In regular usage I saw just over 10% of the battery drop per hour, even when using Wi-Fi or using the display at high brightness levels, which is an admirable effort. The 17.5 Wh battery is standard as far as these sorts of tablets are concerned - for comparison, the Nexus 7 has a 15 Wh battery - plus the low screen resolution assists is lengthening the battery life as less processing power is required to render content on the display. When gaming or doing other high-performance tasks, the expected life out of a fully-charged tablet drops to around 5-6 hours based on my usage patterns. The tablet can get quite hot in some areas when the processor is being utilized at full capacity, but it never became overly uncomfortable to hold. Also, charging the Miix 2 8 is quick, thanks to the included non-proprietary 10.4 W microUSB charger.
Results from our standard battery life test reveal the Miix 2 8 performs quite well, at just over nine and a half hours. As the test is run at 75% brightness, you could watch videos for longer than this in a dimmer environment.
Final Thoughts
I’ll give credit where credit is due: Lenovo has attempted to make a decent, low-cost 8-inch tablet that runs a full copy of Windows 8.1. The use of aluminum as part of the Miix 2 8’s slim design is great to see, and its overall size is quite comfortable, striking a great mix between portability and usability. All of this is complemented by Windows 8.1 itself, which may not have the greatest selection of touch-enabled apps, but does have a fantastic range of built-in features for power users.
However the Miix 2 8 is a tablet that I simply cannot recommend. Touchscreen issues, most prevalent when using the keyboard, make this device incredibly frustrating to use (see our video review in the first page, around the 6:10 mark). The performance from Intel’s Atom Z3740 SoC is generally quite decent, but having to purposefully type slowly, or wait extended periods of time just to have the touchscreen respond, is simply unacceptable on any device at any price point. Yes, there is a chance that a software update could address the touchscreen issues, and I will update this review accordingly if and when any issues are fixed. I would have easily scored Lenovo’s Windows tablet an 80, but the fact that there are significant issues to deal with, combined with the display’s relatively low resolution, makes the Miix 2 8 a low-cost 8-inch tablet that you should avoid. Cons: Major touchscreen issues make this tablet incredibly frustrating to use. Display features a low resolution.
