We at XDA go through a lot of products that show up on our test bench to figure out if they're worth buying or at least considering over their counterparts. Some of these devices are flashier and more important than others, but that doesn't mean you should ignore them. Most, if not all, of these products will eventually make their way to our buying guides and recommendation lists, but I've highlighted some of my favorite products (in no particular order) from the ones we reviewed in August to help you stay on top of all the new and important releases.
1 Crucial T700 SSD
The Crucial T700 SSD excites me for the same reasons as the MSI Spatium M570 SSD does. They both belong to the first wave of PCIe 5.0 SSDs, which promise incredibly fast read and write speeds. These drives aren't for everybody, at least not yet, but they're great to consider if you're looking to add the latest and the best components to your rig (and our rig can support them). The Crucial T700 SSD, in particular, is promising because it’s the fastest drive we've tested yet, securing max speeds of 12,398 MB/s reads and 11,814 MB/s writes in sequential transfers.
It's also not nearly as expensive as other PCIe 5.0 SSD drives on the market, costing $180 for the 1TB version without the heatsink. You can read our Crucial T700 SSD review to find out why we believe it is the PCIe 5.0 SSD to buy right now.
Crucial T700 NVMe SSD
The Crucial T700 PCIe Gen5 NVMe SSD is one of the fastest solid-state drives on the planet, with up to 11,700MB/s reads and 9,500MB/s writes on the 1TB capacity, increasing to 12,400MB/s reads and 11,800MB/s writes on the larger capacities.
2 Noctua NH-D15
Only a few air coolers have managed to stand out and hold a dominant position in the market as the Noctua NH-D15 has. The fact that this particular air cooler is relevant almost a decade after its original release in 2014 speaks volumes about its reliability. But is it even capable of taming behemoths from Intel or AMD? Well, if you're wondering how well the NH-D15 cools the best CPUs, then you should check out our review, where we tested it with an Intel Core i9-13900K and AMD Ryzen 9 7950X.
The Noctua NH-D15 is one of the oldest products we've reviewed here at XDA, but that's what makes it special. It proves that even the old classics can be king. It's easy to install, has no flashy RGB lights, and can keep things quiet even with higher CPU loads.
Noctua NH-D15
The Noctua NH-D15 is one of the most powerful air coolers on the market. It can handle high-performance CPUs, and while it's large, it gets the job done. Oh, and it comes in a stunning brown color.
3 Cherry MX2A keyboard switches
Cherry's MX2A mechanical switch may not be the most exciting product revealed in recent times, but it's an important one that represents the evolution of the ubiquitous Cherry MX keyboard switches. These switches aren't available for regular customers yet, but you'll see them a lot more in the coming months and years as keyboard makers — both custom and mainstream — start to build their boards with them. Our Cherry MX2A keyboard switch review goes over a lot of important details to tell you how they're different from traditional Cherry MX switches and also the kind of experience you can get with them, so be sure to check it out.
4 OnePlus Keyboard 81 Pro
A mechanical keyboard from a phone company was not on my list of things I'd see this year, yet here we are. But I am glad I didn't write off the OnePlus Keyboard 81 Pro when it was announced because this is a product that I can easily recommend. I was able to use it briefly at a keyboard meetup recently, and my opinion echoes a lot of what my colleague highlighted in his OnePlus Keyboard 81 Pro review.
I like all the improvements and changes OnePlus made to the Keychron Q1 Pro to make it stand out, and there are plenty of convincing reasons to spend the additional $20-$40 on it over the keyboard it's based on. It's definitely on the expensive side with over a $200 price tag, but it's a solid keyboard that gets all the features right.
OnePlus Keyboard 81 Pro
The Keyboard 81 Pro is a solid mechanical keyboard that features premium materials, excellent customization potential, and a color scheme that's distinctly OnePlus. While it's extremely similar to Keychron's popular and excellent Q1 Pro, OnePlus is still offering a solid option for its fans while also not sacrificing the experience.
5 Ayaneo 2S
Handheld gaming consoles are all the rage right now, and we've tested more than a few of them. The Ayaneo 2S is among the latest ones that allow you to take all your PC games with you on a road trip, and it happens to deliver a better experience than both the Steam Deck and Asus ROG Ally. My colleague Adam Conway spent a lot of time playing modern titles like Spider-Man, Call of Duty, and Ratchet & Clank on it and said it's the best Windows gaming handheld as of August. You can learn more about his experience in his Ayaneo 2S review.
AYANEO 2S Handheld Gaming PC
The Ayaneo 2S is a handheld gaming PC with a lot to love. It's got powerful performance, a nice UI, and an amazingly ergonomic feel in the hands that makes this an easy recommendation... so long as you can deal with potentially poor aftersales support, that is.
6 Lenovo Slim Pro 9i (2023)
Lenovo has launched plenty of laptops for creators, but its new Slim Pro 9i laptop has to be its best one yet. From a sleek design and beautiful mini-LED panel to its impressive performance and good speakers, there's a lot to like about the Lenovo Slim Pro 9i that makes it one of the best laptops we've tested. Senior Editor João Carrasqueira spent time with both 14-inch and 16-inch variants of the laptop to put together a detailed review, and it definitely stands out from many other notebooks we've tested recently. It's not without its flaws, but I'd say it's better than a lot of other creator laptops out there in 2023.
Lenovo Slim Pro 9i
The Lenovo Slim Pro 9i is a powerful laptop for creative professionals, with 13th-generation Intel Core processors and Nvidia GeForce RTX 40 series GPUs.
7 Sabrent Rocket 2230 SSD
If you're planning to buy a new SSD for your Steam Deck or ROG Ally, then you must check out the Sabrent Rocket 2230. It's one of those nice-to-have upgrades that will improve the overall experience of using your handheld gaming device. It pairs well with both Steam Deck and the ROG Ally, offering up to 4,750MB/s read and 4,300 MB/s write speeds and better reliability than a microSD card. Our Sabrent Rocket 2230 SSD review goes over a lot of details to tell you whether it's worth considering, so be sure to give it a read. I'm considering the 512GB variant of this SSD, but it's also available in 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB sizes.
SABRENT Rocket 2230 NVMe 4.0 1TB SSD
if you want to expand storage and don't want to deal with slow read/write speeds, check out the Sabrent Rocket 2230 NVMe SSD. It offers up to 4,750MB/s read and 4,300 MB/s write speeds and unmatched reliability that you won't get with a microSD card.
8 Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5
You're probably drowning in all the iPhone 15 reviews at the moment, but it's a good time to remind you that foldable phones are cool, and Samsung currently has some of the best ones on the market. The Galaxy Z Fold 5 has only seen incremental improvements over its predecessor, but it's the most polished version of this foldable we've seen yet. The only thing Samsung needs to change/improve is the design because it's starting to fall behind the growing competition in this space.
It is an exciting product nonetheless and is very easy to recommend if you're in the market for a new and reliable foldable phone. I can say the same about the Galaxy Z Flip 5, too, but it's not nearly as capable as the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and comes with its fair share of compromises. You can read our Galaxy Z Fold 5 and the Galaxy Z Flip 5 reviews to learn more.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5
Samsung's latest Galaxy Z Fold 5 is a further refinement of the Z Fold lineup. The smartphone looks similar to past Z Fold iterations, featuring a 7.6-inch main screen and a tall cover screen. On the inside, it's powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip and a 4,400mAh battery.
You can score up to $1,000 off with trade-ins at Samsung.com.
Closing thoughts
Those are a handful of products that got top marks from us in the month of August. Many of these, as I mentioned previously, may have flown under your radar, but they're definitely worth considering in their respective categories. September is already looking more exciting with all the reviews that we're working on, so stay tuned to our website and social channels, so you don't miss any of them.