Microsoft requires Copilot+ computers to have an NPU with at least 40 TOPS, 16GB of memory, and 256GB of storage. The NPU (Neural Processing Unit) is a dedicated processor on a larger SoC (System on Chip), designed specifically to accelerate neural network operations and artificial intelligence tasks.
TOPS (Tera Operations per Second) is a newly created metric used to measure AI performance and speed in trillions of operations per second. A powerful NPU is essential for an “AI on device” concept that is able to work in concert with cloud AI, providing a faster, safer and highly optimized response. Currently, this new class of Windows PCs exclusively uses Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus processors.
We already had Windows RT for processors with ARM architecture here, they didn’t make a hole in the world, but I believe that these new Copilot+ notebooks, which so far only run on ARM, prove that development is going in a spiral and that we are at a significantly higher level. Several days of testing showed that Windows 11 gets along well with the new processor. The situation with applications is similar to the first series of macbooks. Applications created only for the x86 architecture, i.e. for Intel and AMD processors, run in an emulated environment. There are quite a few applications for ARM in the application store, including Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, DaVinci, Luminar Neo, GIMP or Stable Diffusion, they will run natively. The Copilot+ platform will be a big challenge for developers to compile and build their apps for ARM, not only new ones, but also apps they already have in the x86 app store.
In the fall, new Ryzen 5 processors from AMD and Lunar Lake from Intel should be introduced, which will also have an integrated NPU, so computers with these processors will also be able to boast Copilot+ certification. I won’t forgive myself for paraphrasing the cult classic: What will be, will be, now we have the ASUS Vivobook S 15, the first Copilot+ notebook with a Snapdragon X Elite processor and NPU that I had the opportunity to test.
Vivobook S 15 is an elegant notebook with a metal body that weighs only 1.42 kg. It has a brilliant OLED display with a diagonal of 15.6″ and a resolution of 2880 × 1620 pixels, which is also often referred to as 3K in marketing. OLED technology is characterized by a short latency, in this case 0.2 ms. The refresh rate of the display is 120 Hz and the maximum brightness 600 nits, so the display meets the requirements for DisplayHDR True Black 600 certification. It can display 100% of the DCI-P3 color gamut. OLED Care technology significantly reduces the risk of image burn-in.
The keyboard has RGB backlighting that you can customize using the Dynamic Lighting feature. The color can be set the same for all keys. It will please not only gamers, but also ordinary users, because the white backlight on the light gray keys has the effect that the symbols merge with the surface of the keys in the dark. When I set a colored backlight, for example purple or turquoise, the symbols on the keys were very visible. The keys have a precise and pleasant operation, the keyboard has a numerical block and a large touchpad.
Snapdragon X Elite is built on the principle of Oryon architecture, intended primarily for powerful supercomputers. Cores that are not currently needed are simply shut down. The Qualcomm Hexagon NPU unit achieves a performance of 45 TOPS (Tera Operations per Second). It allows local AI models to run, so there is no need to process everything in cloud services like ChatGPT. It’s used by AI tools in Windows, some AI-powered ASUS apps, and third-party apps that can benefit from the NPU’s capabilities will quickly grow. Another micro NPU is integrated into a low-power Qualcomm Sensing hub for improved security, logging, privacy and the ability to wake the device from sleep mode.
It is interesting to watch the load of individual cores in the Task Manager. Newer Intel processors have two types of cores – performance for tasks that require high performance, and energy-saving cores for light tasks and activities running in the background. The Snapdragon X Elite processor has 12 cores grouped into four segments that are activated according to load. This was probably one of the biggest challenges when adapting Windows 11 to this ARM processor. Oryon architecture computers mostly run Linux, so this OS is probably better suited for this processor, but there is no option in the BIOS (apparently to be safe) to boot from a USB drive, so I couldn’t try it.
The manufacturer claims a battery life of 18 hours, of course, under specific conditions and probably at minimum brightness. The battery lasts 13 to 15 hours when working with the applications of the office suite and the brightness is set appropriately. A 90 W power source with a USB-C connector is included. Maybe after some time, when the operating system and especially the applications are adapted to the ARM processor, it will be possible to achieve the advised endurance of 18 hours even with normal use.
I was pleasantly surprised by the sound of the built-in speakers, which is above average considering the dimensions of the laptop, so you can do without headphones or external speakers when watching movies and videos indoors. The Harman Kardon audio system with Dolby Atmos support was well tuned.
I recommend trying the interesting and mostly practical effects offered by Windows Studio Effect, for example, adaptive adjustment of the image to the lighting of the room or reduction of noise during video calls. Eye Contact Enhanced adjusts the person’s gaze on the screen as if they were looking at the camera, so you don’t need a reading device when reading text. You can look at the text on the screen and the AI will adjust your gaze as if you were looking at the camera above the screen.
The Live Captions feature generates captions for videos in real time. This function will be appreciated not only by the deaf, but also by ordinary users if they want to watch a video without sound. When generating subtitles, you can use automatic translation in real time. Almost all of us have a large “collection” of raw and unsorted photos and videos. StoryCube uses AI to sort, edit and manage photos and videos. It can automatically recognize and categorize similar files into folders based on their content, such as outdoor activities, pets, children, and more. Face recognition technology can automatically sort and group images of people. The Cocreator application allows you to turn sketches into more or less realistic-looking works of art. The ASUS AiSense infrared camera can detect the user’s presence, so if you move away from the laptop, it will lock and dim the display.
The rumored Recall feature may also be available soon, allowing users to save screenshots while using the devices, so they can later find and use anything they’ve seen or done, neatly displayed on the timeline. Microsoft has not yet released this feature even for Insider builds.
I have to praise the full-fledged connector equipment, which consists of two USB4 ports with USB-C connectors, two classic USB-A connectors, a full-size HDMI connector, an audio connector and a microSD card reader. USB-C ports enable the connection of external monitors with 4K resolution and data transfer at a speed of up to 40 Gb/s. Speaking of transfer speed, Wi-Fi 7 with Qualcomm FastConnect 7800 technology allows data transfer at a theoretical speed of 5.8 Gb/s, which is 4.8 times faster than Wi-Fi 6.
I was wondering how Windows on a Snapdragon processor would handle applications for the x86 architecture. Sometimes it takes longer to start up, but I’ve never had the app crash or run unstable. I also tried doing benchmarks, but the results were a bit messy. It’s logical, because benchmarks are the type of applications where it doesn’t matter if they run in an emulated environment. We will have to wait for new versions of benchmarks (Cinebech, PCMark, 3D Mark…), adapted for this platform.
PROS, CONS:
+ New hardware platform with NPU, design, performance, light weight, battery life, rich connector equipment
– Microsoft has not yet released some of the announced functions within Copilot+
PARAMETERS:
Processor: twelve-core SoC Snapdragon X Elite X1E 78 100 (ARM cores Oryon), clock frequency 3.4 GHz; graphics: Qualcomm Adreno GPU, NPU: Qualcomm Hexagon NPU 45 TOPs; 32 GB RAM LPDDR5X 8448 MHz; storage: 1 TB M.2 NVMe PCIe Gen4; display: OLED 15.6″, 3K (2880 × 1620 pixels), 16:9, 120 Hz, latency 0.2 ms, brightness 600 nits, 100% DCI-P3, DisplayHDR True Black 600 certification; full HD IR camera, AiSense camera; connectivity: 802.11be (Wi-Fi 7) tri-band, bluetooth 5.4; connectors: 2x USB 4.0 Type-C, 2x USB 3.2 Gen. 1 Type-A, HDMI 2.1 TDMS, 3.5 mm audio jack, microSD card reader; battery: 3-cell 70 Wh, dimensions: 352.6 × 226.9 × 15.9 mm, weight 1. 42 kg
Price from 1 399 eur
You buy in Alza.sk
RATING: 10/10
Source: www.nextech.sk
