- So I've been using Windows 10 on ARM
for the last few weeks and today I'll share with you
seven things I love about it
and three things I don't.
Stay tuned.
(upbeat music)
Alright, let's start with the good things.
Number one, all day battery life.
So there's been a lot of hype around Windows 10
and ARM and getting exorbitant amount of hours for battery.
Is it true? It is.
Now, this device here, the Envy x2,
is supposed to get 22 hours
and while it doesn't quite get that,
14 to 15 hours is totally legit.
In fact, from my experience we're talking about
one and a half times the average battery life
of an Intel chip and that's really good.
Over the long run you're gonna get
a lot more power out of this.
Don't forget, in standby, you also don't drain battery
so that is absolutely a fact and it's fantastic.
Alright, number two, instant on.
So Windows 10 and ARM performs just like a smartphone
and that means this device never actually goes to sleep.
That ability though to have this device
come on at any time is really amazing.
I can let this device go a week or a month
and just click it on and it's just like an iPad,
it's always there.
Alright, number three, always-on microphones.
Because of that standby stuff
and the far field microphones on this device,
you can call up Cortana at any time.
You can even leave the device folded up
and in your bag and still call it out and it works.
It's pretty cool for checking up on your latest meetings,
checking the weather,
or doing all the other cool features that Cortana has.
Now I realize not everybody uses Cortana
but still, I do and that's a pretty neat feature to have,
especially if you're an ex-Windows phone user
who is used to that performance and ability.
Alright, number four, no fans.
So this device doesn't have a fan on it
and doesn't get very warm at all.
Now technically we have some Intel devices
that have that too and that's pretty welcome
but any time you have a perfectly quiet computing
that doesn't get hot, well, I'm a big fan of that
and you get that with this device and Windows 10 on ARM.
Alright, number five, I'm gonna say it, performance.
I know, it's shocking, right?
But if you stick to Windows Store apps,
this actually runs very well.
It's similar to an Intel Core i3 processor.
I really wanna stress this,
I think a lot of people think
this is like running Intel Atom.
I've run Atom, this is not Atom.
Now I've had Surface 3 and while I love that device
and want to hurl it through the window at times,
I've never felt like that with this device.
Now, if you wanna run apps outside the store
or some high level games,
that's a different story.
But if you stick to UWPFs from the store,
it's actually a very good experience.
Number six, ultra thin and light.
So, there are a lot of thin PCs on the market today
that are running Intel processors
but nothing's quite as thin as this
and that's all due to the Windows 10 on ARM
because the Snapdragon 835 requires very little space.
So if you don't like lugging around a giant computer
and still want all day battery life,
this is your best bet.
Alright, and number seven, new form factors.
So, so far all we've seen are the familiar 2-in-1 design
as well as a Novago's traditional clamshell laptop
but there's a lot more opportunity here for OEMs
and when I spoke to Qualcom they were very bullish
on other manufacturers jumping in here
and creating all sorts of new devices.
So yeah, maybe there'll be an eight inch tablet
or something that folds, we just have to wait and see.
There's a lot of opportunity here.
In fact, some phone manufacturers
might jump in on this as well.
Now, they do have to worry,
they don't wanna make it look like a phone
so they have to make it look PC-ish.
But yeah, there's a lot of opportunity here
for manufacturers to get really creative
and that is exciting.
Alright, let's turn to things I don't like.
So, number one, performance.
I know, it sounds contradictory.
Now, if you go outside of the store for apps or games,
well, this is not gonna be very good.
For those who are developers who wanna run visual studio
or Photoshop or you wanna do video editing,
this is not gonna be your device.
Windows 10 and ARM probably won't be like that
for a very long time.
Don't forget, this is meant for light computing.
So if you're looking for something
to replace your main laptop or PC,
well, this is not gonna be that device.
Think of this more as an iPad
and how a lot of people use that
in conjunction with a PC
and kind of get the idea of where this device fits in.
Alright, number two of things I don't like,
it's messaging and I don't mean messaging apps,
I mean how are they going to sell this?
So there is a lot of confusing stuff with Windows 10 on ARM
versus Windows 10 on PC.
Sure, it's the same OS and you can mostly run the same apps
but that's where it gets confusing,
x86, x64, Win32, emulation, native,
all this is super confusing.
Even I don't fully grasp it,
especially since now there's a new SDK that's coming out
that allows developers to recompel their ASTRA x64 on ARM
and that's just a lot for any consumer to swallow.
So for the most part, if you're looking for
a light computing device this will do well
but if you start to go outside of that,
it's going to get a little confusing.
How Microsoft and it's partners sell it to consumers
I think is going to be very tricky
and that's a tight rope to walk
but we'll have to see how they manage it.
And finally, number three is gaming.
This is not a gaming device
and if you're looking to game on it, well, look elsewhere.
Now, that seems a little unfair.
I just jumped on performance a little bit about this
but don't forget the iPad Pro is a really good gaming device
considering what it can do.
Now, I realize some of those are mobile games
but graphically, it does a lot and this is not there yet.
Now maybe that will improve someday
but if you're looking to play any kind of PC games
that's way above the median level,
you're going to be in for a major disappointment here.
I would love to see gaming improve
but I don't see that happening any time soon
and that's gonna be a sore spot for I think a lot of people.
Alright so that wraps it up for the seven things I like
and three things I don't like about Windows 10 on ARM.
Now, I didn't mention pricing
and there's a specific reason for that.
The Envy x2 is $1,000 but I actually think it's justified
by the quality of the hardware here.
And don't forget, things like a Asus Novago
go for around $799
and we could probably even go lower than that
but we'll start to compromise
on the quality of the components.
The Envy x2 is meant to compete with the iPad Pro
and in that sense it's kind of a bargain.
And don't forget, price is relative
and pricing will be shifting all over the place.
There's a lot of opportunity here for PC
so I really don't wanna ding that yet for this device
as long as you know what you're buying.
Now if you think I missed anything in this video,
leave me a comment below
or if you have a question about Windows 10 on ARM,
don't forget to ask that as well
and I'll try to answer it.
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Thanks for watching, take care everybody.