Intel has announced the 15.6-inch laptop "Intel NUC M15 Notebook PC Kit". At this stage, the sales method, release date, and price of this product in the Japanese market are undecided. However, it is already registered with Intel Ark, and the suggested customer price is $ 1059.30 for the Core i7 version and $ 881.68 to $ 930.90 for the Core i5 version (storage not included).
The fact that we were able to borrow the actual machine of the Japanese model this time is highly likely to be sold to Japanese users in some form. Let's focus purely on the actual machine here and deliver a review.
"Intel NUC M15 Notebook PC Kit" from $881.68
The trial machine is a high-end model equipped with "Core i7-1165G7". Only the Intel Evo platform sticker was affixed, but the Intel Core i7, Intel Iris Xe Graphics, and Windows 10 stickers were also included in the bag.
Easy-to-use interface with Thunderbolt 4 and USB Type-A on the left and right
This time, we used the high-end model “LAPBC710”. The OS is "Windows 10 Home 64-bit", and the CPU is the 11th generation (Tiger Lake) "Core i7-1165G7" (4 cores 8 threads, 2.80 to 4.70 GHz).
The memory is equipped with 16GB (LPDDR4x-4266). Intel Ark's listing doesn't include storage, but the machine was equipped with a 512GB SSD (M.2 PCIe Gen4 x4 connection). The lower model has a CPU of "Core i5-1135G7" (4 cores and 8 threads, 2.40 to 4.20 GHz) and a memory of 8 GB (LPDDR4x-4266).
The display is equipped with a 15.6-inch full HD IPS liquid crystal (1920 x 1080 dots, 60 Hz, touch compatible). At the top of the display is a built-in HD IR camera that supports Windows Hello.
The interface is fully equipped with Thunderbolt 4 x 2, USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A x 2, HDMI x 1, 3.5mm combo jack x 1. The wireless communication function supports Wi-Fi 6 (11ax) and Bluetooth 5.1.
The body is made of anodized aluminum and the color is shadow gray. The main body size is 355 x 230 x 14.9 mm, and the actual weight is 1669 g. It has a built-in large capacity battery of 73Wh, but the battery driving time is not disclosed.
This product has Thunderbolt 4 and USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A on the left and right, and can be powered from either the left or right with Thunderbolt 4. Many models have Thunderbolt 4 terminals arranged side by side, but the interface of this product seems to be easy to use.
The body is made of anodized aluminum. It is a simple design with all kinds of decorations. I would like to see a large "Intel" logo printed on the top board.
The air intake is measured 130 x 40mm. The rubber feet are a stable bar type. The screws used are T6 Torx screws.
The display is a 15.6-inch full HD IPS liquid crystal (1920 x 1080 dots, 60 Hz, touch compatible)
The keyboard is fully Japanese. There is no doubt that it will be released in Japan in some form
The front and back of the main unit. There is a light bar on the front of the main unit that lights up when using the voice assistant.
3.5mm combo jack x 1, USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A x 1, Thunderbolt 4 x 1, Kensington lock slot x 1 on the right side, Thunderbolt 4 x 1, HDMI x 1, USB 3.2 Gen2 on the left side Type-A × 1 is arranged
Display can be expanded up to 180 degrees
The packaging of this product is well designed and cool.
In addition to the main unit, the trial machine package included an AC adapter, power cable, manuals (User Guide, Integration Guide, Safety and Caution Regulatory Information), and stickers.
The cord length of the AC adapter is actually 180cm, and the length of the power cable is actually 118cm.
The model number of the AC adapter is "FSP065-A1BR3". Specifications are input 100-240V ~ 1.7A, output 5V 3A, 9V 3A, 12V 3A, 15V 3A, 20V 3.25A, capacity 65W
The actual weight of the main unit is 1669g
Total weight of AC adapter and power cable is 311g
The introduction guide describes how to disassemble, how to install storage, etc.
After removing seven T6 Torx screws, you can open the bottom cover. However, since it is fixed with claws, if you do not follow the procedure described in the introduction guide, the claws may be damaged or the chassis may be distorted. There is one M.2 PCIe Gen4 x4 storage slot. The rental machine was equipped with "SAMSUNG MZVL2512HCJQ-00B00"
A thermal pad is attached to the back of the bottom cover to transfer the heat of the storage
It's a clamshell laptop, but it's equipped with a touch panel
This product uses an 84-key Japanese keyboard, with a key pitch of around 19mm and a keystroke of around 1.3mm.
The rigidity of the keyboard surface is high, and the keystroke feeling is good. Also, the keystroke sound is kept relatively low. The touchpad is a fully submerged diving board structure, and the stroke is average. Personally, I prefer the stroke of the touchpad to be a little shallower, but the touchpad of this product is not so deep that the finger slips when clicking.
The equipment that was a little surprising was the touch panel of the display. I noticed it late because there is no description in Intel Ark, but it supported multi-touch operation. Like Microsoft, Intel believes clamshell laptops need a touch panel.
On the other hand, the image quality of the webcam was a little disappointing. It's bright even under indoor lighting, but the colors are quite unnatural. Turning on HDR also increased the dynamic range, but it was very noisy. It seems better to use HDR off.
When the color gamut of the display was measured with the color calibration device "i1Display Pro" and the chromaticity diagram creation software "ColorAC", the sRGB coverage rate was 95.7%, the sRGB ratio was 104.2%, and the AdobeRGB coverage rate was 76.1%. , The AdobeRGB ratio was 77.2%, the DCI-P3 coverage was 76.8%, and the DCI-P3 ratio was 76.8%. It has an above-average color gamut for a mobile laptop display.
The key pitch is actually around 19mm
The actual keystroke is around 1.3mm
The keyboard backlight is white with two brightness levels.
The touchpad measures 120 x 65mm. Good click feeling with moderate stroke
The display supports multi-touch operation. Useful for checking details such as web pages and photos
At the top of the display is a built-in HD IR camera that supports Windows Hello. A light sensor is also installed
Taken with Windows 10 standard camera app (HDR off)
Taken with Windows 10 standard camera app (HDR on)
The utility "Intel NUC Software Studio" provides user presence settings, such as "Lock when absent", "Enable when near", "Do not lock when present", etc. can be turned on and off
The 15.6-inch full HD IPS liquid crystal (1920 x 1080 dots, 60 Hz, touch compatible) has glare (glossy) specifications. Images are displayed vividly
The measured sRGB coverage is 95.7%, the sRGB ratio is 104.2%, the AdobeRGB coverage is 76.1%, the AdobeRGB ratio is 77.2%, the DCI-P3 coverage is 76.8%, and the DCI-P3 ratio is 76.8%.
As expected, it is a top-class CPU performance for a machine equipped with Intel's notebook PC "Core i7-1165G7"
Lastly, let's check the performance. First of all, the CPU performance was 6458pts for “CINEBENCH R23”, 2512pts for “CINEBENCH R20”, and 1031cb for “CINEBENCH R15”.
"ExpertBook B9", which also has "Core i7-1165G7", was 5622pts, 2163pts, 899cb, so this product demonstrated about 1.15 times, about 1.16 times, about 1.15 times the performance. . This is the top-class CPU performance for a machine equipped with "Core i7-1165G7".
"CINEBENCH R23" CPU (Multi Core) is 6458pts, R20 is 2512pts, R15 is 1031cb.
When running "CINEBENCH R23", the clock frequency of the CPU is 3864.83MHz on average and 4083.5MHz at maximum, and the temperature is 92.63℃ on average and 95℃ at maximum (measured at room temperature of 23.4℃).
On the other hand, 3D graphics performance was 1808 for Time Spy of "3DMark", 5273 for Fire Strike, and 13422 for Wild Life. This also demonstrates the same performance as the fastest class.
"3DMark" Time Spy is 1808, Fire Strike is 5273, Wild Life is 13422, "FINAL FANTASY XV WINDOWS EDITION BENCHMARK ver 1.3" (standard quality, 1920 x 1080 dots, full screen) score is 2505 (slightly heavy)
The storage speed of "CrystalDiskMark 8.0.4" is 6689MB/s for sequential read (SEQ1M Q8T1) and 4865MB/s for sequential write (SEQ1M Q8T1). The results differ depending on the SSD installed, but if you install an SSD with PCIe Gen4 x4 connection, you can get about twice the sequential read performance of SSD with PCIe Gen3 x4 connection.
"CrystalDiskMark 8.0.4" sequential read (SEQ1M Q8T1) is 6689MB/s, sequential write (SEQ1M Q8T1) is 4865MB/s
As for the battery life, when the battery benchmark "BBench" was executed under the condition that the display brightness was 40% and the remaining battery power was 2%, the result was 13 hours, 5 minutes and 39 seconds. Because it is equipped with a large-capacity battery of 73Wh, it has a battery life that can be fully utilized for mobile applications.
When running "FINAL FANTASY XV WINDOWS EDITION BENCHMARK ver 1.3", the maximum temperature of the keyboard surface is 44.0℃ (measured at a room temperature of 23.2℃), the maximum temperature of the bottom surface is 46.0℃, and the maximum temperature of the AC adapter is 46.1℃. Even though it is speeding up, it is properly cooled, as expected of an Intel-made notebook.
Depending on the price, it can become a standard clamshell notebook PC
At the time of writing the article, the sales method, release date, and price are unknown, but a Japanese keyboard is prepared, and the manual is Japanese. There is no doubt that it will be put into the Japanese market because there is a description of the word.
Also, when I actually tried it this time, I was able to confirm that it has the highest class performance as a machine equipped with the "Core i7-1165G7". Intel, which makes CPUs, is probably able to draw out the maximum processing power. Depending on the price, it could become a standard clamshell laptop.