Xiaomi is a relative newcomer to the laptop space, having launched its first notebook computers just over a year ago. Now Xiaom is laptop lineup is going “pro” with a new model sporting a quad-core Intel Kaby Lake Refresh processor, a full metal chassis, NVIDIA graphics, up to 16GB of RAM, and a fingerprint sensor.
The Xiaomi Mi Notebook Pro also pretty compact for a notebook with a 15.6 inch display, measuring 14.2″ x 9.6″ x 0.6″ and weighing about 4.3 pounds.
Xiaomi’s new laptop should be available soon for about $860 and up. While it’ll officially be available in China at launch, I suspect it won’t take longer for international resellers to ship the notebook to the US, Europe, and other regions for a small markup.
The notebook features a 1920 x 1080 pixel glossy display with slim bezels, which helps explain the laptop’s relatively small size. It has an island-style backlit keyboard with 1.5mm key travel, and a hands-on report from The Verge indicates that the touchpad is surprisingly good.
Other features include two USB Type-C ports, two USB 3.0 Type-A ports, an HDMI port, SD card reader, and 3.5mm headset jack. The Mi Notebook Pro has a 60Wh battery and support for fast charging: a 35 minute charge should get you to about 50 percent battery life.
Xiaomi will offer at least three configurations:
- Core i5-8250U with 8GB of RAM for $860
- Core i7-8550U with 8GB of RAM $980
- Core i7-8550U with 16GB of RAM for $1070
Each model has 256GB of solid state storage and NVIDIA GeForce MX150 graphics.
Tempting, but curious on the heat dissipation with such a thin design.
…but no TB3, so no eGPU support
eGPU are simply too expensive for the benefit you’ll get over the already available MX150. Moreover, giving TB3 another year or two to mature isn’t necessarily a bad idea.
Well, if you get a Razer Core, sure true enough.
But what I envision in the near future is this:
Ultrabook + eGPU case + GPU = Console at home, Mobile on the go
US$900 + US$100 + US$300 = US $1,300
Basically, the eGPU-GPU would take over the cost of a console.
Yet, with the higher CPU and RAM performance… it means the system doesn’t get bottlenecked. So people can enjoy higher graphical performance, and many of the benefits that come with PC Gaming without the need to build an expensive secondary computer.
You might want to budget more for the eGPU case. They currently run from $250-$400. $100 sounds too much like wishful thinking.