After all these years, I think I’ve finally found a laptop that can work and play as hard as I do. In addition to being a writer here at Mashable, I’m also a surfer, snowboarder, and an aspiring videographer. I’m always bouncing around and searching for powerful, portable gear that will make my workload — and my baked-in wanderlust — easier.
I jumped at the chance to take the Intel Arc-powered HP Spectre laptop to my mom’s house in the Idaho mountains for a weekend. Could this finally be the machine to tackle my avalanche of online research, endless app juggling, video meetings, and editing projects? The slick 16-incher had some pretty impressive specs, but the real draw for me was the 12th Gen Intel Core and Intel Arc graphics packed under its hood. I was practically frothing to take it for a run.
Lifestyle fit
Out of the gate, this Intel CPU and GPU-powered laptop performed like a champ. With the CPU and GPU working in sync, Intel’s Deep Link Technology ensures that this powerhouse of a notebook runs at maximum performance at all times. On my nine-hour drive to the mountains, I received an email from my creative director asking if I could make copy changes to an article ASAP. I looked at the snowy peaks surrounding me and thought, let’s do this. I pulled over, poured some coffee from my trusty thermos, and created a makeshift mountain office. The laptop booted right up, kudos to Intel’s Evo requirement that devices wake up in less than a second. With Wi-Fi 6E, yet another perk of the Intel Evo platform, I was seriously impressed at how fast the machine handled, especially since I was using my hotspot in the middle of nowhere. I made the changes and sent a revised doc to my CD with time left over to enjoy the last sips of my coffee and soak up the views.
Credit: Michelle Kehm
Creative capabilities
I’ve been working on a short documentary about women surfers for the better part of a year now, and I couldn’t wait to see what the Intel Core processor paired with Intel Arc graphics would bring to the table in terms of editing. It took me less than five minutes to find out. The power boost was palpable and my editing tasks were noticeably smoother. I shuffled between my A-roll and B-roll and added cut-ins with no lag whatsoever. I also had retouching to do (I shot the footage during Costa Rica’s rainy season and parts of it were pretty dark), and some of the details seemed to practically fix themselves. Thank you, advanced AI capabilities and the powerful Xe Media Engine! As a self-taught editor who’s always striving to improve my skills, I felt like Intel Arc gave me just the bump I needed.
Unexpected benefit
I knew about the creator-based perks of laptops with the Intel Evo badge — 12th Gen Intel Core processors, nine hours of battery life, and seamless multi-tasking with apps like Microsoft Office, Zoom, and Slack — but I was more than impressed when I took Intel Evo for a spin. I wanted to hit the hot springs before I left on Sunday, so I parked myself on my mom’s sofa early and went into full-on work mode. I shuffled between dozens of tabs, I blew through Word docs and PPTs to get a jump on my Monday workload, and I had Spotify blaring the entire time to keep the pace. No problem.
Credit: Michelle Kehm
The real test came when my girlfriend, who’s a die-hard skier, Zoomed me in the middle of my flow to ask how the snow was in the mountains. I kindly blurred my background with help from the Intel Arc Control software so she couldn’t see the puffy snowflakes falling outside the window and our call commenced both FOMO- and glitch-free, with all of my other apps and tabs running.
Giftability
Who wouldn’t want to get this — or any Intel Evo-certified laptop equipped with Intel Arc and Intel Core — as a gift? My sister can easily go from work mode to chill time without having to switch devices. With Intel’s AI-enhanced upscaling technology, XeSS, and real-time ray tracing capabilities, the in-game visuals would make it a sweet experience! For any casual gamer, the sheer ease with which the Intel Evo platform pivots from work to content creation to play mode makes it a covetable gift for anyone. My mom’s cat, Honey, even got sucked into the premium sound and 16-inch screen — yet a couple more tasty Intel Evo benchmarks. Seriously, everyone would love one and I suggest you snag one for yourself while you’re at it.
Find Intel Arc notebooks like this and more at top retailers: Best Buy, Amazon, Newegg, Micro Center!
Credit: Michelle Kehm
