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There are two ways to make a budget Windows tablet: use cheap current-gen components or build your tablet from older parts.
Chinese PC maker Chuwi has dabbled in both methods from time to time, but the company’s newest tablet takes the latter approach. The new Chuwi UBook X (2023) is a 12 inch Windows tablet with support for optional keyboard and digital pen accessories. And it’s powered by a 7-watt, 4-core, 8-thread Intel Core i5-1210Y processor, which was first released in 2019. The tablet has a list price of $440 for a model with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, but it’s currently on sale for $359.
That’s the price for just the tablet, but it only costs an extra $40 to get a bundle that includes a detachable keyboard and pressure-sensitive pen.
There’s also a new UBook XPro 2023 that appears to be nearly identical in most respects, but which comes with 512GB of storage and a slightly bigger battery (5,000 mAh). It’s currently on sale for $399 and up.
The Chuwi UBook X has a 2160 x 1440 pixel IPS LCD display with a 3:2 aspect ratio and up to 340 nits brightness, a 38 Wh battery, and a magnesium alloy & polycarbonate body that measures 292 x 208 x 9mm (11.5″ x 8.2″ x 0.4″) and weighs 810 grams (1.8 pounds).
It supports WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 and has a set of ports that includes:
- 1 x USB Type-C (for charging and data)
- 1 x USB 3.0 Type-A
- 1 x micro HDMI
- 1 x 3.5mm audio
- 1 x microSD card reader
Other features include 5MP rear and 2MP front-facing cameras and stereo 0.8W speakers. The tablet comes with a 12V/2A power supply.
The detachable keyboard can be connected to the bottom of the tablet via a set of pogo pins, and the UBook X has a built-in kickstand that lets you position the tablet at angles up to 145 degrees.
Meanwhile the optional pen is a Chuwi HiPen H7 stylus with support for up to 4096 levels of pressure sensitivity.
If the tablet has a weak point, it’s probably the processor, which is a technically a member of Intel’s 10th-gen mobile lineup, but instead of being part of the company’s Comet Lake family, the Core i5-1210Y chip is an Amber Lake-Y processor based on the same architecture as the older Core m3-8100Y and Core i5-8200Y, but featuring more CPU cores, more cache, and higher max frequencies.
Chuwi probably could have delivered similar performance with a current-gen Intel Processor N100 based on Alder Lake-N architecture, or significantly better performance with a higher-end Alder Lake-N chip like the Intel Core i3-N305.
Using a newer chip would have also allowed the company to include speedier memory: Alder Lake-N chips support LPDDR5-4800 memory, while the UBook X (2023) uses older, slower LPDDR3-1866 RAM.
Don’t get me wrong, I expect the UBook X Pro will probably deliver reasonably good performance for a sub-$400 Windows tablet. It just would have been nice if a 2023 tablet didn’t have 2019 specs.
I’m also not all that confident Chuwi’s tablet will be particularly competitive when it comes to battery life. While the Core i5-10210U is a low-power chip, some of other low-power Chuwi devices I’ve reviewed in recent years have suffered from shorter-than-expected battery life, suggesting they’re not particularly well optimized.
can you simply put a fydeos image on USB or ventoy, and boot there?
it’s a ChromeOS clone, also from China.
i myself currently dual booting win10(bitlocker+), with fydeos17, on chuwi hi10x.
would be nice if can have this hardware
No matter what browser I use (with or without ad/malware link-blocking), the links using fave.co produce error messages similar to this:
An error occurred when connecting to fave.co
That’s an error that usually occurs if you’re using some sort of script or link shortener blocking service. I’m not sure why you’d be seeing it if you aren’t, unless you’re using a firewall or DNS-level service.
Chuwi makes junk, even by low Chinese standards. Forget about warranty coverage. The 4 year old processor should set off alarms. Let’s not forget the spyware Chuwi includes in all their computers. If value is important but a refurbished laptop directly from a quality brand like Dell or HP.
It’s unfortunate to hear they haven’t improved. I owned a Chuwi Hi10 Plus tablet several years ago, and they were absolute junk back then too.
Every single feature on it was a complete displeasure to use.
i got a chuwi hi10x, it’s pen use trig-N, much better than lenovo’s duet 3i (windows), which use unknown pen protocol, also the duet (chromebook 2020), also sucking pen
in hongkong, we got 1 year warranty from PengBo, PengBo cant repair it, but it did helped me to send (another brand)’s tablet back to china and come back hongkong. Yes, it used 1 month. (btw, last time i wrongly enter bios and disabled the USB ports…..)
chuwi hi10x ‘s drivers can be backed up with DISM. when i re-install with authenic microsoft win10 .ISO, the drivers are all SIGNED, which means no place for spyware.
I am very disappointed on your comments and i dont think your comments are fair.
So it spontaneously combusts after a few months of usage, but at least it is cheap?
white racist colonist like you just cant believe chinese are now going to pass thru USA.
pathetic.