MSI Cubi Mini PC Review

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Conclusion

The Cubi brings lot’s of interesting features to the table, the first and most important I’ve decided to highlight. Is the small size of the product, whilst still boasting the ability for expansion with the use of an additional 2.5″ drive. But one feature I really liked, it doesn’t even produce much noise when in full operation, even at this size. They somehow found a slimline format for cooling the device – which shows you the Cubi has been well thought out and planned. If you’ve ever heard the expression “Power to weight ratio” the Cubi is a product that this exact phrase brings to mind. For the size of the product, you have the ability to run the 5th generation Intel Broadwell-U processors, which produce a small footprint, and boast incredible performance.  Ranging from the Celeron to the Intel i5, no matter the task, there is a Cubi to fight in your corner.

In the case of aesthetics? The Cubi is a product that looks gorgeous, and I’d love to own one myself. It looks at home on a desk, or in the living room. It’s not an over the top design, just simple minimalism at it’s finest. Even with the additional expansion unit installed, it still looks great. So literally no complaints regarding the aesthetics of the product. My only complaint is that I’d personally feel bad not having the Cubi on display when it’s mounted on the back of a monitor.

One of the most important things that I look for in a small product is the functionality. Which is a mixture of connectivity, performance, the general all round product that has been designed to work a smaller space. The Cubi might be small, but it’s packed with features. Even boasting the ability to output 4K via a mini-DP port, which is amazing considering the size. All of this together made for a great little computer, combining it with a VESA (monitor) mount opened up some cool avenues for computing. I can personally see the Cubi becoming a popular cheap to run office/personal computer.

After all of this, I look at the price of the product and based on the early figures we’ve been provided it looks amazing. Given that the new processors use less power you’ll already be cutting bills down running the Cubi, but you can pick up a base model for less than £100. Based on the benchmarks we can see the onboard SSD carving through disk-related activities, and the CPU related activities aren’t bad especially for an i3 model that costs £189.

I think that the Cubi will make its claim on the world, and I’m glad to have had the chance to review the Cubi. I do wish I could have spent more time with the product, and possibly kept it forever! But sadly it had to go back to MSI HQ, which made me somewhat sad. However, it was a pleasure to play around with this little powerhouse!

For me the Cubi isn’t just a small computer, it’s a well thought out product that brings a solution to a problem. Now the problem we face in today’s society; an ethos that bigger is better, and everyone might not be able to afford “the best” so I love with the Cubi that it’s affordable for the everyday user and the power user. It has a smaller impact on the environment, both in terms of noise pollution and on your electricity usage. But it doesn’t come at a huge premium. On the i3 base model, I was more than happy to use this as a “day to day” computer and felt I might have been OK with the Pentium base model. So perhaps it’s time for people to start moving away from the era of laptops and to the small form factor PC?

All I know is that I loved every minute I spent with the Cubi, and for what it is, it’s definitely a contender for my most loved SFF creation of all time, so great job MSI! P.S. 4k support is awesome.

Today the Cubi picks up two awards, and these awards aren’t just because it’s small. It’s because they’ve attempted to cater for more than just one crowd. It’s not a base model with an i5, it’s an affordable SFF solution for everyone.  And I loved the way it performed, the way it looked, almost everything about it.

Ratings Explained:

Performance: The performance of the Cubi is an odd one, because there are different models. But I gave my opinion on a variety of aspects regarding the different models, and almost all the models – in their respective scenario would shine. So I’ve decided to award the cubi a 4.4 for performance!

Design:  Design wise, it’s awesome. Power whilst using no power? How does that even make sense? The IO ports supply a huge amount of connectivity for USB devices and the addition of 4K output? All of this crammed into a tiny space.. is just amazing, topping it off with a “thin” and “I want a hardrive mode” modular design tied up the package neatly. For design I decided to award the cubi? A strong 4.5.

Value: Remember this isn’t a desktop computer! It’s a mini-pc, so totally different markets to be comparing with. But I think it’s great value for money, the cost saving in the long run is reason enough to purchase a cubi, especially if you use a fixed workstation and don’t require a huge amount of power. But the technology that goes into making these smaller – usually does cost more. So I’ve decided to give the Cubi a 4.2 for value. As everything else on the market is good.. but this is great – and the variable chips add to the value in my opinion.

Bottom line – it’s not a Ferrari, but it’s a step in the right direction. 

I’d like to thank MSI for sending me the Cubi to review. I very much look forward to seeing more from them in the future.