In the world of computers, we have so many options but we look for three things. Performance, Portability and Lightweight. And one that fits right into this category is 2-in-1. We have seen so many company with their convertible. And Lenovo, who’s no stranger to the world of computer, released their very own 2-in-1 Portable Device and I’ve been using it for the past three week and this is the Full Review of the Lenovo Miix 510.


Unboxing

The unboxing experience was pretty straight forward. The moment you pop the box open, you’ll see the tablet, case and the keyboard. At least that’s what I saw because it was already unboxed. So… Yeah. Next up we have the Instruction manuals and other paperwork. They also included a Active Pen for the Miix 510, followed by a pen holder which you can insert into the USB 3.0 port. And finally, the power brick, that actually looks pretty neat. And if you’re looking for the Windows 10 Pro Sticker, it’s actually on the power brick and not on the device.
 
Look, Feel & Design

Starting off with the Look and Feel, the tablet alone feels solid. Definitely has some heft to it and the moment you touch and hold the device. Now, on the front we have the display that’s covered with Glass and on the back, it has this matte black finishing which feels awwwwesome. But it’s also prone to get scratches. So, you’ll have to be careful while using it on rough surfaces.



For the stand and the joints that’s holding the tablet is pretty sturdy and solid. Does not feel flimsy or fragile in any way and I love it. It goes upto 120 degrees which is pretty neat.
 
In terms of design, it has more of a boxy look and sports almost the same look as some of the contenders from other companies. One small hiccup in the design department is that I didn’t find magnets on the sides or the top to attach the pen while it’s not being used. Instead it uses the holder and connects to the USB 3.0 port, which is kind of a bummer. But the soft case that comes with it has a pen holder, so it’s alright.
 
IO
 

Lenovo Miix 510 has a decent number of ports on the device. On one side, we have a USB C port followed by a full sized USB and the Charging port. And on the other side, we have a 3.5mm headphone jack.


At the bottom, we have the Pogo Pin Connectors, where you’ll be attaching the keyboard.



Other than that, we have a volume rocker and the power button on the right. And as you lift up the stand, you’ll see a SIM slot for LTE data connectivity. The Miix 510 does not have an SD card (or a MicroSD card slot) for that matter, so you’ll have to carry an external card reader if you need to use it. We don’t get a HDMI or a DisplayPort on the Miix 510, but since it comes with a USB C port, you can get docks or adapters to connect it, which is a nice touch.
 
Specifications


The Miix 510 I’m using is the maxed out version and it comes with some top of the line specification. It runs a Intel Core i7 6th Generation 2.5GHz processor along with 8GB DDR4 RAM on board. It sports a 12.2” FHD Touchscreen display, Wifi 2×2 AC+BT 4.0. And it runs a Windows 10 Pro, which is a full fledged Windows with no limitations.
 
If you’re one of those person who only gets turned on by looking at those numbers, here you go.

 
Display

The 12.2” FHD display up on the front is beautiful. The colors it produces is pretty sharp and on point. And most of the content looks very vibrant. In terms of viewing angles, there’s no discoloration at any axis and it maintains same color. The brightness indoors are pretty good but since it’s a gloss screen, when you use it under a bright sunlight, you’ll see a lot of reflection and it’s visible but not bright.
 
The display is touch enabled and also supports Active Pen which is included. Using it in touch mode is definitely fun as the OS features a tablet mode and also, the current Windows OS is touch friendly. But the display isn’t. It’s a fingerprint magnet and when you press and lift off your finger from the display, it still thinks that your finger is on the display. I had to carry my Microfibre cloth with me most of the time to make sure I don’t have any prints and not trigger the display. But sometimes, even after wiping it still triggers. The Palm Rejection on the display is amazing when using the pen.
 
But overall, I like the display because the way the content looks on the device, it’s colorful. Watching movies, series or even playing games for that matter, looks pretty nice.

Keyboard & Trackpad

 
Both the keyboard and Trackpad is actually connected via the Pogo pin Connector that’s located at the bottom part. And to hold the keyboard in place, we have magnets.

I am actually impressed by how exactly it feels. The key travel on this snap-on keyboard is actually good. Some companies tend to sacrifice one or two things to make 2-in-1 devices portable. But Lenovo’s approach on this keyboard is different. It has a decent key travel, the key spacing is actually good until you hit the arrow key on the right side, thinking it’s the shift key. It’s probably the most frustrating thing about the keyboard. It really took me awhile to get used to it. And finally, the keyboard features a LED Backlight which is an amazing inclusion.
 
Using the device at night has never been better, especially whenever I write articles or do notes for my classes. And I can confidently say that this is probably one great tablet keyboard I’ve come across.

The trackpad is where they actually did some sacrifices. Instead of going for a slightly bigger trackpad, this one is actually small. It works fine but the space to navigate the cursor on your screen via the trackpad is limited.
 
One odd thing about the keyboard is that, sometimes it doesn’t work after it connects. The tablet detects the keyboard but it does not work. I had to reboot, detach and re attach the keyboard to make sure it works, and guess what. It did work.
 
Active Pen


Now for the pen that comes along with the Lenovo Miix 510, is actually a Wacom Enabled Active Pen. Now, the pen has two re-programmable buttons which you can configure using the Wacom app in the settings. And the tips on the pen is pressure sensitive. So, drawing on the Wacom pen is fun. It also depends on what application you use the pen with. I tested it with OneNote, Windows Ink, Paint 3D and Sketchbook.
 
Applications like Paint 3D, OneNote and SketchBook worked with the pen really well and the input was pretty accurate and wasn’t different at all. The harder you press, the thicker the line gets and vice versa. Now with OneNote, the experience was different. The pen works like a normal pen and gives a feel like writing on a notepad. Overall, having a Wacom Pen is definitely a great inclusion as it’s really helpful while jotting down notes, sketching and so on.
Camera

On the back, it has a 5MP rear camera and on the front we have a 2.1MP camera that takes pictures and videos that’s okay. Sadly, the Lenovo Miix 510 is missing Windows Hello Facial Recognition, which was kind of a bummer. Windows Hello, recognizes your face when you login to your device instead of using a password.
 
Performance

I tested the performance under light load and heavy loads. Now for light usage, I just surfed the internet, watched some videos, replied emails, read comics and also use the pen to sketch. It performed fine as it was able to hold up pretty well. Thanks to the SSD under the hood, loading applications and boot up was pretty fast. Only thing is that, whenever I run Google Chrome and interact it using the touch screen, it hangs for a while and then crashes.
 
For heavy usage, I ran both CPU and GPU intensive application like Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, and I also played some games just to see how the tablet held up. Surprisingly, for a tablet that comes with Intel Graphics, it did well. Editing on Lightroom was easy because on the 2-in-1 it supports tablet mode. And for Photoshop, it worked fine as well. There was no glitch in opening, while editing and closing the application, which is great.
 
I know this tablet isn’t made for gaming purposes, but running older titles on this shouldn’t be a problem. Games like DMC: Definitive Edition, NFS:MW ran really well and with DMC, the frame rates went up to 50fps which is good for a tablet with stock Intel GPU. The overall performance was blazing fast, thanks to the Sky Lake processor.
 
Now the fan that runs under the device to cool is loud in quiet environments, even when the tablet is under very light load. Sometimes when I’m using it during my classes, the fan sound is pretty much audible and my friend sitting beside me asks why is it loud. For the battery, I was able to drain the battery in 5 hours when I was travelling, just by watching movies and series. And under light usage, the tablet lasts for an extra 30-40 minutes which is pretty amazing.

The side firing speakers on the Lenovo Miix 510 is nice. The sound quality is not the greatest but at Maximum volume, the tablet didn’t break a sweat and the audio quality was fine.
 
Overall

Using the Lenovo Miix 510 was definitely fun. It was the kind of device that I’d love to use for both work and play. When I was using for my classes, it was so convenient thanks to the detachable keyboard and the support for the Active Pen. Also when I was using it to type and play some games, the device held up pretty well.

The only thing about the device got under my nerve is that shift key on the right. But none the less, for those who’s planning to get a pretty decent 2-in-1 with great performance, look no further. Personally, if I were to get a 2-in-1, I’ll go for the Lenovo Miix 510. Lenovo Miix 510 is the closest alternative to the Microsoft Surface Pro 4. And if you want to get it in a different variant, it’s also possible and you can check it out at Lazada or even at your nearest Lenovo Authorized Dealers.

All the product shots in this article was shot using the Sony alpha a6300.