The Most Affordable Alternative: ACEMAGIC Vista V1

The ACEMAGIC Vista V1 is a surprisingly powerful mini PC that looks like a carbon copy of the M4 Mac Mini. While certainly a far cry from the performance of Apple’s tiny machine, the Vista V1 offers not only an eerily similar design but also enough oomph for everyday computing and light video editing for under $250. You can even use this Mac Mini replica as a 4K-capable media server.

At the heart of it all is Intel’s N150 CPU, which supports AV1 decoding and features four efficient cores clocked at 3.6GHz. The CPU is assisted by 16GB of DDR4 memory and a 512GB M.2 SSD. Both the memory and storage are upgradable. The port selection includes two 10Gbps USB-A ports and a 3.5mm audio jack on the front, two USB 2.0 USB-A ports on the rear, an HDMI and a DisplayPort, both supporting 4K@60Hz video output, and a Gigabit LAN port.

The tiny machine also comes with Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 4.2. Not great, but enough for a stable and speedy internet connection. The cherry on the cake is Windows 11 Pro, which comes preinstalled.

The Budget Option: MINISFORUM UN1250

Moving up a notch, we’ve got the MINISFORUM UN1250, which sells for just under $300. The UN1250 is again fairly similar to the M4 Mac Mini from the outside. However, I’d rather opt for the ACEMAGIC Vista V1 if visual similarity to the M4 Mac Mini is your primary concern.

The Core i5 1250P CPU from Intel is certainly beefier than the humble N150 found in the Vista V1, packing enough power for every kind of productivity task you have in mind. It won’t do wonders or match Apple’s M4 chip, but it’s versatile enough for photo and video editing, code compiling, and even some light gaming.

16GB of memory should be enough for everyday computing and then some. The included 500GB SSD boasting PCIe 4.0 read and write speeds, won’t be a bottleneck, regardless of your plans for this compact Windows PC. The presence of Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 is the biggest surprise here, considering the thing costs less than $300. But, hey, you won’t see me complaining.

On the front, you’re met with two 10Gbps USB-A ports and a 3.5mm audio jack. The backside hosts two USB 2.0 ports, a 2.5G LAN port, and a single USB-C port sporting DP Alt mode. A single HDMI port and a DisplayPort connector allow you to run a triple 4K@60Hz monitor setup.

The Bang-For-Buck Champion: GEEKOM A6

The GEEKOM A6 looks like a pancaked M4 Mac Mini, and I mean that in the best possible way. It's the first device in this roundup to include a 40Gbps USB 4 port located on the back. Now, you’re only getting a single USB4 port, unlike the Mac Mini, which packs three Thunderbolt 4 ports in total. But even a single USB4 port is nice to have, considering the A6 retails for $450.

The AMD Ryzen 6800H powering it all is an 8-core mobile CPU that cannot match the base M4 chip in raw power, but you’ll hardly notice the difference in everyday usage. The 6800H is still a capable mobile chip that can handle everything you throw at it, even demanding CPU tasks that require significant amounts of single-core and multicore performance.

Thanks to the Radeon 680M iGPU, the A6 is capable of gaming at 1080p. You can count on it running newish AAA games at about 30FPS or higher with the help of FSR upscaling, while older AAA and indie games should have no issue achieving stable 60FPS performance.

Aside from the capable CPU and GPU, the tiny A6 also comes with 32GB of dual-channel DDR5 memory and a 1GB PCIe 4.0 SSD, both of which are upgradeable. Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 are also included in the package, along with a Windows 11 Pro license.

Last but not least, we’ve got a fairly generous port selection. There’s the aforementioned USB4 port on the rear, two 10Gbps USB-A ports on the front, one 10Gbps USB-A port on the back, one USB-C 10Gbps port also on the back, two HDMI 2.0 ports, and a 2.5G LAN port. Thanks to the video-out capability of the USB4 port, you can connect up to three external monitors to the A6.

The Price Matcher: Beelink SER8

You might mix up the Beelink SER8 with the M4 Mac Mini at a casual glance, and I wouldn't blame you. The Beelink SER8 is indeed extremely similar in design to the latest Mac Mini, but that’s exactly what we’re going for here, so I consider this a positive. Price-wise, the SER8 is only $30 more expensive than the base M4 Mac Mini, lagging behind it in raw CPU performance but beating it in most other aspects.

The AMD Ryzen 7 8745HS mobile CPU powering the SER8 is coupled with the Radeon 780M integrated graphics, capable of running most AAA games at 1080p and 30FPS or higher with FSR. The said combo makes this machine excellent both for productivity and playing games, as long as you're fine with playing AAA games with low to medium settings. That said, Apple’s M4 is still significantly ahead of the 8745HS in terms of single and multicore performance.

Where the latest Mac Mini falls short of the SER8 is in the amount of storage and memory you’re getting. I’m talking about 32GB of dual-channel DDR5 memory paired with 1TB of fast PCIe 4.0 SSD storage. The good news is that the SER8 features a second PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slot, allowing you to add another speedy PCIe 4.0 SSD and greatly expand the already generous 1TB of storage.

The port selection is rich, but you’re only getting a single USB4 port located on the rear of the device. The front features one 10Gbps USB-A port, a single 10Gbps USB-C port, and a 3.5mm audio jack. Aside from the aformentioned USB4 port, the rear of the device also features one 10Gbps USB-A port, two USB 2.0 ports, an HDMI 2.1 port, a DisplayPort 1.4 connector, and a 2.5G LAN port.

While it doesn't outperform the M4 Mac Mini in terms of CPU power, the Beelink SER8 is an excellent choice for people who prefer Windows due to its superb integrated graphics, two M.2 SSD slots, a bunch of memory and storage, support for three 4K@120Hz external monitors, and a vapor chamber cooling solution that makes the device near-inaudible even under heavy loads.

The High-End M4 Mac Mini Look-alike: Beelink SER9 Pro

If you want a Windows mini PC that matches the M4 Mac Mini not only in appearance but also in CPU performance, you're limited to high-end options like the Beelink SER9 Pro. This beefy Windows mini PC is powered by a Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 APU that leaves the base M4 chip in the dust in multicore loads. The M4 remains the single-core performance champion, though.

The Radeon 890M integrated graphics should provide a very enjoyable gaming experience at 1080p, even in newer AAA games, and the built-in NPU should have no issues with the Windows 11 Copilot AI features. While I'd like to see at least Wi-Fi 6E in a premium mini PC, the SER9 certainly is, it only offers the Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 combo. At least the Wi-Fi chip is built by Intel (Intel AX200).

The 64GB of memory and 2TB of storage is lovely to see, as is the second PCIe 4.0 M.2 slot, allowing you to expand the storage up to 8TB. Ports-wise, the front of the device houses one 10Gbps USB-A and one 10Gbps USB-C port, along with a 3.5mm audio jack. The rear features one USB4 port, one 10Gbps USB-A port, two USB 2.0 ports, another 3.5mm audio jack, an HDMI 2.1 port, DisplayPort 1.4, and a 2.5G LAN.

Being a premium offering from Beelink, the SER9 Pro includes some nice extras. These include dual speakers that sound better than the Mac Mini's speaker, an excellent vapor chamber cooling setup that allows for whisper-quiet performance even though the HX 370 can use up to 65W of power, and a built-in microphone array located on the front that allows for AI voice interaction, if you’re into that.

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If you ask me, the M4 Mac Mini remains a top mini PC, especially the base version, which retails for $600 and is often on sale. That said, if you don’t want to switch to macOS or if you consider upgradable memory and storage non-negotiable, these Windows mini PCs are great options. Especially the two budget models that offer lots of power for everyday computing at a fraction of the price of the latest Mac Mini.