CHUWI Corebook Plus 16" 2025, AMD R, 16GB, 512GB SSD, Gray

The CHUWI CoreBook Plus is a featherweight 16-inch laptop with great ports, a huge battery, and expandable storage for under $500. But gaming performance is terrible and reliability is near the bottom of our database. Buy it for office work and portability, not for gaming or long-term durability.

The Ryzen 5 7430U is a solid mid-range chip with 6 cores and 12 threads. It handles everyday multitasking, spreadsheets, and light video editing without breaking a sweat. The integrated Radeon Graphics with 2GB of shared VRAM is fine for older games and esports titles at low settings, but don't expect much beyond that. Our gaming score for this thing is 18.4 out of 100, which is a real letdown. The 16GB of DDR4 RAM is adequate, though it's not the fastest memory out there. The 512GB SSD keeps boot times snappy, and you can expand it up to 2TB, which is a nice touch.

Against the Apple MacBook Air M4, the CHUWI gets destroyed on performance, screen quality, and reliability, but it costs a fraction of the price. The ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 is a gaming monster compared to this, but again, totally different price bracket. The MSI Prestige and Lenovo ThinkPad X9-14 both offer better build quality and reliability, though they cost significantly more. The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition has a far superior display and CPU. Honestly, the CHUWI's main competition is other budget laptops, not these premium machines. It wins on ports and battery capacity, but loses on almost everything else.

At $470 to $490, this is a tempting budget option. You're getting a big screen, tons of ports, a huge battery, and Windows 11 Pro for less than most Chromebooks. But the reliability concerns are hard to ignore. If this thing dies in a year, the savings evaporate. The expandability is a real plus, letting you upgrade RAM and storage down the line. For the right buyer who needs a cheap, portable workstation and doesn't game, it's worth a look. Just know you're rolling the dice on longevity.

The CHUWI CoreBook Plus is a 16-inch laptop that tries to punch way above its price tag. You get a Ryzen 5 7430U, 16GB of DDR4, a 512GB NVMe SSD, and a big 74Wh battery. On paper, that's a lot of machine for under $500. In practice, it's a mixed bag, with some genuinely impressive specs and one glaring weak spot.

This thing is weirdly light for a 16-inch laptop at 0.59kg. That's not a typo, it's under 1.3 pounds. The port selection is excellent, with dual USB-C, three USB-A ports, HDMI 2.0, and even Ethernet. But the reliability score in our database is rough, sitting near the bottom of the charts.

Skip this if you need a reliable daily driver for years to come. The 4th percentile reliability score means you're gambling on longevity. Gamers should absolutely look elsewhere, the gaming score of 18.4 out of 100 speaks for itself. And if you need a sharp, color-accurate display for design work, the mediocre screen will frustrate you. Spend a bit more on a ThinkPad or MacBook Air if you can swing it.

The CHUWI CoreBook Plus is for budget-conscious buyers who need a big, light laptop for office work, web browsing, and media consumption. It's not a gaming laptop despite the marketing. If you need something cheap with tons of ports and all-day battery, this fits the bill. Just don't expect it to last forever, and don't expect to play modern games on it.