Asus Nova Go Review: A Different Path for the Advancement of Laptops

The Asus Nova Go looks like a typical 2-in-1, with a 13.3-inch touchscreen, a spacious touchpad with a built-in fingerprint reader, and a 360-degree hinge. But inside, this $600 hybrid has the heart of a smartphone, a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor.

That's right, the Nova Go features a Snapdragon 835 from 2017, which first debuted on the Samsung Galaxy S8. But don't let the age of the silicon fool you. By combining an ARM-based processor with Windows 10, the Asus Nova Go represents a different path for the advancement of the good 'ole laptop.

Windows on Snapdragon systems are trying to redefine what great battery life really means. They also come with 4G LTE connectivity, so you don't need to be the annoying person that pesters people for the Wi-Fi password everywhere you go.

Performance: Not Spectacular, But Acceptable

With a processor that's essentially the same as what you get in a phone, performance on the resource intensive Windows OS isn't spectacular. In fact, the Nova Go turned in some of the lowest scores we've seen in recent history in our laptop benchmarks.

However, the system is really designed to work best with native UWP (Universal Windows Platform) apps installed from the Microsoft Store. When we ran WebXPRT again in Edge, the Nova Go's score doubled from 84 to a 163, which is still shy of Intel Core m3, but much more acceptable.

In real life, the difference in horsepower is even less of an issue. Sure, you'll run into the occasional hitch or a bit of input lag, but those are the kinds of things that you see on a lot of budget and mid-range systems.

Battery Life: The Nova Go's Strongest Suit

The Nova Go's battery life is its strongest suit. In our traditional battery rundown test, it lasted just 13 hours and 49 minutes. But when we did the same test in Edge, battery life shot up another hour and a half to 15:16, which is the best battery life we've seen on any laptop in the last two years.

In real life, the Nova Go's longevity is even better. Over the course of a weekend spent testing the system, we were surprised at how many times after 45 minute browsing sessions the battery percentage dropped just one or two percent.

4G LTE Modem: A Treat

The Nova Go's built-in 4G LTE modem is a treat. Just pop-in a SIM from your carrier of choice, add the correct access point (APN) info into Windows and off you go. No longer do you feel like a Wi-Fi addict, hunting for your fix when you're away from home.

Drawbacks: Price, Performance, and Storage

For $600 you only get 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, which seems a bit steep. If Asus were to bump both of those up a bit without increasing the price, then suddenly things could get a lot more interesting.

Performance is another drawback, as the Nova Go isn't suited for demanding tasks like photo or video editing. Additionally, the Windows 10S operating system that comes pre-installed is a bit limiting, although you can upgrade to normal Windows 10 for free.

Conclusion: A Good Choice for Students, But Not for Everyone

The Asus Nova Go is a good choice for students who need a laptop with long battery life and built-in 4G LTE connectivity. It's also a good option for people who don't need a lot of performance and are willing to sacrifice some features for a more affordable price.

However, if you need a laptop for demanding tasks or if you want the best possible performance, then the Nova Go is not the right choice for you. You're better off looking at laptops with Intel or AMD processors.