Blackview MP200 Mini PC review

With a compact kind issue and a spec sheet that causes a double-take contemplating its value, there’s a lot to love in regards to the Blackview Mini PC 200. The model I’ve been reviewing for greater than a month comes with Home windows 11 pre-installed, an Intel i5-11400H processor, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of solid-state drive storage.

As a bundle, I discovered it fairly shocking and I’d fortunately use this mini PC as my day by day driver. In truth, I’m utilizing it as I write this. It doesn’t stack towards the extra highly effective of the most effective mini gaming PCs, however you possibly can’t count on it to for what you pay.

Whenever you think about that on Amazon the Blackview MP200 prices round $349 (round £265) and is commonly on supply, the listing of professionals simply continues to stack up. However whereas I can suggest the MP200 for a lot of issues – shopping the online, writing emails and docs – what I can’t suggest it for is something however informal gaming. If you wish to play the most effective new PC video games then the Blackview MP200 isn’t aimed toward you. As a substitute, you’ll need the most effective gaming PC to your finances, with a devoted graphics card.

In the event you’re somebody who desires a desktop PC somewhat than a laptop computer and doesn’t have the house for a full PC tower, then Blackview’s aggressive pricing ought to put it in your shortlist.

Execs

• One of many most cost-effective mini PCs round
• Excessive-quality day by day efficiency

Cons

• Followers are noisy
• No devoted graphics card

Specs

These are the Blackview MP200 Mini PC specs:

Options

I’ll begin by speaking about what comes within the field if you buy the Blackview MP200. There’s clearly the gadget itself, an influence cable, a stand so your PC could be positioned upright, an HDMI cable, and an SSD mounting bracket.

Regardless of the compact design, which I’ll speak extra about in a second, the MP200 has a normal quantity of connections. There are a complete of 4 USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports – two pairs at the back and front – a single USB-C port and a 3.5mm headphone jack on the entrance, and an RJ45 ethernet port on the again so you possibly can hook up with the web by way of a wired connection. You don’t get the choice of Thunderbolt or USB4.

That USB-C port may be used as a show output, which means that together with the HDMI and DisplayPort on the again, you could possibly join the Blackview with as much as three 4K gaming displays. The DisplayPort can assist as much as 8k whereas the opposite two assist 4k at 60Hz.

By way of wi-fi communication, the Black MP2 helps a Wi-Fi 6 AX201 module from Intel, limiting community connections to 2.4 and 5-GHz frequencies. Bluetooth 5.2 can also be supported.

Design

In the event you’re acquainted with mini PCs, then the design of the MP200 doesn’t break the mildew. It’s boxlike with a matte black plastic casing, the one exception being the metallic used for the stand and the grill on the entrance of the gadget. There are additionally flashes of gold accents on the Blackview brand and across the glowing blue energy button.

The black casing that surrounds the MP200 has small traces operating in three instructions. It does a pleasant job of breaking apart the all-black look, however these do tackle fingerprints from dealing with if you plug gadgets out and in. There’s additionally the choice of shopping for the MP200 in blue.

When positioned in its stand, the MP200 cuts a slim profile, however even at 678 grams (~1.5 lb) there are a couple of lighter PCs nonetheless on the market. It tucks out of the best way simply as you’ll need from a mini PC, and the ports being positioned back and front offers you extra versatility in terms of accessing them. There’s no RGB lighting or something fancy to customise as is the case with the Corsair ONE i400, or from the likes of Alienware, however that’s not shocking – the i400 is available in at virtually ten occasions the worth at $2,499.99.

If you wish to do any upkeep or tinkering, it’s simple to unscrew the Blackview MP200 case and slide the facet cowl down. From right here, it’s doable so as to add a second module of RAM, or a second module of storage so as to add to the M.2 SSD that’s already there.

Efficiency

Whenever you boot up the Blackview MP200, you’re greeted with the acquainted Home windows setup course of. It’s tremendous easy and holds your hand by way of your entire setup. When you have used Home windows 11 earlier than then, you’ll discover no surprises right here. It’s practical and it really works.

The Intel Core i5-11400H delivers a great efficiency, dealing with fundamental duties like web shopping and phrase processing with ease, and based mostly on the way it dealt with a collection of video games (extra on that in a second) I’d be assured to do some mild picture and video modifying.

So how does the MP200 deal with video games? Effectively, as you may need picked up from the evaluate up to now, it’s high quality. I don’t wish to be too harsh as a result of regardless of Blackview on their web site speaking up “environment friendly gaming efficiency” and “tremendous clean efficiency”, I don’t assume this machine is actually the most effective match for avid gamers.

I first examined the MP200 by taking part in the sport I do know greatest, Soccer Supervisor 2023. It’s a sport designed to work on virtually any laptop or laptop computer, a lot to the criticism of its religious fanbase. The MP200 wanted the sport to be run in low graphics mode, very like my Huawei laptop computer which is sort of six years outdated.

The gameplay was completely acceptable and between matches, the machine ran easily however the lack of a graphics card leaves the match animations feeling barely sluggish. It was an identical story when taking part in Crusader Kings 3, the place low graphics mode supplied the smoothest outcomes for sport efficiency.

After that consequence, I didn’t really feel the necessity to push the MP200 a lot additional, and we additionally didn’t put the MP200 by way of the identical rigorous benchmarking processes (extra on how we check {hardware} right here) that we might for flagship gaming PCs and the most effective gaming laptops. Its efficiency is ok for the worth, however positively best-suited for informal desktop customers and avid gamers.

The one different factor to say in terms of the efficiency of the Blackview is the noise of the fan. Nearly any exercise bursts it into life for a brief blast of whirring. It doesn’t final lengthy, however it’s fairly loud when working in a quiet setting resembling a house workplace. I by no means felt just like the PC was overheating, so it’s doing its job – however if you’d like silent, or quieter, efficiency you’ll must look elsewhere. Lastly, the 120 watt-charger is large enough to supply a secure, ample quantity of energy, and deal with greater hundreds for transient durations.

Verdict

In order for you a sub $400 Home windows PC that may be run as your day by day laptop then you’ll battle to seek out one thing higher than the Blackview MP200. The Beelink SER5 is comparable on the specs sheet however is a bit more at $500.

I can solely suggest the Blackview MP200 as a PC for on a regular basis use. If gaming is one thing that you simply’ll do however isn’t the principle precedence then it is a superb, if noisy, mini PC. Nevertheless, in case your focus is on gaming efficiency then you definately could be higher off spending more cash and getting one thing with a devoted graphics card.

Do you have to purchase the Blackview MP200?

• Sure: In order for you one of many most cost-effective Home windows 11 PCs available on the market
• Sure: If gaming isn’t your major precedence to your PC
• No: Lack of devoted graphics card

If the Blackview MP200 isn’t for you

The Minisforum Venus UM773 Lite can also be a compact mini PC that has a devoted graphics card however remains to be greatest suited to mild gaming. Esports video games run with no points at 1080p however the newest AAA video games gained’t return the most effective efficiency. This does price practically $200 greater than the Blackview at $539.99.

In order for you all-out gaming efficiency out of your mini PC then have a look at the Origin Chronos V3. It options an RTX 4070 Ti graphics card and an AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D CPU which means even the most recent AAA video games will run easily. It isn’t the smallest mini PC round and at $2,806 it’s in a special galaxy in comparison with the Blackview MP200.