BMAX B7 Power review: A frugal mini PC with Intel Core i7 for US$400

The back of the PC is where all the necessary ports for permanent connections can be found, including two USB-A ports to connect a mouse and keyboard, two HDMI 2.0 ports to connect up to two monitors, as well as a LAN port and power connection.

On the front, there are additional ports to connect external USB devices or headphones. Here, you can also find a USB-C port. BMAX has indicated it as being "full-featured". It is clear that it doesn't support Thunderbolt - but it does support DisplayPort, meaning that a total of three monitors can be connected to the B7 Power at once.

This port also supports Power Delivery, as our test with two USB-C chargers confirmed. A MacBook Air's 30-watt charger didn't work - but a 45-watt charger did. Officially, the B7 requires 19 V and 2.5 A (47.5 W). 

The B7 doesn't feature an SD card reader. There are some screw holes on the bottom of the device which you can use to connect the mini PC to the back of a monitor using the supplied VESA mount.

Aside from the mini PC itself, the manufacturer has also included a proprietary power supply, an HDMI cable and a VESA mount including the required screws.

The manufacturer has currently made no comment on whether the PC comes with a warranty. Your relevant local warranty laws should cover this.

Intel Gen 11, specifically the Intel Core i7-11390H, is generally a decent CPU - but it is a few years behind the current technology surrounding Intel Gen13, which can be found in the Intel NUC 13 Pro Kit. Completing the setup are 16 GB RAM with the option to upgrade and a 1-TB no-name SSD. The PC doesn't feature a dedicated graphics card but the XE Graphics integrated into the CPU runs with 96 EUs at full capacity. The PC is primarily suited for everyday office uses and maybe also as a retro console.

There are a whole range of other mini PCs offered on BMAX's website, including the B7 Pro with an i5-1145G7. However, the B7 Power is already the manufacturer's current top-of-the-range model.

The chip can be configured from 28 to 35 watts (TDP), depending on which is the guaranteed base clock, which can range from 2.9 (28 W) to 3.4 GHz (35 W). The lower TDP end seems to be configured a bit more for the B7 Power. In our Cinebench R15 loop, the PC's power consumption was around 30 watts during the first run. From the second run onwards, the B7 only reached 25 watts and that only very briefly; for the majority of the rest of each run, the mini-PC only reached just under 20 watts.

After the first Cinebench R15 run, the device's performance dropped by about 10 per cent and remained stable afterwards. However, this performance is rather disappointing overall. Of course, the NUC 12 and 13 are clearly ahead, but even the Geekom Mini with the same CPU was a full 17 per cent faster across all CPU tests. Compared to the average i7-11390H results in our database, the B7 Power's CPU performance is about 13 per cent weaker. This means that the CPU's potential is by no means exhausted. Even the B5 Power with Intel Gen8 could barely be outperformed in the Cinebench test. The two devices are separated by a massive 87 per cent in the overall CPU score, but there is only about 18 per cent between them when it comes to the Cinebench loop.

BMAX has installed a 1-TB SSD into the device - this is also how it is labelled everywhere on Windows and even in the BIOS. It just says "SSD 1 TB" everywhere. In order to determine the installed model and its manufacturer, you have to open up the B7 Power and remove the SSD. There is a label on the back. A "Kston K765-1TB" isn't very well known here. It really shouldn't have any reason to hide - in comparison, this model still achieved decent transmission rates. Only the Samsung SSD within the NUC 13 did considerably better in all the tests.