Review: Chillblast Helios

Introduction and design

Featuring a slim-and-light design, silver aluminium unibody casing and black chiclet-style keyboard, there's no prizes for guessing who Chillblast is trying to appeal to with its 14-inch Helios ultrabook. All that's missing is a black fruity logo.

At £700 (around US$1,098, or AUS$1,501) it's around £150 (around $253 or AUS$321) cheaper than Apple's entry-level 13-inch MacBook Air while offering a higher-resolution display and a faster Intel Core-i5 processor.

It's around a third cheaper than Dell's entry-level XPS 13, which packs an impressive practically borderless Infinity Display, and you'll pay slightly more for the Core M-powered Asus ZenBook UX305.

Design

Windows ultrabooks that ape the MacBook Air's design usually fall into two camps: those that do so subtly and others that don't try to hide it. The Helios falls in the latter, and just like the Air you'll either find its minimal style bland or elegant depending on your taste.

There's an indent at the front of the base unit which makes it easier to raise the lid, but we noticed that the lid's rim can feel quite sharp to the touch as there is a slight overlap on the display.

In all other respects, both the casing and the hinge feel sturdy and secure – there's no noticeable flex during handling. The keyboard is the familiar black tile chiclet style where the keys are well spaced and firm but this does mean you have to hit them squarely in the middle to avoid missing letters out.

Like the Asus UX305, none of the keys are backlit so you will be literally typing in the dark. Chillblast's decision to position the Delete key next to the power button, and the Function key next to Enter, also make the chance of typing errors more likely.

The touchpad is large and like the keys has to be touched firmly for maximum response – altering the sensitivity settings does produce some improvement but too much compensation can allow the cursor to fly to random areas of the screen when typing.

As for connectivity, the Chillblast Helios comes with a single USB 3.0 and one USB 2.0 port (compared to the Dell XPS 13's dual USB 3.0 ports) and a 2-in-1 card reader (SD/MMC) as opposed to the 3-in-1 for the Dell machine. However, this machine scores over its rival by including Ethernet and HDMI out.

Specifications and performance

Compared to our top nine Ultrabooks, the Chillblast Helios 13.3-inch Ultrabook is the thickest available at 0.7-inches – only the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (0.73-inches) is thicker. It's two millimetres thicker than the 13-inch MacBook Air.

The Helios is also one of the heaviest Ultrabooks at a relatively hefty 3.1 pounds, when weighed alongside the 2.8 pound XPS 13 and the amazingly featherweight 1.87 pounds of the Lenovo LaVie Z. The Helios footprint of 12.7 x 8.6-inches, on the other hand, is about an average size for this class and will tuck very neatly into a rucksack or business case.

Spec sheet

Here is the Chillblast Helios spec sheet of the review model supplied to TechRadar:

• CPU: 2.2GHz (2.7 GHz Turbo) Intel Core i5 5200U
• Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 5500
• RAM: 8GB DDR3
• Screen: 13.3-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080) 16:9 IPS
• Storage: 250GB SSD
• Ports: 1 x USB 3.0, 1 x USB 2.0, 1 x HDMI out, 2-in-1 card reader, Microphone jack, Headphone jack, Ethernet
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11ac
• Camera: 720p HD Webcam
• Battery life: 7.5 hours
• Weight: 3.1 pounds (1.4kg)
• Size: 12.7 x 8.6 x 0.7-inches (W x D x H; 325 x 219 x 18mm)

Display quality

The Helios and XPS 13 share several features including a 2.2GHz Intel Core i5 5200U CPU (which goes up to 2.7GHz with Turbo Boost), 8GB of RAM, 250GB SSD storage and 720p webcam.

Dell's laptop can be configured with a 3200 x 1800 UltraSharp QHD+ touch display, or a Full HD IPS display, which is matched by Helios's 1920 x 1080 16:9 IPS panel. That's still better than the display on the 13-inch MacBook Air, which suffers from a lowly 1,440 x 900 pixel-resolution and uses a cheap TN-style panel with inferior colours and viewing angles.

Bundled software

Chillblast is obviously keen to keep us all safe and healthy, with plenty of software to prepare Helios owners for journeys such as Maps and the Weather, plus tips on eating and mental exercise.

Specifically, said applications include:

• MSN Food & Drink – Recipes, shopping and meal planner
• Reading List – make a note of all those books you really should have read
• The Weather Channel – local and world weather reports
• MSN Health & Fitness – Diet and cardio tracking, workouts, foods and recipes

Performance

We had no problems streaming movies on YouTube or watching sports events on BBC iPlayer in widescreen mode with only occasional interruptions.

Images were generally sharp with decent colour balance and the matte finish on the screen meant no annoying reflections. The 8GB of RAM enabled multiple Windows to be open for documents, web surfing and some low level photo editing.

As you'd expect from an ultrabook featuring integrated grahphics, you'll be restricted to playing games based on older graphics engines. Those based on Valve's Source engine - such as Team Fortress 2 and Counter Strike: Source - will fare ok. Just don't expect to play Skyrim or Battlefield 4 with anything approaching silky smooth framerates.

Benchmarks

Here's how the Chillblast Helios performed in our suite of benchmark tests:

• Cinebench: CPU: 253 points; Graphics: 23.49 fps
• PCMark 8 Home Test: 2,302 points
• PCMark 8 Battery Life: 4 hours 36 minutes

The Helios managed an impressive score on the PCMark 8 Home Test, beating all of our current top nine Ultrabooks (including the much championed Dell XPS 13 which trailed at 2,104). Only the Lenovo LaVie Z HZ550 (2,379), which has the advantage of an Intel Core i7 chip, scored higher.

The Cinebench test was much closer to the Dell XPS 13 – they both have the newly introduced Intel HD Graphics 5500 solutions, but in the test the Dell's frame rate was a touch higher at 28.76 fps versus the Chillblast's 23.49 fps.

When it came to battery life, the Helios edged the XPS 13 by 15 minutes on the PCMark 8 Battery Life test, recording an average 4 hours and 36 minutes. PCMark's test is a fairly punishing one, and you can expect it to eke out a few more hours under general use.

Still, you'll have to temper your expectationsin this area. The Helios trailed the Asus Zenbook UX305 which clocked 5 hours and 21 minutes, and both lag way behind the 13-inch MacBook Air that can operate continuously for over 9 hours on a single charge.

Verdict

We liked

The Helios produced impresisve benchmark figures that indicate the machine has enough clout to chew through everyday computing tasks - from surfing the web to light image editing, productivity work and (very) light gaming. It's all aided by a clear Full HD display, which trumps that on the 13-inch MacBook Air.

If you add to that the sturdy build quality of the aluminium chassis, the passable range of connectivity options (two USB 3.0 ports would have been nice) and the palatable price tag, the Helios has a few things going for it.

We disliked

The Helios's flaws include peculiar key positioning (the Dell XPS 13 has the same issue of the Delete key being right next to the power button) and the sensitivity of the touchpad, which can be a real pain and even drive you to using a mouse. Not ideal for an ultrabook.

While the Helios is cheaper than the 13-inch MacBook Air, it comes at the expense of battery life. Its 4.5 hours is about average for an ultrabook in its price category, and if you're looking to get work done away from the mains for twice as long (or more) it's worth considering stumping up a few hundred extra for the real deal.

Final verdict

The Helios is as unoriginal as laptops come, which is great news if you're looking for a MacBook Air clone that runs Windows.

Packing enough grunt to comfortably chew every day tasks, the Helios is let down by a substandard keyboard and trackpad. Its battery life is average and might have you regretting the decision not to splash out a few hundred extra to pick up the real deal.

If none of its flaws are likely to bother you and you can't do without its MacBook-like design, the Helios will fit the bill. For everybody else, the Asus UX305 and Dell XPS 13 are far more feature-packed, modern and exciting machines.

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