At the Qualcomm Snapdragon Technology Summit today, alongside Qualcomm officially announcing the Snapdragon 835 Mobile PC platform, several partners got up on stage to promote their upcoming wares. The main headline device was from ASUS. CEO Jerry Shen announced the ASUS NovaGo (TP370) as the world’s first Gigabit LTE capable laptop, supported by the SD835 chip and its inbuilt X16 LTE modem.

The key factor of these devices that ASUS (and Qualcomm) want to drive home is the always-on connectivity (provided by the built-in modem) as well as the battery life. To that end ASUS is listing the new NovaGo as having up to 22 hours of battery life and 30 days of modern standby. The idea is that the user can pick up the notebook in the morning and not need to charge it all day until they get home, or in the case of one speaker’s experience, charge it once a week.  The battery is rated at 52 Wh.

On the connectivity front, ASUS has bundled the X16 LTE modem with enough hardware support for 4x Carrier Aggregation and 4x4 MIMO for up to gigabit LTE speeds, and 2x2 802.11ac for standard wireless connectivity. The LTE data flow can be accessed by eSIM or nanoSIM, allowing users to activate local data plans from the Windows Store immediately coming off the plane.

The base specifications have the device at 4GB DRAM and 64GB of UFS 2.0 storage, or there will be an upgraded model with 8GB of DRAM and 128GB of storage for an extra $200. ASUS lists the storage as capable of 1.4 Gbps, although it will be interesting to see how that translates when we get the devices on hand. Ports on the NovaGo include two USB 3.1 (5 Gbps) Type-A ports and an HDMI port, with a 3.5mm jack.

ASUS NovaGo (TP370)
  Specifications
SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 Mobile SoC

4 x Kryo 280 Performance (2.45 GHz)
4 x Kryo Efficiency (1.9 GHz)

Adreno 540 GPU (710 MHz)
Operating System Microsoft Windows 10 S
Display 13.3-inch 1920x1080 IPS
DRAM 4 GB 8 GB
Storage 64 GB 128 GB 256 GB
Connectivity Qualcomm Integrated X16 LTE
Cat 16 Download: 1 Gbps
Cat 13 Upload: 150 Mbps

2x2 802.11ac MU-MIMO Wi-Fi
I/O 2 x USB 3.1 (5 Gbps) Type-A
1 x 3.5mm Audio Jack
1 x Combo Nano-SIM (tray)
1 x MicroSD Card Reader (up to 256 GB)
1 x HDMI
1 x DX-in
Speakers 2 x Stereo with Smart Amp
Battery 52 Wh Li-Po
Dimensions 316.0 x 221.6 x 14.9 mm
1.39 kg
Price (US MSRP) $599 $799 ?

The OS will be Windows 10 S. This runs a version of Windows that relies mostly on the Store for the main applications but the system does perform binary translation (or similar) for 32-bit x86 applications. 64-bit x86 apps are a no-go, so for users that have their own software setups outside the Windows 10 store, it might get a little tricky (Qualcomm doesn’t see this as much of an issue). Applications like Office365 will have their own optimized versions for the SD835 Mobile PC devices.

The NovaGo is a full 360º hinge design, with a 14.9mm z-height and weighing in at 1.39 kg with a sandblasted Sky Grey finish. The 13.3-inch 1080p NanoEdge display has a 78% screen to body ratio and supports 10-point multitouch as well as ASUS Pen support with 1024 pressure levels. ASUS also cites 178º viewing angles and 100% sRGB gamut, with ASUS Eye Care and Tru2Life video technology.

Arrangements are already in place with T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon, TIM, China Telecom and Chunghwa Telecom, while other providers in the main first wave of countries (US, UK, Italy, France, Germany, China, Taiwan) are in discussions with ASUS.

Pricing for the device gives the base 4/64 model as $599, and the upgraded 8/128 model as $799. That puts it in the realm of a large number of good Intel-based clamshells, including those from ASUS, although without always-on connectivity.

Availability will be region dependant, though we did not get any other information. ASUS say they are the first, and with a bunch of devices coming at CES, it would be before the others (HP says Spring 2018).

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  • nerd1 - Tuesday, December 5, 2017 - link

    So this laptop has smaller screen than Thinkpad Yoga.... and heavier... and low powered.

    I don't understand why they put so much battery for a low powered device. 10 hours of usage is enough for me - and they could make this sub-kg if they put 25Wh battery instead.
  • nerd2 - Wednesday, December 6, 2017 - link

    Any laptop that states 10 hours of battery is the highest it will get under certain controlled light loads.... I'd be surprised if even these arm laptops get 10 hours of normal realistic workloads, that also includes normal brightness and lte/wifi enabled. Just because YOU don't need it doesn't mean the world doesn't need more battery life. Samsung already made an i5 laptop that weighs under 1kg and has a larger battery than 25Wh...
  • beginner99 - Wednesday, December 6, 2017 - link

    With that price I can just as well get an Intel/AMD based laptop. 8 hrs battery life is mostly enough.
  • milkod2001 - Wednesday, December 6, 2017 - link

    decent laptops but they have to price is much more aggressively. $799 is enough for much better performance laptop with Intel / Ryzen mobile chips with no 64bit app limitations.

    Once again they price is high because it is something new and then they are wondering why this tech (Windows on ARM will never take off). Dummies.
  • we - Wednesday, December 6, 2017 - link

    I have an 8" Acer tablet with Atom CPU and a Huwai HDSPA mobile module built in. It's 3 years old, so no LTE, but newer mobile modules should have LTE. So 64-bit x86 tablets and notebooks could easily be made to compete regarding connectivity. I see the longer battery life as a feature that intel or amd and will not be able to match, but on the other hand performance of 835 / 845 devices will probably be lower.
  • ikjadoon - Wednesday, December 6, 2017 - link

    https://imgur.com/a/6AehP

    Is it not $799 for the 8GB RAM / 256GB model? Not that you're wrong, but the presentation and all other outlets are reporting $799 for 8GB RAM / 256GB.

    >ASUS will offer the device for $599 ($799 for 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage) first in the US, UK, Italy, France, Germany, Mainland China and Taiwan, and

    https://www.engadget.com/2017/12/05/hp-envy-x2-asu...

    >$799 for 256GB/8GB version

    https://www.cnet.com/products/asus-novago/preview/

    >A model with 4GB RAM and 64GB SSD will be available for $599, and you can get one with 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD for $799.

    https://www.neowin.net/news/the-asus-novago-is-the...

    >Asus says an entry-level model with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage should sell for about $599, while an 8GB/256GB model will run $799.

    https://liliputing.com/2017/12/asus-unveils-novago...

    >The Asus NovaGo price starts at just $599 for the 4GB of RAM with 64GB of storage variant, while you’re looking at $799 for the 8GB/256GB model.

    http://www.techradar.com/reviews/asus-novago

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