Trigkey S3 mini PC review: Core i3-like performance for the price of a Celeron or Atom

Trigkey specializes in inexpensive mini PCs running on older processors in order to keep prices low. The S3 is one such model running on the three-year old Ryzen 5 3550H retailing for about $280 USD.
Competitors in this space include other cheap mini PCs like the BMax B5 Pro, Beelink U59, or the Chuwi LarkBox.
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Details here
Potential Competitors in Comparison
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Height | Size | Resolution | Best Price |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
01/2023 | Trigkey S3 R5 3550H, Vega 8 | 419 g | 40.7 mm | x | |||
11/2022 | Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U i7-1265U, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 35 mm | x | ||||
04/2021 | Intel NUC11TNKi5 i5-1135G7, Iris Xe G7 80EUs | 504 g | 37 mm | x | |||
12/2022 | Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U i5-1235U, Iris Xe G7 80EUs | 465 g | 42 mm | x | |||
09/2022 | Beelink SEi11 Pro i5-11320H, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 440 g | 40 mm | x | |||
10/2022 | Beelink SER Pro Ryzen 5 5600H R5 5600H, Vega 7 | 498 g | 42 mm | x |
Case
The plastic chassis is similar in shape to the Beelink SEi8 but with several superficial differences. The top, for example, is now all matte and flush with the edges of the sides for a cleaner look. Port options and servicing are otherwise nearly identical.
Top 10 Laptops
Multimedia, Budget Multimedia, Gaming, Budget Gaming, Lightweight Gaming, Business, Budget Office, Workstation, Subnotebooks, Ultrabooks, Chromebooks
under 300 USD/Euros, under 500 USD/Euros, 1,000 USD/Euros, for University Students, Best Displays
Top 10 Smartphones
Smartphones, Phablets, ≤6-inch, Camera Smartphones
Connectivity
Port options are plentiful, but the single USB-C port appears to be only for data or for charging external devices. Our external USB-C monitor would not work with the Trigkey.
Communication
The system ships with the older 1x1 Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3165 for transfer rates that are just a fraction of what modern Wi-Fi 6 and 6E modules are capable of. Nonetheless, performance is stable and sufficient for 1080p streaming and browsing.
Networking | |
iperf3 transmit AX12 | |
Intel NUC11TNKi5 | |
iperf3 receive AX12 | |
Intel NUC11TNKi5 | |
iperf3 receive AXE11000 6GHz | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
Beelink SER Pro Ryzen 5 5600H | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro | |
iperf3 receive AXE11000 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Trigkey S3 | |
iperf3 transmit AXE11000 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Trigkey S3 | |
iperf3 transmit AXE11000 6GHz | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
Beelink SER Pro Ryzen 5 5600H | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro |
Maintenance
The bottom panel is supposed to come off easily, but the screws are soft and can cam out more easily than on most other mini PCs. This unfortunately occurred on our unit and so we recommend that owners be very careful when servicing the unit. In comparison, the Intel NUC has thumb screws for faster tool-free servicing.
Accessories and Warranty
The retail box includes a wall-mounted bracket, AC adapter, user's manual, and two HDMI cables. The usual one-year limited manufacturer warranty applies.
Performance
Testing Conditions
We set Windows to Performance mode prior to running any benchmarks below. The system does not come with any pre-installed "control center"-type applications for adjusting power profiles.
Processor
Overall CPU performance is far slower than any 11th gen or 12th gen Intel Core i5 or i7 U-series CPU but still noticeably faster than any Celeron or Atom solution currently in the market. Thus, the Ryzen 5 3550H in our Trigkey is more comparable to an Intel Core i3-based PC or the much older Core i5-8260U. It's too bad that the manufacturer didn't opt for the Ryzen 7 4800U instead as the Zen 2 CPU is a massive upgrade over the Zen+ H-series.
Cinebench R15 Multi Loop
Cinebench R20: CPU (Multi Core) | CPU (Single Core)
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 5.4: 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) | CPU (Single Core)
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 5.4: Multi-Core | Single-Core
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2: 4k Preset
LibreOffice : 20 Documents To PDF
R Benchmark 2.5: Overall mean
* ... smaller is better
* ... 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 SER Pro Ryzen 5 5600H | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro | |
Intel NUC11TNKi5 | |
Average AMD Ryzen 5 3550H | |
Trigkey S3 |
AIDA64 / FP32 Ray-Trace | |
Beelink SER Pro Ryzen 5 5600H | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Intel NUC11TNKi5 | |
Average AMD Ryzen 5 3550H (2996 - 3607, n=5) | |
Trigkey S3 |
AIDA64 / FPU Julia | |
Beelink SER Pro Ryzen 5 5600H | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro | |
Intel NUC11TNKi5 | |
Average AMD Ryzen 5 3550H (16278 - 18781, n=5) | |
Trigkey S3 |
AIDA64 / CPU SHA3 | |
Beelink SER Pro Ryzen 5 5600H | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Intel NUC11TNKi5 | |
Average AMD Ryzen 5 3550H (847 - 983, n=4) | |
Trigkey S3 |
AIDA64 / CPU Queen | |
Beelink SER Pro Ryzen 5 5600H | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro | |
Intel NUC11TNKi5 | |
Average AMD Ryzen 5 3550H (42017 - 48622, n=5) | |
Trigkey S3 |
AIDA64 / FPU SinJulia | |
Beelink SER Pro Ryzen 5 5600H | |
Average AMD Ryzen 5 3550H (5386 - 6316, n=5) | |
Trigkey S3 | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Intel NUC11TNKi5 |
AIDA64 / FPU Mandel | |
Beelink SER Pro Ryzen 5 5600H | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro | |
Intel NUC11TNKi5 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Average AMD Ryzen 5 3550H (8460 - 9767, n=5) | |
Trigkey S3 |
AIDA64 / CPU AES | |
Beelink SER Pro Ryzen 5 5600H | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Intel NUC11TNKi5 | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
Average AMD Ryzen 5 3550H (27486 - 32316, n=5) | |
Trigkey S3 |
AIDA64 / CPU ZLib | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
Beelink SER Pro Ryzen 5 5600H | |
Intel NUC11TNKi5 | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro | |
Average AMD Ryzen 5 3550H (299 - 352, n=5) | |
Trigkey S3 |
AIDA64 / FP64 Ray-Trace | |
Beelink SER Pro Ryzen 5 5600H | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro | |
Intel NUC11TNKi5 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Average AMD Ryzen 5 3550H (1584 - 1914, n=5) | |
Trigkey S3 |
AIDA64 / CPU PhotoWorxx | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro | |
Beelink SER Pro Ryzen 5 5600H | |
Intel NUC11TNKi5 | |
Trigkey S3 | |
Average AMD Ryzen 5 3550H (14325 - 17838, n=5) |
System Performance
CrossMark: Overall | Productivity | Creativity | Responsiveness
PCMark 10 Score | 4006 points | |
Help |
AIDA64 / Memory Copy | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Beelink SER Pro Ryzen 5 5600H | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro | |
Trigkey S3 | |
Average AMD Ryzen 5 3550H (28887 - 32188, n=5) | |
Intel NUC11TNKi5 |
AIDA64 / Memory Read | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
Beelink SER Pro Ryzen 5 5600H | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro | |
Trigkey S3 | |
Average AMD Ryzen 5 3550H (31862 - 35172, n=5) | |
Intel NUC11TNKi5 |
AIDA64 / Memory Write | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Beelink SER Pro Ryzen 5 5600H | |
Trigkey S3 | |
Average AMD Ryzen 5 3550H (32493 - 35847, n=5) | |
Intel NUC11TNKi5 |
AIDA64 / Memory Latency | |
Average AMD Ryzen 5 3550H (95 - 120, n=5) | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
Trigkey S3 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Intel NUC11TNKi5 | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro | |
Beelink SER Pro Ryzen 5 5600H |
* ... smaller is better
DPC Latency
DPC Latencies / LatencyMon - interrupt to process latency (max), Web, Youtube, Prime95 | |
Trigkey S3 | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Beelink SER Pro Ryzen 5 5600H | |
Intel NUC11TNKi5 | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro |
* ... smaller is better
Storage Devices
The Trigkey uses the same Kingston NV1 SNVS/500GCN M.2 2280 NVMe SSD as found on many Beelink mini PCs such as the SEi11 Pro or SER Pro. This is a budget PCIe3 x4 drive with maximum sustained transfer rates of about 2500 MB/s. Users can install one M.2 SSD and one 2.5-inch SATA III drive if they can open the bottom panel.
Drive Performance Rating - Percent | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro | |
Beelink SER Pro Ryzen 5 5600H -11! | |
Trigkey S3 | |
Intel NUC11TNKi5 |
* ... smaller is better
Disk Throttling: DiskSpd Read Loop, Queue Depth 8
GPU Performance
Raw graphics performance is roughly 2x that of the UHD Graphics 620 commonly found on 10th gen or older Intel CPUs. It's not enough to power most games, but every bit helps when streaming or running on higher resolution displays.
3DMark | |
1280x720 Cloud Gate Standard Graphics | |
Beelink GTR6 | |
Beelink SER Pro Ryzen 5 5600H | |
Beelink SEi11 Pro | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1185G7 | |
Prime Computer PrimeBook Circular-i7-1165G7 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i5_1245U | |
Intel NUC 12 Pro Kit NUC12WSKi7 | |
Trigkey S3 | |
Average AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) (7309 - 19399, n=37) | |
Beelink SER3 | |
BMAX B5 Pro G7H8 | |
Beelink U59 N5105 | |
Minipc Union NiPoGi CK10 - 10810U | |
Geekom MiniAir 11 Special Edition | |
Chuwi LapBook Plus | |
1920x1080 Fire Strike Graphics | |
Beelink GTR6 | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1185G7 | |
Intel NUC Pro Chassis_i7_1265U | |
Intel NUC 12 Pro Kit |