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laptop

Realme Unveils Book Prime Laptop

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Realme has announced the availability of the Realme Book Prime.

The device features a 2K Full Vision Display packed in a 14.9 mm sleek and light-weight body. Its 14-inch screen offers a 3:2 screen ratio, compared to the traditional 16:10 or 16:9 screens, and a 90% screen-to-body ratio. It is powered by the latest 11th Generation Intel Core i5 11320H Processor. It comes with a dual-fan storm cooling system and has a 54Wh battery. Reports suggest that the laptop can continuously play locally stored 1080p videos for up to 11 hours and is capable of charging up to 50% in 30 minutes with the 65W Super-Fast Charge technology. It also features PC Connect, which can cross-connect Windows and Android systems, Thunderbolt 4 Port and Wi-Fi 6 for connectivity. The Realme Book Prime will be available in three colours viz. real Green, real Grey and real Blue and will be available in 16GB + 512GB storage variant at a price of INR 64,999. The device is available for purchase on its official website as well as Flipkart.

Asus Expands Zephyrus Series

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Asus has announced the latest addition to its Zephyrus series with the launch of Zephyrus M16 2022 model.

Commenting on the new launch, Arnold Su, Business Head, Consumer and Gaming PC, System Business Group, Asus India, stated,“With every ROG launch we inch a step toward revolutionising the gaming segment. The ROG Zephyrus M16 2022 edition is no exception as we further our journey to elevate the user experience making it more immersive, inclusive and robust. With the new 12th Gen Intel Core H-series processors, we have leveraged our unmatched expertise in design and our deep understanding of the evolving needs of the PC gaming community to deliver ace mobile processors for gamers. We are confident that the newly launched ROG Zephyrus M16 will match the needs of gamers and customers constantly on the go.”

The device is powered by up to the latest 12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900H CPU along with up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080Ti graphics. It has support for up to 48GB of dual-channel DDR5 4800MHz memory. It comes with the MUX switch that enables users to switch between GPUs to maximise performance or battery life. It has a sleek design, which fits a 16-inch display in an ultra slim 15-inch chassis with a 94% screen-to-body ratio and QHD 165Hz/3ms display. It boasts of high framerate gameplay, offering a 165Hz refresh rate. The display is certified as a ROG Nebula Display with full-spectrum colour accuracy and 100% DCI-P3, 500 nits of brightness, 3ms response time along with support for Dolby Vision.

The device has a 90Wh battery that provides up to 10 hours of battery life and comes with Thunderbolt 4 that enables users to connect their peripherals with Type-C Power Delivery 3.2 Gen 2, with the option to charge from portable power packs. It features ROG’s ‘Intelligent Cooling’, including a liquid metal compound that, reportedly, cools the CPU, while the Arc Flow fans maximise the airflow with minimal noise. Other features include a multi-faceted audio system that boasts balanced acoustics and two-way AI noise cancellation for audio clarity.

The Zephyrus M16 is currently available for purchase on online platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart, Asus E-shop and Tatacliq as well as offline stores such as Asus Exclusive Stores, Croma, Reliance and VijaySales at a starting price of INR 1,79,990.

Asus Unveils ZenBook 14 Flip OLED Laptop

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Asus has announced the 14-inch 2.8K OLED HDR display convertible laptop, Zenbook 14 Flip OLED, the latest addition to its ZenBook series.

Commenting on the launch, Arnold Su, Business Head, Consumer, and Gaming PC, System Business Group, Asus India, said, “We are elated to bring world’s first 14″ 2.8K OLED HDR display in an ultra-versatile and convertible laptop for our consumers. We are optimistic that consumer productivity will touch the new skies with this laptop as they have access to a feature-loaded and lightweight design.  We firmly believe in building a complete ecosystem for consumers and we will continue to announce innovation designed to meet modern world requirements.”

The device features a 14-inch 2.8K OLED HDR 16:10 display with a 4-sided NanoEdge design with slim 2.9 mm side bezels and provides an 88% screen to body ratio. Its 360° ErgoLift hinge design allows the display to be flipped to any position. The display supports 2880 x 1800 resolution, a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, 0.2 ms response time, along with smooth 90Hz refresh rate. It is powered by the latest AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX processor.

Its full-sized backlit keyboard achieves a 19.05 mm pitch and the audio system has been certified by audio specialist Harman Kardon. It features Asus AI Noise-Cancelling Audio and is equipped with a 63 Whr battery and 100W Type-C fast-charger. The product pricing starts from INR 91,990 and is now available for purchase across online (Asus e-shop/ Amazon/ Flipkart) and offline platforms.

Review: Asus Vivobook K15

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Price: From ₹46,990

Asus Vivobook laptops have been value-for-money offerings, and the K15 takes this a notch higher by bringing an OLED screen to affordable levels. As Asus says, the K15 is designed with Gen Z users in mind.

The Vivobook K15 features a polycarbonate and aluminium alloy chassis that appears tough for a budget-friendly laptop. The device is thin and light for a 15-inch laptop, about 18 mm thick and weighing 1.8 kg. The laptop is available in Indie Black, Transparent Silver, and Hearty Gold colours. The touchpad includes a fingerprint scanner for Windows Hello login, and it proved quite responsive. The keypad offers good feedback and is quite comfortable for long-form typing with 1.4 mm key travel. I found the compromise in arrow keys a little frustrating at the start, but then it became less of an annoyance after a few days of use. The keyboard offers three levels of backlight and the Enter key has a neon green backlight. The touchpad felt somewhat lagging. The device offers a full suite of I/O ports including three USB-A, one USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, two USB 2.0 Type-A, one HDMI and a MicroSD card reader along with a 3.5mm headphone jack. It provides up to Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) dual-band and Bluetooth 5.0.

Coming to the main USP of the laptop, the Vivobook K15 features a 5.6-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080) OLED display that provides 100 percent DCI-P3 colour gamut, ideal for videos. The display proved to be vibrant with true blacks and rich saturation. The panel is certified by TUV Rheinland for low blue light and flicker-free operation to reduce eye fatigue. The display has been validated by Pantone and comes pre-calibrated by Asus. However, we felt the factory calibration had over-saturated the warm tones, making it even more strenuous to look at for a long time. So, we attempted a hardware calibration using the i1 Display Studio device to DCI-P3 and found the pre-calibrated setting to be off by a wide margin. If you are into photography or colour-critical use, we would not recommend this display in its native calibration setting. We hope Asus would take care of this in future since the buyers of this laptop are not likely to have a colorimeter lying around to calibrate their displays.

The K15 is available in various configurations. The options in processor include 11th Generation Intel Core i3, i5 and i7, while Asus also offers up to 16GB DDR4 RAM, up to 512GB of SSD and up to 1TB of HDD. We received the i5 variant with 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD and 1TB HDD and the review is based on this configuration. The laptop features Intel UHD or Intel Iris Xe graphics. We used the K15 for photo editing and multimedia other than the regular light tasks, and the device handled all these without any problems. The laptops are equipped with an upgraded 8 mm heat pipe and a new fan to dissipate heat more efficiently. We did not feel any uncomfortable heating while using the device, and the fan ensured near-silent operation.

The K15 uses a 42 Wh battery, which lasted for about 5 to 6 hours in our use. The charger tops up the battery in about an hour. The MyAsus app lets you customise power, performance, audio and other parameters according to your use.

The Harman Kardon certified audio system provides good sound output for video calls and presentations, though this is not the best we have experienced. The camera also provided image quality of the expected levels. The laptops come with Windows 10 pre-installed but are eligible for a free Windows 11 upgrade.

RATING

★★★★

WE’RE IMPRESSED Lightweight, full-sized keyboard, good response, excellent display

WE’D IMPROVE Display calibration, Touchpad response

THE LAST WORD The Asus Vivobook K15 is a competent value-for-money laptop that exceeds the usually expected specs by a wide margin.

Lenovo’s flexible Yoga Duet 7i and IdeaPad Duet 3

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Lenovo has launched its premium detachable PCs – the Yoga Duet 7i and the IdeaPad Duet 3. Both these lightweight laptops are designed with high quality screens and have a host of features which are suitable for users ranging from students to work professionals.

The Lenovo Yoga Duet 7i

The Yoga Duet 7i is Lenovo’s first-ever PC in the Yoga series which comes with a detachable and backlit Bluetooth v5.0 keyboard. The Yoga Duet 7i weighs just 1.16kg and it is made with an adjustable kickstand for easier viewing. This laptop allows users to choose between a tablet mode (with or without a kickstand) and the traditional laptop mode after attaching the keyboard.  

The Yoga Duet 7i is powered by the 11th generation Intel Core i5 processors and also consists of the Intel Iris Xe GPU. With a 13-inch HD touchscreen with narrow bezels, the Yoga Duet 7i is armed with 100% sRGB color gamut at 450 nits brightness. Featuring a 10.8-hour battery life, the Yoga Duet 7i is also equipped with and 8GB DDR4-3200 RAM, Dolby Audio, Dolby Vision, 512GB SSD storage, Lenovo E-color Pen, HD Audio chip, two 1W stereo speakers, Magnesium-aluminium case material (slate gray case colour), and a front & rear 5MP camera.

Here is a virtual product tour of the Lenovo Yoga Duet 7i .  

The Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 3

The 0.86kg IdeaPad Duet 3 comes with a detachable Bluetooth (v5.0) keyboard, and a folio kickstand supporting Lenovo Digital Pen. This laptop is powered by Intel Celeron processors and Intel UHD graphics. The 10.3-inch FHD IPS panel display offers a brightness of 330 nits. The IdeaPad Duet 3 is fitted with 4GB DDR4-2400 RAM and runs on Windows 10. It is also features dual 360-degree mics and a 7-hour battery life.

The Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 3 is equipped with a 128GB eMMC 5.1 storage, and it also has 2MP and 5MP front and rear cameras with a privacy shutter. Like the Yoga Duet 7i, this laptop, too, features an HD Audio chip, two 1W stereo speakers, and Dolby Audio.

“With the latest online learning, staycation and flexible working trends, we have witnessed a surge in the demand for light, portable yet multifunctional devices. Our screens have become our lifelines, and users are looking for devices that they can not only use at home but take with them to different places, not only for entertainment but also for professional and educational purposes. We are excited to introduce the new detachable PCs, which will take the grab-and-go form factor’s innovation to the next level and address the need for a portable yet practical and secure device”, said Pakaj Harjai, Director – Tablets and Smart Devices at Lenovo India.

The Lenovo Yoga Duet 7i is available for Rs. 79,999 on Amazon, whereas the IdeaPad Duet 3 is available for Rs. 29,999. For more information, please visit this page.