Kingdel PHX18: Unusual modular mini-PC released with AMD APUs in a compact package

Every now and again, Kingdel releases mini-PCs that catch our eye. For example, the company presented models with six 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet ports a few years ago. Now, it has returned with a modular option that can be operated with or without its port bottom layer.

Dubbed the PHX18 or K3, the mini-PC takes the idea of the latest Mac mini (curr. $564 on Amazon) hooked up to an expansion dock to the next level. Based on the photos that Kingdel has provided, the PHX18 uses two bottom-mounted physical connections to add the following ports:

• 1x 3.5 mm jack
• 1x DisplayPort 1.2
• 1x HDMI 2.0
• 2x 2.5 Gigabit RJ45
• 2x USB 2.0 Type-A
• 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A

Meanwhile, the base unit contains a single front-facing USB Type-C port and a rear-mounted equivalent for delivering power. According to Kingdel, the PHX18 measures 100 x 100 x 67 mm, which we suspect includes both units. Regardless, the mini-PC comes in AMD Ryzen 5 6600U and Ryzen 7 7840U variants, which should be split by around 19% in CPU benchmarks. A much bigger gap exists between the pair's Radeon 660M and Radeon 780M iGPUs, though.

For the time being, the PHX18 starts at around $433 on AliExpress with a Ryzen 5 6600U, 16 GB of RAM and no SSD, for which Kingdel includes M.2 2242 and M.2 2280 slots. Alternatively, Ryzen 7 7840U variants cost at least $493, which represents a 14% price jump for 19% better CPU and over 30% better in-game performance. The Kingdel PHX18 can only be configured with 16 GB of RAM, though.