Chillblast WAP 2500U Micro PC

Size matters

Mini PC punches above its size

MINI PC ❘ £500 from Chillblast www.snipca.com/38987

Desktop PCS don’t have to be housed in space-hogging towers. As long as your requirements are reasonably modest and you’re not concerned with having the option to upgrade your machine in future, a decent PC can be surprisingly small and affordable. Mini PCS are very easy to set up and use, and because they sit on your desk their ports are easy to access.

This tiny PC from Chillblast is a good example. With a 130x128mm footprint it isn’t much bigger than a coaster. The three USB 3.0 ports at the front sit alongside two 3.5mm jacks for a mic and headset (see main image). The rear is similarly well connected, with two HDMI ports, two USB 2.0 ports and a Gigabit Ethernet socket (pictured below).

It’s a shame there’s no USB-C port, because this means the only way to power the PC is to use the supplied external power brick. This just adds to the cable clutter on your desk, which is probably the last thing you need if you were drawn to such a tiny PC in the first place.

Inside it has an AMD Ryzen 5 2500U processor, which is actually getting on a bit now. Unsurprisingly, it was a little slow in our benchmark tests, which we

For its size it coped surprisingly well with demanding tasks

use to compare the Windows performance of all the PCS we review. Compared with similar PCS with newer and more powerful processors, the Chillblast falls behind, which is manifested in slower Windows performance. Its 16GB of RAM helps counter this somewhat, but if you’re looking for good Windows performance, we’d recommend seeking out a model with a newer processor.

It was more impressive when gaming because it uses graphics hardware built into the processor, rather than space it doesn’t have on a separate graphics card. It’s never going to compete with a larger PC with a dedicated graphics card, but proved surprisingly capable in our tests, running fairly recent games at 30fps in 1080p without needing to turn off the graphical enhancements that make games look better, such as detailed surface textures and 3D lighting effects.

One downside is that it can be quite noisy. It’s fine when it’s idle or running

SPECIFICATIONS

Four-core AMD Ryzen 5 2500U processor • Radeon RX Vega 8 graphics • 16GB memory • 500GB M.2 SSD • 3x USB 3.0 ports • 2x USB 2.0 ports • 2x HDMI ports • Wi-fi 5 • Bluetooth 4.2 • Windows 10 Home • 52x130x128mm (HXWXD) • One-year warranty www.snipca.com/38987 simple Windows tasks, but the fans kick in very quickly when it’s put under any pressure, such as playing games.

The small case limits future upgrades, but you can still access the interior by removing four crosshead screws from its base. This reveals two occupied RAM sockets (so you’d have to take out all 16GB to increase the amount of RAM), an M.2 SSD and a Wi-fi card (which offers Wi-fi 5 and Bluetooth 4.2, neither of which is the latest standard). All of these components are easy to replace, however, and there’s a free SATA socket should you want to add an extra 2.5in SSD. The base includes enough space and all the holders you’d need to screw it into place.

A mini PC that’s remarkably affordable, but better at playing games than running Windows

VERDICT

Asus PN51 £950 Almost twice the price, but this mini PC is much better at running

Windows

ALTERNATIVE