The first important piece of information about this hardware is that this isn’t a PC, or rather, it's not an Intel, AMD or X86-compliant platform that can run Windows.

It’s built around ARM technology, much like modern phones and tablets, although its ARM technology has been scaled up to work with massively powerful Nvidia Blackwell technology that is capable of 1 petaFLOP of AI performance using FP4.

This has all been shoehorned into a gorgeously engineered 150mm-square, 51mm-high form factor that resembles an oversized NUC.

The system can be used directly by attaching a mouse, keyboard, and screen, but it’s also intended to be used in a headless mode from another system, which might explain why it comes with relatively modest onboard storage.

What this system doesn’t allow for is much expansion, at least internally. The inclusion of a special networking connection, the Nvidia ConnectX-7 port, does allow another Ascent GX10 node to be stacked on top, doubling the amount of processing power and the price.

The platform that runs the integrated AI software stack is Ubuntu Linux, so familiarity with that might be useful for those wanting to work directly on it.

As anyone working in AI can already attest, nothing to do with this type of development is cheap, and the Asus Ascent GX10 is more than $3000 for a single node.

But given the expertise needed to use this hardware and the associated developer costs, this AI-focused hardware might be the least expensive part of any project. And, with memory costs rising dramatically, a system with 128GB of LPDDR5X onboard it might be significantly more expensive by the end of 2026 than it is at the start of it.

Asus Ascent GX10: Price and availability

• How much does it cost? From $3090, £2800
• When is it out? Available now
• Where can you get it? From online retailers.

The ASUS Ascent GX10 isn’t available directly from Asus, but it's easy to find at many online retailers, including Amazon.

For US readers, the price on Amazon.com is $3099.99 for the 1TB storage SKU (GX10-GG0015BN), and $4,149.99 for the 4TB storage model (GX10-GG0016BN).

Given that a 4TB Gen 5 SSD is about $500, that is a remarkable price hike for the extra storage capacity.

For UK readers, on Amazon.co.uk the 1TB model price is £3769, but I found it via online retailer SCAN for a more palatable £2799.98. SCAN also carries a 2TB option for $3199.99 and the 4TB model for £3638.99.

The important details of this platform are that the hardware inside the GX10 isn’t exclusive to Asus, as Nvidia GPUs are (in theory) available across a number of brands, and Nvidia has its own model.

The Nvidia DGX Spark Personal AI Supercomputer, as the originator modestly calls it, costs £3699.98 in the UK, for a system with 128GB of RAM and 4TB of storage.

Acer offers the Veriton AI GN100, which bears an uncanny visual resemblance to the Asus but comes with 4TB of storage, like the Nvidia option. This is £3999.99 direct from Acer in the UK, but only $2999.99 from Acer in the US.

Another choice is the Gigabyte AI TOP ATOM Desktop Supercomputer, a 4TB storage model that sells for £3479.99 from SCAN in the UK, and can be found on Amazon.com for $3999.

And the final model with the same spec as most is the MSI EdgeXpert Desktop AI Supercomputer, selling for £3,598.99 from SCAN in the UK, and $3999 on Amazon.com for US customers.

Overall, the prices of all these products are roughly in the same ballpark, but the Asus in its 1TB configuration is one of the cheaper choices, especially for those in Europe.

Asus Ascent GX10: Specs

Asus Ascent GX10: Design

• Uber NUC
• Connect-7 scalability
• Limited internal access

While the GX10 looks like an oversized NUC mini PC, at 1.48kg it's heavier than any I’ve previously encountered. And that doesn’t include the substantial 240W PSU.

The front is an elegant grill with only the power button for company, and all the ports are on the rear. These include four USB-C ports, one of which is required for the PSU to connect, a single 10GbE LAN port and a single HDMI 2.1 video out.

You can connect more than one monitor by using the USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 ports in DP Alt mode, if you have the adapters to convert those into DisplayPort.

What seems mildly odd is that Asus went with three USB 3.2 Gen 2x2, a standard that was an effective dead end in USB development, and not USB4. And, there are no Type-A USB ports at all, forcing the buyer to use an adapter or hub to attach a mouse and keyboard to this system.

As mice and keyboards are still mostly USB-A, that’s slightly irritating.

But what makes this system truly interesting is the inclusion of a ConnectX-7 Smart NIC alongside the more conventional 10GbE Ethernet port.

The best the 10GbE LAN port can offer is a data transfer of around 840MB/s, which is technically slower than the USB ports, even if it's quick by networking technology.

The ConnectX-7 port is a technology developed by Mellanox Technologies Ltd, an Israeli-American multinational supplier of computer networking products based on InfiniBand and Ethernet technology that was acquired by Nvidia in 2019.

In this context, ConnectX-7 provides a means to link a second GX10 directly over a 200 Gbit/s (25 GB/s) InfiniBand network, enabling performance scaling across the two systems.

There are certainly parallels with this type of technology to the time when Nvidia enabled two GPUs to work in unison using a dedicated interconnect, but the ConnectX-7 interface is a much more sophisticated option where both processing and memory can be used in collective exercise, enabling the handling of large-scale models with over 400 billion parameters. That's double the 200 billion that a single unit can cope with.

Mellanox does make ConnectX switches, but I’m not sure if it is possible to connect more than two GX10 via one of those. Being realistic, each system is still only capable of 200 Gbit/s communication, so adding additional nodes beyond two might offer diminishing returns. But this technology is utilised in switched fabrics for enterprise data centres and high-performance computing, and in these scenarios, the Mellanox Quantum family of InfiniBand switches supports up to 40 ports running at HDR 200 Gbit/s.

It may be that products like the GX10 will be the vanguard for the wider use and application of ConnectX technology, and a blueprint for easily expandable clusters.

However, the last aspect I looked at on the GX10 was a disappointment, and it was the only nod to upgradability that this system has, beyond adding a second machine.

On the underside of the GX10 is a small panel that can be removed to provide access to the one M.2 NVMe drive that this system supports.

In our review, the hardware was occupied by a single 2242 M.2 PCIe 4.0 1TB drive, although you can also get this system with 4TB. The fact that there wasn’t room for a 2280 drive is a shock, because that effectively limits the maximum internal storage to 4TB.

But conversely, the only other of these types of systems I’ve seen, the Acer GN100 AI Mini Workstation, has no access to the internal storage at all. So perhaps Asus Ascent GX10 owners should be thankful for small mercies.

Asus Ascent GX10: Features

• ARM 20-core CPU
• Grace Blackwell GB10
• AI platforms compared

The Nvidia GB10 Grace Blackwell Superchip represents a significant leap in AI hardware, emerging from a collaborative effort between Nvidia and ARM. Its origins lie in the growing demand for specialised computing platforms capable of supporting the rapid development and deployment of artificial intelligence models. Unlike traditional x86-based systems, the GB10 is built around ARM v9.2-A architecture, featuring a combination of 20 ARM cores—specifically, 10 Cortex-X925 and 10 Cortex-A725 cores. This design choice reflects a broader industry trend towards ARM-based solutions, which offer improved efficiency and scalability for AI workloads.

The GB10’s capabilities are nothing short of remarkable. It integrates a powerful Nvidia Blackwell GPU paired with the ARM CPU, delivering up to a petaFLOP of AI performance using FP4 precision. This level of computational power is particularly suited to the training and inference of large language models (LLMs) and diffusion models, which underpin much of today’s generative AI. The system is further enhanced by 128GB of unified LPDDR5x memory, ensuring that even the most demanding AI tasks can be handled efficiently.

The GB10’s operating environment is based on Ubuntu Linux, specifically tailored with NVIDIA’s DGX OS, making it an ideal platform for developers familiar with open-source AI tools and workflows.

There is an exceptionally fine irony to this OS choice, since Nvidia’s hardly been a friend to Linux over the past three decades, and has actively obstructed its attempts to compete more widely with Microsoft Windows. If anyone doubts my opinion on the relationship between Linux and Nvidia, then search for “Linus Torvalds” and “Nvidia”. Recently, Linus has warmed to the company, but much less to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. And, he’s not a fan of the AI industry, which he described as "90% marketing and 10% reality".

Looking to the future, the evolution of the GB10 and similar superchips will likely be shaped by the ongoing arms race in AI hardware. As models grow ever larger and more complex, the need for even greater memory bandwidth, faster interconnects, and more efficient processing architectures will drive innovation. The modularity offered by technologies like ConnectX-7 hints at a future where AI systems can be scaled seamlessly by linking multiple nodes, enabling the handling of models with hundreds of billions of parameters.

In terms of raw AI performance, the GB10 delivers up to 1 petaFLOP at FP4 precision, which is heavily optimised for quantised AI workloads. While this is less than the multi-petaFLOP performance of NVIDIA’s flagship data centre chips (such as the Blackwell B200 or GB200), the GB10’s power efficiency is a standout. It operates at around 140W TDP, far lower than the 250W or more seen in GPUs like the RTX 5070, yet offers vastly more memory (128GB vs 12GB on the 5070). This makes the GB10 especially suitable for developers and researchers who need to work with large models locally, without the need for a full server rack.

While there are some other players hidden in the shadows, mostly Chinese, the key AI players are Nvidia, AMD, Google and Apple.

NVIDIA has the Blackwell B200/GB200 products for datacenter flagships, offering up to 20 petaFLOPS of sparse FP4 compute and massive HBM3e memory bandwidth. These are massively expensive enterprise products, and the GB10, by contrast, is a scaled-down, more accessible version for desktop and edge use, trading some peak performance for efficiency and compactness.

AMD's line of AI accelerators is the Instinct MI300/MI350, these are competitive in terms of raw compute and memory bandwidth, with the MI350X offering up to 288GB HBM3e and strong FP4/FP6 performance. But these don’t offer the same level of flexibility as the GB10, even if they’re better suited to interference tasks. And, the same can be said for Google TPU v6/v7, a technology that is highly efficient for large-scale inference and is optimised for Google’s own cloud and AI services.

Whereas Apple M3/M4/M5 and Edge AI Chips are optimised for on-device AI in consumer products, with impressive efficiency and integrated neural engines. However, these chips are not designed for large-scale model training or inference, and their memory and compute capabilities are far below what the GB10 offers for professional AI development.

The NVIDIA GB10 Grace Blackwell Superchip stands out as a bridge between consumer AI hardware and data centre accelerators. It offers a unique blend of high memory capacity, power efficiency, and local accessibility, making it ideal for developers and researchers who need serious AI capability without the scale or cost of a full server. While it cannot match the absolute peak performance of the largest data centre chips, its unified memory, advanced interconnects, and software support make it a compelling choice for cutting-edge AI work at the desktop.

However, that statement does assume that current AI is a path work taking.

Asus Ascent GX10: AI Reality Check

Looking at the specifications of the Asus Ascent GX10, it's easy to be impressed by how much computing power Asus, with the help of Nvidia, has managed to squeeze into a tiny computer, and its ability to scale.

However, there are three practical little pigs living in this AI straw house, and in this story, I’m the wolf.

Those researching AI might think I’m referring to the three AI issues that confront all public implementations. Those being algorithmic bias, lack of transparency (aka explainability), and the significant ethical/societal risks associated with the spread of misinformation. But I’m not, because these are potentially fixable to a degree.

Instead, I’m talking about the three unfixable issues with current models

Almost every AI platform is based on a concept called the Deep Neural Net, and under that are two approaches that are generally classified as LLM (Large Language Models) and Diffusion models, which are the ones that can generate images and video.

What both these sides of the Deep Neural Net coin show is a pattern-matching approach to problems, like the computer is playing a complex version of the children’s card game Snap. The results are coloured by the scale of the data and how quickly the routines and hardware platforms find the patterns.

Before IBM made computers, they sold card files, with the concept that it was quicker to navigate the cards to the information you wanted.

It’s a generalisation, but these models are purely more sophisticated versions of that, because if the pattern they’re looking for doesn’t exist in the data, then the routine can’t inspirationally create it.

To make the results seem less random, model designers have tried to specialise their AI constructs to focus on narrower criteria, but the Nirvana of AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) is that the AI should be generally applicable to almost any problem.

How this issue manifests in AI responses is that when confronted with a pattern that the routine can’t match accurately, it just offers up the partial matches it found that may or may not be related at all.

These ‘hallucinations’, as they’re often called, are a choice the model makers have between the AI admitting it has no idea what the answer is, and delivering a response that’s got a remarkably low possibility of being correct. Given that AI companies don’t like the idea of their models admitting they haven’t a clue what the answer is, hallucinations are deemed preferable.

Perhaps some of the problem here is not AI, but that users aren’t trained to check what the AI is producing, which isn’t entirely spurious.

The next issue is the classic ‘prompt injection’ issue, where you ask a question, and then, often based on the response, you realise you asked the wrong one, and then proceed in an entirely different direction. The AI doesn’t recognise this pivot and tries to apply its previous pattern constructions to the new problem, and becomes entirely confused.

And the final piglet, where current AI entirely falls down, might be classed as original thinking, where what the user wants is a new approach to a problem that hasn’t been documented before. What has defined humans as being especially impressive thinkers is their ability to abstract, and that is something that current AI doesn’t do, even modestly.

While prompt injection can probably be solved, the other two issues regarding generalisation and abstraction are unlikely to be fixed by the Deep Neural Net, these need a radically new approach, and ironically, not one that AI is likely to come up with.

Some of you reading this will be wondering why I’ve inserted this information into this product reveal, but the whole purpose of the Asus Ascent GX10 is to facilitate the design and testing of LLMs and Diffusion models, and at this time, these have significant limitations.

But critically, the development of the whole Deep Neural Net direction doesn’t appear to have resolution to some of the more problematic issues, which suggests it might ultimately be a dead end.

It might turn out to be useful for lots of problems, but it's not the AI we’re looking for, and the likelihood of it evolving into that true artificial intelligence is extremely low.

This is especially relevant to the Asus Ascent GX10, since it doesn’t have a practical purpose beyond the creation of models, as it’s not a PC.

These aren’t all the issues associated with AI, but they’re some of the ones that might directly impact those buying the GX10, at some point or another.

Asus Ascent GX10: Early verdict

It’s exciting to see Asus make something this radical, showing that it truly believes in a post-Windows, post-PC future where hardware is purely specified for a specific task, and in the case of the Asus Ascent GX10, that’s AI model development.

I’ve already covered the caveats regarding that subject, so for the purpose of this conclusion, let's pretend that AI is the solid bet that some think, and not an underachieving dead end that others believe.

For corporations, the cost of this hardware won’t be an issue for their IT people to experience building AI models and evaluating their worth.

The beauty of a system like the GX10 is that it’s a finite cost, unlike buying access to an AI server centre cluster, which will be an ongoing cost, and likely to become more expensive if demand is high. While the data centre still might be needed for the biggest projects, or for deployment, the GX10 does provide a first rung for any proof of concept.

However, if the AI path is not the one that is ultimately taken, this machine becomes mostly a beautifully engineered paperweight.

For more compact computing, see our guide to the best mini PCs you can buy

In the past, from some of the bigger (and smaller) case makers, we've witnessed the likes of Cougar's FV270 fish tank case, which has an RGB turntable inside. Or to venture into more left-field experimental territory, how about Cooler Master's shark-shaped gaming case? Or indeed some of the truly elaborate case designs seen at past Computex shows.

If anything, this year has shown us some even wilder and more innovative ideas for PC cases, even though 2026 has barely begun, which has prompted me to pick out a few favorites here.

Two are actual PC cases, and one is just a DIY concept that modifies your existing case – but I love it so much that I feel it must be mentioned. And anyone who played coin-op arcade games is likely to appreciate it just as much.

1. NextGear Clear Shift

The NextGear Clear Shift, as highlighted by PC Watch (a Japanese tech site), has a built-in cloaking device, Star Trek-style. Well, sort of. What the Clear Shift actually does is transform the case window panels (front and side) from see-through to opaque at the touch of a button.

One minute, the case is transparent, and you can see the CPU, GPU, and other hardware inside; the next minute, it's opaque, and you can't see the innards at all. When the PC is off, it's opaque by default, in case you were wondering.

Pretty cool? Definitely. Pretty pointless? Well, what's the point of any of these fancy custom cases, except to do something strikingly different that takes us away from the land of plain black mini towers?

Although that said, there could be a practical use for this case after all, given what we've been hearing about RAM being a new target for burglars, smashing and grabbing the stuff out of desktop PCs – at least with the NextGear Clear Shift, they won't be able to see if you've loaded up 128GB of DDR5 inside your machine (not at a glance, anyway).

2. InWin Aeon

Shown off at CES 2026, where it turned some heads to say the least, InWin's Aeon case is described as a "vision beyond convention" and a "mechanized architectural statement". Hyperbole? Well, yes, but in fairness, this is a jaw-dropping case and definitely a statement.

It uses reflective mosaic panels to achieve a really smart, modern appearance, and the chassis shape makes the Aeon seem more like a futuristic artifact from a sci-fi movie than a PC case. On top of that, the chassis has an RFID card reader, and when the provided card is swiped, the case opens to give super-slick access to the components (check it out in the promo video above).

3. Coin-op gaming PC

Remember coin-ops, or coin-operated machines, at old-style arcades? Here we have an external addition to a PC case: a coin mechanism. You need to put a specific coin into your machine to turn it on.

This is the brainchild of Mr Yeester, a hardware engineer with his own YouTube channel, as Tom's Hardware spotted, and you can see the process of making this creation in the video clip above.

The end result is a separate coin acceptor box hooked up to the gaming PC, and while the engineer uses a makeshift enclosure to save time, it could obviously be something a bit fancier. This is a highly novel idea, and there's a security element here too: if you don't have precisely the right coin – the acceptor box checks the metal's size and thickness using phototransistors and infrared LEDs – you can't turn on the computer. Top marks for ingenuity here.

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The XR glasses are now able to do this via a tech Xreal calls Real 3D. It first debuted on the Xreal 1S glasses and has since landed on Xreal’s One and One Pro specs, too, thanks to an update.

Once switched on, the glasses will create depth in previously flat videos and games. Best of all, it works on any app and with any system, as it’s not handled by your phone, laptop, or console – Xreal’s specs handle all the 3D processing for you.

Starting with my phone before I even booted up any apps, I could see Real 3D in effect, as it turned my phone background – a picture I took of my fiancée in Pompeii – had a stereoscopic effect, as did my app icons, which were now floating above the page.

Actually moving into video, I tried both some animated projects – Eyes of Wakanda and Phineas and Ferb – as well as some live-action stuff – Rogue One and a YouTuber streamer’s latest VoD.

2D Animation is where the tech really shines. The better-defined edges of objects seemingly help the software distinguish items from one another better, whereas Rogue One occasionally had distortion around the edges of objects, and some layers blended incorrectly.

Eyes of Wakanda, with its more complex 3D animated style, slanted in between. Mostly great, but sometimes there would be noticeable errors in the glasses’ rendering. Regardless, I generally found Real 3D to be impressive, and I’ll definitely try to use it.

You can tweak the strength of the stereoscopic effect in the glasses’ settings. You can reduce the errors at the cost of 3D effect strength, or make the effect much stronger at the risk of it having a bit more trouble in more complex scenes.

With my video tests done, I switched over to my Asus ROG Xbox Ally X to boot up Sekiro and The Binding of Isaac. Much like with the shows, Isaac’s simpler 2D style was easier to get a great 3D effect from, whereas Sekiro could struggle at times.

Sekiro’s troubles were also impacted by some noticeable performance dips – such as a lower framerate and a subtle lag – that did make executing its more precise gameplay a little more challenging.

Exactly what XR needs

All this is to say that Real 3D is a very impressive tool, if still a work in progress, as my colleague Lance Ulanoff found it to be when trying the Xreal 1S specs. Despite its occasional slip-ups, I still loved using it, and I’m excited to see how Xreal evolves this tech over time.

I remember chatting with its team at an event a couple of years ago, where we bemoaned the lack of accessible 3D content for XR hardware. At the time, outside of Disney Plus on the Apple Vision Pro, you couldn’t simply buy or rent a 3D flick.

As another attendee in our conversation noted, the quiet part is that if you want 3D content for your glasses, you’d need to sail the seven seas.

This is obviously not ideal, especially for a medium like XR, which is well-positioned to leverage stereoscopic content. So I am so excited that Xreal has taken such an initiative with Real 3D and decided to forcibly drag 3D content to its platform while content makers drag their heels.

It’s definitely another arrow in the Xreal glasses’ already full quiver, and over time I'm sure Real 3D will only get better. The ball’s also now in the court of its rivals. Viture has something similar to Real 3D but it requires an on-device app, while many other glasses have no equivalent.

How to experience Real 3D

If you want to try Real 3D for yourself, you’ll need a pair of Xreal One, Xreal One Pro, or Xreal 1S glasses.

They’ll also need to be running the latest firmware. The easiest way to fix this is to head to Xreal’s Update Page on your PC, connect your glasses to your PC using their USB-C cable, and follow the onscreen prompts to install the update.

Once installed, connect your glasses to a compatible device and open up the glasses’ settings menu by double-tapping the red button on your frames. In the display settings, select Real 3D, and have fun with the new tool.

By returning to the settings, you can turn Real 3D off, but you can also turn it off by unplugging your glasses and reconnecting them to your device. Additionally, you can adjust the strength of the 3D effects.

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While the official spinoff of TikTok’s U.S. operations into the TikTok USDS Joint Venture closed last week, things in the first few days under this new ownership have been less than perfect. Mainly, the platform has been disrupted since yesterday, January 25, 2026, resulting in the app not functioning properly for many users.

I’ve experienced the feed displaying older videos, pausing in the middle of content, sound not syncing, and even videos not fully uploading. I’ve heard similar tales from friends who use TikTok – one who saw a video post that wasn’t visible to other users – and Down Detector shows a spike that started early on the morning of January 25, 2026.

It could be that, after the TikTok USDS Joint Venture was formalized, it’s experiencing growing pains as this new entity takes control of the algorithm and moves operations to new data centers. Remember, in the middle of last week, after the deal was announced, new terms and conditions were rolled out to TikTok users in the United States.

The TikTok USDS Joint Venture’s X (formerly Twitter) account posted earlier today, January 26, to address the issues. “Since yesterday, we’ve been working to restore our services following a power outage at a U.S. data center impacting TikTok and other apps we operate,” noting that the issues folks have been experiencing were due to a power outage at a data center in the United States. These issues also correlate with a spike in reports for CapCut, the editing app owned by ByteDance – TikTok’s parent company and still a partial owner of the TikTok USDS Joint Venture.

The post ends with, “We’re working with our data center partner to stabilize our service. We’re sorry for this disruption and hope to resolve it soon.” This was posted at 10:21 a.m. ET on January 26, 2026, and as of this publishing, there are still over 1,000 reports of issues with TikTok. That’s more than an average day but less than the nearly 8,000 reported last evening.

Hopefully, TikTok US will be able to share a bit more about what’s going on in the hours or days after this is fully resolved, but it’s been a tough start for the platform so far. If you’re still having issues with your FYP feed, uploading videos, loading comments, or just using the app in general, let us know in the comments below.

The timing of these functional issues also coincides with increased scrutiny of the new terms and conditions – specifically around how the app will collect location data and use user data for AI training – as well as the platform’s updated content moderation policies.

At a minimum, let’s hope that the TikTok USDS Joint Venture can get these issues related to “a power outage at a data center in the United States” fixed soon, so we can all get back to scrolling on the app.

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It's a coupon code that you can currently use over at the official Lenovo Store to knock upwards of a $900 off the brand's LOQ and Legion models.

The code in question is GAMINGDEALS, and you can currently use it at check-out on most of the brands' configurations. I've tested it myself, and I can confirm it works across a range of options.

If you're interested, I've been scanning through the site's listings today to find my favorite deals. Just below are three machines that I'd particularly recommend if you're looking to squeeze as much value out of this coupon code as possible.

My favorite gaming laptop deals at Lenovo today

• See more: check out all of today's deals at Lenovo

Collectively, these are some of the best gaming laptop deals I've seen since Black Friday in November, and I imagine they'll likely overshadow many of the upcoming Presidents' Day laptop sales that are about to ramp up at major retailers.

Lenovo does this thing where it lists ridiculous retail prices for its machines to make the price cuts bigger. Even with that, these are very strong deals when compared to other retailers currently. You're getting a good price for the specs, and in the case of the latter two options, premium OLED displays. We haven't personally reviewed the latest Legion 5, but we were very impressed with the previous generation, so these deals are definitely worth considering.

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,400 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1464) - hint #1 - Vowels

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1464) - hint #2 - repeated letters

Quordle today (game #1464) - hint #3 - uncommon letters

Quordle today (game #1464) - hint #4 - starting letters (1)

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1464) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1464) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1464, are…

• QUALM
• SHARD
• MIGHT
• DWELT

Even without the appearance of the rare letter Q this was a tough game.

It took me quite a while to get to MIGHT, but fortunately I got there after only one wrong guess.

Daily Sequence today (game #1464) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1464, are…

• FRESH
• DROVE
• KNOCK
• SERVE

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1463, Monday, 26 January: CRACK, DEVIL, MAKER, SAVOR
• Quordle #1462, Sunday, 25 January: CATCH, TABBY, HUMOR, DATUM
• Quordle #1461, Saturday, 24 January: HEIST, THEIR, DETOX, PRESS
• Quordle #1460, Friday, 23 January: WRECK, GUARD, BELIE, BRAVO
• Quordle #1459, Thursday, 22 January: FRONT, QUOTE, RAISE, POKER
• Quordle #1458, Wednesday, 21 January: PRIVY, SHADY, REMIT, AORTA
• Quordle #1457, Tuesday, 20 January: MONEY, TRASH, TROPE, SHADE
• Quordle #1456, Monday, 19 January: EBONY, ALTAR, SALTY, FALSE
• Quordle #1455, Sunday, 18 January: BATTY, TWINE, DEBUT, TALLY
• Quordle #1454, Saturday, 17 January: ROAST, FOLIO, DROLL, PROVE
• Quordle #1453, Friday, 16 January: UNITY, JOLLY, LEAKY, WARTY
• Quordle #1452, Thursday, 15 January: STINT, WRECK, EXTRA, PUPIL
• Quordle #1451, Wednesday, 14 January: SWOOP, FIRST, GHOST, ALPHA
• Quordle #1450, Tuesday, 13 January: BILLY, BOSSY, EXIST, BIRTH
• Quordle #1449, Monday, 12 January: BRINE, ROUND, FLUME, REBUS
• Quordle #1448, Sunday, 11 January: SADLY, RHINO, AGONY, HAIRY
• Quordle #1447, Saturday, 10 January: HALVE, FLUFF, BELOW, DINER
• Quordle #1446, Friday, 9 January: CRAFT, DECAL, DWELT, TRADE
• Quordle #1445, Thursday, 8 January: STUDY, COYLY, UNTIE, LOWLY
• Quordle #1444, Wednesday, 7 January: BEARD, SPICY, MOIST, SWIRL

Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #695) - hint #1 - today's theme

NYT Strands today (game #695) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• BEER
• CREEP
• COVE
• SCRUB
• DOUR
• CLUE

NYT Strands today (game #695) - hint #3 - spangram letters

NYT Strands today (game #695) - hint #4 - spangram position

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #695) - the answers

The answers to today's Strands, game #695, are…

• SPOT
• BLUE
• BANDIT
• CHAMP
• SCOUT
• ROVER
• SCRUFFY
• BUDDY
• SPANGRAM: HEREBOY

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 1 hint

I wonder whether this puzzle would have been easier for players who own a dog? Being around other dog owners would give you a wider appreciation of other dog names, perhaps?

I'm not, and I found this one quite difficult. I drew a blank after getting SPOT – I initially thought we were searching for famous dogs – and opted for a hint, then realized I would just have to scan the board for doggy names.

My slow progress was such that it wasn’t until I got the spangram that I realised these were all male dog names. 

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Monday, January 26, game #694)

• SHIRAZ
• MERLOT
• MALBEC
• CHARDONNAY
• ZINFANDEL
• SPANGRAM: BYTHEBOTTLE

If you’re anything like me then you’re probably familiar with lying awake in bed, mind buzzing, and thoughts coming to you when you’d rather be sleeping. That’s annoying enough in itself, but it’s even worse when you feel compelled to use your phone to record those thoughts – further staving off sleep by looking at its lit up screen. But it doesn’t have to be like that.

As spotted by XDA Developers, Ansh Trivedi has used a Raspberry Pi to create what they call a ‘Thought Catcher’, also known as the TC-01. It’s a device that you place by your bed, and if a thought comes to you, then you can press a button on it and speak to record the thought.

Press the button again when you’re done speaking, and whatever you said will be transcribed by the AI-powered Whisper.cpp service, and sent to Notion, with a beep letting you know that’s been achieved.

Get some screen-free sleep

So there’s no need to reach for your phone, and therefore one less reason to even keep your phone by your bed, which is ideal if you tend to reach for it at night – be that to record a thought or browse social media – when you’d rather not.

When you wake up in the morning, you’ll then find those thoughts in a Notion database, categorized as an ‘idea’, ‘task’, or ‘note’, complete with a summary-style title, relevant keywords, a timestamp for when the note was captured, and – if it’s a task – an urgency level assigned to it, as you can see in the image below.

Of course, this being Raspberry Pi-based, you’d have to make it yourself, much like Trivedi has done. And as well as the Raspberry Pi itself, it also requires a physical button, a microphone, and a buzzer – plus Python code to configure it.

It’s also something that Trivedi is still working on, so future versions may be improved. The full details of how to make this haven’t been released either, but Trivedi says they’ll share that if there’s interest.

It certainly sounds like an appealing device though – especially if a smaller version of it can be produced. Then after that I’ll just need a waterproof one I can use in the shower, as that’s the other time when thoughts tend to come to me.

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If you wanted an at-a-glance look at just how bad the RAM pricing crisis has got, a new offer at a major retailer underlines this rather effectively.

Over at Amazon in the US, you can see there's a flash deal (a price cut for a limited time) on a Corsair Vengeance DDR5 RAM kit which comprises of two 16GB memory modules (running at 6000MHz).

That 32GB dollop of memory – which will see you good to go for any everyday or gaming PC, it should be noted – now costs $345 in said deal, which is a substantial $55 discount (14% off) on the quoted list price of $400.

While that may sound like a half-decent deal on the face of it, the truth behind that asking price is that back in September 2025, this RAM was less than half the cost it is today – when it's reduced. In fact, this current deal on a solid DDR5 RAM kit is 2.5x the price it was only four months ago.

How's that for a bargain? Well, obviously through that lens, it isn't a bargain, but compared to the rest of the RAM landscape, it's about as good as it gets, sadly.

Even a DDR4 (last-gen) 32GB RAM kit will set you back $240 (at least) on Amazon currently (sticking to known brands, as I'd advise you should, rather than shaky sounding memory products). As we've seen recently, that older memory standard also getting much pricier is a more recent unfortunate trend.

Analysis: a note of caution for potential buyers

How did we get here? The price of system memory has shot up thanks mainly to a combination of two factors. Firstly, the exploding popularity of AI in all its various forms has led to a huge demand for RAM to fuel this (in data centers where AI workloads are handled). That's not just system RAM, but also video RAM (graphics cards are heavily involved in that processing, too).

What's made this worse is that memory manufacturers cut back on chip production in the past, as there was a glut of supply – meaning this spike in demand has been a lot harder to handle. RAM, and also storage, particularly with higher-end SSDs (these drives all use memory chips, too), have therefore seen huge price rises, as an unprecedented level of demand has been met with lean supply levels.

The other problem here is that correcting those chip stock levels is not an easy process, as memory makers can't magic extra production (huge factories, or fabs as they're known) into existence overnight. Bringing extra manufacturing capacity online is a long-term task, and the thinking is that while there are new fabs being made, they won't be in action and making a meaningful impact on the supply situation until 2028.

What this unfortunately means is that this year, and likely 2027 too, are going to be very difficult times for RAM supply, and consumers will certainly be getting the shortest end of the memory stick (PC makers and other bulk buyers, obviously including those data centers, are the priority). There are a lot of predictions that RAM price hikes are going to get worse before they get better or stabilize.

So, am I suggesting you buy this Amazon deal, then? I can't make that call for you, and in all honesty, it still feels bad to be forced to drop that much money on 32GB of RAM for your PC. On the other hand, as noted, this offer is as good as it gets (from what I can see at the time of writing for a decent DDR5 kit), and in a year's time, $345 might look like a bargain in the US (and the same might be true of the equivalent deals in your region right now).

However, that said, if you don't have a desperate need for RAM in the near future, and aren't planning a PC build for some time, I'd be tempted to hold out until prices start to normalize – which could happen sooner than the experts think, perhaps. As long as your computer will do for some time, being patient is likely still the best approach, and I won't be rushing to buy memory myself.

Storage, on the other hand, is likely to be a different matter. You can still get relatively palatable prices on lower-end SSDs, and if you think you might need one of those in the near future, I really would think seriously about buying now.

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The PC hardware market is arguably in its worst state in years due to the ongoing memory crisis, leading to price increases nearly across the board – and with a troubling case from a popular manufacturer, consumers may fear the worst.

That popular manufacturer is Samsung, and prices for its DRAM and SSDs have doubled or 'sometimes even tripled' in the last two months in South Korea, according to TheElec.

This is reportedly due to Samsung's focus on producing memory for AI enterprises, ultimately leading to a supply shortage for consumers, which sounds similar to Micron's approach in its push towards AI.

For example, a DDR5 RAM module was sold at 100,000 won in November, which is around $69. However, recently, the same Samsung RAM stick was sold for 400,000 won, placing it at around $278. That's a 300% price increase for only 16GB of memory.

Distributors are also buying both RAM and SSDs from Samsung at higher prices, which directly impacts consumer prices – and while this report focuses on the crisis in South Korea (where Samsung is based), it's not unreasonable to believe this will extend to other regions.

A Counterpoint Research analyst, MS Hwang, predicts that 30% of the total manufacturing cost for products will be on memory alone, as reported by TweakTown.

If this estimate is correct, we could essentially see all hardware that uses memory skyrocket in price, and with the current state of affairs, where most manufacturers are pushing for a greater focus on AI, it's not looking very positive for consumers in 2026 and beyond.

Analysis: I hope the AI push fails, and I'm not afraid to say it

There's no denying that AI has been beneficial for PC hardware, specifically for gamers, with Nvidia improving its DLSS upscaling models for better performance and image quality. However, I think AI is currently doing more damage than good for consumers, and I'm hoping the bubble bursts.

Prices are increasing at unprecedented rates for RAM and now, SSDs, with Best Buy's 2TB options far above normal pricing. A prime example is the Samsung 990 Pro 2TB SSD available for $399.99, which is the price you would normally find for a 4TB option.

AI is taking the reins of the PC hardware market and its trajectory, and I fear that the longer this continues, the more normalized it could become, until high prices for such hardware become irreversible.

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There’s been renewed talk about Apple’s M6 MacBook Pro and its OLED display, which could launch as soon as late 2026, according to a new report from Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman. But before that, a MacBook Pro equipped with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips are also expected to make an appearance within a matter of weeks. All of which raises an important question – are you better off getting the M5 model or waiting for the rumored M6 upgrade?

Well, there are three main points to consider here: the potential price of that OLED panel, the impact of the ongoing memory crisis, and issues that can arise from first-generation products. When you put all those factors together, it could make more sense to pull the trigger on the imminent M5-generation MacBook Pro, if you’re in the market for one of Apple’s laptops.

Let’s start with that OLED panel. Apple’s MacBook Pro has used mini-LED tech for a few years now. Yet while it results in a phenomenal viewing experience, the switch to OLED panels could take the improvements even further. What’s more, Apple is widely expected to build touchscreen functionality into these displays – when you combine that with the OLED improvement, we could see a significant price increase when the M6-generation of MacBook Pro rolls around, assuming all versions get that new display.

The concern among Apple fans is palpable. As user asp821 said on Reddit, “I can’t imagine the premium price of an OLED and touchscreen [MacBook Pro].” If your budget is limited – or you just don’t feel you need something like an OLED touchscreen display – opting for the MacBook Pro with M5 Pro or M5 Max chips might be the more sensible option.

Calculating the risks

Secondly, even if Apple manages to keep the price of the OLED touchscreen panel reasonable, it also has to contend with the ongoing RAM crisis.

Prices of memory modules have been surging all over the world, leading many people to question whether Apple will be able to absorb the price increases for much longer. While the company likely has agreements in place for the supply and cost of its components, we can’t rule out price adjustments in the face of such an unusual situation. The company has tweaked prices before – will it do so again now that RAM modules are in such short supply?

Finally, there’s the risk of upgrading to first-generation editions of new designs. Apple is generally pretty careful with any new features and functions it introduces, but it’s not immune to mistakes and bad experiences.

Everything from Apple Maps to the Vision Pro headset stumbled when their first editions were released, and it took time before Apple could iron out some of the kinks. And on the MacBook Pro, its 2016 models saw issues with its second-gen butterfly keyboard and a reported flexgate issue that was later addressed.

With the M6 MacBook Pro expected to be the company’s first stab at both an OLED laptop display and one outfitted with touchscreen capabilities, there’s an argument for waiting on the sidelines and holding off until a follow-up device makes an appearance further down the road.

Of course, there’s no guarantee that any of these concerns will be borne out in reality, and the M6 MacBook Pro could be a smash hit of epic proportions. If you have the cash and don’t mind shelling out extra to get the new features, the M6 MacBook Pro might still be a worthy option. But considering all the uncertainties surrounding it, you’d be forgiven for deciding that it’s one device that’s best to avoid – and that the M5 models are the less exciting, but more sensible, choice.

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Windows 11 has another serious bug hidden in the January update, and this is a showstopper that means affected PCs fail to boot up.

Neowin reports that Microsoft has acknowledged the bug with a message as flagged up via the Ask Woody forums: "Microsoft has received a limited number of reports of an issue in which devices are failing to boot with stop code 'UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME', after installing the January 2026 Windows security update, released January 13, 2026, and later updates.

"Affected devices show a black screen with the message 'Your device ran into a problem and needs a restart. You can restart.' At this stage, the device cannot complete startup and requires manual recovery steps."

So, the good news is that we're told there's a limited impact here, so not many PCs are hit by the bug according to Microsoft. The company said that the issues pertain to Windows 11 versions 24H2 and 25H2.

The not-so-great news is that it's a nasty bug, and as Microsoft notes, you'll need to go through a manual recovery, meaning using the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE). That can be used to try and repair the system, returning it to a functional state.

Analysis: more bug misery – and an obvious question

The question in this case is: how 'limited' is limited? This would suggest a small scattering of people on Windows 11 25H2 and 24H2 are hit, though Microsoft doesn't elaborate on what flavors of the OS might be in danger here (in terms of Windows 11 Home or Pro, or enterprise editions).

Looking on Reddit, which is the most likely place to find (relatively reliable) reports of problems with Windows updates, I came across this thread with seven separate complaints about boot failures caused by this latest Windows update.

One Redditor notes: "Can confirm. My PC did in fact not boot. Recovery fully corrupted the boot drive and needed a full reformat and reinstall." Another said they were getting a "disk read error" and that a repair operation (via the recovery environment) didn't work to resolve this. A further report says that a system restore did fix their PC failing to boot, thankfully, so not everyone here is running into a brick wall trying to recover their machine. (Note that these all appear to be consumer PCs in the main – as opposed to work computers).

Now, I can't see any other reports of this, but this update has certainly ended badly for some folks, based on the (anecdotal) complaints that are floating around. Some also claim that the new emergency patch issued by Microsoft – KB5078127 – cures this boot failure issue, but that isn't part of the claimed resolutions here going by what Windows Latest has heard from Microsoft. That emergency patch does fix various gremlins causing apps to crash in Windows 11, including Outlook, though – and it's obviously worth applying anyway. Although if you've already installed the January update, and haven't hit boot failures, then you're in the clear anyway.

Those people who've held off the January update due to the various reported bugs, however, may want to stay away for a while longer until Microsoft further investigates this fresh problem (a process that's underway according to Neowin).

I wouldn't normally recommend not installing a Windows 11 update – due to being without the security fixes applied therein – but in this case, as one Redditor put it, the damage done to their PC by the update was worse than any virus. (Not likely, in fact – but you get the gist). Obviously, it's your decision to make, and it does seem like the bug is rare – but that doesn't mean it's impossible that it'll strike if you install the January update.

There's still no news on the January update glitch that's reportedly torpedoing sleep mode on some (older) PCs.

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The laptop in question is a Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 2-in-1. At the time of its release, back in 2021, it checked all my boxes. I’d grown to love ChromeOS for productivity on more conventional laptops, but Lenovo had packed Google’s operating system into a compact laptop/tablet format that could switch between modes quickly.

In addition, it had just become possible to run Android apps on ChromeOS, massively expanding the device capabilities beyond just running the Chrome browser. Tablet mode on the Lenovo IdeaPad suddenly became all the more enticing.

On release, our reviewer John Loeffler awarded it a prestigious four-and-a-half star rating, describing it as “one of the best Chromebooks we've ever used.” He wasn’t wrong: it was an innovative device that proved that Google could take on Apple in the gray area it was dominating with its iPads - and that it could do so at a much lower price point.

The bloat begins

Fast forward five years, and the cracks are beginning to show. The battery life has tumbled to just a couple of hours of light use. Sometimes the bottom half of the screen darkens for no apparent reason. Wi-Fi connectivity completely drops without warning and will only come back on with a complete restart. The whole thing slows to a crawl if you open more than one tab — ChromeOS has become a much more rounded operating system in recent years, but this has also meant its requirements have increased, swamping this elderly Chromebook with its lowly 4GB of RAM and MediaTek processor.

That’s to say nothing of its size and form factor. With a 10.1-inch screen, it’s a tiny computer, and the act of typing on the minuscule keyboard is akin to a tarantula balancing on a thimble, and I’d like to apologize to any arachnophobes for that visual. The trackpad is one of those rough, sticky affairs that only registers one in 32 clicks. Compared to Apple’s slick iPad equivalent, it’s clearly lacking — but, to me, every single one of its disadvantages is actually an advantage.

Laptops have become too good, and this is not necessarily something that works in our favor. Computer-aided design, intense user research, and AI (probably, but almost definitely) are creating laptops that are a joy to use, which is great if you want to have fun. However, if you want to do something massively important and deeply unpleasant like actually working, a torturous machine can enhance your productivity.

When I sit down in front of my crappy Lenovo, I dread the experience. I want to get it over and done with. I feel clammy and uncomfortable. My fingers twist to align with the keys, and my neck strains so I can see what I’m looking at, and I can’t focus on anything other than the blank page on the screen. In this state of digital and physical torture, the words just flow out of my fingers, like a shaken bottle of champagne, a fluent gush of vowels and consonants.

I can’t get distracted because Instagram or Reddit will drive the Chromebook into the ground. Gaming is hard enough on Chromebooks, but this one can barely even handle Wordle. And even if I do succumb and click the plus symbol for a new tab, because the internet frequently collapses, the sites won’t load. Thankfully, the laptop and Google Docs are just about robust enough to ensure my work is backed up offline and uploaded when I next connect to the internet.

I’m not alone in creating my best work when I’m deeply uncomfortable. Les Misérables author Victor Hugo would strip naked and hand his clothes to a valet so he couldn’t leave his room until he’d finished writing. Painter Francis Bacon thrived in an absolutely chaotic studio. And German philosopher Friedrich Schiller would keep aging apples in his desk drawer and have a whiff of the rotting fruit for creative stimulation. Which is just plain weird to be honest, Friedrich.

Obviously, my crappy-laptop method of working won’t apply to all professions: graphic designers and video editors, for instance, need a decent laptop, and brain surgeons and airline pilots might face a little criticism if they use tools that aren’t fit for the job. But everyone needs to use a computer from time to time, and those “quick email” sessions more often than not turn into week-long Amazon spending sprees. Right?

My main laptop, a MacBook Pro, is stuffed full of productivity apps and browser extensions to keep me on track. But, just like replacing your smartphone with a dumbphone, switching from an uber-powerful computer to something kind of awful works wonders for preventing distractions, and there’s something about having a dedicated device for getting stuff done that makes it easier to compartmentalize your activities and plan ahead.

I’ve also started applying this make-it-uncomfortable method to other areas of my life. I’m sitting on an enormous spike as I write this, so I can’t get too comfortable. I’ve removed the brakes from my car so that I pay more attention when I’m driving. And I’m in the process of moving to Ilha da Queimada Grande, an island off the coast of Brazil that’s also home to tens of thousands of deadly poisonous snakes, just to keep me on my toes.

Sometimes we all need a little friction in our lives, something pushing back against us, so we become stronger and better. Now, does anyone have the antidote to Golden Lancehead Viper poison?

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That’s a whole lot of stress and anxiety that I don’t need in my life, and I know I’m not the only one feeling it. As is my usual MO, I’ve been on the lookout for apps to help me manage my month-to-month finances with the hope of having something to set aside for the future. One such app I’ve recently stumbled across is called YNAB.

YNAB is an app, but the acronym actually stands for "You Need A Budget" and is a budgeting philosophy built around four rules designed to change your relationship with money. These rules include giving every dollar a job, embracing your true expenses, rolling with the punches, and aging your money (the average time elapsed between receiving income and spending it). All of this is designed to help you only spend money you earned at least 30 days ago, breaking the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle.

I’ve been using the app for the past couple of weeks, taking time to enter my bills, needs, and wants across multiple different categories, including mortgage, utilities, groceries, car maintenance, and more. As with any app that’s worth its weight in gold, getting everything set up with YNAB takes a bit of time, but it quickly starts paying off once everything is in order.

Give every dollar a job

YNAB’s "Give every dollar a job" process works by treating your bank balance like a collection of pots. Instead of budgeting money you expect to earn, you only assign the money you have on hand right now to specific categories. This process starts with a pot of money called “Ready to Assign,” which you must distribute until that balance hits zero, ensuring every cent has a set purpose.

Once this process is complete, the app does the hard work of tracking your spending against these specific categories rather than your overall bank balance. So, if you spend money at the supermarket, YNAB will subtract that from your groceries pot. This provides a real-time view of what is actually available for different needs. It's a shift in focus that prevents you from accidentally spending your rent money on dinner, as each dollar is locked into its role until you proactively decide to change it.

The manual versus automatic experience

There are two distinct approaches with YNAB. The first is an unlinked experience that requires users to set up all their recurring transactions for fixed bills (like rent or Netflix). YNAB will automatically enter these on the dates you choose, so you only have to manually log your "daily" spending, like groceries or coffee.

The thought of connecting your bank account through the third-party Plaid platform might be a step too far, so the manual approach is a perfect fit for those wanting the maximum level of privacy. Additionally, by having to manually enter each transaction, you are forced to acknowledge every cent you spend in real-time, which leads to better financial awareness.

If that all sounds like too much hard work, then you’ll need to link your bank account so that YNAB can automatically extract your incoming and outgoing transactions. This is by far the simplest and most straightforward experience, but it’s not for everyone.

Transforming your relationship with money

Once you have everything up and running and have begun engaging with the YNAB process, you’ll find that your relationship with money begins to change. It isn’t instant, but it is clear. Rather than viewing money as an out-of-control stress, you’ll begin to feel more in control. I experienced this as I began to dictate where my money would be spent, and that I would only choose to spend money if I had the available funds.

To help with this process of change, YNAB features a "Spending" tab and a "Reflect" tab. The former helps you view, categorize, and search your transactions in one comprehensive list, while the latter tracks your data with a spending breakdown, net worth chart, and your age of money. By engaging with these, YNAB lets you take control of your money.

If that sounds tempting, YNAB offers unlimited access to all its features in a one-month trial. This isn’t long enough to see the full rewards of your labor, but it is plenty of time to get a feel for whether the app and its philosophy are going to work for you.

So, if you want to say goodbye to money worries, download YNAB on iOS or Android and give the free trial a whirl.

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You may well have noticed issues with the automatic filters and spam scanning in your Gmail inbox over the weekend: these are issues that Google has officially acknowledged, and a fix should now be making its way out to users.

As per the Google Workspace Status Dashboard (via Engadget), numerous issues affected users of Google's email app across the course of Saturday. These issues included "misclassification of emails" via Gmail's built-in automatic filtering.

That filtering should put less important emails (such as promotions and social media updates) into separate tabs away from your main inbox. It's been in place for years, and is a clever feature – when it works – that you can also tweak manually by dragging emails between different tabs.

With these "misclassification" problems, you may well have seen your Primary inbox tab somewhat overrun with special deals, newsletters, and updates from sites you're signed up to, rather than emails from actual people.

Spam and delays

Broken automatic filtering hasn't been the only issue that Gmail users have been struggling with. Google reports that "misclassified spam warnings" were cropping up, indicating that emails hadn't been checked for spam content.

You may have seen a "Gmail hasn't scanned this message for spam, unverified senders, or harmful software" message on some emails – though it's not clear whether the scans were actually failing, or the warning message was showing up when it shouldn't have been. On top of that, "delays in receiving email" have been reported by users and by Google.

There is some good news: the issue was marked as "resolved" by Sunday morning, though there seem to be some discrepancies in Google's own recorded logs of events as to how long the problems persisted for and when the fix finally rolled out.

Your Gmail inbox should now be back to normal, though Google notes that some warnings "may persist" for emails sent before the problem was resolved. There's also the promise of an analysis of what went wrong, once an internal investigation has been completed.

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Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,400 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1463) - hint #1 - Vowels

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1463) - hint #2 - repeated letters

Quordle today (game #1463) - hint #3 - uncommon letters

Quordle today (game #1463) - hint #4 - starting letters (1)

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1463) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1463) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1463, are…

• CRACK
• DEVIL
• MAKER
• SAVOR

The issue with having three starter words is that it leaves you little margin for error.

Today, after failing to guess my first word that ended A-K-E-R, I feared the worst as there were four possibilities from the letters I had remaining. Fortunately, I got lucky with MAKER.

Daily Sequence today (game #1463) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1463, are…

• SPELT
• SKILL
• LEVER
• ENTRY

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1462, Sunday, 25 January: CATCH, TABBY, HUMOR, DATUM
• Quordle #1461, Saturday, 24 January: HEIST, THEIR, DETOX, PRESS
• Quordle #1460, Friday, 23 January: WRECK, GUARD, BELIE, BRAVO
• Quordle #1459, Thursday, 22 January: FRONT, QUOTE, RAISE, POKER
• Quordle #1458, Wednesday, 21 January: PRIVY, SHADY, REMIT, AORTA
• Quordle #1457, Tuesday, 20 January: MONEY, TRASH, TROPE, SHADE
• Quordle #1456, Monday, 19 January: EBONY, ALTAR, SALTY, FALSE
• Quordle #1455, Sunday, 18 January: BATTY, TWINE, DEBUT, TALLY
• Quordle #1454, Saturday, 17 January: ROAST, FOLIO, DROLL, PROVE
• Quordle #1453, Friday, 16 January: UNITY, JOLLY, LEAKY, WARTY
• Quordle #1452, Thursday, 15 January: STINT, WRECK, EXTRA, PUPIL
• Quordle #1451, Wednesday, 14 January: SWOOP, FIRST, GHOST, ALPHA
• Quordle #1450, Tuesday, 13 January: BILLY, BOSSY, EXIST, BIRTH
• Quordle #1449, Monday, 12 January: BRINE, ROUND, FLUME, REBUS
• Quordle #1448, Sunday, 11 January: SADLY, RHINO, AGONY, HAIRY
• Quordle #1447, Saturday, 10 January: HALVE, FLUFF, BELOW, DINER
• Quordle #1446, Friday, 9 January: CRAFT, DECAL, DWELT, TRADE
• Quordle #1445, Thursday, 8 January: STUDY, COYLY, UNTIE, LOWLY
• Quordle #1444, Wednesday, 7 January: BEARD, SPICY, MOIST, SWIRL
• Quordle #1443, Tuesday, 6 January: AMITY, IMAGE, LOATH, WRUNG

Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #694) - hint #1 - today's theme

NYT Strands today (game #694) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• ZEST
• THIS
• BLOT
• STAND
• LIFT
• HARD

NYT Strands today (game #694) - hint #3 - spangram letters

NYT Strands today (game #694) - hint #4 - spangram position

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #694) - the answers

The answers to today's Strands, game #694, are…

• SHIRAZ
• MERLOT
• MALBEC
• CHARDONNAY
• ZINFANDEL
• SPANGRAM: BYTHEBOTTLE

• My rating: Hard
• My score: Perfect

Despite having a friend who works in the wine industry and having watched four episodes of Drops of God, I only know the names of a few different types of wine and today’s search handily covered all of them. That said, I did find this a tricky one.

Beyond the fact that they are all grape varieties I do not think there’s any other connection – they are not even all red wines, with CHARDONNAY representing white grapes.

Kudus for the corkscrew spangram, though. Very clever.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Sunday, January 25, game #693)

• POLE
• PICKET
• POST
• DOWEL
• BATON
• CANE
• STAKE
• SPANGRAM: STICKYSITUATION

Over time, shiny new gadgets become outdated and obsolete ones, and Google has announced it will no longer be offering updates for its Chrome browser on older Mac computers from the end of July this year.

More specifically, Google Chrome version 150 will be the last to support macOS 12 Monterey, as per an update (via Notebookcheck) on the Chrome Platform Status site. Chrome 151 is "tentatively scheduled" to launch on Tuesday July 28, 2026.

In other words, if you're on a Mac that can't be upgraded to macOS 13 Ventura, you're not going to get the vital Chrome updates and security patches you need to stay safe from July onwards. You'll need to either upgrade your Mac, or switch to another browser.

If you are affected, Chrome won't suddenly stop working when version 151 arrives (we're currently on Chrome 143). However, you won't get any new features, and more importantly, you won't get important security updates from Google either.

Recent macOS history

macOS 12 Monterey was released in October 2021, with macOS 13 Ventura following the year after. We're now up to macOS 26 Tahoe for the latest Macs, which Apple pushed out to the masses in September of last year.

To check the version your Mac is running, click the Apple icon in macOS (top left), then choose About This Mac. If you're unable to upgrade to anything beyond macOS 12, then you must be using a relatively old Apple laptop or desktop, using an Intel chipset.

You can install macOS 13 Ventura on iMacs and iMac Pros from 2017 and later, Mac minis from 2018 and later, Mac Pros from 2019 and later, MacBooks and MacBook Pros from 2017 and later, and MacBook Airs from 2018 and later.

While Safari hasn't been updated on macOS 12 since July 2024, the latest versions of Firefox and Microsoft Edge do still fully support the older operating system. If you don't want to change from Chrome though, it might be time to invest in a new Mac.

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The 6.6-inch NexPhone runs Android, as well as desktop Linux and Windows 11. As was made clear when we interviewed the CEO of the maker Nex Computer, it's essentially trying to bridge the gap between the phone and the PC by turning that phone into a computer.

So, it's a phone that can be a phone (obviously), but it can also boot a desktop OS and effectively be a computer, either running that environment on the small phone display – with tweaks so the OS works better here – or more ideally, connected to an external monitor of some kind, with Windows or Linux depicted in its full glory.

It's not a new idea, but the way it's done here is very remarkable. You can boot to Android or to Linux (Debian) and still access all your files on the Android system. Or you can go in another direction entirely, and boot Windows 11 (without Android file access, mind) – but this isn't some cut-down flavor of Microsoft's desktop OS. This is full-blown Windows 11.

Why am I so stoked about this prospect? Well, firstly, it's just really cool to think you can have your Windows 11 setup accessible on your phone, to the point that it's just a matter of plugging in the handset to a monitor, and away you go (with some additional input peripherals, naturally).

You'll be able to run all your Office apps on the NexPhone when it's acting as your Windows 11 PC and carry out other basic computing tasks. I've seen people worried that the admittedly somewhat old mid-range ARM mobile CPU (it goes back half a decade or so) might struggle running Windows 11, but based on YouTube footage of the device in action, which has been aired this week, it seems like the OS should work fine with the basics.

Of course, you won't be able to do anything remotely demanding – but for emails, browsing, dipping into Office, and so on, it all looks relatively okay in performance terms. There's 12GB of RAM backing up the Qualcomm CPU, incidentally, which should be enough. It's also worth noting that the CPU has been picked for its long-term support, with 10 years of that in the pipeline, a comforting prospect.

Money talks

The second thing that excites me about the NexPhone is its potential to save people money. While it's more targeted as a secondary phone, or work smartphone (it's a rugged model, incidentally), I can see a market for this later in 2026 for people who are priced out of buying a PC, perhaps.

We've got the RAM crisis, of course, and SSD prices are also heading skywards, so it's no secret that PCs are going to become a good deal more expensive this year. Indeed, these price hikes are widely predicted to get even worse before the situation improves (or even stabilizes), and the reality is that some folks may need to buy a new computer in 2026, but may not be able to afford one. Even though their current PC may be in dire need of replacement and on its very last legs.

If they're also mulling a new (affordable) phone in the near future, the NexPhone could be a tempting middle ground that gives them entry to both worlds. The $549 price will effectively secure two devices: a new mid-range smartphone and a Windows 11 (or Linux) PC. That could seem quite the bargain in a time of spiralling prices (RAM has got truly ridiculous now).

For this niche set of buyers, the NexPhone could be a way to sidestep this whole PC pricing nightmare. It's your phone, it's your PC, and if you get (or already have) a portable display (and Bluetooth keyboard), it could be your laptop, too.

Just scratching the Surface

The final reason the NexPhone is a truly intriguing development is not the device itself, but what it points to in the future. Now this hardware exists – and if the reality of how useful it seems actually pans out, it'll surely pave the way for others to make similar devices.

Even if performance does feel a bit wonky with the Windows 11 side of the equation on the NexPhone, which is one of the main points of skepticism – that and 'who wants Microslop Copilot on a phone' (just use the Linux desktop, then) – a beefier version of such a phone can remedy that.

Further to that, here's another thought: maybe this could prompt Microsoft to consider creating its own higher-end version of this concept? I may be wrong, but I've got a feeling the NexPhone could be a very important step forward in terms of bringing together the worlds of mobile and desktop computing, which, one way or another, is going to be the future.

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Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,400 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1462) - hint #1 - Vowels

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1462) - hint #2 - repeated letters

Quordle today (game #1462) - hint #3 - uncommon letters

Quordle today (game #1462) - hint #4 - starting letters (1)

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1462) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1462) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1462, are…

• CATCH
• TABBY
• HUMOR
• DATUM

A very slow day for me today, after my starter words offered no short cuts.

Instead, I had to work slowly to find some guesses and largely got them right – apart from TABBY, but I was close enough.

Daily Sequence today (game #1462) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1462, are…

• SWAMP
• CABIN
• NORTH
• SLUNG

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1461, Saturday, 24 January: HEIST, THEIR, DETOX, PRESS
• Quordle #1460, Friday, 23 January: WRECK, GUARD, BELIE, BRAVO
• Quordle #1459, Thursday, 22 January: FRONT, QUOTE, RAISE, POKER
• Quordle #1458, Wednesday, 21 January: PRIVY, SHADY, REMIT, AORTA
• Quordle #1457, Tuesday, 20 January: MONEY, TRASH, TROPE, SHADE
• Quordle #1456, Monday, 19 January: EBONY, ALTAR, SALTY, FALSE
• Quordle #1455, Sunday, 18 January: BATTY, TWINE, DEBUT, TALLY
• Quordle #1454, Saturday, 17 January: ROAST, FOLIO, DROLL, PROVE
• Quordle #1453, Friday, 16 January: UNITY, JOLLY, LEAKY, WARTY
• Quordle #1452, Thursday, 15 January: STINT, WRECK, EXTRA, PUPIL
• Quordle #1451, Wednesday, 14 January: SWOOP, FIRST, GHOST, ALPHA
• Quordle #1450, Tuesday, 13 January: BILLY, BOSSY, EXIST, BIRTH
• Quordle #1449, Monday, 12 January: BRINE, ROUND, FLUME, REBUS
• Quordle #1448, Sunday, 11 January: SADLY, RHINO, AGONY, HAIRY
• Quordle #1447, Saturday, 10 January: HALVE, FLUFF, BELOW, DINER
• Quordle #1446, Friday, 9 January: CRAFT, DECAL, DWELT, TRADE
• Quordle #1445, Thursday, 8 January: STUDY, COYLY, UNTIE, LOWLY
• Quordle #1444, Wednesday, 7 January: BEARD, SPICY, MOIST, SWIRL
• Quordle #1443, Tuesday, 6 January: AMITY, IMAGE, LOATH, WRUNG
• Quordle #1442, Monday, 5 January: OWNER, VILLA, BEARD, METER

Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #693) - hint #1 - today's theme

NYT Strands today (game #693) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• TICK
• TONE
• BOAT
• SEEK
• LICK
• PACT

NYT Strands today (game #693) - hint #3 - spangram letters

NYT Strands today (game #693) - hint #4 - spangram position

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #693) - the answers

The answers to today's Strands, game #693, are…

• POLE
• PICKET
• POST
• DOWEL
• BATON
• CANE
• STAKE
• SPANGRAM: STICKYSITUATION

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

This was one of those rare games where finding non-game words was harder than finding one of the seven “straight and narrow” game words.

I found the spangram first – after seeing stick and sticky, rather than the entire 15-letter beast. And from there on the search was low on surprises.

My lowpoint was with just one word left and just five letters to connect, when I still managed to spell STAKE incorrectly.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Saturday, January 24, game #692)

• BOATING
• PARTY
• WATER
• NIGHT
• STARRY
• LILIES
• SPANGRAM: FAMOUSPAINTING

The big draw here is the 32GB of RAM, which is double the processing power of the standard 16GB you'd normally see for PC towers at this price. This Legion Tower 5i is one of the newer configurations with an RTX 5060 Ti and Intel Core Ultra 7 processor, too.

Overall, these specs help future-proof this PC for a good few years for stable 1080p gaming at high settings. These components are also much more advanced than gaming laptops you could get for around the same sale price.

Today's best gaming desktop deal

We haven't reviewed this Legion Tower 5i, but we reviewed a similar model at the tail end of 2024. In our Legion Tower 5i review, we praised the 1080p performance and ability to stay "quiet when pushed to the max" at a budget price point. Even this Legion Tower 5i boasts a 180W cooling system, which leans into its reputation of staying cool under pressure. It also offers 1TB SSD for quickly loading games and saving them without the need to "play Tetris" with storage.

Like many of its PCs, Lenovo includes an entry-level keyboard and mouse with the Legion Tower 5i, so you don't need to invest in those additional accessories upfront. That said, you may want to upgrade in the future because the included Calliope wired mouse and keyboard aren't specifically designed for gaming.

For more, I'd recommend looking into our best PCs and best budget gaming PCs. If you're looking for a stronger (but pricier) Lenovo gaming PC, I'd also recommend checking out the Lenovo Legion Tower 5 Gen 10 (30L AMD).

Meta Reality Labs’ CTO Andrew Bosworth has spoken publicly about the recent major VR layoffs at the company, and it really does sound like Meta isn’t fussed about VR anymore – but its metaverse sounds like a top priority still.

While in Davos for the annual World Economic Forum, Axios interviewed Bosworth, and almost instantly the discussion homed in on the major restructuring we’ve all seen from Reality Labs, which caused the division to shut down multiple VR game studios.

Bosworth explained that Meta’s VR approach has been to build a space with something for everyone, but this “lack of focus comes at the expense of user experience and a great expense in terms of development cost.”

So Meta’s new plan is, as Bosworth puts it, “We’re going to let VR be what it is, what it does great. We’re going to focus a lot more on the third-party content library, the ecosystem that’s developed there.”

Meta Reality Labs’ CTO then goes on to argue that Reality Labs isn’t downsizing. Instead, that investment is being shifted to focus on its glasses – the area it is seeing the most growth. This is consistent with previous comments Meta has made about its ongoing approach to Reality Labs’ efforts.

Something familiar on the Horizon?

What’s interesting is a part of Bosworth’s answer I cut out above. After discussing Meta letting “VR be what it is, what it does great,” and how that means pushing third-party development, he then adds, “and with Horizon we’re focusing a lot more on mobile.”

Horizon is Meta’s metaverse, and while it was initially envisioned for VR, it is also accessible on PC and mobile.

Interestingly, it also serves as Meta’s closest rival to one of its biggest social media rivals. I’m not talking about TikTok, I’m talking about Roblox.

Ask anyone under the age of 12 about this gaming platform, and you won’t be able to get a word in edgewise for about an hour. It’s this massive online gaming platform which, just like Horizon Worlds, offers a large amount of constantly evolving user-created spaces to explore and play in.

Both platforms have also, in recent years, seen a rise in sponsored and branded collaborations, as well as hosting major concerts and live events which take place in the virtual worlds.

To that end, they aren’t just games; they are a very interactive and adaptable form of social media that doesn’t simply chase fads – it spawns them. Though, as you might imagine, Roblox has a much bigger user base than Horizon based on available figures.

That said, with a shift to a more mobile-heavy focus as Bosworth discussed – the gaming platform most accessible to younger users who might not be trusted with a PC or VR headset – Meta is perhaps hoping to shorten the divide between it and Roblox.

Given the lackluster response to Horizon in VR, it's yet to be seen if these efforts will prove more successful in the mobile sphere, but at least VR fans can appreciate the silver lining that Horizon might not be pushed so heavily in VR going forward – and an upcoming update looks to confirm just that.

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AMD has announced that its Ryzen 7 9850X3D processor – a chip that PC gamers are excited about as a step on from the 9800X3D –will be out in less than a week – and we've got a confirmed price.

VideoCardz reports that AMD's David McAfee, Corporate VP of the Client Channel Business, revealed on X that the "world's most advanced gaming processor just got faster" and that the Ryzen 9850X3D will retail at $499 in the US.

The CPU goes on sale on January 29, and pricing will be in line with that in other regions. To put that US price in perspective, it's just shy of a 5% increase on the MSRP that was pinned to the 9800X3D upon launch, and which is widely regarded as the current top gaming chip on the market.

The Ryzen 9850X3D offers an increase in boost speed to 5.6GHz, meaning it's 400MHz faster than its predecessor (which ran at 5.2GHz), which is a considerable bump. Other than that, though, it's the same spec as the 9800X3D.

Analysis: the price is right – assuming no stock woes or inflation

Some folks who have bought a Ryzen 9800X3D in the recent past may feel their noses have been put a bit out of joint. Especially considering that chip has held its value – it is still selling at close to MSRP – and the 9850X3D doesn't cost much more. At least not in theory, anyway, unless stock and availability issues inflate the price.

Ultimately, those who bought the 9800X3D have still got an excellent gaming CPU for their money, and the 9850X3D is essentially a higher-binned version (meaning a top-performing sample, capable of having the max boost speed pushed further, with no other changes in the spec elsewhere as noted). In fact, if you got lucky with your 9800X3D, it might even be close to the 9850X3D in gaming performance terms, anyway.

So, let go of any buyer's remorse, but that said, the Ryzen 9850X3D is a welcome option to have in terms of that faster boost. And with the price tag not being nearly as high as some rumors had us wondering about – some European retailers had pre-release pricing on their product listings as high as €700 (around $820, £600 or AU$1,200) – this is a great release for gamers who are after a fast CPU.

Although always bear in mind that the GPU is the more important part of the equation for gaming, and the processor only comes more to the forefront with certain games (or lower resolutions).

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Asus has issued a statement to acknowledge that it's investigating reports of problems where Ryzen 9800X3D CPUs are failing with its 800-series motherboards.

VideoCardz noticed the statement, which comes following a cluster of recent reports on Reddit detailing issues with these processors and Asus boards.

Asus informs us: "We are aware of recent reports concerning AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D CPUs and Asus AMD 800-series motherboards, and we have initiated an immediate internal review.

"Our teams are conducting preventive checks on product compatibility and performance, working closely with AMD to validate reported cases and ensure ongoing stability and quality. We are looking to provide timely solutions to ensure our products and services meet expected standards."

Obviously, it's good to hear that the worries here are being directly addressed. What's happening with these CPUs is that the reports (like this one on Reddit) indicate that they are dying and the system is failing to boot (naturally) with an error 'Q-Code 00'.

In the meantime, pending the results of the review, Asus advises those who own an 800-series motherboard to update to the latest BIOS to "help ensure system stability".

That goes for all motherboards, of course – the latest BIOS should provide the most reliable experience running your PC components (not just the CPU). Although don't confuse the 'latest BIOS' with any advance beta release – these aren't fully tested, and may cause more problems than they solve.

Stick to the latest full version, avoiding beta software, especially with something like the BIOS which is a sensitive area to be deploying technically still unfinished releases.

Analysis: a long-running saga

If all this sounds familiar, it's because there are long-running reports of problems with Ryzen 9800X3D processors falling over in this manner. In the past, these have been more of an issue with ASRock motherboards, although other brands have been hit – it's just there's a notable uptick right now with complaints around Asus boards.

Eventually, the problems with ASRock motherboards were put down to a "memory compatibility issue" with earlier BIOS versions, and that issue was fixed. Even so, after that fix, there have still been some 50 recorded cases of 9800X3D CPUs failing in the Reddit megathread about the problems with (mainly) ASRock boards. (A few of these past cases were Asus motherboards, too).

For some 9800X3D owners, the controversy continues to rage across social media posts, and there's some unhappiness (to say the least) about pinning down the root cause.

Although the truth is this could be a complex issue with multiple causes. And don't forget, the 9800X3D is the kind of gaming chip that's going to be tinkered with and overclocked – perhaps substantially by enthusiasts – which could certainly make these kinds of failures more likely to happen. (Other Ryzen 9000 chips have been affected by this problem, I should make clear, but it's mostly hitting the popular 9800X3D – perhaps partly due to its positioning with enthusiasts, as noted).

We can but hope that the investigation Asus is carrying out will shed some further light on the matter, especially seeing as there's a newcomer taking the baton from the 9800X3D now. This is the even faster, higher clocked, Ryzen 9850X3D, which AMD has just announced is coming out next week – with a more tempting price tag than expected.

Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!

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Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,400 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1461) - hint #1 - Vowels

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1461) - hint #2 - repeated letters

Quordle today (game #1461) - hint #3 - uncommon letters

Quordle today (game #1461) - hint #4 - starting letters (1)

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1461) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1461) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1461, are…

• HEIST
• THEIR
• DETOX
• PRESS

Even though I am sure no other word was possible it still felt like a leap of faith to guess DETOX.

And even though I knew it was wrong, I still came close to typing out the word depot. Typical.

Daily Sequence today (game #1461) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1461, are…

• FUNNY
• BAGGY
• VALUE
• SHRUB

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1460, Friday, 23 January: WRECK, GUARD, BELIE, BRAVO
• Quordle #1459, Thursday, 22 January: FRONT, QUOTE, RAISE, POKER
• Quordle #1458, Wednesday, 21 January: PRIVY, SHADY, REMIT, AORTA
• Quordle #1457, Tuesday, 20 January: MONEY, TRASH, TROPE, SHADE
• Quordle #1456, Monday, 19 January: EBONY, ALTAR, SALTY, FALSE
• Quordle #1455, Sunday, 18 January: BATTY, TWINE, DEBUT, TALLY
• Quordle #1454, Saturday, 17 January: ROAST, FOLIO, DROLL, PROVE
• Quordle #1453, Friday, 16 January: UNITY, JOLLY, LEAKY, WARTY
• Quordle #1452, Thursday, 15 January: STINT, WRECK, EXTRA, PUPIL
• Quordle #1451, Wednesday, 14 January: SWOOP, FIRST, GHOST, ALPHA
• Quordle #1450, Tuesday, 13 January: BILLY, BOSSY, EXIST, BIRTH
• Quordle #1449, Monday, 12 January: BRINE, ROUND, FLUME, REBUS
• Quordle #1448, Sunday, 11 January: SADLY, RHINO, AGONY, HAIRY
• Quordle #1447, Saturday, 10 January: HALVE, FLUFF, BELOW, DINER
• Quordle #1446, Friday, 9 January: CRAFT, DECAL, DWELT, TRADE
• Quordle #1445, Thursday, 8 January: STUDY, COYLY, UNTIE, LOWLY
• Quordle #1444, Wednesday, 7 January: BEARD, SPICY, MOIST, SWIRL
• Quordle #1443, Tuesday, 6 January: AMITY, IMAGE, LOATH, WRUNG
• Quordle #1442, Monday, 5 January: OWNER, VILLA, BEARD, METER
• Quordle #1441, Sunday, 4 January: STUNG, COLOR, BRASS, CYBER

Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #692) - hint #1 - today's theme

NYT Strands today (game #692) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• SPAIN
• LISTING
• GATE
• GRIN
• FINE
• STAIR
• HARP

NYT Strands today (game #692) - hint #3 - spangram letters

NYT Strands today (game #692) - hint #4 - spangram position

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #692) - the answers

The answers to today's Strands, game #692, are…

• BOATING
• PARTY
• WATER
• NIGHT
• STARRY
• LILIES
• SPANGRAM: FAMOUSPAINTING

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

Completing this puzzle was fairly straightforward, but telling you what FAMOUS PAINTING is being described is far harder.

My first thought was The Starry Night Over the Rhône by Vincent Van Gough, but I don’t think that contains any LILIES or much in the way of signs of a PARTY. 

If the spangram had been a plural then I would have considered a mashup of Van Gough and Monet. Alas, I have a Saturday to get on with so I’ll have to live with the mystery and the contentment of a puzzle completed.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Friday, January 23, game #691)

• NAIVE
• CALLOW
• CREDULOUS
• GULLIBLE
• ARTLESS
• SPANGRAM: BORNYESTERDAY

It's been a long time coming, but TikTok has now officially completed the process of spinning off its US operations, which means the video-based social media app will continue to remain accessible to hundreds of millions of users in the United States.

Reports last month suggested a deal might be done in January, and now here we are. Chinese TikTok owner ByteDance has a minority 19.9% share in the new American-owned venture that controls US TikTok, with other investment coming from companies including Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX.

In a press release, TikTok said the deal will enable "more than 200 million Americans and 7.5 million businesses to continue to discover, create, and thrive as part of TikTok's vibrant global community and experience".

Here are five things to know about the US TikTok deal, now that it's finalized.

1. This was signed into law in 2024

You'd be forgiven for having forgotten how we got here. For years now, US authorities have been worried about the security and privacy implications associated with having such a successful and widely used Chinese-owned app operating in the US, and under President Biden, a law was signed to force ByteDance to get out of the US or hand over some control.

The main claim leveled at ByteDance – which has been strongly denied – is that it's collecting and storing a whole host of data on American citizens, in partnership with the Chinese government. The same sort of security concerns have led to devices from DJI – another Chinese company – being banned in the US.

2. TikTok US will use a different algorithm

One of the changes that TikTok users in the United States are now going to see is a different, or at least retrained algorithm: this will be controlled and secured by Oracle using its cloud technology, and protected by the privacy laws of the US. The new algorithm will be trained on US data, according to the agreement.

It's difficult to say exactly how the typical TikTok feed in the US might change as a result, but we know that the quality of the recommendation algorithm is a key part of TikTok's success. "One thing's certain: TikTok in America won't be the same," Forrester analyst Kelsey Chickering told the BBC after the news was announced.

3. TikTok content won't be geo-fenced

While the US TikTok algorithm and user data will be locked away by Oracle in the United States, the content that users see in their feeds isn't going to be geo-fenced: if you're in the US, you're still going to see videos from all across the world, and if you're outside of the US, you'll still be able to see content made by creators in America.

That's good news for content creators and advertisers, but it also means there's going to be a lot of uncertainty about reach. With the algorithm changes, it may be that going viral – and getting all the benefits that go along with it – is more difficult than it was before, but we're going to have to wait and see how this plays out over the coming months and years.

4. Data security is a crucial part of the deal

As you would expect, considering what drove this deal to happen, much is being made of the data security protections that now apply to TikTok's US operations. The new consortium of companies says "comprehensive data privacy and cybersecurity measures" will be put in place, and these measures will be audited by third-party security experts.

That doesn't mean that TikTok users in the US aren't going to be tracked and targeted by advertising, though – look at the operations of US companies like Facebook and Google, for example. Again, this is something that will become clearer over time in terms of the details, but it's one of the key controls that ByteDance has given up.

5. This isn't just about TikTok

This new TikTok deal comes in the context of ongoing tensions between the US and China. The White House has been slapping hefty tariffs on goods being imported into the United States, and relationships between the two countries aren't the most cordial at the moment, which is something that this agreement over TikTok might ultimately help with.

President Trump is expected to visit China at some point during 2026, at which point we may well hear more about TikTok and how the two countries can work together. Even if an addictive video-sharing app isn't top of the priority list when it comes to global deals and diplomacy, a ban for TikTok in the US has now been officially avoided.

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Having just reviewed the GMKtec M5 Ultra, that prior investigation puts an interesting twist on the M7 Ultra now before me.

Because the M5 was built on a platform that wasn’t widely utilised, and the M7 Ultra turned out to be built on a platform from 2022 that nobody used at all.

However, don’t be put off by the older hardware, because this Ryzen 6000 series processor with Zen3+ architecture is well-suited for a mini PC. It has DDR5 support, USB4 and plenty of PCIe lanes, enabling the M7 Ultra to deliver a well-rounded and confident performance level that’s above any of the Ryzen systems that use DDR4 and the Vega 8 GPU.

It’s also got plenty of potential for upgrades, either internally with the SODIMM and M.2 slots, or externally via USB4. And it must also be one of the cheapest systems to come with Oculink, enabling the external connection of discrete graphics cards via its 64Gb/s interconnect.

Compared to a cutting-edge system, it only has eight cores (sixteen threads), the DDR5 is only 4800 MT/s, and while it is a PCIe 4.0 system, it only supports PCIe 3.0 on the M.2 slots.

Those caveats make me think that the M7 Ultra is suitable for someone who needs a little big more power, but not the performance of a Ryzen 9 or Ryzen AI machine.

For that person who does more than just basic office tasks, this might be ideal, and if they suddenly need more graphics performance, it can be added via Oculink.

Where this system is flawed is that it's slower than the M7 and M7 Pro that came before it. Given the silicon's age, this isn’t going to feature in our round-up of the best mini PC systems, but with a reasonably effective platform and plenty of ports, it's not junk either.

GMKtec NucBox M7 Ultra: Price and availability

• How much does it cost? From $310/£260/€300
• When is it out? Available now
• Where can you get it? Direct from GMKtec and via online retailers

Much like the M5 Ultra, the M7 Ultra is offered in three basic SKUs that go from the baseline barebones system with no memory or storage, to an intermediate 16GB+512GB option that’s reviewed here, to the top spec with 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage.

In the USA, these machines are priced at $309.99, $439.99, and $529.99, respectively.

GMKtec doesn’t have a specific UK outlet, but from the European site (e.g., de.gmktec.com), these systems are £260, £347 and £408, which, if you have DDR5 and an M.2 module, looks like a great deal. Euro prices are €299.99, €399.99 and €469.99. And all the M7 Ultras bought in Europe come with a free 8-in-1 USB docking hub reputedly worth €29.99.

I'm also seeing it available on both Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk with similar pricing.

For those curious, based on the current exchange rates when writing this, the 32GB+1TB model is almost the same price no matter where you buy it, but the barebones model is 12% more expensive.

Another obvious question is how these prices compare with the M5 Ultra? In short, the M7 Ultra is about $50 more than the M5 Ultra for the barebones, and about $40 more for the 32GB+1TB option. When you consider that the M7 Ultra comes with USB4, uses DDR5 and is significantly faster, then the price difference is modest.

What I’d advise against is sourcing this via Amazon, as their systems only come with 512GB of storage, and the asking price is $489.99.

In this part of the review, I’d normally list the other mini PCs that use the same platform and how some are more expensive, and others are cheaper, but not today.

Unless I missed one, no other mini PC maker is using this platform, and I couldn’t find any retail computer, of any variety, that uses it. There are several mini PCs with AMD Ryzen 7 6800H, 6850H, and other “H” series chips, but these are not the same as the PRO 6850U.

Why is this the case? I’ve no information to share. It might be that AMD has TMSC make bins of many Ryzen 6000 mobile chips with no clear market, and now they’re having a clear out of those that didn’t sell.

Whatever the reason, this is a mid-2022 platform built on a fab AMD no longer relies on, and it might be that the GMKtec M7 Ultra is the one and only machine the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850U gets to see the light of day.

Which might go some way to explain how competitively priced this system is.

• Value: 4 / 5

GMKtec NucBox M7 Ultra: Specs

GMKtec NucBox M7 Ultra: Design

• Decent build quality
• Easy internal access
• VESA mountable

There are two important things about GMKtec systems I like, and those are the build quality and the ease of internal access. And, the M7 Ultra doesn’t confront either of those expectations.

While the top and underside of this NUC are plastic, the part that is likely to take the greatest amount of abuse, the sides, is metal on all faces.

It’s a cool gunmetal grey, and the plastic top is painted to match.

Access is remarkably straightforward, with the top rotating to come away, and with that removed, there are four large screws visible that most people should have a suitable screwdriver for.

I like that these are large, easily visible screws, not the tiny ones that ping under my desk before activating their inbuilt cloaking devices. These are only discoverable either with socked feet or the use of a stupidly powerful electromagnet.

Even I couldn’t misplace these screws was my first thought on seeing them.

With those removed, the DDR5-4800 modules and M.2 slots are unobscured, and upgrading either of them merely requires the replacement parts and a couple of spare minutes.

The memory modules were branded as GMKtec, but the chips had OEM Micro branding. Therefore, based on the repositioning of that source for memory, we won’t be seeing this in future GMKtec products.

Thankfully, you can swap the RAM with any DDR5-4800 SODIMMs of any brand, as long as they’re the same type and size.

On the outside, the M7 Ultra doesn’t go off the beaten path with all the ports on the front or back, and those on the front are well placed for the attachment of storage. Both USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports are on the front, along with the USB4 port, the 3.5mm audio jack and the Oculink port. Oh, and the power button.

Maybe the Oculink port might have been better on the back, but there isn’t much room with dual 2.5GbE LAN sockets, dual USB 2.0, another USB4 port and both HDMI and DisplayPort.

One feature which is slightly controversial on the M7 Ultra is that hot air is ejected under the external ports, not above them. While there is the possibility that it might impact the connected cables, I can’t see this air getting heated enough to melt the insulation on these.

As GMKtec do with most of its systems, included with the M7 Ultra, is a plate that can be used to VESA mount the system to the back of a monitor. As the scale of this system might make it tempting for someone to pick it up and take it home, connecting it to the monitor is probably a good idea. For those seriously concerned about theft, it also has a security slot on the rear.

As with the M5 Ultra, the engineering, accessibility and port deployment are good, and there doesn’t appear to be any significant design issues with this design.

• Design: 4 / 5

GMKtec NucBox M7 Ultra: Hardware

• AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850U
• DDR5 Memory
• Gen 3 PCIe M.2 Slots

The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850U is a mobile processor featuring eight cores, launched in April 2022 as an offshoot of the Ryzen 6000 series. And, the closest silicon from the core series is the Ryzen 7 6800H, a Zen 3+ (Rembrandt) architecture chip made for Socket FP7.

AMD’s Simultaneous Multithreading (SMT) doubles the effective thread count to sixteen, giving it some potential for multi-threaded software.

Operating at a base frequency of 2.7GHz, boosting up to 4.7GHz when required, this silicon was part of the swansong of the 6nm process at TSMC before AMD moved to the 4nm fabrication in the 7040 series.

The thermal design power (TDP) is just 15W, but that can be bumped to 28W, making it highly energy-efficient. It supports DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, with a maximum official speed of 4800 MT/s. It also supports 6400 MT/s for surface-mounted LPDDR5, but GMKtec hasn’t chosen to use that.

And, as I’ve alluded to already, this is the only PC I’ve found that uses this specific processor, so it now seems unlikely that a machine using the greater bandwidth memory is ever likely to appear.

Since Zen3+, AMD has evolved the Zen4 and Zen5 architectures, with more powerful GPUs, 8000MHz DDR5 options and larger core and thread capabilities.

In this context, the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850U provides a solid underpinning to the system where it can run reliably for long periods and remain effectively silent.

However, there are a few choices GMKtec made that are more nuanced than merely picking an older processor. One might assume AMD let this business have these at a bargain price.

As is often the case, this all revolves around PCIe lanes and how these critical resources are allocated. In this system, there are various draws on the bandwidth of the PCIe subsystem, which has twenty lanes of PCIe 4.0 at its disposal. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850U has an integrated USB4 controller, but it still needs at least four lanes for USB4 and at least four more for Oculink, leaving only eight lanes for everything else.

In that pile are all the other USB ports, dual 2.5GbE LAN ports, the small M.2 slot for the Wi-Fi, and most importantly, the two M.2 slots. However you dice this up, without using a PCIe switch, something had to give, and what gave here was the M.2 slots ended up being only Gen 3, not Gen 4.

I can see a strong argument that either one of the USB4 ports or the Oculink should have been sacrificed to provide Gen 4 storage, but that might have created a thermal issue for keeping the NVMe drives cool.

With the amount of bandwidth available, this was a tough choice, and GMKtec went with Oculink and two USB4 ports but downgraded the M.2 slots, for good or bad.

I’d have liked at least one Gen 4 M.2 slot, but I’m not the one trying to shoehorn all this technology into a tiny box.

• Features: 3.5 / 5

GMKtec NucBox M7 Ultra: Performance

Given the modest price difference between the M7 Ultra and its M5 Ultra little brother, these seem the obvious systems to compare.

And, unsurprisingly, with DDR5 memory and the 12 cores of the Radeon 680M in its corner, the M7 Ultra is a good bit quicker than the M5 Ultra in the majority of the tests.

Although, for some curious reason, the CineBench24 multi-core test is a win for the AMD Ryzen 7 7730U over the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850U. But these results aren’t replicated in Geekbench or PCMark 10.

Why Windows Experience Index scores the GPUs inaccurately in this instance is another mystery, but that's the precise result reflected here.

There is, however, a hollow aspect to this victory, which is that my results from the old GMKtec NucBox M7, which used the Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H, were much better, scoring 14909 for 3DMark WildLife. Given that the original M7 system used DDR4, something doesn’t add up.

Yes, this system is up to 50% faster than the M5 Ultra, but it should be even quicker than that. It’s like it's operating on a single memory module, though I checked that it isn’t.

Looking back at the original M7 and the M7 Pro, the M7 Ultra has less processing power and lower GPU performance than both of these.

Unfortunately, the M7 is out of stock, and the M7 Pro is discontinued, I suspect.

I’ve concluded that, unless there was a fault with my machine, the M7 Ultra has the unfortunate accolade of offering less power than the models it replaced, sadly.

• Performance: 3 / 5

GMKtec NucBox M7 Ultra: Final verdict

Not sure what to think about the GMKtec M7 Ultra, since it uses a processor no other machine has ever used and yet delivers performance numbers below those of its predecessors.

What’s the most curious thing about this system is that it uses DDR5 memory, but with the same 680M GPU, it's slower than the M7, which used DDR4. How is that possible?

The M7 Ultra's bandwidth should make it faster, not 66% of the M7’s speed in the 3DMark Wildlife benchmark.

I’m hoping that this system merely needs a firmware update to deliver the results the hardware should be capable of.

Because of these issues its not an obvious replacement for the M7 or the M7 Pro, but there are plenty of alternatives using Ryzen 6000 and 7000 chips that can perform better.

Should I buy a GMKtec NucBox M7 Ultra?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

The Downdetector reports peaked at around 3pm ET / 8pm GMT in the US and UK, with Microsoft acknowledging the issue slightly after 3pm ET.

Those reports have now plummeted back to near-normal levels, suggesting that Microsoft's fix has worked for the vast majority of users. Here's how the outage played out and what caused it...

Let's take a count of where things currently stand – while I was able to load Microsoft's own status page, which confirmed an active disruption with Microsoft 365, I'm having some difficulty loading it at the moment.

You can try loading that here, but I will also embed Microsoft's post on X (formerly Twitter) below, which also confirms the issue.

While Down Detector reports are starting to slip, hinting that fewer folks are reporting issues or that the service is entering recovery, Microsoft 365 still stands at over 14,361 reported issues.

Folks in the comments on Down Detector are reporting issues with sending and receiving messages, but also specifically with the 'Admin Console' not loading as intended.

Reported issues with Microsoft Outlook are currently sitting at slightly over 12,000 on Down Detector.

Here's what Microsoft's status page says is impacted

As well as Microsoft's post on X, the status page – which I've finally got loading again – does a good job of setting the scene and showing where we are with this ongoing disruption.

I'll copy it in full below, but the gist is that inbound and outbound mail through Exchange Online and Outlook are both impacted. There's a chance you'll encounter this specific error message as well: "451 4.3.2 temporary server issue". Using the search functionality in OneDrive and SharePoint Online may fail, as well as accessing Microsoft Purview, Microsoft Defender XDR, and the Microsoft 365 admin center may not load.

So yes, it does match the comments folks are leaving on Down Detector, and Microsoft says the cause is that a "portion of dependent service infrastructure in the North America region isn't processing traffic as expected." This service disruption for Microsoft 365 and Outlook is mostly impacting North America as well.

"More info: More info: Users may be receiving a "451 4.3.2 temporary server issue" error message when attempting to send or receive email through Outlook.

Some of the impacted service functions include, but may not be limited to:

- Sending and receiving email through Exchange Online, including notification emails from Microsoft Viva Engage.

- Collecting message traces may be delayed or fail.

- Searches within SharePoint Online and/or Microsoft OneDrive mail be delayed or fail to complete.

- Accessing the service portals, including Microsoft Purview, Microsoft Defender XDR, and the Microsoft 365 admin center.

Current status: We're continuing to review what actions are required to restore the affected infrastructure to a heathy state and rebalance the service traffic to achieve recovery.

Scope of impact: Any users served through an affected section of service infrastructure in the North America region may be intermittently impacted.

Root cause: A portion of dependent service infrastructure in the North America region isn't processing traffic as expected.

Next update by: Thursday, January 22, 2026, at 11:00 PM UTC"

And if you're curious about the return-to-normal timeframe, Microsoft isn't quite ready to say when that will be just yet. Its teams are still investigating the problem and working to figure out a fix.

Here's the most recent post from the company on X, which notes a similar tone. It's nice to see a company being communicative during a disruption, though. The hope, though, is that a path to returning to normal operations for Microsoft 365 and Outlook is on the horizon soon.

As is common practice during outages, let's take a look at what some impacted folks are posting on social platforms like X during this Microsoft 365 and Outlook disruption.

It's a little after 4:15 PM ET here in New York City, so let's check Down Detector, as Microsoft is still experiencing a disruption affecting Outlook and Microsoft 365. Reports for 365 and Outlook have started to level off a bit, while those for the Microsoft Store, Teams, and Azure are all on the decline.

Now, as we typically see during outages, competing platforms in the space have also spiked a bit on Down Detector; that's why we see Gmail below with some reports. At this time, Google's various status dashboards are not showing any disruptions, but we'll monitor the reports.

Microsoft has restored the' affected infrastructure'

Here's some good news – in a post at 4:14 PM ET on the @MSFT365Status account on X, Microsoft notes that it's 'restore the affected infrastructure to a healthy state." That's a good first step and now it needs to further load balance to 'mitigate impact.'

That means we're on the road to recovery, and to aid in that process, Microsoft is moving some traffic to subsequent infrastructure to help get users back online.

Down Detector reports for Microsoft Outlook have dropped below 10,000 as of 4:20 PM ET, suggesting recovery is starting to occur. Though there are still comments from folks who can't send or check for new emails.

Similarly, reports for Microsoft 365, Teams, Azure, and Microsoft Store continue to trend downward.

While Microsoft has made it clear that recovery for Outlook and 365 will take some time, Down Detector reports for the affected platforms are still declining. Though many are still reporting issues accessing mail in Microsoft Outlook.

We're also waiting for another update from Microsoft.

Microsoft has posted again on X, writing, “We’re rebalancing traffic across all affected infrastructure to ensure the environment enters a balanced state.”

The company says this process will help identify what further action is necessary for recovery. Either way, Microsoft appears to be moving in the right direction toward bringing Microsoft 365 and Outlook back to normal.

It’s also important to note that the confirmed “service disruption” is impacting Microsoft 365 Business and Enterprise users, while many of Microsoft’s consumer-grade platforms, apps, and services continue to operate as expected.

We're now several more hours in, and Microsoft is still actively working on a service disruption affecting Microsoft 365 and Outlook. It's still business and enterprise account-focused, and while we've been past 5 PM ET for three hours, it's now past 5 PM on the West Coast as well, meaning that business and workspaces are likely impacted into the evening.

Microsoft's own status page – which at times is hard to load – and its X account are still the best two places to track updates, though it's been three hours since the last update on the latter.

Microsoft says it's now "resolved"

Good news – at 1.29am ET / 6.29am GMT Microsoft posted on X (above) to say "we've confirmed that impact has been resolved".

So what caused all the mayhem? Microsoft says it was a "service load issue during maintenance". As always, a humdrum server capacity issue is what caused all the trouble, but anyone who uses Microsoft 365, Outlook, Teams and Copilot will be relieved to hear that it's now (theoretically) over.

We'll be keeping an eye on this one in case there's residual issues, but that should hopefully be it for one of 2026's biggest outages so far.

From the get-go, though, I could see this was a different beast, and as I worked my way through the game's rules and my first round against the built-in computer, I wondered about why Crossplay is an app and how The New York Times explains the game's "Scrabble" vibes.

Like Scrabble, the free-to-download Crossplay starts as an empty, in this case, 15x15 grid with only bonus squares visible. Each player starts with seven letter tiles (each letter has a numerical value) that they can use to build words on the board and collect point totals. Similar to Scrabble, you can use letters in a word to build new words, and building on top of bonus squares increases your word scores. Opponents (from your Friends list, people whose abilities you might match, or the computer) take turns and gather points until they've run through all their tiles. There are more details, like the ability to swap tiles and skip turns, but that's the thrust of it. It's fun and, yes, a bit addictive.

To understand Crossplay's origins, development, quirks, and future, I spoke to New York Times Senior Producer Jeff Petriello, a talented guy I coincidentally worked with at Mashable more than a decade ago.

"I'm the producer of, specifically, our new games," Petriello told me, adding that he's responsible for Connections, Strands, Pips, and the new Crossplay. He also revealed that something called "Capture" is currently in beta.

The making of a game

While Petriello isn't coding the games, his responsibilities run far and deep. "My job is to ship the game," he explained, which, in his telling, sounds a bit like herding cats. Petriello keeps an eye on the feature backlog and ensures that the features align with the engineering capabilities. He also works with the product designers.

"I've heard a definition of game producers as designers of alignment, and I really resonate with that," he said.

Crossplay, though, was different. First of all, unlike say Wordle or Strands, it's a standalone app. Wordle and Connections are built basically as Web apps that can be played online or within the container of The New York Times Games app.

Crossplay, on the other hand, "is the first standalone app that The New York Times games team has made outside of The New York Times games app. From a scale perspective, it's way larger than releasing a new puzzle that shows up in the games app," said Petriello.

On the iPhone, where I played, Crossplay is a native iOS app built on Swift, but it's also on Android.

"We had to do a lot of technological work that was sort of unprecedented for us as a team, which was really challenging and exciting," he added.

Sometimes, an app is where it's at

Why did The New York Times choose to build Crossplay as an app? Petriello told me that a 2-player game (there are no plans to add more players at the moment) is, technologically speaking, far more complex than a single-player web-based game. "It has a social graph that needs to be plugged into it," said Petrielo. Plus, Crossplay has a chat feature, "which we don't have at all on the games app."

Crossplay does, though, also live within The New York Times Games App container.

I asked Petriello about the resemblance to Scrabble, and while he didn't directly reference Hasbro's iconic game, he told me, "Crossplay is definitely building on the tradition of classic 2-player word games." He also, though, sees clear differences.

"It is unique in its layout in the way that we distribute the tiles. The bonus squares, for instance, on the game board are distinct, and they were optimized for this sort of digital social play."

Petriello said the asynchronous play is also a differentiator. "You're always playing with 2 players, never more. We really thought about the...environment that you're playing in and tried to optimize."

It is early days for Crossplay, and Petriello expects to learn a lot from the early adopters like me. I told him that when I tried to play against another human player, I kept running into the same opponent, "Kae," who had already maxed out the number of games they could play at once.

"This game is just at the start of its journey, and I hope it grows with our audience, and we can change it in exciting ways in the future," he said.

It's not that the game isn't relatively feature-rich. Petriello revealed a few non-obvious features, like the ability to long-press a word on the board and get a dictionary pop-up, the subscriber-only Crossbot that can give you post-game analysis, and how you can choose different difficulty levels when playing against the computer.

"I always recommend if you're stacked up waiting for folks, play a computer game while you wait... you can get those to be pretty difficult, although we're already seeing feedback from people that the difficult one isn't difficult enough," he told me with a laugh.

As usual, even now, there are already Crossplay experts yearning for more.

One thing that Crossplay doesn't have is the ability to instantly share your results, though, obviously, if you're playing against someone, they already know.

"We kind of want to see how users are looking at sharing their experiences on Crossplay. Definitely an area that I'm like, super interested in seeing," said Petriello, who reminded me that Wordle's share "was a thing invented by the community."

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The $100 discount sees the device drop exceptionally close to a record-low price (it was $10 less over Black Friday). That means you're getting a premium handheld gaming PC at a truly fantastic price that can also stream a whole library of games through the Xbox Game Pass Premium membership that's included free for three months.

Today's best Asus ROG Xbox Ally deal

The Asus ROG Xbox Ally is a portable gaming PC powered by the highly efficient AMD Ryzen Z2 A processor and 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM – so it's a slightly weaker version compared to the more expensive Asus ROG Xbox Ally X we've reviewed and scored four stars. Still, this spec ensures games remain snappy and responsive with graphics popping off the seven-inch 1080p FHD touchscreen display.

If you're familiar with Xbox gaming already, then holding the ROG Xbox Ally will feel like second nature, albeit with a little extra weight. That being said, it's not too heavy. At just 670g, the device is light enough to put minimal strain upon your wrists.

The deal also includes a generous three-month Xbox Game Pass Premium subscription that puts hundreds of titles at your fingertips, making it the perfect "pick-up-and-play" companion from day one.

Still not convinced? Take a read of why our Computing Editor, Christian Guyton, has written, I love my ROG Ally, and I’m not sorry about that. Alternatively, if you're open to a desktop experience, then check out our guide to the best gaming PCs.

Your Meta Quest 3 is getting a UI overhaul, again – and this might be an upgrade VR users will appreciate.

Currently, when you boot up your headset your default landing experience – the very first screen you see – would be the Horizon Feed. This social window highlights popular Horizon Worlds, apps, and what your contacts are up to; and it's a window that I and many other users instantly close, so that we can get into the actual games and content we want to access.

So Meta has announced that, starting with update v85, players will instead boot straight into the Navigator. This is the floating UI Meta adopted last year, which puts a greater emphasis on mixed reality with simpler floating icons, as well as a simple bar for swapping between your library, home, social contacts and the app store.

It’s not perfect, but Navigator is generally a much more useful intro screen that Horizon Feed, so hopefully this is an update most users will appreciate – even if it's not a major one.

Meta also announced that it will be be sunsetting the Horizon Feed entirely with this update.

People have generally not been a fan of this constant extra step of needing to close Horizon Feed when they use their headset.

This post from last year is literally titled “Tired of closing Horizon Feed + People window, every time on startup”, while another is asking for advice on how to “Remove Horizon Feed from Menu”.

It seems Meta is well aware of how little users want to engage with Horizon Feed, as in its announcement it said of the feature that “it historically has not driven strong entitlement conversion”; essentially, people generally don’t access the worlds or games it shows through the feed itself.

Some people are now hoping Meta will take things a step further, replying to the change saying “That makes me hopeful that one day, the doomed Horizon ecosystem goes away entirely. The Quest would be such a better device without it.”

Following the recent news of Meta shutting down studios as it shifts focus away from VR to its glasses, this prospect does seem more likely, although, even as someone who hasn’t been the most impressed by its metaverse efforts thus far, I’m worried that the end of Horizon ecosystem might be joined by a much wider Quest demise – something I don’t want, even if for now I’m pinning my VR hopes on the Steam Frame.

It’s a weird time in the world of VR, but this Horizon Feed news does at least start to return things to a state of normalcy. When we don’t know what will happen next, we can at least count on Meta to make yet another UI change.

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The 2026 Presidents' Day sales event officially takes place on Monday, February 16, but you can expect big-name retailers like Dell, Best Buy, Amazon, Lenovo, and HP to all start seasonal sales in the next few weeks or so. Presidents' Day has a great track record for laptop discounts, with many deals essentially being pretty similar (or actual re-runs) of the previous Black Friday sales.

As of writing, there aren't any 'official' Presidents' Day laptop sales live, but you can check out our favorite laptop deals just below. As previously mentioned, we'll be updating this page throughout the next few weeks, so don't hesitate to bookmark and check-in regularly for more discounts from our team of experts.

Today's best laptop sales ahead of Presidents' Day

• Amazon: HP, Dell, Alienware, Lenovo starting at $240
• Best Buy: $400 off Windows 11 laptops
• Dell: get up to $400 off XPS, Inspiron, and gaming laptops
• HP: save up to 60% on mid-range, cheap, and premium laptops
• Lenovo: ThinkPad, Yoga, and gaming laptops starting at $240
• Microsoft: save up to $700 on Surface laptops and tablets

Presidents' Day 2026: key information

When is President's Day 2026?

President's Day 2026 falls on Monday, February 16,th but it's highly likely we'll see decent laptop deals ahead of this date. Generally speaking, most retailers tend to kick off their big retail events early these days - usually around a week or so. Because of this, I'd recommend keeping an eye out for any early deals from the big retailers.

As stated, this page will be updated regularly between now and President's Day with any good early deals so don't hesitate to bookmark and check-in again ahead of the actual holiday date.

What types of laptops go on sale over President's Day?

Gaming laptops, MacBooks, ChromeBooks, and everything in between. There's no one specific category of laptop that's favored in the President's Day sales so expect a good amount of choice regardless of what you're looking for.

We could, potentially, see a re-run of a lot of the laptop deals from last year's Black Friday, which would mean a return to record-low prices on some of our favorite machines at TechRadar. Highlights here include the latest MacBook Air M4 for $799, discounts of up to $400 on Dell XPS 13 machines, and plenty of higher-end choices for gaming laptops. Right now, it's a little too early to say what will be available, but definitely expect good discounts on Presidents' Day.

If you'd like to see more specific options, we recommend seeing our main laptop deals and cheap gaming laptop deals pages respectively for plenty of excellent alternatives.

You can also see more bargains with our guide to the best Presidents' Day TV sales happening right now.

Users of the iconic Notepad app fall into two camps: those who are pleased Microsoft is building up the Windows 11 app with new features, and those who hate that line of development, and consider it to be bloating the software. Should you fall in the latter camp, you won't like the fact that Notepad is getting more capabilities, and Paint is, too.

Windows Central noticed that Microsoft revealed new versions of both of these apps in testing, with Notepad getting some additional formatting powers, as well as a new 'welcome experience' and an extra dash of AI.

On the formatting front, Notepad is getting nested lists – indented subcategories within lists – and a strikethrough capability (drawing a line through text, meaning crossing something out).

The new welcome experience is a panel that pops up detailing the latest changes in Notepad, so you know what's been recently added (or tacked on since you last launched the app).

And finally, the AI change in Notepad is for the Write, Rewrite, and Summarize features, which will now start a preview of the response the AI is providing in a faster manner. In short, you'll be able to begin reading the AI's output more quickly.

As for Windows 11's Paint app, the main change here is the new coloring book, which is again an AI feature, one that allows you to create one such book based on a theme.

So, if you want to create a coloring book about, say, flying space whales zooming through the solar system (why not?), you can ask the AI to knock one up, and it'll create the various pages.

Analysis: for me, this goes beyond 'bloat vs functionality' and into 'development vs fundamentals'

As noted at the outset, the trio of changes for Notepad will likely either please you or infuriate you – unless maybe you never use Notepad and don't care. At any rate, those concerned about the basic text editor becoming bloated – and indeed much less basic, with a whole raft of features added in recent times – are not going to be happy with a pop-up release notes panel, or further formatting and AI nuances.

The worry is that eventually, Notepad is going to end up far away from being the streamlined text editor that was the original concept, and it'll load more slowly and be less responsive in general thanks to all these extra trimmings.

Part of this is Microsoft compensating for the lack of WordPad in Windows 11, which was the middle-ground app between Notepad and the full version of Word before Microsoft ditched it from Windows 11. So, you can see where the software giant is coming from in that respect, although it begs the question: why drop WordPad in the first place?

Anyhow, the timing of this new version of Notepad is interesting because it arrives just as a frustrating bug in Windows 11 has meant that the app is crashing for a number of people. (This isn't just about Notepad, mind you, but it is one of the affected pieces of software). The underlying issue appears to be a problem with the Microsoft store – or possibly other factors – but it's clear enough it's not actually the fault of Notepad.

Even so, the fact that Microsoft keeps creating more and more seriously annoying bugs – some minor, some major, like this week's app-crashing antics – points again to the issue of Windows 11 fundamentals versus development of the OS.

Which is to say, people want Microsoft to fix the basics with Windows 11, curing all the bugs, oddities and sluggishness with the interface, and generally getting its operating system in good working order beneath the hood – which should (hopefully) mean fewer bugs popping up in the desktop OS. I don't see how it wouldn't. And on top of that, Microsoft also needs to improve its quality assurance (QA) processes around updates to double down on stamping out gremlins in the works.

Most people want this to happen over and above prioritizing new features coming to Windows 11 and its default apps like Notepad. Now, I realize Microsoft is never going to effectively freeze development on its operating system, and I don't think it needs to go that far anyway – but it's clear enough that priorities need to be readjusted here. Stop worrying about jamming many more capabilities, and especially AI features, into Windows 11, and start probing the fundamentals more deeply, and fixing stuff.

I'd really like to see some acknowledgement from Microsoft that the state of Windows 11 right now isn't good enough. Otherwise, the 'Microslop' nickname could stick fast, and there will be (further) reputational damage in terms of the public perception of the quality of Windows 11. Maybe irreparable damage, arguably.

Microsoft shouldn't forget that the reputation of the OS is intimately linked to the success of its big drive with AI. People need to trust Microsoft's AI agents to be let loose on their PC, and be comfortable granting them access to their personal files, and that won't happen if Windows 11 is regarded as a malfunctioning desktop platform that's limping along, hamstrung by subpar QA and testing, and suffering a constant stream of bugs.

To reiterate, I'm not saying Microsoft should totally rein in development of new features, or AI functionality – because clearly, that is never going to happen. But I'm going to continue to bang the well-beaten drum for the idea that there needs to be a better balance between those incoming new features and maintaining all the existing stuff – because what Microsoft is doing right now just isn't working, not for me, and not for many others.

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Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,400 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1460) - hint #1 - Vowels

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1460) - hint #2 - repeated letters

Quordle today (game #1460) - hint #3 - uncommon letters

Quordle today (game #1460) - hint #4 - starting letters (1)

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1460) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1460) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1460, are…

• WRECK
• GUARD
• BELIE
• BRAVO

Without one of my starter words (audio) also ending in an O, I doubt I would have got to BRAVO as quickly – especially as it contained the often overlooked letter V.

WRECK also took me ages to wrestle from my brain. All in all a very tricky round.

Daily Sequence today (game #1460) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1460, are…

• HAUNT
• HEAVY
• WEAVE
• APRON

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1459, Thursday, 22 January: FRONT, QUOTE, RAISE, POKER
• Quordle #1458, Wednesday, 21 January: PRIVY, SHADY, REMIT, AORTA
• Quordle #1457, Tuesday, 20 January: MONEY, TRASH, TROPE, SHADE
• Quordle #1456, Monday, 19 January: EBONY, ALTAR, SALTY, FALSE
• Quordle #1455, Sunday, 18 January: BATTY, TWINE, DEBUT, TALLY
• Quordle #1454, Saturday, 17 January: ROAST, FOLIO, DROLL, PROVE
• Quordle #1453, Friday, 16 January: UNITY, JOLLY, LEAKY, WARTY
• Quordle #1452, Thursday, 15 January: STINT, WRECK, EXTRA, PUPIL
• Quordle #1451, Wednesday, 14 January: SWOOP, FIRST, GHOST, ALPHA
• Quordle #1450, Tuesday, 13 January: BILLY, BOSSY, EXIST, BIRTH
• Quordle #1449, Monday, 12 January: BRINE, ROUND, FLUME, REBUS
• Quordle #1448, Sunday, 11 January: SADLY, RHINO, AGONY, HAIRY
• Quordle #1447, Saturday, 10 January: HALVE, FLUFF, BELOW, DINER
• Quordle #1446, Friday, 9 January: CRAFT, DECAL, DWELT, TRADE
• Quordle #1445, Thursday, 8 January: STUDY, COYLY, UNTIE, LOWLY
• Quordle #1444, Wednesday, 7 January: BEARD, SPICY, MOIST, SWIRL
• Quordle #1443, Tuesday, 6 January: AMITY, IMAGE, LOATH, WRUNG
• Quordle #1442, Monday, 5 January: OWNER, VILLA, BEARD, METER
• Quordle #1441, Sunday, 4 January: STUNG, COLOR, BRASS, CYBER
• Quordle #1440, Saturday, 3 January: SPORE, FLAIR, BOBBY, TEACH

Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #691) - hint #1 - today's theme

NYT Strands today (game #691) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• STEAR
• GRUB
• LOUSE
• SCAR
• DUSTER
• RUGBY

NYT Strands today (game #691) - hint #3 - spangram letters

NYT Strands today (game #691) - hint #4 - spangram position

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #691) - the answers

The answers to today's Strands, game #691, are…

• NAIVE
• CALLOW
• CREDULOUS
• GULLIBLE
• ARTLESS
• SPANGRAM: BORNYESTERDAY

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 2 hints

Another tough game today that took me ages to complete.

Fortunately non-game words were far easier to spot, so I grabbed a hint to get started, but it was far from easy. After getting GULLIBLE I struggled to think of what words would be next so took a second hint.

Most of these words seem to be things that older people might say to insult young people, as if being world weary is their super power. In this regard I consider myself ageless – as well as ARTLESS.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Thursday, January 22, game #690)

• BLISS
• ECSTASY
• ELATION
• EUPHORIA
• RHAPSODY
• SPANGRAM: SEVENTHHEAVEN

Windows 11 has run into another couple of glitches, and people are now encountering problems with a range of apps crashing and generally misfiring.

Windows Central reports that certain apps are failing to work for some Windows 11 users, with multiple reports online outlining various frustrations – and our sister site has experienced this problem, too.

Apparently, a range of software is affected, and that includes some of Windows 11's default apps, such as Notepad and Snipping Tool, as well as MSI's Armoury Crate and the Alienware Command Center app, to pick a few examples.

When trying to open software, the bug strikes with an error code (0x803f8001 in many cases, or some other string of meaningless garbage as is typical of these so-called 'stop codes'), as well as a message saying that the app in question is "currently not available in your account" (as shown on Reddit here).

The mention of 'account' refers to your Microsoft account, and the bug is seemingly tied into issues with either that account and the Microsoft store.

Windows Central linked to a post on Microsoft's Learn portal complaining about the problem, where an independent advisor, Harold Milan, chipped in to say that: "The Microsoft Store error 0x803f8001 usually occurs when the Store cannot properly validate app licenses, causing built‑in or Store‑dependent apps to stop opening or updating. In most cases, this is due to a corrupted Store cache, a temporary Microsoft account sync issue, or a Store registration glitch rather than actual data loss."

In a separate issue also flagged by Windows Central, Windows 11 users are reporting difficulties with some apps freezing up when saving files to cloud storage. This is happening after installing the January update for the OS (which turned up last week).

Microsoft admitted that: "After installing Windows updates released on or after January 13, 2026 (KB5074109), some applications might become unresponsive or experience unexpected errors when opening files from or saving files to cloud-backed storage, such as OneDrive or Dropbox."

The software giant added: "For example, in some configurations of Outlook that store PST files on OneDrive, Outlook might become unresponsive and fail to reopen unless its process is terminated in Task Manager, or the system is restarted."

That comes on top of issues that have already hit Windows 11 users following the January update, namely sleep mode being broken on some PCs, and glitches with Outlook too (which may be related to the mentioned buggy behavior with cloud services in some cases).

After last year's run of nasty bugs in one form or another, it's disappointing to see how wobbly the start of this year has been for Microsoft's desktop OS, and I'm sadly not seeing any evidence of what I was hoping for in 2026 for Windows 11.

What can I do if I'm affected by these new bugs?

Regarding the latter cloud-related nastiness, there's not much you can do, unless you're hit by the problem with Outlook. In that case, Microsoft explains that "moving the PST files out of OneDrive should resolve the issue" with any luck.

For other apps, you can try contacting the developer for support, or wait for Microsoft to come up with a fix on its side. Microsoft notes that it is "working on releasing a resolution for this issue as soon as possible" but we don't get any timeframe for the arrival of that patch.

The other solution would be to remove the January update causing all this trouble, but that will leave you without its security fixes (which is still possibly the lesser of two evils for some folks, perhaps). Be aware of the risks you would be taking by going this route, though, leaving some vulnerabilities unpatched.

As for the bigger problem with apps crashing due to flakiness related to the Microsoft store (or your Microsoft account), Windows Central says that the remedy it found worked was to install the January update (ironically, given all the strife it's causing elsewhere). That doesn't appear to work for everyone, though.

Other possible cures for these app crashing errors include resetting the Microsoft store cache to fix any corruption therein, as mentioned by the independent advisor above. This is a possible fix for all sorts of issues with the Microsoft store, in fact, and you can follow the instructions here to try it (the process is very easy).

Another trick to give a whirl is simply signing out of the Microsoft store, and then signing back in. You could also try uninstalling, and then reinstalling, the affected app, which has worked for some going by the many reports on this issue – though if you have multiple apps suffering from this bug, that could get tedious.

Finally, simply waiting a while is another tactic, as some app developers are seemingly working in the background on their end – either that, or Microsoft is. Some people have reported that after leaving their PC and going back later on, the issue has just resolved itself.

That would appear to indicate that it might just be a matter of waiting this one out, and hopefully not for long. It may also explain why the January update appeared to cure the problem for Windows Central, but not for others, as this might be a case of coincidental timing with applying that update.

Still, if you remain frustrated by this bug and you haven't yet downloaded the January update, it's definitely something to try – but I'd go through the other suggested remedies first.

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Since Intel stopped its NUC platform, and by its definition guidance, we’ve seen a significant number of mini PC designs that have stepped outside the norms of shape and size in mini systems.

GTBox makes a mix of conventional designs and more out-there options, and the T1 is distinctively different. This NUC-sized motherboard is vertically mounted in a cylindrical speaker case measuring 115mm in diameter and 165mm high.

Because of that ergonomic choice, there is no front or back, only a single I/O section where all the ports and the power button are located. That’s a bit of a crunch, and due to this, there is only one USB4 and LAN port, but there are HDMI and DisplayPort video outs.

Inside the cylindrical speaker case is a punchy AMD Ryzen 7 8745HS processor, Zen 4 architecture from the 2023 Hawk Point series. In this context, it's combined with 32GB of DDR5 memory and a 1TB Gen 4 NVMe SSD.

This makes the T1 a powerful small system eclipsed only by Ryzen AI platforms, and the pre-release pricing is extremely competitive.

However, the downside to this design is that there is no access to the memory or storage, and you are specifically told that opening up the T1 to do this is ‘irreversible’.

If you are happy with those limitations, then the T1 might be a good choice, but the lack of flexibility precludes it from being one of the best mini PCs I've tested. Maybe with the T2, or whatever, GTBox can work out a way to put the mainboard on sliding rails to make memory and storage upgrades (or replacements) possible.

GTBox T1: Price and availability

• How much does it cost? From $700
• When is it out? Available now
• Where can you get it? Direct from GTBox

At the time of review, there is only a single SKU of the GTBox T1 available from the official GTBox site.

That model comes with 32GB of DDR5 and 1TB of storage. The cost is $699.99 for US customers with shipping included. GTBox doesn’t quote specific prices in other currencies, but they will ship to the UK, EU and Switzerland.

One oddity I noticed is that before you add this system to the cart, it tells you that “Free standard shipping on orders over $99” and “Free shipping and tax included in Europe and the United States.”

When you add it, it says that if you spend another $100, you can get free shipping.

I hope that’s a mistake. In both the UK and the EU, there are rules about real price discounts, where you can’t say you’ve made a reduction if you never sold it at the pre-discount price. GTBox has this machine reduced from $799.99 to $699.99, and I suspect it had that from the start.

Looking at competitor systems using the same platform, the candidates include the Bosgame M4 and the Acemagic W1.

The Boxgame M4 has had some hardware changes since I reviewed it, but you can still find the original M4, which uses the AMD Ryzen 7 8745HS and costs $559 for the 32GB+1TB SKU, via Amazon.com.

And, the Acemagic W1 is $549, but there is no stock of the memory and storage options. However, Acemagic will sell you the barebones model for only $280.

All of these systems, when in stock, are cheaper than the GTBox T1, and all of them also have the ability to be internally upgraded with extra RAM and storage.

On that basis, the T1 doesn’t look like an especially hot deal.

• Value: 3 / 5

GTBox T1: Specs

GTBox T1: Design

• Speakerific
• Limited ports
• Zero internal access

There is something about the mesh covering that speakers use that is lovely to touch, with a distinctly fabric feel. As this system is a computer-in-a-speaker, with a slate blue colour scheme, it looks great perched on the edge of a desk.

That’s where this system was designed to sit, since it doesn’t have any VESA mounting options, and you wouldn’t be able to hear the sounds it generates if it were out of sight.

On top is a circular depression with an LED light that can be set to pulse through various RGB colours via the BIOS. That there isn’t a software component to set this is disappointing, as repeatedly going into the BIOS to make changes seems excessively complicated.

But where this system entirely leaves behind the current world of mini PCs is that it only has one place where ports are accessible, and there is no access whatsoever to the internal system.

All the ports are on a single I/O shield, and that includes five USB ports, one USB4, three USB 3.2 Gen 2 and one USB 2.0. There are both HDMI and DisplayPort, and if you use the USB4 port for video, it allows triple displays to be operated from this one computer.

There is also a 3.5mm audio jack, a single 2.5GbE LAN port, the power inlet and a power button. But there is no security slot to stop anyone from walking off with the T1.

With things so tight in this area, maybe the top might have been utilised for a second USB4 port, but that wasn’t something the designers embraced.

Having more ports is always better, but what really confronts the reality of this system is the lack of internal access. With no approved way in, should you want more memory (if it's even socketed) or to replace the storage, there are no options. That limitation is problematic for a business customer as it reduces the flexibility of this design considerably.

What you do get is a system with an inherently fairly loud speaker, but you can’t really use this for conferencing, since there is no corresponding microphone.

• Design: 2.5 / 5

GTBox T1: Hardware

• AMD Ryzen 7 8745HS
• One USB4 port
• Unused PCIe lanes

Many mini PC builders are turning to AMD, largely due to the affordability of its components and the generous number of PCIe lanes, which allow for an array of high-speed ports. The Ryzen 7 8745HS is a Hawk Point processor that, to my knowledge, was originally released in June of 2023.

This chip boasts eight cores with hyperthreading, enabling it to handle sixteen concurrent threads. It offers a slightly improved power profile over the Ryzen 7 8745H, resulting in modestly higher clock speeds.

While there are several advantages to this processor, but also one notable drawback. That caveat is the age of the 780M GPU, which has now been superseded by the 890M and also the new 8060S integrated GPUs. It’s not Intel UHD Graphics bad, but there are faster options that aren’t discrete video cards.

On the upside, it utilises Zen4 architecture, matching the performance of the previous generation's 7745HX. Additionally, it supports DDR4, DDR5, and the latest LPDDR5x memory standards. Its most significant advantage for mini PC applications lies in the twenty PCIe 4.0 lanes provided by AMD, which facilitate multiple ports and significant expansion capabilities.

The capacity of these lanes has enabled the implementation of USB 4 and Oculink on some systems, but here there is only one USB4 port and no Oculink. However, the M.2 SSD slot does at least get PCIe 4.0 lanes, even if you can’t get inside to use an SSD of this spec in that slot.

With only one USB4 port, no Oculink and a single M.2 Gen 4 slot, this machine has PCIe lanes that sit entirely idle and contribute nothing to the overall experience.

Therefore, this system is something of a contradiction, as it has a decent processor and DDR5 memory technology with dual modules, providing ample bandwidth and enhancing GPU performance.

But, there are also at least eight PCIe lanes doing nothing, no way to exploit the PCIe 4.0 M.2 slot, and no expansion path other than using a single USB4 external drive or the LAN.

• Features: 3.5 / 5

GTBox T1: Performance

As a counterpoint to the T1, I chose the excellent Bosgame M4. But if you go to the Bosgame website now and select the M4, it shows as discontinued for the M4 Neo and the M4 Plus. However, it is still possible to get the original M4 from other outlets.

The reason I went with the M4 was that it uses the same CPU, GPU, and memory as the T1, giving some indication of whether the T1 is a good version of this platform.

And, looking at the first part of this benchmark collection, all the signs are good, as it edges the M4 in the GPU tests and matches it in most of the processing metrics.

But where it all goes slightly awry is when we get to the CrystalDisk benchmark and discover that the best performance the GTP3000-1TB can achieve is below the 4,000Mb/s threshold that PCIe 3.0 M.2 NVMe drives can almost reach.

This is a guess, since I can’t identify the maker and spec of the GTP3000-1TB, but given the number, I’m inclined to believe that this is a Gen 3 drive, which, as this system has a Gen 4 slot, is a depressing conclusion. If it is a Gen 4 drive, then it's one of the slowest I’ve ever seen. What makes this even worse is that because you can’t get inside the T1, this drive can’t be replaced with something quicker or larger.

The phrase grasping defeat from the jaws of victory seems suitable for the T1, since it had all the pieces it needed to be a winner, and then blew it with an apparent cost-cutting exercise.

Overall, aside from the storage, this machine performs well and is perfect for a power user, or rather one who doesn’t need more than 32GB of RAM or 1TB of quick storage.

• Performance: 4 / 5

GTBox T1: Final verdict

There are two elephants in the GTBox T1 room, and the first of those is a design where you explicitly can’t get inside the system to do any form of upgrades. There are plenty of appliances where that sort of limitation is considered normal, but the PC isn’t one of them.

And, given the upgrade paths that other mini PCs provide, that’s a significant problem.

I’d had less of an issue with this if GTBox had at least made some sort of effort to make the M.2 slot accessible, but the owner is told not to open the T1 under any circumstances.

The other elephantine problem is the asking price, which seems about $150 more than it should be with this specification. It may be that, with this unique speaker styling, GTBox assumed a price premium was in order, but nothing about this design justifies it.

With memory and storage going up in price, the cost of the T1 might suddenly become something of a bargain, but based on other machines using the same platform, it's way too high, and there are Ryzen AI systems that aren’t much more than this cost.

But, if we put our purchasing blinkers on and ignore the lack of flexibility and the price, this is a decent mini PC with a great hardware platform (ignoring the SSD) that delivers a good user experience.

However, business IT buyers don’t tend to wear those blinkers much these days, and they’d reject this due to the cost and the lack of internal access.

Should I buy a GTBox T1?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

The ‘big three’ telcos of TPG, Optus and Telstra all offer 5G home internet plans, with a smattering of subsidiaries also offering services using the networks of the aforementioned trio.

Vodafone is one such subsidiary of TPG that has a selection of 5G home internet plans cheaper than its NBN equivalents. There are some caveats, such as the fact that Vodafone’s 5G plans max out at 100Mbps – compared to up to gigabit plans via the fixed-line NBN – but as I found out during my three-week review period of the top-tier plan, there is potentially sensational value to be had.

What’s more, all Vodafone 5G home internet plans come supplied with a Wi-Fi 7 modem and a separate mesh node to help provide network coverage throughout your home. While some other 5G home internet providers also supply a Wi-Fi 7 modem, the fact that Vodafone includes a mesh node represents great value.

The service isn’t without its faults, with the main one being that you’re capped to a maximum download speed of 100Mbps. While I was able to achieve faster speeds than this, and Vodafone says it is theoretically possible for other customers, it’s in no way a guarantee. If you want a 5G service that rivals even the fastest NBN plans, then I would encourage you to check out services from either Spintel or Optus.

If you do sign up for Vodafone 5G internet and find the service doesn’t live up to expectations, then as long as you return the modem, you’ll only need to pay for one month of service. In the case of the Premium plan on review here, that’s AU$60 if you’re not a Vodafone mobile customer, and AU$55 if you are.

If you’ve been considering switching to a 5G home internet plan, then read on to find out my experience using the 100Mbps Vodafone 5G plan at home.

Vodafone 5G home internet: plans and pricing

• Three plans
• Up to 100Mbps
• Extra savings for Vodafone mobile customers

Vodafone offers three 5G home internet plans. They are:

• 5G Home Internet Basic (18Mbps TES) | AU$50p/m (first 6m, then AU$60p/m)
• 5G Home Internet Plus (50Mbps TES) | AU$55p/m (first 6m, then AU$65p/m)
• 5G Home Internet Premium (100Mbps TES) | AU$60p/m (first 6m, then AU$70p/m)

If you’re a Vodafone mobile customer, you can save an extra AU$5 off the introductory cost for the first 6 months of your service.

In either instance, Vodafone’s 5G home internet plans are cheaper than the NBN equivalent. A Vodafone NBN 100 plan, for example, costs AU$74p/m for the first 6 months, then AU$94p/m ongoing for non-mobile Vodafone customers.

All Vodafone 5G home internet plans ship with a Wi-Fi 7 modem and mesh node. Both of these are free if you remain connected to a plan for 36 months. If you cancel your service before the 36-month period ends, you’ll need to return the modem and node to Vodafone within 30 days. If you don’t, you’ll be asked to pay a non-return fee, which is calculated at AU$11 per month for any time remaining within the 36 months.

As you can see from the plan details above, all Vodafone 5G home internet plans have their speed capped, up to a maximum of 100Mbps. Considering some other 5G home broadband providers, such as Optus and Spintel, offer an uncapped speed tier – which has the potential to provide near-gigabit speeds depending on environmental factors and distance from the nearest tower – it can make Vodafone’s option less appealing.

It’s also worth noting that TPG also offers 5G home internet that uses the Vodafone 5G network, yet charges considerably less for comparable plans. Taking the 100Mbps plan on review here as an example, TPG charges AU$44.99p/m for the first 6 months, before increasing to a regular ongoing cost of AU$64.99p/m. Vodafone’s equivalent is AU$10 more each month.

Vodafone 5G Home Internet: Availability

As is the case with any provider of 5G home internet services, the main obstacle to connection is availability. Just because an area has 5G mobile coverage doesn’t always mean it will have 5G home internet coverage. This is because internet service providers (ISPs) need to limit the number of active connections in an area to help avoid congestion.

To check if your home address can connect to the Vodafone 5G home broadband network, you can enter your address on Vodafone’s website.

I tested the Vodafone 5G modem at three different locations in Sydney, with an apartment in Alexandria being the authorised home address. I also tested at an apartment in Homebush and the TechRadar office in Sydney CBD, as both were eligible to connect to the 5G home internet network. As I’ll explain in the performance section, however, each location experienced vastly different speeds.

Vodafone 5G home internet: modem design and setup

All Vodafone 5G home internet plans are supplied with Vodafone’s new Super Wi-Fi modem and mesh node with Wi-Fi 7 support. Neither are the most visually appealing units, adopting a simple black box design, but I do like how the node is small, almost like a book, that can be easily tucked out of the way. There’s no screen to indicate signal strength, as you’ll find on the Optus 5G modem that’s supplied with Optus and Spintel 5G home internet plans.

The main 5G modem measures 215.9 x 125 x 125 mm (HWD), while the mesh node measures 170 x 60 x 140.4 mm (HWD). The main unit has 1 x 2.5Gbps WAN port and 2 x 1Gbps LAN ports, and the mesh gets 2 x 1Gbps LAN ports.

Setting up both the main 5G modem and the mesh node was incredibly simple. Once you’ve installed the SIM card in the base of the modem, plugged it into power and turned it on, it will begin to search for a signal. You’ll then need to install the My Internet Connection app on your phone to access modem settings and add the mesh node.

The login details for the router are found on a label on its underside, and while it is great for security purposes, I would recommend changing the login password to something secure after setting it up. The supplied password is long and made up of various characters and numbers. There is a check box to remember the password, but I found that when logging in after a few days of inactivity, the password hadn’t been remembered. You can’t store the password in your phone’s password manager either, so you’ll need to type the whole thing out again to access the app.

Vodafone 5G Home Internet: performance

Download speeds

After testing the modem and mesh over the period of a few weeks, my speed test data was surprising to say the least. This is because, despite the Vodafone plan being capped at 100Mbps, I regularly achieved over 200Mbps download speeds at the Alexandria address that the service was set up for.

In fact, from 14 tests, I only recorded a speed below 100Mbps on one occasion, where I got a measurement of 80.10Mbps. Admittedly, this result was taken at 6.39pm, so encroaching on the busier evening hours of 7pm to 11pm. Two tests were above 100Mbps but below 200Mbps – 154Mbps and 189Mbps at 8:35 am and 11:23 am, respectively, so far removed from the typically busier hours. A further test at 10.39 pm returned a speed result of 156Mbps – and all others were above 200Mbps. The average speed I achieved was 201.74 Mbps.

I mentioned that I was experiencing well above the expected plan speeds to our Vodafone representative. They said, “It’s not unusual for customers on our 5G Home Internet plans to experience speeds above the advertised minimum, especially when conditions are ideal.”

“Factors like being close to a 5G tower, strong network capacity and good modem placement all contribute to faster performance. While speeds over 100Mbps aren’t guaranteed, they are possible in some cases and the speeds you're enjoying are within the range of what customers may achieve under optimal conditions.”

Indeed, the speeds I recorded at our office location in the Sydney CBD were much, much slower at around 10Mbps, while at the Homebush location, we recorded an average download speed of 118.15Mbps.

Upload speeds

Upload speeds also fared well, particularly at the Alexandria address. The maximum possible upload speed of the Home Internet Premium plan is 20Mbps (it’s the same for the 50Mbps Home Internet Plus plan, and only 2Mbps for the 20Mbps Home Internet Basic plan). I achieved an average upload speed of 18.08Mbps from my tests, and managed to break the 20Mbps barrier on five occasions.

As was the case for download speeds at the Sydney CBD address, upload speeds weren’t that great, hovering around 10Mbps. In Homebush, things actually got worse, with an average upload speed of just 7.70Mbps.

Upload speeds are important for anyone who intends to live stream content or upload large files, and so if this is you, you may find that the Vodafone 5G home internet service won’t be able to service your needs. I was able to carry out a video call with the TechRadar team largely without issue. I did experience some buffering, but not to the point where I had to switch back over to my regular home internet connection, which has upload speeds of up to 100Mbps.

Connection

I was very impressed with the connection I experienced to the Vodafone 5G modem and the mesh node. I had the modem setup in my main living space and the mesh node at the other end of my apartment in my bedroom. When I walked into my bedroom, my phone seamlessly switched over to the mesh node, and it continued to deliver similar speeds to those experienced when connected to the main modem.

You can easily see which devices are connected to which access point within the My Internet Connection app.

Vodafone 5G Home Internet: Gaming

Accessing web pages, social media, and streaming video content shouldn’t pose much of an issue to the Vodafone Home Premium 5G internet plan, but what about gaming? Avid gamers rely on fast connection times to game servers and, because of the inherent nature of wireless internet connections, they can suffer from a greater amount of interference.

I’m not a gamer myself, so to test the Vodafone 5G service’s gaming credentials, I pointed my web browser at Game Server Ping to conduct a ping test, and compared the results achieved via the 5G connection against my regular Gigacomm home internet connection.

Here’s how Vodafone’s 5G internet ping rates compared to my fixed-line connection. All tests were carried out on a laptop connected to each modem via an Ethernet cable.

I handed over the main 5G modem to my gamer colleague who lives at the Homebush address, and while they could connect and play games, they added that it was “very laggy and cuts out frequently, particularly when experiencing higher ping speeds”.

Based on this statement and the ping speeds, the Vodafone 5G home internet service isn’t likely going to be a good option for hardcore gamers.

Vodafone 5G Home Internet: Extra Features

With the exception of Optus, which includes a standard Netflix subscription with its top-tier uncapped 5G home internet plan, you won’t find any extra perks bundled in with a home broadband plan.

Vodafone mobile customers stand to benefit the most from a 5G home internet service with the telco, as they can save AU$5 per month ongoing as long as the mobile service remains active.

Vodafone 5G Home Internet: Cancellation and hidden fees

As per Vodafone’s terms and conditions, you are free to cancel your service at any time, but there are some stipulations. Firstly, you’re required to pay a minimum of one month of the service and the monthly fee is charged “until the end of the month in which you notify that you wish to cancel”.

As long as you return the modem and mesh to Vodafone within 30 days of cancellation, you won’t have to pay for it. If you return it after 30 days, or if you don’t return it at all, you’ll be charged a device payment calculated at AU$11 per unused month in a 36-month period. The maximum cost of the modem if it’s not returned is AU$396. If you remain connected for 36 months, the modem is free.

Vodafone 5G Home Internet: Reputation

• Few customer reviews for 5G home internet
• NBN customers leave negative reviews

It's tricky to find many reviews from customers for Vodafone's 5G home internet service. However, of the accounts I can find, via Reddit and Whirlpool, the general consensus is positive, with people claiming they get good 5G signal and decent speeds.

As for Vodafone as an internet provider on the whole, however, things are much less positive. The telco's NBN service receives generally negative reviews on sites such as Product Review, with a 2.1-star rating out of 5, from 544 reviews at the time of publishing.

Given the fact you're able to return the 5G modem to Vodafone within 30 days of cancelling a service to avoid paying the modem device fee, I would still recommend signing up to Vodafone 5G home internet, as you can effectively trial it for a month and only pay AU$60 for the 100Mbps plan.

Vodafone 5G Home Internet: Verdict

Based on my experience using the Vodafone 5G home internet plan, I can recommend it for anyone considering signing up for the non-NBN alternative. I would, of course, recommend you check your area for network coverage before signing up.

Plan pricing is competitive, especially if you are able to achieve download speeds faster than those advertised. This isn't a guarantee of course, but a nice bonus.

I also appreciate the fact that Vodafone will waive the modem device fee if you return it within 30 days of cancelling your service. Considering some other providers, such as Optus, don't offer the same benefit, it makes Vodafone's service the more attractive option.

Microsoft has announced that the Xbox app is now out on Windows 11 PCs with Arm processors, meaning the likes of Copilot+ laptops built around Snapdragon X silicon.

In a blog post, Microsoft noted that: "Players can now download and enjoy a wide range of titles from the Xbox PC app game catalog on Arm-based Windows 11 PCs. Today, more than 85% of the Game Pass catalog is compatible with these PCs."

The firm also said it's working with developers to get more games supported on Arm, and that for those titles which can't be run on these Windows 11 devices, there's always another option – streaming via Xbox Cloud Gaming.

The Xbox app offers a central hub for all your games, acting as a game launcher and tying in social aspects, as well as facilitating cloud gaming, as noted, alongside other neat tricks (such as cross-platform saves for your Xbox and PC).

Analysis: big things could happen for Windows on Arm in 2026

This is certainly a useful step forward for Windows gamers who have an Arm PC, and it's one of a few strides that Microsoft has taken in terms of making Snapdragon X laptops better on the gaming front.

That includes compatibility with quite a few more PC games, with the notable addition of titles that use AVX or AVX2 extensions, which Prism – Microsoft's emulation layer to run x86 (AMD and Intel) games on Arm processors – gained the ability to cope with in the October 2025 update for Windows 11.

On top of that, we saw Epic tune up Fortnite to run on Arm PCs, making the game's anti-cheat tool (EAC) compatible. That has long remained a stumbling block for gaming with an Arm processor. Hopefully, other game developers who use EAC to keep cheats at bay will follow suit. (This includes titles such as Elden Ring).

The porting of the Xbox app over to Arm PCs comes with some interesting timing, as we're about to see new Snapdragon X2 laptops introduced in the near future. On top of that, rumor has it that laptops packing Nvidia's N1X processor could debut in the next couple of months. It's another Arm chip and one that has some seriously powerful integrated graphics. Given that, 2026 could be a very promising year for Windows on Arm devices.

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Starting with the cheapest option, you can pick up the Microsoft Surface Pro at Best Buy for $599.99 (was $799.99).

This is the lowest-ever price for the smaller 12-inch version of the slick laptop/tablet hybrid, which also boasts a speedy and efficient Snapdragon X Plus processor, 16GB of RAM, monumental battery life and 256GB of SSD storage. Just be aware that you need to buy the keyboard cover separately.

If you want an all-in-one device, then I'd go for this Microsoft Surface Laptop at Best Buy for $849.99 (was $1,199.99). This is an excellent offer for the premium workstation that we awarded five stars in our Microsoft Surface Laptop review, as it features a top-end spec that's ideal for work, business and productivity tasks.

In this model, you get a more powerful Snapdragon X Plus processor, a slick 13.8-inch touchscreen, 16GB of RAM and a larger 512GB SSD. We wrote that: "performance, battery life, the light and thin [design], price, sound quality, and more, are all top-notch."

Check out the trio of top offers on Microsoft Surface devices I've picked out below. Even with newer models expected in the spring, I think it's well worth considering these, as they offer exceptional levels of power, performance and efficiency for the cost – and are still some of the best laptops you can buy today.

Today's best Microsoft Surface deals

If you need some more advice before deciding on the above, you can check out more of today's best laptop deals I've found from my regular search around the web. Be sure to check the latest Microsoft promo codes for more ways to save, too, if you'd prefer to buy direct from the manufacturer.

The HP Pavilion x360 14 is a compact 2-in-1 laptop that aims to offer both performance and versatility in a single package.

True to most of HP’s lineup, the Pavilion x360 14 has a smart and understated appearance. The light grey colorway and sleek contours imbue it with elegance, while its 14-inch size helps with portability.

However, this latter aspect is undermined somewhat by its relatively thick and heavy construction, so it’s not the best laptop for frequent travelers who want a device with as minimal a footprint as possible.

The upshot of this weight, though, is that it adds some reassuring solidity. Both the base and the display enclosure of the Pavilion x360 14 have very little give, while the materials used all over the unit feel premium. The hinge for the lid is also sturdy, if a little clunky in action when you're pushing the screen beyond 90 degrees, as I often do whenever I use a 2-in-1 laptop.

Despite its small size, there are a good number of ports on the Pavilion x360 14. Along with two USB-A and one USB-C port, there’s also an HDMI port, a microSD slot, and a combo audio jack, all of which I welcome. What’s more, they’re conveniently located.

The general performance of the Pavilion x360 14 is pretty good. It can handle light productivity and stream 4K content with ease. However, it can suffer from micro-stutters when moving quickly from task to task. Also, gaming performance is average-to-poor, owing to the absence of a dedicated GPU. Of course, this isn't a gaming laptop, so you shouldn't really expect impressive game performance.

I noticed that even under moderate loads, a fair amount of heat radiates from the left side of the Pavilion x360 14, as well as the top keyboard rows. Thankfully, temperatures aren’t alarmingly high. The fans generate some noise, but remain pleasingly quiet relative to many other laptops under stress.

The display is pleasingly sharp and vibrant, and although reflections are prominent at times, I usually found the maximum brightness setting could mitigate their presence to an acceptable degree.

Despite the small size of the Pavilion x360 14, its keyboard has a pleasingly spacious layout, which, combined with the snappiness of the keys themselves, makes it satisfying to type on. However, there was no backlighting in my particular review unit – a grave omission given how hard it was to make out the lettering most of the time.

The touchpad is usable, if a little small, and has a smooth surface. It’s also quite solid, although I did notice a slight rattle when tapping and clicking, which can hamper feel and feedback.

The touchscreen on the Pavilion x360 14 is responsive and accurate, however, those keen on illustration might be disappointed with the small – but still noticeable – levels of friction, which can lead to slightly rough swipes, whether a stylus or a finger is used.

The battery life of the Pavilion x360 14 is quite good. It lasted over 11 hours when I ran our movie playback test, which is similar to some of its more expensive rivals. However, it pales in comparison to the highest performing laptops on this front, which can endure twice as long in some cases.

All things considered, though, the Pavilion x360 14 is a strong option in the 2-in-1 sector, thanks to its decent everyday performance and impressive design. It’s a shame that it’s not as portable as other convertible models, and there may be better value alternatives depending on what you require from a laptop, but at the very least the Pavilion x360 14 deserves a place on your shortlist.

HP Pavilion x360 14 review: Price & Availability

• Starts from £699 (about $920 / AU$1,400)
• Available now
• Expensive compared to some rivals

The HP Pavilion x360 14 is available now and starts from £699 (about $920 / AU$1,400). For that, you get an Intel Core i3, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. However, we have seen it on sale for half this price from HP’s own website, which obviously makes it much better value.

The unit I review here is the top-spec model and costs around £1,000. It features an Intel Core i7, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage (although you can upgrade to a 1TB drive instead). Again, we’ve seen a hefty discount on this variant, but its usual price is quite dear.

If you don't need a truly convertible laptop, but still want a touchscreen, the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i is a fine alternative. It’s decidedly more expensive, but it’s a truly premium machine, featuring an OLED display and a pleasingly portable design.

However, if your heart is set on a 2-in-1 but you want a more budget-friendly option, the Acer Chromebook Spin 312 is worth considering. Thanks to its compact form factor, great display, and usable touchscreen, it’s one of the best Chromebooks currently around.

• Value: 3.5 / 5

HP Pavilion x360 14 review: Specs

HP Pavilion x360 14 review: Design

• Heavier and bulkier than expected
• Solid construction
• Impressive port selection

The Pavilion x360 14 looks smart, with its pristine light gray finish, rounded edges, and flat surfaces. All these aspects reflect HP’s desire to emulate the best MacBook designs.

Despite initial impressions, though, the Pavilion x360 14 is actually less slender and light than you might expect. Not only does this heft hamper portability, it’s doubly disappointing to see in a convertible laptop, since you’ll likely be picking it up and flipping it upside down frequently to use the touchscreen. The best 2-in-1 laptop options are all lighter than this.

On the plus side, the weight does contribute to the overall sturdiness of the HP Pavilion x360 14, as there’s virtually no flex to any of its panels. The materials employed seem quite premium as well, more akin to metal than plastic.

Also, the lid hinge is stable enough to prevent the display from wobbling under most circumstances. It operates smoothly, too, although I found it took a bit more effort to adjust the display angle compared to other laptops I’ve used.

More irksome, however, was the fact that once it’s reclined beyond 90 degrees, the rear of the base lifts clean off the underlying surface. This is a design choice some other laptops employ, but it’s not one I’m fond of. It always felt awkward adjusting the display to this point, and results in less stability when using the keyboard.

Speaking of which, my review unit had no backlighting for the keyboard. I always lament this omission in any laptop, but it’s especially disappointing in the case of the Pavilion x360 14. The characters are dark and contrast marginally with the finish of the keys themselves, making them hard to see in many instances; at certain angles, they were totally invisible.

Even though the Pavilion x360 14 is a small laptop, it has an admirable selection of interfaces. There are two USB-A ports and one USB-C, the latter of which supports both Power Delivery and DisplayPort 1.4 standards.

Additionally, there’s an HDMI port, a combo audio jack, and a microSD card reader. It’s a small shame the latter isn’t fit for standard SD cards, but I can forgive this omission given the form factor of the Pavilion x360 14.

The ports are spread quite evenly across both sides, which improves convenience. They’re also ordered in a logical way: for instance, the power connector is furthest away from the user, while the microSD reader and combo audio jack are closest.

• Design: 4 / 5

HP Pavilion x360 14 review: Performance

• Reasonable everyday performance
• Heat and noise even under moderate loads
• Responsive but uninspiring touchscreen

The general performance of the Pavilion x360 14 is reasonable, if not spectacular. It can handle light productivity and entertainment tasks well, even streaming 4K content without disruption.

However, despite my review unit having an Intel Core i7 installed, it wasn’t as swift as I was expecting. When switching between browser tabs or loading new web pages, it frequently stuttered. These stutters were momentary, so were minor infractions in the main, but they added up to become more disruptive when I tried to accomplish multiple (but not especially demanding) tasks in quick succession.

Being the top spec model, my review unit also had Intel Iris Xe Graphics. In theory, this offers improved performance over Intel UHD Graphics, but it’s still integrated to the CPU. This means that the Pavilion x360 14 is only capable of very light gaming. I managed to run Cyberpunk 2077 on Medium graphics, but it wasn’t a smooth experience, in terms of frame rate and visual fidelity.

A noticeable amount of heat emanated from the left vent of the Pavilion x360 14, as well as from the top keyboard rows and the section above. This was the case even when I conducted moderate workloads. Thankfully, the temperatures were never uncomfortable or concerning. Fan noise accompanied such moments, but it was pleasingly quiet relative to some other laptops under load.

The 1080p resolution of the Pavilion x360 14 provides plenty of sharpness, which is doubtless helped by the compact 14-inch display. Colors also appear vibrant. It can be quite reflective at times, but thankfully there’s enough brightness to keep them from being distracting.

The touchscreen functions well, responding to inputs made by either a finger or a stylus quickly and accurately. However, the surface isn’t the smoothest, so more intricate usage, such as drawing or handwriting, can result in a dragging sensation. The effect isn’t as egregious as it is on some other touchscreens, but if you’re after one of the best touchscreen laptops, the Pavilion x360 14 might not cut it.

If you’ll mainly be typing, though, you’ll be pleased with the keyboard on the HP Pavilion x360 14. The keys are comfortably spaced despite the compact layout, and there’s a surprising amount of travel to presses, which makes them satisfying to use. They’re still snappy enough to type quickly, though.

The touchpad is less impressive. It operates well enough, but the small size and numb-feeling taps and clicks – in part due to the slight rattle I noticed – result in a less tactile experience.

• Performance: 4 / 5

HP Pavilion x360 14 review: Battery Life

• Respectable by 2-in-1 standards
• Some longer-lasting rivals
• Quick to recharge

The Pavilion x360 14 has a decent battery life. It lasted about 11 hours in our movie playback test, which is close to the same score achieved by the Acer Chromebook Spin 312.

However, it can’t beat the Microsoft Surface Pro 11, another fantastic 2-in-1 laptop, which managed over 14 and a half hours. Also, more conventional laptops can last longer, sometimes up to 20 hours or more. The Pavilion x360 14 is quick to charge, though. It took about two hours to fully replenish.

• Battery Life: 4 / 5

Should I buy the HP Pavilion x360 14?

Buy the HP Pavilion x360 14 if...

Don't buy it if...

HP Pavilion x360 14 review: Also Consider

How I tested the HP Pavilion x360 14

• Tested for a few days
• Used for a variety of tasks
• Laptop testing experience

I tested the HP Pavilion x360 14 for a few days, during which time I used it for multiple tasks, including productivity, streaming, and gaming.

I also ran our series of benchmark tests for laptops, which are designed to assess every facet of performance. I also tested the battery life by running a movie on a continuous loop.

I have plenty of experience both using and reviewing laptops. I have covered many models, ranging in their form factors, use cases, and price points.

• First reviewed: November 2025
• Read more about how we test

This is Shunsuke Nakato of Kioxia – a major SSD and NAND flash storage manufacturer – who is managing director of the firm's Memory Business Unit. As Tom's Hardware noticed, he spoke to Digital Daily, a South Korean tech news outlet.

Nakato observed that we're at the end of the era of affordable 1TB SSDs, and that: "To be honest, this year's production volume is already sold out. The days of cheap 1TB SSDs for around 7,000 yen (about $45) are over."

As Tom's Hardware points out, not so long ago, it was possible to pick up a 1TB solid-state drive for as little as $35 in the US. Right now, I'm not seeing anything less than $100 for a 1TB SSD at major US retailers – and many 1TB NVMe drives are at least $130.

The worry is that, given the chatter about spiking storage prices – which are following after RAM's lead – these SSDs will get a lot pricier soon. Nakato isn't the only person with industry knowledge sounding warning bells, and it's possible that while SSD prices haven't witnessed nearly as steep a climb as RAM, this could change as 2026 rolls on. Indeed, pricing pressure may well be felt throughout 2027, too.

So, the safest bet is likely to buy a wallet-friendly drive now, before all SSDs become distinctly more wallet-hostile, and not just high-end models (some of which have already doubled in price).

I'd be inclined to take this route, and to that end, if you're looking for a 1TB drive, here are my recommendations for what to grab right now.

Top 3 SSDs to consider now

These are my top three choices for the 1TB SSDs that you'll want to consider – though you may have to move very fast to snag some of them (one in particular). I've linked to US retailers for the deals you can get there, but you'll also find links to buy these SSDs in your region below, too, if you aren't in the US.

While these prices are already hiked to a degree, which may be off-putting, just bear in mind that the likelihood is they could seem cheap compared to the inflation the SSD market may incur over the next, say, six months.

WD Black SN850X 1TB: the drive to buy before it goes out of stock

This WD drive is a highly-rated NVMe SSD – we loved the base SN850 model, and there have been other versions since, like the SN850P and this SN850X, which is a slightly peppier, faster variant.

Priced at $109 at Walmart in the US as I type this, I don't think this SN850X will hang around long, given the value proposition it represents in a market where prices are rapidly inflating.

Crucial P310 1TB SSD: the cheapest you can get

If you want to buy as cheap as possible right now, the best deal I'm seeing – at the time of writing – is the Crucial P310. This is a nippy, power-efficient NVMe SSD that is priced at $106 at Amazon in the US currently.

Again, I'm not sure it'll be in stock for long at this price, mind. Technically, it's hardly cheaper than the WD drive above – and I'd definitely recommend that product over this SSD – but if the SN850X has sold out, this is still a great drive for gamers and everyday computing.

Samsung 990 Evo Plus SSD 1TB: a powerhouse drive with endurance aplenty

If you want to go a bit pricier, check out Samsung's 990 Evo Plus in its 1TB flavor, which is a relatively palatable $155 at Newegg. It doesn't make any sense compared to the WD Black SN850X in all honesty, but if that has vanished from Walmart's shelves (or the price has changed), this is a good alternative to the Crucial SSD.

Compared to the Crucial P310, the Samsung 990 Evo has a few advantages, including slightly faster performance, PCIe 5.0 support, and much better endurance (so the drive will last longer – it uses TLC rather than QLC NAND). The latter is crucial (ahem) if you'll be performing many write operations on the drive, and this Samsung model is the better bet for longevity.

However, from a pure value perspective for the everyday user, I'd still plump for the Crucial SSD at the current pricing (although as mentioned, the WD drive is still the top choice, assuming it stays in stock for any length of time).

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Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,400 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1459) - hint #1 - Vowels

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1459) - hint #2 - repeated letters

Quordle today (game #1459) - hint #3 - uncommon letters

Quordle today (game #1459) - hint #4 - starting letters (1)

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1459) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1459) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1459, are…

• FRONT
• QUOTE
• RAISE
• POKER

Quordle games that feature five vowels are generally harder, but today they threw in a rare letter for extra difficulty. Kudos if you survived.

Beyond this, my stickiest spot was a choice between power and POKER. I chose the wrong word but fortunately had lines to spare.

Daily Sequence today (game #1459) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1459, are…

• FABLE
• GIVER
• VIGOR
• RIGID

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1458, Wednesday, 21 January: PRIVY, SHADY, REMIT, AORTA
• Quordle #1457, Tuesday, 20 January: MONEY, TRASH, TROPE, SHADE
• Quordle #1456, Monday, 19 January: EBONY, ALTAR, SALTY, FALSE
• Quordle #1455, Sunday, 18 January: BATTY, TWINE, DEBUT, TALLY
• Quordle #1454, Saturday, 17 January: ROAST, FOLIO, DROLL, PROVE
• Quordle #1453, Friday, 16 January: UNITY, JOLLY, LEAKY, WARTY
• Quordle #1452, Thursday, 15 January: STINT, WRECK, EXTRA, PUPIL
• Quordle #1451, Wednesday, 14 January: SWOOP, FIRST, GHOST, ALPHA
• Quordle #1450, Tuesday, 13 January: BILLY, BOSSY, EXIST, BIRTH
• Quordle #1449, Monday, 12 January: BRINE, ROUND, FLUME, REBUS
• Quordle #1448, Sunday, 11 January: SADLY, RHINO, AGONY, HAIRY
• Quordle #1447, Saturday, 10 January: HALVE, FLUFF, BELOW, DINER
• Quordle #1446, Friday, 9 January: CRAFT, DECAL, DWELT, TRADE
• Quordle #1445, Thursday, 8 January: STUDY, COYLY, UNTIE, LOWLY
• Quordle #1444, Wednesday, 7 January: BEARD, SPICY, MOIST, SWIRL
• Quordle #1443, Tuesday, 6 January: AMITY, IMAGE, LOATH, WRUNG
• Quordle #1442, Monday, 5 January: OWNER, VILLA, BEARD, METER
• Quordle #1441, Sunday, 4 January: STUNG, COLOR, BRASS, CYBER
• Quordle #1440, Saturday, 3 January: SPORE, FLAIR, BOBBY, TEACH
• Quordle #1439, Friday, 2 January: SALLY, INERT, PINEY, SOUTH

Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #690) - hint #1 - today's theme

NYT Strands today (game #690) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• HEAT
• BOLDER
• SHRED
• CAST
• PHONE
• YEAST

NYT Strands today (game #690) - hint #3 - spangram letters

NYT Strands today (game #690) - hint #4 - spangram position

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #690) - the answers

The answers to today's Strands, game #690, are…

• BLISS
• ECSTASY
• ELATION
• EUPHORIA
• RHAPSODY
• SPANGRAM: SEVENTHHEAVEN

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 3 hints

I didn’t get much sleep last night, so I really struggled to focus on today’s letters soup and needed three hints to get me across the line – and that was after I spotted BLISS in my normal left-hand corner starting spot.

So, seeing as there were only five search words, my success rate, including the spangram, was a terrible 50%. 

My sorry display did prompt me to stream Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody. Along with Baker Street by Gerry Rafferty and Breakfast in America by Supertramp it’s one of the 1970s songs I hate to admit I really like. 

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Wednesday, January 21, game #689)

• GLOAT
• TEASE
• BURP
• SHOUT
• STARE
• POINT
• INTERRUPT
• SPANGRAM: DONTBERUDE

The HP Pavilion 16 is aimed at those looking for a capable everyday machine for a reasonable price.

It’s clear that HP has paid attention to the aesthetics of the Pavilion 16. Not only does the Sky Blue colorway add more interest than the monochromatic tones typical of mid-range laptops, but the materials employed look premium as well.

Its elegance is further emphasized by its sheer slenderness; I don’t recall having seen a thinner 16-inch laptop, making it one of the best laptop designs around. While this aspect helps with portability, the deceptively hefty weight doesn’t.

I can’t complain about the build quality of the Pavilion 16, though. There’s little flex to any part of it, despite its aforementioned lean form, while the parts that are plastic are pleasing to the touch. This is especially true of the keys, which have a slight texture for added tactility.

There are some useful ports on the Pavilion 16, including two USB-A, two USB-C (which support both Power Delivery and DisplayPort standards), and an HDMI port. However, most are loaded on the right-hand side, and the two USB-C ports are placed closest to the user, which can be inconvenient as the power cable has to be plugged into one of them.

The Pavilion 16 handles general tasks rather well, from light productivity to 4K video streaming. However, since it lacks a dedicated GPU, graphics-heavy workloads are handled with less aplomb. Some light gaming is still possible, but you’ll have to dial back the settings and settle for unremarkable frame rates and visuals.

Fan noise is noticeable, even when the Pavilion 16 is running at a moderate intensity, but I would still describe it as being within acceptable bounds. Nearly all of the heat is confined to the very rear of the underside, which I also appreciated.

The 1200p WUGXA display is sufficient for this size of laptop, providing a clear and sharp image. Color reproduction and brightness levels are also commendable, although reflections can be a little too prominent at times.

If you’ll be doing a lot of typing, the Pavilion 16 is likely to meet your needs. The wide spacing of the keys, coupled with their deep travel and dampening, makes them satisfying to use. And if you’ll be dealing with lots of numbers in your work, you’ll be pleased with the inclusion of a numpad, too.

However, the touchpad is less impressive. It’s quite small for this size of laptop, yet at the same time manages to intrude while typing; I would often trigger cursor movement with my thumb palm. In the main, though, it’s still sufficient enough for everyday use.

An area where the Pavilion 16 excels is battery life. It lasted over 20 hours in our movie playback test, and charging times are very fast as well. On this front, it beats most of its similarly-priced rivals.

When you combine this aspect with its other plus points, the Pavilion 16 adds up to an enticing proposition, given its reasonable starting price. There are certainly other great laptops at this end of the market, some of which may have the edge in terms of performance, but the Pavilion 16 remains one to consider if you’re after a mid-range, workaday machine.

HP Pavilion 16 review: Price & Availability

• Starts from $459 / £569 (about AU$700)
• Available now in various configurations
• Reasonable price point

The HP Pavilion 16 starts from $459 / £569 (about AU$700) and is available now. Models with different Intel and AMD processors are available, as are models with touchscreens. RAM configurations also vary from 8GB to 16GB.

This is a reasonable price for a large laptop of this spec. For a similar price, you could also get the Acer Aspire Go 15. I was impressed with its performance when I reviewed it, which is perhaps marginally better than that of Pavilion 16. However, its display is less impressive than the Pavilion 16’s.

If you’re looking for another budget alternative, the HP OmniBook 5 14-inch (2025) could be one to look out for. It features a cutting-edge and vibrant OLED display, and impressively long battery life.

• Value: 4 / 5

HP Pavilion 16 review: Specs

HP Pavilion 16 review: Design

• Exceptionally thin
• Premium feel
• Mixed connectivity options

The Pavilion 16 cuts an elegant figure, thanks to its minimalist design that’s free from fuss and unsightly bulges. The Sky Blue colorway also helps to distinguish it from many others in this sector, endowing the unit with enough interest while maintaining a professional appearance.

More impressive is just how slender the Pavilion 16 is. For a 16-inch laptop, it’s remarkably thin, which certainly helps with transportation. Its weight, on the other hand, is more of a hindrance, since it’s heavier than I expected it to be.

The plastics used in the Pavilion 16 feel premium, especially that of the keys, which are finished with a subtle texture that offers a pleasing amount of traction. They’re also secured firmly in place, without a hint of looseness.

This same level of solidity applies to the overall construction of the Pavilion 16, too. There’s remarkably little flex to the chassis or the lid, despite how thin both are. What’s more, the hinge holds the display in place with impressively little wobble, no matter the angle, while being very easy to adjust at the same time.

There are two USB-A and two USB-C ports on the Pavilion 16, as well as an HDMI port – an increasingly rare sight on modern laptops. There’s no SD card reader, though, which is a small shame.

A bigger point of contention is the placement of the ports. All but two are on the right, which might prove inconvenient for some. And while I was glad to see the USB-A ports split across both sides, the two USB-C ports are both on the right.

What’s more, they’re located in front of all other ports, nearly mid-way along the chassis, which can cause issues when connecting the USB-C power adapter. Personally, I always prefer the power port to be the furthest away, in order to prevent the power cable from trailing over others or being obstructed by things you may have next to your laptop.

• Design: 4.5 / 5

HP Pavilion 16 review: Performance

• Reasonable everyday performance
• Not ideal for gamers or creative pros
• Tactile keyboard

The everyday performance of the Pavilion 16 is commendable. It handles light productivity, browsing, and entertainment tasks well, which is what one would expect from this grade of laptop. More impressively, it can stream ultra-HD video without issue.

Such content is enhanced by the large display, which is allowed to make full use of its space thanks to the thin bezel. There’s enough brightness and vibrancy to make the viewing experience an enjoyable one, and while reflections can reveal themselves at points, for the most part the Pavilion 16 does an admirable job of keeping them at bay.

Even when performing moderately intense workloads, the fans in the Pavilion 16 were audible. However, the noise never rose above a muted whir, so I didn’t find them disruptive. Most of the heat was confined to the rear underside, with commonly-touched surfaces remaining cool.

Since it has no dedicated GPU, the Pavilion 16 isn’t the best choice for gamers or creative types. Cyberpunk 2077 was just about playable on Medium settings, but even here I experienced some stuttering and the occasional slowdown. Naturally, it wasn’t very pleasant to look at, either. You'd be better off checking out our list of the best gaming laptops instead.

Thanks to the wide chassis, the keyboard fits comfortably in the Pavilion 16, even with its number pad. However, while the keys have plenty of space between them, they don’t seem as large as those on other laptops. I had to adapt my typing accordingly, but as the size difference is that great, this didn’t take long.

Better is the considerable amount of travel and dampening they have, especially by laptop standards. This makes them more tactile and engaging to use.

Despite its relatively small size, the touchpad got in the way as I typed. The palm of my right thumb frequently triggered cursor movement; thankfully, no clicks or taps registered, which would’ve been much more disruptive.

Its small size also means navigation isn’t as expansive as it could’ve been. What’s more, it lacks the smoothness of some of the best in class, and I felt a slight rattle whenever I tapped or clicked, which made such actions feel awkward. Having said all this, I’ve certainly experienced more frustrating laptop touchpads, and it’s perfectly usable in the main.

• Performance: 3.5 / 5

HP Pavilion 16 review: Battery Life

• Lasts long
• Beats many rivals
• Quick to charge, too

The battery life of the Pavilion 16 is very impressive. It lasted a mighty 20 hours and 15 minutes during our movie playback test, a score that bests many of its rivals by a large margin. The Acer Aspire Go 15, for example, only managed close to 12 hours.

Equally as impressive is just how quickly the Pavilion 16 can fully recharge, taking about 90 minutes.

• Battery Life: 5 / 5

Should I buy the HP Pavilion 16?

Buy the HP Pavilion 16 if...

Don't buy it if...

HP Pavilion 16 review: Also Consider

How I tested the HP Pavilion 16

• Tested for a few days
• Used for multiple purposes and benchmarked
• Experienced laptop reviewer

I tested the HP Pavilion 16 for a couple of days. I used it for a variety of tasks, from productivity and browsing to streaming video and gaming.

I also ran our series of benchmark tests, designed to comprehensively assess every aspect of a laptop's performance. This included a battery life test, where I ran a movie on a continuous loop until the HP Pavilion 16 shut down.

I am an experienced laptop reviewer, having tested a large number across a broad range of price points, form factors, and specifications.

Read more about how we test

• First reviewed November 2025

Windows 11 has run into more problems with its latest update, and now some users are suffering at the hands of a bug affecting sleep mode.

Windows Latest reports that a number of Windows 11 users are finding sleep mode no longer works after installing the January update (KB5074109, which was released just over a week ago).

This pertains to what's known as the S3 sleep state, which is the original sleep mode for Windows, and so this won't affect newer PCs (as they don't use this, and I'll come back to why shortly). In this sleep state, everything is powered down (display, processor, even the system fans) except for the RAM, which stays alive (maintaining whatever you're doing).

According to one user, the problem is as follows: "After installing KB5074109, the sleep function does not work. On going to Power and pressing Sleep, the screen goes blank, but the PC does not power down. The only way to get the PC to restart is to do a hard restart, i.e. hold the power button down on the PC until it turns off, and then restart. This happens every time I go into Sleep mode."

There are similar reports on Reddit and elsewhere, and unfortunately, as described, this isn't just about sleep mode failing to kick in, but also the fact that the PC effectively crashes, and needs a hard reboot to recover.

Another Windows 11 user observes that the problem has hit three of their PCs (one running Windows 11 Home, and two using Pro editions of the OS). They further note that the problem vanishes when the January update is removed, and returns when it's reinstalled, suggesting this is definitely an issue with KB5074109.

Analysis: insomniac computers

The S3 sleep state only pertains to older PCs, because newer devices running Windows 11 will use modern standby instead. So, as noted, if you have a PC which was bought this decade you likely won't run into any trouble with sleeping, and not with your laptop certainly – all contemporary notebook models have shifted to modern standby (known as S0 'lower power idle'). This may not be the case with all desktops from this decade, mind – for example, my computer is five years old and still uses S3 sleep.

But mostly, if you have a newer machine, you'll likely avoid this gremlin in the works. Those with an older PC who are encountering problems may have to simply avoid using sleep mode – which is hardly ideal, although there is one potential workaround you can try.

According to a Feedback Hub post that Windows Latest spotted, a possible solution is that if you have a USB webcam attached to your PC, you can try unplugging it. That may just do the trick – but otherwise, there are no other suggestions as to how this bug might be sidestepped.

This latest reported bug with the January update comes on top of issues with the classic Outlook app (with POP accounts) whereby it freezes up, and a bug that means some PCs won't shut down. The latter is a nasty one, but it only affects enterprise users with a certain feature enabled, so it isn't something your average person has to worry about, thankfully.

A third bug that Microsoft has acknowledged is an issue with Remote Desktop Connections failing to work, although the good news is that emergency fixes have been deployed for those latter two issues – hopefully fixes will be inbound for the Outlook problem, as well as the sleep bug, soon.

Finally, I've also noticed some user complaints about weird issues with their keyboard and mouse after installing the January update. All in all, then, it's not a great start to the year for Microsoft.

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The PC hardware market is in a state of turmoil due to the RAM crisis, with prices skyrocketing across the board, but while this doesn’t seem to have impacted Apple just yet, some people ordering a new MacBook are facing delays for an altogether different reason.

As reported by MacRumors, new MacBook Pro M4 Max orders are seeing delays of up to two months, particularly in the US, with estimated delivery for the 36GB RAM and higher configurations showing as early February. Customers ordering the 128GB memory configuration are facing the longest delays, with these orders showing March delivery dates.

While it might appears that these delays could be due to the ongoing RAM crisis, it's more likely due to Apple's focus on the M5 Pro and M5 Max, and the MacBooks running them. Apple may have curtailed or halted production on M4 MacBook Pros to allow stocks to run down ahead of the new models' launch.

Both chips are scheduled to launch in the first half of this year, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, which would explain why delivery dates for M4 Max MacBook Pro models are delayed.

Now, that's not to say Apple is immune to any potential impact from rising prices and component shortages due to RAM. However, Apple is expected to absorb DRAM costs in 2026 to avoid increasing prices for customers, and hopefully that extends to the M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBooks once they launch.

Apple's MacBooks also use unified memory, which is on the same chip as the GPU and CPU, so while this doesn't mean the company is immune to the current instability, it's certainly safer than manufacturers who are having to make major compromises on hardware.

Analysis: Apple might be safe, but other PC manufacturers are in trouble

It looks like this RAM crisis may indeed run on throughout 2026, as the focus on AI is showing little to no signs of slowing down. I'm glad Apple is safe for now, because MacBook Pros are already costly as it is – but the rest of the PC hardware market is in such an unstable state.

It's worth noting that Nvidia hasn't completely abandoned its efforts to provide for RTX GPU users, especially with the recent launch of DLSS 4.5. However, the shift to a focus on AI is very evident, and the same goes for third-party manufacturers.

Desktop and laptop GPUs are one thing, but Micron recently shut down its popular brand, Crucial, to focus on selling RAM to AI companies. While that doesn't mean Crucial RAM is forever gone, it's an indication that the AI bubble is massive, and it seems as though some manufacturers will stop at nothing to profit from it.

I still fear that the longer this crisis continues, the more collateral damage will continue, and that's not great news for any consumer.

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The RAM crisis just keeps getting worse, and we've started 2026 with a stream of bad news about the price hikes – and the US government is now throwing its weight around, threatening a move that could cause further pricing misery for consumers.

PC Gamer flagged a report from Bloomberg which quotes some stern words for two of the big memory makers uttered by the US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick.

Lutnick warned that South Korean and Taiwanese memory chip manufacturers – meaning SK Hynix and Samsung (not Micron, the third giant presence in this arena, which is US-based) – could face up to 100% tariffs if they don't invest more in the US to increase their chip production facilities in the country.

Lutnick said, "Everyone who wants to build memory has two choices: They can pay a 100% tariff, or they can build in America. That's industrial policy."

In other words, if SK Hynix and Samsung continue to manufacture RAM modules outside the US, in Asia, they could face those tariffs. A 100% tariff would effectively mean a 100% import tax on memory chips coming from abroad, which would, of course, be a hefty price to pay.

The idea, then, is to have these two companies ramp up chip production on US soil to avoid punishing tariffs when selling to this market. Note that what the US government wants is for SK Hynix and Samsung to actually manufacture RAM chips in the US (and not just package up the chips made in Asia, and then shipped over, which is what happens with the manufacturing plants that the two firms have currently in the country).

Even Micron doesn't produce all that much of its total memory chip production in the US, but it does have some manufacturing happening in the country – and plans to expand that considerably further. Indeed, Lutnick made his statement, as reported by Bloomberg, at the groundbreaking ceremony for a new $100 billion multi-foundry complex that Micron is building in New York (part of a $200 billion drive to build new manufacturing facilities in the US).

Analysis: how might this affect consumers?

There are some obvious problems here for US consumers, and possibly for the government, too.

For starters, if the US did instigate this 100% tariff move, who's to say it would have much effect in forcing the hand of either SK Hynix or Samsung in terms of expanding US manufacturing? To say that RAM is a seller's market right now is possibly the underestimation of the century in the tech world, so it's not like losing US customers is going to hurt these chip makers or deflate the massive profits they're currently enjoying.

Ultimately, though, it's not memory makers or laptop or PC manufacturers that'll suffer – the real pain will be inflicted on the average US consumer. As noted, the potential measure threatened is effectively a 100% import tax that will just be passed directly on to the buyer of the piece of tech that the memory is inside, as all these cost increases inevitably are.

We could end up in a situation where there's a forecast 50% price hike coming with RAM in Q1 of 2026, over the next couple of months, on top of the already miserably large increases witnessed in the final quarter of 2025. And then, on top of that, US consumers will have to pay more if what's effectively a 100% import tax on memory comes into force, meaning an increase on top of an increase on top of an increase.

More expensive storage, and much more expensive RAM, are going to push up the price of laptops and desktop PCs alike – GPUs are hit in this regard, too (as they have video RAM, which is also now in shorter supply, and therefore more expensive).

It's tricky to gauge how this might play out, and it'll vary a good deal from model to model, but the theorized tariffs might mean laptops get something like 10% pricier due to the extra inflation on the bill for RAM – on top of the already steep rises the memory shortage crisis is already causing. Higher-end laptops, and the likes of Copilot+ (AI) PCs, will be hardest hit, as they demand beefier and faster memory configurations.

We aren't at the point of the US government implementing these measures – they're just threats at the moment. But the administration clearly believes that leveraging tariffs works, so it's hardly inconceivable that Lutnick could follow through and enforce such measures – assuming some kind of deal can't be struck regarding investment in the US with the memory chip makers outside of Micron.

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