Checking out the actual AMD Ryzen SoC used on CHUWI CoreBook Air Plus 16 laptop

I’ve just completed the review of the CHUWI CoreBook Air Plus 16, a laptop based on an AMD Ryzen 5 6600H SoC. All software testing on Windows 11 Pro and Ubuntu 25.10 confirmed that the laptop was based on an AMD Ryzen 5 6600H SoC, but I was asked to confirm that the actual CPU on the motherboard was indeed the advertised chip, for reasons I’ll explain below. Let’s do that right now.

I had already done a teardown of the laptop, but since the AMD Ryzen processor was covered by copper pipes for cooling, I could not read the markings on the chip.

So earlier today, I removed the bottom cover of the laptop again and loosened the three screws holding the pipes on top of the CPU, so I could check the markings on the processor.

It’s an AMD Ryzen 5, a good sign, but there’s nothing that directly confirms it’s a 6600H. For that, we need to check the number I highlighted in red. It’s the OPN (Ordering Part Number)or Product ID Tray, and 100-000000546 looks up to AMD Ryzen 5 6600H on the AMD website, so no problem here, and we can confirm the CoreBook Air Plus 16 comes with the advertised SoC, no deception here.

So why did I do this? A reader commented about a post on NotebookCheck.net reporting a CPU scam that shows that the CHUWI CoreBook X laptop they had reviewed in September 2025 shipped with an AMD Ryzen 5 5500U instead of the advertised (and slightly more powerful) AMD Ryzen 5 7430U.

Chuwi CoreBook X AMD Ryzen 5 5500U — CHUWI CoreBook X with AMD Ryzen 5 5500U instead of the advertised AMD Ryzen 5 7430U

While I had previously read stories about companies switching to similar chips in case of supply shortage, CHUWI did the switch in a non-transparent and pretty dishonest way: the BIOS was modified to show the AMD Ryzen 7430U instead of the real part used on the laptop: AMD Ryzen 5 5500U.

So all utilities in Windows would still show an AMD Ryzen 5 7430U. They did notice that the measured performance was not quite at the expected level of a typical Zen 3 processor at the time of the review, but figured out that the causes for the ~10% drop in performance must have lain somewhere else, such as the single-channel RAM. Nevertheless, they’ve now contacted CHUWI, but the company answered that they will investigate it:

Chuwi did indeed reply but did not explicitly admit to an error. Instead, it referred to various production batches, or more precisely to remaining stocks still in circulation. The company no longer has any direct influence on these devices. The manufacturer also admits that this issue is being taken very seriously and that an internal investigation has been initiated to clarify the exact cause.

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.