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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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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.
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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
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ok but It's something chepear
graziano68 said:
ok but It's something chepear
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??
The Ap34 should be cheaper - make sure you are comparing 4GB RAM with 4GB RAM models
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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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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.
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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.
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why not give kodi a try?
This should be at the top.
Twitch007 said:
why not give kodi a try?
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I will try it later.
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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.
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If you follow the news of mini PCs, you should know Beelink recently announced a new model called the GTR5, which is powered by an AMD Ryzen9-5900HX processor, and is deemed as the most powerful mini PC to date. Because the GTR5 is so prominent and is getting everyone’s attention, another model that is also very good is kindda falling under the radar. Yes, I am talking about the Beelink GTI11, GTR5’s Intel powered brother.
The Beelink GTI11 is sort of a mix of the best mini PCs and NUCs, and will fit well into a living room or home office. It's quite compact, but has the performance needed to handle a fair amount of productivity work. The price is also quite reasonable, with the i5, 16GB/500GB model priced at ＄699. I've been using this tiny PC for a couple of weeks to see what it's all about and whether it's worth your investment.
Specifications
OS: Windows 11 Pro
Processor: Intel Core i5-1135G7
CPU: 4 cores, 8 threads @2.4-4.2GHz, 10nm process
GPU: Intel Iris Xe Graphics
RAM: 16GB DDR4L Memory
Storage: 500GB m.2 NVMe SSD
Wireless: WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.0
Ports: USB 3.0 *4, USB 2.0*2, USB-C*1, HDMI*1, DP*1, 3.5mm Audio Jack*1, 1000M Ethernet * 2, DC-in*1
Dimensions: 160*120*39mm
Weight: 597g
What’s in the box
Beelink GTI11 Mini PC * 1
19V-3A Power Adapter * 1
User Guide * 1
Wall Mount Bracket * 1
HDMI Cable * 2 (1m and 0.2m)
The GTI11 comes with simple, but attractive retail packaging.
Inside the retail box you will find a GTI11 mini PC, a 57W power adapter, a user manual, a mounting bracket, two bags of screws and two HDMI cables.
Design and build
The Beelink GTI11 looks almost identical to last year’s GTR. The chassis is completely made of magnesium alloy, with the top panel covered by glass for a little bit of extra pop. The case feels reasonably sturdy and holds strong under direct pressure. The blue coating of the exterior gives the GTI11 a professional, yet attractive look, and the matte finish on the side panels perfectly resists fingerprints.
With a small form factor, the GTI11 measures only 160mm wide, 120mm deep, and just 39mm in height. It easily fits on desks or even under a monitor stand if you have one, without taking up too much space. If you literally have no room on your desk, the bracket included in the retail box can also help you mount the mini PC onto the back of the monitor, making it completely disappear from the surroundings.
What makes the Beelink GT series (GTR & GTI) mini PCs special is the fact that they all come with a fingerprint reader, which makes unlocking extremely easy. The fingerprint scanner on the GTI11 has decent size and very high success rate. During my two weeks testing the computer, I’ve never had any failed attempts unlocking the system with my finger.
There are a lot of ports on hand here. The front side host two full-size USB 3.0 ports, a multi-function Type-C port, as well as a 3.5mm audio jack with mic support. You can also find a CMOS reset hole and power/standby key with LED indicator built in.
The rear side comes even more packed with I/O, you will find two more USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, two RJ45 ethernet jacks, one HDMI 2.0 port, one DisplayPort, and a DC-in port. Unfortunately, the GTI11 doesn’t include an SD/MicroSD card slot, a USB card reader will be needed if you want to get access to the files on your storage card from the GTI11.
This PC is actively cooled, many vents are featured on the side panels.
The bottom of the GTI11 is pretty non-descript. There are two rubber strips to keep the mini PC in place while it’s sitting on your desk, you can also find the instructions on how to enter BIOS setup and boot menu.
The GTI11 weighs only 597g, moving it around your house, or taking it on a trip won’t mean much effort, as long as you don’t mind the relatively hefty power adaptor.
Getting inside the system is easy, all you need is a screwdriver. After removing the 4 screws from the bottom panel, you are able get to the GTI11's internals. As small as it is, the GTI11 still offers two memory slots, and supports as many as 3 hard drives. You can insert two m2.2280 SSD and one 2.5-inch hard drive.
Software: Windows 11 is already here
The LED on the top panel, and the LED built in the power button will both light up when the mini PC is booted.
The Beelink GTI11 ships with licensed Windows 10 Pro, which can be upgraded to Windows 11 Pro after you boot the computer up for the first time. The operating system here is a completely clean version, with no pre-installed 3rd party applications or bloatware.
For average consumers, the Pro Edition of Windows OS probably won’t mean any difference. Yet for power users, there are quite a few extra features that may come in handy.
Performance: powerful enough
Performance from the Core i5-1135G7 and 16GB dual-channel memory is about as good as I expected, putting up respectable numbers that will accommodate anyone looking to tackle productivity work or streaming. The integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics will handle creativity duties or even some lightweight gaming. To help you better understand the overall performance of the GTI11, I ran quite a few benchmarks on it, and compared its scores to the results of other midrange mini PCs.
First, I launched 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 GTI11 got decent scores in both CPU single core and CPU multi-core.
I also ran the older Cinebench R20 test just to compare the GTI11 to more models I had tested before. The GTI was slightly edged out by the Intel NUC 8 in CPU multi-core, but completely dominated the chart with its CPU single-core score.
This mini PC also scored 15991 kilos per nodes in Fritz Chess Benchmark, and it’s a solid number for any system with a mobile chip.
The GTI11 also did quite well in the wPrime CPU test, finishing the 1024M calculations in less than 6 minutes.
In the cross-platform Geekbench 5 test, the GTI11 scored 1431 in CPU single core, 5074 in multi-core, and 14527 in OpenCL. In terms of the CPU single-core performance, the GTI11 leads the Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini 5i by more than 50%, and that’s incredible!
PCMark 10 simulates different real-world productivity and content-creation workflows. We often use it to assess overall system performance for office-centric tasks. The GTI11 scored 4580, which is a tie with what’s achieved by the Intel NUC 8.
The computer also features a Kingston m.2 NVMe drive, which is extremely fast, readings and scores of the CrystalDiskMark test told the story.
The unit I received comes with two Crucial 8GB-3200MHz memory sticks. This dual-channel memory setup guarantees high overall bandwidth and throughput speed. In the AIDA64 cache & memory benchmark, the read, write and copy speeds of the 16GB memory are decent, the 69.4ns latency is solid, too.
The performance of the integrated GPU also benefits greatly from dual-channel memory, as the GTI11 scored much higher in the AIDA64 memory and GPU benchmark than the Lenovo YOGA Duet, which comes with the same processor and integrated GPU, but a single 16GB memory stick.
The Intel Iris Xe Graphics in the GTI11 is a huge step up from older UHD graphics, and completely dominated the Radeon Vega 10 GPU of the Beelink SER and the Iris Plus 655 GPU of the Intel NUC 8. In the 3DMark Sky Diver, Fire Strike and Time Spy tests, the GTI11 scored 12862, 3683 and 1437 respectively.
In the real-world use, the GTI11 handily saw me through most common home and office tasks, from web-browsing, editing my work presentation to streaming my favorite movies and TV shows. This system could even play 8K YouTube videos in Chrome without any frame skip.
There are only a handful of models which can be used for content creation, and the GTI11 is one of them. I had no problem editing photos in Adobe Photoshop, the system wouldn’t even slow down while I was adding many layers and filters to the picture. I also did not encounter any issue editing a 4K video clip in Power Director, everything felt reasonably fast and smooth.
I didn’t really think about playing 3D games on the GTI11 before receiving it. Having tested the Lenovo YOGA Duet, which runs on the same processor, I thought I knew what the performance was going to be like on the GTI, but I was proven to be dead wrong. Titles like “League of Legends”, “War Frame” and “Resident Evil 3”played fairly smoothly under 1080P and medium to high settings. In League of Legend, the frame rate stayed above 120FPS all the time. Even “Conqueror’s Blade”, which was always a challenge for systems with integrated graphics, recorded an average frame rate of 36 frames per second at 1080P and medium settings. And during those intense battle scenes, the graphics still stayed well above 25fps, which is simply amazing for a computer this small.
These were all the games I tested on the GTI, and it's really promising to see that we are now able to have decent gaming experience on mini PCs.
As powerful as it is, the Beelink GTI11 is still a compact PC system with no discrete graphics, so it probably won’t see you through difficult workloads like super complex artistic design or gaming in 4K. Nonetheless, it ought to be greater than sufficient for most computing duties.
Noise, Stability and Power Consumption
There are two high-speed fans and two heat conduction tubes inside the shell for cooling. Beelink called these fans "silent" in their advertising, but believe me, they are not really silent. The GTI11 will make a fair amount of noise during multitasking or while running big applications. The noise is audible and may even be a little bit distracting at times if your room is quiet enough. With that said, It never really made my ears too uncomfortable to the point that I wanted to shut it down. And the system is relatively quiet during handling low-power duties such as video playback and social networking.
Fortunately, these fans are proven to work pretty efficiently. The GTI11 was amazingly stable, I could edit videos for hours on it without experiencing a hiccup. It also easily passed the 3DMark Time Spy Stress test with an impressive score of 99.6%, handily beating all the computers I have tested before.
In the AIDA64 Stress test, all 4 CPU cores were running at full load for 50 minutes, but their temperature stayed under 70℃ the entire time and didn’t trigger a warning.
Running on an Intel Core i5 processor, the GTI11 is not technically a low-power system, but it still consumes way less power than, say, a normal-size desktop PC.
I recorded its power outputs in different working scenarios and found that it was quite energy-conservative in video playback and office duties. Only when benchmarking or gaming did the power output exceed 20W.
Connectivity: WiFi 6, dual LAN, 3 displays
As mentioned above, The GTI11 offers a wealth of ports for its size. The HDMI, DP, and multi-function Type-C all support [email protected] video output, so you can connect the mini PC to as many as 3 monitors at the same time. This can be particularly useful if you have some complex office duties at hand.
The GTI11 features Bluetooth 5.0, with Bluetooth input devices and speakers, you will be able to have an almost wire-free desktop setup. And when it comes to surfing the internet, there are 2 RJ45 ports on the back of the GIT, meaning you can even use the mini PC for soft routing. WiFi 6 is also onboard to guarantee fast and stable wireless internet access.
Verdict: too good to ignore
The Beelink GTI11 is a feature-packed mini PC with a lot of horsepower under the hood. No matter what your computing tasks are, it always has the answer. Special features such as the fingerprint scanner, WiFi 6 and dual ethernet jacks just make your computing experience more convenient than ever. Yes, you may find better value with a normal-size desktop PC if space and power consumption aren’t that much of a concern, but the Beelink GTI11 is simply too fetching of a product to look past, I am sure it will have a pretty long stay on my desktop.
nice read up, thanks for sharing
blaze2051 said:
nice read up, thanks for sharing
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AMD's very powerful Ryzen 9-5900HX flagship notebook CPU is making its way to small form factor desktop PCs. The recently released Beelink GTR5 is not the first mini PC to feature this SoC., but it might just be the best one yet!
Beelink GTR5 Main Specs
OS: Windows 11 Pro
Processor: AMD Ryzen9-5900HX
CPU: 8 cores, 16 threads @3.3-4.6GHz, 7nm process
GPU: Radeon RX Vega 8 @2100MHz
RAM: up to 64GB DDR4 RAM (32GB in my review unit)
Storage: up to 2TB m.2 NVMe SSD (500GB in my review unit)
Wireless: WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2
Ports: USB-A 3.0 *3, USB-A 2.0*2, USB-C*1, HDMI 2.0*1, DP 1.2*1, 3.5mm Audio Jack*1, 2.5Gbps Ethernet * 2, DC-in*1, m2. SATA slot*1, 2.5-inch HDD connector*1
Special features: Fingerprint unlock
Dimensions: 165*119*39mm
Weight: 678g
Retail packaging
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The GTR5 comes with very cool packaging, the dragon on the front side of the box perfectly illustrates the amount of power packed inside.
Besides the GTR5 mini PC, you will also find a relatively bulky 90W power adapter, a user manual, two HDMI cables (0.2m & 1m), a mounting bracket, as well as a bag of screws after unboxing.
Design: simply stunning
Until last year’s SER, I hadn’t really been that impressed with Beelink’s design, but the Chinese brand seems to have finally outdone itself! The GTR5 simply looks stunning, in fact it is one of the best-looking mini PCs in the market right now. The carved finish on the top side gives it an extremely stylish and premium look. With its sturdy metal chassis, it should also be able to take a fair amount of reasonable office abuse you throw at it.
Besides the relatively subtle branding, the top side also sports a fingerprint scanner, which has decent size and makes logging into the operating system a lot easier than any type of passwords. The recognition success rate is also quite high, I haven’t had any failed attempts in my two weeks with this device.
The AMD logo and “Let’s Start” catchphrase on the top side will light up after booting up, giving the device a more interesting look.
The chassis has ventilation holes on 4 sides (top, left, right, rear) for heat dissipation. There are dual cooling fans and dual copper pipes under the hood to make sure that the system never gets overheated.
Beelink products have always been quite generous with I/O, and the GTR5 is no exception. On the front side you will find a USB 3.0 port, a multi-function type-C port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack with mic support. There are also two buttons: a power button which has status LED built in, and a green button for clearing the CMOS.
More I/O are packed on the rear side, including two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, 2 RJ45 2.5GB/s ethernet jacks, 1 HDMI port, 1 DisplayPort and a DC-in port. Some features are missing, namely a storage card slot, but since you have as many as 6 USB ports, mounting a card reader shouldn’t be that much of an effort. As with other systems powered by AMD, there’s no thunderbolt port, either. The multi-function USB-C port does support fast USB 3.2 Gen1 data transmission and [email protected] video output, but it still pales in comparison with a Thunderbolt 3/4.
The expandability does not stop here. After removing the four screws on the underlying base, you can easily lift the bottom panel and get access to the internals. There are two SO-DIMM DDR4 memory slots, two m2. slots (1 NVMe and 1 SATA3), as well as a 1 SATA3 port on GTR5’s very compact motherboard. If dual-channel memory is somewhat a must-have to ensure solid performance, having the option to install as many as 3 hard drives in such a small computer is simply amazing. All internal hardware and components are neatly arranged, the unit in my hands comes with two 16GB-3200MHz Crucial memory sticks and a 500GB Kingston NVme drive, but Beelink offers other configurations for consumers to choose from.
The GTR5 measures 165*119*39mm, and weighs only 678g. It’s so small that it easily fits on any kind of desk, or under a monitor stand if you have one. It can also seamlessly attach to the back of a display with the included bracket, but please bear in mind that mounting the GTR5 on to the back of a monitor could make fingerprint unlock less convenient than it should be.
System & Apps
Most mini PCs and laptops run on the Home Edition of Windows OS, but the Beelink GTR5 ships with licensed Windows 11 Pro, Average consumers will probably see no difference, but for power users, Windows 11 Pro offers some 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 11 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 11 offers. For those who just switch from MAC OS or Linux to Windows, I highly recommend that you watch some tutorial videos on YouTube.
Performance: incredible horsepower
At the very core of the Beelink GTR5 is an AMD Ryzen9-5900HX processor, which ranks only behind the Ryzen9-5980HS and Ryzen9-5980HX in terms of performance in the world of mobile computer SoC., and it is also the fastest chip to ever power a mini PC. My unit comes with 32GB dual-channel DDR4 memory and 512GB NVMe SSD, but you can have as much as 64GB memory and 5TB of internal storage at most.
In the Maxon Cinebench R23 and Cinebench R20 test, the GTR5 simply has no competition in the world of Windows-based mini PCs, and even gives the Apple M1 powered Mac Mini a run for its money. Until models featuring the next-gen processors come out, the GTR5 will probably stay on top of the chart.
Geekbench 5 provides further evidence of the GTR5’s strength, even though the gap here is a little bit smaller between it and the Apple Mac Mini. Still, the CPU single core and multi-core scores are impressive.
PCMark 10 is a holistic performance suite developed by the PC benchmark specialists at UL (formerly Futuremark), it simulates different real-world productivity and content-creation workflows. We often use this benchmark to assess overall system performance for office-centric tasks such as word processing, spreadsheeting, web browsing, and video conferencing. The GTR5 notched an incredible score of 6345 points in the standard PCMark 10 test, ranking above the ASUS Mini PC PN50 and the i7-1165G7 powered Intel NUC 11 Pro.
Even though there’s no discrete graphics on board, you can still expect a fair amount of performance out of the Radeon Vega 8 GPU, which is clocked at 2.1GHz. In the 3DMark Sky Diver, Fire Strike, and Time Spy tests, the GTR5 scored 15097, 4019, 1615 points respectively.
The NVMe drive inside this computer is not the fastest we’ve seen, but it is a lot faster than cheaper SATA SSDs. The GTR5 scored 2545 in the AS SSD benchmark and got decent numbers in CrystalDiskMark.
There are two memory slots on the SER’s motherboard for dual-channel setup, which guarantees high overall bandwidth and throughput speed. The performance of the GPU also benefits immensely from dual-channel memory, as the GTR5 was returned very decent scores in the AIDA64 memory&cache, and GPU benchmarks.
In the real-world use, the GTR5 is a do-it-all kind of PC. You can open 20 or extra image-heavy webpages in Microsoft Edge and run a few other big apps side by side without seeing the system slow down.
In terms of media playback, the GTR5 has no problem decoding any video formats I played on it, including a few [email protected] and [email protected] clips. Streaming 8K YouTube Videos in Chrome, this mini PC does not skip a bit, either.
This machine could take care of all my creative projects as well. Rendering complex 3D images in photoshop, or editing 4K videos in Power Director, the GTR5 has been consistently fast.
No mini PC this size is designed for intense gaming, yet still people asked me questions about gaming all the time. The Radeon RX Vega 8, with a high 2.1GHz clock speed, is one of the most powerful integrated GPUs. As a result, the GTR5 can run most AAA titles in moderate settings.
Non-resource intensive games were smooth in 1080P and high graphics settings. In “League of Legend”, the average frame rate was 162 FPS. Even after I switched to 4K, the GTR still delivered an average frame rate of 75FPS, which is quite amazing.
More graphics-intense titles such as “Spell Break” and “Genshin Impact” were also smooth in 1080P and medium settings. The former stayed at 60FPS consistently during the 30 minutes’ session, while the latter recorded an average frame rate of 46 FPS.
Some of the most demanding titles were also playable on the GTR5. Conqueror’s Blade was generally smooth with an average frame rate of 32FPS in 1080P and medium settings, even though the frame rate could drop to 28 FPS in intense battle scenes.
As powerful as the AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 might be, there is still a fairly large gap between it and top PCle GPUs. If you want to game in the highest settings possible and still get the upper hand in competition against other players on the internet, you will need a more traditional gaming setup than the GTR5.
The system is also quite stable, thanks to the efficient cooling. In the 3DMark Time Spy stress test, the GTR5 scored 99.99%, which is the best number I have ever seen.
Power Consumption and noise
With such a beefy processor inside, the GTR5 is not technically a low-power system. Still, it should be more energy-conservative than a full-sized desktop PC. In terms of power consumption, we saw some fairly solid figures.
The system stays fairly quiet under light loads, but if you run heavy CPU/ GPU workloads the fans spin up and it certainly gets louder. However, the noise is never too much of an issue, and easily gets drown out by other sound in your surroundings.
Connectivity
The GTR5 supports the latest WiFi 6E technology, also known as WiFi 6 Extended. It allows the PC to use the 6GHz band, which in return brings more bandwidth, faster speeds, and lower latency, opening up resources for future innovations like AR/VR, 8K streaming, and more. In additon, you also have two 2.5Gbps ethernet jacks, which offer all kinds of internet possibilities.
The HDMI, DP and Type-C ports all support video output up to [email protected], so you can connect the GTR5 to as many as 3 displays at the same time. This can be very helpful if you have some complex productivity tasks at hand.
Verdict
The Beelink GTR5 is a powerhouse in a tiny package. It has a beefy processor, packs a slew of I/O, and offers a broad range of features such as fingerprint unlock and superb networking. The tiny case is beautiful and rock-solid, the vast array of designs improves value and versatility.
However, it is not cheap. The 32GB/500GB model retails for $799, while the 64GB/1TB version will cost you even more. In the same price range, you can get a base model of the Apple M1 powered MAC mini, or a complete Intel NUC 11 system with memory, storage, and an OS. The GTR5 is obviously more feature-packed than the other two, but you cannot overlook Apple and Intel’s brand power.
If size doesn’t matter that much to you, a large DIY system of similar performance can save you quite a fortune yet give you more expansion room for later upgrades. But if you want the tiniest computer possible for all the computing you may need, there aren’t many SFF PCs more qualified than the Beelink GTR5 out there.
You can check the screenshots of those benchmarks here:
Hey, nice review, but what about the constant stuttering while doing nothing on the pc ?