CHUWI MiniBook: Preview - Tiny but mighty giant? Quickly Crowdfunded, arriving in September 2019 ETA.

OVERVIEW

Chuwi has always been an interesting company, stressing value for money technology. There's only one device that I have was manufactured by them, the Chuwi Hi9, a pretty decent tablet great for watching movies and stuff on the go.

Now do note, the Chuwi Minibook is still in crowdfunding development so it won't be ready until at least September of 2019. At the same time, Chuwi also released the Lapbook, a 4K 15" thin ultrabook powered with an Apollo-Lake Atom X7-E3950 (1.6-2GHz) with Intel 505 Graphics. But let's face it, the minibook that I'm getting has significantly more grunt and muscle and I can bring this portable windows 10 power even in the smallest of my bags that I've got. That's what the Minibook is aimed for, to have productivity that can be carried around anywhere with adequately powerful enough hardware to do the tasks required like in an office environment. Cause' face it, it's sized between my Samsung A8 Star Smartphone, and my 10.1" Samsung Galaxy 2014 and Chuwi Hi9 tablets, making it the smallest machine that I have that supports windows.

Chuwi Minibook compared to the size of a magazine! Quite a difference there.
Source: Indiegogo

First thoughts of the project

Now I've a confession to make. I was actually very close in backing the Topjoy Falcon Convertible (Pentium N5000), another project that has a near identical chassis compared to the Chuwi Minibook. In that case, even though it was like almost last year when the project was conceived, the goods from Topjoy have yet to ship to backers yet but someone has did a review on it already last year.
https://www.cnx-software.com/2018/10/15/topjoy-falcon-review-mini-laptop-windows-10-ubuntu/

The Topjoy Falcon! See the similarity to the Minibook??!
Source CNX

But because I can trust the brand Chuwi from the decent Hi9 Air Tablet I own, I went for them instead. That said, the functionality and objective remains the same as with the two mini convertibles and I believe this is the yoga tablet to get over the Lapbook and the Topjoy Falcon Convertible. And since I was back and forth and getting a mini convertible for so long now is the best chance I've got to go all out and get one for my travels.

689,921 SGD on 14 July 2019
733,207 SGD on 23 July 2019
?? on 28 July 2019.

MINIBOOK SPECS

Spec sheet of the Minibook
Source: Indiegogo

SoC: Core m3-8100Y

This efficient SoC is based on the 14nm Amber Lake Architecture, closer to Kaby Lake than it is Apollo or Gemini-Lake based Atoms and Celerons. It is a dual-core CPU with Hyperthreading and a 1.1 GHz base clock, with a max turbo of 3.4 GHz which is pretty respectable. The Minibook is also offered with the Celeron N4100 which has more cores. However, some would argue that having a much better single-threaded performance is much more optimised than more cores. And the m3 having a much better IPC than the Celeron makes for a far superior SoC in many ways. Performance wise the m3-8100Y should be around some of the generation of dual core i3s and older dual core i5s. 

CHUWI advertises the m3-8100Y having a great single threaded performance. Let's see whether my sample would hold true. If you look at the images that follow, the Celeron's very low base clock speeds might be a problem even if you have more cores. But depending on the user, sometimes the N4100 would serve well enough.

Cinebench, often the best tool for benching CPU Single and Multithreaded performance
Source: CHUWI

Higher Clocks, big benefits. Even dual Core can outperform a Quad Core in Multi Core performance
even though the N4100 has 4 cores. Source: CHUWI

8GB Base RAM, Upgradable to 16GB: Originally when the crowdfunding page came up, the Minibook was to be shipped with 8GB RAM. But now after public outcry, users can double the RAM. Early backers can get their RAM Upgrades for $10, then later 20 then 30. I happen to get it for $10 so that was a cheap add-on and well worth it. Though 8GB is fine and the kinda standard for office use, having double RAM means a lot more resources can be allocated for more memory hungry tasks. It’s a shame the m3 version doesn’t support DDR4 compared to the Celeron configuration, but it is still at least dual channel so there’s enough memory bandwidth and more RAM can be allocated for the HD Graphics 615.

Intel UHD 615 Graphics:

As far as the graphics go, the updated Amber Lake Intel Graphics is a step up from the older 605. It has a base frequency of 300 MHz and a turboboost of 900 Mhz with 24 Execution Units (EUs). It may not run some of the newer titles, but for older games like Diablo III, Torchlight 1, Path of Exile, Terraria and even CS:GO will be a perfect fit for this integrated chip. And because of the relatively small screen, I feel that some games can be gotten away with playing at low 720p or even 480p with a bit of Anti Aliasing. 

See the notebookcheck’s page for the UHD 615.

UHD 615

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-UHD-Graphics-615-GPU.317064.0.html

For the N4100 option, the less powerful Intel UHD 600 is considerably weaker, having a lower base frequency of 200 Mhz and topping at 700 and EUs halved at 12. And if you see the above image at the CPU section, the UHD 600 power is roughly just under half that in Open GL section at 25.01 vs 12.22 fps.

GPU Scores from the Passmark Benchmark Table.

As far as the resolution goes, the UHD 615 is capable of outputting all the way to 4K 60Hz, making multimedia and high res movies a possibility to output to an external high res screen. 

But in General, the GPU should perform around the same as like a Radeon HD 8760D or a GT 640M LE. Other notable GPUs that are down the list that you can't see are:

- GeForce 920M, Score 736
- Intel HD 4600, Score 712
- Radeon R5 240, Score 647

Display: An IPS 1920 x 1200 at a 16:10 ratio is a good resolution for a small 8" Tablet. At 283 PPI, that is actually more than enough of a pixel density to give a good picture. The great thing about the display is that it can be operated in a yoga fashion. Either as a traditional lappie or completely folded to a tablet mode. Having touchscreen is also a very nice get for this purpose.

STORAGE:

128GB eMMC: 128GB is not exactly a lot. Moreover Windows 10 which will come with it has been absolutely a resource hogger lately that 128GB is not really an option. I’m hoping, like really hoping for Chuwi to expand it to 256GB eMMC as part of our stretch goal to have just enough wiggle room. The Minibook is advertised to be able to fit an M.2 nVMe Drive. And as at 23rd July 2019, perks have arrived to add a 512GB SSD to the unit for the m3 which I did snag and the 256GB for the N4100 which is great. But if you want it, you may want to grab it quick as stocks are limited!!

I still feel it's better to have a 256GB eMMC base first as one this is the drives of the competition is not user-upgradable. The M.2 drive, my biggest guess is that it’ll be a 2242 form factor. Do note, mSATA drives cannot fit and therefore can’t be used as the key is different compared to M.2. I have to clear that up first just in case people ask what drives you can put in there. There’s also another mini SD Card slot for additional secondary storage which is great for transferring files off like my Phone for example. 

eMMC is never as fast as SSDs but if you're only based on office work and stuff this shouldn't
be an issue. Source: CHUWI

If you take a look at the score, SSDs will of course trump it, but the eMMC read and write speeds are enough for normal office files. I'm not so hard up on read speeds as long as it boots windows snappily without the agonizingly sluggish crawl of a traditional Hard Drive. But having a room for an extra drive is nice.

Battery Life:The Chuwi Minibook's 26 Wh battery may not sound like much. But since the m3 8100's TDP is only rated at 4.5 watts, this could be sufficient for day to day use. It is advertised to last around 8-9 hours. Personally I'd like a slightly bigger battery but I doubt anything bigger than that could be fitted in there.

Port Selection: Ports are actually very nice for a laptop this small. 2 USB Type A + 1 Type C for both PD and charging is perfect. What would be great is that the Type C only supports standard USB 3.1 Gen 1, not thunderbolt. 

INTEL, please for the love of God give Thunderbolt 3 Support like by means of a firmware or a BIOS update! If this should compete with the MacBook Pro / Air, you would want a Thunderbolt port. The M7 processors in there do support Thunderbolt, there's no reason not to do it for the m3-8100Y! But at least the minibook has a microSD Card slot which is great to supplement the storage. From the discussion in the Indiegogo page, it can support 128GB at most. This one I have, so let's see whether it can support anything higher.

Ports Aplenty. Source: Indiegogo

3.5mm headphone jack, I'm looking at you Apple MacBook!!! This still has the Headphone jack which I am so not ready to let go yet.

MINIBOOK'S COMPETITION:

As far as competing products go, there are a few that fall in the same use case scenario.

- Topjoy Falcon

- GPD P2 Max (Below Photo)

GPD P2 Max, similar hardware and form factor without the YOGA
Source: Indiegogo for GPD P2 Max

And each one has their pros and cons. Ultimately, the Minibook has mostly the best tradeoffs for the most optimal performance.

As aforementioned, the Minibook uses a similar chassis as the Falcon, but with more beefy specs. The GPD P2 Max, has a higher res screen and comes with SSD preinstalled which I am hoping that the MiniBook can add for the Super Early Bird Perk. But the minibook is Cheaper, can do Yoga which the P2 can't, and the 1920x1200 screen is still more than enough compared to 2560 x 1600p and it is a good trade for lower pricing. Also the biggest advantage is that the Minibook can readily accept a Micro SD card thanks to an integrated micro SD card slot which the others would require an external dock for it, like the Keychron T10 Dock I also bought.

And also as a sidenote the Falcon no longer uses the Pentium N5000 anymore since the Pentium N5000 ran out of stock real quick. However they received the Pentium J5005 which has a nice performance bump almost like a Core 2 Quad. And for the 2nd generation of the Topjoy Falcon Convertible, they too will get a SoC Bump  to the m3 8100Y. And since all the miniPCs would eventually top out at this SoC, the competition is determined on who will sell at the best pricing with the best features, so it's now up to Chuwi to see what they can do to better the odds in their favor.

In any case: If you want to explore these links with regards to the competition's SOC and their general performance, here are the links to their NBC Page and their CPUBenchmarks. These benches are not by me but at least they'll give a rough idea on how they can perform against on a universal benchmark.

Pentium Silver N5000: https://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Pentium-Silver-N5000-SoC.271794.0.html

CPU for all competitions.
Intel Core m3 8100Y, Score 3562: https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+m3-8100Y+%40+1.10GHz&id=3367

Entry Level CPU for the Topjoy
Pentium Silver N5000, Score 2436: https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Pentium+Silver+N5000+%40+1.10GHz&id=3204
Pentium Silver J5005, Score 2910 : https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Pentium+Silver+J5005+%40+1.50GHz&id=3144

Entry Level CPU for the P2 Max
Intel Celeron 3965Y, Score 1629: https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Celeron+3965Y+%40+1.50GHz&id=3234

Entry Level CPU for Minibook
Intel Celeron N4100, Score 2276: https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Celeron+N4100+%40+1.10GHz&id=3270


Tapping out to the m3 8100Y is a good move as the m3 8100Y's closest resemblance to a proper mainstream CPU is obvious, despite the Falcon's CPU upgraded J5005 which also did produce the 2nd best score across the board which on first glance looks quite impressive. The Celerons are left lying in the dust with the P2 Max's 3965Y model pulling up the rear being just half as powerful as even the Silver J5005, let alone the Core m3.

As far as GPU's concerned, the UHD 615 will just trump the other integrated GPUs of the other SoCs: UHD 600 vs 605 vs 615.

https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/compare/Intel-UHD-600-vs-Intel-UHD-605-vs-Intel-UHD-615/3876vs3861vs4006

But storage from Chuwi's Minibook as a base is really lacking. The entire competition except us is starting the base as 256GB of SSD Storage while we have to make do with eMMC. Worst still, and again please note that our storage compared to the competition is not user-upgradable so that needs to be maxed out before it rolls off the production line. So this is the KEY area of improvement.

Bottomline: Huge potential, up to Chuwi to unleash it.

Tweaks to the backing:

- eMMC starting at 256GB instead of 128GB

- Thunderbolt 3

This device certainly has a lot of potential if Chuwi can listen to their backers and squeeze to the absolute limit because of what it can offer in a small package. What would be absolutely awesome is a slot for a Micro SIM, eMMC storage just starting right off at 256GB as a base we always wanted, instead of 128GB, or have a 256GB SSD add on to the eMMC without many of us who backed the SUPER EARLY BIRD perk having to cancel and reorder the config at a way higher price which is total utter garbage. To me, doubling that eMMC storage would actually be the best thing you could give to the MiniBook, not really the 8GB of RAM especially since everybody else starts their SSD at 256GB while ours is not even SSD, just an unupgradable eMMC flash like SD card space which is slower which is a huge deal breaker if not improved.

Trust me, many of us are willing to pay abit of extra for it. Hell I wouldn't mind the delays if that is required. Face it, with apps and Windows an absolute hogger these days, 128GB is no longer viable.

And Intel, please give Thunderbolt 3 support for the m3! That would the perfect icing on the cake! 

When it does arrive at my door eventually, Chuwi, I'll definitely play with it, and I can actually leave my MacBook Pro permanently at home.