Maibenben M543 Review: Inexpensive, Powerful, Upgradable
Building a budget laptop without major compromises is no easy task. However, Maibenben decided to give it a try. The M543 offers a modern AMD chipset, a large IPS screen, ports for every occasion, and extensive upgrade options at a reasonable price. We evaluate the laptop in action.
Kingdom of plastic and ports
The laptop is entirely made of practical matte plastic, so it weighs a little: 1.75 kilograms. The design lacks rigidity – the gadget does not pass the twisting test. Nevertheless, the elements of the case fit well to each other, the parts do not play or creak. On the bottom of the device are two rubber feet, thanks to which the device does not slip on the table, and the cooling system works more efficiently. There are also two speakers and air intake holes. In turn, air is blown out through the rear end.
The keyboard is made of rough plastic, the buttons are not backlit, and their movement is quite loud. But in the presence of a full-fledged Numpad and Cyrillic engraving. The power key is inscribed in the keyboard block. Due to this location, unintentional clicks on it instead of Delete happen. It is convenient to use a small touchpad: touches are recognized correctly, multi-touch gestures are supported.
The manufacturer did not stint on the connectors: two USB Type-A of the third version, one USB Type-C for data transfer and image output, full-size HDMI, an audio jack and a Kensington lock. There’s even RJ45 and a microSD slot, which are rare in laptops these days.
Basic screen
Maibenben M543 is equipped with a 15.6-inch matte IPS-matrix with Full HD resolution and a refresh rate of 60 Hz. By default, the color reproduction is littered with cold shades, uneven backlighting is noticeable in the lower left corner. The brightness is enough for home use of the panel, but it is uncomfortable to use the gadget in the sun.
The lid of the laptop can be easily opened with one hand, but I want to tighten the hinges, because at the slightest vibration of the table, the laptop screen wobbles. A 1-megapixel webcam without a shutter was hidden in a large frame by modern standards. Despite the mentioned nuances, the display of the device is much better than its competitors with TN matrices. All because of the wide viewing angles that allow you to enjoy watching movies and playing your favorite games.
Always ready to upgrade
The basis of the Maibenben M543 is a quad-core AMD Ryzen 3 4300U processor, made using a 7-nanometer process technology. Radeon Vega 5 graphics are integrated into the chipset. The RAM in our copy is represented by one 8 GB Crucial die of the LPDDR4 type. The motherboard also has space for a second bracket. In total, the device supports up to 32 GB of RAM.
The 256 GB Kingston SSD with an M.2 connector is responsible for storing files, which is also easy to replace if necessary. Additionally, the design allocated space for any other 2.5-inch drive. You can upgrade your laptop even at home, moreover, without losing the warranty. To do this, unscrew 9 bolts and carefully remove the bottom panel without damaging the plastic latches.
Surprisingly, the capabilities of iron are enough for both work and entertainment. The laptop easily opens any Word documents, presentations and large spreadsheets. In games, the gadget also does not pass. For example, the anime hit Genshin Impact in 1080p with low graphics settings produces from 30 to 35 fps. In the more resource-intensive action movie Control, to get a similar frame rate, I had to reduce the resolution to HD and set the minimum graphic presets.
A fan and a copper tube are responsible for cooling the system, which do their job well. During testing, even under serious loads, there was no throttling or a significant drop in performance.
Test results
| GEEKBENCH 4 Single-core – 4389 Multi-core – 13,096 GEEKBENCH 5 Single-core – 1010 Multi-core – 3163 GEEKBENCH 6 Single-core – 1348 Multi-core – 3587 CRYSTALDISKMARK 8.0.4 read – 1591.7 MB / s write – 868.4 MB / s PCMARK 10 4383 CINEBENCH R23 Single-core – 1081 Multi-core – 4187 3DMARK Time Spy – 697 Fire Strike – 1778 Night Raid – 7457 AUTONOMY average brightness, power mode “Optimal performance”: up to 12.5 hours of video viewing up to 10 hours of YouTube viewing up to 9 hours of browsing |
Excellent autonomy
In Maibenben M543, the manufacturer installed a 4440 mAh battery. We decided to measure autonomy at the average brightness of the display with the “Optimal performance” power mode activated. With these presets, when working with documents through the My Office application and the Microsoft Edge browser, the laptop lasted about 9 hours. While playing a YouTube video in 1080p, the device functioned for 10 hours, and when playing our standard video in Full HD – 12.5 hours. The indicators are more than worthy.
The device can only be powered through the DC port. With the help of a complete 65 W power supply, up to 90% of the battery is charged quickly – at a percentage per minute. But the gadget gets the remaining 10% for about an hour.
Specifications
| CPU AMD Ryzen 3 4300U 4 cores, 4 threads @ 2.7 – 3.7 GHz VIDEO CARD integrated Radeon Vega 5 RAM 8 GB LPDDR4-3200 STORAGE DEVICE 256 GB NVMe M.2 Kingston RBU-SNS8154P3/256GJ has an additional 2.5″ drive slot DISPLAY 15.6″, 1920×1080, IPS, 16:9 aspect ratio, 60Hz, matte PORTS 1 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-C 2 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A 1 x HDMI 1.4 1 x RJ45 1 x DC port 1 x microSD slot 1 x 3.5mm jack (combo) WIRELESS INTERFACES Intel Wireless-AC 3168 (Wi-Fi 5) Bluetooth 4.2 BATTERY AND CHARGING 4440 mAh 65 W power supply DIMENSIONS 36.2 x 24.7 x 2.0 cm WEIGHT 1.75 kg |
Results
Maibenben M543 turned out to be a balanced state employee. However, it was still not possible to completely avoid compromises: stereo speakers sound quiet, the display has a modest margin of brightness, and the case design lacks rigidity. However, the pluses of the model far outweigh the minuses. This is a laptop with smart hardware for its segment, a good set of connectors, good autonomy and support for upgrading RAM and permanent memory.
