Ed: That Cyber Monday deal has now ended. However, there are two Ryzen 5 3550H mini PCs worth looking at.
This Bosgame E2 without Windows retails for $179 and instead ships with Ubuntu 22.03. It has the same configuration as the E2 Ecolite.
The GenMachine is available in white or black, costs $189 and ships with Windows. It is smaller than the E2 Ecolite and doesn't have a type-C connector.
The Bosgame E2 Ecolite Mini PC (and here) is the fastest mini PC under $200 you can buy right now and the one I’d buy with my own money if I had the choice; it costs only $169 at Amazon (with Prime access), a saving of $50 or 23%.
In a sea of mediocre Intel CPUs (N95, N97, N100, N5105), it shines through with ease and I’d be glad to pay even $100 for what it proposes. Its lynchpin component is an AMD Ryzen 5 3550H, an 8-core, 16-thread CPU that obliterates anything in this price range.
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No scrimping on the two other vital components; there’s 16GB of DDR4 (in dual channel to maximize performance) and a 512GB PCIe 3 SSD which should be fast enough for most tasks. I counted 10 ports in all, including five USB ports and a Gigabit Ethernet connector.
The Vega 8 graphics is powerful enough to drive up to three 4K monitors and the presence of Windows 11 Pro makes it a very potent workstation (yes it has a VESA mount so you can place it behind a monitor, I’ve got a list of affordable monitors here).
It uses the tried-and-trusted barrel-type power supply and Bosgame provides a 1-year warranty (shame that Amazon doesn’t offer the usual upsell for optional multi-year aftersale warranties). You should be le to swap the bundled Wi-Fi 5/Bluetooth 5.0 card for something far better (if you are inclined to do so).
Check out our review of the 4-star Bosgame U56 mini PC, which has a very similar chassis and has the option to add a secondary SATA drive.
Also consider
- The Kamrui AK1 Plus ($129 at Amazon) has an N100 CPU with 12GB of DDR5 RAM and a 256GB SSD. It has a removable part that can house a 2.5-inch SATA HDD or SSD. Note that other versions exist; N95/8GB/256GB for $115.94, N95/16GB/512GB for $134.10.
- The YXK S13 Ultra ($159.99 at Amazon) is an N100-powered newcomer on our radar. It doesn’t have an OS from what we gather and its slightly different form factor is part of its charm. I like the fact that it has a DisplayPort and WiFi 6 plus 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD.
- The Nimo is another N100 mini PC but with a slightly different proposition. It embraces a white color scheme (a rarity in this environment), has a microSD card slot and a 1TB SSD. Not bad for the price ($149.99 at Amazon).
- It looks like the smaller sibling of the Apple Mac Mini; this is the Acemagic Visa V1 ($159 at Amazon) with an N97 CPU, 16GB RAM and a 512GB SSD. It is more compact than its rivals and I like the brushed metal finish. As expected, it has fewer ports (but still a DP one) and runs Windows 11 Pro.
- Don't forget to check out our best mini PC page and our best PC listicle
