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Beelink AP34 Ultimate Mini PC Review: Much More than a TV Box

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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.
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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

Beelink L55 review: a full-fledged PC in a tiny box

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The good:
Beautiful, neat and compact design.
Excellent build quality.
Licensed Windows 10 Home and Microsoft Office Home.
Decent performance.
Big and fast SSD storage.
Lots of connectivity options.
The bad:
A relatively old Intel Broadwell processor.
Old DDR3L RAM.
HDMI 1.4 port only supports up to 4K/30FPS.
No SD or MicroSD card slot.
Beelink has put out many budget mini PCs in the past, most of them are Atom and Celeron based systems designed for only basic computing tasks. The newly released L55 is a different device, with a much more capable Core-i3 processor and 8GB RAM inside, it is definitely more marketed as a full-fledged PC rather than an HTPC that only sits in your living room for media playback purposes.
Specifications
Brand: Beelink
Model: L55
Type: Mini PC
System: Windows 10 Home
CPU: Intel Broadwell i3 5005U (Dual Core CPU, 4 logical processors)
GPU: Intel HD 5500
RAM: 8GB DDR3L
Storage: 256GB/320GB/512GB
Internet Access: Dual Band Wi-Fi, LAN
Bluetooth: Bluetooth 4.0
Ports: 4*USB 3.0, 2*USB 2.0, 1*3.5mm audio jack, 1*HDMI 1.4, 1*DP, 2*1000M Ethernet Jack, 1* DC-in port , 1*SATA HDD port, 1*M2.SSD port
Accessories: 2*HDMI cable, 1*SATA HDD cable, 1*DC adapter, 1* bracket, some screws
Size: 128*126*47mm
Retail Package
Like always, the L55 comes with the typical simple and neat packaging by Beelink.
There are lots of things in the L55’s relatively small packaging. You can find a 12V-3A DC power adapter, two HDMI cables (different in length), a SATA HDD expansion cable, a bracket and some screws which can mount the mini PC to the back of a monitor.
Design and Build
The overall design of the L55 doesn’t stray too far from previous Beelink Mini PC models, in fact it looks almost identical to the U55, the only difference you will notice at first glance is the color. The chassis is made of high-quality plastic. The matte dark blue finish looks nice. The Beelink branding on the top side is quite stylish, there’s also the famous “Intel inside” marking on the bottom right, reminding you that it’s a device powered by Intel chips.
Being as small as it is, the L55 has almost as many ports as a desktop PC does. The front of the L55 is home to a pair of USB 3.0 ports, a 3.5mm audio jack, a red power button, and an activity LED (not lit in the photo) and an RTC hole. One of the USB 3.0 ports supports fast charging (up to 7.5W), and there is a green lightning marking above to distinguish it from the other.
There are lots of vents on the left and right side to prevent the L55 from overheating. The L55 doesn’t apply the fanless design used for many entry-level mini PCs, instead it has a high-speed fan inside the shell to cool the internals down when they are stressed.
The back side sports another pair of USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, an HDMI 1.4 port, a DP port, two RJ45 1000M Ethernet jacks, a DC-in port and some more vents.
Four small rubber feet are hosted on the bottom side, preventing the shell from scratches.
The L55 measures 128*126*47mm, even smaller than the Android-based Remix IO. The build quality is excellent, as the device looks extremely refined, with no ugly mold lines. It also feels extremely robust and sturdy, you won’t break it without some serious force. Also, the matte dark blue coating on the surface is very resistant to scratches. After 2 weeks of reviewing the device and moving it around constantly, I still haven’t found any marks on its surface of the L55.
Setting up
As small as it is, the L55 is a PC and needs to be connected with a display, a keyboard and a mouse to work, and that’s how you should set it up. There’s no conventional mouse and keyboard ports, so you need to get by with USB-mounted or Bluetooth input devices.
During first-time start-up, you will need to go through some of the Microsoft Windows initialization protocols, which is easy but will take some time. After that, you are good to go.
System & Apps
The Beelink L55 ships with a clean version of licensed Windows 10 Home OS, we found no pre-installed 3rd party applications and bloatware at all.
The local disk is a single volume (only Disk C) by default, but it is relatively easy to do disk partitioning on Windows 10.
You won’t need any 3rd party application, the “Disk Management” feature in “Computer Management” can take care of that or you, after less than a minute, we got two local disk volumes.
There are thousands of apps available in the Microsoft Store, if they are not enough, you can also install traditional PC apps. The Microsoft Office Student & Home Edition can be automatically activated once it is installed on the L55, we know a lot of people will welcome that.
We don’t feel like digging into all the main features of Windows 10. 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 L55 is powered by a relatively old 5th generation Intel Broadwell Core-i3 5005 dual core CPU (2.0GHz), not the latest Coffee Lake (8th and 9th generation) chipset. This chip won’t match the latest Intel i5 and i7 chips found in mainstream laptops and desktops PCs when it comes to horsepower, but it is still very capable of handling normal everyday tasks. Like always, we ran some benchmarks on the device to see how much horsepower it was to generate.
In the Cinebench R10 test, the L55 scored in 3,023 Single core, 6,553 in multi-core, and 3999CB in OpenGL. These scores were significantly higher than the Beelink AP34 (single core: 1846, multi-core: 5470, OpenGL: 2782CB), which is powered by an Intel Celeron N3450 processor.
In the more complex Cinebench R15 test, the L55 was returned in 150cb CPU performance and 14.78fps in OpenGL.
The Fritz Chess benchmark returned a score of 3,878, which beats the scores of Atom and Celeron based PCs. But it is definitely not impressive, as the i3-8145U powered Huawei Matebook 13 scored 7190, and even the Core-M powered Xiaomi Laptop managed to score 4,691 in the same test.
In the PCMark 8 Home Accelerated test, the L55 scored 2451, handily beating those Celeron-powered mini PCs and laptops, of which the scores are normally below 2000. But it is still nowhere near the scores of mainstream PCs.
The SSD in the L55 is undoubtedly faster than the eMMc found in entry-level mini PCs and convertible Windows tablets, as the device scored 754 in AS SSD benchmark. The sequential read and write speeds are almost as fast as that of my Surface Pro 3 (539MB/s & 484MB/s), but still significantly slower than the SSD inside my Huawei Matebook 13 (2155MB/s & 1485MB/s). There are 3 variants of L55, which have different built-in storage. The one that we received has 512GB M2. SSD inside. The storage of the L55 is upgradable with SATA HDD up to 2TB. If that’s not enough, you can even replace the stock M2. SSD with a 1TB drive.
Although the L55 is capable of outputting 4K resolution (3840*2160px), we won’t recommend people to set this resolution as default. As there is no discrete graphics card under the hood, 4K will be too much for the integrated Intel HD5500 during some productivity tasks, 1080P is still a far more reliable choice on most occasions.
The L55 was capable of playing all the media files we threw at it, including various 4k video clips, the playback was smooth in Windows Media Player and Thunder Video Player all the time, but there were stutters while playing 4K videos of webm formats in Windows 10’s Movies & TV app.
We also had no problem streaming full HD and 4K YouTube videos in Chrome. But playing 8K videos in YouTube was an extremely laggy experience we won’t recommend anybody to try.
The device was also smooth with most of the productivity tasks. We didn’t notice any lags editing our image-heavy presentation in PowerPoint. Editing photos in Photoshop is also a generally smooth experience, but some of the renderings did take a noticeable longer period of time than they did on my i7-powered Surface Laptop.
The Beelink has 8GB of DDR3L RAM on board, so it is also able to handle some serious multi-tasking. We did hear the fan inside the L55 making some noise when the device was under heavy loads, but it never got unbearably loud. Fortunately, the CPU temperature never got too high to trigger a warning from Ludashi (a Chinese PC monitoring app).
The HD5500 GPU is powerful enough for all games installed from the Microsoft Store, including Forza Horizon 4 and Modern Warfare. All of them ran smooth and remained responsive even at the highest settings. We actually enjoyed playing Asphalt 9 Legend on the L55 quite a lot, it was easy to control, the visuals were stunning, too. Lightweight desktop games such as Plant vs Zombies, Chicken Shoot and Stealth Bastard also ran smoothly on the L55, older versions of big titles such as SEGA Virtua Tennis and Asphalt 5 ran without hiccups as well. However, the L55 doesn’t come with a discrete graphics card, so it is definitely not built for the most graphic-intense titles such as the Metro 2033, GTA 4 and StarCraft. The games took a long time to load, and the frame rates were sometimes unacceptable during gameplay.
To sum it up, the L55 can deliver decent computing performance while running the types of software applications that average consumers use on a daily basis, but it is not designed as a workhorse for multimedia editors or other professional designers, nor is it the right PC for gaming enthusiasts.
Connectivity
The L55 supports dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4GHz & 5GHz). Wi-Fi connection was pretty solid as well. We put the L55 on the TV cabinet in the living room (the WiFi router was placed in another room), it was still able to download files at the same top speed.
The L55 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. We connected the L55 with our pair of Bang & Olufsen S3 speakers and enjoyed a lot of music and movies, the audio transmission remained uninterrupted.
There are 6 USB Type A ports (4*USB 3.0 and 2* USB 2.0) on the L55, 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 two 128GB flash disks, the L55 has no problem supporting them all at the same time.
The transfer speed through the USB 3.0 port is pleasantly fast. It normally takes only seconds to copy an HD movie from a flash disk.
The DP and HDMI ports will support most of the monitors, projectors and TV sets, but if you are using an old monitor with only VGA or DVI port, you will have to get by with an adapter. Unfortunately, the HDMI port on the L55 is HDMI v1.4 standard, which can only output resolution up to 2K/60fps or 4K/30fps. If you connect the L55 with a 4K TV via an HDMI cable, you won’t be able to get the highest image quality. The DP port on the device does support 4K/60fps output, but very few monitors do, and HDTVs don’t usually come with a DP port.
The Beelink L55 has two 1000M RJ45 Ethernet jacks, allowing you to connect to two network broadband services at the same time. This could be useful if you use the L55 in a workplace, as employees may need to connect both to the internet and the company intranet. Also, for higher-level users, they can combine the broadband width of two network services to achieve higher download and upload speed.
Verdict
Beelink has made a few choices which seem odd to us reviewers. Besides equipping the L55 with a relatively old 5th generation processor in a year when all new releases come with more advanced 8th and 9th generation i-series processors, they have also chosen to feature an old HDMI 1.4 port. Even more, the Micro SD card slot found on the U55 disappeared on the L55, we really wonder if it’s a choice made merely to save cost or for other reasons.
Besides a few puzzling choices, the L55 is still a solid device which has a lot going for it. With a Core-i3 5005U processor and 8GB DDR3L RAM inside, it is definitely not only designed for media consumption. Instead, it is able to get a lot of things done without a hitch. If you don’t use your PC for intensive gaming or complex designer work, the horsepower of the L55 will simply be more than enough for you.
The prices of L55 starts from $269 (256GB version), and the 512GB version costs $299. These prices are definitely higher than the prices of Atom and Celeron powered mini PCs. But we do believe the features, performance and functionalities of the L55 justify the price tag. If you want an inexpensive desktop computer which is small, stylish and compact, but is still powerful enough for everyday computing tasks, the L55 is worthy of your consideration.

Really a lovely piece of tech. I am using it now on a daily basis.

Hope more people could see this review, it took me a long time to test the device.

I don't think this processor is future-proof, it may not be smooth in 2-3 years.

Twitch007 said:
I don't think this processor is future-proof, it may not be smooth in 2-3 years.
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It really depends on what you use it for.

Lower benchmark scores than I expected.

And that monitor really looks oooooooooooold!

GadgetSino said:
And that monitor really looks oooooooooooold!
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:cyclops:

jupiter2012 said:
It really depends on what you use it for.
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Click to collapse
Not really, the system will be slowed down by Microsoft on purpose, which is not related to how u use it.

Twitch007 said:
Not really, the system will be slowed down by Microsoft on purpose, which is not related to how u use it.
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My PC has served for 5 years without slowing down.

Beelink Gemini J45 Mini PC review: small, but competent

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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.
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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.

Beelink GKmini review: a compact, decent and cool-looking mini PC

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The good:
Beautiful, neat and compact design.
Solid build.
Licensed Windows 10 Pro OS.
Decent performance.
Lots of connectivity options.
The bad:
No SD card slot.
No WiFi6.
Bottom Line:
The Beelink GKmini is a mini PC designed for basic office workloads, media consumption and light creativity tasks, and it works as designed.
If you have considered buying a mini PC, you must have heard of Beelink, a Chinese brand known for making quality mini PCs and TV boxes with afforable price tags. The all new Beelink GKmini comes with the Intel Gemini Lake Celeron J4125 processor, 8GB DDR4 RAM, up to 512GB built-in SSD, an attractive new design, and a moderate price tag. it is set out to be a strong contender in the race of affordable mini PCs.
Main specs of the Beelink GKmini
Processor: Intel Gemini Lake Celeron J4125
CPU: Quad Core 2.0-2.7GHz CPU
GPU Intel HD Graphics 600
Process technique: 14nm
OS: Windows 10 Pro 64bit
RAM: 8GB DDR4 2400MHz
Storage: 128GB/256GB/512GB/1TB SSD (256GB in our review)
Network: WiFi5 + BT 4.2 / Ethernet Gigabit
Ports: 4x USB 3.0 / 2x HDMI 1.4 / 3.5mm audio jack / Kensington lock
Accessories: 12V-2A DC adapter/ 2x HDMI Cable (1m & 0.3m) / User Manual
Retail Packaging
The GKmini ships with a very simple retail packaging, with illustration image on the front, and specs of on the back of the box.
As we can see in the specs, the mini PC is powered by the Intel Celeron J4125 quad-core processor, coupled with 8GB RAM. The unit that I received has a 256GB SSD inside of it, but Beelink offers other storage options.
Inside the box we have found a mini PC, a bracket for mounting the mini PC onto the back of a monitor, a 24-watt power adapter, two HDMI cables, a bag of screws, and a user manual.
The GKmini is about the size of a TV box, with a footprint smaller than my already small palm. It'll take up next to no room on your desk. If there’s literally no room for even the GKmini on your desk, you can also choose to mount it onto the back of your monitor with the provided bracket and screws.
The GKmini’s design doesn’t stray too far from previous Beelink mini PC models. It looks almost identical to the Gemini J45, which was released in 2019.
The housing of the GK mini is a combination of plastic and metal, The top side is acrylic plastic, which is, in our opinion, an elegant touch as it gives the GKmini’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 aluminum.
The front of the mini PC sports a reset hole, two USB 3.0 ports, a 3.5mm audio jack with mic support, as well as a power button which has a status LED built in.
The rear side of the GK mini plays host to some vents, two USB 3.0 ports, a full-size Ethernet, two HDMI 1.4a ports, and a DC-in port.
As the mini PC has an active cooling system under the hood, there are quite a number of vents on the left and right sides of the machine.
There are four rubber feet on the bottom side of the GK mini, each one has a screw in it.
Getting access to the internals is quite easy, just remove these screws and you will be able to upgrade the RAM and SSD.
The GK mini weighs only 256g, not much heavier than some of the latest smartphones. Moving it around in the house is quite easy. 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 reasonably robust and sturdy, you won’t really break it without some serious force.
Setting it up
As tiny as it is, the GKmini is still a Windows-based personal computer, and needs to be connected to a monitor (or TV, or projector), a keyboard and a mouse to work as one, 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, but the Beelink GKmini ships with licensed Windows 10 Pro, For average consumers, you will probably see no difference, but for power users, Windows 10 Pro offers lots of extra features, 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 a completely clean version, with no pre-installed 3rd party applications or bloatware. I 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 GKmini is powered by the Intel Gemini Lake Celeron J4125 quad core processor (2.0-2.7GHz). This chip isn’t a powerhouse and won’t match the latest Intel Core processors found in mainstream laptops and desktop PCs in terms of performance, but it is still capable of dealing with normal everyday tasks with ease. There is 8GB DDR4 RAM under the hood to take care of multi-tasking.
First, we 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 GK mini scored 447 in single core, 1442 in multi-core.
We also ran the Cinebench R20 test on the GKmini, and it scored 170 in single core, and 556 in multi-core. These scores are by no means impressive, but still way ahead of the Pentium N4200 powered Chuwi Gbox, or Beelink’s very own Gemini J45, which comes with an older Apollo Lake Pentium J4205 processor.

In the cross platform Geekbench 5 test, the GKmini scored 460 in CPU single core, 1479 in multi-core, and 1590 in OpenGL.
The GKmini did relatively well in the Fritz Chess Benchmark, acheiving 5342 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 such as word processing, spreadsheeting, web browsing, and video conferencing. 1791 is the score the GKmini notched in the standard PCMark 10 test.
In the more graphics-focused 3DMark, the GKmini scored 1446 in Sky Diver, 425 in Fire Strike, and 141 in Time Spy.
The GKmini offers a SATA-standard m.2 SSD, which definitely lags behind those NVMe drives found in mainstream laptops, but is still faster than the eMMc or HDD found in more basic models. In CrystalDiskMark test, the sequential read and write speed are 451.39mb/s and 456.58mb/s respectively, not impressive, but still decent.
In the real world use, the GKmini provides ample oomph for basic office tasks and even for a bit of light media editing. I experienced no lags or delays editing my review materials or work presentations in Microsoft Office apps.
Doing some relatively complex video editing in Power Director is also surprisingly smooth, although filters and animations may take longer to be applied to all layers of clips.
As for multimedia entertainment, the mini PC has no problem streaming 4K YouTube videos in Microsoft Edge, or decoding different formats of local video clips. I streamed an entire season of the Spanish sitcom “The Innocent” on the GK mini, with it connecting to my 75-inch TV.
The Intel UHD600 Graphics in the GKmini is definitely not designed for AAA titles, but it is capable of running older titles in moderate settings, and almost all games installed from Microsoft Store without issues. “Asphalt 9” and “Battle Tanks” (Microsoft Store Variant) are both quite smooth, but the graphics are simply not comparable with their desktop variant.
Also important for a mini PC that sits on your desk or behind your monitor (where it's nearer to your ears), the GKmini runs fairly quietly. It's not a completely silent, fanless design, but I almost never felt distracted by its noise. The computer is also amazingly stable, as it passed the 3DMark stress test with flying colors.
When the GKmini is running in full load in the AIDA64 stress test, the temperature of its four CPU cores was always quite stable. Once we stopped the test, the temperature dropped immediately.
Connectivity
The GKmini supports 2.4GHz/5.8GHz dual-band WiFi, but not the latest WiFi6. It also has Bluetooth 4.2 on board, thus can connect to wireless input devices and audio systems. It would have been nice to see Bluetooth 5.0 instead of 4.2, but that’s not going to add much the overall experience.
As there are two HDMI ports, you can hook the GKmini up with two monitors at the same time, this can be extremely useful if you have some serious producitivity tasks at hand.
Verdict
Creative pros and enthusiastic gamers will need to look elsewhere for a larger PC with dedicated graphics, but office workers who mainly rely on everyday creativity apps, or consumers who need an HTPC for media consumption, or shop owners who want a smaller computer for illustration of their products, will find a lot to like in the Beelink GKmini.

Nice review! Kudos

galaxys said:
Nice review! Kudos
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Thanks for reading it.

Can i upgrade the M2 SSD ?
What about Win10 Pro, how can i transfer that to the new SSD ?

machinamew said:
Can i upgrade the M2 SSD ?
What about Win10 Pro, how can i transfer that to the new SSD ?
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I guess you can add another SATA3 SSD and transfer the OS to that first, and then transfer it back to the new m.2 SSD. There are plenty of tools and tutorials online to help you do that.
If you do not have a SATA3 SSD, you will need to reinstall Windows OS, which get the license automatically once the PC is connected to the internet.

Firefly Station P2 hands-on: an open-source mini PC with great versatility

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ARM-based open-source computers, which often come in the form of SBCs (Single Board Computers), are designed for tech geeks rather than average consumers. However, the Firefly Station P2, which employs the form factor of a mini PC, doesn’t seem all that out of reach. With a Rockchip RK3568 quad-core processor, 2 Ethernet jacks, WiFi6, plenty of storage extension options, and the ability to boot several operating systems, it can be just as fun for ordinary people as it is for tech enthusiasts.
Main Specs
Operating System: Android 11 / Ubuntu / Android TV / OpenWRT / LEDE
Processor: Rockchip RK3568
CPU: Quad Core (4*[email protected])
GPU: Arm Mali-G52MP2
RAM: 2/4/8GB LPDDR4
Internal Storage: 32/64/128GB eMMc
Storage Expansion: 1x 2.5’’ HDD/SSD, 1x m.2 2232 SSD, 1x MicroSD card.
HDMI: HDMI 2.0 Output up to 3840*[email protected]
Bluetooth: Bluetooth 5.0
Internet Access: WiFi 6, 2x Gigabit Ethernet
Ports: Gigabyte Ethernet*2, DC-in*1, Control*1, MicroSD card slot*1, USB-A 3.0 port*1, USB-A 2.0*2, HDMI 2.0*1, 3.5mm Audio*1.
Dimension: 142*89*31.5mm
Power Supply: 12V DC/2A
Weight: 450g
Chassis: black, aluminum
Retail Package: mini PC*1, remote*1, HDMI cable*1, power adapter*1, user manual*1, USB A-C cable*1, 2.5'' HDD/SDD lid *1, Screw driver*3.
Packaging and accessories​​
​
The Firefly Station P2 comes with very simple retail packaging, there’s nothing much on the white box besides the branding, the model name and some specs. Inside the box you will find a Station P2 mini PC, two WiFi Antennas, a remote, a 12V-2A power adapter, a USB A-C cable, a tool kit, an HDMI cable as well as a user manual.
Design and build​
The Station P2 mini PC employs an aluminum alloy chassis measuring 142 mm x 89 mm x 31.5 mm, so it has a footprint smaller than most mainstream smartphones. The high-precision CNC machining and matte black finish give the machine a rather premium look. Because the Station P2 doesn’t come with an active cooling fan under the hood, it relies on the toothed top panel and various ports for passive heat dissipation.
The front panel plays host to a Gigabyte Ethernet jack, a USB-C port (OTG Only), 3 USB-A ports (2x USB2.0, 1x USB3.0)，a 3.5mm audio jack (with mic support), a MicroSD card slot and a power button. The rear side hosts two more Ethernet jacks, an HDMI 2.0, a DC-in. There is also an opening for users to insert a 2.5-inch SATA HDD/SSD, but you will need to unscrew and remove the lid first.
The connectivity doesn’t just stop here. With the included screwdriver, you can get easy access to the internals of the mini PC. Besides the 2.5-inch hard-drive tray, you will also get a M.2 2242 PCle SSD slot.
But if you only want to add a 2.5-inch hard drive to the Station P2, it will take you even less effort. After removing two screws on the back side, a metal lid will fall off, and then you can insert the hard drive.
The Station P2 comes with 32GB/64GB/128GB eMMc onboard storage. With two SSDs and a MicroSD card, you can install as many as 4 operating systems on the mini PC, and that could be “dream come true” for any tech geek.
The build quality of the Firefly Station P2 is extremely nice. The metal chassis feels perfectly robust and won’t flex even under a lot of pressure. Also, everything on the motherboard is neatly arranged.
Station OS​
The Station PC runs Station OS out of the box. Being called an OS, it is in fact a TV box skin on top of Android 11. The Station OS skin is clearly built around media playback. The UI is simple and easy to navigate with the included remote or the Station Control app on an Android phone.
The Movie Library App, which has a widget on the UI’s homescreen, will automatically detect all the videos in the chosen directory and find matching covers, posters, and information for them. I think everyone will grow to love this feature, because when you are navigating through your collection of movies and TV shows, you are not just looking at the titles, there is a lot more information to help you decide which one you are going to watch.
The Station P2 scored 889 in the Antutu Video Tester benchmark. Making it a solid, better than average TV box for media consumption.
There are only a limited number of pre-installed applications. Since this is Android, you can also install any app you want on the Station P2, including apps designed for TV, tablets, and smartphones. Some phone apps, such as Facebook and Instagram, don’t have support for landscape mode, and that can be tricky if your display isn’t rotatable. Fortunately, Station OS allows you to activate “ForceLand” in the settings, which will force the app to show vertically in the middle of a screen, making it easier for you to use the app with a mouse and keyboard.
Station OS might not be the right answer for people who want to use the Station P2 as a mini PC. It is nowhere near the experiences you can have with desktop UIs which allow you to run apps in resizable windows, such as Remix OS, Phoenix OS and Samsung’s Dex Mode UI. Also, there is no navigation bar for you to quickly switch between apps. Fortunately, Firefly has made stock Android 11 OS firmware available for those who want to use the Station P2 as an Android PC.

Other Software​
However, you are probably not buying the Station P2 as a TV box or an Android PC, as there are lots of cheaper alternatives out there. What makes this mini PC special is its capability of booting multiple operating systems, and Station OS gives you a portal to do that. Yes, I am talking about the OS Assistant App, which makes installing operating systems as simple as eating a piece of cake. Firefly offers six operating systems tailor-made for the Station P2 right now, including Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 18.04, LEDE, OpenWRT and the aforementioned Android 11. Just choose the OS you intend to install, and the drive you want it installed on, and you are good to go. The Operating system will be automatically downloaded from Firefly’s server and then installed on your local hard drive. When you have multiple operating systems installed on your Station P2, a boot screen will show up every time you power up the mini PC, from which you can choose the OS to boot into.
I have Ubuntu 20.04 installed on a 2.5-inch hard drive, and OPenWRT installed on a TF card. So the Firefly Station P2 can serve as my TV box, my desktop computer, or my router, depending on the OS I choose to boot into.
Ubuntu is a very much liked operating system for tech geeks, and a welcomed addition for average users. But unfortunately, the Rockchip RK3568 quad-core CPU is by no means a powerhouse, scores in Geekbench 5.4.4 told the story.
Also, Ubuntu for ARM has very limited number of apps available. As a result, most people won’t be able to use the Station P2 as their main computer, unless you care very little about efficiency.
With that said, if you want to handle some of the basics, you can. And if you are using the Station P2 to learn about Ubuntu and Linux, and some of the codings, it does provide you with an opportunity here.
The Station P2 also comes with superb networking capabilities. With two Gigabyte Ethernet jacks, and WiFi6, it is an ideal device for soft routing as well as streaming PC games. If you are new to these ideas, there are lots of tutorials online to help you set things up.
I streamed my favorite game “Fortnite”, and enjoyed fairly smooth gameplay, with only a few hiccups in my one-hour session.
You can also run PSP and XBOX games on the Station P2 via emulations, there are quite a lot of tutorials to help you do that in Firefly’s very own forum. But limited by the performance of the Mali-G52MP2 GPU, only those simpler, less intense games can run smoothly on the Station P2, heavier titles will very likely show up like slideshows.
Verdict​
With rich interfaces, great expansibility, and superb networking, the Firefly Station P2 is surely an interesting device with a ton potential. Besides a decent collection of official firmware based on different operating systems, you can also find many other third-party firmware in Firefly’s forum, giving you more ways to play with this mini PC.
Some potentials of the Station P2 can be limited by the performance of the relatively old Rockchip RK3568 processor, and some features in Firefly’s very own software may feel a little bit undercooked. But with a sensible price tag that starts from $189 (2+32GB), and a fast-growing Firefly community, the Station P2 is still one of the best open-source computers you can buy right now.

I've been looking into these Firefly/Station PCs and I'm having mixed feelings about them. While they're touted as "open-source", the default OS they come with, "Station OS", is not open source.
I was initially excited about the fact they come with a multiboot-supporting bootloader that (it appears) supports display on a HDMI monitor. That's a step up from most of the other ARM-based pocket-sized computers I've looked at, which usually seem to require a serial terminal for bootloader interactions. However, I'm starting to expect that the bootloader is not open source either. And there seems to be relatively little documentation for it, perhaps because "it's so simple it doesn't need documentation". I would hope that it's fully configurable via config-file like GRUB or U-Boot, but I'm getting the impression that it may be a "it's supposed to auto-detect everything automatically, but if it doesn't you're out of luck" system.
As far as "fast-growing community" goes, I like Firefly has a forum for these computers, but it doesn't seem to have nearly the community of the Pine64 forums or the ODroid forums, let alone the thriving Raspberry Pi community.