Eve V vs Other 2-1 tablets

i-knock · June 23, 2017, 8:56pm

Hi everyone! This is my first time writing in the Eve community, but I hope that this post will be of use for people like me who are very interested in the Eve V

Here is a bulleted list with the Eve V and other 2 in 1 tables of the competition. Prices were mainly obtained from Amazon Germany, since it is a good enough reference for buying in europe.

For this list, only “tablets” with attachable keyboard and pen were compared. There are also some personal comments, generally between brackets, that can be omitted if you want.

And sorry in advance for any possible errors in the specs! I tried not to have any if possible though :).

Anyway, here’s the list

All of them:
• I5 processor
• 256 GB of SSD
• 12 inches (more or less) 2-1 tablet form factor
• Note. Thunderbolt is very interesting for external graphics cards and charging the tablet from an external battery, for instance.

A quick note on processors (as indicated in the comments)
Image: http://www.cpu-world.com/Compare/812/Intel_Core_i5_Mobile_i5-7200U_vs_Intel_Core_i5_Mobile_i5-7Y54.html

• U-series:
○Better base clock speed (i5-7200U: 2.5GHz)
○(Generally) Active cooling
(Note. This may reduce battery life even further)
○Higher battery consumption
• Y-series:
○Way lower base clock speed (i5-7Y54: 1.2 GHz)
(Note. But It reaches 3.2GHz in turbo-boost, while the U-series gets only to 3.1GHz)
○Passive Cooling (No fans)
○Way lower battery consumption

Eve V: (maybe around) 1000 euros
• http://eve-tech.com/eve-v/
• Pros:
○ Screen: (with anti-reflection) 2736 x 1824
○ Even though it is the Y-series, it seems like a great performance thanks to the cooling (which seems to do a great job, but expect throttling during long workloads) (i5-7Y54)
○ Battery: 48Wh (amazing battery life, especially given the Y-series processor)
○ Fan-less
○ Great price
○ Thunderbolt 3 and Type-C and A.
○ Wireless keyboard with RGB
○ Fingerprint
○ (What seems to be a) Good build quality
○ Micro-SD slot
• Cons:
○ Maybe production will not be large enough for the demand.
○Just to be very, very picky: The pen “only” has 1024 levels of pressure, while others such as the Surface Pro have 4096

New Surface Pro 2017: 1449 euros excl. Pen and Keyboard
• https://www.microsoft.com/nl-nl/store/d/surface-pro/8NKT9WTTRBJK/5VNP
• Pros:
○ Screen: 2736 x 1824
○ Good processor (i5-7300U)
○ Great pen (especially if you are an artist)
○ Possible student discount
○ Battery: 45Wh (amazing battery life)
○ Micro-SD slot
○ Windows Hello
• Cons:
○ Very, very over-expensive
○ No keyboard (140 euros) nor pen (50 euros)
○ No Type-C

Lenovo Miix 510: 849 euros
• https://www.amazon.de/Lenovo-Tablet-PC-i7-6500U-Windows-Tastatur/dp/B01N0Z1KJV?th=1
• Pros:
○ Screen: 2560×1440
○ Amazing price
○ 7th generation U-series (i5-7200U)
○ Pen and keyboard included
○ USB-C with video output possibility and USB Type-A.
○ Good build quality
• Cons:
○ Battery: 41 Wh battery (not great, but better than surface 4) (It has a small charger, sor carrying it shouldn’t be much of a hassle)
○ No micro-SD slot
○ Loud fans (although the option can be turned off for quieter ones for a lower performance)
○ No thunderbolt

Surface Pro 4: 1146 euros excl. Keyboard
• https://www.microsoft.com/nl-nl/store/d/surface-pro/8NKT9WTTRBJK/5VNP
• Pros:
○ Screen: 2736 x 1824
○ Great pen
○ Possible student discount
○ Micro-SD slot
○ Windows Hello
• Cons:
○ 6th Generation Processor: i5-6300U
○ Still expensive
○ No keyboard
○ Battery: 39 Wh (very bad battery life)
○ No Type-C

Lenovo Miix 720: 1145 euros
• https://www.amazon.de/Lenovo-Tablet-PC-i7-7500U-Windows-Tastatur/dp/B01N0Z1LI9?th=1
• Note. For 50 euros more, you get the i7-7500, which is a very good investment.
• Pros:
○ Screen: 2560×1440
○ Thunderbolt 3
○ Reasonable price range (especially for the i7 model)
○ Great keyboard (according to some reviews)
○ Windows Hello
• Cons:
○ Battery: 41 Wh (still not great)

Asus T303UA: 1000 euros
• https://www.amazon.de/Transformer-T303UA-GN043T-Convertible-Tablet-PC-i5-6200U/dp/B01LXJUIT4/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1498054704&sr=1-1&keywords=ASUS%2BTransformer%2B3%2BPro&th=1
• Pros:
○ Screen: 2880x1920 (highest resolution in this list)
○ Good battery: 45Wh
§ There is something weird going on here, since reviews generally consider a 39 Wh battery.
○ Thunderbold 3 and HDMI
○ MicroSD
○ Windows Hello
• Cons:
○ 6th Generation i5: i5-6200
○ Seems to not have the greatest of cooling systems, though I may be wrong.

Acer Switch Alpha 12: 900 euros (for the i7 version!)
• Acer Switch Alpha 12 SA5-271-711M - Coolblue - Voor 23.59u, morgen in huis
• Pros:
○ Amazing price
○ MicroSD
○ Type-C port and Type-A
• Cons:
○ Battery: 37 (painful)
○ Worst Screen Resolution: 2160 x 1440 pixels
○ 6th generation i7: i7-6500U
○ “Not-great” fan-less cooling (very hot after a while)
○ No Thunderbolt
○ Expect a lot of bloatware

Brecht_Schatteman · June 23, 2017, 9:42pm

That Miix 720 though, 16:9 QHD and it has normal pixel resolution going on (unlike 1824p from the V and surface pro) and thunderbolt and affordable i7 and windows hello… That would make a though for me to decide… But on the other hand I probably will have to, since I need a decent 2 in 1 pc but I wished I could wait for one with a bigger screen (14-15) and better performance (like a quad core)…

andybotty · June 23, 2017, 10:55pm

For me the U-series processor is always on the cons side.
I remember a lot of month ago we had a poll to go for U or Y (former all M) processors and the Y-series won. I think for most people because of the lower battery consumption.

Edit: And fanless design (fan eats additional battery capacity).

Justin_Loutoo · June 24, 2017, 12:05am

The Competition is slim .
Most do not have thunderbolt C port or has a fan or do not have USB A
There is none out that has the ports like V and is Fanless
HP Elite X2 1012 is close but a 16.9 ratio

All I need in a tablet
16.10 or 3x2 ratio
Fanless
USB C thunderbolt
USB A
Core M …not atom

Only EVE V has this

If the V was not available them I would look at the Transformer 3 (not pro ) as it would be only lacking a USB A port
But I can’t even find a seller for that tablet

So I wait patiently for the web store to open … the i5 with 256 is good enough for me

Brecht_Schatteman · June 24, 2017, 9:22am

Well, the pro side of the U serie is less of a CPU bottleneck when using it with a eGPU for productivity. Although for the moment the extra performance from a U serie is very slim since most of them are plagued with thermal throttling. But Intel has shown a 15W quad core which would have 30% improvement over the current i7 7500U, and the i7 7500 is 30% faster in multithreaded performance than the i7 7Y75, so I think we can see quad core tablet formfactor coming, and than I think the i7 7Y75 doesn’t really stand a chance on the performance side. Of course it is far less heavy on the battery, but I don’t know how much that would apply when you use a energy saving plan with those 15W processors. Ofcourse, the Eve V can do that too, but I fear it will have less headroom before impeding usability.

i-knock · June 24, 2017, 11:37am

I considered both the U and Y series as “pros”, as long as they were 7th generation. However, since you pointed out something that may interest other people, so I’ll make a note at the beginning to indicate that the U-series has a higher base clock speed, but the Y-series can achieve a very high-frequency if the cooling is good and its consumption is way less.

i-knock · June 24, 2017, 11:50am

Unless you go for a “foldable laptop” design, I think it will be hard to find a tablet with such a screen size. Besides, a better performance will also tend to drain your battery way faster.
I believe that the Eve V found the sweet spot here, unless you want a higher base clock speed and you don’t mind fans and a lower battery life.
However, I am also interested on large-screen options, so tell us if you find anything !

Brecht_Schatteman · June 24, 2017, 12:11pm

Well, for me a sweet spot would be one that can open 2 A4 documents next to each other where you don’t need to sneek up to 2cm to read them. And unfortunately, the surface pro 3 that I am using proves that it is the small for that. My 15" laptop has that problem less, but as I said it is a laptop, and you can’t use it to write on the ppt’s for example. So I think 14" would be the sweet spot for being able to open 2 A4 documents next to each other in a usable manner. The biggest tablet formfactor I have found yet is the surface book, but I don’t have experience with it since it is way overpriced. And it also has that weird 3:2 going on, which I don’t really understand for tablet use. I find 4:3 handier for tablet use, like the ipad air I have (although that could be because the apps are all optimized for that, whereas windows store doesn’t come even close to having decent apps available).

On the battery and cooling side: the extra screen size will make the device in total bigger, and Eve can handle 12W cooling so a bigger device will probably be able to handle 15W passively, although fans would be a great help for less ideal situations (such as hot rooms). And a bigger device can allow for a bigger battery. And with the windows energy saving profiles you can make a profile that limits the CPU for when battery life is vital, so I don’t really think that I would be a big issue.

i-knock · June 24, 2017, 12:19pm

I agree with you in most of the things. I also intend to have PDFs side by side, and on 12 inches that may be a pain. And the Surface Book is a very cool option for this cathegory, but the price is just too high as you said.

However, I haven’t seen any windows options with 14 inches and detachable keyboard at a reasonable price. However, if there’s one, I’d be very interested as well

And about battery life, i don’t know how much more, but a larger screen will also consume more battery. And although they would have more space for a larger battery, that will depend on the model in the end.

Skimaster · July 3, 2017, 4:41pm

Lenovo Thinkpad X1 (v2) is a new 2 in 1 with some similarities to the V. USB C, Y-series processor, included keyboard and pen, and a fingerprint sensor (I know Lenovo’s thinkpad laptops have had fingerprint sensors for a while, but I don’t know if I’ve seen one on a tablet yet). Also has a unique kickstand.

Product Page: http://www3.lenovo.com/us/en/tablets/windows-tablets/thinkpad-tablet-series/ThinkPad-X1-Tablet-2nd-Gen/p/22TP2CP011220JB

Review: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Tablet review: Topping Surface's keyboard game - CNET

Still, IMHO, Eve wins out due to a superior design, better IO, probably better battery life, anti-reflective coating, and probably better speakers.

Eric_S · July 3, 2017, 8:00pm

The Eve V battery is quite a bit larger (46 or 48 WH vs 37 WH), so that would also tend to give the V an advantage. Unless the web store price is significantly higher than the IGG price, the V also wins on price. the X1 (v2) price starts about where the V tops out. I went through the configurator and set up an X1 to match the V I ordered and it came out about $450 higher if I remember correctly. Just short of $1900, compared to $1450 for an i7 CPU, 16GB RAM, 512GB storage, and Windows Pro, assuming my memory is working correctly for once.

On the other hand, I love the idea of the snap-on modules. A keyboard designed to snap on rather than use the “normal” Surface/V/X1 style connection could make the X1 lappable. I don’t know how sophisticated the snap-on module electrical interface is, but if they could put a portable eGPU in one of those modules, that might be enough to make me slightly regret my Eve V order.

iKirin · July 4, 2017, 10:24am

From what I’ve seen I very much doubt that they could put an eGPU in there - they simply don’t have enough pins (contacts) for it to have nearly enough bandwidth.
In general it’s a super neat concept, but that’s something that needs a much larger volume than we at Eve currently have to properly follow up - in general the modular idea is great, but as we’ve seen with e.g. the LG G5 or the Moto Play (I think that was the modular one) it’s hard for big manufacturers to utilize even though they have the numbers for it.

i-knock · July 4, 2017, 9:10pm

I quickly checked it out (the X1), and it certaintly is interesting

I’ll try add it next week to the list, since unfortunately I’m too busy this week.

And by the way, do you (or anyone) know any retailers for it in Europe?

Eric_S · July 4, 2017, 10:14pm

[quote=“iKirin, post:12, topic:7890”]
From what I’ve seen I very much doubt that they could put an eGPU in there - they simply don’t have enough pins (contacts) for it to have nearly enough bandwidth.[/quote]

I doubt they could do it as well, though to be honest, even something with enough connectors to mimic a thunderbolt 3 connector would be sufficient to me. I suspect that the CPU in a tablet would bottleneck any GPU that would be bottlenecked by only 4 PCIe channels.

The most graphically demanding games I play would be Kerbal Space Program or World of Warcraft. I’ve never tried KSP on an iGPU, but I’ve always wanted a better GPU when playing WoW on an iGPU. Not saying it’s a huge target market, but if the Eve V had gone with a surface book form factor, including iGPU in the keyboard, it would be far more likely to fully replace my desktop. Not critiquing the decision, just explaining my position. I’m looking forward to my Eve V even if it doesn’t replace my desktop machine, I’m just not sure how much of my current routines will be moved over to the V. I don’t like trying to keep two machines synchronized.

I agree in that I’m not a big fan of modular phones, but I think it’s because in my mind, when you add modules to a phone or tablet, you’re sacrificing mobility/durability. A phone really doesn’t have the horsepower to be anything but a phone-level computer. Tablets can reach low end desktop specs, maybe even beyond that in some cases, but doing so would involve sacrifices.

And to repeat myself, don’t take this as a criticism of the Eve V. I acknowledge that my needs are rather specific and the only manufacturers that would be interested in such a specific market are ones that already have the more general market well covered.

Nicolaos_Skimas · July 5, 2017, 12:41am

I don’t, I live in the US, though I’d imagine you could buy it directly through Lenovo’s website. You can here.

iKirin · July 5, 2017, 7:58am

I’ve never intended to take it as a criticism - it was a very well constructed explaination!

And as for the synchronization, that’s in general a thing when getting to work with another device together with the Desktop.

Once again - it’s not a criticism, you voice your opinion and I’m super happy that you did & hope you as well as the rest of the community will do that in the future! I just voiced my concerns with the modular concept because while I think it could become insanely awesome it’s just hard to do it right in a way that is feasible for the customers & the company doing it.

razaknk · July 6, 2017, 2:21am

Sure, let me know the return process.

Pablo_Azofra · August 13, 2017, 7:38pm

Hi! I’m going to start university 25th September, and I need a laptop or a 2 in 1.
Do you think V will be available for September- October?
If no, can someone help me finding a similar 2 in 1?
I have seen the lenovo miix 720 but I don’t know…

Thanks!

Lukas_Fikr · August 13, 2017, 7:59pm

Short answer about EVE V availability is - no. If you are not hyper early bird or limited early bird in best you can expect V for Xmas.

Hawk_Hunter · August 13, 2017, 10:05pm

Short no, had the same problem and bought the surface pro. Nice peace of hardware. Even world of warships runs on the i7 version. Pretty awesome. Tried to do some office things on it and even as it doesn’t reach the estimated runtime it’s OK for a day at University. Active cooled? At light work the fan doesn’t even run or very slow, had to lay my head on it to even hear it. Wows got it to run that fast that you could “hear” it in a normal room. Everything else it was quieter than my ticking watch in that room. The pen usage is pretty awesome.

Hope I could help you with the quick review. Remember to get the student discount. With that you get the i7 16gb ram 512gb with keyboard, pen and arc mouse for about 2600€.

Need the Bluetooth function of the keyboard of v or a better lapability. Try that one, looks pretty good:

https://www.brydgekeyboards.com/2780937/checkouts/27b785a19fe97307f2259f57378ad6cd?previous_step=shipping_method&step=payment_method

If you do a search, somebody in the forum bought a Lenovo and started a thread about it. Maybe he could answer you a view questions about that either.