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  "path": "/blog/2026/05/28/chuwi-minibook-x/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-31T22:55:48.000Z",
  "site": "https://tylercipriani.com",
  "tags": [
    "Charlie Stross",
    "Mastodon",
    "unmerged\nGRUB rotation patches",
    "modedb default\nvideo mode support",
    "framebuffer\nconsole boot options",
    "mainframed/Hackers-Plymouth",
    "Linus Torvalds",
    "expected",
    "The Death and Life of Great American Cities",
    "River",
    "Melatonin"
  ],
  "textContent": "Netbooks are dead, but the Chuwi Minibook X scratches the same itch.\n\nThe Minibook X is a 10.5″ x86_64 sub-ultrabook with 16GB RAM, a 512GB NVMe drive, and only one majorly annyoing Linux quirk.\n\nI needed a knock-around laptop, so I bought myself a Minibook for my birthday last year. The more I tote it around, the more fun I’m having with this ridiculous little computer.\n\n\n  \n Chuwi Minibook X\n\n## Quick specs\n\nMuch like the netbooks of yore, the Minibook is a budget machine. But it’s 2026, so even budget machines pack more oomph than I need from a utility laptop.\n\n  * CPU 4-core/4-thread 3.6GHz Intel N150 Twin Lake\n  * 16 GB RAM – LPDDR5-6400 – soldered 😿\n  * 512GB NVMe – upgradable\n  * 10.51” IPS 2K 16:10 screen\n  * 28.88Wh Li-Ion battery\n  * Weight: 911g\n  * Ports: 2×USB-C (1×PD charging)\n  * Cost: $350\n\n\n  \n Chuwi Minibook Guts\n\nOne oddity is that the Minibook comes bundled with a 12V/2A USB-C charger. I chucked the charger; I worried I’d fry some 5V SoC someday. The Minibook works fine with a PD charger.\n\n\n  \n Minibook X using a PD Charger at 20V\n\nI’d assume the 12V charger was a cost-saving choice, but it also creates some weird possibilities for DC/off-grid setups.\n\n## Linux and weirdness: sideways panels and kernel parameters\n\nCharlie Stross, a favorite SciFi author, talks up the Chuwi Minibook X on Mastodon\n\nThe fediverse told me that Minibook runs Linux “boringly well,” which was _almost_ true.\n\nI tried Debian, then jumped to NixOS for kicks.\n\nWhat works:\n\n  * Camera/Microphone/Speakers\n  * Touchscreen\n  * Sleep/Suspend\n  * Hibernate\n  * Keyboard backlight\n  * USB-C HDMI\n  * Bluetooth (non-free blobs – Intel)\n  * Wi-Fi 6 (non-free blobs – Intel)\n\n\n\nBut on first boot, the screen orientation is 270° clockwise:\n\n\n  \n Linux setup screen rotated 270°.\n\nThe Chuwi’s screen is a panel from a cheap tablet; the screen rotation issue is a hardware problem (the screen is mounted sideways). To fix the screen’s rotation, I had to tweak screen orientation at every software layer. Fixing this problem was a journey:\n\n  1. Bootloader – Switched from `systemd-boot` to `grub`, carrying some unmerged\nGRUB rotation patches on top.\n  2. Initrd – Tell the Intel display driver about the panel orientation via a kernel parameter, and force the Intel driver to load in the initramfs. On NixOS: `boot.kernelParams = [\"video=DSI-1:panel_orientation=right_side_up\"];` and `boot.initrd.kernelModules = [\"i915\"];` (see Kernel docs for modedb default\nvideo mode support)\n  3. Desktop environment – For X11, good ole `xrandr --output DSI-1 --rotate right`. Wayland picked this up from the DRM connector. This one was easy.\n  4. Framebuffer – Ensure all TTYs have the proper orientation by adding `fbcon=rotate:1` to kernel parameters `boot.kernelParams = [\"fbcon=rotate:1\"];` (see Kernel docs for framebuffer\nconsole boot options)\n\n\n\nBehold, the final result in all its glory:\n\nNon-rotated system boot. Zero Cool's bootscreen courtesy of mainframed/Hackers-Plymouth\n\n## Size, weight, and build\n\nThis computer is mind-bogglingly small. The build is sturdy and totable; it’ll hold up to a backpack jostling.\n\n\n  \n Chuwi Minibook X with \"banana\" for scale\n\nThe laptop’s case is MacBook-esque: aluminum and good-looking. The MacBook Air’s dimensions dwarf the Chuwi’s, but the two laptops are about the same thickness.\n\n\n  \n Chuwi Minibook X alongside the Macbook Air \n \n Chuwi Minibook atop the Macbook Air\n\n> A notebook that weighs more than a kilo is simply not a good thing\n>\n> – \nLinus Torvalds\n\nThe Minibook weighs in just shy of a kilo at 912 grams.\n\n\n  \n My Minibook X weighs 912g\n\n## Perf, thermals, and power\n\ntl;dr: you get what you pay for. But battery life and cooling are better than I’d have guessed.\n\nThe Minibook X was never going to compile the Linux kernel in record time. But the performance matches the specs, it stays cool, and it has enough battery life to run a movie marathon.\n\nNumbers:\n\n  * Geekbench6 (a fun side-quest to get running on NixOS), better than I expected.\n    * Single-core: 1295\n    * Multi-core: 3332\n  * Wi-Fi 6 speed: 424 Mbps, more than enough to stream a 4K movie.\n  * Power\n    * Idle: 3.8W\n    * During benchmark: ~15W\n\n\n\nBattery: When I left the 1995 classic film “Hackers” looping in VLC, the battery lasted about 6 hours.\n\nHeat: Running `stress-ng` for 10 minutes, the hottest part of the laptop chassis remained below 90°F (32°C):\n\n\n  \n Thermal camera view of Chuwi Minibook X running `stress-ng`\n\n## What I dislike\n\nThere’s so much to dislike about this laptop:\n\n  * Screen is terrible – 2K? 50Hz refresh rate? Why!?\n  * Keyboard is terrible – it only registers keystrokes when you hit the exact center of each key.\n  * Touchpad is terrible – It’s a diving board-style, without physical buttons.\n  * Sound is meh – I can hear the tinny laptop speaker fine, but it’s underwhelming. I’ve never tried tweaking it in Pipewire, though; it’s possible it could be better.\n\n\n\nBut “terrible” is in comparison to the nicest modern laptops in existence. Everything I listed here works fine. I’m honestly blown away when I tune my expectations to the sub-$400 laptop range.\n\n## Verdict\n\nIn \nThe Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jane Jacobs wrote, “new ideas require old buildings”: cheap spaces let people try risky ideas.\n\nThe Chuwi Minibook X is an old building.\n\nI can brick the Minibook and have a normal Monday on my serious work laptop. Nothing has to work, which makes it perfect to try out new Linux desktop stuff:\n\n  * NixOS – I’ve been using Debian for 15 years+, figured I’d try joining the NixOS cult for a while.\n  * RiverWM – I’m on a quest to find the Wayland version of XMonad; River is pretty close.\n  * KDE Plasma – I’ve used a tiling window manager for over a decade. What’s it like to use a desktop that Just Works™?\n  * Steam – Never been much into games, but I decided to give Steam a try since, well, why not?\n\n\n\nCheap, weird computers like the Chuwi make it safe to play. And playing with computers is still fun.\n\nPlaying Melatonin on Steam on the Chuwi",
  "title": "Chuwi Minibook X: the netbook we deserve"
}