Asus pn40 review in Spanish (full analysis)

We continue to analyze the most interesting Mini PCs, and that is that all the main manufacturers in the sector have put their batteries with the arrival of the Intel Gemini Lake platform. This time we have the Asus PN40 in hand, a model that comes with a barebone format and is perfect for office or multimedia use. Depending on the model it comes with RAM and integrated storage or we will have to acquire it to our liking (it depends on our needs).

Wanting to see our review? Do not miss our complete analysis in Spanish of this preciousness.

We thank Asus for trusting the product for its analysis:

Asus PN40 technical characteristics

Unboxing and design

The Asus PN40 Mini PC reaches the user's hands inside a cardboard box that is in charge of protecting it perfectly during transport so that it does not suffer any type of damage. The box has a first-rate impression, with which it shows us a great image of the product as well as informs us of its most important characteristics and specifications.

We open the box and we find the Asus PN40 very well accommodated so that it does not move, it is also covered by a plastic bag to protect its delicate surface.

Next to the Mini PC we find all the documentation, including the warranty card and a quick guide on how to mount the RAM and storage.

Asus attaches us an external 65W power supply, plenty of power to move a team like this with a large number of peripherals and connected devices.

As for the Asus PN40, we are talking about a very compact team, weighing just 700 grams and measuring 11.5 cm x 11.5 cm x 4.9 cm. The device is manufactured with an aluminum body, which gives it a premium finish and helps to better dissipate the heat generated by the hardware during operation.

The brushed finish of the aluminum makes it look even better. The design is very clean, with right angles at the corners. This equipment complies with UL, VCCI, C-Tick, BSMI, CB, CCC, FCC regulatory standards.

On the front of the equipment we find a headphone jack, a USB Type-C port, a USB 3.1 port and a USB 2.0 port, thanks to which we will have excellent connectivity always in sight. Also missing in this part is the power button and a status LED.

Both sides incorporate an air outlet to keep the equipment well cooled. The aesthetic is brutal, since it seems that we are dealing with a miniPC of 280 or 350 euros.

On the back we find an HDMI port and a Mini DisplayPort port to use up to two displays at the same time, it also offers us a Gigabit Ethernet network port, two USB 3.1 ports and the DC power connector.

Finally, we want to show you a view of the lower area of the miniPC. As we can see we ran into another air outlet and an identifying sticker. We also have four rubber feet that adhere very well to any surface.

Components and interior

To access the interior of the equipment is as simple as removing the four screws that are installed and making a slight movement to the right of the rear cover. Once inside we will find something similar to this:

If you have chosen the option without internal storage or pre-installed ram memory. You will find the entire interior empty for you to install the components.

We move to the left side and find something quite interesting, this area opens and reveals the 2.5-inch bay to install a hard drive or a traditional SSD.

We can also mount an SSD in M.2 2280 format so that we can combine all the benefits of flash storage and traditional magnetic hard drives.

As for memory, it offers us two SO-DIMM slots compatible with a maximum of 8 GB of DDR4 2400 MHz memory in dual channel configuration to improve speed. This will allow us to build a highly capable team for all day-to-day tasks. Asus has not forgotten to include a card with WiFi ac connectivity and Bluetooth 4.2, this way we will have an excellent wireless experience.

The heart of this team is the Intel Celeron N4000 processor, a model based on the Gemini Lake architecture and manufactured at 14nm to offer the best energy efficiency. This processor has two cores and four processing threads, which operate at a base speed of 1.1 GHz and can reach 2.6 GHz in turbo mode to improve performance. This chip has 4 MB of L2 cache and has a TDP of just 10W along with UHD Graphics 600, capable of moving video to 4K without problems. The low consumption of this processor means that the Asus PN40 does not need a fan to work, so the cooling is totally passive and will not make any noise.

Performance tests (Benchmark)

TESTING EQUIPMENT
Barebone	Asus PN40
RAM	2 x SODIMM 8GB that make a total of 16GB.
SATA SSD disk	32 GB internal memory

This model already integrates two 8GB and 1.2V DDR4L modules as main memory and 32GB eMMC storage . Giving us the opportunity to expand it through SATA and / or M.2.

We have tested the machine with both Windows 10 and KODI on Windows and Ubuntu and the results have been very good in Full HD and 4K playback with H264 codecs.

Special mention to the new integrated graphics card Intel HD 600 allows to move with ease almost any resolution at desktop and video level. We believe that both this model and the i3 compensate for basic and multimedia center tasks.

Temperatures and consumption

Regarding the idle temperature, the processor is barely 42 ºC while the stress tests (maximum performance) go up to 53 ºC.

While consumption we have about 6.9 W in total at rest and about 9.1 W at maximum power.

Final words and conclusion about Asus PN40

The Asus PN40 incorporates an Intel Celeron N4000 processor that allows excellent perfect reproduction in 4K at 60 Hz. In addition to being powerful enough with its two physical cores that offer us a maximum speed of 2.6 GHz. This model that we have analyzed, It has arrived equipped with 8 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal memory with Windows 10 pre-installed.

It allows us to expand it with a 2.5 ″ format hard drive and an M.2 SATA SSD to have a larger size and boot speed. For example, a 16GB Intel Optane and a 2.5TB 2TB HDD would do them great as a media player in our living room.

We recommend reading the best processors on the market.

In everyday tasks or video playback on YouTube is more than enough. If we want amateur photo or video editing, this is not your PC. We recommend at least a miniPC with an eighth generation i5 or i7 processor or a desktop computer

We really liked the amount of front and rear connections it includes. Its design is also a great success! On a personal level, I think I can not make any complaints. Its current price is 140 euros without internal disk or RAM. It seems like a success from ASUS and a 100% recommended purchase.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS	- NONE
+ PLAYS 4K AT 60 HZ WITHOUT ANY PROBLEM.
+ IDEAL FOR HTPC
+ FRONT AND REAR CONNECTIONS
+ CONSUMPTION AND LOW TEMPERATURES