The most DISAPPOINTING Mini PC I've Ever Reviewed - Khadas Mind

Everyone: khadas has a proprietary docking connector. Whaaaaah Me: ah yes just like they have a proprietary rca jack that does ballenced output... Everyone: whaaaaah it is only useful with the proprietary docks Me: I think it works with any dock with PD charging. Everyone: Whaaaaah price!! Me: if you have a problem with it realize they are not Dell and can not produce this thing at the scale where it can be made cheaply. If it catches on maybe and only then will the price go down.

Can confirm it doesn't fit in a wallet. And believe me, I'm broke.

There was a recent mini pc unveiled which is powered by a single ethernet cable via PoE. That would be cool to cover.

The base system is the SAME price as the Minisforum UM790 Pro Venus with 64GB and 1TB on Amazon. I have one, and it will eat the Mind for lunch, and crap it out for dinner. Yes, it's a bit bigger, but it has All The Things.

For the price of the standard Khadas Mind, you can get a Framework mainboard with the same CPU as the Mind Premium and the Cooler Master case to go with it, giving you more than 0 options at all for memory expansion, and more options for SSDs. Even loading it for bear (in comparison) with memory and storage keeps you under the price of the premium Mind

Jeff, really appreciate the honest review of this product. It is hard thing to do to point out a products short comings.

The glassware and the travel mug + the affordable shipping to those of us who happen to live across the oceans enticed me to grab some, happy to support the channel, love functional merch!

I didn't hear a thing you said. I was mesmerized by that really nice looking glassware you had there.

Marketed as an "Apple competitor", designed like an Apple device, thermals like an Apple PC, sold like an Apple product. Khadas is out of their mind if they think this is going to work out for them. 😂

Your writing is superb 👍 Another great video. Great presentation and production quality. Khadas Mind . . . locked ecosystem . . . run. RUN!

I'll be honest, I'm totally a sucker for any sort of docking solution. In my first real job, I remember getting issued my laptop and the "clunk" of putting it in the docking station and the satisfaction of ejecting it at the day before going home. After a couple of generations of different machines, at some point around 2018/2019, we switched over to USB-C docking stations. One cable for power and every conceivable accessory you'd need for a typical office worker. And now at home I have a monitor with USB-C and power delivery and with one cable change I can flip over between my work laptop, personal laptop, or even a Steam Deck with one easy cable. Modern USB-C is too good of a solution for any other docking system to make sense in anything but the most niche scenario, so I think you're spot on in your critique.

Even if you ignore laptops, Minisforums are just gonna slap this thing down. But maybe Minisforum will look at this and standardize some of the ideas here.

Its still really cool. I know Khadas from their very intersting audio components. I hope they grow and we get a meteor lake Khadas soon.

All they needed for a docking connector is a thunderbolt port or 2 on the bottom

Wow... when I saw this Kickstart, I thought the price was pretty high for what it was and that proprietary dock format was a turnoff. Hearing that the price went up from the Kickstart changed this from a non-starter to nonsense. Thank you for your perspective and for comparing it with similarly equipped laptops. That really seals this fate and changes it to a niche/vanity product, not a serious and general purpose workhorse.

I like the form factor, and the idea of it. Having it in place of a work laptop, being able to plop it down into a dock at each desk I would be able to do work at would appeal to me. Love its small size too. But you are totally right; at the same price point you can have a fullsize laptop with maybe expandable ram and such, and also be able to use it anywhere and not just at specific desks with docks in place. And with most laptops now a days you can even use USB-C docks with HDMI out and whatnot which can be had cheaply. My work provided laptop kinda can be cumbersome with all the wires coming out of it to connect to my dual screens, but I live with it. Also a alternative to the Khadas Mind would probably be the Framework laptop motherboard on its own with a Coolermaster mainboard case. Just use whatever 4 framework modules you want, and you can expand the ram and m.2 SSD easily.

I remember this thing from Eta Prime's channel last year. Man, what a sleek little package. It's like a nicer LattePanda. But you're right. For the price, there are more practical options, and not many use-cases that would justify this premium just for the form factor.

They're charging Apple-level prices... without an Apple-level ecosystem.

That docking connector reminds me of the expansion slot on the old old Centrino-era IBM Thinkpads. Of course, the laptop was far more useful than this thing.. It actually could work, if it was a pocket sized tablet and not just a mini pc.

I was about to purchase Khadas Mind. I can ignore many concerns but the fan noise and such a power limit on that CPU is a deal breaker for me. Thank you!