'This can lower CPU temperature by 3C': I can't believe this simple cooling trick seen in a Japanese gaming laptop hasn't been done before

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• A Japanese laptop maker has come up with an innovative stand

• It folds out from underneath the notebook to give the device some clearance off the surface below

• This improves cooling the processor by up to 3C / 5.4F, the maker claims, and it could be a trick that other manufacturers adopt

A PC maker in Japan has produced a laptop with a clever twist under the hood — well, under the chassis to be precise.

VideoCardz spotted Iiyama PC's 15-inch gaming laptop on sale at PC Kobo , a Japanese retailer. It has a small stand that folds out from beneath the body of the device, effectively propping up the Level 15FX167 notebook and raising it slightly (by what looks like just under an inch at the highest point).

That clearance allows for better cooling, with more air free to circulate underneath, and Iiyama PC claims that the stand "can lower the CPU operating temperature by up to 3C" compared to when the device is flat on a surface.

The specs of the Level 15FX167 include an Intel Core Ultra 9 Processor 185H, 16GB of RAM, and an Nvidia RTX 5060 GPU with a 1TB SSD.

Analysis: every degree counts

A difference of 5.4F / 3C might not sound like a whole lot, but it's a useful bit of extra thermal headroom when it comes to a gaming laptop. Remember that portable devices require all sorts of head-scratching in terms of the design of the cooling system, fans, vents, heatsinks and so forth. Every fraction of a degree that can be eked here or there all adds up to better performance ultimately.

As Iiyama PC points out, the tilted angle that the built-in stand provides is also ergonomically sound for a better typing experience, too.

Of course, the idea of an integrated stand is nothing new in the world of laptops, but this implementation is a novel one, as opposed to the traditional kickstand that you see on the likes of Microsoft's Surface devices.

It's one of those ideas that, when I first set eyes on it, I thought to myself, how has this not been done before? Then I had to check that it hadn't been done before, and indeed it hasn't, as far as I can tell. (Although the Asus Ergolift design is in a similar vein, but it's built directly into the notebook's hinge).

The question is, will other laptop makers take notice, and might we see this on devices outside of Japan eventually? Perhaps, and I'll be interested to see a review of this Iiyama PC notebook. My only concern is whether the stand might be a weak point in terms of the possibility of it breaking, so a reviewer should be able to give us a good idea of any fragility therein.

And in case you were wondering, yes, Iiyama is the same brand that makes the famous monitors , sitting under the same parent company.