Chuwi Hi9 Pro REVIEW: The Best Compact Tablet in 2018

The Chinese manufacturer Chuwi released its new tablet Chuwi Hi9 in June 2018. To be precise, there are even 3 tablets: Chuwi Hi9, Chuwi Hi9 Air and Chuwi Hi9 Pro. They have similar names, but completely different specifications. Today we want to talk about Pro version. The company says that it is the best budget tablet for gaming. Is it true? Let’s find out.

Right now, you can buy Chuwi Hi9 Pro for only $139.99 on GearBest online store. More details by the link below.

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Package

This is budget tablet, so the package is not very rich. There is everything you need for using, and not more:

• Chinese power adapter;
• USB Type-C charging cable;
• User manual;
• Tablet.

Please note that the standard package has a Chinese power adapter, so you need your local adapter for charging the tablet.

Design

The tablet is mainly used in portrait orientation, so it has symmetry design.

On the rear metal panel, you can find two plastic inserts for antennas. In the left upper corner, there is a small camera sensor, and single speaker at the bottom.

The control elements are located on side faces. There is USB Type-C port and 3.5 mm audio jack on the top, while the bottom edge is completely empty.

The right side has volume rocker and power button. The slot for two SIM cards is located on the left side.

It is a pity, but tablets still have thick bezels around the screen. The smartphone market has been changed about two years ago, and today we have almost bezel-less phones. However, tablets still have thick black bezels, and it looks terrible.

Display

The main feature of Chuwi Hi9 Pro is an excellent screen. It has a diagonal of 8.4 inches. Thanks to its aspect ratio, it has the most comfortable size for the tablet. You can always carry it with you, and even use with one hand.

The IPS panel manufactured by JDI has a resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels. Yes, this is true 2K resolution. In addition, the screen does not contain an air gap between protective glass Gorilla Glass and its own surface.

The display provides excellent gaming experience, watching movies and working. Brightness is excellent, and contrast is good. The color reproduction also OK for this price category. In addition, you can change color profiles in the settings menu.

Is it comfortable to use?

Chuwi Hi9 Pro is a standard representative of 8.4-inch tablets. We should say that it is the most popular tablet category, because these models are something in between smartphones and 10.1-inch tablets.

As we already said, the tablet has bezels around the display, but they are much smaller than many other competitors on the market. Also, Chuwi Hi9 Pro has metal back panel with plastic antenna lines, which makes it to look more expensive and premium.

It is equally important that tablet has 3.5 mm audio jack and USB Type-C port. The control buttons have comfortable location, so they are easy to press. Chuwi Hi9 Pro perfectly fits in the pocket of a classic jacket or denim jacket.

Hardware

Chuwi Hi9 Pro is powered by Mediatek Helio X20 chipset. We already familiar with this processor by many other smartphones and tablets. It has ten processing cores at a clock frequency from 1.8 to 2.3 GHz. The platform has excellent energy efficiency, performance and decent graphics accelerator ARM Mali T880.

The combination of chipset with 3GB of RAM makes it very good for games. Of course, it is not flagship, so you should not run latest Android games on high graphics settings, but you can easily run any games on low or sometimes medium graphics. Moreover, Chuwi Hi9 Pro will cope with any everyday tasks for the next couple of years.

By the way, there is 32GB of internal memory. You will not take many photos on tablet, so the storage is enough for apps and documents.

Connectivity

The tablet supports wireless networks Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac and Bluetooth 4.1. In addition, there is 4G module for connecting to LTE networks. There is slot for two SIM cards.

You can use them for access to mobile networks, and for making voice calls. Of course, it is not very comfortable to make calls on 8.4-inch tablet, but you can use Bluetooth headset with a range of up to 10 meters.

The navigation is also available, thanks to built-in GPS. It is very quickly: a cold start takes no more than 40 seconds. The accuracy is good for car navigator.

Battery

The battery capacity of Chuwi Hi9 Pro is 5000mAh. It is one of the best results among compact tablets. Thanks to hardware (even despite the high-resolution screen), the battery life can be up to 24 hours.

We already tested the tablet, and here are results in different scenarios:

• Web surfing via Wi-Fi: 10 hours;
• Web surfing via LTE: 8 hours;
• Watching movies in airplane mode: 8-9 hours;
• Playing 3D games: 5 hours;
• General use: up to 18 hours.

Cameras

The main camera of Chuwi Hi9 Pro doesn’t have a flash, but it has good sensor. So, if you will take images in good lighting conditions, the quality will be very good. However, in low lighting conditions, the images have artifacts, noises and mistaken focus. We can say that any tablet has the same problems. So, we recommend to use cameras on tablets for making quick notes or documents.

The front camera is good for video chatting. If you have good sunny day, then you can even make some decent selfies.

Sound

Since Chuwi Hi9 Pro supports two SIM cards, it has two speakers: one of them is located on the back, while another – above the screen. The second speaker is for calls.

The main speaker has pretty good sound, but there is a lack of bass or high. In general, it is good for watching movies and favorite Android games.

The conversational speaker leaves a more pleasant impression: the interlocutor is heard very well. The same can be said about microphone, which is located under the screen, like the smartphones (you can talk like a very large smartphone!). The interlocutor recognizes the voice and does not complain about the quality.

The sound in headphones is average – you can listen to music, and watch the movie.

Impressions

The build quality of Chuwi Hi9 Pro tablet is almost perfect, and only antenna lines on the back spoil the design a little. However, they provide the main feature of this tablet – dual SIM card support. You can use 4G LTE networks and make calles.

For only $140, Chuwi Hi9 Pro is one of the best compact tablets on the market. It combines an excellent screen, a powerful energy-efficient platform, good performance, different interfaces for voice and Internet communications.

Price and buy

Of course, there are other 8.4-inches Android tablets in 2018, however, they are much more expensive than Chuwi Hi9 Pro. Most of them offer the same features (some of them even less), but the price of Chuwi new tablet is the most attractive.

For example, Xiaomi Mi Pad 4 LTE version starts from $300. Yes, you can find Xiaomi Mi Pad 4 tablet for about $180, but it does not support SIM cards, so you cannot use mobile Internet and make calls. However, Chuwi Hi9 Pro offers this option, and its price is only $140. That’s all I wanted to say! See you in the next review.

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