Lenovo is known for its premium design, body finish and display. After pulling out the first series of the Yoga 10 inches family, Lenovo introduced the Miix series of 2 in 1 laptops. Users looking for a shift from heavy laptops to portable Windows powered devices found the Miix 3 as the ultimate choice at a price point of Rs.22,500 (as offered at the Lenovo stores) in the initial phase of the launch.
1.5 years into the market, the Lenovo Miix 3 is still available online on Amazon, however it has been discontinued on the Lenovo official website and in most Lenovo stores in India. Although it might seem to be a widely accepted model, Lenovo Miix 3 (10.1 inches) has its own share of pros and cons, as reported by its users.
Processor & Multimedia Capacity
The Lenovo Miix 3 is powered by the Intel Atom Quad Core Processor (Z3700 Series). As it promises, it indeed is pretty fast as far as business needs are concerned including MS Office applications, browsing the internet, switching between tabs, file explorer. We also tested it with the desktop version of Adobe Photoshop CS & CS3. Although this machine is not meant for high end multimedia editing but to test the limits, we put both software versions one after the other and to our amazement, the software ran well, with occasional lags in CS3. So, its better not to get into trying with CS4 or CS6 or any other new version. But for minimalist usage of photo editing, the device is not bad.
Gaming is average with low end games that you might choose to play in between a small break. Don’t expect much as its packed with only 2 GB of RAM and Intel Integrated graphics.
Video playback in 1080p is awesome. No lags are found.
The 2-in-1 Factor
If you are looking for a tablet which is big enough to handle the Windows operations with your fingers, and easily turn it into a working laptop whenever required, the Lenovo Miix 3 is for you.
Easily convertible with the strong magnetic dock, you can switch between the positions and use the keyboard as a stand in case you need to set the screen upright, or just place the screen on the dock like a laptop to use it as one.
Display Quality
Lenovo’s display quality is hard to battle with in this price point, as compared to other products. The 1920×1200 IPS HD display looks flawless. If you have a good resolution photograph or a true HD video, you would simply fall in love with the display of the Lenovo Miix 3. This is another reason why it is good for business. You get to woo your clients with your presentations, which look accurate and crisp.
Sound
A big drawback with the device is the speaker. Lenovo Miix 3 comes with a mono speaker which sounds really bad. Even if you put up the volume with your VLC player, the sound output is a big blow to the multimedia quality of the device.
It has a volume control key on the upper right side which is easily accessible if you are using it in a tablet mode.
Folio Keyboard – the problem
While the bundles keyboard seems really useful as a stand or as a protective case for the tablet while idle, the biggest drawback that blows all the positives out of the device is this same keyboard. Several users of the Lenovo Miix 3 reported that the keyboard cannot be connected to the screen properly. So we tested it! And yes, they were right. The keyboard is well docked, but not ‘connected’ most of the time, which makes it useless as its deactivated. At times, it fails to connect even after 4 – 5 trials, that renders the keyboard non-functional until you restart the system and the OS recognizes the keyboard.
You might also flip the screen down by mistake and lose connectivity in middle of the work. The touch pad on the keyboard is also weak and you really need to master the art of double clicking or scrolling a window or a web page with the touch pad.
Battery
The battery backup is good. Lenovo promises a 7 hour backup. In real conditions, if you are using the device for normal web browsing or office applications, the battery can last up to 5 hours and that can stretch up to 6.5 hours with a little standby time in between your work. Battery drains fast, if you are run games or movies with the speaker on.
Extensions
You get a mini-HDMI for presentations or video/photo slideshow; a Micro-SD slot to add to the memory up to 128GB, a 3.5mm headphone outlet and a micro-USB port for the charger or a OTG cable. It also has a 2MP front camera for your skype sessions. But don’t expect much.
Once docked with the keyboard, you get 2 additional USB ports which are located on both sides of the keyboard.
Software
The Lenovo Miix 3 comes with Windows 8.1 and one year of Microsoft Office 365 subscription. You can upgrade the OS to Windows 10 with a valid license.
