Lenovo Refreshes The MIIX Tablet With the MIIX 720

Lenovo has already announced updates to many of their business focused ThinkPad lineup, but today they are also announcing a successor to the MIIX 700 with the MIIX 720. The new model offers quite a few nice changes, but also a price bump over the predecessor.

Of course, as a new product launching in 2017, the MIIX 720 upgrades the CPU to Kaby Lake, but unlike the Core m7 version in the MIIX 700, the new model appears to feature 15-Watt processors. Lenovo doesn’t list the exact CPU models available, but they do list In the HD 620 graphics, rather than the HD 615 which would be featured on the Y series, so expect the MIIX 720 to offer up to a Core i7-7500U CPU, assuming the graphics aren’t a typo. Despite the higher powered CPU, the device dimensions have not changed, nor has the weight, with the MIIX 720 keeping the same 292x210x8.9mm dimensions and 780 gram weight (11.5×8.27×0.35” and 1.72 lbs). This means that they’ve added active cooling, which is a disappointment to some, but more performance, which should be pleasing to most.

The extra performance will be necessary to drive the higher resolution display, with the MIIX 720 offering a 12-inch 2880×1920 3:2 panel, which is an impressive 288 pixels per inch, which is much higher than the 214 pixels per inch of its predecessor, and even a bit higher than the 267 pixels per inch of the Microsoft Surface Pro 4. Lenovo rates the display at 400 nits brightness, and it’s got Gorilla Glass over the top.

Lenovo has also outclassed the Surface Pro 4 with the inclusion of not one, not two, but three USB ports, with one USB 3.1 Type-C port, one USB 3.0, and one USB 2.0 port. It also offers up to 16 GB of DDR4 memory, and up to 1 TB of PCIe storage.

The battery is only 41 Wh, and Lenovo rates the MIIX 720 for up to 8 hours of battery life. This is a reasonable sized battery for a small tablet like this, where severe internal constraints always limit available battery capacity.

The tablet also features a Windows Hello capable front-facing camera, which something that is great to see on more and more devices. Once you’ve used a device with Windows Hello, it’s really tough to go back.

As with the previous MIIX 700, the MIIX 720 features a detachable full-sized, backlit keyboard, and there is a new Lenovo Active Pen 2 which will be included on the second wave of device shipments, which offers a clickable shortcut button for Windows Ink, and up to 4096 levels of sensitivity.

The MIIX 720 also features the watchband hinge on its kickstand, which is one of the most elegant solutions around.

The new Lenovo MIIX 720 is available in either Champagne Gold or Iron Gray, beginning in April 2017 for $999.99 and up, and the Active Pen 2 will be available in February for $59.99.

Gallery: Lenovo MIIX 720

Source: Lenovo

Lenovo Yoga Tab 3 Plus: Snapdragon 652, 10-Inch 2K Display, JBL Speakers and USB-C

Lenovo has introduced a new member to its Yoga Tab 3 product family this week at IFA. The new Yoga Tab 3 Plus tablet runs Google Android 6.0 and is aimed at demanding consumers. The novelty comes with a number of features previously only available on the Yoga Tab 3 Pro, including a higher-end octa-core SoC, a 2K 10” display, a lot of RAM, plenty of storage as well as Wi-Fi 802.11 ac connectivity. Surprisingly, the Yoga Tab 3 Plus will not be too expensive and will be available starting from $299.

When Lenovo introduced its Yoga Tab 3 family of products last year, the company drew a clear line between its mainstream Yoga Tab and considerably more advanced Yoga Tab 3 Pro tablets. The former were based on entry-level SoCs and were equipped with relatively low-res screens and limited amount of DRAM/NAND, whereas the latter were powered by Intel’s Atom SoC, were equipped with 2560×1600 displays and featured considerably better specs in general, but at a much higher price ($499/$599 for Wi-Fi/Wi-Fi+LTE model). Today, the Yoga Tab 3 closes the gap between the two product lines and attempts to wed the best of both: affordable price and high-end specs.

The Yoga Tab 3 Plus is based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 SoC (4×A72 1.8 GHz, 4×A53 1.4 GHz, Qualcomm Adreno 510 graphics) and comes equipped with 3 GB of LPDDR3 DRAM as well as 32 GB of NAND flash storage (it also has a microSD card slot). The tablet uses USB Type-C (operates in USB 2.0 mode) connector for charging and connectivity and also supports WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0 and LTE (optional) wireless technologies.

Lenovo positions its Yoga Tab 3 Plus tablet for those, who want to have enhanced multimedia experience on-the-go, which is why its 10-point multitouch 10.1” WQXGA (2560×1600) IPS display comes with Technicolor’s color enhance software technology. In addition, the device is equipped with four front-facing speakers (made by JBL) and supports Dolby’s Atmos 3D surround sound processing. Now, unlike the Yoga Tab 3 Pro, the Tab 3 Plus does not feature a pico projector, but just like the aforementioned model, it has two cameras.

Battery capacity of the novelty is 9300 mAh and Lenovo claims that the Yoga Tab 3 Plus will last up to 18 hours on its battery. As it turns out, slightly lower battery capacity of the Yoga Tab 3 Plus compared to the Yoga Tab 3 Pro is offset by better energy efficiency of its SoC, which is why it promises to deliver similar battery life. Besides long battery life, the Yoga Tab 3 Plus also inherited premium chassis featuring metal, plastic and leather from the Pro model.

Lenovo will start shipments of its Yoga Tab 3 Plus this October. The MSRP for the Wi-Fi-only model will be $299, but the recommended price of the LTE SKU is currently unknown.

Gallery: Lenovo Yoga Tab 3 Plus: Snapdragon 652, 10-Inch 2K Display, JBL Speakers and USB-C

Razer Announces Mechanical Switch Keyboard For The Apple iPad Pro

When Apple announced the iPad Pro, they also announced a new accessory which was meant to be paired with the large form factor tablet in the Smart Keyboard. To quote Josh on his review of the tablet though, “this feels like one of the clunkier a…