CHUWI Lapbook Air review: My travel laptop on a budget

I’ve been testing the CHUWI Lapbook Air extensively for three weeks now so it’s high time that I wrote this review and share my experience on using the device.

CHUWI Lapbook Air review

1. Design

As its name suggests, the CHUWI Lapbook Air borrows some elements of design from Apple’s MacBook Air line. As far as the overall design is concerned, I am impressed.

The first thing that stroke me when I unboxed it was its appealing and harmonious design. The laptop has a compact and sturdy design. When I held it in my hands for the first time, I noticed this laptop is not at all fragile. Honestly speaking, I had expected that taking into account its price tag. Once again I was reminded not to judge a book by its cover.

The screen doesn’t bend and the hinges are very strong and durable.

The shiny metal edges around the display, touchpad and the lower part of the “clamshell” add a very professional, business look to it.

The full-sized keyboard with individually spaced keys makes typing on the CHUWI Lapbook Air a very pleasant experience.

The laptop is slim, ultraportable, measuring only 13″ x 8.6″ x 0.8″ (33 x 22 x 2 cm) in size and it weights only 3-lbs (1.4 kilos).

2. Display

The display is another pleasant surprise. The 1920 x 1080 14.1-inch IPS LCD display renders clear and vivid images. Compared to my good old Intel i7 HP ProBook 470 that I use daily to write on WindowsReport, the difference is significant.

Indeed, when it comes to display and image quality, the CHUWI Lapbook Air gets a big like. The display is one of its strong points.

However, if glare display is not your thing, you may not like that aspect.

3. CPU and performance

The CHUWI Lapbook Air is a budget laptop, so don’t expect it to be the Superman of laptops. The device is powered by an Intel Celeron N3450 processor clocked at 2.2 GHz – this puts it in the mid-range category.

Other key specs include 8GB of RAM and 128 eMMC.

So, if you’re looking for a reliable laptop to complete your school/ college assignments, browse the Internet, watch some movies, connect to your social media accounts, the CHUWI Lapbook Air is powerful enough to help you do that.

On the other hand, if you’re planning to play heavy games, do a lot of video editing work and run tens of apps and programs that usually require lots of computing power, then you should select another laptop model.

The laptop is built and designed for the average consumers, not for gamers and graphics artists.

4. Battery

CHUWI Lapbook Air’s battery can power you for up to 5 and a half hours with the brightness setting set to 100%. If you reduce brightness and run only a few apps and programs, you can extend its battery life by one hour.

Unfortunately, it takes around 4 hours for the battery to fully charge, so there is still room for improvement.

5. Connectivity

The laptop comes with two USB-A ports, one mini-HDMI port, one headphone jack and one micro-SD card slot. Charging is done via Chuwi’s proprietary port.

6. Speakers and sound

Well, as far as sound is concerned, I’ll put it mildly and say it’s satisfactory. However, I recommend that you use headphones or an external speaker if you want to get clearer and deeper sounds.

The built-in speakers aren’t powerful enough to deliver high-quality sounds.

Speaking of sound, there is another thing that I noticed after pairing my Harman Kardon GoPlay speaker to the Lapbook Air via Bluetooth – it tends to overheat.

The good news is that I did not experience any other overheating issues except for that particular case.

Why you should buy the CHUWI Lapbook Air

After my three week experience using this budget laptop, my conclusion is clear: this is going to be my travel laptop.

I no longer play heavy computer games, I play only quick tower defense games that I usually download from the Microsoft Store. I already played Prime World: Defenders for a couple of hours and the CHUWI Lapbook Air was up to the task – no lag, smooth gameplay.

• Buy it now on Amazon

As far as my work is concerned, my main tasks involve word processing, basic photo/video editing and surfing the Internet. The CHUWI Lapbook Air has already proved that it can handle the job well.

If you’re looking for a mid-range budget laptop and display and image quality, alongside design are two of your main criteria, then the CHUWI Lapbook Air is the perfect choice for you.

There is no need to buy the most expensive laptop on the market if you’re not going to take full advantage of its capabilities and features.

CHUWI Lapbook Air summary of the main strong points:

• Thin, light and ultra portable
• Stunning design, it actually looks like a laptop costing twice as much
• The display delivers crystal clear images, good color, contrast, and brightness
• Large screen-to-body ratio
• It costs under $450.00
• Full-sized backlit keyboard
• Good battery life
• It doesn’t overheat after long hours of use
• A good choice for the average consumer

Cons:

• The charging cable is a bit short, so you’ll have to adapt
• The trackpad may sometimes behave erratically, so it’s best to use a mouse
•  You can’t open the laptop using only one hand.

Buy the CHUWI Lapbook Air from Amazon for $429.00.

I enjoyed using the CHUWY Lapbook Air so much that I already ordered one for my younger sister who started college this year. She needs a light laptop that’s easy to carry around from one classroom to another, and I think the Labook Air is perfect for her.

Do you own a CHUWI Lapbook Air laptop? Tell us more about your experience using this device in the comment section below.

If you like CHUWI’s products you can back the company up on Indiegogo and help them fund their upcoming CoreBook.