BEST CREATIVE NOTEBOOK: LENOVO THINKPAD T15G INTEL XEON
By: April Glover
Lenovo’s ThinkPad T15g (above) is designed for every type of person – gamers, creatives, professionals and those just wanting to watch Netflix in bed. With NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX graphics cards and 10th Gen Intel Core or Xeon Processors, up to 128GB of memory and 4TB of storage, it has top-tier, premium features for all use-cases. Thanks to the T15g’s optimised airflow and thermal saturation, you can also sit on this device all day long without it breaking a sweat or uncomfortably overheating. The ThinkPad T15g is at an affordable price-point of $2698 for such a powerful machine, a clear winner for this category.
BEST LAPTOP: ACER SPIN 5
By: April Glover
The Acer Spin 5 is a 2-in-1 ultra-light notebook which is a remote worker’s dream. The laptop is a crucial product in portable world and its features such as a 2256×1504 pixel touch screen, built-in Wacom pen and light 1.2kg body make it a fierce competitor in the already saturated market. The Acer Spin 5 is also well-priced at under $1000, particularly given its dual capability and stylish design which essentially allows it to work like a digital sheet of paper.
BEST GAMING LAPTOP: MSI GE66 RAIDER DRAGONSHIELD
By: Jake Nelson
MSI is renowned for its gaming prowess, and the GE66 Raider Dragonshield is an absolute beast of a machine. An RTX 2070 SUPER graphics card, an Intel Core i9 processor, 32GB RAM, and a 300Hz full-HD display would be selling points on their own – but the Dragonshield wraps all those souped-up guts in a gorgeous sci-fi-inspired chassis designed by Hollywood VFX artist Colie Wertz, known for his work on the Star Wars prequels.
It doesn’t stop there, either: MSI also throws in a pile of goodies to go with it, including a gaming mouse that matches the design, and a model of the spaceship Wertz designed for the Dragonshield’s killer aesthetic.
The Taiwanese titan has new gaming laptops coming out this year, with the RTX 30-series laptop GPUs – but if you can get your hands on the limited-edition GE66 Raider Dragonshield, it is still well worth every credit, Altairian dollar, or quatloo you spend.
BEST CREATIVE PC: ACER CONCEPT D CP7
By: April Glover
Acer has had a blockbuster year with a number of incredible top-tier PC products released. Its ConceptD CP7 is no exception – a 4K pro monitor which has the right power and features for creative use or some light gaming. The 27-inch display has a 144Hz refresh rate and a 4K pixel grid for sharp and detailed colour. It is a slick looking monitor featuring the latest NVDIA G-SYNC processors for the best HDR experience possible. Creatives will adore the classy appearance with a stand-base, a light shielding hood, built-in light sensor and plenty of ports for professional design work.
BEST PREMIUM TABLET: SAMSUNG GALAXY TAB S7 PLUS 5G
By: April Glover
Samsung nails it in the smartphone market and it does a hell of a job in the tablet market, too. The Galaxy Tab S7 Plus (with 5G) is a versatile tablet with a smooth 120Hz display and the company’s most powerful chipset, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+, for an effortless creative experience.
The Plus product has a Super AMOLED screen which is also HDR10+, a magnificent display you’d be hard pressed to find on any other tablet. For $2049, it’s a little on the expensive side but the incredible performance makes it well worth the investment. The addition of Samsung’s S Pen also bumps up this product into winning status as the best premium tablet on the market.
BEST GAMING MONITOR: ACER NITRO XV340CK 34″ QHD IPS GAMING MONITOR
By: April Glover
Acer has done it again in the gaming space with its more-than-affordable XV340CK 34’’ QHD IPS gaming monitor. It has a 34-inch Ultra Wide display for serious gamers needing as much visual space as possible, 1ms Visual Response Boost for hardcore play and 250 nits brightness to bring out the best colour possible. It is priced at $1299 – but often on sale for below $1000 – so it’s priced much lower than a lot of the similar gaming monitors out on the market.
BEST VALUE TABLET: LENOVO M10 TAB PLUS 64GB
By: April Glover
Lenovo’s M10 Tab Plus (2nd Gen) is an incredibly good value all-round tablet for just $369. It has a 10.3’’ FHD display with dual speaker from Dolby Atmos which makes it the ideal entertainment tablet for adults and children alike.
The M10 Tab Plus’ ultra-modern design with an all-metal body gives it more of a premium feel and it even comes with a charging dock, allowing it to easily transform into a smart display. Its dual capability and good-quality screen is a big reason the Lenovo M10 Tab Plus is the best value tablet, too.
