Intel EVO laptop, a guarantee of autonomy and performance
Intel EVO laptop
Those who work with a laptop usually take the autonomy and performance into consideration when the notebook is powered by the battery, since often when on the move they do not have access to a power outlet to recharge their device. On many occasions we have seen that to have more autonomy you sacrifice performance, but in this way you risk taking longer to complete your work and therefore incurring potential delays. Is there really no way to have so much autonomy and, at the same time, the same (or almost) performance regardless of what the notebook's power source is? Intel EVO. Intel EVO is a certification issued by Intel to some premium products, designed by the company alongside its partners and equipped with a platform capable of guaranteeing long battery life and high performance, both when the laptop is connected to the power and when it is powered battery powered. The Intel EVO badge is a kind of certificate of quality: laptops that feature it will always offer a long battery life, great performance in every area, reliable connectivity, quality audio and display, and thin and light designs perfect for portability.To see if Intel EVO notebooks really offer high autonomy and similar performance on both battery and power, we decided to take two devices, one Intel EVO certified and one not, and compare them. The Intel EVO certified laptop we have chosen is the 14 ″ HP Specter X360, equipped with a latest generation Intel Core i5-1135G7 processor with Iris Xe integrated graphics, 8GB of 3200MHz LPDDR4 RAM, 512GB NVMe SSD and Wi-Fi 6 connectivity guaranteed by an Intel AX201 network card. The laptop without EVO certification we used is instead a 14 ″ HP Pavilion, with an Intel Core i5-8250U processor on board with Intel UHD 620 graphics, 8GB of DDR4-3200 RAM, 512GB NVMe SSD and Wi-Fi 5 connectivity .
For our tests we chose PCMark 10, a very famous software that simulates different real workloads: management of Word and Excel documents, web browsing, videoconferencing and much more. The program creates a good mix and offers a scenario very close to that of a typical working day in the office, so it lends itself well to our test. Below you can see the results obtained by the HP Specter X360: the numbers speak for themselves, the Intel EVO certified notebook offers great autonomy and high-level performance even when not connected to the socket.
Intel EVO laptop performance connected to the socket Intel EVO battery powered laptop performance Going into more detail, we see that on the Intel EVO platform the performance worsens only by 6% when the notebook is powered by the battery, while on the laptop it is not certified we have a drop of 28%, going from 3381 points to 2443. Also with regard to autonomy, with the PCMark 10 Modern Office test the HP Specter X360 certified Intel EVO turns off after more than 18 hours, obtaining a result in line with that declared by the manufacturer, while the HP Pavilion without certification goes just over 8 hours. The battery life tests were done with 50% brightness and active Wi-Fi connectivity and give a good idea of what the two different solutions allow: even with more intense work use, the Intel EVO platform allows you to work everything the day without worries even on the move, while with a non-certified solution you may need to recharge your PC in the middle of the day.
Summing up, those looking for autonomy and maximum performance in a laptop should choose an Intel solution EVO. As we have seen, compared to an alternative solution of a good level but without certification, it offers superior features and allows you to complete all your activities in peace, even if you are always on the move and do not have the possibility to recharge the device for the whole the day.
What is Intel Evo? The new mobile performance standard explained
© Provided by Pocket-lint intel project athena explained how it could make premium laptops better photo 9(Pocket-lint) - Intel Evo is the chipmaker's new specification for thin-and-light laptops and - thanks to the label shown above - should provide a guarantee of great mobile performance on laptops.
Intel unveiled Project Athena at CES in early 2019 but while Athena isn't a consumer brand, Intel Evo is. It's very much like what Intel did with Ultrabooks around a decade ago to revolutionise the thin and light PC laptop market in the wake of the launch of Apple's MacBook Air in 2008.
Intel Evo is a brand you'll see on ultraportable laptops that guarantees a certain level of performance - we've explained more detail on that below.
Project Athena was, essentially, the codename for this programme, but Intel says that Intel Evo laptops are 'co-engineered and verified through Intel’s Project Athena innovation program'. In other words, it's the process laptops go through to get the Intel Evo branding.
And what is that process? It's basically a set of standards that Intel wants for laptops. Intel said its engineers will work with companies like HP, Dell, and many more to create laptops that meet its standards. It'll even test them before they can become certified.
© Provided by Pocket-lintMy Take by Dan Grabham Pocket-lint Associate editor
During 2020 we used a Project Athena-spec Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 and we have to say we're extremely impressed. With the latest 10th generation Intel Core processors (now replaced by 11th generation under Intel Evo) and other accoutrements like all-day battery life, always-on and USB-C it simply zips along and has no problem driving our high-res display.
Intel's former Ultrabook brand was always about go-anywhere devices that had top-notch Wi-Fi connectivity in days when Wi-Fi was a bit more of an inconsistent experience - the best part of a decade ago.
Nowadays though, it's more about 'do anything' as well as 'go anywhere' - you really can have one laptop to rule them all. And, with 2-in-1, 360-degree flip laptops like this Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 that's totally possible.
The idea is similar to Intel’s Ultrabook program that began in 2012 but with a much wider set of criteria. The original Ultrabook standards were based on getting the best battery performance in the smallest device possible. They had to meet exact standards for thinness, weight, responsiveness, and battery life.
The result helped close the gap between Windows-powered laptops and MacBooks.
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Within a couple of years, plastic PC rigs transformed into sleek metal beasts, with the likes of Dell XPS 13 and HP Spectre x360. All these, if they met Intel's criteria at the time, were called Ultrabooks.
Now, Intel is trying this again with Evo in an effort to spur more innovation among premium laptop makers.
Is there an Intel Evo logo?Yes there is - you can see it at the top of this article. Originally Intel told us there was no Project Athena brand or logo, but there is a 'visual identifier'. Yes, that really is what they said. The logo or badge - as that's what it is, see it below - said 'engineered for mobile performance' but appears to have been replaced by the Evo logo above.
What is the criteria for Project Athena certification?Project Athena-certifieded laptops have to meet a range of specifications based on its design, battery, and hardware. There are six categories: instant action, performance and responsiveness, intelligence, battery life, connectivity, and form factor.
The biggest takeaway is that Intel Evo laptops will need to deliver nine hours of battery life. That includes while browsing the web over Wi-Fi and with the screen set to a level of brightness (250 nits).
So no more of this bogus '24-hour battery' promise - but only with Wi-Fi off and the lowest screen brightness. Intel said it put serious research behind the creation of its standards criteria.
It wanted to gauge what was most important to real-life laptop users both at home and in the workplace. It also plans to perform rigorous testing on each laptop seeking Project Athena certification.
Intel believes its criteria will actually satisfy modern users' needs, and it's going to make sure manufacturers don't cheat them.
Here's the full Project Athena 2.0 specification - the 1.0 version was for 10th generation Intel processors so the spec was revised.
The key things are:
Many high-end laptops are Intel Evo-certified including laptops from Acer, Dell, HP, and Lenovo. Google, Microsoft, Asus, Samsung, and Xiaomi. Indeed over 40 models are now available.
