The Chuwi AeroBook Review: One Small Step For Chuwi
by Brett Howse on June 21, 2019 8:00 AM ESTFor the last several years, Chuwi has been shaking up the bottom end of the PC market with low-cost alternatives to the big manufacturers that offer significantly more PC for the money than you’d typically see. But, until this year, Chuwi has focused only on the lowest cost notebooks. Their signature over the last couple of years has been more RAM, more storage, and a better display than most other notebooks in their price range, making them an easy recommendation in the value end of the spectrum. Today we are taking a look at the latest notebook from Chuwi, the AeroBook, and here Chuwi has deviated from their norms. Luckily these risks all result in a better user experience, but of course it comes with tradeoffs.
The 13.3-inch Chuwi AeroBook is the first notebook from the company to not use an Atom based processor, with the AeroBook making the leap to an Intel Core based CPU in the Core m3-6Y30. This is a Skylake-Y series CPU, meaning this isn’t the latest generation Amber Lake-Y we just took a look at in the HP Spectre Folio – or even the previous generation Kaby Lake-Y – but a generation farther back still. So even though it’s a step up to Core, it’s not a giant leap. The Core m3-6Y30 offers two Skylake CPUs cores with Hyperthreading, and a base frequency of 900 MHz with a maximum turbo frequency of 2.2 GHz. Compared to the latest Core m3-8100Y, it’s well behind the 1.1-3.4 GHz range that CPU can achieve, but regardless, it’s still a nice step over the previous Atom based Chuwi LapBooks we’ve reviewed.
As a budget device, you’d likely expect budget specifications, but Chuwi, as usual, offers quite a bit of value in the AeroBook. The version sold in North America comes with 8 GB of RAM and a 256 GB SSD, meaning it’s well-equipped for an Ultrabook with a price of just $499.00 USD. For comparison, that’s twice the storage as the same priced Surface Go, and you don’t need to purchase a keyboard for this laptop either. As a budget device though, there’s always going to be compromise, and that happens here with the RAM being single-channel only, and the SSD being a M.2 SATA version. But it does pair nicely with the Core m3, offering enough RAM and storage to make the system usable for many tasks.
Chuwi also continues to offer an IPS display, and while that is a standout feature on their lower cost devices, once they bump into higher price brackets, it’s no longer the rarity that it is at the $250 range.
Chuwi AeroBook | |||||
Specifications | |||||
CPU | Intel Core m3-6Y30 2C / 4T 900 MHz - 2.2 GHz 4.5 W TDP |
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GPU | Intel HD 515 24 EU 300-850 MHz |
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Display | 13.3-inch 1920x1080 IPS Glossy No Touch |
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Storage | 256 GB SSD Netec SATA M.2 |
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Wireless | Intel Dual Band Wireless AC-3165 1x1 802.11ac with Bluetooth |
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I/O | 2 x USB 3.0 1 x USB Type-C w/PD 1 x Micro HDMI Micro SD 3.5mm headset jack |
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Webcam | 2.0 MP | ||||
Battery | 38 Wh Li-Ion 24 W AC Adapter |
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Dimensions | 308 x 209 x 15.2 mm 12.1 x 8.2 x 0.6 inches |
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Weight | 1.26 Kg / 2.77 lbs | ||||
MSRP | $499 USD |
To hit the lower price ranges while still offering reasonable baseline specifications, other portions of the laptop do take a hit, as you’d expect. Chuwi offers only 1x1 Wi-Fi, but it is the Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3165 NIC, so despite being a 1x1 NIC, it’s still a quality one. Chuwi also only offers a 38 Wh battery, which is certainly on the small side for a 13.3-inch notebook.
With a new notebook lineup, and the jump to Core, Chuwi has bumped their price bracket up slightly, but they are still offering the value you’d expect. Let’s dig into how the rest of the notebook fares, starting with the design.
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Ironchef3500 - Friday, June 21, 2019 - link
Who? :)cpugod - Friday, June 21, 2019 - link
What?? You didn't hear that Han Solo's co-pilot was tired of being Solo's growling sidekick and is making low-cost PCs in Shenzhen?boozed - Friday, June 21, 2019 - link
WAGRRRRWWGAHHHHWWWRRGGAWWWWWWRRand so on and so forth
Marlin1975 - Friday, June 21, 2019 - link
Really? $500 for that? You can get i5s and even newer Ryzen 5 3000 laptops in the $500 range$500 for a older dual core Skylake cpu is to much.
vanilla_gorilla - Friday, June 21, 2019 - link
An i5 at 2.7lbs, 1080p IPS, 256GB SSD and 8GB of RAM? For $500?Marlin1975 - Friday, June 21, 2019 - link
Yes, look at slickdeals and Ryzen5/i5s pop up quite a bit around $500 with equal or much better secsThis 2.8 pound ryzen 5 was $530 when on sale last for example.
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-envy-x360-2-in-1-1...
And the Intel Core m3-6Y30 is slow on the CPU and even GPU side more than newer chips. Putting it in a light setup does not make it any better than many newer or 1 Gen off laptops in that price range.
DanNeely - Friday, June 21, 2019 - link
sale vs non-sale price isn't fair comparison.Marlin1975 - Friday, June 21, 2019 - link
MSRP does not matter. what matters is what I can buy it for. If the laptop in this "ad" goes for sale for $300 then it would be ok. But right now I can find laptops as good or much better for the same price I see it for now.notb - Friday, June 21, 2019 - link
It does matter, because MSRP is the price at which the product should be easy to buy (limited only by manufacturing supply).Deal is a deal. There could be just a few items. You can't give a general recommendation based on a price available to handful of interested people.
levizx - Friday, June 21, 2019 - link
Nope. Too many thing go on sales regularly making MSRP completely useless nowadays.