Earlier this month, Chinese manufacturer Chuwi unveiled the LapBook 12.3, joining a growing line-up of Windows 10 devices in its range. In the last eighteen months, the company has launched the Vi8 Plus tablet, the Hi12 slate, the Hi13 tablet, and the HiBook 2-in-1, and in December, it also revealed the LapBook 14.1.
The new LapBook 12.3 was destined to go on sale this month, but Chuwi has contacted us today - with a great deal of contrition - to inform us that its release date has been pushed back. However, it has also revealed the device's price, a detail that was missing from its previous announcement.
Chuwi told us that it "apologizes for running late on the release date", but it assures potential buyers that the LapBook 12.3 will go on sale in May, priced at $349. That makes its more costly than the larger LapBook 14.1, which is priced below $300, but this appears to be justified by the new model's spec sheet.
The LapBook 12.3's key specs include:
- 12.3-inch display with 2736x1824px resolution
- Intel Apollo Lake N3450 processor with HD 500 graphics
- 6GB DDR3 RAM
- 64GB eMMC storage (plus storage card slot)
- Dual-band 2.4GHz/5GHz Wi-Fi
- 2MP camera
- USB 3.0 and 2.0 ports
- mini HDMI port
- 3.5mm audio port
The LapBook 12.3 has a much higher-resolution display than the 1080p screen of the LapBook 14.1; in fact, its 12.3-inch screen has the same resolution as Microsoft's Surface Pro 4, which costs more than twice as much. The LapBook 12.3 also has 2GB more RAM than its 14.1-inch sibling.
However, you'll get eMMC storage, rather than the superior SSD, and the Apollo Lake processor won't provide the same class of performance as Intel's more powerful Core-series chips. But while many of the LapBook 12.3's key specs may be modest, it still seems to have plenty to offer, to compete with other devices in its price range.
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