Lenovo Miix 2 10 Review Page 1
Performance
As we’ve mentioned before, the performance advantage over previous, Clovertrail-generation tablets really shows up in Web browsing. It’s close to a laptop experience in terms of speed and quality and perfect for guaranteeing that you don’t miss any of those desktop URLs that reach you via social networks. Program startup times are good too. The SSD was running under Bitlocker encryption which, on these Baytrail devices, doesn’t appear to slow down the device. [We’ve tested with and without on a previous Baytrail tablet.] Speeds were generally good when tested with CrystalDiskMark. The results are below and alongside the results for the Toshiba Encore WT8 which uses the same Baytrail platform. As you can see, there’s barely any difference between the two devices. The ASUS T100, also shown, has some differences.
Lenovo Miix 2 10 on left. Toshiba Encore WT8 on right. Both with drive encryption enabled.
Note that 4K write speeds are 4x that which we see on the ASUS Transformer Book T100, shown below
The CPU performance in the Cinebench test is about 50% of that which we see on current Ultrabooks although some of the lower-power Ultrabooks aren’t that far ahead. A Cinebench CPU result of 1.21 is very good for this class of device though and it matches other Baytrail devices we’ve tested. Note that the Acer Aspire V5 with the AMD A6 (above the WT8 in the results) is a platform that requires a fan.
The OpenGL result of 6.17 is marginally better than other Baytrail devices in our test database but isn’t anywhere near the results we see from Ultrabooks tested on our sister site Ultrabooknews.com where results of 20 still don’t equate to barrier-free gaming. Some games will work but you’ll need to choose carefully.
PCMark 07
Lenovo Miix 2 10 PC Mark 07 score: 2432
3DMark 06
Lenovo Miix 2 10 3DMark 06 score: 2432
Peacekeeper
Peacekeeper (by Futuremark) is a useful online test to note if you’re interested in working within a browser. In our test the Miix 2 10 returned a score of 1086
The graph below shows some comparisons with other Baytrail devices and laptops we’ve tested across our sites.
Click to enlarge
In an Intel-Quick-sync video conversion using a Handbrake 6013 nightly build (with Intel Quick Sync support) converting from 50fps, 30Mbps fullHD video down to 720p a conversion rate of 117 FPS was returned by. This is impressive and given the relatively fast SSD, good enough for some basic video editing using a Pro-sumer editing package. A test with Cyberlink PowerDirector proved that the Lenovo Miix 2 10 is good enough for simple and fast 720p video editing. A demo of video editing using PowerDirector is available here.
Specifications, Images, links, videos, comments and more information can always be found through our database on the Lenovo Miix 2 10 information page.
Battery Life
With a 24Wh battery inside one can not expect this to beat the ASUS Transformer Book T100 which has a 30Wh battery but the results for this 600 gram PC are pretty good.
An update from the powercfg batteryreport will be given after a few weeks usage but initial figures show a range of 5hrs to 7hrs of general WiFi-on screen-on usage over days that included multiple Connected Standby sessions. (I.e. never shut down.)
We also measured two scenarios:
Video playback (Windows Media Player, FullHD, 50fps, 30Mbps) with lounge-level lighting, 30% volume, WiFi on used about 5.7% of battery in 30 minutes = 9hrs 20 minutes total battery life.
Web and Windows usage (continuous Peacekeeper web test + PCMark 7, Wifi On, Screen 30%) for 30 minutes: 10% battery used = 6hrs total battery life.
How to get a battery life report on Windows 8
Connected Standby battery life.
By using the Powercfg report it’s clear to see that connected standby power is working correctly. Our report is showing 138hrs connected standby time (WiFi On) for a 100% battery discharge.
Battery Charging.
Battery charging is not a quick operation even with the 12V DC adaptor. Over 2 hours of usage under mains power we saw the charge go from 4% to 39%. Figures indicate that a screen-off full charge would take 4 hours. A shutdown charge would be quicker, but not by much.
Micro-USB charging appears to be possible. We used a 2A USB charger as saw Windows register a connected charger and a very slow increase in battery charge. Under usage it barely kept the battery at the same level though. The user manual does not mention anything about charging via the MicroUSB port so until we get official information we’re going to recommend that the unit is charged via the 12V power unit and DC input.
Other notes
WiFi performance is average (about 5/10 compared to the best laptop solutions out there) Is dual-band. 40Mhz channel width is supported for 300Mbps connections. We saw no dropouts on our 2.4Ghz WiFi-N network. In comaprison with the ASUS Transformer Book T100 the Lenovo Miix 2 10 was consistently slower in our edge-of-reception test and about 0.3X the speed of our ‘reference’TP-Link USB2.0 external WiFi adaptor (TL-WN822N)
There is no NFC
No micro USB or Micro HDMI converter cables included. (we tested with a USB converter cable from the Acer W510)
USB devices tested: USB3.0 SSD (no external power required) USB Audio device, USB cam, USB Gigabit Ethernet adaptor, DisplayLink adaptor.
Microsoft Office Home and Student license included, but not tested.
Heat and Noise: This is a fanless tablet with SSD so there’s no noise at all. No heat was detected during the test period apart from when concurrently charging and in-use.
Specifications, Images, links, videos, comments and more information can always be found through our database on the Lenovo Miix 2 10 information page.
Comparison notes: ASUS Transformer T100 vs Lenovo Miix 2 10
Many of you will be weighing-up the differences between the Lenovo Miix 2 10 and the ASUS Transformer Book T100. (Full comparison gallery here.)
Better on ASUS T100:
- More confortable tablet to hold for long periods
- WiFi performance
- Battery life
- Locked-in and adjustable screen hinge
- USB3.0 on keyboard dock
- Price
- 500GB keyboard dock version available
Better on Lenovo Miix 2 10:
- Sound
- Screen resolution, brightness, viewing angles.
- Better touchpad
- larger A-Z keys (but offset numerics)
- SSD (storage) speed
- 2 USB2.0 ports on dock
- 128GB SSD available
MicroSD card slot on tablet(Update: also on ASUS T100)- 3G version could be available soon
- Face recognition unlock feature (actually works!)
To be tested further:
- 12V 1.5A charging (Cant the ASUS charge as quickly as the Lenovo)
Target customer
Just 3 years ago a 10-inch Windows tablet was a heavy, cumbersome product with poor battery life and user interface. Today, it’s a completely different offering and, given the range of computing products people have today, fits in well. Many of you will be using a 7-inch or 8-inch consumer tablet already and might be happy with your laptop or desktop for work activities. The Lenovo Miix 2 10 works out really nicely as a magazine-style consumption tablet for sofa-side and bed and then given the docking keyboard, a semi-productive PC for moments when it’s just too much effort to boot the PC or laptop. For those that travel a lot we really recommend the Miix 2 10 for business and pleasure although for those that require a real tablet dock, this isn’t your solution.
Summary
The Lenovo Miix 2 10 is a truly smart PC with a high dynamic range of use cases, great screen and an exciting range of applications. Unlike the 8-inch Windows tablets the desktop on this 10-inch tablet is usable for short-term productive work right up to pro-sumer video editing. If you’re typing emails or blogging you might take some time to get used to the keyboard but in the long-run you’ll probably appreciate those large keys and the good (for this category) touchpad. The screen docking mechanism comes with some disadvantages that don’t make it the best for long-term table-top work and we certainly won’t class this as a true 2-in-1 but the keyboard magnet does allow it to transform quickly into a mobile tablet. Battery life isn’t as good as on its competitor, the ASUS Transformer Book T100. One of the key advantages of a Windows Baytrail tablet over an Android is the quality of the web experience. You can guarantee than your Flash, Silverlight and other plugins will work and that the experience will be a lot quicker than on many of the non-Windows tablets. Full disk encryption and secure boot could be an advantage to some. Overall we’re seeing good value for money on a good-looking tablet product that has a useful keyboard accessory and extended range of usage over a simple consumer tablet.
Specifications, Images, more articles, videos, comments and more information can always be found through our database on the Lenovo Miix 2 10 information page.
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hi chippy – thanks for being the internet’s official miix 2 10 correspondent! i’m really interested in the machine, which is now on sale in uk via lenovo website for 429.99 (bit steep but what i expected), but need clarification on the office home and student situation as it’s crucial for me. the description on lenovo us site says a full version of office is included, but according to the questions section (with ‘expert response’) it’s only a trial and you have to pay for full licence. the uk site doesn’t mention office in the features at all. please could you reveal the truth? cheers!
I have a full Office Home and Student licence here. On the 11-inch version I understand you only get a trial. Maybe that’s where the difference occurs. I will double-check the license right now though.
Chippy
…and here’s the license that came with the Miix 2 10. This is a German product but i’m sure that they all qualify for the ‘WIndows Small Screen Tablet’ free license when they are Baytrail and 10-inch or under.
License (without key!)
https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=4D7AABF556825522!5998&authkey=!AMMQw0DknTtQ7Pk&v=3&ithint=photo%2c.jpg
More details on SST
http://www.microsoft.com/oem/en/products/devices/Pages/windows-8-sst.aspx#fbid=vGbJVWwArfj
The micro SD card slot on the t100 is also on the tablet, so that should not be a pro for the Miix 2 10.
The name for the t100 is also much better. Miix 2 10?? REALLY?
Why is the charging listed as a pro for the Miix 2 10? It seems like it takes the same amount of time to charge as the t100…
You are correct. I made a mistake on the MicroSD.
As for the charging, it’s a problem when you want to use the USB port in tablet-only use. E.g. When used as a ‘desktop’ you need USB for keyboard + mouse, you need HDMI for monitor and you need to keep it powered. That doesn’t work with the T100.
Correction: I now see your logic. I’m sorry but I was thinking of the 8-inch tablets where there is no dock and therefore any attempt to charge the device blocks the only USB port. On these devices with USB hubs, that’s not a problem unless you wanted to do something with the USB port in tablet mode while charging…something I don’t think will happen. I’ve updated the review.
Chippy.
Thanks for a good review.
the lack of GPS, digitizing pen and 3G/4G (for now at least) makes me look elsewhere.
Any chance you could do a Fujitsu Q584 review Chippy? The specs of the Q584 looks really interesting, but I would like to read an in-depth review before deciding on a buy.
I’m trying to get one but of course this is in a different league WRT price so it’s difficult to compare. Have you seen my hands-on? Here’s all our Q584 news. http://www.umpcportal.com/tag/q584/
Just want to double check that you are sure there is no GPS. The product page on the lenovo site says there is GPS and the product expert on the q&a section also confirmed there is GPS. Thanks!
I read that too. There’s the standard Windows 8 location driver (network-based GPS) on this module but no dedicated GPS. Often the GPS module is co-located on a 3G module so that might be where the specification came from.
Now that i have read the full review as well as seeing the price for this on Lenovo Uk Site i am more happy with my Yoga 11s as i got it for cheaper and you get a whole lot more device for the money.
My Miix 2 10 arrived today. I’m having issues with the keyboard dock. Do you find that you have to push the tablet down into the dock to get the connection to be made? If I take the tablet out of the dock and then put it back in, the keyboard will not be recognized unless I push down on the top of the tablet in order to secure the connection on the bottom. I hear a “chime” when removing the tablet from the dock and when it connects again (following the above procedure). The pushing down to connect does not always work, so I’m finding the connection to be finicky. Thank you in advance.
So I tried one out today, and it was by far the buggiest keyboard I’ve ever used. Try using it on anything except a table and it will constantly disconnect. Not to mention, i didn’t think the key differences would be that bad but they are just really really strange. They either need a better magnet system or something but it’s just so wobbly and had to use on a lap.
Chippy, I am in the US, had my Miix 2 10″ for 2 days, worked so hard to get all configured with ALL my personal files and on day 3, would not boot up (had full battery when I worked on it hours before). We tried everything…Lenovo sending a new one. So there must be a problem with these. Mine was manufactured Jan 18, 2014…maybe a bad run. I would be interested if any of our readers have problems. Otherwise, I loved the functionality and performance.
Thanks for the extensive review! I’m currently looking for a small, cheap but decently designed Win 8 laptop that will get some occasional use on the road/overnight but mainly be a backup for my main computer, and when at home will be hooked up to a bigger monitor/keyboard & mouse and the tablet will be acting as a second screen (so the higher res the better). The Miix 2 seems ideal. Just one question – for work, I have to access an external system via VMware Horizon. As far as I can tell there’s a client available for Windows 8, so this should mean the speed limit is basically my broadband and not the computer. Do you have any idea if the Miix 2 would cope well with this setup, or should I really be looking for something above the Baytrail performance-wise? Thanks!
Hi Chippy,thanks for the very nice review, but it left me a question. I´m a student and want a smart and portable Win8 Tablet with a keyboard dockingstation, wich I can take for a day out without charging. I´ve got to write a little longer textes with it and to do some PowerPoint prestentations. I want to watch some videos and films on it and play sometimes some games. So wich one do you recommend me the Lenovo miix 2 or the Asus t100?
For a more laptop-like experience, the ASUS T100. The Miix 2 10 is more of a home tablet + dock solution IMO.
Note to anyone looking to buy a Miix2 10 – seems to have been pulled from the Lenovo shop. It’s still listed on the site and still even has a price, but you can’t add it to your cart. From comments on other forums this seems to be happening all over the place, so it suggests at best very limited stock, and at worst some sort of flaw in the existing run of units.
Thanks Gaz.
This could be related to the issue I had with mine (and I heard from another owner.) Mine stopped working three days after I bought it. My current device is fine at the moment.
I think they’re also having major issues with the touch screen. I loose the use of mine periodically as do several users over on the Lenovo forum. It seems to be endemic and hopefully can be hammered out in a bios or firmware update.
I have feeling it is suffering from a bug or two.
I got mine (European / Nordic version made 12.01.2014) on last monday, and after some rounds of Windows updates it lost contact with the keyboard and track-pad before it locked itself.
The only sign of life was the mouse pointer from my bluetooth mouse. The screen was black, but the pointer moved around. Impossible to switch off with power button. Pressed it for more than one minute.
Left it over-night to drain the batteries. According to the Windows log files it went dead after about 15 hours. I tried to wake it up in the morning before I left for work, but still dead. When I got home in the evening it had drained the battries, and it did start up normally when connected to the charger.
When the batteries was fully charged I switched it off (NOT sleep). It would not wake up before I connected it to the charger. I have tried this several times but it seems OK now.
I will return my unit for a full refund. I seems quite silly to make a Windows PC that can’t be reset without draining the batteries. A tiny little hole giving access to a physical reset switch can’t be that expensive?
How much free disk space is left?
26.5GB is left as free space.
of 64GB… that’s not so pretty
No, its not that much left. I have read it should be possible to move the recovery partition to an external USB-drive. That will free up about 12.5GB. Its actually another recovery partition using 1GB too. I don’t know if that can be moved.
Hi I have bought this tablet and when I connected it to dock nothing happens.
Am I supposed to download any driver something please help?
?
No, you don’t need to download or install anything.
Thanks for review. I brought a T100 thinking it was the answer for me, and at a good price. Within a few days it packed up and would not switch on, and I got a refund. On Amazon US I saw many many people had similar problems and about 20% werent satisfied for one reason or other, which i would think is quite high. I was thinking the Miix 2 would be a better buy, but after reading some of these comments, I am wondering that perhaps the technology just isnt ready, who wants to spend hours getting ones new device configured, knowing that there is a high risk it will fail at some point. Incidentally, I asked the man who came to collect the device if he had received many returns, he showed me a car full of them. Maybe its better to keep away from these things till they have proven themselves and are less problematic? Any advice? thanks
Hi Chip
Thanks for the review, was looking at this to get a feel for the 11 inch version. Not convinced now it looks like the Surface 2 might still be better.
With regards to this model the downside for me is that they penny pinched. The z3770 is a much better chip than this z73740- I have a Omni 10 and a tosh encore and its noticeable.