14 DAY TRIAL // CHUWI is one of the Chinese companies that are trying to compete with foreign manufacturers by offering good value for the money, trying to put the emphasis on quality without a substantial impact on pricing.
The Vi10 Plus “tablet PC,” as the company itself calls it, is one of the devices that are part of a product category which Microsoft invented with the Surface RT in 2012. It’s a tablet that can double as a laptop with the help of a detachable keyboard, so it’s aiming to provide a high level of productivity even on the go.
At first glance, the Vi10 Plus is quite an interesting product, and when hearing that is running Remix OS, it instantly catches the attention of many buyers. Remix OS is an Android-based operating system that’s supposed to provide you with a PC-like experience, offering a number of advantages that we’ll detail below.
The CHUWI Vi10 Plus can be yours online for $129.99 at Gearbest, but the standard version comes without a keyboard - and you’ll definitely need one if you want to enjoy the best Remix OS has to offer. You can also use keyboards from other CHUWI 2-in-1 devices, but depending on their size, the laptop-wannabe might look quite odd.
Of course, given the tablet side of Remix OS, you can safely use it as a tablet too, but a keyboard is also recommended if you want to unleash its full potential. Read on to find out what this 2-in-1 device can do given this combination of hardware and Remix OS.
Hardware and performance
As far as specs are concerned, the CHUWI Vi10 Plus is quite impressive, especially given its price. You can’t get better value for this price and this makes the Vi10 Plus worth a look if you’re in the market for a tablet.
First and foremost, it comes with an Intel Cherry Trail Z8300 quad-core processor clocked at 1.44 GHz and paired with 2 GB of RAM. If you’ve read other reviews of devices coming with this CPU, you probably know that we’ve complained about the performance of the chip in Windows 10, especially when multitasking.
The Z8300 is a chip specifically aimed at low-cost devices and you can easily notice this in Windows 10. But since it’s Remix OS we’re talking about here, everything seems to be running smoothly with no hiccups. Apps are loaded quite fast and multitasking is significantly improved, especially because Remix creators spent a lot of time to optimize this particular feature.
We haven’t noticed any dramatic slowdown for regular use, although some improvements are needed when playing high-definition videos, where loading times are way too long.
“Excellent value for the money.”
The 10.8-inch IPS display isn’t the best you’ve seen, but thanks to the 1920x1280 pixel resolution, it serves its purpose quite well. There’s a problem with full HD videos given its resolution, but you should get past this very fast.
In terms of storage, the Vi10 Plus features 32 GB internally, but TF card support is also available, just in case you want to boost capacity to 128 GB. There are also ports for USB Type C, microUSB, microHDMI, headphones, and a dock at the bottom of the device to connect the keyboard.
The device comes with two different cameras, both of them of 2-megapixel capacity, but their performance is only average - which is just fine because you’re not supposed to use the tablet for taking pics anyway.
Other than that, you get the regular feature package, including Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. An 8400 mAh battery is there to provide at least 4 hours of continuous video playback, and while this is quite impressive, charging is a nightmare and takes more than 2 hours with the included charger.
The tablet is quite light at 600 grams, but remember that a keyboard is also used separately should you want to unleash the full potential of Remix OS.
Overall, the CHUWI Vi10 Plus is quite a good choice for typical activities such as browsing the web, working on a document, or sending emails. You can also watch videos and listen to music, but anything beyond that would require better hardware (plus another operating system).
Remix OS
Remix OS is an Android-based operating system that’s supposed to boost the productivity side of Google’s software with features that you usually find on a PC.
And given this thing, a keyboard is absolutely needed should you want to use Remix OS for being productive on the go, so make sure you order one if you plan to buy the tablet.
Basically, Remix OS comes with the same features as Android Marshmallow, so you can install apps from the Google Play Store, such as Chrome, Office suits, multimedia players and everything else. In addition, however, it also features PC-like functionality, including a titlebar that lets you close windows easily when working with a mouse, but also resizable windows to work just like on a PC.
“PC-like experience on an Android device.”
The multiple window and multitasking support is super convenient on an Android device, and although some tweaks are still needed here and there, you won’t believe how easy to use Remix OS actually is. There’s also a taskbar if you want to pin your favorite apps for quick access, and so are several essential apps, such as a file manager and screen capture tool.
The basic applications that we all need are there from the very beginning, but we still found ourselves searching the store for new tools to boost productivity. Fortunately, the Google Play store comes with so many apps that it’s impossible not to find something you need - and this is why Google is probably considering Andromeda anyway.
Another good thing about Remix OS is that it receives updates regularly and these include new features and optimizations that make it better and faster. We haven’t found any major drawback with Remix OS and we must admit that we were impressed with how easy to use it makes an Android device. It’s almost like it’s a fully-featured PC.
The bottom line
There is no doubt that the CHUWI Vi10 Plus provides good value for the money, and one can easily see this by simply having a look at the spec sheet.
But in reality, it’s Remix OS the one that makes it quite special, as it becomes a full productivity device in a second when attaching a keyboard.
What’s very important to know is that a keyboard is absolutely needed, and without it, the Vi10 Plus is just another Android tablet. But when connecting a keyboard, you can truly use it as a laptop, and with the rich app support available on Android, there are big chances that you’re going to get job done quite easily.
If you’re used to working in Windows, it shouldn’t take too much to discover how good Remix OS is, while Android fans should have absolutely no problem in making the most of the OS as well.
As far as the tablet itself is concerned, you won’t get anything better than that for a little bit over $100. Although the specs aren’t exactly next-gen, the hardware is good enough to get the majority of things done, including here watching videos, browsing the web, or working with a document or two. The battery lasts long enough to watch more than 10 episodes of Seinfeld, but the recharging process is painfully slow.
If there’s something that needs to be improved, it’s the quality of the keyboard, which is available separately, but once again, you really can’t ask for more when all you have to pay is $100.
