As much as I’ve been down on Eve for the fiasco that was the shipping and support with Eve (something I’m still not keen on because the lack of a solution for my broken screen), I still use my V everyday and I actually love it as a simple work computer.
Use it as my daily driver for Office, emails, light Photoshop and video streaming - my use in a nutshell. i5 performance is good enough, battery life is great but keyboard is mediocre and the pen is nothing to write home about.
But the main things that I personally would like to see improve in v2 would be:
smaller bezels
lighter! ← very much this if possible - not fussed about thickness but more the weight
a working fingerprint reader/Windows Hello cam
a keyboard similar to a Brygde which would improve lapability (maybe as an option?)
Guess my needs are simple, more iterative than anything else
“what makes my V awesome” here it is:
the battery life is awesome, never had such an experience! AND I would not mind weight, if the battery stays the same or better!!!
Screen is very good, I like it, but smaller bezels would be good, too, would make it a little smaller.
V is for me my drawing tablet (ArtRage) and from time to time, I can use it for browsing the internet or even typing = for this I do NOT need a connected keyboard. A good BT-only keyboad, which I can switch on and off as needed, is sufficient!!
The pen was good but a BT pen would maybe be better, I don’t know…
For typing work like composing, writing long emails etc, I would use a laptop with a keyboard always connected…
… My yoga700 11.6" has case-problems…
… I would be happy if you guys could replace it with an awesome thin laptop… I digress …
What makes it great is the excellent portability with unique features competitors still don’t have… at an affordable price.
I use my V for personal software development activity, watching Netflix, working on small Word documents, writing emails, browsing the internet, casual gaming with very light games. When I can connect it to two monitors, I try to do two things at once. Unfortunately I had to give up on this due to problems with the thermals.
The Eve V was already good. In my view you have to focus on consolidating by fixing some outstanding problems while doing the bare minimum to put the hardware in line with today’s expectations. Here’s what I would expect and what I wouldn’t expect from a refresh.
fix the damn keyboard. I recently purchased a spare keyboard with a different layout… and it’s worse than the previous one. This one is actually defective as it’s clearly warped with touchpad buttons not working. I didn’t bother asking for replacement as I felt I would have just wasted both my time and yours. And, please, put some symbols to make it clear how certain combinations work: I really can’t wrap my head around the Bluetooth functionality…
you need a 4-core processor to bring it up-to-date. It really makes the difference in my opinion. Work on the cooling solution (like by using these new graphite-based thermal pads that behave almost as normal thermal paste) as I did see the processor throttle significantly.
the USB-C ports are lose, due to the profile not being straight. It’s really, really bad. You’ve got to fix this.
the USB-C ports, either they are all TB3 or you put some engraving to tell which is which. Also, with the Toshiba docking station I used for some reason it wasn’t stable unless I connected also the power supply of the V, whereas a more power hungry laptop works with no issue at all… so that’s something you might want to look into in order to make sure compatibility is fine.
take some time to play around with the TB3 port and some dock connected with a monitor: you’ll see the processor temperature go up 10°C straight away. Give it 10 minutes to “warm up” and you will observe the processor throttle like crazy to the point even Netflix will consistenly start to pause intermittently. This is very bad as it effectively prevented me from using a single cable to connect a TB3 dock (with 2 monitors in my case). To note that this temperature increase happens also on a TB3 laptop so it’s not your fault: it’s just something you might want to look into to determine whether the severe throttling can mitigated or not (by implementing a better cooling solution).
add UEFI on-display keyboard on boot (some virtual button that stays there for the first few seconds of startup that enables showing it would be sufficient) with a fixed US-ANSI layout. It would allow for BitLocker use without physical keyboard. I did eventually manage to encrypt my account using another Windows Pro feature, but BitLocker is safer and would open to professional use where encryption at rest is important.
devise a magnetic power cord like Microsoft’s. Put it on a “dongle” so it connects to a USB-C, so you have a nice easily replaceable adapter. This is more of a “nice-to-have” though.
speakers can be a bit “meh” but don’t lose your sleep over them.
display is great. Don’t touch it.
form factor is great. Don’t touch it (although I will accept an increase in thickness and flat sides to fix the USB-C problems). Added benefit of not touching it is compatibility of a hopefully fixed keyboard with older models.
ram and ssd offerings are great.
battery is great. Might not be “the best ever” according to benchmarks but it’s still absolutely brilliant.
weight is great, makes it feel solid. I wouldn’t worry about it.
Biggest problems for me were keyboard and thermals (and cables falling off). Everything else is either brilliant or good enough.
Really I use my current tablet for media mostly. 90% of the time I’m using my ANC Bluetooth Headphones for sound. My “high-end” laptop sits parked on my desk hooked to an external monitor and I use a wireless keyboard with a built in track pad to do most of the things I have to get done. What makes a 2-in-1 so great is being able to minimize everything I need into a single easy to use package. I need power reliability mobility and battery life without sacrificing productivity and features.
I use my V for remote medical imaging reporting. Weight is am important consideration for me as is screen size. Ultimately, i changed to 15" Macbook pro (i feel like i have cursed on this forum!). For the work I do, the screen is great and switching between screens and scrolling through images has been smoother.
I have had problems with the V screen in terms of native colour which i have not had with the macbook.
I remain a staunch supporter of Eve and would definitely consider an upgrade based on screen size and portability.
The V is a nice Tablet and its light and has a long battery runtime so it can be used everywhere.
Well not exactly everywhere, you need a table. Can we improve the keyboard and make the connection stronger so the V2 can be used either with the kickstand or with the keyboard holding it - like a regular notebook
Longtime follower of Eve community and purchased the Eve V in December of 2017. Only just recently joined the forum. I love my V, though there have been issues. I have also been thinking about the next generation for a while. The black anodized aluminum body, 2K IGZO touch display, colorful keyboard, port selection, and price won me over from the Surface Pro. Here are some suggestions I thought would make the Eve V 2.0 awesome.
Display: Same great screen, it’s awesome and very color accurate. Some minor IPS glow or backlight bleed on the edges. The only thing that would solve that would be putting in an OLED display, but that would probably drive the price way up. The anti-glare coating should be less susceptible to scratching. An oleophobic coating to prevent oily fingerprints from getting onto the touchscreen and help it stay clean.
Pen support: Full compatibility with the Surface Pen (4092 levels and tilt support) or redesign the pen to be flatter so it can be supported by the magnets better.
Keyboard: I know there were problems with the alcantara keyboard, I had replaced and after the second one’s internal ribbon break I upgraded to a metal one by Brydge, and it’s great. What I liked about the Eve V keyboard was the soft black alcantara fabric, the large glass trackpad, and the colorful keys. I think it would be cool if you made a keyboard like Brydge’s but it had oleophobic coating on the metal and the keys so it wouldn’t pick up so many fingerprints, and the backlit lit keys would light up like a Razer Blade ( but not individually lit). Also a larger glass trackpad would make using it as a mouse easier. If we were to make the Eve V 2.0 with a metal keyboard, the hinges that support it could be magnetic and attach to the bezel and wouldn’t slide on the display. I love how the Brydge keyboard is solid enough so I can use the V on my lap so it feels like a real laptop, but if I want to watch a movie or draw, I can easily pull it out and use it as a tablet. The Brydge keyboard works perfectly with bluetooth and to turn it on and off is super simple though it lags a bit. It even has a battery level and caps lock LED indicators which would be great to include. Maybe instead of the divisive oops! key a simple back arrow symbol or regular Backspace would be best. I don’tvknow how you could fit a taller glass trackpad, but a wider one would make using it easier. Having the teackpad centered on the Spacebar would be be aesthetically pleasing, but would it make it harder on left-handed people? Also dedicated left and right mouse buttons would be good, or maybe the integrated ones should have a more tactile click.
The chassis: I love the black aluminum body, but I wonder how we could make it less suseptible to nicks from plugging in headphones and cables. it’s minor, but increased durability would be good. The kickstand was good, but I think the bottom edge could have some rubber so it doesn’t scrape on the table. The rounded edges look and feel great, but instead of a trapazoid shap, I think it would be better if the sides were flat. The bezels could be half the sizebut slimmer. know they’re designed to be wide enough for thumbs but it would be wide enough. I’d look more like a modern device and the screen would appear larger.
Cameras: I don’t know who uses cameras on a tablet or a laptop, but I suppose if someone want to use Skype they’d need a camera. Maybe they could attach a real high quality web cam if they want to do video calls or take pictures. Honestly I never use the front or the back cameras. I think we could save a little money and not include the cameras. It’d make the whole thing sleeker and minimalistic. If there has to be a camera, maybe it could be smaller. There’s not some sort of rule that tablet computers need cameras, is there?
Ports: the port selection on the Eve V is great, way more than the Surface Pro and even had USB type C Thunderbolt 3! I bought a Razer Core X egpu to use with my Eve V for some gaming, and it was pretty good. At least it was better than using the inegrated Intel graphics, the CPU wouldn’t be able to keep up with something like a GTX 1080 TI (I had an RTX 2060) or any high end GPU. But Thunderbolt 3 is great for connecting to multiple external monitors and transfering files at 40GBps. So gaming on a V shoukdn’t really be a high priorty, as the 15 Watt mobile CPU would bottleneck the GPU. When working on an external monitor, I’d plug in a mouse and keyboard, but there wouldn’t be any ports for an external SSD, which was problematic, but if there was a good dock (project Donald Dock) I’d buy that, but one or two more USB A ports would be cool. Maybe both USB type C ports should be Thunderbolt 3 (or 4?). Perhaps the ports should be moved down closer to the bottom. The fingerprint scanner is awesome and it works most of the time, perhaps it needs more tuning with software. Audio from the 3.5 mm jack sounds great and the volume rocker is minimalist, which is good.
Software: I like the custom splash screen, but what if we included the Eve-Tech or Eve Devices logo and some cool cyberpunk hacker animation! Software updates like BIOS, battery, Goodix scanner, etc, should be released regularly after some internal testing and maybe some community beta testing. Software improvements are always appreciated. I’d love to see more community designed wallpapers and themes for those of us that are creative.
I’m sure there are more features or improvements that could be added that others want, but these are all I could think of for now. Perhaps in the future I can share a design mockup of my idea of the Eve V 2.0.
Nope. This is technically impossible. It’s not just a sturdier connection, it’s a weight issue. The keyboard part is always lighter at a 2in1 Tablet. So the setup will always flip backwards in Laptop mode…
Not a V user, but there is at least one thing I can comment on as someone who took part in the design process and ended up not buying one.
For me this was one of the main factors in finally not buying the V. Being stuck with a broken screen like several people here, or having the whole device flawed by the failure of one single component… not nice.
I know repairability is a challenge in this kind of devices, but it’s a challenge that can be solved by design. Being able to replace the screen and (at least) the battery would be something I’d expect from any good device.
In my company we just replaced the batteries of all the Dell XPS 13 ultrabooks we have. We did it ourselves with normal tools. We could also easily upgrade de SSD disks if we needed to.
Until 2in1s get to that point, I feel reluctant to put any money into them, as much as I love the form factor.
Eve V (2020) and Eve V Pro with low powered (wattage) screen to save energy. Both need to last enough for 8h to 10h of standard usage (not video looping test). Please also give option to replace the battery.
The Eve V (2020) can use the same form factor with Comet Lake Y processor. To capitalise on the production economies of scale, it’s an idea to reduce the variances, with two SKU only - i7 processor with 256GB NVMe storage and 16GB RAM, and another version with i7 processor with 512GB NVMEe storage and 16GB RAM. Y processor can only support up to 16GB of RAM to my limited understanding.
On the other hand Eve V Pro uses a new form factor. I’m always impressed by Vaio Z Canvas form factor hence it’s always a dream to have either between 13.5 inch to 15 inch size with 3:2 or 4:3 aspect ratio (and you can use it in portrait to capitalise on the height). Processor can range from Comet Lake U series with dedicated GPU (like Razer Blade Stealth or the latest Spectre x360 15) or using Ice Lake G series with Iris Plus graphic. Entry level spec can be like the latest 16" MacBook Pro at 512GB NVME storage and 16GB RAM. Maybe up to 1TB storage and 32GB RAM but with the same processors to reduce production variances hence more manageable on supply chain and cost fronts. Considering the size, magnesium alloy would be beneficial to reduce weight.
I got my device in December 2019 for writing, and some light editing/after effects work.
Love the colour accurate screen from what I’ve seen.
Love the form factor
Love the ports
Love the feel of typing on the device, which blew me away for such a thin keyboard. I hope my keyboard doesn’t end up having any issues.
Love the battery life.
Don’t love that the battery drains when it should be asleep, so I have to turn it off every time I want to put it away if I need to use it a bit later.
Don’t love how long it takes for the computer to turn on, and that I need to hold down the power button for a few seconds for it to turn on.
Don’t love the pen, it works for me, but it could be more repsonsive, I’m assuming there are easy fixes for that, especially with all the new pen/screen tech that’s been released over the past few years.
I would love a full sized SD Card slot reader instead of the mini sd card reader. If you could fit one on that back that would be crazy. It would be a godsend for people who shoot video or photos.
I would love a better front facing camera, for skype calling. l
That’s it! Overall I love the device. I got it for writing and light editing, but I was surprised that I could do some light vfx work on it as well. With the new version having an updated CPU (Maybe one of those tasty Ryzens with built in Navi graphics?) It would be everything I would need in a device.
Thing that stopped me from buying V is the way how the screen rests and needs flat surface. I would buy it if it has a magnet attached keyboard with adjustable hinge.
My 2 in 1 became my main computer. And I say that I prefer my V to a professional surface that I could use and it is still very efficient in the new generation.
I use several ways (the V allows it is what I like):
as a simple tablet for surfing, streaming (netflix, youtube …), reading pdf,
as a tablet for drawing or making a 3d model.
as a computer with keyboard and mouse, for the use of word, excels or programming software.
What is important for me in the new generation is to preserve or improve:
the screen which is awesome,
autonomy which is very good. (i have i7 with 1to of storage)
the storage of 1to (which allows me to have the margin because I have software that can be greedy
the connectors
the chargers without lights
the solidity, I do not want a product that could break or be fragile, too many modern devices we fail.
What must be improved
the keyboard and pogo connectors (I regularly have false contacts) and I find that Bluetooth is a very good idea but currently lacks responsiveness.
increase the number of stylus presses and if possible add tilt management.
cameras (because currently they are useless so much not to have them)
the usb c connectors wear out, they hold the cables less well, except the tablet is only 2 years old.
What would also be nice is to have a crutch that goes further in degrees.
I specify that I am a buyer for this new version. In the high-end version.
I put more than asked but I will postpone in the topics in the future what I said.
I’ve primarily been using a prototype V rather than a finished one, and while the finished one is better in almost all regards, there’s one important thing it lost from the prototype stage. The status light to show that it’s on. With how finicky it occasionally is to turn on, being able to hold it up and look for something lighting up is really nice.
Hello good folks,
What I hope for present Eve V and future Eve V is a proper cover. When in tablet mode I miss the iPad-style cover which folds to that triangle-shaped handle. That kind of handle is ergonomic in every case but especially concerning the quite a heavy weight of Eve.
I’ve been using my V mostly for simple daily tasks, watching videos, browse internet, but sometimes I need it for design work, 3D modeling, Photoshop, and video rendering.
Apart from the many times mentioned (and still a issue for me) broken keyboard ribbon cable and non-reliable fingerprint reader. I have had issues where the integrated Bluetooth module fails to boot at start up (apparently it has something to do with the wifi card it’s integrated with? I’m not that techy)
I have also had issue when I put it to sleep or hibernate and packed it in my bag, it would randomly wakeup on its own. And by the time I check again the device would be really hot, and several touch tracker would be on screen. Rendering the device unusable at that time, and requires a hard reboot. Might be an issue worth looking into.
The hinge on my V has a bit of play… I hasn’t given me any trouble yet, but I’m a bit worried.
What I enjoyed about V?
Pretty much every aspect! The ports, no bloatware, portability, battery life (it last longer than my Bluetooth headphones! Bravo!), The keyboard (while it was still working, the backlight; Bluetooth function pretty much in the fly! Really helpful when working with small desk space!)
I’ve back this project since indiegogo, it’s a really long but fulfilling journey with you! Great work!
I’ll respond just to the question right now. I have my issues with my original V, though overall I’m very happy with it.
What do you think makes 2-in-1 devices awesome? How do you use yours?
I’m with @James_Wright above in that I use it as a tablet for media consumption, but I can use it as a decent developer laptop when I need it for actual work. Sure it takes a bit longer on the compile, but not so much that I can’t use it effectively. And the form factor is pretty much “just right” for me, in that it’s good for media, but not so huge I can’t take it places.
I’ve been fortunate as well to only have had minor problems. Re-connect my keyboard, and it behaves. Little more than that.
Still, when the technical requests/requirements, and more detailed bugs to be sure to address later happen, then you’ll get more, but overall, I’m really glad I got my V.
here it is:
What do you think makes 2-in-1 devices awesome? How do you use yours?