Cube Mix Plus Review: High-end Tablet PC for $339.99 [Cou…

The Cube Mix Plus is considered to be the worthy continuation of the Cube i7 Book. But the former one sports better features if compared to its predecessor. This statement refers especially to the Kaby Lake Core M3 CPU and SSD storage, while most of Cube tablets comes with an Atom SoC and eMMC storage. However, any change can affect the pricing. So let’s get a closer look at the Cube Mix Plus in order to find out whether the manufacturer has managed to keep the price range the same as its other tablet PCs with a 10.6-inch display.

• OS: Windows 10 Home 64-bit
• CPU: Intel Core M3-7Y30
• GPU: Intel HD graphics 615
• RAM: 4GB
• Storage: 128 GB SSD (expandable up to 128GB via a microSD card slot)
• Display: 10.6 inches IPS (1,920 × 1,080)
• Connectivity: 802.11 a / b / g / n, Bluetooth 4.0
• Camera: 2MP / 5MP
• Battery: 4300mAh (4h of continous video playback)
• Interfaces: USB Type-C3.0, microUSB3.0, DC power adapter, audio jack, microSD
• Dimensions and weight: 273 x 172 x 9.6 mm / 700 g
• Other: Wacom digitizer mounted with a writting pressure of 1024. However, a stylus pen and a dedicated keyboard are sold separately.

As you see, the only changes made to the Cube Mix Plus refer to the storage and CPU. But these are the main features affecting the overall performance. So it’s quite reasonable to think the Cube Mix Plus is the improved version of the Cube i7 Book. At last, even the dimensions have been left the same. It only weighs 10g lighter than its predecessor.

The OS version is 1607 after the Anniversary update. It’s very important because this product is compatible with a digitizer and you should have installed this update to access Windows Ink.

Cube Mix Plus Packaging

First, the Cube Mix Plus packaging comes with an unusual set of documents as well as standard set of cables and a charger. It includes:

• The Cube Mix Plus tablet,
• A power adapter,
• A USB 3.0 cable,
• A user manual in English,
• A warranty card,
• An Examination passing certificate,
• And a VIP card.

The Cube i7 Book comes in a dark blue (green). Many think this was a bad decision, because it’s a female color. As for the Cube i7 Book, this tablet comes in white chassis and silver frame. This color combination is acceptable by more users. The corners are rounded for better ergonomics, but do not forget we are dealing with a tablet PC turning into a full-featured computer once the keyboard is installed.

The front panel carries a 10.6-inch Full HD touchscreen. There is also a Windows touch button below it, and a 2MP camera for video chats above the screen.

Unlike the front the rear panel comes with rounded bezels. It’s made of metal. I guess it’s an aluminum alloy. Therefore, it’s not white but silver. The only annoying thing for me is the logo. I would like to see something in English or an icon. At last, the main camera I located on the upper back side in the middle.

The left hand side serves as a main area for various ports. It carries a 3.5mm audio jack, microSD card slot for memory expansion, USB Type-C, microUSB 3.0, and DC-IN. Many can worry about the microUSB 3.0, but as there is an OTG cable, you can connect it to full-size USB 3.0 ports. You can use the Type-C port to charge other devices if allowed. Say you can charge the Xiaomi Mi Notebook Air via this tablet. But you can’t use this port to charge mobile phones that use 3A input power.

The right hands side is almost blank carrying only two stereo speakers. The frame is made of the same material as the back panel. But it has passed a diamond cutting process, by the way.

The top side comes with a power button, volume rocker and a small hole to reset the tablet. The arrangement of the button is the same what we’ve seen on the i7 Book. But as the Cube Mix Plus is a high-end tablet PC, the buttons build quality is at the highest level. They are very easy to push.

Finally, the bottom side carries the connector to dock a keyboard.

Cube Mix Plus Digitizer

Though the Wacom digitizer is not included in the box, this tablet is compatible with it and it’s quite interesting to take a peek at it.

First, the Cube Mix Plus comes with a Wacom feel IT Technologies. Thus the digitizer doesn’t require a battery to interact with the display. On the other hand, the screen is a bit thicker in order ‘to generate parallax’ when necessary. To understand what I am talking about, it’s enough to look at the photo below and focus on the white point on the screen where the pen meets the display.

Plus, many think Wacom feel IT Technologies can cause a blurred images. But you can avoid this if not approaching the edge of about 5mm.

There are two buttons on the pen. Plus, the eraser function on the butt side of the pen is also alive.

One of the main advantages of this technology is the palm rejection feature. In short, the tablet (the Wacom feel IT Technology) automatically switches between the pen mode and touch input mode. Thus once the pen is at a corresponding distance from the screen it will recognize the digitizer and block touch operations.

The photo below showcases the pen is recognized when it’s at a distance of about 2cm.

The pen pressure is 1024.

Though many think this indicator is not satisfactory, you can judge yourself looking at the photos below made by this pen on the Cube Mix Plus.

Cube Mix Plus Keyboard

Besides the fact you will turn the Cube Mix Plus into a full featured computer once the keyboard is docked you will also get an additional full-size USB port. Of course, there is also an option to get a wireless keyboard or a mouse and connect it to the tablet via Bluetooth. But it depends on the work you will do. Say, if you are working on illustrations, wireless peripherals won’t meet your requirements.

Anyway, if you decide to dock a keyboard, below is the link to buy it from GearBest.

The Cube Mix Plus comes with a new Core M3-7Y30 SoC powered with Kaby Lake. As you know, Intel processor microarchitectures always come with codenames. So the Kaby Lake is the successor of the Skylake, the successor of the Broadwell. Most Skylake products are branded as Intel Gen6 processor for desktop and mobile client systems. As for Kaby Lake, it’s an Intel Gen7 processor microarchitecture based on 14nm process technology. Obviously, we are dealing with a more efficient SoC. The accuracy of the processor has been increased by 20%-30% in comparison to the Intel Gen6 processor. Moreover, the performance is the way better than what we have seen on Intel Atom processors.

The Intel Core M3-TY30 chipset is paired with a 4GB of RAM and 128GB of SSD. The latter is the second advantage in comparison to the Cube i7 Book. I am talking not about the capacity but the storage type. SSD provides faster data transfer than eMMC storages in the most of similar tablets.

One of the non-official indicators showing whether a device works fast or not is the startup time. For example, the PIPO W1 Pro boots in 20-25 seconds. It is packed with an Intel Atom X5 – Z8350. As for the Cube Mix Plus, it starts up in 12-13 seconds.

Second, those who have owned Atom-powered devices know the touch feature doesn’t work properly in most cases. But the Cube Mix Plus has no problem with it.

Thanks to a great cooperation of the RAM and CPU users won’t have any discomfort when working with many tabs. The performance provided by this tablet is identical to tablets sporting 8GB RAM and Core i7 CPU.

However, this device comes with a shortcoming – during the work the whole left side gets warm. It’s not hot, and you can hold it. But we have what we have.

Finally, the Cube Mix Plus comes with a 4300mAh battery. We have tested it, and 30 minutes of web browsing at a screen brightness of 40% it discharged by 10%. So it can provide 4-5 hours of normal usage.

Cube Mix Plus Benchmarks

The Cube Mix Plus was tested via a few benchmarks. The results are below.

Geekbench 4

AnTuTu 6.0.5

To get what this mean look at this comparison screenshot.

Here are some useful info how fast it works.

Dragon Quest X Benchmark

Dragons Dogma Online (DDON) Benchmark

3D Mark

Impressed? Me too!

• Intel Core M3-7Y30 CPU
• 128SSD storage
• Solid build
• Sufficient battery life
• Full HD display

• Regular design
• Higher price than expected

Obviously, we are dealing with a high-end tablet PC, which is also compatible with a stylus. I am not talking about the keyboard docking features. However, we have already seen something like this in face of the Cube i7 Book. But as we mentioned for a few times in the article, the Cube Mix Plus is the improved version of the aforementioned device. It comes with a Kaby Lake processor and SSD storage that means all the operations will be done faster. The Cube Mix Plus is currently priced around $400, but you can get it for only $339.99 if using the coupon (code: Cubemix1). This handset deserves the pricing, undoubtedly. But we’d like to get our hands on it for a lower pricing.

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