Intel Makes Its Case for Always Connected PCs (Premium)

Credit Qualcomm for drumming up tons of excitement for a coming generation of Snapdragon-powered PCs. But a tiny company called Intel would like to remind everyone that they're still a thing.t

I'm joking, of course: Intel is a force to be reckoned with, and it controls the hardware side of the PC industry with the same level of dominance as Microsoft does on the software side. And as I noted earlier this week, Intel isn't going to take the Qualcomm threat lying down.

Yesterday, I stepped through Qualcomm's differentiators in the Always Connected PC space. The key point here is battery life, I think: The first Snapdragon-based PCs are able to achieve about 20 hours of claimed battery life plus roughly a month of standby time.

So what are Intel's differentiators? They are legion.

Performance. PCs based on Intel's mainstream mobile processors like the U-Series Core i5 will outperform Snapdragon-based PCs by an order of magnitude, and this will be especially notable in "creator"-type tasks like photo and video editing, software development, and like, and in gaming of all kinds. But most Intel-based PCs will also outperform those based on the Snapdragon chipset in day-to-day usage as well. This includes general OS use, plus standard productivity tasks. Just launching apps on the first Snapdragon PCs seemed pokey to me.

Choice of hardware. We know of only two PC models based on Snapdragon, though more should be coming soon, at CES. There are thousands of Intel-based PC models from all PC makers, targeting every possible price point and need. But even just looking at Always Connected PCs, Intel can point to over 30 choices, including the HP ProBook 400 series, the Samsung Galaxy Book 12, the Lenovo ThinkPad L470 and Miix 520, the Mi Notebook Air 13.3, and others.

Choice of Windows. I was a bit surprised to discover that the first two Snapdragon-based Always Connected PCs are pre-bogged-down with Windows 10 S. Customers can upgrade to Windows 10 Pro for some indeterminate time frame, of course. But on the Intel side, you have a choice of Windows 10 Home or Pro, depending on the product. Which is what you really want.

Always-available connectivity. Always Connected PCs built on the Intel platform will utilize the exact same connectivity features as those based on ARM. Will, in fact, often use the exact same wireless chipsets. Which, yes, are made by Qualcomm in many cases (and by Intel in others).

Battery life. As I noted yesterday, battery life varies from PC to PC. And if we are to believe Qualcomm's claims, the average battery life of an Intel-based Always Connected PC will be anywhere from one-half to two-thirds that of one based on Snapdragon. Obviously, Qualcomm comes out ahead here. But then 6 to 13 hours of battery life is still "all day" battery life, and is good enough for most users. Is it really that hard to charge a PC overnight? No one would skip this important task on a phone.

Ultimately, the introduction o...