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I've known mini computers for years as an alternative to desktop CPUs. They are not a new product, and at the time I thought they made sense for not too demanding professional use. Why have a mammoth half a meter high on the desk at home or work when with a small device the size of a good power bank you could develop the most common tasks with solvency?
Yes, you are dedicated to graphic design, video editing or other professions that really test the power of your computer, surely you need greater performance in terms of memory, graphics card, storage ... But if most of the time you spend surfing the Internet or using office tools or other low-demand applications, a good mini computer is more than enough.
However, the pandemic, the boom in teleworking and the vertiginous digital transformation that it has brought with it have changed everything. Most companies whose activity is compatible with virtual work have provided their employees with a laptop that allows them to work both from home and from the office.
And it is a fantastic solution, because a single device incorporates the screen, monitor, camera, speakers and connectivity necessary both to surf the internet and to work with one or more auxiliary screens. In addition, laptops have ceased to be an excessively expensive technology: for 400 or 500 euros you can already find brands and models with decent features for the basic functions we mentioned.
WE TESTED THE GEEKOM MINI AIR 11
That's why, when Geekom proposed us to test their Mini Air 11, the first question I asked myself was exactly that. Would it compensate me to invest in a mini PC an amount of money similar to what a laptop could cost me? Yes, the first one is smaller and you can take it and bring it from home to work stuffed in a pocket. However, to be able to use a mini computer you have to make a parallel investment in monitor, keyboard and mouse.
Yes, you may already have them in advance or you may be so demanding with the performance of those peripherals that you prefer to buy them outside the computer to make sure they fit what you need: the dimensions of the screen, the colors of the keyboard, the sensitivity of the mouse ...
I also had doubts, of course, with the quality of the Geekom's components and their performance compared to larger computers. Would you notice any difference? Would you overheat by demanding it a little? Would the unpleasant gaps begin to appear?
But before answering all those questions, it is convenient to list what are the characteristics of the product that I have been testing the last few weeks. Let's start with the simplest: unboxing. The Geekom Mini Air 11 arrives in a white and compact box of about 15x15 centimeters with a sober and elegant design.
You can buy it here for 269 euros.
If you check the promotional box on the dates of publication of this article you can have a discount of 60 euros.
Inside we can find five elements: the central unit of the computer, the power cable, an HDMI cable to connect it to a monitor or television, the user guide and a VESA bracket next to its screws that allows you to attach the Mini Air 11 to the back of your monitor.
That, precisely, is an issue to take into account in relation to a computer like the Mini Air 11. It is not only that it has very small dimensions of 117x112x34.2 mm and very little weight (500 grams), which hardly takes up space or steals light on the desk. You can also hang it behind the stand just behind the screen, so not only will it not bother you, but you will not even have it within sight except when you are going to connect a device.
PERFORMANCE AND FEATURES OF GEEKOM MINI AIR 11
Just connectivity is one of the most surprising things when describing the possibilities and benefits offered by this model. We go through them one by one.
Processor. The Mini Air 11 features a 5095th generation Intel Celeron N2021 processor. A chip that the American company (which in fact is the great competition of Geekom mini computers and the great reference of the sector with its Intel NUC) launched in 9 and that, despite being of a mid-range below the Core i7 or i11, offers more than enough performance for office automation applications and the like.
For example, the manufacturer ensures that the Mini Air 1 takes around 2.2 seconds and 5.2 seconds to load Word and Excel for Adobe Illustrator. It is a quad-core, four-threaded processor with 00.2 GHz base frequency and 90.1 GHz burst frequency with a processing speed 5.<> times faster than the previous generation.- Storage. One of the problems of some mini computers in low range has to do with the fact that they usually incorporate very little storage capacity because they are supposed to be designed for very light tasks and with little accumulation of information.
The truth is that in the long run the user can end up paying that short-sightedness, because that storage capacity can be overwhelmed and, in many cases, there are not even expansion options. The Mini Air 11 does not seem to have that problem: the model we have tested has 256 GB ien an M.2 SSD, although they can be expanded to reach 1TB.
You can buy it here for 269 euros.
If you check the promotional box on the dates of publication of this article you can have a discount of 60 euros.
RAM. Again, in the memory section the Mini Air 11 again has an installed capacity with some margin for the type of tasks for which this model is indicated, as well as the possibility of growing. Specifically, it integrates a dual-channel DDR4 RAM card and 8 GB. Combined with the agility of the SSD, it allows you to reduce both the application load time and the time it takes to save data.
Graphics card. One of the advantages of this mini computer is that it is capable of serving images in 4K resolution, so you will not have problems watching high-definition videos or playing games with the best resolution on a monitor or large smart TV. All this, thanks to the fact that it has installed an Intel UHD 605 graphics card that offers that quality.
Connectivity. As we said, one of the strengths of the Mini Air 11 is that, despite being small and reasonably elegant, it has taken full advantage of the space to incorporate excellent connectivity, specifically, on the front of the device already includes, next to the on and off button, a USB 3.2 port, a mini jack input for headphones and a USB-C port for data transfer. On one side it includes an SD card port and on the other a Kensington security connector in case you need to put a lock on the device. And where the greatest feature of connectivity is in the back. Next to the network cable input you can find a Mini DisplayPort input, the Ethernet port, two USB 3.2, another USB-C and an HDMI port. What else might you need?
You can buy it here for 269 euros.
If you check the promotional box on the dates of publication of this article you can have a discount of 60 euros.
- Wireless connectivity: Of course, in addition to the devices that you can connect to your computer via cables, you also have the logical wireless connectivity available. Specifically, Bluetooth 4.2 connection and Dual Wifi (2.4 and 5 GHz) to incorporate a speaker or some other peripheral in that way.
In view of that connectivity, an interesting aspect is that you can connect your Mini Air 11 to two screens simultaneously and, if they are prepared for it, both can receive a 4K image signal, so you can work, play or watch movies with excellent definition and comfort despite being using such a small device.
Another aspect to mention is that of USB ports. There are three and they seem enough although, in my case, I had to use all three of them to connect all the peripherals I needed during the tests: a USB dongle for the wireless mouse, another for the keyboard and the USB wired connection of my gaming headset. It is true that it is not easy for me to have many more needs of that type and that, if I had arisen, it would be as easy as using a USB thief.
Another detail to mention has to do with the software that has the Mini Air 11 incorporated from the factory. It has Windows 11 Pro preinstalled, although the computer is also compatible with Linux, Android x86 and FydeOS.
My experience of using the Geekom Mini Air 11
In relation to my experience of using the Geekom Mini Air 11, my case was the typical one in which it is usually indicated to bet on this type of computer. Precisely because I was testing various products related to the world of gaming, I already had all the equipment I needed to start operating with a Mini computer.
It had a low cost wireless mouse for gaming of the Tekes brand, and the typical gaming keyboard, also wireless and dotted with colored lights, although in this case of The G-Lab brand. It also had a 24-inch screen from Ultragear, LG's line of gaming monitors, and headsets also from The G-Lab brand.
That is, it had a team of low cost peripherals for a very occasional and undemanding type of online gaming from the technical point of view. And I emphasize it because that is the type of gaming for which a mini computer like the Mini Air 11 can be indicated, as the manufacturer itself emphasizes.
"This type of computeris designed for use at home or in the office, as well as some schools, hospitals, reception desks ... and for gaming, as long as it is undemanding," a Geekum spokesperson told BAZAR.
According to the same source, mini computers "have advantages over traditional tower computers, such as taking up less space, consuming less energy and offering excellent performance. Compared to laptops, mini PCs "have more processing power and the possibility of easily expanding some of the initial features of the equipment in aspects such as memory, storage ..."
All this, to stick to technical features, but we should add the ease of transporting your computer on one side to use it in different environments.
You can buy it here for 269 euros.
If you check the promotional box on the dates of publication of this article you can have a discount of 60 euros.
In short, as those were the rules of the game, those are the features that we have tested during the last weeks. And the truth is that the Geekom Mini Air 11 has shown that, indeed, it is a guaranteed solvency option for a type of tasks like those that I can usually develop in my work: write in a word processor, manage spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations and keep open simultaneously a couple of dozen tabs in the Internet browser next to a few basic applications.
We have also subjected it to some very basic gaming sessions, more oriented to what the smallest of the family can demand (remember that the Geekom is also indicated for that type of family use and we must foresee the different demands of use that the device has to face) than to demanding adult games.
Specifically, we tested it with games that are trending among tweens, such as Roblox, SIMS 4 or Among Us. And the truth is that the team did not give any sign of having problems to process without lag the information and images of the games.
Therefore, it could be said that the Geekom Mini Air 11 offers you more than acceptable features for this type of users, which has the advantage of portability, which takes up little space on both the home desk and work and provides great connectivity. And all this, for about 270 euros, a price that only reaches the cheapest (and worst, of course) laptops on the market. That for another 100 or 200 euros more you can buy a decent laptop that has a built-in keyboard, mouse and screen and allows you to work anywhere? Yes, if that is the type of use you are going to give it, you may want to bet on a laptop.
You can buy it here for 269 euros.
If you check the promotional box on the dates of publication of this article you can have a discount of 60 euros.
But if you are going to use it at home and in the office and you have a good supply of peripherals such as those mentioned, if you do not need a computer that you can use in a Starbucks or in meetings outside your headquarters; And if you do not need a team with outstanding technical performance, but it is worth it with some solvency ... then perhaps it is a good option to bet on a mini computer like this one from Geekom.
And the same if you are an entrepreneur or an SME that is going to set up a small office with a few employees and do not want to spend a lot of money on CPUs. With this type of models it is possible that you save some money and guarantee the possibility of increasing its power as you need it.
*All products have been selected by BAZAR writers independently. Send your proposals to bazar@elmundo.es.
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