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We reviewed the Beelink SER3 Mini PC last year and loved it for solid HTPC performance and dual-HDMI ports, among other niceties that you’d be hard-pressed to find on other Mini PCs. Now, Beelink is back again with a new version of its SER9 Max Mini PC, this time powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 H 255 CPU and Radeon 780M GPU.
Like its predecessor, the Beelink SER8, it is housed in a premium compact form factor with lots of ports, but above everything else, the latest Beelink SER9 is all about offering solid CPU and GPU performance that’s not throttled, while remaining cool and quiet when in use, and the price is very reachable.
While small, the SER9 Max H still offers plenty of options when it comes to connectivity, including Wi-Fi 6 and a good selection of USB-C and USB 3.2 ports. For both creatives and office workers, this Mini PC supports 4K displays via HDMI 2.1, DP, and USB 4.0, which makes it a great choice if you need more screen real estate.
The CPU and GPU are pretty solid for a mini PC, and the power that they supply is boosted by the inclusion of a new generation Zen 4 architecture and RDNA 3 graphics with 65W TDP and 12 cores built on an advanced 4nm process. This Zen 4 chip can be used by applications designed for use with AI, as well as enabling machine learning and deep learning tasks.
Overall, the Beelink SER9 Max H Mini PC has many appealing features, and it punches way above its small size; however, the top-tier performance and features come at a premium. Well, we can’t say it’s expensive, but it’s priced on the higher end of the best mini PCs we’ve reviewed, and the performance, of course, justifies the price.
Beelink SER9 Max Specs
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 H 255
- GPU: AMD Radeon 780M
- RAM: 32GB LPDDR5x
- Storage: 1TB SSD
- Ports: 4x USB-A, 2x USB-C, Ethernet, 2x 3.5mm audio, HDMI, DisplayPort
- Dimensions: 135 x 135 x 44.7mm
- Colors: Silver, Space Grey
Design & Features
Like the Beelink SER8, the Beelink SER9 Max is a little bigger than a standard NUC; by up to 20% from the Intel NUC definition. The case is 135mm square and 50mm high, just a smidge bigger than most mini PC cases.
The mini PC’s entire top section is made of a single metal piece, meaning incoming airflow comes from underneath the PC, while warm air is ejected above the I/O area on the rear through four vented slots, with the metal case acting as a radiator. The underside is made of plastic and has numerous holes to allow air in, with a pair of rubberized feet to raise the SER9 Max off the surface.
On the flipside, the SER9 Max doesn’t have any VESA holes; it doesn’t have any included mounting plate, meaning it’s strictly designed to sit on your desk. It also doesn’t have a security slot.
With the new SER9 Max, Beelink is now also selling a new dock accessory dubbed the Beelink Mate SE a specialized docking station/stand for Beelink’s SER8 and SER9 series mini PCs, including the SER9 MAX, as well as any USB-C enabled device designed to significantly expand storage with two internal M.2 NVMe SSD slots (supporting up to PCIe Gen 4 speeds with active cooling), plus extra ports like USB-A, 2.5G LAN, SD card reader, and a USB-C PD port, turning your compact PC into a more powerful workstation by adding both storage and connectivity.
Port selection is excellent here, with an array of ports both on the front and back. The front panel has two USB ports, both 10Gbps, one each of USB-A and USB-C, along with a 3.5mm audio jack, reset hole, and power button. This is the first mini PC we’re seeing with two audio jacks.
The back panel has more ports just below the cooling vents – four More USB ports, one of which is USB 4.0, two are USB 2.0, and one is USB 3.2; DisplayPort and HDMI, a single 10Gbps LAN port, and another 3.5mm audio jack. The only omission here is the lack of an SD card slot, and the only USB 4.0 port available is on the back.
Another slight disappointment here is internal access to upgrade the memory and storage. To get inside the SER9 Max, you need to remove four screws, and to get to those, you need to remove four rubber plugs on the underside. It’s tedious to level them out, and the small TPU plugs tend to get damaged.
Having struggled with those, you again need to contend with a dust grill inside, another two screwss, and then a heat spreader that covers the M.2 slots, which is held in place by another pair of screws. Once again, the eight screws are of two sizes, and if you mix them up, you might damage the system.
While we appreciate the attention to detail that went into engineering the external enclosure, it was not necessary to have such a complicated internal access path. On the better side, inside there are two 2280 M.2 slots PCIe, with one occupied with a 1TB Crucial P3 Plus and two Crucial SODIMM modules. You should be able to put at least 96GB of memory and 8TB of storage inside, and the dual slots make connecting drives pretty straightforward.
Therefore, while it’s complicated to get the inside, it’s certainly worth the effort.
Performance
Under the hood, the Beelink SER9 Max is powered by the AMD Ryzen 7 255H, which is simply a Ryzen 7 8745H with a different name. That means it’s essentially built on the older Zen 4 architecture, meaning it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles in both GPU and CPU departments that are included with the Zen 5 architecture. Therefore, it lacks an NPU that would make it Copilot+ capable, making it a less appealing choice for Windows AI features.
Even with that in mind, it’s still a very capable machine. In Geekbench 6 tests, it garners a single-core score of 2,497 and a multi-core score of 12,134, putting it in the same ballpark as the Ryzen 7940HS and 8945HS. In Cinebench 2024, the CPU’s single-score of 100 and multi-core score of 836 is impressive; the same can be said of a 1,814 score on Crossmark.
Gaming is a mixed bag on the SER9 Max with its AMD Radeon 780M integrated graphics processor. But for a mini PC, the Radeon 780M does a fine job, and can be a good choice for anyone looking for a mini-PC that can handle casual gaming pretty well. Cyberpunk 2077 is a punishing title on most graphics cards, but the SER9 Max still averages 36fps in benchmark tests on high settings at 1080p, which is perfectly playable.
The Beelink SER9 Max delivers great productivity and gaming performance in a small, affordable package.
On both Shadow of the Tomb Raider and DOOM: The Dark Ages, the SER9 Max averages 28fps on high graphics settings at 1080p, too, which implies that if you’re willing to tone down your graphics settings to medium, you can easily enjoy upwards of 40fps in most modern titles. For older games, the Radeon 780M is overkill. You can run titles like GTA V at full 60fps on the highest settings, hassle-free.
Even with the impressive gaming performance for casual gaming, the SER9 Max isn’t a gaming PC at its core. Still, it’ll handle gaming in a pinch if you need it. To a larger extent, the Radeon 780M is well-suited for editing photos and rendering videos, as it makes rendering creative projects much faster compared to most integrated GPUs. If you must run gamers here, I’d recommend running the mini PC in the 65W performance mode for more immersive gameplay.
When under load, the Beelink SER9 Max runs quietly. Its fan is audible, but it doesn’t scream at all; something you’d expect when running the CPU and GPU at full blast.
Beelink SER9 Max Review: Bottom line
The Beelink SER9 Max with an AMD Ryzen 7 H 255 is a powerful mini PC that combines compact size with desktop-level performance. The chip is new but at par with most flagships from previous years; still ideal for gaming, creative applications, and heavy multitasking, it offers terrific value for the price. While its gaming credentials and design might not appeal to everyone, its performance and versatility make it a standout choice.
For the price, the SER9 Max is an incredible deal when you consider the solid CPU and GPU performance and the fact that it comes with 32GB RAM and 1TB storage, it value that’s hard to beat out there. It’s small in size, but it certainly punches above its weight and size, capable of workflows, creatives, and some gaming.
That said, I like the size of the Beelink SER9 Max, and I also love the new Beelink Mate SE, which makes turning this mini PC into a powerful, versatile home server or storage equipment a breeze. It’s certainly faster than many other options out there, and the price is justified in both form factor and performance, making it an easy choice to recommend.
Price Comparison
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