Lenovo Miix 720 Windows tablet is a serious Surface Pro challenger
At CES 2017, Lenovo shows us Microsoft isn't the only one who can deliver a high-performance laptop-replacement tablet.
- More than two decades experience writing about PCs and accessories, and 15 years writing about cameras of all kinds.
Lenovo's Miix 720 fills the tablet-shaped hole Microsoft left when it didn't update the Surface Pro 4 last October alongside the Surface Book and Surface Studio.
Like the Surface Pro, Lenovo's newest 12-inch Windows 10 tablet has a detachable keyboard cover with a touchpad and a fold-out kickstand that adjusts the viewing angle up to 150 degrees. Unlike the Surface, though, the keyboard is included with the Miix at its starting price of $999 or AU$1,399 (approximately £800).
Lenovo includes its detachable keyboard with the new Miix 720 Windows 10 tablet.
But you can't really challenge the category leader with only a bundled keyboard. The Miix 720 has a 2,880x1,920-pixel resolution display (QHD+) and a Thunderbolt 3 port that'll support up to two external displays. Also on board is an infrared camera for Windows Hello, so you can unlock your tablet with facial recognition.
Specs-wise you'll be able to get it with up to a seventh-gen Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of memory, a 1TB PCIe SSD for storage and integrated Intel HD Graphics 620. (I would expect maxing it out like that to at least double the starting price, though.)
To top it off, the Miix 720 works with Lenovo's new Active Pen 2 with Windows Ink support. More importantly, it has 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity -- twice what the first Active Pen delivered and four times the Surface Pro 4's 1,024 pressure levels.
There is one big question, though: Will it arrive in time to swipe sales from a Surface Pro 5? Currently, the Miix 720 isn't slated to arrive until the beginning of April. The Active Pen 2, however, will be available in February for $60, or roughly AU$85 and £50 in Australia and the UK, respectively.
