Qualcomm has been working on Windows 10 systems since the days of the Snapdragon 820 & finally the consumer level products are being available that are going to be powered by the Snapdragon 835. At least for the first generation. Now, Qualcomm is calling these laptops their Always Connected PCs & that’s because these laptops come with Gigabit LTE support as those technologies are built into the Snapdragon 835 platform. So, Basically it’s like having the same cellular advantages of a smartphone inside a thin & light laptop.
The Always Connected PCs even behave like smartphones in many ways like, Lifting the laptop screen turns it “On” instantly just like pressing the Power Key to unlock on smartphones & when the user is not using the device, it automatically goes into Standby mode. Also, Qualcomm promises a solid 20 hours of Battery life in average for these Laptops that’ll make Power Adapters unnecessary to carry along when the user is outside.
My main concerns will be about the TDP cause, Snapdragon 835 is a low TDP SOC & I don’t think it can take heavy loads that much. So, we have to see how they perform in real life. Another thing is Windows 10 S, now Windows 10 Pro update shall be completely free but, why even shipping these Laptops with the S version as no one likes that super restricted Windows 10 S anyway.
The first Manufacturer to ship one of these laptops is ASUS. They are making the NovaGo 2-in-1 Ultrabook with a thin & light, flippable design. It is powered by the Snapdragon 835 & comes with 4GB,64GB or 6GB,128GB or 8GB,256GB Memory & Storage configurations to choose from. the 4GB,64GB variant costs $599 & the 8GB,256GB Variant costs $799. Oh, and it also supports both the Regular (Nano) Sim & eSim so, the users can choose acording to their requirements.
HP is also bringing the Snapdragon version of their Envy x2 that has a detachable design & when connected to the keyboard it can use that Surface Pro like support hinge. It is also powered by the Snapdragon 835 & will arrive in Spring of 2018.
Lenovo will also be showing off these devices in CES so, the number of partners for Qualcomm in the Always Connected PC line up is expanding & we’ll likely see most of the PC manufacturers getting into this if it turns out to be successful.
We’re really exited to see if these devices can actually be useful for an average user in terms of day to day tasks & productivity. These are just first generation of Laptops powered by Snapdragon so, let’s see how well Qualcomm did, after these devices become available.