The Gigabyte U4 UD subnotebook wastes potential in the test despite its i7 CPU

Weighing less than 1 kg, the Gigabyte U4 UD is a subnotebook with a sober design and a high-quality build. The manufacturer installs the Intel Core i7-1195G7 in the aluminum case; the latter is a Tiger Lake CPU that is rarely found in use, is still quite new, and has a speed of up to 5 GHz. In addition, the laptop makes use of the Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs integrated GPU and 16 GB of DDR4-3200 RAM in dual-channel mode.

The benchmarks in our review of the Gigabyte U4 UD show that the actual potential of the CPU/GPU combination is only partially exploited by the manufacturer. Nevertheless, the subnotebook's performance is good enough to be able to provide a fast system as well as to handle the occasional gaming session at up to medium graphics levels.

The matte and bright display, which is also well suited for outdoor use, as well as the previously mentioned low weight stood out positively in the test. We also liked the connectivity with Thunderbolt 4 / USB-C 4, HDMI 2.0, and two USB-A ports, despite the fact that there is no LAN port and that the card reader only supports microSD cards.

However, the Gigabyte U4 UD consumes a relatively high amount of power in our measurements. This, combined with a rather small battery ultimately results in moderate battery runtimes of around 4 hours, which is behind what many contenders have to offer. Unfortunately, the fan also made itself noticed frequently with its loud noise for no apparent reason in idle usage. In return, the laptop stays pleasantly cool even under full load.

You can find all the impressions and benchmarks of the Gigabyte U4 UD, which is available for around $1,060 on Amazon, in our review.