Minisforum Unveils V3: A 2-in-1 Tablet with Ryzen 7 8840U and Windows 11 Pro
by Anton Shilov on February 8, 2024 10:30 AM EST
Minisforum has formally announced its V3, one of the industry's first AMD Ryzen 7 8840U-based hybrid PCs that can serve as a tablet, a laptop, and an external display, which is why the company positions it as a '3-in-1' system. As the machine packs an eight-core CPU, it may offer the performance of some mid-range laptops. Meanwhile, despite being a 'tablet,' it has two USB4 ports and an SD card reader, a rare feature for this class of devices.
The Minisforum V3 is closer to a classic laptop than a tablet, but this happens often. The system features a 14-inch detachable multitouch display with a 2560×1600 resolution, a 500 nits brightness, a 165 Hz refresh rate (which will undoubtedly be appreciated by gamers), and a stylus support that measures 323.26×219×9.8 mm and weighs 946 grams without the keyboard. The device is made of die-cast magnesium alloy and packs all the common sensors and features for tablets, such as a 5MP rear and 2MP front camera, gyroscopes, and a fingerprint reader.
The Minisforum V3 is powered by AMD's Ryzen 7 8840U (8C/16T, 3.30 GHz – 5.10 GHz, up to 28W) with built-in Radeon 780M graphics (768 stream processors) and is mated to up to 32 GB of LPDDR5-6400 memory as well as an up to 2 TB M.2-2280 SSD with a PCIe interface. To ensure consistent performance under high loads, Minisforum squeezed a cooling system into the tablet with four copper tubes and two fans, a rare feature.
When it comes to connectivity, the Minisforum V3 comes with a Wi-Fi 6E + Bluetooth 5.3 adapter, two USB4 ports, a V-Link connector (a USB-C that acts like a DisplayPort In), a UHS-II SD card reader, and a 3.5-mm jack for headsets. Thanks to the V-Link connector, Minisforum's V3 can act like a tablet and a laptop and as a display for another notebook.
Minisforum V3 comes with an integrated 50 Wh battery, which is more or less in line with what some other thin-and-light 14-inch laptops offer. To easily balance between a long battery life and maximum performance, V3 has three power profiles, including power-saving mode (15W), balanced mode (18W – 22W), and high-performance (28W). Meanwhile, Minisforum does not estimate the actual battery life of the device for now.
Minisforum is expected to announce the pricing of its V3 hybrid PC next month.
Source: Minisforum
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ingwe - Thursday, February 8, 2024 - link
That looks absolutely fantastic! I am worried the price tag will be astronomical. I have a Surface pro and love it but the pricing is incredibly painful. Competition in this space is welcome. Replydarkswordsman17 - Thursday, February 8, 2024 - link
I doubt it'll be too crazy priced. My guess is $999 with it going on sale regularly for probably $899 or maybe with free accessories (not sure if the keyboard and/or stylus are included).Robo & Kala is selling a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 powered Windows 11 tablet with an AMOLED display for $799 and it goes on sale pretty regularly. Reply
tokyojerry - Thursday, February 8, 2024 - link
My understanding is KB and stylus will be included as a set package. Thus the 'V3'. Not V1 or V2. Replyheffeque - Friday, February 9, 2024 - link
The "3" is not because of the 3 input methods, but actually because of the uses: as a laptop, as a tablet... and as an external screen (it has video-in, so you can plug in a Nintendo Switch for example). ReplyIawlael - Friday, February 9, 2024 - link
Actually the V3 is a reference to this being a spiritual successor to the EVE V2 which one (or more?) of the minisforum employees previously worked on. Replytokyojerry - Friday, February 9, 2024 - link
I realize 3 references three types of uses: laptop, tablet, ext.display. Perhaps I did not make myself clear.And being also a tablet, stylus naturally will be included along with the keyboard (laptop function).
(fortunately, it is not an Apple product)
https://videocardz.com/press-release/minisforum-v3... Reply
ThusSpokeJoe - Monday, February 12, 2024 - link
SnapDragon 8 is less than half the TDP, and system interfaces (UFS for storage instead of PCIe) are lesser, so not sure that's a good price benchmark. The closest I can think of is the Lenovo X1 tablet. That's on the high side, since it was built as a corporate PC. Replyogremic - Thursday, February 29, 2024 - link
It's not a known company. No one will buy this over a Lenovo IdeaPad if it's equally priced. And those are around 1100€ with an i7. If they price it at 990, itmay have a future Replynfriedly - Thursday, February 8, 2024 - link
That looks pretty cool. I wonder what the battery life will be like. My guess is ~5 hours under light workloads and <2 under a heavier workload.I wonder if it can be charged via the "V-Link" port? If not, perhaps they can swap it with one of the USB4 ports so that it can be charged from either side. Reply
dan82 - Thursday, February 8, 2024 - link
minisforum makes some nice hardware. I got several UM790 Pro and use them for highly parallel, cpu intensive workloads. That worked out really well in terms of cost, physical space and energy use (compared to a bigger machine).This tablet looks nice as well and seem like good competition for the Surface Pro line. I wonder if that V-Link port can be used as a regular USB port for data and/or charging? Personally I wish these devices just had more regular Type-C ports (4 would be nice). Reply