Beelink SEi12 mini PC review: Outperforming the Intel NUC 11
Beelink ships a vast array of mini PCs designed for the budget to midrange markets. Though there are no models just yet with dedicated GPUs, many of them ship with Windows 11, RAM, and storage already pre-installed to be sufficient for media centers, streaming boxes, or typical day-to-day browsing or office tasks.
The latest mini PC from Beelink is the SEi12 which ships with the 12th gen Core i5-1235U whereas most other inexpensive alternatives typically come with older or slower CPUs in order to keep costs low. Our review unit can be found online for just $460 USD.
Competitors to the SEi12 include most other mini PCs powered by U-series CPUs like many Intel NUC models, the BMAX B5 Pro, or the Ace Magician AMR5.
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Potential Competitors in Comparison
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Height | Size | Resolution | Price |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
v (old) | 12 / 2022 | Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U i5-1235U, Iris Xe G7 80EUs | 465 g | 42 mm | x | ||
v (old) | 04 / 2022 | Beelink SEi8 i3-8109U, Iris Plus Graphics 655 | 346 g | 41 mm | x | ||
v (old) | 04 / 2022 | Beelink SER4 R7 4800U, Vega 8 | 494 g | 40 mm | x | ||
v (old) | 02 / 2021 | Intel NUC11PAQi7 i7-1165G7, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 647 g | 56 mm | x | ||
v (old) | 11 / 2022 | BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 i5-8260U, UHD Graphics 620 | 369 g | 43.2 mm | x | ||
v (old) | 03 / 2018 | Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK i7-8809G, Vega M GH | 1.3 kg | 39 mm | x |
Case
The chassis is just slightly thicker and heavier than the older SEi 11 but with otherwise similar metal materials and physical features. The most notable visual aspect of the SEi12 is its new fleece or cloth material on the top surface whereas older Beelink designs were simply smooth plastic or a perforated plastic mesh. The cloth is smooth to the touch for a luxurious feel, but cleaning it may be difficult as hair and dust stick onto it more readily.
Connectivity — No Thunderbolt
Port options are excellent with five USB ports and two HDMI ports to choose from. However, we're unable to output any video from the USB-C port meaning that DisplayPort-over-USB may not be supported. The system cannot be powered by USB-C, either.
Communication
An Intel AX201 comes standard for Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity. There are no Wi-Fi 6E options likely to keep costs down, but users can install their own Wi-Fi 6E module if they wish. Transfer rates are nonetheless both fast and steady.
Networking | |
iperf3 transmit AX12 | |
Beelink SER4 | |
Intel NUC11PAQi7 | |
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK | |
Beelink SEi8 | |
iperf3 receive AX12 | |
Beelink SER4 | |
Intel NUC11PAQi7 | |
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK | |
Beelink SEi8 | |
iperf3 receive AXE11000 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 | |
iperf3 transmit AXE11000 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 |
Maintenance
Servicing requires a bit more work than most other mini PCs. Removing the bottom plate exposes one of the fans which must then be removed to reveal the RAM, M.2 SSD, and M.2 WLAN modules as shown by the images below. Thankfully, all it takes is a regular Philips screwdriver for any upgrades.
Accessories and Warranty
The retail box includes two HDMI cables, VESA bracket with screws, user's manual, and the AC adapter. A one-year limited manufacturer warranty applies compared to three years if buying an Intel NUC.
Performance
Testing Conditions
We set our unit to Performance mode prior to running any performance benchmarks below. The manufacturer includes no pre-installed applications or "control center" type software with any of their mini PCs.
Processor
CPU performance is excellent with results that are significantly faster than the Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1 or VAIO FE 14.1 each with the same 12th gen Core i5-1235U CPU. Turbo Boost sustainability could certainly be better, however, as CineBench R15 xT scores would dip by about 14 percent over time as shown by the graph below. High Turbo Boost potential is not expected anyway given that this is a Core U-series CPU.
Overall multi-thread performance is roughly 15 percent faster than the 11th gen Core i7-1165G7 in the pricier NUC11.
Cinebench R15 Multi Loop
Cinebench R23: Multi Core | 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 5.5: Multi-Core | Single-Core
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2: 4k Preset
LibreOffice : 20 Documents To PDF
R Benchmark 2.5: Overall mean
Cinebench R20 / CPU (Multi Core) | |
Beelink SER4 | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Average Intel Core i5-1235U (1783 - 3537, n=8) | |
Intel NUC11PAQi7 | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1185G7 | |
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 | |
Beelink SEi8 |
Cinebench R20 / CPU (Single Core) | |
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Average Intel Core i5-1235U (566 - 651, n=8) | |
Intel NUC11PAQi7 | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1185G7 | |
Beelink SER4 | |
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 | |
Beelink SEi8 |
Cinebench R23 / Multi Core | |
Beelink SER4 | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Intel NUC11PAQi7 | |
Average Intel Core i5-1235U (2485 - 9208, n=8) | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1185G7 | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 | |
Beelink SEi8 |
Cinebench R23 / Single Core | |
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Average Intel Core i5-1235U (1444 - 1698, n=8) | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1185G7 | |
Beelink SER4 | |
Beelink SEi8 | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 |
Cinebench R15 / CPU Multi 64Bit | |
Beelink SER4 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
Average Intel Core i5-1235U (785 - 1587, n=8) | |
Intel NUC11PAQi7 | |
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1185G7 | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 | |
Beelink SEi8 |
Cinebench R15 / CPU Single 64Bit | |
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Intel NUC11PAQi7 | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1185G7 | |
Average Intel Core i5-1235U (151.5 - 242, n=8) | |
Beelink SER4 | |
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 | |
Beelink SEi8 |
Blender / v2.79 BMW27 CPU | |
Beelink SEi8 | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1185G7 | |
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK | |
Average Intel Core i5-1235U (366 - 662, n=8) | |
Intel NUC11PAQi7 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
Beelink SER4 |
7-Zip 18.03 / 7z b 4 -mmt1 | |
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 | |
Intel NUC11PAQi7 | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1185G7 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Average Intel Core i5-1235U (4371 - 5233, n=8) | |
Beelink SER4 | |
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 | |
Beelink SEi8 |
Geekbench 5.5 / Multi-Core | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Average Intel Core i5-1235U (5528 - 8571, n=10) | |
Beelink SER4 | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1185G7 | |
Intel NUC11PAQi7 | |
Beelink SEi8 | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 |
Geekbench 5.5 / Single-Core | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Intel NUC11PAQi7 | |
Average Intel Core i5-1235U (1426 - 1643, n=10) | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1185G7 | |
Beelink SER4 | |
Beelink SEi8 | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 |
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2 / 4k Preset | |
Beelink SER4 | |
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Intel NUC11PAQi7 | |
Average Intel Core i5-1235U (4.99 - 9.43, n=8) | |
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1185G7 | |
Beelink SEi8 | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 |
LibreOffice / 20 Documents To PDF | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 | |
Beelink SEi8 | |
Beelink SER4 | |
Average Intel Core i5-1235U (42.4 - 65.5, n=8) | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1185G7 | |
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 | |
Intel NUC11PAQi7 |
R Benchmark 2.5 / Overall mean | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 | |
Beelink SEi8 | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1185G7 | |
Beelink SER4 | |
Intel NUC11PAQi7 | |
Average Intel Core i5-1235U (0.4986 - 0.603, n=8) | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 |
* ... 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 SER4 | |
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1185G7 | |
Average Intel Core i5-1235U | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 | |
Beelink SEi8 |
AIDA64 / FP32 Ray-Trace | |
Beelink SER4 | |
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1185G7 | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Average Intel Core i5-1235U (3078 - 7457, n=8) | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 | |
Beelink SEi8 |
AIDA64 / FPU Julia | |
Beelink SER4 | |
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1185G7 | |
Average Intel Core i5-1235U (15838 - 37760, n=8) | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 | |
Beelink SEi8 |
AIDA64 / CPU SHA3 | |
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1185G7 | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Beelink SER4 | |
Average Intel Core i5-1235U (978 - 2072, n=8) | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 | |
Beelink SEi8 |
AIDA64 / CPU Queen | |
Beelink SER4 | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Average Intel Core i5-1235U (45680 - 62404, n=8) | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1185G7 | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 | |
Beelink SEi8 |
AIDA64 / FPU SinJulia | |
Beelink SER4 | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1185G7 | |
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 | |
Average Intel Core i5-1235U (3099 - 4644, n=8) | |
Beelink SEi8 |
AIDA64 / FPU Mandel | |
Beelink SER4 | |
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1185G7 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Average Intel Core i5-1235U (8046 - 18819, n=8) | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 | |
Beelink SEi8 |
AIDA64 / CPU AES | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1185G7 | |
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Beelink SER4 | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
Average Intel Core i5-1235U (23386 - 67140, n=8) | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 | |
Beelink SEi8 |
AIDA64 / CPU ZLib | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Beelink SER4 | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 | |
Average Intel Core i5-1235U (329 - 633, n=8) | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1185G7 | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 | |
Beelink SEi8 |
AIDA64 / FP64 Ray-Trace | |
Beelink SER4 | |
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1185G7 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Average Intel Core i5-1235U (1670 - 3928, n=8) | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 | |
Beelink SEi8 |
AIDA64 / CPU PhotoWorxx | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1185G7 | |
Average Intel Core i5-1235U (15933 - 41909, n=8) | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Beelink SER4 | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 | |
Beelink SEi8 |
System Performance
PCMark results are significantly higher than the older Beelink SEi8 which uses an 8th gen i3-8109U and a slower Intel 660p SSD.
CrossMark: Overall | Productivity | Creativity | Responsiveness
PCMark 10 / Score | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK | |
Beelink SER4 | |
Intel NUC11PAQi7 | |
Average Intel Core i5-1235U, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (4528 - 5543, n=8) | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 | |
Beelink SEi8 |
PCMark 10 / Essentials | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Intel NUC11PAQi7 | |
Average Intel Core i5-1235U, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (9143 - 11273, n=8) | |
Beelink SER4 | |
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 | |
Beelink SEi8 |
PCMark 10 / Productivity | |
Beelink SER4 | |
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Intel NUC11PAQi7 | |
Average Intel Core i5-1235U, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (6440 - 7354, n=8) | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 | |
Beelink SEi8 |
PCMark 10 / Digital Content Creation | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK | |
Beelink SER4 | |
Average Intel Core i5-1235U, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (4220 - 5839, n=8) | |
Intel NUC11PAQi7 | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 | |
Beelink SEi8 |
CrossMark / Overall | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Average Intel Core i5-1235U, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (983 - 1644, n=8) | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 |
CrossMark / Productivity | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Average Intel Core i5-1235U, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (1026 - 1676, n=8) | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 |
CrossMark / Creativity | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Average Intel Core i5-1235U, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (1032 - 1618, n=8) | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 |
CrossMark / Responsiveness | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Average Intel Core i5-1235U, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (746 - 1867, n=8) | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 |
PCMark 10 Score | 5543 points | |
Help |
AIDA64 / Memory Copy | |
Average Intel Core i5-1235U (24653 - 61921, n=8) | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Beelink SER4 | |
Beelink SEi8 | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 |
AIDA64 / Memory Read | |
Average Intel Core i5-1235U (24441 - 66108, n=8) | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Beelink SER4 | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 | |
Beelink SEi8 |
AIDA64 / Memory Write | |
Average Intel Core i5-1235U (25156 - 75808, n=8) | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Beelink SER4 | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 | |
Beelink SEi8 |
AIDA64 / Memory Latency | |
Beelink SER4 | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Average Intel Core i5-1235U (76.3 - 119, n=8) | |
Beelink SEi8 |
* ... smaller is better
DPC Latency
LatencyMon reveals no DPC issues when opening multiple browser tabs of our homepage. 4K video playback at 60 FPS is smooth as well with no dropped frames.
DPC Latencies / LatencyMon - interrupt to process latency (max), Web, Youtube, Prime95 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Intel NUC11PAQi7 | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 | |
Beelink SER4 | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro |
* ... smaller is better
Storage Devices
The system supports PCIe4 x4 NVMe SSDs and it even includes a heat sink to keep temperatures in check. Nonetheless, the unit ships with a slower Kingston NV1 PCIe3 x4 NVMe SSD instead as a cost-saving measure. When running DiskSpd in a loop, we can observe transfer rates dropping from a high of 3600 MB/s to a low of 1700 MB/s which might suggest an underperforming heat sink.
Drive Performance Rating - Percent | |
Intel NUC11PAQi7 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK -8! | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro | |
Beelink SER4 |
* ... smaller is better
Disk Throttling: DiskSpd Read Loop, Queue Depth 8
GPU Performance
Graphics performance is where we expect it to be relative to other PCs with the same integrated Iris Xe G7 80 EUs GPU. Note that other PCs with the Iris Xe G7 96 EUs can be faster by up to 25 to 40 percent if configured with dual-channel RAM instead of single-channel RAM.
3DMark 11 Performance | 5598 points | |
3DMark Cloud Gate Standard Score | 18879 points | |
3DMark Fire Strike Score | 3658 points | |
3DMark Time Spy Score | 1311 points | |
Help |
* ... smaller is better
Performance Rating - Percent | |
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro -1! | |
Beelink SER4 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Intel NUC11PAQi7 | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 -5! |
The Witcher 3 - 1920x1080 Ultra Graphics & Postprocessing (HBAO+) | |
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK | |
Beelink SER4 | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Intel NUC11PAQi7 |
GTA V - 1920x1080 Highest Settings possible AA:4xMSAA + FX AF:16x | |
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK | |
Beelink SER4 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Intel NUC11PAQi7 |
Final Fantasy XV Benchmark - 1920x1080 High Quality | |
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro | |
Beelink SER4 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Intel NUC11PAQi7 |
Strange Brigade - 1920x1080 ultra AA:ultra AF:16 | |
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK | |
Beelink SER4 | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Intel NUC11PAQi7 |
Dota 2 Reborn - 1920x1080 ultra (3/3) best looking | |
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK | |
Beelink SER4 | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Intel NUC11PAQi7 | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 |
X-Plane 11.11 - 1920x1080 high (fps_test=3) | |
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro | |
Beelink SER4 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Intel NUC11PAQi7 |
Dota 2 Reborn | |
1280x720 min (0/3) fastest | |
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK | |
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1185G7 | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U |