We’ve had a sample of the Khadas Edge2 single board computer powered by Rockchip RK3588S octa-core Cortex-A76/A55 processor for a couple of weeks, and now that the board is officially launched we can post our review of the board with Ubuntu 22.04, and we’ll check out Android 12 later on. Khadas Edge2 Pro accessories The Khadas Edge2 comes in two variants: Basic and Pro, We received the Edge2 Pro SBC with 16GB RAM and 64GB flash that ships with two WiFi antennas by default, but the company also sent a low-profile fansink and thermal pad for cooling that in theory would be optional, but in practice, it is required as while the board runs fairly cool considering the performance it brings, it still needs a heatsink to prevent overheating and throttling. The fan may not really be necessary though as we’ll see below. I’d recommend installing the antennas before the […]
MeLE Quieter HD3Q Review – A fanless mini PC with dual-channel memory, 2.5-inch SATA bay
MeLE has launched a new range of passive mini PCs known as the ‘Quieter HD Series’ and first in the lineup is the Quieter HD3Q. Not only does this new mini PC address the main criticism of their earlier models by now including dual-channel memory, but it is also slightly larger allowing the ability to add a 2.5” SATA drive, and also has a higher power limit to improve performance. MeLE kindly sent one for review and I’ve looked at performance running both Windows and Ubuntu. MeLE Quieter HD3Q hardware overview The MeLE Quieter HD3Q consists of a 150 x 105 x 37mm (5.91 x 4.13 x 1.46 inches) rectangular plastic case with a metal base plate. Gone are the faux heat spreader fins from the top of the case as it is now finished with a very fine dimple effect. As a passively cooled mini PC, it uses Intel’s […]
MaxLinear AnyWAN URX850, URX851, and MxL25641 Intel Atom SoCs target broadband routers and gateways
MaxLinear has just announced the availability of the first three AnyWAN broadband SoCs featuring Intel Atom cores with the MxL25641, URX850, and URX851 processors designed for 5Gbps and 10 Gbps broadband routers and gateways, usually referred to as CPEs (customer premise equipment). When I first read the news of MaxLinear releasing Intel Atom SoCs, I could not quite compute how it was possible, as I can’t remember any third-party releasing Intel processors and I thought it might be a system-in-package instead. But MaxLinear keeps calling those Intel Atom SoCs, and the reason is that the company acquired Intel’s Home Gateway Platform Division in 2020. MaxLinear AnyWAN x86 SoCs key features and specifications: AnyWAN URX850/URX851 (for 10Gbps systems) CPU – 4x Intel Atom CPU cores @ 2 GHz Memory – Up to 16GB LPDDR4 or DDR4 Storage – eMMC 5.1 flash Networking 4x 2.5GE PHYs XFI WAN Packet processor for full […]
Beelink SEi11 Pro Review – An Intel Core i5-11320H mini PC tested with Windows 11, Ubuntu 22.04
The latest mini PC marketed in the ‘Pro’ range from Beelink is the SEi11 Pro and features one of last year’s Intel H-series processors typically used in gaming laptops. Beelink kindly sent one for review and I’ve looked at performance running both Windows 11 and Ubuntu 22.04. Beelink SEi11 Pro hardware overview The Beelink SEi11 Pro physically consists of a 126 x 113 x 40mm (4.96 x 4.45 x 1.57 inches) square metal case. As an actively cooled mini PC, it uses Intel’s ‘10 nm SuperFin’ Tiger Lake processor and the review model included an i5-11320H which is a quad-core 8-thread 3.20 GHz Core processor (at 35W TDP) boosting to 4.50 GHz with Intel’s Iris Xe Graphics. The front panel has an illuminated power button, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a data-only Type-C USB 3.1 port, dual USB 3.1 ports and a reset pin-hole ‘CLR CMOS’. The rear panel includes a […]
Banana Pi BPI-R3 WiFi 6 router board features MediaTek Filogic 830/MT7986 SoC
I first noticed the MediaTek MT7986 WiFi router processor in Linux 5.17 changelog. MT7986 is the codename for MediaTek Filogic 830 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor designed for Wi-Fi 6/6E routers with up to 6 Gbps bandwidth, and two 2.5Gbps Ethernet interfaces. Banana Pi BPI-R3 is a router board based on Filogic 830/MT7986A that offers an upgrade to the company’s Banana Pi BPI-R2 board powered by a MediaTek MT7623A quad-core Cortex-A7 processor or even the Banana Pi BPI-R64 board based on a MediaTek MT7622 dual-core Arm Cortex-A53 SoC. Banana Pi BPI-R3 specifications: SoC – MediaTek MT7986A (Filogic 830) quad-core Arm Cortex A53 processor with hardware acceleration engines for Wi-Fi offloading and networking System Memory – 2GB DDR RAM Storage – 8GB eMMC flash, MicroSD card socket, support for M.2 NVMe SSD Networking 2x 2.5GbE SFP cages, 5x Gigabit Ethernet ports (1x WAN + 4x LAN) via MT7531AE 7-port switch WiFi 6 4×4 […]
Trigkey Speed S3 review – Part 2: AMD Ryzen 5 3550H mini PC tested with Windows 11 Pro
After checking out Trigkey Speed S3 mini PC hardware in the first part of the review, it’s now time to power up Trigkey Speed S3 Mini PC and test it with the preinstalled Windows 11 Pro operating systems. Booting up is fast, and the system runs smoothly while visiting various websites while listening to music, and watching YouTube videos. But in this second part of the review, let’s test the performance of the Trigkey Speed S3 mini PC on Windows 11 Pro in detail. Trigkey Speed S3 memory We can see the two 8GB Crucial memory sticks detected in Windows 11 Pro with a 2,400 MHz speed, while the sticks are rated up to 3,200 MHz. But a quick check on AMD’s website reveals this may be normal since the maximum memory frequency for the AMD Ryzen 5 3550H is listed as 2,400 MHz. Checking out the USB ports Since […]
BMAX B3 Plus Review – An Intel Celeron N5095 mini PC with two Gigabit Ethernet ports
BMAX have relaunched their B3 Plus mini PC, aka MaxMini B3 Plus, with an upgraded Intel Celeron N5095 processor and a more distinctive design by having a novel way of accessing both the internal storage and memory together with being very lightweight in construction. BMAX kindly sent one for review and given the B3 Plus is similar to other mini PCs I’ve tested, I’m only going to take a cursory look at performance benchmarks and only whilst running Windows together with looking at the key features of this particular device. BMAX B3 Plus hardware overview The BMAX B3 Plus physically consists of a 125 x 112 x 44mm (4.92 x 4.41 x 1.73 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. […]
MediaTek T830 to power 5G FWA routers and mobile hotspots
MediaTek T830 is a consumer premise equipment (CPE) SoC with a quad-core Cortex-A53 processor, an integrated Sub-6GHz 5G modem, hardware-based network acceleration engines,and optional support for Wi-Fi 6/6E, and son the new WiFi 7. It’s unrelated to the MediaTek Filogic 830 WiFi router SoC and instead, offers an upgrade to the MediaTek T750 5G chipset for higher performance multi-gigabit CPE products, such as fixed wireless access (FWA) routers and mobile hotspots (Mi-Fi) with up to 7 Gbps 5G speeds. MediaTek T830 specifications: CPU – 4x Arm Cortex-A55 cores @ up to 2.2 GHz GPU – Unnamed 3D GPU Networking accelerators MediaTek Network Processing Unit QoS Acceleration and Tunneling Offload Engine for VLAN / PPTP / L2TP / GRE Memory I/F – LPDDR4x / LPDDR5 Storage I/F – nMCP (NAND-based Multi-Chip Package) suggested. SPI, eMMC 5.1, and ONFI (Open NAND Flash Interface) supported Display I/F – MIPI DSI interface for up […]