If you ask who the “King of the Roll” in the laptop field in 2023 is, many friends will probably shout out a name in unison: Mechanical Revolution!
That’s right, it’s the machine brother. At the beginning of the year, the world-renowned 16 Super water-cooled gaming laptop first sold the RTX 4080 discrete graphics card at the lowest price of 14,999 yuan for the same configuration, and then launched multiple mid-range powerhouses with RTX 4060 priced at only 5,999 yuan. The newly launched Unbounded 14 has brought the AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS to a popular price of 3,799 yuan, which is simply 【unreasonable】.
Now, the machine brother has turned his attention to the emerging mini host market, recently launching three mini hosts: Unbounded S Core version, Unbounded S Ryzen version, and Aurora S.
Among them, the Unbounded S Ryzen version is equipped with the R7 7735HS processor, and on the basis of standard 32GB memory and 1TB SSD, it has a price of 2,999 yuan. The memory of this product comes from InnoDisk, and the SSD comes from Yangtze Memory, and there is no cost-saving on peripheral accessories due to the low price.
It can both replace desktop and laptop computers, and after installing software like Kodi, it can also serve as a good audio-visual entertainment center, making it a cost-effective, compact, and powerful all-in-one PC solution.
Next, let’s fully experience the characteristics and performance of the Unbounded S Ryzen version.
Unboxing: Getting to Know Unbounded S
The packaging box of Unbounded S (default is the Ryzen version) is not small, with a black background and red letters, you can tell at a glance that the machine inside should have the bloodline from AMD.
There are also many accessories inside, besides the host and power adapter, there are also a dedicated desktop stand, wall mount bracket, a 1-meter HDMI video cable, 2 spare triangle foot pads, a 2.5-inch hard disk ribbon cable, power adapter, power cord, and fixing screws.
I have to say that the standard 120W power adapter of Unbounded S is indeed a bit large, weighing 446g without the power cord.
In comparison, the weight of the Unbounded S host (with memory and hard disk) is only 648g. Hopefully, the next generation of the Unbounded mini can consider introducing a GaN charger.
This product’s dimensions are 128mm×126.6mm×46.5mm, about 0.75L, just slightly larger than an adult’s palm.
In comparison, the size of traditional ATX cases is generally around 40L, while the Unbounded S is only 1/50 of that, making its desktop space usage negligible, especially when placed upright with a base.
If your monitor has a VESA wall mount hole, congratulations, you can fix the standard wall mount bracket with screws on the back of the monitor, then tighten 2 fixing screws on the bottom of the Unbounded S host, and you can hang it behind the monitor.
In this way, there will be no trace of the host on the desktop, and the entire view will become refreshing.
The shell of the Unbounded S host is made of ABS engineering plastic, but the surface spraying process still gives it a metallic texture. This product has added wave patterns to the surface of the top cover (the bottom cover as well), and a nameplate with the Mechanical Revolution logo is embedded in the lower right corner, looking very unique.
This product has rich interfaces, with the front equipped with a reset hole, power switch, audio interface, USB4, USB-C3.2 Gen2 (10Gbps) interface, and the top of the interface is covered with a metal mesh air intake.
The row of holes on the upper right side of the machine is the heat dissipation air outlet, and you can see the heat dissipation fins inside through the gaps.
The back of the host provides power socket, 2.5G gigabit network port, security lock hole, 2 USB-A3.2 Gen2 (10Gbps), 2 HDMI (supporting 4K @60Hz), and 2 USB2.0 in order. The row of holes on the top is also an air outlet, and there are also fine heat dissipation fins inside.
The top left side of the host also has a row of air intake holes, with dual-side air intake and dual-side air outlet, the heat dissipation duct design is quite reasonable.
Although the Unbounded S host can be placed flat on the desktop or hung behind the monitor, it is still recommended to use the included stand for vertical placement, to achieve the best cooling efficiency and save desktop space.
Disassembly: Analyzing Unbounded S
After looking at the exterior design of the Unbounded S, let’s take a look at its internal beauty. The bottom cover of this product is fixed by four screws hidden under the foot pads. To upgrade, you need to first remove the bottom cover. The triangular foot pads are prone to glue coming off, so the official has included 2 spare foot pads in the packaging.
After unscrewing the screws, you can remove the bottom cover from an inward recess at the edge, revealing the internal design of this mini host. This product has 2 strips of 16GB InnoDisk DDR5-4800 memory, forming a dual-channel mode, which can fully release the 3D performance of the integrated graphics, and can be upgraded to a maximum capacity of 64GB.
The Unbounded S has added a large area of custom metal heatsink on the surface of the solid-state drive, fixed with 2 screws, which can assist in SSD cooling and improve system stability.
When you remove it, you can see the hard disk below, specifically the Yangtze Memory PC300, which is an entry-level PCIe 4.0 SSD with sustained read and write speeds of approximately 3600MB/s and 3000MB/s. If you pursue a top-level read and write experience, you can buy a flagship SSD of 2TB or 4TB during the 618 period for an upgrade.
On the back of the bottom cover, there is also a buckle and screw position for fixing a 2.5-inch hard disk, where you can install a second SATA mechanical or solid-state hard disk, connected to the motherboard via the included hard disk ribbon cable.
Compared with other competitors, the biggest feature of the Unbounded S in terms of heat dissipation is the introduction of liquid metal heat dissipation design, so I didn’t conduct in-depth disassembly on it. Everyone can refer to the official promotional images, the large-sized turbo fan, 2 heat pipes, and 2 sets of heat dissipation fins, the cooling capacity will not be weaker than that of lightweight laptops with the same configuration.
Evaluation: Experience Unbounded S
The hardware configuration of the Unbounded S Ryzen version should be very familiar to everyone, right? It is equipped with the AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS processor, combining Zen3+ and RDNA2 architectures, with 8 cores and 16 threads, a maximum boost frequency of 4.75GHz, and is also a dessert-level mobile processor before the mass production of the AMD Ryzen 7040 series.
With 32GB of memory, this product can achieve around 1.14 million points in Lu Master, surpassing 89% of computer users nationwide, showing impressive performance.
The Xiaomi mini host and the Xiaoxin mini host are currently the hottest two mini host representatives, equipped with the 12th generation Core i5-1240P and the 13th generation Core i5-13500H processors, with promotional prices of 2,999 yuan and 3,699 yuan during the 618 period respectively. Let’s compare them with the Unbounded S Ryzen version in theoretical benchmark tests to see what level the Ryzen 7 7735HS is at.
In the single-core tests of CPU-Z and CineBench, the performance of the Ryzen 7 7735HS is between the i5-1240P and i5-13500H, but the gap with the former is not large, basically existing in the same level.
In multi-core tests, the performance of the Ryzen 7 7735HS is significantly ahead of the i5-1240P, but unfortunately, it is still not a match for the i5-13500H, although the performance gap has narrowed.
Although the i5-13500H has better CPU performance, it falls short in 3DMark tests. On the one hand, the Xiaoxin mini host is equipped with DDR4 memory, and on the other hand, the Iris Xe 80 is really not enough in front of the Radeon 680M integrated graphics, even the higher-tier Iris Xe 96 would be easily defeated.
In other words, the Ryzen 7 7735HS has better overall performance compared to the Core i5 platform, which is reflected in the modern office tests of PCMark, The Unbounded S Ryzen version scored over 7000 points, leading the Xiaomi mini host and Xiaoxin mini host by 23% and 18% respectively.
The opinion of the machine brother is that, before the mass production of the 14th generation Core, the Ryzen 7 6800H or higher models are the more suitable hardware platforms for integrated graphic mini hosts.
The stronger integrated graphics is the core competitiveness of the Unbounded S. In the game “Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey” at 1080P+ high quality, this mini host can achieve an average frame rate of 37FPS, with a minimum frame rate of 23FPS.
In the game “Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla” at 1080P+ high quality, the average frame rate is 32FPS, with a minimum frame rate of 10FPS.
In the game “Far Cry: New Dawn” at 1080P+ high quality, the average frame rate is 37FPS, with a minimum of 19FPS. Although the Unbounded S faces some pressure in AAA titles, it can still run smoothly after appropriately lowering the quality.
In the more mainstream game “League of Legends” at 2K resolution + highest quality, the Unbounded S can achieve an average frame rate of 133FPS, providing a silky smooth experience.
When playing 4K resolution HEVC encoded videos, the CPU utilization of the Unbounded S can be kept below 3% at all times.
In the AIDA64 FPU stress test, the maximum instantaneous power consumption of the Unbounded S can reach 60W, then it will drop to 54W, stabilizing at around 45W after less than 1 minute, with the CPU core temperature fluctuating around 75 degrees Celsius.
This power release state is also well represented in the curve graph of the power consumption tester and the 30 rounds of CineBench R15 test, where the initial peak power consumption of the whole machine can reach 80W. As the CPU power consumption drops from 60W and stabilizes at 45W, the performance output approaches a straight line.
At this time, the overall power consumption detected by the power consumption recorder is about 60W. When the noise testing instrument is placed close to the mini host, the noise value fluctuates around 50 decibels. When the tester is moved to the edge of the desk near the user, the noise will drop to around 40 decibels.
In standby mode, even when the noise testing instrument is placed close to the mini host, it is less than 38 decibels, and the user can hardly hear the fan noise. At this time, the overall power consumption fluctuates between 6W and 8W.
For reference, the standby power consumption of most ATX hosts is between 60W and 80W, while the standby power consumption of the Unbounded S is only 1/10 of theirs. When the host enters sleep mode, the power consumption will further drop to below 2W, so you don’t have to worry about the electricity bill if you keep it on 24/7.
Summary: Who Doesn’t Like a Rolled-Up Mini Host?
As Mechanical Revolution’s first report card in the mini computer field, the performance of the Unbounded S Ryzen version is quite satisfactory, with a design that can be placed flat, upright, or hung, a volume only 1/50 of an ATX host, and standby power consumption only 1/10 of theirs, with expansion capabilities exceeding most laptops.
The performance provided by the Ryzen 7 7735HS processor is sufficient to meet daily office and 3D online game operation needs, and the price of 2,999 yuan is also quite sincere, making it very suitable for family users to replace traditional desktop computers equipped with GTX 1650 level discrete graphics.
In addition, mini hosts are particularly suitable for partnering with applications like Kodi, which can better manage local audio and video resources, watch online TV broadcasts, or install various favorite plugins. However, using such a powerful Unbounded S Ryzen version to replace a set-top box as a home media entertainment center, do you think it might be a bit of an overkill?
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