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Mini PCs are a great form factor for both the office and the home. Among them, there are both very tiny ones that literally fit in your pocket, and systems that are already closer in size to full-fledged desktop systems. In this collection, unlike many others that have been published before, there are systems that do not quite look like traditional miniature computers. So if the topic of a mini-PC is interesting, I ask under the cat.

Asus PN53-S1

This is a mini PC with AMD Ryzen 7030U “Barcelo-R”, a processor with Zen 3 cores and Radeon Vega graphics. So far, this is only a preliminary announcement, which provided technical details and characteristics of the device. Unfortunately, neither the cost of the device, nor the date of its entry into the market is unknown.

But it is known that its dimensions are only 115 x 115 x 49 mm. It is smaller and not as productive as its “colleague”, the PN53 model. Supports the device up to 32 GB of RAM, DDR4-3200, and up to 2 TB M.2 2280 PCIe Gen 3. There is also a slot for 2.5-inch hard drives.

List of ports and connectors:

• 1 x HDMI
• 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C (with DisplayPort 1.4 Alt Mode)
• 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A
• 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A
• 1 x 2.5 GbE Ethernet (RTL8125B-CG)
• 1 x 3.5mm audio

The advantage of this device is a configurable port that can be used both for connecting a second display and for connecting a second Ethernet channel, with gigabit bandwidth and an Intel L210AT controller. A MediaTek MT7922A22M wireless communication module with support for WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 is also installed.

The company will release two models – with AMD Ryzen 5 7350U and Ryzen 7 7730U. In the first case, the graphics are Radeon Vega 7, in the second case, Radeon Vega 7.

Arena Canyon Porcoolpine

This “hedgehog” is a mini-PC with a passive cooling system and a case protected from external influences. It is designed to work 24/7. Since there is no active cooling, the device is absolutely silent. The processor in this device is the 13th generation Intel Core. Its cost is $779 and up.

This is the starting price for the base model with an Intel Core i3-1315U processor, 4GB RAM, DDR4-3200, and 256GB PCIe NVMe storage. Models with Intel Core i5-1340P and Core i7-1360P are also available. The mini PC supports 64 GB of RAM and 16 TB of internal storage.

By the way, if you need a wireless memory module, you will have to pay $35. The device is delivered without OS. If you need it, but you don’t want to install it yourself, then you will need to pay for a license. Well, or order a device with Ubuntu.

List of ports and connectors:

• 2 x HDMI 2.1
• 2 x Thunderbolt 4
• 1 x 2.5GbE Ethernet
• 3 x USB 3.2 Type-A
• 1 x USB 2.0 Type-A
• 1 x 3.5mm audio

There is also a connector for an external antenna. And yet – an expansion module is provided, which, if necessary, can be used to install a second 2.5 GbE Ethernet port. As you can see, modularity is slowly creeping into the world of miniature PCs, not just laptops, which we recently wrote about.

ECS Liva P300

It’s not exactly a mini PC, but rather a very compact desktop with body dimensions of 250 x 200 x 79mm. Inside is a mini ITX board with an Intel LGA1700 socket and a Q670 chipset. You can install a 65-watt Intel 12th or 13th generation processor into it. Supports device and operation with up to 128 GB of RAM. There are two slots for installing disks.

Unfortunately, the cost of the device has not yet been announced, and the release date is also unknown. But the device will be on sale in the near future.

List of ports and connectors:

• 1 x HDMI
• 1 x Display Port
• 1 x VGA
• 1 x 3.5 mm – microphone
• 1 x 3.5 mm – audio
• 6 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A
• 1 x 2.5 GbE Ethernet (Intel i226LM)
• 1 x Gigabit Ethernet (Intel i219V)
• 2 x COM (RS232/422/485)
• 1 power connector (19 V).

ECS Liva Z5 Plus

Another mini PC from the Taiwanese company ECS. The dimensions of the device are 148 x 120 x 38. It is powered by Intel Raptor Lake-U series processors and supports up to 64 GB of RAM, DDR4-3200.

Inside there is an M.2 2280 slot for PCIe Gen 4 SSD, a slot for an M.2 2230 wireless communication module. Power supply is 19 V, 90 W.

Ports and connectors:

• 1 x Display Port
• 2 x HDMI
• 1 x USB4 Gen 2 (with DisplayPort Alt Mode)

The system also has three USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports, two 2.5 GbE Ethernet ports, and a 3.5mm audio jack.

The company also introduced the Liva Z5E Plus, with similar specifications, but with the option to install an additional hard drive or SSD.

N1 Pro

This is another device that seems not to be a mini-PC, but not a full-fledged desktop either. It can be used as a home server, full-fledged work computer, router or NAS. The cost of the device is $349. The case of the device is cone-shaped, on the top there are two slots for hard drives that can be removed without disassembling the case.

Inside is a Ryzen 5 5500U processor with six Zen 2 CPU cores up to 4GHz. Graphics – Radeon Vega 7. RAM – DDR4-3200. Two displays can be connected.

There is also a wireless communication module with support for WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2.

List of ports and connectors:

• 1 x USB Type-C
• 2 x USB 3.0 Type-A
• 2 x USB 2.0 Type-A
• 1 x microSD card reader
• 1 x 3.5mm audio
• 1 x DC

The dimensions of the system are 162 x 162 x 198 mm. The price mentioned above is for a system without disks and RAM.

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