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Mini PCs are generally compact desktops that are designed not to take up much space – some even come with brackets that let you mount the PC to a back of a monitor where you won’t see it at all.

But the Machenike GTS mini PC is built to be looked at, because it has a small LCD display built into the top of the computer and a hinge that lets you flip the screen up so it’s easy to see even if the computer is lying flat.

That little screen measures 2.33 inches diagonally, so it’s not really big enough for use as a general purpose computer screen. But it is the right size to display system status information, and Machenike offers “smart screen” software that lets you configure the screen to show information like power consumption, CPU, GPU, and memory utilization, and temperature information, among other things.

Flipping up the display also reveals an RGB light strip with support for several different effects.

While the little screen is the computer’s most distinctive feature, the Machenike GTS isn’t entirely unique. Other Chinese PC makers including AOOSTAR and AYANEO have also released mini PCs with flip-up displays, although many of those models have larger displays than the Machenike GTS. We’ve also seen systems with small status screens like the ACEMAGIC S1 before, although that display is fixed in place while the GTS screen is attached to a folding hinge.

If you ignore the screen, the Machenike GTS looks like a pretty standard mini PC, with a metal body that measures 147 x 147 x 61mm (5.8″ x 5.8″ x 2.1″) and support for up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 285H 16-core Arrow Lake-H processor, two SODIMM slots with support for up to 128GB of total DDR5-5600 memory, and two M.2 2280 slot with support for PCIe 4.0 NVMe storage.

Ports include:

• 2 x USB4 Type-C (40 Gbps)
• 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C (10 Gbps)
• 4 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A (5 Gbps)
• 2 x 2.5 GbE LAN
• 1 x HDMI 2.0
• 1 x DisplayPort 1.4
• 1 x 3.5mm audio
• 1 x DC power input

The Machenike GTS mini PC also supports WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 and the system has a cooling system with dual heat pipes and four fans, allowing the processor to run at up to 65 watts for sustained periods (or 70 watts in short bursts).

While the little computer sells for around $800 and up in China (for a model with a Core Ultra 5 225H processor and 32GB of RAM), it’ll probably cost considerably more if you try to pick one up in other countries. One of the only stores I’ve found that ships this system globally is MINIXPC, which is charging $1799 for a Core Ultra 9 285H/64GB model.

But part of the reason I like to keep an eye on these niche devices from Chinese PC makers is because sometimes they end up being early examples of trends that will become more widespread over time. For example Chinese companies like GPD and One Netbook were making handheld gaming PCs for years before bigger names like Valve, Asus, and Lenovo entered the space. Are mini PCs with flip-up displays likely to be the next big thing in little PCs? I doubt it, but you never know.

via NotebookCheck and ITHome