CHUWI Ubook XPro (body only)
CHUWI has released a detachable 2in1 “Ubook XPro”. The price is 54,900 yen. If you remove the keyboard, you can use it as a pure tablet, and in recent years it has become rare in the sense of a Windows tablet. I got a sample this time, so let me tell you my impressions after trying it.
Speaking of CHUWI, it is basically a manufacturer that releases many devices under 100,000 yen, but this product naturally falls into that category. The company’s unique point is that it does not pursue “latest” or “fastest”, but pursues cost performance with exquisite “old” specs, and this product also follows this line.
For example, the CPU is Core i5-10210Y released in the third quarter of 2019. The specifications of 4 cores/8 threads, 1 to 4 GHz, TDP 7 W are of course not the fastest even the latest, and if not done well, it will be slower than the latest low-end CPU Alder Lake-N (Intel Processor N100).
PCMark 10 result is 2,693. It’s inferior to the low-end N100 of today, but it’s certainly not a problem for everyday use. Cinebench R23, which works briskly for web browsing, is single 651, multi 1,257 3DMark Night Raid Score is 3,200 3DMark Wild Life Score is 1,810 3DMark Fire Strike is 697
Similarly, the liquid crystal is a 13-inch display compatible with 2,160 x 1,440 dots (3:2 aspect ratio). If this is the premium line “Surface Pro 8”, it will be 2,880 x 1,920 dots with higher definition, and if you just want to do it cheaply, you will choose 1,920 x 1,080 dots, which is likely to be the most effective in mass production. This exquisite balance is very CHUWI-like.
Although the liquid crystal is reflected, the viewing angle and visibility are good Web camera with a simple design on the back of the main unit
By the way, the memory is 8GB, which is the minimum required, and the SSD is 512GB, which is relatively roomy. It goes without saying that it is suitable for browsing the web, photos, videos, and documents, but I have the impression that it can handle small document creation and simple creative work.
It’s easy to use, but thanks to the U-shaped kickstand built into the main unit, the degree of freedom in installation is high. Although it is not officially declared, I was able to defeat it between about 95 and 165 degrees. The main body and kickstand part gives a slightly delicate impression, but as long as you don’t handle it roughly, there shouldn’t be any problems. By the way, the actual weight is 951g.
Stands on its own with a built-in kickstand. It can be tilted about 165 degrees.
The liquid crystal is glossy and the reflection is a little intense, but the visibility and viewing angle are excellent. The power button, volume control button, and microSD card slot are mounted on the top of the main unit. USB 3.0 and 3.5mm mini jack on the left side, DC input, Micro HDMI output, USB 3.0, USB Type-C on the right side. The drawback is that the DC input is round and easy to mistake as 3.5mm, but this product also supports USB PD charging via USB Type-C, so it’s usually better to use that. Wireless LAN supports up to Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 4.2.
DC input, Micro HDMI output, USB 3.0, USB Type-C on the right side of the main unit, power button, volume control, microSD card slot on the top of the main unit Pogo pin on the keyboard cover on the bottom of the main unit USB 3.0 and 3.5 mm mini jack on the left side of the main unit
In addition, since the upper right rear part of the main unit gets hot under load, it can be considered that the processor is built in here. It was around 42°C when I looked at it with a thermography while applying a load with Cinebench R23, so it wasn’t hot enough to touch. It can be said that the temperature is sufficiently suppressed with the Core i5-10210Y.
Under load, the temperature in the upper right is about 42°C
The included keyboard is a type that connects with a pogo pin. The key pitch is 18.5 mm, and the key stroke is a little stiff, but except for the one row of keys on the right side of the Enter key, it is a general English layout with relatively few quirks and few erroneous operations. The touchpad is also wide enough, and there is no problem with the feeling of operation. The surface of the cover has a fabric finish that is gentle to the touch.
A Wacom stylus pen “H7” that supports 4,096 pen pressure levels is also available as an option. It is advertised as ultra-low latency, but as far as I tried it, it was not an image of low latency. I can’t get rid of the impression that I’m not good at detailed drawing, so it’s better to just use it for sketching or memo writing.
Keyboard and pen included.The keyboard has a row of keys on the right side of the Enter key, but other arrangements are common The key pitch is almost 19mm The touchpad is about 110 x 66mm, which is relatively spacious
By the way, Windows 11 is well optimized for tablets, so operability is better than the conventional Windows 8 and 10. For example, while working, the taskbar is always hidden, swipe in from the bottom to reveal it, and increase the swipe in distance to reveal the start menu. Also, even with 100% scaling, the icons are well spaced and easy to press with your finger.
On the other hand, if you attach the keyboard cover, it immediately becomes normal Windows 11 (that is, the taskbar is always displayed / the space between icons is narrowed …), and so on. The touch keyboard is still not very user-friendly (for example, when entering an email address, it doesn’t automatically change to half-width letters, and depending on the software, if you enter a single letter, the English letter input mode is canceled), but the overall usability has been improved.
Looking back, in 2013, about 10 years ago, the 8-inch Windows tablet was all the rage. In addition to the appearance of the Bay Trail (especially the Atom x5-Z8350) processor, which runs Windows reasonably comfortably for a complete system in the 50,000 yen range, the game “Kantai Collection (KanColle)” using Adobe Flash, which runs only on PCs, triggered the market.
Since then, however, manufacturers have rarely released cheap tablets. In the first place, the UI of Windows was not for touch, the launch of the premium line of Microsoft’s “Surface” series, the reduction of the Atom lineup, etc. It seems that various factors are involved.
Since I bought ASUS’s “VivoTab Note 8” in 2013, I have not purchased a Windows tablet at all and am a group that has left the tablet.
For example, set it upright when watching videos, and lay it on its side when you mainly use the pen or touch. The screen is closer than a laptop with a keyboard, and the feeling of immersion and pen/touch operation are improved. Also, you don’t need a keyboard when viewing A4 documents in portrait orientation or giving presentations to other people, so a tablet makes more sense than a laptop. I felt that if the tablet optimization in Windows 11 progressed further, there would still be elements that would be popular.
It may be quite compatible with music production applications
