Topton L4: miniature laptop with 7-inch display and 8 GB of RAM for $ 299
Miniature PCs and laptops are not very powerful, but their portability makes it easy to do some tasks at home or at work. It cannot be said that such devices are widespread, but they will always have their own niche. Knowing this, the Chinese company Topton has presented a 7-inch laptop with good features for its class.
You can’t play toys on this kid (although there are mini-laptops with gaming capabilities), but the user gets several ports and a slot for an M.2 2280 SSD. More details about the characteristics, capabilities and design of this device are in the sequel.
In terms of size, it is really small: 185mm x 141mm x 20mm. Weight – 650 grams. With such a tiny size, a full-fledged keyboard cannot be installed in a laptop. But the developers did everything they could – they added a six-row QWERTY keyboard and set the trackpoint like the one used by Lenovo. There are also mouse buttons under the spacebar, although there is no touchpad. But the screen is touch-sensitive.
Such solutions are not new for dwarf laptops, so Topton had time to evaluate the capabilities of competitors and make its own version. It turned out to be quite working, there are no special complaints about the keyboard or trackpoint. It should be said right away that such a keyboard is not created for hours of typing. Working with the console – yes, sending messages to colleagues – yes, searching for something on Google – too. If you really need it, you can probably type a couple of pages with such a keyboard, but this is more likely in exceptional situations.
With such a tiny size, the developers managed to squeeze a webcam into the display. It is not installed in the center, but on the left side, so that the device can be used for teleconferencing.
As mentioned above, the device is not very productive. It is based on a quad-core Intel Celeron J3455 processor with Apollo Lake architecture. The chip was first introduced in 2016 and is still better than, for example, the newer Celeron J4005. This is about tests using all cores.
Device characteristics
| Topton L4 specifications | |
| Screen | 7 inches, 1024 x 600 Capacitive touchscreen Stylus input (2048 sensitivity levels) |
| CPU | Intel Celeron J3455 |
| RAM | 8GB |
| Storage | 32 GB to 1 TB M.2 2280 SATA SSD |
| Ports | 1 x USB 3.0 Type-A 1 x USB 2.0 Type-A 1 x mini HDMI 1 x 3.5mm audio 1 x microSD card reader 1 x DC power input |
| Webcam | 2MP |
| Input | QWERTY keyboard Pointing stick Trackpoint |
| Wireless connection | WiFi 5 Bluetooth 4.0 |
| Battery | 3,000 mAh 38 Wh |
| Materials (edit) | Aluminium case |
| Cooling | Active Copper heat sink Cooler |
| The size | 85mm x 141mm x 20mm 7.28 ″ x 5.55 ″ x 0.79 |
| Weight | 650 g |
The manufacturer has provided several modifications of the model with different prices:
- 8GB RAM / 32GB for $ 299
- 8GB RAM / 64GB for $ 329
- 8GB RAM / 128GB for $ 369
- 8GB RAM / 256GB for $ 389
- 8GB RAM / 512GB for $ 419
- 8GB RAM / 1TB for $ 459
The device is for sale on AliExpress…
Is there an alternative?
Yes. Personally, we really like the One Netbook A1 – a kind of specialized device for a data center engineer. The One Netbook A1 has a large number of interfaces (there is RS-232) and several additional features.
At the same time, the screen size is also 7 inches, but it also has a screen that can be rotated in different directions, and there are more ports and possibilities. Processor – Intel Core m3-8100Y 8th generation, graphics: Intel UHD 615.
The body is made of aluminum, quite durable. The choice is logical: if the device is intended for engineers, then it will be used in conditions that are very different from home.
But it also costs more – from $ 560 to $ 680 for various modifications.
