Fenniu N14W Ultra-Thin Cheap Laptop Review

Fenniu N14W: This sleek, contemporary laptop lives up to its promise of being a value-for-money device that caters adequately to everyday computing needs.

In this era of computing, it is almost impossible to envisage life without an ever-dependable, untiring computer. There existed a time when people purchased their first computers after entering the C-suite in their workplace. But every passing second, the average computer user gets younger: from young professionals to college graduates to high-school children (to wailing tots!). The new Fenniu N14W laptop promises to cater to this growing computer-using population — at an incredibly low price.

If you have been scouting for cheap laptops that are cheap only in their pricing and not performance, it may have been an uphill ride. From high-speed processors to crystal-clear screen resolution, there are many aspects of laptops that affect how they are priced. And unsurprisingly, few good things in life come cheap — unless there are people willing to invest in innovative thinking to cut costs without cutting corners.

So, does the Fenniu N14W, priced at a magnificently low around $250, deliver on its promise of uncompromised performance? Let’s find out.

The Vital Statistics

The Fenniu N14W is a 14-inch laptop powered by an Apollo Lake Celeron N3450 processor (1.92 GHz 5X86). Apollo Lake processors are based on the Goldmont architecture and utilize Intel’s industry-leading 14 nm process technology. This is superb news, processing-wise, as the Fenniu N14W turns out to be more than adequate for everyday work. In fact, you can even throw in some amount of entertainment, though you’ll admittedly be better off with an exclusive gaming creature if that’s what floats your boat (try the Fenniu 17.3 inch gaming laptop).

A shortcoming with the N14W is its low memory — only 4 GB, non-expandable RAM. However, the 64 GB eMMC support up to 512 GB storage extension via a solid-state drive (an expansion slot M.2 2242 SSD). The operating system — Windows 10 — is convenient for students and professionals looking to use the laptop for presentations, academic papers, and the like. Even though it doesn’t come pre-loaded with Microsoft Office, it offers competent support once you’ve installed it, running Word, Excel and PowerPoint concurrently without glitches. This allows you to expertly switch between multiple tasks at hand (or multiple tabs on the internet browser), without running the risk of your laptop freezing into dormancy.

Where You Go, I Go

A particularly welcome feature of this laptop is its surprisingly spectacular portability, several notches higher than many contemporaries. The N14W’s dimensions (13 x 8.7 x 0.5 inches), thickness (13.7 mm) and weight (less than 1.8 kg) make it ultra-convenient to lug along with you. The portability is a Godsend for the always-on-the-run population, especially frenzied students and young office-goers, who need to keep their laptop at close quarters during all their waking hours and beyond.

How Does The Display Hold Up?

Let’s just say – pretty good! The N14W comes with a 1920 x 1080 screen resolution and an Intel HD Graphics 500 co-processor. This makes for enjoyable movie-viewing, browsing through pictures, or presenting to an audience. The in-built stereo speakers operate at 8Ω/1.0W*4 — not very loud, but you could consider external speakers or earphones for enhanced sound.

One thoughtful additional feature is the IPS screen; the In-Plane Switching monitor display definitely feels a tad easier on the eyes.

A special word for the beautiful rose-gold coloring — it looks fantastic on an already sleek and classy-looking product. If you, for some reason, have a personal vendetta against anything that resembles pink, there’s also a good old gray version.

Accessibility & Ease of Use

We daresay the laptop really scores on this front: the keyboard is a breeze to use, belying the fact that you’re typing away at an economy buy. Coupled with the portability, this helps the N14W double up as both a stationary/desk computer and travel/on-the-go laptop. This means, you can slog for hours at your desk to prepare a pitch-deck and then wirelessly print it out while you’re on a break. The laptop does a good job of understanding the decidedly new-age need to switch between all things wild, wired and wireless.

The N14W comes with Bluetooth support and also has a fairly decent Webcam. There are two USB 3.0 ports that you can use for your external USB devices as well as a mini SD slot. Note that you’ll also have to use an external CD driver if you want to play CD ROMs.

The Juice Meter

Does your idea of unwinding involve sitting back, grabbing your favorite snack, and playing a movie? You are likely to find the N14W passable. The built-in powerhouse is a high quality, 5000mAh Lithium-ion battery (and a Type C charger) which is almost a minor victory for a laptop in this price range. It lasts for about 7-8 hours of movie-watching, which should keep you pretty sorted.

• Keep reading: Acer Aspire E15 E5-576-392H Cheap Laptop Review

Fenniu N14W – Verdict

Fenniu is a relatively lesser known brand in this crowded marketplace, with its products newly launched. Minty-fresh offerings usually invite curiosity, enthusiasm…and skepticism. There’s no denying that a purchase decision will involve a few tradeoffs and you’ll have to go without the implicit assurance that comes with an established brand.

But having said that, Fenniu seems to have the potential to become the golden child of the low-cost, functional laptop market. The N14W works as promised, delivering efficiency and speed for all day-to-day operations. It has an active customer service team, responding to queries on time and providing spirited after-sales support. It is also a blessing that the N14W is reasonably sturdy and built with up-to-date technology, which renders troubleshooting easy even at your friendly neighborhood store.