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GEEKOM Mini IT12 2025 Edition Review – Part 3: Ubuntu 24.04 on an Intel Core i7-1280P mini PC

GEEKOM Mini IT12 2025 Edition review performance ubuntu 24.04

We’ve already checked out GEEKOM Mini IT12 2025 Edition mini PC’s hardware with an unboxing and a teardown, and tested the Intel Core i7-1280P mini PC with Windows 11 Pro in detail in the second part of the review. We’ve now had time to test the Mini IT12 2025 Edition mini PC with Ubuntu 24.04, so we’ll report our experience with Linux in the third part of the review. We’ll specifically go through system information, test key features, benchmark the system and compare it against the earlier Mini IT12 “2023 Edition” powered by an Intel Core i7-12650H processor, because checking out storage and USB performance, WiFi 6 and 2.5GbE network performance, stress testing the mini PC, and finally measuring fan noise and power consumption. Ubuntu 24.04 installation We decided to install Ubuntu 24.04 LTS alongside Windows 11 in a dual-boot configuration, so we resized the Windows 11 partition by about […]

NXP introduces IW693 Wi-Fi 6E SoC with 2×2 MIMO for industrial IoT and Smart Home applications

NXP IW693 WiFi 6E SoC industrial IoT

NXP has unveiled the IW693 Wi-Fi 6E (and Bluetooth) SoC with 2×2 MIMO for industrial IoT and Smart Home applications, offering a higher-end option to the company’s IW612 tri-radio solution, but which omits an 802.15.4 radio. The IW693 supports concurrent dual Wi-Fi (CDW) and Bluetooth/Bluetooth Low Energy operation in four modes: Mode 1: CDW 2×2 Wi-Fi 6/6E 5-7 GHz (802.11ax) + 1×1 Wi-Fi 6 2.4 GHz (802.11ax) Mode 2: CDW 1×1 Wi-Fi 6/6E 5-7 GHz (802.11ax) + 1×1 Wi-Fi 6 2.4 GHz (802.11ax) Mode 3: 2×2 Wi-Fi 6 2.4 GHz (802.11ax) Mode 4: 2×2 Wi-Fi 6/6E 5-7 GHz (802.11ax) NXP IW693 specifications: Wi-Fi features 2×2 Wi-Fi 6/6E and 1×1 Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz concurrent dual wireless mode (mode 1) 2×2 radio 40 MHz channel for 2.4 GHz (RF paths 2A/2B) 1024 QAM (MCS11), up to 80 MHz channel for 5-7 GHz (RF paths 5A/5B) 1×1 radio 20 MHz channel for 2.4 […]

Radxa Cubie A7A is a powerful SBC based on Allwinner A733 Cortex-A76/A55 AI SoC with up to 16GB RAM

Raxda Cubie A7E

Radxa Cubie A7A is an upcoming single board computer (SBC) powered by an Allwinner A733 octa-core Cortex-A76/A55 SoC with a 3 TOPS AI accelerator and up to 16GB LPDDR5 memory. Radxa came back to the Allwinner SoC family after the silicon vendor committed to improving open-source support, starting with the Radxa Cubie A5E SBC powered by an Allwinner A527/T527 SoC. But this was only the start, and we were promised a more powerful Allwinner A733 SBC before moving to the Allwinner A838 down the road. The Allwinner A733 board has now been unveiled. Meet the Radxa Cubie A7A. Radxa Cubie A7A specifications: SoC – Allwinner A733 CPU Dual-core Arm Cortex-A76 @ up to 2.00 GHz Hexa-core Arm Cortex-A55 @ up to 1.79 GHz Single-core RISC-V E902 real-time core GPU – Imagination Technologies BXM-4-64 MC1 GPU VPU 8Kp24 H.265/VP9/AVS2 decoding 4Kp30 H.265/H.264 encoding AI accelerator – Optional, up to 3 TOPS […]

GEEKOM Mini IT12 2025 Edition mini PC review – Part 2: Windows 11 Pro features testing, benchmarks, power consumption

GEEKOM Mini IT12 205 Edition Mini PC review Intel Core i7-1280P Windows 11 Pro

We have already checked out the hardware of the GEEKOM Mini IT12 2025 Edition mini PC with an unboxing and a teardown in the first part of the review. The new model still relies on a 12th Intel processor, and simply replaced the 10-core Intel Core i7-12650H by a more powerful 14-core Intel Core i7-1280P processor still coupled with 32GB of DDR4 RAM and a 1TB M.2 SSD, although the brands and models of the RAM, storage, and wireless modules have changed. In the second part of the review, we will be testing the GEEKOM Mini IT12 2025 Edition mini PC with the pre-installed Windows 11 Pro in detail, notably testing most features and running benchmarks before comparing it to the (2023 Edition) Mini IT12 mini PC with an Intel Core i7-12650H processor. We’ll also test 2.5GbE and WiFi 6 networking, cooling performance, and finally measure fan noise and power […]

Fairphone (Gen. 6) is a sustainable, repairable 6.31-inch Android 15 smartphone with Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 SoC

Fairphone gen 6

The Fairphone (Gen. 6) is a 6.31-inch Android 15 smartphone powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 SoC designed to be sustainable and repairable with eight years of software updates, a 5-year warranty, a modular design, and the use of recycled materials. The Fairphone (Gen. 6) – not sure why it was not just called Fairphone 6 – offers mid-range features with an octa-core processor, 8GB RAM, 256GB UFS and microSD card storage, a 6.31-inch touch screen display,  two rear cameras, a front-facing camera, 5G, WiFi 6, and Bluetooth 5.4 LE connectivity, as well as support for NFC for payment, and a USB-C port for charging and expansion. Fairphone (Gen.6) specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 Mobile Platform CPU – Octa-core Kryo CPU with 1x Prime core @ 2.5 GHz, 3x Performance cores @ 2.4 GHz, 4x Efficient cores @ up to 1.8 GHz GPU – Adreno […]

GEEKOM Mini IT12 2025 Edition Review – Part 1: Intel Core i7-1280P mini PC specifications, unboxing, and teardown

GEEKOM Mini IT12 Mini PC Intel Core i7-1280P review

GEEKOM Mini IT12 2025 Edition is a mini PC with three 12th Gen Intel Alder Lake CPU options: Core i5-12450H, Core i7-1280P, and Core i9-12900HK. It supports up to 64GB of RAM, up to 2TB NVMe SSD, offers various ports such as HDMI 2.0, USB4, and 2.5GbE, and comes with WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity. GEEKOM sent us a review sample of the Mini IT12 with an Intel Core i7-1280P processor, 32GB DDR4, and a 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD. If the name sounds familiar, it’s because we previously reviewed the Mini IT12 with an Intel Core i7-12650H in December 2023/January 2024 with the same name but a different processor, and a few other changes, as we’ll see below. In the first part of the review, we will look at the specifications of the GEEKOM IT12 2025 Edition mini PC, go through an unboxing, perform a teardown to check out […]

ESP32-C61-DevKitC-1 development board features ESP32-C61 low-cost WiFi 6 and Bluetooth LE 5.0 SoC

ESP32-C61-DevKitC-1 development board

The ESP32-C61-DevKitC-1 is a development board based on the ESP32-C61 low-cost WiFi 6 and Bluetooth LE 5.0 SoC that was first unveiled in January 2024, and has just entered mass production this month (June 2025). The board is offered with two USB-C ports, two buttons, an RGB LED, and GPIO headers. In my 2024 year in review report, I noted that Espressif would likely launch the ESP32-C5 dual-band WiFi 6 SoC in 2025, but I completely forgot about the ESP32-C61, which is basically a cost-down version of the ESP32-C6. The ESP32-C61-DevKitC-1 development board and ESP32-C61-WROOM-1 module are now available, so let’s have a closer look. ESP32-C61-DevKitC-1 specifications: Wireless module – ESP32-C61-WROOM-1 SoC – ESP32-C61HR2 CPU – Single 32-bit RISC-V core clocked up to 120MHz Memory – 320KB SRAM, 2MB PSRAM Storage –  256KB ROM Wireless – WiFi 6 and Bluetooth LE 5.0 Storage – 8MB QSPI flash Antenna – PCB […]

Luckfox Lyra Zero W is a small Rockchip RK3506B SBC with MIPI DSI connector, WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2

Luckfox Lyra Zero W

Luckfox Lyra Zero W is a compact single board computer (SBC) powered by a Rockchip RK3506B triple-core Cortex-A7 SoC and mostly designed for smart wireless HMI with a MIPI DSI connector and a WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 module. The Raspberry Pi Zero-sized board also features 512MB of RAM and a 256MB SPI flash, a microSD card slot, two USB-C ports, a USB 2.0 connector, and a 40-pin GPIO header for compatibility with (most/some) Raspberry Pi HATs. Luckfox Lyra Zero W specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3506B CPU Triple-core Arm Cortex-A7 CPU with 1.2 GHz Arm Cortex-M0 core GPU – 2D GPU only No VPU, no NPU Memory – 512MB DDRL3 Storage 256MB SPI NAND flash (W25N02KV) MicroSD card slot Display – 2-lane MIPI DSI connector up to 1280 x 1280 resolution @ 60 Hz Networking – 2.4 GHz WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 LE  via SKI.WB800DCS module (based on AICSemi […]

UP 710S Alder Lake-N Credit Card-size SBC