Below in this post, I’ve added the official press images. The keyboard looks very similar to the Lapbook SE or Aerobook and the build. This is a good thing, over it looks decent just that CPU confirmed to be the E3950 Apollo Lake isn’t. Sure it has a 12W TDP, 4 cores with 18 EUs on the graphics. Still, a Core M3 or Core i3/i5 would have been miles better. I’m hopefully Chuwi will see the light and later give it the Core M3-8100Y since they will have this chip in stock for the MiniBook.
The price… Bit of a shocker if correct $499.99, Ouch! This is too much if it had a Core i5 8250U okay sure, but that price for a dated CPU. Maybe it’s just a place holder on the Aliexpress listing. My guess was $399 on launch. Let’s see what happens.
Coming in July
The Chuwi Lapbook Plus is coming in July according to Chuwi. This new 15.6″ laptop has a 4k 3840 x 2160 resolution screen which supports HDR with a 100% sRGB color space according to Chuwi. It will be the first 4k laptop out of the typical Chinese brands I review. It’s great to see it will have great color gamut and no doubt be a great screen but will it be glossy covered by glass? My guess is it will.
Update: Chuwi now has an official Chuwi Lapbook Plus page up on their website. They are marketing it as the “Most affordable 4k laptop ever”
It runs Windows 10 Home and has 8GB of LPDDR4 RAM (yay for no more 4GB of RAM!) with 256GB of SATA3 storage, but to keep the costs down will use a last gen Apollo Lake 4 core SoC that at least does have hardware 4k HEVC & VP9 decoding. Oh dear, I’m holding out for a Core M3-8100Y version but I guess they have reserved that CPU for the Chuwi MiniBook.
Powered by a Quad-core E3950?
Judging by the info we have 2.0Ghz turbo, 4 cores, LPDDR4 RAM support, and Intel HD 505 graphics I think the SoC in question it will use is the Atom X7 E3950, this has a 12W TDP which is double the normal Apollo Lakes 6W and 18 execution cores on the GPU like the N4200. Needed to drive the 4k screen smoother at 4k 60hz of course.
Will it have Type C USB 3.1?
No word on if it has Type-C 3.1 with PD support. But looking at the image below I see what could be a type-C port, 2 x USB ports, MicroSD slot, D/C charging and maybe Micro or Mini HDMI out. And two downwards firing loudspeakers. I hope these speakers are at least 2W each.
It supports a second SSD for upgrades:
What’s interesting to note is this laptop will also have a second spare 2280 SSD slot so you could add up to 2TB more storage more, a full-sized backlit keyboard with number pad. The laptop is only 1.52 kilos which is very light for a 15.6″ laptop and the thinnest point will be just 6mm which must be the very front of it. As you can see from the image of the Lapbook Plus the bezels look good left and right. But normal sized top and bottom.
The other details we have so far are the battery will be a 36.5Wh one which with the 1080p screens last for about 7-8 hours so with the higher resolution expect a good hour less if not more. It will be officially released in July and once I know more I’ll update this post.
What do you think? I think it will be like a large Lapbook SE, so hopefully a good keyboard (Same as the Lapbook SE) with Intel Wireless AC 3165 and okay battery life. The biggest for me is the Apollo Lake if only this had the Core M3-8100Y or better yet an 8th gen Core i3/i5? However, the pricing would then be well over $550 if it did.
Justinkeyback
Hi Chris,
What do you think. Would I be able to put my M.2 SSD of my Chuwi with broken hinges in the back of this Chuwi to boot? That would save me hell of a lot of work cutting off the Windows 10 appetites for adjustments. I guess the infrastructure would not be that kind of different, or would it? Hope you will enlighten me, otherwise I could as well go for a Teclast F15 or sorts of.
Cheers to you.
Chris G
Hi, yes it should boot fine and might need Windows update for some of the Apollo Lake drivers.
Soyef ahmed
Can someone inform me how bad is the x7 compared to celeron n4100. I thought it is much worse but now I am not sure. Also can someone tell me how bad is the newer n4000 compared to the n4100. I ask this because of a recent sale on eBay uk, that had a exact replica on the lapbook SE except it is completely unbranded and the processor is n4000, for only £75. And it came from a reputable company with warranty. I was going to buy it straightaway except when I tried to research online, it seemed the n4000 is slower. I just wasn’t sure if I should take the leap. My plan was to run chrome OS .
Chris G
A lot worse, it’s just too slow. The N4100 is much better at everything, this laptop was so laggy.
Luiz Felipe Neves
Always a sadness in the processor CHUWI! 4K For Movies Only?
palace
Amber Lake Y is mds and meltdown affected and Apollo lake not. Without Hyper-Threading 8100Y is a little less interesting.
Hualalai
Tragic choice of CPU, but Chuwi’s market is not TT forum members. With LTE, it might sell in the West, notwithstanding the CPU. Perfect for a future CPU upgrade to a Y or U series (U requires a fan or thermal throttling, but U runs rings around a Y, I’ll take a little fan noise for that).
Airwolf
I would be very interested in this laptop if they release one with a 7th gen or later Intel Core series CPU/SoC (M3, i3/i5/i7). UHD + Atom = shitballs supreme. This would be a nice replacement for my stolen Dell XPS 15 UHD.
Chris G
Let’s hope they bring us a Core i5/i7 or Core M3 version. I agree using a dated processor isn’t great.
Sx C
36.5Wh battery on a 15.6″ form factor!!! chuwi is not even trying at this point. coupled with the weak as hell SoC and 4k screen i would be really surprised if it gets even 4 hours of battery life.
Chris G
50+Wh would have been much better so we could at least get some decent battery life. The Teclast F15 with a 1080p 15.6″ screen and N4100 did okay in terms of battery life so I expect the 4k screen to knock off at least 1-2 hours.
Olly
This is really disappointing. The performance of the E3950 on GeekBench looks dismal. I’d expect a Core M3-8xxxY CPU in a 15.6″ form factor – else, really, what is the advantage. A tiny amount of extra screen real estate – but no larger resolution than a 13.3″, same size battery, and just a bigger bulkier laptop to carry around.
This model shouldn’t even exist. The focus should be on bringing an Aerobook Plus or Aerobook 2 with a Core M3-8xxxY instead, and perhaps some minor spec tweaks to the Aerobook like speakers and bezel size.
Olly
That’s really disappointing. The performance of the E3950 on GeekBench looks dismal. I’d have hoped for a Core M3-8xxxY CPU in a 15.6″ form factor – else, really, it’s not worth it. Tiny amount of screen real estate but no larger resolution than a 13.3″, same size battery, and just a bigger bulkier laptop to carry around.
This model shouldn’t even exist. The focus should be on bringing an Aerobook Plus or Aerobook 2 with a Core M3-8xxxY instead, and perhaps some minor spec tweaks to the Aerobook like speakers and bezel size.
Chris G
Yes it really needs the 8100Y but instead, we have it in the Minibook, It makes no sense.
Chris G
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