The Mini-PC market is filled with a huge variety of devices: from the most budget systems for narrow tasks to full-fledged game builds. Today we have a review of the golden mean and the perfect price/quality ratio - Ninkear M7 mini PC.
For its price, it offers multitasking, performance, and a huge number of interfaces for a Mini-PC, all while maintaining a compact size. The Ninkear M7 once again confirms that a mini PC can be not just a media center, but a full-fledged workstation. Let's consider it in more detail in our review.
The Packaging & Product Features
The package is expected to be minimalistic: the mini-PC itself, a 65W power supply, an HDMI cable and a set of mounts for mounting on the back of the monitor. There is also waste paper in the form of documentation and a warranty card.
Now let's look at the appearance and materials of the case. The Ninkear M7 stands out from plastic competitors with its all-metal silver body. Aluminum looks stylish and premium, while the mini-PC is quite heavy at just under 500 grams. The build is not satisfactory: the panels are tightly fitted, there are no backlashes, and the case itself is pleasantly cold to the touch.
Where the Ninkear M7 really surprises is in the variety of ports. The manufacturer was able to place almost all the necessary connectors on a compact case:
- On the front panel, there are two USB 3.2 ports for quick connection of peripherals and a bright orange power button.
- The main ports are concentrated on the back panel: two HDMI 2.0 ports for connecting two monitors in 4K 60 Hz, a Gigabit Ethernet (RJ45) connector, two USB 2.0 ports for connecting peripherals, USB Type-C, which supports data and video transmission in 4K 30 Hz, audio output and a DC power connector. There is also a grille for air circulation in the upper part.
- The side faces are unremarkable. Except that they have additional ventilation grilles, similar to the one located on the back of the mini-PC.
An impressive set of ports allows you to create a full-fledged workstation with three monitors at the same time without the need for docking stations or adapters - a rare feature for devices of this form factor. Let's shift the viewing vector to quality and consider the capabilities of the hardware installed in this mini-PC.
Processor and video core
The Ninkear M7 is based on a 6-core, 12-thread AMD Ryzen 5 7430U processor. The relatively recent processor, released on September 1, 2023, is still installed in laptops and Ultra-books. This is justified by its base frequency of 2.3 GHz and maximum frequency of 4.3 GHz combined with the amount of heat generated (TDP) of 15 watts. For such frequencies, 15 watts is not much, and the performance is enough not only for basic and office tasks, but also for gaming, compiling code and working in graphics editors.
Cooling is worth mentioning separately. A massive cooler that dissipates heat through two copper tubes is able to cool the CPU even in the most demanding tasks. Tests conducted during the review process did not cause the processor to overheat and go into throttling, and this fact alone puts the Ninkear M7 almost head and shoulders above its closest competitors.
The Cinebench R23 delivers 6196 points in Multi-Core mode and 1312 points in Single-Core mode. The indicators are slightly less than those declared by the manufacturer, but still very, very good. For the entire time of testing, the average temperature was around 65.7 degrees, which is quite impressive.
The CPU-Z scores 574.8 points in Single Thread mode and 3448.8 points in Multi Thread mode. Quite good indicators, which is expected from the Ryzen 5 7430U.
The built-in core of Radeon Vega 7 does not stand out for anything supernatural: it is capable of displaying images on 3 monitors at once in 4K, has a base frequency of 300 MHz and 1900 MHz in Boost mode with a power consumption of 45 watts. As for games, in conjunction with the processor, you can play old and undemanding projects at medium or even high settings. Popular online games like Dota 2 or World of Tanks will give smooth operation only at low settings, and the price of the beauty of landscapes and bright animation is a low number of FPS (Frames Per Second) and slowdown.
The FurMark gave an average of 13 FPS in 25 minutes of testing. Very little compared to an external graphics card, quite enough for an integrated video core.
Memory
The Ninkear M7 configures 16GB DDR4 RAM at 3200Hz.
The volume is generally sufficient for everyday tasks, but the owner of the mini PC will be able to increase the memory to 64 GB, and the best solution is to add another stick of RAM to the additional slot. In addition to increasing the memory, dual-channel mode is activated, which will have a positive effect on the overall performance of the mini-PC.
The drive in this system is a 512 GB M.2 SSD. Taking into account the pre-installed and activated Windows 11 Pro, there should be enough space to install the necessary software and store personal files. An upgrade is also available, and there is no need to change the drive, because another M.2 slot is allocated for increasing memory.
CrystalDiskMark with 16 GiB output the following speeds: 3617.66 MB/s read and 2996.51 MB/s write. It is not worth installing an SSD that can exceed these speeds by at least some tangible indicators, the emphasis will go to the PCIe bus. However, even the installed drive is enough for quite comfortable work, even in modern realities.
Memory
The Ninkear mini-PC M7 configures 16GB DDR4 RAM at 3200Hz.Wireless
The Ninkear MINI-pc M7 is equipped with a modern Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) wireless module, which provides not only high data transfer speeds, but also a stable connection. This is important, for example, in apartment buildings or offices.
Bluetooth 5.2, unlike earlier versions, offers not only twice the data transfer speed and four times the range, but also improvements in energy efficiency and connection stability. It provides work with advanced audio profiles such as LE Audio, allowing you to connect multiple wireless headphones to the same device at the same time and get higher quality audio with lower latency. For mini PCs, this means being able to work stably with a whole fleet of peripherals, from keyboards and mice to gamepads and headsets.
Conclusion
The Ninkear mini-PC M7 left a positive impression. First of all, it is a powerful hardware platform based on a modern AMD processor, complemented by a rich set of ports for connecting everything you need and a stylish all-metal case. I was pleased with the cooling system, which allows you to work with a processor and a video core that is powerful enough for a mini-PC...