2024 has just been wrapped up and has been a turbulent year for the technology world. Intel has gone from strength to … well, strength with the excellent Arc B-series launch. We’ve also seen some incredible products hit the market, including many AI desktop and laptop PCs. Apple finally gave its trusty Mac Mini a refresh, and we’ve seen a continued push for network-attached storage (NAS) and home lab solutions.
Thankfully, the year wasn’t a wash and we’ve rounded up some of our favorite products from 2024. We’ve been fairly selective with our shortlist process and you’ll find an award for everything from laptops and mini PCs to CPUs and SBCs.
Best laptop: HP OmniBook Ultra Flip
HP may have changed up its whole branding this year, but it didn’t change its ability to make the best laptops on the market. After winning our hearts with the Spectre x360 14 last year, the company did it again with the OmniBook Ultra Flipin 2024.
Powered by Intel’s Lunar Lake processors, the OmniBook Ultra Flip has terrific performance and battery life, paired with one of the best designs you can get in a premium laptop, particularly one that’s already packing the latest hardware. It also has a beautiful OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, a 9MP webcam that’s still unmatched by any other brand of laptop, and an outstanding keyboard and touchpad. HP has been toning down its laptop design a bit in recent years, but the curved edges and trimmed corners of the OmniBook Ultra Flip still make this a very unique and easily recognizable machine.
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In our review, we said “literally everyone should buy this” and we mean it — you just can’t do better than the HP OmniBook Ultra Flip. — João Carrasqueira, Lead Windows Editor
Worth highlighting: Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x
If HP is the best laptop maker of the year, Lenovo isn’t far behind with the phenomenal Yoga Slim 7x. One of the debut devices for the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite, the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x offers outstanding battery life and performance, very close to the OmniBook Ultra Flip.
It also excels in every other aspect, too. The 3K OLED display has a 90Hz refresh rate and looks absolutely fantastic — and it’s the default option, so you don’t need to make sacrifices to get a cheaper price point. Plus, it has a fantastic keyboard as well, and it comes with three whole USB4 ports, which is nice to see. Speaking of seeing, the Yoga Slim 7x is also very easy on the eyes with its beautiful Cosmic Blue chassis, making this a great laptop to show off at school or while traveling.
It only really misses out on a couple of things from the best laptop of the year, but you could never go wrong with the Yoga Slim 7x. — João Carrasqueira, Lead Windows Editor
Best clamshell laptop: Surface Laptop 7
We couldn’t wrap up the best laptops of 2024 without mentioning the Surface Laptop 7, though. Another showcase device for the Snapdragon X Elite (and X Plus), this is another absolutely terrific machine. It comes with a higher tier of the Snapdragon X Elite compared to the Lenovo laptop, so performance is even better across the board, and you still get the same fantastic battery life.
Microsoft finally renovated the Surface Laptop with this iteration, giving it a totally new design with smaller bezels, a more rounded look (including rounded corners for the display), and one of the best port selections for a laptop of this kind. Plus, the display finally fixes the terrible reflectivity of prior iterations, making this a visual treat in almost any environment. It may not be OLED, but this is a screen that still looks great.
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Pair that with the most color options you can get on a Windows laptop (including a stunning new Sapphire blue), two size options, and an excellent keyboard and touchpad, and it’s easy to see why this earns an award from us. — João Carrasqueira, Lead Windows Editor
Best tablet: Surface Pro 11
Microsoft had a double-whammy of excellence this year, as the Surface Pro 11 was another absolute standout in the Windows world, simply being the best Windows tablet around, if not the best tablet in general. The Surface Pro line has always suffered from not having proper tablet battery life, but the inclusion of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus chips fixed that while giving us some of the best performance we’ve ever seen on a Surface Pro.
On top of that, Microsoft finally added a beautiful OLED display to the Surface Pro 11, in addition to making the glass less reflective, so this is truly a great device for consuming media and taking with you on a trip, which Microsoft hasn’t been able to say in a long time.
Of course, it comes in the same beautiful colors as the Surface Laptop 7, and if you want to use it as a laptop, the new Surface Pro Flex Keyboard also adds some capabilities we haven’t seen before, since you can now use the keyboard over Bluetooth so it’s not always attached to the screen (this does cost a lot more, but it’s a big upgrade).
Windows tablets may be few and far between, yes, but that’s not why the Surface Pro 11 is the best; it truly has fantastic hardware in every way. — João Carrasqueira, Lead Windows Editor
Best mobile CPU: Snapdragon X Elite
The mighty Snapdragon X Elite was one of the best CPU launches for 2024. While Windows on Arm has come a long way since 2016, this mobile processor is set to take the initiative to new heights with incredible battery life and performance, akin to Apple’s switch to its in-house Arm processors. What’s interesting about the Snapdragon X Elite, which powers some impressive hardware, such as the Surface Laptop 7, is it’s competing on multiple fronts.
Qualcomm is taking on Intel and AMD in the PC space. The company is also swinging at Apple to entice Mac owners to make the leap to Windows. Although software still has some ways to go with Arm support, it’s largely excellent with adequate cooling. Our Editor-in-Chief, Rich Woods, raved about the CPU in his glowing Surface Laptop 7 review, noting ”Performance is phenomenal, especially when using native applications, but emulation is solid too.” — Richard Pinnock-Edmonds, Lead PC Hardware Editor
Also best mobile CPU: Intel Lunar Lake
Intel needed a big win for 2024 with the lackluster launch of Arrow Lake. Thankfully, Lunar Lake wasn’t all that bad. In fact, this range of mobile processors was actually very good. Intel managed to bust the myth of Arm CPUs being more efficient across the board, though things don’t look too great for the x86 giant in heavier workloads. What’s certain is Intel is catching up with Arm and its partners, offering a viable mobile alternative.
There’s still some way to go with Lunar Lake and how Intel will position itself against the next generation of Arm-based processors, but at least the company is making strides in the mobile space. The Snapdragon X Elite is an incredible CPU, but so too are some of Intel’s Lunar Lake offerings. — Richard Pinnock-Edmonds, Lead PC Hardware Editor
Best desktop CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is a breath of fresh air in a world where Intel has seemingly dropped the ball several times. It’s been an instant sales hit and for good reason, the performance that it’s capable of is simply incredible. For gamers competing in titles like Counter-Strike 2 and Valorant the 3D V-Cache manages to improve 99% and 99.9% lows to the point that they’re almost as consistent as your average frame rate.
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The only downside of this CPU is that it’s so popular it can be hard to get your hands on, though supply issues are currently said to be easing. If you’re looking for a new gaming CPU and you’re considering picking up a Team Red option, AMD has absolutely earned its spot on our list for this year. — Adam Conway, Lead Technical Editor
Best GPU: Intel Arc B580
In a world where GPUs are essentially a duopoly made up of Nvidia and AMD, it feels great to see someone new in the space. The Intel Arc B580 is a competitor to the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 and AMD Radeon RX 7600, while coming in at just $249. It has a higher boost clock speed, 4GB of more video RAM, a faster memory bus with higher bandwidth than the RTX 4060 while being cheaper. It’s an incredible deal, and if you’re looking for a genuinely affordable GPU then this is one you should consider.
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To give you an idea of its performance, the Intel Arc B580 managed to pull off 40 frames per second in Cyberpunk 2077 at 4K at RT Ultra, something incredibly impressive for a mid-range card costing way less than the competition. — Adam Conway, Lead Technical Editor
Coolest PC case: Thermaltake Tower 300
The PC case has evolved through the decades from beige towers to interesting and unique designs. Thermaltake’s Tower 300 is one example from 2024 with an emphasis on design and cooling. It’s a Micro-ATX chassis with support for 420 mm-long radiators, making this one of the more unusual compact cases on the market. Eight 120 mm or 140 mm fans can be installed, so you won’t have trouble cooling even the most demanding PC components.
Being an octagonal shape, the insides of the PC can be viewed from a wide angle, effectively showcasing your system to visitors. I’ve used the larger Thermaltake Tower 900, a giant slab of metal that was an absolute blast to build a PC inside. The Tower 300 is much more manageable if you have a compatible motherboard. Pick up the optional stand kit and the Tower 300 can even be positioned horizontally. — Richard Pinnock-Edmonds, Lead PC Hardware Editor
Best gaming handheld: Asus ROG Ally X
In a year filled with gorgeous retro gaming handhelds from the likes of Analogue, Miyoo, Anbernic, and ModRetro, it’s an amazing time to be a handheld gaming fan. But out of every handheld we got our hands on this year, the ROG Ally X takes the crown. That it manages this despite its operating system is an impressive feat and just goes to show you how good the hardware Asus put together is.
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Many PC gaming handhelds use the AMD Z1 Extreme SoC, but only the Ally X pairs it with 24GB of 7,500MT/s LPDDR5 RAM, giving it enough memory to split between CPU and GPU tasks. The 16:9 FHD screen runs at 120Hz with FreeSync, which is perfect for this form factor. And while many other handhelds used tiny, space-constrained SSDs, Asus used a standard 2280-style in the Ally X so it can pack up to 8TB of NVMe goodness inside. — Joe Rice-Jones, Product Reviewer
Best mini PC: Mac Mini
The Mac Mini has always been the most popular mini PC for the masses, but Apple decided to actually give us a reason for it this year. The M4 Mac Mini made its debut towards the end of the year and it came with a complete redesign that was sorely needed, finally making this a truly mini PC while packing the kind of power that other PCs in this category can only dream of.
The Apple M4 makes the Mac Mini an absolute no-brainer, especially for the base price tag of $599. You simply can’t get a PC this good at this price — no ifs or buts about it. We’ve seen the Apple M4 trounce both Intel and Qualcomm in terms of performance, and as far as efficiency goes, while we can’t measure battery life on a desktop PC, I can say this is quietest computer I’ve ever used and it almost never gets even a little warm.
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Is the power button placement stupid? Absolutely. Does it take away from this absolute star of a computer? Definitely not. The Mac Mini has become my primary PC, and that’s coming from a lifelong Windows user that never owned an Apple product in the past. — João Carrasqueira, Lead Windows Editor
Best mouse: Vaxee XE-S
Most people probably haven’t heard of Vaxee, but the company has close ties to Zowie. Its founders were the original Zowie founders who left after it was acquired by BenQ, and as a company, Vaxee truly knows what gamers want. It’s a very barebones mouse that manages to perfect the basics, with controls for DPI, polling rate, and lift-off distance on the underside of the mouse. Vaxee is already proving to be rather popular amongst gamers, with many professional players in titles like Counter-Strike and Valorant starting to make the move.
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The Vaxee XE-S isn’t the most flashy of mice out there, but it’s fantastic at being a well-rounded and easy-to-use mouse. There are no drivers you need to install, I’ve had no hitches with the wireless connection, and the battery lasts a long, long time. If you’re looking to compete in an FPS title, I can’t recommend this mouse enough. It finally made me switch away from the Logitech G Pro Wireless, and that’s saying something considering I had two of that particular mouse.
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Best SBC: Radxa X4
Despite the numerous innovations over the years, the SBC landscape is still dominated by budget-friendly ARM systems. However, the Radxa X4 might be the key to turning the odds in favor of x86 chips. With its Intel N100 processor and up to 16GB LPDDR5 memory, the X4 can deliver solid performance in most DIY projects, be it running emulators or self-hosting essential Docker containers. Besides its 2.5GbE RJ45 port and Wi-Fi 6 connectivity, the Radxa X4 also has a dedicated M.2 M-key slot, where you can install a high-speed SSD.
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Thanks to the x86 processor, the Radxa X4 can work with nearly every OS in the computing ecosystem, including OpenMediavault, Home Assistant, Debian, and a host of other operating systems. The SBC has enough horsepower to run Windows 11, and equipped with the right drivers from Radxa’s website, it can even double as a normal (albeit low-end) Windows PC. It also houses an RP2040 microcontroller, and you can run MicroPython codes to control the devices connected to its GPIO pins. The best part? This amazing SBC has an inexpensive price tag of $60! — Ayush Pande, Senior PC Hardware Author
Best NAS: TerraMaster F4-424 Max
Network-Attached Storage devices have become a lot more powerful over the years, and TerraMaster’s F4-424 Max is a testament to this fact. Inside its unassuming chassis, you’ll find a 10-core, 12-thread Intel Core i5-1235U processor alongside 8GB DDR5 RAM, and you can upgrade the latter to 64GB if your workloads demand more memory. In addition to the four drive bays, the F4-424 Max includes two slots for M.2 SSDs, where you can set up TOS 6 and configure Hyper Cache for a more responsive experience.
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Speaking of TOS 6, the newest version of TerraMaster’s proprietary OS packs plenty of useful NAS and home server applications inside a beginner-friendly UI. Aside from the usual backup, media-sharing, and storage apps, TOS 6 also lets you run Docker Engine and phpVirtualBox. Combine these apps with the i5-1235U’s solid core count, and you’ve got your hands on a dedicated home server that can run a handful of containers and virtual machines with ease. As if that’s not enough, this premium NAS also ships with two 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports, allowing you to set up link aggregation for extra bandwidth and robust port failover provisions. Whether you’re looking for a reliable pre-built NAS or a powerful machine that can double as a home server, you won’t be disappointed with the TerraMaster F4-424 Max. — Ayush Pande, Senior PC Hardware Author
Best crazy concept that was actually sold: Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid
How do you even begin to talk about a device like this? Lenovo is no stranger to making some of the craziest laptops you can buy just for kicks, but many times, they’re little more than a novelty. But with the ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid, all I could say when I reviewed it is that I want more PCs like this.
Actually, this isn’t just one computer. It’s two fully-featured standalone devices in one. Sure, you can put the keyboard and screen together and use it like a super premium laptop. The top screen probably feels sturdier than any other laptop you’ve ever used, and it looks great to boot. But take these devices apart, and you still have two working machines. The screen is an Android tablet with a top-tier Snapdragon processor and a stunning display, and the base can be used as a desktop computer with a built-in keyboard and touchpad, powered by Intel Core Ultra series 1 processors. Connect it to an external monitor and you’re good to go.
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And these two devices can connect in more interesting ways, too. A special drive lets you transfer files between the Android and Windows portions easily, and included software lets you use your keyboard and touchpad for Android (effectively making it an Android laptop) or cast your Windows screen to the tablet wirelessly.
Lenovo put so much thought into this idea and it’s truly impressive how well it all works. It may not be necessary, but it’s incredibly cool, and I still want to see more of this. — João Carrasqueira, Lead Windows Editor
With 2024 in our rear-view mirrors, we’ve got CES 2025 in a matter of days, which should see countless products launched for the year ahead. 2025 is set to be a banger with new Nvidia and AMD GPUs, HDMI 2.2, more efficient processors, and further advances in cybersecurity and quantum computing. We’ll likely see more on artificial intelligence, though we have a sneaky suspicion that it will become somewhat useful for the masses. Here’s hoping anyway!