IT House January 5 news, Intel announced at CES 2022 the third generation of its "Intel Evo" certification program, adding new requirements for better video calling for future devices, expanding the scope of certification to more laptops, and a new foldable design.
Launched in 2020 with Intel's 11th Generation Tiger Lake processors (formerly known as the Project Athena program), Evo certification is a laptop metric that validates some of the basic performance and experience. In addition to offering Intel's 11th Generation U-Series or Y-Series processors, Evo-branded laptops must also get more than 9 hours of "real" battery life, wake up from sleep in "less than a second," provide fast charging (at least four hours in 30 minutes), and provide Wi-Fi 6 and Raiden 4 support.
With the recent release of the 12th generation Alder Lake processors, Intel is also updating the requirements of the Evo standard:
Must be equipped with Intel 12th Generation Alder Lake processors, and a new "Smart Collaboration" requirement to mandate a high-quality video conferencing experience. As part of this, the new Intel Evo standard will require at least a 1080p webcam, as well as Wi-Fi 6E and AI-based audio enhancements to reduce background noise.
In addition, Intel is expanding the range of laptops it will offer the Evo brand. Laptops equipped with H-series chips can get the Evo brand for the first time, adding some requirements to the existing Evo rules:
They must use Intel's upcoming discrete Arc graphics. Intel says its goal is to provide a great experience for content creators — and given the Evo brand's professional focus, gaming notebooks are unlikely to earn that certification.
It is worth mentioning that Intel has also introduced a third-generation Evo certification for foldable laptops, and the first Evo-certified foldable products will be available in 2022.
IT House understands that Intel has also announced the expansion of its Project Athena program to desktops, which is the introduction of certification for desktops. However, unlike Intel's Evo program for laptops, Project Athena for desktops will focus on different experience requirements, prioritizing issues such as privacy and sustainability.