Introduction

Recently, a childhood friend reached out to me for some advice. His boss requested to purchase a batch of computers, with the first requirement being stability and reliability, while different positions had different needs, and the smaller and lighter, the better.

I felt that this was the perfect opportunity for mini PCs. After hearing his general requirements, I rated his company with eight words: “inherently a mini PC saint.” Regarding his demand for high stability, I shared my thoughts. Initially, he proposed an AMD solution; while these machines are fine for personal use, they are not suitable for company use—AMD, despite gaining some reputation in the last two years with its APU, primarily targets consumer-level clients, and many products come from new domestic brands, or are made in Shenzhen. Although they seem powerful, none are primarily aimed at commercial use, and their reliability is yet to be validated, lacking persuasive stability and commercial-related functional support—it’s not that they can’t, but rather that they dare not.

On the Intel side, NUC originally stems from the commercial/industrial product line. Currently, the available products, aside from the original NUC, come from major manufacturers like Lenovo and HP, which have strong product capabilities and brand endorsements. Only Intel can currently provide mini PCs equipped with vPro/ipmi for enterprise-level comprehensive management needs, playing a significant role in enterprise applications—imagine installing systems on hundreds of computers with different settings, purely relying on people to do it one by one would be utterly frustrating!

Thus, based on his requirements, I briefly recommended a few models, thinking that since I had written it out, I would organize my thoughts at home and expand it into a mini PC purchasing guide for commercial products to share with everyone.

In typical commercial environments/small to medium-sized business clients, the main demand is to be prepared to handle a continuous work mode at any time, while also having a complete after-sales service system as a guarantee, with a long support cycle to ensure the continuity of product support. Based on several different working environments and needs envisioned, I’ve arranged them!

Daily Office, High Cost-Performance:

Acer Swift Intel N100 8G/512G 1229 yuan

Acer Swift Intel Core i3 N305 16/512 1699 yuan

Intel has a magical product in the low-end: the Intel N100, whose performance is comparable to the mainstream i5 4000 series for office machines. However, while the small manufacturers’ N100 is genuinely cheap, costing only a few hundred yuan for a complete machine, it’s not reliable, and the large manufacturers’ N100 machines aren’t cheap. It’s better to add a little and go for the Core i3 N305—this is a true octa-core!

For example, this Acer Swift mini PC, the N100 8G/512G model is priced at 1229 yuan, while for less than 500 yuan more, you can upgrade to the i3 N305, doubling the CPU performance, and the memory is also upgraded to 16G. While the power consumption is extremely low, its CPU performance is sufficient to outperform many high-end older CPUs. Furthermore, this machine is well-configured, with plenty of USB ports (4A2C), two HDMI 2.0 outputs, and one fully functional Type-C that supports 65W PD power supply. Nowadays, even a 1000 yuan i3 desktop has fewer ports than this! Of course, to be fair, the N100 model is still a third cheaper than the N305 model, at 1200 yuan with three years of on-site service warranty, which is quite high in cost-performance! It’s entirely sufficient for tasks like text processing, web browsing, and note-taking. Many front desks still use the N5105, after all, the N100 is over 50% stronger than the N5105.

HP Zhan 66 Mini i5 1335U 16/1T 2799-3399 yuan

If the budget is slightly higher or if there are higher requirements for after-sales service, I strongly recommend HP’s Zhan 66 Mini. This machine is only about 2799 yuan during promotions, but it includes the powerful after-sales service of the Zhan series, which offers three years of free on-site service, 24/7 response, and one full system restoration service within two years. From the perspective of commercial use maintenance costs, it is incredibly attractive. Those who have used it say it is excellent! Just looking at the commercial after-sales service alone, the cost of buying these services could buy a machine back!

Moreover, the Zhan 66 Mini’s configuration is not low either; the i5 1335U features 2P+8E+80EU integrated graphics, with a configuration of 16G+1TB SSD, pre-installed with genuine Windows and Office. It can handle daily office tasks with ease, and even create complex PPTs or edit simple videos without any issue. The memory and storage are very adequate, and it has a full set of ports, including a serial port, and even has built-in speakers! The price of 2799 is very impressive, and if it is 3399, I would suggest waiting or directly negotiating bulk purchase prices with JD.

Lenovo ThinkCentre Q500 mini i3 13420H 16/512 2749 yuan

If there are higher performance requirements, there’s also Lenovo’s ThinkCentre Q500 Mini, which comes from the authentic Think lineage. The CPU has been upgraded to the 4P+4E Core i5 13420H, and the H45 series offers stronger performance with a complete set of ports, including the beloved VGA port for various office projectors. It has a three-year warranty, but there is no on-site service, and it only includes genuine Windows without Office. The price is consistent with HP’s Zhan 66, highlighting the value of HP’s surrounding services.

The prices of the above three models are not too high, and they all come with a three-year warranty, complete ports, and high quality. They are like wiha screwdrivers; although they seem expensive, they are not much more expensive, and the quality is reassuring, with reliable after-sales service. The configurations are also not low, and they can fully handle daily office tasks. In fact, these machines have sold quite well, but the online buzz is relatively low, mainly because the users are corporate clients who truly buy and use them without much talk!

Powerful Performance, Small and Versatile:

If you are in scenarios that require higher performance, such as video editing or image processing, or if you have more demands for expansion and ports, you can consider the following models:

Lenovo Xiaoxin Mini

i5 13500H 16/512G 3399 yuan

i7 13700H 32/1T 4699 yuan

Although Lenovo Xiaoxin is a home product line, this mini PC clearly considers small and medium enterprise clients as well. It also offers complete three-year on-site after-sales service and comes pre-installed with Windows and Office. The most attractive hardware design feature is the built-in power supply, which is highly integrated, and it does not skimp on port expansion and heat dissipation. It has Thunderbolt 4 and a 2.5G network port, and both DP and HDMI are included, while Intel’s Iris Xe integrated graphics are specialized for video editing. Coupled with Xiaoxin’s 32GB memory and 1TB storage configuration, it has become a solid productivity tool. The i5 13500H+16GB+512GB version priced at 3399 yuan offers good cost performance.

Mingfan Minisforum MS-01 12900H 32G+1T Mini Workstation Dual 10G Optical Ports + Dual Network Ports 4999 yuan

Mingfan Minisforum can be considered the least known “small factory” on this list. Although it is a “small factory,” it is a well-established mini PC brand with its own factory, a leading manufacturer in the domestic mini PC market, far superior to those purely OEM “emerging” mini PC brands! In previous years, its main clients were overseas companies and domestic large manufacturers for OEM production, but in the past two years, it has just started to focus on its own brand, coinciding with the opening of the domestic market…

The MS01 is Mingfan’s first mini workstation, featuring a very high configuration. First, the CPU can be upgraded to the i9 13900H, but the 12th generation i9 12900H is clearly more cost-effective. The machine itself has a PCI-E 4.0 x8 slot, dual USB4, dual 2.5G network ports, dual 10G SFP+ optical ports, three M.2 slots, and one replaceable U.2 slot, making the configuration terrifying! Additionally, it supports Intel vPro enterprise management functionality, primarily targeting professional workers and high network-demand applications, filling the gap in mini PCs in this area. As a high-end product, it also offers three years of completely free warranty service (though no on-site service), and comes with a genuine Windows system. Priced at 4999 yuan, it is considered extremely valuable, as there are truly no competing products…

Thunderbolt MIX Pocket PC i7 12650H 32G/1T 2999 yuan

Thunderbolt is not considered a small brand; it actually comes from the major appliance giant Haier. The reason it is placed at the end of this list is mainly due to its appearance, which is not defined as “business-like”. However, the product itself still offers high cost performance. The i7 12650H features 6P+4E, 20 threads, and is a new architecture i7, with a configuration of 32G RAM and 1T SSD. It also has complete Thunderbolt 4 ports, and performance is not a concern, priced at 2999 with no complaints. It comes pre-installed with genuine Windows without Office, but the after-sales service is also strong, providing three years of free on-site service, and even relying on Haier’s after-sales network can offer a maximum four-hour on-site response, which is very impressive!

AI PC, Embrace the Future:

The last category consists of this year’s new models, which share the common feature of being paired with Intel’s newly released Core Ultra 1st generation AI CPU, significantly upgrading integrated graphics while incorporating stylish AI units (NPU) that can provide powerful AI functionalities within a compact chassis, such as running local AI drawing like Stable Diffusion without any pressure. The integrated graphics performance is also currently top-tier, completely rivaling APU, but the downside is that there are not many products available as they are newly released and indeed a bit pricey. However, “AI” has been the industry keyword for the past two years; investing in AI is investing in the future, and taking it to your boss to make a case is a sure win!

Mechanical Revolution imini Pro520 Ultra 5 125H 32/1T ￥3999

As one of the products celebrating the tenth anniversary of Mechanical Revolution, this imini is one of the earliest Core Ultra mini PCs on the market, primarily focusing on cost performance, featuring core configurations of Ultra5 125H+32G+1T, dual network ports, and Thunderbolt 4 ports, supporting four 4K displays, with a performance release of 65W, easily outclassing similarly priced desktop PCs, living up to its name as the “price butcher”. However, the surrounding configurations are slightly lacking, with only genuine Windows and no Office, and the after-sales service is also a standard three-year warranty, making it a consideration in performance-driven scenarios.

Currently, there are actually only two legitimate “AI PCs” on the market; besides the Mechanical Revolution mentioned above, there is only one other model, the Asus Dawn X, but I personally do not recommend it, mainly because of this:

The authentic NUC14 is about to arrive! After Asus took over NUC, they have already released the authentic NUC14 overseas, all equipped with Intel Core Ultra 1st generation CPU, with the Pro version supporting vPro with Ultra7 165H, and Pro+ having Ultra9 185H available. The Pro model is the successor to the best-selling Wall Street Canyon, designed for 7×24 hour, 40℃ high-temperature environment stable operation, making it a “hardcore” mini PC—under the same price, no other desktop, laptop, or mini PC product can compare; none are as strong as it is stable, and none are as stable as it is strong! The NUC14 series will be gradually available for sale around April, and based on overseas prices and past experiences, the NUC14Pro Ultra5 125H complete machine product will likely be priced around 4000-5000 yuan, which is certainly more expensive than other machines, but when it comes to hardcore reliability, there are truly no competitors!

In addition, there is another mini PC product that can be considered the king of mini PCs—the ROG Big Eye! It is also coming soon!

This product hardly needs further introduction, as many people are eagerly waiting for it! Although it is an ROG series product primarily aimed at consumers, it is still a proud member of the NUC product line, maintaining high quality and top-tier performance: Are you ready? The big one is coming!

Conclusion:

In fact, before Xiaomi led the entry of mini PCs into the public eye, the mini PC market had always been a darling of the commercial market: high reliability, sufficient performance, compact size, and easy deployment. The reason it was not well-known was mainly due to the quietness of the commercial market, which general users do not usually encounter. However, as Xiaomi spurred the consumer-grade mini PC market, many domestic brands began to ramp up, which also influenced the commercial market to some extent, with configurations being raised and services continuously upgraded. This new category of mini PCs, accompanied by unstoppable development momentum, is bound to become an indispensable part of the PC market!