ComputingReview
Kestrel 14 Ultra review: the thin-and-light laptop to beat
A gorgeous OLED screen, all-day battery and the fastest on-device AI we’ve tested — let down only by a stingy choice of ports.
By Daniel Reyes
The Kestrel 14 Ultra doesn’t try to reinvent the laptop. It simply does almost everything a premium laptop should do, better than anything else we have tested this year.
Design and display
At 1.2kg and 13.9mm thick, the aluminium chassis is easy to carry all day, and the hinge opens with one finger. The 14-inch 3K OLED panel is the star: inky blacks, accurate colours out of the box and a 120Hz refresh rate that makes scrolling feel effortless.
Performance and battery
Our review unit, with 32GB of memory, handled a dozen browser tabs, a photo editor and a local transcription model without breaking a sweat — or making its fans audible in a quiet room. Battery life was the biggest surprise: 14 hours and 20 minutes in our video test, and a comfortable full workday of mixed use.
“It’s the first laptop in a while that made us stop checking the battery icon.”
What we’d change
Two USB-C ports is not enough for a machine at this price, and the 1080p webcam is only acceptable in dim rooms. Neither is a deal-breaker. Neither should be here.
Written by
Daniel Reyes
Reviews Editor
Daniel runs Vector’s testing lab and has reviewed more than 400 devices. He believes every battery-life claim should come with a sworn affidavit.
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