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mercredi 1 décembre 2021

These are the best AMD Graphics cards you can buy in 2021

AMD’s been making some huge waves in the commuting space with its Ryzen processors. Even though Intel’s new 12th gen Alder Lake CPUs offer impressive performance, we still think Ryzen processors are here to stay in our best CPUs list. The same is the case with AMD’s graphics cards. Even though Nvidia’s GeForce RTX line-up of GPUs are more popular and mostly dominate our best graphics cards list, AMD also has some extremely powerful and reliable graphics cards on the market. In this article, we’ll be taking a look at some of the best AMD graphics cards you can buy in 2021.

As is the case with all of our collections, this is also an ever-evolving list in which we’ll break down the best AMD graphics cards available right now for you to pick the one that suits your requirements. We’ve mentioned stock reference cards from AMD in this collection for the most part, but you may have to look for a partner card from one of the OEMs based on your budget and also the GPU availability. That being said, this list should help you understand the current state of AMD graphics cards on the market and we’ll also point you towards the one you should be buying based on your requirements. So without wasting any more time, let’s get started with this list:

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Best overall AMD graphics card: AMD Radeon RX 6800XT

AMD Radeon RX 5800 XT GPU with three fans sitting on a brown background
AMD’s new 6000 series GPUs couldn’t have arrived at a better time. They’re here to shake Nvidia’s stronghold on the GPU market for cards across different price ranges. AMD’s new Big Navi aka RDNA2 offers some impressive performance gains. It joins the ray tracing fray, both with its PC desktop graphics cards and the next-gen consoles. AMD still has a long way to go before more OEMs hop in and start churning our cards with custom heatsinks, but even the reference cards have a lot of potential to take on Nvidia’s top GPUs.

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT builds on the previous cards like the Radeon VII when it comes to the design. We’re looking at a familiar industrial design and aesthetic for the RX 6800 XT. However, it comes with a better heatsink that helps it cope with the higher TDP values. The RX 6800 XT has a triple fan design with three 77mm fans. In typical AMD’s fashion, there’s also a Radeon logo that lights up in red. The RX 6800 XT comes with dual 8-pin PEG connectors and a bunch of ports on the back including two DisplayPort outputs, a single HDMI 2.1 connector, and a USB Type-C port. The HDMI 2.1 port is a nice addition since it allows you to connect supported TVs and other displays to hit higher frame rates.

The Radeon RX 6800 XT, mind you, sits on top of the Radeon GPU product stack just under the more performant RX 6900 XT. As such, it’s good for 4K gaming when paired with a high-performance CPU in a well-optimized environment. At 4K, Nvidia’s RTX 3080 leads the RX 6800 XT just by a couple of percentages, which means they both are equally good at dishing out playable frame rates at high resolutions. In fact, AMD’s RX 6800 XT manages to perform better than the RTX 3080 in many cases across popular titles like Red Dead Redemption 2, Metro Exodus, and more.

At 1440p and 1080p, both cards are effectively tied which means the RX 6800 XT is a fantastic alternative to the RTX 3080. That being said, it’s hard to find both cards in stock, so good luck with that. You can also overclock the RX 6800 XT to get more performance out of the GPU but there’s nothing substantial here. The overclocking capability will largely depend on the partner card’s heatsink too, so your mileage may vary. The RX 6800 XT isn’t the best when it comes to ray tracing performance, though. Nvidia’s RT tech is still better than what AMD has to offer. That’s also because Nvidia’s DLSS 2.0 offers a big boost in frame rates. AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution, in comparison, fails to deliver, but we’ll see if that changes in the future with the AMD cards.

Overall, we think the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is a solid card that’s worth considering as an alternative to the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080. Sure, both GPUs are just as good when it comes to overall gaming performance, but there’s more work to be done by AMD, especially in the ray-tracing department to take the lead from Nvidia. But there’s no denying that the RX 6800 XT is a fantastic card and it should be the one that most people should buy over the 6900XT.

    AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT
    The RX 6800 XT is the best graphics card in the 6000. It's identical to the RX 6900 XT except for slightly lower clock speeds.

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Second-best overall AMD graphics card: AMD Radeon RX 6800

AMD Radeon RX 6800 GPU reference card standing next to its retail box

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 is a solid entry into the AMD graphics card lineup. It stands as a viable alternative to Nvidia’s high-performance GPUs. As such, it’s our pick for the second-best AMD GPU you can buy in the market right now, next to the Radeon RX 6800 XT. The RX 6800 delivers reliable 4K gaming performance and a decent ray-tracing performance at 1440p. These are things that older GPUs like the Radeon VII, Radeon RX 5700 XT, etc. couldn’t really achieve for AMD. The Radeon RX 6800 can easily outperform the RTX 3070 across many titles.

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 is based on the same RDNA2 graphics architecture that other 6000-series cards are based on. It’s also the same tech behind GPUs powering both the PS5 and the Xbox Series X consoles. The RX 6800 uses Infinity Cache, which is essentially the global cache for the GPU which boosts bandwidth for the video memory (VRAM). This makes the GDDR6 video memory on the 256-bit memory bus more efficient than the GDDR6X. Having more memory bandwidth per watt is always an advantage, so there’s that going for the RX 6800.

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 also comes with ray-tracing accelerators, which means it should be able to handle RT across various supported titles. While the RX 6800 is indeed capable of delivering reliable ray-tracing performance, it’s only good 1440p. Ray-tracing at 4K is still something that the RX 6800 struggles with and we think Nvidia GPUs still have an upper hand in this category, thanks to the DLSS tech. The Radeon RX 6800 XT is a tad bit better than the RX 6800 at 4K, but AMD still has a long way to go before they gain any meaningful advantage over Nvidia in the ray-tracing department.

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 also has a total of 3,840 Stream processors. We’re looking at a game clock of 1,815Mhz and a boost clock of up to 2,105Mhz. That being said, the RX 6800 is known to achieve boost clocks that are higher than the company-specified value. You can also overclock the card to hit higher frequencies but your mileage may vary depending on the heatsink for the GPU. The reference cards seem to respond well to overclocking, so we think it’ll only be better on partner cards with a sophisticated heatsink.

The RX 6800 has the same triple-fan design that we’ve seen in other high-performance 6000 series cards from the company. AMD has abandoned the blower that plagued the older reference designs of the RX 5700 XT and the RX 5700. This not only makes the new GPUs cooler, but they’re also much quieter under load. For output, you’re looking at two DisplayPort, one HDMI 2.1 and one USB-C.

Overall, we think the RX 6800 is a fantastic GPU for those who’re looking for an RTX 3070 alternative. It also goes head-to-head with the RTX 3080, similar to the RX 6800 XT, but we think AMD still has a long way to go before it actually competes with Nvidia’s lineup, especially in the ray-tracing department. That being said, the RX 6800 is a great card for a reliable 4K gaming experience without ray-tracing. If you fancy the RT features, then you might want to stick to a slightly lower res like 1440p.

    AMD Radeon RX 6800 GPU
    The AMD Radeon RX 6800 is a great alternative to Nvidia's high-performance GPUs like the RTX 3070 or even the RTX 3080 if you don't necessarily care about ray tracing at 4K resolutions.

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Best AMD graphics card for 1440p gaming: AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT

An AMD Radeon graphics card with two fans kept on a brown colored reflective surface
The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT is a unique card and it’s the one we expect a lot of people to buy mainly for its 1440p gaming prowess. It brings AMD’s smaller Navi 22 GPU, which doesn’t necessarily remove any features from Big Navi and RDNA2. It comes with full DirectX raytracing (DXR) support and even implements a full DirectX 12 Ultimate features list. This includes Variable Rate Shading (VRS), mesh shaders, sampler feedback, and more. AMD has simply reduced the die size to reduce the number of shader cores, memory controllers, and Infinity Cache.

Compared to Navi 21, the Navi 22 GPU comes with fewer CUs and shader cores. The infinity cache checks in at 96MB now instead of 128MB on the Navi 21 GPUs. AMD compensates for these hefty reductions by delivering the highest official GPU core clock rated at 2,424Mhz. And just like other RDNA2 GPUs, this one can also boost up to 2,581Mhz or even more depending upon the load and the heatsink. AMD had to increase the power limit of the GPU though, so the RX 6700 XT is rated at 230W. It’s not bad but’s definitely more than either RDNA2-based GPUs on the lineup.

Physically, the RX 6700 XT is identical to the RX 6800. However, it’s lighter, both in terms of the actual weight of the unit and in your pockets too. The RX 6700 XT uses dual fans instead of the triple fan layout seen on the RX 6800 and above. But the fans are bigger in size, so that should technically be enough to handle the thermal output.

In terms of the performance, well, the RX 6700 XT is basically a match for the RTX 3060 Ti GPU without the DLSS tech. This means, the raytracing performance is also not going to be a bit weaker, but that’s something that we’ve come to terms with almost all AMD GPUs now, at least in this generation. We expect AMD to catch up with the next-gen, hopefully with an improved FidelityFX tech. The RX 6700 XT also comes close to the performance of an RTX 3070 GPU, although you’re bound to see better performance from this GPU only on supported AMD titles like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Borderlands 3, Dirt 5, etc. The RTX 3070 is still a better card when you’re looking at the overall performance, especially ray-tracing.

There’s no doubt the RX 6700 XT is a fantastic card at a very reasonable price. It’s very reliable for 1440p gaming, which is why we’ve picked this as the best 1440p card in AMD’s current product stack. If it wasn’t for the weak ray-tracing performance, then we think it has the potential to lock horns with even the RTX 3070. Both are great GPUs though, and you can’t possibly go wrong with either of them for a smooth 1440p gaming experience. It goes without saying that it’s indeed a solid card for 1080p gaming too, but we think the RX 6600 XT is enough to handle that at a much lower price.

    AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT
    The AMD RX 6700 XT has the highest clock speeds we've seen on a GPU. However, that comes as a compensation for other corners AMD cut for this GPU.

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Best AMD graphics card for 1080p gaming: AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT

An RX 6600 XT GPU with a single fan on a brown background

AMD’s 6000 series GPUs not only include high-performance cards to go against the aggressive offerings from Nvidia. The 6000 series product stack also includes slightly less powerful cards like the Radeon RX 6600 XT that target gamers who are looking for a capable 1080p GPU. The new RX 6600 XT, if it isn’t already quite obvious, sits below the RX 6700 XT. It’s essentially the fifth card in the 6000 series GPUs based on the RDNA2 architecture. This particular graphics card comes with 8GB of GDDR6 memory along with 32 compute units, and a peak single-precision compute performance of 10.6 teraflops.

The RX 6700 XT is quite impressive when you at look at its spec sheet. It brings a lot of value to the table for 1080p gamers without burning a huge hole in their pockets. Even though the RX 6600 XT arrived a good six months after NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3060, we think the company has done a really good job of positioning it as a solid performer. According to AMD, the RX 6600 XT is the GPU beat when it comes to 1080p gaming and it’s significantly better than the RTX 3060 that it primarily competes with.

The RX 6600 XT is what we think a lot of people will end up buying next to the more powerful RX 6700 XT. 1080p gaming is still the staple for a lot of gamers, and the RX 6600 XT is more than enough to push even the most demanding titles at this resolution. The RX 6600 XT has a game clock of 2,359Mhz and it’s rated for 160W power consumption. That’s significantly less than the 230W power consumption which the RX 6700 XT is rated at. The RX 6700 XT is obviously a better performing card that’s capable of 1440p gaming, but the difference in power consumption is significant which will also result in relatively low thermal output and high efficiency.

In terms of the design differences, the reference RX 6600 XT GPU comes with a single fan design as opposed to the dual-fan or even triple-fan designs we saw with GPUs like the RX 6700 XT and the RX 6800 XT. This isn’t a deal-breaker considering it comes with a significantly less power consumption rating than the other GPUs. Partner cards from OEMs, however, will have sophisticated heatsinks with dual fans, and more. Those are usually clocked above the rated game clock speeds too, so you might want to check the specs sheet before buying one.

The RX 6600 XT comes with 8GB of GDDR6 video memory and it has 32MB of Infinity cache. These numbers, even though, they sound feeble compared to the other 6000 series GPUs, are plenty to push most AAA titles at max settings. AMD says you’ll be able to get 125FPS on average across a range of modern AAA titles. You can also step down to the RX 6600 if you want to save a little more money. Alternatively, you can also step up to an RX 6700 XT if you want better 1080p or even 1440p gaming experience.

    AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT GPU
    The AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT is a fantastic GPU for those looking to play games at 1080p resolution. It's not as powerful as the RX 6700 XT, but it gets the job done for a mid-range build.

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Second-best AMD graphics card for 1080p gaming: AMD Radeon RX 6600

AMD Radeon RX 6600

AMD recently updated its 6000 series product stack with the new GPU for 1080p gamers — the Radeon RX 6600. In typical AMD’s fashion, the RX 6600 sits under the RX 6600 XT as a viable alternative for 1080p gamers looking to dish out a budget gaming build. AMD says this particular GPU can deliver a reliable 1080p gaming experience with high frame rates. More specifically, AMD says, the GPU is capable of churning out over 100FPS on many AAA games, including Assasins Creed Valhalla on Ultra High settings. It’s best paired with a Ryzen 5 5600X CPU, so your mileage may vary based on the overall config of your build.

AMD also says the RX 6600 has 1.3x more performance per watt compared to Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 3060. As such, this is a great solid alternative to the RTX 3060 GPU, which is also a fantastic card for 1080p gamers. The RX 6600 GPU comes with support for AMD’s latest technologies including Smart Access Memory and FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR). The Smart Access Memory, in case you don’t know, accelerates system access to the GPU’s memory buffer. The FidelityFX Super Resolution, on the other hand, is AMD’s answer to Nvidia’s DLSS tech, albeit not as impressive. Unlike the DLSS tech, however, the best thing about the FidelityFX Super Resolution is an open-source toolkit that can be more easily adopted by developers for their games. That being said, there are only a handful of games that support this tech, and we’re expecting things to get better over time as more games come out.

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 comes with 28 compute units, which is slightly less than the 32 compute units found on the RX 6600 XT. They’re also clocked at a lower frequency in the case of the RX 6600, hitting around 2,044Mhz. However, the new GPU retains the 32M Infinity cache and 8GB of GDDR6 memory. 8GB of GDDR6 video memory is still plenty to run games at 1080p, although you might want to step up to a better card with more VRAM if you want to push the modern titles at max graphics settings. We recommend stepping up to an RX 6700 XT for better overall performance, but it’ll cost you quite a bit more and it’s also difficult to find in stock.

One thing to note about the RX 6600 is that it’ll only be available from partner OEMs as AMD won’t be selling its version of the GPU. The reference card only has a single fan design, but the available units from manufacturers like ASRock, ASUS, Gigabyte, etc. have different designs for their cards based on the configuration. Under normal circumstances, you should be able to grab one of these cards starting at $329, but they’re expensive right now on the market, just any other GPU. We weren’t expecting AMD to launch the RX 6600 due to the lack of stock for its existing GPUs, but now we have another solid 1080p GPU for gamers which is hard to come by.

    AMD Radeon RX 6600 GPU
    The AMD Radeon RX 6600 is yet another GPU for 1080p gamers who're looking to build a budget PC for gaming. It's not as powerful as the RX 6600 XT, but they both offer solid and reliable 1080p gaming experience.

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Best enthusiast-level AMD graphics card: AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT

An AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT graphics card with three fans on a grey background

AMD’s Radeon RX 6900 XT represents the best of what the company’s RDNA2 has to offer. It’s the ultimate high-end enthusiast graphics card from AMD that goes head-to-head with Nvidia’s RTX 3090 GPU. The RX 6900 XT, however, is definitely an overkill for most users. We think the RX 6800 XT is the one that you should be buying instead, which is why we’ve picked the other card as the best AMD graphics card you can buy. The RX 6900 XT, on the other hand, is a card you’d buy if you’re chasing cutting edge technology, instead of the best value for your money.

The Radeon RX 6900 XT comes with the same Navi 21 GPU that’s also inside both the RX 6800 as well as the RX 6800 XT. The 6900XT comes with 80 CU that makes up for a total of 5,120 stream processors. That’s an 11% increase over the RX 6800 XT. Well, that also comes with a price increase of about $250 as the RX 6900 XT, under normal circumstances, would cost you $999. This particular GPU is capable of breaching the 2Ghz core clocks under load, which is impressive, to say the least.

What’s more impressive about the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT is that it manages to keep the power consumption low despite the obvious spec bump. AMD is using a binning process to ensure these are the best chips coming out of TSMC’s 7nm process. The RX 6900 XT GPU also has a minimum VRM power delivery requirement, with the reference card offering 16-phase VRM power delivery. This is bound to change based on the partner cards, although you can expect similar behaviour across different variants.

The RX 6900 XT also comes with 16GB of GDDR6 VRAM that is fed by a 256-bit memory bus. Additionally, the RX 6900 XT also takes advantage of the 128MB Infinity Cache feature to deliver some stunning results across the board. Contrary to popular belief, Infinity Cache is effective at lower resolutions too, so you’re bound to see improvement regardless of the pixels. That being said, you’re not likely to pick up an RX 6900 XT for, well, 1080p gaming. It’s much more capable than that, and you can easily save a ton of money with other AMD cards if 1080p gaming is all you need.

The AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT offers impressive performance across the board, even at 4K resolution. It’s obviously no slouch when it comes to 1440p and 1080p gaming either. That being said, the Nvidia GPUs in a similar price range/category offers better overall performance, especially when you consider things like ray tracing. But if you’re hellbent on buying the best of what AMD has to offer in the GPU space, then the RX 6900 XT is the one to go for. It shows us what AMD’s RDNA2 is capable of delivering and we can’t wait to see what the company’s cooking behind the scene for the next-gen of desktop gaming.

    AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT GPU
    The AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT represents the best of what AMD's RDNA2 architecture has to offer. It goes head-to-head to Nvidia's RTX 3090 GPU and it can easily handle 4K gaming.

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Best budget AMD graphics card: AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT

An MSI Radeon RX 5500 XT GPU with a dual-fan design sitting next to its retail box on a white background

The AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT may not be one of the newest Radeon GPUs on the market, but it’s still a fantastic card for gamers on a budget. Economical shoppers can rely on this particular GPU for a budget gaming experience without putting a lot of money on the line. This isn’t the most powerful GPU you can get for 1080p gaming, but it’s plenty to run a lot of games with playable frame rates. It’s based on the same RDNA architecture as the RX 5700 and the RX 5700 XT GPUs, however, the performance has been tweaked a little to reflect the price tag.

The Radeon RX 5500 XT features 1,408 Stream processors over 22 compute units and can hit 5.2 teraflops of raw compute performance. That’s a significant cut from the 2,304 Stream processors featured in the RX 5700 GPU. The Radeon RX 5500 XT is available in two variants — one with 4GB of VRAM and the other with 8GB VRAM. The only difference between the two seems to be the memory capacity, which means they should be identical in terms of the raw performance to work. 4GB VRAM was plenty at the time this GPU came out, but we recommend buying the 8GB version of the GPU now in 2021.

The RX 5500 XT offers reliable 1080p gaming performance, but it’s not going to push anything beyond that resolution. You will have to step up to either an RX 6600 XT or even the RX 6700 XT for playing games at higher resolutions. Some AMD-optimized games will yield you better frames at a higher resolution but it still won’t be as consistent as other cards would be. The performance of the RX 5500 XT is identical to that of the GTX 1660 in most games, including the newer ones. Your performance may vary based on the partner card you end up picking up, but you should be set for 1080p gaming with the Radeon RX 5500 XT GPU.

One thing we like about this GPU is that it’s on par with the GTX 1660 GPU right now, that too at a lower price. It’s not breaking any records in this category, but it’ll definitely save you some money for other core components of your builds, provided you manage to find the GPU in stock and in retail price right now. Gamers leaning towards Esports titles will also find a lot of value in this GPU since titles like CS:GO, Valorant, Dota 2, League Of Legends, etc. will run flawlessly on this particular graphics card. We recommend picking up the 8GB version of the RX 5500 XT though, since the variant with 4GB VRAM may prove to be a bottleneck in running some of the newer titles in 2021.

Overall, the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT is an easy card to recommend in the budget space. We recommend pairing it with a budget CPU like the Ryzen 5 3600 or even the Ryzen 5 5600X for a good gaming experience. You might want to hit the link below to find the best price online right now.

    AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT GPU
    The AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT is one of the best affordable GPU for economical shoppers who're looking to get the best value for their money for a 1080p gaming experience.

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Best AMD solution for entry-level gaming: AMD Ryzen 5 5600G

Grey retail box of the Ryzen 5 5600G processor

You might be wondering why is there a CPU in a collection involving the best AMD graphics cards? Well, that’s because the Ryzen 5 5600G is an APU which means it comes with an integrated GPU that’s plenty for an entry-level gaming experience. We could’ve easily recommended an older entry-level AMD GPU like the Radeon RX 560 or RX 570 as an affordable entry-level option right now, but we think the Ryzen 5 5600G offers better performance for games in 2021. It may not be the best when it comes to gaming, it’s still more than enough for those are who just starting out with PC gaming with an entry-level build for casual gaming.

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600G has six cores and twelve threads and it comes as a part of AMD’s first 7nm APU for desktop PCs. The Ryzen 5 5600G has a base clock of 3.7GHz and 16MB of L3 cache. It also has seven Radeon RX Vega CUs operating at 1.9GHz. The APU relies on the shared memory bandwidth though, so you will need a good quality memory module for running these APUs. That’s shouldn’t really be an issue since you will be buying a good memory kit for your PC regardless.

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600G is easily one of the best APUs you can buy in the market right now. It’s capable of running even the new titles in 2021, although you might want to keep your expectations in check when it comes to the overall graphical fidelity. We think entry-level gamers will find a lot of value in an APU like this over an older discrete GPU. Not to mention, you can also use APUs like these as you wait for the graphics card market to stabilize a bit. Almost all GPUs on the market are going for inflated prices right now. We don’t recommend paying a premium for any GPU regardless of how powerful it really is. It’s best to settle for an APU like this one and wait for the prices to drop again if you’re not a hardcore gamer.

Intel also has a lot of reliable CPUs with integrated graphics, but we think the Ryzen APUs are generally better in terms of performance. The fact that you can run even some of the modern games without any major issues is quite impressive. Remember that you’ll also need a motherboard with some kind of a video output port to use these APUs since your PC will not have a GPU with those dedicated ports.

You can also step up to an AMD Ryzen 7 5700G for a better overall gaming experience. The 5700G will prove to be useful in case you plan on buying a high-end GPU down the line once the prices stabilize. The Ryzen 5 5600G may become a bottleneck if you want to go for some of the high-performance GPUs on the market. That being said, you can’t go wrong with either of these chips for entry-level casual gaming. It’s a great stop-gap chip until things go back to being the way they were in the GPU space.

    AMD Ryzen 5 5600G Processor
    The AMD Ryzen 5 5600G is a great APU for those who are currently struggling to buy a GPU on the market.

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Best AMD graphics card to buy in 2021: Final Thoughts

It’s safe to say AMD also has a solid selection of GPUs on the market that are just as good as Nvidia’s offerings. We think the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is a fantastic GPU for those who are eyeing the net-gen gaming performance at 4K resolution.  The RX 6800 is also a great option, but we think the RX 6700 XT is also plenty for an enjoyable 1440p gaming experience. Those leaning towards 1080p gaming, however, should look no further than the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT. We’ve also added an AMD APU to this mix for gamers who’re just getting started with PC gaming with casual titles.

If you’re building a new PC, then you might want to check out our collection of the best motherboards to find some of the best options on the market right now. We’ve got some good options in there for both AMD as well as Intel-based builds. We also have a bunch of other ever-evolving collections for PC hardware including the best CPU coolers, best CPU coolers for the new LGA 1700 socket, best PC cases, and more. We also encourage you to join our XDA Computing forums to get more product recommendations from our expert community.

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Microsoft launches Teams Essentials, a version of Teams for small businesses [Update]

Microsoft today announced the launch of Microsoft Teams Essentials, a new standalone offering based on Teams designed specifically for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Like many of Microsoft’s products and efforts lately, this service came as a result of the changes that happened in the world in the past year and a half.

Microsoft Teams Essentials includes all the features small businesses need to communicate within the organization. This includes the ability to hold meetings that last up to 30 hours, and meetings can hold up to 300 people at once. This is lower than what standard Teams offers (up to 1,000 users), but it makes perfect sense for smaller businesses. It also includes features you’d already expect from Teams, including calendar integration for Outlook and Google Calendar, group chat templates to make it easy to start a new project, and so on.

Beyond meetings, Teams Essentials also expands on the free version of Teams in terms of chat. While free Teams chats can store up to 5GB of files, Teams Essentials doubles that storage to 10GB, so more files can be shared and remain easily accessible to everyone on the team. It’s also possible to collaborate with other organizations with Teams Essentials so you don’t have to use different apps to communicate with people outside of your own.

Microsoft Teams Essentials is available for $4 per user per month, which Microsoft says is the lowest cost in the market for this kind of communication solution. The goal is for this to be an upgrade over the free version of Teams for businesses that need a little more, without having to spend the full price of a Microsoft 365 subscription with features that potentially aren’t necessary. Microsoft Teams Essentials can be purchased directly from Microsoft or from its many cloud partners.

Microsoft also noted that those using Teams for personal use can get access to some of these features, like the extended meeting limits, by having a Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscription. This is interesting as up until now there were no differences for customers using the free version of Teams and those with a Microsoft 365 subscription. Officially, Teams for personal use supports meetings with up to 100 people for 60 minutes, or 1:1 meetings up to 24 hours. However, those limits are currently waived so you can have up to 300 people and meetings up to 30 hours as a result of the pandemic.

We questioned Microsoft about this, and it seems like the official limits for the free version of Microsoft Teams are now being reinstated. A Microsoft spokesperson said:

With the introduction of Teams Essentials and our new normal since the pandemic, we are reinstating previous limits. This means one-to-one calls will be free up to 24 hours and, group calls for more than two people will be free for up to 100 participants and 60 minutes. These limits were temporarily waived in 2020.

[UPDATE 12/1/2021 @ 11:22AM] In response to a question from XDA, Microsoft has confirmed that it’s ending the waiver on limits for Microsoft Teams free users. A statement from the company is above.

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The Best laptops with Windows Hello facial recognition

In recent years, it’s become more and more apparent that passwords can be insecure, and they’re often very easy to guess, leaving many people unprotected. Beyond that, having to type in a password every time you want to unlock your computer can be a chore. Thankfully, a few years ago, Microsoft introduced Windows Hello, and nowadays, it’s easy to find a laptop with facial recognition or a fingerprint sensor to make things easier and more secure.

Make no mistake, once you’ve tried Windows Hello, especially the facial recognition, it’s really hard to go back. It’s just so much more convenient to be able to just unlock your PC by looking at it. If you want a laptop that supports Windows Hello facial recognition, we completely get why – and we’re here to help. We’ve rounded up some of the best laptops that include this feature, and you may be surprised that there are great laptops here for all kinds of users. Let’s get into it.

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Best overall: Surface Laptop Studio

Display pulled forward on Surface Laptop Studio

Microsoft is obviously one of the biggest supporters of Windows Hello, and the vast majority of Surface devices include facial recognition. The Surface Laptop Studio is one of the company’s latest products, and let’s get this out of the way right now, this is absolutely my favorite device on this list. That may seem obvious, but what we see as the best overall device doesn’t always align with our personal preference. In this case, it does.

Starting with performance, the Surface Laptop Studio has a lot to offer. It comes with Intel’s new H35 series processors, up to an Intel Core i7-11370H. This is a quad-core, eight-thread processor, and it can boost up to 4.8GHz. The power rating is 35W, and compared to the more mainstream laptops, that means you get significantly better performance. If you want to do some gaming or content creation, the Surface Laptop Studio can also be had with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti graphics card. In addition to that, you can get it with up to 32GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD, so this laptop can easily handle anything you might want to do on it.

The display on the Surface Laptop Studio is also very good. This is a 14.4-inch panel, and it comes with the usual 3:2 aspect ratio of Surface devices. This taller screen means you get more surface (no pun intended) area for content, which is great for getting work done. The resolution is 2400 x 1600, which is very sharp for this size, and it also includes a 120Hz refresh rate, which means animations and motion will look much smoother on this screen. It also supports Dolby Vision and is you use Windows Ink, it also supports Tactile Signals in the Surface Slim Pen 2.

The webcam on the Surface Laptop Studio supports 1080p resolution, and that’s better than the vast majority of Windows laptops. You shouldn’t have any problems taking video calls on this laptop, which not all laptops can say. Of course, it also comes with Windows Hello facial recognition, so unlocking your PC is as easy as it gets.

What truly makes the Surface Laptop Studio my favorite on this list is its form factor. This is different from typical convertibles in that it allows you to pop the screen out of its frame at the bottom and pull it closer to you. You can also fold the display down over the keyboard, which is the ideal stance for drawing on the screen. This is one of the coolest form factors a laptop can have. Aside from that, the Surface Laptop Studio has the typical Surface design language, with a single platinum color available and a clean look overall. It measures 18.94mm in thickness and the weight starts at 3.83lbs, so it’s still fairly portable despite the powerful internals and the unique design.

As for ports, the Surface Laptop Studio is one of the first Surface devices to add Thunderbolt 4 support, meaning you can finally connect Thunderbolt docks, external GPUs, and displays to it. There are two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a Surface Connect port, and a headphone jack, which isn’t a very wide selection of ports. This is fairly common for modern premium laptops, however, so it’s not a huge problem.

Overall, the Surface Laptop Studio is one of the best laptops you can buy today, and with Windows Hello facial recognition, it definitely deserves a spot on this list. You can check out our Surface Laptop Studio review if you want to learn more about it.

    Surface Laptop Studio
    The Surface Laptop Studio is powered by 35W Intel processors and NVIDIA graphics, plus it has a unique form factor that's very versatile.

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Best with an OLED display: ASUS Zenbook Flip S

ASUS ZenBook Flip S product image

If you want a laptop with one of the best displays around, the ASUS Zenbook Flip S might just be one of your best options. ASUS has been using OLED displays on many of its recent laptops, and the Zenbook Flip S is a standout example of it, featuring not only an OLED panel but a premium design as well.

Performance-wise, the ASUS Zenbook Flip S is what you’d expect out of a modern thin-and-light laptop. It’s powered by an Intel Core i7-1165G7, a 15W processor with four cores, eight threads, and boost speeds up to 4.7GHz. That should already give you a pretty great experience for day-to-day use, and it’s made better by the inclusion of Intel Iris Xe graphics. In addition to that, you get 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD, a powerful combination for a premium lightweight laptop like this.

The highlight of this laptop, as we already mentioned, is the display. This is a 13.3-inch screen, and it comes in the more typical 16:9 aspect ratio. What makes it truly special however, is that this is a 4K OLED display, which is going to look absolutely fantastic. Beyond the resolution, the display covers 100% of DCI-P3 and it’s PANTONE validated, so color reproduction is going to be fantastic on this laptop. Being an OLED display also means you get true blacks, which might save battery in some scenarios, and the screen also supports HDR.

For the webcam, ASUS is using a 720p camera, which isn’t the best for video calls. That doesn’t stop it from supporting Windows Hello facial recognition, though, so it’s still very easy to unlock the Zenbook Flip S.

Another aspect that’s very worthy of praise here is the design of this laptop. First off, this is an incredibly thin laptop, measuring just 13.9mm, and that’s especially impressive considering it’s a convertible. It also weighs 2.87lbs, which is fairly light for a 2-in-1 laptop of this size. Of course, being a convertible means you can use it as a tablet, which is also great to see. But another thing that’s very cool about this laptop is that comes in a striking dual-tone design. Most surfaces of the laptop are “jade black”, but ASUS uses red copper accents around the edges on the hinge, giving it a much more premium look.

As for ports, the ASUS Zenbook Flip S has all the basics covered, which is surprising on such a thin laptop. You get two Thunderbolt 4 ports, one USB Type-A port, and one HDMI port, so you can connect pretty much any kind of peripheral you might need. Sure, there’s not a ton of ports, but compared to other premium laptops of this size, the variety alone is a big plus. There’s no built-in headphone jack, oddly enough, but you do get an adapter in the box, and there’s an adapter for gigabit Ethernet, too.

This is a fantastic ultra-thin convertible, and it actually gets a lot right compared to other premium devices like this. Between the fantastic display, stunning design, ports, and Windows Hello support, there isn’t much more you can ask for. You can also read our ASUS Zenbook Flip S review here.

    ASUS Zenbook Flip S
    The ASUS Zenbook Flip S has a stunning 4K OLED display and a premium dual-tone design that looks great anywhere.

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Best Gaming Laptop with Windows Hello: Razer Blade 15 Advanced

Razer Blade 15 Advanced

If there’s one type of laptop that often cuts corners in the camera department, it’s gaming laptops, but the Razer Blade 15 Advanced is an exception we’re happy to see. Not only does it feature Windows Hello facial recognition, but this is a powerful laptop that can handle all your gaming and content creation needs with no issue.

First off, this laptop is powered by the latest 45W Intel processors, up to a Core i9-11900H with eight cores, 16 threads, and boost speeds up to 4.8GHz. That’s one of the most powerful laptop processors around. Complementing that, you can get up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 graphics card for all your gaming needs. The GPU can use up to 105W of power, so this is no slouch, and it can run most AAA games without breaking a sweat. In addition to this, you get up to 32GB of RAM and a 1TB PCIe SSD for storage, so you’re not going to be begging for more. And if you do, both the RAM and storage are upgradeable, with an extra M.2 slot available for storage expansion.

You can also choose the display you want for your usage style. It’s a 15.6-inch display, but it comes in a few variants. You can go Full HD with a 360Hz refresh rate, Quad HD with either 165Hz or 240Hz, or spring for a 4K OLED display with a standard 60Hz refresh rate. That last option is more so geared towards content creators, but if you value image quality over frame rates, you can go that route, too. Regardless, these are all great display options, and choosing one is up to your budget and preference.

Like we said, Razer thankfully didn’t cut corners with the webcam here, and it’s using a 1080p camera. That’s surprising for a gaming laptop, but with streaming being as popular as it is, it actually makes a lot of sense. And, of course, the camera supports Windows Hello facial recognition, which is even more surprising, and it’s awesome that it’s here.

For a gaming laptop, the Razer Blade 15 has a fairly subdued design. It’s an all-black laptop without much in the way of extravagant details. The most flair you’ll find on the outer shell is the green Razer logo, but otherwise, it looks sleek and clean. The keyboard is RGB backlit, but only the key labels show the color, so it’s not obnoxious in that regard either, it could pass for a professional laptop. This is also a surprisingly thin laptop for what it offers, measuring 16.99mm in thickness. At 4.4lbs, it’s not super light, but there’s only so much you can expect with this kind of power packed inside.

And ports are also a highlight of the Razer Blade 15 Advanced. You get two Thunderbolt 4 ports, three USB Type-A ports, a full-size SD card reader, and HDMI 2.1, which is an absolutely fantastic selection. This covers just about any need you might have, both with modern and legacy ports. The only thing you might want is Ethernet if you prefer wired internet connections, which could be useful for online games.

This is one of the most powerful Windows laptops out there, and when you consider how compact it is, it’s truly impressive. It’s a fantastic choice for gamers who also want the convenience of Windows Hello.

    Razer Blade 15 Advanced
    The Razer Blade 15 Advanced is a powerful gaming laptop with multiple display options and a 1080p Windows Hello camera.

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Best 2-in-1 Laptop with Windows Hello: HP Spectre x360 14

HP Spectre X360 14

The HP Spectre x360 14 has appeared on many of our “best of” lists, and there are a few good reasons for it. This is an absolutely beautiful laptop with a great display and high-end specs, and it’s an easy recommendation for almost anyone.

Starting with performance, the HP Spectre x360 can be had with up to an Intel Core i7-1165G7 at most retailers (there’s actually a model with a Core i7-1195G7 at Best Buy), and that’s a quad-core, eight-thread processor similar to most thin and light laptops of this kind. The version at Best Buy can boost up to 5GHz, so it’s a bit faster, but it’s not going to be a huge difference. You also get up to 16GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD, so multitasking will be a breeze and you get tons of space for your files.

One of the highlights of this laptop is the display, particularly due to its form factor. The HP Spectre x360 14 has a 3:2 display, similar to Microsoft’s Surface devices. That taller screen is great for productivity, but on the Spectre x360, there’s another benefit – you can get it in an OLED panel with 3K2K (3000 x 2000) resolution. Considering the 13.5-inch size of this screen, that’s incredibly sharp, and being an OLED display means you get true blacks, vibrant colors, and high contrast ratios. This is a great screen to work on, but with the OLED option, it’s also great for viewing content.

Unfortunately, the webcam on the HP Spectre x360 isn’t the best. HP uses a tiny 2.2mm camera that records 720p video, and because of its small size, the video quality isn’t very good. At least it still has Windows Hello facial recognition support, though, and on top of that, you get a fingerprint reader if you prefer unlocking that way.

Another highlight of the Spectre x360 14 is the design. Similar to the ASUS Zenbook Flip S we already mentioned, the Spectre x360 14 comes in a dual-tone design, but in this case, you actually get two options. Nightfall Black combines black surfaces with copper accents, while Poseidon Blue mixes dark blue surfaces with gold accents. And if you want something more boring standard, there’s a single-tone silver option, too. Aside from that, it has the classic sharp edges and trimmed corners of other Spectre laptops, and it’s fairly portable, too. It measures 17mm in thickness and weighs 2.95lbs, so it should be easy to carry around anywhere.

As for ports, this might be one of the downsides of the HP Spectre x360 14. It has two Thunderbolt 4 ports, and technically, that means you can connect almost anything with a Thunderbolt dock. You also get one USB Type-A port for peripherals and a headphone jack. However, the inclusion of HDMI would have been nice since most monitors and TVs still use HDMI as the standard input. This way, you need an adapter to use an external screen, which is a bummer.

Despite that, this is a fantastic laptop with a beautiful design and a great display. You really can’t go wrong with this one.

    HP Spectre x360 14
    The HP Spectre x36 14 is a premium 2-in-1 laptop with a beautiful design and a 3:2 display.

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Best tablet with Windows Hello: Surface Pro 8

Front view of Surface Pro 8

Like we said at the start, Microsoft is one of the biggest supporters of Windows Hello, and the Surface Pro 8 is the latest and greatest tablet to implement it. This is one of the best Surface Pro devices in years thanks to a new design, display, and more.

First off, performance-wise, the Surface Pro 8 is in line with other premium Windows ultrabooks. It comes with up to an Intel Core i7-1185G7, which is a quad-core, eight-thread processor that can boost up to 4.8GHz. It also includes Iris Xe graphics, so it’s everything you’d expect in a modern laptop. Plus, it can be configured with up to 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD, which is removable by the user (albeit Microsoft advises against it).

One of the big changes in the Surface Pro 8 compared to previous models is the display. For starters, it’s now a bigger 13-inch display (compared to the old 12.3-inch models), and it has smaller bezels all around. The resolution has increased to 2880 x 1920, but it’s essentially the same pixel density as previous models, just compensating for the bigger screen. That’s not a bad thing, though, as the Surface Pro 8 is still super sharp for a 13-inch tablet. On top of that, this model adds a 120Hz refresh rate for the first time, and it comes with Dolby Vision support. For Windows Ink fans, the Surface Pro 8 also supports Tactile Signals (haptic feedback) in the Surface Slim Pen 2.

Cameras are one area where the Surface Pro has been ahead of the curve for years compared to other laptops. The front-facing webcam is a 5MP camera, and it supports 1080p video, making this one of the best webcams around. Of course, Windows Hello facial recognition is also here. But in addition to the main camera, you get another camera on the back, this time being a 10MP sensor with 4K video support.

The design has changed significantly in the Surface Pro 8 compared to previous models, too, Now, it has more curved edges so it’s more comfortable to hold, and it’s also slightly bigger and heavier because of the new screen. Still, at 9.3mm of thickness (without the keyboard) and weighing 1.96lbs, this is one of the most portable devices on this list. Even if you add the keyboard, it’s much thinner and lighter than most.

Alongside the Surface Laptop Studio, the Pro 8 is one of the first devices to support Thunderbolt, and it comes with two whole Thunderbolt ports. It also has a Surface Connect port and a redesigned Surface keyboard connector, meaning you can’t use the old Type Cover with it. The biggest problem with this setup is that it requires adapters for almost anything you want to connect. There’s no USB Type-A or HDMI, so while the addition of Thunderbolt is great news for docking, it could still be better. With that said, given the thinness of this device, the omission is more understandable.

If you want a high-end Windows PC that’s extremely portable, it’s hard to go wrong with the Surface Pro 8. There aren’t any other Windows tablets that offer everything it offers, so this is a no-brainer if you want a tablet. If you want tot learn more about it, check out our Surface Pro 8 review.

    Surface Pro 8
    The Surface Pro 8 is one of the best premium Windows tablets, if not the best one. It has a very sharp display, great cameras, and a modern design.

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Best 17-inch Laptop with Windows Hello: Dell XPS 17 9710

Dell XPS 17 on white counter

Dell’s XPS lineup is well-known for having some of the most compact Windows laptops while also being surprisingly powerful. The XPS 17 is exactly that, and compared to its smaller siblings, it makes great use of its larger size.

We say that primarily because there’s some serious horsepower in here. The Dell XPS 17 comes with Intel’s 45W Core processors, up to an Intel Core i9-11980HK, which is an eight-core, 16-thread CPU capable of boosting up to 5GHz. On top of that, you can add dedicated graphics up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060. That doesn’t make this a gaming laptop, but it can certainly handle modern games, even if you have to tweak some settings. And if you need more impressive numbers, you can configure this laptop with up to 64GB of RAM and a massive 8TB of SSD storage, and suffice it to say, you won’t need to upgrade for a long time if you go this route. You can also save some money by buying a lower configuration and upgrading the RAM and storage later.

The display on the XPS 17 is also great, or at least it can be. It’s a 1-inch panel, and it comes in a 16:10 aspect ratio, which isn’t quite as tall as 3:2, but it’s taller than 16:9. You get the usual benefits of taller screens, like more space for UI elements and text in apps. The base model has a Full HD+ (1920 x 1200) screen,  and frankly, that’s not bad. However, you can upgrade to an Ultra HD+ (3820 x 2400) option, and for a large screen like this, that upgrade makes a lot of sense.

A downside of the Dell XPS 17 is that it uses a very small webcam, and it only records 720p video. It’s very similar to the aforementioned HP Spectre x360 in that regard, as the small camera doesn’t capture a lot of light, and thus it doesn’t look very clear. Still, at least the XPS 17 has an IR camera for Windows Hello, which the two smaller models don’t have.

Design-wise, the Dell XPS 17 is impressive because Dell says it’s actually smaller than 14% of 15-inch laptops, and that’s portly thanks to the very small bezels around the screen. It’s also a unique-looking laptop because of its dual-tone design. The outside of the chassis uses a dark silver color, but the keyboard deck is made of black woven carbon fiber, so it looks very different from most other laptops. It’s 19.05mm thin, which is relatively small considering everything included in it. However, it is quite heavy starting at 4.87bs.

As for ports, you get a total of four Thunderbolt 4 ports, plus a full-size SD card reader and a headphone jack built-in. It does miss out on some ports, but you get an adapter in the box to turn one of the USB Type-C ports into USB Type-A and HDMI. That way, most of the basics are covered out of the box, even if you do have to carry an adapter around. It’s somewhat surprising that a laptop this big doesn’t have more ports built-in, however.

Regardless, this is easily one of the best laptops out there, and it packs a ton of performance in a thin and compact chassis. It’s great if you want a big screen that’s still somewhat portable. Read our full Dell XPS 17 review if you’d like to know more.

    Dell XPS 17
    The Dell XPS 17 has a large display and powerful internals in a compact and thin laptop.

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Best Business Laptop with Windows Hello: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9

Front view of ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9

Looking for something you can use for work? Lenovo’s ThinkPad brand is one of the most iconic among business users, and the latest generation of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon still has those iconic elements mixed together with modern features like Windows Hello.

In terms of performance, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon is everything you’d expect of a modern laptop. It comes with up to an Intel Core i7-1185G7 with vPro technology, which includes extra security features for business users. This is a four-core. eight-thread CPU, and it can boost up to 4.8GHz, so it’s one of the fastest mobile processors today. You can also configure it with up to 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, which is more than enough storage for all your work files.

For the display, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon comes with a 14-inch panel which is in a 16:10 aspect ratio, similar to the aforementioned Dell XPS 17. The base configuration has Full HD+ (1920 x 1200) resolution, and you can add touch support or a privacy guard, which prevents people around you from seeing what’s on your screen. If you don’t want any of that, though, you can also upgrade to an Ultra HD+ (3820 x 2400) panel with HDR support. On a 14-inch screen like this, Full HD+ is already quite good, but having the option to go further is always nice.

The camera on the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon is a fairly standard 720p webcam, but it does include optional Windows Hello support. Lenovo goes even further than many other laptops in this case. If you want, you can add human presence detection, which allows the laptop to lock itself when you walk away from it, and then it wakes back up when you come back, using facial recognition to sign you in without even having to touch the laptop.

Even with a modern aspect ratio and features, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon has everything you’d expect in a ThinkPad.It comes in the signature black color with red accents on the lid and keyboard deck. You even get the old-style pointing stick and buttons above the touchpad if you still prefer navigating that way. And those classic features come in a modern and slim package, measuring just 14.9mm in thickness and weighing a mere 2.49lbs. This is a very light, but very capable laptop.

That holds true for the ports, too. You get two Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB Type-A ports, HDMI, and a headphone jack, which covers pretty much every basic need you might have. Adding on to that, there’s optional support for cellular networks, whether that’s LTE or 5G. If you need to get work done on the road, this allows you to stay connected even without Wi-Fi.

Many of the configuration options we mentioned are only available on Lenovo’s website, but you can also buy the ThinkPad X1 Carbon on Amazon using the link below. This is also an excellent configuration, and it already includes Windows Hello support and an Intel Core i7 processor. You can also read our review of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 if you want to know more about it.

    Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon
    Lenovo's ThinkPad X1 Carbon is one of the best business laptops you can buy with Windows Hello support. This model includes 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD.

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Best budget Windows Hello tablet: Surface Go 3

Surface Go 3 with red keyboard

It’s clear that Microsoft’s Surface family is a big showcase for Windows Hello and great webcams, but even with that in mind, it’s surprising to see so much of that carry over to an affordable device like the Surface Go 3. This is a cheap tablet, but it focuses on offering certain premium features you’ve come to expect from Surface.

Performance is one area where Microsoft cuts some corners with the Surface Go 3, but that’s because you can still get a solid experience with fairly low-end hardware. The Surface Go 3 comes with up to an Intel Core i3-10100Y, which is a dual-core, four-thread CPU that can boost up to 3.9GHz. Even the lower-end version with a Pentium Gold 6500Y is solid enough for a tablet like this, so you don’t necessarily need that upgrade. What you probably do want is the upgrade to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of SSD storage. The base model includes 4GB of RAM and 64GB of eMMC storage, and while that’s probably usable, that upgrade will make a huge difference in performance.

Instead of performance, the Surface Go 3 focuses on delivering a great experience in other areas like the display. This is a 10.5-inch panel, and it’s one of – if not the only one – the very few laptops at this price that has a 3:2 aspect ratio. This is typical of premium Surface devices, but seeing it on an affordable tablet like this is great. On top of that, it comes in Full HD+ resolution (1920 x 1280) as standard, so it’s very sharp considering its size. Of course, it also supports touch and the Surface Pen.

Another area where Microsoft didn’t make sacrifices is the webcam. The front-facing camera here is a 5MP sensor with 1080p video, just like the more expensive Surface Pro 8. On top of that, you also get an 8MP rear camera, which also supports 1080p video. And, of course, that front-facing camera also supports Windows Hello facial recognition, another huge rarity in devices that are this cheap.

Being as small as it is, the Surface Go 3 is also the most portable of the devices on this list by far. It measures just 8.3mm in thickness, and it weighs a mere 1.2lbs, so this is truly a laptop you can take anywhere. You might even be able to slip it into a handbag (though you might need a relatively big handbag). This excludes the Surface Go Type Cover, but even if you add that, this is easily the thinnest and lightest laptop on the list.

As for ports, the setup is fairly basic, but it makes sense for a small tablet. There’s one USB Type-C port, a Surface Connect port, a microSD card reader, and a headphone jack. It does miss out on some legacy ports like USB Type-A and HDMI, but that’s more understandable in a thin and affordable device like this.

If you want something you can use to browse the web, watch videos, or do basic school work, the Surface Go 3 is a great device, and the convenience of Windows Hello is a great addition you won’t find anywhere else at this price. It might not get as much of the spotlight, but as we said in our Surface Go 3 review, it’s quite good for its price.

    Surface Go 3
    The Surface Go 3 is affordable, but it packs a fantastis display and premium features like Windows Hello.

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Our best overall pick here goes to the Surface Laptop Studio because it offers powerful performance, a very unique and versatile form factor, Thunderbolt support, and a 1080p webcam. It has all the elements of a fantastic premium laptop, even if you might need some adapters to get extra ports.

Have different priorities? Check out our list of the best 5G laptops if you’re looking for the best on-the-go connectivity. Or, save some money by looking at our list of the best cheap laptops you can buy today.

The post The Best laptops with Windows Hello facial recognition appeared first on xda-developers.



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