Chillblast Helios review

Battery life was one of the Helios’ strongest elements, lasting an impressive 9 hours and 18 minutes during our moderate use battery tests meaning it will get you through an average day before you’re searching for a power outlet.

In day-to-day use, however, an infuriating touchpad seriously lets the Helios down. It’s of a decent size and its coating is pleasant to the touch, with a decent amount of resistance. However, tap to click was incredibly inconsistent. Sometimes taps would register, but more often than not they wouldn’t.

The entire touchpad can be pressed in to register a click, but this requires far more force than a simple tap. There’s no separate left and right buttons either, and we occasionally right clicked when looking to register a left click. Having to forcibly press the touchpad down to register a click also made clicking and dragging gestures unwieldy, which made editing video content particularly laborious. Two-finger scrolling was also inconsistent and we immediately felt the need to connect a USB mouse.

There is at least a generously-sized palm rest and the keyboard was comfortable to type on. The Chiclet keys are nicely spaced and there’s a good amount of travel to each key press. The only annoyance we had was the second Fn modifier key on the right side, which means the right shift key is smaller than standard. There’s negligible flex to the chassis around the keyboard, too, which helps considerably with typing comfort.

There’s a slight shortage of USB ports on the Helios, with just two available. Only one of them is the faster USB3 as well, which is a little limiting but excusable due to the Helios’ thin form factor. Otherwise there is an HDMI output, Ethernet port, SD card reader and a headphone and microphone jack.

As well as the Ethernet port for wired networking, there’s 802.11ac Wi-Fi built-in, which will be useful if you have a router that supports the faster wireless standard. The wireless card is an Intel Wireless-AC 3160, which only supports up to 433Mbit/s throughput but will still be faster than the 802.11n Wi-Fi we often still see with laptops.

Overall the Chillblast is a well-specified and decent performing ultra-portable for the money. Its construction and build quality is admirable. The only thing that lets it down is its touchpad that made using it laborious. If you’re looking for an ultra-portable, the Asus Zenbook UX303LA is also worth considering for the same money.