The Beelink Mini PCs have still been gaining popularity quite fast this year and for a good reason. Among other manufacturer’s solutions these small form factor machines are one of the best and most reliable you can find – and there are quite a few options for you if you’re on a tight budget too!
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Check out also my article about the very best Mini PCs for emulation here: It contains options from other manufacturers too! – 8 Best Mini PCs For Emulation This Year – Here Are My Picks!
Is Beelink a Reliable Brand?
As far as the official information that you can find on the brand’s main website goes, Beelink is a Chinese company based in Shenzen, established back in 2011. According to their current product lineup they design and manufacture mainly TV Boxes and Mini PCs, which are available both in their official store over on Aliexpress, and via their resellers over on Amazon.
To make this short, Beelink does make great quality Mini PCs which have been extensively reviewed by me and many other tech YouTubers and bloggers throughout the recent years. In my book, both spec and performance wise all of the mini PCs manufactured by them which utilize chipsets better than the Intel N100 (so all the ones present on this list), are really worth it when it comes both to office work, light PC gaming and relatively modern console emulation.
What Games Can You Realistically Play With These?
Most of the older PC games (up to around ~2014) will run without much trouble in resolutions up to 1080p. When it comes to 4k gaming however, you might be out of luck, unless you’re running some really old games which support resolutions these high, or emulate upscaled retro systems.
When it comes to newer AAA games, many of them actually can be played on these systems with lowered graphics settings and in lower resolutions (with some titles as low as 720p). You may be able to play some recent triple A titles on the higher end of the Beelink Mini PC lineup, however in most cases this will require a few simple setting tweaks, and somewhat reasonable expectations.
You can check out this video of Cyberpunk 2077 and other AAA games being played on a Beelink SER8 Mini PC (so the first and most powerful Beelink device on this list), to get a better idea about the performance you can expect.
What About Emulation of Newer Console Systems?
Emulation of older retro systems will work flawlessly on all of these in most cases, and getting the games from the most of the relatively newer consoles like the PSP, PS2, PS3 and Nintendo Switch shouldn’t be a problem for any of these devices. The only thing you need to do is to quickly set up the emulator software you need, which is a really simple process.
Once again, if you’re mainly interested in emulating newer console games, feel free to check out my other benchmark-backed top list of the best Mini PCs for emulation, including devices from brands other than Beelink.
Are There Any Budget Mini PC Options?
The older generation Beelink Mini PC models are what you’re looking for. The lower price will almost always be accompanied by a slight downgrade when it comes to the CPU and the graphics processing unit, as well as sometimes, a lower amount of RAM and base disk space which you can most of the time customize before making a purchase.
All of the older, more affordable available models are also shown here, however keep in mind that in this list I don’t include the even cheaper Beelink Mini PCs which utilize the Intel N100 chipset, as it’s rather largely unfit even for lighter and less demanding PC games, and should be used only for retro systems emulation.
So let’s get straight into the list, starting with the very best models available, and ending with the older and more wallet-friendly ones.
1. Beelink SER8 AMD R7 8845HS
- Can run some more recent Games like Cyberpunk 2077 or Elden Ring with the right settings.
- The AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS CPU on board.
- High performance PS3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Switch emulation.
- For now, the very best option from Beelink.
- The price reflects the quality.
- Doesn’t have that much edge over the SER7.
The Beelink SER8 AMD R7 8845HS is currently the top-performing Mini PC model from Beelink, with one of the latest AMD chipsets on board. When it comes to the Beelink product lineup, this is the very best model you can get. Not only that, but it is also one of the most powerful and reliable Mini PCs in this form factor when it comes to its emulation performance.
The 8 core 16 thread Ryzen 7 8845HS AMD CPU paired with 32GB of RAM and powerful 780M GPU, plus 1TB of fast built-in storage grants you great performance in games such as GTA V, Cyberpunk 2077, Elden Ring or Apex Legends on medium to low graphical settings as you can see on the video linked above, and of course doing some light photo or video editing work won’t pose any trouble for this machine either.
If the price is not an issue, this is the top Beelink Mini PC model your money can get you as of now.
2. Beelink SER7 MAX 7840HS
- The second best choice when it comes to performance.
- Tackles Xbox 360, PS3 & Switch emulation without any trouble.
- Great for AAA gaming on lower settings in 1080p.
- Less expensive than the more recently released SER8.
- Price is still a little bit steep.
- Still not really a budget choice.
Beelink SER7 MAX 7840HS taking the second place on this list, is the previous top-tier model from Beelink with an AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS CPU, 32GB of RAM and the AMD Radeon 780M GPU, so the exact same used in the SER8. It is also available in the 1TB SSD storage option. Playing games like Destiny 2 or Witcher III on lower settings in 1080p won’t be a problem for this device.
Being perfectly honest, in most contexts it’s nearly just as powerful as the SER8, although if you wish to tackle some newer titles, you’ll always want to go with the most powerful model. Still, the SER7 is more than enough for light PC gaming and emulation of consoles such as PS3 and Xbox 360 and 3DS, some of the titles working really well upscaled.
This one is really worth considering if you don’t absolutely need the latest processor in your Mini PC, and you find the SER8 a little bit overpriced.
3. Beelink SER6 6900HX
- Noticeably cheaper than the SER7.
- Doesn’t fall behind much when it comes to PC games.
- Pretty much retains the same performance when it comes to emulation.
- If you’re in for that solid black design, this one is for you.
- Has a little bit less horsepower than the SER7.
- Uses the lower-grade GPU than the SER7 & SER8 (680M vs. 780M).
The Beelink SER6 6900HX with the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX CPU reaching up to 4.9GHz in the turbo mode and rocking the one-grade-lower version of the GPU – the AMD Radeon 680M is still quite a powerful little device. Playing games like Rocket League or even Forza Horizon 5 on low settings in 1080p and at 60fps is entirely possible here. And when it comes to emulation, the capabilities are not far behind the previous two devices.
Also, should I mention that editing 4k footage in software like Premiere Pro or Davinci Resolve shouldn’t be a problem on any of the devices mentioned on this list, including this one. This is a great thing if you want to use your Mini PC for other things than gaming at times. Now let’s move on to a little bit older Beelink device which can be much less pricey, especially when it comes to their lower default RAM/storage configuration variants.
4. Beelink SER5 MAX 5800H
- The most affordable options without downgrading to the Intel N100 chipset.
- Pretty much retains the same performance when it comes to emulation and lighter gaming.
- The least powerful device on this list.
- Only 16GB RAM & half the default storage.
- Some PC games can be a hit or miss with medium graphical settings.
The last device on this list, and simultaneously the most affordable one is the Beelink SER5 MAX 5800H. With the oldest CPU in this lineup on board (the Ryzen 7 5800H), it still retains much of the performance of its older brothers, maxxing out its turbo clock speed at 4.40GHz. In 16GB RAM and 500GB of fast SSD storage configuration, this one is the tight budget choice you’ve been waiting for. And yes, it can still play most of the PC games that the previous models can handle, and emulate all of the newest consoles including the Nintendo Switch!
With this position on the list also being the closing remarks of this post, let me bring this all into the conclusion you’ve probably been waiting for: yes, the differences in performance between the different Beelink Mini PC models are there and are both measurable and noticeable, however for light PC gaming and emulation, as well as video editing and office work all of these devices are bound to do exceptionally good.
What should you base your choice on then? Well, if you ask me, if you’re going for the absolute best Mini PC the money can get you, aim at either the Beelink SER8, or the SER7. If however, you’re looking for a certain outer shell design, or you simply prefer the looks of any of the devices listed, you’ll most probably be more than happy to go with any one of these provided you’re not planning on maxxing their performance out by tackling the newest AAA games on medium to high settings, which might prove to be difficult on either of these devices. That’s pretty much it!