For most people, a laptop is the default option when shopping for a new computer. It can work at home, it can work on the go, and it has everything built right into it: a screen, a keyboard, a trackpad, speakers, a webcam, and the computer itself.
But as convenient as that might be, a laptop might not be the best choice depending on how you’re going to use it. You may not need the whole kit and kaboodle. Plus, there’s a good bit of engineering that goes into laptop designs — and that adds to the cost.
If your laptop is going to be used at home all the time, tethered to your desk with an external monitor and keyboard and mouse, and you’re only picking a laptop because you don’t want to spend tons for a bulky pre-built desktop PC… then consider a mini PC instead.
Mini PCs offer several benefits over laptops that are totally worth it if you don’t need the innate portability that laptops offer.
Related: Why you shouldn’t buy a laptop based purely on its specs
Mini PCs are more economical
Jared Newman / Foundry
While there’s no guarantee that a mini PC will always be cheaper than an equivalent laptop, it’s typically true that you can get a solid mini PC for a lower price than you’d pay for a laptop with similar hardware.
That’s because the mini PC can forego the costs of other elements that aren’t included: display, keyboard, mouse, speakers, battery, etc. If you already have all that stuff, or if you plan to equip your laptop with lots of external peripherals, then you’re wasting money with a laptop.
For an extreme example that drives home the point, compare the M2 Mac Mini with the M2 MacBook Air. By skipping out on all the other “laptop” elements, the Mac Mini only costs $599 — significantly less than the MacBook Air’s $999 price tag.
Which means if you’re in the market for a specific range (e.g., entry-level, mid-tier, high-end), then you’ll likely pay less for the same options if you go with a mini PC instead of a laptop.
Mini PCs have better performance
Mini PCs have an advantage that allows for even greater performance than you’d get in similar laptops: they aren’t constrained by the size limitations that laptops require, so mini PCs have greater freedom when it comes to their internal components.
The physical design of a laptop determines how air flows through the laptop, which affects cooling. Laptops have to balance heat management with performance. Meanwhile, mini PCs can shape themselves however they want — and with more effective cooling, they can push their components further and eke out more performance.
For example, the $479 Beelink SER8 runs its Ryzen 7 8745HS CPU fast enough to score over 13,000 points in Cinebench R23’s multi-core test and 1,600 points in its single-core test.
That puts it pretty close to the $850 Asus Zenbook 14 OLED laptop, which scores 13,777 and 1,508 in the same tests, respectively — and that’s with a Ryzen 7 8840HS CPU, which is an upgrade over the mini PC’s chip.
It’s a similar story on the Mac side of things. Our friends over at MacWorld saw the $699 M1 Mac Mini outperform the $999 M1 MacBook Air in Cinebench R23 and Geekbench 5 tests. Talk about huge savings!
Mini PCs don’t have batteries
Panos Sakalakis / Unsplash
Ignoring the cost and performance factors that push mini PCs ahead of laptops, here’s another big one to consider: since mini PCs aren’t portable, they don’t have any batteries.
Batteries can be problematic, not just in laptops but in any portable device. The constant charging and discharging generates extra heat that can harm the other internal components if pushed too hard, and it also wears down on the battery’s lifespan.
Mini PCs have fewer parts to worry about as far as longevity is concerned, which means they generally last longer.
Mini PCs are easier to upgrade
Jared Newman / Foundry
Most laptops don’t have enough internal space for upgrades. Maybe you can swap out a piece here and there, but generally you’re stuck with whatever configuration you buy.
Mini PCs are a different story. The $399 GMKTec M5 Plus Gaming might be a mini PC, but it’s spacious enough for an M.2 slot, a 2.5-inch SATA slot, and two SO-DIMM slots. So, despite coming with an M.2 drive, you can upgrade with an extra SATA drive if you want to — and you can upgrade the RAM modules beyond the initial configuration, even though this model already comes with an ample 32GB installed.
In fact, a quick search for “mini PC” on Newegg shows that most available mini PCs explicitly offer user-accessible RAM and support multiple storage drives (i.e., both SATA and M.2 slots).
Meanwhile, modern laptops typically come with a single M.2 slot with no room for an extra drive, and they commonly come with RAM modules that are soldered on. This means you can only upgrade your data drive by replacing it and you can’t upgrade your RAM at all.
Further reading: Killer PC upgrades that are shockingly cheap
Mini PCs have more ports
Newegg
As laptops have gotten slimmer and smaller, certain aspects had to be sacrificed to get there — like ports and connectivity.
These days, you’d be lucky to get two USB ports and a headset jack. Bonus points if you also get an HDMI port. High-end laptops in particular have just about given up on ports, such as the Dell XPS 13 that only offers two USB-C ports. This means an extreme reliance on hubs and docks.
Mini PCs play to a different tune. The very first mini PC in my Newegg search includes four USB-A ports on one side, and then two HDMI 2.0 ports, two Ethernet ports, and a headset jack on another side.
And that’s not even one of the more impressive mini PCs. The $647 Minisforum UM890 Pro has four 10Gbps USB-A ports, two HDMI ports capable of 4K@120Hz, as well as USB4 and DisplayPort outputs, dual 2.5Gbps Ethernet ports, and a headset jack.
Mini PCs might be just what you need
In short, mini PCs offer more bang for your buck than laptops, able to wring out more performance from equivalent hardware and costing less than laptops on the same tier.
Of course, you’re giving up the innate portability of a laptop by opting for a mini PC, but that’s fine if you’re always at home anyway. You’ll also have to provide your own keyboard, mouse, and monitor, but you can get them for cheap and still pay less than you would for a laptop.
If you’re in the market for a new device and you think your only choices are laptop, desktop, or tablet, think again. The mini PC might be exactly the thing that serves you best for the price. We regularly highlight mini PC deals in our editorial coverage, so hit that link and poke around if you want to save even more money.
Related: I switched from a $1,000 desktop PC to a $300 mini PC and regret absolutely nothing
Author: Mark Knapp, Contributor, PCWorld
Mark is a freelance tech writer and hardware reviewer. As an avid value-seeker, he has ended up digging himself deep into just about every corner of tech, reviewing several hundred products ranging from SSDs and laptops to home theater projectors and e-bikes. He's always looking to see how the next best thing stacks up.