Have you ever considered purchasing a laptop for the price of a smartphone? It is now possible, thanks to an Indian startup that has made it a reality for students. This Shark Tank season 2 featured startup has introduced the Primebook 4G which is an affordable laptop designed especially to empower students. The Primebook 4G’s SIM connectivity adds to its allure, effectively transforming it into a mobile device with a large display along with an attached keyboard. The Primebook 4G was originally priced at INR 16,990, but it is now available for INR 14,990 on Flipkart. I’ve been using the device for a few weeks now, and here’s what I think of it.
Design
The Primebook 4G is both small and portable. Except for the slimness, it has the same design and appearance as traditional laptops. Users who are familiar with the design language of classic Dell or HP laptops will feel right at home. What distinguishes it from standard 15.6-inch as well as 14-inch laptops is its noticeably smaller form factor. In terms of build quality, the Primebook 4G is entirely made of plastic. It has an 11.6-inch display with noticeable bezels around the corners, which some users may find unappealing.
The Primebook 4G comes in the standard Matte Black colour scheme. However, even if your hands are perfectly clean, the laptop’s outer casing attracts fingerprints easily. Despite being a new device, this can sometimes give the laptop an aged appearance.
What surprised me was that, despite being a low-cost laptop, the Primebook 4G has multiple ports. A USB port, a charging port, and a mini-HDMI slot are located on the device’s right side. There is an additional USB port on the left side, as well as an SD card slot, a memory card slot, as well as a 3.5mm headphone jack. The device even comes with boat earphones, which adds to its value.
Display and Performance
The Primebook 4G is powered by a MediaTek Kompanio 500 SoC, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage (expandable up to 200GB). I spent most of my time with the laptop doing web browsing, word processing, and watching videos. As a result, I didn’t do much multitasking or demanding gaming with high graphic settings.
The laptop handles web browsing well, ensuring smooth navigation and quick page loading. Since my job primarily entails writing, I did a lot of typing on the device. The keyboard keys on the laptop are responsive and bouncy. When typing, the key sizes are large and provide tactile feedback. I had no problems with it even after using it for a long time.
Aside from typing, the laptop is also useful for media consumption. Whether I was streaming videos, listening to music, or viewing images, the laptop delivered clear visuals and good sound quality, allowing for immersive multimedia enjoyment with no noticeable hiccups.
In terms of video quality, the laptop’s display has a maximum resolution of 720p, which is quite acceptable given its price and display size. The display panel itself is bright and has a resolution of 1366×768 pixels, resulting in colour reproduction that is reasonably accurate. The laptop’s 2-megapixel video camera, on the other hand, falls short of expectations. The video quality is grainy and lacks detail, resembling that of a low-cost phone.
Operating System
If you’re an Android user, you’ll recognise the user interface as being similar to that of an Android smartphone. The operating system is Android, and the laptop has its own play store where you can download all of the necessary apps. However, due to a lack of optimisation, using multiple apps on the laptop can be quite a chore. It can be difficult to open and close apps in Google Chrome or any other third-party browser.
You can use Google Docs for writing tasks, but it works differently on the Primebook than it does on Windows or Android phones. For example, I couldn’t find a way to have the word count appear on the page as I typed. Instead, I had to tap on the three dots every time I wanted to see the character and word count, which was inconvenient. Furthermore, the tools appeared at the bottom of the screen, which may be unusual for someone accustomed to using Docs on Windows.
However, these are minor issues that can be ignored. The more you use the Primebook, the more familiar you will become with its settings and functions.
Battery
One of my favourite features of the laptop was its long battery life. The company stated that the battery could easily last for around 10 hours, and I was able to achieve approximately 8 hours of battery life based on my usage. Even when my tasks were mostly typing, I was able to use the device for two days on a single charge, which is impressive when compared to other heavy-duty laptops.
It should be noted that charging via a USB Type-C or microUSB port is not supported by the laptop. It instead uses the traditional DC power input port, which is reminiscent of older musical instruments such as a synthesiser. According to the company’s claims, charging the laptop to 100% takes only an hour.
Verdict
The Primebook 4G was created with the primary goal of making laptops more accessible to students. It is best suited for a student’s use case, which primarily consists of writing assignments, conducting research on the internet, and watching educational and entertaining videos. However, juggling within multiple apps may be slightly difficult because the OS is not optimised for a laptop; it still feels and functions similarly to the operating system of an Android phone.
It is also extremely light and compact, making it easier to transport the device. However, the build quality isn’t the best, so use it with caution. Having said that, it is quite good for the price. You won’t have any problems with the battery life.
