Chuwi UBox mini PC review
Chuwi Ubox Mini PC: 30 seconds comment
Ubox is an entry-level mini PC and a great choice for any home office, relatively cheap considering the CPU and GPU. The AMD Ryzen 5 6600U and the AMD Radeon 660m provide a good coupling for everyday work, while Ubox stands out and has a lot of upgrade ranges. While the standard RAM is only 16GB, it can be increased to 64GB. Again, internal storage is standard 512GB, but this can also be increased to 2TB.
The machine offers a lot of hope, and the marketing material really makes you think it will be an all-around gaming PC, especially its futuristic look. But in reality, with the available specifications and ranges, it is definitely entry-level. This is not to say that it is inadequate.
In the office it will run all Windows applications easily, so if you need a mini PC for Word, Excel, or other Office applications including browsing the Internet, this small machine is a great choice, especially It has its upgrade potential. Again, if you are considering doing some lighting editing in Capcut for your social media output, the machine will handle this too. Again, editing images in ACDSEE or similar image editors is also great. However, if you start pushing for processing or graphics features, you will start to see stuttering.
Load Adobe Premiere Pro and import some 4K video display limitations right away, especially the standard restrictions on internal storage. However, there is a USB 4 port on the front of the machine that makes ultra-fast connections to external drives. One surprise for machines at this level is that you can connect up to three 4K monitors, one plugs in HDMI, one plugs in DP, and the last plugs in the front USB port. It’s not the tidyest configuration, but it works fine.
Like many Best Mini PC The units I’ve reviewed, when it comes to connectivity options, your back has an Ethernet option, as well as Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0, which offer a lot of connectivity options around the office.
Chuwi Ubox is a great office option that outweighs your price. However, if you’re looking for a mini PC that will enable medium-weight video editing or mid-to-high-end gaming, this machine has too many requirements. Still, considering that this is an entry-level mini PC, it has very balanced features.
Chuwi Ubox Mini PC: Price and Availability
- how much does it cost? £249 / $299
- When to go out? Now
- Where can you get it? Widely available
Ubox can be purchased directly from Chuwi by clicking here And available from many online retailers.
Chuwi Ubox Mini PC: Specifications
| thing | Specification |
|---|---|
| CPU: | AMD Ryzen 5 6600H |
| GPU: | AMD Radeon 660m |
| Memory: | 16GB DDR5 |
| Storage: | 512TB SSD |
| Front port: | USB 4.0 type-C, 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 type-A, 3.5mm audio jack |
| Backport: | USB 2.0 Type A Port, DC-IN, 2×2.5G LAN, HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.2 |
| connect: | LAN 2.5Gbps, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2 |
| OS: | Windows 11 Pro (preinstalled) |
| aspect: | 128 x 130.5 x 57mm |
| Accessories | Vesa Mount |
design
Taking this small machine out of the box, the Ubox immediately felt very compact, measuring only 128 x 57 x 130.5mm and weighing 650 g. This isn’t the smallest mini PC compared to many of the latest models, but the design is stylish, and the white plastic finish and details on the top of the case really appeal. This detail is beautiful, but also helps with the cooling system, allowing the machine to be placed from the top to the bottom in the position of a large cooling fan.
Chuwi makes the design of this mini PC extremely easy to update. The top can be easily lifted to access the RAM and SSD slots, both of which support dual channels. Everything inside is very neat and in terms of accessibility and upgradeability I’ve seen lately, it’s probably one of the best designs for a mini PC. Although the actual build quality does feel a bit qualitative, it is indeed built.
Around the rest of the body, there are four rubber feet at the bottom that clip the mini PC to the surface and airflow through the bottom of the machine. On the front, there is a large power button, a 3.5mm audio jack socket, a USB 4-type port and two USB 3.2 ports. Flip backwards and you also have two USB Type A ports, 3.2 Gen 2 and 2.0, HDMI 2.0, A DP1.2 and two 2.5 GBPS Ethernet ports, and DC-IN. Likewise, there is a row of ventilation holes at the bottom of the sleeve to achieve further airflow. On the side, there is a Kensington lock, so if you leave it in the workplace, you can secure the Mini PC.
Apart from that, the size of the mini PC is almost average, may be slightly larger than some sizes, and is relatively heavier. I think this is one of the best mini PCs I’ve seen in a while. Even though it is at the end of the market’s budget, the initial impression of build quality and processing is good.
Chuwi Ubox Mini PC: Features
With budget users in mind, Chuwi tries to make the most of the entry-level components. Honestly, the 6600h and 660m AMD Radeon with ray tracing is considered entry-level. Still, the entry-level bar is still high considering the pricing and does do well.
While this small machine has the potential to upgrade, it is very simple to reduce costs due to standard equipment, using 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD. Both can be upgraded from 16GB to 64GB with RAM, with two 32GB sticks sitting in dual-channel slots. The SSD is a PCIE 3.0 SSD, so the older interface sees dual channels to achieve up to 2TB, and two 1TB sticks are used due to technical limitations.
At the entry level, it is indeed pre-installed by Windows 11 Pro, which is a very good choice. Similarly, the Monitor Connection Option, while not the tidy option with three different connectors, enables up to three 4K displays. The front USB4 will support 4K@144Hz, while HDMI and DP will support 4K@120Hz. In terms of network connectivity, there are two 2.5GB Ethernet ports, Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0.
While this small machine has a lot of performance in marketing, while it may be able to handle some ray tracing, don’t consider blasting in the latest games. If you are playing a mid-range game with ray tracing, they will look great. If you go to the high end, you will be disappointed.
With all the factors in mind, the Ryzen 5 and Radeon 660m are a powerful combination that requires a lot of cooling under load. To combat this, the machine packs a large fan on the base, which dissipates heat from the CPU and GPU. Along with the fan, there is a radiator inside, which should provide a lot of cooling for small systems.
Chuwi Ubox Mini PC: Performance
| Mini PC | Header Unit – Column 1 | Header Unit – Column 2 |
|---|---|---|
| 3dmark | Wildlife | 7507 |
| Line 1 – Cell 0 | Overall fire protection | 3414 |
| Line 2 – Cell 0 | Fire fighting graphics | 3690 |
| Line 3 – Cell 0 | Fire Physics | 20547 |
| Line 4 – Cell 0 | Firefighting adds together | 1215 |
| Line 5 – Cell 0 | Overall spy | 1327 |
| Line 6 – Cell 0 | Time spy graphics | 1167 |
| Line 7 – Cell 0 | Time spy CPU | 6073 |
| Cinebench23 | Single | 1467 |
| Line 9 – Cell 0 | many | 9954 |
| Geekbench | Single | 7510 |
| Line 11 – Cell 0 | many | 1964 |
| Line 12 – Cell 0 | calculate | 13634 |
| crystal | Read MB/s | 3272.41MB/s |
| Line 14 – Cell 0 | Write MB/s | 2839.70MB/s |
| PCMARK 10 | office | 5928 |
| Wei | Line 16 – Unit 1 | 8.0 |
Chuwi Ubox’s literature focuses heavily on the graphics potential of small machines, and I expect a very high gaming system, especially in the case of futuristic designs. But while this machine performs well, pricing is firmly marketed on entry-level rather than high-end gaming.
Once you put it on hold, this is not a gaming console and it is a very capable mini PC, everyday performance will be impressive on Windows. The machine is able to handle most applications easily. While PCMARK scores of 5,928 are lower than many of the scores we have seen recently, these scores are not bad at all at this level. This is reflected in the Windows Experience Score of 8, which shows that it is not only capable of running daily tasks in Windows.
One thing that really pushes this machine forward is the speed of the SSD. Although, again, this is an older technology (i.e. PCIE 3.0), it is still able to reach transfer rates up to 3,272MB per second. If you think this is actually faster than the Apple M1 Max laptop three years ago, you can see exactly how much ahead of the technology in a short time.
The SSD’s speed helps improve overall scores for the rest of the benchmarks, and in terms of Cinebench, Fire Strike, Time Spy and Wild Life, it has a relatively moderate performance, indicating that most older games will definitely run. But if you really start pushing graphics functionality in a similar way Hogwarts Legacy or Cyberpunk 2077then this system will really struggle. When talking about Hogwarts LegacyFor example, I can’t actually get into the loading screen.
But while high-end gaming potential may not exist, when it comes to editing videos (from 1080p to basic 4K video in Capcut), this small machine is not only able to handle short clips, if you are the ideal solution, if you are the ideal solution The solution requires a machine that creates content occasionally.
The advantage of this machine is that it can handle any office application with ease. The graphics processor will also enable image and video editing to a certain extent if needed – as long as you don’t push it and don’t want to edit high resolution and frame shots.
Chuwi Ubox Mini PC: Final Verdict
Considering the machine that ran basic games at this price not long ago, Chuwi Ubox is worth the money, so editing images and videos will be beyond its ability. Now, Ubox happily runs all Windows applications and can edit 1080p videos without problems, and to make it most important, it can play entry-level to intermediate games, making it worth the money.
This spec is a little out of the box, with only 16GB of RAM and a very small 512GB hard drive. However, now there are 1TB SSDs that are relatively cheap, and you can get two of them for less than £100/$100. While RAM will be a more expensive upgrade, it will also offer the greatest performance boost.
The Ubox I really like was Chuwi decided to add a USB 4 port on the front. While there is only one, it opens up a lot of opportunities – mainly the ability to plug in ultra-fast SSDs to facilitate internal storage when needed.
Overall, Ubox is an excellent choice for a very cheap entry-level mini PC with good power and plenty of upgrade potential.
Should I buy a Chuwi Ubox Mini PC?
| value | At this price, it is an extraordinary value for the currency, considering the processor and GPU combination. | 5 |
| design | The futuristic white matte and black design really appeal, but it may be a bit niche. | 4.5 |
| feature | These features are limited, especially in terms of ports. However, considering its price, it’s pretty good | 5 |
| Performance | For machines at this price, expectation is better than expected from machines that can handle video editing and gaming. | 4 |
| Work clothes | High price is worth the money while being specified with sufficient flexibility. | 5 |
If…buy it
if…
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