Affordable mini PC with Intel CPU and dual M.2 slots goes on sale

A few weeks ago, we covered the Bmax B3 Turbo Mini PC, which was launched with an entry-level Intel CPU with a compact enclosure and 8 GB of LPDDR4 RAM, aimed at folks with lightweight workloads.

Back then, we did not have any prices to speak of, but it appears that we do now. The B3 Turbo mini PC is now available for purchase directly from Bmax's online store, and is priced at $219.99.

The B3 Turbo mini PC features a modest amount of compute firepower

As stated in our original article, the Celeron N5095 CPU from Team Blue features a four-core, four-thread setup with performance that should be in the same league as dual-core Core i3 CPUs found in many laptops roughly five to six years ago.

Unsurprisingly, there is no discrete GPU on offer. The integrated Intel UHD iGPU rocks 16 EUs, which is good enough for video acceleration, but not really much more than that. 

As we noted in our original launch piece, even an entry-level iGPU such as an AMD Radeon 840M is six times faster.

In simpler terms, folks with very casual workloads, such as web browsing, communications, and media consumption, should be able to get along just fine with the mini PC. Those with higher performance requirements, without a doubt, are recommended to look elsewhere. 

The 8 GB of LPDDR4 RAM is non-upgradable, although the 256 GB of storage can be upgraded courtesy of dual M.2 2280 slots. The I/O on offer has been detailed below:

• Dual USB 3.0 Type-A (front), dual USB 2.0 Type-A
• Dual HDMI 2.0
• 1 G Ethernet
• 3.5 mm audio (front)

All told, folks who would prefer an affordable mini PC with a healthier CPU can check out something like the AMD Ryzen 3-powered Beelink EQR5 mini PC with 16 GB of RAM, currently available for just under $390 on Amazon.