Results: Heat And Noise
Now that most of our testing is completed, we feel it’s an appropriate time to review the Yoga 13’s thermal activity and cooling management.
Heat
No matter how hard we tax the Yoga 13, 65°C is the hottest temperature that we record for its Core i7. Most of the time, the average temperature stays at or below 50°C!
There is no heat to speak of on the exterior of the Yoga 13’s lid, and this was the case day-after-day under normal usage. On the bottom side of the system, using a handheld IR temperature gun, we measure the surface temperature of the aluminum casing after 15 minutes of continuous 720p video encoding.
Again, the temperatures are well within reason, showing the system is safe to rest on your lap for extended periods of time. This is very impressive, and it represents the thermal profile of Intel's low-voltage Core i7.
Noise
The dual-fan cooling system can also be credited for the system’s excellent thermal management. But we need to investigate fan noise to determine if there is any derogative influence on the audio output of the center-placed right speaker. We’ll test the XPS 12 as well, in order to see which system is best at keeping things cool and quiet.
The Yoga 13 really excels in this area, and is noticeably quieter than the Dell XPS 12. Additionally, there is no measurable sound wave interference taking place by having the right speaker so close to the cooling fans. It appears that hot air is expelled out the rear of the system and away from the speaker area.
