How we test
Laptops and PCs
We run a selection of benchmarks on all the PCs and laptops we test. Where possible, we use a cross-platform test so we can compare Windows and macOS machines, which is where both Geekbench 5 and Cinebench R23 come into play. Both push the CPU to its limit, exposing how well cooled a system is.
We run extra tests for Windows systems. We use our own benchmarks to test photoediting, video-encoding and multitasking speeds. We then switch to PCMark 10 to benchmark systems in office tasks, content creation and basic tasks such as web browsing and video calls. We also run 3DMark Time Spy and a selection of benchmarks in games such as Metro Exodus and Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
For laptops, we test battery life with Wi-Fi on and the screen brightness set to 170cd/m2. We fully charge the laptops and drain them until they reach 5% using two tests. First, PCMark 10’s battery life benchmark: this mimics light use with tasks such as word processing, video chat and web browsing (plus idle periods). Second, a video-rundown benchmark that loops a 1080p video in VLC Player.
Screen quality
In each laptop, phone, tablet and monitor review, you’ll see our conclusions about the screen quality. Some of this will be subjective, but we also test each screen using a Display i1 colorimeter. We measure maximum brightness, colour accuracy and consistency – there may be a difference in, say, brightness from the middle and the edges of the panel.
We also measure Delta E, which gives a guide as to how accurately the panel displays a colour. Anything under 1 is excellent and likely to be difficult for the human eye to distinguish; between one and two is still strong; above this suggests a panel that you shouldn’t trust for colour-accurate photo editing.
Phones and tablets
We run a selection of publicly available benchmarks on all the phones and tablets we review. First, we run Geekbench 5 ( geekbench.com).
This is a good test of the processor and memory in particular, and includes both a test for single-core and multicore performance. See below for a selection of scores to provide a reference of what’s good... and what’s not so good.
We also run the graphicsintensive GFXBench ( gfxbench. com) to see how well the phones and tablets are likely to perform in games. As with laptops, we test phone and tablet battery life by playing a full-screen video until the battery runs out with the device in Flight mode. We set the brightness to as close to 170cd/m2 as we can get in its settings.