AcePC Wizbox AI mini PC review: Intel Meteor Lake goes mini

Compared to other mini PCs with similar performance, the AcePC Wizbox AI comes with a relatively larger and heavier case that measures 147 x 147 x 55.55 mm (5.79 x 5.79 x 2.19 inches). The design is clean and minimalist, featuring a metallic chassis sandwiched between solid plastic top and bottom covers AcePC offers this model only in black and users can opt for a matte or shiny top. Without the included 120 W power supply unit, the mini PC weighs 840 g (1.85 lbs).

Given the larger size of this model combined with a higher price, we would have expected a wider selection of ports. The front panel features a USB-C 3.2 10 Gbps connector, together with two USB-A 3.2 5 Gbps ports and the audio jack. Two more USB-A 3.2 5 Gbps ports as well as two HDMI 2.1 video outputs plus a 2.5 GbE jack and the standard Kensington lock are located on the rear side. This selection without a Thunderbolt 4 port appears to be the bare minimum accepted for Meteor Lake devices. We have seen smaller mini PCs like the Minisforum EliteMini UM780 XTX with dual 2.5 GbE jacks, double USB4 connectors and a more diverse video output selection including DP and OCulink for a lower price, so AcePC definitely has room for improvement in this department.

Besides the power cable for the power supply unit, AcePC includes a few other accessories along with the mini PC unit such as a USB-A to USB-A cable and a VESA mount with screws that allow the unit to be mounted on a wall or behind a monitor.

The bottom lid can easily be removed by unscrewing the rubber feet and it also has an attached fan to cool the SSDs and the RAM modules. Our review unit came with one M.2 2280 SSD, but there is another M.2 slot for up to 4 TB capacity. RAM capacity can be expanded up to 96 GB thanks to the included support for the new 48 GB DDR5 modules. Unfortunately, the top lid cannot be removed to access the CPU cooler.

AcePC offers Core Ultra 5 125H and Core Ultra 7 155H processor options from the new Intel Meteor Lake lineup. Since these are the first Intel processors to integrate an NPU for AI tasks as well as a more powerful iGPU, a comparison with AMD’s Phoenix models seems appropriate. The Core Ultra 7 155H powering the reviewed unit from AcePC is the mid-range model in its lineup, so the test results were compared to AMD’s Ryzen 7 7840HS. In order to see how things improved from the previous Intel Raptor Lake generation, the comparison also includes a mini PC powered by the i7-1360P processor. Furthermore, we added a mini PC powered by the Ryzen 7 7735HS as a step-down option and another one with Core i7-13700H as a higher TDP alternative. Complementing the Meteor Lake processor are 32 GB of DDR5-4800 RAM from Kingston and a 512 GB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD.

The Intel Core Ultra 7 155H shows some of the lowest latency values recorded on any mini PC to date. The results are considerably better than those recorded on an AMD's Phoenix APUs and slightly better compared to the previous gen i7-1360P. 4K YouTube videos have fewer dropped frames compared to AMD's Phoenix APU, but Raptor Lake i7-1360P wins here with 0 drooped frames.

This is the first time we encounter a Rayson NVMe SSD and it looks like the performance is not on par with the usual solutions. Compared to more prominent brands like Kingston and Samsung, the Rayson 512 GB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD is more than 30% slower on average. One of the more severe discrepancies is recorded in the DiskSpd Read loop, where the Rayson SSD maintains comparable speeds only for 5 runs and then slows down by more than 50%. Such results are caused by thermal throttling, most likely on the PCIe 4.0 controller. HWInfo reports that one of the SSD sensors recorded a maximum of 91° C during the DiskSpd stress test. Even though the mini PC features a dedicated fan for the SSDs and RAM DIMMs on the bottom side, the fan speed was at 20-30% during the test. The SSD could benefit from at least a thermal pad.