During the Qualcomm Tech Summit in Hawaii, both Microsoft and Qualcomm are showing off Windows on ARM devices. These make use of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 processors and boasts up to 22 hours of battery life. Microsoft calls these “Always Connected PCs” as they have instant-on capability are are using LTE connectivity. It essentially bridges smartphones and laptops in terms of efficiency and function. Plus it has about a month of standby power.
HP and ASUS Unveil their Always Connected Mobile PC
ASUS and HP are the first to show working units. ASUS has the NovaGo Always Connected 2-in-1 with up to 256GB of storage, and up to 8GB of RAM. It sports a 13.3-inch HD display. More importantly, it is the world’s first gigabit LTE laptop using Snapdragon’s X16 LTE modem. The device runs on Windows 10 S. However, ASUS is offering free upgrades to Windows 10 Pro until September 2018.
HP‘s option is called the Envy x2. The company already has an Intel processor powered Envy x2, but this Snapdragon 835 processor version is more like a MS Surface clone. It has a 12.3-inch 1920 x 1200 display with a kickstand at the back, which detaches from the keyboard. The Envy X2 boasts 20 hours of battery life and up to 700 hours of standby. As for storage, users can have up to 256GB with 8GB of RAM. It also uses Snapdragon’s X16 LTE modem.
Pricing Information
The ASUS NovaGo starts at $599 for the 4GB RAM model. Meanwhile the 8GB RAM variant costs $799. HP has not revealed any pricing information yet, but promises availability by Spring 2018.
