Related
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Beelink is best known for its Android TV boxes, but their newly-released Beelink AP34 Ultimate, which comes with an Intel Celeron N3450 quad core Apollo Lake processor, 8GB of DDR3 RAM, and Windows 10 OS, is definitely not just another regular TV box. How does this device fit into our daily life? We will try to answer this question in this review.
Main specs of the Beelink AP34 Ultimate
Operating System: Authorized Windows 10 Home
Processor: Intel Celeron N3450 quad core Apollo Lake processor
CPU Frequency: 1.10 GHz (base) to 2.20 GHz (turbo)
GPU: Intel HD 500 graphics
RAM: 8 GB DDR3
Storage: 64 GB eMMC flash, SD card slot, M.2 SSD slot up to 320 GB
Video Output: HDMI 1.4
Audio: 3.5mm audio jack
Internet: Gigabit Ethernet, dual band 802.11 b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi, & Bluetooth 4.0
USB Ports: 3 x USB 3.0 Type-A ports
Button: Power Button, Reset Hole
Power Supply: 12V/2A
Shell: Cool Blue Metal Case
Unboxing
The Beelink AP34 Ultimate ships with very compact retail package.
Inside the retail package we have the Beelink AP34 mini PC, a 24Watt power brick, 2 HDMI cables of different lengths, a wall mount bracket, some screws and some documentation.
Design and build
The Beelink AP34 looks like a regular TV box at first glance, thanks to its small size. In fact, it is even smaller than most of the Android TV boxes we have reviewed, including the Jide Remix IO. The cool blue metal case gives the device a chic and premium feel.
You can find the Beelink logo on the top surface of the device. The font side plays host to an LED indicator, which will light up when the device is booted.
The right side hosts two USB 3.0 Type-A ports, a SD card reader, and some vents.
The back side of the device is the busiest, it contains a power button, a 3.5mm DC port, a USB 3.0 Type-A port, an HDMI 1.4 port, An RJ45 network port, an audio jack, and a reset hole.
The left side sports a Wi-Fi antenna and also some vents.
On the bottom side of the device you will find four rubber feet and more vents.
The build quality of this device is great, it feels extremely robust and sturdy, no matter how hard I try to squeeze it with my hands, it stays the way it is. Also, the cool blue coating on the surface is very resistant to scratches. After 4 weeks of reviewing the device and moving it around constantly, I still haven’t found any marks on its surface.
System & Apps
Setting the AP34 up is as easy as any TV box, connecting the device to a socket, a display and input devices (a mouse and a keyboard) and you are good to go. After some first-boot settings (language, Wi-Fi, PIN) and you will enter the familiar Windows lock screen. Unlock it and there is the desktop.
The AP34 Ultimate ships with a clean version of stock Windows 10 Home OS, there are no preinstalled 3rd party applications and bloatware, which is good news for the majority of users.
There are thousands of apps available in the Windows Store, if they are not enough, you can also install traditional PC apps on the AP34. Not only can the device serve as a media center in your living room, it can also get some lightweight productivity tasks done.
You can install the mobile versions of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint from the Windows Store for free, and use them to browse your documents or do some simple editing. If you find their functions too limited, you can also buy the PC version of Office 365.
We connected the AP34 to my 65-inch HDTV, and did a lot of media consumption, web-browsing, social networking. Everything looked amazing on the 65-inch display. We feel like we can never really go back to our old Android TV box, as there are too many things which the AP34 can offer but average Android TV boxes can’t.
Performance
The Beelink AP34 Ultimate is powered by an Intel Celeron N3450 quad core Apollo Lake processor (1.1GHz – 2.2GHz) and 8GB RAM. It won’t match those powerhouse laptops and desktops PCs when it comes to horsepower, but it is very capable of handling those basic everyday tasks.
Like always, we ran some benchmarks on the device, and compared the points to the scores of similar products we have reviewed.
In the Antutu V6 Benchmark, the AP34 Ultimate scored 112,567, ranking behind the Core-i3 powered ASUS Vivomini UN62 and the Pentium N4200 powered Voyo VMAC-V1.
In the Cinebench R10 test, the Beelink AP34 Ultimate scored in 1,846 Single core, 5,470 in multi-core, and 2782CB in OpenGL.
In the Cinebench R15 test, the AP34 was returned in 119cb CPU performance and 11.50 fps in OpenGL.
The Fritz Chess benchmark returned a score of 3,411, which even beats the 3,177 snatched by the Pentium N4200 powered Voyo VMAC-V1.
In the PCMark 8 Work Accelerated 3.0 test, the AP34 scored 1,614.
Although the device is capable of outputting 4K resolution (3840*2160px), we won’t recommend people to set this resolution as default on the AP34. As there is no discrete graphics card under the hood, 4K will be too much for the integrated Intel HD 500 to handle sometimes, 1080P is still a more reliable choice on most occasions.
The AP34 Ultimate was capable of handling all the media files we threw at it, including some 4k clips. We also had no problem streaming full HD and 4K YouTube videos with Google Chrome. Thanks to the 8GB of RAM on board, the AP34 can even handle some serious multi-tasking. We did feel the heat coming out of the vents when the AP34 was under heavy loads, but it still didn't get loud, thanks to the fanless design, and the CPU temperature never got too high to trigger a warning from Ludashi.
We also did some gaming on the device, games installed from the Windows store generally worked fine, with decent frame rates and responsiveness. Lightweight desktop games such as Plant vs Zombies, Chicken Shoot and Stealth Bastard also ran smoothly on the AP34. However, the device is definitely not built for graphic-intense titles such as the Metro 2033, GTA 4 and StarCraft, as it took forever to load, and the frame rates were totally unacceptable during gameplay.
The good news is, the AP34 Ultimate is upgradable. Opening the device with a screwdriver is quite easy, inside the shell you will find A M.2 slot, which is available for up to 10Gbit/s data transfer rates with a maximum capacity of 320GB.
Connectivity
The AP34 Ultimate has dual-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 on board. Placed in our living room, the AP34 was able to find more hotspots than the Remix Mini and Remix IO could. Wi-Fi connection was pretty solid as well. We put the both AP34 and Remix Mini on the TV cabinet (the WiFi router was positioned in another room), the AP34 was able to download files at the speed of 6MB/s, but the Remix Mini’s download speed was only around 300KB/s.
The AP34 can be connected to a mouse, a keyboard or external sound systems (headphones or speakers) wirelessly via Bluetooth. We connected the AP34 with my Bang & Olufsen S3 speakers and enjoyed a lot of music and movies, the connection remained uninterrupted most of the time. Unfortunately, the AP34’s Bluetooth doesn’t support AptX, listening to lossless music with wireless headphones and you will notice the difference.
There are 3 full USB 3.0 ports on board, but one thing I need to mention is that, when we plugged in a mobile drive and a mouse at the same time, the AP34 sometimes failed to output enough power supply to the receiver of the mouse, and there were lags and delays while we were moving the mouse on the screen. This is one of the few issues that have been constantly bothering us, and we really hope that it can be solved with some software patches.
The SD card reader on the right side is also a nice touch, as you can browse photos and videos taken by your digital camera easily. And if you want to get access to files in a micro SD card, all you need is just an adapter.
Verdict
Beelink has done a pretty good job with the AP34 Ultimate. We really like its size and overall look, which make it well suited for any situation. The hardware is also pretty up-to-date and you can expect to get lots of things done - that is to say office productivity, media playback, surfing the Web, and playing light games. With a wireless keyboard and mouse, this could be a very neat home theatre PC.
Priced at $269.00, the AP34 is affordable to the majority of consumers, and is certainly better investment than the ASUS VIVOPC-VM40B-04, which comes with a weaker processor (Intel Celeron 1007U Processor 1.5 GHz) but a higher price tag ($319.00).
Ubuntu runs well on this device as well
can you use steam streaming http://store.steampowered.com/streaming/ without issues too ?
Do you recommend it over Beelink S1 ?
Thanks
Although the device is capable of outputting 4K resolution (3840*2160px), we won’t recommend people to set this resolution as default on the AP34. As there is no discrete graphics card under the hood, 4K will be too much for the integrated Intel HD 500 to handle sometimes, 1080P is still a more reliable choice on most occasions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the 4GB version which is an excellent value - it is 'adequate' for most applications if you are not trying to use to multi-task.
I have upgraded to the latest Intel Drivers - Only 30Hz rate is available at the 4K resolution - this makes pretty much any video quite choppy if display adapter is set to output this resolution
It is indeed much happier set to 1080.
My understanding (please correct me if I''m wrong!) from searching is that the N3450/HD500 Graphics set is only capable of 60Hz refresh on Display Adapter Output and 30Hz on HDMI
But of course there is NO Display Adapter Output Connector on the AP34
Hello
how do you compare AP34 with AP42 Mini PC http://www.kodlix.com/349/ ? AP42 seems to be much better ? Am I wrong ?
Thanks
Difference is barely discernible - https://www.google.com/search?client=opera&q=n3450+vs+n4200&sourceid=opera&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
decosse said:
Difference is barely discernible - https://www.google.com/search?client=opera&q=n3450+vs+n4200&sourceid=opera&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok but It's something chepear
graziano68 said:
ok but It's something chepear
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
??
The Ap34 should be cheaper - make sure you are comparing 4GB RAM with 4GB RAM models
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
The good:
Beautiful, neat and compact design.
Great build quality.
Licensed Windows 10 Pro OS.
Decent performance.
Fast SSD.
Lots of connectivity options.
The bad:
MicroSD card slot doesn’t support cards larger than 64GB.
HDMI is not 2.0a standard.
Bottom Line:
The Gemini J45 is a beautifully made mini PC designed to deal with basic computing tasks, and it works as designed.
With the Pentium CPU line refreshes from Intel earlier this year, we're starting to see a wave of revised mini PCs from different manufacturers. The all new Beelink J45 comes with the Intel Apollo Lake Pentium J4205 processor, 8GB DDR4 RAM, up to 512GB built-in SSD, and an attractive new design, it is set out to be a strong contender in the race.
Main specs of the Beelink Gemini J45
Processor: Intel Apollo Lake Pentium J4205
CPU: Quad Core 1.5-2.6GHz CPU
GPU Intel HD Graphics 505
Process technique: 14nm
OS: Windows 10 Pro 64bit
RAM: 4/8GB LPDDR4 2133MHz (8GB in our review)
Storage: 128GB/256GB/512GB SSD (512GB in our review)
Network: Wifi ac + BT 4.2 (Intel 3165D) / Ethernet Gigabit / 1x miniPCIe for opcional Wifi
Ports: 4x USB 3.0 / 2x HDMI 1.4 / microSD slot / 3.5mm audio jack / Kensington lock
Accessories: 12V-2A DC adapter/ 2x HDMI Cable (1m & 0.3m) / User Manual
Retail package:
The Beelink Gemini J45 comes with very attractive packaging, the combination of colors is young and refreshing, yet not overly colorful. The red capital letter “J” on the top side of the blue box looks extremely cool.
Inside the relatively small box we have found a mini PC, a 12V-2A DC power adapter, two HDMI cables (1m and 0.3m), a bracket and some screws which can be used for mounting the J45 to the back of a monitor.
Design and build
The overall design of the J45 doesn’t stray too far from previous Beelink Mini PC models. But the new combination of metal and plastic material used for the chassis is quite a catch, and vividly reminds us of the design of the much more expensive Intel NUC mini PCs.
The shell of the J45 is a combination of metal and plastic. The top side is acrylic plastic, which is, in our opinion, an elegant touch as it gives the J45’s top a glossy and reflective look, although it is also more prone to collecting all your fingerprints. There’s a Beelink logo sitting comfortably in the middle. The other sides of the chassis are all made of high-quality aluminum.
As small as it is, the J45 still offers a slew of ports and slots. The front side is home to a pair of USB 3.0 ports, a 3.5mm audio jack, a red power button with activity LED (not lit in the photo).
There are lots of vents on the left, right, and back side of the device.
The right side also plays host to a MicroSD card slot, which supports storage cards up to 64GB. As 128GB and 256GB Micro SD cards are getting so cheap now, I don’t understand why Beelink holds back here.
The back side of the device sports another pair of USB 3.0 ports, two HDMI 1.4 ports, an RJ45 1000M Ethernet jack, and a DC-in port.
Four small rubber feet are hosted on the bottom side.
The J45 measures 115mm*102mm*43mm, and weighs only 300g, neither much bigger nor heavier than an average TV box. I found it extremely easy to move it around in the house. The build quality is solid and definitely well above average, as the mini PC looks particularly refined, with no ugly mold lines on the surface. It also feels robust and sturdy in the hands, you won’t really break it without some serious force.
Setting up
Although it is very small, the J45 is still a Windows-based personal computer, and needs to be connected with a monitor (or TV, or projector), a keyboard and a mouse to work as designed, and that’s how you should set it up.
During first-time start-up, you will need to go through some of the Microsoft Windows initialization protocols (choosing your region and language, connecting to the network, logging into your Microsoft account, etc), which is easy but definitely takes some time. After that, you are good to go.
System & apps
Most mini PCs run on Windows 10 Home OS, but the Beelink J45 ships with licensed Windows 10 Pro OS, which offers lots of extra features over Windows 10 Home – the most important of which is being able to join a domain, including Azure Active Directory for single sign-on to cloud services (and have group policy applied as part of that).
You also get Hyper-V for virtualization, BitLocker whole disk encryption, enterprise mode Internet Explorer, Remote Desktop, a version of the Windows Store for your own business, Enterprise Data Protection containers (a feature that comes later in the year) and assigned access (which locks a PC to running only one modern application, to use like a kiosk). Pro users can get updates from Windows Update for Business, which includes options for scheduling updates so they don't reboot PCs at important business times.
Fortunately, the Windows 10 Pro here is very clean, as we didn’t find any pre-installed 3rd party applications and bloatware. There are thousands of apps available in the Windows Store, if they are not enough, you can also install any traditional PC apps you need.
We don’t feel like digging into the main features Windows 10 offers. For those who is still unfamiliar and curious with this dominant PC operating system, we highly recommend you to watch some tutorial videos on YouTube.
Performance
The J45 is powered by the Intel Apollo Lake Pentium J4205 processor (1.5-2.6GHz). This chip isn’t designed as a powerhouse and won’t match the latest Intel CoreTM processors found in mainstream laptops and desktops PCs in terms of performance, but it is still very capable of dealing with normal everyday tasks. There is also 8GB LPDDR4 RAM under the hood to take care of multi-tasking, and up to 512GB built-in SSD for storing your files.
First, we ran three versions of Maxon's CPU-crunching Cinebench test, which is fully threaded to make use of all available processor cores and threads. Cinebench stresses the CPU rather than the GPU to render a complex image. The result is a proprietary score indicating a PC's suitability for processor-intensive workloads.
In the Cinebench R10 test, the Gemini J45 scored 2091 in single core, 6573 in multi-core, and 2599CB-GFX in OpenGL.
In the R15 test, the J45 was returned with an OpenGL score of 13.45fps and a CPU score of 158cb. These scores are not impressive even by mini PC standards, since the Celeron N4100 powered Chuwi Gbox and Celeron J3455 powered Vorke V1 got better results in the same tests.
In the latest R20 CPU test, the J45 scored 287. We did not run this test on most of the other mini PCs so we don’t have sufficient data for comparison.
The Fritz Chess benchmark returned a predictable score of 4,131, not bad, but not good, either.
In Geekbench 4 CPU test, the J45 got 1649 in single core and 4661 in multi-core, and 9276 in GPU computing.
Somehow, the Gemini J45 could not finish the PC Mark 8 Home Accelerated test. We ran the test twice and each time the device reported an error.
The SSD in the J45 isn’t the fastest we have seen, but it is definitely faster than the eMMc storage found in cheaper mini PCs and Windows tablets. In the AS SSD benchmark, the J45 scored 664. The sequential read and write speeds are 484.9MB/s and 436.05MB/s respectively. There are 3 variants of J45 in terms of built-in storage (128GB/256GB/512GB), the one that we received has 512GB mSATA SSD. If you want more storage, you can replace the stock SSD with a 2TB drive.
The J45 is capable of outputting 4K, but 1080P is still a more reliable choice. The absence of a discrete graphics card was felt on many occasions when we set the display resolution at 4K.
We witnessed significant improvement in the real-world performance with the J45 when compared to Celeron and Atom-based mini PCs released in the last couple of years. Launching apps is a lot faster, so is loading and switching between image-heavy webpages in Opera and Chrome. We also tried editing some of our presentations on the Gemini J45. Although there was a short delay when we were adding a big video file to a slide, the whole experience was generally smooth. Trying complex filters in Photoshop is a different story, as the J45 took much more time than the Huawei Matebook 13 did in each application.
The J45 was capable of playing all the media files we threw at it, including various 4k video clips. We used the Thunder Player to play all the video clips and there was no sign of struggling at all, the playback was always extremely smooth.
We also played many YouTube videos in Chrome. 1080P and 4K videos were generally smooth. 8K clips were playable, but with extremely low frame rates. Since the maximum video output of the Gemini J45 is 4K, there’s really no point in playing 8K on it.
Having 8GB of LPDDR4 RAM on board, the J45 was also able to handle serious multi-tasking. The active cooling system inside the shell did a fantastic job in keeping the computer from overheating. We could hear the fan making sound when the J45 was under loads, but it never really became a noise of any kind. And when we used the J45 as an HTPC in our living room, I couldn’t even hear any sound from the PC from 2 meters away.
The HD Graphics 505 GPU here had no problem running 3d games we installed from Microsoft Store, including the visually stunning Asphalt 8, Battle Tanks and Game of Emperor. We were actually surprised to see how smooth and responsive the J45 was during gameplay. However, without a discrete graphics card in it, the J45 was expected to struggle with big desktop titles, and it did. We tried “DarkSiders II” and set the graphics at 720P, although the game took a very long time to load, and there were some stutters in the middle, it was generally playable with decent frame rates. But when set at 1080P, the game became too laggy to play. We had similar experiences with “GS:GO”. More demanding games such as “Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate” and “Crysis 3” were unplayable even at medium settings.
Connectivity
The J45 supports dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4GHz & 5GHz). The connection was as stable as it was on my Huawei Mate 20 Pro. The Beelink AP34 Ultimate usually struggled to reach a decent download speed on my TV cabinet, as the Wi-Fi router was placed in another room, but the J45 had no such problem.
The J45 can be connected to input devices and sound systems (headphones or speakers) wirelessly via Bluetooth, which saves you from the messy wires on your desktop, and frees the USB ports for other devices.
There are 4 USB 3.0 ports on the J45, you can mount lots of external devices at the same time. We mounted a 4TB Seagate mobile drive, a 128GB Samsung mobile SSD drive, and A 128GB flash disks, the computer has no problem supporting them all at the same time.
The USB 3.0 ports on board are quite fast. It only took us a few seconds to copy a 1.5GB MP4 file from our mobile drive.
There are two HDMI ports on the Gemini J45, which means you can connect the computer to your TV and monitor at the same time. Unfortunately, however, you won’t be able to get 4K/60fps, as the HDMI port is of 1.4 standard, which only supports a maximum video output of 4K/30fps or 2K/60fps.
The J45 also has a 1000M RJ45 Ethernet jack, 3.5mm audio jack, and even a MicroSD card slot.
Verdict
It is exciting that mini PCs are getting so good nowadays. With an upgraded Intel Pentium processor, 8GB LPDDR4 RAM and up to 512GB SSD under the hood, the Beelink Gemini J45 can get a wide variety of things done, including some lightweight productivity tasks. It has the potential to be more than just another HPTC placed at your living room for media consumption.
It won’t beat the mainstream laptops or desktop PCs in terms of overall performance, nothing this size or at this price point will. But for those who don’t use heavy apps or game intensively on their PC, the Gemini J45 is worthy of their consideration.
Purchase Link:
DE：https://www.amazon.de/dp/B07MP9JP18?ref=myi_title_dp
ES：https://www.amazon.es/dp/B07MP9JP18?ref=myi_title_dp
US：https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07M5JBF59?ref=myi_title_dp
CA：https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07M9BCVH7?ref=myi_title_dp
IT：https://www.amazon.it/dp/B07MP9JP18
FR：https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B07MP9JP18
UK：https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07MPPW7JY
Apollo Lake is the last-gen processor, the latest is Gemini Lake.
Twitch007 said:
Apollo Lake is the last-gen processor, the latest is Gemini Lake.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the correction.
Funny it is named Gemini.
Twitch007 said:
Funny it is named Gemini.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That confuses me as well. But the PC is still quite solid.
The US purchase link is wrong, it's Amazon Canada.
leelavie said:
The US purchase link is wrong, it's Amazon Canada.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for pointing it out.
Hope more people could read this article.
I just received mine today, will update some of my experiences in the next few days.
leelavie said:
I just received mine today, will update some of my experiences in the next few days.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looking forward to your feedback.
I enjoyed this PC quite a lot, it's even smoother than the L55.
It generally works fine, but I experienced some stutters in 1080P movies with the stock Movie&TV player, will install the VLC player and see how it works later.
leelavie said:
It generally works fine, but I experienced some stutters in 1080P movies with the stock Movie&TV player, will install the VLC player and see how it works later.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
why not give kodi a try?
This should be at the top.
Twitch007 said:
why not give kodi a try?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will try it later.
The good:
Beautiful, neat and compact design.
Licensed Windows 11 Pro
Dual-channel memory
Decent performance.
Full of connectivity options.
The bad:
No SD or MicroSD card slot.
The top side easily attracts scratches and figerprints.
Beelink’s mini PCs range from budget Atom-based models all the way up to the AMD Ryzen 7 and Intel Core i7 powerhouses. The all new Beelink U59 is a budget mini PC which comes with the latest Intel Jasper Lake Celeron N5095 processor, configurable RAM and SSD of up to 16GB/512GB, a neat and attractive new design, and a moderate price tag. It is designed for basic home and office use, and it works as designed.
Main specs of the Beelink U59
Processor: Intel Jasper Lake Celeron N5095
CPU: 4 cores, 4 threads, 2.0-2.9GHz
GPU Intel UHD Graphics
Process technique: 10nm
OS: Windows 11 Pro 64bit
RAM: 8/16GB DDR4 2400MHz (16GB in my review)
Storage: 256GB/512GB SSD (512GB in my review)
Network: WiFi5 + BT 4.0 / Ethernet Gigabit
Ports: 4x USB 3.0 / 1x USB-C / 2x HDMI 2.0 / 3.5mm audio jack
Accessories: 12V-3A DC adapter/ 2x HDMI Cable (1m & 0.2m) / User Manual
Packaging
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Finally, Beelink has redesigned the packaging of their products, we saw that on the SER, which we just reviewed last month, and now, the retail package of the U59 is also simple but attractive.
Inside the packaging you will find a U59 mini PC, a wall-mount bracket, a 36-watt power adapter, two HDMI cables, a bag of screws, and a user manual.
Design
The U59 is tiny. Measuring only 124*113*42mm, it is not much bigger than an average TV box, and takes up almost no room on your desk. You can even make it disappear by using the included bracket, which mounts the mini PC onto the back of a monitor.
The U59 has a simple, but elegant design. The material used on the top is acrylic plastic, which gives the PC’s top a glossy and reflective look. It may be easy on the eyes when it’s clean, but unfortunately, it is not only a fingerprint magnet, but also easily attracts scratches.
As a budget mini PC, the U59 has a plastic case, but thanks to the beautiful metal-like coating, it doesn’t look too plasticky or cheap.
The front of the mini PC sports a CMOS reset hole, two USB 3.0 ports, a multi-function USB-C port, a 3.5mm audio jack with mic support, as well as a red power button which has a status LED built in.
The rear side of the U59 plays host to two USB 3.0 ports, a full-size Ethernet, two HDMI 2.0 ports, and a DC-in port.
The system is actively cooled, so there are plenty of vents on three sides of its case.
There are four rubber feet on the bottom side to elevate the U59 while it sits on the desk.
Getting access to the internals is quite easy, just remove the four screws on the bottom and you will be able to upgrade the RAM and SSD. There is also a slot for a 2.5-inch SATA hard drive of up to 1TB.
The U59 weighs only 330g, not much heavier than some of the latest smartphones. Moving it around in the house or taking it on a journey shouldn’t be much of an effort. The build quality is solid and definitely above average, as the mini PC feels robust and sturdy in my hands, and looks like it will survive a reasonable amount of office abuse, possibly even occasional falls.
Setting it up
Setting up the U59 is extremely easy. Plug in the power adapter, a mouse and a keyboard, then you are good to go.
During first-time start-up, you will need to go through some of the Microsoft Windows initialization protocols (choosing your region and language, connecting to the network, logging into your Microsoft account, etc), which is easy but does take some time.
Software & apps
The U59 ships with licensed Windows 10 Pro, but since it has the TPM2.0 chip and meets all the requirements of Windows 11, you can get the upgrade right after booting it up for the first time, at least that’s what I did. Average consumers may not know the difference between Windows 11 Home and Windows 11 Pro. But for power users, Windows 11 Pro offers lots of extra features, such as being able to join a domain, Hyper-V for virtualization, and getting updates from Windows Update for Business.
Performance
This mini PC is powered by an Intel Jasper Lake Celeron N5095 quad core processor (2.0-2.9GHz). This 11th generation Celeron chip is not a powerhouse and won’t match the latest Intel Core and AMD Ryzen processors found in mainstream laptops and desktop PCs in terms of performance, but it is more than capable for basic office tasks, media playback and light gaming. The U59 I received has 16GB LPDDR4 memory under the hood to take care of multi-tasking, that’s a hell lot of RAM for an entry-level PC.
First, I ran Maxon's latest CPU-crunching Cinebench R23 test, which is fully threaded to make use of all available processor cores and threads. Cinebench stresses the CPU rather than the GPU to render a complex image. The result is a proprietary score indicating a PC's suitability for processor-intensive workloads. The U59 scored 629 in single core, 1544 in multi-core.
I also ran the Cinebench R20 test in order to compare the U59 to other budget mini PCs I had tested before, and was pleasantly surprised to see that it was way ahead of the Beelink GK mini, which runs on a Gemini Lake Celeron J4125 processor, and even edged out the Intel NUC 7, which is powered by an Intel Kaby Lake Core i3-7100U SoC.
In the cross platform Geekbench 5 test, the U59 scored 608 in CPU single core, 2009 in multi-core, and 2125 in OpenCL.
The U59 also did quite well in the Fritz Chess Benchmark, achieving 7975 kilo nodes per second.
PCMark simulates different real-world productivity and content-creation workflows. We use it to assess overall system performance for office-centric tasks. The U59 scored 2358 in this test, a huge improvement from the score (1791) of the GK mini.
In the more graphics-focused 3DMark, the U59 scored 2495 in Sky Diver, 657 in Fire Strike, and 210 in Time Spy.
The U59 features an m.2 2280 SATA SSD, which obviously lags behind those NVMe drives in high-end models such as the Beelink SER and Lenovo ThinkCentre, but is still faster than the eMMc or HDD in older and more basic models.
In my daily use, the U59 was fairly efficient in all kinds of office workflows, web-browsing, and multi-media. The system didn’t slow down while loading a dozen image-heavy webpages in Microsoft Edge and running a few other apps at the same time.
Working on my presentation in Microsoft PowerPoint was also a smooth experience, there weren’t lags or delays while I was adding some relatively heavy content to the slides.
Editing videos in Power Director should be challenging for budget systems like the U59, but to my surprise, it held its own nicely. When I added filters to multiple clips simultaneously, I could notice that the U59 took more time to finish the task than, say, my Lenovo YOGA Duet or the Beelink SER, but there were never really system halts, or significant delays.
I played quite a number of 4K video clips on the U59, and enjoyed fairly smooth playback. And when it comes to online video playback, the U59 had no problem streaming 4K, 60FPS YouTube Videos in Chrome, but it did struggle with videos above that resolution and frame rate. Since the maximum output of the mini PC is [email protected], there is no point to try that anyway.
The Intel UHD Graphics in this mini PC is not designed for graphics-intense gaming, but the U59 can run older titles in moderate settings. LOL was generally smooth while I set the resolution to 1080P, and graphics to low. The average frame rate of this game is 41fps. I only experienced noticeable frame drops in some intense battle scenes.
You can also play any game installed from Microsoft Store without issues. “Asphalt 9”. “Angry Birds” and “Battle Tanks” (Microsoft Store Variant) are both quite smooth.
More demanding titles such as War Frame and Conqueror’s Blade are simply not suited for mini PCs like the U59, the average frame rates of both games were lower than 15FPS.
Power and stability
For a mini PC that sits on your desk or behind your monitor (where it's nearer to your ears), noise is also something you need take into consideration. Fortunately, the U59 is quiet most of the time. Although it's not a completely silent, fanless design, and you will hear it while it’s running heavy applications, yet the noise is not constantly in your ears, and will be easily drowned out by other sounds in the background.
With an active cooling system inside, the U59 is also amazingly stable, as it passed the 3DMark Sky Diver stress test with flying colors.
Connectivity
The U59 supports 2.4GHz/5GHz dual-band WiFi 5, but not the latest WiFi6. It also has Bluetooth 4.0 on board, thus can connect wirelessly to input devices and audio systems. It would have been nice to see Bluetooth 5.0 instead of 4.0, but that’s not going to add much to your overall experience with the U59.
There are two HDMI 2.0 ports and a multi-function Type-C port, all of them support video output of up to [email protected] You can hook the U59 to as many as three monitors at the same time, this can be extremely useful if you have some complex productivity tasks at hand.
Verdict
Priced at $237.15 for the 8GB & 256GB version, and $296.65 for the 16GB & 512GB version on Amazon, the U59 is an affordable mini PC which checked a lot of the boxes. It has a compact and attractive design, decent internal hardware, plenty of I/Os, and licensed Windows 11 Pro. Besides basic office workflows and media playback, you can even use the U59 for some lightweight creativity tasks and a fair amount of gaming. For those who are looking for a decent but inexpensive mini PC, the U59 is worthy of your consideration.
It's worth noting that retail units don't seem to ship with Crucial memory as shown in reviews online, instead it's some no-name 2666MHz DDR4 with an AZW sticker. The 8GB model ships with one 8GB SODIMM, so it won't be operating in dual channel. I upgraded to 16GB with some Kingston Fury 2666MHz, the system supposedly supports up to 2933MHz memory but that's probably overkill for a device like this.
The fan isn't the quietest in the world, but even when benchmarking it wasn't too obnoxious, esp. if you're planning to use this as an HTPC.
XTCrefugee said:
It's worth noting that retail units don't seem to ship with Crucial memory as shown in reviews online, instead it's some no-name 2666MHz DDR4 with an AZW sticker. The 8GB model ships with one 8GB SODIMM, so it won't be operating in dual channel. I upgraded to 16GB with some Kingston Fury 2666MHz, the system supposedly supports up to 2933MHz memory but that's probably overkill for a device like this.
The fan isn't the quietest in the world, but even when benchmarking it wasn't too obnoxious, esp. if you're planning to use this as an HTPC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your input.
XTCrefugee said:
It's worth noting that retail units don't seem to ship with Crucial memory as shown in reviews online, instead it's some no-name 2666MHz DDR4 with an AZW sticker. The 8GB model ships with one 8GB SODIMM, so it won't be operating in dual channel. I upgraded to 16GB with some Kingston Fury 2666MHz, the system supposedly supports up to 2933MHz memory but that's probably overkill for a device like this.
The fan isn't the quietest in the world, but even when benchmarking it wasn't too obnoxious, esp. if you're planning to use this as an HTPC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I consulted the marketing people in Beelink, and they told me that they didn't have 4GB memory sticks in stock, so the 8GB/256GB version of the U59 only has a single 8GB memory stick inside. Anyone planning to buy this PC should be aware of that.
Main specs of the Beelink U59
Processor: Intel Jasper Lake Celeron N5095
CPU: 4 cores, 4 threads, 2.0-2.9GHz
GPU Intel UHD Graphics
Process technique: 10nm
OS: Windows 11 Pro 64bit
RAM: 8/16GB DDR4 2400MHz (16GB in my review)
Storage: 256GB/512GB SSD (512GB in my review)
Network: WiFi5 + BT 4.0 / Ethernet Gigabit
Ports: 4x USB 3.0 / 1x USB-C / 2x HDMI 2.0 / 3.5mm audio jack
Accessories: 12V-3A DC adapter/ 2x HDMI Cable (1m & 0.2m) / User Manual
The Beelink U59 is powered by the latest Intel Jasper Lake Celeron N5095 processor and up to 16GB dual-channel memory. It is by far the best budget mini PC ever made.
Written review here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/beelink-u59-review-an-excellent-budget-mini-pc.4360359/
Very good Review. Thanks!
I bought it.
Excellent review!
nek4d said:
Excellent review!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks!
tombraga said:
Very good Review. Thanks!
I bought it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, hope you enjoy it.
I am very happyt with this Mini-Pc, already updated to Windows 11, all works fine and nice.
tombraga said:
I am very happyt with this Mini-Pc, already updated to Windows 11, all works fine and nice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's great!
This is really the best bang for the buck SFF PC I have ever tested.
Are you able to stream YouTube 4K HDR content without any stuttering or lost frames?
AlvinUT2001 said:
Are you able to stream YouTube 4K HDR content without any stuttering or lost frames?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes.
Thanks for the feedback! @Jupit3r
Let me add that few people seems to have problem with faulty fans. Also Ubuntu 22.04 randomly froze for me after 8 to 13 days for no reason (seems to be temperature issue but not sure). And finally Bellink support is the worst think that exists in planet earth. Maybe it's better without it. They only answer for "Windows issues" and not for hardware/BIOS issues.
Kamui_ said:
Let me add that few people seems to have problem with faulty fans. Also Ubuntu 22.04 randomly froze for me after 8 to 13 days for no reason (seems to be temperature issue but not sure). And finally Bellink support is the worst think that exists in planet earth. Maybe it's better without it. They only answer for "Windows issues" and not for hardware/BIOS issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sorry for the bad experience, have you tested the temperature of the machine? Usually it doesn't freeze for no reason, maybe the machine temperature is too high or one program is taking up too many resources, you can check if there are these problems.
Beelink Official said:
I'm sorry for the bad experience, have you tested the temperature of the machine? Usually it doesn't freeze for no reason, maybe the machine temperature is too high or one program is taking up too many resources, you can check if there are these problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Come on! Beelink does not reply in their own forums...but you monitor and reply in XDA devs forums with suggestions that don't even have a value? "one program is taking up too many resources" and what does this suppose to mean? If I start a calculator the device will froze? (Yeap, I am sarcastic) Next time come with suggestion about getting diagnostics and logs thaat will actually pinpoint and solve the problem rather than random speculations about resource hungry apps.
Ubuntu 22.04 distro with transmission torrent daemon, jdownloader daemon and 2 python script daemons that's all... The CPU is idle most of the time, although the HDDs (SSD + 2,5 HDD) and RAMs are working a lot. That's my workload.
P.S. every reply in beelink's forum needs to get approved first and in my case, one of my replies got deleted when I tried to help a fellow "patient". Censhorship is not tolerable, by me at least, and that's why I am now in XDA forums to help whoever needs help.
Regarding the "help" if any beelink owner has issues with temperatures in linux one thing that will ease but NOT fix the problem is enabling the Intel p-state. I am posting it here because it got "censored" in beelink forums.
Following the below guides one can enable that feature.
Prevent Your Laptop From Overheating With Thermald And Intel P-State [Updated]
Linux Thermal Daemon ( thermald ) is a tool developed by Intel's Open Source Technology Center which monitors and controls the CPU temperat...
www.webupd8.org
intel_pstate driver not being loaded when added to grub file
I have a Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4700MQ CPU @ 2.40GHz Memory 16305MB (2531MB used) Machine Type Laptop Operating System Ubuntu 20.04.3 LTS In my /etc/default/grub file I have the l...
askubuntu.com
The good:
Compact design and great build quality.
Plenty of ports and the ability to drive 4 screens.
Decent CPU and GPU performance.
Licensed Windows 11 Pro operating system.
Easy access to the internals.
The bad:
Relatively old processor.
No WiFi6.
Thanks to continued improvements in mobile chips’ computing horsepower as well as power efficiency, scenarios that require large traditional desktop PCs have shrunk considerably. Most people only need a small form factor PC to deal with all their computing tasks nowadays. While cheap Celeron-based models may struggle with heavier and more graphics-intensive duties, and high-end ones could cost you quite a fortune, there are a healthy number of mid-range offerings worth looking at, and the GEEKOM Mini IT8 is one of them.
For those who have never heard of GEEKOM, it is a Taiwanese PC company founded in 2003, and has products ranging from PC accessories to complete PC systems. GEEKOM hasn’t entered the mini PC market until earlier this year, but their first model, the Mini IT8, which comes with a beefy i5-8259U processor, licensed Windows 11 operating system, and a very attractive price tag, is catching a lot of eyeballs recently.
Main specs of the GEEKOM Mini IT8
Processor: Intel Core i5-8259U
CPU: 4 cores, 8 threads, 2.3-3.8GHz
GPU: Iris Plus 655 Graphics
Process technique: 14nm
OS: Windows 11 Pro
RAM: 8/16GB DDR4 2400MHz (expandable to 32GB)
Storage: 1*M.2 NVMe/SATA SSD, 256/512GB (expandable to 1TB);
1*2.5’’ SATA HDD/SSD (expandable to 2TB)
Network: WiFi5 + BT 4.2 / Ethernet Gigabit
Ports: 3x USB 3.2 Gen 2 / 2x USB-C / 1x HDMI 2.0b / 1x Mini DisplayPort / 3.5mm audio jack / 1* SD card slot
Accessories: 19V-4.74A DC adapter/ 1x HDMI Cable (1m) / User Manual / VESA Mount / Carrying pouch
Packaging
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
GEEKOM takes a simplistic approach to the packaging of the Mini IT8, there’s not much to find on the blue box besides the brand, the model name and some key specifications. Inside the box you will find a mini PC, a VESA mount bracket, a 96-watt power adapter, an HDMI cable, a bag of screws, and a user manual, there is also a greeting card to show the brand’s gratitude for its buyers.
Design and build
The GEEKOM Mini IT8 employs a well-ventilated PC-ABS chassis measuring 117 mm x 112 mm x 45.6 mm to house the Intel Core i5-8259U SoC and other internal components. The matte black finish on top may not win any beauty pageant, but it does give the machine a premium look, in a low-key kind of way. You can find the branding in the middle of the top panel, and an “Intel Inside” logo on the upper-right corner.
The GEEKOM Mini IT8 packs plenty of IO for its size. The front panel sports a USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A port, a USB-C port (data only), and a 3.5mm audio jack with mic support. The power button on the right has status LED built-in, which will light up in blue when the machine is booted.
The rear panel plays host to two more USB 3.2 Gen2 ports, a Gigabyte Ethernet jack, an HDMI 2.0b, a mini-DisplayPort 1.4, a multifunction Type-C (data & display), and a DC-in. As the keen-eyed have noticed, that gives this machine the potential to drive three 4K displays at once. GEEKOM advertises that the Mini IT8 supports four simultaneous screens, but to achieve that you need a Type-C hub with two video output interfaces, and it won’t be cheap.
Due to the soaring prices of card readers recently, many PC makers have removed the storage card slots from their PC products, but not GEEKOM, as you can find an SDXC slot on the left side of this mini PC.
Getting access to the internals could not be easier, just loosen the four screws and you will be able to remove the bottom panel.
There are two memory slots, an M.2 2280 NVMe/SATA SSD slot, and a connector for a 2.5-inch SATA HDD/SSD on the Mini IT8’s motherboard. You can have up to 32GB dual-channel DDR4-2400 memory, and as much as 3TB of total internal storage. The Mini IT8 doesn’t come with fancy features such as WiFi6, or 2.5Gbps ethernet like some higher-end mini PCs do. But dual-band WiFi5 still offers fast and reliable wireless internet access, and the Gigabyte Ethernet jack can come in handy when you want more stable data rate.
Because of the magnalium impact-protection frame, the Mini IT8 is a little bit heavier than most other mini PCs of the same size. The unit that I am testing weighs 580g on its own ( with two memory sticks and an M.2 2280 NVMe drive). When we add the relatively bulky power brick to the equation, the combined weight reaches 996g. In comparison, the Beelink SEI8, which is about the same size, weighs only 340g on its own and 500g with the power brick included. Still, moving the GEEKOM Mini IT8 around in the house or taking it to work shouldn’t be too much effort.
The build quality of the Mini IT8 is among the best I have seen in any mini PC. The PC-ABS chassis is extremely robust, and won’t flex however I squeeze it. Thanks to the well-structured metal impact-protection frame inside, this machine looks like it can take a serious amount of office abuse, and may even be able to survive a few occasional falls.
System & App
Most mini PCs and laptops run on the Home Edition of Windows OS, but the GEEKOM Mini IT8 ships with licensed Windows 11 Pro, which offers quite a few extra features. The most important one is being able to join a domain, including Azure Active Directory for single sign-on to cloud services (and have group policy applied as part of that).
You also get Hyper-V for virtualization, BitLocker whole disk encryption, enterprise mode Internet Explorer, Remote Desktop, a version of the Windows Store for your own business, Enterprise Data Protection containers (a feature that comes later in the year) and assigned access (which locks a PC to running only one modern application, to use like a kiosk). Pro users can get updates from Windows Update for Business, which includes options for scheduling updates, so they don't reboot PCs at important business times.
The Windows 11 Pro here is completely clean, with no pre-installed 3rd party applications or bloatware that you need to uninstall after first bootup. The Windows 11 OS license will be automatically activated once the mini PC gets internet access.
Performance
The GEEKOM Mini IT8 is powered by an Intel Core i5-8259U processor (2.3-3.8GHz), which is built on 14nm process, has 4 CPU cores, 8 processing threads, and integrated Iris Plus 655 Graphics. This processor was released way back in 2018, so it won’t be able to compete with the latest high-end chips found in mainstream laptops and desktop PCs, but it should be more than capable for any mainstream computing duties you care to throw at it. My unit comes with 16GB memory, as well as 512GB NVMe SSD, but you can also get the 8GB/256GB variant for less money.
Benchmarks
First, I ran Maxon's CPU-crunching Cinebench R20 test, which is fully threaded to make use of all available processor cores and threads. Cinebench stresses the CPU rather than the GPU to render a complex image. The result is a proprietary score indicating a PC's suitability for processor-intensive workloads. The Mini IT8 scored in 373 in CPU single-core, and 1613 in multi-core. Somehow the Mini IT8 managed to surpass the NUC8i7BEH, which rocks a higher-end Core i7-8559U chip.
Each Geekbench 5 CPU workload models a real-world task or application, ensuring meaningful results. These tests are complex, avoiding simple problems with straightforward memory-access patterns, and push the limits of the tested system. The GEEKOM Mini IT8 did quite well in the CPU tests, beating the NUC8I7BEH again in multi-core performance. It also snatched 8651 in OpenCL, indicating that the integrated graphics here can do a lot more than just office work.
PCMark 10 simulates different real-world productivity and content-creation workflows. we use it to assess overall system performance for office-centric tasks such as word processing, spreadsheeting, web browsing, and video conferencing. The Mini IT8 notched 4186 in the standard PCMark 10 test, not that far behind the i5-1135G7 powered Beelink GTI11.
My review unit features a Kingston m.2 2280 NVMe SSD. At nearly 2.5GB/s for reading data off the drive, it is still more than ideal for booting Windows and all your favorite apps.
If you are going to get a GEEKOM Mini IT8, be sure to ask the seller for the full configuration of your unit, as you will need dual-channel memory to get the best performance out of the mini PC. However, some units only ship with 1 memory stick inside. The 16GB/512GB variant I have received comes with one Kingston 16GB DDR4 memory stick, so I added another Crucial 16GB DDR4 memory stick to set up dual channel. In the AIDA64 cache & memory benchmark, the read, write and copy speeds of the memory will almost double after dual-channel setup, and the performance of the integrated GPU will benefit from it, as well.
Daily computing
The GEEKOM Mini IT8 was quite efficient in all kinds of daily computing duties, including office workflows, web-browsing, and multi-media. There were no hiccups or delays when loading 10+ image-heavy webpages in Chrome, playing an 8K video and running a few big apps side by side.
Lightweight creativity tasks were also not an issue for this mini PC, as it was fast and perfectly responsive while running apps such as Photoshop and Lightroom. Even editing videos, which should be challenging for most SFF PCs, is a can-do on the Mini IT8. When I was adding filters to multiple 1080P clips at the same time, the machine did not seem like it’s struggling, although it did take more time to finish each task than the Ryzen9-5900HX powered Beelink GTR5. With that said, you would not want to use this mini PC editing videos in 4K, as that requires even more processing power from the system.
Gaming
The Intel Iris Plus 655 Graphics GPU in the Core i5-8259U is not as fast as the Iris Xe Graphics found in the 11th and 12th generation Intel Core processors, but it is still a much better integrated GPU than the Intel UHD Graphics found in Celeron and Pentium processors, and scores of 3DMark test told the story. The Mini IT8 was returned 7428 in Sky Diver, 1957 in Fire Strike, and 743 in Time Spy.
League of Legend was fairly smooth in 1080P and medium settings. There were no noticeable frameskip or stutters even in the most intense battle scenes. GamePP recorded an average of 98fps, pretty decent for a midrange mini PC.
Genshin Impact was playable in 1080P and medium settings, but at only 30fps on average, it's not all that enjoyable. After turning the resolution down to 720P, GamePP recorded an average of 49fps, and the smoothness improved significantly.
Spell Break was a very similar story. At 1080P and medium settings, we got an average of 41fps, which wasn’t too bad, but there were noticeable frame drops and delays in some of the more complex scenes. Turning the resolution down to 720p, the frame rate could stay above 55fps all the time.
As the results indicated, even though the Mini IT8 isn’t built for gaming, it can run some most modern games at moderate settings. And if you are a fan of simpler, more casual games like Angry Birds, Plant VS Zombies, or any games installed from Microsoft Store, then you should not be worried about the smoothness at all.
HTPC
If gaming isn’t one of the Mini IT8’s strengths, media playback certainly is! According to DXVA Checker, the Iris Plus 655 GPU inside the machine can decode most video formats of up to 4K or 8K. If you have a collection of high-res movies and shows, you are in for a treat! I tested dozens of 4K and 8K clips on the Mini IT8, all of them played smoothly. Also, because the mini PC always utilized hardware decoding, the CPU usage was low and the cooling fan stayed fairly quiet in video playback.
Streaming super high-res videos online was not a problem for the Mini IT8, either. Playing an [email protected] YouTube video in the Chrome browser, the utilizations of the CPU and GPU were 40% and 81% respectively, and the playback was extremely smooth.
Power consumption, temperature, and noise
Power consumption on the GEEKOM Mini IT8 is at 15watts idle and 70watts on max load. Not the most energy-conservative we’ve seen, but still more environment-friendly than most large desktop computers. Internal CPU temperatures ranged from 35℃ idle and 78℃ under max load which caused the cooling fan to spin up.
The Mini IT8 stayed quiet when dealing with light-weight tasks, I could watch the “Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard” court drama all day long without hearing any noise from the machine. However, the cooling fan will make audible noise when the system is under heavy workloads. Fortunately, it was neither too loud nor too annoying. If you had the Mini IT8 mounted under your desk or behind a monitor in an office cubicle, it would be highly unlikely for you to get distracted by the fan noise.
Competition
The 8GB/256GB variant of the GEEKOM Mini IT8 is priced at $379.89 on Amazon, but right now GEEKOM is offering all buyers a $20 coupon, after which you can get a unit for only $359.89, making it one of the most affordable choices among mini PCs with similar specs. In comparison, Beelink sells the SEI8 for $379, and the price of the Minisforum U820 starts from $499.9.
Verdict
There’s a lot to like about the GEEKOM Mini IT8. It's conveniently-sized, and could easily fit into even the most tightly-packed desktops. It's also highly versatile, with a range of different ports, mounting options, and configurations available to suit almost every conceivable business need. If you are looking for a small desktop PC that is more than capable for your everyday basics, yet still affordable enough as not to break your bank, the GEEKOM Mini IT8 is too good of an option to be overlooked.
Benchmark scores here:
If you are interested in buying this mini PC, here are the links to their official stores:
GEEKOM Brand Strore USA- https://amzn.to/3A7EcJF
GEEKOM Brand Strore DE- https://amzn.to/3FmZsgS
USA Official- https://bit.ly/GEEKOMUSAMiniIT8
DE Official- https://bit.ly/GEEKOMDEMiniIT8
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
There’s a lot to like about small form factor PCs, which often deliver desktop-grade performance and connectivity in enclosures that aren’t much bigger than a TV box – and the GEEKOM AS 6, which comes with a mighty AMD 6000 series CPU, tries to push that trend even further.
The good
Compact, neat, and accessible case.
Impressive CPU and graphics performance.
A wide array of ports.
Superb networking.
Easy to upgrade.
The bad
No SD card reader.
Specifications
OS: Windows 11 Pro
Processor: AMD Ryzen 7-6800H, 6nm process, 35W TDP
CPU: 8 cores, 16 threads @3.2-4.7 GHz
GPU: Radeon 680M @2200MHz, 12 CU
RAM: 16/32GB DDR5 4800MHz (dual-channel)
Storage: 2*M.2 2280 PCIe4.0*4 NVMe SSD (up to 2TB)
1* SATA III 2.5-inch HDD/SSD (up to 2TB)
Wireless: WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.2
Ports: USB4*2, USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A*5, HDMI 2.1*2, DisplayPort 1.4*1, 3.5mm Audio Jack*1, 2.5Gbps Ethernet*1, DC-in*1
Dimensions: 120*130*58 mm
Weight: 0.9 kg
What’s in the box
GEEKOM AS 6 Mini PC * 1
150W Power Adapter * 1
User Guide * 1
VESA Mount Bracket * 1
HDMI Cable * 1
The AS 6 is a product of the global partnership of GEEKOM and ASUS, that’s why you will find the branding of both companies on the front of the retail packaging. The mini PC is available with two CPU options: AMD Ryzen 7 6800H or Ryzen 9 6900HX, the unit that I received comes with the former. Along with the AS 6 mini PC, you will also find a 150W (20V-7.5A) power adapter, an HDMI cable, a user guide, a bunch of screws, a VESA mount bracket for attaching the mini PC to the back of a monitor, and a greeting card from GEEKOM.
Design and build
The AS 6 is basically a clone of the ASUS PN53, in fact, you can argue it is literally a rebranded PN53. The mini PC is noticeably larger than the Intel NUC 12 Pro, it measures 120*130*58 mm, and weighs 900g. Fortunately, the larger housing also means more room for cooling, and a wider array of ports.
There are two USB4, five USB3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, two HDMI2.1, one DisplayPort 1.4, one 3.5mm audio jack, as well as a DC-input. USB4 and DisplayPort 1.4 support [email protected] video output, and HDMI2.1 supports [email protected], you can connect the AS 6 to as many as 4 monitors. Each USB4 port supports 40Gbps traffic on its own and is compatible with Thunderbolt 3 protocols, which means you can even connect the AS 6 to an external graphics card.
The hardware expansion in the AS 6 consists of two M.2 Type-2280 slots for PCle4.0*4 NVMe SSDs, a traditional 2.5-inch drive bay, and two laptop-style SO-DIMM slots for the DDR5-4800 RAM. The M.2 2230 wireless card, which supports WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2, is also accessible. GEEKOM only sells the AS 6 as preconfigured units, there are no barebones versions available, at least not for now. My review unit features 32GB dual-channel DDR5-4800 RAM (in the form of Crucial brand RAM sticks), and a 1TB Kingston PCIe4.0x4 NVMe SSD, onto which a licensed copy of Windows 11 Pro is preinstalled.
The build quality of the GEEKOM AS 6 is simply amazing. It feels extremely robust in my hands, and the internal components are neatly arranged.
OS and Software
The AS 6 ships with a licensed copy of Windows 11 Pro operating system which, compared to Windows 10, brings upgrades including a more aesthetically pleasing UI, improved multiple desktops, built-in XBOX gaming, and better security features. Since this is the Pro Edition of Windows OS, you also get a few extra IT and business features such as Hyper-V for virtualization, BitLocker whole disk encryption, enterprise mode Internet Explorer, and Remote Desktop.
The Windows 11 Pro here is a completely clean version, with no pre-installed 3rd party applications or bloatware. Besides regular Windows software, you can also load the Android subsystem and Linux subsystem on the latest Windows 11 build. If open source is more of your thing, the AS 6 is compatible with numerous Linux distributions. You can even choose to triple-boot the mini PC since it supports three storage drives.
Performance
The AS 6 is a beast when it comes to performance. It is powered by the mighty AMD Ryzen7-6800H processor, which runs at a 3.20 GHz base frequency and can increase its speed to 4.70 GHz when necessary. It bundles 8 Zen3+ CPU cores, 16 threads, 16MB L3 Cache, and has a TDP of 35 Watts. This SoC also features an extremely powerful iGPU: the Radeon 680M. Based on the RDNA2 architecture, the Radeon 680M has 12 CUs (=768 shaders) clocked at 2,200 MHz, and offers performance equivalent to entry-level desktop graphics cards.
Benchmarks
As for CPU performance, Zen 3+ has proven to be only a minor upgrade from last year’s Zen3. In the Cinebench R23 CPU-crunching test, the AS 6 scored 1413 in CPU single-core, and 11795 in multi-core. While slightly edging out the 5800H powered Beelink SER5 Pro and i5-1240P version of Intel NUC 12 Wall Street Canyon, it is nowhere near the Beelink GTR7 and Lenovo Xiaoxin mini. The performance still has plenty of room for improvement, as the GEEKOM limits the cTDP of the 6800H CPU to 35W at the moment to keep the noise down, but the CPU can be configured to 45W.
PCMark 10 assesses overall system performance by simulating different real-world productivity and content-creation workflows like word processing, spreadsheet jockeying, web browsing, and video conferencing. The test generates a proprietary numeric score, and higher numbers are better. The 6743-point finish from the AS 6 is well above the 4,000 points we consider excellent, and it's a very respectable showing for a PC this small.
3DMark measures relative graphics performance of a PC by rendering sequences of highly detailed, gaming-style 3D graphics that emphasize particles and lighting. I ran two different 3DMark subtests on the AS 6: Fire Strike and Time Spy. The former is a DirectX 12 benchmark which tests how well a system can handle DirectX 12 games, while the latter is a DirectX 11 benchmark that tests the PC’s capability of running older gaming titles. The Radeon 680M iGPU proves to be a huge leap from Radeon Vega iGPU, as the AS 6 scored 2580 in Time Spy, and 6212 in Fire Strike.
The AS 6 also features dual-channel DDR5-4800MHz RAM. According to AIDA64 memory & cache benchmark, the read, write and copy speeds of the memory were more than decent. The integrated GPU also benefits from DDR5 RAM as shared VRAM, the numbers in GPGPU benchmark look quite good.
The 1TB NVMe solid-state drive used by the mini PC isn’t the fastest PCIe Gen4 SSD I’ve seen, in fact it doesn’t do much better than high-end PCIe Gen3 SSDs in CrystalDiskMark. However, it still offers decent read and write speeds. Booting into Windows 11 only took a few seconds, launching big applications and games was also quite fast.
Productivity
With such impressive hardware, the AS 6 obviously has no problem of seeing us through common home and office chores. It was also perfectly competent when dealing with relatively demanding creativity tasks.
Editing multiple layers of 4K video footages in Power Director 20, the AS 6 stayed fast and responsive the whole time. Producing a 10-minute high-bitrate 4K video via hardware encoding with GPU acceleration, The mini PC took 7 minutes, 25 seconds. Not a bad result, but it is somehow outshined by the 4 minute and 30 seconds time taken by the Beelink GTR7.
Using the open-source video transcoder HandBrake 1.4 to convert a 3min video clip from 4K to 1080p resolution, the AS 6 took 96 seconds.
Gaming
The Radeon 680M is the best iGPU in the world for a reason. Running League of Legend at 1080P and medium quality setting, we saw an average of 156 fps, which looks super smooth on my 144Hz gaming monitor. Even when I switched to 4K and high quality settings, the game still averaged 91 fps.
Genshin Impact was extremely smooth. At 1080P and medium setting, the AS 6 averaged 59 fps. After switching to high quality setting, it still averaged 52 fps.
Playing Witcher 3 on the AS 6 was also a fun and smooth experience, at 1080P and medium quality settings, we saw an average of 47 fps. Even in those intense fighting scenes, there were no noticeable hiccups.
Conqueror’s Blade has proven to be too much of a challenge for Ryzen 5000 mini PCs, but not so much for the AS 6. At 1080P and medium quality setting, the mini PC averaged 43 fps, even though there were noticeable dips in intensive battle scenes, we didn’t see any real delays. Switching to low quality setting could bump up the average frame rate of the game to 49 fps.
Even though the AS 6 is still not going to compete with desktop tower PCs with top-of-the-line graphics cards, but its gaming performance is decent enough for most people.
Video Playback
Video codec support is one of the few areas that AMD Radeon iGPUs lag behind their Intel counterparts, and the new RDNA2-based iGPU still didn’t change the game. According to DXVA checker, the Radeon 680M supports way fewer video formats to 4K and 8K. But for 4K videos of common formats, the AS 6 had no problem playing all of them smoothly.
Streaming YouTube videos in Chrome was also a fun and smooth experience, including all [email protected] and [email protected] videos. Because it was using hardware decoding, the utilization rates of the CPU and GPU were both quite low. But unfortunately, the AS 6 doesn't support AV1 decoding, so streaming 8K60fps videos could result in severe frame skips.
Stability, power consumption and noise
Although the eight CPU cores and the Radeon 680M iGPU inside are extremely fast and can reach high frequencies when necessary, the cooling mechanism inside still managed to keep the mini PC running generally cool and stable. The AS 6 passed the 3DMark Time Spy stress test with a terrific score of 99.9%, one of the best I have ever seen.
The AS 6 wasn’t the greenest computer I have tested, but it is still generally more power-efficient than average desktop towers and gaming laptops. The power draw was around 10 watts at idle, but can reach 94 watts when the processor was running at load.
Fan noise behavior is tied to the power profile setting. At Idle, the system could remain quiet. Light multitasking or video streaming will bump up the noise to a more audible 38 dB(A). Graphics-intensive gaming induces the noise of around 50 dB(A), which is definitely audible against a silent background, but still gentle compared to most mini PCs I have tested.
Verdict
The GEEKOM AS 6 checked lots of boxes. It comes with a beefy processor, rich selection of I/O, and superb networking capabilities. The mini PC also offers performance that peaks above what notebook platforms typically provide with the same hardware, along with being a bit more customizable with upgradeable memory and storage. If you want enough power for all the computing you need in a very small box, the AS 6 is the one to get.
GEEKOM AS 6
Product link: https://bit.ly/GEEKOMAS6-US
$709 after use code: as640a
Test Screenshots here: