Chuwi Larkbox X Mini PC GBAtemp review
Hardware
Product Information:
- Official Store: https://us.chuwi.com/products/larkbox-x
It’s hard to go far on the internet without hearing about mini PCs. Small, sleek, and reasonably powerful, the amount of tech you can pack into a tiny form factor these days makes it pretty easy to see why they’ve been so popular and appealing to consumers. As someone with reasonable space, the miniature aspect of a mini PC isn’t what calls to me; rather, it’s the low power draw and cooler running temperature. Using an old gaming PC repurposed into a server has been a great way to recycle old hardware, but with high utility costs and a hot idle temperature, a mini PC seems like the perfect thing to replace it with. With hardcore gaming not being a focus, the Chuwi Larkbox X seems like a great fit for a low-power yet still highly capable server.
Where a lot of these mini PC brands have cropped up overnight, Chuwi has been around a decent while, manufacturing tablets and laptops. They originally released the Larkbox X in 2022, though it ran on a Ryzen chip. Their new refresh of the mini PC sees a pivot to the Intel Alder Lake N100 CPU--a known quantity in terms of efficiency. It’s no slouch in the gaming performance arena, either, though you’ll need to keep your expectations in check. 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM gives you an edge with background processes, too. Most notably, the Larkbox X rocks a dual-ethernet board and Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax) which is incredibly useful if you’re going to be using it for any sort of server-related purposes. Two LAN ports gives you flexibility for bridging PCs together for quick file transfers, messing with VLANs, or to plug directly into a NAS. It’s a fun inclusion, and it sets it apart from most other mini PCs right out of the gate.
Tech Specs
- Processor: Intel Alder Lake N100
- Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics for 12th Gen Intel Processors
- Storage: 512GB M.2 NVMe PCIe Gen3x4
- Memory: 12GB DDR5
- Weight: 400g
- OS: Windowns 11 Home
- I/O: 2 USB 3.2 Gen 2, 3.5mm, USB-C, HDMI 2.0, DP, 1G LAN, 2.5G LAN, 2 USB 3.0 Gen 1
Going with Windows makes the most amount of sense, though these kinds of specs and use case scenario beg for a Linux installation. For this review, I stuck with Windows 11 (after thoroughly scanning it and finding nothing fishy) and installed Plex Media Server and Jellyfin in order to host media content.
Upon freeing the Larkbox X from its packaging, you’ll find that the PC is not as tiny as you might expect for the specs, but the chassis is sleek and it’s slim enough to fit on even the most cramped desk setups. The case doesn’t boast the nicest build quality around--there’s a little give at the top with the vent--but the white-and-black design is nice, and it almost reminds me of a Gateway PC. It’s fairly lightweight, so it’s easy to carry around with you if you ever need to bring the computer somewhere. You get a solid variety of ports, with two USB 3.2 on the front, along with a USB-C port. On the back of the unit rests the other I/O and a vent. If you so wanted, you could run a triple-monitor setup by using the DisplayPort, HDMI, and USB-C outputs--the PC is snappy for just about any average computing, even while running three screens at once.
Putting the Larkbox X to the test proves the capabilities of DDR5 RAM and the N100 CPU. It didn’t even stutter when running 4 concurrent Plex streams, nor did it ever have a problem with playing back 4K UHD content. There’s a lot of fun things you can get running on a mini PC like this, like making a HomeAssistant hub, running AdGuard Home, making a personal seedbox, plugging in an external drive and backing up your important photos to it remotely, and just all manner of exciting self-hosted applications. In terms of gaming, you can emulate just about anything up to 5th generation consoles without issue, in addition to a lot of the 6th generation as well, while also playing 2D Steam games handily. It gets more than a little rocky if you try to play demanding games at 1080p, but if you’re willing to compromise for 720p and low graphical settings, you can eke out acceptable performance here and there. Palworld, Skyrim, Metal Gear Solid V, and Yakuza 0 couldn’t get to a stable 720/60, so even older 3D games aren’t going to play fluidly. That’s not a severe knock against the Larkbox X, though, it’s just not its strong suit.
However, the computer’s strong suits are operating quietly under load and staying cool. The worst aspect of having a repurposed gaming PC as a Plex server was the noise, heat, and power draw. All of those problems I had were solved by replacing it with the Larkbox X. Idle temps saw the device clock in at about 30C on average, and when stressed, the fan would kick in, though it was still relatively quiet when operating. There's a low pitch to the fan as well, so it doesn't get as audible as some higher-pitched kinds of small fans do. The most dramatic change of all is the electricity usage; where the tower PC (i5 6600k/1080 Ti) was idling at 170 watts and 280 watts under load, the Chuwi mini PC was casually using only 7 watts when idle, and 19 watts when heavily used, on average. That kind of difference is enough to make a dent in an electricity bill, especially over time. When you’re running a PC nearly all hours of the day for smarthome, streaming, and homelab services, that sort of low power draw is a huge benefit.
In my time with the Chuwi Larkbox X, I really enjoyed having a mini PC to install projects to and play around with. It runs well for regular browsing and unless you’re trying to run Proxmox, the little computer manages to handle most projects with ease. You could easily find a use for it if you need a computer in the living room that won’t take up space or use too much power, as well. The only underwhelming aspect might be the generic-brand NVMe drive included, but that’s a simple thing to replace. For its retail price of $185, it might be a little pricier than other N100 mini PCs, but if you can grab it with the coupon code that it appears to frequently have on Amazon, you get a great feature set in a small package, for a reasonable price.
Verdict
- Two LAN ports
- Super low power consumption
- Works wonderfully as a home server
- Runs cool
- Generic-brand RAM and NVMe
- No room for extra storage
