Minisforum releases affordable mini PC with Intel Wildcat Lake

Minisforum first showed the M2 Elite Mini Air-304 at Computex in June alongside several other mini-PCs. It is essentially a cheaper version of the Minisforum Elite Mini M2 shown at around the same time. However, neither a price nor a concrete release date had been announced then. The company has now launched the affordable mini PC powered by one of Intel’s new Wildcat Lake processors.

The M2 Air-304 is powered by the Intel Core 3 304, an entry-level SKU with five CPU cores and five threads. It is accompanied by integrated Intel Graphics and supports a single DDR5-6400 SO-DIMM with capacities of up to 64 GB. Storage, meanwhile, comes via an M.2 2280 PCIe Gen 4 slot that supports SSDs with capacities of up to 2 TB.

Minisforum has given the M2 Air-304 a compact 0.47-litre chassis. Despite its size and relatively modest positioning, connectivity is plentiful. There are two 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet ports alongside dual HDMI outputs and USB4, with the company also pitching the machine as a compact 4K media hub. The USB4 port supports power input, potentially allowing the M2 Air-304 to be powered with a compatible USB-C charger. Wireless connectivity options include Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.4, making the mini PC potentially useful as a lightweight network appliance.

The M2 Air-304 starts at $263, although that price applies to the barebones model, which does not include RAM or an SSD. Buyers will therefore need to supply their own DDR5 memory and storage before the mini PC is ready for use. At that price, the M2 Air-304 provides a relatively inexpensive way to get into Intel’s latest entry-level platform, especially if you have some spare RAM lying around. We wouldn’t recommend getting the barebones kit otherwise, given current RAM prices.

Minisforum also sells a variant with 16 GB of RAM and a 500 GB SSD (likely a typo) for $559. Shipping is expected to begin in early September.