Chuwi UBook Pro, Everything you need in a 2 in 1
I know the manufacturer since 2015 that was when I bought my first Chuwi tablet, a Vi10 Pro that attracted me for its design and performance, well above what I could buy in computer stores in my country for a similar price.
He did not need a first-line tablet and also had the incentive of being a dual operating system, so he could use both professional and office use on the one hand, as for leisure and multimedia on the other.
My experience with her was totally satisfactory and I still use her after these 4 years and her battery lasts more than 6 hours of continuous work.
During these years Chuwi has been putting on the market new products, both tablets and laptops that have followed the same line, that is, excellent design, good level of finishes, good performance and competitive prices. I have been able to enjoy your Hi10 Pro, LapBook 12.3 ”, SurBook, Hi9 Air, Hi9 Plus, AeroBook and now this UBook Pro.
The product never falls in love to see it for its presence, comparable to other well-known brands of the first line and much more expensive. All finishes look quality and the truth is that it attracts attention among family and friends.
For this reason I have decided to make a review without technical pretensions, but rather in terms of my experience with it and that I will be completing with the passage of the days of use of this product, which right now seems to me the most top of Chuwi.
Unboxing:
In the box, very well protected for transport, we find a box containing the charger and then the tablet, with an impressive level of finishes.
The construction looks very solid, in aluminum alloy in a polished matte finish, of sufficient thickness, of great solidity and that does not show deformation or cracks with pressure. In addition, the frames and the port area are reinforced with an L-profile that will prevent dents from occurring.
On the left side it has the 3.5mm headphone jack and a USB A 3.0 port on the top and the bottom is movable to support the tablet in an upright position adjustable up to 160 degrees. This support is more robust than it seems, giving a lot of balance to the set with the keyboard and also allows the placement of the tablet without the keyboard to watch movies or video on a table.
The right side contains a specific charging port for the official charger, a micro HDMI port to connect to a screen, a USB A 3.0 port and a full USB C port, with charging functions with power delivery compatible devices.
At the top, on the left the power and volume button and on the right an SD card slot.
At the bottom, the dock for connection to the keyboard.
The back is completely smooth and only contains the camera in the upper center position.
On the front is the screen, with a protective film on it with a camera hole, top in the center and a Windows button on the right side. In addition, in the upper right frame, the tablet incorporates two LEDs, one blue that indicates when the tablet is on and another in red that will be on while the tablets are charging. Personally, I would like the protective flim in matte finish to avoid glare and make the tablet more usable outdoors or in very bright environments.
The touch gives an impression of impeccable solidity and presence, with resistance to torsion and, despite its size, it does not look heavy at all. In addition, the inclination of the frames from more to less from front to back, makes it very comfortable to hold in the hands.
It has a 3: 2 format, which I think is an ideal format for office automation and a very tight weight, below most of the tablets of known brands, 780 grams, with a size of 292.2 mm. by 207.9 mm. Its thickness is 9 mm.
The working position is one of its strengths, since the U-shaped tablet holding bracket is very adjustable to any position, reaching almost horizontal, allowing great versatility in inclination with respect to the user .
It has a lot of similarity with the SurBook, Chuwi model of 2 years ago that I continue to use and that gave me a great experience of use.
First on:
We turn on the tablet, starting the Windows configuration program that allows us to set the first language, country, Wifi and privacy settings.
This initial configuration can be done by voice as Cortana is activated in the process, making the configuration even easier.
The tablet brings Windows 10 Home 100% wearable and activated.
Immediately after connecting and logging in, the Windows update starts in the background, so it is not the time to perform speed and performance tests since we will notice the least fluid device.
I usually make, in this step, an image of the device as I receive it and a copy of the original drivers in case they are necessary in the future, either to leave the device as it came from the factory in case of detachment from it or to reinstall an original driver in case any Windows update makes changes that cause a malfunction of any of the devices.
For this I use two free distribution applications on the Internet such as Macrium Reflect, downloaded from the official website, and doubledriver.
There is a custom for users to update the Bios and reinstall the operating system. I want to say here that the Bios should not be touched unless Chuwi issues a statement because it corrects or improves the behavior and that the Bios that we can find are not updates but new Bios for different versions of the same model so, sometimes, These updates can cause a device lock that can only be removed with the reprogramming of the Bios, this being a more complex process. Chuwi has had to remove the Bios from the official forum for this reason and will only be sent to users who need them to restore their devices.
It is time to install our favorite user applications and the ones we will use for our day to day.
Once I have the UBook Pro operational it is time to check the overall operation of the tablet:
I will not give here technical data that already exists on web pages, but my impressions of the whole and my experience with it.
Processor, RAM and Storage:
The tablet is equipped with an Intel Core M3 8th generation 8100Y dual-core processor, 8GB of DDR3 single-channel RAM and a 256GB M2 SATA SSD. This configuration is, in principle, sufficient for the use that has been designed such as office automation, mail, navigation, multimedia and RRSS. We can also run programs from the Microsoft store that are within the minimum requirements of the manufacturer.
When I try programs I will complete my experiences with each of them.
Screen:
The screen has a 12.3 ”IPS panel, with a resolution of 1920x1280 and that looks great, with great definition, very real colors without shades and with a brightness level adjustable to high values, which will give a good performance in outside as at low levels if we want to use the tablet in dark environments. The colors are solid and blacks are very successful.
High resolution video playback on YouTube is smooth and the definition is perfect, lagueos are not appreciated
Sound:
You cannot expect great results on devices of this thickness that do not allow a powerful and clean sound. Maybe the speaker overtures are too small or you would simply need larger speakers.
The UBook Pro has the same behavior, the highs don’t sound too metallic, but the lows shine because of their absence. In addition, the volume is not too high so you will need headphones to be able to hear it in noisy environments. The sound is stereo.
The sound with the headphones is very good, without hum or background murmur, giving here a sufficient sound volume.
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth:
I have done several speed tests via Wifi, reaching very good values, up to 290 Mps, same values as those obtained by an iPhone at the same distance from the router.
Good results also with Bluetooth, with good reach over 5 meters. I have paired with speakers and other devices without any problem and there are no cuts or noises in case of music.
Connectivity:
The UBook Pro is equipped with all kinds of connections, from 2 type A 3.0 ports, to a full USB C port with the option of charging the tablet with a power delivery charger or a power bank with the same protocol. This will allow us to carry a single charger for your devices.
Keyboard:
The keyboard connects to the tablet through the USB dock at the bottom. Its anchorage is very easy because it is oriented by magnets that make the connection immediate as soon as you bring the tablet closer to the keyboard. It is of standard English format and I believe that if it were adapted to other languages the product would have a greater acceptance in the rest of the non-Anglo-Saxon countries, especially when, these keyboards have overlapping and clipping keys, that is, they can be extracted with great ease and that if as an accessory there was an option of the keys that differ in each language the result would be perfect. The solution of the stickers, even if they were transparent, affect the final result.
It has two positions of use, an inclined one in which we observe a lot of movement when typing because the keyboard rocks when pressing on the keys, so it requires learning to press more smoothly since if unwanted key repetitions cannot occur.
The function keys are not activated by default, so to use them, you must press the Fn key together with the desired function key. The trackpad is of acceptable size, very sensitive to touch, perhaps too much, and quite accurate. It supports Windows gestures and, in case you are not familiar with them, you can disable them from the Windows options. Personally I always prefer to use a bluetooth mouse because it gives me more precision
The keyboard has two led lights to the right of the trackpad that indicate the blockage of capital letters and a warning light.
I can’t find any combination of keys that allows us to deactivate the trackpad in case we use a mouse and we don’t want it to change position just by rubbing on its surface.
Stylus:
The UBook Pro is compatible with two stylus models, the HiPen H5 and the HiPen h6. The first one has 2048 pressure levels and the second one, 4096. In my case, I tried the H6.
Although I am not an expert in handling a stylus or a great cartoonist, I have compared it with the experience of use with the Chuwi SurBook and, the truth is that its operation is totally satisfactory. Its 4096 pressure levels are evident and the stylus glides smoothly and transmits the pressure we are exerting to the screen with total effectiveness. It is possible to define fine lines as thick lines with total definition, with palm rejection that prevents the hand from leaving signs in the result of the drawing.
I’ve been testing with some programs and among them, with the Autodesk Sketchbook: Autodesk SketchBook: aplicación en Microsoft Store. 1 and the result is really Good and allows drawing with layers, which allows you to put a photo in the background and draw on another layer, which makes you, with a little practice, an excellent artist. In addition this program has multiple types of pencil and tools that allows to take advantage of those 4096 pressure levels of this HiPen H6
The stylus can also write in office documents to add notes, graphics or drawings and about PDF’S to underline or highlight and you can also change the handwriting with Windows utilities.
The stylus is also compatible with the latest models of Microsoft tablets and is not powered by alkaline batteries, but instead has a rechargeable battery inside through a micro USB connection.
Battery:
The battery is a little smaller than those equipped with tablets of other brands that may be their competition and has a duration of a little more than 5.5 hours. It is not much, but with the help of a powebank with power delivery, we can extend the use of the UBook Pro in mobility. Charging time seems slow, since it takes about 3 hours to charge 100%
User Experience:
The tablet is switched on instantly, in just 12 seconds we can have the Windows operating system. Its operation is fluid and no performance problems are observed.
It is a product focused on office use, multimedia, navigation and social networks, which is 90% of the normal use we give to a personal computer or tablet, but also behaves very solvent in photo editing applications without many layers and editing of sound. I am awaiting your test in video editing although I do not expect great results in rendering.
It supports light games but it is not a device to play since it is not designed for it and the cooling is passive, so it will reach high temperatures with the most complex games that can be loaded.
Verdict:
I find it a very interesting Tablet for the level of finish, design and performance for medium use, with a sensational screen and very good features for streaming video playback, office use, and navigation in general even with several tabs with a more price How tight. You will not be able to find devices with appearance and features in this price.
Stresses on screen, low weight, stylus and quality / price ratio
Improvable in sound, battery life and accuracy of the keyboard and trackpad.
Manufacturer Website: https://www.chuwi.com/
En español: UBook Pro, Todo lo que necesitas en un 2 en 1 - #3 by Warrior94