The Budget Mini to Beat - Beelink EQ12 Mini PC Review

In this video we check out the Beelink EQ12 mini PC featuring the Intel N100 CPU. With a nice port selection, great performance and a reasonable price, the Beelink EQ12 is a nice budget mini PC.
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00:00 - Intro & Specs
00:59 - Ports
01:20 - In the Box
01:32 - Look Inside
02:20 - Linux
02:29 - Benchmarks
03:23 - TDP
04:48 - More Power
05:26 - AV1 Video Playback
05:53 - Game & Emulator Test
07:32 - Power, Temps & Noise

[@neilquinn]

I just got this one too. Was super hesitant to mess w/ the N100 because it has no performance cores, but it's surprisingly snappy with an SSD and a good internet connection.

[@anhtunguyen111]

A few things to add. This unit can be powered off a USB battery by using a DC 5.5x2.5mm Power PD Charge Cable. The higher end EQ12 Pro draws 15 -17w under load so I suspect that this will draw less power. This does not support powering from the USB-C port. The Intel AX101 wifi card included doesn't have any support other than Windows sadly. This and the Pro version should make a good homelab server but I was only able to get Windows Server 2019 and ESXi 8.0 installed and working on it.

[@funkified-]

You got a new sub, purely based on your humour. The review was good too lol

[@olafonm]

It would be perfect if this Beelink had power delivery via USB-C.

[@gr0undc0ntrol]

USB-C + DP Alt Mode + Power Delivery would allow to connect portable monitors without any additional power supply. Both power and display data would come from the port. Still waiting for a budget mini PC that has this. First one gets my money.

[@wfthkttn]

Yes, otherwise you could pass-trough via single cable from the display. I think I'll just get a 12V e-marked cable with a barrel connector on it and stick it into the powerbank. UPS for poor people ^_^

[@karper]

​@@gr0undc0ntrolMele Quieter 3C has this

[@Wojtek-J]

If I'm not wrong, Chuwi Larkbox X has Power Delivery with Alt Mode USB C ...

[@mobby_6kl203]

Thanks for addressing the power question! :) Looks like Intel really is boosting these Alder Lake-N processors much more than previous Tremont CPUs. Which makes sense considering that we're seeing 2x performance compared to the N5105 for example.

[@Robtech]

No worries. Might make it into a KZbin short I can point to whenever I get the question.

[@Z3RN0]

Great video 👍

[@rexrecio8304]

It would be nice comparing these latest low end processors against the flagship processors of previous years.

[@varianbohling251]

Good video. Really curious about the EQ Pro. 8 threads and DDR5. Could be interesting.

[@renegade_patriot]

Just picked up one of these to use as a PFsense router. It was the only option I could find that supports 2.5' SSD's AND had dual 2.5GBPS LAN at that price. Other options in this form factor were hundreds of dollars more expensive and overkill for my application.

[@ShimmyX]

Hey a bit of a long shot, but if you see this, any way you can point me to how you did it? I currently have the S12 pro as my media server, but want to upgrade to eq12 to have the dual lan, so that I could use it to filter out the ads like KZbin ads on yhe the TV. Not sure it's even possible?

[@karper]

I would really love to see a review of the Asus PN42, because it is very similar to this one except its fanless.

[@wocket42]

Thx for testing out AV1 (h/w) decoding.

[@samh5886]

Would be good if you can show TDP of SOC in your gaming/emulation tests. Even though you upped the TDP upper limit on this, I doubt it actually uses much more than the morefine one in games

[@Robtech]

Good suggestion.. Will do from now on.

[@Urosaurus]

Thanks for the power limit info. Trigkey seems to sell this same thing. Who knew?

[@Robtech]

Yeah, Trigkey uses the same manufacturer, AZW.

[@AgentZeroNine1]

Can't wait to see: 1. A fanless device using these e-core only CPUs, especially one with 8 cores on a laptop 2. A mini PCs and laptops with the N300 and N305 3. The Crestmont e-cores upcoming with 14th gen. Hopefully Intel focuses on efficiency over power for them

[@gumbywwf83]

Now that’s a review, no fucks given. Subscribed.

[@ObsidianMercian]

Love the humour in your videos 😂

[@CarlosDeAnda]

Hey, thanx for the review! Would it work for minor Graphic Design? Illustrator, After Effects, Photoshop?

[@Robtech]

Not sure on After Effects, but should be okay for Photoshop and Illustrator.

[@CarlosDeAnda]

@@Robtech Thanx!

[@48MSAM-zk4le]

Hey there RobTech, gained a new Sub w your great reviews on Mini-PC's... Have you found anything better since the review of the EQ12 @ around the same price?

[@Robtech]

Hey, you can check out the top 5 video I did here if there's anything you prefer: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aZmtYaGefMmCobM

[@user-og8sl3yj9o]

I dont understand , i can add another ssd hardisk on the sata slot? up to 2tb?

[@dosdaysareover7781]

What benchmark tool or tests are used for measuring the video encoding speed?

[@Robtech]

Handbrake

[@chromerims]

Great video 👍 Thank you for your excellent videos. If the CPU fan breaks (not the ssd/ram fan revealed at 1:40), how hard would it be to get the mobo out? At 2:14, understandably you didn't go further below. But wondering. Kindest regards, friends and neighbours.

[@Robtech]

Usually a pain to remove the board, but doable. Finding a similar replacement fan might not be that easy. Another part is more likely to die than the fan though based on experience. I've had a few minis die over a decade and the fan was never the issue, always the board itself.

[@chromerims]

@@Robtech 👍 May you and yours be filled with joy, merriment, riches, health and peace. Thanks.

[@chromerims]

@@Robtech By the way, a replacement for EQ12's secondary ssd/ram fan (14.11.02550000 model 3505) is basically nowhere on the Internet. I think SEI-12 uses the same ssd/ram fan.

[@Robtech]

Yeah, finding spare parts for these budget minis is going to be a challenge

[@alanburgess2203]

Would this mini PC be suitable for a mini virtual pinball machine I'm thinking of making, I need the 2 HDI for the back glass and play field, but the play field is only a 13" screen, see mini lol, any advice most appreciated, cheers

[@Robtech]

Based on the suggested requirements here www.vpforums.org/index.php?showtopic=35171, it looks like you'd need a lot more than what this mini can do. I'd be looking at something like a Ryzen 5500U or higher. Best to ask them in the forums.

[@MA-im3ko]

Which device of these 2 similar priced devices would you recommend? Beelink S12 pro, with 16g/500 Beelink EQ12, with 8g/500 Only pro of the s12 is 8gb ram more. However EQ12 Pro is -DDR5, vs s12 ddr4 -2x Intel 2.5gbit ethernet chipset vs s12 1x 1gbit Realtek chipset -system fan vs s12 no system fan

[@Robtech]

I haven't reviewed the S12 Pro, so I can't speak to its performance. I guess it comes down to if you need the extras or not. I also have a top 5 video based on price here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aZmtYaGefMmCobM

[@riyanthonididi]

How about speed of the SSD? Can they works likely NVMe SSD generally on the market? Then What about the Alternative video editing softwere. Like a Capcut. Because Capcut windows version its really worth for easy task

[@TestAccount-pm1oi]

Why in the world would you ever use software made by bytedance?

[@Trusteft]

Hand-j reference in a mini pc review. That's a first. Nice.

[@Andrew-gp4fc]

@Robtech -- I'm having trouble getting the usb-c port on the Beelink EQ12 to work in Ubuntu server 22.04 LTS and Ubuntu server 23.04. When I try to mount an external hard drive to the usb-c port, I get an input/output error. Oddly this hard drive works perfectly fine with the usb-c port on my Beelink U59 running Ubuntu server 22.04 LTS. Any thoughts?

[@Robtech]

Have you tried another USB-C device? First have to rule out whether the port could be faulty or not.

[@Andrew-gp4fc]

@@Robtech Thanks for replying. I would have replied sooner but I've been digging into this issue. I know this is a long post, but please take the 2 minutes to read it, especially given your glowing endorsement of the Beelink EQ12. I've discovered the root of the problem with the EQ12's usb-c port. The plastic case is probably 1mm or 2mm too think and prevents the standard usb-c cable from fully engaging the port. The solution is to get a usb-c cable with a 10mm connector. I bought mine on Amazon (search for "UNIDOPRO Flat USB-C 10mm connector"). Now... I've run into another challenge with the EQ12's usb ports! The usb type-a ports (at least on the front) are under powered. I have two Google coral TPU USBs--both work fine on my older Minisforum GK41. However, they keep dropping off the Beelink EQ12. I am pretty sure this is a power issue. In your video, you show how to boost power to the CPU. Is there a way to boost power to the usb ports? If not, it is a major negative characteristic for an otherwise very fine computer. I would greatly appreciate any insight you may have from your experience working with mini pc. In the mean time, I am going to test my hypothesis with a powered-usb hub. It would be such a shame if I have to use a powered usb hub instead of just booting the power inside the Beelink EQ12.

[@graysonpeddie]

I could see myself using this NUC as a router due to the dual 2.5Gbit LAN ports. One for WAN and one for WAN. :) Just put a VLAN-capable rack-mounted 2.5Gbit switch in between the NUC and my devices and I'm good to go! :)

[@nawaf398]

Does the AX101 problem still exist on Linux?

[@MrPir84free]

I like mine in gray.. Thought the white ones were just units using linux.

[@evolfox855]

Will you test the EQ12 Pro N305?

[@Robtech]

If Beelink sends it to me, sure.

[@kamolhengkiatisak1527]

Wonder if 2.5Gb Lan connection for what? And with 2 local LAN ports at that! I don't even bother to connect my mini PC via LAN port even though my house router is only 10 meter away. Wifi is good enough as I don't play online game.

[@ianoderon3127]

Some people like me can benefit from that. We can use it as router (pfsense, opensense, openwrt).

[@feahnorl]

Is the difference between ddr4 and ddr5 significant with a n100 cpu?

[@Robtech]

Not much, no

[@martinm.1967]

How to build a good Mini-PC?

[@bobbymoss6160]

LMAO you're so feisty in this video. I picked this up to replace my laptop. Update: Well, this is a disappointment. After using it for almost a month, the ports on my EQ12 is starting to crap out and hangs the system during restart. I can't use the USB-C port when the adjacent USB-A is occupied by the KB/M wireless dongle. I can't use both USB-A ports in the front concurrently either. I had such high hopes for this web browser/video player.

[@budiisnadi]

2:04 I read somewhere that DDR5 is designed to run like dual channel even with one stick of RAM. Is that true?

[@Robtech]

Yes, I've read that too. The only way to see how well that holds up would be to do a test with single and dual channel DDR4 Vs DDR5 on an iGPU with high memory bandwidth requirements. Can't do it here, though.

[@twitchgirls-9005]

@@Robtech in topton dual rank ?

[@oblivionlord1242]

I can confirm, I've read and seen this elsewhere, it does appear to be true

[@feahnorl]

@@Robtech I have a beelink mini s12 pro with n100 and 16 gb ddr4. I can test it if you like. Just tell me what to test and I’ll do it.

[@darryltoombs1076]

After this review I have decided that I will get one of these. I don't game on my pc so no problems there just do some stuff on Blender and Gimp which this will do very well for me. I will be deleting W11 and running KDE neon plasma 5.27.4 on the NVME drive with my older SSD in the drive bay and everything should work including WiFi but I will just use Ethernet if there is a problem but there shouldn't be. Thanks for the review and look forward to all of your videos 👍

[@Robtech]

Enjoy

[@SandboChang]

Can the WiFi 6 card be replaced? It looks like the antenna were glued.

[@Robtech]

Yeah, it can be. Just need to remove the black rubber glue substance they used. I had to remove some to lift the M.2 drive as it was stuck together.

[@davidchristensen811]

I would not suggest it. The antenna connectors are very fragile, and connected to the factory AX101 WiFi card with blackmax (similar to super glue). While you could be very careful, it is still likely to damage the antenna connectors. That would make any replacement card useless, unless you install new antennas. (which is possible)

[@3dhYT]

Nice CPU.

[@digvjbeniwal]

Would you recommend this over MINISFORUM UM450?

[@Robtech]

Not sure how the pricing compares for you, but the UM560 5600H barebones for $219USD is a pretty good deal.

[@digvjbeniwal]

@@Robtech Here in UK EQ12 is for £270 and Minisforum UM450 is £295. Confused between which one should I go for, your suggestion is much needed!!

[@Robtech]

The 4500U will easily outperform the N100 in most tasks. I'd go with that for the small price difference.

[@Zwitefli]

This would be a great 24/7 mini-pc for a Plex server, isn't it ? ;-) Thanks for this review ;-)

[@ShoruKen]

My EQ12 is arriving today! It is an excellent Plex server (and can handle other self-hosted apps). I already have a Beelink U59 (N5105) running Plex with HW transcoding and a dozen other Docker containers.

[@ShoruKen]

Why buy another? Proxmox replication! Then I'll buy a 3rd to run Proxmox Ceph (think of it like RAID, but scale & replicate whole servers).

[@Zwitefli]

@@ShoruKen I can confirm : it's enough for a Plex server, power consumption is very low. Very well for that price ;-) !! 😀

[@i_dont_want_a_handle]

4:49 what will happen if I set that to be 35W (5W higher than Intel's number)?

[@Robtech]

Will run at the maximum it can handle, which is 30W. That's the hard limit.

[@i_dont_want_a_handle]

@@Robtech gotcha, thanks!

Not sure how recommend this mini pc is when you can buy a ser 5 or ser 5 pro and disable the turbo boost which makes the mini pc almost fanless. In any case it is amazing Beelink keep releasing new products!! Excellent review as usual!

[@dakkon74]

Interesting idea. Have you done any testing with this? Is it as fast as this PC with the turbo turned off?

@@dakkon74 it is because i am using a ser 5 pro with ryzen 5600h at 99% in windows 11 max cpu performance (under energy settings) almost at no fan working and when it is is barely audible. Just changed the thermal paste with mx-4, but probably won't change anything at all.

[@dakkon74]

@ Nice!. I would not be comfortable changing the paste, but hopefully it is as quiet as it comes.

@@dakkon74 yeap, you can try. I also removed that one "SSD cooler" as it really doesn't make any changes really.

[@ShoruKen]

Isn't the Ser5 twice the price?

[@nicolascarrion5055]

They claim the DP USB C has ALT Mode, has somebody tested if it works just with one USB C cable on a 65W ALT mode monitor?

[@Robtech]

Supports display out, not USB power delivery to power the mini. I'm using it with a USB-C to DP cable to output display.

[@wfthkttn]

Nice review. Can you test if it supports 32GB ram modules?

[@Robtech]

Yep, it worked with my stick.

[@wfthkttn]

@@Robtech You are a legend! Thank you for replying. Do you remember which memory it was?

[@shephusted2714]

much better on the way though - the new amd mobile chips will be major improvements - they are out now - basically after being delayed

[@Robtech]

New Athlon chips incoming? AMD doesn't seem to care about the budget segment. It's been all Intel for the last few years

[@wocket42]

Which chips exactly? AMD re-releases all previous generations every year in new combinations. Doesn't mean you'll get machines with them. For the latest AMD mobile chips, you'll probably need to buy a laptop.

[@edalder2000]

I would love a MiniPC. The heaviest things that I do are streaming video and streaming music. I assume this MiniPC would work just fine, right?

[@Robtech]

Yeah, it's capable for that.

[@twitchgirls-9005]

@@Robtech can stream video 1080p -60 fps (obs) ?

[@twitchgirls-9005]

need test with ryzen 3550h mini pc. Who is better?

[@Robtech]

I haven't tested it, but as far as I can tell, the 3550H has slightly lower single core, much higher multicore and graphics performance. It also draws more power.

[@twitchgirls-9005]

@@Robtech performance in graphics help him play 8k video?

[@wocket42]

@Twitch Girls - Стримерши Твича for efficiet video playing, h/w decoding helps. If h/w decoding supports you resolution/codes combination, gfx/cpu power doesn't matter anymore.

[@Br0adCastYourS3lf]

Let's hope that my comment sticks this time. Must have rubbed the algo the wrong way. 05:26 "No joke. After going through like 30 videos on KZbin, I finally found one that actually had AV1 support." KZbin's channel named "KZbin Developers" ( @youtubedevs ) has a playlist named "AV1 Beta Launch Playlist" with 14 transcoded AV1 videos for testing. From the description: "At time of writing, these transcodes are encoded at a very high bitrate for decoder performance testing.". Forget the instruction in the playlist description to set "Prefer AV1 for SD". Choose "Auto (recommended)" or "Always prefer AV1" instead. We're 5 years on and hardware AV1 decoding exists. ;)

[@Br0adCastYourS3lf]

There is also a r/AV1 subreddit with many links to AV1 content for testing.

[@Br0adCastYourS3lf]

Netflix Open Content website.

[@dave_r]

Rob, Rob, Rob: You have complained numerous times, fairly, about getting a mini without the appropriate power connector for AUS; this one has it and you don't give it credit... One question: It seemed to me that the noise on this unit (both idle and at power), while they may not have been all that loud in either case, had a really annoying whine/something, that bothered me a lot more than louder, but "whooshier" sound would have. Was that just my PC, or did it sound like that in 'real life'? Fun review though, and it's nice to see the extra cooling fan starting to appear on low-end units.

[@Robtech]

A travel adapter? Meh, where's my Aussie power supply. It wasn't noticeable from the 30cm distance. I put the mic right up to the unit otherwise it wouldn't pick up much noise. If it was a lot louder, it could be a problem, but this one's very quiet. The NUC essential is more annoying.

[@attilahooper]

1:28, like wtf !? LOL. I'm subscribing for that commentary alone.

[@snagboi]

Would you reocmmend i purchae insurance for $30? Is it sturdy?

[@Robtech]

It's already covered by a 1 year warranty, so I wouldn't no.

[@snagboi]

@@Robtech from where? Amazon?

[@Robtech]

Hmm, on Amazon it says to contact Beelink for warranty information. But on Beelink's website the warranty policy is 12 months so it should be the same www.bee-link.com/warrantyservices

[@Tkarma77]

Could this run Photoshop ok?

[@Robtech]

Yeah, photoshop would be okay. I wouldn't run Premiere on it.

[@Tkarma77]

The mini pc is a minefield for the noob.. I am looking for a mini pc for photo editing.. large files.. keep looking at Mac mini pro but would like to avoid Mac and overpriced apple stuff.. please help 🙏 price range ideally 500 to 800 euro.. thanks!

[@Robtech]

Sure is. Everything is Awesome™ reviewers have been screwing their viewers for years. The Beelink SER5 is regularly on special and great bang for buck. I should be reviewing the SER5 Pro soon.

[@Tkarma77]

@@Robtech I bought the ser6 pro.. thanks for pointer in right direction

[@twitchgirls-9005]

n95 can av1 ?

[@Robtech]

Yep, the Alder Lake-N CPUs have hardware decoding support. There will be a N95 AV1 test soon.

[@twitchgirls-9005]

@@Robtech i need test in adobe premiere or stream 1080p 60 fps on OBS

[@Robtech]

I wouldn't use these budget CPUs for Premiere at all.

[@twitchgirls-9005]

@@Robtech for test only

[@figu3ira1]

I'm pretending to get this one, only to use for video editing, and KZbin I just play games with xcloud so probably it's the best I can afford for now ;)

[@wocket42]

Not an expert, but wouldn't you need/want lots of gfx execution units? These have very few. You might want to get the cheapest PC with the highest gfx EU count from an older generation that still does the h/w encoding you need?

[@RobertoCarlos-tn1iq]

how much of your personal money did this cost?

[@Robtech]

It was a free sample, as mentioned in the video and description

[@5cent]

Зачем целоваться с компьютером? Недеетесь что у вас родится совместный процессор?

[@neilquinn]

4% multicore performance for +50% wattage def doesn't seem worth it :) Goes to show how sensitive the efficiency curves are for these cpus. Couple of other notes: the noise is really low/quiet on this. The recording in this video exaggerates the tone so don't be scared of it. Only thing the Morefine may do better is I believe someone tested it at 4w idle instead of 10w idle for this Beelink.

[@mobby_6kl203]

I don't think it actually uses 50% more power, at 8:15 you can se it goes from 33 to 34W at the wall.

[@dakkon74]

Thanks for the comments on noise. It did sound loud in the video. I wish he had a mac mini he could though in these tests for a noise comparison, as it seems that is the gold standard for silent computing(outside of fanless designs)

[@neilquinn]

@@dakkon74 I'll see if I can record it, but I can tell you that sitting on the couch about 8' away I can't really hear it at all. It's quite quiet.

[@dakkon74]

@@neilquinn I would be using it as a desktop PC though, so it only be like 2 ft from my head

[@neilquinn]

@@dakkon74 Right, it's still pretty quiet. Obviously no miniPC is going to be as quiet as like a desktop with 120mm fans though you know.

[@kurtnelle]

Just pay the money Loius

[@francocozzo7235]

FIRST!!

[@Robtech]

Congratulations, you won the Internet 🏆