Mini PC Reviews

For some time now I've been reviewing mini PCs and in particular comparing their performance in both Windows and Ubuntu against similarly available devices.

My earliest reviews were posted here on my blog, later ones were published on CNX SOFTWARE and my most recent ones are published on Liliputing where they can be found by clicking on the URL https://liliputing.com/author/linuxium/.

In order to simplify searching for specific mini PC reviews or performance comparisons I've created a chronological list of all the most relevant posts below:

13 November 2024: Beelink GTi12 Ultra and EX Docking Station Review: Mini PC dock adds desktop graphics support

2 November 2024: UnifyDrive UT2 Review: this portable SSD is also a pocket-sized NAS

13 October 2024: TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus Review: Up to 64TB of SSD storage

21 September 2024: MINISFORUM UM890 Pro Review: A versatile, high-performance, and nearly silent mini PC

18 September 2024: LincPlus LincStation N1 Review: An affordable 6-bay NAS with support for up to 48TB of solid state storage

10 September 2024: UGREEN NASync DXP480T Plus Review: A speedy NAS with 10 GbE networking and four M.2 SSD slots

16 July 2024: GEEKOM A8 Review: Mini PC with up to Ryzen 9 8945HS

26 June 2024: AOOSTAR GEM12 Review: Mini PC with OCuLink, 2.5 GbE LAN and up to Ryzen 7 8845HS

17 June 2024: ACEMAGIC F2A Review: Intel Meteor Lake Mini PC

10 June 2024: Pironman 5 Review: This case turns the Raspberry Pi into a mini-tower PC with enhanced cooling, RGB lighting, and NVMe support

24 May 2024: GMKtec NucBox K8 Review: AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS is a NUC-like mini PC

3 May 2024: AYANEO Retro Mini PC AM02 Review: A powerful, versatile mini PC (that also looks like a vintage game console

6 April 2024: MeLE Quieter 4C Review (a pocket-sized fanless PC with Intel N100)

23 March 2024: GEEKOM A7 Review: This AMD Ryzen 7040HS series mini PC hits the sweet spot

22 February 2024: GEEKOM Mini Air12 Review: An affordable Intel N100 mini PC with DDR5 memory and PCIe Gen 3 storage

15 January 2024: AOOSTAR R7 Review: An affordable 2-bay DIY NAS with Ryzen 7 5700U and PCIe NVMe support

17 December 2023: ACEMAGIC TANK03 Review: Tiny gaming PC with up to Core i9-12900H and NVIDIA RTX 3080M

6 December 2023: iKOOLCORE R2 Review: A 3 inch mini PC with four 2.5 GbE Ethernet ports and up to Intel Core i3-N300

29 November 2023: Simply NUC Onyx NUC13OXv9 Review: 4×4 Mini PC with Intel Core i9-13900H

28 October 2023: GEEKOM Mini IT13 Review: 4×4 mini PC with an Intel Core i9-13900H processor

29 August 2023: MeLE Overclock 3C review: Pocket-sized mini PC with an Intel Celeron N5095 Jasper Lake processor

16 June 2023: Morefine M600 6900HX review – A Ryzen 9 6900HX mini PC tested with Windows 11 and Ubuntu 23.04

16 May 2023: Beelink EQ12 Review – An Intel Processor N100 mini PC tested with Windows 11, TrueNAS, pfSense, Ubuntu, and more

8 May 2023: Beelink SER6 Pro 7735HS Review – Windows 11 benchmarks, USB4 port tested with NVIDIA RTX 3050 eGPU’s

29 Mar 2023: iKOOLCORE R1 review – A quad 2.5GbE mini PC tested with Windows 11, Ubuntu 22.04, Proxmox

18 Mar 2023: Weibu N10 Core i3-N305 mini PC review with Windows 11 and Ubuntu 22.04

5 Mar 2023: Beelink SER6 Pro mini PC review – Windows 11, Ubuntu 22.04, and USB4

20 Feb 2023: ODROID-H3+ SBC review with “Unlimited Performance” mode and 2.5GbE Net Card

6 Dec 2022: MeLE PCG02 Pro Review – A Fanless Intel Celeron J4125 / N5105 mini PC with an ultra-compact form factor

10 Nov 2022: Weibu N10 Review – An OEM Mini PC tested with Ubuntu 22.04, Windows 11

6 Nov 2022: Beelink SEi12 Alder Lake mini PC review with Windows 11, Ubuntu 22.04

15 Sep 2022: MeLE Quieter HD3Q Review – A fanless mini PC with dual-channel memory, 2.5-inch SATA bay

7 Sep 2022: Beelink SEi11 Pro Review – An Intel Core i5-11320H mini PC tested with Windows 11, Ubuntu 22.04

30 Aug 2022: MeLE Quieter3C fanless mini PC review with Ubuntu 22.04, Windows 11

22 Aug 2022: BMAX B3 Plus Review – An Intel Celeron N5095 mini PC with two Gigabit Ethernet ports

13 Aug 2022: Beelink U59 Pro review – A Jasper Lake mini PC with faster GPU performance

10 Aug 2022: Beelink SER5 Review – An AMD Ryzen 5 5600H mini PC tested with Windows 11, Ubuntu 22.04

9 Jul 2022: GEEKOM MiniAir 11 Review – A Jasper Lake Mini PC with plenty of ports

30 Jun 2022: Beelink MINI S Review – A Low-cost mini PC tested with Ubuntu 22.04 and Windows 11

17 Jun 2022: Beelink SER3 & SEi8 mini PCs review – Part 2: Ubuntu 22.04

3 Jun 2022: MeLE Quieter3Q Review – Ultra-thin fanless mini PC tested with Windows 11, Ubuntu 22.04

24 May 2022: Beelink SEi8/SER3 review – Intel Core i3-8109U and AMD Ryzen 3 3200U mini PCs face off in Windows 11 (part 1)

26 Apr 2022: Morefine S500+ Review – An AMD Ryzen 7 5700U mini PC tested with Windows 11, Ubuntu 20.04

4 Apr 2022: Beelink SER4 Review – Windows 11, Ubuntu 20.04, and “overclocking” AMD Ryzen 7 4800U SoC

23 Mar 2022: Higole F7G Plus Review – A affordable rugged tablet tested with Ubuntu 20.04 & Windows 11

23 Feb 2022: Aerofara Aero 2 Pro Review – A Celeron N5105 mini PC tested with Windows 11, Ubuntu 20.04

17 Feb 2022: Beelink GTR5 Review – An AMD Ryzen 9 mini PC tested with Windows 11, Ubuntu 20.04

4 Feb 2022: Beelink GTi11 modding – PCIe Gen 4.0 M.2 slot, tweaking power limits, and eGPU

29 Dec 2021: OS and Memory Impact on Mini PC Gaming Performance

26 Dec 2021: Beelink GTi11 review – Part 2: Ubuntu 20.04 on an Intel Core i5-1135G7 mini PC

22 Dec 2021: Beelink GTi11 Review – Part 1: Tiger Lake mini PC with Windows 11

19 Nov 2021: Using MangoHud to check FPS, CPU & GPU usage on a ‘hackendeck’

17 Nov 2021: Experiences of configuring and using a ‘hackendeck’ homemade Steam Deck

2 Nov 2021: Beelink U59 Review – Windows 11, Ubuntu on a Jasper Lake mini PC

24 Oct 2021: How to upgrade a mini PC to Windows 11 and install WSL

21 Oct 2021: Beelink SER3 Review – A good AMD Ryzen 7 mini PC … after tweaks

4 Oct 2021: MINIX NGC-5 Review – Windows 10, Ubuntu 20.04 and external GPU

23 Aug 2021: LIVA Q1L Review – pfSense, Ubuntu 20.04, Windows 10 tested on a dual Ethernet “Ultra Tiny PC”

11 Aug 2021: Cincoze GP-3000 review – An expandable Xeon-based GPU computer

16 Jun 2021: GMK NucBox Review – A palm-sized Windows 10 mini PC

1 Jun 2021: MeLE Quieter2 Review – Windows 10, Ubuntu 20.04, and eGPU

19 May 2021: Beelink GKmini Review – An Intel Celeron J4125 mini PC reviewed with Windows 10 Pro, Ubuntu 20.04

10 Apr 2021: Virtualization Performance on an Intel NUC 11 Enthusiast Phantom Canyon NUC11PHKi7C

2 Apr 2021: Linux and Memory Performance on an Intel NUC 11 Enthusiast Phantom Canyon NUC11PHKi7C

22 Mar 2021: Windows Performance on an Intel NUC 11 Enthusiast Phantom Canyon NUC11PHKi7C

14 Mar 2021: Using an eGPU with a mini PC

9 Feb 2021: Beelink SEI Review – A Core i3-10110U Mini PC Tested with Windows and Ubuntu

3 Jan 2021: Rock Pi X Review – An Atom x5 SBC running Windows 10 or Ubuntu 20.04

16 Dec 2020: Cincoze GM-1000 Embedded GPU Computer Review

27 Oct 2020: MINISFORUM EliteMini H31G Coffee Lake Mini PC Review with Windows & Linux

14 Oct 2020: MINISFORUM X35G review – An Intel Core i3-1005G1 Mini PC tested with Windows & Ubuntu

13 Sep 2020: Intel NUC 9 Extreme “Ghost Canyon” Kit – NUC9i9QNX Review

9 Aug 2020: Beelink GT-R Review – An AMD Ryzen 5 Mini PC Tested with Windows 10 and Ubuntu 20.04

30 Jan 2020: Beelink Gemini T45 Pentium N4200 Mini PC Review

15 Jan 2020: Introducing the Intel NUC 9 Compute Elements, Mini PC Kits, and 3rd-Party Ecosystem

3 Jan 2020: Beelink BT4 Mini PC Review – Slow, Buggy, Fan-cooled, and Overheating

21 Dec 2019: Beelink T45 Review with Windows and Linux, and Tweaking BIOS Power Limits

14 Dec 2019: Ubuntu 18.04 on Beelink Gemini J45 Mini PC (Fix and Review)

12 Dec 2019: A Look at Ubuntu on MINIX NEO G41V-4 and J50C-4 Mini PCs

28 Sep 2019: Beelink J45 Mini PC Review – Windows 10 Works as Expected, but Linux is Unstable

13 Sep 2019: CHUWI GBOX Pro Review – Intel Atom x7-E3950 mini PC Tested with Windows 10 & Ubuntu 18.04

26 Jul 2019: Intel Mini PCs Linux Performance Comparison (original posted here)

12 Jul 2019: Beelink L55 Review – An Intel Core i3-5005U Mini PC Tested with Windows 10 & Ubuntu 18.04

5 Feb 2019: LIVA Q2 Review – ECS Micro PC Tested with Windows 10 and Ubuntu 18.10

28 Jan 2019: Pepper Jobs GLK-UC2X Mini PC Review with Windows 10 and Ubuntu 18.10

15 Oct 2018: TopJoy Falcon Review – A Windows 10 Mini Laptop (Prototype)

11 Oct 2018: Beelink X55 Review – Part 2, Take 2: New Drivers and BIOS

5 Oct 2018: Beelink X55 Review – An Intel Gemini Lake mini PC Tested with Windows 10 and Linux

15 Sep 2018: Beelink X45 Mini PC Review with Windows 10 and Ubuntu 16.04/18.04

16 May 2018: Intel NUC Kit NUC7PJYH Review – An Intel Gemini Lake Pentium Silver J5005 Barebone Mini PC

9 May 2018: Vorke V5 Plus Kaby Lake Mini PC Review with Windows 10 and Ubuntu 18.04

14 Mar 2018: Intel NUC7CJYSAL “June Canyon” Gemini Lake NUC Mini PC Review with Windows 10 and Ubuntu

6 Feb 2018: Vorke V1 Plus Celeron J3455 Mini PC Review with Windows and Ubuntu

28 Jan 2018: Intel Compute Cards Review – Windows 10 and Ubuntu 17.04 on CD1C64GK, CD1P64GK and CD1M3128MK

11 Jan 2018: MINIX NEO N42C-4 Pro Review – Part 3: Ubuntu / Linux

31 Dec 2017: A brief look at the MINIX NEO N42C-4 running Windows 10 Pro

17 Dec 2017: Zotac ZBOX PI225 Review – SSD-Like Mini PC Tested with Windows 10 & Ubuntu

8 Dec 2017: Azulle Byte3 Mini PC Review – Windows 10, Linux Support, Benchmarks, and Video Playback

20 Nov 2017: BBen MN10 TV Stick Review – Windows 10, Ubuntu 17.04, Benchmarks, and Kodi

29 Sep 2017: First look at an Intel Compute Card and Dock

25 Aug 2017: Beelink AP34 Ultimate Fanless mini PC Review with Windows 10 and Ubuntu

15 Aug 2017: ECDREAM A9 Apollo Lake HDMI “TV Stick” Review with Windows 10 and Ubuntu 17.04

24 Apr 2017: Beelink AP42 Apollo Lake mini PC Linux Review with Ubuntu, KDE Neon, Elementary OS….

30 Mar 2016: Review of Intel Compute Stick (STK2M3W64CC): Intel Core m3 M3-6Y30 CPU with Pre-Installed Windows 10 (original posted here)

25 Mar 2016: Performance on Intel Compute Sticks running Ubuntu

15 Mar 2016: First look at the STK2M3W64CC

8 Mar 2016: MINIX NGC-1

6 Mar 2016: Introducing the MK802V

6 Mar 2016: A perfect mini PC? (PQ Labs iStick A350-SSD)

29 Feb 2016: ASUS Chromebit CS10 (Rockchip RK3288C CPU with Chrome OS)

11 Feb 2016: Intel Compute Stick (STK1AW32SC)

2 Jan 2015: Linux Benchmarks – Rockchip RK3288 vs Exynos 5422 vs AllWinner A80 vs Intel Atom Z3735F

15 Jun 2013: Ubuntu 12.04 Now Boots on Rockchip RK3188 mini PCs (T428, MK908, Rikomagic MK802 IV…)

27 Mar 2013: Mini PCs (MK802+, UG802, GK802 & iStick A200) Linux Performance Comparison

And as something related although now dated there was also:

17 Feb 2016: LPX Episode 2: Is that a desktop computer in your pocket?