The titans of the PC trade slugged issues out in 2024, jockeying for dominance within the new AI period blossoming earlier than our eyes.
It was most evident in laptops: Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite chips kicked off Microsoft’s Copilot+ PC period with lengthy life and surprisingly aggressive efficiency, solely to be rivaled by Intel’s Macbook-killing Lunar Lake chips months later. AMD, in the meantime, targeted on bringing high-octane velocity to Copilot+ PCs, zigging for oomph whereas the others zagged to endurance. With competitors flourishing, PCWorld expects to assessment over 120 laptops by the top of the 12 months, by far a brand new excessive water mark!
However laptops weren’t the one class laser-focused on innovation and efficiency. This 12 months, cutting-edge screens grew to become the norm, Thunderbolt docks and SSDs embraced newer, quicker requirements, Intel and AMD launched overhauled desktop CPUs, gaming handhelds obtained actually aggressive, and the software program that runs on all that {hardware} saved getting higher and higher, too.
You like to see it. With such a gluttony of selection, it grew to become more durable than ever for PC {hardware} and software program to impress us. Few merchandise earned our uncommon Editors’ Alternative award. And solely the perfect of one of the best grace this checklist.
With out additional ado, that is the Greatest PC {Hardware} and Software program of 2024, as chosen by PCWorld’s editors. Congratulations to the winners – with a area this crowded, they’ve positively earned it.
Greatest laptop computer: Dell Inspiron 14 Plus
The Dell Inspiron 14 Plus is among the most well-rounded laptops we’ve ever examined right here at PCWorld. You’re getting robust efficiency, phenomenal battery life (17 hours on a single cost!), and a vibrant 14-inch 1400p show as well. It hits practically each mark and is clearly one of the best laptop computer for most individuals. The aesthetics are somewhat bland, positive, however the {hardware} capabilities and marathon battery life greater than make up for it – and a laptop computer that matches in with the gang isn’t a nasty factor. -Ashley Biancuzzo
Greatest desktop CPU: Ryzen 7 9800X3D
Adam Patrick Murray / Foundry
It’s been a dour 12 months for CPUs – AMD’s preliminary Ryzen 9000 lineup provided minimal efficiency uplift and suffered from (since-fixed) Home windows-related efficiency woes, whereas Intel’s radical new Core Extremely chips wound up being slower than their predecessors in gaming. However issues ended with a bang courtesy of AMD’s jaw-dropping Ryzen 7 9800X3D.
Because of a second-generation V-Cache that eradicated the caveats required by earlier X3D fashions – the 9800X3D isn’t a disadvantage for productiveness now! — AMD’s new gaming champion introduced the warmth in opposition to Intel. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D obliterates Intel’s flagship Core Extremely 9 285K by 25 to 30 % on common, with the whupping hitting an virtually unbelieveable 45 % in Cyberpunk 2077.
Insanity! I can’t bear in mind the final time I witnessed a {hardware} beat down this relentlessly violent. If you would like the only greatest gaming chip you should purchase, the Ryzen 9 9800X3D is it – by an entire hell of loads. -Brad Chacos
Greatest password supervisor: Dashlane
As information breaches enhance in quantity and severity, password managers have change into ever extra essential. A great one makes staying on high of your on-line safety simple—shortly creating robust passwords, alerting when one’s been compromised, and updating compromised or weak credentials.
Of the choices on the market, Dashlane’s consistency and continuous function updates have helped hold it as a long-standing favourite amongst our workers. Its paid Premium plan consists of passkey assist, passwordless login, darkish internet monitoring, VPN entry, and even real-time phishing safety. The latter two options are a proactive stance in opposition to different risks to your password well being—a welcome contact in case your on-line habits would profit from further privateness and on-line safety, however you haven’t but regarded right into a devoted VPN or antivirus subscription. – Alaina Yee
Greatest monitor: Dell Ultrasharp U2724DE
We knew this monitor was particular when our veteran monitor reviewer, Matt Smith, described it as “arguably the most versatile monitor ever sold.” Say extra!
The Dell Ultrasharp U2724DE has what it takes to fulfill a person’s each show want, whether or not it’s because the command middle of a busy workday, the canvas for content material creation, or the technique of shedding your self in a film or recreation.
The IPS Black panel offers the 27-inch display screen unimaginable distinction, whereas a 120Hz refresh fee makes for excellent movement readability. Add to that the oodles of ports, a lovely and purposeful design, and an inexpensive worth, and Dell’s stunner is positively this 12 months’s greatest monitor! – Katherine Stevenson
Greatest desktop GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Tremendous
Nvidia
It was a gradual 12 months for graphics playing cards, however the GPUs we did get had been welcome ones. Nvidia’s RTX 40-series Tremendous refresh, introduced at CES, righted the missteps made within the authentic 40-series lineup, decreasing costs and beefing up specs the place it made sense.
One of the best of the bunch was Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 4070 Tremendous, which provides a super-sized efficiency increase over its vanilla namesake thanks to twenty % extra CUDA, ray tracing, and DLSS tensor cores, all on the identical $599 worth level as the unique. Sure please! On high of best-in-class ray tracing efficiency, Nvidia’s additionally best-in-class software program options (comparable to DLSS 3.5 ray reconstruction, twin AV1 encoders, and Nvidia Reflex, vital in aggressive shooters) make the RTX 4070 Tremendous shine vibrant in probably the most aggressive phase of the graphics card market.
What, that’s not ok for you? The Nvidia RTX 4080 Tremendous additionally earned an Editors’ Alternative award for its all-around excellence, buoyed by a $200 worth minimize versus the unique 4080. -Brad Chacos
Greatest Chromebook: Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus
From the versatile 2-in-1 design to the gorgeous touchscreen, the Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus has loads to supply. The Chromebook Plus fashions have actually raised the bar when it comes to {hardware} capabilities and the Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus pushes the pedal to the metallic even additional. Not solely is day-to-day efficiency zippy, however the construct feels robust in each tent and pill modes. The 360-degree hinge is particularly unyielding, which is precisely what we prefer to see. The unique $499 MSRP worth is somewhat excessive for a Chromebook, positive, however the general match, end, and firepower make it value the additional money. – Ashley Biancuzzo
Greatest SSD: Essential T705
The leading edge in stable state storage is the PCIe 5.0 interface, and the SSD that units the bar for this echelon is the Essential T705.
If it’s velocity you’re after, this dangerous boy brings it – as in 14.5GBps sequential studying and 12.3GBps writing in our artificial benchmarks.
Actual-world efficiency can also be spectacular. And the worth for the Essential T705 has come down significantly since we first reviewed it, to sub-$200 for 1TB, making this high-performance drive a no brainer for velocity freaks. – Katherine Stevenson
Greatest VPN: ExpressVPN
It’s a troublesome ask to pick out one of the best VPN general. There are such a lot of elements to think about comparable to privateness, ease of use, server community dimension, unblocking capabilities, and velocity. Everybody’s supposed utilization might range and that must be taken into consideration. Will the VPN be used to get round location blocks for streaming, staying incognito on-line, torrenting, or one thing else—the checklist goes on and on. Many VPNs excel at a couple of of those capabilities, however seldom handle to shine throughout the board.
Enter ExpressVPN. It’s one of many solely providers that persistently ranks extremely throughout every class. That’s why, for the third 12 months in a row, it’s my high VPN. Not solely does it proceed to be one of many quickest VPNs I’ve ever examined, however it has an enormous server community, it’s useless easy to make use of, and comes with a sterling person privateness report. It additionally by no means fails to unblock streaming providers and absolutely helps P2P. There could be providers with extra further options, however none exemplify the entire components of an incredible VPN like ExpressVPN. — Sam Singleton
Greatest gaming monitor: MSI MPG 341CQPX
In case your major objective is gaming, the MSI MPG 341CQPX is the monitor you need, palms down.
The 34-inch curved show stands out amongst a sea of different QD-OLED rivals by boasting the next refresh fee (as much as 240Hz), robust HDR efficiency, and a very good vary of connectivity together with the power to cost a laptop computer or cellphone over USB-C.
After all, with QD-OLED, unimaginable distinction and shade efficiency are a given. With a vibrant and sensible picture and smooth-as-butter movement readability, this show was made for immersive leisure. – Katherine Stevenson
Greatest Home windows backup: R-Drive Picture 7.2
In the case of backup, the most essential function is reliability. R-Drive Picture, which has been within the backup recreation for years, boasts an unblemished report on this regard.
Now at model 7.2, it’s extra full-featured and succesful than ever. It provides the vary of backup duties: disk and partitions, information and folders, WinPE and Linux boot media creation, the works. It can save you your backups domestically, to the community, or to your most popular cloud storage. You’ll be able to even replicate backups throughout a number of locations.
The interface is easy, and efficiency is speedy. There’s actually no want to think about different choices. – Katherine Stevenson
Greatest Thunderbolt Dock: Kensington SD5800T
Many laptop computer docking stations come and go throughout my desk, sufficient that I donate the rest to my coworkers on the finish of the 12 months. Kensington’s Thunderbolt 4 dock, the SD5800T, was one I didn’t wish to quit.
I like docks that don’t sacrifice both flexibility or stability, and the SD5800T provides all of it: assist for as much as 4 shows, USB-C and USB-A, charging capabilities (7.5W to a cellphone, just below 100W to a laptop computer). There actually aren’t any compromises, in any respect. The one concern I had was its worth, and that’s fallen to a completely respectable $250 at press time. Completely advisable. – Mark Hachman
Greatest exterior drive: Adata SE920
If you would like the perfect exterior drive, look no additional than the Adata SE920. It options the latest-gen USB 4 spec, making it able to 40Gbps transfers. Inside that class, it’s the quickest exterior drive we’ve examined.
However that’s not all. The SE920 additionally appears to be like badass – a welcome perk on a tool that may stay in your desk or accompany you out within the area. The enclosure consists of a latched, spring-loaded outer shell that may slide open about half an inch to activate an inside fan, which is efficient at warmth dissipation and quiet. How intelligent is that? – Katherine Stevenson
Greatest gaming laptop computer: Alienware m16 R2
The Alienware m16 R2 has every little thing you might ever need in a gaming laptop computer, and in contrast to most gaming laptops, it could actually even work as your every day driver, far-off from an influence outlet.
It provides distinctive gaming efficiency due to the RTX 4070 GPU, a wickedly quick show (240Hz!), and an environment friendly cooling system. It lasted 11 hours on a single cost, which is spectacular, as most gaming laptops are likely to die on the 5 or 6 hour mark. The cherry on high? It’s an incredible worth for a gaming laptop computer, particularly one with RTX 4070 graphics. – Ashley Biancuzzo
Greatest wi-fi keyboard: Nuphy Air V2
In the event you don’t want gaming chops, the wi-fi keyboard you need is the Nuphy Air V2, full cease. It’s low-profile and classy, however nonetheless has nice parts and wonderful typing. And regardless of being low-profile, it nonetheless has hot-swap switches and a shocking number of choices from each Nuphy and Gateron. Mix it with simple VIA programming and a number of layouts, plus a reasonably good worth, and it’s simply outpacing the most recent slim designs from Logitech and the remainder. -Michael Crider
Greatest feature-packed VPN: NordVPN
Annually NordVPN appears to seek out one thing new and thrilling so as to add to its service. At this level, I discover myself asking, what doesn’t NordVPN have? Not solely do you get the VPN with an impressive server community and lightning quick speeds, however you even have entry to an entire slew of top-notch privateness and safety extras.
Its “Threat Protection” service offers you ad- and tracker-blocking, anti-malware obtain safety, and a malicious URL link-checker. Then there’s an lively Darkish Internet monitoring service and built-in file switch function referred to as Meshnet. The checklist goes on and on. No different VPN is as wealthy in options as NordVPN, making it a simple high decide this 12 months. — Sam Singleton
Greatest PC gaming handheld: Asus ROG Ally X
Calling the Asus ROG Ally X “just a refresh” of the unique ROG Ally is promoting it too brief. Sure, the ROG Ally X maintains the identical 1080p 120Hz display screen and AMD Ryzen Z1 Excessive processor as earlier than, however virtually every little thing else has been redesigned primarily based off neighborhood suggestions, which has result in a a lot better expertise. Quieter followers, two USB-C ports (one with USB-4/ThunderBolt assist), and refined ergonomics are only a few highlights, however the principle one is the improve in battery life. Asus summoned darkish magic (and wonderful engineering) to get battery life that lastly rivals Valve’s Steam Deck — all and not using a main weight enhance!
Positive, the Steam Deck is the de facto mainstream handheld gaming PC choice, however if you’re on the lookout for the best possible of one of the best on the market, it’s the ROG Ally X. Twin-boot Bazzite (a customized picture of Steam Deck’s SteamOS) and you may get one of the best of each worlds! – Adam Patrick Murray
Greatest laptop computer for battery life: Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6
The Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 ran for nearly 24 hours on a single cost, a primary right here at PCWorld. Excuse me whereas I decide my jaw up off of the ground!
Along with the exceptional battery life, it additionally has a various array of ports and is highly effective sufficient to deal with mild to average workloads. It measures simply 0.67 at its thickest level and but Lenovo someway squeezed in two USB4 ports, two USB-A ports, one HDMI 2.1 port, and one 3.5mm combo audio. –Ashley Biancuzzo
Greatest gaming headset: HyperX Cloud Combine 2 Wi-fi
Most gaming headsets that declare to be versatile sufficient for use as headphones fall considerably brief. With their giant increase mic ports, obtrusive flip mics, or chunky earcups they’re clearly extra at residence in gaming dens. However not the HyperX Cloud Combine 2.
This headset hides its mics stealthily in its earcups. It’s additionally a champion of portability being very compact and light-weight. The sound too is crisp and clear, with sufficient element within the tones to make enjoying and listening a deal with.
Barely any clamp strain within the headband and the headset’s mushy leatherette ear coverings make it a cushty match that I can put on for hours on finish. It additionally has superior compatibility, connecting to virtually all my gaming units, plus my cellular units. Suffice it to say, the Combine 2 is the one audio system I at present want. What’s additionally sensible is that it has a 110-hour battery life, which implies I can cost after which neglect about plugging it in for days at a time. – Dominic Bayley
Greatest gaming mouse: Lemokey G1 Wi-fi
Unboxing the Lemokey G1 Wi-fi, I used to be instantly shocked by its wonderful maneuverability, which is smoother and quicker than any professional gaming mouse I’ve ever used. If that impressed me proper from the get-go – after which its devastatingly fast 8,000Hz wi-fi polling fee sealed the deal for me, making hitting targets loads simpler.
With its light-weight design of simply 1.94 ounces and {smooth} 30,000 DPI sensor with a most velocity of 750 inches-per-second, this mouse offers me the sting I must win one-on-one engagements in fast-paced video games. It’s additionally the proper dimension for my medium-to-large hand. For what I’m getting right here I might have paid upwards of $150, however the Lemokey G1 Wi-fi can also be a smashing discount at simply $69. – Dominic Bayley
Greatest keyboard: Corsair K65 Plus Wi-fi
It got here out all the best way again in February, however one of the best keyboard of the 12 months is Corsair’s K65 Plus Wi-fi. It’s hitting all the large developments, excluding solely a (wholly pointless) display screen. It packs a 75% format impressed by customized builds, hot-swap functionality, and high-quality switches which are nice for each typing and gaming. It’s wi-fi, clearly, which many of those designs aren’t. And it’s about half the worth of Razer’s wonderful, however very costly, BlackWidow V4 Professional 75%, and doesn’t attempt to persuade you {that a} display screen belongs on a keyboard. (It doesn’t.) – Michael Crider
Greatest antivirus: Norton 360 Deluxe
This 12 months proved the need of robust on-line safety. Vulnerabilities are getting found and exploited quicker, and the rise of AI instruments is barely fueling the onslaught. Strong antivirus software program will protect you from the worst of it, whether or not that’s viruses, malicious web sites, hackers on public networks, or use of weak passwords.
And it’ll accomplish that with little effort in your half. Positive, you might sew collectively completely different free providers, however most individuals discover a complete safety suite far simpler – and Norton 360 Deluxe is definitely the cream of the crop. It simplifies on-line safety at a good worth, with a slew of options that cowl you throughout the board. Past stopping malicious software program and web sites of their tracks, Norton additionally supplies key protections like darkish internet monitoring, a password supervisor, VPN service, parental controls, and 50GB of cloud storage for automated backups of essential information. Common utilities like file cleanup are even included, too. This degree of complete protection is uncommon amongst rivals—particularly for the way little Norton expenses. – Alaina Yee
Greatest webcam: BenQ IdeaCam S1 Professional
The appearance of non-public streaming, content material creation and work-at-home has meant that webcams have superior massively from even a couple of years in the past. BenQ’s IdeaCam S1 Professional is a improbable instance of this, with performance that goes past simply making you look good. This “4K” webcam has loads to supply simply on that entrance, with sharp, pretty pictures and utility software program that’s actually a utility.
However there’s extra! A macro mode appears gimmicky, however it works nice. There’s even a “measuring” mode that will work effectively for element work. And there’s an enormous bonus: a distant management “puck” that looks as if one thing BenQ would promote individually, however consists of within the field. That’s actual worth. – Mark Hachman
Greatest USB-C hub: Ugreen 9-in-1 Revodok Professional
Ugreen’s 9-in-1 Revodok Professional is a straightforward, simple, compact little dock that makes use of the free, downloadable DisplayLink utility as an middleman. It’s nice for workplace work, with the flexibleness to accommodate a pair of both DisplayLink or HDMI connections. It provides two USB-A ports (for mouse or keyboard, say), Ethernet, in addition to a USB-C port for a smartphone or different peripheral.
USB-C {hardware} may be exceedingly easy, like a dongle, or with a way more sturdy function providing. The Revodok Professional supplies the necessities, trims the fats, and retains the worth reasonably priced. Ugreen’s a not a family title, however the firm’s merchandise have been persistently stable. – Mark Hachman
