Many of the Windows 8 tablets we've seen so far have been thick, heavy and unattractive, but that’s not the case with Lenovo’s latest 8in tablet. The Miix 2 is wafer thin, weighs just 350g and has a sleek, appealing metallic appearance. Unsurprisingly at this price, though, the Miix is actually made of plastic rather than metal. It’s not too sturdy either - the casing bent easily under pressure, revealing worrying gaps between its plastic seams. Like most budget Windows 8 tablets, the Miix comes equipped with a quad core Intel Atom processor. Although it’s generally fast enough for running tablet apps, it becomes unusably slow if you have lots running simultaneously. This isn’t helped by the meagre 2GB of memory which isn’t enough to ensure good performance on a Windows tablet. Battery life is reasonable at nine hours nine minutes when playing videos on a loop, but other mini tablets last even longer.
You can run Desktop programs designed for older versions of Windows, stretching back to XP, but these won’t run as well as more recent apps designed for touchscreens, which can be downloaded from Microsoft’s app store.
This is due in part to the Miix’s mediocre performance levels, but also to its relatively small screen, which makes tapping menus and buttons in older programs fiddly The screen itself is reasonably bright with accurate colors, but its low resolution of 1280x800 pixels means text looks fuzzy which makes reading a strain on the eyes.
Unusually for a Windows 8 tablet, there’s no HDMI or MHL port for connecting a monitor, TV or projector. If you want to connect an external display, then you’ll have to do so wirelessly using a Miracast-compatible smart TV or adapter. The Miix does have a microSD slot though. This is essential because only half of the built in 32GB of storage is available for use, with the rest taken up by Windows.
You can connect peripherals such as printers and USB sticks to the USB port using a USB-On-The-Go adapter. The Lenovo Miix 2 isn’t a bad tablet and it is inexpensive, but so is the Asus Nexus 7. Unless you absolutely have to run older Windows programs or connect USB peripherals, the identically priced Nexus 7 is superior thanks to its higher resolution screen and longer battery life.
This is due in part to the Miix’s mediocre performance levels, but also to its relatively small screen, which makes tapping menus and buttons in older programs fiddly The screen itself is reasonably bright with accurate colors, but its low resolution of 1280x800 pixels means text looks fuzzy which makes reading a strain on the eyes.
Unusually for a Windows 8 tablet, there’s no HDMI or MHL port for connecting a monitor, TV or projector. If you want to connect an external display, then you’ll have to do so wirelessly using a Miracast-compatible smart TV or adapter. The Miix does have a microSD slot though. This is essential because only half of the built in 32GB of storage is available for use, with the rest taken up by Windows.
You can connect peripherals such as printers and USB sticks to the USB port using a USB-On-The-Go adapter. The Lenovo Miix 2 isn’t a bad tablet and it is inexpensive, but so is the Asus Nexus 7. Unless you absolutely have to run older Windows programs or connect USB peripherals, the identically priced Nexus 7 is superior thanks to its higher resolution screen and longer battery life.
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