Alldocube KBook Review: Amazing Display But Weak Hardware

The Alldocube KBook is a 13.5-inch notebook with the same super high-resolution screen the Microsoft Surface Book is supposed to have. Other features include an Intel Core m3 processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. Well, the Alldocube KBook can be imported from China and costs under 460 US Dollars. Is it worth it? That’s what you’ll learn in this Alldocube KBook review.

By the way, the folks from the import shop GearBest send me this review unit. They’re having a sale because the Alldocube KBook just launched. You can get a small discount with the coupon code GBADBK19.

Design & Build Quality

Even though the Alldocube KBook is a very inexpensive notebook, it does not look like it at all. In fact, we’re getting a full aluminum body which looks very simple and high-end. And it’s premium feeling too. I don’t think most people would ever guess how cheap it is. With 1.5kg it’s not super light but certainly okay. I like that you can open the screen to about 180 degrees which is very nice if you’re going to work with it on your lap. The hinge seems to be well made too. It opens and closes smoothly.

Let’s check out some ports. On the right side, we get a USB 3.0 port and a standard headphone jack. There’s another USB 3.0 port on the left side and – oh no – one of those round ports for the power. The included charger is not USB C either, which is a bit sad. But on the positive side, there is a USB C port too. And you can use that one to charge the notebook, but also to connect a monitor, and normal storage of course. There is no SD card slot.

Keyboard, Speakers, Webcam

The Alldocube KBook has a normal size keyboard which is pretty good. The travel is not amazing, but the keyboard is totally fine. Nothing to complain about here. And that’s the case for the touchpad too. It’s certainly not the biggest but big enough. And it’s a precision touchpad which supports all the multitouch gestures of Windows 10.

As is common with cheap laptops, the speakers are not great at all. They’re located behind the hinge of the screen and are only okay. A bass is lacking, and they sound a bit flat. But yeah, it’s okay for YouTube, but don’t expect a great sound experience.

That’s what I can say about the 2-megapixel webcam too. Nothing special or good, but usable for video chats.

Read: These Are The Best China Tablets

Display: Massive Surface Book Screen

The biggest highlight of the Alldocube KBook is its screen. In fact, according to Alldocube, we’re getting the same panel Microsoft uses for their Surface Book. Touch is not enabled though. Well, it’s a 13.5-inch IPS display with a 3:2 aspect ratio and a super-high resolution of 3000 x 2000 pixels.

Because of this high resolution, everything looks very sharp. Yes, even when your nose is right in front of the screen. Viewing angles are very wide and the screen is very bright too. It’s also nice to see that the screen is fully laminated, and colors look great.

So, I don’t have anything bad to say about the display at all. It is one of the best screens you can get, no matter how expensive or cheap it is.

Hardware & Performance

Alright, let’s get to its internal hardware and performance. Sadly, it’s not as amazing as the screen. Instead, Alldocube uses a bit older hardware. Inside runs an Intel Core m3 processor – but no, not an 8th gen one, but a 6th generation CPU. Additionally, we get 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. If you open the body, you can change the SSD.

You can see in my Geekbench benchmark comparison that the 6th generation Intel Core m3 is faster than those Intel Pentium processors found in most cheaper tablets and notebooks. It’s also faster than the Microsoft Surface Go. However, the Pentium Silver N5000 scores better in the multicore-test because it hast four cores. The Core m3 is a dual-core chip.

When looking at my Cinebench scores, you can see again, that the graphics performance is faster than on most cheaper tablets and notebooks. It’s also interesting to note that the Microsoft Surface Go has better graphics. And a 7th generation Core m3 has a much better graphics score too.

In real life, performance is certainly good enough for normal office work and web browsing. Chrome and Microsoft Word run great. Thanks to those 8GB of RAM you can have a good number of tabs open. YouTube performance is okay when you watch full HD videos. Sometimes YouTube can seem a little bit laggy. That’s especially the case when you want to watch 4K videos. Now, they look amazing on this screen. But once you start to play a 4K video, the CPU goes to 100% and the beginning is laggy. It gets better after you wait a couple of seconds. But I think it’s better to watch it in 1080p because you’ll have a better experience.

A bit more demanding apps like Adobe Photoshop run okay too. I’ve edited 24-megapixel images and that worked fine. However, it’ll probably slow down if you work with tons of layers and effects.

You probably guessed it by those benchmark results already: The Alldocube KBook is not a gaming notebook. Don’t get this to play Fortnite. It won’t be playable. With that being said, you can obviously play simpler games. I tried Cuphead which runs great. And that’s the case for Asphalt 9 too.

So, as you can see, the performance of the Alldocube KBook is not amazing. But it’s a cheap notebook and for this price, it’s okay and normal. Especially with a high-resolution screen like this. If you just want to do some office work and browse the web, the performance is fine.

Read: The Best Windows Tablets You Can Buy

Battery Life

In my battery test, the Alldocube KBook gut a runtime of 5 hours. For this, I’m always looping an HD video at medium brightness and activated WiFi.

Well, cheap notebooks often have a weak battery and that’s the case here too. I actually expected it to be even worse because the high-resolution screen needs lots of power. In real life, with mostly office work and some YouTube in between, it should last you around 4 hours with medium brightness. And medium brightness is bright enough when you work inside.

Alldocube KBook Review: Final Verdict

That’s my Alldocube KBook review. Is it a good notebook? Well, it depends on what you are looking for. If you’re looking for a laptop with an amazing screen at an inexpensive price, it’s a pretty good choice. Again, the display is very good. I also like its build quality, simple design, and that we get a 512GB SSD. Most offer just 256GB.

Besides its screen, it’s not that special though. I wish we would get a newer processor. If you don’t care that much about the screen and just want fast performance, you should probably check for a Core i5 device with a simple full HD resolution. That way you should be able to get a notebook with better battery life too. Even if you get an older 6th generation Core i5, that one will be noticeably faster. Keep in mind though, that the Alldocube KBook is faster than all those Intel N3350 or N4000 notebooks you might be seeing out there.