Azulle Access3 Review: The Best Stick PC Gets Better
Our Verdict
The Azulle Access3 is our new favorite stick PC, combining an splendid design with category-leading operation and best-in-class connectivity options.
For
- Elegant design combines fanless cooling with stylish looks
- Improved port selection boasts USB three.0 and Gigabit Ethernet
- Zippy performance
- Supports 4K video at 30Hz
Against
- Wearisome information transfer speeds
- Optional arranged keyboard is clunky
Tom's Guide Verdict
The Azulle Access3 is our new favorite stick PC, combining an excellent design with category-leading performance and best-in-class connectivity options.
Pros
- +
Elegant pattern combines fanless cooling with stylish looks
- +
Improved port selection boasts USB 3.0 and Gigabit Ethernet
- +
Zippy performance
- +
Supports 4K video at 30Hz
Cons
- -
Slow data transfer speeds
- -
Optional arranged keyboard is clunky
As mini PCs get, "mini" can come in 2 flavors: desktops pocket-size enough to put into a backpack, or PCs that tin can fit into a hip pocket and be carried with your keys. The Azulle Access3 ($234 alone, or $264 in a packet) is definitely in the latter army camp, with a compact pattern that's smaller than most candy bars, yet powerful enough for browsing the web or streaming 4K videos from Netflix.
We loved the previous model that we saw in 2017, the Azulle Admission Plus, and the Access3 manages to evangelize an fifty-fifty better experience in the same pocket-sized bundle. The tiny PC boasts a stylish, fanless pattern, with a faster processor and better port selection, making information technology 1 of the best mini PCs — and indeed, 1 of the best computers period — on the market. In fact, it's and so proficient that it won a recommendation for best mini PC in our Tom's Guide Awards 2021.
Design
Stick PC designs have more than or less stayed the same since the course factor was introduced in 2015, and the Azulle Access3 looks nearly identical to its predecessor from 2017, the Azulle Access Plus. The processed-bar dimensions measure out the same 5.5 x two.36 x 0.76 inches, and the surface of the stick PC is grooved, with a pattern of concentric circles. The compact blueprint is still the almost elegant of whatsoever stick PC we've seen, and even rivals some of our favorite mini PC designs, like the Ockel Sirius B Blackness Cherry'south star-chart-imprinted heatsink.
The tiny chassis uses a fanless cooling design, and so at that place are no internal moving parts, and an external Wi-Fi antenna provides better wireless connectivity than nearly stick PCs can deliver.
On one end is an HDMI connector, for plugging directly into a monitor or TV, and on the other end is a thicker section of chassis that offers a good grip for plugging and unplugging the device. That thicker cease as well provides more width to adapt a full-size Gigabit Ethernet port.
Ports
For such a tiny system, the Azulle Access3 has a surprisingly rich selection of ports, with an HDMI 2.0 output to handle video and sound, two USB iii.0 ports, a microSD bill of fare slot for expanding storage, a 3.5 mm audio jack and a Gigabit Ethernet jack.
While the overall port selection is like to what we saw on the previous Azulle Access Plus, the Ethernet port gets a crash-land upward from the x/100 mbps connection of the 2017 model to Gigabit speed, and the USB ports are both three.0, instead of 1 slower USB 2.0 port.
More than: All-time Mini PCs 2019
Information technology'south likewise a meaning improvement over competitors like the Lenovo IdeaCentre Stick 300, which had just i USB port, and the Access3 doesn't require additional dongles for basic connectivity the way the Zotac Zbox PI225 pico does.
Configurations
The diminutive Access3 comes in a few different versions, differentiated by the retentivity and storage options. The base of operations model has 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage space.
The side by side pace upwards is our review model, which has 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage infinite. Another version offers 4GB with 64GB of storage.
One additional option is too available, which has 6GB of memory and a 32GB eMMC drive for storage.
Performance
The compact Access3 is equipped with a quad-cadre Intel Gemini Lake Celeron N4100 processor, clocked at i.1GHz and paired with 4GB of RAM. While low-powered Celeron and Atom processors are the norm for this form of PC, this CPU will back up the 64-scrap version of Windows x Pro, which is not always guaranteed in this fashion of system. The Lenovo IdeaCentre Stick 300, for instance, was limited to a 32-bit version, thanks to its Intel Cantlet Z3735F processor and 2GB of memory.
In actual use, the Access3 supports a decent level of spider web browsing, handling upwardly to 8 browser tabs without slowing down. But functioning dropped off once I opened up a ninth tab. It will besides handle 4K video at 30Hz, making it well suited for home theater use. However, you'll desire to run that video from connected storage instead of streaming over Wi-Fi, which tin can frequently bottleneck the video functioning.
MORE: Best Streaming Devices 2019
In our principal operation benchmark, Geekbench 4, the Access3 scored 4,541 points. That leads the competition by a huge margin, with the older Azulle Access Plus (2017) scoring 2,401 points with an older Atom processor (Intel Atom x5-Z8350, 4GB of RAM), and handily beating the Ockel Sirius B Blackness Ruby-red (ii,283, with an Atom x5-Z8350, 4GB of RAM) and the Zotac Zbox PI225 pico (ane,475 points, with an Intel Celeron N3350 and 4GB of memory).
In our older Open Role spreadsheet macro examination, the Access3 crunched a giant dataset, pairing tens of thousands of names and addresses in 7 minutes and 33 seconds. Although that may not sound specially impressive, it's a record setter in the mini PC world, where the Ockel Sirius B Black Cherry (18:50) and the Zotac Zbox PI225 pico (21:55) took much, much longer. The closest result, in fact, was the Azulle Access Plus (xvi:47), which still trailed past virtually 9 minutes.
The only area where the Access3 didn't prepare a new bar for performance was in our file- transfer examination, where the stick PC took 3 minutes and 3 seconds to move a iv.97GB file, at a rate of 27.81 Mbps. While that'due south not the worst operation we've seen in this test – the Ockel Sirius B Blackness Red falls a half step behind it at 24.35 MBps – it's still slower than we've seen on other pocket-size PCs, like the Zotac Zbox PI225 pico (45.04 MBps) or the Azulle Access Plus (2017) (41.04 MBps).
Notwithstanding, graphics performance put information technology back on top again, ripping through the 3DMark Ice Tempest Unlimited benchmark with a score of 27,404 at 1080p settings. That's a drastic improvement over the Zotac Zbox PI225 pico (13,462) and the 2017 Azulle Admission Plus (18,805), and the difference in operation will be seen in meliorate video streams and quicker graphics rendering.
Accessories
The Access 3 has two USB ports, providing enough connectivity for a wired keyboard and mouse, or fifty-fifty a wireless keyboard/mouse combination, like the Logitech K600. But Azulle besides offers its own keyboard accessory, the Lynk Windows Multifunctional Remote Control ($29.99), putting a couch-friendly spin on the wireless keyboard by cramming it into a grade that's more like your TV remote control. Information technology's likewise broadly uniform with many devices. Since it connects via wireless USB dongle, the Lynk will also work with game consoles, set superlative boxes and any other Windows PC.
On the front of the keyboard remote are several remote-command buttons, which offer functionality similar to what you'd get on whatsoever smart-TV remote control: A directional pad for navigation, book control buttons, domicile button and a play/pause button for controlling video playback. There's a microphone button for vocalisation interaction, a ability button and a contextual menu button.
There are also several unique buttons, with functions you might not come across elsewhere, such as the right and left mouse buttons, which can be used with a gesture mouse that lets you point the remote at the TV and move your cursor with a waggle of the remote command. It's similar to the motion control offered on the remote that comes with LG Smart TVs. Aside from mouse options, at that place'southward too a Windows button and a button that turns on the tiny QWERTY keyboard on the back.
That'southward right, this handheld remote control packs a small, thumb-friendly keyboard, letting y'all enter text quickly and perform simple keyboard shortcuts without having to become up off the couch. It's also backlit, with the messages glowing vivid blue when lit.
The keyboard is a welcome addition, specially for anyone who needs more traditional computer functions when the mini PC is connected to a Tv set. Entering text on the keyboard'due south soft rubber buttons is definitely better than most of the awkward on-screen keyboards I've used.
More than: 11 Inexpensive Keyboards (Under $twenty) Ranked from Best to Worst
But the rest of the remote is a less satisfying feel. The design isn't particularly comfy to agree, and the diverse Windows functions grafted onto the remote control feel a scrap disjointed. The whole thing feels similar a stopgap mensurate, and while it'due south an honest endeavour at bringing users a full keyboard and mouse capability in a more than TV-esque environs, it just serves to drive home how essential a real keyboard and mouse tin be.
Bottom Line
As the follow-up to our favorite stick PC, we had loftier expectations for the Azulle Access3. And yet, the slim mini PC managed to exceed almost of those, cheers to a zippier processor, faster port selection and a design that didn't change any of the things nosotros loved the first time. Although we weren't thrilled nigh the slower transfer speeds or the clunky keyboard/remote combo, the Access3 still claims the top spot every bit our favorite stick PC.
Compared with the 2017 Azulle Access Plus, the new model Access3 blazed past it with faster performance, amend video-handling and an improved port selection – no modest task when you've but got one or two foursquare inches of space for any ports at all. And compared with other pocket-size mini PCs, similar the Ockel Sirius B Black Ruby or the credit-card-size Zotac Zbox PI225 pico, it boasts an even larger margin of performance, and packs it all into a smaller bundle.
Whether it's for employ in your habitation theater, powering digital signage or just giving yous a way to watch Netflix on your hotel TV, the Azulle Access3 is our new favorite stick PC.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/azulle-access3
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