Chuwi Lapbook Air First Impressions And Hands-On
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Chuwi Lapbook Air First Impressions And Hands-On

Chris G 22 Comments Chuwi, featured, Notebooks
Chuwi Lapbook Air First Impressions And Hands-On

This Chuwi Lapbook Air could be the last Apollo Lake N3450 laptop I review, and possibly the best one? Maybe even topping the EZbook 3 Pro V4. It’s also the first Apollo Lake laptop to get 8GB of RAM, only a few Apollo Lake mini PC’s use 8GB and the rest of the laptops I’ve reviewed have 6GB or 4GB. So it’s great having the extra RAM.

Video index:

02:11 – Design
04:15 – Keyboard
05:35 – First Boot
06:32 – Memory speed
06:57 – Precision Touchpad
07:13 – Screen
07:41 – Backlit Keys
08:00 – SSD Installation
08:37 – Bios
09:18 – Benchmarks
10:23 – Speakers
10:48 – Linux Test
11:16 – First Impressions
11:33 – Pros & Cons (So Far)

The eMMC is also a Samsung 128GB one with very good speeds (as per the results in the video above). The screen is a fully laminated AUO B140HAN01.7 from AU Optronics. Not quite the same panel as the one in the Chuwi Lapbook 14.1, but similar brightness and colors. It’s also super bright.

The build quality is good, the screen bezels and dark grey look of the Lapbook air remind me a lot of the Mi Notebook Pro I recently reviewed a premium laptop. The touch and keyboard are so far great. The touchpad is a precision one like the EZBook 3 Pro V4’s and the keyboard also reminds me of the one on the Lapbook 14.1, plenty of travel around 1.5mm and as a result, the keys are quite high. But very comfortable I think to type on. It’s also backlit, and due to the high, some light can be seen under the keys. A little distracting maybe and some of the keys are brighter than others. I’ve definitely seen better backlighting.

My unit also has a minor bend in the middle. If you have a good eye you can see in it the video, not sure if this is from DHL ruff handling or it left the factory like this.

The RAM I see is only 1333Mhz spec & not 1600Mhz like other laptops, Geekbench 4 tests are a little lower as a result. But really isn’t much of an issue as the RAM times are better than the 6GB units that normally have 15 – 15 – 15 latency timings, this has 12 – 12 -12 according to HW info. In my quick gaming test, the 8GB of RAM seems to help.

And with that power limit disabled my Half-Life 2 lost coast benchmark at 720p was 104 FPS. Which is the fastest score I’ve seen to date on an Apollo lake? The Cube iWork 5x gets 58 FPS with the factory 6W TDP, the Jumper EZBook 3 Pro with the power limit disabled gets 89 FPS so it’s about 10 percent faster than the EBook 3 Pro V4.

So far the initial impression is this is shaping up to be the fastest & best Apollo Lake laptop I’ve reviewed with the second best screen, the Chuwi Lapbook 12.3’s Surface Pro screen can’t be beaten. But it’s also the most expensive selling for around $380 USD over at Gearbest with coupon GBTPC

First impressions & further info:

  • The build is good, but not perfect. The middle of the keyboard on my unit is bent in a little
  • The bios is fully unlocked, power limits can be disabled to greatly boost FPS in games. But increase temps
  • The battery is 38Wh, so far estimates so around 7-8 hours light use like other Apollo Lakes.
  • The Lapbook Air feels faster than other N3450 laptops. I think it’s the extra RAM that’s helping.
  • Chuwi is using Samsung DF4128, eMMC 5.1 spec with 280 MB/s reads & 120 MB/s writes
  • It’s partitioned like so 40GB for Windows 75GB for Data
  • Intel Wireless AC 3165 chipset. Good range and speeds.
  • Camera is a 2MP unit with two microphones either side. The screen protector covers them.
  • The screen feels like tempered scratch resistant glass. The hardness scale according to Chuwi is 7H
  • There is no PWM flicker on the screen at all. None my eyes can see anyway
  • Reflections are a bit of an issue on the glass covered screen (As expected) not as good as the Lapbook 14.1’s anti-glare covered screen.
  • Maximum temps with the power limit disabled are 87 degrees C. No thermal throttling after 20 minutes gaming. But could do with a thermal mod if you really wanted to push it hard without the power limit on.
  • The touchpad feels like the same one as the Jumper EZBook 3 Pro V4’s, this is a great touchpad.
  • MicroSD cards it in flush and have max speeds of 23/MBS (It’s attached to a USB 2 hub)
  • The Windows 10 Home version isn’t the latest creators update build. But you can update to it of course
  • The keyboard has a huge amount of shortcuts, everything is there including number pad shortcuts.
  • The speakers sound exactly the same as the EZBook 3 Pro’s, maybe the same hardware? They could be louder.
  • The two USB 3.0 ports on the right side are a little close together, both power hard drives without issues.
  • The 3.5mm sound is loud and clean

 

 

 

Chris G
Video tech reviewer and tech blogger. I have a huge interest in the latest tech, tablets, laptops, mobiles, drones, and even e-scooters. Active in the tech community since 2008 days of the Omnia i900 Windows phone. Samsungi8910omnia.com, Samsunggalaxysforums.com founder from way back.

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22 Comments

  1. seemed like a pretty good notebook except now after six weeks of use. the hinge on the right hand side is loose and will make a cracking sound when lid is opened

  2. had it for six weeks and the hinge is already starting to get loose on the right hand side.

  3. Does anybody know if you can turn off the lighting on the CHUWI logo on the lid?

  4. BIOS Update!! (http://forum.chuwi.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=5034&extra=page%3D1%26filter%3Dtypeid%26typeid%3D55)

    DDR3-1600 frequency is bug 😛

    ——————————————————————————
    BIOS Version : N1410AL_TE6_A0L3MWC3_CHUWI_Z001
    Old BIOS Version : N1410AL_TE6_A0L3MWC3_INTEL_Z002
    Author: Bena Zheng
    Description for FAE:
    1,Change LOGO&DMI Info;
    2,ADD recovery Function.
    ——————————————————————————
    BIOS Version : N1410AL_TE6_A0L3MWC3_INTEL_Z002
    Old BIOS Version : N1410AL_TE6_A0L3MWC3_INTEL_Z001
    Author: Bena Zheng
    Description for FAE:
    1.Change DDR frequency to 1866.
    ——————————————————————————

    • Woops, I tried new BIOS, but DDR clock is still 1333Mhz…

      • Thanks for the info. So no change in the RAM speed? It’s not a huge issue as the timings are quite good compared to the typical 1600Mhz RAM. Testing some games I’ve had some of the best framerates seen on the Apollo Lake (With power limits off) Did it change or add a RAM setting in the bios? In the Atom’s we had this and could tweak it from 1066Mhz to 1333Mhz.

  5. Thanks Chris for the review.
    I’ve a question on the additional SSD.
    I’ve asked Chuwi and they told me that the maximum supported size is 128 GB.
    On Gearbest there is a picture that suggest me the maximum supported size is 256 GB.
    In your review I see you used a Transcend TS256GMTS400, thus a 256 GB one.

    Since I ordered one Lapboox Air and I plan to expend the storage, I’m a bit puzzled right now. Could you help me?

    An additional question: can I remove the 40-75 GB partition for a unique bigger 125 GB drive? My goal is to have one partition on the eMMC and another on the additional SSD I want to buy. Is this feasible?

    • At least on my Chuwi LapBook 12.3 is was feasable: I now have the SSD as the boot device and the eMMC as a data partition.

    • Yes, you can use up to 512GB for the SSD there is no limit. (512GB is the maximum size for 2242 sized M.2 SSD’s) You can partition the eMMC how you want and the SSD too. So boot to the SSD, use the eMMC as a big 128GB storage drive with 270 MB/s reads and 130 MB/s writes. This is what I’m going to do at least.

  6. Hey Chris,

    thanks for your first review! What would you recommend for some internet browsing, MS-Office work and Email?

    Chuwi Lapbook Air or the new Jumper EZBook 3 Pro (V4)?
    Thanks!

    • Both are good for that, so far the Lapbook Air having 8GB of RAM feels faster.

  7. Just ran into another interesting alternative:
    The Jumper EZbook 3 Plus. According to Gearbest:
    CPU: Intel Core M3 7Y30
    RAM: 8GB
    RAM-Typ: DDR3L
    Festplattenspeicher: 128G SSD
    Festplattenschnittstellentyp: M.2
    14,0 Zoll FHD Display
    Produktgewicht: 1,3000 kg

    The Chuwi 12.3 has the superior screen but less powerful hardware. Tough decision. At least the Chuwi 12.3 is cheaper than both the Air and the Ezbook.

  8. 20 to >80°C T shift would spoil the PCB in the long run

    • Not really the heat is mostly on the SoC and then the copper heatsinks. These chips have TJMax of 105 degrees I think it is, not that you would want to reach that. But if you leave the Power Limit at 6W or make it say 8-9W thermals are fine. My little heatsink mod could do wonders on this allowing for unlocked power limits. The only trade of the underside would get hot during long gaming sessions.

      • as I wrote the potential damage is on the PCB and nearby chips, not the CPU itself

  9. Thanks.great details.

  10. The GBTPC code doesn’t appear to be working.

    • GBTPC worked for me when I tried. 13% off. I’ve googled and found no other coupons. The old one for $334 doesn’t work anymore.

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