Dell Venue 8 Pro VS Lenovo Miix 2: Who Wins?

The fight for the best small and cheap Windows 8 tablet is going on and now we confront the Dell Venue 8 Pro and the Lenovo Miix 2 to see who is the winner that you might be looking to get this holiday.

Holidays are just around the corner and I guess that you, just like me, are planning on buying a Windows 8 tablet, but you don’t know which one. The above link will point you to a guide that will try to explain what Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 tablet to get this holiday season. Microsoft has got some sweet Black Friday and holiday deals, so maybe you could have a look there, as well.

Previously, we have did some other Windows 8 tablet comparisons, putting tete-a-tete the Toshiba Encore and the Asus T100 and comparing the same Toshiba Encore with the Lenovo Miix 2. Now, it’s time to bring in a new player – the Dell Venue 8 Pro and confront it with the Lenovo Miix 2 to see who wins.

Lenovo Miix 2 vs Dell Venue 8 Pro: Battle of Specs

Both these tablets come with Windows 8.1 built-in and have the same size of 8 inch. There are many other similarities between these two, but what you need to be paying attention are the differences. We will highlight them to make it easier for you.

• Price – both the Lenovo Miix 2 and the Dell Venue 8 Pro have the same starting price of $299, but you can buy the Dell Venue Pro 8 from Amazon for $20 less, that is, if Amazon is available in your country
• Display – the Miix 2 has a HD 16:9 widescreen with IPS technology and a 1280 x 800 with 10-finger multi-touch support while the Venue Pro 8 comes with IPS LED of the same 1280 x 800 resolution and 10-finger multi-touch support. Although the wording is a little different, these displays are basically the same
• Processor – both Windows 8.1 tablets come with the same Z3740D Intel Bay Trail Dual Core up to 1.80 GHz
• Memory – Again, here we see some small differences, the Lenovo Miix 2 coming wit a 2 GB LPDDR2 800 MHz vs Dual Venue 8 Pro’s 2 GB DDR3L-RS 1333 MHz one. This means that the Dell Venue 8 Pro should be a tad faster than the Miix2. But, in real-life usage, I reckon that this difference is negligible
• Storage – no differences here a 32 GB SSD internal storage for both tablets. To extend that storage, the Miix 2 comes with a Micro SD reader while Dell Venue 8 Pro supplements that with SDHC and SDXC versions. Another small win for the Venue 8 Pro.
• Audio and Video – no differences here, both the Lenovo Miix 2 and the Dell Venue 8 Pro coming with integrated audio and intel HD graphics. It’s hard to expect something else at this price tag, to be frank.
• Ports – the Lenovo Miix 2 seems to be the winner here as it has Micro USB 2.0, Micro HDMI and Headphone output while the Dell Venue 8 Pro comes with an older generation Micro USB and only headphone output/microphone input combo. The Micro HDMI and Micro USB 2.0 on the Miix 2 are much welcome inclusions
• Battery – both Windows 8.1 tablets have  a 2-cell lithium-ion battery and what I’ve seen from the reviews is that both of them average somewhere around 7+ hours. But, the specs sheet says that the Lenovo Miix 2’s can be alive for up to 7 hours while Dell’s Venue 8 Pro promises 8 hours.
• Camera – the Lenovo Miix 2 has a 2 MP front camera sensor and a 5 MP in the rear while Dell’s Venue 8 Pro has only a 1.2 MP HD webcam and a 5 MP in the back. If you plan on doing a lot of video chatting, then the Miix2 should be your choice.
• Wireless – Bluetooth is found on both tablets but where it gets interesting is that while the Lenovo Miix2 comes with the 802.11b/g/n WiFi standard, the Dell Venue 8 Pro wins the game with the latest 802.11a/g/n WiFi standard, which is faster and also Miracast enabled. Read more about Miracast on the above link.
• Dimensions – Now, we’re getting down touchy and feely, comparing the sizes. Lenovo Miix2 comes with the following dimensions – 8.46 x 5.19 x 0.31 in (214.88 x 131.82 x 7.87 mm) while the Dell Venue 8 Pro has these 8.50 x 5.12 x 0.35 in (215.90 x 130.04 x 8.89 mm). So, we can see that the Lenovo Miix 2 is a tad thinner, by around 1mm.
• Weight – the Lenovo Miix 2 wins the weight battle, as well, wheighing 0.77 lbs (349.26 g) versus Dell’s Venue 8 Pro’s 0.87 lbs (394.62 g). So, this means fifty grams lighter, but personally that shouldn’t matter that much. But, then again, it’s up to your personal taste.

Read Also: AMD to Launch a Windows 8.1 Gaming Tablet with Mullins Chips

So, it’s pretty hard to see which one you should go for as each one has its strong and weak points. Go through the article once more and decide for yourself what matters the most and what are the features you’re looking for.

update – the Lenovo Miix 2 does not have a micro HDMI port, and I previously said it comes with one. The information was taken from Microsoft’s Store, but the official Lenovo website says that it doesn’t have one, so please excuse my mistake.