Trigkey G4 mini-PC review with Intel N100, 16 GB RAM and a 500 GB SSD all for less than US$200 ↺
The mini PC market is highly competitive, with an increasing number of companies introducing their devices. Trigkey has entered this arena with its G4 mini PC, designed for simple applications. Powered by the Intel N100, an Alder Lake-based SoC introduced earlier this year, the native quad-core processor delivers reliable everyday performance. Despite not using DDR5, the Trigkey G4 comes equipped with a 16 GB DDR4 module and a 512 GB SSD. Notably, the purchase includes a copy of Windows 11 in the Professional version, making it a compelling offer at just under $200 USD.
This review aims to assess the Trigkey G4 against similarly featured and affordable competitors, which we have scrutinized in detail. The following overview provides a list of the comparison devices:
Potential Competitors in Comparison
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Price |
---|---|---|---|---|
70.1 % v7 (old) | 11 / 2023 | Trigkey G4 N100, UHD Graphics 24EUs (Alder Lake-N) | 272 g | 189 EUR |
74.1 % v7 (old) | 11 / 2023 | Acemagic S1 N95, UHD Graphics 24EUs (Alder Lake-N) | 440 g | 239 EUR |
73.1 % v7 (old) | 10 / 2023 | Beelink Mini S12 Pro N100, UHD Graphics 24EUs (Alder Lake-N) | 335 g | 200 USD |
73.5 % v7 (old) | 09 / 2023 | Blackview MP80 N95, UHD Graphics 24EUs (Alder Lake-N) | 214 g | 250 EUR |
71.1 % v7 (old) | 07 / 2023 | BOSGAME N95 N95, UHD Graphics 24EUs (Alder Lake-N) | 392 g | 179 EUR |
68.2 % v7 (old) | 03 / 2023 | Minipc Union NiPoGi GK3PLUS - N95 N95, UHD Graphics 24EUs (Alder Lake-N) | 381 g | 399 EUR |
65.9 % v7 (old) | 01 / 2023 | Minipc Union Ace Magician T8Pro Celeron N5095, UHD Graphics (Jasper Lake 16 EU) | 209 g | 280 EUR |
Trigkey Green G4 in detail
Case and Connectivity
The Trigkey G4 has a simple plastic case that is both sturdy and well-made. Its black finish adds to its visual attractiveness, and it contains all of the necessary connections on both the front and back. Four USB ports are more than enough for routine use. Furthermore, the ability to connect two screens via HDMI assures that the Trigkey is competitive. The test sample is relatively light, weighing slightly under 300 grams, nevertheless, in some comparisons, we have seen even lighter devices.
Maintenance
The Trigkey G4 can be opened relatively easily from the underside, requiring the removal of only four screws to take off the base plate. It is connected to the board via a ribbon cable, and connections for an additional 2.5-inch data carrier are already in place. The support frame for the 2.5-inch drive also functions as heat dissipation for the installed M.2 SSD. Notably, only one RAM module may be inserted. Since there is no permanently attached RAM on the motherboard, the RAM can only operate in single-channel mode. This setup reduces data throughput and may potentially impact the SoC and GPU performance.
Performance - Intel N100 based on Intel Alder Lake
The Intel N100 features four native computing cores and a slightly higher clock rate compared to the Intel N95, indicating that users can expect slightly improved performance. The SoC is well-equipped for handling simple office tasks. With 16 GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD, the Trigkey G4 is solidly equipped, providing a reliable and capable device for various computing needs.
Testing Conditions
We ran all performance testing with the highest performance energy profile. Deviating energy-saving programs were only employed for energy consumption and volume measurements. More information about our test criteria may be found here.
Processor
The Intel N100 boasts four computing cores and is part of the Alder Lake series, sharing the same architecture as the previously extensively tested Intel N95 in various other mini PCs. Essentially, it is the same SoC, but with a slightly higher clock rate, resulting in a modest performance boost. This performance difference is evident in the benchmarks conducted, where the Trigkey G4 often secures the top spot. Unfortunately, Trigkey has opted for a 16 GB DDR4 RAM module, limiting the SoC from reaching its full performance potential. With faster RAM, the Trigkey G4 might have exhibited even better performance in the test.
For additional benchmarks of the processors, you can refer to:
Performance Rating - Percent | |
Trigkey G4 | |
Beelink Mini S12 Pro | |
Blackview MP80 | |
BOSGAME N95 | |
Acemagic S1 | |
Minipc Union NiPoGi GK3PLUS - N95 | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician T8Pro |
Blender - v2.79 BMW27 CPU | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician T8Pro | |
Minipc Union NiPoGi GK3PLUS - N95 | |
Blackview MP80 | |
Acemagic S1 | |
BOSGAME N95 | |
Beelink Mini S12 Pro | |
Trigkey G4 |
3DMark 11 - 1280x720 Performance Physics | |
Beelink Mini S12 Pro | |
Trigkey G4 | |
Blackview MP80 | |
BOSGAME N95 | |
Acemagic S1 | |
Minipc Union NiPoGi GK3PLUS - N95 | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician T8Pro |
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2 - 4k Preset | |
Trigkey G4 | |
Beelink Mini S12 Pro | |
Blackview MP80 | |
BOSGAME N95 | |
Acemagic S1 | |
Minipc Union NiPoGi GK3PLUS - N95 | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician T8Pro |
R Benchmark 2.5 - Overall mean | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician T8Pro | |
Minipc Union NiPoGi GK3PLUS - N95 | |
Acemagic S1 | |
BOSGAME N95 | |
Blackview MP80 | |
Trigkey G4 | |
Beelink Mini S12 Pro |
LibreOffice - 20 Documents To PDF | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician T8Pro | |
Acemagic S1 | |
Minipc Union NiPoGi GK3PLUS - N95 | |
BOSGAME N95 | |
Beelink Mini S12 Pro | |
Blackview MP80 | |
Trigkey G4 |
WebXPRT 3 - Overall | |
Trigkey G4 | |
Blackview MP80 | |
BOSGAME N95 | |
Acemagic S1 | |
Beelink Mini S12 Pro | |
Minipc Union NiPoGi GK3PLUS - N95 | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician T8Pro |
Mozilla Kraken 1.1 - Total | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician T8Pro | |
Minipc Union NiPoGi GK3PLUS - N95 | |
BOSGAME N95 | |
Acemagic S1 | |
Blackview MP80 | |
Beelink Mini S12 Pro | |
Trigkey G4 |
3DMark - 1920x1080 Fire Strike Physics | |
Beelink Mini S12 Pro | |
Trigkey G4 | |
Blackview MP80 | |
BOSGAME N95 | |
Minipc Union NiPoGi GK3PLUS - N95 | |
Acemagic S1 | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician T8Pro |
* ... smaller is better
Performance Rating - Percent | |
Trigkey G4 | |
Acemagic S1 | |
Blackview MP80 | |
BOSGAME N95 | |
Minipc Union NiPoGi GK3PLUS - N95 | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician T8Pro |
Cinebench R10 | |
Rendering Single CPUs 64Bit | |
Trigkey G4 | |
Acemagic S1 | |
Blackview MP80 | |
BOSGAME N95 | |
Minipc Union NiPoGi GK3PLUS - N95 | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician T8Pro | |
Rendering Multiple CPUs 64Bit | |
Trigkey G4 | |
BOSGAME N95 | |
Acemagic S1 | |
Blackview MP80 | |
Minipc Union NiPoGi GK3PLUS - N95 | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician T8Pro |
WinRAR - Result | |
Trigkey G4 | |
Acemagic S1 | |
BOSGAME N95 | |
Blackview MP80 | |
Minipc Union NiPoGi GK3PLUS - N95 | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician T8Pro |
Geekbench 4.4 | |
64 Bit Single-Core Score | |
Blackview MP80 | |
Trigkey G4 | |
BOSGAME N95 | |
Acemagic S1 | |
Minipc Union NiPoGi GK3PLUS - N95 | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician T8Pro | |
64 Bit Multi-Core Score | |
Trigkey G4 | |
Blackview MP80 | |
BOSGAME N95 | |
Acemagic S1 | |
Minipc Union NiPoGi GK3PLUS - N95 | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician T8Pro |
* ... 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 | |
Average of class Mini PC | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician T8Pro | |
Beelink Mini S12 Pro | |
Trigkey G4 | |
Blackview MP80 | |
Acemagic S1 | |
BOSGAME N95 | |
Minipc Union NiPoGi GK3PLUS - N95 |
AIDA64 / FP32 Ray-Trace | |
Average of class Mini PC (561 - 51004, n=118, last 2 years) | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician T8Pro | |
Beelink Mini S12 Pro | |
Trigkey G4 | |
Acemagic S1 | |
Blackview MP80 | |
BOSGAME N95 | |
Minipc Union NiPoGi GK3PLUS - N95 |
AIDA64 / FPU Julia | |
Average of class Mini PC (3604 - 214250, n=118, last 2 years) | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician T8Pro | |
Trigkey G4 | |
Beelink Mini S12 Pro | |
BOSGAME N95 | |
Acemagic S1 | |
Blackview MP80 | |
Minipc Union NiPoGi GK3PLUS - N95 |
AIDA64 / CPU SHA3 | |
Average of class Mini PC (225 - 9399, n=118, last 2 years) | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician T8Pro | |
Trigkey G4 | |
Beelink Mini S12 Pro | |
BOSGAME N95 | |
Blackview MP80 | |
Acemagic S1 | |
Minipc Union NiPoGi GK3PLUS - N95 |
AIDA64 / CPU Queen | |
Average of class Mini PC (8172 - 184747, n=118, last 2 years) | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician T8Pro | |
Beelink Mini S12 Pro | |
Trigkey G4 | |
Acemagic S1 | |
Blackview MP80 | |
Minipc Union NiPoGi GK3PLUS - N95 | |
BOSGAME N95 |
AIDA64 / FPU SinJulia | |
Average of class Mini PC (408 - 29064, n=118, last 2 years) | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician T8Pro | |
Trigkey G4 | |
Beelink Mini S12 Pro | |
Minipc Union NiPoGi GK3PLUS - N95 | |
BOSGAME N95 | |
Blackview MP80 | |
Acemagic S1 |
AIDA64 / FPU Mandel | |
Average of class Mini PC (1958 - 113499, n=118, last 2 years) | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician T8Pro | |
Trigkey G4 | |
Beelink Mini S12 Pro | |
BOSGAME N95 | |
Acemagic S1 | |
Blackview MP80 | |
Minipc Union NiPoGi GK3PLUS - N95 |
AIDA64 / CPU AES | |
Average of class Mini PC (3691 - 325960, n=118, last 2 years) | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician T8Pro | |
Beelink Mini S12 Pro | |
Trigkey G4 | |
Blackview MP80 | |
Minipc Union NiPoGi GK3PLUS - N95 | |
BOSGAME N95 | |
Acemagic S1 |
AIDA64 / CPU ZLib | |
Average of class Mini PC (74.8 - 2039, n=118, last 2 years) | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician T8Pro | |
Trigkey G4 | |
Beelink Mini S12 Pro | |
Acemagic S1 | |
Blackview MP80 | |
BOSGAME N95 | |
Minipc Union NiPoGi GK3PLUS - N95 |
AIDA64 / FP64 Ray-Trace | |
Average of class Mini PC (308 - 26952, n=118, last 2 years) | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician T8Pro | |
Beelink Mini S12 Pro | |
Trigkey G4 | |
BOSGAME N95 | |
Blackview MP80 | |
Acemagic S1 | |
Minipc Union NiPoGi GK3PLUS - N95 |
AIDA64 / CPU PhotoWorxx | |
Average of class Mini PC (4408 - 50500, n=118, last 2 years) | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician T8Pro | |
Blackview MP80 | |
Beelink Mini S12 Pro | |
Trigkey G4 | |
Acemagic S1 | |
BOSGAME N95 | |
Minipc Union NiPoGi GK3PLUS - N95 |
Trigkey Green G4 vs. Cinebench R15 Multi Loop
The Trigkey G4 performs admirably in the initial endurance test, as documented through the Cinebench R15 endurance loop. Surprisingly, the results indicate that no significant loss of performance should be anticipated over sustained use. In comparison, our test sample edges out ahead by a narrow margin.
System Performance
The Trigkey G4 performed well in CPU testing, and the tendency is mirrored in PCMark 10. However, our test sample falls back into the midrange during the Crossmark test, and the Trigkey G4 does not stand out in the RAM testing. The latter is due to the reduced RAM performance caused by single-channel operation.
AIDA64 / Memory Copy | |
Average of class Mini PC (6481 - 76462, n=118, last 2 years) | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician T8Pro | |
Blackview MP80 | |
Beelink Mini S12 Pro | |
Acemagic S1 | |
BOSGAME N95 | |
Trigkey G4 | |
Minipc Union NiPoGi GK3PLUS - N95 |
AIDA64 / Memory Read | |
Average of class Mini PC (6914 - 83287, n=118, last 2 years) | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician T8Pro | |
Beelink Mini S12 Pro | |
Blackview MP80 | |
Acemagic S1 | |
BOSGAME N95 | |
Trigkey G4 | |
Minipc Union NiPoGi GK3PLUS - N95 |
AIDA64 / Memory Write | |
Average of class Mini PC (6862 - 89318, n=118, last 2 years) | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician T8Pro | |
Blackview MP80 | |
Beelink Mini S12 Pro | |
Acemagic S1 | |
BOSGAME N95 | |
Trigkey G4 | |
Minipc Union NiPoGi GK3PLUS - N95 |
AIDA64 / Memory Latency | |
Minipc Union NiPoGi GK3PLUS - N95 | |
Acemagic S1 | |
Blackview MP80 | |
Trigkey G4 | |
BOSGAME N95 | |
Beelink Mini S12 Pro | |
Average of class Mini PC (44.9 - 184.8, n=118, last 2 years) | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician T8Pro |
* ... smaller is better
DPC Latency
The Trigkey G4 is praised for its low latency, which allows it to function efficiently when opening numerous tabs in the Edge browser and watching high-resolution movies. As a result, this little tiny PC is ideal for use as a streaming client in the living room, delivering a smooth experience in these activities.
DPC Latencies / LatencyMon - interrupt to process latency (max), Web, Youtube, Prime95 | |
Beelink Mini S12 Pro, Intel Processor N100 | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician T8Pro, Intel Celeron N5095 | |
Minipc Union NiPoGi GK3PLUS - N95, Intel Processor N95 | |
BOSGAME N95, Intel Processor N95 | |
Blackview MP80, Intel Processor N95 | |
Trigkey G4, Intel Processor N100 | |
Acemagic S1, Intel Processor N95 |
* ... smaller is better
Storage Devices
Trigkey installed a 512 GB SSD as mass storage in our test sample, utilizing the fast NVMe interface. However, it's notable that the SSD is only connected via PCIe 3.0 x1, even though the installed model supports PCIe 3.0 x4. This implies that some performance is lost, though it remains manageable. In comparison to its competitors, the Trigkey G4 falls within the good midfield. Our test sample has the capacity for a total of two mass storage devices, with a free 2.5-inch slot still available. The height of seven millimeters must be considered.
For additional comparisons and benchmarks, please refer to our comparison table.
Drive Performance Rating - Percent | |
Average of class Mini PC | |
Acemagic S1 | |
Beelink Mini S12 Pro | |
Trigkey G4 | |
BOSGAME N95 | |
Blackview MP80 | |
Minipc Union NiPoGi GK3PLUS - N95 | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician T8Pro |