4K laptop for only $550? Chuwi is now crowdfunding the 15.6-inch AeroBook Pro

Chuwi is known for its low cost laptops that are crowdfunded through Indiegogo campaigns. The company’s latest model is called AeroBook Pro 15.6 and is already featured in a crowdfunding campaign, which allows backers to pre-order the laptop with a 4K display for just $550. This new model is supposed to be an alternative to Microsoft’s Surface Laptop 3 and Apple’s MacBook Pro, but, in order to keep production costs as low as possible, Chuwi had to make some compromises for the processing power.

Most of the specs on the new AeroBook Pro are up to date, but the tight budget only allows for 5-year-old Intel Skylake CPUs like the 14 nm Core i5-6287U. There is also a more expensive variant powered by the i7-6567U. Both versions are dual-core / quad-thread 28 W chips with integrated Iris Graphics 550 iGPUs. Apparently, these CPUs are still decent for productivity and light content creation tasks, and the iGPU can easily handle 4K resolutions. The $550 model also comes with 8 GB of LPDDR4-2133 RAM, 256 GB SSD storage, while the more expensive version gets 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB SSD storage and a US$849 price tag.

Other standard features include:

• 55.86 Wh battery for up to 8 hours of continuous uptime
• WiFi + Bluetooth 4.2
• Port selection: 2x USB-A 3.0, 1x USB-C 3.1 (full feature), audio out jack, HDMI out
• microSD card reader
• 2 MP webcam
• ~ 3.75 lbs weight

The Indiegogo campaign is scheduled to end in 44 days, although Chuwi already exceeded the funding goal by 670%. Production should begin in May and the first shipments should be sent out in June.