Ninkear M8_226V: New Lunar Lake mini PC with OCuLink and USB4 spotted in the wild

A pre-release engineering sample of the Ninkear M8_226V has surfaced on r/MiniPCs. The OP posted a detailed look at what appears to be a Lunar Lake upgrade to the brand's existing M8 platform — and with a connectivity loadout that is quite impressive, especially for its size class. When we reviewed the Ninkear M8 earlier this year, we flagged the absence of USB4 and OCuLink as big gaps. This Lunar Lake variant ships with both.

The M8_226V is powered by Intel's Core Ultra 5 226V, a Lunar Lake chip built on TSMC's 3 nm node. It packs 4 Lion Cove P-cores and 4 Skymont E-cores alongside Intel's Arc 130V iGPU, 40 TOPS NPU, and 16 GB of on-package LPDDR5x-8533 RAM — that last point being a key caveat, as Lunar Lake's on-package memory is not upgradeable. The chip has a base TDP of 17 W with boost headroom up to 37 W, which would make it great for a compact, passively-manageable chassis.

At 128×128 mm and approximately 675 g, the M8_226V shares its footprint with the existing AMD-powered M8. What's different is the port layout — and it's the most interesting part of this particular design. The front panel carries an OCuLink port alongside USB4. This combination allows eGPU connectivity with way more bandwidth than Thunderbolt alone. Having OCuLink on the front rather than the rear is an unusual choice, but it should make enclosure attachment and removal considerably less awkward. The rear panel adds two HDMI outputs, a DisplayPort, 2.5GbE, and additional USB-A ports.

Hands-on photos also show the internals pretty clearly (see above) — a single M.2 slot is visible alongside the large SoC heat spreader, and the bottom label confirms 20V/5A power delivery (100 W maximum).

No pricing or release date has been announced. The poster has added that this is purely an engineering sample with full testing still pending.

Buy the GMKtec Nucbox G3S Intel Alder Lake variant on Amazon.

I got my hands on a pre-release Lunar Lake mini PC from a Chinese manufacturer Ninkear. Here are some photos and first impressions
by u/Content-Doughnut7707 in MiniPCs