Author: batteryforpc

According to a recent Gizmochina report, Xiaomi has launched a crowdfunding campaign to bring the brand’s Ningmei Rubik’s Cube Mini to the market. 

Xiaomi’s upcoming mini-PC utilizes a similar recipe as the Chuwi Larkbox and GMK NucBox. The device measures 62 x 62 x 42mm, which is around the size of a Rubik’s Cube. That’s probably where Xiaomi drew its inspiration for naming the mini-PC. The Ningmei Rubik’s Cube Mini features a metallic body, but Xiaomi still managed to keep the weight at only 145g.

A Celeron J4125 processor from Intel powers Xiaomi’s latest mini-PC. The Celeron J4125 is a quad-core 10W chip that lacks Hyper-Threading and comes with a 2-GHz base clock and 2.7-GHz boost clock. A small cooling fan actively keeps the Celeron J4125’s operating temperatures under control. On the graphics side, the Celeron J4125 incorporates the Intel UHD Graphics 600 engine with 12 Execution Units (EUs) that operate between 250 MHz and 750 MHz.

Xiaomi offers the Ningmei Rubik’s Cube Mini with either 6GB or 8GB of LPDDR4 memory. The device can house a single M.2 SSD. Xiaomi didn’t specify the length, but we expect the mini-PC to accept M.2 drives up to 42mm long.

The Ningmei Rubik’s Cube Mini packs a TF card reader and 3.5mm audio jack up front and one HDMI port, two USB 3.0 ports and one USB-C port at the rear of the miniature housing. There’s also dual-band wireless and Bluetooth 4.2 connectivity.

The base model, which features 6GB of memory and 128GB of storage, retails for $149. The top model, on the other hand, comes with 8GB of memory, 256GB of storage and sells for $186. The special Iron Man-inspired version comes with the same specifications as the top model, but costs $201. It’s uncertain if the Ningmei Rubik’s Cube Mini will be available outside the Chinese market.

ThisThis is an easy review. Today, we’re looking at the XPS 13 9310, Dell’s best-in-class 13-inch ultraportable laptop. It’s identical to the Dell XPS 13 9300, which I reviewed back in April, in every way, except one: it has Intel’s new 11th Gen Tiger Lake processors.

The new XPS 13 starts at $999.99. The base model includes a Core i3-1115G4, 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, Intel’s UHD integrated graphics, and a 1920 x 1200 non-touch display. But the most exciting feature of the Tiger Lake line is Intel’s new Iris Xe integrated graphics. Models with those graphics start at $1,099.99 ($1,077.99 as currently listed) and include a quad-core Core i5 1135G7 or i7-1165G7. You can go up to a $2,499.99 model with 32GB of RAM, 2TB of storage, and a 3840 x 2400 touchscreen. I tested a $1,649.99 configuration (listed at $1,616.99 as of this writing), which includes 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.

If you haven’t read my review of the XPS 13 9300 from earlier this year, go ahead and do that now because everything I said about the exterior of that machine also applies here. TL;DR: it’s really good. The chassis is made of CNC-machined aluminum, the logo is stainless steel, the screen is Corning Gorilla Glass 6; the palm rests are a woven-glass fiber with a unique texture. It’s lustrous, sturdy, and just about the best build quality you’ll find in a laptop. It’s also portable (2.8 pounds and 0.58 inches thick). The speakers are adequate, the keyboard is snappy and comfortable, and the touchpad is smooth and effortless to click. Another highlight is the 16:10 display with a 91.5 percent screen-to-body ratio, which gives you more vertical space than most consumer laptops (which are 16:9). You’ll notice the difference.

Two main downsides: the port selection is meh (two USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 4, a headphone jack, and a microSD reader), and the 2.25mm 720p webcam isn’t great, delivering a blurry and washed-out picture. It also doesn’t include a privacy shutter or kill switch.

Like I said, check out the 9300 review if you want to read about the laptop’s exterior in more detail. What we’re focusing on here is the new processor’s performance and whether the 1165G7 (and its Xe graphics) are an improvement over the Ice Lake generation. The answer is yes. But it’s not an emphatic or particularly excited yes.

It’s also one of the first systems to be verified through Intel’s new Evo program. By giving a laptop an Evo badge, Intel claims to be certifying that it offers a number of benchmarks for “premium” thin-and-light laptops — Tiger Lake processors, Thunderbolt 4, Wi-Fi 6, all-day battery life, fast charging, quick boot time, and, perhaps most importantly, solid real-world performance.

In day-to-day tasks, the 1165G7 certainly measured up. It was never overwhelmed by my legions of Chrome tabs, apps, and occasional Spotify, YouTubing, and Zoom calls overtop — no slowdowns or delays. I never once heard the fans spin up during daily use and never felt any heat either. If you’re using this configuration for work or school, you shouldn’t experience any performance issues.

I saw a slight improvement in content creation as well. The 9310 took 10 minutes and 43 seconds to complete our real-world media test, which involves exporting a 5-minute, 33-second 4K video in Adobe Premiere Pro. That’s a bit faster than any laptop with Ice Lake CPUs and integrated graphics completed the task. The MacBook Pro 13 with Iris Plus graphics took 11 minutes and 26 seconds, and the Surface Laptop 3 took just over 15. It’s also better than we’ve seen from other 1165G7 systems. Asus’ ZenBook 14 was about a minute slower.

Here’s the thing: when it comes to productivity, this XPS is good. It’s an uptick over its predecessor (and I’d be very worried if it wasn’t). On the other hand, the 9300 (and other Ice Lake systems) were already quite good. The difference in Chrome tab loading speed and Premiere Pro export time isn’t earth-shattering enough that I can see it making a difference in the lives of the average XPS 13 user. If you already own a comparable Ice Lake system or are considering buying one to cut costs, I won’t urge you to upgrade.

Folks for whom it may be worth upgrading are those who want to play some light games. On titles with lighter textures (the only ones you’d want to run on a laptop like this), the XPS 13 did a noticeably better job than its predecessor. It averaged 111fps on Rocket League’s maximum settings without dipping below 100; the 9300 put up 70fps with a minimum of 41. The 9310 also won out on League of Legends, averaging 205fps while its predecessor averaged low 160s. (Of course, the XPS 13’s screen is only 60Hz, so your experience in these games won’t change. You’ll see 60fps on either machine.) And it beat its predecessor on Overwatch, averaging 48fps on Ultra settings to the 9300’s low-40s average — a 10-ish percent increase.

More good news for Intel: those results also put Tiger Lake slightly ahead of AMD competitors when it comes to gaming. The IdeaPad Slim 7, with AMD’s eight-core Ryzen 7 4800U, averaged 46fps on the same Overwatch settings. (You won’t notice a difference that small while you’re actually playing.)

AGREE TO CONTINUE: DELL XPS 13 (LATE 2020)

Every smart device now requires you to agree to a series of terms and conditions before you can use it — contracts that no one actually reads. It’s impossible for us to read and analyze every single one of these agreements. But we started counting exactly how many times you have to hit “agree” to use devices when we review them, since these are agreements most people don’t read and definitely can’t negotiate.

To start using the Dell XPS 13 (late-2020), you’ll need to agree to the following:

A request for your region

A request for your keyboard layout

Windows 10 license agreement and Dell Terms of Sale / License Agreement

Microsoft account

PIN

Dell’s Support and Protection

McAfee security subscription

You can also say yes or no to the following:

Wi-Fi

Windows Hello face and fingerprint recognition

Privacy settings (speech recognition, location, Find My Device, sharing diagnostic data, inking and typing, tailored experience, advertising ID)

Android phone

OneDrive backup

Office 365

Cortana

That’s eight mandatory agreements and 14 optional ones to use the Dell XPS 13 (late-2020).

DEMANDING GAMES ARE STILL OUT OF REACH FOR THIS MACHINE

Unfortunately, demanding games in 1080p are still out of reach for this machine. The 9310 chugged through Shadow of the Tomb Raider at an average of 22fps. That’s a respectable increase from the Ice Lake XPS, which averaged 17fps on the same title, but you can’t really play the game (at native resolution) on either machine. So while Tiger Lake will give you a better experience with some of your titles, it probably won’t expand the range of games you can play. (We do expect gaming performance to get better over time.)

I think this form factor is also close to the limits of what it can cool. Throughout my gaming session, the CPU hit 100 degrees Celsius at a few points and spent a lot of time in the high 90s. (The keyboard was toasty throughout but not quite uncomfortable.) That’s hotter than I’d like to see, and I worry that if Dell continues with this design and Intel’s chips don’t make substantial gains in efficiency, the XPS 13 is going to hit a wall when it comes to performance.

Finally, battery life was a pleasant surprise. I got nine hours and 15 minutes using this XPS as my primary work driver at around 200 nits of brightness. That time doesn’t top the category, but it does mean this should comfortably last you a full work or school day. The caveat is that I had all the various battery-saving things on — the Windows Battery Saver profile, Dell’s Battery Extender, Intel’s Display Power Savings, etc. When I ran a trial on the Windows Better Performance profile with Battery Extender off, I could expect closer to six hours. I didn’t notice a performance difference between those two scenarios when I was just doing office work and streaming, so I recommend that you do the battery-saving stuff if you want all-day juice.

DELL XPS 15 2020 SPECS (AS REVIEWED)

Processor: Intel Core i7-1165G7

RAM: 16GB

Storage: 512GB

Graphics: Intel Iris Xe Graphics

Display: 13.4-inch 1920 x 1200 touch display

Ports: two USB-C Thunderbolt 4 with DisplayPort and Power Delivery, one 3.5mm headphone / microphone combo jack, one microSD card reader

Camera: 2.25mm infrared 720p webcam

Weight: 2.8 pounds (1.27kg)

Dimensions: 11.64 x 7.82 x 0.58 inches (295.66 x 198.63 x 14.73mm)

Operating system: Windows 10 Home

This XPS has a performance edge over what we’ve seen so far in 2020. The Tiger Lake processor is a respectable step forward, particularly in graphics performance. People who work with graphics and video will probably find the increase most useful. For everyone else who’s mostly using the XPS 13 for school and office tasks, both Ice Lake and Tiger Lake systems should be fine — upgrading isn’t essential. Gaming performance clearly varies widely by title — gamers may see a substantial difference or may see very little. But if you mostly play lighter fare that Ice Lake was already tearing through (which is probably the case for a good chunk of folks who are gaming on the XPS 13), you won’t see the improvement on this screen.

So overall, the XPS 13 is still an excellent laptop. It’s still one of the best you can buy. But I’m not as starstruck as I was at the beginning of this year, because the competition is creeping up. Zenbooks, Swifts, Yogas, Envys, and Spectres have all made strides in design, build, nifty features, and performance this year — and there are ARM-based Macbooks on the way. There are quite a few releases on the horizon that are looking more and more like the XPS 13.

This is the best laptop of 2020 with the fewest compromises and the fewest risks. But Dell will need to stay creative if it wants to keep XPS at the top of the stack in 2021. 

At first glance, LG’s new 27-inch UltraGear 27GN800-B gaming monitor appears virtually identical to another one with a similar model number (27GN850-B). Both are equipped with a fast screen and offer similar specifications across the board, but the new 27GN800-B is actually a little different (and hopefully ends up a little bit cheaper to boot).

The 27GN800-B is another LG monitor to feature an IPS panel, just like the 27GN850-B that came before it. And like its predecessor, it offers a native 2560×1440 (QHD) resolution with a respectably fast 144Hz refresh rate and 1ms gray-to-gray response time, making it a good option for gaming with a mid-range and/or high-end graphics card.

Both are also FreeSync Premium models that have passed Nvidia’s G-Sync Compatible certification program, which means they can match the display’s refresh rate to the GPU for smoother gaming whether you’re using a Radeon or GeForce GPU.

Size—27 inches

Display type—IPS

Resolution—2560×1440 (QHD)

Refresh rate—144Hz

Response time—1ms GtG

Brightness—350 nits

Contrast ratio—1,000:1

Color gamut—99 percent sRGB

Adaptive sync—FreeSync Premium, G-Sync Compatible

HDR—HDR10

Most of the specifications are the same as 27GN850-B, except for that monitor, LG lists a DCI-P3 color gamut (98 percent) rating rather than sRGB. Power consumption on the newer 27GN800-B is a lower lower as well (45-48W versus 51-55W), but otherwise, both serve up a pair of HDMI inputs, a single DisplayPort connector, and a headphone-out jack, and they each lack built-in speakers.

What this really boils down to (as far as I can tell) is a skimpier stand. The stand on the 27GN800-B does not allow for any height or pivot adjustments, only tilt, whereas the 27GN850-B offers all three. So depending on where pricing lands, it could come down to ergonomics versus economics when debating the two.

LG has not announced a price yet, nor has it even formally introduced the 27GN800-B, there is just a product landing page. As a point of reference, however, the 27GN850-B goes for $450 on Best Buy. I would expect (hope, really) the 27GN800-B would come in $50+ below.

The Glorious Modular Mechanical Keyboard was the world’s first modular RGB mechanical keyboard when it was introduced way back in 2016, is still one of the best. The GMMK, as we’ll call it from here on (otherwise that’s a real mouthful), is modular in that you can hotswap any of the 104 RGB keyboard switches to create your own bespoke board.

Glorious initially set out to create an affordable line of “high-performance PC gaming accessories” for the masses, a line of quality gear to rival the industry leaders, and it has certainly hit that bar. In the process, it has managed to set some pretty impressive records, including the Glorious Model O Mouse which took the title of lightest RGB gaming mouse in 2020. 

On the Glorious store, you have the choice to pair your base board with a great range of clicky, tactile, and linear Kailh or Gateron switches. If you’ve got your heart set on switches that aren’t listed you can choose ‘none’, and once you get it home, you can even jam Cherry MX switches in there. Changing switches is a little fiddly but it’s mostly just a case of getting in there with the included switch puller tool and yanking them out forcibly. Either way, before Glorious opened the doors, you needed to invest in a homebrew, or serious enthusiast board, in order to swap out your switches, or get your soldering iron out.

I’d say dealing with a fiddly puller tool trumps voiding your warranty. 

It looks like the GMMK should live through all your switch-switching, too. It’s heavy enough that it feels like it’s been milled out of a solid block of metal, and it looks super durable. It certainly doesn’t feel cheap. The design is minimal, with a small border surrounding the keys, encompassed by a gorgeous 2mm silver bevel—stylish, and ergonomic if you tend to lean your pinky on the edge. Other than that, there are no frills, no decals printed on the shell, and even the status indicators are just tiny, red LEDs, devoid of labels. 

There are also no dedicated media controls, other than through the function keys, but there’s really no need for swanky greebles here. Minimal to the max means the quality is left to speak for itself.

Even the software is no nonsense, which is really the theme Glorious went for with this model. And, although you’re limited to just 3 customisable profiles, these can be imported and exported. Macros are there and are easy to record, but assigning them wasn’t as intuitive as I’d have liked—it took me a moment to figure out how to assign them. 

Thankfully the GMMK makes up for the baseline software with a couple of redeeming functionality features. For example, the n-key rollover (NKRO) means it registers every keystroke no matter how many are pressed at once, and the variable polling rate (report rate) might excite some users who feel the need to tune-up how often the board reports info to the CPU. I’m still skeptical as to whether the ability to change it really makes a difference, though. 

The software itself is actually optional, so if you don’t want to fiddle with polling rates, assign macros, or set up convoluted profiles for specific tasks, then you’re good to go without an install.

Sans software, you don’t have to forgo the fun of RGB illumination and can cycle through a range of light shows just using the function keys, though there are a few simple ways to customise the lighting more if you do bother downloading the software. There’s actually a greater range of colours than the Glorious Model O mouse could handle, and the colour picker even has a cute retro windows theme that left me feeling highly nostalgic. Speaking of nostalgia, among the light shows included was Kamehameha mode for all the Dragonball fans out there: very distracting and impractical, but awesome all the same. 

And, if your typing power level is over 9000, the superb double-shot injection ABS keycaps should be able to handle the pressure. And, although there are complaints floating around about the tendency for ABS to fade quite quickly, at least they come with Cherry stems, which means straightforward cap-swapping capability. The White Aura pudding top keycaps also look incredible as an accent to highlight certain keys among the plain black caps, especially paired with the black frame. They allow for an awesome soft glow, though it’s still clear that some LEDs are not as bright as others, and there’s sadly only a single LED for the whole length of the spacebar.

The GMMK may be a little lacking when it comes to software, with pretty much the minimum passable profile slots nowadays, and few lighting tweaks available. It also lacks either USB or audio passthroughs, and dedicated media controls, but it works for what it is: a simple, modern mechanical board for the everyman. And at a price point that rivals many of the best mechanical keyboards out there. 

A full-sized version of the GMMK, with the cheaper Gateron switches included, plain keycaps, and no wrist rest, or o ring dampeners, will set you back around $130—that’s less than the similarly minimal Ducky One 2 TKL. Only the GMMK has a full set of keys, a fancier metal chassis, and the potential for you to live out your wildest key-switch fantasies.

Not only was the Glorious Modular Mechanical Keyboard the first fully modular board the world had ever seen, it underpins this legacy with a sleek, minimalistic style, and engineering quality that makes the functionality trade-off seem negligible—especially when you consider the leagues of switch customisation it offers. There have been others since, the Wooting One and Two boards, as well as the mighty ErgoDox options, and soon newcomer Mountain will ship its Everest board, but the GMMK is a real tough, simple, and eminently affordable act to follow.

So, although we have our gripes with the creepy Glorious marketing strategy, I’d say that’s a win for the “Legion”. 

For the most part, all-in-one liquid coolers come in three general sizes: 120mm (single fan), 240mm (two fans), and 360mm (three fans). That includes Arctic’s Liquid Freezer II line of AIO coolers, but apparently 360mm was not big enough for some customers, who have been urging the company to go even bigger. And it did, with its new Liquid Freezer II 420.

This is still a three-fan cooling unit, but with larger 140mm fans attached to the radiator instead of 120mm fans, as found on the Liquid Freer II 360 model. It exists because, according to Arctic, fans kept asking, “Will Arctic ever release the Liquid Freezer II in bigger sizes?” Why yes, yes it will.

From end-to-end, the radiator is actually 458mm long, but 420 sounds cooler (and coincides with the combined size of the three 140mm Arctic-P fans). Arctic says it is the company’s largest and most powerful cooler to date, but that’s selling it short. It’s also one of the biggest AIO coolers ever made. The only other 420mm-class AIO I can think of is AlphaCool’s massive and refillable Eisabaer unit. I think a cooling shootout is in order.

Arctic introduced its Liquid Freezer II line last year. The Liquid Freezer II 280 earned an Editor’s Choice award from our friends at Tom’s Hardware, and I can only imagine how much better the new 420 model performs, with a bigger radiator and another fan attached. This is especially enticing as Intel plays fast and loose with power draws in pursuit of higher clocks on its aging 14nm node.

The Liquid Freezer II 420 is compatible with all the modern sockets, among them AM4 for AMD’s Ryzen CPUs, and LGA 1200 for Intel’s Comet Lake processors (plus others like LGA 115x). It also has sleeved cables, integrated cable management, and a PWM controller pump that Arctic says it developed in-house.

While big in size, the Freezer II 420 is only moderate in price—it costs $140 (€120), which undercuts pricing on some of the best CPU coolers. For example, Corsair’s H115i RGB Platinum, our top pick at the moment, is smaller and sells for around $160.