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mardi 30 novembre 2021

Nokia 9 PureView owners will get a discount on a budget phone instead of Android 11

The Nokia 9 PureView was one of the first flagship phones produced by HMD Global with Nokia branding, packed with a Snapdragon 845 chipset and five rear cameras. However, like most other Nokia phones, it was slow to receive updates. HMD has now confirmed the phone won’t get Android 11, but the company is offering a consolation prize: a discount on a budget phone.

Nokia’s website has been updated with the message, “we had to make the tough choice not to offer the Android 11 software upgrade for Nokia 9 PureView. Incompatibilities between the camera and the software would have led to a compromised experience that does not meet our high standards. Your current Nokia 9 PureView won’t change and you will continue to receive security updates. But, for those of you looking to make the jump to Android 11, we’re offering a 50% discount on Nokia XR20, or another device depending on regional availability.”

The Nokia 9 PureView shipped with Android 9 Pie out of the factory, and an update to Android 10 started rolling out in December 2019. The phone has remained on Android 10 since then. HMD first estimated that an Android 11 upgrade would be available in the second quarter of 2021, then the timeline was later revised to Q3 2021. For those of you keeping track at home, Android 11 is now over a year old, as it was released in September 2020.

HMD’s promised discount on a new phone might sound like a decent offer, especially considering you don’t have to trade in the Nokia 9 PureView, but the Nokia XR20 is a budget phone. It has a Snapdragon 480 chipset instead of a flagship-class Snapdragon chip, and an LCD screen instead of the PureView’s OLED screen. Needless to say, owners of the Nokia 9 PureView aren’t too happy.

Given that HMD has struggled for years to maintain timely updates for its Nokia phones, if Android updates are important to you, looking elsewhere for your next phone might be the smartest idea — we have a roundup of the best Android phones. There’s not even an official bootloader unlocking method for the Nokia 9 PureView, so switching to custom ROMs isn’t an option.

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XDA Basics: How to set a silent but vibrating alarm on your Apple Watch

Most people I know struggle with waking up early in the morning. Our loud alarms can make the process even harder and more unpleasant. I’m aware there are soft alarms out there that aren’t as bad. However, some of us find them startling as well. There are also people who live with others who don’t share the same sleep schedule and don’t want to disturb them every single time they need to be woken up. If you own an Apple Watch, there’s a neat solution that not all users are aware of. Here’s how to set a silent but vibrating alarm on your Apple Watch.

How to set a silent but vibrating alarm on your Apple Watch

Using your iPhone

alarm on apple watch

  • Launch the Watch app on your iPhone.

alarm on apple watch

  • Scroll and hit on Clock.

alarm on apple watch

  • Enable Push Alert from iPhone.
  • Go to the Clock app on your iPhone.

alarm on apple watch

  • Click on Alarm in the bottom bar.

alarm on apple watch

  • Tap the plus (+) icon in the top right corner.
  • Set the time of the alarm and adjust the other options as you see fit.

alarm on apple watch

  • Click on Sound.

alarm on apple watch

  • Scroll to the bottom of the list of alarm sounds and select None.

alarm on apple watch

  • Go back and save the alarm.

alarm on apple watch

  • Open the Control Center on your Apple Watch by swiping up from the bottom edge.

alarm on apple watch

  • Enable Silent Mode.
  • Voila! Once the alarm goes off, it won’t play a sound on either device. Instead, your Apple Watch will gently vibrate on your wrist.

Using just your Apple Watch independently

alarm on apple watch

  • Open the Control Center on your Apple Watch by swiping up from the bottom edge.

alarm on apple watch

  • Enable Silent Mode.

alarm on apple watch

  • Open the Alarms app on your Apple Watch.

alarm on apple watch

  • Click on Add Alarm.
  • Set the time of the alarm.

alarm on apple watch

  • Hit on the green tick.
  • Voila! Your iPhone could be turned off or disconnected, but your Apple Watch will still wake you up by tapping your wrist silently.

I personally use this feature every morning. I can’t imagine switching back to audio alarms ever again. It seriously has had an impact on my state right after I wake up. More importantly, it doesn’t bother other people sleeping in the same room or flat.

Make sure your Apple Watch is charged before going to bed. You wouldn’t want to arrive late to work or school because of a dead Apple Watch that failed to wake you up. It’s also a good idea to test this method on a weekend, in case you unconsciously dismiss the vibrating alarm and go back to sleep. Personally, I’ve never failed to wake up using this method, but it’s always a good idea to make sure — just in case.

Will you be switching to silent, vibrating alarms from now on, or do you prefer audio ones? Let us know in the comments section below.

The post XDA Basics: How to set a silent but vibrating alarm on your Apple Watch appeared first on xda-developers.



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These are the best external GPU enclosures for your Laptop in 2021

Buying the best external GPU enclosures for your laptop can be crucial to boosting the overall performance of the machine, be it for gaming or for improving the render speeds in Premiere Pro. The external GPU enclosure, as the name suggests, holds an external desktop graphics card and also provides power for it. These enclosures allow you to get all the horsepower and graphics capabilities of powerful desktop graphics even while using a thin and light laptop.

External GPUs are becoming more common now, especially as the faster Thunderbolt USB-C is becoming a standard connection interface on laptops. A few of these external GPU units also use proprietary connectors, but we recommend buying the ones with a standard interface that allows you to use them with different laptops. Some of these eGPU cases that we’ve mentioned in this collection also double as external mounts for SDDs and HDDs, so that’s a great way to add more storage to your existing laptop if you’re falling short.

There’s no shortage of external GPU enclosures on the market, so let’s get started with our collection of the best eGPU enclosures you can buy right now:

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Best overall external GPU enclosure: Razer Core X Chroma

A image of a gaming setup with a Razer Core X Chrome external GPU unit connected to a laptop and an external monitor

The Razer Core X Chroma is arguably the best external GPU enclosure you can buy for your laptop right now. We’ve selected this particular unit as our best overall external GPU enclosure for a lot of reasons. It offers what we think is a beautiful yet functional design to occupy even the newest GPUs on the market. The exterior of the enclosure is made out of CNC aluminum and it’s a single piece with no seam. The vented side panel not only allows you to see GPU that’s installed in the unit but also allows the hot air to exit the enclosure, thereby helping the overall cooling performance.

It won’t be a Razer product without some RGB lights, right? Well, the Razer Core X Chroma comes with lighting in small doses. There’s an RGB light strip on the front of the unit that can be customized using Razer’s Synapse software. This strip is illuminated by 15 zones of RGB lighting which looks stunning when powered on. You can also see the light through the side vents where the GPU itself is installed. The GPU lighting, if it has any, is also visible through this vent.

The Razer Core X Chroma is fairly simple to use. All you have to pull the internal compartment from the back using a lever. This makes the overall process simple and less time consuming as compared to the ones that require dismantling the enclosure by undoing screws. The GPU plugs into the PCIe slot with a single thumbscrew to support it in the back. The Razer Core X Chroma should have no issues accepting even a 3-slot card. The enclosure supports up to that are 330mm long, 160mm tall, and 60 in thickness. The Razer Core X Chroma is compatible with even the newer RTX 30 series GPUs, which is nice for those looking to get their hands on some of the best graphics cards on the market.

The Razer Core X Chroma also has an internal 120mm fan to circulate the air. This is in addition to the fan in the power supply, so you should have no issues keeping the thermal performance of this external GPU enclosure in check. The fins on the front of the unit, however, are just for show. It’s a solid piece and no air comes through this panel. Even though the side panel has air vents, we’d love to see some vents on this front panel too for better airflow.

The Razer Core X Chroma comes with a handful of ports at the back. You get four USB 3.1 Type-A ports and a gigabit Ethernet jack. Other external GPU enclosure units have a better port selection, but this isn’t a bad selection either. These ports should be enough to connect an external monitor along with a bunch of peripherals like the keyboard, mouse, USB-driven headphones, and more. The Razer Core X Chroma also packs a 700W ATX PSU to power everything on its own.

Overall, we think the Razer Core X Chroma is fantastic eGPU enclosure that works as advertised. You can also buy the standard variant of the enclosure if don’t like flashy RGB lights or if you simply want to save some money on this unit. The standard variant of the Razer Core X enclosure is available in both black and white variants, so pick the one that goes well with your overall setup.

    Razer Core X Chroma External GPU enclosure
    The Razer Core X Chroma is one of the best external GPU enclosures you can buy right now. It's got RGB lights and it's compatible with even some of the newer GPUs on the market including the RTX 30 series and the Radeon 6000 series GPUs.

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Second-best overall eGPU enclosure: Mantiz Saturn Pro

An image showing three Mantiz Saturn Pro eGPU8 unit with a desk at the back

The Mantiz Saturn Pro is our second best pick for the best eGPU enclosure you can buy right now. It’s one of the most aesthetically pleasing enclosures on this list and it packs a lot of great features, making it one of the best eGPU enclosures on the market. The Mantiz Saturn Pro follows the footsteps of its predecessor with aluminum construction and clean aesthetics. The Mantiz Saturn Pro will have absolutely no issues blending into most setups with its minimal looks. It’s a great fit for most setups compared to something like the Razer Core X Chroma.

One thing we know a lot of people will appreciate is the lack of any RGB lights on the Mantiz Saturn Pro. You get to choose between three anodized finishes — Silver, Grey, and black — and none of them RGB lights. That being said, it’s relatively bigger in size, so you might need more space to accommodate it on your desk. You can access the internals of this particular unit by pulling the internal chamber from the back. It’s very similar to how you access the chamber inside the Razer Core X eGPU enclosure.

Inside, you get an 80+ Gold 750W single-rail unit that’s capable of providing 100W upstream Power Delivery and a max 550W to the graphics card. This is the highest-output PSW in an eGPU enclosure, compared to the 650/700W units in other enclosures like the Core X. It also has a 3x 6+2 pin PCIe power cable, with which you can mount even the most demanding graphics cards on the market including an RTX 3090 and beyond. There’s also enough space inside the chassis a hold a monstrous card like 3090.

One of the best things about the Mantiz Saturn Pro is that it comes with two 120mm fans inside the chassis for keeping the internal temperatures in check. They’re both stacked side-by-side with one of them being the PSU fan. The other unit is tasked to draw the heat away from the GPU itself, and it throws hot away from the back of the GPU. The PSU also has a fan-off mode for quiet operation, which is a nice touch. There’s also enough space in the chassis for a 2.5″ drive bracket for your SATA drive. It sits on top of the enclosure cooling fan mount and can be removed very easily if you don’t need it.

The Mantiz Saturn Pro doesn’t disappoint when it comes to the ports selection. It comes with up to five USB ports, 1x SATA, and an ethernet jack. Additionally, the Mantiz Saturn Pro also comes with an SD card reader, making it the only eGPU enclosure on this collection to have one. It’s perfect for content creators to quickly transfer photos and videos from their camera to the laptop and get started with editing. This is a great feature to have as more laptops don’t come with an SD card reader nowadays.

Overall, we think the Mantiz Saturn Pro is one of the best eGPU enclosures you can buy right now. It’s definitely worth considering over the Razer Core X if you’re not really into the flashy aesthetics of the Core X and want a functional eGPU unit with minimal aesthetics for your setup.

    Mantiz Saturn Pro eGPU enclosure
    The Mantiz Saturn Pro is a minimal-looking eGPU enclosure that comes with a ton of great features, making it one of the best enclosures on this list. It comes with two internal fans and space for a storage drive mount too.

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Best eGPU enclosure with included GPU: Gigabyte Aorus Gaming Box

An Aorus eGPU unit with RGB lights on the front sitting on a white background

While most external graphics card enclosures will ask you to bring your own GPUs, a few options on the market come pre-installed with one. The Gigabyte Aorus Gaming box is one such unit and we think it deserves a spot in our collection of the best external GPU enclosures on the market. Gigabyte has a couple of variants of this eGPU enclosure on offer. There’s a variant that comes with an RTX 3080 GPU and another one with an RTX 3080 Ti GPU pre-installed. Both RTX 3080 and the RTX 3080 Ti are two of the most powerful GPUs on the market, so we think you can’t go wrong with either of them.

Notably, Gigabyte is using its water-cooled RTX 3080 GPUs dubbed “Waterforce” inside the enclosure. This means you’re bound to get the best performance with this gaming box. Similar to most other eGPU units on the market, the Gigabyte gaming box also uses Thunderbolt 3.0 to connect to your laptop. This makes it a universal eGPU unit that can be connected to any notebook with support for Thunderbolt 3. We recommend buying eGPUs with Thunderbolt 3 connectivity as opposed to ones that have a proprietary connector.

The Gigabyte Gaming box eGPU also comes with a bunch of ports at back to further expand the port selection of your laptop. You get three USB Type-A ports, two HDMI outputs, and three DisplayPort with which it’ll be easy for you to connect any external monitor with the eGPU, be it for gaming or content creation. Notably, you also get an Ethernet slot which is great if your laptop doesn’t come with one already.

Furthermore, the Gigabyte Gaming box also supports Power Delivery to charge your laptop while plugged in. All this is made possible by the 80-Plus Gold 550W power supply unit that comes with this eGPU enclosure. The unit also has RGB lighting on the front which can be synced with other Aorus laptops and devices via RGB Fusion 2.0.

Gigabyte also has a variant that’s powered by an RTX 3090 GPU but that’s going to cost you a lot of money and is probably not worth pairing with any laptop due to the potential bottlenecks created by the CPU or other components. It also goes without saying you probably don’t need anything more than an RTX 3080 GPU for playing games or even content creation. Professional content creators are better off building a computer with more powerful desktop-class components to get the most out of their money.

Due to the shortage of graphics cards on the market and the influx of their prices, you may have a hard time finding this particular eGPU unit on the market. Even if you do manage to find one in stock, it’s probably going to cost a lot more than what the launch price may suggest. That being said, this is perfect for those who don’t necessarily want to spend time looking for an eGPU unit and a GPU separately. You can check the link below to get the best price online for this particular product.

    Gigabyte RTX 3080 Gaming Box
    The Gigabyte RTX 3080 Gaming Box is one of those eGPU units that come with a graphics card pre-installed. It's obviously more expensive than the ones that don't offer a GPU, but it saves the effort of looking for an eGPU and graphics card separately.

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External GPU enclosure with built-in laptop stand: Cooler Master MasterCase EG200

An image of a desk setup with an eGPU unit with a built-in laptop stand

Cooler Master also threw its hat into the eGPU enclosure ring along with other manufacturers and it came up with the MasterCase EG200. The MasterCase EG200, as can you see, is one of the more unique eGPU enclosures in this collection. It’s the only one on the list that comes with a built-in laptop stand. That’s right, you can unscrew the slider at the bottom and stow your laptop away neatly. It just adds to the overall appeal of the product and just makes more sense since you will most likely be using an external monitor while using an eGPU and your laptop will mostly be sitting idle.

The Cooler Master MasterCase EG200 has a very functional design. It looks just like Cooler Master’s mini-ITX cases and we think it’ll blend in nicely with most setups without sticking out like a sore thumb. It’s a relatively slim chassis that packs in all the essential internal components along with some thoughtful extras. The EG200 also comes with a hot-swappable drive bay that lets you mount your SSDs and HDDs without having to connect any extra cables. This is one of the few eGPU units on the market that lets you mount storage drives to increase the overall storage that’s available at your disposal.

In addition to that, you also get an internal power supply unit to power the entire unit. It’s 550W PSU that should be enough to handle even the most demanding GPUs on the market right now. The EG200 is capable of holding a 2-slot GPU, which means you should be able to mount up to an Nvidia RTX 3080 GPU without any clearance issues. Cooler Master says the eGPU unit can also take an RTX 3090 although it’ll depend on the SKU you end up buying before not all RTX 3090 GPUs are built the same and most of them tend to have a sophisticated heatsink.

The MasterCase EG200 comes with a 92mm fan that’s pre-installed inside the enclosure to keep things and maintain the airflow of the case. There are events on both side panels as well as the top, so there’s enough airflow at any given point within the enclosure. Thermal shouldn’t really be a major issue in this case since it has enough ports and capable 92mm fans to take care of everything, although your mileage may vary depending on the choice of GPU.

One thing we don’t necessarily like about the MasterCase EG200 is the port selection that it offers at the back. It’s fairly limited and we think Cooler Master could’ve done a better job here. Unlike some of the other eGPU enclosures in this collection, the MasterCase EG200 comes with just three USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports. Sure you’ll also get the standard GPU ports in there like the HDMI and DisplayPort, but we think it could’ve been better. Perhaps a couple of USB ports and even an Ethernet jack?

That being said, the Cooler Master MasterCase EG200 is a well-rounded product overall. We really like the thoughtful addition of things like storage mounts, a built-in laptop stand, and more. It’s definitely considering if you’re in the market to buy a new eGPU enclosure.

    Cooler Master MasterCase EG200
    The Cooler Master MasterCase EG200 external GPU enclosure comes with storage drive mounts for SSDs and HDDs, and it also has a built-in laptop stand to hold your laptop next to it.

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Best eGPU enclosure for creative professionals: Sonnet Breakaway Box

Sonnet Breakaway Box eGPU unit sitting next to an iMac

The Sonnet Breakaway Box has been around for quite some time now and it’s still one of the most reliable eGPU enclosures on the market. It’s more suitable for creative professionals as it allows you to install professional-grade GPUs like the Nvidia Quadro cards. The Breakaway box is available in a bunch of different PSU options, but the most recent ones are the 750 and 750ex. These units have a 750W PSU for powering even the most demanding GPUs on the market.

The Sonnet Breakaway Box 750 is plenty for most users, by the 750ex also comes with four USB ports and Gigabit ethernet for a $50 premium. The Sonnet Breakaway box has a very functional design and it demands a lot of space on your desk compared to some other eGPU enclosures on this list. Its design will remind you of a standard desktop tower. It comes with a metal cage frame and the panels are held together with thumbscrews. It’s got a simple design and the enclosure is very light. There’s very little in the name of lights in this enclosure, however, it’s not as minimal as the Mantiz Saturn Pro. It definitely has a striking appearance but there are no flashy RGB lights.

The 750W power supply, as we mentioned earlier, is enough to power some of the most powerful GPUs on the market. AMD has also approved its air-cooled version of the RX Vega 64, Radeon Pro WX 8200, and WX 9100 GPUs to be used with the Breakaway Box. In addition to the power supply that’s delivered to the PSU via an 8-pin connector, the unit also offers up to 100W of upstream power to charge your laptop, which is great. A lot of eGPU enclosures support this feature, so it’s nothing unusual.

The best thing about the Breakaway Box is that you can connect up to four of these boxes together if you have enough Thunderbolt ports. Having multiple breakaway boxes will accelerate even the most demanding creative workload applications. You probably don’t need more than one Breakaway Box given how powerful some of these newer GPUs on the market are, but it’s nice to have an option pairing different boxes. The Breakaway Box also comes with a cooling fan to maintain steady airflow inside the chassis. The best thing about this fan is that it comes with a bracket to eliminate vibration.

The Breakaway Box has three vents for airflow, but we think it can definitely use more of those. The two small vents on the sides push hot air hot from both the PSU as well as the GPU. There’s also a small vent at the bottom of the front panel, but it would’ve been nice to have a fully vented panel on the front with just the logo in the middle. Overall, we think the Sonnet Breakaway Box is worth considering if you’re a creative professional looking for a powerful eGPU enclosure.

    Sonnet Breakaway Box eGPU enclosure
    The Sonnet Breakaway Box is a fantastic eGPU enclosure for $299 that lets you use even the most demanding GPUs on the market including the Nvidia Quadro cards.

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Second-best eGPU for creative professionals: ASUS XG Station Pro

An image showing different shots of the ASUS XG Station Pro eGPU enclosure

The ASUS XG Station Pro eGPU enclosure is one of the best units you can buy as a content creator mainly because of how minimal it looks. It doesn’t have any flashy RGB lights of striking design element and it looks straight up like a heavy-duty GPU docking station that’ll blend in nicely with most setups without a hitch. It’s also fairly powerful given how it’s compatible with a lot of powerful GPUs on the market. We’re picking this as our second best eGPU unit next to the Breakaway box only because it’s not compatible with all the new GPUs on the market. You can only slot in up an Nvidia RTX 20 series GPU as opposed to the newer 30 series cards. The same is the case with AMD cards too.

That being said, the RTX 20 series cards are still very powerful and capable enough to push even the most demanding tasks, be it for content creation or even gaming. The XG Station Pro eGPU enclosure measures 375mm long, 107mm high and 205mm tall. It supports GPUs that take up to 2.5 slots, so you might actually be able to slot in one of the newer cards even though it’s officially compatible. Monstrous cards like the RTX 3090, for instance, will probably not fit inside the case though.

The XG Station Pro enclosure has perforated panels on both sides through which the hot air is pushed out of the case. Both panels are lined with an internal dust filter, so that’s a nice addition. What we don’t necessarily like about this particular enclosure is the lack of I/O ports. Yes, you do get ports, but they’re very limited. Unlike some other GPU enclosures on this collection, the XG Station Pro only comes with a single USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C port. The Thunderbolt port will be used to connect the laptop itself, so that’s not going to be useful for any practical purpose. It also uses a proprietary power connector for the external 330W passive PSU. 330W isn’t the most powerful PSU unit for an enclosure like this, but it should be enough to handle the compatible GPUs and then some more.

Getting into the enclosure itself is fairly simple. You can do that by simply flicking the locking mechanism over to the right, pushing the top section forwards, and then by removing the perforated aluminum side panel by pushing upwards. It’s not as easy as pulling the internal chamber as you would in the case of the Razer Core X enclosure, but this works too. At least, you don’t need any tools to get into the chamber, so that’s a good start. Inside, you’ll see the PCIe slot for the GPU along with the Thunderbolt controller. The case also has two fans to dissipate the heat.

Overall, the XG Station Pro isn’t the best eGPU enclosure out there, but it’s good for those who have an older GPU lying around waiting to be used with an ageing laptop. We’d still the Sonnet Breakaway Box over this one mainly due to better port selection and more compatibility with newer GPUs on the market.

    ASUS XG Station Pro eGPU enclosure
    The ASUS XG Station Pro is a minimal-looking eGPU enclosure that's plenty to be paired with one of the older GPUs to accelerate the graphics performance of your system.

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Best budget eGPU enclosure for gamers: ASUS ROG XG Station 2

A black colored eGPU unit with red colored light in the center

The ASUS ROG Station 2 is a relatively old eGPU enclosure on the market, which is why you’ll now be able to buy it at a cheaper price. If you’re someone who likes flashy RGB and striking designs with sharp edges, then the ROG XG Station 2 eGPU enclosure is for you. This is one of those eGPU enclosures that screams “gaming” from every angle you at it. It’s got the ROG gaming DNA and it’s got a very unique form factor that makes it stand out from all the other eGPU enclosures on this collection.

Both sides of the XG Station 2 opens up to reveal the central part holding a custom fATX power supply. Only one side of the enclosure is used to hold the GPU, both they open up to form the letter “W” once fully opened. Inside, you get immediate access to the PCIe slot for installing the GPU. The enclosure also holds a tiny 40mm fan, which honestly could’ve been a little better. There’s only so much a small 40mm fan can do to cool the internals by regulating airflow, so we don’t recommend using the most powerful GPUs on the market.

This particular eGPU enclosure is only compatible with last-gen GPUs on the market, which means, you won’t be able to run the newer RTX 30 series or even the newer Radeon GPUs. That’s not a deal-breaker considering the price tag of this product now. It’s a relatively old eGPU enclosure, as we mentioned earlier, so this isn’t really a surprise. Besides that, a GPU like an RTX 2080 Super, for instance, is still plenty to run even the most demanding titles on the market right now in 2021. Higher GPUs may not work well with your older laptop hardware anyway, causing huge bottlenecks.

As an ASUS ROG product, you also get support for the company’s Aura sync technology for controlling the RGB lights. Yes, there’s a ton of lights in case you’re wondering, and you can see them in action thanks to the glass windows on one of the side panels of the enclosure. You also get enough vents on the side panels that help with the airflow. The XG Station 2 also comes with a decent amount of ports at the back. You get four USB 3.0 ports along with an ethernet jack and a USB-B port. It’s recommended that you connect the host computer via the Thunderbolt port as well as the USB-B port to a stable connection.

Overall, we think the ASUS ROG XG Station 2 is a fantastic eGPU enclosure for gamers who’re looking to add upgrade their gaming setup with an external GPU. It may not support the most powerful GPUs on the market, but it’s still plenty to run even the most demanding titles in 2021. And the fact that you can get it for a cheaper price just makes it that much better. It’s a little difficult to find this particular eGPU unit on the market right now, so we recommend checking the link below for the best price.

    ASUS ROG XG Station 2
    The ASUS ROG XG Station 2 eGPU enclosure is a fantastic option for those looking to buy a budget unit to upgrade their gaming experience. It may not support the most demanding GPUs on the market, but it's plenty to run most AAA titles in 2021.

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Best external GPU with proprietary connection: ASUS XG Mobile 2021

While it’s not recommended to buy an eGPU enclosure with a proprietary connector, we think the 2021 ASUS ROG XG Mobile unit deserves a spot in our collection of the best eGPU enclosures. This particular unit is different from every other enclosure on the list mainly because it doesn’t use Thunderbolt for connectivity and it doesn’t come with a desktop-grade graphics card either. That being said, it’s also meant to be used only one laptop in particular (at least for now) and it works as advertised.

The ASUS ROG XG Mobile unit is essentially an accessory that’s meant to be used with the company’s ROG Flow x13 2-in-1 notebook. The eGPU unit, as you can see, is fairly small and doesn’t take too much space on the desk when kept next to the Flow x13 laptop itself. Well, that’s because the XG Mobile unit comes with a mobile RTX 30 series GPU inside as opposed to a desktop-grade full-sized GPU. You can buy it with either an RTX 3070 or an RTX 3080 mobile GPU and it connects to the Flow x13 laptop via a proprietary connector.

Having a proprietary connector means the XG Mobile unit can only be used with the ROG Flow x13 laptop for now. That’s right, the Flow x13 is the only laptop on the market right now that comes with this particular connector, which means the XG mobile unit is useless unless you have that particular laptop. Unlike the other eGPU enclosures on the market, the XG Mobile unit is exclusive to the Flow x13, at least until ASUS makes other laptops with the same port.

That being said, there are advantages to having a proprietary connector like the one used in this case. It also supports data throughput for the XG Mobile’s built-in expansion ports. Despite its small form-factor, the XG Mobile unit comes with a bunch of ports at the back including four USB Type-A ports, an SD card reader, a gigabit Ethernet jack, an HDMI 2.0a output, and a DisplayPort 1.4 jack. This means the XG mobile unit can also act as a hub to connect your laptop to external displays and other peripherals. With its 280W of power, the XG Mobile can even charge the Flow x13 laptop, which is great. It’s also worth pointing out that the XG Mobile doesn’t have a brick of its own, so it further simplifies cable management.

The XG Mobile unit also has an internal fan that kicks in as soon as you start pushing the GPU to its limits. There are no flashy RGB lights though, and you only get a glowing red light inside the XG Mobile unit. It goes without saying the XG Mobile unit isn’t going to perform as good as some other eGPU units on the market with a full-sized desktop GPU, but it’s plenty to push the Flow x13 laptop to its limits. We encourage you to read our full review of the ASUS ROG Flow x13 laptop to learn more about this eGPU unit and see how it performs with modern games. We hope ASUS makes more gaming laptops with support for XG Mobile units. We’d also love to see an upgraded version of the XG mobile with better GPUs sometime in the future.

    ASUS ROG XG Mobile unit
    The ASUS ROG XG Mobile unit isn't compatible with all the laptops due to a proprietary connector, but it deserves a spot on our collection due to its impressive performance and small form-facrtor.

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The best external GPU enclosures for laptops you can buy: Final Thoughts

Well, that wraps up our list of the best external GPU enclosures you can buy on the market right now. As you can see, there are plenty of options when it comes to eGPU cases but we think the Razer Core X Chroma is the one to go for. Not only is it one of the best-looking eGPU enclosures on the market, but it also supports all the new graphics cards that are available right now. The Mantiz Saturn Pro is also worth considering for its minimal design and spacious internals. The Cooler Master MasterCase EG200 is also a great option as it comes with storage drive mounts and a built-in laptop holder.

Buying an external GPU enclosure is a great way to accelerate the graphics performance of your ageing laptop. It’s also a good way to get more usage out of your machine before upgrading to an entirely new laptop or building a new computer. That being said, it’s one of the best times to build a computer right now with the arrival of Intel’s new Alder Lake CPUs. They use the new LGA 1700 socket though, you might want to keep that in mind while shopping for the best motherboards or CPU coolers. Alternatively, you can check out our list of the best CPUs on the market if you don’t necessarily want the new 12th gen Intel processors.

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Huawei MateBook 14s review: The 90Hz display puts it over the top

Huawei has a history of making some really great laptops. It was the first to put Dolby Atmos audio in a 13-inch laptop with the MateBook X, and it’s always pushed for high screen-to-body ratios, quality keyboards, and more. The Huawei MateBook 14 is one of the first to ship with Windows 11, and it comes with some of the features that we’re seeing a lot with the latest generation of laptops.

Most notably, it has a 90Hz display, making for a much smoother experience than most other laptops on the market today, which have 60Hz screens. It’s also got Intel’s Tiger Lake H35 processors, and for productivity performance, it’s pretty great (we’ll talk later about the implications of a powerful processor without a dedicated GPU). First of all, it has the features that are unique to Huawei laptops, such as Huawei Share that lets you tap your Huawei phone against it and instantly share photos and videos, or easily extend your screen to other Huawei devices wirelessly.

Navigate this review:

Huawei MateBook 14 Specs

CPU Core i7-11370H
Graphics Iris Xe
Body 313.82×229.76×16.7mm, 1.43kg
Display 14.2 inches, 2,520×1,680, 213ppi, 90% screen-to-body ratio, 90Hz, 400 nits, 100% sRGB, 1500:1 contrast ratio, 178-degree viewing angle
Storage 1TB NVMe PCIe SSD
RAM 16GB LPDDR4x Dual Channel
Battery 60WHr lithium polymer
Connectivity IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax, 160 MHz, Bluetooth 5.1
Ports (2) USB Type-C
(1) USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A
(1) HDMI
(1) 3.5mm audio
Input 1.5 mm key travel
Full-size Backlit Keyboard
Touchpad with Multi-touch
Huawei Share Built-in
Webcam 720P HD camera
Audio Speaker x 4
Microphone x 4
OS Windows 11 Home
Material Aluminum
Color Space Gray
Price £1299.99

Note that in this case, one of the two USB Type-C ports supports Thunderbolt 4, but most of the configurations don’t. It’s really weird, but when you go to configure the model you’re buying, there’s actually an option for Intel Evo certified, and that’s only available on the configuration with a Core i7, 16GB RAM, and a 1TB SSD.

Design: The MateBook 14s looks like a Huawei laptop, but there’s only one Thunderbolt port and it’s optional

I’ve reviewed a whole bunch of Huawei laptops, going right back to the original MateBook that launched in 2016. They all share a common design, and probably the biggest difference has been the shift from the petal logo to the text Huawei logo that’s stamped in the hood. They’re pretty much all made out of aluminum, and the base color for this one is called Space Gray.

Top down view of Huawei MateBook 14s

It also comes in Spruce Green, which I’m a little jealous about. Obviously, neutral colors like gray and silver tend to be popular in laptops, just like black is popular with phones. As a reviewer that uses lots of devices, I like things that stand out from the rest.

Unfortunately, that other color option is where I start to stumble on one of my biggest issues with the MateBook 14s: the lack, or somewhat lack of Thunderbolt. Here’s the deal on this. In order to get Thunderbolt, you have to purchase the model with a Core i7, 16GB RAM, and 1TB storage, and as far as I can tell, that’s only available in the Space Gray configuration.

Side view of Huawei MateBook 14s

With the MateBook 14s, Thunderbolt 4 only comes in the highest-end configuration.

I do think that there’s a lot of value in this laptop for the price, but it disappoints me that Thunderbolt and Intel Evo certification isn’t standard. With Thunderbolt 4, you can connect an external GPU on a single USB Type-C port, or you can connect dual 4K monitors or one 8K monitor. It was something that was really reserved for premium PCs with Thunderbolt 3, but has become a lot more mainstream with Thunderbolt 4.

The other pain point is that if you do shell out extra for the Intel Evo configuration, only one of the USB Type-C ports are Thunderbolt. It’s the “2nd USB-C port on the left”, presumably meaning second from the left. I wouldn’t expect the average consumer to know which one to connect their external GPU into, as the ports also aren’t labeled, despite being right next to each other.

Side view of Huawei MateBook 14s

Along with the two USB Type-C ports, there’s an HDMI port and a 3.5mm audio jack on the left side of the device. On the right side, there’s a single USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A port.

Overall, the design is pretty, something I’ve long said about Huawei laptops because they all follow the same design language. The lack of Thunderbolt on most configurations is disappointing, especially since it feels like the single port was added on a single configuration just to check a box.

Display: The 90Hz 14.2-inch screen is beautiful

One thing that you should absolutely be looking for in your next laptop is a high refresh rate screen like this one. In the PC market, higher refresh rates have historically been a gaming feature designed to give you that extra millisecond to react. But as we’ve seen in the mobile market for a few years now, high refresh rates create a better experience for everyone. So now, we’re seeing them become more mainstream in the PC market.

Huawei MateBook 14s screen close up

The 90Hz refresh rate is the real selling point on the MateBook 14s

The touchscreen on the Huawei MateBook 14s is 14.2 inches with a 2,520×1,680, giving it a 3:2 aspect ratio. It’s also got a 90% screen-to-body ratio, which might actually be the highest screen-to-body ratio out there with a 3:2 display. If it’s not, it’s close. Add to that that the webcam is actually in the top bezel, and it’s a really immersive experience.

Supporting 99% sRGB, 71% NTSC, 76 Adobe RGB, and 75% P3, the color gamut is pretty solid for a premium laptop. To be honest though, the 90Hz refresh rate is the real selling point.

In my testing, brightness maxed out at 430.9 nits and contrast maxed out at 1,730:1, both of which well exceed the promises listed on Huawei’s own spec sheet. The black point is also pretty low for a non-OLED laptop.

It’s a beautiful screen, and as I mentioned, the webcam is in the top bezel. That’s something that you don’t see on every Huawei laptop. Years ago, the company started putting the webcam in a pop-up key in the keyboard, a privacy measure that took advantage of the fact that no one cared about webcams. Of course, in the age of working from home, webcam placement is way more important than it was a few years ago.

Huawei MateBook 14s webcam in top bezel

The bad news is that it’s a 720p camera, and just as placement is important today, so is resolution. And as I mentioned that we saw high refresh rates on mobile before we did on PC, the same can be said for good front-facing cameras. You can spend $3,000 on a laptop with a 720p webcam and you can spend $300 on a smartphone with a 1080p 60fps front camera. It’s an issue, and it’s gradually getting better. Unfortunately, the products coming to market now have been in the pipeline for a couple years.

Keyboard: The Huawei MateBook 14s has 1.5mm keys, a fingerprint sensor, and more

Huawei’s MateBook 14s has Chiclet-style, 1.5mm keys, and that’s a pretty standard depth for a laptop. It’s also what Huawei has been using as its standard since it started making Windows laptops in 2016. Ultimately, the keyboard feels good to type on, and it’s accurate. Unfortunately for me, there’s no U.S.-style variant anymore, but you can set it to U.S. in Settings, and that’s pretty easy to get used to.

Top down view of Huawei MateBook 14s keyboard

Interestingly, there’s still a button between the F6 and F7 keys, even though there’s no camera there.

Huawei MateBook 14s fingerprint sensor

At the top-right, there’s a power button that doubles as a fingerprint sensor. It’s actually quite good, and it’s why I don’t care that there’s no IR camera. Huawei has always made fingerprint sensors that are fast and accurate, and it was also the first to make a Windows laptop (the MateBook X) that scanned your fingerprint when you pressed the power button, rather than after the PC boots up, and that’s what the MateBook 14s does. That means that you press it once, and it automatically logs you in when it boots. It’s quite good.

Top down view of Huawei MateBook 14s touchpad

Naturally, it comes with a Microsoft Precision touchpad that takes advantage of most of the available real estate. That’s also where you’ll find the Huawei Share sensor, so let’s talk a bit about that.

Huawei Share

A few years ago, Huawei set out to build an ecosystem. It had smartphones, smartwatches, laptops, headphones, and more, so the only piece missing was for them all to work together in a way that enriches the user experience for anyone willing to invest in the company’s products. Laptops started including Huawei Share, so you’d be able to tap your Huawei phone against an NFC tag and transfer photos and videos that are selected. That’s now expanded to include a full multi-screen experience.

Huawei Share lets you use your phone like it's part of your PC.

Once you tap your phone against the touchpad, it’s going to ask permission to access the device. After you approve, you’ll see the screen mirrored. Then, you can do things like drag and drop files, and you can even take files that are stored on your phone and open them in apps on the laptop. For example, a Word document would be opened in the full Windows version of Word, rather than the mobile Office app on the phone that’s being shared.

Performance and battery life: The Huawei MateBook 14s has a 35W CPU, but no dedicated GPU

The MateBook 14s that Huawei sent me for review includes an Intel Core i7-11370H, 16GB RAM, and a 1TB SSD. This is a configuration that’s a bit different from anything that we’ve seen in years past. Part of the reason for that is that the Tiger Lake H35 series is entirely new. Historically, H-series processors are 45W, and they come with lots of cores and threads. H35 is, you guessed it, 35W, but it’s also only quad-core with eight threads. It’s meant to provide power in thin and light devices.

The other thing that makes this device somewhat unique is that there’s no dedicated GPU. Typically, an H-series processor is paired with dedicated graphics because the types of applications that would require the more powerful CPU – like games and video editors – would also benefit from the additional graphics power. One tends to complement the other.

Top view of Huawei MateBook 14s

This is only the second machine I’ve reviewed with Tiger Lake H35, the first being the Surface Laptop Studio, which did have dedicated graphics. I’ve noticed that this is a different type of machine. For one thing, this is absolutely not a gaming PC. I tried running Forza Horizon 5 on here and it even told me that it doesn’t have a supported GPU. I tried ignoring the warnings and it didn’t go well. It can run things like Halo: The Master Chief Collection and in general, it can handle FHD gaming, but if that’s your goal, there are better options. This isn’t a video editing PC either.

This is a productivity machine, and it earned my respect in a way that I didn’t think it would. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen an H-series processor that wasn’t paired with dedicated graphics, although I will say that when that happens, that device’s successor always goes back to a U-series CPU. That’s what I was expecting my impressions to be here.

This reminds me of the 28W U-series processors that we’ve seen from Intel, but with a little bit more mustard. Those used to go in Apple’s 13-inch MacBook Pro and some others, but it was always a way to get some solid performance out of an efficient chip. It’s pretty neat, and I have to say, I don’t miss dedicated graphics here. It’s just not that kind of PC.

As far as battery life goes, I got just under six hours (five hours and 55 minutes at best), which is pretty good, because that time was actually pretty consistent while doing different kinds of real-world testing. This was with balanced power settings and medium brightness.

For benchmarks, I used PCMark 10, 3DMark, Geekbench, and Cinebench.

Huawei MateBook 14s
Core i7-11370H
Lenovo Yoga Slim 7
Ryzen 7 4800U (28W)
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9
Core i7-1185G7
PCMark 10 5,174 5,252 5,168
3DMark: Time Spy 1,877 1,376
Geekbench 1,505 / 5,751 1,160 / 6,362 1,489 / 5,280
Cinebench 1,450 / 5,781 1,245 / 8,703 1,303 / 4,224

As you can see, the Tiger Lake H35 processor does pretty well. AMD tends to do better on multi-core tests, but that’s because AMD puts more cores in their chips.

Conclusion: Should you buy the Huawei MateBook 14s?

The Huawei MateBook 14s is an excellent laptop. With the 90Hz display and the productivity performance that comes with the 35W Intel CPU, I just love it. That’s before we even get into the bits that come with the Huawei ecosystem.

Front view of Huawei MateBook 14s

It’s not perfect, of course. It’s really disappointing to me that you have to buy the highest-end configuration to get Intel Evo, and even then, only one of the two USB Type-C ports include Thunderbolt 4. Given how mainstream Thunderbolt has become, I expect more. The other disappointing issue is the 720p webcam. If you’re buying a new laptop to work from home, it’s worth considering options with a 1080p camera.

But we can also talk about all of the neat Huawei features. One thing that I love about the multi-device features is that you don’t have to implement it through software. For example, if I share a photo from an iPhone to a MacBook, I can go through the share dialog to AirDrop it to the MacBook. Huawei did this through NFC, so if you want to connect your phone to your laptop, just tap it against the touchpad.

Of course, you do have to be willing to live in the Huawei ecosystem for this to work properly, which brings me to the main issue, that you simply can’t buy the products here in the U.S.

    Huawei MateBook 14s
    The Huawei MateBook 14s offers a large 3:2 90Hz display with a 90% screen-to-body ratio, a premium build, and more.

      Features:

      Pros:

      Cons:

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