Mini PC host has always belonged to a niche category in the PC product line, although there is no strong performance configuration, but the extremely small and exquisite size, so that it has been loved by a small number of users.
The ASUS PN41 mini Rubik's Cube computer equipped with the Celeron N5105 quad-core processor version in my hand is currently priced at less than 2,000 yuan. Is a Mini PC so cheap worth getting started? And what kind of users are suitable for purchasing? Let's move on.
Design:
As its name suggests, the Asus PN41 looks like a Rubik's Cube toy. The overall square is strong, and the top uses a brushing process to enhance the texture of the product. The size of only 0.6L allows the author to control it with one hand, and the occupation of desktop space is almost negligible.
In addition, its weight is only about 700g, put into the backpack to carry without any pressure, if you use a portable monitor to take into account the occasional mobile office to use.
Heat dissipation outlets are provided on both sides to ensure cool internal temperature of the fuselage.
In addition, the Celeron N5105 version of the Asus PN41 is temporarily cancelled due to the iteration of the version, and the 3.5mm headphone jack is temporarily cancelled. The front provides 1 USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C interface (supports BC1.2 protocol) and 1 USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A interface.
Since it is not equipped with a 3.5mm headphone jack, it may be a little inconvenient in some scenarios, so it is recommended to use a Bluetooth speaker or a display with its own speaker function.
The rear is 1 USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C interface (supports Dp 1.4 output) and 2 USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A interfaces. The video transmission interface is equipped with the mainstream HDMI 2.0 interface and the VGA interface that takes into account the old monitor, which can support three screens and 4K 60Hz output.
What's more interesting is that ASUS actually equipped this Mini PC host with a 2.5GbE wired ethernet port, which can achieve a speed of 2.5 times that of a traditional gigabit network port.
In general, the number of interfaces can be used for basic daily use. In the case of many external devices, you still have to build another docking station.
ASUS also designed an all-in-one machine gameplay for PN41, if your monitor supports wall mounting, you can match the bracket that comes with the package, and install the host in the wall-mounted area to further save space.
If the display also supports the built-in Type-C reverse charging function, it can solve the machine power supply and video output functions at the same time through a single line, further simplifying the desktop.
Machine dismantling:
Remove the four screws from the bottom and push the bottom case to the side to see the interior of the Asus PN41.
As you can see, asus PN41 provides 2 DDR4 memory slots, 1 M.2 hard disk slot and 1 SATA hard disk slot, and there is still room for later upgrades.
The machine package comes with an M.2 hard drive heatsink accessory, but if it can be installed in the machine in advance, it will be more friendly to beginner users.
Considering that the Celeron N5015 version in my hand is a 4GB+128GB memory hard disk configuration, it is still necessary to upgrade, and it is especially recommended to install a 4GB or 8GB memory group dual channel, but there is no need to be too high a frequency, because the processor only supports memory frequencies below 2933MHz.
The main hard drive is a 120GB NVMe SSD produced by Kingston, with a read and write speed of 1200MB/s and 600MB/s, which is decent.
After removing the hard disk, you can see the wireless network card body, the network card model is Intel's AX201, support WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0.
Performance section:
The Celeron N5105 processor uses a 10nm process with a quad-core, four-thread configuration with a base frequency of 2.0GHz and a turbo frequency of up to 2.9GHz. CPU-Z runs 255.6/959 points, the performance is roughly the same as i5-5200U, used for office, watching dramas and other lightweight tasks is definitely completely enough.
The power consumption of the processor after power-on is about 2.7W
FPU copier test, power consumption of about 10W, frequency at 2.4GHz, temperature in 65-66 °C
N5105 compared to the previous N5095 and J4125 has three characteristics, one is that the TDP power consumption is only 10W, through the copy test can prove that the power consumption in the boot state is about 2 ~ 4W.
The second is to support up to 32GB of memory capacity expansion, but I believe that not many users will equip this performance Mini PC host with 32GB of memory.
Third, the built-in Intel UHD Graphics core display performance improvement is still very large, you can play 4K video, but playing games for it, it is still not small.
In the official version of the Lu Master's running score test, this Celeron N5105 version of the Asus PN41 achieved a score of 220,000.
It is worth mentioning that this ASUS PN41 also supports Win11 system upgrades.
Summary: What is the right user for this Mini PC?
One is to buy it as a TV box function of the user, after all, support 4K video playback, the configuration is completely enough, small and exquisite shape placed next to the TV, neither occupies nor is conspicuous.
The second category is a low-demand user who understands the independent upgrade configuration and pursues cost performance, even if it costs a little money to upgrade the memory and hard disk, the cost performance is much higher than that of buying a laptop, and it is also worth using it as a transition machine.
The third category is that parents buy it for their children to use as an online learning aid, on the one hand, the price is not expensive, on the other hand, the performance of the Celeron 5015 processor is just enough, while avoiding the possibility of children's playthings losing their minds.
Overall, the Celeron N5015 version of the Asus PN41 Mini Cube computer has the advantage of being extremely small, lightweight, and inexpensive, while offering good scalability and playability. If you happen to be one of the above three categories of people, you can't go wrong with a Mini PC.