among the worst that we’ve seen
on a mini PC.The competition
If you’re specifically looking for a
high-performance HDMI PC stick,
there’s almost no competition, with
one exception. The CS525 is Intel’s
latest iteration of the Compute
Stick, and it’s the most powerful
stick around, being equipped with
a Core m5-6Y57 CPU. At over $480
it is far more expensive than the
Access3, especially as it doesn’t
come with an operating system.
But with vPro compatibility and a
TPM 2.0 security chip, it ticks all of
the right boxes.
What you do find is that there are
plenty of HDMI sticks based on
older hardware, with as little
memory and storage as the
vendors can get away with. Avoid
these as you’ll likely end up paying
in other ways, like lost productivity.
Generally speaking, though, you
will find a wealth of mini PCs that
you can buy for around $200 with
more RAM and better performance.Summary
How good is the Access3? Before
asking that, you should ask yourself
whether you need a PC in an HDMI
stick format. We have yet to find a
compelling reason to use one, and
would suggest you stay away for a
number of practical reasons.
These include the HDMI cable or
power lead not being long enough,
a lack of VESA mounts (so devices
are often left dangling in mid-air)
and zero expansion options. Just
go buy a regular PC instead. QThe Azulle Access3 does the job
well enough. It’s the form factor
we’re not convinced by.Connectivity is limited to two
USB 3.0 ports and a GbE Ethernet
port, a micro USB connector that
serves as a power port, an antenna,
and a microSD card slot. There’s
also a Kensington slot, a 3.5mm
audio jack and a power button.
All in all, it is a solid, sturdy PC
that will take more than a few
knocks; just make sure these don’t
happen near the HDMI port.
Specifications
Our review sample of the Access3
was powered by an Intel Celeron
J4105 CPU, which is a new addition
to the Azulle range. This is a
desktop processor and with a
Thermal Design Power (TDP) of
10W, it dissipates nearly 60 percent
more heat than the N3450, for
example. A higher TDP can be
easily explained by the higher base
frequency (1.5GHz) from the four
cores and a bigger cache (4MB).
There was also 4GB of system
memory and 32GB of storage, the
bulk of it being already occupied by
Windows 10. Sadly, this might
prove to be problematic in the
future with operating system
updates likely to demand more
storage, which makes the current
storage setup entirely ill-suited. As
expected, it also has 802.11ac Wi-Fi
courtesy of an Intel 3165 chip.Usage and performance
When the Azulle Access3 mini PC isconnected to the mains, a red light
comes on, and it turns blue when
you press the power button. The
device runs Windows 10 Pro.
As for performance, the Access3
delivers some solid numbers, far
ahead of the previous generation
and the usual batch of older Intel
Atom CPUs that are normally used
in HDMI PC sticks.
The processor is about as fast as
an Intel Celeron N4100, which has a
lower power consumption. Both
cost the same, but while the J4105
has a much higher base frequency,
it also has a higher TDP.
Storage performance, on the
other hand, is sub-par. Slower
eMMC storage and only having a
small amount of free space means
the Access3’s benchmark results are“The form factor of Azulle’s Access3 doesn’t solve
the outstanding issues; it only mitigates them”
Upgrade
Azulle Access3
June 2019 | |^85
KEYFEATURES
Azulle Access3
Supplier https://azulletech.com/
CPU Intel Celeron J4105
quad-core 2.6GHz
Graphics Intel UHD Graphics 600
RAM 4GB LPDDR4
Storage 32GB eMMC
Connectivity 802.11ac Wi-Fi; Bluetooth
4.2; 2x USB 3.0; microUSB; 3.5mm audio
output; Gigabit LAN; microSD
Weight 300g
Size 128 x49 x18 m m