**Laptop Comparison: The Good, the Bad, and the Unexpected**

The laptop market is always evolving, with new devices emerging every season. As technology advances, it's becoming increasingly difficult to compare laptops based solely on their specs. In this article, we'll delve into a comparison of several laptops, highlighting both the good and the bad, as well as some unexpected surprises.

**Speaker Test: A Surprising Performance**

One aspect that often gets overlooked when evaluating laptops is their speaker quality. Recently, we had the opportunity to test the speakers on several devices. While the Samsung laptop's speakers were a pleasant surprise, delivering clear and crisp sound, they couldn't quite match the clarity of the Dell laptop. However, it's essential to note that speaker performance can be subjective, and what resonates with one person may not resonate with another.

**Performance Analysis: Not Every Chip is Created Equal**

When evaluating laptops, specs often take center stage. However, this approach can lead to misleading conclusions. The Samsung laptop boasts the fastest chip on paper, but surprisingly, it's the slowest of the bunch when put through performance tests. Conversely, the Inspiron laptop's lower spec score belies its actual performance capabilities, thanks to a 10-core CPU. This highlights the importance of not taking specs at face value and considering overall system performance.

**Design and Features: A Mix of Good and Bad**

Laptop design is often a matter of personal preference, but some features stand out as more desirable than others. The Samsung laptop's 3:2 display touch ratio is a redeeming feature, even if it doesn't do anything particularly wrong. However, the inclusion of a number pad can be seen as unnecessary and even offset the trackpad to the left, making it less comfortable to use.

**The Verdict: Our Top Picks**

After evaluating several laptops, we're pleased to announce our top picks for this round. While not every device is perfect, some stand out from the crowd due to their exceptional performance, design, or features. The Samsung laptop's speaker test was a pleasant surprise, and its 3:2 display ratio adds a touch of elegance to an otherwise utilitarian design.

**The Honorable Mention**

While we didn't get the chance to review all the devices in our list, there's one notable honorable mention that's sure to spark interest. The Omnibook laptop shares similarities with the XPS 13 and, unfortunately, lacks a headphone jack. However, its 300 nits display is more than enough for most users.

**Sponsor Spotlight: dbrand**

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**Grammarly: The AI Writing Partner**

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**The Snapdragon X Review: A Must-See Stream**

If you're interested in staying up-to-date with the latest gaming laptops, be sure to check out our recent review of the Snapdragon X. This three-hour stream showcased 40 different games on this powerful device, offering a glimpse into its capabilities and limitations. Whether you're a gamer or simply curious about the future of tech, this stream is an absolute must-see.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enIn our launch review of Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite,we praised both the performanceand the battery life of these new laptop chips.And we were even impressed by their abilityto seamlessly run software that's designedfor traditional x86 laptops.Then the very next day,we live streamed our attempts to run dozens of PC gamesand nearly half of them failed.I mean, they clearly aren't meant to be gaming machines,but hey, neither is this thingand yet it can play gamesand that's important to a lot of people.So what is the real conclusion here?Is it worth the risk that your favorite programmight not run at all,if it means better battery life than a MacBookin everything else you do?Well, we're gonna find out todayand the day after that and the day after thatand so on for an entire month.That's right, three members of our teamare going to fully switch to Qualcomm laptopsto see just how usable Windows on Arm is in 2024.So we announced the challenge video over then, right?No.Oh, good Lord, we've still got to decidewhich of these numerous laptopswe're gonna be using for a month.And it's not gonna be easysince there isn't a single bad one in front of usor behind us.So many options.To tell you about our sponsor.G.Skill, embrace the finer things in lifelike yachting, art collectingand of course, RAM with G.Skill's Trident Z5 Royal DDR5featuring a mirror finish in either gold or silverand a crystalline light bar.Learn more at our link in the video description.Let's kick things right off with the Surface Laptop 7.Microsoft has been desperate for a response to Apple Siliconand their co-pilot plus flagshipis the first big update to this product line in five years.Alex really wants this one so much sothat he made sure that we had two of themto ensure that he gets one.The sensel trackpad means great gesture controlsand haptics and as far as facelifts go,this one was a doozy.It's lighter, smaller and maybe even better built.I have heard the keyboard's a bit underwhelming thoughso we're gonna have to test that out.And there's no time like the present.It's definitely a softer typing experience,not the longest travel distanceand a little bit on the squishy sidebut I don't think this would affect accuracyand there's a lot else to like about this machine.It's got a 120 Hertz display that does support HDRwith peak brightness of up to 600 nitsfor a pretty solid HDR viewing experience.It's in that magic 3:2 aspect ratiothat is incredible for productivityand on that note, it has one of, if not the best webcamswe've ever seen on a laptop.And of course, includes Windows Hello facial recognitionfor instant login.She's tempting but I have to ask Alex,what exactly happened here?Uh, that was a little bit awkward.You know how we said that that Sensel trackpadis really, really good?Uh-huh.One of them didn't work when it arrived.Oh, so we just made a little mix and match?Yeah, so now it's fixed.I like what you've done here.I really love it actually.And you can see the whole experienceof swapping out the bottom panel and the trackpadat lmg.gg/floatplane.You know, it's a very own brand that you have a janky one.Would you look at that?That's a lot of washers that just came out of there.I really like this laptop now.I'm like emotionally connected to it.We literally just started getting back on their good side.This is not going to help.I'm so sorry, Microsoft.Next up, we've got the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Edgeand she's a little heavier, but there is a lot to like hereincluding that shockingly thin profilethat somehow doesn't compromise on IOwith full-size HDMI ports and full-size USBand a micro SD storage slot.We also get a fingerprint sensor and that display.Now it's no secret that Samsung makes someof the best panels for everyone else on the marketbe they phones, laptops, or TVs.So it shouldn't be a surprise.They have an absolute banger of a display on this machine.On top of the solid specs,Samsung has gone the extra mile to avoid oneof the pitfalls of previous OLED touchscreenswhere the touch digitizer wouldn't line up perfectlywith the OLED sub pixels.On this one, it's crystal clear.So you don't get any of that potential graininessthat we've seen in the past.Meaning this is an extremely strong contender.I mean, it's panoramic.Now there is one problem with this.We have an international layout keyboardwhich is a bit of an issue.I didn't even notice that.But do you know what arrived literally 30 minutes ago?Oh, a not that one.A not that one.Oh, perfect.But if you want to take it,there is someone that you will have to fight.Oh, Sammy's interest is seeing how it integrateswith the rest of the Samsung ecosystem.He's already got the phone, the watch, the fridge, so.And the earbud.Brand loyalty for the win, I guess.Of course.Colin, flag me.That's not why Sammy is your name, is it?No.Short for Samsung.For the XPS 13, Dell sent us two different options.And on both of them, you give up some IOand you definitely give up some screen size,but you also give up unsightly bezels.And on this one, in between that nearly frameless designis the very first tandem OLED panel on a PC.Guys, if this comes even closeto the one in the new iPad Pro,this is likely to be the best screen on a laptop, period.The only problem is that according to Dell,the full HD plus IPS version of the XPS 13gets literally double the battery life.So they provided that option for us as well.Would I trade my newfound excellent battery lifefor an otherworldly POLED display?Well, fortunately, it isn't as bad as they said.This thing right here got a solid 12 hours.Just this one's incredible.Look, I had to write it inbecause it got nearly 17 hours of battery life.When I printed these off,it was still just going in the chamberfrom the night before.And there's a lot more to like here, at least on paper.The trackpad, keyboard, speakers, build quality,and especially on the full HD plus model,the best battery life in a sea of MacBook beating batteries.It's incredible, except no headphone jackor physical escape key, Dell.But another there is.That's right, Dell's XPS lineisn't the only contender they sent over.And their traditionally lower end Inspiron machineis actually looking very tempting.I can't say I'm a huge fan of the mushy keyboard,nor am I that into giving up an HDR display,but by simply avoidingmany of Dell's foot shooting design forward decisions,the Inspiron family could end up beingthe only reasonable contender for a lot of buyers.Now, with only 11 hours and six minutes of battery life,it got the shortest of all of our Snapdragon laptops,but it still bests the MacBook Air M2 by 43 minutes.So it's still pretty darn exceptional.Of course, being a more budget friendly model,this is also the only machine out of our optionsthat's configured with the X plus chipand not the X elite.So we'd have to live with just 10 coresin our thin and light for a month.2024 truly is a tough time, isn't it?I mean, it is, but not because of this.Next up, I'd love to show you this design from Framework,who of course I'm invested in.I'd love to show it to you, but they don't have one.So let's move on.The HP Omnibook X is kind of a funny onebecause on paper, nothing about it really stands out.And yet this is one of those rare devicesthat manages to be more than the sum of its parts.It's thin, it's light, the keyboard is great,the rounded corners on the chassis feel nice in your hands,and the IO is even surprisingly decentfor a machine this slimwith one of those cute little full-size type A's.The screen also doesn't get very bright,only 300 nits peak,meaning that outdoor use in anything but an emergencyis out of the question,but it sips power,giving this thing the second best battery life in our tests.Of course, if you want almost as much battery lifeand a bigger, brighter OLED screen,the Asus Vivobook S15 has got to be on your radar.Although that's not necessarily a recommendation.This has got to be the most all over the place laptopwe've got.See on paper, it features the slowest version of the X Elite,but in turbo mode,it manages to ramp power to that thing to 50 Watts,making it the fastest real world performerin multi-core workloads,even though it's the second slowestout of everything we tested in single core.The screen is 120 Hertz OLED and hit 600 nits,but it's 16:9 and non-touch screen,which I'm frankly not that into.The keyboard and build qualityare best described as fine, I guess,but it comes with the best IO out of the bunchand comes with a terabyte of storage for a reasonable price.Bucking a trend that the rest of the industryseems to be happy to go along withwhere reasonable amounts of storagecost an arm and a freaking leg.I should have said leg and arm.That would have been much funnier.Get it?We're gonna have links down belowto where you can find pricing and full specsfor all of these machines.But for now, I think it's time to get off the spec sheetand start comparing side by side.And I gotta tell you,that tandem OLED almost looks unnaturally overjuiced,especially next to that HP.Yeah, if I'm honest,I did try this in HDR in this video and non-HDR.It looks way more natural, not in HDR.So I think it's just the color grading.I was typing on this to bring this video upand I do not like this keyboard.I like rounded keys.I do not like these flat hard edges on the keys.I don't know.I've used these a little bitand I find that you get used to itand really like it in like maybe 10 minutes.That's fair enough.I mean, I don't wanna disqualify a machinebased on a temporary inconvenience,but if there's something that feels good to meout of the box and I don't have to dealwith this overblown gamma tracking nightmare of a display,then maybe that's a good thing.Alex did suggest though that I turn HDR offand see if it feels better.Oh my God.That is a nice HDR displayand that one looks functionally identical.I would say the most true to life looking of all of themis actually the VivoBook.Yeah, that's not surprising.OLED and it is color calibrated.It looks pretty fricking good.I think the Samsung might have a wider gamut.You know, the Surface has a really good displaycompared to the rest of them.It does not hold up.It doesn't stand out anyway.Same with the Inspiron,although matte finish I do really appreciate.Okay, all right.Crab Rave.You can pack so much music in this bad boy.You really can.That's only half volume.It gets worse as it gets louder.It really does.Didn't get much louder.Did distort.Oh!In fairness, if we hadn't heard that first,it wouldn't be so awful.That sounds good.Not bad, Samsung.Yeah.This must be that Harman acquisition.I don't even see a Harman logo on it or anything.Gets better when you give it some space too.That's really solid.Yeah, I dig it.How'd Microsoft do?It's pretty good.It doesn't get that loud.You just desperately wanna like this thing.It's fine.Yeah, it's fine.It's well-rounded and it's not nearly as looseand boomy as the VivoBook S,but it doesn't have that claritythat we saw on both the Samsung and the Dell.And not every Dell.Not the worst.Is great.Yeah.I thought that speaker testwould go way better than it did.Went great for Samsung.Yeah, it went great for Samsung.They were a surprise, if not winner, definitely contenderand everyone else kind of...Realistically, we're both pretty closeto picking something, I think.But there's more to life than subjectivity.And we did some performance analysison the machines as well.Are there any that stand out above or below?One thing that surprised me is that the Samsung on paperhas the fastest chip in it.It's the only one that gets the top SKUand it is the slowest of the bunch.Well, the Inspiron's lower, but it has a 10 core CPU.So of course it's slower.This is a really valuable lesson on laptop specsand why we can't take them at face value anymore.I mean, I have a thin and light laptopthat has an RTX 4070 in it.See, that face, right?That face tells you everything you need to know.Also very strange.I think some BIOS optimizations need to happenbecause three of our devices were faster on batterythan well plugged in.And like repeatedly too.High performance mode in both situations,faster on battery, run after run.Enough Stalling. Pick one.I want this one.I knew you were gonna do that.Why?3:2 display touch.It doesn't do anything horribly wrong.And you do get a type A.I really hate that you have to use the stupid, this thing.I much prefer just type C, but.Can it charge on those type C ports though?It can, yes.Oh, then you don't have to use it at all.You just ignore it.And it's just an annoying thing that's there.See, I still consider MagSafe to be a feature.Sorry, excuse me.Safe magnet.I don't know what Microsoft calls it,but it wouldn't lean me toward a device.Going Sammy.I kind of really like it.Now, there are definitely things I don't like,included number pad.Not only am I not an accountant,but what it does is it offsets your track pad to the left,meaning that you're always eithersitting with your arms like thisor looking like this a little bit.But what else would I choose?There is one honorable mention that unfortunately,we weren't able to get here today.It's kind of similar to the XPS 13and it doesn't have a headphone jack either.I'm probably gonna regret this,but I'm gonna go with the Omnibook.You think the 300 nits is enough?I almost never use a laptop outside.Fair enough.I'm going for it.And I'm going for telling you about our sponsor.Oh, one sec, one sec.dbrand has sent us a thing.Oh, are they our sponsor?No, they aren't.But they sent us some skins.I mean, they are a sponsor.Oh no, what have you done?What the hell?There's a skin for me and a skin for you.Mine has the scorpion.Why do you get the sickest, coolest looking skin ever?And I get their like new rusted out,cool design, I'm sure that.It's called Case Hardened.Shill better Linus.Oh my God, what is this stuff?Do you have options?I guess.Oh no, no, I get a top and a bottom.I'm settled.And I'm settled on telling you about our sponsor.Grammarly, at Linus Media Group,the business team has to do a ton of communication,coordination and writing.And they're not even on the writing team.That's where Grammarly comes in.They're an AI writing partner that works where you work.And upgrading to Grammarly Premiumhas saved our business team even more timethanks to useful features like strategic suggestions.Grammarly will anticipate your reader's questionsand help you fill the gaps,whether it's providing enough contextor offering solutions to a problem.Plus, with the Premium App Actions feature,you can now link Google Drive links,create tasks on monday.comor insert GIFs into your emails in one placewithout switching tabs.Sign up and upgrade to Grammarly Premiumat grammarly.com/LTT08.If you guys enjoyed this video,why not go check out our Snapdragon X reviewor that long stream, it was like three or four hours,where we tried 40 different games?Something like that.It's pretty eye-opening.\n"