CHUWI Minibook 8 Inch Convertible – Crowdfunding Start from $429

The INDIEGOGO campaign for the CHUWI MiniBook started on 19 June. We have now received a prototype of the notebook and will take a closer look at it in the coming days.

CHUWI is currently planning the new CHUWI Minibook. The compact notebook will start the crowdfunding phase on Indiegogo in June. What is inside the small notebook?

• Chuwi Minibook 
  • INDIEGOGO Campaign
  • official promotion website of CHUWI

Design

With an eight inch screen, the Minibook is much closer to modern smartphones than to a classic laptop. In addition, the model is a so-called convertible, i.e. the screen can be completely folded down and used as a tablet. Here the CHUWI Minibook reminds me strongly of the “One Mix“. CHUWI also speaks of “Yoga Design” here; the term was also used for the One Mix.

Instead of a touchpad to operate the mouse, CHUWI also uses a trackpoint above the space bar to control the mouse. Despite a lack of space, the keyboard manages to accommodate all important keys – CHUWI again uses a QWERTY keyboard.

Otherwise, the minibook looks good at first glance. The silver case is actually a metal body. We were still wondering whether plastic should be used after all. However, CHUWI had already launched aluminium laptops on the market in the past and surprised us with the CHUWI Lapbook SE. It’s nice to choose the higher quality option here as well.

Technical data

The new notebook will appear in two different versions, which differ by the built-in processor. The standard version has an Intel Celeron N4100, while the improved version has an Intel Core m3-8100Y processor. Both models have 8 GB RAM and 128 GB eMMC memory in the basic configuration. However, the latter can be expanded with an M.2 slot for an SSD and an SD card slot.

CHUWI has specified the battery capacity at 26.6 Wh, which should be sufficient for a total of eight hours of use. This will depend not least on the type of use, and of course the minibook is primarily not a gaming laptop. Rather, its compact size and keyboard should make it suitable for mobile office applications, which will then be correspondingly less battery-consuming.

Price and availability

Originally, we expected the notebook to be released on June 19. But the countdown on CHUWI’s own website only indicated the start of the Indigogo campaign. After all, the preliminary prices are now known as well. For both versions there is a Super Early Bird discount; depending on the processor you pay $399 or $499.