Cloud storage is fairly essential for everybody these days, but nobody likes paying the monthly fees — especially when they increase as you need more storage. So, stop paying a monthly fee by getting 500GB of cloud storage for a one-time payment to Amaryllo cloud storage.

Amaryllo offers an iOS/Android app or desktop software to help you manage your digital life. It offers zero-knowledge privacy so only you and your approved users can see your data, and makes it easy to upload multiple files at once and share your cloud with up to nine other Amaryllo members. You can manage your cloud easily with smart search and smart albums, and share files of any size with people with just a few clicks. It’s an intuitive way to get organized and stay organized.

Take care of your cloud storage needs with a one-time payment. Right now, you can get 500GB of Amaryllo cloud storage for 51% off $249 at just $119.99.

 

Amaryllo Cloud Storage: One-Time Payment – $119.99

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StackSocial prices subject to change.

Accessories

After installing Windows 11, you should check some settings and adapt them to your needs and streamline its use. Here, we’ll show you the 13 most important Windows 11 settings to adjust that maximize security and improve the operating system with just a few clicks.

This article is based on Windows 11 version 23H2, the most recent major version of the operating system. Most of the settings can also be implemented in Windows 10 and older Windows 11 versions and work in the same way in Windows 11 version 24H2, this year’s upcoming update.

Further reading: Microsoft’s latest Windows update breaks VPNs, and there’s no fix

Customize Explorer – show file extensions and drives

Windows has been hiding known file extensions for years by default. This is initially annoying because it means that the correct file name is not displayed in full. There is also the security risk. For example, the file “important-document.doc.exe” is displayed as “important-document.doc”, in this case because Windows simply hides the file extension “exe”.

This turns an executable file, such as malware/ransomware, into an unsuspicious Word document at first glance. You can quickly work around the problem by activating View > Show > File name extensions in Explorer.

You can also find the setting in other Windows versions in the Folder Options > View under “Hide extensions for known file types.” In this case, you must deactivate the option.

In the folder options, you can also select the option “This PC” within the “General” tab under “Open File Explorer for.” In this case, Explorer starts with the view of the drives, not with the rarely desired “Start view.” You can also open the Start view with a single click on “Start” in the top left-hand corner.

Further reading: Windows includes built-in ransomware protections. Here’s how to turn it on

Customize Windows update: Get updates faster

After updating to Windows 11 or installing the operating system, you should first go to “Windows Update” in the settings. You should first make sure that the message “You are up to date” appears in the upper area. Click on “Check for updates” and make sure that all updates are installed. Windows also updates the malware protection definition files in this way.

It can also be useful to activate the option “Get the latest updates as soon as they are available.” This ensures that your Windows system receives updates faster than other users. Microsoft distributes many updates in waves. If you activate this option, you can get ahead of the waves, but be warned that riding the bleeding-edge of updates leaves you more open to potential bugs.

In addition, click on “Advanced options” and activate “Receive updates for other Microsoft products.” This will ensure that the other Microsoft software on your PC (like Office, Edge, and the Xbox app) are always up to date.

At this point, it may also be useful to specify when you work on the PC under “Active hours.” This ensures that Windows does not start within this time after installing updates.

Important: Optimize malware protection settings for drivers

After installing Windows 11, open the Windows Security app from the Start menu. You should see a green icon with a tick next to all settings. If this is not the case, check the area by clicking on the relevant icon.

For “Device security,” you should ensure that the “Memory integrity” option is activated in Core isolation > Core isolation details. This prevents successful attacks by malware. If this option cannot be deactivated, this is due to an outdated and therefore insecure driver.

You should also ensure that “Microsoft blacklist of vulnerable drivers” is activated. This allows you to block insecure drivers that attackers can use to introduce malware onto the system.

Important: Adjust virus and threat protection

In the Windows Security app, you should switch to “Virus and threat protection” after installation. Click on “Manage settings” under “Virus and threat protection settings” and make sure that all options are switched on here, primarily “Real-time protection,” “Cloud-based protection,” and “Automatic transmission of samples.”

Download protection updates for the malware scanner

It is also important that you ensure that the security information for “Virus and threat protection updates” is up-to-date. Use “Protection updates” and then “Check for updates” to update them directly.

If you are using external virus protection, these adjustments are not necessary as this deactivates the internal virus protection in Windows.

Check Windows activation

In the settings, you will find the option to check whether Windows is activated via System > Activation. Without activation, the operating system will stop working after a while and many settings will not be available. Here you can see whether the activation is working and, if necessary, you can use “Change” to re-enter your product key for Windows 10 or Windows 11.

Are all drivers installed?

Use the command “devmgmt.msc”, which you enter in the search field of the taskbar, to see whether all drivers are installed for all existing devices on the PC. If unknown or other devices are still displayed here, you should obtain the latest driver from the manufacturer and install it.

Professionals still activate drive encryption

On notebooks in particular, you should ensure that you use Bitlocker for drive encryption. To do this, enter “bitlocker” in the search field of the taskbar and activate the protection.

Bitlocker is available in Windows 11 Pro and Enterprise. Bitlocker isn’t available in Windows 11 Home, alas, but you can use device encryption instead. This can be found in the Windows 11 settings.

This article was translated from German to English and originally appeared on pcwelt.de.

Windows

If you’re in the market for a new pair of workout headphones but don’t want to pay a premium price tag, then you’ve come to the right place. For a limited time, we’re offering the Mezzo Bone Conduction Headphones for $30 off when you use coupon code MEZZO.

These headphones sit on top of your ears and use bone conduction technology to send sound waves through vibrations directly to your inner ear. That way, you can enjoy your music or take calls while keeping your ears open to stay aware of your surroundings or hear people when they speak to you. The lightweight, ergonomic headphones are comfortable, deliver premium sound, and can last for up to six hours of playback time on a single charge.

Get a comfortable set of workout headphones for a great price. Right now, you can get the Mezzo Bone Conduction Headphones for just $39.96 (reg. $69) when you use coupon code MEZZO.

 

Mezzo Bone Conduction Headphones – $39.96

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StackSocial prices subject to change.

Accessories

Commuting can be expensive and boring. When you’re doing it on an eBike, however, it’s neither. For a limited time, you can get into the eBike game for an unbeatable price, since we’re offering a BirdBike eBike for more than $1,500 off, plus free shipping, while supplies last.

This durable bike is made by Bird, the same company that popularized electric scooters. This more practical electronic bike is made for all roads and features a 500W high-performance motor to help you hit high speeds without putting in a ton of effort. The 36V/12.8Ah removable battery offers plenty of power to get you to your destination and, when you’re there, you can give it a quick charge to get you back home after.

Commuting just got a ton better. While supplies last, you can get the BirdBike eBike for one of the best prices you’ll see: just $699.97 (reg. $2,299) with free shipping.

 

BirdBike eBike – $699.97

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StackSocial prices subject to change.

Entertainment

Microsoft said this week that the most recent Windows security update for Windows 10 and Windows 11 may break VPN connections.

According to Microsoft (via Bleeping Computer), “Windows devices might face VPN connection failures after installing the April 2024 security update, or KB5036893.”

Microsoft has no fix at the current time, the company said. “We are working on a resolution and will provide an update in an upcoming release,” the company said.

Unfortunately, the list of affected clients is rather lengthy: Windows 11 (23H2, 22H2, and 21H2) as well as Windows 10 (22H2 and 21H2). If you’re a consumer and run into this issue, Microsoft advises that you first launch the Windows “Get Help” app to inform Microsoft of the problem and possibly work through a solution.

It doesn’t really sound like there is a solution, though. You could always try to uninstall the most recent security update. (Of course, you lose the protections that accompany the most recent patch, too.) Otherwise, you’ll have to wait until Microsoft fixes the problem — if there is a problem. Microsoft at least hasn’t said that all VPNs are affected, possibly including our best VPN recommendations.

It’s all bad news, of course, for anyone who likes to work at a coffee shop or airport, or who is travelling overseas where VPNs can be a way of life. Hopefully Microsoft finds a fix soon.

Broken VPN connections aren’t the only issue with this update. Microsoft’s support page also warns that “After installing this update, you might be unable to change your user account profile picture.”

Further reading: 13 important Windows settings to adjust immediately

This article published on May 1, 2024, but was updated May 3 to mention that user account profile pictures may be broken by this update as well.

VPN, Windows

The arrival of 2.4GHz wireless technology has revolutionized wireless gaming headsets. Now they are more reliable than ever before and some can even rival their wired counterparts when it comes to connection latency and sound quality.

There are myriad different styles, designs, and hardware inclusions — it’s enough to make your head spin. So, to simplify things, I’ve done the hard part for you by getting hands-on and putting each device through its paces. The list below only includes those that have excelled in my extensive testing. The best gaming headsets strike a balance between performance, usability, and extras, placing them in a league above the rest.

Why you should trust me: I’m not just a tech expert, I’m also a gaming enthusiast. I’m always on the hunt for better gear to make my own experience better.

I know what gamers want. Yes, I’m looking for technologies like spatial audio and Active Noise Cancellation in my gaming headsets, too. If a product makes the cut, I want to spread the word. If it doesn’t, I think it’s my obligation to let you know. I love to play, and I want you to have the best gaming experience as well.

For a rundown on how I test wireless gaming headsets and for buying advice, you can read my article “How we test gaming headsets at PCWorld.“

Updated 4/30/2024: I’ve added the Turtle Beach Stealth Pro recommendation to this list: This headset has a punchy audio signature with well-tuned bass and treble that makes it ideal for FPS games. I’ve also added the Razer Blackshark V2 Hyperspeed whose ultralight weight helps prevent soreness in marathon gaming sessions. Learn more in the summaries below.

How we test wireless gaming headsets

To find the best of the best, we put every wireless gaming headset through a legion of tests. We examine everything from design and styling to the integrity of their Wi-Fi and/or Bluetooth signals. Since these headsets are tailor-made for gaming, we spend many hours trying them out in games, listening closely to their sound quality, and testing extra features like Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) or spatial audio technologies. Our testing criteria mainly falls under these categories:

Design and ergonomics

When it comes to gaming headsets, design is crucial for your overall comfort. It’s also crucial for maximizing your gaming experience. To that end we consider factors like the overall shape and fit of the headband and earcups, their clamping force, and crucially what they’re made of—which affects how they feel. We also examine things like whether they have boom microphones, if the microphones are detachable, and whether there’s onboard storage for the dongle.

Connectivity

Wireless gaming headsets transmit sound to and from your PC via a wireless signal. However, the way they do this can vary. Key connectivity considerations are whether the headset connects via a Wi-Fi or a Bluetooth signal or provides a choice of both of these options. We also look at the Wi-Fi band the headset uses, all the while mindful that the 2.4GHz band is the current best-in-class standard for a low-latency connection.

Audio quality

This will make or break your gaming experience, and while there are lots of factors that determine audio quality, it can quite simply be determined by listening closely to the fidelity of the sound and the tonal range available. We also listen keenly for any audio distortion, such as rattling or hissing sounds that can be red flags for sound quality.

How to choose a wireless gaming headset

Mobile Phone Accessories

In the latest publicly available version of Microsoft Edge, version 124.0.2478.80, a new tool has appeared in the browser’s toolbox. You can now measure your internet speed directly in the browser toolbox.

To access the toolbox in Edge, you need to click on the plus sign in the rightmost column of the browser. Then you can type “Tools” in the search bar and click on the small icon. The browser toolbox with the new internet speed test should appear.

The toolbox is a pretty useful little feature in Edge, it also includes a calculator, a unit converter, a translation function, a timer and a random number generator. Nifty little touches like this are part of the reason why it’s worth considering switching from Chrome to Edge.

Version 124.0.2478.80 was a relatively minor update to Microsoft Edge. Apart from the internet speed test, it only contains some bug fixes and new security updates.

This article was translated from German to English and originally appeared on pcforalla.se.

Online Services, Windows

Razer’s gaming mouse designs can get pretty pricey — the Naga Pro I’m using as I write this article was $150 when it came out. The wired, FPS-friendly Razer Basilisk V3 is one of the company’s more affordable options, and today it’s even more so. Normally $69.99, Amazon has it on sale for just $44.99, a 36 percent discount.

The Razer Basilisk V3 uses a honed asymmetrical design with textured sides that give you a super-sturdy grip, and it has two long thumb buttons for secondary actions with a third “trigger” button for infrequent functions or quick DPI adjustments. Programming can be set up with the Synapse app, then forgotten, because the mouse stores up to five profiles in its onboard memory.

Razer is especially proud of the four-way scroll wheel, which can switch between standard “clicky” scrolling and fast spinning, like some high-end Logitech mice. When our mouse expert Dominic Bayley reviewed the Razer Basilisk V3, he praised the mouse’s high-quality sensor, super-fast scrolling wheel, and flashy RGB lighting effects.

This deal is almost the lowest we’ve seen for the Basilisk V3 since it was released almost two years ago. If you’re looking for a competitive gaming mouse at a rock-bottom price, hop on it — Best Buy is matching Amazon’s price if you’d like a local pickup option.

Get a Razer Basilisk V3 gaming mouse for $44.99 at Amazon

Mice

I find it really hard to recommend any Windows-powered machine these days with less than 16GB of memory. Windows 11, not to mention essentials like Chrome and other browsers, just chug on anything less. So it’s great to see a dependable 15-inch laptop from Dell going for as little as $359.99, at least if you jump through a hoop or two.

Dell is selling an Inspiron 15, with a 12th-gen Intel Core i5, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of SSD storage for $399.99, already a very solid $150 off the regular price. But as a poster on SlickDeals notes, you might be able to get an even lower price if you haven’t subscribed to Dell’s promotional emails. You can click here to add your email to the list, wait up to half an hour, and you should get a one-time use coupon for 10 percent off a purchase.

That brings the final price of the laptop down to just $359.99 before tax and shipping. It’s a damn good deal for a Windows laptop, let alone one with a decent processor, drive, and memory. Other highlights include a 1080p IPS screen, a full-sized SD card slot and an HDMI port.

This is a pretty basic machine, so don’t expect extras like Windows Hello face login or discrete graphics. The 41-watt-hour battery isn’t going to be running any marathons, and oddly the laptop lacks a USB-C port (though the USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports are still plenty fast), so you’ll have to charge up with an old-fashioned wall-wart. But if you’re looking for a decent laptop at a rock-bottom price, you’re unlikely to find anything better without having to go for a Chromebook or a much older model.

Get the Dell Inspiron 15 for $400 — $360 with coupon

Laptops

OLED monitors are the cream of the crop when it comes to gaming, and Samsung makes one of the biggest, widest ones out there. The Odyssey OLED G9 is 49 inches of super-saturated, perfect-black glory, but it doesn’t come cheap, with a regular retail price of $1799. But today Amazon is offering it at one of the best prices we’ve seen yet, just $999.99, matching a low we saw for a few days last month. To get the full discount, be sure to click the coupon button that knocks another $100 off its already-spectacular $1,099 sale price.

In terms of dollars to pixels, it’s probably the best deal on any OLED gaming monitor at the moment. The Odyssey OLED G9 G95SC offers a resolution of 5120×1440 (basically two 27-inch gaming monitors squished together in one panel) with a blisteringly fast refresh rate of 240Hz. Load up any recent 3D game at that resolution and you’re likely to make your PC beg for mercy.

So it’s a good thing the screen is compatible with both G-Sync and FreeSync, and includes HDR10+ color capabilities on top of HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 1.4. Gaming laptops aren’t left out, like some other OLED monitors: it has a built-in USB-C hub with 65 watts of power delivery.

It has tons of software tricks, too, including smart TV-style app support (with game streaming services like GeForce Now), splitscreen for multiple inputs, and support for Samsung’s wireless DeX from mobile devices. For a full rundown on this monstrously massive monitor, check out PCWorld’s review.

There’s no indication of how long this discount will last, so if you’re interested, don’t miss out on this massive deal on Samsung’s humongous OLED monitor.

Get the Samsung Odyssey OLED G9 for $999.99

This article was updated after Amazon added a coupon for an additional $100 off.

Monitors

The freeware Uninstalr promises to remove programs and apps from the system almost without leaving any residue. A few seconds after starting, Uninstalr presents a comprehensive list of all programs installed on the system and the memory space they occupy.

You can then select one or more programs from the overview, which Uninstalr then removes in batches. To our positive surprise, some programs marked as “leftovers” also appeared here, which we had actually already removed months ago using on-board tools.

Well thought out: Thanks to a filter function, all Microsoft programs remained invisible. This ensured that we didn’t inadvertently remove any components that were important for the operation of Windows.

Uninstalr shows which files and registry entries will be deleted or cleaned before removal. If desired, the software can close all running programs at the start of the uninstall process and restart the system once it has finished.

The actual uninstallation process takes no less time than with Windows on-board tools, probably (but hardly realistically measurable) even slightly longer, as Uninstalr thoroughly cleans the registry and searches the system for leftovers.

As we found out, the software does its job thoroughly. And, quite unironically, it’s also available in a version that does not require installation.

Bottom line? Uninstalr almost always removes Windows software without leaving any residue, also detects fragments of previously removed programs, and saves a lot of manual work thanks to batch processing.

Further reading: 13 important Windows settings to adjust immediately

This review was translated from German to English and originally appeared on pcwelt.de.

Personal Software

PC players have been enjoying the hell out of Helldivers 2, the 3D update to the team-killing PvE original. In fact PC sales have made up the bulk of the player base, despite the game being published by Sony on PS5 simultaneously. But a new message telling PC users that they’ll need a PlayStation account has some of them feeling less than patriotic for Super Earth.

Requiring a PlayStation account was always the plan, according to the publisher’s post on Steam. “Due to technical issues at the launch of Helldivers 2,  we allowed the linking requirements for Steam accounts to a PlayStation Network account to be temporarily optional. That grace period will now expire.”

Anyone who buys Helldivers 2 after May 6th will be required to sign in to PlayStation Network, in addition to the Steam account they used to purchase the game. Current players will have until June 4th to link their accounts to Sony’s system.

“We understand that while this may be an inconvenience to some of you,” says Sony Interactive Entertainment’s message, “this step will help us to continue to build a community that you are all proud to be a part of.” The company gave no technical reason for requiring the accounts to be linked, as crossplay between PC and PlayStation players has been working fine since the February launch. Helldivers 2 is the only Sony-published PC game that has required a PlayStation Network login.

PC players are, unsurprisingly, not happy. “I don’t have a PlayStation account. I don’t want a play station account. Are you telling me I have to have a PlayStation account?” asks one reply to the announcement on Twitter, with over 2000 likes at the time of writing. Others say they have asked Steam for a refund. “I don’t own a PlayStation, I’m not interested in getting one, so prepare to give me my money back.”

Not sure how they were expecting this to go tbh.

This isn't an unusual ask, but it is unusual months after release. Should have either enforced this from the beginning or they should have a 1 click solution in place. https://t.co/66yYGfdSZq pic.twitter.com/gnaH1Q0K2a

— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) May 3, 2024

The Steam listing for the ultra-popular game immediately began suffering from negative reviews after the news dropped, as analyst Daniel Ahmad noted on Twitter.

A negative response from the often-prickly PC gamer community was all but inevitable. But I can’t help but think that SOE and Helldivers developer Arrowhead have made their own bed here. Technical issues or not, they set a status quo when the game launched months ago, and allowed it to continue as Helldivers 2 gained popularity across social media.

They could have either allowed it to remain unchanged, or fixed the problem immediately. And the fact that they didn’t indicates that whatever benefit is gained from playing with a PlayStation Network account, it isn’t essential for the actual game.

Video Games

If you love competitive games where every second matters, you’ve come to the right spot. You’ll need a fast gaming monitor that can keep up with the intense gameplay. Luckily for you, Amazon’s selling the Acer Nitro WQHD for $179.99, which is 38 percent off of the original $289.99 price. This monitor has a blisteringly fast refresh rate of 180Hz as well as a response time of 0.5ms, meaning it should produce buttery smooth visuals during competitive gaming sessions.

The Acer Nitro measures 27-inches and has a resolution of 2560×1440, so smaller details should look clear. This resolution is the sweet spot where performance and visual quality meet, as you don’t need the latest and greatest hardware for it. It also comes with AMD FreeSync Premium, which syncs the monitor’s refresh rate with your PC’s GPU. According to Amazon reviewers, the color accuracy is quite good and games look pretty darn sharp.

This is a great deal, but Amazon deals tend to come and go like the wind, so don’t miss your chance.

Get the Acer Nitro for $179.99 at Amazon

Monitors

For a long time, the battle lines have been drawn around optical and mechanical switches in gaming mice buttons, with optical switches appearing the winner in the tussle.

But now a third category has entered the fray, which blurs the lines between the two switch types even more. So, what are hybrid switches? And how do they compare with the tried-and-true switches we’ve been using already?

Further reading: The best gaming mice

Optical, mechanical, and what?

Gamers that know their hardware will know that those tiny plates under the buttons where your fingers sit on a gaming mouse traditionally come in two flavors: the mechanical variety and optical variety.

Mechanical switches are old-school switches. They come in a myriad of different shapes, but the underlying principle of how they work is the same — your finger pushes down on a button which then makes contact with the switch, which then sends a signal of that click to your PC.

If you’ve ever used the SteelSeries Sensi Ten gaming mouse you’ll know the deep brain gamer appeal of mechanical switches. They provide a satisfying tactile feel that really gels with the gamer psyche.

They’re also very energy efficient. However, they’re also prone to double clicks, so they require a longer debounce time than optical switches, which slightly increases the time to actuation.

Also, the fact that the button is making physical contact with the switch in mechanical switches means it wears out over time.

A lot of these problems, including the actuation speed can be reduced by algorithms in mice with mechanical switches, but with the advent of optical switches most gaming mice manufacturers have simply started using these in their gaming mice.

Optical switches aren’t as tactile and clicky. They use light instead of force, so they also consume more power than mechanical switches. When you push down on the button, a beam of infra-red light is interrupted, which is how the switch knows to send a signal to your PC.

This mechanism results in a faster actuation speed — around 0.2ms compared to the 1ms or longer in mechanical switches. Optical switches aren’t prone to sending accidental signals, so they’re incredibly precise and reliable over their lifespan.

Speaking of which, their lifespan is longer than mechanical switches since there’s no contact being made with the buttons.

Some mice that use optical switches include, the Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro and Alienware Pro Wireless.

Hybrid switches utilize the best of both of these switch mechanisms, in that they include both mechanical and optical parts. But to what end? What kind of bewitchery is at work and how could it possibly benefit us gamers?

Why would you choose hybrid switches in a gaming mouse?

There’s no doubt that some of the best things in life are fusions of two or more things — peanut butter and jelly, chocolate and marshmallow (rocky road), mechanical and optical parts… you get the drift.

Basically, whoever invented hybrid switches solved a big conundrum in gaming mice. By including both parts, gamers get all of the clicky tactile feeling of mechanical switches but with the quicker actuation speed and reliability of optical switches. These switches are also more power efficient than optical switches.

Logitech G’s Lightforce Hybrid switches are a good example. In these switches a button comes in contact with traditional galvanic microswitch parts including a membrane and spring. These parts then disrupt a light signal which in turn tells your PC when you’ve clicked.

Further reading: Does lift-off distance matter in a gaming mouse?

Logitech G has very smartly made it possible to toggle between hybrid mode and optical mode in the Logitech G Hub software app. The optical mode lets you just use the switches’ optical technology. This mode still has a slight latency advantage over the switch in hybrid mode, so gamers looking for the fastest possible button speed still have that option.

But if you can do with just a tad higher latency than you get in the optical mode, the clicky feeling you get with the hybrid mode in mice like the Logitech G Pro X Superlight 2, can be lots of fun, and well worth giving a go. So, why not give it a try in your next gaming session?

Gaming, Mice

Price When Reviewed

$1,499.99

Best Prices Today: Acer Predator Helios Neo 18

18-inch laptops are back, baby. These goliaths, once thought banished in the pursuit of thinner, lighter systems, have returned to accommodate the higher performance (and power consumption) of modern hardware. Many large laptops come with large price tags, but the Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 bucks that trend to deliver respectable performance per dollar. 

Looking for other options? Check out PCWorld’s roundup of the best gaming laptops available right now.

Acer Predator Helios Neo 18: Specs

The Acer Predator Helios Neo 18’s specifications are typical for a mid-range gaming laptop. An Intel Core i7 processor is paired with Nvidia RTX 4060 graphics, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB of solid state storage. 

• CPU: Intel Core i7-14650HX
• Memory: 16GB LPDDR5
• Graphics/GPU: Nvidia RTX 4060 at 140 watts
• Display: 1920×1200 IPS 165Hz
• Storage: 1TBPCIe 4.0 NVMe solid state drive
• Webcam: 720p
• Connectivity: 2x Thunderbolt 4 ports, 1x USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 (featuring power off charging), 1x USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, 1x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, 1x HDMI 2.1 port with HDCP support, 1x 2.5G Ethernet (RJ-45) port, 1x 3.5mm combo audio
• Networking: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3
• Biometrics: None
• Battery capacity: 90 watt-hours
• Dimensions: 15.93 x 12.39 x 1.36 inches
• Weight: 7.25 pounds
• MSRP: $1,499.99

Pricing is a perk, as the Predator Helios Neo 18 retails for $1,499.99. That’s not a low price for a laptop with Nvidia RTX 4060 graphics, but most similarly equipped laptops have a smaller display, and some reach lower pricing with a 512GB solid state drive that can quickly become tight for gamers who enjoy modern AAA games with an install size over 100GB. The Helios Neo 18’s value also benefits from good performance relative to its hardware, which at times comes close to peers with RTX 4070 graphics.

Acer Predator Helios Neo 18: Design and build quality

The Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 isn’t expensive for a modern gaming laptop with an 18-inch display, but I easily forgot that while using the laptop. Acer relies on expanses of metallic black with plastic trim to build a sturdy, attractive chassis. There’s even a few hints of flair, most noticeably a layer of transparent plastic along the vent which covers the laptop’s branding. 

The Neo 18 isn’t gorgeous, to be clear. It’s relatively subtle and plain. Still, if placed side-to-side by some more expensive laptops like the MSI Raider GE78 or Asus ROG Strix Scar 18, the Acer doesn’t stand out as the budget option.

This is a large laptop that weighs in at 7.52 pounds and measures up to 1.36 inches thick. It’s larger and heavier than the MSI Raider GE78 or Asus ROG Strix Scar 18, as well as most 18-inch or 17.3-inch alternatives. I’d imagine gamers looking to travel would pick a smaller system, but the Neo 18 is a particularly poor choice. Its weight will prove cumbersome and it won’t fit in most bags, backpacks, and luggage designed to hold a laptop.

Acer Predator Helios Neo 18: Keyboard, trackpad

A spacious keyboard with numpad spans the majority of the Predator Neo 18’s wide interior. Most keys are full-sized, or close to it, with function row (as usual) proving an exception. The numpad keys are also similar in size to the alphanumeric keys, although they’re ever-so-slightly shorter. 

I also found the keyboard pleasant to use for lengthy typing sessions. Each key has respectable travel and activates smoothly before reaching a subtle but definitive bottoming action. The keyboard is quiet, and I would prefer a more tactile end to key action, but now I’m nitpicking. I used the keyboard for hours on end with no complaints. 

The keyboard has an RGB backlight that can be customized across several zones. It looks attractive enough to add interest for gamers who want it, but it lacks the degree of customization available from more expensive 18-inch competitors.

The touchpad is good, too. It measures six inches wide and nearly four inches deep, which is plenty of space for Windows’ most complex multi-touch gestures. A few high-end competitors, like the Razer Blade 18, offer a better touchpad. But some more expensive laptops, like the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18, have a smaller and less enjoyable touchpad. 

Acer Predator Helios Neo 18: Display, audio

At this point, you might wonder what Acer had to sacrifice to achieve a lower price point. One answer: the display. Although it measures 18 inches diagonally, Acer sticks to a simple IPS panel with 1920×1200 resolution and a refresh rate of 165Hz.

Opinions on the display will hinge on perspective. It’s clearly inferior to the 18-inch OLED and Mini-LED displays available from more expensive alternatives, and especially lacking in contrast. Darker, grittier games like Diablo VI or Resident Evil: Village can seem hazy and flat. 1920×1200 resolution isn’t especially sharp, either, though still better than a 27-inch 1440p monitor. Brightness is another issue: the display barely clears 300 nits, so it can seem dim in a bright room.

On the plus side, the Neo 18’s display delivers good color performance with a wide color gamut and solid color accuracy. Brighter and more colorful games, like Palworld or Stardew Valley, look excellent. The added size is also enjoyable when compared to a 16-inch alternative. Two inches might not sound important, but going with the 18-inch screen increases the total display area by 25 percent, which is very noticeable. 

Motion clarity is decent. The IPS display’s refresh rate of 165Hz isn’t impressive in 2024 but still provides a major leap in smoothness and clarity when compared to a 60Hz or 90Hz screen. It’s also a good fit for the laptop’s capabilities. A refresh rate would look appealing, but the Neo 18’s mid-range hardware would have difficulty delivering the frame rates needed to take advantage of a 240Hz panel.

The laptop’s speakers, unlike the display, punch well above the laptop’s price with loud, clear sound, a deep sound stage, and a hint of low-end oomph. They’re still laptop speakers and will start to sound muddy in the most demanding, bass-heavy music, but they’re a great fit for movies and games. 

Acer Predator Helios Neo 18: Webcam, microphone, biometrics

Acer also sticks to the basics when it comes to the webcam and microphone. It has a 720p webcam and dual-array microphone which, though serviceable for Zoom calls, are towards the low end of quality available from a laptop sold in 2024. Many laptops now have a sharper 1080p webcam and microphones that provide stronger, clear audio. 

Biometric login, meanwhile, is absent. You’ll need to login the old-fashioned way: with a password.

Acer Predator Helios Neo 18: Connectivity

When it comes to connectivity, though, Acer doesn’t hold back. The Predator Helios Neo 18 has two Thunderbolt 4 ports (also compatible with USB-C), three USB-A 3.2 ports, HDMI, 2.5G Ethernet, a 3.5mm combo audio jack, and a microSD card reader. 

That’s an extremely broad range of ports that should cover what gamers need, and then some. It’s possible to connect a high-resolution, high-refresh rate monitor and multiple wired gaming accessories at once. 

However, while the connectivity is great, it doesn’t establish a notable edge over competitors. Most large laptops have gobs of ports. I also dislike that the majority of the available ports are on the laptop’s flanks, rather than the rear. Large laptops will spend most time on a desk with many peripherals attached, and rear-facing ports improve cable management.

Wireless connectivity is provided by an Intel Killer Wi-Fi adapter that supports Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3. I would prefer to see Wi-Fi 7, but it’s not yet common at this price point, and Wi-Fi 6E still delivers excellent performance when paired with a quality Wi-Fi 6E router. 

Acer Predator Helios Neo 18: Performance

Acer sticks to mid-range hardware for the Helios Neo 18 but provides it with the power and thermal headroom needed to perform at its best. The laptop has an Intel Core i7-14650HX processor, Nvidia RTX 4060 graphics, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of solid state storage. None of that sounds exceptional—and there’s firm limits to the Neo 18’s performance—but it’s a quick laptop for the price.

PCMark 10, a general system benchmark, posted a strong result of 7,744 on the Predator Helios Neo 18. That’s better than most price-competitive laptops with the exception of the AMD-powered Framework Laptop 16, which punched above its weight. 

The Neo 18 again posts strong results in Cinebench R20, which is a short-duration, heavily multithreaded processor benchmark. It achieved a score of 8,002, which defeats most similarly priced gaming laptops aside from the Dell G16 7630, which we tested with a 13th-gen Intel Core i9 HX processor. That might seem odd, but it’s in line with what we have come to expect from Intel’s 14th-gen hardware, which generally delivers performance that’s only a smidge better than the prior generation.

Handbrake, a heavily multithreaded long-duration processor benchmark, didn’t shake up the results. The Neo 18 remains a performer, though Dell’s G16 slightly outran it. To be fair, however, the Dell G16 configuration we tested was also several hundred dollars more expensive, so Acer’s performance remains strong for the price.

The Neo 18’s good results continue in graphics benchmarks. The RTX 4060 isn’t the quickest mobile graphics chip, and it only has 8GB of video memory, which will prove limiting in some games. But the Neo 18 keeps the RTX 4060 well-fed with up to 140 watts of power and, as a result, its performance is at times closer to an RTX 4070 than some RTX 4060 peers.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider slightly changes the story. In this game, the Neo 18 scores identically to the older Lenovo Legion Pro 5 Gen 8 and starts to fall noticeably behind the RTX 4070 laptops. Still, an average of 130 frames per second is great for the price and more than enough to enjoy the game.

Metro Exodus is a demanding game (at least at the Extreme preset, which we use), but the Neo 18 continues to do well. Here it once again shows itself closer to RTX 4070 hardware than some RTX 4060 systems, and it delivers a playable average of 45 FPS.

We wrapped up the benchmarks with Cyberpunk 2077. The game averaged a healthy 70 FPS at 1080p resolution and Ultra detail (with DLSS/FSR off). Using the Overdrive ray-tracing mode radically tanked performance to just 17 FPS, a result that may be blamed on the RTX 4060’s mere 8GB of video memory. Gamers can enjoy Cyberpunk 2077’s ray-tracing on the Neo 18, but the Medium preset is a better fit when ray-tracing is enabled.

All results reported above were achieved in the Neo 18’s default “Balanced” performance profile, but we also tested the laptop’s Turbo profile, which significantly increased performance in many situations. PCMark 10 leapt from 7,744 to 8,112, while 3DMark Time Spy increased from 10,389 to 11,288. Turbo mode also maximizes fan noise, however, so we don’t think it’s a viable choice for gaming in most situations. 

Acer Predator Helios Neo 18: Battery life

Acer packs a sizable 90 watt-hour battery in the Predator Helios Neo 18. That’s a lot of juice, but the laptop’s hardware can suck down a full charge quickly.

Our standard battery tests, which loops a 4K file of the short film Tears of Steel, sucked down a full charge in just under four hours. That’s not unusable, but it’s pretty quick, and I’d advise gamers not to expect more than a few hours of battery life even when enjoying the light games that don’t tax the GPU.

Indeed, I experienced that in one situation where Nvidia Optimus failed to engage. Optimus is designed to hand graphics duties over to the Intel IGP when the Nvidia GPU’s performance isn’t required, but it can be finicky. Because of that, the battery drained in just 58 minutes, despite a workload that was nothing more than web browsing and watching video.

The 330 watt power brick, which charges the laptop over a barrel plug connection, doesn’t help portability. It’s big and heavy, further increasing the load you’ll carry if you travel with the Neo 18. 

Acer Predator Helios Neo 18: Conclusion

Acer’s Predator Helios Neo 18 shows the benefits of a big-screen laptop that can be delivered at a slim price tag. Though sold for just $1,499.99,  the Neo 18 provides excellent performance, a huge display, lots of connectivity, and an attractive design. A lack of portability is the true price paid for the Neo 18’s perks, as it’s even heavier and thicker than some 18-inch alternatives, and the battery didn’t hold out for long even in less demanding circumstances. Still, the Neo 18 is a great pick if you’re looking for a semi-portable alternative to a gaming desktop.

Laptops

The fact that IT is such an exciting topic has a lot to do with the constant changes. In hardly any other industry do new technical developments follow each other so closely. Ground-breaking new products are launched on the market in rapid succession and often become widespread very quickly.

However, it often happens that after a few years, competing products emerge that replace their predecessors thanks to having a better concept, a modern interface, greater functionality adapted to current requirements, or simply lower costs.

In this article, we present a series of examples in which programs that were previously regarded as a kind of standard have been replaced by new developments, and explain the background and reasons for the change in each case.

Further reading: 13 important Windows settings to adjust immediately

Microsoft Defender instead of Avira Free Antivirus

The German company Avira launched Antivir, one of the first professional antivirus programs, in 1988 under the name H+BEDV Datentechnik. Avira Free Antivirus, the free version for private users, was soon to be found on almost every computer whose owner took the increasing number of warnings about viruses and other malware seriously.

Microsoft hesitated for a long time before integrating its own antivirus tool into Windows. Windows 7 already included a program to defend against adware and spyware, but it was ineffective against classic malware.

However, as the danger posed by computer viruses increased exponentially and many users still went online without protection software, Defender was integrated into the operating system with Windows 8. Up until the first editions of Windows 10, however, the detection rates were low and the program was therefore not recommended.

However, this changed with Windows 11 at the latest, and the software is now on a par with other free antivirus solutions. As it does not need to be installed, uses few resources, and does not display ads, it has largely replaced Avira and other competitors on private PCs.

Google Chrome instead of Firefox

The market share figures for the major browsers from March 2024 show a clear winner: According to market researchers from Similarweb, Google Chrome has a share of 64.7 percent on U.S. desktop computers. Edge is in second place with 14.71 percent, while Firefox has a paltry 5.32 percent share.

Looking at the global figures, the gap between the browsers is just as pronounced: Chrome leads on the desktop with 67.51 percent, followed by Edge with 14.83 per cent, Safari with 7.9 percent, and Firefox with 6.21 percent.

In 2010, Firefox was the second-most popular browser with an average share of 30 percent, topped only by Internet Explorer with a market share of between 40 and 50 percent, although a strong downward trend was already apparent. What has happened since then?

Firefox was popular because, as open source software, the browser offered an alternative to Microsoft’s proprietary Internet Explorer. Users also liked the large number of available extensions with which they could customize the browser.

However, when the number of users of the now outdated Internet Explorer fell, it was not Firefox that benefited, but Google Chrome, which was only launched in 2008. The browser had a cleaner and more organized structure than Firefox, was also faster, and was considered more secure, as each tab runs in its own process, which is executed in a sandbox.

Although Firefox has been extensively revised since then, the manufacturer Mozilla has not yet been able to build on its old successes.

7-Zip instead of Winzip/Winrar

Winzip was created in the early 1990s as a Windows user interface for the original Pkzip packing program. Although it was shareware, it was initially included with numerous book and magazine CDs as an unlimited trial version and thus became widely used by private users.

Winrar, on the other hand, is a packing program for the somewhat differently structured RAR compression format. It can also create and open ZIP files, whereas Winzip can only unpack RAR files due to license reasons.

Winrar is distributed as an unlimited trial version: After 30 days, the user receives a message that they must license the software. However, the program can still be run without a license.

For several years now, Winzip has only been available free of charge for 21 days, after which the user must pay for the software at prices starting at around $36. Together with the integration of a ZIP tool in Windows, this has led to a sharp decline in user numbers.

Today’s Windows users either use the operating system’s zip function instead or resort to the free open source software 7-Zip, which has an extended range of functions compared to Windows and can also securely encrypt ZIP files and protect them with a password, for example.

VirtualBox instead of VMware Player

VMware is one of the pioneers of the virtualization trend of the past 20 years. The company targeted its products at companies and public authorities.

This also applied to the free VMware Player, a lightweight program with which the user could start virtual machines. Today, the software is offered under the official name VMware Workstation Player.

From the mid-2010s, when PCs for private users were also suitable for working with virtual machines thanks to multicore processors and ample RAM, users increasingly turned their attention to the open source tool VirtualBox from Oracle.

It offered more functions than the VMware Player right from the start and has maintained this lead to this day. Many users also find it easier to use.

For this reason, VirtualBox is the preferred choice for private users and smaller companies.

Further reading: The best free software for your PC

PowerToys instead of various optimization tools

In the days when hard drives were still slow and small, CPUs were weak, and RAM was scarce, numerous tools were created to make Windows leaner and faster.

They searched for orphaned entries in the registry, deleted or deactivated unnecessary services, searched for duplicate and no longer needed files, defragmented the hard drive, and emptied the autostart. The effect on the execution speed was small, but at least the tools freed up some memory.

With the advent of faster and ever larger SSDs, more powerful processors and inexpensive memory, most optimization tools became superfluous. The hardware had become so powerful that it made no difference whether the registry was a few megabytes larger or smaller or whether a few more or fewer services had to be loaded.

Hard disks and SSDs now also offered so much storage space that users no longer needed to worry about free space.

The optimization tools needed a new concept. One possible variant is demonstrated by Microsoft with its free PowerToys.

This collection of tools continuously adds functions to Windows, such as a color picker that picks up a color from the desktop and copies it to the clipboard, FancyZones for designing window layouts, or an editor for the Windows hosts file. The desired functions can be selected as required.

Further reading: Supercharge Windows with Microsoft’s free PowerToys

OneDrive instead of Dropbox

Dropbox was the first popular file hosting and file sharing service on the internet. It used a simple and efficient method for uploading files, which was later adopted by all major file hosting services: The user copies the files to the Dropbox folder on their local hard drive, from where they are automatically synchronized with the Dropbox server.

The user can create a link to each file. If he sends it by email, the recipient — provided she has the necessary access rights — can access the file and download it.

In this way, Dropbox solved many problems with the transmission of particularly large files, which were often not accepted by the email provider due to size restrictions.

The major drawback of Dropbox has always been the limitation of the free basic service to 2GB of free storage. This value could be increased in 500MB increments by recommending the service to other people, but even this was too little for many users. However, users had to take out a paid subscription for more storage.

Google Drive, for example, offers an alternative with 15GB of free storage. Finally, Microsoft provides every Windows user with a Microsoft account with 5GB of storage. Subscribers to the Microsoft 365 Office package even receive one terabyte for free.

In other words, for $70 a year, the user gets one terabyte of free storage, and Microsoft adds an Office package on top.

By way of comparison, 2TB currently cost $9.99 per month with Dropbox, and additional software is not included in this subscription. Microsoft can also point out that its cloud storage OneDrive is closely integrated into Windows and allows automatic backups, for example.

This article was translated from German to English and originally appeared on pcwelt.de.

Personal Software

Want to upgrade your Microsoft products but don’t want to spend the premium to do so? Now’s the time to take advantage of a limited-time deal on the all-in-one Microsoft Office Pro 2019 for Windows: Lifetime License plus Windows 11 Pro bundle. This week only, you can upgrade to Windows 11 Pro and get a lifetime license to Microsoft Office Pro 2019 for a single $49.97 price.

Windows 11 Pro has been redesigned for the hybrid working world, replete with security and productivity features to help you do your best work. Microsoft Office Pro, loaded with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Teams, Publisher, and Access, will run seamlessly on Windows 11 Pro and give you the power to work more efficiently, no matter what the project.

Upgrade your Microsoft products for one unbeatable price. Through 11:59 p.m. PT on May 5, you can get a lifetime license to Microsoft Office Pro 2019 for Windows plus Windows 11 Pro bundled for just $49.97 (reg. $428).

 

The All-in-One Microsoft Office Pro 2019 for Windows: Lifetime License + Windows 11 Pro Bundle – $49.97

See Deal

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Accessories

Your computer is, in many ways, an extension of your life. So if you suddenly lose your hard drive due to an unexpected crash or damage, it can be devastating. Don’t let that happen to you. With EaseUS Disk Copy, you can safely clone your hard disk, migrate to new operating systems, and much more to preserve your precious data.

EaseUS Disk Copy is compatible with Windows systems and makes PC migration and data protection completely hassle-free. You can upgrade hard drives smoothly, migrate to new operating systems without reinstalling, replace a failing hard drive, and clone an old HDD or SSD to a new computer without any trouble. EaseUS makes it easy to create a complete backup of your hard disk for restoring after a crash, or for moving over to new hardware.

Protect your PC and your hard disk. Right now, you can get a lifetime license to EaseUS Disk Copy for half off $59 at just $29.99.

 

EaseUS Disk Copy: Lifetime License – $29.99

See Deal

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Accessories

Price When Reviewed

$49.99 for the first year

Best Prices Today: Norton 360 Deluxe

Of Norton’s offerings, the Norton 360 Deluxe plan hits an ideal sweet spot of wide protection and affordable pricing. It’s an excellent all-in-one solution for those who would otherwise be more lax about security if they had to maintain each piece separately. For example, if you’re more likely to use a password manager if it’s part of same user interface as your antivirus, then all the better.

Not much is outwardly different still since we last reviewed Norton 360 Deluxe, though the company continues to work on and evolve its back end. Arguably, that’s the more important focus, especially as AI enables bad actors to be more sophisticated with malicious behavior.

What has changed is other rival antivirus companies joined with Norton under a single owner. Parent company Gen Digital now owns Avast, AVG, and Avira in addition to Norton, and during a press briefing, Gen shared plans to power all its antivirus software with a single engine and focus more on the features offered by each of its brands.

That’s welcome news, because Norton 360 Deluxe’s main Achilles heel isn’t its performance, but rather, how it presents its features to users. And that’s a drag on an otherwise excellent product.

Further reading: See our roundup of the best antivirus software for Windows PCs to learn about competing products.

What does Norton 360 Deluxe include?

Norton groups its many plans under two main umbrellas: Antivirus and All-in-One, with notable overlap in features. Though access to more online protections is always good, keeping the options straight can get a little overwhelming. 

Norton 360 Deluxe stands out among the bunch as an all-in-one plan that protects against major online threats, without extras you may not need, like identity theft assistance. Protections against online threats includes antivirus, malware, and ransomware detection, a built-in firewall, malicious link and attachment screening, dark web and privacy monitoring, and webcam safeguards. You also get 50GB of storage for cloud backups, access to Norton’s password manager and VPN, parental controls, and PC utilities that include the ability to monitor for outdated software.

Some features, like the privacy monitoring, can be upgraded to include help with scrubbing you from data broker sites. And Norton lets you know it, too. Despite already having paid for a plan, you won’t be immune from upsells of additional subscription services.

How much does Norton 360 Deluxe cost?

When purchased through Norton directly, the Norton 360 Deluxe plan costs $50 for the first year, and then reverts to a higher full price of $120 afterward. Plans come with a 60-day money-back guarantee. Be aware that Norton automatically enrolls you into auto-renewal at sign-up.

Norton 360 Deluxe (5-devices)

• $50 for the first year
• $120 per year thereafter

You can use Norton 360 Deluxe as an individual or family plan—Norton only limits use by number of devices, which you can spread across Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS as you choose.

Compared to rivals, Norton doesn’t favor number of devices over features (or visa versa). Instead, you get a good balance between the two on this mid-tier all-in-one plan. If you really need more devices, you can upgrade to Norton 360 Premium, which isn’t widely advertised on the website. Costing only a little bit more ($55 for the first year and $140 for every year thereafter), it doubles the number of protected devices to 10 and cloud storage to 100GB.

As with other antivirus suites, you can save further on Norton 360 Deluxe (and Premium) through third-party retailers, including PCWorld’s own digital store, Amazon, and Newegg. These plans vary more in number of devices and length of subscription, which can help you get a better deal for your situation. That’s especially so during major deal periods like Black Friday—just this past year, we saw a one-year subscription drop to just $20 for Deluxe, and $25 for Premium.

Key features of Norton 360 Deluxe

Installation and user interface

To get Norton 360 Deluxe on your PC, first purchase a subscription and then download the installation file.

When that’s complete, you’ll first see the My Norton interface—which is only one of the two you’ll interact with. It has a modern, streamlined look, and Norton 360 Deluxe’s major features can be accessed through it—scans, updates for the program, the VPN, the password manager, dark web and privacy monitoring reports, cloud backup, and parental controls. You can also jump straight to the secure browser and software updater, as well as settings, notifications, and help files. In a nice touch, your subscription status (that is, days remaining) is listed in the upper-left corner.

For the most part, this view is simple and clear, but it does have some quirks. One is the lack of a back button while navigating through submenus (like in settings). Another is the limited settings.

To access deeper settings, you’ll need to switch to the Classic view. It lets you customize the behavior of antivirus scans, the firewall, backups, and protections for email, apps, and your webcam. You can also tweak administrative settings for the Norton app, like if remote management or silent mode is enabled. 

You can hop over to Classic view by choosing Device Security > Open in the My Norton view. This interface has a more dated vibe, with four tiles that let you access features (Security, Internet Security, Backup, and Performance). Tap on any of them, and the full options reveal themselves in the middle of the screen. A fifth tile is dedicated to switching back to the My Norton view.

Several features can only be accessed through the Classic view, like webcam protection settings and the password generator.

With this dual interface setup, your best bet to not get too lost is to click around and get familiar with each layout. One tip for data nerds: You can look at reports about your usage and scan outcomes over time.

As for notifications—Norton does err on the side of more pop-up notifications about status changes and activity, but you can turn them off pretty easily. That’s unfortunately not the case for the app’s promotion of additional paid services.

Virus, malware, and threat protection

Real-time protection

Norton 360 Deluxe protects your PC from real-time threats in several different ways. It scans new or altered files that you’ve added, opened, or downloaded; controls access to files and folders that could be targeted by ransomware; and monitors apps for unusual activity. USB drives are also scanned by default as well, as are network drives and scripts in Microsoft and Adobe documents. Norton 360 Deluxe also strips away scripts when downloading documents. And email on your PC is checked for sketchy links and malicious attachments, both incoming and outgoing.

When you’re on the web, 360 Deluxe will check websites to see if they’re secure and if they’ve been compromised—but only if you have the Norton Safe Web extension installed. Norton 360 Deluxe also limits access to your webcam (“SafeCam”).

Scheduled and manual scans

Norton 360 Deluxe’s default schedule is a monthly full scan—but you can change its frequency with surprising precision. (Want to run it every 15 hours? Not a problem.) You can also set a schedule for the other default scan types: Quick Scan, Drive Scan, Folder Scan, and File Scan, or create your own custom scan to add to the list.

Advanced users may find the settings for each scan limited. The full scan, for example, only lets you choose to scan within compressed files, remove infected folders automatically, scan network drives, and delete low risk and tracking cookie files. The other default scans have even fewer settings, and there’s no option to run a complete, exhaustive deep scan. It saves on system resources—and won’t hit your PC as hard, if you don’t change your file collection much after the software does an initial pass of all your files—but if you like to manually run thorough scans, you’ll be disappointed.

Norton 360 Deluxe offers broad, fairly comprehensive protection, but there are extras that don’t really serve much use, too.

Additional features

Browser extensions

For comprehensive protection, Norton provides several browser extensions to improve online safety. The ones related to web safety are Norton Home Page (which changes your default to Norton’s rendition of a start page), Norton Safe Search (which changes your default to Norton’s search engine), and Norton Safe Web (which scans links and adds a green or red badge to let you know if they’re safe or not to visit).

Not all of these are universally helpful, though—most people who already have a preferred home page and search engine will only find value in Norton Safe Web. And weirdly, installing only Norton Safe Web is circuitous on Chrome. I could only get it onto my test PC by going through the Norton 360 Deluxe app, which forces you to first install Norton Home Page and Norton Safe Search.

Fortunately, since I went through all that, you can use this direct link for Norton Safe Web to the Chrome Web Store. Why the extension doesn’t turn up when running a search for it isn’t clear.

Separately, you can install Norton Password Manager, as well as Norton Family (which monitors web browsing habits). The password manager is the most polished (and in my opinion, useful) of all available extensions. At most, you’ll really only want to use Norton Password Manager, Norton Safe Web, and possibly Norton Family.

Cloud backup

To have Norton back up your most important files, you’ll need to first set up this feature within the app. If you accept the default settings, cloud backups will upload everything except video and email files in your Windows document folders (i.e., Pictures, Documents, Music, etc). You can change the file types, as well as add or exclude files and folders. You can create different backup rules (called a “Backup Set”), but can only save to one location per backup set.

Speaking of save location—this feature really only seems to be for cloud backups. If you choose a local location, Norton 360 Deluxe doesn’t seem to work properly. On more than one PC, I couldn’t get Norton to save the files to an external drive, even though the confirmation dialog said it had.

So if Norton’s cloud backups will be your first backup system, you unfortunately won’t be able to use it to properly cover your butt. It’s definitely better than nothing and a good start, though. And if you already have a good backup protocol in place, setting up these cloud backups least further ensures that ransomware can’t lock you out of your most important files.

Password manager

Norton’s password manager is simple but good—a refreshing change from services that feel stripped to the bone. Setup is easy, too. Norton asks you to create a separate vault password, then prompts you to download a recovery key. (You can’t recover your account otherwise if you forget your vault password.)

Afterward, you can use the Norton Password Manager mobile app to enable passwordless authentication for logging into your vault. It greatly simplifies an otherwise cumbersome system where two passwords are required to access your vault (once to get into your Norton account, then to unlock the vault), and it’s seamless, though the authentication approval is a little slow to register. You can access your vault through the website, a browser extension, or the mobile app.

One odd quirk I encountered during my review period: You only see different font colors for numbers, symbols, and letters when generating a password, but not afterward. You also can’t set the clipboard to automatically clear after a certain time if you copy a password.

VPN

The interface for Norton’s VPN is clean and easy to understand, but almost too simplified. For starters, you can only choose your location by country and not a specific city. Also, your settings are limited to toggle switches for turning on auto connect, auto VPN (VPN activates on unsecured Wi-Fi networks), the kill switch (blocks internet access if the VPN abruptly disconnects), and ad tracker blocking. You can also add apps to the split tunnel feature, which keeps the VPN from routing their traffic.

Speeds while using the VPN were inconsistent during my light testing—for example, while connected to the U.S. server, I got anywhere from about 88 percent of my normal download speed to as little as 29 percent. If you’re stuck on a slower connection, that could hurt a lot.

Countries supported are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Romania, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the United States.

You can only access the VPN through the My Norton interface.

Parental controls

You can set up Norton 360 Deluxe’s parental controls quickly. Just install the Norton Family app, as well as the Norton Family browser extension, on your kid’s PC. Then set up a child profile for them. 

Once in place, you can track web, search, video, and app activity, as well as restrict access based on time of day. On iOS and Android, you can also restrict access based on app (Android) and get alerts if the device leaves a specific location.

Like the rest of the Norton website interface, statistics and settings are streamlined and easy to navigate, though there are some limitations. For example, you can only monitor YouTube and Hulu site usage on mobile in Norton’s mobile browser and not within apps or website embeds.

PC utilities

Included with Norton are several PC tools—though most are duplicates of existing Windows features. 

Optimize Disk is Norton’s version of Windows Disk Defragmenter—and honestly, not necessary. According to Norton, it only focuses on defragging of hard disk drives. You’re better off using Windows for disk optimization, which already treats hard drives and SSDs with the appropriate protocols.

File Cleanup gets rid of temporary files held by Windows and any lingering Internet Explorer files. (Yep, Internet Explorer—presumably, Norton’s serving people clinging to dead versions of Windows; Edge is not yet supported.) Again, you can use Windows’ own tool for this.

Startup Manager lets you view and manage which apps automatically launch with Windows startup. You can easily use Windows’ own management setting for this by typing startup apps in Windows search.

While there’s nothing wrong per se with using these utilities—Norton’s attempt to centralize them isn’t a bad impulse—introducing a third-party into the mix is extraneous. The only real interesting tool is Graphs, which shows you a history of system use (installations, downloads, optimization, virus detections, quick scans, and alerts).

Dark web monitor

You can give Norton information like your email addresses (up to five), physical addresses, phone numbers (up to five), mother’s maiden name, driver’s license number, insurance info (up to five), credit card numbers (up to 10), bank account (up to 10), and gamertags (up to 10).

If you’re like most people, you’ll get an instant hit for your email address(es) if you use them often, but the list isn’t nearly as comprehensive as using HaveIBeenPwned.com’s lookup tool. I consider this as an extra method for getting an alert, but not something to rely on for full coverage.

Privacy monitor

Data broker websites scoop up information about you from public records and other databases that buy data. (The latter is why privacy policies are so important—companies that you interact with can and do sell your information.) Depending on what they find, these websites can put your name, birthdate, current and past addresses, phone numbers, and relatives into just about anyone’s hands, and removing yourself from these sites can be like playing Whack-A-Mole. 

Norton asks for a surprisingly minimal amount of information to run a search for you on these types of sites—but the results aren’t as comprehensive as some other services. You’ll also have to pay for an upgrade to Privacy Monitor Assistant to have them handle the leg work of removing your info.

Secure browser

For those who don’t want to deal with keeping Chrome secure, Norton 360 Deluxe offers an alternative—Norton Secure Browser. It’s based off the same Chromium code as Google’s browser, but the experience is more locked down. 

Out of the gate, Norton Secure Browser comes with the Norton Password Manager, Norton Privacy Guard (which blocks trackers and some ads), and Norton Safe Search Plus (which verifies links) extensions installed, and it only supports a limited number of optional browser extensions. (You can still install extensions for big rival password managers such as Bitwarden, Dashlane, and 1Password, so you’re not completely locked into Norton’s ecosystem.)

Overall, it’s a Chrome-lite experience, which has the upside of narrowing how much trouble you can get yourself into. On the flip side, it’s not fool-proof. You can’t install a separate ad-blocker, like uBlock Origin, that blocks sponsored links. In fact, the Safe Search Plus extension will put a green checkmark on some sponsored links for downloads that are not the official, primary site—which in my book opens up users to potential risk.

Customer support

You can get help directly within the app, both from the My Norton and Classic views. Norton also offers support pages and community forums on its website, as well as technical support through social media, chat, and phone assistance. For simpler questions, the in-app help and support pages are a good place to start, while the forums and company support are better for troubleshooting.

Incidentally, if you’re looking for the version info for your Norton app installation, you can access it through Help > About.

Updates and maintenance 

Virus and app updates run automatically by default, but you can run the LiveUpdate feature manually if you want to check for pending updates. It checks for any changes to the antivirus protection, process protection, and Norton app.

Performance

In tests performed by leading security research institutes, Norton generally performs well—at least when it comes to online protection. In AV-Test’s zero-day attack and malware tests for January and February 2024 (the most current as of this article’s last update), Norton detected 100 percent of the threats. It caught all 15,362 samples for recently widespread and prevalent malware, and 278 samples of zero-day attacks (including threats spread through the web and email).

Similarly, in AV-Comparatives’ real-world protection test for February through March 2024, Norton blocked 99.2 percent of the 246 test cases, with 9 false positives. (For comparison, ESET posted zero false positives, while AVG and Avast had five.) These samples are a mix of malicious web addresses, exploits (like drive-by downloads), and URLs that link directly to malware. In practical terms, Norton will effectively keep shady websites at bay, but its higher filtering sensitivity could cause unwanted hassle or stress when trying to access a legitimate website or start a download.

Meanwhile, when tasked with the 10,053 samples in AV-Comparatives’ March 2024 malware protection test, Norton 360 scored a 81.8 percent offline detection rate, 98.9 percent online detection rate, and a 99.97 percent online protection rate, with 26 false positives. Ultimately, the online protection score matters the most, since it tells the story of how well an antivirus suite halts threats that find their way onto your PC and attempt mischief—and Norton’s performance tops the charts.

However, Norton’s offline detection score highlights how reliant its antivirus engine is on an active internet connection for full protection. Without access to the company’s servers, Norton misses the presence of malware more often than the competition, trailing almost 15 percent behind its best rivals. That makes for more uneven performance, where you’ll have to wait for malware to rear its head before it gets shown the door. In contrast, rival Bitdefender achieves a 96.1 percent offline detection rate, while still also offering a 96.1 percent online detection rate, 99.92 percent online protection rate, and fewer false alarms (8).

Norton did not participate in AV-Comparatives’ November 2023 Advanced Threat Protection Test, which evaluates a security suite’s resistance to more sophisticated, targeted attack methods like malicious scripts and fileless attacks.

For PC performance, Norton 360 Deluxe can have a notable effect on common tasks. You’ll see it less in everyday activities, as evidenced by PCMark 10, a benchmark that simulates web browsing, video chatting, gaming, and file editing in open-souce programs like GIMP and LibreOffice for images and documents. When idle in the background, watching for real-time threats, Norton 360 Deluxe had virtually no impact on PCMark 10’s test scores. But if a full scan ran continuously during the benchmark, the results dropped by about 6 percent.

When using Microsoft Office apps (as simulated by UL Procyon), the performance drop gets bigger—an almost 10 percent dip during a full scan, and roughly 6 percent at idle. That difference grew biggest when running our Handbrake encoding test, with a 22 percent decrease during a full scan and 11 percent on idle.

One thing these numbers don’t show, however, is how Norton typically handles full scans. After an initial full scan, subsequent ones look for changed or new files—which speeds up the scan time and the drag on system resources. And full scans are scheduled by default for off-hours.

Still, if you handle files often—especially if you’re on a mid-range or budget PC—Norton’s affect on your PC performance is something to consider.

Should you buy Norton 360 Deluxe?

Norton offers a lot—but its strength is its Achilles heel, too. You get broad, fairly comprehensive protection, but there are extras that don’t really serve much use, too. This security suite would benefit from a unified interface and a lighter impact on system performance. But if you’re seeking an all-in-one solution, this one still ticks the right boxes.

Editor’s note: Because online services are often iterative, gaining new features and performance improvements over time, this review is subject to change in order to accurately reflect the current state of the service. Any changes to text or our final review verdict will be noted at the top of this article.

Antivirus, Professional Software, Security Software and Services

This March, in response to Texas’s age-verification law being upheld, the ultra-popular PornHub and numerous other adult sites operated by parent company Aylo went dark in the state. Replacing the NSFW videos you’d normally expect to see, a message decrying government overreach and proposed compromises has been posted.

It’s a similar chain of events to what happened last year when Utah enacted a law requiring websites to verify the ages of users.

Editor’s note: Updated May 2, 2024 with new information about Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the case against governmental overreach.

And as with Utah, Texas’s actions prompted an increased interest in virtual private networks, or VPNs. Google searches for “VPN” immediately skyrocketed in Texas as folks looked to circumvent the ban. I checked Google Trends myself and, yep, Texas now shows 100 percent interest for “VPN.”

Now, to add further dismay to the NSFW crowd, the Supreme Court refused to hear a case in April brought by the Free Speech Coalition, a pornography industry trade group. The Coalition, as well as several other companies, petitioned the Court on the grounds of free speech. Unfortunately, the justices turned down the request, further cementing the government’s commitment to abstinence…whoops, I meant safety.

We might not be experts on law, but we sure know VPNs here at PCWorld! While we would never encourage circumventing any laws, if you’re a resident of Texas who just so happens to be looking for a VPN for totally legal reasons, here are some especially choice picks, culled from our roundup of the best VPN services.

Happy surfing, y’all! (But not too happy).

ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN is our best overall pick for VPNs and for good reason. You’ll get a ton of features for your money including wide-device support, ad- and tracker-blocking, and plenty of servers located both domestically and internationally to choose from.

It’s also one of the fastest VPNs we’ve ever tested, meaning you won’t have to downgrade your video quality to something that makes it look like the important bits were blurred on purpose—we’re talking about those fine special effect details in the latest Avatar: The Last Airbender series, of course.

NordVPN

If you’re looking for a VPN that doesn’t log the sites you visit and provides fairly anonymous payment methods, NordVPN is a fine choice. It’s loaded with features and offers fast servers perfect for streaming videos. The one downside? While it only costs $4.19 per month if you commit to a two-year plan, it costs $12.99 monthly if you don’t want to sign up for a long term contract.

Mullvad

This might be a better option, however. Mullvad isn’t just in our top five VPNs for overall speeds, it more importantly earns top marks for privacy, taking seemingly every effort to know as little as possible about its users. From our roundup:

“We’ve never seen another VPN that actively resists knowing who you are the way Mullvad does. Mullvad doesn’t ask for your email address, name, or anything else. Instead it assigns a random account number that acts as your identifier and login. Mullvad accepts payments using standard methods such as credit cards and PayPal, but you can also mail your payment in cash to remain as private as possible. Mullvad has a no-logging policy and doesn’t collect any identifying metadata from your usage.”

Better yet, it costs just $5 per month regardless of the plan you choose.

Windscribe Pro

Windscribe VPN has a totally free-to-use version with 11 worldwide locations to choose from including a U.S. server conveniently located outside of Texas. It also offers up to 10GB of bandwidth per month, which should be enough to do your business, whatever that business may be.

The service is also extremely easy to use with a simple setup and solid performance for a free VPN. Plus, if you find that you like the service’s free version you can always upgrade to premium with more features to expand your, um, horizons outside of just the local content.

VPN

For World Password Day, Microsoft is doing something I can appreciate: helping get rid of them. Today, the company said that all Microsoft consumer accounts will be passkey enabled. Adios, passwords!

What’s a passkey? It replaces passwords by combining something you have (such as a phone, a physical security key, or your password manager) with either something you know (a PIN number) or something you are, using biometric security. On Windows, that means using a fingerprint reader or webcam with Windows Hello.

“Starting today, you can use a passkey to sign in to Microsoft apps and websites, including Microsoft 365 and Copilot on desktop and mobile browsers,” Microsoft said in a blog post. You’ll be able to log into mobile Microsoft apps in the coming weeks.

I love passkeys. Windows Hello was one of the best additions ever made to Windows, and most people are now accustomed to unlocking their phone or PC with their fingerprint or face. (A PIN, assuming you’ve set one up, serves as a backup in case your device doesn’t recognize you.)

To set up passkeys on your Windows device, you can follow this Microsoft-supplied link. You’ll need to log in using an existing authentication method, such as your password or Microsoft authenticator. But the setup process links Windows Hello to your Microsoft account, so you should be able to log in to your Microsoft account page, Outlook on the Web, and so on.

The only catch, if it truly is one, is that you must set up a passkey for each device you own. One part of passkey authentication remains on the app or site that you’re trying to log in to; the other part remains on your device. Both are needed to unlock your data. It’s a little less convenient than a single password that can be stored in the cloud or in one of our recommended password managers, but requiring two keys, rather than one, is more secure. Migrating passkeys from PC to PC isn’t something that’s currently available.

If you’re a business user — or, like some of us, straddle a work and personal environment — you’ll need to ask your IT department to enable passkeys for corporate devices. Microsoft uses its Entra ID technology to manage this.

Tying the entirety of your personal life to your face or fingerprint does carry some risks, especially if you’re incapacitated for some reason and someone tries to take advantage. But for most people, in most situations, passkeys seem like an easy, secure, authentication method that I’d like to see more of.

Further reading: I’m ditching my passwords—and you should too

Security Software and Services, Windows

No matter how much of my stuff I transition to cloud storage, every once in a while I still need to use ye olde sneakernet. And this deal is probably the best I’ve ever seen in terms of bang for your buck. Today Amazon has a SanDisk 512GB flash drive, using a crazy-fast USB 3.2 connection, for just $32.99. That’s almost two-thirds off the original $90 MSRP, and half the current price for the same drive at Best Buy.

512GB is a huge amount of storage for removable media, but you can find it cheaper elsewhere. What makes this deal so appealing to me is the speed. When inserted into a compatible USB 3.2 port, this thing can read at up to 130 megabytes per second. That’ll let you copy, say, your entire 122-gigabyte Baldur’s Gate III installation off the drive in about sixteen minutes.

It’s more than three times faster than a USB 3.0 flash drive (which is also much larger) going for around the same price. Throw in the teeny-tiny size, and it’s a fantastic deal — seriously, make use of that lanyard loop or you might just lose this thing in your bag.

Also note that while the read speeds are great, the write speeds are considerably slower, around 44 megabytes per second according to the user reviews. If you need something faster and more capacious, you might want to step up to a dedicated portable SSD like the Samsung T7 Shield, which is still on sale.

Get a 512GB SanDisk flash drive for $32.99

Computer Storage Devices

In addition to being a pretty great device all on its own, the Steam Deck makes an ideal stream machine, playing either your own local games from a dedicated gaming PC or cloud games via a service like GeForce Now or Stadia (RIP, Stadia). But actually getting to the service using the Steam Deck’s console-style controls is a bit of a headache. Nvidia is fixing that with the latest update.

The beta method is specifically for the Steam Deck, which can’t easily run the GeForce Now Windows application like the ROG Ally, MSI Claw, et cetera. The Steam Deck needs to use the browser version of GeForce Now, streaming games more or less like an embedded YouTube video. But booting up the browser and navigating to a web page isn’t what the Steam Deck’s library-focused interface is best at.

Nvidia’s solution is more or less the same as loading up any non-Steam application into the Steam interface. On the GeForce Now Download page, you can scroll down to the Gaming Handheld Devices, and click “Get Started” under “Steam Deck (BETA).” Alternately, launch the Steam Deck’s desktop interface and navigate directly to gfn.link/download.

It’ll download an “applet that will install a shortcut to GeForce Now right in your Steam library, making it as easy to launch as any other game. Not bad, not bad at all.

Gaming Laptops

Folks, I’m buzzing with excitement today. One of our favorite laptops, the Acer Swift Go 14, is on sale for just $799.99 at Amazon right now. We awarded it 4 out of 5 stars in our review, praising how well-rounded it is. It features plenty of connectivity options, a wonderful typing experience, marathon battery life, a zippy processor, and much more. The model that’s on sale today has slightly less storage than the one we reviewed, but other than that they’re pretty much identical. Plus, it currently rivals our top pick in our best laptops roundup.

The Acer Swift Go 14 is packing some solid hardware. You’re getting an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor (16 cores plus 22 threads), 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of SSD storage. According to our review, it outperforms other laptops with the same processor. You should be able to fly through office work, coursework, everyday tasks, and so on. The 14-inch display has a resolution of 1920×1200 and is touch-enabled. It’s fine for casual use, but we found that “black colors are washed out, contrast is just so-so, and colors aren’t all that vibrant.” Other goodies include a 1400p webcam, a 65 watt-hour battery, and a fingerprint reader.

This is a fantastic deal, so you better jump on it sooner rather than later.

Get the Acer Swift Go 14 for $799.99 at Amazon

Laptops

Price When Reviewed

159

Best Prices Today: ROG Keris II Ace

For me the Asus ROG Keris II Ace sits at the top of ROG’s current wireless esports line-up, with a list of features that encompass everything I want in an FPS gaming mouse. An extremely powerful and accurate sensor — check! Wi-Fi and Bluetooth — check! A 4,000Hz polling rate — check! An ultra-light weight — check! It’s all there. In fact, this mouse has quickly become a favorite of mine that I keep coming back to for my FPS gaming. Read on to find out more…

Further reading: See our roundup of the best wireless gaming mice to learn about competing products.

Asus ROG Keris II Ace design and build

The Asus ROG Keris II Ace has been made to be as lightweight as possible for speed and maneuverability in FPS games; it weighs just a measly 1.9 ounces (54 grams). The solid back is made from lightweight nylon but it feels remarkably like plastic — it’s the same material as you’ll find in the ROG Harpe Ace Aim Lab Edition.

A symmetrical shape that molds to the contours of your hand delivers optimum comfort and peak control.

With six programmable buttons, the Keris II Ace offers a command load on par with other competitive gaming mice of its ilk. The two main clicks are made from premium PBT (Polybutylene Terephthalate) material, which means they’re hardier than plastic mouse buttons.

They feature ROG Optical Micro Switches with a very quick actuation speed and are rated for a long 100 million click durability.

Asus ROG Keris II Ace connectivity

The wireless connectivity is very good considering the mouse’s lightweight construction. It consists of both 2.4GHz Wi-Fi and Bluetooth options. The Keris II Ace can also be used in wired mode and comes with a flexible 6.5-foot (2 meter) paracord for that purpose.

In Bluetooth mode I could pair the Asus ROG Keris II Ace with up to three of my devices simultaneously, which was just perfect for hopping between my gaming PC, a laptop, and a handheld console.

The Keris II Ace comes with a large Wi-Fi dongle as well as a large polling-rate booster dongle, both of which I would have preferred to be smaller. Still, it’s what they can do that matters. The standard dongle plugged into the booster to give me a very fast maximum wireless polling rate up to 4,000Hz in Wi-Fi mode.

That’s the current fastest speed available for wireless devices. In wired mode the polling rate can be set up to a maximum 8KHz, which is the same as in mice like the Razer Cobra Pro and Alienware Pro Wireless.

Asus ROG Keris II Ace gaming performance

With a whopping 42,000 DPI the ROG Ace is proof that we’ve yet to see a glass ceiling for DPI in FPS gaming mice. I found it was certainly a big confidence booster having one of the best of the best sensors at my fingertips — the ROG Aimpoint Pro Optical Sensor.

Two of the sensor’s other topline stats include a maximum speed of 750 inches per second and maximum acceleration of 50g, both of which put me in good stead for pulling off crazy maneuvers in a handful of my FPS games.

Indeed, in games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and CounterStrike 2 at high DPI settings, the Keris II Ace was exceptionally smooth. I noticed a marked improvement in the actuation rate of the buttons compared to other FPS mice I own. They were clicky and their lightning-quick actuation speed improved the accuracy of my timing.

The Keris II Ace slid efficiently on my neoprene mouse mat thanks to its small but effective 100 percent PTFE feet, but as a rare treat I enjoyed using it on my glass coffee table too, tracking on glass being a unique capability that differentiates it from near competitors.

It was also perfectly comfortable in my grip. Its medium-sized proportions meant my hand fit snugly without any overhang at the front like I get on some smaller mice. The sides slant slightly inwards meaning I could adopt an effortless grip that never hurt my hand.

A unique design trait that extends the ledge on the mouse’s right hand-side provided my ring and middle fingers with a little more mobility than I’m used to. The grip was also very effective thanks to the non-slip grip tape supplied in the box.

I got approximately 66 hours battery life in Wi-Fi mode with the default RGB lighting on, which is a little less than you might expect from some esports mice. However, Asus says you’re likely to get close to 90 hours in Bluetooth mode.

In Bluetooth mode I could pair the ROG Keris II Ace with up to three of my devices simultaneously — perfect for hopping between my gaming PC, a laptop, and a handheld console.

Asus ROG Keris II Ace software

The Asus ROG Keris II Ace’s settings can be tweaked in the Asus Armoury Crate app. This is where I initially calibrated my mouse’s DPI, assigned commands, and saved profiles for my games. I also tweaked settings like the mouse’s liftoff distance and polling rate.

Mice with just six configurable buttons generally don’t offer a lot of onboard control. But the Keris II Ace allows you to apply button combinations to switch profiles and change some of the mouse’s key settings without having to open the app.

The ROG Keris II Ace only features one RGB zone in its mouse wheel, but you can change its color and motion effects and sync these with any other Aura Sync compatible devices you might own using the app’s Aura Sync menu.

Should you buy the Asus ROG Keris II Ace?

The Asus ROG Keris II Ace costs $159, so it’s not cheap. Yet it offers a combination of features and functionality that’s extremely hard to come by in similarly priced FPS mice. Indeed, mice with 4,000Hz wireless polling rates, dual wireless connectivity, and on-glass-tracking that weigh just 1.9 ounces are few and far between.

Therefore, if you’re in the market for a premium esports mouse, the ROG Keris II Ace is a sure bet for performance, that’s also well worth the money. 

Gaming, Mice

Passwords suck. If they’re easy to remember, they’re the simplest to guess. If they’re difficult to crack, they’re the hardest to recall. Even if you use the strongest passwords possible, they’re ineffective if they become known.

Which is why I’ve stopped using them as much to log into my accounts. But I haven’t weakened my online security by doing so. In fact, I’ve improved it—and sped up my login times, too.

How? I set up passkeys for my accounts. It takes just a few minutes, doesn’t cost anything, and can be done using your smartphone or PC. Using them is equally painless. When logging in, you choose the passkey option, then approve the login request with your thumbprint, face scan, or PIN. It’s fast.

This authentication method is secure, too. A passkey improves on several password weaknesses: 

• They can’t be guessed. Passkeys use an encryption method that uses two different kinds of keys as part of the verification process. The website gets the public key, while your smartphone, PC, security hardware key, or compatible password manager keeps and protects the private key. A private key can’t be determined from a public key, so a website hack won’t compromise your corresponding passkey.
• Copies shouldn’t work. Passkeys are specific to the smartphone, PC, or security hardware key that created them. If a copy of the private key is somehow stolen from your device, it won’t register as valid. This is true for password managers that support passkeys, too—so long as they’re configured to verify that a passkey was used from the password manager’s platform.
• Phony sites can’t use them. Passkeys are tied to not just to the device that generated them, but the specific website they were created for, too. A spoofed site won’t pass the verification check. So even as phishing sites and scams get more sophisticated, you’ll be better protected against them.

The best part is the ever-widening support for passkeys. It’s not just the big names like Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon. I’ve started spotting them elsewhere, like on Target.com and other shopping sites—even WhatsApp. Even sites with passkeys continue to expand their reach. In honor of World Password Day 2024, Google broadened its passkey program to include its Advanced Protection Program participants.

If you still like passwords, you don’t have to drop them entirely. Sites generally let you have multiple sign in methods. Just follow our tips for how quickly to shore up your online security—especially the part about adding two-factor authentication to your accounts. If you have a password + 2FA active, that combo can serve a backup method of login if you ever lose the device or security key with your passkeys.

(That’s the only real drawback of using passkeys exclusively—you need to have multiple devices with them, in case one becomes lost, stolen, or unusable.)

The less online security interests you, the quicker you should make the move to passkeys. Most people treat passwords like the nuisance they are, reusing them or creating weak ones as often as possible. Bitwarden’s latest survey proves this point, with over 30 percent of U.S.-based respondents reusing passwords across 11 to 20+ (!) sites or apps. Yikes.

With passkeys, there’s nothing to remember. No software to manage. And again—they’re free.

Password Managers, Security Software and Services

Although it was already possible in the past to use smartphones as a webcam on a Windows PC, this was cumbersome, not very stable and hardly useful.

Now Windows 11 has been updated to allow Android smartphones to be used as a webcam wirelessly via Bluetooth much more easily and effectively. The Windows Smartphone Link app is used for this purpose. No third-party app or cable connection is required.

This does not yet work with iPhones. However, iPhone owners can use the iOS app EpocCam in this case. This also turns iPhones into webcams under Windows and macOS. To use it, you need the app on your smartphone and a client under Windows or macOS. Here, the user also has the option of extensively customizing the image.

Connecting Android to the Smartphone Link app included in Windows 11 is easier and offers even more functions. This includes displaying messages, starting phone calls, and close collaboration between the PC and Android smartphone. In principle, the connection also works with iPhones, but you cannot use the Apple devices as a webcam, as described above.

Advantages of using smartphones as a webcam

The advantages are that the smartphone can also be used when using several computers and the quality of the smartphone camera is in many cases higher than that of the webcams built into notebooks or monitors.

If you are working with a laptop connected to a monitor, you can even leave the notebook closed as you do not need the built-in webcam.

Of course, it makes sense to use the smartphone in an upright position, for example on a charging station. However, there are also special holders that can be used to attach smartphones to a monitor or table, for example.

High-quality webcam completely free of charge with Windows 11

As a result, users receive a high-quality webcam for their Windows 11 computer free of charge. If you would still prefer to use an external webcam, you can find a list of high-quality webcams in our comparison: “The best webcams“

The Windows 11 Moment 5 update 5 is required so that you can use Android smartphones as a webcam. The Windows app Smartphone Link must be version 1.24012 or newer. This can be seen in the app settings. On the Android smartphone, you also need the “Link to Windows” app.

After this update, Windows 11 can work better with Android and transfer the camera image to Windows 11 via Bluetooth. Microsoft presents the possibilities in more detail in a blog post.

New features include the ability to switch between the front and rear camera in the app, pause the stream and use smartphone effects. You can also make calls via the Smartphone Link app, display notifications and even read text messages from your smartphone. The current battery charge status is also displayed in the app.

Once the smartphone has been successfully connected to Windows 11, the notifications and text messages from the smartphone are also available in Windows.
At least Android 9 is required to use the app, which should not be a problem with current devices. If you still have an older Android smartphone, you can also connect it.

Use the Windows smartphone link for the connection

For a successful connection, you must activate the option “Allow this PC to access your mobile devices” under Bluetooth and devices > Mobile devices. Via Manage devices > Add device, Windows 11 creates a QR code with which Android devices can be connected in order to be able to use the camera in future.

For this to work, a “Cross Device Experience Host Update” is required, which Windows 11 receives via the Store. You can then use the cameras of the Android smartphone under Windows 11.

The smartphone can then be used as a webcam in the same way as other webcams. You can also make further settings in the smartphone camera control window. With the right settings, the image quality is often higher than with conventional webcams, especially when using modern smartphones.

This article was translated from German to English and originally appeared on pcwelt.de.

Windows

Many arbitrary holidays litter our calendars (ahem, Tin Can Day), but World Password Day is one fully supported by the PCWorld staff. We’re all for ditching weak passwords — especially when strengthening your security takes only a little effort.

Follow these four easy suggestions and you’ll thank yourself for years to come. Not only will data breaches and hackers stop being immediate threats, but you won’t have to scramble to remember a collection of user name and passwords. That’s especially true if you opt for a newer form of account protection that’s simpler to use than passwords.

Trust us, you want to safeguard yourself. Data breaches are common these days, and as Bitwarden’s latest survey results indicate, a concerning number of people still reuse passwords (31 percent in the U.S. do so for 11 to 20+ sites!). And with so many data leaks, it’s getting easier and easier for hackers to not just know your passwords, but figure out the personal info you might use in a password — another prevailing bad habit (42 percent in the U.S.). Yikes.

Get a password manager

Password managers make better account security so easy. You only have to memorize one strong password to safeguard nearly all your other login info. (Here’s how to come up with a good master password.)

You shouldn’t have an issue finding a password manager that suits you, either — it’s perfectly normal to have reservations about them, but there are so many options out there. Want something that integrates seamlessly with your phone or browser? Google, Apple, and Firefox’s password managers are basic but solid. Hate the idea of all your passwords sitting in the cloud? Try KeePass or one of its variants. Need support for advanced two-factor authentication methods, like a YubiKey? Many paid services include it. Password managers now also generally support passkeys, a simpler yet more secure method of account protection.

Paying for a good solution isn’t always necessary either, as you’ll see when going over our lists of the best paid password managers and the best free password managers. The kinds of features that unlock when paying for services are helpful indeed, especially if you’re using multiple devices or want to secure passwords for multiple people, but they’re not absolutely vital otherwise. That said, our go-to solution — Dashlane — makes managing passwords dead simple and only costs $33 per year, or $2.75 per month. It’s money well spent for the added security (and the extra polish).

And don’t worry if you try one service and don’t like it. Exporting and importing password databases is simple.

Use strong, unique passwords for everything

Even websites that barely register in your memory deserve a strong, unique password. If you’ve left behind traces of personal information — or financial information, like stored credit card info — unauthorized access to your account could lead to future headaches.

Normally, remembering a strong, random, and unique password for every place you visit on the internet would be a pain in the rear. Everything requires a login these days. But with a password manager (which of course you’ve just set up!), you no longer have that responsibility. So long as you have the browser extension (or app installed on your phone), you can let it choose a password for you. Just tell it how many characters in length and what mix of them. (Security experts currently recommend 24 characters in length, randomly generated with numbers, letters, and special characters; you can also opt for a similarly long passphrase for things you need to manually type.) The fun part is that because you don’t have to memorize each password yourself, long and complex strings aren’t a hassle.

If you want to really level up your login security, you can also use strong, unique user names, too. With a password manager tracking everything, being randominternetuser13960 on one site, ithurtstomove4582 on another, and pizzacoma2259 on a third is a cinch. Have to use an email address for your login? Gmail and some other email providers let you create aliases by adding a plus sign (+) and phrase after your account name. So for example, you could use emailaddress+likesbooks@gmail.com to distinguish that particular site. Or better yet, you can wholesale upgrade to email masks for true anonymity.

Enable two-factor authentication, too

We hate to say it, but these days, strong passwords alone aren’t enough to ward off threats. Data breaches happen, and so do moments of being caught off-guard by phishing attempts.

Two-factor authentication adds another layer to your login process. Instead of having immediate access to your account upon entering your user name and password, you’ll have to pass another security check before access is granted. (You can read more about how 2FA works in our explainer, which also gives more details on the common forms available.)

Like using a password manager, two-factor authentication doesn’t have to be a cumbersome addition to your login process. Apps like Authy, Aegis, and Ravio make accessing your 2FA codes on multiple devices simple, and support easy security measures like biometric authentication to protect those codes from prying eyes.

We of course recommend enabling two-factor authentication on as many accounts as possible, but at minimum, do it for major accounts like email and financial services — places with info that could wreak havoc on your life if someone else got unauthorized access. Also consider protecting your Amazon, social media, Steam, and work accounts (and their info ripe for use in social engineering) in this way, too.

For sites that don’t have two-factor authentication — which sadly includes a large number of e-commerce sites — you can help limit damage from unauthorized account access by not leaving your credit card information and address on file.

Use a passkey

This newer form of account authentication has been spreading steadily since last year, and just in time, too. Passkeys cut out a lot of the hassle of using passwords while also providing strong security out the gate — a quality of life upgrade sorely needed as online security gets more complex.

You just need a device like a phone, tablet, or even your PC to serve as an authenticator. It’ll be registered to your account when you generate the passkey. Afterward, you’ll get prompts on the device to authorize logins, which you’ll approve using face identification, a fingerprint, or a PIN. It’s incredibly simple, and more importantly, passkeys are more resistant to the current effects of data breaches. Because they are an asymmetrical form of encryption, a hacker can’t guess at your passkey based on the compromised website’s encrypted login data. Only you have the other part of the puzzle, and it’s a different kind of piece than the part saved to your website account.

You can also use a password manager to store passkeys, though they’re currently a bit less secure than using a physical device.

You can read more about passkeys in our coverage of Google’s recent launch of passkey support for its accounts (as well as in Google’s own excellent overview of the topic), but basically, this is the cutting-edge of online security. A passkey eliminates the hassles of passwords, along with the pressing need for two-factor authentication, and should make protecting your accounts much easier. Good websites support both passwords and passkeys — so you can still have a password + 2FA combo as an alternate method to login (just in case you lose your device with stored passkeys), but use your passkey day-to-day with less hassle.

There’s more you can do, of course — and it’s also easy

All set up with your password manager and two-factor authentication, and feeling primed to go even further? Learning more of the ins and outs of your password manager will help integrate it into your life even more seamlessly. Installing your service’s companion smartphone app and browser extension is just a starting point — check out our guide on how to make most of your password manager for more tips. You can also have a look at our story about 5 easy tasks that supercharge your security. If you’ve followed this article’s advice, you’re already more than halfway there!

Security Software and Services

Price When Reviewed

$899

Best Prices Today: Lenovo Yoga 7i 16

Lenovo continues its series of versatile, folding laptops with the new 16-inch Yoga 7i (16IML9). This model brings some high-quality design and modest hardware to a manageable, sub-$1,000 starting price. It does make some sacrifices in the name of hitting that price point, not offering the most impressive display or packing one of Lenovo’s best keyboards, but it proves an overall reliable system for a wide variety of computing needs.

Looking for more options? Be sure to check out PCWorld’s roundup of the best laptops available today.

Lenovo Yoga 7i: Specs and features

The Lenovo Yoga 7i comes in just a few different configurations, making the shopping process simple. You’ll either get the Intel Core Ultra 5 125U tested here or an upgraded Core Ultra 7 155U processor for an additional $144. Windows 11 Home can also be upgraded to Pro for $51 extra. And the 512GB of storage can be doubled to 1TB for $30 (a very reasonable offer for such an upgrade). The display and memory aren’t upgradeable. The result is a $900 base price that only goes slightly higher. And since Lenovo fluctuates its prices so often, it’s very likely you’ll be able to snag the system for less than the base price and spec upgrades would suggest.

• CPU: Intel Core Ultra 5 125U
• Memory: 16GB LPDDR5
• Graphics/GPU: Intel Graphics
• Display: 16-inch 1200p IPS
• Storage: 512GB PCIe Gen4 SSD
• Webcam: 1080p
• Connectivity: 2x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, 2x Thunderbolt 4 / Power Delivery 3.0 and DisplayPort 1.4a, 1x microSD card reader, 1x 3.5mm combo audio, 1x HDMI 2.1 TMDS
• Networking: WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3
• Biometrics: Windows Hello fingerprint, facial recognition
• Battery capacity: 71 watt-hours
• Dimensions: 14.24 x 9.84 x 0.67 inches
• Weight: 4.21 pounds
• MSRP: $899 as-tested ($899 base)

Lenovo Yoga 7i: Design and build quality

The design is perhaps the highlight of the Lenovo Yoga 7i.There’s little noticeable change from last year’s model. It’s still a smooth, aluminum laptop coming in a smoky gray finish Lenovo calls Storm Grey. With all that metal, it comes together solid, with minimal flex. The display hinge has some wobble to it, but that’s perhaps unsurprising from a hinge that’s responsible for letting the display flip over a full 360 degrees.

This flexible hinge is a signature of the Yoga series, letting it sit in a typical laptop position, fold flat onto a table, flip over into a “tent” mode, or flip all the way over into a tablet mode. The tent mode has some practicality for a laptop with a 16-inch screen, providing a good view of the while allowing it to be set in places without taking up as much surface area — think a table on an airplane or a kitchen counter where space is precious. 

Its size does put it at odds with the tablet use, but it can easily be folded flat to rest on a tablet and take advantage of its touch and stylus inputs. When it’s fully opened, it holds firm, which is crucial for stylus use. If the display were bouncing up and down with every pen stroke, the experience would be ruined, but Lenovo’s design avoids that successfully.

Lenovo managed a reasonably thin design, though keeping the weight down would have been difficult. It’s still impressive that it managed to just narrowly exceed four pounds, but there are other large laptops managing to slip under four pounds, such as the MSI Prestige 16. 

Lenovo’s 2-in-1 design results in a somewhat large bottom bezel, which has proven itself difficult to avoid on folding laptops like this. The rest of the bezels are fairly thin though. Lenovo expanded the area where the webcam sits to also create a lip for easily opening the laptop’s lid. Unfortunately, the base of the laptop isn’t quite heavy enough to stay down while opening the lid, so it still ends up being a two-handed task.

While the design is fairly simple beyond the hinge, one unusual aspect of it is that Lenovo has put the power button on the edge of the laptop instead of somewhere around the keyboard. So far, I’ve found it all too easy to hit the button and put the laptop to sleep any time I grab the sides of the laptop to move it.

Lenovo Yoga 7i: Keyboard, trackpad

The Lenovo Yoga 7i just doesn’t have a great keyboard. It’s a shame to say when so many Lenovo laptops have great keyboards and the Yoga 7i’s looks almost identical, but it simply lacks the stabilization it needs to feel good. Any pressure near the edges of keycaps will see them wiggle considerably, and this makes for an insecure feeling.

Ultimately, I managed to reach a typing speed of 122 words-per-minute with 98 percent accuracy in Monkeytype, which was still quite respectable, but I have a lot of time on Lenovo keyboards behind me, and none of that made it feel any better underneath my fingertips. The mushiness of the keys near their edges can also make repeated presses hit or miss, so consistency proves difficult. 

A small concession is that Lenovo includes a number pad with all the keys in their standard places (albeit with slightly narrow keys), which is a huge win for anyone doing data entry.

The trackpad is at least quite smooth and spacious, providing an easy means of navigation. It responds consistently to clicks and taps as well as multi-finger gestures. While it’s centered below the alpha keys of the keyboard, this does see it left of center on the laptop itself, which can make right-handed navigation less ergonomic. 

Lenovo Yoga 7i: Display, audio

You get a big display with the Lenovo Yoga 7i, but that’s about where it ends. It has a reflective glass coating that feels nice and smooth for touch input, but also results in a bit more glare than we’d want to see from a laptop that tops out at 297 nits of brightness. It’s not dim, but it’s also not bright enough to challenge serious overhead lighting or sunny conditions.

At 16 inches, the 1920×1200 is still sharp enough for most use cases, though not impressive. And though Lenovo advertises Dolby Vision as a part of the package, the display is simply not up to the task of displaying anything gorgeous. It has a solid contrast ratio, hitting nearly 1500:1, but it has poor color gamut, hitting a paltry 67 percent coverage of sRGB. The result is drab color and underwhelming visuals.

The speakers on the Yoga 7i are more than a little respectable, though. They pump out decent volume — more than enough for listening at a distance in a small, quiet room. More impressively, they even have a bit of low end to boost movies and music along with more the weight they need. They shouldn’t be mistaken for bumping, bassy speakers, as they really leave lower bass and sub-bass notes out of the mix. But they offer more than a lot of their contemporaries, especially those in the sub-$1,000 bracket.

Lenovo Yoga 7i: Webcam, microphone, biometrics

The Yoga 7i features a 1080p webcam, giving it a surprising upgrade over the basics where other elements of its hardware don’t try to overachieve like this. It’s fairly sharp and reasonably bright, though skews toward a colder color temperature. Bigger than the resolution is the inclusion of Windows Hello facial recognition, which continues to prove a fast and convenient way to sign in compared to the more inconsistent response from fingerprint scanners. That said, the Yoga 7i also includes a fingerprint scanner.

The microphones paired with the Yoga 7i are effective at canceling out some background noise, including sound coming from the laptop itself, and they pick up on my voice even if I’m talking quietly. They do a decent job of capturing a lifelike sound for voice, though most dedicated hardware will still be an upgrade.

Lenovo Yoga 7i: Connectivity

Lenovo has slapped on solid connectivity for the machine. It’s a pleasure to see the thin design not sacrificing good port variety. It has fit two Thunderbolt 4 onto the left side, either able to handle the task of charging the laptop. Those come alongside a 3.5mm combo audio jack and an HDMI port. The opposite side houses a pair of USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports and a microSD card slot. The onboard amount and variety is good, and the extensibility with Thunderbolt 4 provides great flexibility for hubs and docks when more ports are called for.

Wireless connections are also strong with Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3. During testing, I encountered no stability issues with these wireless connections, and they should provide good support with current and upcoming networks and devices. 

Lenovo Yoga 7i: Performance

The Lenovo Yoga 7i isn’t running the top-tier of Intel’s latest processors, but it comes with a respectable Intel Core Ultra 5 125U, which packs in a pair of performance cores, eight efficient cores, and two more low-power efficient cores for a combined 12 cores and 14 threads. In everyday operation, this is more than enough to get by, especially with 16GB of memory and a modestly zippy SSD. 

That bears out in PCMark 10, where the Lenovo Yoga 7i performs in league with several other larger ultrabooks, albeit toward the tail end of the bunch. The system may have scored better if it weren’t for slightly weaker graphics results. The Yoga 7i offered strong results in the Essentials and Productivity portions of PCMark’s test, keeping close and even exceeding some of the competition, but it lagged far behind in rendering and editing photo and video. 

That trailing performance is easy to chalk up to the CPU, which just isn’t quite as fast as the competition on both the single-core and multi-core level in many instances. Cinebench R20 shows the Lenovo Yoga 7i lagging far behind most of the competition here, which boast higher-tier Intel or AMD processors. The one exception is the Lenovo Yoga Book 9i, a unique foldable that has its performance headroom hampered by its design. The gulf between these systems carried over into Cinebench R15 and R23 as well.

That said, where Lenovo may not have the highest performance, it does show consistency. Over a sustained 10-minute run in Cinebench R23, its multi-core score dropped from an average of 9,288 to just 8,847, suggesting it doesn’t end up majorly throttled by heat buildup. And that strength showed in our Handbrake test, which sees the CPU work away over an extended period to encode a large video file. Where the Yoga 7i had trailed behind the Acer Swift Edge 16 in other CPU tests, it came out narrowly ahead in this sustained performance test due to that thinner laptops inability to effectively manage heat during prolonged stress.

PCMark hinted at the Lenovo Yoga 7i’s weak graphical performance, and 3DMark further confirmed it. Despite offering one of the latest Intel CPUs, this laptop doesn’t get Intel Arc Graphics. Instead, it gets the nondescript Intel Graphics, which fare little better than earlier Intel Iris Xe Graphics running on the Acer Swift Go 16. If your uses don’t include much graphical work and you don’t plan to game, this may be a nonissue.

Lenovo Yoga 7i: Battery life

For all the faults of its display and its lacking performance, the Lenovo Yoga 7i turns things around in the battery department. Even with just a 71Wh battery (the Yoga Book 9i and MSI Prestige 16 AI EVO B1MG fit larger batteries), the Yoga 7i leads the pack in runtime by a wide margin. Only MSI keeps up, and its battery is more than a third larger. Lenovo manages over 13 hours in our battery test, which plays a 4K video file on loop until the battery runs down completely. 

Office use with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enabled trims that battery life a bit, as video playback is a favorable scenario, but the Yoga 7i is still readily lasting through an eight-hour workday. This is with plenty of tabs open in Chrome. If that work involves heavier stress on the CPU, it might not last quite as long though. 

Lenovo Yoga 7i: Conclusion

Lenovo has put together a curious package in the 16-inch Yoga 7i (16IML9). It’s a well built piece of hardware, but it’s not built around great parts. With a lackluster display and unsatisfying keyboard, the ways you’ll actually interact with the laptop don’t meet the same standard of quality that the chassis brings to the table. 

You’ll still find a large footprint for productivity in the 16-inch display, and you won’t suffer from an overly heavy machine. Performance is decent for office tasks, and the battery life is more than respectable in that scenario. Having the option to use a keyboard and trackpad, a touchscreen, or a stylus also delivers flexibility that may benefit users with a variety of workflows who want one device to help with all of them. There are better laptops to go for if you have more straightforward computing needs, but if your work calls for Lenovo’s flipping trick, the Yoga 7i is a fairly sensible option at $900. 

Laptops

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Accessories

Cloud storage is essential for everyone in today’s digital world. Rather than pay a monthly fee or constantly upgrade your plan, lock in a lifetime of 1TB of Koofr Cloud Storage for a great one-time price today. Through May 5, you can get 1TB for a one-time payment of just $129.97 (reg. $810) using coupon code: KOOFR.

Rated 4.6/5 stars on G2, Koofr is an intuitive cloud storage platform that makes it easy to upload your files to the cloud and stay organized. You can access your cloud on your smartphone, or computer, or using WebDav, and easily connect to existing cloud accounts like Dropbox, Google Drive, Amazon, and OneDrive to organize your entire cloud ecosystem. Koofr gives you tools like a Duplicate Finder to manage your files more effectively to maximize space and make it easier to find what you need, and it never tracks your activity.

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Accessories

Virtual private networks, or VPNs, are one of the most effective ways to stay safe online. Not only do they allow you to stay anonymous, but they can help you get past region blocks on streaming services such as Netflix. However, you usually have to pay for a VPN subscription and adding an extra monthly expense to an already tight budget isn’t ideal. That’s where a free VPN can come in handy. They can provide you with a similar level of security for virtually—pun intended—nothing. But not all free VPNs are built the same.

With many free VPNs you’ll encounter a lot of restrictions such as speed constraints, bandwidth caps, or a limited country network. These restrictions can add up, making the experience of using a free VPN feel pointless. That’s why it’s important that you choose the right free VPN service based on your own needs.

While we advise that you opt for a premium VPN, such as those in our roundup of the best VPNs, we understand that sometimes you just need quick and easy basic protection without having to pay for yet another service. Therefore we’ve curated a list of the best free VPNs around. We lay out any restrictions they may impose and what activities they’re best used for—streaming, torrenting, browsing, etc. Following our recommendations you can read about what to look for in a free VPN and how we test.

Updated May 1, 2024: Check out our latest review of Mullvad VPN. It might not come with a free version, but privacy-king Mullvad is one of the most affordable premium VPNs around and more than worth the cost if you can swing it.

What to look for in a free VPN

Choosing a free VPN is a question of weighing the trade-offs with each service. Do you want unlimited bandwidth, but a restriction on devices? Or is it preferable to have more devices but deal with a bandwidth limit?

One thing you definitely want to avoid is a VPN that is ad supported. Ads expose you to tracking by the company delivering said ads, which is something you definitely don’t want. Also, stay away from any deal that suggests you can get a VPN by “sharing” your bandwidth like we saw with the Hola VPN scandal back in 2015. You also want to watch out for any VPNs you’ve never heard of, or that don’t have any official reviews by third-parties.

After that, you want to consider the usual issues such as the server network, connection speeds, privacy policy, Netflix support, and additional features.

How we test VPNs

We judge VPNs on a variety of criteria including server network, connection speeds, privacy protections, ease-of-use, additional features, and cost. For a more detailed guide on how we test, check out our comprehensive guide on how we test VPN services.

Speed tests are kept as simple as possible. We average the connections between different global locations for any given VPN and then compare them to our baseline internet speed to get a good picture of the overall connection speeds. We thoroughly research and analyze the privacy policies and histories of each VPN and note any outstanding discrepancies or data collection issues.

Experience and ease-of-use are subjective, but we try our best to give an accurate representation of how it feels to work with the VPN. Since you don’t have to pay for a free VPN, the value will be contingent upon the trade-offs you’ll need to make and the restrictions it has in place.

Free VPNs aren’t a top recommendation, but if you’re going to go that way we’d strongly suggest the VPNs mentioned above.

VPN

Microsoft said this week that the most recent Windows security update for Windows 10 and Windows 11 may break VPN connections.

According to Microsoft (via Bleeping Computer), “Windows devices might face VPN connection failures after installing the April 2024 security update, or KB5036893.”

Microsoft has no fix at the current time, the company said. “We are working on a resolution and will provide an update in an upcoming release,” the company said.

Unfortunately, the list of affected clients is rather lengthy: Windows 11 (23H2, 22H2, and 21H2) as well as Windows 10 (22H2 and 21H2). If you’re a consumer and run into this issue, Microsoft advises that you first launch the Windows “Get Help” app to inform Microsoft of the problem and possibly work through a solution.

It doesn’t really sound like there is a solution, though. You could always try to uninstall the most recent security update. (Of course, you lose the protections that accompany the most recent patch, too.) Otherwise, you’ll have to wait until Microsoft fixes the problem — if there is a problem. Microsoft at least hasn’t said that all VPNs are affected, possibly including our best VPN recommendations.

It’s all bad news, of course, for anyone who likes to work at a coffee shop or airport, or who is travelling overseas where VPNs can be a way of life. Hopefully Microsoft finds a fix soon.

VPN, Windows

The best webcam makes you look your best — for less. Most laptops ship with a 720p webcam, so a 1080p webcam or even a 4K webcam can make you stand out by comparison.

I haven’t tested every one of these webcams, just most of them — and I describe how I test under my recommendations. You can also refer to my separate story on the best Windows Hello webcams for recommendations that aid videoconferencing and log you into your PC. Two recommendations from that list — a premium and budget option — appear on this list.

Take note of the FAQ at the bottom of this article, as there’s a new upcoming Windows feature that may create some big ripples on the webcam industry!

Why you should trust me: PCWorld has been testing PC hardware since the 1980s, and I’ve been a technology journalist for 30 years, with extensive experience in reviewing PC hardware. When it comes to webcams, my recommendations are based on hands-on testing in real-world scenarios. I also tap the expertise and published reviews of my counterparts in Sweden and Germany to offer a comprehensive view of the current webcam landscape.

Updated May 1, 2024: My most recent review is of the Logitech MX Brio, a 4K webcam that is the sort-of successor to the Logitech Brio 4K. While it challenged BenQ’s IdeaCam S1 Pro for the best premium webcam, I don’t think it quite offers enough.

How to shop for a webcam

A standalone 1080p webcam can greatly improve how you look on your next Zoom call. Here’s what to look for: Prioritize a 1080p webcam, then a higher refresh rate, then jump up to 4K. If you can get more than one feature, great! Unless you’ll be moving about a lot, a fixed-focus webcam will do just fine.

It’s important to note that of the three major videoconferencing services (Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and Google Meet) only Teams will automatically scale up your video to 1080p if your network and your webcam support it. You can enable 1080p video in Zoom and (finally!) in Google Meet, but they require some manual adjustment in the app’s Settings menu. All three services will eventually auto-scale video calls for 1080p cameras — it’s just a matter of time.

Looking like you’re on television will subtly lend you authority. People gravitate toward celebrities, and a 4K, 60Hz webcam is basically what your TV offers. If you’re an executive or making sales calls over Zoom or Teams, a premium webcam may give you an edge. That’s why professional streamers use them, after all.

Adjustable or fixed focus

Don’t worry about fixed-focus, as virtually all webcams have been pre-configured at a focal length that’s about the distance between your face and your laptop or monitor. You’ll need to account for this with tripods, however, or pay a little more for an autofocusing webcam. Autofocus webcams are handy for situations where you may be moving about the room, but beware distracting webcams that frequently refocus.

Higher frame rates

A standard webcam captures video at 30 frames per second, and will look “normal.” You’ll notice the smoothness of a 60fps camera though, and so will people you’re on a video call with.

Field of view (FOV) 

The camera’s field of view can vary. A 90-degree FOV helps people focus on you (and perhaps not the mess you’ve hidden off to the side). A 110-degree or higher FOV works better for group shots, although distortion can become a problem the wider your FOV gets. A 65-degree FOV may be perfect if it’s just you.

Think of a 90-degree FOV as one that would show two people seated side-by-side at what you would consider a “standard” distance from a webcam, or a foot or two. A 110-degree FOV can show three people, squeezed a bit close together. Keep in mind that many videoconferencing applications offer the option of virtual backgrounds, which eliminate visual clutter.

Privacy shutter

These devices are not a privacy threat, for the simple reason that they can be unplugged easily. Most have a flip-down privacy shutter, but you could always put tape over the camera or drape it with a dark cloth. 

Ring lights

Yes, integrated ring lights are now a thing on premium webcams, and worth the money if lighting is a challenge for you. While the integrated light will certainly help with lighting, a big bright monitor display (use a full-screen version of Notepad for a white screen) in front of you can serve a similar function. You can also purchase a ring light separately.

Windows Hello

You may have used Windows Hello with a fingerprint reader or another laptop. The camera simply “recognizes” you, logging you in. It’s exceptionally convenient. We have a separate article on the best Windows Hello webcams.

Tripod bundle

With so many webcams on the market, manufacturers are trying hard to differentiate their products. The new trend is a small tripod, which gives you more options for mounting the camera. Not all webcams include this. Normally, however, you can simply clip the webcam to the top of a display or a laptop with its “jaws” clamp, so a tripod isn’t really necessary unless you move around a lot or want a different angle.

AI

There’s a potential wild card that may be attached to webcams in the future: artificial intelligence, specifically Windows Studio Effects. Right now, the current Surface Pro 9 (5G) uses the AI capabilities in the Qualcomm Snapdragon processor to apply background blue, automatic panning effects, and more. (Our review discusses this.) Other laptops that use Intel Core and AMD Ryzen processors don’t include AI capabilities — yet. Specific models in the 13th-gen mobile Core and AMD Ryzen 7000 Mobile series include some basic AI capabilities, and future processors in both families may offer AI capabilities and therefore Windows Studio Effects.

The OBSBOT webcams don’t need any of this, using an independent gimbal and tracking software to keep you in the frame.

How we test webcams

Our recommendations for webcams are weighted pretty heavily toward the image each webcam produces, as you might expect. But there are a number of additional criteria we look at when making a webcam recommendation. A separate article provides a detailed explanation of how we test webcams at PCWorld, but here’s a summarization of the process:

Our first criteria is price. We don’t want you spend more than you have to. But it’s fair to say that a more expensive webcam might be worth it if it offers more. So we factor in features: the resolution, the refresh rate, whether the camera pans or zooms, or offers something rather novel, such as the ability to show a different perspective.

From there, we remove the webcam, examine the packaging, and see how well it sits atop some of our monitors and laptops. Does it grip tightly, or tend to wobble? Is the cord long enough, and does it use USB-A or USB-C?

As the lead reviewer, I take sample images both in my downstairs office, which is normally lit by a combination of dim artificial light and indirect natural lighting. I use a second shot in brighter light, with a nice colorful background that mimics a real-world environment. I’m not really looking for the best-case scenario, as most webcams now take good shots in clear, natural lighting. But how do they do when lighting conditions aren’t ideal? I think that’s important.

I also load any utility software available and explore what options those provides. Does the webcam provide any additional functions, such as a top-down perspective? Ring lights? I try those out, too.

Finally, if the webcam provides any noise-cancelling mics (and most do) I play some background music on my phone and make a recording on my laptop using Windows Sound Recorder. A good noise-canceling mic will try and minimize these distractions.

Business, Cameras, Computer Accessories, Desktop PCs, Laptop Accessories

“AI PCs” are all the rage in the computer industry right now, at least if you listen to anyone trying to get you to buy a new laptop. Neural processing units or NPUs are the new hotness, powering local AI capabilities…though whether that’s actually worth anything is still in question. But Nvidia wants people to know that if you want real AI power, you need a discrete GPU.

That’s the basis of a presentation leaked by Chinese site BenchLife.info and spotted by VideoCardz.com. In the slides posted to the site (and marked “Nvidia Confidential — Do Not Distribute”, so consider all of this unconfirmed), Nvidia lays out the difference between computers that feature “Basic AI” and “Premium AI.” That difference is, in short, a dedicated and discrete graphics card, the kind that Nvidia sells.

Of course the actual presentation was a little more substantive. The slides point out that the NPUs integrated into the latest Intel and AMD processors are capable of 10-45 Tera Operations Per Second (TOPS) while a “Premium AI PC” with an RTX card can handle 100 to 1300 TOPS. And Nvidia also points out that while NPUs are still an extremely recent development, with less than a million units in consumers’ hands as of the end of 2023, Nvidia RTX-powered computers had reached over 100 million units by that point.

Now it goes without saying that this definition of “Premium AI PC” is self-serving for Nvidia, in the same way Microsoft’s definition of an AI PC (complete with a dedicated Copilot button on the keyboard) was. And even Nvidia isn’t saying a discrete graphics card is the be-all, end-all of AI — the same slide says that you need data centers powered by “Cloud GPUs” are needed for Heavy AI, presumably handling most of the generative tools that most people consider AI.

But it’s worth pointing out that Nvidia is also selling those cloud GPUs, and a hell of a lot of them, too. The company is projected to earn $24 billion in revenue in Q1 2024, a 600 percent increase over the same quarter in the previous year.

Graphics Cards

If you’ve never used an air fryer, you’re truly missing out. It’s a magical cooking machine that can do almost anything at record speeds — and the results are delicious. Good news! Right now, you can get the Ninja Air Fryer Pro (XL) for $119.99 at Amazon. That’s 29 percent off of the original $169.99 price.

The Ninja Air Fryer Pro XL cooks frozen foods in mere minutes and it’s super easy to clean. Plus, the 6-in-1 functionality is just plain wonderful. Better yet, it can cook your grub in all different sorts of ways such as max crisp, air fry, air roast, bake, reheat, and dehydrate.

Not only is the Ninja Air Fryer Pro designed to reduce cooking times, but it requires hardly any oil to do so, which is healthier in the long run. It comes with a 6.5-QT nonstick basket and crisper plate, which can fit up to five pounds of French fries, according to Ninja. If you’re new to cooking, you can also check out the included recipe book and cooking charts. Finally, this divine cooking machine can reach temperatures of up to 450 Fahrenheit.

This is an excellent deal, but it’s also a limited time deal. Get it now before it’s too late and take the headache out of making dinner.

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Air Fryers

Nothing beats the versatility of a 2-in-1 laptop. Need to use it like a tablet for taking notes? Want to prop it up like a tent and watch a movie? All you have to do is swing the screen around. Not only does the Dell Inspiron 14 boast a 2-in-1 design, but it also has a great display as well as decent hardware. Right now you can get it for just $449.99 at Dell, which is a savings of $250.

The Dell Inspiron 14 comes equipped with an AMD Ryzen 5 7530U CPU, 8GB of RAM, and 512GB of SSD storage. That’s more than enough juice for day-to-day tasks, office work, coursework, and so on. The 14-inch touch display has a resolution if 1920×1200, a productivity-friendly aspect ratio of 16:10, and a refresh rate of 60Hz. The taller aspect ratio makes it easier to scroll through web pages and whatnot. This is no gaming laptop, but that hardware combination is great for watching videos, surfing the web, and getting work done. In addition to the nice display, it also has upwards-firing speakers, a backlit keyboard, and a fingerprint reader.

This is a really good deal, but it’s on clearance, which means stock is likely selling out fast. Don’t miss your chance.

Get the Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 for $449.99 at Dell

Laptops

Mouse lift-off distance, or LOD, often appears as a setting you can tweak in the companion software apps for gaming mice. But what it means and how to use it to get the best performance is an often-misunderstood thing.

Take it from me, like your mouse’s DPI and polling rate, lift-off distance really does matter. If you get this setting right, you can prevent erratic movements, keep your position centered, and steady your crosshair. You’ll ultimately perform better in your games too.

What is lift-off distance?

In a nutshell it’s the height at which your mouse’s sensor stops sending a signal to your computer when you lift it up. A high lift-off distance means the mouse will keep tracking at a high elevation above the tabletop, whereas a low lift-off distance means the mouse will cut out a little closer to the surface you’re using it on.

Lift-off distance is often measured in millimeters, with increments between 1mm and 10mm (1cm). Lower lift-off distances are often considered to be 1mm and 2mm, while higher lift-off distances are anything from 3mm to 10mm. Some companion apps just give you the option of choosing between a Low, Medium, or High lift-off distance.

If you don’t think you ever lift your mouse, try watching yourself play. Most gamers, and yes, even competitive gamers, lift their mice from time to time — it’s very common.

High or low? What’s best?

Lift-off distance is one of those really polarizing topics for gamers — like asking someone if they like the chocolate chips in chocolate chip ice cream, there’s usually strong views about it one way or the other. In fact, we can mock up a hypothetical boxing match with the differing viewpoints.

Boxing in the blue corner are players who prefer high lift-off distances. The right hook behind their argument is that a higher lift-off distance allows them to keep aiming at elevation, to track their opponents in the split second or so they’ve lifted their mouse.

In the red corner is the conventional viewpoint that appears in all the marketing materials for gaming mice. The knockout behind this argument is that competitive gamers need to recenter their mice a lot, so low liftoff distances make for more predictable and reliable movements when they do so, allowing them to keep their aim steady and positioning centered.

But which viewpoint is right?

The status quo: The LOD most gamers adopt

It’s generally accepted that lower lift-off distances are better for competitive gaming, especially for first-person shooters.

Take a firefight in an FPS game as an example: Say you’re pursuing an opponent and near the end of your pursuit you lift your mouse to recenter it. If your mouse’s sensor has a low lift-off distance it will just cut out, your crosshair will stay on target, and you will have an excellent chance of still hitting that target.

The opposite is also true: If you have a higher lift-off distance set, your mouse’s sensor will keep tracking when you lift it up. But since your movement isn’t to continue tracking your opponent, just to put it back in the center of your mat, you’ll most likely lose your crosshair aim and or your positioning and therefore miss.

Having said that, a low lift-off distance isn’t ideal for every situation. Competitive gamers will often chop and change lift-off distances to suit different games or even different player classes within games.

In fact, one gamer on reddit swears that a higher lift-off distance of 3mm gives them better control of tracking when their “fingers make contact with their mouse mat, and when they make fast flicks.”

Lift-off distance and you

The best way to find the ideal lift-off distance is by trial and error. In your mouse’s companion app try adjusting your mouse’s lift-off distance in increments starting from the lowest and gradually increasing the distance until you find a sweet spot.

In your tweaking, consider factors like: the kind of game you’re playing, how often you lift, the height you lift, your grip style (claw grippers tend to lift more), and how tall your mouse’s feet are.

The extent to which you can fine-tune your lift-off distance will, however, be limited by the level of personalization that your gaming mouse’s software gives you. For instance, the Logitech G Hub gave me a choice of, Low, Medium, or High lift-off distances for the Logitech G Pro X Superlight 2.

But Razer’s Synapse app let me set the Razer Cobra Pro’s lift-off distance to one of 26 granular distances. That meant I had 23 more chances to get it just right.

Now that you know a little more about lift-off distance, like most hardware settings, there’s nothing like a spot of gaming to refine them. So, what are you waiting for? Load up a game and start tweaking!

Gaming, Mice

Mechanical keyboards are great for gaming, but it’s all too easy to spend way too much on one. Corsair’s most expensive model is nearly $300, and it’s missing a lot of premium features. Meanwhile the humble K70 Core scored an Editor’s Choice award from my review, partly thanks to its great value. Today you can pick one up for just 80 bucks, $30 off its regular price.

Amazon is selling the K70 Core, with the included wrist rest that usually demands an extra $10, for just $79.99. That’s about the best deal you can find for a full-sized gaming keyboard with great switches and some interior sound dampening for satisfying typing. Naturally it includes RGB lighting and custom software compatibility, too.

Corsair’s custom MLX Red (linear and speedy) switches really are the star here, but be aware that as a budget model the K70 Core doesn’t let you swap them out. The fixed USB cable is also a bit of a bummer, making it harder to organize your cables quickly. That said, this really is the best deal you’re going to find for a large gaming board from a major supplier.

Amazon says it’s a “limited time deal,” so who knows how long it’ll stick around. Hop on it fast if you’re interested.

Get the Corsair K70 Core keyboard with wrist rest for just $80

Keyboards

In recent weeks and months, Microsoft has increased the pressure on Windows 10 users to finally upgrade to Windows 11, highlighting the impending end of Windows 10 support. However, this end of support is not until October 2025 and can even be delayed by three years for a fee with the “Windows 10 Extended Security Updates” (ESU). The end of support means that Windows 10 users who do not pay for ESU will no longer receive Windows updates after October 2025 and therefore no newly discovered security vulnerabilities will be closed on their Windows 10 computers.

How Windows 10 is currently annoying us with pop-ups

Windows 10 displays full-screen adverts for the upgrade, even on Windows 10 computers that do not meet the requirements for Windows 11. The annoying upgrade notifications are even appearing on Windows 10 PCs within companies. At the same time, Microsoft has increased the number of upgrade-eligible Windows 10 PCs. So far, however, none of this has been successful; on the contrary, Windows 10 has recently gained market share, while Windows 11 has lost market share.

The long history of end-of-support pop-ups

Such annoying (full-screen) pop-ups, with which Microsoft urges users to upgrade to the latest Windows generation, are by no means an invention in Windows 10. Microsoft has been presenting users with such upgrade annoyances since Windows XP.

The YouTuber WindowsOSStuff has taken the trouble to put together a short, snappy video of all the “End of Support” pop-ups (also known as End of Life, EOL) that Windows has annoyed its users with and continues to annoy them with to this day. The video is a journey through time on Microsoft’s incessant pestering of satisfied Windows users.

The first of these end-of-support pop-ups appeared in Windows XP. It could still be easily switched off using a checkbox and was not aggressive. WindowsOSStuff didn’t find such a pop-up in Windows Vista, which was quite unpopular at the time. But in the very successful Windows 7, the pestering resumed: Several times, in fact, as Microsoft placed different pop-ups in front of Windows 7 users. What’s more, Microsoft became much more intrusive. The video continues with the unpopular Windows 8 and 8.1, followed by the end-of-support pop-ups for the ever-popular Windows 10, which is where we stand today.

This article was translated from German to English and originally appeared on pcwelt.de.

Streaming Media, Windows

Price When Reviewed

$149.99

Best Prices Today: Pixio PX248 Wave

Let’s be real: Most gaming monitors are rather boring, and those that aren’t tend to lean towards an edgy, masculine, or cyberpunk look. The few that bucks the trend, like Alienware’s retro sci-fi aesthetic, are usually expensive. Pixio’s PX248 Wave offers an affordable alternative to the status quo, and backs up its looks with good motion clarity.

Pixio PX248 Wave specs and features

The Pixio PX248 Wave’s basic specifications are typical for any budget monitor. It has a 24-inch IPS display panel with a resolution of 1920×1080. The monitor offers HDMI and DisplayPort input and supports Adaptive Sync.

• Display size: 24-inch widescreen
• Native resolution: 1920×1080
• Panel type: Fast IPS
• Refresh rate: Up to 200Hz
• Adaptive sync: Adaptive Sync
• HDR: Yes, HDR10
• Ports: 1x HDMI 2.0, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x USB-A (for firmware updates only), 1x 3.5mm audio jack
• VESA mount: None
• Speakers: 2x 3-watt speakers
• Price: $149.99 retail

Two specifications stand out, however. The monitor has a 200Hz refresh rate, which, though not the highest available for $150, is certainly towards the upper limit of what gamers can buy on a budget. It also has a pair of 3-watt speakers that are stronger than most of its peers.

What really stands out, however, is something that doesn’t translate easily to a spec sheet: the looks.

Further reading: See our roundup of the best gaming monitors to learn about competing products.

Pixio PX248 Wave design

The experience delivered by the Pixio PX248 Wave depends on the colorway that you purchase. Four colors are available: Black, White, Pink, and Blue. I received the Pink colorway, which is a rare option for any gaming peripheral and especially for a monitor.

And you know what? It looks great. Pixio opts for a cozy, pastel shade of pink that is a perfect fit for anyone looking to create a lighter, more inviting atmosphere for their gaming den.

Of course, going for a more basic colorway like Black will lessen the impact of the design, but Pixio’s build quality is good for the price. Plastic is the material of choice, but I noticed virtually zero flex while handling the monitor, and the design doesn’t scream “budget” to all who look. You could spend twice as much and not buy any noticeable gain in build quality.

Ergonomics is where Pixio makes some cuts. The monitor has a simple tripod-style stand that clips to the back of the monitor and only adjusts for tilt. A VESA mount is included for use with third-party monitor arms and stands but uses the less popular 75x75mm bolt pattern instead of the more standard 100x100mm pattern. The 100mm pattern is also supported with an adapter, which can be finicky.

Those looking to complete the look of the PX248 Wave’s pink, blue, and white colorways should consider the Pixio PS1S Wave monitor arm. I didn’t get a chance to test it, so I can’t vouch for its quality, but it’s built to color-match the PX248 Wave monitor.

The Pixio PX248 Wave is a gift to gamers who must stick to a strict budget.

Pixio PX248 Wave connectivity and menus

The Pixio PX248 Wave’s connectivity is limited even for a budget monitor. It has just two video inputs: one HDMI 2.0 and one DisplayPort 1.4. Both inputs support the monitor’s maximum refresh rate of 200Hz, which is nice to see on a budget monitor. However, most competitors offer three video inputs.

Pixio also includes a 3.5mm audio jack for audio pass-through to a headset and a single USB-A port. However, the USB-A port is only meant for use with firmware updates, and indeed, I could find no other purpose for the port.

The monitor’s options are selected by navigating through the on-screen menu with buttons located on the lower-right lip. These are more cumbersome to use than the joystick-style controls that are common on many monitors. Pixio’s menu is easy to navigate, at least, and offers a fair range of options, including adjustments for gamma, color temperature, hue, and saturation.

A pair of 3-watt speakers are included, and they’re a pleasant surprise. There’s enough volume to be usable and mostly avoid sounding muddy, which is important when listening to music and playing games. There’s even some dynamism in the sound stage that provides a sense of depth that’s uncommon for built-in speakers. Dedicated external speakers will be an upgrade, but I could get by with the bundled speakers in a pinch.

Pixio PX248 Wave SDR image quality

Image quality can be dicey with a budget gaming monitor, but has improved in recent years. The Pixio PX248 Wave reinforces that trend with solid color performance and a decent contrast ratio, though it also has a few flaws.

The monitor’s brightness tops out at about 292 nits, which, though not bad, is towards the low end of what I would expect from a modern monitor with an IPS display panel. This level of brightness is enough to be usable in most situations, but brightly lit rooms may begin to overwhelm the display and make it appear dim.

I measured a maximum contrast ratio of 1050:1. That’s hardly a record-setting result; in fact, it is towards the low end of what is available from modern gaming monitors. Still, the contrast ratio is acceptable for the price and high enough to hold up in some situations.

The PX248 Wave suffers when displaying dark games in a dark room, as it lacks the deep blacks and shadow detail needed to provide a convincing representation. It’s at its best when displaying bright, colorful content in a well-lit room, as this helps obscure the monitor’s problems with darker content.

As the graph shows, there’s a major gap between monitors that have an IPS panel, like the PX248 Wave, and those that have a VA panel, like the AOC 27G15. That might lead you to think a VA panel is better, but budget VA panels tend to have problems with sharpness, so there’s no perfect choice. Gamers have to decide if more realistic contrast or a sharper image is preferable.

The PX248 Wave’s color gamut comes in at 99 percent of the sRGB gamut, 82 percent of DCI-P3, and 77 percent of AdobeRGB. This again is a long way from the best performance available but is fine for the price. It lacks the rich and saturated look that is available from monitors with a wider color gamut, but it still has enough range to hold some allure.

Color accuracy, on the other hand, requires no excuses or caveats. The monitor’s out-of-box color accuracy is good, and though I wouldn’t recommend it for professional photographers, it’s fine for editing family photos or uploading an occasional video to YouTube. It’s difficult to find better color accuracy for the price.

However, the monitor does have issues with one aspect of color, and that’s color temperature. The measured out-of-box color temperature is 8500K, which is way off the intended target of 6500K. Simply put, the monitor’s color looks far too cool and sterile. The color temperature adjustments provided by the monitor can improve this, but the color temperature remained above 6500K even when set to the “Warm” preset. Gamma was slightly off, producing a gamma result of 2.1 when it should be at a result of 2.2, but this was far less noticeable.

Sharpness is acceptable. A resolution of 1920×1080 is not going to impress most shoppers in 2024, but on a 24-inch monitor, it provides an acceptable pixel density of 92 pixels per inch. As you might expect, the PX248 Wave looks sharper than a 27-inch 1080p or 32-inch 1080p display. Small fonts can look jagged when browsing the web, but sharpness issues are less noticeable in games, especially those with a quality anti-aliasing implementation.

On the whole, the Pixio PX248 Wave’s image quality performance is what I would expect from a budget gaming monitor. It has some strengths, such as its sharpness and color accuracy, but also weaknesses, such as the unusually cool color temperature.

Pixio PX248 Wave HDR image quality

The Pixio PX248 Wave provides support for HDR but, like any budget monitor, it’s not a great choice for HDR content. It lacks the brightness, contrast, and color gamut required to do HDR justice, so it does little to improve image quality over SDR. The same is true of the monitor’s competition, however, so the PX248 Wave is at no disadvantage here.

Pixio PX248 Wave motion performance

Refresh rate is among the Pixio PX248 Wave’s most alluring features. It offers a maximum refresh rate of up to 200Hz, which is exceptional for a monitor that retails at $150. It also provides Adaptive Sync that should function with both Nvidia and AMD video cards. FreeSync worked without issue when the monitor was connected to my Radeon RX 7800 video card.

Motion clarity at 200Hz is solid, but not amazing. Scrolling tests from League of Legends and DOTA 2 showed that character silhouettes and spell effects were easy to make out, but hitpoint bars and character names were still difficult to read. Motion clarity holds up better when panning the camera in 3D games, as significant detail is retained in distant objects and fine textures.

The monitor’s decent out-of-box motion clarity can be improved with MPRT, a feature that reduces motion blur by strobing the backlight at an extremely high frequency. It also has several improved response time modes that increase the speed at which pixels respond to changes.

These modes introduce noticeable visual artifacts. MRPT adds a slight “double image” effect behind moving objects and disables Adaptive Sync, while bumping up the response time results in an over-sharpened look.

However, the features are undeniably effective at reducing motion blur. I think the MRPT mode, in combination with the Medium response time mode, will be appealing to competitive gamers on a tight budget. It delivers motion clarity close to what I’ve witnessed on a 360Hz display. If you’re not interested in competitive games, however, I’d recommend leaving both features off.

Should you buy the Pixio PX248 Wave?

The Pixio PX248 Wave is a great choice for gamers who want attractive design and solid motion clarity in an extremely inexpensive monitor. Priced at just $150, the PX248 Wave is affordable for a monitor with a refresh rate above 144Hz, yet it also provides several unusual colorways that will fit a variety of gaming setups. Strong audio performance from the built-in speakers add icing to the cake.

Image quality is a mixed bag, however, due to issues with color temperature and mediocre contrast. And the PX248 Wave, like most gaming monitors below $200, faces pressure from low-to-mid-range alternatives like the Dell 2724D, which typically costs $50 more but defeats the PX248 Wave by every metric. Even so, gamers that must stick to a budget of $150 should give the Pixio PX248 Wave a look.

Monitors

In the days of tech yore, antivirus software was just that. You installed the application and let it scan your system for malware.

But as protecting your PC became more complicated, vendors slowly morphed their offerings into full suites. Nowadays, a firewall and other safeguards like a browser extension, password manager, and VPN get dropped onto your system. You might even get a handful of utilities focused on optimizing your computer, rather than defending it.

To help you figure out what components are most important — as well as necessary for your situation — we’ve broken down the most common elements of today’s antivirus software.

Antivirus

At the heart of every antivirus plan is the engine that detects threats to your PC. These days, modern antivirus software both anticipates and roots out the presence of viruses and other malware, including ransomware. 

Blocking malware before it even hits your computer is a key defense against situations like your PC being commandeered for botnet attacks, having your data stolen, and getting locked out of your documents and folders. It also can stop creepy behavior like being spied on through your webcam or having everything you do recorded (including what you type).

An antivirus engine does this by screening the websites you visit, as well as the email and apps on your PC, for phishing links and potential malicious downloads. Phishing attempts usually try to steal your passwords, credit card details, or other personal information by pretending to be a legitimate site and then capturing whatever data you input.

The other half of the protection comes from the antivirus engine’s ability to detect and then eliminate malware that does land on your PC. Typically, this monitoring happens in at least two forms: Real-time scanning watches for changed or new files, as well as unusual behavior from apps and Windows itself. Scheduled scans (especially if they’re full system scans) dig into your PC to make sure nothing was missed by the real-time scanning.

Antivirus apps and virus definitions get continual updates as new malware appears in the wild. So long as you buy a subscription from a reputable company (like those reviewed by leading security organizations AV-Test and AV-Comparatives), you’ll be kept up to date for your whole term. That applies even if you bought a plan labeled as 2024 and the year crosses over into 2025.

The plan you buy will dictate how many devices are covered — usually subscriptions support macOS, Android, and iOS gear in addition to Windows PCs. On rare occasion, Chromebooks are supported as well.

Firewall

Traffic doesn’t just go to your computer, but from it, too — and depending on the app, that data may contain info you don’t want to fall into the wrong hands. A malicious app can spy on what you’re doing, and then transmit that to a would-be hacker. A good firewall blocks those attempts automatically.

A reliable firewall also closes networking ports on your PC, so that unknown parties can’t connect and find a way into your home network. Think of it like a house where shutting the external doors causes them to blend into the walls, making it difficult to discern. However, if a door is left open, someone could walk in and then take what they want, set up cameras to spy on you, or change your phone settings to forward all text messages to them, among other things. A firewall is a bit like a guard that always stays alert, making sure no one can get in.

Browser extensions

The most common add-on to your browser (be it Edge, Chrome, or Firefox) is one designed for online protection. Usually, it’ll at least add extra icons to search results to warn you away from suspicious sites. The better ones also block trackers and ads to defend your privacy and help you avoid malvertising — that is, malware spread through compromised ad networks.

Other extensions help tie your browser into components of the overall antivirus suite, making their use seamless. Most often you’ll see one for a password manager get installed, so that you can capture, create, and use entries in your vault.

On occasion, you’ll see antivirus suites that offer plugins for shopping coupons and deals. These are not related to security at all, and can actually conflict with keeping your privacy.

Password manager 

These days online security extends beyond simply defending your PC against malware. That’s why today’s software also blocks phishing websites, which generally try to capture sensitive information (like your login info) by pretending to be a legitimate site. If your credentials get stolen, you could end up with problems ranging from unwanted credit card purchases all the way to full-blown identity theft. 

By using a password manager, you can prevent the simplest form of account hacking — credential stuffing. A bad actor takes usernames and passwords leaked through data breaches, then tries them across the web to see what else can be accessed with that same login info. Since some people reuse their passwords, attackers can breach a whole new set of accounts easily. 

Password managers let you generate strong, unique credentials, which thwarts this kind of hack. They also take away the burden of trying to remember dozens (if not hundreds) of secure passwords. And with data leaks and breaches so commonplace nowadays, these services make changing your password far simpler and faster, too.

VPN

At first glance, a virtual private network may seem more in the realm of privacy protection — or circumventing geolocation restrictions. But privacy now often overlaps with security, especially if you find yourself on a public network. And that’s the primary utility of VPN services provided through an antivirus software plan.

A VPN acts as secure tunnel for data passing between your PC and the websites you visit. Because it’s encrypted, nobody snooping on the same network will be able to tell what servers you’re actually in contact with. They can only see that your PC is communicating with the VPN. So on a public network, anyone scoping out potential targets ends up with less info about your activity.

Of course, you must trust a VPN if you use one, because it ends up seeing all of your traffic. Typically, a reliable antivirus maker should meet this requirement — at least from a security perspective. Currently, AES 256-bit encryption is the standard. Don’t settle for less.

Also investigate the privacy policies — like how logs are kept (if they are). Be aware too that VPNs provided with antivirus plans don’t provide as much anonymity as independent services. You typically can’t pay anonymously, for example. (For more details, our VPN guide has the full rundown.)

Dark web monitoring

An unfortunate reality is that websites get hacked, and that number continues to increase. Some weeks you’ll see near-daily news about ransomware, data breaches, and related occurrences.

The more sites you’ve used, the more likely your username and password have been stolen, and so too your real name, physical address, email address, phone number, birth date, social security number (if you live in the U.S.), and other such details. This info about you usually ends up on the dark web — a part of the internet where people share and sell illicit information, whether that’s stolen data or hacking tools.

Free tools exist to get alerts about data breaches and leaks (like Troy Hunt’s Have I Been Pwned site), but they don’t always catch everything. For dark web monitoring, your best offense is a wide defense. Antivirus software can be another set of metaphorical eyes helping keep watch. Most basic paid subscriptions will at least keep tabs on the email address associated with your account. Stepped up plans monitor more than one email address, along with credit card info, bank info, and personal details. (How much you share is up to you, based on your comfort with the antivirus company’s ability to keep those details safe.)

Good dark web monitoring will alert you quickly once new info surfaces — which helps you immediately change your password, enact a credit freeze, or take other protective measures based on what details leaked.

Cloud backups

With the prevalence of ransomware, a good backup system is a paramount part of defending your PC. Having a current backup of your files means no one can truly hold your PC hostage. They can encrypt your files and keep you from accessing them — but the backup lets you restore the lost files.

Usually, you’re on your own to do this, and properly at that, which involves the 3-2-1 method (three copies of the data, at least two different media types, and one kept off-site). Having cloud backup built into your antivirus software can help supplement and boost your current process. It serves as a different type of backup (compared to storing data on an external drive), and it also covers being off-site.

If an antivirus service offers this feature, make sure you’re getting cloud backup, rather than cloud storage. Cloud backup copies your files to the cloud, regardless of later changes made on your PC or other source device, and saves versions over time. Meanwhile, cloud storage mirrors files across all locations — if you delete a file on your hard drive, it disappears in the cloud, too. So this kind of setup will undermine the point of having a backup on hand.

Parental controls

Not everything on the internet is appropriate for the tiny humans in our lives — and there’s not enough hours in the day to police all their online activity. Similarly, some adult family members don’t always pay attention to what types of sites are risky, which can cause headaches for both them and you.

Parental controls can help with managing these situations. Such tools allow you to filter and restrict online activity, with the better parental controls able to block specific sites and site categories on PCs and mobile devices (either universally or at specific times of day). They also can shut off internet access during certain hours, like during school or bedtime.

Separately, parental controls can also track location on mobile devices. However, compared to Android and iPhone’s built-in location tracking, this particular feature isn’t always as reliable. So when evaluating the usefulness of parental controls, focus more on their ability to restrict content and usage.

Data broker opt-out

Data brokers are the bottom-dwelling vacuum cleaners of the internet. They hoover up information about you from every corner — companies that sell your data (including places you shop), public records, social media, warranty registration info, and more. Those details then feed into people search sites, where entering a person’s name and city or state can reveal their current and past addresses, phone numbers, birth date, known relatives, judicial records, and even social security number. 

Hackers can then use your personal data to wage social engineering attacks on you. Impersonating you when chatting with a customer service agent becomes much easier if they know your mother’s maiden name, the last few places you lived, your siblings’ names, and the like. That can then lead to identity theft and financial losses. And then at the far extreme end of dangerous behavior, someone can also use people finder sites for swatting attempts.

In response, entry and mid-tier level antivirus suites sometimes will scan for your info on data broker sites, using your email address, name, birthdate, or other identifying info, and see where you turn up. More expensive subscriptions will also automatically attempt to remove you from those sites, so that you don’t have to spend time filing requests for opt-out. Compared to dedicated opt-out services, this feature in an antivirus plan often isn’t as comprehensive, but the cost tends to be cheaper overall, too.

Identity protection

Identity theft is an ever-looming threat these days, thanks to untold data breaches. And while you may think antivirus software wouldn’t overlap, the more expensive subscriptions offer protections that start with identity monitoring. You’ll get a heads-up about things like changes to your credit, activity involving your social security number, phone number transfers (i.e., someone switches your cell phone provider, a possible sign of SIM jacking), even title changes if you own your home.

Top-tier plans may additionally include insurance-like coverage. If you’re ever victim of identity theft, you could get up to $1 million for remediation costs (having help reporting identity theft, restoring lost funds, etc).

Generally, you can handle identity threats and theft on your own, but this kind of service is meant as a time (and sanity) saver. The one potential drawback is the level of trust you’ll need to place in a third-party and their security practices, since they’ll end up learning much of your most sensitive information.

Social media privacy scan

If your social media accounts are set so that everything’s public, you can reveal a lot of personal information to strangers — people in your life, places you frequent, products you use or like. These details can then be used for social engineering hacks, or at a more extreme end of the scale, online or real-world stalking.

You can lock down your accounts on your own, but privacy settings can be annoying to find and change. So some antivirus software subscriptions (typically the more expensive plans) will offer to scan your social media settings to alert you to privacy issues. Think of this feature as not necessary, but potentially helpful if you’re too time-strapped to completely do it yourself.

PC utilities

Data shredder

This kind of utility is a secure-delete tool for files — so long as they’re stored on a hard-disk drive. For solid-state drives (which most modern laptops and PCs use for storage), a different method is required for secure deletion.

Data shredders work by overwriting files repeatedly so the original data can’t be recovered. The better tools let you select the protocol used for the overwrite process, as well as how many passes are done.

System optimizer

You can already clean up Windows within the operating system itself — it has its own tools for deleting temporary files, dumping operating system installation files, and otherwise tidying up. But they’re not easily accessed through one simple interface, which is a gap some antivirus makers try to fill.

On the surface, a system optimizer utility can be helpful, but beware: You should first understand what you’re wiping beforehand. Altering your Windows registry in the name of spring cleaning could cause system issues down the road.

Mostly, if you know what you’re doing, system optimization tools can save a bit of time. But generally, most people shouldn’t buy an antivirus suite because it includes this kind of utility.

Software and driver updater

Software updates are definitely a key part of online security — out-of-date code leaves vulnerabilities open for bad actors to exploit. Some antivirus software monitors your apps and Windows for updates you’ve yet to run.

However, even though you can run updates directly through your antivirus software with this feature, you’re better off treating it as an alert system. Unless you’ll never update without outside assistance, most programs take care of their patches automatically, as does Windows. For the rare driver update that must be run manually, downloading the driver from the manufacturer website guarantees you run the right version. You’re usually best off getting updates direct from the source, to avoid potential version conflicts.

Sensitive file protection

You may have files you don’t want prying eyes to see — and while you could encrypt them, restricting access to them is sometimes an acceptable intermediary step.

A few antivirus vendors include this feature with their software, which blocks general access to files and folders you’ve chosen. Instead, only specific apps can access them. So if you have a documents folder you specifically want to keep on lockdown, you can keep unapproved apps opening files in there. The idea is to prevent malicious or compromised apps from digging into documents you don’t want them in, unbeknownst to you.

In practice, this feature can be hit or miss—but when it does work reliably, you get a second line of light defense against snoops.

File encryption

This tool is a rarity, but it can dramatically boost the security of your sensitive files — even if you already encrypt your local storage drive. 

Typically, antivirus software with this feature will let you create an encrypted container file, which then gets mounted on your PC as a virtual drive. Anything you store on that virtual drive will be locked down with said encryption once you unmount the container file.

Even if you already encrypt your whole storage drive using Windows Bitlocker, locking down individual files and folders this way adds extra protection. Why? If you’re logged into Windows, and someone gets access to your PC, Bitlocker won’t keep them from seeing your files. However, if the encrypted container file isn’t mounted, they won’t be able to see inside it.

When considering the usefulness of a file encryption feature, check if it uses at least 256-bit AES encryption — currently considered a standard level of protection. Pass on those that don’t.

Backup services

On rare occasion, you’ll see this utility in an antivirus suite, where you can use the software to run automated backups.

However, for this kind of feature (which is mission critical for your data and your overall sanity), we prefer dedicated software, which tends to be more robust. As appealing as an all-in-one software solution is, when it comes to backups, it’s best to choose an app based on how well it does the job.

Other things to consider

Customer service

If you need (or want) human assistance with your antivirus software, including basic walkthroughs of installing the app, some top-tier plans offer premium customer service. 

Separately, top-tier plans also sometimes have agents available to help with identity theft — not just walking you through the process of remediation, but handling the details as well.

Scam protection tools

Phishing scams continue to get more sophisticated (and prevalent) over time — and in response, antivirus vendors have begun releasing tools to navigate around them. For example, McAfee now has a mobile app designed to automatically detect and block text messages containing phishing links.

Not all of these utilities are paid, either — Bitdefender’s Scamio chatbot is free. You just copy and paste a text link (or a screenshot of a text link), and it will tell you if it’s possibly dangerous. Similarly, you can paste in email or text messages to judge if the sender is genuine or just trying to play you.

See PCWorld’s guide to the best antivirus software for our recommendations.

Antivirus

Coding is complicated enough. You need tools to simplify your coding projects, and that’s where Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2022 for Windows comes in. This leading 64-bit IDE gives you the power to write more code more efficiently than ever and it’s on sale for just $39.97 this week only.

Microsoft Visual Studio is loaded with tools to simplify your coding workflow. You can seamlessly build across languages and platforms in a single environment and use IntelliCode to automatically complete lines or blocks of code to save you time. Collaborating with other developers using Live Share makes it easy to stay aligned on different aspects of the project while CodeLens gives you deep insight into your code so you can know when and how changes were made over time.

Find out why Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2022 for Windows has earned a 4.6/5-star rating on Capterra. This week only, you can get it for just $39.97 (reg. $499).

 

Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2022 for Windows – $39.97

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StackSocial prices subject to change.

Accessories

When you’re traveling, it can be a pain to figure out how to get to the airport. You can take an expensive taxi or ride share, or you can pay an exorbitant amount for parking at the airport. Fortunately, The Parking Spot has a solution for regular airport parkers: The Spot Club.

With this exclusive club (4.2/5 stars on Trustpilot), you can get discounts and deals on long-term parking at any of The Parking Spot’s 46 locations at 28 airports nationwide. When you sign up through this deal, you can get two days of parking at any location for just $9.99.

All you have to do is select your airport to get started. Then pick your dates, your preferred parking type, and any additional car care services, and reserve your spot. You can use the app to scan in and check out without speaking to anyone, and get a ride to the terminal with The Parking Spot’s shuttle. The more you park, the more points you’ll earn towards free parking.

Simplify airport parking. Right now, when you join The Spot Club, you can get two days of parking for 68% off $32 at just $9.99.

 

Join the Spot Club & Get 2 Days of Parking at The Parking Spot for Just $9.99! – $9.99

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StackSocial prices subject to change.

Cars

I’ll admit it — I was turned off by the new Arc browser from the beginning.

For one, there’s the maker’s name: The Browser Company of New York. Are we meant to imagine the browser being crafted in a converted blacksmith’s forge in Brooklyn, offering farm-to-table HTML? And it was designed for the Mac. Then there was my attempt to try out the beta several weeks ago — the browser hung while I tried to make an account, and wouldn’t let me through. A support request went unacknowledged.

That’s not really fair, though. So when *sigh* The Browser Company of New York announced that its free Arc browser was finally ready for Windows users to try alongside Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and others, I gave it a try. And you know what? It’s actually okay.

The problem I face, however, is that the Arc browser wants you to learn its ways. I don’t mind quirks, but I’ve never liked a “you just don’t get it” attitude. And there’s definitely a bit of that throughout Arc.

Full disclosure: I’ve never spoken to The Browser Co., and I was never offered a walkthrough or a press briefing. That’s fine, as it puts me in the shoes of an average user. From the get-go, the experience is familiar: You’re asked to download a small installer, which downloads a more complete package.

Unfortunately, Arc is one of the new breed of browsers that requires a username and password, full stop. There’s no anonymous option, at least where Arc is concerned. To use it you’ll need to provide an email address, plus a username and password. For mobile, Arc is limited to iOS support — not even a true mobile browser, but rather an odd sort of sidebar. Android users are out of luck, for now.

As you might expect, you’re offered the option to import bookmarks and passwords from another browser; I was only able to select one browser at a time, however. (I have a dedicated version for work, and one tied to my personal account, and I had to select one.) You can import from other browsers later, via the Settings menu.

And then there’s this thing: a weird badge. Is this some sort of speakeasy gimmick?

Once you’ve opened Arc, though, you’re faced with something unusual: a blank page. Whiteness. I’m used to browsers pushing content or suggested web pages at me when I open a new tab, so this white void was…peaceful? Zen? Evidence that TBCoNY hasn’t quite polished Arc to completion? Possibly.

The other major change that Arc offers is the elimination of the search bar, or “omnibar,” at the top of the page. If you’re on a web page like pcworld.com, you’ll see “pcworld.com” at the top of the page — and that’s all. The UI is extremely minimal: forward and back buttons, a way to copy the link (?), a “control center” describing the site’s basic attributes, and a “split screen” icon at the upper right that opens two side-by-side windows. That’s it.

My instinctive reaction was to mouse toward the address bar, much like you might grab for a handrail if you’ve stumbled down the stairs. But there isn’t one –and there’s no row of tabs, either. Arc places the tabs in a vertical column to the left, usually an option on other browsers. It’s just a little jarring when Arc makes this choice the default.

If you do want to open another website, you’ll need to click on the site address at the top of the screen. That opens what Arc calls the “Command Bar,” which is a floating URL window with a list of recent sites. It works just like the search/URL bar you’re used to — but there’s nothing really pointing you to it, either. Even the menu option to get there is obtuse: You have to open the Settings menu by clicking the tiny “A” in the upper left-hand corner, then navigate through Tabs > Open Command Bar to find it.

And bookmarks? For one thing, Arc collects everything into what it calls “Spaces,” a collection of bookmarks and tabs that you can organize into their own groups. Again, I’ve seen this in other browsers.

But everything is in the same column: your bookmarks and the open tabs. Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, and other browsers generally provide a row or three: one for your bookmarks, one for the current tabs, and one for the URL bar itself. Arc simply provides a seemingly endless column of information. Arc may think that its way is…better, but I’m not a fan of letting aesthetics get in the way of functionality.

But how does Arc perform? Rather well. The browser opened a PDF and imported and inserted my passwords into a few random sites I tried. (It doesn’t yet support passkeys, however.) And when you prompt it to open a web page, boom! It just does.

Arc’s a little different than most browsers, as it uses a version of Swift, rather than Chromium, to render a page. But it’s hard to call Swift, or Arc, a superior browser without running benchmarks — which I haven’t done. The one thing that I suspect makes an enormous difference is that Arc seems to natively integrate uBlock Origin — an excellent ad blocker that, when enabled, gives you a web page’s content and very little else. Arc therefore renders pages in just a split second — but so does Edge or Chrome if you add uBlock Origin to it, too.

Is it efficient? According to Task Manager, an even 100 tabs (sorry) open in Microsoft Edge consumed 2.3GB. Twenty-two tabs in Vivaldi consumed 474MB, and 13 tabs in Arc consumed 391MB. But wait — I only had three tabs open in Arc! I’m not sure what Arc (or Windows) was trying to do here.

Arc also lacks sophisticated AI features that other browsers have begun to implement, such as ChatGPT integration in browsers like Brave, or the new image-generation feature Opera added this week. Whether TBCoNY considers AI essential or just another bit of cruft to prune remains to be seen.

I’ll keep an eye on Arc, of course. But I don’t expect to use it much. Other browser makers are simply further ahead, and I’m just not that inclined to chase after a UI that forces me to make adjustments to my browsing behavior. With that said, there’s always room for competition and some good ideas. If Arc does eventually launch a killer feature, I’d expect its competitors to adopt or improve upon it. We can all root for such improvements.

Personal Software

When looking for a top-notch VPN, the two most important things to look for are privacy and speed. While privacy is crucial to a good VPN, speed should not be overlooked. Faster speeds mean quicker file downloads and website load times, a better streaming experience, and just a better all-around experience.

We’ve tested numerous VPNs and put their servers from all over the world through countless speed tests to determine the fastest services based on their network averages. We highlight not only the fastest download speeds, but also the fastest upload speeds. Read below to see our curated list of the fastest VPNs available now.

Why you should trust us: Here at PCWorld we’ve been testing computer hardware, software, and services since the 1980s. We’re continually testing all of the major VPNs on the market and many lesser-known services in order to curate a list of the very best VPNs across a variety of categories. For a more in-depth guide, you can check out our article on how we test VPN services at PCWorld. Below you’ll find our favorite lightning-fast VPNs and, below those, additional information about how we test these services as well as helpful advice about what to look for when choosing a fast VPN on your own.

If you’re looking for even more VPN options, check out our comprehensive roundup of the best VPNs in all categories.

Updated April 30, 2024: Check out our latest review of Mullvad VPN. Still the undisputed privacy king of VPNs, Mullvad has only improved since our last review with an expanded server network and migration to RAM-only diskless servers for enhanced security.

What to look for in a fast VPN

The first thing to consider in a fast VPN is, of course, speed. This may be tricky to do since you aren’t likely to be able to test connection speeds without paying to use the service. That’s where online reviews come in. Look for reviews, like ours, that give you a relative average of connection speeds rather than direct Mbps speed comparisons.

Next, you should look at a VPN’s server network including the number of servers and locations. It’s difficult to judge any VPN by just one feature, but a semi-reliable way to tell if a VPN is even worth your time is to look at the server spread. Anything with 1,000 or more servers and 30 or more country locations will do.

You’ll also want to read up on a VPN’s privacy protections. Does it have a no-logs policy? Has it undergone any independent audits of its servers? Where is the VPN company located? All of these will give you an idea of whether or not a VPN is transparent with its data collection policies and if it’s subject to government data sharing requirements.

Other factors you’ll want to take into consideration are the overall ease-of-use, user experience, and any additional features. Some of these features, such as split-tunneling and kill switches, can be extremely useful for certain purposes and might sway your subscription decision one way or the other.

Finally, as with all subscription services, you’ll want to review the price of a VPN service. Do you want a monthly or yearly subscription? Some top VPNs might be pricey month-to-month, but actually become quite affordable with long-term plans.

How we tested

Our method for testing VPN speeds is rather straightforward. We average the connections between different global locations for any given VPN and then compare them to our baseline internet speed to get a good picture of the overall connection speeds.

We continue this process over multiple days of testing and then average the daily speeds together to get an overall average. We test a total of three days at different times of the day to account for any variation. That overall average is then expressed as a percentage of the base speed. That way the test results provide a sense of how much speed a VPN retains versus hard numbers, which can vary based on internet service providers, routers, and other equipment, time of day, and so on.

VPN

Baldur’s Gate III is a role-playing game with some romance elements. Stardew Valley is a role-playing game with some romance elements, and a lot of root vegetables. Why not stick ’em together in a peanut-butter-and-chocolate combination, for those who want to date a half-elf while they’re watering cabbages? That’s the idea behind a new mod for Stardew.

A team of three modders is putting a new map in Stardew Valley inspired by last year’s D&D smash hit. And yes, getting all those eye-catching companions into the farming sim as romanceable characters is a priority. So far the team for “Baldur’s Village” is working on getting problematic fave Shadowheart, smooth-talking Gale, bear-in-more-ways-than-one Halsin, and everyone’s favorite vampiric fop Astarion in there, though only the latter has a unique romance plot at the moment.

According to a post on Twitter spotted by Rock Paper Shotgun, the small team hopes to have its first release of the content ready to play by the anniversary of Baldur’s Gate III‘s public release, which would be in August. Hopefully by that time they’ll have best barbarian girl Karlach in there — imagine dating somebody who can go into a rage, then plow the back forty without a tractor.

Video Games

It’s easy to see why portable monitors are gaining in popularity among both desktop PC and laptop users. What portable monitors sacrifice in size over a standard monitor they make up for in myriad other ways: Portable monitors are relatively inexpensive, easy to connect, and, best of all, portable. Whether you’re a student, someone who works from home, or a globe-trotting executive, the ability to easily pack up and move a portable monitor when needed is appealing indeed.

That being said, the portable monitor market is a bit of a mess currently. The widespread availability of these displays and the ability to manufacture them cheaply has resulted in a onslaught of unknown brands on the market. Many of these brands don’t have any established credibility, and quality can often be sub-par. That’s where we at PCWorld come in. We’ve tested multiple models and can separate the best portable monitors from the rest.

Our list of our favorites below will help you find the right portable monitor for you. You can learn more about what to look for in a portable monitor at the bottom of the article.

Updated April 30, 2024: We’ve added a new recommendation to our list — the Viewsonic VX1655-4K-OLED. It’s a great portable monitor for creative professionals, offering the best image quality of any portable monitor we’ve reviewed to date, as well as a well-built chassis and sturdy kickstand. It’s perfect for someone doing creative work on-the-go.

Further reading: See our roundups of the best monitors and best home office monitors for even more recommendations.

What to look for in a portable monitor

Many of the features we look for in a desktop monitor also apply to a portable monitor. A portable monitor should have a bright, sharp image with a decent contrast ratio, wide color gamut, and great color accuracy. The differences between portable monitors and their desktop brethren are more often found in their design, build quality, and connectivity.

Image quality

Most portable monitors have image quality similar to desktop monitors in the same price bracket. Portable monitors tend to score well in brightness and sharpness, but color and contrast are often lacking. OLED portable monitors perform significantly better than less expensive IPS LCD displays. Unfortunately, they’re much more expensive.

Numerous small brands have jumped into the portable monitor market in recent years and quality control can be an issue. We recommend sticking to monitors that are known to achieve high marks in image quality (otherwise, be prepared to use a retailer’s return policy).

Stands, kickstands, and covers

Portable monitors ship with a bundled kickstand or stand that is used to keep the monitor propped up and steady on a desk.

Unlike desktop monitors, where most stands are more or less identical, the stands used by portable monitors vary. Some have a simple kickstand that attaches magnetically, while others use a clip-on case. A rare few, like the ViewSonic ColorPro VP16-OLED, have a folding stand that provides significant height and kickstand adjustment.

Connectivity

Connectivity is key. A portable monitor that lacks the port you need to connect your tablet or laptop is useless.

Most portable monitors offer the option to connect over USB, a video input (usually HDMI), or both, but the number of ports available and the standards used vary widely. We look for monitors that offer a healthy selection of ports. We also prefer monitors that can be powered over USB-C by a connected desktop or laptop.

Portability, size, and weight

Our final consideration is the most obvious: portability. Most portable monitors live up to their name with an included kickstand case or cover that can fold flat and protect the display while it’s stowed.

Still, the exact size and weight of a portable monitor is important, and shoppers may need to accept trade-offs between weight and quality. A top-notch pick like the Viewsonic ColorPro VP16-OLED can offer superior durability, but a lightweight budget pick like the Azorpa A1 Gamut might be preferable if you’ll be hauling a portable monitor daily.

How we test monitors

PCWorld’s monitor evaluations stem from the expertise of freelance and staff contributors with decades of collective experience. Although our initial impressions rely on our eyes, we rigorously test each monitor using a Datacolor Spyder X2 Ultra color calibration tool for a comprehensive analysis.

This device helps us objectively measure a variety of monitor attributes including brightness, contrast, color gamut, color accuracy, luminance and color uniformity, and gamma, among other traits.

We also rely on hands-on testing to judge the quality, size, and weight of a portable monitor. Every monitor we recommend is personally tested first-hand by a PCWorld contributor. This helps us pick out flaws in build quality and portability that separate the best and worst portable monitors. 

Monitors

Sometimes you suddenly encounter unexpected problems when using Microsoft Edge: annoying cookie settings, prevented downloads, and much more. But those problems can usually be solved quickly by simply resetting Edge, the default browser for Windows 10 and Windows 11.

This is how it works: In the Edge user interface, click on the three dots at the top right and then on Settings. The “Reset settings” option will then appear in the task bar on the left.

Click on it. In the next step, click on the small arrow to the right of the option and then confirm with “Reset.” If you restart Microsoft Edge now, everything will usually work again, though you’ll need to reapply any custom Edge settings you prefer.

Further reading: 5 ways Microsoft Edge is better than Chrome

This article was translated from German to English and originally appeared on pcwelt.de.

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