Mediatek MT8173 Powered Emdoor 2-in-1 Laptops Run Android or Remix OS

Acer Chromebook R13 is the most powered ARM Chromebook so far thanks to its Mediatek MT8173 quad core processor combining two ARM Cortex A72 cores and Cortex A53 cores, as well as a PowerVR GX6250 GPU, 4GB RAM and a 13.3″ touchscreen display. But unless you live in the US or other markets where Chromebooks are sold, it’s pretty hard to buy, and that model is relatively expensive as it sells for close to $550 on Amazon. Emdoor, a Chinese design house, has made 2-in-1 hybrid laptops based on the processor with a 11.6″ or 13.3″ touchscreen display, 1 to 2GB RAM, and 16 to 64GB storage, which – once launched – should be easier to buy, and cost less.

Both EM-T8513 and EM-T8516 models share most of the same specifications, except for the display:

SoC – Mediatek MT8173 quad core processor with 2x Cortex A72 cores @ up to 2.0 GHz, 2x Cortex A53 cores, and a PowerVR GX6250 GPU
System Memory – 1 or 2 GB DDR3 RAM
Storage – 16GB, 32GB, 64, or 128 GB eMMC flash + micro SD slot
Display
- EM-T8516 – 11.6” IPS LCD screen with 1366 x 768 resolution, 10-points capacitive touchscreen
- EM-T8513 – 13.3” IPS LCD screen with 1920 x 1200 or 1366 x 768 resolution, 10-points capacitive touchscreen
Video Output – mini HDMI port
Audio – mini HDMI port, 3.5mm combo audio jack,
Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n/ac WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS via MT6630 chipset
USB – 1x USB 3.0 port, 1x USB 2.0 port
Camera – 2MP front-facing camera
Sensor – G-sensor
User Input – QWERTY keyboard and touchpad
Battery – 10,000 mAh; good for a typical 6 to 7 hours on EM-T8516 model
Power Supply – 5V/2.5A
Dimensions & Weight
- EM-T8516 – 297.5 x 202 x 17.5mm – 1340 grams
- EM-T8513 – 330 x 227.7 x 18.9mm – 1480 grams

The laptops run Android 6.0 by default, but Jide’s Remix OS can also be installed instead.

If you are interested in Linux, you could try to adapt the instructions to install ArchLinux ARM on Acer Chromebook R13 to Emdoor laptops. The instructions are relying on Chrome OS, but you’d have to handle it from Android instead, so there will be differences.

Pricing and availability information have not been disclosed yet. You may be able to find more details via Emdoor’s products page (N.B: It takes about 10 to 15 minutes to load a page for me).

Via ARMDevices.net

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.