A Mini PC That Prioritizes Design Over Practicality

The Pen Bar Review Studio focuses on laptops, but last year we expanded into a nice category, which is “mini PC reviews.” Although it is a niche market, it is at least an industry that I am personally interested in, so we will continue to explore it this year if the opportunity arises.

Recently, we tested a mini PC with a very delicate design — Khadas Mind, this is a product that prioritizes [design] over [practicality]. There is no cost-performance ratio, but its industrial design is second to none.

Recently, I spent 999 yuan to buy the “Interface Expansion Dock” that comes with Khadas Mind (the lower part of the image above), let’s see how its complete performance is:

Khadas Mind

Swipe left to see interfaces

Back of the machine

Its configuration is as follows:

i5-1340P processor

16GB LPDDR5 5200MHz memory

512GB solid-state drive

Battery capacity 5.55Wh

Dimensions 146.2×105.2×19.4mm

Weight 432g

Adapter weight 119g

Reference price 4999 yuan

Interface expansion dock price 999 yuan

Its pros and cons are as follows:

Pros!

1. Card-shaped, compact size

2. CNC cutting for the entire machine, exquisite workmanship, excellent design

3. M.2 interface equipped with magnetic quick-release panel, easy to upgrade

Cons!

1. Fewer interfaces

2. Performance release is relatively conservative

3. Expensive, and the interface expansion dock is even more expensive

[Upgrade Suggestions]

This ultra-mini PC is a bit troublesome to disassemble. After removing the screws on the D case, you can take off the back cover. The heat dissipation module is on the other side of the motherboard, and you need to remove several screws and disconnect the cables and network card antenna to take off the motherboard.

The internal workmanship of this computer is very neat, and the network card antenna even has a wiring groove.

The dual-channel 16GB LPDDR5 5200MHz memory can meet most usage needs, and the memory is onboard and cannot be replaced.

The solid-state drive of the test machine has a capacity of 512GB, model SN740, supports PCIe4.0×4 and NVMe, and the machine has two 2230 specifications M.2 slots, which can be self-installed if needed.The spare M.2 interface is equipped with a magnetic quick-release panel at the bottom of the machine, and adding a hard drive does not require disassembling the machine.

[Purchase Suggestions]

1. Extremely strict requirements for size control

2. Specially high requirements for overall workmanship

3. Able to accept a higher price

Khadas Mind is designed to use its ultra-portable size to cope with multiple work scenarios, so it fits a 5.55Wh small standby battery into a extremely small volume of 0.3L. When it needs to change the usage environment, Mind will automatically enter sleep mode after disconnecting the power, until the power is reconnected, allowing seamless switching between different usage scenarios.

Regarding interfaces, all interfaces of this computer are on the back, with two USB-C (both support DP output and PD charging, with the left side at 2.0 speed and the right side at 10Gbps), two USB-A 10Gbps, and one HDMI2.0 interface, which is relatively few.

Regarding battery life, to facilitate everyone’s reference, we still use the familiar PCmark10 for battery life testing (connected to an independently powered 2560×1440 resolution monitor, with a wired keyboard and mouse without lighting, and BIOS performance settings set to Max Battery, under which the computer’s performance will be greatly limited) The score in modern office scenarios is 40 minutes, which is obviously not meant for use away from power, mainly to maintain the computer’s standby state.

Regarding noise, its full-load noise level is 41.9dB. (Ambient noise is 34.5dB)

Khadas Mind currently has two configurations and a separate interface expansion dock for sale, with the i5/16GB/512GB version priced at4999 yuan, and the i7/32GB/1TB version priced at6999 yuan, and the expansion dock999 yuan (including Type-A×3, HDMI×2, Type-C, RJ45, SD card slot, physical knob), there is completely no cost performance.

So if you want an ultra-small size, expandable mini PC, and place great importance on industrial design, then this Khadas Mind can be considered.

However, this computer’s cost performance is really too low, and if you care more about practicality, then other traditional mini PCs are more suitable for you.

Swipe left to see the back of the host

Screenshot of the back of the motherboard

[Heat Dissipation Analysis]

The above image is a disassembly shot of Khadas Mind, featuring the conventional combination of centrifugal fan and heat pipe.

Room temperature 25℃

Reflectivity 1.0

BIOS version: 1.0

We first use Stress CPU for stress testing.

Under full load, switching to Turbo Performance mode in the BIOS, the CPU temperature reaches a maximum of 74℃, stabilizing at 71℃, with a power consumption of around 23W, and the P-core frequency maintained at 2.8GHz, E-core frequency at 2.2GHz.

Using a higher load Stress FPU test, the CPU power consumption rises to 28W, reaching the PL1 set value, with the temperature stabilizing at 73℃, P-core frequency at 2.5GHz, and E-core frequency at 1.9GHz.

Swipe left to see the front temperature

Temperature on the front of the machine

The surface temperatures are shown in the above image, with the maximum temperature on the top surface reaching 42.0℃, and the maximum temperature on the front surface reaching 41.7℃. Due to structural and size issues, the surface temperature is slightly higher than that of ordinary mini PCs, which is a normal phenomenon.

[Final Thoughts from the Author]

The above image shows the detailed markings of the interface expansion dock, which has many more interfaces and even comes with fingerprint recognition and volume knob. If you ignore the price of 999 yuan, it really feels great.

The advantage of first-party expansion docks is that they are “shape-matched,” and they harmonize well with the host, avoiding the feeling of “hanging a urine bag.”

The above image is the back side

In fact, this is not our first encounter with first-party expansion docks. I have previously used official docks from Microsoft’s Surface, ThinkPad, Dell, HP, ASUS, etc. They are all based on Thunderbolt design and have a design style consistent with the high-end products of their brands, with prices in the four-digit range.

In my opinion, such products are aimed at those “price-insensitive” high-consumption groups, who may be high-end trendy industry workers needing various devices to reflect their temperament, and thus their computers cannot use “off-the-shelf” products. A small and unique product might be a good choice.