5 products I reviewed this year that I really wanted to buy

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Key Takeaways

• I get to try out many products throughout the year, but I usually have to send them back after the review period is over.
• I was tempted to buy a lot of devices after I reviewed them, but things like price, bad battery life, or redundant features kept me from completing the purchases.
• For example, the Dell UltraSharp 32 6K monitor is an exceptional monitor with a 6K resolution, built-in webcam, and Thunderbolt 4 connectivity. However, it is quite expensive at over $2,000.
• The Acer Swift Edge 16 laptop stands out for its powerful AMD Ryzen CPU and 16-inch OLED display but is held back by its battery life.

As a technology journalist, I get to try out many cool products, and sometimes, when it’s an excellent laptop or a superb monitor, I get to recommend it to you. Occasionally, it might even be a random accessory like a new keyboard or mouse. However, once a review period is finished, I usually have to return the product to the company. If I like the product, I might ask for an extension on my loan period.



Sometimes, though, if I like the product enough, I’ll be tempted to just straight up buy it — but only if it’s in my budget. Here are five devices I reviewed this year that I wanted to buy even after returning it.





5 Lenovo ThinkCentre M60q Chromebox

A cool and compact ChromeOS device


I review a lot of Chromebooks, but it was a Chromebox that grabbed my attention this year. The Lenovo ThinkCentre M60q Chromebox, one of the newest Chromeboxes released this year, packs an older 12th-generation Intel CPU under the hood, but I still enjoyed it. The CPU’s power was more than enough to push me through running Android apps, Linux apps, and even light gaming on Steam. Beyond that, I was a huge fan of the compact design and that it’s upgradeable and serviceable. The cost comes in at under $490, and I really would have purchased it if I didn’t already own a huge collection of Chromebooks that accomplish the same tasks.
















Lenovo ThinkCentre M60q Chromebox

The ThinkCentre M60q was my favorite Chromebox I reviewed in 2023. It has speedy fast 12th-generation CPUs and it’s even upgradeable.







4 Dell UltraSharp 32 6K Monitor

The best monitor I’ve ever used


The Dell UltraSharp 32 6K monitor is one of the best monitors I’ve ever used, and if it weren’t for its extremely extravagant $2,000+ price, I’d have purchased it for myself. As I mentioned in my review, it’s big, bold, and different, with a nifty 4K webcam at the top and a speaker bar. I didn’t need to use my laptop’s 1080p webcam or studio microphones, and I became the king of video conferencing. It also sports Thunderbolt 4 connectivity and a pop-down USB hub, which means that the monitor itself became my hub for work. Finally, the IPS black panel and the 6K resolution meant everything, and anything I did on the monitor looked crisp and clear with deeper blacks and great color accuracy. It put my standard 32-inch 4K monitor to shame.
















Dell UltraSharp 32 6K Monitor U3224KB

The Dell UltraSharp 32 6K Monitor U3224KB is a killer monitor. It has a very high price, but it packs a crisp 6K resolution, a 4K webcam built-in, and great 14-watt speakers. It also has joystick controls and can be used vertically. 







3 Lenovo Yoga AIO 9i

A really cool all-in-one computer


I love reviewing laptops, but sometimes I do try out some unique desktops, too. I don’t own any desktop computers, either, so when the Yoga AIO 9i landed in my setup, I fell in love with it.



This humble PC sports an incredible 31.5-inch 4K display, with the option to use it as a monitor for a laptop over USB-C. That’s something I’ve never seen in an all-in-one before, and a reason I considered buying it to replace my dedicated monitor. It also has an incredible design. All the components are in the base, and the main display “floats” on top of a metal arm in the shape of a paperclip. I had the Yoga AIO 9i in my home for a month, and when people visited, the first thing they asked me was, “What kind of computer is that?”



The uniqueness alone tempted me to add it to my device collection, but it’s a big PC with a laptop-class CPU, so I wouldn’t have needed it when it comes to performance anyway. My laptop and monitor combo already do the same things this AIO can.
















Lenovo Yoga AiO 9i (2023)

$1549 $1800 Save $251

The Lenovo Yoga AiO 9i is a premium all-in-one desktop PC with 13th-generation Intel Core processors and optional Nvidia graphics. It also has a super-sharp 4K display and a sleek design that looks amazing anywhere.







2 Acer Swift Edge 16

With an OLED display and powerful AMD CPUs


While the Dell Latitude 9440 was the best laptop I reviewed in 2023, a close second was the Acer Swift Edge 16. This might look like a simple productivity laptop, but the primary reason I had it in my shopping cart at one point was the powerful CPU under the hood.



I’m used to reviewing laptops that feature 13th-generation Intel CPUs, but this Acer Swift Edge 16 was one of the first laptops I reviewed to feature an AMD Ryzen 7840U CPU. While it has no dedicated graphics card, it sported one of the newer 4nm Zen 4-based CPUs from AMD, along with the RDNA3-based Radeon 780M integrated graphics, which has 12 cores. All of that power meant I could do things on this laptop that similar ones with Intel CPUs can’t do, like playing full-on PC games like Project Cars 2. No productivity and non-gaming laptop I own is capable of doing that.



The big 16-inch display was another reason I loved this laptop. Sporting an OLED panel, this laptop blew anything I own out of the water. I even requested Acer to extend my loan on the Acer Swift Edge 16, and I took it with me on a trip to Canada. I loaded up my favorite movies and enjoyed this laptop during my 18-hour train ride. It’s also pretty affordable at around $1,300. I never completed my purchase, though, because the battery life held this laptop back.
















Acer Swift Edge 16 (2023)

The 2023 Acer Swift Edge comes with AMD Ryzen 7000 series processors and more powerful graphics, plus a great OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate.







1 Dell Latitude 9440

The best laptop I ever reviewed in 2023


Topping the list is my favorite laptop that I reviewed in 2023, the Dell Latitude 9440. The minute this laptop arrived at my home, I was eager to dig in. While it’s primarily aimed at businesses, I loved it so much that I considered buying it for myself.



The highlights include the incredible XPS-like all-aluminum design, with slightly polished diamond-cut edges, and the new 2-in-1 form factor. I also love the haptic trackpad and the zero-lattice keyboard, which made typing incredibly comfortable. Performance was pretty solid, too, for everyday web browsing and the tasks I needed it for. Unfortunately, as I pointed out in my review, this laptop cost close to $3,000 when it was first released, which I couldn’t afford at the time.
















Dell Latitude 9440

$1959 $2100 Save $141

The Dell Latitude 9440 is a premium 2-in-1 laptop with a modern and sleek design, high-end Intel processors, and a sharp Quad HD+ display. It’s also the world’s first laptop with Zoom shortcuts built into the trackpad.





These are some things I did buy!

For all the things that I didn’t buy that I reviewed, there are some (more affordable) gadgets that I did indeed take the dive and purchase after I reviewed them. The first is the KBDcraft Kit Adam keyboard, which is a Lego-like keyboard that you build yourself. Then, there’s the Plugable USB-C Stand Dock, which I use with my Lenovo Legion Go whenever I want to use it at my desk as a desktop PC. I even daily drive the Logitech MX Anywhere 3S, which is an extremely quiet and compact mouse. This was a great year for computing, and I can’t wait to see what 2024 has in store.





** (Disclaimer: This video content is intended for educational and informational purposes only) **




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