Is this $450 laptop from an unknown brand too good to be true?

<figure> <img alt="A Chuwi UniBook laptop, facing away from the camera to show its lid. It’s sitting on a glss table admist a plush meeting space filled with colorful couches and chairs." data-caption="Cute name, especially if it were a wookiee. | Photo: Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge" data-portal-copyright="Photo: Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge" data-has-syndication-rights="1" src="https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/268691_Chuwi_UniBook_laptop_review_ADiBenedetto_0015.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;crop=0,0,100,100" /> <figcaption> Cute name, especially if it were a wookiee. | Photo: Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge </figcaption> </figure> <p class="has-drop-cap wp-block-paragraph">Finding a good laptop under $500 was hard enough before <a href="https://www.theverge.com/tech/952162/apple-price-increase-ram-shortage">RAMageddon</a>. They nearly always had cheap hardware and underpowered, often outdated chips. That's what made the <a href="https://www.theverge.com/tech/891741/apple-macbook-neo-a18-pro-review">MacBook Neo</a> so disruptive: It offered great build quality and good-enough performance starting at $599. <a href="https://www.theverge.com/tech/908328/macbook-neo-windows-laptop-competitors-asus-lenovo-acer-review-comparison">Windows laptops couldn't touch it.</a> Even though <a href="https://www.theverge.com/tech/952162/apple-price-increase-ram-shortage">it's gone up to $699</a>, it's still the laptop to beat.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">So when little-known Chinese brand <a href="https://www.chuwi.com/">Chuwi</a> announced a $450 Windows laptop with an aluminum build and a brand-new Intel Wildcat Lake processor, it sounded too good to be true.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">It is.</p> <div class="product-block"><h3>Chuwi UniBook</h3> <figure class="product-image"><img width="300" height="200" src="https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/268691_Chuwi_UniBook_laptop_review_ADiBenedetto_0005.jpg?w=300" class="attachment-medium size-medium" alt=""></figure> <div class="product-scores"><h4>Score: 3</h4><table class="product-pros-cons"><thead><tr><th>Pros</th><th>Cons</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><ul><li>It's $450</li><li>Tons of ports for a small laptop (though none are very …</li></ul></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div> <p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/tech/977031/chuwi-unibook-laptop-intel-wildcat-lake-review">Read the full story at The Verge.</a></p>