Alldocube GT Book Review: The Best $350 Laptop

August 7, 2021

Alldocube GT Book Review Best Budget Laptop

In this review, I’ll be discussing what’s probably the best budget laptop you could buy right now, which is the Alldocube GT Book. After the pandemic, it was not just the GPU market that saw soaring prices. The laptop industry took a significant hit as well. An entry-level laptop that retailed for around USD 400 now costs upwards of USD 500, at least in markets like India and Nepal.

And at a time when everyone is either working or studying from home, it is kinda frustrating to see this price hike. However, today I have a USD 350 Windows laptop with me from a company you might not have even heard of. And to be honest with you, it is probably the best USD 350 I have spent on a gadget this year.

Alldocube GT Book Specifications:

Design & Build: All-metal build, 12.72W x 8.15D x 0.67H-inches, 1.35 kg
Display: 14.1″ IPS panel, FHD (1920×1080) resolution, 16:9 aspect ratio
Keyboard: Chiclet-style backlit keyboard (White)
Trackpad: Plastic multi-touch trackpad, Windows Precision drivers
Processor: Intel Celeron N5100 CPU (Jasper Lake), 4C/4T, 2.8GHz Max Turbo Frequency, 4MB L3 Cache, 10nm process, 6W TDP
RAM: 12GB LPDDR4x RAM (2933MHz)
Storage: 256GB SSD
Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics (Integrated)
Audio: Dual speaker setup, Dual Microphone
Battery: 7.6V/5000mAh cell
Power Supply: DC 3.55mm, 12V/3A (or Type-C PD charging)
Webcam: 1.0MP front-facing camera
Connectivity: WiFi 802.11 6 (ax), Bluetooth 5.1
I/O Ports: 1x USB 3.0 Type-A, 1x USB Type-C, 1x 3.5mm audio jack, 1x DC 3.5mm charge jack
Price (International): USD 360 (~ NPR 42,700)
Coupon: Use code “NEWCODE10CUB” for USd 10 off

Buy Alldocube GT Book here

Alldocube GT Book Review:

The company in question is Alldocube, which is based in Shenzhen, China. They make affordable tablets and laptops and sell them online through Aliexpress and Amazon. And because they sell their products exclusively online, maybe that’s why they are able to keep the prices low.

Nevertheless, the laptop that I have with me for review is the Alldocube GT Book. And for the price, its specs are amazing. You get a 14.1-inch Full HD IPS display, 12GB of RAM, 256GB SSD, WiFi 6, and Intel’s latest Celeron N5100 processor.

Design

All-metal build quality
12.72 x 8.15 x 0.67″, 1.35 kg

Specs aside, its design is something you don’t see on a budget laptop of 2021. It has quite minimal bezels on the screen, which even to this date, brands like Dell and Lenovo are not offering in their budget laptops. Plus, it comes with an all-metal body and the laptop is pretty thin and light too.

Overall, on my usage, I have liked its compact body. From the inside, it might look like an M1 MacBook Pro knock-off. Despite all this, the good stuff about the Alldocube GT Book is that it’s a well-built device. From the hinge to keyboard deck to display flex, everything is impressively sturdy.

Design

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The only flaw with its design is the location of the webcam as you’ll find it on the bottom of the hinge right here.

So, since this doesn’t deliver a direct line of sight, attending video calls or Zoom meetings could be a little awkward. About the video quality, this camera performs perfectly fine for regular video calls and such, while the microphone quality is okay too.

Display

14.1″ non-touch IPS LCD panel
FHD resolution, 96% sRGB color

Now, what really surprised me was its display quality. Usually, manufacturers compromise in terms of resolution and color coverage on their budget laptops. But here, Alldocube is offering a really good panel.

It brings a sharp Full HD resolution, but more importantly, this screen has 96% of sRGB coverage, which means it is not a bad option to just edit some RAW photos or create thumbnails.

I also enjoyed watching movies and YouTube videos on this thing, but its speaker quality is pretty average—although still usable. Plus, its display isn’t bright, so using it outdoors isn’t a pleasant experience. However, it’s completely fine for indoor usage.

Keyboard, Trackpad

Backlit chiclet-style keyboard (single-color)
Plastic trackpad with integrated left/right keys

As for the keyboard, it’s a pretty basic one. It has good tactile feedback, the keys are well spaced out, and I didn’t have any issues while writing scripts and such. Plus, it offers 3 levels of backlight, which again, isn’t something you get on budget laptops.

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The trackpad is pretty basic too. It doesn’t have a smooth surface like a glass one, but it’s fully functional. Gestures and buttons work fine but if you want the best experience, you’ll want to use a mouse.

Performance

Intel Jasper Lake Celeron N5100 CPU (6W TDP)
12GB LPDDR4x RAM, 256GB onboard M.2 SSD

Anyway, let’s finally talk about its performance and this is where budget laptops typically struggle. Here, the Alldocube GT Book comes with the latest Intel Celeron N5100 processor paired with 12GB of DDR4 RAM running at a respectable 2933MHz and 256GB of M.2 SSD.

This Intel N5100 CPU isn’t a high-performing one and is slower compared to its i3 counterpart. Yet, if you look into the market, considerably more expensive Windows laptops and Chromebooks still come with the older N4010 processor.

This configuration was more than powerful enough for my daily usage, which includes opening 6 to 7 tabs in Chrome, listening to music on Spotify, and launching a few LibreOffice apps. As a result, if you are a light user, who works with the MS Office suite or attends Zoom meetings and such, you will not notice any hint of lag.

How about gaming?

Plus, this is a fanless system so noise isn’t an issue either. It does get warm when using demanding heavy apps like Photoshop for a long time though. Likewise, gaming is a no-go with this machine.

I tried to play FIFA 21 and CS: GO in their respective lowest settings and the gameplay wasn’t enjoyable. The CPU throttles by quite a bit and the performance degrades after 10 minutes or so.

But, I wouldn’t necessarily call it a limitation because this laptop isn’t geared towards gaming in the first place. Still, I wished Alldocube provided an i3 CPU and 8GB RAM, instead of this Celeron CPU and 12GB of RAM combo. Also, the 256GB SSD is not NVMe, so the read/write speed is quite low. Thankfully, you can easily replace the SSD.

Battery

5000mAh battery, 3.5mm DC power-in jack

About the battery life, the Alldocube GT Book comes with a 5000mAh battery. On my regular usage, it provided me with 3 to 4 hours of backup, which is a bit on the lower end for me.

In terms of charging, you get a 36W 3.5mm charger inside the box. But the good thing is that it supports Type-C charging with any PD charger. Most of the time, I used the 65W PD charger from OnePlus and it gets the laptop fully charged from 0 to 100% in about 2 and a half hours.

Alldocube GT Book Review: Conclusion

So, overall, I am really thrilled to see a relatively small brand like Alldocube make such a decent budget laptop. I think they have included the right set of specs and made the right compromises. The only thing I wished it had was an extra Type-A port since the only one available here is insufficient. Also, I had some issues while using a mouse and I had to insert a flash drive to solve it.

Nevertheless, if you are looking for a terrific value Windows laptop under 350 dollars, you won’t find a better option than this. And if you ask me, I would rather go for a Windows laptop over Chromebooks at this price range.