Review: Chuwi Hi10 Max 13-inch Windows tablet (2024)

Review unit provided by Chuwi

The Chuwi Hi10 Max is a 13-inch Windows tablet running 12th gen Intel N100 and comes with pen support.

Prices are as follows:

• Tablet alone: USD 319
• With keyboard: USD 339
• With Chuwi H7 pen: USD 349
• With keyboard case and Chuwi H7 pen: USD 369

You can think of this as the alternate option for the 13.5-inch Chuwi Freebook N100 laptop which has rather similar specs and is priced at USD 369.

Differences between Chuwi Hi10 Max and Chuwi Freebook N100:

• 780g vs 1.36kg
• Tablet 2-in-1 form factor vs laptop convertible
• 2 USB-C, USB-A, micro HDMI vs 3 USB-C ports
• 60 nits vs 189 nits minimum brightness
• Touchpad is smaller
• Typing experience feels more plasticky, hollow
• No function key lock for Freebook N100
• Freebook N100 can be used on lap more comfortably
• Arrow keys in better position on Hi10 Max

The main difference between the two is the Chuwi Hi10 Max can be used as a 780g tablet without the keyboard case and back cover. The Chuwi Freebook N100 has a display that can fold to the back, but it will become a 1.36kg tablet. Keyboard and touchpad are better on the laptop.

Bottom line

The Chuwi Hi10 Max has a beautiful design. Display is bright, vibrant and sharp. Port selection is good enough for two USB-C, one USB-A and one mini HDMI. Intel N100 and 12GB RAM can provide smooth performance for general computing tasks.

Downsides would be the audio quality sounds hollow, touchpad is small, typing experience feels plasticky, the kickstand is not built into the back of the tablet, and battery life is around 5 hours.

Specifications

• CPU: Intel N100 4-core processor
• GPU: Intel UHD
• Display type: IPS LCD, touchscreen, pen support, 60Hz
• Display size: 12.96-inch
• Resolution: 2880 x 1920, 3:2 aspect ratio
• RAM: 12GB LPDDR5 4000 MHz
• Storage: 512GB SSD (474 GB usable)
• Ports: 2x USB-C video, 1x USB 3.2 gen 1 Type A, 1x micro HDMI, 3.5mm audio jack
• OS: Windows 11 Home
• Camera: 8MP rear, 5MP front
• Connectivity: Wifi 6, Bluetooth 5.2
• Battery: 36.48Wh
• Size: 287.4 x 208.5 x 9mm
• Weight: 780g (tablet), 280g (kickstand)

Things included

• Tablet
• Keyboard cover
• Kickstand cover
• 36W Charger (12V 3A) with USB-C connector

I read one comment online talking about the charger:

Tell the people that this thing comes with a dangerous transformer with fixed 12V and a USB-C connector that does not meet the USB-C standards. The first day my kids blown out two devices because they just used the CHUWI charger as the use all the chargers we have at home. Who in with a normal brain put a USB-C connector on a fixed 12V transformer?. Who is going to pay for the damaged devices?. On top, it won't charge with PD power banks since all of them start with 5V and the tablet does not have PD or QC protocols for asking for those 12V it needs. Save yourself, don't buy it.

I am not knowledgeable about electrical specifications so I'm not sure of the fixed 12V 3A charger will be an issue when used to charge other devices. If you're not sure, you can always use your own GaN chargers.

Regarding not being able to charge with portable power banks. The thing is some tablets and laptops do require certain minimal wattage for charging. For example a power bank for phones won't work, but this portable Ugreen Nexode 100W power bank can and will charge the tablet.

Design

The tablet comes with screen protector already applied and that feels extremely plasticky so would recommend removing that. The glass surface is feels better and handles touch better too.

Design of this tablet looks beautiful and can easily be mistaken for the Microsoft Surface Pro at a glance. Bezels on the sides are thin, and thicker at the top and bottom. The front 5MP camera has no face unlock feature, and there's no fingerprint unlock too.

Stereo speakers are located low near to the keyboard cover. Audio is loud enough but sounds hollow.

Left side has two USB 3.1 gen 1 Type-C ports with video support, and a micro HDMI port.

Right side has one USB 3.1 gen 1 Type-A port and a 3.5mm audio jack.

The back has an 8MP camera that's flushed to the surface so there's no camera bump. I'm not sure what material is used for the body, could be metal or plastic, but build quality feels solid. Only downside here is the kickstand is not built into the back.

Chuwi has included a magnetic kickstand cover that you can attach to the back, and this will also provide protection for the back. This of course will add more thickness to the 9mm thick body, and this is before adding the keyboard cover.

Exterior of the kickstand cover feels like leather, but I'm pretty sure it's PU leather, and the interior is felt. Quality is actually quite good. The kickstand folds down from the top, not from the bottom like the Surface Pro. Not really an issue as this is something easy to get used to. Main issue is there's no latch/hole/handle to fold down the kickstand easily.

There are two USB-C video ports on the left that support charging. The micro HDMI unfortunately is not full size HDMI but it's still a HDMI port which is useful.

On the other side there's a USB 3.2 gen 1 Type A port and a 3.5mm audio jack.

The keyboard cover attaches strongly using magnets to the bottom of the tablet. The keyboard can lay flat and can be prop up at a slight angle.

There's auto sleep when keyboard cover is closed. There's no auto wake so you'll have to hit any keys on the keyboard, and waking the tablet takes more than a few seconds, like trying to wake up a groggy teenager. By comparison, Chuwi Freebook N100 wakes almost instantly.

The keyboard cover has good build quality, keyboard size is good but the keys feels plasticky so the typing experience feels plasticky and hollow. By comparison, the Chuwi Freebook N100 has a more solid typing experience. If you type often, I recommend going with the laptop instead of the tablet.

The keys are backlit and you can change the colours with Fn + Up/Down arrows. Function key lock is Esc + Fn instead of Fn + Esc.

Touchpad is small, and the left and right clicking areas are even smaller. It's difficult to click and drag as the left click area is so small, and the drag will stop at the middle of the touchpad. Using the touchscreen or mouse will provide better experience when moving the cursor.

Wrist rest area has the same (PU) leather texture and the exterior is felt which can attract dust easily, and cleaning involves using tape to remove the dust.

Display

This LCD display looks bright, vibrant and sharp. Chuwi somehow was able to include a 2880 x 1920 (3:2 aspect ratio) resolution which really makes the visuals look so sharp. Refresh rate is 60Hz and the display is laminated.

I measured colour support for 98% sRGB, 68% NTSC, 73% AdobeRGB, 74% P3, minimum brightness of 60 nits and maximum brightness of 400 nits.

I had to measure minimum brightness because Chuwi Freebook N100's minimum brightness is 189 nits which is too high.

Oh, make sure to disable "Change brightness based on content" in Windows settings.

The display is very glossy.

Performance

General performance with the Intel N100 and 12GB RAM is smooth even with multi-tasking. Without a dedicated graphics card, don't expect much from gaming.

I did some graphic design work and the tablet performed well without issues. Launching the app the first time may take a second longer that's all. And it goes without saying that this tablet is not ideal for video editing, but for use with Lightroom photo editing it's still fine, as long as you're not dealing with hundreds of RAWs.

Windows 11 Home runs fine. This tablet is made for general computing work, e.g. web browsing, watching videos, doing office documents.

Tablet runs warm but not enough for the fans to rev up so you can expect silent operation. Fan exhausts from the top.

Pen performance

I tested two Chuwi H7 pens and the performance is not good as seen below:

The Chuwi H7 pen just can't seem to write, or it would only write a split second later. The ASUS Pen 2 (SA203H), which uses MPP 2, is more usable with slight wobble.

The Chuwi H7 pen also suffers from diagonal line wobble and jitter. Drawing horizontal or vertical lines is alright, but diagonal lines are problematic. Test above was created with ASUS Pen 2 (SA203H).

Battery life

Battery capacity is 37Wh. Battery life is around 4 - 5 hours depending on brightness.

Other issues

When you open the keyboard cover, the backlight is always on. Not sure how much battery that uses up though if you forget to turn off the backlight each time.

There is less scrolling momentum for webpages. You can swipe on the Chuwi Freebook N100 and the scroll will move more, on the Hi10 Max the scroll stops quite quickly.

Conclusion

The Chuwi Hi10 Max is provides a lot of value for money. The display is bright, vibrant and sharp. Overall performance for general computing tasks is smooth. Port selection is good.

It's a budget tablet so there are downsides obviously but none are deal breakers.

If you're looking for a budget computing device, the two good choices now are the Chuwi Hi10 Max (left) and Chuwi Freebook N100 (right). Unless you really need the tablet form factor, I would recommend you go with the laptop instead because of the better typing experience.

Pros and cons at a glance
+ Beautiful design
+ Good build quality
+ Bright, vibrant and sharp display
+ Good selection of ports
+ Both USB-C video ports support charging
+ Smooth general performance
+ 12GB RAM and 512GB storage (474GB usable)
+ Fans don't rev up with normal usage
+ No bloatware
+ Excellent value for money
- Very reflective display
- Audio sounds hollow
- Keyboard lights always come on when you open keyboard cover
- Takes a few seconds to wake from sleep
- Difficult to open the kickstand
- It's thick and heavier after adding the kickstand cover and keyboard cover
- Chuwi H7 pen does not work well, but other MPP2 pens may work better
- No face or fingerprint unlock
- 4 to 5 hours battery life

Availability

The Chuwi Hi10 Max tablet and Chuwi Freebook N100 are both available from the Chuwi online store.

AliExpress links for Chuwi Hi10 Max and Chuwi Freebook N100

10% COUPON CODE
Global Store: https://hubs.li/Q02NhmcN0
code: TeohHiMax