Which will be the lightest, fastest, most autonomous and, what's more, secure? In short, which new ultraportable is best suited to the needs of business travellers?
That's the question asked at every edition of the IFA, Berlin's high-tech trade fair. The market for laptops is still very competitive, especially as the ultraportable is far from being obsolete, providing a real response to professional requirements in mobile mode.
The real PC innovations at the Berlin show were the introduction of Intel's new 10e generation, with architectures incorporating artificial intelligence, Thunderbolt 3 technology, and the power and execution speed to run 4K HDR, among other things. In this respect, the new ranges were all equipped with them.
The result is optimised performance from ultraportables that are also more compact and more autonomous, with particular targets in mind, such as graphics professionals, who can take advantage of the new Nvidia graphics card for models from manufacturers such as Asus and Acer, as well as the new Intel graphics card.
Connectivity has also been improved, with chips incorporating the new WiFi 6 standard for even faster speeds, not to mention autonomy, an essential criterion for mobile use. Without necessarily being graphic creators, two ultraportables will attract the attention of business travellers for their performance in a lightweight chassis: the 13-inch ZenBook from Asus and the 14-inch Swift 5 from Acer.
The featherweight match
New laptops from Acer and Asus both benefit from the new 10th-generation Intel processor configurations, but there was a battle going on as to which notebook is the world's lightest in the 14-inch category, with its thinness and chassis-to-screen ratio pushing it into 13-inch territory.
To celebrate its 30th anniversary, Asus announced with great fanfare its AsusProb B9, a 14-inch laptop weighing in at 880 grams - the lightest in its category - but which will not be available until early 2020. Competitor Acer remains on the podium with the Swift 5, weighing in at 990 grams.
In the meantime, Asus has unveiled its new Zenbooks, including the 13-inch model. With a screen occupying 95% of the chassis, this ultraportable, like the other models in the range, incorporates Screenpad 2.0, a second 5.65-inch touchscreen that replaces the traditional touchpad. Easy access to applications and speed for a laptop with a format similar to that of a 12-inch laptop.
With a screen edge of just 4 millimetres, Acer's Swift 5 is also borderless, with a 14-inch screen that fits into the equivalent of a 13-inch chassis. Under the bonnet, it benefits from a major technological refresh. As well as the latest-generation Intel Core processors and a choice of two new graphics cards (NVIDIA® GeForce® MX250, or Intel® Iris® Pro), it is of course compatible with the new WiFi 6 standard, like the Asus Zenbook, but also boasts a new battery with a record 12.5-hour battery life.
As an added bonus, it has a fast charge function that gives it just over 4 hours of use after a thirty-minute charge. So you can be sure of working in the boarding area!
On the security front, the notebook supports Windows Hello via a fingerprint reader.
All in all, these are two laptops which, in addition to their performance, each boast an elegant, slender design.
