The Chuwi SurBook is a 2-in-1 Windows tablet that’s positioned as a low-cost (and low-power) alternative to Microsoft’s Surface Pro 4.
First unveiled in April, the SurBook is expected to start shipping in July. But you can pre-order one now through Chuwi’s crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo.
Prices start at $299.
Update:Â The campaign has been put on hold temporarily.Â
Update 2:Â And now it’s live.
The SurBook tablet features a 12.3 inch, 2736 x 1824 pixel display, an Intel Celeron N3450 quad-core Apollo Lake processor, and 6GB of RAM.
For a pledge of $299 you can reserve a tablet with 64GB of eMMC 5.0 storage.
Pay $349 and you get that same configuration, plus a detachable backlit keyboard and a digital pen that supports 1024 levels of pressure sensitivity.
A $399 pledge gets you the keyboard, pen, and a SurBook with 128GB of storage.
I should point out that Chuwi is a well-established Chinese device maker, and the company’s crowdfunding campaign seems to be more about generating buzz for the SurBook than about raising the money necessary to build the device. The company is only offering 200 units of each configuration at the prices listed above, and retail prices are expected to be higher.
The tablet features a USB Type-C port, two USB 3.0 Type-A ports, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a micro SDXC card slot, a 5MP rear camera and a 2MP front camera.
It supports 802.11ac WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0, features stereo speakers, and the SurBook has a 10,000 mAh battery for up to 8 hours of run time.
Chuwi’s tablet has a magnesium alloy case and a fanless design, and the SurBook measures 11.7″ x 8″ x 0.37″ and weighs about 2.1 pounds (not including the keyboard.
Overall, the SurBook looks like an interesting option for folks who want a Surface-style tablet but don’t necessarily need Surface Pro-like performance. The 6 watt Celeron processor should be good enough for basic computing tasks, but it can’t compete with the Intel Core M, Core i5, and Core i7 chips that come with Microsoft’s latest 12.3 inch tablet. But prices for the Surface Pro 4 start at $799, making it a much more expensive device than the SurBook.
via TechTablets
Does this CPU have enough power to push all those pixels? I’m afraid performance will suffer.
I wonder if this would be a good replacement for my Intel atom surface 3.
I don’t think the surface form factor makes sense anymore. Something like the yoga book with a proper (but low profile) keyboard makes a lot more sense.
WTF? The new yoga book essentially has a screen-based keyboard strapped to it. How is that better than the SurBook’s removable physical keyboard?
You should change your headline to “…for $299 and up.”
The Indiegogo website has been being updated for a while now.
BTW, the Surface Pro 4 keyboard is at least $129 extra.
Stop trying to make Chuwi and / or Gearbest a thing. It’s not going to happen.
So is crowdfunding the new way for these cheap Chinese manufacturers to make products with low risk? Not only am I hesitant to buy Chinese tablets (i’ve bought a few) due to having no warranty, and dealing fly-by-night retailers, but crowdfunding doesn’t raise my confidence at all.
As mentioned in the Article may be the manufacturers just want to create a buzz (Free Advertisement) among tech geeks who follow the crowdfunding platforms for popularizing their device and they are not really looking for money to build the device.
I won’t be dumping my HP Spectre x2 12 any time soon, but for a cheaper tablet…I like what I’m seeing here. Although…the first picture showed a white keyboard on black…just no…that doesn’t work with this little device. The other pictures…great stuff.
Lol. They managed to add USB-C to this. I might consider it.