Chuwi GBox Review – Great Mini PC But Needs More RAM

The GBox is Chuwi’s latest budget Windows 10 mini PC. This is powered by the latest Gemini Lake Celeron N4100 SoC, it has 4GB of DDR4 RAM and 64GB of storage. But on the back, there is a 2.5″ SATA3 bay and hidden inside even an M.2 2242 and 2280 slot for an SSD. This isn’t even advertised by Chuwi maybe as they don’t want us opening it up? But I’ve covered this in the full Chuwi GBox Review below. The GBox is currently selling for $219 with coupon GBCHUWI here.

Chuwi GBox Review video index:

01:04 – Unboxing
02:10 – Build & design
03:27 – SSD slots & internals
05:04 – Bios
05:35 – First boot
05:42 – System info
06:55 – Mic sample
07:43 – Antutu & Geekbench 4
08:44 – Linux test
09:22 – Real worlds tests
10:46 – Kodi & 4k
12:39 – Gaming
14:09 – Wattage & thermals
14:34 – Final words
15:34 – Pros & Cons listed

The build of the GBox I thought would be metal all around, but it turns out it’s the frame that’s made of metal and the top and bottom is a matte black plastic. The build is good however and well put together with no defects. There is an HDMI 2.0A port on the rear and oddly enough VGA if you wanted to use a projector. I would have rather had twin HDMI 2.0A’s so I can run two monitors. And since it’s HDMI 2.0 spec that means 4k at 60hz not 30hz like the old Apollo Lakes. Wireless AC and BT 4.1 with Gigabit Ethernet. The range of the wireless is good with a solid signal thanks to twin antennas on the inside lid of the mini PC. Maximum throughput is around 350MB/s  in my testing with the Intel wireless AC 3165 chipset.

All the USB ports power external HDD’s up to 4TB tested with my Maxtor 4TB 2.5″ external drive. The MicroSD slot caps out around 24MB/s so not a high-speed reader.

The PC runs well of the eMMC 5.1 Sandisk 64GB drive, but I recommend using an SSD as the boot drive if you can for increase performance. 4GB of RAM the main handicap of this system. I would have like to have seen 6GB like the old Apollo Lake tech or an 8GB DDR4 option would be even better.

Inside (also as seen in my video) is a large alloy heatsink but no cooling fins like the press material. It will keep the CPU of the Chuwi Gbox and Intel 600 UHD integrated graphics from reaching over 86 degrees C when gaming and pushed hard for hours. Geekbench 4.0 scores of 1800 single core and 5000+ multi-core show it’s around 25% faster than the old Apollo Lake Celeron N3450. Rear world performance it’s perfect for light tasks like docs, minor image editing, web browsers like Chrome and spreadsheets. Also, it would be perfect as a media player with the included remote.

The Gbox remote is the same as the Chuwi HiBox’s and it works well. Uses sensors it will act as a mouse pointer and remote. It also works in Linux.

As long as you don’t ask too much of the little 6 watt CPU by multitasking too aggressively you’ll find it performs well. The stock 6W TDP means the GPU cannot turbo up high and as a result games like Counter Strike Global Offensive run at only around 21 FPS and less on the Dust 2 map. League of legends and other light titles are playable with over 30fps on medium settings at 1080p.

For the $219 USD price this sell for it comes recommended (use coupon GBCHUWI for $10 off) I just wish there was an 8GB option and the bios was fully unlocked so I could push up the TDP.

Chuwi GBox Specs:

• Intel Celeron N4100
• 4GB DDR4 2133Mhz
• Sandisk 64GB eMMC 5.1
• SATA3 2.5” and M.2 slots
• 2 x USB 3.0 ports
• 2 x USB 2.0 ports
• Intel Wireless AC + BT 4.1
• Realtek Gigabit LAN,
• HDMI 2.0A
• VGA out
• USB 3.0 Type-C