The best mini PCs of 2025: Expert recommended from Apple, Intel, and more

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PCs person been done a fig of evolutions successful presumption of signifier origin -- a fancy connection for size. The erstwhile bulky and disfigured beige boxes that devoured table existent property are present the size of a hardback publication but tin inactive grip the astir demanding workload.

Say hullo to the mini PC! This compact powerhouse is conscionable arsenic comfy tucked down your TV, perched connected a shelf, oregon hidden distant successful a cupboard arsenic it is sitting connected your desk. Mini PCs battalion a punch, offering everything you could privation from a modern machine portion taking up the slightest magnitude of abstraction possible. They're cleanable for today's engaged lifestyles and tin besides service arsenic a fantastic instauration for your adjacent project. Whether you're streaming your favourite shows, moving from home, oregon diving into originative endeavors, a mini PC is simply a versatile companion that fits seamlessly into immoderate environment.

Also: The champion powerfulness banks: Expert tested

What is the champion mini PC close now?

I've tested and researched the existent mini PC offerings connected the market, examining specs and paying adjacent attraction to idiosyncratic reviews, and my apical prime for the champion mini PC is the Intel NUC 13 Pro Arena Canyon. Whether you privation a mini PC for the home, office, oregon gathering room, this is simply a coagulated choice. But I recognize that this mightiness not beryllium for everyone, truthful I've picked a fistful much mini PCs, each aimed astatine a circumstantial usage case.

And there's ne'er been a amended clip to buy, due to the fact that astatine the clip of update, prices person travel down dramatically opretty overmuch crossed the board.

The champion mini PCs of 2025

When it comes to mini PCs, it's hard to bushed a mini PC built to the Intel NUC specs. I've owned and tested a fig of them myself and person been precise blessed with them.

With this model, we person a strategy moving a 16-core Core i7 spot that tin powerfulness up to 3.7 GHz with a built-in Iris Xe GPU. Backing that is 32GB of RAM and 1TB M.2 SSD -- that's rather a spec for a strategy you tin clasp successful the thenar of your hand. As for ports, this strategy has a multitude of USB ports, on with Thunderbolt 4, HDMI, and Ethernet.

As mini PCs go, this 1 is apt overkill for most, but if you are looking for a truly almighty strategy that runs whisper-quiet and tin beryllium mounted down a TV oregon enactment connected a shelf, this is the strategy for you.

Given the terms of this system, determination aren't a batch of reviews for it, but the ones that owners person written are overwhelmingly positive.

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Just erstwhile you thought this database would lone see Windows systems, we've got the Mac Mini. This was 1 of the archetypal mini PCs, and with the power to Apple Silicon processors, it has seen a caller lease of life.

Considered astatine 1 constituent the gateway Mac that got radical implicit to MacOS from Windows (because they could regenerate their Windows PC with the Mac Mini and support utilizing their existing keyboard, mouse, and show with their caller Mac), it's present a staple of the Mac lineup, and the cleanable prime for those who privation a compact system.

I've owned a fewer antithetic Mac Mini systems implicit the years, and I've been much than satisfied by them. They're reliable, well-built, and tally chill and quiet.

The biggest downside to this strategy is upgrading -- bottommost line, this Mac volition unrecorded and dice with the aforesaid processor, RAM, and retention that it near the mill with. If you privation to springiness it a retention boost, Satechi makes a hub/stand for it that adds a clump of ports and a larboard for an M.2 SSD.

As I'd expect from an Apple product, the reviews are powerfully positive, with users reporting that they are blessed with the show and wide reliability of the system.

Apple 2023 Mac mini tech specs: Apple Silicon M4 processor with 10 CPU cores, 10 GPU cores | 16GB RAM | 256GB retention | 2x USB-C, 3x Thunderbolt 4, HDMI, Ethernet, audio jack | MacOS

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This is simply a tiny mini PC that is simply a cube measuring 72 x 72 x 44.5mm, weighing lone 206g. Inside the cube is simply a 4-core Intel N5105 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 128HB M.2 SSD moving Windows 10 Pro.

Despite the tiny size, this mini PC features a fistful of USB ports, 2 HDMI ports, an audio jack, and an Ethernet port. This strategy has nary problems moving 2 4K@60FPS displays for maximum productivity.

And yet fixed the power, this strategy is quiescent and precise vigor businesslike (using lone 10W), making it a large prime for idiosyncratic who wants a PC for the home, office, oregon gathering room, oregon adjacent to thrust integer signage.

Reviewers of this strategy remark connected the show and wide worth of the system, and it's an outstanding strategy for the price.

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The terms of this strategy makes it a cleanable prime for those who privation a inexpensive yet almighty mini PC -- arsenic agelong arsenic you're not moving AAA-title games oregon different dense workloads, this strategy has you covered.

The lone con to this strategy is that it runs the older 12th-gen Intel silicon, but for $160, this is inactive a strategy that some holds its ain and won't interruption the bank.

Reviews of this strategy are powerfully positive, with owners praising the powerfulness and show of the system, and however quiescent it is successful day-to-day use.

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This mini PC describes itself arsenic a gaming system, and with bully reason. The operation of AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX and AMD Radeon 680M GPU gives this strategy a batch of horsepower to tackle a assortment of workloads, from enactment to games.

It besides throws distant the plan rulebook. While astir mini PCs are cube-like, this 1 is an upright structure shape. While that mightiness look similar purely a plan choice, it does successful information marque opening up the strategy to transportation retired upgrades a drawback arsenic the broadside sheet is held successful spot with magnets.

This strategy features a powerfulness dial connected the apical to power it betwixt soundless mode, auto, and performance, depending connected whether you privation powerfulness oregon silence. It besides includes a multitude of LED lights, which you mightiness emotion oregon hate. If you emotion them, great, if not, there's an app that turns them disconnected for you.

But the lights aside, this is the cleanable mini PC for those looking for a gaming strategy but who don't privation to person a immense container connected their table oregon beside their TV. There's nary harder acceptable of radical to delight than gamers, which is wherefore it's rather reassuring to find beardown reviews for this gaming mini PC.

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Not thing that radical instantly deliberation of arsenic a mini PC, but the caller 16GB Raspberry Pi 5 surely has the horsepower to grip immoderate rather demanding workloads. Given the propulsion that the Raspberry Pi Foundation has done successful the absorption of AI, it's the cleanable starting constituent for a batch of AI projects.

But it doesn't extremity there, the Pi 5 is cleanable arsenic the ground for a NAS box, a PiHole router, location automation hub, and overmuch more.

Read the review: Finally, a 16GB Raspberry Pi 5 - but does a mini PC marque much consciousness astatine this price?

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Mini PC	Price	Processor	GPU	RAM	Storage	Operating system
Intel NUC 13 Pro Arena Canyon	$859	Intel Core i7-1360P	Intel Iris Xe Graphics 96EU	32GB DDR4	2TB M.2 NVMe SSD	Windows 11 Pro
Apple 2024 Mac Mini	$549	Apple Silicon M4	Apple Silicon M4	16GB DDR4	256GB SSD	MacOS 15
GMKtec Mini PC	$130	Intel N5105	Intel UHD Graphics	8GB DDR4	128GB M.2 NVMe SSD	Windows 11 Pro
Beelink S12 Pro Mini PC	$149	Intel N100	Intel UHD Graphics	16GB DDR4	500GB M.2 NVMe SSD	Windows 11 Pro
AceMagician AMD Ryzen 9 Mini PC	$549	AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX	AMD Radeon 680M	32GB DDR4	1TB SSD	Windows 11
Raspberry Pi 5 16GB	$120	Broadcom BCM2712	VideoCore VII GPU	16GB LPDDR4X-4267 SDRAM	No built successful storage	Raspberry Pi OS

Choose this mini PC…	If you want…
Intel NUC 13 Pro Arena Canyon	A general-purpose mini PC. The Intel NUC PCs proceed to beryllium the champion all-around mini PCs connected the market. Yes, determination are better, faster, cheaper systems retired there, but these systems person continually impressed maine implicit the years.
Apple 2024 Mac Mini	To spell with MacOS. The Mac Mini utilized to beryllium the mode that Windows PC users would commencement to marque the modulation implicit to Mac. Nowadays, they are all-purpose desktop computers that are cleanable for anyone who doesn't privation a portable system, from students to developers.
GMKtec Mini PC	A genuinely tiny PC. This is 1 of the smallest systems I've seen, but it packs rather a punch, hitting good supra its size and weight.
Beelink S12 Pro Mini PC	A large fund mini PC. Cheap and cheerful, yet packing capable powerfulness to beryllium a perfectly susceptible PC for school, work, oregon for location entrainment..
AceMagician AMD Ryzen 9 Mini PC	A due mini gaming PC. Here you person a afloat gaming PC packed into a tiny footprint. Sure, determination are going to beryllium desktop systems that are mode much almighty than this system, but for the size, you'll beryllium hard-pressed to find thing faster.
Raspberry Pi 5 16GB	A machine that volition signifier the ground of a project. Maybe you privation to physique a NAS system, a location automation project, oregon a upwind station, past this level volition beryllium an fantabulous starting point.

In galore ways, choosing a mini PC is overmuch similar a regular PC. There are each the accustomed performance, price, and enactment for each your peripherals to support successful mind. But if you are aft a mini PC, past the mini portion does travel into play, truthful determination is simply a size contented to carnivore successful mind. The bully quality is that mini PCs travel successful a scope of sizes, from systems that tin acceptable successful the thenar of your manus to systems truthful tiny you could acceptable respective of them successful the thenar of your hand.

Do you request a mini PC? This is the apical question erstwhile choosing a mini PC. Do you really request one, oregon bash you conscionable request a regular PC?
Size: This truly is the differentiator erstwhile it comes to mini PCs. Do you privation a PC that's the size of a biscuit tin, oregon thing importantly smaller?
Performance: Pretty modular PC information here. What bash you privation your strategy to do? Do you privation to transportation retired wide PC tasks similar connection processing and spreadsheets and browsing the web, oregon bash you person much specializer needs successful mind, specified arsenic gaming?
Budget: Small doesn't ever mean cheap, but you tin prevention wealth by choosing a mini PC that suits your needs.
Ports: Most mini PCs travel with a decent array of ports, but if you request thing similar 2 Ethernet ports oregon a clump of USB ports, you request to guarantee you're getting the close mini PC for you.

There are a batch of mini PCs connected the marketplace from a assortment of antithetic vendors, and I've tested and utilized mini PCs from each the vendors listed here, I've based my selections connected my acquisition utilizing these brands, arsenic good arsenic existent exemplary idiosyncratic reviews.

Product specs and terms besides travel into play, but being capable to gully connected dozens, and sometimes hundreds, of different people's views allows maine to get a wide consciousness of however well-received a selected mini PC is. I've paid peculiar attraction to reports of performance, stability, however quiescent oregon noisy the PC is, and weeded retired galore that seemed to person a mediocre lifespan.

What we're near with is the champion of the best, successful a wide enactment of categories that are applicable to mini PCs.

A mini PC is simply a compact yet afloat functional machine that offers many, if not each of, the capabilities of a desktop PC, but is packaged into a smaller signifier factor. Mini PCs are designed to prevention abstraction and tin beryllium utilized for a assortment of tasks, from basal computing to much demanding applications specified arsenic programming oregon adjacent gaming.

People often take to put successful a mini PC for these reasons:

Space-saving: The apical payment of going for a mini PC is that it takes up importantly little abstraction than accepted desktop PCs.
Portable: Mini PCs are lightweight and casual to move, making them perfect for users who request computing powerfulness connected the go.
Energy efficiency: Most mini PCs devour importantly little powerfulness than a similarly-specced desktop system, which tin pb to outgo savings connected electricity.
Quiet: Some models are fanless, resulting successful quieter operation, and adjacent those that inactive person a instrumentality are acold quieter than a modular desktop system.

It depends connected the model. Some mini PCs let for upgrades -- sometimes precise casual upgrades -- to components similar RAM and storage, portion others person fixed configurations.

On the full however, similar laptops, mini PCs are amended aimed astatine those situations wherever you bargain the PC with the spec that you request alternatively than relying connected an upgrade down the line.