8.1 / 10
SCORE Minisforum AI X1 Pro $927 at Minisforum Pros Potent CPU in a compact box
Expandable memory and (especially) storage
Many high-bandwidth ports
Integrated power supply with USB-C power delivery Cons Integrated graphics can't compete with discrete chips
Tricky value consideration compared to laptops
The Minisforum AI X1 Pro is a commendable little desktop with a thoughtful design, high utility and a minimal footprint if you want a Windows alternative to the Mac Mini. It looks like a pre-2024 Mac Mini (before Apple shrunk it with the recent M4 models), and it's built around a relatively powerful mobile processor, the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370. What sets it apart is the considerable number of connections and commendable upgradability. And there aren't a lot of name brand mini PCs catering to consumers -- a lot are intended for cube farmers, rack mounts or workstations (like HP's Z series).
The X1 Pro isn't for everyone, though. If you need high-power graphics, the integrated Radeon 890M graphics can't hold a torch to the integrated 140V graphics in Intel's 200V series mobile chips much less discrete chips, like the mobile Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 in Minisforum's own AtomMan G7 Ti.
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The starting manufacturer price of the AI X1 Pro may also seem a little hard to swallow at $1,229, but it was discounted to $899 the entire time I tested it and tends to be about $1,000. For reference, the base M4 Mac Mini is only $599. But unlike the Mac, the value of the AI X1 Pro becomes clear when you want to upgrade: it has three M.2 slots for SSD and swappable memory, allowing for up to 96GB of memory and 12TB of storage that you could add for less than an M4 Mac Mini with 32GB of memory and just 2TB of storage. If you're not sure you'll need the extra ports or expandable memory and storage, a laptop based on the same chip may be a better value.
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