At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Thin, light, and compact Solid gaming performance Beautiful OLED display Premium quality all around Cons Expensive Bulkier gaming laptops will perform better Our Verdict The Razer Blade 14 delivers high gaming performance in cool, quiet, compact package with premium build quality. Its OLED display is beautiful, too. But it’s expensive. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Razer Blade 14 (2025) Retailer Price Check Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices The Razer Blade 14 is a 14-inch gaming laptop that’s not much larger, thicker, or heavier than the average laptop. From the snappy keyboard to the quiet fans to the beautiful display, everything works as well as I hoped it would. This machine delivers exactly what it promises. Best of all, you don’t have to choose between power and portability. Razer Blade 14: Specs The Razer Blade 14 is a premium 14-inch gaming laptop that comes with an AMD Ryzen AI HX 365 CPU, based on AMD’s Zen 5 architecture. Our review unit was a $2,699 model that comes with Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 graphics, 32GB of LPDDR5X RAM, and a 1TB SSD. (It also has AMD Radeon 880M graphics, to save power when the beefy Nvidia GPU isn’t needed.) Razer also offers a lower-end $2,299 model that comes with RTX 5060 graphics and 16 GB of RAM along with a $2,999 model that includes 64 GB of RAM and a 2 TB SSD. AMD’s Ryzen AI hardware comes with an NPU, so you get access to Copilot+ PC AI features on this laptop. Model number: Razer Blade 14 (2025) CPU: AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 Memory: 32GB LPDDR5X RAM Graphics/GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 and AMD Radeon 880M NPU: AMD NPU (up to 50 TOPS) Display: 2880×1800 OLED display with 120Hz refresh rate Storage: 1TB PCIe Gen4 SSD Webcam: 1080p webcam Connectivity: 2x USB Type-C (USB4), 2x USB Type-A (USB 3.2 Gen 2), 1x combo audio jack, 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x microSD slot, 1x power port, 1x Kensington lock slot Networking: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 Biometrics: IR camera for Windows Hello Battery capacity: 72 Watt-hours Dimensions: 12.23 x 8.83 x 0.62 inches Weight: 3.59 pounds MSRP: $2,699 as tested The Razer Blade 14 is an excellent gaming laptop in a small package. If you want premium build quality, great gaming performance, and a beautiful display in a compact 14-inch laptop package, it’s a great option. Razer Blade 14: Design and build quality IDG / Chris Hoffman The 14-inch Razer Blade 14 is the most compact gaming laptop Razer offers, alongside the larger Razer Blade 16 and Razer Blade 18. Razer says this is the thinnest Blade 14 it’s ever created, and at 0.62 inches thick and 3.59 pounds, it’s unusually portable for a gaming laptop with Nvidia GeForce graphics. The build quality is excellent — the chassis is made of solid aluminum, the hinge is smooth and easy to open with one hand, and it keeps the display solidly in place without any jostling during gaming sessions. Our review model, with its silver-toned “Mercury White” color has a surprisingly understated design for a gaming laptop. It’s all silver and black with a very restrained Razer logo on the lid. There are no blinking LEDs here — aside from the keyboard backlighting. With per-key LED lighting, you can create animated rainbow LED effects on the keyboard — or just switch it to pure white light for stealth mode. It looks professional and will blend in as a “normal” laptop to anyone who doesn’t recognize the Razer logo on the lid. Razer Blade 14: Keyboard and trackpad IDG / Chris Hoffman The Razer Blade 14 has an awesome keyboard that feels great to use. On paper, the 1mm key travel isn’t a lot. But Razer also says the keys have 63g actuation force. That combination translates to a snappy keyboard experience without a lot of travel. The keyboard here also supports per-key backlighting, so you can customize the color of each key in the Razer Chroma app — or activate complex animations. It’s the kind of thing that makes the laptop feel even more premium, and it lets you activate that rainbow LED “gamer” aesthetic — but only if you want it, and without blinking LEDs elsewhere on the laptop. The Razer Blade 14’s trackpad is great. It’s extremely wide and comes right up to the lip of the laptop, and it’s smooth and responsive. Palm rejection is very good, so I didn’t have a problem with it getting in the way while playing games, despite its size. I’d prefer a haptic trackpad, but it’s fine. The click-down action feels great — and it’s quiet, which is underrated when many laptop trackpads make loud clicking sounds — but a haptic trackpad means that the top part of the trackpad would be clickable, too. Razer Blade 14: Display and speakers IDG / Chris Hoffman The Razer Blade 14 has an absolutely beautiful 14-inch display. It’s a 2880×1800 OLED display, and it produces incredibly vivid colors. At a 120Hz refresh rate, it’s also nice and smooth. I do wish it supported HDR — and you can get higher refresh rate displays if you choose a laptop with an IPS display instead — but this display looks amazing. I’m a big fan of OLED displays, and this is a great one. The Razer Blade 14’s speakers sound great for a laptop. The weapon-firing sounds in DOOM: The Dark Ages sounded nice and punchy. In music, there’s surprisingly crisp instrument separation in Steely Dan’s Aja for laptop speakers. Playing Daft Punk’s Get Lucky, there’s a fun sound with a bit of bass. The volume level is good, although I’ve heard much louder laptop speakers; it’s good but doesn’t have the loudest top-end volume I hear on other laptops. Bass is the one thing that’s lacking compared to a good pair of headphones or external speakers, but there’s enough bass to make the speakers usable. (Still, a good pair of headphones or external speakers will be a big upgrade to your gaming or multimedia experience.) Razer Blade 14: Webcam, microphone, biometrics The 1080p webcam included here is surprisingly good. It delivers a clear picture with good color reproduction — nothing grainy or washed out. And, because this is a Copilot+ PC, you get access to the AI webcam tweaks in Windows Studio Effects. The microphone sounds clear and has good noise reduction, but the audio could be a bit clearer. It’s no big deal. But, while I’d be happy using the built-in webcam for video meetings, I’d definitely prefer to use an external mic for gaming sessions. The Razer Blade 14 has an IR camera for Windows Hello, and it works well. I prefer these to fingerprint readers: It’s nice to open your laptop and have it automatically sign in when it sees your face. Razer Blade 14: Connectivity IDG / Chris Hoffman The Razer Blade 14 has a compelling selection of ports for a 14-inch laptop — including two USB Type-C ports (USB4 speeds) and two USB Type-A ports (USB 3.2 Gen 2 speeds). On the left, you’ve got a power port along with a USB Type-C port, USB Type-A port, and combo audio jack. On the right, you’ll see a microSD card reader, a second USB Type-C port, a second USB Type-A port, an HDMI 2.1 out port, and a Kensington lock slot. That’s about all you could want here — the only thing you could ask for is an Ethernet port, and I doubt one would physically fit here given the size of the laptop! This laptop also has Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 support, making it nice and future proof for the latest standards. I had no problem with the Wi-Fi. Razer Blade 14: Performance The Razer Blade 14 performed great in both gaming and real-world desktop use — naturally. The cooling system works well and blasts the hot air out of the back of the machine, not out of the sides where it would blow on your mouse hand. The keyboard stays surprisingly cool for a gaming laptop. The metal above the F key row can become rather hot while gaming, so that’s where so much of the heat is being redirected to. It ran DOOM: The Dark Ages great, with smooth gameplay even on high graphical detail settings. And the fans stayed surprisingly quiet for a compact gaming laptop that needs to vent a lot of heat, too — no loud whirring jet engine noise, as with some gaming laptops. As always, we ran the Razer Blade 14 through our standard benchmarks to see how it performs compared to competing laptops. IDG / Chris Hoffman First, we run PCMark 10 to get an idea of overall system performance. With an overall PCMark 10 score of 7,994, this machine delivered similar overall performance to the 16-inch Razer Blade 16 on this benchmark and only fell a bit short of the HP Omen Max 16 with its higher-end and more power-hungry Intel Core Ultra 9 CPU. IDG / Chris Hoffman Next, we run Cinebench R20. This is a heavily multithreaded benchmark that focuses on overall CPU performance. Since it’s heavily multithreaded, CPUs with more cores have a huge advantage. With a multithreaded score of 7,800, this system delivered good numbers — falling short of systems with more cores, naturally. The AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 chip here has 10 cores, while the 370 chip in the Razer Blade 16 has 12 cores. The Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX has a whopping 24 cores. You can see how that affects performance in multithreaded CPU benchmarks, but the difference in real-world gaming performance can be marginal. IDG / Chris Hoffman We also run an encode with Handbrake. This is another heavily multithreaded benchmark, but it runs over an extended period. This demands the laptop’s cooling kick in, and many laptops will throttle and slow down under load. The Razer Blade 14 completed the encode process in 789 seconds — that’s just over 13 minutes. Once again, only laptops with CPUs that have more cores performed better. IDG / Chris Hoffman Next, we benchmark the laptop’s GPU. We start with 3Dmark Time Spy, a graphical benchmark that focuses on GPU performance. With a 3DMark Time Spy score of 13,069, the Razer Blade 14 sits in the middle here. Laptops with Nvidia RTX 5080 or 5090 graphics will of course be faster — but it’s harder to pack a higher-end GPU in a compact machine! Compared to the other 14-inch laptops in our benchmark table, you can see how much faster Razer’s machine is than an older gaming laptop with Nvidia RTX 4060 graphics. After that, we run the benchmarks built into some games. First, we use the benchmark in Shadow of the Tomb Raider to test all the gaming laptops we review. It’s an older game, but it’s a great way to compare GPU performance across different PCs. IDG / Chris Hoffman With an average FPS of 161, the Razer Blade 14 delivered high performance. As you can see, this older game is seeing diminishing returns from higher-end GPUs. Finally, we run the benchmark in Metro Exodus. This is a more demanding game, and we set the benchmark to 1080p resolution at the Extreme detail setting. IDG / Chris Hoffman With an average FPS of 56 in this high-end Metro Exodus benchmark, the Razer Blade 14 delivered playable performance even at these brutal graphical settings.  Of course, it comes in behind larger 16-inch laptops with higher-end GPUs. Overall, the Razer Blade 14 delivered high gaming performance in a compact package with great cooling and quiet fans. This is a great combination of performance and portability if you’re looking for a 14-inch laptop. Razer Blade 14: Battery life The Razer Blade 14 includes a 72 Watt-hour battery. Gaming laptops generally aren’t known for their long battery life, but AMD’s Ryzen AI hardware can be surprisingly power efficient, and that’s what we see here. This isn’t going to put up the kind of numbers you see from low-power Qualcomm Snapdragon X or Intel Lunar Lake laptops, but it’s much more power efficient than you might expect in light usage. IDG / Chris Hoffman To benchmark the battery life, we play a 4K copy of Tears of Steel on repeat on Windows 11 with airplane mode enabled and the keyboard backlight turned off until the laptop suspends itself. This is a best-case scenario for any laptop since local video playback is so efficient, and real battery life in day-to-day use is always going to be less than this. We set the screen to 250 nits of brightness for our battery benchmarks, and it’s worth noting that the Razer Blade 14’s OLED display has a bit of an advantage, as OLED screens use less power to display the black bars around the video. The Razer Blade 14 lasted for 680 minutes in our benchmark — that’s over 11 hours. Real-world battery life will vary, but this is a great battery life number to see out of a gaming laptop that’s all about power. Razer Blade 14: Conclusion The Razer Blade 14 is an excellent gaming laptop in a small package. If you want premium build quality, great gaming performance, and a beautiful display in a compact 14-inch laptop package, it’s a great option. Yes, it’s expensive at $2,699. That’s the big downside — although it was on sale for $2,299 on Razer’s online store while I was finishing this review. Compared to high-end Razer Blade 16 variants that pair top-end GPUs with thin designs for a high price, this combination of power, portability, and price makes a lot more sense. It’s an excellent machine, but there are tradeoffs: You can get more gaming performance for less money in other, larger gaming laptops. You can get other 14-inch gaming laptops, too — but they won’t feel all this premium or have fans this quiet. Read...

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Welcome to The Full Nerd newsletter—your weekly dose of hardcore hardware talk from the enthusiasts at PCWorld. Missed the hot topics on our YouTube show or latest buzz from across the web? I’ve got you covered. Want this newsletter to come directly to your inbox? Sign up on our website! This past week, Adam published a look back at the past few decades of PC component history, through the lens of my colleague Gordon Mah Ung’s career. The memories stretch from the mid-1990s (including Gordon in a full suit and tie) to the present day of contests for the slowest benchmark results. And by the end, I could see other people latching on to “change” as the biggest theme throughout. The visual evidence is there: the move from beige boxes to bright, even obnoxiously colored chassis; shifting case configurations and attitudes toward cable management (oh, for the days when we could shove everything inside and just slap the side panel back on); even the leap to ferocious high core-count processors and screaming-fast graphics cards. Vintage Alienware.Willis Lai / Foundry But while others could argue that change has been the constant in computer hardware, I’d instead champion ATX as one of the truest mainstays—and all the evidence of its steady, reliable presence over the past 30 years is right in the video. In build after build, ATX is there. An over-the-top, ludicrously decked out Dream Machine built by the crew at Maximum PC? ATX. The machine that won the ongoing competition between Gordon and others (including our friend Dr. Ian Cuttress) for the slowest benchmark results in Cinebench R15? Also ATX. And even Gordon’s signature troll build, the “reverse sleeper build” that sported a shiny new case on the outside, and old-as-heck parts on the inside? Yeah, ATX. Gordon had his bones to pick with ATX—he complained often that ATX was holding back the PC industry. (And I mean often, not just on The Full Nerd when the cameras were rolling.) But in the very next breath, he would then rail against companies like Apple, which has zero issue with (in Gordon’s words) throwing older tech overboard. ATX’s longevity is why you can put parts that look like this in a brand-new, sparkling clean case. Willis Lai / Foundry I’ve always had a different outlook, largely along the lines of Gordon’s follow-up rant. I’m open to a newer standard that evolves the layout of motherboards, sure. But I view the jump from the AT form factor to ATX more as a practical response, as opposed to just the insatiable hunger for innovation. ATX followed AT after a decade, bringing further improvements to standardization and swappability of parts. But when BTX launched nine years later, arguably “on schedule,” it failed to take. Not enough innovation, you could argue. But I view it as a sign of what truly motivates leaps in technology, whether the advent of the printing press or desktop-sized personal computers. I also think ATX’s ongoing relevance tells us a lot about the future of the PC. Innovation is a response to a need. As the PC industry has become increasingly more personal, with a far wider spectrum of options to address specific needs, what innovation looks like may continue to become smaller and more subtle. And possibly, it may even become less constant. In this episode of The Full Nerd… Willis Lai / Foundry In this episode of The Full Nerd, Adam Patrick Murray, Brad Chacos, Alaina Yee, and Will Smith talk about Intel being on the ropes, Zen 6’s emergence in the wild, and AI in Windows. To me, I found a lot of commonalities between these topics—they made me extremely contemplative about what innovation in the PC space will look like, because things feel a little…confused. Also, we got a glimpse into the remarkable details of the decor in Will’s home office. All I can say is: That potato has a butt. Missed our live show? Subscribe now to The Full Nerd YouTube channel, and activate notifications. We also answer viewer questions in real time!  And if you need more hardware talk during the rest of the week, come join our Discord community—it’s full of cool, laid-back nerds. This week’s intriguing nerd news I’m facing a second week in recent months where I’m questioning my deal-hunting skills, but a few technology wins are keeping my spirits up. What currently has me a bit starry-eyed: insanely fast internet. So fast that I’m a little giddy at the thought, even though I may never see it in my neck of the woods. What’s old will become what’s new.Wikimedia Commons I can’t top this data hoarder’s deal-hunting skills: Estate sales can be a good way to pick up useful, interesting, or downright quirky stuff for pretty cheap. But so far, I haven’t encountered any finds on the level of 11 Western Digital 8TB external hard drives for just $360. Man. What a score. Turns out you can put a price on nostalgia: $349 bucks is the cost of reliving your best childhood memories—aka getting your hands on a remade Commodore 64, compatible with over 10,000 C64 games and modernized to support HDMI, USB, and Wi-Fi. I hope this works out better than the Analogue 3D. (Not gonna lie, I’m a little worried Analogue won’t survive the tariffs, as they’re absorbing the higher costs.) Self-destructing SSDs? Pass. Don’t get me wrong—TeamGroup’s reveal of an SSD that destroys itself with the push of a button got my attention. But look, I’m cheap. Taking a hammer to my drives seems way simpler and costs a lot less. (As does taking them over to a company that has a proper shredder.) Also, if I’m handling data sensitive enough to require instant obliteration…why is it in my home? The internet is built on duct tape and string: For systems engineers, DNS probably gives y’all a lot of headaches. I certainly would have one, knowing just how fragile the system is. Or when seeing proof that malware can be casually slipped into DNS records. Fun. Linux is winning: Just kidding, it’s still barely a fraction of users on desktop PCs. But it is gaining a little bit of headway in the U.S.—we’ve now reached a milestone of over 5 percent market share. You may need to finally upgrade your Gigabyte motherboard if it’s vulnerable to a new security exploit.Gigabyte When will 6-cores become default? Well, not just yet: Brad floated the idea during this week’s episode that Zen 6 could shift to six-core CPUs as the baseline. But we’ve also commented multiple times on the show that the budget end isn’t getting much attention. I guess those laments won out, as the hottest chip news this week is AMD’s Ryzen AI 5 330, a four-core, eight-threaded Copilot+ laptop chip. Update your Gigabyte motherboard ASAP…if you can: Running an Intel processor? Perhaps one within the range of 8th gen to 11th gen? Is it sitting in a Gigabyte motherboard? Better check pronto if an update is available for it, because a vulnerability that lets attackers bypass Secure Boot was just disclosed. But if yours is too old, you may actually have to upgrade your hardware all together to avoid this security hole. ð?? Why not just buy actual gold instead? Look, I know the RTX 4090 has largely held its value. And maybe that’ll extend to the RTX 5090, too. But when I first saw Asus’s RTX 5090 ROG Astral Real Gold Edition (aka the RTX 5090 made with 11 pounds of 24-carat gold), I thought, “Surely investing in actual 24-carat gold bars would be the better call.” I’m a product of my upbringing, which includes very immigrant grandparents. I want Japan’s fiber optic internet tech: The land of the fax machine is claiming a record-breaking transmission rate of 127,500GB/s (yes, the big B, so really fast) over a distance of roughly 1,100 miles. Sure, I’d only use such speed to load cat videos instantaneously, but I still want it. Catch you all next week, when hopefully the hot parts of the world are cooler, and the cold parts are warmer. It’s 62 degrees right now in San Francisco. Also supposed to rain next week. Yup. Alaina This newsletter is dedicated to the memory of Gordon Mah Ung, founder and host of The Full Nerd, and executive editor of hardware at PCWorld. Read...

Hey, PCWorld readers! I’ve been fascinated by time lapse videos ever since I saw the video effect used on a bean-sprout growing in second grade class. Being able to condense days of growth into a short video that I could watch in just a minute seemed like magic to me. What’s more, it opened my mind to something about plants that you just can’t see every day — the fact that they’re not just inanimate things. They can move just like us (albeit a lot more slowly). The great thing about making a time lapse video these days is you don’t need a studio or specialist equipment to pull it off. It can be done with a mobile phone and / or a free app in Windows. So, if you’re into a hobby that lends itself well to a time lapse (and that can be almost anything), why not make a time lapse video? Here are some ideas for inspiration: A flower bud opening An artist painting Traffic moving on the street Your own hair growing out after a snip Tip: Slow moving things like snails and clouds make excellent subjects but require a little more time to shoot. What to do: One of the simplest ways to create a time lapse video is with an app called Time Lapse Creator. It gives you the option of either uploading images or videos, or shooting a video directly via the app itself. For the purposes of this “how to,” I’ve assumed that you’ve already shot your pictures, uploaded them to your PC, and stored them in a folder. Now you can do the following: Download and install the free app Time Lapse Creator. Select either Import Folder or Import Files to select the images you’d like to turn into your video. Also select the order of the images to be played (by date or by ascending or descending order). Choose the frame rate (fps), video quality, and bitrate. As a guide to fps, to make 10 seconds of time lapse a professional time lapse videographer will use 240 images editing at 24fps, 250 images editing at 25fps, and 300 photos editing at 30fps. Press preview to view your video and tweak the settings until you’re happy. Once you think you’ve nailed it, save your video to make an MP4. Dominic Bayley / Foundry And that’s it! If you’d like more tips like this one delivered to your inbox twice a week every week, be sure to sign-up to our PCWorld Try This newsletter. Read...

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At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Compact but functional stand Excellent SDR color gamut and contrast Bright in HDR Great motion clarity with AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync Compatible Very attractive price Cons Design isn’t much to look at No USB-C input with DisplayPort and Power Delivery Our Verdict The Alienware AW2725D is a great OLED monitor with an MSRP of just $550, with SDR and HDR image quality that often rivals more expensive alternatives. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Alienware AW2725D Retailer Price Check Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices There’s no denying that a flood of OLED monitors hit the market in 2025, and Dell (which owns Alienware) is among the companies most responsible. It now has a total of five OLED monitors in its catalog of 14 current displays. The Alienware AW2725D sits at the bottom of the OLED ladder. It’s a 27-inch QD-OLED monitor with 1440p resolution and a maximum refresh rate of 280Hz, and it retails at an MSRP of just $549.99. That makes it an easy choice if you want an OLED gaming monitor at a mid-range price. Read on to learn more, then see our roundup of the best gaming monitors for comparison. Alienware AW2725D specs and features The Alienware AW2725D’s specifications are entry-level for a modern QD-OLED monitor, though that might surprise you if you don’t keep up with the latest displays. Though entry-level, the AW2725D still provides a respectable QD-OLED panel with 2560×1440 resolution and a speedy 280Hz refresh rate. Display size: 27-inch 16:9 aspect ratio Native resolution: 2560×1440 Panel type: OLED Refresh rate: Up to 280Hz Adaptive Sync: Yes, AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, Nvidia G-Sync Compatible HDR: Yes, VESA DisplayHDR 400 True Black Certified Ports: 2x HDMI 2.1, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x USB-B 5Gbps upstream, 1x USB-A 5Gbps downstream, 1x USB-C 5Gbps downstream with 15 watts charging Audio: None Price: $549.99 MSRP It also supports Adaptive Sync, with official support for both AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync. HDR support, meanwhile, comes with VESA DisplayHDR 400 True Black certification. The price, though, is the real reason to buy the AW2725D. Its retail MSRP of just $549.99 is among the lowest for any QD-OLED monitor. It matches or beats Amazon Prime Day deals on competitors like the Samsung Odyssey OLED G6 and Gigabyte Aorus FO27Q2, which are older QD-OLED monitors with a 240Hz refresh rate. Alienware AW2725D design Alienware redesigned its entire monitor lineup for 2025, but not for the better. The retro-futuristic look the brand relied on for the past five years is gone, replaced by a curved, organic design. The plastics used don’t look or feel as premium as before and, strangely, all Alienware monitors come in one color: a dark navy-blue hue. It’s not all bad news, though. The change in design comes with a new stand that’s more compact than the dramatic wing-like stands that shipped with many older Alienware monitors (and still ship with the Alienware AW3225QF which, despite the name, was released in early 2024). Alienware’s entire 2025 monitor line-up takes up little space on a desktop. Matthew Smith / Foundry The stand provides a decent range of ergonomic adjustment, too. It adjusts 40 degrees of swivel, 25 degrees for tilt, and 110mm in height. It can rotate 90 degrees into portrait orientation, too. This is typical for a 27-inch gaming monitor in this price bracket but still appreciated. A 100x100mm VESA mount is available for use with third-party stands, as well. Alienware AW2725D connectivity I’ve often raged against gaming monitors that fail to include important ports, like USB-C with DisplayPort and Power Delivery. But this year, Alienware called my bluff. They decided to skip USB-C video input and power across the Alienware range—and dropped their prices. That means the Alienware AW2725D isn’t a great choice for use with a USB-C laptop or tablet. You’ll have to stick to HDMI 2.1 or DisplayPort for video input. The monitor does act as a USB hub with a couple downstream ports (one USB-A and one USB-C), but it only provides one USB-B upstream port. So, you can only connect one device to the monitor’s USB hub at a time. Whether that works for you depends on your needs. It’s not a problem for most gaming desktops, of course, as USB-C is rarely used for video input. But if you were hoping to connect a thin-and-light laptop that’s easy to power over USB-C, perhaps because you use one alongside your gaming PC, you’ll likely want to look elsewhere. On the other hand, this choice seems to help Alienware reach an extremely competitive price. The AW2725D’s $549.99 MSRP is in league with older QD-OLED monitors with 1440p resolution and a 240Hz refresh rate. Alienware AW2725D menus and features The Alienware AW2725D is also light on features. It has a joystick hidden under the center of the lower bezel that provides quick access to the monitor’s menu system. Alternatively, owners can use Alienware’s Command Center software to tweak monitor settings within Windows. However, there’s not a lot to change. The monitor doesn’t have color temperature modes that target specific values. It does provide gamma adjustment, but only in a couple specific modes, such as Creator. The most significant color adjustments are limited to Custom Color mode. Limitations like this are common for gaming monitors. Still, content creators who know what they want may find the monitor a hassle to tune and calibrate. Matthew Smith / Foundry It does provide a few gaming features. You’ll find common features like an on-screen crosshair and timer, as well as a dark stabilizer that can elevate the brightness of dark scenes (to make foes easier to see). It also has Alienvision, which further tweaks the image to improve contrast and clarity at the expense of image quality. The AW2725D doesn’t include speakers. Though a small disappointment, it’s to be expected given the price. Most gaming monitors don’t include speakers. Monitors that have good built-in audio, like the LG Ultragear 32GS95UE-B, are much more expensive. Alienware AW2725D SDR image quality The Alienware AW2725D is less expensive than most OLED monitors but has a Samsung QD-OLED panel that’s at least as good as the 27-inch 1440p panels that were in most flagship OLED gaming monitors sold a year or two ago. As a result, the monitor’s SDR image quality doesn’t at all reflect its inexpensive price. Matthew Smith / Foundry The AW2725D starts off with a win in brightness. It achieved a maximum sustained SDR brightness of 272 nits which, as the graph shows, is among the highest figures recorded from recent OLED monitors. Brightness can still be an issue in bright rooms. While 272 nits is a lot for an OLED monitor in SDR, it can look dim when forced to compete with sunlit windows. The AW2725D also has a highly reflective display coat that amps up reflections. Still, if you want to go OLED and SDR brightness is a concern, the AW2725D is better than most. Matthew Smith / Foundry There’s not much to say about contrast, though only because it’s precisely as excellent as expected. OLED monitors achieve an effectively infinite contrast ratio thanks to their ability to reach a minimum luminance of zero nits. That’s why OLED monitors look richer, deeper, and more immersive than LCD monitors with an LED backlight. Once again, price works in the AW2725D’s favor. All OLED monitors are effectively identical in this respect. Spending twice as much on a high-end competitor won’t net you any improvement in contrast. Matthew Smith / Foundry Samsung’s QD-OLED panels are among the most color-rich in the industry, and the AW2725D is no exception. It delivers a color gamut that spans 100 percent of sRGB, 98 percent of DCI-P3, and 95 percent of AdobeRGB. As the graph shows, this is top-notch performance for an OLED, and it’s close to record performance overall. The only monitors I’ve tested that have a wider gamut are rare QD-IPS displays with Mini-LED backlights, like the Xiaomi G Pro 27i. Matthew Smith / Foundry I wasn’t completely shocked by the AW2725D’s outstanding color accuracy, as recent Alienware OLED monitors have proved uniformly excellent in this test. Still, it’s remarkable to see a $550 OLED monitor deliver color accuracy with an average error below one, and to see it beat more expensive competitors. This level of color accuracy means color errors are generally unnoticeable. It’s not perfect, but the flaws come from other aspects of the display’s image quality, not color accuracy. One of those flaws is color temperature. The AW2725D reached a default color temperature of 6200K, which is a bit off the target of 6500K and indicates a warmer image than the target. I don’t mind it, but you’ll need to adjust it to achieve a more neutral look. Also, as mentioned, the AW2725D lacks precise color temperature adjustment options, so adjusting the color temperature is a bit difficult. Gamma, on the other hand, was spot-on the target gamma value of 2.2. Sharpness is mediocre, at least by the standards of 2025. The AW2725D’s 27-inch (technically, 26.7-inch) 1440p panel squeezes in about 110 pixels per inch. By comparison, a 4K QD-OLED monitor like the Alienware AW2725Q or Asus ROG Swift OLED PG27UCDM can deliver around 166 pixels per inch. That’s a big gap, and it’s made more noticeable by the irregular sub-pixel layout of QD-OLED displays, which makes them look coarser than the specifications suggest. I find it hard to notice on a 4K QD-OLED, because it’s so sharp to begin with. With a 1440p display, though, QD-OLED does look a bit less sharp than a 27-inch 1440p monitor with an IPS-LCD panel. Still, I have no issue with the AW2725D’s overall image quality. This monitor delivers performance that was flagship-caliber in early 2024, and it remains top-notch today. The monitor’s image quality is ideal for gaming, as the anti-aliasing techniques available in modern games can make up for some of the sharpness gap between a 1440p and 4K monitor. Factor in the AW2725D’s great SDR brightness, contrast, and color performance, and you’ve got a winner for all sorts of entertainment. It’s remarkable to see a $550 OLED monitor deliver color accuracy that beats more expensive competitors. Alienware AW2725D HDR image quality The Alienware AW2725D doesn’t give up much in SDR image quality to achieve its low price. But what about SDR? After all, monitor makers often boast of their unique heatsinks and cooling solutions that boost maximum HDR brightness. Surely the budget-oriented AW2725 is worse. Right? …Right? Matthew Smith / Foundry Wrong. As the graph shows, the Alienware AW2725D ranks among the strongest HDR gaming monitors that PCWorld has ever tested. To be clear, the margin between it and the alternatives is often slim. I don’t think most people will notice the difference between a peak HDR brightness of 834 nits and a peak of 938 nits (I certainly can’t). Still, the results made it clear that the less expensive AW2725D performs just as well as more expensive QD-OLED and LG WOLED panels, and it’s a great choice for HDR games. Alienware AW2725D motion performance The Alienware AW2725D’s refresh rate is arguably among its less attractive features and a key reason for its low price, but given that it still provides a refresh rate of 280Hz, that feels a bit absurd. It’s slower than more expensive 1440p QD-OLED monitors, which typically hit at least 360Hz. But 280Hz is still more than many people will need. Remember: You only receive the full benefit of an enhanced refresh rate if the game you’re playing can achieve that frame rate, or higher. Otherwise, the display will refresh at a lower rate to match the frame rate of the game (when Adaptive Sync is turned on). The AW2725D delivers buttery-smooth gameplay with great motion clarity. Fast-moving objects are easy to see and scrolling text is generally readable, though low-contrast examples can still be hard to make out. Don’t get me wrong: the benefit of a higher refresh rate is noticeable. But 280Hz still looks great. The AW2725D supports Adaptive Sync with official compatibility with AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and Nvidia G-Sync Compatible. Most monitors that list compatibility with any of these standards will work with all three, but it’s still preferable to see official support. It’s welcome added assurance that Adaptive Sync should work with your video card, and that you can complain to Alienware if it doesn’t. Should you buy the Alienware AW2725D? The Alienware AW2725D reiterates a point that I made earlier this year: Tt doesn’t really matter what OLED you buy. All QD-OLED panels are sourced from Samsung, and while there’re minor differences in refresh rates and HDR brightness, they’re broadly much more similar than they are different. That’s good news for the AW2725D. Priced at just $549.99, it provides most of the benefits of more expensive QD-OLED monitors at an alluring price. The monitor’s only serious downside is its lack of USB-C and somewhat limited image quality adjustment options, which make the AW2725D less appealing if you want a gaming monitor that can also serve as a productivity display. The AW2725D’s price helps to excuse that, though, which makes it an easy monitor to recommend. Read...

I finally did it. After months of putting up with a diminishing Windows experience plagued with issues, I bit the bullet and gave my Windows PC a proper factory reset—and boy does it feel good. I should’ve done it sooner, but I’ve been putting it off because I’ve always dreaded the whole process of migrating files and re-installing all my apps. I’m embarrassed to share this one because my colleagues are big proponents of regular factory resets, and now I understand why. It gets you back to the performance you had when everything was new, and it ditches all the bloatware that has built up over the years. I now have a lovely, clean, fresh Windows install that’s running like magic, and I’m here to encourage you to do the same. Not convinced? Here are several warning signs that it’s time to reset your Windows PC. Sign #1: Your PC feels slower than usual My main PC is a bit of a beast. Thanks to hardware review samples and friends in the right places, I was able to build an economical but very capable machine that has served me well in most respects. It’s built around the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D, which gives stellar performance for gaming and professional tasks. That’s paired with 32GB of DDR5 RAM, a few TBs of PCIe 4.0 storage, and a PowerColor Red Devil 7900 XTX. Apart from the 9950X3D, this is about as fast an all-AMD PC can be. But until my most recent Windows reset, it wasn’t behaving as it ought to. General performance was fine, but this is a powerful PC setup that should offer a no-compromise experience—and I was seeing odd frame rate drops, inconsistent frame times, bizarre performance dips when tabbing to something on my second monitor, and a weird system lock that lasted a few seconds any time I launched a game or app. I basically only use my PC to play Tabletop Simulator. It’s complete overkill, I know, but when that app slows down… well, you know it’s time to do something about it.Jon Martindale / Foundry I tried troubleshooting—new drivers, new BIOSes for everything, Windows updates, uninstalled bloatware, unplugged new devices, and rolled back to a System Restore point from a few weeks ago. But the issues always cropped back up again. Now that I’ve factory reset Windows and killed off whatever it was that was causing my performance issues, I’m enjoying a pristine gaming and work experience once again. I’d forgotten what I was missing. Sign #2: Your PC crashes and glitches a lot I’ve written hundreds of how-to guides on using and troubleshooting Windows, so I like to think that when a problem appears, I know (or can figure out) how to fix it. I’m the “Computer Guy” in my extended family, so I fix all of their problems, too. Unfortunately, that makes it hard for me to throw in the towel when I’m dealing with bugs, glitches, and crashes on my own PC. It’s a point of pride, in a way, and I want to fix what I can—but sometimes troubleshooting just becomes too much of a bear. No matter how many times I reinstalled the Logitech G Hub app, it would sit stuck on this loading screen for minutes whenever I tried to launch it.Jon Martindale / Foundry For example, my Logitech webcam was causing system locks whenever I woke my PC from sleep. It was some kind of driver issue, but nothing worked—updating, reinstalling multiple times, changing USB ports, reinstalling the admin software. My ring light caused a weird USB initiation hang during post, too, and sometimes caused GameMaker Studio to freeze when launching my work-in-progress. And my second monitor always flickered to white on reboot, prompting a cable reseat. These are the kinds of little issues that built up, making my PC an utter pain in the neck to use as they piled on. I stubbornly tried my best to fix everything, but eventually it got bad enough that I was driven to reset. I only wish I reset earlier instead of digging my heels in. If your PC is bugging, crashing, and glitching, it’s fine to try fixing things on your own—but when you can’t, or when the issues keep recurring, then there’s no shame in hitting the factory reset button. It’ll save you a lot of time and headaches in the process. Sign #3: Your PC has racked up bloatware I really like a lean system. My list of startup apps is as minimal as I can make it, and I try to make a point of closing down any app I’m not actively using. But one of the downsides to writing about software is I often have to install apps I don’t plan on keeping, in order to test them out. I might be writing a how-to guide, grabbing screenshots, or just needing to know how something works so I can write about it. So many installed apps. Too much crap to count.Jon Martindale / Foundry Sadly, I don’t always delete those apps straight away—I might need them later, after all. But that just means that over time, and with enough procrastination, my collection of no-longer-used, no-longer-needed apps grows to ridiculous proportions. Bloatware. Uninstalling each and every app would’ve taken up precious time I could spend doing literally anything else. Instead, a Windows factory reset was a great way to just wipe them all out in one go. If you find yourself swimming in apps that you no longer use or need, a full PC reset is great for freeing up storage and saving time. Sign #4: It’s been years since the last reset You should really reset your Windows PC at least once in a while, and we argue that once per year is the best practice. For me, though? I’m embarrassed to admit that it’s been three years. Three long years of bloatware buildup, performance dips, and stubborn bugs. (Do as I say, not as I do! It’s true, I commit several PC sins and mistakes.) Foundry If you ignore all the other signs that you should reset Windows, at least remember this one—and stick to it. Perform a Windows reset as part of your annual spring cleaning. It’s an easy milestone to track, and you’ll be keeping your PC in tip-top shape before all the small issues crop up, pile on, and noticeably start dragging you down. Sign #5: You’re going to upgrade your PC Another great opportunity to factory reset your PC is when you’re performing a big upgrade. Sure, Display Driver Uninstaller will give you a good clear out if you upgrade your GPU—it’s one of my favorite hidden gem apps for Windows users—but for everything else, you never know what legacy code or drivers are hanging around gumming up the works. Samsung Memory / Unsplash In some cases, you kind of have to reset Windows because it’ll throw a fit if you toss out too much of the silicon baby with the proverbial bath water. But it also means you can make the most of your new hardware with a freshly installed operating system. You deserve that true, new hardware feel. Skipping the factory reset is doing yourself and your new hardware an injustice. Plus, a reset would’ve felt great on your old hardware—imagine how much better it’ll be with some brand new hardware with it? Sign #6: You’re dealing with malware Modern PC security solutions are more capable than ever. You have anti-ransomware systems, AI-backed malware detection, identity fraud protection, and phishing blockers. Windows’ own security systems are robust enough now that you probably don’t need other antivirus. solarseven / Shutterstock.com But malware makers will find ways to get around those systems, and if your machine is ever infected by something nasty, it can be hard to clear it out—or worse, know whether it’s been fully removed. That can leave you paranoid, thinking the infection is quietly stealing data from under you. If you want ultimate peace of mind after dealing with a malware attack, a proper Windows factory reset is a great option. Better yet, zero out your hard drive or even just buy a new drive altogether. Further reading: Signs your PC was hacked (and what to do if it was) Read...