These are the Best Gaming Laptops in July 2021: Alienware, ROG, Legion, and more!

If you fancy some gaming hardware, now is probably the best time to get some, thanks to a slew of launches in recent months. From the new Xbox Series X|S and Sony PlayStation 5 consoles to NVIDIA and AMD’s new graphics cards under the RTX 30-series and Radeon 6000 series, respectively, the choices seem endless. However, we’re facing a global chip shortage, and the demand has never been greater, especially if you’re a PC gamer. New GPUs are either out of stock or are being scalped and sold at ridiculously high prices.

Probably the best way to get your hands on the new and improved hardware is by either going for a fully built system or investing in one of the newly launched gaming laptops. If you’re leaning towards the more portable route, we have a list of some of the best gaming notebooks on the market right now.

Navigate this guide:

• Best Overall Gaming Laptop: Alienware X15
• Best AMD laptop: Razer Blade 14
• Best mid-range laptop: Lenovo Legion 5
• Best ultra-portable: ASUS ROG Flow X13
• Best casual gaming laptop: HP Pavilion Gaming 15
• Best mainstream laptop: Acer Predator Helios 500

Best Overall Gaming Laptop: Alienware X15

There’s something really attractive about an Alienware laptop, and the latest refresh is just absolutely brilliant. Dell unveiled the sleek new Alienware X15 earlier this year as the slimmest Alienware gaming notebook ever. Having a thickness of less than 16mm, Dell claims it’s the world’s most powerful sub-16mm 15-inch gaming laptop. It continues to have the same white and black design language as the m15 and m17 laptops, and is powered by the latest 11th-gen Intel Core H-series CPUs and NVIDIA GeForce 30 series graphics. The laptop is also available with an optional Cherry MX keyboard with a 3.5mm ultra-low-profile design.

Alienware X15

The Alienware X15 goes on a diet with a sleek chassis design but does not compromise on performance as it features the latest Intel 11th-gen H-series CPUs and up to an NVIDIA RTX 3080 GPU.

Buy from Dell.com

Best AMD laptop: Razer Blade 14

Razer finally moved to AMD with its new Razer Blade 14 laptop that offers the best performance experience in a laptop of its size and form factor. It features Razer’s iconic stealthy black finish, although we’re hoping a Mercury White variant will also be launched soon. The company is offering the laptop with up to an AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX octa-core processor with 16GB of RAM, 1TB SSD, and options of either the NVIDIA RTX 3060, 3070, or 3080. The 14-inch display can be configured with either a 144Hz full-HD panel or a 165Hz QHD panel.

For cooling, there’s a vapor chamber system, and you get a good selection of I/O ports and of course, Razer’s Chroma RGB lighting for the keyboard.

Razer Blade 14

The new Razer Blade 14 is an excellent choice for most gamers out there featuring the power AMD Ryzen 5900HX and the option of the latest RTX 30-series GPUs from NVIDIA.

Buy from Amazon

Best mid-range laptop: Lenovo Legion 5

Lenovo has a solid lineup of gaming notebooks under its Legion branding and has been expanding the series this year with a variety of new models. If you’re out looking for a mid-range gaming laptop, then the company offers the Legion 5. It’s powered by the AMD Ryzen 7 4800H octa-core processor with a 15.6-inch 144Hz IPS display, 16GB of DDR4 memory, 512GB of SSD storage, and graphics are handled by the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060.

If you want to save some money, the laptop can also be configured with a lower-tiered NVIDIA GTX 1660Ti.

Lenovo Legion 5

The Legion 5 is a 15-inch mid-ranged gaming notebook available with up to an AMD Ryzen 4800H and NVIDIA RTX 2060 graphics.

Buy from Amazon

Best Ultra-portable Laptop: ASUS ROG Flow X13

ASUS has managed to topple the Razer Blade Stealth in the portable gaming laptop category. The ROG Flow X13 can be configured with AMD’s new Ryzen 5980HS, which is a beast of an octa-core processor paired to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 GPU. With the arrival of the new NVIDIA RTX 3050, ASUS has recently confirmed that a refreshed model is currently on its way,  loaded with either the RTX 3050 or the RTX 3050 Ti.

A unique feature of the ROG Flow X13 is it can plug into a fairly compact and portable eGPU called the ROG XG Mobile that can be configured with up to a desktop-class RTX 3080 GPU, delivering a high-performance gaming experience. The laptop doesn’t come cheap, but considering the form factor, it’s unlike any product on the market.

ASUS ROG Flow X13

This is hands-down the most powerful 13-inch gaming laptop you can buy today.

Buy from ASUS

Best Casual Gaming Laptop: HP Pavilion Gaming 15

For casual gamers, the HP Pavilion Gaming 15 is a great option with a sub-$900 price tag. It offers a good balance of performance and a minimalistic design that can blend into most environments. The laptop comes with a modest AMD Ryzen 4600H processor with 16GB of memory, 256GB NVMe SSD, and an additional 1TB HDD. Graphics are handled by an NVIDIA GTX 1650, while the 15.6-inch display comes with a full-HD resolution.

HP Pavilion Gaming 15

The HP Pavilion gaming offers excellent performance for casual gamers in a sleek design that can blend in most environments.

Buy from Amazon

Best mainstream laptop: Acer Predator Helios 500

Acer refreshed its gaming notebook lineup, and leading the pack is the new Helios 500. It’s a massive 17-inch notebook with some beefy specs and RGB lighting. The notebook comes powered by up to an 11th-gen Intel Core i9 processor going up to 5GHz, 64GB of 3200MHz DDR4 memory, while storage options include up to two PCIe NVMe SSDs in RAID 0 and one SATA HDD. The 17.3-inch display can be configured with a 4K Mini LED 120Hz display powered by AUO AmLED technology that supports full-array local dimming and is said to be as good as VESA Display HDR 1000.

For the ones looking for a fast display, there’s also the option of a full-HD 360Hz display with a 3ms response time. The new Acer Predator Helios 500 should be available soon from Acer.com.

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These are currently the best gaming laptops on the market today, in our opinion. Our pick would be the Razer Blade 14 as it offers the best of both worlds — powerful hardware and a slim, sleek design language. There are always more options coming through, so make sure you visit this list as we will be updating it every month. Gaming laptops are becoming more powerful and at the same time, getting slimmer with longer battery life. An interesting thing to note is AMD seems to be taking over Intel, and a majority of new gaming laptops are adopting the new Ryzen 5000 series mobile CPUs with the new Zen 3 architecture.

Speaking of which, make sure you check out our list of the best AMD Ryzen-powered laptops. Apart from new processors and GPUs, we’re also expecting more laptops to come with faster 5G mobile connectivity this year. We’ve also curated a list of the best 5G laptops you can check out too.

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T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon have rolled out the FCC’s anti-spoofing protocol

To combat spam calls and robocalls in the US, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) set a deadline for the mandatory adoption of the STIR/SHAKEN protocol in March last year. The mandate required major carriers to comply with the anti-spoofing system for IP calls by June 30, 2021, and verify all calls using cryptographic certificates. All three major carriers in the region, T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon, have now confirmed that they’re fully compliant with the protocol.

As per a recent report from The Verge, T-Mobile has announced that it’s now certifying that calls from its network are protected against impersonation by scam callers using the STIR/SHAKEN protocol. Verizon has also confirmed that it’s using the anti-spoofing protocol to verify that the number that shows up on the caller ID is, in fact, the number that’s calling. Similarly, an AT&T spokesperson has revealed that the carrier has also met the deadline, and it now ensures that “all LTE and 5G calls originating on [its] wireless network are STIR/SHAKEN compliant.”

For the unaware, STIR/SHAKEN stands for “Secure Telephone Identity Revisited/Signature-based Handling of Asserted Information Using toKENs.” It’s one of the best lines of defense against robocalls, as it requires the carrier to verify and sign calls originating from its network using cryptographic certificates. The certificate is then verified again by the destination network, preventing scammers and robocallers from spoofing their phone numbers.

It’s worth noting that the June 30, 2021 deadline is only for major carriers. Smaller carriers with less than 100,000 subscribers are exempt until June 30, 2023. However, the FCC is considering shortening that deadline.

To keep track of the carrier’s robocall mitigation efforts, the FCC has also set up a Robocall Mitigation Database. The agency requires voice service providers to file certifications of their mitigation efforts in the database, including their STIR/SHAKEN implementation status. So far, over 1,500 voice service providers have filed in the database, the FCC revealed in a press release. Over 200 voice service providers have certified to full STIR/SHAKEN implementation and “hundreds more have certified to partial implementation.” The FCC further added that if a service provider’s certification doesn’t appear in the Robocall Mitigation Database after September 28, 2021, it will prohibit intermediate and other voice service providers from directly accepting the provider’s traffic.

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These are the Best Weather Apps and Widgets for Android: Today Weather, AccuWeather, and more!

As smartphones have become ubiquitous, weather apps have taken the place of weather forecasters. Sure you can still find forecasts on TV news, but weather apps are like having a meteorologist in your own hand. There are a lot of weather apps and widgets available for Android, but not all of them are that good. So we’ve selected the best weather apps and widgets you can download right now on your new Android phone or tablet.

Weawow Weather

Weawow Weather is a beautiful weather app that’s free of advertisements. It provides detailed weather forecasts for up to 10 days. You’ll also find details about temperatures, probability of rain, humidity, dew point, air quality, wind speed, UV index, and a lot more. The app covers worldwide locations, and has seven weather data providers, including MET Norway, Weatherbit, Open Weather Map, AccuWeather, and Foreca. The last two are limited to the people who have donated to the app.

You can set up weather alerts and notifications to get timely information. Additionally, Weawow Weather supports dark mode, and there are 11 widgets options with different looks and sizes. Moreover, the app is completely free. You can however donate to support its development.

Weather & Widget - Weawow (Free⁺, Google Play) →

Today Weather

Today Weather is another beautiful and elegant weather app. It displays the weather information in a clean format that’s easy to read and understand. You get access to the same kind of weather data as most other apps in this list, like information about temperature, humidity, UV index, visibility, dew point, and pressure. Additionally, the app gives hourly forecasts for the next 24 hours and daily forecasts for 10 days.

Moreover, you can get information about air quality, sun and moon times, and wind. Weather maps are also available, but the detailed view is limited to premium subscribers. Today Weather has a lot of weather data sources to choose from, including its own weather data, and some of them are limited to premium subscribers. The app will also offer severe weather alerts as well as alerts for when rain and snow is approaching.

The Today Weather app is free to download and use, but it includes advertisements. You can get a premium subscription to remove ads, get all data sources, and full access to weather maps. The membership can be bought on a six-month, annual, or forever basis. There are over 20 widget options in Today Weather, with different functionality and size. The widget selection of the app is one of the best we’ve seen in a weather app.

Today Weather - Widget, Forecast, Radar & Alert (Free⁺, Google Play) →

Weather Underground

From the house of IBM, Weather Underground is a well-organized clean weather app that offers pretty much everything you would want from a weather app. It comes with features like maps with sophisticated weather visualizations, severe weather alerts, and hyper-local forecasts. The app provides hourly as well as daily forecasts for up to 15 days (10 days without the premium subscription). Additionally, you’ll get details about the air quality and sun and moon times.

Weather Underground supports dark mode as well as multiple map types. It also comes with a single widget. The app is free to download and use with ads, but you can get a premium subscription on a monthly or annual basis to remove ads and get forecasts for up to 15 days.

Weather data & microclimate : Weather Underground (Free⁺, Google Play) →

The Weather Channel

The Weather Channel is another great weather app from IBM, and it provides more features than the Weather Underground. It’s also one of the most downloaded weather apps in the Google Play store. With the app, you can see live radar updates, get severe weather alerts, weather maps, daily forecasts for up to 15 days, and hourly forecasts. You also get seasonal details like Heat Index, Mosquito Index, Sweat Index, Fog Index, and Umbrella Index, which can be very useful.

Additionally, the Weather Channel provides information about pollen and mold in your area, how the running conditions are, and the air quality details. You get six widget options with varying levels of detail. The Weather Channel is free to download and use but there are ads. You can get the premium pro subscription to remove ads and get 192 hours of detailed forecast information. There are monthly and annual subscription options.

Weather Radar & Live Widget: The Weather Channel (Free⁺, Google Play) →

YoWindow Awesome Weather

Awesome Weather from YoWindow is an interesting weather app for Android. It shows the weather at your location in a live landscape, complete with sounds. Ten landscape options are available in case you prefer one over the other. You can even create your own landscapes. In terms of the weather data, the app gets its information from a variety of sources, including the National Weather Service (NWS), Aeris weather, Foreca (nowcasting), yr.no (met.no), METAR, and Open Weather Map. You’ll able to check forecasts for up to 14 days.

The YoWindow Awesome Weather app offers six widget options as well as ten live wallpapers showing weather in your area. Additionally, you get an alarm clock that wakes you up to the sounds of nature, a weather screensaver, and weather maps. The radar and weather maps can be tried for five days, after which you’ll need to purchase the full version.

The app is free with advertisements; however, you can get the full version to get rid of the ads and remove all other limits. The full version can be purchased for a one time payment, monthly subscription, or yearly subscription.

Awesome weather YoWindow + live weather wallpaper (Free⁺, Google Play) →

Windy.com Weather

Windy’s official weather app offers far more detailed information than you’ll find on a typical weather app. For the same reason, it can also be overwhelming to regular people, who don’t need or want professional-grade data. However, if you’re a weather geek, this app will be right up your alley. The app offers forecast data, based on all leading models, including ECMWF, GFS, ICON, and NAM.

You’ll also get weather maps for everything from wind and rain to CAPE Index and pressure. Additionally, the app provides weather data for over 1,500 paragliding spots as well as wind and wave forecasts for kiting and surf spots. Moreover, the app offers three widgets. All in all, there is plenty of weather data in the app.

The Windy app is free to download and use; however, you’ll need a premium subscription for some of the weather data. The premium subscription can be bought for just one year or as an annual subscription.

Windy.com - Weather Radar, Satellite and Forecast (Free⁺, Google Play) →

Geometric Weather

Geometric Weather is one of the relatively newer apps on Android, but it already has a lot of fans. The app sports a clean and elegant design. You get access to hourly and daily weather forecasts for up to 15 days. It gives users two global weather data source choices, and three for regional data. The usual weather data details like temperature, air quality, wind, UV index, humidity, atmospheric pressure, visibility, dew point, and cloud cover are available as well.

Additionally, Geometric Weather supports dark mode and comes with a weather live wallpaper as well as 11 widget options. It is free to download and use. There are no ads or in-app purchases.

Geometric Weather (Free, Google Play) →

Weather Widget by WeatherBug

If you don’t want a full weather app on your phone and will be happy with just a widget, this widget app from WeatherBug can help. It includes five widget options for different column and row sizes. Depending on which widget you choose, you can get information about time, date, alarm information, temperature, weather type, and forecast temperatures for five days. It can also send you severe weather alerts.

The widgets look fairly decent and utilitarian. Don’t expect an exceptional design. Also, as it is just a collection of widgets, it won’t show up in your app drawer but you’ll find the widgets in the ‘add widget’ section. The Weather Widget by WeatherBug is free to download and use.

Weather Widget by WeatherBug: Alerts & Forecast (Free, Google Play) →

1Weather

1Weather is another popular weather app with over 50 million downloads. It offers a lot of weather information in different tabs, but the most useful bit – today’s weather – is present right on the app’s homescreen. You’ll also get hourly forecasts for the next 48 hours as well as daily forecasts for the next ten days. Weather maps, as well as 1Weather’s own video content around the weather, are also available on the app. Moreover, you’ll get severe weather alerts and a number of theming options.

A total of 12 widget options are present with different designs and sizes. The only problem we noticed with the app was the full-page ads that randomly show up and can be annoying. The app is free to download and use with ads, but you can remove ads with the Pro subscription that’s a one-time purchase.

1Weather: Weather Forecast, Widget, Alerts & Radar (Free⁺, Google Play) →

RadarScope

If you are looking to delve deeper into the weather data, RadarScope is perfect. It provides specialized radar data that’ll be appreciated by the weather geeks and meteorologists. You can view NEXRAD Level 3 and super-resolution radar data. The app also offers warning information about tornados, severe thunderstorms, and flash floods, using data from the US National Weather Service.

It uses information from a number of radar sites around the world, including North America, Japan, Korea, Australia, and Germany. The app also keeps on adding new radar sites for more data. Frankly, there’s no better app for weather-related radar data on Android. It’s important to note here that RadarScope doesn’t offer your typical weather forecast unless you can use the radar data to forecast the weather yourself.

RadarScope is a paid app and comes with optional subscriptions for some of the data. It’s also only available in select markets.

RadarScope ($9.99⁺, Google Play) →

Weather & Clock Widget

The Weather & Clock Widget is another weather widget app for Android but unlike the WeatherBug widget, it comes as a barebones app. However, if you only want widgets, you can just ignore the app apart from the initial setup. There are a total of 25 widget options with different designs and sizes. You only get two weather data sources, which may not be enough to get accurate information for everyone around the world.

Additionally, the app offers weather alerts as well as the hourly weather forecast for the next 60 hours and daily forecasts for ten days. The app is free to download and use with ads. There’s also a premium version for those of you who want to remove ads but there’s no in-app purchase in the free app to remove the ads.

Weather & Clock Widget for Android (Free, Google Play) →

AccuWeather

AccuWeather is perhaps the most prominent name in this list and it’s even used as a weather data source by many of the aforementioned apps. It’s also one of the most downloaded weather apps on the Google Play store. Its new interface is clean and provides hyperlocal and accurate weather information in an easy-to-read manner.

You’ll get today’s weather data right on the app’s homepage. Additionally, hourly forecasts for the next 72 hours, daily forecasts for the next 45 days, and weather maps are also available in the app. Moreover, the AccuWeather app provides weather news to keep you appraised of the latest happenings. Four widgets options are also present with different designs.

AccuWeather is free to download and use with ads; however, you can remove the ads by making an in-app purchase for one year. The annual subscription doesn’t renew automatically.

AccuWeather: Weather alerts & live forecast info (Free⁺, Google Play) →

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These are some of the best weather apps and widgets on Android. Some of the honorable mentions include Overdrop, Flowx, Yahoo Weather, and Appy Weather. Which weather app do you use? Do you think we missed any great weather apps or widgets? Let us know in the comments section.

Meanwhile, if you are looking for more amazing apps for Android, we’ve selected the overall best Android apps, the best SMS apps, and the best apps for kids.

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