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!
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 NUCBOX5 | BEELINK U59 | BEELINK MINI S | BEELINK GK35 PRO | |
| CPU | Intel Celeron N5105 @ 2.90GHz | Intel Celeron N5095 @ 2.90GHz | Intel Celeron N5095 @ 2.90GHz | Intel Celeron J4105 @ 2.50GHz |
| RAM | 8GB LPDDR4x | 8GB/16GB DDR4 | 8GB DDR4 | 8GB DDR4 |
| STORAGE | 128GB/256GB/512GB NGFF SSD | 256GB/512GB SATA SSD | 128GB SATA SSD | 256GB/512GB SATA SSD |
| COMMS | 1Gb Ethernet, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.2 | 1Gb Ethernet, WiFi 5, Bluetooth 4.0 | 1Gb Ethernet, WiFi 5, Bluetooth 4.0 | 1Gb Ethernet, WiFi 5, Bluetooth 4.0 |
| NICE TO HAVE’S | Fits in the palm of your hand | Internal 2.5″ HDD/SSD supported | Internal 2.5″ HDD/SSD supported | Internal 2.5″ HDD/SSD supported |
| PASSMARK BENCHMARK | 1749 | 1339 | 1457 | 852 |
| PCMARK BENCHMARK | 2552 | 2376 | 2312 | 1738 |
| FULL REVIEW | NUCBOX 5 Review | BEELINK U59 Review | BEELINK MINI S Review | BEELINK GK35 Pro Review |
| WHERE TO BUY | BUY NOW | BUY NOW | BUY NOW | BUY NOW |
GMKTEC Nucbox5
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
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
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
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.
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 GTI10 | BEELINK SEI 10 i3 | DROIX PROTEUS 11 | |
| CPU | Intel Core i3-1005G1 @3.4GHz | Intel Core i3-10110U @ 4.0GHz Intel Core i5-1035G4 @ 3.70GHz | Intel Core i5-1135G7 @ 4.2GHz Intel Core i7-1165G7 @4.7GHz |
| RAM | 8GB/16GB DDR4 | 8GB/16GB DDR4 | 16GB/32GB/64GB |
| STORAGE | 256GB/512GB NVMe SSD | 256GB/512GB NVMe SSD | 256GB/512GB/1TB/2TB NVMe SSD |
| COMMS | 2x 1Gb Ethernet, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.0 | 1Gb Ethernet, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.1 | 1Gb Ethernet, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.2 |
| NICE TO HAVE’S | Plenty of USB ports | Two HDMI ports for easy connection to monitors | Dual external WiFi aerials for extra signal strength and speed |
| PASSMARK BENCHMARK | 2423 | 2150 3243 | 3370 3999 |
| PCMARK BENCHMARK | 3418 | 3460 3995 | 4826 5176 |
| FULL REVIEW | Youtube Video Review | Beelink SEi10 i3 Review Beelink SEi 10 i5 Review | DroiX Proteus 11 Review |
| WHERE TO BUY | BUY NOW | BUY NOW – i3 Model BUY NOW – i5 Model | BUY NOW |
Beelink GTi10
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 i3
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
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.
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 | |
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 7-4800U @ 4.2GHz | AMD Ryzen 9-4900H @4.4GHz |
| RAM | 16GB/32GB DDR4 | 16GB/32GB/64GB DDR4 |
| STORAGE | 500GB NVMe SSD | 500GB/1TB/2TB NVMe SSD |
| COMMS | 1Gb Ethernet, WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.0 | 2x 2.5Gb Ethernet, WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.0 |
| NICE TO HAVE’S | Great performance | Very high performance |
| PASSMARK BENCHMARK | 4484 | 5192 |
| PCMARK BENCHMARK | 5224 | 5482 |
| FULL REVIEW | Beelink SER4 (4700U) Review | Beelink GTR4 Review |
| WHERE TO BUY | BUY NOW | BUY NOW |
Beelink SER4
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
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..
