For a relatively cheap device, the I found the Alldocube IWork GT Ultra is an impressively specified Intel 2-in-1 tablet

Alldocube IWork GT Ultra: 30-second review

The Alldocube IWork GT Ultra is a 2-in-1 Windows tablet designed to deliver a blend of portability, performance, and versatility for both professional and personal use. At its core, the device is powered by the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H processor, which features a hybrid architecture with 4 performance cores, 8 efficient cores, and 2 low-power efficient cores, totalling 18 threads. This configuration ensures robust multitasking capabilities and efficient power consumption, making it suitable for demanding productivity tasks as well as everyday computing.

Equipped with 16GB of LPDDR5 memory and a useful 1TB PCIe SSD, this device provides ample storage and swift data access. The GPU in this CPU generation is the integrated Intel Arc Graphics, making it suitable for creative work, media consumption, and light gaming.

In terms of connectivity, the IWork GT Ultra is well-optioned with one USB 3.0 Type-A port, two USB 3.1 Type-C ports (supporting charging) and a 5-pin magnetic PogoPin keyboard interface. Wireless connectivity is provided by Bluetooth 5.2 and Wi-Fi 6, ensuring fast and reliable network access.

The device features a robust magnesium-aluminium alloy chassis, weighing only 850g and less than 1cm in thickness. This makes it highly portable without compromising on durability. The battery is rated at 42.72Wh, supporting Type-C PD100W fast charging for extended use on the go.

Additional features include dual digital microphones, dual speakers, front and rear 5MP cameras (the rear with autofocus), and essential sensors such as a gravity sensor and Hall effect sensor. The IWork GT Ultra ships with Windows 11 Home, though it could run Windows 11 Pro or Linux, easily.

While Alldocube isn’t a familiar brand, the hardware is professionally designed and assembled, and as this is a recent Intel platform, it should be fully compatible with Windows and its apps.

The only technical caveat to this machine, and something I cover later in the review, is how long it lasts on battery, which is a little disappointing. That’s the one thing stopping the Alldocube IWork GT Ultra from being one of our choices for best business laptops.

Alldocube IWork GT Ultra: Price and availability

• How much does it cost? From £700, €800
• When is it out? Available now
• Where can you get it? Amazon in most European countries

Often, 2-in-1 laptops are initially available only in the USA and maybe China before becoming more widely available. But this one is available via the global website for Europe via Amazon in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain.

You can buy this machine in Europe, and I did notice that ordering it from the German Amazon, it was possible to set my address in the UK, so it's probably purchasable in any part of Europe. The UK cost is £703.50, and the EU cost is €799.99.

While Alldocube does have a store as part of the US Amazon.com, this machine isn’t on that currently. I suspect that tariffs have impacted the potential pathway for this product to come to the USA.

And, Alldocube has regional websites for China, Russia and South Korea. I should mention that Intel customers aren’t supposed to ship systems containing Intel processors to Russia, at this time. Together with AMD, they have been litigated against in Texas for “willful ignorance” that allowed US semiconductors into Russian and Iranian weapons.

For a machine with this specification, the price is extremely aggressive, and you would be lucky to find a branded system with this capability for less than £1000.

• Value: 4/ 5

Alldocube IWork GT Ultra: Specs

Alldocube IWork GT Ultra: Design

• Elegant engineering
• Noisey fan
• Zero upgrades

I recall when various pieces of classic Apple hardware were launched, and fans of that brand declared that only that company could make and design that level of quality. Except Apple didn’t make those items, and the Alldocube IWork GT Ultra is a decent example of how Chinese factories can turn out things just as well-crafted as anything with a fruit logo on it when the need arises.

While not quite the absolute best quality, the IWork GT Ultra is a beautifully engineered 2-in-1 system which can operate as a 13-inch tablet or with its flexible keyboard cover, a laptop.

The only caveat is that, like the original Microsoft Surface machines, the flexible keyboard makes it practically impossible to type with it balanced on your lap, irrespective of what rabid Microsoft marketing people insist.

This machine apes the Surface considerably, except it doesn’t try to oversell its capabilities, and it's significantly cheaper. For those interested in a comparable Surface, the Surface Pro 10 for Business does have the series 2 Core Ultra processor and Thunderbolt ports, but you will be spending more than double the cost of the iWork GT Ultra, and that’s for a machine with only 256GB of storage.

One of the evident changes of this design for Alldocube’s engineers was heat dissipation, because on the top and side of the tablet are vents, and it does get warm in use and while charging. Under duress, the fan can also be on the noisy side.

The one edge without vents is the bottom, where the flexible keyboard attaches. I’ve had plenty of 2-in-1 systems where the keyboard will detach at the slightest encouragement, but this design with two engaging lugs stays put neatly.

The keyboard is USB, and the pogo pins along that interface connect it effectively when the two are brought together.

Connectivity on this tablet design is predictably limited, with only three USB ports and no HDMI out or LAN ports. Two of the ports are USB 3.2 Gen 2 USB-C, and the other USB-A port is Gen 1. It would have been nice to have had USB4, but given the price point, I’m not surprised that wasn’t included.

With Gen 2 ports, you can add LAN and HDMI out, but note that one of these ports is required for charging.

The big disappointment, which isn’t uncommon in tablet designs, is that there’s no obvious way to get inside this system, which rules out any memory or storage upgrades. I suspect that the memory is soldered, but a removable panel to get to the M.2 module would have been helpful. Therefore, the maximum memory this system will ever have is 16GB, and should the 1TB storage fail, the system is junk, unless you are a ninja with a spudger.

While I can’t directly confirm the maker of the SDD, or how the drive is connected, so trying to open it to replace that module would be an act of desperation.

• Design: 4 / 5

Alldocube IWork GT Ultra: Hardware

• Intel Core Ultra 5 125H
• Intel Arc Graphics
• 28 PCIe Lanes

This machine uses the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H processor, from the first generation of Core Ultra models that were released in December 2023.

The thinking behind these chips was to make Intel king of power efficiency, while not bothering so much about performance. And they succeeded in dramatically improving laptop battery life, but they were technically slower than the Intel 13th Gen silicon they replaced. Since then, these Meteor Lake designs have been superseded by the second generation, where Intel tried to rebalance the performance and efficiency equation.

In the Core Ultra 5 125H design, there are only four performance cores, and only those cores support hyperthreading. The other Efficient-cores (8) and Low Power Efficient-cores (2) do not have hyperthreading, giving a total of 18 potential threads. Many demanding applications ignore the Efficient-cores, since getting threads to sync and not waiting for slower cores is inherently inefficient.

One good thing about this platform is that it has Arc Graphics, a reworking of the Xe architecture from its Iris Xe era. This implementation of Arc Graphics has seven Xe cores and can deliver 10 TOPS (int8) performance for AI processing. This isn’t very different from what the replacement Core Ultra 5 135H offers, since the Arc in that chip only adds an extra Xe core to make 8, and increases the execution units from 112 to 128, TMUs from 56 to 64 and ROPs from 24 to 32.

For typical office graphics requirements, the Arc Graphics in the Core Ultra 5 125H is more than adequate, unless you are trying to use dedicated CAD or develop AI models.

The best aspect of the Core Ultra 5 125H is its 28 PCIe lanes, but unfortunately, in this system, more of those lanes go unused. All of the USB probably uses less than a couple of PCIe Gen 4 lanes, and the storage uses a maximum of four lanes. Even with WiFi and Bluetooth, probably twenty of these lanes never see any traffic.

This is why the Core Ultra 5 125H has been popular in Mini PC designs, since those can use the lanes for Thunderbolt and multiple storage devices, but here they’re largely superfluous.

Another strong aspect of this hardware is the display, which isn’t something I’d usually call out on a low-cost solution.

This 13-inch IPS panel has a natural resolution of 2560×1600 and a brightness of 500 cd/㎡m², which is probably the highest resolution you might practically want in a screen of this size.

Its colour accuracy isn’t amazing, so I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone working with exacting hues, but it's bright, and the 10-point touch sensor is configured for a 4096-level USI pressure-sensitive pen. There wasn’t a pen in my review model, but I have noticed that some of the retailers selling them do include this item.

Overall, the specification of the IWork GT Ultra is better than the price might suggest, although some of the better aspects, like the PCIe lanes, are largely moot.

• Hardware: 4 / 5

Alldocube IWork GT Ultra: Performance

It was difficult to find another laptop in my data collection that used a similar platform, so I chose to offer the Asus Expertbook, a machine that uses a more recent Intel Core Ultra 5 226V processor. However, the Asus hardware is significantly more expensive.

What’s interesting is that the Asus Expertbook was clearly calibrated for the best possible battery life, whereas the Alldocube IWork GT Ultra was oriented more to raw performance.

A significant change that Intel executed between the Core Ultra 5 125H and Intel Core Ultra 5 226V was that the latter chip has no hyperthreading at all, reducing the thread count to eight, four each from the performance and efficiency cores.

The end result is that the Core Ultra 5 226V performs well at single-thread operations and better in multithreading, but it doesn’t push its Arc Graphics GPU as hard.

But the parts of this data that tell the most revealing story are those to do with power consumption, and that’s not good news for the IWork GT Ultra. Admittedly, the iWork GT Ultra has less battery, just 42.72 Whr, but the running time of the expert book is almost three times as long, with only 50 Whr.

Therefore, if you can’t guarantee a place to recharge during a working day, then the Expertbook is a much better proposition. The recharging of the expert book was also slower than it might have been, recovering just 24% of capacity in 30 minutes.

In short, the IWork GT Ultra is fine for the short sprint, but not ideal for the long haul.

• Performance: 4 / 5

Alldocube IWork GT Ultra: Final verdict

If it weren’t for the lacklustre battery life, this would be a system I’d strongly recommend. The need to carry a power pack or the PSU with you undermines the ultra-lightweight profile of this machine.

That one rather critical point aside, this is an excellent piece of equipment if an Intel Series 1 processor, 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage work for your use.

The inspiration for the IWork GT Ultra is obviously the Microsoft Surface, and it does a decent job of offering a workable solution if you like that concept.

I do hope that Alldocube now makes an Intel Core Ultra Series 2 or modern AMD Ryzen version, and brings the power efficiency that is the Achilles heel of this device.

Should you buy a Alldocube IWork GT Ultra?

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