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Chinese PC maker Chuwi’s new HeroBox 2023 N100 is a compact desktop computer that gives away one of its key features in the name: the mini PC is powered by a low-power, 4-core, 4-thread processor based on Intel Alder Lake-N architecture.

While Chuwi shows a list price of $199 for the little computer, the HeroBox 2023 N100 is currently on sale for $159.

The computer has a magnesium-alloy and polycarbonate chassis that measures 188 x 138 x 37mm (7.4″ x 5.4″ x 1.5″) and the whole system weighs 510 grams (about 1.1 pounds), making it small enough to easily mount to the back of a display, hide under your desk or behind your TV, or take with you.

Under the hood there’s 8GB of LPDDR5-4800 memory, which is soldered to the motherboard (and therefore not user upgradeable) and a 256GB M.2 2280 PCIe SSD (which can be removed and replaced). There’s also room for an optional 2.5 inch SATA hard drive or SSD.

Ports include:

  • 1 x USB 3.0 Type-C
  • 2 x USB 3.0 Gen 2 Type-A
  • 2 x USB 2.0 Type-A
  • 1 x HDMI 2.0
  • 1 x VGA
  • 1 x RJ45 LAN
  • 1 x 3.5mm audio
  • 1 x microSD card reader
  • 1 x DC power input (12V/3A)

The HeroBox 2023 N100 supports WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2, and Chuwi says it should support up to two 4K displays (presumably if you use the USB-C and HDMI ports at the same time, since the VGA output won’t support 4K).

The computer has a fan, so it won’t run silently. But Chuwi says the active cooling system allows the computer to handle up to a 13W TDP, suggesting that the company may have boosted the default power levels of the Intel Processor N100 chip at the heart of the HeroBox 2023 N100, since that processor is a 6-watt chip by default.

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8 Comments

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  1. I’m not interested in buying Chinese made products. There is little reason to support genocide.

    Reply

  3. It’s good to see the USB-C port because I’d say more than half of the N100 systems I’ve seen don’t have one. While 8/256 is an ok configuration, it’s too bad it doesn’t appear to come in a 16/512 configuration yet.

    Reply

  4. It’s like you might as well run it with the lid off. Doesn’t even look bad without it.

    Reply

    1. It does look good topless. Based on the images, it looks like it sucks air down and dispenses it out the sides. Perhaps the cap is there to muffle the noise of the fan. I wonder if it would run fanless with the top removed? Looks like a pretty decent heat sink.
      Personally, I’m hold out for an N300 in this approximate form factor.

      Reply