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Best back to school mini PC’s buying guide

Back to school mini PC buying guide
Back to school mini PC buying guide

The end of the school summer holidays is closing in and it is time to kit out the kids in new school uniforms, pencils, pens and rulers! But have you remembered other essentials such as a home Mini PC for them to do their homework on?

Choosing a new mini PC can be daunting, there’s many to browse from and then how to decide which is best for your requirements. In this article we are taking a look at the best mini PC’s for education across three pricing tiers. We will demonstrate usage examples, compare performance and prices to provide the best value and features of those mini PC’s in at a glance comparison tables. and more detailed breakdowns.

Best budget mini PC’s

Many people associate ‘budget’ with being cheap, poorly made products that will likely break within five minutes. But we can assure you that all of our mini PC’s have been thoroughly tried and tested before we decide on selling that model. Also we have a full one year warranty should anything go wrong!

NUCBOX5 budget mini PC

So why are the mini computers lower in cost? The answer is simply because the processors are lower performing than the more expensive ones. Budget mini PC’s are ideal for use for lower demanding workloads. Examples of this can be web browsing, using office software such as Word, Excel or PowerPoint to create documents such as school homework. The performance of these budget mini PC’s exceeds this level of demand. There’s no point in buying a Ferrari if all you are driving to is the local shop for a pint of milk!

Another important aspect with lower performance mini PC’s is that they are very energy efficient. A mini PC uses far less energy than a desktop PC as an example, you could save as much as £70 per year simply by switching.

At a glance budget mini PC comparison

GMKTEC NUCBOX5BEELINK U59BEELINK MINI SBEELINK GK35 PRO
CPUIntel Celeron N5105 @ 2.90GHzIntel Celeron N5095 @ 2.90GHzIntel Celeron N5095 @ 2.90GHzIntel Celeron J4105 @ 2.50GHz
RAM8GB LPDDR4x8GB/16GB DDR48GB DDR48GB DDR4
STORAGE128GB/256GB/512GB NGFF SSD256GB/512GB SATA SSD128GB SATA SSD256GB/512GB SATA SSD
COMMS1Gb Ethernet, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.21Gb Ethernet, WiFi 5, Bluetooth 4.01Gb Ethernet, WiFi 5, Bluetooth 4.01Gb Ethernet, WiFi 5, Bluetooth 4.0
NICE TO
HAVE’S
Fits in the palm of your handInternal 2.5″ HDD/SSD supportedInternal 2.5″ HDD/SSD supportedInternal 2.5″ HDD/SSD supported
PASSMARK
BENCHMARK
174913391457852
PCMARK BENCHMARK2552237623121738
FULL
REVIEW
NUCBOX 5 ReviewBEELINK U59 ReviewBEELINK MINI S ReviewBEELINK GK35 Pro Review
WHERE
TO BUY
BUY NOWBUY NOWBUY NOWBUY NOW
At a glance budget mini PC comparison

GMKTEC Nucbox5

GMKTEC Nucbox5 review video

The GMKTEC Nucbox5 is one of our favourite low cost mini PC’s simply because it is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. This highly portable mini PC may be small but it’s our highest performing model in this price range with an Intel N5105 processor, 8GB RAM and a choice of 128GB/256GB/512GB fast SSD storage. The portability makes it ideal for school kids as they can bring it to friends houses to work on projects together very easily.

You can read our GMKTEC Nucbox5 review here, and learn more about and buy the GMKTEC Nucbox 5 here.


Beelink U59 review video

The Beelink U59 is an energy efficient mini PC featuring the Intel 11th generation N5095 processor with choices of 8/16GB RAM and 256/512GB of SSD storage. This is a mini PC best suited for those who require low power usage while having enough performance for work such as web browsing and working with office apps. It is great as a mini PC for doing homework on with no distractions such as games.

You can read our Beelink U59 review here, and learn more and buy the Beelink U59 here.


Beelink Mini S review video

The Beelink Mini S features the Intel N5095 processor with 8GB of RAM and a choice of 128/256GB SSD storage. There is also space inside the mini computer for an internal 2.5” HDD or SSD for more storage! This mini PC is great for office work as well as homework so you can work by day and let the kids do their thing afterwards.

You can read our Beelink Mini S review here, and learn more and buy the Beelink Mini S here.


Beelink GK35 Pro review video

The Beelink GK35 Pro features the Intel Celeron J4105 processor with 8GB RAM and 256/512GB SSD storage also with space inside for a 2.5” HDD/SSD for increased storage. This is the lowest performing mini PC in the budget range with a price to reflect this, but we can assure you that it is powerful enough for your day to day tasks. Its great for working on office documents and web browsing.

You can read our Beelink GK35 Pro review here, and learn more and buy the Beelink GK35 Pro here.


Best mid-range mini PC

A mid-range priced mini PC brings an increase in performance and features that are not found on budget mini PC’s. Mini PC’s in the mid-range tier provide a ‘snappier’ experience. You will notice that software will open faster and saving documents takes less time for example.

DroiX Proteus 11 mini PC
DroiX Proteus 11 mini PC

The performance is overall faster due to higher performing processors, RAM and storage. You may also have additional ports including more USB 2 and 3, Type-C, HDMI and DisplayPort. With these additions there is naturally a higher cost than the budget models, but still within a great price range. We see that many people work with multiple monitors, have a number of USB devices plugged in etc, and the ideal solution is to suggest the best mid-range PC for them.

At a glance mid-range mini PC comparison

BEELINK GTI10BEELINK SEI 10 i3DROIX PROTEUS 11
CPUIntel Core i3-1005G1 @3.4GHzIntel Core i3-10110U @ 4.0GHz
Intel Core i5-1035G4 @ 3.70GHz
Intel Core i5-1135G7 @ 4.2GHz
Intel Core i7-1165G7 @4.7GHz
RAM8GB/16GB DDR48GB/16GB DDR416GB/32GB/64GB
STORAGE256GB/512GB NVMe SSD256GB/512GB NVMe SSD256GB/512GB/1TB/2TB NVMe SSD
COMMS2x 1Gb Ethernet, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.01Gb Ethernet, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.11Gb Ethernet, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.2
NICE TO
HAVE’S
Plenty of USB portsTwo HDMI ports for easy connection to monitorsDual external WiFi aerials for extra signal strength and speed
PASSMARK
BENCHMARK
24232150
3243
3370
3999
PCMARK
BENCHMARK
34183460
3995
4826
5176
FULL
REVIEW
Youtube Video ReviewBeelink SEi10 i3 Review
Beelink SEi 10 i5 Review
DroiX Proteus 11 Review
WHERE
TO BUY
BUY NOWBUY NOW – i3 Model
BUY NOW – i5 Model
BUY NOW
At a glance mid-range mini PC comparison

Beelink GTi 10 review video

The Beelink GTi10 features the Intel Core i3-1005G1 processor with 8/16GB RAM and 256GB/512GB SSD storage. There’s two 1Gb ethernet ports and WiFi 6 for ultra fast data transfer, 4xUSB 3.0, 2xUSB 2 and 2xType-C ports and space inside for a 2.5″ HDD/SSD. It supports up to triple monitors for excellent multitasking, its great if you are researching and can use one monitor for working on and one for reference material.

You can learn more and buy the Beelink GTi10 here.


BEELINK SEi 10 review video

The Beelink SEi 10 features the Intel Core i3-10110U processor with 8/16GB RAM and 256GB/512GB SSD storage. There’s 4x USB 3.0 and 1x Type-C port for connectivity and 2x HDMI ports for dual monitor support at 4K. It also has space for an internal 2.5″ drive.

You can read our full Beelink SEi 10 review here, and buy the Beelink SEi 10 here. As a note there is a higher performing Intel i5 based model here.


DroiX Proteus 11 series

DroIX Proteus 11 review video

The DroiX Proteus 11 series is our very own brand of mini PC. There are two models with Intel 11th Gen Core i5-1135G7 and Intel 11th Gen Core i7-1165G7 processors. For both models there is a choice of 16/32/64GB RAM and 256GB/512GB/1TB/2TB of SSD storage with space inside for a 2.5″ drive. The i5 is a very high performing mini PC but if you want a even more performance then the i7 is the best choice!

You can read our full DroiX Proteus 11 review here, and learn more and buy the Proteus 11 here.


Best high-end mini PC

If high performance with many of the bells and whistles not found on lower-priced mini PC’s are what you require, then we have you covered!

With high-end mini PC’s you can expect amazing performance, with many even out-performing standard desktop PC’s. They usually come with large amounts of RAM and storage space which is ideal for when working with multiple windows open and power hungry software such as large office documents or image and video editing. These high-end mini PC’s will ensure your projects are effortlessly completed without any slowdowns.

Beelink GTR4 Mini PC
Beelink GTR4 Mini PC

The performance levels of these mini PC’s also mean you can do some image and video editing which is great for presentations or projects. You can also play Windows games in your downtime and you can expect to run games at 720P with the lower end graphics settings through to Medium and High depending on the games requirements. If you want an all-round best mini PC then read on for our suggestions.

At a glance high-end mini PC comparison

BEELINK SER4 (4800)BEELINK GTR4
CPUAMD Ryzen 7-4800U @ 4.2GHzAMD Ryzen 9-4900H @4.4GHz
RAM16GB/32GB DDR416GB/32GB/64GB DDR4
STORAGE500GB NVMe SSD500GB/1TB/2TB NVMe SSD
COMMS1Gb Ethernet, WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.02x 2.5Gb Ethernet, WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.0
NICE TO
HAVE’S
Great performanceVery high performance
PASSMARK
BENCHMARK
44845192
PCMARK
BENCHMARK
52245482
FULL REVIEWBeelink SER4 (4700U) ReviewBeelink GTR4 Review
WHERE TO
BUY
BUY NOWBUY NOW
At a glance high-end mini PC comparison

BEELINK SER4 review video

The Beelink SER4 features the AMD Ryzen 7 4800U processor with 16/32GB RAM and 500GB SSD storage. This is a very high performing mini PC that can even play lower demanding Windows games so if you want to sneak on play after they have finished their homework, we won’t tell! Seriously though, this mini PC can cope with highly demanding software which makes it ideal for older school kids that may be experimenting with programming as part of their IT courses, or even for university students with limited desktop space in their student residence.

We reviewed the Beelink SER4 4700U model here, we amazed by the price and performance, the 4800U model is even greater! You can learn more and buy the Beelink 4800U here.


BEELINK GTR4 review video

The Beelink GTR4 is a powerhouse when it comes to performance. While it is not our fastest performing PC it fits in the right criteria for a home mini PC. It features the AMD Ryzen 9 4900H processor with 16GB/32GB/64GB RAM and 500GB/1TB/2TB NVMe SSD. It has 2x 2.5Gb ethernet ports, 3 USB 3.0, 2 USB 2 and 1xType-C for plenty of connectivity. There’s also support for triple monitors if you need multiple windows open for large projects.

You can find our full Beelink GTR4 review here, and you can buy the Beelink GTR4 here.


Where to buy back to school mini PC’s

DroiX are a leading supplier of mini PC’s in UK and around the world. They stock a wide range of mini PC’s to cater for all requirements from budget to high-end. They supply individual customers through to large B2B clients with the same high level of product quality, customer service and support..

Bringer of videos, text and images! AKA the social media guy at DroiX. Massive retro gaming fan and collector, with a far too large collection of consoles and computers from 1970's to modern.