Chuwi UBox mini PC: 30-second review
The UBox is an entry-level mini PC and a great choice for any home office, and it’s relatively cheap considering the CPU and GPU. The AMD Ryzen 5 6600U and AMD Radeon 660M make a great coupling for everyday work, and what stands out about the UBox is that there’s plenty of scope for upgrades. While the standard RAM is only 16GB, it can be boosted to 64GB. Likewise, the internal storage is a rather paltry 512GB as standard, but this too can be boosted up to 2TB.
The machine offers plenty of promise, and the marketing material does make you think that this is going to be an all-out gaming PC, especially with its slightly futuristic looks. But in reality, with the specifications and range of ports available, it is decidedly entry-level. That’s not to say that it’s underpowered.
In the office, it’ll run all Windows applications easily, so if you need a mini PC for Word, Excel, or other office applications, including browsing the internet, then this small machine is a great option, especially with its upgrade potential. Likewise, if you’re looking at doing a bit of light editing in CapCut for your social media output, this machine will handle that as well. Similarly, editing images in ACDSee or a similar image editor is well within the capabilities. However, if you start to push the processing or graphics abilities, you will start to see a stutter.
Loading Adobe Premiere Pro and importing some 4K footage instantly shows the limitations, especially with a limit on internal storage as standard. However, there is a USB 4 port at the front of the machine for ultrafast connections to external drives. One surprise for a machine of this level is that you can attach up to three 4K monitors, with one plugged into HDMI, one into DP, and the last into the USB port on the front. It’s not the neatest of configurations, but it works.
Like many of the best mini PC units I’ve reviewed, when it comes to connectivity options, you have Ethernet options at the back, as well as Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0, which offer plenty of connection options around the office.
The Chuwi UBox is a great office option with more power than you might expect at this price. However, if you are looking for a mini PC that will enable medium-weight video editing or mid-to-high-end gaming, then that’s asking a bit too much from this machine. Still, considering that this is an entry-level mini PC, its capabilities are exceptionally well-balanced.
Chuwi UBox mini PC: Price and availability
- How much does it cost? £249 / $299
- When is it out? Now
- Where can you get it? Widely available
The UBox can be purchased directly from Chuwi by clicking here and is available from many online retailers.
Chuwi UBox mini PC: Specs
| Item | Spec |
|---|---|
| CPU: | AMD Ryzen 5 6600H |
| GPU: | AMD Radeon 660M |
| RAM: | 16GB DDR5 |
| Storage: | 512TB SSD |
| Front Ports: | USB 4.0 Type-C, 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 3.5mm Audio Jack |
| Rear Ports: | USB 2.0 Type-A Port, DC-In, 2× 2.5G LAN, HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.2 |
| Connectivity: | LAN 2.5Gbps, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2 |
| OS: | Windows 11 Pro (pre-installed) |
| Dimensions: | 128 x 130.5 x 57mm |
| Accessories | VESA Mount |
Chuwi UBox mini PC: Design
Taking this small machine out of the box, the UBox instantly struck me as being nice and compact, measuring just 128 x 57 x 130.5 mm and weighing in at 650 g. It’s not the smallest mini PC compared with many of the latest models, but the design is sleek, and the white plastic finish and detailing on the top of the case really appeal. This detailing is extremely aesthetic but also helps with the cooling system, enabling airflow through the machine from top to bottom where the large cooling fan is positioned.
Chuwi has made the design of this mini PC extremely accessible for updates. The top can easily be lifted away to access the RAM and SSD slots, both of which support dual-channel. Everything inside is very neatly laid out, and it’s probably one of the best designs for a mini PC in terms of accessibility and upgradability that I’ve seen recently. Although the actual build quality does feel slightly plasticky, it is really well-built.
Looking around the rest of the body, there are four rubber feet on the bottom, which keep the mini PC gripped to the surface and enable airflow through the bottom of the machine. On the front, there’s a large power button, a 3.5mm audio jack socket, a USB Type 4 port, and two USB 3.2 ports. Flipping around to the back, you have two more USB Type-A ports, 3.2 Gen 2 and 2.0, an HDMI 2.0, a DP1.2, and two 2.5 Gbps Ethernet ports, along with the DC-in. Again, there’s a row of vents at the bottom of the casing to enable further airflow. On the side, there is a Kensington lock so you can secure the mini PC if you leave it in the workplace.
Other than that, the mini PC’s size is just about average, possibly slightly bigger than some, and it’s also relatively heavy. I feel that this is one of the best-looking mini PCs I’ve seen in a while. Although it is at the budget end of the market, initial impressions of the build quality and handling are good.
Chuwi UBox mini PC: Features
With a view to budget users, Chuwi has tried to make the most of entry-level components. To be honest, the AMD 6600H and the AMD Radeon 660M with ray tracing are considered entry-level. Still, the entry-level bar is quite high, and this really does perform well above its weight, considering the pricing.
While this small machine has plenty of potential for upgradability, as standard it’s kept simple to keep costs down, with 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD. Both of these can be upgraded with the RAM from 16GB to 64GB with two 32GB sticks sitting in the dual-channel slots. The SSD is a PCIe 3.0 SSD, so the slightly older interface sees dual-channel enabling up to 2TB with two 1TB sticks being used due to the technology restrictions.
While entry-level, it does come pre-installed with Windows 11 Pro, which is a really nice touch. Likewise, the monitor connection options, while not the neatest with three different connectors, do enable up to three 4K displays. The USB4 on the front will support 4K@144Hz, while the HDMI and DP will support 4K@120Hz. When it comes to network connectivity, there are two 2.5Gb Ethernet ports, Wi-Fi 6, and Bluetooth 5.0.
While much is made of this small machine’s performance in the marketing, and while it might be able to handle some ray tracing, don’t consider it to blast through the latest games. If you are playing mid-range games that have ray tracing, then they are going to look great. If you go high-end, then you’ll be disappointed.
All things considered, the Ryzen 5 and Radeon 660M are a powerful combo that will require plenty of cooling when put under load. To combat this, the machine packs a large fan at the base, which draws the heat away from the CPU and GPU. Along with the fan, there are heat sinks inside, which should provide plenty of cooling for the small system.
Chuwi UBox mini PC: Performance
| Mini PC | Header Cell – Column 1 | Header Cell – Column 2 |
|---|---|---|
| 3DMark | WildLife | 7507 |
| Row 1 – Cell 0 | Fire Strike Overall | 3414 |
| Row 2 – Cell 0 | Fire Strike Graphics | 3690 |
| Row 3 – Cell 0 | Fire Strike Physics | 20547 |
| Row 4 – Cell 0 | Fire Strike Combined | 1215 |
| Row 5 – Cell 0 | Time Spy Overall | 1327 |
| Row 6 – Cell 0 | Time Spy Graphics | 1167 |
| Row 7 – Cell 0 | Time Spy CPU | 6073 |
| CineBench23 | Single | 1467 |
| Row 9 – Cell 0 | Multi | 9954 |
| GeekBench | Single | 7510 |
| Row 11 – Cell 0 | Multi | 1964 |
| Row 12 – Cell 0 | Compute | 13634 |
| CrystalDisk | Read MB/s | 3272.41MB/s |
| Row 14 – Cell 0 | Write MB/s | 2839.70MB/s |
| PCMark 10 | Office | 5928 |
| WEI | Row 16 – Cell 1 | 8.0 |
The literature for the Chuwi UBox focused heavily on the small machine’s graphic potential, and I was expecting a really high-powered gaming system, especially with the futuristic design. However, while this machine’s performance is good, the pricing pitches it firmly at the entry-level and not high-end gaming.
Once you put aside the fact that this isn’t a gaming machine and is a very competent mini PC, the day-to-day performance is undeniably impressive when it comes to Windows. The machine is able to handle most applications with ease. While the PCMark score of 5,928 is lower than many of the scores we’ve seen recently, at this level these scores aren’t at all bad. Which is reflected in the Windows Experience Score of 8, which suggests that it is more than capable of running everyday tasks within Windows.
One of the things that really pushes this machine forward is the speed of the SSD. Although, again, this is slightly older technology—being PCIe 3.0—it is still able to achieve transfer rates of up to 3,272MB per second. If you consider that this is actually faster than an Apple M1 Max laptop from three years ago, you can see exactly how much this technology has advanced in that short time.
The speed of the SSD helps to boost the overall scores across the rest of the benchmarks, and when it comes to Cinebench, Fire Strike, Time Spy, and Wild Life, it puts in a relatively mid-range performance, showing that most older games will run absolutely fine. But if you really start to push the graphics capability with the likes of Hogwarts Legacy or Cyberpunk 2077, then this system is really going to struggle. When it came to Hogwarts Legacy, for instance, I couldn’t actually get to the loading screen.
However, while the higher-end gaming potential might not be there, when it comes to editing video—from 1080p through to basic 4K video in CapCut—this small machine was more than capable of handling short clips, making it an ideal solution if you need a machine for occasional content creation.
The strength of this machine is that it can easily handle any office application. If needed, the graphics processor will also enable image and video editing to a certain degree—as long as you don’t push it and don’t expect to edit high-resolution and framerate footage.
Chuwi UBox mini PC: Final verdict
The Chuwi UBox is great value for money, considering that not long ago, a machine at this price would struggle to run even basic games, and editing images and video would have been beyond its abilities. Now, the UBox happily runs all Windows applications and can edit 1080p video without issue, and just to top it off, it can play entry-level to mid-level games, making it great value for money.
The specifications are a bit low out of the box, with only 16GB of RAM and a very small 512GB hard drive. However, with 1TB SSDs now relatively inexpensive, you can get two of those for less than £100/$100. While the RAM will be a more expensive upgrade, it will also provide the biggest performance boost.
What I really like about the UBox is that Chuwi has decided to add a USB 4 port on the front. While there is only one, it opens up a whole wealth of opportunities—primarily the ability to plug in an ultra-fast SSD to boost the internal storage if needed.
Overall, the UBox is a great option for a very cheap entry-level mini PC with decent power and plenty of upgrade potential.
Should I buy the Chuwi UBox mini PC?
| Value | At this price, considering the processor and GPU combo, it is exceptional value for money. | 5 |
| Design | The futuristic white matte and black design really appeal, but it may be a bit niche. | 4.5 |
| Features | The features are limited, especially when it comes to ports. However, considering its price point, it’s not bad | 5 |
| Performance | The preformance is better than expected for a machine of this price, able to handle video editing and gaming. | 4 |
| Overalls | Superb value for money while being specified with plenty of flexibility for its use. | 5 |
Buy it if…
Don’t buy it if…
For more essential hardware, we’ve reviewed the best business laptops for productivity.
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