Will your laptop recognize you in the dark? Maybe. Maybe not. An April patch update for Windows now “requires color cameras” to see a visible face when signing in, according to Microsoft via Windows Central. Technically, that means that Windows Hello is now using your webcam as well as the infrared depth camera to log you in. Windows Central notes that the change has been made to solve a spoofing vulnerability. The question is, will it really matter? My quick tests say that from a practical sense: no, it won’t. I took three laptops — a Surface Laptop 7th Edition, an Asus ZenBook S 14, and an MSI Prestige 16 AI Evo — and made sure that my Windows Hello facial logins were up to date. All three laptops had had the April update cited by Microsoft, KB5055523, which made the change. I then took the laptops into the stairs leading into my “basement” office, where I work at home. (That office has two windows; the stairwell is lit by an open door at the top, if it’s open.) While in the dark, I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face. I then opened up all three laptops and attempted to log in using just my face. All worked successfully. I even turned on Windows’ anti-spoofing technology — a technology that promises to make it even harder for someone to impersonate you. I’m not familiar with what, if anything this changes in the process. Again, however, I logged in using Windows Hello’s facial login without issue. In both cases, I found that my laptop’s screen was enough to illuminate my face without any problems, and provided enough light that the camera was able to recognize me. I used my laptop’s webcam to snap a spooky photo of me to illustrate how dark this area was. Mark Hachman / Foundry Weirdly, both my colleague Michael Crider as well as Windows Central reported that their laptop cameras couldn’t see them well enough to recognize them. In any event, the problem basically resolves itself by simply turning on a light. Microsoft has always asked me for a numeric PIN as a backup, which you can use as well. My laptops recognized me when these two settings were enabled. You might argue that this change enhances the security of your PC, as it now requires the webcam to “see” you using visible light instead of just recognizing you via your infrared signature. Practically, though, very little has changed. The tech world often throws a fit when certain trivial changes are made. Here, I don’t think you need to worry. Further reading: Best Windows Hello webcams 2025: Add biometric login to your PC Read...

With a brain that’s swimming in a cocktail of neurodivergence, one of my most persistent enemies has always been procrastination. I was once told that my attention span is, on a scale of 1 to 10, either 15 or random. But as hard as it is to overcome—a condition that feels more nature than nurture—it’s something I’m learning to manage. Weeks ago, I decided I couldn’t get arbitrary brain chemistry get in the way of productivity, and so I took matters into my own hands. I needed to stop being so distracted and to change some habits, but I wasn’t going to do it alone. I was going to use technology to help me. Now, a couple of weeks on from implementing these tweaks, I feel like it’s been moderately successful. Here’s what I did. Stop procrastination dead in its tracks The first and most impactful change I knew I could make was to cut out a bunch of social media usage. I’m no voracious user, but I’m a sucker for scrolling through subreddits and diving into deep discussions on the minutiae of my various hobbies and interests. As much as I’ve learned doing that over the years, I’ve also developed unhealthy habits of following politics far too closely—and the news cycle is nothing but a doomscroll hole waiting to happen in 2025. So, I took drastic measures. I installed the BlockSite extension on every web browser (except one, in case I need to check Reddit or Twitter for work) and completely blocked the most distracting sites. I did the same on my phone too, as it’s that little black mirror that’s probably to blame for most of my procrastination. I also installed NoScroll on my phone to block shorts and reels. That stuff is crack to an ADHD brain. I use the BlockSite extension to block distracting sites. The block screen is mildly mocking, but I don’t mind it. I probably deserve it.Jon Martindale / Foundry If you’d rather take a less puritanical approach to managing the sites and services that tempt you to procrastinate, extensions like StayFocusd can make it easier to limit your time rather than block entire sites permanently. If you’re like me, though, excising the whole habit cold turkey is an easier change to make than having a lesser drip feed of it. Whatever the case, cutting out distractions leaves me with little to do but focus on the task at hand—and it works to encourage greater focus. The carrot alongside the stick The first time I sat on the toilet after blocking everything, I had a bizarre moment where I was staring at my phone with my mind telling me there’s something interesting there to do. But I’d blocked everything I usually do. What was I even looking at this thing for? That was a prime opportunity to not just hinder my bad habits but to reward the good ones. How am I going to improve my attention span? By doing things that require greater attention. Mozilla So I stocked my bathroom with a cheap e-reader with a few novels I’ve been neglecting. I also installed Pocket on my phone. While Firefox recently announced that it’s discontinuing Pocket, there are similar alternatives and the premise is all the same: save articles and web content to read or watch later when you have time. Now when I have time to kill, it’s with something more mentally nourishing than Reddit or TikTok. At the very least, I come out of it with less brain rot; at best, I’m developing better attention. Boring and silent are friends of focus Modern electronics and software are designed to grab and hold our attention with colors, lights, quick hits of compelling content, snazzy animations, etc. For me, it wasn’t enough to avoid social media and other distracting sites. A part of me was still drawn to the pretty icons and animations on my phone—so I decided to make it boring, too. Enter Minimalist Phone, a paid app (with a free trial) that turns your phone into a boring brick of black, overhauling the entire OS to look as dull and uninteresting as possible. That means no more icons, only text for everything, and it’s all black and white, yet you can still manage apps and services with ease thanks to its intuitive navigation. Check out my minimalist phone. It isn’t pretty, but that’s the point.Jon Martindale / Foundry But Minimalist Phone goes further than that. It also has an app blocker that lets you restrict certain apps to a schedule, or set mindfulness pauses before running certain apps, or even create an entirely separate work profile with different behavior when you’re “in focus mode.” It can also filter unimportant notifications so you aren’t distracted by alerts. I personally made a point of disabling all unnecessary notifications on Teams, Slack, and other work communication tools. For the ones I kept, I made the notifications monochrome and silent. That means I only know if someone sent me a message when I choose to check in—not when the app wants me to know—and that makes it easier for me to stay on task. Speaking of staying on task, I also have ChatGPT send me occasional reminders using its scheduled tasks feature. It’s just little things like a notice in the morning to start my day or a prompt to make sure I get done a certain task by a deadline. Could I use a traditional reminder app? Sure, but ChatGPT’s organic variations make me less likely to skip them. Plus, I’m already paying $20 per month for ChatGPT Plus. Might as well use it! A better way to procrastinate Breaking old habits isn’t easy. Even with blocks in place, I still feel the urge to procrastinate—and even when I’m reminded not to, I still want to find workarounds. For me, it isn’t plausible to never procrastinate. That’s why I allow myself to procrastinate in better ways. Maybe when I complete a task, I fire up my Chess.com account for a quick game. In between writing projects, I might give myself a few minutes with my preferred idle game: Ropuka’s Idle Island. Yes, it’s still a game, but at least it’s designed for drip entertainment. It doesn’t hook me for hours and hours, and the chill lo-fi soundtrack keeps it mellow. Jon Martindale / Foundry On dog walks, I’m making myself listen to audiobooks rather than shorter-form brain-rot content. And don’t underestimate the power of analog activities! I took up a new hobby in knitting. I won’t pretend it doesn’t feel like a whim for now, but I’m giving it a go as a way to detox from tech and procrastinate in a more productive way. Every second away from my phone helps to train away my urges to procrastinate. Jon Martindale / Foundry Overcoming procrastination is a long-term project, one that will probably remain a struggle for the rest of my life. But I already feel some of the positive benefits of these mitigating techniques. I’m less hooked on scrolling and more content overall. I’m a little more focused and a little more effective. We’ll see how long it lasts. Read...

Outdoor cameras play a critical role in your home security system, but continuous recording eats up storage and network bandwidth. Adding motion detection sounds sensible–until you later need to call up a recording and discover it’s missed crucial frames. Imagine being able to go back in time and start the recording sooner. Reolink’s Altas security camera solves exactly this problem with its 10-second pre-recording feature. There’s more to get excited about here, too: this new security camera from Reolink is innovative and reliable, offers home owners peace of mind, and it comes at a great price point. Shop Reolink`s 16th Anniversary Sale Never miss the action At its core, the Reolink Altas is a 4MP Wi-Fi battery camera designed for seamless home security. A motion sensor triggers video recording, while a 10-second pre-recording feature means all critical moments before motion is detected. How did that suspected burglar arrive at your property? Did your delivery person drop the parcel before reaching your porch? Well, now you’ll know. The Altas camera can easily distinguish between people, cars, and animals, and sends notifications accordingly. Crystal clear recordings–even in the dark Reolink’s Altas security camera captures video in 2560×1440 resolution, which means you’ll get to see all the detail you need, right down to being able to read license plates. During the night, the Altas camera uses ColorX Night Vision technology and six physical spotlights to ensure crystal-clear color video is captured. Two-way communication Another great feature you’ll enjoy with the new Reolink Altas camera is the fact it comes with a built-in mic and speaker, which lets you chat with whoever is outside your home at any time. You can use it as you might a video doorbell, or simply chastise your pups for digging up the garden. #id684fe0a3a1843 .jw-wrapper::before { content: `Reolink Atlas` !important; } Set-and-forget security solution With support for Wi-Fi 6 over 2.4- and 5GHz networks, and options for portable power and storage, the Reolink Altas is quick and easy to set up, and it will just carry on doing its thing for up to 18 months. You need to worry about it only when you need to check a recording. That runtime is based on the assumption the Altas will record around 5 minutes a day, and is powered by its high-capacity 20,000mAh battery. You can alternatively add a 6-watt solar panel (available separately), then never worry about recharging the camera again. As long as you get an hour’s direct sunlight every day, the Altas will draw enough power from the panel. This is an outdoor security camera, so it’s good to know it’s protected from the elements. The Reolink Altas has an IP66 rating, which means it will adjust to all weather conditions, be that rain or snow, or extreme temperatures ranging from -4°F to 131°F. You can use a microSD card up to 512GB in capacity for storage, or buy the Reolink Home Hub to unlock support for up to two 512GB microSD cards. Additional options include the Reolink Home Hub Pro, and Reolink WiFi NVR. Buy now and save The Reolink Altas retails for $149.99 at Amazon, but during the company’s 16th Anniversary sale you can enjoy an extra discount at Reolink.com when you use the code ALTASB5M. Act fast: this offer ends June 22. In celebration of its 16th anniversary, Reolink is offering up to 47% off a selection of its most popular smart cameras throughout June. Among the top deals: Altas PT Ultra – A 4K battery-powered camera with pan & tilt functionality and the same smart pre-recording tech as Altas, now available at a significant discount. Go PT Ultra – A 4G-enabled 8MP camera designed for remote monitoring, ideal for properties without Wi-Fi, also on sale. Save on Altas in Reolink`s 16th Anniversary Sale Use code ALTASB5M Read...

Large retailers such as Briscoes, Bunnings and Mitre 10 support the use of facial recognition technology to combat repeat offenders but concerns continue over potential privacy breaches. Read...

One NZ launches nationwide Satellite Internet of Things (IoT) service, powered by Starlink Direct to Cell technology. Read...

An apparent mix-up with the technology led to Danielle Horan being wrongly accused of shoplifting. Read...

ChatGPT is rapidly changing the world. The process is already happening, and it’s only going to accelerate as the technology improves, as more people gain access to it, and as more learn how to use it. What’s shocking is just how many tasks ChatGPT is already capable of managing for you. While the naysayers may still look down their noses at the potential of AI assistants, I’ve been using it to handle all kinds of menial tasks for me. Here are my favorite examples. Further reading: This tiny ChatGPT feature helps me tackle my days more productively Write your emails for you Dave Parrack / Foundry We’ve all been faced with the tricky task of writing an email—whether personal or professional—but not knowing quite how to word it. ChatGPT can do the heavy lifting for you, penning the (hopefully) perfect email based on whatever information you feed it. Let’s assume the email you need to write is of a professional nature, and wording it poorly could negatively affect your career. By directing ChatGPT to write the email with a particular structure, content, and tone of voice, you can give yourself a huge head start. A winning tip for this is to never accept ChatGPT’s first attempt. Always read through it and look for areas of improvement, then request tweaks to ensure you get the best possible email. You can (and should) also rewrite the email in your own voice. Learn more about how ChatGPT coached my colleague to write better emails. Generate itineraries and schedules Dave Parrack / Foundry If you’re going on a trip but you’re the type of person who hates planning trips, then you should utilize ChatGPT’s ability to generate trip itineraries. The results can be customized to the nth degree depending on how much detail and instruction you’re willing to provide. As someone who likes to get away at least once a year but also wants to make the most of every trip, leaning on ChatGPT for an itinerary is essential for me. I’ll provide the location and the kinds of things I want to see and do, then let it handle the rest. Instead of spending days researching everything myself, ChatGPT does 80 percent of it for me. As with all of these tasks, you don’t need to accept ChatGPT’s first effort. Use different prompts to force the AI chatbot to shape the itinerary closer to what you want. You’d be surprised at how many cool ideas you’ll encounter this way—simply nix the ones you don’t like. Break down difficult concepts Dave Parrack / Foundry One of the best tasks to assign to ChatGPT is the explanation of difficult concepts. Ask ChatGPT to explain any concept you can think of and it will deliver more often than not. You can tailor the level of explanation you need, and even have it include visual elements. Let’s say, for example, that a higher-up at work regularly lectures everyone about the importance of networking. But maybe they never go into detail about what they mean, just constantly pushing the why without explaining the what. Well, just ask ChatGPT to explain networking! Okay, most of us know what “networking” is and the concept isn’t very hard to grasp. But you can do this with anything. Ask ChatGPT to explain augmented reality, multi-threaded processing, blockchain, large language models, what have you. It will provide you with a clear and simple breakdown, maybe even with analogies and images. Analyze and make tough decisions Dave Parrack / Foundry We all face tough decisions every so often. The next time you find yourself wrestling with a particularly tough one—and you just can’t decide one way or the other—try asking ChatGPT for guidance and advice. It may sound strange to trust any kind of decision to artificial intelligence, let alone an important one that has you stumped, but doing so actually makes a lot of sense. While human judgment can be clouded by emotions, AI can set that aside and prioritize logic. It should go without saying: you don’t have to accept ChatGPT’s answers. Use the AI to weigh the pros and cons, to help you understand what’s most important to you, and to suggest a direction. Who knows? If you find yourself not liking the answer given, that in itself might clarify what you actually want—and the right answer for you. This is the kind of stuff ChatGPT can do to improve your life. Plan complex projects and strategies Dave Parrack / Foundry Most jobs come with some level of project planning and management. Even I, as a freelance writer, need to plan tasks to get projects completed on time. And that’s where ChatGPT can prove invaluable, breaking projects up into smaller, more manageable parts. ChatGPT needs to know the nature of the project, the end goal, any constraints you may have, and what you have done so far. With that information, it can then break the project up with a step-by-step plan, and break it down further into phases (if required). If ChatGPT doesn’t initially split your project up in a way that suits you, try again. Change up the prompts and make the AI chatbot tune in to exactly what you’re looking for. It takes a bit of back and forth, but it can shorten your planning time from hours to mere minutes. Compile research notes Dave Parrack / Foundry If you need to research a given topic of interest, ChatGPT can save you the hassle of compiling that research. For example, ahead of a trip to Croatia, I wanted to know more about the Croatian War of Independence, so I asked ChatGPT to provide me with a brief summary of the conflict with bullet points to help me understand how it happened. After absorbing all that information, I asked ChatGPT to add a timeline of the major events, further helping me to understand how the conflict played out. ChatGPT then offered to provide me with battle maps and/or summaries, plus profiles of the main players. You can go even deeper with ChatGPT’s Deep Research feature, which is now available to free users, up to 5 Deep Research tasks per month. With Deep Research, ChatGPT conducts multi-step research to generate comprehensive reports (with citations!) based on large amounts of information across the internet. A Deep Research task can take up to 30 minutes to complete, but it’ll save you hours or even days. Summarize articles, meetings, and more Dave Parrack / Foundry There are only so many hours in the day, yet so many new articles published on the web day in and day out. When you come across extra-long reads, it can be helpful to run them through ChatGPT for a quick summary. Then, if the summary is lacking in any way, you can go back and plow through the article proper. As an example, I ran one of my own PCWorld articles (where I compared Bluesky and Threads as alternatives to X) through ChatGPT, which provided a brief summary of my points and broke down the best X alternative based on my reasons given. Interestingly, it also pulled elements from other articles. (Hmph.) If you don’t want that, you can tell ChatGPT to limit its summary to the contents of the link. This is a great trick to use for other long-form, text-heavy content that you just don’t have the time to crunch through. Think transcripts for interviews, lectures, videos, and Zoom meetings. The only caveat is to never share private details with ChatGPT, like company-specific data that’s protected by NDAs and the like. Create Q&A flashcards for learning Dave Parrack / Foundry Flashcards can be extremely useful for drilling a lot of information into your brain, such as when studying for an exam, onboarding in a new role, prepping for an interview, etc. And with ChatGPT, you no longer have to painstakingly create those flashcards yourself. All you have to do is tell the AI the details of what you’re studying. You can specify the format (such as Q&A or multiple choice), as well as various other elements. You can also choose to keep things broad or target specific sub-topics or concepts you want to focus on. You can even upload your own notes for ChatGPT to reference. You can also use Google’s NotebookLM app in a similar way. Provide interview practice Dave Parrack / Foundry Whether you’re a first-time jobseeker or have plenty of experience under your belt, it’s always a good idea to practice for your interviews when making career moves. Years ago, you might’ve had to ask a friend or family member to act as your mock interviewer. These days, ChatGPT can do it for you—and do it more effectively. Inform ChatGPT of the job title, industry, and level of position you’re interviewing for, what kind of interview it’ll be (e.g., screener, technical assessment, group/panel, one-on-one with CEO), and anything else you want it to take into consideration. ChatGPT will then conduct a mock interview with you, providing feedback along the way. When I tried this out myself, I was shocked by how capable ChatGPT can be at pretending to be a human in this context. And the feedback it provides for each answer you give is invaluable for knocking off your rough edges and improving your chances of success when you’re interviewed by a real hiring manager. Further reading: Non-gimmicky AI apps I actually use every day Read...

Technology like smart watches can think metal fans in mosh pits have been involved in a collision. Read...

Welcome to The Full Nerd newsletter—your weekly dose of hardcore hardware talk from the enthusiasts at PCWorld. In it, we dive into the hottest topics from our YouTube show, plus interesting news from across the web. This week, we’re…clawing our way back to health. Attending the Nintendo Switch 2 launch at our local Nintendo Store felled both Adam and Will, delaying our usual Tuesday episode. But don’t worry: I still have plenty of juicy news bits to share with you below. Also our Micro Center tour videos are live! Plus, now that Adam and Will are feeling better, we’ll still have a stream—catch us on live on Friday morning (6/13). Want this newsletter to come directly to your inbox every Friday? Sign up on our website! In this episode of The Full Nerd… With the plague having temporarily overtaken Adam and Will, I don’t have a Full Nerd episode to tease—but there are two Micro Center videos to share. (And a third is on the way.) Adam was very excited to meet YouTuber mryeester in person. Trust me, I have so many pictures. Will Smith / Foundry When you visit the opening of a store you’ve wanted in your area for ages, what do you do? Explore all day, of course. We wandered the aisles, talked to the people in lines, and even bought some goodies for ourselves. (You may recognize a couple of the interviewees.) For an extra Easter egg, drop by our Discord server—Adam posted an extra clip that’s pinned in the #general channel. “Is this the year of Linux?” has been a running joke (but also serious consideration) on our show for a bit, and so Adam decided to take the question to the people. He tried to find Linux users at Micro Center—which was surprisingly (or not surprisingly? –Brad) more difficult than expected. The happy surprise? Running into a friend of the show who turned out to be a 20-year Linux veteran! (That surprised shout you hear in the background when he tells us his tenure? That was me, forgetting how hot the mics are.) As for the video that completes the trifecta, we quizzed people on the hardware they rolled up to buy—as well as what they’re rocking now. Unlike the operating system discussion, a lot more of PC building’s diversity showed its colors here. My favorite quote? The Mac user who said he’d eventually have the “religious discussion” with his kid about what hardware to choose for a build. Can’t wait for our next live show? Subscribe now to The Full Nerd YouTube channel, and activate notifications. We also answer viewer questions in real-time!  And if you need more hardware talk during the rest of the week, come join our Discord community—it’s full of cool, laid-back nerds. This week’s best nerd news Outside of the teeny one applied to my Raspberry Pi 4, I haven’t thought about thermal pads in years.Honeywell Sometimes, joy comes from delightful news. (For example, a RTX 5070 graphics card that houses a whole PC.) Other times, a non-zero amount of schadenfreude is the result. (I really dislike the overhyping of AI, and I like when that gets pointed out.)  This week, I got to experience both kinds of feelings. Perhaps you will, too. This modded RTX 5070 graphics card hides a full-blown mini PC within: Bored with your usual small-form factor PC builds? Boutique desktop builder CherryTree’s got something for you—a hollowed out 5070 that holds a whole PC. Including RGB lights. RTX 5090 stock may improve, then get worse: July 9 is when high tariffs on Chinese goods go back into effect—and so MSI and Gigabyte are rushing to get as many cards to U.S. shores before that happens. But after that stock runs out, no one’s certain what U.S. fiscal policy will be…so if you want this flagship card, you may want to jump quickly in the next couple of months. Do you know these 5 new PC cooling advancements?  I’ll admit, this rundown of 5 newer PC cooling technologies makes my standard air cooler seem like the equivalent of farming with a scythe. I can’t wait to see the pumpless water cooler in action. Researchers converted old phones into ‘tiny data centers,’ then used them to watch marine life: Reusing old tech in this novel way hits just right—I hate having devices lying around that I know could be still in service. Seems like automated monitoring is the best use case, so: Best peaceful animal livestreams, incoming? (I’d watch starfish scuttle around on an ocean floor. Or hedgehogs roll around. The world offers so many possibilities.) This new Alienware Lego kit is too “expensive”: The only way to acquire one of these Lego kit is to earn points through Alienware’s website and social media channels, but I will never earn 10,000 in a reasonable amount of time. Alienware, can’t I just throw money at this problem? Isn’t that why I have a job? This is so cool.ZealousidealWorry881/Reddit PCIe 6.0 products are finally on the way: Sure, the specifications for PCIe 7.0 got formally announced, but the real news is PCI 6.0 products will appear in 2025. Most likely, the first sightings will happen at the end of the year, but that’s still a welcome start. Forgot how nightmarish GPU boxes used to look? This book can fix that: Some things were meant to be left to be buried by the sands of time. I still have a GPU box from 2010 and let me tell you, it is tame compared to the horrors chronicled in this coffee table book. Is right now the worst timeline for being a PC gamer? This is a question we asked of Steve Burke of Gamers Nexus, and the answer was a grim “Yes.” Between hardware and game prices going up, PC gamers may be best off hunkering down with what they’ve already got, including your gigantic backlog of free Epic Games downloads. This 80s-inspired, retro-futurist PC battlestation is pretty dope: Just look at the pictures and you’ll understand why my colleague Michael Crider was reduced to expressing his longing in all caps. (Like him, I also look forward to the video detailing the build process.) ‘Get rekt, ChatGPT’: OK, no one actually said this, but if a nearly 50-year old Atari game could talk, that’s what I imagine it’d say to ChatGPT after the AI chatbot wiped out at basic chess. Even Advanced AI Suffers ‘Accuracy Collapse’ in the Face of Complex Problems: Yes, I’m dogpiling a bit on AI. (I may have a low tolerance for current models and their…quirks. I would use a stronger word, but my boss reads this newsletter.) If this technology is to truly help improve our lives, its shortcomings should be recognized and addressed—so I’m glad a major tech company is weighing in with realistic concerns about AI’s abilities. That’s all for this week—we should be back on our regular schedule next Tuesday. Catch you all then! -Alaina This newsletter is dedicated to the memory of Gordon Mah Ung, founder and host of The Full Nerd, and executive editor of hardware at PCWorld. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Excellent CPU performance Cooling readily keeps up with the internals Fast display Supports USB-C charging at 100W Cons Bulky and plasticky Speakers are grating at full volume So-so battery life for gaming laptops Our Verdict The Asus ROG Strix G16 isn’t the ultimate gaming laptop, but it delivers exceptional performance for its hardware, rivaling last-gen RTX 4080 systems. It’s not the sleekest, but it’s well-built and more affordable than Lenovo’s class leader. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Asus ROG Strix G16 Retailer Price $2,299 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket The Asus ROG Strix G16 (G614) is a solid gaming laptop entering the mid-to-high range of the market, as it’s capped at an RTX 5070 Ti. It may not have the most elegant build, combining mostly plastics with an aluminum lid, and its IPS display isn’t quite as jaw-dropping as OLED rivals, but the Asus ROG Strix G16 puts up powerful performance for the money, proving itself a worthy rival to the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10, even if it can’t quite dethrone that beast. With a starting price of $1,599 and options up to $2,499, there’s a good bit of room to configure a system that suits your needs without going overboard. But as tested here at the height of the range, it’s one heck of a performer. Asus ROG Strix G16: Specs and features Model number: G614 CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 9955HX3D Memory: 32GB DDR5-5600 Graphics/GPU: Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti 12GB VRAM, (140-Watt TGP) Display: 16-inch, 2560×1600 IPS, 240Hz, 500 nits, 100 percent DCI-P3, G-Sync, Dolby Vision HDR Storage: 1TB PCIe Gen4 SSD Webcam: 1080p + IR  Connectivity: 2x USB4 (1x 100W PD support), 2x USB-A 10Gbps, 1x HDMI 2.1 FRL, 1x GbE, 1x 3.5mm combo audio Networking: WiFi 6E 2×2, Bluetooth 5.4 Biometrics: Windows Hello facial recognition Battery capacity: 90 watt-hours Dimensions: 13.94 x 10.39 x 1.2 inches Weight: 5.22 pounds MSRP: $2,499 as-tested ($1,599 base) The Asus ROG Strix G16 comes in several configurations. A few come from Asus directly while some are exclusive to Walmart and Best Buy and have different displays from Asus’s direct offerings. All of them are built around AMD CPUs and RTX 50-series GPUs. Support for Wi-Fi 6E, dual SSD slots, 1TB of included PCIe Gen 4 storage, 90Wh batteries, and 280W chargers are all common among them.  The base model is a Walmart-exclusive, starts at $1,599, and includes an AMD Ryzen 9 9955HX CPU with 16GB of memory, and an RTX 5060 GPU. The display here is a 1200p IPS panel with a 165Hz refresh rate, 300 nits of brightness, and 100 percent sRGB color gamut. Best Buy has two more models using the same display. These both come with an earlier AMD Ryzen 9 8940HX CPU. A $1,699 model includes an RTX 5070 and a $1,999 model bumps to an RTX 5070 Ti.  The rest of the configurations come directly from Asus and bump up to a 1600p, 240Hz panel with a 500-nit brightness level, G-Sync, 100 percent DCI-P3 coverage, and Dolby Vision support. They also get 32GB of memory. The first of these models is $2,199 and includes an RTX 5070. For $2,399, the GPU gets a further upgrade to an RTX 5070 Ti, but all else remains the same. Finally, at $2,499, we reach the configuration tested here. This bumps up CPU, swapping to an AMD Ryzen 9 9955HX3D. These varied configuration and retailer options provide an interesting mix that should allow gamers to select their priorities. Walmart offers the cheapest entry point, while Best Buy’s options favor value on the GPU side, letting you land an RTX 5070 Ti for $400 less than Asus’s configuration. Meanwhile Asus’s configurations offer a higher-grade display for those who plan to do a lot of gaming directly on the laptop.  The ROG Strix G16 doesn’t just game—it competes, balances, and delivers where it counts. It’s not trying to win a beauty pageant; it’s here to dominate the leaderboard. Asus ROG Strix G16: Design and build quality IDG / Mark Knapp The Asus ROG Strix G16 isn’t subtle about being a gaming laptop. From its textured and striped exhaust tail, the large grilles on both the sides and back, various branding on just about every surface, a completely over-engineered base plate (done up to look a bit like a motherboard with a CPU socket), and all the RGB lighting, it just about shouts “gamer.” The RGB even extends a bit beyond the typical keyboard backlight. A lightstrip stretches across the front edge of the laptop to cast a colorful glow in front of the Asus ROG Strix G16. The system is bulky, measuring over an inch thick, but it’s almost surprisingly light for its size. It weighs 5.22 pounds, which still isn’t light but is kind of light for a 16-inch gaming laptop. A lot of that weight and size is coming from the cooling system. The Asus ROG Strix G16 has ventilation wrapping around the back half of the base, completely spanning the rear and covering a portion of each side. There are even two little vents on a little hinge shelf above the keyboard. Asus uses a triple-fan arrangement to cool the internals, though one of these is quite small. With such wide ventilation, the system doesn’t have to go shrill during heavy gaming. It produces a light breeze sound that’s not unpleasant to hear even at an arm’s length With all that’s packed in, the Asus ROG Strix G16 ends up sturdy, with little flex to the base even though it’s all made out of ABS and polycarbonate. Only the display lid gets a touch of the premium with an aluminum cover. The ABS plastic on the bottom of the system feels rough and a little cheap, but still tough. There’s just enough flex from the display that it bends a little when opening or closing it with a hand on the corner, but a little lip at the top provides a more balanced point for opening and closing.  The Asus ROG Strix G16 comes with a beefy 280-watt power brick for charging, and it adds almost another 1.5 pounds to the package. On the bright side, 100-Watt USB-C charging is also supported if you want to use a smaller charger on the go.  Asus ROG Strix G16: Keyboard, trackpad IDG / Mark Knapp Physically, the keyboard is a joy to type on. It has a satisfying, soft bottom out that makes for comfy typing. I was comfortably able to type at over 110 words per minute without feeling like I was rushing in Monkeytype, and managed a fair degree of accuracy.  It has a couple of downsides, though. Asus prioritized full-sized arrow keys, and it shrank the right shift key considerably in the process. I find myself regularly hitting the up arrow when I mean to hit shift, and instead of getting a capital letter, I start messing up a whole paragraph. As helpful as the RGB keyboard lighting is for seeing key legends in the dark, the slightly dark key legends when backlighting is off can make it a little hard to see the keyboard even in a well lit room.  Once in the course of my testing, in the middle of using it, the keyboard suddenly stopped working entirely. The trackpad still worked, but neither keys nor keyboard shortcuts worked. After plugging the system in and letting it restart, the keyboard resumed proper functioning, but it was an odd and upsetting experience nonetheless. I’ve never known a computer not to have the odd hiccup now and then, though, and as this wasn’t a recurring issue, I didn’t raise too much concern.  For gaming, the keyboard deck gets a little warm, but the palm area doesn’t, and the WASD keys are comfortable to rest on. Only the area around the number row and above heats up, as that’s where most of the heatsink sits. The Asus ROG Strix G16’s trackpad is reasonably spacious, pleasingly smooth, and offers a satisfying, soft physical click. t could be wider, but after experiencing frequent palm rejection issues on the Razer Blade 16’s ultra-wide trackpad, I’m not mad at Asus for keeping it modest.  The trackpad has a special function seen on a number of other Asus laptops. With a long-press  near one corner, it can turn into a number pad with illuminated characters and math function keys. It’s an interesting feature to have, but the beauty of a number pad is how muscle memory allows for touch typing, and this setup doesn’t really facilitate that quite as well.  Asus ROG Strix G16: Display, audio IDG / Mark Knapp The Asus ROG Strix G16’s display is good overall. It has a lot going for it. For one, it delivered 480 nits of brightness in my testing, and that combines with a strong anti-glare coating that makes it easy to see in almost any conditions. The 2560×1600 resolution is respectably sharp, and it runs at a super-smooth 240Hz with only minor ghosting. It’s also wonderfully colorful, fully covering the DCI-P3 color space. Color accuracy wasn’t on point, though. The display also exhibits some annoying dimming behavior, slowing ramping the brightness up or down depending on the screen content. It doesn’t show up much while gaming or watching movies, but while browsing the web, where the brightness of content can change suddenly, it becomes distracting. The two down-firing speakers provide respectable, clear audio for voices, making for a good way to listen to instructional/educational videos or have voice calls. They pump out plenty of volume, but it’s a bit harsh at max volume. Dialed back, the speakers still provide ample volume and decent fullness without the same harshness. There’s even a bit of bass. Asus suggests they’re capable of Dolby Atmos audio and can play into virtual 5.1.2-channel surround sound, but that is extremely generous for speakers that barely manage basic stereo. Asus ROG Strix G16: Webcam, microphone, biometrics The webcam on the Asus ROG Strix G16 is decent. It can get a little grainy in dimmer environments, but it does an impressive job with exposure. It manages to get most of the picture clear without overexposing. It’s not a master though, in extra-dim rooms with one strong light, it can run into overexposure in its effort to get the rest of the picture lit up, but even then it looks acceptable.  The microphones are solid. They pick up my voice loud and clear without too much room echo. They also do a good job cutting down on background noise. Even with a box fan running in a window nearby and construction outside, my voice remained clear without awkward compression or clipped words, and the fan itself was inaudible while the construction was reduced to subtle clinking.  Unfortunately, you’ll be relying on a password, PIN, or security key to log onto the Asus ROG Strix G16. It doesn’t feature any facial or fingerprint recognition technology.  Asus ROG Strix G16: Connectivity IDG / Mark Knapp Like most big gaming laptops, the Asus ROG Strix G16 provides a good smattering of ports. You’ll find two USB4 Type-C ports on the left side, and one of those supports 100W power delivery for charging without the G16’s beefy power brick (though don’t expect full performance while plugged in this way). There’s also a 3.5mm headset jack, HDMI 2.1 port, and Gigabit Ethernet port over there along with the main DC barrel jack. The right side of the laptop includes two USB-A 10Gbps ports. An extra USB-A port or SD/microSD card slot would have been nice to see. Unfortunately, Asus’s cooling design takes up the entire rear of the laptops and half of each side, so all of the ports are lined up along the front half of either side. I find this awkward when  plugging in multiple devices, especially if you plan to game that way, as you’ll have USB dongles/cables sticking out right where you’d likely want a mouse.  Wireless connections have been dependable. The system supports Wi-Fi 6E, letting you get a quick and stable connection or even step up to the 6GHz band for extra throughput. Tested on a normal Wi-Fi 6 network with fiber internet, the Asus ROG Strix G16 made the most of the speeds.  Asus ROG Strix G16: Performance The Asus ROG Strix G16 is no slouch. Of course it couldn’t be for the price it demands, but it’s making its components work for it. We haven’t tested a lot of systems recently that have closely matching components, but prior generation heavyweights like the Gigabyte Aorus 16X, Alienware m16 R2, and Alienware x16 R2 show what kind of performance gains this latest generation of hardware can deliver. And the RTX 5080-equipped Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 10 offers a look at how the Asus ROG Strix G16 stacks up to a laptop in the next tier up. While that Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 10 was $3,599 as tested, there is an RTX 5070 Ti configuration that goes for $2,849, making it more competitive with the Strix G16.  IDG / Mark Knapp The Asus ROG Strix G16 immediately proves its competency in everyday tasks with a high score in PCMark 10, a holistic test that tasks the system with launching apps, web browsing, making spreadsheets, editing photos and video, and rendering 3D graphics. With a fast processor, GPU, and storage, the Asus ROG Strix G16 performs exceptionally, beating out all three 2024 systems and nearly keeping up with the pricier Lenovo Legion.  IDG / Mark Knapp A lot of that performance can be chalked up to the CPU. The AMD Ryzen 9 9955HX3D in here is a veritable beast. It manages to complete our handbrake encoding task in 9 minutes, stepping up considerably from even heavy hitters like the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H. It couldn’t quite match the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 10’s Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX, but the AMD CPU also has 8 fewer CPU cores, so the fact it comes as close as it does is still impressive. IDG / Mark Knapp Unsurprisingly, we see similar performance in Cinebench, with the Asus ROG Strix G16 slightly tailing the Lenovo Legion as both put up simply excellent performance numbers. And it’s not just multi-core performance. The Asus ROG Strix G16’s CPU has excellent single-core performance as well, again beating all of the other systems except the Lenovo Legion, which it narrowly trails. Since all 16 cores in this AMD CPU are performance cores and they prove so capable, it’s understandable how the AMD Ryzen 9 9955HX3D is coming close to the Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX (which offers an 8P+16E arrangement) despite having considerably fewer cores overall. IDG / Mark Knapp The Asus ROG Strix G16 also puts up excellent gaming performance. In 3DMark’s demanding Port Royal test, which employs a lot of ray-traced effects, the Asus ROG Strix G16 shows how much the RTX 5070 Ti steps up from the RTX 4070, even coming close to the RTX 4080’s performance. The RTX 5080 in the Lenovo Legion still distances itself in this test, though. The cooling in the Asus ROG Strix G16 also helps it maintain its performance. In 3DMark’s Steel Nomad Stress Test, which runs the benchmark sequence 20 times in a row, the Asus ROG Strix G16 maintained 97.7 percent consistent results.  IDG / Mark Knapp The results we saw in Port Royal line up closely with the Asus ROG Strix G16’s performance in Metro Exodus. The Asus ROG Strix G16 is capable of running the game smoothly even in its Extreme settings preset, again outpacing the weaker two systems, almost keeping up with the RTX 4080-equipped Alienware x16 R2, but still lagging behind the RTX 5080-equipped Legion.  IDG / Mark Knapp Shadow of the Tomb Raider’s benchmark shows that the GPU was the impediment for the Port Royal and Metro Exodus tests. This game is less demanding on the GPU, particularly as it doesn’t rely on ray tracing. And in this case, the CPU gets to help out more, letting the Asus ROG Strix G16 rocket ahead of the Alienware x16 R2 and come much closer to the Lenovo Legion than in the other tests.  That CPU performance can let the Asus ROG Strix G16 get in close to the RTX 5080-equipped Lenovo Legion in other cases as well. Running Cyberpunk 2077 with the Ultra preset (no ray tracing) at 1080p, the Asus ROG Strix G16 pulls of 137 FPS average to the Legion’s 151 FPS. That actually lets the Asus ROG Strix G16 beat the RTX 5090-equipped Razer Blade 16 due to that system being CPU-bound in that test.  Bumping up to 1440p or the monitor’s native 1600p sees more load shift to the GPU, and in those conditions the Asus ROG Strix G16 falls back a bit further from the likes of the Lenovo Legion and Razer Blade 16. It still performs well, but you’ll want to stick with 1080p/1200p if you plan to take advantage of the built-in monitor’s 240Hz refresh rate.  Asus ROG Strix G16: Battery life Gaming laptops are getting better at running on battery power, but they’re generally still not great. The Asus ROG Strix G16 fell just a few minutes shy of a six hour runtime in our local 4K video playback test, and that’s with the dGPU disabled, all keyboard lighting off, Airplane mode, and the screen set between 250 and 260 nits (and self-limited to 60Hz). Real-world use takes that even lower, with the laptop generally giving me 3-4 hours of everyday use. It’s still competitive for most gaming laptops, though the Razer Blade 16 recently impressed with over 10 hours in our testing.   The Asus ROG Strix G16 even tries to help conserve power. The system will pop-up a notification if an app is keeping the dGPU active while on battery power — useful! But that notification will take you to Armoury Crate, and from there, the “Stop all” button for ending those tasks that were using the dGPU doesn’t always do its job. Also, the system isn’t set up ideally for battery life. Nvidia Optimus was not enabled by default, and the “Optimized” setting in Armoury Crate was not active. It’s still possible for the “Standard” mode to turn off the dGPU on battery power, but there’s no guarantee it will, unlike the Optimized mode.  Asus ROG Strix G16: Conclusion The Asus ROG Strix G16 is a hit. It offers excellent performance, especially as configured, with its CPU helping make the most of the RTX 5070 Ti inside. This smart balance avoids CPU-bound scenarios at 1080p, giving it a leg up on plenty of its competition. The performance combines with an overall good package that benefits from a sturdy design, quality display, respectable speakers, and satisfactory connectivity. It’s a worthy rival to the Lenovo Legion 7i Pro 16 Gen 10. It’s a bit thicker, but lighter than Lenovo’s system, and it comes at a small discount for a comparable configuration from Lenovo. Read...