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Performance
The input peripherals (keyboard and touchpad) were in line with our expectations: good without being exceptional, usable without being outstanding.
With such a standard set of features (similar to the Teclast X3 Plus), there were no massive surprises when we ran our standard set of benchmarks which comprises of Passmark, CPU-Z, Geekbench, Cinebench, Sisoft Sandra, Novabench, ATTO and CrystalDiskMark.
The write performance of the eMMC storage subsystem was the most disappointing aspect, something that will have a detrimental impact on overall system performance. On ATTO, the Xiaoma 31 scored 75MBps compared to 114MBps for the Teclast X3 Plus, while Onda’s device clocked 61.86MBps on CrystalDiskMark, nearly 40% less compared to the X3 Plus.
The battery life was better than expected, clocking nearly seven hours (410 minutes) in our test which involves playing a YouTube video of a count-up timer with brightness set to 100% and all other settings left untouched except for power saving (we selected ‘never shut down’, ‘screen never go dark’). As ever, your mileage may vary when it comes to battery longevity.
Final verdict
The Xiaoma 31 didn’t disappoint with a solid set of performance numbers and a design that ranks amongst some of the best we’ve seen from Chinese manufacturers. But it achieved this with a pretty standard set of components which leaves us wondering why it is far more expensive compared to, say, the Jumper EZBook 2 or the Yepo 737S.
To make matters worse, Onda has a smaller and lighter model which might be a better purchase. The Xiaoma 21 has exactly the same specification bar the screen size (12.5-inch versus 13.3-inch) and a far bigger battery (10Ah versus 5Ah). The icing on the cake is a lower price tag, as well.
What’s more puzzling, though, is that Onda also sells a 14.1-inch model, the Xiaoma 41, which doesn’t come with a fingerprint reader but retails for nearly 40% less, with exactly the same hardware bar the bigger screen.
Given all this, it is hard to recommend the Xiaoma 31. If you don’t want to buy from China, then check out the HP 250 G5 from Staples which has a more powerful processor, four times the on-board storage (and a real SSD), running Windows 10 Pro. It costs a bit more, is far heavier and bigger (it has a 15.6-inch display), but these may well be compromises worth accepting.
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