CHUWI HeroBook 14.1 review: An impressive $200 laptop with all-day battery life

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Is it worth it?

CHUWI HeroBook 14.one review: An impressive $200 laptop with all-day bombardment life

Tin can this notebook check enough boxes to exist your adjacent device?

Chinese laptop manufacturer CHUWI puts out some impressive budget laptops — including the LapBook 12.iii, Hi13, and LapBook 14.i — but none of these that we've reviewed has hit the rock-bottom toll of $200 that the HeroBook 14.1 commands. I used this laptop for virtually a calendar week, and I admit I didn't offset out with very high hopes. While some of my worries were founded, the HeroBook is undoubtedly notwithstanding a steal at this price, and it's a device I remember I'll continue using for full general productivity work.

Upkeep 14.i-inch notebook

CHUWI HeroBook 14.ane

$200

Bottom line: The HeroBook lacks some common features we've grown accepted to, but for $200 it's a great way to go your easily on a fourteen-inch notebook for general productivity work.

Pros

Very attractive price
Huge Precision touchpad
1080p IPS display
All-day battery life
Solid design

Cons

Slow eMMC storage
Brandish has some lite drain
802.11n Wi-Fi (no 5GHz)
No keyboard backlight

CHUWI HeroBook 14.1 tech specs

CHUWI supplied Windows Central with a review unit of the HeroBook xiv.1 with an Intel Atom x5-E8000, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of eMMC storage. There's only one configuration available, and information technology costs $200. No, that's non a typo.

Category	Spec
Os	Windows 10 Dwelling house
Processor	Intel Atom x5-E8000 Four cores Up to two.0 GHz
RAM	4GB DDR3 RAM
Graphics	Intel Hard disk drive 400
Storage	64GB eMMC
Display	14.1 inches 1920x1080 (FHD) IPS, matte, non-affect
Ports	Two USB-A 3.0 Micro HDMI MicroSD reader 3.5mm audio
Audio	Four internal speakers
Wireless	Realtek RTL8723B 802.11n Bluetooth enabled
Camera	Front-facing 0.3MP
Keyboard	No backlight
Touchpad	Precision
Battery	38 Wh
Dimensions	thirteen.07 inches 10 eight.42 inches x 0.83 inches (332mm 10 214mm 10 21.3mm)
Weight	3.2 pounds (1.48kg)

CHUWI HeroBook 14.i design

The CHUWI HeroBook 14.1 gives a bully first impression. It has a silver chassis that might exist mistaken for an aluminum alloy — it's, in reality, some sort of plastic — and a simple logo emblazoned on the corner of the lid. The laptop is thin, information technology has a compact footprint, and though information technology weighs more than a lot of other similarly sized laptops, information technology's not heavy enough to get uncomfortable when y'all're on the motility.

A unmarried hinge runs forth the majority of the back edge, and it allows for the lid to exist opened with i hand, a feature by and large only seen on premium devices. The lid spreads dorsum to about 110 degrees, revealing the enormous touchpad and wide keyboard that runs from side to side. There's a bit of venting along the within edge where the hinge is set, but there are no fans in this laptop. Information technology runs quiet and stays cool thank you to a CPU with a low thermal design betoken (TDP).

CHUWI'southward HeroBook is a great way to add a xiv-inch notebook to your arsenal on the cheap.

When flipping the laptop over, you'll see two small holes on either side that must exist for the speakers, though it'southward difficult to tell where exactly sound is coming from. Sound will allow you lot to hear whatever information technology is you're watching or playing, but a lot of the time I resorted to headphones as the audio is hollow and a tad tinny at higher volumes.

A 3.5mm audio jack on the right side is joined past a microSD carte reader (expandable upwardly to 128GB) and a USB-A three.0 port. On the left side is some other USB-A 3.0, a butt AC charging hookup, and Mini HDMI. Inclusion of USB-C would take pushed this laptop over the top, simply in any case, the option provides enough for a couple of external accessories without the demand for an expansion hub. Since the laptop ships with only 64GB of eMMC storage, the microSD carte du jour reader is a convenient bridge until you lot add together an M.two SATA solid-state bulldoze (SSD) through the easy-access panel in the lesser of the laptop.

Above the display is a front end-facing 0.3MP webcam for video conferencing and stills. Information technology's understandably non going to offer a high-definition pic, but it gets the chore done if yous don't have anything else around. No IR camera or fingerprint reader for Windows Hello is included here, which is no surprise because of the going toll.

Overall the HeroBook 14.1 could easily exist mistaken for a laptop that costs far more than than $200. Its edges are clean, and there aren't whatsoever plastic burrs, the swivel is smooth and allows the lid to be opened with i hand, and it's relatively thin for easy portability. For most people, it won't exist the appearance of the laptop that keeps them away.

CHUWI HeroBook xiv.i display

Displays in budget laptops unremarkably get the worst of the quality cuts, but the HeroBook'due south 14.i-inch non-touch display really doesn't disappoint. It has a 1920x1080 (FHD) resolution, the bezel isn't noticeably large and is counterbalanced, and it has a matte finish that does a groovy job of cutting downwards on glare when working in well-lit spaces. Information technology likewise has an IPS panel for first-class viewing angles.

Coming from reviewing some pro-grade ThinkPad workstations, color and contrast seemed a bit dull, but just compared to a laptop that costs thousands. Afterward a mean solar day of utilize, going back and forth to the HeroBook from my regular Ultrabook didn't seem similar much of a change. Information technology gets vivid enough for well-nigh usage scenarios other than outdoors on a sunny day, and the non-touch attribute helps up bombardment life. I did see a bit of light bleed along the bottom edge of the brandish while it was booting up with a black screen, but it's not noticeable thereafter.

I tested color reproduction with a Spyder 5 Pro and got back 65 percent sRGB and 49 percent AdobeRGB, both results at the low cease of the spectrum. For general productivity work, which the internal hardware is likewise geared for, the display won't disappoint.

CHUWI HeroBook 14.i keyboard and touchpad

One of the commencement things I noticed on the HeroBook was the enormous touchpad that takes upwardly a lot of the space beneath the keyboard. CHUWI has gone with Precision drivers, and birthday it provides an enjoyable pointing feel. In that location's about a half-inch along the height of the touchpad and a small area in the middle where y'all can't physically click — information technology's hinged somewhere in there — simply the rest is expert to get. It tracks well, it's easy to perform all Windows x gestures thank you to the size, and it's smooth to touch.

The keyboard stretches from border to border, providing plenty of room for large keys with ample spacing betwixt and comfortable travel. I typed a lot of words, and one time I was used to the size, I had no problems other than the clack of the keys is a flake noisy in an otherwise quiet room. There's no backlight for working in the dark, and the blue Fn labels are difficult to see in dim light, but otherwise, it's a decent keyboard fifty-fifty for those who type many words per day. A minor improver is a number pad doubling up on the right-side keys, which tin exist accessed with the Fn key.

CHUWI HeroBook xiv.1 performance and bombardment

The HeroBook has a 5W Intel Cantlet x5-E8000 CPU with a max clock of 2.0GHz and 4GB of RAM. It's not going to fare well with intensive work, and gaming isn't an option, though it treated me well for relatively heavy web browsing with apps running in the background.

Thanks to the low-wattage CPU, bombardment life is phenomenal despite coming in at 38 Wh. With a full charge — it doesn't take long to get dorsum to full when plugged in thank you to fast-charge capabilities — I saw between nine and 10 hours of general employ at virtually 60 percent screen brightness and a balanced power plan. You should be able to leave for the day and not worry about toting along with the AC adapter, although it is modest and piece of cake to tuck away in a haversack or messenger.

A sticky point for me is the eMMC storage, which is quite slow and fills up fast. With Windows ten and some benchmarking software installed, there's merely 22GB left to employ for my files and apps. Luckily, the microSD card reader tin heave storage up to about 128GB, providing a relatively inexpensive manner to pad space. In that location'due south too a panel on the bottom of the laptop that provides quick admission to an One thousand.2 SATA SSD slot for further expansion. Considering the $200 starting cost, you lot can add together a quality SSD and however be alee in savings compared to a lot of other xiv-inch notebooks out there.

Some other thing to note is the Realtek network adapter, which is 802.11n. There's no 5GHz radio selection here, which might be a problem for those who are used to the superior speeds. Using the laptop for a week, I didn't notice any dropped signals and I got great reception even far from my router, and then at least the 2.4GHz radio is solid.

CPU GPU PCMark SSD

CPU

Geekbench 4.0 Benchmarks (Higher is better)

Device	CPU	Unmarried core	Multi cadre
CHUWI HeroBook xiv.1	Atom x5-E8000	884	2,417
Surface Become	Pentium Gilt	2,078	3,934
Galaxy Book2 (ARM)	SD850	2,262	7,405
HP Envy x2 (ARM)	SD835	2,111	half dozen,314
Surface 3	Cantlet x7	one,078	2,777

GPU

Geekbench four.0 OpenCL (higher is amend)

Device	Score
CHUWI HeroBook 14.1	4,007
Surface Go	sixteen,490
Surface three	eight,055

PCMark

PCMark Home Conventional 3.0

Device	Score
CHUWI HeroBook 14.1	1,066
LG gram 14 ii-in-1	iii,452
Lenovo Yoga C930	3,506

SSD

CrystalDiskMark (Higher is better)

Device	Read	Write
CHUWI HeroBook xiv.i	148.two MB/southward	87.63 MB/s
Surface Become (eMMC)	260 MB/s	145 MB/s
Surface Get (SSD)	i,185 MB/s	133 MB/s
Milky way Book2	722 MB/s	33 MB/s
Surface 3	149 MB/southward	33 MB/s

Because the storage expansion options, CHUWI offers with the HeroBook, the plodding eMMC storage that comes stock with every model isn't every bit big of a deal.

Should y'all purchase CHUWI's HeroBook xiv.1?

CHUWI's HeroBook is a great way to add a 14-inch notebook to your arsenal on the cheap, but only if you don't need stiff functioning and are comfortable calculation more storage later on purchase. At that place are some corners cut to continue the price downward, like no keyboard backlight, no 5GHz Wi-Fi option, some calorie-free bleed in the display, and slow and small eMMC storage, but overall it's a reliable laptop for full general productivity piece of work.

The 1080p IPS display doesn't have bang-up color reproduction, only it has a matte finish that cuts down on glare. The touchpad is enormous, and the keyboard is excellent for long days of typing, and battery life should terminal a full day without needing a charge. And and so in that location's the price. Considering all this is available for $200, the cons are a lot easier to live with. Fifty-fifty if yous figure in the price of adding some extra storage, you're however getting a lot of laptop for your money.

Great for low-impact work

CHUWI HeroBook 14.1

About every bit budget every bit information technology gets

With an all-day battery, 1080p brandish, and accommodating decent design, the HeroBook makes it easy to live with some of its shortcomings, particularly if you but have $200 to spend on a new laptop.

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Source: https://www.windowscentral.com/chuwi-herobook-14

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