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MagyarAcemagic AD15 Mini PC review: Powerful NUC alternative with Intel Core i7-11800H
"AD15" is the label of a small mini PC from Acemagic that we evaluate in detail by running it through numerous tests. Even though with the Intel Core i7-11800H you only get an aged SoC here, we are still surprised how well the processor currently performs in everyday operation. In addition to the Intel Core i7-11800H, you also get 16 GB of RAM and a 512-GB SSD including Windows 11 Professional for $400. After some brief searching, you can also find the Acemagic with an Intel Core i5-12450H, but you will have to pay 500 Euros (~$533) for that.
In this review, we compare the Acemagic AD15 against some known competitors that we have already examined in detail. Their prices range from 350 to 600 Euros (~$373 - $639), with our test unit placing in the middle of this range. The table below gives an overview of the comparison devices for this review.
Possible Competitors in Comparison
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Height | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 77.8 % v7 (old) | 09 / 2023 | Acemagic AD15 i7-11800H, UHD Graphics Xe 32EUs (Tiger Lake-H) | 765 g | 76 mm | |
| 83.7 % v7 (old) | 05 / 2023 | Morefine M600, 6600U R5 6600U, Radeon 660M | 768 g | 40.6 mm | |
| 81.7 % v7 (old) | 05 / 2023 | Minisforum Venus Series UM560 XT R5 5600H, Vega 7 | 652 g | 48 mm | |
| 80.6 % v7 (old) | 07 / 2023 | Geekom Mini IT11, i7-11390H i7-11390H, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 536 g | 48 mm | |
| 73.8 % v7 (old) | 08 / 2023 | Blackview MP200 i5-11400H, UHD Graphics Xe 16EUs (Tiger Lake-H) | 678 g | 75.5 mm | |
| 73.4 % v7 (old) | 04 / 2023 | ACEMagician ACE-CK10-8259U i5-8259U, Iris Plus Graphics 655 | 449 g | 50 mm | |
| 70.9 % v7 (old) | 12 / 2022 | Minipc Union NiPoGi CK10 - 10810U i7-10810U, UHD Graphics 620 | 468 g | 50 mm | |
v7 (old) | 09 / 2022 | Minipc Union Ace Magician TK11-A0 i5-1135G7, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 586 g | 53 mm |
Acemagic AD15 in Detail
Case - A lot of plastic with a little metal
The Acemagic AD15 is a simple device that makes do without a lot of gimmicks. The computer case doesn't stand out and is made completely of plastic. The haptics of the device correspond to the price, even though with the Blackview MP200, we recently tested a similar device that turned out significantly better here. However, the workmanship is still fine and there are no noticeable gaps.
In terms of space needs on the desk, the device takes advantage of its vertical build, even though that makes it look a little larger than its competitors. The Blackview MP200 can also be placed vertically. Despite its plastic construction, the Acemagic AD15 still weighs 765 grams (~1.7 lb), making our test unit the second heaviest device in our current comparison after the Morefine M600.
Equipment - Sufficient and suitable for everyday tasks
The connection equipment of the Acemagic AD15 conforms to the usual standard. We count a total of five USB connections, one of which also supports image output as a Type-C port. Together with the two available HDMI connections, this will allow you to connect three displays simultaneously.
Communication
The WLAN module used here comes from Realtek. In the best case, it communicates in the 5-GHz frequency band, and it is also compatible with the 2.4-GHz range. While we don't see any outstanding results in our test, the connection is sufficient for everyday operation, and its constant stability in our test is worth mentioning. We use our Asus ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 router in this test. Alternatively, you can also create a wired connection using the RJ45 port.
Accessories
The box includes everything important to run the device, such as the 120-Watt power supply. The Acemagic AD15 also includes an HDMI cable.
Maintenance
Using the appropriate tools, the Acemagic AD15 can be opened without any problems. Looking from the front, the right side is fastened with some screws at the bottom. After removing them, the side cover can simply be slid toward the bottom to remove it. But this doesn't give you many options yet, and you have to open the device further if you want to access WLAN module or clean the fan. But even that won't be much of a problem if you use some skill.
Performance - The Intel Core i5-11800H offers 8 cores and 16 threads
The Intel Core i7-11800H comes from the Tiger Lake series and still provides an adequate performance for everyday tasks. In addition, the 8-core processor can handle some demanding application without getting easily overburdened. Based on the Intel Core i5-12450H, the AD15 is also available with a more current SoC.
Test Conditions
We ran all the performance tests using the "Highest Performance" power profile. We did not modify the performance of the SoC, leaving the default settings in the BIOS. According to our test criteria, we only used other power profile settings in our power consumption and noise level measurements.
Processor
As already mentioned, Acemagic uses an Intel Core i7-11800H in the AD15. In addition to the good single-core performance, the SoC also offers an excellent multi-thread performance with its 8 cores and 16 threads. In our comparison, we see a tight race for first place that our test unit is able to win by a razor-thin margin. In terms of the power consumption, we determine that the full power limits are used to perfection. The SoC can use 65 watts briefly and those are also always reached. Over a longer time period, the 45 watts are also maintained easily, which also points to a good cooling unit.
In the AIDA64 tests, we see out test unit in first place again, surpassing the Minisforum Venus Series UM560 XT by 6 percentage points. In all the CPU tests, the Acemagic AD15 shows a perfect performance development, where the SoC is able to use its performance fully, without being limited by a cooling unit that is too weak. Not all mini PCs are able to manage this with their limited size construction also creating some constraints.
You can find additional comparisons and benchmarks in our CPU comparison table.
* ... smaller is better
AIDA64: FP32 Ray-Trace | FPU Julia | CPU SHA3 | CPU Queen | FPU SinJulia | FPU Mandel | CPU AES | CPU ZLib | FP64 Ray-Trace | CPU PhotoWorxx
Acemagic AD15 vs. Cinebench R15 Multi Loop
At this point, the Cinebench R15 constant loop test gives us a good initial impression about the efficiency of the cooling system in combination with the power target of the processor. While the excellent results of the CPU tests cannot be repeated here, the Acemagic AD15 still finishes a good second behind the Minisforum Venus Series UM560 XT. With 1,470 points after 50 runs, the Intel Core i7-11800H achieves an acceptable result.
System Performance
In the synthetic benchmarks, the Acemagic AD15 has slightly more trouble to assert itself. The mini PC lacks performance in PCMark10, resulting in the two devices with AMD processors ending up in the first two places. In Crossmark as well, the performance is only sufficient for third place, even though the disadvantage to the Morefine M600 turns out significantly smaller. We see the RAM equipment as a weak point in the Acemagic AD15. Even though the manufacturer uses two modules, which is basically positive, they only have a clock speed of 2,666 MT/s, resulting in our test unit only finishing in the lower middle of our test field in the RAM tests. Using working memory with a clock speed of 3,200 MT/s would be more optimal here.
* ... smaller is better
DPC Latencies
The Acemagic AD15 can be used to play high-resolution videos. Although the system plays our test video without any trouble, we notice 10 dropped frames right at the beginning. The iGPU is loaded up to 27%, thus taking some load of the processor, which results in the latencies always remaining within the green range. The system is able to handle opening several browser tabs and the full CPU load with Prime95 with low latencies throughout.
In this test, the Blackview MP200 shows good results. When opening multiple tabs in the Edge browser and playing our 4K test video, we don't see any critical latencies. Only when starting Prime95, they are slightly elevated, but then the latencies don't increase further.
| DPC Latencies / LatencyMon - interrupt to process latency (max), Web, Youtube, Prime95 | |
| Minipc Union NiPoGi CK10 - 10810U | |
| ACEMagician ACE-CK10-8259U | |
| Blackview MP200 | |
| Morefine M600, 6600U | |
| Minisforum Venus Series UM560 XT | |
| Acemagic AD15 | |
| Minipc Union Ace Magician TK11-A0 | |
| Geekom Mini IT11, i7-11390H | |
* ... smaller is better
Storage Solution
The Acemagic AD15 uses a 512-GB SSD from Netac. The storage offers only SATA speed, which has a negative effect in our comparison with the competitors since those are often equipped with NVMe SSDs. While this disadvantage is very clear in the benchmarks, it is hardly noticeable in everyday operation. The system boots up and is ready to use quickly, and installing our test programs and games also works without any problems. Our measurements show appropriate results for a SATA SSD. This connection doesn't allow higher transfer rates anyways. The Acemagic AD15 can be equipped with two storage solutions. In addition to the M.2 SSD, there is also an available 2.5-inch slot that offers space for a second SSD or HDD with a maximum capacity of up to 2 TB.
You can find additional comparisons and benchmarks in our comparison chart.
