Beelink SER8 Mini PC Review

Design

To accommodate a more capable cooling system, Beelink scaled the SER8’s chassis up by about 20% compared to a typical Intel NUC. The result is a compact 135mm x 135mm footprint standing 50mm tall, still small, but with added breathing room.

The top shell is a single slab of metal, giving the unit a sleek, minimalist appearance. However, the absence of ventilation holes on the top means all intake airflow is pulled from the bottom. Warm air is expelled through four rear vents above the I/O panel, and the metal case itself helps dissipate heat passively.

The plastic underside includes ample intake holes and two rubberized strips that lift the unit slightly to improve airflow. Unfortunately, there are no VESA mounting options or security slots, so the SER8 is strictly meant to live on your desk.

Port distribution is straightforward. On the front, you’ll find two 10Gbps USB ports (one USB-A, one USB-C), a 3.5mm audio jack, a reset pinhole, and the power button. Around back, there’s a mix of four USB ports (including one USB 4.0 and two USB 2.0), DisplayPort and HDMI outputs, a 2.5GbE LAN jack, and, curiously, another 3.5mm audio jack. Dual headphone jacks aren’t common in mini PCs, but they’re here.

What’s missing? There’s no SD card slot, and the lone USB 4.0 port is inconveniently placed on the rear. The bigger frustration is internal access. To upgrade memory or storage, you’ll need to pry out four small rubber plugs from the base to reach the screws underneath, risking damage to the plugs in the process. After that, you’re met with a dust filter, two more screws, and a heat spreader secured by yet another pair of screws. Of the eight total screws, two are a different size, and mixing them up could cause damage.

Despite the awkward teardown, the internals are impressive. You get two PCIe 4.0 M.2 2280 slots (one preinstalled with a 1TB Crucial P3 Plus SSD) and two 16GB Crucial DDR5 SODIMM modules. The system supports up to 96GB of RAM and 8TB of storage, with dual M.2 slots making drive cloning easy.

Features

Let’s be honest about the Ryzen 8000 series. While the Ryzen 7 8845HS is a solid chip, it’s not a major leap over the previous generation. It has the same core and thread count as the Ryzen 7 7840HS and uses the same integrated Radeon 780M GPU. AMD has nudged up the clock speeds and AI TOPS performance, but real-world gains are minimal, just a few percentage points at best. Even the Ryzen 9 8945HS offers only a modest improvement.

With the Ryzen 9000 series featuring Zen 5 cores on the horizon, a more substantial performance bump may be just months away. For those trying to future-proof, this might not be the ideal moment to invest in this generation.

Still, the 8845HS remains a strong performer. It supports USB 4.0 and, in theory, up to 256GB of DDR5 memory, though 128GB SODIMMs aren’t yet commercially available.

The main limitation here is the 780M GPU. While competent, it’s starting to show its age, especially with Intel’s latest mobile CPUs shipping with integrated ARC graphics. For users needing more graphical horsepower, the SER8’s USB 4.0 port opens the door to external GPU (eGPU) setups. The catch? There’s only one USB 4.0 port, and an eGPU will consume the full 40Gbps bandwidth (32Gbps data, 8Gbps display), leaving no room for other high-speed peripherals.

Performance

The Beelink SER8 is equipped with the AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS, one of the more powerful CPUs in the Ryzen 8000 mobile series. It pairs with integrated Radeon 780M graphics and 32GB of DDR5 memory, providing a solid base for both productivity and light gaming tasks.

Performance in single-core benchmarks is consistent and competitive, while multi-core scores show stronger gains, particularly in tools like Geekbench. CineBench results also show solid throughput, especially when the system is configured for higher power draw.

Beelink includes a BIOS option to run the chip at either the default 54W or a boosted 65W mode. In testing, enabling the higher wattage setting raised CineBench R23 scores modestly, about a 4–5% increase in both single- and multi-core performance, at the cost of increased fan noise.

Storage performance, however, is limited by the bundled Crucial P3 Plus SSD. While it’s a PCIe Gen 4 drive, its read speeds peak around 5,100MB/s, which is decent but not high-end. Systems with faster NVMe drives may outperform the SER8 in disk-heavy tasks or benchmarks like CrystalDiskMark and PCMark 10.

GPU performance from the integrated 780M is respectable, though newer integrated solutions, especially from Intel, have begun to edge it out in synthetic tests like 3DMark Wildlife. Still, the SER8 holds its own in casual gaming and media workloads.

One notable weak spot is the WiFi. The Intel AX200 module included in the SER8 showed inconsistent connectivity and signal drops, likely due to its placement inside the all-metal chassis. Without an external antenna or more modern wireless tech, this results in a poor out-of-the-box wireless experience. Thankfully, the machine includes a 2.5GbE LAN port, which provides a reliable wired alternative. Otherwise, a USB WiFi adapter might be necessary.

To sum it all up, the Beelink SER8 delivers strong CPU performance and capable graphics in a compact package. However, storage and wireless connectivity could use upgrades, and users expecting high-end wireless reliability may need to plan around the SER8’s limitations.

Final Verdict

The Beelink SER8 is another strong entry in the company’s growing lineup of mini PCs. Its sleek, all-metal enclosure is impressively engineered and visually refined, easily one of the most polished designs in its class.

That said, form comes at the cost of function in a few areas. Internal access is unnecessarily complicated, which could frustrate users who plan to upgrade storage or RAM down the line. If you’re happy with the default configuration and don’t plan to crack it open, that limitation likely won’t matter.

Another consideration is timing. With Ryzen 9000-series mobile chips just around the corner, prospective buyers may want to wait and see what performance gains the next generation brings. Beelink is likely already working on a successor, and a SER9 may not be far off.

Overall, the SER8 delivers excellent performance, a quiet and effective cooling system, and a premium look and feel. Just be aware of its upgrade limitations and where it sits in the broader CPU roadmap.