Lavie BT53C: New Microsoft Surface rival features up to Intel Core Ultra 7, bright 500-nit display, and 5G

Fresh off the launch of the Lavie BM94C laptop, NEC Personal Computers has introduced the Lavie BT53C, a premium Windows tablet that looks like a strong rival to Microsoft's Surface lineup.

The Lavie BT53C brings Intel's Panther Lake platform to a compact 13-inch detachable. It measures 290 x 210 x 9.3 mm, roughly the size of an A4 sheet of paper, and weighs just 866 g. However, the biggest highlight here is what's under the hood.

The tablet can be configured with an Intel Core Ultra 7 365, Core Ultra 5 335, or Core Ultra 5 332 processor, offering enough performance for either everyday productivity or more demanding workloads. The CPUs also include an integrated NPU with up to 49 TOPS for AI-assisted tasks. Buyers can also choose between 16 GB or 32 GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to 512 GB of PCIe NVMe SSD storage.

Up front is a 13-inch IPS touchscreen with a 2,880 x 1,920 resolution and up to 500 nits of brightness, which should make it usable in bright environments. The tablet also features a 5 MP front-facing camera, an 8 MP rear camera, Wi-Fi 7, and optional 5G connectivity.

According to NEC PC, the Lavie BT53C delivers up to 10.1 hours of video playback on a single charge. Speaking of which, there are two Thunderbolt 4 ports for charging or plugging in an external monitor. That said, the detachable keyboard connects via Pogo Pin contacts and includes dedicated storage that also charges the bundled stylus while it's docked.

The Lavie BT53C will go on sale in September starting at 611,600 yen (~$3,746).