*More on the design, Linux test and internals can be found in my Chuwi MiniBook first look video here:* ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-mMPaVgDxWpA.html 02:22 - Screen 03:44 - Fingerprint reader 04:12 - Keyboard & TrackPoint 05:23 - Benchmarks & battery life 07:44 - Real-world performance 10:33 - Webcam sample 11:03 - Audio & sample 11:22 - Gaming: GTA V & CSGO 12:53 - Thermals inside & out 13:44 - Final thoughts 16:03 - Pros & Cons
Now before all you all correct me fifty times over. Yes eMMC stands for Embedded Multimedia Card not Embedded Multimedia Controller. I know that & you know that. I said the wrong thing no idea why (Not enough coffee?) but I let it slide! So please also let it slide, thank you for understanding. Have a great day and thank you for watching!
will let it slide this time, but next time it may stick lol. people are so quick to find tongue slips . and forget about the excellent review. honestly your reviews are like having a best friend who is a techie advising you when buying stuff. the best.
@@supernova1976 Yes thing is people love to correct all the slip-ups. But I don't script things at all and it's off the top of my head so these slip-ups happen and heard it in the edit but thought oh whoops close enough. Now all the experts that love to correct everyone have some ammunition! Thank you for watching!
Oddly enough, I got this as a gift and thought I would never use it. But after a month I spend about 60% of my on screen time on this and maybe 25-30% on my MacBook. Rest is my phone. It's actually pretty convenient if you move around.
I picked one of these up about a year ago - I'm really very pleased. I wanted a Windows 11 laptop I could carry very easily. It gets used for Google Chrome and PowerPoint (Not much else). Both at home and in the office, I use a second monitor linked via the USB C connecter. I can use an external keyboard but my use profile doesn't really call for it. I do use a mouse. This isn't a machine for gamers and other who want high end use, but it works beautifully for light users such as myself. I don't care about the battery limitation as the USB C has a power supply as well as the monitor. Overall, I'm very pleased.
Finally !!!! a small device with a BRIGHT screen! Nice! There are sooo many good, small and cheap screens available like used in Android tablets. I personally use these small devices for web/shopping and YT content - but I am bothered from excessive ads online; and that´s why I like to use Windows Devices instead of Android ones. Disclaimer: The only winner on online ads is Alphabet, NOT the content creator! If any want to support that, do it differently.
Great review. The first video I watched wat the one of the Mi Max 3, now I have it as my main phone. Thank you so much for making this great content. Oh, btw I also live in Spain.
good laptop to do office work on the go (+entertainment) on tight spaces like plane, train or buses (might be even a godsend) but that battery is such a dealbreaker imo
@@flipp081 yeah but definitely a challenge cause small chassis can't fit a big battery but then again what's the point of small laptop hopefully there's going to be a great product in this category
Give it the ports and size of the GPD Micro PC, and I'm in. Actually, GPD needs to just add a touchscreen, camera, and swap out their trackpad for the touchpoint (or a nub), and I'm sold on the MicroPC.... I guess that eventually, someone will come in and merge the best of both...
I concur. As for me, it does not need to have good gaming performance. I would buy it for emails, spreadsheets, messenger, and some work related things.
@@TheBoxsMan i wasnt talking about only gaming, there are other things that you can do with it as a tablet, you could draw or read on it, but if you are holding it, you need somewhere to hold it from.
Hi Chris, thanks for your good review! Now you got me interested... ;-] If we were just, surfing on the internet and using Microsoft office (Excel mainly), do you think N4100 without adding an SSD would cut it? Will there be any chance of lag with the machine? :O
I'd like to see more functional UMPC's, they remind me of the old PDA's which were basically an accessory to a main PC. I was looking for one for ages and ended up buying a second hand convertible tablet with removable kb and separate dock. It's too bad the UMPC's can't have removable keyboards (yet). I walk into the house, put the tablet in the dock, when I go out I connect it to the kb, it's extremely convenient, it's just a little larger than I wanted (11.6" by 7.2").
@@Techtablets I'd love to see a combination of it, basically a tablet with a dock and keyboard. I have the Samsung ATIV pro 700T and definitely appreciate the proper KB. (With metal chassis and no heat coming off it)
The problem is the Ryzen is RAM hungry and tends to run hotter than these chips. A lot more going on, on a smaller die. Proper cooling is key, but then the size of the unit must grow to accommodate this change. It starts to lose it's pocketability after that. Look up the SmachZ. It's not really panning out as they had hoped. Too hot, too heavy, too much battery drain. (90-120 minutes on a full charge!)
Thanks Chris - I have two questions, which I didn't hear answered in the video. 1) Is this an all metal/alloy build or is it plastic or part plastic ? 2) what is the supply voltage ? I ask this because if it is 12 volts then that would be good when in the field - just plug it into a small 12 v Bienno or 12v gel cell 7ah battery.
Hi! I'm not sure if you still have the minibook, but there is now a new version with the Celeron J4125 processor and 6 GB ram that is being sold that I am interested in. But apparently it can not be opened completely 360° because of the rubber pads on the bottom. Did you experience the same issue with your model? Or will you possibly do a review of the newer version? Also did you ever try using a m2 2242 Sim card slot? That would be a very interesting feature. Thank you!
Quite late here, didn't get to see the whole thing so sorry if you covered it. But can it be powered over usb-c with a powerbrick? like a PD compliant one? I find the lack luster battery life on these mini-pc's is ignorable since you can put them together in a really small shoulder bag and never worry about battery life.
Yes, the final versions both N4100 and 8100Y will support PD according to Chuwi. But this pre-release doesn't that I have as shown in the unboxing video. I have a 99Wh PD power brick that would give me plenty of time. But it's just as heavy and thicker than the MiniBook.
I think the fan doesnt need to work constantly. I got asus tp401ma with intel n5000, its much more powerful than intel n4100, its fanless and its okay I think, temperature was no too high on constant officewoek load
Hi. I just got one of this minibook with core m3. I dont know why cpuZ or Aida64 showing me that my 8GB Ram is running in single channel....? Other thing is while using intel extreme tuning and setting max turbo TDP (not short turbo) to 15W my cpu goes only up to 12W for short while and goes down to 5-7W saying power throttling...? Please advise!
Before you buy, Try to return it. I bought a chuwi mini computer, it bricked within 4 months of use. Chuwi did not offer any help. Chuwi wrote "Hello, then you can directly see Amazon's customer service to see if it can be replaced, you can also do it without contacting me" Chuwi washed their hands and did not want to be bothered. Know this before you buy....
Though I am impressed with performance it makes out of that tiny body (minus battery life), my main problem is not having ISO keyboard. It has to be biggest sacrifice, I really can't write my own name without ISO keyboard so big no-no.
I wonder if the m3 w/ Intel UHD Graphics 615 could do DisplayPort Multi-Stream Transport (MST) through the USB-C port. Would be awesome if I could do power and two external monitors with just one cable at home or the office.
@@gamingdragon1356 if you want to play with horrible stutter yes. The cpu max sustained single core clockspeed (so u need heavy cooling). And decent ram timings also affects your min fps. The other problem is, in order to get an egpu you have to spend more than this laptop so you might as well get something else for better bang/buck. So you might as well get this mini laptop +: If you want on the go gaming, get an ipad with an xbox controller or ps4 controller, or a Switch. If you want PC gaming on the go, Google Stadia, Xbox live thingy, those streaming things. The usb-c port this laptop will get WILL support a dongle so you can still use a monitor, power charging, other usb stuff with just one cable when you are home. Just no EGPU support.
@@SaruwatariMasahiro Google stadia is ridiculous , no smart person pays for things he will never own or a service which may become very expensive any day as for iPad it is nothing but an oversized phone so the best way for gaming is steam or pc gaming . Secondly there are tons of games like lol , dota , skyrim , dark souls , re which will run just fine on a core m with a powerful gpu . Also the egpu can be used interchangeably with your laptop and desktop . Even if you upgrade your device you still can use the same egpu or even upgrade just the GPU .
If it was Chrome OS I would find it more compelling, but Windows on an 8" screen is the stuff of nightmares imo. Great review though, it's a promising device. But I feel an iPad Mini + Keyboard beats this all day long.
Seems to be powerful enough and small. Great for taking on the go and working in tight spaces. I’m really attracted to it for working on the plane, because I fly a lot and those seat tables are tiny af. Most laptops are so uncomfortable on the plane because they’re all so big.
For example running windows only software on the go. Like updating firmwares on industrial equipment, reading values, reporting on the go and can also read emails. Or that’s what I could use it for in my work.
I agree, which is why I'm keen to also review the Core M3-8100Y version which is much faster. Be interesting how the thermals are on it as it's clocked much higher. 2.4Ghz max VS 3.4Ghz.
As I mentioned in the unboxing video - this is a slightly modified "OneMix 2s" which is freely available in China. There is a newer model called the "OneMix 3s" with slightly updated specs going for a similar price. The OneMix 3s also looks much better and the keyboard seems to be more fluid in terms of design and typing. It also has USB-C port with power delivery already built in. Don't have to buy this and "hope" that Chuwi will include it! This MiniBook aka OneMix 2s has a very dated looking design. The OneMix 3s is probably the design people would actually like. The m.2 expansion port is only 2242 in size. THAT IS NOT A PRO!!! Nobody does SSDs at that size. Most m.2 SSDs are 2280 in length which means anything available in most countries will NOT fit in this device. The only m.2 2242 sizes are obscure Chinese SSD brands - and who wants that? There really is no point anyone should go for this MiniBook / OneMix 2s when the OneMix 3s is already out. I'm actually surprised that Chuwi didn't push the OneMix 3s design and are still using this older device. Maybe there's a factory full of these to try and get rid of? For the price most people can get pretty decent spec'd Windows 10 laptops from many of the big manufacturers but given this mini concept - it's a niche product so has a niche market and the price to go with it - fair enough - but Chuwi really should have offered the OneMix 3s as their "MiniBook" and not this older model. Buyer beware.
Be aware that Chuwi support really sucks!!! Cooling fan is extremely loud. Keyboard keys getting stuck. I have received device with non functioning several buttons. To get it fixed I had to sent device to Hong Kong on my expense. They also told me that I have to pay taxes when they send it back.
Easy : I bought a chuwi Hi 10 Plus, worse piece of crap i ever bought. it's so bad that the keyboard i bought apart doesn't work despite barely using it. and the dualbout (win10+android51) is a total mess. DONT EVER THINK ABOUT BUYING CHUWI. Don't believe me? check all bad reviews on Amazon...
I`m talking tablet/mobile here, (No experience with macbooks, etc).... I used to. But I LOVE IOS on mobile. I do occasional professional digitally based illustration work, and the combination of an iPad, Apple pencil and the App Procreate is absolutely amazing, it acts, and feels like traditional media,and I can still seamlessly screen mirror it on my Windows 8.1 desktop. I still have 3 fully functional Windows PC`s, but , damn I love that iPad...Not sorry..
uh, no My new14" (OCT) Win 10 desktop (1Tb /8Gb ram) was less than that. Found it on sale, neat. Gaming grade? Nah. but I`m not a gamer.....But this doesn`t look like a gamer`s device either.
Yellow Origins I like them. We need more small form factor laptops. I hate taking most laptops onto the plane. I have to fly a lot, and those plane tables are so small, and you don’t get a lot of room. Means that laptops are usually too big and uncomfortable for the plane. The small form factor laptop space needs more competition.
