The Reviewed Awards: Computex 2024—The best in computing

Each year, the top tech companies in the world gather in Taipei to unveil the latest in computer products and technologies, giving us a look at what’s ahead. For 2024, we've pored over the details of everything announced, and bestowed five new interesting products with The Reviewed Awards: Computex 2024.

Each product has something that has piqued our interest—from a Tandem OLED display laptop, to the smallest 16-inch laptop on the market. We're excited to get our hands on and test these as they become available. Congratulations to the winners.

Dell XPS 13 (9345)

A whole slew of Qualcomm Snapdragon-powered laptops have been shown off at Computex this year, so it’s no surprise that Dell is offering an XPS 13 model with a Qualcomm CPU inside. What is surprising is that they’ll be equipped with the first Tandem OLED display on a laptop.

Essentially, this tech layers two OLED panels over each other, allowing for the same pitch blacks as other OLED displays but also eye-searing levels of brightness. It should also help the screen last longer, as each panel can be driven half as hard. The Tandem OLED display in the 2024 iPad Pro is supposed to be stunning, so we expect the 2880 x 1800 screen in the new XPS 13 to be similarly good.

Otherwise, the XPS 13 9345 looks close to what used to be called the XPS 13 Pro, with the same lattice-free keyboard, touch capacitive function row, and a slim 0.58-inch thick chassis for the OLED model and 0.60 inches for the 1200p and 1600p IPS versions. Although it only packs a 55Whr battery, Dell claims it can reach a whopping 35 hours of video playback.

Asus ROG Ally X

Asus has heard your complaints about the original ROG Ally Z1 Extreme, a promising Windows gaming handheld stymied by mediocre battery life and an SD card reader with a high rate of failure. The Asus ROG Ally X might keep the same AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor and graphics, but it doubles the battery capacity to 80Whr, boosts the RAM to 24GB of 7500Mhz of LPDDR5X (up from 16GB of 6400MHz LPDDR5), and has improved ergonomics, including more comfortable rounded grips and a redesigned D-pad for improved diagonal action. The SD card reader has been relocated, which should prevent premature failure, as the originally Ally’s issue was heat related.

The 1080p, 120Hz screen remains the same, but as we said in our review, it’s already fantastic. Unfortunately, the weight has gone up to 678 grams, about the same as the original Steam Deck. Expect to pay a $100 premium for the Ally X over the Ally Z1 Extreme; the handheld is open for pre-orders at the time of writing and costs $800.

Asus Zenbook S 16

Ultra thin and light laptops are nothing new, but the new Asus Zenbook S 16 looks like an intriguing addition to the market. At 3.3 pounds and 13.9 inches long by 9.5 inches deep and only 0.43 inches thick, Asus is claiming the Zenbook S 16 is the smallest 16-inch laptop on the market. That’s certainly a bold claim, but there’s no denying that the unibody aluminum chassis is sleek and snazzy, in part thanks to the CNC’ed geometric grill that allows for enhanced airflow.

The Zenbook S 16 will be packed with all of the features you’d expect from a high-end machine, including a 120Hz, 16-inch, 2880 x 1800 OLED display, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, and a full selection of ports including two USB 4 Type-C ports, a USB-A port, a full-sized SD card reader, an HDMI 2.1 port, and a 3.5mm combo audio jack. This will all be powered by AMD’s new lineup of Ryzen AI 300 mobile processors, configurable up to the 12-core Ryzen AI 9 HX 370.

Asus ProArt PZ13

We don’t often cover Asus’s ProArt line of desktops, components, monitors, and laptops for creative professionals, but the ProArt PZ13 was too appealing to pass up. Microsoft is rebooting the Surface tablet line with Qualcomm processors inside, and Asus is hopping onboard too. The ProArt PZ13 is a 13-inch Windows 11 tablet that weighs a scant 1.87 pounds and measures only 3.5mm thick, but boasts the same 13.3-inch, VESA DisplayHDR True Black 500-rated, 2880 x 1800 OLED panel that you’d find in a typical high-end laptop. It’s also IP52 rated for water resistance.

As expected, the PZ13 will come with a magnetic wireless keyboard that attaches to the bottom of the tablet, as well as a magnetic kickstand. It will also come with a full-sized SD card reader (Asus is touting it as an on-the-go machine for photographers and designers) and two USB 4 Type-C ports and up to 1TB of storage. No word on pricing yet, but the ProArt PX13, a convertible tablet with an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor and mobile Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU, and the same OLED display is already available for preorder for $1,999. If you want a tablet with a little more power, that might be the move.

Acer SpatialLabs Eyes Stereo Camera

Acer is no stranger to the 3D display market, even introducing the Predator SpatialLabs View 27 at CES this year—a 27-inch, 160Hz gaming monitor that can display 3D content without the need for glasses. Now, if you actually want to create 3D photos and videos, Acer is launching the SpatialLabs Eyes Stereo Camera for $550 in quarter 3 of this year. It’s an 8-megapixel (per lens) point-and-shoot camera. Beyond the ability to capture 3D photos and movies, the camera can also be used as a webcam to livestream 3D video through Teams, Zoom, and Google Meet. (The camera captures 4K footage, but the output resolution will be constrained by the videoconferencing program.) Acer has included a front-facing selfie camera and a 2.4-inch touchscreen for navigating and reviewing photos.