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CNET
a day ago
- CNET
Does Wi-Fi Really Pass Through Walls? Our Experts Tell All
When it comes to your home internet connection, there's one question we get asked quite a bit: Does Wi-Fi travel through walls? The short answer is yes, but the long answer is a bit more complicated. I spoke with several experts, including CNET's Laboratory Technical Project Manager, Gianmarco Chumbe, to find out everything you need to know about how your home's walls can impact your connection. It's a simple question, but it has a big impact on your Wi-Fi connection. "As with any radio signal, attenuation occurs when waves pass through materials like brick, concrete or metal -- or simply over increasing distance," Escalante said. He should know -- our CNET Labs team has spent countless hours testing internet routers for the latest version of our Best Wi-Fi routers page. With the introduction of Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi 6E and the latest standard, Wi-Fi 7, Wi-Fi technology has steadily improved in recent years. An adequate Wi-Fi connection is necessary, yet many people still struggle with their home internet. In a recent CNET broadband survey, 42% of respondents complained about having an unreliable connection. Many factors contribute to an unreliable internet connection, but when it comes to Wi-Fi, there are quick fixes to boost the Wi-Fi connection throughout your home. To optimize your Wi-Fi connection and understand how the technology interacts with the structure of your home, you need to understand how Wi-Fi actually works. Back to the basics Wi-Fi, also known as Wireless Fidelity, is a wireless technology that allows your router to exchange data with multiple devices. This data is transmitted through radio waves. According to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the first version of Wi-Fi was released in 1997 under the 802 family of standards for local area networks. The IEEE designates Wi-Fi as 802.11. Locating local internet providers You'll primarily see three Wi-Fi standards when shopping for routers: Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7. Most smart home devices in your abode are compatible with Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E technology. However, Wi-Fi 7 will produce the fastest speeds and boast the lowest latency of the three. Wi-Fi 7 builds on features from the previous standards. If you have Wi-Fi 6, it'll have the 2.4 and 5GHz bands. Wi-Fi 6E added the 6GHz band, and Wi-Fi 7 doubled its channel size. According to Netgear, "Wi-Fi 7 helps to ensure your home is ready for 10 gigabit internet speeds as they become available." How does Wi-Fi pass through walls? Your router wirelessly exchanges data with other devices nearby through radio waves, which use electromagnetic radiation. As seen from the image below, Wi-Fi operates on these radio waves through the electromagnetic spectrum. VectorMine/Shutterstock According to ScienceABC, electromagnetic waves can pass through a surface; this process is called refraction. This is what allows Wi-Fi to pass through walls. It's worth mentioning that not all forms of electromagnetic radiation can permeate surfaces. Take Li-Fi technology, for instance. Li-Fi uses visible light, another form of electromagnetic radiation, to connect to the internet. Light signals can't pass through walls and other solid objects like Wi-Fi signals can. Wi-Fi can pass through walls, but... The thickness of your walls and the type of material used can obstruct or hinder Wi-Fi signals. According to Mistral Solutions, certain materials, like brick, plaster, cement, metal, stone and double-glazed glass, can obstruct Wi-Fi signals. Depending on the size and layout of your home, you might experience dead zones (areas where your internet signal is virtually nonexistent), laggy or extremely slow internet. While a house full of cement walls would certainly cause problems for your router's Wi-Fi signal, the CNET Labs team determined that for most homes, the wall thickness wasn't the most significant impact on router signal strength after conducting tests. The distance from the router was a bigger determining factor. That said, changing the floor plan of your home may not be an option, but there are simpler things you can do to boost your Wi-Fi connection at home. How to optimize your Wi-Fi Several factors can affect the signal of your internet connection, such as walls, large obstructions and even electronics near your router. Choosing the right router The first step to optimizing your connection is determining whether you're using the right router. In most apartments and smaller homes (under 1,500 feet), a traditional router with a single wireless access point should be enough. CNET's top pick for the best wireless router is the Asus ROG Rapture GT-AX6000. After conducting tests on more than 30 routers, we found it was the only router to receive a top-five score from our throughput tests on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. However, if you own a multistory home and want to prioritize internet coverage throughout, consider upgrading to a mesh router. In some cases, you might need to toss out your old router and upgrade to a new one. Ideally, you should replace your router every five years. If you're in the market for new gear, consider upgrading to a new router or a router equipped with Wi-Fi 6 or the latest Wi-Fi 7. Almost any new device you've purchased in the past five years will be compatible with Wi-Fi 6, but only the latest phones, laptops and gaming consoles can take advantage of Wi-Fi 7. The Wi-Fi band you use matters Most routers are equipped with either 2.4GHz or 5GHz bands, and in some cases, they will come equipped with both. However, if your priority is to ensure that your internet connection reaches all areas of your home, choose a router with a 2.4GHz band. Here's why. CNET broadband expert Joe Supan recently visited our CNET labs to help test routers. These tests provided metrics on speed, reliability and performance over distance. Our lab team also measured each router's signal strength and broadcast ability, showing how well data is transmitted through walls and around other electronics. The team marked off more than 61 locations around the lab to measure the performance of each router's 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequency bands. Though the 5GHz might offer you faster speeds, test results show that the 2.4GHz band has a better range. "Most routers will automatically steer your traffic to the optimal band, but you can also set up separate Wi-Fi networks for each band if you want to prioritize devices like a gaming console or a work computer on the faster 5GHz band," Supan said. "The important thing to know is whether it has both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands," Supan said. "Most routers will automatically steer your device onto the best one." From left: The 2.4GHz band has better range but slower speeds, while the 5GHz band has faster speeds at close range. Samantha De Leon/CNET The team averaged all the data from the tests in a summary table. They then combined the scores to get one throughput metric for each frequency band. The data shows that routers with a 2.4GHz band outperformed those with a 5GHz band at long distances. Keep in mind that the typical indoor broadcast range of a router is 150 to 300 feet, according to the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team. Read more: How we test Wi-Fi routers Router placement is key In some cases, you may not need to take a dramatic step like getting rid of your router. Chances are, you may just be putting it in the wrong spot. According to two technicians, here are five of the worst areas to place your router: On the floor Behind the couch In the basement Inside cabinets Near another Wi-Fi router The ideal spot for your router should always be centrally located in your home. Keep in mind that placing your router in an area with large metal objects, nearby electronics or many walls can interfere with your Wi-Fi signal. If you can, try mounting your router high on the wall or raising it on a bookshelf. Adjusting your Wi-Fi antennas If you own a router that has antennas, positioning these antennas properly can improve your signal. If there are two or more antennas on your router, don't position them all in the same direction. The antennas should be perpendicular to one another -- one should be horizontal and the other should be vertical. If that still doesn't make a difference, try experimenting with placing the antennas at several different angles. During this process, run several internet speed tests to note the differences with each antenna configuration. CNET's top pick for the best speed test overall is Ookla for its consistency and reliability. (Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.) Invest in a Wi-Fi extender A Wi-Fi extender will typically be a cheaper alternative to a mesh router if you're still experiencing laggy internet and dead zones after repositioning your router. Similar to a mesh router system, a Wi-Fi extender will help boost your speeds throughout your home. CNET's top pick for the best Wi-Fi extender is the Linksys RE7310. When tested, it delivered plenty of speeds, and it supports Wi-Fi 6 technology. If there are one or more rooms in your home that are dead zones, then a Wi-Fi extender could help improve the signal in these areas. You can either plug your extender into your router or into an outlet on your wall. If you live in a larger home and are facing issues with your connection, then a mesh router would be a better option. Yes, Wi-Fi can travel through walls, but it's not magic Yes, Wi-Fi technology allows your home internet connection to pass through walls, but you still need to take steps to optimize your Wi-Fi connectivity. The thickness of a wall can interfere with your internet signal, leaving you with dead zones in your home. Other factors, such as large objects and nearby electronics, can also cause your broadband connection to suffer. As far as walls are concerned, of course, changing the layout of your home may not be an option. And before you make a hasty decision such as canceling your internet service or switching internet service providers, you can first try optimizing your Wi-Fi connection through the tips outlined on this page. If you're still running into trouble, then maybe it's time to consider whether you're facing a larger issue, such as throttled speeds from your ISP. FAQ: Wi-Fi versus your walls Can Wi-Fi travel through walls? Yes, Wi-Fi can pass through walls. Wi-Fi technology operates on the electromagnetic spectrum and transmits data via radio waves. Data from your router is wirelessly transmitted to other devices nearby. Through a process called refraction, Wi-Fi signals are able to permeate walls, allowing your internet to travel throughout your home. However, this doesn't mean that you won't experience interference. The thickness of a wall can obstruct the signal from your router, leaving you with dead zones in your home. Other factors, such as large objects and nearby electronics, can also affect your Wi-Fi connection. Where is the best place to put your router? You should always aim to locate your router at a central spot in your home, away from many walls and large objects. Two technicians shared with CNET the five worst areas to place your router: on the floor, behind the couch, in the basement, inside cabinets and near another Wi-Fi router.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Yahoo
Best Laptops of 2025
We test all kinds of laptops at CNET, from budget models for everyday tasks to high-performance laptops for gaming, content creation and everything in between. Each member of our team has decades of experience testing and reviewing laptops. We conduct performance testing under controlled conditions in the CNET Labs and with extensive hands-on use. This helps us find not only the best laptop overall, but also the best laptop for your needs and in your price range, from a powerhouse gaming laptop to a simple Chromebook for getting work done without emptying your wallet. The Apple MacBook Air M3 has captured the top spot on our list, and now you can get the new M4 version in sky blue for just $999. It's the best laptop for most people. If you're looking for a do-it-all laptop that doesn't sacrifice portability and battery life for performance, I recommend the MacBook Air. It's available in 13- and 15-inch sizes, so you can choose between greater mobility or more workspace. Look for our full review of the M4 MacBook Air soon, but now is a great time to pick up the similar M3 Air -- it's dropped to an all-time-low price of $799 at Amazon. And for students and those on tighter budgets, I suggest the MacBook Air M1 that's still an all-around good pick for only $629. A Windows rival to the MacBook Air has arrived in the form of Microsoft's first Copilot Plus PC. Based on a Qualcomm Snapdragon X CPU, the Surface Laptop 7 offers strong application and AI performance and outstanding battery life. It was the first Windows laptop I've tested with a longer runtime than that of the MacBook Air. With a design that's on par with the Air's, the Surface Laptop 7 is one of the best laptops. So is the Asus Zenbook A14, which is ultralight with an even longer runtime than the Surface Laptop 7. Read more: How We Test Computers" target="_self Best VPN for Windows" target="_self Best VPN for Mac" target="_self There are a lot of Windows laptops. A lot. Which makes it more than a little tricky to narrow it down to just one. The HP Pavilion Plus is exemplary because it can meet the needs of a lot of people while still being affordable. It's available in 14- and 16-inch sizes. We tested the 14-inch model, which is small enough for travel but big enough that you won't feel cramped while working. HP offers AMD and Intel processors, and it can be configured with entry-level discrete graphics too. There are also multiple displays to match your budget, including a beautiful OLED panel. HP has discontinued its Pavilion laptops in favor of the OmniBook brand, and this model is still available at HP with Intel Core Ultra 100 series CPUs. It starts at a discounted price of $650, and the OLED display upgrade adds only $60 to the price. It's rare to find an OLED laptop this cheap. See at HP The Surface Laptop 7 reverses earlier Arm-on-Windows efforts that were plagued by lackluster performance and limited compatibility, with many x86 apps unable to run on an Arm-based system. This time around, performance has improved, and so has compatibility. We saw a strong overall performance from the Snapdragon X Elite processor and jaw-dropping battery life. The Surface Laptop 7 ran for nearly 20 hours in testing -- that's the longest runtime of any 13- or 14-inch laptop we ever reviewed -- including the M3 MacBook Air. The Surface Laptop 7 competes with the MacBook Air not only in performance and battery life but also supplies a similarly sleek and solid build. For general use, you probably don't need the 32GB of RAM of our test system and can save some money and configure the system with 16GB of memory. We wish there was an OLED display option, and you'll need to do a compatibility check for your mission-critical applications before embracing the Arm-based Surface Laptop 7, but if you can get past those hurdles, then you'll get a well-built, good-looking and long-running Windows ultraportable. See at Amazon Despite the availability of the newer -- and better -- M3 and M2 MacBook Air models, the M1 MacBook Air (one of the first to switch from Intel to Apple silicon) stays around, exclusively from Walmart, and that's a good thing. It returned with a price of $699, and it's now discounted to $629. As Apple's entry-level laptop, it's still a good choice for a MacOS laptop for basic everyday use. It has great performance, long battery life and is thin and light. The M1 processor and 8GB of RAM offer enough performance for school work, but you may need to embrace the cloud for storage because the 256GB SSD could fill up quickly, especially if you have a large photo and video library. See at Walmart For just $300, Acer's entry-level Aspire Go 14 holds its own against other budget models that cost twice as much or even more. The design cannot be described as enticing or exciting, but it's functional and unlikely to offend. Performance from the quad-core AMD Ryzen 3 7000 series CPU and 8GB of RAM suffices for basic use, and its battery life is surprisingly long. The 14-inch display features a modern 16:10 aspect ratio and is sufficiently bright, but it suffers from poor viewing angles that might take some getting used to before you settle on the right angle to position the display. Another drawback is the tight storage of the laptop's meager 128GB SSD. Neither drawback is a deal-breaker when you consider the bargain-basement price. The Aspire Go 14 provides great value with its acceptable build quality, capable performance and long battery life. See at Acer Two items help make the Microsoft Surface Pro 11 our favorite two-in-one detachable laptop: Qualcomm's new Snapdragon Elite X processor and an excellent OLED display. The Arm-based CPU delivers competitive performance and far fewer compatibility issues for mainstream use than previous Windows-on-Arm efforts. It helps the Surface Pro 11 deliver a long runtime. The 13-inch OLED display supplies a crisp, 2.8K resolution along with P3 calibration and real HDR capability. It's the best Surface Pro we've seen in a while, but you still have to pay extra for a keyboard and stylus. See at Microsoft Alienware rejiggered its midrange 16-inch m16 to fit more comfortably into its place in the company's gaming laptop universe. That meant lowering its configurations and redesigning it to meet the lower price target buyer. It's now easier on your wallet and to slip into a backpack. There are certainly more powerful gaming laptops, but the m16 meets the needs of a broader audience, so for the moment, it's our top pick. The line starts at $1,499 with the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, GeForce RTX 4050, 16GB DDR5-5600, 1TB SSD and the basic single-zone RGB keyboard. The only display available is the sRGB 16-inch, 2,560x1,600, 120Hz/240Hz dynamically switchable model. Bumping to an RTX 4060 costs $100 and to the RTX 4070 another $200. 32GB of RAM adds $150, or $250 over that for 64GB. See at Dell Like other gaming laptop makers, Acer has two lines: the budget-friendly Nitro series under the Acer brand and midrange and premium models that carry the Predator label. Oddly enough, it's under the latter you'll find our budget gaming pick: the Helios Neo 16. It is strikingly similar to the Acer Nitro 16 but with slightly better build quality and graphics performance from its RTX 4050 GPU. The only place it really faltered was its speakers, which put out disappointingly flat audio with nonexistent bass. The Predator Helios Neo 16 currently costs $1,200. That is high for a budget gaming laptop. The trick is to be patient and wait for a sale, which happens regularly, and the price drops below $1,000 where it's a good deal for a system that has any type of Nvidia RTX graphics. See at Amazon Apple's latest update its 16-inch MacBook Pro delivers M4, M4 Pro and M4 Max processors along with an improved webcam and an optional nano-texture nonreflective finish for the display. The design remains unchanged from the previous version, but under the hood, the new M4 Pro chip offers better overall performance and, in particular, big gains in multicore and rendering performance. Like the previous series, the 16-inch MacBook Pro with the M4 Pro processor starts at $2,499, and the M4 Max model starts at $3,499. The previous M3 Pro version won our Editors' Choice for its excellent combination of design, performance and battery life. We are currently testing the latest M4 Pro model and will have a final rating soon, but you can expect the 16-inch MacBook Pro to continue to be among our favorites for graphics pros and creators. See at Amazon This new Chromebook Plus model delivers good performance and even better battery life along with a respectably bright display with a matte finish to limit glare. It has more storage than you'd typically find at its price. The model we reviewed lacked keyboard backlighting, which was a bit of a bummer, but Acer does sell models with a backlit keyboard that aren't that much more expensive. It's a fixed configuration based on an Intel Core i3-N305 CPU and 8GB of RAM. Those specs might seem underpowered but suffice for ChromeOS, which is must more lightweight than Windows. With its mix of features and performance for the price, it's easy to recommend for school, work or home. See at Amazon Acer Swift 16 AI: It's thin. It's light. It's long-running. And it boasts a big, bright 16-inch OLED display. So, what's holding this Copilot Plus PC back from being more than just a big-screen productivity machine? HP Pavilion Aero 13: When it comes to runtime, Snapdragon X laptops and the MacBook Air run laps around it. Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3i: It's thin and light for its size, but a short runtime and a few design miscues make this a low-cost laptop to skip. Acer Swift Go 14 AI: This Snapdragon X-powered laptop can run all day, but its overall look might put you to sleep. Acer Swift 14 AI: It's a long-lasting if basic Copilot Plus PC, but do we really need an AI indicator light on the touchpad? Apple M4 MacBook Pro: Faster than ever, and the matte display option wows. Lenovo ThinkBook 14 2-in-1 Gen 4: I wish you could upgrade the display, but this low-cost two-in-one business laptop lets you add more RAM and a second SSD after purchase to extend your investment. Lenovo Yoga 7 16 Gen 9: Lenovo's 16-inch convertible is a good budget buy, but it's better as a secondary machine than your daily driver. Lenovo Yoga 9i 14 Gen 9: Lenovo's flagship two-in-one has AV advantages over its midrange sibling, but you'll pay a premium price for the OLED display and quad speakers. Asus Zenbook S 14: Intel's Core Ultra Series 2 processors show improvement from the first generation, but Apple's and Qualcomm's ARM-based chips still lead the way. HP OmniBook X 14: The latest Copilot Plus PC runs for more hours than there are hours in a day. Lenovo LOQ 15IAX9I: It's super cheap, with a dedicated Intel Arc GPU that lends it a wee bit of 3D muscle for casual 1080p play. Asus ROG Zephyrus G16: It's a top gaming laptop for creators too. Dell Inspiron 2-in-1 7445: A dim display dulls Dell's otherwise well-rounded, AI-equipped and affordable 14-inch convertible laptop. Acer Swift X 14 (2024): The design won't wow you, but the 14.5-inch OLED display powered by RTX 4070 graphics is a great combo for on-the-go content creation. Dell Inspiron 16 Plus 7640: Content creators may bemoan the display choices, but this midtier, 16-inch laptop offers well-rounded performance from its Core Ultra chip and RTX graphics. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 16: Lenovo makes strides with its second foldable-display laptop, but further refinements are still needed before it's ready for the masses. Asus Zenbook 14 OLED Q425: It's a boon to get an OLED display in such a portable package with great battery life for roughly $1,000, but the fit and finish feel decidedly midrange. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12: The latest X1 Carbon has many charms, but they will remain out of reach for many business buyers constrained by budgets. Dell XPS 16 9640: Dell's new 16-inch XPS model offers a unique design backed by strong performance and surprisingly long battery life. Just be prepared to pay for its many configurable charms. Alienware m18 R2 Gaming Laptop: When you're this big, the sky's the limit. Dell XPS 14 9440: The radical look is sure to turn heads, but some of the daring design elements could be turn-offs. HP Omen Transcend 14: Neither a featureless slab nor a carnival of lights, HP's latest 14-inch Omen has its own unique flair. It doesn't scrimp on substance either. Lenovo Slim 7i: With an OLED display and a solid build, this is a rugged option for mainstream shoppers, but other touches are decidedly midrange. The review process for laptops consists of two parts: performance testing under controlled conditions in the CNET Labs and extensive hands-on use by our reviewers. This includes evaluating a device's aesthetics, ergonomics and features with respect to price. A final review verdict is a combination of both objective and subjective judgments. We test all laptops with a core set of benchmarks, including Primate Labs Geekbench 5 and 6, Cinebench R23, PCMark 10, a variety of 3DMark benchmarks (whichever can run on the laptop), UL Procyon Photo and Video (where supported), and our own battery life test. If a laptop is intended for gaming, we'll also run benchmarks from Guardians of the Galaxy, The Rift Breaker (CPU and GPU) and Shadow of the Tomb Raider. For the hands-on, the reviewer uses it for their work during the review period, evaluating how well the design, features (such as the screen, camera and speakers) and manufacturer-supplied software operate as a cohesive whole. We also place importance on how well they work given their cost and where the manufacturer has potentially made upgrades or tradeoffs for its price. The list of benchmarking software and comparison criteria we use changes over time as the devices we test evolve. You can find a more detailed description of our test methodology on our How We Test Computers page. Amazon's Prime Day is a great time to find a laptop at a great price. Other times of the year when you can find the best laptop deals are during back-to-school sales in late summer or early fall and a bit later in the year during Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. You can find discounts on laptops throughout the year, but if you're looking for the best deal and can afford to wait, these are typically the best times to buy one. Apple's MacBooks are the most popular laptops and for good reason. They offer excellent build quality and leading performance and battery life ever since Apple introduced its M series processors in 2020. The top two brands on the Windows side are Lenovo and HP. Both offer a wide variety of models, from thin-and-light ultraportables to larger, more powerful models for gaming content creation. Lenovo's ThinkPads have long been a favorite among business laptops, and its Yoga models are usually highly rated two-in-one laptops. HP is in the middle of a branding transformation. It's ended its Pavilion, Envy and Spectre laptop brands in favor of OmniBook consumer models and EliteBook business models. Its Omen brand will continue as the home for its gaming laptops. I liked the first OmniBook laptop I reviewed and look forward to testing more. There are a ton of laptops on the market at any given moment, and almost all of those models are available in multiple configurations to match your performance and budget needs. If you're feeling overwhelmed with options when looking for a new laptop, it's understandable. To help simplify things for you, here are the main things you should consider when you start looking. The search for a new laptop for most people starts with price. If the statistics chipmaker Intel and PC manufacturers hurl at us are correct, you'll be holding onto your next laptop for at least three years. If you can afford to stretch your budget a little to get better specs, do it. That stands whether you're spending $500 or more than $1,000. In the past, you could get away with spending less upfront with an eye toward upgrading memory and storage in the future. Laptop makers are increasingly moving away from making components easily upgradable, so again, it's best to get as much laptop as you can afford from the start. Generally speaking, the more you spend, the better the laptop. That could mean better components for faster performance, a nicer display, sturdier build quality, a smaller or lighter design from higher-end materials or even a more comfortable keyboard. All of these things add to the cost of a laptop. I'd love to say $500 will get you a powerful gaming laptop, for example, but that's not the case. Right now, the sweet spot for a reliable laptop that can handle average work, home office or school tasks is between $700 and $800 and a reasonable model for creative work or gaming is upward of about $1,000. The key is to look for discounts on models in all price ranges so you can get more laptop capabilities for less. Choosing an operating system is part personal preference and part budget. For the most part, Microsoft Windows and Apple's MacOS do the same things (except for gaming, where Windows is the winner), but they do them differently. Unless there's an OS-specific application you need, go with the one you feel most comfortable using. If you're not sure which that is, head to an Apple store or a local electronics store and test them out. Or ask friends or family to let you test theirs for a bit. If you have an iPhone or iPad and like it, chances are you'll like MacOS, too. When it comes to price and variety (and PC gaming), Windows laptops win. If you want MacOS, you're getting a MacBook. Apple's MacBooks regularly top our best lists, the least expensive one is the M1 MacBook Air for $999. It is regularly discounted to $750 or $800, but if you want a cheaper MacBook, you'll have to consider older refurbished ones. Windows laptops can be found for as little as a couple of hundred dollars and come in all manner of sizes and designs. Granted, we'd be hard-pressed to find a $200 laptop we'd give a full-throated recommendation to, but if you need a laptop for online shopping, email and word processing, they exist. If you are on a tight budget, consider a Chromebook. ChromeOS is a different experience than Windows; make sure the applications you need have a Chrome, Android or Linux app before making the leap. If you spend most of your time roaming the web, writing, streaming video or using cloud-gaming services, they're a good fit. Remember to consider whether having a lighter, thinner laptop or a touchscreen laptop with a good battery life will be important to you in the future. Size is primarily determined by the screen -- hello, laws of physics -- which in turn factors into battery size, laptop thickness, weight and price. Keep in mind other physics-related characteristics, such as an ultrathin laptop isn't necessarily lighter than a thick one, you can't expect a wide array of connections on a small or ultrathin model and so on. When it comes to deciding on a screen, there are a myriad number of considerations: how much you need to display (which is surprisingly more about resolution than screen size), what types of content you'll be looking at and whether or not you'll be using it for gaming or creative work. You really want to optimize pixel density; that is, the number of pixels per inch the screen can display. Although other factors contribute to sharpness, a higher pixel density usually means a sharper rendering of text and interface elements. (You can easily calculate the pixel density of any screen at DPI Calculator if you don't feel like doing the math, and you can also find out what math you need to do there.) I recommend a dot pitch of at least 100 pixels per inch as a rule of thumb. Because of the way Windows and MacOS scale for the display, you're frequently better off with a higher resolution than you'd think. You can always make things bigger on a high-resolution screen, but you can never make them smaller -- to fit more content in the view -- on a low-resolution screen. This is why a 4K, 14-inch screen may sound like unnecessary overkill, but may not be if you need to, say, view a wide spreadsheet. If you need a laptop with relatively accurate color, that displays the most colors possible or that supports HDR, you can't simply trust the specs -- not because manufacturers lie, but because they usually fail to provide the necessary context to understand what the specs they quote mean. You can find a ton of detail about considerations for different types of screen uses in our monitor buying guides for general purpose monitors, creators, gamers and HDR viewing. The processor, aka the CPU, is the brains of a laptop. Intel and AMD are the main CPU makers for Windows laptops, with Qualcomm as a new third option with its Arm-based Snapdragon X processors. Both Intel and AMD offer a staggering selection of mobile processors. Making things trickier, both manufacturers have chips designed for different laptop styles, like power-saving chips for ultraportables or faster processors for gaming laptops. Their naming conventions will let you know what type is used. You can head to Intel's or AMD's sites for explanations so you get the performance you want. Generally speaking, the faster the processor speed and the more cores it has, the better the performance will be. Apple makes its own chips for MacBooks, which makes things slightly more straightforward. Like Intel and AMD, you'll still want to pay attention to the naming conventions to know what kind of performance to expect. Apple uses its M-series chipsets in Macs. The entry-level MacBook Air uses an M1 chip with an eight-core CPU and seven-core GPU. The current models have M2-series silicon that starts with an eight-core CPU and 10-core GPU and goes up to the M2 Max with a 12-core CPU and a 38-core GPU. Again, generally speaking, the more cores it has, the better the performance. Battery life has less to do with the number of cores and more to do with CPU architecture, Arm versus x86. Apple's Arm-based MacBooks and the first Arm-based Copilot Plus PCs we've tested offer better battery life than laptops based on x86 processors from Intel and AMD. The graphics processor handles all the work of driving the screen and generating what gets displayed, as well as speeding up a lot of graphics-related (and increasingly, AI-related) operations. For Windows laptops, there are two types of GPUs: integrated (iGPU) or discrete (dGPU). As the names imply, an iGPU is part of the CPU package, while a dGPU is a separate chip with dedicated memory (VRAM) that it communicates with directly, making it faster than sharing memory with the CPU. Because the iGPU splits space, memory and power with the CPU, it's constrained by the limits of those. It allows for smaller, lighter laptops, but doesn't perform nearly as well as a dGPU. There are some games and creative software that won't run unless they detect a dGPU or sufficient VRAM. Most productivity software, video streaming, web browsing and other nonspecialized apps will run fine on an iGPU. For more power-hungry graphics needs, like video editing, gaming and streaming, design and so on, you'll need a dGPU; there are only two real companies that make them, Nvidia and AMD, with Intel offering some based on the Xe-branded (or the older UHD Graphics branding) iGPU technology in its CPUs. For memory, I highly recommend 16GB of RAM (8GB absolute minimum). RAM is where the operating system stores all the data for currently running applications, and it can fill up fast. After that, it starts swapping between RAM and SSD, which is slower. A lot of sub-$500 laptops have 4GB or 8GB, which in conjunction with a slower disk can make for a frustratingly slow Windows laptop experience. Also, many laptops now have the memory soldered onto the motherboard. Most manufacturers disclose this, but if the RAM type is LPDDR, assume it's soldered and can't be upgraded. Some PC makers will solder memory on and also leave an empty internal slot for adding a stick of RAM. You may need to contact the laptop manufacturer or find the laptop's full specs online to confirm. Check the web for user experiences, because the slot may still be hard to get to, it may require nonstandard or hard-to-get memory or other pitfalls. You'll still find cheaper hard drives in budget laptops and larger hard drives in gaming laptops, but faster solid-state drives have all but replaced hard drives in laptops. They can make a big difference in performance. Not all SSDs are equally speedy, and cheaper laptops typically have slower drives; if the laptop only has 4GB or 8GB of RAM, it may end up swapping to that drive and the system may slow down quickly while you're working. Get what you can afford, and if you need to go with a smaller drive, you can always add an external drive or two down the road or use cloud storage to bolster a small internal drive. The one exception is gaming laptops: I don't recommend going with less than a 512GB SSD unless you really like uninstalling games every time you want to play a new game.
Yahoo
01-03-2025
- Yahoo
Best Desktop Computer for 2025: Top Picks for Macs and PCs
Desktop PCs still pass through the CNET Labs occasionally, but laptops occupy most of our editors' time and effort with CNET's hands-on reviews. Because we test far more laptops than desktops, some of our current desktop recommendations are based on previous versions that we tested and reviewed. We also have general PC configuration suggestions that we haven't specifically tested but are based on our experience with similarly configured computers. These guidelines should be helpful if you're looking for the best value when customizing a PC to order. The best desktop for most people is Apple's new M4-based iMac. It integrates the display and offers everything you could want in an all-in-one. For a reasonable sum, the iMac provides a fantastic design centered on a high-resolution, 24-inch display powered by Apple's new M4 processor. Performance from Apple's latest silicon is, without a doubt, impressive on all counts. If you need more screen space than you'd get with a laptop, the 24-inch iMac gives you added room on which to work and play. Yet, with its compact design and power cable that magnetically pops into place, the iMac is easy to relocate from room to room. The computer is also available in seven fun colors with accessories to match. If you're looking for a traditional tower desktop or a small-form-factor PC instead of an all-in-one like the iMac, then keep reading because we also have recommendations for those. We'll update this best desktop computer list periodically. If you're dissatisfied with the lack of configuration options available for prebuilt gaming desktops, going with a custom builder is the best way to sate your appetite. The cost of a custom-configured system that's fully decked out might be too costly for PC users. Many people don't need everything maxed out, even for gaming, but you can get reasonable configurations for about half the price of the $5,000-plus system we tested. Origin PC builds good, solid systems. Unless you're looking for something dirt cheap, you'll be able to put together something you like at a price you can tolerate. Origin's Neuron series starts at around $2,000, and the high-end Genesis line begins at roughly double that. A pre-configured Origin Genesis 5000D, for example, costs $5,611 and features a Core i9-14900K, 64GB of RAM and GeForce RTX 4090 graphics. See at Origin The Mac Pro has long been the top dog in Apple's computer lineup but starts at a whopping $6,999. By comparison, the mainstream Mac Studio is far more affordable, starting at a reasonable $1,999. The baseline Mac Studio model features Apple's M2 Max processor, 32GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. The step-up $3,999 model bumps you up to the more powerful M2 Ultra chip while doubling the RAM and SSD capacity. Either model is essentially a Mac Mini on steroids, and for anyone who doesn't want to shell out for a Mac Pro, it's a great pick for running creative-centric Mac apps, including animation, graphics, video-editing and audio-editing software. Be aware, however, that the Mac Studio is expected to get an M4 update sometime next year. See at Best Buy The review process for desktops consists of two parts: performance testing under controlled conditions in the CNET Labs and extensive hands-on use by our reviewers. This includes evaluating a device's aesthetics, ergonomics and features with respect to price. A final review verdict is a combination of both objective and subjective judgments. We test all desktops with a core set of benchmarks, including Primate Labs Geekbench 5 and 6, Cinebench R23, PCMark 10, a variety of 3DMark benchmarks (whichever can run on the desktop), UL Procyon Photo and Video (where supported), and our own battery life test. If a desktop is intended for gaming, we'll also run benchmarks from Guardians of the Galaxy, The Rift Breaker (CPU and GPU) and Shadow of the Tomb Raider. For the hands-on, the reviewer uses it for their work during the review period, evaluating how well the design, features (such as the screen, camera and speakers) and manufacturer-supplied software operate as a cohesive whole. We also place importance on how well they work given their cost and where the manufacturer has potentially made upgrades or tradeoffs for its price. The list of benchmarking software and comparison criteria we use changes over time as the devices we test evolve. You can find a more detailed description of our test methodology on our page on how we test computers. You can find a good PC tower from brands like Acer, Asus, Dell or HP for between $500 and $600 that will prove useful for years for general use. The specs we'd suggest for a basic Windows 11 machine: Intel Core i5 (13th- or 14th-gen) or AMD Ryzen 5 (6000, 7000 or 8000 series) Default integrated graphics (such as Intel UHD or Iris or baseline AMD Radeon) 16GB of RAM or more 512GB or larger NVMe SSD drive Four or more USB 3.1 or 3.2 ports with USB-C and USB-A formats (at least one or two on the front) Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless At least one PCI-E (x16) expansion slot (for adding a video card) Do you want to do some PC gaming, or do you spend time editing photos or videos? You'll want to level up the configuration with more RAM and better graphics options. Expect price points to be between $800 and $1,200 (or even higher) if you go for a more bleeding-edge video card. Nvidia RTX or AMD Radeon RX graphics card (GPU) 16GB of RAM or more 450-watt (or more) power supply Microsoft Windows and Apple's MacOS do basically the same things, but they do them differently. Unless there's an OS-specific application you need, go with the one you feel most comfortable using. Most desktops run Microsoft Windows while Apple's iMac, Mac Mini, Mac Studio and Mac Pro desktops feature Apple's MacOS. There is also the odd Chromebox offering based on Google's ChromeOS. A Chromebox is easier to use and usually cheaper than a Windows PC or Mac but can't run Windows or Mac software. The processor, aka the CPU, is the brain of a desktop. Intel and AMD are the main CPU makers for Windows desktops. Both offer a staggering selection of processors. You can head to Intel's or AMD's sites for explanations so you get the performance you want. Intel's current lineup is its 13th generation of Core chips, with 14th-gen processors expected in early 2024. AMD's current desktop processor is its Ryzen 7000 series. Generally speaking, though, the faster the processor speed and the more cores it has, the better the performance will be. Apple makes its own chips for Macs, which makes things slightly more straightforward. The iMac and Mac Mini feature Apple's latest M4 processor. The Mac Studio features either an M2 Max or M2 Ultra, while the Mac Pro is based on the M2 Ultra. Again, generally speaking, the more cores it has, the better the performance. The graphics processor (GPU) handles all the work of driving the screen and generating what gets displayed, as well as speeding up a lot of graphics-related (and increasingly, AI-related) operations. For Macs, Apple's M series processors integrate the GPU. For Windows desktops, there are two types of GPUs: integrated (iGPU) or discrete (dGPU). As the names imply, an iGPU is part of the CPU package, while a dGPU is a separate chip with dedicated memory (VRAM) that it communicates with directly, making it faster than sharing memory with the CPU. Because the iGPU splits space, memory and power with the CPU, it's constrained by the limits of those. It allows for smaller desktops such as an all-in-one or SFF PC but doesn't perform nearly as well as a dGPU. In fact, there are some games and creative software that won't run unless they detect a dGPU or sufficient VRAM. Most productivity software, video streaming, web browsing and other nonspecialized apps will run fine on an iGPU. For power-hungry graphics needs, like video editing, gaming and streaming, design and so on, you'll need a dGPU. Only two real companies make them: Nvidia and AMD, although Intel offers some based on the Xe-branded (or the older UHD Graphics branding) iGPU technology in its CPUs. For memory, we highly recommend a minimum of 16GB of RAM. RAM is where the operating system stores all the data for currently running applications, and it can fill up fast. After that, it starts swapping between RAM and SSD, which is slower. Some lower-end models supply only 8GB, which in conjunction with a slower disk can make for a frustratingly slow Windows experience. Tower PCs will usually have free internal slots for adding more sticks of RAM, but all-in-ones and SFF PCs may not. Even if they do, those DIMM slots could be difficult to access. You may still find a cheaper hard drive in a budget desktop and larger hard drives in gaming PCs, but faster solid-state drives (SSDs) have all but replaced hard drives. They can make a big difference in performance. Not all SSDs are equally speedy, and cheaper desktops typically have slower drives. If your PC has only 8GB of RAM, it may end up switching to that drive and the system may slow down quickly while you're working. Get what you can afford, but we recommend a minimum of 512GB for a desktop for most users. For storing large media or game libraries, we suggest 1TB or more. If you need to go with a smaller drive, you can usually add a second internal drive to a tower PC. For all-in-ones and SFF PCs, an external drive or cloud storage is usually the easier choice to bolster a small internal drive. An all-in-one integrates the display with the computer's components placed not in a tower or small-form-factor enclosure but behind the display or in its base. The trade-off for this space-saving, streamlined design is fewer options for upgrades. For the display, you'll want a large screen with good resolution. The sweet spots we'd suggest are: 24 inches at 1,920x1,080 pixels (aka 2K or 1080p) 27 inches at 2,560x1,440 pixels (aka 1440p) 32 inches at 3,840x2,160 pixels (aka 4K) Outside of Prime Day and Black Friday sales, there are certain times of the year when you are more likely to find a good desktop deal, or the latest tech -- sometimes both. January is a good time to find a post-holiday deal, and January is also the month when new models with new components are usually announced at CES. There is generally a lead time before those new models are released. Most often they become available in the spring. In the spring months, you will not only find the latest desktops with the latest CPUs from Intel and AMD and the latest GPUs from Nvidia and AMD, but you can also find discounts on older models that are suddenly relegated to previous-gen status but are still far from being classified as outdated. The next month to keep an eye out for desktop deals is July, when retailers begin to offer back-to-school sales. Those sales will run through August and into September. This is not to say you can't lock in a solid desktop deal on any given day of the year. The large manufacturers such as Dell, HP and Lenovo constantly rotate sales on their sites, and retailers including Amazon, Best Buy and Newegg offer discounts weekly. Following the debut of the Mac Mini in 2005, Windows PC makers experimented with similarly tiny designs. In the wake of likable small models like the Acer Revo One and HP Pavilion Mini, we even saw (woefully underpowered) "PC on a stick" offerings starting in 2015, but interest seems to have ebbed since then. Outside of specialty vendors like Beelink, the best choices in this mini PC size are probably the Intel NUC (Next Unit of Computing), most of which are sold as hobbyist options, requiring some BYO additions like user-supplied storage, RAM and other components -- including the operating system. See more bare-bones Mini PCs at Newegg. If you're looking for basic computing (browsing the web, email, social media, YouTube and the like), the Chrome operating system is the most affordable route for home computing. This Google operating system effectively is little more than the Chrome web browser. That makes it easy for multiple users (only a Gmail address is needed to log in), and -- because there's no heavy operating system beyond the browser -- viruses aren't really an issue. Colloquially known as "Chromeboxes" (versus a "Chromebook" laptop), these systems don't have beefy CPUs, RAM or storage requirements. That said, if you need any software beyond browser-based web apps, or if you don't have excellent broadband, you'll want to stick with the Windows or Mac options above. Before you spend any money, check out the free version of the operating system known as ChromeOS Flex, which you can install on most old PCs (including running it from an attached USB drive). If that's not an option and you want to buy new, expect to pay between $200 and $500 for a Chrome-based desktop. The closer you get to that $500 price point, the more you should consider stepping up to a Chromebook laptop or a basic Windows tower (see above) for just a bit more. See Chromebox options at Newegg. No; Windows, Mac and ChromeOS aren't your only operating system options. Linux has a wide range of operating systems, many of which are effectively free. You can get PCs with Linux preinstalled, but the better, more affordable option is probably installing it (or dual-booting) on a used Windows PC. See Linux PC options at Newegg. You may have heard of a small computer that's no bigger than a paperback book and can be purchased for about $150. That's the Raspberry Pi, and it's 100% real and very cool, especially if you're a hobbyist looking to build your own Lego-style computer and install custom Linux operating systems. We just wouldn't recommend it as a primary computer if you're looking to run mainstream software. See the Raspberry Pi 4 kit at Amazon. We recommend a minimum of 16GB of RAM and 512GB of solid-state storage. Content creators and gamers would benefit from doubling the RAM to 32GB and the SSD to 1TB. Demanding graphics apps and 3D games will run more smoothly with the added RAM, and the added storage capacity will allow you to store large graphics files and game files. On larger desktops, you usually have room to add more memory and additional storage drives, but that expansion room is less likely on an SFF PC or all-in-one.
