CHUWI Corebook Plus 16" Gray 2025

The CHUWI CoreBook Plus is a $497 16-inch laptop with a killer battery, great ports, and rare expandability. But the CPU is weak, gaming is a no-go, and reliability is a serious concern. Buy it for basic productivity on a budget, not for performance or longevity.

The Ryzen 5 7430U sits at the 20th percentile for CPUs in our database, which is honestly underwhelming. It'll handle web browsing, Office apps, and video calls without breaking a sweat, but don't expect it to crush heavy video editing or compile massive codebases. The Radeon 7-core integrated GPU lands at the 71st percentile, which is better than most budget iGPUs but still nowhere near a dedicated card. Gaming performance scores 18.4 out of 100, so if you're buying this for games, you're going to be disappointed. The 16GB of DDR4 RAM is fine for multitasking, though it's at the 37th percentile, meaning most modern laptops ship with faster or more memory. The 512GB NVMe SSD is middle of the pack at the 52nd percentile.

Stacked against the Apple MacBook Air M4 or ASUS Zenbook UX3405CA, the CHUWI gets absolutely destroyed on CPU performance and build quality. Those machines are in a different league, but they also cost 2-3x more. The Lenovo ThinkPad X9-14 Gen 1 and Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition offer better screens and reliability, but again, you're paying a premium. Where the CHUWI wins is raw value and expandability. None of those competitors let you swap RAM or add a second SSD. If you're on a tight budget and want a big screen with room to grow, the CHUWI makes a case. If you need something that'll last 5+ years without issues, spend more elsewhere.

At $497 USD, this is a lot of laptop for the money. You're getting a 16-inch screen, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, and a battery that'll last all day. The expandability alone is worth the price of admission for tinkerers. But the reliability score of 4th percentile is a red flag. If this thing dies in 18 months, the value proposition evaporates. For budget buyers who need a big screen and don't push the CPU hard, it's a decent deal. Just know you're rolling the dice on longevity.

The CHUWI CoreBook Plus is a budget 16-inch laptop that punches above its weight in a few specific areas. You get a big screen, a massive 74Wh battery, and a port selection that puts most thin-and-lights to shame, all for around $497 USD. It's not a gaming laptop despite what the marketing says, but it's a solid big-screen workhorse for the money.

The AMD Ryzen 5 chip here is a 6-core, 12-thread part that handles everyday multitasking fine. The integrated Radeon graphics are decent for light tasks but won't run modern games well. The real story is the expandability: two SODIMM slots and two SSD slots mean this thing can grow with you, which is rare at this price.

Skip this if you need any kind of gaming performance, since the 18.4/100 gaming score is a non-starter. Also skip it if you rely on your laptop for income and can't afford downtime, because the 4th percentile reliability score is a genuine risk. If you need a color-accurate screen for design work, the 41st percentile display won't cut it either. Spend a bit more on a ThinkPad or MacBook Air if any of those matter to you.

The CHUWI CoreBook Plus is for budget-conscious buyers who want a big screen, long battery life, and the ability to upgrade later. It's not for gamers, not for heavy content creators, and not for anyone who values reliability above all else. If you're a student or office worker who mostly lives in a browser and Office apps, this'll do the job. Just back up your data and maybe buy the extended warranty.