Laptops

Lenovo Yoga S740 review: Great for work from home

Well, almost great because of some things

Published

April 7, 2020

Gab Orlina

Being stuck under quarantine meant that I had to work from the comfort of my own room. With the amount of tasks I had to accomplish within the 8.5 hours, I wanted a laptop that could help me accomplish these faster and more efficiently. Naturally, I had my work laptop with me but I decided to give another laptop a try during my work from home saga.

Luckily, before this quarantine started, I got my hands on the Lenovo Yoga S740 in a very beautiful package. The company pegs this as a creative mind’s laptop, doubling down on hardware pieces fit for photo and video work. When you’re not using it for Photoshop or Premiere Pro, it’s supposedly an excellent work laptop.

So, maybe it won’t be too bad to give this laptop a shot — even with my work laptop in full reach. Here’s what the Lenovo Yoga S740 brings to the table:

It has a 14-inch IPS glossy display that flips 180 degrees

It has an NVIDIA MX250 discrete GPU inside

It comes in a thin and light chassis, in the Iron Grey color

Masterful performance for its intended use

The Lenovo Yoga S740 comes with premium hardware fit for professional work laptops out there. The 10th generation Intel Core i7-1065G7 chip they put inside this device provides more than enough power for most of the tasks I did. From making tons of spreadsheets to doing some video editing, this device clearly holds its own against all of it.

It didn’t even take that long to boot up the laptop thanks to the 512GB M.2 SSD inside. Load times for most applications are what you’d expect from a new processor and 16GB of RAM inside. It’s almost like this laptop sets the standard for how work laptops should be based on the hardware.

With the NVIDIA MX250 inside, you can play games at a fairly decent frame rate. In my experience however, I don’t recommend it as part of your main activities with the device. Apart from playable frame rates of 30-40 FPS, the device warms up pretty fast and its thermals are not exactly built for that.

Solid battery life across the board

Lenovo claims the device can last up to 14 hours provided you just use it for most everyday tasks. On my end, I got about 10 to 11 hours all while using it strictly for work-related tasks like writing reports and processing data. When using the device along with social media, Netflix, and a little bit of gaming, it’s around 8 to 9 hours, which is pretty decent.

The device doesn’t take too long to charge either, as it took two and a half hours to fully charge it. If you decide to charge the device using the Thunderbolt 3 USB Type-C port, it takes about three hours for a full charge. I found out that you can use any USB-C charger you have lying around, whether it’s for your phone or for your Nintendo Switch.

The way the thermals work confuses me

For me, it’s important to keep any portable device well ventilated. I’ve had experiences both with phones and laptops that just heat up real fast, then take a long while before cooling down. The Lenovo Yoga S740 proved to be no exception to this, but it also manages to do it a little worse than most laptops I’ve had — and I don’t know why.

For starters, the device has rubber feet that elevate it a little bit when placed on any surface. Ideally, this gives the laptop room to exhaust hot air through its ventilation grills underneath, which it was able to do on regular use. However, when you’re doing a lot of tasks at the same time (not necessarily gaming-heavy), the fans get loud and the hot air can’t get out properly. I say that mostly because I feel the warmth on the keyboard when this happens.

Another thing I observed was that even in sleep mode, this device pumps the fans up. Ideally, it shouldn’t pump out as much air as it should when you’re actively using it. However, when I decided to just put it to sleep by closing the lid shut, it still pumped out a lot of hot air. I thought closing the lid shut also means the device would be put in a low power state, but that doesn’t seem to be the case here.

Other features that deserve your attention

There were a bunch of other features that you should look at before even thinking of getting this device. First, the overall design is pretty great for any use case. The FHD IPS display folds up to 180 degrees, and honestly best used when you’re typing something while lying down. The speakers are found just beside the keyboard, and are pretty decent when you’re watching movies.

Second, the 720p IR camera is just, well bad. I didn’t run into any problems setting it up for Windows Hello’s facial recognition, which makes up for a lack of a fingerprint sensor. But the moment you start using the webcam on its own, it’s not promising at all. The images show obvious grain, not much attention to even sharpening the details a bit. If you ever need to do a conference call, this camera won’t help you.

And lastly, there are some ports that this device had to sacrifice but these were not good sacrifices. For most creative professionals, having an HDMI port also helps — apart from the Thunderbolt 3 port. Most external displays readily available still use an HDMI port, so there’s a missed opportunity there. Also, the lack of an SD card reader will have you sacrificing one of your two USB Type-A ports — especially for photographers.

Is this your GadgetMatch?

At PhP 74,995, the Lenovo Yoga S740 is one great on-the-go work device. The hardware inside is great for most work and creative tasks. Plus, it lasts pretty long provided you use it just for work or creativity purposes. You can game on it a little, but don’t expect mind-boggling frame rates unless you get the unit with the NVIDIA GTX 1650 inside.

There are some things that do deserve a second opinion before you get this device. The lack of substantial ports, a grainy 720p camera, and the hard pumping thermals leave a lot to be desired. But, if you feel that you can manage with these, then this device is great on its own.

Overall, I think that this is a great alternative to most work laptops I have. When I’m not using it for work, it’s also great for most past times I have. If I were a creative professional, I’d highly consider getting this, but maybe once the quarantine is over.

Gaming

Razer Blade 16 (2026) packs more cores, faster memory

Razer’s thinnest gaming laptop yet

Published

March 26, 2026

Rodneil Quiteles

Razer has officially unveiled the 2026 version of its Blade 16, doubling down on what it does best: squeezing high-end performance into an ultra-slim chassis.

This year’s refresh focuses on meaningful internal upgrades. That includes a new Intel Core Ultra 9 processor, faster LPDDR5X memory, and NVIDIA’s latest RTX 50 Series laptop GPUs — all while keeping the Blade 16 as the thinnest gaming laptop in Razer’s lineup.

Performance gets a serious bump

At the core of the new Blade 16 is the Intel Core Ultra 9 386H, featuring 16 cores and up to 4.9GHz boost clock. Razer claims a 33% increase in core count versus the previous generation, translating to stronger performance across gaming, content creation, and AI workloads.

There’s also an integrated NPU capable of up to 50 TOPS, enabling faster on-device AI tasks like image generation and live translation.

Memory gets a notable upgrade too. The Blade 16 now supports up to 64GB of LPDDR5X-9600MHz RAM, which Razer positions as the fastest available in a laptop today. The result: quicker responsiveness for heavy multitasking, creative apps, and AI-assisted workflows.

On the graphics side, NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 50 Series (Blackwell architecture) brings DLSS 4 and enhanced AI capabilities for both gaming and creator use cases.

Display and design stay premium

Razer isn’t fixing what isn’t broken. The Blade 16 retains its signature CNC-milled aluminum chassis, measuring just 14.9mm thick and weighing around 2.14kg.

The display remains a highlight. You get a 16-inch QHD+ OLED panel with a 240Hz refresh rate, now brighter and certified for VESA DisplayHDR TrueBlack 1000. It supports full DCI-P3 coverage, Calman calibration, and NVIDIA G-SYNC, making it just as suited for creators as it is for competitive gaming.

Battery life and efficiency improve

Despite the performance gains, Razer is also pushing efficiency. Thanks to Intel’s newer architecture and system-level optimizations, the Blade 16 can hit up to 13 hours of productivity use and up to 15 hours of video playback under ideal conditions.

That’s a notable improvement for a machine in this class, especially given its slim form factor.

Connectivity and audio step up

The 2026 Blade 16 gets a future-ready connectivity suite, including Thunderbolt 5, Wi-Fi 7, and Bluetooth 6.0. There’s also a full set of ports, from USB-A to HDMI 2.1 and an SD card reader.

Audio gets an upgrade too. The six-speaker system now supports THX Spatial Audio+ with virtual 7.1.4 surround, aiming to deliver more immersive sound both on speakers and headphones.

Price and availability

The Razer Blade 16 configured with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 (16GB VRAM) and 32GB LPDDR5X-9600MHz RAM is priced at US$3,499.99 / €3,599.99 MSRP.

It is available now, exclusively via Razer.com and select RazerStores worldwide.

Still the Blade, just sharper

At a glance, the 2026 Blade 16 doesn’t reinvent the formula. But under the hood, it pushes performance, memory speed, and efficiency forward in ways that matter.

It’s still the same idea: a no-compromise gaming laptop that looks like it belongs in a minimalist workspace — just faster, smarter, and a bit more future-proof this time around.

Laptops

ASUS launches Zenbook DUO and S14 in the Philippines

Plus, the ZenBook A16 is coming soon.

Published

March 25, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

At CES 2026, ASUS unveiled an exciting lineup of notebooks headed for launch throughout the year. Earlier this month, the brand finally launched the latest Zenbooks built for maximum portability. Now, ASUS has released the new Zenbook S16 and S14, plus the new Zenbook DUO, in the Philippines.

Zenbook S16, S14

Much like its predecessor, the latest Zenbook S16 is designed for ultra portability. In terms of thinness, the notebook measures only 1.1 centimeters. Plus, it weighs only 1.5 kilograms, making it a perfect addition to your daily kit. The Zenbook S14, on the other hand, weighs only 1.1 kilograms.

As is always expected from the Zenbook S lineup, both laptops will have a tactile Ceraluminum lid, bolstered by an EasyLift hinge for ease of use. It will also have an ErgoSense keyboard with dished keycaps.

The 16- and 14-inch 3K ASUS Lumina OLED screen has touchscreen capabilities and a refresh rate of 120Hz. For audio, the S16 has a six-speaker Dolby Atmos system, including four front-firing tweeters and dual woofers. The S14 has four speakers.

Under the hood, the Zenbook S16 will sport an AMD Ryzen AI 9 465 chipset, while the Zenbook S14 has an Intel Core Ultra 9 Series 3 processor.

For battery, the S16 will have an 83 Wh battery, which can reportedly last over 21 hours, and the S14 has a 77 Wh battery.

Zenbook DUO

If portability isn’t your main focus, the new Zenbook DUO packs in two screens in one device. Though it packs a bit more punch the Zenbook S series, the dual-screen notebook still weighs only 1.65 kilograms.

The Zenbook DUO features the newest Intel Core Ultra 9 Series 3 processor, up to 32GB of memory, and up to 1TB of internal storage. This time, both screens have anti-reflective coating for a better viewing experience.

As with the previous generations of the DUO, this iteration comes with a detachable keyboard and a four different use cases including dual screen, laptop, desktop, and sharing modes.

Powering the beast is a huge 99Wh battery. ASUS says that this is the most they can pack inside without getting users in trouble at the airport.

Zenbook 14

To be clear, this is different from the Zenbook S14, but it bears a striking resemblance to that previous notebook, both in terms of design and hardware. For one, the new Zenbook 14 is 14.9mm thin and only 1.2kg light.

The 14-inch screen carries a WUXGA ASUS Lumina OLED display, putting out images in a 16:10 aspect ratio. The notebook also has an Ergosense keyboard and touchpad for more comfortable typing and more precise controls.

Under the hood, the Zenbook 14 trades the S14’s Intel chip for an AMD Ryzen AI 7 445 processor, capable of up to 50 TOPS. It will also have 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage.

For battery, the notebook will have a 75 Wh battery, reportedly capable of lasting over 15 hours of unplugged use.

Zenbook A16

Embodying the spirit of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” the brand is also introducing a modest upgrade to the Zenbook A series.

The new Zenbook A16 is only 1.2 kilograms in weight. Plus, with a 70Wh battery, the notebook can remain unplugged and outside for an entire day. The A16 comes with a 16-inch 3K 120Hz OLED screen and the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme.

Price, availability in the Philippines

The Zenbook S16 comes in Scandinavian White and starts at PhP 134,995. Meanwhile, the Zenbook S14 comes in Antrim Gray and sells for PhP 129,995.

The Zenbook DUO comes in Moher Gray and starts at PhP 179,995.

Meanwhile, the Zenbook 14 comes in Jade Black and sells for PhP 79,995.

Finally, the Zenbook A16 is coming soon.

Laptops

Alienware celebrates 30th anniversary with new Area-51 laptops

The series features Alienware 30, an all-new design language.

Published

March 17, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

Despite the rise of more gaming brands, Alienware is still one of the most recognizable names for gamers who want dedicated hardware. This year, the brand is celebrating its 30^th anniversary. To commemorate the milestone, Alienware has launched the new Area-51 and Aurora notebooks.

Alienware Area-51

Alienware’s Area-51 lineup is the brand’s flagship line of notebooks, packing in the best of the best from the industry. This time is no different.

First of all, the new series will rock Alienware 30, a new design philosophy made especially for the 30th anniversary. On the outside, the laptops have fluid contours, emphasizing curves opposed to the industry’s more angular contemporaries. It also has a Zero Hinge, which hides the laptop’s hinge from view. Finally, it has pillowed palm rests to make usage easy for long gaming sessions.

The 16-inch model can rock up to a WQXGA Anti-Glare OLED screen, featuring 240Hz refresh rate and 620 peak HDR nits. It will also have an LCD option. Alternatively, the 18-inch model has a WQXGA screen, featuring 300Hz refresh rate and 500 nits of brightness.

Inside, the Alienware Area-51 boasts up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX processor and up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 24GB GPU. For memory, gamers can enjoy up to 64GB Dual-Channel DDR5. Finally, for storage, the series can rock up to 2TB SSD natively but can support up to 3 slots, allowing for up to 12TB of internal storage.

The series will have a sizable 96Whr battery. This is complemented by a 280W adapter and the brand’s largest fans by volume to keep things cool.

Alienware 16X Aurora

For those who portability over raw power, the new Alienware 16X Aurora fits inside any day-to-day kit. For example, it ditches the thermal shelf typical of most gaming notebooks today to increase portability. It has rounded edges to make it easier to grasp and to create a slightly pillowed palm rest, similar to its flagship counterpart.

The 16-inch WQXGA OLED panel touts 240Hz refresh rate, 0.2ms response time, and 620 nits HDR peak brightness.

Inside, the notebook has up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor and up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti GPU. These specs are paired with up to 64GB Dual-Channel DDR5 memory and up to 2TB SSD.

Finally, the Alienware 16X Aurora will have a 90Whr battery. This is supported by up to a 280W charger (for the RTX 5070 variant).