ET more advanced but less intelligent than us
According to Richard Dawkins the intelligence of a species is proportionate to brain size / weight and evolution does not prioritize the brain. Some species would have most need for better eyes / ears, sharper claws, an ability to run faster (towards prey or away from predators). Evolution delivers that which would be most useful.
What if a civilisation way out there had begun a billion years prior to us and had slightly smaller brains, thus having proportionately less intelligence. Our incremental improvements in terms of technology would probably have occurred at a faster rate than theirs. They would have a billion years start on us and be technologically vastly superior.
But they would be fundamentally less intelligent than us.