MINIX Neo N42C-4 Mini-PC Review: A Palm-Sized Quad-Core With Windows 10 Pro

Name: MINIX N42C-4
Brand: MINIX

by Marco Chiappetta — Tuesday, March 06, 2018, 12:25 PM EDT

Performance Summary: As the benchmarks on the preceeding pages have shown, the MINIX Neo N42C-4 in no speed demon, but with a low-power, Apollo Lake-based processor, it wasn’t meant to be. The MINIX Neo N42C-4 is, however, a full-featured, quiet, ultra-small form factor PC, that does what it's designed to do well.

The MINIX Neo N42C-4 is meant for media consumption, basic desktop computing use-cases, and thin-client applications. MINIX’s focus with this machine is on industrial and commercial applications where the Windows 10 Pro OS will allow the machine to connect to a domain, but its higher performance relative to MINIX's other machines and sleek design make it a suitable option for HTPC and basic desktop computing use cases as well.

Find The MINIX Neo N42C-4 Silent Mini PC @ Amazon.Com

The MINIX Neo N42C-4 is a well designed, feature-packed mini PC that offers a balanced mix of low-power, expandability, and good looks. The quad-core Pentium N 4200 processor, 4GB of RAM, and 32GB of eMMC storage should give users enough breathing room for HTPC and basic desktop use cases, especially if most of their media is stored on a NAS device or streamed from the web. In any case, should more storage be necessary this machine offers an M.2 slot as well. Performance versus more powerful mini-PCs, like many of Intel's NUCs, or even versus basic, full-sized desktop systems isn't going to knock your socks off, but at under $300 you shouldn't really be expecting a world-beater anyway.

In the end though, if you’re looking for a sleek, affordable, quiet, small form factor system for any number of low-power applications where space is a consideration, the MINIX Neo N42C-4 is worth considering. It is a good looking mini-PC that’s well-equipped and works well for its intended purposes, and it does so without breaking the bank.


Attractive, Small, And Quiet 802.11ac, BT, And Wired Ethernet 4K Support 4 USB Ports, Including USB-C 4GB of RAM 64-Bit Windows 10 Pro Affordable Very Low Power	Relatively Low General Purpose Performance No Micro SD Slot

Tags: SFF, HTPC, mini-PC, Minix, n42c-4

Marco Chiappetta

Marco's interest in computing and technology dates all the way back to his early childhood. Even before being exposed to the Commodore P.E.T. and later the Commodore 64 in the early ‘80s, he was interested in electricity and electronics, and he still has the modded AFX cars and shop-worn soldering irons to prove it. Once he got his hands on his own Commodore 64, however, computing became Marco's passion. Throughout his academic and professional lives, Marco has worked with virtually every major platform from the TRS-80 and Amiga, to today's high end, multi-core servers. Over the years, he has worked in many fields related to technology and computing, including system design, assembly and sales, professional quality assurance testing, and technical writing. In addition to being the Managing Editor here at HotHardware for close to 15 years, Marco is also a freelance writer whose work has been published in a number of PC and technology related print publications and he is a regular fixture on HotHardware’s own Two and a Half Geeks webcast. - Contact: marco(at)hothardware(dot)com