Blackview MP200 Mini PC review

Our Verdict

A capable daily compact computer that can handle some casual gaming but outperforms its diminutive price tag. You will struggle to find a better mini PC for the cost, but it's not built for high-end performance.

Reasons to buy

• One of the cheapest mini PCs around
• High-quality daily performance

Reasons to avoid

• Fans are noisy
• No dedicated graphics card

With a compact form factor and a spec sheet that causes a double-take considering its price, there’s much to like about the Blackview Mini PC 200. The version I have been reviewing for more than a month comes with Windows 11 pre-installed, an Intel i5-11400H processor, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of solid-state drive storage.

As a package, I found it quite surprising and I would happily use this mini PC as my daily driver. In fact, I’m using it as I write this. It doesn’t stack against the more powerful of the best mini gaming PCs, but you can’t expect it to for what you pay.

When you factor in that on Amazon the Blackview MP200 costs around $349 (around £265) and is regularly on offer, the list of pros just continues to stack up. But while I can recommend the MP200 for many things – browsing the web, writing emails and docs – what I can’t recommend it for is anything but casual gaming. If you want to play the best new PC games then the Blackview MP200 isn’t aimed at you. Instead, you’ll want the best gaming PC for your budget, with a dedicated graphics card.

If you’re someone who wants a desktop PC rather than a laptop and does not have the space for a full PC tower, then Blackview’s competitive pricing should put it on your shortlist.

Pros

• One of the cheapest mini PCs around
• High-quality daily performance

Cons

• Fans are noisy
• No dedicated graphics card

Specifications

These are the Blackview MP200 Mini PC specs:

Features

I’ll start by talking about what comes in the box when you purchase the Blackview MP200. There’s obviously the device itself, a power cable, a stand so your PC can be placed upright, an HDMI cable, and an SSD mounting bracket.

Despite the compact design, which I’ll talk more about in a moment, the MP200 has a standard amount of connections. There are a total of four USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports – two pairs at the front and back – a single USB-C port and a 3.5mm headphone jack at the front, and an RJ45 ethernet port at the back so you can connect to the internet through a wired connection. You don’t get the option of Thunderbolt or USB4.

That USB-C port could also be used as a display output, meaning that in combination with the HDMI and DisplayPort at the back, you could connect the Blackview with up to three 4K gaming monitors. The DisplayPort can support up to 8k while the other two support 4k at 60Hz.

In terms of wireless communication, the Black MP2 supports a Wi-Fi 6 AX201 module from Intel, limiting network connections to 2.4 and 5-GHz frequencies. Bluetooth 5.2 is also supported.

Design

If you’re familiar with mini PCs, then the design of the MP200 doesn’t break the mold. It’s boxlike with a matte black plastic casing, the only exception being the metal used for the stand and the grill at the front of the device. There are also flashes of gold accents on the Blackview logo and around the glowing blue power button.

The black casing that surrounds the MP200 has small lines running in three directions. It does a nice job of breaking up the all-black look, but these do take on fingerprints from handling when you plug devices in and out. There is also the option of buying the MP200 in blue.

When positioned in its stand, the MP200 cuts a slim profile, but even at 678 grams (~1.5 lb) there are a few lighter PCs still out there. It tucks out of the way just as you would want from a mini PC, and the ports being located front and back gives you more versatility when it comes to accessing them. There’s no RGB lighting or anything fancy to customize as is the case with the Corsair ONE i400, or from the likes of Alienware, but that’s not surprising – the i400 comes in at almost ten times the price at $2,499.99.

If you want to do any maintenance or tinkering, it’s easy to unscrew the Blackview MP200 case and slide the side cover down. From here, it’s possible to add a second module of RAM, or a second module of storage to add to the M.2 SSD that’s already there.

Performance

When you boot up the Blackview MP200, you’re greeted with the familiar Windows setup process. It is super simple and holds your hand through the entire setup. If you have used Windows 11 before then, you’ll find no surprises here. It’s functional and it works.

The Intel Core i5-11400H delivers a good performance, handling basic tasks like internet browsing and word processing with ease, and based on how it handled a selection of games (more on that in a second) I would be confident to do some light photo and video editing.

So how does the MP200 handle games? Well, as you might have picked up from the review so far, it’s fine. I don’t want to be too harsh because despite Blackview on their website talking up “efficient gaming performance” and “super smooth performance”, I don’t think this machine is truly the best fit for gamers.

I first tested the MP200 by playing the game I know best, Football Manager 2023. It’s a game designed to work on almost any computer or laptop, much to the criticism of its devout fanbase. The MP200 needed the game to be run in low graphics mode, much like my Huawei laptop which is nearly six years old.

The gameplay was perfectly acceptable and between matches, the machine ran smoothly but the lack of a graphics card leaves the match animations feeling slightly sluggish. It was a similar story when playing Crusader Kings 3, where low graphics mode provided the smoothest results for game performance.

After that result, I didn’t feel the need to push the MP200 much further, and we also didn’t put the MP200 through the same rigorous benchmarking processes (more on how we test hardware here) that we would for flagship gaming PCs and the best gaming laptops. Its performance is fine for the price, but definitely best-suited for casual desktop users and gamers.

The only other thing to mention when it comes to the performance of the Blackview is the noise of the fan. Almost any activity bursts it into life for a short blast of whirring. It doesn’t last long, but it is quite loud when working in a quiet environment such as a home office. I never felt like the PC was overheating, so it’s doing its job – but if you want silent, or quieter, performance you’ll need to look elsewhere. Lastly, the 120 watt-charger is big enough to provide a stable, sufficient amount of power, and handle bigger loads for brief periods.

Verdict

If you want a sub $400 Windows PC that can be run as your daily computer then you will struggle to find something better than the Blackview MP200. The Beelink SER5 is comparable on the specs sheet but is a little more at $500.

I can only recommend the Blackview MP200 as a PC for everyday use. If gaming is something that you’ll do but isn’t the main priority then it is an excellent, if noisy, mini PC. However, if your focus is on gaming performance then you would be better off spending more money and getting something with a dedicated graphics card.

Should you buy the Blackview MP200?

• Yes: If you want one of the cheapest Windows 11 PCs on the market
• Yes: If gaming isn’t your main priority for your PC
• No: Lack of dedicated graphics card

If the Blackview MP200 isn’t for you

The Minisforum Venus UM773 Lite is also a compact mini PC that has a dedicated graphics card but is still best suited to light gaming. Esports games run with no issues at 1080p but the latest AAA games won’t return the best performance. This does cost nearly $200 more than the Blackview at $539.99.

If you want all-out gaming performance from your mini PC then look at the Origin Chronos V3. It features an RTX 4070 Ti graphics card and an AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D CPU meaning even the latest AAA games will run smoothly. It isn’t the smallest mini PC around and at $2,806 it’s in a different galaxy compared to the Blackview MP200.