GMK says it will fix the problems we experienced on the NucBox

The concept of a super-small mini PC is intriguing especially if it can offer similar ports and expandability options as a standard Intel NUC. The Chuwi LarkBox and GMK NucBox are attempts at emulating the NUC at significantly smaller form factors while maintaining staple features like the full-size HDMI port, upgradeable storage, and a decent processor. Unfortunately, our time with a pre-production NucBox was frustrating to say the least due to the hardware issues we encountered.

GMK are now aware of the issues and will be working to resolve them by the time the NucBox goes into production. Some of these problems include the following:

• Wi-Fi constantly drops. GMK says they will optimize the antenna structure and drive to avoid dropped signals on production units. Adjusting the channel width to 20 MHz only may also help.
• SD card will sometimes not register on Windows. GMK will "modify the internal structure of the SD card slot" to resolve the problem. This likely means that our MicroSD card wasn't always in contact with the pins when inserted due to manufacturing issues.
• Fan pulses frequently and loudly. GMK will "adjust the temperature control plan" that should hopefully lead to more steady or infrequent fan noise.
• CPU temperature reaches 100 C when under load. GMK says they will resolve this issue on mass production units. We're hoping this will mean improvements to the thermal paste or overlying cooling solution instead of a simple clock rate throttle.

The manufacturer has until October to address these problems which is when first production units are scheduled to begin shipping.