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Google has published a final, shipping version if its Chrome browser for Snapdragon PCs just a few short weeks before the launch of PCs using the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processor.

Chrome for Windows on Snapdragon should be available via Google, complementing the version for X86 PCs that has been on the market for years.

Qualcomm soft-launched the Snapdragon X Elite platform last fall in anticipation of PCs shipping with the Snapdragon X Elite processor in mid-2024. Some of the first devices expected include consumer versions of the Microsoft Surface Pro 10 and the Surface Laptop 6. Those devices, marketed as the Surface Pro 10 for Business and the Surface Laptop 6 for Business, were announced with Intel Core Ultra processors a short time ago. All told, nine PC vendors are expected to ship Snapdragon X Elite PCs.

Chrome’s commitment, though, is good news. Early iterations of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7- and 8-series chips were often accompanied by beta versions of Microsoft’s Edge and Mozilla’s Firefox browser, indicative of the lack of software support for the Arm architecture. Chrome, however, owns 51 percent of the U.S. market, with Edge tallying less than 8 percent, according to StatCounter.

Those earlier PCs sometimes featured un-optimized versions of apps that hadn’t been natively ported to the Arm architecture as the new Chrome browser has, leading to poor performance, comparatively, and bugs. PCWorld’s review of the Surface Pro 9 (5G), an Arm PC, felt that most of the core Windows apps had been ported to Arm. Other reviewers disagreed.

Qualcomm said that the new, optimized Chrome browser shows a “dramatic performance improvement” using the Speedometer 2.0 benchmark. In a video that accompanied Qualcomm’s statement, Qualcomm showed a laptop that scored 180 in Speedometer 2.0 using an unoptimized version of Chrome, and 437 with the optimized version — 143 percent more. Qualcomm said that it tested a Core Ultra 7 155H laptop and that it scored 391.

Qualcomm has often over-promised and underdelivered on previous versions of Snapdragon PCs. I continue to be cautiously optimistic that the Snapdragon X Elite can deliver.

Author: Mark Hachman, Senior Editor

As PCWorld’s senior editor, Mark focuses on Microsoft news and chip technology, among other beats. He has formerly written for PCMag, BYTE, Slashdot, eWEEK, and ReadWrite.

Recent stories by Mark Hachman:

Arc’s new browser for Windows is too twee for meThe new Meta.ai website can draw amazing AI art instantlyWhy pay? One of Photoshop’s best features is free in Windows

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StackSocial prices subject to change.

If you’ve ever used Microsoft’s own Clipchamp video editor, Google would like you to know that you now have another alternative: Google Vids, which will leverage Google’s powers of AI with your own documents to create short videos.

Google thinks highly enough of Vids that it will elevate it into the pantheon of other Google Workspace apps, including Docs, Slides, and Sheets, the company said.

For whatever reason, Google isn’t directly challenging Clipchamp, Microsoft’s rather delightful video editor, or Canva, another video and graphic content-creation tool that has emerged as a popular alternative and with AI-generated content. Instead, it’s essentially treating video as one of those business tasks that has to be done, but doesn’t require a lot of creativity — like a training video or customer testimonial.

Vids, then, looks pretty familiar. Ask Vids to create a particular type of video and it surfaces a bunch of templates. The secret appears to be its ability for you to direct (or for it to intelligently choose) bits and pieces of information or documents that you have already created or stored to help create the video. (This isn’t exactly clear, since Google hasn’t said much about beyond the introductory video, included at the bottom of this story.)

The UI, though, looks fairly standard, with the ability to drag and drop video clips and other content, on top of an audio track.

Google

Google

Google

It also appears that AI will be used to select from a collection of stock video, images, and music, as well as arrange all of the bits into a coherent whole. AI will also be an option to create voiceovers, or you can use your own.

Google Vids isn’t here yet; the video below says that it’s “coming soon” to Workplace. Maybe we’ll see more of it at the Google I/O conference in May.

Author: Mark Hachman, Senior Editor

As PCWorld’s senior editor, Mark focuses on Microsoft news and chip technology, among other beats. He has formerly written for PCMag, BYTE, Slashdot, eWEEK, and ReadWrite.

Recent stories by Mark Hachman:

Microsoft’s Copilot AI is stealing one of Midjourney’s best featuresMore workers are using AI, but they’re ashamed to admit itPhotoshop took my favorite feature and massively boosted it with AI

It’s probably fair to say that the Generative Fill feature within Adobe Photoshop has utterly transformed my photo-editing workflow. Today, Adobe just made it better — and spun off several additional features that complement Generative Fill, too.

Adobe added what it called the “Firefly Image 3 Model” to its Firefly image-generation service as well as to Photoshop — at least the beta. Firefly is a text-to-image generator, trained on Adobe stock imagery to avoid complaints that it’s been trained on artists’ work without permission.

It’s difficult to show exactly how Firefly Image 3 differs from earlier models, but this is what Adobe has to say: “This combination delivers considerably better photographic image quality, precise controls to inform your outputs, prompt comprehension to understand complex descriptions, and generation variety to explore different results.”

How I use Generative Fill

You might wonder why a journalist would use AI to alter images. It’s true that I use it sparingly; one of my favorite features within the Windows’ Photos app has been Spot Fill, which uses AI to get rid of any spare specks of dust which might coat a laptop or USB-C hub. That’s now been replaced by Generative Erase.

The broader point is that we need art to illustrate our stories, when art isn’t always available. My editors would prefer that I use real images of products, or logos. But those might be just tiny images tucked away on a website or within a PowerPoint presentation. Could I enlarge them? Sure. But that might make them look grainy or odd. What to do?

In this case, I’ll take a chip image or logo, “remove” it from the presentation, then expand the size. Here’s where Generative Fill comes in: Photoshop’s “crop” tool can actually “expand” the boundaries of an image, which allows me to effectively enlarge the total scene. (To be accurate, Photoshop calls this particular feature Generative Expand.)

Most readers aren’t going to care about the background of an image, as long as the product is portrayed accurately. Generative Fill allows me to create a neutral though unique background in case I need it.

All I need to do is “crop out” from an image and let Generative Fill/Expand do its work. Counterintuitively, I do not enter a prompt; I just let it extend the image.

The other point, too, is that Generative Fill works quickly and accurately. I don’t have to “lasso” an object and maneuver it around, hoping I’ve captured every pixel accurately. Photoshop’s AI understands what (if anything) it needs to remove, and generates a replacement. It’s important to note that I and other editors still frame shots of say, laptops with an eye toward simply cropping down an existing backdrop, rather than replacing it with something that’s artificially generated. (Teams, Zoom, Google Meet and others do that on video calls!)

What’s new in Photoshop in April 2024: AI, AI, AI

Generative Fill does allow you to specify what Photoshop fills in, such as adding a castle to the background of a beach scene. But it’s always had to work from what it guesses from your prompt. Even suggesting three options can be unsatisfying.

Now, Generative Fill can work from a reference image that you specify, which makes sense: “Make it look like this” is a perfectly valid way of describing something.

Adobe

Adobe

Adobe

There’s more. When Adobe’s Generative Fill suggests new AI art, it gives you a choice of three options. Generate Similar works like Reference Image: it allows you to use one of the suggestions as a reference image, and iterate on that.

But it’s also true that Adobe has wanted you to use Photoshop to edit an image, not create one wholesale. (You could already do that in Firefly, but would then have to import it. You couild also use Generative Fill to add elements to an existing image.) Now you can go to Generate Image in the Contextual Task Bar on a blank canvas or to Edit > Generate Image on the Tools panel and start from scratch.

Adobe

Adobe

Adobe

This feels overdue. Otherwise, this looks like many of the other image generation tools on the market. Photoshop even adds “upscaling,” of a sort, through a feature called Enhance Detail. Essentially, this uses AI to produce sharper images.

Finally, Photoshop also allows you to remove and then generate a new background. Essentially, it’s removing the steps of selecting a foreground subject, removing it, creating a new background mask, and adding it in.

For years, I hesitated to use Photoshop for two reasons: one, I wasn’t sure how much I should edit reality, and two, it was so dang complicated time-consuming to use. Photoshop’s AI additions have been a game-changer in making its tools faster, more efficient and more accessible.

Updated at 2:53 PM to clarify Generative Fill versus Generative Expand.

Author: Mark Hachman, Senior Editor

As PCWorld’s senior editor, Mark focuses on Microsoft news and chip technology, among other beats. He has formerly written for PCMag, BYTE, Slashdot, eWEEK, and ReadWrite.

Recent stories by Mark Hachman:

Microsoft’s Copilot AI is stealing one of Midjourney’s best featuresMore workers are using AI, but they’re ashamed to admit itAI video is heading to Adobe Premiere Pro

Creating high-quality content is time-consuming and exhausting on your own, and very expensive when you hire outside help. If you’re less concerned about making it perfect, calling in an AI assistant like Scribbyo can save you significant time and money. Right now, a lifetime subscription to this AI writing partner is just $67.99.

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It’s easy to see why portable monitors are gaining in popularity among both desktop PC and laptop users. What portable monitors sacrifice in size over a standard monitor they make up for in myriad other ways: Portable monitors are relatively inexpensive, easy to connect, and, best of all, portable. Whether you’re a student, someone who works from home, or a globe-trotting executive, the ability to easily pack up and move a portable monitor when needed is appealing indeed.

That being said, the portable monitor market is a bit of a mess currently. The widespread availability of these displays and the ability to manufacture them cheaply has resulted in a onslaught of unknown brands on the market. Many of these brands don’t have any established credibility, and quality can often be sub-par. That’s where we at PCWorld come in. We’ve tested multiple models and can separate the best portable monitors from the rest.

Our list of our favorites below will help you find the right portable monitor for you. You can learn more about what to look for in a portable monitor at the bottom of the article.

Updated April 30, 2024: We’ve added a new recommendation to our list — the Viewsonic VX1655-4K-OLED. It’s a great portable monitor for creative professionals, offering the best image quality of any portable monitor we’ve reviewed to date, as well as a well-built chassis and sturdy kickstand. It’s perfect for someone doing creative work on-the-go.

Further reading: See our roundups of the best monitors and best home office monitors for even more recommendations.

Arzopa A1 Gamut – Best budget portable monitor

Pros

Good build quality for the price Bright, attractive display Two USB-C inputs, plus mini-HDMI All cables included

Cons

Stand only adjusts for tilt Limited image quality adjustments Mediocre contrast ratio Price When Reviewed:$189.99Best Prices Today:$99.99 at Arzopa$149.99 at Amazon

The Arzopa A1 Gamut is a solid 15.6-inch 1080p portable monitor that delivers good image quality, an attractive design, and useful features at a low price.

Arzopa opts for a simple yet elegant design that pairs a thin display panel with a small bump on the lower half to house the monitor’s ports and internal electronics. A faux-leather cover is included to provide protection when stowed. It also folds into a kickstand when the monitor is in use.

The monitor has three input options: two USB-C with DisplayPort Alternate Mode and one Mini-HDMI. All required cables and accessories are included. However, the monitor’s menu system is hard to use and offers few adjustments.

Image quality is great for the price. The Azorpa A1 Gamut reaches a maximum brightness of 297 nits, which is brighter than many competitors. The color gamut spans 97 percent of sRGB and 74 percent of DCI-P3. The A1 Gamut appears bright and vivid in day-to-day use and, though not ideal for professional content creation, holds up well while browsing the web, working in Microsoft Office, or viewing YouTube.

The Arzopa A1 Gamut retails for $170 but is frequently sold at a steep discount, often as low as $110. It’s an absolute steal when on sale, and we highly recommend waiting for a discount if one isn’t currently available.

Read our full Arzopa A1 Gamut review

Innocn 15A1F – Best midrange portable monitor

Pros

Excellent image quality Durable and attractive design Versatile clip-on stand Unbeatable bang-for-the-buck

Cons

Doesn’t include a protective case HDR is supported but disappointing Price When Reviewed:319.99Best Prices Today:$10.99 at Walmart$189.99 at Innocn$319.99 at Amazon

The Innocn 15A1F is an OLED portable monitor that brings excellent image quality and attractive design to a more affordable price point.

It has a 15.6-inch OLED panel with a resolution of 1920×1080 and a 60Hz refresh rate. Its design, reminiscent of the Apple iPad Pro, elegantly combines an aluminum rear panel with edge-to-edge glass.

It also has a unique, versatile clip-on stand that adds stability and a wide range of tilt adjustments. Innocn doesn’t include a protective case, however, so shoppers should consider a third-party protective sleeve.

Image quality is where this portable monitor stands out. It delivers a maximum brightness of 378 nits and achieves an infinite contrast ratio. This combination provides a bright, vivid, and immersive image. It also delivers an impressive 100 percent of the DCI-P3 color gamut and 94 percent of AdobeRGB. That’s more than adequate for photo and video editing. The monitor’s 60Hz refresh rate might be a limitation for gamers, however.

Priced at an MSRP of $349.99, which often drops to a tempting $199.99 on Amazon, the Innocn 15A1F is an excellent choice if you want a portable monitor with top-tier image quality on a budget.

Read our full Innocn 15A1F review

Arzopa G1 Game – Best portable monitor for gaming

Pros

Thin, light, and durable Good SDR image quality 144Hz panel delivers good motion clarity Inexpensive

Cons

No Adaptive Sync support HDR is supported, but disappointing Menu system offers little customization Price When Reviewed:189.99Best Prices Today:$129.99 at Amazon$139.99 at Arzopa

Want a light, compact monitor that’s ideal for gaming while away from home? The inexpensive Arzopa G1 Game is a solid choice. 

Arzopa’s portable gaming monitor has a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 (better known as 1080p) and a maximum refresh rate of 144Hz. The refresh rate, which indicates how many times the display can refresh per second, improves responsiveness and motion clarity. It’s a noticeable improvement over a portable monitor with a 60Hz refresh rate.

The monitor also delivers a bright, attractive image. 1080p resolution may sound mundane in today’s world of 4K displays but, due to a portable monitor’s small 15.6-inch display, it delivers sharpness close to that of a 27-inch 4K monitor. The Arzopa G1 Game also scores well in contrast, color gamut, and color accuracy. 

It’s easy to pack, too, as the monitor weighs just 1.36 pounds and measures roughly four-tenths of an inch thick. A faux-leather case provides protection while traveling and serves as a kickstand. The kickstand’s tilt adjustment is limited, though, which can prove frustrating. 

The G1 Game routinely retails for about $150 on Amazon.com and ranks among the most affordable 144Hz portable gaming monitors available. It’s a good value and an easy recommendation for travelers who frequently game away from home.

Read our full Arzopa G1 Game review

Viewsonic VX1655-4K-OLED – Best portable monitor for creators

Pros

Excellent image quality Useful built-in kickstand Attractive and sturdy design Extensive image-quality options

Cons

Flimsy bundled keyboard cover Some on-screen menu options are confusing Power adapter could be smaller Price When Reviewed:$499.99Best Prices Today:$499.99 at Amazon$499.99 at B&H$499.99 at Best Buy

The Viewsonic VX1655-4K-OLED stands out in the crowded market of portable monitors, particularly for creators who prioritize image quality without sacrificing portability.

The VX1655-4K-OLED delivers exceptional sharpness, color accuracy, and contrast. Its brightness peaks at an impressive 457 nits, which is beneficial for working in brightly lit environments. Its comprehensive color gamut is suitable for color-critical work such as photography, design, and video editing. It also has a native resolution of 3840×2160 (4K), which makes it ideal for working with 4K video, as well as other high-resolution video and image files.

Design is another key strength. It has a built-in kickstand, slim bezels, and a sturdy chassis, all of which makes it easy to set up and stable when in use. The monitor’s connectivity options, which include two USB-C ports and a mini-HDMI port, offer flexibility. However, the inclusion of a full-sized HDMI port would have been preferable.

While the monitor does have minor drawbacks, like a flimsy bundled display cover and confusing on-screen menus, these issues are overshadowed by its overall performance and build quality. Its premium price point reflects its position as a high-end choice for professionals, and its image quality is the best of any portable monitor we’ve tested to date.

Read our full Viewsonic VX1655-4K-OLED review

What to look for in a portable monitor

Many of the features we look for in a desktop monitor also apply to a portable monitor. A portable monitor should have a bright, sharp image with a decent contrast ratio, wide color gamut, and great color accuracy. The differences between portable monitors and their desktop brethren are more often found in their design, build quality, and connectivity.

Image quality

Most portable monitors have image quality similar to desktop monitors in the same price bracket. Portable monitors tend to score well in brightness and sharpness, but color and contrast are often lacking. OLED portable monitors perform significantly better than less expensive IPS LCD displays. Unfortunately, they’re much more expensive.

Numerous small brands have jumped into the portable monitor market in recent years and quality control can be an issue. We recommend sticking to monitors that are known to achieve high marks in image quality (otherwise, be prepared to use a retailer’s return policy).

Stands, kickstands, and covers

Portable monitors ship with a bundled kickstand or stand that is used to keep the monitor propped up and steady on a desk.

Unlike desktop monitors, where most stands are more or less identical, the stands used by portable monitors vary. Some have a simple kickstand that attaches magnetically, while others use a clip-on case. A rare few, like the ViewSonic ColorPro VP16-OLED, have a folding stand that provides significant height and kickstand adjustment.

Connectivity

Connectivity is key. A portable monitor that lacks the port you need to connect your tablet or laptop is useless.

Most portable monitors offer the option to connect over USB, a video input (usually HDMI), or both, but the number of ports available and the standards used vary widely. We look for monitors that offer a healthy selection of ports. We also prefer monitors that can be powered over USB-C by a connected desktop or laptop.

Portability, size, and weight

Our final consideration is the most obvious: portability. Most portable monitors live up to their name with an included kickstand case or cover that can fold flat and protect the display while it’s stowed.

Still, the exact size and weight of a portable monitor is important, and shoppers may need to accept trade-offs between weight and quality. A top-notch pick like the Viewsonic ColorPro VP16-OLED can offer superior durability, but a lightweight budget pick like the Azorpa A1 Gamut might be preferable if you’ll be hauling a portable monitor daily.

How we test monitors

PCWorld’s monitor evaluations stem from the expertise of freelance and staff contributors with decades of collective experience. Although our initial impressions rely on our eyes, we rigorously test each monitor using a Datacolor Spyder X2 Ultra color calibration tool for a comprehensive analysis.

This device helps us objectively measure a variety of monitor attributes including brightness, contrast, color gamut, color accuracy, luminance and color uniformity, and gamma, among other traits.

We also rely on hands-on testing to judge the quality, size, and weight of a portable monitor. Every monitor we recommend is personally tested first-hand by a PCWorld contributor. This helps us pick out flaws in build quality and portability that separate the best and worst portable monitors. 

FAQ

What size of portable monitor is best?

Most portable monitors use a 13.3-inch or 15.6-inch panel, and those that don’t typically have a panel size close to one of those two standards (such as 13.1 or 16 inches). 

A monitor with a 13.3-inch panel is great for frequent fliers and other travelers looking to pack light. A 13.3-inch model will typically weigh about a quarter- to half-pound less than a 15.6-inch model. The downside, of course, is a smaller display that can feel cramped, which can make a 13.3-inch display frustrating. 

15.6-inch portable monitors are a better choice in many situations, as viewing the display for long periods of time will prove more comfortable. Though larger than a 13.3-inch model, 15.6-inch models remain small and will fit in most bags that fit a 14-inch laptop (or larger). 15.6-inch portable monitors are preferable for creators, too, as the larger display size makes it easier to view small details in videos, photos, and digital art. 

2.

What resolution is best for a portable monitor?

1080p is the most common resolution and is a great choice for nearly all situations. This resolution may seem unimpressive on paper, but the small size of a portable monitor increases the display’s pixel density. A 15.6-inch portable monitor with 1080p resolution looks nearly as sharp as a 27-inch monitor with 4K resolution.

What about 4K portable monitors? We don’t generally recommend them. Portable monitors with 4K resolution are less common, more expensive, and the improvement in sharpness won’t be perceptible to most people.

We also recommend that you avoid lower resolutions such as 720p and 1366×768. Though uncommon, portable monitors sold at very low prices (often below $100) sometimes have a native resolution below 1080p. This isn’t a great choice. Most modern apps, web pages, and content assume 1080p as a “standard” resolution and feel cramped at 720p or 1366×768.

3.

What ports and connectivity should a portable monitor have?

We recommend buying a portable monitor that has a USB-C port with DisplayPort Alternate Mode and USB Power Delivery. The DisplayPort Alternate Mode turns the USB-C port into a video input, and USB Power Delivery can be used to power the portable monitor. This enables a single-cable connection between the portable monitor and a laptop, desktop, or tablet with USB-C.

An ideal portable monitor should pair USB-C with a backup video input, such as HDMI or DisplayPort, for connecting devices that lack USB-C. Most portable monitors offer this feature, but the HDMI or DisplayPort input is usually a smaller variant of the connection (like Micro-HDMI).

4.

How much should a portable monitor cost?

Most portable monitors are inexpensive, but this is often reflected in their quality. We’ve noticed a wide range of build quality, design, and image quality among portable monitors that retail below $150. It’s possible to find a great portable monitor on a tight budget, but we recommend sticking to models tested by a professional reviewer.

A handful of portable monitors, such as the Viewsonic ColorPro VP16-OLED, are priced above $300. These rare models back up their price with special features such as a top-notch OLED panel or built-in battery. Paying extra for a quality monitor is worthwhile, but it’s not a requirement. Budget portable monitors like the Arzopa A1 Gamut look great and are well-suited to day-to-day productivity and web browsing.

5.

Should I buy a portable monitor with HDR?

We don’t recommend portable monitors for HDR. While some manufacturers claim HDR support, the truth is that current portable monitors lack the brightness required to make HDR look its best. A portable monitor that claims HDR support will display HDR content, but it won’t look superior to SDR.

6.

What battery life should I expect from a portable monitor?

You might be surprised to hear most portable monitors don’t include a battery and must be powered by an external source. In most cases, power is delivered over USB-C (or, in older models, USB-A) from a connected laptop, tablet, or desktop. You can also use an external power brick.

A few portable monitors include a battery, but we recommend you avoid these models. They’re considerably more expensive than portable monitors that rely on external power. The battery also adds weight and bulk. It’s often less expensive to buy an external battery pack to connect to the portable monitor.

Author: Matthew S. Smith

Matthew S. Smith is a freelance technology journalist with 15 years of experience reviewing consumer electronics. In addition to PCWorld, his work can be found on Wired, Ars Technica, Digital Trends, Reviewed, IGN, and Lifewire. Matthew also covers AI and the metaverse for IEEE Spectrum and runs Computer Gaming Yesterday, a YouTube channel devoted to PC gaming history.

Recent stories by Matthew S. Smith:

Pixio PX248 Wave review: A monitor for fashion, flair, and clarity on a budgetBest ultrawide monitors 2024: Let’s get largeBest home office monitors 2024: Displays that get the job done

Gaming monitors and laptops are all about that OLED panel upgrade at the moment, but what if your interests are a little less pew pew and a little more scribble scribble? Then you’re probably already familiar with Wacom’s Cintiq line of pen-operated monitors. The company’s newest screen-slash tablet has an OLED panel, which makes it surprisingly ideal for drawing on the go.

The Movink is the first in a new line of monitor-tablet hybrids designed to be thin and light. And it scores on both counts, weighing in at just 420 grams (.92 pounds) and 4mm thin. Compared to Wacom’s One 13 monitor-tablet with the same sized screen, it’s less than half the weight. And, perhaps best of all, you can connect it to a PC or mobile device with just a USB-C cable for both data and power.

The anti-glare screen is obviously important to artists. While the resolution isn’t amazing at just 1920×1080, the color accuracy is through the roof, boasting 100 percent DCI-P3 color accuracy, 95 percent on Adobe RGB, and Pantone Validation to make sure what you’re seeing is what you get on the final work. Naturally, it gets the benefit of OLED’s amazing color vibrancy and perfect black contrast.

Wacom

Wacom

Wacom

Some Wacom purists might need to make adjustments to their workflow since the screen only has two ExpressKeys for tool control, but the included Pro Pen 3 with integrated nib holder will feel very familiar. The Movink is compatible with all other Wacom pens and third-party stylus. And the tablet itself is compatible with any device that supports DisplayPort over USB-C, including ChromeOS and some Android phones.

Now if you’re a fan of Wacom hardware, you’ve been waiting for the other shoe to drop. Here it is: the Movink costs $750. More, if you want the carrying case and the fold-up stand. While that’s far from Wacom’s most expensive device (that would be the $3,500 Cintiq Pro 27 monitor), it’s also nearly double the price of the Wacom One 12. But something tells me a lot of digital artists will be lining up to buy one, especially if they like to combine work with travel.

Author: Michael Crider, Staff Writer

Michael is a former graphic designer who’s been building and tweaking desktop computers for longer than he cares to admit. His interests include folk music, football, science fiction, and salsa verde, in no particular order.

Recent stories by Michael Crider:

Gigabyte’s 49-inch OLED gaming monitor hits its lowest price yetSamsung’s humongous OLED ultrawide monitor is $800 offGet a massive 42-inch 4K OLED monitor for $400 off

At a glance

Expert’s Rating

Pros

Respectable performanceLong battery lifeElegant designBrilliant OLED touchscreen

Cons

Hefty for a thin-and-lightDesign has usability issuesPricey for the performance

Our Verdict

The Dell XPS 14 is a looker, but even though it can offer respectable performance, it comes at such a high cost above competent — and often faster — competitors that there’s little reason to consider it.

Price When Reviewed

$2,699

Best Prices Today: Dell XPS 14 (2024)

RetailerPrice$1699View Deal$2299.99View DealPrice comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwideProductPricePrice comparison from Backmarket

Dell introduced a revamped XPS line in 2022, adding a “Plus” to the name to indicate a new design scheme. In the 2024 XPS lineup, that “Plus” is gone because the design of all of Dell’s XPS laptops has changed to the new look — a shift that may make sense since Dell has also changed its size options to accommodate 13-inch, 14-inch, and 16-inch displays.

The Dell XPS 14 inherits the stylish looks of its recent predecessors and packs in some powerful hardware to make doing serious work look good. But style alone isn’t enough to merit the lofty price tag the XPS 14 wears, and with so many cheaper alternatives running equally capable hardware in attractive packages of their own, the XPS 14 has its work cut out for it.

Looking for more options? Check out PCWorld’s roundup of the best laptops.

Dell XPS 14 (2024): Specs and features

The new Dell XPS 14 9440 has a range of configuration options that can start it from a modest $1699 MSRP or range it up to $3479. All configurations run on the Intel Core 7 Ultra 155H, but Dell provides options for graphics, memory, storage, display, Windows version, color, and whether or not Intel vPro is included. 

CPU: Intel Core 7 Ultra 155HMemory: 32GB LPDDR5Graphics/GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 (30W TGP)Display: 14.5-inch 3.2K OLEDStorage: 1TB PCIe Gen4 SSDWebcam: 1080pConnectivity: 3x Thunderbolt 4 / USB-C with Power Delivery and DisplayPort, 1x microSDXC card reader, 1x 3.5mm combo audioNetworking: WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3Biometrics: Windows Hello fingerprint, facial recognitionBattery capacity: 68 watt-hoursDimensions: 12.6 x 8.5 x 0.71 inchesWeight: 3.95 poundsMSRP: $2,699 ($1,699 base)

Memory options range from 16GB to 64GB while storage ranges from 512GB up to 4TB. Intel Arc graphics are the base, but there’s an option to bump up to an NVIDIA RTX 4050 for $300 extra, which also comes with an automatic bump to transfer rate on the memory from 6,000MT/s to 7,467MT/s. The laptop can come with either a 1920×1200 anti-glare LCD display with 30-120Hz variable refresh rate or the 3200×2000 anti-reflective OLED with 48-120HZ refresh rate tested here, with the former covering the sRGB color space and the latter covering the DCI-P3 color space.

Dell XPS 14 (2024): Design and build quality

IDG / Mark Knapp

IDG / Mark Knapp

IDG / Mark Knapp

The design of the Dell XPS 14 calls for a lot of aluminum and glass, and in that way, it has much in common with the latest smartphones. The whole exterior is wrapped up in metal, which Dell says is 75 percent recycled aluminum. The display is covered up in Gorilla Glass Victus, a hard glass made to resist scratches and cracks that should be more than up the abuse it’ll get from frequent touchscreen use. The newer trackpad design, which effectively hides the trackpad sees the whole area under the keyboard covered in a single piece of Gorilla Glass 3. 

It’s a regal look that can certainly go toe to toe with Apple’s MacBook Air, right down to the wedge-like design. The XPS 14 has sneaky ventilation slits along the bottom sides and porting out just below the display — a design that risks creating a bottleneck for heat escape if the lid is open enough to touch whatever table or desk it sits on. 

Dell’s design is sleek, but has points of contention. With the remodel in 2022, Dell shifted to a new keyboard design that’s present on the XPS 14. This uses perfectly square, rather flat keys with minimal gaps between one another that can take some getting used to. The stealthy trackpad also can be tricky to find the bounds of. Then there’s the function row, which is now a series of illuminated capacitive buttons that show either secondary functions or F1-12. Dell says this allows for more cooling underneath the keys, but it doesn’t make getting used to capacitive buttons any easier. They simply don’t have the haptic feedback of an actual key. 

Where the XPS 13 sees its keyboard run all the way to the sides of the laptop, the XPS 14 has a little extra space and fits top-firing speakers in at the sides, just like the XPS 16 I tested but a little smaller. The bezels around the display are thin, even at the bottom thanks to the 16:10 aspect ratio, but Dell still managed to squeeze a discreet Windows Hello-capable webcam above the screen.

Overall, the build of the laptop feels sturdy and well put together, though the premium materials come with their own downsides. Despite being a thin laptop, the Dell XPS 14 weighs in at 3.95 pounds, effectively reversing the trend of laptops towards lighter and lighter weights. The iGPU-only model should be lighter, but I also have a 14-inch Lenovo Legion Slim 5 14APH8 with an RTX 4060 inside that weighs less than the XPS 14.

Dell XPS 14 (2024): Keyboard, trackpad

IDG / Mark Knapp

IDG / Mark Knapp

IDG / Mark Knapp

I’ve had some time to get used to Dell’s new keyboard design, having tested the first XPS 13 Plus and more recently the Dell XPS 16. But no matter how I come at it, I can’t quite get past the discomfort of it. Between the minimal dish of the caps and the very tight spacing — such that you can’t feel the edge of a key without also having a finger overlap the neighboring key — it’s difficult to ever feel quite at home on. 

In use, I was able to reach a typing speed of 118 words per minute in Monkeytype with 95 percent accuracy. While the speed is sufficient, the accuracy is an issue, and low enough that autocorrect isn’t likely to clean up every mistake. While it might seem decent, the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus, with its more basic keyboard design, let me reach 128 words per minute with 100 percent accuracy within minutes of picking it up. More than a week into testing the XPS 14, and I can’t even come close. The switches are poppy and have surprisingly high actuation force, which helps keep the keyboard from feeling even less predictable.

The capacitive function row is no more pleasant to use. Tapping the Delete key more than once is awkward, as it provides no feedback, and it often misses taps in a series. Hitting Ctrl + Shift + Esc is also incredibly awkward when one of the keys in that shortcut isn’t a key at all.

As on the XPS 16, the XPS 14 trackpad is gigantic. It’s close to the size of the 6.8-inch smartphone screens out there. Even though it’s impossible to feel out the edges of the trackpad area, it almost doesn’t matter since it’s so large that anywhere you’re likely to touch it will still register. With excellent palm rejection and pleasing haptics, it’s a solid piece of hardware. It can be a little hard to double-click on, but double-tapping is just as viable. If Dell was going to change anything, I’d just want to see it go even wider (all the way to the sides, ideally), for more ergonomic mousing. That would be especially helpful in select cases, as XPS 14 has a tendency to ignore any swipes that start from outside the actual trackpad region, though it’s somewhat inconsistent on the matter. 

Dell XPS 14 (2024): Display, audio

IDG / Mark Knapp

IDG / Mark Knapp

IDG / Mark Knapp

The Dell XPS 14 has a gorgeous display. While the LCD option is probably half decent, the OLED alternative offers a lot. It’s as sharp as could possibly be needed at this size, and 120Hz refresh rate allows for smooth visuals. It can move between 120Hz and 48Hz though to save on battery when necessary. 

The OLED display is bright and colorful, hitting full screen peak of 393.2 nits (small HDR highlights can go higher still) and 99 percent DCI-P3 coverage with the default color profile. I measured accurate color as well, with colors deviating on average by only a dE of 0.91 and at most 1.73, making this a display viable for design work. The touch panel is also responsive and a handy complement to the trackpad, though I found little reason to use it given the quality of the trackpad. The anti-glare finish to the display isn’t as effective as some I’ve seen, but it generally keeps the display easy to see. 

The XPS 14 combines four speakers — a pair of tweeters and a pair of woofers — to deliver surprisingly robust and full sound for a laptop with such a small footprint. For music, it provides life that most laptops lack. The bass is still on the weak side, but it’s still audible rather than being effectively erased by the speakers. There’s no struggle with speech either, which comes through easily, as the speakers emphasize the vocal range. The speakers get a little unpleasant at full volume, if I’m sitting close, but it’s not so much an issue of distortion as it is of their volume. 

Dell XPS 14 (2024): Webcam, microphone, biometrics

IDG / Mark Knapp

IDG / Mark Knapp

IDG / Mark Knapp

Dell has put together a decent package for conferencing. The 1080p webcam captures reasonably bright and crisp video footage that will serve well in video calls, though it’s still not up to the level of quality you might want to rely on if you’re making frequent presentations where you’ll be the focal point. The mics do a good job picking up my voice and shutting out background noise, even other voices, but they capture a bit too much echo in small rooms. 

The XPS 14 can also use its webcam for Windows Hello facial recognition, which proves an especially quick way to sign into the system. There’s also a fingerprint scanner at the top-right corner of the keyboard.

Dell XPS 14 (2024): Connectivity

IDG / Mark Knapp

IDG / Mark Knapp

IDG / Mark Knapp

As with most thin-and-light laptops, the Dell XPS 14 has gone fairly lean on ports, though not as lean as some. It features three USB-C ports, each boasting bandwidth-buff Thunderbolt 4 support. Those ports are split with two on the left side and one on the right., giving flexibility for how you dock or charge the laptop. Dell has also included a microSD card reader and 3.5mm headphone jack. A single USB-A port would have been a plus, but Dell at least includes a incredibly lightweight dongle to offer up USB-A and HDMI through one of the USB-C ports.

Wireless connectivity is also a strong point, with the XPS 14 offering Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3, both of which have offered stable connections in my testing. Bandwidth over Wi-Fi hasn’t been an issue, and spotty connections on Bluetooth and failed pairing hasn’t stood in the way of using the XPS 14 with wireless headphones.

Dell XPS 14 (2024): Performance

The Dell XPS 14 has strong performance, to be sure, thanks to its Intel Core Ultra 7 155H and RTX 4050 pairing. That’s more than enough muscle for everyday computing and then some. And even though Dell shows fairly successful cooling for the parts inside, with scores not dropping precipitously over longer stress tests, it doesn’t manage to ultimately keep up with some of its competition. And that’s bad news, since the XPS 14 is hands down the most expensive option of the bunch, and it’s not even the only one offering a high level of polish. 

Turning to PCMark 10, which assesses a system’s capabilities in a variety of common and office-related tasks, we see the Dell XPS 14 has modest overall performance, but not quite as much as its competitors. It’s not far off, and much of the difference is unlikely to be tangible in everyday use, but as more and more demand is put onto these systems by future applications, those with the extra muscle now will likely prove better able to keep up down the line. 

It’s not Dell’s raw multi-core performance that has held it back, though. In Cinebench R20, we see it can plainly let it rip, beating out all of its competition in the test. That plays out in our Handbrake encoding test, where the Dell XPS 14 was able to encode our 4K video file faster than the rest at just under 13 minutes. There’s some variability to the performance, though, as the XPS 14 didn’t rank as highly in Cinebench R15 or Cinebench R23. So it’s not the all-out champ of CPU performance. And while multi-core performance shows off a systems ability to manage heavy loads, single-core performance can suggest the responsiveness of the system, and in that department the XPS 14 is closer to the middle of the pack, notably lagging behind the Lenovo Slim Pro 9.

While its performance is competitive, particularly in the CPU department, the Dell XPS 14 has to contend with much cheaper competition that leaves it little room to breathe. But competition from the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED, Dell Inspiron 14 Plus, and MSI Prestige 15 AI Evo B1MG isn’t quite 1-to-1 since those all run on integrated graphics. As configured, the Dell XPS 14 includes a discrete GPU that gives it a leg up in graphically demanding tasks. 

We see that in 3DMark’s Time Spy benchmark, the most GPU-intensive test of the bunch, where the Dell XPS 14 distances itself greatly from its iGPU competition. However, the power-limited RTX 4050 it packs inside shows the downsides of that low wattage when faced with the Lenovo Slim Pro 9, which also features an RTX 4050 but well outpaces the XPS 14. It wouldn’t have helped that the XPS 14 also saw the lowest CPU performance in this test, and if a CPU doesn’t carry its weight in a gaming scenario, it’ll let extra available GPU performance go to waste.

Dell XPS 14 (2024): Battery life

Dell’s minor performance shortfalls come with a solid positive: the battery life is no slouch. In our testing, the XPS 14 lasted over 13.5 hours playing back a video file on repeat with the display set as close as possible to 250 nits. That longevity sets it apart from Lenovo Slim Pro 9 that hounded it so thoroughly in performance. That said, Dell still has its competition cut out for it.

Dell’s own Inspiron 14 Plus may have a lackluster display compared to the XPS 14 Plus’s OLED panel, but it’s a power sipper and lets the Inspiron 14 Plus run for over 3 hours longer. The Asus ZenBook 14 OLED pulled off a similar feat and still had the benefit of a regal OLED panel. The MSI Prestige 16 AI EVO B1MG may have fallen short by more than an hour, but it also had to illuminate a 16-inch OLED panel.

Dell XPS 14 (2024): Conclusion

The Dell XPS 14 is a good laptop with plenty of performance for everyday tasks and some creative workloads paired with some seriously impressive battery life. It puts that capability into a stylish package with a gorgeous display. But all of that comes at a price. Next to its competition, the Dell XPS 14 asks a considerable premium and all it seems to offer in return is its looks. 

The XPS 14 isn’t the fastest of the bunch. It’s not the only one offering a splendid OLED display. And as long as its battery life is, it’s still a ways off from being the longest. If Dell’s design were as pleasant to use as it is to look at, it might have some merit, but the design presents as many hurdles and headaches as it provokes oohs and aahs. There’s some ground for the XPS 14 to stand on if you need a wonderful display, excellent battery life, and absolutely require the advantages of discrete graphics.

But for anyone who can make do without one of those three aspects, there are much more compelling options at much lower prices, and that puts the XPS 14 in a tricky position that makes it hard to recommend — at least, for the configuration tested here. The base spec that omits discrete graphics may be a more viable competitor, but it still has its work cut out for it, especially since it loses the sharp OLED touchscreen.

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Author: Mark Knapp

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When you connect your laptop to a wireless network, you usually have to log in with a password. This is true in cafés and libraries, for example – but also when we are in our own or someone else’s home. This login only has to be done once and the next time you connect, the computer will remember the password.

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The problem is that this happens automatically without you being able to see the password in plain text. If you have forgotten your password and want to connect your mobile phone, tablet or any other computer to the same network, this automation can be a disadvantage. The same applies if you want to help someone else sign into your Wi-Fi network.

To view the passwords you have saved on your computer, you can use a classic free program called Wireless Keyview. But if you have Windows 11, you don’t actually need to get this program; you can find the password via the Windows 11 settings menu. Here’s how to do it:

Open the Settings via the Start button in the bottom left corner or by pressing the Windows+I.Select Network and Internet in the left-hand menu and then click Wi-Fi.Go to Properties for your network and scroll down.To the right of Show Wi-Fi security key is the button View. Press it and you will see the password in plain text on the screen. You may need to re-enter your Windows 11 password before seeing the password.

This article was translated from Swedish to English and originally appeared on pcwelt.de.

Author: Martin Appel

Konsumentredaktör på PC för Alla

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