What is Intel Evo?

Intel’s own Evo Platform was designed to offer up premium and lightweight laptops for consumers and is now in its third iteration. Here is everything you need to know about Intel Evo.

It can be difficult to keep up with everything that’s happening in the tech world, that’s why we’re here. We’re going to run through what Intel Evo is, why it’s important and why you should be on the lookout for it next time you’re buying a laptop.

Make sure to message us on Twitter if you have any further questions we didn’t cover here, and check out our lists for the best laptops and best gaming laptops, for anyone looking for a new device.

What is Intel Evo?

Intel Evo was first introduced in 2020 and is the second edition of the Intel Athena programme, which is essentially branding found on certain laptops that pass a number of tests set by Intel.

Since Tiger Lake, the new criteria have been set out. You can check out what the Evo specifications are just below:

• Consistent responsive on battery (not plugged in)
• System wake from sleep in less than one second
• 9 or more hours of real-world battery life on systems with FHD displays
• Fast charging with up to 4-hour charge in under 30 minutes on systems with FHD displays

Intel also requires its Evo laptops to have Wi-Fi 6 connectivity, as well as Thunderbolt 4 ports and USB-C charging, alongside a few other highlights.

Intel hasn’t used Evo to single out the top overall performing laptops, though it has focused on usability and battery life, which are more universally appealing features than an overwhelmingly powerful GPU.

Intel also clarified that its target demographic for the Evo initiative is people who are consistently using laptops on the go and are dependent on one system for a range of tasks.

This would likely include most students, office workers and people who want a laptop to engage in basic tasks, such as web browsing and checking emails. This also means that anyone looking for a laptop that can blaze through high-end content creating and gaming shouldn’t really be looking out for the Evo badge of approval.

What’s new with the third edition of Intel Evo?

Since the 12th Generation Intel processors have been introduced, Intel has introduced a new third-edition Evo badge, with a number of new specifications that you can find just below:

• 12th Gen Intel SoC
• Intel Wi-Fi 6E support
• Intel Connectivity Performance Suite (only available on Windows)
• Dynamic background noise suppression
• Intel Visual Sensing technology
• FHD camera (heavily encouraged but not absolutely required) or Intel IPU6/MIPI camera

This means that any laptop hoping to achieve a third-edition Intel Evo badge will need to fit the criteria above. Plus, for the first time, some 12th-generation Intel H-Series systems have been included in the Evo platform, with extra requirements:

• 12th-gen Intel Core H-Series CPU (35W to 45W TDP)
• Intek Arc Discrete GPU with Intel Deep Ink
• Have a ‘creator-oriented’ display between 15 and 16 inches

This is a change to the previous Evo guidelines, with ‘creator-orientated displays also being left open to interpretation, though we would expect that it needs accurate colour reproduction, a certain level of brightness and potentially HDR support.

Why is Intel Evo important?

It’s interesting that Intel has put so much effort into creating Intel Evo, which is why we asked Melissa Gregg, Head of User Experience Research at Intel.

Gregg explained that Intel Evo will “allow computing to be accessible, understandable and relevant” for people that may not be as fluent in the technical specs of laptops. This means people can check for the Intel Evo badge instead of needing to dig into the specific specs.

Gregg also mentioned that Intel has done significant research to narrow down the requirements for Intel Evo. After testing user behaviour and looking into the software that people most often use, as well as what locations people use their laptops, the criteria were set.

In short, Intel Evo is a badge that is awarded to laptops that pass Intel’s own strict requirements, and these specifications have been specifically made for ultrabooks that prioritise on the go productivity.