Personal Computers

Whether you’re looking for a productivity desktop, a gaming PC powerhouse, or a stylish all-in-one Windows machine, we’ve got you covered. The team at PCWorld sort through all of the daily computer sales and put together a curated list of the best deals available. But not all deals are really deals, so we only choose those offered by reputable companies and that include great hardware to ensure you get the best value for your money.

We’ve also included some helpful answers to common questions about buying a computer at the bottom of this article. If you’re considering a laptop instead, be sure to check out our best laptop deals, updated daily.

Note: Tech deals come and go quickly, so it’s possible some of these computer discounts will have expired before this article’s next update.

• iBuyPower TraceMesh Gaming PC, Ryzen 7 7700/RX 7800XT/32GB RAM/2TB SSD, $1,399.00 (13% off on Walmart)
• Acer Nitro 50, Core i5-14400F/RTX 4060/16GB RAM/1TB SSD, $799.99 (27% off on Amazon)
• HP Omen 35L, Ryzen 5 8500G/RTX 4060/16GB RAM/512GB SSD, $989.99 (27% off on HP)
• Alienware Aurora R16, Core i9-14900KF/RTX 4090/64GB RAM/4TB SSD, $3,699.99 (21% off on Dell)
• Lenovo Legion Tower 5i, Core i7-14700F/RTX 4070 Ti Super/32GB RAM/1TB SSD, $1,709.99 (28% off on Lenovo)
• Skytech Gaming Shiva II, Ryzen 7 5700X/RTX 4070/16GB RAM/1TB SSD, $1,414.24 (11% off on Amazon)
• Asus ROG Gaming Desktop, Core i7-14700KF/RTX 4070 Super/32GB RAM/2TB SSD, $1,549.99 (11% off on BestBuy)

My top picks:

The iBuyPower TraceMesh Gaming PC for $201 off on Walmart provides solid midrange gaming power thanks to its all AMD Ryzen 7 7700 CPU and RX 7800XT GPU combo. They even throw in a generous 32GB of RAM and 2TB of onboard storage to sweeten the deal.

If you’re looking for something even more budget friendly than the Acer Nitro 50 for $300 off is the way to go right now. This is one of the cheapest you’re likely to find a desktop rocking an RTX 4060 GPU, plus they were generous enough to throw in a decent amount of onboard storage as well.

• IdeaCentre Mini, Core i5-13420H/16GB RAM/512GB SSD, $579.99 (17% off on Lenovo)
• Minisforum Venus UM790 Pro, Ryzen 9 7940HS/32GB RAM/1TB SSD, $555.00 (24% off on Minisforum)
• HP Pavilion Desktop, Core i7-12700/16GB RAM/512GB SSD/2TB HDD, $729.99 (27% off on HP)
• Apple Mac Mini 2024, M4/16GB RAM/512GB SSD, $744.00 (7% off on Amazon)

My top picks:

Lenovo machines are known for their design and reliability and the IdeaCentre line of desktops is no exception. Right now, Lenovo is offering the IdeaCentre Mini for $150 off on its website. With an impressively small footprint and great productivity features this mini-PC is a must-have if desktop space is in short supply.

If you’re more of a Mac fan, then this rare deal on the latest M4 Mac Mini for $55 off on Amazon is for you. The brand new 2024 Mac Mini is a seriously good option for those looking to get great mini-PC performance for price. The M4 chip has outstanding processing power and this Apple model also comes with a good amount of RAM and onboard storage.

All-in-one desktop computers combine a PC’s hardware with a modern display to make a desktop computer that has both form and function. Since everything is built together, you can save precious desktop space with an all-in-one. They make capable work computers and they can also be excellent home computers with the wide range of features appealing to the whole family.

• Inspiron 24 AiO, Ryzen 5 7530U/16GB RAM/1TB SSD/24-inch 1080p touch display, $849.99 (15% off on Dell)
• HP OmniStudio X AiO, Core Ultra 7 155H/16GB RAM/1TB SSD/27-inch 1080p touch display, $1,189.99 (17% off on HP)
• IdeaCentre AIO I, Core i5-13420H/16GB RAM/512G SSD/24-inch 1080p touch display, $699.99 (15% off on Lenovo)
• iMac M3 2023, M3/8GB RAM/512GB SSD/24-inch 5K display, $1,529.00 (10% off on Amazon)

My top picks:

The Inspiron 24 AiO is on sale for $150 on Dell’s website. It might not appear to be the most mind-blowing AiO, but don’t let that fool you. Strong performance features and a nice touch display make this a standout all-in-one deal.

Alternatively, the new HP OmniStudio X AiO is discounted $250 on the HP website. The new all-in-one from HP packs a crisp 27-inch touch display and its powered by a robust Core Ultra 7-155H CPU.

There are a ton of sites that sell computers, and scouring through all of them would take you a lot of time—that’s why we do it for you here and highlight the best deals we find. However, to save you some time and frustration, you need to be smart about where you look at any given time of the year.

If you’re looking for a new computer during the holidays or around popular sale periods such as Black Friday or back-to-school, then you are likely to find great deals directly through first party vendor websites. These include the retail storefronts of popular computer manufacturers such as HP, Dell, and Lenovo.

However, if you are looking in between sales periods, it’s generally a good idea to search through large third-party retailers such as Amazon, Adorama, Walmart, BestBuy, and Newegg. Oftentimes these websites will offer limited Deals of the Day type sales in hopes of getting rid of excess stock. On the upside, you can score still-decent PCs at a steep discount.

Typically you’ll want to time your PC computer shopping around a prominent sales period. The biggest sales periods are Black Friday/Cyber Monday in late November and Amazon Prime Day in early-to-mid July. The best sales often occur leading up to and during these two events and they are great times to snag a new PC computer for cheap. Other holiday shopping periods such as the New Year sales in January, President’s Day sales in April, and the back-to-school sales event in August are also good times to find discounts on computers.

You’ll see a ton of options when searching for a desktop computer, but they all mainly fit into four main categories: productivity tower PCs, gaming PCs, mini PCS, and all-in-ones (AiO). Which you should end up buying is entirely dependent upon what your needs are and what you want to do with your computer. If you are looking for something that will work in a home office or family room, then a productivity PC or AiO with a solid CPU and lots of RAM and storage is probably the way to go. If gaming is your main concern, a gaming PC can offer a lot more bang for your buck than a laptop and you should focus on getting the best GPU possible. Or if you just want something that can fit anywhere and provide basic computing then a mini PC is a good bet.

When looking at your new computer’s CPU, get at least an Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen 5, both of which will provide plenty of processing power for everyday computing tasks. If you don’t intend to do any PC gaming, then feel free to save some money by going with integrated graphics. However, if you are looking to get your game on, we recommend at least an Nvidia GeForce 3060 or AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT, as these are the least expensive discrete graphics cards that can handle ray tracing well. If you aren’t interested in those cutting-edge lighting effects, however, the RTX 3050 and Radeon RX 6600 also provide good 1080p gaming performance at even lower prices.

As for RAM, we think its best to shoot for 16GB at the minimum for productivity and gaming, but for family computers and internet browsing, 8GB should suffice.

Storage size is dependent upon your personal needs, but it is generally a good idea to opt for an SSD over an standard HDD as they are much faster and don’t significantly affect the price of a desktop. Before deciding, it’s best to consider what your intended use of the computer will be. Are you just doing work or web browsing? Then something like 512GB will be plenty. If you want to load up a lot of large files such as games or content creation projects, then you’ll need at least 1 or 2TB or storage. However, just remember that even if your computer doesn’t have enough storage built-in you can always upgrade your SSD or go with an external drive to increase your available storage options.

Refurbished computers are used machines that have been repaired, upgraded, and cleaned for the purpose of reselling. They’re usually open-box returns, overstock, or models with minor cosmetic damage (scratches, scuffs, etc). Refurbished computers can be a bargain hunter’s dream as they’re likely still in good (or great) condition and you can save a lot of money. That being said, refurbished computers can have their downsides as well. In addition to cosmetic blemishes, some of the internal components might be a little older or outdated and they might not be in peak condition due to previous usage.

If you do consider buying a refurbished computer I recommend looking at eBay as they offer a one-year warranty. You can also check out manufacturer’s retail storefronts like Dell’s Outlet Store and Apple’s Refurbished Store—just be sure to look at the terms of warranty offered before purchasing.

Finding a good laptop under $500 is no easy task. Just type “laptops under $500” into any search bar and you’ll be inundated with tons of results. Although you’ll see many options, most aren’t worth the price. That’s why you need to shop smart here.

Personally, I’d recommend getting a laptop with a 1080p display and at least 8GB of RAM. You want a machine that’s powerful enough to handle day-to-day tasks like general web browsing and a display that’s sharp enough for watching YouTube. You may encounter a few trade-offs, sure, but that’s common for a laptop in this price range. You don’t need to settle for the first thing out the gate, though.

Below you’ll find a meticulously curated list of our top picks for laptops under $500, each and every one tested by our experts.

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

Pros

• Affordable
• Decent battery life
• Good display visibility

Cons

• Big and bulky
• Cheap build
• Limited performance

For just under $300, the Acer Aspire Go 15 offers speedy everyday performance, good battery life (12 hours!), and a clear-looking 1080p display. In our testing, the 53.9 watt-hour battery lasted almost 12 hours on a single charge, which is more than a full workday. The 15.6-inch display has a resolution of 1920×1080 and a modest brightness level of 284 nits. In use, the reviewer was still able to see the screen even with a light beaming down onto it. While the Intel Core i3-N305 CPU lags a little behind other laptops in its class, it’s suitable for everyday tasks like listening to Spotify, watching Hulu, and so on.

Anyone that’s looking for a well-rounded laptop under $500. It has a nice keyboard that the reviewer was able to comfortably type “around 110 words-per-minute” on and the trackpad is nice and smooth. There’s even a decent array of ports available. You’re getting one USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 with Power Delivery and DisplayPort, two USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, one HDMI, one 3.5mm audio, one Kensington lock slot, and one DC barrel jack.

Pros

• Snappy day-to-day performance
• Versatile 2-in-1 design
• Good typing experience

Cons

• Stylus not included
• Heavier than expected

The Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus packs in a lot of features for the low price. The 2-in-1 form factor allows you to flip the screen around and use it like a tablet or you can prop it up like a tent for watching movies or sharing information. You can also expect peppy everyday performance and blazing fast boot-up times.

If you need the versatility of a convertible laptop but want to stick to a more modest budget, then the Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus is the one to pick. It stands apart from the rest of the pack with its durable construction, affordable pricing, and versatile convertible design.

Alternative option: If you’re on a very tight budget, the Acer Chromebook Plus 514 ($249.99) is worth checking out. It’s about $100 less than our current pick and it comes with loads of connectivity options as well as an enjoyable keyboard and an attractive design. It’s not a 2-in-1 laptop like Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus, but I wouldn’t consider that a deal-breaker, especially if you prefer traditional clamshells.

Pros

• Solid audio quality
• Fast general performance
• Includes a 1080p webcam
• Good typing experience

Cons

• Boring design
• Thick bezels

The Acer Chromebook Plus 515 has good audio for a laptop. The positioning of a laptop’s speakers can really impact the sound. Thankfully, the speakers on the Acer Chromebook Plus 515 fire upwards, which means the sound is coming at you. Highs and lows sound pretty darn crisp! This machine also provides a nice typing experience as well as fast general performance.

The Acer Chromebook Plus 515 is a good option for the casual user, especially if you like watching movies or listening to music. The audio is impressive and performance is good enough for everyday activities. The 15.6-inch display is quite good as well because of the 1080p resolution.

Pros

• Compact form factor
• Good everyday performance
• Long battery life
• Great keyboard and mouse

Cons

• Screen quality is mediocre
• Noisy fans

Although we love the HP Laptop 14’s compact form factor and comfortable keyboard, it’s the battery life that’s the real star of the show. It lasted about 15 hours on a single charge with light use, which is an incredible result for a sub-$500 Windows machine. This laptop also weighs just over three pounds, so it’s light enough to take with you from class to class or meeting to meeting. There’s even a 1080p webcam and, thanks to the Intel Core i3-1315U CPU, performance is zippy enough for browsing the web and whatnot. The subdued midnight blue color scheme is gorgeous, too.

Anyone that needs a long-lasting, sub-$500 laptop! The 15 hours of battery life is more than a full work day (or school day), which means you don’t have to go hunting for an outlet. It’s also lightweight and slim, so you can easily stick it in a backpack or messenger bag and be on your merry way. While general use performance is fine, it’s not the best machine for multimedia tasks and the fan noise is a bit annoying to deal with. That said, those are reasonable compromises given the price.

We’ve reviewed several new laptops recently, though many cost more than $500.

• Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition: The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition has elegance and feels great to use. But Lenovo should have stepped up its game, as the system lags behind in performance and battery next to a bunch of cheaper competitors, and Lenovo’s not the only brand making great-feeling systems.
• Lenovo LOQ 15: The Lenovo LOQ15 has better build quality than the average gaming laptop in this price range, but its performance is still on the low side.
• Lenovo ThinkBook 16 Gen 7 (Qualcomm version): This budget business laptop delivers mind-blowing battery life and snappy desktop application performance. But the display isn’t great, and this is the lowest-performance Snapdragon X Plus SKU available.
• Lenovo ThinkBook 16 Gen 7: The bargain-priced Lenovo ThinkBook 16 Gen 7 has enough oomph to knock out spreadsheets and video meetings, but it may not hold up to the rigors of travel.
• Asus Vivobook S 14: The Asus Vivobook S 14 combines Intel’s latest Lunar Lake CPU with lots of RAM and storage at a very reasonable price. It’s a nice machine, but Lunar Lake’s multithreaded performance will be a problem for some workloads — and this laptop’s design won’t draw any eyes.

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

Chromebooks, on the other hand, go through a series of web-based tests. It wouldn’t be fair or possible to run the same kinds of tests on a Chromebook, as they’re Chrome OS-based machines. Below, you’ll find a breakdown of each test and the reasons why we run them. For a much deeper look at our review methodology, check out how PCWorld tests laptops.

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

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

Ah, here we are at the billion dollar question. Do you spring for a basic Chromebook or go for a Windows laptop with more features? Well, it really depends on your lifestyle and your expectations of a sub-$500 machine. At this price point, you’re not going to find a powerful workhorse. However, there are plenty of affordable laptops out there for those who need the basics.

Chromebooks, for example, are a great low-cost option and offer phenomenal battery life. I use a Chromebook as my primary work laptop, as it has everything I need for both editing and writing. If you travel for work, it’s probably a good idea to invest in a laptop that weighs less than three pounds. If you’re still unsure, don’t sweat it. I’ve put together a list of quick buying tips below.

• Laptop type: There are many different laptop types that fall in the sub-$500 category: clamshells, 2-in-1’s, Chromebooks, and much more. The displays on convertible laptops (aka 2-in-1’s), for example, can swing around 360 degrees. This allows you to use the laptop like a tablet. They can also be propped up like a tent for viewing movies or participating in video calls. Chromebooks come in various shapes and sizes, and exclusively run Google’s web-focused Chrome OS. With a Chromebook, all you need is a Gmail account and, boom, you’re in.
• CPU: When it comes to the sub-$500 Windows laptops, you can expect to find Intel Core i3 or i5 processors. An i5 processor obviously provides a little more oomph. That said, basic office and web work does just fine on a Core i3. As for AMD options, the Ryzen 3 is good for basic productivity and web browsing, while Ryzen 5 chips rival Intel’s Core i5 as solid all-arounders. For Chromebooks, Snapdragon and Pentium processors are more powerful than MediaTek chips.
• Graphics: At this price range, you probably won’t find a laptop with a powerful discrete graphics card. Instead, you’ll encounter laptops with integrated graphics, which are integrated with the CPU and use less power as a result. This is perfectly fine for everyday tasks, especially if you’re not doing anything that’s graphics-intensive—like 3D gaming.
• RAM: Always go for 8GB of RAM. That’s plenty enough for firing up applications and loading web pages. Most Chromebooks are equipped with 4GB of RAM, which is the bare minimum. You need a decent amount of memory on these machines, as they’re primarily web-based. If there’s an 8GB RAM option, I’d recommend springing for that.
• Display size: If you’re a video editor or someone who does a lot of multimedia work, you’ll want a display that’s anywhere from 15- to 17-inches (but these machines usually cost far more than $500). The sweet spot for budget laptops is really anywhere from 13- to 14-inches. The bigger the display, the heavier your laptop is going to be. A 13- or 14-inch display is the best in terms of portability and value.
• Resolution: I wouldn’t go for anything less than 1080p, as there’s nothing more annoying than a slightly fuzzy image. 1080p produces a picture that’s sharp enough for watching Netflix or working in Excel. At this price range, you won’t really find many (if any) laptops with 1440p resolution or higher.
• Battery life: If you plan on taking your laptop anywhere with you, aim for something that can last 10 to 12 hours on a single charge. That’s more than a full work day, so it should theoretically get you through long flights or a day of classes. Obviously, more is always better. Just know that the bigger the battery, the heavier the laptop.
• Price: The price really depends on your budget. If you’re strapped for cash (been there, trust me), go for a Chromebook or an entry-level business laptop. These laptops are a good choice for students or young professionals. If you shop smart, you can even find 2-in-1’s in the $500 range.
• Ports: A wide array of ports is always a plus, as it eliminates the need for an adapter. I’d recommend a laptop that has both USB-C and USB-A. An HDMI port is good, too. This is especially useful for hooking up to an external monitor.

When people talk about regular laptops they usually mean a PC or Mac. A Chromebook is still a laptop, but it differentiates itself from either of those two by using a unique operating system called ChromeOS, which was created by Google. Think of it like this: All Chromebooks are laptops, but not all laptops are Chromebooks.

Unlike other operating systems such as Windows or macOS, ChromeOS are optimized to run Google apps such as Google Drive, Google Docs, YouTube, and other Google services. Because most Google apps are online, Chromebooks generally require an internet connection to use most of their important features.

Finally, Chromebooks have historically been designed with portability, ease of use, and affordability in mind rather than top performance. They typically forego the faster high-end hardware that PCs or Macs use for a more minimalist, lightweight approach to computing.

Yes, some of the latest processors with integrated graphics can run modern PC games at decent enough settings. For example, we found that in our tests, Intel’s latest Iris Xe line of processors with integrated graphics can run some of the latest games at 1080p and 30fps. Unfortunately this is not the case for all integrated graphics and your mileage may vary drastically with older tech.

Intel and AMD’s integrated graphics have made huge leaps in recent years with regard to gaming performance. If you’re on a budget or looking for an ultra-thin laptop with integrated graphics you need not worry, you can still game on. We recommend checking out Intel’s Core 12th-gen Iris Xe or AMD’s brand new Ryzen 6000 RDNA 2.

More and more the line between what is a laptop and what is a tablet blurs as companies integrate the features of both into their latest devices. But there are still a few key distinctions between the two. Laptops generally are larger, come with more storage, have better performance and productivity features, and may or may not feature a touch display. Tablets on the other hand are smaller and more portable, have longer battery life, feature a touch display, and are usually a bit more affordable.

When choosing between a budget laptop and a tablet you should first ask yourself what the primary use of the device will be. Do you need something for productivity with lots of storage? Then a laptop—even a budget model—will probably be the way to go. Or do you need something that is small, travels well, and has a long battery life? Then you might consider a tablet.

Unfortunately, if gaming is your main concern, you may want to look elsewhere. Chromebooks can handle web games and Android games without any issues. But in their current state they simply aren’t designed to handle high-powered 3D games. This mainly comes down to the fact that they don’t run Windows and most Chromebooks don’t have sufficient graphics power.

With that said, cloud gaming services allow a remote PC or console to play games streamed from a remote server using more powerful hardware. But these are early days still, and the true viability of this option will depend on the health and survival of cloud gaming services, as well as Chromebook makers offering more options expressly designed with gaming in mind, like this Asus Chromebook Vibe CX43 Flip.

VPNs, or virtual private networks, are one of the most effective ways to stay safe online. Not only do they allow you to stay anonymous, but they can help safeguard your data and keep intrusive trackers at bay. Plus, they allow you to get around region blocks on streaming services and avoid ISP throttling. However, you usually have to pay for a VPN subscription and adding an extra monthly expense might not work. That’s where a free VPN can come in handy, providing you with much needed security for no cost at all.

While I advise that you opt for a premium VPN, such as those in our roundup of the best VPNs, I understand that sometimes you just don’t want to pay for yet another service. Therefore I’ve curated a list of the best free VPNs around. I detail what restrictions they may impose and what activities they’re best used for — streaming, torrenting, browsing, etc. Following my recommendations you can read more about what to look for in a free VPN and how I test these services.

Pros

• Excellent free plan
• Great privacy tools
• Reliable and transparent no-logs policy

Cons

• Expensive

If you’re looking for speed and excellent privacy in a free VPN then ProtonVPN is your best choice. The only real limitation to this service is that you can only connect with one device at at time, other than that it’s practically a premium VPN.

The service comes from a trustworthy, privacy-focused company that has undergone a successful audit of its no-logs policy. It’s also mercifully free of ads — a rarity among free VPNs. You’ll be able to choose from five servers located all of the world including Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, and the U.S. Plus, there are no data limits, meaning you can surf and stream to your heart’s content.

ProtonVPN even showed decent speeds in my tests, just going to show that this is the free VPN to get.

Users who need anonymity and speed while using their VPN will stand to gain the most from ProtonVPN’s free version. Because you’ll only be able to connect with one device at a time though, users who want to use a VPN with multiple devices might need to look elsewhere.

Pros

• Excellent free version
• Unblocks streaming services
• 10 simultaneous device connections
• Based in privacy-friendly Switzerland

Cons

• No independent audit
• Smaller server network
• Feature set not as robust as some competitors

Both PrivadoVPN’s premium and free versions are really solid overall services. While I recommend either plan, it was the free version of the VPN that really stood out. It comes with 13 global servers to choose from, a generous 10 simultaneous device-connection limit, and up to 10GB per month of high-speed data. Most of the other free VPNs only match one of these features, PrivadoVPN provides them all. Plus, in my testing I found that even the free servers were able to unblock streaming services — a rarity among free VPNs.

The only reason Proton VPN came out on top in this list is because it offers a truly unlimited free version. That doesn’t take away from PrivadoVPN though, as it is about as close as you’re going to get otherwise. The 10GB-per-month data cap only applies to high speeds, after you reach the cap you’ll still be able to use the free VPN but with throttled speeds.

PrivadoVPN is a good option for just about anyone looking to use a free VPN. The good amount of global servers to choose from and ability to unblock streaming services means you can use it to stream while traveling for free — just be aware that streaming in HD will hit that data limit pretty fast. Privacy-conscious users should be aware that the company has not yet completed an independent audit, but it does promise to abide by its no-logs policy.

Pros

• Independently verified no-log policy
• Seriously impressive server spread
• Generous 45-day money-back guarantee

Cons

• Server speeds can be hit-or-miss
• Lacks some extra security features offered by competitors

CyberGhost VPN provides an excellent VPN with plenty of servers optimized for different tasks such as gaming, streaming, and torrenting. While you do need to pay for the premium service, with access to all of its 9,000-plus servers and additional security features, CyberGhost also has a great browser extension that it offers for free. If you have either Chrome or Firefox you can download the extension without having to pay anything and enjoy access to a limited number of the VPN servers — currently sitting at eight servers in four countries.

Additionally, you are able to connect and use these VPN servers without having to worry about bandwidth limits or data capping. Unfortunately, in my tests I found that the servers I used in the browser extension were not able to successfully unblock streaming servers. However, if you start using the free browser extension and decide you like CyberGhost, you can always opt for a premium membership, which can be as low as $3 a month for a long-term plan and even comes with a generous 45-day money back guarantee.

CyberGhost’s free version is ideal for users who don’t want to pay for a premium VPN service but also don’t want to worry about a monthly data cap. Plus, the fact that CyberGhost VPN’s free version is browser-based means that users who don’t want to bother downloading and setting up a new application can have the VPN based simply in either their Firefox or Chrome browser.

Pros

• Good free plan
• Fast speeds
• Unlimited device connections

Cons

• Streaming unblocking is inconsistent
• No independent audit

The Windscribe VPN service seems to get better and better each time I review a new version. It not only has an excellent Pro version that is reasonably priced, but it has a stand-out free service as well. What makes Windscribe’s free service really shine is a combination of perks and speed. Not only do you get top-notch speeds, but you also get a maximum 10GB of bandwidth per month and no device limits. To get that bandwidth, though, you’ll need to confirm via email address — if not, you’re stuck at 2GB per month.

The free service offers 10 regional connections including the U.S., Canada, UK, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Netherlands, Switzerland, Norway, and Romania. It also has a ton of privacy features such as blockers for site notifications and “we use cookies” banners, WebRTC leak protection, location spoofing, user agent rotation, and more.

The service is also extremely easy to use with a simple setup and solid performance for a free VPN. I not only recommend the Windscribe free service on its own, but also as an easy way to get to know the service before committing to a paid tier with premium features.

Those who want a free VPN with fast speeds and a generous helping of extra perks will find that Windscribe is the go-to option. Most free VPNs are only good for location spoofing with no real added features, and that’s why Windscribe is so good. It offers way more for users and the fact that it gives you up to 10GB of bandwidth means you can use it multiple times throughout the month without having to worry about hitting the data cap.

Pros

• Strong privacy practices
• Affordable long-term plans
• Lots of power user options for customization
• Free version available

Cons

• Speeds were inConsistent in our tests
• Not the easiest VPN for beginners
• Free version has strict data limits

Hide.me offers a solid paid VPN service and the company is generous enough to provide the full premium feature set in its free version as well. Its server speeds are a bit inconsistent, but overall they are pretty fast and rank within the top 20 of all — paid or free — VPNs that I’ve ever tested. That makes it plenty speedy for the typical use cases for a free VPN. When you use Hide.me’s free service you’re limited to 10GB per month and one device at a time, as well as eight region choices including Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, U.S. East, and U.S. West.

Hide.me’s free VPN is a solid option for any and all users. Not only are the speeds good for secure browsing, but you have access to the full premium feature set as well. The speeds are not quite as good as ProtonVPN and there is a monthly data cap, but the trade-off is that with Hide.me you have access to useful features such as split-tunneling and the ability to choose between multiple proxy configurations.

Pros

• Fun and easy-to-use interface
• Reliable security features
• Unlimited simultaneous device connections

Cons

• Lacks some advanced features for power users
• Customer support not the most helpful
• Not a good option for torrenting

I’ve always liked TunnelBear. It’s simple to use, affordable, and the speeds are fine. In my speed tests, TunnelBear was outside the top 10, but its speeds were still good enough for most browsing or online tasks.

That’s more than enough for what this free VPN would be suited for, since you will only get a maximum of 500MB per month with the free version. The idea is to provide a trial for testing out the service before making a bigger commitment. Thankfully, beyond the data limit, the free version of TunnelBear puts no restrictions on what features are available so you’re able to experience the full application for no charge.

The data limit won’t allow you to stream or play games for the most part, but it’s enough for quick hits when you’re on the road for checking email, or some basic web browsing. Plus, TunnelBear keeps track of your bandwidth usage so you can see when you’re getting too close to the limit.

TunnelBear’s free VPN is best suited for those who need a one-and-done VPN experience. The 500MB data cap is quite restrictive, but you have access to all of the premium features from an excellent VPN service. This includes split-tunneling, a unique HTTPS masking feature, and your choice of multiple VPN protocols.

Pros

• 10 simultaneous device connections
  Unblocks streaming services
  Free 60-day trial

Cons

• Logs some user activity data
  Not a lot of extra features
  Long-term only subscription options

You might be wondering why I’d even bother including a free-trial option. Well, AVG Secure VPN is not only a fine premium service on its own, but it provides a 60-day free trial for new users. That’s incredibly generous for a premium service — most other VPNs only offer one-week free trials at best.

AVG is a household name in security software and they don’t disappoint with their VPN either. The free trial gives you complete access to all of the paid features such as 10 simultaneous device connections, over 700 servers across more than 50 countries, and guaranteed streaming service unblocking with specific servers. The speeds aren’t the fastest I’ve ever seen, but they’re good enough for most general online activities. All-in-all, two months for free of AVG Secure VPN is a fantastic deal, just remember to cancel the subscription before the free-trial runs out.

Most people looking for a free VPN for shorter-term use will stand to gain a lot from AVG Secure VPN’s free trial. But I think it’s an exceptional choice in particular for those who are traveling for awhile and need a VPN while abroad. By taking advantage of a premium service’s speeds and broad server network you can access all of your streaming content no matter what country you find yourself in and you shouldn’t have to worry about frustrating data caps from other free services. Stream and browse to your heart’s content for no cost — well, at least for 60 days.

• Hide.me VPN: A feature-packed VPN with a decent free version that is good for basic online tasks and browsing.
• TunnelBear VPN: A charming and easy-to-use VPN that’s great for novices and those who just need simple, but effective online privacy.
• PrivadoVPN: Swiss-based VPN comes with decent speeds, good streaming service compatibility, and an excellent free version.
• Should you use a VPN browser extension? What you gain, what you give up
• How to test your VPN speed
• VPNs and the law: How often does law enforcement actually request VPN logs?

Choosing a free VPN is a question of weighing the trade-offs with each service. Do you want unlimited bandwidth, but a restriction on devices? Or is it preferable to have more devices but deal with a bandwidth limit?

One thing you definitely want to avoid is a VPN that is ad supported. Ads expose you to tracking by the company delivering said ads, which is something you definitely don’t want. Also, stay away from any deal that suggests you can get a VPN by “sharing” your bandwidth like we saw with the Hola VPN scandal back in 2015. You also want to watch out for any VPNs you’ve never heard of, or that don’t have any official reviews by third-parties.

After that, you want to consider the usual issues such as the server network, connection speeds, privacy policy, Netflix support, and additional features.

I judge VPNs on a variety of criteria including server network, connection speeds, privacy protections, ease-of-use, additional features, and cost. For a more detailed guide on how I test, check out PCWorld’s comprehensive guide on how we test VPN services.

Speed tests are kept as simple as possible. I average the connections between different global locations for any given VPN and then compare them to a baseline internet speed to get a good picture of the overall connection speeds. I thoroughly research and analyze the privacy policies and histories of each VPN and note any outstanding discrepancies or data collection issues.

Experience and ease-of-use are subjective, but I try my best to give an accurate representation of how it feels to work with the VPN. Since you don’t have to pay for a free VPN, the value will be contingent upon the trade-offs you’ll need to make and the restrictions it has in place.

Free VPNs aren’t a top recommendation, but if you’re going to go that way I’d strongly suggest the VPNs mentioned above.

A VPN, or Virtual private network, is a way to encrypt your internet traffic and disguise your identity while browsing the internet. Through a VPN provider, you connect to their anonymized server with end-to-end encryption which redirects all of your traffic through that intermediary server thereby looking to outside viewers as if your location is that server itself.

Additionally, VPNs allow you to connect to servers all across the world. So if you are looking to access location restricted content, such as streaming services, you can gain access via connecting to the appropriate country’s server.

A VPN hides your IP address by redirecting it through a intermediary server hosted by the VPN provider. To anyone watching, the VPN server then becomes the source of your traffic instead of your own IP address. These remote servers can not only be in your own country, but they can also be located in different countries around the world. All of your network traffic from your computer to the VPN is sent over a secure and encrypted connection. 

While browsing the internet and connected to a VPN, the VPN acts as a middleman between your computer and a website. Your computer sends a request to the VPN which then passes it on to a website. The website in return sends its response back to the VPN which forwards it through the secure connection back to your computer. All of the traffic rerouted through the VPN appears as if it is coming through their server rather than your own computer. This keeps your ISP and other third parties from potentially snooping on your internet activity.

Absolutely! In most countries, including the United States, it is perfectly legal to use a VPN. You might notice that some websites try to block VPN connections, but they are still okay to use. Please note, while using a VPN is legal, some of the activities done while using a VPN might be illegal. Activities such as downloading pirated copyrighted content or accessing dark web markets are both illegal with and without a VPN.

That will depend on how you wish to use a VPN. A free VPN can be a great option for those who just need a quick and simple privacy solution. Whether it’s a one-off use case or you’re happy to just do basic internet browsing, a free VPN might be the way to go. If, on the other hand, you want to use a VPN to stream shows and movies or need it to access servers in different countries then you’ll likely need to upgrade to a paid service.

Free VPNs will always come with tradeoffs. These can take the form of restrictions to available servers, speed constraints, or data limits. You may also find that free VPNs come loaded with ads or collect and sell your user date — thereby defeating the purpose of a private VPN.

It’s best to fully understand what you’ll get with any free VPN and make sure to stick with vetted, trustworthy services such as those in the list above. For more information, you can read our in-depth article explaining free VPNs.

One of the best ways to make your room look awesome without completely remodeling is to get some gorgeous LED strip lights that can shift to nearly whatever color you want them to be.

Govee’s 100-feet RGBIC LED strip is a fantastic pick for that, and right now it’s on sale for $44 on Amazon, a solid discount from its $73 MSRP. Note this is a lightning deal, so it ends as soon as stock is claimed.

Given how long this LED strip is, and given that it has RBGIC capabilities, and given that it’s by a reputable brand like Govee, this is a fantastic price worth jumping on. In fact, it’s what I wish I’d paid for it when I got one for my kid’s room a few weeks ago.

Not only does this light strip look gorgeous, but it’s so fun to play with. You can switch colors whenever you want, whether by voice command or through Govee’s app, and you can choose from preset scenes or customize it to your liking. The lights will even “vibe” to the beat of your music, which is a cool trick for parties.

Setting up the light strip is super easy — all you need to use is the included adhesive backing. I connected my Govee light strip to Google Assistant, but you can also hook it up to Amazon Alexa if that’s your smart home system. Afterwards, you can easily use voice commands to change colors, dim the lights, turn them on and off, and you can also include the lights in your Alexa routines.

Don’t miss out on getting this 100-foot Govee RBGIC light strip for $44 on Amazon! Again, it’s a lightning deal, so this price is only available for as long as stock remains. That may not be for long.

If you’re tired of laptops and large desktop towers, a mini PC is the solution for you. And right now, you can score a powerful configuration for not much money at all — the value here is crazy.

I’m talking about this Kamrui E3B mini PC for $280 on Amazon, solidly discounted by 30 percent from its $400 MSRP. You’ll need Prime for this special price, but not a problem if you don’t have Prime because you can just sign up for a free 30-day trial and still score the deal.

With an AMD Ryzen 7 5825U CPU and 16GB of DDR4 RAM, this mini PC is perfect for taking on all you need to do, from work tasks to media streaming and even some gaming. With the AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 integrated GPU, this thing can handle games — just don’t expect to be able to crank up your graphics settings to max.

There’s also a 512GB SSD on board, which should be enough space for your apps, games, and files. If you ever outgrow this machine, you can always expand both the memory and storage. This configuration supports up to 64GB total RAM and a 2TB SSD.

One of the great things about this mini PC is that it can handle three 4K60 displays thanks to its HDMI 2.0 port, DisplayPort 1.4b port, and USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 port. Combine that with all its other connectivity — two USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports on the front and four USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports on the back — and you have an amazing multitasking productivity beast.

Now’s the perfect time to get yourself this powerful mini PC for just under $280 on Amazon because this deal won’t last forever.

Obsbot has launched two new webcams today, with a feature you won’t often see: 100fps recording, for ultra-smooth video.

Obsbot launched the Tiny SE and the Meet SE, both 1080p webcams for less than $100. In fact, the Meet SE is $69 on Amazon, and the Tiny SE sells for $99 on Amazon.

Basically, Obsbot is offering you a choice: The Meet SE perches upon your display or laptop like a traditional webcam, while the Tiny SE uses a pair of gimbals to track you around the room. Compared to the price of the $299 Tiny PTZ 4K — which I loved, and is our pick for the best premium 4K webcam in our list of the best Windows webcams — the $99 Tiny SE is an excellent deal.

There are some trade-offs, of course. Both the Tiny SE and the Meet SE record in nothing higher than 1080p resolution. There’s a bonus, though: Both webcams not only record in 1080p, but also in 1080p at 100 frames per second. (At 720p, they can record at 120fps.) That’s a faster sampling rate than TVs display, so recordings made at that speed will look smoother and less choppy. But there’s also a problem: Most video services don’t allow you to transmit video faster than 60Hz/ 60fps, and often nothing above 30Hz.

Obsbot

Set that aside, though, and both cameras offer some interesting features. The Tiny SE uses staggered HDR, which combines long and short exposures for improved image capture, along with dual native ISOs. That should improve the performance in non-optimal lighting conditions. The Tiny SE also tracks more than your face; it can follow individual body parts, such as hands, as well as zone tracking.

Since the Meet SE can’t physically track you, it uses AI auto framing, sensing whether it needs to shoot in single-user, group, and even portrait mode. It too uses staggered HDR, and features a 1/2.8-inch stacked CMOS sensor, which the Tiny SE does as well.

Both webcams are available at Amazon via the links above, but also on the Obsbot website.

• App gives you an incredible amount of detail about operating conditions
• Clarifying agent dispenser is available as an option

• Very expensive for its performance and results
• No more effective at capturing debris than “dumb” skimmers
• Prone to getting stuck by running into the pool’s walls

Beatbot’s smart skimmer comes with a sky-high price tag, but aside from its competently designed app, it doesn’t outperform one of its simpler and much less-expensive competitors.

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While testing the Beatbot iSkim Ultra, it occurred to me that a pool-skimming robot probably just isn’t a very good idea. I’m not saying that the Beatbot iSkim Ultra is a bad product per se, just that, for most pool owners, robotic skimmers probably aren’t a worthwhile investment.

If you have a pool pump with a thru-wall skimmer, you almost certainly don’t need a robot for the job—unless perhaps you live in such an extremely tree-laden environment that the wall skimmer can’t keep up. Even then, I can’t see how you would ever be fully satisfied with your investment in a pool skimmer which, to be frank, isn’t cheap.

A ‘rocket’ button lets you double the Beatbot iSkim Ultra’s speed, which is about as much fun as you can have around the pool without getting in.

The Beatbot iSkim Ultra is technically the better of the two skimmers I’ve tested to date for Techhive, and yes that is damning with the faintest of praise. At $1,199, it’s considerably more expensive than the Smonet SR5, but it did only a slightly better job at cleaning the surface of my pool. The iSkim Ultra has more features—including some wireless features—and fewer bugs; but like the Smonet, it left an awful lot of surface debris untouched at the end of the day.

Paddles on each of the iSkim Ultra’s front corners are intended to push leave toward its larger front paddle. 

Christopher Null/Foundry

All pool-skimmer robots have a similar overall design, although the iSkim Ultra does feature a few extras to spice things up. Two small propellers in the rear of the device guide it around the pool, while the entire top of the skimmer features a 24-watt solar panel that allows it to recharge and run semi-continuously. If you need extra juice, a magnetic AC adapter can attach to the back of the skimmer to more quickly recharge its 10,000mAh battery. That’s a lot of juice, but the iSkim Ultra needs it. At 17 pounds, sans debris, it takes a lot of energy to move this robot through the water.

This review is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best robotic pool cleaners.

The most unique feature on the iSkim Ultra are its two side brushes. These are horizontal spinners mounted on the front corners of the device. When the skimmer moves forward, these brushes spin inwardly to scoop debris that might otherwise hit the edge of the robot toward the filter basket, which rides underneath the device. (An additional paddlewheel is mounted on the front of the basket, further attempting to gobble up floating debris.) As with Beatbot’s underwater robot, the iSkim Ultra can also be used to dispense clarifying agent as it moves around.

In theory, the iSkim Ultra is extremely basic. Push the power button, place it in the water, and it’s on its way. The only other hardware control is an “action button,” which sets the unit to dispense clarifier if you have one of Beatbot’s $37 clarifying agent pods installed. (These are sold separately.)

If the iSkim Ultra’s solar panel doesn’t keep it charged, you can plug this magnetic charger into an AC outlet.

Christopher Null/Foundry

Once it’s running, the iSkim Ultra jets around the pool until the battery’s dead, meandering about in what Beatbot calls an “S Shape” pattern but bouncing off the walls instead of turning before it hits them. In the dead of summer, with strong overhead sunlight or a full charge from a wall socket, you can expect 14 hours or more of working time—essentially running from dawn to dusk. But if you’re starting the day with a dead battery, and you’re facing a cloudy winter day, you might only see 3 hours of running time.

During my two weeks of nonstop testing, I had three consecutive days where the robot didn’t run at all because it didn’t have enough solar-powered charge. Your mileage will (literally) vary widely based on your location and weather conditions. Either way, once the battery capacity hits about 10 percent remaining, the unit will enter a “seeking light” mode and then park itself once it’s found some sun. If that doesn’t work, it will simply wait for the sun to find it.

The iSkim Ultra touts “20 high-precision sensors” and an AI algorithm that is supposed to help it “tackle every corner and obstacle.” And while it makes good time cruising the surface of the pool, it certainly came as a surprise on more than one occasion to find it running full throttle directly into the wall of the pool, attempting to blindly plow forward with its face smooshed against the tile when it instead needed to turn around.

The Beatbot iSkim Ultra’s app reveals a host of data about its activities. You can also use the app to remotely control the pool cleaner.

Christopher Null/Foundry

The bigger issue, however, is one that impacts both the skimmers I’ve tested so far: They just don’t pick up much debris. Even when leaves were lying directly in the path of the iSkim Ultra, I would often—most of the time, actually—observe a small leading wave that gently pushed the leaves to one or the other side of the robot instead of sucking them underneath its body and into the filter basket. The corner-mounted paddles are supposed to help with this, but they were minimally effective at best, as leaves were still get pushed to one side and dodge the blades.

Larger leaves would often get stuck in the paddle blades or wedged beneath them. The iSkim Ultra did, however, have a particular appetite for our floating pool thermometer, which got stuck underneath the robot and lodged in the blades of the front-mounted paddlewheel on a regular basis, causing it to stop running until it was manually freed. (I eventually took the thermometer out of the pool entirely during testing.)

After 10 full days of running the robot, I was shocked to find only a few small handfuls of leaves in the debris basket (see photo). And this was during a period in which leaves were falling regularly and heavily into the pool from a nearby pecan tree. As was my experience with the Smonet skimmer, most of the leaves were ultimately collected by the wall skimmer, or they would sink to the bottom of the pool before Beatbot’s skimmer could get to them.

The Beatbot iSkim Ultra sucked up surprisingly few leaves after 10 days of operation, and it wasn’t for a paucity of the debris.

Christopher Null/Foundry

I also tried testing with synthetic leaves, turning off the pool pump so the thru-wall skimmer wouldn’t pull them in. My results were only marginally better than I got with the Smonet skimmer, with the Beatbot capturing 40 to 45 percent of the test material. The rest sunk to the bottom of the pool.

Like the Beatbot AquaSense Pro, the iSkim Ultra is a smart device that can connect to your Wi-Fi network. And since the skimmer stays on the surface, it can remain in contact with the network the entire time it’s operating.

There are some really cool parts of the Beatbot app, including daily charts of running time vs. idle time, a running graph of solar recharging activity, and a timer system that lets you specify when you want the device to idle, if you aren’t comfortable letting it set its own hours. The skimmer can also be manually operated via remote control buttons in the app, and this function works surprisingly well. A “rocket” button even lets you double the unit’s speed, which makes for as much fun as you can have around the pool without getting in.

Christopher Null/Foundry

But I don’t know what to make of Beatbot’s estimate of the ambient air temperature, which invariably showed that the balmy Texas air was well below freezing. And yes, I had it set to Fahrenheit, not Celsius. As near as I can tell, the problem is that the app doesn’t know exactly where the robot is, allowing you to set the time zone but not your actual location. Could the app really assume that my “Chicago” time zone meant I was literally in Chicago? Conversely and confusingly, Beatbot’s measurement of the water temperature looked to be correct.

As mentioned, I’m finding it tough to love any pool skimmer, but the iSkim Ultra’s sky-high price tag of $1,199 makes that calculus even more difficult. If you have an incredibly filthy pool and no thru-wall skimmer, a robot might make some sense to reduce the amount of manual skimming you have to do with a net. My advice, however, would be to stick with a more basic and much cheaper device for this task, such as the Smonet SR5.

The iSkim Ultra’s bells and whistles just don’t add enough convenience, performance, or time savings to merit spending more three times as much.

A great docking station for laptops is now a must-have accessory, providing high-speed I/O access for mice, keyboards, external drives, and more. The industry is transitioning away from Thunderbolt 3 and embracing Thunderbolt 4. Thunderbolt 5 (on the PC) is here, but not quite ready for prime time.

You can call it a laptop dock, a laptop docking station, a USB 4 dock, or a Thunderbolt dock; they’re basically the same thing, and this buying guide covers them. Both Thunderbolt docks and the best USB-C hubs and dongles provide legacy ports (USB-A, microSD, and others), and connect PC peripherals like mice, printers, external hard drives, and more. A Thunderbolt dock has traditionally been the faster, more powerful option, however, supplying enough bandwidth via the Thunderbolt port to drive a pair of 4K displays and charge your phone.

My recommendations for the best laptop docking stations begin with my top picks, followed by budget and premium options. I also include my favorite DisplayLink USB-C docks — a simpler, cheaper docking station that you should consider. If you need more help, I’ve included a FAQ designed to answer your questions, as well as information on up-and-coming technologies such as Thunderbolt 5 and the slightly odd Thunderbolt Share. At CES 2025, I asked why Thunderbolt 5 was basically a no-show. The answer surprised me!

Why you should trust me: PCWorld has been testing PC hardware since the 1980s, and I’ve been a technology journalist for 30 years. I first began testing Thunderbolt docks in early 2021, and have reviewed over 40 Thunderbolt docks to date. My reviews of Thunderbolt docks, DisplayLink docks, and USB-C hardware are extensive, and I frequently review additional docks or hubs as contenders for recommendation. I also use input from reviews on PCWorld’s sister sites Macworld and TechAdvisor to help inform my recommendations.

Pros

• Solid performance
• No thermal issues
• Pretty solid mix of ports, including downstream Thunderbolt 4
• Price cuts have helped make it more affordable

Cons

• Rear USB-A ports deliver less power than expected
• One display port, requiring an additional dongle for two displays
• No dedicated phone charging port, but Thunderbolt can do it

One of my testing credos is “affordable flexibility,” and I favor a dock that will fit into your existing setup. But I also don’t want you to pay through the nose for it. There are other docks that allow you to get by without using a display adapter, but they generally charge for it — sometimes even $100 more. The SD5780T has one dedicated display port, and you’ll have to buy a $15 USB-C adapter cable to support a second. That’s cheaper than the alternative.

The Kensington SD578OT is a solid Thunderbolt 4 dock in all respects. For those who wish to use a single 4K monitor, chances are that you’ll already own an HDMI cable. In my tests, the dock was stable (and not all are!) with a nice port selection. The dock will charge your smartphone, albeit with a USB-A port. The bottom line: This is currently the best combination of value and features in a Thunderbolt dock that I’ve tested.

The SD5780T is an ideal “starter” dock, for someone who has a laptop and a single external display and might want to add more in the future. Adding a second display will require the purchase of a USB-C (Thunderbolt) to HDMI cable, which will cost an additional $15 or so. The inclusion of the SD card slot should appeal to photographers who record photo or video on those cards.

Pros

• An efficient use of ports
• Affordable
• 30W charging port in front
• Triple display capable

I’m relying on our sister site, Macworld, and their review of the Wavlink Thunderbolt 4 Triple Display, which isn’t something I normally do. (I do have this dock in hand, however, and it’s next in line for review!) But I’m impressed by the extremely affordable price of this dock and its very focused mix of ports. This dock doesn’t compromise, with two HDMI ports that do not require an adapter.

Focus is really the key here. With two display ports, a dedicated 30W charging port, and a mix of other I/O (including SD and microSD), this dock offers what you’ll need and not much more. That helps hold down the cost. I do want to run my own tests for stability and performance, but this is a dock you should be looking at when considering your next purchase.

Our best picks are designed for everyone, but this dock offers the most value of our top two recommendations. You won’t even need a display cable.

This dock works best on a desktop, as part of a permanent docking station. It doesn’t seem to include a vertical mounting stand to save space, but it’s pretty compact, anyway.

Pros

• Two ports for fast-charging smartphones
• Solid value
• Eighteen-month warranty

Cons

• Occasional instability

Anker’s 568 is a USB 4 docking station, the more open industry-standard version of a Thunderbolt dock. It will work fine with your laptop, regardless — I’ve tested it. This category used to belong to the Belkin Thunderbolt 3 Dock Core, a tremendous travel dock, but it’s being phased out.

This dock sometimes wanders out of the budget category, for some reason. But it generally hovers around the $150 price range. It offers premium-like capabilities, however, with multiple display ports. Everything is well labeled. Anker also has a solid reputation, and there’s a great 18-month warranty if you need more reassurance.

This dock was generally stable, although I noticed an occasional flicker. Fortunately, Anker is one of the few dock makers to ship its docks with a firmware utility that can download updates and squash bugs. I do like that.

This docking station will do well for most setups, especially if you like to plug in your smartphone to charge while working.

Pros

• Excellent performance
• Great value for the money
• Optimized build
• Completely stable

Cons

• Short, built-in cord
• You’ll need your own power supply/charger
• Requires a relatively modern laptop

The only reason that this isn’t my pick for the best budget Thunderbolt docking station is because it appears to use a generic form of compression known as HBR3 (High Bit Rate 3) with DSC (Display Stream Compression), which is built into the DisplayPort spec. That’s a particular technology that is more common within recent Intel Core (and Core Ultra) laptops, but isn’t guaranteed to appear on yours. (If you own a laptop with a Thunderbolt port, though, this should work just fine.) You’ll also have to supply your own USB-C power cable.

Otherwise, this docking station has so much to offer. The price is outstanding, of course, but Ugreen’s dock is also so flexible yet so stable. Everything’s well labeled, and the dock offers DisplayPort as well as HDMI options. And it’s really quite portable, too. Just remember that charger.

I’d really recommend this dock for those who own laptops with 13th-gen Core hardware or above. HBR3/DSC technology really doesn’t work on older systems like 11th-gen Core hardware and older PCs. If you own an AMD Ryzen laptop, too, it may be a little iffy.

Pros

• Rugged, well-engineered
• Can sit vertically on its stand to save space
• Yes, it works: Four 4K displays are possible

Cons

• Mislabeled USB-A charging port doesn’t deliver
• Average storage performance

If you have the means, I highly recommend picking up Kensington’s SD5800T. You may not need four displays, but many shoppers often feel like they want to buy a docking station and not have to worry about picking up a display adapter or cable. This dock does that.

One of the only reasons that I don’t recommend this dock as the overall favorite is the price tag. Aside from that, this was one of my favorites. About the only weakness is a lack of adequate smartphone charging from the USB-C port — a trait shared by its competitors, too, for some reason.

Not everyone needs four displays, or has the laptop hardware to power them. This is for the “battlestation” enthusiast or someone who needs to be surrounded by information. But you might be a person who simply doesn’t want to have to deal with additional display adapters, either.

Pros

• Incredibly compact
• USB-C to HDMI adapter included
• 15W/60W of charging power to phones/PCs

Cons

• Limited ports
• Best for Thunderbolt-attached displays

How does a Thunderbolt hub differ from a Thunderbolt dock? In this case, there’s less of an emphasis on legacy ports, and more of a focus on a direct connection to a display. The Mac world tends to emphasize Thunderbolt-connected displays far more than the Windows world does, so this might be a niche product for most of you. But this thing is tiny (4.75 x 2.88 x 0.5 inches) even if, unfortunately, the associated power brick isn’t.

It will send 15W of power via the Thunderbolt/USB-C connections to charge smartphones, and 60W to the host PC.

If you don’t need a big, bulky dock with multiple connections, Plugable’s 5-in-1 Hub just does the job and without any extra fuss. If your laptop needs more power than the 60W Plugable hub provides, then I would recommend the Satechi Thunderbolt 4 Slim Hub Pro instead.

Thunderbolt displays are prevalent in the Mac market, but this hub can be used for an emerging market of Thunderbolt/USB-C monitors. They’ll likely become more prevalent in the future.

But connecting a cable from each port on your laptop to each display is messy. You’d still like just one. The hub works as a “splitter” of sorts for the Thunderbolt connection.

Put another way, if you own a USB-C monitor, those displays tend to also have legacy ports (USB-A, USB-C) inside them, which means that a Thunderbolt dock and its cluster of ports may be redundant. This hub is a way to save a little money for the user who has a specific setup.

Pros

• Rock-solid stability
• The only (?) dock with RGB lighting

Cons

• Average to slightly poor performance
• Lack of dedicated display ports
• A higher price tag than what rivals charge

I was surprised by how much I like this combination dock/hub. It’s a premium offering, with enough ports that I’d tend to consider it a full-fledged dock. But with three upstream Thunderbolt ports, you can characterize it as a hub as well. As one of the more modern docks, with rock-solid stability, it won me over in the end, though its storage performance was middling. And, of course, remember to invest in cables.

The RGB lighting is fun, and optional — it can be turned off. Frankly, our top pick, the Kensington SD5780T, shares a lot of the same functionality as both the OWC and the Razer docks, so price plays a factor here.

Gamers, obviously. But even a stodgy old reporter like me likes it, because the RGB can either be fixed to a certain color or turned off entirely. And the dock surprised me with its stability and construction. You can certainly buy this dock for its blingy aesthetic, but it works just as well as a more down-to-earth alternative, too. Razer did a very nice job balancing both aspects.

Pros

• Two ports for fast-charging smartphones
• Solid value
• Eighteen-month warranty

Cons

• Occasional instability on a second display or connected devices

Two power ports on the front: They’re a delightful little detail that I wish other vendors would adopt as well. As you may have read elsewhere in this roundup, USB 4 and Thunderbolt 4 are basically identical, so you might be wondering why we’re even separating out this category. Well, if you’re a notebook owner with an AMD Ryzen chip inside, you might be looking for a dedicated dock, and this is a very good one. Quite frankly, this Anker 568 is in the running for the best overall docking station.

This 11-in-1 docking station favors DisplayPort, with two DisplayPort 1.4 ports, and a single HDMI 2.0 video port. The Anker 568’s distinguishing feature, however, is the pair of 10Gbps USB-C ports on the front, each supplying 30W of power as well as a separate 100W connection to the laptop. That’s quite unusual, and the two ports should fast-charge a smartphone and possibly even a tablet.

If you own a notebook with a Ryzen CPU inside, and you want the confidence that this dock has been tested to ensure USB 4 compatibility, this is the dock for you. You’ll also want to buy it if you charge multiple phones or use high-powered peripherals, such as a high-end SSD.

I really like this dock, and I’d recommend it to about anyone. It does lack microSD and SD card slots, though, which may rule it out for photographers.

Pros

• Great price and value, even at MSRP
• 4K120 display capabilities open up gaming possibilities
• Stable performance
• Excellent charging capabilities

Cons

• Significant thermal issues
• Storage tests across the dock were lower than average

Plugable’s dock claims dual 4K120 capability, which unfortunately I wasn’t able to test at the time of the review. But the dock offered a stable connection to the connected devices, with the ability to charge smartphones as well. Anker’s 568 dock edges it out in price and slightly in display flexibility, but lacks the SD card slot that the Plugable includes.

This is a general-purpose USB 4 dock, which can be adopted by anyone. But it’s best suited for laptops with a Ryzen chip inside, and for photographers that need the SD card slots that the Anker 568 doesn’t provide.

Pros

• Thunderbolt 4
• 19 ports
• Built-in speedy SSD enclosure
• 100W PD
• 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet

This recommendation comes courtesy of our colleagues at Macworld, who have compiled their own list of best Thunderbolt docking stations for the Apple Mac market. “Boasting an impressive 19 top-rated ports, Thunderbolt 4 certified, and with a bonus internal SSD storage feature, the Sonnet Echo 20 Thunderbolt SuperDock offers remarkable value for money,” Macworld concludes.

I haven’t reviewed this dock myself, but there’s an undeniable surplus of ports, and an SSD enclosure. I suspect that this particular feature may become more common over time. And it’s reasonably priced, too.

Think of this dock as a more full-featured version of our Thunderbolt 4 hub recommendation, above. Though this recommendation is targeted at Mac users, there’s no reason that an owner of a Windows PC couldn’t buy this dock, too. If you’re trying to save space on your desk but also want an external SSD, this hybrid dock could serve both needs.

DisplayLink USB-C docks, which I discuss in more detail in a separate article, don’t offer enough bandwidth for high-refresh rate monitors or gaming, but they work admirably well for everyday office work, including watching movies. Anecdotally, they’ve often been more stable than a Thunderbolt dock on older hardware, as sometimes Thunderbolt docks have issues “waking up” when the host laptop wakes up from standby. You can “break” the dock by pushing more and more over the connection, like streaming while copying files.

What I’d like to see in a DisplayLink USB-C docking station is a feature set that approaches a full-fledged Thunderbolt dock, but that is priced below what you’d pay for Thunderbolt performance. The current pick does just that. Some recent reviews do not appear here — for instance, StarTech’s USB-C Triple Monitor Dock fell short.

Pros

• Terrific price and value
• Excellent stability
• Great display port flexibility
• Support for two 4K60 displays

Cons

• Have to provide your own power supply
• Can warm to somewhat alarming temperatures
• Mandatory software driver
• A lack of naming consistency

Like some of our premium Thunderbolt docks, Ugreen provides options to use either HDMI or DisplayPort to connect a display, allowing you to use your existing display cables and save some money.

Like most DisplayLink docks, this dock was unusually stable, with no flickering between displays — one of the reasons I like DisplayLink docks. Some other Thunderbolt docks offer the same flexibility to shift between monitors, but not many. Ugreen’s dock does so affordably.

If you’re not worried about hunting down the proper software driver (because Ugreen, bless them, does not make it apparent that it needs one) than I would recommend that you buy this dock. It offers many of the features of more expensive Thunderbolt docks at an affordable price.

Pros

• Top-notch performance
• Support for three 4K60 displays
• Solid value
• 20W of charging power for smartphones, 100W for laptop
• Exemplary documentation

Cons

• Direct display connection disconnected once
• Poor, glitchy intermittent audio

Sonnet’s Echo 13 Triple 4K Display Dock follows the intriguing path other DisplayLink docks have blazed: The dock’s built-in compression means you can connect to three 4K displays, without penalty. And yes, it works as advertised, though with one issue that holds it back: spotty audio that really needs to be fixed. (If you use your laptop’s headphone jack, there’s no issue.)

There was a tiny bit of instability, but performance was excellent. And with 20W of charging power for your phone and 100W for your laptop, you’ll be able to power a wider range of laptop options.

The price differential between the Sonnet and Ugreen docks should help answer that question: The Sonnet buyer is willing to pay a little more for what is really a well-made and well-documented dock, with clear instructions. Really, without the price differential and the audio issues, this would be the top dock in the category.

• The biggest thing I didn’t see at CES: Thunderbolt 5: Thunderbolt 5 was a no-show, and insiders explain why.
• My first Thunderbolt 5 experience was a huge bust: I don’t know whether it was the cable, laptop, or dock, but my first taste of Thunderbolt 5 was a lot worse than I expected.
• Is Thunderbolt 5 storage ready? Thunderbolt 5 exhibits a marked improvement in sequential transfers, but our first look at the spec suffered some backwards-compatibility issues.
• Kensington’s first Thunderbolt 5 dock is built for the future: Thunderbolt 5 is here…but you’ll need more than just this well-built Kensington docking station to take advantage of it.

A separate article goes into detail about how I test Thunderbolt docks. But here’s a short synopsis.

First, I take the dock from its packaging and evaluate its construction. I measure the Thunderbolt cord length and check the dock’s physical dimensions with a ruler.

I’ll then read the manual: Does the dock need any drivers? Are there links? What does the manual say about the dock’s capabilities in terms of power and speed?

Next, I take a USB key or two and connect them to the available USB ports to determine if they have enough space to allow several to be connected at the same time. I then examine the display ports, find the appropriate cables, and then connect the dock to the laptop. I use a series of laptops with various generations of AMD and Intel hardware, and check to see if the experience is the same on each one. If it isn’t, I make notes. I connect the dock to two 4K displays, running at 60Hz. For Thunderbolt 5 docks, I will use two 4K displays capable of 144Hz — that’s the limit of the technology.

I then measure the power output of the ports, using a USB multimeter, a smartphone, and a laptop to measure how much power the dock delivers to each.

Finally, I check to see how well the dock performs under load. I use a specific test laptop for this purpose for repeatable results. I stream a 4K60 YouTube video using the Ethernet port on the dock (if it has one) and note any dropped frames. I usually check with a pre-recorded 4K60 video running from an SSD.

I then run PCMark 10’s SSD storage benchmark off of a test SSD, connected to the dock. I measure the score, then measure the score again while streaming a video. I then copy a large, multi-gigabyte folder of various files from my laptop across the Thunderbolt bus and measure the time it takes to do so. I repeat the test while streaming video.

Finally, I check the operation and performance of any SD card slots the dock has and listen to audio through the audio jack, to make sure it works.

The short answer: Look at the laptop’s published specifications to be sure. A Thunderbolt port may look indistinguishable from a USB-C port, since they both use the same physical USB-C connection. Put another way, all Thunderbolt ports are USB-C, but not all USB-C ports are Thunderbolt-equipped.

Thunderbolt ports are supposed to have a small lightning-bolt icon to identify them. But some laptop makers use a similar lightning-bolt icon to indicate that a USB-C port can be used for charging your phone, and not for Thunderbolt. Laptop makers sometimes don’t want to clutter the clean lines of their products by adding additional logos, it seems. Fortunately, most laptops now choose to highlight their Thunderbolt capabilities, so the ports should be well-marked.

In June 2024, Intel held a technical session talking about its Core Ultra 200 (Lunar Lake) processor. One of the big changes Intel is making is to force laptop makers to a) cluster all of the older USB-C ports on one side of the laptop, away from the Thunderbolt and b) require the ports (including Thunderbolt) to be clearly labeled. That’s a small but important win for users.

USB4 is Thunderbolt’s more generic competitor, and USB4 docks and Thunderbolt docks are often interchangeable. The USB Implementor’s Forum is going to ask laptop makers to add a separate, different USB4 logo to laptops as well. This strikes me as unnecessarily confusing.

Two laptops, both with USB-C ports, and both with lightning-bolt symbols. Which laptop offers Thunderbolt? The top one, though it can be difficult to tell. Consulting the manufacturer’s specifications is your safest bet.

IDG

Put simply, 40Gbps, for Thunderbolt 3 or 4.

Most USB-C ports are built on the second-generation USB 3.1 data-transfer standard, which transfers data at 10Gbps. Thunderbolt 3 and 4 ports, the most common standard, transfer data at up to 40Gbps. Thunderbolt 4 differs very slightly in that it supports a theoretical maximum of 32Gbps for external storage devices, but you probably won’t notice the difference.

Intel unveiled an 80Gbps version of Thunderbolt in 2024, called Thunderbolt 5, meaning that you’ll see Thunderbolt docks with even more capabilities. In certain scenarios, Thunderbolt 5 can reroute data to deliver 120Gbps in one direction. About two (as of this writing) laptops have been announced with a discrete Thunderbolt 5 chip inside: a version of the Razer Blade and the Maingear ML-17. We also have one Thunderbolt 5 dock that’s shipped, too.

There is also a USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 spec that can pair two 10Gbps channels together, creating an aggregate 20Gbps hub. (This is really only for external gaming-class SSDs.) And while the vast majority of Thunderbolt 3-equipped laptops are designed with four PCIe lanes for a total of 40Gbps, some laptops only ship with two PCIe lanes for a total of 20Gbps. You don’t need to worry about this.

Buy either a Thunderbolt 3 or Thunderbolt 4 dock for now. They’re essentially the same thing, and you can score a deal as retailers continue to clear out old Thunderbolt 3 inventory.

Thunderbolt 5 is the 80Gbps version, but it will be backwards compatible with both Thunderbolt 3 and 4. With only a handful of laptops that support the spec and just a single dock that does, Thunderbolt 5 isn’t something to worry about quite yet. I’ve even tested a Thunderbolt 5 setup, and didn’t like it. Even the Thunderbolt ecosystem doesn’t seem convinced that Thunderbolt 5 will become a thing for a couple of years.

For the sake of completeness, we’re going to detail some of the differences below. But if you’re new to this, let us reiterate: Thunderbolt 3 and 4 are basically the same, and Thunderbolt 5 won’t be an issue until after 2025.

Think of Thunderbolt 4 as the more restrictive version of Thunderbolt 3, with less room for any gotchas.

Essentially, Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4 allow up to 40Gbps maximum bandwidth, enough for two 4K/60 displays. “Up to” is the key phrase: Thunderbolt 3 is only required to support a 10Gbps connection, allowing for a single external 4K display (a 16Gbps PCIe connection, paired with USB 3.2). Most manufacturers go beyond this, however, and our recommended docks support the full 40Gbps specification (and two 4K displays) unless noted. Thunderbolt 3 also supports a slower (16Gbps) PCIe connection for connecting to external storage.

Thunderbolt 3 is also the only specification (not Thunderbolt 4) that we’ve seen connecting to external GPUs, in case you’d like to try that approach.

Thunderbolt 4 doesn’t allow for any leeway—you’re getting a full-fledged 40Gbps connection (32Gbps PCIe + USB 3.2), no questions asked. For external storage, Thunderbolt 4 supports 32Gbps of data transfer—this really only matters for video, external GPU connections, or possibly games. Thunderbolt 4 supports “wake on sleep” from an external keyboard or mouse, which allows you to tap your external keyboard or wiggle your mouse to wake up your PC, which is handy. Thunderbolt 4 allows for longer cables and more Thunderbolt ports on laptops, too.

Device maker Anker has a nice table of all of the technical features associated with Thunderbolt 3, Thunderbolt 4, and USB4, if you really want to get into the fine distinctions (below). What’s USB4? We address that further down.

Yes, you can connect the dongle to a Thunderbolt port. But the 10Gbps dongle won’t magically transform into a 40Gbps Thunderbolt port, as there’s circuitry within the dock that allows it to work with your laptop’s high-speed Thunderbolt port. However, there’s nothing saying that you can’t connect the dongle to an available USB-C port on the Thunderbolt dock itself, either. If your laptop has two Thunderbolt ports, you can also attach a Thunderbolt dock to one port, and the dongle to the other.

That solution will add more clutter to your desk, but it might allow you to buy a cheaper, budget dock, too. It’s up to you!

Thunderbolt dock and I/O hub designer Anker provided this summary of the differences between Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4.

Anker

Probably. USB4 ports typically appear on laptops with AMD Ryzen processors inside. USB4 and Thunderbolt 4 are compatible and functionally equivalent. (Though Thunderbolt is an open standard, Intel declines to certify non-Intel hardware. That means that Ryzen laptops end up with USB4 ports, and Intel Core laptops include Thunderbolt.)

USB4 is essentially a subset of Thunderbolt 4, mainly designed as an an I/O specification.

As a subset of Thunderbolt 4, a USB4 device will run just fine plugged into a Thunderbolt 4 port. But dock makers tell us that a Thunderbolt 4 device may not work as expected when plugged into what is specifically a USB4 port. Instead, most hubs and docks are marketed as Thunderbolt 4, while most devices (like an external SSD) are designed around USB4. (We test Thunderbolt docks on Thunderbolt laptops.) There are USB4 docks, however, which you’ll find above in our list of best picks.

USB4 Version 2 is a standard that will propel USB4 to 80Gbps, just like Thunderbolt 5. I haven’t seen any docking stations marketed as USB v2 (also known as USB80Gbps), however.

Note that Thunderbolt 3 and 4 require at least 15W to power devices plugged into the Thunderbolt port, such as a bus-powered hard drive. USB4 requires just half that.

I did try to connect a Thunderbolt 5 dock to a USB4 laptop, and it didn’t work. It should! It may just be a driver issue.

The Thunderbolt 5 spec pushes I/O bandwidth from 40Gbps in Thunderbolt 4 to 80Gbps in Thunderbolt 5, and even to 120Gbps in some cases. Another good way to think of Thunderbolt 5 is in the context of what it can do. Thunderbolt 4 allows enough bandwidth for two 4K displays, running at 60Hz. Thunderbolt 5 will offer enough bandwidth to connect to three 4K displays, at 144Hz apiece. That helps make Thunderbolt 5 a gaming-class technology, rather than just for office work.

Thunderbolt 5 will also allow for 64Gbps of dedicated bandwidth for storage and external GPUs, double the 32Gbps on Thunderbolt 4.

Finally, there’s power. Thunderbolt 5 will provide up to 240W (140W required) of charging power for your laptop. Most laptops require 65W to 90W today, but gaming laptops require more. All this means is that a Thunderbolt 5 dock will potentially eliminate the need to carry a gaming laptop’s charger around. (It won’t be in all cases, but some.) Note that you’ll need a laptop that supports this power spec, however!

And that’s the problem. Thunderbolt 5 debuted in 2024, both in laptops as well as docks and devices. Although we saw a couple of early products at CES 2024, we’ve only seen two TB5 laptops as of this writing:  a version of the Razer Blade and the Maingear ML-17. Both have discrete chips inside, rather than being directly integrated inside the processor. One Thunderbolt 5 dock has shipped, the Kensington SD5000T5. I tried a Thunderbolt 5 setup, and it stunk.

Why does that matter? If a function like Thunderbolt 5 isn’t built right into the processor, a laptop OEM must buy it separately. That takes time, money, and engineering, and most laptop makers think hard before spending extra. There are a few Thunderbolt 5 docks, but hardly any laptops that support it. At CES, I was told that it may take a couple of years for Thunderbolt 5 to really go mainstream — 2026 or maybe 2027.

Thunderbolt 5 isn’t integrated into Intel’s Lunar Lake mobile processor, and it’s not in the desktop or mobile versions of Arrow Lake, either. Maybe Panther Lake? However, the first Thunderbolt 5 cable debuted recently, though some of the cable lengths are probably too short to be practical.

Thunderbolt Share is a new way of connecting two PCs via a Thunderbolt cable. Plug one end of the cable into one Thunderbolt port, and the other into a Thunderbolt port on another laptop, and voila! They’re connected. Thunderbolt Share allows you to use one PC to control another, sync files, share files, and more, all at Thunderbolt speeds. I explain Thunderbolt Share and test it, here.

It sounds simple, easy, and powerful, but it’s more complicated than that. Both PCs have to run Intel’s Thunderbolt Share software, and you’ll only be able to get that from a licensed PC or Thunderbolt dock. Thunderbolt 4 and Thunderbolt 5 will run Thunderbolt Share, but not Thunderbolt 3 — well, officially. The same goes for USB 4; it might work, and it might not. Intel isn’t saying.

Thunderbolt Share will be supported by a handful of PC makers as well as dock makers like Belkin, Plugable, and more. But you know what? The announcement kind of came and went. I’m not betting on Thunderbolt Share being more than a gimmick right now. I didn’t really see it make an appearance at CES 2025, either.

Virtually every Thunderbolt dock will ship with its own cable. We recommend that you use Thunderbolt 3 cables with Thunderbolt 3 products, and Thunderbolt 4 cables with Thunderbolt 4 products. Ditto for the first Thunderbolt 5 cables, when the technology ships in 2024.

You’ll need a special USB-C to HDMI cable, rated for Thunderbolt speeds. I recommend and have purchased this Uni Thunderbolt to HDMI cable from Amazon, which is about $16. You can find cheaper options, but make sure they’re rated for either Thunderbolt or a 4K@60Hz display.

A DisplayLink USB-C docking station is a new category of docking station. They’re often marketed just as a USB-C docking station, unfortunately, though the DisplayLink logo features prominently on the box. The key here is that the DisplayLink technology (now owned by Synaptics) uses data compression between your PC and the dock to approximate a Thunderbolt experience (a pair of 4K displays at 60Hz, plus additional peripherals) across the narrower, slower USB-C bus. You’ll need to install a software driver for your PC to communicate with the DisplayLink chip built into the dock.

The advantage here is twofold. First, DisplayLink allows you to “cheat” and get a Thunderbolt dock experience on an older laptop. Alternatively, even if you do own a laptop with a Thunderbolt port, you may be able to find a DisplayLink USB-C dock for a cheaper price than Thunderbolt. This is a viable solution, especially if you don’t mind not playing PC games.

Our separate story on DisplayLink docks has more.

We’re starting to see some USB-C docking stations take advantage of another technology: HBR3 (High Bit Rate 3) with DSC (Display Stream Compression). Think of it as the industry-standard, manufacturer-agnostic version of DisplayLink. It works over the USB-C port, and again provides a dual 4K60 display experience.

The problem? It’s wonky. We’ve found that support for the technology was very iffy in 11th-gen hardware, and really seems to work consistently in 12th-gen or 13th-gen Core laptops (and above, when they ship). It’s becoming more common, however, and works more stably in the most recent Intel Core laptops.

With Thunderbolt 3? Yes, you can. Certain manufacturers (Razer is one, though there are others) have built enclosures that can house a standard desktop graphics card, connected to your laptop via a Thunderbolt cable. Although a mobile gaming laptop with an external GPU does a good job enabling mobile gaming, a desktop GPU does even better. Thunderbolt simply connects the two.

External GPU support sort of skipped Thunderbolt 4, however, and I would recommend using a Thunderbolt 3 dock instead, or wait until Thunderbolt 5. How can you hook up an external GPU to your laptop via Thunderbolt? Our story has more.

According to a representative for Razer, the differences between Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4 were too small. “When we release any product, we only do so when there can be a material advantage over the previous generation,” we were told.

Since Thunderbolt 4 was backwards compatible and functionally equivalent to Thunderbolt 3, Razer simply declined to invest in the production and testing of a Thunderbolt 4 eGPU. We presume other manufacturers followed suit.

The vast majority of Thunderbolt docks should include a Thunderbolt cable like this one, which indicates that it’s specified for Thunderbolt 3.

IDG

Ports, cables, peripherals: Those are the three major considerations when buying a Thunderbolt dock. 

I like a Thunderbolt docking station that’s powered sufficiently to power my laptop. Virtually every dock ships with a Thunderbolt cable. But consider the displays you own (with typically HDMI or DisplayPort connections) and consider whether the dock will accommodate them. I prefer docks with dedicated display ports, so that a display with an HDMI port, for example, can connect directly. I am seeing a small but growing percentage of Thunderbolt docks that include a Thunderbolt cable to your laptop and then dedicated Thunderbolt connections out to displays. These docks tend to cater to Mac users. However, you can buy a dongle or cable that converts Thunderbolt/ USB-C to HDMI or DisplayPort, or else you can buy a USB-C display.

Basically, consider what you’ll want to plug into the dock as a guide for buying one. Ask yourself: Do you want a basic Thunderbolt dock, with just a pair of HDMI ports for connecting two displays? Does an SD card slot matter? How many USB Type A peripherals do you plan to attach? Do you want to charge your smartphone?

Check your laptop’s power supply. Does it plug into your laptop via USB-C? If so, a Thunderbolt dock will likely power it. You’ll need to understand how the dock supplies power, though. Check your laptop’s charger to learn how much power it supplies, and how much the dock will need to supply to replace it. If your laptop or devices aren’t receiving enough power, you may see a warning pop up.

A “bus-powered” dock won’t come with an external charger in the package, saving some cost, space, and power concerns. Today, these are pretty rare.

A dock with power delivery will supply its own power and charge your laptop and/or a phone via your laptop’s existing USB-C charger. What I’ve found is that some docks, especially one with a free Thunderbolt port, will supply enough power for even today’s most modern fast-charging smartphones without explicit support for them.

Powered Thunderbolt docks, especially those that power your laptop, can ship with some pretty sizeable power bricks.

Mark Hachman / IDG

There’s one more consideration: the length of the Thunderbolt cable between your laptop and the dock itself. You may have noticed or heard about USB-C ports wearing out on smartphones; a loose or wobbly connector on a Thunderbolt dock can cause a monitor to unexpectedly flicker or lose connection. Consider how much tension will be put on a cable. A Thunderbolt dock that’s dangling from a Thunderbolt port will stress the physical connector. You don’t want that!

We’re starting to see some docks with an SSD enclosure inside. It’s possible that this will become more of a viable product over time, but for now it’s still niche.

If you’re a Mac user who has stumbled across this article, welcome. But please be aware that early Apple MacBook Pros powered by Intel silicon supported up to two 4K displays. The first MacBook Pros powered by the Apple M1 chip only support a single 4K display. Many Mac users have recently left negative reviews on Thunderbolt docks on shopping sites because of this. Apple also hasn’t explicitly committed to Thunderbolt 5, either. Buy a PC!

Duolingo reports that interest in learning Chinese (Mandarin) on the language learning app has increased by a whopping 216 percent among Americans compared to this time last year.

This surge in interest comes as TikTok faces a ban in the US that will take place on Sunday, January 19. With TikTok potentially shutting its doors, American users are turning to a similar app called RedNote (also known as Xiaohongshu), a Chinese social media platform.

Because the app is dominated by Chinese users, many of whom are overseas, most of its content is in Chinese — so American TikTok refugees are learning the language to better participate in the community.

The US government previously decided to ban TikTok because the video-sharing app allegedly collects data to be shared with Chinese authorities. TikTok’s owner ByteDance has consistently denied this.

It’s still possible that TikTok could remain active in the US if the app is divested and sold to a US owner. It’s also possible that president-elect Donald Trump could extend the January 20 deadline for the sale.

If you’re on Windows 11, there’s a good chance you’re using BitLocker to protect your system files and personal data. BitLocker is enabled on most Windows 11 PCs by default, and that’s a good thing because BitLocker ensures only you can access your own data.

Unfortunately, there’s a new BitLocker bug that throws up a cryptic error message when you try to adjust the settings, reports Windows Latest. When you attempt to change BitLocker settings, you might be greeted with the following error message: “For your security, some settings are managed by your administrator.” It’s an alert that’s normally only sent out to business users on managed systems.

Microsoft recently confirmed the bug on a new support page, which explains that this happens on unmanaged systems or PCs that use the Trusted Platform Module (TPM). TPM is a dedicated hardware component that facilitates encryption and improves system security. Most modern PCs have TPM and it’s a requirement to install Windows 11, meaning this bug likely affects most non-business PC users on Windows 11.

Unfortunately, there’s no known workaround for this issue. All you can do is wait for Microsoft to fix the issue and release a patch. Until then, you likely won’t be able to decrypt drives that are protected by BitLocker and you won’t be able to change your BitLocker settings.

Further reading: Must-know Windows security and privacy settings

I’d almost stopped believing it’d happen, but the highly anticipated announcement has finally hit. Today, on January 16, 2025, Nintendo has officially announced the Nintendo Switch 2.

The successor to the Nintendo Switch looks very similar but comes with a bigger display, upgraded internal hardware, and larger Joy-Cons that attach and detach magnetically (instead of sliding on rails).

Here’s the first-look trailer for the Nintendo Switch 2:

In the video, we also see straight away that a new Mario Kart is being released for the Switch 2! That’s hardly surprising, of course, but it’s nice to know that it won’t be a lone console release. No other launch games were announced, but we did get a possible release date.

At the end of the trailer, we see a date that isn’t too far off: April 2, 2025. That’s less than three months away! But it’s unclear whether this is the release date for the console.

The trailer mentions “Nintendo Direct” with the date, so presumably we’ll get a Switch 2 presentation on that day. We don’t know whether the Switch 2 will be released immediately afterwards. Some believe that a release at the end of April or start of May is more likely, supported by the fact that Nintendo has planned so-called “experience events” from April 4 to 27 in North America. Either way, we won’t have to wait that long before the console releases.

Nintendo still hasn’t mentioned a price for the Switch 2, which is rumored to be slightly higher than its predecessor, somewhere in the range of $399.99. A price bump would make sense if its performance can keep up with an Xbox Series S or Valve’s Steam Deck.

We’ll probably find out more information about the Nintendo Switch 2 on April 2, but numerous leaks (some that have come from Nintendo itself) have already revealed a lot.

For example, the console will have an OLED display and backwards compatibility with Switch games. As for hardware, the specific specs (which are still unconfirmed as of this writing):

• Size: 10.67 x 4.58 x 1.24 inches with Joy-Cons attached (about 271 x 116.4 x 31.4 millimeters)
• Display size: 8.4 inches (about 213 millimeters)
• Processor speed: 1,100.8MHz (handheld) and 998.4MHz (docked)
• Graphics speed: 561MHz (handheld) and 1,007.25MHz (docked)
• RAM speed: 2,133MHz (handheld) and 3,200MHz (docked)
• RAM bandwidth: 68.26GB/s (handheld) and 102.40GB/s (docked)

It’s a great day for Nintendo fans because we finally have certainty about the console and when it’s going to release.

Matter may be the big new thing in the smart home arena, but the old Zigbee protocol still has some tricks up its sleeves, and this one’s pretty cool: The ability to transform Zigbee devices, such as Philips Hue lights, into motion sensors. 

It’s called Ambient Sensing and apparently it works with a simple firmware upgrade and without additional hardware. Even better, all the motion sensing happens locally, no cloud required. 

The news was teased Wednesday in a YouTube video posted by the Connectivity Standards Alliance, the group that’s behind both the Zigbee and Matter protocols. 

Ambient Sensing works with both new and existing Zigbee devices, according to the video, which demonstrates how Zigbee mesh networks can be divvied up into “precise” motion-sensing zones within your home such as in your living room, entry hall, or garage. 

When those motion zones detect activity, they could trigger automations that turn nearby lights on, fire off security alerts, or perform other tasks. 

The CSA video is light on details, but it does note that Ambient Sensing can be enabled with an over-the-air update, and without the need for additional hardware. 

So, when will these Ambient Sensing updates be available? That’s not immediately clear, but given that the CSA is a standards group, we’ll probably have to wait for Zigbee device manufacturers to implement the feature in their hardware. 

Of course, one Zigbee device maker that jumps to mind is Philips Hue, which has long employed the Zigbee protocol in its smart lights. (Indeed, anyone using Hue lights with the Hue Bridge is sure to have multiple Zigbee mesh networks present in their home.) 

We don’t yet know whether Hue is looking at Ambient Sensing specifically, but as Hueblog points out, there’s long been chatter that Hue is interested in turning its lights into motion sensors. (We’ve reached out to both Philips Hue and the CSA for comment.)

That shouldn’t come as a surprise, as Wiz, Hue’s sibling brand (both companies are owned by the same parent, Signify) already offers a similar motion-sensing technology for its lights. 

Unlike Ambient Sensing, Wiz’s SmartSense tech leverages Wi-Fi signals rather than Zigbee, but both appear to employ the same basic technique: detecting motion by sensing disturbances within wireless networks. 

If Hue does adopt Ambient Sensing, the benefits would be immediate: You could easily set up motion zones that would turn your Hue lights on and off as people enter or leave a room, all without needing to install a separate motion sensor.

Even better, your Ambient Sensing-enabled Hue lights would be able to trigger security alerts when they detect motion where there shouldn’t be any. (Philips Hue does make traditional motion sensors, and its Hue Secure cameras can detect motion.) 

Given Hue’s recent foray into home security, Ambient Sensing seems like a perfect fit for the brand. Will it actually happen? We’ll have to wait and see. 

If you want to be adequately prepared for any emergency situation, you can’t overlook the importance of a portable power station, especially one that lasts a long time and supports all your vital devices.

Here’s a solid pick from Anker, one of our favorite power accessory brands. Right now, the Anker Solix C200 power station is just about $100 on Amazon, a whopping 41 percent off. Make sure to clip the on-page coupon to score the discount!

It’s an amazing deal because you get so much for the price, including a 60,000mAh capacity that will come in clutch when you most need it. That’s enough juice to charge most phones up to 13 times and most laptops up to 3 times. And this isn’t your typical power bank with one or two ports. It fits up to five devices simultaneously and it’s able to deliver up to 200W of total charging.

The main USB-C port can deliver 140W of charging if it’s the only one being used. There’s a second USB-C that goes up to 100W of charging, and a third USB-C that maxes out at 15W. Lastly, you get two USB-A ports capable of 12W charging each. Despite its power and versatility, it’s not even that big. It’s light enough to carry with you anywhere you go, and it’s even easier if you get the carrying strap (sold separately).

The fastest way to recharge this power station is through the USB-C port, which can restore 80 percent in about 1.3 hours. But you can also hook it up to a solar panel, making it available and truly useful in emergency situations — or when you’re simply camping in the woods.

It’s the kind of accessory you don’t want to be caught without when you need it most, yet it’s so useful you’ll probably end up using it every week if not every day. If you’re interested, go ahead and hop on this coupon that brings its price down to just $100!

• Unique decentralized Mixnet provides superior anonymity
• Open source
• Privacy-first approach

• Still in beta
• Lacks some common VPN features
• Limited server network
• Future cryptocurrency payment model not accessible to everyone

NymVPN is a really interesting, if somewhat incomplete, service built on decentralized blockchain technology. There are potentially huge privacy upsides with its Mixnet connections, but the beta version still has some bugs to work out and essential features to be added before I’d recommend it to anyone.

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NymVPN is a brand new service out to shake up the whole VPN market. It’s an ambitious project that uses blockchain technology to decentralize control of user privacy, taking it out of the hands of a central VPN provider and into those of individual users.

Through the use of a decentralized Mixnet, traffic is routed through distributed nodes instead of just one encrypted tunnel in order to further obfuscate a user’s identity.

NymVPN’s decentralized approach to privacy is set to make big waves in the VPN industry. That being said, it’s still in beta at the moment. This means there are kinks to work out and features yet to come. I took the pioneering service for a test drive to see what it’s all about and how its feature set, speeds, and privacy match up in the more traditional VPN market.

• P2P allowed: Yes
• Simultaneous device connections: 10
• Business location: Switzerland
• Number of servers: 700+ “mixnodes”
• Number of country locations: 34
• Cost: Currently free during beta

Further reading: See our roundup of the best VPN services to learn about competing products.

Sam Singleton

Since NymVPN is still in beta, it hasn’t yet released its full set of features. At the moment the VPN Windows app offers little more than a server list, choice between a Mixnet or WireGuard connection, and a “Connect” button. Under the sparsely populated “Settings” menu there are a few cosmetic options and an area to provide feedback on the beta client.

When discussing NymVPN’s feature set I can only really talk about what’s in store for the future full release. So, what will NymVPN have coming?

Obligatory VPN features such as a kill switch and split tunneling are on the way, which will undoubtedly help the service compete against rivals. There are currently no plans for ad- and tracker-blocking, nor are there many other security extras on the horizon.

NymVPN is also planning to offer some more unique privacy solutions in the near future. These include zero-knowledge proof access to allow you to access the network with total anonymity, as well as post-quantum cryptography and censorship-resistance features.

NymVPN is pretty bare-bones right now with very little in the way of extra features or settings.

Sam Singleton

NymVPN’s sole focus seems to be its biggest selling point, the Mixnet. Unlike a traditional VPN which encrypts and routes your data through a single VPN server, NymVPN instead splits up your data, encrypts it, and then sends it through a multi-layered network. Your data is then mixed with the traffic of other users to anonymize it as it moves through the Mixnet before being rebuilt and decrypted at the endpoint.

It’s a similar concept to how Tor anonymizes user traffic, but with the added benefit of built-in cover traffic and timing obfuscation so that even if someone were monitoring the entry and exit nodes they wouldn’t be able to discern one user’s traffic patterns from another.

All of this will be run by volunteer node operators who, through Nym’s cryptocurrency system will be rewarded with Nym tokens for providing high-quality networking performance. Thus, the system is theoretically self-incentivizing—better operators means better anonymity for users means more rewards for the operators, and the cycle continues.

Technical know-how aside, NymVPN has a few more things going for it. Not only does it allow privacy-first users to take advantage of the Mixnet for total anonymity, it also allows for more traditional two-hop WireGuard connections in case you need faster connections as well. 

The app itself is extremely easy to use. Switching entry and exit locations is dead simple and even toggling between “Anonymous (mixnet)” mode and “Fast (WireGuard)” mode is straightforward enough.

NymVPN supports Windows, macOS, Android, and Linux platforms.

NymVPN rewards its volunteer node operators with cryptocurrency tokens in a theoretically self-incentivizing system.

Currently, NymVPN is free during its beta access. All you have to do is sign up on NymVPN’s website, create an account, and download the app. 

After the official launch of the service though, NymVPN will move into a crypto-based payment system using the Nym blockchain. You’ll then be able to pay for the service using various popular cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. 

In order to maintain total anonymity, users will be required to convert their cryptocurrencies to Nym tokens, which will then be used to fund a VPN connection. Essentially, a user will purchase a subscription (e.g., one month, a year, or two years) and pay using whatever method they wish such as a credit card, PayPal, crypto, etc. 

NymVPN will then issue what it calls zk-nyms, or zero-knowledge Nym credentials. These zk-nyms act as ticketbooks representing purchased bandwidth access on the Nym network. This process delinks a user’s payment details from their network access credentials. The user can then use the zk-nyms to gain anonymous access to the NymVPN network.

NymVPN’s token flow for both user payments and node operator rewards.

NymVPN

In theory, all of this sounds appealing. The issue is that proprietary tokens such as those issued by Nym have a tendency to fluctuate in value, sometimes wildly so. If the value of the token becomes worthless, then server operators won’t be incentivized to keep supporting the network. The token economy surrounding Nym isn’t likely to succumb to the same scenario, but only time will tell how well the monetization system works. 

In order to test NymVPN’s speeds I rated connection speeds across its servers in six different countries all around the world for multiple days and then compared them to my baseline internet speeds. I conducted these tests for both the “Anonymous (mixnet)” mode and the “Fast (WireGuard)” mode.

The results for the Anonymous (mixnet) connections were, let’s just say, disappointing. Almost half of the time my connection was so slow that the speed tests couldn’t register anything or my internet simply wouldn’t work at all. The rest of the time my connection speeds were less than 1Mbps—making it practically unusable.

It’s safe to say that as of right now, while still in beta, the mixnet is not a viable everyday option. I don’t doubt that once perfected, you’ll experience unparalleled privacy and anonymity, but there are still major kinks yet to be worked out.

Fortunately, the WireGuard connections were better, but still won’t win any races. Across all locations tested, the speeds averaged just under 15 percent of the base download speed and 21 percent of the base upload speed. Those might not sound good, and on their own they’re not, but relatively speaking these aren’t terrible.

This is because even with the faster WireGuard mode, NymVPN still uses a built-in multi-hop for all connections. This means that your connection will be routed through two encrypted servers rather than the standard single server that most other VPN connections use. As such, you’re just about guaranteed to see slower average speeds due to the longer routing and extra server hop. I reckon that if you were to test average multi-hop speeds on all other VPNs you might find that speeds are similar to NymVPN’s two-hop WireGuard connections.

When it comes to streaming unblocking, NymVPN probably isn’t your best bet here either. Disregarding the fact that the Anonymous (mixnet) connections have trouble even loading webpages, I found the WireGuard mode hit-or-miss with streaming as well.

While connected via the WireGuard mode, I was able to access Netflix and Amazon Prime in the U.S., but struggled with other countries. Disney Plus and HBO Max were blocked on every connection I tested. 

Theoretically, the Anonymous mode should work about as well as the WireGuard mode as the endpoint servers will be the same. But until the speeds become much faster and more reliable, I just can’t recommend NymVPN as a good streaming VPN. 

This shouldn’t be taken as too much of a hit against the service though, as it doesn’t advertise itself as a streaming VPN nor do I suspect that many users interested in the NymVPN model will use it to stream anyways—it knows its lane.

Privacy is where NymVPN really shines. As I mentioned previously, NymVPN uses a multi-node mixnet that splits up your data, sending each part through different nodes that individually encrypt the data before sending it on and repackaging it at the endpoint. Additionally, fake cover traffic and timing-delay methods are thrown in to further obfuscate the origin of the data when it reaches the exit point.

NymVPN’s mixnet vs. traditional VPNs and Tor.

NymVPN

NymVPN backs this up by using multiple encryption methods such as AES-256, ChaChaPo-ly, and Lioness. Due to the nature of the mixnet mode, there is no need for access to different protocols like a traditional VPN. However, under the “Fast” two-hop mode you’ll have access to the WireGuard protocol, but no others. WireGuard is generally considered to be one of the best protocols available so this isn’t too much of an issue.

NymVPN is owned by Nym Technologies SA, and is based out of Switzerland. This is another huge privacy boon as Switzerland has strong data privacy laws and is not a member of any intelligence sharing alliances such as 5, 9, or 14 Eyes.

NymVPN does collect some user data though. Per its privacy policy this includes browser type and version used, timestamps, duration of sessions, and device model. It claims that all of this data is used to run and optimize the website and improve Nym products.

Because of the nature of NymVPN’s unique, zero-knowledge mixnet, it says that there is no need for a “No logs” promise. The company justifies this claim by saying that at “no single point in the Nym mixnet can there be a way to connect the origin and destination for a user’s traffic.” This may be true in theory, but until NymVPN undergoes a proper independent audit we’ll just have to take its word for it.

NymVPN is a fascinating attempt at a large-scale decentralized VPN service and it definitely shows promise. With a privacy-first model and blockchain foundation, the VPN has the bones to be something really revolutionary. Beyond the fact that the beta version has some bugs, the biggest issue is that the market just may not be ready for these kinds of changes. 

The mixnet is an exciting concept that unfortunately works better in theory right now than reality. The crypto-based payments seems to be a perfect pairing for a VPN where users demand total anonymity, but a token system is likely too niche for the mass market.

Overall, NymVPN is one to watch for the future. For now, you’re probably better off sticking with a traditional VPN provider for your day-to-day privacy needs.

Editor’s note: Because online services are often iterative, gaining new features and performance improvements over time, this review is subject to change in order to accurately reflect the current state of the service. Any changes to text or our final review verdict will be noted at the top of this article.

Did AMD win CES 2025? Maaaaybe?

We asked Donny Woligroski, senior technical marketing manager at AMD, to give us more detail on the blockbuster announcements the company squeezed into a 45-minute CES keynote: the upgraded Ryzen 9 9950X3D (and how it affects the persistent shortages of the other X3D parts) and the related 9955HX3D on laptops. Add to that AMD’s interesting 3D / AI powerhouse, the Ryzen AI Max or “Strix Halo.”

In this interview, I ask about how AMD is working to alleviate Ryzen 9000-series X3D shortages, how the Ryzen AI Max equates to Threadripper, and a whole lot more!

But even with over 20 minutes of discussion, we didn’t really have time to discuss AMD’s latest Ryzen AI 300 parts or the new Ryzen 200 series. We also had to break out AMD’s announcement of new Radeon 9070 graphics cards and its new Z2-series chips for gaming handhelds — which AMD didn’t even have time to mention at the keynote, by the way — to a separate interview with AMD chief gaming architect Frank Azor.

It felt like we spent the majority of our time chasing down AMD executives just to learn more details of what we can expect from AMD and its partners in the next few weeks and months. (If you want even more, you can review the transcript of a private roundtable we held with AMD executives, where we went over even more of the issues you care about.)

We’re still processing all the stuff we saw at CES 2025. For more great looks at the latest PC hardware from the show floor and beyond, be sure to subscribe to PCWorld on YouTube.

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

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

• Lenovo Flex 3 Chromebook, $109.99 ($369.01 off at Best Buy)
• Asus Vivobook 14, $219.99 ($120 off at Best Buy)
• Gigabyte Aorus 15, $849 ($250 off at Amazon)
• Asus Vivobook 16X, $929.99 ($370 off at B&H)
• Acer Nitro V, $999.99 ($300 off at Newegg)
• MSI Katana 17, $1,199.99 ($199.01 off at Amazon)

Lenovo

Lenovo Flex 3 Chromebook: $109.99 ($369.01 off at Best Buy)

Sometimes all you need is an affordable laptop for browsing social media and composing e-mail exchanges. If you’re in the market for such a laptop, the Lenovo Flex 3 Chromebook is worth considering. It’s powered by a Pentium Silver N6000 processor, suitable for web browsing and streaming Disney+, but not much else.

It’s not the fastest processor we’ve ever seen here at PCWorld, but you’ve also got to temper your expectations, as this laptop is specifically designed with basic tasks in mind. However, according to Best Buy reviews, the 1080p touchscreen display is pretty crisp, making this machine an excellent value.

Asus

Asus Vivobook 14: $219.99 ($120 off at Best Buy)

The Asus Vivobook 14 is a nice laptop for either work or play. It boasts an Intel Core i3-1215U processor, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of SSD storage–that’s plenty of space and power for day-to-day tasks as well as spreadsheet work. The 14-inch 1920×1080 display should also be sharp enough for checking e-mail, watching Netflix, and more.

Gigabyte

Gigabyte Aorus 15: $849 ($250 off at Amazon)

The Gigabyte Aorus 15 deserves a call-out because of its wickedly fast 360Hz refresh rate display. That’s an incredibly high number, so this display should churn out silky-smooth visuals, which is important during more intensive matches.

It also comes with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU and an Intel Core i5-12500H CPU, meaning it has enough juice to run most games on the Medium or High graphics settings, but you may want to dial those settings back on more modern titles. The display, measuring a roomy 15.6 inches, is pretty spacious with a resolution of 1920×1080. It’s not the highest resolution we’ve ever seen, but it’s perfectly fine for most games.

Acer

Acer Nitro V: $999.99 ($300 off at Newegg)

The Acer Nitro V offers powerful hardware for a decent price. For $999.99, this laptop comes loaded with an Intel Core i9-13900H CPU and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU as well as 16GB of memory and 512GB of PCIe SSD storage. Given the hardware, you shouldn’t have any problem zipping through most games on the higher graphics settings. The 15.6-inch LED-backlit IPS display also has a resolution of 1920×1080 and a refresh rate of 144Hz, which should give you a smoother experience in games.

MSI

MSI Katana 17: $1,199.99 ($199.01 off at Amazon)

The MSI Katana 17 is a great option for those who like to game on a big screen. The 1080p display measures a massive 17.3 inches, which is humongous! It’s the kind of screen I’d love to play Sid Meier’s Civilization VI on because I like being able to see every minuscule detail.

You’re also getting an Intel Core i7 CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB of SSD storage. That’s a good amount of power right there! This machine should have no issues running graphically intensive games.

Asus

Asus Vivobook 16X: $929.99 ($370 off at B&H)

The Asus Vivobook 16X is a great laptop for creative work, as it boasts powerful hardware. Inside you’ll find an Intel Core i9-13900H CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB of SSD storage. The display is also quite spacious at 16 inches with a refresh rate of 120Hz and a resolution of 1920×1200. Overall, this is an excellent buy, especially for laptop with discrete graphics.

You’ll want at least 8GB, though 16GB is preferable, especially if you play games. Don’t buy laptops with under 4GB of RAM or 128GB of SSD storage—though on a Chromebook or a budget Windows machine, this configuration is acceptable. Check out our article on how much RAM does a laptop need for more in-depth info.

The one big difference between a Chromebook and a Windows laptop is the operating system. Chromebooks run ChromeOS and Windows run, well, Microsoft Windows. Chromebooks make good everyday machines because they’re designed for browsing the web, checking e-mail, and so on. They use less resources and are generally more affordable than the Windows variety. They also don’t need antivirus protection. A Windows laptop is a lot more versatile in what it can do, and not just in terms of running local programs. You can really pump a Windows laptop up with a ton of RAM, storage, and so on.

You’ll likely find the best laptop deals during Prime Day (mid-July), Black Friday (November 29th), and back-to-school season (June-August). Sure, you’ll find good laptop deals throughout the year, but if you really want to save big, we’d recommend scoping out your favorite online retailers during those times.

You can find all kinds of deals across a wide range of online retailers such as Newegg, Walmart, Best Buy, Amazon, and so on. However, we’d recommend checking out deals from laptop manufacturers like Lenovo, HP, and Dell. You’ll usually find many different configurations on sale and the discounts can be pretty darn steep.

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

More than a year has passed since Asus’ acquisition of the NUC brand from Intel, which marked the first major change the brand had seen since Intel launched it back in 2013.

After more than a decade of continuity — including last year’s transition year where Intel still had a say on design — this will be the real first year in which Asus has done most of the groundwork, fronting up with its own designs and innovations. So how is the NUC different now in this new era? I spoke to Kuo Wei Chao, general manager of Asus IoT business unit, to find out.

The Asus NUC lineup announced at CES 2025 in Las Vegas included the NUC 14 AI and the more premium NUC 14 Pro AI+ with 48 TOPS NPU AI power and a dedicated Copilot+ button for quick access to the AI assistant. They were on display alongside two new powerful mini-PCs for everyday use featuring the latest Intel Core Ultra (Series 2) chips: the NUC 15 and NUC 15 Pro+.

A fourth model, the NUC 14 Essential is the efficiency workhorse, designed to provide maximum performance while sipping tiny amounts of power. Last but certainly not least, Asus’ ROG NUC makes a comeback with the most powerful CPU and GPU combination we’ve seen to date.

Chao said Asus’ focus for its second year of NUC is threefold. Like other PCs at CES 2025, the addition of AI hardware is a big change allowing users a high degree of AI task mobility. Asus is also keen to communicate its commitment to “improving performance while keeping NUC sizes as small as possible.”

The third focus reeks of Asus’ company ethos and is arguably the reason why it has been so successful with product lines like the Asus ROG gaming laptops. Chao said there has been a concerted effort to “incorporate a lot of user feedback in the NUC range.” In other words, it has added features and design elements that specifically tailor the NUC experience to what consumers want.

But what does all that product talk actually mean? I picked one model, the 2025 ROG NUC to find out!

The Asus NUC 14 Essential

Asus

The Asus ROG NUC is perhaps the most impressive of the 2025 NUCs, and the best example of those Asus changes to the NUC brand in action.

Here Asus has not only increased the performance power on offer by bumping the ROG NUC’s CPU and GPU up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 mobile CPU and mobile Blackwell variant of the Nvidia RTX 5080 GPU, respectively — both titans of Intel and Nvidia’s 2025 performance offerings — but it has also made cooling, upgradability, and connectivity priorities in 2025.

Asus didn’t reveal what model of the Intel Core Ultra 9 (Series 2) chip it has used in the 2025 ROG NUC at CES, but based on the turbo clock speed of 5.5GHz in the specs sheet, I surmise that it can only be Intel’s flagship Arrow Lake mobile CPU, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX.

No other mini gaming PC announced at CES is as stacked for performance, upgradable, overclockable, and yet so portable.

The 2025 Asus ROG NUC.

Asus

It goes without saying that’s one heck of a chip. It puts 24 cores of raw processing power at your disposal, including 36 TOPS of AI power to capitalize on innovations in AI.

Personally, I’m not sure what 5.5GHz looks like in a game, let alone the kind of performance I’d get when that’s paired with 16GB of fast DDR5-6400 memory and the 7,680 CUDA cores in the RTX 5080. But I’m really excited to find out.

The RTX 5080 GPU in particular is a great choice in hardware. It means the 2025 ROG NUC’s GPU will be fully compatible with Nvidia’s new DLSS 4 AI technology so it can access a full suite of features including Nvidia’s Multi Frame Generation, which older Nvidia RTX GPUs cannot.

Another cherry on top of the cake with this year’s ROG NUC is, wait for it… overclocking! Yep, the bump up from an Intel H series chip in 2024 to an Intel mobile HX Series Arrow Lake chip in 2025 gives gamers more control over their NUC’s maximum CPU speed, for the first time.

Overclocking is accomplished in Asus’ Armory Crate software, where gamers can also control their fan speed settings.

Among the other cascade of changes is a “more comprehensive cooling system,” Chao explained. “It comprises an integrated triple-fan design with twin vapor chambers that not only provides enhanced cooling but also makes the 2025 ROG quieter than its 2024 counterpart,” he said. It works in conjunction with a perforated chassis that provides more airflow than before, too.

Asus’ NUC mini-PC lineup. The Asus ROG NUC is shown top left. 

Asus

A new chassis size measuring 11.1 x 7.4 x 2.2 inches does make this year’s model slightly larger (3 liters versus 2.5 liters in volume), but the larger size provides users with “more capacity to upgrade,” Chao promised.

“We upgraded the CPU to support a higher TDP and reserved some buffers because we know that many gamers want to overclock and increase performance. So, gamers who want to upgrade, it will be easier to do that,” he said.

In regard to that upgradability, the 16GB starter RAM can be expanded to a whopping 96GB. Swapping out RAM is also made easier by a new single-screw design that allows gamers to access the internal components in seconds.

The ROG NUC also hits the right note with connectivity. In fact, the I/O lists off like a fine wine menu, including no less than 6x USB-A 3.2 ports, 2x HDMI 2.1 FRL ports, and 2x DisplayPort 2.1 ports. It also has a Thunderbolt 4 port, a USB-C 3.2 Gen2 port, a 3.5mm combo jack, and a 2.5Gb Ethernet port. Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 make up the wireless connectivity.

The choice of Thunderbolt 4 port instead of the newer Thunderbolt 5 is an interesting choice considering that Asus’ own 2025 XG Mobile eGPU uses the latter this year. On that point Chao said:

“We listened and had many discussions with gamers. I think that Thunderbolt 5 would be very important in the long term. But I think right now, from an ecosystem perspective, it’s not so complete and in its infancy. So, we focused on what the majority want and the best choice for gamers in 2025 — that’s Thunderbolt 4.”

On top of all that, Asus’ ROG branding brings the device in line with Asus’ ROG portfolio aesthetically.

If you’re thinking Asus just won over a whole lot of gamers this year, you may be right. No other mini gaming PC announced at CES is as upgradable, overclockable, stacked for performance, and yet so portable. Let’s hope it lives up to expectations.

DirecTV has made good on its plans to launch a sports and broadcast streaming package for less than its standard TV plans, but the savings aren’t enormous.

The DirecTV Stream MySports plan costs $70 per month (with an extra $20 off for the first three months) and includes a mix of local broadcast channels, national sports networks, league-specific channels such as NFL Network, and access to ESPN+. This is uncharted territory for pay TV service, which typically requires paying for a big bundle of news, entertainment, and family programming just to access live sports (and vice versa).

Still, DirecTV’s new sports package is missing some major sources of sports—notably CBS and regional sports networks—and is not even available yet in every U.S. market. It can save money in some scenarios, but only if you make some trade-offs.

Here’s the full DirecTV MySports channel list:

• Broadcast channels: ABC, NBC, and Fox
• National sports channels: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNews, ESPNU, Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, TBS, TNT, TruTV, USA Network, Golf Channel.
• League channels: MLB Network, NBA TV, NFL Network, NHL Network, ACC Network, Big Ten Network, SEC Network
• Other: DirecTV 4K Live, DirecTV 4K Live 2
• Streaming services: ESPN+ (coming soon)

The package isn’t entirely limited to sports programming. You’ll also get prime-time and daytime shows on the broadcast channels, along with any movies or shows airing on channels like TBS and TNT.

Everything will be available through DirecTV’s existing apps for Roku, Fire TV, Google TV/Android TV, Samsung TVs, Apple TV, iOS, and Android mobile. Those apps also include dozens of free streaming channels, whether you subscribe to the sports package or not. As with DirecTV’s other packages, Cloud DVR service is included and lets you record an unlimited number or programs, saved for up to nine months.

At launch, DirecTV MySports is only available in 24 U.S. markets, and local channel coverage might be patchy where you live.

As Variety reports, subscribers in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, and the San Francisco Bay Area will get local feeds of NBC, ABC, and Fox.

Subscribers can expect partial local channel coverage in the following markets: Houston, Dallas, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Austin, Detroit, Gainesville, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Orlando, Phoenix, Seattle, Tampa, Miami, Boston, New Haven, and San Diego.

This is all reminiscent of live TV streaming’s early days, in which local station affiliates were not all on board, but DirecTV says it will bring more markets (and more station within those markets) online “soon.”

With any live TV streaming service, the omissions are as important as the inclusions, and DirecTV MySports has its fair share.

The big one is CBS, which is a major source of NFL coverage (including the Bills-Ravens AFC divisional round and the AFC championship) and March Madness college basketball games. A DirecTV spokesperson said that it’s in “in discussions” with CBS, which alone would make the service more compelling.

Regional sports channels such as Fanduel Sports Network and YES Network are also absent for now, though the spokesperson said that it plans to offer regional sports as an add-on later this year.

Meanwhile, a growing body of sports coverage is being split off to individual streaming services. Amazon Prime Video gets Thursday Night Football, for instance, and Netflix had its exclusive NFL games on Christmas Day. Apple TV+ has Friday Night Baseball along with every Major League Soccer match. The sad reality is that no pay TV package carries complete coverage of the most popular sporting events anymore.

With those caveats in mind, are there any scenarios in which DirecTV MySports makes sense? Consider the following:

• The new MySports package costs $70 per month, but lacks CBS and regional sports.
• Fubo costs $80 per month, but lacks TNT, TBS, and ESPN+. Regional sports adds $12 per month or more to your bill, and you must pay $8 per month more for an add-on with MLB Network, NBA Network, and NHL Network.
• YouTube TV costs $83 per month, but lacks ESPN+, MLB Network, NHL Network, and most regional sports (except NBC Sports).
• Hulu + Live TV costs $83 per month, but lacks NBA TV, NHL Network, and most regional sports (except NBC Sports).
• DirecTV’s Stream’s “Entertainment” package costs $87 per month but lacks ESPN+ and regional sports, and you must pay $15 per month for an add-on with the league-specific networks.
• DirecTV Stream’s “Choice” package costs $115 but lacks ESPN+.
• Sling TV Orange + Blue costs $61 per month but lacks CBS, ESPN+, and regional sports networks. It also requires an antenna for local channels in many markets, and you must pay $11 per month extra for an add-on with MLB Network, NBA TV, and NHL Network.

In other words, none of these services can purport to give you everything. DirecTV MySports at least provides a lower floor from which to decide what’s worth paying for.

If you’re willing to finagle a free or cheap Paramount+ subscription, for instance, MySports becomes a decent value. You might also be able to get regional sports on a standalone basis (see my guides for the NBA and NHL) and still come out ahead of FuboTV or DirecTV Stream’s Choice package.

By contrast, those who want the convenience of more programming in a single package can pay extra for that luxury. This has always been the case with cord-cutting.

Regardless of whether DirecTV MySports is a good deal right now, this is a fast-moving situation. The channel lineup might look different in a few months, and other providers could launch their own sports-centric bundles at lower prices. (Fubo has already indicated that it will do so, and I suspect DirecTV is trying to get ahead of that launch.)

Either way, note that live sports is the most expensive programming on TV, and it’s only getting worse as sports leagues renew their rights deals for astronomically more money. Someone has to pay for those higher rates, and as more folks abandon their pay TV packages outright, diehard sports fans will be left holding the bag.

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For nearly as long as we’ve had smartphones, there have been attempts to turn them into something “more.” Motorola tried with the Atrix 4G and Webtop chassis back in 2011, and Razer’s Project Linda gave the concept another whirl in 2018.

But the dream of taking a smartphone, plugging in peripherals, and using it like a laptop never quite came to life. The closest thing we ever got to a success is Samsung’s DeX, but even that hasn’t truly taken off.

With the latest rumblings in Android devices, the concept might be ready for another go. More devices now support display output over USB, plus desktop-style interfaces, plus serious leaps in performance. Microsoft’s recent push for Arm makes the prospect that much more interesting.

All combined, Android phones now have more potential than ever before to fulfill the needs of someone who wants a phone and laptop in one device and live that convenient double-life.

Smartphones, with their piddly little mobile processors, are no match for most laptops, right? I’ve strongly agreed with that sentiment for a long time, but the latest smartphone SoCs have blown me away.

Sure, there are still plenty of high-end laptop CPUs that smoke mobile CPUs with no contest. But I’ve also tested tons of low-end laptops with crappy performance — and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite has advanced enough to match or even surpass those slowpokes.

In testing Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite, I’ve seen the impressive benchmarks and real-world testing results with my own eyes. The chip averages over 3,090 points in Geekbench 6’s single-core test and 9,724 points for multi-core performance.

To put that into perspective, I also recently tested the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 13th Gen Aura Edition laptop with a brand-new Intel Core Ultra 7 258V processor. The Geekbench 6 results for that one showed 2,659 points for a single core and 10,797 for all cores. That puts the mobile SoC within spitting distance (while running on battery power, no less).

Qualcomm

Looking at some additional testing we’ve done, these phones aren’t terribly far behind the latest from Intel or AMD, and they consistently have the lead in single-core performance, and they’re remarkably competitive where on-battery performance is concerned.

Even graphics performance is up to snuff. The same phones that achieved these Geekbench scores averaged 2,298 points in 3DMark’s Steel Nomad Light benchmark while the ThinkPad managed 2,518 points. Again, very close! I also tested the Dell XPS 13 (9345) with a Snapdragon X Elite X1E-80-100 chip, and its 1,969.5-point average in Steel Nomad Light shows that its job could possibly be filled by the phones instead. Intel’s Arc graphics and AMD’s Radeon 890M show a clear advantage in graphics performance, but the difference isn’t world’s apart.

All of this shows how well modern phones stack up against the better laptop configurations available today. They perform even better when you start comparing them against budget options and alternatives.

While smartphones might not have the most powerful innards for a system to run on, it’s clear that some of them now have what it takes to hold up in everyday tasks, like web browsing and basic productivity.

It’s no longer the internal hardware that’s holding phones back from doubling as laptops. But there are still other hurdles to overcome.

For one thing, not every phone is ready to use its USB charging port as a display output. It’s becoming increasingly more supported, of course, and Google’s recent introduction of DisplayPort Alt Mode via USB-C in the Pixel 8 series was a big step in the right direction from one of the market’s key players. But overall movement is still slow.

Mark Hachman / IDG

Once smartphones are ready to connect to external displays, the next step is the supporting hardware. There’s always the option to build your own “franken-system” by hooking up a portable monitor and a keyboard through a USB hub accessory. A mouse or trackpad could be a good idea, too. (Fortunately, some phones turn their screens into trackpads while in a setup like this, giving you one fewer thing to worry about.)

Some complete solutions already exist, by the way, like the ones by NexDock and Uperfect. These all-in-one solutions are great because you can easily connect your phone to all necessary peripherals with one swift action. That said, DIY options still offer more modularity and piecemeal upgradeability akin to what Framework laptops offer.

A functional external display is essential and becoming more common, but software support is another big obstacle here.

Some device makers already have special apps and platforms that allow their phones to shift their operating systems into “desktop mode” when docked. Samsung DeX is one of the best examples, but it’s only available on its flagship and upper-tier devices. Motorola has a similar capability through Ready For. Few others have hopped aboard, though.

These tools change the look and behavior of their respective operating systems when connected to an external display. For devices with these features, really the only thing to wait for is newer devices that have the newer Snapdragon 8 Elite chips, which should narrow the performance gap between thin-and-light laptops and smartphones, making it possible to use a phone as a laptop seamlessly without poor performance.

For other devices, like those from OnePlus and Google, you might find that they offer display outputs but don’t have the same kind of tuned desktop experiences offered by Samsung and Motorola. For example, I couldn’t quickly or easily get phones from either brand working with an external display beyond simply mirroring the phone’s screen. This might do in a pinch, but it’s hardly an elegant long-term solution.

Lenovo

To realize the dream of a phone that doubles as a computer, we need more support from device makers and their software. Better yet, Google could bake it into Android at the system level and make it available to a wider swath of devices without the need for phone manufacturers to roll up their own solutions a la Samsung DeX. There are already some elements of this in Android — though so far I’ve only seen them in developer options and couldn’t get them working — and Google has the power and influence to take it all the way.

While Android phones are probably the only avenue for this (just look at Apple’s obstinance in allowing macOS on iPads), I don’t see why it needs to be relegated to only Android phones. Even if workable Android-based solutions already exist, Android may not be the operating system people want for a phone that can double as a laptop.

In 2024, Microsoft made a massive push to promote Snapdragon processors, and therefore Arm architecture, on Windows devices. While I’m sure there are some sneaky differences between Snapdragon SoCs made for laptops and phones, I have little doubt that greater Windows compatibility with Arm architecture could make Windows 11 dual-boot setups on phones all the more realistic.

In fact, we’ve already seen that Windows 11 for Arm can run on an Android smartphone (as Tom’s Hardware reported) and that was managed with a weaker device running an older Snapdragon 860 chip. The newer Snapdragon 8 hardware that got me excited about this prospect in the first place could make all the difference. 

Barriers clearly still exist. But with performance catching up, proper hardware checking the right boxes, and software support looking better every day, this dream may not be too far from reality anymore.

There’s a lot of stuff happening right now. Here in the US, it seems kind of inescapable. And it surely doesn’t help that a lot of people might be without their short-form social video fix very soon. TikTok, for all its many, many faults, is something millions of people use in the US. That said, a TikTok ban seems increasingly likely.

But there is another. There are a lot of others, actually, all initially trying to ape TikTok’s success, now poised to try and fully replace it. My personal poison (only slightly joking) is YouTube Shorts, perhaps because it happens to be built into the thing I already use. I have a lot of beef with YouTube as a platform, but that doesn’t take away from the many talented creators that are on it.

YouTube Shorts is filled with a lot of the same garbage littering TikTok. Clips blatantly stolen from movies and TV shows, reactions that add nothing to the original video, AI-generated slop that the uploader didn’t even bother to check. But there’s some genuinely entertaining, interesting, and instructional stuff too. Here are 25 of my favorites to get you started.

I’m so sorry, puppets. We’ve all failed you.

SJohnsonVoiceOvers, AKA SnackDaddy: Stefan Johnson is a professional voice actor, but lately he’s been diving into his love of food, in both the snack/junk and home-cooked varieties. He’ll do earnest and often hilarious reviews of fast food and restaurant products, try out trending recipes, and generally give you some great ideas. It doesn’t hurt that his takes and advice are easy to follow even for amateur cooks like me.

Turkuaz Kitchen: Betel Tunc is a cook who loves using traditional methods, ingredients, and tools to make amazing meals. Frankly she’s way beyond me in all of these areas, but I love watching her intense focus in short, bite-sized videos that leave my mouth watering from whatever she ends up with, all set to some chill music with no narration. Check out her full YouTube channel (and cookbook!) if you want more detailed instructions.

Jose.elcook: As a recovering Texan, I almost hate this guy, if only because it’s really hard to find good Mexican food in rural Pennsylvania. Jose’s passion for Mexican and other recipes from Latin America shines through in his simple and straightforward delivery, though he’s not at all limited to that niche. Inject that salsa verde straight into my veins, please. Longer recipes and equipment reviews are on his main YouTube channel.

CookShowTrevor: This idiot makes pizzas that should not exist, and I say that in full confidence that he would agree with me. Trevor, or at least the caricature that he plays for YouTube, puts pretty much everything on lovingly handmade pizza just to see what happens. Frequently it burns, occasionally it explodes, every once in a while it’s a legitimately good result. I give it the highest honor I can bestow: a seven out of ten.

JonPaulsBalls: Get your hand off that HR report, this is a guy named Jon-Paul Wheatley who makes soccer balls. That’s footballs, if you live somewhere civilized. Watching Jon-Paul’s design process from start to finish for balls I never would have imagined is hypnotizing, as is his soothing narration. Watch as he combines modern and old-fashioned methods and materials to create the best balls of them all, and give it a try yourself if you want with his personal website.

SaraMicsPottery: Sarah Luepker mixes the usual crafting instruction videos with a bit of personal insight and vlogging. I appreciate that she includes her pottery screw-ups in her videos — it makes me feel better about spending six hours on a PC build that won’t boot. Sara’s shorts are less about full instruction than the satisfying tactile process and a lot of commentary, but there are plenty of of things to learn if you dive deep.

EoinReardon: I’m even more useless at carpentry than I am at most crafts, and that’s amazing, because my first job was at a sawmill. Eoin Reardon gives me a glimpse into the life I might have had, if I hadn’t quit after six weeks and six stomachfuls of sawdust. Though he’s all about traditional techniques and results, his practical and straightforward techniques could be applied to household jobs. I assume they could, anyway. I fix computers.

Tanner.Leathertein: Less about the actual craft of leatherworking and more about educating yourself on leather goods and the designer fashion industry, Tanner’s channel literally dissects handbags, wallets, and other goods to… well, show you the goods. In addition to the cathartic thrill of seeing fashionista items destroyed, he breaks down the value of the components and materials, helping you spot a good deal versus an unconscionable markup (or a plain old fake).

GirlWithTheDogs: As a life-long dog owner, I can appreciate that washing and grooming one is not a task for the faint of heart. Vanessa De Prohetis is positively unflappable as she cleans dogs and cats of all stripes (and spots, and stippling… you get the picture). You might find some great tips for DIY pet grooming, but I’m more impressed by how she handles the toughest cases — no dog is too big, no cat is too crazy.

HaydenKristialandandCo: My grandparents raised racehorses and my parents still raise miniature horses. So I’ve spent decades taking care of them, which is why I really don’t like them. But pro standup comedian Hayden Kristal does, and shares the best and worst of keeping a bunch of horses and donkeys on a Colorado ranch. Her hilarious insights and off-the-cuff takes almost make me want to go back to Texas. Almost.

Cleolonglegs: Good grief these Borzoi dogs are goofy.

DustyMDouglas: Okay, this is one of the most prolific and popular shorts makers out there. I am basic. But come on, you can’t deny that the voiceovers done in the style of America’s Funniest Home Videos (I am also old), cliché and pun-filled as they are, are often freakin’ hilarious.

UFDTech: I’d be doing a real disservice if I didn’t acknowledge the work of Brett Stelmaszek and his team, who put out some fantastic and punchy short-form consumer tech videos. UFD Tech covers PCs, phones, video games… pretty much all the stuff that I’m interested in. And yeah, their pointed, no-frills style is definitely an influence around here. Check out their full channel for more long-form videos on topics that don’t fit into 50 seconds.

PunkeyDoodles8: Audio from popular videos, with cartoon illustrations and a bit of animation. It ain’t much, but it’s honest work. Who am I kidding, it’s a lot more than I can do.

Miniminuteman773: Pro archeologist Milo Rossi has made it his life’s mission to take apart the kind of conspiracy theory bullshit you see thrown around Facebook by amateurs and Ancient Aliens by actual, paid adults. Rossi’s short-form videos are quick and dirty debunks (in both the literal and figurative senses). But if you really want to dig into the ridiculousness of the topic (or alternately, look at some real archeology), check out his full channel.

MakeSomeNoiseDO: Dropout.TV is great. It’s the best five bucks I spend every month. And while the all-improv quasi-game show Make Some Noise is often hilarious, a little bit goes a long way — I often struggle to get through the half-hour episodes. I think the skits tend to work better in short form, which is fortunate, because a lot more people can enjoy them for free.

ProZD: SungWon Cho got his comedy start in ye olden days of Vine, basically doing TikTok before TikTok was a thing. He’s now a full-time voice actor (you can hear his flexible pipes in everything from the latest Batman and Pokémon cartoons to games like Yakuza), his older geeky YouTube skits make great shorts. Check out his full channel for longer compilations.

Jill Bearup: I fell into a deep hole of Jill Bearup’s longer-form content, breaking down movie swordfights from a theatrical perspective using her expertise in stage combat. But her shorts are great too, generally eviscerating fantasy and romance tropes. Her series of back-and-forths between a heroine and the author writer her has been adapted into a full novel, Just Stab Me Now.

Jerry Wayne Live: Fellow Texan Jerry Wayne is a standup comedian who’s kind of like Larry the Cable Guy, if that character was actually a genuine person instead of a city slicker’s idiotic impression. His series of “Truck Astrology” videos demonstrates real and loving knowledge of what pickup trucks and SUVs are supposed to be, and for that, I am grateful. I’d ask Jerry to review my ’03 Ranger Edge if it hadn’t blown its transmission long ago.

OceanX: I was that kid in elementary school who was obsessed with Robert Ballard and the Titanic, before the movie came out. So there’s no small amount of envy in my recommendation for this channel, which chronicles the work of a team of oceanographers on a research vessel complete with submersibles and ROVs. They also have general education videos on a variety of topics.

Did you know that PCWorld is on TikTok? At least at the time of writing. Including me, Michael, the guy writing this. I record short little summaries of some of the articles that I and my coworkers write, and the video team over in California posts it with neato backgrounds and links. And they do it on YouTube Shorts, too.

The PCWorld YouTube channel also has longer dives into all the latest PC news and hands-on coverage of the newest parts, laptops, handhelds, and anything else that strikes our fancy. Subscribe to TheFullNerd while you’re at it — that’s our sister channel for the weekly podcast (live every Tuesday and for most major PC-related events).