Chuwi UBook tablet sacrifices quality for price

There are certain risks involved when buying electronics from lesser-known brands or clones. The Xiaomi Mi Air, for example, is essentially a clone of the MacBook Air but with cheaper parts for a cheaper price. Oftentimes, these clones tend to break more easily over time as well.

Our latest example is the Chuwi UBook detachable which is a clone of the Microsoft Surface Go. Unsurprisingly, the UBook is slower than the Microsoft equivalent with just one or two advantages in its favor. Where the tablet disappoints the most, however, is quality. We discovered heavier backlight bleeding and a more fragile detachable keyboard during our time with the UBook test unit when compared to the Surface Go. The poor build quality of the keyboard would sometimes prevent the pins from making direct contact with the tablet to impact our typing experience. Even the pen loop along the edge of the keyboard is far too small to hold the included WACOM stylus that the UBook comes with.

Though most clones and knock-offs are significantly cheaper than their "proper" versions, do keep in mind that you'll get what you pay for in nearly all cases. See our full review on the Chuwi UBook for more differences we discovered between it and the Surface Go.