This year, the traditional DIY computer market has been quite sluggish. Mainly due to the instability of the graphics card market over the past two years, prices have been outrageous. After they drop, everyone worries about buying mining cards. Many ordinary users don’t really understand this. In fact, today’s CPU performance is already strong enough. If you’re not particularly pursuing high graphics quality for gaming, the current integrated graphics are completely sufficient. General users can run League of Legends or play those Tencent online games without issues, as long as the configuration isn’t too outrageous. Therefore, we can see that the mini PC market has been particularly hot these past two years. Mini PCs have actually been around for quite a while. Intel was the first to produce the NUC, but it has always been favored by niche players, and mainstream users have rarely heard of such products.
The turning point came around the second half of last year when Xiaomi launched its first mini PC product, entering the mini PC market. This allowed many smartphone users to start recognizing and getting in touch with this form of computer product. Later, many consumers began to recognize brands like ZhiKe and MingFan, and this year, many new brands of mini PCs have emerged. The products from these brands look quite similar, with square boxes, and some smaller brands even use the same mold for each product. After upgrading the CPU, the cooling often can’t keep up, which greatly affects the overall performance.
Recently, AYANEO, which has been making Windows handhelds, has also entered the mini PC market with its first product, the AYANEO Retro Mini PC AM01. This mini PC features a very interesting design, with a retro look that pays homage to the classic Apple Macintosh, finally bringing a unique design sense to the otherwise monotonous mini PC market.
This AYANEO mini PC is powered by the AMD Ryzen R5-5700U processor, which many laptop users should be familiar with. Last year, laptops using this processor were priced over 4000. Compared to laptops, mini PCs lack a screen and keyboard, so they can be seen as laptops without screens. However, the advantage over laptops is clear: when connected to an external monitor, the desktop is cleaner, making it suitable for users who don’t travel much and find traditional desktops too bulky.
First, I want to clarify that this machine is the first one I purchased, and I have been using it for about seven or eight days. I initially planned to buy the barebones version without memory and hard drive, priced at just over 1200, but I found the version with 16GB of memory and 512GB of storage to be very cost-effective. The final price came to 1899, which is under 2000. This configuration is sufficient for my needs. The experiences and opinions shared in this article are based on my daily use of this mini PC as a replacement for a desktop and an external monitor, even though I have only been using it for about seven or eight days. Let’s discuss its pros and cons and see how this brand’s mini PC performs.
Let’s first talk about the appearance. The AM01 pays homage to classic old Apple computers, so its design is very similar to the Apple Macintosh. However, it is not positioned vertically but lies flat, making it a square box. The body is made of plastic, and the color scheme replicates that of the Apple Macintosh. The dimensions are 132mm × 132mm × 60.5mm, with a volume of 1L, making it significantly smaller than a traditional desktop, solving the issue of limited desk space for a small computer.
In terms of interfaces, the machine has one USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-C interface on the front, but this interface only supports data transfer and does not support connecting an external monitor with a single cable.
On the back, there are a total of four USB-A ports, three of which are USB 3.2 Gen2 and one is USB 2.0, making it easy to connect a keyboard and mouse. The USB ports are quite abundant, and for video output, it has HDMI 2.0 and DP 1.4 ports, supporting up to 4K 60Hz video output, with a gigabit network port.
Let’s briefly review the interfaces. The advantages are that the two video interfaces support dual-display output, and there are a total of five USB ports, which is sufficient for daily use without needing an external docking station. This configuration is in line with the mid-range price point. However, as AYANEO’s first mini PC, it still lacks some features, including a fully functional Type-C interface and dual network ports, which may be included in future high-end series. Nonetheless, the retro design of the AM01 is indeed beautiful and stands out among similar mini PCs on the market.
Additionally, the appearance features some small DIY designs, such as personalized magnetic decorative pieces and colorful stickers corresponding to the classic Apple Macintosh logo and screen. We all know that the Macintosh was driven by floppy disks, and AYANEO has designed the floppy disk space as a power button, which is quite interesting. The aesthetic appeal of this design is sure to attract nostalgic old-school players.
Regarding heat dissipation, it is crucial for mini PCs. However, the AM01 uses the Ryzen 7 5700U low-power mobile processor, which doesn’t put much pressure on cooling. This processor is a classic, featuring 8 cores and 16 threads, with a maximum boost frequency of 4.3GHz and integrated Vega 8 graphics, providing excellent performance. AYANEO has clearly put a lot of effort into this first mini PC, as we can see that the sides and bottom of the chassis are filled with heat dissipation holes. The large intake and exhaust ports create a heat dissipation channel that effectively expels heat from the machine’s interior.
Moreover, inside the machine, there is a large 35W high-pressure turbo fan, and it is equipped with a four-heat pipe cooling module with an aluminum area of 60008.0m². This cooling system allows the old flagship CPU, the Ryzen 7 5700U, to run without any pressure.
To verify the cooling performance of this machine, I conducted a stress test immediately. Given the compact design, it really tests the manufacturer’s optimization of the cooling capability. My room temperature is 27°C, and in this environment, the AM01 supports multiple TDP settings. The factory default is a balanced mode, and it can switch to other modes via the AYASpace management software. The default maximum power consumption is 35W. In this mode, I ran a stress test using AIDA64 for FPU single-threaded testing. During a 25-minute single-thread test, the highest temperature of the mini PC reached around 83 degrees, and the power remained stable within 35W. Throughout the stress test, the fan was particularly quiet, and the overall cooling performance was excellent.
Like traditional desktops, mini PCs also require a monitor, keyboard, and mouse for use. The AYANEO AM01 supports up to 4K 60Hz video output. In practice, at 4K 60Hz resolution, it can perfectly adapt to the CFORCE 15.6-inch portable screen, which is a portable display that supports 4K 60Hz and touch functionality. This is the best display I have purchased in terms of display quality, using a Samsung original screen that provides excellent display performance. However, the AM01 does not support Type-C single-cable connection, so it cannot utilize the touch functionality of the portable screen. I plan to use it with my laptop as a secondary monitor and connect it to the mini PC at home, so I don’t have to set up a separate monitor, keeping the desktop tidy.
Although the CFORCE 15Next is a portable monitor, it is equipped with a standard HDMI port instead of the mini HDMI port commonly used in portable monitors, making it very convenient to connect to the mini PC without needing to find a small HDMI cable.
Nowadays, even a regular OLED monitor is quite expensive, and there are limited options. However, there are many portable screens with OLED panels available. The CFORCE portable screen uses a Samsung 4K OLED panel, which is currently the best screen available. The screen uses AMOLED organic light-emitting materials, without glass bonding on the surface. Compared to regular screens, the biggest advantage of OLED is that the colors are very vibrant and there is no issue with uneven lighting. This is also why OLED screens have become popular in smartphones.
The screen supports 3840*2160 resolution, 10.7 billion colors, a contrast ratio of 100000:1, 100% DCI-P3 color gamut, and 8-bit color depth + FRC, with a peak brightness of 600 nits. Notably, it has a rapid response time of 1ms, which means that if you use this screen for gaming, the actual gaming experience will approach that of professional gaming monitors with 144Hz or even 240Hz refresh rates. Therefore, the 1ms response time is a crucial parameter.
Next, let’s run a score test with the performance master to see its core configuration. The performance master scores 720K, with a CPU score of 424K, a graphics score of 61K, a memory score of 95K, and a disk score of 141K. For a mini PC equipped with an older flagship Ryzen 7 CPU, this performance is still impressive compared to current mini PCs like Intel’s N100 processor.
Through CPU-Z benchmarks, we can see that the single-core score of the Ryzen R7-5700U is 517.2, and the multi-core score is 4213.1.
My AM01 has a configuration of 16GB + 512GB. The official provides a barebones version. If you have strong DIY skills, you can buy the barebones version and install the system yourself. However, when buying memory and hard drives, make sure to select the correct version. The memory must be DDR4. The AM01 is equipped with two memory slots, supporting a maximum expansion of 64GB of memory. The hard drive supports M.2 2280 PCIe 3.0 drives, and is backward compatible with SATA 3.0 SSDs. Additionally, it has a built-in SATA 3.0 interface that can support an additional 2.5-inch SATA SSD or mechanical hard drive for storage. The packaging includes a specially designed AYANEO-themed bracket for the 2.5-inch hard drive.
The official configuration includes two 8GB ADATA DDR4 3200MHz memory modules, forming a dual-channel 16GB memory. According to AIDA64 tests, the memory read speed is 46799MB/s, write speed is 43287MB/s, copy speed is 38822MB/s, and latency is 97.4ns, meeting the performance standards of DDR4 memory.
The hard drive is a 512GB PCIe 3.0 compliant unit. Through CrystalDiskMark testing, the actual sequential read speed is 2442.14MB/s, and the sequential write speed is 1764.68MB/s. While this speed is somewhat weaker compared to newer PCIe 4.0 drives, it meets the standards for PCIe 3.0 drives and is sufficient for daily use.
As for integrated graphics, while the Radeon RX Vega 8 in the Ryzen R7-5700U may lag behind AMD’s latest Radeon 780M, it is still a very capable integrated graphics solution. It can still run mainstream large online games like League of Legends and Genshin Impact smoothly.
It is worth mentioning that this integrated graphics solution has already been adapted by some enthusiasts for Hackintosh systems, which has doubled its market value. In addition to the regular Windows system, adventurous users can also use it as a Macintosh system.
In fact, the primary use case for mini PCs is still office and entertainment. I have always believed that even the powerful Radeon 780M integrated graphics can only run AAA games smoothly at low resolutions and low graphics settings. Additionally, the Vega 8 has strong video decoding capabilities, supporting 8K hardware decoding for common formats like H264, HEVC, and VP9. It is particularly suitable for connecting to large screens for watching high-definition 4K movies, and in tests, it can smoothly play 4K video sources.
Alright, let’s summarize. From a broader perspective, the mini PC market has begun to transition from niche players to mainstream users. There are now many brands of mini PCs available on the market. However, the designs of these mini PCs tend to be somewhat homogenized. The AYANEO AM01, with its retro classic design paying homage to the Apple Macintosh, is genuinely eye-catching. As a long-time Apple fan, I really appreciate the design of this mini PC. Moreover, the Ryzen 7 5700U it is equipped with is significantly more powerful than similar-priced mini PCs like Intel’s N100 this year, especially since it can run Hackintosh systems. Coupled with the classic Apple Macintosh design, it truly evokes a sense of nostalgia.
In the 2000 price range, its performance is sufficient to meet the office and entertainment needs of most users, and its cooling is strong enough. Additionally, with many years of optimization based on handheld devices, the AYASpace management software helps users manage the TDP power consumption more conveniently, making it particularly suitable for novice users. However, the downside is that this machine does not come with the fully functional Type-C interface and dual network ports that I personally prefer, which limits some features. Nonetheless, I believe that if you are not particularly pursuing extreme performance in a mini PC and care about its aesthetic appeal, this first mini PC from AYANEO is indeed a great option.