But I was able to run Ubuntu 18.04, Debian 9, and Fedora 28. Some worked better than others using the default settings. I did not install any of these operating systems to the built-in storage and didn’t do very much to alter system settings, so I don’t have much to say about performance, battery life, or long-term usage, but I wanted to at least see what the out-of-the-box experience was for each operating system. Ubuntu notes The laptop’s 1920 x 1200 pixel display looks pretty great, but you may have to adjust the DPI scaling if you want to fit more content on the screen at once… or if you want to fit less content and make text and images large enough to see without squinting. Having it here creates a few problems, first of all it is far from the keys which means that it really interrupts your flow if you need to use it. After having the device for a while I found that I was naturally using the arrow keys and other keyboard shortcuts as much as I could to navigate around as I found it to be much faster than taking my hands off the keyboard to use the optical sensor.

With the screen rotated fully on both axes, the device takes the form of a (very chunky) tablet. Identical to the One Netbook A1. Stylus Support The keyboard is one of the major differenciators when comparing this laptop to others in the same niche such as the One Mix Yoga 2 and I was able to happily bash out this review on my morning train commute without any frustrations. When playing games that require both keyboard and mouse input, there’s no comfortable way to use the touch sensor and the W, A, S, and D keys. So you may want to connect an external mouse if you plan to do any gaming… or just buy a mini PC designed for the purpose. Pressing the fan button also silenced the computer’s fan and turned on the green LED indicator light to let me know that the fan was off. This screen will be perfect for E-books and videos, and also to access internet. The bright display and high pixel density will make it easier to use outdoors. This device can easily provide better experience than a smartphone, also despite its small screen, the quality of screen is better than most laptops in the mid-range. SoundUnfortunately this time there was one key piece of hardware that wasn’t supported out of the box: WiFi. Interestingly, Bluetooth was detected. I tried the “xrandr -o right” command and I got an error message (I’ve since been told its because Fedora uses the Wayland display server rather than xserver). But according to a report from DroiX, the 4th-gen model could be powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 7840U processor with Radeon 780M integrated graphics, and that could mean it will be able to handle many modern games… assuming you want to play them on a mini-laptop that’s not much bigger than the game controller you’ll probably want to plug in. Note that you may need to hit Fn+F12 a few times for this to work. If you accidentally boot into Windows 10 instead, just power down the computer and try again.

If everything works properly, you should see a boot menu that asks if you want to use the Windows boot manager or boot from the flash drive you just plugged in. Use the arrow keys to scroll down to the flash drive, hit enter, and you should be good to go. However, this device is not meant to replace a laptop or a smartphone but to be a bridge between them. In 2006, the concept of Ultra Mobile PCs (UMPC) became a reality with small, inexpensive laptops aimed at the masses. UMPC was a collaboration between Intel and Microsoft to create a new market for peripherals. With touch screens and support for a stylus, UMPC was a precursor to modern smartphones, but without cellular connectivity. The port selection on this little guy is better than expected, two full size USB A ports, one on either side of the machine as well as a multipurpose USB C port that is used to power the device as well as to drive any external displays. I found myself wishing that it had an additional USB C port instead of one of the USB A’s as you will need an adaptor to be able to power the machine and output to an external monitor simultaneously. Both of the USB A ports are USB 3.0 which is nice. It’s also surprising to find a touchscreen of this calibre in such a device. When I give it to people for the first time, they grab the screen and are pleasantly surprised to find that it’s touch-sensitive – and that it works well. Admittedly, the touch targets in Windows 10 on a 7-inch screen are small, but for basic functionality such as scrolling, closing apps or selecting the OK button, it works.This is the operating system that took the longest to boot, but when it did I was pleasantly surprised to see that scaling seemed to be set to 200 percent. Text, graphics, and everything else looked great. I didn’t need to squint to see anything and I didn’t need to adjust any font or display settings. Given how horrible most laptop cameras are… and how ubiquitous smartphone cameras are, I suspect this is a feature most people won’t miss. But it’s still probably something you should be aware of. Follow the Windows installer... Make sure you select Windows 11 Home or you'll not be able to activate it unless you had Windows 10 Pro installed.

Anyway, since I wasn’t able to get online, I didn’t bother installing apps, streaming video, or performing many other tests. But I did fire up a few apps and everything seemed to work fine. Another thing that is important to know is that the microSD card speed is limited by the controller and you are unlikely to get much better speeds than the on board eMMC even if you fork out for a blazingly fast microSD card. Noise Unexpectedly, the Intel Atom processor could become very hot. Under heavy load, e.g. when updating a Windows operating system or when playing a video, temperatures could reach 40°C (104°F) from the air outlet. This is not at all hot compared to a full laptop, but it is hotter than your smartphone on a larger surface. During normal use, the temperature is around 32°C (90°F).

The keyboard is arranged to accommodate bigger buttons, each button is individual and separated to prevent mistyping. Overall the keyboard is not too congested and it’s surprising how well they managed with the limited space available. The firmware reflash will now proceed and is automated – you can now leave it until you see the Windows desktop again. The process will take around 20 to 30 minutes, do not switch the device off or press any buttons during this time. the installation will take a good 5 minutes, seemingly freezing two or three times midway.. just let it run to the end.