clear at this time why the issue is occuring or why the problem is limited to Windows on Arm PCs.

User Alex-L, who is listed as a moderator and Microsoft External Staff on Microsoft Learn, reported that similar issues are occurring on a variety of Windows on Arm systems:

"At this point, very similar symptoms on different Snapdragon/ARM64 systems. While these reports suggest a possible common factor, no one in this public forum can confirm Microsoft's internal investigations, determine the root cause, or verify whether this is a known issue affecting all ARM64 devices. Microsoft does not currently list a known issue for KB5121003 in the official release notes."

While we wait for official confirmation from Microsoft and a fix for the issue, users with Windows on Arm PCs may have to fall back to other versions of Outlook and Teams that are unaffected by the bug.

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Qualcomm's upcoming Snapdragon C chips are now surrounded by more question marks. Despite Qualcomm releasing benchmark comparisons last week, there are new unknowns about the processors.

Last week, Qualcomm shared details about its Snapdragon C chips online and highlighted the updated information to media outlets. I covered the news, as did several other outlets. Tom's Hardware discussed the specs and benchmarks, but it has since had Qualcomm reach out with an update.

A Qualcomm representative asked Tom's Hardware to replace slides originally shared by Qualcomm with updated versions. Unlike the slides first sent out, the new slide does not show benchmark information for how Snapdragon C chips perform when powering idle apps or when web browsing.

The remaining benchmarks are still impressive, such as Snapdragon C delivering up to two times better power efficiency than Intel N250 when running Netflix or Edge. But considering some claims have been removed, I think many people will want to see Snapdragon C in the wild before making any decisions.

Snapdragon C is a new chip from Qualcomm designed for low-cost devices that start at around $300. The chips promise power efficiency and responsive performance for budget-friendly systems.

Until recently, we knew little about the chip in terms of hard specs. But we now have core counts, benchmark comparisons, and other details.

The Snapdragon C will power Windows 11 on ARM devices. That platform has improved greatly over the last few years in terms of compatibility, so much so that app compatibility is no longer a concern for Windows 11 on ARM for most users.

One of the few remaining areas where Windows 11 on ARM struggles is gaming, but since budget laptops starting at $300 are unlikely to be gaming PCs, that shouldn't be much of a concern for Snapdragon C.

Questions about Snapdragon C

When I covered the Snapdragon C benchmarks last week, I noted that the only information we had came from Qualcomm and that we'd need to see verified results from independent tests. I also highlighted that Qualcomm did not share how the chips performed when plugged in, instead leaning on unplugged performance that often favors Snapdragon processors when compared to Intel.

I did not expect the benchmarks shared by Qualcomm to become unknowns. We now have no information about the performance of those chips when powering idle apps or during web browsing.

Qualcomm did not share many details with our colleagues at Tom's Hardware about why the old slide had been changed. The company simply said the change was made to "improve clarity and relevance."

The fact that Qualcomm let the presumably incorrect or out-of-date slide go unchecked for almost a week is also worrying.

Web browsing is a key part of the budget laptop experience, so accurate benchmarks in that category will be pivotal for anyone shopping for a PC.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Last month, I shared six apps I install immediately after a clean install of Windows 11 or when setting up a PC. Each of those apps enhances an experience on Windows 11 or replaces a Microsoft tool. In the case of PowerToys, it's a Microsoft tool that replaces other Microsoft tools.

Members of the Windows Central community and the Windows Central subreddit shared their favorite apps in the same category, and I'm gathering them all together here. I've also added AltTabby as a bonus pick and Blip, which Reddit helped me find as an AirDrop alternative for Windows.

I loved reading through all your app suggestions after my last piece, and I’d be thrilled to keep this series going. If you have even more must-have Windows 11 apps, please let me know!

5 more must-have Windows 11 apps

NVIDIA's self-made cloud gaming platform, GeForce NOW, has added official support for Mozilla's Firefox web browser. Firefox users with a paid subscription to NVIDIA's service can now play supported PC titles from their Steam, PC Game Pass, GOG, Epic Games Store, or Ubisoft Connect libraries at up to 1440p and 120 FPS by navigating to play.geforcenow.com.

GeForce NOW has an ad-supported free 'Basic Rig' tier that's limited to 1-hour sessions at 1080p, while paid 'Performance' and 'Ultimate' tiers offer 6 hours at up to 1440p and 8 hours at up to 5K, respectively. The GeForce NOW update is already playable with the latest version of Firefox, though Mozilla says it will share "what this partnership means for gamers" at Gamescom on August 25.

Is NVIDIA GeForce NOW worth it?

GeForce NOW cloud streaming saw updates and new games unveiled at GDC earlier this year, which piqued my interest as someone who generally sticks with Xbox Cloud Gaming — something I can access with my Game Pass Ultimate subscription. It's a clever option for high-end titles that are too demanding for my beloved Steam Deck, but I have a somewhat unusual setup.

I'm lucky enough to have a Gigabit internet connection with relatively low latency, powered by TP-Link's Deco XE75 Pro mesh setup on Wi-Fi 6E, which keeps my wireless devices running at their fastest. When I tell you that I happily enjoy a wealth of slower-paced games on GeForce NOW with insignificant latency, that's with a privilege delivered by my home network.

Nevertheless, I've always had a generally positive experience with GeForce NOW, because I've already built a gigantic Steam library, and my Epic Games Store isn't too far behind (mostly made up of freely claimed titles). There is absolutely unavoidable input delay with cloud gaming, and pretending it doesn't exist is disingenuous, but I've never been interested in streaming fast-action games.

As for Firefox, I tested it out and sure enough, the experience is great. It'll probably come as good news to anyone who jumped ship after losing their favorite ad blocker in Chromium browsers, but Mozilla still holds only around 2.45% browser share with Firefox, and it hasn't tempted me away from Microsoft Edge to date. Still, it's good news for cloud gaming fans.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

The next evolution of Apple's AirPods is out in the wild after a leaked video was posted online. Known as AirPods Ultra, the new wireless earbuds look basically the same as regular AirPods, albeit with a thicker stem.

Hiding inside the new AirPods Ultra are discrete cameras that enable something called "Visual Intelligence." According to Tom's Guide, these cameras aren't intended to record live video or snap photos, setting AirPods Ultra apart from the likes of Meta's AI Glasses, which are raising some very serious privacy concerns.

What I wasn't expecting next was an announcement from Razer's Min-Liang Tan explaining that the company's Project Motoko, unveiled as a concept at CES 2026, is actually a real product that's "coming soon."

Razer's tackling of this idea involves a full wireless gaming headset with cameras built into the earcups. They're certainly not as hidden as the cameras on Apple's leaked implementation, but I don't think they're aimed at the same end goal.

In the leaked Apple video, a person picks up a book and looks at the cover. Siri (or some other assistant) then says that "your world becomes savable" — all you have to do is whisper into your own ear that you'd like to save what you're looking at.

The new AirPods Ultra are expected to show up at Apple's next special event in September, but already there is a lot of backlash regarding privacy. Glasses (or really any tech) that record everything around you are already being banned due to privacy concerns, and I hope that Apple indeed uses some method that captures info without saving actual photos.

Razer's Project Motoko is not like the rest

Razer is taking a different approach to a video-infused audio device. Rather than hiding the cameras in tiny earbuds, it's slapping them onto what appears to be a rather high-end wireless gaming headset.

Each earcup has an FPV camera designed to sit at eye level, allowing it to better quantify what you're actually looking at. Razer says its cameras offer a wider field of view than is humanly possible, and that they can pick up "symbols, text, and details."

Motoko can use a bunch of different AI models (Grok, OpenAI, and Gemini are mentioned), and Razer says it can be a "powerful data collection tool" to train language models. The headset runs on a Snapdragon chip.

A demo video on the Razer website explains that Motoko "hears, interprets, and answers in the moment." The accompanying video certainly seems to show that the headset's cameras are recording the entire time, much like AI glasses.

Razer pegs it as a "personal full-time AI assistant" that "stays keyed into your schedule, preferences, and habits, while adapting effortlessly to anything else you might ask." I'm reminded immediately of Lenovo's Qira AI assistant.

Privacy concerns aside, who's going to wear a gaming headset all day?

Razer makes a lot of concept devices, and not all of them make it into the hands of consumers. The fact that Razer is going ahead with Motoko hot on the heels of the AirPods Ultra leak means the company must truly believe there's something there worth pursuing.

But my first thought was, "Who wants to wear a gaming headset all day?" Never mind the privacy concerns; gaming headsets are great for a few hours at a time, and usually best if you're not active.

Razer's vision for Motoko seems to go against that. A small FAQ section on the official website explains the potential everyday uses for Motoko:

Is everyone suddenly going to be wearing a bulky gaming headset everywhere they go? Not likely, especially during any tasks that require a bit of sweat. When Motoko actually launches, it had better be the most comfortable headset ever made if Razer wants it to be successful.

Windows Central's take on Razer Motoko

Razer's Motoko headset probably has the best chance of succeeding amongst PC gamers. It is, after all, a gaming headset. But, speaking from a bit of experience, I can say that a lot of PC gamers couldn't care less about letting AI help with video games. Whether or not Motoko's appeal actually goes mainstream remains to be seen.

I want to know if you'd buy something like Razer's Motoko when it launches. Would you use it for gaming? For something else? Are you concerned about eroding privacy due to the prevalence of these video capture devices? Let me know in the comments section below!

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

It's about time for a new semester, and upgrading your PC can make the process much easier. You don't need anything excessive to access most of the Windows software and cloud apps you'll need in school or college, and Dell's official store has already reduced prices on some of its best hardware.

• Back to school deals up to $900 off PCs and more at Dell

Some of Dell's deals go into the weeds (who knew they sold robot vacuums?), so I've handpicked a collection for practically anyone who needs portable tech for studies or even works from home. We've tested hundreds of processors found in its laptops, and traveled the world with devices just like this.

Is the new Dell XPS 13 a good laptop?

We saw the revival of Dell's XPS 13 laptop appear at Computex earlier this year, and went hands-on while we attended Taiwan's popular technology convention. There's no denying it's the Windows-centric alternative to Apple's MacBook Neo, but as Dell explained to us in person, it was in development before the Neo ever launched. In that, it stands as more of an affordable flagship than a compromise.

After spending some time with the XPS 13, Senior Editor Zac Bowden said it "still feels every bit as premium and nice to use as the $1,000 XPS 13 before it", which tracks, because this used to be placed as a much more expensive laptop. If you pick one up, you'll get a 120Hz display for a smooth refresh rate on a bright, 2.5K touchscreen, in the thinnest and lightest XPS yet.

As the name suggests, the XPS 13 offers a 13.4-inch screen in a 2.2-lb chassis, powered by a relatively standard 65W USB-C AC adapter rather than a proprietary cable-and-brick setup. Yes, it's smaller than the EcoLoop backpack was designed for, but the extra inch leaves space for extras like the Pro 7 mouse and keyboard combo.

However, Zac did make it clear that the XPS 13 has "an amazing keyboard and excellent trackpad", so you'll still be able to rely on it in any situations where an external set of peripherals isn't as viable, and they stay in your backpack instead. Plus, the built-in webcam supports Windows Hello face unlock for faster logins, and its powered USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 ports support external displays.

You'll need to verify your education status with Dell to be eligible for the XPS 13's $599.99 student pricing, but $699.99 is still a great price if you're looking for a work companion instead. Otherwise, for students heading back to school for a new semester, this portable PC combo for under $740 is a steal.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

I was absolutely blown away earlier this year by Qualcomm's Snapdragon X2 platform after spending a month with Lenovo's Slim 7x (Gen 11). The System-on-Chip (SoC) was fast and efficient on or off the charger, and it came in a sleek 14-inch package.

A new commissioned study from the independent testing group Signal65 has basically confirmed my arguments, this time after testing the flagship X2 Elite Extreme (X2E-96-100) variant in retail systems you or I can buy.

Here's the main blurb from the whitepaper's key findings:

This sentence alone might not be telling you anything new, especially if you've experienced the X2 Elite Extreme firsthand. But let me break down the findings to explain a bit better what Signal65 dug up.

Qualcomm's Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme goes up against Intel and AMD

Signal65 tested the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme against the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H and AMD Ryzen AI 9 465 laptop CPUs. These are two of the latest chips from each company, found today in thin and light Windows laptops.

Testing the chips in Geekbench 7, Signal65 found the X2 Elite Extreme to be "up to 53% faster" than Intel's chip and "up to 83% faster" than AMD's chip.

In Cinebench 2026, which is used to test multi-thread rendering performance, the X2 Elite Extreme was "up to 87% faster" than the Intel and AMD chips.

What's even more impressive is that Signal65 separately tested the X2 Elite Extreme on battery power with the Balanced Windows power profile. With the Intel and AMD systems plugged in and set to Best Performance, the X2 Elite Extreme still outperformed the competing chips in all AI and CPU benchmarks.

Besides raw CPU power, the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme also outperformed its rivals in the Neural Processing Unit (NPU) arena. Qualcomm's specialized chip that runs AI locally almost hit 2x the AI performance compared to Intel, climbing to about 2.4x the performance of AMD's NPU in the Procyon AI Computer Vision test.

It's well worth noting that the X2 Elite Extreme's Hexagon NPU hits 80 TOPS, compared to 50 TOPS in the Intel and AMD chips. This might explain some performance discrepancy, but not to this extent.

Rumors of the X2 Elite Extreme's power were not exaggerated

In February 2026, I covered early testing from Hardware Canucks that showed how the non-Extreme X2 Elite chip beat Apple's M5 in three major tests. These tests were performed using a sample/reference unit from Qualcomm itself.

In March 2026, we got an early look at what Qualcomm had cooked up with its X2 Elite Extreme. Leaked Geekbench 6 performance results showed that the Snapdragon chip could trounce the Core Ultra X9 388H, boding well for its competition against Intel's Panther Lake generation.

To say I had high hopes for Snapdragon X2 is fair, and I'm glad to see that performance in actual laptops you or I can buy hasn't dropped off compared to early reference systems.

A few things to consider when poring over Signal65's data

This report from Signal65 was commissioned by Qualcomm, but there's no reason for me to think that any of the numbers were fudged. Signal65 is independent and generally credible.

There's also the fact that these chips were tested in three different laptops from three different manufacturers.

For the test, Signal65 used an ASUS Zenbook A16 (X2 Elite Extreme), an MSI Prestige 16 (Intel Core Ultra), and an HP OmniBook X 16 (AMD Ryzen. Three 16-inch laptops ranging between $1,649 and $2,299.

Because of OEM-level decisions for cooling and power, the different laptops could affect the results. However, I don't think it would affect them enough to sway the paper's overall thesis.

It's also worth pointing out that Intel still leads the way with its integrated Arc B390 graphics, at least in Signal65's tests. It also bested Snapdragon in one Office battery rundown test.

As for value, the $1,699 Zenbook A16 with X2 Elite Extreme is only bested by the $1,649 OmniBook X 16 with AMD Ryzen. Intel might beat Qualcomm in graphics and in one battery rundown test, but the MSI Prestige 16 in which it was tested costs $2,299.

Qualcomm is not only delivering superior performance and battery life, but it's also delivering laptops at a better price than its competition.

Windows Central's take

Qualcomm's first-gen Snapdragon X chips are really what changed the Windows on ARM conversation after so many years. They weren't good enough to get everyone to drop Intel and AMD, but they were a solid foundation.

And now, with Snapdragon X2, Qualcomm has evidently stepped things up in a major way. If you've used a laptop with an X2 chip, you probably already know exactly what I'm talking about.

Have you had a different experience with your Snapdragon X2 PC? What's your main gripe? On the other hand, what do you love most about your X2 PC? Let me know in the comments section below!

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I've been keeping watch on Crucial (and by extension, Micron) after the company began refusing to honor lifetime RAM warranties. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the same thing is now happening to customers with dead SSDs.

Reddit user AssignmentGlass5591 recently created a thread explaining that their Crucial X10 Pro 4TB external SSD decided to die at just 1% of its advertised lifespan. "It didn't wear out. It just broke," they explain.

The failure came with critical warnings in Crucial's app that were bad enough to warrant a replacement. AssignmentGlass5591 went through the normal channels required when this sort of thing happens.

They completed the Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) process with Crucial and paid to ship the SSD to the required warehouse, expecting a replacement.

Here's where the AI boom stepped in to ruin another day. Crucial sent a reply email stating that there's no replacement available for the X10 Pro 4TB SSD because "consumer business is closed."

Instead, the company said it would refund the SSD's price at the time it was purchased, which was about €230. That's not good enough. Looking at Amazon.de this morning, that same drive now costs about €500.

AssignmentGlass5591 asked Crucial to replace the faulty external SSD with an internal SSD. Any M.2 SSD would do. But that didn't work either. Here's Crucial's official response (translated from German) from the email that the Reddit user received.

As a reminder, Micron announced the end of its Crucial lineup of consumer products in December 2025.

After building up 30 years of brand loyalty, Micron decided to completely forget about consumer markets in order to focus entirely on AI customers buying massive quantities of memory and storage for data centers.

This move came with a promise to fulfill any warranty obligations, but obviously the company is doing the bare minimum.

Crucial recently pulled the same warranty trick with RAM

As I mentioned at the beginning of this piece, Micron/Crucial was called out a couple of weeks ago for botching a customer's RAM warranty.

Tom's Hardware covered the story, in which another Redditor explained that they were offered just 17% of the market value for a 48GB DDR5 kit that had gone bad and needed to be RMA'd.

Rather than receiving roughly $1,400, the price of the kit today, the customer was offered just $241.86. Good luck buying a replacement DDR5 kit for that price. The worst part? Only one stick in the kit was faulty, but the entire thing had to be sent in for the RMA process.

It's not just Micron that's lowballing warranty paybacks

This isn't an issue isolated to Micron and Crucial. Tom's Hardware also reported just a few days ago that competing memory and storage giant SK hynix is also lowballing warranty claims and won't offer replacement hardware.

These companies aren't doing anything illegal; their warranty policies are rather ironclad. And under normal market conditions, receiving back the price you paid for the hardware wouldn't be an issue.

But that's no longer the reality of the market. These storage and memory companies are making unfathomable amounts of money on the AI buildout, and meanwhile consumer prices have never been higher due to shortages of components. The fact that some of that money earned from inflated AI pricing can't be paid back to customers just so they can buy any memory or storage at all is what I find particularly irksome.

Louis Rossman got into a legal battle with Samsung for a similar issue

Battling it out with a massive corporation isn't fun. But there's proof that high-profile pressure from customers can help the situation.

In June 2026, Right to Repair activist Louis Rossmann threatened to sue Samsung for not replacing a faulty 4TB 990 Pro SSD supposedly covered by warranty.

Samsung tried to send Rossmann a reimbursement for the purchase price of about $330. Meanwhile, the drive was selling for almost $1,000 on Samsung's website.

Rossmann threatened a lawsuit, and perhaps due to Rossmann's celebrity, Samsung folded. It promised to pay out the current market value for the faulty 990 Pro SSD, allowing Rossmann to buy a replacement without losing any money.

Better yet, it said that any customers in Rossmann's situation would also receive full (and current) market value for faulty hardware.

Windows Central's take

It's becoming clear that memory companies making fortunes off of the AI boom will continue to try to milk everything possible out of regular consumers.

It's also becoming clear that, with enough pushback, we might be able to change the way they're handling warranty claims as markets continue to experience chaos.

I expect this type of shenanigan to continue as more drives fail and replacements become more scarce, so keep making your issues public.

If you are buying a drive, I recommend checking out third-party retailers first. They might have a separate type of replacement or return option in place that works around manufacturer warranties. Nothing is guaranteed, but layers of support can't be a bad thing.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

When I reviewed the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ a few months back, I noted how it was a generational jump over AMD’s latest Zen 2 chips found in competing handheld gaming PCs, and when combined with Intel XeSS, it really gave gamers the ultimate handheld we’ve been yearning for.

But there were two problems. One was price. Due to RAM and NAND shortages due to demand for AI compute, MSI had to jack the price by at least $500, putting it at an MSRP of $1,799, which is kind of absurd.

The other was, surprisingly, extremely tight supply. Despite being sold at Best Buy, Amazon, Newegg, and B&H, it sold out everywhere within 24 hours (often due to preorders).

Since its release, that resupply still hasn’t happened. All those retailers are still listing it as out of stock as of me writing this today, and this seems to regularly happen with MSI and its Intel-based handhelds (whether it’s MSI's or Intel’s fault, I’m trying to find out).

So, out of curiosity, I checked eBay to see what that scene was like for the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+, and sure enough, some online stores are selling the hard-to-find handheld, but at an even more exorbitant $2,599 – which is an $800 surcharge over retail!

You may be thinking, but sure, it’s eBay, and people can list items for any price, but are people buying them? The answer appears to be yes. One retailer, seen in the above screenshot, had seven of them in stock but has already sold six, giving a real FOMO to anyone eyeing that last one.

To be fair, I did find a seller with one in stock for $2,299.99 (after coupon, plus $20 shipping), so you’re “only” paying $500 over MSRP. Another seller had nine available, with one remaining for $2,499.

But you get the point. Not only is the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ insanely expensive at retail, but its shortage is driving up its price by $500 to $800, with people buying it. It’s why I’ve always noted on our podcast that PC gaming is recession-proof. No matter how bad the economy gets, or how high prices go, there is usually someone willing to pay for it.

Not the first time this has happened

Back in December, I noted a similar trend for Lenovo’s excellent Legion Go 2 with its giant 8.8” VRR OLED display and removable controllers. It’s a killer combo of a device, even if it’s better suited for your couch than travel.

For whatever reason, Lenovo can’t keep it in stock, so much so that it eventually removed it from its own website despite excellent reviews and, yes, demand for it, as people were paying $650 over retail just to have one.

Interestingly, ASUS has been the king of “you want it, just buy it,” as the original ROG Ally and the newer ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X are still widely available online and at your local Best Buy. Moreover, ASUS hasn’t even raised the price, keeping them at $599 and $999, respectively.

I hope ASUS can maintain those stock and price levels, as both devices are really solid choices for those looking into handheld gaming. Sure, the Ally X pales in performance to the new MSI Claw 8 EX AI+, but it’s still a really good experience with an outstanding design (a design that will improve with the forthcoming Xbox Ally X20 anniversary edition that features a larger OLED display and many smaller fixes; I expect to be reviewing that when it releases, so stay tuned).

So where does that leave you in this silicon soap opera? Has the RAM/NAND crunch shoved your handheld plans into “maybe in 2028” territory, or are you already rationalizing a purchase with phrases like “long-term investment” and “I deserve this”?

Let me know in the comments what your breaking point is for handheld pricing — and whether $2,599 is where you draw the line, or merely where your wallet starts quietly begging for mercy.

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I haven't seen a sane GPU price in what feels like almost a year, and the landscape isn't getting any better for gamers.

The NVIDIA RTX 5090, which arrived at a $1,999 MSRP in 2025, is now listed at Newegg starting at $4,799.99. The MSI Ventus 3X OC is indeed the lowest price I could find, and there are other options that push well beyond $5,000.

Bad luck if you're shopping for a new RTX 5090 alone. The high-end of NVIDIA's consumer GPU stack has become inaccessible for the average gamer, and there's no real alternative in sight.

Well, that's sort of true. While perusing various storefronts this morning, it quickly became evident that I can buy an entire pre-built gaming PC with an RTX 5090 inside for less than the card alone.

HP's Omen 45L desktop is my prime example. It has an NVIDIA RTX 5090 GPU, an Intel Core Ultra 7 265K CPU, 16GB of DDR5-6000 RAM, a 1TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD, and everything else you need for a full build.

At the time of writing, this Omen 45L model costs $4,389.99. That's $410 less than the cheapest RTX 5090 listed on Newegg. Of course, the Omen 45L is on sale, with a regular price of $5,379.99. That's still less than the ASUS TUF Gaming RTX 5090 model, which sits at $5,429 on Newegg.

Buy a pre-built gaming PC for the card and sell the rest?

The math gets more upside down when you factor in all the extra hardware you get with a pre-built PC.

The Omen 45L's CPU adds about $300, the 16GB of Kingston Fury DDR5-6000 RAM adds about $330, and the 1TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD adds roughly $200. That's about $800 worth of extra components before even considering the 1200W PSU, motherboard, cooling, and case.

I can imagine a lot of readers will see this and wonder why they don't just buy a pre-built, remove the RTX 5090, and sell the rest of the components. I'm wondering the same thing.

HP isn't the only place that I'm seeing this pricing deficit in effect. Over at iBuyPower, I put together a system with an Intel Core i5-14400F CPU, 32GB of DDR5 RAM, a 1TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD, a 1000W PSU, and an NVIDIA RTX 5090 that costs $5,596.

With the right initiative to sell the extra components, you could definitely end up paying less or the same for a standalone card and still end up with some extra hardware for future upgrades.

Why are GPU prices so high in 2026?

The current state of GPU prices is due to the ongoing RAM and storage crisis that's sending NAND, DRAM, and other PC component prices into deep space.

As a result of the VRAM that goes into these cards hitting such high costs, NVIDIA jacked up the prices of GPU kits for its board partners (companies like ASUS, MSI, Gigabyte, and Zotac that build full GPUs using NVIDIA's kit) in July. Shortly after, it was reported that the hike could go as high as 30%.

We're now starting to feel those price hikes at retailers, as evidenced above. I suspect that HP's prices will also eventually be on the rise, but there are different market factors at play.

OEM builders can lock in large supplies of parts at a lower cost, so prices often don't catch up until after regular consumers begin to see them. I saw the same thing happen with Windows laptops this year. Components eventually run out, companies have to buy more, and those new costs are then passed down to consumers.

There's one caveat: when I reviewed the Omen Max 45L, I noticed that the RTX 5080 is a custom unit designed by HP. The same applies to the RTX 5090. Does that really matter? Not really. It's still NVIDIA's GPU inside, and my testing showed no difference compared to standalone cards.

Whatever happens to HP's pre-built PC pricing, there's no denying that the entire PC market is in chaos. You might not love the idea of a pre-built PC, but I definitely recommend seeing what's out there before you buy a standalone RTX GPU. You might just end up with a whole lot more than you expected for a lower price.

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I was at Computex this year when NVIDIA's RTX Spark System-on-Chip (SoC) was revealed to the world, and from the start, I had a hunch that it would be a big deal.

A powerful chip for Windows on ARM that can run every Windows app ever made? That was one of NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang's first promises.

With Microsoft as its launch partner, the Surface Laptop Ultra was one of the first RTX Spark laptops announced, but ASUS was right up there with its ProArt P16 and ProArt P14, two laptops I got to see firsthand in Taipei.

Incredibly sleek and streamlined, these laptops were a smash hit on the show floor. Apparently, they're also far more popular than ASUS was expecting.

In a recent ASUS Q2 earnings call, it was revealed that the company is completely out of ProArt P14 and P16 units to ship to its partners (aka third-party retailers and distributors) as part of pre-order efforts.

More RTX Spark laptops are on the way, of course, and ASUS has some time to shore up supplies before the planned Q4 2026 release of the new Spark-powered ProArt PCs.

It's too bad that the earnings call doesn't mention anything about exact volumes, because it's hard to say exactly how popular these laptops really are. However, ASUS says that it's "very optimistic about next year's sales" thanks to the "high AI computing power relative to its compact size" in the RTX Spark laptops.

What is NVIDIA's RTX Spark?

NVIDIA's RTX Spark is an ARM-powered SoC that's expected to compete directly with the likes of Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm for space in Windows 11 PCs.

I covered rumors of the "N1X" chip for months in the lead-up to Computex 2026, and indeed it seems just as powerful and efficient as pre-announcement estimates.

Spark takes efficient ARM-based CPU cores similar to those found in Qualcomm Snapdragon chips and pairs them with an NVIDIA Blackwell RTX GPU, all while drawing from a unified memory setup that can hit 128GB.

This combination allows for massive performance that can shred standard and AI-related tasks without requiring a bulky discrete GPU.

Throw these chips into ASUS ProArt laptops with "all-day-long" battery life, wide port variety, super slim bodies, and 4K OLED displays, and it's easy to see why there's so much interest from retail partners.

(via VideoCardz)

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I've generally leaned towards all-in-one (AIO) liquid cooling for my own custom PC builds for the past decade or so, but air cooling is practically forcing its way back into my habits because it keeps proving its worth via reviews like these. The Cooler Master V8 ACE 3DHP caught my eye mostly because of its "V8 engine" throwback gimmick, but there's a clever secret hiding inside its fins — something that Hyper 212 3DHP cooler owners will recognize.

Cooler Master provided a sample but did not see, nor did it have any input on, the contents of my article before publishing.

How much does the V8 ACE 3DHP cost?

At the time of writing, the best place to buy the Cooler Master V8 ACE 3DHP designed for AMD (AM4/AM5) processors is Newegg at $119.99, or Amazon for the same price via Newegg Business. I also found it sold above MSRP by third parties at Best Buy, which could be a last resort.

Otherwise, the Intel (LGA 1851/1700/1200/115X) variant isn't listed on the official Cooler Master US store, Newegg, or other third-party stores. For now, availability is skewed towards the AMD side, and though you do get an Intel bracket inside the box, it isn't perfectly optimized for those chips.

Is the V8 ACE 3DHP a good CPU cooler?

Before I ever installed this cooler onto a motherboard, I loved the way it looked. It isn't quite as extreme as Cooler Master's V8 GTS from 2013 — which almost resembled an alien motorbike engine — opting for a single-tower setup this time with incredibly dense fins on the heatsink. It's still a chunky air cooler, just like its ancestor, but now it actually looks more like a V8 car engine.

Aesthetics aside, the hype centers on the setup of 4x traditional heatpipes plus 2x "3D heatpipes" (3DHP) that run vertically from the base plate through the heatsink. It's all about pulling as much heat away from your chosen CPU as possible, which is why the V8 ACE 3DHP offers separate fine-tuned versions for AMD and Intel, though you still get mounting brackets for both.

Installation was a breeze. The V8 ACE 3DHP attaches to the standard AM5 backplate with four thumbscrews, two plates, and four more screws to hold it in place. The fans slide off the heatsink, so I can attach the two threads and tighten everything up. Finally, the fans are reattached and daisy-chained together, connecting to the CPU_FAN header.

Clearance is slim, but it fits cleanly over my RAM and the Gigabyte X870E Aorus Master X3D ICE SSD heatsink, with a slight amount of breathing space over G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo RGB modules. Running an AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D on my open-air test bench at around 5.2GHz for 15 minutes kept an average temperature of 81.5°C, peaking at 83.5°C.

Unsurprisingly, it maintains a lower temperature on this powerful chip than my ~$35 Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE — and our sister site goes deeper into V8 ACE 3DHP benchmarks over at Tom's Hardware if you're craving more specific test results — while its fans thankfully showed no signs of rattles or other unwanted motor noise.

Does the V8 ACE 3DHP have any issues?

Being such a chunky cooler with a performance focus, the V8 ACE 3DHP is heavy — around 2.57 lbs (1.17 kg) — and it'll need plenty of cool, strong intake airflow to feed its thick, 30mm PWM fans, which generate at least 55 dBA of noise under load. PC builders tempted by this cooler will surely take its dimensions and clearance considerations into account, but it's still surprisingly big.

Because those fans slide into place on rails, you'll also want to be careful when handling this cooler. Although I'd mostly held it by the center section, I had once shifted my grip to one of its fans, which slipped down before I quickly caught it. I think my heart fell further than the cooler physically did, but it was a lesson learned. Nice feature, but be safe handling those detachable fans.

Should you buy the V8 ACE 3DHP?

You should buy this if ...

✅ You want to cool a powerful, high-performance CPU

✅ You're building in a PC case with plenty of airflow

You should not buy this if ...

❌ You're planning a compact gaming PC

The V8 Ace 3DHP is an impressive feat, but it demands a constant source of cool air moving through its thick heatsink. As long as you're planning ahead with a PC case that supports healthy airflow with a proper setup of intake and exhaust fans, then this'll be a great pairing for a higher-end, high-TDP processor.

Push it close to a demanding GPU, and there's a chance you'll see less-than-optimal CPU performance if the ambient temperature inside grows unchecked. However, if you're certain you know what you're doing, it wouldn't be impossible to keep this cooler happy in a miniature case with the right airflow setup.

Back in April, Microsoft raised the prices of all of its Surface laptops as a consequence of the ongoing RAM crisis, making these once valuable desktops nearly untenable for most people who can't afford them.

Yet not all hope is lost for these critically acclaimed laptops, as they do occasionally get generous discounts to bring their prices back down to more manageable levels.

Such is the case with the Microsoft Surface Laptop (7th Edition) with the Snapdragon X Plus CPU, 13.8-inch display, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB SSD configuration that's now on sale with a 27% discount for $1099.99 at Best Buy.

What makes the Microsoft Surface Laptop (7th Edition) worth the money?

Despite current times being the worst time to buy a Surface Laptop, that shouldn't deter you from getting one if it's on sale, as they boast the best specs for conquering daily office workflows or finishing homework on time at school.

The 13.8-inch, 7th Edition Microsoft Surface Laptop is no exception, as it delivers exceptional performance on everyday tasks thanks to its Snapdragon X Plus processor and 16GB of RAM.

It also features a splendid, ultra-thin clamshell design that's pretty to look at, practical enough to carry around while traveling, durable enough to withstand accidental (or intentional) bumps or bruises, and comfy enough to hold in your hands while working.

Other notable features include a 2K touchscreen display with a 120Hz refresh rate to render images with crystal-clear 2304x1536 resolution, a respectable battery life of around 18-19 hours, and a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) with 45 TOPS to efficiently run AI-related programs like Recall or Windows Studio Effects.

If you need to browse the net for research notes fast or write down your work on documents or spreadsheets using Microsoft Office without slowdown, you can't go wrong with the Microsoft Surface Laptop (7th Edition) now that it's on sale, as it's one of the best Windows laptops around.

FAQ

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Best Buy's back-to-school sale continues to provide illustrious discounts on all kinds of computers and laptops built to help students succeed in school.

If you're looking for a high-quality laptop with solid performance and a clear display that has vastly benefited from this sale, then look no further than the 2025 edition of HP OmniBook X Flip 14", which is now 30% off for $699.99 at Best Buy.

Why buy the HP Omnibook X Flip 14"?

The HP OmniBook X Flip 14" (2025) laptop variant that's on sale right now comes configured with an Intel Core Ultra 5 (Lunar Lake) 226V CPU, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD for storage.

For those who don't speak techno-wizardry, all this means is that this laptop can run software like Microsoft Office, browse the web, email, and multitask with multiple apps at once without any slowdown.

It's also great for creating digital artwork as it features a 14-inch, 1920x1200 touchscreen display capable of loading and rendering images with crisp clarity so you can make out all the details much easier when drawing.

Speaking of drawing, the HP Omnibook X Flip 14" (2025) is compatible with stylus pens (which are sold separately), so you will be able to draw on the screen instead of using a mouse if you prefer drawing that way.

Add to that a respectable battery life of up to 22 hours with its Intel chip, a durable and portable-friendly design, and an HP 5MP IR Camera for video conferencing, and you have a sweet mid-range laptop for work whose value has risen dramatically thanks to Best Buy's 30% discount.

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Join Zac Bowden and Jez Corden on this week’s Windows Central Podcast as they dive deep into unreleased Microsoft hardware, AI developments, and big Xbox announcements!

• The Lost "Surface Phone" Prototype: Zach and Jez dissect newly leaked images and video of an unreleased 2013-era Microsoft-built Windows Phone prototype, reminiscing about the Lumia era, Nokia’s acquisition, and what could have been.
• Microsoft Copilot’s Super App & AI Disillusionment: A look at the rollout of the new unified Copilot experience (merging consumer and Microsoft 365 features), dropped functionalities (Group Chat, Podcast mode, Deep Research), and a frank discussion on AI hype, practical workflows, and "AI psychosis".
• Xbox Backward Compatibility Coming to Windows PC: The hosts break down the official announcement of original Xbox/Xbox 360 emulation on Windows, potential licensing hurdles, Play Anywhere integration, and upcoming achievement support.
• Gaming Rumors & Franchise Future: Updates on The Elder Scrolls VI codename rumors (Sentinel), long development cycles across Bethesda/Obsidian, and a candid critique of the state of the Halo franchise following Halo Campaign Evolved and project cancellations.
• New Xbox Console Features & Live Q&A: A discussion of the upcoming "Platinum Trophy" achievement equivalent, party/mic audio in Game DVR captures, and a live Q&A touching on Windows K2 progress, mobile shells for Windows on ARM, MSN's automation, and modern foldable vs. slab phones.

This episode of the Windows Central Podcast is sponsored by Surfshark VPN. Unlimited devices, access your content from anywhere, and auto-block malware on Windows, Edge, and other platforms from $2.50/mo, with 3 months extra FREE. Sign up today!

Have a question you want us to answer on the podcast? Send it to us at [email protected]

Hosts:

• Jez Corden
• Zac Bowden

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The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x (Gen 11) is one of the best laptops we've reviewed all year. Our Cale Hunt called the PC a "top choice for students, small business pros, and even casual Windows users who want a premium laptop." Now, thanks to a YouTuber, the laptop can also claim the title of a streaming battlestation.

YouTuber "DevonDoesTech" used the Yoga Slim 7x to power his streaming and content creation setup for a 17-hour stream marathon. DevonDoesTech was sent the laptop by Qualcomm and tested the PC by using it as the heart of his stream.

The latest Yoga Slim 7x runs on a Snapdragon X2 processor. The one DevonDoesTech used has the Snapdragon X2 Elite inside. The idea behind the stream was to see how the chip handled real-world usage.

It's a clever way to showcase the new chip from Qualcomm. Snapdragon X processors have had respectable specs for a while, but posts about the chips on social media often include people asking about app compatibility.

An Arm blog post from July 2025 stated that 90% of time spent on Windows on ARM PCs is spent on natively compiled apps. Since then, NVIDIA has announced RTX Spark, which adds another major name to the Windows on ARM platform.

But boasting about how many apps are natively compiled is not the same as showing ARM-based PCs can actually be used to get work done. The DevonDoesTech stream required OBS Studio, Meld Studio, DaVinci Resolve, Discord, and other apps.

DevonDoesTech streamed for over 1,000 minutes during his stream. The setup had both a horizontal stream on YouTube and a vertical stream on Twitch that ran simultaneously.

"I didn't notice a difference. Never once during the 17-hour stream, never once during my testing, never once during my road trip did I say 'Dang, I really wish that I had the power of my desktop computer.'"

He added that the Yoga Slim 7x is "kind of blowing [his] mind."

While ARM-based computing has come a long way, there are still games that do not work with Snapdragon X chips. Kernel-level anti-cheat is required for some games and is still an awkward spot. But even in that area there's promise for improvement.

It's not just DevonDoesTech

DevonDoesTech's praise is quite effusive, but it aligns with our own experience. The Yoga Slim 7x earned a 4.5 out of 5 in our review and Hunt said the Snapdragon X2 Elite chip and the laptop are a "blast" to use.

After using a PC with a Snapdragon X2 for one month, Hunt was "totally sold on Snapdragon X2." He also spoke on app compatibility:

"For a fairly casual Windows user like me, ARM64 app compatibility is a complete non-issue. You can see for yourself if the apps you use are native or emulated on the extremely useful WorksOnWOA website."

There was a time when ARM-based laptops were lackluster compared to their x86 counterparts. I'm happy to see those days are behind us.

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We now have more details about Qualcomm's Snapdragon C chips. The processors were officially announced in May, but we did not have full specs or details at the time.

Snapdragon C chips are designed to power budget laptops that start around $300. Qualcomm has updated its product pages for the processors, including full specs.

The specs are promising and stack up well against offerings from competitors, such as the Intel N250. Qualcomm shared some favorable comparisons between Snapdragon C and Intel N250 that suggest Qualcomm's new chip could compete very well in the budget laptop space.

Snapdragon C specs and details

Snapdragon C promises up to 67% faster performance than Intel N250 according to Qualcomm. The biggest difference between the chips appeared in Cinebench MT testing, but Snapdragon C defeated Intel across a range of Qualcomm's tests.

Those performance tests are when both chips are running on battery power, which leans in Qualcomm's favor. Snapdragon processors often thrive in unplugged testing.

Qualcomm claims Snapdragon C delivers 106% better power efficiency during Netflix playback. Microsoft Teams (99% better) and YouTube (86% better) are both wins for Snapdragon C as well.

Power usage by idle apps is 39% better in power efficiency, according to Qualcomm.

Snapdragon C has a dedicated NPU, which helps with AI tasks. I doubt AI usage will be heavy among budget laptop users, so CPU performance and other specs will likely be bigger factors for those shopping for affordable PCs.

Windows 11 on ARM has improved greatly when it comes to app compatibility, so that should not be as much of a concern as it would have been just a few years ago. For many people, app compatibility is no longer a concern for Windows 11 on ARM.

There are some legacy and enterprise apps that are not compatible with Snapdragon C and other ARM-based processors, but the list of the best native Windows on ARM apps continues to grow and includes big-name and niche apps.

For non-native apps, Microsoft's Prism emulation has improved over the years as well. That means even apps running in emulation perform better.

What we still don't know about Snapdragon C

The official specs of Snapdragon C are promising, as are the figures shared by Qualcomm. But there are still several key facts we do not know, some of which won't be confirmed until laptops with the new chips launch.

We also need to know how the chips perform when laptops are plugged in and how that performance compares to that of Intel chips.

All of the claims about performance and efficiency come straight from Qualcomm, so we'll need to see them verified independently.

Qualcomm has a good track record with claims like this. Benchmarks and comparisons shared with the press about previous chips proved accurate in real-world testing.

Qualcomm has always been bullish about how well its Snapdragon processors perform when unplugged compared to Intel's chips. Qualcomm had an entire ad campaign highlighting differences on that front.

I'm confident that Snapdragon C chips will perform well and compete with similar chips from Intel, but we need concrete figures from the wild and hands-on experiences to know exactly how the new chips stack up.

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Laptops outfitted with Qualcomm Snapdragon CPUs are some of the best in the market for people looking to crush their daily quotas or survive mountains of schoolwork due to their reliable performance rates. long battery lives and sturdy designs.

Yet, many of them have had their price jacked through the roof thanks to the ongoing memory crisis, making their value not worth the investment for most people with low budgets and incomes.

Fortunately, one of these laptops, the ASUS Zenbook A14 (2025), has managed to snag a sneaky 30% discount to give people an edge in completing their daily workloads for the reduced price of $699.99 at Best Buy (listing price was $999.99).

Why buy the ASUS Zenbook A14?

If you're looking for a high-quality mid-range laptop that can get homework and work office tasks done fast with no fuss, the ASUS Zenbook A14 is the machine for you.

Why you may? Well, first of all, its performance rates are strong, as it's able to perform productivity activities like browsing the internet for info, opening up hundreds of emails, and running Microsoft Office and AI-empowered programs with great speed with little to no slowdown thanks to its mighty Snapdragon X Plus CPU, 16GB of RAM, and NPU capable of 45 TOPS.

Additionally, it has a clean and beautiful 2K OLED display screen that renders images in crisp detail so you don't miss out on any details when viewing documents or art pieces, an intuitive operating system, and a massive selection of USB and HDMI ports.

Throw in a massive battery life of roughly 32 hours with a sleek, minimalist design that doesn't compromise its durability for the sake of portability, and you have one of the best workhouse laptops in the mid-range spectrum, especially now that it won't cost you $1,000 thanks to this 30% discount at Best Buy.

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