I highly recommend the Acer Swift X 14 for creatives who need a Windows laptop with a discrete GPU for running the most demanding sorts of apps. That includes photo and video editors, graphic designers, and animators.

Most professional creatives need a Windows laptop with a dedicated graphics card to handle their intensive workloads. I like the $2,000 Acer Swift X 14 with a top-end Intel Core Ultra 9 285H CPU and RTX 5070 graphics because it’s super powerful, fairly priced, equipped with a glorious OLED screen, and long-lasting, relatively speaking. You can go with a gaming laptop instead, but most aren’t nearly as compact.

This 14-inch desktop replacement is just as fast as an M5 MacBook Pro when it comes to demanding multi-core scenarios (i.e., most creative tasks). In my testing, its RTX 5070 GPU was more than capable of running graphically taxing games like Cyberpunk 2077 at over 100fps at 1080p resolution without the help of any AI upscaling technology, so it’s very well-suited for the likes of Adobe After Effects and Premiere Pro. (And other AAA games, obviously.)

For what it’s worth, I also tried a $1,700 Acer Swift X 14 AI with an AMD processor and RTX 5060 graphics, and the Intel/RTX 5070 version performed much better. The AMD/RTX 5060 one had 17 percent worse multi-core performance, so it couldn’t compete with the MacBook Pro, and it could barely run Cyberpunk at its 60fps minimum without upscaling tech. It also had a much worse battery life of about 6.5 hours per charge. My go-to RTX 5070 model lasted just over 10 hours, which is fantastic for a laptop with a dedicated GPU.

Note that the Swift X 14 is not a Copilot+ PC, meaning it doesn’t have a super-powerful NPU for running on-device AI tasks. This isn’t a deal-breaker for creatives, but it is for serious machine learning engineers and software developers.

The Swift X 14 comes with plenty of creator-forward ports (like a microSD card slot) as well as a crisp, vivid 120Hz OLED touchscreen. It’s a real attention-getter on an otherwise plain laptop. You can’t draw on it with the included stylus, but you can do so on its haptic trackpad. It functions kind of like a built-in drawing pad.

The 2026 Dell XPS 14 is a stylish investment for aesthetic-forward power users — I’m thinking content creators who might also be occasional gamers. You’re probably wishing the 14-inch MacBook Pro was even sleeker and a little more portable, and you may be getting impatient waiting for Apple’s touchscreen OLED upgrade. You’re definitely open to carrying around dongles.

I tested two configurations of the handsome XPS 14. The one I recommend as the best MacBook Pro alternative is an upper mid-tier model with an Intel Core Ultra X7 358H processor and a dazzling tandem OLED touchscreen (an optional upgrade). It’s no battery life champ, but it keeps pace with the base Pro in multi-core workloads, and its integrated GPU is excellent for demanding creative software and casual gaming.

The XPS 14 is easily one of the most elegant laptops I’ve ever encountered. Dell trimmed down its all-aluminum design for 2026, making it a touch thinner and nearly half a pound lighter than a 14-inch Pro. It’s available in two MacBook-y finishes: graphite and shimmer (coming later this year). Its lattice keyboard takes some adjusting to if you’re used to regular island-style keyboards, but it translates to a modern, minimalist look. Its seamless glass haptic touchpad looks equally clean. Its speakers are above-average for a Windows laptop — they’re just a little more echoey than a MacBook’s.

The XPS 14’s 2.8K OLED display is a $150 upcharge that I can endorse. It’s not as bright or crisp as a MacBook Pro’s Liquid Retina XDR display, but it’s more vibrant and just as smooth. (The standard IPS version is much duller in comparison.) Keep in mind that OLED won’t be a thing on a Mac until late 2026 at the soonest.

The Core Ultra X7 chip is a close rival of Apple’s M5 chip when you work it hard. It doesn’t feel as snappy in single-core scenarios, but trails the current MacBook Pro by only four percent when used for multi-core tasks. (That’s nothing.) What’s more, the Core Ultra X7’s Intel Arc B390 iGPU is comparable to an entry-level discrete graphics card. It’s perfectly capable of running graphically taxing titles like Cyberpunk 2077 with the help of games’ AI upscaling tech.

The XPS 14’s stamina is lacking compared to the M5 MacBook Pro, though it really depends on what you’re using it for. It held out for 10 hours and 19 minutes in our video rundown test, which is a full workday at least, but not great. (Its Apple counterpart ran for over 21 hours in the same test.) That said, its 120Hz OLED display dips down to just 20Hz when you’re viewing static content, so it should last much longer when it’s not looping a video.

If you want an XPS 14 with MacBook-beating battery life in almost any scenario, look into the $1,999.99 base model with a Core Ultra 5 325 chip. It lasted 22 hours on the dot in our video rundown test, and its refresh rate can drop to a mere 1Hz for static content. Just know that you’ll sacrifice a good chunk of power: It offers 35 percent worse multi-core performance than the Core Ultra X7 version. Speed-wise, it’s most akin to an M2 MacBook Air from 2022. (The cheaper Dell 14S with the Core Ultra 7 355 chip performs slightly better and lasts even longer, FWIW.)

Table of Contents

In preparation for my honeymoon, getting a camera was at the top of my list. Although my iPhone 17 Pro Max takes next-level photos, I wanted to be able to stay off my phone and stay in the moment. I needed something beginner-friendly, and while I love the look of film, I wanted the convenience of digital. That’s where the Camp Snap comes in.

Originally designed for summer campers who want a digital camera to capture camp memories, the Camp Snap is screen-free. However, the Camp Snap has attracted an audience beyond summer campers, thanks to its nostalgic-looking photos.

I own the Camp Snap, but when I tried the Camp Snap 2, I totally fell in love. It was the perfect camera to bring on my honeymoon, and now I have the sweetest photos to look back on.

Camp Snap 2 at a glance

The Camp Snap 2 is more high-tech than it looks.
Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable

The Camp Snap 2 is a screen-free digital camera, which costs $69.95. It has a playful, vintage look, but it’s not a gimmick. It has flash and five filters and is exceptionally easy to use. Without a screen, you stay in the moment; however, it does make using the filters a bit of a guessing game. It still creates stunning digital photos with a film-like look. Uploading photos is straightforward, requiring only a USB-C connection to get them on your phone or computer, even on the go.

A camera made for amateurs

The only screen on the Camp Snap 2 displays your photo count and filters.
Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable

You know when someone hands you their camera, and there are so many buttons that they need to point out the right one to hit snap? Well, that’s not an issue on the Camp Snap 2 because there are so few buttons, it’s obvious which ones do what. There are exactly three buttons: an on/off/flash switch, the shoot button on top of the camera, and a filter button.

There’s no guessing on which button does what on the Camp Snap 2.
Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable

There’s a viewfinder and a tiny screen that displays the photo count and the filter the camera is set to. There are no lens details to futz with; you just turn it on and shoot. There’s no learning curve to worry about. It also takes photos in a 3:4 or 4:3 ratio.

This meant that on our honeymoon, we could whip out the camera, snap the shot, and go. Plus, if we ever handed the camera to someone so we could get a couple shot, it was self-explanatory. It has a little shutter sound that clicks when the photo is taken, so you know you’ve got the shot.

The photos have a sweet, nostalgic feel to them

Camp Snap 2 photos look like film but still have the convenience of digital.
Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable

Camp Snap’s photos are just as charming as the camera itself looks. It has a vintage-inspired design, and the Camp Snap 2 now comes in colorful jelly shades.

The photos the camera takes also have a nostalgic look, most reminiscent of photos from a disposable camera digitized. It looks like film, but it has the convenience of digital. Don’t expect crisp, detailed photos; everything has a slight fuzz to it, but that’s part of the style to just embrace.

Without a screen, you’re always taking a gamble on a bad shot, but since it’s digital, it’s not the same stakes as with a film camera. But out of the hundreds of photos I took, none of them were true duds.

It doesn’t perform well on high-contrast images. For example, a crowded street in the shade with a bright sunset behind it lost much of the detail that a similar photo I took on my iPhone did. As long as you have bright, well-balanced sunlight, you’ll have beautiful photos. If not, make sure to turn on flash.

Upload to any device on the go

With its easy uploads, I could look at photos from the day as soon as I took them.
Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable

On vacation, I didn’t have a full computer setup, just my phone and a USB-C cord, but that’s enough to upload photos. While we were traveling between destinations, I plugged the Camp Snap 2 into my phone, watched the photos appear in the Photos app, uploaded them, and even deleted them to free up space on the camera. It was so simple, required no WiFi connection, and was really quick.

While I tested the Camp Snap on iOS and Mac devices, it’s also compatible with Android and PC.

No worries about battery life or storage

There were plenty of devices I had to worry about charging during our honeymoon: my phone, iPad, and portable fan. But the Camp Snap wasn’t one of them. It has extensive battery life, and one charge gets you 500 photos. With the included MicroSD storage, the camera stores 2,000 photos; however, if you need even more space, you can swap out cards.

There’s a bit of a learning curve with the filters

This is the standard shot taken on the Camp Snap 2, without filter.
Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable

Photos taken in bright light will have a darker tint to them even without filter.
Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable

The biggest upgrade between the Camp Snap and Camp Snap 2 is the inclusion of filters. The Camp Snap 2 comes with six built-in filters: standard, vintage 1–3, analog, and black & white. The filters are a nice touch, but I never found myself reaching for them.

Trying out the filters with my dog, Milly.
Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable

Since there’s no screen, you can’t see what the filter looks like until you upload it later. This means you’ll need to spend a little time playing around with them to see how they look and what you like.

Is the Camp Snap 2 worth it?

The Camp Snap 2 adds instant nostalgia to photos.
Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable

The Camp Snap 2 is 100 percent worth it. At $69.95, it’s about half the price of a standard digital camera, and although it definitely has some drawbacks, like no screen or zoom, it makes up for them with ease and charm. It’s so easy to use, whether you’re an amateur photographer or a summer camper. The upload process is just as simple, too.