By Will Goodbody, Science & Technology Correspondent
For busy mobile people working in the corporate world, 2-in-1s are becoming the must have device.
Portable and flexible, they are also powerful enough to run all the necessary software and do it on a Windows platform that integrates easily with the mothership.
Lenovo, the world’s biggest PC maker, has two new options available to meet demand in this segment – the Yoga Miix 720 and Miix 510.
And both are clearly aimed at taking on the Microsoft Surface Pro.
The Yoga Miix 720 aims to be the ultimate flexible machine for a flexible generation of workers.
It’s a Windows touchscreen tablet with a detachable keyboard.
A compact enough device, it measures in at 293mm x 216mm x 14.6mm with the keyboard.
At 1.1kg it isn’t all that light, but compared to a notebook style PC it certainly isn’t heavy.
There’s a kickstand on the back of the device, adjustable through 150 degrees.
It has a pin-sharp 12" QHD+ touchscreen with a resolution of 2880x1920 and a 3:2 aspect ratio.
It is a quality display that will impress clients and colleagues during pitches and presentations.
The included keyboard with touchpad is excellent – solid, responsive and backlit.
The device also comes with the Lenovo Active Pen 2 that apparently boasts 4,096 levels of pressure for those who like to draw on screen.
It doesn’t, however, have a rechargeable battery and that could prove a bit of a pain.
Also, the only way to attach it to the device is through a crude holder that slots into the USB port next to the power socket – not ideal.
It has an integrated infrared camera, which means the Windows Hello facial recognition feature can be used to unlock the device quickly.
Lenovo promises up to 8 hours of battery power from the Miix 720’s power pack and it doesn’t seem to disappoint.
It also has a useful feature that means the USB connection never sleeps, meaning it is possible to power other devices from the 2-in-1, even when it is turned off.
There is a Thunderbolt 3 USB-C port which supports data transfer at up to 40Gbps as well as USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports.
There is also an integrated 5MP rear facing camera, and a 1MP front facing image sensor.
It’s a powerful beast too, driven by a choice of chips up to the Intel Core i7 processor, up to 16GB of RAM and comes with up to a 1TB of memory built in.
The device also has an Intel HD Integrated Graphics 620 chip which can support 4K video.
In summary, the Miix 720 is a really solid device that will give the Surface a serious run for its money.
There’s also a slightly lower spec version – the Miix 510 – which runs on earlier generation Intel Core processors and comes with lower maximum levels of RAM and solid state storage.
The screen is slightly larger at 12.2", but battery life is marginally less.
There’s also a quality bundled detachable keyboard with touchpad.
The screen is slightly lower spec, as are the ports – there’s no Thunderbolt connectivity for example.
But the price is considerably less, making this a better value prospect for anyone who is able to compromise a bit on spec.
Comments welcome via Twitter to @willgoodbody
