REVIEW - Chuwi HiBook Pro / The perfect mix of leisure and productivity
Once again we talk about tablets, but this time of a dual boot 2 in 1. Unfortunately we could not test the original keyboard but in any case we have been equipped to fully exploit the potential offered. I'm not particularly fond of tablets but this Chuwi HiBook Pro will he be able to convince me? Let's find them together in our full review but first thank you Banggood online store for sending the sample.
CONFEZIONE
The Chuwi HiBook Pro is part of the company's top range, yet a sales package made of recycled cardboard has been adopted, inside of which we can find in addition to the tablet USB Type-C cable for charging and data transfer,wall outlet with European outlet with 5V / 3A output, a guide to multilingual use other than Italian, Chinese and English user manual, guarantee, a heel that attests to the conformity of the product, and finally a further manual with a summary of the tests on conformity.
We will also find one protective film already applied on the display but unfortunately of poor quality because it hampers the display reactivity and therefore I have removed it. We find nothing else and I remember that the official keyboard that also covers cover and stand needs to be bought separately at the cost of around 42 euro.
DESIGN AND MATERIALS
The design of the Chuwi HiBook Pro is very sober and classic but you can appreciate it the assembly of good quality as well as the body completely made in satin aluminum. Always on the back we find in addition to the company logo too 5 megapixel camera with no LED flash. On the front of the tablet we find a large one display from 10.1 in 16: 10 and the XYOMIX megapixel selfie camera, as well as the soft touch button with the Windows logo, but also a LED placed in the upper left corner of the panel, but it only lights up when recharging.
On the top profile we find the power on / off button and metal volume balance and well assembled as there is no play between the same and the body. The lower profile is instead used for slots,hook up the official keyboard while the right profile houses one of the two audio speakers. Finally, the left profile in addition to the second audio speaker incorporates the slot for inserting a micro SD memory card, the USB Type-C input for charging with OTG support, a micro USB port with additional OTG support, microphone, micro HDM portI for connecting the tablet to monitor or TV and the 3.5 mm input for earphones.
There are no sensors but one that is related to the ambient brightness. The construction is really well done and the Chuwi HiBook Pro does not flex at any point resulting in very solid. To conclude the tablet measures 167,5 x 262,0 x 85 mm with a weight of 562 grams without keyboard, perhaps too much weight if you decide to use it only as a tablet and not as 2 in 1.
DISPLAY
The panel from 10.1 IPS in full rolling used on the CHuwi HiBook Pro is perhaps the strong pot because it can boast one resolution 2K equal to 2560 x 1600 pixels with 16 ratio: 10 and Pixel Density equal to 298 DPI. The brightness scissors are not very wide and there is not much difference between the minimum and the maximum level automatic adjustment was reactive and in domestic environments the general brightness is always up to expectations (declared 350 nits). Under the direct sunlight, however, it is fatigued and this could compromise the use outside the tablet's door.
Colors played on the Chuwi HiBook Pro display are definitely up to the quality of the display but unfortunately poco bright even if the chromatic range is very well reproduced, while the blacks seem to be deep even if they tend to turn gray with certain viewing angles which are instead excellent, a true ally for multimedia content offered by Youtube and similar platforms. Instead, there is no support for the digital pen as it is the anti-reflection treatment is absent and the oleophobic one is poor.
HARDWARE
On this type of product it is easy to come across classic CPU Atom X5-Z8300 (Cherry Trail) quadcore with x86 architecture and maximum frequency of clock to 1.92 GHz reliable and poco energy-consuming that coupled to Intel HD Graphics GPU (8 GEN) for Atom x5 / x7 500 MHz and 4 GB DDR3L of RAM memory make the experience of use particularly enjoyable. They are also present 64 GB of internal memory eMMC 5.0 well partitioned in fact we will find about 49 GB available for the Windows 10 operating system while the remaining 10 for the Android universe. The form is not missing Bluetooth 4.0 , Wi-Fi connectivity of monoband type which unfortunately struggles a poco in signal reception when you are about 10 meters away from the router.
There are no more sensors but the support for the OTG on both doors, micro USB and USB Type-C, are a plus to not underestimate, since not only can you expand the memory available but above all you will also be able to connect a USB hub, for example to match your mouse, keyboard, USB sticks, etc.
CAMERA
Surely the photographic sector was never the best on the various tablets in general and especially on the 2 type in 1 but in any case for the basic activities to have its presence not bad. And so the Chuwi HiBook Pro incorporates 2 cameras of which front of the 2 megapixel which allows you to make discreet video calls via Skype or similar programs while the rear camera is a drive from 5 megapixels in 4: 3 which allows in good lighting conditions to take photos or videos of acceptable quality but still with a very high noise dominant.
The qualitative difference between the main and the secondary chamber is virtually irrelevant. You can also turn around Full HD video to 30 fps while we go down to 720p 30 fps if we use the front camera. The software is basically basic both in Windows and in Android where Google's native camera is adopted but personally I have found slightly better the "quality" of photos taken under the Windows 10 system.
AUDIO
Have 2 speaker and then a stereo sound it really feels comfortable, and the volume level is really full. Unfortunately the audio is really unbalanced on high tones and basses are somewhat absent, and speaker positions may not be optimal as if we use HiBook Pro as a simple tablet (as in my case) it may hinder audio out of the speakers. Much better, however, is the sound returned through the earphones connected to the 3.5 mm jack.
BENCHMARK
SOFTWARE
The Chuwi Hi Book Pro tablet is a dual boot and therefore you can use Windows 10 or Android 5.1 depending on our needs and needs. The universe Android is really very basic, in fact the ROM is based on the stock version of Android 5.1 without any customization. Only the system applications are present and the switch to switch to the Windows 10 system, but albeit as slim as ROM sometimes I could notice slowdowns or strokes if stressed.
Both ROMs, both Android and Windows, can be switched between one operating system and another. The side Android is definitely valid for exploiting the myriad of applications in the PlayStore even if the available memory of about 10 GB could be saturated soon enough. I think the Android compartment will not see any updates to Marshmallow at Nougat anymore that they would offer better productivity.
From the perspective of the Windows 10 OS we have one regular live license for the HOME version at 64bit. Needless to say in this case it's like having a mini pc always at your fingertips and using the available USB ports, for example, can connect a keyboard (if you have not bought the one offered by Chuwi) or a mouse to facilitate office tasks such as document processing.
The manufacturer is not unbalanced on the multimedia level support of videos but while other reviewers have declared support for resolutions up to 4K in which the videos are played smoothly with the exception of videos in h.265 format with 10 bit depth , I personally found it difficult both with videos in 4K and in UHD and MKV format, videos with which I generally perform various tests for other devices. In the gaming field, the Chuwi tablet performs very well even with demanding games such as Real Racing 3 albeit the overheating of the body after a few minutes becomes apparent but not annoying. Needless to say the Windows environment offers great potential and without huge pretensions, you can have great satisfaction. Finally, we note the good write speed of the internal memory around the 129 Mbps reading and 48 Mbps writing. But the interesting thing is the fact that they succeed install programs like Photoshop or Sony Vegas, certainly without much demand but they still give that added value to this Chuwi home tablet.
BATTERY
The battery supplied with the Chuwi HiBook Pro is very large, in fact the 8000 mAh inserted in a considerably reduced thickness they are able to guarantee the standard use of a day. Even if the 2K screen energetic request from 10.1 inches is undoubtedly exaggerated it is still possible to obtain a the result is the mid-hour 6 active screen using the tablet for web browsing, news reading, streaming video, mail and typing documents. The full charge through the supplied charger takes about 3 hours and 20 minutes. It is better to specify that you will be forced to always use the supplied charger, or to equip you with another of the same characteristics, for optimal performance, as if you are using another low power loader, I noticed that although the tablet reaches 100%, the discharge happens much faster leaving you dry in no time.
PRICE AND CONCLUSIONS
The Chuwi HiBook Pro is therefore a flexible and complete terminal to be used for entertainment maybe under the Android profile or at the most productive level under the Windows 10 system. Apart from the small shadows we've talked about on the Chuwi HiBook Pro is one perfect mix between productivity and leisure which are even more pronounced thanks to the convincing construction and the very good display. Personally I found this 2 tablet in 1 one good economic solution which encloses good quality in every aspect especially if we look at the price of only 190 euro (until a few days ago the price was of 163 euro) proposed by Banggood thank you for sending the sample. Undoubtedly to increase even more the multimedia and productivity of the Chuwi HiBook Pro I also recommend buying the keyboard for about 42 euro.
