At first we would like to thank MINIX for sending out a sample of their NEO N42C-4 Windows 10 Mini-PC for testing and reviewing.

 

 

 

About MINIX:

 

“MINIX was born out of a shared passion for advanced technology and dynamic designs; ever since its establishment in 2008, we have been focused on creating innovative, well-made products.

 

By combining the finest materials, functional design, and considered details, we pride ourselves on delivering original and useful tech products.”

 

Fully Functional, Customizable Mini PC with Windows 10 Pro (64-bit)

 

NEO N42C-4 delivers all the power and functionality of a desktop computer in a compact, stylish chassis. Achieving premium, ultra-responsive performance and the power to fulfil your productivity needs.

 

Expandable, Flexible Design

 

NEO N42C-4 comes with 32GB eMMC internal storage and 4GB of DDR3L, while the inclusion of a 2280 M.2 slot [SATA 6.0Gbps] and the remaining SO-DIMM slot [dual channel support] offer the flexibility to expand the storage and RAM to meet user’s requirements. The 2280 M.2 slot [SATA 6.0Gbps] provides storage expansion up to 512GB, and the pair of SODIMM slots support up to 8GB of DDR3L memory each.

 

Packed with Connectivity; Integrated USB-C Port & Triple-Display Ready

 

NEO N42C-4 is equipped with a vast array of connectivity options: Three USB 3.0 Ports, HDMI [4K @ 30Hz], Mini DisplayPort [4K @ 60Hz], USB-C [4K @ 60Hz], Optical S/PDIF, 3.5mm Audio Jack, 802.11ac Dual-Band Wi-Fi, Gigabit Ethernet and Bluetooth 4.1. The integrated USB-C port supports ultra-fast data transfer, video display output up to 4K @ 60Hz and simultaneous power input. NEO N42C-4 is Triple-Display Ready, allowing easy connection for up to three displays via the HDMI, Mini DisplayPort and USB-C outputs.

 

Minimal Noise, Zero Disturbance.

 

NEO N42C-4 employs an active cooling solution to ensure safe operation and stable performance even throughout prolonged operation, while producing absolute minimal noise to guarantee zero disturbance during usage.

 

Processor

Intel Pentium J4205 (64-bit)

 

GPU

Intel HD Graphics 505

 

Memory

4GB DDR3L

 

Memory Slot

2 x SODIMM slot, dual channel support [each support up to 8GB]

 

Storage

Built-in 32GB eMMC 5.1 (MLC)

 

Storage Expansion

1 x 2280 M.2 slot (SATA 6.0Gbps) [support up to 512GB]

 

Wireless Connectivity

802.11ac Dual-Band Wi-Fi

Bluetooth 4.1

 

Operating System

Windows 10 Pro (64-bit)

 

Video Output

HDMI™ 1.4 (4K @ 30Hz)

Mini DisplayPort (4K @ 60Hz)

USB-C (4K @ 60Hz)

 

Audio Output

HDMI™ 1.4

Mini DisplayPort

Optical SPDIF

3.5mm audio jack

 

Analog Audio Input

3.5mm audio jack

 

Peripheral Interface

RJ-45 Gigabit Ethernet

USB 3.0 port x 3

USB-C port x 1

Kensington lock ready

 

In this review we will take a look at another interesting Mini PC, but this time from MINIX; besides coming in a very compact form factor, it houses a quad-core Intel Pentium J4205 SoC and is fully upgradable in terms of memory and M.2 storage. People that do not need a lot of storage space can make use of the included 32GB eMMC v5.1 (MLC type, Samsung), where a full release of Windows 10 Pro (64-bit) is preinstalled.

 

The product is shipped inside a medium-sized cardboard enclosure, which has an Intel-specific blue color scheme; a small description of the product is available right on the top cover:

 

 

 

The product highlights are represented as icons on the sides of the packaging:

 

 

 

 

We can find drawings as well, representing the box contents:

 

 

 

The full product specifications list is available on the bottom box area, together with the product serial number and code name:

 

 

 

After lifting the top cover, we will get to see the Mini PC, wrapped inside a semi-transparent plastic bag and surrounded by protective foam:

 

 

 

The bottom layer does contain the hardware bundle:

 

 

 

We are getting one HDMI cable, a VESA mount with the necessary screws, adapters for the power supply, the power supply, additional rubber feet, some extra screws but also a S/PDIF adapters:

 

 

 

Here are the described items in detail:

 

VESA Mount + screws

 

 

 

 

Rubber feet

 

 

 

 

Extra screws, along with the S/PDIF adapter:

 

 

 

Power supply adapters, for supporting most areas on the globe:

 

 

 

The power adapter is similar to the one we have found with external 3.5’’ USB storage drives and is rated on the output as 12V at 3A:

 

 

 

MINIX was nice and has also offered a 4GB DDR3L module for the upgrade:

 

 

 

The technical specifications of the module can be found on the back side of the box:

 

 

 

NEO N42C-4 is also shipped with a MINIX product brochure, along with an English User Guide:

 

 

 

The product brochure leaflet does show the rest of MINIX product lines:

 

 

 

People less experienced with this kind of products will find all the necessary information inside the manual:

 

 

 

The all-plastic black chassis of the Mini PC does feature a recessed MINIX logo on the top:

 

 

 

In the front, we’ve got a single, blue Power LED available:

 

 

 

On the left side, we have three USB 3.0 ports, the Power On/Off button but also plenty of ventilation holes:

 

 

 

The right side houses the ventilation grill for the exhaust, but also a Kensington lock port:

 

 

 

One of the main advantages of this particular Mini PC is connectivity options; besides the previously-mentioned USB ports, in the back we have the DC-IN port, a RJ45 LAN port, one Mini DisplayPort, a HDMI, an USB Type-C port but also a 3.5mm/S/PDIF combo port:

 

 

 

The bottom area of the unit does contain four small rubber feet, a central Windows 10 product logo, but also the serial numbers for the unit:

 

 

 

In order to access the internals for upgrades and cleaning/maintenance, we need to remove these four small rubber feet and access the screws:

 

 

 

 

After the four small screws have been removed, the bottom protective cover will come right off; here we do have the two SODIMM memory slots available (one of which is populated), but also the preinstalled WiFi/BT card, along with the empty M.2 slot for extra storage:

 

 

 

The preinstalled module is manufactured by King Tiger and is a Tigo model running at 1600MHz, C11:

 

 

 

The back side of the module does feature a similar design, minus the sticker:

 

 

 

The ICs are re-branded with the Tigo name, while AIDA64 recognizes these as manufactured by SK Hynix:

 

 

 

The pre-installed WiFi/BT Wireless module is an Intel 3168NGW; this one comes in a M.2 2230 format and supports WiFi connections up to 433Mbps. The adapter features 1x1 TX/RX streams and can operate on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz (802.11ac is supported):

 

 

 

By carefully removing the card from its slot, we can then lift the motherboard from the enclosure:

 

 

 

The top area of the motherboard does show a very beefy cooling system (for such a small TDP SoC that is), by including a copper plate and a blower fan (PWM type). In Silent PWM mode, the included cooling system barely turns on, most of the time the system remaining inaudible:

 

 

 

The whole cooling assembly looks like the one on a fully-fledged laptop; the CMOS battery is glued to the motherboard, so it won’t move inside the case during operation:

 

 

 

The extra RAM module supplied as an upgrade for the existing setup is MINIX branded and features the same specifications as the pre-installed one:

 

 

 

Here is a look on the back of the module as well:

 

 

 

The ICs are marked as Kimtigo, but in fact these are also SK Hynix modules:

 

 

 

While the system is fully-functional as shipped, it is always recommended to purchase and install a SATA 6Gb/s M.2 SSD for avoiding storage space restrictions that may appear in the long run:

 

 

 

The Mini PC comes with an UEFI BIOS, but sporting the regular, classic-looking Aptio Setup Utility GUI; in the Main menu, we will be able to check out the firmware versions, the installed RAM quantity and speed, but we are also allowed to change the interface language along with the system date/time:

 

 

The Advanced section does house the following sub-menus:

 

 

The Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller menu does allow the user to check out some more interface details:

 

 

The MINIX Feature Configuration menu allows the user to select the operating mode of the included audio jack:

 

 

The Power Management Configuration menu comes with some usual options for us to enable/disable:

 

 

From the LAN Configuration menu, we are allowed to turn on/off the wired LAN interface, but also configure PXE boot:

 

 

H/W Monitor menu shows the current system temperatures, CPU fan speed, system voltages but also allows the user to configure the Smart Fan function:

 

 

The CPU Configuration menu does display some more information regarding the installed SoC, but we can work with some CPU-related Power Management options as well; Intel VT is also present here:

 

 

The Network Stack miscellaneous options can be seen next:

 

 

The USB Configuration options are available in the last sub-section:

 

 

The Chipset menu shows the Northbridge and Southbridge sub-sections:

 

 

The “North Cluster” menu does show the Uncore Configuration sub-section, but also some more details regarding the installed RAM:

 

 

Uncore menu does not hold related options, but more regarding integrated SoC graphics settings:

 

 

The “South Cluster” configuration menu does hold some sub-sections as well:

 

 

The HD-Audio Configuration area does allow the user to configure related options:

 

 

The SATA controller operation mode can be selected next:

 

 

The embedded eMMC memory can be disabled from the next menu:

 

 

The Security menu includes the usual Admin/User password prompts:

 

 

The Boot menu is next:

 

 

From the Save & Exit menu, we can choose to Save, Discard or load UEFI factory defaults:

 

 

As mentioned before, the MINIX N42C-4 Mini PC does have at its heart the Intel Pentium J4205 Apollo Lake 4 core/ 4 thread SoC, with a cache of 2MB and a TDP of 10W. Additional info regarding the internal components were collected via AIDA64:

 

CPU

DDR3 – 1st module

DDR3 – 2nd module

iGPU

eMMC

IMC

Motherboard

Network adapters

 

Via two separate bench programs, we have tested the speeds of the included 32GB eMMC:

 

AS SSD

ATTO Disk Benchmark

 

AIDA64

 

Cinebench R15

 

 

 

Blender Ryzen Render

 

 

PCMark 7

 

 

PCMark 8

 

 

SuperPI XS [2M]

 

X265 Benchmark 1080P 64-bit Normal

 

 

GeekBench 4

 

 

3DMark Vantage

 

 

3DMark 2013

 

 

Tomb Raider

Andrenaline Action Benchmark Presets

 

Hitman: Absolution

Andrenaline Action Benchmark Presets

 

Sleeping Dogs

Andrenaline Action Benchmark Presets

With the NEO N42C-4 model, MINIX is proposing a compact, silent and good quality chassis Mini PC which features a very important aspect: upgradability; the enclosure is fairly easy to open for maintenance (upgrades/dust cleaning) and the motherboard features a beefy cooling system that barely needs to turn the fan on, thanks to the low-TDP SoC used with the system. Talking about the SoC, we do get the 4-core Pentium J4205 on the 14nm technology process that also comes with HD Graphics 505, perfectly capable of 4K output and video playback.

 

In terms of performance, the system trades punches with the LIVA Q2 from ECS that is equipped with a newer, Pentium Silver N5000 and feels quite snappy even with the stock configuration thanks to the faster included eMMC. While for simple tasks 4GB of RAM would be fine, we would really recommend the upgrade to 8GB; the only downside in this regard is that the system does still use DDR3L instead of moving to DDR4, which is now a bit more expensive than the newer generation.

 

Right over the pre-installed WiFi/BT card, we can accommodate a M.2 SSD with the desired capacity; make sure that you do purchase a SATA 6Gb/s SSD and not NVMe, because these are not supported. With a large enough SSD, some users won’t feel the need of plugging in additional storage, but in case you do, MINIX has placed no less than three USB 3.0 ports on the side of the unit and one USB 3.0 Type C!

 

In our AIDA64 stress test, if the cores are fully used, the clocks will drop from the usual 2400MHz to about 1600MHz; we are seeing that the TDP gets locked at about 8W and the cooling fan did not even need to turn on, since the cores do barely reach 54 degrees Celsius; the measurements were done with an ambient of 23.3 degrees Celsius:

 

 

 

Speaking of the power consumption, you do not really need to worry since this system only takes about 4.78W in IDLE and 10.4W in Full Load.

 

The manufacturer does also ship with the product the necessary hardware bundle, such as the VESA mount, additional screws but also a S/PDIF adapter.

 

The NEO N42C-4 can be found online for about 270 Euros, which is a fair price considering that we are getting a ready-to-go build, with a Windows 10 Pro license pre-installed.

MINIX NEO N42C-4 Windows 10 Mini-PC is Recommended for:

 

 

We would like to thank again to MINIX for making this review possible!