Eve V (m3, i5, i7) Convertible Review

Aluminum, glass, and Alcantara are the ingredients from which the Eve V was conjured up. The tablet unit itself is made from aluminum (unibody) with a velvety matte, black surface. The sides are slanted towards the back, and the corners are slightly rounded. The haptic is extremely pleasant, and the device feels very good in the hands. The thickness of the tablet is specified as about 9 mm (~0.35 in), but it appears even slimmer because of the design. The glass top (Gorilla Glass) above the display is fitted tightly into the aluminum case, without any noticeable expansion or gluing gap.

The kickstand is set into the back of the tablet case. Notches on the side facilitate the controlled opening of the kickstand up to an angle of around 125 degrees. The two hinges allow a smooth adjustment of the angle across the whole opening range. 

At a thickness of about 7 mm (~0.28 in), the keyboard dock is one of the more bulky ones of its kind and attaches to the tablet via magnets. As soon as the magnets come close enough to each other, it automatically slides into place. An additional notch in the back area of the keyboard allows placing it either flat on the table, or fixing it at a slight angle. The top and bottom of the keyboard are covered with Alcantara, offering the typical smooth suede-like feel. A plastic strip around the edges provides additional protection. Not only does the keyboard feel great out of the box with its textile surface, but it also looks good. However, we can only speculate how it will look after a year or two of daily use. The areas between the keys in particular are hard to clean and might become affected over time. 

In terms of stability the Eve V, i.e., the tablet and the keyboard, appears to be beyond criticism. The display unit seems to be made from a single cast, and the generous thickness of the keyboard also adds to its stability. The only fault we found in one of our test units is that in one of the two hinges, a metal part appeared slightly displaced. Even though this did not impact its proper functioning, if it were to lead to a defect at a later time, the repair might be complicated, since you can only get to the components inside by removing the display - probably an impossible task for an average person.

With its 1.36 kg (3 lb), the Eve V is one of the heavy weights among the 12 to 13-inch convertibles. The Yoga 920 from Lenovo is unusual here, since not only it is much larger with its 13.9-inch display, but also differentiated from the other selected comparison devices by its 360-degree folding mechanism. The fact that at 1.37 kg (~3.02 lb), it is only negligibly heavier than the Eve V only proves to show that the Eve brings a few more pounds to the scale than the competitors.

The decision to integrate the new Type-C connections as well as two conventional Type-A ports into the device was a result of the cooperation with a number of future users in the development phase. Even though the device becomes slightly thicker due to the full-size USB ports, on the other hand you do not need any adapters. On the left edge, the Eve V offers one Type-C Thunderbolt 3 port (40 Gbps), one Type-C (3.1 Gen. 1, 5 Gbps), and one full-sized USB-3.0 port, as well as a headphone jack. On the right edge, another 3.0 port (Type-A) completes the connections offered. Compared to the classic XPS 13 Ultrabook, the Eve V is even one Type-C connection ahead with this, but the Type-C is also used for charging the device. Microsoft's Surface Pro offers only one USB 3.0 Type-A port and one Mini DisplayPort. 

Testing with a Toshiba Exceria Micro SDHC 32GB UHS-I card, we achieve an average transfer rate of almost 70 MB/s when copying image files to the Eve V, which ensures a good position in the comparison. There are only a few devices, such as the XPS 13, that connect the SD card reader faster and can achieve much faster transfer rates. In the case of detachable devices, the presence of a way to expand the storage or an easy method to import data from a storage card is already an advantage.

The Eve V is equipped with an Intel 8265 Wi-Fi module. The results of our transfer tests are impressive. Compared to other devices with the same module, the Eve V is midfield.

The Eve V has a fingerprint reader, which is integrated into the On/Off button on the right edge towards the top. While this in itself worked reliably in the test with Windows Hello, since you cannot see the area on the edge and the button is not easily distinguishable by feel alone, it often happens that you miss the right place several times before your finger touches the sensor, which then reacts promptly.

As is customary for detachable solutions, unfortunately there is no way for users to get access to the insides of the Eve V. The aluminum case is completely closed and the display is glued tightly into the front. Only a repair professional might be able to take it apart with the aid of special tools. The same goes for the keyboard cover, which shows no way of being able to open it without destroying it.

The Eve V is offered with two years of warranty. Should the repair take a long time, Eve-Tech promises to immediately send a replacement device to the user. Eve also offers the option of a replacement device in cases of a repair of user-caused damages, such as a cracked display. For the repair process, Eve works together with DHL/UPS, which will pick up the device from the user. In the case of a warranty, Eve will pay all the costs. Please see our Guarantees, Return Policies & Warranties FAQ for country-specific information.

The reaction speeds correspond approximately to the usual values, and only the Samsung Galaxy Book with its AMOLED display can break away clearly. In the brightness range above 25%, we do not observe any PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) for brightness adjustment, and below that, the panel uses PWM at a frequency of 985 Hz.

At the market launch, there are five different variations of the Eve V available in total. The differences in the configurations are defined by the CPU and the storage used, and the size of the built-in SSD. The m3 model with a 128 GB SSD for 799 Euros (~$942; $799 in the US) is the entry model, and the top model is a configuration with i7 CPU, 16 GB of working memory, and a 1 TB SSD for 1999 Euros (~$2358; $1999 in the US). Since Intel has decided a while ago to also brand parts of the Y series as "Core-i", this might lead to misunderstandings here. All the Eve-V configurations are using processors of the Y series, which are chips with an extremely low TDP of only 4.5 watts that are cooled passively. This is a clear difference compared to the convertibles from many other manufacturers who use processors of the U series, which are CPUs with a TDP of 15 watts that, with a few exceptions, have to be cooled actively.

To be able to run with passive cooling is a great advantage for a tablet or detachable/convertible. Valuable space can be saved, and the device can be slimmer and lighter. In addition, the choice of the corresponding CPU of course has a positive effect on the battery life. However, the question that must be asked is what is the impact of such a configuration on the power reserves? In order to draw relevant conclusions, we have to take a step further and analyze the performance under sustained loads. 

As we can see in the chart above, our current configuration with an Intel i5-7Y54 CPU is able to maintain the initial performance level apart from a few points even under constant load in the Cinebench R15 Multi test. For comparison: models with Intel Core i5-7200U are capable of offering about 50% more performance here, and the i7-7300U, which is built into the comparable Microsoft Surface Pro 2017, can offer even 60% more, for example. But in the case of the Surface, this is only possible for a limited time, since we have shown in our test that the device is not capable of offering the full performance under constant load and finally even drops to the level of the present Eve V with a passively cooled CPU. The Huawei MateBook X shows a similar behavior in our test. The Samsung Galaxy Book 12 and the HP Elite X2 1012 are faring much better, and although their performance drops by about 10%, they still remain about 40% ahead of the Eve V.

Conclusion: If the manufacturer uses an Intel Core CPU with a TDP of 15 watts, the focus is either only on handling short peak loads, or there needs to be a special effort made to be able to maintain the performance at a constant level. Even though the Eve V remains clearly behind the initial values of convertibles with processors of the U series, it maintains this constant level under load.

Now to compare the results of all three CPU configurations of the Eve V: According to our measurements, the tested m3 version presents itself ahead of the field and is even able to top the current i5 and i7 versions in the Cinebench R15 Multi test as well as under constant load. An explanation could be a possible variance of the chip itself, meaning that our m3 model was possibly one of the best chips that ever left the Intel shelves. It could also be possible that an unusual situation occurred in the turbo clock speeds due to the TDP limit, where the faster chips also reach their limit faster, resulting in a lowering of their clock speeds below the level of the m3 CPU, while that remains at the same level as before (it was comparatively lower initially, but now is higher). Thus the m3 is able to pass the i5 and i7 under multi-core load.

The peculiarities of the Cinebench R15 Multi results are not repeated in PCMark 8. Here the order turns out as planned by the manufacturer, even if the differences are only very minimal. In PCMark 8, the i7 model achieves only 4 percentage points more than the m3 entry-level model. PCMark does not only consider the CPU, but the working memory and storage modules also contribute their parts. We are not able to infer a noticeable advantage of the i5 or i7 version from this result, and neither did we subjectively observe any.

Compared to the other convertibles, most of which are based on processors of the Intel U series, the Eve-V models remain slightly behind. The comparison with our result of the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 tablet, which can achieve a 14% higher result with the same CPU, is particularly interesting. The Yoga 920 with its new Intel 8550U Quad core ULV CPU represents the top in the mobile segment. We consider the Eve V an ultra-mobile solution for content and media processing and consumption. Creative content creators, for example in the image and video areas, will be able to benefit noticeably from faster components, not only in the CPU but also the GPU areas. With its passive cooling concept, the Eve is primarily designed for silent and sustained mobile use.

Eve is using SSDs of the 600p series from Intel in its devices. We had three different configurations for our test: the 128 GB entry version in the m3 model, the 256 GB SSD in the i5 model, and the 512 GB SSD in the configuration with the i7 CPU. According to Eve's own information, the Samsung PM961 is used in the alternative configuration with a 1 TB SSD.

We are testing the storage solution with the benchmarks in AS SSD and CrystalDiskMark 5.2. As expected, the 256 GB and the 512 GB SSDs are ahead of the 128 GB solution. A glimpse of the potential of a PM961 is offered by the comparison with the HP Elite X2, although it is only equipped with a 256 GB version of the PM961. Still, this SSD is able to more than double the result of the Intel 600p in most benchmarks. In the tested 128 GB SSD, the fill rate was at almost 100%, in the 256 GB SSD at about 40%, and in the 512 GB SSD at about 20%. This might have had an effect on these benchmarks, particularly in the case of the 128 GB SSD.

Our m3 model wins also in the 3DMark benchmark test against the siblings with the i5 and i7 CPUs. The advantage of our m3 model compared to the i5 and i7 models is 12 to 16%. The Intel HD Graphics 615 should have an advantage here, since with a clock speed range of 300 to 1050 MHz, it has the fastest settings. In the i5, the same graphics unit is clocked at 300 to 950, and in the m3, at 300 to 900 MHz. The fact that our m3 model performs this well here and is even able to advance to the level of an HD Graphics 620 in the 3DMark 11 can only be explained with a particularly efficient chip that has found its way into our test unit.

With "Overwatch," "FIFA 18," and "Dota 2," we looked at three current games which are basically also suitable for less powerful hardware. Unfortunately, we were unable to observe a gaming experience that is really satisfactory with any of the models, not even in low graphics settings. Only undemanding browser games or older games that do not need complex 3D graphics are possible here. 

Since the Eve V uses passive cooling, the device has no moving parts and thus runs silently. When copying data from the network, we can hear a very quiet coil whining. But apart from that, the Eve V remained completely silent throughout the entire testing period. 

During idle operation, i.e., without any load worth mentioning, the Eve V tablet warms up only moderately. Since all the components relevant to the performance are built into the display unit, the keyboard always remains at the same temperature as the surroundings. If we put the device under load for a prolonged time period, we observe the most heat development in the top left corner area at up to 42.4 °C (108 °F). This is probably where the motherboard with CPU and storage are located inside. We do not expect any limitations due to the surface temperatures. First, the temperatures are too low for that, and second, you are more likely to encounter longer load scenarios when working in notebook mode, where you do not have much skin contact with the display unit. 

At almost 80 dB(A), the quad-speaker system is relatively loud. Unfortunately, you can immediately notice the striking lack of bass. The comparison with one of the audio references in the ultra-mobile arena, the MacBook 12, easily shows the Eve V's weaknesses. We recommend using headphones if you plan on enjoying your music. We also noticed that the sound adjustment of the Windows sounds is not quite right and they sound echoing and distorted in our test unit. 

Together with the two integrated microphones, the webcam basically offers a satisfactory image and audio quality in the test. Even though background noises (music) were hardly suppressed in the test, the speaker always remained easily intelligible. In the regular operating position in front of the screen, the webcam zooms in slightly too much, so the head of the user is displayed relatively large.

Frequency comparison (Checkboxes selectable!)

In terms of the observed power consumption, the Eve V uses less than the competitors that are equipped with Intel Core processors of the U series. Only in the minimum power consumption in our test (min. display brightness, power saver profile, communication off, keyboard illumination off), the Surface Pro presents itself as slightly more efficient. We are also critical of the power consumption of 2 watts that we measured in standby mode.

Equipped with a 48 Wh battery, the Eve V strikes a very good figure in the comparison. Most of the other detachable convertibles come with a smaller battery. What does this mean for the expected battery life? In the BatteryEater Readers test, which represents the maximum possible battery life in operation, with minimum display brightness and deactivated communication modules, the Eve V lasts for more than 16 hours before it has to get back to the outlet. In our Wi-Fi test, which simulates surfing with a reduced display brightness (150 cd/m²); the Eve V offers a good 9 hours of battery life. In the comparison with the current Microsoft Surface Pro with i5 CPU, the Eve V comes in just behind, but other convertibles such as the MateBook X from Huawei or the HP Elite x2 are clearly surpassed. With adjusted settings, it should definitely be possible to last for a whole work day on a single charge. And this is necessary, since the Eve V is not the fastest at recharging. It took a whole 80 minutes in our test to recharge a completely drained battery back up to a 50% level.