The Acemagic AM20 mini PC with an AMD Ryzen 7 7735H and 32 GB of RAM can charge smartphones wirelessly
With the AM20, Acemagic is expanding its portfolio and releasing a very interesting representative into the category. However, we are not dealing with a simple upgrade of an existing model but a completely new model. With the AMD Ryzen 7 7735H, the manufacturer has gone for a current SoC which has a powerful iGPU, the AMD Radeon 680M. It's common knowledge that Intel is behind the curve here and with the aforementioned iGPU it's even possible to undertake some small gaming sessions. Acemagic has equipped the device with 32 GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD meaning the PC is well specced for now. Buyers will have to set aside just shy of 570 US dollars for the Acemagic AM20 with 16 GB of RAM. Our review sample is currently not listed in Acermagic's own store.
In this review, we pit the Acemagic AM20 against well-known competitors who have already battled their way through our test course. A list of the comparison devices for this review can be found in the following overview.
Possible competitors compared
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Height | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 84 % v7 (old) | 10 / 2023 | Acemagic AM20 R7 7735H, Radeon 680M | 339 g | 38 mm | |
| 82.8 % v7 (old) | 07 / 2023 | Minisforum Venus Series UM790 Pro R9 7940HS, Radeon 780M | 666 g | 52.3 mm | |
| 85.1 % v7 (old) | 01 / 2023 | Minisforum Neptune Series NAD9 i9-12900H, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 1.2 kg | 66 mm | |
| 83.7 % v7 (old) | 05 / 2023 | Morefine M600, 6600U R5 6600U, Radeon 660M | 768 g | 40.6 mm | |
| 82.8 % v7 (old) | 07 / 2023 | Geekom AS 6, R9 6900HX R9 6900HX, Radeon 680M | 753 g | 58 mm | |
| 82.3 % v7 (old) | 05 / 2023 | Geekom Mini IT12 i7-1260P, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 572 g | 45.6 mm | |
| 81.7 % v7 (old) | 05 / 2023 | Minisforum Venus Series UM560 XT R5 5600H, Vega 7 | 652 g | 48 mm | |
| 73.8 % v7 (old) | 08 / 2023 | Blackview MP200 i5-11400H, UHD Graphics Xe 16EUs (Tiger Lake-H) | 678 g | 75.5 mm |
Acemagic AM20 in detail
Case - with a wireless charging function
The Acemagic AM20 is not visually striking. The device externals are dark gray in appearance although the cover appears black. It shines with a high-gloss look which unfortunately makes it prone to attracting fingerprints. Hidden inside the casing is a charging unit for wireless charging. Smartphones, for example, can be charged during operation at up to 10 watts. This makes the Acemagic AM20 the smallest mini PC with a wireless charging function. When taking a look at the space requirements, the Acermagic AM20 belongs, once more, to the most compact devices. At 10.7 × 10.7 centimeters, its footprint is very small. Height-wise, we also only measured 3.8 centimeters.
The Acemagic AM20 can be fixed to a monitor via a VESA mount. However, this kind of implementation should make it difficult to use the integrated charging unit in the casing.
Features - a good selection including Thunderbolt
The Acemagic AM20 offers a good selection of ports which are found on the front and back. In total, there are five USB ports, one of which also supports Thunderbolt functionality. Displays can be connected via HDMI or USB-C which means three screens are no problem for the Acemagic AM20.
Communication
The installed Wi-Fi module is from Realtek and ideally works in the 5 GHz frequency band. However, backwards compatibility with the 2.4 GHz range is provided. When it came to the fitted Wi-Fi module, our review revealed corresponding results: In terms of data reception, the Acemagic AM20 can still be found in the middle of the pack, but, when it came to sending, our review device slid down to last place. Nevertheless, these results give no cause for concern because the performance displayed here is sufficient for everyday use. For this review, we used our test router, the Asus ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000. Both LAN sockets are worth highlighting since they can be used as an alternative to a wireless connection. They both offer up to 2.5 GBit/s which is not the standard for mini PCs.
Maintenance
The top of the Acemagic AM20 can be easily opened because the manufacturer has fitted the device with a magnetically secured flap. Underneath hides the mass storage and the Wi-Fi module, both of which can be easily replaced. You immediately notice three M.2 interfaces for SSDs. Likewise, that is also not standard fare and, considering the compact form factor, that is an important aspect when making a purchase decision. Anyone wishing to also clean the fan will have to further dismantle the device and this is essentially achievable with a delicate touch and the right tools.
Disassembled Acemagic AM20
Performance - The AMD Ryzen 7 7735H only has Zen 3+ cores
With the AMD Ryzen 7 7735H, the Acemagic AM20 has a relatively up-to-date SoC with 8 cores and 16 threads. This ensures you are well-equipped to handle most tasks. So far, other configurations have not been disclosed. When it comes to RAM, the Acemagic AM20 is available with either 16 or 32 GB. The latter is preferable as upgrading is not possible.
Test conditions
We carried out all of the performance tests using the "high performance" energy profile. We didn't change the SoC's performance and left the device in factory mode in accordance with the BIOS settings. Differing energy savings plans were only used for the power consumption measurements as well as the noise level analysis.
Processor
The AMD Ryzen 7 7735H combines eight Zen 3+ cores which means the manufacturer has decided against using AMD's current Phoenix series. Despite this, with 8 cores and 16 threads, SoC achieves decent multi-core performance. However, this shows us that the Acemagic AM20 is only just ahead of the Minisforum UM560 XT. Compared to the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX, the AMD Ryzen 7 7735H loses roughly seven percent. In comparison to the Geekom Mini IT12, we observed almost identical performance rating scores.
In the AIDA64 benchmarks, the Acemagic AM20 demonstrates wonderfully that a powerful SoC has been installed. Nevertheless, the Geekom AS 6 and the Minisforum UM790 Pro are clearly better.
Additional comparisons and benchmarks can be found in our CPU comparison table.
| WinRAR - Result | |
| Minisforum Neptune Series NAD9 | |
| Minisforum Venus Series UM560 XT | |
| Minisforum Venus Series UM790 Pro | |
| Geekom AS 6, R9 6900HX | |
| Morefine M600, 6600U | |
| Geekom Mini IT12 | |
| Acemagic AM20 | |
| Blackview MP200 | |
* ... 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
Acemagic AM20 vs. Cinebench R15 multi-loop
With the Cinebench R15 continuous loop, we analyzed the AMD Ryzen 7 7735H's behaviour over a longer period of time. The Acemagic AM20 completed the 50 runs well and without any noticeable loss of performance. Pitted against the Minisforum NAD9, our review model even manages to prevail, achieving a slightly better result.
System performance
From a subjective point of view, the Acemagic AM20's system performance is good and this is demonstrated by the synthetic benchmarks. In PCMark 10, only the Minisforum UM790 Pro is faster. In Crossmark, we observed a similar story although it does cope better with Intel processors. This is the reason why both the Minisforum NAD9 and the Geekom Mini IT12 also have their noses in front of our review device. In the RAM tests, the Acemagic benefits from the fast DDR5 RAM at 6,400 MT/s. Our review sample is unable to keep up with its peers due to high latency.
* ... smaller is better
DPC latencies
Up to this point, we hadn't seen any latency problems when opening multiple tabs in the Edge browser. LatencyMon only showed us increased, but not particularly noticeable, latency when playing our 4K test video. The better devices to date don't perform any better in this area meaning the Acemagic AM20 secured a mid-table placing in our comparison.
| DPC Latencies / LatencyMon - interrupt to process latency (max), Web, Youtube, Prime95 | |
| Geekom AS 6, R9 6900HX | |
| Blackview MP200 | |
| Minisforum Neptune Series NAD9 | |
| Minisforum Venus Series UM790 Pro | |
| Acemagic AM20 | |
| Morefine M600, 6600U | |
| Geekom Mini IT12 | |
| Minisforum Venus Series UM560 XT | |
* ... smaller is better
Mass storage
Our review device houses a 512 GB SSD from the manufacturer AirDisk. A hitherto unknown company which we haven't yet reviewed. However, the installed SSD uses the PCIe interface meaning the mass storage provides adequate performance. However, the Acemagic AM20's scores don't match those of the Minisforum NAD9. Nevertheless, once again, our review sample managed to secure second place. On the subject of cooling, Acemagic has the AM20 well under control, even though the mass storage only manages to dissipate heat passively via the casing with the help of a thermal pad. Tests show that this works and that the disk's performance doesn't dip. It is possible to install a total of three M.2 mass storage devices. However, 2.5-inch storage cannot be installed in the Acemagic AM20.
Additional comparisons and benchmarks can be found in our comparison table.
