In the great forest of Chuwi devices, you can quickly get lost, but with a little luck and patience, you can also find exciting devices at good prices. One of them could be the CoreBook X for around 480 USD. Its equipment is practically perfect as an office PC if it weren’t for one or the other pitfall.
With the Chuwi GemiBook Pro 14, we have a successor in the spirit of the Chuwi CoreBook Pro. Like almost all Chuwi notebooks, it is a budget laptop in the lower three-digit price range with clear strengths and weaknesses. The clear strength of the brand new laptop is the 2K display in a 3: 2 aspect ratio. But what about the weaknesses?
Let’s take a closer look at the Chuwi CoreBook X with Chuwi GemiBook Pro 14. You will find out that and more in this comparison!
Pros and Cons
| Chuwi CoreBook X | Chuwi GemiBook Pro 14 |
| 2K resolution display | Bright 2K display |
| Multifunctional USB Type-C port | Good QWERTY keyboard |
| Elegant design with aluminum body | Wifi 6, Bluetooth 5.1 |
| Few physical ports | A lot of plastic installed |
| Only 256 GB of hard disk | Only micro SD slot |
General Info
| Chuwi CoreBook X | Chuwi GemiBook Pro 14 | |
| Brand | Chuwi | Chuwi |
| Model | CoreBook X | GemiBook Pro 14 |
| Weight | 1.5 kg | 1.5 kg |
| OS | Windows 10 Home | Windows 10 Home |
| Display | IPS 2K FULL HD | IPS |
| Dimensions | 14 inch | 14 inch |
| Type | Laptop | Laptop |
Chuwi CoreBook X
The CoreBook X is absolutely nothing special. Aluminum unibody with a small Chuwi logo on the back, that’s it for anomalies. The IPS display is more interesting. This measures 14 inches and has a resolution of 2K, i.e., 2160 × 1440 pixels. This makes it a good deal hotter than most other inexpensive laptops. This can be helpful when reading or writing long texts because the writing is simply sharper. The device has another plus point with its 3: 2 display format. Compared to the traditional 16: 9 format, 3: 2 screens are higher and better suited for long feeds, e-mails, or other texts. They are less suitable for gaming, as most games are designed for 16: 9.
Chuwi GemiBook Pro 14
The design of the Chuwi GemiBook Pro is without question reminiscent of current Huawei notebooks. The gray lid is made of metal and has a Chuwi logo. The lower plate of the laptop, on the other hand, is made entirely of plastic, which is well made but does not feel super high quality. The connections are located there. On the back is the opening for the fan and speakers. There is also a flap for inserting an additional SSD. If you want to remove the entire back, you have to loosen eleven screws.
Display
| Chuwi CoreBook X | Chuwi GemiBook Pro 14 | |
| Display Type | IPS 2K FULL HD | IPS |
| Display Size | 14 inches | 14 inches |
| Display Resolution | 2160 x 1440 pixels | 2160 x 1440 pixels |
| Touch Screen | No | No |
| Dimension | 310 x 229 x 21.5 mm | 310 x 229 x 20.6 mm |
Chuwi CoreBook X
The display with astonishingly thin bezels in which we can still find a webcam. Incidentally, the dimensions of the CoreBook X are 310 x 229.5 x 20.6 millimeters. The weight is 1.5 kilograms. This means that the device is in the middle of the field, both in terms of dimensions and weight, and is sufficiently portable.
Chuwi GemiBook Pro 14
The main focus of the manufacturer in marketing is on display, and rightly so! The 14-inch panel comes in a 3: 2 aspect ratio and has a resolution of 2,160 x 1,440 pixels, resulting in a pixel density of 185 pixels per inch. The screen seems to have been attached very close to the plastic protection, which subjectively looks great.
And viewed objectively, there is nothing to complain about. The color rendering is 1A and far better than anything else in this price segment and beyond. We measured the maximum brightness with 355 lumens, but subjectively the display looks brighter. The reflective surface is annoying in direct sunlight, but the laptop is also extremely usable outside in the shade. The brightness control goes from very dark to light. The sharpness is excellent for a notebook. The backlight bleeding is minimal, and the contrasts are also perfect for a classic LCD panel.
Specification
| Chuwi CoreBook X | Chuwi GemiBook Pro 14 | |
| Processor Name | Intel Core i5-7267U | Intel Gemini Lake Refresh J4125 |
| Graphics | Intel Iris Graphics 650 | Intel UHD Graphics 600 |
| RAM | 16 GB DDR4 | 16 GB LPDDR4X |
| Storage | 256 GB SSD / 1 TB | 512 GB SSD |
Chuwi CoreBook X
The CoreBook X is one of the few Chuwi devices that can do without an Intel Celeron N4100. This is exactly why the CoreBook X is also much more interesting for office power users. Because the N4100 is no longer really the yellow of the egg, even for office tasks. The CoreBook X, on the other hand, comes with a real Intel Core i5. With the Intel Core i5 7267U, to be precise. It clocks at up to 3.5 GHz and dates back to 2017. Of course, there are now significantly more powerful chips, but the i5 7267U is very well suited for office tasks and shouldn’t buckle immediately even under a little heavier load.
The processor is supported by a 256GB M.2 SSD and a full 16GB DDR4 memory. Most cheap laptops still come with 8GB of RAM, which can potentially cause problems when multitasking with many tabs in the browser. Fortunately, the internal memory of the device can also be easily upgraded. Chuwi has given the CoreBook X a second empty M.2 slot, in which another SSD with up to a terabyte of storage can be installed. The CoreBook also has a micro SD card slot.
Chuwi GemiBook Pro 14
Chuwi installed the Intel Celeron J5125 in the GemiBook Pro, combined with an Intel UHD graphics 600. The chip is a quad-core processor with a clock frequency of 2.0 to 2.7 GHz. The Celeron series is known for its rather weak chips, but Chuwi uses 16 gigabytes of LPDDR4X RAM.
Multimedia
| Chuwi CoreBook X | Chuwi GemiBook Pro 14 | |
| Web-cam | Yes | Yes |
| Speakers | Yes | Yes |
| Microphone Jack | 3.5 mm | 3.5 mm |
| Usd Slots | 3.0 x 1 Type C | 2.0 x 1 3.2 x 1 |
| Wireless Lan | Yes | Yes |
| HDMI | Yes | Yes |
| Bluetooth | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| Memory Slots | Yes | Yes |
Chuwi CoreBook X
We come to a small downer. As is usual with Chinese laptops, the CoreBook X also comes with a QWERTY keyboard, i.e., a keyboard layout for the English language. There are ways and solutions to deal with it, such as keyboard mats or stickers, but they are always associated with certain circumstances.
In terms of wireless connectivity, the laptop comes with dual-band WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 4.2. The wired connection options are more interesting. In addition to the headphone jack, micro SD card slot, USB 3.0 connector, and network connection, the CoreBook X also has a USB-C connection. Behind this is a fully equipped USB interface, says Chuwi. Specifically mentioned are data transmission, image, and audio transmission, and the 46.2-watt-hour battery can also be charged via Power Delivery; very nice!
Chuwi GemiBook Pro 14
Unfortunately, it looks a bit poor in terms of connections. There is only a single USB 3.0 port and a 3.5mm jack connector on the right side. A fully functional USB C port (audio, video, power delivery) and a charging port are located on the left. There is also a MicroSD slot. There is also an additional SSD slot.
The input devices include the QWERTY keyboard and the touchpad. The latter supports Windows gestures and is easy to use but made of plastic. This is not a problem in and of itself, but it doesn’t feel too high quality. The key assignment makes sense; the click can clearly and easily recognize the pressure point. Only the space bar makes a somewhat shaky impression. The very bright keyboard lighting can be switched on and off with a click of the F5 key. If the keyboard is not used, the lighting goes off automatically after a good 30 seconds.
Battery
| Chuwi CoreBook X | Chuwi GemiBook Pro 14 | |
| Battery Type | Li-Ion | Li-Ion |
| Power Device | AC Adepter | AC Adepter |
| Power | 11.55 W | 38W |
