Chuwi HeroBook Pro+
Slow compared to the other laptops on test, but the quality on offer for the price has to be seen to be believed
SCORE
Range starts at: $279 (approx £205) Model tested: $279 (approx £205) from store.chuwi.com
If you’re on the hunt for a bargain and willing to stray from big-name laptop makers, there are a number of vendors who sell direct from the Far East. Hong Kong-based Chuwi is one of the most prominent and, couriers willing, this laptop should arrive with you within a week rather than the next day delivery of Amazon.
This isn’t a laptop for anyone who is short on patience anyway. Powered by an Intel Celeron J3455 processor that was launched in late 2016, its results in our tests were simply awful. A score of 20 in our benchmarks is roughly equivalent to an Atom processor of yore, while a multicore result of 971 in Geekbench 5 won’t set even the driest tinder wood ood on fire fire. 3D gaming is out ou of the question, as indicated by a 3 3.2fps result in Metro: Last Light. Lig
Initially, eve even the Windows Start menu takes half a second seco to think about life l before appearin appearing. You can remov remove this annoyance by heading into the Display menu and deactivatin deactivating animations and transparency. T Then head to the battery icon on the taskbar and choose “Best performance” rather than “Better performance”. The HeroBook Pro+ is never going to match a Core i7 system for snappiness, but it’s surprisingly usable.
The next surprise is the screen. Sizable bezels make it appear smaller than its 13.3in diagonal suggests, but it’s packed with detail thanks to a 3,200 x 1,800 IPS panel. It covers 92% of the sRGB colour space, and while a maximum Delta E of 4.8 (for reds) indicates that this isn’t a screen optimised for colour accuracy, an average of 1.78 is commendable.
Our tests revealed two weaknesses: a low contrast ratio of 435:1 and peak brightness of 213cd/m2 mean this screen will be all but unreadable in sunlight. If this was an £800 laptop, we’d be critical of such figures, but we think this is an exceptional panel for such an affordable laptop. Compared to the Acer Aspire, it’s positively vibrant and a brightness of around 200cd/m2 is ideal for use indoors.
You need to manage your expectations when it comes to the keyboard. Again, there are positive points, with separate cursor keys and plenty plent of travel. tra el It’s just that with your hands resting on a plastic lastic palmrest and an action n we can only describe cribe as squishy, your ur attention is constantly nstantly drawn to the e fact this is a true budget udget laptop. The same ame is true of the compact ompact touchpad, which is fine and responsive esponsive but offers fers a loud click if you press down at the bottom m to activate a “mouse” ” button.
There’s no hiding from the all-plastic chassis, either. The lid offers little protection to the screen and if you squeeze the chassis you occasionally hear it click. Look elsewhere if you seek durability, and note that if something goes wrong then your one-year warranty doesn’t cover shipping back to Hong Kong (although Chuwi will ship the laptop back to you for free if a fault is found).
The flip side to this plastic construction is a 1.2kg weight, weight even if a 4hrs 24mins battery life will mean bringing the power adapter with you on day da trips. Luckily, this weighs a mere 138g and is compact enough to slip unnoticed into a bag. It’s a DC input, not USB-C, USB
“It isn’t an all-purpose laptop but one to fulfil the same role as netbooks of years ago, and it will do so without any trouble”
but that’s to be expected when there’s no USB-C port. If you want to output to a monitor, you’ll need to buy a mini-HDMI-to-HDMI converter, with an old-fashioned USB-A 3 port sitting on both sides. Add a headphone jack and microSD slot, and that’s your lo t.
It uses Wi-Fi 5 rather than Wi-Fi 6, and it’s a 1x1 radio/antenna system. Most laptops use 2x2, which means two beams and two antennas – and that means faster and more reliable speeds. If all you’re doing is browsing the internet, though, the pace of your Wi-Fi connection will always outpace that of your broadband.
The HeroBook+ holds a final pleasant surprise: a 1,600 x 1,200 webcam. Logitech won’t be shaking in its boots, but this adds welcome detail on video calls. Again, the mic is nothing special but works, and the same can be said of the speakers. Music sounds dreadful, with drums reproduced with all the depth of an Adam Sandler film.
One final word of caution: storage. Once Windows has had its way, there’s around 85GB free from the 128GB drive. Install a couple of large applications and that will disappear, which could cause a problem when it’s time to update to the next version of Windows. You’ll need to be frugal.
But what do you expect for approximately £205? Sure, it’s slow, and when it comes omes to gaming your phone is likely to do a better job. It isn’t ’t an all-purpose laptop but one e to fulfil the same role as netbooks books of years ago, and it will l do so without any trouble. Just t remember to switch off those se Windows animations to lighten hten the load.