Latest news with #Asus'
Stuff.tv
21 hours ago
- Stuff.tv
Smarter laptops for sharper minds – meet the AI-powered PCs at Currys
Laptops aren't just laptops. They're powerful tools to help us work, create, and play, wherever we are. But they're not all made equal. Enter the latest generation of Copilot+ PCs with Intel® Core™ Ultra processors – all of which come supercharged with powerful AI features that are transforming how we write, call, browse, and create. And unlike some flashy tech fads that promise the future but deliver frustration, these notebooks truly deliver. Whether they're transcribing your notes in real time, or reducing background noise on an important call, they're quietly doing clever things without you even realising. Each one of these Copilot+ PCs is packed with purpose-built AI hardware – Neural Processing Units (NPUs) that take the strain off your processor and power new tools with impressive battery efficiency. You'll also find dedicated Copilot keys, giving you instant access to Microsoft's AI assistant with a single press. It's tech that adapts to how you work – not the other way around. With that said, here are five of the smartest picks available at Currys right now. Asus Zenbook S 14: ultra-thin power with AI at its core One of the thinnest and lightest Copilot+ PCs available, the Zenbook S 14 is a masterclass in AI-enabled productivity. Its powerful Intel® Core™ Ultra 7 processor includes a lightning-fast NPU for speeding up creative tasks like image editing and real-time voice transcription – with the added benefit of longer battery life thanks to efficient background processing. The dedicated Copilot key gives you instant access to Microsoft's AI assistant, while Asus' own AI suite handles cooling, audio tuning, and adaptive brightness. You also get a 3K OLED touchscreen that's perfect for pen input or pinch-and-zoom creativity, with cinema-grade visuals to boot. All that, in a body just 1.2 kg and 1.1 cm thick. Proof that power and portability aren't mutually exclusive. MSI Prestige 13 AI+ Evo: quietly clever, effortlessly efficient Some AI features are flashy. Others are quietly making everything better without you ever realising it. The Prestige 13 AI+ Evo is very much the latter – a laptop that uses AI to keep things cool, quiet, and distraction-free while you focus on your work. MSI's built-in AI Engine is designed to detect user activity and optimise performance or battery life accordingly. The AI Noise Cancellation Pro system also uses a trio of beamforming mics to isolate your voice and block out unwanted noise – perfect for busy video calls or remote collaboration. And because the neural engine built into the Intel® Core™ Ultra 7 processor handles these background jobs efficiently, you still get up to 24 hours of battery life. At under 1kg, with a 2.8K OLED display and premium magnesium-aluminium build, this is a serious featherweight contender with heavyweight intelligence. Asus Vivobook S 14 OLED: smart features that won't break the bank AI on a budget doesn't have to mean shoddy results. The Vivobook S 14 OLED brings plenty of Copilot+ smarts to the table – including a dedicated Copilot key and deep Microsoft integration. It uses the same generation of Intel® Core™ Ultra processors as the more premium picks here, and matches them with 16 GB of RAM and Intel® Arc graphics for creative workflows and casual gaming. But what really sets it apart is how Asus uses AI to smooth your daily routine. Features like Asus' StoryCube – designed to help manage photos and videos – plus AI noise cancelling and AiSense webcam tech, all help to streamline day-to-day tasks and virtual meetings, while its AI noise cancelling and AiSense webcam tech keep you looking and sounding your best on video calls. Battery life runs up to 16 hours too, and the Full HD+ OLED screen is vivid and punchy for both work and play. Lenovo Yoga Slim 9: minimalist design, maximum intelligence The Yoga Slim 9 shows just how invisible great design can be – in the best possible way. There's no visible webcam on this 14in 4K OLED stunner, because Lenovo's tucked it discreetly behind the screen. It appears when you need it, disappears when you don't, and helps deliver one of the cleanest screen-to-body ratios ever seen on a laptop. It's part of what makes the Slim 9 feel so seamless – just like the way it handles AI-enhanced tasks behind the scenes. With 32 GB of RAM, an Intel® Core™ Ultra 7 processor, and a dazzling DisplayHDR True Black panel, this is a laptop that's built for creative and professional users alike. Add in facial recognition for secure logins and a suite of Copilot features, and you've got a machine that's just as clever as it is elegant. Behind that sleek design is a powerhouse of intelligent computing. Intel's silicon handles demanding tasks, while the AI engine is designed to support features like screen optimisation and noise filtering. A fingerprint reader handles logins in seconds, and the 120 Hz refresh rate keeps every swipe and scroll silky smooth. Lightweight, sharp, and ideal for digital creatives who want AI to enhance their flow – not interrupt it. Overall, these aren't just laptops with an AI sticker slapped on the lid. They're fast, capable machines designed from the ground up to help you think faster, focus better, and get more done with less effort. Better yet, they're all available now at Currys.
Stuff.tv
a day ago
- Stuff.tv
This tiny Asus gaming mouse is never leaving my travel bag
Most wireless gaming mice make you choose between top-tier desktop performance and the sorts of features that'd come in handy when away from your gaming laptop, like Bluetooth connectivity and a small size. Their makers don't seem to realise not everyone wants to buy two separate rodents for home and away – or can afford to. The Asus Harpe Ace Mini has quickly become that best-of-both-worlds mouse for me. It has a speedy enough sensor for twitch gaming, but the dimensions and wireless ease needed to toss it in a bag for travel. There's a choice of wired, Bluetooth, and 2.4GHz wireless play, the integrated battery lasts for what feels like forever, and you aren't forced to fiddle with software to get the best from it. At $130/£130 the Harpe Ace Mini isn't exactly pocket change, but the price isn't unreasonable given the hardware inside. Asus' own ROG AimPoint Pro optical sensor is good for a whopping 42,000 dpi, and can track 50G of acceleration. The optical switches underneath the main mouse buttons are very satisfying to click, and the side buttons aren't far behind. In my experience tracking accuracy has been excellent, over pretty much any smooth surface. I've not felt the need to cart a mouse pad around with me for the most part, though I probably wouldn't jump into a competitive multiplayer match if the only option was a glass or metal table. A dedicated DPI button on the base of the mouse lets you tweak the most important setting whenever you like, whether you've installed the software suite or not. That's a good thing in my book, as I find the Asus Armory Crate clunkier to use than apps from the likes of Steelseries and Logitech. There's also a slot to store the 2.4GHz wireless dongle, though I've not found much need to use it; the dongle has been a permanent fixture in the back of my PC, and I've switched to Bluetooth when working on my laptop. I don't personally need the 8000Hz Polling Rate Booster dongle, which is sold separately; the bundled dongle's 1000Hz is hardly the limiting factor when it comes to my FPS abilities. But it's great to have the option if you demand pro-level polling. Size-wise it's roughly a third smaller than the Razer Deathadder I was using previously, and at 49g it's also impressively light. I remember a Logitech rep explaining they left out Bluetooth from the G Pro X Superlight 2 to keep its weight in check, but that mouse still tips the scales at 60g. Going small is a surefire way to also go lightweight. I use a palm grip when gaming, and found that despite the smaller dimensions there was still plenty of surface area to hold onto. I rate it over the Corsair M75 Air for how cosy it feels under my grip. Claw- and fingertip-style players will feel even more at home here. That said, anyone with especially bear-like paws might find it just a little too shrunken down for comfortable use long-term. Battery life? Outstanding when using Bluetooth (and disabling the RGB lighting), at over 130 hours between charges. Or more than a week's worth of daily use for me, meaning it's one less thing to think about charging while on foreign trips. It hovers closer to 80 hours using the 2.4GHz dongle and with the lights blinking, but that's still plenty for a marathon play session. And as the battery is built in, you don't have to worry about disposable batteries, like you do with the Razer Orochi. I like that Asus hasn't stuffed the Harpe Ace Mini full of RGB lighting; there's just a single colour-changing LED, which illuminates the scroll wheel. It glows red when you're low on battery and green while it's charging over USB-C; you can tweak the pattern and brightness in Armory Crate, too. With few negatives other than the price, it's a fantastic pick for a regular mix of desktop and travel use. Stuff Says… High-end gaming mouse hardware at a two-thirds scale, with bonus Bluetooth making it ideal for travel. The Asus Harpe Ace Mini is truly multi-talented. Pros Flagship-grade internals on a smaller scale Built-in Bluetooth a real rarity among esports-grade gaming mice Cons Small size might not suit all Pricey, and you pay extra for the polling rate booster dongle
Tom's Guide
6 days ago
- Business
- Tom's Guide
This is the cheapest RTX 5070 gaming PC I've ever seen! Plus, get $200 off my favorite MacBook and more — Power Picks
Friday's power picks are, well, powerful — you can get a massive $700 off the MSI Aegis gaming PC with RTX 5070 power, $200 off the M4 MacBook Pro, 20% off one of my favorite gaming headsets and more! What was funny about these is that retailers are not advertising them heavily. These are definitely the savings that they don't want you to know about — probably because all of these are either price matching or are lower than what we saw at Prime Day. And as has become pretty customary, yesterday's power picks are still available! That means an RTX 5060 gaming PC can be yours for $920 off, and the 49-inch ultrawide curved monitor I'm working on right now (my favorite ever) is $225 off. But for now, let's get into today's top deals. This $700 price cut brings this mighty MSI Aegis gaming PC into must-buy territory. Alongside that beasty RTX 5070 GPU, you'll find an Intel Core Ultra 265K CPU, 32GB of DDR5 RAM and a 2TB SSD. All of which is packed into a gorgeous case with plenty of RGB cooling to really add some flair to your desk. If I'm buying a laptop, I'll always go with the M4 MacBook Pro for its scary fast performance and power efficiency — slowly sipping that battery life while I dig into a complex 4K edit. For most creative enthusiasts (like me), the M4 chip is more than enough horsepower to get the job done, alongside 16GB of unified memory and a 512GB SSD. Everyone's favorite game is back: can you buy an RTX 50-series GPU for MSRP? The answer, unfortunately, is no. But with this 17% saving, this brings the RTX 5070 to just $30 over that $549 retail price. Plus, it's a triple fan-cooled and overclockable, and in my own time with the 5070, the ceiling on how much more performance you can get out of it (frame rates up by 15% before crashing) is impressive. Like a cable-free gaming setup? Asus' ROG Delta II wireless headset is one of the best you can get — packing giant 50mm titanium-plated drivers to deliver immersively deep sound, a 10mm super-wideband mic for comms and a 110-hour battery life. And if you're the work-from-home kinda person, a better webcam than the potato on your laptop is essential. That's where the OBSBOT Meet SE really comes into its own at under $60 — packing a sharp 1080p picture with a 100FPS refresh rate, alongside HDR and gesture control. Follow Tom's Guide on Google News to get our up-to-date news, how-tos, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button.
Tom's Guide
16-07-2025
- Tom's Guide
Leaked Windows 11 gaming handheld UI hints at long-overdue fix ahead of ROG Xbox Ally launch — and it's about time
As we've been saying for a long time now, Windows 11 is not a good time on a gaming handheld. Microsoft has been listening, and we've seen promises of a drastically different version launching with the ROG Xbox Ally — stripping away the desktop and background processes in favor of a new UI when a gaming handheld is detected. Well, today, we got an even clearer look at how this will work, as someone has found references in Windows 11 to a new out-of-the-box experience UI for Windows 11 when it's running on a handheld. This change is long overdue, but I'm so glad it's finally happening. 13, 2025 As found by Phantom on X, Build 26200 of Windows 11 has spotted a UI screen that looks similar to the startup process when you first fire up a PC, but the standard laptop or desktop icon has been replaced by a handheld. On top of that, Windows latest dug into the code and found 'references' to a new 'GamePad optimized UI.' I won't go into the nitty-gritty of the code itself, but what it will do is detect if you're on a handheld and flip the UI accordingly — giving you prompts based on the A/B/X/Y buttons ('Press A to continue' and 'Press B to go back' are mentioned). This is all done via a hardware abstraction layer, which basically asks the device to identify itself before proceeding further. If it is identified as a 'GamepadBasedDevice,' then you'll go straight into this version of Windows. As you'll find in our Asus ROG Ally X review, we said "Windows 11 is the enemy of handheld gaming" for good reason. Device makers are quick to make their own workarounds that overlaid, but you always had to interact with a desktop-class UI on a tiny screen, background processes drained the battery life, and I still can't get over the setup process trying to sell me Office 365 on a gaming handheld. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. It's clear that the ROG Xbox Ally and Microsoft's accelerated development are in response to Steam OS expanding to devices like the Lenovo Legion Go S, and the moves being made are incredibly encouraging. The app switcher and task bar simplify things immensely. From not even loading the desktop background processes on startup to presenting a console-esque UI to play, this is what we've been asking for over the past 18 months now. Of course, this will just be coming to Asus' new device at first, but it will be expanding to new handhelds in 2026. Follow Tom's Guide on Google News to get our up-to-date news, how-tos, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button.
Tom's Guide
14-07-2025
- Tom's Guide
ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X prices leak — prepare for a premium cost
We know a lot about the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X, with Microsoft's new gaming handhelds rumored to arrive this October, but prices have yet to be officially announced. Now, we may have an idea thanks to a leak — and they look to be pricey. An official Spanish Asus Store (spotted by Notebookcheck) seemingly reveals the prices for the ROG Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X, shown by typing "Xbox Ally" in the search bar of the site. It shows the base Xbox Ally will be priced at €599, while the Xbox Ally X will come in at €899. This puts the standard model at around $699/£519 and the premium Ally X version at $1,050/£779. Of course, pricing in different regions is sure to be adjusted, especially in the U.S. with tariffs. However, if accurate, these Xbox handhelds will be another set of premium-priced gaming handhelds. Interestingly, known leaker eXtas1s suggests the regular Xbox Ally with an AMD Ryzen Z2 A chip will be priced from $499, while the AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme-equipped ROG Xbox Ally X will start at $799. These are far more attractive price points, but seeing the leaked prices indicates these could be at least $100 more. The ROG Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X are set to launch this fall, with rumors suggesting an October release date (with pre-orders expected to arrive in August). We'll know the official price of these gaming handhelds soon, but it's already looking like these consoles will match the competition of other premium handhelds. With the latest AMD processors, upgraded specs and new Xbox Experience app launching with the consoles, it isn't surprising that Microsoft's upcoming handhelds would come with premium price tags — not unlike other recent PC gaming handhelds. To put this into perspective, the recent Lenovo Legion Go S with SteamOS starts at $549 with a Ryzen Z2 Go chip, with the Ryzen Z1 Extreme coming in at $829. Along with this, the MSI Claw 8 AI+ starts at $899 with its Intel Core Ultra 7 258V chip. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. As for Asus' previous offerings, the ROG Ally is set at $699, while the beefier ROG Ally X is priced from $799. With the price leak in mind, the Xbox versions could look slightly different. We previously predicted the ROG Xbox Ally will be around $599 or less, while the ROG Xbox Ally X could drop somewhere between $799 to $999. Unsurprisingly, this puts both models well ahead of the $449 Nintendo Switch 2, with the highest-end $649 Steam Deck OLED being just ahead of the rumored pricing of the base ROG Xbox Ally. All that said, Asus' handhelds offer some of the most powerful handheld gaming performance on the market, and with the upgraded Ryzen Z2 Extreme chip (along with the less powerful Z2 A processor), these are set to be high-end portable gaming machines. There's still a lot to learn about Asus' upcoming Xbox handhelds, and it won't be long until we see if they belong among the best gaming handhelds around.
