CHUWI LarkBox would just be like many other Intel Gemini Lake mini PCs with an Intel Celeron J4115 Gemini Lake Refresh processor, 6GB RAM, 128GB Storage, as well as the usual HDMI 2.0 ports and USB ports if it were not for its size: 61 x 61 x 43 mm, making it the world’s smallest 4K mini PC.
The company sent drips of news to the press in the last couple of months, but it’s getting real as the tiny mini PC has now launched on Indiegogo with rewards starting at $155.
CHUWI LarkBox (preliminary) specifications:
- SoC – Intel Celeron J4115 quad-core Gemini Lake Refresh processor @ 1.8 / 2.5 GHz (Turbo) with Intel UHD Graphics 600; 10W TDP
- System Memory – 6GB LPDDR4
- Storage – 128GB eMMC 5.1 flash, M.2 2244 socket for SATA SSD, MicroSD card slot
- Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ 60 Hz
- Audio – 3.5mm audio jack, digital audio via HDMI
- Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n/ac WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.1
- USB – 2x USB 3.0 ports, 1x USB Type-C port for power
- Misc – Power button, “ultra-silence” cooling fan
- Power Supply – 12V/2A via USB-C port
- Dimensions – 61 x 61 x 43 mm
- Weight – 127 grams
CHUWI LarkBox supports Windows 10 and Linux distributions. It’s not mentioned in Indiegogo at all, but I assume it ships with an activated version of Windows 10 Home 64-bit. Since the initial announcement, the company upgraded the processor from a Celeron N4100 to a faster Celeron J4115 processor, which also happens to be found in the fanless ODROID-H2+ SBC going for as little $119 plus shipping.
CHUWI had a $200,000 HKD funding target ($25,800 US), but in less than 24 hours they already raised over $200,000 US. There are still some early bird rewards at $149 US which includes worldwide shipping, but once the 25 remaining units are gone, the price will go up to $169 US. You can also use that alternative link to get it at $155.
The company already sent a few review units of the 4K mini PC to various blogs and you can check out reviews on Liliputing and TechRadar. Both note performance is mostly acceptable considering the price, but TechRadar reports internal storage write speed is really slow, and it would be better without a fan. The latter can be resolved by installing an M.2 SSD, but it’s probably not realistic to expect such a small device to operate fanless even with a 10W processor. For reference, ODROID-H2+ single board computer is almost twice as large.
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.
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