Two-in-one laptops continue to grow in number but the devices that attract most attention tend to be very darned expensive. Not Linx 12X64 - 2-in-1 laptop that has a folded folded keyboard, multi-touch Full HD 12.5-inch screen but costs just £ 280.
If you're looking for a tool to record your lecture notes, browse the web and your budget is tight, Linx 12X64 might just tick all the right boxes.
Reviews Linx 12X64: Prices and competition
The Linx 12X64 is available around £ 280 at Currys, Amazon and Microsoft Store. Its closest competitor is the Asus Transformer Mini, which can now be found for £ 310. It has the same processor, but has a smaller 10.1-inch screen and comes with a stylus bundled.
Only the price scale is Microsoft Surface 3, 2-in-1 but with a slightly faster Intel Atom processor, 10.8 inch screen and impressive battery life.
Take out the 2-in-1 design and your choices widen considerably. One alternative is the HP Stream 11. The 11.6in laptop will not make your pulse beat, but only for £ 220, this is an excellent choice. It has an Intel Celeron processor and a 720p screen.
Linx 12X64 review: Designing and building quality
The design is unattractive: Linx's hard plastic shells are bland and there's no place like the colorful HP Stream 11 or Asus Transformer Mini with its stunning aluminum frame.
I do, however, like kickstand, which is made of aluminum. This is highly customizable, as in the much more expensive Surface Pro and lets you prop the laptop on your desk or lap. With folded, you can also put it completely flat.
Another thing that Linx supports is to come up with keyboard attachments in the box. It's connected to the main body of the tablet with a magnetic strip located at the bottom of the tablet and it feels very comfortable to type. There is little flex on the base when tilted, but with the keyboard laid flat on a solid surface, not rumble. The trackpad under the spacebar is a joy to use as well; it's accurate and has no tracking issues at all.
On the left side of the laptop, you will find USB 3.0 ports, 3.5mm headphone jack, micro-HDMI output, microSDHC / XC card reader and micro-USB port used for charging. Power button and volume rocker are on top. And two side shooter speakers are found at the bottom of the tablet. Compared to other 2-in-1 budget laptops, the speakers are above par.
Finally, you can also get front and rear camera here; They are only 2 megapixels in size, which makes it useful for just the occasional video call. For wireless connectivity, this laptop has dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.0.
Reviews Linx 12X64: Display
This laptop is equipped with a full-touch Full HD 10.5-inch IPS screen (1,920 x 1,080). I can not say it's the best view I've ever encountered yet, at this price, pretty good, especially with its Full HD resolution, like everything else, like the HP Stream 11 that offers a 720p screen only.
With a distinguished contrast ratio of 1,148: 1, the laptop is capable of achieving an impressive low black level of 0.25cd / m2 at the maximum brightness level. Placed in perspective, HP Stream 11 strives to keep up with a contrast ratio of just 325: 1.
It's a bit on the dark side, though, with its peak measured at 290cd / m2. This may be a problem if you intend to use the laptop outside during the day, but most of the time it is fine.
Color is less potential, and Linx covers only 63.2% of the sRGB color space. For comparison, Surface 3 is not perfect on measurable 97.6% sRGB. The color accuracy is rather bad as well, with an average Delta E 4.36 and a very high 19.3 height. Still, for everyday use, this is only acceptable. You can do photo editing on it, do not expect people to see the same screen with accurate color.
Review Linx 12X64: Performance
Being a 2-in-1 budget laptop, the performance of Linx 12X64 will never be its strongest asset. Not surprisingly, it has a low capacity 1.44GHz Atom Atom x5-Z8350 processor and 4GB LPDDR3 SDRAM.
For web browsing, light multitasking and office work, Linx has enough strength, but throws away what it claims, like some Chrome tabs and you'll find it left behind.
I run Geekbench 4, a multi-platform CPU benchmark and are not surprised to see scores of 705 and 2,037 in single and multi-core benchmarks. This is one of the laptops with the lowest score I've come across.
Do not expect to game on it, either. Average frame rate of 10.2fps in GFXBench Manhattan 3.0 and 5.4fps in GFXBench Car Chase, shows the integrated GPU Intel HD Graphics 400 will struggle to play anything that takes away. However, playing games like Hearthstone or Solitaire should not be a problem.
Linx 12X64 review: Benchmark Desk
I also added it through its steps in the Media Expert 4K based benchmark. By just scoring 11 overall, this is one of the slowest devices, but almost the same as the Asus Transformer Mini and HP Stream 11, which achieve 12 and 15 respectively.
Review Linx 12X64: Battery life
Battery life was slightly underwhelming at 7hrs 10mins in our battery test. For comparison, the Asus Mini Transformer reaches 11hrs 19mins.
Storage performance is not too shabby. With a 64GB eMMC by SanDisk, Linx 12X64 achieves a 132MB / sec read speed and write speed of 77MB / sec on the US SSD bench.
Linx 12X64 review Verdict
I never suspect the 12X64 Linx as a high-performance and proven machine, but only for £ 280 for a Windows 10 2-in-1 laptop with Full HD screen and removable keyboard, Linx is a very good low. - choice.
If you have a tight budget and want a versatile Windows 10 portable machine priced under £ 300, get a Linx 12X64. If you can afford even less, the Asus Transformer Mini is the best choice with better batteries and more attractive designs.