2020-09-01 PCWorld

HOW IT TRANSFORMED

WINDOWS 10 AT 5 YEARS THEPERSONALCOMPUTER

SEPTEMBER 2020

SAMSUNG

GALAXY

NOTE 20

WOULD YOU SPEND

$1,000 ON THIS

PHONE?

≥

INSIDE

WHY YOUR
LAPTOP’S SD
CARD READER

MIGHT BE
TERRIBLE









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CONTENTS

» DEPARTMENTS SEPTEMBER 2020

» FEATURES

ƺ News

ƶƶ Reviews & Ratings ƺƳ Windows 10 at 5 years

ƻƼ Here’s How

ƴƴƳ Tech Spotlight ƻƴ Why your laptop’s SD card reader might be terrible

COVER IMAGE COURTESY OF SAMSUNG SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 3

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4 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020

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SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 5

Coronavirus.org Artwork by Shepard Fairey | Amplifier.org

News TECH NEWS AND TRENDS THAT WILL
AFFECT YOU TODAY AND BEYOND.

3 reasons to spend $1,000 on
the Samsung Galaxy Note 20,
and 3 reasons not to

Newer isn’t necessarily better. BY MICHAEL SIMON

Y ou might think the new $1,000 pricier sibling, the Galaxy Note 20 shares
Galaxy Note 20 and $1,000 very little with the Note 20 Ultra. Samsung
Galaxy S20 are two peas in the has set the cheaper Galaxy Note 20 apart
same pod as “affordable” from both the Note 20 Ultra and the Galaxy
counterparts to their high-priced Ultra S20 Ultra with a number of changes, many of
siblings. They’re not. which might make buyers think twice about
buying one. Here’s why your thousand bucks
While the Galaxy S20 is basically a might be better spent on the slightly older
smaller version of the S20 Ultra, with the Galaxy S20—or not.
same chip, RAM, and screen tech as its

IMAGE: ALEX WALKER-TODD SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 7

NEWS 3 REASONS TO BUY A NOTE 20 & 3 REASONS NOT TO

...BUT THE GALAXY
NOTE 20 HAS LESS RAM

Like the Galaxy S20, the Galaxy Note
20 Ultra is loaded with 12GB of speedy
LPDDR5 RAM, but that’s not the case
for the Galaxy Note 20. The “cheaper”
Note 20 only has 8GB of RAM, so you
won’t be able to keep as many apps
open at one time or lock any of them to
the RAM for instant loading. Granted,
8GB is plenty for a phone—and the
Ultra still has 12GB of RAM—but if
you’re paying the same price, you’d
expect the same RAM.

The Note 20 (right) is just a little smaller than the Note 20 THE GALAXY NOTE 20
Ultra but it’s missing a lot of features. HAS A NEW SPEEDY S

PEN STYLUS…

THE GALAXY NOTE 20’S The main reason for the existence of the Note

PROCESSOR IS FASTER line is its onboard S Pen stylus, and Samsung

THAN THE S20’S… has made it even better on the Galaxy Note

For the first time since Samsung has

been using Snapdragon processors in

the United States, the Galaxy Note

has a faster processor than the Galaxy

S. Samsung has opted to outfit the

Galaxy Note 20 with the Snapdragon

865+ processor, which brings a 10

percent boost in speed and graphics.

Whether that translates into a

performance boost that you can feel

is another story, but anyone who buys

a Note 20 will have the best chip The new Notes app gives the Note 20’s S Pen super writing
Samsung ever shipped. and drawing powers.

8 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020

20. Latency has been reduced all the way all models of the Galaxy S20 can expand their
down to 9ms, so writing will feel as natural as storage up to a terabyte with a microSD card,
using an actual pen, and it has a whole you’re stuck with 128GB of fixed storage with
assortment of new tricks, including air the Note 20.
gestures, PDF annotation in Notes, and
enhanced handwriting recognition. YOU CAN WIRELESSLY
CONNECT THE GALAXY
…BUT YOU CAN’T EXPAND NOTE 20 TO AN EXTERNAL
THE GALAXY NOTE 20’S SCREEN…
STORAGE
DeX has been one of the more underrated
The Galaxy Note line is generally synonymous features of Samsung’s premium Galaxy
with power users and productivity, but the phones, letting you turn your phone into a
Note 20 is missing several high-end features, mini PC with mouse and keyboard support,
including an expandable memory slot. While and bona fide desktop experience. What

You can beam your Note 20 to a larger screen without wires.

SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 9

NEWS 3 REASONS TO BUY A NOTE 20 & 3 REASONS NOT TO

started as a full dock turned into a charging could be one of Samsung’s longest-lasting

pad, then a cable, and now you don’t need flagships in years.

any extra equipment at all. If you have a TV or …BUT THE EXACT SAME
monitor with Miracast support, you can beam CAMERA AS THE GALAXY
your Galaxy Note 20 to it with just a tap. S20

…BUT THE GALAXY NOTE While Samsung has added laser autofocus
20’S SCREEN IS SLOWER
THAN THE S20’S and refined the Space Zoom system on the

Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, the camera on the

The Galaxy S20 was Samsung’s first 120Hz Galaxy Note 20 is identical to the one on the

phone, and we naturally assumed it would S20 released in March:

also come to the Galaxy Note 20. We were Camera 1: 12MP ultra-wide (120

wrong. While the higher-priced Note 20 degrees), f/2.2

Ultra has a fast 120Hz screen, the cheaper Camera 2: 12MP wide, f/1.8, OIS

Note 20 has the old 60Hz one. And while Camera 3: 64MP telephoto, f/2.0

it’s a good deal larger than the S20 (6.7 Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

inches versus 6.2 inches), it also has a lower The Galaxy S20 has one of the best cameras

resolution. this side of the iPhone 11 Pro, so the Galaxy

THE GALAXY NOTE 20 Note 20 will take fantastic photos with very
HAS A BIG BATTERY… little effort. Still, it would have been nice to
get a new feature or two.

The Galaxy Note 20 has a

6.7-inch display and 5G

onboard, so it’s going to need

a big battery to make it

through the day. Samsung has

fitted the Note 20 with a

4,300mAh battery, about 10

percent bigger than the

4,000mAh battery inside the

Galaxy S20. That might not

seem like much, but with

fewer pixels and a 60Hz The Galaxy S20 has the exact same camera as the Note 20—and a
screen, the Galaxy Note 20 very similar bump.

10 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020

Samsung’s new Galaxy Fold Z 2 is
vastly improved, but now it needs
a purpose

Folding still needs to find its focus. BY MICHAEL SIMON

T he follow-up to the Galaxy Fold is Whether that fits into “the new normal”
such a departure from the original Samsung is selling with the Galaxy Note 20 is
beleaguered model that Samsung another story. While Samsung continuously
gave it a new name. The Galaxy Z stressed during Unpacked how its lineup of
Fold 2 would seem to fix much of what was new “power devices” are built for the new
wrong with the original Fold, bringing bigger way of doing things remotely, the original
outside and inside screens, better cameras, Galaxy Fold doesn’t really fit that mold. It’s a
and a smarter design with a stronger screen device for traveling light and convenient, and,
and sturdier hinge. let’s face it, to be seen by others.

IMAGE: SAMSUNG SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 11

NEWS SAMSUNG GALAXY FOLD Z 2

Unpacked devices aren’t

exactly priced to move, so

Samsung’s “new normal”

doesn’t take shrinking

budgets into account. The

Note 20 Ultra starts at

$1,300, the Galaxy Tab

S7+ starts at $850, and

the Galaxy Watch 3 will set

you back at least $400. So

I don’t expect the Z Fold 2

to bring any surprises with

The Galaxy Z Fold 2 has ditched the ugly notch for a hole-punch camera. its price. If anything, it

might cost more.

Even for those able to afford the Fold, it’s But the new Fold isn’t about value. It

primarily an on-the-go, look-at-me device. represents the pinnacle of Samsung’s

The primary selling point is carrying a tablet innovation and its attention and hype are

that can fold down into the size of a phone, certainly deserved. The improvements on the

but with millions of people no longer original model are striking, with the removal

commuting, that use case

isn’t nearly as compelling.

Fewer people are spending

money on new phones, let

alone cutting-edge folding

phones, and a flagship

handset that won’t live up to

its full potential is a tough

sell.

And that’s even if it didn’t

cost a couple of thousand

bucks. It’s possible Samsung

will lower the price to a more

palatable level, but that’s The Galaxy Z Fold 2 has a giant 6.2-inch cover screen that’s just as big
doubtful. The rest of the as the Galaxy S20.

12 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020

The Z Fold 2 competitors. Even with its botched rollout
has a stronger and questionable durability, the original Fold
hinge for finer offered the most promise for a foldable
adjustments.

phone and the Z Fold 2 continues in that vein

with a smart sequel. Folding phones all have

their flaws, but the Galaxy Fold is already

head and shoulders above its closest

competitors from Huawei and Motorola.

Folding phones might not have the wow

factor that they did last year, but the Z Fold 2

creates a solid foundation to build on.

Assuming the glass holds up and the hinge

does its job as well as the Z Flip that launched

of the ugly notch, the introduction of ultra-thin earlier this year, the Z Fold 2 could run off to

glass, and the addition of a 6.2-inch cover an insurmountable lead heading into 2021,

screen that’s two inches bigger than the when the price will hopefully start to come

original and as large as the Galaxy S20. It down to something more reasonable.

opens to an even bigger 7.6-inch display (up Now Samsung just needs to give us a

from 7.3 inches); has a stronger hinge for finer reason to buy one.

adjustments; better

dust protection for

fewer unsightly bumps;

and an overall cleaner

aesthetic, while

retaining the character

of the original.

We’ll need to learn

more about the specs,

but based on what we

know, Samsung has

made needed and

substantial improve-

ments to the Fold and

raised the bar for its The new fold represents the pinnacle of Samsung’s innovation.

SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 13

NEWS

The Google Pixel 4a is a great
phone at a great price, but is it
too late to matter?

Time isn’t on its side. BY MICHAEL SIMON

A t long last and longer rumor, the you’d expect from a Google phone—namely
Google Pixel 4a has arrived, an optimized UI and an excellent camera—it
adding another strong entry to a might be too little, too late. Google has built
very crowded midrange market. an excellent phone for an excellent price, but
As premium phone sales continue to so have so many others. In just the time since
plummet due to the coronavirus, the Pixel 4a it was originally rumored to launch at Google
should be the 2020 value phone to beat, with I/O in May, the Samsung Galaxy A51 (go.
surprisingly good looks and an aggressive pcworld.com/gasr), OnePlus Nord (go.
$349 price tag. pcworld.com/1nrd), and TCL 10 Pro (go.
pcworld.com/tc10)—not to mention the
But while the Pixel 4a brings all the things

14 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020 IMAGE: CHRIS MARTIN

iPhone SE (go.pcworld.com/12th)—have sports a long-in-the-tooth fingerprint scanner,
brought extreme value to the non-premium one of the few remaining phones among its
smartphone market. peers that haven’t gone the optical route.

Since the Pixel 3a (go.pcworld.com/pl3a) The Pixel 4a’s plastic back makes it feel
launched in May 2019, midrange more like a budget phone than a midrange
smartphones have gained bigger screens, one, thanks to its newer competitors. Even if it
better cameras, and more premium features, didn’t come in just one bland color (black),
making it easier for customers to resist the call Google hasn’t done anything to dress it up
of the four-figure titans. Android phone like Samsung’s glossy patterns or Motorola’s
makers have also gotten much better at shimmer. Based on the pictures I’ve seen, it’s
pushing updates. So while there’s enough extremely prone to smudges and scratches,
about the Pixel 4a to make it a very intriguing which isn’t ideal, and it pales in comparison
addition to the Pixel family, it might need to to the luscious glass on the iPhone SE or
offer a little more to lure buyers. Namely, a OnePlus Nord. Altogether, the Pixel 4a looks
months-ago release. and feels cheaper than it should.

CHEAP PRICE AND ONE IS THE
CHEAP PLASTIC LONELIEST CAMERA

The Pixel 4a is the first Pixel phone to feature a Google has decided to go with just a single
hole-punch camera. It certainly looks better camera on the Pixel 4a, which probably won’t
than the bezel-heavy Pixel 3a. The camera is matter in practice. Google works wonders
located in the upper-left corner rather than with its processing and on-device AI, so
the center, so it’ll mess with the status icons, portraits and zooming will be impressive even
but it’s still a huge step forward for the Pixel with the lack of dedicated hardware.
aesthetic.
But there could be a perception issue. Last
But the Pixel 4a is basically playing year’s Pixel 3a was a standout in a sea of
catch-up. Even in the $400 price range, single-camera phones and high-priced
hole-punch displays are old hat. Had the Pixel multi-camera arrays, but now dual- and
4a released in May 2020, that might have triple-camera are the norm across the
been a different story. But after the A71 and spectrum of Android tiers. The Galaxy A51
the Nord and a slew of other Chinese and the Oneplus Nord each have four
handsets, buyers expect the slimmest cameras with dedicated macro and depth
possible bezels thanks to cameras built into lenses. Even the $200 Doogee N21 Pro (go.
the screen, even for $400. Plus, the Pixel 4a pcworld.com/dn21) has a triple-camera

SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 15

NEWS GOOGLE PIXEL 4A: GREAT PHONE AT A GREAT PRICE

setup, as does the upcoming Motorola One be going all-5G with its iPhone 12 lineup,

Fusion Plus (go.pcworld.com/1fsp), which which may include a lower-cost 5.4-inch

also has a Snapdragon 730 processor and a model. So people who wait to get the better

5,000mAh battery for $399. Pixel 4a might be tempted to pick a different

The Pixel 4a will likely be able to beat handset with a more modern design or more

these phones in a head-to-head shootout, but powerful camera array. And Samsung has

it’s still going to be hard to convince buyers announced that the Galaxy A51 5G will be

that a phone with one camera is as capable as available in August (go.pcworld.com/515g)

a phone with three or four cameras in the starting at $500.

same price range. Had the Pixel 3a launched There’s no denying that the Pixel 4a is one

earlier this year, it might have been a different of the best midrange Android phones to

story, but now it’s up against several big-name come along in a while, with premium-level

competitors with much more powerful features, an excellent price, and a top-notch

camera hardware. Android experience. Whether that translates

THE 5G COMPLICATION into sales, however, is another story. Google
has long struggled to get people to notice its

The Pixel 4a’s lack of 5G probably won’t be a Pixel phones. While the 4a should be its best

huge deal for would-be buyers, but Google’s shot, it might have arrived a little too late.

announcement that a 5G model

is on the way in just a couple of

months might make a difference.

The 5G Pixel 4a—which will

likely have the faster Snapdragon

765G on board—will cost just

$499 when it arrives later in the

fall, which will make it one of the

most affordable 5G phones you

can buy.

But it might have some stiff

competition. OnePlus has

teased the arrival of a

5G-powered midrange phone

for U.S. buyers. There are The OnePlus Nord is a compelling release with 5G for not much

abundant rumors that Apple will more than the Pixel 4a.

16 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020

What’s wrong with Intel, and how
to fix it: Former principal engineer,
Francois Piednoël, unloads

Principal engineer who worked on CPUs from the Pentium III to Core i7 says Intel has lost focus,
and is “lucky” AMD can’t make enough CPUs to do more damage. BY GORDON MAH UNG

I n a blunt video posted in early August, “First, Intel is really out of focus,” Piednoël
outspoken former Intel principal said in the nearly hour-long video
engineer Francois Piednoël offered his presentation (go.pcworld.com/hlng). “The
advice on how to “fix” Intel CPUs, leaders of Intel today are not engineers, they
criticized current leadership for not being are not people who understand what to
engineers, said AVX512 was a misadventure, design to the market.”
and declared that it’s only luck AMD hasn’t
grabbed more market share. Piednoël said Intel’s technical decisions
have largely been “nonsense” since 2016.

IMAGE: MARTYN WILLIAMS SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 17

NEWS WHAT’S WRONG WITH INTEL?

Incidentally, Piednoël left Intel in 2017 after AVX512 IS A MISTAKE

serving as a principal engineer and AVX512 is the basis of the DL Boost AI

performance architect for 20 years, working acceleration Intel uses in its Xeon server CPUs,

on CPUs from the Pentium III to the 6th-gen and the technology has found its way into

Core i7. The outspoken engineer often made consumer chips such as the 10th-gen Ice Lake

technical presentations and demonstration laptop CPU. Piednoël flat-out dismissed

pitches to the hardware press, passionately including AVX512 in consumer chips as a

arguing why design decisions made by Intel mistake.

were the right decisions. “You had Skylake and Skylake X for a

Piednoël admitted his information on Intel reason,” Piednoël said. “AVX512 is designed

is essentially “obsolete” and years out of date. for a race of throughput that is lost to the GPU

That also lets him speak freely as nothing he already. There’s two ways to get throughput.

spoke of was from information obtained One is to get the throughput by having larger

under an NDA, he said. Instead, his analysis vectors to your core, and the other way is to

was mostly based on public information that’s have more cores.”

been swirling around Intel. Piednoël, who once told me after Intel’s

The entire video is worth a watch for Pentium 4 misadventure that “we learned you

enthusiasts, but we’ve highlighted his most can’t recompile the world,” seemed to imply

intriguing claims here. the software game wasn’t winning Intel any

battle this time either.

“The state of software out there is

really not favoring going larger

vectors,” Piednoël said in the video.

“In fact, you can see clearly in

Cinebench for example—that is not

one of my favorite benchmarks,

especially for a laptop where it

doesn’t make any sense—but you can

see that AMD is winning the battle of

throughput. It’s because they have

more cores and they can afford to

have more cores.”

Jamming AVX512 functions into a laptop CPU like this 10th- For Piednoël, who basically made a

gen Ice Lake CPU is a mistake, a former Intel engineer said. living for two decades slam dunking on

18 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020

AMD CPUs, that last line must particularly LOSS OF
sting. FOCUS

“Dadi (Pearlmutter) understood that large Another mistake Intel
vectors in consumer electronics like laptop is made was to defocus
bad: 1) More power to deliver it right. 2) the company from its
Almost no software using it, create larger core business of making
cores. 3) Good for throughput benchmarks,” fast CPUs, Piednoël
Piednoël said. “Who needs this on laptop?” said.

Piednoël said the decision to pursue Intel went on a
AVX512 in consumer chips has made the dies diversified buying spree
larger and has high power costs. Intel CPUs, in the last half of the
for those who don’t know, have long lowered decade that left the company unable to focus
clock speeds for AVX512 workloads. on its CPU business. This let bitter rival AMD
catch up with it (go.pcworld.com/btrv), and
This probably isn’t new to anyone who the only thing saving Intel from losing a more
heard famed Linux creator Linus Torvalds massive market share is AMD’s volume
reach deep to spew anger at Intel’s AVX512 constraints in making its popular CPUs.
approach just last month. “Intel is very lucky AMD cannot get the
volume, to be able to compete,” said
“I hope AVX512 dies a painful death, and Piednoël. “If they were getting volume, the
that Intel starts fixing real problems instead of price difference would definitely cost Intel
trying to create magic instructions to then market share a lot more than what they are
create benchmarks that they can look good losing right now.”
on,” the never-too-shy-to-cut-loose Torvalds Just recently AMD reached an all-time high
said (go.pcworld.com/ctls). of 20 percent market share in laptops (go.
pcworld.com/20up), according to numbers
from Mercury Research. We called AMD’s
new 7nm Ryzen 4000-series laptop chips
“game-changing” in our review (go.pcworld.
com/gmch) this spring.
“Intel is lucky AMD has capacity
constraints and because of this, they can’t
grab market share fast enough,” he said. “We
kind of had the same thing when AMD had

SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 19

NEWS WHAT’S WRONG WITH INTEL?

Athlon 64 and we

were basically trying

to catch up with

Pentium 4 to

Conroe.”

Indeed, AMD

had made a

massive dent in

Intel’s performance

lead when the

Pentium 4 and its

Netburst

architecture just Piednoël said the original Zen core was praised for SMT performance when in
never closed the reality, it was just masking poor single-threaded performance.

door on AMD. For

a few years, AMD’s chips were the must- essentially designed for single-threaded

have CPUs, while Pentium 4 was shunned. performance and has been enhanced to

With Intel’s original “Conroe” or Core 2 improve multi-core over the generations.

CPUs in 2006, Intel regained the Although Piednoël does compliment

performance crown and literally hadn’t lost AMD for having more throughput, he does

it until AMD’s resurgence with Ryzen (go. say the company’s Zen cores have their own

pcworld.com/rsrz) in 2017. Intel’s issues. For example, the original Ryzen CPU

forthcoming Tiger Lake chips (go.pcworld. appeared to offer far more efficiency with its

com/4thc) will delay the pain, but won’t Symmetrical Multi-Threading turned on than

stop it completely, Piednoël said. you saw with Hyper-Threading enabled on

RYZEN’S “HYPER- Intel chips.
THREADING” LOOKED “What people didn’t understand then was
GOOD BECAUSE OF POOR
SINGLE-THREADED that the opportunity for the SMT to gain
PERFORMANCE performance is only as good, or as bad, as
your out of order (performance).” Piednoël
said. If the out of order performance were as

During his video, Piednoël gets into the efficient as it is on Intel, there wouldn’t be as

technical nitty-gritty of Intel’s Skylake-based much work left for the virtual SMT or

core roots, saying the architecture was Hyper-Threading.

20 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020

XEON SHOULD DUMP Xeon for more specialized needs rather than
UNUSED CORE SPACE selling the same core for all scenarios.

Intel’s Xeon chip designs currently leverage ONLY MBA’S RISING
the same cores for all uses, from

computationally intense super computers to Piednoël didn’t spare words for Intel’s culture,

plain old web servers and virtual machines. which he said has changed drastically and

Such wildly different functions don’t often promotes MBAs over those with technical

touch the part of the die the other work loads prowess. This has resulted in “no innovation,

do, Piednoël said. This can result in 10 no aggressive road maps, and no people

percent of space that’s simply wasted for a driven because they are discouraged because

particular use. That space could be better the MBA’s are the only ones rising,” a bitter

used to instead add additional cores to better sounding Piednoël said. Rather than an

compete for markets that don’t need AVX512. audible being called on the fly to counter an

That, however, he said would require Intel AMD product, today’s Intel is simply unwilling

to be flexible. “Right now, Intel is so rigid,” to maneuver or push back. Instead, he said,

Piednoël said. “It’s just ‘I have a core, and I am CPU road maps are laid out by planners with

going to use it everywhere.’” MBAs who aren’t able to adjust. Right now,

He said any of Intel’s chip design teams Intel’s fabs continue to pump out enough

from IDC, Oregon, or Austin could be put to CPUs to keep it profitable, but Piednoël said

work designing focused, niche versions of Intel’s brand is being lost slowly.

“I remember on the

launch of the Pentium II,

Andy Grove said

something to the

team, he said ‘God

only gave us one brand.

Don’t ever mess it.’ I

think right now, we are

messing up the brand.

So get at it, and work

harder to make sure

Intel should stop trying to sell one core for all Xeon customers and the Extreme Edition is
instead design “take out” niche versions specialized for virtual actually Extreme
machine, web servers, and super computers, Piednoël said. and win.”

SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 21

NEWS

AMD’s notebook PC share climbs to
an all-time high of nearly 20 percent

The latest market share figures show that AMD’s mobile Ryzen 4000 chip is at the top of its
game. Desktop CPUs, though, have hit a 24-year low. BY MARK HACHMAN

A MD’s share in the notebook PC analyst who authored it, confirmed the
market is now the highest ever, accuracy of AMD’s statement in an email.
just under 20 percent, the
company said in early August. Though neither AMD nor Mercury cited
AMD’s market share of X86 notebook PCs the reasons for AMD’s strength in the
now stands at an all-time high of 19.9 percent, notebook PC market, it’s reasonable to
according to the company, citing a recent assume that AMD’s mobile Ryzen 4000 is the
report by analyst firm Mercury Research. cause. AMD’s latest mobile chip is blowing
Though PCWorld did not have access to the away Intel (go.pcworld.com/blow) in terms of
full report, Dean McCarron, the Mercury performance. Notebook sales more than
doubled (go.pcworld.com/mrdb) during

22 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020 IMAGE: AMD

AMD’s recent quarter. AMD’s mobile Ryzen percent. Growth of Ryzen 4000 was
4000 now powers 54 notebooks, and there particularly strong this quarter.”
are 30 more waiting in the wings, AMD CEO
Lisa Su said. INTEL STRUGGLES, BUT
IT’S STILL THE BIG FISH
Meanwhile, AMD’s share of the desktop
X86 PC market is nearly as high, at 19.2 Based upon the traditional dichotomy of the
percent. This is the highest share of the PC market, any gains by AMD reflect losses by
desktop PC market for AMD since the first Intel, and more data released by Mercury
quarter of 2014, when AMD was shipping reflect that. Intel’s notebook PC share, for
desktop processors based upon the “Jaguar” example, fell 5.8 percentage points year-
architecture. over-year, while its desktop CPU share fell by
2.1 percentage points. Intel’s share of the
In terms of overall share in the X86 client notebook PC market is now 80.1 percent,
market, (excluding IoT) AMD stands at 19.7 while its desktop share is 80.7 percent.
percent, its highest point since the first
quarter of 2012. AMD’s overall X86 share, Overall, Intel holds 81.7 percent of the
factoring in everything, is 18.3 percent, overall X86 market, Mercury said, and 80.3
according to the Mercury numbers cited by percent of the client PC X86 market.
AMD.
Intel’s second-quarter results were
“It was a record quarter of mobile CPU excellent (go.pcworld.com/q2xl); it was just
revenue, but not a record for units—higher its outlook, and its manufacturing road map,
average prices is what made the record that concerned Wall Street. Intel now says
revenues happen,” McCarron wrote in an (go.pcworld.com/nwsy) that it can address
email. “Mobile CPUs continued to grow their the low end of the PC market in addition to
share of the market—they now account for the “many core” processors it initially
more than 60 percent of all processors sold, a prioritized during the quarters when it was
new record. The desktop CPU market unable to make enough chips.
continues to decline and hit a 24 year low in
terms of units shipped in the second quarter “We expect our share to improve
of 2020. throughout the remainder of the year as we
begin to recover unit share in notebooks
“AMD gained share in every segment and utilizing our smaller core products which we
in overall CPU shipments due to strong have not been able to fully serve given the
growth in AMD’s SoC CPUs shipping into strength of demand for our large-core
gaming consoles,” McCarron added. “AMD’s products,” Intel chief financial officer George
mobile share was a new record high at 19.9 Davis said during the call.

SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 23

NEWS

Dell quietly fixes charging issues
with some XPS 17 9700 laptops

Dell said a vexing charging issue impacts a ‘limited number’ of XPS 17 9700 laptops.

BY GORDON MAH UNG

D ell has confirmed that charging XPS 17 9700 review units tested by
issues with some of the Notebookcheck.com (which first reported it
company’s new XPS 17 9700 [go.pcworld.com/1srp]) and PCWorld
laptops, as well as some of its exhibited the strange behavior of discharging
Precision 5750 corporate laptops, have been their battery while plugged in (go.pcworld.
identified and fixed. com/chpb), if the laptop was under heavy
load. To help diagnose the issue, PCWorld
The problem came to light when Dell

24 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020 IMAGE: AMD

PCWorld
replicated a
reported issue
with the XPS 17
9700, where it
discharged the
battery under
heavy load when
the laptop was
plugged in.

sent its review unit and charger back to Dell AC power,” a Dell spokesman said. “Dell
for analysis. has rectified the behavior, and current orders
for the products are unaffected. Dell will
Dell confirmed what had been observed, contact customers with potentially affected
and said it was resolving the matter: systems for resolution. Customers may also
contact Dell Technical Support for assistance.”
“Dell has identified an issue on a limited
quantity of XPS 17 9700 laptops and Precision What we don’t know, obviously, is
5750 mobile workstations where users may what the fix is yet, and whether it requires
notice their battery depleting at a higher than hardware or firmware. However, we can
expected rate under sustained heavy say that a recent firmware update to the
workloads and while connected to

Dell has identified an issue on a limited quantity of XPS 17 9700 laptops.

SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 25

NEWS DELL FIXES CHARGING ISSUES

motherboard swap was

the fix.

“Just got off the phone

with support.

CONFIRMED: the XPS 17

battery drain is a

HARDWARE issue and

NOT a firmware issue,”

HistoGraham wrote. “

“My technician

recommended that I return

The Dell XPS 15 9500 has never exhibited discharge issues, but a recent my laptop and order a new
update to the XPS 15 9500 updated the USB PD charging circuit. It’s not one. If I understood him
known if that’s part of Dell’s fix for the XPS 17 9700. correctly, he said that:

‘New XPS 17s on the

XPS 15 9500, which never experienced the production line are now being made with the

XPS 17 9700’s issue, did appear to update fix for the charging issue. The standalone

the laptop’s USB Power Delivery circuit. replacement motherboards won’t be

The update affected both the “Main USB available until August, or possibly later.’”

PD Controller 2” and “Main USB PD Others in the Dell subreddit posted

Controller 1.” similar conversations with customer support.

IT’S PROBABLY A Dell’s claim that the issue is with a “limited”
HARDWARE FIX number of units also appears to be true, if
posts in the same forum are to be believed.

Reading between the lines, however, the fix is Several have said their XPS 17 units were

likely not as simple as firmware. Dell wouldn’t capable of reaching the full 130 watts’ draw

have to reach out to impacted customers just from the power bricks rather than stopping

for that, so it’s entirely possible the answer is at 105 watts.

hardware-related. Indeed, several posts in a Although we can’t verify these posts on

Dell subreddit seemed to confirm that the fix Reddit, they suggest that an easy fix through

is hardware. firmware or software isn’t going to be the

User HistoGraham was among several answer. To Dell’s credit, the company is

claimed XPS 17 owners who said they were acknowledging the problem and reaching

advised that a replacement laptop or out to those with affected units.

26 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020

If you ever set up a Google+
account, you may be due some cash

Google has agreed to a $7.5m settlement over its 2018 data breach. BY MICHAEL SIMON

G oogle+ might be gone but it’s you ever set up a Google account, you may
not forgotten. At least not by be eligible for a piece of it: $12 to be exact.
the courts. On June 10, Google
agreed to settle a class-action Previous Google+ account holders have
(go.pcworld.com/cact) lawsuit over the likely already received an ominous email
“software bugs” that led to some 50 million claiming “You are not being sued,” but if you
accounts having their data leaked (go. banished it to your spam folder, here are the
pcworld.com/dtlk). The settlement is a details. All claims must be submitted by
relatively small one, just $7.5 million, but if October 8 and as per usual, any claims forfeit
all rights “to sue Google and/or any other

IMAGE: SAMSUNG SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 27

NEWS GOOGLE+ CASH SETTLEMENT

released entities regarding the legal

claims in this case.” If you’d like to

retain these rights, you must opt-out of

the settlement.

Users are only allowed to submit

one $12 claim regardless of the

number of Google+ accounts you may

have had. You can file a claim using this

link (go.pcworld.com/gclm).

The only requirements for filing a Some 50 million people were affected by the data breach.

claim are that you had a Google+

account at some point between January 1, information with another Google+ user or

2015, and April 2, 2019, and “entered private authorized a third-party app to access my

(meaning non-public) information in at least Google+ profile field information.”

one of (the) Google+ profile fields that was Granted, it’s nearly impossible to prove

not set to be shared publicly.” Finally, you this, but you are entering into a legal contract,

must consent that you either shared that so you’ll want to be as truthful as possible.

To file a claim, you’ll need to have had a Google+ account between January 1, 2015 and April 2, 2019.

28 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020

Microsoft’s Xbox Series X reveals:
Halo: Infinite, Fable, Psychonauts 2,
Obsidian’s next RPG, more

Teeing up for next-gen. BY BRAD CHACOS

The endless fake E3 summer itself a Steam page (go.pcworld.com/hlin)
continued in July with yet another while the 10-minute video played.
Xbox games showcase from
Microsoft. Unlike the ho-hum We also got our first glimpse at Obsidian’s
reveals of May’s Xbox event (go.pcworld. next game and—finally!—Double Fine’s
com/hohm),this show brought the hits, as Psychonauts 2 (go.pcworld.com/p2tr),
Microsoft revealed a slew of first-party complete with a serenade from Jack Black.
blockbusters destined to land on Windows 10 And we’re getting a new Fable game (go.
PCs as well as the forthcoming Xbox Series X pcworld.com/fbtr), though the tantalizingly
(go.pcworld.com/srsx)—including an brief trailer failed to mention an estimated
extended demo of Halo: Infinite, which got release date.

People hoping for an Xbox Series X price

IMAGE: SAMSUNG SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 29

NEWS MICROSOFT’S XBOX SERIES X REVEALS

or the reveal of the long-

rumored Xbox Series S

were disappointed,

however. This event was all

about what you’ll be able

to play when the next-gen

console launches this

November, rather than the

console itself. Neither

Microsoft nor Sony have

revealed pricing info for

their new hardware.

Back to the matter at

hand. Microsoft’s event

focused on games from

its internal studios and The Xbox Series X will arrive in November.

publishing arm, including

several all-new reveals: State of Decay 3 in development,” sadly), a “Peril of

(go.pcworld.com/s3tr), a new Forza Gorgon” expansion for The Outer Worlds

Motorsport (go.pcworld.com/fztr) game (go.pcworld.com/owtr), and a new

(which Xbox chief Phil Spencer said is “early Obsidian RPG called Avowed (go.pcworld.

Destiny 2: Beyond the Light.

30 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020

com/avtr). After taking on Fallout with the and Bungie will release an Xbox Series
stellar Outer Worlds, Avowed sure looks like X-optimized version of the game.
Obsidian’s stab at Skyrim.
The power of the Xbox Series X was a
We also got another look at Rare’s constant undertone throughout the event. It
Everwild (go.pcworld.com/evtr), which looks sure looks beastly on paper. Halo: Infinite’s
absolutely beautiful, and Tell Me Why (go. developers say the game will be larger than
pcworld.com/tltr), the latest game from the the last few games combined, and run at a
makers of Life Is Strange. Obsidian teased flawless 60 frames per second on the Xbox
Grounded again, a “Honey I Shrunk the Series X. (Welcome to real gaming,
Kids”-style adventure, which released on July console fans.) Moon Studios teased an
28. Microsoft catered to hardcore nerds with upgraded version of Ori and the Will of the
trailers for STALKER 2 (go.pcworld.com/s2tr) Wisps (go.pcworld.com/ortr) that will run
and Warhammer 40,000: Darktide (go. at 120Hz in 4K HDR.
pcworld.com/whtr).
If you skipped the stream, we embedded
The cool thing about all the first-party the most notable game trailers at the bottom of
Microsoft game reveals? You’ll be able to play the online version of this article, which you can
each of them on day one with an Xbox Game find at go.pcworld.com/xsx. Be sure to check
Pass for PC subscription, the best deal in PC out that Halo: Infinite video for your first look at
gaming at just $5 a month. Destiny 2 (go. gameplay and some juicy lore drops. Or you
pcworld.com/d2tr) will be coming to Xbox can catch the full Xbox games showcase
Game Pass on November 10, Microsoft said, stream at (go.pcworld.com/xshc).

Ori and the Will of the Wisps.

SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 31

SO CAN
YOU.

Reviews & Ratings TESTED IN PCWORLD LABS

WE PUT HARDWARE & SOFTWARE
THROUGH RIGOROUS TESTING

HP Envy x360 13: An affordable
laptop with Ryzen 4000

This might just be the best deal in thin-and-lights right now. BY GORDON MAH UNG

HP’s Ryzen 4000-powered • Solid all-aluminum body with
Envy x360 13 proves that you 360-convertible hinges
can get first-class features for
coach pricing. Don’t believe • Speakers that actually sound better than
me? Here are some of the goodies included: the ones on a lot of larger 15.6-inch
• Decent 13.3-inch IPS panel with good gaming laptops
off-axis viewing, touch, and optional
pen support • And the crown jewel, a mid-priced
Ryzen 4000 CPU with high-end CPU
IMAGE: GORDON MAH UNG performance

SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 33

REVIEWS HP ENV Y X360 13

In fact, the HP Envy x360 13 we

tested is so good, yet so affordable

(despite a few corners cut to save

cost), that you might not be able to

get it. At the time of this writing, our

exact, $799 configuration was sold

out. However, you can customize it

into being by upgrading

components on this nearly-identical The left side of the HP Envy gives you an analog combo jack, a
model (with a smaller 128GB SSD by USB-A 5GBps port, and a USB-C 10Gbps port.

default), currently $700 on HP.com

(go.pcworld.com/hp70). For $820 at GPU: AMD Radeon Graphics

Walmart (go.pcworld.com/wl82) you can get RAM: 8GB DDR4/3200

another nearly identical version, the Display: 13.3-inch, 1920x1080 IPS touch

difference being a higher-end Ryzen 7 4700U screen with MPP pen support using an

CPU. You can find another Ryzen 7 optional pen

4700U-based model (Envy x360 Storage: 256GB Kioxia NVMe PCIe 3.0

13-ay-0021nr), with a heftier 16GB of memory x2 SSD

and 512GB SSD, for $1,000 on HP.com (go. Wireless: Intel Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0

pcworld.com/hp10). If you’re a Costco Dimensions: 12.1 x 7.6 x 0.6 inches

member, the best alternative deal is there: A Weight: 2.8 pounds, 3.4 total with AC

Ryzen 7 4700U with 8GB of RAM and 512GB adapter

SSD, for $900 (go.pcworld.com/cc90). Battery: 50 Watt-hour

SPECS AND FEATURES In build quality, the Envy x360 13’s
aluminum body feels very rigid. Holding it by

As one of the first handful of Ryzen 4000 one corner with the lid open exhibits minimal

laptops we’ve tested, we were interested to body flexing. The SSD is in a slot, and while

see what was under the hood. Other than the not intended to be user-upgradeable,

new CPU, it’s largely like any other budget obviously it could be.

laptop, with an adequate configuration—

though we did notice and appreciate the Ports

Wi-Fi 6 and tote-able 2.8-pound weight. We’ll let the pictures for the Envy x360 13

CPU: 6-core, 6-thread AMD Ryzen 5 speak for themselves. First up is the left side

4500U with an analog combo jack, a SuperSpeed

34 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020

Type-A (5Gbps) port that can charge

a phone even when the laptop is off.

There’s also a port for the 65-watt

barrel charger.

Yes, you heard us right: a barrel

charger. If your eyes are rolling

because you thought old-school

round laptop plugs could be found

A microSD reader, SuperSpeed USB-A (5Gbps), and barrel only in $150 Chromebooks and
charger populate the right side of the HP Envy x360 13. $250 budget Windows laptops,

that’s not true.

USB Type-A (5Gbps), and a SuperSpeed USB The reason HP included the barrel charger

10Gbps Type-C. The USB-A port uses a is likely cost. A USB-C charger is a pricey add.

“dropjaw” latch that can be expanded when The power brick is at least rounded rather

you insert a USB key, keyboard, or other than a truly old-school brick, but the cloth

standard USB-A device. The USB-C port braid you get on the fancy HP Spectre x360

supports USB data transfer and can output isn’t used either.

DisplayPort or HDMI if you have the right HP does, at least, build USB Power

dongle. Delivery into the USB-C port, so you could

There is no Thunderbolt 3, which opens pick up a tiny 60-watt GAN charger and go

up opportunities for fast external storage or on the road with that instead. Of course with

external GPUs (go.pcworld.

com/exgp), or single-cable

displays. That’s an expensive

port to implement and is

more common on pricier

machines. (Psst: We just saw

one on the Acer Spin 3 [$650

at Costco, go.pcworld.com/

s36].)

The right side of the HP

Envy x360 includes a

microSD reader, and a

second SuperSpeed USB A 65-watt barrel charger definitely tells you this isn’t a luxury laptop.

SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 35

REVIEWS HP ENV Y X360 13

just a single USB-C port, you would have to The trackpad supports Microsoft’s
juggle any other USB-C devices. We’re in this Precision drivers. Despite its wider aspect
middle age where some of us cling to our ratio, it has good palm rejection. The surface,
USB-A ports, while others yearn for USB-C, however, is one of the rougher ones we’ve
and it’s hard to please everyone. fingered in some time. Moving from a butter-
smooth trackpad such as the one in MSI’s
Keyboard and Trackpad GS66 Stealth to the HP’s feels like you’re
The keyboard has a sensible layout, very putting your fingers on fine sandpaper. That
defined two-level backlight, and good key could be a matter of personal preference.
travel. HP features a dedicated power button
as well as keys for a camera cut-off, mic-off, Display
and a key to launch HP’s Command Center. The HP Envy x360 13 has an interesting
display. It’s a “1-watt” display (go.pcworld.
The Command Center gives you instant com/1wtd), which means it can draw as low
access to the Thermal Profile settings, where as 1 watt of power under some conditions.
you can boost performance or put the laptop (We had thought this technology was
into a near-fanless quiet mode. Most exclusive to Intel platforms, but it appears not
consumers would never know they could to be.) But as with many lower-cost laptops,
make these changes, so more exposure is the brightness is sacrificed to save cost. HP
better. It does, however, sacrifice the rates the Envy x360 13 at 300 nits’ maximum
dedicated print screen button, which some brightness, but we measured ours below
people might miss.
that. Most premium
laptops will hit a
minimum of 300 nits,
with many pushing 400
to 500 nits.

The unusually good
speakers
We approach most
laptop speakers with
low expectations, but
the Envy x360 13
surprised us. Like most

36 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020

tape over the card to

prevent it from falling

out, should you brush

up against it.

The performance of

the actual card reader is

fair. Using a SanDisk

Extreme 256GB card,

we logged about

73MBps writes and

The rear features one set of real vents and one set of fake vents. 94MBps reads. The card

is rated for about

small-bodied laptops, the Envy x360 13’s are 90MBps writes and 160MBps read speeds—

down-firing. A comparable laptop with but the latter is only when using SanDisk’s

top-firing speakers, such as the premium HP proprietary USB reader.

Elite Dragonfly (go.pcworld.com/drfy), One of the less impressive features in the

sounds louder, with less distortion. The Elite Envy x360 13 is its storage. The Toshiba/

Dragonfly’s premium Bang & Olufsen-tuned Kioxa SSD is M.2 NVMe and PCIe Gen 3, but

speakers also outshine the Envy x360 13 in oddly it uses only two PCIe lanes. In most

midrange and bass response. higher-end laptops, the SSD will use four

Still, the Envy x360 13 is surprisingly PCIe lanes. In CrystalDisk Mark 7, that means

loud—actually richer and louder than many the drive will hit about 1.5GBps reads and

larger gaming laptops. The XPG Xenia 15’s 1GBps writes. A x4 drive in a higher-end

speakers, for example, sound appallingly thin laptop might push 2.5GBps read speeds and

compared to the Envy x360’s. (That pretty closer to 2GBps writes. This difference

much tells you about the state of audio quality matters little in everyday use, but you’ll notice

in most gaming laptops these days, when a when copying very large files to the laptop.

13-inch midrange ultrabook sounds better.)

Webcam design and quality

Storage performance Webcams matter now, when the pandemic

The laptop features a microSD slot that lets has forced many of us to work remotely. Most

you easily add semi-permanent storage to the are 720p resolution, including the one on the

laptop. The card protrudes a little less than a Envy x360 13. While it’s not a spiffy Windows

millimeter when inserted. Our pro tip is to put Hello-enabled biometric camera, its image

SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 37

REVIEWS HP ENV Y X360 13

HP’s Ryzen-powered Envy x360 on the left and HP’s Elite Dragonfly on the right.

quality appears to be comparable to that of its shutter inside the bezel will slide over the
corporate cousin, the HP Elite Dragonfly. We camera lens. The shutter is white, so you can
still favor the warmer rendering the Elite see fairly easily that it’s closed. HP also
Dragonfly’s camera gives. For biometrics, HP removes the camera from Windows Device
integrates a finger pad reader where the right Manager. When the webcam is switched on,
Control button would normally go. but not actually activated, HP even notifies
you with a Windows pop-up. With this
HP has been pushing cut-off circuits and webcam, there’s little chance that the Internet
sliding covers for webcams for the last few will glimpse you eating a Sloppy Joe while
years, but this is the first we’ve seen from the sitting in front of your computer in a stained
company with an automated shutter. Push the t-shirt.
dedicated camera-off button, and a physical

An automatic cover slides over the webcam when At the push of a button, you can instantly block the
the privacy shutter button is pushed. camera and remove it from Windows 10.

38 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020

PERFORMANCE Cinebench R15.038

For testing, we ran the Envy x360 13 using its Multi-core performance
out-of-box default setting of “HP
recommended,” as well as the laptop’s Dell XPS 15 7590 1,712
Performance setting via the HP Command
Center. Core i9-998xq0HK

Our first test for the Ryzen 5 4500U is the Dell XPS 13 7390 1,106
CPU-focused Cinebench R15. It’s a test built
on an older version of Maxon’s Cinema4D Core i7-10710U
rendering engine and measures performance
of a CPU rendering a 3D model. While 3D Acer Swift 3 1,061
modelling on a 13.3-inch laptop isn’t what
most people are doing, the test is a good Ryzen 7 4700U
stand-in for how well a laptop will perform at
multi-threaded tasks. HP Envy x360 13 865
Performance 842
The Ryzen 5 4500U is built on AMD’s
game-changing Zen 2 cores and features six Ryzen 5 4500U
cores, but it doesn’t have Symmetrical Multi-
Threading turned on. Based on the price of HP Envy x360 13
the Envy x360 13, you really should expect to
get midrange to budget performance. But the Ryzen 5 4500U
Envy x360 and its Ryzen 5 deliver better—
basically premium performance that runs right Dell XPS 13 780
up against Intel’s newest and most powerful 9300 Default 726
10th-gen chips. 714
Core i7-1065G7 705
In multi-core performance, only Intel’s
10th-gen Core i7-10710U, with its six cores MSI Prestige
and 12 threads, outruns the Ryzen 5 4500U. 14 Default
That midrange Ryzen 5 even holds its own
against the four-core, eight-thread Core Core i7-10710U
i7-1065G7 found in so many premium laptops.
HP Spectre x360
While Cinebench R15 performance might 13 5th Gen
be a good way to represent how well a CPU
can run highly multi-threaded tasks, most Core i7-8565U

Dell XPS 13 9380

Core 7-8565U

Microsoft Surface 695
Laptop 3 15” 684
623
Ryzen 7 3580U 551

Dell Inspiron
15 7000

Core i7-8665U

HP Spectre x360
13 2019

Core i7-8565U

Acer Swift 3

Core i5-8250U

LONGER BARS INDICATE BETTER PERFORMANCE

mainstream applications are single-threaded,
so we run Cinebench R15 again using a single
CPU thread. The single-threaded
performance of the Envy x360 13 is solidly in
the middle of the pack, but in real life it would
be very hard to tell the difference.

Modern laptops are mostly limited by how

SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 39

REVIEWS HP ENV Y X360 13

Cinebench R15.038 HandBrake 0.99 Encode

Single-core performance Seconds

Dell XPS 15 7590 200 Dell XPS 15 7590 1,595

Core i9-998xq0HK Core i9-998xq0HK

Dell XPS 13 7390 197 Acer Swift 3 1,876

Core i7-10710U Ryzen 7 4700U

Dell Inspiron 190 HP Envy x360 13 2,542
15 7000 184 Performance 2,542
184
Core i7-8665U 183 Ryzen 5 4500U

Dell XPS 13 Dell XPS 13 7390
9300 Default
Core i7-10710U
Core i7-1065G7
HP Envy x360 13 2,635
HP Spectre x360
13 5th Gen Ryzen 5 4500U

Core i7-8565U MSI Prestige 3,192
14 Default 3,280
Acer Swift 3 3,469
Core i7-10710U
Ryzen 7 4700U
Microsoft Surface
Dell XPS 13 9380 181 Laptop 3 15”

Core 7-8565U Ryzen 7 3580U

HP Envy x360 13 177 Dell XPS 13 9380
Performance 177
Core 7-8565U
Ryzen 5 4500U
Dell XPS 13 3,654
HP Envy x360 13 9300 Default 3,654

Ryzen 5 4500U Core i7-1065G7 3,927

MSI Prestige 177 Dell Inspiron
14 Default 172 15 7000
152
Core i7-10710U 146 Core i7-8665U

HP Spectre x360 Acer Swift 3
13 2019
Core i5-8250U
Core i7-8565U
HP Spectre x360 4,302
Microsoft Surface 13 2019 4,399
Laptop 3 15”
Core i7-8565U
Ryzen 7 3580U
HP Spectre x360
Acer Swift 3 13 5th Gen

Core i5-8250U Core i7-8565U

LONGER BARS INDICATE BETTER PERFORMANCE SHORTER BARS INDICATE BETTER PERFORMANCE

well they manage heat. The less heat from the While the performance preset hasn’t
CPU or GPU (or ambient temperature), the yielded great dividends with other laptops
higher and longer they can boost clock speeds we’ve tested, when we tried it with the Envy
and finish a task quickly. To simulate a heavier 360 13 we saw a very decent 11-percent
load, we run the free utility HandBrake to decrease in how long it takes to convert the
encode a 30GB, 1080p file using the Android file. We also see just how potent the cooler
Tablet preset. Shorter times are better. running Ryzen 5 4500U is: The only laptops in

40 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020

PCMark 8 Work 2.0 really a different class of computer.)
To get a feel for how it performs in
Native resolution
mundane everyday tasks, we also run PCMark
Acer Swift 3 3,858 8’s Work test, using the CPU rather than GPU
acceleration. The Envy x360 13 gives up
Ryzen 7 4700U ground to the more premium laptops (plus
Acer’s cheaper, yet gutsier, Swift 3) due to its
Dell XPS 13 3,818 lower clock speeds, but the results are so
9300 Default 3,807 close that you probably can’t tell the
3,695 difference. The lesson is that if all you do is sit
Core i7-1065G7 in a browser, or work in Office while watching
a YouTube stream in the background, then
HP Spectre x360 picking a laptop should probably focus more
13 5th Gen on screen, keyboard, trackpad, speakers, and
even color, rather than on the fancy CPU or
Core i7-8565U GPU specs.

HP Envy x360 13 GRAPHICS PERFORMANCE

Ryzen 5 4500U For those who seek some graphics
performance for light-duty games, we run UL’s
HP Envy x360 13 3,684 3DMark Sky Diver test. For the most part, the
Performance 3,632 Ryzen 5 4500U delivers performance similar
3,508 to that of Intel’s current premium 10th-gen
Ryzen 5 4500U Core i7-1065G7. In other words, a midrange
chip that’s supposed to compete with a Core
HP Spectre x360 i5-1035G1 or Intel’s UHD graphics is
13 2019 punching above its weight class, delivering
premium graphics performance at a
Core i7-8565U mainstream price.

Acer Swift 3 BATTERY LIFE

Core i5-8250U Our last test is likely the most important for
anyone who buys this class of laptop: battery
Dell XPS 13 7390 3,338 life. We charge the laptop’s battery to full, set

Core i7-10710U

Dell XPS 15 7590 3,303

Core i9-998xq0HK

Dell XPS 13 9380 3,205

Core 7-8565U

MSI Prestige 3,109
14 Default 3,039
3,017
Core i7-10710U

Dell Inspiron
15 7000

Core i7-8665U

Microsoft Surface
Laptop 3 15”

Ryzen 7 3580U

LONGER BARS INDICATE BETTER PERFORMANCE

its class that outperform the Envy 13 x360 are
the MSI Prestige 14 (go.pcworld.com/ms14)
set to its performance setting, and the Acer
Swift 3 (go.pcworld.com/acsw)—no surprise
given its 8-core, 16-thread Ryzen 7 4700U
CPU. (We include for reference Dell’s older
and larger XPS 15 7590 laptop, though that’s

SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 41

REVIEWS HP ENV Y X360 13

3DMark Sky Diver 1.0 4K Battery Life

Graphics score Minutess

Dell XPS 15 7590 25,564 HP Spectre x360 971
13 2019 956
Core i9-998xq0HK 748
Core i7-8565U 637
MSI Prestige 17,406
14 Default 10,877 HP Spectre x360
13 5th Gen
Core i7-10710U
Core i7-8565U
Acer Swift 3
Dell XPS 13
Ryzen 7 4700U 9300 Default

Dell XPS 13 9,946 Core i7-1065G7
9300 Default 9,641
9,581 Dell XPS 15 7590
Core i7-1065G7
Core i9-998xq0HK
HP Envy x360 13
Performance HP Envy x360 13 629

Ryzen 5 4500U Ryzen 5 4500U

HP Envy x360 13 Dell XPS 13 7390 568

Ryzen 5 4500U Core i7-10710U

Dell Inspiron 9,408 Dell XPS 13 9380 543
15 7000 9,287
8,382 Core 7-8565U
Core i7-8665U
5,015 Acer Swift 3 517
HP Spectre x360
13 5th Gen Core i5-8250U

Core i7-8565U Dell Inspiron 500
15 7000 490
Microsoft Surface 471
Laptop 3 15” Core i7-8665U 445

Ryzen 7 3580U Acer Swift 3

Dell XPS 13 7390 Ryzen 7 4700U

Core i7-10710U MSI Prestige
14 Default
Dell XPS 13 9380 4,963
Core i7-10710U
Core 7-8565U
Microsoft Surface
Acer Swift 3 4,502 Laptop 3 15”

Core i5-8250U Ryzen 7 3580U

HP Spectre x360 4,421 SHORTER BARS INDICATE BETTER PERFORMANCE
13 2019

Core i7-8565U

LONGER BARS INDICATE BETTER PERFORMANCE memory probably doesn’t. A more advanced
laptop might have LPDDR4X memory, which
display brightness to 250 to 260 nits, enable is more energy-efficient but also more
airplane mode set, and plug in earbuds at expensive. The older DDR4 in the Envy x360
midrange volume. Then we loop a 4K video 13 somewhat limits graphics performance,
file using Windows’ Movies & TV app, until and it also consumes more power than
the laptop shuts down. LPDDR4X.

While the Envy x360 13’s 1-watt display The battery capacity is a fair 51 Watt-hours,
surely helps battery life, the use of DDR4 and the Envy x360 13 gets a very respectable

42 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020

10-plus hours of run time in our test. While cost you two to
that doesn’t touch the 14-hour range of its three hundred
Intel-based rivals, it’s closer than AMD-based dollars more with
laptops have reached in prior generations. an Intel CPU. For
example, last year’s
BOTTOM LINE Intel-based Envy
x360 13 (go.
The HP Envy x360 13 is one of only a pcworld.com/
handful of Ryzen 4000-based laptops we’ve ev19) with 8GB
reviewed, but it reinforces a sea change RAM and 256GB
we’re seeing in performance available storage cost
to consumers. roughly the same
$800 as this current
You are literally getting premium CPU and Ryzen-based
graphics performance that would typically model, but the
newer model far
outstrips the older
in CPU
performance.
You’re also getting
a laptop that hits
many right notes in fit and finish. It’s not
perfect by far, but this is overall an impressive
laptop at a great price.

HP Envy x360 15

PROS

• Solid build.
• Ryzen 5 4500U performs on a par with or better

than comparable Core i7.
• Decent speakers.

CONS

• SSD is disappointingly slow.
• Screen could be brighter.

SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 43

REVIEWS

Acer Spin 3: A solid $650 budget
laptop with nice bonuses

You don’t see Thunderbolt, Wi-Fi 6, or an integrated stylus on many laptops in this price
range. BY MARK HACHMAN

B udget laptops continue to performance, a modern Thunderbolt port and
improve, and the Acer Spin 3 is a a nifty integrated stylus stand out. In all, it’s a
good example. For an affordable solid laptop, but in a market whose
price it offers adequate competition is growing stronger, quickly.
components and battery life, with enough
flexibility to accommodate a range of BASIC FEATURES
peripherals. Though the 14-inch, 360-degree
convertible laptop delivers middling The Acer Spin 3 (SP314-54N-58Q7) we
tested is sold at Costco for $650 (go.

44 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020 IMAGE: MARK HACHMAN

pcworld.com/cc65), although the company Wireless: Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) 2x2 MIMO;

lists a few alternatives on its Acer online store Bluetooth 5.0

(go.pcworld.com/onst). Of the four listed, Additional features: integrated stylus,

only one, the SP314-54N-50W3, contains an fingerprint reader, protective sleeve

up-to-date Core i5-1035G4 processor as well Operating system: Windows 10 Home

as a larger 512GB SSD, for about $150 more. (version 1909)

(Intel’s 10th-gen “Ice Lake” processors (go. Dimensions (inches): 12.8 x 9.06 x 0.67

pcworld.com/icep) use the number attached inches (16.9mm)

to its “G” suffix to indicate the relative Weight: 3.31 pounds (per Acer)

graphics performance, with a higher number Color: Silver

being better.) We still consider our review Price: $650 at Costco, with 1-year

unit’s loadout—8GB RAM, 256GB SSD— warranty.

adequate for most needs. DESIGN AND
Here are the basic features of our review CONSTRUCTION

unit, which is backed by a one-year

“International Travelers’ Warranty.” Acer says A budget 14-inch laptop like the Acer Spin 3

that warranty runs concurrently with its doesn’t ask you to pay for its looks. At about

standard one-year U.S. warranty, allowing the 17mm thick, the Spin 3 is a tad chunky, but in

laptop to be serviced in up to 30 other a good way: sturdily built, with a pair of thick

countries where Acer has authorized

facilities.

Display: 14-inch IPS (1920x1080)

Processor: 1GHz Core i5-1035G1

Graphics: UHD Graphics

Memory: 8GB LPDDR4

Storage: 256GB NVMe SSD

Ports: USB-C (Thunderbolt 3/USB

3.1 Gen 2). 2 USB-A (USB 3.2 Gen 1),

HDMI 2.0 (HDCP), microSD, 3.5mm

headphone/mic

Camera: User-facing: 720p,

super HDR The Spin 3 reclines all the way into tablet mode, with a
Battery: 47.8Wh (rated), 45.9Wh small series of on-screen icons tracking its progress as you
move from tent to tablet mode.
(actual)

SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 45

REVIEWS ACER SPIN 3

360-degree

hinges. When you

flip around the

display, Windows

automatically

configures the

Spin 3 into tablet

mode. Another

benefit: The

broader chassis On the left side of the chassis, the small battery icon next to the Type A port
offers a hearty indicates that it can charge external devices like phones when the laptop is shut.

mixture of ports

that you won’t find

on thinner laptops.

Acer did cut a

few corners in the

display. Though

the IPS panel was

pleasingly vibrant,

our light meter

registered just 274 On the right side, the Spin 3’s stylus nestles in its cradle to the left of the power
nits—barely and battery indicators. Some 360-degree convertibles, like the Spin 3, slightly
enough for incline the keyboard the further back the display is pushed.

day-to-day use.

Although the side screen bezels measure just When my home’s central air kicked on,

7.82mm, the bezel at the bottom of the however, the noise disappeared. Even when

screen is a about an inch deep and definitely running CPU-intensive tasks, the Swift 3’s fan

noticeable. remained quiet—that seems to be fairly

The Spin 3 seems to have adequate typical of the Intel 10th-gen Ice Lake laptops

cooling, with venting beneath the laptop I’ve tested.

and a larger grille near the hinge. My home Personally, I consider the port selection

office environment is quite quiet, allowing to be close to ideal. There’s a pair of

me to hear a faint hiss from the fans as they SuperSpeed USB (go.pcworld.com/spsp;

spun up, as well as a faint bit of coil whine. 5Gbps) Type A connections—perfect for a

46 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020