Jide's Remix Mini, Reviewed

There’s a warm cup of coffee on my desk, and sitting along with it are the usual suspects – my trusty Logitech MK100 keyboard and mouse, and the PC itself. But I took things a bit differently for the past three weeks. Instead of my conventional work process, I chose the minimalist route and my daily driver was an Android PC. How does it fare?

There’s a warm cup of coffee on my desk, and sitting along with it are the usual suspects – my trusty Logitech MK240 keyboard and mouse, and the PC itself. But I took things a bit differently for the past three weeks. Instead of my conventional work process, I chose the minimalist route and my daily driver was an Android PC. Yes, I’m a rebel, but one with cause. The Kickstarter success story, the Remix Mini, served as my one-true work computer.

For me to begin this review, I’ll get the word out that it was done on the Remix Mini itself as to not defeat the purpose. What can an Android Mini PC do? And where would it fall short?

Specifications:

Processor	1.2GHz quad-core cortex A53 (64-bit) Allwinner
Storage	8GB eMMC/16GB eMMC
Memory	1GB/2GB
Video Support	H.265 4K hardware decoding 1080P HDMI output Support for 1920*1080 resolution
Audio	Audio line out/headphone minijack (digital/analog) HDMI port supports audio output
Ports	Two USB 2 ports HDMI port Ethernet port Headphone port
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi wireless networking compatible Bluetooth Bluetooth 4.0 wireless technology Ethernet 10/100BASE-T ethernet
Power Requirements	Line voltage: 100-240V AC Frequency: 50Hz to 60Hz, single phase Maximum continuous power: 15W Operating temperature: 50 to 95 ℉ (10 to 35 ℃) Storage temperature: -40 to 116 ℉ (-40 to 47 ℃)
Limited Warranty	90 days of support and a one-year limited warranty.
Price	Php3,500

Packaging

The Remix Mini arrives in somewhat simple box, which could also be a testament to its minimalist nature as we’d like to point out. Classy’s the word, and that is the case from inside and out. Inside the carton box is the Remix Mini in its full glory, as well as a DC wall adapter, an HDMI cable (which could be longer), and some paperwork. It’s not exactly loaded on inclusions, but that’s basically what you can get for its price.

Hardware and Design

At first glance, you’ll probably mistaken the Remix Mini as a stone or a soap as we like to joke around here. But once you let it sink in, it melds intrinsically with your workspace or your living room. The black pebble-shaped device is quite the charmer. The Remix logo is on top, and two USB ports alongside an HDMI port, a 3.5mm audio jack, an Ethernet port, a microSD card slot, and a DC jack at the back. Opposite of it is an LED light indicator to, yes, indicate that it’s plugged in. That’s all there is to it. There are actually no buttons here, and powering it on is quite ingenious. It all takes a tap on the logo, and you’ll be booted to the homescreen itself.

As far as the specifications are concerned, it’s actually nothing to write home about. The Remix Mini comes with a 64-bit 1.2GHz Allwinner quad-core CPU, 2GB of memory, and 16GB of onboard storage. In terms of connectivity, you’re treated with 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0, plus 10/100BASE-T Ethernet for wired internet.

Software

Based on Android 5.1 Lollipop, Jide’s Remix Mini has created a space that harkens to the love affair you have with Windows instead of the conventional Android skin. With that said, you’re treated to a wealth of apps – productivity suites and entertainment inbound. But the question remains, can Google’s platform be enough to fill you in with your needs in personal computing? To put it in its simplest form, yes.

Jide also bundled it with the Remix Store, which are basically the essential apps if you still haven’t had them installed from the Play Store. Bloatware is also kept to a minimum, which is a bit surprising since the operating system itself is designed to act like Redmond’s offering.

As mentioned, Remix keeps you grounded on the familiar Windows UI to keep you in check with the experience. There’s a Start menu right there, programs apps on the desktop, and on the right is the notifications area together with the taskbar. You can also free up some memory if you think the going is already getting tough. That will come in handy, which we’ll explain in a bit.

Performance

The key to fully utilizing the Remix Mini is knowing its limits, and from there using it to its full extent. With that said, multimedia entertainment and productivity apps are simply the way to go. We can open up Word, the File Browser, MX Player (our go-to video player), and Google Chrome all at the same time. Resizing the apps for multitasking productivity is also a seamless pleasure to do, and that would probably be the chunk of your workload in documentation stuff so to speak.

However, switching between tabs on Google Chrome takes a second to render, so there’s the buffer that you don’t usually see in a Windows PC. That takes a bit away in the speed and enthusiasm in your work, but it’s really nothing to bring you down if you can get over the one-second differential.

For games, you’ll be relying on your mouse most of the time, but you can connect a joystick (wired/wireless) for a better experience. Of course, that isn’t to say that all games on Android will have support for a joystick. So it’s still in your best interest to check and see if it does. Chaos Rings III is playable, and emulators do work wonders if you want to return to your PlayStation gaming roots.

Benchmark scores are irrelevant for the Remix Mini since it's a different work process, but you're going to look for it anyway so here you go.

However, do keep in mind that you’ll be working on a 16GB onboard storage, so that alone limits what you can store in the Remix Mini. You’ll have the chance to expand it with a microSD card slot, but we doubt that you’ll be using it as your primary gaming platform.

Conclusion

Remix Mini opens up the possibilities of an Android entertainment hub or a workhorse depending on your needs, and it can deliver on the essentials without it breaking a sweat and you breaking the bank. Sure, some would probably argue that the underwhelming hardware and paltry storage will deter one from buying, but its Php 3,500 price tag just makes it too darn sweet to ignore and see the full extent of its capabilities. There are some kinks to iron out, but for a first generation product, the Remix Mini definitely makes the cut.