Some time ago, Xiaomi launched its first mini computer host. For this mini host, the evaluation of netizens can be described as mixed, some say that it is "branded", and some praise. In my personal opinion, when a brand enters a new field, there will inevitably be many shortcomings gradually exposed. For the sake of caution, it is much more reliable to choose a more professional brand in this field.
But I have to say that when I saw the Xiaomi mini console, I also wanted to try whether the mini console is really easy to use? After a period of relevant understanding, I locked my eyes on the brand Zero Moment. Zero's products are very rich, and the reputation is also good, and finally bought the Zero-Moment SEi12 Pro i5-1240P, which is similar to the Xiaomi mini host configuration and price.
There is no need to say more about the appearance, let's just take a look.
The Zero Cut SEi12 Pro has many accessories, in addition to the power cord and instruction manual, there are 2 HDMI cables, a wall mount bracket, and a replaceable fabric panel. The wall mount allows it to be mounted on the back of the monitor, saving less desk space.
Accustomed to desktops, at first glance the mini console, it is really super cute. If it is a desktop, you have to make a special space for it, while the mini host is not so much, and a little space on the computer desktop can be put down.
Maybe some people can't imagine how small the Zero SEi12 Pro is, in fact, it is similar to when the palm of an adult is open.
The main color of the appearance of the Zero Moment SEi12 Pro is black, using a metal body, breathable and waterproof splash cloth panel, metal air intake net and CNC high-gloss technology, the overall look is textured, very in line with modern aesthetics.
Looking at the appearance of the Xiaomi mini host, it adopts a one-piece aluminum alloy body. Looking at the Zero SEi12 Pro, the use of the fabric panel is quite bold, and it is touched by hand without that cold feeling. At the same time, since the fabric has better air permeability, there is no need to worry about heat dissipation.
The Zero Moment SEi12 Pro gives an extra replaceable panel that was not expected before, and the snap-on installation is also convenient for replacement. Personal feeling: If this replaceable panel is red, is it more differentiated? It is also more suitable for the Spring Festival.
I thought that the Zero Zero SEi12 Pro is small in size, and the interface should not be equipped with a lot. But the truth is not as expected, this mini console is equipped with as many common interfaces as possible on the front and back. There are two USB 3.0 ports, one Type-C (Thunderbolt 4) port, headphone jack on the front, and 2.5G LAN ports, two USB 3.0 ports and two HDMI ports supporting 4K 60Hz display on the back. With so many interfaces, there is basically no need for interface expansion devices in daily use.
Thunderbolt 4 is an interface that many netizens are very interested in. It is understood that Thunderbolt 4 supports up to 40Gbps transmission rate, up to 100W PD charging, supports external desktop graphics card docking stations, and can also connect more display devices or peripherals in the form of daisy chains, and is backward compatible with most interfaces. It can be said that with this interface, the playability of the computer can be stronger.
The mini console is much smaller than the desktop and laptop computers, and its internal structure is naturally very different. About the interior of the mini host, you can understand it through this picture. It can be seen that the internal structure of the Zero Moment SEi12 Pro is very compact, which makes people think of the saying "although the sparrow is small, it has all the organs". I don't know if you have noticed that the Zero SEi12 Pro adopts a dual-fan design, and the heat dissipation effect is definitely much stronger than that of a single fan.
Regarding memory, the Zero SEi12 Pro is built with two 8GB DDR5 memories, which form a dual-channel. The Xiaomi mini console uses two 8GB DDR4 memory, which is also dual-channel.
The difference between DDR5 and DDR4 is mainly reflected in performance, operating frequency, bandwidth and power consumption voltage, in comparison, the advantages of DDR5 are obvious, I don't know if you care about this aspect.
In addition, the Zero SEi12 Pro supports a maximum of single-channel 32GB and dual-channel 64GB, and if you want to upgrade later, you can also do it.
In addition, the Zero SEi12 Pro is equipped with a 500GB PCle 4.0 NVMe high-speed SSD, which can be expanded up to 2TB. Compared to PCIe 3.0, the biggest change in PCIe 4.0 is the doubling of the transfer rate.
Using CrystalDiskMark software to test, the surprise brought by the Zero SEi12 Pro is indeed not small, with a read rate of 3741.87MB/s, which is higher than the official theoretical data of 3500MB/s. The high-speed reading speed greatly improves game loading, file transcoding, image rendering, and video editing.
The Zero Moment SEi12 Pro has two processor versions, i5-1240P and i7-1260P, as for which version to choose, it depends on personal needs. I started with the i5-1240P version this time, which has 12 cores and 16 threads and can reach up to 4.4GHz turbo frequency.
Using Master Lu ran a score, the score was 1054355. This score is above the middle level, and it is no problem to work daily and play games.
Using the CPU-Z software, it can be seen that the i5-1240P uses a 10nm process technology, and the TDP power consumption is 28W. In the test, the single-core score was 578.8, and the multi-core score was 5288, and the performance was still excellent.
TESTED WITH THE CINEBENCH R23, THE MULTI-CORE SCORE WAS 9117 AND THE SINGLE-CORE SCORE WAS 1364. As you can see from the running score ranking below, this result is very good.
PCMark 10 and 3DMark are both test software used to evaluate and measure computer performance. Among them, PCMark 10 focuses more on performance testing in home and office scenarios, while 3DMark focuses on game performance testing.
PCMark 10 comprehensively evaluates computer performance by simulating common operations in real office scenarios, such as form processing, web conferencing speed, and image and video editing. From the test results, the score of the Zero Moment SEi12 Pro is 4846 points, and there is no pressure in daily office and editing and rendering.
In the 3DMark test, Time Spy scored 1520 points. In addition, the graphics card score is 1327 and the CPU score is 8838.
Putting aside these test data, let's look at the actual use.
On weekdays, using the Zero Moment SEi12 Pro is mostly to deal with work tasks, and usage scenarios such as making charts can be said to be quite easy.
With PS retouching, the operation process is also very smooth and responsive. There was no stuttering or stuttering halfway through.
Retouching is stress-free, what about video clips? From the point of view of use, there is no problem, and it can also be driven.
This year, short videos are very popular, and it is also very good to use your leisure time to learn video editing, film and television post-production.
There is no problem in handling work tasks, retouching, and video editing, and at this time, it is estimated that everyone is eager to know what games the Zero SEi12 Pro can run?
I first tested the popular Genshin game. At the system default resolution and quality, the average frame rate tested was 40FPS. During the game, the character movement and skill release are very smooth. Of course, if you lower the resolution and image quality a bit, the average frame rate will be higher.
In Rise of the Tomb Raider, the average frame rate tested was 29FPS.
This game belongs to a large-scale 3A game, the picture is very fine, and it tests the CPU, graphics card of the computer. I am very satisfied that the Zero Moment SEi12 Pro has achieved such results.
Compared to the two games mentioned earlier, CF does not have high requirements for computer configuration. From the test results, the average frame rate is 161FPS. Obviously, running CF is a piece of cake.
In addition, I usually use the Zero Moment SEi12 Pro to follow dramas and help children take online lessons.
The size of the mini host is small and cannot fit the large fan in the desktop, but the heat dissipation strength of the Zero SEi12 Pro itself is not weak. The heat dissipation system composed of CPU cooling fan + system fan + heat sink, as well as the "multi-faceted ventilation" metal mesh and breathable fabric, do not worry about overheating of the fuselage, and are not afraid of long-term heavy use.
Overall, the Zero SEi12 Pro i5-1240P is stress-free for use cases such as work task processing, PS retouching, and video editing. In terms of games, as long as it is not a particularly "configuration-eating" game, this mini console is also no problem.
If you have to choose, between the Zero SEi12 Pro i5-1240P and the Xiaomi mini console, which one is preferred?