Chuwi CoreBook X Laptop Review: Like a Huawei MateBook, But Cheaper

[Redaktion]

The CoreBook X is a good solution for those who want to maximize display quality and colors for a budget price. Nonetheless, there are a bunch of smaller details that buyers should be aware of.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Chuwi-CoreBook-X-Laptop-Review-Like-a-Huawei-MateBook-But-Cheaper.548269.0.html

[Randy Pratt]

Thorough review. I guess going forward, we will need a Windows 11 Compatible checkbox.  I see millions in lost sales for those that fail the test.  Who wants to purchase a new device that will lose Windows support in 5 years?

[Erik]

Thorough review. I guess going forward, we will need a Windows 11 Compatible checkbox.  I see millions in lost sales for those that fail the test.  Who wants to purchase a new device that will lose Windows support in 5 years?

It comes with an i5-8259U, which is listed as compatible on Microsoft's website... basically any PC and laptop made in the last three years should be compatible, assuming that Microsoft is serious with this stuff and it's not just bullshit that they're spreading to help pushing partners' sales for unnecessary new hardware. And even if they're being serious it should be simple to repackage the installer to omit those requirements, people are even installing Windows 11 on Raspberrys...

But talking about Chuwi, what has happened to the CoreBook Xe?

[nitesh]

Thorough review. I guess going forward, we will need a Windows 11 Compatible checkbox.  I see millions in lost sales for those that fail the test.  Who wants to purchase a new device that will lose Windows support in 5 years?

If you were curious I ran the Windows 11 insider preview on this, passes the test and works fine, has 8th gen and TPM 2.0.

Definitely recommend throwing in another stick of RAM on this one to double the RAM bandwidth. Pretty pleased overall, but it does have a bit of a cough of coil whine as it goes into idle states.

[Gustavo Saito]

I bought this product and after several months of use I must say the review didn´t do it justice because it has not been compared against other options in the same price point, but against devices that are 3x as expensive. When factoring the price point, this is a fantastic device!

- Build quality is very sturdy, it doesn´t flex at all. There's plenty of metal in the construction, something unherard of at this price point.
- The internals in my model are different than the one shown in this review, and allows for both a SATA M2 device (which came preinstalled) as well as a NMVe M2, device, which I installed for a whooping 1.5TB of storage.
- The keyboard is a joy to use, which an amount of key travel that is very difficult to find in modern laptops, a sensible US international layout, and keycaps with a curvature/keydish, as opposed to flat keycaps that are the most common these days.
- The trackpad is ok, not great, but large
- The display is the biggest selling point, it is gorgeous! For the price point, unheard of quality.
- The processor is powerful for everyday tasks, but old 8th gen Core i5, which main drawback is the power consumption at 28W. This laptop does not last much past 3.5 hours on regular use, or about 5h in Battery Saver mode. BUT: it is compatible with USB Type C charging, meaning you can use an universal Type C charger, which really facilitates things.
- The camera is weak, not very suitable to heavy use of Video Conferencing, but can get the job done.
- The only real disappointment is the fan noise and vibration when the processor is doing moderately intensive tasks. When just browsing the web or doing office work, the fan is nearly silent. But when doing more intensive tasks, the noise and vibration can become annoying if you are in a quiet environment. I wish Chuwi had used a higher quality fan. I looked on the secondary market for a replacement, higher quality fan, but could not find a suitable size.

You should not expect good support or driver updates from Chuwi. There business is selling amazing price/quality ratio devices, with an emphasis on screen quality, at the expense of continued support. It is a champion whenever price is factored in. Very happy with this device when you know what you are buying and what you are paying.

[Nitesh]

Update after owning this for 1.5 years. The battery has swollen and pushed the trackpad out, and it seems dangerous to use. The laptops foot pad that seems designed to press in on the battery for some reason, that doesn't seem good, may not have made contact before the battery swole, not sure

Cheap for the price doesn't mean value, lesson learned