Review of the Minix Neo Z64w, the best Windows 8.1 Mini PC to date from Gearbest

Hi guys,

This time i'm gonna review the latest Minix Mini PC running Windows 8.1, the Neo Z64w, there is an android version as well which i will review in another article so stay tuned

You can buy it from Gearbest and find other useful gadgets as well

Introduction

The device has a black matte exterior made from good quality plastic. There is the Minix logo on top and on the front we see a blue operation led as well as an IR receiver. (IR remote is not included in the package but even if it was, the best way to control the Neo Z64w is by using a wireless keyboard-mouse combo like the one i have.

On the left side we see the adjustable but non detachable external wifi antenna and on the right we have the power button, a microsd card slot and 2 usb 2.0 ports

On the back we have the remaining ports which include a 3.5mm headphone jack, an HDMI output, the ethernet port and the DC input

and if we flip the device we can see the rubber pads and the reset hole

Hardware Specifications

The Neo Z64w runs the certified Windows 8.1 with Bing, it has Quad Core Baytrail Intel Aton Z3735F CPU running at 1.33 Ghz which reaches up to 1.83 Ghz with turbo boost

The processor is 64bit but the installed operating system is 32 bit, the graphics are handled by an Intel HD Graphics GPU and later we'll see how good it performs running some games and benchmarks.

The RAM size is 2GB DDR3L and 24.7GB of storage space is available for the user which you can of course expand via a MicroSD, a USB Flash Drive or an external HDD with no need for a seperate power supply if it is 2.5''

Software

As i mentioned before the Neo Z64w is running the certified Windows 8.1 with Bing. The standard tile based Metro UI is present and you can modify it to fit your needs by adding or deleting app shortcuts, changing their size or even modifying the whole launcher's appearence

On the top right corner there is the search button where you can locate everything, from apps, files or settingsand the current user icon with the options to change picture, lock or sign out

The standard Windows apps are installed such as weather, mail, calendar, news, bing maps etc and you can install every other app you want from the windows store

A very convenient feature Windows 8.1 have is that you can have 2 apps side by side at the same time. Of course Windows can have multiple apps open but this is a great feature when you are on the Metro UI

You can of course switch to the standard windows desktop mode and do whatever you did on your regular PC

Benchmarks

I ran some benchmarks to show you how the device performs. 

The first one is GFX Bench and these are the results

Next is 3D Mark which gave me a score of  9630 points

And lastly i tested the read & write speeds and at the same time we saw how the CPU, RAM and temperatures were affected 

The CPU remained relatively warm throughout the tests ranging from 60-67 degrees Celcius and the speed sometimes topped to 1.83 Ghz. Motherboard remained warm also at 56 degrees Celcius

Kodi & Video playback

Kodi runs perfect and i tried some high bitrate test videos running from an external 1TB 2.5'' HDD

All played perfectly fine and even the 4k test video i tried had buttery smooth playback

Gaming

You can play games using external wireless gamepads such as the famous Dual Shock 4. 

There are games available in the Windows Store or you can install standard Windows games such as FarCry etc but you won't have a good experience because i tried Far Cry 2, Crysis 3and PES 2015 and they were unplayable due to low frame rates

You can also install emulators andplay other platform games as well

Conclusion

The Neo Z64w is an exceptional Mini PC that can replace your bulky desktop computer for the easy and intermediate tasks, but if you want something to play PC games you' re gonna have to turn to a gaming PC

It can do everything except running very high performance applications such as Crysis 3 and all the latest PC games

As a media player it's excellent and it even playbacked the 4k video test i tried with ease

It is a budget friendly choice for those who want an intermediate desktop PC and i totally recommend buying it over the other Windows Mini Pcs because it has the quality every Minix product is known for

Pros

• Windows 8.1 with Bing certified
• Replaces bulky desktop pc for intermediate tasks
• Doesn't have heat problems
• Excellent WiFi reception
• Bluetooth 4.0
• Build Quality
• Good Support
• Excellent Kodi support & operation
• 4k playback

Cons

• Powerful enough but not so much in order to perform heavy duty tasks
• 32 bit Windows on a 64 bit system
• Could have more than 2 USB 2.0 ports but you can solve it with a USB hub

Watch my Video Review and the Minix Neo Series Unboxing below

Minix Neo Series Unboxing English

Minix Neo Series Unboxing Greek

Minix Neo Z64 Review English

Minix Neo Z64 Review Greek

You can get it from Gearbest by going to the official product page

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