450 Chuwi SurBook 2-In-1’s Still Available Between $299 And $399

Chinese tablet brand Chuwi finally got its Indiegogo campaign fully launched this week, and it didn’t take many hours before its funding goal had been reached. It will be shipping from stores by the end of July/August for just under $500, but it’s still possible to get in on the funding campaign to get one at a discount before then, with about 450 units still available as of the time of writing.

In design and marketing, the Windows 10 2-in-1 tablet Chuwi SurBook is very much a Surface Pro 4 clone. It looks the same and has some of the same features, and even tops the SP4 by featuring a USB Type-C port.

The 12.3-inch screen has the same 2736 x 1824 resolution too, with digitizer support, but otherwise falls behind in performance because of its Intel Celeron processor, even though it has 6GB of RAM. It’s also significantly heavier than a SP4, weighing 200 grams more.

In terms of speed it doesn’t stand a chance compared to the new Surface Pro, but people tend to buy Chinese tablet brands because they are cheap and often offer good value for money because of that. And at the right price this is the second somewhat powerful 2-in-1 tablet from Chuwi recently that could be worth a look. The other one being the Chuwi Hi13, which have impressed me.

The Chuwi SurBook with Intel Celeron processor and 6GB of RAM will sort of fall between two chairs when it launches. 6GB RAM Windows tablets with Intel Celeron processor starts at $259 in the Teclast X3 Plus, and above that, Intel Core “Kaby Lake” powered tablets with 8GB of RAM can be found at $475 in the Teclast X5 Pro, so finding just the right price for the SurBook will be important for Chuwi.

– Jim Miller