Your hands-on guide to portable tech
You plug your phone in at 100%, set it face-down on the nightstand, and wake up to 87%. No notifications, no alarms, nothing — so where did that 13% go? We dug into the weird, frustrating world of idle battery drain to figure out what's really happening inside your device when you're not looking.
You charged your phone to 100% before leaving the house, but by noon it's already begging for a wall outlet. Background apps, sneaky location pings, and aggressive sync cycles are likely the culprits — and they're doing more damage than most people realize. We ran the numbers so you don't have to.
Something quietly interesting is happening in the world of portable tech: dedicated handheld computers are back, and this time they might actually stick around. Better chips, smarter software, and a growing crowd of professionals who need more than a smartphone but less than a laptop are fueling a genuine revival. Here's why 2025 might be the year the pocket PC finally earns a permanent spot in your bag.
That shiny new device scored off the charts in synthetic benchmarks, so why does it stutter when you're scrolling Twitter on the subway? The gap between spec-sheet glory and everyday feel is wider than most brands want you to know — and the reasons go way deeper than raw processing power.
Manufacturers are quietly pruning the port count on your favorite handhelds, tablets, and laptops — and they're convinced it's progress. But is a cleaner chassis worth the dongle drawer you're about to accumulate? We dig into both sides of the argument.
There's a cruel irony baked into portable tech: your devices tend to crawl exactly when you're counting on them hardest. Background syncing, aggressive cloud services, and notification storms are quietly sabotaging your on-the-go productivity — and most people have no idea it's happening.
Two handhelds with identical chips can feel worlds apart in everyday use — and it has nothing to do with software. We explored why aluminum feels snappier than plastic, and whether any of it actually matters when you're trying to get work done on the go.
Something genuinely different is happening in the world of portable tech. The devices hitting shelves in 2025 aren't just thinner versions of last year's gadgets — they're legitimately capable machines that fit in your front pocket. Here's why this moment feels different from every other 'year of mobile computing' we've been promised before.
Screen size gets all the headlines, but the stylus specs hiding in the fine print are what actually separate a useful portable device from an expensive disappointment. Pressure sensitivity, latency, and palm rejection have quietly become the metrics that matter most for anyone who writes, draws, or annotates on the go. Here's what those numbers actually mean for your workflow.
Everyone assumed ARM was going to swallow portable computing whole, but a funny thing happened on the way to that future — x86 handhelds showed up and refused to be ignored. Devices like the Asus ROG Ally and Valve's Steam Deck are rewriting the rules of what a pocket-sized computer can actually do. We dug into the performance, the trade-offs, and whether these little powerhouses deserve a spot in your bag.
From Windows Mobile to the Surface Duo, Microsoft has left a trail of fascinating, frustrating, and sometimes genuinely innovative portable devices in its wake. We take a hard look at why the company that owns your desktop keeps losing the battle for your pocket — and whether anything has actually been learned.
Wireless charging has been 'the future' for over a decade, yet most of us still keep a cable on the nightstand. We dug into the physics, tested real devices, and found out why your phone, earbuds, and tablet aren't as free from wires as the marketing wants you to believe.
You don't need a $1,500 laptop and a Herman Miller chair to get real work done on the road. With smart choices across a handful of affordable peripherals and apps, $300 can get you a surprisingly capable portable office that handles video calls, documents, and spreadsheets without breaking a sweat — or your bank account.
Ever notice your phone starts feeling sluggish after 20 minutes of gaming or a long video call? That's thermal throttling doing its thing — and it's happening way more than manufacturers want to admit. We ran the tests, checked the temps, and sorted the useful cooling solutions from the pure marketing fluff.
Apple, Google, and Samsung have all promised us a seamless connected world where our devices just work together. In 2024, that world still feels more like a marketing deck than a daily reality. Here's why the dream of a unified portable tech ecosystem keeps falling short — and what you can actually do about it.
Phone makers love throwing big battery numbers on spec sheets, but those figures rarely survive contact with a real day of use. We put several flagship devices through the wringer to find out just how wide the gap is between marketing claims and actual runtime. The results might make you rethink your next upgrade.
Foldable smartphones have been promising to change everything for five years now, yet the $1,800+ price tags still feel hard to swallow. We spent time with the latest offerings from Samsung and Google to find out if the dream has finally caught up with reality — or if these devices are still more novelty than necessity.
Who says you need a laptop to get serious work done? With the right accessories, your smartphone can handle emails, documents, video calls, and more — all from a setup that fits in a backpack. We've rounded up the best keyboards, stands, and trackpads that genuinely make mobile productivity possible.
The handheld gaming market exploded in 2024, giving PC gamers more portable options than ever before. We put the Steam Deck OLED, ROG Ally X, and a handful of rising challengers through real-world testing to figure out which one actually belongs in your backpack. Spoiler: the answer isn't the same for everyone.
The processor inside your smartphone has been quietly staging a revolution, and most people haven't noticed yet. The old divide between mobile chips and desktop-class silicon is collapsing faster than the industry can keep up with, and it has major implications for every portable device you own — or are about to buy. Here's why the upgrade cycle you've been following probably no longer makes sense.