Mislabeled Ryzen CPUs spotted in Chuwi and Ninkear laptops
Hardware specifications are generally reliable, if only because they are difficult to falsify. But a recent batch of budget laptops from brands originating in China may have done just that, swapping out older, less powerful AMD Ryzen processors and allegedly misleading customers. Chuwi and Ninkear have been the target of investigations showing that Ryzen 7000 chips have been replaced by older 5000 series processors.
According to NotebookCheck investigations following inconsistencies in benchmark tests, at least one Chuwi CoreBook They are quite similar chips: both 6-core models designed for relatively high-performance laptops, both using DDR4 and PCIe 3.0 memory. But the 5500U is a Zen 2 design with a base clock of 2.1 GHz, while the 7430U is a Zen 3 chip with a base clock of 2.3 GHz. It’s not much faster or better, but you can notice a difference if you look (because it’s almost three years newer).
NotebookCheck’s investigation found that it wasn’t just a mislabeled list of specifications or a change in packaging. In Windows drivers and in the laptop’s BIOS, the processor appears as a 7430U. But when the machine was taken apart and the cooling hardware removed to expose the chip itself, the manufacturing label revealed a 5,500U part. This involves deliberate deception on the part of the manufacturer to disguise the real material. The same mislabeled processor, replacing the same newer Ryzen 7000 model, has also been spotted on at least one Chuwi Corebook Plus laptop.
An updated article indicates that more laptops with the same CPU switch could be affected, specifically the Ninkear A15 Pro. This doesn’t appear to be universal, as previous review units of this model appear to have real 7430U processors. But despite the brand differences, both laptops come from Emdoor Digital/Shenzhen Emdoor Information Technology, a Chinese white box manufacturer. Also known as original design manufacturers (ODMs), these companies create generic hardware that is then sold to other companies and badged under different labels.
Laptops are not identical, having different screen sizes and chassis designs. But it would indicate that a manufacturer trying to push older, slower chips could use a little software trick to hide them. Such tricks are not uncommon, but they are usually seen on used or other gray market hardware, sometimes in GPUs or SSDs. Both Chuwi and Ninkear are budget brands, selling at prices well below similarly equipped hardware from big names like Acer or Lenovo.
As far as I know, the CoreBook Products from both companies are available on reseller marketplaces like Amazon.
NotebookCheck calls this “CPU fraud,” an accusation that PCWorld cannot independently confirm. I’m contacting Chuwi, Ninkear and Emdoor Digital for comment and will update this story if I get any responses.
