One of the fundamental changes in the new grading system is performance evaluation. In addition to generally improved use of the benchmark range, CPU and graphics card performance benchmarking has been significantly strengthened to better account for current components and future developments.
In addition to the stability of performance scaling (throttling), which was already taken into account in the previous v7 system, performance and possible performance reductions in battery mode are now also evaluated, as is an optional rating for AI performance. We also replace the game The Witcher 3 par Cyberpunk 2077 : Phantom Liberty in chassis temperature, fan volume, and gaming performance stability tests.
Further adjustments were made to ports and equipment, where we mainly focused on current standards such as high-resolution video outputs, Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth codecs or DRM support on mobile devices. We also evaluate whether the webcam has an opening and whether there is a secondary M.2 slot.
Adaptive timing has been added to displays, and PWM flicker evaluation has also been expanded. The webcam rating has also been expanded to include additional points, such as rating the secondary camera and wide-angle or ultra-wide-angle lenses.
All of these changes mean that many devices’ ratings will be lower, and that the ratings from the old and new rating systems are not directly comparable. That’s why there will also be two versions of our top lists during the current transition phase.
