Another day, another great mini PC. Beelink is now shipping the Intel N150-equipped S13, an excellent low-price mini PC for general computing or home server applications.
Beelink’s S13features Intel’s new N150 processor, plus a pair of M.2 slots with 500GB of preinstalled storage, four USB 3.2 Type-A ports, a headphone jack, and a Gigabit Ethernet port. The PC comes preloaded with 16GB of DDR4 RAM, which is the maximum amount of memory supported by this platform, and sells for $219 MSRP.
The N150 CPU, which previously debuted in an ASUS mini PC, isn’t exactly a stunner. It’s the modern version of a Celeron processor, boasting just four cores, four threads, up to 3.6GHz of processing power, and a maximum 16GB of memory. An older Intel Core processor, such as the i5-8500T that’s commonly found in secondhand Dell or Lenovo mini PCs, will outperform the N150 in most general computing tasks.
That said, the N150 has an insanely low power draw (peak TDP is 25 watts, while typical power draw is just 6 watts) and offers improved HVEC and AV1 support throughIntel Quick Sync. It’s arguably the best low-cost CPU for media management and streaming. Being abrand newCPU, the N150 may also provide some future-proofing for Windows desktop users, although we don’t know whenWindows 12will launch or what hardware requirements it will enforce.
Funny enough, the S13 is almost identical to Beelink’sEQ14mini PC. Both feature the Intel N150 processor, a single SODIMM slot for DDR4 memory, plus a pair of M.2 expansion slots. But the S13 is $10 cheaper than the EQ14 because it uses a bulky external power supply, lacks a USB-C port, and has one Gigabit Ethernet jack instead of two.
As for which of these mini PCs you should buy—honestly, just wait for one of them to go on sale and grab it. I wouldn’t worry too much about the model number. The EQ series is a better option for home server or networking applications, but only if you take advantage of its extra Ethernet port.
TheBeelink S13is available today for $219, though it’s currently on sale for $171 at Amazon (discount applied when added to cart). Alternatively, you can grab theBeelink EQ14, normally $229, on sale for $189. I also suggest looking into N100-equipped PCs, as the N150 is a fairly minor upgrade over the N100.