GEEKOM is a global operation headquartered in Taiwan. Founded by a man named Kom de Olde, it has been manufacturing a wide range of computer products for almost twenty years.
One GEEKOM market that is particularly active is the Mini PC sector. It currently makes four models including the Mini IT11, Mini IT8, Mini IT8 SE and MiniAir 11 which we are reviewing today.
These are exclusive Intel designs, featuring 3th and 5th generation silicon with Celeron, Core i7, iXNUMX and iXNUMX processors.
The GEEKOM MiniAir 11 (opens in a new tab), as the name suggests, uses an 11th generation Celeron processor and is currently the cheapest NUC design offered by this brand.
In an exceptionally competitive market, what does the MiniAir 11 have to offer that is worth considering?
- Geekom MiniAir 11 Mini PC on eBay for $180 (opens in a new tab)
GEEKOM currently only sells the MiniAir 11 in a single SKU with 8 GB of RAM and. 256 GB SSD directly from their website - opens in a new tab. The cost is €229 (£199), and that includes US and UK sales tax.
It can be found on Amazon.com for $235.99 (opens in a new tab) for those who prefer that source
There are cheaper NUC sized systems, but this one is competitively priced.
Until December 5th, the MiniAir will retail for €189,99, a 32% discount on its regular retail price.
Integrated
Given the narrow definitions that Intel created for NUC computers, they all tend to follow a predictable pattern, and the MiniAir 11 is no exception.
While the exterior is mostly molded plastic, the weight of this unit makes it more solid than others we've reviewed. And, barring abuse, this kit should serve you well for several years.
Since it's not an actively cooled design, airflow was a priority for its designers. Both sides have perforated metal sections for air to enter and along the back is a larger slotted outlet.
The number and location of ports is usually a good indication of how the designers intended to use the machine. All of the MiniAir 11 points to a lightweight desktop role rather than a built-in feature.
To do this, the front has two USB ports, one type A and one type C, as well as the power button and the 3,5 mm audio jack.
On the left is the full-size SD card reader and on the right is a security slot, leaving all other ports to the rear. These include three more USB ports, an HDMI 1.4 output, a Mini DP output, and a single gigabit LAN port.
A definite strength of this design is the USB ports, as there are five in total, three of the older Type-A variety and two of the newer USB-C. Three of them are 5 Gbit and two are 10 Gbit, one for each type of port.
Along with the MiniAir 11 in the box is an HDMI cable, an adapter to convert the MiniDP output to HDMI, a VESA mounting plate (with screws), a laptop-style power supply, and a soft carrying bag.
While the soft bag is a nice touch, we suspect most MiniAir 11s are likely to be mounted on the back of a monitor or tucked under one on the edge of a desk.
Getting into the MiniAir is easy as you can remove the top with a putty knife and the bottom comes out with four screws going through the four little rubber feet.
Removing the top isn't very helpful, but the bottom does provide access to the M.2 storage and DDR4 memory slots, both of which can be swapped out.
There is nothing remarkable about this design, but equally, there is nothing disastrous either.
Material
Technical sheet
Here is the GEEKOM MiniAir 11 configuration submitted to TechRadar for review:
Processor: Intel Celeron N5095 Processor (4 cores, 4 threads, 4 MB cache, up to 2,90 GHz)
Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics 605
RAM: 8 GB DDR4 RAM (expandable to 32 GB)
Storage: 2GB M.2280 256 NVMe SSD
Ports: 2 USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type A, 1 USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type A, 1 USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type C, 1 USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type A, 1 HDMI 1.4, 1 Mini DisplayPort, 1 Universal Audio Jack, 1x Reader SD card (USB2.0)
Connectivity: Dual Band Wi-Fi, 1 Gigabit LAN Adapter, Bluetooth v4.2
Size: 117 x 112 x 34mm (width x depth x height)
Installed operating system: Windows 11 Pro with license
Accessories: wall bracket, 12V/3A adapter, HDMI and DisplayPort cables
In theory, the N5095 silicon in this machine is the only Jasper Lake desktop Celeron (based on Tremont) made by Intel. Though according to the documentation you read, it's also a moving part, which is confusing.
Its exact designation seems to be determined by power consumption, and the N5095 has the option of being used in a laptop with active cooling or, as is the case with the MiniAir 11, with a passive cooler.
Instead of using this chip, many NUC designers chose the N5105 mobile device, which has lower wattage but higher clock speeds, and others opted for Elkhart Lake mobile chips.
Compared to the remarkably similar N5105, the N5095 is a disappointment. It requires 15W, not 10W, of power and has an identical 2GHz base clock and 2,9GHz burst clock as the N5105. With less performance but more voltage, it only makes sense for Intel.
These two chips have four cores, 8 PCIe lanes, no hyper-threading, and can handle 16GB of RAM.
But the N5015 integrates an AX-class wireless network and a GPU with 24 execution units. By contrast, the N5095's UHD graphics have only 16 units and a lower burst clock on the GPU.
Where AMD and Nvidia make their chips at 5nm and even 4nm, Intel has made them at 10nm, which limits their performance and power efficiency compared to their counterparts.
To be clear, neither the N5015 nor the N5095 are anything special, but the designers may have made a mistake by going for the N5095, as it's certainly the less impressive of the two.
Not wanting to spoil anything, but proof of these claims can be found in our benchmarks.
Another choice made here that is more understandable but is one of the tough choices that using such low power silicon forces designers to make.
When complementing this design with the number and specifications of its USB ports, we didn't take into account that the N5095 only has eight PCIe Gen 3 lanes.
It's unclear how precisely these lanes are divided, but based on NVMe drive performance in this system, only two lanes are assigned to the M.2 slot.
Speeds on this port are still faster than SATA, but not the fantastic performance you might expect from a desktop M.2 NVMe slot with four PCIe 3.0 lanes.
Another problem is that GEEKOM called it the MiniAir, implying that it is better placed to network wirelessly. But that's an incorrect assumption as the N5095 doesn't have AX-class WiFi built in, and the chosen wireless module only offers WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 4.2.
The built-in Wi-Fi can still work fine, but those who want a more reliable connection might get better service if they use the Ethernet LAN port and a cable.
What we liked about this, and many NUC designs, is that it can be easily upgraded.
Removing the bottom takes a few seconds, and once inside, the NVMe drive can be swapped out and memory expanded. The review machine came with a 2GB M.2280 256 drive, which could be upgraded to a maximum of 4TB in this form factor.
Fortunately, the memory is supported and the single 8TB device can be augmented with another up to this capacity to bring the RAM up to 16GB.
By mistake, on GEEKOM website it says that it can be upgraded to 32GB, but the limit on N5095 is 16GB.
You can buy the GEEKOM MiniAir 11 here. (opens in a new tab)
Geekom MiniAir 11 Mini PC: Price Comparison
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