Exclusive: Eve Considering AMD, Intel for New Eve V2, Aiming for 2020 Launch

Eve (formerly Eve-Tech), the Helsinki-based startup that crowdfunded and crowd-developed its original Eve V convertible laptop, is officially working on a followup model, CEO Konstantinos Karatsevidis told Tom’s Hardware. It’s currently being referred to as the Eve V2 and the company is planning to launch it between Q2 and Q4 of 2020.

The project hasn’t officially launched in Eve’s own online communities, but Karatsevidis did tell Tom’s Hardware some of what it’s planning spec-wise.

The original Eve V used Intel’s Y-series CPUs, a decision made in favor of silent operation and battery life over power (although the latter didn’t turn out so well). This time, though, Eve is looking at next-gen AMD laptop CPUs as well as Intel’s U-series offerings.

"If we decided to go with actively cooled CPUs we will need to invest resources into good firmware to manage fans," Karastsevidis said. He also said users liked the 12.3-inch, 2880 x 1920 display, but have since suggested a second-gen version should have smaller bezels. But if it keeps the same Surface Pro-style form factor as the original Eve V, the screen will still be a tablet.

So the company is considering an “adjustable” bezel, with slim borders in laptop mode and using software to add bigger bezels in tablet mode, which Karatsevidis said was inspired by Intel’s 2013 “North Cape” reference laptop.

The company is also working on a monitor, codenamed “Spectrum,” and figures its community will want a faster screen on the Eve V2, over 100Hz, aiming for 144Hz.

“Panels are evolving and cool technologies like mini led, and quantum dots are finally available in the market allowing for brighter, slimmer, more energy-efficient screens,” Karatsedis told me. “We will make sure to use the best display out there when it's time for V2. We are blessed to have good relationships with Sharp and LG to ensure a flagship display.”

Other changes Eve is promising include more Thunderbolt ports and a lighter, sturdier keyboard with a bigger trackpad. The company hopes, but hasn’t guaranteed, to add a full-sized SD card reader, which it says fans have asked for.

Interestingly, the big thing Eve isn’t promising to stick to is the same form factor. It says that community members have come up with designs that might send them back to the drawing board.

Business Changes

This discussion came on the heels of an announcement that Eve is making major business changes following the rocky rollout of its first product, the original Eve V.

In an announcement on its community site, it discussed the licensing model it used, and how it felt that Fortress Tech Distribution LTD, which operated Eve’s online shop, had "issues with the supply chain, funds frozen by payment processors, and untimely deliveries, causing frustration among the community and [doing] direct damage to our brand."

That deal has expired, and Eve will handle sales directly on a new store, evedevices.com, and the company wrote that it is working on a plan to make good with those who had issues with the rollout of the last device like unfulfilled orders.

We’ll see how that works out with the company’s upcoming monitor, headphones and, the Eve V2.