The CHUWI CoreBook Air Plus enters the ultrabook market for those seeking a lightweight, well-built machine with enough power for work, study, and occasional gaming without breaking the bank. It doesn't compete with premium ultrabooks costing over a thousand euros, but it aims to give them a run for their money. To achieve this, it offers a well-balanced combination of design, performance, and price.
Throughout this practical analysis, we'll take a detailed look at its real-world performance, battery life, screen quality, connectivity, keys, trackpad, and overall user experience . You'll also see how it differs from the 14-inch CoreBook Air, what you can expect from its Radeon 660M iGPU in gaming, and how well its 60 Wh battery lasts through a busy day.
Design, materials and first impressions
The first thing that catches the eye is the indigo blue aluminum chassis, which is remarkably thin and weighs only 1,35 kg despite housing a 16-inch screen. Its dimensions are approximately 355,5 × 249 × 16,3 mm, so it fits easily into backpacks designed for 15,6-inch laptops. Furthermore, it's noticeably lighter than typical laptops of this size.
The in-hand feel is that of a laptop that is clearly more refined than its price suggests : matte-finish surfaces, flat edges with rounded corners, and a clean top cover with the CHUWI logo in the center.
In terms of sturdiness, the laptop holds up well, although it doesn't reach the levels of high-end ultrabooks: the keyboard area flexes slightly if you press hard in the center , and the screen lid shows moderate resistance to twisting. This isn't a concern in normal use, but it's advisable to always open it from the center to avoid stressing the panel and causing backlight bleed over time.
The hinge spans a good portion of the width and allows the screen to open up to about 180º . The movement is smooth, without squeaks or any strange play, and the screen remains stable while typing.
The bottom panel is also made of aluminum, with ventilation grilles, rubber feet, and easily accessible Phillips screws . On the CoreBook Air Plus, this panel can be removed without much difficulty, allowing for the replacement or upgrade of the M.2 2280 SSD. However, the RAM is soldered in and cannot be expanded.
16-inch screen: 16:10 format and practical focus
The CHUWI CoreBook Air Plus features a 16-inch IPS panel with a resolution of 1920 × 1200 pixels , or a 16:10 aspect ratio. This slightly taller aspect ratio than the typical 16:9 is very convenient for productivity tasks, as it allows you to see more lines of text, spreadsheets, or code without having to scroll as much.
The refresh rate is 60Hz, sufficient for office applications, browsing, and video . It's not a panel geared towards competitive gaming, but it performs well for its intended general use. The bezels are quite well utilized, with a screen-to-body ratio of nearly 85%. This prevents the laptop from looking disproportionate despite the panel size.
Regarding brightness and contrast, actual measurements hover around 300-350 nits of peak brightness and a contrast ratio of approximately 1300-1500:1 . This translates to adequate performance in well-lit indoor and office environments. In direct sunlight or very bright outdoor conditions, the brightness needs to be turned up to maximum, and even then it may fall slightly short, which is common in this price range. The matte finish helps control reflections considerably.
The least impressive aspect of the display is its color coverage and factory calibration . Although the manufacturer claims 100% sRGB coverage, several independent reviews indicate effective coverage of around 55-65% of the sRGB color space, and approximately 40% for Adobe RGB and DCI-P3. In other words, the colors aren't particularly saturated, and the red tones, in particular, appear somewhat muted, with a noticeable cool cast.
Keyboard, touchpad, webcam and sound
CHUWI has opted for an island-style keyboard with backlighting and an ANSI (US) layout across the entire CoreBook Air range. This means there's no printed Ñ key and the placement of some symbols differs from a typical Spanish keyboard. The operating system can be configured in Spanish and the keys will function accordingly, but you'll need to get used to the fact that the printed layout isn't a perfect match.
The main keys are around 15,6 mm on each side, with short travel, a quiet membrane, and a fairly comfortable response for typing long texts. The base flexes a bit more than seen on higher-end models, but it's not bothersome in normal use. There's white backlighting with two intensity levels, ideal for typing in low-light environments.
The trackpad is centered on the chassis. Compared to other budget laptops from the same brand, it's a significant improvement: smooth gliding, good precision, and a firm click without any play . It's free of the typical "wobble" effect of cheaper touchpads. It allows you to work comfortably without needing an external mouse in most situations.
Above the screen sits a 2MP camera . The CoreBook Air Plus features an IR sensor camera compatible with Windows Hello , allowing for quick and secure login via facial recognition. Image quality is standard for laptops. Sufficient for video calls, meetings, or online classes—nothing exceptional in terms of sharpness or dynamic range, but perfectly adequate.
Physical and wireless connectivity
One of the areas where this laptop excels is in the quantity and variety of ports, despite its slim profile . On the left side, we find an HDMI port (1.4 or 2.0 depending on the model, capable of handling 4K output), along with two full-featured USB-C 3.2 Gen2 ports. These simultaneously support high-speed data transfer, 65W Power Delivery charging, and DisplayPort video output.
On the right side are a USB-A 3.2 Gen1, an additional USB-C and the 3,5 mm audio connector for headphones and microphone.
The included charger is a 65W adapter with a USB-C connector that supports Power Delivery (PD). The device accepts power via USB-C ports, so you can also use other compatible third-party chargers or even USB-C monitors that supply power. This allows you to use a single cable for video, data, and charging if you connect the laptop to a modern external display and want to extend the laptop's screen.
On the wireless front, CHUWI uses a Realtek 8852BE chip, which provides dual-band Wi-Fi 6 (2,4 and 5 GHz) and Bluetooth 5.2 . Real-world testing shows good connection speeds and acceptable stability. The range is decent, significantly better than the older Wi-Fi 5 adapters still found in some budget devices. Bluetooth performs flawlessly with mice, keyboards, and headphones.
Internal specifications and hardware configuration
The heart of the CoreBook Air Plus is the AMD Ryzen 5 6600H processor, a 6-core, 12-thread chip based on the Zen 3+ architecture at 6 nm , with a maximum frequency of up to 4,5 GHz and 16 MB of L3 cache. This processor is designed for a TDP of 45 W, although in this CHUWI chassis it is configured with a lower power consumption to keep temperatures and noise levels down.
According to various tests, the laptop reaches initial power consumption peaks of 40-45 W, then stabilizes at sustained values between 23 and 35 W. This all depends, of course, on the thermal profile and the specific workload.
The integrated graphics are the AMD Radeon 660M, based on the RDNA2 architecture with 384 shaders (6 CUs) and a clock speed of up to 1,9 GHz . It shares memory with the system RAM and benefits significantly from a dual-channel bus and fast RAM.
The laptop comes standard with 16 GB of LPDDR5 memory at 6400 MHz, soldered to the motherboard. There are no additional slots or expansion options. In practical terms, that amount of RAM is more than enough for heavy web browsing, advanced office work, light photo editing, programming, and multitasking with several windows open.
For primary storage, a 512GB M.2 NVMe 2280 SSD with a PCIe 3.0 x4 interface is included . The specific speed varies depending on the SSD model (several Chinese brands have been observed), but generally ranges from 1500 to over 3000 MB/s in sequential reads, with somewhat more modest write speeds and decent random access performance. The important thing is that the system feels responsive when booting, opening applications, and installing programs.
Performance in daily tasks and benchmarks
In real-world desktop use, the CHUWI CoreBook Air Plus performs exceptionally smoothly, handling everything from office work and intensive browsing to video calls and general productivity . You can have a good number of browser tabs open, several applications running in the background, and video playback without experiencing any significant lag.
Tests using tools like Cinebench R23 and 2024, PCMark, V-Ray, 7-Zip, and AIDA64 place the Ryzen 5 6600H above many current low-to-mid-range chips, especially under multithreaded loads. Its TDP limitation reduces its performance ceiling compared to more aggressive configurations in thicker laptops. Despite this, the power-to-consumption ratio it achieves is quite impressive.
In tasks like file compression, light 3D rendering, simple video export, or photo editing in tools like Lightroom , the device responds with very reasonable times for its category. If you're coming from a laptop with older processors (older U-series or quad-core chips), the improvement is quite noticeable.
Regarding storage, CrystalDiskMark tests on various test units show sequential reads exceeding 3000 MB/s and writes exceeding 1000 MB/s, with decent random values. Day-to-day experience confirms the numbers: Windows 11 boots quickly, apps open smoothly, and there are no bottlenecks when copying reasonably sized files . This isn't an enthusiast-level SSD, but it doesn't need to be for its target audience.
Integrated graphics and gaming performance
One of the most interesting aspects of the CoreBook Air Plus is what you can get out of its Radeon 660M iGPU for light gaming and more . It's not meant to replace a powerful dedicated GPU, but it performs significantly better than the low-power Intel integrated GPUs that were common just a few years ago.
In relatively demanding modern titles like Cyberpunk 2077, Horizon Zero Dawn, or Baldur's Gate 3 , various reviews agree that by setting everything to low quality and tweaking a few parameters, it's possible to play at 1080p at around 30 fps. Reducing the resolution to 720p or enabling FSR in Quality or Ultra Quality mode can gain a few frames per second at the expense of some sharpness, especially at 720p where artifacts are more noticeable.
In less demanding, competitive games, the Radeon 660M feels much more comfortable. At Full HD resolution and medium/high settings, it easily maintains over 60 fps. This makes this laptop a pretty decent option for casual gaming.
Furthermore, the Radeon's integrated VPU offers support for current codecs like AV1, HEVC, and HDR10 compatibility , which is a welcome feature if you use streaming services such as YouTube, Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, HBO Max, or Apple TV. The laptop performs very well as a multimedia center, with smooth playback and low CPU usage.
System temperatures, power consumption and noise
The CoreBook Air Plus's cooling system combines two copper heatpipes with a single low-profile fan and a compact heatsink located in the air outlet area. The motherboard is quite compact, making room for the battery and SSD, while the LPDDR5 memory is distributed around the processor and soldered to the board.
At idle or under light load (browsing, simple office tasks, video streaming), the laptop's total power consumption is around 12-15 W, with temperatures around 40-50 ºC . In this scenario, the fan spins very slowly or is practically stopped, making the laptop quiet and suitable for peaceful environments such as libraries or meetings.
When the CPU is subjected to intense and prolonged stress, the computer starts with a small power surge, reaching consumption close to 40-45 W, before settling at a sustained 28-35 W. The CPU's stabilized temperatures typically hover around 80-88 ºC. These are normal values for a thin laptop. Fan noise is approximately between 38 and 42 dB, measured from the user's position.
During extended periods of stress , the laptop exhibits remarkably stable behavior, with no abrupt frequency spikes or drops indicating aggressive throttling. It strikes a reasonable balance between performance, temperature, and noise, sacrificing some peak power to avoid overheating or frying the silicon.
In games, the situation is similar. The fan is noticeable, but not excessively so, and temperatures remain within safe limits. For such a thin and light design, the thermal management is well handled, especially considering it uses an H-series processor.
Battery life and experience
The CHUWI CoreBook Air Plus has a 60 Wh lithium-ion battery , while the 14-inch CoreBook Air has a 55 Wh battery. These aren't stratospheric figures, but combined with the moderate TDP and a relatively low-power screen, they achieve quite usable results.
In typical mixed use (browsing with multiple tabs, working on documents, occasional video calls, some streaming), various analyses place the Air Plus's battery life at around 5-6 real hours with medium brightness ; to maximize it, it is advisable to evaluate the battery health and apply consumption adjustments.
If usage is limited to streaming video or playing local files with controlled brightness , it's possible to get close to 8-9 hours per charge, especially if a more aggressive power-saving profile is activated. The 14-inch CoreBook Air goes even further in highly controlled scenarios, with tests showing over 14 hours of light office tasks under maximum efficiency profiles.
On the other hand, when gaming or performing purely CPU/GPU intensive tasks, the battery drains much faster, lasting around 1,5-2 hours of heavy use . This is the logical price to pay for pushing the processor and iGPU to their limits in such a compact device.
The 65W USB-C charger allows for rapid power recovery: a full charge from empty takes just over an hour , and in less than 45 minutes you can go from a low charge to a comfortable level for several hours of light work. Furthermore, compatibility with other PD chargers or USB-C monitors makes life much easier if you frequently travel between home and the office.
Pre-installed software and overall user experience
The laptop comes with Windows 11 Pro 64-bit pre-installed and factory-activated , and many units also include Office 2024 Pro ready to use. This is a plus for those who don't want to buy separate licenses or reinstall the system right out of the box.
CHUWI includes a small proprietary application that acts as an information panel for resources, system status, battery, and storage . It serves as a lightweight control center, but doesn't offer many advanced options: there are no powerful performance profiles, fine-tuning of fans, or in-depth TDP adjustments. For that, if you want to experiment, you'd have to use third-party tools to create custom thermal profiles.
For the average user—students, mobile professionals, and advanced home users—the laptop feels well-balanced, easy to carry, and powerful enough to keep up with the demands of daily life . The combination of a lightweight aluminum chassis, comfortable keyboard, good touchpad, four USB ports, Wi-Fi 6, and decent battery life is a great fit for a laptop that hovers around the €500-€600 price point, depending on the offer.
Overall, the CHUWI CoreBook Air Plus establishes itself as a lightweight, efficient, and quite versatile 16-inch ultraportable , capable of handling daily use, multitasking, and light gaming without breaking a sweat, with a thoughtful design and decent battery life, in exchange for making clear compromises in color coverage, RAM expansion, and its focus on demanding games or professional creative work.
