The best mini PCs in 2022
The best mini PCs in 2022
Included in this guide:
The best mini PCs are small and tranquillity but take the power to practice everything from web browsing to gaming in miniature cases that are more user-friendly than an enormous PC tower.
At that place are many meaty designs, ranging from smaller desktops to stick PCs that y'all tin skid into your pocket. Mini PCs leverage the small, free energy-efficient components from laptops to provide y'all with a surprising among of power in sizes that can be hidden behind a monitor. With mini PCs made for everything from media streaming to gaming and VR, in that location are mini stick PCs and mini desktops for almost everyone.
Below, we've listed the best mini PCs for everything from home amusement to gaming and professional workstations. Each review involves all-encompassing testing and hands-on evaluation. This allows us to tell you exactly which are the best systems. We've put every mini PC on this list through its paces and have the top models you tin get today.
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What are the best mini PCs?
The best mini PC overall is the Apple tree Mac mini, the tardily 2020 version of Apple'southward compact desktop reckoner. As 1 of the start Macs outfitted with Apple's M1 processor, information technology offers a lot of power at a more affordable price than ever before.
The Azulle Access3 is the best stick PC we've reviewed, with a pocketable blueprint that can be used with whatsoever monitor or Television set with an HDMI port. The gaming oriented Intel Hades Canyon NUC proves that even AAA games and VR tin be handled past a well-designed mini PC, while the Intel NUC 9 Pro delivers powerful workstation-grade capabilities in a deceptively modest pattern.
The Raspberry Pi 4 Model B offers a barebones system that'southward perfect for tinkering and projects, and but costs $35.
The all-time mini PCs to buy now
The latest version of the Apple Mac mini may look unchanged from its predecessors, just in that location'south a revolution hiding inside – the Apple M1 processor, Apple's starting time large step away from using Intel processors in Macs. The new chip offers a surprising amount of power, taking on more expensive Intel Core i3 and Core i5 systems and coming out the victor. Paired with Apple tree's Mac OS Large Sur and Rosetta two, it volition run pretty much annihilation y'all need it to, as long equally it's not Windows.
It's not a perfect desktop – a smaller port choice and support for simply ii displays is a real letdown – only the overall value y'all go far the Mac mini is more than than we ever expected for the new, more affordable price.
Read our full Apple Mac mini with M1 review .
The Azulle Access3 takes our favorite tiny stick PC and makes it fifty-fifty better. With a compact pattern that'southward nearly small plenty to put on a keychain, and flexible enough to be used with whatever monitor or Tv set, the Access3 gets a faster processor, speedier USB three.0 ports and adds Gigabit Ethernet for meliorate performance and connectivity than any other stick PC we've reviewed. The zippy performance fifty-fifty supports 4K video output, making it great for streaming.
Whether it's for use in your home theater, powering digital signage or just giving yous a mode to picket Netflix on your hotel Tv set, the Access3 presses forward in a course-factor that larger manufacturers have largely forgotten. The Azulle Access3 is our new favorite stick PC, and the best mini PC you can slip into your pocket.
Read our full Azulle Access3 review .
Intel'due south Hades Canyon NUC is a mini PC that delivers desktop-gaming-course performance in a chassis that'south about the size of a book. Thanks to its Intel Core i7-8009G/AMD Radeon RX Vega One thousand GH hybrid flake, which combines processing and discrete graphics on a single bit, the Hades Coulee NUC can handle AAA games and VR in a pocket-sized, black brick that tin can exist tucked into a backpack or added to a domicile entertainment center.
Despite its minor size, the Hades Coulee NUC is loaded with ports, including Thunderbolt 3 ports and HDMI output. If you buy the barebones kit, you'll need to provide memory and storage, and your own installation of Windows, but this pint-sized gaming machine can get toe-to-toe with an Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti-powered gaming tower, and it even handled a bit of VR. It'southward the best mini PC yous can go for gaming without compromise.
Read our total Intel Hades Canyon NUC review .
The Intel NUC 9 Pro is a workstation mini PC that offers huge power and a surprising amount of upgradability. A workstation desktop isn't an uncommon offer in the PC world, as they're the standard for many computationally demanding uses, ranging from compages to animation. What is unusual is to meet that level of functioning packed into a tiny design that'due south smaller than a 5-liter SFF desktop.
Throw in room for huge amounts of RAM, added drives and up to an eight-inch graphics menu, and the Intel NUC nine Pro is a rare beast indeed. And that'southward before discussing Intel'south innovative Compute Element motherboard, which weds the modularity of the motherboard with the built-in cooling and self-contained design of a GPU to create a unique basis for a truly potent PC. Add together it all up, and it's definitely the best workstation available in mini PCs today.
Read our full Intel NUC nine Pro review .
Our new favorite office desktop does a cool disappearing trick, with a funky pattern that hides the powerful mini PC inside a specially designed monitor stand that turns information technology into a low-profile all-in-ane PC. Packing plenty of adequacy into its tiny size and offering a modular solution for offices that desire to upgrade often, the Dell OptiPlex 7070 Ultra is a cool twist on the mini PC in the workplace.
The mini PC itself is so slim it might get mistaken for a laptop battery pack or a desktop dock, but within it boasts an Intel Cadre processor, up to 64GB of RAM and as much as 1TB of storage. Information technology has plenty of ports and performance that puts it squarely among the best productivity-focused mini PCs yous tin buy.
If the OptiPlex 7070 is sold out, you can purchase the 7090 for $889 at Dell .
Read our total Dell OptiPlex 7070 Ultra review .
The Acer Chromebox CXI3 may be the all-time desktop version of Chrome OS bachelor. Fabricated for use in the classroom or in the office, the Chromebox CXI3 delivers everything that's great about Chrome – ease of utilise, simple security, and all the online capability you want – in a mini PC that boasts great features and performance.
The meaty Chromebox can exist mounted well-nigh anywhere and boasts plenty of ports, including several USB 3.0 ports, HDMI output and a USB-C port. Our model was outfitted with an Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM and a 64GB SSD, combining to offering speedy performance and easy multitasking. Plus, it's cheaper than any similarly equipped Windows machine. For one of the best mini PC designs without the bloat of Windows, at that place's no beating the Acer Chromebox CXI3.
Read our total Acer Chromebox CXI3 review .
The Raspberry Pi ushered in a new era of DIY tech, and the latest model, the Raspberry Pi 4 Model B, pushes that to new heights with a more powerful processor, 4K video output and an improved part selection. The latest model, the $35 Raspberry Pi 4 Model B offers enormous value for projects ranging from simple to complex, from its enhanced processing and graphics to offer broad compatibility with older accessories.
If you want to do something different with your engineering science, the Raspberry Pi 4 Model B is the best mini PC for tinkering and experimenting. Whether you purchase it lone or in a kit, the Raspberry Pi is difficult to trounce.
Since our review, the Raspberry Pi 4 Model B has been updated with a new model that has 8GB of RAM, significantly improving on the 2GB memory of the base of operations model.
If the Rasberry Pi is sold out, you tin buy the Raspberry Pi 400 All-in-One .
Read our total Raspberry Pi 4 Model B review .
How to choose the best mini PC for yous
Mini PCs range from modest project PCs for nether $50 (£50/AU$75) to compact desktops that can toll $1,000 or more than. Stick PCs are the most versatile, and mostly cost between $100 (£100/AU$150) and $200 (£200/$AU300), and volition work with well-nigh TVs or monitors. Mini PC prices vary considerably based on hardware.
Know what you want: Finding the right mini PC for y'all starts with knowing what you're looking for. Do you want something small enough to tuck behind a TV as a defended streaming box, or are you looking for something with gaming capability? Do yous want a basic internet-browsing automobile, or practise y'all demand serious processing and graphics adequacy? Our best picks above do a good chore of highlighting the employ-cases different systems are best-suited to.
Discover the right size: Then at that place'southward the question of class factor. Mini PCs are all modest, merely within the category, there are a range of options, from stick PCs small enough to sideslip in your pocket to desktop towers that are notwithstanding compact plenty to stow out of sight. You'll sacrifice power for a smaller system, only you tin notwithstanding get a capable desktop that's small enough to comport in a backpack, even if you lot're afterwards gaming capability or workstation operation.
Brand certain you like your configuration and upgrade options: Finally, y'all want to wait at configuration options and upgradability. Many mini PCs have two or three configuration options, which tin modify everything from the amount of included storage to the presence of loftier-finish processors and discrete graphics cards. At that place'south as well the question of upgrades. Many of the smallest mini PCs leave no room for futurity hardware changes, simply others are designed to let you add memory or storage, or even outfitted with ports that let for an external GPU for expanded adequacy. When in incertitude, check our reviews, which include configuration details and will discuss the potential for future upgrades.
How we test mini PCs
We put every mini PC nosotros review through a number of benchmark tests and real-world uses to get the clearest pic nosotros tin of how well it performs, what uses it's best suited to and what sort of capability you get for the price.
For functioning, we apply the Geekbench processor test to measure a system's overall processing capabilities. We run custom spreadsheets to see how long it takes to handle large data sets and number-crunching tasks. We also exam the file transfer speeds, copying large files to run across how long a system takes to re-create multimedia files, documents and other content.
To test the graphics capability, we run a number of criterion tests from 3DMark. When a system has the adequacy, we'll too run individual game tests and the SteamVR performance test to come across how capable a system is at handling the demands of modernistic gaming.
Almost importantly, we spend a ton of time simply using each mini PC for everyday activities. We sentinel movies, do piece of work, play games, and blast music on the speakers, all to get a ameliorate sense of which ones are worth your money.
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Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/us/best-mini-pc.html
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