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July 13, 2022October 13, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Mekotronics R58 review – Part 2: Android 12 on Rockchip RK3588 CPU

I’ve written the first part of Mekotronics R58 review last month with an unboxing, teardown, and first boot with 3D graphics benchmarks. I’ve now had more time to play with Android 12 on the Rockchp RK3588 mini PC, so I’ll report my experience with the device. User interface and settings As already mentioned, the box ships with Android 12 for TV and the stock launcher. The Google Play store is working, and I had no troubles installing all apps I needed for the review. Most of the settings are pretty much standard. While the first time, I used Ethernet, and also tried WiFi 6 connecting the R58 to Xiaomi Mi AX6000 router. It worked but not without some effort, as initially, all I got were messages like “Couldn’t find SSID” both with 2.4GHz and 5GHz SSIDs. It turned out I had to disconnect the Ethernet to make WiFi work, and […]

July 9, 2022July 9, 2022 by Ian W MORRISON (Linuxium) - 17 Comments

GEEKOM MiniAir 11 Review – A Jasper Lake Mini PC with plenty of ports

The GEEKOM MiniAir 11 is not just another mini PC powered by an Intel Jasper Lake N5095 processor but one that distinguishes itself by having a comprehensive range of ports. GEEKOM kindly sent a MiniAir 11 for review and I’ve looked at performance running both Windows 11 and Ubuntu 22.04. MiniAir 11 hardware overview The GEEKOM MiniAir 11 physically consists of a 117 x 112 x 34.2mm (4.61 x 4.41 x 1.35 inches) square plastic case. As an actively cooled mini PC, it uses Intel’s new 10 nm Jasper Lake N5095 processor which is a quad-core 4-thread 2.00 GHz Celeron processor boosting to 2.90 GHz with Intel’s UHD Graphics. The front panel has an illuminated power button, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a USB 3.2 Gen 2×1 port, and a Type-C USB 3.2 Gen 1×1 port. It also includes a CIR (consumer infrared) port which supports remote control. The rear panel […]

July 7, 2022July 7, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Intel Meteor Lake mobile processor highlights leaked

Intel Meteor Lake processor family is supposed to succeed the 13th generation Raptor Lake chips itself coming after the current 12th generation Alder lake processors. It is scheduled to launch next year (2023), but we already have some details about the Meteor Lake U, P, and H mobile processors from a leak. Just like most Alder Lake processors, Meteor Lake will be hybrid processors with power and energy-efficient cores, but they’ll also feature new LP E-cores which should stand for “low power efficiency” cores in order to further lower the power consumption while a laptop or mini PC in standby mode. Meteor Lake mobile processors highlights: CPU P cores + E cores + LP-E cores architecture U-series with up to 12 cores P- and H-series up to 14 cores; Up to 6+8 configuration with up to 24MB LLC/core (Note the LP-E cores don’t seem to be part of the main […]

July 5, 2022May 14, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 42 Comments

ROCK 5B developer edition preview – Part 1: Unboxing and first boot to Debian 11

Radxa ROCK5 Model B (aka ROCK 5B) is one of the most anticipated Rockchip RK3588 single board computers due to its features set and relatively affordable price. It was first showcased in January, but it’s taking a while as the Cortex-A76/A55 SoC is a complex beast. The good news is that the public launch is getting closer as Radxa sent “developer edition” samples to developers and enthusiasts for a “debug party”. I was one of the recipients so, in this post, I’ll have a closer look at the latest revision of the board, and give it a quick try first before going into more details in the second of this preview. ROCK5 Model B unboxing I received the 16GB RAM version which should be the same for all board part of the “developer edition batch. Developers are invited to submit reports to Radxa forums, and since those are public, anybody […]

June 30, 2022August 11, 2022 by Ian W MORRISON (Linuxium) - 12 Comments

Beelink MINI S Review – A Low-cost mini PC tested with Ubuntu 22.04 and Windows 11

Whilst the first mini PCs were relatively simplistic using low-powered Intel Atom processors with minimal memory, storage, and ports, more recent mini PCs have become so advanced they can challenge SFF builds for both performance and functionality. However, such mini PCs come with prices to match. Beelink has now released the MINI S which is a mini PC that goes back to the basics and is based on a cut-down version of their earlier Beelink U59 mini PC and priced to match. Beelink kindly sent one for review and I’ve looked at performance running both Windows and Ubuntu and compared it directly against the U59. Beelink MINI S hardware overview The Beelink MINI S physically consists of a 115 x 102 x 41mm (4.53 x 4.02 x 1.61 inches) square plastic case. As an actively cooled mini PC, it uses Intel’s new 10 nm Jasper Lake N5095 processor which is […]

June 23, 2022October 13, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 14 Comments

Mekotronics R58 review – Part 1: Rockchip RK3588 mini PC unboxing & teardown

Mekotronics R58 review Rockchip RK3588 mini PC

Mekotronics R58 is a cost-optimized Rockchip RK3588 mini PC and SBC that sells for as low as $169 with 4GB and 32GB eMMC flash. The company has now sent me a model with 8GB RAM and 64GB flash for evaluation, and in the first part of the review, I’ll do an unboxing, check out the hardware more closely, and boot it up for a quick check. Mekotronics R58 Unboxing There’s no retail package so to speak with just a white box and a sticker reading “MINI 8+64G” indicating the RAM and storage capacity for the device. The mini PC ships with a 12V/3A power adapter and cord, an IR remote control with two AAA batteries, two WiFi antennas, an HDMI cable, and a USB-A to USB-C cable probably to flash the firmware if needed. The mini PC is housed in a metal enclosure with plenty of ventilation holes at the […]

June 17, 2022 by Ian W MORRISON (Linuxium) - 9 Comments

Beelink SER3 & SEi8 mini PCs review – Part 2: Ubuntu 22.04

Previously, I reviewed Beelink’s new SEi8 and SER3 mini PCs running Windows 11, so in this part, I will cover Ubuntu 22.04. Hardware Recap The SEi8 is an actively cooled Intel mini PC that physically consists of a 124 x 113 x 41 (4.88 x 4.45 x 1.61 inches) square metal case with a plastic top and uses Intel’s 14++ nm Coffee Lake Refresh Core i3-8109U processor from 2018 which is a dual-core 4-thread 3.00 GHz mobile processor boosting to 3.60 GHz with Intel’s Iris Plus Graphics 655. In comparison, the SER3 is an AMD mini PC and is physically very similar, consisting of a 126 x 113 x 40mm (4.96 x 4.45 x 1.57 inches) square metal case. It is also actively cooled and uses AMD’s 14 nm Zen Ryzen 3 3200U Picasso processor from 2019 which is a dual-core 4-thread 2.6 GHz mobile processor boosting to 3.5 GHz […]

June 3, 2022 by Ian W MORRISON (Linuxium) - 24 Comments

MeLE Quieter3Q Review – Ultra-thin fanless mini PC tested with Windows 11, Ubuntu 22.04

MeLE has released a new and updated version of the Quieter mini PC called the Quieter3Q. Like before, it is a passive mini PC but now features the latest low-powered Intel Celeron Jasper Lake CPU and an upgraded PCIe 3.0 x2 M.2 2280 NVMe SSD slot. MeLE has kindly sent one for review and I’ve looked at performance running both Windows and Ubuntu and connecting an eGPU. MeLE Quieter3Q Hardware Overview The MeLE Quieter3Q is physically the same as before consisting of a 131 x 81 x 18.3mm (5.16 x 3.19 x 0.72 inches) rectangular plastic case with a metal base plate. The top half of the case is finely grooved to mimic the fins of a heat spreader but is made of plastic rather than metal to allow reception to the WiFi antennas as one is directly connected to it. As a passively cooled mini PC, it uses Intel’s […]