Lenovo Group Ltd. on Wednesday announced an addition to its ideapad range of tablets. The Lenovo MIIX 700 is a 12-inch 2-in-1 Windows tablet which the company touts as being “recognizably different” – a clear dig at Microsoft’s Surface Pro 2-in-1 tablet.

Microsoft has seen some success with its Surface Pro and has even managed to win some enterprise market share from rivals. With the arrival of the Lenovo MIIX 700, Microsoft now faces competition from one of its vendors.

While the Lenovo MIIX 700 is the same 12-inch size and looks very similar to the Surface Pro 3, Microsoft has a new Surface Pro, the Surface Pro 4, in the works. Since the Surface Pro 4 is expected to hit the market around the same time as the MIIX 700 start shipping, we compare the two Windows hybrid tablets here.

Lenovo MIIX 700 vs. Microsoft Surface Pro 4:

Design, dimensions, and weight

Lenovo MIIX 700: Lenovo’s design is familiar, right down to the built-in kickstand. It does add a dual watchband hinge to the mix. The Lenovo MIIX 700 measure in at 292 x 210 x 8.95 millimeters and weighs just 780 grams (1.7lbs). 

Microsoft Surface Pro 4: Said to be thinner than the Surface Pro 3 and made from magnesium-aluminum alloy, the 12-inch Surface Pro 4 should be lighter than its 800-gram predecessor and slimmer than 9.1 millimeters. Apart from a “thinner, lighter device,” don’t expect a huge change in looks as the changes in the design are said to be only “incremental” and Microsoft has promised business users that the new device will be compatible with Surface Pro 3 accessories.

Display

Lenovo MIIX 700: Up to 12-inch full-HD+ (2160 x 1440 pixels), 300 nits. No 14-inch version.

Microsoft Surface Pro 4: The device will come in two display sizes: a 12-inch model and a 14-inch model offering 2k and 4k resolution respectively, both multi-touch.

Processor

Lenovo MIIX 700: Up to 6th Generation Intel Core m7 processor, up to 8 GB of RAM, integrated Intel HD graphics.

Microsoft Surface Pro 4: Rumors suggest the Surface Pro 4 will come with Intel’s new Skylake CPUs, offering significant performance improvements over the Surface Pro 3. The larger, more expensive version will likely boast 16GB of RAM while the smaller, cheaper version will pack 4GB of RAM.

Storage

Lenovo MIIX 700: No word on the entry level storage tier, but you can order the MIIX 700 with up to 256 GB SSD.

Microsoft Surface Pro 4: The Surface Pro 4 range is said to include Samsung SSD storage available in 64GB, 128GB, 256GB, and 500GB with a microSD card slot to expand storage.

External ports and connectivity

Lenovo MIIX 700: 1 x USB 3.0, 1 x USB 2.0, Micro HDMI-out, Micro Sim (LTE / 3G only), microSD slot, and an audio combo jack.

Microsoft Surface Pro 4: To keep the Surface Pro 4 compatible with Surface Pro 3 accessories, Microsoft will likely stick to the same selection of external ports, including a full-size USB 3.0 port (possible inclusion of USB 3.1), microSD card reader, headset jack, Mini DisplayPort and a Micro USB charging port.

Camera                                                                                       

Lenovo MIIX 700: A 5-megapixle front-facing camera and 5-megapixel rear camera with auto-focus and flash as standard. An optional extra is Intel’s RealSense 3D camera.

Microsoft Surface Pro 4: Rumors suggest an 8-megpixel rear camera (up from 5-megapixels on the Surface Pro 3) and a 3.5-magapixel front-facing camera, although we don’t understand why the Surface Pro 4 would essential downgrade from the 5-megapixel front-facing camera found on the Surface Pro 3.

Sensors

Lenovo MIIX 700: no detail provided.

Microsoft Surface Pro 4: Similarly to the Surface Pro 3, the Surface Pro 4 should include an ambient light sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, and digital compass.

Battery

Lenovo MIIX 700: No specifics provided, but Lenovo claims up to 9 hours local video playback. Add in some mixed use and this will likely decrease by an hour or so.

Microsoft Surface Pro 4: No details are available, but the device should be more power efficient than its predecessor thanks to Intel’s new Skylake CPU.

Operating System

Lenovo MIIX 700: Windows 10 Home or Windows 10 Pro.

Microsoft Surface Pro 4: Windows 10 with Windows Hello biometric sign-in. 

Price and availability

Lenovo MIIX 700: Pricing starts at $699, and a removable Type Cover clone is included, making the MIIX 700 much more affordable than the current Surface Pro which starts at $799 and excludes the must-have Type Cover keyboard at an additional $130.

The Lenovo MIIX 700 will start shipping in November.

Microsoft Surface Pro 4: Rumors suggest Microsoft will unveil the Surface Pro 4 in October, with October 4^th being floated as a more specific launch date. The high-end version could retail for around $1,300 and the lower-end version for around $500.

Image via Lenovo