Alldocube has established itself as a budget-class laptop and tablet manufacturer and has now introduced a new notebook. It offers a high-resolution 13.5-inch display with a 3: 2 aspect ratio, 256 gigabytes of SSD storage space, and USB-C. The manufacturer offers this complete package for little more than 240 USD. Is there a catch, or is the Alldocube VBook a real insider tip?
| PROS | CONS |
| High-resolution 3K display | No keyboard backlight |
| Good touchpad |
General Info
| Alldocube VBook | |
| Brand | Alldocube |
| Model | VBook |
| Processor | Intel Celeron® Processor N3350 |
| Graphics | Intel HD Graphics 500 |
| OS | Windows 10 Home |
| Weight | 1.3500kg |
| Display | 13.5-inch |
| Dimensions | 31.23 x 23.80 x 1.55 cm |
| Type | Laptop |
Display
| Display Type | IPS |
| Display Size | 13.5 inch, 100%sRGB, 320nits |
| Resolution | 3000×2000 pixel |
| Dimension | 31.23 x 23.80 x 1.55 cm |
Alldocube markets the book as a notebook for those who value a high-resolution and sharp panel. The IPS display measures 13.5 inches diagonally and has 3,000 x 2,000 pixels, corresponding to 268 pixels per inch. This is excellent value for a laptop in this price range. The sharpness of the display is significantly higher than that of normal displays in this price range with full HD resolution. Individual pixels can no longer be seen with the naked eye. The display has a 3: 2 aspect ratio and is therefore particularly suitable for office work. When watching videos, however, there are black bars at the top and bottom.
The manufacturer states that the sRGB color space is completely covered. Our measurement with the ColorSpyder almost confirms this information: According to the Spyder, 97% is covered by sRGB, 75% by AdobeRGB, and 75% by P3. These are good values ​​for such a cheap notebook. It is also gratifying that the manufacturer’s color mood is successful. If you want to download our calculated test file, you can find it here and integrate it with these instructions.
The brightness of the panel is excellent at 483 lux. Outdoor use is still possible as long as you are not in direct sunlight, as the display is not anti-reflective. Otherwise, the monitor also delivers usable values ​​for contrast with 1540: 1 at medium brightness. The viewing angle stability of the panel is a bit weaker, however. In addition, the panel has strong halos at low brightness, which can be irritating when working in darkened rooms.
Performance
| Processor | Intel Core i3-1110G4 |
| Graphics | Integrated Intel UHD Graphics |
| RAM | 8GB LPDDR3 |
| Storage | 256GB SSD |
The manufacturer installs the Intel Celeron N3350, a dual-core processor with four threads from 2016. The Intel HD Graphics 500 acts as a GPU. There are also 8 gigabytes of LPDDR3 RAM and 256 gigabytes of SSD storage space. If necessary, the SSD can also be exchanged simply by unscrewing the flap on the laptop’s underside. In the test, the built-in SSD achieved good values ​​with 535MB / s in writing and 463MB / s in reading.
SSD benchmark (write) result
SSD benchmark (read) result
Geekbench multi result
Geekbench single result
As the benchmarks already show, the laptop’s performance is not particularly high. The fact that the Alldocube VBook has an extremely high-resolution display makes everyday use even more difficult. This requires so much computing power that there is not much capacity left for applications. The book can easily edit a document in Word or a PowerPoint slide. However, if a few browser tabs are added here, the speed drops sharply. Anyone who multitask, even to a small extent, will definitely not be happy with the performance. In particular, the
Alldocube VBook has problems with applications that have somewhat more complex graphics. Even opening the Windows start menu is accompanied by stuttering. In this respect, gaming is not something you should try on a notebook. Unfortunately, reducing the resolution in Windows did not improve performance either.
The performance is, unfortunately, the biggest criticism of the Alldocube VBook. The processor is too weak for the 3K display. The device cannot be expected to do more than simple tasks such as Word or web browsing with 2-3 tabs.
Multimedia
| Webcam | Above the display | |
| Webcam resolution | Front 2.0M pixels | |
| Network | 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4GHz/5GHz) | |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 4.0 | |
| Ports | 2 × USB3.0, 1 × USB Type-C | |
| Keyboard | Laptop Keyboard (78 key) |
The connections are distributed on the left and right edges: a headphone jack, micro SD slot, and USB-A 3.0 on the left and USB-C 3.1, USB-A 3.0, and the power connection on the right. If you don’t want to use the power supply with a DC connection for charging, you can also charge the Alldocube Vbook via USB-C power supplies with power delivery.
This ensures greater flexibility in everyday life and also makes it easier to use USB-C hubs. The USB C port can transfer video signals and data. In the test, it was even possible to operate an external monitor with 4K and 60Hz. That is remarkable for a notebook in this price range.
The Alldocube VBook supports WiFi 4 (b / g / n standard) with dual-band. The strength of the WLAN reception is a bit below average. The notebook was able to draw 40 Mbit from my 100 Mbit line right next to the router. One room further, the speed drops to 17 Mbit, and two rooms further only reach 2.5 Mbit. Comparison devices still manage around 10Mbit here.
Bluetooth is, of course, also supported, but in the slightly older version 4.0. There were no problems here in the test. There are two speakers with two watts under the Alldocube VBook. The quality is sufficient for the essentials. You can play a video or watch a movie. However, the sound is very treble-heavy and does not create any spatiality.
Keyboard
The QWERTY keyboard of the Alldocube VBook has black keys that are labeled in white and sometimes also in blue. The print looks relatively cheap because the labels are only glued. Therefore, it may be possible to delete the lettering and replace it with keyboard stickers with a QWERTY layout. There is no keyboard backlight.
The assignment of the F-keys takes some getting used to. There is no key combination for changing the display brightness, which is probably one of the most frequently used functions of the F keys. To change the display brightness, you always have to open the Windows Mobility Center, which is relatively annoying in everyday life.
Typing on the keyboard generally works well. The keystroke is okay, although the keyboard doesn’t really feel of high quality. The background noise when typing is also okay; only the Enter key rattles a bit.
The touchpad feels pleasant and works precisely. To click, you can tap the pad or physically press the lower half down. There is a relatively “cheap” click noise, and the feel could also be better.
The touchpad made a good impression on the test. The keyboard, on the other hand, is only mediocre. On the one hand, there is no lighting, and on the other hand, the prints are also a bit cheap. However, keyboard stickers can therefore be used for a German QWERTZ layout without any problems.
Battery
| Battery | 5000mAh |
| Battery watt | 38 wh |
| Battery Life | Up to 4 hours |
| AC Adapter | 12V 2.5A |
PCMark Modern Office (battery test) result
A high-resolution display pulls more on the battery, and Alldocube tries to counter this with a 38 Wh battery. In practice, this results in below-average battery life. The notebook lasted an average of 4 hours in office mode. However, this result is not reflected in the PC-Mark benchmark, presumably because graphics-intensive applications are also simulated. The charging process takes around 3 hours.
Conclusion!
The Alldocube VBook is really well made and makes an excellent visual impression for a cheap notebook. In terms of storage, a 256 GB SSD and 8 GB RAM actually provide a solid foundation. Unfortunately, the notebook fails because of its biggest selling point: the high-resolution display is nice to look at.
However, the Intel Celeron processor does not display the display smoothly and still guarantees a pleasant user experience. For this reason, we, unfortunately, cannot recommend a purchase for the Alldocube VBook. Sometimes less is more.
