Over the past few weeks, I had the chance to try out the Access3 Mini PC Stick from Azulle. The Access3 is a Mini PC powered by Windows that is super compact. In fact, it measures about 5x2x.75 inches making it only a little bit bigger than a USB stick or USB wireless adapter.

The Specs

Let get the specs out of the way. The Access3 is powered by either a Gemini Lake N4100 or an Apollo Lake N3450. Both of these are quad core and have clock speeds between 1.1-2.4 GHz. There are a number of different options for RAM and storage, you can get up to 6GB of RAM and up to 64GB of flash storage. Last, in terms of ports and wireless adapter, the device comes with a Gigabit Ethernet controller, HDMI port, WLAN wireless adapter (2.4 / 5 GHz), Bluetooth, two USB 3.0 ports and a 3.5 -mm audio jack.

The Review

For my test, I hooked the access3 up to small 24-inch TV. I used the 2 USB ports to hook up a keyboard and mouse. Overall, the device performed most of the tasks I threw at it pretty well. It easily handled web browsing and MS Office usage. It also did a great job streaming video via Netflix and Amazon Prime. Navigating around Windows 10 felt pretty zippy as well.

The biggest and most obvious advantage I noticed was the amount of power this device provided in a super compact form. The price for this at the time of the review was also pretty reasonable with most variants coming in under $300.

Downsides

One pretty small downside I noticed is that the device got pretty hot pretty fast. This isn’t a huge deal, but something to note before touching the device during or right after usage. Another downside to keep in mind is that Windows takes up a large chunk of the existing hard drive space. So, you will almost certainly need to add a microSD card. This isn’t a huge deal since these are pretty inexpensive though, just something to keep in mind.

Usages

There are a number of ways that this device can be utilized. First of all, it makes for a great PC if you just need it for browsing the web and using office products. Furthermore, if you need your browsing/MS office PC to be portable, this device does a great job with that. Next, since this device seemed to handle streaming and video quite well, you could use this device as a portable media center with the caveat that you may need to expand the storage if you are going to be storing videos on the device.

Wrapping it up, I thought this device performed pretty well for its size and price. I would definitely recommend picking one up assuming you meet one of the use case listed above.