Beelink SER9 review: AMD Zen 5 makes this mini PC faster than ever
New Ryzen AI 9 processor boosts performance even further.
Beelink is upping the ante in the mini PC space by incorporating AMD's latest Ryzen 9 CPU before most other competitors. The price has also risen accordingly, however, making this one of the pricier offerings from the manufacturer.Allen Ngo 👁 Published 🇫🇷 🇪🇸 ...
Verdict
The SER8 was already an excellent mini PC with its full-on redesign, modern AMD Zen 4 CPU, and revised ports. The SER9 doubles down on performance by upgrading to an even faster Zen 5 processor that power users can appreciate. The new Ryzen 9 AI CPU is faster and quieter than expected given the size of the SER9.
The SER9 isn't perfect, of course, as common features found on other mini PCs like VESA mounting, upgradeable RAM, or Kensington Lock are all missing on the Beelink. Furthermore, the system is slightly larger and heavier than many competitors due in part to the integrated stereo speakers and vapor chamber cooling. It's certainly faster than many other options out there, but you'll pay for it when it comes to size and power consumption.
Pros
Cons
Potential Competitors in Comparison
Image | Model / Review | Price | Weight | Height | Display |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Beelink SER9 AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 ⎘ AMD Radeon 890M ⎘ 32 GB Memory, 1024 GB SSD | Amazon: $999.00 List Price: 1000 USD | 814 g | 44.7 mm | x | |
Beelink SER8 AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS ⎘ AMD Radeon 780M ⎘ 32 GB Memory, 1024 GB SSD | Amazon: 1. $629.00 Beelink SER8 Mini PC, AMD Ry... 2. $499.00 Beelink SER8 Mini PC, AMD Ry... 3. $499.00 Beelink SER8 Mini PC, AMD Ry... List Price: 650 USD | 776 g | 44.7 mm | x | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro Intel Core i5-11320H ⎘ Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs ⎘ 16 GB Memory, 500 GB SSD | Amazon: 1. $18.99 KFD 19V 65W Power Supply for... 2. $19.99 CASIMY 19V 3.42A Mini PC Ada... 3. $19.99 UL Listed Mini PC Adapter 19... List Price: 430 USD | 440 g | 40 mm | x | |
MSI Cubi NUC 1M Intel Core 7 150U ⎘ Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs ⎘ 16 GB Memory, 1024 GB SSD | Amazon: $648.00 List Price: 950 USD | 660 g | 50.1 mm | x | |
GMK NucBox K9 Intel Core Ultra 5 125H ⎘ Intel Arc 7-Core iGPU ⎘ 32 GB Memory, 1024 GB SSD | Amazon: $599.96 List Price: 560 USD | 528 g | 47 mm | x | |
Asus NUC 14 Pro+ Intel Core Ultra 9 185H ⎘ Intel Arc 8-Core iGPU ⎘ 32 GB Memory, 1024 GB SSD | Amazon: 1. $909.00 ASUS NUC 14 Pro AI Mini Pc, ... 2. $1,000.00 ASUS NUC 14 Pro+ Full System... 3. $779.00 ASUS NUC 14 Pro AI Mini Comp... List Price: 1250 EUR | 622 g | 41 mm | x |
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Details here
The SER9 succeeds the SER8 by replacing the Zen 4 Ryzen 7 8845HS CPU with the newer Zen 5 Ryzen AI 9 HX 370. The chassis is otherwise identical.
Our configuration comes loaded with the aforementioned Zen 5 CPU, 32 GB RAM, and 1 TB NVMe SSD for $1000 USD retail. No other SKUs are available at the time of writing.
Alternatives to the SER9 include other high-end H-series mini PCs like the GMK NucBox K9, Asus NUC 14 Pro, or the Bosgame M1.
More Beelink reviews:
Specifications
Case
The SER8 was already a full makeover from the SER7 and so the SER9 is simply a smaller refresh of the SER8 with no major physical differences. The gray metal chassis and plastic bottom look and feel much more professional than the older outgoing design from the SER7 era.
Connectivity
Port options haven't changed from the SER8. Note that the system can be powered on by third-party USB-C AC adapters in lieu of the barrel-type AC adapter that ships in the box.
Communication
The Intel AX200 comes standard for Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 support. Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 are not supported.
Networking | |
iperf3 transmit AXE11000 | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Beelink SER8 | |
Asus NUC 14 Pro+ | |
MSI Cubi NUC 1M | |
Beelink SER9 | |
iperf3 receive AXE11000 | |
Asus NUC 14 Pro+ | |
Beelink SER9 | |
Beelink SER8 | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
MSI Cubi NUC 1M | |
iperf3 transmit AXE11000 6GHz | |
MSI Cubi NUC 1M | |
Asus NUC 14 Pro+ | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro | |
iperf3 receive AXE11000 6GHz | |
MSI Cubi NUC 1M | |
Asus NUC 14 Pro+ | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro |
Maintenance
Servicing is similar to the SER8 but with one notable difference: there are now no more SODIMM slots since RAM is soldered on the SER9.
Sustainability
The packaging is mostly paper and cardboard with a bit of plastic wrapping for the accessories. The manufacturer advertises no other sustainability measures.
Accessories And Warranty
The retail box includes an HDMI cable alongside the usual paperwork and AC adapter. There is no VESA mounting.
A one-year manufacturer warranty applies if purchased in the US.
Performance
Testing Conditions
We set Windows to Performance mode prior to running the benchmarks below.
Processor
Raw CPU performance is excellent with both consistent Turbo Boost performance and a healthy boost over the previous generation Ryzen 7 8845HS by about 30 percent. The same can also be said when compared to the Core Ultra 9 185H which is about 10 to 15 percent slower than our Ryzen AI 9 HX 370.
Cinebench R15 Multi Loop
Cinebench R23: Multi Core | Single Core
Cinebench R20: CPU (Multi Core) | CPU (Single Core)
Cinebench R15: CPU Multi 64Bit | CPU Single 64Bit
Blender: v2.79 BMW27 CPU
7-Zip 18.03: 7z b 4 | 7z b 4 -mmt1
Geekbench 6.3: Multi-Core | Single-Core
Geekbench 5.5: Multi-Core | Single-Core
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2: 4k Preset
LibreOffice : 20 Documents To PDF
R Benchmark 2.5: Overall mean
CPU Performance Rating | |
Lenovo ThinkStation P3 Tiny-30H0006AGE | |
Beelink SER9 | |
Average AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 | |
Minisforum MS-A1 | |
Beelink SER8 | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
Geekom AX8 Pro | |
Asus NUC 14 Pro+ | |
Geekom XT13 Pro | |
GMK NucBox K9 -1! | |
HP Pro Mini 400 G9-937U0EA | |
Khadas Mind 2 | |
MSI Cubi NUC 1M | |
GMK NucBox M6 | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro -2! |
Cinebench R20 / CPU (Multi Core) | |
Lenovo ThinkStation P3 Tiny-30H0006AGE | |
Beelink SER9 | |
Average AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (6469 - 9246, n=8) | |
Asus NUC 14 Pro+ | |
Minisforum MS-A1 | |
Beelink SER8 | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
Geekom AX8 Pro | |
Khadas Mind 2 | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Geekom XT13 Pro | |
HP Pro Mini 400 G9-937U0EA | |
GMK NucBox M6 | |
MSI Cubi NUC 1M | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro |
Cinebench R20 / CPU (Single Core) | |
Lenovo ThinkStation P3 Tiny-30H0006AGE | |
Beelink SER9 | |
Average AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (772 - 804, n=8) | |
MSI Cubi NUC 1M | |
HP Pro Mini 400 G9-937U0EA | |
Minisforum MS-A1 | |
Geekom AX8 Pro | |
Asus NUC 14 Pro+ | |
Beelink SER8 | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Geekom XT13 Pro | |
Khadas Mind 2 | |
GMK NucBox M6 | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro |
Cinebench R15 / CPU Single 64Bit | |
Lenovo ThinkStation P3 Tiny-30H0006AGE | |
Beelink SER9 | |
Average AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (298 - 315, n=8) | |
Minisforum MS-A1 | |
Geekom AX8 Pro | |
Beelink SER8 | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
Asus NUC 14 Pro+ | |
MSI Cubi NUC 1M | |
HP Pro Mini 400 G9-937U0EA | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Geekom XT13 Pro | |
GMK NucBox M6 | |
Khadas Mind 2 | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro |
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2 / 4k Preset | |
Lenovo ThinkStation P3 Tiny-30H0006AGE | |
Beelink SER9 | |
Average AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (20.3 - 26.9, n=8) | |
Minisforum MS-A1 | |
Beelink SER8 | |
Geekom AX8 Pro | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
Asus NUC 14 Pro+ | |
Khadas Mind 2 | |
Geekom XT13 Pro | |
GMK NucBox M6 | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
HP Pro Mini 400 G9-937U0EA | |
MSI Cubi NUC 1M | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro |
LibreOffice / 20 Documents To PDF | |
Khadas Mind 2 | |
Average AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (49.6 - 66.6, n=8) | |
GMK NucBox M6 | |
Asus NUC 14 Pro+ | |
Beelink SER9 | |
Geekom AX8 Pro | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro | |
HP Pro Mini 400 G9-937U0EA | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
Geekom XT13 Pro | |
Beelink SER8 | |
Minisforum MS-A1 | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Lenovo ThinkStation P3 Tiny-30H0006AGE | |
MSI Cubi NUC 1M |
Cinebench R23: Multi Core | Single Core
Cinebench R20: CPU (Multi Core) | CPU (Single Core)
Cinebench R15: CPU Multi 64Bit | CPU Single 64Bit
Blender: v2.79 BMW27 CPU
7-Zip 18.03: 7z b 4 | 7z b 4 -mmt1
Geekbench 6.3: Multi-Core | Single-Core
Geekbench 5.5: Multi-Core | Single-Core
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2: 4k Preset
LibreOffice : 20 Documents To PDF
R Benchmark 2.5: Overall mean
* ... 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
Performance Rating | |
Beelink SER9 | |
Average AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 | |
Beelink SER8 | |
Asus NUC 14 Pro+ | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
MSI Cubi NUC 1M | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro |
AIDA64 / FP32 Ray-Trace | |
Beelink SER9 | |
Average AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (24673 - 37654, n=7) | |
Beelink SER8 | |
Asus NUC 14 Pro+ | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro | |
MSI Cubi NUC 1M |
AIDA64 / FPU Julia | |
Beelink SER9 | |
Average AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (97073 - 147937, n=8) | |
Beelink SER8 | |
Asus NUC 14 Pro+ | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
MSI Cubi NUC 1M | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro |
AIDA64 / CPU SHA3 | |
Beelink SER9 | |
Average AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (4421 - 5843, n=8) | |
Beelink SER8 | |
Asus NUC 14 Pro+ | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro | |
MSI Cubi NUC 1M |
AIDA64 / CPU Queen | |
Beelink SER8 | |
Beelink SER9 | |
Asus NUC 14 Pro+ | |
Average AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (84460 - 99088, n=8) | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
MSI Cubi NUC 1M | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro |
AIDA64 / FPU SinJulia | |
Beelink SER9 | |
Average AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (16445 - 19021, n=8) | |
Beelink SER8 | |
Asus NUC 14 Pro+ | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro | |
MSI Cubi NUC 1M |
AIDA64 / FPU Mandel | |
Beelink SER9 | |
Average AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (51277 - 79251, n=7) | |
Beelink SER8 | |
Asus NUC 14 Pro+ | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro | |
MSI Cubi NUC 1M |
AIDA64 / CPU AES | |
Beelink SER8 | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Beelink SER9 | |
Average AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (68042 - 81929, n=8) | |
Asus NUC 14 Pro+ | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro | |
MSI Cubi NUC 1M |
AIDA64 / CPU ZLib | |
Beelink SER9 | |
Average AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (1086 - 1520, n=8) | |
Asus NUC 14 Pro+ | |
Beelink SER8 | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
MSI Cubi NUC 1M | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro |
AIDA64 / FP64 Ray-Trace | |
Beelink SER9 | |
Average AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (13959 - 20608, n=8) | |
Beelink SER8 | |
Asus NUC 14 Pro+ | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro | |
MSI Cubi NUC 1M |
AIDA64 / CPU PhotoWorxx | |
Beelink SER9 | |
Average AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (37747 - 50118, n=8) | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Asus NUC 14 Pro+ | |
Beelink SER8 | |
MSI Cubi NUC 1M | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro |
System Performance
CrossMark: Overall | Productivity | Creativity | Responsiveness
WebXPRT 3: Overall
WebXPRT 4: Overall
Mozilla Kraken 1.1: Total
PCMark 10 / Score | |
Beelink SER8 | |
Beelink SER9 | |
Average AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, AMD Radeon 890M (7173 - 7646, n=4) | |
Asus NUC 14 Pro+ | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
MSI Cubi NUC 1M | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro |
PCMark 10 / Essentials | |
Beelink SER8 | |
MSI Cubi NUC 1M | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Beelink SER9 | |
Average AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, AMD Radeon 890M (9751 - 10918, n=4) | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro | |
Asus NUC 14 Pro+ |
PCMark 10 / Productivity | |
Beelink SER8 | |
Average AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, AMD Radeon 890M (9393 - 10615, n=4) | |
Beelink SER9 | |
Asus NUC 14 Pro+ | |
MSI Cubi NUC 1M | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro |
PCMark 10 / Digital Content Creation | |
Beelink SER9 | |
Average AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, AMD Radeon 890M (9828 - 11422, n=4) | |
Asus NUC 14 Pro+ | |
Beelink SER8 | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
MSI Cubi NUC 1M | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro |
CrossMark / Overall | |
Beelink SER8 | |
Average AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, AMD Radeon 890M (1692 - 1789, n=3) | |
MSI Cubi NUC 1M | |
Asus NUC 14 Pro+ | |
Beelink SER9 | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro |
CrossMark / Productivity | |
Beelink SER8 | |
MSI Cubi NUC 1M | |
Average AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, AMD Radeon 890M (1588 - 1629, n=3) | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Asus NUC 14 Pro+ | |
Beelink SER9 | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro |
CrossMark / Creativity | |
Beelink SER8 | |
Average AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, AMD Radeon 890M (1868 - 2117, n=3) | |
Asus NUC 14 Pro+ | |
Beelink SER9 | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
MSI Cubi NUC 1M | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro |
CrossMark / Responsiveness | |
Beelink SER8 | |
MSI Cubi NUC 1M | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Beelink SER9 | |
Average AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, AMD Radeon 890M (1398 - 1520, n=3) | |
Asus NUC 14 Pro+ | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro |
WebXPRT 3 / Overall | |
Beelink SER8 | |
MSI Cubi NUC 1M | |
Average AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, AMD Radeon 890M (267 - 321, n=3) | |
Beelink SER9 | |
Asus NUC 14 Pro+ | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro | |
GMK NucBox K9 |
WebXPRT 4 / Overall | |
MSI Cubi NUC 1M | |
Beelink SER8 | |
Asus NUC 14 Pro+ | |
Average AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, AMD Radeon 890M (225 - 266, n=4) | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Beelink SER9 | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro |
Mozilla Kraken 1.1 / Total | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Asus NUC 14 Pro+ | |
Beelink SER8 | |
MSI Cubi NUC 1M | |
Average AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, AMD Radeon 890M (433 - 503, n=5) | |
Beelink SER9 |
* ... smaller is better
PCMark 10 Score | 7613 points | |
Help |
AIDA64 / Memory Copy | |
Average AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (88377 - 92030, n=8) | |
Beelink SER9 | |
Asus NUC 14 Pro+ | |
Beelink SER8 | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
MSI Cubi NUC 1M | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro |
AIDA64 / Memory Read | |
Average AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (98398 - 100903, n=8) | |
Beelink SER9 | |
Asus NUC 14 Pro+ | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
MSI Cubi NUC 1M | |
Beelink SER8 | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro |
AIDA64 / Memory Write | |
Average AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (98429 - 108954, n=8) | |
Beelink SER9 | |
Beelink SER8 | |
Asus NUC 14 Pro+ | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
MSI Cubi NUC 1M | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro |
AIDA64 / Memory Latency | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Asus NUC 14 Pro+ | |
Beelink SER9 | |
Average AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (108.5 - 119.4, n=8) | |
Beelink SER8 | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro | |
MSI Cubi NUC 1M |
* ... smaller is better
DPC Latency
4K video playback at 60 FPS is unfortunately imperfect with 10 dropped frames recorded over a period of 60 seconds. In comparison, most Intel-powered mini PCs like the MSI Cubi NUC 1M would return no dropped frames at all.
LatencyMon is incompatible with the Strix Point CPU.
Storage Devices
The system ships with the same CT1000P3PSSD8 PCIe4 x4 NVMe SSD as found on the SER8. Transfer rates are slightly slower at ~4500 MB/s compared to ~5000 MB/s on the SER8.
Drive Performance Rating - Percent | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Beelink SER8 | |
Asus NUC 14 Pro | |
Beelink SER9 | |
MSI Cubi NUC 1M | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro |
* ... smaller is better
Disk Throttling: DiskSpd Read Loop, Queue Depth 8
GPU Performance
Graphics performance is one of the fastest of any mini PC with integrated graphics. Our Radeon 890M edges out the competing Arc 8 or Arc 140V consistently in games. AMD has also updated the drivers to fix the performance issues we experienced when running DOTA 2 Reborn.
Unfortunately, frame rates when gaming could suffer from periodic drops. When idling on Cyberpunk 2077 on 1080p Ultra settings, for example, frame rates would occasionally dip from 25 to 22 instead of remaining constant at 25.