Galaxy S25 Edge is reportedly 5.84mm thick with 3,900 mAh battery - Related to thick, redmi, mah, review:, superb

Asus Zenbook S 14 (2024) review: Superb in ceraluminum

The first time I picked up the Zenbook S14 (2024), I was struck by the thinness. It’s easily one of the thinnest laptops I’ve ever used, and that’s saying something after I spent the last few months trying various ultra-thin laptops boasting ARM chips. And it’s even more impressive that a laptop that thin sports Intel’s Lunar Lake Core Ultra 7 chip.

When I finished marvelling at how thin it was, my next thought was battery life. As much as I love a thin laptop, it’s pointless if it can’t make it through a day of work. Historically, Intel-equipped laptops have struggled in that department, and the Snapdragon X Elite laptops I’ve been using in recent times, like the HP OmniBook I reviewed, made it through my workday handily.

Intel promised advanced battery life from Lunar Lake, but does it deliver? Should Asus have made the Zenbook S 14 a tad thicker to incorporate some extra battery life? What the hell is ‘ceraluminum?’ Read on for the answers.

Display: 14-inch 2880×1800 pixel OLED 120Hz 500nits peak brightness.

Dimensions: [website] x [website] x [website] ~ [website] cm.

Camera: FHD webcam with IR for Windows Hello.

Connectivity: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth [website].

Ports: 1x USB [website] Gen 2 Type-A, 2x Thunderbolt 4, 1x HDMI [website], 1x [website] audio.

Note: the above specs are for the specific configuration I tested. You can find all the spec options here.

The Zenbook S 14’s lid aspects what Asus calls ceraluminum, a combination of ceramic and aluminum that’s stronger and more resistant to wear. I’ve had the laptop for a few months, and it’s been my daily driver for a good chunk of that time, which means I’ve worked on it in nearly every room in my home as well as trundled it back and forth from Hamilton to the MobileSyrup office in Toronto several times. At this point, I’m confident the ceraluminum can withstand most abuse from typical use – my S 14 doesn’t have a single scratch or scuff on it. However, it has accrued significant smudges from my fingers, and I find they don’t wipe away as easily as on other materials.

Still, for the premium feel and look and the added durability, I’d say it’s a win overall. My only real quibble is that Asus only used ceraluminum on the lid of the S 14, making it more of an accent than anything. However, Asus has addressed that with more recent laptops, like the Asus Zenbook A14 (stay tuned for a review of that coming soon).

Despite that, the S 14 is ultimately very premium. Thanks to the thinness and silver-toned etched Asus logo on the lid, it looks fantastic. And that carries through even when you open the laptop and see that 120Hz OLED panel. The display looks sharp, has great colours, and everything I do on it feels buttery smooth. Unfortunately, as I’ve found with many of the laptops I’ve tested in recent times, 120Hz absolutely kills battery life (even with the dynamic refresh rate option on the S 14), so I kept it locked at 60Hz.

The Intel Core Ultra 7 258V featured in the Zenbook S 14 is pretty solid overall but doesn’t quite live up to the promises in my testing. The S 14 handled everything I threw at it, with my typical workload including tons of web browsing for researching and writing, editing pictures and more. Photoshop worked great, and even with tons of tabs open, web browsing remained fairly smooth across most browsers I tried, including Edge, Firefox and Vivaldi. I think the 32GB of RAM was a big help in that regard.

Overall, I don’t have any significant complaints with the performance on display here. In benchmarks, things mostly line up as I expected, though I was a bit surprised to see the chip come in slightly lower on the Geekbench 6 CPU multi-core score than what I’ve seen on laptops sporting Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite.

You can check out the scores below, which were tested while the S14 was plugged in and set to the best performance mode. Performance can vary when unplugged or set to other power modes. It’s worth noting here that Windows 11 now helpfully has separate power mode settings depending on whether your device is plugged in. This means I can set it for best performance when on the charger and best efficiency when unplugged to eke out a little more battery life. I also found the S 14 didn’t score significantly more effective than older Intel chips – for example, the Zenbook 14 OLED I reviewed in December 2023 sported an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H chip and put up fairly similar results.

Speaking of battery life, the S 14 isn’t bad, but it barely makes it through my typical eight-hour workday. More often than not, I was scrambling to plug in during the final hour of my day. It makes it tough to recommend the Intel-equipped laptops over the Snapdragon options unless you need apps that won’t run well on ARM chips, especially with the chips offering near parity on performance while the Snapdragon ones are much more efficient and thus offer longer battery life.

Pretty much everything else with this laptop can be summed up as “fine” or "good."

I’d also like to see Asus move the power button out of the keyboard or at least move it further away from the delete key. On more than one occasion, I accidentally hit the power button instead of delete, which was definitely a bit frustrating. Plus, the Asus logo sitting just above the top-right corner of the keyboard would be a prime option for a power button.

The touchpad is overall pretty solid. It’s a nice size, big enough that it doesn’t hinder me at all when I’m working away from my desk. It feels smooth and responsive, which is great. Asus highlighted some gesture capabilities of the touchpad, which allow you to adjust the brightness or volume by swiping on the right and left edges of the trackpad, respectively. Interestingly, swiping along the top edge is a more contextual control, allowing you to scrub through videos or scroll your cursor through text.

When I first heard about these aspects, I expected I’d disable them quickly because there was no way they wouldn’t get in the way of using the touchpad. But by the time I got the laptop, I had forgotten about them until I settled down to write the review. I was surprised to discover the gestures had been enabled on my S 14 the whole time, which is a testament to the fact that they won’t interfere with regular touchpad use. It’s also indicative that the smart gestures are a tad redundant – there are buttons on the keyboard that already handle much of the same functionality, after all – but hey, the gestures are there if you want them, and they won’t get in the way if you don’t.

The speakers are fine, nothing really exciting but they get the job done. Likewise, the webcam is fine but nothing to get excited over. It’ll serve for video meetings, and that’s all it really needs to do.

Finally, like most Windows laptops, the S 14 heavily capabilities AI in its marketing but I have still yet to find a single compelling use case. People keep hyping AI and telling me about how they do so much with it, and every time I try it, I end up spending more time on the task because AI screws it up and gets it wrong.

The Zenbook S 14 is a premium laptop, and, unsurprisingly, it comes with a premium price tag. It starts at $1,[website] in Canada for the Core Ultra 5 226V with 16GB RAM version, but it goes up $400 for the Ultra 7 258V with 32GB RAM, for a total of $2,199.

The prices are roughly in line with those of similarly specced Windows laptops I looked at, with one of the biggest differentiators being the OLED display. So, if you’re interested in OLED, then the S 14 does have a bit of a value play in that regard since, for the same money as similar laptops, you’re getting that OLED.

The S 14 is ultimately a premium option, which means paying top dollar. While there’s nothing wrong with splurging on a high-end laptop like this, anyone looking to stretch their dollar further can find improved value options.

The Zenbook S 14 is available from Asus, Best Buy, and Amazon Canada (though Amazon’s price was slightly higher at the time of writing).

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Xiaomi Redmi Watch 5 review

Xiaomi launched the Redmi Watch 5 in November 2024, but initially, it was only available in China. Following the global release in January 2025 we got a unit for review and here's what we found out.

The short story is this: we were genuinely impressed by this straightforward €110 watch.

Opening the Watch 5 introduced us to a beautiful aluminum alloy watch paired with a Lavender Purple TPU strap. Despite its €110 price tag, it conveys the impression of a more premium device.

Xiaomi also provided us with two additional Quick Release straps compatible with other devices in the same ecosystem: a Cream White strap made from cowhide leather and a Rose Purple strap featuring a velcro textile design. Both complement the Watch 5 beautifully, but we found the Purple version to be more versatile and seemingly more durable.

Xiaomi has embraced the similarities with the Apple Watch. On the one hand, the Redmi Watch series may be confused with its far pricier rival, which is an achievement of its own, but on the other the lack of originality is somewhat disappointing.

The Redmi Watch 5 attributes a [website]" AMOLED screen, the largest display yet in a Xiaomi wearable. It boasts thin bezels at just 2 mm - resulting in an 82% screen-to-body ratio, which helps to make the case more manageable.

The [website] curved screen enhances the size and usability, making it pleasant and easy to touch.

The screen reaches impressive peak brightness of 1,500 nits and refreshes at 60 Hz. This level of display quality is typical of premium smartphones, and really gives the Redmi Watch 5 an edge against its direct rivals.

The LTPS panel allows some watch faces to dial down to 5 Hz refresh rate, which extends battery life.

Colors appear vibrant, and it's significant to note that the watch face displayed in the Mi Fitness app on your smartphone looks just as stunning on the wearable device. Additionally, there’s an Always-On Display feature with two modes: Always-On Display and Main Display.

They differ in their behavior when you raise your wrist. The first option simply brightens the screen to display the always-on display (AOD), while the second takes you straight to the main screen featuring additional visuals.

The Raise to Wake gesture works perfectly - it detects the motion, understands when the wrist is lowered, and turns on and off the display accordingly.

The Redmi Watch 5 pairs with the Mi Fitness app, which can be found on any app store. This is the main Xiaomi app required for all health-related devices, providing essential aspects such as notification and call management, fitness and health tracking metrics and alarms.

The watch's user interface is straightforward and user-friendly, which we appreciate. Each app icon elements its own design, which might appear chaotic at first glance; however, locating an app is quite easy. By pressing the rotating crown button, you can access the app grid - this can display either with or without the app names, and there's also an option for a list view. We found the default setting to be the more effective though.

Notifications appear instantly, but unfortunately, only a limited selection of emojis function, so the symbols won't display on the watch if your communication includes anything other than letters and numbers.

Xiaomi introduced a new AFE chip (analog front-end), which reportedly offers a [website] improvement in heart rate measurement accuracy and a 10% enhancement in sleep accuracy. However, the sleep tracking is still quite inconsistent as the Redmi Watch 5 responds to even slight movements. In contrast, devices like the Huawei Watch actively monitor heart rate during sleep. Thus, if you tend to move around frequently at night, the Redmi Watch 5 may deliver inaccurate readings.

Additionally, the device includes blood oxygen saturation and stress monitoring attributes; however, these shouldn't be viewed as medical-grade readings. With over 150 sports modes, Xiaomi proposes it's an excellent choice for outdoor tracking thanks to the built-in GNSS support.

The organization has not disclosed which specific satellite pairs with the wearable. It's clear that it isn't the American GPS or the European Galileo, as the Watch 5 exhibits slight inaccuracies during running. This means that the Chinese Beidou, positioned primarily for communications in China and not Europe, is the likely candidate.

In terms of extra elements, there are various running courses tailored for hobby runners, as well as breathing exercises designed for the average person. These elements are well-designed and beneficial for both training and recovery.

The Mi Fitness app allows for an easy evaluation of all data, including heart rate and sleep tracking, presented in a visually appealing and understandable way.

We live in a world increasingly filled with devices featuring USB-C ports, yet Xiaomi has chosen to rely on an outdated proprietary pogo pin charging solution. So the charger will become obsolete when the device eventually fails or is replaced.

Fortunately, the cable isn't often needed because the Redmi Watch 5 rarely requires charging. This wearable elements an exceptional battery life, and the cable is needed only every two to three weeks.

Xiaomi asserted that the wearable can achieve a battery life of 24 days, but that estimate is quite generous, assuming that most health tracking attributes are disabled. During our testing, we actively engaged with the device by going for runs, continuously monitoring heart rate and stress levels, receiving notifications, and making calls. This typical usage still resulted in an impressive battery life of 15 days – over two weeks!

When it comes to charging, the 550 mAh battery reaches full capacity in roughly 60 minutes. Just one hour of downtime for more than two weeks of use is really great. Even when we tested the Watch 5 with Always-On Display (AOD), and the battery life was cut almost in half, at 9 days, which is more than the majority of wearables out there.

However, as we established there is little need for AOD, because the raise-to-wake gesture works just fine and offers a glance at the extra data on the watch face.

Xiaomi sells the Redmi Watch 5 for €110 in some European markets, which sounds like a steal. It is an attractive, affordable, and long-lasting wearable that while missing a proper OS and advanced apps covers the basic smartwatch functionality solidly.

A different take would be to say it's very close to the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro (especially since the straps work on both devices, making them even more similar). But it's never bad to have more options even if they are just about the design.

So all in all the Redmi Watch 5 is a great device for notifications and basic health metrics tracking that brings an outstanding battery life. Yes, it's not ideal for fitness and sleep tracking, but at that price it will certainly find its clients.

Look and feel that punches above the weight.

Display is bright and sharp and easy to work with.

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Galaxy S25 Edge is reportedly 5.84mm thick with 3,900 mAh battery

Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Edge was officially revealed at last month’s big Unpacked event, but Samsung hasn’t provided many details on the device. It’s abundantly clear, though, that earlier leaks of the device were wildly incorrect, as not only is the design drastically different, but the Galaxy S25 Edge is much thinner than first anticipated.

It was reported last year that Samsung would be launching a “Slim” version of the Galaxy S25 to pre-empt Apple’s coming “iPhone 17 Air.” In January, leaks of that device hit the web to reveal a familiar design matching the rest of the Galaxy S25 series along with a body that measured in at [website], only slightly thinner than the rest of Samsung’s lineup.

That research was quickly proved as incorrect, though.

Samsung’s official Galaxy S25 Edge unveiling revealed that the new device has only two cameras rather than the three mentioned in the prior leak. Samsung also hinted the device would be “around” 6mm in thickness, lower than the [website] that’d been previously thought.

In an upgrade to its original investigation, SmartPrix and @OnLeaks claim that Samsung scrapped a [website] thick version of the Galaxy S25 Edge, instead opting for this new device that measures in at [website] x [website] x [website] No other insights have corroborated this claim, and SmartPrix is adamant that it was “mostly” right about the first claim.

In any case, other Galaxy S25 Edge leaks do advanced align with this slimmer design. Ice Universe notes that Samsung is set to use its 200MP HP9 sensor in this device, while powering it with a 7-core version of the Snapdragon 8 Elite. Battery life may prove to be an issue, though, as the Edge is thought to only have a 3,900 mAh battery. For context, the Galaxy S25 has a 4,000 mAh battery and a much smaller [website] display.

Samsung is expected to launch the Galaxy S25 Edge “around” April 2025, as we previously reported.

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