Convertible / 2-in-1

All the talk and expectation around mobile silicon from Qualcomm this year is understandably focused on its beastly Snapdragon 865. However, there are to relatively new PCs on the market that are running PC-optimized versions of the 2019 flagship Snapdragon 855. These are of course, the Samsung Galaxy Book S and the Microsoft Surface Pro X. The Galaxy Book S runs Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8cx while the while Microsoft’s Surface Pro X runs a custom variant of the 8cx dubbed the Microsoft SQ1. So, what are the differences between them and is there much of a difference in performance between the chipsets?

The 768p touchscreen is so bad that tablet mode is rendered almost unusable. This type of display has no right to be on any laptop retailing for this high of a price. Save your $1000 for a HP Envy or Spectre instead.

Eve, or rather Eve Distribution as it has been called since late last year, has announced its next 2-in-1. Called Version 2.0 for the time being, the company is promising to deliver a Tiger Lake-powered 2-in-1 that will improve upon the original Eve V without abandoning its Surface Pro-esque design. Claims of unfulfilled orders and refund refusals continue to dog the company, though.

Outlets seem to want these brand new 10 nm Core i7 laptops gone from their shelves as fast as possible. The high-end Spectre x360 13 Ice Lake is merely a few months old and yet its price has fallen by nearly 40 percent.

A processor with the designation Intel Core i3-1000NG4 has been spotted having a crack at the Time Spy benchmark. With a base clock of 1.10 GHz and just two cores to utilize, unsurprisingly the CPU did not rack up a gigantic score. But the big questions here are what does the “N” stand for and is this chip a further addition to Intel’s Ice Lake series?

The JEDEC solid-state assocation has unveiled UFS 3.1, the immediate successor for the memory standard found in some of the most premium smartphones out today. The organization asserts that it will build on its last generation in terms of speed and power-efficiency. It also has a new optional companion standard that may further boost read speeds.

Another Surface product that could be receiving a refresh this year is the Surface Go, according to another round of 3DMark listings. The Surface Go 2 with an Intel Core m3-8100Y processor would offer a decent performance boost over the current Pentium Gold-powered Surface Go, while 3DMark shows that an LTE SKU could be on the cards too.

The Surface Book 3 may have appeared on 3DMark yesterday sporting an Intel Core i7-1065G7 and NVIDIA Max-Q GPUs, but the same leaker has uncovered what could be more powerful models. These SKUs retain the same Max-Q GPU, but eschew the 15 W Core i7-1065G7 for the 28 W Core i7-1068G7 and possibly even a Tiger Lake-U CPU.

What is Jasper Lake? This has been a valid question since a leak referenced it alongside Rocket Lake in July 2019. Now, new evidence suggests that it is a mobile SoC based on the new Tremont microarchitecture. The same also nods to a novel micro-server chipset called Jacobsville.

Chuwi has launched its latest 2-in1 tablet, the Hi10 X. The tablet is aiming to tempt people in with its affordable pricing and its metal unibody design, along with dual USB Type-C ports and a detachable keyboard dock.

ChargeLabs has designed the HyperDisk to be a tiny external drive housing super-fast memory. This OEM claims that it has read-speeds of up to 960 megabytes per second (MB/s) and write-speeds of 920MB/s. It comes in 512GB, 1TB and 2TB SKUs, and has attracted over US$600,000 of crowd-funded backing.

The Asus Chromebook Flip C434TA features a Core m3-8100Y processor, an IPS touchscreen display, a silent operation and good battery life. The Google Play Store provides access to countless Android apps.

Acer's educational laptop roster is joined by the budget-friendly TravelMate B3 models that come in regular and convertible variants featuring 11.6-inch IPS 768p / 1080p displays, up to a Pentium Silver 5020 quad-core CPU coupled with either 4 GB or 8 GB of RAM plus 64 GB / 128 GB eMMC or 128 GB / 256 GB NVMe SSDs storage options.

The mid-range ProBook series will be refreshed with AMD's latest Ryzen 4000 U-series APUs for SMBs. HP is promising BIOS-level security features including Sure Start and Sure Sense to make up for the fact that there are not yet 3rd gen AMD Ryzen PRO processors for mobile yet.

Nowadays, most people would expect a high-quality convertible for more than $1,000 to be equipped with a decent display. Unfortunately, the Lenovo Yoga C740-15IML disappoints in this regard, since there appears to be both a very bright and a very dark display option.

CTL has launched its new NL71 series of education-focused Chromebooks. They are intended to be durable, and some are also convertible PCs with touchscreens. These devices are also capable of advanced connectivity thanks to their up-to-date processors.

The Horseshoe Bend is clearly a product still in development and not yet ready for prime time, but Intel made it a big showpiece anyway. The 13-inch concept laptop unfolds into a 17-inch tablet and it's expected to run on Intel's next generation Tiger Lake CPU series.

Dell is toying with the idea of replacing the traditional keyboard and clickpad with a full-on IPS display for a dual-screen laptop. It's essentially a marriage between the Lenovo Yoga Book and the Asus ZenBook Pro ScreenPad.

Lenovo's new Yoga 5G, which the company showed off at CES today, is the world's first 5G PC. The convertible sports Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 8cx platform. Thanks to its nine individual antennas, the Yoga 5G can connect to 5G networks around the world for speedy internet on the go.

Lenovo announced two new Chromebooks. The IdeaPad Duet Chromebook is a compact Chrome OS tablet with a detachable keyboard. The IdeaPad Flex 5 Chromebook is a 360-hinged 2-in-1 that is Project Athena certified. Both Chromebooks will be available in Summer 2020.

The Lenovo ThinkBook Plus joins a growing list of productivity-focused notebooks with dual or secondary screens. This version has a unique twist in that the added display is an e-ink panel found on the PC's cover. The OEM asserts this will enhance productivity and work-flow for today's multi-tasking professionals.

The 9.9 mm-thick convertible Chromebook houses serious specifications for its category that could easily pass as a high-end Ultrabook. It will even have a 1 MP webcam on the keyboard deck to better exploit the 2-in-1 form factor.

The 2020 model isn't a huge redesign, but it's not a minor one either. The minor tweaks to the CPU, keyboard, and webcam all add up to a slightly smaller package and a more powerful system when compared to the 2019 model. The unspecified Nvidia GPU is also intriguing.

At CES 2020, Acer is introducing new PCs in the ConceptD lineup aimed at creative pros. The ConceptD 7 Ezel is a convertible with the Ezel hinge featuring a 10th gen Intel H-series processor, NVIDIA RTX GPU, and up to 32 GB of RAM. There is also a ConceptD 7 Ezel Pro with a choice of Intel Xeon and NVIDIA Quadro RTX GPUs. Alongside the new convertibles, Acer has also announced the ConceptD 700 desktop workstation with modern looks and specs to match that include the Intel Xeon E and NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000.

A new year and a new ThinkPad X1 lineup. Lenovo has given the X1 Carbon and X1 Yoga a Comet Lake U refresh, along with other treats for display and keyboard fans too. The X1 Carbon Gen 8 and X1 Yoga Gen 5 will be available worldwide from US$1,499 and US$1,599.

The QLED panel will provide OLED-like colors at a fraction of the price. Samsung is hoping that its aluminum-clad convertible will kick-start a generation of QLED laptops and tablets to better compete against the IPS and OLED laptops already in market.

Much like the XPS 9000 series, the new Latitude 9000 series will prioritize sleek and lightweight form factors aimed at business users as a direct response to the ultra-thin Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon and HP Elite Dragonfly.

It may be $100 to $200 cheaper than the Surface Go, but the Microsoft tablet will likely last you a lot longer. Knock-offs or clones look great from a distance before you begin noticing the cut corners and lack of detail.

No, the latest Ice Lake-powered Spectre x360 13 does not weigh just 930 grams despite what the HP Customer Support Knowledge Base is affirming. Our own measurements show that the convertible is actually 33 percent heavier to be closer to the Dell XPS 13 7390 2-in-1.

This flagship convertible houses an active stylus, 12 GB of RAM, and a 14-inch 1080p touchscreen all wrapped in a rigid aluminum chassis.

The HP Spectre series consists of ultra-thin flagship laptops and convertibles to represent the best that the manufacturer has to offer for consumers. Nonetheless, all models thus far have been lacking in one particular area.

Low cost gaming with Ryzen APUs. AMD's Ryzen APUs set the bar high for the performance of integrated GPUs. Therefore, such Ryzen-based laptops can prove to be very interesting for users who not only use office and Internet applications but also occasionally want to play a game. We clarify the question of whether the integrated Vega GPUs offer enough performance for casual gamers.

The Chinese Surface Go clone will be live before the end of 2019 with extra hardware features not found on the Microsoft version. The UBook follows on the footsteps of the larger UBook Pro which was designed to be a Surface Pro clone.

The tech market analyst firm Daniel Research Group has reported that its latest study shows US PC shipments will exhibit an indifferent trend. On the other hand, newer form factors are thought to do better in this new forecast. This trend is thought to be related to the strength of the nation's economy over the next 4 years.

The refreshed Gram lineup includes a 17-inch model with a 16:10 2560 x 1600 IPS display, Thunderbolt 3, Wi-Fi 6, Iris Plus iGPUs and dual NVMe SSD options. LG also offers a 15-inch model together with a regular 14-incher and a convertible 14-incher that come with 16:9 1080p screens.

HP School Pack software will come pre-installed alongside dual cameras, a webcam privacy shutter, touchscreen pen support, Wi-Fi 6, and BIOS-level security features to protect students.

Qualcomm has announced that its next Snapdragon Tech Summit will take place from December 3 to 5, 2019 in Maui, Hawaii. This year, the company will showcase its growing 5G expertise, as well as other facets of its mobile device business such as the appropriate SoCs. Each of the event's keynotes will also be livestreamed from a dedicated site.