Last year I got myself a 8-inch dual-boot tablet from AliExpress for around 100$. Ordered Set 2 with a leather “smart case” and (spoiler alert) overall am pretty happy about it.
Specs time!
| Model | CHUWI Hi8 PRO |
|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Atom x5-Z8300 Quad Core @ 1.44GHz (Cherry Trail) |
| GPU | Intel HD Graphics |
| RAM | 2GB |
| ROM | 32GB (micro SD up to 64GB) |
| Display | 8 inch IPS 1920x1200 (WUXGA) |
| OS | Windows 10 + Android 5.1 |
| Wireless | Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n (2.4GHz only) and Bluetooth 4.0 |
| Ports | USB 3.0 Type-C (with OTG) |
| Micro HDMI 1.4 | |
| 3.5mm headphone jack | |
| Cameras | 2MP front and 2MP rear |
| Sound | Mono speaker and microphone |
| Battery | 4000mAh |
| Size | 21.12 x 12.32 x 0.93 cm / 8.30 x 4.84 x 0.37 inches |
| Weight | 0.350 kg |
Hardware: I would describe performance as solid. Internal memory is 32GB, but that’s split between both OSes; while Android is absolutely OK with that, Windows itself takes around 10GB, thus big updates are a hassle to install, so a micro SD card is a must (unless you remove Android and repartition, tutorials are available on the web). There’s only one speaker that happens to be really quiet for my taste. Cameras are both with fixed focus and pretty much as cheap as it gets. This is my first USB Type-C device and now I really wish more manufacturers switch to it.
One thing which stands out is the atrocious battery performance. It feels like it’s connected to a charger a lot longer than it’s in use. After being fully charged in the morning, just laying down with Wi-Fi and everything else turned off for the day, by midnight it will be sitting at around 80%, if not lower. Display on the other hand is awesome and has great viewing angles; only nitpick is that even on the lowest brightness settings it’s still too bright for me, especially at night.
Windows: At first it feels amazing that you can use a fully functional desktop OS on a tablet; but then you figure out that full HD on eight inches results in everything being way too small… So you have to scale 200%, which is not supported by all applications, for example Steam. People at Microsoft did a really good job at adapting good ol’ Windows to touch interface, but for a proper experience I say you would need at least 12 inches, which Chuwi actually offers. I tried running Terraria on it, but that failed. So after about 2 weeks of trying out Win10 I switched to Android for good.
Android: is pretty much what one would expect. Better adaptation to a touch screen, better compatibility with older apps and overall a much more pleasant experience. I did run into this weird bug when the SD card would stop working at seemingly random time, but eventually I just took it out and never put it back in, because 16GB is actually enough for me.
Decided to do a test of the battery, results can be seen in the screenshot below.
Conclusion: as a Windows tablet it’s too small; as an Android tablet it’s a good affordable device for redditting and youtubeing, if you’re OK with charging it all the time.