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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is there a working hdmi cec ?
Highly unlikely.
Specification says “HDMI CEC Audio output”, whatever it means.
Too bad they forgot that some people want to connect that to their network, otherwise it looked appealing.
oh, no wired ethernet! Pity.
What about a Ethernet adaptor on one of the usb3 ports?
That’s what the authors suggest to all of the 1/10 commenters who ask for this. But this totally defeats the purpose of the box: they claim it’s a small box you can hold in your hand but they don’t speak about the suitcase of accessories containing the proprietary power supply and the USB3->ethernet adapter (which by the way takes away one USB port). I think these guys have the technical capability to create a nice device, but they ruin some efforts with such design errors, and possibly with extra costs incurred by the preinstalled Win10 and the large 128GB… Read more »
32GB flash should be fine for Linux, but for Windows 10 that’s OK with one or two programs, until an OS update comes along. A user might have to clear the cache and “old file”, maybe uninstall a program, do the update, then reinstall the program. I actually have the same problem in an Android phone with 32GB flash and no MicroSD card. Pluggable eMMC modules are great for SBCs (although they may add to the cost?), but I’m not sure they are suitable for consumer devices. If they are preinstalled in the factory, then I’m not confident they… Read more »
Also apparently from the comments on indiegogo, it’s not USB-C PD, it’s a USB-C connector taking 12V from a special adapter, which apparently means you can’t power it from a regular USB-C PD adapter, and that its adapter could fry 5V equipments if accidently connected to them.
> its adapter could fry 5V equipments if accidently connected to them.
What an idiotic misuse of USB-C then. It also means once Chuwi’s fancy 12V PSU is dead you can’t use any other USB-C PSU since they will remain on 5V.
The H2+ may be twice as large but it’s 4x the PC, this is a size gimmick it seems to me.
Still better than a lot of ATV boxes though.
Sweet, no minijack connector nor ethernet. Aaaand this is how it’s done 🙂
I don’t know why I didn’t see that minijack when I first read the article, so it’s my bad. Only the ethernet is lacking, as it was stated before, pitiful…
A great idea. But early on on the Lilliput video review, the killer Achilles heel is revealed, no support of a hub that would instantly allow for Ethernet, more USB ports and even an other HDMI, which could be useful for single port capture devices. As other seem to have said, the whole USB-C implementation is not only poor but potentially dangerous to the box’s life and it’s not as if we are talking about a $25 dollar product where you might be able to write off a failure without busting a blood vessel. As usual, another… Read more »