CHUWI LarkBox X Mini PC, Intel N150,12GB LPDDR5 RAM 512G SSD, 4K Triple Display, Windows 11 Mini Desktop Computer, USB3.2, WiFi 6, BT5.2,HDMI, 2.5G+1G Dual LAN, VESA

I have reviewed mini PCs for over 3-4 years now, and during that time, I have found that unknown brands tend to give better value than the likes as Intel, Asus, Acer, etc. One of my favorite value brands is Beelink, and lately I have seen Chuwi offer their computers through the Amazon Vine program that I am also part of. What struck me first was their hardware design -- they looked decent enough than other unknown brands. Unfortunately, I was not able to grab one of their computers through Vine, but I was in need of a mini PC for our vacation rental home. Do I get another Beelink or should I give Chuwi a try? Opted for the latter.SUMMARYThe Chuwi LarkBox X -- an akwarddly named series, is a good-looking Mini PC with the white accent for its upper half. Performance was on part with higher-performing laptops/mini PCs from 2021. Indeed, when I researched its processor for this review, the AMD Ryzen 7 3700U was released in the second quarter of 2019. Compared to my favorite Mini PC, the Beelink GT-R, it performed about 10% faster in my benchmarks against the GT-R's Ryzen 5 3550H chip. This essentially translates to no noticeable performance difference for the vast majority of consumers, but that also means that it is among the best Mini PCs in its class and price range with the ability to run as demanding tasks as light video and photo editing with budget gaming to boot. For the office worker or power user who needs multiple displays for better productivity can be happy with a 4K triple-screen (3x) connectivity option from a computer so small, it can be VESA mounted behind a monitor/TV or simply be thrown inside a well-ventilated drawer. (For comparison, the GT-R can accommodate 4 displays.) Likewise, its compact size makes it suitable as a travel companion that can be neatly tucked away in a RV or camper van.Ubuntu Linux 20.04 ran flawlessly with minimal configuration.My tests found the Chuwi to be very speedy and has performed better than expected in running multiple, virtual machines after a simple memory upgrade to 16GB (it can accommodate up to two 16GB modules for a total of 32GB of RAM.) It has been more than adequate for my family's needs with mainstream desktop and entry-level gaming performance, and will certainly negate the need to bring a laptop to our vacation home -- we can simply do our computing off the extra 4K TV we have there.With performance being similar to Beelink's GT-R, would I recommend this Chuwi? Yes and no. Yes, because it costs less, has a more modern/faster Graphics card, and has a nice, black and white color hardware style. No, because the Beelink has some additional gaming-centric features, a more premium look with its glass top, Windows 10 Pro (vs Chuwi's Windows 10 Home), and more modern hardware, but at a higher price. I find both computers to be plenty capable and have no hesitation to recommend either model.THE BRAINS: CPU, MEMORY, GPUThe brain of this Mini PC is the AMD Ryzen 7 3700U processor based on the 2018 Zen+ Picasso design.The CPU, the "brain" of a computer, is an important piece to gauge performance. It is responsible for processing all the general calculations and instructions to carry out everything an electronic device can do. The faster it can "think", the faster things will get done. Intel's Celeron brand had always been associated with lower-end computers, Pentium as higher performance, and Atom for low-power, low-cost devices like tablets. The Core series is considered the top-of-the-line and consists of the i3, i5, i7, and i9 models, respectively going from lowest to highest performance.AMD's "Ryzen" numbering scheme mirrors Intel's "Core": the 3, 5, 7, 9, and "Threadripper" models go from lowest to highest performance.The LarkBox X's Ryzen 7 3700U is positioned against Intel's higher-range, mainstream Core i7 processor. It was very popular with 2020/2021 gaming laptops ranging between $800 – $1,500.PROS- Excellent, mainstream computing performance with an average performance-to-price value-- About 280% faster than Beelink U57 overall and 10% faster than Beelink GT-R-- Fully capable of browsing the internet, use Microsoft Office, watch 4K movies, do some light photo and video editing, and play entry-level games--- After upgrading to 16GB RAM (32GB max capacity), it runs TWO virtual machines (each with 4GB RAM, dual core, Windows 10 Pro) within VMware Workstation Pro 15.5 pretty very well--- Plex Media Server capable with full transcoding- One of the best-performing Mini PCs available at the $500 price range- Easily upgradeable (storage, memory) by removing a few screws from the bottom and opening the cover- Storage-- 1 SSD slot – See TIPS section for more info on SSD drives--- Generic 256GB M.2 2280 NVMe drive with up to 2TB support. Faster than Beelink X55's mSATA. CrystalDiskMark Test: 1827 MB/s read, 1434 MB/s write- 2 RAM slots (up to 32GB total, DDR4 2400 MHz)-- Slot 1: Generic 8 GB. Supports up to 16GB-- Slot 2: Open. Supports up to 16GB-- If adding memory ("DDR4 2400 MHz SODIMM"), I recommend Crucial, HyperX, Kingston, and PNY- APU Graphics: AMD Radeon Vega 10 runs about 30% faster (overall) than Beelink GT-R's Vega 8-- Offers excellent performance for older games-- Grand Theft Auto V, Assassin's Creed Odyssey, Battlefield V, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, Call of Duty: WWII, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Dead or Alive 6, Dirt Rally 2.0, Dota 2, Forza Horizon 4, Fortnite: Battle Royale, Overwatch, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Soul Calibur 6, Skyrim SE, The Witcher 3- Operating System (OS)-- Licensed Windows 10 Home x64 pre-installed with no visible bloatware. See TIPS for more info-- Ubuntu 20.04 (Linux) installed easily with everything working right out of the box-- Very fast startup from power off state- Compact and portable, though a bit hefty, at W 5" x D 5" x H 2" @ 2.5 lbs, making it about the same size as the GT-R's W 6.6″ x D 4.7″ x H 1.5″ @ 3.2 lbs-- Excellent option for TV-based video conferencing when used with a webcam, including Skype, Teams, Zoom, WebEx, GotoMeeting, Facebook Messenger- Networking-- WiFi: WiFi 5 (802.11ac)--- Beelink's GT-R uses the newer WiFi 6. The newer standard can more efficiently send data to multiple devices at once (like a delivery driver stopping by multiple clients on the way to the final customer), helping to maintain optimal speed to everyone. Can improve battery life and security. However, WiFi 6 a router and devices that support it. So, at this time, WiFi 6 and WiFi 5 do not yet have any performance impact for the vast majority of consumers-- Wired: 2x Gigabit Ethernet ports for very fast, wired network transfer or advanced network configurations (link aggregation, routing, failover, load balancing, etc.) Chipset: Realtek- Bluetooth 4.2, allowing the use of Bluetooth keyboards, mice, and headphones- Up to 3 screens (HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.4, USB-C)-- Support for "4K" videos (3840×2160 UHD). UHD is commonly referred to as 4K on televisions (True cinematic 4K actually is 4096 x 2160)- 4x USB 3.0 ports-- If the TV does not support HDMI but has VGA, you could purchase a HDMI-to-VGA cable- Low power consumptionCONS- Fan can be a bit loud under heavy workload- Pre-installed 256GB M.2 SSD drive is not from a well-known brand. Windows sees it as a generic SSD- Does not support all forms of wireless keyboards/mice right out of the box, and this is normal for any new Windows 10 configuration, whether it's a laptop, tablet, or desktop PC. See TIPS section for more infoTIPSHARDWAREWIRELESS KEYBOARDS/MICEThe Mini PC does not support all forms of wireless keyboards/mice right out of the box, and this is normal for any new Windows 10 configuration- If you have a Logitech or Microsoft wireless keyboard/mouse, Windows may already know how to talk to them. Simply plug in the USB dongle and see. It did detect my Logitech K400 Plus keyboard without any additional configuration- If wireless is not detected, you will have to plug in a wired mouse and keyboard to complete the Windows installation and THEN add a Bluetooth or USB wireless keyboard/mouse through the Settings appSTORAGE & EXPANSIONReplacing the M.2 SSD drive or replacing/adding extra RAM are hassle-free. Pop off the 4 screws found at the bottom of the case to reveal the storage/memory slots. Be sure to educate yourself (see below) about which parts to buy.DRIVE DIFFERENCES: SATA, SSD, mSATA, M.2, NVMeHard disk drives (HDD) are mechanical devices whose performance was primarily based on the RPM (revolutions per minute) rating. They were generally 5400 or 7200 RPM (and beyond) — the higher the number, the faster it would usually perform. As with anything mechanical, they break down over time as the components age.Flash-memory based Solid State Drives (SSD) were introduced in the 1990s and were VERY expensive. SSD promised resistance to physical shock, faster performance, lower heat output, and more silent operation. Even to this day, SSDs still cost more than similarly-sized HDDs.SSD and HDD connect to your computer via multiple interfaces. Relative to this Mini PC, we are only concerned with the SATA and PCIe ones. SATA can connect two drive types:- 2.5″ SATA SSD (nowadays used in most laptops and desktop PCs and is physically larger)- mSATA and M.2 SSD (typically used in Mini PCs and laptops), each with their own connection typesMini-SATA (mSATA) is older and slower than M.2, and the latter can also connect to the newer, significantly faster PCIe interface (those drives are known as NVMe M.2 SSD).- This Mini PC includes two M.2 SSD 2280 slots (NVMe, SATA3) and a 2.5″ SATA interfaceM.2 SSD 2230, 2242, 2260, 2280?- The first two digits correspond to the width of the drive- The last two are the lengthA M.2 SSD 2280 is 22mm wide and 80mm long. This is important to know, especially with Mini PCs where space is scarce. If you purchase a 2280 drive and the computer only has room for 2230, you would not be able to use the former.WESTERN DIGITAL COLOR CODINGWD introduced a COLOR CODING system to help consumers determine which drives to buy. My GT-R unit came with a 1TB Western Digital Blue drive.- GREEN = lowest cost drive: slowest performance and not the best reliability- BLUE = everyday, mainstream consumer use- BLACK takes BLUE up a notch = best performance for gaming, photographers, videographers- RED = for NAS- PURPLE = digital video recordingSOFTWAREFRESH WINDOWS INSTALLATION- Win 10 Home x64 came pre-installed- Right out of the box, a fresh Win 10 Home installed perfectly when connected to a computer monitor. It detected every device after performing a Windows Update- Performance improvements and tweaks can be gained by installing the AMD Radeon Adrenalin software from AMD's website-- Keeps drivers up-to-date, enhances image quality and video playback, and more

I picked this up to use as a low-power firewall server. After unboxing and booting into Windows once, I rebooted onto a USB drive, formatted the AirDisk SSD as ZFS and installed FreeBSD 14.2. FreeBSD recognized the intel wifi, bluetooth, sound, and wired NICs. I ran into an issue with the Realtek NICs, but it was a well known issue with a workaround: install the realtek-re-kmod package and add a couple lines to /boot/loader.conf. After that, the 1Gb NIC (WAN) behaved perfectly and the 2.5Gb (LAN) linked up at full speed.For security and to minimize power consumption, I told FreeBSD not to load the sound drivers and I opened the box and removed the WiFi/Bluetooth card (I have dedicated WAPs for that). Setting up the device as a router was straight forward as FreeBSD has excellent networking abilities. It found it be considerably easier to get Quantum's (Lumen/Centurylink) 6rd up and running compared to hacking that ability onto my Unifi routers. Setting up PF was also straightforward. Since FreeBSD 14 recognized all the hardware, I expect this box would work quite well with opnSense and pfSense, for those who don't fancy writing their own firewall ruleset.Quantum's 6rd assigns an IPv4 derived dynamic IPv6 network. Which means, when my IPv4 address changes, so too does the IPv6 network. That's just not fun when you want to have some static IPv6 addresses for devices on the LAN, such as DNS, NTP, and other servers. I initially worked around it by using some private IPv6 addresses, but that's extra bother having firewall rules for static and dynamic IPv6 networks. I ultimately scrapped that idea and set myself up with an IPv6 allocation from HE. Now my IPv6 works as Father Postel would expect.After getting it all set up and burned in, I measured the power draw at 8W with very little variation. The unit runs surprisingly cool, making it easy to believe my Kill-A-Watt readings were accurate. For backups, I dropped in a USB 3.2 thumb drive. I plugged it into the front USB ports initially but noticed that it wasn't very speedy, so I moved it to the rear. It turns out the front USB ports are USB 3.0 Gen 1 (5Gbit/s) and the rear ports are 3.2 Gen 2 (20 Gbit/s). So, use them front ports for slow stuff like keyboard and mouse and plug fast stuff in the rear.

I play a game regularly that isn't demanding enough for me to spend the money on a dedicated graphics card, so I like having a mini PC since it doesn't take up too much space. This as an upgrade from a different mini PC with an 11th gen i7 chipset, which ran very hot and gave me about 15 fps at 720p; I found that to be disappointing. This Chuwi mini PC averages 41 fps at 1080p on the same game and is much quieter, so I'm pretty happy. The built-in AMD Radeon graphics tools report 98% usage on the GPU and 38% CPU, but it also reports 6 GB RAM and 1 GB VRAM in use, so the standard 8GB of RAM included is insufficient for my needs.I haven't done much general computing, but video playback is smooth for 1080/60 videos on streaming sites (5 frames dropped during a 30 min VP9 video).I probably would have scored higher if it had at least 16 GB of RAM. Instead, I made a separate purchase to upgrade the RAM, and since it was open, I replaced the SSD with an NVMe. Chuwi's design makes upgrades easy, so that is nice.Ultimately, I am happy with my purchase and Chuwi as a brand.