Stefan Mileschin

VAIO has introduced its new SX12 notebook that brings together miniature dimensions, low weight, decent specs, full-pitch keyboard, a long battery life, and vast connectivity options that include a variety of physical ports and an optional 4G/LTE modem. Unlike most 12-inch laptops, the VAIO SX12 does not use a low-power processor, but packs a fully-fledged quad-core Core i7 CPU with VAIO’s True Performance technology.

The VAIO SX12 comes in a chassis made of carbon fiber and plastic in a bid to make its weight no heavier than 897 grams as well as dimensions not significantly bigger than those of 11-inch notebooks. The mobile PC is slightly smaller than an A4 piece of paper and is around 15.7 ~ 18 mm thick. The laptop is equipped with a 12.5-inch Full-HD display with very thin bezels as well as a backlit keyboard featuring a 19-mm pitch and fluorine-containing UV curing coating.

VAIO’s SX12 laptop is based on Intel’s 8th Gen quad-core Core U-series processor with UHD Graphics 620 code-named Whiskey Lake (up to Core i7-8565U) which uses the company’s TruePerformance technology that combines an advanced cooling system as well as increased CPU power limits in order to enable the CPU to work at higher frequencies for a longer time. The processor can be accompanied by 16 GB of LPDDR3 DRAM as well as a PCIe SSD. For precise specs, check the table below.

Connectivity is one of the key selling features of the VAIO SX12 because unlike some other 12-inch class laptops, this one comes with all the necessary physical ports possible, including GbE, a USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C (can be used for data, display, and charging) port, one USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A connector, two USB 3.0 Type-A ports, an SD card reader, two display outputs (HDMI, D-Sub), a 3.5-mm audio jack, and a proprietary power port. On the wireless side of things, the laptop is equipped with a 802.11ac Wi-Fi + Bluetooth 4.1 controller as well as an optional 4G/LTE modem. In addition, it has a webcam, a fingerprint reader, stereo speakers, and a microphone.

VAIO does not disclose capacity of the battery it uses for the SX12, but says that it can last for 13 ~ 14.5 hours depending on usage, a claim that has yet to be tested in real life. Meanwhile, the laptop comes with a proprietary 200-gram charger that uses the aforementioned proprietary connector, and also has a USB port to charge the laptop and a mobile phone at the same time.

https://www.anandtech.com/show/14635...t-connectivity