Nowadays, many households rarely equip themselves with computers. Since the advent of smartphones, many people’s entertainment methods have shifted from computers and televisions to mobile phones. Therefore, I have noticed that many of my relatives and friends seldom have computers. Even if they have desktops, they find them cumbersome and want to sell them. However, many young families still consider computers a standard appliance at home; they may not use it often, but it must be there. Indeed, no matter how powerful smartphones or tablets become, they cannot replace computers as productivity tools. Nonetheless, we must admit that smartphones have replaced many functions of computers.
However, the current desktop computers have indeed developed to an extreme. Previously, desktop computers were reasonably sized, not overly large. But now, in pursuit of aesthetics, desktops have become increasingly larger. I have noticed that similar products to NUC, such as mini PCs, have started appearing on the market, making the main unit very small while maintaining decent performance, fully meeting general work requirements. In fact, some mini PCs’ performance is already comparable to that of flagship desktops. The significance of mini PCs being so small is that they can save more desktop space, completely addressing the pain points for the majority of families.
Recently, I originally planned to buy a second-hand computer to keep at home as a backup. Suddenly, I saw an article about the Zero刻 EQ59 Pro mini computer, priced at around a thousand yuan. After looking at the specifications, I felt that the Intel 11th Gen N5105 4-core 2.9GHz processor and the 8+512GB storage combination could fully meet my office needs. I don’t plan to use a desktop at home anymore; I can keep the desktop at work and have a small mini computer at home, which feels sufficient. The main advantage is its small size, allowing me to move it around easily. If I want to watch a good movie, I can plug it into the TV in the living room and enjoy it. It feels great, so I decided to buy one. After using it for more than half a month, I want to share whether this type of main unit is good to use and whether it is worth buying.
After receiving the Zero刻 EQ59 Pro, I first looked at the size of the unit, and it indeed subverted my understanding. The overall dimensions are 124*113*42mm, roughly the size of the TV box we use at home, which is really compact. The appearance is square and straightforward, nothing special, but it still looks comfortable and aligns with my aesthetic as a science and engineering student. The body is made of ABS plastic and acrylic, not metal, so it doesn’t seem very high-end. However, for less than 1000 yuan, it’s still acceptable. I need to be cautious with the plastic shell to avoid scratches.
Regarding interfaces, the front of the Zero刻 EQ59 Pro has two USB 3.0 ports and one full-function Type-C port, which can be used to connect a monitor. On one side, there is a 3.5mm audio port, and the leftmost side has a CMOS reset hole.
The back of the unit features two Gigabit LAN ports, 2 USB 3.0 ports, 2 HDMI ports, and a power adapter port. As mentioned earlier, the front has a Type-C port for connecting an external display, and with the two HDMI ports on the back, the Zero刻 mini computer can actually connect up to three monitors simultaneously. For users who enjoy multi-screen setups, there is no need to worry about switching to a mini computer and losing the dual-screen capability; it’s still feasible. However, I suggest that the manufacturer move the front Type-C port to the back to avoid messy cables.
Next, let’s take a look inside. The bottom of the unit has four screws; once removed, the back cover can be taken off. When opening the back cover, be careful not to pull the ribbon cable too hard as it connects to the 2.5-inch hard drive bay, allowing for the installation of a 2.5-inch mechanical or solid-state drive to expand the computer’s storage.
Upon opening the back cover, you can see that although the EQ59 Pro is very small, the internal arrangement of the motherboard, hard drive, and memory is very organized, demonstrating the quality of a big brand. I specifically researched the Zero刻 brand; they have consistently topped the mini computer sales charts abroad and are quite well-known, which explains the meticulous design of this motherboard. The motherboard has two memory slots; one slot is occupied by an 8GB 2933MHz memory stick, and you can later upgrade by adding another 8GB memory to create a 16GB dual-channel setup. The hard drive is a 500GB M.2 SATA3 2280 solid-state drive.
Coincidentally, I had a DDR4 8GB memory stick at home, which I installed alongside to create a dual-channel setup.
The Zero刻 EQ59 Pro’s network card supports WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 4.0, which is not the mainstream WiFi 6 card. However, to be honest, it’s sufficient for daily use, especially at a price below a thousand yuan.
Now, let’s focus on the specifications. This mini computer is equipped with Intel’s 11th Gen N5105 processor, which offers decent performance. This CPU uses a 10nm process and excels in both performance and power consumption. Many ultra-thin laptops using this series of CPUs do not even have built-in fans, as this CPU can operate well with active cooling. Nonetheless, Zero刻 has equipped it with a silent fan, so even with prolonged use, there’s no need to worry about performance drops due to heat issues. Theoretically, compared to laptops equipped with the same CPU, the Zero刻 EQ59 Pro’s performance should be stronger since the CPU can run at full power.
In the benchmarking software 鲁大师, it scored a high score of 296472, with a CPU score of 120,000, a memory score of 75,000, a hard drive score of 48,000, and a graphics score of over 50,000. This score is entirely sufficient for an office or home computer, and it can even handle games like LOL at low settings smoothly.
Since I added another 8GB memory, the EQ59 Pro’s memory bandwidth and data throughput have performed quite well.
In the CPU-Z test, the N5105 scored 265.1 points in single-core and 1001.5 points in multi-core.
Using specialized benchmarking software CrystalDiskMark to test the performance of the built-in solid-state drive, the results showed: Read speed: 503MB/s, Write speed: 479.8MB/s, which meets the SATA protocol standards. Although the speed is not as fast as mainstream NVMe protocol solid-state drives, this performance is more than enough for daily office use.
Finally, let’s summarize. Overall, this mini host launched by Zero刻 for less than a thousand yuan can completely meet the usage needs of most families. If you ask whether it can replace a regular desktop, to be honest, the Intel 11th Gen N5105 processor performs comparably to Core i3 of the fifth generation, Core i5 of the fourth generation, and Core i7 of the third generation. Therefore, compared to older desktops at home, its performance is still very adequate. However, the unit is much smaller than a regular desktop, about the size of a TV box, making it very convenient for daily use. It can be placed anywhere in the house. For instance, I use the Zero刻 to download 4K HD movies in my bedroom. Previously, I had to copy them to a mobile hard drive and plug them into the TV to watch. Now, I can directly connect the Zero刻 EQ59 Pro to the TV. This is something regular desktops cannot do.
Of course, it can even be taken on business trips. Therefore, I believe that mini hosts like Zero刻 can completely replace regular desktops. However, if you play large AAA games, I suggest waiting for mini computers that support dedicated graphics cards. I estimate that this is a trend, and such products will definitely appear.