The 11-inch Yoga got a significant upgrade when Lenovo launched the Yoga 3 11 this week. It’s a fanless Core M based convertible that now has a Full HD screen, a redesigned casing and hinge, has a power connector that doubles-up as a third USB port and it weighs just 1.1KG (2.4 pounds.) The starting price is $799 which, as we all know, means is will probably sell for a street price of $750 or even $699 with promotions. There’s no backlit keyboard and the battery is relatively small but for a convertible ultralight the Yoga 3 11 has to be high on the list.
ASUS have just launched three devices under the Chi brand. The 12.5-inch T300, 10.1-inch T100 and the 8.9-inch T90.
We’ve seen the T300 Chi before through an accidental hands-on. It will launch with a Full HD display, Core M CPU and 128GB SSD for $699 in February. The ASUS T100 Chi is an Atom-based 2-in-1 much the same as the T100 that already exists. A Full HD screen, a year of Office 365, 2GB RAM and 64GB storage will cost you $399. Finally the T90 Chi is an 8.9-inch tablet and bluetooth keyboard with 1280×768 screen, Intel Atom CPU and a year of Office 365 will start at $299. A 64GB SSD option is available on the T90 Chi.
ASUS Press release here. (We’re updating information below as we get it…)
The Transformer Book T90 is the one that will interest many readers here.
ASUS Transformer Book T90 Chi Specifications
Windows 8.1 32-bit
8.9in WXGA 1280 x 800 IPS display
Quad-core Intel® Atom™ Z3775 processor
32/64GB eMMC
2GB RAM
241 x 137.5 x 7.5/16.5mm (tablet/docked)
0.40kg (tablet) 0.75kg (docked)
1 year Office 365
At an entry price of $299 there’s practically no reason that an ultra-mobile PC fan won’t want this. It looks great and weighs just 750 grams in total.
ASUS Transformer Book T90 Chi Back
ASUS Transformer Book T90 Chi
The ASUS T100 Chi looks just as sweet though. Total weight is 1.06 KG and the price is just $100 more. People are going to have a hard time deciding between the T90 and T100.
ASUS Transformer Book T100 Chi Specifications.
Windows 8.1 32-bit
10.1in WUXGA 1920 x 1200 IPS display
Quad-core Intel® Atom™ Z3775 processor
32/64GB eMMC
265 x 174.5 x 7.2/13.2mm (tablet/docked)
0.57kg (tablet) 1.06kg (docked)
Pricing for the T300 looks good if you’re not interested in a WQHD screen as long as the SSD is a real one. It’s listed as an iSSD on the ASUS website which could mean ‘integrated’ (which would mean eMMC.) We’ll have to wait for details on that. Here are the official specs we have so far for the T300 Chi.
Processor Intel Core M 5Y71 processor @1.2Ghz / Intel® Core® M 5Y10 processor @0.8Ghz
Display 12.5″ LED backlit WQHD (2560 x 1440) IPS panel / 12.5″ LED backlit Full HD (1920 x 1080) IPS panel
Touch panel: capacitive multi-touch
Main memory LPDDR3 1600MHz 4/8GB
Storage iSSD 64/128GB Storage
Connectivity 802.11a/b/g/n
Bluetooth 4.0, HS
Camera Front: 2MP HD camera (720p video recording)
Dimensions Pad: 317.8 x 191.6x 7.6mm
Dock: 317.8 x 191.6 x 8.9mm
Pad+Dock: 317.8 x 191.6 x 16.5mm
Weight Pad: 720g
Dock: 725g
Pad+Dock: 1445g
The Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro launched last week and has been handled by enough people now for us to get an idea of the performance of the Core M platform and the quality of the product. It’s the worlds-thinnest 2-in-1 and weighs just 1.19 KG which, for a 13.3-inch convertible is quite impressive. Lenovo have squeezed in a reasonably sized battery and there are a few other highlight features too.
The beautiful ASUS Zenbook Z305, powered with the new Intel Core M CPU, will launch at €799 according to NotebookItalia. This 1.2KG Ultrabook with a 2K display, 4GB RAM and a 128GB SSD should be available in December.
ASUS UX305
We always though that ASUS would break into a new price point with this superlight but 799 euro (which is likely to translate to $799 pre-tax in the USA) is better than we expected.
Surface Pro 3 is an amazing piece of engineering. Even with the keyboard it’s one of the most powerful self-contained PCs by weight and with 5-6 hours of working battery life, fast storage and a digitizer it doesn’t cut corners. We’d all like to see a full SD card slot and for it to run a little cooler under load but unless you’re really doing a lot of ‘lapping’, it’s a true notebook replacement. Now that the Intel Core M has been launched we have an idea of what’s possible for 2015. Core M or Broadwell-U are highly likely to be in the Surface labs already as Microsoft try to work out where the next super-tablet should be positioned but there are other options too. Could Cherry Trail play a part in Surface Pro’s future?
The Intel Core M processor, officially launched last week, offers Ultrabook performance in a processing unit that’s about half the size of the current CPUs found in Ultrabooks with a 6W TDP profile. What does that mean? I’ve seen it benchmarked to Ultrabook performance levels on an 680gram fanless tablet. It works!
In an Intel-led Core M benchmarking meeting today I saw a set of controlled benchmarks from a 6W TDP Core M product. The tests were performed in an 685 gram 12.5-inch Llama Mountain reference tablet with a machined aluminum rear casing that is optimal for this design. We also saw a copper-based rear casing that can handle a lot more thermal energy but you won’t see that happening in consumer products. The benchmark scores we saw were more than I had expected.
Three benchmarks were run, once, on a rested system in a warm room.
Sunspider: 119ms at 2.8 2.6 Ghz. (Surface Pro 3 with Core i5 is 113ms at 2.4Ghz Turbo)
3DMark Icestorm unlimited: 48230
Cinebench R11.5 – 2.65 (Surface Pro 3 with Core i5: 2.77)
Note that these are the scores from a high-end 6W TDP Core M 5Y70. The 4.5W TDP Core M SoCs won’t perform this well and in a product with a less-than-perfect thermal design there could be heat issues that prevent Turbo Boost reaching these high levels.
GPU performance needs to be further tested and long-term gaming could impact Turbo Boost capability.
This is the best you’ll see from Core M at 2.8 2.6 Ghz but it’s important to remember that this is best-of-Core M right now. I’m going to be pushing to get the new Lenovo Helix 2 in for testing so at that point we’ll get our first real-product results.
Seconds after I made this video at an IFA press event this ASUS Transformer Book T300 Chi was taken away. it shouldn’t have been there but my video camera had already been rolling.
The ASUS Transformer Book Chi has a really lightweight screen but it’s quite wide. The keyboard is great and the hinge and dock seem high quality. The casing too. I’ll jut leave you to enjoy the video…
