Finest mini PCs: Fast Menu
The perfect mini PCs is likely to be tiny in comparison with standard-sized rigs however they pack sufficient energy to carry out a variety of duties — together with net searching, content material creation and gaming. These minuscule computer systems should not solely extra handy than monumental PC towers, however they’re additionally tremendous quiet. For some of us, mini PCs may very well be the proper private laptop.
Mini PCs vary from smaller desktops to stay PCs you possibly can slip into your pocket. Mini PCs additionally leverage the small, energy-efficient parts of laptops to offer you a stunning quantity of energy in sizes that may be hidden behind a monitor. With mini PCs made for every little thing from media streaming to gaming and VR, there are mini stick PCs and mini desktops for nearly everybody.
Beneath, we have listed the most effective mini PCs for every little thing from house leisure to gaming {and professional} workstations. We’ll proceed updating and including to this record as we obtain new items to overview.
Editor’s word: We have known as in a number of new mini PCs so as to add to this record so keep tuned for that replace.
Tony Polanco
Tony is a senior employees author at Tom’s Information masking laptops, tablets, Home windows, and iPadOS. Throughout his off-hours, Tony enjoys studying comedian books, taking part in video video games, studying speculative fiction novels, and spending an excessive amount of time on Twitter. His work has appeared in publications resembling Laptop computer Magazine, PC Magazine, and varied unbiased gaming websites.
The short record
This is a fast overview of the most effective mini PCs you should purchase proper now based mostly on our testing and evaluations. Even when a few of the machines listed aren’t the newest fashions obtainable, they nonetheless present loads of energy for no matter you are engaged on.
The perfect mini PC total
The Mac mini M2 is a pint-sized powerhouse that’s cheaper and sooner than its predecessor due to the speedy M2 chip. The choice to improve it with an M2 Professional ($1,299) sweetens the deal, turning this into a good Mac for gaming or mild picture/video enhancing. It’s an important mini PC for Mac followers.
Learn extra under.
The perfect mini PC for creatives
The Mac Studio M2 is an incremental enchancment over its predecessor, delivering extra energy than ever earlier than in a Mac desktop that also runs quiet and appears good on a desk. However that is not the pitch for the Studio. It is a high-performance Mac desktop that does every little thing a artistic wants it to do.
Learn extra under.
3. Raspberry Pi 4 Mannequin B
The perfect mini PC for tinkerers
The Raspberry Pi 4 Mannequin B pushes issues to new heights with a extra highly effective processor, 4K video output and an improved half choice. It provides monumental worth for initiatives starting from easy to complicated, from its enhanced processing and graphics to providing broad compatibility with older equipment.
Learn extra under.
The perfect mini PC for the workplace
Packing loads of functionality into its tiny dimension and providing a modular answer for places of work that wish to improve typically, the Dell OptiPlex 7070 Extremely is a cool twist on the mini PC within the office. The mini PC itself is so slim it’d get mistaken for a laptop computer battery pack or a desktop dock.
Learn extra under.
The perfect mini PCs to purchase now
The perfect mini PC total
Apple outdid itself with the Mac mini M2, a pint-sized powerhouse that’s cheaper and sooner than its predecessor due to the speedy M2 chip. The choice to improve it with an M2 Professional sweetens the deal, turning this into a good Mac for gaming or mild picture/video enhancing. Better of all, it barely takes up any house in your desk.
In fact, you get extra than simply velocity whenever you pay for Professional: the entry-level Mac mini with M2 Professional just isn’t solely extra highly effective, however it additionally has extra reminiscence and storage than the entry-level Mac mini, in addition to extra ports. It’s an important mini PC for Mac followers, one which showcases macOS is coming to good impact. It additionally seems nice on nearly any desk setup. An ideal stability of class and energy.
Learn our full Mac mini M2 overview.
The perfect mini PC for creatives
The Mac Studio can ship extra energy than any Apple laptop in the marketplace save the Mac Professional, and it packs all of it right into a quiet, well-designed chassis that appears good on a desk. It is larger than the Mac mini, however nonetheless discreet sufficient for any desk setup.
As a lot as we love seeing Apple silicon put to good use in MacBooks, the place its energy effectivity helps ship a few of the greatest battery life within the enterprise, the Mac Studio with M1 Extremely proves that Apple’s chips have the chops to compete with the most effective desktop PC silicon from Intel and AMD. You are not sacrificing energy with this small laptop.
Since that is Apple, you’ll must pay a premium. The Mac Studio’s $1,999 beginning worth isn’t too unhealthy for what it provides, and that will get you the entry-level mannequin with the identical M1 Max chip that is within the 2021 MacBook Professionals, which implies this mini-computer packs a severe punch. To get a Mac Studio with Apple’s top-of-the-line M1 Extremely chip will price you a minimum of $4k, although it is price it if you’d like one of many quickest, strongest Macs in the marketplace.
Learn our full Mac Studio overview.
The perfect mini PC for tinkerers
The Raspberry Pi ushered in a brand new period of DIY tech, and the newest mannequin, the Raspberry Pi 4 Mannequin B, pushes that to new heights with a extra highly effective processor, 4K video output and an improved half choice. This $35 Raspberry Pi 4 Mannequin B provides monumental worth for initiatives starting from easy to complicated, from its enhanced processing and graphics to broad compatibility with older equipment.
If you wish to do one thing totally different along with your know-how, the Raspberry Pi 4 Mannequin B is the most effective mini PC for tinkering and experimenting. Whether or not you purchase it alone or in a package, the Raspberry Pi is tough to beat.
Since our overview, the Raspberry Pi 4 Mannequin B has been up to date with a brand new mannequin that has 8GB of RAM, considerably bettering on the 2GB reminiscence of the bottom mannequin. For those who can, get that mannequin over the one we reviewed since it’s going to run considerably sooner.
If the Rasberry Pi is bought out, you should purchase the Raspberry Pi 400 All-in-One.
Learn our full Raspberry Pi 4 Mannequin B overview.
The perfect mini PC for the workplace
Our new favourite workplace desktop does a cool disappearing trick, with a cool design that hides the highly effective mini PC inside a specifically designed monitor stand that turns it right into a low-profile all-in-one PC. Packing loads of functionality into its tiny dimension and providing a modular answer for places of work that wish to improve typically, the Dell OptiPlex 7070 Extremely is a cool twist on the mini PC within the office.
The mini PC itself is so slim it’d get mistaken for a laptop computer battery pack or a desktop dock, however inside it boasts an Intel Core processor, as much as 64GB of RAM and as a lot as 1TB of storage. It has loads of ports and efficiency that places it squarely among the many greatest productivity-focused mini PCs you should purchase.
If the OptiPlex 7070 is bought out, you should purchase the 7090 for $889 at Dell.
Learn our full Dell OptiPlex 7070 Extremely overview.
How to decide on the most effective mini PC
Mini PCs vary from small mission PCs for below $50 (£50/AU$75) to compact desktops that may price $1,000 or extra. Stick PCs are essentially the most versatile, and usually price between $100 (£100/AU$150) and $200 (£200/$AU300), and can work with most TVs or displays. Mini PC costs differ significantly based mostly on {hardware}.
Know what you need: Discovering the suitable mini PC for you begins with realizing what you are in search of. Would you like one thing sufficiently small to tuck behind a TV as a devoted streaming field, or are you in search of one thing with gaming functionality? Would you like a primary internet-browsing machine, or do you want severe processing and graphics functionality? Our greatest picks above do a superb job of highlighting the use circumstances totally different techniques are greatest suited to.
Discover the suitable dimension: Then there’s the query of type issue. Mini PCs are all small, however there’s a vary of choices throughout the class, from stick PCs sufficiently small to slide in your pocket to desktop towers which can be nonetheless compact sufficient to stow out of sight. You may sacrifice energy for a smaller system, however you possibly can nonetheless get a succesful desktop that is sufficiently small to hold in a backpack, even when you’re after gaming functionality or workstation efficiency.
Be sure to like your configuration and improve choices: Lastly, you wish to take a look at configuration choices and upgradability. Many mini PCs have two or three configuration choices, which may change every little thing from the quantity of included storage to the presence of high-end processors and discrete graphics playing cards. There’s additionally the query of upgrades. Most of the smallest mini PCs go away no room for future {hardware} modifications, however others are designed to allow you to add reminiscence or storage, and even outfitted with ports that permit for an exterior GPU for expanded functionality. When doubtful, test our evaluations, which embody configuration particulars and can focus on the potential for future upgrades.
How we check the most effective mini PCs
We put each mini PC we overview by means of plenty of benchmark exams and real-world makes use of to get the clearest image we will of how properly it performs, what makes use of it is best suited to and what kind of functionality you get for the value.
For efficiency, we use the Geekbench processor check to measure a system’s total processing capabilities. We run customized spreadsheets to see how lengthy it takes to deal with massive knowledge units and number-crunching duties. We additionally check the file switch speeds, copying massive recordsdata to see how lengthy a system takes to repeat multimedia recordsdata, paperwork and different content material.
To check the graphics functionality, we run plenty of benchmark exams from 3DMark. When a system has the potential, we’ll additionally run particular person sport exams and the SteamVR efficiency check to see how succesful a system is at dealing with the calls for of contemporary gaming.
Most significantly, we spend a ton of time merely utilizing every mini PC for on a regular basis actions. We watch films, do work, play video games, and blast music on the audio system, all to get a greater sense of which of them are price your cash.
